Capítulo 45: The Boulder Badge
"S-Steelix is unable to battle! Riolu wins!"
As those words echoed through the Gym, we felt a sense of relief pass through our bodies. And when we closed our eyes, I opened them again to single vision as Riolu and I canceled our synchronization.
I was back in my place, while he was still standing in he middle of the arena. Battered and bruised, but still standing tall.
Steelix meanwhile was lying on its side, unconscious. And we all saw as it shined with the light of evolution, before shrinking down to its original form.
That made me even more curious about the thing known as mega evolution, but instead of being able to think about it I got a three-way tackle from behind as Daisy, Dawn and May rushed me.
"That was amazing!"
"I knew you could do it!"
"You were awesome!"
The three of them exclaimed one after another as I caught and held them in my arms.
"Pip pip lup!"
"Comb ken!"
Piplup and Combusken meanwhile greeted Riolu as he rejoined us, obviously ready for a brief nap.
Off to the side I noticed Misty fidgeting awkwardly while glancing at the rest of us, before Dawn and May noticed where she was at. The two of them then readily grabbed Misty by either arm, and hauled her into our group hug as well.
"That's looks comfy." The professor suddenly said, drawing my attention to him as I asked with a quirked brow,
"Mega evolution?"
I hadn't had time to ask during the battle, but now I definitely wanted to know why we hadn't been told about such a thing during our lessons. It would be one thing if the professor himself hadn't known, but he had.
And it seemed my irritation was easily transmitted to him as he chuckled awkwardly.
"Well Ace..."
"We aren't supposed to tell ANYONE." Brock suddenly said, drawing our attention to him as he approached us with two of his trainers on either side. One was holding a stack of thin wooden cases, while the other was straining to hold the combined weight of all Riolu's weights after collecting them from the arena. Meanwhile another team was taking a look at Steelix.
Brock looked us over before stating seriously, "mega evolution was only recently discovered by the League, and they want to try and keep a wrap on it for as long as possible."
"Well that's stupid!" May declared with a huff. "Something like that would give the League a complete advantage and monopoly over every other trainer!"
Brock nodded seriously, even though I could see streaks of envy in his aura at my current situation, and stated, "that's exactly why. Rather than trainers gaining it suddenly and running amok, they want to establish it amongst League members to try and police it. Plus, they also want to prevent groups like Team Rocket from learning about it since it would only increase their criminal activities."
Even as the girls were silent in contemplation, my expression hardened since I knew that there was at least one member of Team Rocket amongst the League, along with a second that I suspected. Only problem was I never saw their face, so I couldn't be sure if it was actually them or not.
Either way, I was willing to bet that Giovanni was already well aware of mega evolution.
Deciding that I should probably learn more about it for the future, I asked Brock, "since you revealed it to us, can you tell us how to do it?"
Brock beamed at me from my question, before replying with a cheerful, "nope~!"
He then continued despite the looks we were giving him, "knowing about mega evolution and actually telling you how to do it are two COMPLETELY different things. Though at your skill level, I'd guess you can figure it out in the future anyways. Until then, good luck~!"
My face twitched as I detected traces of satisfaction in Brock's aura, telling me he was glad to withhold something like this from me.
Damn jealous bastard.
It's not my fault you get no bitches.
Apparently finished with the discussion of mega evolution, Brock took the wooden cases from the guy next to him before presenting them to us.
"All that said, I AM pleased to present you all with your first Gym badge."
As he said that, Brock handed each of us one of the cases, first Dawn, May, Misty, then myself.
"As the Leader of the Pewter city Gym, I am proud to present the four of you with the Boulder badge!"
Opening up the cases as he spoke, we found the aforementioned badge nestled securely on the velvet interior, along with space enough for the seven remaining badges we'd need to participate in the Indigo League.
"Thank you Brock." I told him sincerely.
"No no, thank YOU. It's been a while since I've had a battle as good as that one, and I enjoyed every minute of it!" He stated back to me with a wide smile, before his expression shifted as he added, "oh yeah! I almost forgot something!"
Brock then pulled out four slips of paper before handing one to each of us, which we saw were actually tickets for us to write our names and phone numbers on.
"Fill these out before you go, and you'll be a part of the raffle tomorrow."
"Raffle?" Dawn asked curiously.
Brock nodded as he explained, "with the success the fossil sanctuary has had, I decided a while back to award certain trainers with a fossil Pokemon of their own through a raffle. This way more people can learn about how cool they are firsthand, and I can help spread fossil Pokemon across the world. My goal is to one day breed a large enough population where we can start introducing them into the wild."
"That's right." Professor Oak suddenly said, drawing our attention back to him as he added, "after Gary got his badge I had a bit of a discussion with Brock, and decided to help him with his goal. After all, there are still many unknowns about fossil Pokemon such as their whole life cycle, their habitats, habits, and much more."
Brock nodded as he continued, "I've been providing the professor with much of the information we've gathered about those very topics, and have been making plans to send some of our fossil Pokemon to him in the near future. As for the rest of you, even if your ticket isn't drawn tomorrow it'll stay in the pot for a chance to be drawn in the future. That's why I have everyone put their contact info on the ticket."
The four of us quickly finished filling them out before handing them back to Brock, while Misty uttered with star struck eyes, "I really hope I win an Omanyte in the future! I love their blue color, and all of their adorable tentacles!"
The rest of us looked at her weirdly, but didn't comment on her strangeness. The three of us had even heard her say the same thing about Tentacool a few nights back.
I then asked Brock, "by the way, what's being raffled tomorrow?"
Brock smiled widely as he commented, "the first ever Aerodactyl!"
All of our eyes went wide when we heard that, as they were not only exceedingly rare even when compared to other fossil Pokemon, but Aerodactyl were also known to be pseudo-dragons, similarly to Charizard and Gyarados. The fact that Sharpedo managed to render one unable to continue battling by the time she lost was a testament to her strength more than its own.
"Really!?" I asked incredulously.
"Yep!" Brock declared with a nod. "The Aerodactyl I used earlier has fathered two eggs, with his mate laying only one of them at a time. We kept the first hatchling at the sanctuary, and now we're giving away the second while it's still fairly young."
My mind raced at the significance of getting a naturally born Aerodactyl, or any fossil Pokemon for that matter. After all, I doubted my in-game knowledge regarding the different fossils you could get applied in this world.
Just as I was debating how to get my hands on some fossil Pokemon outside of Brock's raffle,
*CRASH!*
The doors to the Gym were suddenly blasted open, as a new figure stormed in.
"I'M ASH OF PALLET TOWN, AND I'M HERE TO GET MY FIRST BADGE!"
My expression was blank as every single one of us turned to look at my little brother, who stormed in with Pikachu and his Riolu at his side, ready to fight.
Brock, Joy, and everyone else who hadn't met Ash looked back and forth between us incredulously, while I fought the urge to facepalm at him.
"What are you doing Ash?" I asked him in exasperation.
"Aniki? What are you doing here?!" Ash exclaimed in surprise, apparently only JUST noticing I was even here.
"I could ask you the same thing. You look like you just got into town." I said while eyeing his still dirty clothes.
"Yeah! I raced right over here so that I can challenge Brock, and get my first Gym badge!"
"Pika!"
"Ri!"
Ash's Pikachu and Riolu both declared in agreement, all three ready to do battle right here and now.
"I'd be more than happy to battle you, if you're already registered." Brock said humorously, probably from regarding Ash the same as his own little brothers and sisters.
"Eh? What do you mean by registered?" Ash asked confusedly, making me actually facepalm this time since the professor had clearly gone over that in our classes.
"Hah hah.... Ash! I told you before!" Exclaimed a newcomer who joined Ash, completely out of breath from trying to catch up to him. He had dark green hair tied up with a red band, and looked vaguely familiar to me. Though I couldn't place where I knew him from.
"You can't just run up to the Gym and demand a match. Gym Leaders are usually busy, so you have to go to the Pokemon Center and register yourself ahead of time!" The man exclaimed to my brother tiredly, before noticing the rest of us here.
"Ah! I'm sorry for my companion's rudeness. He was just excited...." The man then trailed off slightly as he stared at one of us in awe.
"Professor Oak!?!" The man exclaimed, before rushing forward and bowing before the professor respectfully.
"It is such an honor to meet you professor! My name is Tracey, and I've been an admirer of your work for a long time!"
That's it!
As Tracey and the professor began to talk, I recalled where I had seen him before. He joined Ash and Misty for a while in the anime after Brock separated from them for a bit, basically taking his place as Ash's caretaker.
I was more than a little surprised to see him with Ash, but it made sense as Tracey introduced himself to professor Oak.
While they were talking, Brock then said to Ash, "I don't mind taking your challenge Ash, but I am full on challenges for the rest of the day. If you like, I can have you register with us now, and I can battle you in the morning?"
"But I wanted to get my badge today...." Ash grumbled in dissatisfaction.
*Smack!*
"Ow!"
"My brother would be more than happy to accept your offer Brock." I told him with a fake smile.
"Why'd you hit me Aniki?" He whined while rubbing the back of his head.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said with a straight face, making Ash glare at me while Brock snickered at us. I knew HE of all people understood what younger siblings were like.
The main reason for Brock to stay in Pewter and create the fossil sanctuary was because he himself couldn't actually leave the city, for more than few days at least. He'd mentioned in an interview one time how both his parents took off when he was younger, leaving him to take care of his nine brothers and sisters by himself.
Brock then glanced at a clock nearby, making me realize it was almost time for his next battle as he reached a hand out to me.
"Well I have to prepare for my next challenger. Got a bit backed up while I was out of town. I enjoyed our battle Ace, and I hope to see you tomorrow. If you guys get to the sanctuary a bit early, I'll even personally show you all around."
"Thank you Brock. I look forward to tomorrow." I said while shaking his hand. I then led a still grumbling Ash out of the Gym, while the others followed us. Exeggutor had been returned to his Pokeball, and Pidgeot was well enough after Joy's treatment that he was able to walk alongside us.
After we returned to the inn we celebrated the four of us receiving our first badge, while also properly settling Ash and Tracey.
Tracey, much to his excitement, was officially taken on to be one of professor Oak's assistants. Much of his excitement was dampened however when he learned that the professor wanted him to accompany Ash in the field.
The reasons for this was that the professor didn't necessarily need another assistant in the lab at the moment, and he wanted to have someone in the field that could directly study whatever he couldn't be present to. Plus he could also keep an eye on Ash for all of us.
Even if he was regulated to being a glorified babysitter though, Tracey was still excited to be working for THE 'great' professor Oak. Plus I doubted he'd regret following Ash around, as I'm pretty sure Tracey would be able to see things around Ash that he never would in the lab.
Case in point, when I showed them both Charmander and Combee, making both Ash and Tracey seethe with jealousy since the former thought Charmander was so cool, and the latter loved bug type Pokemon more than anything.
They then also showed us their own Pokemon, Tracey with his Venonat and Marill; and Ash with his Pikachu, Spearow, Riolu, and his most recently acquired teammate Weedle.
Needless to say the three girls weren't too thrilled to see Ash's newest companion.
From that point on we simply enjoyed ourselves for the rest of the night, eating and praising our Pokemon for the effort they put in today.
...
"Alright! That's a wrap!" I declared to my team, prompting most of them to collapse in exhaustion.
It was the following morning, and were just wrapping up our morning training session as we prepared to go and meet with Brock at the sanctuary.
And while everyone else had followed my instruction and collapsed, I noticed two in particular that were still trying to go on. Squirtle and Pidgeot.
They were the only ones on my team that hadn't defeated a single one of Brock's Pokemon yesterday, Squirtle being taken out by Golem, and Pidgeot by Rhyperior.
And even as they were both still covered in bandages and recovering, they were trying to continue their training.
"That's enough you two." I told them sternly.
"Squirt!"
"Geo!"
"I know. But you have to give your bodies time to rest. We've got plenty of time for you two to get stronger."
Though they both appeared dissatisfied with my words, they were unable to say anything as Riolu stepped up behind them, and lightly chopped them both on the back.
""!!!""
Both jolted with the light impact as I felt the pain going through their bodies via our link, making me shake my head at them wryly.
"Rest. Recover. And when the two of you are well enough, I'll work you both to death. Understood?"
Though they were still dissatisfied, neither tried to argue as they did as I asked. Pidgeot however settled down to use the move Roost, in order to speed up his recovery as much as possible.
"Don't worry! I'll look after them!" Joy exclaimed from beside me.
"Thank you Joy." I told her sincerely. I'm going to miss her after we leave tomorrow.
Leaving my Pokemon for Joy and Riolu to look after, I made to leave the arena to rejoin the others. As I did so, I noticed a strong aura rushing towards me like a bonfire compared to all the others around us. An aura I was as familiar with as Riolu's.
"Aniki! I got my Boulder badge!" Ash cried out as he approached me, flashing his newly acquired badge proudly.
"Good job." I told him sincerely, though I doubted he was going to lose with his own Riolu to rely on already.
"So are you going to leave right away, or wait a few days?" I asked him, knowing Ash would want to hurry to get his next badge.
"Well I'd like to leave tonight, but Tracey wants to wait a couple days..." Ash said in disappointment.
I smiled wryly at his disappointment, as Ash always hated staying still more than he had to.
"You can just take this time to train your team up some more you know." I told him, making my little brother's eyes light up as he apparently decided to do just that.
From there we went to meet with the girls at the entrance of the inn, passing one of the housekeepers along the way.
"Housekeeping~!" She called out through a door to let the guests inside know she was there.
My gaze lingered on her momentarily before we turned down another hall, and made our way to the others.
"Ready to go?" Daisy asked as we approached, gathered with May, Dawn, Misty, Tracey, and professor Oak.
"Sorry, but you all go on without me. I'll catch up." I told them suddenly, confusing everyone I turned around and walked away.
"Where are you going Ace!?"
"Something came up. I'll be there when I can!" I told them, shooing them on ahead even as I made my way back to our room.
***
"Housekeeping~!" A housekeeper cried out as she knocked on a door to one of the numerous rooms in the inn, slyly hiding the 'do not disturb' card that was on it so no one saw it.
And when no reply came from within the room, she opened the door and slipped inside with her cleaning cart before returning the sign where it had been hanging previously.
"Anybody here~~~!?" She called out within the room, only for the silence to answer her.
"Hehehehe... Excellent!" The housekeeper exclaimed, before throwing off her uniform to reveal tight miniskirt and crop top with a bright red R on it, and her magenta colored hair sprung out into its signature comet tail as she flipped her wig off.
"Now then, let's see what the twerp is hiding~!" Jessie said to no one in particular as she began searching the room, beginning by hiding numerous trackers and even listening devices amongst their belongings.
One of her goals was to swipe any of their Pokemon left in the room, but unfortunately she couldn't find any.
"Jessie, we have eyes on the group, but that twerp isn't with them." James suddenly said through her earpiece.
"Well then find him!" Jessie snapped at him, annoyed since James could've just sent Meowth to locate the twerp.
She then carried on with her sweep, searching for anything of value to their mission to capture the twerp along with his strong Pokemon. Specifically his alpha Pidgeot.
Finding nothing though, Jessie decided to go and check the other room next to this one, the one being used by none other than professor Oak! She was sure that would be SOMETHING of value in there. If not for their mission, then something for their own researchers.
Just as she was about to return to her cart and don her disguise yet again however, Jessie heard the door to the room shut.
"Well well well, what have we here?" A voice drawled from behind her, making Jessie slowly turn around to see the twerp himself standing there, right as he latched the lock into place.
"Looks like I found a Team Rocket slut going through my things." The twerp smirked evilly.
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