Time to take on Brooke!

“Well done Kayla! Well done indeed!” The burly gym leader says as she approaches the smaller girl. Brooke is 6’0” tall like you, so she towers over the 5’4” Vermillion girl. “Congratulations, here are your prizes; the Boulder Badge, the TM for Rock Tomb, and a cash prize of 2,100 PD.” Kayla accepts the offered items, and the black-haired woman speaks again. “Now, I assume you are waiting until after the third match to claim your forfeit, like Little Surge?” ‘Oh that’s back’ you think to yourself as Daniel twitches on the sofa next to you.

“Yes, I’ll be waiting so that all three of us can have our fun with you at the same time.” The shy girl blushes at saying something so bold, especially in front of an audience, but still manages a small smile of confidence.

“Well, that assumes the third challenger can beat me.” Brooke replies, smiling right back.

“I have faith in him. See you again soon.” You can’t help but flush a little yourself at the brunette’s words. Recalling her freshly evolved Weepinbell, Kayla turns to head back into the waiting room where you and her master are.

“Okay everyone, one more thirty minute break before our third and final challenger. After that, the fun starts, be it threesome or foursome, so stay tuned! You don’t wanna miss this!” The faceless woman announces, both for the local crowd and televised audience. Oh, shit, you should probably text people to let them know you’re about to take part in your first gym battle! You shoot quick messages to both Mom and Daisy, and they respond saying that they’ll be watching. You also text Blue and Silver, just in case they’re staying in the Mt. Moon Pokécenter before heading into the caves proper. Finally you text Leah, who did give you her number, just in case she wants to watch her sister and you battle.

The latter three girls don’t respond to the messages, so they must be busy. You put away your Pokédex as Kayla walks back in, you and Daniel standing to greet her. You both congratulate her, and she runs up to her lover and brings him down for a kiss. Once she’s done with his lips, the cute green-eyed girl comes for yours, pulling you down to her as well. Your mind can’t help but flash back to the blonde boy referring to her as ‘our girl’ earlier. It’s starting to feel like that’s really how it is, even though it’s happening so fast… Then again, everything seems to be happening fast these days. It’s only been five days since you started your journey, and so freaking much has already happened! You just need to go with the flow, it feels like.

After the kisses, you and the slightly taller blonde boy sit back down, while Kayla remains standing. Bouncing excitedly on her feet, she beams at you two with a huge smile. “I did it! Two badges! And Bellsprout even evolved!” She twirls in place adorably, just as happy as can be.

“Great job Kay, seriously.” Daniel smirks at the girl’s gleefulness.

“Here’s hoping I can do half as well!” You give her a big smile.

Her return smile warms your heart with its beauty. “Oh, I know you’ll do just fine. Then we can all have fun together!”

“Hell yeah!” Daniel punches his own palm, eyes gleaming excitedly.

Eventually Kayla sits back down, just sitting between the two of you this time, chatting happily about her and Daniel’s matches. You do your best to contribute to the conversation, but you can feel your apprehension growing. This is it. You’re about to have your very first gym battle, in front of a crowd, on live television, and then hopefully be having sex in the same circumstances…

“GAH!” The buzzing of the intercom causes you to shout in surprise, nervous tension filling your body.

“Red from Pallet Town is our last challenger, yeah? Get ready kid, you’re up.” The announcer’s voice informs you.

“O-Okay, got it!” You stand, ready as you’ll ever be, and make for the door.

“Good luck Red!” Kayla calls after you.

“Just focus on Brooke, dude. Don’t even think about the crowd.” Daniel advises.

“Thanks, guys. I’ve got this.” You do your best to sound confident, but it’s a flimsy attempt.

After a minute of waiting tensely, you hear the announcer voice ringing out. “And we are ready for our final match! Hope you’re all back in your seats, because it’s time to go! Our first contender; Can she redeem herself in the third match of the day, or is she just getting pounded after this, it’s The Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer, Brooke!” You can feel the audience’s cheers from here, and your heart starts beating like a drum.

“And now, our third and final challenger, it’s Red from Pallet Town!” You take your cue, pushing through the exit of the waiting room and walking out into the arena. The voices of the crowd seem deafening, and now you can basically taste your heartbeat since it’s up in your throat. “Most of you should remember our challenger from yesterday, the busty blonde Blue, also from Pallet Town. Could there be a connection…? Well, look at this and decide for yourselves!” Wait, look at what?

The monitors above and around the arena all flash, showing an image you instantly recognize; the victory photo you had taken with Blue this morning. Of course it doesn’t look like a victory photo, that was the point. It just looks like you and your rival kissing in a passionate embrace. …Blue would probably explode if she knew this was happening, if she could hear the crowds oohs and aahs. As it stands, you’re a little embarrassed yourself. But, thinking of your childhood bully’s potential reaction to this is actually amusing enough to take your mind off of the crowd, at least a little.

Taking a deep breath, you shift all of your focus onto Brooke, prepared to deal with the task at hand. “Well well, seems you’re quite popular, aren’t you?” The gym leader grins at you.

“Guess so.” Is all you manage through your diminished yet present nerves. You grab your first Pokéball, ready to get this battle underway. Brooke mimics you, and the call to begin rings out!

“Geodude, go!” Oh right, Rhyhorn is for her second badge team… Well, this is a little easier at least.

“Charmander, I choose you!” Your starter emerges in a flash of red light, and suddenly the din of the audience just fades away. This is a battle; an extremely important and intense battle, but still a battle. You have to do your best, for everyone rooting for you, and for your Pokémon! “Metal Claw buddy!”

“Defense Curl!” The bronze beauty commands her rock type, probably anticipating your strategy as soon as she sees Charmander. Your partner’s claws shine a steely gray as it rakes them across the curled up boulder with arms. Despite the defense boost, the steel move still does a sizable amount of damage, sending the Geodude backwards slightly. “Tackle!” The floating stone launches itself at your Pokémon, ramming into him for a minor amount of damage.

“Keep using Metal Claw! Shred it to pieces!” Your flame-tailed lizard swiftly retaliates, ripping into the rock type with gleaming dagger-like claws a second time. This is enough, and the rock type slams into the dirt, knocked out… Man, Brooke’s first Pokémon rarely seem to do anything, regardless of which it is. At least the Geodude got a hit in.

“Brooke’s Geodude is unable to battle! Red’s off to a hot start!” Announces the woman unseen.

“Not bad. Here’s where it gets interesting though; Onix, go!” Brooke’s signature snake appears, overshadowing your small lizard.

“Dodge the rocks!” You call out preemptively.

“Bind!” The tan gym leader shouts at the same time, catching you and your Pokémon off guard. As Charmander stares up, waiting to track the movement of falling stones, the stone serpent’s tail shoots forward along the ground, pulling your partner into its crushing grasp. The Onix pulls him up into the air, squeezing him tightly. You can’t even tell him to Metal Claw; his arms are stuck to his sides. “Now, Rock Tomb!” Using the same trick she had used against Daniel’ Drowzee - with a different Onix - Brooke has her Pokémon chuck yours head-first into a nearby stone, not even needing to throw an extra one on top as your fire type faints instantly from the impact.

“Red’s Charmander is unable to battle! This feels like a pattern!” Observes the announcer.

Returning your starter to his ball, you grip onto your second. ‘Here we go, this is what we trained for!’ “Go, Mankey!” The pig monkey spins in a front flip as it emerges and then kicks backwards to leap at you. With your adrenaline so high though, you actually manage to catch the rascal in midair. “NO! Not right now! This is important!” You glare at your little mischief-making monkey, and she nods vigorously, getting the message.

After you’ve released her and she jumps back onto the battlefield, you hear the crowd laughing, and Brooke is stifling a chuckle as well. “Can we get back to the battle, or do we need to let you two have a minute?”

You feel your cheeks burn with embarrassment. “Go, Karate Chop!” You command the irritating pig monkey, who dashes forward towards the rock snake.

“Rock Tomb!” The black-haired woman’s Onix launches a torrent of stones toward your Mankey, who actually leaps up and begins bouncing between the stones like she would the canopy of a tree. She uses the final stone to propel herself at high speeds towards the giant rock type, but at a command from Brooke, misses as the serpent barely manages to dodge the speedy pig monkey who goes careening to the ground, skidding away from her opponent.

“Try it again!” You order your partner, but with a new plan in mind this time. The same process repeats itself, with Mankey jumping up and bounding between the Boulder’s that Onix launches once again. However, as she reaches the last stone and Brooke gives the call to dodge, you shout “Low Kick!”

Changing trajectory at the last moment, your little spitfire of a monkey shoots down toward the section of tail keeping the snake aloft. It was preparing to dodge another attack on its body, and doesn’t have time to change its reaction as Mankey speedily slams a foot into it. The impact is so forceful that Onix actually flies up slightly, disconnecting from the ground before crashing down and shaking the arena. The massive snake’s weight does it no favors; the bigger they are, the harder they fall!

As the stone snake starts to raise its head, your Mankey - without order - leaps onto its head with a Karate Chop, ending the battle with one final strike. She then starts happily hopping from foot to foot, dancing on the **** Pokémon’s face.

“Brooke’s Onix is unable to battle! Brooke is out of usable Pokémon, so Red is the winner!” The audience erupts into cheers, and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. The Pewter Gym Leader recalls her fallen partner, causing your partner to fall to the ground. Mankey then rushes over to you, and you brace for a blow.

Instead, she leaps into your arms and hugs you, evidently thrilled with herself. “Heheh, good job Mankey, that was great!” You squeeze the pig monkey tight, hardly even noticing Brooke as she approaches you.

“Congratulations you two! Well done!” The gym leader smiles kindly, reaching into her pocket. “Take these as proof of your victory; the Boulder Badge, the TM for Rock Tomb, and a cash prize of 1,400 PD.” MONEY.

Returning Mankey to her ball and taking everything from Brooke, you feel a wave of emotion rush over you as you stare at the badge in your hand. This is it. This is real. You really are on your way to the League, someday. Slowly but surely, and this is the first step…

“Now, that’s all three challenges done, and I’ve lost all three. So, we all know what time it is…”