Chapter 12: 1st Round of the Pre-Kanto Tournament
"LADDDIIEEEESSSS AND GENTLEMEN!" The announcer of the tournament, a somewhat hefty and stout man, shouted into the microphone. Everyone was packed into the Academy's Special Gym, which had multiple stands for crowds and a huge battle court. Everyone shouted wildly, the applause roaring. Some even had special posters and waved them around, cheering for different trainers and their Pokémon. Skylark even had his own fan section among his other fans, composed of roughly 30 fan girls. He paid no attention to them, for it was all on this battle and Celia. Mostly Celia.
"We will witness many matches tonight from our wonderful trainers, who have trained intensely since last year in order to compete. The winner of this match," the announcer took a deep breath, "will go on to Kanto to compete with the world-wide amateur tournament!" The crowd roared like a lion with applause. "To get things started, our first competitor is our famous Celia Robin going against a roughly new trainer who only started in August, James Brook. Are we ready?!" The crowd was ready.
Skylark stood inside, under the stands inside a rec room, where the TVs showed the current match. He watched Celia and her Cyndaquil totally annihilate James Brook's Eevee. She maneuvered the battle so perfectly, almost like a warlord planning his next attack on the enemy. It was an almost flawless move she executed, and she left everyone in awe. Especially Skylark. But even if she sucked he still would have been in awe. He was completely sold out to her.
Finally, within four minutes, Eevee fainted. Celia won, but everyone expected it. She had made it to the last battle last year in this tournament, but the last battle was a devastating loss. The enemy had a Mudkip, giving her poor Cyndaquil a hard time due to the Mudkip's water and earth type powers. They struggled intensely, but they lost. However, now that the man from last year had won and actually went on to win the Kanto Tournament, he wasn't allowed to re-enter, so Celia seemed to have the floor for this year.
Next, Skylark was up. He and Bulbasaur eagerly bust forward from the rec room and out onto the gym floor. The crowd went wild and his fan girl section went crazy. "Alright, Skylark! How long have you been a trainer?" This caught Skylark off guard; he didn't expect to be questioned.
"Oh, since October. About six months now." He answered, and noticed that some of the crowd even grew interested in the trainer. Not everyone knew who he was, but he had definitely caught their attention. How did a rookie like Skylark make it to this tournament?!
"So, you're quite the star rookie aren't you? For those of you who don't know, Skylark hasn't lost a single trainer battle since he started, and since he started training he took down an underground Pokémon tournament, which was charged with committing several crimes. Not only is he the star rookie, but he's also quite the hero!" Skylark didn't like the praise that came from the crowd, and his burn scars started to bug him right then. But he ignored it and just waved.
"Alright, so you're next opponent is Oliver Mans, and he brings his prized Mankey. Do you think you'll be able to take on this fighter type with your Bulbasaur?" Skylark looked down at Bulbasaur and smiled.
"Yeah, I'm pretty confident in our skills."
"Well, are you ready to get this started? Oliver, come on up!" Oliver bust through the other side of the arena, wearing a karate uniform with a black belt tied to his head like a bandana. Behind him followed Mankey, equally energetic as Oliver.
"Let's go Declan! We're going to be advancing, not you!" Oliver taunted. Skylark gave no answer. Bulbasaur moved in front of Skylark, and the two already knew how to win.
"Seems like we're ready. Let the battle…..BEGIN!" The crowd thundered with excitement.
"Mankey, let's try to attack him with some Fury Swipes!" Oliver shouted. Mankey ran forward to the Bulbasaur, who was in her battle stance.
"It's a she, and she's going to take you down! Counter attack with your Vine Whip!" As Mankey approached and prepared to swipe, Bulbasaur took her vines and whipped at all the slashes Mankey threw. They both attacked quickly, leaving the crowd in wonder. However, Oliver grew tense. Bulbasaur's speed matched Mankey.
"Mankey, let's Low Kick!" Oliver commanded. Mankey nodded and jumped forward, raising his leg and preparing to kick.
"Bulbasaur, dodge." Bulbasaur simply jumped to her left, completely missing the Mankey's right leg. Mankey was left open and defenseless after he landed, and Bulbasaur went in to strike. "Bulbasaur, let's use our new TM we got! Use Bullet Seed!" The crowd gasped. TM's were rather rare to obtain, and when you could easily get one they were rather expensive. But, not for Skylark.
Using all of the money from past tournaments they had won, Skylark put the money in a safe specifically for TM's that would benefit Bulbasaur. Bullet Seed was a lucky grab Skylark got a month ago, and it would soon prove to be a good buy. Bulbasaur shot a barrage of seeds into Mankey's back, causing the Mankey to scream and shout, also angering him as well as Oliver.
"Ugh! Alright Mankey, let's start to heat things up! Use Bulk Up, and then Focus Energy!" Skylark quickly looked over to the referee, and shouted at him.
"Wait, how can he use two moves in a row? That's a penalty isn't it?"
"You must not have read the rules. Trainers can make their Pokémon use two moves as long as they don't immediately affect the other trainer's Pokémon. For example, Bulk Up and Focus Energy only benefit and change Mankey, therefore he can use them both at the same time." The Ref replied. Skylark frowned at the stupid rule, but he had to accept it and move on. He looked back on the field to find Mankey, who was lightly glowing red from the attack increase. It worried Skylark.
"Alright Bulbasaur, let's use Vine Whip!" Skylark told Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur let her vines come out as she ran out to the Mankey. She whipped with both, but Mankey jumped out of the way of the second vine. However, the first one smacked him straight in the side. He spun around a little in the air because of the whip, but he landed on the ground on both feet.
"Mankey, Bulk Up and Focus Energy!"
"Bullet Seed!" Mankey dodged about half of the seeds, but the other half hit him head on.
"Bulk Up and Focus Energy!"
"Vine Whip!" Both whips hit this time, but it didn't seem to hurt too terribly bad.
"Mankey, Bulk Up and Focus Energy!" Skylark's stomach turned, and he grew worried. Mankey was now glowing red due to the attack and defense increases, and he feared that if he didn't do something soon Bulbasaur would be in trouble.
"Bulbasaur…tackle!" Bulbasaur nodded at her new command and started to charge at the Mankey. Mankey stayed perfectly still, waiting for his trainer's command.
"Alright Mankey, I think we've powered you up enough for now. Use your Low Kick!" Bulbasaur heard the command and tried to dodge, but Mankey was already prepared to attack. His kick swiftly flew through the air and smacked directly into Bulbasaur's face. It was a powerful kick, much more powerful than it would have been at the beginning of the battle, and it was also a critical hit. Luckily, grass type Pokémon only take about half the power that fighting type moves usually deal. If it wasn't for that, it's possible that Bulbasaur could have fainted right then and there.
Bulbasaur was thrown across the gym and landed near Skylark's feet. Skylark reached out for Bulbasaur, but quickly withdrew his hands. If he interfered with the battle, they would be disqualified. And he had to win in order to impress Celia. Oh, and to reach Kanto. But he had forgotten about that.
Suddenly, Skylark realized something. Even though it didn't look like the doped up Mankey was taking damage, it was now apparent that Mankey was hurt. He was panting heavily, and walked with a limp in his left leg. A head on critical tackle from Bulbasaur would be enough to win this battle. "Alright Bulbasaur, he may be powerful, but he's weak! He's got too much pride in this, so let's use that against him!" Bulbasaur slowly stood up and looked back at Skylark, curious of her next move. "Tackle, head on!"
"Bahahahaha, tackling? That's a normal type move against my powerful fighting type Pokémon!" Oliver laughed. "Mankey, let's take out this idiot! Fury Swipe!" Oliver commanded. Little did he know the true power behind Bulbasaur's tackle. With enough speed and a critical hit, it was easily Bulbasaur's strongest attack for the moment. Not only that, but Bulbasaur could also easily evade attacks while tackling. It was just too perfect.
"Go Bulbsaur!"
"Go Mankey!"
Both Pokémon prepared for their attack. Bulbasaur ran across the gym floor, preparing for a critical tackle. Once she was close enough to Mankey, Mankey started trying to swipe at Bulbasaur. Evasively, Bulbasaur dodged each swipe, only gaining speed as she approached Mankey. Oliver's jaw dropped and the crowd roared with intense amusement at what happened next.
Mankey had swiped four times, ending his attack. Now all that was left was Bulbasaur's attack. What happened next shocked everyone. Bulbasaur jumped up and tackled Mankey straight in his face, throwing him backward with great power. Without a doubt, it was a critical hit. Mankey flew back about ten feet and tried to land on his feet. However, as he landed, his hurt leg he was limping on gave in and he fell to the ground. The tackle he took from Bulbasaur, even with advanced defense and attacking her with Fury Swipes, was too much for him. He fell face first to the ground… and fainted.
"Looks like we have a winner of this match! Skylark Declan will be advancing to the next round!" The announcer said as he climbed back on stage and walked over to Skylark, raising his hand and identifying him as winner. Oliver, on the other side of the gym, called back his Mankey and quickly ran off the field, obviously ashamed at how cocky he had been but still losing. He was put in his place.
Skylark ran back into his rec room, Bulbasaur following behind, and was met with praise and condolences. But, he paid them no attention. He ran over to where Celia, who was watching the game, was sitting. "Hey Celia!"
"Oh hi."
"Did you see that?" Skylark asked as he walked by with Bulbasaur, on the way to get her treated by Nurse Joy.
"Yeah I did. Nice." Even with no effort put into the conversation, she had Skylark flabbergasted and excited to even be in her presence. He moved on and got Bulbasaur healed, and then went back to the rec room and sat with her. First round of this tournament was over, and all that was left was another battle, maybe two if it works out that way, the semi-finals, and then the finals. He could already smell victory rolling his way.
