Pokémon - The Journey Begins
Chapter 11: Electrifying Shocker
Upon walking down the long, dirt path of Route 6, Matt, Lizzie, Jordan and Squirtle finally arrived at the front gates of the large, and beautiful Vermillion City. Previously, cutting through the woods at the detour between Route 5 and 6, the Pokémon trainers made a shocking discovery, the location of a hidden gym. Within it, Matt and Lizzie were each able to obtain the Blue Crystal Badge; twenty-nine other hidden gyms are in existence, and collecting all of them immediately admits a battle to the Pokémon League's elite, in all leagues!
Matt pulled out a water bottle from his small ice pack in his backpack and guzzled it down. He then wiped his mouth and sighs contentedly. "I had forgotten I had this with me."
"Why couldn't you have given us a drink; I'm thirsty, too!" Jordan blurted out.
"You should have asked, but maybe the Pokémon Center will have some food," Matt said.
"Possibly, but we can't rely on that. Usually there's a restaurant nearby, but that's a little ridiculous just to get a drink."
Using the map as their guide, the Pokémon trainers managed to find their way towards the Pokémon Center in the large city. Lizzie pointed towards the entrance, as they followed her inside. Inside were many Pokémon trainers, as there was a lot of noise due to the consistent chatter made between trainers. It was large, and vast, and unlike Cerulean's Pokémon Center, it was kept clean, to Matt's delight.
"The front desk is clear," Lizzie said. "Come on, let's--"
"Get out of the way!" a yelling voice shouted.
As the three turned around, a tray was pushed by two Chansies and a young boy running after it. Matt, Lizzie, Jordan, and Squirtle quickly jumped out of the way as the running crew ran straight into the Emergency Room in the back.
"What was THAT all about?" Matt asked.
"There was a really injured Pokémon on that..." Lizzie said.
"He was just rushed in without going through the front desk? That isn't fair," Matt commented, ringing the bell at the front desk.
Nurse Joy came running out. "What, what is it? What's wrong with your Pokémon?"
"Nothing...nothing's wrong," Matt replied. "They just need to be recovered. He's tired like my other Pokémon here." He handed the remainder of his Pokéballs to Joy. Lizzie and Jordan handed to Joy their Pokéballs as well.
"Oh! I know you!" Nurse Joy yelled out at Jordan. "You're that Elite Four trainer aren't you? You're a really strong trainer."
Jordan's eyes widened, but made a throat-slashing motion. "Keep it down, please. I don't want anybody to know I'm here," he nervously looked around, to make sure that nobody else was looking. "But still, if you think I'm strong, perhaps you and I could get together this evening."
Nurse Joy giggled. "You're so cute. But I can't, I have too many Pokémon to take care of because of the gym leader here...."
Jordan snapped his fingers in disappointment.
"Who's the gym leader here?" Matt asked.
"Well, they call him Lieutenant Surge. He's on quite a winning streak now. People who have left the Pokémon Center have come back in less than fifteen minutes," Joy began. "He's extremely strong. If this goes on like this, my Pokémon Center is going to be overcrowded. It's already busy enough as it is with the trainers running back and forth. Not to mention if nobody can beat him within a specific time, he'll have to be replaced."
"My, that's terrible! That's the same reason that Jordan was to take a leave of absence from the Pokémon League!" Lizzie said.
"Would you keep it down?!" Jordan shouted sternly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Joy once again turned her attention towards Jordan. "But in all of the times I've watched some trainers fight you, they never came close to beating you."
Jordan blushed again. "Oh please. I've had Charizard for a very long time; his power is only natural. He's not overworked or anything like that, really. I take very good care of them."
Matt groaned at Jordan's remarks and shoved him aside. "Make up your mind, idiot; do you want to be noticed or not? Anyway, how long will it take to heal our Pokémon? We're actually here to face the gym leader ourselves."
"Okay. Come back in about half an hour. Since there are so many Pokémon here, it may take a while. So, why don't you go to the restaurant and have a nice bite to eat." Joy smiled as she walked away.
Taking the Nurse's advice, Jordan, Lizzie, and Matt entered a rather fancy-looking restaurant. Jordon offered to pay, so the others couldn't refuse. Neither Matt nor Lizzie hesitated to order something which they found was out of the price range, but Jordan didn't mind; he didn't respond. He himself ordered something that was pricey according to Matt.
Matt took out his pouch and dumped all three of his badges that he has earned so far. "Well, Lizzie, check it out. Very soon we'll be able to compete in the Indigo League, and we're one step closer to becoming great trainers."
"Well, basically that's everybody's dream, Matt." Jordan said. "Everybody's goals are basically the same. But don't get overconfident; only perform your best. Don't overdo it and don't start getting frustrated if you begin to lose too often."
Lizzie nodded. "That's right. We must both only perform no more than our best."
"I wonder what the other badges look like?" Matt asked.
"Here, take a look at this..." Jordan took out a chart with all of the possible badges which could be earned. "In my leave of absence, the Pokémon League gave me this, they thought that I could earn all of them."
"That's a lot of badges..." Matt said. "And so far Lizzie and I have three badges."
"Oh yeah!" Lizzie went into her backpack and tore out a Pokémon book. "I bought this a few days before I met Matt. I was about to read it when Team Rocket stole Val; I completely forgot that I had it!"
"Team Rocket is so strange," Jordan said. "They're so hard to track down. Only a few people have actually seen them, but like me, others might think it's only a threat."
"We've already encountered them three times," Matt said. "If we've been seeing them that often, they might keep coming back for us. They don't seem the type of group to quit after one loss."
"Well, anyway--hey!" Lizzie shouted, finding something intriguing in her book. "Did you know that in other leagues in other places of the world that Pokémon have different names in different languages?"
"Really? Cool!" Matt replied and leaned forward to look at what Lizzie was looking at. "Hey, look up Squirtle!"
Lizzie flipped though her book and looked through it. She said a few names in different languages, and came across one that Matt really liked. "Hmm, this one says 'Zenigame'."
"What was that one again?" Matt asked. "I like it. I actually REALLY like it; I think it's cool."
"Zenigame," she repeated. "That IS cool...I think he'll like it." Lizzie smiled.
Matt chuckled. "If he ever knows why I'm calling him that..."
"Well, we've been waiting for a while, are we going to get served soon?" Jordan asked.
A few moments later, the waitress arrived with their lunches. Matt ordered a large bowl of soup with a sandwich, Lizzie ordered a cream-pasta dish with garlic bread, while Jordan ordered a large steak with home fries and a salad. They each enjoyed their meal and thanked Jordan for such a rare treat. After eating, the three return to the Pokémon Center where Nurse Joy was waiting.
"Oh, just a second!" Joy shouted, and quickly walked in the back room. Seconds later, she returned with three small packs, with six slots each that held all of the Pokéballs. "Here you are, now. For Jordan, for Lizzie, and for Matt. I made sure I have the right ones here, but you could double check if you wish." She handed Matt his Pokémon. She then handed Jordan and Lizzie their Pokémon.
Matt returned his Pokéballs to his belt, and picked Squirtle up. "Okay Squirtle, I've been thinking of giving you a name. How's Zenigame for you?"
Squirtle blinked, almost as if he was uncertain whether to respond or not.
"Glad you like it. Come on guys, I want to meet this gym leader," he placed Squirtle down on the floor. "Personally, I hope he's not as tough as they make him seem."
"Same here," Lizzie said, putting her Pokéballs in her backpack. "Let's go kick some ass!"
"Let's hope so." Jordan said. "But I've seen you two battle already; if you have too hard of a time with him, he might have to be replaced."
"I really don't think it's entirely the leader's fault, Jordan." Matt said. "It has to do with type advantage, mostly. If not that, then at least the Pokémon's fighting experience. I mean, the only people we've seen rushing in and out have all been kids, with a Pidgey and Rattata. They alone aren't going to win any gym match."
"Good point," Jordan replied quietly, but loud enough so that both Matt and Lizzie could hear him. "Well, let's get going."
As Matt, Squirtle, Lizzie and Jordan leave the Pokémon Center, they once again checked the map for the gym and discovered that it wasn't too far away. After about ten minutes of walking, they stopped in front of the entrance with two lightning bolts over the door.
"Pretty nifty exterior..." Matt commented, in awe of the size of the building. "Come on, let's go inside." He pushed the two doors open and entered a dark room with Lizzie and Jordan following. "Great, another dark and creepy gym."
Two people came up to greet him. A man and a woman, but since it was dark, that's all Matt could make out of them. As they moved to the side, a very tall muscular man approached Matt with thundering footfalls.
Matt's heart began to beat very quickly. The same thing happened with Lizzie and Jordan.
"So, which one of ya's are gonna fight me?" The man said.
"You're Lieutenant Surge?" Matt asked. "Sheesh, how many times a day do you work out?"
"Hmm, at least five times. But it probably wouldn't hurt if you did some weight training, yourself. All skinny like that. Heh, heh, heh." Lieutenant Surge chuckled. The people behind him also laughed.
"I didn't come here to be mocked," Matt said.
"You may only use one Pokémon. So choose wisely," Surge said. "Come." Flipping on a switch, the gym lit up entirely so the battlefield could be visible. The gym leader approached one side of the field, while Matt walked towards the other side, and noticed that it was exactly the same type of gym as it was in the hidden gym he had been to earlier in the day.
Surge took out a Pokéball and enlarged it. "You'd better be good to beat my Pokémon. Heh, heh, heh."
"You've been wanting a good fight for a while, huh? I won't betray your desires."
Surge threw his Pokéball. "Go, Raichu!" Surge yelled. A large, orange Pokémon with a whip-black tail and sharp, determined black eyes stared down the field.
Matt began to wind up to throw his enlarged Pokéball, but stopped. "A Raichu?! I can't use Zubat for that." Matt minimized the Pokéball and while placing it back on his belt, he pulled out another one. "Flying and water types are no good against electric, so I guess I'll have to go with Pinsir. Go!" Matt threw the enlarged Pokéball onto the battlefield as Pinsir appeared.
"Hmm..." Surge said. "This looks like fun. Raichu, Mega Kick!"
Raichu dashed from its position and leaping off of the floor, it launched forward its foot. Striking Pinsir directly in the head, it fell over. As Raichu landed, it struck Pinsir with its tail.
"Geez!" Matt yelled. "Pinsir, Seismic Toss!"
Quickly leaping to its feet, Pinsir lunged at the Raichu, grasping its entire body tightly within its claws. It jumped high in the air, and slammed Raichu violently upon the gym floor. The sound of the collision was like thunder; Pinsir landed a moment later.
"Just a bit more," Matt said.
Both Pokémon continued to launch physical attacks at each other, using every resource to them possible: their own bodies. Neither trainer was going to stop the current battle; both of them watched in awe to see who would come up on top.
Lieutenant Surge yawned in a mockingly fashion, then covered his mouth with his hand. He then lowered it and shook his head. "This is gettin' boring. Raichu, Thunderbolt!"
Raichu shook off Pinsir by striking it with a fist. As Pinsir climbed itself to its feet, from its own body Raichu unleashed several thousand volts directly through Pinsir. The entire battlefield lit up, and Matt was unable to see what had happened. Instantly, the flash of light was gone, and Pinsir was down, not moving. Some smoke began to rise from its body after taking head on the powerful attack.
"You lose..." Surge said. He then chuckled and patted his Raichu on the head. "This is getting way too easy."
"Pinsir, return," Matt muttered, absorbing Pinsir back inside its Pokéball. Matt turned to Lizzie, almost beckoning for her to challenge him next. To his surprise, Lizzie dashed out the front door. Jordan and Matt were right behind him.
"Hey, don't get so down." Jordan said. "You were so close to beating him. If Raichu's power was muted, you could have hit him once more and then that would have been kaput for him."
"Jordon, don't!" Lizzie cried out. "That will only make him feel worse!"
Matt shook his head. "No. It was a good battle, I admit it. But it seems that Raichu's weakness is speed. I was able to take a couple of good attacks from behind, I noticed."
"I don't think it's such a good idea to be standing here, talking," Jordan added. "Even I noticed smoke rising from Pinsir's body." Jordan turned his attention to Lizzie. "If you want to challenge him, I'll wait here for you, but Matt needs to get his Pinsir back into health."
"No, it's all right...I'm afraid of that Raichu. Didn't you see in his eyes? All of those victories made it really confident in itself. Not to mention with Val's small body, that Thunderbolt would do more damage to it than what it did to Pinsir."
"So you're not going to challenge him at all?" Matt asked.
"We'll see...."
Re-entering the Pokémon Center, the line-up was long, however it moved very quickly. When it was his turn, Matt handed his Pinsir over to Joy. He dropped to one knee and spoke to Zenigame: "Stay here Zenigame. I'm going to talk to Joy."
"You took the longest out of everyone today," Joy said. "You didn't seem to do that badly of a job...or did you win?"
"No, I lost, but barely. Bad strategy I guess. Most of the injured Pokémon I see here are mostly of the flying type. I don't know why these kids are using them, since flying Pokémon are extremely vulnerable to electric attacks, particularly against that Raichu," Matt replied.
"That's true. Come with me, maybe I can help," Joy made a gesture with her arm for Matt to follow her. Matt found this gesture peculiar.
"I'll be right back guys," Matt said as he followed Joy to the back room. Inside, Matt looked around, for this was his first time there. He noticed many Pokéballs all placed in one area, hooked up to a large machine. The revitilizer, Matt thought. He then continued to follow Joy as she opened a door to another room. It was very dark. "Hmm...why are you bringing me in here?"
"These Pokémon were brutally injured with some odd cause..." Joy said. "These Pokémon had trainers once. They just dropped them off here one day, claiming that they weren't theirs. All of them."
"That's awful..." Matt frowned.
"Here..." Nurse Joy picked up a baby Pikachu with a large scar about an inch long across its face. "Because of this brutal scar, nobody wants this poor thing. It was actually found lingering outside my Pokémon Center, but none of the other trainers I asked wanted it."
"It's cute," Matt started to scratch the Pikachu behind its ears.
"Pika..." the baby Pikachu replied, its ears perking up. Matt noticed that it had a shining fur coat of gold, with an interesting, zig-zagging tail.
"You seem to be the only one interested; thank goodness somebody out there is at long last. There are also other Pokémon here if you wish to have them," Joy offered.
Matt looked around. He saw a Bulbasaur, with several cuts and bruises, a Charmeleon, as well with many cuts and scratches, and an Oddish, with a large bruise on one of its feet. After a while, he sighed. "I'm going to take care of this Pikachu."
Joy smiled. "That's wonderful. Would any of your friends like any of these Pokémon?"
"Can I take them all?" Matt asked.
"Really? You'd take responsibility for all of these Pokémon?" Nurse Joy asked.
Matt nodded. "It's just that if I just took this Pikachu, nobody else might want these other ones. Not to mention it's very difficult finding a Bulbasaur and a Charmelon."
Joy smiled again. "Oh, I just want to HUG you!" She took all four Pokémon and placed them inside Pokéballs.
Matt laughed and blushed. "It's no big deal."
"First I'll need to register them," Joy stated, typing their date inside a nearby computer. "They're registered, but you can't keep them with you. Your roster is full; would you like to substitute some of them?"
Matt took out three Pokéballs. "I'll switch Pidgey, Spearow, and Clefairy for Pikachu, Charmeleon, and Bulbasaur." He handed them to Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy took the three Pokéballs, plus the one that included Oddish and placed them on a bizarre tray. After hitting a switch, the three Pokéballs had vanished. Matt was surprised at what he saw, but Nurse Joy explained the device to him.
"They'll go to the one who handed you your Pokédex, and it happens to be Professor Oak. He'll take care of them for you for a while; don't worry, he doesn't mind. Since you have a Clefairy, he may do some extra research on that."
"These Pokémon, other than their scars, they're okay, aren't they?"
Nurse Joy nodded. "Their wounds will heal in time. But for now, thank you."
Matt walked passed the door into the back room, and through the door which lead back to the main room. There he found Jordan, Lizzie and Squirtle, sitting at a table.
"What took you so long? Where did you go?" Lizzie asked.
"I went and got some new Pokémon from Joy. These ones were dumped by previous trainers..."
"Terrible...what did you get?" Jordan asked.
"Pikachu, Charmeleon, Bulbasaur...and Oddish. I'm keeping the first three with me on my journey," Matt stretched.
"Wow..." Lizzie said.
"Look at this..." Matt took out a Pokéball and opened it. The baby Pikachu came out.
Lizzie gasped. "Aww! It's so cute!" She picked it up and started to pet it. She then noticed the scar on its leg. "Somebody abandoned such a helpless little thing because of THIS?" She handed it back to Matt.
Matt nodded and took the Pikachu back. "It's so cute. I'm going to toughen it up though. I thought that I'd try my new Pokémon out with Surge. Come on, let's go!"
Matt, Lizzie, Jordan, Squirtle, along with the baby Pikachu exited the Pokémon Center and once again headed towards the Vermillion City gym. With a strategy planned in his head, he was planning to go up another round with Lieutenant Surge, one more time.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Chapter 11: Electrifying Shocker
Upon walking down the long, dirt path of Route 6, Matt, Lizzie, Jordan and Squirtle finally arrived at the front gates of the large, and beautiful Vermillion City. Previously, cutting through the woods at the detour between Route 5 and 6, the Pokémon trainers made a shocking discovery, the location of a hidden gym. Within it, Matt and Lizzie were each able to obtain the Blue Crystal Badge; twenty-nine other hidden gyms are in existence, and collecting all of them immediately admits a battle to the Pokémon League's elite, in all leagues!
Matt pulled out a water bottle from his small ice pack in his backpack and guzzled it down. He then wiped his mouth and sighs contentedly. "I had forgotten I had this with me."
"Why couldn't you have given us a drink; I'm thirsty, too!" Jordan blurted out.
"You should have asked, but maybe the Pokémon Center will have some food," Matt said.
"Possibly, but we can't rely on that. Usually there's a restaurant nearby, but that's a little ridiculous just to get a drink."
Using the map as their guide, the Pokémon trainers managed to find their way towards the Pokémon Center in the large city. Lizzie pointed towards the entrance, as they followed her inside. Inside were many Pokémon trainers, as there was a lot of noise due to the consistent chatter made between trainers. It was large, and vast, and unlike Cerulean's Pokémon Center, it was kept clean, to Matt's delight.
"The front desk is clear," Lizzie said. "Come on, let's--"
"Get out of the way!" a yelling voice shouted.
As the three turned around, a tray was pushed by two Chansies and a young boy running after it. Matt, Lizzie, Jordan, and Squirtle quickly jumped out of the way as the running crew ran straight into the Emergency Room in the back.
"What was THAT all about?" Matt asked.
"There was a really injured Pokémon on that..." Lizzie said.
"He was just rushed in without going through the front desk? That isn't fair," Matt commented, ringing the bell at the front desk.
Nurse Joy came running out. "What, what is it? What's wrong with your Pokémon?"
"Nothing...nothing's wrong," Matt replied. "They just need to be recovered. He's tired like my other Pokémon here." He handed the remainder of his Pokéballs to Joy. Lizzie and Jordan handed to Joy their Pokéballs as well.
"Oh! I know you!" Nurse Joy yelled out at Jordan. "You're that Elite Four trainer aren't you? You're a really strong trainer."
Jordan's eyes widened, but made a throat-slashing motion. "Keep it down, please. I don't want anybody to know I'm here," he nervously looked around, to make sure that nobody else was looking. "But still, if you think I'm strong, perhaps you and I could get together this evening."
Nurse Joy giggled. "You're so cute. But I can't, I have too many Pokémon to take care of because of the gym leader here...."
Jordan snapped his fingers in disappointment.
"Who's the gym leader here?" Matt asked.
"Well, they call him Lieutenant Surge. He's on quite a winning streak now. People who have left the Pokémon Center have come back in less than fifteen minutes," Joy began. "He's extremely strong. If this goes on like this, my Pokémon Center is going to be overcrowded. It's already busy enough as it is with the trainers running back and forth. Not to mention if nobody can beat him within a specific time, he'll have to be replaced."
"My, that's terrible! That's the same reason that Jordan was to take a leave of absence from the Pokémon League!" Lizzie said.
"Would you keep it down?!" Jordan shouted sternly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Joy once again turned her attention towards Jordan. "But in all of the times I've watched some trainers fight you, they never came close to beating you."
Jordan blushed again. "Oh please. I've had Charizard for a very long time; his power is only natural. He's not overworked or anything like that, really. I take very good care of them."
Matt groaned at Jordan's remarks and shoved him aside. "Make up your mind, idiot; do you want to be noticed or not? Anyway, how long will it take to heal our Pokémon? We're actually here to face the gym leader ourselves."
"Okay. Come back in about half an hour. Since there are so many Pokémon here, it may take a while. So, why don't you go to the restaurant and have a nice bite to eat." Joy smiled as she walked away.
Taking the Nurse's advice, Jordan, Lizzie, and Matt entered a rather fancy-looking restaurant. Jordon offered to pay, so the others couldn't refuse. Neither Matt nor Lizzie hesitated to order something which they found was out of the price range, but Jordan didn't mind; he didn't respond. He himself ordered something that was pricey according to Matt.
Matt took out his pouch and dumped all three of his badges that he has earned so far. "Well, Lizzie, check it out. Very soon we'll be able to compete in the Indigo League, and we're one step closer to becoming great trainers."
"Well, basically that's everybody's dream, Matt." Jordan said. "Everybody's goals are basically the same. But don't get overconfident; only perform your best. Don't overdo it and don't start getting frustrated if you begin to lose too often."
Lizzie nodded. "That's right. We must both only perform no more than our best."
"I wonder what the other badges look like?" Matt asked.
"Here, take a look at this..." Jordan took out a chart with all of the possible badges which could be earned. "In my leave of absence, the Pokémon League gave me this, they thought that I could earn all of them."
"That's a lot of badges..." Matt said. "And so far Lizzie and I have three badges."
"Oh yeah!" Lizzie went into her backpack and tore out a Pokémon book. "I bought this a few days before I met Matt. I was about to read it when Team Rocket stole Val; I completely forgot that I had it!"
"Team Rocket is so strange," Jordan said. "They're so hard to track down. Only a few people have actually seen them, but like me, others might think it's only a threat."
"We've already encountered them three times," Matt said. "If we've been seeing them that often, they might keep coming back for us. They don't seem the type of group to quit after one loss."
"Well, anyway--hey!" Lizzie shouted, finding something intriguing in her book. "Did you know that in other leagues in other places of the world that Pokémon have different names in different languages?"
"Really? Cool!" Matt replied and leaned forward to look at what Lizzie was looking at. "Hey, look up Squirtle!"
Lizzie flipped though her book and looked through it. She said a few names in different languages, and came across one that Matt really liked. "Hmm, this one says 'Zenigame'."
"What was that one again?" Matt asked. "I like it. I actually REALLY like it; I think it's cool."
"Zenigame," she repeated. "That IS cool...I think he'll like it." Lizzie smiled.
Matt chuckled. "If he ever knows why I'm calling him that..."
"Well, we've been waiting for a while, are we going to get served soon?" Jordan asked.
A few moments later, the waitress arrived with their lunches. Matt ordered a large bowl of soup with a sandwich, Lizzie ordered a cream-pasta dish with garlic bread, while Jordan ordered a large steak with home fries and a salad. They each enjoyed their meal and thanked Jordan for such a rare treat. After eating, the three return to the Pokémon Center where Nurse Joy was waiting.
"Oh, just a second!" Joy shouted, and quickly walked in the back room. Seconds later, she returned with three small packs, with six slots each that held all of the Pokéballs. "Here you are, now. For Jordan, for Lizzie, and for Matt. I made sure I have the right ones here, but you could double check if you wish." She handed Matt his Pokémon. She then handed Jordan and Lizzie their Pokémon.
Matt returned his Pokéballs to his belt, and picked Squirtle up. "Okay Squirtle, I've been thinking of giving you a name. How's Zenigame for you?"
Squirtle blinked, almost as if he was uncertain whether to respond or not.
"Glad you like it. Come on guys, I want to meet this gym leader," he placed Squirtle down on the floor. "Personally, I hope he's not as tough as they make him seem."
"Same here," Lizzie said, putting her Pokéballs in her backpack. "Let's go kick some ass!"
"Let's hope so." Jordan said. "But I've seen you two battle already; if you have too hard of a time with him, he might have to be replaced."
"I really don't think it's entirely the leader's fault, Jordan." Matt said. "It has to do with type advantage, mostly. If not that, then at least the Pokémon's fighting experience. I mean, the only people we've seen rushing in and out have all been kids, with a Pidgey and Rattata. They alone aren't going to win any gym match."
"Good point," Jordan replied quietly, but loud enough so that both Matt and Lizzie could hear him. "Well, let's get going."
As Matt, Squirtle, Lizzie and Jordan leave the Pokémon Center, they once again checked the map for the gym and discovered that it wasn't too far away. After about ten minutes of walking, they stopped in front of the entrance with two lightning bolts over the door.
"Pretty nifty exterior..." Matt commented, in awe of the size of the building. "Come on, let's go inside." He pushed the two doors open and entered a dark room with Lizzie and Jordan following. "Great, another dark and creepy gym."
Two people came up to greet him. A man and a woman, but since it was dark, that's all Matt could make out of them. As they moved to the side, a very tall muscular man approached Matt with thundering footfalls.
Matt's heart began to beat very quickly. The same thing happened with Lizzie and Jordan.
"So, which one of ya's are gonna fight me?" The man said.
"You're Lieutenant Surge?" Matt asked. "Sheesh, how many times a day do you work out?"
"Hmm, at least five times. But it probably wouldn't hurt if you did some weight training, yourself. All skinny like that. Heh, heh, heh." Lieutenant Surge chuckled. The people behind him also laughed.
"I didn't come here to be mocked," Matt said.
"You may only use one Pokémon. So choose wisely," Surge said. "Come." Flipping on a switch, the gym lit up entirely so the battlefield could be visible. The gym leader approached one side of the field, while Matt walked towards the other side, and noticed that it was exactly the same type of gym as it was in the hidden gym he had been to earlier in the day.
Surge took out a Pokéball and enlarged it. "You'd better be good to beat my Pokémon. Heh, heh, heh."
"You've been wanting a good fight for a while, huh? I won't betray your desires."
Surge threw his Pokéball. "Go, Raichu!" Surge yelled. A large, orange Pokémon with a whip-black tail and sharp, determined black eyes stared down the field.
Matt began to wind up to throw his enlarged Pokéball, but stopped. "A Raichu?! I can't use Zubat for that." Matt minimized the Pokéball and while placing it back on his belt, he pulled out another one. "Flying and water types are no good against electric, so I guess I'll have to go with Pinsir. Go!" Matt threw the enlarged Pokéball onto the battlefield as Pinsir appeared.
"Hmm..." Surge said. "This looks like fun. Raichu, Mega Kick!"
Raichu dashed from its position and leaping off of the floor, it launched forward its foot. Striking Pinsir directly in the head, it fell over. As Raichu landed, it struck Pinsir with its tail.
"Geez!" Matt yelled. "Pinsir, Seismic Toss!"
Quickly leaping to its feet, Pinsir lunged at the Raichu, grasping its entire body tightly within its claws. It jumped high in the air, and slammed Raichu violently upon the gym floor. The sound of the collision was like thunder; Pinsir landed a moment later.
"Just a bit more," Matt said.
Both Pokémon continued to launch physical attacks at each other, using every resource to them possible: their own bodies. Neither trainer was going to stop the current battle; both of them watched in awe to see who would come up on top.
Lieutenant Surge yawned in a mockingly fashion, then covered his mouth with his hand. He then lowered it and shook his head. "This is gettin' boring. Raichu, Thunderbolt!"
Raichu shook off Pinsir by striking it with a fist. As Pinsir climbed itself to its feet, from its own body Raichu unleashed several thousand volts directly through Pinsir. The entire battlefield lit up, and Matt was unable to see what had happened. Instantly, the flash of light was gone, and Pinsir was down, not moving. Some smoke began to rise from its body after taking head on the powerful attack.
"You lose..." Surge said. He then chuckled and patted his Raichu on the head. "This is getting way too easy."
"Pinsir, return," Matt muttered, absorbing Pinsir back inside its Pokéball. Matt turned to Lizzie, almost beckoning for her to challenge him next. To his surprise, Lizzie dashed out the front door. Jordan and Matt were right behind him.
"Hey, don't get so down." Jordan said. "You were so close to beating him. If Raichu's power was muted, you could have hit him once more and then that would have been kaput for him."
"Jordon, don't!" Lizzie cried out. "That will only make him feel worse!"
Matt shook his head. "No. It was a good battle, I admit it. But it seems that Raichu's weakness is speed. I was able to take a couple of good attacks from behind, I noticed."
"I don't think it's such a good idea to be standing here, talking," Jordan added. "Even I noticed smoke rising from Pinsir's body." Jordan turned his attention to Lizzie. "If you want to challenge him, I'll wait here for you, but Matt needs to get his Pinsir back into health."
"No, it's all right...I'm afraid of that Raichu. Didn't you see in his eyes? All of those victories made it really confident in itself. Not to mention with Val's small body, that Thunderbolt would do more damage to it than what it did to Pinsir."
"So you're not going to challenge him at all?" Matt asked.
"We'll see...."
Re-entering the Pokémon Center, the line-up was long, however it moved very quickly. When it was his turn, Matt handed his Pinsir over to Joy. He dropped to one knee and spoke to Zenigame: "Stay here Zenigame. I'm going to talk to Joy."
"You took the longest out of everyone today," Joy said. "You didn't seem to do that badly of a job...or did you win?"
"No, I lost, but barely. Bad strategy I guess. Most of the injured Pokémon I see here are mostly of the flying type. I don't know why these kids are using them, since flying Pokémon are extremely vulnerable to electric attacks, particularly against that Raichu," Matt replied.
"That's true. Come with me, maybe I can help," Joy made a gesture with her arm for Matt to follow her. Matt found this gesture peculiar.
"I'll be right back guys," Matt said as he followed Joy to the back room. Inside, Matt looked around, for this was his first time there. He noticed many Pokéballs all placed in one area, hooked up to a large machine. The revitilizer, Matt thought. He then continued to follow Joy as she opened a door to another room. It was very dark. "Hmm...why are you bringing me in here?"
"These Pokémon were brutally injured with some odd cause..." Joy said. "These Pokémon had trainers once. They just dropped them off here one day, claiming that they weren't theirs. All of them."
"That's awful..." Matt frowned.
"Here..." Nurse Joy picked up a baby Pikachu with a large scar about an inch long across its face. "Because of this brutal scar, nobody wants this poor thing. It was actually found lingering outside my Pokémon Center, but none of the other trainers I asked wanted it."
"It's cute," Matt started to scratch the Pikachu behind its ears.
"Pika..." the baby Pikachu replied, its ears perking up. Matt noticed that it had a shining fur coat of gold, with an interesting, zig-zagging tail.
"You seem to be the only one interested; thank goodness somebody out there is at long last. There are also other Pokémon here if you wish to have them," Joy offered.
Matt looked around. He saw a Bulbasaur, with several cuts and bruises, a Charmeleon, as well with many cuts and scratches, and an Oddish, with a large bruise on one of its feet. After a while, he sighed. "I'm going to take care of this Pikachu."
Joy smiled. "That's wonderful. Would any of your friends like any of these Pokémon?"
"Can I take them all?" Matt asked.
"Really? You'd take responsibility for all of these Pokémon?" Nurse Joy asked.
Matt nodded. "It's just that if I just took this Pikachu, nobody else might want these other ones. Not to mention it's very difficult finding a Bulbasaur and a Charmelon."
Joy smiled again. "Oh, I just want to HUG you!" She took all four Pokémon and placed them inside Pokéballs.
Matt laughed and blushed. "It's no big deal."
"First I'll need to register them," Joy stated, typing their date inside a nearby computer. "They're registered, but you can't keep them with you. Your roster is full; would you like to substitute some of them?"
Matt took out three Pokéballs. "I'll switch Pidgey, Spearow, and Clefairy for Pikachu, Charmeleon, and Bulbasaur." He handed them to Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy took the three Pokéballs, plus the one that included Oddish and placed them on a bizarre tray. After hitting a switch, the three Pokéballs had vanished. Matt was surprised at what he saw, but Nurse Joy explained the device to him.
"They'll go to the one who handed you your Pokédex, and it happens to be Professor Oak. He'll take care of them for you for a while; don't worry, he doesn't mind. Since you have a Clefairy, he may do some extra research on that."
"These Pokémon, other than their scars, they're okay, aren't they?"
Nurse Joy nodded. "Their wounds will heal in time. But for now, thank you."
Matt walked passed the door into the back room, and through the door which lead back to the main room. There he found Jordan, Lizzie and Squirtle, sitting at a table.
"What took you so long? Where did you go?" Lizzie asked.
"I went and got some new Pokémon from Joy. These ones were dumped by previous trainers..."
"Terrible...what did you get?" Jordan asked.
"Pikachu, Charmeleon, Bulbasaur...and Oddish. I'm keeping the first three with me on my journey," Matt stretched.
"Wow..." Lizzie said.
"Look at this..." Matt took out a Pokéball and opened it. The baby Pikachu came out.
Lizzie gasped. "Aww! It's so cute!" She picked it up and started to pet it. She then noticed the scar on its leg. "Somebody abandoned such a helpless little thing because of THIS?" She handed it back to Matt.
Matt nodded and took the Pikachu back. "It's so cute. I'm going to toughen it up though. I thought that I'd try my new Pokémon out with Surge. Come on, let's go!"
Matt, Lizzie, Jordan, Squirtle, along with the baby Pikachu exited the Pokémon Center and once again headed towards the Vermillion City gym. With a strategy planned in his head, he was planning to go up another round with Lieutenant Surge, one more time.
TO BE CONTINUED.
