Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any aspect of it.


Marie's Battle
Marie was up against the Unova region ground specialist gym leader. Clay would be a tough opponent, but not tough enough. She would still win and advance to the next round. She had a good feeling about this. Marie planned on bringing her Staraptor, Excadrill, Sandslash, Poliwrath, and Golem. She was only allowed to use three Pokémon but she felt that based on her opponents style and strategy, she should be able to adjust. Maybe she would even bring her secret weapon if things got dire. She decided not to. Let it rest for another day. Marie decided she would shake up the stadium soon enough.

Clay smiled at the young woman before him. "You young whippersnapper really think you can defeat me? All you young-'uns these days are nothing but strategy keepers. You don't do anything the hard way. Straight up and personal!" His voice thundered around the stadium and trainers were drinking in his every word.

"Wouldn't having an effective strategy also count has hard work as well? It's not every day you can meet an opponent who knows your every move and can counter everything you do. I once met a boy by the name of Conway. I'm sure he's more of a young man now, but he was truly something. Spent every day coming up with countless strategies to face any Pokémon. Even I got caught off guard." Hidden in the stands, Conway blushed and ducked his head down while Dawn elbowed him gently in the side. Marie flashed a brilliant smile which made the male trainers swoon.

Grumbling, "That is the problem with you young people, think you know everything. Whatever, me and my Pokémon are gonna show you what hard work can really do!"

"I count on it."

"YOU WILL BE PLAYING ON THE NORMAL BATTLEFIELD TODAY. ARE BOTH TRAINERS READY?" the referee called out.

Clay and Marie nodded.

"THEN BATTLEEEE BEGIN!"

"Sandslash, you're up!" Marie revealed her Pokémon first.

Clay started, "Well well well, I may have gotten you a little bit wrong. From what I see in that Sandslash of yours, you're quite gutsy. But I hope you know that I'm the ground-type specialist gym leader in Unova. This won't be easy... for you. Alright Seismitoad, let's show them what hard work can do!"

Marie didn't make a move.

"Alright, if you're not going first, then I will. Seismitoad, hydro pump!"

"Escape using dig." Marie told her Sandslash calmly.

Clay smiled, "Send hydro pump into that hole!"

Marie didn't give an emotional reaction which made Clay wonder why. He got his answer when Sandslash came up out of the ground behind Seismitoad and rammed it's body straight into the Vibration Toad Pokémon. When the dust cleared, it showed Sandslash still standing but breathing heavily while Seismitoad was unconscious.

"FOLKS! DID ANYONE JUST REALIZE WHAT HAPPENED?" Freddy asked wondrously. Mr. Goodshow answered for him with a smile, "It seems like Sandslash took the damage of the hydro pump dead on in the hole but had used Payback to send it right back to Seismitoad, but with double the damage! Am I right Miss Marie?"

Marie winked at the Pokémon World Tournament host, confirming his hypothesis was correct. Clay just stared at the woman with a blank expression on his face. Suddenly, he burst out laughing, "Well, I never! I haven't been tricked into doing something stupid like that since I first became a gym leader! You're really something else you know." The gruff old(ish) gym leader shook his head. He would definitely have to up his game if he wanted to beat this up and coming trainer.

"I'm not that new at this you know. I've been around for quite some time."

This surprised Clay, "You're such a great trainer, how come I've never heard of you?"

"Obviously you've been living under a rock then," teased Marie. She, and everyone in the stadium, well knew that Clay spent most of his time digging underneath Driftveil city.

He let out a booming laugh that compelled the spectators to join in. "Well Marie, you've certainly scored a point on me there. Enough joking around, let's see if you can hand my next Pokémon. Golurk, you're in charge!"

Her sharp eyes studied the combination ghost and ground type Pokémon. This would be a challenge since none of the Pokémon she had with her were ghost or dark types. She could go with Staraptor, but with Staraptor being half fighting type she didn't like her chances. Not sure if she should pick Poliwrath to give her the raise as Golurk was still a ground type and weak to water attacks, she made her decision. "Golem! All eyes on you!" The Megaton Pokémon let out a screech as it readied itself for battle.

"Still going with ground types against a specialist, you seem like you've got something to prove," remarked Clay.

"Golem, heavy slam. Let's go." Marie commanded quickly. Golem rocketed forwards and crashed into Clay's Golurk with a bam. Both sides knew heavy slam wouldn't do much damage because Golem weight about a hundred pounds less than Golurk. Golurk shook it off while Golem had started a roll-out attack. While Golurk was reoriented itself, Golem's immense speed allowed it to hurtle its body straight into Golurk's. The Automaton Pokémon was pushed backwards and crashed into the wall.

It's fast. Clay thought. I'm going to have to be careful. Marie must know that Heavy Slam wouldn't do too much damage, but what was she planning?

"You'll find out," smirked Marie. "Heavy Slam will do it's damage soon enough."

"Can you read my thoughts young lady?" Clay asked.

Smiling, "I'm just saying out loud what all the spectators are probably thinking right now. As well as what Freddy's shouting at us." Freddy shut up for a moment at that comment before he heard irate fans asking him to explain what had happened.

"I'M HONESTLY NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED THERE FOLKS. I'M SURE MARIE MUST HAVE SOMETHING UP HER SLEEVE WHICH MAKES HER LAUNCH SUCH AN INEFFECTIVE ATTACK."

"Thanks Freddy, ineffective." Marie muttered under her breath. She hated it when her strategies got undermined simply because no one understood them.

"Golurk, don't just stand there and let yourself be hit! Use shadow punch." Clay commanded his Pokémon with fervor, relishing a battle against a strong opponent who fought almost head-on. Let's see you worm your way out of this.

"Dig." Golem quickly dived underground and the shadow punch lost its target. Clay growled in frustration.

"You've gotta drive that darndest Pokémon out of the ground. Use Earthquake!" The ground began to shake and Marie knew Golem couldn't withstand an attack of that magnitude (haha, I made a joke) for much longer.

"Protect, and then use Roar." A harsh screeching sound drove Golem back into its Pokéball and Clay was forced to reveal his third Pokémon. Excadrill. Meanwhile, the Earthquake stopped, inflicting only minimal damage because of Golem's Protect.

"Let's finish that battle. Golem, if you would do the honors?" Golem understood and used Roar again, forcing Clay to use Golurk again. The crowd was confused, and so was Clay, why would Marie use Roar to scare away his Golurk and then his Excadrill? Unless...

It hit him, "You just wanted to know my third Pokémon, didn't you?"

She nodded quickly before ordering Golem to use Roll Out again. The Megaton Pokémon rushed towards Golurk's prone form with great speed.

"Oh no you don't. Not again. Substitute, and then Shadow Punch." Just in the nick of time. Golurk created a Substitute which took the damage and then disappeared. Golurk's Shadow Punch connected with its target and Golem was thrown out of its spin. "Now finish this with Focus Punch."

Marie allowed herself a small smile. A fighting type move had to come along sometime, and she was right. Clay saw the smile but didn't let himself be bothered by it. There's no way that Golem of hers can take on a Focus Punch from my Golurk. It's just not possible. He tried to convince himself.

"You ready Golem?" Marie asked her alert Pokémon. Golurk had floated into the air, thanks to its ghost abilities, and was now spiraling downwards towards Golem, glowing Focus Punch fist first. "DIG!" she shouted.

Clay realized his mistake too late. Before he could order Golurk to pull up out of the obvious trap, Golurk was sucked into the hole Golem had created. "Golurk! Get out of there now!" After a few seconds, Golurk stood up shakily and was brushing off the dirt and about to get out of the hole when...

BAM!

Golem's Roll Out crashed right into Golurk which sent it flying across the field and into the wall with swirly eyes. It was unconscious.

"GOLURK IS UNABLE TO BATTLE WHICH MEANS GOLEM IS THE WINNER. PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR NEXT POKÉMON!"

Clay sighed. He had been tricked again. It wasn't like using Attract where he couldn't do anything about it, but this was strategy playing and this strategy was completely head-on and something he could approve of. He was just hoping his last Pokémon could score him a win. "Excadrill, show them how it's done!"

"I've just been tingling in the anticipation to battle your famous Excadrill. I sure hope it's strong enough to best my EXCADRILL!"

Two almost identically looking Pokémon appeared on the battlefield. This would certainly be a battle of strategy and possibly even strength. Depending on which Pokémon could find the upper hand first, strategy could decide the entire battle. Clay was unfortunately without a strategy. He was sure that Marie must have one though. She acted like she already knew about his Excadrill from previous battle experience with him. She's not going to try to win by brute strength. He needed to think of something, and fast. Marie still had her other two Pokémon waiting to battle Excadrill in case he succeeded.

"Excadrill, drill run!" Clay commanded.

"You too." Marie added her own attack.

In the crowd, Cilan clasped his hands together, "Oh, what a magnificent blend of spices and aromas. They're almost identical in flavor separately, but when added together, they create a truly amazing blend of decadence."

Neither Pokémon had the upper hand in strength. Clay was surprised. Excadrill had trained hard for this tournament and had gained a lot of experience from special sessions which increased its strength. Clay knew his Excadrill was strong, but Marie's was just as strong, if not stronger. Marie's attack was pushing through. Before her Excadrill could completely overpower his though, the tension broke and the built up power exploded and hit both of them equally.

"Toxic." Marie told her Pokémon. "Then follow up with a Focus Blast."

Clay was too shocked over the unexpected move to yell a command. Luckily, his Excadrill was well trained and dodged it on its own. Predicting that, Marie's Excadrill had aimed Focus Blast a little later and hit Clay's Excadrill straight on.

"CLAY'S EXCADRILL IS UNABLE TO BATTLE WHICH MEANS MARIE'S EXCADRILL IS THE WINNER! ALL OF CLAY'S POKÉMON ARE UNABLE TO BATTLE WHICH MEANS MARIE IS THE WINNER!"

Cheers emanated from the crowd. Red watched in silence next to Lance. Marie was indeed impressive. He thought about what Professor Oak had told him. There would be one woman who would surprise him. And Marie was certainly beginning to fit the bill.


A/N: OMG. Red is showing interest in Marieeee! Hehe 3 Going to be bringing in Steven some time soon. Maybe a little bit of Ash and Trip's battle? I need your help deciding what else I should put in here. Please leave your suggestions in the Review. I will read all of it and TRY to reply :) Ermm... they way I've set this up, Champions will be put into the tourney soon so they can't face them yet. Maybe another battle? Who should Red face and who should Marie face? What about Ash and Trip? Should they continue? Tell me tell me tell me please! I'm getting a little desperate for ideas. I'm running out.