Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Chapter 23: Was this truly necessary? Who knows?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. It's time for what we've been waiting for. The final match of the prestigious Indigo Pokémon League is beginning now." The loud voice of an announcer woke me up from my trance.
"Introducing first, In the Red corner, don't let his age fool you, this man has a passion for training that will not lose to anyone. He has not lost a single battle in the tournament yet and has defeated all of his opponents with a single Venusaur. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." The crowd remained silent. I mean, who can blame them. I was pretty much a washed-up old man that had nothing to show for the three decades that I had been a trainer, trying to mooch off the younger generation's glory. Even so, I raised my hand lightly to give a small wave at the crowd who didn't respond.
"And now, the one you've all been waiting for. In just six years that he has been a trainer, this man has taken the world by storm. He has been the centre of the battling scene for quite some time now and his ever-growing fame doesn't seem to stop any time soon. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Tyson Lee." The stadium came unglued as a teenage boy wearing a Red and Black Jacket made his appearance. Even the announcer was not hiding his bias as my opponent finally came face to face with me.
"Give it up already old man. You should know by now that you are not cut out for this. You reaching the final is a fluke." It seems the boy was eager to talk shit. I could see some girls swooning in the crowd about how handsome and gallant he looked.
Countless memories flashed before my eyes as an intense urge to rip the arrogant piece of shit limb by limb rose in my mind. I could taste the smell of blood in my head yet somehow, I was able to control myself and offered a small smile to the child who looked irked for some reason.
"Ash Ketchum vs Tyson Lee, commence." The referee announced.
"Come out Tyranitar, let's show this garbage old man what a real trainer looks like." It seems that the boy was quite eager to finish me off and do whatever afterward. How... pointless.
"Would you look at that?! It seems contestant Lee has decided to go with his ace from the start. That Tyranitar has been undefeated throughout this tournament and has even swept the opponent trainer's team in the quarter-finals. What do you think Jay?" The commentator who was called Cole spoke through the mic.
"It appears to me that contestant Lee is extremely confident in his strengths if he is going to use a Pokémon that is weak to contestant Ketchum's only known Pokémon."
"Yeah. But will he be able to pull it off? That Venusaur from contestant Ketchum has barely broken a sweat throughout the tournament and has destroyed Pokémon that held type advantages over it."
"I cannot answer that question Cole. We must see it by our own eyes what happens. Now, what will contestant Ketchum's first Pokémon be?"
"Let's just end this buddy." I took a Pokeball from my waist and threw it and out came my trusty Charizard. Age had done quite a number on my oldest fire-type who had long lost the glossy orange luster which had been replaced by a darker orange shade. The King of All Charizards were littered all over by scars that spoke volumes about the intensity of the training he had done over the years. On his tail burned a pure white flame which heated up the atmosphere just by being there. He took a look at the opponent Tyranitar who unconsciously took a few steps back, intimidated by the sheer pressure that he commanded.
"Would you look at that Jay? It seems that contestant Ketchum has gone with a different Pokémon, a Charizard at that? Is he making a statement by bringing out a Pokémon that is multiple times weak to Rock?"
"That Charizard looks like a beast Cole. I think it might have a good chance."
"Are you making fun of me, old man?! I'll wreck your pathetic lizard so that you'll never pull such shit off again." It seems that the kid didn't even recognize how outmatched he was like his Pokémon did.
"Charizard vs Tyranitar, commence!" The referee announced.
"Tyranitar use Stone Edge and end this farce."
"Do what you must buddy."
Gigantic boulders the size of a small car floated up in the air as the Rock-type Pseudo Legendary Pokémon showed its terrifying might yet Charizard was unfazed. He stood there without the slightest hint of movement as Tyranitar readied his attack. The boulders were then hurled towards Charizard at a good speed yet just as the attack reached halfway across the battlefield, searing white flames spread out from Charizard's mouth that engulfed the incoming rocks.
"Ha! Did you think that you can stop my Tyranitar's attack with flames?!" The kid sounded pretty cocky. Yet his confidence shattered as the boulders that were engulfed in the flames disappeared without a trace. The flames then reached the Tyranitar who took the brunt of the attack without preparation. A gut-wrenching shriek soon echoed in the stadium as Tyranitar made a desperate cry collapsed a mere thirty seconds after he had been attacked.
"Tyranitar is unable to battle. Blue side choose your next Pokémon." The referee's voice echoed in a stadium that had become silent.
"What the hell was that Jay?! How can a Charizard do that?!" The first to recover was the commentator. The crowd was yet to recover from what they just saw.
"I don't know Cole. How can anyone have a Pokémon like that?!" Jay sounded really scared out of his wits.
"What will contestant Lee do now that his ace has been taken down in such a brutal fashion, Jay?"
"I hope he can remain calm, Cole. That is the most important thing when it comes to Pokémon battling."
Meanwhile, the kid was panicking in front of my eyes. He seemed like he was out of ideas which was kind of a letdown. "Are you done already kid? Don't tell me that's all the 'next big thing' can do?"
"Don't be conceited, old man! That was a fluke. Yes, a fluke. You must have cheated. I'll destroy your cheating ass." The kid got back some of his confidence it seemed. Too bad, I was going to crush it.
"Salamence, destroy that thing." The Dragon-type from Hoenn made its presence known with a loud roar but was soon put out of commission with a single Fire Blast by Charizard. Out came Garchomp who received the same treatment. The kid was down three while Charizard didn't even have a scratch on him.
"This is a slaughter." Cole sounded pretty solemn. "I think contestant Lee should just give up. He has already lost all three of his strongest and it doesn't look like he has any more chance."
"So what will it be kid? Do you yield?" I asked loudly to the broken boy opposite me.
"I give up." The three words were uttered from the kid's mouth, loud enough for all of us to hear.
"Pathetic." I gave him a sneer before walking off of the battlefield towards the dressing room marking the end of the match.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the match and therefore the new Indigo League Winner: Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." The announcer's shaky voice echoed in a stadium that had gone as silent as a graveyard.
Back in the dressing room, I was checking out my Pokegear for anything interesting until the crowning ceremony and the first thing that came to my notice was the 23 missed calls from Gary. I decided to call him to see if it was anything important.
"Hello, Gary."
"Oh thank Arceus you answered." Age had not been kind to the grandson of Professor Oak. His bad boy looks were long gone and shades of grey were starting to show in his brown hair. He had gained some weight. He was currently wearing his Lab Coat that indicated his position as the Regional Professor.
"What happened?"
"It's your mom, Ash. Her condition is serious." Nothing more needed to be said as I dropped everything and ran to open ground. The media were standing in wait yet I ran through them before mounting Charizard and taking flight. It took us a mere ten minutes to reach the metropolis of Viridian City where my mom was currently. I soon reached the Private Hospital where mom was admitted and entered her room despite the doctors wishing otherwise and in a bed, she laid.
At the age of seventy-three, Delia Ketchum should not have been in such a condition but her being here was entirely my fault. My constant disappearance and failures had taken a lot more toll on my mother than I had ever thought. She had caught chronic depression by the age of sixty and the lack of a constant companion only aggravated the problem. Her body condition worsened day after day until she was unable to even move on her own forcing him to let her stay in this hospital permanently.
"You came, Ashy." Her voice was barely audible yet he heard her clearly.
"I'm here mom. I won." He could feel her aura starting to fade. His voice was starting to crack.
"You sure did. That's my boy. I'm sorry that I can't be there to see you become the Champion."
"Don't say that mom! Nothing will happen to you." He looked desperately at the nearby doctor but all he got was a small shake of the head.
"Don't worry Ashy. Everyone has a day when they need to leave this world. Today just happens to be mine."
"No! Mom!" Tears were already falling yet there was nothing he could do to stop them.
"Make sure to keep yourself healthy Ashy. I might not be here but I will always be with you. Also." She motioned me to come close "Don't forget to change your underwear." A small beep of the medical equipment was heard followed by a loud wail.
"Mom!" I jumped out of my bed screaming. It was dark and it took me a while to realise that what I had was a nightmare. I was unable to sleep for the rest of the night so I just laid in the bed for the rest of the night until daybreak. Life after mom's death was not easy. I had lost one of the last person who helped me retain my sanity. I had crushed Lance's successor to become the champion and had a nasty habit of accepting challenges from anyone just to crush them. It got so bad at one point that I was nearly banned by the League before I got my shit back together. I went on to win the World championship three years later only to return to the past.
The next morning, I woke up early and decided to go train for a bit to clear my head. Since we were near the Dock, there were a lot of water Pokémon in the nearby river. It was a good opportunity for Gyarados to gain some levels.
The River was primarily populated with Pokémon like Goldeen, Seaking, Psyduck , Golduck, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Shellder and Cloyster. All of these Water Pokémon were perfect for Gyrados to test the new move Thunderbolt that he learned from the TM. Even with Gyarados's lower special attack, the wild Pokémon didn't stand a chance against the super-effective attack. I even ended up bringing in Dratini to the mix since she had also learned Thunderbolt. After unleashing what seemed to be an electric hell upon every single resident Water-type, both of them gained an unprecedented 15 levels in just half a day. She even ended up evolving into a Dragonair midway through.
I returned to the Pokémon Centre at noon and met up with Brock.
"So how did the training go?"
"It went smoothly. Did you get the tickets?"
"I did. The ferry is scheduled for 6 in the evening."
"That's great. I guess we should get everything ready, huh."
"Yep."
With that part over, it was time for the seventh gym battle... or was it?
That's a wrap.
Hello there everyone. Before we get down to business, let me reiterate something. This chapter is an intermission like one. The main one will be uploaded tomorrow. That said, I wanted to try something different. Feel free to say what you thought about it. The Ash at the beginning of the chapter is what I envisioned him to be if everything in his life went the way that I said, ruthless and cold. Hopefully, I got that point across. Next chapter should be the gym battle (or is it?) stay tuned for it.
Now to the reviews. Last chapter, I got 13 reviews which is the most that I've ever had. So let me name all of them to show my gratitude.
Usameer16
Sicario1011
Guest (Whoever you are, thanks)
bananmanV5
ayoubelbak13
unknown
Fanboy101
Vairon
Gouravsilentreader
Demissedwaifu
Steve
Eclipticvibe
Guest.
Thanks a lot guys. Now to answer some of the questions.
1: What happened to Togepi?
Ans: I couldn't find a way to integrate him into the story without Misty so he became a necessary sacrifice.
2. Why Gary for Aeroductyl?
Ans: I have plans for Gary that links to the finale of the first season and Aeroductyl has a part in it.
3. Will Aggron be on Ash's team?
Ans: I am genuinely considering it since I don't see any Aggron fics around and he is such a cool Pokémon.
4. Will Ash use underrated Pokémon in this story?
Ans: Not right now but definitely in the future.
That's all. I can understand if I don't get as much revies for this chapter but pease do it kay.
Stay safe and I'll see you tomorrow (I hope)