The gym lobby was empty as the trainer stepped in. That was odd; usually Brock had at least one of his lackeys working the front desk. No matter, the trainer decided, he was sure Brock was in here somewhere. He quickly made his way down the hall to the left and to the main training room's doors.

"Hey, Brock," he called out as he stepped inside. "You asked-" he cut off mid sentence as he took in the person in front of him. Not Brock. Definitely not. Blond, though the guy was bulky and broad shouldered like the gym leader. Except more so and probably a good half a foot taller. Which was much taller than what the intruding trainer had expected.

"Oh. Uh, you're not Brock. Haha. Let me just get out of your way then," the trainer replied, sheepishly. He turned to leave, but was stopped when he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled back.

"Wait a second, kid, where do you think you're going?" a deep voice questioned.

"Uh, to go see Brock?"

"Ha, that's funny! No one gets in to face the gym leader without beating his students first!" The trainer let out a yelp as not-Brock dragged him over to the other side of the training room. "And that means you gotta defeat me first! It'll be light years before that'll happen!"

Stunned, the trainer could only blink slowly as his 'opponent' took his place at the other side of the room "Wait, I don't think you realize-"

"What? That you're some hotshot from whatever backwater village that raised you? Well, welcome to the league, kid. Here in the real world you have to fight your way to the top. If you want that boulder badge, you're going to have to get through me first!"

"But, I already-"

"I said fight me!" A flash of red colored the area before the trainer's view was suddenly filled with the huge stone segmented body of an Onix. It roared down at the tiny trainer before it, making him cringe at the noise.

Sighing in resignation, he peered up at the giant snake monster thoughtfully. "Huh. Well, if it's gotta be like that then... I suppose? Er, who even do I have with me right now? Char? Wonkers? Petals? No, I don't want to kill it..."

"Hey! Quit your mumbling over there and throw out a pokemon already! Don't worry, the pokemon here have all been trained in restraint we won't kill your little pidgey or whatever it is you're hesitating to pit against my Rocky," the blond called out mockingly.

The trainer scowled at him, or tried to the best he could with three tons of stone serpent between them. "You are an incredibly rude and impatient individual. Calm down, I have to be careful about my choice or-"

"Hurry it up!"

Grinding his teeth in irritation, the trainer hesitated only a moment before selecting the last pokeball on his belt and tossing it out. "Very well, if you insist. I was still in the process of training Gyra, but he's the only one I've got that will work right now."

In another flash of red light, a small... gold fish appeared. It flailed anxiously at being summoned on to dry ground, flopping aimlessly as it waited for a command.

The trainer rolled his eyes at the roaring laughter that filled the room, and wasted no time taking advantage of the other trainer's distraction. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner he could meet with Brock and be done with it.

"Gyra, tackle," the trainer called out emotionlessly.

All at once the flailing stopped and the fish grew eerily still. Then suddenly, like a bullet, the Magikarp shot across the arena and at the Onix's head with enough force to crack the snake's stone skin. Roaring in surprise, it pulled back to stare in disbelief at the fish that had returned to its side of the arena. It flopped limply against the training room floor.

Silence settled over the room as Mr. Bulky Blond gaped in astonishment.

Impatient, the trainer tugged on the brim of his hat before opening his mouth to give another command. They always did tell him he should count to three between commands when battling inexperienced trainers...

"Gyra, tac-"

"WAIT! STOP THE MATCH!" a familiar voice shouted, interrupting him.

The trainer spared a glance to the newly arrived gym leader as Brock suddenly burst into the room. He bent over, heaving deep breaths as he struggled to regain his composure. "R-Red! What are you doing?!"

The trainer glanced between his opponent and the new arrival uncertainly. "I was... coming to see you as you requested?"

"What part of 'coming to see me' involves putting my gym's pokemon in the intensive care unit of the pokecenter?!"

"The part where I was told I had to beat your students before I could see you?"

Brock stared at him blankly for a moment before speaking. "You've already got my badge. You're the Pokemon champion. People have to come defeat me before getting to face you. Why in the world would you think that rule applied to you?!"

"I didn't!" Red protested with a growl, "but your student over there insisted!"

Raising a hand up to massage his forehead in frustration, the gym leader answered, "And you didn't think to show him your trainer card?!"

"I would have if he'd let me. He practically manhandled me over here before I could so much as say my name. I know how much you guys hate it when I cripple your gym pokemon, but he insisted! I was going easy on him..."

"I noticed. A Magikarp, Red? Really? It's like you go out of your way to find the most insulting way defeat your opponent."

"Again, not my fault, Gyra was the only one I had on hand that wouldn't likely leave any lasting damage. Char has a hard time not setting everything on fire when he's just standing there let alone battling. Petals would have liquidized them in one attack. Wonkers is called Wonkers for a reason; he's too unpredictable to show any form of restraint. And don't even get me started on Shadow and Mr. Fluffy."

Mewtwo. My name is Mewtwo. Not Sir Cuddles or Mr. Fluffy.

"Quiet! How many times have I told you to not insert yourself into my conversations?" Red hissed back at the disembodied voice, glaring at nothing before turning back to Brock. "Anyway, this is all that guy's fault. He didn't let me say anything!"

Taking a deep breath through his nose, then counting to ten before slowly releasing it, Brock turned to face his student. "Clyde, forfeit the match and get out of here. Red and I have some business to discuss."

Blondy nodded mutely as he retrieved his onix and bolted out the door.

"Red."

"Yeah?"

"You're never allowed to duel in my gym again."