Chapter Five: Battle For the Boulder Badge! The three made it to Pewter City just at nightfall, so they decided to stay in the Pokemon Center. “Yes, you may stay here if you want,” smiled the Nurse Joy. “Who’s she?” asked Melina. “She’s Nurse Joy. She heals Pokemon with this machine.” Replied Jared tiredly. “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to bed.” Jared and Melina were asleep but Darren was still awake. “I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing…” he moaned sadly, feeling homesick. “Can I beat the gym leader Brock?” he asked himself. “I sure hope so.” Then Melina walked in. “Oh, I thought I was the only one awake.” She said. “Are you thinking about beating Brock, too? I sure am.” She said. He nodded. “I wonder if he’s had any good experience with pokemon.” “Duh, he’s a Gym leader. Of course he has experience.” Darren looked at his Poke’ balls. “Eevee, Ratata, can you do it?” Then Darren turned to Melina. “Do you know a lot about Brock?” Melina took out her guide book and flipped to the Leader Section. “Agatha, Brawly, oh here he is. Brock has 10 younger brothers and sisters. His mother died and his good for nothing father went from home. But he manages to keep the gym and his family under control. His pokemon are Zubat, Onix, and Geodude.” Darren smiled. “He sounds like a pretty good guy. Maybe I will be able to win.” “Me too.” Said Melina. Before they left Darren wanted to challenge the gym leader along with Melina. As they walked in they didn’t see anybody. “Hello?” called Darren. Brock came sailing from a ledge. He looked about 17, near Damon’s age. “So, I finally meet some trainers. This is your first gym battle, am I right?” Darren nodded. “Good. Get ready to feel the power of Rock types! Go, Geodude!” A rock Pokemon with arms came out. Geodude, the Rock Pokemon. Unless bothered, Geodude will not attack. Strengths: Fire, Ice, Electric, Poison, Rock, Flying. Weaknesses: Fighting, Ground, Grass.” “Go, Eevee!” Eevee came out. “Geodude, Rock Throw!” Boom! Boom! Eevee fell back. “Eevee, Take Down Attack!” Eevee ran and hit Geodude where it hurt. Eevee took recoil damage. “Geodude, Tackle!” Geodude came sailing and hit Eevee in its weak spot. “Oh! Darren isn’t doing too good…” sobbed Melina. “Eevee, use Sand-Attack!” Geodude’s Accuracy fell! “Use your Slam, Geodude!” It missed! “Eevee, Bite!” CHOMP! Geodude fainted. Now it’s time to Rock n’ Roll! Go, Onix!” A big Rock snake came out, roaring. It seemed to make everything shake. The three fell over but Brock wasn’t affected. “How can I beat that thing?!” cried Darren. “Onix, the Rock Snake Pokemon. It is as hard as crystals and reaches a length of 28 feet. Strengths: Fire, Ice, Bug, Electric, Poison, Rock. Weaknesses: Fighting, Ground, Grass.” “None of my Pokemon are those types…” Darren moaned. “Onix, Bind Attack!” Onix came down and binded Eevee, but Eevee bit him. “Return, Eevee! Go, Ratata!” Ratata came out, ready to fight. “Ratata, use your Super Fang!” Ratata ran up and hit Onix. “According to this book,” read Melina, “Super Fang ALWAYS takes half of the opponent’s HP.” And it did. Onix only had half of its health left, but then Onix used Strength and hit Ratata with an extremely strong force. Ratata was just on the verge of giving up. “No Ratata, you can do it, try another Super Fang…” Ratata got up and used the move. Onix was weak now as well. Then Team Rocket took this time to break in and sing their stupid motto, with Wart’s words added in… “To win all battles with power and might! To make all people shake with fright! To put your Pokemon in our pocket! Listen world, our name’s Team Rocket!” “Koji!” “Jeni!” “You think you’ll win, but you cannot! We’ll watch you give your best sh-” “Um, can’t you guys see I’m in the middle of a ba-“ “AHEM! M’ name’s Wart, and I am hot!” Koji and Jeni had steel looks on their faces when Wart finished. “Maybe you should try something else, Wart…” “Maybe you guys should try a different motto. That one is terribly corny.” Said Darren. The two got angry and sent out their Pokemon, this time with two more added. “Go, Grimer and Goldbat!” cried Koji. “I choose you, Seviper and Nincada!” It seemed as if once again they had a “different” pokemon from the Hoenn region. “Man, my pokemon are weak. You go, guys.” “Right! Go, Squirtle!” “Yeah, go, Fearow and Clefairy!” Brock looked left out so he sent out Cubone. “Four vs. Four! Now it’s even! Grimer, Goldbat, Toxic!” The two Pokemon both used toxic at the same time. “Move!” cried Jared. His Fearow couldn’t move in time and got hit with Toxic. It fell onto Squirtle. “Oh, no! We’ll never win now!”