Three days later.
Vermilion City.
Three days went by in a flash.
Silas's three Pokémon had pretty much recovered and were getting along just fine.
Let's start with Dragonite. As soon as it woke up, it had a long talk with Silas and agreed to join his team. Silas, in turn, promised to fulfill his word and help Dragonite find ancient Pokémon, which made Dragonite ecstatic. It immediately began teaching Charizard and Tyranitar some handy tricks for using elemental power, and even shared some electric-type signature move insights with Pikachu. Just like that, Dragonite naturally took its place as the big brother in Silas's team.
Next up was Tyranitar. Although its combat abilities now ranked bottom in the squad, its gravity field remained super useful for everyone. Plus, its fearless, never-back-down spirit earned the respect of both Dragonite and Charizard.
Then there was Charizard. Suddenly adding two companions in such a short time made it worry that Silas might start to favor the others. But Dragonite and Tyranitar turned out to be great teammates, and they were definitely good for Silas, so Charizard's worries faded fast and the three bonded quickly.
Finally, Pikachu—the least happy camper of all. Going up against Charizard and Tyranitar had been tough enough, and now there was Dragonite, too. Pikachu seriously wondered if these three were going to train him so hard he'd die of exhaustion one day…
While Silas's Pokémon were enjoying a picture-perfect squad life, Silas himself was dying inside.
Ever since he'd chatted about his Champion plan with Professor Oak, he'd gotten daily texts from his grandpa.
The info in those messages drove Silas nuts. It was always something like, "There's a mountain in the east, always blanketed in fog; could be related to [REDACTED] Pokémon Center." Or, "There's a haunted site in the west, might be Ghost-type Pokémon at work." Then there'd be stories from the south… and the north… Honestly, Professor Oak had practically scouted all four corners of the map.
At this rate, Silas figured he could just turn all those messages into a book and probably make a killing off it.
"Silas."
While Silas was sifting through the latest from Professor Oak in the Pokémon Center, Suzie and Giselle came in, arms loaded with shopping bags. Giselle called out, "Hey! Come give us a hand here!"
"No."
"What the heck!" Giselle huffed as Silas refused without even looking up. "Where's your gentlemanly side? Seriously, what happened to your manners?"
"Can you eat manners?" Silas shot back, unimpressed.
"You…"
"Alright, you two," Suzie cut in, laughing at their bickering. "Let's not make a scene. We're in public—keep it down, please."
"Hmph." Giselle pouted. "Whatever. It's all Silas's fault for having zero class."
Her complaints only made Silas and Suzie chuckle. Silas turned to Suzie. "Why'd you buy so much stuff?"
"S.S. Anne!" Suzie answered brightly, handing Silas a few bags. "Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Charizard are pretty much back in top shape, so we should be able to make tomorrow's S.S. Anne. I picked up a dress for myself and Giselle, and got you a suit and some regular clothes too."
"Regular clothes?" Silas frowned slightly. He got why he'd need a suit, but what was up with the casual wear?
"Yep." Suzie nodded, pointing at his outfit. "Everything you own is black. I thought you'd look a lot better with something more colorful, so I picked some out for you."
"Thanks." Silas finally took the bags with a grin. "Since we're setting out tomorrow, I guess I'll swing by the Vermilion Gym this afternoon."
"Want me to come with?"
"No need," Silas declined. "It's just a Gym battle—no reason to get worked up."
"Heh." Giselle smirked. "Watch you trip and eat dirt when you least expect it."
"…" Silas.
...
Afternoon.
Vermilion Gym.
When Silas arrived, he caught sight of a little boy running out of the Gym in tears. People all around were gossiping: "There's another one. Lt. Surge is ruthless."
"Right? He wrecks every challenger. Guy's a straight-up psycho."
"Tell me about it. Yesterday's Pokémon Times even called this Gym 'the most vicious in Kanto.'"
A psycho? The most vicious Gym?
Silas just smiled hearing all that, then walked straight into the Gym under everyone's astonished gaze. Behind the doors stood two burly men, the Gym's doormen. One looked Silas up and down. "Challenger?"
"Yeah." Silas nodded.
Hearing this, the other guard yelled inside, "Boss! We got another victim!"
Victim?
That made Silas raise an eyebrow. He'd always thought this Gym came off brutal in the anime, but seeing it here in person was something else. Honestly, how did this place keep its license? Sooner or later all the complaints should force a checkup.
Just then, a two-meter-tall musclehead strode out and barked, "What kid came here to get demolished today?"
Kid…
Silas's eyebrow twitched. He didn't waste words. "One-on-one or two-on-two?"
"One-on-one!" Lt. Surge declared, whipping out a Poké Ball. "And this is my Pokémon!"
Bang!
With a flash of white light, Raichu appeared on the field.
Seeing Raichu, Silas nodded inwardly. Lt. Surge was brash, sure—but his Raichu was legit. Then, ignoring Surge's skeptical look, Silas tossed out Pikachu's Master Ball. "Go on. Say hi to your predecessor!"
Vermilion Gym.
"Pikachu~" Pikachu's babyish call echoed through the Gym.
"Pikachu?" Lt. Surge paused, then burst out laughing. "Ha! The kid's team is all babies. You really think you can challenge Vermilion Gym with a little squirt like that? That's adorable!"
"Pikachu!"
Crackle!
Pikachu didn't get the joke, but he picked up on Silas's irritation—and the ones making Silas upset were right here. For the first time, Pikachu's eyes flashed with hostility. Golden electricity danced across his cheeks. He was ready to throw down at a word from Silas.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu's stance got more laughs out of Lt. Surge and his flunkies. "Aw, is baby Pokémon mad? Don't worry, Raichu'll send you straight to the Pokémon Center when we're done!"
"Raichu!"
Raichu chimed in with a cry, stepping forward.
"Alright, that's enough." Silas finally spoke, growing impatient. "Can we get this match over with already?"
"Sure." Lt. Surge grinned and roared, "Raichu, show him what a real Thunderbolt looks like!"
"Raichu!" Raichu answered with a wave of electricity that roared toward Pikachu, practically trying to swallow him whole.
"A real Thunderbolt, huh?" Silas smirked for once. He hadn't felt this ticked in ages, so he skipped the strategy and simply growled, "Pikachu, give it right back! Let your so-called elder know that if you don't train hard, you're just trash—even after evolving!"
"Pikachu!"
As soon as he spoke, Pikachu unleashed a blast of electricity to match Raichu's, the two attacks slamming into each other in midair.
BOOM!
Lightning met lightning, colliding with equal power and exploding into the air!
"Nani?!" Lt. Surge and his crew gaped at the sight. They couldn't believe Pikachu's lightning had gone toe-to-toe with Raichu's.
To be honest, Silas was just as surprised. He hadn't expected Raichu to match his Pikachu powered by all those Electric Crystals. Suddenly, he understood why the League hadn't shut this Gym down—the region's Gyms had to represent its general battle standard. If there were easy Gyms like Cerulean, there had to be tough ones too. Even if this Gym Leader was a jerk.
"Raichu!"
While Silas marveled, Lt. Surge ordered, "Go in close—Thunder Punch!"
"Raichu!" Raichu shot forward, fist crackling with sparks.
"Million Volt Thunder Fist!" Silas countered, eyes sharp.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu lunged, his little fist wreathed in white light, golden lightning snaking around it.
Bam!
"Pikachu!"
This time, Pikachu slid aside at the last instant, dodging Raichu's blow and slamming his thunder punch into Raichu's soft belly, sending him reeling with a yelp.
"Thunder Tail!" Silas barked.
"Pikachu!" Lightning surged as Pikachu whipped his tail around, smashing it into the barely-recovered Raichu.
"Raichu!" Raichu hit the ground—again.
"Double Slap!"
Lt. Surge was hanging on, refusing to concede. Silas goaded him on with a command to finish it.
Hearing that, Pikachu hopped on top of Raichu's belly and unleashed a flurry of slaps right to Raichu's face—smack-smack-smack-smack-smack!
"Raichu!" Lt. Surge could only watch in shock and humiliation as Pikachu sat there pummeling his Pokémon. He finally yelled, "Enough! I surrender!"
But even his surrender didn't stop Pikachu from slapping away. Silas just said coolly, "You give up?"
"I give up!" Surge shouted, pride be damned—any more of this and he'd never live it down!
"Alright." Silas nodded, then ordered, "Pikachu! Full power Thunderbolt!"
"What are you—"
"Pikachu!"
BOOM!
Lt. Surge's face turned as white as a sheet. He barely started to protest before Pikachu's Thunderbolt crashed down like judgment from the sky, blasting straight through the Gym ceiling and striking both Pikachu and Raichu. The explosion shook the whole building.
Dust billowed everywhere, clouding the ring.
When it finally cleared, Raichu lay in the middle, down for the count. Pikachu was already back by Silas's side.
"What's your problem?!" Lt. Surge stormed over, fuming as he saw his defeated Raichu. "This was just a Gym match—did you have to go that hard?!"
"Yeah." Silas didn't flinch. "It's just a Gym battle. So why do you go so hard? Why do you keep sending people's Pokémon to the Center every time?"
"That…" Lt. Surge was speechless as he realized Silas had just done what Surge always did to others—the only difference was, this time he was on the receiving end.
"You're good at training," Silas continued. "But your methods? Not cool. Now you know exactly how every challenger you flattened felt. Get it?"
"Hmph." Lt. Surge tossed Silas a Thunder Badge and turned to run to his Raichu, muttering as he went, "I'll watch myself from now on!"