I am doing this one a little differently. The italic part in the beginning is a summary of what has happened between the last chapter and this chapter. As I want to speed this story along, you will see me do this fairly often now.

A lot happened to Zac and company on the way to Vermilion City. It completely slipped Zac's and Chris's minds that crossing Nugget Bridge and following the ensuing road would eventually bring them to a dead end at the seaside. On the way there, they got into a good number of battles... and won them all. All three of them are still currently undefeated (except Andrew's spectacular loss to Brock before he joined Zac and Chris... but we don't talk about that). The trio ended up meeting Bill. He was fascinated that they were from the Real World. He asked all sorts of questions. When they left, he gave each of them an S.S. Anne ticket just for the hell of it. He told them that he gets them every year for absolutely no reason and therefore always gives some to visitors.

When the group finally reached Vermilion, it had been a grand total of two weeks since they had left Cerulean after defeating Misty...

Chapter 12 - Fight for the Thunderbadge! Chris's Insecurity

It's the dead of night. Three weary, young travelers are trudging their way along the road to Vermilion City. They don't want to stop for the night since they are so close to the port city.

"You know," Chris groans, "this wouldn't be so hard if we didn't have to carry our Pokémon..."

Bulbasaur is fast asleep in his arms. Zac is struggling to carry a sleeping Wartortle. Both Pokémon fell asleep earlier, so Zac and Chris tried to put them in their Pokéballs. They immediately broke back out, glared at their Trainers, and promptly fell back to sleep. They tried it again... and the results were the same. The kids have no choice but to carry them.

"Shut up, Chris," Zac growls through clenched teeth. "You don't have to carry a Wartortle... He's so heavy!"

Pikachu, oddly enough, is wide awake. It is as energetic as usual. Its master, on the other hand, is basically sleepwalking.

They struggle on, and within 20 long minutes, they reach Vermilion City. They immediately hunt down the hotel, check in, and collapse onto their beds after dropping their Pokémon and their stuff on the floor. There are only two beds, but fortunately, Andrew fell flat on his face and began snoring the instant they walked through the door. Zac and Chris fall asleep just as fast on top of their neatly-made beds.

"Zac, what is wrong with you?" Chris inquires. "Do you... need help or something?"

Zac is having a very hard time spreading butter on his pancakes. "My muscles... are dead," he groans. He is finding it difficult to lift the knife and move it from side to side. He gives up. "You guys would never believe how many muscles it takes to spread butter. Because right now, I can feel every single one of them." Chris and Andrew look at each other, and then burst out laughing at that absurd statement. Zac, meanwhile, glares at Wartortle, who blinks innocently.

After they finish breakfast in the diner, they take a walk around town. Since it's a port town, it's busy and bustling with people. The smell of sea salt is in the air, and the atmosphere is generally bright and cheerful.

"Well," says Zac, peering at a sign, "the S.S. Anne is scheduled to begin its cruise in three weeks..." He looks at the others. "What do you guys think?"

"Three weeks...?" Chris replies skeptically. "I don't really want to wait here that long..."

"Well," Zac says again, "we can go to Celadon, get our 4th badges, and come back here. If we're not delayed, the timing would be perfect. At least I think it would be."

"Boats are kinda cool," is Andrew's answer.

"We'll see," is Chris's more relevant answer.

After a while, the group makes its way to the Vermilion Gym. Zac crosses his arms and faces the rather imposing metal front doors. "Looks more like a military place than a Gym," he comments.

"Well, Zac," Chris points out, "this is Lt. Serge we're talking about here. He's a big military man, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Andrew chimes in. "He's got a Raichu, right?" Zac and Chris both nod.

"All right, let's go in," Zac declares finally.

The group walks up, bangs on the doors, and gets an almost immediate response. The doors open up and an armed soldier silently waves them in, gesturing for them to follow him. He leads them straight to Serge and the Gym's Pokémon arena.

"You are dismissed," Serge says in a commanding voice. Zac raises his eyebrows in confusion, then turns to see the escorting soldier salute and walk out of the arena. Zac turns his head to face Serge's grinning face.

"Welcome to my Gym!" he booms. "Now, all three of you have come to battle me?" The kids nod. "Interesting," Serge comments, looking at their Pokémon with a bemused expression. "And why aren't those Pokémon in their Pokéballs?"

"They don't like 'em," Zac replies with a shrug.

The Gym echoes with Serge's sharp laughter. "Interesting, indeed!" he repeats. "So unusual, I must say. Tell me your names."

"Zac Merlo."

"Chris Mattice, nice to meet you."

"Andrew!"

"And where are you all from?" the Gym Master inquires.

"Uh… the Real World," Zac answers.

Serge suddenly freezes and squints at Zac. His eyes go wide in what seems to be recognition. "You're that boy!" he says, sounding somewhat excited. "The boy Gray told me about!"

"Gray?" Zac repeats, confused.

"He must mean that agent who helped us in Mt. Moon," Chris recalls. "The one that said you would make, um, a great hero." Both he and Zac burst out laughing at that ridiculous notion. Serge frowns.

"Why are you laughing?" he asks sharply. "I know that man well. Trust his judgment. He most definitely knows what he's talking about."

A frown creeps onto Zac's features as well. "How can he say I could be a hero judging by what I did in Mt. Moon? I did what anyone else would do!"

"Gray wouldn't say it for no reason," Serge says sharply. "Listen to your superiors, boy." Zac's frown morphs into a scowl. "Superior, huh? Well, I think that's why I'm here: to prove that I am superior."

"All right, then!" Serge booms. "Let's start!"

He and Zac take their respective spots on either end of the field, Wartortle right next to his master.

"All right, kid, my rules aren't as lenient as the ones you will find in other Gyms!" Serge declares. "Other Leaders will use a small amount of Pokémon and allow their opponents to use more than them. That makes it too easy! We're going one-on-one, boy!"

Zac smirks. "Fine by me," he replies, taking out a Pokéball.

As expected, Serge releases his prized Raichu. Zac releases Jigglypuff, and as expected, Serge laughs loudly at the little balloon Pokémon.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Lieutenant!" Zac advises. "Now, Jigglypuff, use Rollout!" Raichu jumps over Jigglypuff, leaving Jigglypuff vulnerable for a second. "Thunderbolt!" Serge commands. The powerful Electric attack hits Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff takes the hit and simply shakes it off.

"Huh?" Serge says, confused. "It barely got hurt... My Raichu's Thunderbolt should have been more devastating on a mere Jigglypuff! After all, it's not even evolved..."

"Don't forget what I said at the beginning of this battle," Zac says, grinning. However, he is as surprised as Serge is. "Now, Jigglypuff, use Double Slap!" Raichu is too slow. It gets smacked in the face several times. The Double Slap seems to have affected Raichu a lot more than the Thunderbolt affected Jigglypuff. "Raichu, use Shock Wave!" Although, weak, Shock Wave is unavoidable. A flash of lightning hits Jigglypuff before it can even blink. "Now use Body Slam!" Serge commands. "Jigglypuff, jump backwards and use Rollout," Zac replies. He grins at the look on Serge's face. Serge knows it's over.

Jigglypuff jumps back, dodging the Body Slam. It starts spinning in midair and as soon as it touches the floor, it launches itself into Raichu. Raichu goes flying back, lands on its back, and doesn't get back up.

The ref is nearly rendered speechless. It takes him a moment to recover from what he just saw and raise his flag and announce, "Raichu is unable to battle! Jigglypuff wins! Victory goes to Zac Merlo from the Real World!"

Jigglypuff and Raichu are returned. "That... was probably... the shortest battle I've had... in years!" Serge says, awestruck. "And defeated by a Jigglypuff! You, sir, are an amazing Trainer!"

Zac doesn't have the heart to tell Serge that he never really trained Jigglypuff; Jigglypuff just came that way. "Uh, thanks," says Zac, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling sheepishly.

Next up is Chris. Their battle is longer than Zac's. Serge's fully-healed Raichu goes against Chris's Bulbasaur. Serge sighs at the sight of another unevolved Pokémon.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Chris says defensively. "She just hasn't evolved. I haven't tried to stop her or anything!" Bulbasaur frowns at Chris, but he doesn't seem to notice. Zac shakes his head in disappointment.

"What? What's the matter?" Andrew asks.

"Nothing," Zac mutters. "Don't worry about it."

Even though Electric has little effect on Grass, Bulbasaur has a pretty hard time. However, Bulbasaur is able to finish it with Sleep Powder and one last Vine Whip.

Andrew is up next after Serge heals his Raichu once again. Andrew releases Mankey and Serge releases Raichu again.

"Jeez, didn't you have anything else?" Andrew sighs exasperatedly. Zac and Chris can barely hold back their laughter as Serge shouts angrily in response, "Yes, I do! And don't you kids have anything else besides unevolved Pokémon?" Wartortle snorts indignantly.

This battle turns out to be really close. Mankey seems to have no chance at first, but it gets angry and unleashes a series of painful physical attacks. Raichu eventually falls, leaving Mankey extremely worn out but triumphant.

"Yeah!" Zac cheers. "Great job, Andrew! We all beat him!"

Serge is shocked. "I can't believe..." he mutters. "All three of them... with unevolved Pokémon..." Zac, Chris, and Andrew stop cheering to watch Serge. It looks like he's about to explode in anger... but instead his face splits into a huge grin. "You boys are great," he congratulates. "Those Pokémon of yours are great as they are. Just think of how much greater they'll be when they evolve!"

Chris gives a strained smile. He's still upset about his Bulbasaur not evolving whereas Squirtle evolved weeks ago.

After the kids get their badges, they say goodbye to a cheerful Serge and leave the Gm, escorted by another soldier.

"Well, we still have a good few hours before nighttime," Zac says happily as they walk out of the Gym through the foreboding doors and out into the sunshine. "What do you guys wanna do?"

"Train" Chris replies shortly. "Come on, Bulbasaur. Let's find some opponents." And with that, he and a frowning Bulbasaur walk away. Zac and Andrew just stand there and watch them walk away, blinking in confusion. Zac forgets to tell Chris when and where to meet up.

"What's his problem?" Andrew asks, frowning. Zac looks down at Andrew in surprise. The boy is usually disconnected from life and completely unobservant. He seems to genuinely care about Chris.

"Well," answers Zac, "he's mad." "At who?" "No one in particular. Bulbasaur isn't evolving and she's had just as much experience as Wartortle." Zac narrows his eyes. "Chris needs to realize that this isn't a video game. Pokémon won't automatically evolve at a certain experience level. They each go at their own pace, just like humans... He needs to learn patience."

Andrew stares at Zac blankly. Zac surprised even himself with his sudden burst of insight, so it's no surprise that Andrew has become confused. Zac looks back at Andrew and suddenly starts laughing. Now Andrew is really confused.

"What are you talking-" Andrew begins, but Zac puts a hand on his shoulder and keeps laughing. "Don't worry about it," Zac says after he stops laughing. "I don't even know why I'm laughing. Who cares? Chris will be fine, that fatty." Andrew starts laughing, too.

"Bulbasaur..." Chris says without looking at his Pokémon. They are walking back to town, the midnight sky looming over them. Bulbasaur looks up at him with a sad face. The two of them trained hard all day long. They fought many battles and won them all. She knows this, but she can also still sense hostility coming from him. Chris sighs. He doesn't know what to say to her. He knows she has done a great job; he can't be angry at her. However, he still feels resentment...

"Bulbasaur, you did a great job today," he mutters. "I'm sure you've gotten stronger, and that was our goal..." Bulbasaur can't help but notice the bitter tone underlying the compliment. "Bulba?" she questions softly.

Chris stops walking and crouches down to face his Pokémon. "Why don't you evolve?" he whispers miserably. Now Bulbasaur understands the problem. She smiles and hops into his arms. He stands back up and continues walking.

"Sq evolved, and you two have trained basically the same amount. Actually, after today, you've trained more than him! So what's the problem, Bulbasaur? Are you sick? Is it... is it... something I'm doing wrong?" Bulbasaur adamantly shakes her head in response. Chris walks in silence for a while as he mulls this over...

(Wait, what's wrong with me? Why do I care about her evolution so much?) He looks down at her. Her eyes are already closed. (Does it really matter? I mean, Ash's Pikachu never evolved... and look at how powerful he is! Maybe Bulbasaur just doesn't want to yet... That's fine with me. I've been acting really stupid about this.)

Yes, that's right. Chris finally ends his silent little hissy-fit. He realizes how stupid his impatience is and accepts Bulbasaur. He wouldn't even care if she never evolved. (Besides,) he thought with a grin, (what's Zac gonna do when he has a full-grown Blastoise following him around?) He chuckles silently at the thought.

When he finally reaches the hotel, he is surprised to find the room's door open and the lights still on. The TV is on, Andrew is fast asleep facedown and spread-eagle on the floor, and Zac is snoring somewhat loudly in an armchair. Wartortle and Pikachu were still awake, however. They are delighted to see Chris walk in. He places Bulbasaur in a little pile of blankets that serves as her bed.

"It's okay now," he whispers to the two awake Pokémon. "I've gotten over my problem." Wartortle and Pikachu look at each other and let out relieved sighs. They won't have to help him get over it, after all. Chris quietly laughs as he turns out the TV and the lights. "You two knew all along, huh? Well, I'm done being stupid now... so let's forget about it and go to sleep."

The two Pokémon happily agree, and soon everyone in the room is fast asleep.

Yes, this chapter came out very short, and I apologize for this. My free time is absorbed with a new game I play, MapleStory. It's an MMORPG, and they can be very addicting... I also apologize for the wait. I'll be writing less often now. : (