Out Of The Ashes (A Pokémon Fanfiction) ~on Hold

Chapter 16: First step in a pokémon gym

Chapter 16: First step in a pokémon gym

Ash wondered if this meant that Tank was getting close to learning Metal Claw. Thinking of the move suddenly reminded him of his earlier promise to Brock. He pulled up the clock function on the Pokedex and breathed a sigh of relief. He still had a little over an hour until his meeting time with Brock. It took twenty minutes to get back to Pewter, which left him some time to shower off the dirt and sweat and rest a little.

As the afternoon was beginning to wane, he decided to leave both Shade and Tank out of their Pokeballs, even though he was still a little upset over Shade's bloodthirsty nature. But punishing the Pokemon by isolating him wouldn't accomplish anything—or at least Ash thought so. Perhaps Shade was simply acting out of boredom. If Ash let him out more, maybe he would start to settle.

Behind him, he could hear Tank and Shade bickering. Ash sighed and stretched his arms. Looked like he had his work cut out for him to force Tank and Shade to realize they were part of the same time.

Ash had only been waiting on the steps outside the gym for ten minutes when Brock appeared. A Geodude levitated behind him, flexing its two arms proudly. Shade, who had been playing in the shadow cast by the building, floated over curiously. Tank had been sprawled at Ash's feet, crunching on a rock, but he sat up at Brock's approach.

"You ready for this?" Brock asked, his trademark friendly grin still warming his face. Ash nodded quickly and shook Brock's hand once again.

"Good," said the gym leader. "Because I'm not gonna go easy on you just cuz you're a kid."

He stepped past the young trainer and opened the gym doors. Ash quirked a brow in confusion. He'd thought Brock would take him somewhere out in the wilds, where they could privately train. But then again, the gym had been modeled to include rocky terrain and was closer to the PokeCenter in case anything went wrong.

Ash recalled Shade and took his first step into a Pokemon Gym.

He had expected for the gym to open right up into the battlefield, but instead they were greeted by a small antechamber. A bored, slightly overweight man in a nice suit with an official League brooch pinned to the lapels of his jacket was leaning against a massive grey pillar. Ash recognized him from the videos he'd seen when he was younger of televised gym battles. The man, along with his seven other brothers, were the gym guides. Their job was to occasionally referee the battles, give hints to the challenger, oversee general maintenance in the gym, and chisel the names of the victors into the statues. It was a very honored and sought-after position.

He was propped up against one of the ceremonial gym pillars—two massive hunks of marble carved in the shape of a roaring Rhydon, the Indigo League mascot. Around the lower half of the statues, hundreds of names had been carved into the marble in tiny uppercase letters. Some had been worn away by time, especially those higher on the list, but the more recent names gleamed proudly.

Ash knelt down to examine the latest recipient of the Boulder Badge.

Underneath "Caya Simmers" and "Matthew Jackson" was the name "Gary Oak".

Ash recoiled slightly in surprise.

He knew Gary had left on his journey weeks before Ash, but for some reason he hadn't really thought about what progress Gary had made. Maybe before his mother's passing, Ash would have been obsessed with it, but ever since he'd woken up to the real world, such rivalries felt exhausting and petty. Gary would rub his progress in Ash's face the next time they met, of course. Even though Gary had tried to be more patient and kind after Ash's mother was killed, he had no doubt tired of treating Ash with kid-gloves and would be back to the "smell ya later" arrogance that marked his character.

Brock noticed him looking and frowned. "Oh yeah, Gary Oak. Professor Oak's grandson. His Squirtle was strong, but his trainer's attitude needs some definite improvement. Almost didn't want to give him the badge, but he won in the end, after all…" He shook himself and the frown gave way to the smile once more. "Well, that challenger's long gone by now. Let's focus on the here and now, eh?" He snapped his fingers and called out sharply, "Ronald!"

The gym guide, who had not been bored so much as dozing, snapped to attention, throwing up a goofy salute.

"I wasn't sleeping, sir!" he said immediately. He spoke in a deafening shout. "Just merely resting my eyes, sir!"

Brock shook his head, smirking. "If you say so. Would you mind getting the battlefield floor ready? Tier 1, please."

"Yes sir, Brock, sir!" the guide said, and after a polite bow, scampered off to complete his given task. Ash suppressed a smile with difficulty. Apparently, the gym guides really did have the unique character they were renowned for.

"Ronald's a bit… eccentric, should we say," Brock explained as they made their way across the antechamber at a more leisurely pace, bypassing the secretary's desk. Ash supposed he would only have to register his visitation when he officially challenged the gym. "But he means well, and he's good enough at his duties, so I like having him on staff."

"What does Tier 1 mean?" Ash asked, remembering the phrase Brock had used.

"Ah, that." Brock absentmindedly stroked a hand over the following Geodude's head. The Pokemon closed its eyes contently. "There are different surfaces for the battlefield. Tier 1 is the most plain, with just a boulder or two on an otherwise flat rock surface. That's for new challengers like yourself. A simple terrain, to get used to the rhythm of battling, you know? Environmental manipulation will come later. Newbie Pokemon aren't strong enough to master that level of skill yet. Tie 2 is like Tier 1, but more uneven and with a greater number of boulders. And so it goes, up until Tier 5, where seismic activators can set off random miniature tremors and change the field entirely mid-fight."

That sounded incredibly intense. Ash's eyes were wide in amazement. "When do you use Tier 5?"

Brock's grin broadened and his eyes opened slightly, revealing a burning twinkle in the mocha-colored irises. "Oh, that's especially reserved for the challengers who have already beaten the gym before. You see, I have a few teams. All gym leaders do. One is the team I use to battle new trainers. The other is my serious battling team, the one I fight with when somebody comes back for a rematch after beating all the gym leaders."

The competitive shine in Brock's eyes served as a reminder that while Brock was often dismissed due to his low rank, being crowned a gym leader was nothing to laugh at. Ash would have bet all the money he had that Brock could wipe the floor with the newbie "victors" if he used the team that had carried him to the upper echelon of trainers in Kanto.

Ash's respect for him ratcheted up. It probably wasn't easy going from being regarded as one of the strongest trainers in Kanto to being dismissed as the "easiest" gym leader.

"That's awesome," he shared, certainly impressed. His desire to beat the gym challenge increased, if only so he could come back one day and challenge Brock to a no-holds barred fight.

Brock chuckled and flicked Ash's hat playfully. "Maybe if you get strong enough one day we'll have a battle on it. But for now…" he pushed open the doors leading to the gym's massive battlefield. Protected lights snapped on automatically and Ash winced at the bright glare. "Let's focus on that Aron of yours, hm?"

Ash nodded and calmed himself, reaching for the level of focus he needed when training or battling. Tank, who had been somewhat intimidated into silence by the huge room, chirped and trundled forward.

****************************************************************************

Find out what happens in the next chapter as the journey continues!