Having left Bill's lighthouse, Red temporarily joined his brother's group on the road to Vermilion City. With his unerring sense of direction, the journey was swift and uneventful.
"See! I told you Ash was the one giving us bad directions!" Misty declared, jabbing a thumb at him.
"What?! You're just as bad..." Ash started to complain but fell silent when Misty fixed him with a murderous glare.
Red watched the "warm" scene with a quiet smile. This was the true meaning of traveling companions—the playful bickering, the easy camaraderie. It was a good part of the journey.
They arrived at the Pokémon Center to find it in a state of chaos. The waiting room was filled with trainers, their Pokémon suffering from severe electrical burns and paralysis.
"Those were all defeated by Lt. Surge's Raichu," Red stated, his voice devoid of sympathy. "Most of them are rogue trainers, not even old enough for an official license, using Pokémon gifted by their parents. They see a gym badge as a trophy, something to show off, and they challenge an official gym without any understanding of the stakes. They all became fodder for the Vermilion Gym."
His harsh words angered the defeated trainers. Misty and Brock tried to pull him away, but a single, cold glance from Red silenced the room. The look in his eyes was more terrifying than the Raichu that had defeated them.
"You don't know how to train, you don't understand type matchups, and you blame everyone but yourselves when your Pokémon are hurt," Red said, his voice sharp with contempt. "You lack the most basic common sense, yet you want to challenge a League Gym. It's ridiculous. Instead of complaining, you should be reflecting on your own mistakes."
Shamed by his words, most of the trainers lowered their heads.
Soon after, their own Pokémon were ready. Seeing his Pikachu happily munching on an apple, Ash's fighting spirit returned. "Alright, Pikachu! Let's go challenge the Vermilion Gym!"
Pikachu, having just seen the horrific injuries on the other Pokémon, desperately shook its head, refusing to go. 'Do you want me to end up like that?!' it seemed to ask.
"It'll be fine! We'll just win!" Ash said confidently, grabbing his reluctant partner. Despite Pikachu's protests, which included a jolt of electrotherapy for its trainer, Ash's determination was absolute.
The four of them soon arrived at the Vermilion Gym, its entrance marked by a pattern of crackling lightning bolts. The moment they stepped inside, two of Lt. Surge's subordinates blocked their path. Seeing a group of ten-year-olds, they sneered.
"Hey, Lieutenant! Another victim's here to get fried!"
"Hmph! Let me see what kind of fool doesn't know when to quit!" A booming, irritable voice echoed from the battlefield. A mountain of a man with blond hair and a military-style uniform stood there, looking thoroughly bored. This was Lt. Surge. He was tired of being challenged by third-rate trainers, and his patience had worn thin.
"Whoa, he's huge!" Brock exclaimed. The man's sheer size was intimidating.
When Ash declared his challenge, Surge looked down at him and laughed. "Well, look at this! A baby wants to play with the big boys!" His gaze fell on the trembling Pikachu at Ash's feet. "And the baby's Pokémon is a baby, too! Hahaha!" His two subordinates joined in, their mocking laughter echoing through the gym.
"Let me show you what a real Electric Pokémon looks like!" Surge roared, throwing a Poké Ball. A Raichu appeared, nearly twice the size of Pikachu. It looked down at its smaller counterpart with an expression of pure contempt, a look that finally ignited Pikachu's own fighting spirit. It stepped forward, ready for a fight.
"Raichu, the Mouse Pokémon," the Pokédex chirped. "The evolved form of Pikachu. Its electric shocks can exceed 100,000 volts, enough to make an elephant faint."
"Hear that, baby? Run home before you get hurt!" Surge taunted. But his eyes flickered toward Red, who stood silently at the edge of the field. Surge sensed a power in the quiet boy that made him wary.
"Don't underestimate my Pikachu!" Ash shouted back.
"If you want to be a real Pokémon Master, you should have evolved it the day you caught it!" Surge gloated, patting his Raichu's head.
"Oh?" Red spoke for the first time, his voice cutting through the tension. "So your Raichu doesn't have Pikachu's speed?"
The words hit their mark. Ash's eyes lit up. "That's right! Evolution isn't everything! Pikachu and I will beat you with speed!" His passionate declaration emboldened Pikachu, who took its place on the field, ready for battle.
"It seems if I don't shock you numb, you won't understand the horror of electricity!" Surge growled, agreeing to the match.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning, but Raichu took the full force of the attack without even flinching.
"Raichu, show 'em what real electricity looks like! Use 100,000 Volts!" Surge ordered.
A massive torrent of lightning erupted from Raichu's body, slamming into Pikachu and knocking it unconscious in a single, brutal hit.
"Come back, Pikachu!" Ash cried out in pain, but his partner, refusing to admit defeat, struggled back to its feet and ran toward Raichu, determined to win on its own.
"A pet is still a pet. Time to end this. Raichu, Megaton Punch!" Surge commanded.
Raichu's fist glowed white as it slammed Pikachu back, following up with a powerful Megaton Kick that left the little mouse on the verge of fainting.
"Okay, give it the final blow! 100,000 Volts!" Surge decided, intending to teach the boy a lesson he would never forget.
"Beedrill."
Red's cold voice echoed through the gym. The Poké Ball on his waist activated on its own. His magnificent Beedrill appeared in a flash, effortlessly dissipating Raichu's attack with a casual flick of its stinger. A single, sharp glare from the Bug-type was enough to make the powerful Raichu's legs go weak.
"Even if you are constantly provoked," Red said, his voice dangerously low, his cold eyes locking onto the Gym Leader, "as a gym trainer, you do not have the right to deliver a killing blow. Have you forgotten your responsibility?"
Lt. Surge was stunned into silence, unable to refute the boy's words. He had never expected this quiet kid's Pokémon to be so overwhelmingly powerful.
"It's clear Pikachu could no longer battle!" Brock, a fellow Gym Leader, added, his own voice filled with anger. "A Gym Leader's duty is to train challengers, not crush their spirits!"
"I'm tired of being bothered by these brats who aren't afraid of death!" Surge shot back, unrepentant. "I waste my time trying to guide them, and they just send more weaklings! I'm done playing nice!"
His lack of remorse angered Red further.
"In that case," Red said, his left eye beginning to glow a faint, ominous crimson, "your next challenger is me."
***********
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