This time, they took a couple of days to travel since one day trips wore Lily and her Pokémon too much. They had almost reached Vermillion when trouble began. Word had gotten around that Ty was coming, so it seemed like everyone in Vermillion wanted to challenge him. They ran for the safety of the Center, but not before a bunch of girls somehow got a hold of Blaze, commenting on how cute and adorable he was. Ty took the opportunity to sneak in.
"Are you a coordinator?"
"No, I'm a breeder."
"Could you show us some moves?"
"Sure!" Anything to help Ty relax. Everybody gave them room.
The display ended. Everybody clapped and cheered. Lily and Blaze took a tiny bow. A loud clearing of the throat from somebody interrupt the applause.
"Pfft, contests are for sissies!" Everybody cleared the way for a though looking, crass man.
"And you would be?"
"Lt. Surge, leader of the Vermillion Gym, electric Pokémon master!"
"Uh, hi. I'm not really a contest person. I just practice those kind of moves to keep my Pokémon in shape, and you would be amazed how contest moves help in battles. What are you doing here?"
"I came to see if the Strategist wanted to battle me."
"Don't trainers usually come to you?"
"Well, the crowds gathering around might make it hard for him to come to me."
"I'll go get Ty. For all I know, he's asleep. Blaze, you stay out here." She rushed in. Blaze stared at Lt. Surge, wondering if he was going to pet him, like everybody else had.
"What do you want?" He barked, wagging his tail. "Stop staring at me, you dumb mutt!" Blaze growled slightly and moved closer to him. "Go chase a Meowth or something!" He shook his head and sat down. He looked into Surge's eyes, hoping he suddenly developed mind controlling powers. Instead, Surge just moved him with his foot, which Blaze nipped."Ow! Raichu, blast that mutt!"
Lily came out, dragging Ty, literally. She found scorch marks and a worn out Blaze on top of an unconscious Raichu. Blaze barked and wagged his tail, very happy to see his trainer.
"What happened?" she asked Surge, "Why did you attack him?'
"He nipped my foot!"
"He probably thought you were going to kick him! He hates getting kicked."
"Raichu, return." ZAP! Blaze went over to Lily, giving Surge a nasty look. Surge was taken rather aback, never having received that look from a Pokémon before.
"Poor Blaze, was the big mean gym leader picking on you?" He happily wagged his tail. Surge coughed a little and held something out to her.
"Here kid, good job on beating my Raichu." He dropped the badge into her hand.
"Uh… thanks? I didn't even see it!" He completely ignored her and went for his real target, Ty. Ty immediately snapped to attention.
"I assume you're Lt. Surge, sir. I'm Tyler Miyamato, also known as the Strategist. I was going to come to you later, but apparently you came to me. You must want to battle me badly."
"There's a huge crowd blocking the way. Everybody wants to battle you, you hotshot!"
"I'm not a hotshot, sir. If anyone's a hotshot, it's you, respectfully sir!"
"I like a boy who knows how to respect their betters, unlike other people." He gave him a hardy pat on the back while glaring at Lily, who just glared back. He walked away, ego hurt that his mighty Raichu got beaten by some breeder's Growlithe. Lily looked at the badge in her hand. Um, I got the Thunder Badge? She looked at again. A second later, it went flying through the air and hit Lt. Surge in the head.
Dan, who had been watching in the shadows, sighed dreamingly. Joe rolled his eyes while wringing out clothes that his partner had managed to knock into the river, along with half of their supplies. Finally, Dan spoke.
"Isn't she great?"
"She does seem to grasp the concept of appeals. She probably just needs more experience in the battling area. You know, we really need footage of the boy's gym battle. We missed the one in Cerulean. Which town is next?"
"I dunno. It's been awhile since I've seen a map. How are we going to get supplies?"
"We'll disguise ourselves and steal from the local Mart then get out of sight."
"Sounds good, do we have any food?" Both of their stomachs growled.
"Remember? You knocked it into the river when you discovered a Weedle in it."
"Oh, sorry. You know bug types creep me out. What's he doing here?" Dan pointed to John, who had just arrived in town, "If there's anything I hate, it's love triangles!" Joe just groaned.
If there's anything I hate, it's non-existent love triangles!
Lily had run to the Mart, seeing that she was low on medical supplies, taking Blaze with her, and leaving Ty alone to train. He had the tough decision of choosing which Pokémon to use (though he probably could beat Surge with one). He rubbed his chin.
"Which one? We need ones that can handle Electric attacks. Well, Snorlax has good insulation, Sycther could out maneuver his Raichu, and Salamence is well grounded. I'll go with you three." Snorlax and Salamence both nodded, while Sycther crossed his arms and huffed. Ty was taken aback by his usually belligerent Pokemon's lack of enthusiasm.
"What is it this time? You're usually the first one to volunteer." He pointed to Typholsion, who was in fact, drooling over a picture of a shoe.
"Fine, if you won't battle, then I'll take him."
"I hope Lily's alright. Yeah of course she is. The chances of her getting into trouble are one in a million!" Oh boy, now I'm really worried! "Okay guys, let's get started!"
Lily recalled Zenith and Snapdragon into their balls before entering the Mart. She rattled on the list while getting a basket. Blaze followed her in, knowing that she wasn't paying attention to anything else. A couple of people entered the store. His instincts set off and he started barking at them.
"Shadup!" the red head exclaimed, "You're going to blow our cover!"
"Cool it!" his companion chided, "I won't let your temper ruin this scheme too!"
"Blaze!" Lily called, "Please keep up! I don't want to lose you!" He looked at the two before running to her location. They approached the counter. The clerk looked up and smiled.
"What can I do for you boys?"
"We need supplied, but we're short on cash," the dark hair one explained, "We were hoping for some free samples."
"Sorry but I can't—" Dan removed a plastic gun (not obvious to the poor clerk) from his jacket and pointed it at him.
"I believe you can help us." Once people noticed what was going one up front, they ran out of the store, almost everyone. Lily and Blaze were attempting to get an unfortunate person out of the freezer. Eventually, the freezer opened and Blaze and she pulled him out. Someone behind them cleared their throat. She instantly recognized Joe and his Cacturne.
"Are you two stalking me?"
"Hmph, don't flatter yourself kid. We just happened to be in the same place you were." Lily peeked over his shoulder to see the frightened clerk putting supplies (mainly food) into a duffle bag. She spied Dan holding a fake gun, and recognized it as so.
"Hey clerk, it's a-"
"Cacturne, pin missile." They barely missed her. Blaze stepped in front of her, growling and ready to attack. Joe snickered and Cacturne moved over to the employee, holding Pin missile at his head. "Better keep that mutt of yours on a leash, or the defrosting Popsicle man gets it."
"Blaze, back off." He hesitantly did so, knowing that the employee was in danger if he did not.
"Now let's go before the police arrive, all of us."
"Me too?" the freezer guy asked.
"Why not? Cacturne likes you." The guy nervously chuckled. Dan picked up the duffle and shooed the clerk away. He came over.
"Hey cutie, what were the chances of you being here?"
"One in a million."
"Don't you mean one in a Vermillion? Heh heh." Joe rolled his eyes and ordered this Cacturne to get the guy. "I'll get the girl," Dan stated, grabbing her hand, "Hey look, we're…" She kicked him in the shin, making him let go. Blaze jumped in between them, growling. Dan grabbed his bandana. "What are you going to do now?" Blaze bit him. Joe sighed.
"Let's just leave them. You're going to flirt with her and insist on taking her with us."
"Why can't we?"
"Dan…"
"Fine. So long, rose bud!" They both left the store before the police arrived. The employee looked relieved. Lily left him to do the explaining.
They are so weird. I can read Dan like a book, but Joe is a different story…
She found Ty in the cafeteria of the Center, exhausted. She got dinner, fed her Pokémon and sat across from him. He almost drifted off into his food.
"Hard training session?
"Typhlosion accidently set a water fountain on fire."
"How'd he manage that?"
"Don't ask. Anything exciting happen at the Mart?"
"Oh, I just got held up by Dan and Joe. At least they didn't do their motto."
"Sounds fun."
"Yeah, loads of it. At least John isn't here. I can handle one guy, but I don't know about two."
"Don't I count?"
"You're my best friend. Besides, you have a crush on Erika." He blushed.
"She is a good trainer."
"Her gym is next in line. You get to interview her personally."
"Don't mention it! I get Butterfrees just thinking about it!"
"It's alright. She's better than Sabrina, right?"
"Yes, much better than her. She knows the question before I even say it!" Lily got up.
"I'm going to shower and get ready for bed. Goodnight."
"I'll be up there in a minute." She left, Pokémon following her. Ty stared out the window, having the sneak suspicion that he forgot something important.
