The blocky, misshapen sun moved slowly across the sky as the hours passed. Beneath that sun, Red, Orange, and Violet were making their way along Route -22, traversing the road made of rocks, bricks, pine cones, and twos. They scarcely spoke, all of them too excited for what lay ahead. Around noon, however, Orange's stomach started growling. This prompted Orange to start complaining.
"C'mon, guys, I'm hungry," whined Orange.
"Sorry, Orange," replied Violet. "We didn't pack anything from the Pokémon Center, and if we turn back now, we won't make it to Ginodi Plateau in time."
"RRRRRGH!" groaned Orange, frustrated in the extreme.
"I know," sighed Red. "But think about it, Orange- won't it feel much worse if we miss out on our chance to compete in the Pokémon League?"
"Right… you're right," Orange nodded. "We gotta keep moving."
They continued on, and soon enough, they came to a large building made out of tree bark, threes, sevens, and chunks of rock. This, they very quickly learned, was the entrance to Route -23, a winding, twisting path. Stationed at various points along the rocky, grassy, moist, numerical road were eight guards, none of whom would allow the trio to pass until they showed that they had earned a certain badge.
"Geez," Orange grumbled as they walked away from a guard who had demanded to see their Mental Badges. "Wouldn't it be easier to just have one guard to check all eight badges?"
"For once, you make a lot of sense," nodded Violet.
"You're damn right I do- wait a minute, what do you mean, 'for once'?!" demanded Orange.
"Orange?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Finally, after showing their Soil Badges to the eighth and final guard, they came to a large, imposing mountain… with a huge crevice going right through it. Something had carved a straight path through the mountain.
"This must be Victory Pass," Violet observed. "Red, what would the Kanto equivalent of this be?"
"Victory Road," Red answered. "From what I've heard, it's a twisting, winding, maze-like cave teeming with strong trainers to test those on their way to the Pokémon League."
"I guess that makes sense," Orange remarked, "seeing as Victory Pass is a straightforward path cutting right through a large mountain with no trainers whatsoever."
"Seems a bit easy," said Red. "Then again, it's not exactly easy getting to this point in the first place, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining."
"That's more like it," grinned Orange. "Don't complain about the good things in life, Red, enjoy them!" With that, he broke into a run. Red and Violet hastened to try and keep up with him. It had been a while since Red had ran after Orange, trying to keep up with the energetic trainer. It reminded him of when Orange had first caught Spearow, and he, Red, and Violet had chased after him while Orange went around trying to use the disobedient bird in battles.
Lost in this memory, Red didn't immediately notice that they had reached the end of the canyon, and were now looking up at an enormous stadium on higher ground (that ground consisting primarily of odd numbers and roofing tiles, with the odd rock thrown in here and there). The stadium itself looked to be made of gigantic ones, threes, and eights.
Through the double doors the trio burst, entering the lobby of Ginodi Stadium. The receptionist was very patient with them- as it happened, they were just in time.
"Thank Mew for that," Violet sighed in relief as she, Red, and Orange handed their Pokédexes to the receptionist. Once she had confirmed their information, she handed them back to them.
"All done," she smiled. "And with only two minutes to spare, too. Looks like you three are the last to register. Why don't you all go and get something to eat? There's a Pokémon Center, complete with cafeteria, just down that hall," she said, pointing off to the trio's right. "Come back in an hour where we'll announce tomorrow's preliminary round matchups."
They did just that. After a hearty meal of seven burgers and fried nines (an extra-large even number salad in Violet's case), the trio returned to the lobby, where they learned of their first opponents. Orange was to battle a Fisherman, Violet was up against a Cooltrainer, and Red was set to battle a Bird Keeper. The receptionist then went on to explain that in the preliminary round, each battle was to be conducted with one Pokémon on each side.
As the crowd started to disperse, Red suddenly found himself being hugged from behind. Though this made him jump, he immediately relaxed and smiled as he heard someone say "Hey there, Red. Did you miss me?" Red wheeled around, and sure enough, there was Maggie McPixel, Orange's cousin and the Bincanar Island Gym Leader, smiling at him.
"Hey, Maggie," smiled Red. "Yeah, I did."
"You know, what you three did in Ivadirin City is all over the news," Maggie stated. "I'm glad you're all OK. Did you really go up against the legendary p T?"
"Heh, well, it was nothing," Red said, blushing somewhat.
Maggie giggled. "So modest," she said. "Well, good luck tomorrow, Red, I'll be watching," she added as she walked off.
"Hey!" Orange called after her. "How about wishing your own cousin good luck, huh?"
"Orange?" murmured Red.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
The next day, the seats in Bincanar Stadium were packed. Violet, Red, and Maggie managed to get seats in the front row. Maggie had insisted on sitting next to Red, who raised no objections to this whatsoever.
On the grassy battlefield, Orange stood proudly at one end, facing the man at the other end, who was dressed as though ready for fishing. A referee stood on the side of the battlefield, a red flag in one hand, a green flag in the other.
"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first preliminary round battle of this year's Pokémon League Ginodi Conference!" came a booming, echoing voice from multiple speakers situated around the stadium as the announcer started speaking. "Our first match is Fisherman from Ruceelna City against Orange McPixel from Talpel Town!"
At this, the referee raised both of his flags. "Begin the match now!" he declared.
"Beat this, kid!" sneered the Fisherman as he threw a Poké Ball. "Gyarados! Go!" he shouted as the large sea serpent materialized on the battlefield. Positioning itself not unlike a large snake, it towered over Orange, who didn't look scared in the slightest.
"Wonder what Orange is gonna use," Red wondered out loud. "Nidoking's at a disadvantage… then again, Orange did teach it Thunderbolt using that TM from Electra…"
"Heh," Orange smirked as he took a Poké Ball off his belt and enlarged it. "Time to call on the help of an old friend for this one!" he said as he threw the ball, unleashing from within a Pokémon which caused Red and Violet to exchange highly surprised glances.
"Pika pika!" exclaimed the Pokémon Orange had sent out.
"Fisherman has sent out his Gyarados, while Orange is going with his Pikachu!" the announcer stated. "Orange is obviously at an advantage here, but will Gyarados's size even the odds a bit?"
"Pikachu?" Red said incredulously. "Since when- oh, wait, wait, Violet, didn't you say that Orange had a pet Pikachu back home?"
"Yeah," nodded Violet. "That's Shockey, all right. Orange hates it when anyone calls it that, though- he stopped using that nickname for Pikachu before he even moved to Talpel Town. Well, this certainly explains that phone call he made last night."
"Is he allowed to use a family pet Pokémon in an official competition, though?" asked Red.
"I believe it's allowed, yeah," Violet replied.
"Yep, it's definitely allowed," confirmed Maggie. "I should know- my Ninetales used to be my mom's pet Vulpix!"
Orange made the first move. "Pikachu! ThunderShock!" he ordered.
"Pikaaaa… CHUUUUUUU!" bellowed Shockey as the Electric-type's cheeks crackled with electricity before unleashing a powerful blast of lightning at the Gyarados. The Atrocious Pokémon roared with agony as the attack connected, and looked rather worn as Pikachu's attack ceased.
"Orange and Pikachu get things off to a brilliant start with a dazzling ThunderShock!" the announcer announced. "How will Gyarados come back from that?"
"I'll tell you how- with a Hydro Pump!" shouted the Fisherman. "Gyarados! Make it so!"
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" yelled Orange.
Gyarados unleashed from its huge mouth a high-pressure blast of water. Immediately, Shockey darted out of the way of the attack, and rammed into Gyarados. Despite the size difference, Shockey's sheer speed caused Gyarados to sway dangerously.
"All right, Pikachu!" grinned Orange. "Follow it up with your Swift attack!"
"Chuuuu… Pika!" Shockey responded as it swung its lightning bolt-shaped tail around, sending a wave of star-shaped rays flying across the battlefield. The stars pelted Gyarados, who roared its displeasure.
"Gyarados, Body Slam now!" the Fisherman ordered.
"Pikachu! Reflect!" bellowed Orange.
"Pika!" Shockey replied as a shimmering, transparent dome formed all around it. Gyarados's long body slammed down onto Pikachu, but as it got back off, Pikachu looked relatively unscathed.
"Let's wrap this up!" Orange exclaimed. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Pikaaaaa… CHUUUUUUUUUU!" screamed Shockey as a massive bolt of lightning flew off its body and struck Gyarados, who roared with pain as the super effective Electric move coursed through its body. Once the move stopped, Gyarados, charred and smoking, collapsed to the ground.
The referee raised his green flag in Red's direction. "Gyarados cannot continue!" he announced. "Orange and Pikachu are the winners!"
"And in the end, Orange's type advantage wins out!" the announcer exclaimed. "Pikachu has toppled Gyarados, and Orange moves on to Round 2!"
"All right! We did it, Pikachu!" Orange cheered as the Mouse Pokémon jumped into his arms. The Fisherman sighed dejectedly as he withdrew Gyarados.
"Way to go, Orange!" cheered Violet. Red and Maggie joined her in cheering, even as the Trainers were leaving the battlefield.
The preliminary rounds continued throughout the day. For a while, the trio plus Maggie sat in the stands, watching as a Jr. Trainer's Onix took out a Bug Catcher's Beedrill, a Swimmer's Clefable defeated a Super Nerd's Muk, and another Fisherman's 7g triumphed over a Lass's Dugtrio. Finally, it came time for Red's preliminary round battle, and it quickly got intense.
"Fight back, Missingno.! Water Gun now!" Red was yelling.
"Farfetch'd, use Slash once more!" the Bird Keeper shouted.
"MissingNOOOOOOO.!" screeched Missingno. as it fired a stream of water from its mouth, striking the oncoming Farfetch'd, preventing the Wild Duck Pokémon from flying any closer.
"Missingno.! Finish it with your Sky Attack!" commanded Red.
"Farfetch'd, Double-Edge!" called the Bird Keeper.
"Far! Fetch'd!" shouted Farfetch'd as it flew forward, only to be slammed right into the ground by Missingno.'s glowing form.
"Farfetch'd is unable to battle!" ruled the referee. "Red and Missingno. are the winners!"
"Way to go, Red!" exclaimed Maggie from the stands. Orange and Violet stood up at that point and cheered as Red hugged Missingno.
Next, it was Violet's first battle, and the Cooltrainer she was facing was definitely skilled.
"Do it, Starmie!" he called out. "Psychic attack!"
"Tombstone, Night Shade now!" Violet commanded.
Starmie softly cried out as it emitted a wave of blue energy from its ruby-red core. At the same time, Violet's h Poké unleashed a black bolt of energy from one of its corners. The two attacks collided in the center of the battlefield, creating a huge explosion which covered the entire scene in a dust cloud. Once the dust settled, both Pokémon were still up, Starmie standing on two of its points, Tombstone floating in midair.
"Tombstone, Thunderbolt attack!" shouted Violet.
"h Poké!" bellowed Tombstone as the Spirit Pokémon unleashed another bolt of lightning, this one a dazzling yellow, right at Starmie, lighting up the Water/Psychic-type with voltage, at which point Starmie collapsed, a red light feebly blinking on and off within its core.
"Starmie is unable to battle! Violet and h Poké are the winners!" declared the announcer.
Once the preliminary matches were done, the group met up in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria for dinner. Once Chansey had brought all their food, they began to excitedly discuss the day's events.
"I gotta say, Orange," Violet admitted, "I wasn't expecting to see you use Shockey."
"Stop calling him that, Vi!" exclaimed Orange. "I told you, that was a stupid name."
"Yeah, it was," grinned Violet. After a few moments of silence, they started kissing. Red watched this for a moment, then glanced over at Maggie, who blushed slightly as she noticed this.
"Hey, so, Red," Maggie said. "Your battle earlier, that was really cool."
"Heh, thanks," Red smiled. "I'm… I'm glad you could come to watch, Maggie," he added, starting to blush a bit himself, which made Maggie giggle a bit.
"Yeah, me too," she added.
The silence was deafening as the two looked at each other. Almost without conscious thought, Red leaned forward, as did Maggie…
"Whoo!" Orange exclaimed suddenly as he and Violet broke apart. The moment ruined, Red and Maggie reluctantly stopped leaning towards each other. Orange noticed this, and immediately looked sheepish. "Aw, crap, I just ruined a moment here, didn't I?" he asked nervously.
The next day, Round 2 got underway. These were also one-on-one matches, and once again, Red, Orange, and Violet all got through. Red's Raticate managed to fry the opposing Jr. Trainer's Pidgeot with a sizzling Thunderbolt attack; Orange's A was able to take out the Swimmer's Kingler it had Transformed itself into; and Violet conquered the .4 of a Youngster with a little help from Skulls. Other than the battles, the day passed with little event, and the semifinal round was getting underway. The two battles were to take place simultaneously in order to allow for the final round to take place that afternoon. Each battle was to be held in a separate arena- behind Ginodi Stadium, there were two smaller arenas for this purpose. As Violet was set to face off against a Super Nerd, the other two trainers prepared to face off in the other arena- Red and Orange. Maggie sat by herself in the stands. Though it was clear she wanted to cheer Red on, she was starting to feel a tad guilty by not cheering for her cousin. She therefore settled for shouting, "Good luck, the both of you!"
"This will be a three-on-three battle between Orange McPixel of Talpel Town, and Red Vershunn of Pallet Town, Kanto!" the referee stated, which caused a lot of murmuring in the crowd. Red raised no objection to this- after the incident in Ivadirin City made the news, it became somewhat common knowledge that Red was from Kanto. "Begin!" the referee shouted.
"Good luck, Red!" Orange grinned as he threw a Poké Ball. "Let's go, .4!" he exclaimed. In a flash of light, Orange's .4 materialized, gibbering excitedly.
"Yeah, you too, Orange," replied Red as he threw a Poké Ball of his own, which unleashed his Snorlax.
"Orange is using his .4, while Red is starting with Snorlax!" exclaimed the announcer.
".4, use your TM28 attack!" Orange commanded.
"Snorlax, blast it with Psychic!" Red ordered.
"Laaaaaax!" bellowed Snorlax as a pulsing wave of pale blue psychic energy emanated from it, causing the oncoming .4 to squeak and gibber in discomfort. This, however, did not stop the Caffeine Pokémon from blowing up in Snorlax's face, sending it tumbling back.
"Way to go, .4!" cheered Orange. "Now give it a Psywave!"
"Snorlax, Headbutt it!" ordered Red.
"Eeee hee hee hee!" laughed .4 as it unleashed a barrage of glowing blue rings. Snorlax grunted as it took the attack, but stomped forward all the same, its head lowered, and slammed it into .4, sending the Pokémaniac-type reeling.
"Snorlax, hit it with Body Slam!" Red commanded.
".4, if you're going down, take Snorlax down with you!" Orange ordered. "TM09!"
As Snorlax started to fall over forward, .4's body caught fire. The second Snorlax's body made contact, there was a huge, fiery explosion. Red had to brace himself to keep from being blown back. The dust finally cleared, revealing both .4 and Snorlax to be laying on the ground, unmoving.
".4 and Snorlax are both unable to battle!" declared the referee, holding up both flags.
"You were great, Snorlax," sighed Red as he and Orange withdrew their Pokémon. "But now, let's see you get through this!" he added, throwing another Poké Ball, unleashing Parasect into the fray.
"Challenge accepted," grinned Orange as he threw his own Poké Ball. "Go! Fearow!"
In a flash of light, Orange's Fearow materialized. "Feeeeeaaaaroooowwww!" it cawed as it rose into the air, barely flapping its wings.
"Oh, boy," Red muttered. "Should've thought that one through… No matter, we can do this!" he exclaimed. "Parasect, go! Stun Spore!"
"Fearow, Razor Wind attack!" Orange commanded.
As Parasect unleashed a cloud of golden dust from beneath its large mushroom, Fearow flapped its wings forcefully, sending a gale-force wind blowing in Parasect's face- and blowing the Stun Spore into Parasect's face.
"Look at that!" the announcer exclaimed. "Fearow's Razor Wind has turned Stun Spore right back onto Parasect!"
"Come on, Parasect!" Red called. "Use Slash!"
"Sect… Para…" groaned Parasect.
"Fearow, Take Down now!" Orange ordered.
Fearow dove down at Parasect, when the Bug/Grass-type managed to muster enough strength to lunge at the Beak Pokémon, right claw glowing brightly, and take a ferocious swipe right as its avian adversary made contact. The Slash seemed to affect Fearow greatly as it collapsed to the ground. Parasect, meanwhile, was still standing.
"Wrap this up! Mega Drain now!" Red ordered.
Parasect's blank eyes glowed green, and a pair of matching green beams launched from the eyes. As they struck Fearow, small yellow beads of energy started traveling up the beams from Fearow, and were absorbed into Parasect's body. As the beams vanished, Fearow made no effort to get back into the air.
"Fearow is unable to battle!" the referee ruled. "Parasect wins!"
"What an upset!" the announcer gasped as Orange returned the Normal/Flying-type to its Poké Ball. "I don't think any of us were expecting that!"
"All right! Way to go, Red! Two down, one to go!" cheered Maggie from the stands, which resulted in Red blushing and smiling slightly.
Orange scowled. "I didn't see that coming," he admitted as he produced a third Poké Ball. "But now let's see Parasect tangle with Pika power!" he yelled, throwing the ball. "Pikachu! Go get it!" he shouted as the yellow mouse materialized.
"Pika pika!" Shockey exclaimed as it faced Parasect confidently, red cheeks crackling with sparks.
"Orange's third and final Pokémon is Pikachu!" the announcer stated.
"Ha!" Red grinned. "Electric moves won't do that much to a Grass-type like Parasect! Use your Slash attack!" he ordered.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" ordered Orange.
The still-paralyzed Parasect shakily raised its right claw, but Shockey speedily slammed into its side, sending the Mushroom Pokémon tumbling to the ground.
"Follow it up with Slam!" Orange commanded.
"Chuuuuu… Pika!" Shockey shouted as it ran over to Parasect and slapped at the Bug/Grass-type with its tail. This was the final straw as Parasect collapsed to the ground and moved no more.
"Parasect is unable to battle!" ruled the referee. "Pikachu is the winner!"
"Don't sweat it, Parasect," sighed Red as he withdrew aforementioned Mushroom Pokémon. "You did a great job." Red sighed again, trying to think what to send out… Shockey's speed would likely get the better of Missingno.'s lacking defenses… Dodrio and Charizard were obviously out, given their rather obvious type disadvantages… which left only-
"Raticate!" Red shouted, sending out the first Pokémon he ever caught in the Tanko region.
"And now the rat-and-mouse games will commence, for Red's final Pokémon is a Raticate!" the announcer stated.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Orange bellowed.
"Raticate, Quick Attack!" called Red.
The two rodents charged simultaneously, colliding in the center of the battlefield with great force, bouncing off of each other.
"Now, Raticate!" Red yelled. "BubbleBeam!"
"Ratatatatatatatatat!" shouted Raticate as it rapidly fired off a barrage of bubbles from its mouth. The Pikachu tried to fend off the aquatic onslaught, but it could do nothing against the attack.
"Come on, Pikachu!" Orange encouraged the Electric-type.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang attack!" Red ordered.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" shouted Orange.
"Pikaaaaa… CHUUUUUUUU!" screamed Shockey as its sparking cheeks suddenly discharged electricity in great quantities, a sizzling bolt of lightning striking Raticate, forcing it to stop in its tracks. Once the move ceased, Raticate weakly struggled to stay on its feet.
"Oh, come on, Raticate," Red murmured. "You can do this, I know you can!"
"Let's finish it, Pikachu!" Orange grinned. "Use Swift!"
"Chuuuuu… Pika!" replied Shockey as it spun around once, swinging its tail, unleashing a barrage of stars from the lightning-shaped appendage. Raticate, in spite of Red's frantic orders, could do nothing against the move, except collapse to the ground once it had finished.
"Raticate is unable to battle!" the referee stated. "The match goes to Orange McPixel of Talpel Town!"
"And Orange wins it!" the announcer exclaimed. "What's more, I am now receiving word from Stadium B that the other semifinal match has concluded. It appears as though Orange McPixel will be facing off against Violet Scramble in the finals!
"Whoa," Orange murmured at this revelation. "Me against Vi..."
Red, though decidedly dejected, still managed to walk over to Orange and manage a smile. "Hey, man… congratulations," Red said, offering his hand. Orange smiled and shook Red's hand.
"Cheer up, Red," Orange said. "You did great. But Pikachu's been in the family for years, I've been training with him before I actually became a trainer, so don't be too hard on yourself."
"Thanks," sighed Red. Just then, Maggie came running up to Red "Oh, hey, Maggie," smiled Red.
"Hey, you were great just now," Maggie smiled back.
"Yeah… I lost, though, Red sighed, his head drooping somewhat. In response to this, Maggie moved in closer to Red. With her right hand, she gently moved his chin up so he was looking at her. Once eye contact was made, she gently pulled Red in, and they kissed at last. Orange watched this with an air of mild amusement, and after about half a minute, they broke apart. "Then again," Red stated, already sounding as though he was in better spirits, "if this is what losing is like, I guess winning isn't everything."