Pewter City Gym

Thanks to Red's interference, Scarlet was out of any interrogation or trouble from the mess Alex had caused on his own violation.

Though, rather than getting scolded by her father, Scarlet was surprised to see him praising Alex for what he did. Charizard also complimented about his righteousness, though there was still a spark of bout between the two.

Charizard had told him that he won't battle Alex without any purpose, that, he'll have to earn the opportunity for the fight by getting all the Gym Badges, defeating the Elite Four of Kanto region and then he'll be facing the Champion.

This smugness of Charizard had successfully provoked Alex, which had led him to make a resolution that day.

But for now, Scarlet was free of any charges and was allowed to continue her Journey. She had stayed in the city for more than five days now, and it was time that she finally got her first badge. And coincidentally, Pewter City was really close.

Once again in the Viridian Forest, Alex was leading Scarlet through the shortest way to Pewter City.

"Don't cause a problem again for me, you get it?" Scarlet was still angry at him, but the anger was justified since Alex did believe that he should've told her about it earlier.

"I'll try." Alex nodded in response, though Scarlet noticed something else as well.

"Why are you so happy?" Scarlet asked as she saw Alex was grinning for a while now, actually, ever since he had come out of his Pokeball today.

"Ah, nothing." Alex looked away with his fangs coming out at his fiendish grin.

"Lexy.. what are you plotting?" Scarlet questioned by narrowing her eyes. She knew that Alex could be mischievous at times, especially when he's hiding things from her.

Like that one time, when he wanted to check out Chansey's egg. And In his defense after getting caught in the act, Alex had answered that he wanted see if it was a Lucky egg or not. But the question is, what does a Lucky egg do?

"Hm.. I think I can now learn a new set of skills." Alex answered with his excitement clearly on display, "Psychic abilities, to be precise."

"You're joking.." Scarlet's eyes were wide open in shock, "Tell me you're joking! This is a prank, right? There's no way that a Charmeleon can use Psychic Moves!"

"You'll see." Alex released a small laugh in response, "And looks like we're here. The Pewter City Gym." he said as they came out of the bushes behind the town, "Let's go Challenge the Gym."

"Yes, I can't wait anymore!" Scarlet agreed excitedly and clenched her fists in determination, "This is going to be my first Gym Battle."

"You'll do good." Alex assured to boost her confidence.

There was another reason why he was so happy, which he wasn't planning to tell Scarlet so easily or any soon. And this happiness was related to the System as well. To be more precise, it was the reward that he got when he had Mastered his "Blazing Iron Tail" in the rescue mission. He didn't know if this was because "Blazing Iron Tail" was a unique skill created by him, but the system had rewarded him "Steel Stone" for the accomplishment.

"Steel Stone", There was no mention of this particular evolution stone in the Games, but based on the description, this stone did the job of evolving specific Pokemon into their Steel-Type evolutions.

Now, the question in Alex's mind was, will the "Steel Stone" work on a Eevee? Eevee is a Pokemon that is known for its various elemental evolution types, so Alex was expectant and saving the "Steel Stone" for a perfect opportunity.

He also had the opportunity to Evolve in the past two days after the rescue Quest, but decided against as it would be too anticlimactic for both him and Scarlet. The girl was already arrogant of having him in her team, he didn't wanted to boost that arrogance more.

Alex stood tall at the level of 151 and 21% to the next. Most of the experience came from his training practice and also the Pokemons he had defeated in the Team Rocket Facility that day. The Quest had awarded him with a level as well, so that also counts.

Perhaps, he would level up more faster if only he had that Lucky egg with him. Not all the Chansey's had lucky egg on them, it was like a rare find, so Alex would have to wait for the right opportunity to obtain one.

After getting the registration business done at the Gym, Scarlet was ready for her first Gym Battle in the Pewter City Gym's rocky terrain Battlefield. She had called back Alex in his Pokeball, since she didn't wanted to reveal him to a Gym leader just like that.

But much to her surprise, it was another Gym Leader who had taken incharge of this Gym.

"Hello, my name is Flint. I am the temporary Gym Leader of Pewter City Gym." A middle aged looking man joined the Battlefield on the opposite end of the stadium.

"But wasn't Brock supposed to be the Gym leader?" Scarlet questioned as she had learnt about the Gyms that she was gonna challenge in future, "You were the former Gym leader before him."

"Correct." Flint nodded, "You see, my son decided to go on his own journey with a Pokemon trainer that had challenged him. Because of this, all his duties are now on my shoulders, even this Gym, until he comes back."

"Well, I don't think I care whoever the Gym leader is." Scarlet shrugged casually, "All I have to do is defeat you to get the Boulder Badge."

"You seem full of confidence." Flint was impressed by her courage, "But let me tell you, I am way stronger than my son."

"Go, Graveler!" Flint revealed his first Pokemon for the Challenge and smirked at his opponent, "Are you still confident about winning against me?"

Scarlet snorted and just used her Pokedex on the Pokemon, to collect as much possible data on him. She didn't wanted to miss out on any crucial details by being ignorant.

Graveler was a evolved form of Geodude, which came into the category of Strong Rock-Type Pokemon. Without a Water-Type Pokemon in hand, it would certainly be very hard to deal with him.

But thankfully, Scarlet had a solution for this.

"Come out, Lexy!"

"L-Lexy?" Flint was startled for what Type of Pokemon was that, but he figured that it must be nickname. Though, what confused him was instead of sending the Pokemon on the Battlefield, Scarlet had called her Pokemon beside her.

"W-What the hell is that?" Flint's eyes had almost come out his socket at what Monster he was seeing. He also noticed that his Graveler had flinched just by coming under the Charmeleon's murderous gaze.

"Oh, are we getting scared now?" Scarlet giggled smugly, "But don't worry, I don't bully my elders. Lexy here will only step in if I am in a pinch, otherwise I have my plans to deal with you."

Flint didn't know if he should be relieved or get provoked by this news. Though, he felt more fortunate for not facing that Charmeleon from the start, because actually, Flint watches the news on daily occasion and was known to what had transpired in Viridian City two days ago. The Charmeleon was centre of attraction on the news for a while, until his trainer had brought him back in his Pokeball.

Now, he was going to face that Trainer for a Gym Battle.

"Oddish, come out, its time to Battle." Scarlet revealed her first Pokemon that would go against the Graveler.

"Hm." Flint decided to not underestimate the Trainer by her choice and went on to explain the rules, "As you can see, the Gym lacks a referee at the moment. The Battle will be a one versus one, with two Pokemons allowed in the Challenge. The one who loses both their Pokemon will lose the Battle. And as a Gym Leader, I cannot change my Pokemon in the middle of Battle. While as the challenger, you'll be allowed to change your Pokemon."

"So, are you ready?" Flint questioned as his Graveler took the stance.

"We're ready, Oddish, you know what to do!" Scarlet responded by getting serious as well.

Meanwhile, Alex used 'Observe' on the opponent Graveler and was surprised to see that it was Level 43 and nearing its third evolution. Even so, Alex was confident that it won't evolve in today's battle at least. The reason was the strategy they had made for today's challenge.

"Graveler, Bulldoze!" Flint shouted.

"Oddish, dodge him by moving away from his path!"

Scarlet knew that Bulldoze cannot change the direction once charged, so it was easy to dodge if the Pokemon was agile enough. And in this case, Oddish's small body size also helped.

"Now quickly, use Stun Spore on him!" Scarlet commanded.

"Oddish!" Oddish released a wave of "Stun Spore" powder in Graveler's direction, which seemed to have started its effect almost immediately.

But Flint knew how to deal with this, "Graveler, use Rollout to get the Stun Spore off!"

"Tch.." Scarlet didn't expected him to know "Rollout", still their plan was full proof, "Use Venoshock when his Rollout ends!"

Due to the Stun Spore coming from Oddish, Graveler was not going to approach her, but this also meant that he lost a perfect chance to attack her as well.

Oddish heard the command and used "Venoshock" on her her opponent. The attack wasn't a instant damage type, but the poison will slowly chip away all the vitality from her opponent.

Graveler didn't have a opportunity to dodge as he had just come out of his Rollout. The bubbles of Poison collided against his body and affected him instantly.

"Oddish is mostly a underestimated Pokemon, but every Trainer knows how annoying those status impact attacks could get." Flint gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Well, I had expected that you would avoid paralysis if you had that move, which you did." Scarlet answered, "But the Poison attacks cannot be avoided by a Rollout."

"Can you fight, Graveler?" Flint turned to his Pokemon.

"Graveler." The Stone Type nodded, albeit weakly with a sick complexion.

"Then use Rock throw and-"

"Sorry, not happening." Scarlet simply smiled as she called back Oddish in her Pokeball, "Go, Primeape!"

"So this was your plan all along." Flint was astounded by the realisation.

According to what he understood, Scarlet was aware that Oddish alone won't be able to defeat his Graveler, probably because the Oddish didn't know any Grass-Type moves yet. So she's instead used Oddish to weaken his Graveler and defeat him with a fighting Type.

"But this also means that you won't be able to use Charmeleon." Flint answered with a smirk, 'I have a chance to win this.'

"So, you're happy to know that you're weak?" Alex quirked an eyebrow at what he heard, "Pathetic." he snorted in disbelief and looked away.

Scarlet was laughing nervously at Alex's ruthless attitude, but thankfully Flint couldn't fully understand what he had meant.

"Prime, Primeape!" Primeape shouted in complain as he was getting fed up of waiting. He could see that his opponent was already in a weakened state.

"Graveler, Bulldoze!" Flint shouted as he got alert.

"Primeape, Dodge!" Scarlet advised.

"No, meet him head on with a Mega Punch!" Alex told him.

Primeape grinned and decided to use "Mega Punch". He liked how his Boss could be so merciless at times like this.

"What the hell?!" Flint was shocked when he saw Primeape charging a Mega Punch, "Come back now, Graveler!" He didn't wanted his Graveler to get seriously injured, because that "Mega Punch" would've aimed straight on his head in his state of Bulldoze and caused extra damage.

"Prime, Primeape!" Primeape accusingly yelled at Flint for why he accepted his defeat so quickly.

'I've already lost this, haven't I?' Flint thought as he realised that there was no way for him to break Scarlet's strategy. If he were to use, "Go, Rhydon!" at this point.

Then Scarlet would definitely-

"Come back for now, Primeape!" She then threw another Pokeball on the Battlefield, "Go, Oddish!"

Flint had realised that he was caught up in a loop.

"Rhydon, if we want to win, we have to end this quickly without giving them a chance to attack!" Flint told hurriedly.

"Too slow." Scarlet mocked with a smirk, "Oddish, use Stun Spore! Don't give Ryhdon a chance to attack you!"

"Ryhdon, stay afar and use Earthquake!" Flint loudly called out.

"Tch." Scarlet hadn't expected the Rhydon to know this move. This also meant that Flint's all Pokemons really were a lot stronger than Brock's in terms of combat, which seemed very unfair to her.

The "Earthquake" From Rhydon shook the entire Battlefield, which also led to Oddish stopping her "Stun Spore" due to not being able to balance herself on the ground.

"Don't attack, wait for now and dodge the rocks." Scarlet advised. Due to the "Earthquake" on the rocky terrain, many rocks were falling off from the hill like structures around.

"Now, Bulldoze!" Flint ordered as he saw the opportunity.

"This is the chance, use Venoshock!" Scarlet said.

"Oddish!" the little Pokemon balanced herself on the ground and looked at the Rhydon charging at her. She didn't hesitate knowing that she was gonna get attacked and used "Venoshock" on her opponent.

The acid bubbles from the Venoshock had blinded the Rhydon in his "Bulldoze" charge, but even so, he successfully landed a hit on the little Oddish.

Alex quickly went behind and caught the flying Oddish before she could crash on the ground and injure herself more.

"Oddish won't be able to fight anymore." Flint declared as he saw the result.

"But she did a splendid job to what she was tasked to do." Scarlet was sad to see Oddish defeated, but she was also aware that Oddish at the moment didn't stand a chance against a powerful Pokemon like Rhydon.

"You did great." Alex placed down the Oddish and patted her head while giving her a assuring smile, "We'll start training on your Grass Type moves, so something like this won't happen again."

"Y-Yes." Oddish nodded bashfully from Alex praising her, "I'll do my best next time." She cheered and then went back to her Pokeball as Scarlet called her back to rest.

"Go, Primeape!" Scarlet sent her second and last Pokemon on the field in this Battle, "Rhydon is poisoned by Oddish, we have to take revenge now!"

"Revenge for my TEAMMATE!" Primeape's eyes were on fire.

Alex was a bit surprised seeing this, "Oh, he has learned to use Rage." He said looking at Scarlet, "Now the more intense the fight is, the more powerful his attacks would get."

"Wow.. That's a cool move." Scarlet nodded happily and looked back at Primeape, "Primeape, use Double kick!"

"And end it with a Mega Punch." Alex noticed Scarlet giving him a blank look, "What? The fight is boring now, even that gym leader knows he cannot win this!"

"Well, you're correct." Scarlet sighed and saw that Primeape had did exactly as they had said. He stunned the Ryhdon with his "Double Kick" and used a "Mega Punch" while he was rolling midair and knocked out his opponent.

"Prime, Primeape!" Primeape cheered to his victory with both his hands in the air.

"You did what you could, Rhydon." Flint looked at his knocked out Pokemon with a faint smile and called him back in his Pokeball so he could rest a little.

"So, now." Flint looked back at the challenger, "Congratulations, Scarlet, you have won the Boulder Badge and quite magnificently, I must say." He nodded with a impressed look, "Your Oddish has a lot of potential to grow, where else, your Primeape is already very strong at this point."

"Save the pleasantries for later, give me the Badge first." Scarlet said excitedly, not knowing how arrogant she sounded.

Alex sighed at her spoiled attitude, she really was a very demanding person.

"Well, here it is." Flint took out the Boulder Badge from a case in his pocket and handed it to Scarlet, "If you're going to the Cerulean City next, I suggest that you take the route of Mt. Moon. There you'll be able to find many Rock-Type Pokemons."

"Well, I do need a Rock Type." Scarlet was thankful for the suggestion, "Then I'll take my leave now. I have to hurry up and defeat the rest of the Gyms as well!"

"Well, you do only have 4 and a half months left before registering to the Indigo league if that's what you're aiming for." Flint told her with a wry smile, "Good luck for your next Gym Battles."

"Ah, I have Lexy with me, so I don't need to worry." Scarlet replied as she waved back her hand to the old man, and left the Gym with Alex by her side.

"Now, let's get treated at the Pokemon centre and travel through the Mt. Moon route as Mr. Flint had suggested." Scarlet thought aloud.

"No, we're taking a different route." Alex stated with a bored look, "All you'll find in Mt. Moon is boring Geodudes and annoying Zubats, we don't need that."

"Then where will we be going?" Scarlet complained worriedly, "Alex..?"

"I have been waiting to challenge her for a while now." Alex grinned wildly with his fangs on display as he thought aloud, "This gives me the perfect reason to visit her territory."

"Whose?" Scarlet questioned as she furrowed her brows.

"The hidden Onix Cave." Alex answered to her, "It's the Onix Queen's territory, its very protected and only Onix are allowed in that cave. The passage takes us straight to the Cerulean City route, so we won't need to travel through Mt. Moon."

"Ugh.." Scarlet slouched as she was confused what to do. There's no way Alex would listen to her as he seemed to have already made up his mind, and she also wanted to hurry up to other Gyms.

"Fine." Scarlet forcefully stomped her feat as she looked Alex, "We'll go through the Onix Cave route, but I also want a Electric-Type pokemon!"

"Deal." Alex nodded in agreement, "I'll help you find a Electric-Type Pokemon."

"Good." Scarlet nodded happily and called him back in his Pokeball, "Now, a quick trip to the Pokemon centre and we're good to go."