Third Person's POV

On our way to Oreburgh City where Ash and Volo's first Gym Battle take place, we see Volo training his newly caught Petilil as it battles a Pokémon inside a nearby cave as Ash the others were somewhere in the wood sleeping.

The Pokémon is a short, bipedal, humanoid Pokémon with a pale-yellow body. Its three-fingered hands and two-toed feet are black. It has red eyes and a pair of long, black, ear-like extensions on either side of its head. Its legs resemble a hakama. Its most notable feature is a pair of large black jaws emerging from the back of its head. These jaws have a yellow, oval-shaped spot on their top surface. They contain ten sharp, metallic teeth - six on the top row and four on the bottom. While the jaws are actually transformed steel horns, it can articulate them at will, using them to bite enemies with enough force to break an iron beam. These jaws are incapable of tasting, leading it to use them to eat food it does not like.

"Okay, Petilil, Sunny day!" Volo commands

Petilil causes a bright and warm light to appear in the sky.

"Wile!" The Pokémon charges at the Pokémon attending to use Bite.

"Dodge it!" Volo commands as Petilil dodges at ease thanks to it's ability Chlorophyl "Now, Leech seed!" Petilil launches its Leech seed at the Pokémon who gets drained by the leech seed.

"Alright, Pokéball here we go!" He throws the Pokéball to the Pokémon who gets sucked inside the Pokéball once it made contact with the Pokémon.

The Pokéball wiggles but opens releasing the Pokémon much to Volo's annoyance; the Pokémon then begins to spin rapidly, creating strong gusts of sparkling wind to blinds Volo and Petilil only for it to escape.

Volo sighs with disappointment "well, no one said catching Pokémon will be easy" Volo comment.

"Lil..." Petilil looks down feeling sad that it didn't beat the Pokémon.

Volo picks Petilil up "Hey don't feel down Petilil, there's always a next time, don't worry too much" he assures the Bud Pokémon.

"Petilil!" Petilil cries happily.

Volo smiles at the Grass-type before noticing something flashing through the wall, he takes a closer look and sees a Stone that has a shape of a sun which Volo immediately recognizes it as the Sun Stone.

"Is a Sun Stone" Volo stated with a big smile on his face "with this You can Evolve into a Lilligant!" Petilil looks confused as Volo kneels to put Petilil down "And Normally I would just make them evolve, but I want you to be the one to make the decision Petilil, do you want to evolve now, or later?" he asks.

"Lil?" Petilil looks at the stone before shaking its head meaning it's not ready yet which Volo nods.

"Alright, so let's take it as a souvenir, then" Volo suggests which the Bud Pokémon nods.

Volo attempts to pull out the sun stone which it seemed hard to be able to pull it off.

"Woah, this is hard" Volo comments as he attends to pull the Sun Stone off the wall.

Little did the blonde knew the Pokémon who he battle before was near watching Volo struggling.

Jumps out of hiding as its head becomes surrounded by a white aura, making it seem black and white, and it slams its head into the wall cracking the wall and to Volo's surprise but manages to dodge in time while taking Petilil away from the scene not only the Sun Stone fall off, but two more stones fall off from that same crack

Volo also recognizes them "Woah, A Dawn Stone and Dusk Stone, what am I supposed to do with these?" he questions.

"Ma!" Volo then hears a Pokémon cry he then turns and sees the Pokémon he and Petilil battled before.

Volo then gets up not noticing an empty Pokéball rolling towards the Pokémon who looks at the Pokéball and tilts its head for a moment before touching it and lets itself gets sucked into the Pokéball the Pokéball wiggles three times, and it then clicks meaning that the Pokémon is caught.

"Wow!" Volo stated with awe before picking up the Pokeball "I caught a Mawile!" he cheered as he pulls out his Pokédex.

"Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon. Mawile's horns form a huge set of jaws strong enough to chew up an iron beam."

"Okay what else you got" Volo wonders as he scans the Pokéball with his Pokédex like how he saw Paul doing it when they met "Okay, you're a physical attacker, as expected; your moves are Crunch, Iron Head, Fairy Wind and Double Team, not the best move set but I can work with this, after all good thing that Mawile can use Iron head, due to the fact that Roark is a Rock Specialist and I don't want to rely on Petilil and Meloetta too much" Volo states to himself 

Volo puts the Pokéball and Pokédex back to his back pockets and picks up the three stones from the ground and puts them on his back pocket and then picking Petilil up.

"Now, come on, we must head back before Ash and the others wakes up and notice that we're not in the tent" Volo then said as he walks out of the cave noticing that the sun is rising.

"Petilil!" The Bud Pokémon cries in agreement and then Volo runs back to where the others are camping.

-time skip-

Our heroes had arrived to a new city which is the city where Ash and Volo's First Gym Battle take place "There it is guys! Oreburgh City!" Ash exclaims. 

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agrees 

"Sure looks great to have a Gym battle." Dawn said, smiling.

"And also, a great place to get the first badge." Ash adds before looking at his partner "what do you say?" he questions.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu agrees.

Now with the energy to spare, they're heading to the next important step the Oreburgh Gym; When they went to the Gym, they noticed of how huge it was. 

"Look at this place." Dawn gasped in amazement. "Sure doesn't look like the Gym you challenge and see if they were serious about it." She said, a bit concerned.

"Yeah?... Well, that's for me!" Ash exclaims, getting pumped up.

 "Pika!" Pikachu agreed but when all of them were about to go inside, they stop to see Paul coming out of the Gym. 

"Whoa, it's Paul!" Ash exclaims.

Volo frowns as Paul stares at Ash before he scoffs. "Do I know you?" He taunted as a tall man with long green hair came out, seeing Paul and the group.

"Paul, these friends of yours?" He asked.

"No way." Paul scoffs as he had his hands in his pockets.

"You must have fought a battle. Get a badge?" Ash asked.

"Hey, that's none of your business." Paul states. 

Now it's Volos turn to scoff "What's so hard about being curious, Pauline?" Volo questions as he glared a bit.

Both Paul and Volo exchange glares before Gary gets in between them "Okay! Let's ease up the tension here" Gary sheepishly suggest while moving Volo away from Paul as the blonde makes 'I got my eye on you' hand gestures.

"I bet you're here for a battle, too." The man said, looking at Ash. "U-Uh, yeah...my name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. This will be my first battle in Sinnoh." Ash explained, smiling. "It's great to be here."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agrees with Ash.

Volo then steps up "and I'm Volo, this is also my first Gym Battle, and I came all the way from Celestic Town" he introduces himself.

"Say that's quite a long trip from Kanto. Welcome to the temple of Rock Pokémon, The Oreburgh Gym." The man chuckles. 

"You mean this Gym is for Rock Pokemon?" Ash asked and Paul had grows alarmed by that. 

Volo notices and smirks "What didn't you expect that?" Paul glares at the Blonde's taunt.

"You got it! And the Gym Leader's name is Roark." The man explained.

"Wait, then that means, you must not be the Gym Leader." Ash states.

"No, he's not Ash" Everyone looks at Volo "you see, for what I heard, Roark spends most of his time mining at the nearby mines here in the city" he said.

The man chuckles at Volo "someone seem to be doing their homework?" he questions before continuing "I take care of the Pokémon here" The man explained "The name is Ian and Roark is not here at the moment. I'm sure you'll have a battle with him as soon as Paul finished with his"

"If he can survive" Volo provocatively said making Paul growl at the blonde.

"Sounds great, thanks!" Ash exclaims, smiling before Paul looked up to Ian.

"So, until Roark comes back, I'll be at the Pokémon Center." Paul said and with that he walks away.

Ash watched him and shouted, "Hey Paul, let's give everything we got!" He shouts. 

Paul stops for a second and glanced at him before he scoffs and walks away, leaving Ash, confused. 

"What is with that guy?" Ash wondered. "Pika?" Pikachu wonders the same thing.

"He only speaks pussy" Volo taunts.

Paul stops walking and turns to Volo "What did you said?" he questions.

"I'm sorry, I didn't knew I was laughing" Volo sarcastically apologizes to the purple hair young man "I said you speak pussy" he repeats.

Dawn turns away holding back her laughter as Brock looks shock at Volo's change of behavior while Ash and Gary grow concern for Volo's choice of words.

Volo then raises his hands "but hey, what can I say? We may not speak the same language so we're going to let our Pokémon do the talking at the Sinnoh league, in case you want Meloetta to beat you again like last time?" he then said as Paul scoffs and leaves "that's what I thought" he mutters before turning to Ian and bows "I'm sorry for the sudden tension, Mister Ian; we just happened to not have a bright start with one another" he apologizes.

Ian sweat drops "I could already see that" Ian assures the blonde male.

-scene change-

Inside, Ian had given Ash and Volo a Sinnoh Badge case one for each. 

"Here are your Sinnoh region badge cases." Ian said as Ash and Volo take them, smiling. 

"Wow, thank you, Ian!" Ash exclaims thanking the older man as he puts the badge case away.

"We'll take good care of them" Volo adds.

"Now if you win eight badges, you could compete in the Sinnoh League." Ian explains. "Good Luck, you two."

"Thanks!" the two of them thank him, smiling.

"Pika!" Pikachu also thank Ian. 

"Um...Ian... Do you know where Roark might be at?" Ash asked, a bit curious to know.

"Like Volo said earlier, he's coal mining" Ian answers

"That makes sense to me. That's got to be where Oreburgh City gets its name." Brock states smiling. "I've heard that Oreburgh City has bounds of riches coal ores anywhere." He explains.

"And Roark digs for coals, he also explores the hidden treasure." Ian added. 

"A hidden treasure?" Ash repeats.

Volo pauses and looks down thinking of the three Evolutionary Stones he just found earlier today

-meanwhile-

At the coal mine, the workers and Pokémon were digging for coal as Team Rocket said their motto while digging

"Listen, is that big money calling below?"

"The sound of success tells me so!"

"Work hard!"

"Dig deep!"

"Make some dough!"

"Suck it away at a breakneck pace!"

"Putting big bucks in poverty's place!"

"Roses smell sweet, but we prefer coal!"

"A rose doesn't cut it if money's your goal!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Dig, Meowth's the name!"

"Tired of being on the dole!"

"We're Team Rocket!"

"And we're on a roll!"

"Wobba!"

"This work-hard-and-fly-right, another-day-another-dollar stuff may work for you, but for me, it stinks!" Jessie complains as James and Meowth startles at the sudden outburst.

"Wobba~" Wobbuffet rolls away.

"Excuse me" a voice is heard by the trio they look over and sees our heroes standing there out of nowhere which startles.

"T-Twerps" Jessie questions.

the group tilt their heads "what?" They all minus Volo who's holding back his laughter question as Team Rocket turns away

"Look at that! It's the erp-tway and all of his little end-frays!" James states sheepishly.

"Gee I wonder what they ant way?" Jessie sheepishly wonders

"We heard that Roark the Oreburgh Gym leader was here. That true?" Ash asks.

Jessie narrows her eyes at Ash "Roark?" she repeats.

Then they all hear the other miners gather around the entrance of a mine, the miners move out of the way as they let a few miners pushing out a cart with a large bolder inside.

"Easy now" One miner said.

"Don't worry" another adds as he and other three miners push the cart outside.

behind them you see a young man with red hair, who wears glasses. He wears a mining outfit, consisted of gray short-sleeved jacket and baggy pants with yellow/black outlines, which are tucked into his boots. The boots has red soles underneath them. He has a black tank underneath. He also wears white gloves with yellow outlines and is usually seen with a red mining helmet.

Volo is the first to notice him 'There he is...Roark, and man he's quite handsome in person' he thinks.

"Okay, you can leave it right there!" Roark instructs the Miners.

"Okay Roark" the first miner responds.

"Did he said Roark?" Ash questions

Gary nods "sounds like it" he responds.

The group walked over to Roark as he came over to the cart, he removes one of his gloves before smoothing the boulder with his bare hand.

"Welcome, from your sanctuary to mine." He said, talking to the boulder.

"Excuse me, Mr. Roark?" Ash calls. 

"Just a moment, I'm having a talk with this fossil right now." Roark said.

"You talked to fossils?" Ash asks amazed.

"I sure do and right now, it's telling me all about the olden days." Roark explains. "I can still feel its warmth... it's breath... one day... I know you'll come back to life. You can be sure of it." Roark assures to the fossil.

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other, confused

Team Rocket who were listening in "Back to life?!" They repeated.

"Alright, let's get it to the museum." Roark said. "Okay we got it." The worker agreed and with that the four men had pushed the cart that contains the fossil to the museum to 'bring it back to life'.

"Judging by what you said it seems like this treasure has more value than any gold or diamond you can find deep in the mines" Volo said.

Roark nods "That's exactly right" he opens his eyes before eyeing on Volo and pauses and could've swear he sees glittery roses surrounding the blonde; Roark then snaps back to reality "So what were you saying?" He asks.

"We've come for the Oreburgh Gym to battle." Ash explained.

"But someone already beat them to it." Dawn adds.

"Well, what do you know, I got two challengers waiting for me!" Roark laughed. 

"Three challengers" Volo corrects.

Roark blushes a bit "R-Right" he responds laughing embarrassedly which the other miner watches him confused by how he's acting with the young blonde.

"You know, Ian told us when you were digging for coal, you were also looking for treasure, too." Brock explains changing the subject. 

 "The hidden treasure, huh?" Roark asks. "Of course! The truth, a lot of Pokémon fossils turned up on all coal mines. I really enjoy myself as a foreman for the miners." he explains with passion in his tone of voice

"You're the foreman?" Ash asks surprised.

Volo chuckles "as I expected from a Rock Type Specialist" Volo says.

Roark blushes and looks away which Ash Gary and Brock frowns a bit.

While the men were working, Jessie came up and started talking to the man, "Hello, sorry for bugging you in on this but..."

"Did he refer to the fossils that are coming back to life?" James asks. 

"Oh yes, Ian was speaking about an incredibly machine. It resurrects any ancient Pokémon fossils and it's just great!" A miner explains.

"Great~!" Team Rocket cheered then they all went back into some trucks as they discussed something. 

"Stealing that machine is what I'm talking about." Jessie said.

"It is right up on our evil anomy." James adds.

"And no more dough digging." Meowth exclaims. 

"Wobbu!" Wobbuffet agrees

-scene change-

Once at the gym, Ash and the others were inside the Gym with Roark.

"Welcome back, Roark." Ian greeted, smiling. "How was the treasure hunt?" He asked.

"We've really discovered something this time! This just may be the best discovery fossil yet!" Roark exclaims.

"He sure does love his fossils" Gary whispers to Dawn who nods in agreement.

Just then the doors were opened, and Paul had came in and Ian noticed him. "Oh hey, there's Paul. He's your first challenger." Ian explained as Roark looks over to see him and so did the others, seeing the cold-hearted Trainer to which Ash glared at.

Volo places a hand on Ash's shoulder calming the Kantonian down.

Paul noticed that Roark was coming over. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I'm Roark, the Gym Leader. Nice to meet you" Roark greeted.

"The same here." Paul replied.

"So why don't we get started then." Roark said as he and Paul head to the battlefield. 

"Can't wait to see a Gym battle!" Dawn exclaims and that alarmed Ash, Brock and Gary. 

"D-Dawn!" Gary said surprised.

"You've never seen one?" Roark asks as he looks over at Dawn surprised.

"Nope!" Dawn responds smiling "I wanna learn everything about them I can" She explains.

"She's a new trainer" Volo explains to the Gym Leader.

Roark nods now understanding "I see... then, that's fine with me. Hey Paul, how about you?" Roark asks. 

Paul glanced at them a bit annoyed. "No problem, I really couldn't care less." Paul stated as he heads to the battlefield.

Volo then smirks "Pussy" he said.

Paul turns to Volo angry "I will knock your ass out! I won't hesitate in breaking your pretty face" He threatens.

Volo looks at Paul a bit stunned and then a taunting smug forms on his face "you think I'm pretty?" he asks winking at Paul.

Paul blushes at the question "S-SHUT UP!" Paul snaps before storming away from the humiliation towards the battlefield.

Volo chuckles before noticing Ash and the others looking at Volo nervously "What?" he asks.

Roark and Paul arrive to the field as Ian goes to the Referee stand acting at the referee and they see the ceiling opening. as Ash and the others went to sit on the bench near the sidelines.

"Awesome, so this is what it like in the Gym!" Dawn squealed in excitement as she looked around.

"When it comes to battlefields, there are all sorts of different types. Now this Gym is a Rock Type Gym, so it was set up to battle with him with Rock Pokémon in mind." Brock explains speaking from experience as a Rock Type Gym Leader himself.

"Speaking from experience, huh Brock?" Gary questions.

Volo laughs sheepishly 'yeah this is one of those moment where you forget Brock is a Gym Leader himself' he thought.

Ash can only watch the battle including Pikachu.

"The Oreburgh City Gym battle between Paul the challenger and Roark, the Gym Leader is about to get underway!" Ian announced. "Each side will be able to use three Pokémon! And the battle will be over when either side's three Pokémon are unable to continue! Also, only the challenger is able to make substitutions! So let the battle begin!"

"Geodude! Let's go!" Roark shouts as he sent out his Pokémon and the Rock Type Pokémon appeared to the field.

"Geodude!" Geodude cries.

"Oh, wow it's a Geodude!" Dawn exclaims as she pulled out her Pokedex to examine it.

"Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Geodude is often found on mountain roads with half of its body buried in the ground so it can observe mountain travelers."

"Azumarill! Stand by!" Paul calls out as the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon appeared on the field.

"Azumarill!" Azumarill cried out

"Wow, so, Paul is using a water type Pokémon." Ash exclaims as Volo quickly pulled out his Pokedex to examine it.

"Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. Add to dictionary lives in rivers and lakes, and while in water its body color and pattern confuses its enemies."

Volo becomes concerned then looked at the Azumarill.

"Since water type is really powerful against Rock type Pokémon, Azumarill is a smart choice." Brock explains.

"Then Paul got the upper hand!" Dawn stated. "Right?"

"I guess in theory." Brock shrugs. "Theory?" Dawn repeated, as the others looked at the battle.

"Paul, you have the honors." Roark shouts. "Azumarill, Hydro Pump! Go!" Paul calls and Azumarill blasted a jet of water from her mouth as she aimed it at Geodude.

"Geodude! Hidden Power!" Roark calls out and Geodude's body is outlined in gold and light blue circles then appear around its body as it stretches its hands, shooting the circles at the Hydro Pump, completely nullifying it and hitting Azumarill in the process.

"It deflected the Hydro Pump!" Ash gasped at that.

"And that was a Water type move, too!" Brock added.

"Well, I'm guessing that Roark had faced Water Type Pokémon in the past, and that he has move that would help him cover their weaknesses, after all a Gym Battle is completely different in comparison with a normal trainer battle" Volo explains.

"Alright, Geodude! Rollout!" Roark commands the attack and Geodude had did a Rollout attack as it goes for Azumarill.

"Water Gun, Azumarill!" Paul ordered, coldly as Azumarill tried to do it quickly but it was too late as Azumarill got hit.

"Not letting your opponents have any chance of making a counterattack is how Roark keeps up the pressure!" Brock states.

As Azumarill was in the air, Geodude got the chance as it used one final Rollout attack, hitting Azumarill as she fell to the ground. 

"What?!" Paul snaps angry with the loss. 

Azumarill got knocked out, having swirls in her eyes "Azumarill is unable to battle! Geodude wins!" Ian announces.

"A Water type Pokémon just lost to a Rock Type!" Dawn gasped at that. 

"Every time Geodude's Rollout hits, it gets stronger. But even so, getting knocked out on the second attack?" Gary wondered.

"Now I understand what you meant before Paul's upper hand with theory." Dawn said looking at Brock who nod at the female.

Paul had got Azumarill back into her Pokeball before glaring at it "Good for nothing" he said. 

"That creep!" Ash growls.

Ash then feels a hand touching his he looks down and sees Volo's hand on top of Ash's; the Kantonian looks up and gasp and he sees Volo darkly glaring at Paul as if Volo's a Pokémon with a intimidate ability.

"let's not let him get the better of us, Ash" he tells the Kantonian.

"Volo..." Ash says looking concern

"Pika" Pikachu also looks concern for the blonde.

"Now Elekid, standby for battle!" Paul calls and the electric type Pokémon had appeared to the field.

"Ele!" It sneered. 

"Elekid..." Volo looks at his Pokédex still in hand.

"Elekid, the Electric Pokémon. Elekid waves its arms to produce a strong electrical charge and gains strength when lightning is present."

Roark was confused about this. "I'm sure Paul is full well that Geodude is a Ground Type and also that Elekid's Electric type moves won't work at all. So, I wonder what's got up on his sleeve!" Roark wondered.

"Now, Elekid! Brick Break!" Paul snaps as Elekid had raised its arm for the attack.

"Clever! They're using a Fighting type move. But we're still gonna stick with Rollout!" Roark shouts.

Geodude had rolled to Elekid, but the Electric Pokémon had smashed Geodude to the ground, knocking it out.

"Geodude is unable to battle! Elekid wins!" Ian announces.

"And they did it with just one hit!" Roark whispers as the others in the stand were surprised by the results.

'Man, even if I already knew the outcome of this Gym Battle, Elekid's still one intimidating Pokémon and yet the others haven't seen the rest of his Pokémon' Volo thought feeling the shivers.

"But how!? I thought Elekid has a huge disadvantage!" Dawn points out. 

"But Elekid was able to beat it using a Fighting type move." Gary reminds her. 

"See, if goes to show that you can overcome by any disadvantage by using the right moves." Brock explains.

Roark had Geodude back into its Pokeball. "Thanks a lot, good friend." He thanked it, with a small smile; Elekid was getting very impatient, wanted to battle the next opponent already "Onix! You're up next!" Roark calls.

The Rock Snake Pokémon had appeared to the field, roaring out as it got ready to battle. "He's gonna use Onix!" Ash exclaims.

"It's huge!" Dawn squealed at that 

Volo looks down holding back his laughter 'don't take it out of context, don't take it out of context!' he thinks to himself as Dawn checks her Pokedex.

"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. It tunnels through the ground which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. It can move the ground at fifty miles per hour."

"This Onix can do it" Brock stated.

"What do you mean, Brock?" Dawn asked confused. 

"Because I raised one myself and I can tell this Onix has already been through some tough battles!" Brock explains.

"I'll be staying with my Elekid." Paul tells Roark.

"Fine. Since I already seen your Brick Break, I wonder how you will do now?" Roark wonders smirking a bit. 

"Quick Elekid! Brick Break!" Paul yelled.

Elekid had made another attempt to finish Onix with one blow. That is until Roark had yelled "Dodge, Onix!"

Onix had moved out of the way, very fast causing Elekid to miss.

"Pika!" Pikachu gasps out of shock.

"That's fast!" Ash exclaims as he watched the battle. 

"How can something that big move so quickly?" Dawn asked as she watched.

"Now, use Slam, Onix!" Roark orders and Onix made the move to smash Elekid.

"Elekid! Protect!" Paul shouts.

Elekid manages to use Protect, blocking the attack that Onix had made.

"Double Edge! Let's go!" Roark calls and Onix moved quickly, hitting Elekid with a Double Edge attack. 

"Wow, Onix has caught Elekid right when its protective barrier went down!" Dawn gasped.

"Yeah, you're right Dawn! But Onix got hurt due to the counterattack it had from Double Edge!" Ash pointed out 

Gary noticed that Onix was okay. "But Onix looks fine without getting hurt." he said.

"Rock Head" Volo reveals making Ash Gary and Dawn look at the Blonde confused.

Rock Head is a special ability. It takes move that would normally cause recoil and completely prevents it from ever taking place." Brock explains for Volo.

"Wow." Dawn said, in amazement.

Gary then looks at Volo "You sure know about stuff, do you" Gary tells the blonde.

Volo turns his attention to the brunette male "I'm related to well-known trainers, so I learn a thing or two from them" Volo lied before looking back at the battle.

"Stay strong or else!" Paul threatened as Elekid had struggled to get up. 

"Hey! You can't threaten your Pokémon like that!" Volo shouts at him. 

"You stay out of it!" Paul snaps at him and Volo growled at that.

"Stealth Rock, go!" Roark shouts and Onix sent shards of boulders to Elekid.

"Elekid, look out!" Ash shouts. But the shards have completely surrounded Elekid as it had hit the ground of the rocky field.

"Whoa, what kind of move is that?" Ash gasped as Pikachu looks surprised.

"Stealth Rock is a move that causes damage to the Pokémon that is labored in the battle." Brock explains. "It has no effect on Pokémon that is currently out there."

"in other words, if Elekid ever calls back and Paul sent out another one, that Pokémon will take the damage" Volo adds.

Brock nods at Volo "Right, it looks like Roark is taking care of Paul's substitution before that happen, making things that much trickier for Paul." Brock continues on explaining.

Elekid had glared at Onix and Roark, hating the situation that was in as Ash and Pikachu watched.

"If you're going to exchange Pokémon, you should've done it earlier!" Roark shouts. "Slam, Onix! Let's go!"

Onix made a pride roar as goes for the Slam attack on Elekid with its tail but let out a cry of pain as it quickly went back to its trainer, electricity went to its body. "Uh oh." Roark gasps.

"Hey, what's wrong with Onix?" Dawn asked. "It's called Static, a special ability of Elekid's" Brock answered.

"Static is a ability when the opposing Pokémon gets a higher chance of getting Paralyzed if they made physical contact with an electric Pokémon with this ability" Gary explains.

"Brick Break, Elekid! Now!" Paul snaps.

"Double Edge, Onix!" Roark shouts. The two Pokémon had attacked each other, their attacks collided as the others from the sidelines gasped including Pikachu.

Elekid had drop to its knee as Onix landed. "Don't get too comfortable with Static! Sometimes a Pokémon moves can be used when paralyzed!" Roark said, smirking. Elekid struggles to stand up. "I'm impressed. Elekid is a brilliant Pokémon!" Roark chuckled. 

Paul grits his teeth for a moment before taking out Elekid's Pokeball."Now Elekid, return." Paul called back as Elekid got inside its Pokeball.

"Wow! What's Paul doing?!" Dawn asked as she watched. 

"I guess he doesn't really care about Stealth Rock." Brock suggests.

"Yeah. He actually doesn't care about is Pokémon getting hurt or not!" Ash snaps.

Volo can only watch out of concern for the Pokémon that Paul has "here comes Chimchar" he whispers.

"Now Chimchar! Standby!" Paul calls out as the Fire type Pokémon appeared to the field only hit by Stealth Rock.

Chimchar had went out fine as it was on the field but had panted slowly as it looked at Onix. Volo's blood went cold as he watched the battle

"A Fire Type next time, eh? Impressive the way you come at me with Pokémon that are a disadvantage," Roark chuckled.

"Chimchar, use Dig!" Paul snaps and Chimchar digs into the ground and Onix tries to look for it when it comes out.

"Try to sense where Chimchar is moving, Onix!" Roark shouts and Onix was about to sense it but it was too late as he was blasted towards the air by Chimchar's Dig Attack.

"Ah!" Roark gasped and so has Volo and Ash along with Pikachu. 

"Making a huge Onix jump like that is no small feat!" Dawn exclaims. 

"Using Dig should have a powerful effect on Onix as well." Brock explained.

"So that's why Paul had Chimchar learned Dig! Awesome strategy!" Ash exclaims. 

"But that doesn't give him the reason to be cold hearted Trainer." Volo mumbled.

"Now use Double Edge!" Roark yelled. Onix had worn off the pain as it charged at the Fire Type. 

"Chimchar, use Dig one more time!" Paul shouts and Chimchar digs into the ground to dodge the attack.

"Onix, just stand still and feel Chimchar's movements!" Roark shouts and Onix tried to move but it couldn't because of the ability Static! "When will that Static wear off?!" Roark asks, getting irritated. 

"Chimchar, do it!" Paul shouts.

That's when Chimchar had thrown Onix with its Dig attack and as Onix hit the ground, it got knocked out. "Onix is unable to battle! Chimchar wins!" Ian announced as Chimchar had leaped back to its Trainer, panting.

"Not bad, Chimchar." Paul replied as Roark got Onix back into its Pokeball. 

"You did great, take a nice long rest." Roark said, smiling before switching to his last one. 

'He's calling it out' Volo thinks knowing who's the next Pokémon is.

"Well Paul, you're giving a hard run for money. It's time to bring out my final Pokémon!" He exclaims. "I suggest you get ready! Cranidos, let's go!" He sent out another new Rock Type that appears on the field.

"Craindos looks just like that fossil!" Ash exclaims, checking his Pokedex to examine it.

"that's because it is" Volo responds.

"Cranidos, the Head Butt Pokémon. Cranidos lived in the deep woods about one-hundred million years ago, and its cranium is as hard as steel"

"Roark, I can read you like a book!" Paul exclaims. "Chimchar, use Dig!" Chimchar had went underground, getting ready for the surprise attack.

"Cranidos, Head butt, now!" Roark shouts. 

Cranidos closes its eyes, sensing where Chimchar was at. Chimchar jumps out to attack till Cranidos head butt it as Chimchar has been sent flying and hitting the ground in the process.

"What a hit!" Ash exclaims, amazed.

"Cranidos had anticipated Chimchar's movements!" Brock exclaims.

"Chimchar! Use Dig one more time!" Paul calls and Chimchar had quickly went underground for another surprise attack.

"Cranidos! Zen Headbutt, now!" Roark shouts 

Cranidos charges at Chimchar as its head glows as it bashed its head against Chimchar, not giving the chance to make it dig underground.

"That's a much stronger move than Headbutt!" Ash exclaims as Pikachu grit his teeth, not liking this.

"There's no doubt that Zen Headbutt got a lot more power than normal Headbutt." Brock explains

"And it can also scare the opponents than flinching..." Gary adds.

"Zen Headbutt, again!" Roark shouts and Cranidos had charged at Chimchar, its head was glowing blue. 

"Quick Chimchar, use Dig!" Paul ordered but Chimchar was too scared to move.

"Amazing, Chimchar's too scared that it doesn't hear what Paul say!" Brock exclaims. 

Chimchar had let out a cry of pain as it got hit from Cranidos' Zen Headbutt having Paul to be even more annoyed.

Chimchar had gotten up again, but Cranidos bashed it again with another Zen Headbutt. 

"Come on!" Paul snaps. 

"Focus Energy!" Roark shouts and the light came out of Cranidos before it vanished.

"What's going on now, Brock?" Dawn asks.

"Focus Energy focuses your attack strength and making it easier for a weak spot." Brock explains. "I think Roark is trying to end this with one shot!"

"You've got to get Chimchar out of there!" Ash shouts. But just then, a red blazing energy had came out of Chimchar. That startled Roark to see that. 

"I was waiting for this!" Paul sneered. 

"For what?!" Ash asked.

"Blaze" Volo reveals.

Ash looks at Volo "Blaze?" he repeats.

"Blaze is a special ability that makes Chimchar's moves much stronger when its endurance is low." Brock explains. "But I don't know how much of an effect against a Rock Type like Cranidos."

"Cranidos, Zen Headbutt again!" Roark shouts and Cranidos had charged at Chimchar with another Zen Headbutt attack.

"Now Flame Wheel!" Paul shouts and as if on cue, Chimchar had quickly ran at Cranidos before using Flame Wheel as fast as it can.

"That's fast!" Ash exclaims. 

"Aim for the legs!" Paul shouts and Chimchar had slammed into Craindos' legs, injuring it as Craindos let out a cry of pain. 

"Ah!" Roark gasped.

Craindos had hit the ground, in pain. "That Flame Wheel is strong!" Ash exclaims. 

"Chimchar's Flame Wheel is so juiced up with Blaze, it was faster than Cranidos was." Brock explained.

Cranidos had got back once Chimchar was in front of it. "Flame Wheel, Chimchar, once more!" Paul commands and Chimchar had done another Flame Wheel, hitting Cranidos' legs again, causing another cry of pain forcing Volo to look away not wanting to keep seeing this.

"Chimchar, use Dig! Let's go!" Paul shouts and Chimchar had dug underground, quickly. "Cranidos, Focus Energy, now!" Roark shouts. Cranidos had gotten back up and tried to use Focus Energy, but it was too late as Chimchar had sent Cranidos flying with its Dig attack.

"Use Headbutt!" Roark shouts and Cranidos had bashed Chimchar who was unable to dodge and got knocked out.

"Chimchar is unable to battle! Cranidos wins!" Ian announces.

Paul grits his teeth, glaring at Chimchar. "Cranidos, how do you feel?" Roark asks and Cranidos let out a roar meaning it was fine. 

Paul had got Chimchar back into its Pokeball "Chimchar, I'll deal with you later." He snaps then switched to Elekid's Pokeball for the last chance of battling.

"Elekid! Stand by!" Paul calls out as the Electric Pokémon appeared to the field, but it ended up getting hit by Stealth Rock 

"That was Stealth Rock again?!" Dawn gasps.

"Yup, once you get used to it, the effects just keep going." Brock explains.

"Now, use Brick Break!" Paul shouts as Elekid was about to attack.

"Flamethrower!" Roark shouts and Cranidos had let out a stream of fire at Elekid.

Though Elekid was about to dodge and used Brick Break on its legs causing it to scream in pain as it fell over, having to be paralyzed.

"What's that?!" Dawn asks. 

"Is it another Static?" Gary asks, getting concerned but Cranidos had gotten up and the paralysis wore off quick.

"What a hit!" Ash exclaims. 

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"You've just witnessed Cranidos' special ability, Mold Breaker!" Roark announced. "Ruining your special ability!" But that's when Cranidos had let out a groan of pain because of its leg being injured.

"Use Zen Headbutt, now!" Roark calls out and Cranidos charged at Elekid with another Zen Headbutt attack but it was much slower than last time.

"Cranidos is just moving too slow right now!" Ash exclaims.

"Guess that leg injury is worse than I thought!" Brock states.

Volo began to worry about that while not liking the battle one bit. 

"Brick Break, one more time!" Paul shouts, having Elekid to used Brick Break on Cranidos' head. "No more Headbutt, huh?!" he questions

"I see, you don't rely on moves or Types for your strategy! You just use one attack style best for the moment!" Roark replied, now getting the problem.

"So in other words, Cranidos rely on its legs for its speed and moves." Gary said, surprised. 

"Paul sure looked to me like he was waiting Chimchar's Blaze to take effect. Which could explain the way he used his Pokémon." Brock adds.

"Of course! That's why Paul had taught Chimchar to battle like that!" Ash gasps in realization.

Volo remains silent looking down at his lap.

"Brick Break, let's go!" Paul shouts.

"Cranidos, Flamethrower!" Roark intervenes as Cranidos let out a Flamethrower attack and hits Elekid who had let out a scream of pain as it fell to the ground. "Now Zen Headbutt!" Roark shouts.

"Elekid, Brick Break!" Paul commands. That's when the two Pokémon had collided each other with their own attacks, causing an explosion to happen. Cranidos was paralyzed but thanks to Mold Breaker, it was gone in an instant.

"Now Brick Break, again!" Paul shouts.

"Cranidos, Flamethrower!" Roark also shouts.

Cranidos let out a stream of fire as Elekid was able to break through it, as the two Pokémon collided, causing another explosion, blinding everyone that was in the Gym.

The two Pokémon had stood there, panting with exhaustion, Elekid almost pass out but in the end...Cranidos had fell first, fainting in the process.

"Cranidos is...unable to battle! Elekid wins! The victor is Paul!" Ian announced.

"Paul did it!" Ash exclaims. "Pika." Pikachu gasped in amazement.

"Not bad... for a pussy" Volo whispers.

"Okay Elekid, return." Paul calls back his Elekid to its Pokeball. Roark has came over to Cranidos. "Thanks, Cranidos, you take a nice long rest." Roark said, smiling as he called it back into its Pokeball.

"That was some impressive battling, Paul." Roark said, impressed by the strategy.

-scene change-

"And here's the Oreburgh City Gym Badge! Congratulations, Paul!" Roark exclaimed, handing Paul a Coal Badge.

"Thank you very much, Roark. I'll see you." Paul replied, accepting the badge and began to walk out of the Gym, but stops and walks up to Volo "Still think I'm a pussy?"

"When you beat me I might reconsider, but for now you still are" he responds.

Ash calls Paul before the purple hair male could say anything else to the blonde.

"Where are you going?" Ash called. Paul turned and stared hard at Ash! "Aren't you gonna stay and watch my battle?" Ash asked. Paul just stared hard, thinking for a moment.

So with that said, Paul had won his first Gym badge! But with the heroes up next, they are not going anywhere will Ash and Volo come out on top? Stay tuned.

To Be Continued...