Rayquaza45: Hey there readers. Chapter 14 is now available for you guys to read. It took time but you got it. By the way, it occurred to me that some may be having trouble imagining the fields on which the battles are fought in this story. For this particular chapter, imagine the arena where Brendan had a cameo in move 9. And if you want faster updates, review the story and you'll get them. So without further ado, here it is!
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.
Chapter 14: Hats Off!
With less than 24 hours before the semi finals of the battle spirits tournament were to begin, Brendan Birch and Gary Oak proceeded to the pokemon centre of Olivine City to give their pokemon a brief checkup.
The two friends were roommates as well as semi finalists. Brendan was set to face Ash Ketchum in his match first while Gary would take on his childhood friend, Leaf Green, afterwards.
They both entered the pokemon centre, the sliding doors opened to greet them and reveal the large groups of trainers in the centre who were busy watching telecasts of the Battle Spirits Tournament on the TV. Brendan and Gary got behind the group to see that the current match being viewed was Brendan's defeat of Josh the trainer, with Gary's battle against May presumed to air later that day or perhaps on the next one.
"Hey, behind us!" A boy shouted as he looked back.
"The semi finalists!" Another out exclaimed.
"Oh boy." Gary thought in horror of being overcome by the crowd.
As expected, the two boys were quickly approached by numerous boys and a small handful of girls, most of whom were their age, who completely abandoned the TV match to talk to them.
"What pokemon are you gonna use next?"
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Most other questions were hard to hear over the other questions but it was clear that essentially all of them were ridiculous. Other audible questions were about marriage, lemonade flavors and something well known as the 'time traveling pokemon'. Eventually, the madness stopped when Nurse Joy and her Chansey showed up in between the boys and the large crowd.
"Alright everyone!" The pink haired lady spoke up. "These two are here on their business, please disperse."
Obeying her words, the crowds dispersed to go watch TV again and left Brendan and Gary alone to talk to Nurse Joy.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Brendan said gratefully.
"Yeah, really, thanks." Gary added.
"No problem, boys." She smiled. "So what can I do for you two?"
"We need our pokemon healed." Gary told her.
"No problem." She assured them. "Please give the pokeballs to Chansey and we'll have it done in a matter of hours."
The boys gave their pokeballs containing their Swampert and Scizor to Chansey and proceeded into the trainers lounge. Not a single trainer here swarmed them unlike the outside trainers who watch too much TV. The two of them walked around a little until they saw a familiar face.
"Lucas?" Brendan called out as he saw a boy sitting alone at a table wearing a reddish-orange hat, a red scarf over a blue and white striped t-shirt with light-blue sleeves. He wore blue jeans and white shoes with a red stripe at the end. The boy slowly turned his head to see the two approaching him and yet he barely made any other movements.
"Dude?" Brendan asked as he took a seat at Lucas's table. The Sinnoh region trainer looked emotionlessly into the Hoenn region trainer's eyes and kept his mouth shut. He didn't seem to be mad at Brendan, simply unwilling to speak.
"What's wrong?" Gary tactlessly asked Lucas.
"It's…it's nothing." He tried to tell them. Gary's words were breaking him down bit by bit and yet he didn't explain why. It seemed that Gary had some kind of influence over him.
"I know it's not nothing." Gary was now hovering over Lucas as Brendan continued to sit down with him and try to get him to open up.
"Come on dude." Brendan implored the boy. "You can talk about it."
"He's upset about the tournament, right?" Gary bluntly stated.
"No, that's not it!" Lucas defended himself.
"You think it should've been you, not Ash, who got through."
"No way!"
"That's why you're here feeling sorry for yourself."
"Gary!" Brendan shouted.
"No it's not!" Lucas sternly told him.
"Sure it is." Gary believed.
"You…I…it's about…damn!" Lucas started going ballistic with his words. He couldn't finish any sentences and kept freezing up in anger. Gary's words were seriously getting to him and he didn't know how to overcome it since it seemed that he was right.
"Gary, lay off." Brendan said to him. "Lucas, you can talk to me."
"I don't want to." Lucas whined.
"Trust me, keeping anything bottled up inside and not talking about it is about as bad for you as it gets." Brendan told him, knowing exactly what he was talking about considering what once happened to Ash.
"Well…"
"Take your time, dude." Brendan told him.
Of course, he took a lot more time than either Brendan or Gary would've liked. But even so, the two of them stayed with him to see it through to the end since they didn't have much else to do since their pokemon were still being healed elsewhere.
"Well…nobody likes to lose." Lucas came out.
"Yeah but we're asking you about your attitude issue." Gary reminded him. "Why are you acting like this? Who hurt you?"
"I guess it started when I met Dawn again for the first time in a while." Lucas started. "I was so happy to see her…and then after losing to Ash in front of her…"
"You think you made an idiot of yourself?" Gary sarcastically asked him.
"Is he gonna keep talking like that?" Lucas asked.
"Don't keep talking like that." Brendan told Gary who promptly put up his hands in an 'I'm sorry' gesture.
"Well…anyway…I'm not sure what else you want me to say." Lucas said.
"Just say whatever comes to mind." Brendan advised him. "It can't be that bad."
"Let's just say…I'll get over it." Lucas told the two of them. "I can figure it out myself."
"How can we be sure?" Gary asked him. "We have neither the time nor inclination to help you."
"I thought you were gonna stop speaking like that!" Lucas shouted.
"Guys, take it easy." Brendan reminded him.
"I'm leaving." Lucas said as he got up.
"You're going?"
"That's right."
"Come on dude, that's a little excessive." Brendan reasoned.
"Good bye Brendan…Gary." Lucas said as he started walking off.
"Dude!"
"Gary?" Lucas said.
"Yes?" Gary responded.
"Don't lose her." Lucas told him as he exited the lounge.
It had been several hours since Brendan and Gary tried to get Lucas to talk to them and even at that, they'd only spoken for a short time. Eventually, Brendan's Swampert and Gary's Scizor had been healed by Nurse Joy and allowed the boys to leave.
But on the way out, the noticed a friend of theirs was entering.
"Ash?"
"Hey guys!" The raven haired trainer exclaimed. He seemed to have a glow on his face and an aura about him that seemed to be somewhat brighter and even more inviting that usually which gave the feeling of a pleasant atmosphere.
"What're you doing here?" Gary asked.
"I'm here to give my pokemon a final checkup before the battles tomorrow." Ash explained. "Isn't that why you were here?"
"Well, yeah." Gary admitted.
"Ash, are you alright?" Brendan asked. He noticed that the raven haired trainer was even more peppy and bright that usual.
"Trust me, I've never been better!" Ash assured them. "I'll see you guys later."
"Alright then."
"Later."
Ash exited the pokemon centre as Brendan and Gary looked on. When he was almost out of sight, Brendan felt a heavy vibration in his pocket.
Akogare ni oshitsubusarete
akirametetan da
hateshinai sora no iro mo
shiranai de
"Go for Brendan." He said as he answered his cellphone. Several moments passed as he spoke on the phone, as Gary looked. It seemed as if Brendan was intentionally hiding something from him. When he finally ended the call, he turned to Gary.
"You'll never believe which two trainers are together now." He told him.
The next day had come quicker than one would've thought. Ash returned from the pokemon centre some time last night and proceeded to bed right after having a brief conversation with Leaf, the details of which remained unknown to everyone else.
At 12:00pm, the semi finals were being held at the Battle Tower on the 60th floor. The set up of the floor was different from the other floors of the tower since it had a circular field for battle, one podium and two white squares painted on the ground close to the field, the podium for the referee and a square for each trainer. There were video screens all around the field of battle which were protected from the range and power of the pokemon attacks. The stands for the audience were several meters above the battle field, presumably to give a better view of the fights. The floor most closely resembled certain arenas of the battle tower of LaRousse City in the Hoenn region.
Several thousand fans made their way into the stands to witness the battles as they occurred. Leaf, Brock, May, Gary and Dawn sat in one of the rows closest to the field in order to get a good view of Ash and Brendan's battle. The excessive chatter of the spectators made it near impossible to listen to your own thoughts, something which greatly angered May as well as Leaf.
In the green preparation room, Ash Ketchum sat on a bench waiting for the referee to call him out to face his opponent. His buddy Pikachu was sitting next to him on said bench and had been mimicking its trainer's movements in its own anticipation.
"Are you ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked it.
"Pika!" The electric rodent responded.
"This is where it gets serious." He proclaimed. "We've gotta win this."
"Pi!"
On the outside, Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier who was acting as the referee for the match, came out of his room and took a stand at his podium. Taking the microphone that was present, he cleared his throat, getting ready to try and speak over the amazingly loud crowd.
"Welcome, one and all, to the semi finals of the BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT!" He loudly welcomed.
The audience cheered loudly at the announcement. Applause was heard briefly before Tucker put his hand back up, intent to finish.
"We have come a long way in this tournament but we still have a ways to go." He announced. "Today, we begin the semi final matches to decide who goes on through to the final battle so without further ado, will the green trainer please approach the field?"
Back inside the green preparation room, Ash heard the announcement.
"Let's get out there." Ash said, clenching his fist as he stood up.
"Pika…Pikachu!" The electric rodent shouted as it jumped up on its trainers shoulder.
"It's time." Ash said as he opened the door.
As Ash exited the preparation room and walked onto the field, the crowd started cheering wildly like never before. Excited at the idea of watching the semi finals loud noises from the audience continued till Ash made his way to his square with Pikachu on his shoulder. At that moment, the audience stopped their cheers long enough to allow Tucker to get a word out.
"And now…" The Dome Ace of the Kanto Battle Frontier started. "…will the red trainer please approach the field?"
Heeding the call, Brendan Birch, Ash's opponent, made his way onto the field. The cheers of the crowd were as loud for him as they'd been for Ash when he had come out.
"Ash." Brendan acknowledged.
"Brendan." The raven haired trainer responded.
"Ash, Brendan are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked them.
"Yes." "Sure am." Both trainers affirmatively replied.
"Both trainers are ready for battle." Tucker announced. "So let us begin the semi finals!"
The crowd cheered loudly once again. Brendan and Ash assumed their battle poses as Pikachu got off Ash's shoulder and stood in a fighting pose next to its trainer. Brendan took out a pokeball from his belt but he saw Ash do no such thing.
"Both trainers are to release their pokemon simultaneously." Tucker instructed.
Ash quickly took out a pokeball with amazing speed and threw it into the air in the blink of an eye. "I choose you!"
"Go for it!" Brendan shouted as he threw his pokeball into the air before fully realizing what Ash did and feared that he may have sent out the wrong pokemon.
On Ash's side of the field came his Heracross, the single horn pokemon from the Johto region. On Brendan's side, Shiftry the wicked pokemon who had been used in the top 16 round took the field. The appearance of both pokemon elicited cheers from the ever present crowd, including a section known to the boys.
"This is gonna be great!" Dawn shrieked.
"It's gonna be really interesting to see how Ash and Brendan deal with one another in this battle." Brock stated.
"I say it'll be even more interesting to see Ash whip Mr. Whitehair." Leaf commented.
"He doesn't have white hair!" May shouted. "It's just a hat!"
May immediately started clawing around in a fiery rage at Leaf, who simply side stepped her attempts and pushed he back with little effort, causing her to fall on Gary's lap.
"Don't you think you two are tak-." Gary started before someone else's hand began covering his mouth.
"A wise trainer would never get in between a catfight." Brock wisely stated.
Back on the field, the cameras began showing every possible angle of the battlefield, the trainers and their pokemon. The audience had quieted down to a significant degree since they knew that if they were too loud, Ash and Brendan wouldn't be able to give the commands to their pokemon. Tucker took his microphone once again and decided that it was time to begin.
"Both trainers have now selected their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Heracross, use horn attack!" Ash commanded.
"Shiftry, block it with razor leaf." Brendan told it.
The horn of Ash's Heracross began to glow a faint red as the single horn pokemon flew a few feet above ground, heading towards the wicked pokemon. Shiftry began swinging its arms and razor-sharp leaves flew at the approaching opponent. The leaves continuously left slight scratches on the approaching Heracross as it flew towards Shiftry. After it continued to get closer, it was clear that the razor leaf would not work and that Brendan needed to try something else.
"Shiftry, attack with aerial ace instead" Brendan commanded.
Shiftry immediately ceased its razor leaf attack and started running and jumped into the air, its body became surrounded by white streaks. The glowing horn of the approaching Heracross and the streak-covered body of Shiftry hit one another head-on. The wicked pokemon had inflicted some damage on Heracross but had not escaped unharmed as it had taken a heavy hit to its left arm.
"Heracross, are you alright?" Ash called out.
"Shiftry, get back in there with brick break!" Brendan shouted.
"Shift!" The wicked pokemon began running with its right arm in the air. It took on a white glow as it approached Heracross.
"Heracross, mega horn!" Ash ordered.
"Cross!" The single horn pokemon shouted with intense rage. Its horn took on a heavy white glow as it used its legs to thrust itself off the ground and propel it in the direction of the incoming opponent. Heracross quickly slammed its horn into Shiftry's body and sent the wicked pokemon reeling back.
"This is getting intense." Dawn said.
"Ash's pokemon are matching Brendan's pokemon hit for hit." Brock observed. "He may have to try something else to win."
"I guess Brendan won't be able to overwhelm Ash with power alone." Gary believed.
"Maybe." May reluctantly said with her arms crossed and a small bump on her head.
"No, definitely." Leaf thought.
"Shiftry, aerial ace, again!" Brendan ordered.
"Heracross, focus punch!" Ash commanded.
"Shift!" "Cross!" The two pokemon shouted as they faced down the other and prepared for impact. Heracross's fist was glowing light blue while Shiftry's entire body began glowing white from the aerial ace. On impact, Heracross's fist slammed into Shiftry's body and somehow created a large amount of dust from the impact.
"Shiftry!" "Heracross!" The two trainers cried out for their pokemon as they were blinded with dust coming off the impact. The crowd was upset about the dust since they couldn't see anything on the field, even the screens surrounding the field were hard to see.
The dust eventually cleared up, revealing that neither pokemon had fainted yet. Brendan's Shiftry was facing away from its opponent. It was down on its knees with its eyes closed, having taken a heavy hit. Ash's Heracross was facing away as well; however, it was not on its knees and had taken no visible damage other than the razor leaf and aerial ace attacks Shiftry had used before.
"Shiftry! Get up, please!" Brendan pleaded.
"Shiftry's down, we can win this." Ash thought to himself before he issued his command. ""Heracross, use mega horn!"
"Cross!" The single horn pokemon shouted as its horn began to glow white once more. Heracross opened its wings and turned around, flying towards the struggling-to-move Shiftry. Bending down, Heracross's horn struck the wicked pokemon in the back, sending it flying closer to Brendan's side of the field. Brendan knelt down to see his pokemon's face from a few feet away.
"Are you alright, Shiftry?" Brendan asked it.
"Shi…shift." The wicked pokemon replied.
"Do you wanna continue?" He inquired.
"Shift…shift."
"Alrighty then, let's win it!" Brendan responded.
Impressed by Brendan's determination, the crowd began their wild cheering once again but ceased once Brendan got back on his feet since he was going to continue the battle.
"They want me to keep going." Brendan thought. "That's what we'll do."
"Are you continuing the battle with your Shiftry?" Tucker asked.
"That's right." Brendan said.
"Glad to hear it." Ash called out from across the field. "Heracross, use focus punch."
"Shiftry, use brick break." Brendan told it.
One of Heracross's arms began glowing light blue as it punched the opponent. Shiftry's hand was glowing white as it karate-chopped the incoming fist. The two glowing fists hit one another and sent both pokemon reeling backwards, their hands having been somewhat hurt.
"Heracross, use horn attack." Ash commanded.
"Shiftry, use aerial ace!" Brendan shouted.
Heracross horn began to glow a faint red as it got ready to take down Shiftry. Shiftry's body was covered in a white glow as it jumped into the air and aimed its body at Heracross. The impact of both attacks caused both pokemon to fall to the ground in pain since they had both scored a direct hit.
"This is getting crazy." Ash thought to himself.
"I've gotta figure something out." Brendan thought.
"Brendan, come on!" May shouted from her seat.
"Ash, don't let him beat you!" Leaf cheered, both to support Ash as well as annoy May.
"This is gonna be a long match." Dawn subtly commented.
Back on the field, both Shiftry and Heracross were getting back up to fight. It seemed that the match had now turned into a battle of pride since both pokemon appeared equally stubborn and determined to win the battle. Both pokemon stared each other down.
"Heracross hera." The single horn pokemon said as it moved its head to the side, waving its horn to taunt its opponent.
"Shiftry shift." The wicked pokemon responded by putting up its fists.
"It looks like they wanna keep battling." Ash called out to Brendan.
"Then let's give 'em what they want." He responded. "Shiftry, use leaf storm!"
"Heracross, hyper beam!" Ash commanded.
The leaves on the arms of Shiftry began to glow light green, and it released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from its arms at its opponent. Heracross's horn began to glow gold and it fired an orange beam from it at the incoming leaf storm. The cyclone of leaves impacted with the hyper beam in the middle of the two pokemon. The powerful mean managed to completely destroy the majority of the leaves and hit Shiftry with its impact. The wicked pokemon was sent flying back from the impact, nearly unconscious from the battle. Shiftry struggled to get back to its feet and was still bent over for a while.
"Alright Heracross!" Ash cheered. "Let's finish it with mega horn!"
"Heracross!" The single horn pokemon shouted as it flew over to the injured Shiftry and its horn took on a white glow. With intense power, Heracross slammed into the wicked pokemon and sent it flying even further back. Shiftry did not move after the impact and stayed still on the floor.
"Shiftry is no longer able to battle." Tucker declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"Thank you, Shiftry." Brendan said as he recalled his pokemon.
The cameras around the field showed every angle of the battlefield. Brendan's slightly worried face, Heracross's confident face and Ash's smile were all seen by the audience. Brendan immediately took out another pokeball amidst the cheering crowd. He could barely hear himself think before they finally quieted down.
"Let's see who you're cheering for after this." Brendan thought as he released the pokemon inside the pokeball. "Go for it!"
"Mantine!" The kite pokemon bellowed as it exited its pokeball.
"A Mantine!" Dawn pointed out.
"So he's using a flying-type pokemon. It'll have the advantage against a bug and fighting-type like Heracross." Brock pointed out.
"Types aren't everything." Leaf stated.
"But they sure can make a difference." May gleefully said.
Back on the field, Tucker had to put up his hand once again to allow the cameras to see him and signal the loud audience to stop cheering. Once they did, Tucker got back to business.
"Now then, the red trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Mantine, get up in the air!" Brendan ordered.
"Heracross, go after it!" Ash told it.
"Man." "Hera." The two pokemon said as they obeyed their orders. Mantine opened its huge wings and spread them apart as it glided upwards. The wings on Heracross's back opened up and started fluttering. Since it wasn't a flying-type, it didn't have as much experience flying as one so it usually kept close to the ground. This time, it was going several meters high to match up with Mantine.
Mantine was now above Heracross, floating effortlessly as Heracross struggled to get to where it was. As it looked down on the single horn pokemon, it began gliding in circles.
"Mantine, use hydro pump!" Brendan shouted from the field below.
"Mantiiiiiine!" The kite pokemon shouted as it unleashed a powerful jet of water from its mouth at the approaching Heracross.
"Heracross, get out of the way!" Ash shouted.
But it was unable to do so as the powerful water-type attack smashed into Heracross mid-flight and sent it crashing down to the ground below. A small cloud of dust erupted upon impact but dissipated as Heracross struggled heavily to get up.
"Mantine, use air cutter!" Brendan commanded.
"Mannnnn!" The kite pokemon screeched as it flapped its wings and a strong gust with light blue 'S' shaped energy in it flew and headed towards its grounded opponent.
"Heracross, wait for it." Ash instructed.
The 'S' shaped energy got closer and closer to the single horn pokemon. When it was barely a few meters away, Ash stuck his fist into the air and issued his command.
"Use hyper beam on it!" Ash shouted.
"Hera…crosssss!" The single horn pokemon shouted as it unleashed its orange beam from its glowing horn. The powerful attack smashed right through the 'S' shaped energy and headed straight into the air and clipped Mantine's back.
"It's just a scratch, Mantine!" Brendan shouted. "Get in there and win it with bounce!"
"Mant!" The kite pokemon bellowed as it folded its wings into itself and started dropping down on the field at an incredible speed. Within what seemed to be the blink of an eye, it was barely a few feet above the single horn pokemon.
"Heracross, use focus punch and knock it away!" Ash told it.
Heracross pulled its arm back as it began to glow light blue. Just before Mantine's bounce attack hit, Heracross pushed its glowing hand forwards and executed its focus punch as Mantine's attack hit. The resulting explosion created a great deal of dust which covered the field and limited the cameras vision.
Eventually, he dust cleared up and the cameras showed Mantine getting off the ground and returning to the air. Heracross, however, had been knocked out by the impact and laid face down, unable to move. Mantine's victory elicited cheers from the crowd as Ash hung his head at Heracross's defeat.
"Heracross is no longer able to battle." Tucker announced over the crowd. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"Now that Heracross lost, who's Ash gonna use next?" Dawn wondered.
"Considering that Mantine is a water-type and a flying-type, a rock-type or electric-type would be best." Brock stated.
"Than I guess we all know who's coming out next." Leaf smiled.
"Pikachu, it's your turn to battle!" Ash told his partner standing next to him. Pikachu immediately took the field and stared up at the gliding Mantine.
"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash told it.
"Piiika chuuuuuuuu." The electric rodent shouted as yellow sparks appeared around its tail. Pikachu then released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the gliding Mantine.
"Mantine, dodge it!" Brendan pleaded.
"Redirect it as it dodges, Pikachu!"
"Since when does Pikachu know how to redirect its thunderbolt?" Dawn asked aloud.
"Well electric attacks can be used in a variety of ways." Gary said.
"If Pikachu knows how to redirect its attacks, it could do it to follow Mantine." Brock explained.
"Yeah, but for how long." May wondered.
"Mantine, come back to the ground!" Brendan shouted.
Obeying orders, Mantine flew back to the field and glided along the ground as Pikachu's thunderbolt continued to pursue it. All of a sudden, Mantine made a sharp turn which Pikachu hadn't expected. The electric-type attack hit the ground and fizzled out against it, leaving Mantine unharmed.
"Darn, I really thought that would get it!" Ash angrily thought.
"Gonna have to try harder than that, Ash." Brendan taunted him from across the field as his Mantine went into the air and Pikachu remained on the ground. Neither Ash nor Brendan made a move for a few moments. Brendan stood around trying o look cool as Mantine glided in the air. Ash was trying to think of a strategy to hit Mantine with an electric-type attack without it hitting the ground and fizzling out. Eventually, Ash came up with a strategy that seemed like it could work, in theory.
"Pikachu, use thunderbolt again!" Ash commanded.
"Mantine, dodge it like you did before." Brendan instructed his pokemon.
"Piiika chuuuuuuuu." Pikachu shouted as it released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the flying-type pokemon. Once again, the attack chased after Mantine around the air as it tired to dodge. Mantine quickly approached the ground and made a sharp turn to make the electricity hit the ground. But as it did, Pikachu appeared in front of Mantine, smiling.
"Use iron tail!" Ash shouted.
"Chuuu...pika!" The electric rodent shouted as its tail began glowing white and hit the kite pokemon square in the head, knocking it down to the ground.
"Awesome, Pikachu!" Ash cheered. "Now use volt tackle!"
"PikaPikaPikaPi-ka!" Ash's pokemon repeated as its body was covered in bright yellow electricity. Running on all fours Pikachu slammed into the grounded Mantine, sending the kite pokemon crashing into the other side of the field. The cameras showed the electric rodent with its arms out and electricity pulsing from its cheeks as Brendan's Mantine lay on the floor.
"Mantine, you're strong, don't give up like this!" Brendan pleaded.
"Ma…man…Mantine." The kite pokemon grunted as it began to get up off the floor. As it flapped its wings with great effort and sent a cloud of dust around the air as it took off into the air.
"Even with a serious disadvantage, Mantine isn't down yet!" Gary exclaimed.
"But the fact remains that it's struggling right about now." Brock pointed out. "Brendan's gonna have to do something fast."
"But flying-type moves aren't very effective against electric pokemon like Pikachu." Dawn said. "Water-type moves won't be much better."
"The only thing that'd work against an electric-type like Pikachu would be a ground-type move." Leaf added.
"Good thing Brendan has one in his arsenal." May thought.
"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.
"Mantine, block it with hydro pump!" Brendan commanded.
"Piiika chuuuuuuuu." "Mantiiiiiine." The two pokemon shouted as they fired their attacks at one another. Pikachu's electric attack met with Mantine's powerful jet of water in the air and evaporated it completely while disappearing itself. The display left both pokemon at a stalemate as Mantine continued to glide above as Pikachu looked on from below.
"He's not looking, use thunder." Ash cried.
"Pikaaaaaachuuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it unleashed its strongest attack.
"Mantine, dodge it!" Brendan told it.
Up in the air, the uncaring Mantine froze, allowing the powerful blast of electricity to hit it, severely injuring the kite pokemon. However the pokemon quickly regained consciousness and land on Pikachu, crushing it and forcing it into the ground.
"This is going great Mantine! Now use giga impact!" Brendan said, clenching his fists.
"Pikachu use thunder again." Ash said, wondering what his next move should be if he failed. "We're at close range, this should work!"
Mantine let out its call and quickly jumped up to deliver its impact. But Pikachu was prepared and quickly fired the blast of electricity. The attack was almost blasted apart as Mantine did a twirl in midair but was still struck by the attack and nearly collapsed. Mantine coming down quickly for giga impact as Pikachu continued its thunder attack. Both pokemon were struggling to outlast the other as Leaf and May looked on the battle from the stands with sympathy for both trainers and their pokemon, knowing that one would lose soon.
When the cloud of dust that had been created was cleared up, Mantine had fainted from the impact while Pikachu was wobbling around the ground, currently unable to stand up properly.
"Mantine!" Brendan cried.
"Mantine is no longer able to battle." Tucker declared, eliciting cheers from the crowd as the cameras focused on the defeated Mantine more than the victorious Pikachu. "The red trainer has only one pokemon left!"
"Thank you, Mantine." Brendan sadly said as he recalled his pokemon and took out another pokeball.
"Now he's only got one pokemon left." Gary stated.
"But that last one is his strongest." Dawn mentioned.
"When he wins this, I hope Ash get some support." May said.
"Brendan's the one who's gonna need support when Ash trounces him." Leaf rebuffed.
"Yeah, ten years from now." May laughed.
"You ought to be more grateful." Leaf told her. "Ash is the reason you have any skill with pokemon."
"Leaf!" Gary shouted.
"You're my last hope!" Brendan shouted as he threw his last pokeball.
"Swamp!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it came out of its pokeball.
"This may be a problem!" Ash thought to himself as he saw the large blue pokemon stand across the field from him.
"The red trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Swampert, use water gun!" Brendan ordered.
"Pikachu, dodge it!"
"Swaaam!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as it unleashed its stream of water from its mouth. The electric rodent got on all fours and ran around the stream of water until Swampert had to stop using it.
"The little guy's pretty good at evasion, Ash." Brendan commented. "But it won't be enough! Swampert, use earthquake!"
How does one dodge an earthquake? Pikachu evidently didn't know or it would've done it. Swampert jumped high into the air and landed very hard, making white shockwaves come out of the ground and head directly for the electric rodent.
"Piiiika!" Ash's Pikachu shouted in pain as it was struck by the shockwaves and sent flying back. The cameras depicted every possible angle of Pikachu's pain from the sides to the bottom and top till Pikachu landed on the ground far away from Ash. As the electric rodent tried to get up, Ash was desperate to make a plan.
"Swampert's a ground-type so electric attacks won't work against it." Ash contemplated.
"Pi." The electric rodent said as it managed to get to its feet and stared down Swampert.
"Pikachu, use iron tail!" Ash commanded.
"Swampert, you know what to do." Brendan confidently said.
"Chuuuu…" The electric rodent shouted as its tail took on a white glow and it jumped up into the air. As it turned its body, preparing to strike its opponent, it was suddenly stopped! The entire audience gasped at the sight that they had seen.
Swampert had confidently grabbed Pikachu's tail and stopped its attack. Holding its tail with one hand, Swampert began chuckling at its own prowess as Pikachu dangled helplessly.
"Piiika chuuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it unleashed its thunderbolt attack, desperate to break itself free. As a ground-type pokemon, Swampert was unaffected by the attack as it continued to hold on to Pikachu.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried out.
"Swampert, toss him!" Brendan shouted.
"Swaaaam!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as its wound its arm back and then threw Pikachu across the field with intense force. The audience watched the cameras as the electric rodent was sent flying back by the toss and landed on the other side of the field.
"Piiiika!" Ash's Pikachu shouted as it struggled to get up and fight.
"Pikachu!" Ash called out.
"Piii…ka." The electric rodent said as it gave in to the pain, fainting and giving the battle to Swampert.
"Pikachu is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Both trainers are now down to one pokemon each!"
"Pikachu lost!" Dawn exclaimed.
"It was only a matter of time till Swampert's type advantage came into it." May commented.
"And now they both have one pokemon left!" Brock realized.
"It all comes down to this." Leaf said.
The audience continued to comment within itself as Ash brought back Pikachu to his side and congratulated it for its effort. Pikachu sat down next to its trainer as he took out a pokeball containing his final pokemon.
"It's now or never!" Ash said as he threw his pokeball into the air.
The flash of light from the pokeball revealed Ash's Sceptile, the fully evolved grass-type starter from the Hoenn region. The forest pokemon stood tall as it faced the fully evolved water-type starter standing across the field from it.
"Ash's last pokemon was his Sceptile!" Dawn exclaimed.
"As a grass-type, it could mean big trouble for Brendan's Swampert." Brock stated.
"Now that both of them are down to their last pokemon, whoever wins this battle gets to go to the finals." Gary mentioned.
"Go, Brendan!" May cheered.
"Ash, you better win this!" Leaf cheered.
The crowd continued to cheer and comment until Tucker decided to start the match. "The green trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the final battle of this match, BEGIN!"
"Swampert, water gun!" Brendan commanded.
"Sceptile, bullet seed!" Ash ordered.
"Swaaam." "Sceptile!" The two pokemon said as they attacked one another. The stream of water coming from Swampert's mouth met with the small orange seeds coming from Sceptile's mouth and continued bashing into each other as the two pokemon seemingly refused to give up. As their attacks continued to collide, Sceptile began tiring from firing the consistent bullet seed, something Ash took notice of.
"Sceptile, jump up in the air!" Ash shouted.
"Tile!" The forest pokemon shouted as it ceased firing its bullet seed attack and jumped high in the air. Sceptile was an excellent jumper and managed to jump right over Swampert's continuing water gun attack.
"Hit it in the air!" Brendan shouted.
"Swaaam!" The mud fight pokemon said as it turned its head to the air where Sceptile was, firing its water gun as it did.
"Sceptile, go down with leaf blade!" Ash told it.
"Sceppptile!" The forest pokemon said as the blades on its arms began to glow light green. Swampert's water gun was heading directly for the airborne grass-type as it began coming down to the field like a rocket returning from space. Using its leaf blade, Sceptile cut the water gun attack as gravity took it down to Swampert.
"Swampert, look out!" Brendan shouted.
Though it ended its water gun attack, Swampert failed to get out of the path of the incoming Sceptile and was struck by its leaf blade. The mud fish pokemon took the attack at full force and wobbled backwards as Sceptile landed on the ground.
"Use pound!" Ash shouted.
"Dodge it!" Brendan instructed.
The forest pokemon quickly approached its opponent and swung its body around to hit it with its bush-like tail. But the mud fish pokemon narrowly managed to dodge the attack after wobbling around.
"Use solarbeam, fast!" Ash shouted.
"Sceeeep." The forest pokemon said as it began charging the energy in its tail to use for the attack.
"Nice try, but it's not gonna work, Ash!" Brendan taunted. "Swampert, use hydro cannon!"
"Swaaamperrrrrrt!" the mud fish pokemon shouted as it unleashed the ultimate water-type attack at its opponent.
"Sceptiiiiile!" Ash's fully evolved grass-type pokemon shouted as it unleashed its own attack. The white beam of energy came out of Sceptile's mouth as the seeds on its back stopped glowing. The two powerful attacks met in the middle of the distance between the two opponents and began pushing themselves into one another.
The force of collision between Sceptile's solarbeam and Swampert's hydro cannon was intense. The cameras focused more on the attacks than the pokemon themselves while the audience was amazed at the display of power.
"I can't believe how strong those two are." Dawn exclaimed.
"Both of them seem to be pretty even so far, it's anyone's game." Brock stated.
"Yeah, I know the feeling." Gary added as he looked over at the two girls sitting with them, comically clawing at one another over their boyfriends.
"Sceptile, keep going!"
"Swampert, don't give up!"
The two pokemon continued their battle as their attacks kept going and they refused to give up. Though it initially looked even, Swampert soon showed signs of giving in from the strain of continuing its ultimate attack. Soon after, Swampert ceased its attack and took the force of the solarbeam to it chest, sending it flying back and landing on its stomach.
"Swampert!" Brendan cried out.
"Swa…swam." The mud fish pokemon grunted as it began doing a pushup to get itself off the ground. When it finally did, it stood tall and proud as a strange blue water-like aura began to envelop it. Ash, Brendan and the entire audience quickly realized what was going on: Swampert had activated its special ability, torrent. The mud fish pokemon began smirking and pounding its chest while staring in Sceptile's direction, enraging the forest pokemon.
"Alright Swampert, now we can't lose!" Brendan cheered.
"Swam!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as its blue aura began to glow brighter, giving it great strength and the confidence to beat Sceptile.
"This may be a problem." Ash thought.
"Get ready for the real battle to begin, Ash." Brendan told him. "Swampert, use water gun!"
"Swaaam!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it unleashed a spiral of water from its mouth at its opponent.
"Sceptile, dodge it." Ash instructed.
"Tile!" The forest pokemon said as it jumped into the air above. The water gun missed Ash's pokemon by a significant margin as it used its legs to jump high into the air. While in the air, the leaves on Sceptile's arm began glowing green as the forest pokemon raised them forward and allowed gravity to take it down to Swampert.
"Sceptile, no!" Ash uselessly pleaded from below as the forest pokemon prepared to strike Swampert with leaf blade.
"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon shouted as it came down from above.
"Swamp!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as its opponent came down on it. The blue aura of its torrent ability continued to surround Swampert and Brendan's pokemon confidently stood its ground.
"Swampert, use ice beam!" Brendan ordered.
"Ice beam?" Ash exclaimed from across the field.
"Swaaamp!" The mud fish pokemon boomed as a small blue ball appeared in front of its mouth and immediately broke off into several different beams of energy. While in the air, Sceptile was hit by the beams and immediately incased in a block of ice. From several feet above, the block of ice encasing Ash's pokemon fell to the ground and broke on contact as the forest pokemon fell to the ground in pain.
"Why the hell did Sceptile try something that stupid?" Gary furiously asked.
"I say it was a matter of pride?" Leaf believed.
"Pride?" Dawn wondered.
"Swampert's ability made it confident about winning; Sceptile got angry at its attitude and decided to take matters into its own hands." Leaf revealed.
"Still, I've never known Sceptile to disobey Ash like that." Brock added.
As Sceptile lied on the field, injured, Swampert towered above it and began pounding its chest again.
"Swampert, use earthquake!" Brendan ordered.
"Swamp…ert!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it jumped into the air and landed once again, sending out shockwaves from the ground. The still injured forest pokemon was hit by the shockwaves as it lay on the ground and was sent reeling back.
"Scept!" The forest pokemon shouted in pain.
"Sceptile, you have to get up!" Ash cried.
"Swampert, hydro cannon!" Brendan shouted.
"Swaaamperrrrrrt!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it fired the ultimate water-type attack from its mouth at its opponent. The powerful burst stream of water directly hit the forest pokemon and sent it flying back. The forest pokemon eventually lay there on the floor, struggling to get up and appeared to be close to fainting. The entire audience watched in silence at the scene.
"It can't end like this!" Ash thought to himself.
(Olivine City Lighthouse)
(Previous Day)
"Leaf…" Ash started. "At this point either you, me, Brendan or Gary will end up being the winner."
"You're right." Leaf said. "At this point, audiences get crazier and we all get more tense."
"I guess we just deal with it as it comes." Ash suggested.
"Ash, I wanna tell you something."
"…Yes?"
"I want you to meet me…" Leaf started. "Meet me in the finals."
…
"I…I'll see you there, Leaf." Ash told her.
(Present Day)
"I made a promise." Ash told himself. "I can't lose!"
"Scep…scept." The forest pokemon grunted as it tried to get off the ground. Its trainer looked on as its opponent continued smirking at what seemed like its assured victory as well.
"Sceptile…if you can get up here…this is where I need you." Ash started before clenching his fists. "WE CAN'T LOSE!"
"Scept!" The forest pokemon said sharply as its eye opened widely at its trainer's words. Now encouraged by his fierce determination, Ash's Sceptile finally managed to stand up after taking so much punishment.
"He's gotten back up!" Gary exclaimed.
"This fight's not over yet, not by a long shot." Dawn proclaimed.
"I guess Ash is better with his pokemon than I thought." Leaf told herself.
The audience began cheering wildly at the reemerging Sceptile. The referee, Dome Ace Tucker, began smiling at the perseverance of Ash's pokemon having remembered his battle against him in the Battle Dome during Ash's Battle Frontier challenge.
"He's impressive." Brendan admitted to himself.
"Swamp." The mud fish pokemon said as it looked at its opponent from across the field, knowing that the fight wasn't over.
"Sceptile, can you still fight?" Ash asked.
"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon said as it raised its arms into the air. All of a sudden, a strange green aura began to surround Sceptile as it felt itself get reinvigorated. Ash began to smile as he realized what was going on. As Swampert's torrent ability had activated earlier on, Sceptile's overgrow ability had been activated.
"Sceptile, that's great!" Ash cheered. "We've gotta end this now."
"Well feel free to forfeit!" Brendan joked from across the field.
"Not happening!" Ash told him. "Sceptile, use leaf blade."
"Scept!" The forest pokemon said as it immediately took off to attack. The leaves on its arms began to glow green as it approached its opponent with increased speed.
"Swampert, use ice beam!" Brendan ordered.
"Swaaamp!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and broke off into several smaller beams and aimed them at the incoming Sceptile. But this time, the forest pokemon used its excellent agility to dodge them with little effort and jump two feet in the air, effectively cutting down Swampert with its leaf blade and landing on its feet.
"Swampert!" Brendan cried as he saw his pokemon get cut down by its opponent, injuring it further.
"Dang, this is bad." Brendan worried.
With the mud fish pokemon and the forest pokemon now within close range of one another, Ash took the opportunity to attack.
"Sceptile, use leaf storm!" He shouted.
"Sceeeptiiile!" The forest pokemon shouted as the seeds on its back started to glow light green and it released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from the seeds towards the injured Swampert. The leaves struck with extreme precision thanks to Sceptile's practicing of the move and significantly injured the mud fish pokemon as Sceptile stood up, raising its arms.
"Get ready to fire solar beam!" Ash shouted.
"Scept!" The forest pokemon said as it began to gather sunlight in its tail.
The mud fish pokemon was now in the same trouble Sceptile had previously been in. With its torrent ability now seemingly dwarfed by Sceptile's activation of overgrow; it looked bleak for the fully evolved water-type starter from Hoenn until it stood up for one last try.
"Swampert, this is the last chance we have!" Brendan told it. "Use hydro cannon!"
"Swam…Swaaamperrrt!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it unleashed its ultimate-water type attack at its opponent, hoping that it would be enough.
"Scep…tiiiile!" The forest pokemon shouted when its attack was finally ready. It then fired a white beam from its mouth which collided with Swampert's hydro cannon. The force of the two attacks met in the middle just like before. But now, with the added power of Swampert's torrent and Sceptile's overgrow, the intensity was much more that the previous collision.
The flashes of light made the cameras nearly ineffective at capturing the scenes of the battle as the audience couldn't watch the screens to see different angles of the battle. As the two attacks continued to collide, the audience stayed surprisingly quiet in its suspense while Tucker stared at the spectacle, very impressed with what he was seeing. Ash and Brendan watched intently.
"Ash!" Leaf shouted
Soon, the two pokemon began to walk closer to one another, still firing the attacks from their mouths. Inch by inch, the pokemon got closer to one another as they continued to try and take each other down. When the two of them were barely more than a few feet away from one another, Swampert began giving in to its opponent. Soon dropping to its knees while still firing its attack, which simply hit the ground, Swampert became an easy target for Sceptile's solar beam. Taking the attack at close range, Swampert was knocked back to the other side of the field. Landing on its stomach, Swampert did not move an inch as its trainer realized that he'd lost.
"Swampert, no!" Brendan cried out as he ran to his fainted pokemon as Tucker took his microphone.
"Swampert is unable to battle, Sceptile is the winner!" Tucker declared.
The entire audience began cheering hysterically at the announcement. Loud applauses and cheers were head from every corner above the field. The cameras all began focusing on Ash and Sceptile's enthusiasm at their victory while completely snubbing the defeated Brendan and his Swampert. Ash began waving his hands in the air while Sceptile stayed completely still, crossing its arms. Brendan immediately recalled Swampert into its pokeball and approached Ash.
"He won." Leaf thought to herself, almost in disbelief.
"Brendan…" Ash said to the approaching trainer.
"Congratulations, Ash." Brendan said as he arrived. "The better trainer won today."
"Well…he sure didn't have it easy." Ash joked as he put his hand out.
"No, I don't think he did." Brendan laughed as he shook his hand. "The finals will be even harder, don't go easy."
"I won't." Ash said as both of them firmly shook hands and stood side by side to face the audience. Eliciting more cheers, the two trainers approached Tucker to get further details. Once the acting referee put up his hand, the audience stayed quiet.
"The winner, Ash, will be the one who proceeds to the finals while Brendan will proceed to the third-place battle!" Tucker revealed.
"There was nothing in the rulebook about a third-place battle." Brendan stated.
"It was a recent change to the format." Tucker explained. "I only became aware of it myself recently."
"Fair enough." Ash admitted.
"And now…" Tucker started. "Will the other two semi-finalists please make their way to the preparation rooms?"
"I still can't believe how intense that was!" Dawn exclaimed.
"That was one of the best battles I've ever seen Ash fight." Leaf said.
"I can't believe how great those two are at doing what they love!" Brock comically said, crying man tears at the scene.
"Leaf." Gary spoke up. "We have to go."
"Yeah…you're right." Leaf submitted. She'd admittedly wanted to congratulate Ash on his victory but if she didn't go soon, she'd probably be disqualified. She and her opponent, Gary Oak, both exited the stands and made their way to the preparation rooms.
Soon after, Ash and Brendan made their way back to the stands where their friends were. May had been silent since Brendan lost the battle and hadn't said a word. The two boys were congratulated on their efforts by Dawn and Brock while Brendan sat next to his silent girlfriend and looked at her. But she never looked back. Ash was told that Leaf and Gary had already left for their battle. Though Ash couldn't talk to his girlfriend about his victory, he knew that she was happy for him and he'd be for her if she won and was able to battle him after.
"Now it's Gary and Leaf who're gonna have to battle each other!" Dawn stated. "Who do you think is gonna win?"
"Well both of them are skilled at battling but since Gary's been a researcher for a while, he may be a little rusty." Brock suggested.
"Leaf." Ash thought as he took a seat. "I'll be in the finals, will you meet me there?"
Rayquaza45: So what did you think? Was that not the most epic battle to date? Well the future battles will be even more impressive so remember to review the story if you want them to come faster. I just hope you guys don't think May was too out of character, even if come people will do anything for love.
Remember to review now, then the next chapter arrives!
Next time: Chapter 15: Battling your OldRival
Gary Oak takes on Leaf Green to get to the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament. Will he prevail against his very first rival or will Ash's new girlfriend be too much for him? Their childhood together, only about the two of them, will be revealed. Stay with me.
Till next time!