It has been far too long since the last time I wrote a new story (and mainly because of university work). Here's my latest work, which was inspired from the aforementioned title...
Battle for the Mauville Ramen Bowl
Alright! May thought. Lunchtime!
After countless hours of training and exploring various areas of the Hoenn region in search for Secret Bases, May could finally take her well-deserved rest and focus on having a meal. Of all places, the recently-opened Mauville Food Court, also known as the Battle Food Court, was the place to go to eat. The meals made there were, for lack of better word, the finest affordable cuisine in Hoenn.
Many times May had eaten here. The first time she came here, the day she first came to Mauville City, there was only place to eat – that is, the till that served the Village Sub Combo (a Berry sandwich with fried Berries!). Low-priced, delicious, and fresh from the oven, May had the luxury of eating it hot-and-ready while retaining a hold on her seat – which many young Trainers tried to wrestle her for it. At that time, there were crowds and crowds of people who lined up at the other two tills for food. Although May was interested, she thought it was a waste of time to simply wait for the lineups to clear, when she could have been gathering Gym badges and training her Pokémon.
So, that was exactly what she did. However, she would occasionally drop by for another taste of the heartwarming Village Sub Combo.
Yet, May would continue to train.
As time passed, it wasn't long before May ended up becoming Pokémon Champion – with her elite but modest team of Pokémon. Over time, May had almost forgotten to come back to the food court to check the lineups.
No doubt now, as she usually spent her time these days searching for Secret Bases, May was feeling hungry. That was when she decided to eat at the Mauville Food Court again.
The lineup for the Magnemite Croquettes (balls of dough cooked to look like Magnemite!) had disappeared, but it wasn't that that interested May. It was the other used-to-be-busy till, which now had an empty space in front of the till.
"Hey! Trainer!" the local boy, who frequented the food court, addressed May. "Do you have a minute? You won't regret it. I promise!"
May, who had met this boy the previous few times, politely said, "Let me guess, there's a new place that's open now? What does it serve?"
The boy grinned. He turned around and pointed to the till across the court. "It seems like there are fewer and fewer amateur Trainers coming to the court these days. The lineup for a – wait for it – Mauville Ramen Bowl has finally cleared out."
May's face perked up. "Did you say 'ramen'?"
The boy laughed, as if he wasn't surprised by May's reaction. He went on dreamily, "The noodles are soft like Jigglypuff's cheeks, not that anyone would ever think of biting them. Oh… the soup is golden like lightning… and the ingredients: think of mounds and mounds of ingredients piled as high as Mount Chimney. It's the local Mauville specialty that gets Trainers to say 'wow'!"
He looked up to see May's jaw dropped, as she stared off into daydream.
"It… can't be that good, can it?" she questioned.
The boy laughed again. "Come on, it's the Mauville Ramen Bowl: the edible legend at the Mauville Food Court! Oh, I can see it in your eyes – or your mouth. You want to try it, don't you now, Pokémon League Champion?"
May still stared off in her daydream.
"You'll have to come prepared for eating one, though," the boy warned. "People who prefer Triple Battles have a distinguished taste for them. See you around."
At that, the boy walked past May and left the food court. May, on the other hand, snapped out of her daydream and tore for the till serving the Mauville Ramen Bowl. If there was anything the in world that could hit the spot right now, for May, it was ramen.
She stopped dead at the till and stared at the man operating the till. He was dressed in attire such that it seemed like he lived to do this. To even call him a ramen master seemed fitting.
"We've got nothing but ramen…" he said, very, very, quietly, as he nodded approvingly. "A Mauville Ramen Bowl… 10,000 Pokédollars."
"10,000!" May shouted, stunned, as if the price was a joke. "That's… ridiculous!"
Even though May had a huge stash of money with her, given the multiple battles in her career, 10,000 was steep. In her climatic championship battle with Steven, she could distinctly remember winning just under 12,000 after achieving victory. To pay for a Mauville Ramen Bowl at this price was like asking for champions alone to eat here! (Truth be told, the rumour has it that Elite Four Glacia likes to have a Mauville Ramen Bowl too.)
I'm forking over a championship's worth of prize money for a ramen bowl, May thought.
But alas, this was ramen May was paying for.
"I'd like to order one, please –" she started, but just as May was about to pay for her meal, a familiar friend appeared suddenly beside her and placed a stash of money on the counter. 10,000 Pokédollars, to be exact.
"A Mauville Ramen Bowl, please!" he demanded, and then looked to his side. "Oh, hi May."
"Brendan," May smiled. "How have you been?"
But before Brendan could even answer, the ramen master cleared his throat whilst picking up the money. He placed two buzzers to replace the money.
"Take this," he instructed. "It will be ready in a few rounds. Sit down, and wait quietly…"
May and Brendan took the buzzers and left the till to search for seats. Unfortunately, it seemed unusually busy at the Food Court today… There was not a single seat in sight they could see yet! The two Trainers walked loops around the tables, but they couldn't find one!
It was then, at some point, an amateur trainer had finished eating his Village Sub Combo and got up to dispose of his trash. Immediately and without need for second thought, May dashed over to the empty seat to grab a hold of it. Just even touching the chair would suffice…
Crowds and crowds of people were scurrying around the tables looking for a seat, and with the sight of someone getting up it was no wonder those closest to that someone stampeded to grab the seat. Some people even dived!
Alas, the first one to touch the seat was, in fact, May.
"This seat is mine!" she shouted.
"No! I saw that seat first!" a familiar voice said beside her, which caused May to look to her side.
It seemed that Brendan, her next-door neighbour, had also touched the chair at the same time.
"Brendan…" May said softly, "be a gentleman and give me the seat."
But Brendan shook his head in disagreement, and instead kept his hand firmly on the chair. "Face it, May. Gentleman or not, it's still a first-come first-served basis. I've paid for my Mauville Ramen Bowl, you know!"
No time like the present, May thought, as she still wouldn't let go of the seat. Given the circumstances and the location, May said, "This is the Battle Food Court. If you're not going to give me the seat, Brendan, we have to battle!"
Brendan let go of the chair, as if – May thought for an instant – he was giving up. But instead, he reached into his bag to take out three Poké Balls.
"Bring it!" he shouted. "We'll make this a Triple Battle. Three-on-three only, so we can only use up to three Pokémon. Got it, May? I'm still not forgetting that battle we had after you became Champion! Don't forget that I know all about your Pokémon!"
Upon hearing Brendan state that May was Pokémon Champion, many others either backed away to make some space or left in search of safer, less competitive, seats. Meanwhile, there was a clearing behind the empty seat that suggested a Pokémon battle was going to take place.
"But don't you forget," May countered, "that I know your Pokémon just as well!"
Brendan threw three Poké Balls high into the air. "Swellow! Sceptile! Raichu! Let's show May what we're made of this time!" After he said this, three explosive bursts of sound landed on the floor and shook the air of the food court.
In response, May threw her Poké Balls into the air. "Swampert! Gardevoir! Mightyena! How about we teach Brendan a lesson: never take my seat for a Mauville Ramen Bowl!" The three Pokémon landed on the floor to face Brendan's Pokémon. In an instant, the atmosphere had turned tense. Even the Trainers nearby who were battling stopped to see the commotion.
"Raichu!
"Gardevoir! Disarming Voice! Swampert, help her! Then, Muddy Water! Mightyena, Snarl before Swampert makes his attack!"
Swampert obeyed May's commands but, given the order was indirect, he decided to improvise. He grabbed Gardevoir's arm and tossed Gardevoir into the air. While in the air, she (Gardevoir) gathered her emotions and infused it into her voice, and subsequently shot the emotional energy towards Brendan's Pokémon.
Lo and behold, they all sustained some harm from Gardevoir's emotions (ironically, even though her emotions weren't meant to hurt anyone!). The emotional sound could be heard intensely, but could Brendan's Pokémon react fast enough?
Reacting to avoid sound? Not a chance, which was why they couldn't have avoided it. The impact of sound was a crushing feeling for Brendan's Pokémon…
"Raichu! Thunder Wave!" Brendan ordered. "Swellow! Show Gardevoir your Aerial Ace! And Sceptile: how about we give what Swampert deserves with a nice Leaf Blade?!"
Raichu, as quick as he could, fired electrostatic waves in the direction of Mightyena, and Mightyena simultaneously yelled out an intimidating snarl such that not only Raichu could hear it, but also Sceptile, and the sound hurt their ears and slowed them down a bit.
But not enough. Mightyena felt her muscles turn stiff and found it hard to move.
Swellow on the other hand flew straight in the direction of Gardevoir with one glowing wing ready to strike a blow against Gardevoir, with speed.
Yet, Swampert jumped in front of Gardevoir to take the blow instead, and simultaneously generated a swamp of murky brownish water that struck all of Brendan's Pokémon with full impact and flooded the floor.
All of Brendan's Pokémon, even Swellow, were covered in murky water, and the force of water kept going, and going, and going…
"Look out, Swampert!" May cried.
Despite being held back by the flood of brown muddy water, Sceptile fought against the current, through obscured vision and murky water, and attempted to slice a single clean blow against Swampert. He felt the force of brownish water impact his body, but there was no need to fear. Sceptile was faster.
The green blade on Sceptile's arm struck Swampert. Point blank.
Swampert cried out in pain, and the flood of muddy water ceased. That being said, the floor of the food court was in a mess. Not to mention this prompted complaints from the customers.
"Aw… now my Magnemite Croquettes are smelly!"
"What about my Village Sub Combo? Someone has to pay for my Village Sub Combo!"
The complaints, however, didn't divert attention away from the epic battle in the food court.
Swampert stood up, brushed off the marks Sceptile left on him, and only to be passed by Swellow right after. It appeared that Swellow's initial command from Brendan to attack Gardevoir wasn't forgotten, and how Sceptile managed to move faster than Swellow was beyond him.
"Gardevoir!" May cried.
If not for all that training she had in her lifetime with May, Gardevoir probably wouldn't have survived that blow she received from Swellow's furious wing. It was a wonder how she still managed to stand. It took mere seconds before Swellow had flown back to Brendan.
"Mightyena! Fire Fang!" May ordered. "You know who to attack. Do it!"
Mightyena acknowledged the command, but when she wanted to run and leap, her legs were hindered by a state of shock that forced Mightyena to the ground. She didn't faint, but she was completely incapacitated.
"You didn't forget about Raichu's Thunder Wave I hope, May?" Brendan taunted. "Come on now, I thought you were smarter than that, being champion. Let's put her out of her misery, Sceptile. Use X-Scissor! Quickly!"
Sceptile's blades glowed bright, and then he began the charge. Using one foot to kick off and leaning forward for instability, Sceptile rocketed forward and sprinted to the helpless Mightyena at full speed. Mightyena was doomed.
Or so Brendan thought.
"Swampert!" May yelled. "Stop him! Use Tackle if you have to!"
As Sceptile was seconds from striking distance and bringing down Mightyena with brilliant fury, Sceptile was tackled from the side by Swampert. The X-Scissor was effectively useless as Sceptile came crashing to the floor, and shaking the tables in the court.
"Aw! Now my Village Sub Combo is messy!" someone, a young boy, complained. Meanwhile, a lot of other tables had shifted out of position, and the public got the message that they were better off keeping their distance.
Well, that was unexpected, Brendan thought. Swampert is faster than he looks!
"Swellow, Steel Wing! Raichu, Quick Attack!" Brendan ordered, whilst ignoring the boy's complaint. "Take out Gardevoir! Raichu, give Swellow a jumpstart!"
Speed was what the advantage Brendan had. Swellow and Raichu, being specialists, executed their orders relentlessly. Swellow took a firm hold on Raichu's back, and by then Raichu had achieved the full speed of Quick Attack and charged straight for Gardevoir, with Swellow in tow.
"Disarming Voice! Quickly, Gardevoir!" May instructed, and her voice urgent. "Mightyena! Fire Fang! Get up, quickly!"
Yet, Mightyena still lay paralysed on the floor, and helplessly watched Raichu collide with Gardevoir's side (earning a cry from the latter) and knocked her down. In the briefest instant, Swellow took off from Raichu's back and struck Gardevoir in succession, with the effect of Steel Wing.
Subsequently, Gardevoir could barely stand after that. She could tell May wanted her to discontinue, but she ignored May's train of thought and mustered the energy to fire another Disarming Voice, with the energy targeting all of Brendan's Pokémon. Full impact of emotional energy, at least for Disarming Voice, would never miss its target, and that was what Gardevoir knew when she released it.
May's eyes watched without blinking. Now you've got it.
Even though both Raichu and Swellow were both behind Gardevoir when she attacked, Gardevoir turned around to look at them by her own will and attacked.
"Devoir!" Gardevoir cried.
The energy grounded Swellow to the floor and crushed Raichu, and sending the impact shaking the food court again. Dishes could be heard rattling, and Trainers eying the battle with full interest. However, there were always people who disagreed.
"My Magnemite Croquettes! NO!" said the one whose plate of the mentioned meal had spilled onto the floor. To add salt to the wound, the floor was covered in the remains of the muddy water Swampert had flooded.
The battle went on.
"Swampert, use Rock Slide! Gardevoir, show off Raichu with Psychic! Mightyena, if you can, try to get Sceptile with Fire Fang!"
"Sceptile! Help out Swellow with Leaf Blade! Raichu, finish Mightyena with Thunderbolt!"
Raichu, with lightning speed, fired the lightning bolt in Mightyena's direction, only to have Gardevoir jump in the way and take the impact of the fire. Gardevoir cried out in pain, but in the midst of the pain, she fired a blast of psychic energy to counter Raichu.
"Gardevoir! No!"
"Raichu! No!"
Simultaneously, there was a double knockout between them. Gardevoir and Raichu.
Meanwhile, Sceptile tore off with the same sprinting position he assumed earlier and brought out the extended blade in Swampert's direction. Right when Swampert unleashed the impact of the Rock Slide, the boulders came raining down on Sceptile and Swellow. Swellow was helpless as he felt the boulders hammering down his energy dry…
"Change of plan, Sceptile!" Brendan said, realising the predicament he was in. "Finish off Mightyena while Swampert's distracted!"
Sceptile, on the other hand, utilised agile and evasive movements to evade the impending doom of boulders. In the same respect, he brought his doom to Mightyena by lashing out the blade on the helpless victim. Mightyena, still paralysed, mustered the remainder of strength she had and created flames within her teeth.
Afterwards, right before impact, Mightyena bit down on Sceptile's Leaf Blade and tried to fight off the force of the attack. It was clear Sceptile had a weakness to the fire, but alas, Mightyena was partially paralysed, and he would use it to his advantage.
Sceptile could detect the slight state of hesitation in Mightyena's eyes, and consequently brought his other arm to force Mightyena to the floor. Mightyena's fangs were still glued to Sceptile's blade, so Sceptile used that blade to force Mightyena to collapse, and subsequently bringing the Leaf Blade down on Mightyena's back. The force sent a shock wave rippling through the food court.
Mightyena howled before fainting in glorious end.
"Now my Village Sub Combo is on the wall…" someone grumbled.
"My Magnemite Croquettes! They're… gone."
"WHO SPILLED MY MAUVILLE RAMEN BOWL? IT… NOOOOOOOO!"
Clearly, a lot of food was on the muddy floor. Never mind that, as May recalled Mightyena and Gardevoir into the respective Poké Balls, and Brendan did the same with Swellow and Raichu. The people around them, on the other hand, looked at the battle with mixed feelings. Half of the people were genuinely interested in the occurring epic battle, but the other half hated the battle for ruining their meals.
"It ends here," May growled. She held up her Mega Bracelet to activate the Swampertite Swampert was holding. Sceptile was partly weakened due to Mightyena's and Gardevoir's combined efforts, but Swampert clearly had taken more hits. At least Swampert had a much better endurance build than that of Sceptile.
The emergence of a Mega Swampert seemed to overwhelm the surroundings of the food court. If anything, the people around clearly knew that May was someone no one would want to mess with. By the time Swampert had revealed his mega form, he radiated this sense of power that was enough to make people drop their food in awe.
Actually, that was exactly what happened.
"My Mauville Ramen Bowl!" someone screamed, and clearly one could tell that he dropped his bowl to the floor. Precious noodles and soup wasted away into the muddy water left over by Swampert.
Brendan ignored the comment, and instead focused on May, and held up his Mega Bracelet. "Two can play at that game, May."
In the same respect, Brendan's bracelet began to glow bright and the Sceptilite Sceptile was holding began to radiate with power unimaginable. Granting the connection and access to the power within, Sceptile completed the transformation from Sceptile to Mega Sceptile.
A certain shock wave sent the people around off their feet, and those people who were more concerned about their food kept an even further distance away from the battle. Meanwhile, the people who stayed to watch were treated to seeing one of the greatest battles of all-time in the Mauville Food Court's record history.
"Swampert, let's bring the house down. Earthquake!"
"Sceptile! Throw in that Leaf Blade! Unleash the power!"
With so much power ready to use, Swampert slammed his fists onto the ground beneath him. The entire floor of the food court, like it did countless times already, shook to its core, with muddy water flying up and away from the floor and – most disturbingly – onto the food of customers.
"Argh! There's mud on my sandwich!"
"Muddy water in my Mauville Ramen Bowl! Why?!"
Sceptile could feel the tension of the tremors sending him off his feet, but wherever he landed, more tremors would send him flying again and causing harm on impact with the ground. It didn't help that the earthquake Swampert was unleashing was amplified tenfold, so Sceptile suffered the impact ten times as normal.
Yet, as Sceptile also mega-evolved, he had amplified agility on top of that.
"Sceptile…" Brendan groaned, his body tired from the forces of the mega Earthquake. "Take the chance! Strike!"
For a single second, Sceptile was able regain his composure and had sure footing, and that precious second was all Sceptile needed to utilise his temporarily awakened powers to exhibit unsurpassed speed. He evaded the tremors and eventually the earthquake itself to bring out a huge, frightening, Leaf Blade to Swampert. Still, Swampert rammed another fist onto the floor to make sure Sceptile would be grounded when he touched the floor again.
The impact of the mega-powered moves could be felt across the city.
"Well, I suppose you really are better than me," May said, recalling Swampert into the Poké Ball, alongside her other resting Pokémon.
"No way, May, no way," Brendan modestly denied. "Remember that you're Pokémon Champion. There's no way I could be better than you, and you can't beat me in contests in the same respect!"
Only then did May and Brendan realise that every eye in the Mauville Food Court was fixed on them. Half the eyes seemed to be satisfied with the battle that had just been completed, whereas the other half showed pure resentment.
"Great battle. Great battle!" someone said.
"You ruined my lunch! Someone has to pay for it!"
"Yeah! See how many Mauville Ramen Bowls are left decimated on the floor!"
However, speaking of which, May and Brendan were interrupted by the ringing of their buzzers. At this point, they suddenly realised they had almost forgotten about their food. They touched the buttons on the buzzers to stop it from ringing, and then they began to head back to the Mauville Ramen Bowl till.
"We really did cause the wreck, didn't we, Brendan?" May asked.
Brendan turned his head to look at the mess he and May had made. True, there was a lot of muddy water still covering the premises. Tables were severely out of place. Some empty chairs were flipped (which normally would have been occupied. Brendan guessed he and May must have scared some people away). Wrecked sandwiches of the Village Sub combo littered the floor, along with spilled and spoiled Magnemite Croquettes.
Last but not least, and to anyone who respected the Mauville Ramen Bowl, it was a heinous crime to see spilled ramen, soup, and mountain-high ingredients littered everywhere. The best food in the world, washed away with mud and water. It was horrible.
"I… am at a loss for words, May," Brendan smirked. If he wanted to, he could have laughed. But he couldn't, because it seemed a lot of people were not pleased at the battle. It was a battle over a single seat, after all! How much more serious could it get?
They supposed they could have found weaker opponents to battle, but May and Brendan supposed they were just too into battling each other. Well, between them it was no surprise, as they seemed to enjoy battling each other anyway.
By the time they approached the ramen master and handed back the buzzers, the ramen master retained the very same quiet tone he had spoken in the first place. His face was entirely neutral, but the tone of his voice wasn't so pleasant.
"Here it is… your Mauville Ramen Bowl," he said, seriously, and placed the two bowls of hot ramen before May and Brendan. "You're late. Very, very, late. So the noodles got all soggy."
The news seemed to break the hearts of May and Brendan. To be sure, the Trainer duo leaned in to take a better look at the Mauville Ramen Bowls and saw that the ramen master was not lying. The noodles didn't look too pleasant to eat.
"What…" Brendan's eyes were blank.
"Ugh…" May's body shook with shock.
Simultaneously, Brendan and May faced each other with angry, angry, eyes. The raised an arm pointing against each other. Whatever they were feeling now, they had to somehow release the shock of their failure to get a good, legendary, Mauville Ramen Bowl.
They yelled at each other loud enough for everyone to hear.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
And so... neither May nor Brendan had the best lunch. One wonders if they ended up sitting together.