Chapter 10 Vermillion

As the friends circled the port of Vermillion before landing, Misty pointed out the S.S. Anne. "Well, there it is. It's hard to remember now I loved it so much I built models of it, really."

Ash had caught most of that, and replied soberly. "I suppose nearly dying onboard a sinking ship would affect that."

For a moment the group was silent. Then Ash lifted his head, the melancholy mood simply flowing from his face. "Well, time for me to try for another Gym Badge!" He urged his mount towards the ground.

"You never change, Ash…" Brock grinned, and the two gym leaders followed on Charizard.

By the time they had caught up, Ash was already at the main door to the gym and sorting through his Poké balls. "Damnit… no flying types, no water types… that leaves Pikachu, Riolu and Bulbasaur for the gym. You guys okay for it?"

The three nodded, just before Brock arrived on the scene. "You sure you don't want to borrow one of my Pokémon, Ash? It would help."

Ash shook his head. "No thanks, I doubt we'll have much trouble."

"Well, you're a bit young to be battling my gym. Any reason for the tiny little Pokémon? You're not trying the Gym challenge with a newbie team, are you?"

Ash gritted his teeth. The American was incredibly aggravating, even with Ash knowing he could win. "Shut up! I've got several evolved Pokémon, it's just that they're all water or flying types!"

Lt. Surge looked askance at his challenger. "You're a peppy one, aren't you, brat? Fine, then I declare my challenge. You must face me in three separate one on one battles. All three Pokémon you choose must beat their opponent in order to win you the Thunderbadge."

Ash gaped. "What?"

"You heard me. This should teach you to respect your betters, boy."

Just how old is he? Ash mused. He sounds like Agatha…

"Fine. You want to open this one, Bulbasaur?"

"Sure!"

Surge gave a slight smirk. "Good to see you're not completely clueless. Electrode!"

Bulbasaur trotted out onto the battlefield, ready for his first formal battle in a good few years. Well, here we go. Let's see, an Electrode. Can't remember what their thing was…

The match began. Electrode revved, blurred into motion, and Exploded at close range to Bulbasaur.

Oh, yeah, that was it.

Bulbasaur sank his vines into the floor to act as a brake and was yanked to a halt about halfway to the wall. As he retracted them to regain mobility, he saw that Electrode was effectively undamaged from the blast.

This was going to be all kinds of not fun.

Bulbasaur began the fight proper by sending a vine whipping into the ceiling and gripping the rafters, trying to stay out of Electrode's reach by reeling himself up to the ceiling. This did manage to evade Explosion range, but didn't get him completely off the hook.

A bolt of electricity from the alpha variant of Shockwave unerringly homed in on him – actually turning two corners to track his erratic swings before it impacted - sending him out of control and forcing him to disengage before the vine snapped.

This isn't good… oh, that might work.

Surprising many watching, Bulbasaur hit the ground and left a small, deep crater.

Surge quickly worked it out. "He's used Dig! I didn't know Bulbasaur could even do that!"

Ash gave a grin. "Most can't… but most of them aren't the ones that travel with me!"

"Don't get cocky, brat! Electrode, Shock wave!"

Another of the homing bolts snapped off and, unfortunately for Surge, simply smacked into the ground and did nothing.

"What the… oh, I see. I've never tried that against an underground target, because most of them are ground types and aren't affected anyway. So, where's your little grass type?"

Ash closed his eyes, started, then gave a grin. "He's down there, all right… and he's doing exactly what he should."

Pikachu and Riolu closed their eyes too to take a peek with Aura sight… then ran for the nearest cover.

Growth… growth… growth… and now, Frenzy Plant!

An enormous tree of wooden vines sprang up from the ground around Electrode (doing a number on the gym floor) and slammed together with the hapless electric type inside it. After a second or so during which the vines tightened with an ominous creak, the entire construct exploded in a shower of splinters as Electrode blew up again.

Coughing, Ash and Surge both looked towards the centre of the arena. Electrode was badly exhausted, but then again any Hyper Beam variant used by a non fully evolved Pokémon burned out its' elemental ability for a good few minutes. So Bulbasaur was likely in the same state as his opponent, and if so the battle was down to the wire.

No pun intended.

Ash cheered as a foot burst from the torn ground and kicked Electrode into the air – the impact enough to knock the Pokémon out.

He ran over to the exit hole and carefully hauled Bulbasaur out…

Hauled?

Oh, that explains it. Ivysaur, then.

"What happened to you?"

"I overdid it on the Growth, it triggered the evolution. Wow, that feels weird… I've got petals now… and fronds…trippy…"

"Nice work, buddy." Ash recalled Ivysaur, and flashed a grin at the Lieutenant.

"Hmph. Don't get cocky, little boy. Magneton, show him the error of his ways!"

Ash gestured Riolu forward. "Take him!"

"Not a problem!"

Wow, they're really committed to this… Pikachu mused. I suppose it's just the way we all get riled up by a good fight. He then noticed Surge's Raichu, sitting calmly on the edge of the arena. On seeing his soon-to-be-opponent's attention, the Raichu made a series of gestures suggesting that Pikachu was… a total softy and rather untalented. Let's leave it at that.

Oh, it's so on.

Magneton began to glow, sparks dancing off its' various magnets, and levitated a good ten feet into the air – as a Pokémon even weaker to Ground attacks than the rest, it was a standard starting move for the magnet Pokémon.

Riolu affected a bored posture, not particularly concerned with what was coming.

Surge clenched his fist. It was a part of his battle style to piss his opponent off, to encourage them into a straight line power contest (which he would then naturally win)… but it wasn't going to plan here. If anything, he was the one being affected more.

"Magneton! Double Team and Flash! See how cocky he is when he can't even see you!"

Riolu flinched back as the wall of light assaulted his vision. Every single of the dozen or so images of Magneton had lit up like a halogen lamp, instantly flash blinding him but also screwing up his nerves, so he couldn't even hide from it.

Through the shooting headache he was starting to develop as Magneton added Metal Sound to the mix, he faintly heard a voice.

.iol., .re y.. oka.? .ome ov.. .ere

How was he hearing anything over this assault?

.o, .tay ther. .nd I'l. .hrow it ov..

In fact…

"Riolu! Stop paying attention to the noise and catch the damn blindfold!"

That wasn't a voice, but that was certainly Ash!

Riolu snatched the blindfold – Sir Aaron's blindfold, in fact – as it flew past him, and bound up his eyes. With the constant assault of light gone, he could feel his concentration starting to recover.

And with his eyes covered, he could see.

"So the baby closes his eyes to hide from the world. How is he going to battle now, then? His opponent isn't even on the ground, where he might run into it!"

Riolu began gathering energy.

Ash shot a glance at Surge. "Don't you know about Riolu at all? They can sense Aura, like the aura of living things. He's fully aware where your Magneton is."

Riolu nodded as his gathered power concentrated in his palm and began to spin.

The Vermillion gym leader chuckled. "Okay, point to you. But I recognize that attack from your Japanese Anime series – it's a close ranged attack!"

Ash and Pikachu shrugged at each other, mystified. "What anime was that, then?"

Surge looked shifty. "Something about a kid with a Ninetales sealed in him or whatever, I don't claim to be much of a fan…"

Riolu threw the Aura Sphere at Magneton, sending Surge's electric/steel type neatly through the wall.

Surge blinked. "What?"

Ash ran over to check Riolu was okay, before shooting a glance at Surge. "Don't believe everything you see on TV."

"Heh… a good point from you again." Surge sobered, and pointed at the gym motto as a pair of Magnemite floated over to the hole, seeming to repair it with some kind of electrical arc welding. "So, time for the final test. You've had two of the three tenets of Electric power. Speed, you handled. Precision, you dealt with. Now it's time for raw power! Raichu!"

"Pikachu!"

The two electric mice faced one another in the middle of the arena, neither making a move at first.

"A baby Pokémon for a baby trainer. Do you have some kind of problem with evolving your Pokémon, boy?"

Ash forced himself to stay calm. Deep breaths… deep breaths… focus on clarity…

"Suppose he's just as much of a wimp as you, then!"

Pikachu's eyes flashed. Who did this person think he was? Insulting Ash like that! The Pokémon knew full well that at this point Ash could – were it necessary – beat Surge into the floor, for all the latter's military experience. And with the way this was going, it looked like Surge would just keep up the taunting until he got a response.

"What's the matter? Scared to fight me?"

Right, that was it.

Pikachu charged forward, surging with electricity in a Volt Tackle.

Raichu yawned, and threw a Thunder at Pikachu that slammed him to a dead stop, before slashing into him with another pair of Thunderbolts that completely paralyzed him and threw him back into Ash's diving catch.

"Pikachu… how?" Ash stood up, glaring at Surge. "How did you do that? Pikachu has faced down dragons and gods before, how did that overpower him?"

Surge chuckled, and strolled forward. "It's not a question of skill, or training. In battles between electric Pokémon, the most important question is how high a voltage they can generate. Sadly for you, my Raichu's electric potential is too high for your Pikachu to approach. That's why I said power was important."

Surge tossed a Thunderstone from his pocket to Ash. "Feel free to evolve him and come back later. I'll even waive the first two battles, isn't that nice?"

Ash clenched his teeth, and curled his arms protectively around Pikachu. "I'll go away, and train… and we'll come back, and Pikachu will kick your ass!"

The American didn't say anything.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Surge pointed down. Ash looked.

"Oops."

The Thunderstone, forgotten in Ash's fist, had just made contact with Pikachu's tail.

"Well, crap."

"Pikachu!"

He came groggily round. The pain had been indescribable after the Thunderstone had contacted his fur, but after a few moments everything had gone mercifully blank. His nervous system had opened of its' own accord to drink in the energy, but his Aura – responding to his will – had fiercely defended him from the effects. He had no idea what the result had been.

As his senses came back one by one, he first perceived the smell of burnt fur, sap and hot metal. Still in the gym then.

His electric sense opened up next, and it was amazingly fuller and richer than before, his power wells so much stronger – like he'd been wearing insulation all his life. He could only remember that kind of boost once before.

And it had been when he'd ceased being a Pichu.

So he had evolved then. That was unfortunate, but it had been mainly his personal preference and his minor pobia of the Raichu he remembered from childhood that had stopped him. He could learn to cope. For Ash.

Well, better get used to the differences, like the tail.

He tried to curl his tail up close to his body, like he had seen many of his evolved – no, his form do.

Why is it so stiff?

Then his hearing returned.

"You okay, Pikachu?"

Ash hurriedly crouched to the floor, and went for his bag. Notes on evolution, gloves, cape… Pikachu was resisting the evolution, so that helped, but he had only about a minute.

"Riolu, get over here, I need your help on this one!"

"What do you need me to do?"

"Force the energy of the stone back into it, contain it, I'll get it out of Pikachu."

The trainer and Pokémon worked as fast as they could, heedless of the awed observance of Surge and his Raichu as the two did what seemed to be magic.

"Okay, no more is coming out. How are things on your end?"

"Not so good. I got as much out as I could, but there's still some left. Only a few seconds before it settles, and it'll change wherever it is to match Raichu body structure. Damn… I was so close to getting it all, but it's too deep rooted!"

Riolu glanced at the pained face of his teammate, then had a sudden inspiration.

"Send it to the cheeks. They're power reservoirs for either form."

Ash spared a glance at his youngest Pokémon, even as his Aura stopped trying to check the evolution energy's effects and instead forced it as fast as possible to the one place where the change wouldn't badly injure Pikachu. "That's… brilliant! Okay, give me some help here."

"So… I have not evolved?"

"Not really, no. You've come as close to it as any Pokémon ever has, but you've not evolved. You have, however, picked up the electric sacs of a Raichu, and possibly some kind of other changes. Since you're still able to move, I assume it's nothing serious."

Ash then took something from Riolu.

"This is what's left of the stone, if you want it. Seems weird to me, it's nothing like any Thunderstone I've ever seen before."

Pikachu stared at the bluish globe. It was indeed unusual. Thunderstones held a crystallized lightning bolt, whereas this… the lightning within was dancing, caged but still fully mobile.

"I think this is… it's a Light Ball. I've only ever heard of them. They're incredibly potent and rare artefacts, they resonate with my species." Pikachu tore his eyes away and glanced at Ash. "Can I?"

"Of course."

Pikachu took it, and it dissolved at his touch, running into his body like water down a drain. It felt nice, like warmth from a mug of cocoa, and the tingling of three-phase breakfast.

Ash shared a look with his first Pokémon, then turned to the awestruck Surge. "I think we'll take you up on that rematch now!"

Surge's Raichu looked up from where he was trying not to pay attention.

"Okay, rematch start in two… one…go!"

"Zap cannon."

Raichu went straight through the recently repaired wall and vanished off into the distance. Surge gaped.

"Okay, what the hell was that?"

Pikachu ran back to Ash and climbed onto his shoulder, and the trainer took the Thunderbadge from the Gym Leader's unresisting hands. "Superior firepower."

"Okay, what next?" Ash sat by the side of the road, with the rest of the group.

The S.S. Anne-

"Screw that."

Porta Vista next. Misty's Horsea was caught there.

"Okay, we go there for him, nothing else. Flippin' insane mayor or whatever she was…"

Maiden's Peak.

"Not only no, but HELL no."

The Butterfree swarm passes overhead.

"Right, that's more like it. Butterfree?"

"I would like to go with them, but retain the possibility of coming back. Any idea if there's a portable satellite uplink and Pokémon transporter package?"

"We've got a month or so to look in Celadon city, we have the time to check. Next!"

Saffron Gym and all that stuff.

Ash sighed. "Not that nutcase again… I suppose the best approach is to make her overcome her childhood trauma, right?"

Yes. You could go to Lavender.

"I am not dying again, damnit!"

Oh, is that what happened? We all sort of assumed you were asleep.

"Right, not happening. We may as well use the month and a half of time off the clock to train up, and I'll try and learn Aura Purge from the notes. It's apparently able to calm Shadow Pokémon, so it might well work on mere emotional repression."

AN:

Why, yes. Pikachu is now half-evolved. Because he deserved a power up (and a big one, given how important he is to the series and as a character) but making him a Raichu would be somehow wrong.

And a silly little Naruto reference there. The idea of how our media would be altered to fit with the setting is fun to look at.

Edit:The Pokemon world is based on the real one in a lot of ways. Kanto = Kanto, Japan; Sevii= Izu and Bonin; Johto = Kansai (and Chubu is split between Johto and Kanto); Hoenn = Kyushu and Okinawa; Sinnoh = Hokkaido; Unova/Isshu = Manhattan and the surrounds; Orre = Arizona. Several more specific places are also directly corresponding, and in the anime places like Hollywood are mentioned by name.

In the games themselves, Lt. Surge is described as the Lightning American and Arcanine is said to be in Chinese legends, among many others. The easiest explanation is the one I use - that the Pokemon world differs from ours, but not in the continents or large countries. Hell, one of the anime episodes mentions Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein