They arrive at Pewter City the next morning with the same camping group, and they split at the gateway.

"Alright, we're heading straight for the gym, Fushi," Bell says, holding the handle of his wheel, ready to race his Bulbasaur across the streets. "Let's go find it!"

-

Bell enters the Pewter City gym and scowls down at the unpaved flooring like it's a personal offense. Which, in fact, yes it is.

Pewter City Gym is a training facility, human and Pokemon alike. It's got indoor terrains, rock climbing walls, targets, and of course, more than enough space to Pokemon Battle. It's pretty much a practical form of Trainer Schools, but only for trainers that are of age.

In fact, there were plenty of trainers inside already. They were using the rock terrain to its fullest, Growlithe meandering around them to dodge Rock Tombs, Geodude hiding between the cracks to ambush a searching Pidgey, and more. At the far wall a Hiker races his Machop to the top, only to end in a draw as they slip and fall, landing harshly against the mattress laid out underneath for safety.

"Hey there!" the assigned Gym guide, or Jim, as they're usually referred to, "you a trainer, or...?"

"Yes," Bell answers before looking over.

"Ah," Jim says, like a realization, and Bell understands that's surprise. People with physical disabilities aren't encouraged nor required to go on badge pilgrimages, after all, so he must've been taken aback.

Bell's smile pulls tight, but he keeps it on. He needs to be polite, or they might chase him out or look down on him. He can't afford more handicaps than his already existing one.

Jim composes himself, reaching over for the entry log, "here to challenge the gym leader, or for a class? Trainer ID, please."

At least he was personable enough.

"To challenge the Gym Leader," he says. "I've got no badges yet."

"Alright then," Jim says, lodging the data in and returning the card, "You can use up to two Pokemon. Brock's not in at the moment, but I'll call him. He'll be here in about ten, can you wait that long?"

"Sure, I'll go look around..." Bell looks back at the jagged floor, and the multiple threatening rocks in the way of everything. It doesn't look like there was much space for the wheelchair once you got far enough in. "...On second thought, I'll just wait here."

Jim chuckles. "Yeah, you do that. I'll tell him to hurry."

Bell sighs, leaning back against his chair. People have noticed him, and some have smiled when their eyes met, just to be polite. Jim has hustled out the door, supposedly to Pewter Museum where the Gym Leader is.

Bulbasaur comes out of her Poke Ball, looking around excitedly. Bell turns his attention to the other two Pokemon he'd caught along the way, a Pidgey and a Rattata, and wondered which one he should use.

"Oh! There's a challenger!" one of the scouts came by, beaming. It seems they were clearing the middle field. "Good luck! Gym Leader Brock is pretty tough."

Bell jumps at the sudden address, but he manages to offishly thank them for the well wishes. Most of the trainers were now making their way up the hills by the side of the zone, to a gallery seating formed of some flatter rockbeds.

"Hey, challenger!" one scout calls, gesturing toward the now cleared field. "You can actually position yourself somewhere in there, since the Gym Battle extends the entire center area. Need help?"

Of course. The rocks aside, there's a rather steep set of steps to get in with no slope in sight. "Yeah..." he trails off.

Bulbasaur had toddled up, vines grasping either side of the chair. And then, with a very resolute huff, she starts dragging him forward.

"Uh," is the only thing he can say, "Fushi?"

But even the scout is staring, surprised by the Pokemon's initiative. She huffs, proudly pulling him forward like a horse cart— until the wheel hits the raised step, and she turns around, doing her best to heft it up.

"Uh, Fushi, I can lift—" Bell reaches for the wheel, but Bulbasaur barks at him, like a warning, and Bell jumps, lifting his hands away from the wheel, chastised. "Okay, okay, I'm not moving."

Apparently, Bulbasaur really wants to do it herself. She even stares sternly at a Machop that approaches to offer aid. Bell could only meekly sit still, a little concerned.

It takes a bit more effort, but Bulbasaur manages to drag him up fully, before sitting down with an accomplished sigh of satisfaction. Bell's face flushes with embarrassment when the peanut gallery cheers and claps.

Bulbasaur smiles, really proud of herself, and when she stares at him expectantly, Bell reaches down to pat her on the head.

"Yeah, yeah, good job."

She sings, delighted.

Someone clears their throat, and Bell turns around to see a tall, older man, who wasn't wearing a shirt for some reason. "I take it you're the challenger?"

Jim tosses Gym Leader Brock his jacket from behind, and Brock snags it out of the air. He's covered in sweat, having come straight from another job. He was stoical, completely expressionless, and one could argue his ever-present scowl was rather intimidating.

Bell leans back on his chair, unnerved, and Bulbasaur looks over, curious. For a first gym leader, he really wasn't being a very friendly person. He thinks he knows why this gym doesn't get many challengers, or why Brock wasn't in here from the start. His face must've been scaring away newbies.

"Let's go, then," Brock prompts, stepping onto the field. He pulls his coat on, zipping it up quickly. He doesn't say much more.

"Sorry about him," Jim whispers, "he's not a very expressive fellow."

Bell blinks at that.

A chortle escapes his throat. "It's okay, I know someone much worse," he says, looking down at Bulbasaur, who seems to come to the same realization. "Right, Fushi?"

Bulbasaur chortles.

-

The battle isn't supposed to be difficult.

"Vine Whip!"

"Defense Curl!"

It shouldn't have been difficult at all, honestly— but Bell's having a hard time. Geodude is an expert in this rocky field, and Bell is completely out of his comfort zone. Bulbasaur would lash out a strike that, due to its ridiculous defenses, barely had any effect, and then, Geodude would retaliate sharply before rolling away, tucking itself behind rock and readying its next ambush before Bulbasaur could catch up.

"...Geodude aren't supposed to be that fast," Bell whines. He'd lost track of it again. Bulbasaur stands alarmed, looking around herself warily.

"It's because of Rock Polish," Brock says.

"Ah... a buff," Bell looks through his Pokedex. "Raises Speed... then, all the more, we need to defeat it as soon as we can, right? Fushi—"

"No," Brock interrupts him. He's making his way over, and Bell gulps. Brock is frowning down at him. "If you rush ahead recklessly, you'll end up wasting a lot more energy just getting over some simple stairs."

Bell freezes.

"Have you forgotten that we can use two Pokemon in this battle?" Brock raises another Poke Ball. "Look at your Bulbasaur. Do you think it'll last against another, stronger opponent?"

Bulbasaur was breathing heavily, looking around, frazzled. Covered in bruises, vines tense and alert— she couldn't handle too many more hits. She was so alarmed, she hadn't even noticed that Bell and Brock had stopped giving them orders.

"...no," Bell admits. "She probably can't."

"Exactly," Brock says. "So, challenger. What's your next plan?"

That wasn't a taunt, or an indication to give up. That was a prompt, permission to take the next few moments of reprieve to think , think , think . A Gym Battle isn't a beatdown or a blind test of strength, this Gym Battle was training , a private learning session.

Brock knew Bell was inexperienced, and that was exactly why he pointed it out.

He wanted to give Bell the chance to overcome this problem he's found. Because that's how Bell could prove that he's capable of becoming a good trainer.

Bell wasn't dumb. He knew his chances of winning from here are slim. But that didn't mean he was giving up— to fail his first gym challenge so easily would be humiliating.

(He's had enough of being humiliated. He'll prove himself here, now.)

Bell's eyes light up. "We're still going to win!"

And Brock grins. To the confusion, surprise, and bewilderment of Bell and the entire gallery of the audience, Brock grins wide.

"Good!" he declares, turning back around. "Geodude, Rollout!"

Bell notices it a moment before Bulbasaur does. "Behind you!"

Geodude shatters a rock on the way in, bursting out of the ground. Bulbasaur leaps away right before she's hit, but Geodude catches itself immediately, spinning forth again for Rollout.

"Get its arms!" Bell yells, "Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaurs snatches Geodude up right before it starts rapidly rolling away, fiercely dragging Bulbasaur behind him like a runaway wheel. Bulbasaur skids against the ground, trying in vain to stop the rampant Geodude.

"Leech Seed!" Bell yells, and Bulbasaur obeys, seeds popping out of her bulb, taking root, and enrapturing Geodude beside her own vines, tangling it in a mess of overgrowth.

And from there, it's a battle of endurance.

It takes a while but eventually Geodude grounds to a halt, winding back, dizzy-eyed. Bulbasaur too collapses, panting heavily. Shakily, she gets back on her feet.

"Geodude is unable to battle!" Jim declares. The crowd cheers.

Brock returns it to its Poke Ball.

Bell sighs in relief. One more to go... He lifts his head in confusion when Brock doesn't reach for his other Poke Balls.

Instead, Brock set his hands at his side.

"In a battlefield, there's no time to catch your breath!" he says, loudly. The entire hall silences, and Bulbasaur lifts her head in surprise. "Onix, Rock Throw!"

From where...?!

Bell squeaks when the ground gives under him— no wait that's not the ground, that's not the ground — and he's sharply lifted off balance, wheelchair and all, on the long rock body of an Onix. He lurches into the air, and it's all he can do to grasp the armrest and panic.

How long has it been down there?!

Bell yells when the brakes bump out of place and he's rolling— he's rolling backwards, he's falling — and Onix spirals forward, ignoring Bell and heading straight for Bulbasaur. Rocks are flung into the air, and they come down, like meteors.

Bell squeezes his eyes shut as the ground rapidly approaches. He can feel one wheel tilting dangerously, and though his legs are strapped in securely, he knows he's going to meet the ground in a nasty heap, he just knows it—

"Ah crap, my bad!"

Bell's momentum stops when something catches him from behind, sliding with him down onto the ground, but holding him firmly upright. Brock has his hands on the sides of the wheelchair, and he shoves it forward, out of the way of a sharply falling stone.

"Whoops!" Brock barely dodges a rock, hurrying forward. "That was close."

"...Huh?" Bell looks back. Then forward. Then back again. "Huh?! HUH?!"

And why is Jim so far away? Why is he giving Bell a deep look of pity? Is it just him, or is the crowd cheering louder now?

"We're in range of the attack, so," Brock shrugs, like that's an explanation. There'a smirk on his face, and Bell wants to cry.

"Why is it attacking us too?!" Bell's voice cracked at the end of it, but he genuinely believes he has the right to be that discomposed, at least. He clenches tightly onto the armrest, knuckles turning white.

"That's just how I fight!" Brock hollers, taking Bell's wheelchair by the handles and making his way from one end of the field to the other, maneuvering around the rocky grounds like they posed no problem at all. He even uses a rock as a ramp to get them out of the trajectory of a nasty Rock Slide, and he laughs .

Bell can only cling on for dear life and regret everything.

"C'mon! The battle's still going on!" Brock prompts.

He's fully smiling now, the strict, intimidating demeanor completely gone. Is this guy insane? A battle junkie? Or just insane?!

"Ah, Fushi!" Bell hollers. Bulbasaur is barely holding on, running frantically. "Come back!"

Bulbasaur is more than happy to oblige. Bell reaches up to catch the Poke Ball as it comes back to him, and he has ten seconds to pick his next Pokemon—

"Ratte!" he chooses Rattata, "Quick Attack!"

"That's not really going to make a dent, you know?" Brock says. "Onix's defenses are notoriously insane."

"Shh! I have a plan!" Bell hisses up at him, ignoring all pretense of politeness ever again with this guy, "and could you stop pushing for a second, it's rude to just grab me out of nowhere, and I can't see!"

"No can do. Onix hit something up there and I think this entire wall's coming down like an avalanche."

"Run sideways! Why aren't we running sideways?!"

"In a real battlefield, you've gotta know how to fight even in a situation like this."

"I don't want this kind of life lesson!"

"Onix, use bind!" Brock orders. Onix snags Rattata right up, and immediately, he's trapped, squeaking in pain.

But Bell isn't fazed. "Focus Energy!" he orders, and Rattata whines, obeying immediately, squeezing his eyes shut.

"You're turning this into another battle of endurance again?" Brock raises a brow. "This isn't going to be like the one just now, you do understand."

They finally escape the landslide. The rocks have stopped falling, so they could come closer to the battle, where Rattata and Onix wrestle one-sidedly.

"Well, whatever you're planning, it's not going to happen," Brock declares. "Onix, finish it! Slam!"

Rattata is grasped between a rocky tail– raised into the air– and, fiercely, hurled down onto the ground. Bell couldn't help but look away, wincing at the tremors of the impact. Dust rose in the field, and silence befell the gym. Brock sighs, his face falling back into indifference as he calms down from the high of battle.

"Well, that's it."

Finally, Jim slowly raises his hand, "Rattata is—"

Bell immediately interrupts, "Counter!"

And from the dust Rattata scrounged back up to his feet, and, screeching sharply, he charges forward, engulfed by a sharp fighting light. He crashes fiercely into Onix's face, the collision a crash so violent, Onix is thrown aside, into the wall, shattering the rock and causing another mound of rocks to fall from above, right over them.

Brock's jaw drops. "...what?"

Bell pumps a fist victoriously. "Yeah!" he cheers. Grinning up cheekily at Brock. "If you rush ahead recklessly, you can't win, right?"

Brock's face lifts into an amused smile. "Using my own words against me now?"

The helper Machop hurried over, removing rock and debris, finding Onix and Rattata simultaneously knocked out. And since Bell still had Bulbasaur... Jim sighs contently as the crowd screams in excitement.

"The match is over!" he declares. "Leader Brock is out of usable Pokemon! Challenger Bell is the victor of this match!"