Hello everyone, and welcome to chapter 14! I have to say that I'm quite happy as to how this chapter came out. I have to tell you guys that Pikachu will seem a lot stronger, and Ash smarter. All I can say is that this one is quite different from canon.

So, yesterday I saw Apocalypse with my buddies, and I just didn't like it. By the end of the first half I was half-asleep, and it was only in the quarter of the last half that I found really interesting or action-packed. If I was Rotten Tomatoes, I'd give it a 6/10. 'Nuff said.

Now that's enough of my rambling. Let's get on with the chapter!

Ash and his friends made their way to the Pokémon Centre to spend the night there. Ash kept thinking about his Gym Battle that he had tomorrow and hardly paid attention to his surroundings.

However, once the group entered the centre, an array of cacophonous cries echoed in their ears. Ash looked around in confusion and saw a quite large crowd gathered around the reception of the Pokémon Centre. Each of them was holding a pokémon in their arms that was badly injured and out cold. Nurse Joy was trying to calm all the trainers but to no avail.

"Nurse Joy, my Rattata is really injured!" a boy said.

"And my pokémon too!" another one cried.

"And mine, too!" yet another cried.

Nurse Joy sighed. "Okay. Seeing that all of our rooms are filled at the moment, I will contact the other Centres in order to help you and make room for your pokémon. Till that time, please form a uniform line and hand over your pokéballs," she said.

The crowd nodded as they recalled their pokémon and then handed over said pokémon to the nurse. After a few moments or so, when Nurse Joy had transferred all the pokéballs to nearby Pokémon Centres, the crowd dispersed around the Centre.

Ash, Leaf, Brock and Misty then decided to walk over to Nurse Joy and book their rooms for the night.

"Good evening, Nurse Joy," Ash greeted. "We would like to book two rooms for the night, please."

Nurse Joy smiled at him. "Certainly," she agreed. As she proceeded to reserve two rooms for the group of trainers, the four could not help but notice the amount of people that were grieving about their heavily injured pokémon.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Misty asked warily, trying not to sound nosy, "but what happened to the trainers' pokémon that had come in earlier?"

Nurse Joy sighed. "All of them have returned from the Vermillion Gym."

"Huh?" Ash blinked in surprise. "Are you trying to say that the leader there defeated all of these trainers?!" he asked in disbelief.

"Rightly so," she replied.

"Sounds like a brutal person, if you ask me," Leaf muttered with a grumpy look.

"Oh yes he is. In fact, Lt Surge is actually a war hero. He has received many awards for his bravery during the war," Nurse Joy said.

"Oh…" Ash trailed off as he looked at the ground in worry.

"Ash, you aren't getting discouraged, are you?" Leaf asked concernedly.

"No, it's just…"

"Ash, you can't lose!" Misty yelled. "You just can't! How do you think Brock and I will look of you lose against Vermillion's Gym Leader?"

"Misty, don't pressurize him," Brock said with a stern look. "You can't just make him win."

"All of you have your rooms ready," Nurse Joy said.

"Oh, Nurse Joy, you work so hard!" Brock exclaimed as he delicately held her hands. "How hard you work is only matched by your beauty!"

Before Nurse Joy could respond, Misty pinched his ear and dragged him by it. "She already has so much work, she doesn't need to have any more from you," Misty muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Is Brock going to do that for every girl he sees?" Leaf whispered to Ash.

"I don't know, but we can rely on Misty to take care of it," Ash whispered back.

As the group made their way to the dinner hall, Ash couldn't help but look at the group of trainers that had come back from the Vermillion City Gym. If the leader had defeated them really easily, then he had to do his best.

Leaf rolled in her sleep. For some reason, she just couldn't get any sleep. Perhaps it was because of Misty snoring, but something else was ticking her off. Half-asleep, she walked out of the room as she dragged her bedsheet with her.

"Whassdatnoys…" Leaf muttered as she groggily walked towards to source of the sound through the empty, dark corridor that went on endlessly. On either of her side were numerous rooms full of people – until she finally came across one of the training rooms.

Leaf frowned. A lot of sounds were coming from in there, ranging from loud commands and echoes of attacks hitting moving dummies. However, the trainer's voice sounded familiar, even though it was muffled by the thick glass window that separated her from the boy. She looked intently as his Bulbasaur brutally ripped the dummy from its stand and slammed it on the ground.

A Bulbasaur, Leaf mused. Not many people have a Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur are said to be an endangered species because of all the deforestation nowadays…Could it be…?

Without further thinking, she slid open the thick door and walked inside the room. The Bulbasaur wasn't the only pokémon – there was a Charmander, a Butterfree, a Pikachu, a Sableye and a Froakie. There was only one person with a team like that.

But what was he doing right now? It was the middle of the night, and he was dressed in his pajamas as he commanded his pokémon to attack the targets. Unless…

"Ash?" she said. Ash flinched at the voice, surprised that anyone had been awake at all. He slowly turned behind, wide-eyed, and stared at Leaf without uttering a word.

"Ash, what're you doing here?"

He suddenly took an interest in his footwear. Leaf scrunched her eyebrows as she noticed the pile of broken targets on the floor.

"Ash, what is all this?" she probed further.

Ash sighed, finally giving in. "I'm just training my pokémon for tomorrow's match."

"Why?" Leaf asked. "It's the middle of the night!" After a moment's pause, Leaf understood the situation. "You're getting discouraged, aren't you? Because of all those trainers in the Pokémon Centre."

"I just…I-Yeah," Ash muttered as he hung his head. "I mean, if there's a Gym Leader that defeated all of those trainers in one go, my pokémon better be prepared. I just…I don't want them to lose…"

Leaf gave a small smile. "It's alright, Ash. But you don't have to worry! I know that you'll win. You've got an incredible bond with all of your pokémon…" She trailed off as her eyes stopped on Pikachu, who was lazing on the floor. Typical of him. "Anyway, you should get some sleep if you're challenging Surge tomorrow. Come on, Ashy-Boy," she teased.

"Hahaha," Ash laughed sarcastically. "Okay, Leafy-Girl."

At that, Leaf pouted playfully. None of them liked the nicknames that Gary had given them. Ash went on to recall all of his pokémon, save Amethyst, and he then went back to his cabin.

He had a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night.

It was the next day, and Ash was really fired up for his gym battle. As he made his way to the gym, it didn't matter to him that so many trainers had lost to Lt Surge. He wasn't going to be one of them. His pokémon had worked very hard and they weren't going to disappoint him. He could be luckier with the pokémon he had, although he was a bit sad that Lateralus and Pidgeotto were back at Professor Oak's lab.

The Vermillion City gym was quite a large building that was near the dock. The top half of it was florescent blue while the lower half was florescent yellow, with several lightning bolts that acted as a crown. Ash took a breath as he and his friends stood in front of the building for a few seconds before entering inside. It was then that they were met by darkness, with the only light coming from the thick, glass windows.

The group was met by two adults, a man and a woman, who acted as guards but wore clothes that made them look like a part of a gang or something.

"Whaddya want, kiddo?" the lady, who had spiky hair, asked.

Despite being intimidated by the two people, Ash spoke up. "Hello. My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader for the Thunder Badge," he stated.

The man smirked. "Did ya hear, Boss? We got another victim with us."

The group glared at the two. What made them so overconfident?

"Oh, ho, ho," a deep voice laughed. A few seconds later, they saw a silhouette of a man coming closer to them, until it revealed a large, hulking, and giant of a man in a sage green vest and beige camo pants. He had spiky brown hair, and his eyes were covered by pure black sunglasses.

"Woah!" exclaimed Brock is awe. "He's huge!"

"Is that Lt Surge?" Misty asked to herself.

"Welcome to Vermillion's Gym!" Lt Surge exclaimed in delight. "So, who's our challenger?"

"I am," Ash declared as he stepped forward, Amethyst perched on his shoulder.

Lt Surge turned down to look at Ash. "Oh, okay then, baby!" he said as he put his hands on his hips and looked at Ash in a condescending manner.

Ash glared at the man. "I'm no baby!" he retorted a bit angrily.

Lt Surge guffawed. "I always call people who lose to me 'baby'," he responded.

The group frowned at this. "What makes you so sure, huh?" Ash asked.

Lt Surge snorted. "Boy, my pokémon saved my life during the war. They can take down any challenge!" he declared.

Oh, yeah. Nurse Joy told us that he's a war hero, Ash thought as he saw Lt Surge walking up to a trainer box on the battlefield. Taking this as his cue, he too walked up to the other trainer box and glared at the leader. Ash would show this man that he wasn't the strongest out there.

"How many badges have you got there, baby?" Lt Surge questioned.

"Two," Ash replied calmly.

"Heh," the Leader muttered in amusement. "This is going to be fun. Raichu, go!" he called out. The great-ball snapped open and sent forth a pokémon that looked quite like Pikachu, but this time only larger and with primarily orange skin. Her tail was more than the length of her body; it was wiry and ended with a thick, lightning-bolt shape. Just like her trainer, she had a cocky smirk on her face and she folded her arms.

"Raichu, the mouse pokémon, is an electric type pokémon and the evolved form of Pikachu," Ash's and Leaf's pokedexes said in their monotone voices. "It can shock with more than 10,000 volts, enough to render a Dragonite unconscious. This Raichu is a female."

"Challenger, choose your pokémon!" the male subordinate commanded.

Hmm, an electric type, Ash mused. Froakie and Butterfree won't stand a chance. Bunsen isn't particularly weak to any electric type moves, but choosing him won't be a very good idea. Bacchus and Pikachu, on the other hand, are resistant to electric attacks, but Pikachu still won't listen to me. Amethyst…She can teleport around the field, but I guess the best choice would be…

"Pika, Pika Pi!" Just as Ash was about to take out Bacchus' pokeball, Pikachu burst out of his and landed on the field, balling his fists as he looked at his opponent. Pikachu seemed to be glaring at Raichu for some reason and let out low growls as his cheeks sparked dangerously.

"Okay, the challenger has chosen Pikachu!" the male subordinate yelled while the female stifled a giggle and Lt Surge roared in laughter.

"No, it's the wrong choice!" Ash yelled out as he tried to explain that he was planning to send out his Bulbasaur. However, his voice was drowned by Lt Surge's loud howls of laughter.

"Pikachu sure has some world record for bad timing," Misty muttered.

Leaf, however, glared at the scene. "The worst part is that they're not giving him a chance to change his pokémon for the battle!" she cried out.

"This will be an official one-on-one pokémon battle for the Thunder Badge!" The male subordinate announced. "The Gym Leader will be using Raichu while the challenger will be using Pikachu. There will be no time limit. Begin!"

Seeing no choice, Ash decided to give Pikachu a command, even though he knew that the mouse pokémon would not listen to him. "Okay, Pikachu, use Quick Attack," he commanded, almost bored.

As expected, Pikachu did not pay any heed to his trainer and simply unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt onto Raichu. However, much to Ash's and Pikachu's surprise, the electric attack did not affect Raichu at all!

"Haha!" mocked Lt Surge. "Is that all you and your rodent has got? Raichu, show them a real Thunderbolt."

Raichu nodded as she charged up her body with electricity. She then unleashed the deadly bolt, one that was substantially larger than Pikachu's. The bolt then struck Pikachu dead-on and knocked him back several yards. Ash winced as he saw Pikachu roughly crashing into the solid and hard ground, Pikachu lying on the ground in serious pain.

"It's over, baby," Lt Surge said.

"Surge's right, Ash!" yelled Brock from the stands. "This is a mismatch! Call Pikachu back!"

"Raichu is way too strong!" Misty added.

Ash grimaced. Maybe they were right. Pikachu wasn't going to listen to him anyway.

"Pikachu…" Ash sighed. There was no other choice. "Come back."

But to his and everyone's surprise, Pikachu jumped back to his feet and shook his head. He still wanted to battle. He wasn't going to give up so quickly, although he was in great pain that was clearly shown by the huge pants of breath.

"Hey, your Pikachu's pretty gutsy, boy," Lt Surge said as Pikachu ran towards Raichu.

"No!" Ash yelled out in pure frustration. Why wasn't Pikachu listening to him?! "Come back, Pikachu!"

"Raichu, knock him over with Mega Punch and Mega Kick!" Lt Surge hollered.

Raichu reared back a glowing fist and then punched Pikachu right in the face before he could land a hit. Before Pikachu could fly out of range, Raichu jumped towards him and kicked him right in the torso that sent him crashing into a wall.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash cried out. He then turned and glared at Lt Surge. "Surge, stop it!" he called out. "Okay, fine! I for—"

"PIKAA!" screamed a voice from behind. Ash turned back to see Pikachu fire a powerful Thunderbolt that caught Raichu off guard and slammed into her. After the effects of the attack wore off, Raichu was giving Pikachu a steely glare while Lt Surge simply smirked.

"I've got to tell you, kid; your Pikachu's got spirit. But I don't think that he's going to last any longer!" Lt Surge chucked. "Raichu, beat him with Mega Punch!"

"Pikachu, stop!" Ash could swear that his nails were dug deep in his palm as drops of blood slowly oozed out of his palm. As he gritted his teeth, he saw Pikachu being ruthlessly pummeled by Raichu, and it was a clear sign that the mouse pokémon could not take any more. How was Pikachu still standing upright?

Right then, Raichu slammed Pikachu with her tail and sent him flying in the air until he crashed onto the ground. And even though electric attacks did not do that great damage, the massive bolts of electricity were still hurting Pikachu a lot. Even Lt Surge was impressed by the pokémon's endurance.

"Boy, call your Pikachu back if he doesn't wanna die!" Lt Surge practically roared the command out loud; he seemed to be irritated. However, Pikachu was still standing upright, even though he seemed to be struggling to do so.

"You know, I'm not happy to attack your pokémon over and over again, but I gotta do this for the sake of winning this battle. Use Mega Punch one more time, Raichu!" Lt Surge called out.

Raichu nodded before she started to run towards Pikachu on all fours. However, in the nick of time, Pikachu mustered all of his strength to jump out of the way and let Raichu punch nothing but the hard ground.

Pikachu glared at Raichu before shocking her again. This was the last time that he was going to lose to a Raichu. He was going to prove that evolved forms weren't always better!

It was then that Ash noticed something. Raichu seemed to move a lot slower than Pikachu maybe he could use this to his advantage. "Hey, Pikachu!" he called out, and the mouse pokémon glared at him. "Listen, I know you want to win, but if you keep attacking Raichu head-on it's not going to do anything!" At that, Pikachu's glare softened. "Come on, Pikachu. You still have a battle to win. How about we do it together?" Ash suggested.

Pikachu nodded in approval and then turned back to face Raichu, who was shaking her fist to brush off the pain from recoil damage.

"Okay, Pikachu! Let's do it!" Ash said with a grin. "Use Thundershock!"

"Dodge it, Raichu!" Lt Surge commanded.

However, Raichu wasn't able to completely evade the weak bolt of electricity. As she jumped above the ground, the jolt struck her foot and sent her toppling to the ground where she fell face-first.

So Raichu isn't fast enough and she's a big target, Ash mused. If Pikachu uses any speed attacks, then the match will be in our favor. Ash drew a determined face. "Okay, Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu then started to dash towards Raichu while leaving a trail of white light behind and Ash smiled. "I knew it. Surge isn't giving Raichu any orders to use speed attacks."

But just as Pikachu was about to crash into Raichu, she sidestepped and caught Pikachu by the tail just in time. She then slammed Pikachu on the ground by his tail.

"Alright, Raichu – now finish him off with Mega Punch!"

"Pikachu, block it with Iron Tail!" Ash countered.

Just as Raichu was about to jab Pikachu in the face, the yellow rodent brought up his hardened, glowing tail between his face and Raichu's fist, causing her to punch the iron-hard tail. Raichu shrieked from impact and slowly drew back her bad fist. Ash grinned. Raichu could no longer punch Pikachu with that fist.

"What?!" the army veteran exclaimed in shock. "Grr…Raichu, use Body Slam!"

Raichu nodded, wincing from the pain in her fist, but she leapt into the air and took the form of a cannonball. Pikachu, however, jumped out of the way just in time. Raichu ended up missing and she crashed onto the arena floor, groaning in pain from recoil damage.

"Pikachu, use Agility!" Ash said as he grinned at his pokémon.

Pikachu smiled back just before he began to sprint and run incredibly fast. Lt Surge once again commanded his pokémon to use Body Slam, but Raichu once again missed and crashed onto the floor.

"You're Raichu's just too slow, Surge!" Ash called out to the gym leader. "That's her weakness!"

"Grr…Dammit…! Shock that little mouse with a Thunderbolt! Full power!" he roared.

Ash grimaced at the thought of Pikachu's body being covered by electricity…Wait. That gave him an idea. "Pikachu, catch the electricity with your tail!"

If Ash would've said that a month ago, Pikachu would've shocked him a hundred times. But not today. He started to begin to trust the human. Maybe it could develop into a rather good friendship.

Pikachu turned around and nodded his head. He then leapt a foot above the air and brought his tail forward, sucking the massive bolt into his body. Surge and Raichu looked astounded at the sight. Pikachu was bursting with electricity. This could be the end of Surge's winning streak.

"Now, Pikachu – unleash the electricity over your body!" Ash bellowed.

Pikachu took a deep breath. He trusted Ash now, and Ash trusted him. He then let lose all the electricity in his body, and Ash had to shield his eyes from the glowing energy that came off from Pikachu.

A few seconds later, Pikachu darted towards Raichu with all of his speed, looking like a speeding bullet of electricity that slammed into Raichu's torso. The impact created an explosion that knocked back both the pokémon, but Pikachu dug his feet in the ground to stop himself from flying in the air. Raichu, however, was soaring until she banged against the wall and slumped to the floor.

"Wild Charge: The user shrouds itself in electricity and smashes into its target. It also damages the user a little. Improvisations of this attack can be found here," his pokedex suddenly said.

Raichu winced at the impact, but she wasn't going down anytime soon. She quickly stood back up, not worried about the bruises, and waited for Lt Surge's command. "Thunderbolt, Raichu!" Lt Surge commanded.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Ash hollered.

Pikachu jumped in the air, electricity and multiple sparks surrounding him. He then willed all of the electricity in his body to collect at his tail, channeling downwards to form a humongous yellow orb sparkling with electricity. Pikachu then jumped in the air, performed a front-flip and hurled the orb at Raichu, who had just executed a deadly thunderbolt.

The collision between the two electric attacks was huge enough to shatter the windows and cause a whirlwind of dust. However, it seemed that Raichu's continuous use of Thunderbolt seemed to push the Electro Ball towards Pikachu.

At that, Pikachu unleased a powerful bolt of electricity that coursed towards the ball of lightning and merged with it, surprising everyone in the room. The merging of the attacks was strong enough to push Raichu's attack back, surprising her and Lt Surge, who was looking like he was about to take a million leaks. Raichu strained herself by shooting more electricity, until Raichu could not muster any more electricity from her body.

"RAIIIIII!" the Raichu shrieked as the Pikachu's combined attack slammed into her and caused another explosion. Raichu flew back towards the wall with incredible speed and crashed into it, forming a huge crater. Ash could swear that he heard a crack from the impact. Raichu then fell to the ground, defeated.

Pikachu was extremely content. He was happy that he had defeated his evolved form for the first time. Now no Raichu would mess with him!

"Unbelievable!" was the only thing that came out of Lt Surge's mouth as he recalled his fainted pokémon.

"You did it, Pikachu!" Ash cried out as he ran towards Pikachu. Pikachu turned around and smiled at him as the trainer hugged him. "You won!"

"Pikachu…!" he replied groggily. He then felt his eyes close. "Pikaaa…"

"Do not worry, Sir," Nurse Joy's voice calmed. "Your Raichu is perfectly alright. There's no need for you to worry too, Mr. Ketchum."

After Pikachu passed out due to exhaustion, Ash quickly took him to the Pokémon Centre to get him healed. Lt Surge did the same to Raichu – he swore that something had happened to his pokémon.

There they had come to know that Raichu had suffered severe damage to her back, due to continuous slams into the wall and misses from Body Slams. Her shoulder bone had cracked, but Nurse Joy and her team of Chansey had quickly healed that. In any case, the nurse had told the gym leader that Raichu wouldn't be let out before a week.

Fortunately, nothing serious had happened to Pikachu except for harsh exhaustion and an overproduction of adrenaline, which had kept Pikachu still conscious during the match. It also seemed that the two pokémon had a newfound respect for each other, and also that Pikachu seemed to like Ash.

"Ahem." Lt's Surge's forced cough diverted the group's attention to him. "That was a brilliant victory, Ash. You've proved that you're no baby."

"Thank you, Lt Surge," Ash responded.

"As proof as your victory, here is your Thunder Badge. You've surely earned it," Lt Surge said as he handed a triangular badge with lightning bolts on it.

"Wow," Ash muttered with delight as he took the badge from Surge's hand. "Would you look at that, Pikachu? It was all thanks to you!" he said as he showed the badge to the rodent, who weakly opened his eyes as he lied on the bed.

"Um, I guess we're now friends, right Pikachu?" Ash asked as he put forward a hand.

Pikachu grinned devilishly at the gesture. He then let out a harmless Thunder Wave from his body that struck Ash on his hand and made him jerk around in his position.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Ash asked with a playful pout, while everyone else laughed.

And that's all for today! I think this one chapter will start the streak where the non-canon timeline starts (save for Butterfree's release :/). The next chapter will kinda be a filler, and after that you'll be seeing several rivalry battles. Once again, thanks for the support! 'Preciate it.

Like I said, Pikachu was portrayed like a beast here. I actually have a reason for this, a stupid one, and you might've missed it while you were reading. Anyway, I'll see you guys in the next chapter! Buh-bye!

Chapter 15 - Vermillion's Water Tournament!

ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE THEM GET NEW POKEMON EGGS ABROAD THE SAINT ANNE.

Nope. Sorry.

How long until Froakie gains Burst Evolution, and will any of Ash's other Pokémon gain it ?

Froakie will only obtain Burst Evolution once he achieves his final evolutionary state. As for other pokemon attaining Burst Evolution, I don't know...But if it happens, it most probably is going to be Amethsyt.

Bitch misty

As I said before, I'm not going to bitch Misty. I'VE SAID IT SO MANY TIMES FOR ARCEUS' SAKE

Ahem. Sorry for the random outburst. As I've said before, I'm not going to bitch her. Why do so many people want to get her bashed?

would like ash catch shinies pokemon.

Ash will get a shiny pokemon, apart from Noctowl. You'll just have to wait till then.