Hello! Well, when writing the Reading Between the Lines drabble series (which will be up soon) I ended up with two stories for Volkner. This is the extra story. Not because it was worse than the other (all three of my betas liked it) but because it didn't fit in as well with the other drabbles. So, here we are.

I suspect that I will expand on this in a larger fic, if people show enough interest in it. For now, this is more of a test run than anything.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, Eevee would have evolutions for all types, including Normal. Though I suspect that might happen eventually anyway...

Enjoy!

Surge of Power

"Winning makes me happy, and losing makes me angry…That's no great revelation, but it's what makes me stronger." -Volkner

IIIIIII

"Hey," spoke Flint, his expression serious for once. "What's with the limp?"

Volkner stopped and sighed.

"…Tinkering with a machine when it went haywire," he muttered, hobbling by without even looking at Flint. "It's nothing."

Volkner felt the Elite Four member grab his shoulder. The golden-haired Gym Leader paused and gazed back, a cool fire in his blue eyes.

"I told you, it's nothing."

"Don't give me that crap Volk," Flint exhaled with a fake groan. "What's really going on?"

"Nothing," he replied dismissively, pushing his friend's hand aside. "It's nothing."

He continued to walk, or limp, away.

"Volkner!" the redhead called, easily catching up. "Look, Volk, I'm just trying to help. If you've got yourself into something-"

"It's nothing."

"Like hell it's nothing!" Flint snapped. "I'm sick of seeing you hurt all the time!"

"I'm not hurt all the time."

"Well, you're hurt a lot more than you should be," Flint growled. "And I know it ain't from malfunctioning machines, because you work on those machines in your Gym all the time without hurting yourself. So tell me, what's really going on?! Who or what is it?!"

Volkner stared at him coolly.

"Nobody and nothing," the golden-haired teen replied. "Now I'm going back to the Gym."

Flint stayed silent, and then stormed off.

Volkner watched him go, and then proceeded to his Gym.

…I know you want to help, Flint, but this is personal. You can't interfere. I have to do this myself.

IIIIII

Volkner hated being bored. Boredom meant he wasn't doing anything to move forward, to make progress. And he had so much progress to make, if he wanted to beat him.

Him. He was the reason behind everything. That…Gym Leader, in Kanto, the one with the smug swagger and arrogant drawl. The one that loved crushing his weak opponents with raw power. That other Electric-type user, the one who had made his life hell as long as he could remember.

Lieutenant Surge.

Volkner had yet to beat him, even though he was supposed to be Sinnoh's toughest Gym Leader. Oh, he had challenged him plenty of times, ever since he was a kid with just a Pikachu. Each time the other Gym Leader's Pokemon zapped Volkner's fighters into submission. And, oftentimes, zapped him into submission too, or scratched him, or bit him. Hence, the injuries.

Because this is what war is like, Surge would say. In war the Trainers weren't spared. And don't think that Sinnoh is safe, because war will come to Sinnoh too eventually, and a weakling like him would never survive a real war. He was being easy on him really, just letting the Raichu shock him and chew on him some. Remember, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger, and he would not let him be a soft-hearted, cowardly, useless bastard. No, not his -

Volkner stumbled on the way to his Gym, but caught himself before he fell. Now that would have been disgraceful. If there was one thing he had, it was pride. Not even Surge could break that.

Because he would beat him someday. He still had a long way to go, but he would catch up to him, surpass him. Maybe even give him a taste of his own Raichu's electricity. That was war after all, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Isn't that right, father?

IIIIIII

Yeah, this one turned out kinda vicious. I've always suspected that Lt. Surge and Volkner were father and son, and that they didn't get along for whatever reason. As a side note, my Surge is probably much more anime-based than game-based. Surge was a bullying jerk in the anime, to put it nicely. I suspect what little I know of the manga Surge has also influenced me. I dunno how believable this Surge or this situation is though. It's just a scenario that's been bugging me for awhile, accurate or not.

Feel free to let me know what you think. Like I said, this is test run for the concept more than anything. If I do decide to take this further, it will be in another fic, so please don't alert this expecting updates, 'cause it won't happen here.

Cya!