Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the characters for Lupusa, Michelle, Casey, and the plot for this fic. Even them, I don't know if can really belong to me.
Author's Notes: Yet another twist. Sorry D. Marco, this is going to flip around in yet another previously un-thought of way. Bwa ha ha! I love surprises!
Friends to the End
Ark9
Chapter Twelve
"This has been an interesting tournament! While A.J. has beaten Richie to get here, we had a semi-final-round automatic forfeit from Lupusa, and Ash has gotten some sort of 'bye' to continue to this match!
"So in the final round on field one, we have Ash as the green trainer," the announcer stops for a dramatic pause, "and A.J. as the red trainer!" the announcer boomed.
Ash and A.J. both walk in from opposite sides of the field, waving their arms up and down above their heads.
"There is another unique thing about this battle," the announcer continued, "because both trainers have chosen a mouse pokémon as their first pokémon even though neither are normal starting pokémon."
"So we meet again," A.J. says with his eyes flashing.
"You betcha!" Ash replied with an equal competitive spirit.
"Let the battle begin!" the referee shouted loudly and raised both of his flags.
"Go, Vulpix!" A.J. shouted.
"Go, Charizard!" Ash yelled.
"Vulllll!"
"BaaaZZOOOR!"
"Vulpix, fire spin!"
"Charizard, quick! Fly up in the air!"
Vulpix's hurricane of fire caught Charizard mid-way and Charizard got stalled. It used the spinning fire to its advantage, as it spun against it as hard as it could. Using that version of sword's dance, it sent the fire back at Vulpix. As soon as the fire cleared, Charizard dove down on it hard and then swept it off of the ground before Vulpix had time to react.
"All right, Charizard! Now use your seismic toss," Ash yelled excitedly.
Charizard flew in three large circles before sending Vulpix hurling to the ground, over fifty meters below.
"Vulpix can no longer battle!" the mono-tone referee said.
"You got lucky the first round, Ash. But no one beats me!" A.J. shouted. "Your turn, Feraligator!"
"Fooorrrr!"
Feraligator and Charizard eyed each other and as soon as the referee raised the flags, they started on their own. Feraligator kept trying to hit a flying Charizard with its hydro pump.
"Charizard, use your FLY attack!" Ash commanded.
"Be ready for it! Catch it and drench it in another hydro pump!" A.J. called.
Both pokémon nodded. Charizard flew down at Feraligator and hit it. Then it tried to swoop away, but Feraligator had survived and now it had a hold of Charizard's foot. Quickly, it sent a chill up Charizard, by hydro pumping Charizard's tail. Then it swung Charizard down with a slam attack.
"BaaZZOOOORR!" it cried in pain.
"Charizard is out of the match!" the referee said, unemotionally as usual.
"Charizard!" Ash said sadly. "You did a good job. Now it's your turn…Chikorita!"
"Chika!" it shouted, disappointed because it was too far away from Ash. It decided to take its revenge out on Feraligator.
"You're using that thing!" A.J. laughed at the tiny Chikorita.
"Size isn't everything!" Ash grinned.
"You certainly think so!" A.J. smirked.
Meanwhile, their pokémon had started. Feraligator saw no danger, so was sitting down, spitting tiny spurts of water. Chikorita was using its agility to dodge every attack.
"Feraligator, fill up the place with water! Use your surf attack!" A.J. called.
"Chikorita, ride that surf! And while your leaf is down, prepare for a solarbeam!" Ash called.
Both pokémon had a new sense of pride for the job that their trainers had given them to fulfill.
Feraligator formed a giant wave that soon filled the stadium up with water. Chikorita had her leaf bent down over her face and she had somehow managed to get all four of her paws on it. At the base of her leaf, there was a small golden glow that gradually grew until it shot out at Feraligator.
The water died down, and Chikorita spun around a few times on her leaf before falling down sideways. She immediately stood up and glared at her enemy. Feraligator didn't move from its sprawled position.
"Feraligator can no longer battle!"
"Okay. Good job, Feraligator," A.J. said and smiled slyly. "You have improved a lot since I battled you last, Ash. I congratulate you, but I will not be defeated! Victorybell, I choose you!"
"Kyaaaa!"
"Chi!"
"YAAA/CHIIII!"
"Victorybell, razor leaf attack!"
Ash suddenly remembered a similar situation he was in with Duplica, when it was Bulbasaur versus Ditto, transformed as a Bulbasaur. Unfortunately, this gave Victorybell time to get a free attack and Chikorita fainted.
"It's okay, Chikorita!" Ash recalled it. "Go, Bulbasaur!"
"Victorybell, razor leaf again!"
"Bulbasaur, use your vine whip!"
"Bulba!"
Bulbasaur block Victorybell's leaves with its vines and then picked Victorybell up in its rough vines.
"Use your slam attack!" Ash shouted.
"Bulba-saur!"
Bulbasaur swung Victorybell hard against the ground.
"Kyaaa!"
"Victorybell is unable to continue battle."
"Victorybell, return. Go, Hitmonchan!" A.J. yelled. "Fire punch!"
"Mon!" it cried.
"Go," the referee said.
"Use your solarbeam, Bulbasaur!"
"Ba!" it pointed its bulb at the sun and braced itself while gathering energy.
"Chan!" Hitmonchan shouted, thrusting out its flaming glove at Bulbasaur.
"Saur!" it screamed in surprise, tumbling back towards Ash's trainer's box in a pokémon fireball, further fueled by the sunlight it just collected.
"Ah! Bulbasaur!" Ash yelled, looking at the now-smoking pokémon. "Bulbasaur, return!"
"That plan just fizzled out!" A.J. shouted happily.
"You just wait!" Ash shouted back with a mischievous grin. He thought about the last attack Hitmonchan had just used. "I choose you, Blastoise!"
"Blast!"
"Thunderpunch!" A.J. smirked.
"Oh, no! Withdraw!" Ash yelled, becoming scared for Blastoise.
"Chan!" The attack came to Blastoise's shell.
"Hydro pump!"
Blastoise used its last bit of energy to fire the powerful attack.
"Hit!" it screamed in pain.
"It's okay, Hitmonchan. Good job," A.J. said, calmly. "Now here's a pokémon that should make a big boom! Electrode!"
Blastoise stood up shakily to glare back at Electrode.
"Thundershock!"
"Eeeeeee!" It released a little bit of electricity on Blastoise.
"Blastoise is unable to battle."
"Blastoise, return!" Ash yelled, his heart sinking as he tried to decide what pokémon to use next. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then flashed then open. "Tauros, I choose you!"
"Rrroooooaaaaa!"
"Electrode, explosion!"
"Tauros, take down!"
"Electrode, electrode, electrode…" it repeated, starting to glow bright yellow.
Tauros galloped towards Electrode, increasing its speed as it ran. When it was a few meters away it leapt over Electrode.
Light shot out of Electrode and it erupted.
"As soon as the smoke clears, we will see what damage that attack did," the announcer boomed. The crowd leaned in on the edge of their seats. Ash and A.J. looked on with determined expressions.
Electrode sat at one end, looking very burnt. It had swirls for eyes. Tauros lay with its feet curled under it at the other end of the field.
"Tauros and Electrode are both unable to battle," the referee said.
"Mouse to mouse. Too bad for you that electricity doesn't effect ground-types at all," A.J. smirked.
Ash smiled. He had thought that this would happen. This Pikachu would win! "Ready, Pikachu?"
A sly grin covered its face, "Pika!"
"Why don't you just give up now and save your Pikachu from the pain?" A.J. teased. He had seen the books. Electric-types were so bad against ground-types that the books claimed that it was impossible for the electric-type to win. He wouldn't go that far, but it was a great match-up for him.
"You are wrong. Your sandslash is the one who is going to feel the pain from this match," Ash sparked.
"That's ridiculous," A.J. laughed.
"Neither trainers are sending out their pokémon," the announcer said with a bored tone.
"Will it be a draw?" the referee queried.
"No!" both trainers shouted and Pikachu jumped down from the box onto the purplish-blue ground.
"Pika!"
"Go, Sandslash!"
"Slash!" it cried to the little yellow blur that was coming towards it. "Saaaa!" it yelped in pain as Pikachu's fist connected with its head.
"That was a dynamic punch!" the announcer shouted, excitement returning to his voice. "A fighting attack, for those spectators who didn't know.
"Slash!" it shouted, outraged with the super-effective attack. It was dizzy as it tried to burrow underground and only succeeded in hitting its head on the ground again, but not as hard as Pikachu had hit it.
"Iron tail!" Ash shouted, causing A.J.'s eyes to widen.
"Watch out, Sandslash!" A.J. frantically called. Sandslash staggered dizzily around until it braced itself on all four of its paws.
"Sandslash is confused no more!" the announcer boomed.
"No!" Ash yelled, annoyed.
"Cha!" Pikachu cried, bringing its stiffened silver tail down sharply across Sandslash's chest.
"Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnn!" The pained cry pierced the air.
"Just one more, Pikachu."
"Chu!"
"Sandslash, earthquake!"
"Sand!" It drove its paw into the ground and caused the ground to split.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in surprise. It rolled back onto its tail and sprung into the air, charging itself as it flew up and landed against Ash's trainer's box in the air.
"Look, mommy! It's like a balloon! What's that called, again?" a stray child's voice echoed around the stadium.
The announcer cleared his throat over the suddenly silent stadium. "The Pikachu has used its light weight to its advantage by holding itself against the wall with static electricity."
"Dang!" A.J. shouted.
"Again!" Ash yelled.
"Pikaaaaa!" it gathered energy as it ran and then brought its tail up. "Chu!" it cried, slashing Sandslash with another Iran Tail attack.
The crowd held their breath as the Sandslash staggered back and fell to the ground, swirlly-eyed.
"Sandslash is out of the match. Victory goes to Ash and Pikachu!" the referee suddenly sounded excited.
Ash ran down to greet his Pikachu, who was also running towards him. He grabbed Pikachu's paws and swung it around in a few circles before it jumped onto his arm. Ash looked at where he had been on his arm, then looked at his other arm to see Pikachu jump, this time landing softly on Ash's head. He laughed.
Then there was a crunching sound in front of him. It was A.J.
"Good match, Ash. You deserved it," A.J. said and held out his hand.
Ash shook A.J.'s hand. "That was the best match that I've had in a long time."
A camera flashed, capturing the moment. Both boys shaking hands and grinning from ear to ear. The surviving pokémon, a small Pikachu, clinging to his trainer's hat, equally happy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
^_^
Did I surprise you? Hope you liked it! This isn't the end…well of the fic, anyway. All of you people who were patient enough to wait for the next part will be pleasantly rewarded, I think. Ash and Misty finally get back together! Wait! I just gave it away! I might change that now…NOT! ^_^
As usual…please review! (If you read it, why wouldn't you review?)