Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 30: Viridian Tragedy, Part 2

The time of Bolt's gym battle with Richter had finally arrived. He had spent all of the previous evening and much of the morning training his Pokemon for what he was sure would be his toughest fight yet. Though Bolt wasn't entirely confident that he could win, he at least felt like he had a shot. When Bolt finally arrived at the Viridian City Gym, he found Lorain and most of the others waiting for him. The only one of his band of friends who wasn't present was Christine.

"Hey guys. Well, guess the time's finally come." Bolt observed. "Where's Christine?"

"We don't know." Lorain answered. "She disappeared sometime during the evening."

"We tried looking for her, but we couldn't find her." Quinton added. "Sorry Bolt."

"You'd think she'd be here for something like this." Ross remarked.

Bolt sighed and scratched his head. "Yeah, well… I guess I can understand Christine not wanting to be in the same room as Richter. What can we do? Let's just go in and get this over with."

"You sure you're okay with that?" Lorain asked.

"Yeah, it's cool." Bolt answered. "Now let's go. It's time I gave Richter the ass-kicking he deserves."

With that, Bolt headed on into the gym with the others following close behind. Bolt of course had not been completely honest with the others when Lorain had asked about him being okay with Christine not being there. The truth was that he was really counting on Christine's support. As they neared the arena, Bolt couldn't help but remember Noir Mask's earlier warning about how he and Christine would only find pain if they came to Viridian City. He had to wonder if Christine not showing up for the battle was a sign that the masked Team Rocket agent had been right.

Bolt managed to push the thought from his mind as they finally made it to the arena. Richter had already taken his place on the battlefield, which had been modified to have a moat on all sides with two small bridges leading onto the stage. A referee in a dark suit was also standing by.

"I see you actually had the nerve to show up, Hanson." Richter remarked. "I thought that you might've decided to back out because of how our last two battles went."

"There's no way I'd back out of this battle, Richter." Bolt declared as he took his spot on the battlefield. "It's time for us to settle things once and for all!"

"Indeed it is." Richter agreed. "By the time this battle is done, I'll have finally taught you your place."

"We'll see about that!" Bolt told him.

Richter smirked. "In the interest of fair play, I've opened up the little moat in the stadium floor for your Chinchou to use. It is, after all, the only Pokemon you have that even have a chance against mine."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Bolt replied as a smirk of his own formed on his face.

"This match will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle!" the referee announced. "Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon! Let the battle begin!"

"Go Nidoking!" Richter called out with the throw of his first pokeball.

Bursting out of the ball and onto the battlefield was a large purple creature with a white chest and belly that almost looked like a cross between a gorilla and a rhino. It had large ears that were green on the inside, and a long horn adorned its forehead. Its back was covered in spines and it had a thick long tail.

"Let's rock, Chinchou!" Bolt called with the throw of his own pokeball.

The little anglerfish burst out of the ball and onto the arena stage. Nidoking roared at the little fish Pokemon, but Chinchou merely gave Nidoking a confident smirk.

"Use Bulldoze!" Richter commanded.

Nidoking stomped the floor of the stage with his right foot, sending a wave of spikes across the battlefield that knocked Chinchou into the air. The little fish flipped backward towards the moat around the stage.

"Here's what you get for coming at me with a Water Pokemon! Nidoking, use Thunderbolt!" Richter commanded.

Just as Chinchou was about to hit the water, Nidoking fired a bolt of blue electricity from his body. The attack hit its target and Chinchou hit the water with a large splash.

"Bet you weren't expecting that, huh rock star?" Richter asked. "Using a Water Pokemon to go after my Ground-Types is an obvious tactic, which is why some of my Pokemon have attacks to deal with it. Of course since your Chinchou is also an Electric Pokemon, Nidoking's Thunderbolt attack only did normal damage. Still, after taking the hit from that Bulldoze attack, a simple electrical attack like that should've been more than enough to finish your Pokemon off."

"Guess again, jerk." Bolt told him with a confident smirk.

Suddenly Chinchou emerged from the water with a smirk and a glint in his eye. All the damage that he had taken had vanished almost completely.

"What the… how the hell is that damn Chinchou still conscious?" a stunned Richter demanded to know.

"My Chinchou has Volt Absorb as an ability, which means your last Thunderbolt attack undid all the damage your Nidoking did with Bulldoze." Bolt explained. "Chinchou, fight back with Scald!"

Chinchou opened his mouth and blasted Nidoking in the face with a stream of steaming hot water. Nidoking recovered from the attack and let out an angry roar at Chinchou. Suddenly Chinchou's body began to glow white and change shape. When the light faded, Chinchou's body had grown slightly larger and had become more like the body of a fish, though it had lost its little feet in the process. A yellow mask-like patter had formed around its now normal-looking eyes, and its two feelers had been replaces with a short single antenna with a thick blue stock and two yellow glowing balls on the end. Upon finishing his transformation, the electric fish opened his mouth and fired a barrage of bubbles at Nidoking.

"Chinchou just evolved into Lanturn!" Lorain happily observed.

"And on top of that, he learned Bubble Beam!" Quinton added.

"Dammit!" Richter cursed. "Nidoking, use Horn Drill!"

"Use Bubble Beam one more time!" Bolt ordered.

Nidoking began to charge towards the moat as his horn began to spin like a drill. Suddenly Lanturn jumped out of the water and hit Nidoking in the face with another barrage of bubbles. As Lanturn splashed back into the water of the moat, Nidoking fell forward and hit the ground with his face.

"Nidoking is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round one goes to Lanturn!"

"Looks like Bolt may have a shot at winning this after all." Ross observed.

"It's not over yet." Skins pointed out.

"Unfortunately, Skins is right. Richter still has two more Pokemon on hand." Quinton pointed out. "And I'm sure one of them is going to be Torterra."

Richter called back Nidoking and quickly composed himself as he straightened his tie. "I guess this is what I get for going easy on you." Richter took out his next pokeball. "Go Excadrill!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball was a fairly large dirt-brown mole-like creature with a white face and pink nose. A red almost diamond-shaped pattern was on its stomach and on the top of its head, extending forward, was a horn that looked like part of a drill bit. The long claws on the creature's arms looked like the remaining two segments of the drill bit that was on its head.

"Excadrill, use Dig!" Richter commanded.

"Hit 'em with Scald!" Bolt ordered.

Lanturn opened his mouth and blasted Excadrill in the chest with another stream of steaming hot water. The attack left a red burn mark on the mole Pokemon's chest when the attack ended. Excadrill recovered though and jumped into the air as he bought his claws over his face, forming the claws and horn into a complete drill. Spinning his body around, Excadrill tunneled down into the stadium floor. A few seconds later, something shot out of the moat like a rocket and hurled Lanturn out of the water and onto the stage. The object that had turned out to be Excadrill jumped into the stage as Lanturn flopped around.

"Dude! You made your Excadrill attack from under the moat?" a stunned Bolt asked. "Isn't that hard on him?"

"It'll take more than a little dip in the pool to take out my Excadrill!" Richter declared. "Now Excadrill, use Bulldoze!"

"Fight back with Bubble Beam!" Bolt commanded.

Excadrill stomped the ground and sent a wave of earth across the battlefield at Lanturn. The electric fish was hurled into the air, but as he flipped back towards the moat Lanturn fired another beam that hit the mole Pokemon in the chest. The impact from the attack caused Excadrill to stumble back and fall into the moat. Lanturn hit the moat water with a splash and emerged to look across the field. Excadrill was floating face up in the water, completely unconscious.

"Excadrill is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round two goes to Lanturn!"

"That round ended up going pretty quick." Lorain observed.

"That last Bubble Beam attack must've been a critical hit." Quinton assumed. "That, combined with the burn from Lanturn's Scald attack and those dips in the moat were probably what finished Excadrill off in the end."

Richter calmly called Excadrill back to his ball. "This ends now! Go Torterra!" The tree-baring tortoise emerged from his ball with a loud thud. "Use Seed Bomb!"

Torterra opened his jaws and fired several large white balls of light across the battlefield at Lanturn. The projectiles exploded around the area around Lanturn upon impact, covering that part of the moat in smoke. When the smoke finally cleared, Lanturn was floating upside-down in the moat unconscious.

"Lanturn is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round three goes to Torterra!"

"You were an idiot if you thought you could get through this match with just that one Pokemon." Richter told Bolt as he called back Lanturn. "Now you've lost your best weapon against me."

"Actually, I was only counting on Lanturn to take down your first two Pokemon." Bolt revealed as he took out his next pokeball. "Let's rock, Rotom!"

The possessed refrigerator Pokemon burst out of its ball and onto the battlefield.

"It's the Rotom that Bolt caught back in Lavender Town!" Quinton recalled.

"When Rotom possesses a refrigerator like mine has, it becomes an Ice and Electirc-Type; the perfect Pokemon to take on your Torterra." Bolt revealed. "Plus Rotom's ability is Levitate, which means your Torterra's Ground attacks won't leave a scratch on it."

"You think this is why Bolt had is Rotom take over that fridge back in Lavender Town?" Ross wondered. "So he'd have a Pokemon just to take on Torterra?"

"Wouldn't surprise me a bit if he did." Quinton answered.

"Okay Rotom! Use Blizzard on Torterra!" Bolt commanded.

Rotom opened the refrigerator doors on its chest and blasted Torterra with a small storm of snow and ice. Torterra seemed greatly damaged by the attack but remained standing.

"You… idiot!" Richter shouted. "Do you really think that's going to be enough to stop me? Torterra, use Stone Edge!"

Torterra roared and several sharpened white stones appeared in orbit around him. The tortoise stomped the ground and the stones flew through the air at Rotom. The possessed fridge was hit in five spots on the front of its body by the attack.

"Crud!" Bolt cursed.

"Did you really think I wouldn't have a contingency for that as well?" Richter asked. "I know my Torterra's primary weakness is Ice-Type attacks, which is why I had him learn a Rock-Type attack like Stone Edge to counter it!"

"And Ice-Types like Rotom is now are weak against Rock-Type attacks." Quinton added. "It looks like Bolt's strategy might not be enough."

"Use Stone Edge again!" Richter commanded.

"Fight back with Blizzard!" Bolt ordered.

Before Torterra could launch another attack, Rotom let loose another storm of ice and snow. This time when the attack ended, Torterra's body was completely encased in ice.

"Okay Rotom! Hit 'em with as many Shadow Balls as you can!" Bolt commanded.

Rotom opened the doors on its chest again and fired several spheres of crackling black energy. Each attack struck Torterra with incredible force, yet at the same time the barrage was slowly causing the ice to crack.

"Damn you!" Richter shouted. "Torterra, use Wood Hammer!"

Torterra roared, as he finally broke free from the ice, startling Rotom and causing it to stop its attack. The tortoise Pokemon then suddenly jumped high into the air. As he came down towards Rotom, Torterra's underside began to glow with a green light. Torterra then crashed into Rotom with enough force to leave a crater in the arena floor. When the smoke cleared, Rotom was out cold.

"Rotom is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round four goes to Torterra!"

"I don't believe it! Bolt came so close to beating Torterra, and now it's come to this." A worried Lorain spoke.

"Actually… it may not be as hopeless as we think." Quinton told the others as he held his chin in thought. "That last attack Torterra used, Wood Hammer… it's a powerful attack but it causes some nasty recoil damage to the user. Factor in all the damage that Torterra just took from those last few attacks, and it means that Bolt still has a shot."

"You are the most annoying Electric Pokemon trainer I've ever met, you know that?" Richter told Bolt as he called back Rotom. "But I'm going to break you before this is over!"

"We'll see about that." Bolt told him as he threw his next pokeball. "Let's rock, Raikou!"

The legendary tiger of thunder burst out of its ball and roared at Torterra. The tortoise Pokemon roared back in response.

"Use Wood Hammer again!" Richter ordered.

"Hyper Beam!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou opened its mouth and fired an intense beam of golden light at Torterra. Torterra was hit in the face but remained standing. Soon after, Torterra leapt back into the air as his underside began to glow green again. The tree-baring tortoise crashed into Raikou and slammed it hard into the ground. Torterra got off of Raikou and was breathing heavily. Raikou got back up, but was breathing heavily as well. The two Pokemon simply stood there glaring at one another as they caught their breath.

"Use Seed Bomb!" Richter commanded.

"Extrasensory!" Bolt ordered.

Just as Torterra opened his jaws to launch another attack Raikou blasted the tortoise with a golden beam of light from the crest on its forehead. After a tense moment, Torterra collapsed to the ground.

"Torterra is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Victory goes to Bolt and Raikou!"

Lorain and the others cheered as Bolt breathed a sigh of relief as he called back Raikou. Richter stood completely stunned for a moment before finally composing himself and calling back Torterra.

"Well… I suppose the old saying is true. Everybody gets one." Richter remarked as he reached into his pocket. "Because you beat me, it's my duty as gym leader to give you this Earth Badge."

Richter tossed the green badge across the arena towards Bolt. The blonde rocker managed to catch the badge in the palm of his hand. At that moment, Christine finally entered the arena. Bolt noticed her instantly and expected her to walk up to him, perhaps give him a kiss for his victory. Instead, she walked straight past him and went over to Richter.

"Darling. I saw the whole thing." Christine told Richter. "I'm terribly sorry you lost."

Richter grinned and took Christine's hand. "Don't worry about it, Christine. It's all part of being a gym leader. Now… I should take you back home. Your father's been worried sick about you."

Bolt simply stood frozen in place as he watched Christine walk off with Richter, her hand placed in his. He felt like someone had just stabbed him in the heart with a sword. As Christine left with Richter, she cast one last look back at Bolt. Bolt watched until Richter and Christine were gone. He then staggered backward for a moment before falling to the ground on his butt. Lorain and the others immediately ran up to see if he was okay.

Bolt and the rest of his gang had stayed in Viridian City for five days since the incident at the gym. Bolt had hardly said a word to the others and had gone off to be alone several times. The rest of the gang was starting to get worried. At that moment in the Pokemon Center, Lorain was just coming down form the roof after trying again to speak with Bolt.

"Any luck?" Quinton asked.

"Nope. He just told me to go away and went back to tuning his guitar." Lorain answered. "I just… I don't get it! How could Christine just turn around and trample Bolt's heart like that?"

"Yeah, well… I don't think that Christine went back with Richter willingly." Quinton assumed. "Richter must've done something to make her leave… either he did or her father. Like I said, if Derik Wyler wants something, he usually finds some way to get it. And that way isn't usually legal."

"Are you sure Christine just didn't, like… have a change of heart or something?" Lorain asked.

"Positive." Quinton assured her. "Look, we all saw how Bolt and Christine just seemed to click. Christine wasn't just another cute girl to him."

"Besides, we could all tell how Christine couldn't stand Richter." Ross added. "Hell, none of us could."

"Totally." Skins agreed.

Lorain's hands balled into fists at her sides. "Well… well I don't care what Christine's reasons were! I can't forgive her for the way she hurt Bolt like that!"

Before the others could say anything to her, Nurse Joy walked into the room. "Ms. Verdant? You have a call from your grandmother."

"Oh. Thank you, Nurse Joy. I'll be right there." Lorain told her. "Excuse me, guys."

As Lorain quickly left the room, Quinton let out a heavy sigh. "Not exactly a positive reaction."

"What do you expect, Quinton? She's still just a kid. Well, compared to us, anyway." Ross pointed out. "Besides… a part of me kinda agrees with her."

Just then, the guys began to hear the familiar sound of an electric guitar coming from the open door to the roof. Bolt was playing his guitar again for the first time in days.

A smirk appeared on Ross's face. "Hey guys, I got an idea."

Bolt was in the middle of another guitar solo as the afternoon sun started to set. As he wrapped up, he saw Ross come up onto the roof.

"Aw dang it!" Bolt exclaimed. "I told Lorain that I don't want to talk."

"We're not here to talk, man." Ross told him as he took his bass guitar in hand. "We're here to jam."

Just then, Bolt saw Skins come onto the roof with a small drum set. Quinton followed close behind with his portable keyboard.

"We know you don't want to talk about what happened, but we thought you at least might like someone to play with." Quinton told him.

A small smile appeared on Bolt's face. "Let's rock, guys!"

A second later, the air became alive with the sound of the rock melody that Bolt and the others put together as they went along. The music caused many of the people passing by on the street below to stop and listen. Lorain came up onto the roof just as the guys were getting warmed up and listened in silence. After what seemed like ten minutes, the adlibbed piece of music finally came to an end.

Lorain began to clap. "Wow! You guys were great!"

"We weren't too bad, were we?" Quinton agreed.

"Hey guys! I just got a great idea!" Bolt told them. "Let's form a band!"

"You mean the four of us?" Ross asked.

"My dad knows a few people in the music business." Quinton recalled. "Maybe we should give it a shot."

"I'm in." Skins told them.

"Well Ross? What do ya say?" Bolt asked.

"Ah… what the hell?" Ross agreed. "Sounds like it could be a blast."

"But Bolt, what about the Indigo League?" Lorain asked. "Aren't you going to compete?"

Bolt's smile faltered a bit. "My heart's just not in that anymore, Lorain. Not after what happened." He took a firm hold of his guitar. "This… this is where my heart is right now."

"Well then… I guess I'll wish you guys luck?" Lorain told them.

"You goin' somewhere kid?" Ross asked.

"You know that call I got earlier? It was from my grandmother in Viridian Forest." Lorain revealed. "She hurt her back a little a while ago and needs me to come home and take care of her until my parents get back home. After that, who knows what I'll do next?"

"So… I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Bolt realized.

"Yeah… I really had a lot of fun traveling with you guys." Lorain replied. "Well, see you around I guess."

With that, Lorain left the roof of the Pokemon Center. Bolt and the others were silent for a few moments after she left.

"So… what're we gonna call our band?" Quinton finally asked.

Bolt looked out across the sky and saw a large dark thunderhead in the distance. He even thought he saw a brief flash of lightning.

"I've got the perfect name for us, guys." Bolt told them. "Raging Thunder."

THE END

Afterward: And now you know the rest of the story. Well, the rest of Bolt's story anyway. I hope that nobody was disappointed about not seeing Bolt take part in the Indigo League. This was never a story about that. This fanfic was meant to tell the origin story of Bolt's band and reveal the secret of his lost love. While this fanfic may be over, Bolt and Christine's love story is far from done yet. In our next installment, we'll be fast forwarding through the years to the time when Ash and Misty were dealing with the Marowak ghost of Lavender Town while Lisa Flare and Marie Dantes were busy thwarting Team Magma. It's during this time when Bolt and Christine will finally meet again, and when an impish Legendary Pokemon will come along and change things for the couple in ways they can't imagine.

Stay tuned for the next installment: Week of the Wish Granter

In the meantime, thanks for reading and please review to let me know what you think.