Surprise! New chapter for you guys! Really, because it's just a continuation of last chapter. This one is not really my favorite, by the way, sooo just letting you guys know. It's just easier to put it up now because I'm trying to get ready to leave for college, plus my old laptop is on the verge of death and I'm struggling to adjust to my new one. So, bear with me here!

Last time: The group arrived in Vermilion City, with Aiden ready to challenge the gym leader for his second badge. As it turns out, the gym leader, Lt. Surge, is a powerful, scary man who will hold any mistake Aiden makes over his mother's head. With this in mind, Aiden goes into battle with one objective: to win. After realizing that Lt. Surge's Raichu is slow to both move and charge up due to its premature evolution, Aiden takes advantage of Growlithe's speed and earns the Thunder Badge! After the battle, however, Michelle has a special request for Lt. Surge: teach her Pichu charge beam in order to help the baby mouse become more powerful. Lt. Surge agrees, but a certain gym assistant doesn't seem too happy about it...

Chapter 13: All Charged Up!

"Charge beam's a good move for Pichu to learn," Lt. Surge informed Michelle. "Since the electricity isn't comin' from inside her body, it won't cause any recoil damage."

Michelle nodded, hanging onto every word that came out of Lt. Surge's mouth. He did scare her, quite a lot, actually, but his guidance could only help Pichu become a better battler ad stronger Pokémon. Michelle wasn't going to miss that chance just because she was combating some silly nerves.

"What Pichu's gotta' do is form a ball of electricity between her paws," Lt. Surge continued. Looking down at the baby mouse, he addressed her, "watch Raichu, now, baby. You'll see what you gotta' do. Raichu, use charge beam, but do it slowly."

"Rai," Raichu nodded, raising his paws and focusing deeply as a small sphere of electricity formed between the stubby appendages.

"Chu?" Pichu breathed.

"Raichu is focusing all of his electricity in the middle of his body," Lt. Surge explained. "That way, he can form that ball of electricity where the charge beam attack will come from."

"Do you hear that, Pichu?" Michelle knelt down and talked to her little partner. "Focus all of your electricity in the center of your body, and then try to form that ball of energy. Got it?"

"Pi!" Pichu nodded. She placed her paws in front of her, closing her beady black eyes and trying her hardest to gather all of the electricity she could. The power was building up deep inside of her, and after a few moments, a tiny ball of yellow light appeared between her small paws.

"You're doing it, Pichu!" Michelle marveled.

"Excellent!" Lt. Surge boomed. "Now, once you've got the sphere all charged up, Pichu's gotta' thrust her arms forward, which will cause the electricity ball to shoot out a beam of even more powerful electricity! That's what puts the beam in charge beam."

"Can you do that, Pichu?" Michelle asked her Pokémon.

"Pi…pichu…" Pichu muttered, trying to add strength to the sphere of electricity. It started to work, as the ball grew larger and larger until it was almost the size of Pichu's entire body.

"Now, use it!" Lt. Surge ordered.

"Okay," Michelle nodded, "Pichu, use charge beam!"

"Pi…chu!" Pichu threw her arms forward, but there was no beam emitting from the ball. Instead, it was just a few weak sparks, like an electrical outlet shorting out.

"Oh, no," Michelle frowned.

"That ain't uncommon," Lt. Surge chuckled. "She's gotta' practice more, that's all!"

"Pichu, try charge beam again," Michelle calmly ordered.

"Chu," Pichu started to concentrate her electricity, the small sphere of yellow light appearing between her paws once again. It continued to swell until it once again matched Pichu's size.

"Great!" Michelle cheered. "Now…fire it off!"

"Pi…chu!" Pichu thrust her arms forward, but again, only a series of feeble sparks crackled out of the ball.

"You're getting closer," Michelle mused.

Lt. Surge rubbed his chin in thought before raising his index finger in the air and shouting, "hey, I got it!" Looking over his shoulder, he called, "Ryder, why don't you help Michelle and Pichu out with learning this attack, huh?"

Huffing, Ryder looked away and childishly asked, "Why should I?"

"Because you'll never make a good gym leader if you don't listen to me," Lt. Surge answered in a steady, almost haughty voice.

Scowling, Ryder stepped forward and pushed some of his dark brown hair back. Pulling a poke ball off of his belt, he stared down the younger red head and demanded powerfully, "Battle me."

"Battle you?" Michelle repeated.

"That's what I said," Ryder scoffed.

Furrowing her brow, Michelle growled gently before deciding, "Fine, you're on! Let's go, Pichu."

"Pi!" Pichu waved her arms frantically, a determined look on her cute little face.

With a flick of his wrist, Ryder tossed his own poke ball, calling, "alright, Joltik, come on out."

A small, fuzzy, yellow Pokémon appeared before Ryder, jumping up and down as it cried out, "jol! Jol!"

"Whoa, what kind of Pokémon is that?" Aiden's eyes widened as he took out his poke dex.

Joltik, the attaching Pokémon. The smallest known Pokémon in the world, Joltik cling to larger Pokémon and suck up static electricity to recharge themselves. They can also suck up electricity from household plug sockets.

"Aren't Joltik from Unova?" Brandon wondered aloud.

"How does Ryder have a Pokémon from Unova?" Aiden gawked. "They're so rare around here!"

"That's because Ryder is from Unova," Lt. Surge smirked.

"What?!" Brandon and Aiden gasped.

"Eastern Unova, to be exact," Lt. Surge nodded. "You see, I'm friends with Ryder's father. Have been ever since we were in the army together. I saved his life during the war, you know. So he's always said he owed me somethin'. I knew after awhile I'd never have a kid of my own, and his son right here had always showed a lot of promise as a Pokémon trainer, ever since he was a boy. But he's got a bit of an attitude problem, which you've all probably seen by now. I told his father that Ryder would make a great apprentice for me, and an even better future gym leader. But he had to live here with me to get the proper training and learn how to better handle himself and his Pokémon. He's been doing pretty well for himself, but you can see that we've still got a few kinks to work out. He ain't perfect, yet."

"What other Pokémon does Ryder have?" Brandon inquired.

"An Electabuzz and a Galvantula, which is the evolved form of Joltik," Lt. Surge answered. "Joltik is his little baby Pokémon in training. I guess that's why he chose Joltik to battle Pichu. It won't be an unfair battle that way, and Joltik needs some training anyway."

"So…what do Taran and Eva do?" Aiden blinked.

"They're junior trainers of mine as well," Lt. Surge nodded. "But they ain't here to become gym leaders. They're just here because they specialize in electric types, and want to train under the best. Taran is from around here, but Eva is from Johto, since there aren't any good electric type trainers out there. Both are very useful to me, along with Ryder. Not only are they skilled trainers and fast learners, but they make a great cleaning staff for the gym!"

Lt. Surge guffawed rather loudly as Aiden and Brandon sweat dropped. In front of them, the battle between Joltik and Pichu had been raging on, as much as a battle between two such small Pokémon could be considered "raging."

Joltik had just used screech, and now Pichu was busy trying to use charge beam once again. She had the sphere of electricity between her paws, nearly at full size. The struggle was apparent on her face, but neither she nor Michelle looked ready to give up.

"I believe in you, Pichu," Michelle murmured to the baby Pokémon before calling loudly, "now, charge beam, let's go!"

"Pi…chu!" Pichu threw her arms forward, and a powerful beam of electricity emerged from the glowing sphere. It hit Joltik so quickly that the dual type Pokémon flew back with a shrill cry, its little legs wiggling desperately as it hit the ground.

"Joltik!" Ryder gasped.

"Pichu, you did it!" Michelle squealed.

"Pi! Pichupi!" Pichu turned around and ran over to Michelle, jumping into her trainer's arms and burying her face against her chest.

Looking down, Michelle saw that Joltik was in obvious pain, and struggling to stand back up. Smiling sympathetically, she turned her glance up on Ryder and decided, "Ryder, let's stop the battle. We can call it a draw."

"What?!" Ryder seemed horrified by such an idea.

"Both of our Pokémon are tired," Michelle reasoned with the brunette boy. "They're young, so they get tired more easily. It was a good match; we can just declare it a draw."

She held her hand out for a handshake, but Ryder turned away from it quite blatantly. Michelle gasped and looked half offended, half infuriated with the boy. Lt. Surge, however, managed to step in before the resilient young girl could get her hands around Ryder's neck.

"Ryder, what kind of an attitude is that to have?" Lt. Surge demanded.

"She's weak!" Ryder argued. "Who just gives up a battle like that?"

"A smart trainer!" Lt. Surge bit. Ryder seemed taken off guard by this, but Lt. Surge wasn't about to stop chastising the younger boy now. "Michelle saw that both of your Pokémon were worn out, so she called off the battle. It was smart! You're the stupid boy who would've kept on battling until his Pokémon was halfway towards death! What's wrong with you, kid?"

"Nothing, I'm strong!" Ryder argued.

"You're also not a very bright kid," Lt. Surge folded his arms over his chest.

At this, Ryder growled and tried to storm away, but was stopped by Lt. Surge, who had grabbed the boy by his arm. Looking up, Ryder grimaced and tried to shake himself free, but it was no use. Lt. Surge was just too strong.

"You know, Ryder," Lt. Surge continued, not as fiercely as he'd been before, "you could learn a lot from Aiden and Michelle."

"But they're-"

"Smart," Lt. Surge smirked.

Twisting his mouth, Aiden stepped forward and offered, "hey, Ryder! I'll battle you!"

"I don't want to battle you, runt," Ryder scoffed.

"That's a great idea, Aiden!" Lt. Surge commended the boy.

"What?!" Ryder growled.

"Come on, Ryder, it can't hurt!" Lt. Surge chortled. "A battle can never hurt. All you'll do is learn."

Still scowling, Ryder managed to free himself from the gym leader's hold in order to glare at Aiden, who didn't look at all deterred by the older boy's mean look. "Fine, I'll battle you. But you're going to lose, badly. You're going to pay for beating my gym leader."

"Okay," Aiden shrugged. "Show me what you've got!"

Tearing a poke ball off of his belt, Ryder threw it and yelled, "Electabuzz, let's go!"

Retrieving his own poke ball, Aiden tossed it and countered, "Come on out, Squirtle!"

Brandon gasped while Michelle smacked her forehead. In front of them, Ryder simply cackled, his golden eyes shining with pure mischievousness. "Really? A water type against an electric type? Something's wrong with your head."

"Type advantage isn't everything," Aiden shrugged, his own smirk gracing his face. "I learned that from my Dad."

"I don't care what you've learned from your Daddy," Ryder bit. "I'm going to run that little Squirtle of yours right into the ground! Electabuzz, thunderpunch!"

The electric Pokémon roared and charged forward, his fist glowing in bright yellow electricity as he moved closer to Squirtle.

"Squirtle, dodge it!" Aiden called.

The water type jumped right over the electric type and bounced off his head, further angering the yellow and black Pokémon along with his trainer.

"Hey!" Ryder barked.

"That was perfectly fair," Aiden smirked. "Squirtle, use bubble!"

Before landing on the ground, Squirtle did a flip and turned on his toes to face Electabuzz's back. Opening his mouth, Squirtle unleashed a steady stream of bubbles, all of which hit Electabuzz before he could even think to turn around.

"Electabuzz!" Ryder cried before growling at Aiden, who was still smirking. "Alright, then. Electabuzz, electro ball!"

A ball of electricity formed in front of Electabuzz's mouth, growing larger until the electric type jumped up and swatted at it with his long tail. The sphere went flying towards Squirtle, who managed to slide on the floor right underneath it.

"What?!" Ryder was seething.

"Awesome job, Squirtle!" Aiden cheered. "Now use tail whip!"

The small blue turtle ran towards the electric type and hit it right in the stomach with his tail, but unfortunately for Squirtle, he was more affected than Electabuzz was.

Stumbling backwards, Squirtle winced as electricity sparked off of his body. Gasping, Aiden's eyes widened as he drew his shoulders back and muttered, "What the heck just happened?"

Ryder began to cackle and narrowed his eyes tauntingly at Aiden. "Wow, did you not know that Electabuzz's ability is static?"

"Static?" Aiden mumbled.

"A Pokémon with the static ability will cause paralysis to the opposing Pokémon if their attack is physical," Ryder explained rather expertly. "Since Squirtle hit Electabuzz with his tail, that means you activated Electabuzz's special ability."

"Oh no," Aiden breathed.

"Aiden is so dead," Michelle sighed.

"Now that Squirtle is unable to move…" Ryder muttered with a smirk. "Electabuzz, use hyper beam!"

Electabuzz opened his mouth and quickly shot off a beam of bright yellow-orange light. Squirtle, being stuck in one place, couldn't dodge, and as a result, was hit head on by the hyper beam.

"Squirtle!" Aiden cried worriedly.

The water type was on his back, twitching from both the hyper beam hit and the paralysis he was currently experiencing.

"This is bad," Brandon noted. "Not only is Squirtle paralyzed, but that hyper beam attack knocked him right on his back."

"Which means that Squirtle is going to have an awful hard time getting back up," Michelle concluded. "That is, if he even has a chance to…"

"Squirtle, you have to get up!" Aiden called. "Please!"

The water type tried to move his arms and legs, but it was no use. The electricity was still coursing through his body, and he was rendered all but useless.

"This is perfect," Ryder grinned. "Electabuzz, brick break!"

Electabuzz ran towards Squirtle and jumped up in the air, landing with a firm karate chop delivered to the water type's gut.

"Squirt!" Squirtle cried out in pain.

"Squirtle!" Aiden almost wanted to cover his eyes.

"Ryder's already getting more patient," Lt. Surge noted. "He ain't screamin' at his Pokémon like usual!"

"Squirtle, come on, you've gotta' snap out of that paralysis!" Aiden was practically begging.

The tiny turtle rocked helplessly back and forth, trying his hardest to obey Aiden's command. But it was proving to be rather difficult; impossible, almost. Aiden was quickly becoming frustrated, while Ryder was growing more and more confident.

"Why don't we finish this off, Electabuzz?" Ryder asked his Pokémon, who nodded in agreement. Chuckling, Ryder threw his arm out and yelled, "Electabuzz, use thunder punch!"

The electric type charged forward once again, his fist glowing yellow. Squirtle continued to struggle, trying his best to move his arms and legs to get out of the way.

"Squirtle, please!" Aiden cried. "I know you can do it! I believe in you!"

At the very last moment possible, Squirtle managed to move his tail underneath him, using it as a spring to propel his body up in the air. Electabuzz and Ryder both looked up, gasping at the sight, while Aiden was simply overjoyed that Squirtle had managed to get out of the way.

"Alright, Squirtle!" Aiden was laughing cheerfully.

"What?!" Ryder was wide eyed. Not angry…just shocked.

Up in the air, Squirtle managed to curl his body up into a ball before opening up, his arms and legs now moving freely along with his tail.

"Looks like static wore off," Aiden grinned. "Squirtle, use bubble!"

Still in the air, Squirtle used his bubble attack on Electabuzz, the water type move making direct contact with the yellow face of the Pokémon below him.

"Don't let it get to you, Electabuzz!" Ryder shouted. "Use hyper beam!"

Electabuzz did just that, hitting Squirtle as the water type tumbled back down towards the ground. This time, Squirtle landed on his front, beat up and grimacing in pain.

"Squirtle, are you okay?" Aiden frowned.

"Squir…squirtle…" Squirtle tried to stand up, Ryder watching closely the whole time. He could see that Squirtle was clearly struggling and in a lot of pain, but too headstrong to just give up. If the battle continued, Squirtle could become severely injured. And was that really worth winning one lousy battle? A practice one, at that?

"Wait!" Ryder called, catching the attention of both Aiden and Squirtle. "I think we should call this battle."

"What, why?" Aiden was confused.

"I can tell that Squirtle is really worn out," Ryder motioned towards the little blue turtle. "I don't want to hurt him or anything. It was a great match, so let's call it here."

"Oh, okay," Aiden smiled at the older boy before walking over to Squirtle in order to gather the water type in his arms. "You did great, buddy! That jump into the air with your tail was really impressive."

"Squir…" Squirtle mumbled.

"I agree, that was really great!" Ryder was actually beaming at Aiden, which took the younger boy off guard. Approaching Electabuzz, Ryder stroked the Pokémon on the head, complimenting him, "you did awesome as well, Electabuzz! I'm proud of you."

"Electa," Electabuzz rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"So, Ryder, did the battle teach ya' anything?" Lt. Surge folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes, sir!" Ryder nodded. "I saw that any Pokémon can have real talent, no matter their size. Sometimes, a type disadvantage doesn't even matter. You could still hold control of the battle."

"And…?" Lt. Surge smirked knowingly.

"That…it's important to be patient," Ryder admitted begrudgingly, a blush forming on his cheeks. "You can't have good control over anything if you don't, especially your Pokémon in a battle."

"I'm proud of you, boy," Lt. Surge nodded. "You've learned well today!"

"And it's all thanks to Aiden," Ryder smiled at the raven haired boy. "Thank you!"

"Ha, no problem!" Aiden grinned back at the teenager. "It was a lot of fun!"

XXX

After spending the night at the Vermillion City Pokémon Center, the three young trainers boarded a ferry at Vermillion Port in order to reach their next destination: Porta Vista.

"I'm so excited for my next Contest!" Michelle squealed. "Now that Pichu's learned a new move, I really think we have a great chance of winning!"

"Just remember that Pichu hasn't mastered charge beam yet," Brandon warned the coordinator. "She might not be able to properly utilize it during an appeal or in battle."

"Maybe not, but that's what they invented practice for!" Michelle giggled, looking towards the baby Pokémon that sat on her shoulder. "Right, Pichu?"

"Pi!" Pichu squeaked.

"I'm sure you'll do great, Shelly!" Aiden beamed at his sister.

"Thanks," Michelle giggled airily. "Watching your battles with Lt. Surge and then Ryder really got me all fired up! I'm so excited to get back into Contest mode!"

"And I'm happy that I have two gym badges now!" Aiden pulled out his badge case and slid it open, marveling at the two metal badges that shimmered in the mid morning sunlight. "But I still have six more to go. I'll train my hardest!"

"Did you hear about the Pokémon Master's wife?"

"Yeah, I did! I wonder if it's true."

Aiden and Michelle both looked at one another, each one clearly confused by the strangers' conversation.

"They're talking about Mom," Michelle murmured.

"Wonder why?" Aiden blinked.

"It sounds like some kind of rumor," Brandon noted.

"Oh, they're always starting rumors about Mom and Dad," Aiden scoffed. "I'm pretty sure that Michelle and I have heard them all."

"I hope it's not another baby rumor," Michelle sighed. "Those kind of creep me out."

Furrowing his brow, Aiden approached the two young adults and stared up at them inquiring kindly, "excuse me, but what's going on with her?"

The darker haired man smirked and replied, "There's a steady rumor going around that Misty has been offered a spot in the Elite Four!"

"What?!" Aiden gasped.

"Apparently, she's going to take it," the lighter haired man added. "People think she's jealous of her husband, since he is the Pokémon Master, after all. Her being a member of the Elite Four would put her closer in rank to him."

The look on Aiden's face was a cross between shock and disbelief. His mother? In the Elite Four?

"Aiden!" Michelle scurried over to her brother, yanking him away from the two older males. "What are they talking about? What's the rumor with Mom?"

"Apparently…" Aiden breathed, "Mom's gonna' become a member of the Elite Four."

"WHAT?!" Michelle and Brandon looked even more shocked than Aiden.

"That's impressive," Brandon murmured.

"Yeah…" Michelle frowned, "but then…what will happen to the gym?"

Okay, fine, I liked the END of the chapter. Family drama, it's goin' down ;)

So, what do you guys think? Is the rumor true? Is Misty joining the Elite Four? Is she jealous of Ash? You'll find out...next time! In the meanwhile, leave a review, please? :) I'm super stressed right now (I'm surprised I can even find the time to UPLOAD these chapters for now!) and they'll certainly bring a smile to my face ^^ Thank you, lovely readers!