Kurishimi woke up the next morning in Vermillion City's Pokémon Center. Akuma and Chad were still fast asleep so she picked up her poké balls and went out for a walk with Vaporeon. Vermillion had been built into the side of a cliff, giving them an impressive view of the ocean as well as being able to look both down and up over the city. The two of them walked through the streets looking at various stores and stalls that had not yet opened until they stumbled upon the entrance to the Vermillion city gym.
"Huh. I didn't think we'd end up here of all places," Kurishimi said out loud.
"It's not quite as big a city as Saffron," Vaporeon replied. "I was thinking you wanted to be here."
"No way. I didn't prepare my team for a gym battle before I left. I just grabbed a few that haven't been out in a while."
"Sounds like a viable reason for a gym battle to me. Most of them haven't been in many battles, much less important ones like gym battling."
"Yeah, I know. That's why I don't want to go in."
"Oh suck it up girl," Vaporeon chided her friend, "if you want to get better then what better place to start with something hard like this?"
"That's true. I guess we'll have to go in I suppose."
"Smart girl. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Well you could get put into critical condition since this is an electric type gym," Kurishimi said as she pushed open the doors.
"Wait, electric types?" Vaporeon said with wide eyes as she chased after her trainer.
For the most part the gym was abandoned; probably because it was still early morning. Kurishimi searched the halls looking for a caretaker to find out when the gym leader would be in until she stumbled upon the kitchen. Inside was a giant of a man cooking up breakfast; an omelet from what she could tell.
"Ah, pardon me," Kurishimi said politely and quietly so she wouldn't startle him. "Could you please tell me when the gym will be open for battles?"
The man turned in her direction and smiled widely. "The gym will be opened just as soon as I've made myself breakfast. Can't go into battle hungry after all if you know what I mean."
"Oh, are you the gym leader then?"
The man pointed at a belt of poké balls hanging beside the door. "Got that right, sweetheart. Those babies over there are my combatants. They got into the poké-chow earlier so they've had some food already. Didn't even make their poor trainer any grub."
"I-I see," Kurishimi said nervously. The idea of having to battle a giant of a man was making her a little nervous, but his friendly demeanor helped to keep her calm. Apparently he was used to people's reactions upon seeing him judging by the way he spoke to her.
"Ah yes, you may call me Surge by the way. I used to be Lt. Surge, but that was way back in a war long forgotten. Don't call me Mr. Surge though. It makes my name sound like a soft drink." He loudly and extended a hand to Kurishimi who accepted the handshake comfortably.
"My name is Kurishimi Akashi. Glad to meet you, Surge."
"The pleasure is mine, I'm sure. Have a seat if you're hungry, I have extra food if you'd like some."
"Oh no, that's not necessary. I'll eat after the battle when I get back to the center with my friends."
"Nonsense! I did just say that you can't have a gym battle on an empty stomach didn't I? Come on, have a seat and I'll have you fed up in no time, ha, ha!"
Kurishimi took a seat reluctantly as Surge served her one of the omelets he'd made. She was uncomfortable and felt like she was imposing, but she soon relaxed and the two of them were chatting in between bites like they were old friends. Surge described some of the tougher challengers he'd faced at the gym while Kurishimi told him about her travels as well as news about what was happening outside Vermillion City. Surge was troubled at the news of Team Rocket's sudden increase in activity, but was pleased to hear that all the times Kurishimi had encountered them they had failed in their work. He especially grew excited when he heard of Kurishimi's teacher defeating the Tyranitar trainer in Saffron, though Kurishimi had forgotten to mention him by name.
"So you're traveling with this master teacher and the two of you are teaching another young trainer so he can defeat your teacher in a match which he believes is important regarding his goal to become the best trainer, correct?"
"Confusing, I know," Kurishimi said with a smile, "but we've only been with Chad for a week and a half and he was able to move up to the intermediate battle stages in Saffron's battle arenas in a short time. He's got raw talent. Enough to make me somewhat jealous sometimes I'll admit. Uh, don't tell him I said that last part though."
"Of course, of course; all trainers have their pride, I know. By the way, what about your trainer's name? Maybe I know of him."
"I wouldn't be surprised if you have heard his name before since most people in the Pokémon trade in some way or another get déjà vu at the sight of him. His name's Akuma."
"Akuma is it? You mean as in Akuma Masurao?"
"Yeah, that's him. Do you know of him then?"
Surge slapped the table in amusement, though with his size he might as well have punched it instead. "Ha! Of course I know that brat! He's come by my gym frequently because his Magmar had a rivalry against my Electabuzz. Oh, I haven't seen him in years though. He never did get along with that Magmar so I assumed he released it. Do you know what happened to it?"
"Released it? Why would Akuma release one of his toughest Pokémon? I know he'd occasionally fight against it and he even beat it up sometimes, but I don't think he'd let a strong Pokémon like that go."
"Well at least I know he's kept it then. Sounds like those two still aren't getting along though. Hey, are you alright?"
Kurishimi was looking down uncomfortably. Her thoughts were on the last time she'd seen Akuma's spitfire Pokémon. The two of them had gotten into a heated fight which she tried to ignore by walking away for a while. When she came back later, Akuma was alone. She hadn't ever considered the fact that Akuma had gotten fed up with his Pokémon and simply released it out of spite. Lately his mind seemed occupied with his thoughts drifting off elsewhere. Was he really thinking about having released a Pokémon that he didn't want to? He did mention losing control of Metagross recently and she didn't think it was present when the Rocket members had attacked them the other night.
"Did Akuma have a habit of release his Pokémon frequently?" she asked.
"Oh sure, he's let a bunch of Pokémon go over the years. Let's see, first there was a Hippowdon that he gave to the safari zone warden, a Machoke that he released back into the wild, a Venomoth was released at the same time and place as Machoke, and he gave me a Manectric that I'd been admiring for some time. He's probably released a few others over the years. I never saw his Fearow after his Charmeleon evolved into Charizard of course. Man, I wish I could've been there for that battle when it happened."
"No, he still has Fearow. I didn't know about it until two days ago however. He has Charizard too."
Surge looked into the hallway then leaned in closer to Kurishimi. "So uh, tell me this then. Does he still have that mysterious number seven with him still, or did he pass it on to someone else?"
"Yeah, he's got it all the time. You know about it?"
"Know about it? I helped clean up the whole area it had trashed before Akuma caught it. Now I appreciate Pokémon evolution and all that, I'm even happy for the Pokémon that become stronger by doing so, but that's one Pokémon I wish had never evolved. I know it's cruel of me to say so, but it's true."
They sat in their chairs staring at empty plates for a moment in silence before Surge rose up and tossed their plates in a pile with other dishes then moved toward the door. "Well come on, sweetheart. You've got a gym battle to fight don't you? Let's go!"
"Ah, you're right. I'm coming!" Kurishimi said before following him down the hall, but her thoughts were still on Akuma. Could he really have released his Pokémon out of anger?
Surge brought Kurishimi to the main battle room which was basic in design with stadium lights illuminating the battlefield. After turning on the lights and checking the condition of the grounds, Surge took his place at the gym leader's side of the battlefield.
"How does a classic three on three match sound?" Surge called.
"Works for me. Let's do it!" Kurishimi called back while thinking frantically about what Pokémon she had that might be able to take whatever Surge brought out. When he quickly grabbed his poké ball and threw it she grabbed the first Pokémon that she could think of to not appear unready.
Surge's Pokémon was a curious sort. It resembled a poké ball, but the colors were reversed. There was no button on the front of it either. Instead it had a face with a cocky grin. Kurishimi's reply Pokémon was Oddish.
This time she didn't have to reach for her pokédex to figure out what Pokémon it was. Surge's lead Pokémon was a very fast Pokémon called Electrode. Or as had been nicknamed by many who witnessed its infamous explosion attack: bomb ball. Electrode was known to be a Pokémon that would explode at the slightest provocation. It could react very fast to anything even if its movement was slower than most. It didn't have to move to use electric attacks however. Choosing to start the battle with Electrode made the Pokémon that would follow hard to predict.
"Electrode, use a sonicboom on Oddish!" Surge commanded.
"Oddish, begin with sweet scent," Kurishimi said nervously.
While Oddish wafted a sweet smelling fragrance toward Electrode its opponent fired stable shockwaves toward the little weed. Electrode became distracted by the smell while Oddish took the blast in full. Oddish flipped backward from the impact but managed to land on its feet. After the initial attacks the battle escalated while both trainers attempted to halt the other's progress. Oddish couldn't close the distance without risking damage from a self-sacrificing detonation from Electrode and Electrode couldn't close the distance for the same reasons. Electrode's strategy was using long range electric attacks after shaking its opponent with sonicboom while staying put in one place while Oddish varied between dodging attacks and taking root in the ground to bypass electricity damage. Surge was obviously the favorite to win this match, especially with Kurishimi using Pokémon that didn't see battle very often. Oddish was more of the friendly and helpful type of Pokémon. She had wanted to give it a day in a new city, not push its strengths in a gym battle.
"Oddish, fire acid at Electrode!" Kurishimi yelled.
Oddish's leaves curled together before it lowered what it had for a head at Electrode. When the leaves snapped open a glob of rotten sludge went flying toward Electrode. Before it could roll away the acid struck Electrode in the face and stuck.
"Electrode, fire a swift toward Oddish's location," Surge commanded.
Stars with a varying number of points formed in the air around Electrode before launching toward Oddish. Even though Electrode was briefly blinded, the attack was guaranteed to hit no matter what. Damage was minimal, but still prevented Oddish from following up the acid attack with another.
"Now use a point blank screech."
Electrode instantly emitted a shriek from within that forced the acid to melt away from its eyes. Now fully able to see again, Electrode fired a charge beam toward the stunned Oddish. The quick strikes would have finished Oddish right then had Oddish not fallen over before the charge beam reached it. The blast flew over Oddish's head to hit the wall harmlessly.
Enough was enough. Kurishimi withdrew Oddish and brought out a Pokémon that had not only never been in a gym battle, but had never been in any battles at all! Her new Pokémon was pink with an egg-shaped body. On its head was some thick hair outgrowth while the arms and legs were very short and without digits. On its belly was a pouch where a large egg sat.
"We'll start things off right this time. Chansey, begin minimizing!" Kurishimi said confidently. Chansey slowly began to diminish in size.
"That's not a good thing on my end," Surge said to himself. "Electrode, use another sonicboom!" Electrode fired the shockwaves again at Chansey, but they swept past harmlessly. "That's also not good," he said in a lower voice.
"This is better. Now Chansey I need for you to trust me on this and move quickly, understand?" Chansey gave a single nod. "Good. Now rush Electrode as fast as you can manage while avoiding its attacks. Continue to use minimize as you go. Be careful and listen for my command when I tell you to, got it? Now run!"
Chansey was afraid to get in close to the bomb ball, but did as she was instructed. Electrode fired multiple electric attacks while Chansey closed the distance and continued to shrink. After a few rounds the electric attacks were exchanged for swift again which guaranteed a hit but seemed to do even less damage to Chansey than Oddish. Finally when Chansey was a few feet away Kurishimi gave her final command.
"Grab Electrode and use fling. Throw Electrode straight into the wall to your left!"
Using what little arm strength she had, Chansey grabbed Electrode tightly. The roughness of the forced grab caused Electrode to shake slightly as it tried containing the explosion from within until Chansey hurled it with amazing strength into the wall. Immediately Electrode glowed a brilliant white and violently exploded. It was far enough from the others that no damage was done, but the detonation caused Electrode to faint right away.
"That was unbelievable!" Surge exclaimed after recalling Electrode to its poké ball. "Akuma would have been proud of that maneuver for sure! Alright then, try fighting someone more agile now. Not many can stand up to this brute the first time through." So saying, he threw a worn poké ball out.
The new combatant was a fat orange mouse that stood on its hind legs. It had a long thin tail with a stretched lightning bolt at the end and its ears were also stretched out long as well with a curl on the end.
"Raichu, use thunderbolt!"
"Ack! Um, Chansey use… light screen!" Kurishimi said in a panic.
Chansey barely got up the protective barrier before Raichu's thunderbolt reached her. Half the damage was absorbed by the light screen, but even then the damage appeared to be minimal.
"That Chansey is a tough one alright," Surge commented. "It might be more of a challenge if it wasn't so panicky. Raichu, get in close and use thunderpunch!"
Kurishimi quickly recalled Chansey before Raichu could begin to charge her Pokémon. She was trying not to reply to Surge's comments because in truth Chansey couldn't take a hit very well at all. It had great defense against distance attacks, but anything up close would've done severe damage. Since the light screen was still up she sent Oddish back out. The little weed was still very hurt from Electrode's bombardment, but the few minutes it had to rest helped it to recover some strength. The light screen would remain behind a little longer too. Hopefully it would be enough.
"Keep it up Raichu. Use mega punch!"
"Oddish, stun spore!"
Oddish began shaking its leaves around, releasing a grassy spore cloud in front of it that Raichu ran through. The effect was visible as Raichu's body began to lock up from paralysis. It didn't stop the punch however which struck Oddish hard enough to blow it back for a distance. Surprisingly, Oddish was not out yet. Kurishimi predicted that Raichu's paralysis reduced the brutality of the punch.
"Oddish, regain your strength with absorb!"
A red beam lanced toward Raichu which drained its energy upon connecting. Slowly Oddish began to recover its health while Raichu was drained. The restoration wouldn't be sufficient enough for Oddish to completely recover, but would do enough to help keep it battle ready.
"Raichu, forget about physical attacks. Launch another thunderbolt."
Once more the dangerous electricity flew through the air. Oddish tried to absorb Raichu's health as quickly as it could before the electricity struck, but it was no good and the effects of Chansey's light screen were about to fade. As the electricity coursed over Oddish the flash of the sparks grew to a shining white so much that Kurishimi lost sight of Oddish. She was worried about her friend and couldn't withdraw it through the damaging electrical arcs. However she soon realized she didn't have to worry quite so much after all.
Shortly after she lost sight of Oddish the electricity broke away as if they'd been cut off. The light persisted for a few more seconds before fading out. It was then that Kurishimi realized where the flash had actually originated from. Oddish was gone, and in its place was a fatter version of its former self, now with arms and a bulbous flower on top of its head. Its face now had a dazed appearance and it drooled out of the corner of its mouth. While not quite as cute as it had once been, Oddish had suddenly evolved into a Gloom. With evolution also came more toughness and health, meaning Gloom could take more hits than before.
"Well done Oddi- I mean Gloom!" Kurishimi said in excitement. "Forget about using absorb. Hit Raichu with a mega drain instead!"
Once again a red beam fired toward Raichu from atop Gloom's head, but this one was thicker and faster than the first attack had been. A greater amount of health was sapped from the crippled Raichu who responded by firing more thunderbolts. Raichu was crippled from the paralysis enough that some attacks misfired, but Gloom had already taken serious damage from before and soon fell.
Would you believe that the move absorb never appeared in the Pokémon anime until episode six hundred? I've been using that for describing attacks and I was stuck until that episode came out later.