Lucifer-san
[i]Recently Revived Zombie[/i]
- 169
- Posts
- 14
- Years
- Somewhere
- Seen Jun 26, 2024
The Pewter City Gym Arc: Parts 1 and 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It had been a pretty long journey from his home region but he had recently made it to the region of Kanto. "Wooh, this is going to be fun, right Lucario?" Matthew was really excited to catch some new Pokémon and he and Lucario were currently in the Viridian Forest training and heading towards Pewter City. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His Lucario gave a firm nod as he kept himself alert to make sure no wild Pokémon would sneak up on them. Matthew understood why Lucario was so protective of him, but sometimes it was kind of overbearing he thought to himself. "Pika!" Looking over to his shoulder the Pikachu he had recently caught was lounging on his shoulder, but had suddenly pointed its paw forwards.
"Huh, what's over that way?" Matthew turned his gaze to face what he supposed his Pikachu was pointing to and saw some light creeping out between the trees. "Oh sweet, there's the exit. Okay you guys ready to go then?"
Another firm nod from his Lucario and high pitched mouse-like noise from his Pikachu was confirmation enough for him to start running to the exit. Coming straight through the tree opening he continued his dash as he saw the city only a short distance away.
"Come on Lucario, we're almost there!" The air whooshed past his shirtless body as he ran his fastest towards the city. It took him just over 10 minutes to get there and he was only breathing just a tiny bit heavy, running was something he was pretty good at due to the fact he had provoked many swarms of Zubat by mistake before while he was younger, those were fun times. Looking behind him he grinned at his Lucario that had easily managed to keep pace with him running at full speed, his partner was pretty damn reliable if he had to say so himself.
He had been with him since he was just a small kid that was exploring the limited areas around his city. Shaking his head he smiled gently as he decided to take things slowly and check around the city before he decided what he was going to end up doing. Of course the end goal was for him to go and get the badge from whoever was the Gym Leader for the city, if he remembered correctly it was some guy named Brock, but he had some time before that.
"I wonder what there is to do in this city anyways." Matthew said aloud to himself as he walked around just taking in the sights and committing them to memory. While he didn't have a photographic memory or anything of the sorts he liked to say he was pretty good at remembering things when he put his mind to it.
He stopped for a moment as he remembered that he had brought a guide book with him that described most things about the cities of Kanto and Johto, he had received as a gift from his big sister awhile before he left Kalos.
Flipping through the book he saw a small bookmark at one section and flipping to it revealed that it was the page about Pewter City. Looking at the bookmark more closely revealed that there was a bit of writing on it.
"Thought I could help you speed things up a bit little brother of mine, knowing you, you would flip past this page approximately 15 times before actually stopping and being careful. So, you're welcome." At the end of the note was a little chibi drawing of his sister in a sundress and straw hat blowing a kiss towards him, it was really well drawn for it being so small. While he wanted to shout that he wouldn't have done such a thing he knew he probably would've and decided to just sigh and put the bookmark in his duffel bag for safe keeping.
Before he could some info about the city a small tugging on his shirt made him look over and towards his shoulder specifically where his Pikachu was currently located. "Huh, what's up little buddy?" Matthew asked and then noticed that his Pikachu was pointing a paw towards something in the distance, squinting his eyes just a bit he saw that it was the town's PokeCenter, at least if the red roof was any indication.
"Oh, you must be kind of tired huh? We were training for quite some time before we exited the forest and then there was that large herd of Pikachu we had to escape, it's a good thing we got my good ol' buddy Lucario to help, but enough of that. Let's get going to the PokeCenter then."
He walked a bit slower than what his normal pace was so he could look around the city a bit, and from first appearances he had to say it was pretty peaceful if a bit small, though this was just based off of a few minutes of looking around. Maybe he would find something interesting in the city later he thought to himself as his team and himself entered the PokeCenter.
"Howdy Nurse Joy!" He said in a nice enthusiastic manner, he liked meeting all of the Nurse Joys in Kalos when his father would take him with him on trips around Kalos and on his way here to Kanto he had decided that he would see if he could find some way to tell the Nurse Joys there apart. He looked over to the Nurse Joy and noticed she wasn't in the normal outfit that he was used to and actually looked quite different. She had the usual pinkish-red hair but it was worn long instead of the usual style and she seemed to be wearing a pink dress along with a pair of jeans and her eyes were currently focused on a book.
"Oh…" There was a brief pause by the Nurse Joy for a moment as her eyes landed on Matthew and a minor blush came to her face for a moment. "Uh…are you okay? You look kind of sick Nurse Joy." She was snapped out of her stupor however as Matthew spoke once again and laid a hand against her forehead. She eeped and moved away quickly before taking a deep breath to calm herself and focusing her eyes upwards, her sister didn't tell her anything like this would happen on the job, she was just 17 and was only taking over for an hour while her sister fixed up the stock in the back. Calming herself just a bit more she managed to get out some words.
"Um…hello trainer, uh what do you need today?" Matthew wasn't very sure if this Nurse Joy was fine or not but, it looked like she recovered a bit so he decided to get to the chase. Returning his Pikachu and Lucario to their respective Pokeballs quickly he turned to her and spoke.
"Could you please heal my team up, I kind of want to challenge the gym soon and so my team needs to be at maximum strength!" Matthew asked nicely with a polite smile yet in his same enthusiastic voice that he used for nearly everything. The Nurse Joy, or at least Joy-in-training, paused for a moment as she stared at Matthew for a few moments captivated by his smile but snapped herself out of it through will power.
"Um, okay I-I'll take them for you and h-heal them up good as new." She muttered out quietly, cursing inwardly as she stuttered slightly, as her hands tentatively but quickly reached out and grabbed them before putting them in the healing machine behind her. There was an awkward silence with Matthew not really having anything to say and the Joy not really sure of her own voice, so it was a few minutes before a ding noise sounded, signaling that his Pokemon were healed. The Joy moved quickly taking the tray out and letting Matthew grab his two Pokeballs before deciding to try speaking once more. "H-here you go, they're now both back to full health."
There was a bit more pep in her voice now as she tried to remember the tips he sis told her for talking to people. Flashing another winning smile towards the girl that made her heart flutter briefly once more he attached the two Pokeballs to his belt before saying his goodbye. As the girl watched him leave she managed to work up enough confidence to say some words of encouragement. "U-um good luck in your battle!" She quickly covered her mouth but Matthew had already turned back and looked at her.
"Thanks a lot I appreciate the vote of confidence, and I have to say you look really pretty today." Matthew said flashing another winning smile before walking out not noticing that the Joy stood there in a stupor with a massive blush on her face, he really didn't know the effect he had on people sometimes, especially the young maidens who weren't used to seeing a rather decent looking guy without his shirt on just walking around.
"Okay now that my team is healed I have a few choices, one I could go to the gym and try to beat the Gym Leader or two I could explore the city and see what else it has to offer." Matthew murmured to himself as he walked away from the PokeCenter with no general place in mind to stop, but instead just kind of aimlessly traveling. His decision was soon made for him as he realized that he was in front of a rather large building with a sign next to it that clearly read "Pewter City Gym", after briefly reading the sign Matthew let out a little bit of a chuckle.
"So my own body knows what I should do now, heh Mom did always say to listen to your gut." It was pretty early in the morning as he had arrived really early before the sun was even out so he could get a head start on his journey, to most others they would've dropped dead asleep at this point, but Matthew was one of those people who was aptly called a stamina freak by most others.
Walking in through the doors of the place he kind of just stopped and looked around the place just taking it all in. "Wow…so this is a gym." He murmured to himself as he just let the atmosphere get to him, sure he had seen a gym before but he had never gotten a chance to go inside one despite his pleading when he was younger so he could train his Lucario, which was a Riolu at the time, so he could get stronger. It was only through all the experiences they shared and repeated vigorous training in the caves and actual physical work-outs that they had did for he and Riolu to bond enough for him to evolve into Lucario.
"Hmm, so are you just standing there or did you come here for something?" A mature voice startled him out of his state and he looked over to see Brock, who he recognized from the brief glance he managed to get in the book earlier, the guy that was supposed to be the Pewter City Gym Leader. With a natural confidence in himself he spoke.
"Yeah! I'm here to challenge you to a battle!" Matthew spoke excitedly as Brock looked at him and chuckled a bit before speaking.
"Normally, I would tell you to wait just a longer since it's so early in the morning, but seeing your excited expression makes me want to give you the benefit of the doubt." Brock spoke easily as Matthew gave a little excited shout of "Yes!" before Brock resumed. "Alright before we can get this battle started follow me to the back." Brock said with a simple smile on his face as he saw the potential that the kid that was now following behind him possessed.
"Hmm, so do you have any badges?" Brock said as they arrived to the little battle area at the back of his gym, Matthew noted that besides the nice stone path that was shaped sort of like a snake the rest of the area was just rugged ground with some rocks and boulders here and there.
"Uh no, was I supposed to?" Matthew answered kind of nervously as he didn't recall needing a badge for what was usually the first gym of the Kanto region at least that was what his sister taught him, but that had been a few years ago for all he knew it could've changed and now this was the last gym you had to face.
Brock must've sensed his turmoil as he let out a relaxed chuckle before speaking. "Don't worry about it, since this is your first official Gym Battle I'll only use two Pokémon, the same amount you have from the looks of your Pokeballs." Matthew was visibly relieved and slightly put off, while he was happy that he wasn't going to have to go on some grand journey just to wind up coming back here he kind of felt like Brock wasn't acknowledging his strength, but he thought about it for a moment and thought that maybe it was just some sort of League rule or that Brock was just really strong and just a generally fair guy. Brock walked calmly over to the other side of the soon to be battle field before speaking.
"So are you ready?" Matthew grinned wildly and pulled his hat off using the string to let it just hang on his back revealing his messily spiky hair. "I've been born ready for the moments like this so let's go!" Brock smiled as out of the wall popped out a mechanical portion that held his Pokeballs, grabbing two he threw the first one while speaking.
"My specialty is Rock type Pokémon and here is one of them, come on out Geodude!" Out of the Pokeball came a small boulder-looking Pokémon with arms. "Normally I would explain the rules before battle, but for some reason I get the feeling you have some experience." Brock spoke loudly across the field and Matthew ran a hand through his hair sheepishly in turn and shouted back across the field.
"Well not a lot but I have a bit, so here we go, come on out Pikachu!" Brock was accurate with his assumption that Matthew had some experience with Pokémon along with a sister that explained battles to him he also had a few mock battles with some Zubat that he had befriended and the ones that would try and get him out of their cave. Throwing his Pokeball into the air his Pikachu popped out in a shower of crackling electricity before landing. "Pika!" His Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity showing that it was ready for battle. There was a sort of tension in the air that sent shivers down Matthew's spine, it was extremely exciting.
"Okay we'll start things off Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!" Pikachu let a few sparks from its cheek in acknowledgement before sending a small bolt of lightning towards Brock's Geodude however Brock was very quick to respond.
"Geodude use Rollout to evade!" Brock commanded, as Geodude tucked itself inward before rolling rapidly away from the bolt of lightning. "Now, Geodude, use Rock Throw!" The command from Brock was followed with a not so small amount of rocks flying towards Pikachu hitting it and knocking it down briefly. 'Man that was a real ingenious move by Brock, looks like me and Pikachu have to kick things up by a notch!'
"If this is all you have you're going to let me down!" Brock stated simply, not trying to be mean or anything, but simply stating a fact. Matthew grinned wildly at the challenge as he clenched his hands tight in excitement before speaking.
"You haven't seen anything yet, come on Pikachu get up and show this guy our fighting spirit!" Pikachu, responding to the words, got back up to its feet and in its eyes showed a determination that burned like the sun.
"Alright use Quick Attack to dash towards Geodude then hit it with a Disarming Voice!" Following Matthew's command Pikachu dashed forward extremely fast then let out a rather cute sound which sent a pink wave of sound startling Geodude. "Now hit it quickly with a Thunder Shock!" Letting its cheeks spark momentarily, Pikachu let out another bolt of lightning that launched Geodude backwards which was almost enough to make it faint, the key word being almost.
"That was a good move, I have to admit you have some good instincts but this won't be enough to finish off Geodude. Now, Geodude use Rock Throw!" Taking Matthew's Pikachu by surprise another small hail of rocks hit Pikachu directly sending it tumbling backwards stopping in front of Matthew knocked out. Matthew stood there shocked for a moment just staring down at Pikachu before bending down and patting its head.
"You did well for your first gym battle; I guess training in the wild wasn't enough. Here have a good long rest you deserve it." Matthew returned Pikachu to its Pokeball before looking up with a grin. "It looks like you're up buddy, so come on out Lucario!" Throwing up the Pokeball into the air Lucario popped out in a spin before landing on its two feet.
"This is where I turn the heat up, so let's go! Lucario use Bone Rush!" Putting its hands together a light green bone made of energy was quickly formed and zoomed forward incredibly fast and before Geodude could try to react Lucario had struck it repeatedly with the bone finishing it by swinging the bone like a bat sending the Geodude backwards to Brock, unconscious.
"Hmm, Geodude return." Brock took out a Pokeball allowing Geodude to retreat as a stream of neon red light hit it. "You're doing really well for someone who's never faced a Gym Leader, the tactics you used with Pikachu were quite good and even though Geodude managed to knock it out it was quite close." Matthew blushed slightly under the praise as he scratched his cheek as Brock began to speak once more.
"Now that we're both down to two Pokemon this is where the real battle begins, go Onix!" Throwing the Pokeball towards the field, what came out of it was the hulking rock snake Onix. It let out a roar that sent a brief tremor through the ground, but Lucario and Matthew were unfazed. Grinning wildly Matthew spoke.
"Alright Lucario, use Power-Up Punch!" Lucario dashed forward intent on landing a solid blow on Onix, but was stopped as Brock gave his command.
"Onix, use Slam then follow it up with Sandstorm." Onix slammed its tail hard on the ground briefly making Lucario stumble which gave it just enough time to allow it to whip up a large amount of sand that swiftly obscured Matthew and Lucario's vision. Over the raging storm Brocks voice resounded. "So, how are you going to get around this? You're Lucario has to be able to make physical contact if it wishes to hit Onix and right now neither you nor it can see."
As much as Matthew wanted to deny that it was the truth the Sandstorm currently going on was making it extremely hard to see. "Lucario, if you can hear me close your eyes and listen to Onix's movements to find it." Matthew shouted and for a moment he thought he could briefly see Lucario nodding through the sand, but his vision was obscured once more. This was kind of a gamble as Lucario had amazing senses this Sandstorm would make it much harder for Lucario to hear the approach.
"Onix, use Constrict!" Lucario turned fast and while he did manage to hit with a Power-Up Punch it wasn't enough to make Onix not be able to follow through. The Sandstorm subsided which revealed that while Onix was wincing in pain it was gripping Lucario tightly making it unable to move.
Lucario was currently gritting its teeth in pain trying to not let out any sounds as Matthew stood there wondering what to do. "If you don't do something soon you're Lucario will be knocked out and you will lose." Brock's voice broke Matthew out of his stupor and he was soon racing through ideas that he could use so that he could get Lucario out of this situation. 'Don't think too hard about things little brother, sometimes the best choice is the one that your gut picks for you.' His sister's voice rang through his head and allowed him to decide what he was going to do.
"Lucario wiggle your palms so that they face the rocks of Onix's tail and then use Force Palm through both hands!" Lucario nodded through the pain it was in and after a few moments two light green shockwaves went through Onix's tail successfully allowing Lucario to get out and weakening Onix significantly.
"Heh, it looks like we're both down to our last legs. It all comes down to this, Lucario dash forward and finish it off with another Force Palm!" Going forward with all that it had a light blue-green charge was on Lucario's palm as it ran forward intent on ending this.
"Onix, get up and use Slam!" Brock's commands made the giant rock snake use the remainder of its energy to raise its tail to try and slam down on Lucario to end the match. "Lucario use Detect to dodge and then end this with Force Palm." Lucario's keen senses were enough, even in its weakened state to dodge the Slam which sent up a large amount of dust which covered the battlefield. It was all up to Lucario managing to hit that last Force Palm, Matthew believed in Lucario and just knew that he could do this. Slowly the dust began to part to reveal who the winner of the match was.
Last edited: