23 The Boulder Badge

"It is so good to see you Cinder!" Professor Oak beamed at him from the screen, his Arcanine - Sparky, happily standing alongside him.

He was a member of Samuel Oak's team way back when. To the Professor, his time as a trainer was practically a separate lifetime from where he was now. The presence of his team was a constant reminder, however. Of them, Arcanine was the one of the most involved in his post-trainer life.

And he had also accompanied him to the Institution, to happily assist him in his studies. Now, he was basically his number one assistant at the lab. He and the Professor both adored one another. Given how far they had gone back, Cinder couldn't help but wonder just how many memories that they had together.

Memories that he hoped he would make with his own team.

Cinder had grown to love Arcanine. He was by far the most compassionate creature he'd ever met. On some occasions the fire-canine had even helped look after him when he was younger. Pokemon were just as capable of giving off a comrade aura as humans were. To Cinder's knowledge, not a soul in Pallet Town didn't adore the fire-type pokemon.

A powerful mixture of exhaustion and excitement had overtaken them as they made their way back to the pokemon center.

Cinder and his team had been ready to get settled in for the night as soon as possible, in deep anticipation for tomorrow morning.

However, the young trainer had been surprised when Nurse Joy, after taking in his team for quick, last minute check ups, had revealed to him that Professor Oak had called earlier that day, asking to talk to him.

He and the Professor hadn't spoken since he had left Pallet Town on Opening Day. Perhaps he had just wanted to check on him.

Of course, Cinder was more than happy to speak to the Professor, and had called him back immediately as Nurse Joy looked over his team.

The Professor's grin was contagious as he appeared on the screen and greeted Cinder in full spirits with Arcanine by his side as usual.

"Same, Professor!" Cinder was starting to feel giddy. "There's so much to tell you!"

A chuckle. "Heh, heh, so I've heard. Marcia spent the entire day gushing to her neighbors about how her adorable munchkin was about to challenge his first Gym."

Cinder frowned, his cheeks reddening. Adorable munchkin? "But… not in that wording, right?" he said hopefully, although he had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

"You know how she is." Ignoring Cinder's disappointed sigh, the Professor continued. "Anyway, I just had to call you after hearing about all of that, and from what I had from my intel. I've been keeping track of your movements whenever I could. Two foreign catches in your first week, huh? That's quite the feat. Not to mention... A Gible, can you care to tell me about that?"

Scratching the back of his head, Cinder chuckled nervously. Nevertheless, he spoke the truth. "...even I was surprised when Fafnir hatched, oh! Fafnir is my Gible's nickname, I knew of his species from a new friend of mine that was visiting Kanto from another region. Fafnir isn't able to train yet though, he grew slow, which was natural since he is a dragon. And the Starly... Well, she was a unique pokemon, as you knew from Officer Jenny, although that's not mostly the reason why I adamantly wanted her to become my pokemon..."

"I understand, I watched you grow up with the other kids here in Pallet, after all. And in the end, I'm sure they worked out great." The Professor was reassured. "I still remember when that Gible of yours was captured. Arcanine was in the room at the time. The moment the system picked up that you had captured a rare pokemon, he dragged me right out of my garden to show me!" Arcanine's fangs grin widened.

Scratching the back of his neck, Cinder asked. "Speaking of which, Professor, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, Cinder?"

"The friend I just mentioned, Korrina... Has she been there in Pallet, has she already left?"

The Professor flashed a knowing smile. "Hmmm… yes, Korrina, the granddaughter of an old friend of mine from Kalos. She was here, only for a day before she left after she had done her business. Why... Do you like that girl, Cinder?"

"Maybe, a little bit..." Without thinking, Cinder blurted out words that he wasn't meant to say. Seeing the grin of the Professor's face widening, he became flustered. "I MEAN NO! I was just concerned that's all."

"Alright I believe you, heh."

"Anyways... She is a gorgeous girl, don't you think so professor?" Cinder grinned sheepishly.

"Heh. Your right. But on a different note." Professor Oak leaned forward and eyed Cinder carefully. The smile did not leave his face, however. "Something seems… different about you. You may not notice it, but you're carrying yourself a lot more confidently than when we last spoke."

Cinder blinked. "I am?"

"I'll admit I was a bit concerned when you and the others from the academy left, but it seems everything turned out fine. I have a feeling that these past week have been very beneficial to you and your psyche, even more than you may realize. Subconsciously, I think you've already changed quite a bit. The fact that you're even attempting your first ever Gym Battle not even halfway through the first month of the Season is more than enough to tell me this."

Cinder's eyes widened. "Oh no, do you think I'm being arrogant?!" No way he wanted to be like Blue of all people, he was becoming sensitive about it because of the teasing he got from Diana, and from the occasional Dom.

Laughter greeted him. Not just from the Professor, but from Arcanine as well.

"You misunderstand me. Confidence and arrogance do not always go hand in hand. I'm just saying that you have a lot more… initiative than you used to before. It's nice to see. I'm liking this side of you. The old you would have never taken such risks, even when playing and cleaning the kennels you were always so careful with your every action and interaction with pokemon."

Risks… and here he thought he'd been avoiding those, well maybe not...

Well, taking on a Gym Battle so early certainly was a bold move, but Cinder had taken plenty of precautions with their training methods, besides, his one-sided rivalry with Red and Blue didn't allow him to become inferior to them, not when they already had their first badge!

Although, in hindsight, he supposed that didn't change the fact that he was making such a bold move in the first place.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" He asked. "Challenging the Gym, I mean?"

The Professor shrugged. "Of course. If you truly think that you and your team are ready, the worst that could happen is that you lose, pick yourselves back up, and just try again. Rookie trainers rarely ever get their first gym badges on their first try, but it's never been impossible. It's like making it to the Conference on your first try: Not many rookie trainers are able to do it, but the fact that it's been done immediately disqualifies it from being an unachievable fantasy."

Cinder nodded at that. It made sense. And after seeing his team's resolve, he definitely thought that they were ready. He couldn't stop going back and forth on whether or not he, specifically, was ready for it, but…

He would still do it for them. They had earned this chance with all of the hard work that they had put in.

Storm, who was his starter and partner, had risen to the occasion.

Hercule, who had been captured by him against his will, had risen to the occasion.

Even the baby dragon, Fafnir, who he had just hatched from an egg under bizarre, seemingly unexplainable circumstances, had risen to the occasion. Although mostly the infant was mostly playing... Still, it could count as training when the games they did was a good development for his physic.

And so would he.

Did he deserve their loyalty? Especially Fafnir's? He doubted it, but if possible, he wanted to change that. If he didn't deserve them, then he wanted to become a trainer who did deserve them. A trainer that they could be proud of, just as he was proud of them.

He needed to push these feelings of doubt aside. His team didn't deserve to be hampered by them.

After all of the work that they had done, he knew that they were ready.

Any failure would be his fault, not theirs.

And he wouldn't betray all his pokemon's trust, either.

Forget self loathing and forget insecurities, it was time to win a Gym badge.

/

Pokemon Gyms were massive buildings that served as monuments for a Trainer's ultimate goal: Earn eight badges and reach the Indigo Plateau.

The Pewter City Gym was no exception. The morning sun was high in the sky as Cinder and his trio of Pokemon gaped in awe, the Gym towering over them as a few passing citizens spared them curious glances. Dom and Diana decided that they wouldn't watch the match, they focused on their training instead while not so subtle on their thoughts that Cinder would lose on his first challenge like they had.

Cinder could faintly hear a woman calling out "Good luck in there!" but was too busy gasping at the feeling of seeing a Gym up close to notice.

This was it. The culmination of his first week as a Trainer. The culmination of the training that they had done since they had come here.

Looking down at his team, Cinder could see them already exchanging encouraging gestures.

Storm and Hercule shaking hands (or, in their case, hoof and fin-like tail) with a firm grip, Fafnir patting Storm's back with his tubby hand, and the Poliwag nodding confidently in response, Storm and Hercule locking eyes, no noises, no gestures, just a silent communication between the two friends.

Kneeling down to be on eye level with his team, Cinder looked between the trio. "The next time I send you two out, it will be in our biggest and most difficult battle yet. Are you ready?"

Their faces gave him a clearer answer than any verbal response ever could have.

Their confidence was a blessing that gave Cinder the resolve that he needed as he returned them.

Standing up, he faced the Gym.

The outside of it was mostly rock, and the building was huge. Wide. Almost like a Pokemon Center.

Many Gyms had similar basic structures, but wildly different aesthetics. Others were more similar than others were, however.

But all of them had the Indigo Plateau's Victory Road Symbol near the roof, right in the middle of the building. To let every Trainer know exactly what this building was.

His breath caught in his throat, Cinder subconsciously adjusted his hair, despite not even needing to, as he began to walk forward.

The Gym was getting closer now. The hammering in his heart couldn't be ignored as he approached.

The automatic doors opened as he approached. As he walked in.

*I know this is much shorter than the other chaps I've been dropping. But still, I wanted to give the Rocky Balboa hype haahhaahahha, also the cliffhanger. P.S. in a few hours the first gym battle would be dropped also, so don't be too angry with me, capiche?... alright.*