Here's the next part. Enjoy.
Same disclaimer as Chapter 1: I do not own Pokémon; it all belongs to Nintendo, Satoshi Tajiri and others.
Also, please note, I am using British English here. I know the games are in American English, but I'm in England. I will do my best to match in-game spelling, but sometimes the slip will happen…
Anyway, enjoy!
Round Two: Versus Zapdos.
"Well this is interesting." said the match commentator "Ash has called out flying-type Swellow to battle against Tobias' Zapdos. After an amazing defeat of Tobias' Darkrai by his Heracross, Ash appears to be throwing this battle away. What is he planning?"
"Yes, what are you planning." muttered Tobias to himself before calling a command.
"Zapdos, Charge Beam."
Zapdos' wings crackled with electrical sparks. The huge bird thrust its wings in the direction of Swellow, sending a huge beam of electrical energy at Ash's Pokémon.
"Swellow, Double Team."
Before you could blink, Swellow had shifted rapidly, creating six copies of itself, making it seem as though there were seven Swellow in the air.
Zapdos' Charge Beam passed through one of the fakes.
"Now, Hidden Power." commanded Ash.
Each fake Swellow disappeared as the real Swellow's body appeared to become outlined in yellow and a collection of twelve light blue orbs surrounded it.
Suddenly the orbs shot towards Zapdos.
"Dodge it." commanded Tobias.
Zapdos swung away to avoid the attack, but it was not fast enough, and seven of the orbs managed to strike its wing. As each orb popped, it released a small but violent blast of ice.
"Unbelievable!" yelled the commentator over the loud cheering of the crowd "Swellow's Hidden Power is of the Ice element; super effective against Zapdos."
Tobias scowled. More luck for his opponent. This round had just gone from easy to not-so easy. It was time to end this; Zapdos could not take too many of those Hidden Powers.
"Charge Beam, again."
Zapdos fired the same move once more, and once more Ash was ready to counter it.
"Double Team, then Hidden Power."
Once again Swellow made copies of itself to take Zapdos' attack, and once again the real Swellow sent twelve little orbs at Zapdos.
Zapdos managed to avoid three of them, but nine still hit.
It would need a power-up.
"Zapdos, use Charge."
Zapdos landed, folded its wings and began to crackle with electricity, building its power.
"Swellow, Hidden Power again."
This time Tobias was ready.
"Detect."
Zapdos' eyes glowed green, allowing it to sense the oncoming attack as if in slow motion and dodge it seamlessly.
Ash was grinding his teeth in annoyance.
"Did you really think Zapdos would be that easy to defeat?" asked Tobias "Zapdos, Thunder."
"Double Team!"
A massive bolt of lightning flashed through the air at Swellow. The bird-like Pokémon just made its copies in time, with four fakes vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"Ominous Wind." yelled Ash.
Swellow's wings became surrounded in an eerie purple glow. Flapping its wind rapidly and repeatedly created a cyclone of purple energy which struck Zapdos, knocking it off balance.
"Wow." remarked Barry up in the stands "I didn't expect Swellow to use that move."
"It certainly looked strong." added Dawn.
"And it gets better." said Brock "See how the purple glow has stayed around Swellow?"
Barry and Dawn nodded.
"That's the bonus of Ominous Wind. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally that move might boost Swellow's attack, special attack, defense, special defense and speed stats. This battle just got a whole lot trickier."
Tobias frowned. Swellow could dodge Zapdos' electricity too well, no matter how powerful the attack was, and now that all Swellow's stats had increased, he would have to change strategy.
"Zapdos, Drill Peck."
Zapdos took to the sky again and flew towards Swellow.
"Quick Attack."
Speed stat heightened, Swellow shot towards Zapdos like a bullet out of a gun.
Zapdos began to spin, so that Drill Peck could do the necessary damage.
Swellow, though, was too fast. After holding a straight course which made it look like both Pokémon would strike in midair, Swellow dodged downward slightly, struck Zapdos' flank and was gone before the larger Pokémon knew what had happened.
"Hidden Power."
Once again twelve orbs raced towards Zapdos, and each one struck.
"Zapdos, ascend."
Flapping its wings with powerful strokes Zapdos soared upwards.
"Swellow, Ominous Wind."
Again, Swellow's wings became surrounded by an eerie purple aura, and with repeated flaps, a purple twister shot towards Zapdos and struck it.
Zapdos continued to climb higher.
"Sky Attack." commanded Tobias.
Zapdos became surrounded by a white glow.
"Use Aerial Ace to meet it head on." yelled Ash to Swellow.
Spreading its wings, Swellow began a fast flight through the air, wind rippling around its body.
Zapdos dove downward, surrounded in the white glow and leaving a long trail behind it.
Swellow soared upwards, intending to meet Zapdos head on.
Ash waited for the right moment, then called out;
"Double Team."
Once again the real Swellow was lost amongst several copies of itself, and Zapdos sailed through them without harming the real one.
"Now use Hidden Power."
Swellow spun in midair and once again sent twelve glowing orbs at Zapdos.
"Detect." countered Tobias.
Zapdos' eyes shone green again, and it easily avoided Hidden Power.
"Now use Charge Beam."
This time the electrical attack struck its mark, and Swellow dropped from the sky and hit the ground hard.
Zapdos' body glowed yellow as its special attack stat increased.
After a few tense moments, Swellow got up, and shrieked in anticipation, flapping its wings in defiance and clearly ready for more.
Ash nearly called out an attack for Swellow, but remembered how often he fell into this trap with his Buizel. The otter-like Pokémon often acted ready for more after taking serious damage, and Ash would let him continue fighting, only for Buizel to faint moments later. The same had occurred with Gliscor in battle against Paul and his Electivire.
Ash would not make that mistake this time.
"Swellow, return."
Swellow vanished back inside the Pokéball as the crowd cheered.
"What a strategy." came the voice of the announcer "Ash and Swellow's repeated use of speedy attacks, Double Team and Hidden Power certainly threw Tobias and his Zapdos. But in the end, Ash made the wise choice to switch. What will he use to counter Zapdos now?"
Ash grabbed the Pokéball containing the Pokémon he considered to be the best choice and threw it.
"Torkoal, I choose you."
In a flash of white light, tortoise-like fire type Torkoal appeared with a cry.
"Coal!"
"Torkoal, Flamethrower!"
Torkoal spat a vicious plume of orange and red flames from its mouth towards Zapdos.
"Extrasensory."
Zapdos' eyes glowed with a golden light. The electric type then opened its beak and launched a multi-colored beam of telekinetic energy at Torkoal.
Flamethrower and Extrasensory collided with each other and exploded, covering the field in smoke.
"More high-energy attacks!" cried the commentator.
"Zapdos, Charge Beam."
"Heat Wave."
Once again Zapdos' wings crackled with electrical sparks. The huge bird thrust its wings in the direction of its opponent, sending a huge beam of electrical energy at Torkoal.
At the same moment, Torkoal opened its mouth to reveal a ball of orange flame. It then released a wind of flames from the ball.
Both attacks met. Unlike before with Flamethrower and Extrasensory, Charge Beam cut straight through Heat Wave and struck Torkoal. However, Torkoal's fiery attack raged forth, seemingly unaffected by the electrical attack that had passed through it.
Before either Tobias or his Zapdos had a chance to even think of countering or dodging, the searing flames carried in the wind struck Zapdos, causing it to screech in agony and drop to the ground.
"Torkoal, Body Slam."
With surprising agility for such a cumbersome-looking Pokémon, Torkoal jumped high into the air and landed on top of Zapdos, forcing it to face-plant into the ground.
"Zapdos Thunder."
"Flamethrower."
As Zapdos' body began to crackle with immense electrical energy, Torkoal unleashed another plume of orange and red flame from its mouth, and struck Zapdos at close range.
There were two advantages to this attack; Zapdos' attack was interrupted, and the strength of the flames acted like the flames used to launch rockets, and Torkoal quickly flew out of harm's way.
"Zapdos get up!" yelled Tobias.
With effort, Zapdos pushed itself back upright, spread it wings and gave a defiant screech.
This defiance, however, quickly became a scream of pain as flames once again engulfed it for a moment.
"Ha-ha! Great job Torkoal." Ash cheered as the match commentator's voice once again rang out across the stadium.
"Torkoal's fiery attacks certainly have left their mark; Zapdos has received a serious burn."
Cheers from the watching crowd rang out through the stadium.
Tobias seemed to be getting frustrated.
"Zapdos use Drill Peck."
Zapdos beat its powerful wings once again and took flight, aiming for Torkoal.
As the huge bird began to spin Ash called for his next move.
"Iron Defense."
In an instant, Torkoal had tucked its head and legs inside its shell, which shone faintly with a white glow.
The spinning Zapdos struck Torkoal, but the increase in Torkoal's defense provided by Iron Defense meant that the Drill Peck attack did little more than spin Torkoal around, which worked to Ash's advantage.
"Torkoal use Heat Wave."
Torkoal's head came out of its shell and its mouth opened to reveal another orange ball of flame. Before Zapdos could right itself from its spinning attack, the fiery winds of Torkoal's Heat Wave struck it from behind.
Zapdos crashed to the ground and shook itself free of the effects of Heat Wave. Zapdos stood up again, only to be instantly seared by the effects of its burn.
"Flamethrower." Ash commanded again.
Once more Torkoal opened its mouth, and once more a plume of orange and red flames shot towards Zapdos.
This time Zapdos did not get up.
"Zapdos is unable to battle." announced the referee "Torkoal wins."
Another huge, excited cheer rose up from the crowds as Zapdos' picture on the scoreboard joined Darkrai's in becoming a silhouette, opposite the transparent pictures of Ash's Heracross and Swellow, and the full color picture of Torkoal.
"Great job Torkoal. You did it!" cheered Ash, only to cringe again as Torkoal began to cry tears of joy and emit a plume of smoke from its back.
"Wow, he's really doing it." commented Barry.
"Ash is on a roll." added Dawn.
"Ash is doing well," agreed Brock "But don't forget, Tobias still has four Pokémon left with full health, whereas three of Ash's Pokémon have been heavily worn down."
"You're doing surprisingly well Ash." remarked Tobias "But that ends now."
Having recalled the fainted Zapdos to its Pokéball, he grabbed another.
"Go, ExtremeSpeed."
The new Pokémon erupted from its Pokéball and had struck Torkoal before anyone could blink. The fire type tumbled across the ground and wound up stuck on its back.
Tobias' new Pokémon leapt back away from Torkoal, and was finally still enough to identify it.
Ash stared at it in disbelief.
"Suicune." he muttered in awe.
"Wow. A Suicune." gasped Dawn up in the stands "You don't see one of those every day."
She grabbed her Pokédex.
Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon. It travels the world and purifies water where ever it goes.
"That thing was so fast I should fine someone!" shouted an overexcited Barry.
"That's odd." remarked Brock "That Suicune is a different color to normal Suicune."
"Alternate coloration?" suggested Dawn "Like Ash's Noctowl?"
"I'd say so." replied Brock "And there's something else special about this Suicune. They don't normally use ExtremeSpeed."
"A Pokémon that uses moves it shouldn't?" shouted Barry "Someone should fine him for ten trillion poke-dollars!"
Ash scowled. A Suicune, after those other two? Were all Tobias' Pokémon legendary?
"Suicune, Hydro Pump."
Suicune's mouth opened and a powerful, spiraling jet of water shot out, heading straight for Torkoal.
"Smokescreen." yelled Ash.
A still upside-down Torkoal emitted plumes of black smoke from its mouth and vanished from sight.
The jet of water vanished inside the smoke and came out the other side.
It had to have missed Torkoal.
Without giving a thought to recalling Torkoal to its Pokéball and out of harm's way, Ash decided to go all-out with a devastating attack.
"Torkoal, Overheat."
A blast of white fire with a spiral of orange flame around it shot out from within the smoke and slammed into Suicune's flank. Suicune howled in pain, but turned to its foe once again when Tobias called for its next attack.
"Air Slash."
With a roar, Suicune formed a grey orb of energy before it. The orb shot forward into the smoke, blowing its away and striking Torkoal.
"Heat Wave." yelled Ash, but nothing happened as Torkoal gave a wince and shuddered.
"Torkoal flinched!" gasped Dawn.
"Hydro Pump." came Tobias' next command.
For Torkoal, there was no escaping the spiraling jet of water this time.
The powerful attack slammed into the tortoise-like Pokémon, threw it through the air to slam against the arena wall.
Torkoal slumped to the ground, out cold.
The referee raised a flag "Torkoal is unable to battle. Suicune wins."
The crowd went wild as the match commentator's voice once again rang out over the stadium "And that's the first win of this match for Tobias. Ash needs to think carefully for how to counter Suicune's amazing power."
A/N: And there we go. I decided to split the win over Zapdos between Swellow and Torkoal because, let's face it, whilst both are good, they are not Sceptile/Heracross/Charizard good.
I don't pretend to have a clue how Hidden Power works, all I know is that it can be of the ice type when certain stats and things are right and Swellow with an ice type move was just what I wanted for this situation.
Ash has also made his first major mistake of the battle by not switching out Torkoal, resulting in his first loss. How will Ash counter Suicune (I think that you can probably guess…)
Until next time… see ya!