You may know there was some problem with the server that prevented documents from being uploaded. I copied and pasted this chapter into an old document and it severely stuffed it up, and despite taking nearly an hour to space words apart and writing a message about it at the start, I have a feeling my saved changes got ignored. But here is the new and improved document.

Chapter Thirty One: Electric=MassCarnage2

"VOLTORB, FRONT AND CENTER!"

"Frances, let's just try not to lose!"

The two balls soared through the air, the red light reflecting brightly off the tiles as the Pokemon formed. Frances landed a few metres away from Alaska, looking over and smiling at her trainer, but was than saw the collapsed poles and looked startled, quickly moving towards Alaska for comfort.

"No, no, we need to have a gym battle," Alaska said, unable to get down on one leg but managed a smile. "I know that we only had our other battle a few days ago, but I am trying to prove to the gym leader is a complete douche and I need your help with that as you're the only Pokemon I can count on right now and I know you can do it." Frances nodded, giggling slightly at Alaska insulting Surge and the Paras turned back around. What looked like an enlarged PokeBall waited opposite, and for a moment Alaska thought it was indeed just that. However, two bits of the red opened to reveal angry eyes.

"Voltorb," the Pokemon sparked in a robotic way. Alaska was stunned to see this Pokemon, and looked angrily up at Surge.

"Is this some kind of joke?" She spat, but only got a raised eyebrow in return. "Hello, an exploding Electrode nearly killed me and Sandy the other day? Seems a bit twisted to send it's pre-evolution out!" Surge merely scoffed, staring back angrily at Alaska.

"First of all, this isn't a robot," he snapped, and Voltorb shook his body in agreement, "and secondly, I am not thinking about what recently tried to blow you up when I am trying to think instead of how to defeat you. You need to pull your head out of all this stuff you're involved and focus on the battle in front of you right now, rather than just whinging and expecting me not to use a good Pokemon." Alaska was annoyed at the use of Pokemon but could see that she was possibly just overreacting and merely grunted, knowing it was time to get started.

"Alright you two!" Steven said, stepping forwards and raising his hands. "No more arguing! Let's just focus on the battle ahead of us, alright?"

"Agreed!" Surge boomed. "Voltorb, Charge Beam, go!"

"Duck down and use Leech Life!" Alaska boomed, ready to defeat Surge at all costs. Electricity formed in a ball in front of Voltorb who rolled around to face Frances face on. The ball grew wider and Frances shook with fear, putting her claws over her eyes as the ball exploded, unleashing a powerful beam of electric infused energy. Alaska moved aside as the beam went right over Frances, leaving her unharmed but a little shaken.

"Para!" She said happily, and she fired a lime green needle from her claws. Voltorb hadn't seen it coming and winced as lime balls of energy were extracted from his body and floated through the air towards Frances.

"She may be small, but let's see how that plays in favour now," Surge growled. "Voltorb, Electro Ball!" Alaska was surprised by this order: she had never heard of this move before. Surge noticed her look as Voltorb glowed yellow all over. "You've got to get with the times sweetie if you want to stay ahead!"

"Bullet Seed," Alaska yelled, not bothering to reply. The words had barely left her mouth when Voltorb swerved, a ball of yellow electricity leaving his body and shooting forwards. It moved too quickly for Frances and exploded next to her, sending her spiralling into the air. "Frances!" Alaska gasped, watching as the Paras flew upwards.

"Para Paras Pa!" She yelled, frantically firing the green seeds to the ground in fright. Voltorb tried rolling away, but was unable to prevent the erratic firing of the seeds, and trying to dodge them sent the PokeBall-like creature directly towards another round. Voltorb rolled around in daze, and Alaska realised an once-in-a-lifetime battle opportunity was about to unfold: Frances was falling back to the ground, right next to where Voltorb was rolling to.

"SPIN AND GRAB ONTO IT!" Alaska yelled, the shout making her head throb but not caring. Frances managed to steady herself to see what Alaska meant and pushed herself with her tiny legs and claws, heading directly towards the Electric type. Surge realized what was happening too late, and opened his mouth to order just as Frances landed on top. Voltorb seemed stunned, and Frances equally as shocked as she wrapped her tiny legs around Voltorb and held on tightly.

"VOOOOL!" It wailed, and tried to shake her off.

"Don't shake, blast!" Surge shouted. "Thunderbolt, go!" Alaska had thought that getting on top of Voltorb would be good, but this could probably end a lot worse than she had anticipated.

"GO ALASKA, YOU CAN DO IT!" Sandy shouted. "BEAT HIM LIKE YOU BEAT GIDEON!" Alaska nodded, and than realized Sandy's choice of words: no one else would have got this except them, and knew Sandy was giving her an idea of what to do.

"Hit it with a Metal Claw, as strong as you can!" Alaska shouted. Frances was scared at the Thunderbolt that was about to fry her from below, but being on top allowed her to counteract some of Voltorb's speed and her claws glowed silver at the same time as he glowed yellow. Frances lashed out, smashing her Metal Claw directly into Voltorb's right eye.

"TOOOOORB!" The PokeBall cried, flying backwards and sending the Thunderbolt ricocheting off the tiled walls. Sandy and Mitchell both screamed as they tried to avoid, and Frances flailed forwards as she fell towards the ground. An offshoot of the Thunderbolt exploded near her, causing her to cry and pushing her backwards. Alaska felt bad for her, but was delighted to see Voltorb's outcome: he had become planted into the wall, cracking tiles all around and leaving Surge shocked. Sparks flew out as Voltorb fell out of the hole, rolling forwards with his eyes shut.

"Voltorb is unable to battle," Steven announced. "This leaves Frances the Paras the victor of this round!" Alaska punched in the air in delight, smiling widely across at a stunned looking Surge.

"Well, looks like that wasn't such a great Pokemon after all," she teased, earning her a glare from the gym leader as he brought Voltorb back.

"I wouldn't be celebrating just yet without looking at your own Pokemon," he growled. Alaska was confused and looked across, jaw dropping: Frances was barely able to stand, wincing and seizing up as her body glowed yellow. She had been paralyzed, either from Voltorb's Static or the Thunderbolt, but either way Alaska's challenge was now in serious threat. "Paralysis is definitely not good," Surge added with a beam, "and it certainly won't help you now!" He threw his second PokeBall onto the field, leaving Alaska anxious about lay within: with Frances paralyzed, this battle had just gotten a whole lot harder with little for her to fall back on.

"You can do it Frances! You just defeated a Voltorb, so you can defeat this one too!" Alaska shouted. Frances gave a weak nod in reply, but her nod froze and her eyes bulged as the red energy formed alongside, turning into a much larger opponent than Voltorb. Alaska watched as the Pokemon formed, an orange body with a white belly and a long tail with a lightning bolt on the end. The Pokemon had a fearsome, mischievous look on his face, but his giant body looked cuddly than fearsome.

"Raichu Rai Rai!" Raichu said, flexing his black paws and staring down at Frances, who was a lot smaller than him and stood a high chance of being crushed. The Paras quaked in fear as much as the Paralysis allowed, and Alaska knew she would not last long. However, even if she switched Frances out now, Alaska still had a team she couldn't use in this situation and would be forced to bring the Paras out again later.

"Frances, I want you to hit this Raichu with a Stun Spore!" Alaska called out firmly, and was proud to see Frances nodded and forced her body upwards, staring up towards the Mouse Pokemon and doing her best to look frightening, but the Electric type wasn't frightened.

"Using spores to try and paralyze?" Surge said with a laugh. "Raichu, show her some true attacks with a Thunderbolt!" Raichu nodded and sparks flew from his yellow cheeks, his tail sticking up on end as if the current was flowing through it. Frances was too paralyzed to talk, but she shook her back as much as she could, sending the yellow spores up into the air and Alaska simply hoped it was enough.

"RAAAAAAIIIII!" Raichu suddenly yelled, flashing yellow and firing the bolt of electricity. Sandy gasped dramatically from the stands as Frances was blasted up into the air, soaring around like a plastic bag caught in the wind. Alaska could feel her pain, her head giving a particular throb almost to match it. Frances was silent as she fell down to the tiles but Surge's laughter was enough to make up for this fact, infuriating Alaska but she remained silent until she knew Frances' fate.

However, a second later it was confirmed: Frances landed, slightly smoking, in front of Alaska. The fact she had been knocked out was quite obvious, and Alaska let out a sigh, both in sadness for her and annoyance at her chances of showing Surge up looking extremely unlikely. The bronzed gym leader even began to laugh, flashing his white teeth as he smiled widely across at her.

"Frances the Paras is unconscious, leaving the number of Pokemon as mutual," Steven announced loudly as Alaska glared back and clutched her cane so tightly her veins bulged out. She brought Frances back silently, wondering what chances she had of succeeding: Nadia couldn't be used and Alaska wouldn't have anyway as she hadn't had a chance to train her yet, Paige was at a large disadvantage and Darwin could easily disobey. She was stuck, and it was going to be a rash decision in order to wipe the look off Surge's face: did she risk Darwin disobeying or gamble with Paige?

"GO!" Alaska yelled, throwing a PokeBall forwards and hoping it was the right choice. Surge remained quiet for a moment, leaning forwards to see the outcome, but let out his loudest laugh yet as the red energy formed. Paige looked confused to have formed amongst echoing laughter, but as she landed and took in all the sights it wasn't hard to work out where she was: all yellow, a Raichu in front of her, Sandy watching, Alaska smiling nervously at her. The Pidgeotto looked around to double check, and than turned towards Alaska that practically said 'Are you fucking serious? Ah Electric gym – REALLY?'

"Don't blame me, I have a head injury!" Alaska said indignantly, pointing at her bandaged skull. Paige smiled at this, and Alaska stretched her arms out for the Pidgeotto to fly into before pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you for all you did in that tunnel, it was amazing."

"Pidgey Pidge Pidgey," Paige said and patted her with her wings. Alaska found the hug reassuring and eliminated most of her worries, but Surge coughed loudly from across the field, breaking them up.

"Can we save the chit chat and huggie time for later?" He growled and than smirked at his own joke. "I know your ill but a Flying type really is an outrageous decision. Raichu, we might as well have some fun with this as this is too easy: Iron Tail, let's go!" Alaska had new found strength in her decision after the hug, and Paige glared over at Surge at his joke and turned back to her, looking determined.

"Glad to see you think he's as big of a dickhead as I do," Alaska said with a smile. "Steel Wing, let's go!" Paige nodded and suddenly took off, her wings glowing silver as she sped towards Raichu. The tail of the Mouse Pokemon glowed entirely silver and he pounded forwards, moving as if rushing after prey through the grass, and leapt up as Paige came nearer. Fortunately for her, Paige was able to swerve around, the long tail missing her by nearly a metre.

"PIDGE!" She shouted, swinging around and smashing her wings into his neck, sending Raichu sprawling back onto the ground. Surge's smile was wiped off his face and Alaska grinned slyly in delight, laughing as Sandy leapt up and began dancing on the spot in celebration.

"Quick Attack while he's down, go!" Alaska called, and Paige nodded, turning around and taking off with a flash. Raichu didn't know what was coming and was hit squarely in the stomach by the speeding Pidgeotto, sending him rolling over once again and infuriating Surge even more.

"Thunderbolt, go!" He roared. Raichu began to glow yellow, but he looked pained and Alaska remained optimistic, glad her risk of using Paige seemed to be paying off now.

"Raaaiii… Chuuu!" Raichu huffed, sending a bolt of electricity into the air. Paige could see it coming and quickly began to dive down, but Alaska gasped as she saw her close companion wasn't fast enough: the Thunderbolt managed to clip her wing, sending Paige squawking and spiralling towards the ground. Alaska was shocked, but mildly recovered as Paige pulled herself up just in time, her left wing appearing limp.

"Are you fine to continue?" She called out, and Paige nodded her head, still looking determined. "Good to hear, now Aerial Ace!" Alaska shouted, annoyed that her dreams continued to get crushed.

"Non missing moves eh?" Surge smirked. "We can play that game too: Shock Wave, go!" Paige took off with her wings glowing, though looked pained as she dived down towards Raichu as he got to his feet. It was clear her attacks were starting to have some effect, but it could only take the Shock Wave to completely eliminate Paige from the rest of the battle.

"Pidgey!" Paige cried, swooping down with her glowing wings and striking Raichu once more: the attack did seem to cause injury, but the Flying type move wasn't as severe and Raichu managed to stay upright.

"CHUUUU!" He cried, a thinner bolt of electricity shooting from his tail. Paige turned to avoid it but the Shock Wave swerved after her, hitting her directly in the chest. Alaska gasped as the Pidgeotto fell to the ground, writhing slightly and looking severely pained. She was shocked to see how much the Electric attacks were working, and despite getting three moves in things were now even between Paige and Raichu: one more hit could easily knock the other out, but it was all a matter of who could move first.

"I knew a Flying type wouldn't last long, no matter how many fancy moves it had," Surge chuckled. "Thunderbolt again!"

"Use Twister!" Alaska cried, wondering if the final move Paige had in her arsenal would be of any use. It was only as Paige pushed herself back into the air that Alaska realized it was better than she expected: Dragon types were resistant towards Electric type moves, so possibly a Dragon attack would protect Paige?

"Ooooooottooooo!" Paige cried, stretching her wings with obvious pain and beginning to spin around. Purple energy began to swirl around her, creating wind within the gym and causing them all to feel the breeze. However, Raichu was glowing yellow and sparking, staring up towards his opponent and managing to move forwards.

"RAAAAIIIIII!" He yelled, firing the Thunderbolt just as the Twister properly formed, creating a giant churning mass of draconian energy that rose up from the tiled floor to the domed ceiling. Alaska and Surge shielded their eyes against the Twister as it arched and shot towards Raichu, striking him in the stomach as the Thunderbolt tore through the air. There was a simultaneous cry from both Pokemon as the attacks hit, the Twister partially glowing yellow and sparking from the Thunderbolt within. Alaska watched as the Twister kept spinning, simply hoping that things would keep working. However, only a moment later things changed: the Twister dramatically exploded, sending a blast of wind and energy through the gym with the Thunderbolt sparking behind. Alaska cried out as she her cane slipped, unable to stand against the wind and found herself tipping over backwards. A shudder went through her body as her back hit the ground, and Alaska groaned as the pain in her head and leg rose up again.

"ALASKA!" Sandy shouted, and it seemed like only a moment later the blonde had appeared above her with a stunned look on her face, ushering for someone to come over. "Are you alright Alaska? I knew you shouldn't have battled! Oh, now you're going to die and it's all so unnecessary!"

"I am fine Sandy," Alaska said, pushing herself up and letting out a moan like someone that wasn't fine. "Just a slight knock on the head, that's all," she added, grabbing the cane and raising a hand to Sandy. Steven and Mitchell had rushed forwards, but Alaska was back on her feet before they arrived, forcing a smile to cover up the exceedingly painful throbbing coming from beneath her bandages.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Steven asked.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Alaska snapped back irritably, despite her head yelling 'I'm not fine really.'

"Very well then," Steven said, looking displeased with being snapped at. "Both Pokemon have fainted as well." Alaska had been focused on her pain and not on the battle and quickly turned back, wondering what had happened to Paige but only to find Steven was correct: the Pidgeotto lay unconscious on the ground, several metres away from a limp looking Raichu. A draw was more than Alaska had expected and she was pleased Raichu was down, but felt bad for Paige and worried as she knew what her only option was now.

"Are we fine to continue?" Surge asked icily. He seemed rather annoyed that his Raichu had fainted at the hands of a Flying type and Alaska took some solace in this.

"Yes yes, we are!" Steven said, moving back towards his spot. Sandy was staring at Alaska with a look that seemed to imply she knew Alaska was covering up an injury, but Alaska merely smiled back and refused to budge.

"Good luck for the last round," Sandy said with a hint of a sigh. "I'll keep cheering for you." Alaska smiled in appreciation before turning back towards the field. She felt rather conflicted about bringing Paige back: Sandy's look made her want to drop out, and most of Alaska's mind was telling her that was the right idea. She could return in a few days when she and her team were feeling better, possibly after training Darwin up to behave and pushing Frances towards evolution.

Continuing the battle was stupid and Alaska knew it, but there was no way she was giving up. Surge was arrogant and wanted her to give up, and Alaska wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of her leaving and than being even more superior when they next returned. And once more, Alaska wanted to keep trying for her journey: after all that had happened over the past few days, she was more determined than ever to defeat the gyms. It seemed unavoidable now that she was involved with all of this drama with Gideon and exploding robots, but if Alaska managed to keep battling the gyms and not let injuries from this unwanted mess stop her, than maybe she could keep trying both.

"Now that we can confirm my lovely opponent has died from a slight fall," Surge said with a sneer, "let us just continue the battle, shall we?"

"We shall," Alaska replied with a smile, the two bringing their Pokemon back at the same time. She switched Paige's PokeBall for Darwin's, pausing slightly before throwing it out: was this really going to be a good idea? Would forfeiting due to her injuries be worse than a last minute failure?

"Electabuzz, go!" Surge yelled. His PokeBall burst on the ground and an almost human Pokemon formed out. The new Electric type had a yellow body with black markings, a long black and yellow striped tail and antennae on the top of his head, which was reasonably wide and had an angry look spread across,.

"ELECAELECAELECA!" The Electabuzz slurred, pounding his thick fists against his chest. Alaska instantly found this Pokemon strange but it gave her the answer she wanted to hear.

"Win this Darwin!" She yelled, sending her Primeape out for the second time that day. It was going to be a big risk on wheter he obeyed or not, but Alaska could see that Darwin might have an issue with this Electabuzz and simply figured that if Darwin defeated him, did it really matter at the moment if he did so by listening to her or not? Alaska knew this wasn't a good attitude to have, but winning meant everything at the moment: she had one shot to defeat Surge and wipe the smile off his face but a million more to properly train her Pokemon.

"Primeape Prime Prime!" Darwin called as he formed before her, flexing his muscles and bouncing up on his feet. Alaska remembered how he seemed annoyed when she brought him back prior to the match, so it seemed was eager to get stuck into the battle.

"Elecaelecabuzzeleceleca!" Electabuzz growled from in front, and Darwin turned to face his opponent. Alaska could only see Electabuzz but the Electric Pokemon looked even grumpier and she could see Darwin raising fists: this was going to be a very interesting fight.

"You monkey may have destroyed my gym, but let's just see how he fears against Electabuzz!" Surge yelled. "Low Kick, go!"

"Fighting moves on a Fighting type? Please!" Alaska scoffed. "Karate Chop, go!" Electabuzz lashed out with one of his legs, swinging it around and preparing to knock the Pig Monkey Pokemon over. However, Darwin suddenly launched himself upwards with a push of his legs, moving him to the side and out of the way of the attack.

"PRIMEEEE!" Darwin cried, swinging a hand into Electabuzz's stomach. Alaska clapped with joy as the wind was knocked out of the Electric type and knew using Darwin would have its benefits. However, the clapping stopped as Darwin swung around again, swinging a Karate Chop towards the back of Electabuzz's head.

"Alaska, control you're Pokemon!" Steven gasped as Electabuzz fell to the ground, clearly pained from the two hit attacks. "There is no rule against Pokemon who disobey their trainers but it is just common courtesy to control it!"

"Yes, I am sorry, I haven't been able to sort this out yet," Alaska apologized, glaring at Darwin as he leered over Electabuzz.

"Maybe you shouldn't be battling then!" Surge snapped. "ThunderPunch!" Alaska was furious at being shamed and was going to let Darwin know it afterwards, but as she readied her attack she gasped: Darwin had grabbed Electabuzz by his tail and was beginning to swing him.

"STOP!" Alaska yelled in shock. Darwin smiled as he continued to spin, taking this as meaning to stop spinning and he let go. The force of the Seismic Toss sent Electabuzz spinning through the air and over the pitch, crashing into the stands on the other side. Darwin punched the air as his opponent crashed through the wood and metal and landed beneath. Alaska wasn't sure how to feel: happy that Surge was getting defeated or shocked at Darwin's behaviour. Sandy, Steven and Mitchell all looked stunned while Surge simply looked angry, and Alaska imagined this was what her mother felt like all the times she had tantrums in the supermarket.

"You want to play rough Acevdeo?" Surge snarled. "We'll play rough! THUNDER!" Darwin heard the order and turned towards Electabuzz, raising his fists and beginning to run forwards to attack. Alaska went to yell out an order but paused as a bright yellow glow erupted from the stands. A second later what looked like three Thunderbolts in one burst through the stands. It was blinding and Alaska could feel her hair below her bandages rising up from the electricity. Sandy yelled as Darwin was blasted into the wall above their heads, the tiles shattering and the lights flickering from the power flowing through the air. The Thunder came to a stop after half a minute, in which the yellow lightning bolt disappeared to show a beaming Surge, Electabuzz now standing outside of the stands and Darwin forced into the wall with his fur standing up.

"That was pretty astounding, wasn't it?" Surge laughed. "ThunderPunch, go!"

"BUZZBUZZBUZZ!" Electabuzz yelled and shot forwards with his right fist glowing yellow. Sandy and Mitchell moved aside with a shout as the Electric Pokemon ran up the stands, just as Darwin rolled out of his tiny crater. Electabuzz swung around, driving the fist into Darwin's face and sending him careering back to the field.

"Please keep the battle on the field!" Steven yelled, nearly getting knocked asides as Electabuzz ran back down. Alaska was shocked to see how strong Surge's Electabuzz could be, and knew that the gym leader was just as willing to do anything to win as she was. She now pitied Darwin though, who lay weakly on the ground, and worried for herself, knowing her battle was nearly lost.

"Come on Electabuzz, let's get this over with," Surge said with a beam. "Let's try Low Kick again, go!" Alaska had no idea what to do, as any order was most likely to get ignored, but she couldn't just let Darwin lay there.

"Karate Chop!" She yelled, hoping he would listen and managed to stand, but it didn't seem likely as Electabuzz lashed out with his leg. The kick managed to strike, hitting Darwin in the legs and rolling him over. Surge and Electabuzz both laughed, and Alaska cursed under her breathe as she knew her battle was lost, but all that changed in one swift movement: Darwin suddenly leapt up, ramming a fist directly into Electabuzz's face.

"Well that's interesting," Mitchell said, his remark sounding as everyone else fell silent: they had all seen Darwin as losing, but suddenly he was up with his eyes glowing red and muscles tense, Electabuzz stumbling backwards. Alaska's jaw had dropped, no idea in her mind what that move was but knowing it was something good.

"ThunderPunch!" Surge yelled once Electabuzz had stopped, bothered that his victory had been held off.

"Keep using that move!" Alaska yelled in delight. She looked across and saw Sandy had quickly sent Bellsprout out, her two person cheering squad dancing on the stands. Things seemed to be changing and Alaska was beginning to feel better, ignoring the terrible pain in her head and watching joy as Darwin reared up. Electabuzz swung the ThunderPunch, striking Darwin in the stomach and though he looked pained, the Primeape remained standing.

"APE!" He boomed and swung two more punches, blasting Electabuzz into the sky and backwards. The attack seemed more powerful than before and Alaska wondered if Darwin had learnt Rage, an attack that got more powerful every time the user got hit. It would explain how he simply took the attacks and they were getting more powerful, with Electabuzz struggling to stand. Alaska looked up and saw Surge seemed to have come to the same conclusion, a grim look on his face. His Pokemon didn't seem to have any moves that weren't attacks, leaving him at a serious disadvantage.

"Your call Surger," Alaska yelled, grinning widely as Darwin puffed out his chest, staring over at Electabuzz. The Primeape looked fairly tired himself, but it would come down to wheter he could withstand Electabuzz's next attack to score another hit.

"Thunder!" He yelled, though his face remained weak and nervous and Alaska knew the attack was a cheap shot: it had a high chance of missing, meaning it would be easy for Darwin to have his Rage weakened.

"Run forwards and punch the bugger!" Alaska yelled, and was stunned as Darwin ran forwards, Electabuzz beginning to glow completely yellow and sparking.

"ELECALECA!" He bellowed, and the powerful bolt was fired forwards. Alaska winced as Darwin took the Thunder full blast, the electricity completely engulfing him and Electabuzz and the surrounding area. Everything was a mystery now, the electricity completely surrounding them and Alaska had no idea what the outcome would be, but knew that one Pokemon was going to faint.

"PRIMEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Darwin suddenly yelled, and Alaska cheered in delight as Electabuzz was blasted upwards. Surge's jaw dropped as the Electric Pokemon smashed into the dome, taking out a pane of glass, before falling back down to earth. The Thunder instantly diminished without its power source and Alaska jumped up as she saw Darwin was kneeling in pain on the ground but still had an eye open. She forgot about her sore leg until it collapsed under her weight and Alaska quickly pushed onto her cane to hold herself up, but ignored the feeling as she was too happy watching Electabuzz smash into the ground next to Surge's feet.

"Electabuzz is unable to battle," Steven announced, trying to hide a smile, "meaning that the challenger Alaska Acevedo and her Primeape Darwin are the winners."

"YEEEEESSSSS!" Sandy screamed, making Mitchell and Bellsprout jolt but she didn't care as she came racing down towards Alaska, flailing her arms in delight. "I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT, I JUST KNEW YOU WOULD! OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO AMA –,"

"Bring the chair," Alaska called out, the pain from jumping beginning to settle in. Sandy gasped as if she had just set something on fire and rushed back, grabbing the wheelchair and pushing it forwards at top speed. "Thank you," Alaska said, collapsing into the seat in relief, "and I am glad you felt proud, though weren't you worried I was going to die?"

"Heat of the moment," Sandy said with a shrug and Alaska laughed, though found herself feeling a lot weaker and more tired now that the exhilaration of the battle was over: her leg and head both throbbed and she wouldn't mind having a proper lie down. However, Alaska managed to hold herself together as Sandy wheeled her towards Darwin, who looked very weak himself.

"You did amazingly," Alaska said with a smile, "great job." Darwin merely nodded, a bit of a grumpy pout on his face. Alaska sighed, too tired to deal with him at the moment, and simply smiled as she brought him back inside his PokeBall. A similar clicking noise sounded to her left and Sandy turned the chair as Surge walked forwards, placing Electabuzz's PokeBall back in his pocket.

"While I am not happy about how this battle went nor about the fact you've escaped paying for the damages, I must admit you wer a very interesting challenge and you have deserved this," Surge said. He pressed one of the many buttons on his remote and a tile slid aside a few places underneath Voltorb's crater: on top was a small metal badge that looked like the sun while the other was a yellow Technical Machine. "It contains Shock Wave: might be pretty useful."

"Thank you," Alaska said, smiling widely as she took the badge and TM. Sandy, Steven, Bellsprout and Surge clapped, and Mitchell reluctantly tapped his hands together behind. Alaska was relieved she had managed to win, but her joy was clouded by the pain throughout her and the knowledge that with Nadia indisposed she needed to heal her Pokemon quickly, another grim reminder of how a challenge she hadn't signed up for was going to hang around no matter what she did, and took all of Alaska's strength to not dampen the mood by crying.

Electabuzz is meant to speak with his words together, as in an anime episode he sounded sort of like this and it always amused me so I kept it in :P Final of the Vermilion Arc next