Jason's POV

Adam and I were having another battle of the Charmanders.

"Charmander, Flamethrower!" Adam cried.

"Dodge it and use Metal Claw!" I cried.

Charmander successfully dodged the flames and ran towards Adam's Charmander, ready with his Metal Claw.

"Smokescreen!" Adam called out. My Charmander stopped as the smoke flew towards his eyes. "And now Metal Claw!" Adam's Charmander emerged from the smoke and struck my Charmander.

"Charmander, use Metal Claw once more!"

"Dodge!" I yelled.

Too late. Once again, my Charmander was hit by the attack. It looked like this battle would go to Adam.

But then, as Charmander stood up, he started to glow with a white light. The shape of his body changed and when the light was gone, Charmander no longer stood there. Charmander had evolved into Charmeleon!

"Way to go! You evolved!" I cried. Charmeleon glanced at me and nodded.

I removed my Pokedex and looked at the moves while the Pokedex told me about Charmeleon. "Charmeleon, the Lizard Pokémon. In battle, it whips its fiery tail around like a club and slashes with its razor-sharp claws."

With my newly evolved Fire Pokemon, I knew I could win! "Alright Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

"Charrrr!" Charmeleon cried, launching the attack.

"Dodge it!" Adam yelled, but Charmander didn't dodge in time.

"Metal Claw!" I cried. Charmeleon charged towards Charmander and attacked.

"Let's finish this with Flamethrower!" I cried.

But Charmeleon didn't use Flamethrower. Instead, his mouth held the flames inside. Fire Fang!

"Do it!" I cried.

"Char!" Charmander cried as Charmeleon's red-hot jaws clamped down on him.

Adam watched as Charmander fell to the ground, fainted. "You did good. Take a rest." he said, returning his Pokemon. He walked over to where I was standing with Charmeleon. Michelle ran over, too.

"Congrats on evolving Charmander...uh, Charmeleon." Michelle said.

"Well, now you get to challenge the gym with a newly evolved Pokemon." Adam said.

"Yeah. You ready, Charmeleon?" I asked.

"Char. Charmeleon."

I returned Charmeleon and walked to the Pokemon Center to heal Charmeleon.

"How may I help you?" Nurse Joy asked as I stopped at the desk.

"Can you heal my Charmeleon?" I asked.

"Certainly,"

I handed her the Pokeball and she walked over to the machine. I waited for a few minutes and talked to Adam.

"Looks like my Fire Pokemon's the stronger one now." I said, referring to Charmeleon.

"You just wait," Adam replied, "Since we both got our Charmanders on the same day back in Pallet Town, that means mine should be close to evolving, too."

"Here you go. Your Charmeleon is healed and ready to go." Nurse Joy said, handing me my Pokeball.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." I said, hooking the Pokeball to my belt.

She nodded and I walked back outside where Michelle was waiting for us.

"Ready?" Michelle asked me.

I nodded my head. We headed towards the gym and entered. Adam and Michelle went to sit on the bleachers.

"Here to challenge the gym?" a voice asked.

"You bet," I replied.

"Hey, boss! You got another victim for the emergency room!" the voice called.

I guessed that more people had challenged Lt. Surge and didn't have the luck that Adam had in his battle. Would I have that luck he had? After all, Raichu was the second strongest Electric Pokemon in Kanto, after Ash's Pikachu.

Lt. Surge walked up and glanced at me. "This will be easy." he said.

We took our sides on the field. The referee asked for my name and I gave it.

"The battle between Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, and the challenger, Jason Oak, will begin. This is a one on one battle with no time limit. When the Pokemon on one side is unable to battle, the match is over. Begin!"

"Ready, Raichu?" Surge asked.

"Rai! Raichu!" Raichu cried.

I had recorded Raichu yesterday during Adam's battle. No harm in doing a little research in Pokemon you would be going against.

"Charmeleon, go!" I cried, tossing the Pokeball.

"Char!" Charmeleon cried, landing on the ground.

"Use Smokescreen!" I cried. I had my strategy planned out and hopefully it would work.

"Stand your ground, Raichu. Be prepared for anything." Surge said.

"Now, Charmeleon! Metal Claw!" I cried. Charmeleon ran out from the smoke and charged at Raichu.

"Thun-" Surge started, but Raichu got hit.

"Mega Punch!" he said instead.

"Flamethrower, quick!"

Raichu hit Charmeleon. But at the same time, the Flamethrower launched but it went upwards towards the roof, since the Mega Punch had knocked Charmeleon's head away from Raichu. I watched as the flame stopped; having gone too far up into the air and went out.

"Flamethrower!" Charmeleon recovered from the Mega Punch and launched the attack towards Raichu.

"Counter it with Thunderbolt!"

The two moves collided and created dust. Raichu and Charmeleon both had taken some damage, but neither one was hurt very much. I noticed that Charmeleon was battling with more power and ferocity compared to when he was a Charmander. It seemed that the stronger the opponent, the harder Charmeleon fought!

"Fire Fang!" Charmeleon burst through the dust and bit Raichu. When Charmeleon jumped back, Surge didn't command another attack. I didn't command an attack, either.

"Rai!" Raichu cried when a flame appeared out of nowhere and covered its body. Then I realized that Raichu was burned!

"Raichu, use Body Slam!" Raichu ran towards Charmeleon. I had to think of something. Fast!

"Keep away from Raichu, but get your Metal Claw ready to strike!" Charmeleon ran from Raichu as the Metal Claw charged up. Raichu jumped towards Charmeleon as he skidded to a halt and turned around. Charmeleon moved quickly and sidestepped, causing Raichu's body to slam into the ground. With the Electric Pokemon lying on the ground and momentarily dazed from the Body Slam that he failed to land, Charmeleon slashed Raichu with the Metal Claw.

"Rai..." Raichu trailed, trying to get up. But it was no use.

"Raichu is unable to battle. The winner is the challenger, Jason Oak!" the referee cried.

"Way to go, Charmeleon you did it!" I said.

Lt. Surge walked over to me and said, "I must say, I didn't think a Charmeleon would be able to beat my Raichu. You and your Pokemon really surprised me. Here is the Thunder Badge."

"Thanks. Raichu is one tough opponent." I said, glancing at the badge. "Badge number three!" I cried as I placed it in my badge case.

"That was a good battle that you and Charmeleon put on." Michelle said as we left the gym.

"Yeah. For a moment, I didn't think Charmeleon was going to be able to move in time. I thought he was going to get hit by the Body Slam." Adam said.

"Yeah, I did too. He's become a lot quicker since evolving."

"The Metal Claw didn't cause Raichu to faint." Michelle said.

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"The Metal Claw made Raichu weak, but the burn came into the picture at the last second and drained whatever energy Raichu had left. The burn won you the match." she explained.

"How did you see that? I didn't even see it." I asked.

"Yeah, how? I didn't see it, either." Adam asked.

"I just did. Must be something that I picked up from you boys. I do watch you train all the time."

I will admit, when we first met Michelle and found out that she wanted to be a coordinator, I didn't really want her to travel with us. I thought she would slow us down as Adam and I went through the region for our badges, but she didn't. She's gained my respect and she's a good coordinator, too. And now she's like a sister to us as well. I guess that's what happens when you're an only child; your friends become like your siblings. And I had to admit, I had a really great brother and sister to travel with.

"So, are you entering the contest?" Adam asked, glancing at Michelle.

"Oh yeah, there's a contest. Are you entering?" I asked.

"Of course I'm going to enter. If that's okay with you guys." she said.

"Fine with me. Go for that second ribbon." I said.

"Yeah, what Jason said." Adam replied.

"Thanks!"

"When is the contest?" I asked.

"The day after tomorrow." she answered. It looked like we were going to be in Vermillion City for a few more days.

As we walked back towards the Pokemon Center, I couldn't help but feel sad. Yesterday, Adam learned that many people were believing that his dad is dead and that he has nine months to return or his title would be given to someone else. Sure, some people were believing he's still out there, but those negative comments really got to Adam.

"You okay, Jason?" Adam asked.

I snapped from my thoughts and glanced at him. "Yeah, I was just thinking." I replied. He looked like he was going to ask something and I had to change the topic. "So Michelle, are you catching another Pokemon to use in the contest or are you sticking with Poliwag and Eevee?"

"I'm going to catch another Pokemon. You guys go ahead and head back to the Pokemon Center. I'm gonna go look for a Pokemon." she replied.

"Okay, see ya." I said, casting a wave.

"See ya later." Adam said.

"Later!" she cried, running the way we had just came.

Michelle's POV

I walked towards the tall grass. I wanted to catch a Fire type, but what kind?

"Hmm..."

"Eevee!" Eevee cried suddenly.

I looked up and saw a Growlithe standing in the grass.

"It's so cute! Growlithe is a strong battler and it's an amazing Pokemon to use in contests, too." I exclaimed.

"Showtime, Poliwag!" I cried, tossing the Pokeball.

Upon hearing my voice, the Growlithe looked up. "Growl! Growlithe!" it cried.

"Poliwag!" Poliwag cried landing on the ground.

"Poliwag, Water Gun!" The blast of water shot towards Growlithe, who used Flamethrower. The two moves collided, but the Water Gun was stronger and hit Growlithe, doing a good amount of damage.

"Now, Poliwag! Use Hypnosis!" I hoped to put Growlithe to sleep, making it easier to catch.

But before I knew it, Growlithe had started running and used Bite before Poliwag had time to use Hypnosis. That Growlithe was fast!

"Water Gun once more and then follow it up with Hypnosis!"

"Poli!"

The Water Gun hit Growlithe, dazing it for a few moments. Taking advantage of its dazed state, Poliwag used Hypnosis.

"Growl..." Growlithe's eyes drooped and closed.

I removed an empty Pokeball and threw it towards the sleeping Growlithe. Growlithe was engulfed in the light and after the ball wiggled three times, it stopped.

"Yes! You did it, Poliwag!" I cried happily.

"Take a rest, you did good." I said, removing Poliwag's Pokeball and returning Poliwag.

I walked over and picked up Growlithe's Pokeball, shrunk it down, and attached it to my bracelet.

"Well Eevee, I think we'll do good in our contest now. We have another new friend on the team that can make some incredible combos and I think is a good battler. What do you think?"

"Eevee!"

I rubbed her head and headed back towards the Pokemon Center to show the boys my new Pokemon.

Author's Note: Adding TWO new Fire Pokemon to the group, and a badge to Jason's case, our heroes have had a heck of a day!

Be sure to read the next chapter as Michelle competes for her second ribbon! How will she fare? Will she win? How well will her new Growlithe perform?

Find out next time on Pokemon NG!