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"So... are you going to replace Brock?" - asked Celeste.
Roxanne had been seeing Ash and Celeste became a little jealous, so she decided to intervene in the conversation.
"Yes, I'm Brock's stand-in for a day!" – Roxanne nodded.
Then, my first gym battle will be against Roxanne and not against Brock, what a curious turn of events, but I guess it doesn't matter who I'm battle as long as the leader is still Rock-type.
"Then, I think the time has come to get my first badge" – I said with a smile.
"You must be a newbie trainer, thank goodness, because I only brought my weakest Pokémon to Kanto" – Roxanne sighed.
The truth is that, since there is technically no order to challenge the gym leaders, each gym leader, regardless of the region they belong to, have to have different Pokémon teams to adapt to the badges that the trainer has at that precise moment, in terms of the Pokémon that Roxanne brought... she basically took with her only two of her Pokémon, that is, the Pokémon she used to fight against newbie trainers who wanted to win his/her first badge, just as Ash planned to do.
"Then perfect" – I said.
"Well, now that everything is solved, you can go to the battlefield" – said the receptionist.
Thanks to Roxanne's arrival, he was spared a sanction from the Pokémon League, only Arceus knows how grateful he was to Roxanne at this moment.
"Okay, let's go" – Roxanne nodded.
Then, the receptionist took us to the battlefield, which was basically the same as the Brock from the anime.
"Wow, is this what gyms looks like inside them?" – Celeste asked.
It was her first time walking into a Pokémon gym and she was excited.
"Mmm, it looks like Brock hasn't taken bad care of his gym, I guess everyone has their good side" – Roxanne said admiring the battlefield.
But the receptionist frowned, Brock keeping the battlefield clean? What a joke, he was in charge of cleaning it daily! In fact, on days when there were a lot of battles, he had to clean it more than 3 times in the same day.
"Awesome, seeing a Pokémon gym in real life is awesome..." – I said enraptured.
I've always seen Pokémon gyms either in anime or video games, but seeing it in real life is... exciting.
"Did you say something?" – Celeste said.
She thought she heard Ash say something, but she couldn't hear what he said.
"I say I'm looking forward to fight, right, Pikachu?" – I said in a hurry.
"Pika pi!" – Pikachu nodded.
"Then let's not waste any more time, let's fight" – Roxanne said.
Then, the receptionist, who was going to act as a referee, told us where to position them, just as we all saw in the anime.
"Perfect, the rules are simple, since the challenger does not have any badge, it will be a 2 vs 2 battle, the first one to weaken all the Pokémon of his/her opponent, is the winner, in addition, it is strictly forbidden to aim attacks towards the ceiling, a trainer has already done that and we do not want it to be repeated! Is that clear?" – said the receptionist.
The ceiling?
I looked at the ceiling and could see that there were some sort of sprinklers that would surely start expelling water if there was a fire, but if the receptionist said that... doesn't that mean that there was another trainer before me who used the same strategy as the original Ash? What is happening here?
"I have no doubt" - I said.
My heart started pounding, I started to get nervous, this was going to be my first official gym battle, my first step to becoming the best Pokémon trainer in the world, whether I win or lose, I will always remember this day.
"Then... you can start!" – said the receptionist.
"Geodude, I choose you!" – Roxanne said.
A sturdy-looking Geodude came out of his Pokéball eager to fight, he was already eager to stretch his muscles.
Now, while I'd like to fight Pikachu, I think it's better to use my head.
"Pikachu, do you mind fighting in the next gym?" – I asked.
Pikachu was not stupid and knew perfectly well that there were fights that were better not to fight, so she nodded.
"Pika pi" – Pikachu nodded.
Perfect, because I don't want to make a rookie mistake.
"Don't be nervous Ash, I know it's your first gym battle, but you need to calm down" – Roxanne said.
Roxanne could tell that Ash was shaking slightly, something very normal for rookie trainers, in fact, it was very normal to see rookie trainers get nervous in their first gym battle.
"Cheer up, Ash, you're going to win, you can do it!" – Celeste exclaimed from the stands.
"Chansey, chan!" - exclaimed Chansey.
Celeste had taken Chansey out of her Pokéball to cheer Ash on with her.
Seeing them cheering me on, I breathed in and breathed out, it's true, I must calm down, I won't be able to become the best if I get nervous, I have to trust myself, I have to test Ash's inherent talent and my knowledge of anime and video games, it's time to prove myself!
"Bunneary, I choose you!" – I exclaimed.
Bunneary stepped out of her Pokéball and looked at her trainer and then at the Pokémon in front of her and nodded, it seems that the time had come for her first battle.
"Ash, I won't lose on purpose because you're a rookie trainer, you have to win your first badge using your true skills, Geodude, use Rock Throw!" – Roxanne exclaimed.
It may seem a bit cruel, but the truth is that Roxanne wanted to help Ash to improve, she wanted to teach him that he should react fast, that's the basics of any trainer.
Roxanne's Geodude punched the ground a few times, lifting some rocks that he then threw with all his might towards Buneary.
"Buneary, break those rocks with Double Kick!" – I said.
The first thing is to get rid of those pesky rocks before they can hit Bunneary.
"Neary!" - Buneary nodded.
Then, using her strong legs, she used a Double Kick and broke all the rocks very easily.
"Not only is your Pokémon rare, but it also has a lot of strength, are you sure you caught it on the first route?" – Roxanne said.
A firs route Pokémon would have had to have trouble dodging that and in no case could it have broken those stones.
"Yes, only that she is very strong... we both are strong, Buneary, use Quick Attack and surround the Geodude!" – I exclaimed.
"Neary" – said Bunneary.
Buneary followed her trainer's orders and began to surround Geodude at a high speed making Geodude unable to see what Buneary's true position was.
"Now, use Double Kick!" – I exclaimed.
Bunneary stopped in her tracks and directed a powerful kick at Geodude.
"Geodude, turn on yourself to minimize the damage!" – Roxanne exclaimed.
Before Buneary impacted, Geodude began to spin on himself, so when Buneary kicked him twice, she backed up several meters just like Geodude.
"Are you all right, Buneary?" – I asked.
I think she's fine, but it's better to ask.
"Neary!" – she nodded.
Apparently she had received a little damage, but nothing serious.
"And you, Geodude?" - asked Roxanne.
"Dude..." – Geodude said.
Geodude was not as good as Buneary, the two kicks he received were extremely powerful and if this were a video game, we could see how Geodude's life would be almost in red.
"Okay, then once again, use Rock Throw!" – Roxanne exclaimed.
Geodude again threw a large number of rocks towards Buneary.
"Destroy those rocks with Double Kick!" – I exclaimed.
Buneary smashed the rocks again.
"While she's busy, use Rollout!" – Roxanne exclaimed.
Thanks to the speed that Rollout gave him, Geodude positioned himself behind Buneary just as she finished kicking the rocks.
"Now, hit her!" – Roxanne said.
Geodude sped toward Buneary, but even if he was going fast, his limited rock-type Pokémon's speed meant Buneary could react in time.
"Finish him off, use Double Kick!" – I exclaimed.
Both attacks impacted, sending both Pokémon flying.