Chapter 5: Naruto vs The Pewter Gym

"So this is Pewter City, huh? Seems a lot bigger when I was younger. Don't you think so, Pakkun?"

Pakkun barked as he scanned his surroundings before looking up at his Trainer, whose spiky silver hair and face mask stood out in the crowd of people around them. Looking at the crowd, Pakkun noticed that some of the people were staring at his Trainer, some of them were looking at his Trainer with hateful glares, particularly from the women while others looked at his Trainer and started to blush and giggled as they walked passed him.

The Herdier sighed to himself. Of course, his Trainer would be reading that same book that he brings along everywhere. Ever since that white-haired elderly man who had a Greninja by his side gave his Trainer that book for his eighteenth birthday, he has done nothing but read it ever since and apparently, women seem to scorn that book every time they see his Trainer read it in public, which was basically every day.

"Minato-sensei said that I should be able to meet Naruto here in the city while he's trying to win the Boulder Badge. Make sure you keep an eye out for him, Pakkun. Maybe get a whiff of his scent while you're at it," his Trainer said as he flipped a page of the book, never taking his eyes off it.

Rolling his eyes, the Herdier sniffed the air. Then, he shook his head.

"He's probably still on his way here from the Viridian Forest," his Trainer said. "If I remember correctly, it's around the time for the Kakuna to evolve into Beedrill. But I'm sure he knows how to avoid stumbling on them. Iruka-san made it his responsibility to drill those precautions into those kids after all."

His Trainer then closed his book and looked up. "Well then, let's make our way to the Pokémon Center. We might as well grab a bite to eat while we're waiting for Naruto."

Pakkun smiled and nodded as he trotted alongside his Trainer, glad that for once, his Trainer decided to close that book of his.

"Thanks for your help, Pikachu!" Naruto yelled as he waved to the Electric Type Pokémon, who waved back.

After their battle with Spinarak, their journey through the Viridian Forest had continued for an hour before they finally caught a glimpse of the city where Naruto and Kurama were heading to. Which led them to their current position, saying their farewell to the Pikachu that had helped guide them through the forest.

Once their farewell was over, they watched as Pikachu scampered back into the forest before turning their attention back to Pewter City. "This is it, Kurama. Our first step to becoming the Pokémon Champion," Naruto said as he knelt down to pet the Vulpix's head. "Once we head to the city, we'll stop by the Pokémon Center to heal you and the others. Then, we'll battle the Gym. But first, we'll need to call Kaa-chan." A nod from Kurama was all he got back as they began their walk towards the city.

As they approached the city, Naruto began going through his mind for all the information he had about the Pewter Gym that his parents had taught him about. As he had recalled, the Pewter Gym was a Gym specialized in using Rock-Type Pokémon. He remembered that the Gym Leader, Brock, always used a Geodude and an Onix for Pokémon battles which left him with only Kichi as his Pokémon to use for both his battles. However, if Kichi were to be defeated, then Naruto knew that he could trust Kurama to continue where Kichi left off. He decided to leave Pidgey out, for now, seeing as she was still a newly caught Pokémon who hardly had any experience in battling. He was going to need to train his Pidgey before he could use her.

They soon reached the city and the pair couldn't help but marvel at the sight of Pewter City. From what they remembered, the city used to be small. However, after the city had decided to construct more buildings, the city had begun to flourish as many people started moving into the city to work and live there, which was obvious with the number of people the pair were passing by as they made their way to the Pokémon Center.

Moving through the busy crowd was quite troublesome, as Shikamaru would have said, especially since it was during lunch rush where almost everyone would be out for their lunch. But nevertheless, after squeezing through the gaps in between the crowd, the pair were left with a straight path to the Center.

As they looked around, Naruto noticed that the Pewter Museum of Science. A smile graced his face as memories of his time spent with his parents at the museum came flooding back. He remembered them bringing him to see the debut of an Aerodactyl fossil as well as the fossils from other regions when he was just five years old. He also remembered how he had proclaimed that he would capture one of them so that he would use it to battle against his father, to which his parents laughed as his father ruffled his hair, saying that he would look forward to that day.

Naruto let out a chuckle. Now that he was slightly more mature, he knew that his parents were merely entertaining his idea of ever finding and catching an ancient Pokémon. There was no way that any of those Pokémon would still be around, which was why they were considered 'ancient'. Besides, even if one did exist, he would have heard it in the news. But since there was none, he let that dream go.

"Maybe a trip down memory lane wouldn't hurt," the whiskered blond said. "How about it, Kurama? Want to take one walk around the museum?"

The Vulpix shrugged. He didn't see a problem in going to see the exhibits, so why not.

With that, they diverted from their path, making their way towards the museum. As they approached the museum, however, they noticed that there was a police officer close to the entrance and they were talking to a man in a lab coat, probably one of the researchers working at the museum, Naruto guessed as he walked closer to the museum.

Ignoring the two, Naruto and Kurama made their way into the museum, where a sense of nostalgia struck Naruto as the fossil of an Aerodactyl greeted him from its position in the air.

"It's just as we remembered it," Naruto quietly said as he picked Kurama up in his arms and began walking around, exploring the entire museum, starting with the fossils. With a passing glance at the Aerodactyl fossil, Naruto and Kurama approached the next fossil being displayed, a Kabutops.

Being that they were in the Kanto fossils section, Naruto knew it was to be expected to see it being displayed. With its pair of scythes stretched out and its half-moon, disc-shaped head staring at anyone who walked by, it was one of his favorite ancient Pokémon.

Turning his head away from it, Naruto spotted the next fossil, the shell of an Omastar which was easily identified by several sharp spikes along the midsection of the shell. Alongside it was a few spike-less shells which were Omanyte shells. From what he remembered, Iruka had once said that the species were speculated to have gone extinct because of the weight that their shells weighed.

It made Naruto pity them when he thought about it. Their shells kept on growing as they age, which had caused the species to lose most of their mobility as the shells grew bigger and heavier. But then again, they did have a pretty good defense because of it.

As they walked away from the shells, Naruto noticed that the other sections where the fossils of other regions were currently closed with signs that said that they were renovating the areas. Fortunately for him, he wasn't interested in the other fossils. After all, this was all for the sake of nostalgia as the other regions' fossils weren't introduced to the museum when he visited years ago.

The pair soon found the stairs to the second floor and they proceeded to climb the stairs, making their way up.

Once they were on the second floor, a grin formed on Naruto's face as he was greeted by a space shuttle that was sitting in the middle of the room. Without a moment's hesitation, he ran over to the exhibit. He remembered the first time he saw it.

After returning from a space voyage, where humans first took a step on the moon, it was donated to the Pewter Museum of Science for all to see. His parents had brought him and a few of his friends to see it a few days after it arrived at the museum and it awed him that people were now capable of traveling through space, even though it meant that only a few people could go at a time.

But it did prove to him that they were on their way. It would just need a few more decades before they were able to.

Just then, Kurama picked up a scent in the room and his eyes widened as he turned around and leaped out of Naruto's arms and yipped. Naruto turned as well, and his grin returned when he saw what was approaching him and Kurama.

"Pakkun!" The blond exclaimed as the Normal Type Pokémon trotted over to them and gave a nod to Naruto while smiling at Kurama, who returned it with his own. Giving the Herdier a gentle pat on the head, he looked around. "If you're here, does that mean that Kakashi-sensei's nearby?"

"You would be right, Naruto."

A hand was placed on the blonde's hair and it proceeded to ruffle it as Naruto laughed. "Kakashi-sensei! Will you stop doing that? You always do that every time you see me."

Turning around, Naruto was face-to-face with the older male who gave him an eye-smile as he removed his hand from Naruto's head. "Do I? I never did realize that."

"You're still bad at lying, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto deadpanned, giving Kakashi a blank look.

"Hm? Did you say something, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking back at Naruto who gritted his teeth as his eye twitched in annoyance and muttered something along the line of 'not Gai-sensei…' to which he gave another eye-smile.

"But why are you here, sensei?" Naruto asked, forgetting his temporary anger towards the silver-haired man. "I thought you were helping your dad with his work on the farm. Are you taking a break from it?"

Kakashi nodded, scratching his chin. "You could say that. I wanted to relax a bit, so I decided why not travel around for a while. So I picked up most of my pack and left the farm. Then I remembered that you were probably starting your journey and I thought maybe you needed some company."

There was silence for a while as Naruto narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired man with folded arms. Then, he asked. "Did mom put you up to this? Because I told her already that I can take care of myself! I don't need to be supervised!"

"Kushina-san didn't put me up to this, Naruto," Kakashi chuckled, waving off the boy's accusation. "Although, you do tend to get into trouble a lot, and I'm not just talking about the time in Summer Camp where you accidentally let the Tauros out because you wanted to get a closer look at them, or that other time when you and Sasuke accidentally burned half of your cabin down because of a spar, or that time…"

"Okay! I get it!" Naruto interrupted. "I might have been like that in the past, but I'm much more mature than I was back then. Those mistakes won't happen again."

"Nevertheless, I'm still going to follow you around, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Someone's gonna have to make sure you don't end up in a hospital. Arceus knows what your mother would do if you get hurt."

A sigh left Naruto's lips. "Fine. But only because you're taking a break from the farm!"

"Whatever you say, Naruto," Kakashi replied, giving him a thumbs-up as he took out an orange book which made the Herdier beside him roll his eyes while Naruto palmed his face when he recognized the book in the man's hand.

"I swear sensei…Obito-sensei and Ero-Kyoufu are really bad influences for you," the blond muttered to himself as he picked up Kurama. With Kakashi and Pakkun following behind them, they made their way down to the first floor where they headed towards the exit.

"So where to, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"The Pokémon Center," Naruto replied. "Kurama and I wanted to stop by the Museum just for old times' sake. We're going to the Pokémon Center, so I can heal up my Pokémon for my battle with the Gym Leader."

Kakashi absentmindedly nodded as he flipped a page of his book. "I see. You haven't fought Brock yet. Well then, I guess I'll be watching your battle from the sidelines. I can't wait to see how much you've improved since the Summer Camp."

Naruto smirked. "Then I hope you're prepared to be amazed, Kakashi-sensei! Because my battling style has improved since then!" From his arms, Kurama gave a yip in agreement with Naruto, much to the amusement of Kakashi.

Once they had reached the Center, they were greeted by the Nurse Joy that worked there.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Pokémon Center," she spoke before taking a quick look at the pair and smiled at them. "Let me guess, you're here to battle the Gym Leader, am I right?"

"That's right, Joy-san!" Naruto replied, placing Kurama and his two other Pokémon's Pokéballs on the counter. "Could you please heal my Pokémon? I'm going to need them in tiptop shape when we battle Brock, -ttebayo!"

"Of course. I'll call for you once your Pokémon have fully recovered," Nurse Joy said as she placed Kichi and Pidgey's Pokéballs on a tray while Kurama hopped onto her shoulder. With one last smile, she brought Naruto's Pokémon to the room behind her where a Chansey was waiting.

As the door to the room closed, Naruto turned to face Kakashi. "I've got to call mom to tell her I'm in Pewter City. Think you can wait for my Pokémon for me? I might take a while to talk to her."

Kakashi, however, had other plans. "Why don't you wait for your Pokémon, Naruto? I'm sure Kurama and your other Pokémon wouldn't appreciate it if it was me who picked them up for you. Besides, I have to talk to your parents about something too."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked. "I mean, mom can be pretty strict about me calling her. The last time I forgot to call her, she turned into a scary demon when I got home and even her Pokémon are scared when she's mad."

"You don't have to worry, Naruto," Kakashi replied as he gently ruffled the boy's hair. "I'll tell your mother that you're with me and that you're just waiting for your Pokémon to finish recovering. I'll tell her that you'll come to talk to her when your Pokémon are with you, so she won't freak out. How does that sound?"

It took a while for Naruto to decide but in the end, he gave the older man a nod. "Alright. I'll find you when Kurama and the others are all healed up. But I hope Kaa-chan doesn't get mad about it."

Kakashi chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Find me at the video phones once you're done here." Giving the blond an eye-smile, Kakashi made his way to the next room, where he quickly found an empty video phone and immediately dialed the number to Naruto's house.

Within seconds, a face appeared on the screen and it was Minato who was on the other side of the line. Kakashi sighed. "At least I got the lesser of the two evils."

"Kakashi?" Minato spoke, ignoring his student's words as he continued. "Have you reached Pewter City yet? Is Naruto with you?"

Nodding, Kakashi replied. "I've met up with Naruto while he was walking around the Pewter Museum of Science. I was in the city a day ahead of him, apparently. He's currently getting Kurama and his other Pokémon healed up."

"Does he know why you're in Pewter City?" Minato asked.

"He doesn't suspect a thing," Kakashi replied. "I told him that I was taking a break from my father's farm and decided to travel around Kanto for a while. I was fortunate that he bought it, don't you think so sensei?"

Minato chuckled. "Naruto-kun may have fallen for it now, Kakashi. But sooner or later, he'll figure out why you're really traveling with him. I just hope that it will be when we've already dealt with Team Rocket."

"Speaking of Team Rocket," Kakashi said. "While Pakkun and I were making our way to meet Naruto at the museum, we overheard a conversation that might be important to you."

"And that would be?"

"Someone has stolen the Old Amber from the museum last night," Kakashi continued. "It may be a guess on my part, but I suspect that it was Team Rocket who stole it from the information you gave me about their resurgence."

Minato was silent for a while, but he soon replied. "It is a possibility of it being Team Rocket, but we can't be too sure just yet. I'll contact Jiraiya-sensei and tell him about this. In the meantime, Kakashi, be sure to keep Naruto safe when you travel through Mt. Moon."

Kakashi gave his teacher an eye-smile. "You don't have to worry, sensei. I'll make sure to keep Naruto safe while we're in Mt. Moon. I've already explained the situation to Obito and Rin too. They're at Cinnabar Island right now for their vacation but they say that they'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"That's good to know," Minato said. "I'm sorry to have dragged you three into this as well, knowing that this is something the Elite Four and Hiruzen-sama have to deal with."

"It's alright, sensei," Kakashi replied, waving his hand dismissively. "You were the one who taught us everything we know about being Pokémon Trainers, of course we'll help you in any way we can."

A smile appeared on Minato's face. "Thank you, Kakashi."

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei!"

The two paused and Kakashi turned to look down at his teacher's son, who was holding onto Kurama, as he approached. "Oh, Naruto. Are your Pokémon all healed up?"

Naruto gave a simple nod. "Joy-san brought them out a while ago and we came here straight away." Then, he spotted his father on the videophone. "Dad! You're the one picking up the call this time?"

Minato's smile remained as he faced his son. "That's right, Naruto. Your mother's busy on another call right now so I'm the one you'll be talking to this time. So how was the trip, Naruto? Did you catch any new Pokémon yet?"

"I sure did!" Naruto exclaimed. "I caught a Pidgey on the way to Viridian City. I'm not going to use her yet though. Brock's a Gym Leader so I'm going to be using Kurama and Kichi for this Gym Battle. I'll be training Pidgey once we get to Cerulean City and pick up Sakura-chan."

"That's wonderful, Naruto," Minato said. "I wish you luck on your battle. And remember, I'll be waiting for you once you have all eight badges."

"Thanks!" Naruto replied. "Just you wait, dad. When it's our turn to battle you, you won't even recognize us anymore."

"I'll have to wait and see, goodbye Naruto and good luck," Minato waved to his son as he ended the call.

Once the call was disconnected, Kakashi flipped his book back to the page he had stopped at before he spoke to his blond student. "Now that your parents know that you're here, and you've healed your Pokémon, I guess Brock will be the next thing on your to-do list right now. Mind telling me your game plan?"

A grin was all Naruto gave Kakashi. "I thought you knew me better than that, sensei. I never have a plan. I just go with the flow."

"And I thought Minato-sensei taught you better than that…" Kakashi blankly replied as they exited the Pokémon Center.

"You know what I mean, sensei!" Naruto exclaimed. "You know how I do in Pokémon battles. I don't plan, that's Shikamaru's thing."

This time, Kakashi chuckled. "I know. I was just asking."

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if either Rin-sensei or Obito-sensei was my teacher instead of you," muttered Naruto as he ignored the eye-smile Kakashi was giving him.

The Pewter Gym was…just as Naruto had expected it to be, honestly.

When they had arrived at the Gym, Naruto had initially been surprised to see the front of the Gym being covered by rocks of various sizes with the words 'Pewter Gym' engraved at the top, but he quickly figured that it was appropriate considering that it was a Rock-type Gym.

"This feels nostalgic," Kakashi sighed as he flipped to another page. "It's been so long since I've been to this Gym. Ever since my team started our journey back then. I remember when Obito was struggling to beat the previous Gym Leader with his Charmander because he wanted to prove that he could still win with Fire-type moves."

Naruto's interest was raised when he heard this, and he turned to his teacher. "Really? Did Obito-sensei win in the end?"

"Of course," Kakashi replied. "It took him three weeks to do so and only because his Charmander evolved into Charmeleon and was able to use Flamethrower. Rin was happy for him, but I was annoyed because those damn Uchihas just don't know when to quit."

Pakkun nodded along to his Trainer, clearly remembering the boredom he had while waiting for Obito to get the Boulder Badge.

Kakashi then closed his book as he faced the blond boy. "But that's enough storytime for now. You'll have to get that Badge before we can head to Cerulean City, so get to it Naruto."

"You don't have to tell us twice," Naruto excitedly said as they entered the Gym.

As soon as they entered, they were greeted by the sight of an Onix roaring as it slammed its tail on the ground, which had missed a Golem that had rolled to the side to avoid it before getting back up and leaping towards the giant Pokémon while spinning itself as it performed a Rollout. Opposite the two Pokémon was a Graveler that had its arms out as it blocked punches from a Geodude while a Rhyhorn was asleep just away from the others and a Steelix was being polished by a tall dark-skinned man who had spiky brown hair and squinty eyes. That man was Brock.

When he noticed the two standing by the entrance of his Gym, Brock stopped polishing his Steelix and walked up to them with a smile. "Welcome to the Pewter Gym. My name's Brock, and I'm the Gym Leader."

Naruto smiled back and greeted the Gym Leader. "My name is Naruto. I'm here to challenge you to a Gym Battle!"

Kakashi waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just here to watch my student so don't mind me."

Brock nodded. "I see. Tell me, Naruto, how many Badges do you have right now?"

At this, Naruto's smile turned sheepish as he proceeded to rub the back of his head. "Uh…well, none. I just started my Pokémon journey recently and the Viridian Gym Leader wasn't around, so I came here for my first Badge."

"Of course, Giovanni wouldn't be around," Brock sighed. "You never know when he'll come and that frustrates a lot of Trainers. But I'm glad that you decided to start here." He turned to face his Pokémon and gave a sharp whistle which stopped the Pokémon from battling and for Rhyhorn to wake up before they all moved to stand behind Brock as he continued to speak to Naruto. "As per the rules, I'm only allowed to battle you with two Pokémon."

"Great, so what are we waiting for?" Naruto asked as he quickly grabbed Kichi's Pokéball.

Brock chuckled. "You've got spirit, kid. I'll be using Onix and Geodude to battle you in this match."

Upon hearing their names, the two Pokémon stepped forward while the other Pokémon all moved away as Brock and Naruto got into their positions.

"Geodude, you're up first," Brock spoke. The Rock Pokémon nodded and bounced forward onto the battlefield as Brock faced Naruto. "Who will you use first, Naruto?"

"Kichi, it's time to battle!" Naruto cried as he flung the Pokéball, releasing the Froakie who looked as ready as he could be.

Nodding, Brock spoke again. "This battle will be an official Pokémon Gym Battle. Once either of our Pokémon are unable to battle, this match ends. You may have the first move, Naruto."

"Don't mind if I do," Naruto replied. "Kichi, start with Quick Attack!"

In an instant, the battle begun with Kichi's body glowing white as he lunged forward at the Rock-type Pokémon.

"Stop it with Defense Curl, Geodude."

Geodude brought its arms close to its body and crossed them just as Kichi appeared in front of it and slammed into the Rock-type Pokémon, sending it skidding a few feet away but without sustaining too much damage.

"It wasn't very effective," Brock said. "But it was an impressive Quick Attack. So, allow me to return the favor! Geodude, Tackle."

This time, Geodude was on the attack as it dropped its arms and charged forward with the intention of ramming its elbow into Kichi. However, Naruto wouldn't let that happen and he immediately called for the Froakie to evade the attack.

Kichi responded by leaping up into the air.

Brock was impressed by the Froakie's jumping distance, but he was prepared for this kind of tactic. "Geodude, you know what to do." The Rock-type Pokémon eyed its Trainer for a moment and smirked as it suddenly halted in its Tackle and slammed a fist onto the ground as it pushed itself off the ground and into the air.

Both Naruto and Kichi's eyes widened in shock when Geodude launched itself up and Brock took the opportunity to begin his attack again. "Grab that Froakie and bring it back down!" The Rock-type reached out and grabbed Kichi with both hands and it spun around once before tossing Kichi towards the ground.

"Kichi, use your Frubbles to soften your fall!"

Hearing Naruto, Kichi began flinging his Frubbles onto the ground beneath him where it quickly formed a small pile which the Froakie safely bounced off from as he landed on his feet.

"That was quick thinking, Naruto," Brock complimented. "I knew the Frubbles of a Froakie could help soften damage taken during battles, but I didn't expect you to use it like that."

An eye-smile from Kakashi was what Brock received as the silver-haired man commented, "He's unpredictable that way. He always does the weirdest things in battles and it works out just fine."

Naruto pouted at his teacher as he folded his arms and childishly looked away, "Gee, what a nice thing to say about your student there, sensei."

"You're welcome, Naruto," Kakashi replied, ignoring the pout his student gave him as Brock sweatdropped at them.

"Alright then, Geodude, let's continue our attack with Rock Throw."

Geodude clenched its fists and slammed them onto the ground, hurling the debris down on the Froakie as Kichi immediately dodged them with ease just as Naruto called for another Quick Attack. Kichi lunged forward and before he got close to Geodude, Brock had already ordered Geodude to defend itself with Defense Curl again.

The attack made contact and Brock immediately reacted before Naruto did. "Tackle, now!"

With Kichi in close range, Geodude's attack was successful and Kichi was sent flying right into a large boulder, leaving a small crater as Kichi fell onto the ground.

"That was some Tackle," Naruto muttered as he looked over to Kichi and watched as the Froakie slowly got back up. "Kichi, attacking headfirst won't do us any good against Geodude. So, let's improvise. Double Team!"

Kichi complied, leaping around the battlefield as more duplicates began appearing all around Geodude. In an instant, the Rock-type was surrounded by Kichi and his copies which unnerved it. Thankfully, Brock was able to calm it down and quickly gave it another command.

"Get rid of them, Geodude. Rock Throw!"

Clenching its hands into fists, Geodude slammed the ground and shards of rocks flew all around it to disperse the copies. However, Kichi and his copies were still hopping around the battlefield which made it difficult for Geodude to eliminate the copies.

As the rocks continued falling, Kichi was then given his next command from Naruto and the Froakie leaped into the air once more, face towards the Geodude as he soared above the Rock-type Pokémon. Then, he released bubbles from his mouth, much to the surprise of Brock.

The bubbles pelted Geodude and it groaned in pain as Kichi landed behind it. His hand glowed and with a spin, Kichi slammed a fist into Geodude's face using his Pound attack. Though the attack was not effective, it did the job and Geodude fell, face hitting the ground and knocking it out.

"That's one down," Naruto said. "One more to go."

Brock released a sigh and returned Geodude to its Pokéball. He faced the blond Trainer and smiled. "That was a good fight. But don't get ahead of yourself just yet, Naruto. Onix, you're up!"

The Rock Snake Pokémon slithered onto the battlefield, letting out a roar as it lowered its gaze down to meet Kichi's and glared at him.

"You may have the first move again, Naruto."

Naruto gave a nod and called out to Kichi. "Double Team!" The Froakie began creating more copies once more as he leaped around the battlefield again, his copies following his lead as they attempt to confuse Onix.

Then, another round of Bubble was released and Onix was hit.

Kakashi hummed to himself as he observed the attack. Brock hadn't asked Onix to dodge the attack and had left it to endure the attack instead. He had a suspicion on why Brock had done it, but he'll have to wait and see to confirm it.

Naruto, on the other hand, grinned. "That's it, Kichi! Keep it up!"

The Froakie nodded, pelting the Onix with more bubbles as he bounced off a boulder. However, Kichi's eyes widened when he saw Onix's tail directly in front of him, slamming him down onto the ground once more as his copies fade away.

Brock smirked when he noticed Naruto's shocked expression and spoke. "I'm surprised you didn't know why I didn't tell Onix to dodge, Naruto. I thought for sure you would have guessed that I had my Onix use Bide to counter your Froakie."

At Brock's words, Kakashi knew he had been right. When Onix was first attacked, it had used Bide on its own and endured the numerous Bubble attacks from the Froakie, which allowed it to guess where the real Kichi was at so that it could strike at the chance it got.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Damn it. Shikamaru is so going to strangle me for forgetting about Bide."

Kichi got back up, feeling more pain than before. Unfortunately, Brock had already begun his attack. His Onix slithered forward to the Froakie and it wrapped itself around Kichi using Bind as the Froakie let out a yelp which brought Naruto's attention back to the battle.

"Kichi, try to escape with Bubble!"

"End it!"

Before Kichi could release his attack, Onix had raised its tail and brought it down. Its tail slammed onto the ground with Kichi still in its grasp. As Onix uncurled its tail, Kichi slumped onto the ground, falling unconscious as he fell.

Onix let out a victorious roar and Brock turned to Naruto. "We're both down to one Pokémon each. Who will you choose now?"

Naruto returned Kichi to his Pokéball and smiled. "This is getting exciting. Don't you think so Kurama?" His Vulpix nodded, yipping an agreement as Naruto continued. "Then let's show Brock what we can do. I'm counting on you, Kurama!"

A yip from Kurama was all Naruto needed to hear as the Vulpix hopped onto the battlefield, his tails out and crouched in anticipation as he waited for the battle to begin."

Brock, however, raised an eyebrow. "A Fire-type? You do know that Rock-types are stronger than Fire-types, right?"

"I do," Naruto replied. "But that won't stop us from winning this battle."

"Then show me."

Onix charged forward with its tail swinging down, smashing the ground and sending rocks flying towards Kurama, who immediately began dodging the debris as Naruto called for a Quick Attack. The Vulpix lunged, his body emitting a white glow as he did while avoiding the remaining debris. As Kurama came closer to Onix, he released a stream of fire at it, hitting Onix.

"Use Tackle, Onix!"

Swatting the fire away, Onix charged again.

Kurama, however, was faster than it. With a Quick Attack, the Vulpix had evaded the giant Rock-type Pokémon and Naruto quickly gave out his next attack. "Hit it with your Flame Charge!" Flames engulfed Kurama as he charged at Onix, slamming into it and causing it to stumble a bit.

Onix let out a roar and Brock spoke. "Stand your ground Onix, don't falter! Attack with Rock Throw!" With a slam of its tail, rocks were sent flying towards Kurama.

"Flame Charge again!"

Flames surrounded the Vulpix once more as he dodged the rocks easily and charged towards Onix. With a quick command from Brock, however, stopped the attack as Onix had used Bide again. The two clashed with Kurama letting out a soft yelp as Onix retaliated by slamming its tail on him.

The Vulpix skidded back and gave a quick shake of his body to rid himself of any dust as Brock looked towards Naruto. "Impressive. Your Vulpix was able to withstand Bide head-on."

"Don't look down on Kurama just because he's a Fire-type," Naruto grinned. "He may be small, but he's a tough one. You're gonna have to go all out with Onix if you want to knock out Kurama!"

"Then I would extend that to you as well. Your Vulpix will need all his firepower to get Onix to stay down."

"Let's go then! Kurama, let's give them a big finish!"

"Onix, Tackle at full power!"

Onix let out one last roar as it slithered forward, its intent clear in its eyes. Kurama, on the other hand, had all his tails raised as a sphere of fire grew bigger within his mouth. As Onix neared him, Kurama released the sphere in a stream of flames, completely engulfing Onix in it.

Brock's jaw dropped as he watched the flames covered his Pokémon. Never in his life had he seen a Pokémon produce a Flamethrower of this magnitude, let alone give out enough heat for him to feel it from across the battlefield.

Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow as he watched the attack unfold before his eyes. Sure, when he had trained the blond during camp, he had guessed that the little Vulpix would grow to be stronger and more powerful, but he had not expected it to be this powerful. He might have underestimated the Fire-type Pokémon…just a bit.

Soon enough, Kurama's attack stopped and the flames ceased to continue. Onix, finally freed from the fire, collapsed instantly with a pained roar as Brock ran up to his Pokémon. Naruto smiled and went up to Kurama, giving the Vulpix a scratch on his head as he picked him up.

"We did it, Kurama! We won!"

"Vul~!"

"You certainly did," Brock sighed as he brought out Onix's Pokéball and pointed it at his Pokémon, allowing it to be absorbed into the capsule as he turned to the blond Trainer. "That Flamethrower was something else, I'll give you that. You trained your Pokémon well."

Naruto's smile remained as he looked up at Brock and thanked the Gym Leader as he reached for his pocket. Brock extended his hand out towards the blond and smiled back. "You earned this, Naruto. As proof of your victory, take an official Pokémon League Badge, the Boulder Badge."

As his hand opened, Naruto gave the Badge a glance before accepting it from the Gym Leader, thanking him one final time before looking towards Kakashi. "I did it Kakashi-sensei!"

With an eye-smile, Kakashi applauded his student. "Good job, Naruto. Minato-sensei and Kushina-san would be proud of you." Pakkun nodded with his Trainer as he gave a short bark to Kurama to congratulate him, which the Vulpix returned with a yip. "So, are you planning on moving on now?"

"Yep!" Naruto nodded. "Next stop, Cerulean City!"

A/N: Sorry for the major delay everyone! Now that I'm studying Pharmacy, I barely have enough free time to write anything. So updates will be slow as hell from now on, unfortunately. And because of my studies, I'm not as confident in my writings as I was due to not writing as much as I used to so if you guys can leave behind some feedbacks for me, that would be nice.