Episode 7: Prowess

Viridian Forest was the leading obstacle between Viridian City and Pewter City. Young inexperienced trainers will usually find themselves lost in the thick environment and be faced with many swarming Bug type Pokémon. Occasionally, unlucky trainers encounter Beedrill swarms and be forced back to Viridian City. Fortunately for six young trainers, they were able to carefully navigate through the forest without running into any Kakuna swarms.

Kevin, Nazz, and Rolf were the first cul-de-sac trainers to set foot in Pewter City while the Eds were close behind just barely exiting Viridian Forest. Jimmy and Sarah were currently staying in Viridian City, while Jonny's whereabouts were currently unknown.

Eddy was the first to enter the exit leading towards Pewter, his clothes were covered in bits of String Shot. "Way to go, sockhead." Eddy said sourly, trying to clean off the sticky string.

"You were trying to disturb the natural environment, Eddy." Double D excused as he tried to clean up the String Shot from his body.

"If you had just let me burn the forest down with Ed's Charmander, then we wouldn't have gotten attacked by Beedrill!" Eddy yelled out.

"That's exactly why we were ambushed," Double D explained. "Charmander's attempted arson on the forest must've alerted any nearby Bug types and that's why they went hostile towards us."

"Yeah yeah," Eddy ignored, removing strands of grass from his right ear.

"Skorch wanted to play Double D," Ed said, entering the room. Unlike Double D and Eddy, Ed was completely deprived of String Shot or other Bug type attacks, but a burp from him quickly solved the mystery.

Eddy quickly pulled the two closer to his side by the neck collar. "Let's get going already," Eddy snapped, kicking the door leading to Pewter City.

"Can't you just use your hands, Eddy?" Double D suggested, but was ignored.

"Let's go boys!" Eddy shouted, leading the way and following the path. Ed and Double D were following close behind.

Pewter City was a bit more larger in area and population surpassing Viridian, it was known for being nestled between rugged mountains and rocks with pathways leading to Viridian Forest and Route 3. Like Viridian, it was a fairly quiet city that only harbored a few homes. Main attractions of this city included the Pewter Museum of Science and the Pewter City Gym. In the past, the Pewter Museum only featured fossils of prehistoric Pokémon such as Aerodactyl and Kabutops, but thanks to many visitors paying good sum of money every visit. They expanded the Museum and were able to display the more recent prehistoric fossils that were discovered in the past few years.

Another attraction included the Pewter Gym where trainers(old and new) can challenge the Gym Leader to battle for a gym badge.

Kevin, Nazz, and Rolf had already explored the city, now the only thing left was to challenge the gym leader. "So, whose gonna fight him first?" Kevin asked, turning his head towards Rolf.

Kevin and Rolf were the only two in their group to register for the gym challenge with Nazz acting as supporting cheerleader. "Rolf will willingly allow Kevin-boy to take on the challenge first," Rolf replied.

Kevin smiled. "Thanks, dude." he proceeded to open the gym doors, with Rolf and Nazz following.

Inside the gym resembled a Japanese Rock Garden with several boulders scattered across the Pokémon Arena. The walls of the gym had several jagged rocks protruding out of them to provide more background to the gym leader's Rock Garden. Bleachers were provided for any supporters to watch with every row colored light brown.

"Man, this guy sure likes rocks," Kevin commented, completely surprised. "Where is the gym leader anyway?"

Nazz inspected the Pokémon Arena, it was much more wider in terms to the Pokémon Center arenas, but a closer look indicated that someone was standing on the far side of the field. "Is that him?" Nazz questioned, pointing her index finger towards the platform.

The lights suddenly flashed revealing the siloutte. It was none other then the gym leader himself, Brock.

Brock was one of the many Rock type specialists scattered across the globe. He wore an orange long v-neck sleeved shirt with a black undershirt, asparagus colored cargo pants held by a black belt, and light brown boots. One of Brock's noticeable facial features would be his eyes being completely squinted and brown spiky hair. He had a very serious demeanor preferring to stay professional in his career and only relaxing when not battling.

"It looks like the gym leader's battling someone else, Kevin," Nazz stated, as the trio took a seat upon the many bleachers surrounding the arena.

"Yeah, but with who?" Kevin wondered, slouching in his seat. So far, only the gym leader's side of the arena was lit up with the ref already waiting.

The ref in the middle raised both of his flags up preparing to introduce the challenger. "The battle between Gym Leader Brock and Jonny of Peach Creek will now begin!" the Ref introduced lighting up the challenger side with Jonny and Plank eagarly awaiting to battle.

Kevin stood up from his chair completely surprised by Jonny's sudden appearance in Pewter City. "What gives? We didn't see Jonny pass us earlier."

"Rolf did not even notice that Jonny had left the Pokémon Center," Rolf added. "Last thing Rolf remembers was that Jonny was lollygagging with boy Jimmy."

"Maybe he just passed us and we didn't even notice," Nazz theorized. "Besides Kevin, with Jonny battling the gym leader first, maybe it'll give you some advantage or something?"

Kevin sat back on his seat impatiently waiting for Jonny to finish his gym battle. He cocked an eyebrow wondering what Nazz, but Kevin immediately caught on. "Oh I get it," he said, beginning to slouch in his seat. "With Jonny battling the gym leader first, I can get some idea on the gym leader's Pokémon."

Suddenly, the gym leader doors opened up once more. This caught everyone's attention and turned their heads towards the door. "These doors are automated, Eddy," said a voice from outside.

Eddy walked in peering out to get a better look. The gym was in complete darkness to create a better mood for any Pokémon battles. "Man, I can't see a thing!" Eddy complained, only managing to use the Pokémon platform as a source of light.

Double D rummaged around his backpack and retrieved his flashlight. "Perhaps this should provide a better view," He flicked the flashlight on shining a circular path of light.

The Eds made their towards the platform, but a sign quickly stopped their advance. Double D shoned the flashlight towards the sign to get a look. "Gym Leader is currently battling another challenger, please either exit the gym and wait or watch the battle through one of the many benches," Double D read out.

Kevin groaned and muttered, "Great, it's the dorks."

Ed focused on the platform attempting to figure out the challenger. "Hey guys! It's Jonny!" Ed called out.

"Are you kidding me? How did he even get ahead of us!" Eddy wondered grabbing onto the bars to prevent himself from falling off the bleachers.

"Excuse me!" the Ref called out. "If you would all kindly take a seat, this gym battle can get under way."

"Let's sit over there," Eddy suggested, pointing towards the western side of the gym. Unknowingly to them due to the very dark gym, Kevin and the others sitting there keeping a constant eye on the Eds.

"Do you think they see us?" Nazz asked. "Even I can't see them now due the gym's really dark stage."

"Let Rolf make the introductions," he suggested, raising up his right palm. "Ed boys!" This suddenly made the Eds who were about to sit down on the far opposite side jump.

All three Eds motioned their body towards the voice. Double D focused his eyes towards the figures. "Is that Rolf? I can't really tell with this lighting," Double D said, walking towards them with Ed and Eddy following behind in response.

As the Eds got closer, each of them were finally able to see each other. "Hello, Ed boys!" Rolf greeted, starting the conversation.

"How the heck did you guys even get ahead of us?" Eddy asked.

"Unlike you, we didn't have a problem with the Beedrill swarms," Kevin taunted, wanting to remind the Eds of their recent endeavors in the Viridian Forest.

"Kevin, if they didn't get attacked by the Beedrill first then it would've been us," Nazz reasoned, trying to keep peace within the gym. "Now let's just watch the battle, okay?"

The boys remained in silence, this wasn't the first time that Nazz showed her mature side in the cul-de-sac. In response, Kevin willingly shut himself up, but made a silent grumble as he began to slouch in his seat. The Eds also followed suit by sitting on the top row just in front of Kevin's group.

"Well, this is incredibly awkward," Double D muttered, wanting the tension between the two groups to ease.

Suddenly, two bright white flashes of light enveloped the kids. It turned out to be Ed tossing out his Charmander and Wooper. "Why did you send out your Wooper and Charmander, Ed?" Double D asked, watching the two Pokémon move closer to Ed's right side.

"It's for them to watch the battle too, Double D," Ed replied, making both Rolf and Nazz take out their Poké Balls in reponse.

"Great idea, Ed!" Nazz enthused as she tossed out her Chikorita, Emolga, and her brand new Pokémon which happened to be a Burmy.

Burmy had a black segmented body with a coil-like appendage on the top its head. It had a beak-like mouth and yellow eyes. Burmy had six stubby legs (the first two pairs are black, while the back pair is yellow). Since Burmy was caught in the forest, its coat was made of leaves.

Rolf also followed suit tossing out both Totodile and Rattata. "What kind of Pokémon is that? It looks like a tiny tree!" Eddy commented, staring directly at Burmy.

"It's a bagworm Pokémon, Eddy," Double D explained. "I also managed to discover this sort of Pokémon back to when I was exploring Viridian Forest."

Double D stood up from his seat. "Although this might be rude to Jonny, but I recently just found out that they have a very famous museum in this very city."

"And?" Eddy questioned.

"It's to inform you of my locations, Eddy," Double D explained. "If you require anything, you can scour for me there."

Double D began his walk towards the exit. "Let Rolf join you! The surroundings of this area makes Rolf relive his memories in the dark forest of my homeland," Rolf said, standing up from his seat with his two Pokémon.

"Ugh, finally," Eddy murmured, turning to the arena beginning to also slouch in his seat.

Jonny was trembling, clutching Plank tightly with his right hand. "Oh, I don't know if this was such a good idea, Plank," Jonny said, starting to feel the pressure.

In fact, if it wasn't for Plank's advice, he wouldn't be here challenging the gym leader. Jonny listened closely once more to Plank's guidance and suddenly found the courage to lift his spirits back up. "Is the challenger ready?" the Ref asked as Jonny nodded in response.

The ref raised both of his flags up. "The battle between Gym Leader Brock and Jonny of Peach Creek will now begin!" the Ref announced. "This will be a three on three Pokémon battle! Throw out your first Pokémon!"

Both Brock and Jonny tossed out their first Pokémon. Jonny threw out his Cubone, while Brock sent out his Geodude.

Geodude was a gray boulder with bulging, rocky eyebrows, trapezoidal eyes with brown irises, and muscular five-fingered arms. It had the ability to levitate, although it was unaffected from attacks from the ground.

Cubone eyed his opponent very carefully. ("Try to go easy on me, it's my first time handling something hard.") Cubone requested, although this creeped out his opponent.

"Let the battle begin!" the Ref yelled out.

"Geodude, use Rock Throw!" Brock commanded as Geodude lifted one of the many rocks surrounding the arena and threw it swiftly thanks to his superior strength.

"Smash that with Headbutt!" Jonny exclaimed. Cubone hunkered down and managed to crush the rock with ease.

("I guess you can say, I'm harder,") Cubone joked, looking at all the pieces of rock crashing down.

"Not bad," Brock complimented. "However, the battle's just beginning! Geodude, give yourself a speed boost with Rock Polish!" Geodude suddenly emitted a bright light as his body felt lighter and less heavy.

"Now follow it up with Rock Slide!" Brock continued as Geodude swiftly unleashes a barrage of rocks using his Rock Polish advantage. This attack caused a mighty rock storm as they all aimed for Cubone.

"What do we do now, Plank?" Jonny cried out, trying to get advice. Plank immediately responded. "Rock Smash, Cubone!"

Cubone held his bone club tightly as the onslaught of rocks were aimed directly towards him. In reponse, he managed to crush one of them, but was piled on by the leftovers. ("Well someone has a case of fast hands,") Cubone thought as he used his bone club to break out of his rock bombardment. Thanks to Cubone's minor resistance over Rock type moves, he was able to only sustained minor scratches and dirt on his body.

"Geodude, Tackle!" Brock commanded as Geodude immediately charged towards Cubone. Since Rock Polish was still in effect, Tackle quickly came in contact sending Cubone crashing onto one of the many rock spires causing envionmental damage.

Jonny took out his PokéDex and scanned Cubone's health. "What do we do now, Plank?" he asked, completely befuddled at what he's suppose to do next. "Cubone's health is in the red!"

("Man, this is going so slow! Why can't that bald guy just end it with his starter or something?") Charmander commented, starting to squirm in his seat.

"Geodude, end this with another Tackle!" Brock commanded as Geodude charged towards Cubone once more with Rock Polish still in-effect.

"D-d-dodge it!" Jonny cried out, but to no avail.

Cubone was struggling to even stand up, let alone dodge it. His body had been violently scathed by hard rock and dirt pressed against his body. ("Well, I'm getting knocked out from the front view, that's new,") he thought as Cubone was sent out of the arena by Geodude's hard Tackle. It also managed to leave a crack on Cubone's helmet, but not enough for it to shatter completely.

"Cubone is unable to battle! The winner is Geodude!" the Ref announced.

Jonny picked up Cubone gently with his two arms. He couldn't help but feel guilty for this outcome. Plank even tried to cheer him up, but Jonny remained silent. All he could do now was return him and hope for the best.

"Looks like Jonny's still new to this," Kevin commented, noticing Jonny's weak expressions.

"Why did Jonny lose, Eddy?" Ed asked, feeling confused by the result.

"It's because he's taking up most of his time by asking for advice from that hunk of wood," Eddy bluntly answered as he yawned afterwards. "The sooner Jonny loses, the faster I can win and get my gym badge."

Double D and Rolf were strolling on the pathway towards the museum, they remained silent until Double D finally got the courage to speak. "So, Rolf," he started, getting his attention. "Forgive me for asking, but I'm beginning to suspect that you have another reason for joining me on this little trip."

Rolf chuckled. "It seems that Rolf has been found out," he replied. "It is true, Rolf has another reason."

"And that would be?" Double D continued.

"Do you remember your speech back in the old healing lands of the Pokémon Center?" Rolf asked, getting a nod from him. "Rolf is beginning to suspect that you longer want to engage in this quest, yes?"

"Well, it's true that I don't want to witness another Pokémon battle due to its unnecessary violence," Double D paused himself. "...but the mysterious backgrounds on the Pokémon themselves is the only thing stopping me from leaving."

"You realize that you have revealed yourself to be a hypocrite," Rolf retorted, suddenly taking Double D by surprise. "How are you going to know more about the creatures of this land if you do not bond with them?"

"They're other methods of bonding with Pokémon, I'm sure of that," Double D explained, preparing to defend himself. "For now, I will only resort to battling if I need to tame myself a new companion." He suddenly realized what Rolf meant and let out a quiet "Oh..."

"It seems that you have caught on, but Rolf does not like grim faces," Rolf told him. "It is better to be excited for the new areas, Double D-Edd boy."

Double D gave a faint smile as the duo continued their walk towards the museum.

Brock kept his Geodude on the battlefield patiently awaiting Jonny's next Pokémon. Jonny had a grim look on his face, the thought of his Pokémon getting injured, or worst...killed. "Do you think Double D was right, Plank?" Jonny asked, desperately trying to seek advice.

"There he goes again," Eddy muttered.

"I hope you're right, Plank," Jonny said, slowly attempting to pick up another one of his Poké Balls. "Timburr, go!" Jonny summoned out his brand new captured Pokémon.

Timburr was a bipedal, mainly gray Pokémon. It had a dark purple nose and bulbous protrusions extending from the front and lower parts of its head. Pinkish, vein-like bulges were present on the back of its head, and similar pink bands adorn its shoulders and thighs. It was known to carry timber in its arms.

Timbur positioned his wooden item to replace it for a club, gripping the handle tightly. ("Now is the time to show you what a true warrior is capable of!")

"Let the second match begin!" the Ref announced.

"Geodude, use Rock Slide!" Brock ordered as Geodude picked up several rocks around the arena and started chucking them up high aiming towards Timburr.

("Is that all you can do?") Timburr asked disappointingly, jumping up and aiming for the boulders. Giving a few swings of his mighty timbur, he shatters any oncoming rocks that was near his position as the remaining rocks crashed down on the opposite side.

"Hey, I didn't tell Timburr to do that..." Jonny murmured, but decided to let it go since it was obviously assisting him.

"Did you see that Eddy?" Ed asked, starting to get excited by the battle. "Timburr eliminated all of those rocks with just one heavy smash of his wooden club of ultimate destruction!"

Eddy responded with a loud yawn, not even hinting at a sign of interest.

"Hmm, not bad," Brock complimented, feeling slightly confused at Timburr's behavior.

"What do we do now, Plank? It looks like that Timburr won't-" A sudden movement from Timburr quickly caught his attention. On Timburr's own accord, he activated Focus Energy which raised up his chances of getting a critical hit and proceeded to attack again.

"Stop Timburr with Rock Throw!" Brock ordered as Geodude swiftly picked up a near boulder by his location and threw it at the charging Timburr.

("Nice try!") Timburr exclaimed, crumbling the rock with one swing of his Rock Smash. Taking Geodude and Brock by surprise, he seized this opportunity and gave one mighty swing to Geodude's face with Rock Smash sending him crashing down the dirt arena. Geodude also suffered super effective damage resulting in a quick knockout.

The ref raised his flag to Jonny and announced, "Geodude is unable to battle! The winner is Timburr!"

"Our first win, Plank!" Jonny exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Ed and Nazz clapped lightly to show some respect towards the battlers. Timburr, however was not satisfied; the thought of battling only made him more eager to fight. ("NO, you're not knocked down yet!") Timburr yelled out, his tone of voice completely changing.

Taking everyone by surprise, Timburr pounced towards the knocked out Geodude in an attempt to finish what he started. In response, Brock managed to return Geodude before Timburr could do anything. Jonny caught a glimpse of Timburr's face, he had completely changed with eyes showing the intent to kill in a battle and the sudden change in posture resembling a barbarian. Fortunately, Jonny managed to return Timburr back in his Poké Ball before another unfortunate event could ocurr.

Eddy and Kevin suddenly perked up and expressed some mixed emotions, while Ed simply thought it was part of an act and cheered loudly. Nazz didn't know what to think, but expressed shock. "Looks like we got another Pokémon that doesn't obey orders," Kevin joked, referring to his Pidgey.

"Dude, that was scary," Nazz commented. "Disobediance or not, that was way worst then your Pidgey, Kevin."

Jonny was trembling in his feet, but shook it off. "What the heck do we now, buddy? Timburr's more focused on killing and Cubone's already knocked out!" Jonny asked, putting whoever wins the battle more important.

The exterior of the Pewter Museum resembled a giant archway for an entrance, leading into a rectangular shaped building with a pink roof. Having already paid their entry fee in, Rolf and Double D were freely exploring the museum's first floor. The first floor held the front desk, and the nine fossil exhibits.

Double D was taking various notes of every fossil in one of the many notebooks he carried in his knapsack. "Isn't this amazing Rolf? Other then the minimal pay required to learn something educational, I must admit that this sure has been a fun experience!"

Rolf paid little attention to the recreational fossil exhibits and focused more on the actual rocks that gave today's researchers a sign that they exist. "Rolf is indeed impressed by this rock collection, this claw fossil has truly poked excitement into Rolf's mortal soul!"

"Can you actually believe that they have the technology to revive prehistoric life?" Double D quoted, letting his insane learning emotion out and completely copying every single description of each exhibit word for word.

"Yes, that is nice," Rolf replied, continuing to browse.

Double's pocket suddenly started to ring. "I knew receiving a cellular device was a hassle," he sighed, viewing the caller identity to be Eddy. "Hello?"

"Oh hello, Eddy, what seems to be the problem? Are you sure it's close to finishing Eddy? I'm kind of busy myself with jotting down our prehistoric world. Well, I'll take your word for it. I should arrive there in a couple of minutes." Saying goodbye, he stored the cellphone away in his knapsack. "Oh, if only the Professor had given our Pokégears before departing Peach Creek..."

Double D noticed Rolf was still gazing towards the many rock fossils. "Rolf, are you gonna stay here for a bit longer?" Double D asked, getting ready to turn around and leave.

Rolf didn't turn his head, but instead only waved with his right hand. "Yes, yes. Rolf will remain here a bit longer to honor these rocks."

Having said their farewells, Double D immediately sped off for Pewter Gym. Unbeknowst to Double D, unfortunate events were about to ocurr for the son of a shepard.

"No more holding back," Brock warned, taking out his second Pokémon. "Bonsly, come out!" He chucked the Poké Ball in the arena summoning his Bonsly out.

Bonsly was a brown Pokémon with a round body. Bonsly had a rim around the middle of its body and had a club shape on top of its head that's similar to its evolution's arms. Bonsly had 3 yellow spots on its face, two of which surround its eyes, which were small black dots. Bonsly's legs were short and had toe-less feet. Bonsly also had a hole on its rear similar to the draining hole that a flowerpot had.

Jonny quickly beamed with a happy smirk. "Look at that Pokémon, Plank!" he enthused, gazing straight at Bonsly. "Way cool!"

"Will the challenger kindly throw out his third Pokémon?" the Ref requested.

"Oh, my bad!" Jonny replied, as he pulled out his final Poké Ball. "Oshawott, let's go!" Throwing it in the ring, his Oshawott appeared once more.

("Let's do this,") Oshawott greeted in his Nuke Dukem-like voice.

"Let the match begin!"

"Oshawott, let's start with-" Jonny was quickly interrupted by a crying Bonsly.

Eddy chuckled. "What kind of Pokémon cries? And here I thought gym leaders were supposed to have super powerful Pokémon."

Brock kept up a confident smirk, but Jonny and Plank were unwilling to attack. "We don't wanna attack something that's crying," Jonny said, halting his attack.

"Rock Throw!" Brock blurted out as his Bonsly quickly stopped crying and chucked a small nearby boulder using its powerful head.

"Oshawott, counter it with Water Gun! Quick!" Jonny exclaimed, taken by surprise.

Oshawott attempted to release a strong gush of water, but was instantly sent back by the rock; the boulder getting shattered on impact. "Get up Oshawott!" Jonny pleaded.

Oshawott pulled himself back up, rubbing away the dirt that formed in his facial area. ("Watch the merchandise, this face is what attracts the ladies,") Oshawott said, having a smug look on his face.

"Rock Throw!" Brock ordered as Bonsly picked up the last remaining small boulder it could toss with his weight.

"Break through it with Water Gun!" Jonny exclaimed as Oshawott released a strong pump of water from his mouth. Since Oshawott's power was greater then Bonsly's; the rock was quickly overpowered and doused Bonsly right in the face. This was also a super effective attack causing some real cries from Bonsly.

"Bonsly is unable to battle! The winner is Oshawott!" the Ref announced, indicating that Brock has one Pokémon left, while Jonny still had two; even if one of them didn't obey.

Brock gently picked up Bonsly by the arms. "There, there, you did a great job," he complimented, trying to calm the baby Pokémon down. "Now, take a good long rest." Brock pulled out Bonsly's Poké Ball and returned him back.

"What a bore," Kevin commented.

"I think it's been pretty cool so far!" Nazz added.

"We'll be keeping Oshawott in!" Jonny told the ref, eagarly awaiting Brock's final Pokémon.

Brock had a very confident smirk on and pulled out his last Poké Ball. "Now then, let's see how you handle this next one! Onix, let's go!" Brock threw the Poké Ball in summoning out his Onix.

Eddy, Nazz, Kevin, and Jonny dropped their jaws while Ed was cheering even more. "What the heck is that thing?" Kevin yelled out, surprised by the sight of the Pokémon.

Eddy quickly pulled out his PokéDex and scanned it frantically, his palms shivering violently.

"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. It tunnels through the ground which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. It can move the ground at fifty miles per hour."

Onix resembled a giant chain of gray boulders, with a rocky spine on its head. This Pokémon had a magnet in its brain that served as an internal compass. Onix's body became more rounded and smoother as it grew with age.

"I wouldn't want to be melonhead right now, look at that thing!" Eddy commented, not getting over the size of the rock snake.

Jonny's feet were both quivering and his eyes became bug eyed from the massive Pokémon. "W-w-w-what do we d-d-d-do now, buddy?" Jonny stuttered, paralyzed from Onix's appearance.

"Let the final match, begin!" the Ref announced, raising both of his flags up.

"Onix, use Stone Edge!" Brock ordered as Onix materialized various jagged rocks and launched thim directly at Oshawott.

"Oshawott, let's get rid of them with W-w-water gun!" Jonny exclaimed, still feeling a bit paralyzed from Onix.

("Let's do this, rocky!") Oshawott exclaimed as he shot out a gush of water from his mouth.

As Water Gun was about to destroy the rocks easily, Brock called out, "Not this time! Quick, use Bind!" Thanks to Onix's extended reach, he was able to catch Oshawott by surprise and got him into a strangulation hold.

"Yup, this should be over soon." Eddy commented.

"Don't be so sure, Eddy." a voice replied.

Eddy and Ed both turned to the voice which turned out to be Double D. "About time you got here, sockhead!" Eddy replied, before realizing his pal's other sentence. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Double D sat down in his original seat. "Remember that Jonny's Pokémon is a starter, if my hunch is correct, its health should be getting close to red." He took out his PokéDex and gave Oshawott a quick scan to reveal his health. "It should be close now..."

Jonny and Plank could only watch as Oshawott's various squeals of helplessness echoes throughout the gym. Onix's Bind was squeezing Oshawott's body hard and it intended to keep its grip on it very tight dealing passive damage every second. "Oshawott, get out of there with Water Gun!" Jonny ordered.

Oshawott was grinning and realized it was a clear shot to Onix's neck, he only had one chance to break free due to his health almost about to fail him completely. ("This should be easy, say goodbye Rocky!") Oshawott yelled out, releasing a strong dose of water from his mouth dead on sight. Not only was this a super effective hit, but it also managed to break Oshawott free.

Oshawott was covered in dirt and scratches, but still managed to stand.

"This is gonna be a close fight," Kevin commented, using his PokéDex to scan the Pokémon's health. "Onix is in the yellow, while Oshawott is in the red."

"Wait, if Oshawott's health is in the red, doesn't that mean...?" Nazz asked, getting a nod from Kevin.

Oshawott chuckled weakly, but still managed to give a smirk of confidence. ("Well then rocky, let's end this...shall we?) Oshawott asked as a dark blue aura came out of his body.

"Wait, isn't that what Bulbasaur and Cyndaquil had, Plank?" Jonny asked, reminicing Eddy and Kevin's past battle.

"Even Jonny's starter has that power? What gives!" Eddy complained.

"All twelve starters had been embedded with this special trait, Eddy," Double D explained, realizing that Eddy was the only one that didn't hear his explanation on abilities. "Grass starters have Overgrow, fire starters have Blaze, and what you're seeing right now is the water starter ability named Torrent."

"The special ability that the starters have are truly amazing," Brock commented, impressed by its theatrics. "Let's see if you can put this ability to good use! Onix, use Rock Polish!" Onix buffered his entire body shining an immense light from all boulders.

"Now I know we can win this, Plank!" Jonny yelled out in confidence. "Oshawott, use Water Gun!"

Thanks to Torrent's influence, Oshawott released a powerful stream of water from his mouth and it was coming in at a faster speed. "Onix, dodge with Dig!" Brock ordered as Onix's boost of speed managed him to travel under much quicker and evading the super effect attack.

Onix was underground and it gave Brock the advantage, now Oshawott will have to blindly figure out where the burrowed Onix may be hiding. "If I had to make a prediction, it's highly possible that Onix may attack from-" Double D was interrupted as Onix immediately lashed out under Oshawott's footing.

Oshawott was in mid-air looking directly below Onix who was about to strike with Dig. "If Jonny doesn't make a move now, he's done for," Kevin commented, actually observing the battle getting rid of his bored expressions.

Plank immediately yelled out to Jonny. "Now's our chance?" Jonny repeated before he realized what Plank meant. "Hey yeah! Now's our chance! Oshawott, finish this with Water Gun!"

("I guess you can say, I win,") Oshawott said, unleashing one more powerful stream of water from his mouth point blank. It also caused the invisible chains that held Onix's rock body to split apart as each boulder crashed down.

"Oh my lord!" Double D exclaimed in disgust.

Jonny also yelled realizing that it was his own doing for Onix to have a severed head. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to ha-"

"Don't worry," Brock interrupted, as he pulled out Onix's Poké Balls. "As long as Onix's head is in intact, its body will regenerate."

"So it isn't dead?" Jonny sighed in relief.

"Onix is unable to battle! The winner is Jonny from Peach Creek!" the Ref announced.

Ed gave out a loud roar of cheers, while Nazz, Kevin, and Double D applaused. Jonny jumped for joy having just won his first gym battle and the first one from Peach Creek to obtain it. "We did it, Oshawott!" Jonny complimented, picking him up with his right hand. "Me and Plank really owe a lot to you!"

Brock walked up to Jonny with his special prize. "In recognition for defeating this gym, I give you the Boulder Badge," Brock held out a simple gray octagon for Jonny to receive.

Jonny picked it up gently. "This sure is a hoot, huh buddy?" Jonny asked.

Brock then turned his attention towards the audience. "Now then, aren't you next?" He pointed his index finger to Kevin, to which Eddy let an angry shout.

"Look on the bright side Eddy, at least you'll have time to come up with a strategy," Double D told him, trying to cheer him up.

"Wonder what's keeping Rolf? He's about to miss your battle!" Nazz realized.

"I should beat this guy easily, anyways," Kevin replied, having a confident grin after just watching Jonny's battle.

Back at the museum, Rolf was having his own battle. His Totodile was heavily damaged, while several of the exhibits had been destroyed. "Rolf must know why are you attempting to crush out the history of this land?" Rolf demanded, looking towards the attacker.

The attacker had a light brown cloak that concealed his/her face and somehow managed to hide his/her voice by using a voice changer. "Why should I tell you? Now get out of the way so I can crush those fossils you keep guarding," the Robed trainer replied, having Krokorok standby and ready to battle.

Krokorok was a primarily tan-colored, bipedal crocodilian Pokémon, having a long snout as typical of crocodilians, and a thick black stripe on the bridge. Krokorok's eyes were round and sepia-colored, with a circular pattern of black around them stretching between each eye, giving the impression of an archetypal robber's mask or a pair of glasses, with the ridges surrounding the eyes being large and protruding. Many thick black stripes were present down Krokorok's back, stretching to its pink-colored underside and encompassing its tan-colored limbs; Its tail had black spikes and black stripes running down it.

"Rolf will never allow you to harm these emblems of the past!" Rolf shouted.

"If that's how you wanna play it, then I'll just destroy this building!" the attacker announced. "Krokorok, take this building apart with Earthquake!"

Krokorok immediately stomped with its right foot setting off a strong vibration and cracking the floor. This caused the walls to crack and the roof also gave in to Earthquake's strong effects. During this commotion, the robed trainer escaped while Rolf was attempting to save the fossils that were still intact.

Rolf returned Totodile and turned to the fossils, with the roof about to collapse, Rolf used his two muscular arms to pick up two of the fossils and dashed out. Fortunately, at that exact moment the roof gave way and blocked out the entrance.

Rolf could only look at despair and fisted the ground in anger. "Rolf will not forgive the scoundrel responsible for this! In the name of Rolf's great ancestors, I will make you pay!" He bellowed out.

Many hours later, construction began on repairing the museum. Machops, Machokes, and even Machamps were scattered around with several construction workers.

Machop were bipedal, tailed creatures that had gray skin, and three brown ridges on top of its head. They had large red eyes, three thin rib-like stripes on the sides of its chest, and small tails. Its feet appeared to had no toes.

Machoke appear as larger, tailless Machop with red marks along their muscular arms. Their faces were more reptilian than before. The marks actually looked like places where the skin had stretched apart because it could barely contain its huge muscles. Machoke wore black wrestling tights for better movement and a large, golden belt with a little red P on the buckle.

Machamp was a bipedal, tailless Pokémon, and was notable for being extremely muscled and having four arms. Its skin color is bluish-gray and it has red eyes. On its head, there were three ridges right above its eyes, which were right above its frog-like mouth. It had two arms on each side of its body, a pair located where its arms were in its pre-evolved form, and another pair directly above that attached on the top of the shoulder. It wore a legless black girdle along with the power-save belt that it wore as a Machoke. Its legs were also quite muscled, and its feet only had two toes.

In the timespan of the last few hours, Eddy, Kevin, Ed, and Rolf had received their Boulder Badges. Rolf had also been awarded the Claw Fossil he rescued as a reward for defending the museam.

Even though only Rolf was involved during the attack on the museum, the other culdesac kids asissted in repairing some of the flooring and even the roof.

The kids expressed some concern about this recent attack and had many questions. They could only hope that this event was just pure random.

Party Data

Jonny

1. Oshawott(Male)

Level: 13

Ability: Torrent

Nature: Hasty

Current Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Retaliate

2. Cubone(Male)

Level: 11

Ability: Lightningrod

Nature: Naughty

Current Moves: Rock Smash, Tail Whip, Bone Club, Smack Down

3. Timburr(Male)

Level: 11

Ability: Sheer Force

Nature: Brave

Current Moves: Focus Energy, Rock Smash, Two other unknown moves

A/N: If the final part seemed rush, then it was intentional. Everything will be explained eventually. Also, I will only have one culdesac kid battle with the gym leader while the others just off-screen get it, just as I did with Jonny. This was to avoid the repetitive battles, but there will be times where there will be two gym battles with two separate culdesac kid. Upgraded moves for Oshawott were "Brine." Since I don't know how Onix breaks apart, I just made it so that only super effective moves can do it. Other then that, constructive criticism is once again appreciated and hope you enjoyed the chapter.