"speech", thoughts, "poke speech"

Chapter 7: Hard Rock Battles

Pikachu spiked his fur a bit, sparking his cheeks to show his readiness to battle. The Geodude slammed its hands on the field, giving a rumbling cry of its name. Brock was taken aback at the audacity of this rookie trainer, starting off with an Electric type, but he reserved judgement due to how Ash held himself. There was something about the boy that he usually only saw in older, more experienced trainers that challenged the Gym. It was his calm demeaner and his quiet determination, usually only seen after trainers got more sure of themselves and their Pokémon through experience. Brock mused that if Ash had this kind of nature before a battle, then there might be a new legend in the making, before he chased the thought away as fanciful nonsense from being over stressed.

While Brock was thinking, Ash took out his pokedex to scan the Geodude. When he got the entry on it, he grimaced at the confirmation at how defensive the species was before setting his face into a determined frown. He would just have to rely on the plan.

"Pikachu," Ash called out, "just like we practiced, use Tail Whip into Iron Tail." Calling his agreement, Pikachu dashed at Geodude with his tail shimmering, an indication he had a Tail Whip ready. At only a foot away Pikachu jumped at the Rock type and lashed it in the face before using the pokémon as a springboard to jump up and use Iron Tail, doing a forward roll to make it stronger. Geodude was so distracted by the sting of the Tail Whip to the face that it got slammed by the Iron Tail right on the head.

Brock was surprised at the speed and skill of the move. He was impressed that Ash had managed to teach his Pikachu the Steel type move, for it took considerable patience and a lot of forethought to train a pokémon to use an unfamiliar type of move, much less prepare a strategy that is workable around it, especially for a rookie trainer. He gave a smirk and turned his attention to his Geodude.

"Alright Geodude, let's give a real challenge to these rookies. Use Rock Polish then Defense Curl into Rollout," Brock ordered. Geodude smirked before slamming its hands together and glowing a faint white. Then the Rock type curled up into a ball that shimmered before it started to roll straight at Pikachu. All of this just took mere seconds.

Up on the observation level, Misty's eyes widened at Brock's words before she leaned forward to carefully observe Ash's challenge. This was going to be a True Gym Challenge, something only given to those who display certain characteristics that the Gym Leader of the Gym looked for would be issued this challenge, and those characteristics varied from Gym to Gym. Pewter for example looked for patience, perseverance, and long term-planning. It was something tougher than the regular battles offered to challengers when they went to challenge a Gym, and the reward for completing the True Challenge, as it was called, was usually very, very good.

The shadowed observer widened his eyes in shock at this course of action. He also took a closer look at Ash, trying to see what Brock saw in him to initiate the True Challenge of Pewter Gym. He unconsciously leaned forward to watch closely.

Back on the arena, Pikachu's and Ash's eyes widened in alarm at the speeding Rock type before Ash remembered something Tom told him about fast moving objects and put a determined look on his face, calling out to Pikachu, "Wait until it almost hits you before dodging, it can't turn as fast as you can like that!" Pikachu wasn't too sure, but took a leap of faith in Ash and listened. Just as Geodude was half a foot away, Pikachu jumped over it. Unfortunately, there was a boulder behind Pikachu that acted like the perfect ramp.

Geodude rolled up the boulder and launched into the air. At the peak of its jump it fell back down still in a Rollout aiming right where Pikachu was. The attack hit, causing Pikachu to cry out and be flung away and landing heavily, making Ash call out in dismay and worry. However, while Pikachu was down, he wasn't out. Struggling to get up, Pikachu gritted his teeth and stood on all fours.

"Alright Pikachu," Ash cheered, before he saw Geodude still rolling towards Pikachu. His exhilarated smile faded and he bit his lip in a worried and contemplative frown. Suddenly, he had an idea. He called out, "Pikachu, jump up and use Iron Tail, try to aim at where Geodude is going to be!"

Pikachu weakly cried out his hesitant agreement and jumped, his tail glowing white before it started to look metallic just as he did the forward summersault and fell tail first right where Geodude was rolling. The attack landed, and by some very good luck on Pikachu's part, it hit in the exact same spot he had hit before. As most of these things tend do, the collision of energies used in the attacks exploded on contact, sending both pokémon flying and whipped up a lot of dust. It was a tense moment of waiting for the dust to clear.

When the dust dissipated, it revealed Pikachu and Geodude glaring at each other, panting heavily. Both pokémon were heavily injured, visibly struggling to keep conscious. Then Geodude smiled at Pikachu and told him, "Good job rookie." It then closed its eyes and fell unconscious, leaving Pikachu to relax and sigh in relief before sitting down.

Brock nodded in acknowledgement at Ash as he brought out Geodude's pokeball to return the unconscious Rock type and he gave an approving look when Ash ran out onto the field to take Pikachu into his arms. "Good job Pikachu, now you take a good rest and let one of the others take a turn," he said as he got back to his spot and set the tired Electric type right next to him.

"Don't get too comfortable challenger, this is where you have an even harder time ahead of you," Brock said before taking another pokeball from his belt and throwing it. The ball opened up and the white light it released grew until it dispersed, revealing a large rock serpent that roared loud enough to cause the Gym to shake.

Ash gulped at the sight of the huge rock serpent before he took his pokedex out again. It revealed that the Rock type was an Onix, and the description didn't make it any less intimidating, but Ash grabbed onto his courage and determination and reached for Butterfree's pokeball. With a practiced throw, Ash sent out his brave Bug type and hoped it wasn't a terrible mistake.

Butterfree appeared with a drawn-out cry as it hovered in the air, a few of his wing scales making glittering dust as they were shed. When he caught sight of his opponent, he shivered in fear of the Onix before getting ahold of himself and readying himself for an intense and difficult battle. He would make Ash proud.

"You are playing a risky game challenger," Brock commented while eying the Bug/Flying type before continuing, "Let's see how you handle it. Onix, Tackle it!" The rock snake rumbled before it lunged, moving faster than one would think a pokémon of that size could. Butterfree gave a yelp as he dodged, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Ash swallowed again before frowning in thought as he watched Butterfree try to avoid Onix's attacks in a vaguely dance-like way. He decided to play it marginally safe and ordered Butterfree to use one of the moves it learned immediately after fighting the Beedrill swarm. "Butterfree, use Poison Powder, try to stay out of range!" he called up to it.

Butterfree cried out his acknowledgement and turned on a dime after dodging another of Onix's lunging Tackles, he emitted the toxic powder as he flew over and managed to get the Rock type to breathe some of it in, poisoning it. Onix gave a shudder as the effects of the poison kicked in and Brock knew there was now a time limit.

Brock called to Onix, "Use Rock Throw to get it closer to the ground." Rumbling its acknowledgement, Onix slammed its tail on the ground to crush some the boulders before it smacked the resulting rocks with Rock type energy to make them into an attack, its aim extremely accurate. Butterfree gave another yelp, this time in pain due to his getting clipped on the wing.

Ash, worried for his pokémon, called out, "Use Zip Tackle to get out of there Butterfree, then use Confusion on Onix!" Giving a pained cry in answer, Butterfee used Zip Tackle and latched onto Onix's horn with his thread to get the momentum to shoot past to get behind it, avoiding a multitude of rocks along the way. Once situated behind Onix, Butterfree frowned and his eyes glowed as he used Confusion, the Psychic type shockwave shoving Onix hard enough for it to slam against the floor and roar in pain. To add even more pain, the poison in Onix's system acted up and made it cringe as even more of its energy was sapped away.

Unfortunately for Onix, and fortunately for Ash and Butterfree, the Onix species was very susceptible to special attacks, so Onix was very heavily damaged, but Butterfree was only doing partially better thanks to the hit he took and the tiredness he had from dodging all those attacks.

Brock could see that Onix wouldn't last much longer, but the battle wasn't over until it was over, so he called out to it, "Onix, use Bind." Quicker than Butterfree could react, Onix shot up from its position on the floor and wrapped tightly around Butterfree, making him cry out in pain as he was squeezed.

Ash cried out in alarm, "Butterfree!" He rapidly tried to think of a solution on how to get Butterfree loose. Eyes lighting up when one thought struck, he quickly he called to Butterfree, "Use Confusion, try to hit its face!" Grunting, Butterfree's eyes glowed and he blasted Onix's face with a weaker Confusion than the last one he hit it with, but it still caused the rock snake to roar out in pain and let go of Butterfree. Butterfree capitalized on this and used a Zip Tackle to get away, latching onto one of the ceiling beams to gain height before quickly staring down at the rock snake.

However, that Bind was the last thing Onix had a chance to do that battle, because the poison kicked in one last time, making Onix groan in pain as the last of its strength was sapped away and it fell unconscious. Its body fell heavily, landing with a thump that shook the Gym. Brock looked on, feeling a curious mixture of disappointment and happiness at his loss. He took Onix's pokeball in hand and returned the Rock type.

Looking at Ash, he gave a half smile and simply said, "Congratulations, you've won." It took a second for Ash to process it, but then he whooped in celebration along with Butterfree and Pikachu, and as the Bug type swooped down to join Ash and Pikachu, Ash said, "Great job guys, you were awesome!" Giving cries of joy, the pokémon and their trainer celebrated their victory. While they were celebrating, Brock fished around two of his pockets and started to walk over to Ash when he found the desired objects.

Brock's half smile grew into a full grin as got closer to Ash. He was holding a disk in one hand and his other was curled around a Boulder Badge. Coughing to get the excited ten-year old's attention, he spoke, "In recognition of your victory here you've earned this Boulder Badge, and in recognition of your display of planning, patience, and perseverance I will reward you with this TM for the move Rock Tomb. It's an attack that will hinder the movement of your opponent as well as doing some decent damage if it hits." Ash took both items in an almost reverent manner, looking at the TM marked 'reusable' in wonder and some confusion.

TMs, or Technical Machines, were expensive and valuable pieces of technology, simply due to how useful they were and how hard it was to manufacture the things to be useful for all types and most species of pokémon. Whereas a trainer may spend weeks to months at a time trying to teach a pokémon how to even access the energy for a certain move, TMs provided a shortcut by implanting the knowledge, feeling, and basic technique of how right into the mind of the pokémon, leaving only practice for skill and mastery in using the move left to work on. They even made it easier to learn other moves of the same type due to knowing how to access the energy needed after using one of that type. The only downside is that the pokémon learning how to access the energy must work at making that access more efficient if they want true mastery. This takes time to do and help from the trainer, but the trade-off of having the move and the energy access is usually worth it.

However, TMs are very expensive, take an inordinate amount of time to make, and it's even harder to make them reusable. The trainer that got a reusable TM kept it a secret. No one wanted to be robbed and often times hurt because of carrying something that valuable. Being given one was a rare and great reward for an aspiring trainer.

Looking back up at Brock, Ash said, "In all the studying of Gyms I did before going on this journey, I don't remember anything saying that someone can be rewarded with a TM." Brock let out a laugh and said, "That's because this sort of thing is kept quiet. Come on, I'll tell you why you earned that on the way to the Pokémon Center." Curious Ash returned Butterfree to give him a rest, let Pikachu hitch a ride on his shoulders, waited for Misty, putting away his rewards while he did, and followed Brock to listen as he explained the concept of the True Gym Challenge.

Brock, Ash and Misty entered the Pokémon Center just as Brock finished explaining True Challenges. Ash and Brock went up to Nurse Joy to hand their pokémon over for treatment. Nurse Joy took their pokémon with a smile and told them that she would call for them when their pokémon were healed. As she was walking away, Ash caught sight of Tom walking out of the doors leading to the recovery ward with Harry on his head.

"Tom, Tom! I did it, I got the Boulder Badge!" Ash exclaimed excitedly as he rushed over to Tom. When he reached the older boy, he took his badge case out and showed the shiny pewter colored octagon. Tom looked at it and then gave Ash a half smile and said, "Good job, Ash, it seems we both have exciting tales to tell. I, myself, have acquired a new pokémon for my team. Let's head to the cafeteria and celebrate, and you can introduce me to your acquaintance."

So saying, the group went to the cafeteria, got their food, and sat down at a large enough table. As they ate, Ash regaled Tom and Harry with the story of his win against Brock. Tom hummed and nodded at certain parts, listening with pride at Ash's choices and thinking of what else he could teach Ash in to make even more effective as a trainer. When Ash finished with how Onix went down, Tom nodded and said to him, "I applaud your usage of strategy, but you will need to pay attention to the battlefield more in the future. Now, let me tell you about the fruits of my rather enthusiastic walk."

Ash, Brock, and Misty listened to Tom as he recounted the events leading up to his getting Augustus the Magikarp, Brock and Misty being slightly unnerved by Tom's sadistic smirk when he told them he 'chased the trainer off' to rescue the poor fish. He finished the story with Augustus agreeing to be his pokémon and Nurse Joy giving the go ahead under the stipulation that Tom only give the fish light training and no battles unless unavoidable for a day after he is released from the Pokémon Center. The conversation lulled a bit as the group finished their meal after that.

Brock thought for a bit before he said, "I'm kind of curious, what are your dreams? Why are you going on a journey?" Looking at each other before they turned back to Brock, Ash started off, "I want to be a Pokémon Master. I know that almost everyone says that when they go on a journey, but I really have been working on it and learning about all sorts of things. Professor Oak told me that I should use this journey to find my answer when he asks me what a Pokémon Master is to me," he paused a bit before said a little more quietly, almost to himself, "and maybe I'll find out what happened to my dad while I travel, give Mom and me some closure."

Misty's eyes widened a bit at what Ash revealed, but she shook herself and told Brock, "I want to be a Water Type Master. If I'm honest, I left home because my sisters didn't think I could do it and they always tease me about my dream, but it's been my dream since my dad died. He wanted to become a master of Water types too, but he never got the chance with his responsibilities. I guess I've just picked up the torch to do it in his memory."

Tom was stroking Harry's breast feathers when his turn came, "I don't truly have a set dream other than being great and having my pokémon by my side when I do it. I have researched and talked to people, but nothing has stood out to me. The restrictions I have on me that prevented me from going on a journey when I was ten didn't help. My mentor told me to find what I enjoy doing while on this journey, and going from there as I gather a team of pokémon. As it is, I will follow the trail as if I could compete at the Indigo League, though I have to admit it is difficult to find a worthy way of testing myself and my pokémon when we can't do the Gym Challenge."

Brock hummed and nodded before he revealed his own dream, "Well, I'm just curious about what other people's goals are. You see, I actually don't want to be a Gym Leader. I like to take care of pokémon, not battle them. My dream is to become a great Pokémon Breeder, but I haven't been able to do much to accomplish it thanks to my Gym duties and having to raise my siblings."

At seeing their surprised and curious looks, Brock gave a sad smile and continued, "My parents walked out and I had to take care of everything they left behind. It's hard and it left little time for me to learn the things I want to learn, but my brother Forrest is interested in taking over the Gym. I'm just holding the position for him until he gets certified to take over by then. By that time, some of my younger siblings will be old enough to take care of each other and I can finally start my own journey. It'll just take some patience on my part. My siblings are all rooting for Forrest and me. We'll make it eventually."

Harry found that he respected the Gym Leader for his actions. As a father of a brood of adopted kids who'd had various issues, Harry could appreciate the challenge and sacrifice involved in being a teenager and raising his younger siblings while taking care of the various life needs on top of an important position such as being a Gym Leader. All without any support from parents too, sacrificing his own dream for the needs of his family. The teen was quite impressive for doing so, and successfully doing it at that.

It wasn't long after that that Brock and Ash were called to retrieve their pokémon from Nurse Joy. As they were heading there, Brock asked, "So what are you guy's going to do now?" Tom answered, "We are going to spend the rest of the day here in Pewter to see the museum, then we'll leave tomorrow morning." Brock hummed before he said, "Do you want to have dinner at my house? My siblings would love to meet you guys, and it can be a proper farewell from Pewter City." The group agreed and they separated from the Gym Leader to do what they planned as well as stocking up for the next stretch of their journey.

The Pewter Museum of Science was rather interesting thanks to the newly discovered almost complete fossils on display. Misty in particular was fascinated by the Kabutops because of it being a Water type. Tom was just interested in general by the exhibits, reading the bits of information and examining the models and fossils on display. Ash just thought the fossils were cool. Pikachu could only thank Arceus that those beasts were extinct, especially the Aerodactyl.

Harry could only think about his own sad first life as he looked at the exhibits, wistfully thinking about things that could have been had his world not gone to hell. The only strange thing to happen during the visit was the burst of warmth he felt from Death that appeared when he was near the fossils. Soon some images passed through his mind of the living forms of those fossil pokémon, flashes of how they lived. They were gone soon enough, but Harry could only feel intrigued at what he saw from Death, and wonder at seeing what life had been like in those ancient times. He had the amusing thought at what scientists would do to have that glimpse of the past he freely had access to. Overall, a successful ploy by Death to keep his depression at bay.

After leaving the museum the group used the remaining time they had before going over to Brock's to prepare for the next leg of their journey. For all that Route 3 was longer than the Viridian Forest in terms of length, it would only take two to three days to reach Cerulean City thanks to how linear the path was. Viridian Forest was just a winding mess from having to avoid various Bug type related hazards. Route 3 was just a straight shot, even in the cave system of Mt. Moon. When they had all that they needed in terms of supplies and equipment, the group headed out to Brock's home.

Upon seeing the house, they were surprised with the amount of kids running around and playing with a Geodude and an Onix, presumably Brock's. One of the older kids, a boy who looked to be only a year or two younger than Ash, looked away from the organized chaos and waved at the group when he noticed them. Ash waved back and the group approached.

"Hey there, are you the trainers that Brock invited over?" the boy asked. When they confirmed this he continued, "Well let me introduce myself, I'm Forrest, the second oldest. Brock told us you guys were coming when he came back so I decided to be the one to greet you while he cooked." From there he led them inside to get them settled before dinner was served. All the while he navigated around squealing children and made sure some didn't hurt themselves.

When they were settled and seated at the extended table with some drinks, conversation flowed with Misty and Ash talking to each other and Tom addressed Forrest saying, "So you're the one who wants to be the Gym Leader of Pewter. Have you figured out how you'll get the experience in battling necessary?"

Forrest smiled and replied, "Yeah, Brock gave his permission for me to get my trainer's license a year early so I can get my starter pokémon early. I'm only eight right now, but I can go on a journey next year when I turn nine since I passed all the tests. I have to take someone with me when I do go because of my age, but I'll be a full-fledged trainer by then."

Tom hummed a bit before saying, "Well if you want some battle experience before you get a pokémon of your own, I'm not adverse to battling against you while you use your brother's pokémon." Forrest grinned broadly and asked, "Really?! That would be awesome!" Blinking at his enthusiasm Tom said, "Yes, really. My starter and I really need to battle other people to see where we are in terms of progress."

Further conversation was cut short when Brock came into the room to say that dinner was ready. Once everyone was inside, except Onix, dinner was served. Conversation flowed with the three visiting trainers being asked a plethora of questions by the inquisitive children. Brock gave his permission to have the battle and Geodude agreed to listen to Forrest. The rest of the kids cheered, happy that they would get to see their brother's pokémon battle since they missed Ash's fight against Brock that morning thanks to most of them having school and the rest having to be in a daycare since no one is around to watch them.

Once dinner was finished, the crowd moved outside, the younger kids rushing out and cheering in excitement over the battle. They all settled on the big clearing behind the house as the battlefield. When everyone was in place, Tom and Forrest stepped up to the places Brock marked as their trainer spots. Harry was perched on Tom's shoulder, and Geodude was beside Forrest.

"Let's go Harry." Tom said and Harry flew onto the battlefield. Geodude moved onto the field as well. Brock stepped up to a position on the side, align with the middle. Looking at the trainer and soon-to-be trainer he nodded and said, "Alright, this will be a one-on-one battle. As the challenger, Tom will have the first move. Since both trainers are ready, let the battle begin!"

So saying, Tom snapped out immediately, "Agility into Steel Wing, aim for the arms." Trilling in agreement Harry was a barely visible glowing blur and it only took the blink of an eye before he slammed into Geodude's right arm, making the Rock type cry out in pain. The impact caused Harry to go into a spin before he corrected and faced Geodude. Forrest set his face in a determined frown.

"Alright, let's keep our heads on. Geodude, fling a Mud Sport into his face, then Rock Polish and Defense Curl!" the younger boy called. Geodude responded by flinging mud at Harry, wincing when he tried to use his right arm so had to use his left. Harry flew back to avoid the blinding dirt, Geodude took the opportunity to fulfill Forrest's orders. However, when Geodude tried to do the Defense Curl, Harry swooped in and slammed the Rock type's other arm with another Steel Wing, before flying off with the tell-tale glow of Agility to make the getaway.

Forrest was surprised at Harry's independent action, but forged ahead and said, "Use Rock Tomb, get some damage on that bird." Geodud winced but he complied, raising his arms and made a gray glowing rock appear between his hands, grunting in pain as he threw the rock at Harry. The rock was fast and Harry knew he couldn't dodge it completely, so he used Steel Wing and took the hit while shielding his body with his temporarily metallic wings.

The impact from the attack flung Harry away, but he righted himself soon enough, damaged quite a bit despite his efforts. That was when he heard Tom say, "Steel Flail, evasive flight to get to your target." Blinking once, he dove, a glowing blur from the mix of Flying, Normal, and Steel typed energies active from the combination attack. Geodude rumbled and threw another Rock Tomb at Harry, the glowing rock barely grazing Harry's feather tip as he performed a perfect barrel roll around it. Suddenly Harry was in front of Geodude, his small talons latching onto the Rock type as his momentum caused them both to slide back. Geodude only had but milliseconds' pause before Harry started to go at him by slamming energy covered wings and beak into him.

Forrest had a worried frown on his face. However, he soon got an idea when he remembered Geodude's moves. He called out to Geodude, "Use Rollout to shake him off!" Tom's eyes widened and he called out to Harry in warning, but it was too late. Geodude activated the Rollout and Harry got slammed into the ground and ran over. The Rock type kept rolling however, having to drift wide in order to get back to Harry. Harry used those precious seconds get back on his feet, shake his feathers out, and take off into the air. Both of the combatants were now heavily damaged, only one more good hit would knock either out. Tom was determined that it would be that Geodude.

"Geodude, try to hit him out of the air," Forrest yelled. Geodude rolled and managed to jump while still rolling into the air right at Harry. Harry however, always a great flier, managed to avoid the projectile pokémon even though his ruffled feathers caused him trouble. Tom decided to step in there and called, "Strike when it next jumps." Harry's eyes widened at Tom's order, immediately getting it. He waited until Geodude next jumped at him, twisted away before turning back with a Peck at the ready and slammed Geodude hard in the side. The hit caused the Rock type to destabilize and crash into the ground harshly, making him cry out in pain as he landed. Harry capitalized on this and dove at his opponent with a Steel Wing ready. Forrest cried out, "Geodude!" in alarm as he saw Harry smash into Geodude with metallic wings. The battle was over when Geodude stopped rolling and was revealed to be unconscious.

"Geodude is unable to continue battling, Tom is the winner. I have to say, great battle you two." Brock said, a smile on his face as he recalled Geodude to let him rest. Tom and Forrest met in the middle of the makeshift battlefield and shook hands. Harry flew up and perched tiredly on his human's shoulder.

"That was a fun battle. It kinda sucks that I lost, but congratulations on winning," Forrest said. Tom accepted the words with a gracious nod and said in return, "You are a very good battler despite not being a trainer yet. Would you like some advice?"

Forrest nodded and said, "Anything I can use to improve would be great." At that, Tom continued, "Then I suggest to start expecting the unexpected. As a trainer, especially a Gym Leader, you will encounter many an odd or unique thing. I saw that you were surprised with the combo me and Harry employed. What you need to do is find a way to react almost immediately despite that surprise. It can sometimes be the difference between victory and defeat in a battle." Forrest nodded in understanding and acceptance of Tom's words.

"He's right. While Pewter Gym is usually the first gym of the run, more experienced trainers coming from the other gyms have gone to our gym for a later badge. Some of the tactics and strategy they employ really made me and my pokémon work, and there's always something that trips me up." Brock added while wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders in praise of a good battle. "Good job. You made me proud little brother." He added with a smile.

The rest of their siblings crowded around Forrest and chattered excitedly at him, cheering him up and calling him awesome for such a good battle. Tom had made sure he was out of the way from the crowd, face blank as he watched the scene. Harry could guess what his human was thinking and ran his beak comfortingly through Tom's hair.

Ash didn't let Tom brood for long though, running up to his brother figure and congratulating him. Misty even offered her own compliments on the battle. In all the festivities, no one noticed a scruffy looking man walk out from the shadow of the trees surrounding the clearing. Harry was the first to notice him and chirped loudly at the intruder. Everyone was startled and soon noticed the man.

Brock was the most visibly surprised at the sight of him, and everyone soon understood why when he asked, "Dad?" The man sighed and gathered himself before saying quietly, "I'm sorry for abandoning you and your siblings Brock. I… I saw the battle you had against that young man in the cap over there, and then saw this battle and your interactions with your siblings. I also heard your conversation with those young trainers there. It gave me the courage to… to come up and talk with you, to say that you can go and pursue your dreams. I know I did wrong by you and everyone else with my actions, and I know that I have a lot to make up for, but I want to start here."

Brock was quiet for a long moment before he told his father, "Come with me, now." The older man nodded with resignation and acceptance, and followed Brock into the house. Ash, Misty, and Tom looked at each other before turning to Forrest. Tom said, "I think it would be wise for us to return to the Pokémon Center. We had a lovely time here and I enjoyed the battle. I bid you good evening." With Forrest's and the children's goodbyes the group returned to the Pokémon Center.

Around nine o'clock the group were visited by Brock, who had come to heal his Geodude and to talk with them. He wanted to know if he could go with them on their journey. Even though they were surprised, they agreed readily. Brock also apologized for them having to see some of the family drama that happened. They said it was fine. Brock soon departed to get ready and leave them to their sleep with their agreed meeting time made and remembered.

The next morning, the group met up with Brock at the entrance of Route 3. Unfortunately, they had to wake up terribly early so that they would have time to make their way to Mt. Moon without camping outside of it. The route was notorious among travelers as a terrible camping area thanks to the high traffic of people and pokémon going through at all hours, as well as the local pokémon playing pranks on travelers at all hours. Thus, the need to plow through the route in a day, simply because Mt. Moon was actually a great camping site compared to Route 3. However, just because it made sense to be awake at this time didn't mean there was no grumbling.

Tom was his usual morning grouchiness, Misty was groggy and had grimace on her face, and Ash was just following Tom in a daze. The only ones fully awake and aware were Harry and Pikachu due to their being used to having to be up and about immediately. However, thanks to some very poignant examples of tragedies in their lives, neither of them would let up that awareness. Pikachu especially wouldn't thanks to Harry's insistence on pranking the rodent in order for him to keep that awareness, and the point Harry made for doing so.

Brock greeted them when he saw them, and got various grunts of acknowledgement in return. Harry and Pikachu were the only ones that made the effort to return his greeting. Brock just smiled, got everyone moving, leaving the other humans to fully wake up on their own as they walked, and started asking Harry and Pikachu simple "yes or no" questions to get an idea of what flavors they liked. It wasn't until midmorning, about a fifth of the way through the route, that everyone was awake and conversing.

By then Tom had called for a stop so that he could start training Augustus, with a side effect of introducing him to everyone else in the group. After setting up his collapsible bucket and asking Misty to have one of her own pokémon fill it halfway so that his fish could have a source of oxygen, he sent Augustus out. Once everyone had met the fish, Tom set Augustus to use controlled Splashes to move beside him. Tom's reasoning was that once Augustus could move on land he would be able to use a rudimentary Tackle that could be refined as they went. The plan was to then teach the fish Bounce and Flail, with both being relatively easy to do so thanks to Harry's already knowing Flail and Bounce just being a large leap that lands on the opponent with Flying type energy added.

While the group walked and Augustus learned to move on land, Tom would occasionally pick Augustus up and place him in the bucket for a few minutes. It was a surprisingly effective way to teach a Magikarp, and by the time lunch time arrived, and they were halfway through the route, Augustus had managed to learn Tackle and how to move on land. Granted, the teaching technique probably only took so little time to work thanks to how hardy Magikarps were, as well as Augustus's innate intelligence.

Misty was honestly surprised at how fast Augustus was growing just from the way Tom was making him move and learn. Magikarp were notorious for how slow they grew. Tom's technique also got her thinking about how she could train her own fish pokémon in a similar way to be able to move and attack on land, just modified due to her pokémon's more delicate constitution compared to a Magikarp's. Misty knew that there were trainers out there that had managed to get their own fish pokémon able to move and attack on land. If she was going to be a Water Type Pokémon Master, she would have to work on dealing with such a glaring disadvantage before she was caught flat footed from it in the future.

After lunch, in which Brock wowed everyone with his cooking skills again, the group continued onward to Mt. Moon. Ash had decided to follow Tom's example and let out his two Flying types to get some training in for them and Pikachu. He had them fly/walk near him while holding the energies used in various moves to get them to make their moves stronger and more stable. Pikachu was trying to get the metallic sheen that showed mastery of a Steel type move. Pidgeotto was trying to do the same with Steel Wing, but a little more complicated in how the energy was shaped, making it cover her feathers instead of her whole wings. Butterfree was working on his Confusion, moving things around with Psychic type energy, the sizes of such ranging from a multitude of pebbles to large stones.

Augustus continued to work on his Tackle and Splash movement, Tom having him use Splash as a method to evade things, and started to learn the techniques for Bounce and Flail. With Harry's help, Augustus learned the Normal type move easily, but Bounce was a bit more difficult due to the fish not knowing how to access the Flying type energy needed for it to be a move. Harry, when made aware of this, decided to help Augustus with this as well. He just needed to figure out how to teach the fish to know the feel of it.

"This might be problematic. To use Flying type energy is to feel the absolute freedom that the sky offers. It is the rush of wind as you dive and twirl through the air. It's the majesty of a sunset witnessed from high above as its light falls upon the Earth. There is even more that I have yet to feel, and some I can't even describe with words," Harry said with a look of awe on his face as he tried to convey what the Flying type felt like. His face lit up as he finally thought of something. Turning to Augustus he said, "Try to jump as high as you can and just feel the air flow past you. Just try to feel the wind and sky, because that is what the Flying type feels like, as puzzling as I'm sure it sounds."

Augustus blinked and bobbed his head in a nod before leaping from his bucket and doing as Harry suggested. It took him until the group almost was at the entrance of Mt. Moon to get the feel for the Flying type, at least barely. All that was left to be done was make it useable, which would take a lot of practice.

The sun was beginning to set when the group finally saw the entrance to the Mt. Moon tunnel. However, when they approached they saw a large colony of Zubat suddenly fly frantically out of the tunnel, as well as mobbing a man in a lab coat who was running and trying to desperately fend them off. Ash and Brock immediately acted, with Ash having Pikachu shoot a Thundershock to frighten the Flying types off, hitting some of them in the process. Unfortunately, Pikachu also shocked the man. Brock had a pokeball ready and caught one of the downed Zubat.

Tom sighed but made his way quickly to the man's side to help. While the others finished chasing the rest of the colony off, Tom gave the man first aid and had Misty call for help on his Pokégear. To the relief of the rest of the group, a Pokémon Ranger was nearby and was directed to them. With the ranger's presences and knowing what the group saw and did for the man, the group moved onward into the mountain tunnel. Unfortunately, when they were well out of range for communication, the man they helped woke up and frantically told the surprised ranger the threat of Team Rocket in Mt. Moon.

The unknowing group had made it a good fifth of the way through when Harry, Tom's only pokémon out since he returned Augustus so the fish could rest, noticed the distinct lack of wild pokémon in the area. There were no shadows moving, no sounds beyond the group's footsteps, there weren't any signs other humans in the area either. This made him ruffle his feathers as his instincts screamed at him that something was terribly wrong. This feeling increased as they went further in. Tom having taken note of Harry's agitation discretely got his steel baton ready.

That readiness was well warranted. A group of men dressed in black form-fitting jumpsuits with large red 'R's' suddenly ambushed them. Tom had brandished his baton and got into a ready stance as Harry took to the air. Misty and Brock both brandished pokeballs while Pikachu leapt in front of Ash with his cheeks sparking.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" one of the grunts said, a smirk on his face, "Let's get'em boys! Admin'll want them quiet, and their pokémon will bring a pretty penny."

The group were surprised but sent their pokémon out for the fight. When the grunts sent their own out complete chaos erupted as both sides clashed. Cries of pokémon mixed with their trainers' shouts echoed loudly throughout the cave and bright flashes of light from various attacks splashed the walls. Soon dust choked the air from being kicked up by the moving bodies of the pokémon.

Through it all, Tom and Harry matched and surpassed the viciousness the Rocket grunts' pokémon displayed. They were making their way to the grunts steadily until they came upon them. Tom and Harry were almost merciless in incapacitating the grunts. The Rockets' pokémon soon noticed they weren't getting any instructions, and that was when the groups' pokémon knocked them out. When the dust settled it revealed a scene of carnage. Unconscious bodies of people and pokémon littered the floor. Tom was standing among the grunts' bodies, Harry perched on his shoulder.

Overall the group only had minor damage to their pokémon. Ash was checking over a panting Pikachu and praising him and Butterfree whom he had sent out to fight as well. When all pokémon were tended to, the group took the grunts' pokeballs and returned the unconscious pokémon, keeping the balls in Brock's bag. Ash then had Butterfree use Sleep Powder to keep the grunts unconscious. Unfortunately, the brief respite was over when footsteps were heard approaching from where the grunts had come from.

A light-blue haired man arrived in the small cavern they were in, with another group of grunts around him. Looking at the scene, the cool expression on the man was unchanged until his eyes settled on Tom. Tom who had his baton out that had blood spattered on it. The man's eyebrows rose when he connected the dots.

"I come here to find out what that racket was, and here I see a Gym Leader, two children, and a teenager among their unconscious bodies," he said. His eyes narrowed, "A teenager who seems to have knocked them out with prejudice." The man's eyes then alighted with an eager gleam even as he heaved a seemingly put-upon sigh and said, "Oh well, I guess we will just have to… encourage their silence." Looking directly at Tom, he smirked and said, "Leave the teen to me boys. I've been wanting some fun."

With that, he and his men sent their pokémon out, a lot of the Zubat, Rattata, and Ekans lines were in the cave. Unfortunately for the group there was also a Rhydon. To their further dismay, the blue haired leader of the Team Rocket operation in Mt. Moon then sent out his own pokémon to the mix, revealing them to be Golbat, Weezing, and an Electrode. Even worse was the fact that Tom and Harry were completely separated from the others.

"Tom," Ash cried in worry even as he sent out Pidgeotto to fight along with the other pokémon. Tom kept his attention on the leader even as he called back to Ash, "Pay attention on your own fight, I'll be fine." The man laughed even as he waved his hand for his pokémon to attack Tom. Tom and Harry weren't idle though. Harry activated a Steel Wing, but it wasn't the standard one. His wings looked like they were made of glowing metal, and then he made the energy as sharp as a sword. Tom released Augustus from his pokeball, even if the fish wouldn't be truly able to do much in this fight. Once done, Tom brandished his steel baton and said darkly with an unhinged looking grin of anticipation stretching across his face, "Herald, Augustus, no mercy."

With that, they exploded into action. Harry flew around Tom striking their enemies with his bladed wings, making small cuts and slashes appear on the bodies of his targets. Augustus helped distract their foes by using his new-found skills and moves. Tom fought alongside his pokémon, slamming his baton in vulnerable and painful areas. They did their best not to get hit in return, but they couldn't avoid everything.

The Electrode shot Electric type attack after attack, being a total pain. Tom did his best to get over and neutralize it. Harry, having seen what he wanted to do, assisted as much as he could, with Augustus taking cues from him. They all struck to either maim or kill, knowing that their opponents wouldn't hesitate to kill the humans if they deemed it necessary. When Tom final reached the Electric type, he struck hard and fast, avoiding attacks when he had to. However, when he struck the blow to knock it out, the Golbat struck. Harry, having noticed the attack coming, flew in the way to take the hit.

Tom watched Harry getting struck hard, knowing it would almost be an instant knock out from the sheer strength of their enemy's pokémon. He snarled and leapt at the Poison type, slamming his baton in its wings, continuing to beat on it even as he avoided its attempts to hit him back, Augustus assisting him. Harry meanwhile, was trying to gather himself up. He saw Tom making that Golbat regret its attack quite thoroughly and cheered him on in his head. That was until he saw the Weezing try to help the Golbat, with a Poison type attack that would kill Tom if it hit him. Harry knew he wouldn't be able to warn him in time, and he was hurt enough that it would almost be impossible to stop the Weezing in time. He frowned in determination, impossible was never something that applied to him. With that thought, he dug deep into himself and found a well of power within, just waiting to be used. Desperate and unwilling to lose anyone else in his life if he could do something, he tapped into it, almost missing the burst of warmth and a fraction of power from Death.

The sudden blinding white glow that engulfed him startled everyone in the cave as it lit up as if the sun was there. When the light faded, Harry stood tall despite the pain from his still existing injuries. He felt warmer, almost as if he had a flame in his soul, and he was bigger. He couldn't let the change in his body distract him though. Locking his emerald eyes onto the threat to his Tom, he let out a loud war cry and shot at the poison type, fire burning in his beak as he tapped into the fire he now felt in his soul. When he felt he was close enough, he spat out the small flame at one of the spouts that Weezing's gas came out of, igniting the inside of it and causing a large amount of damage to the Poison type. It cried out in agony, but Harry wasn't done. Activating a Steel Wing, making it sharp, he attacked the pokémon viciously, wanting to make sure it wouldn't hurt Tom or anyone else again.

Tom, meanwhile, was ecstatic at his starter's evolution and second wind. He finished the Golbat off, making it fall unconscious at his feet. Augustus Tackled it away. With that done, Tom turned his attention to the leader, who looked very pissed off, yet anticipatory. Tom, grinning, brandished his baton while Augustus hopped to his side.

"Kid," he man said menacingly, "you somehow are pissing me off and making me want to make you part of Team Rocket." Tom practically growled and attacked the man, who showed he had some skill in human combat, giving Tom a tough time and striking back as much as he took. It wasn't until Tom slammed his baton down hard enough on the man's arm, making a sickening crack as the arm broke and the man grunted in pain, that the man narrowed his eyes and said, "You may have won here boy, but stay away from Rocket business. We'll have our pound of flesh from you and anyone else who gets in our way. Retreat!"

There was a sudden darkness that blinded the group, making Misty gasp in shock. When the darkness was gone, all that was reveled was the unconscious bodies of the grunts from before, and more unconscious pokémon. There was only one dead pokémon, the leader's Weezing. Harry had shoved a sharpened Steel Wing into its eye during the fight. He didn't pull any punches.

The group was mostly alright, the pokémon exhausted and hurt, but no injuries that were life threatening. Tom, after wiping his baton clean, checked Augustus over before returning him to give him a rest. Harry winged his way over to Tom, who extended an arm for him as he was now too big for his shoulder. When everyone had checked their pokémon, they made their way to stand with Tom.

It was around then that the cavalry had arrived. Police, guided by the noise from the battle, had arrived. A quick assessment of the situation and questioning of what happened led to the group handing over the grunts' pokeballs they had, telling what they experienced, and everyone's injuries being treated. When it was all said and done, the group was allowed to continue on their journey with the reminder to be careful. The fact that Harry had killed another pokémon in defense of Tom was forgotten by the group due to the commotion. Instead, they marveled at Harry's new size, being almost the size of Pidgeotto, when Tom told them that this was unusual for his species.

It was after midnight when the group made it out of Mt. Moon. Harry was exhausted, having not been in that kind of battle for a while. He was paranoid at the idea Team Rocket would exact revenge from the group, so he convinced Tom to get the group to set up camp in a clearing in the trees that made up a small wooded area on Route 4. Harry was exhausted, but he decided to keep watch himself. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best option they had considering Pikachu wasn't used to such action, Pidgeotto had poor night vision being a daytime predator, Butterfree was also tired and not used to doing anything but hiding at night, and Augustus was tired and wouldn't know how to tell above water threats from random wind. The rest of the pokémon hadn't been in such a situation for a long time. Harry was the only one who could thanks to his previous life.

In the war against Voldemort, even if he had Hermione and Ron with him in that hellish time, he had to learn how to keep watch when exhausted. This was further reinforced with later conflicts. Harry knew he wouldn't be able to catch as many things as he could have, had he been relatively well rested, but it was better than nothing or someone inexperienced doing it. He would just have to sleep a lot during the day. He told Tom his intentions, and Tom had agreed to only wake him up if there was true trouble. Augustus could handle some fights if there was a need.

The group went about setting up camp with Harry using his newly learned Ember to light the campfire. Brock proceeded to make a quick dinner that really was meant only for filling the stomach. Once everyone's sleeping bags were set up they got ready to sleep and turned in, leaving Harry in his lonesome watching over them from a tree branch.

Things were peaceful for a night in a wooded area. Harry had let himself go into a light doze, paying attention to the sounds of the wild and listening for things that didn't belong, but generally letting himself get some rest for his weary body. This peace lasted until the sound of scales scraping against tree bark made him snap to attention and rapidly move his eyes around the clearing. He soon caught sight of two yellow eyes glinting in the light of the false dawn that was starting to appear. Narrowing his eyes, Harry glided to a tree branch closer to the eyes. Hopping from that to another, closer branch, still leaving a generous amount of space, Harry got a better vantage point of what was behind those eyes. He peered through the undergrowth, and saw a long green snake pokémon, scales faintly glinting in the light of the false dawn. Taking a breath, Harry prepared for the confrontation to come.

A/N: O.O' This chapter, to use a cliched meme, is over 9000 words long. I am so sorry that it took this long to complete it. However, it's here now, and I hope you enjoy. Please, please, please tell me what you think of the fight scenes in this chapter. I really need the feedback.

In other news, kaisonsheart you managed to surprise me when I read your review. Really didn't think anyone would actually get what who Will was, so congratulations on guessing who it was.

I don't think I'll make a chapter this long again unless I really have the time and inspiration to do it. Hopefully it won't take over two thirds of a year to make the next one.

Thank you everyone who reviewed, it's nice to hear what people think of the story. If there are any spelling mistakes, just know that I tried my best in catching all of them. Hope you people liked this chapter despite my mistakes. :)