Hey guys, TheDoctor1998 here with another chapter! Last time, Cinder and the gang met the famed scientist Bill, and saw a truly gigantic Dragonite. Also, Cinder caught a Krabby that went into a Pokéball specifically to prevent himself from getting caught by Misty.
Now, on with the show!
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It had been two weeks since they left Bill's place. Two. Weeks. But Cinder and the gang had finally made it to Vermilion City, to which all three of them were overjoyed.
"Oh, I can't wait to take a bubble bath!" Misty fantasized, knowing how grimy the trio had gotten.
"And I can finally do some proper laundry." Brock said, knowing they'd run out of the supplies needed to clean their clothes on the road. As well as clean clothes.
"Let's get to the Pokémon Center first." Cinder nodded, her stomach growling, as well as Pikachu's while he stood on her shoulder. "I think we can all do with some food as well."
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Soon, the trio had managed to find the Vermilion City Pokémon Center, its local Nurse Joy sitting behind the counter as they checked in, and gave her their Pokémon for a checkup.
"We'll fix them right up." The pink haired nurse said kindly.
Brock was about to say something to her when the doors suddenly opened, a boy running into the Center next to a Chansey pushing along a stretcher with a knocked out Rattata on it.
"Hurry!" The boy cried to Chansey. "You'll be okay, Rattata! Hurry!" The boy yelled with tears in his eyes.
"That Rattata is in rough shape." Brock muttered, a serious frown lining his face. "I wonder what happened."
"That's the fifteenth one this month!" Nurse Joy sighed, arms on her hips as she stood up.
"Wait, what?" Cinder asked, befuddled at how that could happen.
Nurse Joy wordlessly brought the gang to a recovery room, several Pokémon lying in beds to recover. A Caterpie, an Oddish, a Sandshrew, and now the Rattata as well.
"This is terrible." Brock muttered at the sight, wondering who or what would've done this.
"They all battled, and lost to, Lt. Surge." Nurse Joy explained. "He's a soldier who retired with an honorable discharge, and now fights as an Electric Type Gym Leader at the Vermilion City Gym."
"He's certainly something else." Cinder said in contempt, looking in pity at the Pokémon and their trainers. 'Why does he have to be so brutal against these kids?' Cinder asked herself, though taking this as a warning for the soldier's strength.
Nurse Joy sighed. "At this point, I just have a few of my Chansey stationed at his Gym at all times, just to get the Pokémon here as quickly as possible when something happens." A ding then sounded. "Oh, looks like the checkup is complete." The nurse said, guiding them back to the lobby where Pikachu stood next to the gang's Pokéballs, eating an apple.
"Pikachu!" Cinder grinned, prompting the Electric Type to jump on her shoulder. "Glad to see you're at 100%."
"Please hurry!" Another boy yelled, a Chansey with a stretcher carrying in a Pidgey. "Just hold on Pidgey!"
Cinder frowned. Obviously, all the trainers were inexperienced considering the strength of the Auras of their Pokémon, especially that kid with the Pidgey. A good trainer can overcome a Type disadvantage, as she herself did with Brock, but it's usually considered better to start with Gyms with Types you're good against like that kid with the Sandshrew tried. 'Huh, maybe that's why Brock was mocking me back then.' Regardless, this did not excuse Surge's actions.
"Guess they must've come from that Gym." Misty muttered.
"Hey Pikachu, wanna take the bastard down a peg?" Cinder smirked.
"Pika!" The Electric Type said, his cheeks sparking in agreement.
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Soon, the trio stood in front of the Vermilion City Gym, which looked like a warehouse with yellow lightning bolts all over it. "So this is the Vermilion City Gym, huh?" Cinder muttered.
"It's kinda gaudy, isn't it?" Misty asked.
"Says the girl whose Gym looks like a big circus attraction with a Dewgong billboard on it." Brock smirked.
"Fair point." Misty sheepishly said. "Still better than a Gym carved from a giant boulder, though."
"It lines up perfectly with Pewter's history!" Brock defended in mock anger.
Then, the doors creaked open ominously, allowing the trainers to enter the Gym and see two people wearing punk clothing. "I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader for a battle." Cinder said, restraining her contempt for the Leader's actions.
The male punk looked back at a shadowy figure behind the two. "Hey, boss! I've got another victim for the ER!"
The shadowy figure stood up, and started walking into the light. "Which one?" He asked in a gravelly voice, as the titan of a man revealed himself. Even to Cinder, the sight of such a large Aura was kinda intimidating.
"Whoa! He's huge!" Brock said in surprise. He knew Lt. Surge was a tall individual, but it was an entirely different thing to see him up close.
"That's what she said." Cinder coughed, not being able to help herself.
"Is he the Gym Leader you've gotta beat?" Misty whispered. Unlike Brock, she didn't know too much about the other Gym Leaders of Kanto. Mostly because her sisters demanded to take up the role and withheld the info from her.
"Welcome to the Vermillion City Gym!" The giant greeted jovially, giving Misty a bear hug, startling his fellow Gym Leader. "Oh, my next challenge is a cute one! Here to test your mettle against another Gym Leader, Waterflower?" He winked at her. "Don't think I'll go easy on ya!"
"Erm, I'm not the challenger." Misty said awkwardly. "Just traveling and cheering for a friend."
"You then, Harrison?" The soldier smirked, giving the former Gym Leader a hefty pat on the back, almost knocking him over. "Heard you went traveling after your old man took back the Gym again. Don't think those Ground Types of you will do you any good here!"
"Wrong again." Brock grunted, his back seriously hurting after that smack.
"Then who?" Surge asked.
"Me." Cinder said simply, walking in front of her friends.
"Oh, you're even cuter than your friend." Surge gave Cinder another grin. "Okay, baby!" He chuckled, giving her a pat on the head.
"I'm not your baby, meathead." Cinder growled, moving the arm away. "My name is Cinder Ketchum, and I'm here for a badge."
"Relax, I call everyone who loses to me a baby." Surge chuckled, before seeing Pikachu sitting on her shoulder, his cheeks sparking threateningly. "Heh, a Pikachu." He chuckled, turning to the other adults in the room. "Look at this! Baby brought along a baby Pokémon!" He laughed, prompting the two to laugh along with him. "At least he's not a Pichu, but still!"
"How about we just start the battle, asshole?" Cinder growled, 1000% done with the soldier.
"Alright, but you won't stand a chance against me." He ominously said, taking out a Pokéball and enlarging it. "Go, Raichu!"
The Pokémon that came out appeared very much like Pikachu, though larger, orange with yellow cheeks, and a lightning bolt on a long and thin tail. He gave Pikachu an arrogant grin as his presence triggered Cinder's Pokédex.
"Raichu, the Mouse Pokémon and the final evolved form of Pichu. An Electric Type.
Ability: Static
Hidden Ability: Lightning Rod
Entry: This Pokémon's tail is used to gather electricity from the atmosphere or the ground, and it can store over 100,000 volts of electricity. Its ears will stand up straight and its muscles become stimulated if its sacs are fully charged.
Evolves from: Pikachu with a Thunder Stone"
"Okay baby, if you want to quit, now's your chance." Lt. Surge smirked, both he and Raichu posing while smirking.
"Don't think I'm just gonna give up, meathead." Cinder retorted, Pikachu growling at Raichu next to her.
"Heh! What good would a baby like that do?" Surge chuckled, patting Raichu on the head. "If you wanna become a Champion, you should evolve your Pokémon as soon as possible. You're holding back their full strength if you don't."
"I won't force Pikachu to evolve." Cinder growled. "If he wants to evolve, I'll let him, but not even a second before that."
The two trainers behind Surge only laughed at her. "Wrong, baby." Surge smirked. "Pokémon are only useful at their last stage. You keep him puny like that, he's no more than a little pet."
Pikachu only sparked harder, not liking the soldier's comments.
"You think Pikachu can beat Raichu?" Misty asked Brock, worried about Cinder's Starter.
"If it was any other trainer, I'd doubt it." Brock said seriously. "But Cinder has done some surprising things before."
"Okay baby, did you just come here to show us your little pet?" Surge smirked.
"I came here to kick your ass!" Cinder growled, standing ready for battle, Pikachu jumping in front of her threateningly.
"Huh, Pikachu really doesn't like that Raichu." Brock observed.
"Not really surprising." Misty muttered, knowing that her Staryu and Starmie have a rivalry of their own, with the former absolutely refusing to evolve, even when offered a Water Stone.
"Oh well." Surge shrugged. "I guess you'll learn that playing with the big boys can be a shocking experience." He snickered. "You got more than one badge? Otherwise, I'll have to use the weakling Pokémon at this Gym."
"I've got two." Cinder nodded, prompting Surge to nod to the punks behind him.
The two punks got to work, the female being in charge of the technical stuff such as the lights, while the male worked as a referee. "This will be an official challenge between the challenger, Cinder Ketchum, and the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge. Both sides may only use one Pokémon."
"Go, Raichu!" Lt. Surge commanded, prompting his signature Pokémon to get on the field.
"Pikachu, come out my friend!" Cinder called, prompting Pikachu to jump onto the field to face his new rival.
"Quick Attack!" Cinder called out, knowing that using raw power wouldn't work in this situation.
Pikachu headed straight towards Raichu, using his incredible speed to try and get out before Raichu could land a hit.
"Heh, I won't even need to use Electric Type attacks to deal with this baby." Surge smirked. "Take Down, meet it head on!"
Raichu headed straight for Pikachu, dashing towards the smaller Pokémon in a similar way as he was, though with less speed and more power. When the two Electric Types collided, Raichu effortlessly knocked Pikachu away, suffering only minor damage for the attack.
"It's over, baby." Surge smirked, noticing how easily Pikachu got knocked back. "You didn't really think that Pikachu could beat Raichu, did ya?"
"Call him back, Cinder!" Brock urged. "Raichu's too powerful, this is a mismatch!"
Pikachu got up, however, and shook his head. "Pika!" He grunted, wanting to finish this fight one way or another.
"He still wants to fight?" Misty asked in amazement.
"He's pretty gutsy for a toy." Surge chuckled, seeing the look of determination in Pikachu's eyes. "Well, I do enjoy playing with toys. But play time's over." He smirked. "Mega Punch!"
Before Pikachu could do anything, Raichu ran up to him and gave him a punch right into the face, punching him into the air.
"Mega Kick!" Surge commanded.
Raichu jumped, and used the more powerful attack right into the airborne Pikachu's gut, smacking him back down.
Meanwhile, a certain trio of criminal stalkers was looking through the window of the Gym, watching as Pikachu got his ass kicked by his evolved form.
"Pikachu is really getting pounded." Jessie said, slightly amazed considering how easily that rodent had beaten them before.
"That Raichu is really something else." James agreed.
"Hey, I just thought of something." Jessie suddenly said, concerned. "If Pikachu loses this battle-"
"You're right!" James interrupted. "Then he's not worth stealing after all, meaning we've wasted months for nothing!"
"Maybe we can steal Raichu then?" Meowth suggested, only to receive a pair of hits on his head.
"Surge is getting ready to finish him off." James muttered.
"Now, give us the big finale, Raichu!" Surge smirked. "Body Slam!"
Raichu leapt up in the air, aiming himself at Pikachu, and slammed with his entire weight into his pre-evolved counterpart, knocking him out.
"Pikachu!" Cinder yelled in worry, running up to him and gently grabbing him.
"Pikachu is unable to battle." The referee called. "Gym Leader Surge has won the match!"
"Chansey!" One of Nurse Joy's Chansey called, running into the arena with a stretcher and gently putting Pikachu on it before rushing towards the Pokémon Center, Cinder and the gang rushing behind her.
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Later that day, after Pikachu had gotten his treatment at the Pokémon Center, Cinder and the gang were sitting near the Electric Type as he slowly regained consciousness, with Krabby now sitting on Cinder's shoulder to act as her eyes.
"Pika?" The Electric Type asked, slightly confused, considering from his point of view he'd just been attacked by that Raichu before waking up here.
"Hey Pikachu." Cinder smiled sadly, gently grabbing his paw. "Glad you're okay."
Pikachu looked away, feeling both frustrated at the fact he got beaten up by a Raichu, and saddened that he'd failed his best friend.
"Pikachu got hurt really badly." Brock observed. "His spirit, I mean." He clarified. "He was completely outmatched by that Raichu."
"Can't win them all, I suppose." Cinder sighed, gently stroking Pikachu. "Still, we can always try again. With some training and strategizing, I know we'll kick that Raichu's ass no problem."
"I know of one way you might win." Nurse Joy said, walking into the room holding a small box. "I'm sorry, I overheard your conversation, and I just thought that maybe I could help." She opened the small box, showing the gang a stone with a bolt of lightning in it. "I came across this a while ago."
"It's a Thunder Stone." Brock said in amazement.
"So Pikachu can evolve if he wants to." Cinder muttered, seeing the traces of Aura within the Thunder Stone as she picked it up.
"You've got to think hard and carefully before using it." Nurse Joy said. "Once a Pokémon evolves, there's no way back."
Cinder walked up to Pikachu, laying the Thunder Stone next to him. "Pikachu, it's your choice. I won't care if you evolve or not, but I won't force it on you."
Pikachu glanced at the Thunder Stone, thinking hard.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket was watching from outside through the window. "So, she's letting Pikachu decide." Jessie muttered.
"If he evolves, he'll become even stronger." James said, partially with desire because the Electric Type would be even more valuable, and partially with worry because the Electric Type already had little trouble beating them.
"So, what are you gonna do?" Meowth asked himself, knowing how Pikachu felt at the moment.
Pikachu then glared at the Thunder Stone. "Chu!" He said, shaking his head. "Pika Pika Chu Pika!" He started ranting at Cinder, showing that he doesn't want to evolve.
"He's so brave!" Meowth cried, understanding what Pikachu was saying.
"What's Pikachu saying?" Jessie asked.
"He won't change." Meowth translated. "If he's going to beat a Raichu, he wants to do so just as he is. Besides that, while he had no problem evolving before, he feels like an evolution triggered by a stone doesn't sit right with him."
"Wait, he's going to battle Raichu again as a Pikachu?" Jessie asked in amazement.
"He's going to fight in the name of all unevolved Pokémon!" Meowth cried.
"That's so beautiful!" James cried with him.
Cinder grabbed Pikachu by his paws, understanding the meaning behind Pikachu's words, even if she couldn't understand the words themselves. "To hell with evolution, if we're gonna beat Lt. Surge and his Raichu, we're gonna beat them without making you evolve! And we are going to kick their asses!"
"You're both crazy." Misty sighed.
"No offense, Cinder, but maybe you should use another Pokémon of yours." Brock said, agreeing with Misty.
"Pikachu and I will find a way." Cinder growled. "There's no opponent that can't be beaten."
"Pika Pikachu Pika!" Pikachu said.
"Huh?" Jessie asked, turning to Meowth.
"Pikachu will prove that he can beat Raichu." Meowth sobbed. "He'll defend both his honor and Cinder's."
"Oh dear, that's magnificent!" James sobbed as well.
"Alright, Pikachu, as soon as you're recovered, we'll keep training until we can give Surge some payback." Cinder grinned, Pikachu nodding at her as he laid back down.
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The gang was waiting in the lobby for Nurse Joy, simply hanging around until Pikachu was good to go. "This whole thing has me so nervous." Misty said as she got a soda from the vending machine.
Cinder scoffed. "Since when did you start getting worried for me?"
"Not you." Misty rolled her eyes. "I'm concerned about Pikachu facing Raichu again."
"Hey Cinder." Brock said, grabbing her attention. "Before the battle, Surge said he made Raichu evolve as soon as he got him, right?"
Cinder gave the boy a smirk. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I guess I am." Brock nodded, giving a smirk back.
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The next day, Cinder wordlessly walked into the Gym once again, standing in front of the soldier that had beaten her before. "Hey baby, you ready to take another beating?" Surge asked smugly. "You didn't even evolve Pikachu, you haven't learned a thing." Surge scoffed.
"There's more ways to get stronger than evolution." Cinder said, her eyes narrowing.
Surge only shrugged. "Okay then, don't blame me if your baby Pokémon gets sent back into the Pokémon Center."
The two punks from before went to work once again. "This will be an official challenge between the challenger, Cinder Ketchum, and the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge. Both sides may only use one Pokémon."
"Pikachu, come out my friend!" Cinder called, signaling her partner to take the stage.
"Go, Raichu!" Surge smirked, Raichu stepping onto the battlefield.
"Just follow the plan, Pikachu!" Cinder smirked.
"A strategy?" Surge snickered. "So they've been planning a new way to lose. Body Slam!" The soldier called out.
On the field, the two Electric Types rushed towards one another. Raichu attempted to slap the smaller Pokémon away with his tail, only for Pikachu to jump over it in a burst of speed. Annoyed, Raichu jumped in the air, attempting to fall on top of Pikachu with his full weight. But once again, Pikachu dodged with a burst of speed.
"Hey, what?" Surge asked, surprised.
"Quick Attack, don't let him land a hit!" Cinder called.
"Raichu, keep using Body Slam!" Surge grunted, frustrated.
Raichu kept jumping, landing on wherever Pikachu was. Unfortunately for the larger Electric Type, Pikachu was simply far too fast, already dodging in a burst of speed before Raichu ever managed to land a hit.
"Raichu?" Surge asked, surprised.
"That's the problem with evolving a Pokémon too quickly, Surge." Cinder smirked. "You skip out on learning some basic support moves, like Agility or Quick Attack."
"Doesn't matter." Surge grunted. "Switch to Mega Punch and Mega Kick!"
Raichu did as ordered, punching and kicking at Pikachu to gain just a little more speed. Unfortunately, the results were the same, as Pikachu kept vanishing in blurs of speed before Raichu could land a hit, leaving the larger Pokémon open to hits from several Quick Attacks each time he missed.
"Raichu's way too slow, Surge." Cinder said. "He may be stronger, but all that power does jack shit if he can't land a hit."
"That's it!" Surge growled. "Raichu, Thunderbolt, give it everything you've got!"
Raichu obliged, gathering every bit of electricity in his sacks and shooting it all out in every direction, causing tremendous damage to the gym by breaking the floor apart and shattering all the lights and windows, miraculously not hitting any of the humans while he caused an enormous cloud of dust.
Outside, Team Rocket cowered as the glass broke, shielding themselves from the shards. They wanted to watch the battle, but they weren't willing to get themselves cut up like this!
Once the smoke started to clear, Surge smirked. "And that's the end of that. Huh?" He questioned, seeing Pikachu standing as if nothing happened, his tail sparking in the air. "What?" He deadpanned.
"Did you forget about Hidden Abilities, Surge?" Cinder asked, smiling.
"Lightning Rod." Brock said, not having expected this. "Pokémon with that Ability draw in any Electric Type attack on the battlefield and absorb the energy, boosting their Special Attack."
"What a shocking story." Jessie breathed.
"That was quite a tail." James smirked.
"Meowth!" Meowth quickly hit both the humans on their heads. "And now you've both been pun-ished."
Raichu was breathing heavily, and attempted to use another Thunderbolt, only for just a few sparks to get out of its cheeks. "Rai. Rai!" He yelled in frustration, unable to shoot out any electricity.
"Raichu, do somethin'!" Surge urged, starting to panic.
"It's over." Brock smiled. "Raichu put all his energy into that last attack, and he's barely holding on."
Surge wasn't having it though. "Raichu, Take Down, now!"
"Thunderbolt!" Cinder countered.
As Raichu ran towards the smaller mouse, Pikachu charged up and shot out a bolt of electricity, one far more powerful than what he'd been able to use before thanks to the Lightning Rod boost. Before Raichu managed to land a hit, Pikachu shot his supercharged Thunderbolt, knocking his larger counterpart down.
"Unbelievable!" Surge yelled out in shock, seeing his Raichu knocked out.
The referee swallowed, equally shocked as Surge. "R-Raichu is unable to battle. The challenger has won the match."
"You did it, Pikachu!" Cinder cheered, hearing her friends cheer them on behind her.
Even Team Rocket was cheering. "Victory!" Meowth declared.
"Eheheh." Surge chuckled, grinning. "Glad to see you've figured it out!"
"Figured it out?" Misty asked.
"My Gym isn't just about beating me to get a badge." Surge laughed. "It's about seeing how you beat Raichu. Sure, there's people who can beat him with sheer force, but a good trainer can beat him with weaker Pokémon and the right strategy! There's not many rookies who can see that brute force isn't the only way!" He walked up to Cinder, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Congratulations!" He amicably shook her hand. "As proof of your victory here, a Thunder Badge." He quickly grabbed a relatively tiny badge with his large hand from his vest, showing a badge shaped like a sunflower. "You should be proud. I can already see you and Pikachu are gonna go far, Cinder!" He complimented them.
"Thank you, Lt. Surge." Cinder grinned, nodding at the huge man.
Both Surge and his assistants started clapping. "Nice victory, Cinder. You're definitely no baby!"
"Congrats, Cinder!" Brock clapped, joining in.
"Three down, five to go!" Misty exclaimed.
Even Raichu started clapping, complementing a now bashful Pikachu.
"It's all thanks to you, Pikachu!" Cinder grinned, picking Pikachu up and nuzzling him as everyone was in good spirits.
"Those two are quite a team." Misty smiled.
"Yes indeed." Brock agreed with her.
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"That Pikachu really is special." James said as he and his teammates walked away from the Gym, the sun setting in front of them.
"That's why he's worth snatching." Jessie agreed.
"Just imagine what we could do when we steal him." Meowth said wistfully.
After a while, James exclaimed something in shock. "Drat! We've wasted these past few days cheering on the good guys!"
Jessie and Meowth both froze at the realization. "Double drat!"
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"There's one thing I don't get, though." Misty said as they were walking back to the Pokémon Center. "How did you unlock Pikachu's Hidden Ability? I've been trying that with my own Pokémon with no luck."
"Hidden Abilities aren't innate like regular Abilities." Brock explained. "They need some psychological trigger. In the case of Lightning Rod, Pikachu just needs to believe that he can absorb electricity to make himself stronger without hurting him. Which, all things considered, isn't that hard to do."
"Yup." Cinder nodded. "He managed to unlock it back when he was a Pichu in Pallet Town. Didn't take that much training."
"Huh." Misty hummed, contemplating and planning some new training for her own Pokémon.
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Pokémon Seen: 41
Pokémon Caught: 14
Cinder's Pokémon: Pikachu (M), Butterfree (M), Beedrill (F), Pidgeotto (F), Clefairy (F), Bulbasaur (M), Charmander (M), Squirtle (M), Krabby (M)
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And that's a wrap. Cinder, after being beaten by Surge once, managed to win in a rematch against the Gym Leader.
While I did debate if I should let Cinder win immediately, I thought it a good idea to let Surge win the first time. Don't want Cinder to become an unbeatable OC, after all!
TheDoctor1998 here, signing out!