Chapter 34

Electric shock Showdown (p2)

at the Pokémon center,

Lincoln was in the Pokémon center lobby, feeling down from his battle.

"Man, I never knew Surge's Raichu was that strong," Lincoln said, as an flashback with Cross saying strong Pokémon trainers don't need compactions, but he shook it off.

"don't take it to hard link, each gym leader is tough," misty said.

"Yeah, he's labeled the third strongest gym leader," brock added, as they walked up to Lincoln.

"Thanks guys," Lincoln said, as he heard the ding sound and nurse joy came out.

"Nurse joy are they ok?" Lincoln asked concernedly.

"They're going to ok, they just need some rest, also I have something that might help you," nurse joy replied, as she hands Lincoln a little box.

"It might help since Surge evolved his Pikachu to Raichu after he caught it," she added.

Lincoln opened the box revealing a stone with a lightning bolt inside," what's this?" Lincoln asked.

"it's a thunder stone, it can help Pikachu evolve into a Raichu," brock replied.

"I can?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes, but once Pikachu evolves there's no going back," brock replied, as Lincoln's get rolled out to the lobby.

"Hey fellas, how are feeling?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm good, Andrea replied.

"Me too," Bruteroot replied.

Pikachu looked upset.

"I know your upset buddy, but nurse joy gave me this thunder stone to help you evolve, but I'm letting you decide," Lincoln said.

Pikachu got closer to the stone, then swat it out of Lincoln's hand with his tail, surprising everyone.

"I don't need to evolve to win, I want to beat raichu by being myself and prove that a Pikachu can beat a raichu," Pikachu said.

"you're right, beating an evolved for will be tough, but it's not impossible! together we'll win," Lincoln said as Pikachu, Andrea, and brutroot smile.

"You really think you can beat Raichu?" misty asked.

"It'll be tough, but I know we can, I have faith in my team," Lincoln replied.

"That's the spirit Lincoln, I suggest you head to the battle club, it'll help you train," brock said.

"Good idea brock, but before that, I have something to do," Lincoln said, as he made his way over to the videophones.

"Do you think he can do it?" misty asked.

"Seeing his determination and faith in his team I say yes," brock replied.

Meanwhile, at the loud house,

While Lori, Lynn, and Lola were fast asleep, there were still wide awake, either needing to use the bathroom, had some things to ponder on, or were just plain restless. among them were Luna and Luan, who were downstairs with lucy and their parents. all four of them were having a bout of restlessness, while in Luna and Luan's case, they were just staring off into space. both were going over what they were going to say to Lincoln if and when he does call, emphasis on "if". just then, their thoughts were cut off with a buzzing from their wristwatches. Rita, Lynn sr. lucy and Lana looked at theirs. all of them say "vermillion city".

"Didn't professor oak say something about Lincoln trying for the badge from that gym?" lucy asked.

"I do believe he did. it must be him!" Rita said, as the five of them made their way upstairs. along the way, they met up with Leni and Lana, who had just stepped out of the bathroom after helping Lana brush her teeth.

"you two got the message too?" Luna asked.

"Yep. we've been looking forward to talking to Linkey again," Leni replied, as they made their way to Lisa and lily's bedroom. there, they saw Lisa at the videophone.

"You're just in time," Lisa said. as soon as they were all in, Leni closed the door. Lisa then activated the electric current in the doorknob.

"Luna, Luan, could you two wait off screen? we don't want to risk Lincoln hanging up on us," Lynn sr. asked.

"Sure thing," Luan replied. they really didn't want to, but this was the one and only chance they have of mending fences with their brother, and can't afford to let it go to waste. with that, Lisa answered the call. the screen then displayed Pikachu and Lincoln's faces.

"Uh...hey guys long time no see," Lincoln greeted, followed by a brief moment of silence. ultimately, it was Lisa who broke the silence.

"Ahem, it has certainly been a while since we last spoke, Lincoln, especially given what happened last time," she said.

"Yeah...that's...not...going to happen again, is it?" Lincoln asked.

"Fret not, brother. after your last call, I took the liberty of installing measures to my door to keep any unwanted intruders out," Lisa replied.

"Well, that's good to hear," Lincoln replied.

"We've really missed you Linkey," Leni said.

"As have I, Leni," Lincoln replied.

"So, how've you been, Lincoln," Rita asked.

"Uh, pretty good actually. after we left cerulean city for the first time to head to the cerulean cape, I was able to catch all three of the kanto starters, as well as caught a Pokémon at cerulean cape," Lincoln replied.

"Good to hear. we heard about the circumstances about how you were able to catch all three kanto starters, but what all happened after that," lucy asked.

"Well, we ran into the joy and jenny in the town I caught my Squirtle in, and i helped brock score a date with them," Lincoln replied. his sisters, mother and father were surprised that Lincoln played match maker.

"Anyhow, after that, the two of them joined un on our trip to the cape, where we had fun, and this guy asked me to be a judge in a bikini contest," Lincoln continued, surprising his family.

"Bikini contest!" Lynn sr. said.

"You did turn it down at first, did you?" Rita asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeeees," Lincoln said looking nervous and avoiding eye contact.

"Lincoln!" Rita said in a warning tone.

Lincoln was sweating nervously until he snapped." ok, ok, I accepted it when he asked," Lincoln said.

"Lincoln Abe loud!" Rita said quietly gritting her teeth, so she won't wake up lily, looking upset along with the sisters.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me if you were in my position, you wouldn't turn it down?" Lincoln asked, making the girls, his mom and dad blush knowing he was right.

Lynn sr. decided to change the subject," so Lincoln, what Pokémon did you catch in cerulean cape," he asked.

"Oh right, I caught a krabby, well actually it caught me first," Lincoln replied, as Luan silently giggled off screen.

'I've heard of people catching Pokémon, but not the other way around,' she thought.

"Well, that's something link, Lana said.

"Quite right. and after we had our fun on the beach, we went to visit our friend bill, at his light house. after having a nice dinner, he explained that there are, and I'm not joking around here, over 900 different species of Pokémon in the world," Lincoln explained.

"900?!" the louds quickly covered their mouths and Lana almost fainted, remembering lily was sleeping in her crib.

"That was our reaction too. and that's including what he calls 'extinct evolutions'," Lincoln explained.

"Extinct evolutions?" what does that mean?" lucy asked.

"It refers to regional forms and evolutions that some Pokémon used to have that their modern-day descendants can no longer undertake. apparently, the sinnoh region, or rather, the hisui region, as it used to be called, was home to these kinds of Pokémon," Lincoln explained.

"So, like, a Pokémon from that time could evolve, but in the present, they can no longer do?" Lisa asked.

"Pretty much, not only that when I meet certain Pokémon, I would have visions of being in hisui with those Pokémon, when I told Bill about it, he said there might be a chance they're memories from a past life and I was reincarnated, or they're memories from an ancestor, which also explains why I started drawing Pokémon after the sister fight protocol," Lincoln explained.

"Wow, do you think it's true?" lucy asked.

"Maybe, unless, mom, dad did any of our ancestors ever traveled to the Pokémon regions?" Lincoln asked.

"Not that I know of honey," Rita replied.

"Not sure either son, but we'll check," Lynn sr. replied.

"Thanks, continuing on, Bill invited us to catch a glimpse of a unique dragonite. and by unique, I mean it was huge, like, the lighthouse looked like a dollhouse in comparison," Lincoln explained.

"It was really that big?" Lisa asked, as Lana had stars in her eyes.

"Yeah. I have pictures from the trip. I'll send them over with the data. and the meeting with the giant dragonite would've been perfect, if it weren't for the fact that team rocket showed up with the intent to catch it," Lincoln grumbled.

"This team rocket seems to pop up wherever you seem to go," lucy commented.

"Not necessarily. true, I did encounter the rockets I met in viridian city when I caught my Bulbasaur, but it always seems like we don't encounter them every time. maybe every other time," Lincoln replied.

"Still, I don't like how much trouble they cause, your father and I would rather you avoid them," Rita replied, as Lynn sr. nodded in agreement.

"I try mom, I really do. anyways, after we said goodbye to Bill, and dropping joy and jenny back in the town I caught Squirtle in, we backtracked all the way back to cerulean city, and continued south to vermillion city. along the way, we met up with samurai, the bug type trainer I met in viridian forest. we had ourselves a battle, kind of continuing where we left off the last time we met, which ended in a victory for me. Afterwards, he told us about another trainer by the name of 'Aj', who runs an official Pokémon gym," Lincoln continued.

"An unofficial gym? what does that mean?" Lisa asked.

"It means it's not an official Pokémon gym, so even if I did win against him, he wouldn't give me a badge. As for Aj himself, he was one of the strongest trainers with a winning streak of 98 wins in a row," Lincoln explained.

"Wow, that guy must be good. so, were you able to break that streak?" Lynn sr. asked.

"No, he was already defeated when I got there, it was the trainer Cross who beat him, he was the one who hurt Damian and ruthless too, after he beat Aj samurai and I took him on. he was tougher than we thought because he beat us with only two moves, he even called charmeleon and me trash, so I countered saying he's talking about himself, he didn't take that well, so he made his Pokémon attack charmeleon even though he's down, so I jumped in and took the attack instead," Lincoln replied. Rita, Lynn sr. and their daughters were shocked at that information," After that, I made a deal with him that we'll face each other again at the Pokémon league. and if I beat him, he would apologize to Damian and Aj, but if he wins, I give him my rainbow wing."

"He did that to you?!" Leni asked, as she and the others were getting upset.

"Yes, not only that, but charmeleon was feeling guilty about me getting hurt protecting him, I felt bad experiencing my first loss, but I'm taking it as an experience," Lincoln replied.

"I see. so, did anything else happened while you were there?" Lisa asked.

"Well, turns out Cross trashed Aj's gym, so we decided to help him fix it up, despite my injury," Lincoln replied.

"Well, that was very nice of you to do that for AJ," Rita said.

"That jerk cross deserves to sound blasted," Luna said, realizing she slipped up.

"Oh dear. we were hoping to do this a little later in the call, but i suppose now's a good a time as any. now, Lincoln, sweetie, just try to hear them out on what they have to say," Rita requested, as Luna and Luan stepped into view.

"L-Luna, Luan," Lincoln said, tensing up.

"Uh, hey Lincoln...you look good," Luna greeted.

"Hey link, it's been a while," Luan greeted.

"We uh, can leave if you three want," Lynn sr. offered.

"No, it's fine. everyone can stay," Lincoln replied.

"Alright, if you're sure," Rita replied, as she, and the others stood off to the side.

"So, it's been a while since we last spoke," Luna said.

"Indeed. I assume you're not here just to say 'hi', right?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, you're right. before I say what I have to, I need to know something. when you came clean about pretending to be bad luck, you were telling the truth, weren't you?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. under normal circumstances, I would've just been honest, but, well, you know what happened when I tried to decline Lynn's invite to her softball game," Lincoln replied.

"Well, you could've told me that you didn't want to come to my concert. I would've understood," Luna replied.

"The thought had crossed my mind, but, like the rest of our sisters, you do have an... aggressive side. remembering when you and Luan got into a fight involving your fog machine and Mr. coconuts?" Lincoln asked making Luan winced.

"Uh, yeah, that time i was... dealing with some things. but look, what I want to say is sorry, for everything I had a hand in putting you through. the bad luck incident, for threatening you from time to time, and also for holding you back," Luna ultimately spat out. Lincoln looked very surprised, and a little confused.

"I'm sorry too link, for the bad luck incident, for almost getting you killed from my April fools' pranks, not taking responsibility for the video contest, for breaking my promise to you when you were a baby, and mostly holding you back as well," Luan added. confusing Lincoln even more.

"Holding me back'? Luna, Luan, what are you two talking about?" Lincoln asked, as tears began to cascade down Luna and Luan's cheeks.

"We're talking about you, Lincoln! here you are, having to put up with us dragging you into our fights, putting undue blame onto you every time something bad happens, and putting ourselves before your feelings. hell, you couldn't even get a goddamn cereal box because of us, even though you earned it," Luna yelled.

"Luna, language and volume!" Rita scolded, only to get ignored by the rocker teen.

"And now look at you! becoming a Pokémon trainer and exploring kanto, you're doing way better there than you ever have here in royal woods. the battles you won, the badges you've earned, not to mention all the Pokémon you've caught, you've finally found the one thing you're good at, and it's all because we aren't weighing you down!" Luan yelled, clutching the videophone like her life depended on it," we both know none of us can force you to come back home to us, and that you can find yourself a new place there in kanto, but we beg of you, don't abandon us! I know we don't show it as much as we should, but we do love you, and I doubt any of us can bear the thought of living life without you." Luna added.

Lincoln was taken aback by Luna and Luan's outburst, but he then composed himself," Luna, I want tell you and Luan something, alright?"

"Ok?"

"None of you are going to spend the rest of your lives without me. while it's true that our family does have more than its share of blackspots, with this bad luck mess being one of them, but there are also good times, like when you and the others helped me out when my family diorama broke," Lincoln explained. the sisters all remembered that time," and while it's true my newfound career as a trainer is successful one, it won't stop me from coming home. and it won't change the fact that, despite how many times you girls make me want to rip out my hair, I do love you all. am I making myself clear?"

"As crystal," Luna sniffed as Luan and the rest of the sister's nod.

"Good. now, as for the whole 'holding me back', while its true you girls do tend to get in the way of my goals, I know you never intentionally do it. if it happened, it happened," Lincoln then crossed his arms," but don't think for a minute that the thought of holding me back holds any sort of weight in discussion. if anything, coming to kanto has actually helped propel me forward. if it didn't, then I'd still be back home, struggling to find what I wanted to do with my life."

"Maybe so, but it doesn't feel right that you're doing so well without us. after all, you were there to support us when we had our events but none of us could be bothered to lift a finger to support you," Luan replied.

"Well, just because you aren't supporting me in person doesn't mean you can't do so in spirit. just ask mom and dad.

"It's true, girls. as much as your father and I want to root for your brother in person, nothing can stop us from doing so in spirit," Rita said.

"I suppose you have a point there," Luna said, as she and Luan wipe their tears," so we cool, bro?"

"As I said to the others, if something like this EVER happens again, then don't even bother trying to contact me again. but yeah, I'll forgive you," Lincoln replied. Luna and Luan couldn't feel happier.

"Thanks bro. you have no idea how much this means to us! and don't worry, I don't I won't ever let this happen again!" she said." me to link, after seeing the footage of my pranks almost killing you, I'm going to pull back on my pranks, until I learn self-control when its April fool's day," Luan said. Lincoln smiled upon hearing that, but his expression then took on of confusion, when he saw some sort of sinister black aura emerging from Luna and Luan.

'What was that?' he wondered, taking a moment to rub his eyes. when he looked back up, he saw the aura was completely gone, 'hmm, must've just been a trick of the eyes.'

"So, how've thing been after you got that battle with Cross?" lucy asked.

"Ah yes. well, this morning, we made it to vermillion city, where I challenged the gym leader, lieutenant Surge for a thunder badge," Lincoln replied.

"Ah, that's good to hear. so, I assume you were able to win?" Lisa asked.

"Actually, I got beat pretty badly," Lincoln replied.

"You actually lost a gym battle?"

"Yeah. thanks to bruteroot, my Bulbasaur, and Andrea, my sandshrew, I won the first two matches, but when it came to his last Pokémon, Pikachu, we got stomped by Surge's Raichu, Pikachu's evolved form and it was his ace," Lincoln replied.

"I see. how did you approach the battle?" Lisa asked.

"I tried the direct approach with power. it didn't matter since Raichu just knocked away everything we threw at it. after we lost, the vermillion city nurse joy gave me a thunder stone to help Pikachu evolve, I let Pikachu decide on his own, and he decided to not evolve, he wanted to beat Raichu as himself, and I agree with him," Lincoln explained.

"So you're planning to train and rethink your strategy. good thing. by the way, what do you know about this Surge character's Raichu?" Lisa asked.

"From what I learned, he evolved it as soon as he caught it," Lincoln replied.

"Hmm, that actually be a double-edged sword scenario," Lisa mused.

"I thought it was a battle," Leni commented.

"No, Leni. what I mean is that while Surge's Raichu did get stronger, it might've came at a price," Lisa explained. Lincoln then realized Lisa was on to something.

"Hey, you're right. in most video games with a gimmick like Pokémon training, your first instinct, when you get a certain creature, is to make it stronger and evolve it right away. doing so does indeed make them stronger, but there are certain moves or techniques that particular creature can only learn in an earlier stage," Lincoln said.

"Quite right. perhaps Surge evolved his Raichu before teaching it any speed-based attacks," Lisa replied.

"That sounds about right. So I should work raising Pikachu's speed so we can outpace Raichu. thanks for that bit of advice Lisa," Lincoln declared.

"Anytime. and it's good to hear from you again, Lincoln," Lisa replied.

"Likewise. anyhow, before I let you guys off, I'll send over the data and photos, I'll also send you some of these milks because they're delicious and I know Lisa has a duplicator," Lincoln said, inserting his pokedex and five cartons of moomoo milk on the transporter.

"Data, items transmitting / receiving," the computerized voice said, as the transfer was completed.

"I'm going to hold off on sending anymore Pokémon until after I earn the thunder badge and decide on which ones to send. is that alright?" Lincoln asked.

"Perfectly understandable," Lisa replied, looking at the data her brother had just sent," besides, this should be able to hold us over until then."

"I'll be patient too bro, and seeing the data is good enough for me as well," Lana said.

"I'm also curious on how good this milk is," lucy said.

"Very well. by the way, has anything major happened over there since the last time I called?" Lincoln asked.

"Well, believe it or not, we've been getting hit hard with actual, for real bad luck," Luna replied.

"Really? care to elaborate?" Lincoln asked. his mother, father and sisters all began explaining the strange occurrences that had been plaguing the loud house since the cerulean city called," yeesh, talk about an ironic turn of events," he winced.

"We know. and the strangest thing is that our luck turned really bad the day AFTER the cerulean city phone call," Luan replied.

"That was when Lynn said all those nasty things to Lincoln, right?" Leni asked.

"Correct. more than likely her actions that day was the catalyst for things to turn sour for the others," Lisa replied.

"More than likely. but has any OTHER stuff happened?" Lincoln asked.

"Well, I had just perfected a portable version of the translator i used while the first six Pokémon were here," Lisa replied.

"Wow, that's great!" Lincoln commented.

"Indeed. if your friends get permission from their families to go to kanto, I plan to give them each a translator. it works the same way as a Bluetooth earpiece," Lisa replied, holding one of her translator's up.

"Well, that's sure to help out," Lincoln replied, before noticing the time," it must be late over there, so I'm going to let you guys off now. I'll call again as soon as I win the match," Lincoln said.

"Please do. we like hearing from, sweetie," Rita replied.

"Me too Kido, things have been not the same without you," Lynn sr. added.

"Will do. see you guys in the morning over there while it'll be night over here," Lincoln said, before he hung up.

"Oh yeah Lincoln, we almost forgot to mention, professor oak is sending us a cable so we can see your gym battle," Lana said.

"Yes, we can also see the other gym battle and give you intel on what times they use." lucy added.

"We can also see you at the Pokémon league and cheer you on," Leni said.

"Wow, that's awesome, let me know when you get ok" Lincoln asked.

"You got it bro," Luna replied.

"Well, that was reassuring. I hope you two feel better now, Luna, Luan," Rita said.

"Much better. I feel like a great weight has been lifted off our shoulders," Luna replied, as she and Luan sounded more relaxed and cheerful," we're not kidding. I literally feel like a huge weight's been lifted off of my shoulders." Luan added.

"Well, that's good to hear. at least now your worries about the whole 'holding Lincoln back' have been put to rest," Leni commented.

"Speaking of rest, we should go and try get some. its rather late," Rita said. with that, they exited the room, while Lisa crawled into bed, drifting off to sleep.

Luna and Luan grabbed the moomoo milk bottles and took them downstairs and put them in the fridge except for two, they decided to taste the milk before going to bed.

In the vermillion city Pokémon center lobby,

Lincoln felt great after talking to his family again, especially now that he had mended fences with Luna and Luan. though he couldn't help but wonder about the black aura that was surrounding them,' it couldn't have just been a trick of the lens. I probably better not dwell on it too much,' Lincoln thought, as he regrouped with his friends.

"So, how'd the call go?" misty asked.

"Pretty good, actually. I even managed to patch things up with Luna and Luan," Lincoln replied.

"Which sisters are they again?" brock asked.

"Luna's a punk rocker. wears mostly a purple outfit. Luan is the comedian on. who wears mostly yellow with squirting flowers. I plan to call again after I try the gym again, so we can do formal introductions then," Lincoln replied.

"Well, alright then. so, what do you plan to do in preparation for your rematch?" brock asked.

"Well, Lisa gave me an idea of using Pikachu's smaller body as an advantage against Raichu. remember what the nurse joy said, about how he evolved his Raichu the moment he got it?" Lincoln asked.

"Ah, that's right! Raichu might be able to learn more powerful attacks it can't lean as Pikachu, but there are speed moves that it can only learn as a Pikachu," misty said.

"It won't just be Pikachu that I'll train. I'll be training bruteroot and Andrea as well, to try and beef them up a bit," Lincoln replied.

"Good idea, I recommend you use the battle club to train, it'll help out," brock said.

"Thanks brock, I appreciate it," Lincoln said, as he and his friends head to the battle club building.

That's chapter 34, Lincoln will see the battle club for the first time, but will it help him win his rematch.

now that Luna and Luan had made amends with Lincoln who will be next.

just to let you all know, Lincoln will send new Pokémon to the louds after the St. Anne adventure.

will the moomoo milk affect Luna and Luan, we'll just see.

Lincoln's team

Pikachu (male)

moves: thunderbolt, iron tail, quick attack, electroball.

Fearow (female)

moves: drill peck, wing attack, gust, brave bird.

poliwhirl (male) at loud house

moves: hypnosis, water sport, and water gun.

pidgeotto (female)

Moves: gust, whirlwind, sand attack, tackle, brave bird, steel wing, and quick attack.

butterfree (male) at loud house

moves: sleep powder, stun spore, confusion, quick attack, and psybeam.

beedrill (shiny) (male) at loud house

poison sting, string shot, bug bite, harden, pin missile, poison jab, and whirlwind.

riolu (male)

moves: quick attack, endure, counter, metal claw, and egg move vacuum wave

Kirila (male)

moves: confusion, double team, thunder punch, disarming voice, teleport, and egg move misty terrain.

Flapple (male)

moves: dragon rage, grassnot, razor leaf, and whirlwind.

Appletun (female)

moves: dragon rage, grassnot, razor leaf, and energyball.

zubat (male) at the louds

moves: absorb, supersonic, bite, wing attack, astonish, and giga drain.

paras (male) at the louds

moves: scratch, stun spore, poison powder, absorb, and fell stinger.

sandshrew (female) (Andrea)

moves: poison sting, defence curl, rapid spin, fury cutter, magnitude, and metal claw

clefable (male)

moves: metronome, minimize, double slap, disarming voice, sing, and wake up slap.

steenee (female)

moves: sweet scent, razor leaf, rapid spin, splash, play nice, and grass whistle.

rockruff (male) at the louds

moves: rock throw, crunch, sand attack, roar, dig, stone edge, and counter.

goomy (female)

moves: tackle, bubble, bubble beam, absorb, bide, protect, dragon breath, and poison tail.

Bulbasaur (male) (bruteroot)

moves: vine whip, tackle, sleep powder leech seed, and razor leaf.

Charmelon (male) (firestorm)

moves: flamethrower, cratch, sand attack metal claw, and ember.

Squirtle (male) (shell shocker)

moves: tackle, bite, withdraw, water gun, rapid spin and aqua jet.

krabby (male)

moves: water gun, harden, leer, metal claw, mud shot, protect, and the egg move ancient power.