Ash's Journeys: Kanto

Lt. Surge's Advice

Ash and Misty pretty much ran out of the ship to avoid being seen. It was around 5 in the morning, and even after a sleepless night, Ash was pumped. He was ready to get his Thunder Badge and knew it was going to be his easiest fight so far just based off of type advantages.

"You seem way too excited about this place" Ash said to Misty who was eyeing the place.

"Well, they do have the best... SHOPPING MALLS!" Misty yelled and ran off. Ash, knowing what to do in these types of situations, quietly left before Misty could drag him over and make him carry her bags and maybe even pay.

'Good thinking. That could've gone very badly for you' Pikachu said to his trainer who smiled proudly.

As Ash looked around, the only place that seemed busy with people was the Shopping Block. Everywhere else he went, there were barely any people around. After walking for a few minutes, he saw an old man who seemed friendly enough.

Ash walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me, sir. How come there aren't many people in this city other than the places around the shopping district? And why is everything seem so awful?"

"It's because things are awful. Gym Leaders are not only the Leader of their Pokemon Gym, but also the Mayor of their city. Lt. Surge has done a great job of making this place wonderful for tourists, but he has done a terrible job at keeping the inhabitants happy. At this rate, I don't think this city will be eligible to have Gym with only a few dozen inhabitants and almost no infrastructure" The man replied sadly. "I lived here my entire life, and things were always so good. At least until Lt. Surge took over for his father. All he cares about is money and power. I hope that someone will knock some sense into him. He didn't join the military for 15 years to come back and do dumb things like this."

Ash thought about what the man had said and told him his goodbyes.

'Hmm. I guess Lt. Surge isn't a great leader after all. Vermillion City was spoken of highly on the news before. I guess they never really did a deep dive into the city.' Ash told his Pokemon who nodded.

(A/N: Remind anyone of Detroit or Chicago? I still love you Motor City <3)

'Someone should knock some sense into him if you ask me' PIkachu replied. 'But it's not really our problem, so let's just kick the guy's ass and feel good about it'

Ash just shook his head and chuckled. The yellow rodent sure could cheer you up.

The two of them walked to the nearest map of the city and found out where the gym was. Then, they made their way there, ready to beat up the Gym Leader.

Once they made it, Ash pushed open the doors then walked in.

There was a front desk where a stout man was talking to challengers.

"No, Lt. Surge is only battling challengers with at least badges. You don't even have one, boy. Please, don't waste your time here. Go get a few badges then come back. Your arguing is only going to make things longer for you."

The boy who wanted to battle Lt. Surge sighed in sadness and walked away.

"I'm Ash Ketchum" Ash said figuring that the man probably searched up trainers on the International Pokemon Trainer Website that all Gym Leaders and other influential people have. And to his credit, he was right.

"I see that you have the Boulder Badge and Cascade Badge. Not bad considering you're only 2 weeks into your journey. You must be a smart guy. I'll tell you what, I'll let you skip the line if you tell the boss that he should consider giving me a raise. Giving these kids motivational speeches really tires me out" the man said.

Ash smirked and nodded.

"Very well, don't forget about that raise!" (A/N: Percy Jackson Lightning Thief vibes)

Ash nodded and continued on, ready to fight.

Once he made it into the actual gym, which was huge and surrounded with tesla coils which were made to seem as pipes. Ash, however, wasn't fooled. He was going to take good advantage of that when battling.

"I see I have another challenger" a gruff voice said from his left. "Not a bad build and you look like a smart guy. I'm sure you could give me a good battle."

Ash turned to come face to face with the one and only, Lt. Surge. Except for the fact that Surge was 6' 7" and Ash was 6 foot.

"One problem, though. That Pikachu. Evolve it. It's not going to do you any good in that form. It already looks like it can put up a fight. The important thing about evolving Pokemon with Evolution Stones is to make sure that their stats are very good and well rounded. Do yourself a favor and evolve that Pikachu" Lt. Surge said to Ash.

Pikachu looked at Ash to see his response. Pikachu had no interest in evolving, and Ash could tell, so he decided to buy some time.

"I don't know. My Pikachu isn't the most well rounded, it would be a bad idea to evolve it now." He replied, much to Pikachu's annoyance.

"Then go and make it well rounded. I want a good fight from you, boy. And I'll even do you a favor. You're going to have VIP access to battle me. Go evolve that Pokemon and come back. I've nearly been dying for a good battle" Lt. Surge replied and walked away.

Ash thought about Surge's words. They made sense, but Ash's instincts told him that it wasn't time to evolve the yellow rodent.

'A bit of training wouldn't be bad. Charmander, Gible, and I could definitely use some.' Pikachu said to the raven haired teen who nodded. He was going to have to prepare for this battle. He could tell just by the way Surge talked that he was an experienced trainer. Mistakes would be very rare. This battle would be defined by type advamtages, not skill. Ash's Pokemon weren't strong enough to face Surge on a 50/50. Ash had a lot of thinking and planning to do ahead of him.

-----------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Let's hope this chapter publishes correctly. Hope you liked Vermillion City being the classic metropolitan city, I thought that went well. 1100 words cyaaaaaaaaaaa.