Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Pokemon.
Character thoughts are italicized
The two trainers stood on their respective sides, thinking on the pokemon they would be using. "Okay, now's a good time for this one. Metapod, come fight for me!" Samurai tossed the pokeball and out came Metapod. This surprised everyone because they all knew how a pokemon like Metapod had difficulty moving.
This angered Zach. "You think using a Metapod is funny? I was hoping for an interesting match, instead I get to fight a weak Metapod." He tossed his pokeball and out came a Hitmonlee. "Mega kick." Hitmonlee ran towards his opponent, jumping in the air and straightening his leg forward, ready to collide with Metapod.
"Don't underestimate us. If there is one thing I've learned, anything is possible if you believe in your pokemon. Metapod, use harden!" Metapod's body flashed white for a second and then stiffened. Hitmonlee now made contact with the bug type, but instead of anything happening Hitmonlee mearly bounced off the pokemon. "Even if we don't have any offensive moves, the ones we have are good enough to beat you." Samurai proclaimed
"Oh really, I'd like to see you stop this. Hitmonlee, hi jump kick." Hitmonlee sprang from the ground with his knee extended, ready to hit Metapod. The pokemon was moving at such amazing speed that harden wouldn't work as well as before.
Samurai mearly laughed. "You think you'll win when you let emotions get to you. Metapod, stay perfectly still." The pokemon did as it was told, not moving an inch. Everyone watched as Hitmonlee grew closer. "Okay, use string shot." Metapod shot a strand of silk from it's mouth which flew past Hitmonlee. The string collided with the back wall of the building creating a long strand of the string running across the battlefield. "Okay, swing yourself away." Metapod began shaking back and forth until enough momentum was there to allow Metapod to move. It managed to dodge the oncoming attack thanks to this.
Hitmonlee continued flying through the air and ended up colliding with the ground, causing him extreme pain. Zach was only getting more and more upset as the battle continued. "You think this is funny. Are you trying to embarrass me!?" He yelled in anger. "Well, it won't work, use brick break." Hitmonlee had recovered faster than Samurai thought he would and was now charging towards Metapod as his hand glowed bright white. Before Samurai could do anything, Metapod had been hit. The force of the attack causing his shell to crack.
"Metapod, are you alright!?" Samurai yelled to his pokemon, only there was no response. Metapod just sat there, his shell cracked all around his body. Samurai lowered his head, disappointed in himself for having Metapod fight, but something caught his attention. Metapod was glowing brightly, and his shell was falling apart. Out of the light, a purple butterfly emerged, spreading it's wings. "You, evolved." He said, staring at his newly evolved Butterfree.
"It doesn't matter if it evolved or not, we won't lose to it. Hitmonlee, mega kick!" Hitmonlee jumped up and headed straight for Butterfree.
"Gotcha." Samurai said as Hitmonlee's leg collided with Butterfree. "Now, sleep powder!" Butterfree flapped it's wings as a powdery substance emerged from it's wings. The powder fell down onto Hitmonlee, who inhaled it and immediately became drowsy. After about 30 seconds the pokemon was fast asleep. "Okay, now to finish this. Aerial Ace!" Butterfree sped towards his opponent at an overwhelming speed. Within a few seconds Butterfree had already closed the gap between the two pokemon. It now unleashed a final burst of speed as it collided with Hitmonlee, knocking it out.
Zach was surprised, but also upset at his own failure. "That was an interesting battle, but I must grow stronger." He began to turn away when Samurai called out to him.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You can't win every battle." He said, as he outstretched his arm, shaking Zach's hand. He then added, "Don't forget why you're travelling, it isn't for your father." Samurai then returned to his group of friends while Zach headed towards the nearest exit, ready to move on.
"Hey, pretty risky on using Metapod. You got lucky that it evolved when it did." Nate told the bug type trainer.
"Well, I wasn't expecting it to evolve. My plan was to use an old strategy I had seen before. By using string shot to move around the field, I was going to trap Hitmonlee in a web. Then have Metapod swing in and beat him." Samurai explained.
"Well, where did you see that idea from?" Ash asked, wanting to learn about this strategy.
"The truth is, I saw it during one of Nick's gym battles. Back when his Beedrill was a Kakuna he used the same idea, only his worked better."
Everyone looked at Nick, who wasn't paying attention to them. "Earth to Nick, is anyone home?" Nate asked as he snapped his fingers in front of his face. This brought Nick's attention back to reality and out of his mind. "What are you thinking so hard about anyway?"
"Well, I can't explain it, but it feels like someone is watching us. I don't know who or why, but I've had the strangest feeling since this morning." Nick told everyone, causing them to become nervous.
"It's probably just one of the remaining trainers, they're probably just curious about our skills." Ash tried to reassure everyone.
Nick decided it was best to end it now. "Ya, you're probably right. Besides, the building is packed so all these people are watching us. If anything I'm just nervous."
Nick wasn't wrong though,someone was watching the group. Whoever it was had entered the tournament, and had been watching them from the beginning with a feeling of anger towards the trainers from Pallet Town.
"Alright, let's get these matches going." The announcer called out to the crowd. "This next match pits two trainers from the same town against each other. We have Nate, the trainer who kept his cool despite a type disadvantage taking on Ash. Ash barely won his last battle, pulling off a quick change in his strategy. Both of them are from Pallet Town and this match is looking like it could get interesting!"
The two trainers reached the battlefield and walked to the middle. While shaking each other's hand Nate spoke up. "Now don't go easy just because you know me, I'm not holding back and I wouldn't expect anything less from you."
This only managed to pump Ash up even more. "Oh, don't worry. When we're done you're going to wish I went easy." The two trainers then returned to their respective sides to begin the battle. "Bulbasaur, I choose you." The grass type appeared before Ash, ready to fight.
"Alright, if that's how you're playing. Ivysaur come on out." Nate called out his pokemon as a larger version of Bulbasaur emerged. The only difference was the bulb on it's back was opened unlike Bulbasaur's. "Let's start off with vine whip." Two vines emerged from the plant on Ivysaur's back and headed towards Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, counter with our vine whip." Vines emerged from Bulbasaur's plant as well. The two attacks collided, neither side gaining any ground. The attacks remained this way for a few minutes, the crowd watching as neither side was backing down. Eventually, Bulbasaur was overpowered and Ivysaur's vines broke through. They wrapped themselves around Bulbasaur and lifted the pokemon into the air, only to fling it back onto the ground. "Bulbasaur, are you okay?" Ash asked his pokemon. Bulbasaur rose to his feet, ready to fight some more. "Alright, use razor leaf." A swarm of leaves shot out of the plant on it's back and flew towards Ivysaur.
The grass type waited for an order to come, watching the attack move closer. "Ivysaur, we've had enough fun. Use sunny day." Immediately the room grew brighter and hotter, as if the sun itself was in the building. "Now, solarbeam!" The plant on it's back began glowing as Ivysaur stored energy. Thanks to sunny day it managed to gather enough energy to launch the attack in a short amount of time. "Fire!" Ivysaur tilted the plant forward as the beam shot out of it, destroying the razor leaf and then continuing until it hit Bulbasaur. The strength of the blast was enough to defeat the grass type and win the match for Nate.
"Nate, that was a great battle." Ash called out to his friend. "I wish that I was the one winning, but to lose to a friend is fine with me." He then headed back to Nick and Samurai as Nate followed behind.
"Your Bulbasaur isn't too bad, a little more training and it might have given us an even harder time."
Nick decided to joke around with the duo. "What do you mean 'give you a hard time' the battle was so one sided from the start. Ivysaur completely overwhelmed Bulbasaur."
Ash didn't appreciate this mocking and fought back. "Well, I'd like to see you do better. But first you'd need to win two more battles."
Nick figured it was best to drop it instead of arguing and returned to watching the remaining battles. Once again, his battle was the very last one of the round and that was how it would be for the rest of the tournament. As Nick was watching, he felt the familiar feeling that he was being watched. He slightly turned his head both ways to see if he could notice something. That's when he saw it. One of the remaining trainers were steering at him, as soon as the person saw Nick looking their way they immediately looked elsewhere. Nick didn't know who this person was, and couldn't even see what they looked like as they were hidden by a black cloak they were wearing. After two more matches it was finally Nick's turn, and it turns out he would be facing the same person that's been watching him for the whole day.
"Now it's time for our last match of the second round. In this match we have the young trainer Nick from Pallet Town. In his last battle he pulled victory from the jaws of defeat when his Beedrill learned hyper beam. His opponent goes by the name of E. Nothing is known about them except for how they quickly beat their opponent in round one." The announcer told the crowd, trying to pump them up.
The two walked to the middle of the battlefield to meet. Once there,Nick's opponent didn't shake his hand and just stood there starring at him. Nick couldn't see the person's eyes as they were covered by a hood. It still felt like they were trying to pierce through him like a knife. While standing there, Nick could have sworn he smelled the familiar fragrance of flowers found only in Pallet Town. Instead of waiting any longer, Nick returned to his respective side and waited for his opponent to do so. Eventually, Nick's opponent went to their respective side as well and the match was about to begin.
The two trainers stood there facing each other. For some reason, it didn't feel right to Nick, like this person was extremely upset at him and he had no clue what he did. He needed to know. "Hey you!" He called to his opponent. "I have this feeling that you're upset at me. Did I do something to you, if I did could you tell me what I did. That way I can fix this problem."
Unfortunately, his opponent mearly turned their head away from Nick. They kept the same body language as before, but Nick felt like he was in trouble. His opponent reached for a pokeball and tossed it, revealing a Meowth.
What did I get myself into? He thought to himself as he grabbed a pokeball. "Eevee, I choose you." He said, tossing Eevee's pokeball and the pokemon appeared before Nick, ready to fight.
Reviews:
Blaze Falcon: Thanks, I really enjoyed writing ch 10. About Samurai and Zach, it isn't really a bond, more of a mutual understanding. Samurai knows what Zach is going through as he did before, only he had the right guidance telling him not to worry about the family name during his travels. He just wants to help Zach out.
Team:
Nick- 3 badges:
Eevee- swift, quick attack, dig, sand-attack
Beedrill- poison sting, fury attack, hyper beam, twinneedle
Krabby- vicegrip, bubble, water gun, stomp
Charmander- flamethrower, ember, dragon rage, metal claw
Samurai:
Pinsir- x-scissor, revenge, harden, vicegrip
Butterfree- sleep powder, aerial ace
Paras- leech life, stun spore, fury cutter
