SCENE 3: Surge From the Past

Kari exits the Diglett Cave and travels the rest of the way down Route 11 towards Vermillion City. It's been years since she was last in the port city… She looks up to the tall buildings around her, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight. She can see the docks and the construction site in the distance, still going strong even now. Kari chuckles, " Sometimes it's nice to see that some things never change…"

Sitting at a bench across from the train station, Kari is swinging her feet back and forth. Eevee is beside her, his face in his lunchbox. These Cloyster-styled bentos were specially made only in Vermillioin City and they knew it would most likely be a long time till they could taste them again. Kari's Cloyster box is open in her lap. She reaches in with her chopsticks and pulls out a bright piece of WishiWashi Sushi. Her face brightens up, "You can't find fresh food like this anywhere else! So yummy~!"

As the two of them are enjoying their lunch a boy goes running by with a Nuzleaf. They're both carrying an abundance of large bags that seem to be weighing them down. The older boy suddenly trips over his feet and falls onto the sidewalk. Before Kari can even stand to help him, the boy and his Pokémon have gathered up their fallen supplies and are off running again. Kari blinks. She watches as the two of them disappear in a building just down the street. Curious, Kari closes up her boxed lunch, throws the strap around her shoulder, and gets to her feet.

She notices something on the ground. She goes to pick it up, "It must have been from those two." Upon further inspection Kari realizes its some kind of bright red paddle. She looks towards the building as she speaks to Eevee, "I wonder where they were going in such a hurry." She starts walking away. It takes a second for Eevee to realize she's leaving. Panicking, Eevee gobbles up the rest of his food and runs after her. Eevee catches up with Kari as she approaches the entrance to where the two from before had gone.

There's a large poster plastered on the window reading: "Pokémon Ping-Pong! Put your Paddle to the Metal and Train like a Pro!" Kari's never heard of it before. She pushes open the door and enters to the sound of rapid ping-pong. Everywhere her eyes wander there's a player playing at top-speed.

"Woooooaah…" It's a small looking training facility with at least 15 tables somehow crammed into the space, and each one has a pair of players with their partner Pokémon. The look in their eyes are intense as they concentrate on the game. As Kari approaches the front counter a head pops up, "Hi there! Welcome! Are you new to our training center?" Kari jumps back at his sudden appearance- it's the boy from before!

"Oh, no… Well, yes, but-" The boy notices the paddle in her hand as she tries to explain, "Wow! That's a Killerspin AquaJET 900!" He jumps over the counter, his eyes shining, "You must be really good to be using one of these!" He stands upright, "We just got a shipment of these beauties in, ourselves, and I'm rearing to get a game in- so what do you say!?" Kari doesn't know how to respond. The Shiftry from earlier comes out from the backroom carrying a similar looking paddle, handing it off to his Trainer. The boy takes it gratefully and looks Kari in the eyes, "So… how bout a game?"

Everyone stops their game to watch the boy take on this unfamiliar face. Kari looks around at them all- how on Earth did she get roped into this? The boy walks forward with his Nuzleaf, "My name's O, by the way. Nice to meet you." Kari stutters, "K-kari..! My name's Kari." He nods. Nuzleaf jumps onto the bench behind him where the Pokémon Partner in Ping-Pong stands to play. O points his paddle at Kari, "So! Who will be your partner for this game?"

Kari has to think hard about that one. She's never played the game but by the way the other Trainers were moving with their Pokémon…

"I choose you- Chimchar!" The Shiny Chimchar appears from the Pokéball, his pink fur glistening. He jumps around on the bench excitedly pounding on his chest. Kari laughs, "Hey, so we're going to play some Ping-Pong. Doesn't that sound fun?" Char?Kari scratches her head, "Yeah, I don't really know how to play either, but," she stops to look across at her opponents, "but they seem pretty eager, so I guess we can give it a shot." She shrugs.

"You ready to begin?" O asks. Kari stands up tall and nods. O readies himself, "I'll make the first serve, then!" He hits the ball with the paddle and it goes sailing over the net towards Kari. She reaches out to make an attempt at returning it. Kari just barely misses the ball, but Chimchar is there to receive it. He hits it hard with his palm, sending it right back. O gives a smirk, "Not bad."

The ball goes back and forth between the two sides. Kari tries to keep up, but her hand-to-paddle coordination isn't exactly the greatest. Even though she stretches as far as she can, as fast as she can, she always comes up short. And when she does manage to snag the ball with her paddle, the serve is too powerful for her to keep a grip. By the end of the first game Kari's hand is trembling from holding too tightly to her paddle and she's out of breathe.

"I never thought a simple game of Ping-Pong could be so hard." She wipes a bead of sweat from her brow. She looks over at Chimchar- he seems to be enjoying it. His jumping ability's saved them a few points and with his quick coordination, they've even managed to get a few points for themselves.

O tosses the ball to her side, "It's your serve." Kari gulps as she catches the little ball. She looks at it with intense eyes. [ "I can do this..! It's only Ping-Pong, after all, and Chimchar is counting on me…" ] O, Chimchar, and the rest of the onlookers watched in anticipation as Kari went in for the serve. She pulled back, ready for a big swing and-! CRASH!

…

Kari was sitting on the bench with a bandage on her forehead, O having just closed his first aid kit. He chuckled, "Why didn't you just tell me you'd never played before?" Kari felt where the bandage was, thinking back:

She had wound up and was ready to send the ball flying, but the wind-up was too much! She gave a mighty swing, missed the ball completely and lost her balance. She slammed her head against the heavy table, right in the middle. O and the others rushed to her side as the ping-pong ball rolled away at her feet. Chimchar watched with a worried expression as Kari's eyes X'd out- this was the end of her short-lived ping-pong career…

Kari made a pouty face, "Well, I was about to, but you just seemed so excited to play. I didn't want to ruin it for you… Except I totally did anyways." O stood up and patted her head gently, "That's alright. I just get so excited when I talk about Ping-Pong." He looked over to where the others had returned to practicing. Kari could see a soft smile on his face, "You see, it's my dream to win it big someday. I'll become the Ping-Pong champion..! And then I'll be able to really get this place going!" Kari was smiling too. She always loved to hear people talk about their dreams. And she could see the fire in his eyes.

There was a chime as the front door opened. A large man steps into the small space, his eyes on Kari and O. He starts laughing boisterously. Kari looks up at him and suddenly her mind is elsewhere- to the first time she had arrived at Vermillion City…

She was on her first journey through the Kanto Region. She had left Viridian City in the hopes of escaping her father and the name of Team Rocket, but no matter where she went it seemed to follow her. Kari had met with the behemoth of a man, Lt. Surge, and had challenged him to a Gym Battle. It was a tough match, but what made it worse was his attitude… Kari didn't like him at all…

"Thought I recognized that mess of green hair." Surge walks farther into the room, his presence stopping the games almost at once. Everybody stopped to stare at the infamous Gym Leader as he approached the small girl. Kari looked him up and down, surprised at the fact that he looked exactly the same as he did 3yrs ago. Besides the fact that he was wearing only a green tank top instead of his military jacket, from his thick combat boots all the way to the top of his tall blonde hair, he hadn't changed once bit.

Lt. Surge stopped right in front of where Kari sat, "I see you've still got that puny Eevee with ya?" Kari made a face, turning away in disgust, "And I see you've still got that egotistical attitude about ya..?" He just laughs. O looks between Kari and Lt. Surge, confused, "Wait. You actually know Lt. Surge?"

Kari furrows her eyebrows at the question. Suddenly, there's a beefy arm wrapped around her shoulders, "Yeah! Me and the kid go way back!" Kari tries to pull away as Surge practically drags her out of the seat. He ruffles up her hair, "I knew her before she was famous, you know. Still a puny little thing- causing all sorts of trouble for herself." Now O is really confused. One of the girls steps forward, "I thought you looked familiar!" She looks to her friend whom she'd been playing a match with, "Didn't I tell you? She looks exactly like Kari! The PokéIdol!"

The others start to gather around with interest. How could they have not realized? Kari's face is turning red. She glares at Surge, "Why'd you have to go and say something like that?" She's so small that when he stands upright, Kari still in his arm, her feet leave the ground. He looks around at the crowd, "Now that we've got introductions out of the way, I'm gonna have to steal her away for a bit."

Kari's still trying to pull herself out of his grasp but stops at his words. Without another word Lt. Surge walks towards the door. Eevee runs after the two of them as they exit the building.

Surge continues walking with Kari as his hostage a ways down the street. She tries punching him with her tiny fists, but it doesn't even seem to faze him, "Will you put me down! How dare you! Ouch-!" He drops Kari onto the sidewalk.

Lt. Surge turns and smiles down at her, "Looks like you owe me one." Kari's rubbing the spot on her bum where she landed, "Excuse me!?" He turns away, "We're having lunch delivered right now: fresh Clauncher Tails imported from the Kalos Region and lemon cheesecake." Surge looks over his shoulder giving her a smirk, "But I'd understand if you didn't want to join us at the gym." He laughs at the look on Kari's face and starts walking down the street towards the port.

"Hmph..! What an awful thing to do…" She stands and dusts herself off. Her eyes are closed as she pouts, though Eevee can see the pink tinge on her cheeks, "Picking on someone's love for food like that… So rude…" She follows after him.

Kari's sitting right beside Surge at a table where his other disciples are finishing off their plates. Some of them have stopped to stare at the two of them, shocked that a small girl of Kari's stature can somehow manage to keep up with Lt. Surge's appetite. Kari alone has finished off two full plates of the Kalos delicacy and has just moved on to her 5th slice of pie. Lt. Surge gives a tremendous belch, announcing the completion of his meal. He pats his stomach, "Nothing like the shocking flavor of a good lemon cheesecake to quench the taste palette!" He looks down at Kari's giddy face as she puts another piece in her mouth. There's little hearts around her, she's so happy and content. Surge laughs.

"I remember hearing something from your father that you really liked cheesecakes." Kari chokes on her last bite. She pounds her chest to reset her breathing tube, finally swallowing it all down. She looks at him, "He said what now?"

Surge looks off, as if remembering some long-lost memory, "You know, back-in-the-day, it wasn't all that bad… Sure we were doing nasty things, but we were enjoying ourselves, having a bit of fun." Kari puts her fork down, "Yeah! At the expense of other Trainers and Pokémon!" He gives an apologetic smile, "Never said it was the smartest thing, or the nicest..! But we were a bunch of idiots back then." He sighs, "But I realize what you said back then… You were right…"

…

{{ It was some time after Team Rocket had disbanded and Kari found herself passing through Vermillion City. Lt. Surge had asked her to his Gym like had done today. He tried to reconcile with her, "I'm a changed man, honest!" But Kari knows better. She turns to leave, "If you've really changed, then become a better Gym Leader." She looks over her shoulder at him, "You don't have 'nothing,' Surge, you have this Gym. Trainers come from all over the Region just to challenge you. Make this Gym into something worthwhile…" His shoulders slump at her words as she exits through the large double-doors. }}

Lt. Surge looks Kari straight in the eyes, "I've done as you said. I've worked not only on myself as a man and as a Trainer, but this here Gym, too. I've made it into something I could be proud of." He stands looking around at his friends, "Sure, I may not be the easiest guy to get along with," They all laugh as his remark, "But I'm not a bad guy, either..!"

Although she doesn't want to admit it, she can tell just by looking at him that what he says is the truth. [ "Maybe he really has changed…" ]

A girl with spiky pink hair enter the room and gives Surge a salute, "Sir! A Trainer is approaching the Gym. She looks like a challenger." Surge claps his hands together, an excited grin coming across his face, "Well, then! Let's show her an electrifying battle!" They all clap and cheer at his enthusiasm as they stand to leave. Kari's excited, too. She's never watched a Gym Match from the audience before!

Everyone gathers where the battlefield is located. Kari looks around at them all as Surge's goons take their place on the sidelines. She cocks an eyebrow, "Shouldn't we maybe turn on the lights, or something?" The guy standing besides her crosses his arms at her. He was a tall blue mohawk and piercings in his ears. He rolls his eyes, "If we did that it would totally ruin the mystery, duh!" Another girl stands on Kari's other side, her jet black hair in two long pigtails and her face plastered with heavy makeup. She's giggling, "Lt. Surge may not look it, but he's really a show-off." She turns to admire him, "He puts on the character of the intimidating Gym Leader, you know? But he's not like that at all now-a-days. He really wants the Trainers to learn from their battles… It's kinda nice, you know."

Kari follows her gaze towards where Surge is standing. He clears his throat and straightens his hair, making sure he looks the part. He even puts his sunglasses on, though Kari knows that makes no sense. She holds back a laugh.

The automatic doors slide open and a girl walks in. She looks about 10yrs old, most likely a new Trainer just starting out on her journey. Her dark red hair is cut in a particular way: short on her left side and long on the right, just past her shoulder. Kari notices her bright green eyes- there's a fierceness to them even though their wide and clearly full of wonder.

Kari jumps as Surge suddenly bursts out into a maniacal laughter. He steps forward towards the sunlight, "Will you look at that! A baby has walked into our midst!" The girl takes a hesitant step as he approaches. Kari feels for her- Surge really does look intimidating. He smiles broadly as he removes his sunglasses, "Hey, you Little Tyke! What do you think you're doing here?" She doesn't seem to know what to say at the sight of him. He gives her a playful grin, "I'm Surge! So you want to battle?" After a moment the girl nods, "Y-yes, Sir!" He looks back at his disciples standing just behind him, "Will you look at that, a pint-size challenger!"

The goons all around Kari start cackling, playing up their characters. Kari can't help but laugh at the whole theatrics of it all… Was this really what being a Gym Leader was all about..?

They soon find themselves on the battlefield. The lights are on and the match is underway! Lt. Surge chooses Magneton as his first Pokémon. The girl takes out a familiar looking device. [ "She has a Pokédex?" ] Kari catches the girl's eye suddenly but turns away. After the reaction of everyone at the Ping-Pong Training Center, she felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of random strangers recognizing her.

The girl uses a Hitmonlee for the first battle, though it doesn't last long against Surge's powerful Pokémon. The Hitmonlee is quickly knocked-out and replaced with a Bulbasaur. Kari's impressed with the way she turns the match around. The girl's Bulbasaur tires out Magneton by dodging its attacks, in the end bring down their opponent's HP with a Poison Powder Attack. She jumps and high-fives Bulbasaur's vine in celebration. She gives Lt. Surge a taunting look, "Don't you get it? We can be strong, too!" Kari smiles.

The next battle continues in a very similar format: the girl attacks with her Pokémon, only to be pushed back by Surge's powered-up Pokémon. They try and try again, her Bulbasaur against his Electrode. But nothing they do seems to be working. As the cronies are laughing the girl is getting frustrated. But she's not the only one.

Kari's the first to notice when Bulbasaur's body begins to glow. Everyone stops to watch as it evolves into an Ivysaur. Kari is starting to get excited. This was where the match was going to take a turn, she knew it..!

With a powerful Take Down attack, Ivysaur manages to push the Electrode off-course in its Rollout Attack, knocking itself out by ramming into the wall. While the others are stunned at the turn of events, Kari is laughing. She's the only one. Surge turns to look at her. She smiles apologetically up at him, "Now that's a shocker! She seems like the real deal, Surge. Better be careful~!"

Something clicks in the back of his mind. He looks between Kari and his Challenger, annoyed. They were alike… Two pint-sized Baby Trainers with an annoying amount of confidence and the skill to back it up… And that wasn't a good thing.

Lt. Surge takes a moment to gather himself… He had been cocky the last time, hadn't taken Kari seriously and look what happened… He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

His trusty Raichu was his last Pokémon in this 3x3 Gym Challenge. It doesn't take much for the heavy-set Raichu to overpower Ivysaur. After losing her 2nd Pokémon the girl chooses a Charmeleon. The two go head-to-head in a close match. After several minutes the two Pokémon are standing facing the other, out of breath. Kari knows what will happen now. She looks between the two Pokémon and their Trainers. [ "No matter what happens now, this will be their final attack." ]

Their attacks are called simultaneously: Raichu goes in for a Mega Punch and Charmeleon a Scratch Attack. But last minute, Charmeleon dodges. It turns around and surprises Raichu with a Fire Fang! Raichu is unable to battle and the girl wins herself a Thunder Badge. Lt. Surge pats the girl on the back and gives a great, "Looks like I was proven wrong… again..!" His eyes look briefly towards Kari who's standing behind him amongst his group of cronies. She gives him a smug look in return, an inside kind of joke passing between them. He turns back to the girl, smiling, "Anyways, I guess even little baby Pokémon like that one could be strong. Just like you said…"

Surge is standing outside the gym seeing off his Challenger. She doesn't want to admit it, but…

"Guess this means I have to take it back…" He looks down at Kari as she steps forward. She looks up at him with a big smile, "You're nothing like my father… not any more, at least." Kari sighs, "Who would have thought you were actually capable of changing?" Lt. Surge gives a chuckle, scratching his nose out of embarrassment, "I know I sure didn't…" He looks down at her, "But after your last visit you made me realize I could be more as my own man than what I was before…" She meets his gaze. He nods, "So I guess… thanks."

After a brief moment Kari starts laughing. Surge is embarrassed that he had said something so unmanly, his face was beet red. He's yelling now, "I take it all back! Right now!I don't give thanks to any puny, pint-sized babies!" He's rambling on and on but stops when he notices Kari.

She stands facing him, tall and with her chest out. She gives him a salute, "No thanks necessary, Sir!" She smiles, "It's my job to help and inspire Trainers as the League Champ, you know." He chuckles. Surge turns to face her straight on, returning her salute with one of his own. He gives her a nod, "Right you are… And you be sure to keep up the good work, Soldier Kari..!" The two laugh.

Though Kari isn't sure if they could ever truly be friends, they've at least come to a mutual understanding. A simple, yet honest respect for the other. And for now, that's the best she could ask for.