Hey this is just a random chapter from my fanfic. If you want the whole thing either comment or PM for the link to it.

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April 8, 2010

Hearing my alarm start blaring, I sat up slightly and leaned over to turn it off. I must have misjudged it because a moment later I felt my face meet the floor in a rude awakening. Grumbling, I stood up and slammed the alarm off, slightly irked in the fashion I was awoken. Nudging my Pokémon as I walked by, I went to the bathroom to take a shower and get my day started. Walking out, I picked up everyone’s Poke Balls and returned them so I can head into the diner. Eating a big breakfast, I decided my Pokémon needed a good start also and ordered them some food while releasing them. While watching them eat, I started planning ahead of my day. I wanted to get some quick training in to review strategies, before I had to face Brock. I was nervous, but I quickly shook it off noticing my Pokémon were finished. Heading out, I started back for the plains from yesterday, intent on some good old fashioned hard work. Gathering everyone, I started a small pep talk. Nothing big, just informing them that we’d be facing a Trainer whose skill far exceeded the ones we had battled previously. While I understood they were nervous also, I told them I expected their full effort. I gauged their reactions during my speech; Charmander was confident as always, Poliwag was putting on a brave smile, one that I could easily see through, Pidgey was smirking it seems while fluttering around rapidly. Heracross took it to a new level however and was shadowboxing on the side. Shaking my head at the dysfunctional Bug, I decided the best way to do some good training was against each other since the Wild Pokémon were probably still asleep or low leveled. I paired off Pidgey and Charmander and then Heracross and Poliwag. The reasoning was so that neither battle had a Type advantage. I let Charmander and Pidgey battle first. I told them I would not direct orders since it wouldn’t be realistic if I gave both sides advice. Nodding at this, they took their spots and started the match abruptly after I waved my hand down. Pidgey moved first, flying high up in the air, intent on using its dive bomb routine again. Charmander was warily looking at it, making sure to keep its eyes on it. Pidgey impatiently rushed in, spinning slightly to add momentum. Charmander braced itself before letting its claws gleam brilliantly in the early morning sunlight. Surprised, I used my Pokedex to find it he was using Metal Claw. While I was shocked it was strong enough to learn it I waited to see the effects. As Pidgey seemed to be almost on Charmander it swung forward, meeting Pidgey’s spiraling dive bomb head on. This caused Pidgey to go flying away screeching in pain, while Charmander skidded back a few meters. While Pidgey definitely got hurt more, Charmander suffered some shockwaves traveling up and down its right arm. While Pidgey was still in a bit of a daze Charmander rushed forward and let loose a fiery Ember, clipping most of Pidgey’s right side. Now alert, Pidgey flew up high enough to dodge the flames, but it was clear it wouldn’t try dive bombing Charmander until it was faster. Pidgey then swooped down low and used Sand Attack to blind Charmander. It worked, and as Charmander was stomping around wiping its eyes Pidgey used Gust capturing Charmander in the mini-whirlwind. It cut up Charmander for a bit before sending it into a tree. Slumping down, Charmander slowly stood back up, before rushing Pidgey. Jumping high, it did an impressive back flip, managing to strike Pidgey on the top of the head. This seemed like the end for Pidgey, however it managed to fire off one last Gust before falling unconscious. It hit Charmander, who was once again sent flying into the tree. Charmander shakily stood up, but realizing it had won, immediately sat down again. Sensing it needed a lot of rest I returned them both. Looking at Poliwag and Heracross, I motioned my head towards the clearing. As expected, Heracross quickly made its way over, while Poliwag trudged slowly behind it. I didn’t want to send Poliwag against the fighting machine but it was inevitable. Reminding them of the rules I backed off and swung my arm. Surprisingly, Poliwag started off with a wide-spread Bubble attack. Caught off guard by the first move a good amount of the bubbles hit before it realized what happened and jumped up. What Heracross failed to realize was that that Bubble’s effect had kicked in and it was noticeable. Poliwag jumped at the opportunity and tried Hypnosis. Heracross had other plans and rushed at Poliwag, before darting to the left and then, in a sweeping motion, side-swiped Poliwag with its horn. Thoroughly disoriented, Poliwag stood up and sprayed a quick jet of Water Gun from its mouth. It hit Heracross dead on, and while it skidded back a few feet, it started charging again through the stream right at Poliwag. Before it could end its attack and dodge, Heracross unleashed a powerful Rock Smash. This sent Poliwag crashing to the ground. Deciding to end it, Heracross lifted Poliwag on its horn before spinning violently and throwing Poliwag into a nearby tree. The loud smack confirmed that Poliwag was unconscious. Happy that both fought so well, I returned them and made my way back to town. I decided I would go to the Gym after both healing the Pokémon and eating lunch. It seemed the training took longer than I had originally thought. Regardless, after handing over my Pokémon I relaxed in a chair, and took a quick nap. An hour later and I had my Pokémon back, and I once again went to my new favorite place, the diner. Ordering a light lunch for both me and the Pokémon, I once again reminded them the skill level difference between Brock and other trainers. After eating, I slowly made my way to the Gym. I was happy I took so long in training and catching Pokémon, since it seemed that no other rookie trainers were in the lobby. Walking over, I quickly asked for a match, and Brock agreed. Now that I was up close I could see how Brock actually looked. He was quite tall, about my height, with some slight muscles. After walking back to my spot, I waited for the ref to signal the match. This was my first ever League battle. My first Gym battle. I would definitely try my hardest for my badge. Watching as Brock threw his first Poke ball, I smacked myself in the forehead. While Gym Leaders all specialized in one type, they were allowed a Pokémon or two that were a completely different type then their specialty. His so happened to be a Vulpix. Deciding not to waste my Heracross, who had a clear disadvantage being a Bug, and Poliwag who I knew I would need later, I sent out Charmander. I knew he could match Vulpix’s flames, and Metal Claw and Scratch would take care of the close quarters combat. Nodding to myself and Charmander, I started the battle by having Charmander run towards Vulpix. The Vulpix let loose an Ember right at Charmander, so it changed course and jumped on top of one of the rocks nearby. Using this as a higher vantage point, it scoped the surroundings before launching at Vulpix. It used the momentum from the height to deliver a strong Tail Whip to Vulpix’s side, which sent it flying. While it didn’t slam into one of the rocks, it was obvious the Tail Whip did some damage. Vulpix then let loose another Ember, followed by another in quick succession. After the first 2 were dodged it kept firing them off, giving Charmander no time to retaliate. Thinking quickly, I had Charmander jump on a rock again, before launching off and told it to use Metal Claw. It was hit by a few balls of Ember but it managed to land a devastating blow right ton Vulpix’s head. This round was mine as Vulpix fell over, knocked out. Returning Charmander in case he would have to come out again, I waited for Brock to make his move. He sent out a Geodude, to which I responded with Poliwag. Knowing I had the advantage, I had Poliwag start off again with a wide-spread Bubble. It worked, but only a few bubbles hit Geodude before it hid behind a rock. While they did some damage it wasn’t much, since Bubble was weak. Telling Poliwag to wait, I was surprised when Geodude managed to lift up the rock it was hiding behind before throwing it at Poliwag. Too stunned to move, Geodude’s Rock Throw hit Poliwag dead on, almost KO’ing it. Poliwag slowly stood up but it was apparent it was injured. Decided to try and end it I had Poliwag use its most powerful Water Gun on Geodude. This time it connected full on, blasting Geodude in the face. It almost knocked it out, but against my hopes it got up. While severely injured it managed to roll over to Poliwag and used Tackle on him, knocking him out. Returning Poliwag, I decided to use Charmander to finish off Geodude. Times like this I was glad Gym Leaders couldn’t switch out Pokémon. Hoping to end it quick, I had Charmander use Metal Claw again, and told it to hurry. It seemed Geodude wanted to use Rock Throw again and while it was picking up the rock, Metal Claw caught it in the back. It knocked out Geodude. Brock returned it, and I was extremely happy. I had taken out 2 of his Pokémon, leaving him with one. I still had Heracross, and Charmander probably had about a third of his strength left. Hoping it was enough, I watched as Onix released his Pokémon. It was huge; a giant snake that looked like it was made of rocks. Its roar made both me and Charmander flinch. Hurrying, I took out my Pokedex and scanned it. So this was an Onix. It seemed powerful, but I was confident Heracross and Charmander could handle it. Deciding to start the match I had Charmander use Metal Claw. It connected but didn’t have anywhere near the effect I hoped. Leaving a gash in Onix’s side seemed to do nothing to deter it. It viciously swung its tail, and connected with Charmander’s face. Flying back, it landed in a heap on the ground. A few seconds later Charmander managed to barely get up. I knew another hit like that and Charmander was done for. Onix realized this too and swung its tail again. Charmander acted quickly though, and jumped on a rock before jumping on the swinging tail as it passed. Using his body as a staircase, Charmander climbed up before unleashed a powerful Metal Claw right into Onix’s horn. Onix roared in pain before thrashing around. This dislodged Charmander, who was sent into a rock, clearly knocked out. Sighing, I returned him before releasing Heracross. I knew Onix had a good portion of its strength left, but I hoped the Type advantage would let my fully rested Heracross win. Onix started off with a Tackle, but Heracross dodged out of the way. This sent Onix crashing through a boulder but it seemed like it didn’t even faze him. Heracross then decided to take the initiative and ran forward while it was still turning around. It delivered a good Rock Smash into Onix’s body, causing it grunt. I decided that a hit and run tactic would work best against the rocky behemoth. Relaying this plan to Heracross, it nodded before jumping on a rock again. As Onix went towards it, it once again dodged and struck its body with a Rock Smash. This repeated twice more before Onix’s tail caught Heracross mid-Rock Smash and sent it flying. Clearly dazed, it shook it off before using a frontal assault plan. It jumped on another rock before jumping again towards Onix’s face. When there, it used Leer to make the Onix fidget a bit before it used Headbutt. This sent Heracross flying downward. Now hurt, Heracross gingerly got up before dodging to the left. I knew Heracross couldn’t take too many more hits so I told it to aim for the horn with a Rock Smash. Waiting for the right moment, it copied Charmander and climbed up its back after jumping on the tail. Once at the top, it used all of its strength into one final Rock Smash. It connected with the horn, making Onix stiffen before falling down, knocked out. Heracross leapt off, waiting to be called the winner. After it was clear, I realized I had won. I released all my Pokémon and let them join in on the cheering. Brock walked over and put out his hand. After shaking it and thanking him for the match, he handed me an octagonal shape. It took me a second to figure out it was the Boulder Badge. Trembling, I put it in my badge case, in my bag. A broad grin on my face, I waved and walked back to the Pokémon Center. We had a long day, and I decided to grab a small dinner from the Pokémon Center. Halfway there though, I chose instead to go celebrate our first badge. Heading to the diner, I ordered all my Pokémon huge meals as thanks for their hard work. After stuffing ourselves I made my way back to the Pokémon Center. Leaving my Pokémon with Nurse Joy, I went and took another nap, this time on the couch. About two hours or so later, I was woken up and had my Pokémon returned. I told them we’d head into bed early since we had a tiring day. They just nodded and silently walked to the room. Once there they starting animatedly talking to one another. My guess was on their respective fights. It didn’t bother me though, we had one our first badge. I was immensely proud of my team. Sure, I had an over-confident Charmander, a timid Poliwag, a mischievous Pidgey, and a battle-crazed Heracross. They were my team however, and they each had their own quirks. With a proud feeling coursing throughout me, I turned over and slowly fell asleep.