Chapter 15! So, about the Unovan Pokémon prize, I'd say the majority of people want Ash to get a Deino because Deino's evolutionary line are known to be "evil" Pokémon. There are quite a few people who want to see a Pawniard or a Larvesta, but not as many. Keep leaving suggestions, because I am still undecided! Also, I am extremely excited to say that this story has gotten over one hundred followers! Now, enjoy the chapter!
The bright rays originating from the Sun blinded Ash's eyes as he opened them. Ash slowly pulled himself out of his bed and checked the alarm in his room. 10:30. Wait, 10:30? "Crap!" Ash yelled, waking up his team members. Grovyle leapt up, alert to danger. Charmeleon and Gabite stood next to Grovyle, also alert. Exeggutor's eyes drifted across the room, but didn't move. Pikachu's fur spiked up, electricity dashing across its fur. Eevee's ears flew up, but the fox stayed curled up on the bed. "I've got to get ready! We have a match at 11!" Ash madly dashed towards the bathroom.
Ash could only vaguely remember yesterday's events. He had stayed awake to watch the St. Anne leave the port, which was a mistake. The cruise ship left the port at 12:00! Earlier last night, Gary had warned Ash that Ash better wake up on time, since Gary didn't want to lose because of him. Ash quickly got out of his pajamas and got into gear, just as someone knocked on the doorbell. "Yo, Ashy! The battle's in fifteen minutes!" Gary yelled from the hallway.
"Coming!" Ash yelled back. Ash opened the bathroom door and recalled all of his Pokémon to their poke balls, Pikachu and Eevee excluded. Ash made it to the door just as Gary came in.
"Let's go," was all Gary said. Ash followed Gary out the door.
"What Pokémon are you using? I'm going to use Nidoqueen and Kadabra." Gary told Ash.
"Where'd you get an Abra?" Ash asked. Abra were hard enough to find, but their teleportation abilities made it so you only had one chance to catch one. In other words, they were notoriously rare.
"I'm catching every Pokémon I see, man! The Abra went inside a simple poke ball. Training was harder, though. You should try training an Abra, or any Pokémon that can't attack." Gary's voice was laced with sarcasm and exhaustion.
"Nice. I'm going to use Grovyle and Pikachu. Neither of them have had a good battle in some time. "Ash informed Gary. Gary face-palmed and sighed.
"That's not how you choose what team you're using! You're supposed to get Pokémon that cover my Pokémon's weaknesses!" Gary exclaimed. Ash shrugged indifferently. "Damn, Ashy. How the heck did you even pass Gramp's test?" Ash had no answer, and shrugged again.
As the pair of trainers neared the battle field, Gary hissed at Ash, "You better not mess this up."
Ash smirked lightly. "Same goes for you." Ash replied. Both of the trainers took their spots on their side of the battle field.
"And, here we have two trainers from Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak!" Ash looked up to see an announcer standing in a tower. As he looked all around the field, the pressure started to get to Ash. There were hundreds of people adorning the stands, all expecting a battle. Thankfully, this wasn't the 1st battle of the day. If it had been, there would have been way more people. The field itself was a simple grass field.
Gary noticed, to say the least. "Don't look at the people. Just the battle."
Ash stared at Gary. "Wow, I didn't think of that." Ash replied, voice laced with sarcasm.
Gary sighed. "Fine, think of it like this. This is preparation for the Indigo League. There are going to be way more people watching the Indigo League battles." Ash was about to snap back at Gary, but he realized that did make him feel better.
"Just preparation." Ash muttered to himself.
"On the other side of the field, we have Michael and Sarah!" The announcer yelled. From the other side of the field, two trainers came out. Both of them were dressed casually, and waved at the crowd. They took the attention far better than Ash. "For the rules, each trainer will be able to use only one Pokémon! No other rules, except for no cheating and have fun!"
Ash looked at Gary, panic in the former's eyes. "I thought we could use two!" Ash hissed.
Gary muttered back, "It's fine. Just choose one!" Ash realized Gary was right. Ash didn't have to get so stressed about a simple rule! It wasn't even that big of an adjustment.
"I'll use Grovyle. You?" Ash asked.
"Nidoqueen." Gary replied.
"Trainers, please send out your Pokémon on the count of three!" Ash looked to his left to see a referee, which he hadn't noticed before. "Three!" yelled the referee. "Two!" This time, the crowd joined in. "One!" Ash tossed out Grovyle's poke ball in unison with the other trainers. On Ash's side of the field, Grovyle appeared, smirking at the opposing trainers. A large, bipedal Pokémon appeared in front of Gary. It stood at a solid five feet tall. The Pokémon was covered in scales, the majority of which were blue. A few of the scales stood out, being a creamy white. It had a tiny blue horn at the top of its head. Gary's Pokémon lashed its hefty tail against the ground, creating tremors. Nidoqueen was indeed an impressive sight.
On the other side of the field, Ash saw a Hitmonlee and a Starmie enter the field. The former stretched its lanky legs far out, and the latter cartwheeled on its side of the arena.
Ash took the initiative. "Grovyle, Agility followed with Leaf Blade on Starmie." Ash put all his effort into keeping his voice calm and collected. He didn't want Grovyle to get worried because of the unsteadiness Ash was feeling. The gecko blurred somewhere into the arena. Ash could only see a dark blur as Grovyle sprinted around the field, confusing both Hitmonlee and Starmie. Both of their trainers didn't give any commands either.
As both of their opponent's Pokémon were occupied, Gary took the chance to strike. "Nidoqueen, Thunder Punch on Hitmonlee!" Nidoqueen's bulky body lumbered over to Hitmonlee, who's noticed too late.
"Hitmonlee, Detect!" Their trainer screeched frantically. The command was far too late. Nidoqueen's hand slammed into Hitmonlee, throwing the lanky pokemon into the door where its trainer had come from.
Starmie's trainer had noticed Nidoqueen, and was preparing a counter. "Starmie, Hydro Pump." The swirling storm of water was currently a condensed ball of water in front of Starmie, charging slowly.
"Grovyle, hit Starmie now!" Ash yelled. The dark blur broke out of its cycle around Starmie and Hitmonlee to slash at Starmie with a glowing green blade. Starmie was staggered back, but didn't fall. Fortunately, the starfish's concentration was broken, and the condensed ball of water flopped onto the ground uselessly. The liquid flowed through the ground, slowly being sucked in by the dirt.
Gary caught Ash's eye and muttered, "Thanks." Ash simply nodded back. "Now, Nidoqueen, Poison Jab on Starmie!" Nidoqueen brought its large hand back, winding it up for a powerful punch. Liquid toxins started to encase Nidoqueen's hand, changing the color to a deep purple.
"Hitmonlee, Blaze Kick!" yelled Hitmonlee's trainer. Hitmonlee struggled up from the wall and used its legs to stretch high into the air. Its foot was encased in a blazing fire, and the foot swung towards Nidoqueen.
"Grovyle, keep Hitmonlee away from Nidoqueen. Quick Attack!" Ash commanded. He didn't want Nidoqueen's focus to be broken during the preparation. Grovyle threw its lean body into the unexpecting Hitmonlee, who was thrown into the wall again. This time, the fighting-type couldn't get back up. "Good job!" On the other side of the field, Nidoqueen's poisonous fist collapsed into Starmie, making direct contact with Starmie's gem. The starfish shrieked, since its gem was its source of power. The starfish crashed into the wall, the force of Nidoqueen's attack creating a crater. Somehow, Starmie struggled back up.
"Grovyle, finish it with Leaf Blade." Ash commanded. While Starmie managed to stand, it was barely in fighting condition. Grovyle easily closed in on Starmie and slashed at it relentlessly with its powerful blades. Starmie took the battering helplessly, and soon slumped, knocked out.
"So, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak, folks!" Ash snapped out of the battle to hear a large crowd cheering. Once Ash had started to focus on the battle, he had completely forgotten about the crowd. The realization that there were people watching slowly started to dawn on Ash, but he didn't panic like before. Ash actually started to enjoy all the attention. "Can the trainers please recall their pokemon and leave the field? The next match starts in ten minutes, folks!" the announcer yelled. Ash recalled Grovyle to its poke ball and walked off the field back the way he had come, Gary close behind.
After healing his Pokémon, Ash watched some of the other battles. Leaf's battle was a very close call, and her Ivysaur barely managed to win. The only other competitors Ash was worried about other than Leaf and Gary was a girl named Aika, who had battled with a powerful Jolteon to win her battle, a man who's name Ash did not catch who focused on using powerful steel-types like Magnezone and Skarmory, and a guy named Charles, who used a Pokémon Ash had never seen before, Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum turned out to be a fossil Pokémon, just like Kabuto and Omantye. Ash walked off the bleachers as the last battle was finished. He looked at the tournament schedule. The round of sixteen was over, and it was approaching the quarter-finals. Ash and Gary would be going against Aika and her teammate in the quarter-finals. Each person would be allowed to use two Pokémon, so four Pokémon total per team. Ash hadn't decided who he wanted to use, because he wanted to know who Gary was going to battle with as well. It was already 8:00 PM, due to the battles. They had gone on the whole day. Well, Ash had another battle tomorrow, and didn't want to be late. Ash walked to his room, thoughts completely focused on tommorow's battle.
So, how was Chapter 15? I hope you enjoyed it. It was a bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope that's fine. Thanks for reading!