"Congratulations. You did well enough and managed to defeat me — The gym leader of Pewter city. This is the symbol of your victory against me. Take care of this badge!"
Saying that, Brock handed Arthur the boulder badge.
Not far away from them, the gym trainers were also clapping as they acknowledged that Arthur deserved the badge. It was not everyday that gym trainers would act like this, although Arthur didn't know that.
He just looked at the gym trainers and Brock with an awkward smile as the sweet sense of success seeped into him.
'I was finally able to take the first step towards Indigo league.'
He thought as he looked at the badge in his hand.
This was proof that he had evolved from a rookie and was better than your average trainer. This was the proof of his strength and the conquest over Brock.
'Still, the ending was somewhat anticlimactic...'
Arthur sighed a little, thinking back to the moment when Brock had stopped the battle. He was pretty sure that Onix still had a lot of strength left.
That's why the ending of the battle just left a bittersweet feeling in his heart.
If he could, he wanted to fight out the whole battle, until one of their Pokemon was really unable to continue. Anything other than that was simply incomplete in his mind.
He still had an idea as to why Brock had done that, but he was unable to hold himself back from asking.
"Why did you stop the battle? Onix still had a lot of strength left and I am pretty sure he could have gone on."
When Arthur asked that, Brock fell into a thought and replied after a while.
"I just didn't want to see Onix in more pain."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me explain. Actually, I don't like to participate in Pokemon battles. For me, they are just no fun. I don't like to see my Pokemon going through pain and when Onix fell to the ground, I realised that I didn't want him to continue the battle just for my sake. In a way, you can say it didn't have any meaning for me."
Brock whispered all that, so that only Arthur could hear him.
He wondered what Arthur would say hearing his real thoughts. Everyone had just told him to handle the gym and be a trainer cause he was talented, like his father.
No one had ever listened to what he wanted to do.
That's why Arthur's next words surprised him.
"It doesn't seem like battling is your dream, but you are still continuing being a gym leader because it's your responsibility. That somehow seems really lonely."
Arthur said that, remembering Brock's character in the anime.
But for Brock, it was the first time someone had understood him. He was unable to say anything for a while and his face just showed a set of complicated emotions.
After a while, he just asked.
"Do you have a place to stay tonight?"
"I'm staying at the Pokemon center for now. Now that I have gotten the boulder badge, I'm planning to move towards Mount moon tomorrow." Arthur replied, wondering why Brock was asking this.
"Then, how about you eat dinner at my place tonight? You can stay there for the night and continue your journey tomorrow." Brock asked with a bright smile on his face.
Brock's offer was so surprising that Arthur wasn't able to say anything for a while. But after thinking for a bit, he happily nodded his head.
After all, Brock's food was always delicious in the anime and he didn't want to miss a chance to taste it.
Secretly, Arthur was a foodie.
* * *
As Brock didn't have another battle scheduled for today and the battlefield needed to be restored, they directly headed towards his house.
Brock's home was not that far away from the gym and while walking, both of them talked about Pokemon and Brock told Arthur about his dream of becoming a Pokemon breeder.
For some reason, Arthur felt that Brock was now more open to him.
"Brock!! You are back!"
When they reached Brock's home, they were suddenly 'attacked' by his siblings. As the siblings surrounded Brock, Arthur glanced at them and felt that they looked exactly like miniature versions of Brock.
'In the anime, Brock originally had nine siblings. I saw Forrest in the gym, so there are only eight here...'
Arthur tried to gather the information he could remember from the anime.
At that moment, one of Brock's younger siblings, one of the twins, noticed him and pointed at him.
"Brock, who is he?"
The other siblings also looked at him curiously and Arthur was suddenly under the radar. Brock introduced him while patting the head of one of the younger siblings.
"He's Arthur, my friend and a trainer. He just won the boulder badge and he's going to stay with us tonight."
At Brock's words, all his siblings looked at him intensely. It was rare for Brock to call his friends at their home and it was even rarer for them to meet a trainer that had defeated their older brother.
Actually, it was the first time they were meeting someone like that.
That's why their curiosity was justified and throughout the evening, Arthur just answered their questions about Pokemon while trying to remember which sibling has what name.
Anyhow, it was a fairly great and relaxing evening for him.
The best part of it was of course the food. Brock was a great cook in the anime and it was the same here. He cooked delicious food that Arthur gobbled down instantly.
Even his Pokemon liked the food that Brock made for them.
It was so delicious that Arthur asked Brock about his recipe and they had a long talk about Pokemon food before going to bed.
The next day, Arthur woke up early to pack his stuff from the Pokemon center and leave for Mount moon. Everything that he wanted to accomplish in Pewter city was already done and there was no need to stay here longer.
But as he was saying goodbye to Brock, he was suddenly handed a wooden box by him.