My Little Pokemon Silver Spoon Version

by Fashionably Late

Chapter 10: Electric Shock Showdown

Author's Note:

Fashionably Late here, and confession time. I've restructured the chapters, mainly because I essentially skipped Challenge of the Samurai, in essence skipping over a banned episode even though it was only banned in South Korea for reasons I shall not get into, and the Cerulean gym battles are now just one chapter. Episodes 3 and 4 are now just one chapter titled Viridian and I hope to whatever higher being is up there that this the 1st and only time such a restructure will happen. Anyhow, enjoy the gym battle and companion introduction this chapter.

The journey was…frustrating, to say the least. But we made it! Vermillion city! Dirty, bruised, battered, and not just a little hungry after short rations for three days, but we’d finally made it.

Of course Ash wanted to hit the gym as soon as we arrived, but the rest of us managed to slow him down long enough to realize that Pikachu, and all of us, needed a rest first. And some food. A shower maybe.

So we asked directions to the Pokemon Center. There was a nurse Joy at the front desk, as expected.

“Welcome to the Vermillion City Pokemon Center!” She greeted us as we stepped up to the desk. “How can I help you?”

“My Pikachu and other pokemon need a good rest before our gym battle.” Ash informed her, pulling out his pokeballs and depositing Pikachu onto the front desk.

“Your gym battle?” Nurse Joy’s shoulders slumped. “I see.”

“Is there something wrong?” Brock asked in concern, placing his hand over hers.

She was interrupted by a Chancey shoving the front doors open, pulling a gurney with an injured Rattata. A young trainer was following behind them, tears streaming down his face as he fought to keep up.

“That’s the fifteenth one this month.” Nurse Joy moaned, tiredly rubbing her face before standing up.

The Rattata must not have been injured badly enough to demand her immediate attention, because she led us to a room filled with recovering pokemon. Oddish, Sandshrew, Pidgey, Rattata, fourteen of them all lined up with their trainers hovering over their bedsides.

“They all came from Lt. Surge’s gym.” Nurse Joy informed us sadly. “Most Gym Leaders stagger their teams to provide a fair challenge to trainers, but Surge doesn’t subscribe to that practice. He uses his toughest pokemon every time.”

“That’s cruel.” Brock’s eyes hardened.

A door on the far side of the room opened up, admitting the unlucky number fifteen to the room with its trainer.

“So, still feeling confident, Ash?” Misty elbowed him. “All these trainers took on the Gym Leader and look how they ended up.”

“Yeah.” Ash gulped nervously but quickly puffed out his chest. “But I’m not afraid. My pokemon are strong!”

“You sure? Because the badges you have now you only got out of pity, remember?” Misty continued to egg him.

“I earned those badges fair and square!” Ash defended himself. Loudly. “Just you wait, we won’t end up like those other trainers! We’re gonna face Lt. Surge and we’re gonna win!” He declared.

He then raised his arm as if he was going to bop Misty on the nose before Flora got in between them.

“Woah, woah, woah! Could you not. There are children watching in the audience.” Flora chastised.

“Audience?”

I think we all, except Flora, forgot that we were in a hospital with a bunch of children. Who were now staring at us.

“Just chill out, and eat a Snickers or something. You two obviously dig each other anyway.” Flora finished.

They both reacted as you might expect, snapping that they didn’t care about the other, causing Nurse Joy to laugh.

Back in the pick-up room we found Pikachu finishing up a snack. He’d clearly had a bath and looked much better on a full stomach. Ash happily let Pikachu finish eating, clicking his pokeballs back into place along his belt.

“Alright, you ready to do this, Pikachu?” He posed bravely.

“Pi-ka!” Pikachu posed as well, much more adorably.

The doors slammed open and another gurney, this one with an injured Pidgey, was rushed through straight towards surgery.

“Another victim of that Gym Leader.” Misty bit her lip.

“Pi?” Pikachu’s ears twitched. “Pi pika?”

“Hm, what’s the matter, Pikachu?” Ash looked down at him.

“Pika, Pika pikachu pikapi!” He flapped his arms and mimed fainting, chittering furiously the whole time.

“Huh?...Do I want you…to end up like that Pidgey?” Ash guessed.

“Pi!” Pikachu nodded tearfully.

“Of course not!” Ash looked affronted. “I’d hate it if you were hurt!”

“Pi-kaa,” Pikachu sighed with relief.

Knowing Ash and what to expect, I took a big step back along with Flora.

“No problem! You won't end up that way, 'cause you'll win!” Boast given, he tried to lift Pikachu into his arms and march proudly for the exit.

I say tried, because Pikachu clamped onto the table and refused to be lifted. When Ash attempted to yank Pikachu’s tail, he decided to electrocute.

“The way they fight must mean they care a lot.” Misty muttered.

---

We did make our way to the gym though. Pikachu must’ve resigned himself. From the lightning bolts decorating the outside of the gym it was easy to guess what type they specialized in. All that was left was to go inside and let Ash demand a gym battle.

“Last chance to back out, Ash.” Misty taunted in a sing-song voice.

“Not a chance!” He huffed, shoving the doors open.

The room was darkened, for ambience. As we stepped in further we could make out the silhouettes of three people near the back.

“I’m Ash from Pallet Town, and I’m here to earn a Thunder Badge!” Ash clenched his fists.

“Ha!” One of the silhouettes snickered. “Look at that, boss! Another victim for the emergency room.”

“I can see that.” The silhouette in the middle stood from the chair they’d been reclining in. I expected him to top out a little taller than Brock.

He didn’t.

He was twice as tall as Brock was! Lt. Surge was easily the biggest man I’d ever met.

“Which one of you is my next challenger?” He looked over the five of us. He zeroed in on me, Misty and Flora quickly.

“Him first!” Flora shoved Ash in front of Surge before he could say anything more.

“I’m the challenger! I already said it! Ash, from Pallet Town!” Ash groaned.

“Relax, baby, I’m just messin’ with ya.” Lt. Surge straightened up.

“Don’t call me ‘baby!’” Ash fumed.

“I call everybody who loses to me ‘baby.’” Lt. Surge waved him off, not paying any attention. He did spot something low on the ground.

Pikachu, clutching onto Ash’s pant leg. I didn’t blame him for being intimidated. Pikachu was barely one foot tall.

“HAHAHAHAAA! Guys, check this out!” He bellowed over his shoulder. “Baby brought a baby pokemon!”

“Where do you get off calling Pikachu a baby?” Ash growled.

“Heh, I’ll show you.” He pulled a pokeball from his belt and threw it up into the air. It released mid-spin and the light reformed into a large yellow mouse. Like Surge it was twice the size of Pikachu and just as mean looking as its trainer.

“Anyone aiming to be a pokemon trainer ought to know enough to evolve their pokemon as quick as possible to get all their best moves.” Lt. Surge snorted.

Which was…why did so many people believe this. It just feels wrong. Even Misty and Brock believe it to some degree. Ash and I are clearly in the minority here.

“Raichu: The evolved form of Pikachu. This pokemon is capable of summoning over 100,000 volts, enough to render a Dragonite unconscious.” Ash’s pokedex informed us. He glared at the device for a moment before he shut it with finality, lifting his chin to face his opponent.

“We’re not afraid of you.” He said.

I would’ve expected Pikachu to be afraid. Up until today Pikachu has never struck me as a hot-blooded pokemon. But today things were different. Here and now, Pikachu’s cheeks were already sparking with electricity.

“Can Pikachu beat Raichu?” Misty asked Brock.

“I seriously doubt it.” Brock stated while Flora nodded in agreement.

I tried not to pay them any mind.

“So, Baby, did you just come here to show us your baby pokemon?” Lt. Surge mocked them.

“We came to earn a Thunder Badge.” Ash stated, not intimidated in the least.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one getting sick of this evolutionary mindset.

We relocated to the arena. Brightly lit and fairly clear, no major obstacles. Raichu and Pikachu were already on the floor ready to begin. Brock, Misty, Flora, and I were relegated to the audience section.

The referee took his place and held up a microphone.

“This battle will be a One-on-One, no substitutions allowed. The Gym Leader has chosen Raichu, the Challenger has chosen Pikachu.” He stated formally. “Begin!”

“Pikachu, give him a Thunder Shock!” Ash yelled. A fast opening move, but not enough to catch Surge off guard.

“Feh, you call that an electrical attack?” Surge scoffed. “Raichu, show’em a real Thunder Shock.”

“CHUU!” Raichu didn’t hesitate. Pikachu didn’t have a chance to dodge. He took the full force of that blow, getting knocked for a loop.

“Heh, one hit KO.” Surge smirked.

“Pikachu, are you okay?” Ash almost left the competitor’s box.

“Piii-ka!” Pikachu painfully climbed to his feet.

“This isn’t looking good. Pikachu took a lot of damage.” Brock grit his teeth.

“They won’t win with electrical attacks.” Flora nodded. “It has to be physical or nothing.”

Pikachu did his best. I think even Surge was surprised by how much punishment he could take before falling. Finally though, the referee had to call an end to the battle for Pikachu’s own safety. It was a loss and we had to retreat to the pokemon center.

“My turn!”

Well most of us.

“Flora?” We all turned towards Flora, who strutted towards the arena.

“I’m going to win me a Thunder badge!” She declared before turning to us. “I’ll meet up with you guys at the pokemon center, kay.”

With that said, the rest of us then went to the pokemon center.

---

Within the hour we were sequestered around Pikachu’s sickbed.

“Piikachuu…” Pikachu grumbled, not looking at any of us.

“Pikachu was badly hurt.” Brock muttered, a touch too loudly to avoid being heard.

“I can see that.” Ash snapped angrily.

Brock shook his head.

“I meant his spirit was hurt. Pikachu tried its hardest to beat that Raichu and just…couldn’t measure up.” Brock clarified.

Ash didn’t have anything to say to that and neither did I.

“…We’ll get him. Next time, Pikachu and I will win!” Ash vowed.

“But Pikachu already did its best today, how do you think you can pull off a win after that?” Misty huffed.

“We’ll train for it! Night and day, as long as it takes!” Ash stood from his seat.

“Maybe you ought to rethink your strategy and use a different pokemon.” She tried suggesting.

“Pika!” Pikachu protested, turning to look at us for the first time since he woke up.

“Pikachu wants to beat that Raichu, and I want to help him!” Ash held a hand over his heart. “I just know there’s a way for us to beat Surge!”

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing.”We all jumped, turning to see Nurse Joy standing in the doorway. “And I think I have something that might help.”

She walked forward until she was right in front of us, then moved her clipboard to reveal the little velvet box she held. Inside was a sea foam green stone with a lightning bolt inside.

“This is a thunderstone, it came into my possession a few months ago. With it, you can evolve your Pikachu into a Raichu.” She held it out for Ash to take.

Huh, come to think of it, I still had that one moonstone shard in my bag, didn’t I? Maybe Cleffairy would want to use it to evolve someday.

“But if I use this…won’t that make me just like Surge? Evolving my pokemon just so that they’re stronger?” He wondered.

I grimaced. First because the image of Ash’s face on Surge’s body floated to the forefront of my mind. Then because I didn’t want Ash to change like that.

For a new trainer though he was pretty firm in who he was. Rather than make the choice himself, he gave the decision over to Pikachu. He offered the thunderstone and gave Pikachu the choice.

And Pikachu refused.

I might never know exactly what Pikachu said, but I feel like I understood. Pikachu wanted to win this fight, as a Pikachu, for his own pride as a pokemon. He refused to change himself for that.

Of course, Ash would’ve liked to go and challenge Surge for a rematch right away, but Pikachu still wasn’t fully recovered and wouldn’t be until tomorrow. We left Pikachu to get some rest and met up with Flora in the break room to get something to eat.

“Man, this whole thing has me so nervous.” Misty sighed, putting in the coin for a soda.

“There’s nothing to be worried about.” Ash dismissed her.

“I’m not worried about you! I’m worried for Pikachu!” She sniffed.

“Hey guys.” We all turned towards Brock. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Surge said he evolved Raichu as soon as he caught it, right?”

“Yeah.” Flora nodded while looking at her new Thunder Badge.

“Good.” Brock smirked. “Then I think I know a way Pikachu can win.”

Hearing his idea and his thoughts on the matter, I had to agree it sounded reasonable. Better than that even. It sounded brilliant! I almost can’t wait until tomorrow to see it in action.

---

I’d like to skip forward to Ash’s rematch, but I can’t.

You see, all told between arriving in Vermillion City, visiting the Pokemon Center, the Gym battle, and returning to the Pokemon Center afterwards, we hadn’t eaten up more than an hour or two.

There was still plenty of time for Misty and Flora to drag me off for my first swimming lesson. Since Discord saw fit to make sure I had a swimsuit, a swimsuit Flora derided as a school swimsuit, the first step was locating the nearest public pool which Flora said was where her friend was waiting for us.

“Weiss!” Flora waved at a pale girl with short blue hair and magenta eyes.

“Flora.”

If I hadn’t been looking at her I probably wouldn’t have known she had said anything.

“Who is she?” Misty looked between Flora and Weiss.

“Weiss is my friend and she’s going to teach Silver how to swim.” Flora threw an arm over Weiss’s shoulder. “We go way back.”

“But I was going to teach Sarah how to swim.” Misty challenged.

“Eh, our sponsor wanted Silver to train under our supervision.” Flora shrugged.

“Your sponsor?” I couldn’t help but question.

“Our sponsor.” Flora reiterated. “The guy who gave us our pokemon and pokedexs and sent us out on our journeys.”

Oh, that meant Weiss was also a part of…whatever Discord had in mind.

“Well I promised Sarah that I would teach her how to swim.” Misty insisted.

“Well I’d rather not explain why Silver ended up drowning again.” Flora countered.

“Can’t we settle this in a reasonable manner?” I tried to interject.

“We’ll teach her together.” We all looked at Weiss. “We can get the basics of swimming down before moving on to one on one sessions.”

“You sure Weiss?” At her nod Flora looked over Misty. “How about you?”

“Fine, but she better not get in my way.” Misty relented.

The lesson itself went well. Misty had me walk around in the waist deep section first, just to get used to being in the water at all. I hated the way it made me feel slow and clumsy, but this I could handle. It helped that the water was crystal clear and free of any wild pokemon.

The next step was to get me used to floating.

“Here, just lean back and let me hold you.” Misty held my upper arms as I leaned back, trusting her to keep my head above water. Actual floating was an unusual experience.

“How’s that?” She asked, smiling brightly.

“Not bad.” I tried to return the smile. Experimentally, I kicked my legs around a little. Misty and Weiss helped me adjust my position a little until I could float on my back without support. That one was a little nerve-wracking to be honest, but I got through it.

“Okay! Next up, we’ll try a simple stroke!” Misty cheered. “Stand up for a sec, Sarah. Watch what I do, okay?”

I watched her and Weiss demonstrate a few swimming styles. They were good teachers, using the demonstrations and then talking me through her actions for each one. By the time the lifeguard announced the pool was closing I felt I had a decent handle on the stroke. At least enough to hopefully save myself the next time I fell into water.

We toweled off and changed back. I was extra thankful for my covered skin as the air started getting chilly. We got back to the Pokemon Center and met the guys in the cafeteria for dinner. We still had a couple of hours before curfew and light’s out so Weiss made her move.

---

“Misty of Cerulean City, I challenge you to a pokemon battle.” Weiss declared in that soft spoken monotone voice. Like some combination of Fluttershy and Maud Pie.

“What?” Misty squawked.

“Ha! I was wondering when you’d challenge her.” Flora laughed as she looked on at the baffled Misty and stone faced Weiss.

“You knew she would pull something like this” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course.” Flora replied. “After all, Weiss is our water specialist.”

“Water specialist?” Misty looked at Weiss intrigued. “That means you have water pokemon?”

“Of course.” She replied. “Water pokemon are the best.”

“Ah hahaha. Grass types are better.” Flora interjected. “Hey Brock. Mind refereeing this one?”

“Sure.” Brock nodded.

---

We quickly went to the training field behind the Pokemon Center, Misty and Weiss on opposite sides of the field, Brock in between the two on the sideline and the rest of us sitting on the benches overlooking the field.

“This will be a two on two battle between Misty and Weiss.”

“Wiesbaden.” Weiss corrected.

“Wiesbaden.” Brock amended. “Trainers. Send out your pokemon.”

“Go! Staryu!”

“Let’s go Yun.”

To our surprise Weiss matched Misty and sent out her own Staryu to battle Misty’s Staryu.

“Oof, she nicknamed her pokemon? No wonder I’m getting replaced. I can’t even think up a nickname for Bulbasaur.”

Ash and I ignored Flora’s non sequitur, concentrating solely on the battle.

“Let the battle begin.” Brock declared.

“Light Screen.” Weiss immediately ordered the second the match began.

Staryu’s…Yun’s gem began shining as an octagonal blue screen appeared before it.

“Staryu, use Water Gun now!” Seemingly thrown for a loop, Misty threw out a command.

"H-YAAH!" Without delay, Staryu shot out a torrent of water that hit Yun head on.

“Yeah! You show her Misty!” Ash cheered.

“Why didn’t Light Screen stop Water Gun?” I asked out loud.

“That’s because Light Screen halves damage done by special attacks instead of blocking them.” Flora answered just as Yun countered a Swift attack with Protect. “Misty is going to lose.” Flora stated confidently.

Her piece said, we returned to watching the battle.

“Staryu Rapid Spin!”

Staryu leapt into the air before spinning like a saw, launching itself at Yun.

Weiss, seemingly unconcerned, waited till the last moment before issuing an order.

“Thunder Wave.”

Unable to change course, Staryu took the attack head on. Spasming in midair, Staryu fell to the ground, sparks of electricity jumping out from its body.

“Staryu!” Misty was stricken with surprise and concern.

“I didn’t know Staryu could learn Thunder Wave.” Ash said surprised.

“Neither did I.” I responded.

Misty told me alot about Staryu and Starmie back on the outskirts of Cerulean City before we entered the city proper, but admittedly she didn’t talk about the moves they could use. From the looks of it, I guess even she didn’t know that Staryu could learn electric type moves.

“Ice Beam.”

Once again, Yun’s gem shone before streaks of light were fired at Staryu. This time the lights froze Staryu to the ground just as it got onto its legs.

“Thunder.”

Without mercy, Yun unleashed an electric attack that, before today, I had only seen Pikachu perform. I had to look away, the attack was that intense.

As soon as the light died down, I looked back at Staryu.

Staryu was in no condition to battle.

Seemingly reading my mind, Brock announced that Staryu was unable to battle and told Misty to send out her next pokemon.

Misty, shaken from the ordeal, wordlessly returned Staryu.

“Go. Starmie.”

Misty sent out Starmie without the bravado she had at the start of the match.

“I would like to substitute Yun.” Weiss spoke, surprising us.

“Very well.” Brock recovered quickly. “The challenger is substituting her pokemon.”

“Yun return.” Weiss returned Yun and replaced its pokeball with one of four other pokeballs on her belt. “Let’s go Mien.”

“Yun, Mien? Seriously! Did she really just take the last two or three letters in their species name and add a N!?”

Like last time, we were surprised as Weiss sent out the same pokemon as Misty while Flora complained in the background.

“Let the battle resume.” Brock declared.

“Light Screen.”
“Water Gun!”

The two ordered at the same time and like last time Light Screen appeared before Water Gun could connect, the damage being reduced to the point that Mien looked unaffected by being sprayed by a stream of high pressure water.

“Swift!”
“Protect.”

Mien’s Protect blocked Starmie’s Swift attack, smoke kicking up from where each star-shaped attack hit the shield.

“Keep it up Starmie!” Misty ordered, some mix of fear and determination leaking into her voice.

“Rapid Spin.”

The second Protect failed, Mien jumped back, coincidentally avoiding Swift, and launched itself as a spinning disc at Starmie.

“Water Gun Starmie!” Misty cried out.

She barely got the words out before Mien nailed Starmie from the front before flipping over and hitting Starmie again from the back, knocking Starmie to the ground.

“Confuse Ray.”

Mien landed on the ground and a sinister red glow emitted from its gem. Starmie, in the process of standing up, fell back to the ground with a cry, squirming helplessly.

“No, Starmie!” Misty cried out. "C'mon Starmie! Get up! I know you can do it!" She pleaded with such hurt and desperation that forfeiting instantly came to mind.

“Ice Beam. Thunder.” Weiss ordered in quick succession.

Like Yun before, Mien released streaks of light that froze Starmie to the ground before releasing a powerful, blinding, electric attack that put Starmie down for the count.

“Starmie is unable to battle.” Brock declared after a second a stunned silence. “The winner is Wiesbaden.”

Wordlessly Misty walked over to Starmie, collapsing to her knees and hugging Starmie close to her.

“Misty, I think you should take Staryu and Starmie to the Pokemon Center and have them checked out by nurse Joy.” Brock said gently to Misty crouching right by her so the two were eye level.

Misty simply nodded her head, stood up, returned Starmie and walked back to the Pokemon Center with us in tow.

---

Once again we found ourselves in the break room after Misty handed over her pokemon to nurse Joy.

Even Weiss was with us.

“Why are you following us? Ash snapped at Weiss.

“I’m keeping an eye on Silver.” Was the response.

“Silver? You mean Sarah?” Brock clarified.

“Yes.”

“Why do you need to keep an eye on her?” Ash asked indignantly.

“Probably because Silver’s had way too many near death experiences in these last few months.” Flora jumped into the conversation.

“What are you talking about?” Ash turned to Flora.

“Let’s see. There’s the Spearows on day one, Beedrill in Viridian forest, near drowning in Cerulean, near drowning again right after you tried capturing Bulbasaur and then there was the lighthouse. Oh man, and all of that was before we even got here for our third gym badge!” Flora listed off, finishing off surprised at how many times I could have died.

Which was almost half a dozen times at this point…how am I attracting more trouble than the CMC? Wait, no. The first two cases were angry pokemon that I had no part in, the next two cases…yeah were about me almost drowning, but I blame Discord for not bothering to make sure my new body could swim and the last issue was over a giant pokemon.

An issue that can not possibly happen again.

…

Why was Weiss looking at me with pity?

---

In the end it was decided that Ash, Brock and Misty would have to tolerate Weiss’s presence so long as I traveled with them.

I offered to separate myself from the group, but they weren’t having any of it. I was their friend, and Weiss wasn’t going to change that. Besides, Misty now had someone else to talk to about water pokemon and she could learn a thing or two from Weiss and use that knowledge to beat her later.

It was…enlightening how Weiss trained her pokemon, Misty had decided after a night’s rest. Especially after we all found out that Weiss had earned herself the Boulder badge and Thunder badge, despite having a handicap against Surge’s Riachu.

Ash was pumped at breakfast and Pikachu was determined. We ate quickly and left for the Surge’s gym.

On the way to the gym something happened that was so weird that I’m still not entirely convinced it actually happened. It started within minutes of us leaving the Pokemon Center.

“Alright, Pikachu are you ready for this?” Ash pointed his finger at the sky. “We’re going to challenge Lt. Surge and we’re gonna win! Our lucky star is shining today!”

“Really? I don’t see it.” Flora made a show of looking around for the star while Misty remained suspiciously silent in thought.

“I don’t mean it’s actually shining!” Ash shoved her. He and Pikachu looked so affronted by Flora’s joke, I had to hold a hand over my mouth to hide my smile. They stepped away, moving ahead of us.

“They seem determined.” Brock commented.

“They’re going to win today.” I nodded.

We walked for a little while, passing some houses on our way to the gym. I was just thinking that it was a nice day and wondering where we’d be heading after we were done here when out of nowhere three people jumped out in the middle of the street ahead of us.

“Hey, what? Who are you guys supposed to be?” Ash tensed up.

The people were covered head to toe, with even big shades obscuring most of their faces.

“To protect the world from devastation—!” The two taller ones were cut off by the short one whacking them with a folded up fan.

But that was all I had to hear to know who they were.

“We’re the Pokemon Gym Battle Cheering Squad! Here to cheer for your Pikachu!” Meowth introduced them.

And then…bedlam.

It was…cheering, I guess. Three separate cheers even. Performed at the same time.

“Go, Pikachu!” With a final…rousing…cheer, they all quickly began running away.

“That was really disturbing.” Brock muttered.

“Thanks for the cheer, Team Rocket!” Flora called after them.

“I don’t…understand what just happened.” I watched until they were out of sight.

Weren’t they Pokemon Thieves? Dangerous criminals? Willing and able to use potentially lethal force to reach their dastardly goals? I even compared them to Nightmare Moon, Discord and Tirek upon our first encounter. Was…was I wrong?

It distracted me the rest of the way there. I was constantly on the lookout for pitfalls or snares or some kind of trap. That had to be what that was, right? The set up for some kind of trap?

But we got to the gym without any further harassment. Ash issued his challenge and we were once again in the arena, Raichu vs. Pikachu.

“Alright baby, ready for another beating?” Surge snickered. “You didn’t even evolve your Pikachu!”

“We don’t need to. We’re going to win this!” Ash declared.

“Let the battle begin!” The referee called.

“C’mon, Pikachu! We planned for this!” Ash sent him out.

“Ha, so you planned a new way to lose? Raichu, give’em the whip!” Surge ordered.

Pikachu’s timing was off. He didn’t dodge it in time and one whip was quickly followed by a half dozen more.

“Now Body Slam!” We all flinched as Pikachu squealed under Raichu's weight.

“Finish with another Body Slam, Raichu!” We tensed.

“Watch out!” Ash yelled, encouraging Pikachu just enough to get up and dodge, letting Raichu slam face first into the floor. “Good, now Agility!”

Pikachu blurred around the battlefield, circling Raichu over and over again. It kept trying to follow its trainer’s orders, but Pikachu never stayed still long enough for the Body Slam to connect. Once, twice, three times Raichu slammed itself into the ground before Surge cut in.

“Raichu, give’em a Thunderbolt!” He roared.

“RAI-CHUUUUUUU!” The Raichu was mad now and unleashed a powerful blast. Arcs of lightning blasted all around, shattering the windows above us. I counted ourselves lucky that the Raichu still had enough control to keep the attack away from the humans in the room.

But for all the attack’s power, none of it matters if it doesn’t hit.

“He grounded himself with his tail!” Brock laughed in delight. Pikachu stood on his tail, glaring at the Raichu with all his might. I leaned forward eagerly, ready to see the rest of the match play out.

“Give’em another Thunderbolt!” Surge growled.

Raichu tried. I saw its cheeks spark even from the other end of the room. It tried and tried, panting hard. A slow smirk found its way across my lips.

“It lost its temper. It overextended itself with that last attack!” I realized.

“Now Pikachu, Quick Attack!” Ash leapt for the opportunity. Pikachu sprinted forward and slammed directly into Raichu’s stomach. Another dash, another sprint, and then Pikachu hit it from the side. Raichu’s cheeks sparked brighter, a sign of its rising temper, but it did nothing as Ash and Pikachu finished with a Thunderbolt of their own.

“Raichu is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!” The ref called it.

“Whoo! Yeah!” Misty jumped to her feet.

“We did it! We did it, Pikachu!” Ash happily ran out onto the field, grabbing Pikachu into a warm hug.

“Ya sure did.” Surge sighed, smiling. “You’re no baby, Ash Ketchum, and in honor of that I award you this Thunder Badge.”

“Oh, wow!” Ash took the badge in hand. This one was shaped like a sunflower which I found a little odd. What did sunflowers have to do with an electric gym?

“Look, Sarah! Brock, Misty!” He waved it at us.

“I see, I see!” I giggled. It was so good to see him win, to see him grow into a better trainer!

---

After Ash’s battle I asked about challenging Surge myself, and Surge offered to battle me after lunch once Raichu recovered from battling Pikachu.

Hours later saw me facing down Surge and Raichu with Bulbasaur

“Let the battle begin!” The referee called.

“Bullet Seed!”

It was a fast opening move that managed to catch Surge off guard for a second, but it just barely did some damage to Raichu before they retaliated.

“Feh, you call that an attack?” Surge scoffed. “Raichu, show’em a real attack.”

“CHUU!” Whatever electrical attack it was, it vaporized Bulbasaur’s Bullet Seed and struck him head on. Unlike Pikachu though, Bulbasaur managed to hold his wits together after the attack.

“Heh, looks like I’m getting some real tough trainers these last few days.” Surge complimented.

“Leech Seed!”

I didn’t want to give him time to think. Bulbasaur might have been resistant to electrical attacks, if Flora was correct, but Pikachu was just as resistant to electrical attacks and Raichu managed to beat Pikachu the first time with an electrical attack.

I could not afford to let Bulbasaur take any more damage.

Leech Seed connected, but Raichu didn’t look at all winded.

“Raichu, give’em the whip!” Surge ordered.

“Dodge it Bulbasaur!”

Bulbasaur was on the defense, barely managing to dodge Raichu’s tail.

“Now Body Slam!” We all flinched as Bulbasaur groaned under Raichu's weight.

“Vine Whip now!”

Taking advantage of Raichu’s proximity, Bulbasaur’s vines could not miss at that distance. One whip was quickly followed by a half dozen more and Leech Seed began taking effect.

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt on those vines!"

Raichu grabbed a vine and fired a bolt through it, causing the electricity to travel to Bulbasaur.

“Bulbasaur!” I cried out in concern.

“Bulba-saur!” Gritting his teeth in pain, Bulbasaur retracted the vine Raichu was holding and landed a Tackle attack on the startled Raichu, launching the mouse pokemon back.

It was at that moment that Leech Seed kicked for the second time.

Despite all that, Raichu was still standing, but it was breathing heavily just as Bulbasaur was.

“Raichu, give’em a Thunderbolt!” Surge roared.

I…I didn’t know what to do. Bulbasaur couldn’t dodge it and we didn’t have a counter to it like Protect. Thunderbolt would just vaporize Bullet Seed.

Despite my thoughts, Bulbasaur growled and began launching leaves at Raichu. Leaves that disintegrated under the onslaught of Thunderbolt, but…but…

“It missed?” I was stunned.

Thunderbolt had missed Bulbasaur, striking the ground right next to him.

How? How did Raichu miss? It didn’t look like the leaves deflected Thunderbolt. Did Raichu just lose sight of Bulbasaur underneath the waves of leaves that Bulbasaur was launching?

“Raichu!” Whatever Surge was going to say was lost as Raichu cried out as Leech Seed activated a third time and drained Raichu’s energy.

“Bullet Seed!”

I had to capitalize on this. Raichu was almost done, the mouse was starting to sag in place.

“Thunderbolt!” Surge ordered.

Raichu tried. I saw its cheeks spark even from the other end of the room.

Bulbasaur’s Bullet Seed attack slammed into Raichu. Again and again, Bullet Seed was raking Raichu as its cheeks sparked brighter, a sign of its rising temper, but it did nothing.

Raichu was running out of energy.

For the fourth time Leech Seed activated and zapped Raichu’s energy.

It was the last straw.

“Raichu is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins!” The ref called it as Raichu collapsed.

“We did it? We did it, Bulbasaur!” I happily ran out onto the field, grabbing Bulbasaur into a warm hug.

“Ya sure did.” Surge sighed, smiling. "Impressive battle we had, miss Sarah. To prove you defeated me in a fair battle, I give to you the Thunder Badge."

"Thank you, Lt. Surge, sir."

Three badges down, five to go.