In The Club: Cerulean City United's First Season

by Carlo Santos

A chance meeting at a tournament, a reunion, and the birth of club Pokémon competition leads to seven familiar faces and two foreign gym leaders teaming up to take on the world. Ash/Misty - AAMRN/AAML/Pokéshipping - with songfic elements. Now updated with the first part of the Asian/Pacific Club Championship featuring matches in Auckland, Mumbai and Seoul.

10. The Indigo Cup

Opening Author's Notes
I'm sorry it's been such a long time, but it's been yet another long chapter and I've been dealing with events in my personal life over the past week to finish this. Like you guys asked, though, I didn't rush it, and so here's the first real championship account. Hope you enjoy it!
Also, there have been modifications to Lily's outfit and hairstyle changes in Chapters 6 and 9.

---

June 20th, 2003
Indigo Cup (Kanto/Johto Club Championship)
Indigo Plateau, Japan

Event Starters (listed in average singles order for this event)
Ash Ketchum (JPN, C-C)
Misty Waterflower (JPN, C-C)
Carlo Santos (USA)
Daisy Waterflower (JPN)
Brock Slate (JPN)
Lily Waterflower (JPN)
Theo Spencer (ENG)
Violet Waterflower (JPN)
Tracey Sketchit (JPN)

Event Reserves
Charles Francis (JPN)
Julie Keightley (AUS)
Rachel Bassett (JPN)
Melisa Fernandez (ESP)

The next three days were a whirlwind for all of us to say the least. Because the fans now knew that we were definitely as strong as expected, maybe even stronger, we had to deal with even more buzz ahead of the Indigo Cup.
I probably had it the craziest, as I had to deal with it on two continents after two 20-hour plane trips. I first headed home with my Reynolds teammates (who had thoroughly enjoyed seeing us in action) to celebrate our high school tournament win at the Cerulean Youth International with our classmates and the people of Winston-Salem. We got a terrific reception, making it even better to be home, but the Indigo Cup was on Friday, so I stayed at home for only a full day and then was off to Cerulean again to rejoin the team in time to get over my anticipated jet lag and practice with the team. When I got back to Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, I was going to go to the ticket counter to get my boarding pass, but when I got there, the woman behind the counter simply directed me to Gate 14.

When I got down there, I saw to my amazement what was going on: a small private jet was waiting at the gate with the female pilot and copilot out to greet me and help with my bags.
Before I could ask any questions, the copilot asked, "How's it going, Carlo? Ready to get going?"
"Yep!" I replied briskly.
"That's good—the girls and Ash wanted to make sure we asked you that, looked after you, and gave you this." She said, handing me something.
It was a CD with a note taped to the top side of the case, reading,

Carlo-

Here's a couple of songs that we think you guys would like as motivational songs for the Indigo Cup. Listen carefully to them, because if we all come in and fight like we have something to prove, then we have a big advantage.

-Ash, Misty, Lily, Daisy, & Violet

PS: Getting the private jet is a reward for making the team—but not only that. We beg that you use this opportunity to rest up more than you typically would on a public flight.

I read the postscript and promptly got the message.
Slipping the CD into a handy CD player once we were airborne and cruising, I found that one song was Say My Name, while the other one was OutKast's B.O.B., which stands for "Bombs Over Baghdad". I enjoyed its very fast and funky rhythm, but I was also listening closely as Ash and the Sensational Sisters had asked, and I quickly found out why they had recommended it: it sent the distinct message of "play with a chip on your shoulder". It's another song that has earned a place in our team soundtrack, so I'll—you guessed it—spread the lyrics out again.

Yeah, international, underground
Thunder bounce when I stomp the ground (Whoo!)
Like a million elephants or silverback orangutans
You can't stop my train
Who want some? Don't come unprepared
I'll be there, but when I leave there
Better be a household name
Weatherman tellin' us it ain't gon' rain

As Ash and the Sensational Sisters suggested, I slept a good deal on the charter, which was good because it helped me recover more quickly from the flight, and arrived back in Cerulean to rejoin the rest of the team on Tuesday. Over the next two days, we mixed social outings with practices and team meetings to discuss the proper mindsets and team strategies, finishing up on Thursday afternoon so that we could hang out and clear our heads ahead of the Friday competition.
I had been invited to tag along with Lily, Daisy, and Violet on a walking tour of Cerulean while Brock and Tracey visited Theo's family and Ash and Misty had their first date since opening night. It was a terrific experience, allowing me to not only blow off some after seeing some more of the city's sights, but also realized that while I had liked the prospect of playing for Cerulean when I had made myself available or selection but was happier with each match to represent the city and adopt it as a home away from home.

We were just coming up to where the River Nerine, the inlet that runs through Cerulean, exits Central Park when Lily asked, "Hey, isn't that Ash and Misty over there?"
We quickly looked over the side of the bridge.
"Yep!" I said. "Wonder what they're talking about…"
They agreed, and we listened closely while staying hidden.
"You seem a little scared." Misty said. "Come on, Ash, you know I don't like to see you like that."
"Yeah, I'm more frightened I've been in a while." Ash admitted with a slight chuckle. "In a way, it's a little like the eve of my first time in the Indigo League."
"Is it because you've got to worry about playing your part for the team as well as for yourself?" Misty asked.
"Yeah…I think it's because I know I've got to help lead a team now and I don't want to let the others down—and I definitely don't want to let you down." He said.
"Hey, don't worry about that." She said soothingly, putting a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it, and giving him a smile. "We're in this together, remember? I'm scared a little that way too, but just remember that all of them are strong and all of them also know we win and lose together. I think they just needed opening night to let them know just how much of an impact they can have in this format."

Ash grinned appreciatively.
"They're right." Violet said. "Come on, I think they won't mind if we drop in on them."
She then called out, "Hey, guys!"
"Hey, Violet!" Misty called. "Just passing through?"
"Yeah, but is it okay if we stop in?" Violet asked. "We couldn't help hearing about what's going on, so we just want to talk to Ash for a moment."
"That's okay." Misty said, nodding as if she knew they meant well—which, as it turned out, they did. After we had made our way to the bench where they were seated, Ash let Violet, Lily, Daisy, and I in on his fear of letting us down tomorrow.
We nodded understandingly once he was finished, and I found myself speaking from the experience I had as Reynolds captain. "You know what, though? I think it's normal—as a matter of fact, I think it's required if you want to be a good leader, because if you have that fear, then you know you care about the team."
"I definitely agree." Lily said.

"Thanks." Ash said appreciatively, smiling at us. Then he added, "Actually, let me actually look at this from a different perspective…" He turned to the Waterflowers before he continued, "I just started wondering…because you're performers and trainers, you've definitely had a lot of experience dealing with pressure. How do you girls handle it?"
All four of them locked eyes with him but also wore kind smiles.
"Well, we're glad you asked, because we've actually come up with like, a little mental preparation routine to deal with that. When you're about to perform, whether it's onstage or on the field, first, you drink in the atmosphere and savor it, because it definitely brings out the best in you if you can have fun and feed off the crowd." Violet said.
"Next, you focus and make sure you're primed for showtime." Lily added.
"Then you say mentally to the crowd and to any opponents, 'We're ready for you—are you ready for us?'" Daisy continued.
"Finally, you snap into action and hit 'em with everything you've got." Misty finished, before all four sisters winked and smiled at each other knowingly.
"And here's the thing." Violet said. "They may be ready for the two of you, but I don't think—and I'm very sure that I'm not alone—"
"Definitely not." Daisy, Lily, and I all said almost simultaneously.
"Thanks." Violet said, giving the three of us a smile that we returned. "Make that we don't think they're ready for us as a team. Ash, Misty, you're definitely their biggest worries—but you're far from the only things that are on their minds—or need to be."
"Thanks, guys." Ash and Misty said together, giving us smiles. Misty then added, "So you guys got this business down and are ready to jazz it up, huh?"
"Yeah." Lily said. Then, seeing Ash's and my puzzled looks, she explained, "I know you guys don't do acting or music, but you know how it is—when we're doing something, we often just need to perform it once to really get our feet wet before we get the confidence we need to take it further."
"Oh, I see." Ash said, nodding before he grinned and asked, "Do you guys want to keep walking with us?"
"Why not?" I said while grinning back, almost at the same time as the other Sensational Sisters.

Most regional club Pokémon tournaments in Japan and around the world were and are just that—regional tournaments. Ours was a big exception, though. Because Indigo Plateau houses the Elite Four and champion for both Kanto and Johto, the two regions have been battling at all levels for as long as anyone can remember, so it was only logical that their regional club tournaments be combined into a single event, the Indigo Cup, to be held at Indigo Plateau as the name suggested.
20 teams entered the tournament—10 from Kanto and 10 from Johto—and were split into four 5-team groups—2 each for Kanto and Johto. After round-robin group play, the top two from each group would advance to the knockouts. In the first knockout round, each group winner would play the runner-up from the other group in their region, and then there would be three championship matches: the Kanto championship, the Johto championship, and the Indigo Cup final pitting the two regional champs against each other.
That meant there was definitely a lot at stake as far as city and regional pride went, but there was even more on the line. Kanto had four slots in the Japanese Premier Cup—automatic bids for the champion and runner-up, and places in the last stage of qualifying for the 3rd- and 4th- placed teams. The way the tournament was set up, that meant we had to advance out of the group stage in order to advance to national level and then win our regional semifinal to bypass qualifying. Given who we had been drawn against in Kanto Group A—Vermillion City, Pewter City Athletic, the Saffron City Soul, and Cinnabar Island—that meant that we had a challenging but definitely manageable road to the nationals ahead of us.

Because we had a noon start time, we set a 9:30 departure time from Cerulean, which would allow us to have plenty of time to make the 30-minute trip to Indigo Plateau, have our pre-match meal with the fans, and then get situated and ready to kick butt and take names. We followed through to a T with that plan, and by 11:15, we were huddled up in a "ready room", or preparation room, in Indigo's main stadium, simply called the Pokémon Stadium because it's the very first stadium purposely built for Pokémon battles.
"Time to make some waves, guys. Let's blow these people out of their seats!" Daisy said as we put our hands in the center.
"That's for sure! It's that time to get it started, so let's knock these guys silly." Ash said. "Misty?"
"Yep!" She said brightly. "All together now, guys—United on three. One, two, three!"
"United!" We all shouted in unison as we broke the huddle.

Even though we were definitely ready for battle, that was easier said than done, because first up was a big obstacle: Vermillion City. Even though they were without their gym leader, Ranger Lt. Rudy "Surge" Hunter, they presented our hardest matchup type-wise because of their strong Electric-type slant, meaning we would have to do work to get all four Sensational Sisters open to make a difference. Not only that, but even though Lt. Surge was missing, he had done work with the team, meaning they were bound to be tougher mentally.
Because we had our fair share of Ground-types, though, it definitely wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world, and because Brock had three of them (Geodude, Onix, and Rhydon), it meant we could still fight in some of our regular formations. Because Daisy and I had two Electric-resistant Pokémon each ourselves (Jynx and Nidoqueen for Daisy, Nidoqueen and Dragonair for me), we were close behind him in the attack, followed by Misty with Wooper, and because of Pikachu's Electric-type alignment and heightened power, Ash could use him as a lightning rod, taking half the damage while dealing out normal damage.
This time, though, Brock, Daisy, and I were able to step to the front and give Vermillion more than we could handle ourselves, making Ash and Misty's task the simplest possible: just providing additional daggers in their hearts. It felt like our opening match against Olivine after a while as we jumped out of the gates again and never looked back, and it was only because of Vermillion's Electric-type slant that it was limited to an 85-30 shellacking.

So now we sittin' in a drop-top soakin' wet
In our silk suits, tryin' not to sweat
Hittin' somersaults without the net
But this'll be the year that we won't forget
One-nine-nine-nine
And around me anything goes
Be what you wanna be long as you know
Consequences are given for livin' defenseless

"I tell you what, if that's supposed to be our hardest matchup type-wise and we won by 55, we've got this next one in the bag if we just keep going like this!" Brock said—and knowingly for more reasons than one, as our next opponent was his hometown team, Pewter City Athletic. It meant we went from our hardest matchup type-wise to our easiest.
"Yeah—no offense to your friends, Brock, but the way we're playing, they are so dead!" Daisy said, nodding.

The scary part was that she was right. Between the 13 of us—us nine starters and the 4 reserves we were allowed to bring—we had more Pokémon who could punish Pewter's big Rock-type slant than you could shake a stick at, which meant it wasn't so much a contest as it was a chance for Brock and the rest of us to strut our stuff against his hometown team.
When Brock had been named to the United first team, he had released a recorded statement for Pewter radio, telling them that while he had nothing at all against Pewter, the opportunity to play alongside Ash, Misty, and more friends of his was too big to pass up. Thankfully, they had more than readily understood, and when he was introduced and when he stepped forward for his battles, he got standing ovations from the Pewter crowd. One sign in the Pewter section especially got our attention, as it read, "Win The Cup For Pewter, Brock!"
To make a long story—and a long match for Pewter—short, let me just put it this way: Brock was the best Pewter trainer out there by a mile and a half, and it was only because we let the subs get their licks in (no offense to them) that we didn't score all 144 possible points, settling for a 129-8 blasting.

Too hot to jump in jail
Too low to dig, I might just touch Hell (Hot!)
Get a life, now they on sale
Then I might catch you a spell, look at what came in the mail
A scale and some Arm & Hammer
Charcoal grill and a baby mamma
Black Cadillac and a pack of Pampers
Stack of questions wit no answers

"Good thing those were my guys, because there's no time to pat ourselves on the back—we've got Saffron next." Brock said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, time to show they aren't invincible!" Daisy said.
"Yeah, I'd like to see what the crowd's like after this!" Violet said, nodding.

Up next for us was the marquee matchup for our group, as we were up against the other favorite in the group, the Saffron City Soul. The match was earmarked as a showdown ever since the draw was made because the Soul was loaded with trademark powerful Psychic-types and had the only other gym leader in the group, Saffron Gym's Sabrina Gable, as its captain. It was a major match with major stakes, as both we and the Soul had won our first two matches, meaning the winner was guaranteed a place in at least the last stage of national qualifying.
We were in position, however, to take that berth because the Soul was not a united single Saffron team, but instead one of two teams, as the city's top karate dojo, also an unofficial Fighting-type gym, was fielding its own team, the Saffron City Warriors. That meant we had for the most part only one type to defend against, so we knew that even though no one had stopped their Psychic-type onslaught yet, it was for the most part because no one knew how to do it (no disrespect to them.) Their problem was that we did know how to shut them down.

"First off, we need to start Charles, put him and Theo at the front, and have them wail away with Feraligatr's Crunch and Heracross's Megaphone." Ash had said during one of our meetings, writing it on the tablet PC for us to see. "Because the Soul are using Psychic-types, we need to whittle their numbers down fast—and this time, I think we may need to do that by taking out trainers one by one in order to prevent them feeding off each other. Charles, Theo, if you guys can knock out a whole trainer's team each time you're out there, it'll give us a big advantage. Can you handle that?" He was looking them in the eyes as he finished.
"Absolutely." Theo said with a grin.
"Bring 'em on!" Charles said with a grin of his own.
"Great! We'll make sure to cover you guys. Misty, Daisy, Carlo, Brock, can you guys also hit 'em with some hooks?"
"Sure!" All four of us said almost simultaneously. We all knew what he was talking about, but let me elaborate in case you haven't heard that term before. "Hooking" is a method that a dual-type Pokémon can use to gain an advantage when facing a Pokémon (most often, a single-type), that shares and is resistant to one of its types and it's fairly simple: the dual-type uses its status as a type that matches its opponent's as defense and attacks corresponding to its other type, and as a result, hits at full power while only taking half the damage that its opponent deals out. Psychic-type attacks can be hard to deal with in team play because you can't have a Pokémon blocking the old-fashioned way, but hooking helps overcome that problem. And we had the Pokémon to do just that—Misty's and my Starmies, plus Brock's Solrock and Daisy's Jynx.

By the time we went out, we had agreed on the following game plan: at the forefront, Theo and Charles (Tracey graciously agreed to let Charles take his starting spot against the Soul) would do as much damage as they could using Heracross's Megaphone and Feraligatr's Crunch. In the meantime, Misty and I would send out our Starmies while Brock and Daisy sent out Solrock and Jynx respectively to support them and also keep the Soul's score down. Last but not least, Ash, Violet, and Lily would be turned loose to attack however they saw fit (although Ash told me right before the match that they planned to harass Sabrina to limit her influence and force the other Soul trainers to beat us without her.)
As the match began with the full team phase, it became evident our three-pronged attack was causing the Soul some serious problems. After blasting through everyone before us, they suddenly found themselves having to constantly defend and also work very hard to score, and with Ash, Lily, and Violet letting their Pokémon run around and cause havoc, that was an even harder task—one that their power wasn't able to overcome as we jumped out 24-10.

"Nice work!" Misty said, clapping us on our backs before we huddled up. "They're not going to change strategy, but they're going to come harder, so let's send that stuff back with interest!"
That's just what happened. Saffron clearly had adjustments to make after that first phase other than just turning up the intensity—but they didn't make them, which meant we were still able to impose our will on the match. What's more, our performers' and competitors' mentalities melded to create a sort of "battler" mentality, which means we step up whenever we see our opponents stepping up, as if to say, "If you're going to bring your best, that's great, but be prepared to meet our best!"

We slammed the door emphatically on any comebacks after the doubles phase. First, Ash and Misty scored a shutout—in the No. 3 singles rubber. After that, way shut after first Charles and Daisy and then Theo and I scored sweeps in our matches as Daisy and I covered Charles and Theo and let them cause panic.
In the singles phase, which came third, we put it away with exclamation points as the six of us that played in the phase either knocked out an opponent's entire team (which Theo and Charles did) or shut out an opponent (as Misty, Daisy, Brock, and I did.) By the time the large team phase came around, we had them beat both physically and mentally, and we were able to clear the bench and coast to a huge 93-24 win.

Cure for cancer, cure for AIDS
Make a (expletive) wanna stay on tour for days
Get back home, things are wrong
Well, not really, it was bad all along
Fo' you left a$ed out to a ball of power
Lost at a thousand miles per hour
Hello, ghetto, let yo' brain free
Believe there's always mo'...Ooowww!

"Whoo-hoo!" Lily cheered as we came off the field. "Talk about a statement game!"
"Oh, yeah!" Brock cheered as we came off the field. "We're moving on!"
"Yeah—to both the knockouts and at least the last stage of national qualifying!" I said, feeling some tension come off as I realized our run to the top was not going to come to a disastrously premature ending.
"That's right! First things first, though—let's keep showing out and finish off this group!" Daisy said.

We were definitely happy to clinch one of the top two spots in the group, meaning we would contend at the national championship, but we also stayed focused because we knew the last group stage match against Cinnabar Island was definitely not a dead rubber. If we won it, we would win the group and face the second-placed team in Kanto Group B instead of its winner.
It took only one look to find that it was going to be a very good challenge. While Cinnabar too was without its gym leader—in their case, Pokémon expert and trainer Blaine Jeffers—they had made a big move patterned after a move that he had made to strengthen his own team: filling in the spots not already taken by their trademark powerful Fire-types with Normal-types who knew moves such as Thunderbolt and Earthquake that could cover for the Fire-types (Author's Note: Blaine actually does that in Pokémon Stadium.) It was very tactically sound, and it showed as they had beaten both Saffron teams in the past week—the Warriors in a friendly two days beforehand and the Soul just before facing us. Figuring out how to get through them, though, was right up my alley.
"They look formidable and they are, but they're far from unbeatable." I had said during practice almost without hesitation. "When the Normal-types come out, we just need to hit them with Fighting-type attacks or status effects—particularly heavy poison or paralysis—so that we can get clear shots at the Fire-types."

Figuring out a tough opposing defense feels a lot like cracking a safe or a bank vault—it can take a lot of brain-racking to find the way through, but once the door's unlocked or blown open, it's cake and ice cream. There wasn't a thing Cinnabar could do to stop us as we doused the Fire-types with frightening ease and dispatched the Normal-types using Thunder Waves, Toxics, and some Fighting-type moves such as Poliwrath's Brick Break. Once they knew we had their number, they seemed listless, leaving us to sweep them aside and record a 100-19 win as the Cerulean fans whooped, cheered, and celebrated our passage to the knockout stage.

Don't pull the thing out unless you plan to bang
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)
Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)
Don't pull the thing out unless you plan to bang
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)
Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)

"Well done, all!" Theo said. "Kanto Group A, done and dusted with a minimum of fuss! Good tactics, Carlo!"
"Thanks!" I said, grinning at him. "I tell you, that certainly felt like a lot of fun, because those guys probably thought they had us covered, and look what we did—we went through them like a white-hot knife through butter." My grin was a little roguish at the end.
"Oh, yeah, we did!" Ash said, giving me a thumbs-up before calling our attention to our next job. "Okay, guys, time to refocus, because it's time to battle for an automatic bid!"
"Oh, we're not done yet, that's for sure!" Lily and I said almost simultaneously.

After a short intermission, the knockouts were set to begin. In the Kanto semifinals, we were pitted against the Sevii & Orange Islands, captained by Lorelei. At stake: an automatic ticket to nationals.
The fact that they were very diversified type-wise and also boasted very potent leadership in Lorelei made it a very tough challenge, but we knew that because we were deeper and because Misty and I had beaten Lorelei at the Youth International, we could overcome them.
However, what separates the men and women from the boys and girls in any sport is the ability to kick into another gear or whip out another move just when you think you've seen everything they have to offer. And to our shock but to the delight of the Sevii and Orange fans and team, Lorelei pulled out something beyond her A-game against Ash in the opening battle—No. 1 singles—and staked herself to a 3-1 lead with only a minute to go. Ash and Pikachu—shut down up to that point—then got that look in their eyes as if to say, "Oh, no, you don't!"

Pikachu then singlehandedly denied Lorelei by knocking out Lorelei's Cloyster with a Thundershock and then taking out Lapras with an incredible Thunder blast almost just as the horn sounded. It was a 3-3 tie.
Ash wasn't aware of this, though, as he hadn't looked at the scoreboard, instead coming straight back to us.
"Did I get her?" Ash asked anxiously.
"No, but you might as well have." Brock said. Then, seeing Ash's puzzled look, he explained with a reassuring smile, "They're not in the right frame of mind—they're either going to be overconfident at Lorelei holding you to a tie or scared at her not giving them the lead. Go get 'em, Carlo—they're not ready for you!"
"Don't worry about it—I've got us covered!" I said.
Pikachu winked at me appreciatively and patted Ash on the head, saying, "Chu, pi pi chu." I took that to mean "Our friends have us covered, so we don't have to worry anyway." Ash seemed to take it that way too, saying, "Thanks, Pikachu. Hit 'em out of the park, Carlo!"

Of course I was nervous because of the situation, but I also relished the opportunity to step forward and give a key performance. It's your time to step up and shine, I told myself. I also realized this was also important because it was an opportunity to prove we could be a force without Ash hitting on all cylinders. As I got out to the center, I could see that Brock was right—my opponent didn't know whether to be confident or scared.
Doesn't matter, I told myself. Hope he's got a will written, 'cause he's dead.
The battle that followed was punctuated with a lot of crashing sounds and thuds, which might as well have been the sounds of our opponents crashing back to earth, because I thoroughly had my way as I scored a sweep at the most opportune time possible.

"That's more like it." I said with a grin as I took high-fives from the others. "Guess we know how they're feeling now—panic-stricken!"
"You bet!" Brock and Ash said almost simultaneously, smiling as well. Ash then added, "Thanks for having my back out there, Carlo."
"No problem." I replied. "Hey, Tracey, make sure you hit 'em with everything you've got, because they're falling hard—it's up to you to make sure they land even harder."
"Don't worry—I've got a whole stadium to impress this time, so there's no way I'm not delivering!" Tracey replied.
If anyone didn't know what he meant, they knew after he got a standing ovation from both ends of the arena as he came to the center. People sometimes forget that Tracey as an artist needs a bit of showmanship himself to impress his viewers, and that side of him was on full display as he came away with a 4-0 win to give us 10 unanswered points in the two singles battles since Lorelei's tie with Ash.

"That's a lesson for us, too—one battle doesn't make a match." Tracey said matter-of-factly as he took the plaudits from us.
"You bet." Ash said.
Tracey's and my victories had done their job and put our opponents firmly back on their heels, and with the momentum back on our side, the rest of the team was itching to send them tottering over the edge to defeat. After another 4-0 courtesy of Theo, Misty and Lily scored 3-0 wins to complete a huge turnaround of 23 unanswered knockouts.
Looking back, the match was probably won by that point because given the Sevii and Orange Islands' mental shape, they would likely have had to take a lead into the final phase and then show us something more in order to win. If that was true—which it likely was—our 23-3 opening phase erased the thoughts of upsets from their heads and had them covering up trying to limit damage. After the opening phase, even the expected comeback effort led by Lorelei wasn't nearly enough as we won each of the last 3 phases by at least 15 and ended up 98-30 winners, meaning we automatically qualified for the Japanese Premier Cup.

Uno, dos, tres, it's on
Did ya ever think a pimp rock a microphone?
Like that there, boy, but we still stay street
Big things happen every time we meet
Like a track team crashin' down a geek
OutKast bumpin' up and down the streets
Slam back Cadillac, 'bout five degrees
75 MCs freestylin' to the beat

"All right!" Tracey cheered as we got off the field. "Hello, automatic qualification!"
"Yes, sir!" Daisy said. "Nationals, here we come!"
"Pat yourselves on the back for saving my butt out there, guys." Ash said with a smile, making us laugh, before adding matter-of-factly, "Can you guys do that again against Fuchsia?"
"Don't worry. Ladies and gentlemen, the detoxification squad is in the building." Theo said with a wink. We all laughed and applauded him.

Up next for us was our first championship match—and by that, I don't mean a match in the regional-national-continental-world progression, but a match with a title on the line—the Kanto championship against Fuchsia City, loaded with its trademark Poison-type power with a dose of Bug-type strength added in and another trademark: a heavy emphasis on status effects, especially heavy poison.
No one needed to be told what the key was to countering their status effect-heavy style and taking them down: pace control, namely quick knockouts. We had to, as the saying goes, hammer them right in the mouth. It was fitting in more ways than one because while ninjitsu does offer power in its own way and not just speed, a ninja's comfort zone still lies in gaining an advantage, whether by poison, paralysis, stunning, or stealth, before the fight begins in earnest. If you can get a ninja in a more straightforward fight, you stand a much better chance.

And we not only preferred playing fast, but we were more than equipped to handle Poison-types, with Brock at the front again with four Pokémon who were up for the job in Geodude, Onix, Rhydon, and Solrock. Not only that, but he had Zubat with its Poison-type resistance and Haze in case they poisoned a batch of our Pokémon. Supporting him were Misty with Wooper and Golduck, myself with Nidoqueen and Starmie, Daisy with Jynx and Nidoqueen, and Theo with Alakazam.
There were understandably those who thought that Fuschia was going to give us even more of a fight than the Sevii & Orange Islands, and truth be told, I was among them, because even though I knew we matched up well, I knew they were bound to have something up their sleeve.

Fortunately, we needn't have worried. Brock, incredibly, was looking even more dominant than he had been against Vermillion, giving us the perfect start with an astonishing sweep of Janine in the No. 1 singles battle.
"Oh, my Lord!" I yelled as we high-fived him after he had celebrated and come back over to us. "This is a walk in the park so far!"
"Thanks!" He said with a grin, before saying matter-of-factly, "You know I don't say this unless I'm very sure of it, but someone better call the police, because this is gonna get ugly."
"Maybe, but it'll still look beautiful." Daisy said knowingly, winking at us before she headed off to the center.
"Uh-oh, here comes the model walk!" Misty said with a big grin that Lily and Violet shared. "She's got 'em!"
It looked like a purposeful stride straight off the runway as she waved to our section with a smile on her face but then looked across the field at her Fuchsia opponent as if to say, "Say your prayers, 'cause you're at my mercy." Tyra Banks once said that top models act on the runway as if they are "mad at the world, almost hungry," and I could definitely see what she was talking about as Daisy marched out there.

To make a long story short, Daisy talked the talk and walked the walk in more ways than one, sweeping her opponent as well. Then I, Misty, Theo, and Ash showed no mercy, continuing the onslaught and almost recording a singles phase sweep. Instead, we were more than content to settle for a 34-0 lead after the one phase. As we anticipated, Fuschia ratcheted it up a little more—but we were more than ready, overpowering them and sweeping the doubles phase 36-0 courtesy of Ash and Misty (No. 3), me and Theo, and then Brock and Daisy. By this point, Fuchsia seemed out on their feet, and as we saw that and saw the lead we had, we did something not even we thought we would be able to do: clear the bench with a full half of play to go in the Kanto regional championship match and soak up the atmosphere as we recorded a 120-32 win and our first championship, the first ever Kanto regional club Pokémon championship—a fact that had the Cerulean fans in raptures as we soaked in their applause for a bit and then headed off to prepare for the evening's climax.

'Cause we get crunk, stay crunk at the club
Shoulda bought an ounce, but ya coughed it up
Shoulda held back, but ya throwed the punch
'Posed to meet ya girl, but ya packed the lunch
No G-to-the-U-to-the-G for you
Got a son on the way by the name of Bamboo
Got a little baby girl for a year, Jordan
Never turn my back on my kids for them

"Oh, my God!" Lily almost squealed as we came off the field. "We're Kanto champions!"
"Oh, yeah! I'll tell you something, though…" I said, again helping get us refocused. "This is normally the part where I'd say, 'Start saying it', but this is an exception. Time for us to put to the side, turn around, head back out, and blow it up out there so we can start staying 'Indigo Cup Champions!' We are not done yet, people!"
"That's right! It's now time, though, to step up and seriously represent, guys—all of Kanto wants us to take it all the way now, so let's finish this in style!" Ash said.
"You said it!" Misty said. "Time to show Blackthorn and all of Johto who's boss!"
The rest of us cheered and we all marched away as one, even more focused on the prize in front of us, which was now the Indigo Cup itself.

The team we would face for the Indigo Cup was our most formidable opponent yet by far: Blackthorn City United. Armed with a co-captain tandem to rival Ash and Misty in two Blackthorn natives—Indigo Elite Four member and one-time Indigo Champion Lance Holliday and Blackthorn Gym Leader Claire Alphonso—and a supporting cast loaded as their co-captains were with trademark powerful Dragon-types, they had come in as one of the favorites and had more lived up to their billing, winning the Johto championship without trailing once.
During one of our meetings, we had discussed how to handle each of the other opposing teams in the field, and when it came time to discuss strategy for them, we laid out 3 key points:

-Win the 1st phase to put Blackthorn under pressure
-Get the absolute most out of Ice-types and those with Ice-type attacks
-Negate Lance & Clair

"This is the point where we can't care an ounce if they're Blackthorn." Misty said as we huddled up one more time. "What matters is that this is the final battle—our chance to shine. Let's come out firing and show 'em what we're made of, guys!"
"That's right—time to take it to the limit, everyone!" Brock said. "Ash?"
Ash looked us right in the eyes as he said, "You know it! One more time, guys—United on three. One, two, three!"
"United!" We all shouted, and we broke the huddle and lined up to head out onto the field.

Night had fallen over Indigo Plateau by the time our two teams walked out onto the field to a raucous ovation. One end of the 65,000-seat Pokémon Stadium was loaded with Cerulean fans in royal and laser blue, white, and aqua green, while the other end was filled with Blackthorn fans in navy, scarlet, and gold. As a further reminder as to the presence of the Kanto-Johto rivalry in this match, the defeated Kanto teams were in the front row of our section to support us while the vanquished Johto teams were in the Blackthorn section's front row.
I'm sure you're wondering, "How does it feel to battle for a major championship against a formidable opponent like Blackthorn?" It's an absolute nerve-wracker. Your body unconsciously jitters a little, you find your armpits sweating from the tension, and you fear that one mistake on your part could see you losing the game and being cast as a goat. It's times like these where you need to have true faith in your skills (and your teammates, if you're not playing solo.)

It was also a good time to use something I had been relying on a lot that day—the Sensational Sisters' mental preparation routine. As both we and Blackthorn lined up and looped arms around teammates' shoulders, I looked at the crowd, closed my eyes, and drunk in the moment. Yeah, this is where we want to be, I thought, feeling my tension start to erode a bit. This is definitely the opportunity we want!
Next, I focused, doing so by telling myself, Remember, play your game and no one else's because you know Blackthorn can't deal with it, but be sure to back your teammates up too.
Then I opened looked at the Blackthorn squad across the way, set my face and my spirit, and said mentally, We're ready for you—are you ready for us?
I paused, then added, Hope you're ready to go, because you're about to get it bad!
Then I felt something fall away inside, and I found myself smiling. It's showtime.

Fittingly, the match format would be standard-order singles, then reverse-order doubles, then standard-order singles, and then finally the full team phase. It was as if the organizers were asking the teams to remember that individual talents would have to blend and mesh in order to bring home the Indigo Cup.
The first order of business, though, was proving we could compete with Blackthorn individually. To start, it would be Ash against Lance—a showdown that had everyone at the Pokémon Stadium on their feet and cheering even as both of them walked to the center.

It was a battle that lived up to expectations—and then some. Both were landing their best shots, and just Pikachu and Lance's Dragonite were left standing with less than a minute to go.
It was the first time that I was involved in a competition and time seemed to slow down. Dragonite began to charge up its Hyper Beam as Pikachu charged up Thunder.
"Wait for it…" Ash said, watching Dragonite carefully. "Easy, buddy…"
About 10 seconds passed, although it could have easily been 15 or 20.
"We can't let him get that off!" Lance yelled. "Dragonite, now! Hyper Beam!"
"Not today, Lance!" Ash yelled back. "Pikachu, you know what to do!"
Pikachu stayed put until the last possible moment and then dove out of the way of the massive gold beam as the crowd gasped and either cheered or groaned depending on the section.
"Now, Pikachu! Thunder! Give him all you've got!" Ash shouted.
The cacophony of lightning and thunder and the yell of "Pikachuuuu!" was more than enough to drown out the whole gasping and cheering crowd. Once the crashing had died down, we could see Dragonite down and out.

"Oh, yes!" Ash cheered as the rest of us and our section went ballistic. He was evidently still very focused, as he only allowed himself a few fist pumps and a high five with Pikachu before he came back to us.
"Way to go, guys!" Misty said, high-fiving both Ash and Pikachu. "Perfect start!"
"Thanks!" Ash replied. "Ready to shine, right?"
"Yes, I am!" Misty said. "Wish me luck, okay?"
Ash smiled and quickly pecked her on the cheek. "For luck. Show Clair who's boss, baby."
She beamed back at him. "Don't worry, Ash. She may know how to tame dragons, but she doesn't know how to tame me."
"Yeah, Misty, you got this! Go out there and do your thing—she can't handle it!" Lily said as we started slapping her on the shoulders and back to wish her luck.

Misty's showdown with Clair was just as dramatic as Ash's battle against Lance, but with both Misty and Clair knowing their battle was also crucial, their battle was fought at an even quicker pace. It was also another classic back-and-forth 6-5 battle that ended when Horsea managed to dodge a shot of Dragon Breath from Clair's best Dragonair and counter with Ice Beam.
"All right!" Ash cheered, quickly hugging Misty when she came back over. "So far, so good!"
"You got that right!" Misty said, smiling back. "They definitely can't be too happy after we've gotten that start against Lance and Clair!"

As we continued to congratulate Misty, I quickly looked at the rest of the Sensational Sisters and saw that I had caught their gaze. They nodded with me, knowing what I wanted to tell them: Misty and Ash had done their job by giving us the lead, and now it was time for the rest of us to lay it on the line and hold that lead—and they and I would be in the last four singles battles.
"We need to let it hang out right here." Brock said as we watched Lily head out. "Whichever team takes these next four battles takes control of the match."
"We have the inside track for that, though, fortunately." Theo said. "You know the girls live for stages like this and you know they've got too much of a slant to get past Carlo undamaged."

I have to admit I was a little scared that after Ash and Misty had only come away with one-point wins, Blackthorn might sense a chance to hit us hard in the last four singles battles and steal our thunder. And I think they did—but Lily sensed her chance to make her mark even more as she produced what was undoubtedly her best match that I'd seen as her decision-making was its soundest yet and she did a terrific job of continually motivating her team, not to mention protecting her biggest threat to Blackthorn in Dewgong (because of it's Ice-type status and Ice Beam.)
In the end, she dominated and came away with a 2-0 win that doubled the lead. It may have only been 2-0 to 4-0, but I could feel some aspect of Blackthorn start to give.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I shouted, high-fiving her as she came back. "Great job! I'm surprised we're not up more after that!"
"Thanks! Don't worry about it—just keep pounding on the door and it'll open!" She said, giving me a good-luck slap on the back as I ran and then walked out to the center with a confident stride.
That's just we did for the rest of the phase—continually pound on the door. First I, then Daisy, and finally Violet stepped up and continued to use mainly Ice-type attacks to wail away at Blackthorn's weak points. They continued to give very little, but we were more relentless than they were steadfast and came away with three more 2-0 wins as a result, giving us a 10-point lead at 20-10 with just three phases left between us and the Indigo Cup.

"Way to go, everyone!" Ash said fervently as we huddled up. "Lily, Carlo, Daisy, Violet, thanks a million for backing us up!"
"Thanks!" I said, returning his grin and choosing that moment to add, "Guys, this is the very first time they've been beaten in a phase, so now we're going to find out what they're really made of—but that's what we want, right?"
The others yelled their approval, led by Misty, who said, "You bet! Our style against their style—we wouldn't have it any other way. So you know it's time to kick it into high gear, boys and girls—are you ready to get crazy?"
"I'd answer you the old-fashioned way, Misty, but I think I'll let my body do the talking this time." Violet said with a smile of her own. We looked at her and saw she was bopping her head and moving a bit to the stadium music, looking as if she were ready to bust a move at the drop of a hat.
"You're feeling it!" Ash said, his smile widening. "Theo, you make sure you keep up with her, you got that?"
"I'll do my best!" Theo replied.

As Violet and Theo's battle unfolded, we could see that our pressure was starting to pay off as we were scoring knockouts with gradually increasing frequency, which was even better news considering that we also saw Blackthorn mounting a comeback in a bid to steal our momentum. Thanks mainly to Corsola and Lapras, however, they came away with a 4-2 win.
"Yeah, that's it!" Daisy said, slapping Violet and Theo on the back with the rest of us when they came back. "Lily, Carlo, whatever you do, win this battle, because if you do, Ash and Misty'll build the lead when it's their turn and then it'll really be ours to win or lose!"
"Consider it done!" I said. "You ready to bring it big-time?" I asked Lily.
"You know it!" Lily replied. "Let's get 'em, Carlo!"

One of the reasons that Blackthorn was hanging on was that they had some Kingdras, which are only weak to Dragon-type attacks—and Blackthorn's Kingdras had Ice Beam, which meant that just bringing them out could cut down on our options. I now was calm enough, though, to remember how we could get around that—incapacitating them.
I knew just how, too—as soon as we incapacitated the Pokémon other than Kingdra in play, I could use Lanturn's Thunder Wave. I quickly told Lily, "Watch Lanturn—I've got an idea for taking their Kingdras out of the equation."
I managed to whisper in her ear just what I was talking about just as the whistle blew and the action started back up. We had to tough it out while waiting for an opportunity to pull that counter, but we finally had our opportunity with a minute to go and the battle still scoreless as our opponents sent out Kingdra and Salemence.

"Now! Take him out and then we can take Kingdra!" I yelled at Lily, pointing at Salamence and feeling a rush of adrenaline sweep through me and stop in my brain, allowing me to think perfectly clearly.
"Got it!" She replied. "Dewgong, Ice Beam on Salamence!"
Salamences are very strong, but they have what I consider to be a near-fatal weakness: their double weakness against Ice, so it was the perfect time to make our move. Given Dewgong's power, once that Ice Beam was fired, Salamence had no chance.
The moment I saw Salamence being recalled after being knocked out, I called, "Now! Lanturn, Thunder Wave on Kingdra!"
The combo move was working to perfection so far as we could see Kingdra start to jitter and show signs of paralysis. Lily and I then called for the finisher:
"Dewgong! Lanturn! Twin Ice Beam!"
It was a move meant to either take out or freeze Kingdra, and we managed to put him out of action. As Lily and I cheered and slapped hands while the Cerulean fans erupted, we could see the Blackthorn trainers looking disheartened at the realization that we didn't need Dragon-type attacks to break the barrier technique they had been using. Our opponents tried fighting back, but we kept up the pressure and forced them to defend for the rest of the battle, which meant that we came away with a big 3-0 win after we got one more knockout.

"You did it, you guys! It's over!" Misty cheered as the Cerulean section continued to go off and the others scrummed around me and Lily as we came back. "Not even they're ready for us as a team!"
"Darn right!" I yelled back.
"You bet!" Lily said. "Misty, Ash, time to start the final flourishes!"
"Don't worry. It doesn't matter that it's going to be Lance and Clair out there—no one's taking this night from us!" Ash said.

Early on in their battle, they stated their intentions very clearly when they pitted Horsea and Butterfree against one of Lance's Dragonairs and one of Claire's Dragonairs and whipped out another combo move right off the bat:
"Horsea! Butterfree! Icy Wind!"
It was a unique combo in that they were combining two moves to make a move that an individual Pokémon could learn. Of course, the fact that it was a combo courtesy of Misty and Ash made it far from your ordinary Icy Wind, as it took out both Dragonairs to open up an early 2-0 lead.
"Perfect, guys!" Daisy yelled. "That's it!"
"That's the style, guys—wait until they give you that opening, then pull that out!" Tracey called.

They got another chance for a big combo when they had Togetic and Altaria in the fray against Claire's Kingdra and Lance's Dragonite with 30 seconds to go and the score unchanged.
"Careful, guys…" I said, seeing that we had two Ice-vulnerable Pokémon in. "Stay sharp—you don't want to give them that look…"
It looked as if we were too late as Claire called, "Kingdra! Ice Beam!"
Before we had time to groan or clutch our heads, though, Misty stunned everyone in the building and yelled, "Togetic! Fire Blast! Tell 'em to get that out of here!"
All of us crossed our fingers and most of us held our breath. Countering a move with a move of your own is the riskiest and most demanding countering method in the book by far—which made it a move that I definitely didn't prefer—but Togetic was able to pull it off perfectly, as her Fire Blast outlasted Kingdra's Ice Beam by about two full seconds, raising a large cloud of steam that obscured the other side of the stadium and did some damage to the opposing Pokémon.

"All right!" Misty cheered as our section gasped and then roared its approval. "You go, Togetic! Finish 'em off, Ash!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Ash yelled. "Altaria! Dragon Breath! Let's take 'em both out!"
You know how it seems much easier to drain a 3-pointer after making a steal or a block? This situation was no different in that sense. Once Altaria finished spitting the blue flames, we could see both Dragonite and Kingdra out for the count. Lance and Clair really opened up after that in an attempt to pull something back before the end, but their teams' hard shots weren't nearly as devastating as they had been in the singles phase, and Ash and Misty were able to seal an emphatic 4-0 win to give us a 19-point lead at 31-12 with only two phases to go.

Shoulda hit it, quit it, rag top
Before ya reek up, get a laptop
Make a business for yourself, boy, sell some golds
Make a phat diamond outta dust and coal
Record number four, but we on a roll
Hold up, slow up, stop, control
Like Janet, planet, Stankonia, it's on ya
Movin' like Floyd, comin' straight to Florida

"Oh, yes!" Theo roared as we high-fived Ash and Misty before huddling up. "Halfway home, people!"
"You said it!" Brock said. His tone then became that of an astounded person: "Ash, Misty, you gotta tell me—was that the plan all along?"
"No, but it wasn't totally spontaneous either—we came up with the idea a little bit into the battle." Misty replied with a smile.
"Planned or not, this is our time, guys!" I said, feeling perhaps even more psyched than anyone in our camp. "The hunter is now the hunted!"
"Ordinarily, this'd be the part where I'd jump in and urge caution, and I'm still going to do that because this match is only half over…" Brock said with a grin, "But I agree—no one here has been ready for us as a team, not even them, which means that this championship is ours for the taking."

For the 4-on-4 large team phase, we would have almost the same arrangement that we had in our first match against Olivine with one change: Theo came in for Brock to join Ash, Tracey, and me on the No. 2 team, with the four Waterflowers staying as the No. 1 team.
"If they're not feeling the pressure now, they're gonna feel it after this." Tracey said knowingly.
"Darn right." I said with a grin. "Let's kick it up a notch."
Because it was Blackthorn that we were up against, Dragonair had been itching before the match to pit herself against their renowned dragons, so I had again used her often during the match. My faith wasn't misplaced—she had been very effective up to that point—so I sent her out again to join Pikachu, Marill, and Lapras.
For the second straight phase, our continued pressure took its toll on Blackthorn, which was worse news for them considering it allowed me to step forward and use my weakness-targeting strategy to greater effect to pad the lead and get the others open shots more often. Ash, Theo, and Tracey were quick to convert, meaning we were left with a spirit-sapping 6-0 victory.

"They definitely can't be feeling too good right now." Ash said with satisfaction. "We're starting to dissect them!"
"You said it!" I said as I high-fived him.
"I don't think I need to tell you this, but it looks like they're ready to go any minute, so it's time to step up and deal the knockout blow!" Theo said, looking at the Waterflowers as we kept dealing and taking high fives.
"Don't worry about a thing." Violet said with a big smile. "Let's go, girls!"
"You got it!" Misty said, mirroring her smile along with Daisy and Lily.

Then they did something that wowed the rest of us and got our section going even more: they all walked out as Daisy had against Fuchsia with their model walks, smiling and waving to our section before setting their faces much as models do so often as if to say, "Better watch out, 'cause we're coming for you."
"Oh, boy." Ash said. "Someone better watch out!"
The rest of us just simply smiled and cheered, "Yeah, show 'em what you got!"

For most of the battle, Daisy and Lily took turns using Blissey and Kangaskhan respectively to be out front and bear the brunt of the Blackthorn assault, sometimes using both of them at the same time, while Misty and Violet hosed down and iced Blackthorn as best they could. Then Blackthorn was forced into a big mistake with the battle tied 10-10—having all pure Dragon-types in. One Waterflower Wave Strike later, our opponents might as well have shot themselves in the foot, giving away 4 more points and allowing the Sensational Sisters to inflict more damage in the final minute and pick up a 16-10 victory.
It was now 53-22. I allowed myself to breathe as evenly as I had all match as we whooped it up with the Sensational Sisters as they milked the applause, celebrated their win in front of our now near-delirious section, and then came back to us because I knew from a quick mental calculation that we only had to score seven more points to put it out of reach. Ash, though, did and still does what the best leaders do—he watches for any potential chink in our armor.

"All right, let's bring it in one last time, guys." Ash said, and we all complied before he said, "First of all, I know we've only got to score seven more to clinch the Cup, but forget just holding the lead. We've won every battle against these guys, so let's keep it that way!"
"Why the heck not?" Tracey said, grinning. "I was hoping you'd say that!"
"We knew he'd say that. That's what makes him Ash." I said, grinning at Tracey. Then I stuck my hand in the center and looked up at Ash and Misty. "You guys lead us home with that trophy—we've got your backs."
"Spot on, Carlo." Theo said, smiling at us as he put his hand on top of mine. "Time for the final frenzy, ladies and gentlemen."
Once we were all in, Ash grinned at us and then at Misty and said, "I've got a feeling Misty's in better shape than I am after that last battle, so go ahead, Mist."

"Thanks, Ash. Listen up…" She said, looking at all of us intently but also with a smile. "We've done everything we've had to do except one thing, and that's get the party started. We can do that too, right?"
All of us responded with either "Yeah!", "Uh-huh!", or "Yes, ma'am!"
She grinned broadly and then said, "Then what are we all waiting for? United on three! One, two, three!"
"United!" We all shouted one more time as we broke the huddle.

It was time for the full team phase—simply put, the most intense 8 minutes we had faced yet. In terms of strategy, we had one key: pay attention to Ash and Misty and give them the required support. With the Icy Wind combo plus Altaria's Dragon Breath and Misty's part in the Waterflower Wave Strike, they would be the spearhead of our final assault on Blackthorn, so the rest of us focused on covering them while making sure we added some punch to the offense ourselves. For my part, I knew Dragonair, Lanturn, and Nidoqueen could help me immensely with doing my job, but I also knew Dragonair was in the zone, so I stayed with her to start.

Ash and Misty saw Blackthorn's Pokémon clustering around Lance's Dragonite and one of Claire's Dragonairs, so they whipped out the Icy Wind combo right off the bat. It was quite possibly the finishing blow as it either knocked out or heavily damaged the whole opposing team. What made the move even more devastating was that the move actually froze Dragonite.
Brock then called, "Oh, boy! Ready, Tracey?"
"Yeah, Brock, let's finish him!" Tracey replied.
The two of them then yelled, "Solrock! Marill! Avalanche!"

It's the sort of combo move that you can't call anything less than devastating. Avalanche involves the use of an Ice-type move to freeze one or more opponents and then shatter the ice with a Rock-type move. Given the facts—that this particular Avalanche involved Tracey's Marill's Blizzard and Brock's Solrock's Rock Slide and that Dragonite was already frozen—it could only have one outcome. I could be wrong, but my guess is Lance probably never looked more helpless.
The whole Cerulean section now wasn't just on their feet—they were dancing, hugging, and going absolutely nuts. My guess—and the guess of my teammates—is that they sensed as we did that as Dragonite went down for the last time in the match, so did Blackthorn's hopes.

"Yeah!" Brock roared, pumping his fist. "Let's go, guys! Time to bury 'em!"
He simply locked in after that, and while he wasn't our scoring leader the rest of the way, he was able to take out their Fire- and Flying-type options, meaning that the rest of us were free to concentrate all of our firepower on taking out the Dragon-types.
With the amount of Ice-type attacks at our disposal, it didn't matter if it was Blackthorn and it didn't matter that they were still scoring from their desperate last charges. It was time to start the party, and everyone in our camp knew it. A new chant started emanating from our section: "We're Number 1! We're Number 1! We're Number 1!"
"Listen to them." Brock told Ash simply, his smile growing.
"I hear 'em loud and clear, Brocko." Ash responded with a broad smile of his own. "Time for the finishing touch!"
"You heard the guys—time to make this official!" I yelled at the Waterflowers, who were on either side of me, as I smiled and acknowledged the crowd by raising my right index finger high in the air.

It was such a flurry after that that I can't remember everything that happened, but I do remember getting Ash and Misty an open shot on Blackthorn's last Pokémon—a Charizard that they promptly dispatched with the Aqua Shock Bullet—and then jumping what felt like five feet and punching the air as we realized just what we had sealed.
We could hardly have picked a better time to completely eliminate an opposing team's Pokémon. Above the waving flags and signs and the rapturous fans toting them, the scoreboard told the story that had just finished: Cerulean City United 89, Blackthorn City United 42 after a furious 36-20 full team phase finish to win the Indigo Cup, our first championship win.

Block all ya windows and block the corridors
Pullin' off my belt 'cause a whipping's in order
Like three-piece fish, boy, I cut ya daughter
Yo quiero Taco Bell, then I hit the border
Pity pap rapper tryin' to get to five
I'm a microphone fiend tryin' to stay alive
When ya come to ATL, boy, ya better not hide
'Cause the Dungeon Family gon' ride...Hah!

Ash jumped into Misty's arms just before the rest of us hit them with me in the lead with my right index finger raised high in the air again. I couldn't see much in the middle of the scrum, but I could hear all of us plus our section continuing to go crazy and feel our reserves hit the tangle.
"Start saying it now, guys—we're Indigo Cup champions!" I yelled, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet near the center.
"You bet!" Misty responded. "Cerulean City United, Number 1 in Kanto and Johto—if that doesn't sound good, I don't know what does!"
"You said it!" Ash and Daisy said together.
"Absolutely! Come on, guys—it's lap of honor time!" Theo called, setting off with Tracey, Daisy, and Lily for the edge of the field.

We quickly joined them and soaked in the moment as best as we could. After we were finished, it was finally time for the awards ceremony. First, Blackthorn came up and received their silver medals, along with the Johto championship trophy, while taking a standing ovation from both the Blackthorn section and our section.
Then it was our turn. First, though, another thin vase-like trophy was brought out to join our Kanto trophy. It was an ingenious concept. Because of the nature of the Indigo Cup and the Indigo League, both the Kanto and Johto trophies cut away at the front and were hollow while the Indigo Cup trophy was designed to fit inside of either of them. As we cheered along with our section, it was lowered inside the Kanto trophy.
As each of us ascended the stage, we shook hands with the officials, received our gold medals, soaked in the cheers from the crowd, celebrated a little with the trophy (I buffed it with the bottom of my jersey) and then stepped up onto the part of the stage behind the trophy that was slightly raised.

Don't pull the thing out unless you plan to bang
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)
Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)
Don't pull the thing out unless you plan to bang
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)
Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something
(Bombs over Baghdad, yeah)

When Misty and Ash got their medals, got on either side of the trophy and heaved it into the air, as it is with every trophy presentation, several things happened at once. In this case, not only did all of us plus our section go ballistic while fireworks plus blue and white confetti started to be fired into the air, but the music changed to another familiar tune.
"Oh, yeah!" I yelled as I instantly recognized Say My Name. I grinned at Lily and Violet to either side of me, and they smiled back at me and sang along with Daisy and Misty as we started moving to the beat,

Say my name, say my name
If no one is around you, say, "Baby, I love you!" if you ain't runnin' game
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady, ain't callin' me "baby"—why the sudden change?
Say my name, say my name
If no one is around you, say, "Baby, I love you!" if you ain't runnin' game
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady, ain't callin' me "baby"—better say my name

As the chorus finished, Misty stopped singing, and she and Ash looked at each other and smiled warmly.
"We did it." She said simply. "We actually did it!"
"Yes indeed." He replied. "We did it, Misty."
Still holding the trophy, the two of them moved closer and kissed as the crowd and the rest of us beamed or roared our approval (or both.)

After all of the photos and interviews, we finally were back in the bus to savor our first title over some chocolates. These were definitely not your ordinary chocolates, though—they had champagne in them (meaning that champagne had been used in the filling but cooked out, leaving the flavor without the alcohol, meaning it was a way for us to celebrate in a classic way while staying clean.
"What's the sweetest part of this win, in your opinion?" I asked at one point before popping in a chocolate.
"Winning with friends, without a doubt. Thanks for allowing me to share in this." Ash said, smiling at us while talking as if he were a walk-on benchwarmer rather than the Japanese Champion and our co-captain.
"Oh, stop it." Daisy said, returning his smile. "For my part, it may be just me and the sisters, but aside from that, it was winning for Cerulean. When big tournament wins don't come that often for Cerulean trainers, it makes it just that much more satisfying for us and for the city."
"I tell you what, I think I speak for all of the guys when I say we're glad to help with that." Brock said, making Ash, Tracey, Theo, and I all nod vigorously.
"Thanks a lot, guys." The Waterflowers replied as one, blowing kisses our way.
"Anytime." I said, trying to hide how red I was going while also attempting to take it in stride. "We couldn't have done it without you four either, though, I know that much…"
There's another reason I'm glad Cerulean had its so-called "lovable loser" history in Pokémon competition: because it allowed us to savor our win while we still could. As a team and a city that had scaled that first peak, none of us could have foreseen how quickly we would be brought back to earth.

---

Closing Author's Notes
My first cliffhanger—for a reason. Even though this is set in 2003-2004 and deals with my events in my life during that time frame as well as my Pokémon experiences, the next chapter will deal with very recent events in my life. And when I say that, I think it goes without saying that it could be some very deep stuff.
I'm also pleased to confirm Evan AAML's announcement (please check out Evan's story, Power From Within, too!) that we will be working together on an upcoming AAML songfic that will be the first fanfic collaboration for either of us. It features Exclusive (No Excuses), the theme song from Making The Band 4, and my first draft of the summary goes like this:

Love is so often hard to express and convey. So what do you do when you find the courage and the voice to do so? Ash and Misty are about to find out with the help of the other Sensational Sisters and two Team USA trainers.

Look promising? Please let us know, by all means! Also, you know this deal—pleae read and review, but please do not flame me for writing AAML. Stay tuned!