Pokémon - The Journey Begins
Chapter 31: On the Road to Victory
The crowd cheered as Matt grunted, calling back his fainted Charmeleon back inside its Pokéball. It was the second time Charmeleon was knocked out when called upon, and this frustrated Matt a little bit. "Wow we're tied at two; this next one will be the decision." Matt quickly pulled out a Greatball. "Onix, you're my last hope." He tossed it into the arena, as the crowd began to roar even louder.
The trainer yelled out something to his large Rhydon who was still energetic as when it was previously released to battle Charmeleon. Matt couldn't make out what the trainer ordering to his Pokémon, but managed to read his lips. "Onix, he's going to use Takedown! You have to move out of the way!"
As the Rhydon dashed towards the Onix to attack at a rapid speed, Onix quickly leaped over it as quickly as he could, dodging the attack completely. As it landed, it created a thunderous crash onto the ice-like surface below, causing it to crack a little bit.
Matt let out a heavy sigh. "I knew I shouldn't have let out Zeni earlier to fight; I really could have used him now. My Bulbasaur could have helped too, but I guess this is the only choice I have. This is going to be a very long battle."
Rhydon tried time and time again to use the very same attack, eventually when it did hit, it proved to cause little damage to Onix. Matt took this time to think.
"He's letting his Rhydon use all of its best attacks, and while Onix is gradually losing its energy, the Rhydon is losing its stamina. What attack could I use?" He looked at the battlefield he was on. "Onix is pretty heavy, and Rhydon is much lighter. The ice already managed to give a little bit, but I have to have Onix smash him through the ice completely."
Rhydon used a large variety of physical attacks. Each causing little damage to Onix, but little by little, Matt noticed his Onix began to become weary from the long battle.
"I think this is a good time. Onix! Grab it with your Bind attack!" Matt commanded.
Onix quickly swung its tail up front and managed to get a tight hold on Rhydon's rock-hard body. The added pressure from Onix didn't seem to faze the Rhydon. Matt waited until Rhydon quit its resistance before he decided to put the second portion of his plan to work.
"Quickly, Onix! Toss Rhydon as high into the air as possible!"
Almost instantly, Onix wound up, and upon releasing its grip, threw Rhydon high into the air. It landed hard, falling right through the ice on the field and into the extremely cold water. After seconds of waiting for it to surface, the referee hoisted his flag, pointing to Matt.
"Rhydon is unable to battle! Matt is the winner!"
The audience began to cheer loudly as Matt's opposing trainer absorbed Rhydon back inside its Pokéball. Matt hoisted his arms up in the air as he had just finished his second match victorious. He called Onix back inside its Greatball and began to exit the arena. "I don't think I'm really that nervous at all anymore..."
"You! I saw you!" a girl shouted at the arena's exit.
Matt didn't realize the girl was talking to him, so he continued walking.
"Hey! That's rude! I'm talking to you here!" she placed her hands at her hips.
Matt turned around and looked at her. "I'm sorry, are you talking to me...?" Matt took a second to examine her clothing. She was in a short, tight black skirt with a matching blouse. Her face had a light tan, with long brown hair. He then blushed.
The girl then approached Matt. "Umm...yeah. May I have your autograph?" she asked, holding out a Pokéball and a black felt-pen.
Matt blinked. "Why...?"
"Well, I'm from Pallet Town, too. And even though there are others from there here in Viridian, I want the cutest boy to sign!"
"Don't you usually get famous people to sign autographs?"
"Oh, you're quite famous! I mean, my family has been cheering for you ever since you left!"
Matt reluctantly grabbed the Pokéball and the felt-pen. "Okay, so, what's your name?"
The girl angrily placed her hands at her hips again. "Do you have a short-termed memory or something?! My name's Rachel!"
"Please. The only Rachel I knew was..." he paused, then took a look at the girl's face again, "back in the third grade."
She giggled. "You remembered!"
Matt coughed intentionally, staring at Rachel's outfit. "And since when do your parents let you dress like THAT?!"
Rachel gave a surprised look at Matt. "What's wrong with this outfit! I think it looks very nice on me, don't you?!"
"It makes you look like a prostitute." Matt muttered loud enough so only Rachel could hear.
Rachel's face turned completely red. "Look, we're not here so you could comment on what I'm wearing. Are you going to sign that thing or what?"
"All right." Matt scribbled a short message on the Pokéball, along with his signature at the bottom. "Here. And tell your parents I said: 'hello'." With that, Matt turned around and started to walk away.
Rachel leaped forward and grabbed his arm. "Where do you think YOU'RE going?!" she snapped.
Matt shook her hand off and gave her an angry look. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't hold me up; I have somebody to meet."
"Your family, right? Don't worry about it, they can wait a few minutes for you, can't they?"
"No," Matt frustratingly answered, followed with a sigh. "I'm meeting my friend Lizzie. Her battle's in just over an hour and I need to go and buy her a gift."
"Lizzie...? Friend...? I-is that all you are? I mean is anything going on between you two by any chance?" Rachel stammered.
Matt blinked, then blushed before reluctantly answering: "Well...we're not...technically, but...then again." He stopped and thought for a second. He then shook his head. "In all honesty, I really have no idea."
"So...that means I can...break in between you two?" her face perked up with a nervous smile.
Matt took in a deep breath, then nervously chuckled.. "Okay, this is getting embarrassing. I'm sorry, I really need to go." Matt then turned and walked away, this time without interruption.
Rachel remained still, silent, as Matt walked away. She then looked and read what was on her Pokéball. The contents read: 'Nice to see you again, Rachel. Matt Tenks'.
She giggled. "He'll be mine, yet."
* * *
"I, uh, got you something." Matt handed Lizzie a small package that was gift-wrapped. "I know your birthday's not until the next little while, but I thought that it would be nice to get you this."
Lizzie took the present with a big smile on her face. "Oh, Matt, that is so sweet." She gently took off the gift wrap and opened the box. "So many tissues." she slowly dug through it, and pulled out an Ultraball. "What kind of Pokéball is this?"
"It's a new Ultraball, currently one of the best ways to capture really hard Pokémon. It has a new Pokémon inside it."
Lizzie looked up at Matt. "You managed to capture a really hard Pokémon?"
"I looked around Viridian for a bit, and saw this really rare creature; I don't even know what it is. My Greatball had absolutely no effect on it, so I threw one of these that I bought earlier."
"It must have been so expensive."
"No, just let it out."
"All right." Lizzie opened the Pokéball, as a small creature with short legs and many red spots on its back along with long, sad, shut eyes, and a long nose looked around and took a peek at Lizzie."
"Cyndaquil...?" it looked around in confusion.
"Sinda...kwill...?" Matt tried to pronounce. "I really have no idea. Even my Pokédex has no information."
"But it's so cute!" Lizzie slowly picked up the strange Pokémon and looked at it. "Hi there!" She suddenly clenched her teeth as she slowly put down the Pokémon, shaking her hands continuously after putting it down.
"What's wrong?"
"Hot...hot. Geez, that burns!" Lizzie blew on her hands, in an attempt to cool them down.
"A fire Pokémon...now you have something to use if your Vulpix gets knocked out."
Lizzie shot a look at Matt. "Are you crazy?! I'm not letting a Pokémon I haven't even trained go into battle!"
Matt looked at the Cyndaquil's back as he could now see that there were small flames flowing from it. "Maybe we should go look ask Professor Oak. Besides, I need to ask how my Chikorita's doing."
Lizzie called the Cyndaquil back inside its Pokéball. She then examined her hands again. "The burn doesn't seem serious; I'll be okay."
As both of them enter the Pokémon Center, Matt placed his fainted Pokémon with Nurse Joy, as Lizzie asked if there was anything the Pokémon Center had from which she could use to do some research for other Pokémon.
Lizzie pulled out a magazine from one of the shelves and turned to a specific section. She then witnissed a clear picture of a Cyndaquil, then showed it to Matt. "You're right. It's a Cyndaquil..."
"Where did it come from? Is it another Johto Pokémon?" Matt asked.
"I believe so, it says here that they're usually found in Johto, but they can be lead to here in Indigo."
Matt nodded. "That's interesting. A lot of them seem to be roaming around here lately. Because the Professor found a Chikorita egg laying around." He then looked at the clock. "Your match begins in about twenty minutes. Should we get going?"
Lizzie nodded as she put the magazine away. "I think that if I'm stuck fighting a trainer with a bug Pokémon that Val can't handle, I'm using this."
"I'd give anything a try. You can't hesitate either, or your Pokémon won't trust you."
Matt picked up his healed Pokémon at the front desk and released Squirtle from his Pokéball. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"Squirtle..." Squirtle replied with doubt.
"Hey, you fought really well today," Matt picked up Squirtle, "don't get so down on yourself. It was my fault for not looking over my strategy."
Matt approached Lizzie, as they both left the Pokémon Center. They once again fought through large crowds before finally arriving towards the stadium. At its entrance however, a figure waves to both of them. They both suddenly rush to it.
"Jordan! I knew you'd make it!" Matt shook Jordan's hand upon his arrival.
"I'm sorry I got here so late. Team Rocket has been messing a lot of things up. This is their last line of action I guess, now that most of their secret headquarters have been found out. I managed to watch both of your matches though. You both did great out there!"
Lizzie smiled. "Thanks! My match is about to begin. Make sure you cheer really loud for me, okay?"
Jordan laughed. "I'll do my best."
"Well, let's go." As Lizzie dashed inside the stadium, Matt began to follow when Jordan's extended arm stopped him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm an ex-member of the Elite Four; I can get us some better seats." Jordan smirked.
"Seriously?"
Jordan continued smiling. He then lead Matt to an area inside the arena towards an elevator. He pulled out some card and gave it a small swipe on a security lock. The elevator opened as both Jordan and Matt stepped inside.
"Wow, even the elevator's all classy." Matt commented as he and Squirtle awed at some of the artwork inside of it. It was mostly a classic masterpiece of cherubs, including some other bizarre-looking creatures that Matt had never seen before.
As the elevator reached the top floor, Matt and Jordan stepped out; the battle arena could be seen from possibly the highest view possible. The room had minimal lighting, with the only light coming from outdoors. The floors were tiled, and the far end walls were darkly painted, with a table full of refreshments. On the opposite side of the room, surrounding walls were made entirely out of class; the complete battlefield could be visible from there.
"Long time no see!" Jordan greeted upon entering the room..
"Hey there!" One of the three with short brown hair, a burgandy sweatshirt with blue jeans greeted Jordan and shook his hand.
"It's been a while, Hans." He then turned his attention to another person with short black hair wearing a white t-shirt and blue shorts. "Paul! How've you been!" he shook his hand as well. He quickly turned his attention towards the last one there, his head completely covered with a bandana. He wore a black leather jacket with blue jeans. "Simon! It's been way too long."
"I've hated it here since you left, man," Simon complained, "Lilaine's been a real...well, I really shouldn't say it, but, she's just so serious!"
Hans nodded. "I mean, it's nice having a girl around, if you know what I mean, but she just won't talk to us! If you even look at her the wrong way she'll treat you as if you've killed your own mother!"
"Hey, who's that?" Paul pointed to Matt.
Jordan looked at Matt. "This was a traveling partner of mine. We met outside of Cerulean City. His name's Matt."
Matt put down Squirtle and shook all of their hands. "Nice to meet you, I guess."
"Hey! I saw you fighting that Randy-kid!" Paul blurted. "What were you thinking sending out Onix against that Rhydon?!"
"Well, hey! It's not like I had any other choice! You saw how my Squirtle got completely wiped out, and my Bulbasaur wasn't even with me! Not to mention my Pikachu and Zubat wouldn't have had any sort of chance against it; what did you expect me to do?!"
"Don't get upset, I like how you took the time to think. It's very hard to toss a Rhydon that high into the air like your Onix did. You still won, and I suppose that's important," Hans replied.
"And how could you not bring a grass type with you, since you already had one? You should know that by now," Simon muttered.
Matt looked at the three of them and became angry. "You all talk as if I'm just some rookie with beginner's luck!"
Jordan stepped in between them. "Don't fight. Leave that to the match outdoors."
Matt walked over towards far windows and looked out at the battlefield. "It was a mistake to bring me here; Jordan. I think I'll go back down."
"No, you're not leaving. Here, go sit down, help yourself to some refreshments if you like." Jordan offered.
Matt completely stood still, watching as Lizzie's match was about to begin.
"He's worse than Lilaine..." Simon whispered into Jordan's ear.
"Knock it off. Neither of you had any right to talk to him that way. How about when you were that age? In the heat of battle with only one Pokémon left to use. Haven't you stopped to think that he may have been nervous? I think that he made the right move with what he did." Jordan turned around and took a seat, watching the battle.
Matt eventually backed away from the window and sat down in an empty seat beside Jordan, placing the Squirtle on his lap. The other three eventually sat down, watching how Lizzie's battle would turn out.
Not a lot of noise managed to get through the glass, as Matt was watching the battle go on. He noticed the crowd was cheering at their usual loudest, but only managed to hear a fraction of the actual sound.
Simon laughed. "Sending out a Vileplume against a Vulpix? That's a stupid thing to do."
"No, not really." Matt turned his to Simon and replied, "Maybe she's a bug Pokémon trainer."
Simon shrugged. "It's possible. But it's never a good idea to stick with only one type of Pokémon."
Matt watched as the battle went on. He looked closer as Vileplume had been completely knocked out after two Flamethrower attacks. Both he and Jordan applauded.
The trainer then released a stoud, brown-furred Pokémon with large buck-teeth. Matt couldn't make much more out of it, due to their current altitude from the battlefield. It along with Vulpix began to do battle.
Paul nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think that Vulpix still has the advantage over that thing. Unless the Raticate can get out a Hyper Fang on it, it's pretty much useless."
However, a rapid attack from the Raticate managed to take out most of Vulpix's strength, as Lizzie was forced to draw it back. Lizzie then released Sandshrew from her Pokéball as Hans and Paul both laughed.
"That Raticate is as good as gone," Hans replied, laughing. Paul also laughed, shaking his head as if he was embarrassed.
Matt angrily glared at both Hans and Paul. "You know, it's not polite to laugh."
Jordan whispered quietly into Matt's ear. "Don't bother trying to get involved with them; they'll laugh at pretty much any decision a trainer makes. I also don't want you getting into trouble here, so from now on just sit back and be quiet."
When Matt looked back at the match, just in time to see the fallen Raticate being pulled back into the Pokéball, as Lizzie was one more knock-out away from victory.
The trainer released her last Pokéball, as a Butterfree was released. All three of the trainers in the dome laughed and clapped a few times, as if a very amusing joke was told.
"How did this trainer get to the second round?!" Paul began bang his hand on his knees as Simon started to choke and began to cough, both from laughing so hard. Hans continued to laugh as the final battle was about to begin.
"Butterfree is half flying, half bug," Matt commented. "Flying has an advantage over ground."
Both the two Pokémon on the field began to dash around back and forth, trying various pysical and special attacks, however, Lizzie came out to be the victor as Matt and Jordan applauded.
Hans took a sip of a drink. He then snickered. "I can't believe how pathetic that was. What an easy win."
Matt quickly shot up and walked towards the elevator, frustrated at their rude comments and attitude towards other trainers. "Jordan, I'll see you downstairs." He walked inside and pressed a button. Right away, the two doors opened, as Matt entered, with Squirtle behind him. The door then closed, and Matt was gone.
Hans looked around. "What did I say?"
Jordan cleared his throat and stood up. "You guys have gotten rude. That girl who just won was one of his friends."
"Oh come on, even he knows that it was pure luck that she won," Paul replied.
"That's not the point."
"But he is right..." a voice called from the doorway behind them, right behind the table of refreshments. The woman had long, black hair with a sleeveless navy blue shirt, and tight black pants. "She only won because the other trainer was careless; as you were in our fight recently. Do you remember, Jordan?"
Jordan stood up and faced her. "I wasn't careless, Lilaine, you proved out to beat me."
"Really? Then explain about how I won four of the six matches in our battle?" Lilaine asked calmly, and somewhat mockingly, brushing her hands through her hair.
Jordan shrugged. "I don't know why. You just...proved to be the better trainer."
Lilaine smirked. "It was very gutsy of you to admit that, Jordan." She turned around and walked towards the doorway from which she entered the room. She then turned and looked at Jordan. "You all know that I am the ultimate Pokémon Master. Nobody will ever be able to face up to me." With that, she opened the door, and entered the room, closing it behind her.
Jordan had an angered look on her face. "I never did like her. I hope that one day somebody beats her, and beats her badly."
TO BE CONTINUED.
Chapter 31: On the Road to Victory
The crowd cheered as Matt grunted, calling back his fainted Charmeleon back inside its Pokéball. It was the second time Charmeleon was knocked out when called upon, and this frustrated Matt a little bit. "Wow we're tied at two; this next one will be the decision." Matt quickly pulled out a Greatball. "Onix, you're my last hope." He tossed it into the arena, as the crowd began to roar even louder.
The trainer yelled out something to his large Rhydon who was still energetic as when it was previously released to battle Charmeleon. Matt couldn't make out what the trainer ordering to his Pokémon, but managed to read his lips. "Onix, he's going to use Takedown! You have to move out of the way!"
As the Rhydon dashed towards the Onix to attack at a rapid speed, Onix quickly leaped over it as quickly as he could, dodging the attack completely. As it landed, it created a thunderous crash onto the ice-like surface below, causing it to crack a little bit.
Matt let out a heavy sigh. "I knew I shouldn't have let out Zeni earlier to fight; I really could have used him now. My Bulbasaur could have helped too, but I guess this is the only choice I have. This is going to be a very long battle."
Rhydon tried time and time again to use the very same attack, eventually when it did hit, it proved to cause little damage to Onix. Matt took this time to think.
"He's letting his Rhydon use all of its best attacks, and while Onix is gradually losing its energy, the Rhydon is losing its stamina. What attack could I use?" He looked at the battlefield he was on. "Onix is pretty heavy, and Rhydon is much lighter. The ice already managed to give a little bit, but I have to have Onix smash him through the ice completely."
Rhydon used a large variety of physical attacks. Each causing little damage to Onix, but little by little, Matt noticed his Onix began to become weary from the long battle.
"I think this is a good time. Onix! Grab it with your Bind attack!" Matt commanded.
Onix quickly swung its tail up front and managed to get a tight hold on Rhydon's rock-hard body. The added pressure from Onix didn't seem to faze the Rhydon. Matt waited until Rhydon quit its resistance before he decided to put the second portion of his plan to work.
"Quickly, Onix! Toss Rhydon as high into the air as possible!"
Almost instantly, Onix wound up, and upon releasing its grip, threw Rhydon high into the air. It landed hard, falling right through the ice on the field and into the extremely cold water. After seconds of waiting for it to surface, the referee hoisted his flag, pointing to Matt.
"Rhydon is unable to battle! Matt is the winner!"
The audience began to cheer loudly as Matt's opposing trainer absorbed Rhydon back inside its Pokéball. Matt hoisted his arms up in the air as he had just finished his second match victorious. He called Onix back inside its Greatball and began to exit the arena. "I don't think I'm really that nervous at all anymore..."
"You! I saw you!" a girl shouted at the arena's exit.
Matt didn't realize the girl was talking to him, so he continued walking.
"Hey! That's rude! I'm talking to you here!" she placed her hands at her hips.
Matt turned around and looked at her. "I'm sorry, are you talking to me...?" Matt took a second to examine her clothing. She was in a short, tight black skirt with a matching blouse. Her face had a light tan, with long brown hair. He then blushed.
The girl then approached Matt. "Umm...yeah. May I have your autograph?" she asked, holding out a Pokéball and a black felt-pen.
Matt blinked. "Why...?"
"Well, I'm from Pallet Town, too. And even though there are others from there here in Viridian, I want the cutest boy to sign!"
"Don't you usually get famous people to sign autographs?"
"Oh, you're quite famous! I mean, my family has been cheering for you ever since you left!"
Matt reluctantly grabbed the Pokéball and the felt-pen. "Okay, so, what's your name?"
The girl angrily placed her hands at her hips again. "Do you have a short-termed memory or something?! My name's Rachel!"
"Please. The only Rachel I knew was..." he paused, then took a look at the girl's face again, "back in the third grade."
She giggled. "You remembered!"
Matt coughed intentionally, staring at Rachel's outfit. "And since when do your parents let you dress like THAT?!"
Rachel gave a surprised look at Matt. "What's wrong with this outfit! I think it looks very nice on me, don't you?!"
"It makes you look like a prostitute." Matt muttered loud enough so only Rachel could hear.
Rachel's face turned completely red. "Look, we're not here so you could comment on what I'm wearing. Are you going to sign that thing or what?"
"All right." Matt scribbled a short message on the Pokéball, along with his signature at the bottom. "Here. And tell your parents I said: 'hello'." With that, Matt turned around and started to walk away.
Rachel leaped forward and grabbed his arm. "Where do you think YOU'RE going?!" she snapped.
Matt shook her hand off and gave her an angry look. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't hold me up; I have somebody to meet."
"Your family, right? Don't worry about it, they can wait a few minutes for you, can't they?"
"No," Matt frustratingly answered, followed with a sigh. "I'm meeting my friend Lizzie. Her battle's in just over an hour and I need to go and buy her a gift."
"Lizzie...? Friend...? I-is that all you are? I mean is anything going on between you two by any chance?" Rachel stammered.
Matt blinked, then blushed before reluctantly answering: "Well...we're not...technically, but...then again." He stopped and thought for a second. He then shook his head. "In all honesty, I really have no idea."
"So...that means I can...break in between you two?" her face perked up with a nervous smile.
Matt took in a deep breath, then nervously chuckled.. "Okay, this is getting embarrassing. I'm sorry, I really need to go." Matt then turned and walked away, this time without interruption.
Rachel remained still, silent, as Matt walked away. She then looked and read what was on her Pokéball. The contents read: 'Nice to see you again, Rachel. Matt Tenks'.
She giggled. "He'll be mine, yet."
* * *
"I, uh, got you something." Matt handed Lizzie a small package that was gift-wrapped. "I know your birthday's not until the next little while, but I thought that it would be nice to get you this."
Lizzie took the present with a big smile on her face. "Oh, Matt, that is so sweet." She gently took off the gift wrap and opened the box. "So many tissues." she slowly dug through it, and pulled out an Ultraball. "What kind of Pokéball is this?"
"It's a new Ultraball, currently one of the best ways to capture really hard Pokémon. It has a new Pokémon inside it."
Lizzie looked up at Matt. "You managed to capture a really hard Pokémon?"
"I looked around Viridian for a bit, and saw this really rare creature; I don't even know what it is. My Greatball had absolutely no effect on it, so I threw one of these that I bought earlier."
"It must have been so expensive."
"No, just let it out."
"All right." Lizzie opened the Pokéball, as a small creature with short legs and many red spots on its back along with long, sad, shut eyes, and a long nose looked around and took a peek at Lizzie."
"Cyndaquil...?" it looked around in confusion.
"Sinda...kwill...?" Matt tried to pronounce. "I really have no idea. Even my Pokédex has no information."
"But it's so cute!" Lizzie slowly picked up the strange Pokémon and looked at it. "Hi there!" She suddenly clenched her teeth as she slowly put down the Pokémon, shaking her hands continuously after putting it down.
"What's wrong?"
"Hot...hot. Geez, that burns!" Lizzie blew on her hands, in an attempt to cool them down.
"A fire Pokémon...now you have something to use if your Vulpix gets knocked out."
Lizzie shot a look at Matt. "Are you crazy?! I'm not letting a Pokémon I haven't even trained go into battle!"
Matt looked at the Cyndaquil's back as he could now see that there were small flames flowing from it. "Maybe we should go look ask Professor Oak. Besides, I need to ask how my Chikorita's doing."
Lizzie called the Cyndaquil back inside its Pokéball. She then examined her hands again. "The burn doesn't seem serious; I'll be okay."
As both of them enter the Pokémon Center, Matt placed his fainted Pokémon with Nurse Joy, as Lizzie asked if there was anything the Pokémon Center had from which she could use to do some research for other Pokémon.
Lizzie pulled out a magazine from one of the shelves and turned to a specific section. She then witnissed a clear picture of a Cyndaquil, then showed it to Matt. "You're right. It's a Cyndaquil..."
"Where did it come from? Is it another Johto Pokémon?" Matt asked.
"I believe so, it says here that they're usually found in Johto, but they can be lead to here in Indigo."
Matt nodded. "That's interesting. A lot of them seem to be roaming around here lately. Because the Professor found a Chikorita egg laying around." He then looked at the clock. "Your match begins in about twenty minutes. Should we get going?"
Lizzie nodded as she put the magazine away. "I think that if I'm stuck fighting a trainer with a bug Pokémon that Val can't handle, I'm using this."
"I'd give anything a try. You can't hesitate either, or your Pokémon won't trust you."
Matt picked up his healed Pokémon at the front desk and released Squirtle from his Pokéball. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"Squirtle..." Squirtle replied with doubt.
"Hey, you fought really well today," Matt picked up Squirtle, "don't get so down on yourself. It was my fault for not looking over my strategy."
Matt approached Lizzie, as they both left the Pokémon Center. They once again fought through large crowds before finally arriving towards the stadium. At its entrance however, a figure waves to both of them. They both suddenly rush to it.
"Jordan! I knew you'd make it!" Matt shook Jordan's hand upon his arrival.
"I'm sorry I got here so late. Team Rocket has been messing a lot of things up. This is their last line of action I guess, now that most of their secret headquarters have been found out. I managed to watch both of your matches though. You both did great out there!"
Lizzie smiled. "Thanks! My match is about to begin. Make sure you cheer really loud for me, okay?"
Jordan laughed. "I'll do my best."
"Well, let's go." As Lizzie dashed inside the stadium, Matt began to follow when Jordan's extended arm stopped him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm an ex-member of the Elite Four; I can get us some better seats." Jordan smirked.
"Seriously?"
Jordan continued smiling. He then lead Matt to an area inside the arena towards an elevator. He pulled out some card and gave it a small swipe on a security lock. The elevator opened as both Jordan and Matt stepped inside.
"Wow, even the elevator's all classy." Matt commented as he and Squirtle awed at some of the artwork inside of it. It was mostly a classic masterpiece of cherubs, including some other bizarre-looking creatures that Matt had never seen before.
As the elevator reached the top floor, Matt and Jordan stepped out; the battle arena could be seen from possibly the highest view possible. The room had minimal lighting, with the only light coming from outdoors. The floors were tiled, and the far end walls were darkly painted, with a table full of refreshments. On the opposite side of the room, surrounding walls were made entirely out of class; the complete battlefield could be visible from there.
"Long time no see!" Jordan greeted upon entering the room..
"Hey there!" One of the three with short brown hair, a burgandy sweatshirt with blue jeans greeted Jordan and shook his hand.
"It's been a while, Hans." He then turned his attention to another person with short black hair wearing a white t-shirt and blue shorts. "Paul! How've you been!" he shook his hand as well. He quickly turned his attention towards the last one there, his head completely covered with a bandana. He wore a black leather jacket with blue jeans. "Simon! It's been way too long."
"I've hated it here since you left, man," Simon complained, "Lilaine's been a real...well, I really shouldn't say it, but, she's just so serious!"
Hans nodded. "I mean, it's nice having a girl around, if you know what I mean, but she just won't talk to us! If you even look at her the wrong way she'll treat you as if you've killed your own mother!"
"Hey, who's that?" Paul pointed to Matt.
Jordan looked at Matt. "This was a traveling partner of mine. We met outside of Cerulean City. His name's Matt."
Matt put down Squirtle and shook all of their hands. "Nice to meet you, I guess."
"Hey! I saw you fighting that Randy-kid!" Paul blurted. "What were you thinking sending out Onix against that Rhydon?!"
"Well, hey! It's not like I had any other choice! You saw how my Squirtle got completely wiped out, and my Bulbasaur wasn't even with me! Not to mention my Pikachu and Zubat wouldn't have had any sort of chance against it; what did you expect me to do?!"
"Don't get upset, I like how you took the time to think. It's very hard to toss a Rhydon that high into the air like your Onix did. You still won, and I suppose that's important," Hans replied.
"And how could you not bring a grass type with you, since you already had one? You should know that by now," Simon muttered.
Matt looked at the three of them and became angry. "You all talk as if I'm just some rookie with beginner's luck!"
Jordan stepped in between them. "Don't fight. Leave that to the match outdoors."
Matt walked over towards far windows and looked out at the battlefield. "It was a mistake to bring me here; Jordan. I think I'll go back down."
"No, you're not leaving. Here, go sit down, help yourself to some refreshments if you like." Jordan offered.
Matt completely stood still, watching as Lizzie's match was about to begin.
"He's worse than Lilaine..." Simon whispered into Jordan's ear.
"Knock it off. Neither of you had any right to talk to him that way. How about when you were that age? In the heat of battle with only one Pokémon left to use. Haven't you stopped to think that he may have been nervous? I think that he made the right move with what he did." Jordan turned around and took a seat, watching the battle.
Matt eventually backed away from the window and sat down in an empty seat beside Jordan, placing the Squirtle on his lap. The other three eventually sat down, watching how Lizzie's battle would turn out.
Not a lot of noise managed to get through the glass, as Matt was watching the battle go on. He noticed the crowd was cheering at their usual loudest, but only managed to hear a fraction of the actual sound.
Simon laughed. "Sending out a Vileplume against a Vulpix? That's a stupid thing to do."
"No, not really." Matt turned his to Simon and replied, "Maybe she's a bug Pokémon trainer."
Simon shrugged. "It's possible. But it's never a good idea to stick with only one type of Pokémon."
Matt watched as the battle went on. He looked closer as Vileplume had been completely knocked out after two Flamethrower attacks. Both he and Jordan applauded.
The trainer then released a stoud, brown-furred Pokémon with large buck-teeth. Matt couldn't make much more out of it, due to their current altitude from the battlefield. It along with Vulpix began to do battle.
Paul nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think that Vulpix still has the advantage over that thing. Unless the Raticate can get out a Hyper Fang on it, it's pretty much useless."
However, a rapid attack from the Raticate managed to take out most of Vulpix's strength, as Lizzie was forced to draw it back. Lizzie then released Sandshrew from her Pokéball as Hans and Paul both laughed.
"That Raticate is as good as gone," Hans replied, laughing. Paul also laughed, shaking his head as if he was embarrassed.
Matt angrily glared at both Hans and Paul. "You know, it's not polite to laugh."
Jordan whispered quietly into Matt's ear. "Don't bother trying to get involved with them; they'll laugh at pretty much any decision a trainer makes. I also don't want you getting into trouble here, so from now on just sit back and be quiet."
When Matt looked back at the match, just in time to see the fallen Raticate being pulled back into the Pokéball, as Lizzie was one more knock-out away from victory.
The trainer released her last Pokéball, as a Butterfree was released. All three of the trainers in the dome laughed and clapped a few times, as if a very amusing joke was told.
"How did this trainer get to the second round?!" Paul began bang his hand on his knees as Simon started to choke and began to cough, both from laughing so hard. Hans continued to laugh as the final battle was about to begin.
"Butterfree is half flying, half bug," Matt commented. "Flying has an advantage over ground."
Both the two Pokémon on the field began to dash around back and forth, trying various pysical and special attacks, however, Lizzie came out to be the victor as Matt and Jordan applauded.
Hans took a sip of a drink. He then snickered. "I can't believe how pathetic that was. What an easy win."
Matt quickly shot up and walked towards the elevator, frustrated at their rude comments and attitude towards other trainers. "Jordan, I'll see you downstairs." He walked inside and pressed a button. Right away, the two doors opened, as Matt entered, with Squirtle behind him. The door then closed, and Matt was gone.
Hans looked around. "What did I say?"
Jordan cleared his throat and stood up. "You guys have gotten rude. That girl who just won was one of his friends."
"Oh come on, even he knows that it was pure luck that she won," Paul replied.
"That's not the point."
"But he is right..." a voice called from the doorway behind them, right behind the table of refreshments. The woman had long, black hair with a sleeveless navy blue shirt, and tight black pants. "She only won because the other trainer was careless; as you were in our fight recently. Do you remember, Jordan?"
Jordan stood up and faced her. "I wasn't careless, Lilaine, you proved out to beat me."
"Really? Then explain about how I won four of the six matches in our battle?" Lilaine asked calmly, and somewhat mockingly, brushing her hands through her hair.
Jordan shrugged. "I don't know why. You just...proved to be the better trainer."
Lilaine smirked. "It was very gutsy of you to admit that, Jordan." She turned around and walked towards the doorway from which she entered the room. She then turned and looked at Jordan. "You all know that I am the ultimate Pokémon Master. Nobody will ever be able to face up to me." With that, she opened the door, and entered the room, closing it behind her.
Jordan had an angered look on her face. "I never did like her. I hope that one day somebody beats her, and beats her badly."
TO BE CONTINUED.
