The scent of ozone filled the air as Ash stepped through the heavy steel doors of the Vermillion City Gym a second time. It had been a day after his previous loss. Now he'd returned to face off against the Gym Leader he'd lost against so decisively before, hoping that things would go differently this time with the effort they put forth since then.

"So, the little babies came back?" The Gym Leader addressed them the same as before. He'd changed out yesterday's outfit for a tank top and a pair of cargo pants tucked into his boots. He also had a pair of sunglasses above his eyes. "I gotta admit, I didn't think ya'd be so eager for another spanking so soon."

Irritation bubbled up in Ash's throat from the tone that was so thick with ridicule that it seemed to drip down onto the floor. The Gym Leader was obviously attempting to rile him up, his words worming their way down into his chest. Ash gnashed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, tasting the tang born of crackling lightning and sparking electricity that was present in the air before forcing it down. Losing his cool could cost them the rematch, which would make all the training they'd done so Pikachu could have a chance against Raichu for nothing.

"We're here for the rematch," Ash simply declared. "The same terms as before: Pikachu vs. Raichu."

"You sure about that?" He pointed to Pikachu. "Your Pikachu managed to make it out better than most because it's an Electric-Type. But in case you forgot the last time, your pipsqueak pokémon couldn't do a thing to my Raichu."

"Piiii…" A sharp, yet low growl slipped out of Pikachu's mouth. The Electric Mouse no doubt felt the sting of the Gym Leader's words as he stood on his hindlegs, staring down at the Gym Leader as well with a focused expression.

"That was yesterday," Ash said, crouching down on a knee and brushing the top of Pikachu's head to calm him as he rebuked the Lieutenant's claim. "We've improved since then. You'll see."

"…Well, far be it from me to turn down a challenge," Lt. Surge said with a shrug of his broad shoulders before giving a glance towards the spectators. Specifically, Gina. Before anything could come of it, he put his shades over his eyes and then enlarged a shrunken ball. Tossing the ball out into the air, it burst apart at the seam and released streamers of lightning. "Let's teach these babies another lesson, Raichu!"

The Raichu landed on the field and stood at roughly a foot taller than Pikachu, ears erect and straight. Upon seeing its opponent, the evolved pokémon cracked a grin and its yellow cheek pouches sparked with electricity that danced across its orange fur and down the long, narrow tail. It discharged the voltage through the thunderbolt-looking tail at the end and scorched the artificial ground black around it in a show of power. "Rai-rai."

Yellow fur bristled as Pikachu fell onto all fours, tail raised. Tension threaded his body in anticipation and anxiousness as he moved into a starting position and stood ready to do battle. "Pika!"

The speakers in the ceiling crackled to life as the announcer spoke through them. "Very well. The match between the challenger, Ash Ketchum, and the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, will be a one-on-one match. You may begin!"

The declaration was immediately followed up by Lt. Surge taking the initiative. "Pound that pipsqueak Pikachu with Mega Punch!"

"RAICHU!" Raichu lunged for Pikachu from above with its right fist reared back as a white light coalesced around it. The dense sphere of raw energy, bright enough that the light it radiated eclipsed the smaller pokémon, was packed with a large amount of power. Without a moment of hesitation Raichu brought the fist down—

BOOOM!

—and the sphere ruptured with enough force that the artificial ground upturned with a plume of broken stone fragments and dust. Without a doubt, that was a critical and decisive blow. Raichu had intended to finish Pikachu off in a single blow rather than dragging things out like before.

Yet, Pikachu emerged from the earthen smokescreen with dirt covering his yellow fur. Getting back onto all fours mid-roll, a tiny pant left his mouth and a bead of sweat rolled down his brow at how close that had been. His smaller size had been what had saved him in the end, since being lower to the ground meant he could avoid the smashing blow by rolling to the side and letting the fringes of the concussive force carry him out.

Yet he wasn't allowed to catch his breath as Raichu swung its tail around, scattering the smokescreen with the resulting breeze. The moment his eyes spotted Pikachu, his electric pouches grew luminous and streamers of electricity sparked from them before worming their way all over his body. He sent them towards Pikachu as a scattering of bolts with a shout, "CHUUUU!"

"Is it me or is that Raichu really aggressive?" Misty said from the sidelines as she watched the artificial battleground meant to ground the electricity erupt into a plume of blackened earth where the bolts connected. "And it's attacks are more powerful than the last time too."

"…You're right," Gina said, before she then called out to Ash. "Ash, use your Pokédex and read the full entry!"

Ash gritted his teeth, not daring to tear his eyes away from Pikachu as he desperately dart between the bolts. Roughly fumbling to pull it out of his pocket, he let the sensor register the Raichu. "Dexter, full read!"

Raichu, the Electric-Mouse Pokémon. Possessing electrical attacks that may reach 10,000 volts, as the electricity within its body builds the muscles become more stimulated and its ears stand straight. In this state they become more aggressive than usual and must discharge the excess energy to calm themselves using their tails, which can both gather electricity from the atmosphere and ground it.

Ash tensed as he read that. "Then that means the first time we fought it was holding back?"

"That's right," Lt. Surge said with a grin. "Normally, I'd have Raichu dissipate the excess with the help of one of my other pokémon before sending him out against another challenger. But since you came early and your Pikachu's an Electric-Type, I figured I may as well give you a true taste of its evolved form's power this time!"

Raichu's assault redoubled. The electricity that came from its cheeks grew denser as the crackling bolts sparked out and left blackened trailed of earth before it released them towards Pikachu's side of the field. Unlike before, where it released one powerful bolt after another in a rapid-fire stream, this time the serpentine bolts of electricity branched out like the roots of a tree and covered more ground.

It was too much to escape. As they converged on Pikachu mid-stride, he planted his tail on the ground and braced as the electricity sent a current through his body. The smaller pokémon cried out in pain as the voltage surged through him, eventually passing into the ground around his paws and tail. Panting while his head and ears drooped—

"Pikachu, above you!" Ash shouted.

—Pikachu's head snapped up above to where Raichu was. The evolved Electric Mouse Pokémon had jumped high into the air, a dense electric current crawling all over its body. The current quickly flowed down towards its tail, the tip glowing while aimed down.

"Now, Raichu!" Lt. Surge shouted. "Show 'em your strongest Thunderbolt!"

With a thunderclap the massive electrical charge was sent down from above. It was like an actual lightning bolt, the blinding glare of its approach obscuring the Starter from view with how bright it was. Then it struck the ground with a thunderous roar that was like a warhead going off, sending up a cloud of black smoke and brown dust like the resulting mushroom cloud.

"Ngh…" Ash braced himself as the fierce wind whipped at his clothes. Yet when the wind died there was only silence as the smoke obscured the area Pikachu had been in, leaving him to call out for his partner. "Pikachu, are you okay!?"

"It's over," the Gym Leader said as his own pokémon landed on the ground, only slightly winded. The rigidity in its posture was gone, its ears left slightly drooping rather than possessing the stiffness that they had before. "There's no way—"

Raichu immediately twisted his head a split-second before running light erupted from the unsettled dust, scattering it. The streak shot across the battlefield and slammed into the white underbelly of the larger Mouse Pokémon, leaving it to buckle wide-eyed and mouth gaping. Its body went sailing back before skirting along the ground until it could get its feet under it and skidded to a stop, holding one arm where it had been hit as it glared towards the spot it had been.

There Pikachu stood on all fours, panting. His entire body shifted with the heavy breaths leaving his mouth as the white veil around him dissipated. "Pi…ka…"

"Pikachu, you're okay!" Ash couldn't keep the relief out of his voice. "I knew you weren't out of it yet!"

In contrast, Lt. Surge couldn't keep the disbelief out of his. "No way! That attack should have knocked your Pikachu out cold!"

"That was close," Misty sighed, situated next to Gina and Brock on the sideline. "I thought he might have been hurt by that attack, but it looks like he dodged it with what he learned yesterday."

"…No, I don't think he used what he learned last night at all," Brock said, brows furrowed in thought as he stared with slanted eyes towards Pikachu and then the spot where the attack had been. The ground around Pikachu had been blown apart and blackened. "His breathing is fairly ragged and his fur is pretty singed, especially around the tail. I think the attack itself did connect but he somehow diverted the majority of it into the ground."

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt again!" Surge ordered. "Knock it out this time!"

Raichu's yellow cheeks sparked with tendrils of electricity before it sent a bolt of electricity spearing towards Pikachu in retaliation. It wasn't nearly as strong as the one before, but it would clearly pack a bit of a punch. Yet Pikachu reared back on his tail as the bolt struck him, his own cheeks sparking a moment and sending a current flowing down his body before the attack connected. The Thunderbolt passed down his through his tail and into the ground where it was scorched black, leaving the evolved Mouse Pokémon looking stunned as Pikachu bound back, using the muscles in his tail to land onto all fours as a pale light wreathed his body.

"PIKA!" Then all at once he shot forward a second time as running light. Even seeing it coming this time and attempting to get out of the way didn't spare Raichu from taking the Quick Attack a second time as it clipped his shoulder, sending him sprawling into the ground with a twist. Pikachu roughly touched down further out, panting even harder.

The Gym Leader grimaced. "So that's how the pipsqueak got out of it. It created an existing current and passed it along the tail as Raichu's Thunderbolt connected. The weaker one was subtracted out, but it still followed that path because it was the least resistant way for it to pass through its body, reducing the brunt of it."

"I see…" Gina muttered from the sidelines with her Pokédex opened. "Apparently, Pikachu tails are sometimes struck by lightning despite being in a forest with taller trees. Likewise, Raichu can gather electricity from the atmosphere with it. For them not to fry themselves means that their tails can be used to conduct high amounts of electricity while leaving the rest of their bodies relatively unharmed."

"Relatively unharmed is a stretch," Brock said. "An attack that powerful still left its mark, even if he managed to divert the majority of it with that improvised technique. If they weren't the same species and he hadn't done that training yesterday, that would have been the end of the match."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

Brock explained. "Seeing Raichu leap from the ground and use its tail to release its excess electricity, Pikachu must've figured that planting his own tail into the ground and holding himself upwards meant that it would send the majority of the charge into the ground through his own tail in the same way. It's likely something that they instinctively learn as they get older and he improvised using it."

"…I don't think it was completely improvised," Gina said. "Before the first attack hit, Pikachu attempted to ground the current he had been hit with before but still got shocked since it didn't pass through just his tail into the ground. This time, he released his own electricity to give it a path to follow since he couldn't release a high enough voltage to cancel it out entirely. It's likely that ever since his first defeat he had been thinking of a way to deal with its electrical attacks, but only after seeing Raichu leave the ground entirely he managed to piece it together. After all, it's hard to deny Pikachu's a quick learner after how fast he picked everything up yesterday."

"That's awesome, Pikachu!" Ash said. The taste of defeat was a such a bitter thing that Pikachu had taken a massive gamble in learning to subvert it for the sake of his pride. But in doing so he had proven to himself that even his evolved form wasn't above him in terms of pure power anymore. "All that's left now is to take down that Raichu!"

It was a bold claim to make in front of the Gym Leader. A fact he made known. "Just because you found a way around one of Raichu's attacks doesn't mean the battle's over. After all, your little baby pokémon still has to knock out Raichu."

"Then we'll do just that!" Ash declared before he gave the order to attack. "Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

"Pika!" Pikachu's body became wreathed with pale light before he threw himself towards the Raichu as running light a third time. The attack that had stuck previously twice would once more to run down Pikachu's evolved form and put it down. At least, that was the plan.

But Raichu spun on its feet and twisted its body so that the streak passed it by a breath before they connected. Pikachu came to a stop a few feet off from the point of impact as the light dissipated, his back exposed. The Raichu didn't hesitate to lunge forward with its fist aglow, readying to deliver another Mega Punch. "CHU!"

Pikachu flung himself to the side, wisps of dust trailing from narrowly avoiding the powerful strike as it crushed the ground where he'd stood and threw up a cloud of dust. Rolling back onto all fours, he quickly shrouded himself within the veil of energy a fourth time. Then he shot forward again to strike the Raichu from the side while it was blinded by the dust.

Raichu spun around like a whirlwind, foot extended as it was wreathed in power. It was a Mega Kick, thrown out with the full intention of intercepting Pikachu's Quick Attack. Speed versus power. The two clashed and the latter won over, leaving Pikachu knocked aside by the harsh blow.

Bouncing off the artificial dirt before skidding to a stop some distance away. His tiny body twitched where it laid, half-curled from where the blow had stricken. A slight whimper slipped out of his mouth. "Pi…pi…"

"I'll admit, your Pikachu caught me off-guard there by redirecting Raichu's Thunderbolt," Lt. Surge said as his Raichu huffed and puffed to catch its breath. "But I suspected Miss Oak would have taught your Pikachu Quick Attack and Double Team after yesterday, so I thought to myself how I'd deal with that. Then the obvious solution came to me when I considered the fact that we'd be up against another Electric-Type."

"An Electric-Type…" Ash murmured to himself as he glared at the Raichu, trying to figure out how it still managed to win over Pikachu when it was slower than he was. It was slightly hunched over from where Pikachu had caught him before with the first Quick Attack, but its tail was still curled upwards. "Wait… its tail!"

His guess was confirmed when the Gym Leader crossed his muscled arms and smirked. "That's right. Raichu can sense electricity with their tails, including that within other electric pokémon. Now that he's calmed down and he's got a feel for Pikachu's electricity, avoiding and countering Quick Attack before it goes off is a cinch. Even if you used Double Team to hide it like Miss Oak did, Raichu would be able to find the real one without any trouble either."

Raichu had noticed Pikachu before he'd done the first Quick Attack, even if he couldn't react in time to avoid it. But the second time he'd managed to turn what should have been a guaranteed hit into a glancing blow. The third time he outright avoided it, having gotten accustomed to Pikachu's speed during the momentary burst. And the fourth time he'd delivered a devastating, perfectly timed counter.

"There's no shame in losing to me, kid," the Gym Leader said. "You did good making it this far and even managed to score a few blows on Raichu. But Raichu's just got more power and experience than your Pikachu. Come back with a few more months of practice under your belt and maybe then you'll stand a chance."

"Nghh…" Ash gritted his teeth before he looked over towards Pikachu. The smaller pokémon had risen back up, panting and looking worse for wear. He was almost considering forfeiting until his partner looked back in his direction with eyes still filled with determination. "We still haven't lost yet. Right, Pikachu!"

His question was met with the smaller pokémon's body falling back onto all fours, tail and ears raised. "Pipika!"

Off to the side, the rest of Ash's traveling companions observed the match with unwavering gazes, assessing how things were playing out. The tension in the air was palpable when they considered all the facts, speaking in hushed whispers to avoid being overheard.

"In terms of pure power, Ash and Pikachu are definitely outmatched," Brock admitted, staring at yellow fur was dirtier from all the dust and loose earth, singed from the earlier electrical attack, and bruising from where the blow had connected too. "One more hit like that and Pikachu won't be able to stay conscious."

"I don't want to see Pikachu get hurt anymore," Misty said. "Would it really be so bad if they just came back later?"

"It's a matter of pride," Gina said. "Besides, while it's true we overlooked the fact that Pikachu being an Electric-Type would give Raichu an advantage on being able to sense him, it wasn't like I didn't warn Ash that he might have planned for Quick Attack. That was why we pushed the training further—so they still had a trump card to play."

Even if he'd evolved his pokémon earlier, there was no denying that Surge knew Electric-Type Pokémon better than any of them. He wouldn't be much of an Electric Gym Leader if he didn't, but the simple fact that he was undermined their initial plans by a great deal. But they still had a chance despite that because of two things:

The first was that Surge mentioned he was specifically prepared for if Double Team was used by Pikachu too. Just getting Pikachu to learn Quick Attack so fast had been a surprise, so even expecting him to know Double Team was thinking two steps ahead on his part. And the ability to sense the electricity in Raichu's surroundings meant that illusionary copies wouldn't work against it because they wouldn't give off the same sense as the original.

The second was that Raichu still got hit despite sensing Pikachu. Pikachu was fast enough to get around his guard and deal some damage. It was the inherent weakness of the attack itself and Pikachu's typing that stopped it from finishing Raichu off at this point, but a solid enough hit would probably do it.

"Pikachu, let's end this!" Ash called out. "All or nothing!"

The order was met with a series of sharp cracks as Pikachu's red cheeks grew luminous. Dense bolts of lightning crackled from them, sparking wildly and with abandon. "Pikkkkaaaaaaa—"

"Throwing caution to the wind and going all in, huh?" Lt. Surge mused. It was hard for Gina to gauge his response. It somehow sounded both expectant and yet resigned. "Then I suppose we'll do the same. Raichu, give em' a Thunderbolt they won't forget!"

A grin spread across Raichu's face as dancing electricity spread from glowing yellow cheeks. Raichu began generating its own charge, drudging up as much of its voltage as it could to surpass Pikachu's as its tail began to light up. "RAIIIIIIIIIII—"

The air itself became charged to the point where Gina's hair began to stand on end as electricity seemed to thrash around untamed, scorching the ground around the two. Both were readying a massive amount of electricity. But whereas Raichu's entire body seemed to glow as an electric shroud began to coat it, growing denser with each passing second, Pikachu's seemed to be getting thinner as it crawled over his body. It was all but gone by the time Raichu let loose the entirety of its charge from its tail. "CHUUUUUU!"

KRACKBOOOOM!

The roar of thunder rang out as a blistering beam of concentrated electricity arched from Raichu towards where Pikachu was. The intensity easily matched the same fury that its first Thunderbolt had, seemingly intent on utterly removing any chance for Pikachu to weather it safely as he had before. The explosion that erupted tore apart the ground and all was lost beneath the dark smoke and the force of the blast scattered blackened earth about.

"Looks like it's over now," the Gym Leader said, lifting the shades from his eyes while staring at the blast-zone. "Well, considering how much voltage it was putting out the pipsqueak shouldn't be too—"

Whatever he going to say died in his throat when the smoke cleared and revealed there wasn't anything to be found. His confident expression morphed into one of confusion and surprise. "What?"

The Raichu had a similar expression upon its face that lasted approximately two seconds before its head abruptly whipped to side and it tumbled to the ground. The evolved Electric Mouse Pokémon shook its head, puzzled as to what hit it, until it looked back to see the one responsible. "Rai!?"

"Pika." Pikachu stood on all fours, a prideful grin on his face and his cheek pouches aglow. Tendrils of electricity occasionally crawled over his yellow fur, arching from beneath the surface towards his paws and feet that were touching the ground, or his tail that was ringed by lightning.

The Raichu got back onto its feet with a bounce, sparks emanating from its cheeks. Those same sparks blossomed into streaking bolts that arched out towards Pikachu. Yet they only hit the ground as the Electric Mouse Pokémon vanished from view—

"PIKA!"

—only to reappear to the side of his evolved form, supported on one of his forepaw before he spun around. His tail whipped around, smacking the Raichu as the ring of lightning wreathing it discharged in the process. The blow brought Raichu down to a knee, his electrical assault coming to an end as he fell.

Shocked from having been caught off-guard from the sudden assault, Raichu sloppily but hastily brought its fist around. It was once more shrouded in a veil of power, and at their current range it should have been too close for Pikachu to evade in time. Yet the empowered fist only shattered the ground as the smaller Pokémon vanished from his sight again.

"I told you not to underestimate us!" Ash said as Pikachu reappeared in the distance. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Don't get cocky, kid!" Undeterred by the change, Lt. Surge continued giving orders as Pikachu's body became wreathed in the white shroud as before. "Raichu, you know what to do! Knock it out this time!"

Raichu got up as Pikachu prepared to attack, its own foot wreathed in the light of a Mega Kick. Just because Pikachu had gotten faster didn't meant that it changed the overall weakness of the attack being straight-forward. Throwing its leg forward as Pikachu became a streaking bolt of light, he attempted to deliver the decisive blow…

Then the light itself bent and avoided the kick at an upwards angle. The devastating Mega Kick that could shatter stone passed below harmlessly, while the full-body Quick Attack slammed headfirst into Raichu's unprotected face. Its head snapped back as it was thrown backwards and slammed onto the ground a final time, knocking it unconscious.

The Gym Leader's champion had been toppled.

"I can't believe Raichu lost…" Lt. Surge's voice came out incredulous as he returned Raichu into his ball. Victory had been right in his grasp. Yet in a single moment it had been snatched away, leaving the Gym Leader to ponder over just how it happened as his gaze fell onto Pikachu.

The Electric Mouse Pokémon was panting frantically as the electricity ringing his limbs and tail crackled. Pikachu shook as they seemed to fluctuate wildly before dissipating. As his cheeks dimmed and he fell over with a sigh, it clicked in that moment.

"…Agility," he finally said as Ash came over to reclaim his partner. "Using its own electricity, it stimulates the muscles while also speeding up its own synapses and reactions. In doing so while having an internalized electric current running the whole time, it can move and react faster than normal for a time."

"You know about that?" Ash asked.

"Of course, I do," he said. "Some of the pokémon I train for near-league ready opponents can use it. The question here is how does your pipsqueak know something that difficult to use?"

"What do you mean?"

"Part of the reason I call you baby is because you don't even know your own pokémon," Lt. Surge said with sigh before he began to explain with a level of fluidity that was unexpected for a man of his nature. "For Electric-Types, Agility is one of the higher-end techniques because of how it works for 'em and how costly it can be to use, since it requires a large amount of electricity to stimulate the muscular and nervous system. Electric pokémon are limited in how much electricity they can generate or absorb based on a lot of things, but as they train and fight their bodies becomes acclimatized towards it. That's why pokémon get stronger the more they battle and why their techniques do as well—like the difference between Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt."

The difference was the amount of power within the techniques. Thunder Shock was, at least relatively speaking, a weak electrical attack. In comparison, Thunderbolt was a much stronger electrical attack that could cause serious damage but used more electricity and could be used less often. Above that was attacks like Thunder, which were on a whole other level. The difference between the techniques was more than anything the amount of output behind them.

"I can tell at a glance how young your Pikachu is," he continued, staring down at Ash's partner. "The amount of the electricity needed for Agility is beyond what a normal one its age should normally be capable of. More so because of how dangerous it could be. So why does it know that technique?"

"Pikachu's a fast learner," Gina opted to speak up in Ash's place, counting off on her fingers. "He learned Quick Attack in less than two hours of training and then jumped up to Agility afterwards. After he managed to figure out how to redirect your Raichu's attacks upon seeing it use its tail once, it shouldn't be that much of a stretch to just accept this one is special."

"Maybe," he agreed reluctantly. "But the amount of electricity it'd need to be able to store and regulate is still irregular. Something's off about it."

"From what Ash told me, apparently Pikachu once got hit in midair by lightning during a storm and used it to fry a flock of Spearow. And after that a bunch of other Pikachu charged him in the Viridian City Pokémon Center to fend off some thieves. It's probably safe to presume that those two situations simply expanded his ability to handle so much electricity."

Gina hadn't been happy to learn Ash nearly got himself killed hours after they'd left home. Or that he'd gotten himself involved with those thieves who'd attacked the Squirtle Squad. The fact that the Meowth was probably being manipulated into working with them only made her decide to do what she could to take it from them. The behavior of the pokémon was often blamed on the trainers in the end and she was confident she could rehabilitate it.

"Hmm… it's possible that being exposed to such an enormous amount of electricity in a short time could give him an increase in his capacity," Lt. Surge conceded after some thought before he looked to Ash. "Bab—no, Ash Ketchum. You beat me, so I'll hand over my badge. But let me give you a warning first about making a habit of doing that or using that technique without better training."

"…I'm listening," Ash said with some reluctance. "What about it?"

"The reason those electrical rings were around Pikachu's tail and limbs was because it couldn't properly regulate the excess electricity," he explained. "Being able to regulate their electricity is essential because an excess of it can mess with their bodies and minds, so if at all possible don't let your Pikachu get overcharged like that."

"You mean like Raichu's aggression?" Brock guessed. "The excess will cause behavioral problems?"

"Raichu are specifically evolved to handle higher amounts of electricity, so that was a relatively controlled case and he could work it out of his system," Lt. Surge said. "But in the case of an unevolved Pikachu, it'd probably start seeing and hearing things because its body isn't meant to handle that kind of voltage carelessly. And if something messes with its ability to safely discharge its electricity, he'll need to put it in a ball and get it to a Pokémon Center right away."

"Why's that?" Ash asked, even as Pikachu stirred in his grasp. He knew his partner hated going in his ball, but Ash kept it on him either way.

"Because electricity's at its most dangerous when its built up with no way out," the Gym Leader said with the utmost seriousness. "The electricity isn't weakened passing through the air or its fur, which is naturally resistant to external electricity with the exception of its cheeks and tail. If your Pikachu can't regulate that kind of buildup, he'll fry himself from the inside out and most likely his heart will give out."

Ash felt his heart stall in his chest for a moment when he considered that. But it went unnoticed by the others as he stood there silently until Lt. Surge's hand came into view. The Thunder Badge was in it.

"It's been a while since someone beat me at my own game, so I got a new level of respect for the two of ya. When you two get strong enough to challenge the League, swing by again. Then I'll show what a real shocking battle at that level can be."

"…Right," Ash said, taking the badge and looking at it contemplatively for a moment. Then he nodded and put it away. "I'll keep everything you said in mind while we keep going, and then I'll come back to show you how much stronger we've gotten."

The Gym Leader smirked. "I'll look forward to it."

[-oOo-]

Hours later, Ash found himself deep in thought as he stood in front of a counter while whisking together eggs, sugar, and salt with a touch of milk in a bowl using a pair of chopsticks. With the match out the way, Ash had a promise to keep to Gina. So he was in the middle of cooking as promised, since he had permission to borrow the necessary space to make the food for them all in the Pokémon Center.

They'd won their match. But, to borrow Gina's own words, it wasn't as clean as he'd liked. Not the match in itself, but what he'd learned at the very end from Lt. Surge.

Right now, Brock was out handling their laundry and doing some shopping for when they set out to their next destination. Gina was checking in on her Eevee, who should hopefully be good and rested by the time he'd finished cooking. And Pikachu…

He looked away from his bowl to stare off towards the Electric Mouse Pokémon, lying on a cushion off to the side meant for smaller pokémon. The moment they got back Pikachu had basically gone asleep and hadn't woken up since then. Given how intense the battle was and how much electricity he'd used, Ash supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Mmm… it actually smells good…" Misty said upon entering the kitchen space. The fourth Cerulean Sister had remained behind while the others had been preoccupied, since her own affairs were largely in order. He could only assume she was allured in by the aroma. "You really can cook, huh?"

"Just simple stuff," Ash said, gesturing over to the table where the food that was done was. The meal itself was relatively simple things, such as wrapped meat, steamed vegetables, and rice buns that were used to make burgers and some kind of dessert. "We couldn't really bring eggs and stuff with us since we never know how long we'll be traveling, and there's better uses of the rice than making buns out of them. Not to mention how whipped cream and anko aren't exactly meant to be eaten on the go."

"If this is simple, I kind of wonder what extravagant would be for you," she mused briefly before spotting where Pikachu laid and heading over. She crouched down and ran her fingers along his fur that Ash had washed clean earlier. "Little guy's all tuckered out."

"Well, between the last two days he's worked hard so it's no surprise." He turned back to cooking. The mixture was fine now, so he applied it to the cooking pan over just the right heat and let it start to cook. "He wanted to prove himself so much that he pushed himself to do what it took to win."

"And considering the hits he took, the fact that Nurse Joy said he was just tired was a relief all things considered," Misty added. "Still, you're almost at the halfway point with three badges. Five more and you'll be able to enter the conference. I'm surprised you aren't happier."

"I'm just thinking about stuff right now," he said, slowly rolling the mixture over itself until it was rolled up. Then he reached for the measuring cup and added more to the pan. It began to cook and sizzle like the part before it.

"You mean like that thing with the waterwheel, right?" Misty sighed when she saw him tense. She'd guessed correct. "You didn't think it'd be that bad if something went wrong like he said, so it's getting to you."

Ash bit his lower lip. Only Misty knew about the length he went through to beat Brock, and even then he'd backed out of winning when he had the chance. It would have been all for nothing if the circumstances didn't turn out in their favor, but now he knew it could have been worse.

"I knew it was hurting Pikachu," he confessed. "I can still remember his screams when I think back to it. But I was so determined to beat Brock that I was willing to do about anything. But when I think back to it after hearing about what it could do to him now, I can't help but think what if Pikachu hadn't managed to get used to it…"

If it had been any other trainer other than Gina or Professor Oak, Ash wouldn't think anything of what the Gym Leader said. But considering the man's tone and the fact that he was a Gym Leader who specialized in Electric Pokémon, it would have been plain foolish of him not to take it seriously. More so since the price of not listening could be Pikachu's health or worse.

"…If it makes things better, I don't think Brock's father knew about that," Misty said. "He's a Rock Pokémon Gym Leader, so it probably wasn't his field of expertise. And Pikachu ultimately went along with it because he wanted to be stronger."

She was giving him an out. He didn't know any better at the time and Pikachu had been okay with it. So no one could fault him for doing what he had to in order to win that time. But that just wasn't true and he knew it.

So Ash didn't take the excuse given to him as he continued to cook. "Even so, I still went along with it. Pikachu and me have a lot of pride, so we're willing to go that far. But, in the end, if something had happened to Pikachu, then it really would have been my fault. I can't forget that from now on."

Misty didn't say anything. There wasn't really anything she could say that wouldn't either make it worse or better. So long as he opted to learn from the experience and grow, then it was just a life lesson that he had the chance to learn before it had real consequences.

"Misty…" Ash's voice came out soft as he rolled the mixture up, wrapping it around the previous one like a layer. "Can you… keep this a secret from Gina? I don't want her to know about it at all."

Misty brought her fingers to her lips and then ran them along the side. The message carried. "It'll be our little secret."

"Thanks," Ash said sincerely, the weight on his shoulders lifting now that he had someone to talk to about it. "And sorry about ignoring you before. Even though we're the same age, you and Gina know a lot more about pokémon than I do. I shouldn't have shrugged off your advice those times before."

"To be fair, our circumstances aren't normal," Misty said. "Brock and I were raised in the Gyms, and often the leadership passes down family lines. Because of that and how strict the guidelines are, we're taught about our respective types at a younger age than most children. The average trainer simply learns as they go, which is what you're doing."

"Even so, I need to be better than I am now," he said. "Not only with Pikachu, but my other pokémon as well. I owe it to them all."

"Well, it's good that you have some direction to head towards." She rose off the ground and made her way towards the table to take a seat. "Where do you want to start?"

"Not sure where," he admitted. "I guess I should start with looking up more about Electric-Type Pokémon. I didn't even know Pikachu could learn those attacks until Gina pointed it out with Dexter, and I want him to be able to use Agility safely…"

Ash trailed off when he heard scratching sound coming from the door along with some light taps. He went over to open it and see what was causing it, when a brown bundle of fur slipped into the room between his legs. It then began to circle the room, head raised and nose sniffing. "Vee!"

"You're up now, Eevee?" Ash inquired as the Evolution Pokémon ran over to him and then hopped upwards, standing on her hind legs while her forepaws pressed against Ash's legs. Her tail wagged as she made light begging noise while staring up at the pan in his hands.

"Eevee, don't run off—" Gina followed after her pokémon, entering the room door. She must've been at least a corner behind given how long it took her to get there. Crouching down, she quickly scooped the bundle of brown fur into her arms and held her in place. "Nurse Joy said you still need to take it easy for a few more days."

Eevee only settled down marginally when her trainer patted her on the head, leaving her ears to quiver up and down. But her tail was still wagging as she reached a paw out towards Ash. "Vee!"

"I guess you're hungry too, huh?" Ash put on a small smile when she bobbed her head. "You'll have to wait until I'm done, okay?"

With the presence of Gina and her pokémon, the conversation petered out as he focused on cooking again. Ash didn't want it to come up with her because, while he was grateful for her help, the two were rivals. The same pride that drove him to move forward as a trainer stopped him from showing unnecessary weakness in front of Gina when he considered how accomplished she was in contrast to himself—in both the amount of pokémon she possessed and the way she earned her badges without losing once compared to himself.

Ash honestly found it difficult to bear with the thought of falling behind her even further. While he'd shelved his reluctance to ask for help in order to make it so that Pikachu could match Raichu for the sake of his pride, he still wanted to prove that he could match Gina in battle. So he'd do what he could to surpass her without taking the sorts of measures that would endanger his pokémon.

Once he'd finished making enough of the perfectly yellow rolled omelets with some garnish, Brock had returned. The food was largely done by then and Pikachu was awake, so they settled down to eat. Then the question of what they were going to do next came up.

"We should move onto earning our next badges now that we've gotten this one," Gina suggested.

"Actually, while I was out shopping, I managed to get these." Brock pulled out a set of four tickets. "There's apparently a luxury liner that's having an event for Pokémon Trainers on its way out of the Kanto region, with the next stop being a popular island that's located between here and Fuchsia City."

Gina perked up. "That's the location of one of the Gyms, isn't it?"

Brock nodded. "That's right. Normally to get there we'd have to travel through a pretty long and roundabout route. But we can take these and ride from here to the island. Better yet, the winner of the battle contest even gets an all-expenses stay at the resort in Porta Vista located on the island and a free trip to Fuchsia."

"Ahh, that's the most famous resort in all of Kanto!" Misty said excitedly. "I always wanted to go there!"

"I don't really care much for the prize to be honest," Gina said. "But the battles would be a good chance to gain some more experience with different kinds of opponents. And even if we don't win, it's still a guaranteed pathway leading us to our next Gym, so we don't spend two entire weeks lost in the woods. Again."

"It wasn't that bad," Ash said. That last barb being directed towards him didn't fall beneath his notice.

Gina looked at him with a raised brow. "Ash, you got us so lost we passed by Celadon City and Saffron City to end up in Vermillion City. That's two major cities, a couple of minor ones, and more than a few towns."

"…We still made it to place with a Gym," he muttered under his breath, not daring look at her because she wasn't exactly wrong. He was never the best with directions. "Anyway, is it really okay? These must've cost you a fortune, Brock."

"Surprisingly, it didn't cost a thing," Brock said. "They were being given out to local trainers. I think it's being sponsored by someone pretty well-off to drum up tourism, which isn't too surprising given that the destination is the resort."

"Well, I'm not looking a gift Ponyta in the mouth," Misty said. "We'll get to spend the first leg of our trip on a luxury cruiser to celebrate the two of you earning your badges, then stay at wonderful resort to enjoy the sun and the sea to celebrate winning the battle contest, and last we'll go to Fuchsia and the next Gym so that they can get their next badges. Everyone wins."

"I guess so," Ash agreed. "Fine, we'll head onboard the St. Anne tomorrow then."