18: Misty vs. Lt. Surge
Sitting in the dark by the fire, the rations fed the hungry soldiers, but didn't otherwise comfort them. The landscape had grown dark, the land already unwelcoming to the invading visitors. When could they go home? Seeing as they'd just arrived, it would be quite a while. Time dragged on, not just of that night, but thinking of the many days ahead.
Coming back from relieving himself, the sight of the unexpected spark in the tent was almost welcome compared to contemplating the extended situation any further. Of course, the young soldier got on alert, ready for what was certainly a threat. He motioned to the other men, who certainly noticed it as well, and they ripped open the flap of the tent.
No humans were inside. "Someone leave something?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Matis, didn't you set up?"
"It's nothing of mine," the addressed soldier replied, then jumped as he crouched down, and saw the alien creature next to the bag.
"Pikachu?" it seemed to question the soldier's own presence there.
"The hell's that?" Matis couldn't even move to kick it or otherwise shoo it away. What was something like this doing here?
"It's one of those monster things," another soldier replied.
"What's it doing over here?" Matis demanded. Of course, he'd heard stories about those monsters since he was young, read about them in the newspapers, but this wasn't the region of the world they lived. He hadn't heard stories from any soldiers coming back from this war about seeing any. Why would there be a monster here?
"I heard some were hopping out of a ship that came from Kanto."
Kanto, of course, that was the specific region of the world overrun by strange monsters. Seeing as many people came from the outside to this location, it made sense that strange creatures might also be there. But now that they'd found this monster, what should they do with it? It just stood in their tent, seemingly relaxed and unmoving. How could they move without provoking it? These monsters were supposed to be unlike other creatures, so what methods could be used to fight if this one became aggressive?
The bright yellow, rodent-like creature eventually did start to move. Being a monster, it shouldn't be underestimated because it wasn't that large, so some of the soldiers shuffled away from the tent opening. Matis stayed and observed, seeing the thing move slowly on short little legs, little beady eyes staring just as curiously his way. It seemed to have something held in tiny little hands. Matis stayed put as he tried to figure out more about it. The relatively small monster eventually reached him, and held its upper appendage out. "Pikachu?" it called with a welcoming tone.
Matis was now easily able to see the item in the creature's hand. So it had opened up some of the rations, and now offered him a piece. Matis relaxed, smirking as he took it. "What's up with this thing?" he said.
"Can you catch it?"
"We can exterminate it later."
"Enough of that." Matis stood up, shaking his head as he looked at the just returned stolen food in his hand. He glanced down at the monster, who grinned back up at him.
"Pi!" it called.
"Look at it," Matis began, observing the adorable, wide-eyed creature at his feet. "You wanna say you're scared of a thing like that?" he challenged. "Shoo, shoo, just get out of here," he said.
"Pikachu?" the monster seemed to question him again, looking from Matis to back in the tent.
Matis flipped the tent open again going inside, then took out the nibbled through container of rations that had been pulled from a bag. "Take it," he said to the uninvited monster. "You ruined it for us anyway."
The monster's eyes went wide, and what looked like a wide smile appeared on its face. "Pikachu!" it called happily, taking the food before running off into the dark. Matis watched as it disappeared. How weird that it seemed kind of human in its reactions, showing emotion in its face, the inflections in its voice almost making it seem like it could understand him. Between that and its cute appearance, it hardly fit the description of 'monster'. In any case, it didn't seem like much of a threat. But what was it doing that had made that kind of sparkly show?
It wasn't long before they found out. Walking to their next assigned post, Matis's group quickly noticed the creature was following them. "Why don't we just do something about it?" one man suggested.
"We can't be causing a scene. Don't mess with the locals," another replied.
"We're more local than that thing."
Matis silently agreed with that comment, and imagined he wasn't the only one. Everything around them from the sounds around them to the terrain in front of them - even the feel in the air was different than from home. But the monster that seemed to be stalking them seemed unmistakably foreign, even considering all of that. Matis wouldn't be surprised if the appearance of such a monster shocked some actual locals. Maybe if it made a scene they'd take some action against it, but in the meantime, it stayed away enough for them not to bother.
That was, until a large dog came running their way. Matis got ready to defend against it before the small creature stepped in between them. "Pikachu!" it called, this time much more harshly than it had before as it faced the dog. "Pika, CHUU!" it shouted now. Sparks of electricity appeared, first in its cheeks, before a large bolt shot toward the aggressive dog. "Pika!" the monster called out with a threatening tone, taking a single step forward before the dog whimpered, changing its trajectory.
"How about that?" was the first comment.
"Seems to like you, Matis!"
"Good if we have it around, I hear tigers have attacked other troops."
"No way."
"You think that flashy thing could even scare away something that big?"
As others discussed what had happened, Matis approached the monster. As he got closer, it looked up at him, a large grin on its face. "Pikapi!" it called happily to him, any trace of hostility gone.
Matis smirked. This so-called monster really did seem way too cute, even if it had just easily bested an animal over twice its size. "You're a soldier too, are you?" he said. "Better stay in formation."
As time went on, the monster was more than tolerated as it tagged along with them. It marched as well as it could, sometimes dashing on all four limbs to keep up. Matis along with his peers and superiors could easily tell it wasn't about to hurt them. They fed it scraps, sometimes played fetch or other games with it, treated it like a sort of pet. The small creature seemed to pick up when to keep quiet and stay out of the way, so it kept with the group without anyone suggesting it be chased off or otherwise 'taken care' of. Who could really object to its happy face? It was pure misery to be sent into this war zone, so the creature's cheerful disposition was even more welcome than the protection it seemed to offer. Though they hadn't seen any major fighting yet, there wasn't much else to like about being there.
But this monster made do, also being far from home. Its alien appearance was probably even less welcome, certainly less expected than the foreign soldiers here. If this tiny, weird thing could remain perky and cheerful, who were they as soldiers to get too mopey about anything?
Standing in the gym across from Misty, Lt. Surge stood waiting to hear what she had to say. There was a grin on his face, but it seemed forced. His expression twitched subtly while his brows slightly furrowed. Surge folded his arms, turning his body away from her slightly though he still looked her way. Perhaps the other gym leader wasn't really ready to hear her words, though Misty was more than ready to share things. In fact, she had so much to share that she wasn't sure where to start.
"Hey, come on! You had something to say to our boss here?" Bolt shouted after a few moments of silence, his voice echoing across the room.
"Cat got your tongue? Can't speak?" Storm jeered.
"What's a brat like this think she can tell our leader, anyway," Bolt added, shaking his head as he snickered.
"Enough," Surge spoke firmly, and his assistants quieted. "This little lady is considered the same rank as me, so we ought to treat her as such. She might know something I need to, since I just mind my own business here."
"That... That's right!" Misty said, realizing where she could begin. "You don't even go to the gym leader meetings, so you're missing a lot."
"Eh, once you've been to one or two, you get the idea. Why not skip it if you can?" Surge said with a shrug.
"Yeah," Storm agreed. "They're boring. I went to one for him last year."
Last year? It must have been the earlier one, instead of the one Misty herself had gone to. She couldn't recall any representation from this gym at the latest two meetings. "So you haven't been at all lately?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"Nope," Surge confirmed.
"We haven't gotten any complaints about it," Bolt added.
Misty sighed. Were they all really that irresponsible over here? "You're waiting for them to complain about you? You should be the one complaining about how things are going over there. Have you even met Giovanni?"
"Gi- Oh, wait!" Surge appeared to relax some. "That new Viridian Gym leader?"
"Well, he's not exactly new anymore, but yeah," Misty said. How long had it been since Surge had actually been involved? Misty couldn't really recall when exactly Giovanni had become the gym leader, or even who he had replaced.
"That guy." Surge shook his head. "What an asshole. Can't stand him."
"He's the one that runs the show for all the gym leaders now, hm? He's such an arrogant prick," Storm added.
"Too true," Surge agreed. "Self-important jackass. All the more reason not to go to those fucking meetings."
"Hey, shouldn't you both be watching your language in front of the little one?" Bolt sneered as they spoke.
"Sorry, little miss," Surge said, his expression still unchanging. "I know he's in charge of everything, so I guess you admire him. Just saying how I see it."
"No!" Misty exclaimed. She clasped her hands together, smiling widely as she took a step forward. Their crass language and insults were a breath of fresh air, really. Giovanni deserved that and much worse. Maybe it was just because in Surge's home country they didn't hold back as much, but she liked that finally someone would be frank about the truth. It wasn't as if what they were saying hadn't been thought about by the other gym leaders, but they all acted like it was some kind of crime to speak it. Finally, someone who not only wasn't afraid to speak up, but was a fellow gym leader who could actually stand beside her and do something. Seeing all attention on her, Misty decided to clarify herself. "I mean - Who would admire someone like that? I know what he's like, maybe even better than you. Or do you know what he's been up to?"
"Na. No reason to waste time worrying about a guy like that." Surge gave a slight shrug. "So little miss, you want to train with us? Maybe a pokemon battle? Or you can work out to keep yourself in shape. That's important, too." Surge turned to his assistants. "Quick, get everything ready for the workout."
"Yes, sir," Bolt said, running to get the broom to clean the floor. Storm opened a closet, wheeling out some equipment and weights that seemed more fit to train humans.
"Wha..." Misty frowned, but pushed herself forward to tell the truth. This topic was too important to drop. "There's plenty reason to worry about him! How can you just sit back and not pay any attention?"
"There's people you'd rather not be everywhere you go, even in the gym circuit," Surge began as his assistants started transforming the gym into an area for their workout. "I'd think about the ones I like, like Flint and his boy, and you too. If you want to hang out here, we'll welcome you."
"You're acting like the gym circuit is just a game," Misty said.
"It is!" Surge exclaimed jovially. Misty tensed, ready to protest before he continued. "Pokemon battling is just a sport. It's a game I love. No one gets hurt. Not trainers, and pokemon themselves are too tough to stay down for long."
"Well- They can still get stolen. You know Giovanni's been having his Team Rocket goons steal pokemon, don't you?" Misty asked.
"Team Rocket?" Surge glanced upward a moment in thought. "I think I heard about them. He's behind that? Let's have a good laugh together once that asshole gets arrested."
Misty only scowled at her fellow gym leader's unwavering bright demeanor. "He's not going to be. No one does anything against him. They just let him do what he wants, say the Team Rocket members who steal pokemon weren't really in Team Rocket and let him get away with it."
"He'll get his," Surge spoke an empty promise.
"Not if everyone keeps ignoring what's going on!" Misty insisted. "I keep hearing my challenging trainers were being attacked and even stolen from. My friend Ash, the one that you battled today, they've gone after his pokemon a bunch of times! He's been able to keep them, but others haven't been so lucky. More and more keep getting taken. Are you just going to ignore things like a coward?"
Bolt stopped his tasks and scoffed, leaning against the workout equipment. "How much longer you gonna put up with this, boss?"
Surge grimaced. "Relax, she's just blowing off steam. We've all gotta sometimes."
"I'm not," Misty insisted. "I want you to actually do something! If a guy like you went to one of those meetings and told them what's right, things could finally be fixed."
Though he'd just been listening to Misty with the same half-amused, half-interested expression, that statement seemed to affect the electric type gym leader. His smile fell and he glanced to the ground before looking back up and meeting Misty's eyes. "You've sure got a high opinion of me. You really think all our pals in the gym circuit will as well?"
Misty paused, thinking back on when she'd originally spoken out. Like she'd discussed with Brock and her sisters, people had ignored her and acted like she'd done something wrong since she was so young. Even though her pokemon were powerful, able to beat Giovanni's in a proper match, Misty herself was perceived as weak. Maybe some of those that heard her agreed, but they couldn't aloud. But if she walked in with Surge and he said the same things, people would probably pay attention and be eager to agree, seeing they'd be on the side of such a strong trainer who was an overall powerful person as well. "Yes. They will. If you talk, I bet they'll finally listen," Misty concluded.
Surge laughed and shook his head. Even his assistants seemed surprised, taking a break as they observed the conversation. "So I should just stroll in on my white horse? Tell them the right way to do things? Then things'll just be fixed?" Surge challenged, leaning closer to Misty.
Misty blinked, frowning as she thought of it. "No, I guess it wouldn't be that easy. Maybe we'd have to fight a little first."
Surge's laugh seemed quite forced this time as he turned to his assistants. "Ain't she the cutest warlord you ever saw?"
"Hey! It's not like I want to fight just to fight," Misty insisted. "Sometimes that's just what we need to do."
"Then let's talk numbers. How many people - pokemon are you willing to throw at this? How much would you be willing to give up for the fight you wanna pick?" Surge asked, his voice getting louder as he spoke.
"I'm not trying to give anything up," Misty replied, raising her own voice.
"No sacrifice, no solution. And even with a large sacrifice, you're not guaranteed any victory, or even anything at all." Though previously he'd seemed to just be joking around, Surge seemed to be getting serious now.
However, the reply only made Misty more determined to convince him. "We're going to lose everything if we don't do anything, you know. More and more trainers will give up the circuit, maybe not because they want to, but because their pokemon were stolen. I hear some Team Rocket agents talking about world domination, or something like that. Maybe they'll try to take over the government. What would you do if all of Kanto started falling apart, and Team Rocket was in control?"
Lt. Surge closed his eyes and sighed. "Guess I'd go home," he said. He opened his eyes with a smile before going over to the weights. "Let's start training, we're behind schedule."
Misty had no immediate reply, but Bolt and Storm exchanged glances. "Hey, boss, you wouldn't really do that, would you? Leave us hanging if things got rough?" Bolt asked.
"This girl's just exaggerating, but you'd fight if you had to, right?" Storm said.
"You two could pack up all the pokemon and come with me," Surge offered as he lifted up one of the weights.
"That's not right," Storm said with a scowl.
"I wouldn't want to just leave everything going to hell," Bolt said.
"So, you'd want to go along with the little warlord?" Surge put down the weight. "Maybe I should too, if she's really a powerful trainer."
"Have you kept up with the latest stats?" Misty asked. "Before I went on hiatus, I think I was even above you once."
"So, you think you could beat me?" Surge asked.
"Hmph." Misty took out one of her pokeballs almost on impulse. She was in the mood to fight, so a pokemon battle was perfect. "Maybe. You're not going to run from my challenge?"
Lt. Surge stood up, chuckling as he did. "Help me get ready. Looks like there's one more battle today."
Surge's assistants worked without a word, transforming the area back into a proper pokemon gym. Misty held her pokeball as she waited, calming slightly, though still feeling just as hot headed and determined for the coming battle. As Surge stood across from her, shouting, "Let's go, one on one!" Misty raised her arm and threw her pokeball right away.
"Get ready to show off, my steady, Starmie!"
"Raichu, take your position!"
Surge's Raichu hopped to the field upon the order, arching its back. Starmie spun around before floating in place in front of it. That was a predictable choice, Misty mused. Perhaps Surge didn't even have any other pokemon, but even if he did, she was just satisfied to know he was taking her seriously. Choosing his most often used pokemon instead of some new catch was proof of that. Misty would return the favor. "Starmie, harden!"
Starmie performed the move in a flashy display, glowing brightly before standing tall. As it did so, Surge spoke his own order. "Raichu, mega punch!"
"Rai!" Raichu called as it hopped into the air, punching Starmie directly on its gem. Misty's pokemon fell back, calling out loudly as it kept its sturdy position in the air.
"Starmie, bubble beam!" Misty called, not even flinching. Her pokemon could easily take that kind of physical attack, but how would Raichu do against a close up hit from Starmie's same type attack? Starmie gave a harsh call before it produced the stream of bubbles, hitting Raichu before it could even consider getting out of the way. "Alright! Don't give it a break! Harden again!"
"Raichu, take down!" Surge called. Raichu's attack missed as Starmie swiftly moved out of the way, mid-technique.
"Bubble beam! You've got this!" Misty cheered the next move on happily. Starmie repeated the water-type attack just as it completed the harden technique, hitting Raichu directly yet again. The evolved electric type called out loudly as it was overwhelmed by the stream of water and hit the floor.
"You don't let up, do you, miss?" Surge said.
"Of course not," Misty insisted. "We're not all cowards running from responsibilities. Starmie, bubble beam, again!"
"Ouch," Surge said, still appearing amused. "Raichu, mega punch!" Raichu endured the attack from Starmie before dashing and punching it up close. "I'd never run from a game like this! Thanks for giving me an interesting fight, but we're done. Raichu, thunderbolt!"
"Starmie, tackle!" Misty shouted, thinking perhaps that simple attack would cause Raichu's to fail. Starmie's attack indeed hit first, but Raichu stood firm and continued with its own. Its cheeks glowed, and a grin appeared on its face as it unleashed the bright electricity, hitting Misty's most prized pokemon. Surge's own prize was indeed powerful and well practiced. That plus the type advantage caused Starmie to just fall to the ground, skipping the usual phase where its gem might blink upon becoming weak. Misty quickly returned it to its pokeball.
"Rai, rai." Raichu scurried over to Surge, getting a quick pat on the head as a reward.
"I knew I'd win," Surge said, glancing from one assistant to the other as he spoke. "Does that make me a bully?"
The question didn't seem to be for her, but Misty answered anyway. "Of course not. If you didn't take me seriously, I'd never forgive you. I'm here to give it my best, and you should too."
"Woah. You might dislike me, missy, but I like you more the more I talk to you. Can't hate an opponent that knows fair's fair, huh?"
Misty folded her arms, scowling. "That's just basic. I'm not here to dislike you. I didn't think you were that bad, just that you should know when to stop playing."
"Stop? Na. Don't forget to enjoy life," Surge said.
"Don't you think a peaceful life is worth fighting for?" Misty said.
"What a question. A little bit of an oxymoron, so I can't answer," Surge replied.
Bolt slouched down in the spectator area. "Boss, I can't say she's totally wrong," he said.
"Yeah, I don't like the idea of wimping out," Storm said, standing up and turning away from the arena. "If that Viridian guy came around here picking a fight, I'd want to knock him and his around a little bit. We could teach him what for."
"That's right!" Misty exclaimed. Would they really listen now?
Surge's face hardened, becoming serious. "Is there a problem? I haven't seen it."
"If there is-" Bolt began.
"I don't deal with hypotheticals," Surge said, shaking his head. "But in my actual experience, if there's a problem, people will try and sell you a solution. That doesn't mean it's right. That doesn't mean you should go along with them."
There was a moment of silence, Lt. Surge glaring out to the small audience, whose glances shirked away before Misty spoke. "That's- I'm not trying to say you should do any specific thing. I just want to stop Team Rocket," she said.
Surge turned back to Misty, smiling yet again. "Oh, I'm not talking about you. Like I said, little lady, I don't deal with hypotheticals, and I don't even know if there's a problem. I just know I'm never the one to save the day."
"Why couldn't you be?" Misty asked. Surge gave a loud sigh, walking to the side of the room, admiring a tattered newspaper article in a mismatching ornate frame. Misty followed, observing it as well. She didn't know the language enough to read the article itself, but saw the picture of foreign men all in military uniforms, haphazardly standing as if whoever photographed them hadn't told them to pose or anything. It was a second before she spotted the pikachu at their feet. Despite feeling cross, the sight of the cute creature surrounded by all the men looking tough was enough to make her smile. Eventually, she noticed one of the men was a younger Surge.
"You know, back then, some people say the reason we went was to save the day," Surge said as his assistants walked up behind him, observing what he was looking at as well.
"And you didn't?" Misty said.
Surge shook his head. "Just saw a bunch of death," he said. "It was pretty useless. The people upstairs couldn't even lie about how we were doing something. Then when we went home, a lot of our own countrymen hated us. Called us murderers. Maybe they were right."
Misty nearly opened her mouth to deny it, but then stopped herself. She had no idea what had actually happened, and couldn't really say anything.
"Some guys did things to get out of enlisting, but I just went right for it. I wasn't raring to go, but I listened when someone said it was the right thing to do. What a dumb kid I was. What a bunch of worthless shit I did. And that's why I'll never listen to anyone that tells me what I gotta fight again. Not even my cute little challenger here."
Misty stood in silence a moment, still observing the picture before Surge tapped her shoulder. "Don't think I'm saying your cause is worthless," he continued. "I don't know anything about it, after all. Just think about it before you take it too far, will you? Everything has a cost. It might be more than what you expect for way less than you think."
"Oh. Um, yeah," Misty shook herself out of her thoughtful state enough to respond to the other gym leader.
"Now, I bet you're real pissed, aren't you? I beat you badly, after all." Surge winked as he spoke. "So I expect you'll come trying to trounce me later. You'll wanna humiliate me in front of my buddies here. A kid like you'll improve real fast, so maybe you all will end up having a good laugh when you and your freaking water type beat me and Raichu. You'll try and do that, huh?"
Misty nodded. "Yeah," she said, clearing her throat before she spoke up. "I'll definitely challenge you again," she promised. "And I really might win. Don't underestimate a powerful water type."
Surge laughed, his assistants also starting to smile again as he did. "I'd never make that mistake!"
"Good. I wouldn't underestimate you or Raichu either." Misty glanced to the picture again. Surge joked around a lot, acting like it was all a game. He preferred it to the apparently serious war he'd been in long before Misty was even born. "Raichu's pretty tough, huh?" she commented absent-mindedly. "I don't know any other pokemon who's even been in a war."
"A war? Na." Surge again leaned down, patting Raichu's head. "Raichu here's the same as you. A kid that's never been out of Kanto. It only knows the kind of fun battles where no one really gets hurt."
Surge had somewhat of a melancholy expression, which he tried to cover up with a smile as he glanced away from the picture and back at Misty. Misty wanted to ask about the pikachu, who from what Surge had said certainly couldn't be his current battling partner, but decided not to. She wasn't sure what to think about the whole conversation, but she felt somewhat embarrassed, like she should reflect more about it. Thinking she'd asked enough that day, Misty just bowed. "Thanks for the battle, and listening to me."
"Anytime," Surge said.
With that, they exchanged salutations before Misty left. She went and got lunch, though she really wasn't in the mood and didn't enjoy it. Afterwards, she walked through the city, hanging her head down. When she realized she hadn't even been enjoying the sights, Misty sighed to herself, then looked for a place to sit and watch the ocean. Even as she sat and observed it, she could only think about how she was no farther along in getting any allies to go against Giovanni. Lt. Surge really had just seen her as a kid, the same as everyone else. Would that be how everyone acted until it was too late? She really needed to train more as well.
Misty thought of Surge and his entourage with the themed aliases, speaking jovially to each other after each battle, and even after the conversations she'd pushed to happen. They really fought to keep their spirits up, even egging her on to concentrate on how fun a rematch with her own victory might be. Misty stood up and smiled herself. She was pretty far from being able to battle Team Rocket, but luckily things weren't urgent right in that moment. She was going to enjoy the city, and maybe any battles she might have in it on her journey to reach her goal.
As they finished their own training for the day, Surge helped put away the equipment, pausing again as he passed the old picture. "So, that's not Raichu before it evolved?" Storm commented.
"I thought it was," Bolt said.
They'd only been hired after the gym had been established with Raichu as the star pokemon, and Surge had never shared the whole story. "Nope. That pikachu never went home like I got to," he informed. "I caught my current pal in Viridian Forest when I first got to Kanto." That ought to be enough explanation. He didn't really want to get into everything that occurred. Those two easily accepted the explanation, continuing to clean up after the day's mess.
Even so, Surge's mind couldn't help but travel back to that day. It had often before, despite active efforts not to dwell on the inhumanity. So many of the men he'd known well had been so badly mutilated he couldn't even recognize their bodies. But that pikachu's death had been a different kind of disturbing. After taking the hit for him, it had fallen to the ground without any blood at all. Instead, it had dissolved in a grotesque way, its lifeless features distorting and slowly disappearing until it was nothing at all.
Surge shook his head, glancing at Raichu, who lay peacefully resting on its mat after the long day of battling and training. Hopefully, Storm was right, and this Misty girl really was just a kid exaggerating. If not, he hoped that girl or maybe others would help find a way to solve things quickly. The peace they had in Kanto was valuable, but could likely disappear as easily as that little pikachu had that day. There was really nothing an outsider like him could do to fix it.
Next chapter: Pikachu vs. Raichu