A/N: Still hating those dang mushrooms. Gotta make a ROCA chapter about it. And... nothing else. Huh. AMERICA, HECK YEAH!
"YAAAWWWNNN!" Matt woke up from his well-deserved sleep.
Joseph also woke up due to Matt's loud yawning. "Hey, when you wake up don't be a Snorlax!"
"Sorry, Exploud." Matt got up and got himself ready for the day.
"You know, that's quite ironic when you remember that I actually have a Snorlax." Scarlet said jokingly.
"Well at least it's inside the Pokeball." Joseph said.
The group got ready and headed towards the Vermilion Gym. However, they met their greatest obstacle.
"Oh no! It's... A TREEEE!" Matt yelled with such disappointment.
"All you have to do is use Cut, you know." Joseph replied.
"But I don't want Cut. I don't need Cut. Cut is terrible and I have no reason for ever needing it!" Matt was being such a complainer.
"Then can't we just, like, walk around?" Scarlet suggested.
"Wait you can actually do that?" Matt was surprised.
"Yeah, of course you can! Don't you see the obvious opening to the side of the tree?" Scarlet pointed out how much space was around it.
"Oh... yeah, that. Well, don't mind if I do~!" Matt and the others walked around the small, harmless tree and went into the gym.
"Wait, it's this gym. Dang it." Matt was not very happy to be in Lt. Surge's infamous gym, with the greatest obstacle to any trainer: Random Puzzles.
"Well, time to walk around and get the correct switches from the trash cans!" Scarlet said oddly excitedly.
After spending a grand total of 30 minutes battling a couple of trainers and finding those darned switches, the group eventually managed to find all three of them. The electrical fence blocking Lt. Surge had opened.
"Finally we're done with that. NEVER. AGAIN." Matt sighed in relief.
"Well, it's time to face the first Gym Leader that you won't completely curbstomb this time." Joseph said slightly evilly to Matt.
"Ivysaur is still resistant to Electric, though." Matt commented.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you'll still win on your first try." Joseph seemed to point out Matt's problems more than his own.
"Well, at least my party doesn't only have 1 Pokemon that isn't weak to Electric Types." Matt pointed out.
"Meh, my Machop should be good enough. Right?" Joseph looked at one of his Pokeballs.
Scarlet was getting a bit annoyed by the two. "Hey, could you stop arguing who's better and actually battle this guy?"
Matt looked at Scarlet and remembered what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. "Oh... yeah. Let's do that."
Joseph didn't seem fully ready, though. "Wait a second. I have one question. Just what is an American?"
Matt was confused. "Where'd that come from?"
"Well, you know how Lt. Surge's title is the 'Lighting American'? Does anyone know what an American actually is?" Joseph seemed to be getting conspiracy theorist side on.
"I don't know. Maybe there's some region that had a war and it was called 'America' or something. That isn't really important." Scarlet just wanted to get on to the battle.
"Except it is important. I've never heard of this 'America' region before. All I know of is Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos." Joseph really wanted to stay on this topic.
"How about we ask Lt. Surge himself?" Matt turned around and went to Lt. Surge. "Hey, Army Guy! Just what is an American."
The buff and tough military Gym Leader noticed Matt. "Well, that's quite the interesting story. You see, I can't say anything!"
Matt was confused again. "...Why?"
"Classified information, kid. If you really want to know, join the army when you get older. Of course, I know what you're really here for now: the Thunder Badge." Lt. Surge got into his pre-battle speech stance.
Joseph sighed, "I guess we'll never know what an 'American' is..."
Matt looked towards Joseph. "Hey. For now, let's focus on the badge and nothing else! Do you want to become a master or not?"
Joseph sighed again, but this time with a sense of defeat. "Okay, I get it. You go first."
Matt smirked. "My pleasure."
Lt. Surge then said his usual pre-battle speech, "Hey, you little tyke! It may not be very smart to challenge me, but it takes guts! When it comes to Electric-type Pokémon, I'm number one! I've never lost on the battlefield. I'll zap you just like I do all my enemies in battle!"
"Probably not!" Matt said as the battle began.
Matt VS. Lt. Surge!
"Go, Ivysaur!" Matt released the Seed Pokemon.
"Pikachu, shock them!" Surge released the ever-popular Electric Mouse.
"Okay, Ivysaur use Razor Leaf!"
"Pikachu use Shock Wave!"
The Ivysaur summoned its razor-sharp leaves out of nowhere and directed them towards Pikachu. Pikachu replied by quickly ZAPPING Ivysaur, dealing some damage to the plant Pokemon. Pikachu then got hit WOOSH-SLASHED by Ivysaur's leaves, and it took a decent bit of damage as well.
"It's okay Ivysaur! Use Razor Leaf again!" Matt yelled towards his Pokemon.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
The Pikachu quickly went and SLAMMED into its opponent, dealing more damage than the previous move did. Ivysaur became weak, but still managed to released another Razor Leaf powerful enough to faint the electric mouse.
"Ah no! Alright Voltorb, eliminate the Tango!" The Pokeball Pokemon was released.
Great... Military Talk. Matt was still as ready as ever, despite his Ivysaur being weakened. "Ivysaur, switch out with Nidorino!"
"Saur!" The Ivysaur was absorbed back into the Pokeball, and the mini poison rhino came out.
Lt. Surge looked determined to win. "Voltorb, use Shock Wave!"
That's the exact same move he used last time... Matt pointed his finger with great excitement. "Nidorino, use Double Kick!"
"NIDO!" The Nidorino ran towards its opponent, however Voltorb was far faster and hit it with Shock Wave first, dealing a fair amount of damage. It wasn't enough to faint the 'rino, so the rhino still went and BASH-BASHED the small Pokeball-looking creature. It fainted.
"Oh yes, the power of grinding!" Matt smirked.
Lt. Surge was appropriately a bit furious. "Okay, Voltorb is FIA. However, the battle has just begun! Go, Raichu!" The larger, browner, less-popular electric mouse made its appearance.
This one's going to be tough. Better give it all I've got! Matt moved the brim of his hat a bit. "Nidorino, use Horn Attack!"
"Give 'em a THUNDABOL-wait this is its weaker moveset-I mean another Shock Wave!"
"Rai... CHUUU!" The Raichu quickly released its electrical energy, fainting the Nidorino before it even had the chance to attack.
Argh! This thing is powerful. Sorry Pidgeotto, but I have to use you if I'm going to win. "Go, Pidgeotto!"
"Ha! Kid, do you honestly believe that a bird like that can defeat my Electric Pokemon? Of course not! I once flew a plane powered by the things! Raichu, use Shock Wave again!" Lt. Surge was certainly feeling confident in winning.
Stop spamming that move so I can actually attack! Rather than pointing out an attack to his pretty much already KIA Pidgeotto, Matt decided to use an item instead. "Okay Ivysaur. SUPER POTION!"
ZAP! The Pidgeotto was down, thanks to his trainer caring more for his starter than his second-most-important. That must make Pokemon feel really bad.
"You've only got one left! How do you expect to beat me?" Lt. Surge was laughing at how weak Matt seemed.
"Oh, you want me to lose? Sorry, but I'm going to win, using Type-Advantages! Go, IVYSAUR!" Matt released the now fully-healed Grass Pokemon yet again. "Use Razor Leaf!"
"Use Quick Attack, Raichu!"
"Rai!" Raichu, being the faster Pokemon, hit first with its Shock Wave, and Ivysaur took a bit of damage, and got close to the yellow. Ivysaur's Razor Leaves flew towards the large mouse, and dealt a decent amount of damage to Raichu. Raichu was in the yellow, meaning one more hit and it would be down for the count.
Okay, got to take this slowly. I should probably just use Razor Leaf again. I mean, that is my strongest move. "Alright Ivysaur, Razor Leaf one last time!"
"I'll make sure this is your last time! Raichu, suppress the enemy tango with one more Quick Attack!"
"Ivy..."
"Chu..."
BAM! The Raichu slammed into the enemy with Quick Attack, and Ivysaur became weak again. Ivysaur used the last of his conscious energy to execute Razor Leaf, which successfully SLASHED the Raichu into fainting. Matt had won due to convenient luck, once again.
"Another Gym Leader down, another badge earned!" Matt smiled.
Lt. Surge was, positively, shocked. "Now that's a shocker! You're the real deal, kid! Fine, then, take the Thunder Badge!"
Matt got the Thunder Badge!
Lt Surge went on to explain what the badge did. "The Thunder Badge cranks up your Pokémon's speed. It also lets your Pokémon fly lightning-quick any-time, kid! You're special, kid! Take this!"
Matt also got TM34: Shock Wave!
"TM34 contains Shock Wave! Teach it to an electric Pokémon!"
Matt took the TM from the tall military Gym Leader.
"Well, I guess this is where I leave now." Matt said to his friends.
"You're not going to watch our battles again?" Scarlet was disappointed.
"It's not that. I just kinda want to get some rest. I'm sure you guys will win, so give it your best shot!" Matt explained.
"Of course we will!" Scarlet said with a... determined look on her face.
"Alright then, I'll be leaving. See you guys later." Matt said.
"Okay. Bye!" Scarlet waved to Matt as he leaved. She then spoke to Joseph. "Hey, what are you going to do?"
Joseph replied, "Well, I'm going to get my badge and start getting a move onto Celadon City. I guess you are as well?"
"I guess so. Well, time's a wastin'! Let's get the Thunder Badge!" Scarlet was excited.
"Of course." Joseph smiled as he said that.
Location: Unknown
There was a piece of paper on a desk in what appeared to be some sort of underground facility. On the paper, it said:
List of Team Rocket Admins and their Summaries:
I
Name: Nova
Joined: 5 Years Ago
Notable Appearance Trait: Purple Hair
Main Pokemon: Pidgeot (M), Raticate, Spearow
Disposition: Previously in charge of Lavender Town Operation - FAILED. Currently paired with Hydro in GC base.
Current Objective: Obtain Material R
Relations to Targets: R-
There was no more to the paper. It seemed to be torn somehow.
"Sometimes, it's good to view how my uppers are."
A/N: And that's the end of the chapter. Not as American as I wanted to be, but hey it's got a battle instead of all story stuff. Nothing much else to say so I'll see you next time (on Kyurem Ball Z)!