You Play It Smart, And It Pays Off

Surge starts out with a Magnemite, and you respond by sending in Charmeleon, nervous energy flowing through you as you can't help but be aware of the murmur of the assembled crowd watching the battle. Surge looks a little frustrated by your choice of pokemon, knowing that your starter's fire attacks will prove effective against his Magnemite's steel body, but does not switch out, his soldier's pride perhaps too strong.

He knows he has to act quickly to neutralise the threat, and immediately calls for a Thunder Wave, looking to render your fire-type unable to move. The attack has a wide range of effect, but you know a way of avoiding it. "Charmeleon, Dig!" you command, and your pokemon obeys, burrowing into the ground of the cruise liner just in time to dodge the wave of electricity.

Surge curses, and the referee, Tucker, looks questioningly at you. "Are you sure that's safe on a boat like this?" he asks.

"That's for you to worry about," you smirk at him, and order your starter up to the surface. You know it would be pointless to attack a floating pokemon like Magnemite with a ground-type attack, so instead you have Charmeleon pop up behind the magnet pokemon. "Ember!" you yell, and Magnemite is too caught off-guard by the attack from the rear to heed Surge's frantic order to dodge out of the way. Charmeleon's flames connect with the steel-type's body, and Magnemite falls to the ground weakly, allowing your pokemon to hit a second Ember to finish the job.

The crowd murmurs, surprised at how quickly a mere serving maid had dispatched of Surge's first pokemon, and the Lieutenant looks irritated as you smile in satisfaction. "Wipe that smug look off your face, bitch," the Gym Leader says, readying another pokeball. "You won't be looking so pleased with yourself when I'm through with you."

You know that his threat isn't merely referring to beating you in a battle; however, you've had enough sexually-charged threats from male trainers at this point that you're able to ignore it, continuing to keep all of your focus and concentration on the battle.

It pays off. His next pokemon, Voltorb, starts out with a Rollout, surging towards your Charmeleon at high speed. You know you need to avoid the super-effective move, and also know that Surge will be expecting Dig this time, so you quickly call for a Smokescreen, obscuring the electric-type's vision and allowing Charmeleon to avoid the attack. Using the brief window where the smoke is clouding the sight of both Voltorb and its trainer, you signal for your Charmeleon to Dig once again. At the exact moment the smoke clears, the fire-type bursts out of the ground and rams its body into Voltorb and knocking out the spherical pokemon with the super-effective attack.

"What the hell?!" Surge yells, unable to believe he's lost two pokemon without even being able to land a single hit on your team yet. Truth be told, you can't quite believe it either; you've had pretty convincing victories before, but never against a Gym Leader or in front of this many people. The people in question are growing louder, the idea of you coming away with a dominant win over such a respected trainer becoming ever more possible. "Alright, playtime's over," the Lieutenant snarls, and sends out his final pokemon: Raichu. The electric mouse's cheeks crackle with electricity as it glares at your Charmeleon, looking as fired-up and intimidating as its trainer.

You call for another Dig, wanting to wrap this up quickly, but Raichu is just too agile, avoiding your Charmeleon as it pops out of the ground, and retaliating with a devastating Slam. You feel yourself flinching as your starter pokemon is rocked by the blow, and the Gym Leader allows himself a slight smirk. "Not so confident now," he says, mockingly. "Raichu, Shock Wave!" The electric rodent unleashes a surge of lightning from its statically-charged cheeks, and your Charmeleon is too winded from the previous attack to avoid the move. You can do nothing as electricity courses through your pokemon's body. "Alright, finish it with another Slam!" orders Surge, sensing your pokemon's endurance is near its limit.

You also can see that the end is near, and decide to fight pragmatically. "Charmeleon, return!" you call, holding out your starter's pokeball and retrieving the wounded pokemon from the battlefield.

Surge looks furious. "Coward!" he snaps at you.

"I'm just playing smart," you retort. "There's nothing in the rules that says I have to follow your bullshit macho code or whatever." You throw another pokeball before Surge can respond, sending your Gloom out to face off with Raichu.

"No big deal; I'll kick this thing's ass instead," says Surge. "Raichu, another Slam!"

The electric mouse's advance towards your Gloom is quick, but your reaction time is quicker. "Gloom, Sleep Powder!" you command, and your grass-type complies, releases a green substance directly into Raichu's path. The rodent pokemon has built up too much momentum to change course, and is engulfed in the powder, falling asleep before it can land its attack.

"God dammit!" yells Surge, as you go for yet another switch, retrieving Gloom from the battlefield and sending out Mankey. It's a simple case of commanding a Dig attack, Surge having no pokemon to switch to and no way of getting his Raichu to avoid the move. He can only watch powerlessly as Mankey lands the super-effective move, the fighting-type's high attack power leading to a one-hit KO.

"Your winner is... Amber from Pallet Town!" announces Tucker, and a fair amount of the crowd actually cheer, impressed by the dominance of your win and the strategies you employed to make it happen. You recall your Mankey and take in the feelings of pride and happiness that are rushing through you; you don't think you've felt this happy in your life aside from when you first got your pokemon. I really did that! That wasn't just some fluke win, that took real skill! After years of people telling you you'd never make it as a trainer, getting such an impressive win feels all the more incredible.

The crowd starts to disperse and return to the party as Surge stares at you in frustrated disbelief. You hold out your hand, and the lieutenant irritably places the Thunder Badge in your palm, marking your third victory over a Gym Leader of Kanto and one more step towards the Pokemon League. You can't resist mocking Surge a little as you remember how dismissive and disrespectful he had been of you earlier. "First time you battled a serving maid, first time you lost to one. Real day of firsts for you, huh?"

The second the words leave your mouth you regret them. Surge's face contorts into a leer. "Oh yeah, that's right... you're still a maid, huh? That means there's still a few things I can do to you..."

Oh shit... The joy you had been feeling is instantly replaced with fear. How am I going to get out of this one?