lightning-soldier

[lightning-soldier]

Back in Vermilion City, people had called Surge paranoid.  Surge, for his part, preferred the term cautious.  His gym had been set up so that no one could get the drop on him: while he didn’t arm the locks at night, he was always the first one in the gym come morning, and made sure to do a full sweep before arming the double locks for the day’s trainers. 

And while those days might be behind him now, old habits die hard.  The lieutenant made a habit of knowing what was going on around him, and around the grounds.  It wasn’t easy to get the drop on him. 

Usually. 

When something jumped out from around the corner, though, Surge was more than a little surprised. But instinct was his friend, as much as his extreme caution.  So as the figure lunged out of hiding, Surge jumped back, one hand going instinctively to his hip (no sidearm, of course, he didn’t carry that anymore) and grabbed his Raichu’s pokeball, releasing the Pokemon as he looked over their attacker. 

He hadn’t been expecting this, though.  It didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen.  “The fuck kinda Pokemon are you supposed t’be?”

Electric Mayhem || Lt. Surge & Mewtwo

Mewtwo had a pikachu, once, back during his trainer days. It was cloned from the plucky pikachu that belonged to the boy he turned to stone (like a badass, he would add.) In fact, his pikachu had been a badass, too. It bitchslapped its original before it cried for ten minutes, and in Mewtwo’s eyes, that was metal as fuck. The pikachu he had found that morning, however, was different than his had been.

She was the cutest pikachu that had ever lived. So, Mewtwo did the only thing that made sense, at the time. He followed her so he could steal her pokeball from her trainer and clone himself a pikachu that was just as cute and teach that one to bitchslap people. It was a fool-proof plan. Mostly. Kind of, Not really. ….her trainer looked scary.

Being only sixteen with very mild experience with humans, Mewtwo had never met a human who looked quite like the pikachu’s trainer did. Sure, he wasn’t bigger than Mewtwo as far as vertical achievement went, but…. Mewtwo wasn’t sure he could best the man in what humans called arm wrestling. Of course, being only sixteen, Mewtwo was still prone to making all kinds of terrible decisions, so when he not-so-subtly popped out from around the corner and tried to steal the pikachu, needless to say his grand plan was…. flawed.

[lightning-soldier]

All right, so it wasn’t the potential threat he’d been expecting.  Lab coat and glasses -- looked like a classic egghead to him.  Nothing to be overly concerned about. 

It was obvious that he wasn’t the sneakiest guy on base, though.  “Yeah, I noticed,” the veteran muttered.  He looked the man over, catching the bright red R on the pocket of his lab coat -- from what he could tell, it looked real, but you could never be too careful.  “Check ‘im,” he muttered, patting the Manectric’s back; the Pokemon snorted and paced slowly forward, keeping a wary eye on the Treveant, and began to sniff at the Scientist’s lab coat.  He would recognize the smell of the base, if this man had it on him. 

When the Pokemon finally sneezed and shook his head, pacing back without a fuss, the lieutenant relaxed, running a hand over the slightly staticky fur on the electric type’s back.  “Yep, you an’ me both, from the look a’ things,” Surge agreed.  “Name’s Surge,” he said, offering a hand to the man.  

New Territory | Surge & Colress

Colress’ hands were sweaty underneath his gloves. He had been granted “up-top” access to comb the outlying forest for “test subjects”, although Colress hadn’t referred to them as such in his request. An unfamiliar environment was set before him, traipsing through the undergrowth as he found nothing but Rattatas. His Treveant loomed near, functioning as his guide and his guardian.

He was very quickly thrown off guard by the command, stumbling backwards into Treveant. Composing himself, he glanced over the bush he was sifting through to see a stern man crouched down, ready for battle. Colress fixed his glasses nervously.

“Ah, apologies. My stealth skills aren’t exactly top-notch. Are you with the, um, ”team”?” He asked, with a worried expression on his face. Colress thought of himself as a strong fighter but that man may very well best him physically before Pokeballs were exchanged. If this were an intruder, Colress would stand no chance.

[lightning-soldier]

New Territory | OPEN

In a new place, it’s always a smart idea to survey the territory.  His time in the war had taught him that well, and he’d never forgotten the lesson. 

And now, in this unfamiliar place, he needed to examine the lay of the land.  For his own sanity. 

So with his Manectric at his side and a Pikachu on his shoulder, the lieutenant headed out onto the grounds and into the forest.  The rugged terrain made exploration difficult, and the trees made hiding easy -- which was good both for them and for anyone trying to gain access to this hidden base.  He wondered how often patrols came out here -- he’d probably have someone combing the perimeter at least twice a day, if he were in charge...

A noise in the brush caught his attention.  A rustle of leaves, a crack of a twig.  The soldier crouched beside his sparking Pokemon, reaching for the Pokeballs at his side.  “Whoever you are, come out!”

[lightning-soldier]

Surge shrugged, clearly not offended by anything that had happened.  "Try'n imagine how stupid I felt havin' an Executive hand me a cake an' realizin' I fergot my own damn birthday more'n a month ago," he chuckled.  "Don' think there's too much more embarrasin' than that."  Not for him, at least.

As Sabrina sat down, Surge passed the slice of cake over to her, giving Volty a warning look as her paw reached out to grab it.  "You already had some," he said.  "Let somebody else try it."  The Pikachu turned her most charming puppy eyes on the veteran, who remained entirely unmoved.  The Raichu, meanwhile, returned Sabrina's polite nod with one of his own.  He might not have seen the psychic in quite some time, but he recognized her easily enough. 

"Nope, party's right here 'n' right now/," Surge grinned.  "An' I ain't got holes in m' room, so no harm, no foul."  The veteran sighs, though, cutting another small piece of cake and finally handing it to the Pikachu with the pleading eyes, who cheers and proceeds to gobble it down.  "When I was a kid, th' only days I really looked forward to were my birthday, Halloween, an' Christmas.  Didn' give a shit 'bout any other days, holiday 'r otherwise.  ...guess it was after th' war ended I stopped puttin' so much weight on the birthday part.  Didn' have too many people t' celebrate it with, an' it jes' stopped matterin' so much.  Nowadays I'll ferget unless somebody reminds me," he laughed.  

June. June was like… the month before this. She let her eyes travel their way away from him, focused as she was on remembering. Yes, it was June, wasn’t it? But she can’t considered that, because she thought she would’ve remembered earlier if that was the case. She only remembered this time cause she thought about her own, though. A stinging feeling of shame ran through her chest, and at the end of it she sighed, her shoulders falling into normal level again.

"Shit, now I feel really stupid. Lucifer is going to mock me to death." she mutters, drawing a hand though her hair. That old Alakazam’s expression once he got to know this story made her want to hide her pink-shaded face in her hands, but she reminded herself that he wasn’t there. And now he was chucking, like the kind-hearted man he was behind all those muscles. "Well, yeah. That’s what birthdays are for, right? You made me think I missed a party or something, but if this is it, I guess I’ll stay." she replied, but before she sat down she turned her head towards the door and pointed at it weakly. "Ehm… Sorry for, not knocking. You know." Then the psychic joined the other three, giving Raichu a short, polite nod, considering the two of them had never met at least like this before. She knew who it was though, Surge’s right-hand pokémon in the gym. Then she starts smiling again, her expression slightly mischievous, like it always used to. “So you really forgot your own birthday? That’s pretty intense. Aren’t birthdays as big of a deal where you come from? They’ve always been the center of my best memories, I tell you. There’s no way I could go a year without one.”

[lightning-soldier]

Surge had no intention of asking why he wouldn't have his clothes on.  That really wasn't important.  "Ain't about rape, ma'am," he snorted.  "It's about how I almost turned the damn room into a hole t' the next floor."  Old habits die hard -- and the habit of using Electrode's Explosion was particularly difficult to shake, for some reason.  Even in a base where he lived off the ground floor. 

The veteran sat back, leveling a confused stare on the psychic.  He might not be the best at reading people, but he could tell she was upset about something.  Hell if he knew what, though. 

Until she spoke again.

What was with all these people gettin' up in arms over his damn birthday? 

"Well, ma'am, if yer gonna feel stupid about it, y'ain't gonna feel half as stupid as I do.  Birthday was beginnin' a' June," he said, glancing awkwardly at the cake.  "Completely fergot about it.  Couldn' exactly tell anybody when I didn' remember fer myself.  Couldn' even say how Executive Ariana found out -- pro'lly from files, pretty sure it was on th' whole entry application -- but it don't mean you an' me aren't friends.  I jes' got a shitty memory fer dates."

Still, he turned to the box and cut another slice of cake, offering it to his guest.  "Wanna help me celebrate?  Would'a jes' been me, Raichu, an' Volty otherwise -- we can make a party out of it now," he chuckled."

Sabrina wouldn’t exactly show if his tone was hurtful or not. She was too rational to actually accuse him of sounding too harsh, considering she expected nothing less than this, and she was the one being rude first. As Surge reacted, she looked at him blankly. Glanced at the pokéball in his hands. But no, he wasn’t going to let it out on her. If he’d been in one of his flashbacks, maybe he would’ve. Suddenly she felt kind of stupid. What a weird and odd feeling that was. Drained our all her angry energy like someone pulled out a plug. Don’t let it show, Sabrina.  "Yeah yeah, figured you’d say that. At least you had all your clothes on. Stop sounding like I’m trying to rape you." she said with what sounded like a hiss at the end of her throat. You could practically hear how upset she was just by listening to her tone, but she wasn’t the type of woman to get it more high-pitched, instead she simply talked faster, and put more power into every word she thought was important, like she was trying to rub them in someone’s face. "You know that we never talked to each other in the League, but that doesn’t mean I could at least catch up a few things, like when people’s birthdays are. And how was it, now? The beginning of July, something like that?” she asks sarcastically, pointing at the cake like it was her evidence in a trial. “Makes a person feel really damn stupid to miss something like that, because the person in fact didn’t even remind you of it. Thanks. As a person who was pretty sure you and I were at least friends by now, I’m glad to know I wasn’t even worth the bother!”

Great way to stop your I-don’t-swear-policy, Sabrina. Really.

[lightning-soldier]

"Volty's a fan of anythin' sweet," Surge chuckled, keeping a firm grip on the box as the Pikachu leaned in for a better look.  "She's gonna wanna share whether I like it 'r not."  He didn't sound all that upset, though; if anything, there was a note of indulgence in the veteran's voice.  

Catching Ariana's eye, the Pikachu put on her best and brightest smile, offering a chipper wave to the Executive.  As her eye traveled down to the Raichu, the Pokemon bobbed his head politely, his own smile soft but noticeably pleasant and free of malice.  

The reminder of their match seemed to ease the awkwardness in the lieutenant's posture.  "Y'know, yer right.  Got a feelin' I wouldn'a won, tell y'the truth," he chuckled.  "Y' really surprised me out there.  You've come a long way, if y' don' mind me sayin' so, ma'am."  Even without the Venusaur, she'd dealt some impressive damage with the Arbok's maneuvers, and she'd shown more adaptability and foresight than she had in her challenges while he ran the gym. 

"Glad t'hear yer still workin' at it, too" he added.  "Are y'lookin' fer a sparrin' partner, or didja have somethin' else in mind?"

The Executive couldn’t help a chuckle when she saw the Electric types gathering conspicuously around the cake. The mealtime shoulder angel particularly amused her, given how often she had a feathered one of her own.

"You’re very welcome, sir, but if I’d known there would have been such a… demand I would have made more.” She glanced up at the Pikachu first, smiling, and then looked down at Raichu a bit more pensively.

"You know I’m sorry we never did continue our match. -It’s no trouble, really, that’s gone and done with- but I suppose I should tell you I’ve still been keeping at it- er-"

Now came her turn to awkwardly scratch her head.

"-I mean, you know, I think I’m improving~"

[lightning-soldier]

Sabrina was, so to say, a little too "upset" to take the time to walk all the way to Surge's dorm and knock. This was urgent. Knowing exactly how boundary-breaking teleporting into someone's room without further notice was — and not really caring about that nor how much freaked out Surge could get — in less than a second she'd suddenly appeared on the middle of his floor, glancing around the room with a certainly pissed-off expression. "Anybody home?"

Even if Surge didn’t have a sweet tooth to speak of, it seemed pretty damn rude not to even try the cake. 

The veteran had, once he found a free moment, cut two large slices and a third smaller one from the Executive’s birthday treat, handing the bigger ones to his Electric companions and taking the smallest for himself.  While Volty proceeded to get crumbs and frosting all over herself, Surge made short work of his gift. 

Not bad.  Not bad at all, actually. 

At about that moment, something appeared in the middle of his floor. 

Instinct took over in a heartbeat.  The veteran grabbed a particular pokeball off his belt and prepared to open it as Raichu dove for Volty, ready to protect the civilian in their midst. 

An instant before Surge hit Electrode’s release mechanism to detonate the threat, he recognized just who it was standing in in front of him. 

"Fuckin’ hell, ma’am,” he barked, putting the pokeball back as his Raichu and Volty looked up at the woman.  ”Figured you of all people would know t’knock, 'stead'a showin' up unnannounced like that.”

[lightning-soldier]

The cake was a surprise.  Whatever Surge had been expecting, it was not a cake.  While he might not be the biggest fan of sweets, his Pokemon were a whole other story: the Pikachu on the pillow, awakened more by the promise of food than anything, quickly made her way off the bed and up to her trainer's shoulder, chirping a bright 'Pika!' of delight as she looked on the little box; the Raichu at the foot of the bed, minding his manners, simply walked over to Surge's side to satisfy his curiosity. 

And then there was talk of birthdays. 

Crap.  

Surge ordinarily did a good job of forgetting his birthday.  It was one of those dates he had memorized for the sole purpose of using on applications.  It wasn't anything he attached any importance to.  

Clearly that was not the case for everyone else. 

Obediently taking the cake, the Lieutenant gave the back of his head a notably awkward scratch.  "Thank you, ma'am," he mumbled.  "That's real nice a' you."

"Ah!" Ariana breathed, looking, and feeling, very relieved to have found Surge in his room. She’d seen enough of the veteran to know he would not be very receptive to a mysterious package on his doorstep, and enough of his living arrangements to know better than to try and leave it there. So she smiled wide and held it up for him to see.

This was the fourth cake she’d prepared recently. Not knowing much about the lieutenant’s actual tastes, she’d decided to go with a plain white cake, adding a bit of lemon twist to the icing and decoration, hoping the Electric specialist would at least enjoy the color and zap of it. 

"I believe I may have missed a birthday~" she chirped, gently pressing the cake-box into Surge’s hands.

[lightning-soldier]

Ariana finished her first round of cakes at Surge's door, and hesitated to set it down. Knowing Surge's -uh- protective measures, she thought better of it and chose to knock instead.

The middle of summer was not the best time to be running around doing things outside.  Some days were better than others, sure — but once the humidity started climbing alongside the thermostat, everyone was better off inside during the heat of the day, if they could help it. 

And that included Lieutenant Surge. 

While he still observed this thrice daily patrols, the intervening hours were not spent training out in the woods or at the gun range, but practicing inside: weight lifting, trap building, his usual favorite pastimes…

…and, on occasion (like now), a bit of afternoon reading. 

He was just getting to the end of the Kalos military history book he’d been working on when the knock sounded at his door.  Raichu’s ears pricked, though he didn’t move from his place at the end of the bed, while Volty continued to doze on the pillow.  

The only people who bothered to knock were the ones he usually didn’t mind shooting the breeze with.  Closing the book and shoving it back under the pillow (without disturbing the sleeping Pikachu), Surge headed for the door, disarming the trap before opening it. 

He had not been expecting an Executive to be outside his door, though.  The last time Ariana visited, they’d wound up having a heated battle on one of the practice fields (followed by a serious discussion that had left him feeling surprisingly at ease).  This time, at least, she didn’t look ready to make a challenge. 

With an easy grin, the veteran offered a crisp salute to the Executive outside his door.  ”Afternoon, ma’am.  T’ what do I owe the honor?”

[lightning-soldier]

Well, that would explain it.  An unintentional early riser.  The whole...whatever the fuck the kid was doing when Surge happened by was another matter, but at least he knew why somebody else was up and about at the crack of dawn. 

"Lieutenant Surge," the man replied, touching two fingers to his temple in a casual salute.  "Good t'meet ya, kid.  Gotta say, I'm pro'lly as surprised as you are.  Ain't every day y'find somebody else up at this hour.  I'm jes' wrappin' up my mornin' rounds."

The Manectric that accompanied Surge on his patrols sat down next to his trainer, tilting his head slightly at the well-mannered Eevee beside their new acquaintance.  He was well-enough trained not to go leaping over to greet every new face -- 

But the same could not be said for the Pikachu on Surge's shoulder.  Volty, clearly excited to make a new friend, jumped from her trainer's shoulder to the Manectric's head, then down to the ground, bounding over to greet the Eevee with a cheerful smile. 

In Morning | Nate and Surge

This was awkward. Nate had certainly thought he was alone out here. It was his whole reason for coming outside in the first place. He quietly turned off the iPod and rested the headphones around his neck.

Eevee, meanwhile, seemed very interested in the new person. As Nate had never been able to train him for battle, he was still mostly just a pet at the moment. He sat down by his trainer’s feet and stared up with a very interested look on his face.

"I… woke up earlier than expected and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I thought I would just hang out here. Didn’t realize anyone got up this early." Should… he should probably introduce himself, shouldn’t he? "My name’s Nate."

[lightning-soldier]

If Volty was paying any attention to the cat eyeing her, she didn't let on.  Surge was pretty sure she'd forgotten all about Meowth by this point, in favor of surveying t he balloon.  He had a feeling that the Pikachu was as interested in flying as he was -- after all, he'd caught her as a stowaway on his own plane as he made his way out of Kalos. 

The Pidgey's arrival caught everyone's attention.  Volty recognized the little bird as something she'd seen before, flying over Kanto skies and hopping around the Vermillion bird feeders.  The familiarity made her even more friendly than usual, and the Pikachu chirped a greeting and waved to the little bird as Surge bobbed his head to return the friendly greeting. 

Surge hadn't really been expecting the Scratchcat to accept.  He glanced at the Pokemon for a moment, waiting for the catch, the laughter, the 'just kidding' to follow...

...but nothing came. 

"Thanks," he chuckled, hopping into the basket.  He hadn't been expecting an adventure today -- but life wasn't exciting unless you kept an eye open for new opportunities. 

Ec-Static To See You Again | Surge & Meowth

[lightning-soldier]

"...floor hole."

"Yeah, might be a good idea t'meet the kid an' see exactly what we're up against."

"Uh—ah-ha, I see."

"Well, lemme think. For one, he, I’m pretty sure, thinks he’s a Pokemon. Something canine. And I know his mental health history is… nn.. spotty. Very spotty. He had a few hard years before getting here, too, and I think it’s really affected him."

"I… Perhaps you two can meet and, uh, well, introduce yourselves, and you can sort of see for yourself. If he’s out of hospital care, he should be in the floor hole he claimed for himself in the breakroom."

[lightning-soldier]

"Not even a 24/7 gig, huh?  That don't sound so bad."

"Kid sounds like a handful.  I can keep an eye on 'im for ya, no problem.  Course, if y'don' mind me askin' ma'am...jes' how different are we talkin' here?  Anythin' in particular I should be keepin' an eye out fer?  'Sides weapons 'n' anythin' that could double as one.  Ya'd be surprised how many things y'can make into a weapon."

"Well, um, yes. He was, for a while. Roark is …here now, and I’m afraid he might need someone to look after him. Nothing- uh- nothing too involved but, well, you see, Roarkie has a history of hurting himself and sometimes others because of.. uh, well, he’s… very different. He has a.. a significant other, I think, who takes care of most things, but.."

"Ahem."

"I believe he needs, well, an outsider to check up on him from time to time. And to uh, prevent and guard against any future… outbursts."

[lightning-soldier]

"Baby?  Not sure what kinda Pokemon y'got there, but let me know next time y'need a hand an' I'll pitch in, ma'am.  Roark...ain't he one'a th' Gym Leaders over in Sinnoh?  Haven' been keepin' up on th'news much, but I think I heard th' name last time I was over there.  Been a few years..."

"I’ll have to ask for a hand with Baby some time, then, but, uh, more importantly, have you by chance met my cousin, um, Roark?"

[lightning-soldier]

"Bodyguard, huh?  Pro'lly doesn't count that I'm used t'gettin' Volty outta trouble."

"Pii~"

"Eh, keep it simple.  Ain't been a human bodyguard before, but I got enough experience keepin' smaller things outta th' line'a fire."

"Ahh— My gods, you’d be perfect!”

"For the… job."

"Most… Probably."

"…Have.. you ever been a bodyguard before?"

[lightning-soldier]

"You wouldn' still be lookin' fer somebody fer this, would ya?  Pretty sure we've been over th' whole service record thing, takes more'n bullets t' kill me, an'...well, been puttin' up with Volty fer the better part'a two years."

"Pika?"

"So...what kind'a gig is it, anyway?"

"Would someone with a reliable service record, high self defense skills and… a lot of patience… be interested in a special …promotion of sorts?”

"I can’t believe I’m still not in Unova yet oh my fucking Legends…”

[lightning-soldier]

When is lethal force justified?

"Depends on th’ circumstances.  In wartime, lethal force’s justified against all enemies who pose an immediate risk t’ yer life an’ health — if they’ve got a firearm ‘r a knife in hand, yer authorized t’ defend yerself.  It’s justified when all other avenues’re closed an’ th’ threat ain’t dealt with: if y’can’t talk ‘em out of it, an’ can’t get away, yer allowed t’defend yerself.  An’ it’s justified in defense of another person: if you can stop somebody from bein’ maimed ‘r killed, y’do what ya gotta do."