“Two potions, please,” Aoife said to the woman behind the counter of the Pokemart.  The woman handed her a bag with the potions in it, and Aoife paid her 4 dollars.  “Thank you,” she said, then went outside.
“Excuse me,” Aoife asked a woman standing outside the Pokemart.  “Where is the Pewter City Gym?”
 “You’re not from around here, are you?” the woman asked, winking.
 “No, I’m from Pallet Town,” Aoife said.  “I’m looking for a fight at the gym here to earn a badge.  Can you tell me where it is?”
 “Certainly,” the woman said.  “I’ll even show you, if you want.  Come on.”
 The woman led Aoife to a large building made out of slabs of stone, like the rest of the buildings in Pewter.  “Wow,” Aoife said.  “Looks like something out of The Flintstones.”
 “Come on in,” the woman said, taking out a set of keys and unlocking the great rock door. 
 “Thanks…hey,” Aoife said, suddenly suspicious.  “How come you have the keys to the gym?  Are you…the gym leader?”
 “No, the leader is my daughter,” the woman said, stepping inside the building.  “She’s in the training arena, probably.  Come on, I’ll introduce you to her.”
 She led Aoife through the dark corridors, lit only by the occasional torch or lantern hanging on the wall.  Then they came to a room that had a bit more lighting than the others.  It had a sand floor, and two platforms on either end.  On one platform stood a man of about thirty-five or so, and on the other stood a girl of 15, or so Aoife assumed.  Two Pokemon were in the middle of the room: a Golem and a Geodude.
 “Hey…” Aoife said.  “That man is the one that showed me how to catch a Nidoran!”
 “She’s here for the Boulder Badge,” the woman, whom Aoife assumed to be the man’s wife, explained.
 “Oh, you’re the girl I met in Viridian Forest,” he said.  “Caught any new Pokemon?”
 “Yeah,” Aoife said.  “I have Chu-Chu, Nidoran, Rattata, and Spearow.”
 The 15-year-old laughed.  “You’ll need more than that to beat me,” she said. 
 “You’re the gym leader?” Aoife asked.
 “Yeah,” the girl said, recalling her Golem and jumping off the platform.  “I’m Petra Stone.”
“I’m Aoife Ketchum,” Aoife said.
“Ketchum?” the man repeated.  “Your parents wouldn’t happen to be Ash and Misty, would they?”
“That’s right,” Aoife said.  “My dad was the Pokemon Master for a while.”
“I know,” the man said.  “I knew your father when he was training.”
“Oh,” Aoife replied.  “Yeah, Dad told me he traveled with the Pewter City Gym Leader.  Brock, right?”  She turned to the woman, Petra’s mother.  “And Susie?”
“Right,” Brock replied.  “Your Pikachu…did Ash’s Pikachu have babies?”
 “Chuu!” Chu-Chu said.
 “Yeah, and that’s one of them,” Aoife said, indicating Chu-Chu.
 “Well, come on, let’s go to the arena,” Petra said, leading Aoife through another one of the oversized stone doors and into another room.  This one was similar to the practice arena, except there was a rock floor instead of sand and rows of seats set up along the walls.  There were more lines drawn on the floor indicating where the trainers should stand, where the center of the arena was, and where the boundaries of the arena were, to make sure the Pokemon didn’t step out of bounds.
 “We will use four Pokemon each,” Petra said.  “No leaving the arena, as usual in Pokemon League matches, and the use of potions is allowed.  No time limit.  Ready?”
 “Ready,” Aoife said. 
 “Okay!  Go Onix!” Petra yelled, throwing a Pokeball.  A huge rock snake emerged from it, growling menacingly.
 “Hmm…” Aoife thought.  “Can’t use Pikachu, its attacks won’t have any effect.  Probably Rattata would be the best bet.”  She flung her Pokeball into the arena, and Rattata popped out.
 “Onix, tackle attack!” Petra ordered.  The rock snake tried to throw itself onto Rattata, but the smaller Pokemon was too quick.  It jumped onto Onix’s tail and bit it, which didn’t seem to have much effect.
 “Okay, uh…” Aoife was nervous, this being her first battle for a badge.  “Rattata, Hyper Fang!” 
 “Rattata!” the rat Pokemon said, biting the Onix and poisoning it.  The Onix roared in pain as the poison took effect.
 “Onix, return,” Petra said, recalling the Onix to its Pokeball.  “Poisoning it is a good strategy,” she said.  “Better than your father.  He actually used a Pikachu against Dad’s Onix, when electric attacks have no effect on rock Pokemon.”  She took out another Pokeball and threw it out, and the Golem she had been practicing with popped out. 
 “Rattata, return,” Aoife said, noticing that Rattata was tired and needed a rest.  “Nidoran, go!”
 “Golem, tackle!” Petra yelled.  The Golem rolled towards Nidoran and barreled over it, all but flattening the tiny Pokemon.
 “Oh…” Aoife said, looking distressed.  “But I still have Rattata to fight with, it’s not out of the battle yet!  Rattata, go!”
 The Rattata came out again, and Aoife said, “Rattata, tail whip!”  The Rattata’s tail swiped at the Golem, who grimaced, but otherwise it seemed to have no effect.
 “Golem, rock throw!”  The Golem threw boulders at Rattata, but Rattata dodged them and managed to get close enough to the Golem to use its Hyper Fang attack again.  The Golem was weakened, but the Rattata hadn’t hurt it enough to make it faint.  It tackled the Rattata, and Rattata was out of the battle.
 “Rattata, return,” Aoife said.  “Only Spearow left, since Pikachu is inept in this situation.”  “Go Spearow!  Fury Attack!”  Spearow flew over the Golem and beat it repeatedly with its wings.  The Golem fainted, but so did Spearow because the Golem’s rock body had hurt its wings.
 “Spearow!” Aoife cried.  “How did that happen?”
 “It overworked itself, I think,” Petra said, rather impressed.  “A double faint.  Well, that’s something you don’t see every day.”  She took another one of her Pokemon and threw it, shouting, “Rhyhorn, go!”
 “Rhyhorn?” Aoife asked, taking out her Pokedex.  “Rhyhorn,” it said.  “The horn on its forehead is its Achilles Heel, and it is weak against electricity.”
 “Damn,” Petra thought.  “I wish it hadn’t told her that.”
 “Okay!” Aoife cheered.  “In that case, Chu-Chu!”
 “Pika!” Chu-Chu said, excited to finally get to participate in the battle.  It was feeling left out watching all Aoife’s other Pokemon fighting when it didn’t get a chance to.
 “Okay, Chu-Chu, jump on its horn and give it a Thunderbolt!” Aoife instructed it.
 “Ka!” Chu-Chu yelled, leaping into the air.  The Rhyhorn tried to stop it midair, but was unable to and Chu-Chu landed on its horn.  “Pikka!”  Chu-Chu used Thunderbolt on Rhyhorn, and the rock Pokemon fell over.
 “Yay!” Aoife cheered, dancing in a circle.  “Only one more Pokemon to beat, and I have my first badge!”
 Brock, who was watching from the seats with Susie, said, “She really reminds me of Ash.  They both have the same enthusiasm.”
 “True,” Susie said.  “Even if she loses she’ll probably be more determined than ever to win.”
 “Rhyhorn, return,” Petra said, calling back her third Pokemon.  “Okay, this is the last one.  If you beat this one you’ll get the badge.”
 “That’s right!” Aoife said.  “Hah!  That badge might as well be mine already!”
 “Go, Mr. Mime!” Petra said, throwing her last Pokeball and watching to see how Aoife would react to a non-rock Pokemon being used.
 “Mime!” the clown Pokemon said, in a distinctly female voice.
 Aoife had to take out Dexter again.  “Mr. Mime, the barrier Pokemon,” it proclaimed.  “It is capable of making walls with its pantomime techniques.”
 “But…I thought you were supposed to stick to one type,” Aoife said.
 “Hey, I did say we’ll use four Pokemon, didn’t I?” Petra asked, smirking.  “Any four.  Just because I used rock types before doesn’t mean my last one has to be the same thing.”
 “And…why does your Mr. Mime sound like a girl?” she asked.
 “Good question,” Petra said.  “Because it’s a female Mr. Mime!  They’re kind of rare.”
 “Oh,” Aoife said.  “In that case, Chu-Chu, go!”
 “Chuu!” Chu-Chu said.  It didn’t even have to be told to do a Thundershock attack, it knew that was what Aoife wanted it to do and it did it. 
 But the attack never reached Mr. Mime.  Mr. Mime put up a barrier by miming it with its hands, which blocked out the electricity.  “Confusion attack!” Petra ordered it.  Mr. Mime tried to confuse Pikachu, but it failed.
 “Quick attack, Chu-Chu!” Aoife said.  “Jump over that wall!” 
Chu-Chu jumped over the wall, but Mr. Mime built another wall behind that one and hid behind it.  Chu-Chu jumped over the second wall and landed on the Mr. Mime’s head.  “Mr. Mime!”
“Now, thunderbolt!” Aoife yelled.
“Pika…CHUUUUUU!” Chu-Chu cried, shocking the Mr. Mime.  Mr. Mime stood blinking for a second or two, then fell over, saying, “Mime…”
“ALL RIGHT!” Aoife cheered, running up to Chu-Chu. 
“Pika!” Chu-Chu said, jumping into her arms.
“We got a badge, Chu-Chu!” Aoife said, almost unable to believe it herself.  “We actually got our first badge!”
“Congratulations,” Petra said.  She took a gray badge out of her pocket and handed it to Aoife, who pinned it on the inside of her shirt.  “You did a really good job, Aoife, especially considering that most of your Pokemon’s types are ones that are weak against rock type.”
“Thank you for the match,” Aoife said.  “And for the badge.”
Petra looked at her four Pokeballs and frowned.  “Now I’ll have to go to the Pokemon center and get them healed…you want to come with me, Aoife?”
“Sure,” Aoife said.  She and Petra walked to the Pokemon center, talking as they went along.  They talked about Pokemon, and Petra told Aoife what it was like to run a gym.
“So about how many battles do you win and how many do you lose?” Aoife asked her.
“I usually win a lot,” Petra said.  “I lose occasionally.  You happened to be one of the trainers good enough to beat me.”
“So…why rock Pokemon?” Aoife asked.
Petra shrugged.  “I guess it’s because my dad was the leader before and he used rock Pokemon, and now I’m the gym leader and I kind of inherited the Pokemon type too.  I’d really like to get more psychic Pokemon like Mr. Mime, but I don’t usually have the chance to travel to other areas.  Around here you can only get grass type, rock type, and bird type, that’s about all.  I really want to breed Pokemon, like my parents did, but around here I can’t learn that much about it.”
“Hmm…” Aoife had been pondering asking Petra something the whole time they had been talking, and she decided to ask now.  “Speak now or forever hold your peace,” she thought.  “Petra, how about you come with me?  I’m going on my travels to get all the badges and get into the Pokemon League.  You could come with me and you’d get a chance to get psychic Pokemon, and I could learn a lot from you.  How about it?”
“I’d love to!” Petra said.  “Oh…but there’s the gym, and I’m only 15, maybe I’m too young to leave…”
“No way!” Aoife cried.  “Are you kidding?  I’m 11 and I left Pallet, and my dad left when he was 10.  Besides, my dad says your dad was 15 when he left too, so there’s no way you’re staying behind here because you think you’re too young.  And your parents can run the gym again, can’t they?  They did before…”
“I guess so,” Petra replied.  “Okay, I’ll ask them if I can go with you.”

***

 “I don’t see why not,” Brock said, when he heard what Petra was planning to do.  “Susie?”
 “Well, we’ll miss you, Petra,” she said.  “But I understand that you want to get out and see the rest of the world.”
 “So it’s okay if I leave?” Petra asked.  “And…and the gym will be okay without me being here?”
 “Sure,” Brock replied.  “Have fun, Petra.”
 “Okay,” she said.  “Bye!”
 “See you later!” Aoife added, as they left the Pewter City Gym together and walked on towards their next destination.  Aoife had earned a Boulder Badge, and also gained a traveling companion. 
 

Author's notes
So I added a new main character in this one, yay.  There will be three others who will join Aoife on her training journey later.  Also, I had to make up a last name for Brock so that Petra could have a last name, and I chose Stone...but that means Flint's name is Flint Stone. O_o Eheheh.  Also, he marries Susie, who is the one who gave him Vulpix, in case you didn't guess that.  I'm in the process of writing the fifth episode as we speak, so that'll be soon too.  And the Who's That Pokemon would be Mr. Mime this time (haha, a rhyme), but again there were no good breaks in the story to put it.  I'd let the TV company handle that one. ^_-
 
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