Chapter Thirty: Oh Zap!

"I may not know my gym leader's Alaska, but from what I can tell, this guy is a bit of a dick."

"Thanks for that professional evaluation, but I have already figured that," Alaska said with a nod, staring at the gym leader from across the field: he was sitting on a leather chair with a smug look on his face, staring over at Alaska with a look that said 'Hurry up and fail so I can leave.' Alaska gladly would have rolled over there and dealt to him if it hadn't been for the two electric bolts between him and the rest of the gym.

Before her were twenty large poles that were tall, sleek and rather stylish, each one topped off with a giant red metal ball and several other pieces of metal, designed to unleash and collect electricity. Four bigger ones with more balls stood in the corners, and would produce electricity between one another once Alaska entered the main twenty. The aim was to find two switches: one would turn the four big ones off, and than Alaska had to find the second one straight away that would turn off the ones keeping Surge at bay. If she got the second one wrong, the whole thing would reset, and Surge had said that other non-dangerous things would happen if she got other switches wrong.

Alaska didn't want to take part in a little game where she was forced to think on her feet and try and twenty different switches while Surge watched from his seat, but he said it was part of his rules and Steven confirmed that it was official. She didn't like it, but if Alaska was going to battle Surge it had to be done.

"I am serious Alaska," Sandy said as she helped Alaska get out of the chair. "I've been here for a while and he's spent most of it telling me that travelling just to go travelling is a waste and kept trying to battle me until I send Onix out and a window out." Alaska laughed but than winced as she got to her feet: it felt painful standing on her legs, but it wasn't unbearable and Steven had brought a cane along to help. The ex Champion and Mitchell sat on the stands to the left, and Sandy planned on joining them after Alaska was sorted.

"Are you going to be alright?" Sandy asked nervously, pausing in passing Alaska's bag across.

"I will be fine," Alaska said firmly, not wanting to appear weak. She snatched the bag and swung it across her arm and grabbed the cane, even using it to push the wheelchair backwards out of reach. She smiled widely at Sandy who remained nervous, and tried not to let the pain of her current headache get across.

"Yes Xandy: Alaska here is a tough old bitch that doesn't need help, isn't she?" A voice said above, and Alaska looked around angrily as a robotic laugh echoed high above them.

"Not this bastard again!" Alaska hissed, swinging her cane madly to try and spot where it was coming from. The voice simply continued to laugh and Sandy had to hold onto Alaska as her legs gave way. "Who are you? Why do you keep following me?"

"Following you?" The voice scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself darling, I wouldn't dare follow you around! Can't you put the pieces together?"

"What pieces?" Alaska asked, and the voice continued to laugh.

"A brilliant battler but a simple mind," he scoffed. "My name is Clyde, and I am the security system that operates in every gym throughout Kanto, Johto and several facilities in Sevii. Unfortunately for you, they thought I needed a personality to make me more lively, so sucks to be you." Alaska was annoyed at being mocked, but felt more relieved: she had expected the voice to belong to some sort of cyber stalker.

"Why Clyde?" Sandy asked. "Kind of a silly name for a computer."

"It stands for Computerized League Institute Defence Enforcer thank you very much!" Clyde snapped back, and Alaska calmed down and began to smile, pleased to see the voice was getting annoyed now.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a puzzle to solve," Alaska said and began limping across. Sandy went to say something but Alaska held a hand up to stop her, simply shaking her head. "I'll be fine, I promise." Sandy looked uncertain, but nodded all the same. She grabbed the wheelchair and her bag and rushed over to join Steven and Mitchell as Alaska limped towards the entrance. She wasn't happy about having to do this challenge with her sore leg and injured head, but Alaska wasn't going to give Surge any satisfaction as she made her way forwards.

"You know what to do Alaska," Surge yelled from behind his barriers. "Find the switch that stops the barrier around you and than find the switch to stop the barrier in front of me directly afterwards. You are welcome to use any methods you want or you're Pokemon, but I don't see how they'll be any use," the leader added with a smirk. Alaska pulled a face that seemed to make him happier as he pressed a button: the four large poles began to shoot electricity between each other as levels that would prevent Alaska from leaving. "Your time starts now – GO!"

Alaska placed her bag down and began to think: she wished she had thought of a strategy earlier, but there was no time to waste about that and began to think quickly. Nadia was out of the question to help from her injury, there was a chance Paige could hit a bolt and Alaska may need her during the battle and Frances might get scared. Alaska knew Darwin wouldn't mind things as much, but she wasn't going to risk using him.
"Alright… let's just press buttons," Alaska thought, thinking it was simple enough. There was a white box on each pole with a chunky, dirty switch on it, the kind Alaska always say in buildings that were more than a few decades old. There was time to worry about things and Alaska set to work: she flicked a switch and looked around, seeing nothing had happened. She cursed but there were still 19 more to try: leave her bag there in order to mark one she had done, Alaska moved on to the next one. She tried the three nearest, but with each one nothing happened: no barriers came down, no added surprises appeared.

What's the bet none of these switches do anything? Alaska thought bitterly to herself, flicking another two nearby and getting nothing. She let out a growl and turned to see Surge smirking at her, making her further suspect something was up.

"You can do it Alaska! WOOOO!" Sandy called out. Alaska waved to absently to her in thanks before turning to the next switch, so bored that she whacked it with the stick. Suddenly, the entire floor shook. Alaska began to shake furiously, not helping either of her ailments, and had to lean against her the pole she'd just touched to support herself. Suddenly the other six she had already touched disappeared into the ground, as did another five. There was a whirring noise from below, only for the poles to reappear a few moments later. Alaska was stunned, wondering what that had been, but than it suddenly clicked.

"The poles I've already used have been switched to through me off," she voiced aloud, "or… that's what you want me to think." Surge's accent came out as he laughed deeply, leaving Alaska fuming: there was no way to tell which story it was, and the poles were identical. "Nice trick dick," she shouted and hobbled back to her bag, which she dragged and placed near the only she knew hadn't moved for certain. Surge's laughter echoed around and Alaska was getting annoyed, angrily slamming down another five switches nearby.

"This is just stupid and repetitive: what is the point of this other than amusing you?" Alaska snapped as she flicked another one, getting no result.

"I like to see how trainers act," Surge called out through his laughter. "I like to see what methods they use and their strategies. If someone can't cut it here, I generally send them back until they have the ability to face me again properly." Alaska wasn't going to admit it but did thinks this was a relatively sane idea to weed out who was not going to be successful, even if it was a rather mind twisting way.

"Well, rest assured I am not going to give up," Alaska said, flicking the nearest switch. She gasped with excitement as she saw the electricity disappear from around the corner, meaning she had found the first switch. Sandy looked up and clapped with delight, while Steven gave a sensible nod. Alaska punched the air in delight at this first victory, but than she realised the daunting task she had: now she had to find the second switch straight away, otherwise she the barrier would go back up and she'd be back to square one.

I really don't need this, Alaska thought grumpily as her head gave a throb, looking around for the second switch. The ones she had already pressed were behind her, leaving several ahead she hadn't ventured towards. Nervously, Alaska stepped up towards the nearest one, wonder if this was the right one or not, but realized she wouldn't find out unless she tried: fingers crossed, she reached out and flipped it.

"Bad luck!" Surge called as the ground began to rumble. Alaska swore loudly as the first barrier appeared again, but it was drowned out as every one of the twenty poles disappeared back into the ground. As they began whirring and switching around, Alaska noted her bag was about to fall through and hobbled over to grab it. She was furious at getting the wrong one, and stared up as the poles all rose up, every switch back to the up position, leaving Alaska with no hints. Just as things felt like they couldn't get any worse, Alaska's jaw dropped as the red balls began to spark. A few moments later, bolts of electricity began to arc between each ball, shooting off in all directions. Alaska had to shield her eyes from the brightness, but she realized that she was now trapped, with electricity to the sides and above.

"Bastard," she cursed, feeling close to collapsing onto the floor from the pain in her legs and the throbbing in her head. Surge was smirking and Alaska didn't really care, annoyed at this foul little trick of his. She wanted nothing more but to get back at him and play her only trick, but how…

"Maybe…," Alaska whispered, looking up at the poles. The plan was forming quickly in her mind and was terribly risky, but Alaska wasn't in the mood to think things through. "You said I could use Pokemon, right?" She called, and after getting a nervous nod from Surge she grabbed a PokeBall and rolled it forwards.

"PRIME APE APE!" Darwin yelled once he had formed, leaping around with excitement for several seconds before crashing into a pole and rolling backwards. He paused and looked curiously around at all the electricity over head and than over at Alaska, who was simply hoping her plan would work.

"Why did you send your Primeape out?" Steven called. "You told me earlier that he struggled to listen to you."

"He's my only chance on winning this," Alaska replied and then turned away from them, needing to focus. She grabbed one of Darwin's arms and looked him in the eye. "Look, you may not want to listen to me or obey orders, but I have one simple order for you: I want you to leap around and flick every single switch you find on or off, no matter what happens, alright?"

"Primey Prime," Darwin replied with a nod, a childlike sense of wonderment in his eyes as he thought of what he could do. Alaska gave him a smile back, hoping that he would simply stick to these orders.

"Don't touch the electricity though," Alaska said, and she moved back towards the general area where the first switch had been. "Alright Darwin: GO!" And with a single pounce Darwin leapt forwards, using his large hands to flick all the switches nearby. Alaska flicked the switch that should bring the barrier down and looked around to see nothing had happened. With a shrug she turned around to the next switch and tried that, just as Darwin went and hit two at one time, his arms stretching out.

"Wow, this certainly is a lot faster," Alaska boomed aloud with a cheesy grin. She saw Surge had gotten to his feet and she waved at him as she hit another two switches her cane.

"Be careful!" He yelled. "Pressing more than one switch could overload the system! It's already being pushed!" Alaska didn't know what this meant and looked around, nearly hitting Darwin as he flew by, and saw that the four larger poles were producing more and more electricity. Steven was even moving Sandy and Mitchell further up the stands away from it. Alaska didn't want to hurt them, but despite using Darwin the first barrier wasn't coming down.

"Overload the system…," Alaska mumbled, a second idea forming: this one was much riskier and could go seriously wrong, but Alaska knew it would take too long to find the right two switches. The second one could have already been hit but wasn't working as the first had to be down first. Trying to sort it out was wasting time Alaska's sore head didn't have, and she decided to do things her way.

"Let's say what you make of this strategy," Alaska yelled to Surge and she rammed her cane into the nearest switch box. The plastic was easily broken, exposing a series of wires underneath. "Darwin, get here!" She cried.

"What are you doing?" Surge yelled as Darwin swung around the poles as if they were trees.

"Using some initiative," Alaska shouted back before turning to Darwin. "Grab those wires and use ThunderPunch!" Surge and Steven both cried out, but Alaska ignored them as she dived behind her hairy Pokemon. Darwin pushed his gloved fist through the gap where the switch should and grasped onto the nearest wires. His fist began to glow yellow and instantly sparks began to fly out, the system overhead growing.

"PRIIIIIIIMEAAAAAAAAAPE!" He yelled, hair standing on end and the entire system pole beginning to shake. Alaska watched as more electricity arched overhead and surrounded her, and a slight turn revealed Surge was hiding behind his chair as the electricity around him grew. Alaska wasn't sure how things were going to end, but they didn't seem too bad at the moment.

Than they all exploded.

Alaska swore and covered her bag over head as the red balls of exploded. Sandy screamed as the lights flickered throughout the building, which for some reason began to whirr. Darwin still remained inside the pole as hot metal rained down upon them, and Alaska whacked his arm with her cane and pulled him backwards. The floor was shaking, some of the poles moving back into the ground only to come back up a moment later. Sparks shot up like fireworks from the destroyed poles, many of which were also glowing around their switch box, and Alaska moved as quickly as a bad leg would allow to escape before something bad happened.

It was only when she left the twenty poles did Alaska realise something else: the four larger poles had entirely exploded, sending glass, metal and wiring scattered across the room. Huge main pieces lay on the tiles, one of them crushing half of the stands. Lights continued to flicker on and off and the doors were opening without purpose.

"Well Darwin, I say that went well," Alaska said with a tired sigh and Darwin smiled next to her, giving her a tight hug. The ground continued to whirr behind them and Alaska watched as the twenty poles slid back into the ground, leaving behind tiny pieces of metal. The disappearing poles revealed Surge marching angrily forwards, as Steven led the way of the watchers.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Surge yelled, but Darwin moved forwards and raised both his fists, clearly willing to take on the muscular man. "You know how expensive it is going to be to replace all of that?"

"I was just showing you my way of doing things," Alaska replied. "I thought that's what you wanted to see?" Sandy and Mitchell giggled at this, but fell silent as Surge shot them a nasty look. Steven stepped forwards, putting his hands between them both and trying to stay diplomatic.

"Surge, the girl is right: she was just showing her way of doing things," he said tiredly. "However Alaska, you shouldn't have destroyed gym property. I have a lot of money in my account, so I can easily write out a cheque for however much it'll cost to –,"

"No!" Alaska said firmly, staring indignantly at Steven. "I destroyed it, so I should be the one to pay for it!"

"Alaska, you don't –,"

"Yes I do!" She replied sternly. "Too many people kept offering my family for support after my father got fired and my mother would usually turn them down unless there was no other way. I am not just getting to get you to pay a huge amount of money for something I did when I barely know you!" Alaska turned towards Surge, who had since calmed down and actually looked impressed. "Here's my offer: if I win the battle, as well as getting the TM and badge I don't pay for the bill. But if I lose, than I will give you however much money I can." Steven and Sandy both looked shocked, and Alaska knew it was a huge risk to take, but Surge tipped his head back and roared with laughter.

"You truly are a strong little fighter aren't you?" He boomed. "Challenge accepted!" Alaska nodded, slightly regretting it, having hoped Surge would change his attitude and say it was too much. Instead he pulled out a PokeBall and bounced it in his hands. "However, our battle begins now! You three, sit in the other stands. Clyde, clear up this mess."

"Eww, why do I have to clean up after her?" The computer groaned, but the ground whirred again, several tiles lifting up and tipping, sending the hot glass on them down below the gym. Alaska was stunned by this, but was more shocked as Surge moved back to the opposite side of the area: lights were shining at the corners where the four large towers stood, and Alaska took this as a cue to move backwards, the pitch forming around her.

"Good luck," Sandy said, giving Alaska a brief hug before racing to the stands. Steven simply gave a respectful nod once more while Mitchell did nothing, moving with the older people. Alaska was to surprised to have the gym battle suddenly starting, and quickly moved into her position.

"Darwin, I am going to save you for later, but thanks for your help," she said. Darwin pulled a grumpy face and Alaska knew she would pay for not sending him in first, but couldn't trust him after the last two times he had used him in battle and settled for an old friend.

"This will be a three on three battle, are you ready?" Surge called from across the tiled field. Alaska simply nodded, needing to focus in order to ready herself. She didn't have her usual time before hand to get herself mentally prepared or form a strategy of any sorts, and as Alaska pulled a Great Ball out and held it in the air, she knew she could only cross her fingers and hope for the best, the ball in the gym leader's court for the first time.

On a small note, The First Warriors, which takes place in Kanto 5 years before this story and ties in heavily with many aspects of this, has begun with the prologue and first chapter online. It is not necessarily key to read it at the moment to understands part of 8ES, but in a few parts the ties will become more evident.