Gary
"Take that, suckers!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "I would totally call you something worse if this wasn't kid-friendly!"
"Gary Oak of Kalos has defeated eighty ghost-type Pokemon! That earns them eight points, placing them at eleven total" Mr. Simmons said
I shot a thumbs-up at Shauna on the others up on the balcony, and they cheered in response; I returned Blastoise, and made way through the hallway, and back up to where they were.
"Great job, Gary! I knew you could do it" Shauna said, giving me an unexpected kiss on the cheek
"Oh, right. T-Thanks" I struggled to get words out of my mouth
"What happened to no PDA?" Miette taunted. "Are you really that much of a hypocrite, professor?"
"Hey, this is different. I deserved that" I said
"Whatever you say, Oak Tree" Miette dismissed
.
"Before we begin the tag-team matches, let's take a look at the scoreboard" Mr. Simmons said. "Still in first place is Alola, with seventeen points, followed by Galar with fifteen, Kanto with twelve, Kalos with eleven, Sinnoh with eight, Johto with seven, and Hoenn and Unova both having four"
"We're still in fourth place, but if we win, that could be a serious help" Sawyer said
"Tag-team matches are worth seven points for a win, and if you lose, it's minus two points" Sycamore explained
"That means we can't afford to lose" Zack said. "Where is Serena, anyway?"
"I'm not sure" Ash responded
"What do you mean you aren't sure? Didn't she go and get you?" Calem asked. "I thought she went to the bathroom or something"
"She never came back after leaving to get Ash, that's all I know" Shauna said
"Up first in our tag-team battles will be Kalos against Sinnoh!" Mr. Simmons announced
"Just our luck" I grumbled. "We've got exactly, like, two seconds to find her!"
"There isn't any time" Aria, who sat on the edge of the balcony with Miette, pointed down to the battlefield, where Dawn and Kenny from Sinnoh appeared
"I'm going to call in our substitute and inform the officials" Sycamore said, tapping around on his communicator
"We've got a substitute?" We all inquired
"I've just been informed that Kalos is sending in a subtitle, which means that this will be a two-on-one battle!" Mr. Simmons revealed, and the crowd gasped
"Two on one? How's that fair!" I exclaimed
"That's the rules of a substitution during tag-team battles" Sycamore replied
"Whoever you got, I hope they better be strong, because they're going up against Sinnoh's strongest, and her boyfriend" Zack said
We and the crowd waited tensely for our substitute to appear, and moments later, footsteps came from inside the hallway; a white-robed figure, with five staffs on their back walked onto the battlefield.
"Hold on? Is that Jason?" I said, and on cue, the figure lowered down their hood and confirmed my guess
"He's our substitution? I thought he lost his power" Anna said. "He doesn't stand a chance without it"
He turned to face us, and I winced; bandages covered his eyes, as if he had just gone through some kind of eye surgery.
"And what's with the bandages?" Aria asked
Professor Sycamore exhaled shakily. "Let's just say that he sacrificed both of his eyes for his power back"
"What?!" We all said
"I think I'm going to be sick" Sawyer had his hand over his mouth
"That's totally messed up" Tierno agreed in the same position
"Besides the fact that it's totally creepy, how is he going to battle blind?" I pointed out
"I suppose he intends to finish it one attack" Sycamore guessed
The referee stated the rules to the battle, meanwhile Professor Sycamore was getting bombarded with a bunch of questions on the situation.
"I don't know the specifics, but I do know that he truly did lose his eyes for power" Sycamore explained
"Trainers, bring out your Pokemon" the ref requested
"It's show time, Abomasnow" Dawn released her Pokemon
"Go time, Charizard" Kenny tossed up his Pokeball
Jason removed one of his staffs and thrusted it into the ground, calling out his own Charizard, who roared loudly upon his release.
"Let the battle begin!" the ref declared
"You don't mean to tell me that you're going to battle us blind, right?" Kenny asked
"I won't need my eyes to beat the likes of you" Jason replied
"If only you could see who you were up against" Kenny shrugged. "You can't win a two-one-one blind, especially since your up against Dawn and I"
"So I'm up against the ice-type master then" Jason said. "This'll be interesting"
"We'll let you have the first move then" Dawn offered
The arena began to shake heavily as a bright glow surrounded Charizard; he transformed into his fifth stage evolution: Advanced Mega Evolution, which made him look like Mega Charizard Y, but with additional features like the golden chains of fire that flowed out the sides of his mouth.
"Sacred Art: Stardust Breaker!" Jason commanded
Multi-colored particles appeared around Charizard as something charged up inside of his mouth; then he released a column of rainbow-colored energy; Abomasnow and Charizard barely missed the quick attack. Stardust Breaker hit the glass barrier protecting the crowd, reducing it to atoms in an instant.
"The attack shattered the protective barrier! That surely would have taken out both Pokemon in one attack if it had landed" Mr. Simmons said, as a new layer was put up automatically
"Technology sure is great" I said
Dawn and Kenny looked shocked, but they regained their composure, confident expressions appearing on their faces.
"Good luck fighting blind now. Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Kenny commanded
Kenny's Charizard flew up into the air and fired a Flamethrower at Jason's, setting off an explosion against it.
"That should do it" Kenny said
Then, the smoke instantly cleared as Charizard began to consume the flames, confusing everyone in the crowd and putting confused looks on the competitor's faces.
"My name's Jason, the fire-type master, and I'm going to blow you pieces, blind or not" He said. "Charizard, Electric-Flame Mode!"
Electricity exploded out of Charizard; it circulated around his aura, sparking violently, with some of it spreading around the battlefield.
"Charizard, use Thunder Punch!" Kenny said
"I'd like to fight the ice-type master in a one-on-one, which means I'll have to get rid of you" Jason said. "Charizard, use Dragon Fist!"
The two Charizard charged at each other, their fists clashing in the center of the battlefield. However, in mere seconds, Mega Charizard over powered its opponent and sent him crashing against the barrier, before releasing an electrified Flamethrower that ignited a large explosion.
When the smoke cleared, Charizard had already fainted, and a surprised Kenny returned his Pokemon.
"It's now a one-on-one between the fire and ice-type masters" Champion Diantha pointed out, and the crowd cheered for the exciting matchup
"My ice will just have to freeze your flames" Dawn said. "Abomasnow, use Icy Roar!"
"Charizard, Burning-Thunder Roar" Jason countered
The temperature dropped noticeably, making it go from a perfectly warm day, to a freezing one; an aura of ice flowed around Abomasnow, as it shot a column of icy energy from its mouth. In response, Charizard fired its attack from before, and the two clashed in the center of the battlefield.
"The temperature is going crazy" Sawyer said
"Tell me about it. One second it's hot, and the next it's freezing" I agreed
Charizard's roar overpowered Abomasnow's, setting off an explosion against it.
"I didn't want to have to pull out my trump card already, but it looks like I'll have to" Dawn said. "Godly Art: Absolute Zero!"
A blizzard shot out of Abomasnow, clearing all of the smoke; ice inched out, covering the ground, with a thin layer of it covering the protective field, which made it harder to see the inside.
"Holy Arceus it's cold" I said
"It's below zero" Clemont shivered
"Jason better amp up the heat or I'm going to get a serious case of frostbite" Anna said
"You've trained for two years and can use a Godly Art, that's interesting" Jason admitted. "How'd you do it?"
"Non-stop training in the freezing cold" Dawn answered. "I don't like to brag about it, but I was also a natural at it, as if it was my destiny all along"
"You've still yet to reach your full potential though. For a godly art, this coldness is a bit underwhelming" Jason replied
"Uh, are you sure about that?" Dawn pointed up to us
"He's blind, you idiot!" I shouted in frustration
"Hey, calm down" Ash scowled
"Charizard" Jason instructed
Letting loose his aura, Charizard melted all of the ice and returned the temperature back to normal, earning one big sigh from literally everyone watching the battle.
"Oh, sun! How much I missed your heat!" I said
"You're so overdramatic" Miette sighed
"There's no way you can win, which means Charizard is going to finish this now" Jason announced. "Burning-Thunder Fist!"
"Block that with Ice Shield!" Dawn commanded
Charizard lunged forward, its fist radiating with fire and electricity; a shield of ice appeared in front of Abomasnow, but Charizard smashed straight through it, hitting the enemy Pokemon and finishing him off.
"Abomasnow and Charizard are both unable to battle, which means Kalos is the victor of this match!" the ref declared, and the crowd cheered
"That's seven points for us, putting us at first place for now" Malva said
"Would you look at that, the blind dude actually won the two-on-one battle" I said, before muttering under my breath: "suck it, Elsa"
"Hey, has anyone seen Ash?" Sawyer asked
"I guess he must have went to go look for Serena" Miette assumed
Ash
The floorboard of the inn creaked as I made my way through the hallway, stopping at Serena's door, where I found her sitting on her bed, hugging her knees; when she spotted me, she turned away towards the window.
"Serena?"
There was no response for a couple of moments. "I saw what happened earlier... at the cafeteria"
"Oh, that" I chuckled lightly as I walked over to the bed. "What about it? Do you really think I would cheat on you?"
"You mean, she didn't know?"
"I guess not. I should have told her, which means it's still my fault" I said
"No, I should have trusted you" Her voice quivered. "Now I cost us the match, I'm sorry. It's all my fault"
"It's fine, Serena. Besides, we won anyway"
"W-We won?" She asked, turning back to face me. "How? Did you manage to beat them by yourself?"
"I wasn't the one who beat them alone, but we won, that's all that matters" I said. "Let's just forget about this, alright? It's either neither of our faults or mine"
"You don't have to be so humble, Ash. Let's just say it was neither of our faults"
"If you say so" I agreed, sitting down next to her on the bed. "You want go back now?"
"I want to stay here for a little bit" She said, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Tell me though, how did we win?"
"The professor used up one of our substitutions" I explained
"But in the rules it says that one person would only be able to substitute for a tag-team match, which means your telling me one person beat Dawn and her partner..."
"Yeah, it was Jason"
"Huh?" She looked up at me. "Normally I might have only been a little bit surprised, but I thought he had lost his powers?"
"I don't know the specifics, I wasn't really paying attention" I replied
"Oh"
We stayed in same position for what seemed like forever, but it didn't bother me, because it felt nice, comfortable, and natural. Out of nowhere, she turned around and kissed me on the lips like she never had before; I returned it back, and before I knew it, one kiss turned into multiple.
"Well, I'm not surprised" a voice said at the doorway, and we quickly broke apart. "I figured I should stop you before our rating passed E-for-everyone"
"What?" We both asked
"Nothing, it's an inside joke" Jason muttered. "It's time to go back. We don't need little Ash and Serena's yet, though that's an interesting thought when I think about it"
Serena and I's faces instantly went red, and we looked away from each other, but got up anyway; we followed him all the way up to the balcony, where our friends were watching the matches - that walk had to have been one of the most awkward moments of my life.
"Hey guys" Serena greeted
"There you are" Miette responded. "We thought you fell into the abyss or something"
"Where were you anyway?" Gary questioned. "You totally could have costed us nine points if it weren't for Mr. Blind Man"
"Um... well... did you say blind man?" Serena said
"Oh dang. I totally let the blind one lead me here, my bad" I apologized
"That's right" Anna remembered. "There's no way you lost your eyes, so tell us the truth"
"No, I really did lose my eyes" Jason insisted, placing a hand on his bandages. "I traded them for my power back"
"But how are you able to see then?" Aria asked
"I can still see in other ways, though it's a bit hard to explain" Jason answered. "For a deal with the Devil, it wasn't that bad of a trade"
"Did it hurt? I might just do a trade with this Devil if it means getting some sick powers" Gary said
"Don't you even think about it, mister" Shauna warned
"It was easily the worst pain I ever felt, but I had a feeling you guys would need extra backup for what comes next" Jason said. "So far, I wasn't wrong"
Johto's duo defeated Galar's, putting them at fourteen points. We watched the rest of the matches, and Unova beat Alola to boost them up to eleven, while Hoenn beat Kanto, placing them at eleven points as well.
"Day two is officially over, so here are the results!"
Kanto: 10
Johto: 14
Hoenn: 11
Sinnoh: 6
Unova: 11
Kalos: 18
Alola: 15
Galar: 13
"First place! Take that ghost-types!" Gary exclaimed
"We'll have to keep this momentum in order to win" Professor Sycamore
"You can count on us" Zack said. "We won't loose"