A Journey's End
It was the end.
The tournament had progressed so quickly; it was hard to believe the build-up to the final match had started two weeks prior. Back then, there were still a lot of Trainers left in the competition; those hopeful of a successful tournament after crushing defeats in previous years, while others hummed a blissful tune to their ignorance and held overly high expectations of becoming the first Champion to take all the glory on their first ever attempt. There had only been two people in the past that had ever achieved such a feat, with the obvious exception of the first ever Champion when the Tournament had first taken place, many years ago.
I never had high hopes when I entered the Tournament; I knew that anything could, and most likely would happen, and so I never told myself I would reach the Semi-Finals of this intense tournament. I arrived at the enormous building just three weeks ago, when it had started picking up momentum; thousands of people littered the streets, chanting the name of their favourite to win this year, while others observed the merchandise stands that stretched all the way to the main gates. It was an incredible atmosphere to arrive to, and it was just that which I revelled in for the remainder of the day.
The daylight celebrations turned into carnival-like activity, as the numerous lights flickered on one by one like stars breaking through passing cloud cover. During the day, I had taken the time to visit a number of stalls that had littered the pathway to the Coliseum, picking up a few trinkets for family and friends, as well as a few novelty items for myself, as a reminder of the festivities. In particular I had picked up a small pendant that had a stone fashioned much like a Water Stone; Water-type Pokémon were what I enjoyed the company of the most on my long travels, though it was not a type I limited myself to. While on long journeys, I would only take one of my Water-typed Pokémon with me, as a sort-of natural action.
I had taken the time that night to meet some of the Trainers who had entered the tournament as well, hoping to get along with at least some of them, knowing that many of them would likely be young rookie Trainers, out to get their first real taste of a competitive atmosphere. It was to my surprise however, that many of the people I had seen that night had been experienced Trainers; some had even gained a number of titles from different Regions, boasting about their past victories and what they had learned from their previous defeats. I stood in the Pokémon Centre, scanning each person as if a Sentret cautiously observing its surroundings, only taking note of a handful of people I had seen before.
Caroline was sitting in the corner, as she usually did when she was waiting for a big tournament to start; she didn't mind the build-up to these kinds of things, but she also didn't like needless delays. Her shoulder length blonde hair stood out quite a bit, considering that those around her all had darker hair colours. As usual, she was wearing her casual light blue tank top and dark-coloured trousers, though as an unusual choice, she was wearing high-heels as opposed to her usual white running shoes.
We had first met when I was travelling in Kanto, on the shores of Cinnabar Island before its volcano ended up erupting. We had battled that day and I had ended up the victor, but unlike most Trainers I had fought while in Kanto, she had gotten fired up about the defeat and proclaimed that she wouldn't stop until she had bested me where it really mattered. We've been firm rivals and good friends since then, but she has never had the chance to stay true to her word; each time we'd both been in a Tournament, we'd never managed to battle.
Malcolm was another face that I had met on my journey; he hailed from the tropical paradise known as Hoenn, and he wasn't afraid for everyone to know it. We had actually first met in Johto the year after Team Rocket had officially disbanded—again, outside of the enormous tower that stood proudly in Ecruteak City. The battle we had then was intense, and ultimately ended in a draw; his Pokémon were as intense as the words he spoke when in battle and our parting that day had formed a sense of respect between us. All our further battles from that day only served to deepen that respect. He stood in the Centre with a surprising sophistication about him, as he wore a suit for the first time since I'd met him. Had his chestnut hair not been in the same shaggy state, I could have easily mistaken him for someone else.
Aya was the only recent face I could pick out from the crowd; her sapphire eyes and jet black hair being her most distinguishing features in the mass of bodies. Since meeting her, she always had her hair up in some sort of fantastical style, with a traditional kimono. It was a tradition that she wore such clothing to events such as these. It was surprising to me that she had only started her journey a few years prior and the first time they had met was in the Final of a Pokémon competition in the Hoenn Region... in Slateport, I believe. It was her second year as a Trainer, and she was helping herself prepare for the Hoenn League in Evergrande. Our first battle was harsh on her; she had taken a pretty devastating loss and after the competition, I had heard that the defeat had taken the wind from her sails. I couldn't have lived with myself if I'd ended a Trainers' run unintentionally, so I sought her out, finally finding out where she was a few days later, after the event had died down.
She was indeed distraught, but I persevered; I refused to lay claim to ending a Trainer so young, who had as much potential as she did. Thankfully, after a very long pep talk, she started to turn her thinking to a positive, and before I knew it, I was essentially coaching her for her run in Evergrande. I had no desire to enter the competition this year, and so I spent my time helping her overcome the short fallings in her techniques, and before I knew it, she was casting her competition aside in her own way, taking the Final with relative ease. It was an extremely refreshing experience, assisting a Trainer in need like she was, and since that day, she has looked up to me as some kind of mentor. To this day, we have yet to have a battle; though likely through her feeling she is not ready to face me in combat. This was actually the first time we had entered a League at the same time—excluding in Johto; I had heard that she had entered the League in her native land of Johto at the same time as I had on her first journey, but we had never met in battle.
Ornus was the last person I could remember from my travels that had gathered at the Centre; he was more like an arch-nemesis than a rival, as I could not get behind his actions, like I could most others I had either travelled with or had met. We had met in his native land of Sinnoh and violently clashed horns in Hearthome City. I could not recall what the reason for the reaction was now, but it ended up so serious that the Pokémon we battled with had become extremely weakened from how we had battled. I cursed myself for letting emotions get the better of me that day, and took it as a harsh lesson—swearing never to allow such a state to befall my companions again. Ornus on the other hand, took it as an insult to his integrity as a Trainer and almost left without having his Pokémon's serious injuries treated, until the local nurse stopped him and demanded that he return to the Pokémon Centre to treat his Pokémon.
Ornus was a deadly Trainer indeed, but his brutality had never helped him in competitions like these; he would always seem to crash out in the early rounds, only ever making it as far as the final thirty-two.
It was Ornus that I would eventually find out that I would be facing first in this Tournament however; a hurdle that after so long, I felt I needed to overcome. Now was the time I needed to build myself up to overcome the past mistakes I had made, and defeat the demon that had been haunting me since that day... my victory against Ornus was assured. I had led with the Pokémon who had faced him back in Sinnoh; my trusted Sandslash, and he had sent out the Pokémon that had fought Sandslash back then—his Staraptor. It was a scorching battle that raged for a half-hour in full, before Sandslash finally claimed the decisive victory blow in the battle, and though Ornus had managed to defeat two of his Pokémon, I was the victor; he would be the one to once again falter against a true Pokémon Trainer.
It was not too often I said such things, but I could not help but do so after my victory over him; it truly felt like I had just single-handedly ceased the third-coming of Team Rocket.
In a surprise turn of events during his battle however, Malcolm was the second of the four I had recognised the first day to fall; we had spoken the day before how our next match would be soon, and had he not failed to beat his opponent, it would have indeed been the time, for I went up against the one he could not beat in the next round. After his defeat, I tried to console him, but he was obviously disappointed in himself for falling at such an early point; especially with a rematch against me on the line, as well.
"You better win it this time!" he said to me, before leaving on yet another whirlwind adventure. He was never the type to stay around, once he was no longer competing. 'Watching is good 'n all, but I prefer actually competing!' was what he always said whenever confronted about sticking around to watch a battle. I would no doubt meet him again along my travels in the future, but I could not help but feel that there was some air of it being the 'final' time...
The other matches that I had competed in were relatively easy progress, and soon enough, all who remained of the five travellers were Aya, Caroline and myself. My previous battle had taken me by complete surprise when I left with success and a roar of applause; the stadium announcer declared me the first to progress into the semi-finals. It had been that long, and it didn't even feel like it. The fact that I had reached the semi-finals began to change my outlook on the next battle; I was determined to win, and take the fight all the way to the end.
But there was a new lesson for me to learn in this sudden surge of determination... and I was soon to find out what that was.
I had watched the thrilling matches that Aya and Caroline had participated in, which had netted Aya her fourth Semi-finals visit and Caroline her sixth, but the one match I had neglected to watch was the one that set who would be battling who in the next round; the fourth match of the quarter-finals.
It was Aya that came to me in a sheepish manner to inform me of who I would be battling against in the semi-finals; she almost hadn't manage to say it, until she finally plucked up the courage to declare herself as my next opponent. I was startled, for sure... but more so I was concerned. I knew that she had greatly improved from when I had first fought her, but I could not help but to think of the first match I had ever participated in as her opponent. A huge fallout had occurred over her next path had left her almost leaving the world of the Trainer... would a second occurrence of this event come to light? Would he once again throw a young Trainer into her darkest hour?
These were all questions that I could not answer, but little had I known a completely different question was what I should have been asking...
The day of our battle was soon at hand; my heart, though heavy with the thoughts of plunging Aya into the darkness once again had been lightened by knowing I would be there to help her through it, should she fall into difficult times again.
I approached the battlefield with a fresh sense of confidence that I would take the Tournament all the way to the grand prize, but it did not help with the nervousness I always felt when I reached a certain point in a Tournament; all I could hear as the announcer called out my name to the crowd were wild cheers across the stands. I waved to those who had cheered me on throughout the Tournament, silently thanking them for further renewing my resolve.
Aya herself had gained quite a lot of crowd support however, as once she arrived at the stadium, a wonderful roar echoed around the open-air stadium for her, as well. I smiled, knowing that whatever the outcome, this wonderful crowd would be all the confidence she would need to keep her going.
The rules of a six-on-six battle were called out by the referee of the match, before he raised his flag, looked at both of us and roared, "Begin!" As if synchronised, we both launched our first Pokéballs into the field; this time, I had opted to lead with my faithful Arcanine, while she had sent out her Jolteon. Both looked eager to get into the fight, as we shouted commands, ordering our Pokémon into combat. A flurry of Flamethrowers and Thunderbolts streaked between the two Pokémon, before suddenly, both of them struck each other; flames engulfing Jolteon, while the effective lightning strike zapped through Arcanine. I decided to change my plans this time, and ordered Arcanine to instead launch a Fire Blast at Jolteon. With one gigantic inhale of air, Arcanine threw itself forward and unleashed an amazing Fire Blast attack, which sailed towards the Jolteon.
It was then that Aya ordered her Pokémon to freeze in place, directly in the path of the attack. A tactic that had greatly confused me, until it was too late; ever since owning her Eevee, I had realised that it once, and still knew Dig! Before I could call out the order to evade, the Jolteon rocketed through the ground, launching poor Arcanine into the path of an incoming Thunder that essentially ceased his resistance for the remainder of the battle. For this round, Aya was the victor.
Momentum never remained in one corner for too long; though her Jolteon had defeated my Arcanine with a wonderfully planned strategy, using the glare of the Fire Blast to her own advantage, she soon lost Jolteon to my Blaziken and after a short stall, also lost her Dewgong, despite her managing to take two Sky Uppercuts and continue fighting on.
But before I knew it, the battle took a drastic turn for the worst—at least for me... for her Dewgong was the last Pokémon on her team I managed to defeat. All that remained was the trusty friend I had been with for years; my faithful Vaporeon who had seen me through thick and thin, but as the battle raged on, defeat gripped me like a Pinsir administering its Guillotine; as my Vaporeon faltered against Aya's cunning tactics, my spirit shattered, forcing me to fall to my knees in shock. The stadium roared with cheers for her, while I remained there; as if a broken man who had lost everything to the turn of the cards.
She had truly come a long way from the last time I had seen her; even further from when she had visited destruction to the Hoenn League on her second journey, but for her to perform such a crushing defeat to me had left me in absolute shock. As I recalled my trusted Vaporeon to her Pokéball, a single thought rushed through my head—one that suddenly made sense of the events that transpired with Malcolm, the day that he had left...
'Is this truly... the end...?'
A/N:Yeah, I've been gone for a while, and to add insult to injury, its not even with content that I return with for any of my main stories! This is a one-shot that I may clean up at a later date. A LOT of it was finished a while ago, and I just finished it off recently, so I thought I'd upload it here. I'm still working on my other stories, but updates on them are running very slowly... sorry! Hopefully, any mistakes that are in earlier portions (or later, since I kinda wrote this one hap-haphazardly and changed some minor things here and there throughout the entirety of the story, rather than just leaving it for a while then coming back to finish it) aren't too noticeable... it could probably have done with being a much longer piece, though... hrmm...
Anyway, I hope some enjoyed reading this- if possible... heh. I'll try to get Pokemon Tales and Cycles' End updated as soon as I can, but I'm certainly not promising anything any time soon.
Until then, YukitheRedFox'll catch you all later!