Nate pushed open the double doors of the Vermillion gym and was hit with an explosion of light and sound

Nate pushed open the double doors of the Vermillion gym and was hit with an explosion of light and sound. Inside a battle was raging and bolts of lightning crackled around the walls. Moving quietly to the stands, Nate looked at the gym leader.

The leader was dressed in camouflage gear; he had short blond hair and some hardcore stubble. Nate knew that the leader was called Lt. Surge and that he specialized in electric type pokemon. But Nate was ready for a good battle.

He had said goodbye to Kaori, Mac and Griff and headed to the gym alone, prepared to earn his third badge.

Glancing across to the challenger, Nate felt his jaw drop. A familiar medallion swung with the thrill of battle, a familiar sneering voice was yelling out commands and Nate knew him immediately as his rival.

"Moby?" he said out loud, causing both Moby and Lt. Surge to look round at him.

Moby stared at him for a good five seconds before returning to the battle in front of him.

Nate watched the two pokemon on the battlefield as they fought. He easily recognised the first as the very same Banette that had beaten him not too long before. The second was a small blue fox like pokemon with a black mane. Its tail ended in a four-point star and after a moments thought Nate identified it as a Luxio.

"Banette, finish it with shadow ball!" Cried Moby.

"Discharge, Luxio!" Yelled Lt. Surge.

Nate shielded his eyes as the brilliant light of Luxio's discharge filled the room, he heard Banette cry out in pain. He returned to the scene of the battle to see both Banette and Luxio collapsed on the field.

"Banette and Luxio are unable to battle!" Announced the judge, holding up both flags.

Nate was surprised. Banette had seemed impossibly strong when he had fought it. Obviously this Lt. Surge was very strong, Nate felt his confidence slip, just a little bit.

"Electrike, come on out!" barked Lt. Surge. A small, green, four-legged pokemon appeared. It had yellow streaks on its body and a large mouth, which yapped angrily.

"Magneton, lets go!" Cried Moby. The white light formed into a metal pokemon that appeared to be created out of school physics equipment. The pokemon was composed of three Magnemites stuck together

"I didn't even know he had a Magneton…" mumbled Nate to himself, entranced in the battle.

"Magneton, use thundershock!"

"Ha, that won't work!" Jeered Lt. Surge, "Electrike use Magneton's electricity to charge!"

Nate chuckled to himself as he watched Electrike absorb the electricity, "rookie mistake," he muttered to no one in particular.

"Now, Electrike! Use thunder!" Ordered Lt. Surge.

"Magneton, dodge it!" Shrieked Moby, fearfully. But Electrike's attack drenched the stage and try as it might, Magneton could not slip out of the way. Magneton slammed into the floor, eyes clenched shut in pain.

"Come on Magneton, don't give up!"

Magneton struggled as it slowly lifted itself into the air. However it wasn't down yet and it wasn't giving in.

"Ok Magneton, use tri attack!"

"Electrike, dodge it!"

Magneton unleashed a swirling, twisting jet of an attack: fire, ice and lightning crackling inside of it. But Electrike was known for having fast reactions and flipped skilfully out of the way.

"Magneton, use lock on!" Magneton clicked and whirred as it fixed its sights on Electrike.

"Quick attack while it's trying to focus!" Electrike sprinted towards the unprepared Magneton. Moby closed his eyes as Electrike slammed into Magneton, throwing it backwards.

"Now Magneton, supersonic!" The locked on attack hit perfectly, making Electrike the one to skid back for once. Electrike righted itself and began to jump back into battle but it stumbled in a crooked path.

"Yes, Electrike's confused!" Cheered Moby, watching as Electrike tottered along.

"Now that he can't fight back, Thundershock!"

"Ha, haven't you learnt anything from last time!" Sneered Lt. Surge.

"I'm not finished! Use thundershock… on the ground!" Nate gasped as Magneton unleashed a devastating electrical attack on the ground just in front of Electrike. The lightning ripped through the ground throwing up great chunks of earth.

"Electrike, use tackle to break the rocks!" But Electrike was confused and ended up hitting itself. Moments later an enormous rock slammed into Electrike throwing the lightning pokemon backwards to Lt. Surge.

"Electrike is unable to battle! Magneton is the winner!"

Lt. Surge returned his Electrike with a sigh, "I have to admit, that was a brilliant strategy; confusing me before using the same failed attack in a unique way. Truly brilliant. But my last pokemon will not be as easy! Raichu let's go!"

A Raichu appeared, flicking its long tail aggressively.

"Magneton, lets go, zap cannon!" Magneton charged up energy and released it in a writhing beam, moving quickly towards Raichu.

"Raichu, light screen!" snapped Lt. Surge. Raichu closed its eyes and created a transparent, shimmering wall of light between it and Magneton. The zap cannon crashed harmlessly into the wall, disappearing into nothingness.

"Thunder punch," demanded Lt. Surge. Raichu darted towards Magneton, its fist glowing brightly. Before Magneton had a chance to dodge, it was hit full on by Raichu's fist. Magneton clanked to the floor noisily.

"Magneton is unable to battle, Raichu is the winner!" Announced the judge.

"Looks like it's one on one!" Cried Lt. Surge, Raichu hopped energetically from foot to foot.

"Ok, come on out Gabite!" The white light morphed into the form of a bipedal hammerhead shark, it had long claws on its hands and feet and long sharp teeth, which it gnashed menacingly.

Nate sat transfixed, this battle was truly dynamic and he couldn't tear his eyes away. It was impossible to deny that Moby was a great trainer, but Nate was beginning to worry that his pokemon might not be up to defeating Surge's impressive array of electric pokemon.

"Machamp and Charmander should be fine, but Buizel and Taillow don't stand a chance against a thundershock. I just have to hope I can finish him with two pokemon…"

Remembering where he was, he looked up to see the battlefield submerged in a sandstorm, swirling chaotically around the two pokemon.

"Gabite, Dragon Rage!"

"Raichu, agility!"

Gabite breathed out a stream of blue flames, but Raichu sped out of the way instantaneously.

"Quick attack, go!"

Raichu slammed into Gabite, making it double up in pain.

"That Raichu sure is powerful," Nate muttered to himself.

"Raichu, double slap!" Raichu began slapping Garbite across the face with its tail.

"Garbite, dragon claw!" Garbite's claw shined blue and it slashed at Raichu. Raichu back flipped out of the way at the last moment, landing agilely on its tail.

"Raichu, bide!" Roared Lt. Surge. Raichu stood still, clenching its muscles, its cheeks sparking a little.

"Bide will return my attack at double strength," said Moby slowly, "So I have to take you out with one hit. Garbite, outrage now!" Commanded Moby.

Nate gasped, if Moby's hit didn't KO Raichu then the bide attack would be truly devastating.

Gabite charged at Raichu and began to thrash it viciously with everything at its disposal. Claws, teeth, tail, hands, anything that could be used to hurt Raichu. Raichu squeaked in pain as it took a powerful beating. Nate winced as it witnessed the devastation of an outrage attack for the first time.

Finally Gabite stopped, stumbling away exhaustedly. Its eyes were crossed and it tripped a little bit.

"NO!" Moby Cried as he noticed Raichu was still standing.

Raichu let out a wave of energy, submerging Gabite and throwing it to the ground.

"Wow, that was a powerful hit," whispered Nate.

"Come on Gabite, get up!" To the surprise of everyone but Moby Garbite pushed itself back onto its feet, its breathing racing after the vigorous attack.

Raichu gasped, completely shocked that Gabite was still going.

Moby prepared to order another attack but was halted by the sound of Raichu collapsing to the floor.

"Raichu is unable to battle, that means Gabite is the victor! Moby Jones is the winner!"

Surge looked slightly taken aback, but he slowly began to smile. "That was a great battle and you definitely deserve this," Surge said, handing Moby a sparkling sun shaped badge. "That's the Thunder badge. Keep on going Moby, I'm sure you will go far."

"Hey, I want to battle you!" Yelled Nate, hurrying down onto the battlefield. Moby gave him an irritated glare, angry that he was stealing his attention.

"Huh, you want a battle too?" Asked Surge, looking Nate up and down.

"Of course, I'm ready to get my third badge!" Grinned Nate, pumped and ready for battle.

"You think you can beat him?" Laughed Moby and Surge joined in with the laughter as well.

"What makes you think you'll be able to beat me!" Growled Nate, "I'm super strong!"

"Very well," chuckled Surge, wiping a tear from his eye. "I could do with a win today." Surge took his place once more on the left side of the battlefield.

"Don't get your hopes up," snarled Nate, taking his place opposite Surge.

"I may as well stay to watch you get crushed," said Moby, sitting down in the stands.

"Voltorb, get out here!" Roared Surge, throwing out a poke ball. The poke ball opened to unleash… another poke ball. But Nate recognised it as Voltorb, the ball pokemon. A pair of angry eyes identified it as a pokemon.

"Ok, Machamp let's show him our skill!" Shouted Nate releasing his four-armed pokemon.

The two pokemon sized each other up, prepared for a good battle.

And I'm going to stop there!

Nate's gym battle will be shown in a later chapter

Sorry guys

Anyhu please read and review if you get the chance!