Kanto Chapter 2 - Vermillion Training
Amber was so excited! This was the best day of her whole life! She was finally going out on her very own Pokémon adventure!
Well sort of.
Her parents had a long discussion and after a lot of compromising and the pulling of a few strings, Amber was on her way to Vermillion City to be an understudy of Lt Surge the Vermillion Gym Leader. Specialising in electric type Pokémon.
Amber was thrilled. She'd finally be able to put her skills and passion to real use! Ok it wasn't the journey she was hoping for, having a starter Pokémon and town hopping as her father had done, but it was a better deal than working at the Cerulean gym that was for sure. She loved her Aunties make no mistake, but she knew she'd still never get independence she craved there. Now she could finally find herself.
Another downside of the deal though, she had to travel to Vermillion City on the back of her father's Charizard, who was under strict instructions of no stops, no sightseeing, straight there and no detours. So no real adventure here either ... She viewed the terrain under her, what Pokémon could be living down there?
After what seemed like an eternity they flew over the border to Vermillion City – the boats, the harbour! A part of Amber did share her mother's passion for the ocean. It was a beautiful sight.
Finally, Charizard landed outside the city's Pokémon Gym. It was a striking building situated right next to the water. A ginormous man with a rugged aged face and silver hair stood in front of the entrance. He was an imposing sight for sure, but Amber recognised him as Lt Surge the Vermillion City Gym Leader immediately. 3 gym trainers stood with him also waiting her arrival. Amber hopped off Charizard and petted the giant fire lizards head, giving him a poképuff, he grunted in return and flew off back to his home. He better get an extra portion of food tonight!
"Welcome to Vermillion Gym!" A voice boomed and soon the teen was wrapped in a gigantic bear hug, her feet lifting off the ground.
Wow I knew he was big, but this guy is HUGE! The girl thought as she was lowered back to the ground.
"Ah ya really take afta ya old man dontcha?" Lt Surge smiled down at the girl, a lot of warmth in his welcome. "Ha have I got some stories for yous" his grin widening, a smile reaching his eyes as he walked her inside.
Ambers eyes went wide I … look … like ... my … dad? she internally winced.
"Dis is Dwyane" He pointed to the rotund man to his left, who in turn smiled widely and raised his hand in a sort of wave. "He used to be a sailor but he's hung up his sea legs for electric pokémon."
Surge continued and pointed to his right at a slender, middle aged man with tattoos "Here we have Baily, he's quite the whizz with electrics – used to be a sound engineer for that band The Electrodes!" Amber was a little starstruck, the Electrodes! Wow they were big famous rock band everyone had heard of them. I hope he has some inside gossip she happily thought to herself.
Then an older man appeared next to her, he held himself with an air of dignity and a very smart appearance, handling a cane which Amber suspected may have been more for aesthetics rather than dependency. "Den last but not least Tucker, a real class act". The elder gentleman took the teens hand and kissed it softly "Charmed to meet you Miss Ketchum" She smiled in response. "Permission to call you Amber?" he asked politely, the girl beamed and nodded yes.
"Well that's da introductions of ya peers, here, you will be sleepin' over there, just dump ya stuff on ya bunk, uniform is here and make yaself at home. Ya hungry? Ya wanna drink?"
Amber just stood in awe, she been in quite a few Pokémon gyms – her family's gym at Cerulean, Uncle Brock's gym at Pewter and Uncle Gary's at Viridian but this was very different. It was dimly lit and had an army boot camp like feel to it. The trainers were all dressed in uniformed combats and tank tops and weird blinking barrel like objects surrounded the gym area. So this is now home ...
"Hey, you ok there kid? Ya seem a little quiet?" Surge asked looking back at the girl. Who replied with a small shake of the head as if coming from a daze and a smile "Yes sorry just taking it all in, so when do we start?"
The gym leader smiled "Right now".
So, it wasn't exactly what the girl had in mind when her parents said she'd be an understudy. It had been 4 months since she left Pallet, and so far all Surge had her do was Pokémon husbandry, exactly as she'd being doing back home.
Sure she got to observe lots of battles and take note, but her duties were making sure all the Pokémon were fed, watered, groomed, clean and battle ready.
The uniform wasn't exactly flattering either, a man's style black vest top tucked into oversized combat trousers that billowed out, held to the waist by a black belt, and tapered in at the ankles by large black boots. It didn't really do the teenager any justice.
Not that she was unhappy as such, the teen was enjoying her taste of independence, she got not special treatment and Lt Surge was a wonderful role model and mentor. Spending one on one time with her when he had free time, demonstrating different attacks, discussing his own philosophy on raising Pokémon and of course stories of his past glories and anecdotes of her parents. As if he beat her father first time round!
Still she was itching for a taste of real Pokémon battling.
The other trainers Baily, Dwayne and Tucker had also managed to see past the famous name and come to treat the girl as one of their own, part of their army. They all had such diverse and rich personalities each brought something different to the table.
Dwayne was enthusiastic and hardworking; he had a rich booming voice, always chatty and full of humorous banter. Baily was quieter but efficient, very to the point and had great technical knowledge. It also helped that he had amazing stories about all the bands he'd worked with! Some maybe not suitable for the 15yearolds ears … Tucker was a true old-fashioned gentleman. He was respectful, polite and understanding. He had a unique ability to make people and pokémon alike feel at ease in his presence with no hint of judgement in his character. They would encourage her to watch their training sessions and field any questions she had to ask. She felt very at home with the three.
Amber had also developed quite the affection with the gym Pokémon – in particular, a newly evolved Jolteon who she would spend most of her free time playing with when she wasn't in use. Surges Raichu, was another very special Pokémon. He had a wonderfully developed sense of empathy and would sometimes sit with the girl if she was feeling a bit homesick but didn't want to show it to the others. He was her substitute for Pikachu back home and she especially loved to watch him battle. His experience and battle instincts were second to none.
It was a lovely clear, still evening in Vermillion City. Amber had not long returned from the Pokémon Centre, collecting the pokémon Nurse Joy had healed from Surges latest gym battle. With her duties for the day done, she sat down outside the Gym at the water's edge.
Feet in the sea, the teen looked out at the Vermillion harbour, which was just starting to light up against the twilight sky. So peaceful. The teen smiled, life was good. A huge shadow loomed over her.
"Mind if I join ya's kid?" Lt Surge approached the teenager.
Amber looked up and silently shook her head, smiling. She patted the ground invitingly. The large aging man sat down next to her, Raichu ever faithfully by his side.
"It's a beautiful evenin' aint it?" he said his gaze on the sea.
Amber nodded in agreement. "My mother was always pushing me towards water Pokémon. As much as I resisted my Cerulean Gym heritage, I do love the ocean. Guess it's in my blood". She turned at looked the gym leader with a smile "But electric types have always been my heart."
Surge nodded her to continue.
"When I was little I had a really vivid dream about a large electric bird coming to see me. I saw a picture of it in a book years later. It was Zapdos the legendary pokémon. At least I think it was a dream ... it was so real ... I can almost still feel it. I guess that's where it all started for me. Then of course there's Dad's Pikachu, he really is the best and so I started using electric types for the type advantage to play battle against my Mom." She giggled "It was the only way I had even a remote chance against her, and from then, I guess I just grew to love them, there just seemed to be this natural bond there, like I got them and they got me. Was it like that for you too, did you always love electric types?"
Surge looking straight ahead replied honestly "Not always. For a while my life was da army. Sure, we had electric pokémon powering up da equipment, but I never thought much more about 'em. Den one day I was out with my platoon, 'n we were ambushed. We were being shot at, pinned down under heavy fire. I couldn't see 'da guys shooting at us, but I could hear the gun fire and see the bullets ricocheting off the rocks we was hiding behind. Surrounded by trees and smoke I couldn't see a way out, da firing getting louder more intense, I start to hear shouts, I don't recognise da voices. Then some Pokémon appeared next to me, it was da Rotom from my plane, and some magnemite. They'd followed us out here."
Surge looked down and petted Raichu's head as he continued his story.
"I commanded da Rotom to use thunderbolt in the direction of the enemy fire to buy us some time, da magemite used sonic boom attacks to clear da smoke and then 'dey guided us to safety through 'd forest using flash. I was commended for saving my men's lives, but it wasn't me, it was the pokémon. They left 'der orders and stayed with us and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for electric Pokémon."
He handed the girl a dog-eared old picture from his wallet of him in the army receiving a medal.
Amber's eyes widened at the picture. Wow Surge was pretty hot in his younger days, the blonde spikey hair, he kinda reminds me of Volkner. The teen blushed slightly at the thought and shook the idea away, eww this man was like a second father to her!
The older man carried on talking, oblivious to the girl's reaction. "So, I had an honourable discharge, partnered up wid a Pikachu who quickly became dis guy" he looked again at Raichu, who in return looked back at his trainer "and we became an unbeatable team. I dedicated my life to training, battling and in the end running 'dis gym. I owe everything to my Pokémon and I never try to lose sight of dat."
Amber smiled and too and petted Raichu, reminded of her father's stories about his times with Pikachu.
"That's what I want. That bond with my very own Pokémon partner. What you have with Raichu, what Dad has with Pikachu. I want that" She said softly.
"You will kid. You will."
The trio continued to look out as the sun set in a comfortable silence.
More day's passed by, days turning into weeks, weeks turning into months.
It was a usual day. Amber was part ways through her mid-morning routine, polishing and waxing the Voltorbs and Electrodes - Jolteon at her side scrounging for poképuffs – when she heard a loud commotion coming from the gym entrance followed by voices. Sneaking closer, Jolteon at her side she saw two people - a man and a woman - dressed in black with white boots and white gloves. Surge looked angry, Pokéball in hand. Baily and Dwayne by his side.
"I don't know how yous got past our traps but yous got no business in here. Now go before I gotta teach you a lesson!"
"Ha you think the likes of you can intimidate us? We are Team Rocket! Now hand over the Zap Plate, we know you are holding it here and we have a buyer in Sinnoh who will pay good money for it" The woman jeered.
"It aint for sale" Surge gritted his teeth
"That's fine. We aren't buying" The male Rocket raised his pokéball and released a Grimer.
Surge released his Raichu. He turned to the other gym trainers "I got dis, you guys cover da gym. Protect the pokémon."
The other Rocket grinned "So predictable" the lady cooed and released a Rhyhorn.
This looks bad. Amber watched intently. 2 against 1 and one is a ground type.
"Raichu start off with a Mega Kick" "Rai!"
"Rhyhorn take down attack now"
"Grimer sludge attack!"
"Dodge it Raichu!"
With ease the Raichu out manoeuvred the attacks, his battle experience showing and with precision landed his kick squarely to the side of the Rhyhorn's head and landing in front of Grimer.
"Now Raichu Thunderbolt Grimer! Shut it down!"
"Grimer poison gas attack!"
The attack was strong - thick gas covered the area, it was hard to see hard to breathe! Raichu powering up struggled to see his target.
Trying to avoid the smog, a lone Voltorb had rolled its way across to the leg of the female Rocket. Looking down an idea formed – she kicked it. Hard. Directly at the powering Raichu. It hit the Pokémon square on! The force sent both Pokémon flying, Surge without hesitation jumped in the way to save both Pokémon from hitting the hard-concrete wall and all 3 tumbled backwards.
The stress of the situation instantly had Voltorb glowing. Amber held her breath, it all seemed to happen in the slow motion for her, but it was mere seconds. Voltorb used self-destruct, part of building fixings fell on top of the trio. Horrified gasps from the gym trainers and dust from the debris filled the air.
"SENSEI!" Amber ran over to her mentor.
"Are you ok?" concern in her eyes as she knelt by his side and removed what rubble she could. They were alive and only partly covered by debris.
The large man slowly opened his eyes, he could just about hear her over the ringing in his ears. "Yeah, I'm…OW! Err on second thoughts…"
His shoulder was clearly dislocated, and his leg bent at stomach churning angle. It had to be broken. Raichu and Voltorb both fainted. Tucker and Baily also ran straight to their master's side, helping remove the bigger pieces of debris and assessing the damage.
Amber looked back at the new commotion. Gym trainer Dwayne had challenged them in his master's place but was quickly and easily defeated in battle by the Rocket members. Slowly, Amber rose to her feet and narrowed her eyes at the offending duo. She didn't know who these jerks were, they were tough, but she would defend the gym.
"See what happens when you don't co-operate?"
The villain's attention turned to the approaching girl. "Now then little girl, make this easy and hand over the Zap Plate!"
Amber looked down, Jolteon at her side battle ready. She looked back up, heart pounding but eyes focused "Jolteon I choose you."
"Bad call kid. Get ready Rhyhorn", "Grimer round 3."
"Jolteon, agility now"
"Rhyhorn – horn attack!"
"Grimer sludge!"
Jolteon used her speed to great advantage, avoiding the oncoming attacks.
"Now Jolteon use Shadow Ball on Rhyhorn!" Jolteon fired the blast from her mouth scoring a direct hit, adding to the damage he took from Raichu's earlier assault.
"Grimer use poison gas again!"
Amber smirked. That trick again, really? "Jolteon. Swift"
Jolteon fired out stars cutting through the smog around her.
The Rockets Pokémon couldn't avoid the attack; they took the damage and it showed.
Never misses Amber smirked.
"Rhyhorn! Fissure strike!" The Rocket Grunt was getting angry.
That's a desperate move Amber was worried, even though she knew it was a long shot command given out of frustration, if the attack did land it would be all over…
Rhyhorn smashed the ground and … it completely missed, cracks in the floor went in all other directions.
"Ok let's take advantage of that right now! Jolteon, Last Resort!"
"Jolt!" The Pokémon smashed into her opponent's full force. As the residual smog from Grimer's earlier attack cleared completely it revealed both Grimer and Rhyhorn face down eyes swirling.
We did it? We did it! We won our first Pokémon battle! inside Amber was screaming and jumping for joy, adrenaline pumping, but on the outside tried to remain cool and collected.
"What no way! Beaten by … a … child?! This can't be happening, What's your deal brat?"
"My name is Amber Ketchum and you are not welcome here."
Ketchum? … we better report this to HQ. The female grunt thought recalling her Pokémon. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again – but mark my words we will be back"
The two Rockets hastily left. "The bosses won't be happy about this" the man whispered to his partner.
"On the contrary I think the bosses will be very happy about this" She replied with a smile, a confused look plastered on the man's face.
As soon as the Rocket Grunts were gone, Amber turned her attention to her fallen sensei.
"Kid … I … you were good out there! Real good!" Surge was stumbling over his words, partly from the pain but mostly from shock. Where did that come from? Guess battling was always in her genes ...
"Can you move?" Amber knelt beside Surge.
"I don't know" Surge shook his head Why, why did Team Rocket target here after all this time, is it simply just bad luck? Circumstance? Or something else… His mind was racing.
"We better get you to a hospital Master Surge" Tucker said getting under Surges arm and gently lifting him up, Amber quick to help on the other side, added "We need to get the pokémon to the Pokémon centre."
Dwayne ambled over and returned the injured pokémon to their pokéballs, clearly crestfallen from his recent defeat. "I'll get them to Nurse Joy and report the incident to Officer Jenny. Baily you stay here and take care of the gym."
"No. No need to involve Officer Jenny on dis one. This will require a little more than the good Lady in Blue. I will make the right calls." Surge stated.
Tucker piped up "Master Surge do you really believe you are in the right condition for that now? Maybe it would be best to let Dwayne and Officer Jenny handle this?"
"No. My body might be busted but my brain sure isn't, now dat's an order."
They all nodded in agreement and Amber began guiding the giant gym leader out the building, Tucker taking on the main role of crutch. Surge gave the girl a side glance over his shoulder as they exited the door. What in Arceus do I tell Ash?
Surge had been rushed straight into surgery. Amber and Tucker sat in the waiting room in total silence anticipating news of their fallen mentor. It had been over an hour when a doctor came over and greeted them, he was the surgeon that had been in the operating room. Ambers mind was struggling to make out all the medical limbo the doctor was throwing at them regarding the injuries sustained and the treatment being given but one sentence stood out and it was the only one that mattered "he will make a full recovery."
Amber made her way into the recovery room. Surge had requested a private audience with her, and she was racking her brain as to the reason. What couldn't be said in front of Tucker? She slowly opened the door to the room taking in the sight of her sensei bandaged up - his fixed-up leg in plaster, pullied up to levitate it and all kinds of wires and tubes coming from him, steady beeps filled the otherwise silent room. The man turned his head and smiled, signalling the teen to come over and controlling the bed to sit him up.
"Hey kid, you ok?"
Amber smiled in return "I should be asking you that."
"Ha, y'know kid, yous really saved da day today."
"Didn't stop you, Raichu and Voltorb from getting hurt though" the teen cast her eyes downward at the bed, looking over the banged-up man before her.
"No, but you stopped us from getting hurt a whole bunch more and they didn't get the zap plate. You did good kid. You should be proud."
Amber looked back up at his face and gave a small smile.
"Listen kid, those guys that attacked … do you know who they were?"
Amber shook her head "no, I don't. They did mention some name, but I didn't catch it. Why? Do you think they will be back for the zap plate?"
"Yeah I do." but maybe not for the Zap Plate. He thought to himself looking at his apprentice solemnly.
An uncharacteristic silence followed. The gym leader sat a pensive look on his rugged aging face, clearly, he had something to say but had no idea how to say it. He looked to his pupil and opened his mouth to speak, but instead closed it shut and looked back down at his chest. The lieutenant prided himself on being a man of honour and there was no honour in deceit, it went against everything he stood for. But not telling the whole truth for what he believes is the greater good … that's a decision he could stand by, or so he convinced himself.
Surge opened his eyes and looked Amber dead in hers. A small silence followed. "I'm going to make ya a trainer at the gym. My pokémon are at your disposal. You'll be battling challengers from now on. I want ya to get as much battle experience as ya can."
The biggest smile emerged across the red heads face, a squeal of pure joy escaped from her and she pounced on the former army man hugging him.
"OW!"
"Oops sorry! I got kinda carried away there haha" she released the aging man and put her hand behind her head apologetically. "You won't regret this. I promise."
"I know I won't. Now go back to Tucker, you guys need ta get back to the gym and look after my Pokémon."
He watched as the girl gave a small bow and retreated from the room, when he made sure she was out of sight he reached over to the bedside table for his phone and started to dial. "This is Surge ….. actually, no dat's why I'm callin', I need to speak to Master Ketchum ….. no NOW….." For the greater good he internally assured himself.
Meanwhile in Celadon City a very different conversation was taking place. An imposing figure cast in shadows is absolutely furious at finding out the subordinate Rocket Members have returned to base empty handed.
"Imbeciles! Do you have any idea how much that plate was going for on the black market? You have cost us thousands! Incompetent wastes of space! How could you lose to Surge with the pokémon we gave you for this mission? What do you have to say for yourselves?"
The two defeated grunts both bent down on one knee, faced bright red with shame of being chewed out. The female rocket grunt took the opportunity to try and save face "We are sorry Boss, but we have not come back empty handed, we bring some invaluable information for you."
"This better be damn good."
The male grunt continued "The name of the trainer who defeated us was Ketchum. We think she could be the daughter of Ash & Misty Ketchum."
"No, more than that we are sure she is."
The shadow figure was a taken back. News of the organisations most notorious adversary had been silent for time, sure the Ketchum son was splashed across the media all the time, but they had already tried and failed to kidnap him. He was pretty much a grown man now and not to mention a full-blown celebrity, the security and people constantly surrounding him was making it an almost impossible task and with that hard to justify the resources required.
The organisation was a fraction of what they were in the glory days under Giovanni and struggled to pull off the elaborate plans Team Rocket used to do back then. But now the Ketchum daughter has emerged. Maybe they could be more successful in their revenge plot second time around…
"Are you really sure?" The shadow voice countered.
"Positive" Both grunts replied in unison.
"Ok go through to debrief, I want every single detail of your encounter no matter how insignificant it may seem. If what your saying is true, then the mission was not a waste after all, perhaps you can redeem yourselves."
The grunts rose to their feet and made their way out of the luxurious office room.
The shadow figure watching them leave, picked up the phone and smiled. This could make it all worthwhile.
Authors Note: I don't think we've seen the last of Team Rocket