Pokemon: The Wandering Guardian

...

Later in the day, Lan was at the entrance of the public mine. This was the place that many people have deemed to have been stripped of all of the useful mining resources so currently, it is only a place that houses countless Pokemon.

It was said that this mine was very prosperous but was overtaxed by many people and companies. It is also said that the deeper down the passageways transformed to naturally formed caverns and caves. Many mining companies ran into many groups of strong Pokemon and were unable to discover any valuable resources.

Lan set off into the mine with the mindset to use this as a training exercise to develop his Pokemon. He also wanted to catch a couple of interesting pokemon and send them to the lab. He knew that this was a tall order that might not come easily especially since his current team had two fire types and one young water type.

Lan had initially thought about getting some night vision goggles that the professionals' explorers used but instead, he opted to prepare the more budget-friendly flashlight and batteries.

Lan released all three of his Pokemon. He then positioned them Growlithe to his left and Vulpix to his right. and Mudkip on his shoulder since it could not keep pace with its little strides. During this practice, Lan had to make sure that his Pokemon would be able to counter all sorts of Rock and Ground-type Pokemon and their various move sets. He wanted Growlithe and Vulpix to learn a couple of new moves so he will be able to diversify their strategies.

Lan first encountered a Geodude that was resting in the middle of the pathway. He first wanted to see how Growlithe will test himself to push his limits.

Growlithe barked and jumped in front of the group. The Geodude had an angry look being challenged by the new Pokemon. It then slammed the ground with its two hands and started to glow with a brown glow.

Lan smiled and said " Growlithe that is Defence Curl it is increasing its defense so you are going to have to weaken it with an attack first"

Growlithe then nodded and sent a fire spin towards Geodude's direction. Geodude did not react and all and was trapped within the vortex. Growlithe immediately charged trying to do a simple bite.

Lan knew that this was not going to work but he didn't stop him because up to now Growlithe has had the type advantage so he could use these simple ways of batteling.

As expected when Growlithe tried to Bite Geodude the Geodude just started to spin and charge at Growlithe. Growlithe jumped to the side avoiding the Rollout. It then countered with an ember. The Geodude took little damage and Growlithe seemed to grow frustrated.

The battle between took place for a long time until both sides were exhausted. Neither of them had the upper hand toward each other. Lan clapped his hands and yelled, "Come back both of you are tired and neither one has one." Growlithe grudgingly walked over while the Geodude took one last look and frustratingly rolled away from the group.

Lan preceded to heal him and give some water to Growlithe. He then looked at his Pokemon and smiled " Now that was a tough battle. The big thing is that Growlithe's strategy was all about his physical traits for dodging and because his fire could not damage Geodude it ended as a draw."

Growlithe's head drooped because he felt like he had disappointed Lan while Vuplix had the realization that it could not be as physical as Growlithe so if it had battled it would have definitely lost. No one could tell what Mudkip was thinking. Lan could feel the emotions of his Pokemon and smiled.

" Don't worry we will be able to overcome this. I will now teach all of you a new move. Yes, all of you will be able to get the same move. It is called Iron Tail." Lan then pulled out his Pokedex and pulled up the video clip that he had previously downloaded about the move. Once he was done he nodded and preceded to explain the move. He showed them using different showings on how to slap with the tail first and how to twirl in air or maneuver its body.

He also talked about how Geodude did a rollout and how he spun and that the flips only required to do it once if they wanted to slam the opponent to the ground. The pokemon realized they can control part of their opponents' movement by knocking them around.

Lan had them practice on nearby boulders. They rested when they needed to and Lan healed them when he could. He didn't want to tire them all out in one go so they took many breaks.

Many hours had passed and the group was improving at a visible rate. Lan helped break things down with his massive comprehension. Surprisingly the first one who completed the move was Mudkip. Lan recognized that it was stubborn and had equally good comprehension. Vulpix was second while Growlithe trailed. Growlithe was the slowest to comprehend the move but he had a lot more power over it.

Lan believed that the other two Pokemon were smaller and could execute the move a little faster but they could not match the power of Growlithe.

They all rested up and Lan said: "Let's go battle!"

Mudkip! Vulpix! Growlithe!

They trekked deeper into the Mines.

...

Meanwhile back at the Pewter City gym

Brock "Onix Bind!"

"Chuu"

"Chuuu"

"Pikachu"

Brock "Do you surrender"

Ash was struggling he couldn't see any other option he didn't want to hurt Pikachu "I do. I do".

Ash hurriedly grabbed Pikachu and left the gym.

...

Bang!!!!!!

Crash a Pokemon was sent flying into the wall. The Pokemon was about 30 feet tall snake-like Pokemon that had many boulders along its body.

"Nice Job Growlithe!"

Lan threw one of his last Pokeballs.

Wobble Wobble Wobble

Click

"Finally we caught that Pokemon. That was a tough fight guys you all earned a good break. I think we are ready for the Gym now. Haha. You all have improved a lot. I didn't think that we would spend about two days in here. Sigh, I only caught Onix and one Graveler and a Zubat.

<Sigh>

I didn't think it would take all three of you to fight against that monster. I am glad we did though it might be able to help us in the future.

During these last days, Lan's Pokemon became stronger in almost every aspect. Gowlithe and Vulpix could successfully takedown Geodudes who are close to evolving within five minutes. Mudkip was a different story altogether due to him using Watergun. He was now avoided by the Rock Pokemon in these areas. He also grew in battle experience but it was still young. He also had the habit of resting on either Lan's shoulder or head which made Lan have to adjust a bit.

Vulpix!! Vul-pix!!

Vulpix was digging at the remaining rubble where Onix had crashed into the wall during the battle. She scampered and laid down a piece of rock that was distinctly different from the rest. Lan just smiled as Vulpix had a knack for odd things and would constantly bring the items to him.

He smiled and put the rock into his bag. Feeding and giving his Pokemon water he then returned them and headed back up to the surface.

...