Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga
Chapter Nine
Shock Trooper
"Come on! Let go of me already!"
"No way! You've busted through enough gym doors!"
Another day had passed, and Ashley was ready to try for her third badge. However, she had come up against an unexpected obstacle. Rina, who had now watched Ashley throw open the doors of a gym three times, decided she wasn't going to let her do it again. The younger girl was doing her best to restrain Ashley from behind, forced to hold on to her wrists as Rina couldn't reach around her own backpack which Ashley was still carrying for her.
"-Fine, I'll open the door if you two are going to clown around.-" Bulbasaur stated irritably. He pressed his head against one of the two doors leading inside and pushed it open. With the door open, Rina finally released Ashley.
"Killjoys..." Ashley muttered bitterly, stepping past Bulbasaur and into the gym.
"Well I saved one door at least..." Rina breathed a sigh of relief and followed Ashley into the gym. Pippi, who was following along beside Rina, furrowed her eyes as she entered.
"-I sense a great disturbance here...-" Pippi stated quietly.
"Huh?" Rina blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"-There's a lot of electricity around this place...-" Pippi stated, nodding to herself.
"That would be because the gym leader uses electric-type pokemon." Rina said to Pippi with a smile. As usual, Pippi and Rina headed over to the bench situated on the sidelines to watch Ashley's match. Rina sat down on the bench and Pippi hopped up into her lap.
Unlike the last two gyms Ashley had challenged, this one looked fairly typical. It had a brown floor with white lines on it marking out the battle area. Several black poles were set up near the edge of the battlefield, looking like some form of grounding rods designed to quickly ground out any electric attacks that escape the battlefield. In the middle of the field was a circle with a yellow lightning bolt inside of it.
"Haha! A little girl dares to challenge me?" On the other side of the gym, a blonde-haired man wearing a military uniform stood up and approached the battlefield. "This will be over quick..."
"Don't you dare call me a little girl!" Ashley shot back. "Don't think for a second I'm going to be a pushover either! I've made it this far and I don't plan to leave without the thunder badge!"
"Then you could be here a while." The man replied, grinning widely. "You face the lightning American, Lt. Surge!"
"-Rina! That guy is just as loud as Ashley!-" Pippi said, giggling quietly. Rina gave a light smile at Pippi's comment.
"Well Lightning American or not, you're just another gym leader I need to beat to get a badge!" Ashley boldly declared to Lt. Surge.
"Heh...I like you, kid. You've got spunk." Lt. Surge replied with a grin. "Alright, you should know the rules already then. We'll use three pokemon each."
"Got it." Ashley drew a pokeball from her belt, having decided already which pokemon she would start with. "Beedrill, I choose you! Go!" Ashley held up the pokeball and pressed the button, releasing her pokemon. Beedrill appeared hovering several feet off the field, its wings flapping so rapidly they created a loud buzzing noise.
"Voltorb, front and center!" Lt. Surge called out like a drill sargeant as he released his first pokemon. What looked like a large pokeball with eyes appeared on Surge's side of the battlefield.
"Voltorb, bring that Beedrill to the ground! Shock Wave!" Voltorb moved forward slightly as it attacked, releasing a wave of electricity from its body in all directions. The wave travelled across the battlefield almost too quickly to follow, blasting Beedrill and sending the bug pokemon crashing to the ground.
"Keep on the attack! Use Sonicboom!" A loud boom echo'd throughout the gym as Voltorb attacked again and created a sonicboom that fired out in the form of several blades towards Beedrill.
"Beedrill, quick! Fly out of the way!" Beedrill quickly got up and began flapping its wings, shooting off to the side on an angle that took it out of harm's way and put it closer to Voltorb as well.
"Now, time to strike back! Attack with Poison Sting!" Beedrill quickly flew the rest of the way towards Voltorb, raising one of his stingers and bringing it down to strike Voltorb. Voltorb rolled back slightly as it was struck, and poison managed to enter its body from the point of impact. Voltorb winced and was briefly distracted, giving Beedrill an opening for a quick attack.
"Attack again while Voltorb's open! Fury Attack!" While Voltorb was still reeling from the poison, Beedrill lashed out with a flurry of blows from each of his stingers. Beedrill landed several light stabs and slashes, but landed enough of them to cause a fair bit of damage to Voltorb. Voltorb rolled back after one final strike from Beedrill, preventing him from following up with further attacks.
"Lucky shot, kid, but we're taking you down now!" Surge called out to Ashley while grinning to himself. "Voltorb, Shock Wave at point blank!"
"Beedrill, jab your stingers into the floor!" Ashley called out her defensive strategy almost before Surge even finished calling out the attack. Beedrill jabbed his two front stingers into the floor as Voltorb rolled forward, leaving only a foot between them, and fired an electric shockwave in all directions. Beedrill shook from the impact, but its grounded stingers helped anchor it and disperse some of the electricity as well to reduce the attack's effectiveness.
"Now, tie Voltorb down with a String Shot!" Ashley commanded Beedrill. "Then put some distance between yourself and it!" Beedrill opened its mouth and fired a sticky white thread, aimed at the base of Voltorb's body. The sticky thread essentially glued Voltorb to the floor to hold it in place while Beedrill withdrew its stingers from the floor. Beedrill flew backwards and up slightly while keeping an eye on Voltorb.
"That won't stop us! Voltorb, attack Beedrill with Shock Wave!" Voltorb made a quick, jerky movement forward as it released the attack but was kept in place by the sticky web. A blast of electricity travelled outwards from Voltorb's body in a wave, unhindered by the web that kept Voltorb in place.
"Beedrill, keep backing up to the edge of the gym, and hurry!" Beedrill flew back faster, moving closer to the edge of the gym while the wave was still gaining on it. Beedrill eventually neared the edge just as the wave caught up with him. By that time, though, it had lost a fair bit of its strength. The electricity struck Beedrill lightly, causing him to drop slightly before he caught himself and started hovering again.
"Not a bad move...for a kid." Surge snickered and said to Ashley. "Voltorb, attack Beedrill with Sonicboom!" A loud boom echo'd throughout the gym as Voltorb sent several white blades flying at Beedrill.
"Beedrill, fly over it and then strike with Aerial Ace!" With the distance between itself and Voltorb, Beedrill was easily able to fly up and avoid the Sonicboom attack. The blades dropped to the ground soon after missing their target. Beedrill then dove down towards Voltorb and used its altitude to build up a tremendous speed, disappearing briefly and then striking Voltorb with one of its stingers. Beedrill attacked with enough force to knock Voltorb back and rip the thread holding it in place.
"Voltorb, now's your chance! Hit that Beedrill with a Shock Wave, full power!" Voltorb rolled forward as if it were about to attack, but it failed to stop and continued to slowly roll. The poison inflicted on Voltorb finally took its toll, knocking the electric pokemon out just in time to stop it from getting in one more attack.
"Looks like we've got to get you back to training if you couldn't even take that hit." Surge said, recalling his Voltorb from the field and quickly drawing another pokeball. "Pikachu, go! You'll have to make up for your fellow cadet's failure!" Surge held up the pokeball and released his pokemon, sending out a Pikachu onto the battlefield.
"Wow...we seem to see Pikachu's everywhere now..." Rina commented, blinking in disbelief. "Though I guess that was to be expected...Lt. Surge is the electric-type gym leader..."
"-Hmph! You say that like its a bad thing!-" Pippi said indignantly to Rina, crossing her arms and turning her nose up.
"Well its just that I..." Rina began, stopping herself midsentence and sighing in defeat. "Nevermind." Rina looked across the field to Beedrill, who was no more than a few feet away from Pikachu. "Still...I hope Ashley can keep this up, she's off to a good start. Her Beedrill seems like he's pretty tough. Strong but silent type I guess?"
"Ashley is actually handling that Beedrill pretty well for its first real battle..." Bulbasaur, who was watching the battle from behind Ashley, thought. "I'd never admit that to her, of course."
"Alright, lets keep up the pace Beedrill!" Ashley called out to Beedrill to start off the next round. "Attack Pikachu with Poison Sting!"
"I won't let you poison Pikachu like you did Voltorb. Evade with Quick Attack!" Beedrill lashed out at Pikachu with one of its stingers, but Pikachu disappeared in a flash of movement. Beedrill's stinger struck the empty air where Pikachu's stomach would have been, while Pikachu had moved several feet off to the side.
"Well lets see your Pikachu dodge this! Beedrill, pin it with String Shot!" Beedrill turned to Pikachu and shot out a string of web that managed to hit one of Pikachu's feet. The web formed an adhesive between Pikachu's foot and the floor, keeping it from moving.
"He won't have to dodge that one." Surge stated with a grin, crossing his arms over his chest. "Pikachu, use Double Team." Surge's Pikachu seemingly split into multiple images of itself, copying Pikachu's pose even down to the thread holding it in place. The duplicates formed a line in front of Pikachu and all turned to look at Beedrill with a grin on their faces.
"The original couldn't possibly have moved, so that technique won't work!" Ashley replied to Surge with a knowing smile. "Beedrill, show him! Attack the original with Poison Sting!" Beedrill raised its stinger again and flew towards Pikachu, lashing out with its right foreleg stinger. The stinger passed through Pikachu entirely, causing the fake image to disappear.
"No way!" Ashley cried out with a shocked look on her face. "How could Pikachu have moved with that thread on its foot?"
"You've got one foot pinned, its easy enough for Pikachu to get out of that." Surge explained to her, still grinning. "I could have just used Quick Attack if I wanted to, but it was more interesting to do it this way..."
"If you want to be like that, fine! Beedrill, get ready with an Aerial Ace!" Beedrill flew straight up, putting itself above Pikachu. This was all it needed to do to prepare for its attack, leaving Surge with little time to try a counter attack.
"Pikachu, attack Beedrill with Shock Wave!"
"Beedrill, combine Aerial Ace and Poison Sting! Dive through that attack!"
Beedrill loaded poisonous venom into its right stinger before diving down towards the real Pikachu. Pikachu growled, its cheeks sparking up as it fired a blast of electricity in all directions. Beedrill disappeared as it picked up speed, moving down quickly enough that the Shock Wave attack had little time to take any effect. Beedrill reappeared again as its stinger struck Pikachu, delivering the poison and knocking Pikachu back. Pikachu growled as it got back up, but if the poison took effect it certainly wasn't showing any sign of it.
"No good...it must have resisted the poison..." Ashley thought in dismay. "Maybe I should try again..."
"Time to stop screwing around, Pikachu! Attack that bug with Thundershock!" The electric sacs on Pikachu's cheeks sparked up and then released a stream of electricity towards Beedrill.
"Beedrill, quick! Brace with your front stingers against the floor!" Beedrill dug its foreleg stingers into the floor, bracing itself as it did against Voltorb's Shock Wave attack. The electric attack hit Beedrill head on, but some of the electricity was quickly dispersed into the floor through Beedrill's stingers. The rest continued on through Beedrill's body, however, and Beedrill was starting to look a bit exhausted after the electricity passed through him.
"Now lets try Poison Sting again!" Beedrill quickly retracted its stingers from the floor and held one out towards Pikachu as he shot across the short distance between the two of them. Beedrill raised his stinger and made a quick jab against Pikachu, causing the electric pokemon to stagger back slightly. Pikachu then gritted his teeth and growled in pain as poison set in successfully this time.
"Follow it up, now! Fury Attack!" Beedrill quickly followed up its Poison Sting attack upon Ashley's command. Beedrill lashed out at Pikachu with a flurry of slashes and stabs from the stingers on its forelegs. Pikachu grunted with each strike until one stab from Beedrill pushed Pikachu out of immediate range of further attacks.
"Thats enough of that, now! Pikachu, send that Beedrill packing with a Shock Wave attack!" Pikachu growled, moving onto all fours and arching its back as it sent out a shockwave of electricity in all directions. Beedrill was blasted back, having no time to defend itself this time. Beedrill was knocked flat onto its back and looked like it was out for a moment, but Beedrill slowly peeled itself off the floor before Ashley could recall it. Beedrill was in pretty rough shape now, but the battle was still on.
"Beedrill, one more attack, go! Fury Attack!" Beedrill moved towards Pikachu again with the last of its strength and began striking Pikachu with a flurry of stabs and slashes. The attack wouldn't last nearly as long this time, however.
"Pikachu, finish this one off now! Quick Attack!" It only took a brief opening in Beedrill's onslaught for Pikachu to attack. After being slashed one last time by one of Beedrill's stingers, Pikachu shot into Beedrill in a blur of movement. Beedrill was knocked to the ground, down for good this time. However, as with Voltorb, poison did its job again. Being a relatively frail pokemon, Pikachu couldn't take much punishment and collapsed as the last of its strength was sapped by poison.
"So you beat my first two pokemon...but don't think thats anything special." Lt. Surge said to Ashley as they both recalled their pokemon. "You still have to face...the commando." Lt. Surge snickered. "You don't stand a chance this time."
"The commando?" Rina wondered, tilting her head to the side with a perplexed look on her face. "She still has two pokemon left though...what pokemon could he have that'd actually be able to pose a challenge now, especially after how easily his first two went down?"
"Storm, get out there and clean house!" Lt. Surge commanded as he raised his final pokeball, which was a pure white ball with a red stripe around its center and circling around the button on the front of it. Surge pressed the button, opening the pokeball and releasing a Raichu out onto the battlefield. When Raichu appeared, he quickly turned to Lt. Surge.
"-Storm Commando reporting for duty, sir!-" Raichu announced clearly, raising his hand to salute Lt. Surge.
"-Oh, wow! That must be a Raichu!-" Pippi stated in amazement. "-I've heard of them before, they're the evolved form of a Pikachu. This is the first time I've actually seen one though!-"
"A Raichu? Well I'm not worried!" Ashley replied, a smirk crossing her lips as she drew another pokeball. "I've still got two pokemon left anyway!" Ashley held up the pokeball, pressing the button on the front to release her next pokemon. "Mankey, you can battle this one! Go!"
"-What? So even when there's three pokemon, I'm last?!-" Bulbasaur growled at Ashley as Mankey appeared on the battlefield to confront Surge's final pokemon. "-That figures...with my luck, Mankey will pull off the win too.-"
"Mankey, start this off with Karate Chop!" Mankey screeched and took off across the battlefield, raising its hand above its head in preparation to strike Raichu.
"Storm, don't let that monkey get near you! Shock Wave!" Storm, the Raichu, quickly turned around and released a wave of electricity in all directions from its body. The wave passed over Mankey, knocking it off its feet and onto its back with the powerful attack.
Mankey wasn't down for long, though. The hyperactive monkey quickly jumped back onto its feet and hopped about in a rage a few times before charging at Raichu again. Mankey raised his hand back and jumped up, bringing it down on top of Raichu's head in a chopping motion. Raichu looked dazed for a moment from the hard hit to the head, but quickly shook it off.
"Storm, give that Mankey some payback with a Slam attack!" Raichu grinned and raised both its hands up, holding them together as if wielding a large blunt object. Mankey tried to move out of the way, but Raichu slammed its fists down on the side of Mankey's head and knocked it onto its side screaming in pain.
"Mankey, trip Raichu with Low Kick!" Mankey lifted one of its legs while lying on its side and aimed a swift kick at Raichu's feet. Raichu was caught off guard and fell onto his back as his feet were kicked out from under him. Both pokemon quickly hopped back to their feet after Mankey's attack and glared at each other.
"Heh heh heh...not bad...your Mankey might actually be able to keep up with my Raichu." Lt. Surge said to Ashley with a grin. "There's just one problem though..."
"Oh really? And whats that?" Ashley asked in more of a challenging tone than one of curiosity.
"My Raichu's most powerful technique. Storm, show em your Thunderbolt!" Storm grinned when he received the command. Electricity charged around Raichu's body, gathering power for his attack in the blink of an eye. The electricity fired out from Raichu's body in a single bolt, firing almost straight into Mankey since they were so close together.
"Mankey, quick! Get out of the way!" Ashley called out desparately, but it was no use. Mankey had no time to react as the electricity poured into its body. Mankey screeched in pain as the electricity passed through its body, lightning it up like a light bulb. Mankey then fell silent when the electricity finally dispersed into the ground, falling onto its back in a smoking heap.
"Mankey!" Rina cried out in surprise as Mankey was dropped in one hit. "What a powerful attack!"
"-That Raichu really is powerful!-" Pippi added in agreement, staring at Surge's Raichu with a mixture of admiration and fear.
"Now do you see why I call him my commando?" Lt. Surge asked Ashley with a grin as the girl recalled her Mankey. "With just one attack, you're down to your last pokemon."
"That may be so, but its not over until that last pokemon falls!" Ashley shot back defiantly. "As long as I still have Bulbasaur I can still win, and your Raichu didn't take Mankey down without taking a few hits itself, so don't think you've won yet!"
"Then show me what you've got, girl." Lt. Surge said to her. "If you think you can still win, then by all means..."
"We WILL win!" Ashley called back, then glanced over at Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, get in there!"
"-And here I was worried I wouldn't get a turn!-" Bulbasaur grinned and charged off onto the battlefield. Surge's Raichu rolled its eyes at Bulbasaur's eagerness.
"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip and grab Raichu!" A pair of vines shot out from the base of the bulb on Bulbasaur's back, crossing the gym and wrapping around Raichu's waist. Raichu did nothing to evade the attack, as if knowing what would come next.
"That was a stupid move, you left yourself open for attack!" Surge scolded Ashley. "Storm, use Thunderbolt and don't hold back!" Electricity charged around Storm's body again as he prepared to attack. Instead of firing out a bolt, Storm sent the electricity straight through the vines latched on to him. The electricity could be seen travelling along Bulbasaur's vines, and the grass pokemon cried out as the electricity finally reached him. He quickly shook it off, however, and was ready to fight back.
"-I can handle taking an electric attack...-" Bulbasaur wheezed out, trying to shake off the effects of the attack.
"-It'll be interesting to see how long that optimism lasts.-" Storm replied with a grin that seemed to mimick the grin that seemed to be continually plastered onto Surge's face.
"Bulbasaur, now! Use Sleep Powder on Raichu!" It was Bulbasaur's turn to wear a smug grin. With Raichu still wrapped up in Bulbasaur's vines, it had nowhere to run as Bulbasaur fired out a cloud of green powder at Raichu. The powder fell down around the electric pokemon. Raichu tried to resist, but its eyelids began to grow heavy and it soon fell over as sleep set in.
"Now lets try out that new attack!" Ashley called out, raising her hand to point at Raichu in an overly dramatic fashion. "Attack Raichu with Razor Leaf!" Bulbasaur shook his body from side to side, firing several sharp leaves from the base of its bulb at Raichu. The sharp leaves sliced across the sleeping pokemon's body, weakening Storm while he slept.
"Enjoy it while you can, kid." Lt. Surge said to Ashley, the grin still having not faded from his face. "As soon as Raichu gets up, he'll pay your Bulbasaur back double."
"Lets see him try then!" Ashley replied, now showing the same unshakeable confidence Lt. Surge seemed to have. "Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed now!"
"-I have a bad feeling about this...-" Bulbasaur muttered to himself. He followed through with the command, despite feeling it was a bad idea. He fired a seed from the bulb on his back, aimed at Raichu. The seed landed on the sleeping Raichu's back and sprouted vines, latching on to him. At that very moment, Raichu opened his eyes and slowly got up on his feet.
"-See! I knew this would happen!-" Bulbasaur growled. The same thing happened at the Cerulean gym everytime he tried to use Leech Seed on the sleeping Starmie.
"Just not our luck with Leech seed..." Ashley said quietly to herself, blinking in disbelief.
"Alright, no more sleeping on the job!" Lt. Surge declared, to which Storm nodded in agreement. "Storm, zap that seed and shock Bulbasaur through the vines again! Thunderbolt!"
"Bulbasaur, let go and retract them!" Bulbasaur unwrapped his vines from Storm, pulling them back just as the electric pokemon was charging electricity for its attack. Raichu dispersed the electricitiy around him, having been aiming to send it into the vines and missing completely as a result. The attack wasn't a total waste, however, as the electricity that was dispersed around Raichu's body served to zap the Leech Seed. The charred seed fell to the floor.
"Storm, charge towards Bulbasaur and hit him with a Slam attack!" Storm got down on all fours and took off running towards Bulbasaur, quickly closing the gap between them. Bulbasaur still had time to try to deter the Raichu's attack, however, and Ashley fully intended to take advantage of this.
"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip and trip that Raichu!" Bulbasaur extended his vines from the base of his bulb again, stretching them out towards Raichu to attack. Bulbasaur had barely gotten his vines out, though, when Surge called out a new tactic.
"Aerial assault!" Though Lt. Surge didn't seem to call out any actual attack or command, Raichu responded in an instant to the vague order. He jumped straight into the air, showing a surprising amount of agility even for a Raichu as there was seemingly no pause in his movement. Now off the ground, there was no chance of Bulbasaur stopping Raichu with his vines. Storm brought his hands together while in the air, ready to bring them down hard on top of Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, quick! Use Leech Seed again!" Bulbasaur fired the seed straight up, hitting Raichu in the chest and latching on to begin draining the Raichu's energy and feeding it back to Bulbasaur. Raichu was unphased by this technique and continued straight down towards Bulbasaur, landing in front of him and smashing Bulbasaur hard on the top of the head. Bulbasaur grunted from the impact and was smashed into the floor hard, dazed for a moment by the attack.
"You put up a decent fight, kid, but its over now." Lt. Surge said to Ashley. "Storm, finish this! Thunderbolt!"
Sparks danced across the electric sacs on Storm's cheeks as the Raichu gathered electricity in them. Bulbasaur was slowly getting back on his feet when Raichu discharged the electricity from both cheecks, firing it in a single bolt of lightning from its body. The bolt could only be seen briefly before passing into Bulbasaur's body, delivering a massive shock to the grass pokemon. Bulbasaur cried out as the electricity passed through his body until it was finally dispersed into the ground, but was still standing when it was all over.
"Its still standing after that?" Lt. Surge said in a mix of confusion and surprise. His own Raichu was actually looking more beat up than Bulbasaur was. Though Mankey didn't last long against it, the first Karate Chop it landed on Raichu dealt a huge blow to the electric pokemon in addition to the punishment dished out to him by Bulbasaur.
"Sounds like someone underestimated my Bulbasaur." Ashley said with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "He might not have evolved yet, but he's still one of my strongest pokemon. Bulbasaur, finish Raichu with a Vine Whip!"
Bulbasaur retracted his vines from behind Raichu, still stretched out from when he tried to trip him. Bulbasaur brought his vines up as Raichu finally realized this, turning around as the tips of Bulbasaur's vines came down to smash Storm in the face as if they were both punching him. Raichu winced and stumbled back, falling to the floor. Raichu wasn't moving after, and his eyes had a dazed look.
"Well what do ya know? Guess I underestimated you afterall." Lt. Surge said to Ashley, again wearing his usual grin as he recalled Storm. "Well congratulations!"
"-Alright! Bulbasaur won again!-" Pippi cheered loudly. "-Way to go Bulbasaur!-"
"Yeah, Bulbasaur won again..." Rina mumbled quietly as it began to sink in. "Thats four gym battles she used Bulbasaur last in, third she won that way..." She thought. "I wonder if she's getting too dependant on him? Even if he's the best choice for her to use, she should give her other pokemon a chance..."
Lt. Surge started across the gym and was met halfway by Ashley. He reached into his pocket to retrieve a badge, which looked like a crystal sun, and a TM disc. He then held out the two items towards Ashley. "Here, you've earned these kid." He said to her. Ashley took the two items in her hand.
"Don't go thinking you're tough just because you beat me, though." He then cautioned here. "You're not even half way through the Kanto League's gyms."
"Well even if I don't make it, it doesn't matter anyway." Ashley replied with a smile. "My real goal is to be a photographer anyway."
"A...a photographer?" Lt. Surge replied in disbelief, his jaw hanging loosely. "I, Lt. Surge, was beaten by a photograher?!" A brief flash from a camera lit up Lt. Surge's face.
"I think that picture makes up for forgetting to take pictures of the battle!" Ashley held her camera in one hand, stifling a giggle with the other. She let go of her camera, letting it hang around her neck, then turned and waved to Rina. "Lets go, Rina! We're finished here."
"Right!" Pippi hopped out of Rina's lap so she could get up from the bench. Rina then grabbed Ashley's backpack and joined the older girl as she left the gym.
"-Well this is great.-" Bulbasaur commented to himself as he followed them. "-Ashley gets her picture, and I get my badge. Everybody wins!-"
"Damn it...beaten and humiliated..." Lt. Surge growled once the two girls were out the door. "If being a gym leader was anything like being in the army I would have been demoted for sure..."
"Sorry you forgot to take pictures, Ashley. I guess I should have reminded you, huh?" Rina said to Ashley, now sitting in the waiting room of the Vermillion City pokecenter with Pippi sitting in her lap. They went straight there after leaving the gym and Ashley handed over her pokemon to be healed.
"Don't worry about it, I'll just have to remember next time." Ashley replied, waving her hand dismissively. She was standing next to Rina while she waited. "As a photographer its my duty not to miss shots like that."
"Right." Rina nodded to her. "So now we head back to Cerulean?"
"Well since Saffron City is closed off for whatever reason, I guess so." Ashley replied with a shrug, sighing disappointedly. "Going through the Rock Tunnel to Lavender is our only option. I don't mind taking a detour, I'm in no hurry, but this is absolutely ridiculous!"
"Umm..." Rina looked a bit hesitant to speak after Ashley's comment about the detour. "Well...since we have to take a detour anyway, could we go the long way to Cerulean City?" Ashley blinked in disbelief and looked at Rina curiously.
"Well, I was thinking maybe we could go through Diglett's cave and stop by Pewter City to see Brock." Rina suggested.
"-Brock? That gym leader?-" Pippi asked curiously, perking up her ears. Rina nodded.
"If you want to go see Brock, thats fine with me." Ashley replied, offering a smile. "Taking the long way is fine since we'll have a reason for it."
"Really?!" Rina smiled widely as Ashley nodded to her. "Thanks, Ashley!"
After a few more minutes, Ashley's pokemon were fully healed. The nurse cautioned her again on her Charizard's condition when she handed Ashley her pokemon. The two girls then left the pokecenter, and headed off towards Pewter City through Diglett's Cave.
Author's Notes: To be fair to her, it wasn't actually Ashley that forgot about the pictures. It was me, and I didn't remember until the end. Going back and editing it in seemed like it'd just look clumsy too, so I decided to just go with having it forgotten this time. I'll have to kick myself into remembering for future chapters.
Also need to remember to make Rina's prescence more known in future gym battles I think. Surge didn't even notice Rina. Just wish I noticed these issues earlier on, but I think Surge will eventually be making another appearance anyway. I'm making an effort to give the gym leaders more appearances.
