Scene 54: A Shocking Victory!
Kari and Eevee are sitting on the Vermillion City docks enjoying the soft sea breeze and an afternoon snack. Kari goes in to get another bite from her bag of JigglyPUFFS, but her hand only grabs air. She looks into the bag- it's empty! Turning to look at Eevee, she sees his cheeks are puffing out, full of the snack.
"Hey! We were supposed to share! I can't believe you ate them all!" Eevee jumps at her sudden outburst, giving an apologetic grin; after all, he knew these were one of Kari's favorite snack. JigglyPUFFS: soft chocolates with a thin marshmallow outer-layer in either pink or white. And these were the good ones, too, with berries inside. Vee-Eeveeee~…
Several minutes later Kari is still huffing. Eevee is walking just behind her, his ears downward. Kari crosses her arms, "I don't know. Maybe I won't even use you in this next Gym Battle, since I can't even trust you to share a simple snack." Eevee whines at her. She gives him a side glare, turning away and continuing on to the next building.
They've arrived at the Vermillion City Gym. It's a tall building with lightning bolt shapes decorating its exterior. It's not hard to guess what kind of gym this is. As they approach the sliding door opens and they step over the threshold. It's pitch black inside. Kari and Eevee look at one another. They take a few hesitant steps farther in looking around, "I wonder where everyone is." Vee-Eevee… A heavy foot stomps on the ground ahead as if it belonged to a large person, "Well, well, well… I was wondering when I'd be seeing you."
Kari looks farther into the shadows. A towering man steps forward. Kari gulps. She recognizes him, "P-professor Lt. Surge!? What are you doing here?"
He gives off a boisterous laugh, "Did you already forget? I'm the Vermillion City Gym Leader!" He thrusts a thumb to his chest. She remembers him telling the students something of the sort back on their first day. Kari can't believe she actually forgot.
"I guess as The Boss' daughter I ought to give you some special treatment, huh? Like how The Boss just gave you that Gym Badge… But don't expect much..!" Kari grimaces. He smirks, "As I'm sure you remember, I believe in tough love. Your secret's safe with me, but I'm not going to go easy on you." He shows her the Gym Badge. It's tiny in his hands and is in the shape of a sunflower with a yellow rim and orange gem at its center.
"You're going to have to really earn this baby!" Kari returns the smile, "And I wouldn't expect anything less!" She knows better than to show any kind of doubt or fear in front of him. She remembers how terrifying of an instructor he was at the Team Rocket Academy. She could only imagine the type of Gym Leader he would turn out to be…
In the next room they arrive to the battle field. Standing on the sidelines of the field are Surge's cronies: tall older men & women with different colored hair, strange clothing, and nasty looks on their faces. The perfect companions for him, for sure. The room is dimly lit, most of the light centered on the field itself.
Lt. Surge pulls out a Pokéball. "I guess this battle will prove to me just how good you really are." Kari reaches for her own ball, "I've grown since my days at the Team Rocket Academy, you know!" He laughs shamelessly, "I'll be the judge of that." He throws the ball to reveal a Pikachu. Kari tosses her own ball and Pidgeotto appears.
"Hahaha! You've got big and brassy nerves to take me on with your puny power! A Pokémon battle is war! I'll show you civilian! I'll shock you into surrender!" Kari clenched her fist at his words. She knew she was at a Type Disadvantage, but she also believed in her Pokémon… they could still win.
At Lt. Surge's command Pikachu dashed forward. It ran around the field trying to land an attack, but Pidgeotto had the advantage of flight. She flew in and out of sight, attempting to confuse Pikachu. After Pidgeotto manages to land a few hits, Pikachu finally makes contact with its Thundershock. There's an explosion midair.
Lt. Surge and Pikachu are laughing. He snaps his fingers, "And just like that, it's over." Kari smirks, "Not yet!"
"Huh?" Surge looks up, still mid-laugh.
"Use Aerial Ace!" Kari's the one smiling now. Pikachu notices a bright light in the middle of the cloud. Suddenly, out of the smoke, Pidgeotto comes sailing in for the final attack. Her body is shining a bright blue in the midst of evolution. Pikachu readies itself to dodge, but now as a full-fledged Pidgeot, Pikachu just isn't quick enough. The hit makes contact and Pikachu goes flying! Pikachu is unable to battle.
Kari runs forward to meet Pidgeot. She puts her wings forward and Kari gives a double high-five. They'd won the match!
Lt. Surge returns his Pikachu, a grimace on his face, "Now that's a shocker." He mumbles to himself, "Guess I should get serious now!" He throws the next ball revealing a small Voltorb. Kari notices how quick he's moving on. She recognizes the Pokémon and uses Dex to gather more data. She looks over at Pidgeot knowing that she must be tired. Thinking it best to conserve her energy Kari prepares another Pokémon for battle.
"It's your turn, Ekans!" Being such a small Pokémon, Voltorb is a difficult mark to hit with its Poison Sting. Kari had originally planned to lower Lt. Surge's Pokémon's energy by poisoning it, but no luck. He manages to grab the Voltorb in a Wrap Attack, but by using a Thundershock, it manages to slip out of their grasp. Voltorb lands a few more attacks before things take a turn for the strange.
Kari and Lt. Surge call their attacks at the same time:
"Tackle- Go!"
"Use Bite!" Ekans goes in for the Bite Attack at the same time Voltorb jumps forward. And before anyone can say anything further, The Voltorb falls straight into Ekans' mouth…
"EHHHH!?" Kari and Lt. Surge are shocked. Ekans is choking- he tries to cough up the little Pokémon. Kari doesn't exactly know what to do in this kind of situation, "C-come on, Ekans! Spit it back out!" Lt. Surge sighs, scratching his head, "Well, this is certainly a first."
Kari dashes forward, trying to help her friend. She pats its back and does her best to help dislodge the Voltorb, but the Surge seems to have a better idea.
"The thing you need to learn about Pokémon battles is… they can get pretty messy…" There's a dark gleam in his eye, "Use Self-Destruct." Kari's head snaps up at his words, "W-what!? You can't do that while it's inside Ekans!" He snickers, "Hope you're not too attached." Kari's eyes get wide.
She can hear Voltorb's movements from inside Ekans' throat. She slams her hand against him, trying to get Voltorb unstuck. It all happens at the same time: Ekans finally spits out Voltorb and Voltorb self-destructs. Kari and Ekans are thrown from the battlefield in the midst of the explosion. EEVEE! PIDGEO!
As the field clears, Eevee and Pidgeot rush to Kari's aid. She's only been winded- Ekans having blocked her from the brunt of the attack. She sits up and Ekans slumps into her lap. He's unconscious. The ref makes the call: "Both Ekans and Voltorb unable to battle!" The girl snickers to herself, her eyes passing over Kari.
She's still in a bit of shock at what just happened. Eevee and Pidgeot are espeaking to her, but she doesn't hear any of it. Kari looks down at herself. She's covered in dirt and is bruised up now. She looks across at Lt. Surge who returns his Pokémon without a care in the world. Kari is angry now. She returns Ekans to his Pokéball, "Thank you for protecting me." She stands, her face in shadow. Lt. Surge is tossing his final Pokéball in the air, smiling.
"Well, lookie-there! You're much tougher than you look, Kid. Close call." She glares at him from across the field, "You don't even care, do you?" He catches the ball in his large hand, "Hn?" She stamps her foot, "You almost killed my Ekans... And you don't care..!" Lt. Surge just shrugs, "Like I said, battles can get messy." Kari clenches her fist. She's shaking with anger.
"Don't tell me you're gonna cry now, are ya?" Lt. Surge laughs. He throws the Pokéball to reveal his final partner, "You better save those tears for when I finish whooping you and your baby Pokémon." Lt. Surge's Raichu is large and heavyset. Just as mean looking as his Trainer. Kari takes a step forward, "Eevee." Vee? He looks up into her face- she has a dark look in her eyes. She takes a deep breath, "Forget what I said before." He cocks his head to the side, confused. "You're up." After a moment he nods. Vee!
It's Eevee versus Raichu. The Gym Rules, explained at the start, states this match to be a 3-on-3 Pokémon Battle. So far, with one Win and one Draw, Kari is in the Lead. She steps onto her spot on the battlefield, "You think you can just treat Pokémon however you want, huh? No wonder you get along with him." Her hand twitches as she talks about her father, "The two of you are so alike… So… this is the true face of Team Rocket."
"HA! You talk like you're so innocent, Girlie." Lt. Surge points a finger straight at her, "Kids these days- always talking like you're so righteous." He remembers the boy he met just a few weeks ago. He'd lost to him, too. Lt. Surge grimaces. He had to prove that he was still a strong Pokémon Trainer and Gym Leader.
"Eevee… It's time to go all-out." Eevee looks back at Kari just to make sure. She smiles at him, "Looks like I do need you for this battle." She gives him a nod. She was serious. He smiles at the idea.
"Battle- Begin!" Riachu jumps for the 1st attack, but suddenly, Eevee disappears! Raichu stutters to a halt. Surge is just as confused. Out of nowhere, something rams into Raichu sideways with a Tackle Attack. Surge is looking around, confused, "W-what? But how-"
"Shadow Ball- Go!" Just as Raichu is standing back up, he's hit with a Shadow Ball. Kari calls out to Eevee, "Don't let up!" Giving a spin mid-air, Eevee showers Raichu with a barrage of Shadow Balls. Slowly, the dark cloud clears from the field. Raichu's legs are shaking now. He and Lt. Surge look for their opponent. Raichu is tired and barely able to move. His ear twitches at Kari's voice somewhere ahead of him,"Nowhere to go."
Lt. Surge and Raichu both look up as the cloud clears. Eevee is standing just to their right, fully powered up. Kari grins, "Now… Use Hyper Beam." Eevee unleashes the power… Raichu didn't even have a chance.
Lt. Surge is staring down at his Raichu. He's stunned. He knew that Kari and Eevee were powerful, but he never expected this. The ref and other cronies were just as surprised with the turn of events. She's the first to recover, "R-Raichu is unable to battle- Eevee wins! The match goes to Challenger Kari!"
Surge returns his Pokémon. Eevee returns to Kari, jumping on top of her shoulder. She thanks him for a great job.
"So, you're the real deal then." Lt. Surge walks over the rubble to join Kari. She looks up at him angrily. He puts his hands up in surrender, "Don't tell me you're still upset about the Voltorb?" He laughs again. But when Kari refuses to respond he continues on, "Fine then. Take the Thunder Badge." He offers it to her. Kari blinks. She'd almost forgotten about her prize. But…
"You may not like me or my battle style, but a badge is a badge." He leans in, "You won't get far without it." Kari knows that he has a point. Reluctantly, she takes the Thunder Badge from Lt. Surge. He claps her shoulder with a heavy hand, offering dinner, "I promise I'll be a complete gentleman! As The Boss' daughter, I'll be sure to treat you well." She turns away, shoving him off, "No way would I have dinner with you."
She walks towards the door. Pidgeot follows her. The sliding door opens for them but she stops, "You're a strong Trainer, Professor Lt. Surge, and you may be one of my father's Top Administrators of Team Rocket but…" Her clenched fists open. She exhales, "You're better than that…" Lt. Surge's eyebrows furrow at her words. Kari turns to face him. She gives him a sad smile, "Anyways, I learned a whole lot from you while I was at the Academy. Thank you." She bows. Kari turns and leaves.
The sun is setting on the water as Kari sits back on the docks with her Pokémon. She looks at the Thunder Badge in her hand. Kari sighs. [ Surge was right.] Kari pulls out her badge case from her backpack. She sets the bag aside and opens the little case. The Earth Badge from her father, the Boulder Badge from Brock, the Cascade Badge from Misty, and now the Thunder Badge from Surge. [ This was the whole reason I had to leave that place… I'll put an end to that kind of battling style, but… in order to do that, I have to become stronger. ] She closes the Badge Case. Kari suddenly stands, "Let's go…" Eevee's ear twitches as she speaks, "We still have a long way to go from here! You guys with me?" She turns to look at her friends, but something else catches her eye.
Eevee's cheeks are full of some kind of food and Pidgeot has her beak in a small bag. Kari blinks. She reads the picture, "Hey! I was saving those JigglyPUFFS for tomorrow's snack! I can't believe you guys opened them already!" Eevee quickly jumps over Pidgeot's large body and runs off laughing. Pidgeot blinks up at her Trainer, grabs the bag, and flies off after Eevee. Kari stamps her foot, "You two get back here! I'll show you!" The two Pokémon laughing at their Trainer's reaction, Kari makes chase. Even after all that's happen, Kari manages to smile. At least when she was out here- away from the image of her father and his company, she could have moments like this. Moments that made her genuinely happy…
Challenges Lt. Surge upon arriving in Vermillion City PIDGEOTTO EVOLVES
((Ekans/Eevee/Pidgeotto)).
{{Current Team: Eevee, Pidgeotto-Pidgeot, Metapod, Ekans, Raticate, Sandshrew}}
Total Poke'mon: Eevee, Pidgeot, Raticate, Metapod, *Beedrill, Ceffairy, Spearow, Ekans, Sandshrew, Goldeen, Poliwag...
Eevee: Tackle, Swift, Shadow Ball, Hyper Beam
Raticate: Focus Energy, Hyper Fang, Tail Whip, Pursuit
Pidgeotto: Tackle, Sand Attack - Aerial Ace, Whirlwind, Quick Attack
Metapod: Tackle, String Shot, Harden
Ekans: Wrap, Bite, Poison Sting, Glare
Sandshrew: Dig, Rollout, Aerial Ace, Sand Tomb