by Martial Arts Master
The original concept of Pokemon and all related characters copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., 4Kids, TV Tokyo, Satoshi Tajiri, and Wizards of the Coast. All characters I use as Pokewomen are copyrighted by their original creators and owners. I made up Rick and Susan, though. See the first chapter for the rules by which the Pokewomen world operates by. Now, on with the story.
***
Rick was on his way back to Pallet Town.
He was very excited, and understandably so. Not only had he won all eight badges and gained access to the next Indigo League championship tournament, he'd also done it in less than a month. Most trainers spent a year before getting all eight badges, and a few never advanced their skills enough to get all eight badges.
Rick had been very lucky, and he knew that.
But he could not win the Indigo League on luck alone. All luck had to run out sooner or later.
He would have to train his Pokewomen quite a lot in order to even make it past the first round.
This was no pessimistic attitude. Rick knew firsthand how tough the gym leaders were, so winning all eight badges was no easy feat.
That meant that anyone else who had the necessary badges to compete would have to be really tough.
Finally, Rick reached Pallet Town.
The first thing he did was go home to see his parents.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Rick called out upon stepping inside his house.
His parents rushed to meet him.
"You're back!" his mother said.
"Yep, but that's not all I achieved," Rick said, holding up all eight badges.
"Wow, you got all the badges! But it's been less than a month!" his father exclaimed.
"I had great Pokewomen," Rick replied. "I just came back home so I could train for the Indigo League. When's the next Indigo League championship tournament, anyway?"
"Not for several months," his father said. "You really finished your quest for the badges quite early."
Then he patted his son on the head and said, "That's my boy!"
"We're so proud of you!" his mother said.
"Now Rick, once you do get into the league, it won't be easy," his father warned him.
"Yeah, I know, I thought about that on the way here," Rick said.
"Well, just remember, son, that there are usually dozens of trainers that compete," his father said. "Only three get medals, and only one gets the title of Pokewomen Master."
"Which three get medals?" Rick asked.
"The top three ranking individuals," his mother said. "And those include the Pokewomen Master."
"So don't get your hopes up," his father said.
Then his father reconsidered.
"However, I do hear that the Pokewomen Master gets a trophy to go along with the medal," he continued. "I also hear that after every year's tournament, the Pokewomen Master of each year's tournament gains access to the Pokewomen world's most closely guarded secret."
"Really?" Rick asked, interested.
"That's right," his mother said. "Now since the Indigo League's been in effect for quite some time, there are now more people who know that secret than you might think. However, anyone who learns the secret is sworn to secrecy, so don't think you'll learn that secret in any other way than winning the tournament."
"How are the rankings determined?" Rick asked.
"By a combination of who wins each round and how well the winners and losers fight," his father said. "As for the three top rankings, the first-place winner and Pokewomen Master is determined by who wins all the rounds of the tournament."
"Then," his mother explained, "the second-place winner is the one who wins all the rounds but the last, and that's always the one who loses to the first-place winner."
"Finally, the third-place winner is determined between the two people who lost the second-to-last round," his father concluded. "It's determined by which one of those two people fought better than the other."
Rick nodded.
"Thanks for telling me," he said. "How many rounds is the tournament made up of?"
"That might depend on how many people compete in the tournament," his mother said, "but beyond that I don't know how they decide."
"Ok. I think I'll go to Professor Oak," Rick said. "He might tell me something I missed."
With that, he rushed out of the house and headed towards Professor Oak's laboratory.
When he got there, he headed inside.
Inside, he saw Professor Oak, and he also saw the girl who had selected Sailor Neptune at the same time Rick himself had selected Saria.
Oddly, though, he did not see the girl who had selected Twinrova.
"Ah, good to see you, Rick," Professor Oak said.
"Look what I did!" Rick said, holding up his eight badges.
The girl was shocked.
"Where'd you get the Earth Badge?" she asked.
"First, tell me your name," Rick said.
"My name is Susan. Now tell me where you won the Earth Badge!" the girl shouted.
"The gym is in Viridian City," Rick said.
"You see, Susan came to me because she didn't know where the last gym was," Professor Oak said. "In fact, just before you came in, I just finished telling her that I'm getting old, and that I've forgotten many things, including where the last gym is."
"Ok, thanks Rick, I'm gonna get that Earth Badge!" Susan said, rushing out of the laboratory.
"Anyway," Professor Oak said when Susan had left, "congratulations on your achievement. You can now gain access to the Indigo League."
"Where is the Indigo League, anyway?" Rick asked.
"Atop the Indigo Plateau," Professor Oak said. "Go west of Viridian City, and keep going straight ahead. You'll eventually reach it. Of course, that won't help you now, because the next championship tournament doesn't start until several months from now."
"Ok, I'm going to train until then," Rick said, rushing out of the laboratory.
And train Rick did.
Every day, Rick kept training his Pokewomen. He didn't overwork them, but he didn't let them slack off, either.
Of course, he let them have fun, sleep, eat, and drink, too.
Day by day, week by week, the training slowly began to pay off.
Even Cassie, the cute little pink dragon from Dragon Tales, was beginning to show potential for battle.
Now Rick was glad Cassie had learned to breathe fire during that battle against Erika, the Celadon City gym leader.
Slowly, the months passed.
Finally, the day arrived.
On that morning, Professor Oak came to the backyard behind Rick's house, where Rick had done all that training, and said, "Rick, today's the day. The Indigo League championship tournament starts today. You'd best get going if you wanna get there in time to sign up."
"Oh boy! Did you hear that, everyone?" Rick asked all six of his Pokewomen.
"Yes, I think it will be very nice competing against the best," Saria said, smiling.
"I hope this training you put us through pays off," Pixie said.
"Yeah, with all that training, you better not screw up!" Inque said nastily.
"I don't like hurting anyone, but for your sake, since you were nice to me when Damian was mean, I'll do it," Cassie said.
Anita, as usual, said absolutely nothing.
"Ha! I'll be sure to give your opponents what for!" Birdie said.
"Well then, it's off to the Indigo League!" Rick said dramatically, recalling all his Pokewomen.
He then set off to the Indigo League.
He was sweating, but that was to be expected.
After all, Rick wasn't so stupid as not to realize that every single match would be aired on television.
So, where he was going, Rick would either humiliate himself in front of his entire home town plus his parents and Professor Oak, or he would become a Pokewomen Master, and would make his town proud...
To be continued...
***
You're probably thinking, "Oh no, not another new trainer fic that the author won't bother to finish!" Well, let me tell you, I hate those kinds of fics too, and let me tell you in advance that I DO plan on finishing this fic. I never start a fic that I don't intend to finish. In fact, if I'm lying about planning to finish the fic, may I get pounded by a madman. E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.