Deep in the heart of Vermilion Gym, the air always carried the same sharp, cold scent—like military-grade machine oil.
It couldn't have been more different from the misty, humid air of Cerulean Gym.
Lt. Surge had once been a soldier.
Not just any soldier—a very good one.
Even after changing careers and becoming a Gym Leader, the habits of an elite serviceman had never really left him.
Abstract war-torn art hung on the metal walls.
A weapon-maintenance rack sat in the corner, some training replica swords still sheathed and gleaming.
It felt less like a gym…
And more like a special forces command room.
Gym Leaders had a lot of freedom. What they did with their turf was up to them. No one told them how their gym "should" look.
Lt. Surge lounged back in an oversized alloy chair, army boots propped casually on the edge of the console, heel tapping now and then against the armrest.
On the encrypted comms screen in front of him, Giovanni's figure sat half-buried in shadow.
You couldn't see his face clearly.
Only his hand, slowly stroking Persian's fur, lit by a faint glow.
"…So. That old man Oak's latest project is an interesting brat, huh?" Lt. Surge's rough-edged voice finally cut through the faint hiss of static.
"A golden Gyarados, I don't care.
Shiny Pokémon happen. Sometimes they're red. Sometimes they're weird."
"But relying on a Pikachu?
That, I do have a problem with~"
This touched on something important to him.
In Lt. Surge's view, Pokémon should evolve to their final stage whenever possible.
If they could evolve but didn't, that was a flaw.
And as long as you weren't forcing it with some sloppy shortcut, helping them evolve quickly and reach a fully developed body only made training more efficient.
Just… a difference in trainer philosophy.
Because of how Pokémon ecology worked, trainers tended to fall into two camps:
"External boost" school: Some Pokémon needed special items or conditions to evolve, so human intervention was normal and justified.
"Natural growth" school: Pokémon should evolve through their own training and growth. Trainers should avoid interference whenever possible.
Neither side could really claim to be objectively "right".
It all depended on the situation.
On the other side of the screen, Giovanni's voice came through, calm as ever, giving nothing away:
"A golden Gyarados is rare, yes."
"Rarer still is a trainer who can make a naturally berserk monster listen."
"Meowth's report wasn't very clear—but fear is hard to fake."
"That Pikachu… is unlikely to be an ordinary Pikachu."
If he'd actually seen the full power of that Pikachu, Giovanni would probably only be able to say:
I've seen a lot in my life.
But I've never seen a Pikachu like that.
Lt. Surge stopped tapping the armrest.
The smirk at the corner of his mouth widened.
"What's this, Boss?" he drawled. "Thinking of scouting him already?"
"Wanna drag him into the organization as a mascot?"
After all, Ash was only ten.
Even an "evil" group like Team Rocket wasn't that eager to squeeze child labor dry.
And by this point in time, Team Rocket was already a mature organization—strong, well-established, and not exactly desperate for a bit of extra firepower.
No need to rush things.
Even if they did want Ash to join and start doing proper work as part of Rocket, they'd wait until he was at least an adult.
There was a short silence.
Then Giovanni spoke again, his tone carrying a faint, unreadable edge.
"Team Rocket needs fangs that can tear into prey."
"Not a pretty canary sitting in a gilded cage."
"Vermilion City is your territory, Lt. Surge."
"Do me a favor—give him a proper 'weight check.'"
"Find out if that piece of raw material only sparks once…"
"Or if it can be forged into a real blade."
"And naturally—see if that blade… can be turned to our use."
If he could use the boy, excellent.
If not… that was fine too.
Giovanni's pride could handle potential threats.
Even knowing this kid was specifically raised by Professor Oak, he wouldn't jump to the idea of "better eliminate him early."
[If the day comes when I lose to someone else's strength,
that just proves my own training wasn't enough.]
That was how Giovanni thought.
He was the boss of Team Rocket.
But he was also Kanto's strongest Gym Leader.
He was a schemer and a crime lord—
But also a true Pokémon Trainer.
The call ended.
The screen went black, reflecting Lt. Surge's face back at him, still wearing that amused smile.
He held the pose for a few seconds—
Then snorted and swung his boots off the console.
"…The Boss sure loves talking in circles."
He rolled his neck, vertebrae cracking softly, and glanced at another monitor, one that had been on the whole time.
On that secondary screen—
A shaky video feed showed a patrol boat's long-distance recording:
The nighttime ocean.
A silhouette like a mountain—the giant Dragonite.
And on the lighthouse roof in front of it: a few tiny human figures, barely visible.
The video shook a lot, but that raw, instinctive terror still seemed to seep out of the screen.
Even through the blur, Lt. Surge could make out the boy standing at the front.
The one he'd just been talking about—
Ash.
"First a golden Gyarados."
"Then a monster that should only exist in fairy tales…"
His finger traced the blurry outline of Ash on the screen.
In his eyes, curiosity and cruelty mixed into one sharp glint.
"Your luck's top-tier, kid."
He leaned back again, fingers laced behind his head, gaze locked on the frozen image of the titan and the boy facing it.
The gym's overhead lights reflected in his pupils like cold, hard sparks.
"To stand in front of that thing and hold a calm conversation…"
"That alone puts you miles above the cowards who faint at the sight of a Raichu."
His low, quiet muttering echoed through the empty gym.
"You're making me very excited, kid…"
"Don't you dare disappoint me too quickly."
His fingers began tapping the chair arm again—
Slow.
Steady.
Like the beat before war drums start to roar.
"I've got high hopes for you, boy~"
Strictly speaking, Lt. Surge was "just" a partner of Team Rocket.
Strictly speaking, he was "just" Giovanni's subordinate.
Giovanni led Team Rocket.
But Giovanni wasn't Team Rocket itself.
Whatever happened to the organization as a whole…
Lt. Surge honestly couldn't bring himself to care that much.
A group wasn't a person.
He'd pledged himself to Giovanni's charisma, not to some logo or slogan.
The same went for the other Gym Leaders who had joined Rocket.
No one could force a Gym Leader to sign on.
In a way, you could say—
Those Gym Leaders chose Team Rocket.
And the reasons?
Well.
Kanto was in a bit of a mess.
There was no reigning Champion capable of unifying the entire League—no one strong enough and respected enough to force everyone else to fall in line.
So what you got was…
The Elite Four as one loose faction.
The Eight Gym Leaders as another.
The great Professors—Oak, Bill, Sakuragi, and others—as yet another circle.
And even within those groups, there were all kinds of messy overlaps, rivalries, alliances, and grudges.
For example:
Erika, while being a Gym Leader, also served as a guest professor at Celadon University, making her a rising star in academia.
Bill, Sakuragi, and Lt. Surge themselves could be seen as one regional bloc around Vermilion.
In short: a headache-inducing web of relationships.
And Giovanni…
In Lt. Surge's eyes, he was one of the very few people truly suited to becoming Champion.
To solidify the League.
To pull all of Kanto into a single, stable orbit.
As for why Lt. Surge didn't aim for that spot himself?
That was simple.
He couldn't beat the monsters known as the Elite Four.
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