Author's Note : OK I am back after seeing a hellish week to irritate you guys with my lousy fic , will try to upload a bit more in this week as compensation .
Grey's POV
The next day arrived, and I had just woken up. For some reason, Pewter City felt noticeably warmer than Cerulean. Even with the curtains drawn, the morning sunlight managed to creep into the room and wake me up earlier than I had planned.
I got out of bed, took a bath, stretched for a bit, and got myself ready for the day before heading downstairs for breakfast. The Pokémon Center was serving a simple meal today consisting of bread and butter along with a hot drink, so I ate quietly while thinking about my plans for the coming week.
After breakfast, I spent some time sitting in the Pokémon Center's open lounge area. There were a few magazines lying around, so I casually flipped through them while waiting for the gyms to open. I also ended up chatting with a few strangers who were discussing housing prices in Pewter City.
The conversation caught my interest.
I asked them about rent prices and housing in general. It wasn't because I planned on settling down anytime soon, but I wanted to get an idea of how much a decent house would cost. If things continued going well, I wanted to eventually move my parents into a better home. I already had a fair amount of money, and if not now, then within a few months I should comfortably be able to afford it.
After talking for a while and finishing breakfast, I checked the time.
The gym would be opening around nine.
With that, I got up from my seat and headed towards the Pewter Gym.
Third POV
Grey arrived at the Pewter Gym shortly after it opened and walked up to the reception desk.
"I'd like to register for the Challenge Mode of the gym," he said.
The receptionist blinked.
"...Challenge Mode?"
She looked up at him again just to make sure she had heard correctly.
It had been a long time since anyone had requested that format, and if she remembered correctly, this would also be the first Challenge Mode applicant that the new Gym Leader, Flint, would have to oversee ever since taking over the gym from Brock.
She gave Grey a polite smile before trying to warn him.
"I should let you know that Gym Leader Flint is still adjusting to managing battles. Since taking over the gym, he's had some difficulty matching trainers with the appropriate opponents."
Grey raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes the battles end up easier than intended... and sometimes they're considerably harder."
Grey shrugged.
"I don't mind."
The receptionist looked surprised.
"In fact," Grey continued, "I'd have more of a problem if the battles were too easy. If he ends up making them tougher, that's even better."
Seeing he wasn't changing his mind, the receptionist simply nodded and completed the registration.
"Very well. Your Challenge Mode has been scheduled to begin one week from today."
She handed him the schedule.
"You'll first face four gym trainers. Each battle will take place on consecutive days. After clearing all four, you'll receive one day's rest before challenging Gym Leader Flint."
Grey looked over the schedule before nodding.
"Sounds good."
After thanking her, he left the gym.
Once Grey was gone, the receptionist, Laila, immediately opened the gym's internal communication chat and informed Flint that a trainer had officially registered for Challenge Mode.
Flint's reply came almost instantly.
"Send me his details."
Laila accessed the League's trainer database and searched for Grey Mallory's records.
At first, she expected to find an ordinary trainer with a few badges.
Instead...
"...What?"
Her eyes widened slightly.
She quickly skimmed through his registered gym results, tournament performances and official trainer history before forwarding everything to Flint without another word.
Several minutes later, Flint finally responded.
"Inform Forest to prepare a few of my personal Pokémon."
Laila blinked.
Forest was the gym leader's son.
Flint continued typing.
"Not my regular gym team. Tell him to bring out some of the Pokémon I personally raised but haven't had many opportunities to battle with."
Another message appeared.
"This kid isn't an ordinary challenger. If I am testing him through Challenge Mode..."
"...then I'd better get ready myself and choose appropriately"
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Grey's POV
The plan for this week wasn't fully set in stone. I had a few ideas, but nothing too concrete. The biggest priority was getting my Pokémon to improve the moves whose training had been put on hold because of the constant travelling .
For Persian, the path was straightforward. She needed to master Dig, Iron Tail, and Water Pulse. I was definitely planning to use her in the upcoming gym challenge, and all three of those moves would be excellent coverage against a Rock-type gym.
Charmander was also guaranteed a spot. Even though Fire-types weren't exactly ideal against Rock-types, she needed the battle experience if she wanted to catch up to the rest of the team.
Cloyster would most likely be my third Pokémon. Exeggutor had already gotten his spotlight in Cerulean, so it was only fair to rotate the team a bit. As for the fourth slot, that would probably go to Fraxure. He had just evolved, and this would be a good opportunity to get him accustomed to his newfound strength.
With the plan settled for now, I headed towards Route 2, near Viridian Forest, where everyone could continue their usual training.
Most of the trainers on the route were beginners or only had a badge or two. The moment they saw Pokémon like Cloyster, Fraxure and Exeggutor beside me, they quietly decided that challenging me probably wasn't worth the trouble. Honestly, I wasn't complaining. It meant we could focus entirely on training without constant interruptions.
Fraxure and Cloyster immediately paired up like always.
Fraxure charged forward, dodging or outright breaking most of Cloyster's Icicle Spears with Rock Smash before rushing in for another attack. Just as his Rock Smash was about to connect, Cloyster spun rapidly and used his Counter Shield, deflecting the blow before sliding away.
Both Pokémon grinned at one another.
Cloyster was pleased that he finally had a training partner who could consistently pressure him, while Fraxure was equally happy that, after evolving, he could finally close the distance and nearly land clean hits. Unlike Exeggutor or Cloyster, whose weaknesses still affected their mobility in certain situations, Fraxure felt incredibly natural after evolving. His speed, strength and overall physical ability had all increased significantly.
On the other side, Exeggutor and Charmander continued their own training.
The goal for Charmander was to make better use of Sunny Day and gradually draw out more of her Solar Power ability. Exeggutor, meanwhile, focused on using Solar Beam repeatedly, trying to reduce the move's charging time until it became second nature.
Persian trained separately, alternating between practising Dig and working on Iron Tail. Water Pulse would have to wait until the next training session when Cloyster was available to help teach the move properly as it being a water type pokemon meant it would learn the move faster.
Overall, the training went well. Everyone made small but noticeable improvements, and that was all I could really ask for.
I packed up and went to explore the city maybe I would do some light training at the evening after exploring .
Tomorrow, I decided I would head into Viridian Forest for a change of scenery. It would give Charmander a different environment to train in, while the rest of the team could continue improving their own skills and explore the forest a little as well.
Author's Note:
Ok thats it for this chapter I know shorter than normal but it is what it is , this note is to kind of specify what I would try with flint and brock's family , firstly should I include brock's mom back again or not , the anime initially told she was dead then we find out she was just as deadbeat as the dad who ran away leaving a bunch of kids to be raised by brock alone. Second thing I wasnt the biggest fan of brock even coming back as a gym leader in my opinion he should stick to being a full time breeder or doctor which he does become in journeys I guess. Brock has sacrificed enough of his dreams and only now has gotten a chance to pursue , thats another theme I am going to keep chasing dreams , we have seen it with a more serious misty , now you will see it with brock as well and also his younger brother forest who is going to be 9 around this time(again this is me doing changes as this is a fic) but next year he will become eligible to be a trainer and unlike his dad or brock he wants to become a gym leader and he is gonna work hard to pursue that dream, Brock might become like what reggie was for paul in the anime but just a bigger name .
Second what I have here is a golden chances for even with the readers to see a bunch of Non-Kanto pokemon for a gym battle.
Flint travelled far to become a great trainer , I can just take this line a extrapolate it to being he travelled to multiple regions but couldnt hack it that far in any one of them then came back to kanto and did all that pity crap for brock. Meaning he has rock or ground type pokemon of other region allowing me to set up a crazy match with Grey.
I have 4 interlude chapters in mind that I wanted to introduce pick any 2 for this week:
1. Interlude Ash
2. Interlude Celadon City
3. Interlude Green and Silver
4. Interlude Lance
Also I am giving hint for the pokemon he will catch in next or couple chapters
This pokemon was probably among the better ones that Ash has owned , It was in OU at a point and its mega evolution is pretty busted if used well.
It is mostly used as a wall breaking pokemon and is a bug type.
It is generally used with a specific orb in battle to bring out its best.
Who's that pokemon.