Ash, Morrison and Tyler had left to get some food after Tyler's intense battle. Once they started scouting for a place to eat they'd been crashed into by a familiar form. The dragon trainer looked up and was surprised at who it recognized.

"Huh?! What are you doing here?" Tyler asked. He was surprised to look up and see that he was hit by a rather large, 463 pound Pokémon with wings.

"Whoa. A Dragonite!" Morrison gasped in complete awe.

"Dragonite! Did they let you out of the Pokémon centre?" Ash asked, happy that it was feeling better. The dragon pushed itself off the ground and looked into the eyes of the Blackthorn trainer.

"Dra, draa nite, dragon." Tyler heard Dragonite try to tell him something. He sat there confused, wondering as to what it was trying to say.

"What's going on Dragonite?... Were you looking for us?" Tyler pointed to himself. The dragon type immediately nodded its head.

"Why'd you come looking for us Dragonite?" Ash walked up to the dragon Pokémon curiously. Dragonite looked back to Tyler and nodded to him, and not just in thanks. He looked back wondering what this was about.

"You know, I think that Dragonite wants something from you Tyler." Morrison said clueless as he noticed their stares. They all looked to the dragon as it repeatedly pointed to Tyler and itself and then held its hands out to Tyler as if it were presenting something. The three looked at Dragonite, still not understanding what it was trying to say.

"What's it saying?" Morrison wondered tilting his head and folding his arms.

"Wait, Dragonite… you want to go with Tyler don't you?" Ash assumed. Dragonite calmly nodded at the raven haired boy and looked back Tyler intently.

Tyler meanwhile was rather surprised. He hadn't expected a Dragonite to volunteer to join his team. A powerful dragon type would be perfect for him and it would be an invaluable step towards winning the tournament and becoming a dragon master.

"Really Dragonite? You want to come with me?" Tyler asked in confirmation. "Drago." Nodded the dragon back at him. The dragon trainer pulled out a pokéball and grasped it firmly in his right hand. He looked back up to the dragon and held the red and white ball out to it. "Well Dragonite… welcome aboard." He smiled in both gratefulness and pride.

The dragon Pokémon finally cracked a smile back and slowly but surely reached out a hand and tapped the pokéball in his hand. The orange dragon was then sucked into the ball and wiggled a bit in his hand before its movement ceased and a click was heard.

"No… … freakin'… … way." Morrison said gobsmacked when the capture was over. Ash was just as surprised, but happy at the same time. Beating Tyler just got a whole lot tougher.

The pokéball in Tyler's hands shrunk down to its compact size. It was unusable for the moment because he had six Pokémon with him already. Tyler looked at the ball in his hand as a huge smile spread across his face. He managed to connect with Dragonite in a matter of days. Nothing could make him happier right now as a dragon trainer.

Ash was the first to break the silence. "That's awesome Tyler! You've caught a Dragonite! Way to go." Ash said with great excitement. Tyler looked back with a smile on his face, a gleam in his eye, but at a loss for words. For a dragon trainer catching a dragon Pokémon was a big deal, especially for Tyler seeing as how this was only his fourth one.

"Awesome! Now you've got a brand new, strong Pokémon to use in the next round. That's a game changer right there." Morrison said with a thumbs-up.

"Yep. But first, we've got some training to do." Tyler said while looking back to the red and white orb in his hand.

"Anyway, let's go grab some grub." Ash said getting back on track. Their ginger friend agreed whole heartedly.

Tyler paused for a moment to think before following. "You know what; I'm going to do some exchanges at the Pokémon centre. I'll meet up with you later." He waved before taking off in another direction. Ash and Morrison waved back and agreed to meet up later.


Earth power now

A hulky, light blue and beige Pokémon slammed its fist to the ground and created a tremor towards the towering steel type for a super effective hit, but it held out.

Use rock slide

The iron snake roared into the sky as several large rocks suddenly dropped out of the sky. They rained down and piled up on top of the opposing ground type.

Superpower

The bulky ground type gathered its strength and the rocks quickly flew off of the target with a power fueled scream coming from it. A quick glance across the field only showed a giant hole in the ice where its opponent used to be.

"Wha..?"

Now dig

The giant iron snake re-emerged from the underground and slammed the drill Pokémon skyward. It landed on the icy surface with a nasty thud and a definitive grunt of defeat.

"Nidoqueen is unable to battle. Steelix is the winner!"

"I see. So that rock slide was just a diversion." Gary said aloud.

"I was wondering why he'd use a rock type move against Nidoqueen." Said Iris. She looked up to the scoreboard as it showed that Nitro had used both Infernape and Steelix, while Giovanni had lost Golem, Dugtrio and now Nidoqueen.

"It's interesting to see how even though Infernape and Steelix are weak against ground Pokémon; Nitro can still take control of the battle." Brock observed.

"That's because he has his Pokémon use a variety of moves, battle tactics and the field to all work in his favor." Max pushed up on his glasses, showing off a bit.

"I wonder, why does it seem like Sinnoh as all the best trainers?" Tracey said with his chin in his hand, thinking of Nitro, Cynthia and Tobias.

"Go Sandslash!" The spiny back mouse Pokémon materialized on one side of the field.

"Steelix return." Nitro recalled his colossal fighter. It took more damage than he would've liked. He reattached the pokéball and grabbed another one to replace it. "Dragonite, time to enforce!" He shouted as his shiny dragon took to the field.

"Look at that! It's that cool colored Dragonite!" Iris squealed along with Axew.

"Let's see what it can do." Dawn said eagerly.

"Sandslash return!" He immediately decided to go with a more favorable match up. "Go Rhydon!" A hefty rock Pokémon with a drill on its head took its place. It let out a bellowing roar as the two heavyweights stared down from across the field, prepared to do battle.


After separating from his to friends, Tyler made a straight shot to the Pokémon centre. He wanted to make sure his Pokémon were taken care of before anything else. He entered through the front doors of the near empty lobby. Because of the tournament battles and what time of day it was the centre was almost barren.

"Excuse me Nurse Joy; can you look over my Pokémon please?" He asked in courtesy.

"Of course. Please wait just a little bit while I make sure they're all feeling fine." She smiled back. Tyler placed them all in a pokéball tray and the nurse took them off to be examined. The wait began, but Tyler still had one pokéball on him. With that in mind he walked over to the video phones to make a call.

He went over to one of the several phones lined up on the far wall. He made the contact and waited for a few rings before it was answered.

"Oh, hello Tyler. Good to see you. How did your last battle go?" Asked the brown haired professor on the other end of the line. "I was trying to watch it and work at the same time, but I only caught bits and pieces and missed the ending."

"It went great! I won it! And I caught a new Pokémon afterward." He said with a smile.

"That's great news! I'm sure your parents will be very proud when they hear this." Elm shared his enthusiasm.

"Thanks. But I have six Pokémon with me already, so I need to send this one to you." Tyler held up the ball containing his new Dragonite.

"Of course, and I'll be ready to send it back to you at any time." Responded the professor. He placed the ball on the terminal to the left of the screen. The ball was zapped and made its way over to the transporter at Elm's laboratory.

"Thanks professor." Tyler said after it arrived at the lab.

"Good luck to you. I'll be rooting for you and your brother." He flashed him a thumbs-up.

"Thank you." Tyler nodded his head.

"Alright then, bye now." The professor waved before the call ended. Tyler hung up the phone and walked over to a couch and rested there while he waited for his Pokémon to be healed.

He rested his head back and thought about how much further he had to go. By passing round 4 he will now be in the top 16. Getting even this far had been a marathon, considering 240 people didn't make it.

He still had a few friends in. But Jamie, Ash, Clair and Morrison haven't battled yet. All of them might not advance. He shook that thought out of his head. The thought that he might be alone in the tournament was a little intimidating.

He did however take comfort in the fact that his Pokémon would be there with him, and excitement from his brand new catch in Dragonite. With it on his team he now had four dragon Pokémon, Flygon, Zweilous, Salamence and Dragonite. He couldn't wait to assemble a full team of six. He felt a lot of jealousy as he knew his brother had already done that. It speared his pride as a dragon trainer. He had some catching up to do.

But he could worry about that later. For now he had the tournament to focus on. After his Pokémon were healed he'd return to the stadium and cheer for Ash in his battle today. He would need all the support he needs for the battle of his life against Alder. But before that he would probably make some switches and add Dragonite to the team. He will have to bring it up to speed if he was going to use it in the tournament. That being said; all of his Pokémon could use some more training. No matter what, there's always room for improvement. He knew that. And it could be detrimental to his odds of winning this tournament.


"Hey Ash, can I ask you something?" Morrison asked his raven haired friend.

"Sure. Anything." They had just finished eating two pizzas. Each. And were making their way back to the stadium for Ash's battle against Alder when Morrison piped up.

"Just curious. Are you at all worried about Tyler and battling his Dragonite?" He wondered.

"What, of course not. I can't wait to battle him and Dragonite!" Ash said with a raised fist. His experience battling Dragonite hadn't worked so well in the past, but he wasn't going to let that stop his determination.

"Pika- Pikachu!" His yellow partner mirrored his actions.

"That's good. That'd be awesome. Why I just might have a battle with them myself." Morrison said with a nod of the head, his eyes closed, arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face.

"Yeah, that'd be an awesome challenge no doubt!" He agreed.

"Alright! But first things first! My battle tomorrow against Joe where I take him down!" Morrison yelled in confidence.

"Slow down Morrison. Remember Joe will be tough." Ash reminded.

"Yeah I know, but I'll beat him anyway!" Morrison yelled with clenched fists.

"But before that, I've got to battle Alder." Ash said serious.

"I'm sorry Ash. Battling a champion must be a lot of pressure." Morrison said sympathetically. He wanted his friend to do well, but the odds didn't look so good.

"Thanks Morrison, but I'm ready. I have my Pokémon chosen and we've trained as hard as we could. We're going to give it our all no matter what!" Ash said with conviction.

"Right on Ash! And we'll all be in the stands cheering you on!" Morrison gave him an encouraging thumbs-up.

"Thanks. You ready to go Pikachu?" He asked his buddy on his shoulder.

"Pika-pika!" It fist bumped.

"Right. Then let's get going!" Ash then took off as he broke into a run towards the arena. He was ready to get started with the biggest battle of his life.