Old-School Competition!
"Hey, guys," said Zach as he walked into the door of our hotel room in Nacerene City.
"Zach!" I said, running to my best friend in the whole entire world! Apart from Evelyn and Brian, that is.
We high-fived each other and embraced in a hug. Evelyn greeted him too. After that, we talked about our journey at the cafe across the street.
"So you and Evelyn both have two gym badges?" Zach asked incredulously. "It hasn't even been one and a half months! I only have one ribbon, and that's why I'm here today: to compete in the Nacerene Old-School Contest!"
"Old-School Contest?" Evelyn asked.
"Yeah," Zach said. "Instead of competing with muiscals, we do it the way it's done in Hoenn and Sinnoh: first, there is a move's category, and the eight best contestors move on to the quarter-finals. There, it's an elimination round where each Trainer battles another with style until there's only one Trainer left! I have to get my second ribbon!"
"Sounds awesome!" I said. "But do you need to borrow one of our Pokemon, since Brian isn't here?"
"Nah," he said. "I caught a Pokemon on the way here, and I won the other in a Pokemon raffle! You wanna see them?
We nodded.
"Alright then, Purrloin and Pidove, come on out!"
He called out his Purrloin, a Pokemon we were familiar with, and a new bird Pokemon.
"Purrloin, the Devious Pokemon. Purrloin fools people into letting their guard down so it can steal their possessions. When angered, it uses its claws to fight back."
"Pidove, the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon. A Pidove flock's cooing can get extremely noisy. Pidove is not attracted to shiny objects."
"Nice job, Zach!" I said. "Hey, since there's gonna be a battle segment in your contest, don't you think we should have a practice battle beforehand? Maybe a three-on-three?"
"Sounds good to me!" he responded eagerly. "This time, I will NOT lose!"
"Gible, I choose you!"
"Purrloin, come on out!"
Purrloin started the battle off by using Scratch on Gible, but before the attack could hit, Gible sprayed sand in its eyes and blinded it with one powerful Sand Attack!
Then, Gible used Dragon Rage on Purrloin, sending out a mystical kind of flame from its mouth. Purrloin spun around the move with elegant grace, just like a performer's Pokemon should. That got the sand out of its eyes and allowed it to see once more! then, it used Assist, allowing it to use Oshawott's Aqua Jet, which hit Gible directly! Gible managed to take the hit because of its Dragon-typing. Then, he attacked once more with a Bite attack, causing Purrloin to flinch and allowing it to use a successful Dragon Rage, which blasted Purrloin in the air! It fell to the ground and...
"Purrloin is unable to battle!" shouted Evelyn, our makeshift referee. "Gible is the winner!"
"Awesome, Gible!" I shouted.
"That was a pretty awesome Dragon Rage, Kyle," said Zach from the other side of the battlefield.
"Thanks!" I responded. "Gible, take a nice rest! Herdier, I choose you!"
"Now its my turn," said Zach. "Pidove, let's do this!"
Pidove started off the battle using Gust. Herdier jumped back, but the move kept going and it blew Herdier away! Herdier managed to land on its feet gracefully and jumped to carry out an aerial Bite attack. It grabbed Pidove with its jaws and slammed it to the ground, but Pidove didn't land on the ground! Instead, while following, it used a superfast Quick Attack on the airborne Herdier and knocked it to the ground.
That Pidove was tough, but we had been through trickier battles before. Herdier used Tackle to knock Pidove down one more time, but Pidove flew out of the way,just as expected. Using the strategy we made up during our gym battle with Lenora, Herdier faked and used Take Down on the relieved Pidove, who was knocked to the ground this time! It came back up for another Quick Attack, but Herdier grabbed it with Bite and threw it into the air. Pidove didn't have time to react and fell to the ground.
"Pidove is unable to battle! Herdier is the winner!"
"AAAAH!" shouted Zach. "Your Pokemon are tough. I guess gym battles lead your Pokemon's strength down a different path."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said.
"All right, Kyle, this last Pokemon will defeat you for sure! Oshawott, come on out!"
"Herdier, return! Gible, now's your chance!"
Oshawott used Aqua Jet to torpedo at Gible, but Gible hopped out of the way and used Bite. Oshawott continued its Aqua Jet to dodge the move and then used Razor Shell on Gible, knocking it into the air. Then, it used Water Gun with awesome elegance and Gible fell to the ground!
"Gible is unable to battle! Oshawott is the winner!"
"Gible, no!" I yelled. Gible was a strong Pokemon, but it took some damage from Purrloin and plenty from Oshawott. It tried its best, and I appreciated it.
"Gible, you were awesome," I said. "Herdier, take him down!"
Herdier was automatically blasted with a Water Gun, which it swiftly dodged. It then went in for a Take Down, but Oshawott somersaulted into the air and used Razor Shell straight on Herdier's back! It landed on Herdier, and suddenly, a blue light shone around it. It was evolving, and in the worst time too! I looked at Zach, who was staring with absolute awe.
Out of the light came a brand new Pokemon, kind of like the taller version of Oshawott.
"Dewott, the Discipline Pokemon, and the evolved form of Oshawott. Through rigid training, Dewott ises the double-scalchop technique to accomplish its fluid swordmanship."
After evolving, Dewott quickly used Water Gun on the trapped Herdier, who dropped automatically.
"Herdier is unable to battle! Dewott is the winner!"
"Herdier," I said sadly, "you gave it your best. Servine, let's end this!"
This was the final one on one battle. Servine had to end this, or I would lose to Zach. I just couldn't!
Dewott started off by charging in with a double Razor Shell at Servine, but Servine used Vine Whip to push itself off the ground and avoid the attack. Then, it used Leaf Tornado on Dewott, who couldn't possibly dodge it.
Dewott used Aqua Jet, flew into the tornado, absorbed its power, and attacked Servine, who was shocked at its capabilities. Servine was knocked to the ground a few feet back, but it got back up. Then, it charged at Dewott with its Vine Whip, and Dewott used Razor Shell and charged at Servine. Just before collision, Servine hopped into the air, used Leaf Tornado, then grabbed Dewott with a Vine Whip and threw him up in the air, only to knock it back down with a Tackle.
Dewott dodged the Tackle and slammed Servine down with another double Razor Shell. Servine got up weakly, and that's when it hit me! Dewott is using its scalchops (Razor Shells) to attack, so why not get them away from it?
Servine went in for a fake Tackle, but Dewott dodged it, and that gave Servie the opportunity to use Vine Whip and grab Dewott's scalchops away from it! My plan worked! Dewott couldn't fight back, so Servine went in with a Vine Whip and knocked Dewott away on the floor ten feet away.
"Dewott is unable to battle! Servine is the winner, which means the victory goes to Kyle!"
All right! Servine beat Zach's superpowered Dewott!
"All right, ladies and gents," said Jackson, the musical/contest MC, "It's time for the style performances to begin. First we have the Accumula Town Musical winner, after his second try, beginning. And here's...Zach!"
Zach called out two of his Pokemon, Dewott and Pidove, for the style round. He had Pidove use Gust, which basically made a mini twister that shined! He then called Dewott to have him use Aqua Jet and spin straight through the Gust. That's where he got the idea with our Leaf Tornado from!
Dewott, covered with beautiful, shining water, spun rapidly and gracefully through the Gust, and then, it used Razor Shell at the top of the twister and split it into hundreds of sparkles of water, glistening all over the audience!
"Wow!" I exclaimed to Evelyn, who was sitting right next to me, awestruck as well.
"I know, right?" she responded. "Let's just hope that was good enough for the judges!
"Becky, are you sure you got this?" asked Barry ad Becky was about to start her performance as "Rebecca".
"Of course I am!" said Becky, frustrated. "Just let me do this!"
Becky walked on stage and released her Oddish and Pichu. First, she had Pichu use
a Thunder Shock that glowed beautifully. Next, Oddish used Absorb on the Thunder Shock, absorbing the power for its own. Oddish started to glow with a yellowish golden light. Then, it used Sweet Scent and released a sparkling, golden powder that calmed the audience. What a show!
After minutes of waiting to see who was moving on to the battle rounds, Jackson came out with the judges' decisions on the giant screen. I scanned through the pictures, looking for Zach's picture. I found that Rebecca's picture from the Accumula Musical, but I couldn't find... Gotcha! The very last picture was Zach's! He had made it to the second round!
"Yay, Zach!" Evelyn shouted next to me.
"And here are the matchups for the next three battle rounds, and just to remind you, these are randomly shuffled."
Zach was the first battle, and Rebecca was the last. This was going to be one heated competition, considering the fact that Zach and Rebecca both got a ribbon from the Accumula Festiva, Rebecca from Day 1 and Zach from Day 2.
The second and third round were a breeze for Zach! He used his Pidove and Purrloin, and they battled with grace and elegance, performing incredibly flawless moves! Now was the last round, and he was against none other than Rebecca! He had to win this battle, he just had to!
Of course, as the battle started, on the jumbo screen there were the pictures of the two battling Trainers and a bar showing the amount of beauty and elegance each Pokemon had. The more their moves failed or they got hurt, the bar went down until it was completely empty, or until the five minutes ran out.
Zach decided to send out Dewott! Awesome choice for the final round! Rebecca chose to battle with her Pichu. Pichu was an Electric type, but that didn't mean that Dewott would lose! It almost beat Servine during our battle.
Pichu started it off by using Charm. The whole crowd was awed by the move, and Dewott's bar went down.
Dewott countered with a Aqua Jet/Razor Shell combo, making rain droplets while moving towards its opponent. Pichu's bar had to go down on that one!
At this point, it looked like it was even, until Pichu intercepted Dewott's attack with a dazzling Thunder Shock. You thought that stopped Dewott, right? Wrong! Dewott used its scalchops to absorb the move's power by deflecting it, then hit Pichu with a super charged Aqua Jet/ Razor Shell/ Thunder Shock combo! That was an incredible move!
Pichu's bar went down until it had only about a quarter of its bar left, while Dewott had almost a full bar!
But then, static formed around Dewott. What was going on? Was it Pichu's ability that paralyzed opponents after direct contact, Static? It had to be!
Dewott's bar went down a notch, and Pichu used Thunder Shock to attack Dewoot, and it was successful! Dewott had to finish things quickly, or else this Pichu would get the second ribbon!
Pichu went in for a Quick Attack, which landed successfuly once more and lowered Dewott's bar! This was getting bad!
Pichu went in for another Quick Attack, and that was when Dewott used Water Gun on the groubd to lift itself up! It dodged the attack, sprayed the audience with a dazzling layer of water droplets, and it damaged Pichu! Pichu's bar decreased and Dewott needed only one move to defeat it.
But Dewott being in the air and being paralyzed gave Pichu the time to use Thunder Shock! Dewott was zapped onto the ground, struggling to get up. Dewott and Pichu's bars were now at the same level!
There was 30 seconds left on the clock. 29, 28, 27...
Dewott and Pichu were both hurting, and Dewott slashed at Pichu with a sclachop, but Pichu knocked it away and jumped atop Dewott. It was about to unleash its Thunder Shock and finish Dewott off until Dewott revealed its second scalchop and slashed the Pokemon off it, then using Aqua Jet to knock it away! It was successful!
"Time's up!" yelled Jackson. "Now, let's all look at the scoreboard. The winner of the Nacerene Old-fashioned contest is... by a slight victory... Zach and Dewott!"
They won! They actually won this gruelling competition! Nothing could have been better than this pride I felt for my best friend! Things were going our way!
"Evelyn," I said, packing up my bags and preparing to head to Castelia City, "are you all packed up? Everyone's with you?"
"Yep!" she responded happily. "Let's get go..."
Suddenly, Zach appeared at the door of our room. "Hey guys," he said cooly.
"Hey Zach!" I responded. "What's up?'
He shrugged shyly and responded, "Well, Kyle, the thing is, after our battle, I started to do some serious thinking. The way you guys overcame my newly Dewott's power... it was awesome! So, as I was thinking, I realized that I needed to train at the same level you do to get my third, fourth, and eventuall fifth ribbon! To do that, I was wondering if I could tag along with you two again. You know, to get stronger and..."
"YES!" Evelyn and I shouted in unison. We went to hug the surprised ach, who sighed with relief.
"Dewott's going to love hanging out with you guys again!" he said happily.
"It sure is!" I said happily. I had Evelyn with me to start off with, I already had two badges and an awesome team, and now Zach was tagging along with us once more! This day was awesome, and I'm hoping the days to come next on out journey to Castelia City will be great, too!