'Jet, use Tail Whip.' Gary ordered and Jet ducked under the Sandshrew's Scratch attack, sweeping it's legs away and knocking it to the floor. Sandshrew managed to struggle to it's feet, only to be driven back by a stream of bubbles from Jet that knocked it down again. Gary choose a Pokeball from his belt and let it fly. With a grin, he picked up the Pokeball and flipped open his Pokedex, seeing a new name appear at the bottom of the list.

SQUIRTLE LV 10

SANDSHREW LV 4

Gary selected Sandshrew's entry, quickly reading over the data, his finger hovering of the NICKNAME key.

Let's see...Yeah...

His fingers quickly flew over the keys and hit the 'Enter' command, the display on the screen updating.

SANDSHREW'S NAME WAS CHANGED TO SANDCLAW.

I knew it was a good idea to visit this cave and skip past Pewter City. He thought to himself. It just goes to show how good I am...

Gary emerged from the Rock Tunnel into the sunshine on Route 11 and looked around, with a grin on his face.

Not a bad morning's work. He thought, tossing Sandshrew's Pokeball in the air and catching it. Now, let's get to Lavender Town.

He looked around, spotting a young woman sitting on a rock with a tablet balanced on her knees, typing industriously. She was dressed in the red and black uniform of a Pokemon Ranger, with shoulder length red hair. She looked up from her PokePad, staring at him for second, before returning her attention to her work. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Gary started down the Route, grinning to himself. Then, he stopped when he saw a Bug Catcher battling a man dressed in a black uniform with an 'R' emblazoned on the front.

'Finish it off.' He ordered, his Koffing charging forward to slam into the Bug Catcher's Caterpie and knocking it backwards.

'No. Caterpie!' The Bug Catcher cried as the man pulled a black PokeBall from his belt and threw it at unconscious Pokemon, which snapped shut, sealing Caterpie inside.

'Give him back.' The boy wailed, launching himself towards the man as he bent down to retrieve the PokeBall. 'Give hi...'

His sentence was cut off as the man punched him in the stomach dropping his to his knees.

'Forget it, kid. Your Pokemon belongs to Team Rocket, now.' The man said, turning away and Gary raced after him.

'Hey!' He yelled and the man turned back, staring coldly at Gary.

'Yeah? What do you want?'

'I want you to give him his Pokemon back.' Gary said and the man laughed.

'Ha! You've got guts, kid. Alright, you want to fight, you've got it. But, if you lose, your Pokemon'll belong to Team Rocket, too.'

'I'm not going to lose.' Gary said. 'Let's go, Jet.'

'Tch. Cocky, kid. Alright, Zubat, let's teach him a lesson.'

He released his Pokeball, Zubat swooping towards Jet, who barely managed to dodge out of the way.

'Zubat, use Supersonic!' He yelled and Zubat swept around, Jet staggering backwards under his assault and the Rocket grinned.

'Now, Zubat. Use Leech Life.'

Zubat dived down, it's fangs sinking into Squirtle's neck and he stumbled, falling to his knees.

'Hang in there, Jet.' Gary said. 'Use Withdraw.'

Jet struggled to rise, ducking back inside his shell, Zubat striking into his plaistron. Stunned by the blow, he wobbled back into the air and Gary seized his chance.

'Now, Jet. Use Bubble.'

Jet emerged from inside his shell, the stream of bubbles knocking Zubat from the air to crash to the ground, where he lay still.

'You little...' the Rocket said, returning Zubat to his Pokeball and turning to make a run for it. However, Gary grabbed him and punched him hard, sending him staggering backwards to land in the dirt.

'Hand it over.' Gary said, standing over him. 'Now.'

Slowly, the Rocket reaching towards his belt and removed the black PokeBall, tossing it towards Gary.

'Thanks.' He said, and the Rocket snarled.

'This isn't over, kid.' He said. 'And you're gonna regret making an enemy of Team Rocket.'

He flicked something towards Gary's feet and there was a small explosion, the air filling with black smoke. When it cleared, there was no sign of the Rocket. With a sigh, Gary turned to the Bug Catcher, throwing the PokeBall towards him.

'Th...thank you.' He said and Gary grinned.

'No big deal.' He said, turning away, only to find the Pokemon Ranger standing in front of him with her arms folded.

'We need to talk...'

'Alright, Caterpie. Use Tackle.' Ash ordered, Caterpie slamming it's head into the Rattata, which slumped to the ground.

'Alright, Caterpie. Let's...What?' He said, as Caterpie raised it's head and started wrapping itself up using StringShot. Hurriedly, he pulled out his Pokedex and aimed it at Caterpie, pressing the IDENTIFY button, reading the text that scrolled across the screen.

CATERPIE HAS SEVERAL STAGES TO IT'S LIFE CYCLE. WHEN IT MOVES INTO THE SECOND STAGE, IT CREATES A HARD COCOON AROUND IT'S BODY TO PROTECT IT DURING THE METAMORPHOSIS.

Ash looked up from the screen to see the cocoon had taken shape, a sharp green form with two eyes the only recognisable festive and he looked down as his Pokedex beeped again.

CONGRATULATIONS. YOUR CATERPIE EVOLVED INTO METAPOD.

Metapod, huh...

Ash hesitated outside the Pewter City Gym, looking down at Cinder.

'You ready for this, buddy?' He asked and Cinder looked up at him.

'Chaa!'

'...alright. Let's go.' Ash said, pushing open the doors and stepping inside. Beyond was a cavernous room filled with boulders and he looked around. However, he couldn't see anyone around.

'...Hello?' He called out, spinning round when he heard a voice behind him, seeing a man standing behind him. He had brown spiky hair and looked to be only a couple of years older than Ash.

'You've come for a Boulder Badge?' He asked, with his arms folded across his chest.

'...yes.' Ash replied and his eyes narrowed.

'Very well. My name is Brock and I'm the Gym Leader for Pewter City. This will be a knockout battle. You can use as many Pokemon as you like.'

'Alright.' Ash said. 'Go, Cinder.'

Charmander sprang forward, but Brock just stood there with his arms folded and Ash frowned.

'Where's your Pokemon?' Ash asked and Brock grinned.

'Right here. Onix!' He called and the rocks behind him reared up, Ash's eyes widening. What he had taken to be a pile of boulders was a large rock snake, with a blunt horn on it's head.

'Alright, Cinder. Let's go. Use Ember.'

Charmander sprang forward, flicking his tail to send a fireball soaring towards Onix, only to bounce off his rocky hide.

'Tch!' Brock said. 'Onix, use Bind.'

Onix's tail swept out to wrap around Cinder and lifting him off the ground, tightening like a vice.

'Chaa...' Cinder said, struggling to break free, but Onix was too strong and he went limp.

'Cinder!' Ash cried, as Onix dropped him to the floor, racing over to him and cradling his head in his arms.

'Hang on, buddy.' He said, returning him to his PokeBall and standing up.

'If that's the best you've got, then you should give up now.' Brock said and Ash selected another PokeBall.

'We're just getting started.' He said. 'Let's go, Pidgey.'

Brock shook his head, gesturing to Onix, his tail sweeping out to knock Pidgey from the sky in one blow. Ash returned him as well, his hand hovering over his belt.

This is bad. If Cinder couldn't hurt him, then Pikachu won't do much better. Well, I'm not giving up. If I'm going to lose, I'll go down fighting...

'Let's go, Metapod!' He yelled, releasing the PokeBall and Brock shook his head.

'You really don't give up, do you?' He said. 'Onix, use Bind.'

'Metapod, use Harden.' Ash yelled, as Onix's tail snaked around him, starting to squeeze him like it did Charmander.

'Keep going, Metapod.' Ash yelled, as cracks started to appear in his shell. 'Don't give up.'

Then, Metapod's shell cracked and something fell towards the ground. A second before it struck, the shape unfolded a pair of iridescent wings and soared away, Ash pulling out his Pokedex.

CONGRATULATIONS. YOUR METAPOD EVOLVED INTO BUTTERFREE. BUTTERFREE LEARNED SLEEP POWDER.

'Butterfree. Use Sleep Powder.' Ash ordered and Butterfree swept round, glittering blue particles falling from his wings. Onix's growled, struggling to raise his tail, but it was too late and his head dropped to the ground.

'Way to go, Butterfree!' Ash yelled, as Brock returned Onix to his PokeBall and walked towards Ash.

'Congratulations.' He said, walking towards him and reaching into his pocket. 'This Boulder Badge is proof that you've beaten me.' Without another word, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the back of the Gym. Ash stared after him, before shrugging and heading to the Pokemon Centre...

'Sorry. I don't do autographs.' Gary said and she frowned.

'My name is Sasha and I'm a Pokemon Ranger. And you need to come with me to Lavender Town.'

'Why should I do that?'

'Because I need to report what happened to the Pokemon League. And you're a key witness.'

'Sorry. I've got better things to do.' Gary said, brushing past her and she grabbed his arm.

'Did you hear what that guy said?' She asked. 'He said he was a member of Team Rocket. You do know how serious this is?'

'...alright.' Gary said. 'I was going to head to Lavender Town, anyway, so I guess you can tag along.'

'Tag along? Listen here...' She snapped, but Gary was already strolling down the Route with his hands in his pockets.

Oooooohh...!

'Ash!'

Hearing his name, Ash turned to see Brock walking down the street towards him, wearing a heavy-looking backpack and a belt with two PokeBalls on it.

'Yeah?'

'You're heading for the Cerulean City, right. Mind if I come along?'

'Uh...'