To The Top [ Pokemon Fanfic. ]

Chapter 22 - Lt. Surge

"That's perfect, Venus!" I exclaimed as Venus quickly dodged a Shadow Ball. "You're getting faster. Think you're ready to take on Surge?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Bulbasaur!" Venus nodded at me reassuringly.

After training all morning, we prepared lunch before going to our scheduled gym battle with the Vermillion City gym leader. My team & I agreed that if it was a two on two battle, I'd use Venus & Relic.

If somehow a third or fourth Pokemon was involved, Charcoal & Phantom would be involved as well. Cinder seemed content with not being used for the gym battle. I noticed Cinder wasn't a huge fan of battles. She liked them, but she wasn't as crazy about battling as the rest of my team, especially Charcoal.

Brandon was using Dratini & Growlithe. If he had to use a third, he would use Poliwag.

Our walk to the gym was short & we didn't talk much. When we finally got there, a lady behind a desk asked us if we had a reservation. We informed her that we did & she led us through a small corridor into a big room, where our battle would be taking place.

Lt. Surge was there, with a small baby Pichu in his arms. Seeing the baby Pokemon reminded me of the Eeevee eggs that Brandon & I had. They moved once in a while, but they hadn't hatched yet, unfortunately.

"What a cute Pichu!" I found myself saying out loud. Surge turned to look at us & smiled. "Thanks, she just hatched a few days ago. I've had her here watching me battle so she can learn," he smirked.

"How nice," I smiled. "Are you ready to battle?" he questioned. Brandon & I nodded. "Let's make this fast yes? The Pokemon Center was almost robbed yesterday & I need to meet with the authorities to talk a bit about the incident & see if there's a way to keep our city safe," he got up & positioned himself, with a Pokeball in his hand.

"We actually helped to stop those thieves last night," I said casually. Surge's eyes went wide. "That's not gonna make me go easy on you, you know," he replied, grinning.

He glanced at his watch & gasped. "I need to battle both of you?" he raised an eyebrow. We nodded. "Look, I don't have time right now. Can we just have a double battling & get this over with as quick as possible?" He sounded urgent, so we agreed.

Brandon used Dratini, & I sent out Relic. Surge sent out a Pikachu & Voltorb, it didn't look like he put much thought into it. He just randomly threw out two Pokeballs & commanded Pikachu to use Quick Attack, & Voltorb to use Charge.

"Dratini, use Twister to stop Quick Attack!" Dratini quickly whipped up a twister & it headed straight towards Pikachu. "Move out of the way Pikachu!" Surge yelled. Pikachu moved out of the way quickly, but unfortunately Voltorb was caught in Twister.

"Relic use Mud Shot!" Pikachu was blown back by a powerful Mud Shot. I smirked. Relic was beginning to impress me. "Absorb Relic!" Relic quickly used his attack. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Kabuto, Volorb Thunderbolt on Dratini!"

Luckily Harden saved Relic from some of the damage. Dratini wasn't very hurt by Thunderbolt. "Dratini, use Slam!" Dratini slammed into Pikachu, & Pikachu looked fairly weak now.

A few seconds passed & Surge wasn't commanding his Pokemon? He was looking at his watch. "I'll do you a favor & finish this battle then, Mud Shot on Pikachu Relic!" "Slam on Voltorb!" Our moves were powerful, & Pikachu was knocked out.

Surge didn't even send out a second command as Dratini used DragonBreath this time & Voltorb fainted.

In fact, he didn't even acknowledge us after his loss. He simply tossed us two badges, retreated his fainted Pokemon, picked up his Pichu, & left. I frowned.

Brandon seemed happy, but I wasn't. That battle was over so fast! Surge didn't even put much effort into it!

I sighed as Brandon & I were entering Route 11. "What's wrong?" Brandon asked me. "I... I feel like I didn't earn this badge," I frowned. Relic, who was attatched to the front of my shirt, near my stomach area, cried out at this. "No... I'm not talking about you, Relic. You did great! I just mean, that. Surge wasn't even trying against us," I frowned. "Better for us Katrina. It was an easy badge earned," he replied.

I still didn't feel better. He continued to try to console me as we walked away from the gym. "Look, Katrina. The last three badges we have to earn will not be this easy. Okay? Just be happy that you got the badge, it's a break, because the next three will probably take a few tries," Brandon looked into my eyes. "You're right," I smiled to fake my disapointment.

"Hey!" Our moment was ruined by a male's voice. "Let's battle!" the kid yelled. Brandon battled him, with Poliwag & Dratini, & he won against the kid's Pidgeotto & Raticate.

After that battle, we decided to rest for the night, just outside the entrance to Diglett's Cave.

"Should we go in there?" Brandon asked. I rolled my eyes. "Are you kidding me? Diglett's Cave? I went through there, thinking it was a short cut, but it was hell! You can't even walk, Diglett's keep circling around you trying to trap you," I spat. "Should I capture a Diglett?" Brandon questioned. "Go ahead," I urged him.

Dinner was nice with all of our Pokemon. We set up a nice warm fire & the food tasted good.

Phantom hovered around me, poking me & pointing at the entrance to Diglett's Cave. "I'm not going in there," I shook my head. He continued to bug me. "You go in there if you want to," I shook him off. He smiled at me.

"But take someone with you! It's dangerous for you to go alone," I stopped him & looked over my team. "Phantom wants to explore Diglett's Cave. Who wants to go?" I asked them all.

Relic & Brandon's Anorith stepped up first. Jolteon too, & Dratini also wanted to go. & of course, we can't forget Venus, who was delighted to go.

Brandon let his Pokemon go with mine, but we made sure to tell them that they had to stay together, no matter what! "Don't go too far, stay together! Have each other's backs, if anything goes wrong one of you come get us for help, & don't be gone too long!" I yelled as they walked off, happily chatting in their Pokemon language.

"You sound like a mom," Brandon sneered. I laughed, he was right, I did sound a lot like a concerned mother. "I feel like one. I'm just concerned about them, I don't want them to get hurt, you know?" "I know," Brandon nodded.

We sat there with our remaining Pokemon, Cinder the Vulpix, Charcoal the Charmeleon, Growlithe, Poliwag, & Wartortle.

We passed time by playing with & petting our Pokemon. When the others got back from Diglett's Cave, they looked like they had been in a battle or two.

"You guys battled the Digletts, didn't you?" I looked them over. They were full of dirt & mud, & had small scratches, cuts, & bruises. They all nodded excitedly.

I shook my head at them, smiling slightly. "Well, I glad you're back & that you're safe. Now it's time for bed." We all slept comfortably that night.