AN: I do not own anything by Nintendo or any other companies involved, otherwise I would've done a few tweaks. So, yeah, I own nothing that is related in any way to Pokémon except the characters I own, which this time around will not be involved. This is basically an attempt to do a battle of opposites.
Pokémon
Champion of the Past
Chapter 2: Against the Champion's Starters
Moments after seeing his opponent tip his head to head up there, Ash took one look at his Pikachu, who appeared to be raring to go, before walking up the steps. Ash thought things over, however, no matter how he looked at it, this would be his first time fighting an adversary that was a Champion of the Pokémon League. He had no idea how this battle will play out in comparison to not only Ash's style, but also Red's will be induced in this battle. This battle of opposites, both Ash and Red thought, though unaware that the other was thinking that exact same thing.
When Ash had climbed to the top, he saw Red was situated where he was supposed to on the "host's" battle position in the ring. However, his Pikachu had climbed off his shoulder and took to the side, not in the ring, so Ash knew he would not be using his Pikachu first. In sense, Ash's Pikachu climbed off his shoulder, and also stood to the side, which meant to Red that this trainer was not wanting to use his Pikachu first either. But after some time, Ash watched as Red reached to his belt for a Pokeball, and without any hesitation, he tossed it upwards.
It opened suddenly, and the bright, white-plasma aimed towards the stage, which eventually took the form of something Ash did not expect. "Saurrr…" Standing on its side of the field was the large, almost dinosaur-like creature with a giant flower on its back. Ash immediately recognized the creature; it was a Venasaur, a grass-type Pokemon, and most definitely a powerful one at that. Ash knew that in this cavern, it would not be able to perform a powerful Solarbeam, but at this point, it could know any attack.
"Battle before introductions, huh Red? If you want to know my name, it's Ash Ketchum, a Trainer from Pallet Town, and a recent contender of the Pokémon League… And I don't know if you'll recognize any Pokémon on my team…" Ash spoke, also reaching for a Pokeball as Red caught the container that held his Venasaur. Ash had picked the Pokémon that would start things for his side. He saw Red unimpressed by his words, and silent like when he first met him, and Ash knew he was more serious about battling at the moment.
"Let's do this, Staraptor!" Ash yelled, throwing the Pokeball in the air and watched as it opened up, and took forms a large bird in the air, flapping its wings. Red, of course, didn't seem to recognize this particular species of Pokémon, but regardless, he knew it was a flying type, leaving his Venasaur at the disadvantage. But Red knew that this trainer who calls himself Ash did not know that it, along with two others, know their respective ultimate abilities. Red gave a smile as he saw his Venasaur look back at him, only receiving a nod from its trainer. Ash didn't exactly understand, but so far, Red still has said nothing, but he'd have to if he wants to win.
"Saur!" The cry took Ash by surprise when he watched the Venasaur immediately release four vines from its back, immediately reaching out as if to constrict his Staraptor.
"Ah! Staraptor dodge it!" Ash commanded, but watched as two of the vines managed to at least lash the body of the dodging bird Pokémon, but was not able to grasp it. The bird Pokémon cried a little in pain from the strike, but despite that, it wasn't over from Venasaur's assault; retracting its vines a little, and before Ash knew it, it released a flurry of leaves towards his Staraptor. Still acting on the defensive, Staraptor easily maneuvered to avoid the leaves, flapping its wings to fly to the side.
"Go in for a Quick Attack!" Ash commanded, and responding, the bird Pokémon released a bird-like howl before it dove down towards the slow-to-move Pokémon. Ash was hoping for a successful strike. However, it was evident Red had something else in mind, because he watched s the rival trainer raised his hand and snapped his fingers. With that, the vines that Venasaur had out, immediately dove into the ground, and large, branch-like spines erupted from the ground, right in front of it and in exact proper timing when Staraptor was just about to strike the almost defenseless, slow-moving Pokémon.
Ash recognized the attack; Frenzy Plant, the strongest of all the plant-based abilities, and despite it being a disadvantageous move against bird-types, it had a surprising result on Staraptor. It was knocked aside, back in front of Ash. He watched as it struggled to get back up, and it was clear by how deeply it was breathing, it wouldn't take much to finish it. Ash knew as well as Red that it took a while for any Gras-types that use that ability to recover, and perhaps that could be the changing factor.
"Hang in there Staraptor, and give things another shot with your Arial Ace!" Ash exclaimed to his weakened bird Pokémon, which despite being rather hurt, it was strong enough to fly up again, and charged towards the Venasaur again, but it had recovered just in time. Red, once again, snapped his fingers, and Ash knew what to expect this time, and as did the bird Pokémon, which diverted off course with the attack as the spines erupted from the ground once again, however, it failed to connect with Staraptor a second time. Now unprotected, the bird quickly turned around and dove towards the grass-type, and successfully made contact, knocking to a little off balance.
"Saur…!" It cried in surprise when the Staraptor's wings slashed it, much to Red's surprise a little, but regardless, he smiled to see a Pokémon finally get in a successful hit, even if just one, against any of his Pokémon. Despite it not nearly in bad condition in comparison to Ash's Staraptor, Red held his Pokeball out, pressing the button to recall his plant type Pokémon. Ash didn't understand the sudden recall, but Red had already had another Pokeball in hand, which he tossed as Venasaur disappeared into its capsule.
The ball opened in midair, which the white plasma then assumed the form of a large turner with a rather large shell, and two shoulder cannons. Ash knew this was his Blastoise, three of four of the Pokémon Red was said to be in possession of according to Gary. Blastoise was a bit faster, but was still slow, yet it was quite defensive due to its large shell, which it could withdraw into when in trouble. However, before Ash could respond, the turtle Pokemon withdrew into its shell, yet it began to spin swiftly, and was charging to the unprepared Staraptor with a frantic Rapid Spin. Ash tried to order it to dodge, but with no avail as the turtle Pokemon struck his bird in the chest, knocking it before Ash. The Staraptor made a last attempt to stand up, but didn't succeed this time, as Blastoise returned to its position on Red's side of the field.
Ash reached for its Pokeball, saying, "Staraptor, return!" He pressed the button, his bird Pokemon returning to the ball with no hesitation. Ash looked at the ball and said, "You did well." He set the container back to his belt, and he thought of how he would deal with this; he was not going to send in Pikachu against it despite the type advantage it had over the water type. No, Ash had a different decision in mind, having picked out the Pokémon he'd use this time against this water type. Last time he went up against a Blastoise he used his Charizard, yet he would not risk it here, considering that Red has plenty more experience when it comes to battling.
He reached for a Pokeball, and as he tossed it after having it enlarge, Ash cried out, "Let's do this, Sceptile!" The Pokeball opened to expose the five-foot, seven-inch tall grass Pokémon that stood on its hind legs. Its main body and head had a serpent-like look to it, but the tail was on the ground looked rather odd, like a sort of bush. It didn't take Red long to realize this was a grass-type, the advantage against his Blastoise. Despite not seeing these Pokémon before, Red never once did pull out his PokeDex, but Ash thought perhaps he has seen them before.
"I don't know why you recalled your Venasuaur despite the fact it was still in good condition, but you must have a reason to do so…" Ash couldn't help but note aloud, but once again, the adversary of his standing before him was silent as usual. However, instead of any of the past actions like he gave his Venasaur, Red tipped his hat to Blastoise when the water type looked back at him. The water type just nodded as it looked at its adversary.
"Don't hold back anything, Sceptile… Use Leaf Blade!" Ash commanded, pointing his finger out towards the Blastoise, and, despite its fairly average size, Sceptile moved surprisingly quickly, more than Red or Blastoise anticipated. Even when the water Pokémon released its Hydro Pump from its two shoulder cannons, the grass-type rushed to the side to dodge it, the two blade-like leaves on its arms glowing green. Just when Ash was sure that Sceptile would get in uninterrupted, he watched as Blastoise withdrew its cannons, and grasped the grass Pokémon's wrists, stopping the attack in its tracks. Even though both were strong, Blastoise was able to swing Sceptile around and slammed the grass type into the ground with a Submission.
Ash heard it cry out in pain, and despite the injury, it was still in fairly decent shape, as Blastoise then tossed it back to Ash's side of the field, showing its strength was not something to laugh about. Sceptile got back up in no time, but Ash knew that in here, Solar Beam would utterly be useless because no sunlight shone in. He had to use another plan, and then it came to him; a Leaf Storm might work out in place of Leaf Blade, as it doesn't require going in and risking to be hit by another Submission.
"Don't give up, use Leaf Storm, Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed to his grass-type, and with that, Sceptile appeared to understand, and the leaves on his back and tail began to glow green, as well as the leaves on its arm. Ash was certain that even if the leaves don't do much, he would hope to use it as a distraction for Sceptile to go in and try another Leaf Blade on the off-guard Blastoise. In hardly any time, leaves began to flurry in numerous amount across the field, more around Red's side surrounding his Blastoise. But it appeared to be standing strong regardless, as far as Red saw and knew. This attack was rather unfamiliar to Red, despite having a Grass Pokémon of his own, and honestly had no idea what Ash was up to.
But before Red knew it, he heard Ash command, "Rush in there and try another Leaf Blade!" Red then saw the plan of Ash's; the leaves were a mere distraction for his Blastoise and intended for a more successful attack. A well-coordinated combo, Red thought inwardly, but he kept his eyes open to ensure where Sceptile intended to attack this time. He could see his Blastoise was also looking around, however, Red was amazed to see that Sceptile took it off-guard by attacking it from the side, as the leaves began to fall and things became more noticeable. The blades of this leaf Pokémon made sure contact against the turtle Pokémon, though it was partially against the shell.
"Blaaast…!" The water Pokémon cried in surprise, with the grass-type quickly retreating back to Ash's side of the field, watching just how things would go on. Ash thought that Red would do the same thing as his Venasaur, however, watched as Red did not reach for another Pokeball this time. Instead, Red snapped his fingers, followed by a tip of his hat to his Blastoise, who was still faring well. Ash noticed the difference, and wondered just what Red was up to, but watched as the Blastoise drew its cannons once again, and for certain Ash was certain another Hydro Pump was going to be aimed at Sceptile. But rather than just water, what appeared to be cyan-colored, high-pressurized aquatic jets rushed towards Sceptile at a much faster speed than that of Hydro Pump.
"Sceptile, dodge it!" Ash commanded, but despite the effort, Sceptile was hit by the water jets and appeared to be injured from the blast. Ash had no idea that this attack was Hydro Cannon, a stronger version of Hydro Pump that works like Venasaur's Frenzy Plant, but for water Pokémon. Ash saw his Scceptile was looking exhausted; just how was Red so good when he wasn't even voice-commanding his Pokémon? But Ash saw the flaw with the Blastoise; it was exhausted like how Venasaur was when it used Frenzy Plant, so perhaps it was the same when it used this particular attack.
"Sceptile, let's finish this up by using another Leaf Blade!" Ash commanded, and despite the damage it took, Sceptile charged again on the Blastoise with quite a bit of speed. Red expected the Sceptile would be hit by the full blast, but the fact it was still going strong had Red underestimated its power. He couldn't recall his Blastoise nor did the Blastoise have enough tie to recover as Sceptile delivered the powerful blow to the water-type. This was enough to knock it onto its back, where it was having difficulty getting back up.
"Blaaaast…" It grunted weakly, and Red knew it was not in a condition to fight now, and recalled it by merely holding the Pokeball out and pressed the button. He set the ball on his belt after it compressed, and had another ball ready which he threw and opened up. Ash watched as the white plasma took the shape of the orange, dragon-like beast with wings, and a flame coming from the end of its tail. A Charizard, and now Ash was at the disadvantage because not only was Chrizard fast despite its size, but it was a fire type that could easily burn his Sceptile to faint.
Ash went to recall his Sceptile, but not before Red's Charizard quickly lunged at it and slashed the grass type, causing it to collapse before it was enveloped in the red plasma from Ash's Pokeball. Ash did not expect Red's Charizard to be that fast; Buizel may not be the best choice at this point. He thought about it, and though he didn't use it often, he figured it was as good a choice as any. He reached for the necessary Pokeball, and pressed the button to enlarge it.
"I didn't think I'd have to use you against this kind of opponent… Let's go, Gliscor!" Ash spoke, tossing the Pokeball, which opened up to expose his second aerial Pokémon. At first glance, it appeared to be an odd mixture of a bat and a scorpion, with bright golden eyes. Not needed to explain that Red hadn't seen this Pokémon either, and didn't even budge when he saw it fly surprisingly close to its trainer. Red watched as the Gliscor seemed quite affectionate towards Ash, and when he did, he couldn't help but smile; Ash seemed to treat his Pokémon with as much respect as Red did with his Pokémon. Inwardly, Red decided that he would go all out, and would have his Pokémon go until they're incapable of fighting any longer. Ash did not know that Red would be like that now, as he managed to get Gliscor to be in battle position.
This time, it was Red who was on the offensive, which had his Charizard use its wings to fly swiftly towards the smaller in size Gliscor. But it was Gliscor's turn to fly swiftly out of the way, flying further up, with Charizard trailing behind it. Ash was not commanding Gliscor, as the scorpion-bat hybrid of a Pokémon then quickly turned to face it, and riskily let out a terrible screech, which Ash and Red quickly retaliated to plug their ears, but Charizard wasn't as lucky, as it appeared to be wincing from the terrible noise.
"That's it, now use X-Scissor!" Ash commanded, and it was as if Gliscor understood, swinging both its claws swiftly in a cross pattern, which struck Charizard in the chest while it was unprotected. The fire type had lost its balance, and though it fell for a moment, it quickly recovered and landed on the ground with a heavy impact on its feet. Red noted that was another good combo, despite the X-Scissor hardly doing much to his Charizard, as the two assumed their respective places. Gliscor picked up a bit of the loose sand off the ground when it came close to the ground, trying to show off a little, but looked prepared after.
Ash was doing better, Red also took notice in that, and was using some combos that Red had not been able to train against to counter. Despite that, Red still had more to show this trainer, and was not intent on losing so easily either. He single handedly defeated his rival, Blue in the semifinals, and he also used a diversity of Pokémon types, yet he did not know what to expect in the end. Charizard looked back to its trainer, which Red merely responded with a small thumb's up, and Ash was already getting lost with all these actions Red was doing. Did he train his Pokémon to understand sign language or something?
Regardless, Ash watched as Red's Charizard took to the skies again, but it did not charge towards Gliscor this time; instead, Ash watched as a flamethrower erupted from the dragon-like Pokémon's mouth, aimed directly at his Gliscor. Again, Gliscor moved to dodge, and looked as though it was about to screech again, but Ash quickly shook his head.
"Dodge the flames and go in to deliver a Fire Fang!" Ash spoke, and Red clearly did not understand this means of attack; a fire attack used against a fire Pokémon? However, Red remained on edge as Ash's Gliscor charged towards his Charizard, its fangs burning with a noticeable flame. Red waited until it was in range, before he quickly snapped his fingers. Charizard let out a loud roar, which was then followed by an attack that Ash initially thought would be a Fire Blast, but instead, was an oddly bright, almost white flame that appeared to be coming out of Charizard in a fashion Ash did not see before; two smaller flamethrowers swirling in a beam-like motion. Though Gliscor tried to dodge, it was struck by part of the blast, crying out in pain as the bat-scorpion hybrid fell to the ground, which it barely had enough time to land. However, despite the move being exhausting for his Charizard, it charged towards the Gliscor, and quickly grabbed it as it flew higher up.
Ash watched as the Charizard flew in a number of circular motions before it began to fly down to the ground. "Gliscor, use your tail to break free!" Ash commanded, having seen that Gliscor's tail was the only thing available to be used in this grab. Gliscor, though weakened, responded as its tail then struck against Charizard's torso, causing it to wince and release Gliscor, which did not hesitate to react as it quickly charged, becoming enveloped in a large gust of wind. Ash knew this was its Giga Impact, which the blow successfully struck Red's Charizard.
However, rather than just Charizard falling towards the ground, so did Gliscor, both collapsed and unable to battle, though Gliscor was struggling to get back up, but with no avail. In the end, Red was the first to recall his Charizard, before Ash recalled his Gliscor; Ash knew that Red still had his Venasaur in decent shape, with Ash down three Pokémon and Red down two and one a little hurt. Despite the tough battle between them, Ash knew he was at the disadvantage as he watched Red send out his Venasaur once more, looking as though it's ready to finish things up.
Ash decided that he might as well, so he grabbed the all-familiar Pokeball of his, and then tossed it. "Come on Charizard, let's do this." Ash spoke, and watched as his ball opened to expose his very own Charizard, which Red smiled at the fact he was dealing with a Pokemon he recognizes. However, he was sure that how Ash would've trained it would most likely be different that how he did, Red knew. Ash's Charizard let out a loud roar towards he Venasaur, but knew it had to obey Ash, even though it didn't do so when it first evolved.
Red had no choice, yet he was not going to recall his Venasaur despite being at a type disadvantage, he just had to go with what he's got. Red clapped his hands, and Ash was getting tired of this, but watched as his Venasaur began to launch some seeds towards Charizard; Leach Seed he realized. Yet his Charizard responded by blowing a flamethrower at the seeds, burning them to a crisp before they attached to it. Venasaur could not move far though, so a flamethrower could finish it up, Ash figured.
"Charizard, take to the skies and use Flamethrower!" Ash commanded, and with a roar for a reply, Charizard used its wings to fly upwards, and opened its mouth to release the hot flames from its mouth. Red knew it was inevitable, and because Ash was so focused, he did not see Red lip the words, "…forgive me…" When the flames made contact with the Venasaur, it cried out in severe pain, and at this point, Red had no choice but to recall it for good. It returned to its ball, and at this point, things were now all evened up; three Pokémon have been used to their fullest extent from both trainers, and three remained between them each including their Pikachus. Ash kept Charizard on the field, waiting for what Red was going to use against him; all his starters were used, and have been brought down, so now it was time to expose the other two he did have left. Ash breathed deeply as Red reached for a Pokeball, and tossed it which had opened in the air, the white plasma taking form of his Pokémon, which Ash was taken off guard by…