Chapter Three: Cherrygrove Park
A slight breeze blew through the town of Cherrygrove as the three trainers entered. It had entered the later hours of the day, and the sun was slowly dipping behind the horizon as if a ship sinking into the sky. The dark yellowish orange light of the sun cascaded a glow over the small town that made the scene almost photographic. Melissa looked over towards Silver to view his reaction to the town and was somewhat surprised that Silver had no interest in the town itself. His attention was only on Melissa. An uncomfortable few seconds of eye contact led to Silver interrupting the moment.
"This is a nice town, but I wonder if anything really goes on here that we can benefit from," he started.
Melissa gave a deep sigh, turning away from him to scan the town quickly. She noticed the Pokèmon Center and shop in the distance. A soft, soothing sound wafted through the city from the small waterfront at one side. The town was somewhat quiet except for the sound of sundry people that had not yet returned home from work, she expected.
J stumbled between the two, a dismal look on his face. He looked to Silver slowly, and then back to Melissa.
"We have GOT to eat something!" He whined.
Silver and Melissa sweatdropped. They had been out for some time, however, and really did need to stop somewhere to eat. Silver nodded to him without a word, and started towards the Pokèmon Center. J silently cheered, throwing his arms into the air with relief. Melissa giggled, and straightened her backpack as they walked.
Silver would have been first to the door had J not sped in front of him in anticipation and knocked him into a woman heading for the door to their left. The collided violently, sending them both into the dirt in random painful positions. Before Silver could curse J, the trainer had already disappeared behind the closed door of the Pokèmon Center.
"I'm so sorry, Miss," he told the girl.
The girl stood up slowly, wincing in pain here and there. She brushed off some dirt from her skirt, and straightened herself to reply.
"It's okay, I'm sure it wasn't purposeful," she said back.
Silver smiled at first, and then frowned again.
"That inept bastard, he could have really hurt someone. He needs to really take chill pill," he began disdainfully. "When I see him I'm really going to bitch him out for you."
The girl only giggled softly before replying.
"There is no need for that, I'm fine, really."
Silver looked her over from head to toe, and thought it over a couple more times before actually calming down enough to not do any physical damage to J. He sighed quietly, and turned to enter the Pokèmon Center.
The Pokèmon Center was too rather empty. The seats were empty at the food court, and there were only a couple of people waiting to bring their Pokèmon to full health. Silver was rather bewildered by the whole ordeal. After a while, he turned to the girl.
"Hey, where is everyone?" He asked.
The girl raised a hand over her mouth, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Y-you mean... you don't know?" She asked.
Silver and Melissa both shook their heads slowly, waiting for her to continue with the explanation. The girl grabbed both of their hands quickly, and darted out of the Pokèmon Center, dragging them behind. J clumsily followed close behind, sporting a box full of food for them to munch on the "run".
The girl seemed a bit overly excited, but Silver only smirked. The girl finally stopped a few minutes later at a small clearing in some trees near the far edge of town. She pointed into the clearing, turning back to the three new trainers.
"In there," she started, "all of the trainers from Cherrygrove and some passing through go there to battle in the Cherrygrove Park arenas."
Silver, Melissa, and J's eyes began to light up almost automatically. Plenty of experience would be attainable in such a place. Silver balled his first tightly in excitement.
"Alright! Seriously? Okay, I'll be able to get some experience into my Cyndaquil!" he cheered.
J, with a mouthful of food, followed them into the clearing for the arena. Soon after entering, the girl gasped. Quickly turning to the three, she jumped up and down abruptly.
"Oh wow! You are really lucky. Today they are having a tournament. Trainers can enter for 20 dollars for a 2000-dollar prize! Usually they have a special guest," she explained, "Let's see who it is today."
She darted over to a large board under a picnic area in the park. Her eyes scrutinized the board thoroughly before stopping on a name. Her eyes widened when she stopped.
Silver noticed that she was at a loss of words, so he calmly came up behind her, and looked to where she was focused on. He too opened his eyes in disbelief.
"You... mean..." he sputtered.
She nodded dumbly. Professor Oak would be there today, watching the matches. Not only that, but the winner would receive a Pokèdex from the famous Professor. Silver shouted happily various babblings about winning and becoming a Pokèmon master. After a few minutes, he realized that nobody was listening to him, and his friends had already begun filling out their entrance forms.
Silver quickly read over the rules to the tournament, and he was happy to find that only one Pokèmon could be used. And that evolutions were not allowed. He could safely use his new Pokèmon without fear of exceedingly strong trainers overpowering him with evolved forms.
He reached down calmly, gripping his Pokèball in his hand. He rolled the ball around in his fingers, moving the fire symbol over his skin. A breeze blew through his hair as he stood, waiting for Melissa to finish filling out the form.
Melissa... Melissa! Uh-oh. He had forgot. Melissa was using a Totodile. The water type Crocodile would be a huge task for his Cyndaquil to accomplish. He would enter anyway, but wary of his friend.
Silver took a step forwards when Melissa stepped aside with her bracelet stating her number in the tournament. Silver filled out the form quickly, and, rather sloppily to quickly proceed. He was given his bracelet, his name on it accompanied by the number 32. Turning around, he noticed that the line behind him was being dismissed.
*Great, he thought. A 32-person single elimination tournament. Sounds interesting.*
Silver continued to a large electrical board containing the brackets of people. Scanning through the board, he found he was up against the person with bracelet number 1. Looking on his bracelet, he found he needed to go to Arena B to begin.
Upon arrival, he climbed the steps to his platform overlooking the field from 6 feet above. Peering across the field, he spotted his foe. She stood calmly, her purple hair blowing to her side. Her eyes were closed, but her body language suggested that she was awaiting the signal to begin. Silver smiled, as he looked out into the crowd that occupied the stands. He would be able to be known right away. It would help him in the real world, to win such a big event right away.
Just then, a buzzer denoting that the match was about to begin startled him.
"In the Red Corner, from Orange City, a newcomer! Silver!"
The crowd cheered wildly, foghorns and buzzers were fired loudly into the midst of the crowd.
"And in the Blue Corner, from Goldenrod City, Lola!" Yelled the announcer.
The crowds cheering erupted loudly, and died down as quickly as it started.
"Trainers! Begin the match!" the judge announced loudly.
Lola opened her eyes suddenly, peering over at Silver. She lifted one leg gracefully, and launched her Pokèball into the middle of the arena.
"Go! Heracross!" she shouted.
Sure enough, from the beam of light emerged the Pokèmon Heracross. Silver grinned, knowing he had a slight type-advantage.
"Cyndaquil, let's go!"
Cyndaquil landed softly on the ground. It held up a peace sign as it looked over at its large opponent. Heracross growled over at the little fire-type, apparently not intimidated by its type due to its small size.
Silver smiled. A new wave of confidence flowed through his body as he prepared himself for the thrashing that his Cyndaquil would be dealing to Heracross. With a quick motion, he pointed to the Heracross, and issued a command.
"Cyndaquil, don't get too cocky, use your leer attack to scare it into early submission. Maybe then you won't have to roast it too badly," he told Cyndaquil, a smirk settled smugly on his face.
Cyndaquil glared across the field at Heracross, concentrating into his eyes all of the power contained within him psychologically. Heracross sweatdropped.
"Heracross, don't be fooled, jump into the air and prepare your horn toss from above!" yelled Lola. "Heh, death from above... and another win for Lola and Heracross!" she muttered.
Heracross launched into the air, screaming its only possible vocal line, it's own name. Cyndaquil abruptly stopped, peering up into the sky at the beetle hovering above.
"Alright, Heracross, speed at it now! Then use your horn attack to launch it back into the air!"
Silver gasped, her Heracross was very fast for its size. The Heracross quickly sped downwards, horn first, straight for Cyndaquil. It's horn struck Cyndaquil precisely in the gut, and it quickly landed, snapping its head backwards to fling Cyndaquil into the air. But the toss didn't go as expected.
"Cyndaquil, hang onto its horn!"
Silver had an idea. The fire-type gripped onto the horn tightly, and took the momentum of the toss, and maneuvered it into a counter attack. It quickly flung the Heracross back into the air after the Heracross was too off-balanced to keep upright totally. The bug Pokèmon yelped as its own power was used against it, to send it back into the air where it started. Cyndaquil let go, letting itself fall to the ground with ease.
"Cyndaquil, don't take your eyes off it!"
The Pokèmon turned around quickly.
"Now, flamethrower attack!"
The little Pokèmon gathered tremendous amounts of hot energy; it's temperature rising considerably. Then, without warning, a searing blast of fire soared through the air at the bug, setting it ablaze, and grounding it with one swift movement.
Silver and Cyndaquil both raised a peace sign into the air, cheering along with the crowd as the breezed, or should I say burned through their first match.
Across the park, Melissa was paired up with J. She chose her Murkrow, noting Totodile's weakness to grass type Pokèmon, and Murkrow's advantage over Grass types. Murkrow floated above, taking advantage of the rising moon to regain it's health repeatedly. It darted down at Chikorita, beak first, glaring... or more like staring at Chikorita intensely, as it advanced. Chikorita used a Razor Leaf attack on the bird, only to be disappointed as Murkrow simply lifted its wings, leading the leaves to fly underneath. Then Murkrow struck head on with Chikorita, sending the grass Pokèmon flying across the field in pain. Chikorita skidded for a few feet, before coming to a quick stop. The leaf element Pokèmon struggled to get up, pain surging through its body in pulses. However, before it got up to its feet, Murkrow attacked again with a rapidly succeeding feint attack, putting Chikorita out of commission. J sighed, calmly walking out to return his Pokèmon to its ball. He continued on, approaching Melissa with a satisfactory smile on his face. Melissa raised a hand to her mouth, worried about his reaction. She was quickly relieved when J only congratulated her for a well fought match, and took her hand to continue on to find Silver.
After a couple rounds, Melissa found herself facing Blake in the semi-finals. She, J, and Silver had just returned from Silver's semi-final match against a kid using an Aerodactyl. There was some discussion about whether or not Aerodactyl was considered an evolved form of a Pokèmon, which was quickly dismissed and considered as fair. So after a few frustrating attacks by the considerable fast Aerodactyl, Silver commanded his Cyndaquil to use Rollout, to take out the Prehistoric Flying Pokèmon. Cyndaquil hit head on, and at full speed for the win. Now they sat in awe as Melissa's Totodile took on Blake's Dratini.
A huge blast of air blew at Silver's face, almost sending his hat into the crowd behind him. His hair wavered around under his hat, which he refused to hold down because it would distract him from the intense match he was witnessing. The air was coming from the powerful blast of water that Totodile had fired at Dratini who was taking the hit's head on.
*Baka...* Silver thought. She would lose this match fighting like this. Water attacks did not affect Dragon types in the least. All of the known dragon species of Pokèmon inhabit the oceanic areas. Powerful Waves and Water blasts would not likely harm Dratini much. Blake soon grew tired of the childish style of fighting that Melissa was using. Melissa ordered her Totodile to use a bite attack on Dratini. Then Blake made his move.
"Okay, Dratini. No more games. Use your thunderwave attack!"
The thunderwave hit Totodile head on, paralyzing it from the head down. It fell to the floor and desperately struggled to find the strength necessary to return to its feet. But before it did, Blake commanded Dratini to use a Thunderbolt attack. Melissa gasped loudly as the powerful beam of electricity pounded into and surged through the Crocodile Pokèmon. Melissa soon conceded reluctantly, to seal the victory for Blake. Blake did not stand in his applausive audience. He simply left to the main battle field... Where he would be facing Silver. Again.
Silver glared across the large championship field at his final opponent with focused intent. He silently brushed a lock of blonde hair away from his face as he stood awaiting the announcement to begin. The park had now been covered with darkness with exception of the eerie moonlight glowing from above. Looking upwards, he shot a glance at the hovering moon, and back to Blake across the specialized battlefield. It was complete with giant rocks, landfills, and other strange obstacles to make the matches more interesting. The entire town of Cherrygrove and visitors from other towns were gathered in the stands awaiting the start of the match. The odd silence of the crowd accented the strange atmosphere.
After a five-minute stare down between Silver and Blake, the announcer came over the loud speaker. After announcing the two contenders, he presented to the crowd the famous Professor Oak. A few seconds later, the professor took over the microphone.
"Good Evening, Trainers!" He greeted the park.
Instantly, the silence was broken, as the crowd erupted in a deafening cheer. The standing ovation for Professor Oak lasted three whole minutes, which, in turn, intensified the pressure applied on the two contending trainers.
"Today we will witness the epitome of the beginning trainers of today, and perhaps, masters of tomorrow. It takes an intelligent trainer to understand that power is not everything. To understand that winning is not based on brute strength, as much as pure integrity and strategy. And today, we will discover which trainers intend to succeed correctly, by knowing their Pokèmon emotionally as well as in accordance to battle. So now, with those words of wisdom..." the professor announced, a drum roll playing in the background. "Blue Trainer, are you ready?"
Silver Nodded.
"Red Trainer, are you ready?"
Blake Nodded as well.
"Let the final match begin!"
And with that, Blake stepped forward on the platform, his Pokèball in hand.
"Dratini, go!" he commanded.
Silver gasped. How could he forget! Blake had the dragon Pokèmon Dratini. Sure that Blake had increased its strength and experience, he would need to be careful.
"Cyndaquil, let's go!" he shouted.
The Cyndaquil appeared responsively in the red beam of light. With the crowd cheering wildly in the background, Silver struggled to focus. He analyzed Dratini's weaknesses in his mind, recalling the previous battle. He would choose the defensive style of battle first, to enable Cyndaquil to use his speed to get a feel for Dratini's new power.
"Dratini, use your wrap attack on Cyndaquil, and don't miss!" Blake began; his fists were closed together so tightly, that his nails were digging into his palms. But he didn't care. He only wanted to win this battle.
The Dratini quickly darted forwards, a blue glow gathering inside its mouth. It stopped halfway to Cyndaquil abruptly, emitting the blue glow from its mouth like a rope, sending it to Cyndaquil. The rope shot at Cyndaquil's feet with amazing speed. But the little fire Pokèmon was faster.
"Jump, Cyndaquil, don't let that wrap attack hit!" Silver ordered, gritting his teeth.
Cyndaquil complied, launching into the air with its amazingly high speed. Then with a quick responsive instinct, it used a quick attack on Dratini, slamming its head into Dratini's body from the side.
Dratini quickly recovered, getting back up with ease. It shook off the pain from the Quick Attack, and was ready to resume.
"Now, Dratini, thunderwave attack!" Blake commanded.
Silver's eyes widened. He recognized Blake's fighting style. He was using disabling techniques to get the upper hand. And thunderwave was the greatest technique for the job. Trying to think fast, he quickly retaliated.
"Cyndaquil, use your speed to get behind that giant bolder!"
Cyndaquil darted right, moving immensely fast towards the rock. Almost immediately though, the wave of thunder shot at him, following close behind. Blake, realizing what Silver was trying to do, ordered Dratini to increase the power of energy behind the thunderwave considerably. The wave proved to be faster than the fire Pokèmon. It connected with his legs first, then spread to its body parts in its entirety. Cyndaquil fell paralyzed onto the ground, gritting its teeth in pain.
Dratini stopped the attack, having been successful.
"Good work Dratini, now go at him with your slam attack!"
The little dragon Pokèmon slammed its body into the fallen fire Pokèmon. The power of the attack indented Cyndaquil a few inches into the ground hard.
"Cyyyndaaaa!!!" It screamed.
"Cyndaquil! Try to get away!" Silver yelled, worried.
The little Pokèmon tried to get up; its body was still shaken up from the thunderwave technique. Blake smirked. *He's not going anywhere,* he thought to himself.
"Dratini, use your dragon breath attack! At full power! It's time to send this pathetic Cyndaquil to Pokèhell!"
Silver growled. He would not let him get away with this. With a newfound adrenaline, he ordered Cyndaquil once again.
"Cyndaquil, gather up the most powerful flamethrower attack you can to counter it. Just try to move at least your head to aim it at the Dragonbreath!" Silver commanded the fallen fire-type.
Cyndaquil nodded as best it could, and began to gather flames in its mouth, preparing its attack, and building its strength. Sweat gathered on Cyndaquil's forehead. This being its most intense battle, it knew that it would gain a lot from this battle both knowledge-wise, and strength-wise. And it did no want to let Silver down.
Cyndaquil peered up at the dragon Pokèmon who was preparing the powerful attack. Then, suddenly, the dragon aimed it's mouth at the fire-type Pokèmon, leering down at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil struggled, lifting it's head to aim back. And as if on cue, Blake and Silver both yelled out the attacks it had commanded them to do. Dragonbreath attack was yelled by Blake, and Flamethrower at the same time from that of Silver.
And it happened. The powerful attacks were released, synchronized as if both were planning to hit each other's blasts at the same time. And upon connection, a huge explosion followed. Some people in the crowed screamed, others cowered in fear and scrunched together in the stands. The balls of power and fury exploded in a magnificent display of color and emotional energy. Cyndaquil and Dratini both were screaming out their power, each in their own original way.
"Cyyyndaaaaaaa!!! AAAAA!!!!" it screamed out, loudly, the flame escaping its mouth.
The Dratini struggled to keep up with the strength of the Flamethrower. Each trainer yelled out commands to keep their Pokèmon in the match. Encouraging and shouting, both eager to win.
Yet, the element that decided the match was not power, and not relationship. Just as Professor Oak had said before the match. It was all based on strategy. Professor Oak knew this as he watched along side the owner of the park, Violet Azure.
"Well, Professor, it seems that this match is very close indeed!" Violet commented, turning to the master of Pokèmon studies.
Professor Oak lowered his head, smiling. His eyes closed, and a low toned chuckle escaped him.
"No Violet, the winner of this match has been decided by a decision made earlier in this match. And it is inevitable," Oak replied.
Violet raised an eyebrow. She had not picked up what Oak was talking about. Struggling to recall, Oak noticed her determination.
"Ha ha, Violet, I don't think you will be able to realize this if you haven't already," he explained. "The match was over when Blake ordered Dratini to increase the power of the thunderwave. The Dratini lost a considerable amount of energy then, and it will not have enough to suffice in this power match they are having right now."
Violet looked down at the battlefield at the energy display before her. The Cyndaquil's flamethrower was indeed slowly overpowering the Dragonbreath attack. The flame suddenly increased in energy, it's size overwhelming the Dragonbreath attack. The Dratini collapsed on the ground, ending its attack, and taking the flamethrower in its fainted state. Blake's eyes widened, a loud gasp escaping his lips. Silver raised a peace sign as he jumped over the railing that protected him from falling and out on to the field. He kneeled down by his Pokèmon's side; picking it up slowly into his arms.
"Great job, Cyndaquil. I'm proud of you," he told it.
Blake fell to his knees on his platform, still suffering from shock and disbelief of the proceedings. He ripped his hat off of his head angrily, and threw it down at the ground, groaning.
"What the hell did I do wrong? How can that little fire-type have beaten my Dratini?" He screamed out.
Blake jumped over the railing and onto the field. He darted towards Silver who was returning to his platform, dodging the various obstacles in the field. He quickly jumped in front of the trainer, glaring angrily.
"How the hell is this possible? You have to have been cheating. There is no way that a Cyndaquil's flamethrower could overpower a dragonbreath attack," Blake accused.
Silver only glared back, and looked quickly down at the silver watch. He checked the time. 10:13. He didn't have time for this nonsense. Silver sidestepped Blake quietly, and stepped forwards to continue.
Blake fumed. He grabbed Silver by his arm tightly, gripping it in anger. He flung him backwards, tripping him hard over his leg. Silver winced as he hit the ground hard, grunting. He broke out of the grip with the shake of his arm, and spun right, slamming his leg into Blake's own. Blake fell sideways, but caught his fall with his free hand, and flipped back up. Silver jumped backwards off of the ground quickly, his eyes never left the infuriating gaze of his opponent. Blake thrust his fist at Silver's gut, only to get it grabbed and twisted by Silver's hand, put into an inescapable position. Silver tightened the lock and spoke into Blake's ear.
"If you ever touch me again, I will break your fucking arm. You remember this moment," warned Silver.
Blake pulled away angrily, rubbing his sore arm. Silver walked on by, leaving the field in silence to find his friends. Blake watched him leave, the rage that inhabited him settled slowly, as he turned to collect his Dratini into its Pokèball.
As Silver left the field, he was tackled to the ground by an over-ecstatic Melissa, who had come to congratulate her friend. He got up abruptly, lending a hand down to his fallen friend as well. He pulled her up with a grunt, and smiled.
"Thank, Meli-," was all he got out before J dove into Silver as well.
"Great Job man! Woooo! You were great!" The trainer yelled happily.
Once again, Silver got up slowly, this time really dusty. He brushed himself off and restrained himself from smacking J in the back of his thick head. He simply thanked them for their congratulations, and walked over to Professor Oak with them.
Silver received his prize of 2000 dollars. Yet, instead of taking the Pokèdex, seeing as he already had one, he asked if there was anything else he could possibly get.
Professor Oak raised a brow, obviously considering the request. If he could remember correctly, the last people who received Pokèdex were three trainers that were selected by Professor Elm. If this kid was one of them, he definitely had potential.
"Hmm, indeed you do have one already. So I will make you a deal. Instead of the Pokèdex, you can have this," Professor Oak said, handing Silver a small Pokèball with silver plating. Immediately, Silver recognized it.
"A-a master ball!?" He gasped.
He slowly raised his head to the Professor, wondering if he was dreaming, or if this was real. The professor nodded, and patted him on the head.
"You will do well in your journeys. Just never give up, no matter what, and continue you battle with strategy. You surely will succeed if you train wisely."
Silver nodded, as he turned away from the professor. He waved silently, his friend trailing behind. As he walked out of the park in the dim glow of the moonlight, he smiled.
He had Professor Oak's blessings. The last person that received those was Ash Ketchum himself.
Melissa looked up suddenly, turning her gaze to Silver when she heard a sniffle. She watched him try to inconspicuously brush away a tear. She sighed happily. *What a hottie,* she shamefully thought. She giggled very softly. That childish, girly giggle that only occurs when a secret crush is realized. But no one hear her.
And so the trio trudged on into the Cherrygrove City Pokèmon Center. They would rest there for the night until the next day, when they would move on.
(Sorry about the mistake I made with the ending not being there at first. -`/ My mistake. Be sure to keep watching. I will try my hardest to put up a new chapter every one to two days. I am planning on making this a veeerrry loooooong epic. Make sure you keep up. I know I will. I hope. x_e; -Legend)
A slight breeze blew through the town of Cherrygrove as the three trainers entered. It had entered the later hours of the day, and the sun was slowly dipping behind the horizon as if a ship sinking into the sky. The dark yellowish orange light of the sun cascaded a glow over the small town that made the scene almost photographic. Melissa looked over towards Silver to view his reaction to the town and was somewhat surprised that Silver had no interest in the town itself. His attention was only on Melissa. An uncomfortable few seconds of eye contact led to Silver interrupting the moment.
"This is a nice town, but I wonder if anything really goes on here that we can benefit from," he started.
Melissa gave a deep sigh, turning away from him to scan the town quickly. She noticed the Pokèmon Center and shop in the distance. A soft, soothing sound wafted through the city from the small waterfront at one side. The town was somewhat quiet except for the sound of sundry people that had not yet returned home from work, she expected.
J stumbled between the two, a dismal look on his face. He looked to Silver slowly, and then back to Melissa.
"We have GOT to eat something!" He whined.
Silver and Melissa sweatdropped. They had been out for some time, however, and really did need to stop somewhere to eat. Silver nodded to him without a word, and started towards the Pokèmon Center. J silently cheered, throwing his arms into the air with relief. Melissa giggled, and straightened her backpack as they walked.
Silver would have been first to the door had J not sped in front of him in anticipation and knocked him into a woman heading for the door to their left. The collided violently, sending them both into the dirt in random painful positions. Before Silver could curse J, the trainer had already disappeared behind the closed door of the Pokèmon Center.
"I'm so sorry, Miss," he told the girl.
The girl stood up slowly, wincing in pain here and there. She brushed off some dirt from her skirt, and straightened herself to reply.
"It's okay, I'm sure it wasn't purposeful," she said back.
Silver smiled at first, and then frowned again.
"That inept bastard, he could have really hurt someone. He needs to really take chill pill," he began disdainfully. "When I see him I'm really going to bitch him out for you."
The girl only giggled softly before replying.
"There is no need for that, I'm fine, really."
Silver looked her over from head to toe, and thought it over a couple more times before actually calming down enough to not do any physical damage to J. He sighed quietly, and turned to enter the Pokèmon Center.
The Pokèmon Center was too rather empty. The seats were empty at the food court, and there were only a couple of people waiting to bring their Pokèmon to full health. Silver was rather bewildered by the whole ordeal. After a while, he turned to the girl.
"Hey, where is everyone?" He asked.
The girl raised a hand over her mouth, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Y-you mean... you don't know?" She asked.
Silver and Melissa both shook their heads slowly, waiting for her to continue with the explanation. The girl grabbed both of their hands quickly, and darted out of the Pokèmon Center, dragging them behind. J clumsily followed close behind, sporting a box full of food for them to munch on the "run".
The girl seemed a bit overly excited, but Silver only smirked. The girl finally stopped a few minutes later at a small clearing in some trees near the far edge of town. She pointed into the clearing, turning back to the three new trainers.
"In there," she started, "all of the trainers from Cherrygrove and some passing through go there to battle in the Cherrygrove Park arenas."
Silver, Melissa, and J's eyes began to light up almost automatically. Plenty of experience would be attainable in such a place. Silver balled his first tightly in excitement.
"Alright! Seriously? Okay, I'll be able to get some experience into my Cyndaquil!" he cheered.
J, with a mouthful of food, followed them into the clearing for the arena. Soon after entering, the girl gasped. Quickly turning to the three, she jumped up and down abruptly.
"Oh wow! You are really lucky. Today they are having a tournament. Trainers can enter for 20 dollars for a 2000-dollar prize! Usually they have a special guest," she explained, "Let's see who it is today."
She darted over to a large board under a picnic area in the park. Her eyes scrutinized the board thoroughly before stopping on a name. Her eyes widened when she stopped.
Silver noticed that she was at a loss of words, so he calmly came up behind her, and looked to where she was focused on. He too opened his eyes in disbelief.
"You... mean..." he sputtered.
She nodded dumbly. Professor Oak would be there today, watching the matches. Not only that, but the winner would receive a Pokèdex from the famous Professor. Silver shouted happily various babblings about winning and becoming a Pokèmon master. After a few minutes, he realized that nobody was listening to him, and his friends had already begun filling out their entrance forms.
Silver quickly read over the rules to the tournament, and he was happy to find that only one Pokèmon could be used. And that evolutions were not allowed. He could safely use his new Pokèmon without fear of exceedingly strong trainers overpowering him with evolved forms.
He reached down calmly, gripping his Pokèball in his hand. He rolled the ball around in his fingers, moving the fire symbol over his skin. A breeze blew through his hair as he stood, waiting for Melissa to finish filling out the form.
Melissa... Melissa! Uh-oh. He had forgot. Melissa was using a Totodile. The water type Crocodile would be a huge task for his Cyndaquil to accomplish. He would enter anyway, but wary of his friend.
Silver took a step forwards when Melissa stepped aside with her bracelet stating her number in the tournament. Silver filled out the form quickly, and, rather sloppily to quickly proceed. He was given his bracelet, his name on it accompanied by the number 32. Turning around, he noticed that the line behind him was being dismissed.
*Great, he thought. A 32-person single elimination tournament. Sounds interesting.*
Silver continued to a large electrical board containing the brackets of people. Scanning through the board, he found he was up against the person with bracelet number 1. Looking on his bracelet, he found he needed to go to Arena B to begin.
Upon arrival, he climbed the steps to his platform overlooking the field from 6 feet above. Peering across the field, he spotted his foe. She stood calmly, her purple hair blowing to her side. Her eyes were closed, but her body language suggested that she was awaiting the signal to begin. Silver smiled, as he looked out into the crowd that occupied the stands. He would be able to be known right away. It would help him in the real world, to win such a big event right away.
Just then, a buzzer denoting that the match was about to begin startled him.
"In the Red Corner, from Orange City, a newcomer! Silver!"
The crowd cheered wildly, foghorns and buzzers were fired loudly into the midst of the crowd.
"And in the Blue Corner, from Goldenrod City, Lola!" Yelled the announcer.
The crowds cheering erupted loudly, and died down as quickly as it started.
"Trainers! Begin the match!" the judge announced loudly.
Lola opened her eyes suddenly, peering over at Silver. She lifted one leg gracefully, and launched her Pokèball into the middle of the arena.
"Go! Heracross!" she shouted.
Sure enough, from the beam of light emerged the Pokèmon Heracross. Silver grinned, knowing he had a slight type-advantage.
"Cyndaquil, let's go!"
Cyndaquil landed softly on the ground. It held up a peace sign as it looked over at its large opponent. Heracross growled over at the little fire-type, apparently not intimidated by its type due to its small size.
Silver smiled. A new wave of confidence flowed through his body as he prepared himself for the thrashing that his Cyndaquil would be dealing to Heracross. With a quick motion, he pointed to the Heracross, and issued a command.
"Cyndaquil, don't get too cocky, use your leer attack to scare it into early submission. Maybe then you won't have to roast it too badly," he told Cyndaquil, a smirk settled smugly on his face.
Cyndaquil glared across the field at Heracross, concentrating into his eyes all of the power contained within him psychologically. Heracross sweatdropped.
"Heracross, don't be fooled, jump into the air and prepare your horn toss from above!" yelled Lola. "Heh, death from above... and another win for Lola and Heracross!" she muttered.
Heracross launched into the air, screaming its only possible vocal line, it's own name. Cyndaquil abruptly stopped, peering up into the sky at the beetle hovering above.
"Alright, Heracross, speed at it now! Then use your horn attack to launch it back into the air!"
Silver gasped, her Heracross was very fast for its size. The Heracross quickly sped downwards, horn first, straight for Cyndaquil. It's horn struck Cyndaquil precisely in the gut, and it quickly landed, snapping its head backwards to fling Cyndaquil into the air. But the toss didn't go as expected.
"Cyndaquil, hang onto its horn!"
Silver had an idea. The fire-type gripped onto the horn tightly, and took the momentum of the toss, and maneuvered it into a counter attack. It quickly flung the Heracross back into the air after the Heracross was too off-balanced to keep upright totally. The bug Pokèmon yelped as its own power was used against it, to send it back into the air where it started. Cyndaquil let go, letting itself fall to the ground with ease.
"Cyndaquil, don't take your eyes off it!"
The Pokèmon turned around quickly.
"Now, flamethrower attack!"
The little Pokèmon gathered tremendous amounts of hot energy; it's temperature rising considerably. Then, without warning, a searing blast of fire soared through the air at the bug, setting it ablaze, and grounding it with one swift movement.
Silver and Cyndaquil both raised a peace sign into the air, cheering along with the crowd as the breezed, or should I say burned through their first match.
Across the park, Melissa was paired up with J. She chose her Murkrow, noting Totodile's weakness to grass type Pokèmon, and Murkrow's advantage over Grass types. Murkrow floated above, taking advantage of the rising moon to regain it's health repeatedly. It darted down at Chikorita, beak first, glaring... or more like staring at Chikorita intensely, as it advanced. Chikorita used a Razor Leaf attack on the bird, only to be disappointed as Murkrow simply lifted its wings, leading the leaves to fly underneath. Then Murkrow struck head on with Chikorita, sending the grass Pokèmon flying across the field in pain. Chikorita skidded for a few feet, before coming to a quick stop. The leaf element Pokèmon struggled to get up, pain surging through its body in pulses. However, before it got up to its feet, Murkrow attacked again with a rapidly succeeding feint attack, putting Chikorita out of commission. J sighed, calmly walking out to return his Pokèmon to its ball. He continued on, approaching Melissa with a satisfactory smile on his face. Melissa raised a hand to her mouth, worried about his reaction. She was quickly relieved when J only congratulated her for a well fought match, and took her hand to continue on to find Silver.
After a couple rounds, Melissa found herself facing Blake in the semi-finals. She, J, and Silver had just returned from Silver's semi-final match against a kid using an Aerodactyl. There was some discussion about whether or not Aerodactyl was considered an evolved form of a Pokèmon, which was quickly dismissed and considered as fair. So after a few frustrating attacks by the considerable fast Aerodactyl, Silver commanded his Cyndaquil to use Rollout, to take out the Prehistoric Flying Pokèmon. Cyndaquil hit head on, and at full speed for the win. Now they sat in awe as Melissa's Totodile took on Blake's Dratini.
A huge blast of air blew at Silver's face, almost sending his hat into the crowd behind him. His hair wavered around under his hat, which he refused to hold down because it would distract him from the intense match he was witnessing. The air was coming from the powerful blast of water that Totodile had fired at Dratini who was taking the hit's head on.
*Baka...* Silver thought. She would lose this match fighting like this. Water attacks did not affect Dragon types in the least. All of the known dragon species of Pokèmon inhabit the oceanic areas. Powerful Waves and Water blasts would not likely harm Dratini much. Blake soon grew tired of the childish style of fighting that Melissa was using. Melissa ordered her Totodile to use a bite attack on Dratini. Then Blake made his move.
"Okay, Dratini. No more games. Use your thunderwave attack!"
The thunderwave hit Totodile head on, paralyzing it from the head down. It fell to the floor and desperately struggled to find the strength necessary to return to its feet. But before it did, Blake commanded Dratini to use a Thunderbolt attack. Melissa gasped loudly as the powerful beam of electricity pounded into and surged through the Crocodile Pokèmon. Melissa soon conceded reluctantly, to seal the victory for Blake. Blake did not stand in his applausive audience. He simply left to the main battle field... Where he would be facing Silver. Again.
Silver glared across the large championship field at his final opponent with focused intent. He silently brushed a lock of blonde hair away from his face as he stood awaiting the announcement to begin. The park had now been covered with darkness with exception of the eerie moonlight glowing from above. Looking upwards, he shot a glance at the hovering moon, and back to Blake across the specialized battlefield. It was complete with giant rocks, landfills, and other strange obstacles to make the matches more interesting. The entire town of Cherrygrove and visitors from other towns were gathered in the stands awaiting the start of the match. The odd silence of the crowd accented the strange atmosphere.
After a five-minute stare down between Silver and Blake, the announcer came over the loud speaker. After announcing the two contenders, he presented to the crowd the famous Professor Oak. A few seconds later, the professor took over the microphone.
"Good Evening, Trainers!" He greeted the park.
Instantly, the silence was broken, as the crowd erupted in a deafening cheer. The standing ovation for Professor Oak lasted three whole minutes, which, in turn, intensified the pressure applied on the two contending trainers.
"Today we will witness the epitome of the beginning trainers of today, and perhaps, masters of tomorrow. It takes an intelligent trainer to understand that power is not everything. To understand that winning is not based on brute strength, as much as pure integrity and strategy. And today, we will discover which trainers intend to succeed correctly, by knowing their Pokèmon emotionally as well as in accordance to battle. So now, with those words of wisdom..." the professor announced, a drum roll playing in the background. "Blue Trainer, are you ready?"
Silver Nodded.
"Red Trainer, are you ready?"
Blake Nodded as well.
"Let the final match begin!"
And with that, Blake stepped forward on the platform, his Pokèball in hand.
"Dratini, go!" he commanded.
Silver gasped. How could he forget! Blake had the dragon Pokèmon Dratini. Sure that Blake had increased its strength and experience, he would need to be careful.
"Cyndaquil, let's go!" he shouted.
The Cyndaquil appeared responsively in the red beam of light. With the crowd cheering wildly in the background, Silver struggled to focus. He analyzed Dratini's weaknesses in his mind, recalling the previous battle. He would choose the defensive style of battle first, to enable Cyndaquil to use his speed to get a feel for Dratini's new power.
"Dratini, use your wrap attack on Cyndaquil, and don't miss!" Blake began; his fists were closed together so tightly, that his nails were digging into his palms. But he didn't care. He only wanted to win this battle.
The Dratini quickly darted forwards, a blue glow gathering inside its mouth. It stopped halfway to Cyndaquil abruptly, emitting the blue glow from its mouth like a rope, sending it to Cyndaquil. The rope shot at Cyndaquil's feet with amazing speed. But the little fire Pokèmon was faster.
"Jump, Cyndaquil, don't let that wrap attack hit!" Silver ordered, gritting his teeth.
Cyndaquil complied, launching into the air with its amazingly high speed. Then with a quick responsive instinct, it used a quick attack on Dratini, slamming its head into Dratini's body from the side.
Dratini quickly recovered, getting back up with ease. It shook off the pain from the Quick Attack, and was ready to resume.
"Now, Dratini, thunderwave attack!" Blake commanded.
Silver's eyes widened. He recognized Blake's fighting style. He was using disabling techniques to get the upper hand. And thunderwave was the greatest technique for the job. Trying to think fast, he quickly retaliated.
"Cyndaquil, use your speed to get behind that giant bolder!"
Cyndaquil darted right, moving immensely fast towards the rock. Almost immediately though, the wave of thunder shot at him, following close behind. Blake, realizing what Silver was trying to do, ordered Dratini to increase the power of energy behind the thunderwave considerably. The wave proved to be faster than the fire Pokèmon. It connected with his legs first, then spread to its body parts in its entirety. Cyndaquil fell paralyzed onto the ground, gritting its teeth in pain.
Dratini stopped the attack, having been successful.
"Good work Dratini, now go at him with your slam attack!"
The little dragon Pokèmon slammed its body into the fallen fire Pokèmon. The power of the attack indented Cyndaquil a few inches into the ground hard.
"Cyyyndaaaa!!!" It screamed.
"Cyndaquil! Try to get away!" Silver yelled, worried.
The little Pokèmon tried to get up; its body was still shaken up from the thunderwave technique. Blake smirked. *He's not going anywhere,* he thought to himself.
"Dratini, use your dragon breath attack! At full power! It's time to send this pathetic Cyndaquil to Pokèhell!"
Silver growled. He would not let him get away with this. With a newfound adrenaline, he ordered Cyndaquil once again.
"Cyndaquil, gather up the most powerful flamethrower attack you can to counter it. Just try to move at least your head to aim it at the Dragonbreath!" Silver commanded the fallen fire-type.
Cyndaquil nodded as best it could, and began to gather flames in its mouth, preparing its attack, and building its strength. Sweat gathered on Cyndaquil's forehead. This being its most intense battle, it knew that it would gain a lot from this battle both knowledge-wise, and strength-wise. And it did no want to let Silver down.
Cyndaquil peered up at the dragon Pokèmon who was preparing the powerful attack. Then, suddenly, the dragon aimed it's mouth at the fire-type Pokèmon, leering down at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil struggled, lifting it's head to aim back. And as if on cue, Blake and Silver both yelled out the attacks it had commanded them to do. Dragonbreath attack was yelled by Blake, and Flamethrower at the same time from that of Silver.
And it happened. The powerful attacks were released, synchronized as if both were planning to hit each other's blasts at the same time. And upon connection, a huge explosion followed. Some people in the crowed screamed, others cowered in fear and scrunched together in the stands. The balls of power and fury exploded in a magnificent display of color and emotional energy. Cyndaquil and Dratini both were screaming out their power, each in their own original way.
"Cyyyndaaaaaaa!!! AAAAA!!!!" it screamed out, loudly, the flame escaping its mouth.
The Dratini struggled to keep up with the strength of the Flamethrower. Each trainer yelled out commands to keep their Pokèmon in the match. Encouraging and shouting, both eager to win.
Yet, the element that decided the match was not power, and not relationship. Just as Professor Oak had said before the match. It was all based on strategy. Professor Oak knew this as he watched along side the owner of the park, Violet Azure.
"Well, Professor, it seems that this match is very close indeed!" Violet commented, turning to the master of Pokèmon studies.
Professor Oak lowered his head, smiling. His eyes closed, and a low toned chuckle escaped him.
"No Violet, the winner of this match has been decided by a decision made earlier in this match. And it is inevitable," Oak replied.
Violet raised an eyebrow. She had not picked up what Oak was talking about. Struggling to recall, Oak noticed her determination.
"Ha ha, Violet, I don't think you will be able to realize this if you haven't already," he explained. "The match was over when Blake ordered Dratini to increase the power of the thunderwave. The Dratini lost a considerable amount of energy then, and it will not have enough to suffice in this power match they are having right now."
Violet looked down at the battlefield at the energy display before her. The Cyndaquil's flamethrower was indeed slowly overpowering the Dragonbreath attack. The flame suddenly increased in energy, it's size overwhelming the Dragonbreath attack. The Dratini collapsed on the ground, ending its attack, and taking the flamethrower in its fainted state. Blake's eyes widened, a loud gasp escaping his lips. Silver raised a peace sign as he jumped over the railing that protected him from falling and out on to the field. He kneeled down by his Pokèmon's side; picking it up slowly into his arms.
"Great job, Cyndaquil. I'm proud of you," he told it.
Blake fell to his knees on his platform, still suffering from shock and disbelief of the proceedings. He ripped his hat off of his head angrily, and threw it down at the ground, groaning.
"What the hell did I do wrong? How can that little fire-type have beaten my Dratini?" He screamed out.
Blake jumped over the railing and onto the field. He darted towards Silver who was returning to his platform, dodging the various obstacles in the field. He quickly jumped in front of the trainer, glaring angrily.
"How the hell is this possible? You have to have been cheating. There is no way that a Cyndaquil's flamethrower could overpower a dragonbreath attack," Blake accused.
Silver only glared back, and looked quickly down at the silver watch. He checked the time. 10:13. He didn't have time for this nonsense. Silver sidestepped Blake quietly, and stepped forwards to continue.
Blake fumed. He grabbed Silver by his arm tightly, gripping it in anger. He flung him backwards, tripping him hard over his leg. Silver winced as he hit the ground hard, grunting. He broke out of the grip with the shake of his arm, and spun right, slamming his leg into Blake's own. Blake fell sideways, but caught his fall with his free hand, and flipped back up. Silver jumped backwards off of the ground quickly, his eyes never left the infuriating gaze of his opponent. Blake thrust his fist at Silver's gut, only to get it grabbed and twisted by Silver's hand, put into an inescapable position. Silver tightened the lock and spoke into Blake's ear.
"If you ever touch me again, I will break your fucking arm. You remember this moment," warned Silver.
Blake pulled away angrily, rubbing his sore arm. Silver walked on by, leaving the field in silence to find his friends. Blake watched him leave, the rage that inhabited him settled slowly, as he turned to collect his Dratini into its Pokèball.
As Silver left the field, he was tackled to the ground by an over-ecstatic Melissa, who had come to congratulate her friend. He got up abruptly, lending a hand down to his fallen friend as well. He pulled her up with a grunt, and smiled.
"Thank, Meli-," was all he got out before J dove into Silver as well.
"Great Job man! Woooo! You were great!" The trainer yelled happily.
Once again, Silver got up slowly, this time really dusty. He brushed himself off and restrained himself from smacking J in the back of his thick head. He simply thanked them for their congratulations, and walked over to Professor Oak with them.
Silver received his prize of 2000 dollars. Yet, instead of taking the Pokèdex, seeing as he already had one, he asked if there was anything else he could possibly get.
Professor Oak raised a brow, obviously considering the request. If he could remember correctly, the last people who received Pokèdex were three trainers that were selected by Professor Elm. If this kid was one of them, he definitely had potential.
"Hmm, indeed you do have one already. So I will make you a deal. Instead of the Pokèdex, you can have this," Professor Oak said, handing Silver a small Pokèball with silver plating. Immediately, Silver recognized it.
"A-a master ball!?" He gasped.
He slowly raised his head to the Professor, wondering if he was dreaming, or if this was real. The professor nodded, and patted him on the head.
"You will do well in your journeys. Just never give up, no matter what, and continue you battle with strategy. You surely will succeed if you train wisely."
Silver nodded, as he turned away from the professor. He waved silently, his friend trailing behind. As he walked out of the park in the dim glow of the moonlight, he smiled.
He had Professor Oak's blessings. The last person that received those was Ash Ketchum himself.
Melissa looked up suddenly, turning her gaze to Silver when she heard a sniffle. She watched him try to inconspicuously brush away a tear. She sighed happily. *What a hottie,* she shamefully thought. She giggled very softly. That childish, girly giggle that only occurs when a secret crush is realized. But no one hear her.
And so the trio trudged on into the Cherrygrove City Pokèmon Center. They would rest there for the night until the next day, when they would move on.
(Sorry about the mistake I made with the ending not being there at first. -`/ My mistake. Be sure to keep watching. I will try my hardest to put up a new chapter every one to two days. I am planning on making this a veeerrry loooooong epic. Make sure you keep up. I know I will. I hope. x_e; -Legend)