Chapter 36

Potential Paranoia

When Jasmine and Silver arrived back at their seats, they found Gold and Whitney anxiously waiting for them.

"Where did you two go?" Whitney asked.

"We just wanted to have a talk, so we got away from the huge crowd," Silver said. "What's been going on since we left?"

"The Hoenn Elite Four member Drake took out all three of his opponent's Pokémon without having one of his faint," Gold said. "And in the battle that just finished, one of the girls who fought Team Rocket with us, Erika, beat another Drake, a guy from the Orange Islands. It was another blowout where Erika didn't have one of her Pokémon faint."

"Who's battling now?" Silver asked.

"An Elite Four member from Hoenn named Sidney and a Hoenn gym leader named Norman," Gold said.

Sidney sent out his Absol against Norman's Slaking. Absol slashed Slaking, with Slaking countering it with a slash of its own. Both Pokémon used physical attack after physical attack on each other, until the two of them were literally wrestling with each other.

"Come on, Absol, take out this thing!" Sidney called.

"Shake loose of Absol, Slaking!" Norman called.

Eventually, Slaking succeeded in getting loose of Absol's grip, but fell over, fainting. Absol fainted too, forcing both trainers to pull out new Pokémon. Sidney's choice was a Mightyena, while Norman used a Slakoth.

"Crunch, Mightyena," Sidney said.

Mightyena used a Crunch attack on Slakoth, which did not move, instead yawning after being attacked. Mightyena went to crunch Slakoth again, but suddenly dropped to the ground, falling asleep.

"Wake up, Mightyena!" Sidney yelled. "What's going on?"

"My strategy worked," said Norman. "Now slash away!"

Slakoth began slashing at Mightyena, eventually waking it up, but by the time Mightyena was awake enough to fight, it fainted from all the slash attacks.

"Return, Mightyena," Sidney said in annoyance. "Go ahead, Shiftry, even this battle up!"

Shiftry came out of its Poké Ball and immediately started using Extrasensory psychic attacks on Mightyena. Mightyena tried to fight back, but kept flinching from each attack, eventually fainting.

"Return!" Norman said. "It's time to win this battle. Go, Vigoroth, and slash away!"

Vigoroth came out of its Poké Ball, running over to Shiftry. Vigoroth began aggressively slashing at Shiftry while Shiftry tried to use its Double Team attack to avoid the attacks.

"Keep eluding those slashes!" Sidney called out.

However, Vigoroth was too fast. It was eventually able to slash Shiftry enough times to cause Shiftry to faint, yielding the victory to Norman.

"Shiftry is unable to battle. The battle goes to Norman!" DJ Mary announced.

Norman had his Vigoroth return, then found his wife Caroline in the front row, who wanted to congratulate him. The two of them kissed in celebration.

"I can't believe it," Sidney said in disgust, having his Shiftry return to its Poké Ball. He, a Hoenn Elite Four member, was eliminated in the first round.

"Our next battle will be between Will, newly elected Kanto Elite Four member, and Harrison, eight-badge qualifier in Johto!" DJ Mary announced.

Will walked out onto the battlefield nervously. Having just seen a major upset with a Hoenn Elite Four member being eliminated in the first round, he realized that he could lose as well. Harrison, originally from Littleroot Town in Hoenn, had earned all of his badges in Johto, making it into the tournament in an unorthodox fashion. The two shook hands, then prepared for battle.

"I choose Blaziken!" Harrison said.

"Go, Xatu," Will said.

Sabrina sat in the stands next to Liza and Tate, the psychic twins from Mossdeep City in Hoenn. Liza tried to read Sabrina's thoughts.

You're nervous? Liza asked Sabrina telepathically, feeling Sabrina's emotions.

Yes, Sabrina replied telepathically.

But why? Liza asked. You're a powerful psychic. Can't you see who is going to win already?

I do not have strong foresight, Sabrina replied. But I do feel Will is in trouble.

Will looked up at that moment towards where Sabrina was sitting in the stands, feeling what she had just thought. His Xatu was doing well at the moment, but as Will was distracted, Blaziken began to fight back strongly.

Come on, Will, focus, Sabrina thought.

"Psychic attack," Will said.

Xatu used a Psychic attack on Blaziken, which worked very well due to Blaziken's Fighting type. Blaziken fell over, fainted.

"Return," Harrison said. "I choose Kecleon."

So you want Will to remove his mask? Liza asked Sabrina.

Stop reading my thoughts, Sabrina replied.

You've been reading mine, Liza said. You know that I'm not happy with the League rules that I can't battle along with my brother.

Okay, so I have, Sabrina said. But my thoughts about Will are private.

You're in love! Liza teased Sabrina.

Sabrina thought about teleporting away from the meddlesome Liza, but realized that Liza was just like her- a powerful psychic making full use of her powers, even at her young age. She thought that perhaps Liza would be able to become an excellent psychic- and an excellent trainer- if she would mentor her.

I'd love to learn from you, Sabrina, Liza said.

I will, after this tournament, Sabrina replied.

Meanwhile, Harrison found himself in deep trouble. The battle was getting away from him, with his Kecleon falling over, fainting. He reached for his final Poké Ball, hoping that this final Pokémon would pull him back into the battle.

"Go, Hypno!" he said.

Harrison figured his best chance against Will was to try to fight back with Psychic attacks himself. His Hypno immediately started casting a Hypnosis attack on Will's Xatu, causing it to fall asleep.

If I make it return, I can't bring it back out, but what's the use of letting it just lie there sleeping? Will thought.

Keep it out there, Sabrina thought.

Will looked over at the crowd towards Sabrina, feeling the urge to leave Xatu out on the battlefield.

"Psybeam!" Harrison called.

The Psybeam hit Xatu hard, but Xatu was able to wake up. Xatu then flew up into the air, swooping down to hit Hypno hard.

"Get up!" Harrison called to Hypno.

It was too late. Hypno was not prepared for the attack, and it ended up fainting.

"Hypno is unable to battle. The battle goes to Will!" DJ Mary announced.

The crowd cheered as Will had his Xatu return to its Poké Ball.

I shouldn't have to help you, Elite Four member, Sabrina said.

Will was unable to get Sabrina's words clearly, but he felt Sabrina's taunting of him, so he walked off the battlefield without celebration.

"Next up is Chuck, the gym leader of Cianwood City in Johto, against Jeanette Fisher, eight-badge qualifier from Kanto!" DJ Mary announced.

"This guy was a piece of cake," Silver said.

"He's very rude," Whitney said. "He thinks he's so much better than the rest of the Johto gym leaders, very much like Morty, although I think Chuck's even more arrogant."

Chuck sent out his Poliwrath, while Jeanette sent out her Bellsprout.

"A Bellsprout?" Chuck said. "You can do better than that!"

Jeanette gave no response to Chuck as her Bellsprout used its Vine Whip to completely wipe out Poliwrath, leaving Chuck embarrassed.

"You won't get away with this!" Chuck said. "Come on out, Machoke!"

Machoke stared down Bellsprout, with Jeanette calmly thinking of her next move.

"Mega Punch!" Chuck yelled.

"Use Poisonpowder," Jeanette said.

Bellsprout's Poisonpowder poisoned Machoke as it began to punch Bellsprout. Machoke was able to get in a few blows before falling over due to its poisoning.

"You're tougher than that!" Chuck said. "Fight on through!"

"Vine Whip," Jeanette said.

Bellsprout began using its Vine Whip attack again, not giving Machoke a chance to recover. Eventually, Machoke was knocked out.

"I've had it!" Chuck said. "Go, Primeape!"

Primeape came out of its Poké Ball ready to fight. Without any word from Chuck, it immediately went towards Bellsprout and began punching it left and right.

"Poisonpowder!" Jeanette called.

However, it was too late for Bellsprout. It fainted, causing Jeanette to have it return to its Poké Ball.

"Go, Beedrill!" she said.

Beedrill came out of its Poké Ball, flying slightly above Primeape.

"Continue punching away!" Chuck yelled.

"Pin Missile," Jeanette said.

Primeape had a hard time trying to get its punches to connect with Beedrill, as Beedrill was able to dodge most of them by flying around. Beedrill was able to hit Primeape with quite a few Pin Missile attacks, though.

"Now, Hyper Beam!" Jeanette called.

Beedrill launched a Hyper Beam at Primeape, taking it out, and ending the battle. Chuck stomped his foot in anger.

"Primeape is unable to battle. The battle goes to Jeanette!" DJ Mary announced.

Both trainers had their Pokémon return to their Poké Balls, with the crowd loudly cheering for Jeanette. Chuck walked off the battlefield in fury, while the four Johto friends in the stands cheered his early exit.

"Our next battle will be between Wallace, Sootopolis City gym leader, and Morrison, eight-badge qualifier from Hoenn!" DJ Mary announced.

The two trainers stepped out on the battlefield, preparing for their battle. Winona watched nervously from a stadium tunnel, where she was waiting for her battle, as her battle was coming up soon.

"I choose Girafarig!" Morrison said.

"Come on out, Whiscash," Wallace said.

Whiscash and Girafarig faced each other, with Wallace waiting for Morrison to make a command.

"Psybeam!" Morrison said.

"Surf, Whiscash," Wallace said.

As Morrison's Psybeam hit Whiscash, a wave of water came up from underneath Whiscash, picking Whiscash up and crashing it down upon Girafarig.

"Oh no!" Morrison said. "That big catfish crushed my Girafarig! Return, Girafarig!"

Wallace smiled, seeing how his strategy had worked.

"I'm going to try using Beldum," Morrison said, sending out his Beldum.

"Use Earthquake, Whiscash," Wallace said.

Before Morrison could issue a command, Whiscash's Earthquake attack started to shake Beldum. Soon Beldum began to stumble, before eventually falling over, fainting.

"This is ridiculous!" Morrison said. "Return, Beldum! I need a stronger Pokémon… I'm going with Gligar!"

Morrison sent Gligar out, hoping it would fare better against Wallace's Whiscash.

"Surf again, Whiscash," Wallace said.

"Dodge the waves and use Fury Cutter!" Morrison said.

Gligar was able to successfully avoid the waves, hitting Whiscash with its Fury Cutter attack several times. However, Whiscash appeared unfazed.

"Water Pulse," Wallace said.

Whiscash hit Gligar with waves of water, which ending up confusing Gligar. As Gligar flew around in circles, Whiscash brought down another wave of water from its Surf attack, wiping out Gligar and ending the battle.

"Gligar is unable to battle. The battle goes to Wallace!" DJ Mary announced.

Morrison was disappointed, but he shook hands with Wallace, congratulating him on his win. Morrison then left, while Wallace went over to Winona, who embraced him happily.

"The next battle is between Casey, eight-badge qualifier from Johto, and Lt. Surge, Vermillion City gym leader!" announced DJ Mary.

Casey entered the battlefield chanting the Electabuzz baseball team fight song, while Lt. Surge walked in slowly, looking at the crowd as if he was trying to find someone.

"I can't believe they allowed that Team Rocket member into this tournament," Whitney said.

"He helped kill my grandfather," Gold said, with a touch of bitterness in his voice.

Meanwhile, the energetic Casey sent out her Meganium, while Lt. Surge sent out his Raichu.

"Meganium, use Solarbeam!" Casey screamed.

Meganium began charging up a Solarbeam attack, while Raichu seemed to be charging up electricity, but waiting for the right moment to attack.

"Blast that Solarbeam!" Casey yelled.

Meganium blasted the Solarbeam at Raichu, but Raichu leaped out of the way in a fraction of a second, then shot electricity at Meganium.

"Meganium!" Casey yelled, seeing her Meganium take a large amount of electricity.

"You're just a baby trainer," Lt. Surge said. "You can't beat my Pokémon!"

"Return, Meganium!" Casey said. "Elekid, go!"

Casey sent out her Elekid, then started into another Electabuzz baseball chant.

"One strike, two to go," Lt. Surge said. "Eliminate that Elekid, Raichu!"

"Stay still," Casey said to Elekid.

Raichu then shot a jolt of electricity towards Elekid, who seemed to be unaffected by it. Raichu charged up more and more electricity, then launched a large bolt at Elekid. This time, though, Elekid put its head down and reflected the electricity right back at Raichu, causing Raichu to absorb the electric attack.

"So you do have some skills," Lt. Surge said. "Fine, return, Raichu. I'm going with Magneton!"

"Be aggressive, Elekid!" Casey said. "Hit a home run!"

Elekid ran towards Magneton, shooting a small electric bolt at it, then started to run in circles around the triple-magnet Pokémon, shooting small jolts of electricity at it the whole time. Magneton became so confused that it did not attack Elekid. Elekid finally finished off Magneton with a large Thunderbolt attack, forcing Lt. Surge to call his Pokémon back.

"You got two strikes on me, but I have a Pokémon that will make you jealous!" Lt. Surge said. "Go, Electabuzz!"

Casey looked longingly at Lt. Surge's Electabuzz. Her favorite baseball team was the Electabuzz team- how could she fight against an Electabuzz?

"Electabuzz or not, we're going to win!" Casey said. "Thunderbolt, Elekid!"

"Strike back with your own Thunderbolt!" Lt. Surge said.

The two Pokémon shot electricity towards each other for about two minutes straight, with neither seeming to make much progress, when Elekid began running back and forth, still using its Thunderbolt attack the whole time. Electabuzz was unable to keep up with Elekid's quick movements, and it began to misfire on its electric attacks, allowing Elekid to strike it with some electricity. Eventually, Elekid was able to hit Electabuzz with enough electricity to knock it out.

"Electabuzz is unable to battle. The battle goes to Casey!" DJ Mary announced.

"Yay!" Casey screamed. "You did it, Elekid!"

Casey started into the Electabuzz fight song- again- while Lt. Surge had his Electabuzz return to its Poké Ball, smiling evilly. He looked up into the crowd again, as if he was looking for someone in particular, then shrugged his shoulders.

"I haven't lost yet," he mumbled, walking off the battlefield. The sinister look in his eyes gave the impression that he had something up his sleeve. But even Sabrina, who stared at him suspiciously and searched his thoughts, could not figure out what he was up to.