Lt. Surge (Japanese: マチス Matis) is the Gym Leader of Vermilion City's Gym, known officially as the Vermilion Gym. He hands out the Thunder Badge to Trainers who defeat him. He specializes in Electric-type Pokémon.
History[]
Lt. Surge made his only anime appearance in Electric Shock Showdown. He also reappeared in a flashback in Pika and Goliath!.
Lt. Surge is an extremely large and muscular man, and seems to be the show's tallest human character. He is arrogant, loud, and crude, and refers to all Trainers as "babies" until they manage to defeat him. Lt. Surge generally looks down on unevolved Pokémon, preferring to evolve them as soon as possible, though he was proven wrong when Pikachu managed to defeat him. He also seems to be an extremely brutal battler, as nearly every Trainer that faced him ended up with their Pokémon seriously injured, including Ash's Pikachu on his first attempt, resulting in at least 17 Surge-related ER visits within a single month before Surge was defeated on the second attempt, including Pikachu.
His Raichu shares many of his personality traits, also appearing to be rather tough. Lt. Surge's main weakness was that he evolved his Pikachu into a Raichu too quickly without taking the time to teach it speedy attacks. Even though he managed to defeat Ash and his Pikachu once with pure power, Pikachu was able to use speed-altering moves like Agility to get the best of Raichu and defeat it, making Lt. Surge the first Gym Leader Ash actually beats in battle and not just receiving the Gym Badge out of gratitude.
Pokemon[]
- Pikachu → Raichu Lv.60
- Voltorb →Electrode Lv.52
- Pikachu Lv.18
- Electrode Lv.47
- Magnemite→ Magneton →Magnezone Lv.52
- Electabuzz→Electivire♂ Lv.56
- Manectric♂ Lv.52
- Pachirisu♂ Lv.58
- Jolteon♂/♀ Lv.50
- Ampharos♂/♀ Lv.50
- Lanturn♂/♀ Lv.50
- Tangela Lv.50-100
- Poliwrath Lv.50-100
- Lickitung Lv.50-100
- Porygon→Porygon2 Lv.50-100
- Victreebel♀ Lv.50-100
- Dodrio♀ Lv.50-100
- Quagsire♀ Lv.50-100
- Zapdos
- Raikou
- Gyarados
- Kingler
- Rattata→Raticate
- Spearow→Fearow
Trivia[]
- His Japanese Leader title is イナズマ アメリカン！.
- He uses several English phrases such as "Goddamn" in the Japanese anime and the games.
- Due to his team in Pokémon Yellow consisting solely of a Raichu (to mimic the anime), that battle against him is the only one against any Gym Leader in the games to consist of only one opposing Pokémon.
- As a member of the United States Army, Lt. Surge is one of two Gym Leaders known to have taken residence outside the Pokémon nation; the other is Fantina.
- In Pokémon Stadium 2, Lt. Surge has a Raichu that knows Surf and Reversal. It is impossible to obtain such a Raichu in the games, as Surf is an event move forPikachu while Reversal is an Egg move.
- As in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Lt. Surge's Trainer ID number is 33038.
- In the Pokémon World Tournament, the man who describes all of the World Leaders questions if Lt. Surge is from Unova. This is probably because Lt. Surge is from America, and the Unova region is based on New York City, USA.
- It is also mentioned in Unova's history that they have been at war, which Lt. Surge also mentions in the Generation I games and their remakes.
