Ch 24. Ares vs Lt. Surge Pt. 1

(A/N: I split this chapter in two, while the latter half will be uploaded later today.)

Lt. Surge. A tall burly man with spiky blonde colored hair that fitted with the specific type he was known to train with.

The man wore a military jacket and black leather boots, no doubt from his years in the military. From there he also got his alias, Lightning luitenant. From what was known of those times, Lt. Surge had been saved by electric types on the battlefield and from then on started to train with them, making them his main type-speciality.

From other sources was made known that he even used his electric type pokemon in powering the planes he used to fly in during the war. This had saved his life more than once.

He was known to be one of the strongest gym leaders in Kanto, one who was hard on the challengers he daily faced. Maybe even too hard, as anyone who came to challenge him always left in a hurry. Those that were not prepared were known to rush their pokemon to the pokemon center. They wouldn't be able to leave within a week due to the severity of the injury. Lt. Surge held back on no challenger, giving them all he could. Within measure of the badges the trainer had of course.

The man was battle hardened in the army, knowing a lot about electric types and knew how to best utilise them in battle and other circumstances. A strong opponent no doubt. One Ares had to overcome if he wanted to challenge the pokemon league.

Ares was currently standing face to face with this man, as Lt. Surge was eyeing him all over, from head to toe. The way he looked at Ares was one that was measuring up a piece of meat. Someone who wondered how he wanted his meat cooked, rare or well done. The look he gave Ares surely wasn't comfartable, to say the least.

Unlike the trainers Lt. Surge had seen before today, he liked the confident look Ares had in his eyes. From what he could see, it wasn't false bravado. The Lucario Ares had on his side proved it to be so, as it glanced at Lt. Surge in challenge. It clearly didn't like how his trainer was being looked at. Not one bit.

"Bwahahaha, courageous bunch are you? I look forwards to see that spirit on the battlefield."

Lt. Surge roared, the smirk on his face becoming wider as he noticed the Lucario became even more eager. It seems like it loved a good battle, one that had strong opponents. A worthy pokemon to battle against.

Not dallying for a second, Lt. Surge led them to the battlefield.

Ares and Lucario looked around, seeing no obstructions at all. The field was even and there were no obstacles to make use of during the battle. Nor was there anything that would be helpful for electric types. It was the normal type of battlefield you would expect in most gyms. No advantages for the gymleader or the challenger.

"Come on then, little rookie. Let's see what you and your pokemon are made of. As for the battle format... let's see... a one on one is fine by me. Same rules as the other gyms."

Lt. Surge walked to his own side of the battlefield and waited for Ares to do the same. When both of them were ready, they each sent out their pokemon.

Ares sent out Lucario, who was eager to fight a strong opponent. Lt. Surge sent out his Raichu. Once Raichu was released, Ares could see in a glance how strong Raichu was. It was in tip top condition, its fur shiny and smooth, showing how good it had been taken care of. Small sparks of electricity were running along its fur, showing it was ready for the coming battle.

Raichu stared intimidatingly at Lucario, a sneer of arrogance on its face. From its demeanor it was obvious it hadn't lost in a long time, making it arrogant and haughty. It was on a winning streak high that only increase with every win. A streak that Ares was certain he would break today.

"Call out your move kid."

Both Lt. Surge and Raichu waited for Lucario to make his move, not bothered by their opponent at all.

"Then I won't be polite, Lucario time to power up."

Lucario nodded as he started to use Focus Energy, Work Up and Agility consecutively.

Seeing what Ares was up to, Lt. Surge didn't wait to stop what was going on.

"Raichu, stop them. Thunderbolt em'!"

Raichu blasted multiple thunderbolts towards Lucario, who only managed to use each of the status moves once. Still, it gave Lucario enough of an edge to dodge the quick attacks comming his way.

As Lucario was fast enough for now, Ares started the other sequence of his plan.

"Double team."

Lucario continued to dodge the attacks, but with every dodge, Lucario duplicated himself. Before long more than a hundred Lucario were running around on the battlefield, each one of them a carbon copy of the other. It was like there was an army of Lucario, ready to punch Raichu straight into its smirking face.

Raichu glared in annoyance at the crowd it was now surrounded with.

"Raichu, Discharge."

Raichu growled as electricity spread across its fur and blasted in every direction. The few clones that were closest immediately went up in smoke.

"Bone Rush into the ground."

As the Discharge came closer and closer, the group of Lucario created Bone Rush, stabbing the bone deep into the ground. The electricity that was charging at them was quickly dispersed into the ground. With Bone Rush still activated, the army of Lucario ran towards Raichu to continue their attack.

"Raichu, Iron Tail"

Lt. Surge called out, quickly followed with Raichu imbuing his tail with steel energy and swiping it at the Lucario that were coming at him.

Still, the one Lucario that mattered got past his guard.

"Slam it down!"

Ares yelled, swiping his arm down in a cutting motion.

Lucario brought the Bone Rush down with a lot of force, enough to make the air whistle past the energy construct.

Sensing the danger, Raichu leaped sideways, the only damage it had received that being on his tail, as that was the only place the Bone Rush had managed to hit. The Bone Rush continued along its path, smashing into the ground, cracks spreading out in a spiderweb shape across the battlefield. Raichu steadied its stance, rushing towards the now temporarily mobile Lucario.

"Mega punch, let's go!"

"Lucario, take it."

Nodding, Lucario waited for Raichu to come closer as it braced itself for the attack. Raichu turned its body in full force towards Lucario, energy releasing from its paws as it made contact with Lucario.

Lucario took the hit, while directing most of the force to the ground. Even if the attack wasn't very effective, Lucario still received a bit little of damage, as a bit of bruising showed on its arms.

"Now, Counter"

Kicking Raichu upwards into the air, Lucario followed closely after and hit Raichu hard, returning twice the amount of force he had received from the previous attack.

Raichu flew backwards, as it barely managed to stabilize itself in mid air.

Flinching a bit at the pain it felt, Raichu looked cautiously at Lucario. It had underestimated its opponent. It might be slender and thin, but it still packed a punch when it attacked. As would be expected from a fighting type pokemon.

"Not bad kid. Still, not good enough though."

Knowing what its trainer had in mind, Raichu once again used thunderbolt. But this time, the Thunderbolt was directed at the ground, sending multiple rocks through the air at Lucario.

Lucario deflected the rocks comming at it, smashing through some of them, but when it looked for Raichu, it had disappeared into the sand cloud. Lucario hadn't even noticed it forming, as he was preoccupied with the rocks. Looking around, Lucario tried to see where Raichu was hidding.

"Sense your surroundings using your aura."

Hearing Ares through the sand cloud, Lucario closed its eyes and focussed its senses on its suroundings.

Ares did much the same as he and Lucario shared their senses, ready to attack once Raichu was found.

Lucario could vaguely make out where Raichu was, but it wasn't clear enough. From time to time, Lucario would attack the position using Vacuum palm, but Raichu would evade it half of the time. With each hit he missed, Lucario became more annoyed, causing him be become rash and reckless. It wasn't used to this helpless feeling. It was new and irritating at the same time.

Both of the pokemon became tired, though Lucario a little bit more than Raichu due to how focussed he was.

Sensing Raichu once again, Lucario wanted to use an Aura sphere this time, but was just a little too slow. A thunderbolt hit him, though it was weakened because of the sand.

Gritting his teeth, Lucario became a bit mad at how lax he had gotten, thinking he could enjoy this battle. This battle wasn't fun at all. It was annoying, like it was a slippery Seviper, slipping through whatever you wanted to catch it with.

Ares shook his head, as even if he could sense where Raichu was, Lucario would be just one step too slow. It was clear he had lost his calm.

"Lucario, calm down. Calm your mind and listen to your aura. It will let you know where Raichu is. Ready? Use Detect. Attack once in sight with everything you got."

When another attack came towards it, Lucario detected where it came from. He dodged it and blasted a Aura Sphere towards the opponent.

Raichu was grazed by the attack, as it knew a counter attack would come.

When the dust finally settled, both pokemon looked tired and a bit wounded. This battle had been more a stamina based one, than those of taking hits. Something Lucario had found out today. It was clear that stamina was something they needed to work on.

Glaring at the other in defiance, both pokemon were waiting to see what the other would do.