Master's Tourney

The sun pierced through the mid day sky. A nearby river brimmed with wild Goldeen, jumping in and out of the water, almost dancing to Micah's thumping heartbeat. Over the small hill that led to Pallet Town, Micah could see a figure in the distance. But it wasn't only one, there were two people walking towards them. After a few seconds one of the figures began to gain distance fast as the other lagged behind. Within no time a boy reached the bottom of the hill that crested Pallet Town. He had black unruly hair topped with a red cap. He wore jeans, and a blue shirt covered by a black jacket. On his shoulder was Pikachu and a red headed girl who wore a light blue tank top and jean shorts accompanied him.

Ash's mother ran out to greet her son. "Oh Ash, I've missed you so much. How have you and Pikachu been? You look thin, good thing I cooked you your favorites. Have you been changing your underwear?" Delia pleaded.

"Of course mom and I'm fine," said Ash. "Hi Professor, good to see you again." Ash turned to Micah. "Hey, ugh, I'm Ash."

Micah smiled, "Nice to meet you, I'm Micah."

"You see Ash," said Oak "Micah here is just starting his journey now, and I told him you may be up for a little battle."

Ash's suddenly seemed spry, "I'm always ready for a battle, you know that Professor." Ash looked at Pikachu, "Right buddy?" Pikachu smiled 'Pika, Pika'

"Wait, just a minute young man, Mr. Mime and I cooked you a full meal, you are eating before you battle." Delia turned, "Professor Oak, and Micah, you are more than welcome to join us." Delia turned back, "And of course, Misty too. How have you been dear?"

Misty, the red headed girl smiled, "I've been well Mrs. Ketchum. Working the gym and all, but I managed to get my sisters to take over for at least a few days so I could see Ash. I was hoping to see the others too, but it seems they all went their separate ways for now."

Delia returned the smile, "Ah, yes, separated for about a week at most. I'm sure someone will pop up out of nowhere, but the more the merrier. I'm just so happy to see my Ash."

"Let's go eat!" said Ash, and they all followed to the Ketchum's home.

….

Delia had cooked everything Micah could imagine: a smorgasbord fit for a king. Everyone began to chow down, but Micah wasn't all that hungry, all he wanted to do was have a battle with Ash—his first real battle. "So Ash" said Micah "How long have you been away?"

Delia answered, "Too long!"

Ash shook off his mom, "Well I'm going to be sixteen soon, so about six years. Of course I come home between journeys, but most of my time is spent away, backpacking with friends."

Micah questioned, "Where have you been? I know Professor Oak said you've battled all over the world, was it all with Misty?"

Misty smiled, but Ash answered, "Nope. Misty was with me for the Indigo League in Kanto, the Orange League, and the Johto League. I also traveled with Brock, who recently left to become a Pokémon doctor. Then I traveled with Professor Oak's assistant Tracey and a girl named May and her brother Max and another girl Dawn. Oh yeah, and I just finished a trip with Iris and Cilan!"

"Wow, all those people, and you've had Pikachu this all time?"

Ash gulped up some soup, "Yup, we started off a little rough, but we made it through."

"A little rough? Tell that to my bike." Interjected Misty

"Relax" said Ash "Nurse Joy fixed it, and I said I was sorry."

Before Misty could answer Micah fired another question, "Why isn't Pikachu in a pokeball?"

Ash shrugged, "He doesn't like it, so he always stays on my shoulder, ready for a battle." Ash jumped up, "And speaking of that battle, let's go Micah. Thanks for the food mom!"

"Wait" said Delia.

"Let them go" interjected Oak. "You know Ash can't turn down a battle."

Micah got up, said his thanks, and followed Ash outside, with Misty tagging behind him. Ash motioned for Micah to hurry up, "Come on, let's go to Professor Oak's lab, I want to say hi to some old friends."

Micah ran to keep up, panting from the heat of the midday sun. "What do you mean old friends?"

"My Pokémon of course. I haven't seen them in months, and some of my Pokémon have never met each other." Ash turned to Pikachu, "Right buddy?"

Pikachu nodded, 'Pika, Pika.'

All of this just amazed Micah; how much Ash loved his Pokémon. "So have you always been so tight with your Pokémon?"

"Yeah, he has been" said Misty, beating Ash to the answer. "It's gotten him into some serious trouble over the years."

Ash sighed, "Yeah Misty, but I would never have gotten so far without them."

"Well obviously."

Ash smiled, "Don't say you're not attached to your Pokémon too, Misty."

"Yeah, yeah. I do love my water Pokémon."

The trio reached the back of Oak's lab, curling down dirt paths lined with trees. Micah was amazed to be surrounded by all these different kinds of Pokémon. It was tantalizing from afar, but up close Micah just wanted to try and catch them all. Sadly, he knew most of them weren't wild, so they couldn't be caught.

As they curved down the last winding path a sound rumbled in the distance, and the earth began to quake under their feet. Micah looked up, terrified at the rising sand and smoke that seemed to be escalating from a stampede. Micah stopped, "What is that?"

Ash and Misty smiled. Ash answered, "My Pokémon."

"Your Pokémon? I knew you had a lot but all of those are yours?"

But Ash had no time to answer; within seconds his old friends overran him. Misty smiled and looked over to Micah, "He really loves his Pokémon."

Micah's eyes opened wide, "Yeah, it seems he does."

After all the hellos, Ash managed to break free of the strangle hold, coughing from all the dust. He got up panting, "Well Micah, these are my Pokémon." Micah stared as a few ran over to Misty, most of which Micah had never seen. "Oh, wait their not all my Pokémon." Ash reached on his belt and unclipped five balls, "I forgot about these." Ash called out all his Pokémon, and before Micah could say anything he realized Ash had enough Pokémon to start his own league.

Ash looked over at the Pokémon he just set free and said, "Everyone, these are my new Pokémon; Sewaddle, Oshuwatt, Tepig, Uzenfant, Snivy, Roggenrola and Scraggy."

All the Pokémon began greeting and playing with each other. Ash spit out some dirt and turned to Micah, "Ready for our battle?"

Micah stared, "Ugh, I don't know."

"Come on, you'll do fine."

"I…" But before Micah could reply Misty stepped in. "Ash, how about we battle first. I'm sure you'd love to see me beat you again and Micah might like to watch a battle first to settle in."

Ash sighed and mumbled, "You did not beat me Misty, but it's a good idea. Okay with you, Micah?"

Micah nodded, "Yeah."

"So which Pokémon are you going to use, Ash?" said Misty

"You'll see. Meet me at Oak's battlefield in a few minutes."

"Oh, a secret." said Misty laughing.

…

Ash had gone off choosing his Pokémon so Misty was left alone with Micah. Misty was playing with her hair, trying to fix her ponytail, and Micah couldn't help but feel awkward. The way he saw it, Misty was Ash's girlfriend, but he didn't want to ask, so he figured he'd change the subject. "So which Pokémon are you going to use against Ash, a Charizard or a Machamp?"

Misty pulled her hair tight, smiling, "Nope, I only use water Pokémon."

Micah scrunched his eyebrows, "Really? That's cool, but why?"

"No reason, just like water Pokémon. They're beautiful, I guess."

"Oh."

"Let's go try and find this battlefield Ash was talking about. I've been here several times and I've never seen one."

Misty walked forward leading the way. Over the trees a bolt of lightning broke through the hot fog, causing Misty to look up. "Well, I guess it's over there. That's got to be Pikachu."

"Wait that little Pikachu did all of that?" gaped Micah

"You have no idea. That little Pikachu is very, very powerful. It's going to be a problem for me and my water types if Ash chooses to use him."

Micah nodded, he had no idea what she was talking about, but she looked confident.

After a few minutes they reached the battlefield; it was like nothing Micah had ever seen. It was a perfect grass field, with rocks jutting out left and right, and a large pool of water in the middle. Ash was standing on one side with Pikachu by his side. Ash called out, "Are you ready to battle Misty, it's been too long."

"Yes, it has, all the way back to the Whirl Cup if I remember correctly. I hope you like my changes."

Misty stepped up to one end of the field, and Micah went to the middle. Ash hollered out, "Micah, you've got to be the ref, ok?"

"Referee? Okay, I'll try my best."

Ash stepped up, "You ready Misty?"

Misty smiled, "Bring it."

Micah peered over at Ash; he looked so intense, but yet so confident that he'd win. He then looked to Misty who didn't look worried; she too, seemed to brim with confidence. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to say something to start the battle, but he figured it was worth a try, so he yelled out, "Begin the battle…please."

Misty looked over and giggled, "Ladies first, Starmie, I choose you!"

From Misty's pokeball came out a Starmie. Ash looked over and smiled; he spun his cap around and yelled, "Charizard, I choose you!"

Micah didn't know much about battling, but logically water beat fire. He looked at Misty and she seemed to be thinking the same thing, but she only shook her smirk off and called out, "Starmie, let's get this over with quick. Use hydro pump!"

But Ash countered yelling out, "Dodge it Charizard, fly up high."

Charizard zoomed to the sky with supernatural speed. Micah stared in awe, how could a Pokémon that large, move that fast? It amazed him, but annoyed Misty who called over as she stomped her foot, "Running away much?"

Ash raised his hand above his eyes to cover the sun and hollered back, "Nope. Charizard use Dragon Pulse!"

Misty and Starmie looked; transfixed on the sky, but no such attack came. "Ugh, Ash," said Misty, "Where's Charizard?"

Ash only smirked. Two seconds later came a roar behind Starmie and a massive turquoise ball of energy shot Starmie square in the back. It wobbled, and fell over, leaving Misty to gape in awe. Micah could see her whisper to herself, "How…where…Ash?" But Misty wasn't about to give up in one move, no matter how off kilter it left her. "Get up Starmie!" She bellowed. Her Pokemon wavered, but managed to stand. "Good job Starmie. Now use rain dance!" Starmie began to shift from side to side, forcing the weather around the battlefield to morph into a hazy rain.

The rain shifted from a light drizzle to a heavy down pour within seconds, blocking Micah's view of the battlefield. Micah noticed that Starmie appeared to be at ease, but Charizard looked antsy, and even a little annoyed. He could not imagine fighting an angry Charizard, especially one as clearly well trained as Ash's.

"Nice counter, Misty," Hollered Ash through the rain, "But that's not going to stop us." Charizard roared, then flew up in the air and yelled, "Remember when you were just a Charmander, and your flame nearly went out in the rain! Remember how you fought through it, and summon all the fire you can, Charizard, and use overheat!"

Micah left his spot as the referee-he clearly was doing nothing-and ran over to get a better view of the great fire type. He had to see how Ash could manage to get Charizard to fight water with fire-it didn't seem possible. But just when he thought nothing would happen, Charizard's stomach turned a violent shade of bright orange, his eye's slinked to ominous slits and a jet of red flame burst through the rain, searing the drops to mist.

The fire, mixed with the rain left the battlefield filled with mist, so Micah was unaware if Charizards attack hit. But, two seconds later he heard Misty yell, "Nice dodge Starmie. Hit him with Thunder now!"

The sky rumbled, as hot lightning danced above the fog. Micah looked up to see lightning streaming down everywhere, shattering the once pristine battlefield. Then, over the sound of the torrential rain, and the pounding thunder he heard Charizard bellow with pure rage, and Ash scream, "That's it Charizard: dragon claw!"

Although Micah still couldn't see anything through the weather-beaten field, he heard Charizard's attack hit Starmie head on, and saw the water type go somersaulting through the air, and land on the floor, limp and beaten.

Micah ran over to Starmie, as did Misty and Ash. Misty stared at Ash, and muttered, "How, did Charizard...it was hard to see...but, I thought he was far away, on the other side of the field."

Ash broke into a grin, "What did you think Charizard was doing in Charicific Valley, sleeping?"

Charizard trudged over to Ash, and Micah shook his head in disbelief. "I don't get it Ash. How can it move so fast?"

Ash stroked Charizard's neck and a small plume of smoke rose from his nostrils. Ash smiled and responded, "Yeah. Liza trained him well."

"Liza? You didn't train Charizard?"

Ash laughed, "Nah, Charizard wanted to train with the strongest of his breed. So I let him go, he's come back several times to help me defeat my strongest opponents. But now, he's back permanently." Ash scratch under Charizard's horn, "Ain't that right bud?"

Misty's eyebrow shot up as she returned Starmie to its pokeball with thanks, "He's back permanently?"

"Yup! You are entering the Master's Tourney, right Misty?"

Misty's eyes narrowed, "Of course I am, Ash Ketchum."

Micah raised his hand, "Ugh…what's the 'Master's Tourney'?"

Both Misty and Ash turned to Micah. Ash raised his hands as an offering for Misty to speak. "Well," said Misty, "It's a tourney for Pokémon trainers all over the world. There are several tiers that you can qualify for. And you qualify by the five regions, as either a trainer or coordinator. The tiers are Master, Elite, Standard and Novice. You qualify for a tier based on your badges, and past championships. I for example would fall under the Elite bracket due to my standing as a gym leader, while Ash," she turned and pointed to him, "would be a Master due to his Orange League Championship and his defeating of the Frontier Brains of Kanto."

Micah shrugged, "I guess I qualify as Novice, or whatever falls below that. Guess I won't be entering."

Ash's eyes nearly flew out of his head, "Not entering! Are you crazy? This happens once every decade; you can't pass up this opportunity." His eyes took up a foggy look as if he spoke to someone in a different realm. "This is the only real opportunity to declare yourself THE Pokémon master!"

Micah lifted an eyebrow, "Maybe for you. What, am I supposed to defeat the world with one Bulbasaur?"

"No. But that's the fun of it all isn't it—that you have to train hard and prove yourself each step of the way. Do you think Misty and I were just given our Pokémon, it took us years to catch them!"

"Exactly! When does the competition take place?"

"Exactly one year to the day, today."

"And you honestly think I would be able to challenge someone of your caliber then?"

Ash shrugged, "Anything can happen. And look at it this way; all you have to do is be in the top 32 of your region to qualify for the Finals. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but you definitely can do it if you work hard. Once you make it to the finals there is another break for six months where you can train further."

"I don't know…won't the Elite Four slaughter everyone? That's four spots there, and then say the 8 gym leaders, that makes twelve. Then there are only 20 spots left!"

"It's at least worth a try. Now, are you going to battle me or what?"

Micah sighed, "What the heck, yeah why not."

"I'll be the ref then," said Misty. "Obviously this is a one on one battle. Get to your places, and let's begin!"

"Ready?" called over Ash, "you can go first. I'm going to try and teach you some stuff as we go, okay?"

Micah gulped, "Yeah." He took a deep breath, threw on his hood and yelled, "Bulbasaur, let's go!"

Out came Bulbasaur, glinting in the noon light. Ash raised a brow, "Wow, a shiny, cool. Professor Oak never manages to disappoint." He reached down and enlarged a pokeball, "Well, I figure we should battle equally. Bulbasaur, I choose you!"

And there they were, two Bulbasaur's. Ash's was considerably larger, and had a spark of confidence about him.

"Alright, Micah," said Ash, "You go first."

Micah nodded, and got ready to call an attack, then bent down and waved his Bulbasaur over instead. Bulbasaur ran over and stared and Micah, who sighed and spoke softly, petting his Pokémon on the head, "Listen bud, it's gonna take us time to become as powerful as Ash. I know your gonna do great though. Just give it your all, and let's see what we can do." Micah stood up and pushed Bulbasaur forward. He walked right up to his opponent and stared, and Micah called back from behind him, "Bulbasaur, use Sleep Powder!"

His Pokémon used sleep powder and for second Micah thought it would work, but Ash's Bulbasaur just dodged with ease. Micah cursed under his breath, but before he could call out another move Ash was hollering over at him. "Good, confidence is important." He looked back down at his own Bulbasaur and said, "Ok, Bulbasaur, let's show them how it's done, use Leech Seed!"

Ash's Bulbasaur shot out a seed in the sky that darted right towards Micah's Pokémon. But before Micah had time to think his Bulbasaur had responded and dodged the attack. Micah felt a grin creep up his lips and saw Ash look over stunned. Then Ash let loose a big grin and turned his hat around, apparently practice was over. Micah muttered to himself, going over his Pokémon's moves then remembered one and called, "Bulbasaur, use power whip!"

Two whips of green lightning shot from his Pokémon's bulb and ripped towards Ash's Pokémon. Ash didn't say anything, until the last moment when he said, "Grab it." And then Ash's Bulbasaur had a strict grip on Micah's wary Pokémon. Ash's Bulbasaur yanked Micah's in, then swung it up in the air and whipped it down towards the ground, like a green torpedo. With the impact of the ground Micah's Bulbasaur laid there, a lifeless hump on the grass. Micah ran over and returned it to its pokeball and sighed, "Sorry I suck Ash."

Ash and Misty walked over, and Ash bent down, his Pikachu leaning on his shoulder, and his Bulbasaur standing under his feet. "You don't suck at all, your Bulbasaur is fast. It dodged an attack that most new trainers would crack under, and my Bulbasaur here," he bent down to scratch Bulbasaur, "is no slouch. He could have evolved years ago."

Micah flipped off his hood and ruffled his hair. "I didn't do anything, Bulbasaur dodged it on it's on. I did freeze like a rookie."

"Come on Micah, you don't just walk into battling like a pro." Ash looked up, smiling and motioned to Misty, "Look at Misty here, she's been battling for ages and Charizard dominated her."

Misty stomped her foot. "Ash Ketchum that was luck. Don't you remember the first time we battled?"

"Awe, come on Misty that was ages ago."

"Yes, well there is no need to be forgetting so soon. Your head can only get so big, Ash."

"Thanks, Mist, but the point is, Micah, training takes years to master. I'm sure you'll be great in no time!"

"Well," said Micah, running his fingers through his hair, "I guess I better get moving on then." Micah stood up, and returned Bulbasaur to his pokeball then craned his neck back around towards Misty and Ash. "Umm. How do I know where to go? Do I just pick a city and head out towards it? Seems like a ton of walking to me."

Ash grinned and flicked his hat back around. "Unless you have a car. But even if you had one I'd suggest walking, there's nothing like sleeping in the forest with wild Pokémon all around you! Plus, you can't catch a Pokémon unless you can find it."

Micah nodded. "Seems logical, but still, how do I know where I'm going?"

Ash looked at Pikachu and then shifted his gaze to Misty. "Did we ever have any idea where we were going?"

Misty stomped her foot. "I did!" Ash snorted. "Fine! Brock always had some sort of idea of where we were headed, but half the time you had us wandering around searching for some legendary Pokémon, or a place you wanted to try out its food!"

Ash went to speak but Micah had already started his question. "You've met legendaries before? What haven't you done?"

Ash patted Pikachu's head and smiled, "Yeah, we've been lucky with the number of Pokémon we've seen, right buddy?" Pikachu responded with a curling of its back and a soft murmur. "Thing is Micah, half the time we stumbled on the legendaries entirely on accident. That's why you have to journey with no strict path, or else you'll miss out on the actual journey."

Micah nodded, knowing all to well what it was like to miss out on the journey that every young child was supposed to experience. Then a thought shot to the front of his brain. "Have either of you ever met an Arceus?"

Misty shrugged, but Ash's eyes lit up. "Yup! We met one in the Sinnoh region. Why do you ask?"

"I—no reason. It's just—I—I heard it was a powerful Pokémon. Yeah." Sputtered Micah.

"It is. Some people would say it's the king of all legends." Responded Ash.

Micah just nodded. He thought about prodding Ash with more questions since he seemed so happy to answer them, but he also felt like he should just get a move on and learn by experiment. So Micah threw on his hood, and shouldered his backpack, ready to take on the world, or at least the Kanto region. He turned to Ash and Misty bowing his head to each of them. "Thank you for all your help. I…" he went to proffer more thanks but changed his mind. Instead he felt a fire brew deep inside himself, a fire that he, the timid boy that he was, never had felt. He raised his two forefingers to his scar and felt the tension ease out slowly. He lifted his head and met only Ash's eyes, and he could tell Ash was surprised to see such an intense face glaring at him. "I will see you at the Kanto regional's." A smile crept up Ash's face and he replied, extending his hand, "Yes, yes you will."