"What blind idiot dared kick down my damn door?!" With that furious roar, someone kicked the remaining half of the gym's wooden doors to pieces from inside.
Wood splinters flew everywhere as a heavily muscled man over two meters tall strode out through the dust and smoke, seething with rage.
He wore a tight camouflage tank top and clenched a cigar that had been blasted open like a split sausage between his teeth. His face was covered in soot. It was Lt. Surge, the Vermilion Gym Leader.
"Gym Leader! You're finally here!" The bald apprentice scrambled over and clung to Lt. Surge's leg.
"It was this brat!" The bald apprentice pointed at Lin Hao. "He didn't just come looking for trouble-he kicked our Electrode around like a ball!"
Lt. Surge spat out the remains of his cigar. Behind his pitch-black sunglasses, his vicious gaze fixed on Lin Hao, who stood at the entrance. Through gritted teeth, he asked, "You're the one who kicked the door?"
"Don't get the wrong idea." Lin Hao brushed the dust off his trouser leg. "Your Electrode attacked first. I just returned it to its owner."
"You're dead!" Lt. Surge pulled off his sunglasses, but the instant he got a clear look at Lin Hao's face-
Lt. Surge froze, his eyes widening as he looked Lin Hao up and down several times.
"It's you!" Lt. Surge ground his teeth.
"You know me?" Lin Hao raised an eyebrow.
"I'd recognize you even if you were burned to ashes!" Lt. Surge pointed at Lin Hao's nose and bellowed, "You're the bastard who melted the cargo hold I was protecting on the S.S. Anne into a puddle of molten iron!"
"Oh, so you're the guy collecting protection money." Understanding dawned on Lin Hao.
"Bullshit! Those were sponsorship fees!"
"Same difference." Lin Hao spread his hands. "Anyway, I'm just an ordinary passerby."
"Ordinary?!" Lt. Surge fumed. "What ordinary person uses a Charizard to burn a security door into glass?!"
May hid behind Lin Hao and secretly tugged at his clothes. "Lin Hao, maybe we should leave?" She lowered her voice. "Lt. Surge is ex-military. He fights like he's got nothing to lose."
"Why would we leave?" Lin Hao rolled his eyes. Instead of backing away, he stepped forward. "Hey, big guy."
"What do you want?!" Lt. Surge clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.
"I'm here for a Gym battle."
"You?"
"Yeah." Lin Hao held out his hand with a perfectly straight face. "Let's get this over with so you can pay me the hundred-thousand prize. I need to get back to Pallet Town and pay for some cabbages."
The two apprentices stared at Lin Hao as though he were an idiot. Even Lt. Surge fell silent for a full three seconds.
"Hahahaha!" Lt. Surge suddenly threw back his head and roared with laughter, making the gym's windows rattle.
"Good! Very good!" Lt. Surge lowered his head, his eyes sinister. "You burned my ship, kicked down my doors, and now you've got the nerve to come here asking for money!"
"So, are you paying or not?" Lin Hao couldn't be bothered to waste words.
"I'll pay!" Lt. Surge bellowed. "If you win, I'll give you double!"
"It's a deal." Lin Hao's eyes lit up. Two hundred thousand! Now he could cover the cabbages and treat himself to a good meal, too.
"But if you lose..." Lt. Surge sneered. "I'll break your legs and throw you into the sea to feed the Sharpedo!"
May's expression changed. She immediately stepped forward with her hands on her hips.
"Lt. Surge! Don't you dare!" May shouted. "I'm a Special Investigator for the Kanto League! If you take the law into your own hands, I'll shut down your gym immediately!"
Lt. Surge glanced at May. "A League lapdog?" He spat disdainfully. "Fine, I won't take the law into my own hands. But I make the rules for the Gym battle!"
He turned and strode deeper into the gym. "Get your ass in here if you've got the guts!" Lin Hao followed without hesitation.
Watching Lin Hao's broad back, May suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of security from this slacker who usually talked nothing but nonsense.
"What are you spacing out for?" Lin Hao suddenly turned around.
"N-nothing!" May looked a little flustered. "I just thought you looked pretty cool back there..."
"Was I blocking your view?" Lin Hao looked baffled.
"Oh, get lost!" May was speechless. The little spark of affection she'd felt vanished instantly.
The two entered the gym proper. It was an enormous indoor battlefield surrounded by thick metal pipes.
More than a dozen massive high-voltage generators hung from the ceiling. The air was thick with the smell of ozone, produced by electrical friction.
Lt. Surge stood at the opposite end of the battlefield. "Kid," he said, taking off his jacket to reveal sharply defined muscles, "the rule here is one-on-one!"
"Whatever." Lin Hao took his place in the challenger's spot.
"Go! Show him hell!" Lt. Surge threw an extra-large Poké Ball.
Bang! White light burst out, and a Raichu twice the size of an ordinary one landed heavily on the battlefield.
"Rai!" Raichu's roar was deafening. Its muscles were taut, and the electric sacs on its cheeks crackled wildly with golden sparks.
Even the metal floor beneath its feet buckled under its weight. Its presence was overwhelming.
"It's so big..." Standing at the sidelines, May swallowed.
"Go play with it." Lin Hao casually lifted Pikachu off his shoulder and tossed it onto the battlefield.
"Pika?" Pikachu yawned and plopped down on its backside.
At the sight, Lt. Surge burst into wild laughter again. "Hahahaha! You actually think an unevolved piece-of-trash mouse can stand up to my Raichu?!"
"Is there a problem?" Lin Hao asked.
"Unevolved Pokémon are the lowest of the low!" Lt. Surge's face was full of contempt. "Only powerful evolved forms survive on the battlefield!"
Lin Hao sighed. Inside his mind, the system space had already erupted.
Mewtwo spoke coldly: "(That fat rat counts as powerful? I could crush it with one finger.)"
Groudon stamped furiously: "(Roar! Let me out! I'll give it a bath in magma!)"
Ho-Oh was utterly disdainful: "(What right does such a lowly creature have to judge Master's Pokémon?!)"
"Shut up, all of you. You're too damn loud," Lin Hao cursed inwardly. He raised his head and looked at Lt. Surge across the battlefield. "Enough talk. Let's start."
"Raichu, tear it apart!" Lt. Surge bared his white teeth.
"Pikachu, wake up." Lin Hao sighed.
Before you continue