Screensaver Problems Part 9

PDM: So, in the last chapter...

M: MORE POKETREATS!

PDM: Just take the box. *throws box at Mew*

M: *munch munch*

PDM: While my Mew is stuffing its face, the highlights of the last chapter go as follows: They managed to survive until the girls returned and then they went out to dinner. The next day, they got all dressed up and picked up the girls (Ash almost collapsed.) and left for the Ultra Ball. But as they went in, a mysterious woman, unheard by any of them, said something about Operation Vocal and disappeared. What will happen next?

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When we all went in, a man by the door gave us seating cards. By a coincidence, we were all at the same table, but there were two empty seats. As we all sat down, I wondered who would sit there. The seating arrangements went as follows from left to right around the table: Empty, Empty, Brock, Suzie, Misty, Ash, me, and Duplica. We all sat down and waited for the ball to start. Brock whispered to me as we watched Ash and Misty talking happily, "Nothing can spoil this night except for one thing."

"Well, if it isn't the loser and his girlfriend!" a snotty voice rang out from the entrance.

"And, Brock, that would be the one thing that could spoil it, correct?" I whispered back. Brock was so stunned, all he could do was gape. Ash had whirled at the sound of the familiar voice.

Over by the entrance was a boy that had become familiar to us all. His name was Gary Oak. (Pokedex Info: Gary was Ash's friend all through their childhood, but once they both received their pokemon, they became bitter rivals. They have not battled yet. Gary is also Professor Oak's grandson.)

"Please don't let him sit here!" I muttered to myself.

But as fate would have it, Gary and his date, apparently one of his cheerleaders, walked over to our table and sat down in the two unoccupied chairs. Ash was about to explode.

I put my hand on his shoulder and whispered "Relax..." to him, although I figured that now the evening was pretty much ruined.

"So, Ash, what is a loser like you doing at one of these?" Gary sneered. "And who would be your date?" he snickered, obviously not realizing Misty was with him.

Ash was about to blow up at Gary, which would invariably get us kicked out, when Misty put her hand on his below the tabletop. It was a small thing, but it was enough to shut Ash up.

"Gary, he's with me." Misty said.

"And who are you? You know, it's not smart to hang out with losers like Ash. It might rub off on you!" Gary chortled, not recognizing her.

Misty got that old look in her eyes that appeared whenever something pissed her off big time. (I'm talking one of those fire effects!) "Gary, would you go outside with me for a second?" she asked, affecting a flirtatious-girl tone that must have practically killed her to use.

"Sure!" Gary said, sneering at Ash. They both walked outside together, but I noticed that she took her purse with her. As they walked out the door, a bit of speech floated back to us from Gary. "So what's your name anyway?"

Then they went outside. We then heard someone scream, "MY NAME IS MISTY!" punctuated by a loud sound resembling a mallet hitting human flesh several times and followed by the sound of something hitting the floor. Misty came back inside alone, tucking something back into her purse. She smiled at us all, said, "Gary shouldn't give us any more trouble." and sat back down. Gary came staggering back inside with several bruises and two black eyes. He almost missed the chair when he sat down. He looked at Misty and Ash with a mixture of fear, anger, and grudging respect. But he refrained from making any comments, and his date looked almost ready to fall on her knees and give thanks. I smiled, whispering to Ash, "Your date has a good way of teaching people a lesson." He looked at me and nodded, smiling.

Just then, someone stepped up to a speakers' podium on the stage and tapped the microphone a few times, creating a terrible squeal that deafened everyone for a moment.

"Um, hello, everybody. Welcome to the Ultra Ball!" the man said, his speech being punctuated by another squeal that had everyone covering his or her ears.

"Who is that?" someone said audibly.

"My name is Seymour, the scientist from Mount Moon that studies Clefairy. I'm the speaker for tonight's Ultra Ball. Tonight's entertainment will start out with a lecture from the Pokemon expert, Professor Oak."

A wave of applause and wild cheering punctuated this announcement.

"Afterwards, there will be a completely optional Pokemon tournament."

This announcement was followed by a contrast of moans and groans. "I didn't bring my Pokemon..." someone said over at the next table.

"Now, now, we realize that some of you may have chosen to leave your Pokemon at the Pokecenter for the night, so we have asked Nurse Joy to come to the party and set up a transfer machine by the row of PC's over there, so you can get your pokemon easily! After the tournament is finished, dinner will be served, followed by the dance. We will have several singers for the songs. After that, the Ball will be over."

He stepped down and beckoned offstage. Professor Oak then stepped up to the podium. The second he began talking, all of the trainers present listened intently and silently.

Time passes...

"And, trainers, that is all you really need to know to be strong when battling." Professor Oak said, stepping down from the podium amid applause.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the Pokemon tournament!" Seymour said while walking back to the podium. There was a mad rush for the computers at the side of the room- apparently many trainers had not brought their pokemon.

At our table, we discussed for a few seconds and decided that Ash, Suzie, Brock, and I would battle- neither Misty nor Duplica really wanted to participate and Gary's head was still spinning, so obviously he didn't battle. So we got our Pokemon together (Suzie had to go get hers) and registered for the tournament. Most of the trainers had decided to take part due to the fact that after Professor Oak's speech, they all thought they had figured out a secret nobody else knew.

The tournament was a one-pokemon-only tournament, meaning that each trainer picked one pokemon and used it for the entire tournament. It was healed between battles to keep it fair, though. The tournament was also the 2-way style, meaning that there were two branches leading up to a winner for each branch, with the winner from each of the two branches battling each other. Brock, Suzie, and I were on one branch and Ash was on the other by himself. Due to all of our training, we all progressed very quickly up the ranks until Ash was the winner on one side and Brock and Suzie were about to battle on the other side.

"Suzie, I hope you understand that if I win, I don't want this to ruin our relationship!" said Brock.

"It'll be okay, Brock! You won't have to worry about that, because I'm going to win!" retorted Suzie. "Go, Vulpix!" The pokeball she threw out opened, releasing a Vulpix. (Pokedex Info: A Vulpix is a "Fire Fox" with three tails. As it grows, the tails split and grow longer. It can use powerful fire-type attacks, and is also coveted for its beauty.)

"Go, Vulpix!" cried Brock. His pokeball released a Vulpix, too.

"Well! This should be interesting. These guys have a little background, don't they?" I muttered. (Pokedex Info: Suzie gave Brock her Vulpix when they first met, and apparently has caught another.)

"I hope you've been training your new Vulpix, Suzie!" Brock called. "Flame Wheel!" Vulpix blew out a stream of flame that formed into a wheel shape and moved toward Suzie's Vulpix.

"I certainly have, Brock! I've got a few surprises, too!" Suzie smiled. "Vulpix, Water Gun!" Her Vulpix immediately squirted a stream of water out of its mouth, stopping the Flame Wheel and drenching Brock's Vulpix. He attempted to recover, but the battle was over with that one attack. His Vulpix keeled over in a faint.

"Vulpix, return!" Brock said, returning his pokemon to its ball. "That was a great battle."

"It pays to have a trump card." Suzie smiled. "Now you can cheer me on!"

Brock went and sat down as I came out as the next challenger. Whoever won this one would go to battle Ash.

I waited while Suzie sprayed a Potion on her Vulpix to heal it. When she was done, I tossed out my Pokeball. "Go, Kadabra!" I had opted to use my most powerful pokemon for this battle.

"Hmm. A Kadabra. Vulpix, use Fire Spin!" Suzie called.

"Kadabra, dodge it with Teleport!"

Vulpix spewed forth a pillar of flame that moved toward Kadabra, but he teleported out of the way.

"Vulpix, now use Swift!"

"Kadabra, try dodging it with Teleport again!"

Vulpix launched several star-shaped projectiles from its tail toward Kadabra. Kadabra teleported away, but, suddenly, the star-shaped projectiles turned and sped toward Kadabra's new location! They hit him hard. It was obvious that Kadabra was in a lot of pain.

"Kadabra, return!" I called, recalling Kadabra into its pokeball and ending the match.

"Vulpix, return, too!" Suzie called, recalling her Vulpix as well. "You're obviously a very good trainer. Lesser trainers would've forced their pokemon to continue battling, but you understood that your pokemon couldn't continue and forfeited. I congratulate you."

"Thank you. Good luck against Ash!" I said, heading for the healing machine to get Kadabra fixed up.

Ash stepped onto the field and registered slight surprise at seeing whom his opponent was. "Suzie?"

"Yep. Ready to lose?"

"Maybe not! Go, Pikachu!" Ash's Pikachu ran out onto the field.

"Go, Vulpix!" Suzie called, releasing her newly healed Vulpix. The final battle had begun!

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Vulpix, Leer!"

Pikachu sped toward Vulpix, but Vulpix's Leer stopped Pikachu right in its tracks.

"Pikachu, quick, Thunderbolt!"

"Vulpix, counter with Flamethrower!"

Vulpix spewed out a stream of flames, but Pikachu released a stream of electric energy that neutralized them and zapped Vulpix.

"Vulpix!"

"Good! Pikachu, use Agility!"

Pikachu sped up until he could only be seen as a yellow blur. He ran circles around Vulpix, while Vulpix got very dizzy.

"Vulpix! Use Fire Blast!"

"Pikachu, use Thunder!"

The two pokemon's most powerful attacks met in the center of the ring and created a giant explosion. Everyone shielded his or her eyes from the blast. When the smoke cleared, Pikachu was still standing, and Vulpix was sprawled on the ground in a faint.

For a second, everything was still while everyone tried to comprehend what had just happened. Then...

"Yeah!" Ash shouted, pumping his fist into the air. This seemed to act as a catalyst for the crowd, who started shouting and cheering. I think Misty was cheering the loudest of all.

"Vulpix, you did well." Suzie said, recalling her Vulpix. Then she came over to shake Ash's hand. "Congratulations, Ash. You trained your Pikachu well."

"Well, your Vulpix put up a really good fight, Suzie."

Just then, Misty, Duplica, Brock, and I ran onto the field. "Congratulations, Ash!" I yelled.

Misty was a little more straightforward, just hugging Ash like heck. I smiled, watching Ash turn slightly red, then relax. A few people awed in the crowd.

Then Seymour came back up on the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! The winners of the Ultra Ball Pokemon Tournament are Ash Ketchum and Pikachu!" The crowd cheered again as Misty finally let go of Ash and smiled at him. Ash grinned right back.

Duplica leaned over and whispered to me, "Wow. I never knew she liked him enough to do that in front of everybody!"

I smiled and whispered back, "Love conquers all."

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PDM: *sobbing*

M: What's the matter? *munch munch*

PDM: That was so beautiful! I can't believe I wrote that!

M: Yeah, it wasn't that bad. Maybe now people will actually want to keep reading.

PDM: Yeah, I hope so. The best part is coming up!