The Start of the Journey

As the vines hit, the Sand Pokemon hit the ground, completely knocked out as the boy looked on in shock. A man in Hiking equipment came up next, prepared to battle just as the boy had. He threw a ball and relieved a rock with eyes, a mouth and two arms. "Geodude, your next! Let's show this kid what it really means to fight in a Gym!"

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Akio received his Pokemon and the woman smiled. "Thank you for waiting... your Pokemon are now fighting fit. Feel free to stop by any Pokemon Center for all your trainer needs." The woman bowed as he took the balls and said, "Thank you very much. Now I can take on the Pewter Gym!" The woman gave a small giggle and said, "If you like, you can rest here first. You seem to be tired yourself." Akio nodded with a small smile and said, "Thanks a lot. I think I'll do that."

The boy simply blinked before closing his eyes. "Bulbasaur...?" Instead of dodging around and playing like he did with the Sandshrew, Bulbasaur grabbed onto Geodude's arms, tying them with his vines before tossing him to some random rock on the field.

The Rock Pokemon was wrapped and tossed. The power of the blow and the vines knocked Geodude out in one shot, causing the Hiker to return its Pokemon. Another trainer stepped forward but a strong voice shouted out, "Enough!"

A man slowly started to descend from the shadows that was an upper stage. He had no shirt and seemed to be a man in his mid 20s. His arms had a spiked armband on each arm and his eyes was slightly narrow and focused. "I've wondered when I'd have someone worthy of a battle," he said with a light grin. "I didn't think it would be this soon. I am Reye, the Gym Leader. Now, try your attacks on my Ryhorn!" He threw the Pokeball and a large Rhino made of pure rock came out, prepared to fight. "Now, try your tactics against me!"

Zeiro readied himself for the third trainer only to pause at the sound of an unfamiliar voice echoing in the gym. He looked up in the direction of the voice and saw Reye steopping out of the shadows and towards the black haired boy before releasing his Rhyhorn from its pokeball.

"So you're the leader?" He said as he took a step forward, smirking. "Well, all right then...you're the boss. Bulbasaur, Poison Powder!" Bulbasaur quickly let out a puff of purple powder towards Rhyhorn.

"Take Down," Reye said simply. Ryhorn came charging at the opponent, eyes closed as it ran at Bulbasaur. The Poison Powder didn't seem to affect it much at all. "People try to use Grass types in battle against me all the time," he said to Zeiro. "Powder moves don't work if they don't make contact with the eyes or if you don't breathe them in. While charging, Ryhorn is holding its breath and its eyes are closed to strike you."

His eyes widen slightly at the strange Take Down maneuvear. For a Rock Type, Rhyhorn was pretty damn fast. "Quick, use Leech Seed!" Zeiro quickly told Bulbasaur. He knew that the Rhyhorn was going to be faster than the small Grass type pokemon so dodging out of the way was out of the question. Since Powder moves wouldn't work, he had to result into binding the pokemon's movements and draining its energy. Bulbasaur held its ground as it launched a small seed right at Rhyhorn.

The Leech Seed connected, planting itself into the head of the giant creature. It did not stop, however. It continued to charge until its blow hit the Bulbasaur. Reye grinned lightly as he saw the blow connect. "Your Pokemon is highly leveled, and your tactics are good. Any normal trainer would be no match for moves like your. But Gym Leaders are a different level completely."

Akio looked outside the Pewter City Gym. He had taken his time and rested himself for the battle. Now he was ready to take on the Gym. There seemed to be no one outside. What he didn't know was that everyone was watching the battle with Reye and Zeiro. He walked inside, hoping someone there could point him in the direction of the Gym Leader.

"Saur!!!" Bulbasaur cried out as he was sent flying, barely missing a rock sticking out on the field.

"Tch! How troublesome..." Zeiro hissed under his breath, taking a small steck back. He didn't realize the gap between trainer and gym leader was this wide. It wouldn't take more than one or two more hits of that Take Down to finish Bulbasaur off, leaving him with very few options.

~It's risky...but we'll have to try this...~

"Poison Powder again! Lots of it!" He shouted out to his injured pokemon as it attempted to get up. On command, Bulbasaur let out a massive bundle of purple powder from its back, trusting its trainer without hesitation. "Now Vine Whip!" Two vines extended from under the bud and launched themselves at Rhyhorn, both covered with traces of Poison powder ont hem.

As Akio was at the entrance, he was able to see the battle on a monitor. He immediately noticed Zeiro fighting and saw that he was having trouble. "Gym Leaders are that tough?" Akio muttered to himself, remembering that Zeiro was able to battle even better then him when they first met.

"Crap, Ryhorn isn't fast enough to dodge!" Reye said as his Pokemon was hit and sent down. It slowly stood, stumbling slightly as its energy was decreasing fast from the Poison AND the Leech Seed. "This isn't over just yet... Ryhorn, use your secret weapon!"

His Pokemon raised its front legs high into the air, sending them crashing down and making the very ground under them shake. It was an Earthquake attack. "Earthquake his anything on the ground and your Bulbasaur is weak to Ground attacks. This is end it!"

Bulbasaur's eyes widen as the ground began to shake, causing the grass pokemon to panic at the ground breaking up.

"Vine whip around! Don't get caught in the rocks!" Zeiro called out. For a trainer whose pokemon is on the verge of fainting from Reye's special attack, he seemed surprisingly calm. As Bulbasaur used his vines to maneuvear around the field and onto a safe place where it pretty much collasped in exhaust. the trainer let out a small sigh.

"For a gym leader...I'm surprised you made such a mistake." He stated as he took out his pokedex, pointing it at Rhyhorn to record the data needed. "It's true that Poison types are weak against ground...but you seem to forget. Bulbasaur is a Poison AND Grass pokemon. Grass types are strong against Ground types...which means, these two types cancel each otehr out and turn Ground type moves into simply a move that does damage. Not super effective nor not effective." He closes his pokedex and looks up at Reye.

"I do have to thank you for that last attack. As much as I hate to do this to Bulbasaur, you'ver managed to wittle down his health enough for his Ability to activate." AS he said that, a small green glow surrounded Bulbasaur as he stood up. Putting his pokedex in his pocket, he points at Reye. "That Ability is Overgrow! Bulbasaur, Vine whip!" Without hesitation, Bulbasaur's vines shot out from his bulb and straigth at Rhyhorn, faster and stronger than before.

"I didn't know about that..." Akio said as he looked on. "Did the Pokedex tell him that? I should look at it more often then..."

The man smiled lightly as he saw the vines attacking him. "Even in the face of defeat through misinformation, you still had the strength of will to fight. If you didn't..." His mind went to the image of Bulbasaur being stunned by the vines and his Ryhorn charging in for a final Horn Attack to finish the battle. "You've beaten me..." The attack connected and Ryhorn fell, the Gym Leader had lost.

"Your skill and strength, as well as your knowledge and determination were all tested in this battle, and you passed every test. You've earned the Boulder Badge..." He extended his hand, holding a small badge that he was now presenting to his foe, the victor in the fight.

Zeiro gratefully accepted the back, putting it away as he rushed over to the fallen Bulbasaur. "You did great." He muttered to the exhausted and sleeping pokemon, picking him up. He started to head out before stopping and turning to Reye. "I have a question...have you heard of Team Rocket...?"

Reye's expression immediately turned serious as he looked at the male who had stopped to ask of such a thing. "Team Rocket?" he said. "Team Rocket is a group of Pokemon criminals who do whatever they can for power. Their full influence is unknown, but we as Gym Leaders are tasked with scouting out trainers who have the potential to destroy their evil. That is what your badge represents, that I deem you a worthy and powerful trainer."

"Hold everything!" a voice called out as Akio ran up to them. "I'm here too! I wanna challenge the Gym Leader!" He stopped as he looked up, seeing Zeiro. "You're not a bad fighter, but I can do anything you can do."

"..." Zeiro remained silent, taking in the inforation Reye gave to him before nodding his head. "Thank you...that's what i figured they'd be." He was about to leave the Gym when he felt Bulbasaur nudging at him, looking at him with a rather pouty face. "Are you saying you want to watch the battle?" A small nod from the grass type confirmed it and he smiled. "All right...but after that, it's straight to the Pokemon Center for you." With that said, he wlaked over to the spectator area and sat down, waiting for Reye and Akio to start.

Reye would normally tell the boy he had to go through the proper pre-battle tests to face him in combat, but Zeiro had stayed to watch and he knew his Bulbasaur needed the Pokemon Center as soon as possible. Asking them to stay that long would be cruel to the Pokemon, and that was something he could not do. "Very well, I will make an exception and battle you. Show me a battle worthy of what I'm giving you!" He threw his Pokeball, sending out a large snake made of boulders. "Onix! Its time to battle!"

Akio knew all to well that his Pikachu wouldn't be able to even tough his Onix, and Spearow wouldn't be much better. It hadn't had a chance to learn new moves, but there was only one Pokemon that could battle Reye. "Go, Squirtle!" The small turtle exited the ball, not looking much stronger than the last time Zeiro saw it. "I know you can do this!"

He narrowed his eyes as Akio released Squirtle from its pokeball. ~It doesn't look any different than when it was released back at the lab...~ He thought. Zeiro looks down at his Bulbasaur who couldn't help but start nodding off. "See...? You're tired. You should go rest." Bulbasaur made it an effort to stay awake and focus, causing his trainer to sigh. "all right, I'll help you out...It's the least I can do." Glancing up to make sure no one else was looking, he placed his hands near Bulbasaur's heads and closed his eyes as a sort of energy flowed inside the gRass pokemon, healing up some of its woudns and allowing it to be more awake. Once he was done, he looked rather tired.

Even Reye could notice that his foe was at a low level. He was still worried about the Bulbasaur, thinking he should end the battle quickly. "Onix, use Rock Throw!" The Pokemon smashed its tail into the nearby wall of stone, causing rocks to fall directly towards Squirtle.

The turtle went into its shell in a panic as the rocks hit. As the rocks stopped, Akio pointed out and said, "Now, Bubble!" The turtle shot out of the debris and shot a spray of bubbles out at Onix. The attack landed, but Onix seemed somewhat unfazed. "That attack may be super effective, but its too weak to do anything to a Pokemon as highly leveled as Onix. Onix, Dig!" The Pokemon went into the ground like a snake as Akio and his Pokemon were left to guess where it would come out.

"Squirtle, Bubble's all we got so you gotta be ready when the time's right..." Akio said. It was surprising he would announce such a weakness out loud. What was he hoping to get. Onix appeared behind the turtle, digging up the ground as it did which caused Squirtle to roll in the air. "Do it now!" Akio called out as it used Bubble again. Again, it did noticeable damage and slowed the creature down, but it wasn't done just yet.

Bulbasaur frowned as he saw his fellow pokemon starter fight. Even the weakened Grass pokemon could noticed the difference in strength.

~If this wasn't a Gym Battle, I'm sure he would be driving that thing to death.~ Zeiro thought, rubbing his eyes to keep awake as he watched the battle. ~The damn fool doesn't realize anything...~

"This battle is pointless with your level!" Reye said, now showing concern for Squirtle as well. "Give up now so that your Pokemon isn't hurt!" Akio gritted his teeth as he saw that it wasn't working. "Squirtle, I believe in you! Focus all your power into a single Bubble attack, right now!"

"If you won't forfeit, then I will force your Pokemon to fall! Onix, Take Down!" The giant Pokemon charged at Squirtle, prepared to deliver the final blow. As it did, Squirtle closed its eyes, focusing its power into its final attack. It shot the bubbles, but in a concentrated burst that was more powerful than before. The blast his Onix directly in the face, causing it to stop completely and fall back. "That attack..." Reye said as his eyes widened. "The bubbles concentrated into a single area creating a beam... BubbleBeam!" With that shot, the giant rock fell, now unconscious and defeated. "I see... It was able to concentrate its power into one attack, creating something stronger than what it had before. Using its own ability like Bulbasaur did before, its power was more than Onix cold stand. Trainer, you trusted your Pokemon even when the situation was against you and believed in your will to win. You, too, have earned victory this day..."

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur cheered for Squirtle as it jumped out of Zeiro's arms and rushed over to the water pokemon.

"B-Bulbasaur, wait! You're not in a condition to exert yoruself!" He said as he stood up, ready to make chase. Suddenly, he felt quite dizzy and staggered. "E-Ergh..."

As Akio was taking the badge, he heard Zeiro's cry of weakness. He ran over to the boy and moved to catch him. Reye looked at him with a puzzled glance and said, "He was fine after our battle... so why is he exhausted now, and where did his Pokemon gain the power to run like that?" There were many questions still unanswered, but what mattered now was that the trainers of the Pokedex had seen their first challenge and was successful.