I smiled around at the Pokemon and their trainers around me. The event center was packed with excited trainers waiting for the tournament to begin. The air was charged with electricity, although that could have been from the amount of the electric Pokemon in the building. The building we were in was huge, with massive windows running the length of 3 of the walls. There was a raised platform along the fourth wall, with trainers milling about on it. As far as I could see there were about 10 battle fields drawn on the floor where trainers could battle with their Pokemon. I was surrounded by people, chatting and comparing their Pokemon. As I squeezed past a girl holding an Oddish in her arms I ran my hand through my spiky, bright red hair. The tournament was gonna be tough, I had my best Pokemon with me, but I knew that despite this there was no way I could guarantee that I'd win. Oh I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Elise and I've been a Pokemon trainer for 3 years now. Most trainers start their journey at 10, but I started mine at 13 after I graduated from Trainer Highschool in my home town of Kazan town. My starter Pokemon was an Eevee my father gave me when I was enrolled in the highschool. She's now a beautiful Vaporeon called Gem. I have green eyes, short red hair and a temper to match. I prefer to dress in dark clothing, don't ask me why.
Suddenly a bunch of giggling girls walked past, they were huddled together and whispering to each other. I knew who they were talking about of course. The famous trainer Andy. He'd been to all 5 regions, battled every single gym leader and beaten the Elite 4 from each region on top of that. He was decent looking, with dark hair, green eyes and perfectly even teeth. But everyone knew he had a massive ego. Of course as I walked a few more paces I spotted him, up on the raised platform, with his Haxorus next to him. He was waving to people in the crowd and signing autographs on pieces of paper that desperate girls were thrusting at him. It was pathetic really.
"Andy we love you!" the girls were screaming hysterically.
"And I love you girls!" he called back, flashing his teeth in a massive grin. I snorted at how pathetic they all were. He was pretty much the reason I'd come to this tournament. To have a chance to beat him and bring his ego down a bit. If I could beat him of course. I had complete faith in my amazing Pokemon, but in myself?
"I have an announcement to make, if you all could just quiet down for a moment," he suddenly said. The hysterical girls quickly shut up and stood still, quivering with anticipation. Even I stopped in my tracks. I was curious to know what he had to announce. Don't tell me he's been made Champion, I thought, rolling my eyes.
"Recently I returned to the Orange Islands to go looking for some new Pokemon. What I found was beyond my wildest dreams. A legendary Pokemon that I am sure you have all heard of. I have defeated and captured the legendary Flame Pokemon... Moltres!"
I gasped as loud as anyone else as a Pokemon in a massive cage was wheeled onto the platform. It was a bird, a yellow bird with fire burning from its wings and head. It didn't look very happy, it had its wing under its head and looked like it was shivering.
"That poor thing," I whispered, pushing my way through the crowd to get to the base of the stage. Andy was still talking but I blocked out his voice.
"Moltres Mol," it cawed quietly. It looked so weak. Then I noticed that under its wings were a pile of eggs.
"You caught it while it was nesting?!" I cried angrily. Andy looked down at me patronisingly.
"Well of course. Soon I'll have a whole team of Moltres," he said slowly and loudly, as if I was stupid. I glared at him.
"You can't do this! Moltres is needed on Fire Island!" I shouted. He just smirked at me.
"A rookie trainer like you knows nothing about legendary Pokemon. Now either ask for an autograph or get away from the stage," he growled.
"I'll save you Moltres," I whispered to it, before pulling my denim bag higher onto my shoulder and storming off.
An hour later trainers were battling all around me. I had just defeated my first opponent easily and was waiting for everyone else to finish so that the announcer would call out the next match ups. Gem was next to me chomping on some poffins I had made. I was glaring at Andy who was sitting on a chair on the platform, looking down imperiously at everyone. Night was falling outside and stars were glimmering in the distance. I leaned my arms on the window and looked out into the night. I needed to free that Moltres, the question was, how? I was sure Andy wouldn't bother putting her in her pokeball, after all she was nesting, but surely she would be guarded constantly?
"Hey there rookie," said a voice behind me. To my surprise Andy had left his seat on the platform and was now standing behind me, arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
"For your information I've been training Pokemon for three years now, I am definitely not a rookie," I said calmly. He grinned.
"I saw your battle earlier, your Pokemon are strong," he said. I blinked, surprised at the compliment.
"Thanks I guess," I replied.
"I heard what you said to my Moltres, you want to save her huh?" he said, still grinning. I glared at him.
"Yes, she doesn't deserve to be treated like that. Fire Island needs its guardian, or have you forgotten what happened the last time someone tried to capture the three legendary birds?" 3 years ago a man had tried to capture Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos so that he could lure out the Beast of the Sea, Lugia, and capture him too. He'd almost destroyed the world in the process, and a boy named Ash had saved everyone. I knew the story by heart. Ash was my idol.
"Well how about this, if you can defeat me in a battle, I will release Moltres." I felt my jaw drop. He wasn't serious? He was. He was underestimating me. He was sure he couldn't possibly lose.
"Let's do this then," I said confidently. His smile faltered. I don't think he'd been expecting me to accept. He pulled a pokeball from his belt.
"Let's go." He motioned to the middle of the even center. I followed him with Gem at my side. Slowly the other trainers realised what was happening and backed away to the sides of the building, until we were surrounded by people.
"3 on 3 good for you?" he called. I nodded and he grinned.
"It's okay to be nervous. I'll start then. Go Haxorus!" he cried. His Haxorus burst out of its pokeball, threw its head back and roared.
"Go on Gem, you can take it," I said to my Vaporeon. Gem bounded forward.
"Haxorus use Dragon Pulse!" Andy cried. His Pokemon opened its jaws and shot purple rings of pure dragon power at Gem.
"Gem counter it with Aurora Beam!" I cried. Gem opened her mouth and shot a beam of ice at Haxorus. The beams collided and exploded in the middle of the battle field. There was smoke everywhere.
"Hurry Gem, before the smoke clears, use Hydro Pump!" Gem fired another attack through the smoke before Andy could give his Pokemon another command. The smoke cleared and the attack had obviously made contact, but it didn't look like it had done much damage.
"Haxorus use Cross Chop!" The Dragon type Pokemon flew at Gem and sliced her with its sharp claws. She flew back and hit the ground with a thud.
"Gem get up, please!" I called. My Vaporeon jumped to her feet and shook herself, before growling at Haxorus, "now Gem, use Scald!" Gem opened her mouth and released a jet of boiling hot water. Andy's Haxorus flinched at the impact, which left red marks on its skin.
"Don't let her get away with that Haxorus, use Dragon Claw," Andy shouted. His Pokemon dived at Gem and pinned her to the ground with glowing claws. Gem struggled against its grip.
"Gem use Aurora Beam again!" I called out. This was my last hope. She shot another ice beam at Andy's Pokemon. This time it made contact and froze Haxorus' upper body in ice. It fell sideways and hit the ground with a dull thud.
"Andy's Haxorus is unable to battle, Elise wins!" the announcer cried. Andy looked extremely mad. He returned his Haxorus to its pokeball. Gem came bounding back to me and I scooped her up in my arms.
"You did amazingly Gem!" I cried, hugging her tight.
"Vaporeon!" she said, rubbing her face against my cheek.
"This time I'll use Drapion!" he called, throwing another pokeball. A giant purple Scorpion burst from the ball in a flash of white light.
"Well good thing I have my Marowak with me!" I said, throwing the pokeball I had in my hand. A little brown Pokemon with a skull on its head, carrying a bone appeared on the field.
"Drapion use Night Slash!" Andy called out. His Pokemon flew at Marowak, its claws turned dark and it swiped at my Pokemon, knocking him back.
"Are you okay Marowak?!" I cried.
"Maro, Marowak!" he said.
"Good, now use Bone Rush!" Marowak threw the bone in his hand at Drapion multiple times in a row, hitting him around the head.
"Drapion use Poison Sting attack!" The Pokemon shot tiny little poisonous darts at Marowak, who flinched at each one. He shook it off angrily.
"Way to go Marowak, now use Earthquake!" Marowak hit the ground with his bone and caused it to shake the battle field. Drapion's knees buckled and it held onto the ground until the tremors subsided.
"Drapion grab Marowak with Ice Fang!" My eyes widened with shock. Ice does a lot of damage to ground type Pokemon. Drapion got back to its feet and dived at Marowak, catching him in its jaws, covering him in ice. Andy's Pokemon dropped Marowak to the floor, where he lay frozen.
"Elise's Marowak is unable to battle, Andy wins!" the announcer cried.
"Oh Marowak you did a great job!" I said, returning him to his pokeball. We were onto our last Pokemon each. This battle would decide who wins and who loses.
"For my last Pokemon, I will use Sceptile!" Andy threw another pokeball into the center of the field, and out burst a large, green Pokemon with yellow balls on its back and leaves sprouting like a tail. I was ready for this. I knew exactly who I was going to use.
"Charizard you can take him!" I called out, throwing my own pokeball. Charizard appeared, an orange dragon looking Pokemon with fire on the end of its tail.
"Charizard fly up!" My Pokemon flew into the air out of Sceptile's reach.
"No matter, Sceptile use Solar Beam!" Andy yelled. Sceptile opened its mouth and a ball of yellowish-white light started to form. I knew I had to get Charizard to attack fast, before Sceptile had a chance to release its powerful attack.
"Charizard use Blast Burn!" I knew this was a risky move to use, because Charizard wouldn't be able to use another attack for a little while, but if I was lucky this would be strong enough to faint Andy's Pokemon. The flame on Charizard's tail flared up and he opened his jaws and unleashed a powerful spurt of flames at Sceptile. They washed over the grass type Pokemon and it fell to its knees. It was still up, but very weak. But I had done what I'd needed to do, its Solar Beam had failed.
"Charizard, fly around until you can use another attack!" I called out. Charizard flew up as high as he could go and circled Andy's Sceptile.
"Sceptile, use Razor Leaf." Sceptile got to its feet again and began shooting leaves at Charizard. Most of them missed, then a couple hit Charizard's wing. He faltered mid-flight and lost a bit of height. Luckily he could now attack again.
"Charizard, finish him off with Flamethrower!" Charizard opened his mouth and released a jet of flames at Sceptile.
"Sceptile get out of the way!" Andy called, but his Pokemon was too weak. The flames engulfed him. He hit the ground.
"Andy's Sceptile is unable to battle, Elise wins the match!" the announcer shouted to the crowd.
Andy stood there, mouth open, shocked that a "rookie" like me had beat him.
"Great job Charizard!" I called. He flew to my side and I hugged him before returning him to his pokeball. The crowd around us were muttering to each other. As far as anyone knew, no one had beaten Andy before.
"There Andy, I beat you," I called across the field, "you have to release Moltres now." Andy quickly snapped out of his shock and returned to his normal, smirking self.
"I don't need some stupid bird to win anyway. That was just a fluke. You can take her." He turned away from me and stalked off. The crowd started cheering. I smiled around at everyone, proud of my victory. But I still had one thing I had to do. I walked straight to the stage, people in front of me moving aside to let me through. I climbed up next to Moltres' cage. She looked at me with terrified eyes.
"I promised I'd save you," I murmured.
"Moltres," she cawed quietly as I put my hands on the bars. I turned the cage around and wheeled it off of the stage, across the building and out into the cool night air. The first thing I did was open the cage door. Moltres fluttered out of the cage and onto the edge of the pier looking out across the water.
"There are so many eggs... I don't think you'll be able to carry them," I said to her, eyeing her eggs uncertainly. I took my back pack, emptied it of the few possessions I had, including my pokeballs. Then I turned to the cage and scooped the eggs, one by one into my back pack, then passed it to Moltres.
"I can always get a new one," I said, half smiling. Moltres took the bag in her claws and lowered her head to rub her face against mine.
"Thank you, human, I will never forget your kindness," said a voice in my head. I wasn't surprised that she could communicate with me by telepathy. I stroked her beak and smiled.
"Good bye, friend," I whispered.
"Moltres!" she cawed, spreading her wings. I stepped back and watched her take to the sky. Her wings burned brightly against the dark sky, and I watched her fly until she was out of sight. I will never forget the day I met her, one of the most legendary Pokemon of all time.