Chapter Twenty One:

'Is Ash ready for this?' May asked Misty as she sat back down, 'Maybe he should just forfeit for now and train some more.'

'Relax May,' Misty assured hastily, 'Ash's got this, he's calmed down, and he actually has a strategy for once. He can do this.'

Ash came up to his place on the field, much calmer than he had been before, but Aura seemed to have just a bit more expression on her face than before. Nixie took her place at the referee's platform, looking between both competitors, a deeply fascinated look on her face.

'Alright then, the battle shall resume when both trainers send out their Pokémon, Ash that'll be your honour,' she instructed.

Ash smiled comfortably before selecting a Pokéball from his hip and sending out in a single flourish, 'Corphish come back out.'

Corphish snapped its claws roughly; it had barely been back in its Pokéball for two minutes. Ash had it out before hand so it would know what to do on the field, so it would know what Ash had in mind. Plus it had been given a bit of Cheri Berry to alleviate some of the affects of the poison, which was perfectly legal within a break according to Pokémon League rules thankfully.

Corphish looked determined, clearly not having liked the idea of being almost taken out of the match by anything. Aura looked at Corphish once again, her eyes examining it closely and critically before she made her move.

'Togekiss return to the fight,' she said and the large triangular shaped creature reappeared before her.

Ash wasn't particularly surprised by this move, Aura knew that Honchkrow had almost beating Corphish before and there was nothing to suggest her almost fully recharged Togekiss couldn't do it, 'You ready for this Corphish?' he asked.

'Phish Cor Phish!' it chanted like some sort of battle cry.

Ash couldn't help but laugh, which clearly unnerved Aura who wasn't sure what had changed, but clearly didn't like it, 'Trainer's begin!'

At Nixie's call Ash gave his command very quickly, 'Bubble Beam Corphish!'

'Extreme Speed,' Aura commanded.

Togekiss dodged, rolling on its side out of the way of the Bubblebeam attack, and crashing straight into Corphish knocking it backwards. But even as Corphish recoiled it stayed on its feet, and fired Bubblebeam again at Togekiss before it got too far away. Togekiss was forced to barrel roll out of the way, still taking quite a bit of damage as many of the bubbles found their mark.

'Togekiss fly high and use Solarbeam,' Aura commanded effortlessly.

Togekiss flew skywards a ball of solar energy forming between its hands as it rose and Ash couldn't help but swear slightly. This hadn't been part of the plan, but he knew, if Corphish could either avoid or take the hit, Aura would do exactly what he wanted.

'Corphish do the deflect we talked about,' Ash hissed and Corphish nodded like it was a soldier in the army, it was determined to get the job done.

That was when Togekiss released the attack the white hot energy streaking towards Corphish. Even as Corphish used Harden however, it stuck out its claw and in a Vicegrip attack and much to Aura's shock the glowing claw split the Solar Beam attack off, so considerably less of the attack actually hit Corphish. Ash grinned as his method worked, but continued to keep a close eye on Corphish, knowing that it still had taken a hit that definitely would have hurt.

Aura's irritation was showing as Togekiss was forced to roll out of the way of another Bubblebeam attack. But Ash was in the zone, continuing to egg Corphish on as the water-type managed to land a few shots on Togekiss even as it danced and glided out of the way the best it could.

'Signal Beam Togekiss!' Aura called.

But once again Corphish deflected the multicoloured beam, even more effectively so this time with one Vicegripped claw before returning to firing at Togekiss with Bubblebeam. Switching easily back to Vicegrip as Aura had Togekiss fire several more Signal Beams, the lights glancing off Corphish's glowing claws.

Aura's attacks were being somehow ridden ineffective by Ash's tactics and she seemed to be almost twitching as she tried to keep her face calm, 'Togekiss it can't deflect everything, use Sky Attack!'

Ash seemed surprised by this but he didn't freak out unlike before, and as Togekiss hurtled towards Corphish, Ash gave a strange call, 'Aim your Bubblebeam at the ground!'

At Ash's command Corphish didn't hesitate, and the sudden power from its Bubblebeam sent it upwards, throwing it out of the range of Togekiss's attack, 'Will this thing just hold still!?' Aura suddenly exploded, clear irratance and anger pulsing out of her, 'Togekiss, Psychic!'

Corphish was suddenly hovering in the air, surrounded by psychic energy, but even as Aura breathed a sigh of relief, Ash's expression didn't change, 'Throw it into the pillars Togekiss,' Aura said, regaining her composure.

But Aura was ignorant to how the winds had change on her.

Because even as Corphish went hurtling through the air, this had been all too well what Ash had intended, 'Harden Corphish!' he yelled.

Midair, Corphish used its defensive move both claws outstretched and much to the surprise of everyone but Ash, Corphish bounced off the pillar. Flying back towards Togekiss, everyone gaping at the spectacle of the flying crab, Corphish had managed to launch itself back at Togekiss with the full power of its own Psychic attack. And in mid air Corphish drew its claws in a Crab Hammer attack and slammed with full power into Togekiss who was too alarmed to follow Aura's desperate cry to dodge.

Togekiss was knocked out of the sky and fell to the ground with Corphish on top of it. And even as the ruffian Pokémon prepared to fight once more, it proved unnecessary as it was all too clear Nixie was right when she gave her call.

'Togekiss is unable to battle; the round goes to Corphish.'

Aura stared in complete and utter shock for a moment before withdrawing her Pokémon and whispering to the Pokéball, 'Sorry Togekiss, I never thought that could happen.'

Meanwhile the rest of the group turned to stare at Misty, Paul and Brock who were grinning in amusement, 'That was Ash's strategy?' Drew demanded.

'Hey, all he said to us directly is Corphish is bouncy,' Misty shrugged.

Paul snorted slightly and said, 'The rest we had to try to figure out from what he was saying to Corphish.'

'...I still can't believe he thought of that,' Dawn whispered, still staring.

'Wait till you see what he's got planned next,' Brock grinned, 'It's actually pretty clever-'

'Tornadus I choose you!' Aura cried over the top of Brock's response making them all whip around.

Hovering on the battlefield was possibly one of the weirdest creatures any of them had ever seen. It floated on a cloud; it's strange, green almost humanoid looking form leering at them, covered in purple splotches. A large purple tentacle ridged with yellow for a tail, and billowing white hair and strange sharp horns. It was a strange looking creature, and even for Ash who had seen it before, it was still rather shocking.

'Still good to go Corphish?' Ash asked the water-type, seeming to be considering rearranging his strategy if Corphish wasn't up to facing it.

But Corphish took one look at Ash and the nerves starting to set back into his trainer, and gave a single sharp nod before glowing an amazingly bright white. Everyone stared in shock as Corphish's form began to grow much larger and wider, it's claws snapping outwards and its entire shape changing and adapting before much to everyone's shock, standing before them was an all too powerful looking Crawdaunt.

'Corphish...' Ash whispered before his entire face split into a grin and he exclaimed, 'Crawdaunt!'

'Let me guess, that wasn't part of the plan,' Dawn asked.

Paul looked at her in some sort of amusement before commenting, 'You can't plan an evolution, it's all luck.'

'And if you do plan it?'

'It's tacky and unethical,' Drew commented.

Dawn turned at Drew's comment before saying, 'Remind me to introduce you to my rival Ursula at some point.'

Drew looked amused at Dawn's comment but Paul looked at Dawn and asked, 'The pink spring head?'

'You know her?' Dawn asked.

'She's from Veilstone, we've met,' Paul shrugged, not seeing what the big deal is.

'So the ego is a Veilstone thing?' Dawn asked before realising what she'd just said but much to her surprise, Paul just smirked slightly.

'Of course it is;

'Guys! Shut up I want to watch the match,' Max complained, 'I know this is going to be a great one!'

Hey all;

A fast update from me, lately I'm on a roll, I'd love to hear some more of what you think of the story, so please review, everything that my readers say is being taken into account, so I'd like to take this moment to thank Lightningblade49, White-Falcon-06 and Beastmode456, for their amazing reviews, and I can't wait to see what you think of this next installment.
So see you next time for what will be the conclusion of Ash and Aura's battle, and the reveal of the next gym they shall be travelling to, and be sure to weight in on your opinions on the questions I asked last chapter:
Which of Ash's Pokémon do you wish would evolve?
Which Pokémon that don't evolve do you think should?
What Pokémon can you see Max catching?
And which Pokémon gym do you want to see Ash face next?

Much love to all of my readers and reviewers

~Selina