Memoirs of a Pokemon Master CHAPTER 8 The tunnel of pikachu's revenge
"Are you crazy?" - Andrew Stolf
The next morning we headed to the tunnel at route 5. The route was a short one. Along the way we saw a meowth but it ran before we could do anything. We reached the tunnel and entered. There was a walkway and a bicycle path. The ceiling had lights every foot or so. We could see no end to the tunnel, but it seemed to dip lower in the distance. We began walking. Looking at the map, I figured we were walking directly beneath Saffron city. I figured it would take us at least a day or more to reach Vermilion. We trekked for what seemed like hours. Then a stray pokemon came up to us. It was a geodude! Andrew pulled out a pokeball and tossed it at the geodude. Andrew's charmander materialized.
"That's not gonna do any good against a rock type
stupid." I said. Andrew ignored me.
"Charmander! Scratch!" Andrew said. Charmander jumped
over to the geodude and began to claw at it furiously. The
geodude curled its arms together in a defense curl.
"Need help?" I asked.
"No." Andrew said to me, then he turned to charmander.
"Charmander! Rage!"
The fire on charmander's tail became large. Charmander launched
itself at the geodude with a frenzy of scratches, slashes, and
fire. Soon the geodude passed out. We stood there for a moment. I
popped Andrew in the back of his head.
"So catch it already!" I said.
Andrew pulled out a pokeball and hurled it at the geodude. The
ball made contact and the geodude was pulled in. The ball fell to
the ground, the button was red. It shook for a moment, then it
was still. The button turned gray. Andrew picked up the pokeball
and looked at me.
"I have a geodude and you don't!" He said.
"My bulbasaur could whoop your geodude's butt any day of the
week." I said with a smile.
Andrew did not answer. He put the ball with his others and we
moved on. As we walked a biker rode past us.
"Why didn't I think of getting a bike?" I asked. I
would have challenged the biker and told him to put his bike up
for a prize, but I wouldn't want to strand him in this tunnel and
I didn't have the money to cover a loss of that magnitude anyway.
We walked on. I was challenged by a young girl trainer. I
accepted the challenge. She threw out a nidoran female. I had
never seen a nidoran before so I pulled out Dexter.
"Nidoran female. The poison pin pokemon. Although small, its
venomous barbs render this pokemon dangerous." Dexter said.
Pikachu jumped in front as I was getting bulbasaur's ball.
"Pikachu. Bulbasaur should do this." I said. Pikachu
looked at me.
"Pikapikachu!" Pikachu said. He looked ready for
anything. I sighed.
"Okay pikachu. Use your thunder shock!" I said.
Pikachu charged up and shot a blast of electricity at the
nidoran. The nidoran dodged the attack and charged at pikachu,
horn first. Pikachu recognized the attack and dodged away. The
nidoran wasn't about to give up. It charged at pikachu again.
Pikachu was ready. This time pikachu jumped straight up and shot
an electric blast at the nidoran from behind. The blast struck
home. The nidoran went rolling and hit the wall of the tunnel.
The trainer called the nidoran back and tossed another pokeball
out. This time a nidoran male materialized. I pulled out dexter.
"Nidoran male. The poison pin pokemon. Stiffens its ears to
sense danger. The larger its horns, the more powerful its
secreted venom." Dexter said. Pikachu jumped in front of the
nidoran. The nidoran's ears stiffened and it charged pikachu at
full speed. The attack hit pikachu and sent him sprawling.
Pikachu got up. I checked him over and saw that pikachu wasn't
poisoned. I breathed a sigh of relief as pikachu ran back into
the battle. The nidoran charged again but pikachu was ready.
Pikachu tried another thunder shock. The nidoran dodged, lost its
momentum and fell over. Pikachu saw this as a perfect opportunity
to strike. So did I.
"Pikachu! Quick attack!" I yelled.
Before the nidoran could move, pikachu was all over it hitting it
with quick hits. Pikachu was ready for another attack when the
nidoran got up and charged. But pikachu saw it coming and dodged.
The nidoran ran straight into the wall. Its horn was stuck in the
wall. Pikachu shot a beam of electricity at it and the nidoran
lay still, fainted. The trainer called back the nidoran, paid me
my prize, and walked off without a word. Pikachu came over to me.
I picked him up and hugged him.
"Good job pikachu!" I said.
"Pipikachu!" Pikachu responded.
We walked on and finally reached the end of the tunnel. When
we got there, there was a man waiting for us. It was Lt. Surge.
The raichu I saw back in Lavender was with him. We stopped as he
walked in front of us.
"I had heard that some kids were coming to challenge
me." He didn't seem to recognize me. "So you guys are
the ones huh?"
The raichu was staring down at pikachu. Then the raichu tugged at
Lt. Surge's jacket.
"Raichu!" The raichu said, pointing at pikachu.
"Huh? What is it raichu?" He looked at the pikachu and
then at me. "Oh I get it. This is that pikachu we were after
in Lavender. Hey kid! You lied to us. You just wanted that
pikachu for yourself huh?"
"I wanted to keep it away from someone as cruel as
you." I said.
"Well we'll see what kind of pokemon you were able to make
it into. If I were you I'd have evolved it right away." He
said.
"Well guess what? You're not me." I said.
"We'll see who the better trainer is. You make sure to come
to my gym and we'll have a battle. If I win, I get the pikachu.
If you win, you get a thunder badge. Deal?"
"That doesn't seem fair." Andrew said.
"Pika!" Pikachu said.
"Well is it a deal?" Surge asked. "Otherwise I
won't accept any challenges from you."
I thought about it. Pikachu seemed worried. But then pikachu
looked at me and then nodded.
"Alright Surge. I accept." I said.
"Good choice. See you tomorrow kid." He said and then
he and his raichu left. We walked into the city and found the
pokemon center.
"Are you crazy?" Andrew asked.
"What?" I asked.
"You just accepted a bum deal!" He said.
"Look. It will get me a gym battle right?" I asked.
"Yeah so?" Andrew said.
"And pikachu will finally get his revenge for what they did
to him. This is the only way. Besides, even if I do lose, pikachu
would never let Surge evolve him." I said.
Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"This is crazy." Andrew said as he walked off to bed.
Pikachu got out of the rejuvinator and sat next to me. I was
sitting in front of a cozy fireplace. I looked at him.
"You think you can take that raichu?" I asked.
"Pika." Pikachu nodded.
"I hope you're right." I said as I picked him up and
went to bed. It was midnight before I fell asleep.