10th chapter. HURRAH! And over 7.5k hits!
Anyway, sorry it has been so long. Exams are a pain, but I think I did well.
Also, if you go on Google and type in 'The Rivalry Tournament' it comes up as one of the search options! It probably meant the golf tournament, but I'm just glad that people are reading my fanfic.
So anyway, here's the 10th Chapter of The Rivalry Tournament. It's been a long time since I was writing, but here's what I came up with. As you may remember, we left off with Max down to his final pokemon and that pokemon that many believed to be special.
Max's pokeball flew across the battlefield, revealing his final pokemon in a blindingly bright light. The sea of anonymous figures rose from their seats and admired the marvellous spectacle that had been placed in front of them.
"Phiii" the mesmerizingly beautiful hypnotic cry of Max's pokemon echoed across the stadium. A creature with a definable shape stood gracefully with its large shimmering eyes ensnaring anyone who has a passion for 'small cute pokemon'. Upon its head, a floatation sac sat cutely with a ribbon-like antenna connected to it. The body of it, miniscule compared to the size of its head. A single rudimentary spike under its body rested perfectly on the hard ground despite looking quite uncomfortable from afar. It's small, club-like arms swayed gently with the soft breeze that passed through the stadium. The red gem on its small body lit up for a split second when released onto the battlefield and its large blue eyes gaze at its surroundings and the roaring cheer from the crowd.
"That can't be…is it a-" Misty stared at Max's Phione with her eyes wide open and both her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"It's a Phione! So cute!" Dawn squealed and beamed with her flawless smile at the sight of the blue water pokemon.
"And Max's final pokemon is the indisputably rare Phione that is known to be the offspring of Manaphy. Ladies and gentleman, what a battle this is going be!" the enthusiastic announcer called out energetically.
"Wait a minute. How did Max get a legendary pokemon?" Ash asked, surprised that his ex-travelling companion had obtained such a rare pokemon. Ash's fixated eyes and determined mind struggled to believe what pokemon Max had in front of him.
"Phione isn't a legendary" Drew corrected him with a smug expression on his face.
"It is! How do you explain its rarity then?" Misty argued back to Drew.
"Just because you love water types doesn't mean that it's a legendary you know" Drew calmly replied to Misty whilst flicking his green hair to one side.
"Legendary or non-legendary, it's still very rare" Professor Oak noted. "In fact, it is still often argued among us professors whether it is a legendary or not. All we know is that it's super rare."
"And super cute! I want one!" Dawn squealed again, gazing at Max's super rare pokemon. "Max surely can't let anything that cute battle, could he?" Dawn asked, concerned for Phione's welfare.
"It may be cute, but looks can be deceiving" Gary noted. "It may look like a harmless pokemon, but by the way Max raises his pokemon, I'm sure it's nothing more than a lean, mean fighting machine" Gary observed. Max's Phione appeared miniscule compared to the massive giant known simply as Slowking.
"Be careful not to stand on it Slowking" Conway chuckled playfully. To the other side of Phione stood Conway's gigantic Slowking, grinning at its opponent. "Your pokemon is simply too small to go against a mighty heavyweight like my Slowking" Conway flashed his glasses at Max.
"I don't think so. Phione, Water Pulse!" Max told his treasured pokemon. The rare water type raised its arms and fired a potent sphere of swirling water at Phione's target, scoring a direct hit.
"Slow-king" Slowking calmly said as the Water Pulse came crashing into it. Conway merely smirked at Phione's attempts and watched his Slowking shrug off the attack as if it was nothing.
"A water type attack on a water type…there's a new one" Conway commented unnecessarily. Max growled and gritted his teeth at Conway's effort to mock him and his pokemon.
It'll have to do for now…Max thought to himself before calling out another attack. "Use Water Pulse again Phione!" Phione raised its club-like arms again and fired another ball of powerful sphere of swirling water. "Great job Phione, it's looking good!" Max quickly told his pokemon.
"Slowking, fight back with Water Pulse!" Conway told his pokemon. With the help of Trick Room, Slowking quickly raised its arms and built up an even larger ball of water energy and then fired it at Phione at lightning speed. The two Water Pulses met in the centre where they both collided and on impact, flooded the battlefield with water.
"Get close to it" the determined Phione hopped on its single rudimentary spike towards Slowking.
"Not so fast. Use Psychic to stop it!" Slowking pointed at Phione with his menacing hand, and then a pale blue light outlined Phione's body. The startled Phione tried to move its arms to break free from Slowking's grasp, but failed. Slowking snickered and Max's Phione plummeted to the ground, feeling the powerful weight of Slowking's Psychic attack.
"Phii-Phione!" Phione cried out in pain. Max watched his pokemon lying flat on the ground with a worried expression on his face.
"Come on Phione!" Max called out to his pokemon, who moaned silently as it rose to its spike that sat on the ground.
"Not long 'til it's over Max" Conway teased from across the battlefield.
"It's not over 'til it's over! Phione, use Grass Knot!" The rare water type held both its arms out and fired out several vines, aimed towards Slowking.
"Grass Knot?" May, Misty and Dawn said surprised from the stands.
"Grass Knot would do some serious damage to a heavy pokemon like Slowking" Brock exclaimed to the girls.
"Dodge it Slowking!" With the aid of Trick Room, Slowking vanished and reappeared to the side of Phione.
"To the side Phione. Water Pulse again!" Max shouted. Phione turned to the side and let out another ball of water, aimed towards Conway's Slowking. Any damage is better than no damage, Max thought to himself.
"Send it back with Psychic!" Slowking held his arms out in front of him, halting the ball of water in its tracks before hurling the spinning ball of water right back at Phione.
"Dodge it Phione!" Phione jumped over the incoming Water Pulse that was sent back by Slowking.
"It's not looking too great for Max" May sadly said.
"It's not Max that's the problem, it's Trick Room that's stopping Max's quick pokemon from moving so fast" Brock analysed. "Max must find a way to slow down Conway's pokemon."
"It's not gonna work Max" Conway taunted from afar. "Having a super rare pokemon doesn't always mean that you are going to win."
"Slow-king" Slowking folded its arms and glared at the tiring Phione.
"Oh man, what do I do?" Max said to himself. Trick Room is still there, which means Slowking is still much faster than Phione. Water type moves don't really work against water types so much… so that leaves one option. "Grass Knot Phione!" Max commanded.
"Slowking, get behind Phione" Slowking vanished then reappeared behind the water type pokemon.
"Behind you Phione!" Max warned his precious pokemon. Phione fired vines from its arms and wrapping round Slowking's legs tightly. The huge royal pokemon tripped over the vines and landed face first onto the huge battlefield.
"Excellent move by Max" Brock admired. "Grass Knot is even more effective if the opponent's pokemon is heavy, which means it sure did a lot of damage to Slowking."
"Phione, keep using Water Pulse on Slowking!" Max took his chance and decided to attack the now vulnerable and slowed down Slowking.
"Not so fast. Slowking, use Psychic to throw them away!" With lightning fast reactions, Slowking held its arms up and halted the Water Pulses before throwing them to the side. "Great! Phione's tiring!" Conway watched the sea drifter pokemon tire as its Water Pulses are thrown to the side by Slowking's Psychic.
"Would you believe this ladies and gentleman? Slowking is literally using its Psychic attack to throw the Water Pulses away from him. Only a top class pokemon could do something as amazing as that" the crowd erupted into a cheering frenzy as they watched the fallen Slowking magically thrown the Water Pulses away.
"Keep going Phione!" Max shouted forcefully.
"Max has to stop" Drew said. "Poor Phione is being pushed too hard." Phione carried on summoning Water Pulses and throwing at Slowking.
"Keep going Slowking" Conway told his pokemon. Slowking calmly pushed the Water Pulses aside with Psychic while trying to break free of the vines that were wrapped around its feet. Not long after, the Water Pulses stopped.
"Phii…Phii…Phii" Phione panted. The red gem on its body flashed repeatedly to show that it's tired.
"Come on Phione!" Max shouted at his pokemon. His eyebrow twitched unconsciously and his clenched fist shook as the annoyed Max allowed Slowking the chance to escape Grass Knot.
"Break free from Grass Knot Slowking!" Slowking pulled apart the vines that wrapped around its legs and stood up again.
"Slow-king!" The Slowking stood up and was welcomed with a thunderous cheer from the energetic crowd.
"It's not looking good for Max" Brock said. "Slowking's free and Trick Room only means that it will go faster."
"But can Max still win?" May asked worriedly.
"Max will win. Don't worry about it May" Drew kindly replied to her, and for once, didn't flick his hair in the process.
"…thanks Drew" May smiled blissfully. She unconsciously moved her hand to her heart slowly to find it beating quicker than normal. Thank you Drew.
"Slowking, pick it up with Psychic!" Slowking mischievous hand levitated in sync with Phione's body.
"Phione!" Max cried out. Phione, tired from earlier, levitated reluctantly at the command of Conway's Slowking.
"Now Slowking" Conway calmly commanded. Phione plummeted to the ground just as a cloud of dust arose from the battlefield. The weak cry of Phione was heard once more by its trainer as the sea drifter pokemon once again felt the immense power of Slowking's psychic abilities.
"And Phione is down!" The crowd watched in a deafening silence and anticipation Phione lying flat on the ground.
"It…can't be" Misty edged out. The tension combined with the unpredictability of the battle had got to her.
"You can do it Phione!" An anonymous figure shouted from the crowd. The dust eventually passed leaving the blue water type standing strong in the middle of the battlefield with a determined look in its eye. The water type glanced at Slowking before glancing at Conway who looked at Phione critically.
"Well Max, I have to say that your Phione sure can take a punch" Conway noted. "But you still don't stand a chance! Slowking, Water Pulse!" Slowking raised its arms and built up another potent ball of swirling water, aimed at Phione. The fatigued Phione waited for a command from its trusty trainer as the pulsing blast of water approached Phione.
"Dodge then Grass Knot!" Phione tiredly jumped high in the air, dodging Slowking's powerful Water Pulse then firing vines from its small arms towards Slowking. The royal pokemon folded his arms calmly with his large mouth grinning as the vines came crashing in.
"Use Protect" Conway calmly told his pokemon as the vines crashed in the impenetrable aura that covered Slowking. The crowd gasped in surprise on Conway's training skills.
"Water Pulse won't do a thing. Grass Knot can just be protected. I wonder what Phione's other moves are?" Dawn asked herself. She lowered her head, now and then shifting her eyes up to see Conway.
"Maybe Max is trying to surprise Conway when the time is right" Tracey looked over towards Dawn. "But if Max keeps using Grass Knot and Water Pulse, that time shouldn't be far away."
"Well Max what are you going to do now?" Conway smiled tauntingly at Max. His hands placed comfortably on his hips and his mischievous grin failing to hide itself from its opponent. "Your rare Phione is no match for my powerful Slowking."
Max's clenched fists vibrated violently by his sides. His teeth gritted behind his twisted smile. Calm down ,Max. Conway's just trying to make you nervous, don't fall into that trap, Max calmed himself down with his thoughts. "We'll see about that! Use Grass Knot!" The same vines came rushing out of Phione's hands once again.
"Dodge it Slowking then finish it off with Psychic!" Conway confidently told his massive water type. The sudden dispossession of Slowking's speed startled the calm pokemon as it waddled helplessly to the side as the grass vines wrapped around its legs. "…What?" Conway shouted uncontrollably.
"It appears Trick Room is no longer active. And with that, Slowking's speed has been reduced to its normal amount! Let's see how Max will use this to his advantage!" the booming crowd roared in enthusiasm as several thousand voices cheered on Max's Phione.
"W-why couldn't Slowking move at its high speed?" May leaned forward in her seat with her overwhelming smile.
"Hmm…it's possible that the effects of Trick Room have finally worn down" Brock happily told her. "With Trick Room now gone, Slowking is back to its normal slow self, which means Max finally has the chance to fight back."
"Slow-king!" The royal pokemon fell to the ground with its legs tied up.
"Great! Rain Dance Phione!" The red gem on Phione's body illuminated, causing the dark clouds to group together above the stadium and rain.
"Rain Dance? It can't be!" Conway said, outraged that he didn't know. The rain continued to fall on the hard battlefield where Slowking lay, attempting to pull apart the vines that came from Phione's Grass Knot.
"Phione! Concentrate and charge up a powerful Water Pulse!" Max called out to his pokemon. Phione held its club-like arms up and conjured an ever-growing swirling ball of water energy.
"Slowking! Break free of the Grass Knot!" Conway urgently shouted whilst Slowking fidgeted on the ground, struggling to break free. Soon enough, Phione's charged up Water Pulse reached its optimum size. Conway's eyebrows unconsciously twitched above his wide open eyes as they watched the super potent Water Pulse, powered up by Rain Dance, build up in Phione's arms.
"Phione fire!" The ball of water energy fired its way towards the struggling Slowking. Coupled with the rain falling from the sky, the Water Pulse gained speed before crashing into Slowking.
"Slowking is unable to battle, which means Phione is the winner" the referee announced. The crowd jumped off their seats and cheered and applauded Max's pokemon. The royal pokemon lay still on the hard battlefield where it met its match.
"Well done Phione. Just one more to go and we're through to the next round!" Max triumphantly exclaimed to his pokemon.
"Phii! Phii!" Phione triumphantly exclaimed with him. The cute little sea drifter pokemon jumped in the air with its contagious smile and ribbon-like antenna moving around in the rain.
"Return Slowking" the red beam returned Conway's fallen pokemon back to his pokeball. "Don't think you're out of the woods yet Max. Your Phione is clearly tired, and you still have to take on this challenge. Dusknoir, let's go!" Conway threw his pokeball high in the air, letting out the same Dusknoir that caused Ash a whole load of trouble back in the Sinnoh league. It stood fearsomely before Max's Phione with its singular red eye that glowed unearthly.
"Dusknoooir" said the nightmarish figure. The gripper pokemon took its position on his side of the battlefield with its large arms spread apart to demonstrate its immense strength to the audience.
"And Conway brings out Dusknoir once more to fight Max's Phione. With the rain falling like it is now, this is sure to be one even battle" the continued to fall from the clouds that stood in front of the sun.
"It sure is cold" Misty moaned. She cuddled herself with her bare arms, still shivering with the hairs on her arm standing up.
"OK, first thing's first. Trick Room!" Dusknoir's eye glowed red once more as the field was then surrounded with a large blue rectangle, before immediately fading. Dusknoir teleported itself around his half of the battlefield, causing the crowd to gaze in awe at Conway's pokemon.
"Trick Room is back! It's a Trick Room versus Rain Dance battle, but who will win?" The announcer excitedly said with energetic enthusiasm.
"Trick Room is back, which will certainly be for Conway's advantage" Gary noted concernedly.
"True, but Max has Rain Dance to help him. Either way, this is going to be one tough battle!" Dawn replied.
"Be careful Phione" Max called out. "Trick Room can be really powerful, so stay strong and watch carefully."
"Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch!" Courtesy of Trick Room, the gripper pokemon moved at lightning speed, punching Phione with both its illusive fists. The sea drifter flew across the battlefield before immediately rising to its rudimentary spike.
"Phione, use Water Pulse!" With a powerfully determined look in its face, Phione built up another ball of water energy using some of the rain falling from the sky.
"Dusknoir, destroy it with Thunder Punch!" Dusknoir pulled back its electrified fist before launching it straight at the incoming Water Pulse, blowing it into sparkling dust. "You may have Rain Dance to power up your water type moves, but my Dusknoir has Trick room to give it ultra-speed" Conway gloated with his glasses flashing.
"…how do I get passed him?" Max asked himself quietly. Thunder Punch, Shadow Punch…those giant fists need to be stopped somehow. "Hmm…Phione Grass Knot on Dusknoir's hands!" Phione listened to its trainer and rapidly shot out vines from its arms and wrapped themselves around Dusknoir's huge fists.
"Excellent move. Now Dusknoir cannot use any of its fist attacks" Brock uncontrollably grinned at Max's tactics.
"Dusknoir, break free of Grass Knot!" The gripper pokemon stretched and struggled, but failed to get out of Phione's Grass Knot trap.
"Great job Phione! Now, use Water Pulse!" The rain continued to fall on the battlefield just as Phione built up another powerful Water Pulse. The sudden attack startled Dusknoir as Phione's Water Pulse crashed into Dusknoir throwing it to the ground.
"Dusknoir!" Conway cried out for his pokemon.
"Not much longer Phione" Phione heavily breathed, trying to catch its breath after working like a machine.
"Dusknoir, break free from the Grass Knot!" Dusknoir stretched its arms, ripping the vines from the ground and glaring sinisterly at Phione.
"Dusknooir!" Dusknoir roared.
"Thunder Punch!" Conway smiled at his pokemon's efforts and called out another attack.
"Dodge it Phione!" Max panicked. Dusknoir reappeared to the side of Phione, smacking it with its fist charged with electricity. "Phione!"
"Stand back Dusknoir!" Dusknoir disappeared again. The helpless Phione looked around for the ghost type as the rain continued to fall on the battlefield. Dusknoir reappeared at a safe distance away from Phione. "Now Dusknoir, finish it off with Shadow Punch!" Dusknoir shot out a Shadow Punch from its large fists right at Phione.
"Rest!" Phione lowered its head and close its large eyes before waking up again immediately after. "Dodge it!" Phione quickly jumped high in the air to avoid Dusknoir's attack.
"Wow! What just happened?" Everyone leaned forwards in their seats in an attempt to revisit what they just watched.
"Did Phione just use Rest?" Dawn asked baffled. Everyone sat at the edge of their seats and watched in surprise at the highly unpredictable battle.
"It sure did. Max probably wanted to surprise Conway's Dusknoir for when it got tired" Brock replied.
"Surprising Conway isn't really possible" Dawn remarked. "But if Phione used Rest, shouldn't it still be asleep?"
"It should be, but because of Rain Dance and Phione's ability, Hydration, it recovers from status effects such as sleep in no time at all" Brock replied once more. "I wouldn't be surprised if Conway is kicking himself."
"…My mind is blown" Dawn turned her attention back to the battle.
Conway wasn't kicking himself, but he was annoyed. How didn't I see that coming? Now I've got to start all over again with Phione. "Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch!" Conway called out.
"Phione, jump high in the air and use Grass Knot on Dusknoir!" The small blue pokemon, now with its energy recovered, jumped high in the air and fired a countless green vines from its arms towards Dusknoir.
"Dusknoir, above you!" Conway shouted. The Grass Knot vines wrapped around Dusknoir, tying the gripper pokemon to the ground.
"Great job Phione! Now, finish it with Water Pulse!" Max pointed at the tied down Dusknoir as his pokemon gathered another large ball of water energy.
"Dusknoir, get out of there!" The large ghost type attempted to pull its fists wrapped in vines that were attached to the ground, but failed miserably. "Quick Dusknoir!" Conway pleaded. He looked across the battlefield and found Max's Phione still gathering energy. Dusknoir continued to tug and pull on the vines that secured him to the ground with the rain still falling from the sky and making Phione's Water Pulse even stronger.
"OK Phione, now launch it!" Phione leaned forwards and shot the ball of water straight at Dusknoir. The potent Water Pulse crashed into Conway's ghost type pokemon, throwing to the gripper pokemon to the ground. The gripper pokemon lay motionless on the battlefield with its red eye flashing.
"Dusknoir is unable to battle, which means Phione is the winner and moving onto the third round of The Rivalry Tournament is Max Maple of Petalburg City" the referee swung his red flag in Max's direction just as a large proportion of the crowd rose to their feet and broke into a deafening applause.
"Yes! We did it!" Max leaped and punched the air victoriously.
"Phii! Phii!" Phione dived into its trainer's arms, hugging Max with its tiny weary arms.
"Well done Phione, you were fantastic!" Max embraced his treasured water type with an affectionate hug. "I'm sorry I pushed you so hard, but it was worth it wasn't it?" Max whispered into Phione's ear.
"Phii-one" Phione agreed.
"Well done Max!" May stood up on her seat and congratulated her brother from her seat.
"Way to go Max!" Everyone stood up in their seats and applauded the young Hoenn trainer.
"3rd round here we come!" Max said triumphantly. Across the other side of the battlefield, Conway walked up to his Dusknoir, now conscious and still struggling to break free from the Grass Knot that tied him to the ground.
"Here Dusknoir, let me help you with that" Conway kneeled down and pulled apart the tough Grass Knots.
"Dusk-nooir?" Dusknoir said in a sad tone to his trainer.
"Don't worry about is Dusknoir, you tried your best, and I'm proud of you for that" Conway replied just as the gripper pokemon wrapped its arms around its trainer.
"Dusk-noir!" Dusknoir replied in an upbeat tone.
"Thanks…Dusknoir" Conway struggled to get out. "I see…why they call you…the gripper pokemon."
"Hey Conway!" Max made his way over to Conway with his Phione resting with its eyes closed in Max's arms. "Great battle out there. Your Dusknoir really is powerful" he complimented.
"Why thank you Max. But it's not every day that you see such a rare pokemon such as your Phione" Dusknoir released his trainer from his powerful grip and looked over at the resting Phione.
"Thanks" Max replied. "I better get going now, bye" Max turned around and walked with the crowd chanting his name like a chorus.
"Good luck in the next round Max!" Conway shouted. A Phione eh? Looks like I'll have to make another strategy to counter one of those, Conway chuckled.
"Let's go see him" Misty suggested. Leading off from Ash, the group followed him to Max's locker room to congratulate him on his win. "And I really want to see that cute little water type!" Misty squealed intensely, unable to hold in her excitement. All that was fixated in her mind was cuddling Max's mysteriously rare pokemon.
"My question is how did Max ever find one?" May asked herself. It was just as much a secret to her as it was to everyone else, despite Max being her brother.
"Brock, Ash and I all saw a few back in the Sinnoh region" Dawn informed them gloatingly. "In fact, Buneary beat one in a battle."
"That's impressive, but I was voted Kanto gym leader of the year!" Misty boasted her achievement back at Dawn.
"That's nothing. I once had a Manaphy as one of my pokemon" May told Misty and Dawn. All of a sudden, the rivalry between the girls returned from its long departure.
"Yeah well, I had an army of cheerleaders, more gym badges that I needed to enter the regions pokemon league, and I was driving a sports car all when I was ten years old" Gary boasted, outdoing the three girls. "And it won't be too long 'til I can add pokemon master to the list!"
Ash's ears caught Gary's words and he made his way towards his Pallet Town rival. "Not before I add it to my list of achievements!" Ash said, now psyched about his next battle and keen to beat Gary. The rivalry between Gary, Ash and Max was just as fierce, if not, fiercer than the girls.
"I think you too should be worried about Max right now. Since when did you guys get a pokemon as rare as a Phione?" Misty giggled at the arguing boys. The two boys hushed and made their way with everyone else to Max's locker room.
"Thanks a lot guys, you were great" Max told his three pokemon that stood in front of him. "Everyone one of you pulled your weight and we came out with a win!"
"Sla-kingggg!" The giant ape-like pokemon roared victoriously.
"Garde-voir" Gardevoir lowered her head in solemnness.
"Hey, Gardevoir what's wrong?" Max didn't speak the same language as his pokemon, but he knew when one of his pokemon was upset.
"Garde" Gardevoir replied an equally solemn tone as before.
"Hey hey, don't be sad Gardevoir just because Dusknoir knocked you out" Max tried his best to comfort his psychic type whilst embracing it. "You tried your best, and I assure you that you will see a load of your friends charging towards you to congratulate you." At that moment, the door slammed open and three hypnotised girls came charging in with their wide smiles and dreaming eyes towards Phione. The water type stood on the bench and watched the girls stick their curious faces into Phione's.
"Garde-voir…"Gardevoir lowered her head once more as the three girls came passing by.
"Oh it's so cute!"
"Aww! I want one so bad now!"
"It would just look great with my other pokemon!" Misty, May and Dawn squealed uncontrollably at the tiny sea drifter pokemon. Phione hid behind its small club-like arms and cried in fear.
"Oh no, don't cry Phione!" Max rushed towards his water type and cradled it gently in his arms. The three girls backed away from Max guiltily.
"Sorry, Max. We honestly didn't mean to startle it or anything" Misty apologised dearly.
"Don't worry about it Misty. Phione is…kind of shy so it's not really used to seeing other people" Max replied.
"Where did you find Phione? Aren't they extremely rare?" Dawn asked him.
"I'm glad you asked that, Dawn" Max confidently began. He sat down on the bench and began to think. "You see, back in Hoenn when I began my pokemon journey, I was struggling to survive on my own. Because I travelled alone , I had to eat, live and make money all by myself. To do all these things, I often worked at pokemon day-care centres for money. I made my money and I learnt more about pokemon. But one day, I was working at a day-care centre…"
(Flashback)
Dusk was the time of day in Hoenn. The fresh smell of the sea wafted with the calm gentle breeze that came from the vast sea that separated the regions. The owner of the day-care centre often brought back pokemon with him that he found injured in the nearby forests.
"Max, can you come help me for a moment?" The low voice bellowed from the other room. Max walked in and saw a baby blue pokemon, sleeping peacefully in the day-care owners arms. "It's a Manaphy" he happily told Max.
"A Manaphy?" Max replied in disbelief and awe. "But…where did you find it?" The extremely rare pokemon was merely a metre away from him and he still couldn't believe it.
"I found it just a few hours ago washed up on the beach" the day-care owner cradled the Manaphy before putting it down. "I think it's hurt."
"What do you need me to do?" Max asked him.
"…You don't suppose…you can work for a few more days…until Manaphy is ready to go back in the water?" The day-care man answered Max's question with a question.
"Yes, of course" Max replied.
(End Flashback)
"So how did you get Phione?" Misty asked.
"After days and days of helping Manaphy, the day-care owner gave me a pokemon egg. He told me that it came from Manaphy and that it was for all my hard efforts over the last few days" Max explained. "The egg hatched, and what came out was a timid Phione. The poor thing was scared of me at first, but we got along" he chuckled lightly just as Phione smiled at its trainer. "I often got compliments about my Phione and how rare it was. And then it came to my attention that some people may want Phione for themselves, so I kept it inside its pokeball almost all the time and only let it out for battling."
"That must be why Phione is startled by people" Tracey said.
"Probably" Max partially blamed himself before looking down at Phione. "Don't worry about these guys Phione, they won't try and hurt you. They are my friends after all" Max further comforted his pokemon with a reassured smile and held Phione out to the three girls.
"What is it with girls and cute pokemon?" Ash asked confusedly.
"Oh, Ash" Dawn turned around from Phione and chuckled flirtatiously at the confused trainer. "Because cute pokemon are always the best pokemon" she explained vivaciously before turning back to Phione to admire its rarity and beauty.
"Truth is, Phione may be cute, but it sure is strong" Tracey noted. "And with a powerful trainer like Max by its side, I think that you two should be more worried about battling Max in the next round than each other."
"Speaking of which, you psyched up Ash?" Gary taunted.
"More than ever! I just gotta pick something up first" Ash confidently walked out of the locker room with his head held high. Oh man, I can't wait to battle Harrison! Today is gonna be awesome! Ash stepped outside the stadium, slightly surprised that he wasn't mobbed with reporters again, to find a tall girl standing next to a large orange dragon. The girl with dark green wild hair held a sceptre in hand and stood beside the mighty pokemon with a note in her hand. She stood firmly with pride and she looked over at Ash.
"Ash, over here" the girl called out.
"Liza! Charizard!" Ash ran over to his pokemon. Charizard's strong bulk was demonstrated by its muscular appearance. Its large wingspan made Liza and Ash look miniscule by comparison, and its sharp claws revealed by the bright sunlight that shone a spotlight on Ash's Charizard.
"Hey, Charizard, it's great to see you again buddy!" Ash ran up to his pokemon and wrapped his arms around the fire type's body. The heat that came off Charizard almost charred the young trainer as he released his grip from his old friend.
"It's great to see you too again, Ash" Liza stepped forward with a huge grin on her face. "I hear that the tournament has been quite a breeze for you."
"Hey, Liza" Ash replied. "I want to thank you on how well you've raised my Charizard. He's looking stronger than ever!"
"Please, Ash. The pleasure was all mine really" she modestly replied to him.
"Well, either way, thank you for looking after my Charizard. How's Charla and the other Charizards?"
"They're doing great. In fact, the Charizard there are stronger than ever" she said. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Here's Charizard's pokeball, and here's a list of moves that Charizard has learnt over the last few years" she handed Ash the note and a pokeball.
"Thanks, Liza" Ash happily accepted the note and the pokeball and looked over to Charizard. "I'm sure with your new strength; we can win this whole tournament!" Charizard roared and let out a scorching flamethrower into the air.
"If you don't mind, Ash" Liza started. "Can I watch your battle against Harrison later on today?"
"Be my guest! I can't wait to see how strong Charizard has become" Ash triumphantly told the Charicific Valley resident joyfully.
"Pika-Pika!" Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder to Charizard's head where they engaged in conversation.
"Anyway, I'll see you around, Ash. Best of luck in your battle this afternoon!" She walked off, waving at the young trainer before turning away.
"Return, Charizard" the red beam from the pokeball returned the flame pokemon to its pokeball. "Say, Pikachu, you wanna get something to eat before we train?"
"Pi-ka" Pikachu nodded cordially with its ears pointed up. Not so far off the young trainer, rustling noises came from the nearby bushes. Four heads rose from the bushes, all staring at Ash's Pikachu through large binoculars.
"Was that a monster I just saw?"
"The one with big teeth and the scary roar?"
"That's the twerp's Charizard I bet"
"Wob-wob wobbuffettt" the infamous gang, known as Team Rocket hid behind the bushes, all looking through their binoculars at the passing twerp and his Pikachu. They glared at the young trainer walking down the road with his potent Pikachu. The never-say-die attitude of the troublesome trio brought them to The Indigo Plateau where they once again tried to capture Pikachu and Ash's other pokemon.
"That Charizard is looking really strong"
"As I recall, we kept it up all night to make it that strong" James noted reminiscing of the time when they threw stones from afar at Charizard.
"Forget the Charizard, the real money's in the Phione!" Meowth turned away from his binoculars as did Jessie and James.
"Oh…and why exactly would the boss want a Phione?" James questioned Meowth.
"Because…just imagine the boss waking up with a huge migraine from last night's palooza. His head is aching like no tomorrow and then…suddenly, he calls for his Phione to sing to him gently with its beautifully hypnotising voice and then…BAM! The headache's gone and the boss is happy again" Meowth explained to his co-workers. "And then, the boss will say: 'Wow. Thanks to this Phione, my head feels great again. I really have to reward Meowth and his friends for bringing me this Phione'."
"And then we'll be rich!" Jessie squealed.
"Maybe even too rich!" James followed Jessie's example.
"I could buy all the beautiful clothes that I truly deserve!"
"All the bottle caps in the world will be mine!"
"But wait a minute. The boss is always too busy to party, and he certainly never goes on any paloozas" the excitement ended and Jessie asked Meowth sceptically.
"Speaking of losers, how are we even going to catch that Phione?" James asked.
"Fine…it's a steaming hot day and the boss is sweating his pants off. He calls for his Phione to use Rain Dance and cool himself down and then…BAM! The boss won't have to bother with the stinking weather, and then he will say: 'Wow! This Phione sure did good to me, just like what I'm going to do to Meowth and his friends'. There! You happy now!" Meowth angrily told his co-workers, annoyed that they weren't pleased with the first fantasy.
"And then we'll be even richer!" Jessie and James squealed uncontrollably.
"So Meowth, what's the plan?" James excitedly asked his accomplice. Meowth pulled out a large controller with a big red button in the middle.
"Feast your eyes on this" Meowth pressed the big red button and a large contraption fell from the sky and landed behind the trio. "It's called the twerp-pokemon-proof-capturer 3000" Jessie and James took a moment to gaze in wonder at the giant contraption that stood before them. It must've been at least 40 metres tall. It was essentially a giant Wobbuffet on wheels. It had the same blue colour of a Wobbuffet and its black squinty eyes remained. "With this baby, that Phione is as good as ours!" Jessie and James took another moment to look at Meowth's attempts at making a machine
"It…looks like a giant Wobbuffet" Jessie asked Meowth.
"Because it is a giant Wobbuffet genius" Meowth replied sarcastically to her.
"Why on earth do we need a giant Wobbuffet?" Jessie shouted at Meowth. "The one we have is already enough trouble!"
"Do you have a robot we could use? I thought not!" Meowth shouted back. A short silence followed the small argument.
"…What's it called again?" James asked Meowth.
"The twerp-pokemon-proof-capturer 3000" Meowth gritted his teeth, annoyed once more that he had to repeat himself.
"…I'll call it Wobbuffet Senior"
Over at the other side of town…
Tracey walked alone on the sidewalk. He didn't look at all afraid on what was going to happen though, his mind was preoccupied with what already had happened. The scratches on his face almost looked fully healed, but the mark under his eye still stood strong. His life emotionally scarred forever. His mind however, set on one thing and one thing only. How am I going to explain this to Misty…I know she cares about me, but what if…what if she gets hurt? I can't risk anything like that happening. Suddenly, Tracey's trail of thoughts halted when something caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks and looked carefully. Just a few yards ahead of him, Kenny appeared out of nowhere with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Kenny…" Tracey's trembling voice edged out of his mouth. The last person he wanted to see was standing right in front of him.
"Hello Tracey" he calmly replied.
"W-what do y-you want Kenny?" The pain that was sealed in the marks on his face returned. The black mark under his eye felt as if it was growing. Tracey took a step back and was ready to run for his life.
"I want it Tracey" Kenny told him slowly. Before Kenny could continue, Tracey ran the opposite direction where Kenny was standing hastily in an attempt to get away from the sociopath.
"Stay away from me, Kenny!" he shouted with his speed rising.
"You should've learnt by now not to walk out on your own…"he quietly said to himself. "Use Mach Punch!" Kenny's Breloom came out of nowhere and landed a direct hit to Tracey's stomach, throwing him to the ground in pain. His muscles gave up and his heart pounded loudly in fear as Kenny walked up to him.
"W-what do you want w-with me Kenny?" Tracey felt as if his heart was stabbed with an icy dagger he was in so much pain. He tried his best to get to his feet, but was stopped by Breloom's Stun Spore.
"Great job Breloom" Kenny told his pokemon.
"I said what do you want from me Kenny?" Tracey shouted forcefully at the haunting co-ordinator. Kenny stood by Tracey's head and looked down at him with his evil grin.
"I want…" he took a moment to pick the right words before continuing. "I want that Phione…and you're gonna get it for me…" he dragged the immobile Tracey across the ground and into the side alley, the birthplace of the bruises and scars on Tracey's face. A sudden glimmer of hope came in the form of sound.
"Is that you there Tracey?" A recognisable voice was heard by the watcher. He couldn't move his head, but anyone would've been good enough to help him in his time of need.
"Help!" The pokemon watcher called out. Kenny continued to drag Tracey across the dark alley inhumanely, passing bags of garbage and bottles of broken glass. He looked up to see the figure approaching reluctantly.
"Don't get involved with this!" Kenny shouted at the figure. Despite the viciousness of Kenny's threat, the figure continued to approach the scene in curiosity.
"It's me, May" the figure said. "What's going on?" She took a moment to work the whole scene out. All she could see was Kenny dragging Tracey along the alley. She immediately thought the worst and the expression on her face turned from a smile to a mixture of shock, horror and fear. "No way…" she refused to believe her own thoughts. "Are you the one who-" she was close to bursting into tears.
"The scars, the black eye, the feeling of fear. Yeah, it was me" Kenny casually replied.
"You monster! How could you? Stay away from him!" she shouted. Kenny sighed heavily.
"Tracey, she knows our little secret" Kenny spoke into Tracey's ear. "Now tell her, what do I do to people who know my little secret?" Kenny smiled sadistically at May.
"May! Run!" Tracey shouted from the ground. May quickly turned around and propelled her legs into gear and headed to back out of the dark alley.
"Not so fast May" Kenny said. "Empoleon!" Kenny threw his pokeball over May and released his giant water type. The immense size of the pokemon blocked off the exit for May who was now trapped.
"You let me go!" May demanded fiercely. She slowly backed away from the giant penguin that stared at her with its intimidating looks.
"Not likely. Breloom, Stun Spore" Kenny pointed at May and Breloom let out another load of orange mist from the holes in his head. The orange mist surrounded May and she fell to the ground. "Now May" he walked slowly towards the stricken individual. "I'm gonna tell you a little story…about what happens to people who think they can get away…they end up looking like him" he pointed at Tracey, who was still unable to move. The scars, the bruises…it all made sense to May. It was all Kenny's doing.
"People will know what you've done to my friend!" May fought back verbally.
"I'm going to tell you another story May…it's about what happens to those who mention…what I do to them…" and with that, he dragged May across the hard alley floor. She cried uncontrollably as her body was dragged through the dark alley. She gulped for breath whilst fighting back the tears and she closed her eyes to escape her nightmare, but it didn't work. The tears continued to flow out of her sapphire eyes that shook in dismay and distress at her situation. Kenny grabbed her by the collar with one hand and lifted her up until her face was level with his. Her dangly body hung from her collar and her arms and legs fell. "Wow, you're a pretty one aren't you" he smiled sadistically again, admiring her soft brown hair and sapphire eyes. "It'd be a shame to waste those good looks on someone else…" he felt her icy cold breath press against his face. Her voice shuddered at his intimidating words. She was trapped. "I've got no time to waste with you two" Kenny looked over at the still Tracey. "Starting with you" Kenny turned his attention back to the hanging May and her face turned from horror to sheer terror.
"W-what are y-you going to do to m-me?" May cried. The tears of horror continued to fall from her eyes and down her face. Her entire body was shaking vigorously, but she still couldn't move the arms and legs she needed. "P-please! Please don't hurt me" her quivering voice pleaded not to be harmed. "I beg of you! P-please…"
And just so people don't get the wrong idea, Kenny is not going to rape May. And yes, Kenny is really strong.
I really hope you enjoyed it. I personally enjoyed writing the first battle and I may have gotten a little carried away. Team Rocket have finally made their entrance into the fanfic, along with their giant Wobbuffet robot. First thing, yes, Max has a Phione. It was that or a Spiritomb, also, Phione will play its part in the fanfic later as both Kenny and Team Rocket want it. Conway will also be in more. Finally, the ending scene with May crying and Tracey trapped took AGES to do and it must've taken me at least 5 attempts. Which brings me onto my next point…
Writing is tough. Right now, I'm feeling extremely uninspired and unmotivated . I'm not sure if I am going to carry on, but there may be a chance. I haven't written anything in over a month and I feel as if this fanfic is dying.
I really do hope you've enjoyed this and I hope that you will review aswell.
Thank you for reading.