Hello readers and happy new year: 2021! Wow, seems like it's been decades since 2013 (the year this novel came out), but we're still active, and more than ever! Since October/November 2020, I've pulled out five new chapters for all of you (not including this one!) I have some new fan art coming our way for 50,000 Volts, so if you're still not: go ahead and check out my Deviant Art page "fefe46"
Anyways, enjoy this next chapter of 50,000 Volts!
Chapter forty-four: The long road Ahead, Part 2 (Cerulean City Gym Battle!)
Morning arrives and I'm the first one awake. To be frank, I had drifted in and out of sleep all night...probably because I've been thinking WAY too much about Bill's Cottage. The second person to wake up soon after, surprisingly however, was Rigel. The boy is quick to get his parents to wake up for the day, despite the fact that it's only eight in the morning. Orion himself is still trying to sleep for longer.
I already knew why he was doing this: he's so eager to fight in the gym...he must know how he has an advantage over the leader.
Alas the parents, along with the other Pikachu, get out of their beds and we all get ready for the day ahead. Once we eat breakfast, Rigel manages to explain why he is so excited, "is it okay if we head to the Cerulean Gym?"
George and May look at one another, then down at me:
"Rigel, we're here for Lucas, and Bill is waiting for-"
George is immediately interrupted by his son to which the man crosses his arms in defiance, "dad, it's still early, I can make it a quick stop, get the badge, and get out. Come on, please!"
"Rigel..." George begins to say but May comes in the conversation afterwards, "and what about the time it takes to send your Pokémon to the Pokémon Center, Rigel?"
the teen rolls his eyes and points toward his bag, "I got plenty of potions and revives now"
I suddenly interject, rather calmly, into the slightly chaotic scene in front of me. I hold my hand out as if I am asking a question, but really I'm doing it to get everyone's attention. Soon enough, they all look at me:
"Let's do...it" I say while George and May look down at me with confusion.
I'm not sure why I agreed with Rigel by that point. After all, we were so close to Bill's, so close to my goal that it seemed crazy to go along with this plan. Maybe I just wanted to stop myself and compose myself for the inevitable scene I would have at the cottage, and the outcomes that might follow from it. Maybe I just owed Rigel a favor after everything he's done for me...maybe I just wanted to make sure he could take care of himself and Orion by this point. To be honest, I don't want Rigel to lose Orion like he did in Viridian Forest, and be in pain once more...
Besides...I wouldn't be able to help him in a gym again if I am human. I can secretly coach him during the battle, at least a little bit...get him on the right track to becoming a better Pokémon trainer.
"You're alright with this, Lucas?" May asks before I nod.
"It's...still pretty early…like...Rigel said" I explain.
...
And so, with the approval of the parents, we set off for the Cerulean City Gym as the sun continues to climb in the sky. Outside the car window: the sky is light-blue, with some yellow colors in between, and by now the city lights have turned off for the daylight.
I look away towards Rigel: who can't seem to stay still in his seat, Orion too. The boy is clutching a Pokéball in his hands with uncontrollable joy. His Pikachu next to him seems to be imitating his trainer as well.
Anyways, it isn't long before we arrive at the gym. George parks the car and turns it off before looking back at us, "don't take too long in there. We'll wait here for you" George tells us.
"Let us know how it goes!" May says before both parents wish them luck afterwards.
I tag along, going with my plan of helping the trainer during the battle. We look back to see George and May waving at us before we wave back happily towards them.
Rigel, Orion and I walk through the grounds as the building gets larger and larger while we approach it. Once we are by the entrance, Rigel looks around for any sighs of activity before Orion jumps and rests on his shoulder. It seems like no one is around, probably because it's too early. He reads a sign on the door as Orion tries to read it as well. I must admit, the Pikachu probably could understand what the signs meant at this point with all that I've taught him.
"Aquarium to the left. I guess it leads to the gymnasium?" Rigel appears confused as he looks down at me although I give a mental shrug to him in response, "alright then, let's head on in" Rigel finishes as we enter through the front door and are greeted by a rather large lobby. As he read before, Rigel leads us down a flight of stairs, and it isn't long before we see a long corridor of fish tanks on both sides: it's the aquarium. We see all kinds of regular fish, as well as some Pokémon such as Goldeen and Magikarp. It becomes obvious that we have to press on, however, so we continue our trek through the hallway until we come across yet another door.
The three of us have entered a much larger area that has a gigantic pool in the center, and there are seats in the balconies above resembling a stadium! We look around us in awe at how big the place actually is. It's strange because the building does not look big outside, we must be underground!
"Is-is this the gym?" Rigel mutters to himself, but Orion's sensitive ears catches this and he nods, though in reality he is unsure himself.
"I-I think this is it, it has to be" Rigel scratches his head with uncertainty.
Orion, still on Rigel's shoulder, looks around, giving a confusing look, and then says, "But there's no one here!"
That's when I hear and notice three shadows on a very high diving board before I quickly look up, "a-above us!" I exclaim in English as the other two next to me look up as well.
There are what appears to be three young ladies, all probably in their late teens: one dressed in red, and the other two in green and yellow respectively. Their hair are all different vibrant colors such as bright yellow, ocean blue, and fiery red. All three soon jump off the board in sync, making a head-first dive into the watery depths below.
The three of us gasp with amazement at what had just happened: they just fell from so high up! Are they okay!? We approach the edge of the pool to see if they're alright. Suddenly though, they emerge and start doing a synchronized dance in the pool. That is, until one of the girls catches sight of us, "oh, someone's here!"
"This early" the blue-haired one exclaims with confusion.
"maybe they-like, got an early pass for our afternoon show" the red-haired one says.
The blue-haired one retorts, "We don't give early passes to our fans, not yet at least!"
"Maybe they just want an autograph from the Sensational Sisters" the yellow-haired one responds back.
Rigel steps in to interrupt all three and their banter, "Actually, I'm here to fight the gym leader and get my first badge" he says as he puts an arm behind his head.
"Yea! So enough chit-chat" Orion adds, but of course all the humans hear from Orion is, Pika-Pikachu!
"Aww, look at that Pikachu, it's so cute!" one of them says, holding their cheeks, overwhelmed by Orion's cute visage.
"And look at that one: it's wearing an adorable little jacket and goggles on its head" another adds, also overwhelmed by our appearances. Of course, they were talking about me, and I just blush at them in response, looking away with embarassment.
"Hey, didn't you three hear me? I'm here to battle the gym leader" Rigel retorts.
"Oh...another one" one of the ladies says as the three exit the pool to meet us face to face.
The blond-haired girl raises an eyebrow at Rigel, "Are you-like, from Pallet Town, too?"
Rigel returns the facial gesture, confused by this question, "What, no, I'm from Viridian City."
"Eh, that's close enough" the same girl says as Rigel stands there, not sure what to say back. He crosses his arms in retaliation, however, "why do you ask?"
"Well, we got beaten by two other trainers from Pallet Town not too long ago, you see" one explains.
"And-like, Daisy here is the only one left with Pokémon fit enough to fight with. I would have but I only have a Goldeen left in my team" another explains.
Rigel shakes his head, crossing his hands to stop them, "Wait-wait-wait, you three are the gym leaders!?"
"That's right!" One says before the three sisters circle one another as if to show off:
"I'm Daisy" The blond states.
"I'm Violet" the blue-haired one adds.
"And I'm Lily" the one with pink hair finishes before they all pose for us. Rigel just gives a sigh, overwhelmed by the three.
"So, I guess I'm fighting you three" Rigel asks, clearly bewildered by the scene in front of him.
"Actually, just me" Daisy winks, pulling out a red/white Pokéball before exclaiming confidently, "let's go!"
"If you are fighting him sis you might as well do it now before the twelve 'o clock performance" Lily retorts.
"P-performance" Rigel asks.
The three sisters giggle at our expense as the three of us look at one another, sweat dropping behind our heads in embarrassment, "we're going to have our water ballet performance today" Daisy explains.
"People really like us, and we've been thinking of stopping gym battles to go full-time for the fans" Violet adds.
"You should totally watch" Lily adds also. Lily ushers us to one end of the pool just before she rejoins the other two sisters opposite of us. Suddenly, without warning, platforms rise up from underwater, allowing travel over the pool during battles.
"Okay, so-like, each of us will use two Pokémon" Daisy exclaims as Rigel prepares for battle, "sounds good to me!" Orion nods with Rigel in agreement before I walk up to the both of them, wondering what Rigel's strategy will be…
Soon enough, Daisy releases a water-type Pokémon into the playing field: it lands on one of the floating platforms across from us. Upon closer inspection I realize what it is: it's a Golduck!
It is now that I notice Rigel is reaching for a Pokéball on his belt: he's going to call Charmeleon or Mankey! What is he doing!?
I quickly run up to him and climb up his back, resting across from Orion, who's on his left shoulder, before I whisper in his ear, "electric, electric!" He soon nods at this, placing the ball back on his belt, "alright Lucas."
The teen turns toward his Pikachu, "Orion, I'll choose you for this fight!"
There we go...now he has the type advantage in this battle…
And so, Orion hops down from Rigel and jumps from platform to platform until he is just one away from the opposing Pokémon. He snarls at the duck as it silently prepares for battle.
Daisy begins, pointing her finger at Orion, "Golduck, use Disable!"
Rigel soon shouts back with the same intensity in his voice, "Double Team, Orion!"
Golduck's attack narrowly misses as Orion quickly makes multiple versions of himself to throw off his opponent.
"Water gun" Daisy instructs before the duck unleashes a barrage of water at the electric-type and his illusions. One by one they break up once they come into contact with the move until it's just the real Orion left, who falls toward the duck at break-neck speed!
Just as this happens, I whisper again in Rigel's ear to help him, and he seems open to my help.
"Use Thunderbolt" Rigel shouts, pointing at his opponent, hoping that his partner was able to hear his command without problem. We soon find out that Orion did, in fact, hear the human, but unfortunately, the gym leader is quick too and orders her Pokémon to use Disable again. This luckily, unluckily for us, disables Orion's thunderbolt attack. I curse under my breath, but I soon tell Rigel what to use next. The other mouse, meanwhile, had landed on the ground and was about to come face to face with the Golduck.
Rigel shouts in response, "use Slam!"
Orion dodges a swipe made by Golduck, then jumps up in the air. While in midair, he uses his tail to slap the other creature away before landing on all fours without much problem.
Daisy begins to get frustrated before commanding her partner to use its next move, "Use scratch!"
The duck begins unleashing its claws at the rodent with ever increasing ferocity, and I once again tell Rigel what to do next.
The boy screams, "Orion, counter with Quick-Attack!"
After getting hit several times, the yellow mouse dodges the next attack, his speed momentarily increased, before slamming his body against the foe. The other two sisters, in the meantime, look at one another with worried expressions; Rigel, and I, however, are pleased with the results we are getting.
"Water gun, now!"
My long, rabbit-like ears twitched when I heard Daisy say those words. Now, now he had to do it…the disable effect should be gone by now! I hastily blurted out the next command to Rigel, and he did not hesitate for a second longer, "Finish it off with a Thunderbolt!"
Orion, though bruised and hurting, gives a confident smug. He puts his arms up in the air and quickly brings them down again toward his small chest. Soon after, as expected, massive amounts of electricity builds up and immediately explodes outwards from Orion's body toward the defenseless duck in front of him. The Pikachu yells as he uses his signature move, "take, this!"
The Golduck has no chance whatsoever, and it is incapacitated very easily by the electric-type attack.
Daisy grudgingly calls back her Pokémon into its ball, giving a disappointed yet proud smile afterwards, "great effort, girl." The gym leader then takes out her last Pokémon: the ball opened up and the light that comes out of it soon takes the shape of a rather large creature. It appears in front of Orion, towering above him at three feet, which is pretty tall relative to my new height...it's a Poliwhirl!
If I remember correctly, this water-type can use psychic moves against opponents...hopefully Rigel knows this also...but I doubt it.
"Use Hypnosis!"
Daisy had called out the move as I sigh, there it is…
Her Pokémon's chest begins to spin rapidly, catching Orion's eyes before he can shield them, but it's too late. Orion's eyelids get heavy and is quickly put to sleep by the effects of the psychic move!
I cry out in Pika-nese as a result of this, "Oh no!"
Rigel looks into his bag to find items he could use to help Orion, but it won't help…
"It's asleep, use Double-Slap now!" Daisy had called out to which her Poliwhirl agreed to as it charges toward the Pikachu, violently punching him into submission. Orion is quickly, and lack of a better word, finished off by his foe, having taken three consecutive punches by the beast. Orion, as a result, collapses, and faints just as quickly.
Rigel watches in horror as his partner succumbs to his injuries, "No, Orion!"
The teen curses under his breath afterward before using an empty Pokéball to return Orion to safety. Rigel considers his options as the score becomes even once more. He thinks about using Charmeleon or Mankey as alternatives again; however, he looks toward me, while I'm still on his shoulder, and a thought quickly crossed his mind. He made the right choice that I sort-of immediately regret thinking about afterwards.
"Okay Lucas, get in there!" My ears had perked up when he had said this, and I jump off him to protest, "wait, what" I exclaim in human language, but quietly so the sisters don't hear.
"Come on, you might as well while you still can" Rigel retorts as I softly shake my head.
"I'm...not your Pokémon" I exclaim.
"Come on guy, we gotta speed this up" Lily yells at us from across the gym.
Rigel takes out his Pokédex and scans me, "you almost have the same movesets as Orion now, you can do this!"
I fold my arms, turning away momentarily. I think quietly to myself, he won't have a chance with anyone else...I have to do this, I guess he's right, I might as well do this while I'm still a Pokémon, might not be able to do it ever again afterwards.
I sigh softly in defeat and nod to Rigel, "okay...I'll...go." I take off my clothes and tighten the blue goggles on my head before running into the arena.
The teen behind me jumps in midair with delight, "alright Lucas! I won't let you down!
I hop from platform to platform until I am face to face with Daisy's toughest Pokémon. The Poliwhirl looked rather imposing and intimidating to me, sending shivers down my body as I thought to myself, I expect Daisy to use the same strategy as before, so I just gotta be careful and be quick with my reactions.
The blond-haired gym leader suddenly gives her teammate an X-Attack, and I curse under my breath as a result...I did NOT expect this. Rigel, meanwhile, tries to think about how to help: maybe he'll tell me to use Double Team, hopefully.
By some damn miracle, that's exactly what he does, "Lucas, start by using Double Team, try to dodge that thing!"
"Oh no you don't! Poli, Hypnosis" Daisy commands as the Pokémon across from me begins using its torso to try and put me to sleep, but unlike Orion I am ready to retaliate. I hurriedly shield my eyes and look away, stopping myself from feeling its effects. Soon after, I create copies of myself, just as Orion had done earlier, to throw off Poliwhirl, and then my ears pick up the sound of Rigel again:
"Counter with Quick-Attack!"
I hastily lunged forward towards the bigger Pokémon, but as I do, the girl calls for her partner to execute yet another move, "Water Gun!"
The foe wastes no time and spits out columns of water at me in an attempt to halt my advance. All the copies of myself are swiftly dealt, but my enemy had failed in stopping me...it is too late for them. I slam hard against the monster at full-force and it shakes with considerable pain. I look up toward it with a satisfied smile on my face, but I should have stayed focused:
"Double-Slap" Daisy exclaims as Rigel quickly thinks about how to counter the move. He was probably thinking about what I told him regarding water types and their weakness to electric types...but it's hard to tell and it didn't seem to matter by that point. He took too long and I am hit twice by the Poliwhirl, one fist after another. As a result, I am thrown back by the strong attack; I tumble backwards until I finally stop flat on my stomach. I let out a labored sigh of pain, bruises appeared all over my body. That was too much...I am hurting really bad right now...damn it...I'm low HP...that attack alone almost knocked me out...come on Rigel...think of something...
"Poli, go in the water and finish it off!" I manage to hear the gym leader call, and what happens next is the tad-pole-like creature jumps off the platform and vanishes into the depths of the pool, making it impossible for me to know where it is…
Though I'm weary, I manage to pick myself up from the cold floor despite being difficult. One of my ears flopped to the side, hanging low as I panted with exhaustion. I wipe sweat off my forehead soon afterwards before turning my head towards Rigel...who is just standing there...silent...what is he doing!? Is Rigel freezing up like he did in Verdigris with those grunts?
This is it, isn't it...I'm going to faint...it's coming any second now…
Suddenly, as if on cue, my long ears pick up the sound of something emerging from underwater...it's the Poliwhirl, and it's leaping towards me with a fist aimed right at my body.
Then...I heard it...I heard the sound of alleviation, encouragement...resolve!
"Thunderwave!"
Finally...
I immediately let out a barrage of sparks that appear to ensnare the creature, stopping it in its tracks. As if it were chains pulling it down, the Poli crashes into the ground hard, unable to escape its predicament...it's fully paralyzed!
Rigel points towards it and gives a hefty command, "Now Lucas, ThunderShock!" I do so in approval and waste no time. I close my eyes and concentrate. I think about the time me and Orion had spent outside during the storms, I think about how the storms gathered just for us...and how they empowered us...I think about how much I needed them this very moment, to win this thing for Rigel and Orion!
I shout at the top of my lungs with the goggles, now loose from the skirmish earlier, falling down my head to cover my eyes completely as if I am now wearing them as sunglasses. Though not as impressive as Orion's Thunderbolt, a powerful, yet quite impressive, stream of lightning leaves my small fragile body and heads toward the paralytic creature. It has no chance whatsoever since its weakness towards electric multiplies the effect of my attack, and it is soon, therefore, rendered unconscious.
Daisy shakes her head, calling back her Poliwhirl in defeat before I realize what this means:
We...we won! Heck yea!
Rigel jumps up and down with uncontrollable joy. Soon after though, he figured that he shouldn't be the only one enjoying this. Upon remembering he actually had a revive in his bag, he used it on Orion, who soon realizes what happened. Though he is still considerably weak from having fainted, the Pikachu, nonetheless, celebrates the victory with the same enthusiasm. They did it, they won their first Pokémon gym, and I helped them achieve their win.
I exit the pool area before the platforms in the arena disappear. In the aftermath, the Sensational Sisters make their way to us, having accepted their defeat at the hands of the fourteen-year old trainer.
Meanwhile, Orion comes up behind excitedly, "Lucas, that was all you, wasn't it" he cheered as I nod, "how'd you do it" he adds before I briefly explain how I managed to defeat the Poliwhirl. Right after I'm done explaining it to him, he can't seem to hold it in anymore and suddenly grabs me and pulls me into a strong hug.
"W-wow! That's amazing, I-I can't thank you enough for your help! Lucas, you are the best" his eyes shine with so much happiness that I can't help but reflect the same amount of enthusiasm back at him.
While this all happens, Violet and the rest of the girls approach Rigel, "hey kid, what's your name" Violet is the first to say.
"Rigel Robinson" he answers to them. It's not the first time I've heard his surname, but it is the first time I've heard it used officially by Rigel himself. The sisters smile in return, "that was, like, a great show of teamwork from you and your Pokémon" Lily compliments as the other two nod in response.
Violet butts in, moving in front of Lily to block her so she could talk to Rigel despite Lily's protests, "Keep that up and you'll have a lot more badges in no time!"
Daisy, the one who had lost to the teen just mere minutes ago, steps up as we all watch her pull out an item toward the boy, "Rigel, it is with great honor that we award you with the Cascade Badge!"
Now, just like Orion and I, Rigel's eyes light up with pure, unfiltered, joy, and he immediately jumps up and down before brandishing the badge: with Orion imitating his trainer's victory pose as if they were twins or something. Not going to lie, but they looked pretty cool at that moment. The girls clap in unison, congratulating the boy and his win.
Suddenly, one of the girls comes up to Daisy and says quite worryingly, "we need to take your Pokémon to the center before the show!"
"Oh yea, totally" Lily adds.
"You're so right, Violet. Listen, I'm sorry, but we need to go, once again, congratulations on beating the Cerulean City Gym! If you're interested you should watch our show today!"
We say farewell to the Sensational Sisters. From the corner of his eye, Rigel gives a sidelong glance toward two figures waiting by the entrance: it turns out to be his father and mother! And so, we make our way toward them as the boy runs for them. George waves at us before we finally stop next to them, "hey champ, we just wanted to make sure you were okay buddy. You did great back there!"
May moves up to the teen and gives a big proud smile to him, "congrats on getting your first badge Rigel!" She brings the boy into a deep hug as George joins in, all three humans embracing one another: "I'm so proud of you, son" George mutters, softly to him.
They break away and Rigel quickly brandishes the new item to them as the parents move closer to examine it, Orion himself, captivated by its sheer beauty, hops on George's shoulder to see it.
"Wow, it's so pretty" May exclaims.
"Amazing" George too says.
Soon afterwards, we quitted the pool area and left the building for the car.
…
We left the Cerulean Gym with our heads held up high, and the first thing that catches our eyes is the large crowd gathering around the property...they all must be here for the show...but with the girls heading to the Pokémon Center that means the show will be delayed. We won't be able to watch it, as daylight will begin to diminish within a few hours, and our main goal has yet to be reached.
Our group finally makes it to the compact car and we left the vicinity. As we cross through the city's interior, the three of us in the back, Orion and Rigel, quietly reflect on what had happened. Rigel happily pins the badge to his shirt, displaying it proudly for others to see. He is one step closer to qualifying for the Pokémon League, a feat that not many people are able to achieve.
My thoughts drifted towards my recent battle and our ultimate victory: I wanted to be a trainer at ten years old...I wanted to win at a gym...those dreams were shattered long ago...and I tried again to do it now...and the same dream was shattered again no thanks to Team Rocket; however, helping Rigel and Orion win THEIR first gym kinda made it seem like I had won my first gym...despite the fact it wasn't from a trainer's point of view...it still was a win regardless and something to be proud of. I just hope maybe once I'm human again I can win my own gym, but for now, this victory made me really excited for the days ahead.
Eventually, we stop for a quick bite before finally getting on the open road. We leave Cerulean City behind us, making our way uphill towards what appears to be a peninsula, where tall cliffs separate land from sea. We drive through a heavily forested area with tall pines on both sides, and it isn't long before we all see it: a lighthouse standing tall on a cliff by the sea, with its lights shining, rotating every so often as a beacon for ships.
"We're here" George stops the car adjacent to the building, wakeing up Rigel and Orion before all five of us look out our windows to inspect the tall structure.
This is it...Bill's Cottage...or...lighthouse? Nevertheless, it seems as though after a long journey on the road, our days of travel is coming to an end, and maybe my days as a Pikachu are too. Hopefully the person inside is fully prepared, and I can get to living my old life again! Even so, we approached the tall gothic-like door, and we were not prepared for what happened next…
...
Phew! This chapter took a while, but I think it was worth it! I hope it's apparent by now that this story follows the Anime's "Indigo League" universe. I usually don't ask this often but please leave a review, let me know how this story is going so far. I could really use some new ideas or help in improving my writing. Thanks! Until next time!
