Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.

Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys & Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else.

AN1: The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details.

AN2: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.

Chapter Twenty-One: A Gym Challenged

April 14, 2031
Pokémon Center, Pewter City
Kanto Region

Harry would wake up the next morning feeling half frozen; sleeping curled up with a slightly damp Water Pokémon whose inner temperature ran slightly on the cold side was not the brightest thing he'd ever done. Not that he'd ever let his Poliwag know how much discomfort he felt with him snuggled up against his chest. He wasn't about to make the poor creature feel terrible about seeking comfort. He'd just have to remember to place a blanket or a pillow between them as a buffer the next time he slept with him.

Sliding out of bed, Harry shivered and hurried changed into a clean set of clothes (doubling up on shirts) before he donned his scarf and his jacket in an attempt to warm himself up. Phoenix would curl up inside of his jacket a moment later and Harry dropped a kiss on his Cyndaquil's head the moment he felt the Fire Pokémon's blessed warmth seeping into his chest. He would have loved to ask Gryffin to curl around his neck like a second scarf but he didn't want to take a chance that the bully gang might see them if they were still running around loose; Luna's warnings were meant to be taken seriously.

Once dressed, he fed all of his Pokémon before he returned Moony, Trouble, and Gryffin to their PokéBalls and collected his Poliwag before he headed down to the lobby so that he could keep his promise to Nurse Joy. He would end up sitting around for roughly twenty minutes due to another group of Trainers checking into the Pokémon Center for the week. Harry wasn't too bothered by the wait as it allowed him to curl up in a chair and soak up the heat that Phoenix was radiating. It also gave him time to observe those entering and exiting the Center and scan the room for any signs of Tyson and his flock of bullies.

By the time Nurse Joy gestured for him to join her, Harry had grown bored of people watching and had thankfully not seen hide nor hair of the 'red letter thugs' (as he had dubbed them in his mind). After they exchanged a brief greeting, Nurse Joy led Harry and his Pokémon to an examination room where she had him set his Poliwag on a table so she could run a few scans on him. It was a familiar process for Harry; he'd seen Prof. Oak perform numerous such scans on many of the Pokémon that lived at the Lab.

The scans didn't take long to perform and while the various machines and computer analyzed the data the scans had collected, Nurse Joy removed the bandages from around the Poliwag's left eye so she could inspect the empty socket for any signs of infection or bleeding. The entire time the woman worked, the Tadpole Pokémon kept his sole remaining eye locked on Harry as the pre-teen patiently watched from beside the door and Harry wondered if his Water Pokémon still feared that Harry was going to walk off and leave him.

"All right, young man; please come over here," Nurse Joy requested once she'd finished and Harry didn't hesitate to comply. "I'm going to teach you how to tend your Poliwag's empty eye socket while it's still healing and show you what you need to keep watch for each time you change his bandages."

What followed was a thirteen minute lecture that used the Poliwag and several large, glossy photos of other Pokémon that had lost an eye as props. Some of those pictures were rather gross but Harry had seen far worse during the years he'd lived in the Wizarding World – especially during the year he'd spent on the run hunting horcruxes. At the end of the lesson, Nurse Joy supervised Harry's first attempt at bandaging his Poliwag's empty socket; which he had no problems with since he had helped Prof. Oak take care of a few injured Pokémon at the Lab on a couple of occasions.

"Very good, young man," Nurse Joy praised once he had finished. "You'll need to make certain you change the bandage at least once a day and, because your Poliwag is a Water Pokémon, whenever it gets wet. You'll also need to not let him fully submerge himself in water until the scab lining the socket falls out on its own. In the event that he does dive underwater before that happens, then you'll need to let his eye socket dry out before you replace the bandage and smear it with the healing cream in order to prevent it from mildewing or becoming infected."

"Okay, we'll be extra careful," Harry promised as he made a mental note to pick up some sponges that he could use to keep the skin around his Poliwag's empty eye socket moist (so his Pokémon wouldn't feel the need to submerge himself to relieve the dryness) while the socket finished healing. His Pokémon echoed his promise a moment later as he gave Nurse Joy another one of those whole-body roll-bob-nod things. Harry lightly patted his Poliwag on the head before he asked, "How much longer do I have to avoid returning him to his PokéBall?"

"You can return him now, if you wish; just make certain you let him out for around an hour at least three times a day."

"That won't be a problem. How long will I need to wait before I can start training my Poliwag?"

"You aren't planning to start battling with him before his left eye socket fully heals, are you?"

"No! No, I would never push any of my Pokémon like that. I only asked about training because he's going to need to learn how to compensate for the eye he lost."

"In that case, you may start him on a light training routine the day after tomorrow but you're not to allow him to pit him against another Pokémon until after his eye socket is fully healed; one stray blow to his empty socket before then could put his recovery back weeks!"

"That won't be a problem. I fully plan to limit his training to no more than an hour or two a day until you clear him for more strenuous training and I'll bring him to you for a check up after each training session for as long as we're still in Pewter City," Harry stated without any hesitation.

"How much longer do you plan to stay in Pewter?"

"At least until the eighteenth or nineteenth. After that, we plan to head to Mt. Moon and we'll probably come back here once we're done at Mt. Moon."

"Good, that gives me plenty of time to monitor his health during the first few days of training."

"Does that mean we're done now?"

"Yes, the two of you are free to go."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Oh, and before I forget; I spoke to Professor Oak last night and he asked me to ask you to fax him a copy of my Poliwag's medical file. I'd also like to have a copy for my records too."

"Would you prefer a hard copy or an electronic copy?"

"Um, I think an electronic copy would be best."

"I'll e-mail you the file as soon as I return to my desk."

"Thank you again."

"You're welcome, young man."

Harry collected his Poliwag off of the examination table by returning him to his PokéBall and then made his way toward the Clinic's exit so he could rejoin the others before they all headed back to the Gym for Dudley's scheduled Gym Challenge. He would quickly notice the other three waiting for him beside the front door the moment he entered the lobby and Harry jogged across the room to join them.

"Where's your Poliwag? He's okay, isn't he?" Daisy asked the moment he reached their side.

"Yeah, he's doing fine; he's in his PokéBall right now. Are we going to grab breakfast before we leave?"

"We already ate while we were waiting for you. We also ordered something for you since I noticed you hadn't eaten when you fed your Pokémon before you left the room earlier," Dudley replied as he offered Harry a bag holding a single to-go box.

"Thanks, guys," Harry murmured as he readily accepted the bag of food and looped the handle over his arm; he could eat once they reached the Gym.

The quartet exited the Pokémon Center a heartbeat later. Unlike their first trip to the Pokémon Gym, they kept their pace to a fast walk and avoided taking any side trips in order to reach the Gym before nine o'clock. As soon as they stepped through the doors of the Gym roughly ten minutes before nine, the quartet was greeted by an older man in black slacks and a light red long sleeved shirt with black collar and cuffs with a standard PokéBall over his heart.

"Good morning, my name is Mark, I'm the Official Tournament Referee on duty today for the Pewter City Pokémon Gym; are the four of you here to register with the Gym or are you here to participate in a scheduled Challenge?" the older man, Mark, inquired as his gaze drifted over the four pre-teens.

"I'm Dudley Dursley and I'm scheduled to take the Gym's Challenge at nine," Dudley replied as he stepped forward.

"We're just here to watch Dudley," Daisy answered as she gestured between herself and Luna. "Our challenges were scheduled to take place in a couple of days."

"I still need to register but I'm also here to watch Dudley take the challenge," Harry added when the man's expectant gaze returned to him.

"Did you wish to register before or after your friend has made his first attempt at taking the Gym's Challenge?"

"After is fine."

"Very well, if the four of you would please step back outside; the first Gym Trainer Battle will be taking place out in the courtyard," Mark instructed as he opened the door so they could leave the building. As soon as they were outside, Mark drew a pair of short-handled flags, one red and one green, out of his pocket before he addressed Harry and the girls, "The three of you will need to move beyond the boulders for the duration of the battle."

"How come my first battle is taking place outside of the Gym?" Dudley inquired as he was directed towards the center of the courtyard by the referee while the rest of the pre-teens moved beyond the short wall of boulders that ringed the courtyard as requested.

"Your first opponent is one of the few Rock Type Trainers that are still apprenticed to Pewter's Gym and because the indoor battlefield has been converted into a large pool for Water Type Pokémon, it would place his Pokémon at a huge disadvantage to face his challengers inside."

"Ah, okay, I guess that makes sense then. Do Gyms often change focus like that? I mean it seems kind of weird for there to be two Gyms that specialize in Water Type Pokémon."

"No, it doesn't happen often; only when a new Gym Leader takes over the Gym and only if they focus on a different Type of Pokémon than their predecessor," Mark explained as he checked the time on his watch. "Usually, a changeover like that will only occur if a Gym Leader resigns, retires, or disappears without warning and without appointing a replacement Leader to take over after him."

"I see. Thanks for answering my questions."

"You're welcome."

The discussion ended at that point as the Gym door opened to disgorge a teen dressed in a beige uniform that consisted of canvas shorts, a button up shirt, and a cap. The way the older boy bounded up to join Dudley and Mark in the center of the courtyard was in direct contradiction to the scowl the teen was wearing on his face. Harry wasn't sure who or what had annoyed the boy but he knew it was them or Dudley since the scowl was replaced by a slightly forced smile the moment he reached the referee's side.

"Good morning! I'm Camper Class Trainer Jerry and you must be my first Challenger of the day, Dudley Dursley," the teen greeted in an over the top voice that sounded way too chipper for the teen's enthusiasm to be real. "I hope you're up for a real battle because I'm not going to go easy on you."

"I wouldn't want you to," Dudley countered as he pulled out his PokéDex in order to register the battle.

Harry snorted to himself; there were some things that never changed. And Dudley looking forward to a fight was one of them. Or maybe it was the challenge of the fight that his cousin anticipated; the thrill of pitting himself against another in order to see how he measured up. Since it was quite obvious that Dudley no longer sought to harm or humiliate those weaker than him like he had during his first childhood.

Shaking away the needless thought, Harry moved over to stand behind one of the taller boulders that ringed the courtyard so that he could use it as a table in order to eat his breakfast while he watched Dudley battle. He'd just pulled the to-go box out of the bag when he caught sight of Daisy moving further to the right so she was standing closer to entrance of the courtyard where she'd have a better view of both Pokémon during the battle in order to get the best pictures. A quick glance to his left let him know that Luna had made herself comfortable on the ground behind the boulders with Nargle on her head.

Harry had no doubt that Nargle would be mentally projecting the battle into Luna's mind so she could watch without relying on her Sight to do so. He suspected that such activities also doubled as training for both Spork and Nargle since it had to take a considerable amount of control to project 'real time' feed through telepathy. He supposed that it was also another way for his adopted sister to bond with both of her Psychic Pokémon. Harry briefly wondered if telepathy felt anything like Legilimency or Occlumency before he decided he didn't want to know.

He was also secretly glad that neither Spork nor Nargle had ever spoken to him through telepathy. It wasn't that he was afraid or even mildly concerned they would hurt him or anything like that; he just wasn't certain that he felt comfortable with the idea of anyone peeking into his mind. Part of that was due to his unpleasant memories of Snape's lessons and the rest was because he had far too many secrets that needed to be protected. It was at that point that it occurred to Harry that Luna might have warned her Pokémon not to mess with his mind.

Either because she knew such an intrusion would remind him of Snape or because she'd seen that it was best for her Pokémon not to interact with him through telepathy.

It was also possible that the two Psychic Pokémon had sensed that he would not feel comfortable with that form of communication long before he'd given any thought to the matter. Of course, it was also equally possible that the two Pokémon just enjoyed the physical act of speaking to him because it didn't require them to use their abilities to make themselves understood. Well, it didn't really matter to Harry how or why they refrained from contacting him mentally; he just hoped they both knew he appreciated the fact they allowed him to retain the privacy of his own mind.

Harry put the entire matter out of his mind a moment later and focused on the courtyard as he dug his fork into his breakfast. He'd only just begun lifting his loaded fork up to his mouth when he felt his belt shake before he suddenly found a Poliwag sitting on his waffles. Bemused, Harry stuffed his fork in his mouth to free up his hand before he lifted his newest Pokémon off of his breakfast so he could clean the Bluk Berry Syrup from his tail and feet. He then gave the Water Pokémon a quick cuddle before returning him to his PokéBall so the dirt kicked up by the battle in the courtyard would not get in his still healing eye.

He'd barely reattached the PokéBall to his belt when Mark officially started Dudley's first Gym Trainer Batter as he announced, "The official Gym Challenge Match between Gym Trainer Jerry, Camper Class versus Challenger Dudley Dursley, Trainer shall now begin! This battle will consist of a two-on-two Pokémon Battle with only the Challenger being allowed to use substitutions and shall end when one of the participants is out of usable Pokémon or in the event that one of the participants forfeits the match. Ready…? Set! BATTLE!"

Harry just about jumped out of his skin when a set of hidden speakers began blaring dramatic music at that precise moment; he had not expected that. He snorted over his own silliness (since it wasn't like the music could have scared him) and took the fork out of his mouth as he watched Dudley and Jerry call out their first Pokémon.

"Let's go, Chip!" Dudley crowed as he released his Mankey from his Pokémon at the same time as Jerry released a Pokémon that looked sort of like a cross between a mouse and an armadillo and cried, "I choose you, Sandshrew!"

Harry easily recognized the yellow Pokémon as one that he'd worked with at Professor Oak's Lab, though he was admittedly far more familiar with its evolutionary form of Sandslash. The match up against his cousin's Mankey and Jerry's Sandshrew wasn't the best but it wasn't exactly the worst either and he looked forward to what promised to be a good battle. Eager to see who was going to make the first move, Harry leaned forward and absently stabbed another bite of waffle; the green eyed ten year old already forgetting that his Pokémon had sat in it – not that it would have mattered to him if he had.

Poliwag had been clean when Harry had put him in his PokéBall.

With the dramatic music blasting out over the courtyard turned battlefield, Dudley confidently commanded, "Chip, use Leer!"

To Harry's surprise, the stubborn Pig Monkey Pokémon actually listened to Dudley and his eyes gleamed brightly as he sent a leering glare at the Sandshrew. Harry was far too used to the feisty Fighting Pokémon disobeying Dudley. Then again, Chip loved to pick fights regardless of whether they were verbal or physical fights. And that meant battling was right up his alley. So, maybe it wasn't really all that surprising that Chip would obey Dudley during a Battle but ignore him outside of one.

"Sandshrew, dodge and use Rollout!" Jerry countered as he dramatically threw his left hand out to the side and took a half step forward. The Sandshrew was quick and nimble on his feet as he shifted to the side before throwing himself forward as his body curled up into a ball that launched itself directly at Chip.

"Jump over him and use Leer again!"

"What a useless lump of wet sand!" Chip crowed as he effortlessly leapt over the spinning Ground Pokémon and sent another leering glare at his opponent as the Sandshrew passed through the space the Mankey had occupied just seconds earlier.

The Leer struck the rolling Pokémon and knocked him out of his ball. The Sandshrew was sent sprawling onto the hard packed dirt of the courtyard before he caught himself with his claws and scrambled up onto his feet. He quickly fell back into a ready stance and patiently waited for his Trainer to direct his next move even as he watched Chip lightly land back on the ground.

"Nice recovery, Sandshrew; now use Sand Attack followed by Rollout!"

"Close your eyes and jump out of the attack before you use Fury Swipes!" Dudley ordered directly on the heels of Jerry's command.

The Ground Pokémon immediately complied by spinning on his heel and rapidly scratching at the ground in order to kick up a flurry of sand that was sent shooting straight towards Chip. Chip easily threw himself above the flying sand to escape the Status Attack. He then dropped down directly on top of the Sandshrew before the Mouse Pokémon could finish his first move and unleashed a barrage of rapid scratch attacks that left a series of stinging red lines all over the other Pokémon's body.

"Sandshrew! Use Defense Curl to protect yourself!" Jerry ordered in response to hearing his Pokémon let out a cry of pain.

Harry bounced eagerly on his toes to see what his cousin would have Chip do next only to suddenly find his view once again blocked by his Poliwag. At least this time, his Pokémon hadn't ended up on his half-eaten breakfast and Harry quickly snagged the Water Pokémon off of the boulder before returning him to his PokéBall as some of the sand kicked up by the Sandshrew's recent attack drifted in their direction.

"Let him curl up and then use Low Kick to send him flying, Chip!" Dudley instructed at that precise moment and Harry let loose a brief cheer when the Mankey punted his opponent into the air. "Now jump up and hit him with Fury Swipes again!"

"Sandshrew, use Rollout to block the attack!"

Harry was impressed with Camper Jerry's quick thinking as he watched the now rapidly spinning Ground Pokémon easily deflect Mankey's claws as they both dropped back towards the ground. Of course, the failure to land a hit only served to anger the Fighting Pokémon and Chip gave out a loud battle cry as he immediately punted the Sandshrew across the courtyard with another Low Kick without waiting for Dudley to direct him. The Ground Pokémon hit the ring of boulders lining the courtyard hard enough to instantly knock it out.

"Sandshrew is unable to continue! First round goes to Challenger Dudley!" Mark announced as he raised the red flag in his right hand and partially pointed it towards Dudley.

"Good try, Sandshrew," Jerry stated as he returned his Pokémon to its PokéBall. He then swapped out the PokéBall in his hand with another one from his belt and released the Pokémon inside of it as he called out, "Come on out, Rhyhorn; it's time to shake this battle up!"

Dudley seemed to hesitate for a moment, his hand hovering over the PokéBalls at his belt (the blond obviously trying to decide whether or not to let Chip continue fighting or swap him out with Rex) before he dropped his hand back to the side and called, "Chip, let's see if we can't rattle a few rocks loose from this guy."

Harry snorted in amusement and shook his head over the battle taunts that had just been exchanged. He was then forced to smother his laughter when Chip began slinging insults at the Rhyhorn even as the two Trainers handed out their first orders. The actual battle between Chip and the Rhyhorn went fairly quickly with Dudley's Mankey landing a few hits that didn't really do much while Rhyhorn managed to do a bit of damage to the Fighting Pokémon. Dudley ended up calling Chip back before he could be knocked out since he still had at least two more Trainers to face.

Rex came out dancing as usual and made short work of the Spikes Pokémon using a combination of Dig, Water Gun, and Bite and as soon as Rhyhorn fainted, the music that had been playing in the background cut out and Referee Mark declared, "Rhyhorn is unable to continue! Camper Jerry is out of usable Pokémon; the winner of this Gym Trainer Battle is the Challenger; Dudley Dursley!"

"Good work, Rex! You did it!" Dudley crowed as he hurried forward to celebrate with his tap dancing Totodile.

"Rhyhorn, return," Jerry murmured as he returned the unconscious Pokémon to its PokéBall. "Good try, buddy." The defeated Gym Trainer then walked to the center of the field in order to shake Dudley's hand once Dudley had set Rex back down on the ground, "Congratulations, Dudley; that was a great battle even though I lost."

"Thanks, Jerry; I had a lot of fun."

"You know, I was really surprised when your Mankey lasted as long as he did against my Rhyhorn."

"Yeah, Chip loves to fight; he's a real scrapper. I suspect he'd even fight his reflection if I put him in front of a mirror."

Jerry laughed in response to that admission before he clapped Dudley on the shoulder and headed off towards the Pokémon Center to get his Pokémon healed. Seeing that the battle was officially over, Harry packed up his trash and climbed over the rock boundary before he turned to help Luna over the wall next. He then headed towards Dudley so he could congratulate his cousin on a good battle. Luna would end up reaching her fellow blond first when Harry's Poliwag burst out of his PokéBall yet again and he had to snatch the Water Pokémon out of the air so he didn't get hurt.

Harry gave the Pokémon in his hands a fond smile filled with just a touch of exasperation as the little Poliwag's behavior sharply reminded the green-eyed boy of Trevor, Neville's old pet toad. That little escape artist of an amphibian had given his fellow Gryffindor and friend so much grief during their first few years at Hogwarts with his constant vanishing acts before Neville had wisened up and left his pet at home during his final four years at the castle. The reminder of his old friend made Harry wonder what Neville would have thought of the Pokémon if he'd survived the Weasley's attack.

Pushing aside the hollow pang he felt over Neville's death, Harry tucked his Poliwag into the crook of his left arm and began walking once more as he focused on the similarities between his Poliwag and Neville's former pet. After a few minutes, He decided that he would honor his fallen friend's memory by naming his Poliwag after Neville's toad so that every time he addressed his new Pokémon, he'd remember his bravest friend who had not hesitated to sacrifice himself to save Luna's life.

Once he'd reached that decision, Harry focused his attention on the group in the middle of the courtyard (to prevent himself from slipping into PokéTongue, as he carefully stated, "Now that no one's kicking up any dirt, you can stay out, if you'd like, Trevor."

"Who's Trevor?" the newly named Poliwag inquired in confusion as he wrapped his tail securely around Harry's arm.

"You are; if you'll accept the name," Harry murmured in a low tone that wouldn't carry.

The Water Pokémon chirred with pleasure and snuggled into Harry's chest the moment he understood that Harry had just given him a nickname; something that his former Trainer hadn't bothered to do. Harry took his Poliwag's reaction as acceptance of his new name and made a mental note to update his PokéDex later. He then turned his attention back to his cousin as he joined the others.

"Hey, Big D; good job! Are you ready for the next battle now?"

"Mostly, I need to heal Chip first," Dudley replied as he rolled his eyes in response to the nickname that Harry had just called him. He then turned to face the referee as he asked, "I will be allowed to heal my Pokémon in between matches, right?"

"Yes, you are also allowed to use healing aides during a Gym Battle; though few Trainers bother since most Gym Battles are so fast paced that trying to stop and use an item actually runs the risk of costing the Trainer the battle," Mark replied as he glanced down at his watch. "You've got ten minutes to prepare for the next battle in your Challenge; if you and your Pokémon aren't ready to battle at the end of those ten minutes, then your current Challenge shall be considered forfeit."

"Will my next battle take place out here or in the Gym?"

"In the Gym; you'll be facing a Water Pokémon Trainer next."

"Okay, thanks."

Dudley moved off to heal both of his Pokémon (though Chip obviously needed it more than Rex) and Harry used the opportunity the short break between battles provided to address the referee as he asked, "Will there be enough time for me to register for my Gym Challenge while Dudley's getting ready for his next battle or would it be easier for me to wait until he faces the Gym Leader?"

"It usually only takes about five minutes to register a challenge; you do have the Pokémon you intend to your during your Gym Challenge on you, correct?"

"Yeah, I've got both of them."

"Then if you follow me, we can get you registered right now," Mark replied as he tucked his battle flags into his pocket and gestured for Harry to follow him towards the entrance to the Gym. As soon as he stepped inside of the Gym, the referee directed Harry to the registration desk where woman wearing a uniform similar to Mark's (only her shirt was light blue instead of red) was seated before he excused himself to prepare for the next battle.

As soon as Harry stepped up to the desk, the woman looked up and smiled at him as she asked, "Hello, my name is Becky and I'm the Official Tournament Registrar assigned to the Pewter Gym. How may I help you today?"

"I'm here to sign up for a Gym Challenge," Harry answered as he couldn't help but return the friendly woman's smile with one of his own.

The process of registering for a Gym Challenge was quick and painless. Harry simply plugged his PokéDex into the Gym's computer using the cable provided and followed the prompts that were given. When he got to the point where he needed to choose which Pokémon he'd be using in the Gym Battles, he dithered for a brief moment before he registered both Phoenix and Trevor. He knew that 'Nix would be at a huge disadvantage going up against Water Pokémon (since there was no guarantee that Harry would face Camper Jerry) but he also didn't think Trevor would handle the pressure to fight alone all that well either.

And the last thing he wanted was for his newest Pokémon to feel pressured this early in their partnership since it could have drastic consequences due to how fragile Trevor's psyche was at the moment.

Harry would just have to make certain that he trained Phoenix alongside Trevor. The fact that there were now two Water Type Pokémon in their party (Rex and Trevor) meant there'd be plenty of training opportunities for both of his Pokémon. There were also more than enough wild Rock and Ground Pokémon to be found locally that he could work out potential strategies if he did end up facing Camper Jerry or another Rock Type Pokémon Trainer. Training his two Pokémon together would also help strengthen the newly formed bond of friendship between the two Pokémon.

As soon as Harry had completed his registration, Becky reviewed his file to make certain the registration had been properly filled out before she stated, "Everything looks good; all we need to do is fit your Challenge into the schedule."

"April twenty-fifth, at two in the afternoon," Luna blithely interjected before Becky could provide Harry with the first available opening.

"Er, we do have earlier openings available," Becky hesitantly pointed out once she'd gotten over her surprise at the late date that Luna had seemingly drawn out of thin air.

"Actually, Nurse Joy might want me to wait even longer in order to give Trevor, my Poliwag, time to fully recover from his recent injury; so the twenty-fifth will be fine," Harry hurriedly pointed out in order to draw the woman's attention off of Luna; her Gift of Sight just as risky to reveal publicly as Harry's Gift of PokéTongue. "Er, I won't be penalized if I do have to reschedule my Challenge, will I?"

"So long as you notify us at least twenty-four hours in advance so that we can offer your time slot to another Challenger, then no, there will be no penalty. There would also be no penalty if you miss your scheduled Challenge due to a life threatening emergency. Just keep in mind that an excessive number of missed appointments or last minute reschedules at any one Gym will see you being temporarily banned from taking that Gym's Challenge."

"Okay, thanks for the information."

"You're welcome," Becky offered in return. "So, did you still wish to schedule your Challenge for the twenty-fifth?"

"Yeah, I'll need the extra time to get ready."

"Very well, your scheduled Gym Challenge will take place at two in the afternoon on April twenty-fifth of this year. Due to the number of days between now and your scheduled Challenge, please note that you are required to provide the Gym with an update for the Battle Stats of the Pokémon that you've registered as partners for your Gym Challenge twenty-four hours prior to your Challenge; failure to do so will result in an automatic forfeit on your part."

"Got it."

"Was there anything else I can do for you?" Becky asked as she glanced away from the computer screen to meet Harry's gaze and he promptly shook his head no. The woman nodded in response to his silent reply before she promptly ended the link between the Gym's computer and Harry's PokéDex from her end and stated, "Good luck with your training."

"Thanks, ma'am."

Less than three minutes later, Harry, Daisy, and Luna found themselves situated in the balcony that overlooked the main floor of the Gym where Dudley's next battle would be taking place. The Gym's recessed battle arena had actually been turned into an overlarge pool filled with scattered boulders that stuck up out of the water. There were three platforms attached to the pool; one on either end for Trainers to use during a battle and an elevated one centered lengthwise over the pool directly below the balcony on the left-hand side of the room where the referee could safely preside over a battle.

Standing on the platform furthest from the Gym's entrance, was a brown-haired teen with her hair trussed up in a messy ponytail that was holding a pair of standard PokéBalls in her hands. The thing that struck Harry the most about the girl was the fact that she was wearing a moderately skimpy dark blue bikini. Swimming in the water directly in front of the platform the teen was standing on was an orange and white Pokémon that looked rather similar to a goldfish with a small horn in the center of its head.

Harry easily recognized the Pokémon as a Goldeen, the Goldfish Pokémon; one of the more common Water Pokémon found throughout pretty much every region. And another one of the Pokémon that Harry had worked with at Professor Oak's Lab. He was pretty certain that the Goldeen in the water belonged to the teen on the battling platform due to the fact that the Goldfish Pokémon often popped up to speak to the girl; though Harry was too far away to hear what the Pokémon was saying to its Trainer.

Pulling his eyes away from the girl on the platform (lest he get caught staring), Harry glanced around him. Spread out along the balcony alongside the three companions were a number of Gym Trainers that were apprenticed to the Pewter Gym, several Pokémon Enthusiasts that apparently enjoyed watching other people battle, a handful of fellow Trainers either waiting for their turn to take the Gym Challenge or there to get a feel for the Gym's Leader before they decide to take the Challenge, a couple of Tournament Officials, and one slightly annoyed ten year old.

Harry thought it was weird that none of them had gone outside to watch Dudley's first battle until he noticed several wide screen monitors strategically bolted to the walls on the upper levels; each monitor currently replaying various highlights from Dudley's earlier battle. The fact that random shots of Dudley's battle against Camper Jerry were being replayed on the monitors indicated that there was at least two external cameras fixed on the courtyard. That knowledge made Harry frown as it occurred to him that the cameras could have caught Tyson's cruelty on film.

Of course, Officer Jenny had probably already considered that possibility and made inquiries at the Gym. He could always as Becky about it or check in at the Police Station later just to make sure though. He then briefly wondered if he should be worried about his conversation with Trevor the previous day also being caught on camera. He immediately dismissed the thought when he noticed that the replays being shown were without sound; a potential indication that the outside cameras were incapable of recording sound.

His attention would then be drawn back to the Gym floor as Mark announced the start of Dudley's next battle, "The official Gym Challenge Match between Gym Trainer Briana, Swimmer Class versus Challenger Dudley Dursley, Trainer shall now begin! This battle will consist of a two-on-two Pokémon Battle with only the Challenger being allowed to use substitutions and shall end when one of the participants is out of usable Pokémon or in the event that one of the participants forfeits the match. Ready…? Set! BATTLE!"

The same dramatic music that had played during Dudley's battle outside immediately began playing once again the moment the referee had uttered the word 'battle'. Harry twitched in response to the unexpectedness of the sound even as he heard a soft whimper from Trevor and felt the Poliwag bury his face against his shoulder. Once he'd comforted the Water Pokémon (the music had obviously brought back bad memories of the last time the little guy had been in the Gym), he tapped Daisy on the shoulder to get her attention.

The moment Daisy turned to look at him, Harry asked, "Is it normal for them to play music during a battle?"

"Yeah, each Pokémon Gym has a different theme song that plays during Challenge Battles; the music is supposed to discourage the audience from helping the Challenger since the Gym Challenges are meant to assess a Trainer's prowess during their matches. They also play Battle Music during Tournament Battles. Some of the Battle Fanatics actually buy Battle Theme Soundtracks to play during regular Trainer Battles or when they're training their Pokémon."

"Weird," Harry commented before his attention was drawn back down to the battle taking place on the main floor when Mark announced the defeat of Briana's Goldeen by Chip.

Swimmer Briana then sent out a second Goldeen instead of a different type of Pokémon and Harry made certain to pay attention this time so as not to miss the battle. Much like Chip's battle against Briana's first Goldeen, the second battle ended fairly quickly due to Chip being overly aggressive and irritable in the wake of his earlier 'loss' against Camper Jerry's Rhyhorn. Harry suspected that the Mankey would give Dudley and Rex an extra hard time in the near future as a result of Dudley using Rex to basically 'bail' Chip out of that particular battle.

"Goldeen is unable to continue! Swimmer Briana is out of usable Pokémon; the winner of this Gym Trainer Battle is the Challenger; Dudley Dursley!" Referee Mark declared as soon as the music had cut out after the Water Pokémon had been knocked unconscious; his announcement drawing cheers from most of those watching.

Dudley was given another ten minutes to check over his Pokémon at that point. While Dudley was busy checking Chip's health and giving him a few PokéBerries to wash away his battle fatigue, Harry shifted his attention back to the video screens on the walls where they were now playing highlights from Dudley's most recent battle. His attention would be drawn to the annoyed ten year old he'd taken note of earlier as he heard the boy mutter a few complaints.

"I can't believe they called that a Gym Battle. Briana didn't even try to win. Dad never would have let a Gym Trainer under him fight in a battle like that. Dad never would have ruined the Gym by turning it into a stupid pond either."

"I take it your father was the former Gym Leader of this Gym?" Harry inquired as he carefully loosened Trevor's tail a bit to prevent his arm from going to sleep from a lack of blood flow.

"Yeah, he was," the boy agreed as he turned to look at Harry. He then stuck his hand out and announced, "I'm Brock."

"I'm Harry, my friends are Daisy and Luna, and that's my cousin Dudley down there on the main floor," Harry replied as he shook the other boy's hand.

The moment Brock's gaze shifted to take in the two girls, he dropped Harry's hand as if it burned him and moved over to the girls so fast that Harry would have thought he'd apparated to them if he hadn't known that this world's magic didn't work like that. Bemused, Harry twisted around to watch the other boy's antics as he introduced himself to the girls a split second before he started hitting on them.

"Hello lovelies, I'm Brock; I've been told there's no such thing as love at first sight but the ones who said that obviously never met such a gorgeous duo as you. I know I'm in love. What do you say the three of us hit the clubs tonight? Shall we call it a date?"

Luna giggled while Daisy sort of gaped at the boy; both of their cheeks stained red with awkwardness over the obvious flirting. Harry snorted under his breath and shook his head in pure amusement over the fact that Brock fancied himself something of a casanova. The little drama would be cut short before either girl could turn the boy down when everyone's attention was drawn back to the Gym's main floor by Mark announcing the next battle.

"The official Gym Challenge Match between Gym Leader Lola versus Challenger Dudley Dursley shall now begin! This battle will consist of a three-on-two Pokémon Battle with only the Challenger being –"

Halfway through Mark's announcement, Harry's eyes were drawn to the platform that the last Gym Trainer had used in order to get his first look at a Gym Leader. The moment his eyes landed on the woman standing on the platform, the first thought that went running through his mind was that she looked more like a housewife than she did a Gym Leader. She was wearing a knee length white skirt, a pink and red tank top, and blue sandals. Her hair was curled in such a way that it flared out in the back; a hairdo that obviously took time to set. And she wore a smile that reminded Harry of Delia.

"– allowed to use substitutions and shall end when one of the participants is out of usable Pokémon or in the event that one of the participants forfeits the match. Ready…? Set! BATTLE!"

The housewife vibe Harry had gotten from Lola shattered the moment the battle started. The moment the battle started, the woman became like a demon possessed as she faced off against Dudley. Now, he'd seen some of the Trainers that he and the others had faced go all out during their battles but they had been unenthusiastic when compared to Lola. It was also rather obvious that she wasn't going easy on Dudley just because he was a kid and judging by the fierce grin on his cousin's face, that was obviously something that Dudley appreciated.

It certainly made for an exciting battle when compared to the one Dudley had had against Swimmer Briana.

Notes:

Gym Trainers – Camper Jerry is a canon character from the Pewter City Gym in the Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heart Gold, and Heart Silver games (though he usually has the evolved forms of the Pokémon he used in this chapter); Swimmer Briana is actually a canon character from the Cerulean Gym in the Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal games that I borrowed to throw in the Pewter Gym since there technically aren't any other Water Pokémon Trainers known to work at the Pewter Gym aside from Lola – consider her presence in Pewter her first experience as a Gym Trainer before she transfers over to Cerulean Gym
Referee Mark – the referee is obviously an OC created strictly for this story and his name was randomly selected. The reason he did not immediately recognize Dudley or the girls (even though they'd only registered the previous day) is because he has seen so many Trainers that their faces have blurred together. He's also not the one who registers the Trainers.
Registrar Becky – another obvious OC created strictly for this story w/ her name being randomly selected. Her job is strictly to register Gym Challenges and keep track of a Trainer's records in regards to the Pewter Gym (i.e. she's the one that bans those Trainers that loose too many Challenges or that consistently fail to show up for their scheduled battles).
Lola – is Brock's mother and she has, in the anime, taken over the Gym on at least one occasion and converted it into a Water Type Gym (much to her husband's and children's horror). I chose to have her replace Flint after he left in this story since Brock is only ten years old at this point in the story and therefore not really experienced enough to take over the Gym. No, Brock won't join Harry and the others on their Journey.

Pokémon Parties (M = Male, F = Female, G = Genderless)

Daisy: (Trainer ID # 062441DO)

Charm – F Charmander (lvl 18)
Sparky – M Pikachu (lvl 7)

Dudley: (Trainer ID # 062444DD)

Keys – G Klefki (lvl 33)
Rex – M Totodile (lvl 21)
Chip – M Mankey (lvl 18)

Luna: (Trainer ID # 062443LL)

Nargle – F Natu (lvl 50)
Spork – M Spoink (lvl 32)
Snuggles – M Chikorita (lvl 19)

Harry: (Researcher ID# 0018708HP, Trainer ID # 062442HP)

Moony – M Absol (lvl 51)
Gryffin – M Litleo (lvl 34)
Trouble – F Misdreavus (lvl 50)
Phoenix (Nix) – M Cyndaquil (lvl 20)
Trevor – M Poliwag (lvl 24)

AN: This chapter was a huge pain to get done. I'd originally planned to write out far more of the Gym Battles but just writing out the one I did was like trying to pull teeth from a slug. It was also this chapter that was holding up this arc until I decided to split the arc in half.

Anyway, I can already hear some of the die-hard Pokemon Canon fans complaining that I said walk-in battles weren't allowed for the Gyms when that's the way they happen in both the games and the anime but I did say that this story would be AU. My reasoning for making Trainers make appointments was because it made more sense to me. Sure, for those Gyms that don't get a lot of Trainer Traffic, the walk-in battles would be fine but for the more popular Gyms, they'd be constantly battling and would never get anything else isn't even taking into account the time it would take for the Gym Trainers/Leaders to heal their Pokemon in between battles. So yeah, I made up new rules for Gym Challenges because they're important battles for the Tournament.

Aside from the headache this chapter caused me while I was writing it, I had fun writing Trevor's constant 'escaping' from his PokeBall and was something I'd planned from the very beginning. Although, I'd originally planned for that scene to be a little more drawn out and have other people notice it before I actually had Harry name his Poliwag but this chapter didn't cooperate with my original outline. I also wasn't going to include Brock in this chapter but he wormed his way in just so he could ask Luna and Daisy out. Well, that, and he wanted to complain about the water.

Anywho, I think that covers everything. There's only going to be one more chapter in this half of the arc and while I originally planned to post it tomorrow, I've been sick most of the week (darn kids dragging home more germs again) and didn't get it edited and prepped for posting. I also feel too crappy to do that right now. So, the next chapter will be late. I hope to have it up before Wednesday but I make no promises because it will depend on how I feel and if I can kick this flu thing to the curb sooner rather than later because it's stubbornly clung to me since Tuesday. Urgh, I hate being sick.

On that note, I'm outta here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, will thank everyone now for all the reads/reviews/alerts and for those of you who PM'd me within the last week or two, I'll be answering those once I'm feeling better. So, about the same time as when I post the next chapter. Sorry about the delay. ~ Jenn