Chapter 10: Sunday Winners

"I cannot believe you called him out," Brock said in absolute shock. "Are you sure this was a really good idea?"

"It's the best I've got," Ash said. "Besides, once this battle's over with, he'll pretty much be of no more use for the rest of the tournament."

"I see your point," Harley said. "But a Snorlax?"

"I've got to admire your choice of pokemon, kid," Trent said. "Sending out a Snorlax who could fall asleep at any moment."

"I'm going to *cough* wrap this up as fast as I can before that happens," Ash said. "Snorlax, let's begin with Body Slam."

("I'm going to flatten you,") Snorlax said to Croconaw.

("You can try,") Croconaw said, leaping out of the way as Snorlax came down.

"Use Slash," Trent ordered. Croconaw's claws sharpened as he slashed at Snorlax. Snorlax grunted as he got back up. "Water Pulse."

"Snorlax, *cough* use Yawn!" Snorlax opened his mouth and out came a pink bubble, followed by another one and another one.

"Water Gun!" Trent ordered. Croconaw began shooting out bursts of water to pop the bubbles before they could even reach him.

"Now use Focus Punch!" Ash yelled. Snorlax charged forward, his fist glowing as he swung down at Croconaw.

"Up and over Croconaw!" Trent said. "And use Seismic Toss." Croconaw stood ready to make his move as Snorlax got near. As Snorlax swung down, Croconaw leapt up onto Snorlax's arm, the attack smashing straight down into the ground. Croconaw leapt off of Snorlax's arm and flipped over his head, grabbing it and lifting Snorlax over his.

"Use Rest!" Ash said right before Snorlax hit the ground.

"Now that was a smooth move," Brock said. "Putting to Snorlax to sleep like that prevented him from gaining any injuries."

"Yeah but now he's vulnerable to attack," Harley added.

"Now use Aqua Jet!" Trent commanded. Croconaw nodded before shooting forward, becoming nothing more than a water bullet.

"Oh no!" Ash yelled, coughing. "Snorlax!"

As Croconaw was about to make contact with Snorlax, however, Snorlax began to snore, and by snore, I mean he took one, long, deep snore, shaking the entire place. The snore was so loud that everyone lost their balance to cover their ears because of the loud snore. Croconaw broke off his Aqua Jet attack, harmlessly hitting Snorlax and bouncing off.

"Wow!" Ash said. "What was that?"

"I think Snorlax just learned Snore," Brock said. "If a pokemon who knows Snore is asleep, Snore is automatically triggered, throwing the opponent's guard off." As it was, Croconaw was dazed by the attack as Snorlax woke up.

"Quick, Snorlax!" Ash coughed. "Use Body Slam while Croconaw's off guard!"

"Croconaw," Trent yelled. "Ice Beam!"

Croconaw looked over to his trainer, the words not fully processing to his brain as Snorlax body slammed Croconaw.

"Croconaw!" Snorlax got up, revealing a knocked out Croconaw. "Have to hand it to you, kid. You did an excellent job with that Snore technique, even though you didn't know your Snorlax had it."

"Thanks," Ash said with another cough. "But this match still isn't over."

"How right you are," Trent said with a chuckle. "Now Golem. Your turn."

The Golem who had been stading next to the fire truck came walking over, readying himself for battle.

"This is it," Ash thought. "If I don't win this, I'm out of the tournament for sure."

"Golem, use Roll Out!"

Golem withdrew into his rock and began rolling towards Snorlax.

"Use Focus Punch!" Ash ordered. Snorlax's fist began to glow once more as Golem neared Snorlax. Snorlax swing his fist into the oncoming Roll Out. The Roll Out, unfortunately, broke off Snorlax's attack and hit Snorlax dead on, knocking Snorlax off his feet and onto his back, but before he landed Ash yelled, "Make that landing an Earthquake!"

The moment Snorlax landed, he smashed his arms down upon the ground, causing the earth to quake. The Golem was knocked out from his Roll Out attack and also landed on his back.

"Roll Out again!" Trent ordered once the quake had stopped. Golem retreated into his rock and rolled towards Snorlax.

"You use Roll Out too!" Ash yelled. Snorlax grabbed his legs and curled into a ball, rolling right towards Golem.

"That was a smooth move," Harley said as the two made contact, breaking out of their Roll Out.

"Thanks," Ash said with a coughing fit. "Now use Flamethrower!"

"Protect!" Trent yelled.

Snorlax let loose a stream of fire at Golem who threw up a green barrier, the Flamethrower harmlessly hitting the barrier. Ash gritted his teeth, trying to think up of a way to beat Golem quickly. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. "All right Snorlax. Use Earthquake."

Snorlax stomped his foot once upon the ground, causing the earth to tremble as Golem hit the ground. Golem was tossed about as the earth shook, being sent back into the air again. "Now use Focus Punch again!" Snorlax's paw began glowing as he ran at Golem as he was coming down.

"Protect again!" Trent yelled. Another green barrier was thrown up before Snorlax even got to Golem. The Focus Punch made contact with the barrier, doing nothing against it, except sending ripples across the barrier.

"Keep it up, Snorlax!" Ash said before coughing again. Over and over Snorlax swing his attack at the barrier, which kept holding up.

"No matter how strong an attack, you won't be able to win, kid," Trent said. "So give it up."

"Just a little more," Ash coughed. Snorlax continued throwing his attack at the barrier. He swung his fist back and brought it forward once more. This time, the barrier broke, Golem finally hitting the ground at last. "Use Stomp and hold him there!"

Snorlax raised a foot and smashed it down hard upon Golem. Golem grimaced as his boulder body formed a small crack in it. "Now use Hyper Beam!"

Trent gasped, realizing there was nothing he could do at this point except for one move. "Quick Golem. Withdraw!" Golem withdrew into his boulder body, hoping he could survive this blast. Snorlax charged up his beam. As he did, he removed his foot from where he stomped and fired the attack right on the crack.

"Golem!" Trent cried out. At first, nothing could be seen but smoke. After some time of long silence, the smoke finally cleared. Snorlax was seen standing, a clear sign that he was all right. But it wasn't Snorlax that was the main concern. It was the boulder in front of Snorlax that everyone worried about. For Ash, he was worried that Golem might have survived and that he would lose, being that he had no more strategy to think of. For Trent, he was worried that his Golem was down and out. The smoke finally cleared and the boulder still remained perfectly still.

"G-Golem?" Trent said, hoping he would be all right. A smile of relief came over him as Golem withdrew from his shell, getting up and turning to face Snorlax.

"No!" Ash said, at a loss of what to do next. Snorlax and Golem stood there, facing each other for several seconds before Golem smiled.

("Good fight,") he said, causing Snorlax to smile and nod right before he collapsed.

"Golem!" Trent cried. Ash's eyes lit up in surprise right before he began cheering.

"Yeah! All right! We won!" He rushed over to Snorlax, despite his hurting rib cage, jumping up and hugging him. "Snorlax, you were awesome. I knew I could count on you."

("You did a god job,") Pikachu said, walking over.

Ash continued hugging Snorlax, laughing as Trent just smiled and returned his fainted Golem. "I have to hand it to you," he said. "You sure did put up a good fight. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Ash said, letting go of Snorlax. "You were pretty good too. You trained your pokemon very well."

"Have to have tough pokemon to be able to handle fires," Trent said.

"So true," Harley said as Ash began coughing again.

"Hey, I'm sorry about what happened with you and your Donphan," Trent said apologetically. "You going ot be O.K.?"

"We better get you to see Dr. Proctor," Brock said. "You might have a few broken ribs."

"Yeah," Ash said with another cough. "Sounds good. Trent, I hope we can have a rebattle some day."

"I look forward to it," Trent said, shaking hands with Ash as Snorlax suddenly dropped to the ground, falling asleep.

"Looks like Snorlax used up all of his energy," Brock said.

"It's good enough," Ash said, returning Snorlax. "You did great." He clipped the pokeball back to his belt before being led out by Brock and Harley.

"Oh wow!" Dawn said, pulling out her Pokedex. "What is that?

"Slowbro, the sluggish pokemon," Dawn's pokedex said. "The evolved form of Slowpoke, a Shellder clamps onto its tail, making it less slower to respond upon evolution."

"That's so cool!" Dawn said.

"A Slowbro, huh?" Tara said. "This should be an interesting match."

"It sure will be," Soledad said. "Now Slowbro. Let's start things off with Confusion."

A blue glow enveloped the Wigglytuff as she was sent flying into the ceiling. Tara growled softly as her Wigglytuff began falling toward the ground. Wigglytuff hit hard and grimaced as she flew right back up into the air, right into the ceiling before falling down again toward the floor.

"Now step it up a little," Soledad said. "Use Hidden Power!"

Small orbs began to circle Slowbro as Wigglytuff neared the ground. The orbs launched at Wigglytuff, hitting dead on and sending her flying into the wall.

"Wigglytuff!" Tara cried out as Wigglytuff slid to the ground, knocked out. "Well, that was unexpected to say in the least. But my last pokemon won't go down so easy."

"We'll see," Soledad said as Tara returned her Wigglytuff.

"Now go, Mr. Mime!" Tara yelled, throwing out her last pokeball. Out forth from the light came a clown pokemon with hair sticking out on both sides of its head.

"It's a Mr. Mime!" May said astonished. "Should have figured she would have a pokemon like that."

"Go and use Magical Leaf!" Tara commanded. Mr. Mime let loose a fury of leaves that gleaned as they aimed for Slowbro.

"Use Confusion followed by Psychic," Soledad said. A blue glow surrounded the leaves, slowing them to a stop as they just reached Slowbro's face. Slowbro then sent the leaves up into the air and then angled them down toward Mr. Mime.

"Protect," Tara said. A green barrier surrounded Mr. Mime, protecting him from the incoming attack as they bounced harmlessly off the barrier. "Now use Calm Mind." Mr. Mime shut his eyes and focused in on his power.

"Calm Mind?" Dawn asked. "What does that do?"

"It raises the special attack and defense of a pokemon," May told her. "This is going to be harder than it looks."

"Quick Slowbro," Soledad said. "Use Shadow Ball." A black ball formed in Slowbro's mouth, expanding before Slowbro released it. As it neared Mr. Mime, who had suddenly opened his eyes, Tara ordered another attack.

"Now use Focus Punch." Mr. Mime's hand took on a white glow as he swung it forward, detonating the ball. Tara remained where she was, smirking. Soledad, May, and Dawn all stood there, surprised that their attack had failed. "Now use Brick Break."

Mr. Mime rushed forward, hand flat as a board as he swing it forward to make contact with Slowbro's neck.

"Double Team!" Soledad quickly ordered. Mr. Mime swung at Slowbro, only to have it go right through him. It was then Mr. Mime noticed all the other Slowbros surrounding him.

"Light Screen," Tara said rather calmly. A yellow barrier appeared for a few seconds before it disappeared again.

"Now use Earthquake!" Soledad said. Slowbro concentrated all his power as the earth began shaking. Mr. Mime couldn't keep his balance and ended up falling over, the attack hurting him a bit. "And now Dig!"

Slowbro dug underground, causing Tara to gasp in surprise, knowing what was about to happen. Mr. Mime was beginning to get up, oblivious what was about to happen until it happened. Suddenly, he disappeared, dragged underground. "Mr. Mime!" Tara yelled out.

"Wow!" Dawn said. "Soledad's really smart! She took the disadvantage and turned it into an advantage."

"Got to admit," Tara said. "You sure do fancy work for a coordinator."

"Thanks," Soledad said as Mr. Mime came shooting out of the ground, hitting the ceiling before dropping to the floor, unconscious. Slowbro appeared next. "And with that, I win the battle."

"Indeed you do," Tara said, recalling her Mr. Mime. "Ah well. I supposed I was going to lose some time. Just never thought I'd lose this early."

"You really did a good job with your Wigglytuff," May said. "Hiding him among all the art works of the museum."

"Thank you," Tara said with a smile. "And you did a good job with that Earthquake. If you had gone and used any other attack against my Mr. Mime, you would have been blocked by Light Screen. Good strategy."

"A coordinator always has to think quick on their feet," Soledad replied.

"True to that," Tara said as the sound of empty stomachs began growling.

"I guess watching that battle made me hungry!" Dawn said embarrassingly.

"I guess we're all hungry," May said. "Tara, care to join us?"

"Fine by me," Tara said as the four walked out from the museum.

Everyone turned their attention to the person who had spoken. Before them was a blue looking dinosaur with a huge green bulb on his back.

("Who do you think you are interrupting our fight?") the Tyrogue asked. ("Unless you wish to get involved.")

("I'm not getting involved with anything,") the Bulbasaur said. ("I'm stopping this fight. So you either cooperate or I end this for you.")

("You think you're stronger than us?") the Tyrogue asked. ("No one's tougher than I am. I'll show you what it's like to mess with the wrong guy.") The Tyrogue began charging at the Bulbasaur who remained standing there as Tyrogue closed in, ready to swing at him. However, just as Tyrogue went to hit, he was suddenly stopped, Bulbasuar's paw making contact with Tyrogue's gut.

Tyrogue collapsed in pain while his gang stared on in shock, surprised that a Bulbasaur managed to beat down their leader in one hit. ("I don't care about who's stronger,") the Bulbasaur said. ("All I care about is others getting along with one another. So if you don't wish to humiliate yourself any further, I'd suggest you beat it.")

Tyrogue got up, holding his stomach all the meanwhile groaning in pain. ("Fair enough, Bulbasaur,") he said. ("But I will get my payback on you some day. Be warned. I will get my vengence.") Bulbasaur said nothing. All he did was stare at the Tyrogue as he retreated with his gang. Once they were gone, Grotle walked over to Bulbasaur.

("You all all right?") he asked, his stare becoming a smile.

("Thanks to you we are,") Grotle said. ("You can call me Grotle. The hothead right there is Chimchar and this is Alf.")

("How do you do?") Alf asked.

("Nice to meet you all,") Bulbasaur said. ("You can just call me Bulbasaur. So, you guys live around here?")

("Chimchar and I don't,") Grotle said. ("Though I'm sure Alf wandered here one day and called this place home.")

("You could say something like that,") Alf replied. ("So what about you, Bulb? Where do you come from?")

("I come from Pallet Town,") Bulbasaur replied. ("I was brought here to help my trainer in the tournament.")

("That's cool!") Grotle said with a smile. ("I bet your trainer's nice.")

("He is,") Bulbasaur said. ("Of course, it's been a long time since I've seen him, but I'm sure he's still the same person when I left. So, care to show me around the place?")

("Certainly,") Grotle said.

("Hey,") Alf said. ("Where'd Staravia go?")

("Right up here,") came the answer. Everyone looked up to see the bird swooping down. ("Sorry if I ducked out. I didn't really want to get involved.")

("It's understandable,") Alf said. ("By the way, this is Bulbasaur. He got the fight to stop.")

("Nice to meet you,") Staravia said, turning his attention to the Bulbasaur.

("Same here,") Bulbsaur said.

("Say Bulbasaur,") Grotle said. ("Want to try out the hot tub?")

("Sure!") Bulbasaur replied with a smile as he followed the three back over to the pool. However, staying behind was a pouting Chimchar who walked off on his own, apparently going to look for more trouble.

May groaned irritably as she sat in the waiting room along with Soledad, Dawn, Harley, Brock, and Tara. "Typical Ash. Always getting himself hurt like this."

"Well what do you expect?" Brock asked. "You can't expect nothing more from Ash then that. And you've traveled with him and I for over a year."

"I guess you're right," May said sighing. "It's just that after being gone for so long, I thought Ash would have at least changed a bit. But then again, some habits die hard."

"That's Ash for you," Dawn said, prompting everyone to laugh.

"Did we miss something funny?" Tracy asked, walking right up with Drew, Conway, and Heather.

"Nah!" Harley replied. "Just talking about good old Ash."

"Speaking of whom, where is he?" Heather asked, holding Rosie in her arms.

"Who are you?" May asked.

"My name is Heather Styles," Heather replied. "Nice to meet you all." Introductions then went around.

"Hey!" Dawn said. "I notice that Ben's not here. Wonder where he got off to."

"Right here," came Ben's voice, followed by Professor Oak and Ash's mom.

"Where've you guys been?" Brock asked.

"We've been watching Ben train with his pokemon," Oak replied. "It truly is remarkable to see a trainer and his pokemon be close to one another. You hardly ever see that any more, with the exception of Ash, that is. Where is Ash anyway?"

"He got hit by his confused Donphan," Harley stated, quickly adding, "He's fine by the way. No need to worry. He just winded up having a coughing fit."

"How did he get hit by Donphan anyway?" Soledad asked.

"Donphan used Roll Out on Pikachu," Brock replied. "But Ash took the hit for him due to Pikachu's scar."

"I hope he'll be all right," Delia said. As she thought this out loud, out from the doors came Ash and Dr. Proctor. Everyone got up and watched as Ash walked over to them.

"Hey," Harley said. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I got trampled on by a herd of Stantler," Ash replied.

"Is he going to be O.K. doctor?" Delia asked.

"Ash will be fine," Protctor replied. "Nothing a few bruised ribs won't heal over time."

"That's good to hear," Drew said. "Glad to know you're O.K."

"Me too," Heather said, catching Ash's attention.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Heather Styles," Heather replied. "I saw your match against Drake on Pummelo."

"You're from the Orange Islands?" Ash said surprised.

"That I am!" Heather said with a smile. It was then Ash noticed Rose.

"Oh cool! A shiny Eevee!" Eevryone anime fell.

"Ash!" Tracy said. "That's not a shiny Eevee. Heather dyed her pink."

"She dyed her Eevee pink?" Ash asked.

"That I did," Heather said. "I like pink. This here is Rose. Say hi Rose."

("Hello!") Rose said.

("Hi there!") Pikachu said, catching Rose's attention.

("Well aren't you cute?") Rose said. ("That's a huge scar you got there.")

("Don't wish to talk about the scar too much,") Pikachu said. ("Kind of personal. And thanks for the compliment, but I already have a girlfriend.")

("Eh, fair enough,") Rose said.

"Just make sure you take it easy for a few days, Ash," Proctor said. "You'll be better in no time."

"All right, Dr. Proctor," Ash said. "Thanks."

Dr. Proctor returned to his business as the group all left to go eat and celebrate the first win for Ash, Soledad, and their new friend Heather. Night soon came about and the group all returned to their hotel rooms, ready for the second day of the tournament to begin.

AN: Next chapter begins the second day of the first round. Trainers to battle are some old faces that haven't been seen in quite some time, some even longer.