DPA: Rivals

Chapter 14: Weather Alert

Daryon, Cameron, Skye and Max stood before the building that was the Pewter City Gym with varying feelings ranging from excitement to awe.

It looked a bit different to Daryon than he expected it to. Rather than being a massive stadium, it was smaller. Bigger than a house, sure, but definitely not a huge stadium. It was almost like the dojo he saw in one of those martial arts movies he used to watch. His hand trembling slightly, he reached out, opening the doors, stepping inside.

The entire area was just one massive battlefield, flat, covered in sand, with massive boulders strewn throughout. A platform stood on either end of the field, with a small row of seats on the side, enough for maybe a two dozen people total. The ceiling was made entirely of glass, so that the sunlight from the sky could pour in, heating up the ground.

What stood out most to Daryon though, was that the Gym was currently being occupied. He could see one trainer that he instantly recognized as Brock. He had a poster of Brock in his room back at Pallet Town, so of course he would recognize the Rock type specialist. But the other trainer was someone Daryon had never met, a boy about his age, dressed in a red shirt, black pants, boots that went up to the knees, and a leather jacket.

Brock's Onix smashed this unnamed trainer's Sandshrew into the ground with the massive power of its tail, forcing him to return it to its Pokéball. The trainer looked down at Sandshrew's Pokéball, before looking up towards Brock and his Onix and chuckling. "That was a pretty amazing move there," he complimented his opponent.

"Thank you, Evan," Brock replied. "You still have one Pokémon left."

"That I do," Evan said, looking down at his boots. Daryon's eyes followed, locking onto the sight of a Pokémon he hadn't noticed had been standing there.

"Torchic, it's your turn," Evan said.

"Chee!" The Chick Pokémon tweeted before skipping onto the field.

"A Fire type against Brock?" Cameron said under his breath, shaking his head. "This kid is going to be annihilated."

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Daryon asked.

"It's a Torchic," Cameron said. "Torchic is a traditional starter Pokémon in the Hoenn region. They aren't native to Kanto, so I'm unsure how this guy got a hold of one."

Daryon shifted his attention back to the field. Brock has swapped his Onix for a Geodude, which was in the midst of a Rock Throw, yeeting a massive chunk of stone at the opponent's Torchic. Torchic did its best to avoid the attack, but was unable to get out of the way in time, and was hit full force by a giant piece of rock flying towards it at rapid speed. Sand flew in every direction as Torchic was instantly knocked out by the attack.

Evan ran onto the field, picking up what Daryon assumed was his partner Pokémon, before looking up at Brock, who had returned his Geodude to its Pokéball

"That was an excellent match, Evan," Brock said, holding out his hand. Evan smiled, shaking it. "While your strength is impressive, your technique is lacking," he continued. "During our rematch, be sure to remember what went wrong here, and learn from it."

"Definitely!" Evan said, beaming from ear to ear, clearly grateful for the Gym leader's advice. He got up, turning to leave, and looked at Daryon and the rest of his group.

"That was pretty cool," Daryon complimented Evan. "I really liked your confidence."

"Thanks," Evan said, shrugging his shoulders. "Ya know, I woulda won had you being here not disturbed my mojo."

"Is that what you call it?" Cameron chuckled. "I'd call it poor understanding of the basics of type match ups."

Evan looked at Cameron for a moment, unsure what to say, before letting out a laugh. "Yeah, I coulda thought that one through better. Whatevs, smell ya later."

"What?" Daryon asked.

"Smell ya later. Ha, it's somethin' I heard a guy say back while I was doin' some trainin' in Viridian City." He opened the Gym doors and walked off.

Cameron, taken aback by Evan's laid back approach, adjusted his glasses before turning to Daryon. "Hey, I would like to be the first to battle Brock."

"Sure,  I guess," Daryon replied. "Any reason for the hurry?"

"I've spent hours discussing with Vince the correct strategy and technique to defeat Brock with minimal loss," Cameron said. "After watching that other guy throw a Fire type at Brock just a moment ago, I guess I just want to confirm that I can win as efficiently as I believe I can."

"Okay," Daryon nodded. He turned to Brock.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym," Brock straightened his shirt, which had become disheveled during the battle, exposing part of his muscled chest. Cameron could see Skye gawking from the corner of his eye, and sighed. "My name is Brock, and I'm proud to be your first challenge on the path to the Indigo League."

"My name's Daryon, and this is Cameron, Skye, and Max," Daryon said, shaking Brock's hand. "We've been excited for day's for this opportunity-"

The doors behind them slammed open. Everyone turned around to see a young boy, only slightly older than Max, standing there. This child was very clearly either Brock's son or brother, as he looked exactly like a miniature version of the Pewter City Gym leader.

"What's the matter, Forrest?" Brock asked, pushing through Daryon's entourage.

"They're back..." Forrest said.

Brock paused, an expression of fear on his face. He quickly changed it to one of bravery, turning to the new challengers. "My sincere apologies, but the Gym battle will have to wait. I have a situation I have to attend to." He turned to Forrest. "Go home, now." He ran out of the Gym.

As the Gym doors closed, Daryon looked up at the skylight. Something like a cloud had blocked out the sun, leaving the inside of the building in the dark. Only it wasn't a cloud. It was something alive.