Chapter 26 - The 3rd Gym Battle!

Intro-kun: Our young hero is finally facing off against the formidable gym leader Lt Surge for the Thunder Badge! Will he come out victorious or not! Stay tune and read in order to find out!

Morning came and I was in front of the gym. The guy shouted, "The gym leader is here! Just please don't shout!" I said, "I'm not shouting. You are." Misty giggled finding it amusing. I grinned and said, "Let's go then! 3rd Gym Badge here I come!" The man sighed as he weakly led us inside.

He was honestly suffering quite a bit considering what he was going through but I did not care too much. It was all fun and games and plus it was not as if I was going to annoy him for much longer. Arriving inside the gym, Lt Surge approached us and asked, "Who are these kids? Did they come for an autograph?"

Lt Surge was huge! I'm pretty sure he was above 8 feet. Of course, I was lacking behind due to my age so I felt like a toddler only reaching above his waist. What did they feed this man!? Shaking my head I said, "I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle!"

Lt Surge laughed as he said, "Kid, stop playing games with me. Tell me what you want." I took out my pokeball and said with a thin smile, "I'm not." He laughed and said, "Good! I like your spirit! I will enjoy crushing you. Let's go kid. It's your funeral."

He took our positions where he announced the rules, "I will fight using only one pokemon and you must beat me using all of your pokemon. How does that sound?" I nodded and said, "Good!" I knew that beating Lt Surge was going to be difficult since he specialized in training a single pokemon making it much more difficult to defeat it.

Fortunately, my team size increased and if I work well with my new pokemon I might be able to weaken it but then again using flying types at the end was a dangerous move since he could slaughter my team with a single hit.

My memories of pokemon tell me that his Raichu specializes in close combat and the basic electric moves of Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt. I will need to be careful to not let my guard down when facing it I close combat as well as making it use up its energy.

He smiled seeing me think carefully and took it as nervousness. He chuckled and said, "Fine kid! I will go first! Come out Raichu!" He tossed his pokeball and Raichu appeared on the field with a confident face. I turned my hat backwards and took out my pokeball and said, "Alright, go Butterfree!"

Butterfree appeared with a determined expression. It knew that the time for battle was now and things were going to get serious. Butterfree let out a determined, "Free!" I nodded and said, "Yeah! We will give it our best!"

Lt Surge smiled seeing out comradeship but that won't make him go any easier. It actually made him want to give out a harsher attack in order to see our reaction. Lt Surge shouted, "Raichu use Thunderbolt!" I shouted, "Butterfree use Quiver Dance and escape!" Raichu shot out a large bolt of lightning towards Butterfree but Butterfree quickly avoided it by moving its wings in a high frequency.

Lt Surge shouted, "Raichu! Go and use Mega Punch!" Raichu lifted its arm and gathered energy causing a white energy to appear around it before rushing towards Butterfree. I shouted, "Butterfree us String Shot and slow it down!" Butterfree began trying to shoot it with strings of web.

Butterfree flopped twice before coming to a stop. I frowned and said, "Come on Butterfree! You can do it!" Butterfree struggled to get up. Lt Surge laughed and said, "Just give up. It ain't getting back up!" I smiled and said, "You are wrong! I know Butterfree! A single punch won't defeat it!"

Butterfree hearing the confidence of its trainer gained some more vigor and got up ready to fight. I said, "Great job! Are you ready for round 2?" Butterfree nodded wanting to get payback on Raichu. Lt Surge was surprised but he said, "Useless struggle. Raichu go forward and shock it to submission!"

I frowned seeing that. If an electrical moves is done as at point blank then Butterfree will definitely fall. I wonder if I should use Psychic attacks and win. In the end, I discarded that idea since I should not become over reliant on psychic attacks.

I shouted, "Butterfree use Whirlwind and slow it down!" Butterfree flapped its wings sending a strong wing towards Raichu causing it to slow down. Lt Surge shouted, "Come on Raichu! Just shock it from there!" I shouted, "Butterfree dodge it and use Air Slash!" Raichu let out a thin Thunder Shock towards Butterfree who dodged it and flapped its wings sending blades of air towards it.

Lt Surge smiled as he shouted, "Do it now Raichu!" Raichu grinned maliciously as it moved its tail to touch the ground and pushed itself into the air. I was surprised not expecting such a sudden air born attack. Lt Surge shouted, "Now Raichu use Body Slam!" I shouted, "Butterfree use Tackle!" Both Pokemon collided and came to a halt for a couple of seconds before Raichu weight overpowered Butterfree causing it to crash on the ground.

Raichu got off Butterfree showing that it fainted. I withdrew Butterfree and said, "Great work Butterfree. Sorry that I made you go through that." Lt Surge said, "Next pokemon kid!" I pulled out another pokeball and shouted, "Come out Zubat!" Zubat appeared flapping its wings.

Lt Surge laughed and said, "Oi squirt, are all your pokemon flying type?" I decided to not answer while Misty on the sidelines sighed thinking that it was dumb for me to focus on only 1 type of pokemon but it was my fault. The two bug type turned partially into flying and I could not do much against that.

Pidgey was all a great starter pokemon in any game so I caught it and now I was here. The only 2 other pokemon I encountered and caught were Dratini and Zubat. In a way, I deserved most of the blame considering the fact that I did not catch any other pokemon I encountered on the journey.

I did encounter Sandshrew, Nidoran, Oddish and so on but I never thought to deeply about it and continued moving on or fought them quickly and left. I will have to change the way how I do things in the future but right now there was no time to regret previous decisions.

I felt bitter thinking that I did not spend more time training it. I asked, "Zubat can you still get up?" Zubat struggled a bit before fainting. Lt Surge laughed and said, "Is that the best you got?" I returned Zubat back to its pokeball and said, "We will see."

I got another and tossed it shouting, "Come out Beedrill!" Beedrill appeared with a fierce look on its face. It wanted to fight right away but waited for its trainer order. Lt Surge shook his head and said, "Raichu just beat it with a Thunderbolt. "

I smiled as I shouted, "Beedrill use Swift and approach it!" Raichu shot out a Thunderbolt that was promptly avoided by Beedrill without giving it a chance to get near it. Lt Surge was shocked from the speed and quickly ordered, "Raichu! Quickly shock it away!" I shouted, "Beedrill back off!"

Raichu released a massive amount of electricity as several currents of electricity left its body heading towards Beedrill. I shouted, "Beedrill use Harden and Pin Missile!" Beedrill body hardened and shot out attacks to the Thunderbolt but the power used on the attack was too large and ended up striking Beedrill.

Beedrill fell on the ground with electricity criss crossing over its body. Misty shouted, "Zane! Beedrill is paralyzed! Quickly withdraw it!" I clicked my tongue and said, "You did great Beedrill. Take a good rest!" I returned Beedrill back into its pokeball.

Lt Surge said, "How many more are left kid? You can't have more than 3 after all." I answered, "Two but your Raichu is not looking so hot. Raichu was breathing heavily after using that kind of attack. Lt Surge shouted, "Raichu can defeat your other pokemon! Right Raichu!" Raichu shouted in agreement, "Rai!"

I shook my head thinking that it was somewhat childish but considering my first Gym Battle I did not have the right to say that. I wondered if I should use Pidgeotto or Dratini and decided to us Dratini. I knew it was not smart leaving Pidgeotto for last but this was an opportunity for Dratini to gain some experience now that Raichu was tired out.

I tossed a pokeball shouting, "Come out Dratini!" Dratini appeared let out a roar ready to fight. I grinned and said, "Are you ready Dratini?" Dratini nodded and glared at Raichu. Lt Surge said, "Hey kid. How did you catch that pokemon?" I said, "If you beat me then I will tell you."

Lt Surge laughed and said, "Then you don't stand a chance! Let's go Raichu! Use Thunderbolt!" Raichu curled its fists and tried to send it but found it impossible. Lt Surge was surprised as he said, "Come on Raichu!"

Raichu nodded and rushed towards Dratini. I shouted, "Dratini use Leer!" Dratini eyes glowed red for a few moments and Raichu shivered feeling more defenseless than usual. That though did not stop its approach. I paid careful attention and saw that Raichu was going to punch.

I shouted, "Leap into the air!" Dratini jumped into the air avoiding Raichu's Mega Punch that created a hole on the ground. Lt Surge shouted, "Raichu catch it and use Take Down!" Raichu jumped into the air and tried to catch Dratini.

I shouted, "Dratini use Wrap!" Dratini body wiggled and moved around Raichu arms and curled around it. Lt Surge shouted, "Raichu break free from it!" I shouted, "Now Dratini use Dragon Rage!" Raichu struggled to break free while Dratini focused its energy on its mouth and struggled to hold on.

Fortunately, Raichu was already tired out and right before it broke free Dratini shot the Dragon Range at point blank causing an explosion that covered the field. Lt Surge was shocked as he shouted, "Raichu! Are you alright!?" The smoke cleared and revealed 2 pokemon.

Raichu was barely holding on while Dratini was fine. Lt Surge sighed in relieve as he said, "Great! No-" I said, "It's over." Raichu who could no longer endure it fell over and fainted. The referee seeing this shouted, "The winner of the Gym Battle is Zane!"

-10k Poke Dollars and 1k Poke Points

Both Dratini and me cheered happy over our victory. Misty sighed in relieve saying, "That was a close one. If he didn't have that many pokemon then he would have definitely lost." What she did not realize was that I could have easily won.

I could have use Psychic from Butterfree and defeated Raichu or been more cautious with Beedrill by opting with a distance attack and tire Raichu out completely. That won't make me a better trainer so I limited myself to the point that the fight could become intense.

Surge sighed as he walked over to his Raichu and said, "Are you alright buddy?" Raichu was no longer showed a confident expression but a relaxed one nodded with a smile say, "Rai." Lt Surge said, "Alright buddy. Take a good rest." He returned Raichu to its pokeball.

I began explaining my reasoning, "What you are doing is making people want to avoid your gym. Imagine when no one comes. No more battles or fun. Gyms are supposed to be obstacles not dead ends. If you want another great battle then teach trainers after defeating them. Advise them and you will have a great time fighting them afterwards."

Lt Surge was shocked as he thought deeply for a moment before grinning and saying, "I did not think of it like that. Thanks kid. I will. Here is your Thunder Badge." He knelt down and gave it to me. I grinned and said, "Thank you Lt Surge. We better get going and so should you. We need to treat our pokemon." Lt Surge laughed and said, "Hey kid. If you ever need my help feel free to ask. I like people with your kind of spirit."

I chuckled and said, "Will do. Well, bye Lt Surge!" He waved me goodbye. Outside I reunited with Misty who teased, "Hey hey, you almost lost." I laughed and said, "I sure did but it was so much fun! Dratini was incredible at the end and all my pokemon were just as amazing! Butterfree did a great job in forcing Raichu to use a Thunderbolt and tiring it out physically. Beedrill did another great job by forcing it to use most of its electricity and Zubat was also a great support for that. Sadly, I did not have time to train it so I feel bad for it."

Misty placed a hand on my shoulder and consoled, "It's alright. Next time, you will train your Zubat properly right?" I smiled with confidence and said, "You bet I will! Zubat will have its moment sooner or later!"

Misty felt happy seeing my reaction. She found it somewhat attractive but not to the point that it would affect her feelings too much. She was just happy being able to be there and said, "Good, let's go heal your pokemon." I nodded and said, "Will do!"

Cliff-Kun: What will Zane do now!? How will he train his pokemon to become even stronger!? Find out next time in System in Pokemon World!