Striking Rocks

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

[Pokemon Speech]

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Two days had passed since Nate and Kayden had said their goodbyes to the others as they quickly made their way into Viridian Forest. The forest was far denser compared to the forest in Route 1, and the number of bug-type pokemon that they found multiplied greatly compared to the number of them previously.

As they had made their way through the forest, Nate made sure to take some breaks every now and then for them to train. Wimpod may be decently powerful, but he wanted to make sure that Wimpod had the battle experience that he needed before going up against someone like Brock, who was obviously the first gym leader.

Wimpod gained experience by battling against the numerous bug-types as well as fighting against Kayden, which was proven very difficult as Kayden was far more experience and overall more powerful compared to Wimpod. However, Nate was indeed satisfied with the speed that Wimpod was improving.

They were also decently fast pokemon, though that changes when they evolve as they become rather slow. However, this didn't seem to be a problem as Wimpod was actually quite the bit faster compared to the rest of its species, nowhere near as fast as Kayden was, but still impressive.

Both him and Kayden were quite impressed.

Nate was pretty certain that Wimpod would end up evolving maybe around when he got to Cerulean City, which was where his second gym battle would be. Wimpod evolved at a rather early level in the games, and having a rather decent pokemon so early on would definitely benefit them in the future.

"This is the Pewter Gym, huh?"

[Looks way more impressive compared to the games. The gyms in the early games were so dull looking...] Kayden commented in agreement as they were now standing in front of the gym. Which looked to be made entirely of rocks along with a few metal foundations surrounding said rocks, looking similar to a construction site.

Kayden had already taken the liberty to go rent a room at the pokemon center since he intended to stay in the area for a bit before moving on, even after beating the gym. He had spotted some pokemon around the area that he wanted to get Wimpod and Kayden to battle against, the reason is to allow them to adapt to different types of opponents.

The various kinds of pokemon around the area would definitely help in the matter.

Both of them walked into the gym calmly as they looked around in confusion, noticing how the entire inside was completely dark. However, they could make out that the inside of the gym was mainly made out of metal instead of just rocks.

"Who goes there?" Nate and Kayden didn't react much as they just turned their heads towards the direction of the voice. The lights all soon turned on, allowing them to see the surroundings clearly. They also noticed that they were standing inside of a white rectangle, which was one of the two trainer boxes. "Are you a challenger?"

The person that had spoken and was revealed standing on an elevated podium was none other than Brock himself, the gym leader of the Pewter City Gym. He was wearing brown pants, an orange t-shirt, along with a green vest over the top of it. They also saw his eyes that were constantly closed, which made them wonder how the hell he could see.

"Yeah, that's right."

"You do understand that a gym battle is not like any other kind, correct?"

"Don't worry. I already know of all the rules, I did do my research beforehand." Nate assured. He made sure to read up on the rules of the gyms within this world, which were probably the same as the anime world. Since Nate and Kayden usually only played the games, there weren't many rules at all when it came to gym battles.

"I see, that's good. Being well prepared is important." Brock seemed to smile as he walked down the small set of stairs and into his own trainer box on the other side. Not too long after, the roll-up metal doors on either side open before a rocky battlefield soon emerged before connecting and forming in front of them.

Nate and Kayden were a bit surprised, but didn't really show it.

"Who are you, challenger?"

"The name is Nathan, just call me Nate."

"Very well. I'm Brock, the Pewter City Gym leader. Even if you know the rules. Allow me to explain. This battle will be a two on two, the first person to have both their pokemon defeated loses. Understand?" Brock explained as Nate nodded his head calmly as Brock nodded back before taking hold of a pokeball. "Then let us begin! Come on out, Geodude!"

As soon as brock threw his pokeball forwards, the ball opened up as a flash of bright blue light shot out before taking solid form. The pokemon that appeared looked like a large spherical rock with arms and also a pair of large eyes, and also a rather large mouth.

"Kayden, you're the most experienced. I'll use you against Brock's onix, sit tight for now."

[No worries]

"Alright. I hope you're ready, Brock. I'm not like other trainers." Nate smirked as he flicked Wimpod's pokeball up before tossing it forwards. To which it opened up mid-air before the light began forming on the field. "Front and centre, Wimpod!"

"Wimpod? Can't say I've seen this pokemon before..."

"Not surprised. Wimpod is a pokemon generally found in the islands of the Alola region."

"Ah~, a foreign pokemon then. This should be interesting." Brock smiled as he looked at the small bug-type pokemon that was glaring at Geodude with a battle-ready expression. "Alright, Geodude. Let's start this off with Tackle!"

"Dodge it." Nate calmly commanded as Wimpod swiftly and easily avoided the attack. While it wasn't really noticeable, Wimpod seemed to gain a bit of a bored look. He already knew the battle wasn't going to be too difficult. "Scald."

"Geodude, get out of there!"

Brock raised his eyebrows in shock after hearing the declaration of the move as he had quickly shouted towards his Geodude. It seemed to be for nothing though as Geodude was soon sent flying into the gym's wall when a powerful stream of boiling water collided with it.

"Geodude!" They watched as Geodude fell to the floor, completely drenched in water as swirls had replaced its eyes. Nate and Kayden weren't at all surprised, Geodude was four times weak to water attacks. Brock gritted his teeth slightly as he then held his pokeball forwards. "Return, Geodude..."

Brock then turned to look at Nate with a strained smile.

"Impressive, defeating Geodude as easily as you did. However, this isn't over just yet!" Brock exclaimed as he brought another pokeball out. Nate looked at Wimpod and nodded, Wimpod understanding what Nate meant. The next battle wasn't going to be nearly as easy. "Onix, come on out!"

When the pokemon appeared on the field, it was revealed to be a large snake-like entity that was made entirely out of spherical rocks. Along with a pair of large eyes, though Wimpod remained brave as he narrowed his eyes. When Onix landed, the pokemon caused a tremble to occur across the arena.

"Onix won't go down as easily as Geodude did. I'm sure you can see that." Brock stated as Onix gave a powerful roar, though Wimpod stood his ground and glared back at the much larger pokemon. Nate was confident that Kayden could defeat Onix, but Wimpod was a different story. Wimpod wasn't as powerful as this onix yet, but will definitely become much stronger in the future through training. "Onix, Rock Tomb!"

"Wimpod, get moving! Don't stop!"

Wimpod quickly obeyed as he began moving around the arena as a number of boulders came crashing down from out of nowhere, barely missing Wimpod as he managed to avoid them. Brock then quickly shouted. "Onix, use Tackle!"

[Okay, seriously. What pokemon still knows Tackle until this point? He's a gym leader, he's gotta know better moves...] Kayden deadpanned as he heard the command. Tackle was probably the most simple and basic move he knew of, along with a few others.

"Dodge it quickly!"

"Don't let it get away, Onix! Use Bind!" Brock ordered. Wimpod was surprised by the speed that was shown by the rather large pokemon as he froze for a second, thus didn't manage to escape in time before Onix managed to get a hold on him. Wimpod struggled as Onix tightened its body. "How will you deal with this, Nate?"

"I'm afraid you made it even easier for us, Brock."

"Huh?"

"Wimpod, use Scald and lace it with your poison!" Brock didn't manage to get a say in as Wimpod fired the same water attack, but some purple colouration was mixed into the attack as it splashed onto Onix's face. "Get out of there, now!"

"Use Tackle before it gets away!" Brock shouted as Onix struggled before smashing its head into Wimpod as he was falling back to the ground. Wimpod gave a cry as it was sent flying across the field. Onix struggled as the poison took effect on its, visible from the purple colouration on its face.

"Wimpod!" Both Kayden and Nate quickly ran over to the pokemon as Wimpod was soon revealed to be laying down unconscious. Nate just sighed before giving a small smile. "You did a good job, Wimpod. Leave the rest to Kayden now."

Nate was honestly surprised Wimpod was able to withstand such attacks, while the ones that Onix used weren't the most powerful, Wimpod didn't have good defense stats, let alone special defense. So, it was a miracle that Nate saw Wimpod previously manage to withstand a Thunder Bolt from Kayden. Though, it would be a different story when Wimpod evolves.

Returning Wimpod, Nate and Kayden turned back to see Onix struggling as the poison was making it difficult for the pokemon to continue moving much. Brock easily noticed this and had a complicated look on his face.

[Surprised he actually lasted that long. I guess the training help him more than we first thought]

"I supposed, though I'm also surprised Wimpod's ability didn't activate..."

[Let's not question it]

"I guess so... Anway, I don't want to sound arrogant. But, are you sure you want to continue this battle of ours?" Nate asked with a serious tone as Kayden also held a serious expression. Brock seemed surprised by this. "It's clear that your Onix is struggling greatly. I don't want to hurt it more than necessary."

"I see that you care not only for your own pokemon, but your opponent's as well. I can see that you'll go far." Brock smiled as he heard Nate. However, Brock soon gained a determined look. "But, Onix isn't the type to give up. If he wants to continue, then I'll respect his wishes!"

Brock looked up at Onix, who seemed to give a powerful roar despite the poison affecting it. Wimpod's species usually shot out poison from their mouths when endangered, it wasn't a move, but it was something that Nate took advantage of using. It was pretty much a natural biological version of the move Toxic.

"Very well then. Kayden, front and centre!"

[Here we go!] Kayden grinned as he hopped onto the field with a burst of speed. Brock narrowed his eyes as he saw Kayden, the reason being that Kayden was a pikachu, an electric-type. It wasn't the smartest thing to do when in a rock and ground gym.

'I have no doubt that he most likely knows that electric-type moves have no effect against ground-types... What does he plan on doing?' Brock couldn't help but think. Using electric moves was out of the question, and he knew that pikachus could use other moves, but what kind of moves?

"Alright, Kayden. We'll finish this quick so Onix doesn't need to suffer for much longer! Use Quick Attack to get in close!" Kayden grinned before sprinting forwards with a burst of speed. Onix gave a small growl as Kayden approached. Nate would be using a different strategy if Onix wasn't already as weak as he was right now.

"Come on, Onix! I know you can do it! Use Rock Tomb!"

"Jump across them!" Kayden nodded before swiftly and easily jumping on and off as well as from one to one as the rocks continued falling down. Brock was surprised by both Kayden's speed as well as acrobatic ability. "Let's finish this with Iron Tail!"

"Onix~!"

[This is for your own good. Say goodnight!] Kayden shouted before his tail glowed in a powerful silver light before it seemed to change into iron before Kayden then performed a front flip, slamming his tail down onto the top of Onix's head.

The effect was instant as Onix crashed down onto the rocky battlefield with his eyes now replaced by swirls, signalling that Onix was now very much unconscious. Brock saw this and gave a small sigh, it seems that he had already expected this outcome.

"Thank you for your efforts, Onix. Take a good rest." Brock stated as he returned Onix to his pokeball. Brock then walked up to Nate as Kayden ran on back before climbing back onto his friend's shoulder. "Very well done, Nate. You trained your pokemon very well. Can't say I've heard of Iron Tail, though."

"It's a steel-type move."

"Steel-type?"

"Yeah. I suppose you don't know. But, three new types have been found, two in Johto and one in Kalos. Steel-types were discovered in Johto."

"I see, that's interesting." Brock voiced with interest as he heard this. He had not really paid too much attention to other regions, unless it had to do with... girls. So, it made sense that he didn't know too much about this. "Aside from that. Take this, proof of your victory. The Boulder Badge!"

"Much appreciated, Brock." Brock had handed over what appeared to be a small badge that looked like a small rock, though it obviously wasn't as he could tell it was made out of metal. Taking hold of it, Kayden and Nate smiled at one another as Nate then placed it into his badge case. "That's one down."

[Just seven more to go... along with the other ones in other regions]

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃