When we head to the Pokemon Center, we see some trainers hurrying into the Pokemon Center. I notice that one of the trainer's Rattata is in rough shape.
"Oh, it's the fifteen one brought in this month." Nurse Joy says with a tired tone.
"15?" Insey is confused, and Nurse Joy says, "They all lost to Lt. Surge. The Vermilion Gym Leader."
"They probably underestimated him and that's why they lose so badly." I shake my head. "After all, Lt. Surge is not a person who will hold back in battle."
"So you know Surge?" Brock asks.
"Lt. Surge is one of the Gym Leaders handpicked by our Dad." Insey says. "He was from an army in the Unova Region, and a strict commanding officer as well. He specializes in Electric Type, and he has a powerful Raichu."
"Indeed, his Raichu is strong enough to beat all of the trainers' Pokemon like this." I say after looking at the wards.
"Then how are you going to win against him?" Yellow asks with concern.
Nurse Joy notices the Pikachu and says, "A while ago, I just happened to across this."
We turn to see a Thunder Stone, and I say, "A Thunder Stone? You mean I should evolve Pikachu into Raichu?"
"But be cautious that if we use this, then Pikachu will not be the same as well..." Nurse Joy adds.
I turn to Pikachu and asks, "So Pikachu, "What do you think?"
"To be honest, after seeing those Pokemon lying on beds, I feel a little scared trying to battle the guy. But-" Then suddenly, Pikachu slaps the Thunder Stone to the ground.
"I don't need to evolve. I will show that I can beat a Raichu just as I am! I will show him who is the boss!"
We smile as I say, "That's great, Pikachu. Together, we'll beat Lt. Surge with no problem."
Then we decide to head to the gym, and I have Farfetch'd use Cut to open the way for us to get to the gym. Inside the gym, they find that the place is full of trash cans and an electric trap in front of them.
"Oh boy...this gym sure is different than the ones we have seen..." Yellow mutters.
"I agree." Insey says as they see the Guide. "I've been waiting for you, champ in the making. Lt. Surge is the Gym Leader in this city. He's an expert on Electric Type Pokemon and a real tough guy."
"I can tell, I know him personally." Ash says.
"Flying and Water type Pokemon don't do well matched up against Electric Types, you'll also want to watch out so your Pokemon don't get stuck paralyzed." The guide says. "And here is my last tip. Lt. Surge is the cautious type. He's put barriers between himself and the rest of this room, so it won't be easy to get to him."
As they walk forward, they are stopped by Sailor Dwayne as he says, "This is no place for kids! Not even if you're good at Pokemon!"
"Well, we have been looked down on." I mutter as the sailor sends out two Pikachu. I send out Sandshrew and Oddish to battle. Both Pikachu is taunting my Pokemon as Pikachu is feeling a little irritated by them. But in the end, with the Sleep Powder and the Dig Attack, the two Pikachu are defeated.
"Wow, you surprised me." Then the sailor lets them go as I am stopped by an engineer named Baily. "I am lightweight, but I am good at electricity, that is why I joined this gym."
Then he sends out Voltorb and Magnemite. I decide to use Sandshrew and this time he also sends out Charla. It is surprising to me that the Voltorb uses Self-Destruct, but it is able to half both Ash's Pokemon's HP. In the end, with the Flamethrower Magnemite is also down.
The final trainer is Gentleman named Tucker. "When I was in the army, Lt. Surge was my strict CO. He was a hard taskmaster." The man says as he sends out Pikachu. I see how Pikachu wants to battle, so I use him to battle his same species. In the end, Pikachu's Dig attack causes the gentleman's Pokemon to be defeated.
Now that all the trainers are defeated, they finally find the switch in the full trash can and then they activate it, causing the electric barrier to be gone. "Great, now we can finally face him." I say.
Serena says, "You go teach the man a lesson, Ash."
When I finally reach the room where Lt. Surge is, there are two more trainers there and one of them says, "Hey, boss! Another victim for the emergency room!"
And then Lt. Surge appears and notices me, "Oh, well if it isn't baby Ash. How are you?" The man says.
"Nice to see you as well, Lt. Surge." Ash says as they shake hands. "I am doing great, but I am here to challenge you for the third badge."
Brock mutters, "Woah, he's huge."
"Is he the Gym Leader you have to beat?" Misty mutters.
He notices Misty and suddenly gives her a hug, "Welcome to Vermilion Gym! I assume you're here to challenge as well?"
"No, Ash is the one that is going to challenge, we're just watching as spectators." Misty says. "But why does he call you a baby, Ash?"
"Believe me, this is not the first time. He always calls the trainers that he wins against 'baby'. But he doesn't mean no harm." I reply. "So are we going to have a challenge now?"
Lt. Surge just gives him a laugh and says, "You won't live long in combat! Not with your puny power! I tell you, kid, electric Pokémon saved me during the war! They zapped my enemies into paralysis! The same as I'll do to you!"
Then he sends out his first Pokemon, which is a Voltorb. I say, "You know I also have some plans on my sleeves. Go! Nidoking!"
When I send out the Pokemon, Lt. Surge says, "I see you have a strong Pokemon with you, however, my Voltorb is also trained to counter Ground Types. Let's see if you can handle this."
Then it goes for Gyro Ball, but Nidoking's Double Kick stops it and then I have it use Poison Jab on the Voltorb. Voltorb then uses Sonic Boom, hitting Nidoking.
"Sonic Boom deals 20 damage every time no matter how strong the power is..." I mutter.
Then I have it use Poison Jab again, and this time Voltorb is poisoned. "Good! Now Earth Power!" I command.
Voltorb takes huge damage, but it is still standing, much to our surprise. Lt. Surge says, "That sure is one tough Nidoking you have there, but I've already prepared as well. Use Explosion!"
"Explosion?!" I exclaim in surprise as the Voltorb explodes, taking Nidoking out with him.
"Wow...that is a surprise..." Misty mutters.
"Yeah, Nidoking just lose to an Explosion like that..." Insey mutters. "What a suicide move."
Brock says, "Surge must have predicted that Electrode will faint due to Poison effect."
Lt. Surge says, "You are going to be hard if you want to beat me, go Magnemite." As the Pokemon appears, I say, "Charla! I need your help!"
With how Charmeleon is behaving right now, I guess I can only rely on Charla to battle. I command Charla to use Flamethrower on Magnemite, and it is super effective.
"Flash Cannon!" Lt. Surge commands, and I decide to have Charla dodge the attack and go for Dragon Rage, depleting 40 LP of Magnemite. Magnemite used Iron defense to lower the damage, then it uses Tri Attack and hit Charla, Charla just gets hit and gets Paralyzed.
"Charla, I know you can do it, get up and use Scary Face."
Charla jumps back up and uses the attack, causing the Attack stat of the Pokemon to get lowered. And in the end, it is defeated by another Flamethrower.
"No one was able to face my final Pokemon, but prepare to lose." Then he uses Raichu, the evolution of Pikachu. And Raichu just uses the Thunder Punch to knock out Charla.
"Pikachu, you are up." Ash yells as he sends back the Pokemon. Lt. Surge just laughs and says, "Well what do we have here? Our Baby Ash brought along a baby Pokemon."
"Did he call me a baby! I'll show him!" Pikachu yells.
"Pikachu is right. He is definitely going to beat your Raichu." I say.
"Can Pikachu beat Raichu?" Misty asks Brock.
"I seriously doubt it." Brock replies. "Especially Raichu knows all of the Electric attacks."
Serena sees how I was being taunted every now and then by the gym leader, she starts to worry and she mutters, "Ash..."
"Okay, well let's see." Lt. Surge says.
"Use the strategy we planned!" I say. "Quick Attack!"
"A strategy, but there is no way we'll lose." Then Raichu uses Slam on Pikachu, causing him to crash into a wall.
Pikachu gets up and uses Thunderbolt, while Raichu also uses a Thunderbolt back. Due to Raichu being stronger, Pikachu is hit. Lt Surge then lets Raichu use Iron Tail, Ash calls out to Pikachu in worry, but Pikachu dodges the attack using his speed.
"Do it, Pikachu! Agility now!" I say, and Pikachu starts to go faster.
"Raichu! Use your Slam attack!" Lt. Surge is a little shocked, and Raichu keeps missing Pikachu's attacks.
"It's working!" Misty gasps.
"Raichu evolves too fast as it never learns the Speed attacks that it can learn in the Pikachu stage." Brock says.
Then Pikachu starts running around in circles which causes Raichu to get dizzy. "Your Raichu is way too slow, that's his weakness!"
"Give it a Thunderbolt! Shut it down!" Just then, Raichu starts attacking everywhere and even breaking the windows of the gym, Lt. Surge smirks, "The end of the match."
"Really?" After the smoke is cleared, Pikachu is nowhere in sight. I smirk, "I have Pikachu use Dig attack! Now finish it!"
Much to their shock, Pikachu appears under Raichu and knocks him out of the battle.
"Unbelievable!" Lt. Surge is shocked to see his Pokemon down. Pikachu cheers, "Now who's the strongest Pokemon now?"
"You've done it, Pikachu!" I hug the Pokemon, and Lt. Surge says, "Now that's a shocker! You're the real deal, kid! Fine, then, take the Thunder Badge!"
He throws a badge at Ash, who picks it up and thanks him. Lt. Surge says, "And that's not all, you are special, so I'll give you this." He gives him an autograph and they just give him an "Are you serious" look.
"The Thunder Badge cranks up your Pokémon's speed. It also lets your Pokémon fly lightning-quick any time, kid! Now show the world how strong you are."
Serena also walks up to me and says, "Congratulations, Ash. You won another gym badge."
"Yeah, I couldn't have done it without my Pokemon's help." I say as we leave the gym. Yellow says, "You know, we were really worried when Lt. Surge keeps taunting you to make you distracted. But we're glad that you are able to win."
"I just didn't really listen to what he is saying, since I was just focused on trying to win a badge. Do you think it is weird for me to think like that?" I ask.
Serena shakes her head and says, "No, that is your style. And it works in this kind of situation."
Here is a new chapter, and Ash gets his third badge. Now the next gym won't be Saffron but rather the Celadon Gym. Because the game version is the priority while the anime is the second. I hope you like this chapter.
Ash + Serena's Pokemon:
Ivysaur, Charmeleon x2, Wartortle, Butterfree, Beedrill, Pidgeotto, Rattata, Spearow, Ekans, Pikachu, Sandshrew, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Clefable, Wigglytuff, Zubat, Oddish, Paras, Meowth, Alakazam, Bellsprout, Geodude, Farfetch'd, Magikarp (S)
Insey's Pokemon:
Ivysaur, Beedrill, Pidgey, Spearow, Zubat, Oddish, Paras, Bellsprout
Misty's Pokemon:
Goldeen, Staryu, Starmie
Yellow's Pokemon:
Rattata, Pikachu, Geodude
Brock's Pokemon:
Zubat, Geodude, Onix