"Chapter 9: Last Resort"
"I...I don't believe it!" Gary said, obviously shocked at the appearance of Ash's final Pokémon. Everyone else in the audience had an equal amount of shock....well, almost everyone.
"I knew it would come to this," Professor Oak said.
"Mew!" Ash's Pokémon said as it floated in the air before Dragonite at centerfield.
"You never told us you had a Mew," Misty said, still in a little bit of awe herself.
"I didn't tell anyone except Professor Oak," Ash explained. "It was going to be my top-secret weapon for the Masters Tournament finals."
"How long have you had it?" Brock asked.
"About seven months now," said Ash. "It was weird. I was training in the forest and it just appeared before me. I was so in awe of it, I hardly knew what to do. Finally I attempted to capture it, but it soundly beat all my Pokémon. Then, strangely, it seemed like it wanted to be with me. It let me capture it. I've been training it hard ever since, waiting for this day. Now it's here."
"I've seen many things in my years covering this tournament," the announcer said, "but this takes the cake. Ash Ketchum has sent out a Mew, one of the rarest Pokémon on Earth. I take back what I said. I think he might have a chance at a comeback."
"I don't know how you managed to get your hands on a Mew," Damon said, "but you're still not going to win this. I still have all three of my Pokémon left. There's no way you can beat them all with only one Pokémon, no matter what it is."
"We'll see about that," Ash said with a chuckle, his confidence now fully restored.
"Dragonite, Thunderbolt!" Damon shouted. Damon's Pokémon attacked again with its electric-based attack, sending it straight at Ash's Mew. Mew surrounded itself with a pink bubble, protecting it from the oncoming blast. The electric attack collided with the bubble, then simply fizzled out.
"Try a Fire Blast!" Damon said with a bit of desperation growing in his voice. Dragonite once again used the powerful Fire attack. Mew quickly floated around in a circle and the Fire Blast flew by it, missing completely. Mew gleefully laughed at its acrobatic move.
"My turn," Ash said. "Mew, Confusion!"
Mew floated closer to Dragonite and fired a beam of multi-colored light from its eyes at its opponent. The Psychic-type attack hit home, leaving Dragonite slightly dazed. It wobbled about, walking around in circles and trying to maintain balance.
"Shake it off!" Damon yelled. "Try a Water Gun attack!"
The confused Dragonite let loose with the Water Gun but missed badly as the stream of water flew straight up into the air. Mew quickly took position to attack again.
"Psychic blast!" Ash ordered. "Take it down for good!"
Mew summoned forth all the Psychic energy from all around it, forming a bubble of energy that surrounded its body. With a loud cry of "Mew!" it released the energy and the Psychic attack flew towards the stumbling Dragonite. The powerful purple energy wave was right on target, causing the large Dragon-type to be sent soaring through the air before hit the ground again hard. It lay there on its stomach, disoriented and extremely low on energy. As it tried to raise its head, its last energy reserves ran dry and it fainted.
"Dragonite has been defeated!" the referee shouted.
"Wow, I don't believe my eyes!" the announcer exclaimed. "Just like that, Dragonite goes down and Ash is right back in this!"
"No, it's not possible," Damon said in a state of disbelief. Ash felt a great weight lift off his shoulders with that victory. He knew he still had a chance. He knew Mew could do this. Damon knelt down on one knee and recalled Dragonite. After a few seconds, he stood back up and took out his next PokéBall, trying to remain calm. He reassured himself that he still had the advantage and the match was still his.
"Go, Crawdaunt!" he said tossing his next PokéBall out onto the battlefield. Emerging from it was a Crawdaunt. It scurried before the still hovering Mew at the center of the arena, snapping its large claws to signal it was ready to begin the battle.
"Damon is now going with a Crawdaunt," the announcer said. "Now that Mew is at a severe disadvantage to this Water and Dark type Pokémon, it looks again like Ash Ketchum's great run in this tournament might be nearing its end."
"Crawdaunt is part Dark type," Brock said. "Mew's psychic attacks aren't going to affect it. Be careful, Ash."
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Ash said. "Mew, Transform!"
Mew began to glow brightly before its form began to shift to that of a Crawdaunt. After a few seconds it completed its transformation. Mew was now an exact copy of Damon's Pokémon.
"It transformed!" May exclaimed.
"I didn't know it could do that," a very impressed Gary said.
"Thanks to Ash, the world now knows a great deal more about Mew," Professor Oak said. "I hope to share the information I have learned about it with the world shortly."
"A nice strategy, Ash," Damon said. "However, I doubt you have any experience with a Crawdaunt. I'm afraid you're not going to win this one."
"I know more than you think," Ash called back. "Maybe you should be the one who goes first this time. It only seems fair."
"Hey, as you wish," said Damon. "Crawdaunt, Bubblebeam!"
Damon's Crawdaunt fired its attack at the transformed Mew. Ash's Pokémon put its newly gained claws in front of its body, trying to shield itself from the barrage of bubbles. After several seconds of using Bubblebeam, Crawdaunt ceased the attack, and Mew lowered its pincers, showing no signs of being affected by the blast of bubbles.
"My turn," Ash said. "Mew, use your Crabhammer attack!"
Mew dashed forward with its crab-like legs towards its opponent, its claws ready for a bashing.
"Stop it dead in its tracks," Damon ordered. His Pokémon lifted its own claws as Mew arrived and brought its claws down upon Damon's Pokémon. Crawdaunt's pincers caught the powerful pincers of Mew and tried to hold them up. Mew squeezed hard, trying to wear down its foe. Crawdaunt wasn't giving in.
"Dark Crush!" Damon ordered. A black-colored energy began to emanate from Crawdaunt's claws right into Mew's. The energy started to immobilize Mew as it slowly lost its grip on its opponent. Crawdaunt backed off as it could tell Mew was now helpless and immobilized. It awaited Damon to order his next move.
"Mew, do something!" Ash shouted. "Move!"
Mew struggled to move even an inch as the dark energy still had its grip over it, severely restricting its movement. Damon could sense it was almost over.
"Finish it off with a Crabhammer of your own!" he commanded.
Crawdaunt raised its massive claw high into the air above Mew. The transformed Psychic-type could only helplessly look up at the giant claw hanging high above its head.
"Please Mew!" Ash shouted in desperation. "You've got to move!"
Mew searched inside for all the strength it could find as Crawdaunt began to unleash its Crabhammer down upon it. With one swift move, Mew leapt up into the air, hitting Crawdaunt's claw as it went. The sudden move left Crawdaunt spinning in place as Mew rose into the air above its foe.
"Alright!" Ash shouted in joy. "Give it one final Crabhammer!"
As Mew began to fall back to earth, right overtop of Crawdaunt, it pointed its two huge claws down. Damon's Pokémon looked up to see Mew coming right down on top of it, its two power pincers leading the way. The claws of Mew smashed into Crawdaunt's head, knocking it for an instant loop. It stumbled around for a few seconds before fainting. Mew landed back on the ground and transformed itself back into its more familiar form.
"No!" Damon shouted.
"The comeback continues!" the announcer yelled. "Mew has scored an impressive KO of Damon's Crawdaunt! It all comes down to Damon's last Pokémon, so he better make sure it's something that can handle the, so far, unstoppable Mew!"
"Well Ash," Damon said, "I've got to hand it to you. You are more than a worthy opponent for me. However, I'm afraid it ends here for you. Go, Alakazam!"
Damon tossed out his third and final PokéBall, which opened to reveal the powerful Psychic-type, Alakazam. He knew Mew was a more powerful Psychic Pokémon, but he was hoping he had worn it down enough for his Alakzam to finish it off.
"Damon has a chosen an Alakazam," said the announcer. "It all comes down to a battle of the minds as these two Psychic-types square off to determine who moves on to the semi-finals and who goes home disappointed."
"You ready to decide this thing, Ash?" Damon called out to his opponent.
"Bring it on," Ash said confidently.
"Alakazam, let's use our strategy," Damon said.
"Alakazam," his Pokémon said. Alakazam closed its eyes, and in a flash, disappeared from sight.
"It used Teleport," Brock said.
"Great, now it could be anywhere," said Ash. "Mew, stay on guard!"
"Mew?" the small Psychic-type said, as it floated around in circles trying to locate where Alakazam was going to reappear. Without warning, it appeared behind Mew and gave it a Thunderpunch right in the backside. Mew, a little shocked, quickly turned around to face its opponent, but when it did Alakazam was already gone. It had Teleported away again.
"This is not good," Ash said. Seconds later Alakazam once again reappeared behind Mew, this time striking it with an Ice Punch. Once more, it used Teleport to escape before Mew could retaliate.
"Come on, Mew!" Ash shouted. "Don't just float there and take it! Concentrate and try to sense when it's going to appear again."
Mew closed its eyes and continued to float in midair at centerfield. Its ears focussed in on the sounds around it. It hovered there, waiting for the familiar sound of a Teleport....there. Mew heard the sound from behind it as Alakazam appeared from out of nowhere and prepared to attack with a Fire Punch. Mew opened its eyes and quickly Teleported itself away from the oncoming attack, as Alakazam swung and miss with the Fire-based punch. Mew instantly came back into sight behind Alakazam, and began charging up its psychic powers.
"Alakazam, behind you!" Damon shouted. His Pokémon spun around to see the image of a large wave of psychic energy being blasted straight at it. There wasn't time to Teleport away as the powerful Psychic blast connected with Alakazam, sending it flying backwards. The stunned Psi Pokémon slowly got back to its feet and was left wondering what just hit it.
"Shake it off, Alakazam," Damon said. "We're not going to back down that easily. Show 'em your psychic powers!"
Alakazam raised its two spoons in front of its body and began to generate a purple-colored ball of psychic energy in front of itself. Mew hovered in the air several meters away, waiting to see what its opponent would do next.
"Mew, watch out!" Ash shouted. Alakazam pushed forward the ball of energy and it surged straight towards Mew, who continued to float there in midair. It watched as the Psychic attack screamed towards it, and just as it was about to hit, Mew surrounded itself with its familiar pink bubble and deflected the blast right back at Alakazam.
"No, get out of there!" Damon shouted at his Pokémon as he saw what was about to happen. However, there was no time to react as the mass of deflected energy was flying too fast for Alakazam to escape. It was a direct hit as Alakazam's own attack sailed into its chest area and the intelligent Psychic-type was sent down to the ground. Alakazam lifted one of its spoons into the air to signal it was still able to fight, but its energy ran out and its arm fell back to the field. The spoon fell out of its grip. The match was over.
"Alakazam has been defeated," the referee said. "The winner of this Round 5 match is Ash Ketchum!"
"He's done it!" yelled the announcer. "In one of the most remarkable comebacks I have ever seen in all my years of covering this tournament, Ash Ketchum and his Mew have knocked last year's finalist Damon Zenrai out of the Masters Tournament competition!"
Ash breathed a huge sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. Mew flew over to him and danced around in the air with delight over its victory.
"Good job," Ash said, pulling out Mew's PokéBall and recalling it. "You're going to be my ticket to the championship."
Damon walked over to Ash's side of the battlefield. He was disappointed he had lost, but still, he had a smile on his face. He offered his hand for Ash to shake, and for the first time in several rounds, Ash took it and shook hands with his opponent.
"You're a great trainer, Ash," Damon said. "You battle with honor, and I respect that. I can tell you're not going to go down easy in this competition."
"It's my ultimate goal to win," Ash said. "Right now, there's nothing in the world that's as important. I'm going to give it all I've got to come out on top."
"That was a great battle," Brock said, giving Ash as well-deserved pat on the back.
"Yeah, good job sweetie," Misty said, though still a little worried by Ash's comments. She could tell his determination to win this tournament was slowly taking him over with each passing round. She wondered just how far this would go, but hoped she wouldn't have to find out.
"Don't congratulate me just yet," Ash said. "There's still two more rounds to go."
Ash looked up into the stands at his family and friends continuing to cheer for this triumphant victory. Specifically, he was looking at his friend Richie.
"I've got a feeling my toughest challenge is yet to come," he said.
"I...I don't believe it!" Gary said, obviously shocked at the appearance of Ash's final Pokémon. Everyone else in the audience had an equal amount of shock....well, almost everyone.
"I knew it would come to this," Professor Oak said.
"Mew!" Ash's Pokémon said as it floated in the air before Dragonite at centerfield.
"You never told us you had a Mew," Misty said, still in a little bit of awe herself.
"I didn't tell anyone except Professor Oak," Ash explained. "It was going to be my top-secret weapon for the Masters Tournament finals."
"How long have you had it?" Brock asked.
"About seven months now," said Ash. "It was weird. I was training in the forest and it just appeared before me. I was so in awe of it, I hardly knew what to do. Finally I attempted to capture it, but it soundly beat all my Pokémon. Then, strangely, it seemed like it wanted to be with me. It let me capture it. I've been training it hard ever since, waiting for this day. Now it's here."
"I've seen many things in my years covering this tournament," the announcer said, "but this takes the cake. Ash Ketchum has sent out a Mew, one of the rarest Pokémon on Earth. I take back what I said. I think he might have a chance at a comeback."
"I don't know how you managed to get your hands on a Mew," Damon said, "but you're still not going to win this. I still have all three of my Pokémon left. There's no way you can beat them all with only one Pokémon, no matter what it is."
"We'll see about that," Ash said with a chuckle, his confidence now fully restored.
"Dragonite, Thunderbolt!" Damon shouted. Damon's Pokémon attacked again with its electric-based attack, sending it straight at Ash's Mew. Mew surrounded itself with a pink bubble, protecting it from the oncoming blast. The electric attack collided with the bubble, then simply fizzled out.
"Try a Fire Blast!" Damon said with a bit of desperation growing in his voice. Dragonite once again used the powerful Fire attack. Mew quickly floated around in a circle and the Fire Blast flew by it, missing completely. Mew gleefully laughed at its acrobatic move.
"My turn," Ash said. "Mew, Confusion!"
Mew floated closer to Dragonite and fired a beam of multi-colored light from its eyes at its opponent. The Psychic-type attack hit home, leaving Dragonite slightly dazed. It wobbled about, walking around in circles and trying to maintain balance.
"Shake it off!" Damon yelled. "Try a Water Gun attack!"
The confused Dragonite let loose with the Water Gun but missed badly as the stream of water flew straight up into the air. Mew quickly took position to attack again.
"Psychic blast!" Ash ordered. "Take it down for good!"
Mew summoned forth all the Psychic energy from all around it, forming a bubble of energy that surrounded its body. With a loud cry of "Mew!" it released the energy and the Psychic attack flew towards the stumbling Dragonite. The powerful purple energy wave was right on target, causing the large Dragon-type to be sent soaring through the air before hit the ground again hard. It lay there on its stomach, disoriented and extremely low on energy. As it tried to raise its head, its last energy reserves ran dry and it fainted.
"Dragonite has been defeated!" the referee shouted.
"Wow, I don't believe my eyes!" the announcer exclaimed. "Just like that, Dragonite goes down and Ash is right back in this!"
"No, it's not possible," Damon said in a state of disbelief. Ash felt a great weight lift off his shoulders with that victory. He knew he still had a chance. He knew Mew could do this. Damon knelt down on one knee and recalled Dragonite. After a few seconds, he stood back up and took out his next PokéBall, trying to remain calm. He reassured himself that he still had the advantage and the match was still his.
"Go, Crawdaunt!" he said tossing his next PokéBall out onto the battlefield. Emerging from it was a Crawdaunt. It scurried before the still hovering Mew at the center of the arena, snapping its large claws to signal it was ready to begin the battle.
"Damon is now going with a Crawdaunt," the announcer said. "Now that Mew is at a severe disadvantage to this Water and Dark type Pokémon, it looks again like Ash Ketchum's great run in this tournament might be nearing its end."
"Crawdaunt is part Dark type," Brock said. "Mew's psychic attacks aren't going to affect it. Be careful, Ash."
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Ash said. "Mew, Transform!"
Mew began to glow brightly before its form began to shift to that of a Crawdaunt. After a few seconds it completed its transformation. Mew was now an exact copy of Damon's Pokémon.
"It transformed!" May exclaimed.
"I didn't know it could do that," a very impressed Gary said.
"Thanks to Ash, the world now knows a great deal more about Mew," Professor Oak said. "I hope to share the information I have learned about it with the world shortly."
"A nice strategy, Ash," Damon said. "However, I doubt you have any experience with a Crawdaunt. I'm afraid you're not going to win this one."
"I know more than you think," Ash called back. "Maybe you should be the one who goes first this time. It only seems fair."
"Hey, as you wish," said Damon. "Crawdaunt, Bubblebeam!"
Damon's Crawdaunt fired its attack at the transformed Mew. Ash's Pokémon put its newly gained claws in front of its body, trying to shield itself from the barrage of bubbles. After several seconds of using Bubblebeam, Crawdaunt ceased the attack, and Mew lowered its pincers, showing no signs of being affected by the blast of bubbles.
"My turn," Ash said. "Mew, use your Crabhammer attack!"
Mew dashed forward with its crab-like legs towards its opponent, its claws ready for a bashing.
"Stop it dead in its tracks," Damon ordered. His Pokémon lifted its own claws as Mew arrived and brought its claws down upon Damon's Pokémon. Crawdaunt's pincers caught the powerful pincers of Mew and tried to hold them up. Mew squeezed hard, trying to wear down its foe. Crawdaunt wasn't giving in.
"Dark Crush!" Damon ordered. A black-colored energy began to emanate from Crawdaunt's claws right into Mew's. The energy started to immobilize Mew as it slowly lost its grip on its opponent. Crawdaunt backed off as it could tell Mew was now helpless and immobilized. It awaited Damon to order his next move.
"Mew, do something!" Ash shouted. "Move!"
Mew struggled to move even an inch as the dark energy still had its grip over it, severely restricting its movement. Damon could sense it was almost over.
"Finish it off with a Crabhammer of your own!" he commanded.
Crawdaunt raised its massive claw high into the air above Mew. The transformed Psychic-type could only helplessly look up at the giant claw hanging high above its head.
"Please Mew!" Ash shouted in desperation. "You've got to move!"
Mew searched inside for all the strength it could find as Crawdaunt began to unleash its Crabhammer down upon it. With one swift move, Mew leapt up into the air, hitting Crawdaunt's claw as it went. The sudden move left Crawdaunt spinning in place as Mew rose into the air above its foe.
"Alright!" Ash shouted in joy. "Give it one final Crabhammer!"
As Mew began to fall back to earth, right overtop of Crawdaunt, it pointed its two huge claws down. Damon's Pokémon looked up to see Mew coming right down on top of it, its two power pincers leading the way. The claws of Mew smashed into Crawdaunt's head, knocking it for an instant loop. It stumbled around for a few seconds before fainting. Mew landed back on the ground and transformed itself back into its more familiar form.
"No!" Damon shouted.
"The comeback continues!" the announcer yelled. "Mew has scored an impressive KO of Damon's Crawdaunt! It all comes down to Damon's last Pokémon, so he better make sure it's something that can handle the, so far, unstoppable Mew!"
"Well Ash," Damon said, "I've got to hand it to you. You are more than a worthy opponent for me. However, I'm afraid it ends here for you. Go, Alakazam!"
Damon tossed out his third and final PokéBall, which opened to reveal the powerful Psychic-type, Alakazam. He knew Mew was a more powerful Psychic Pokémon, but he was hoping he had worn it down enough for his Alakzam to finish it off.
"Damon has a chosen an Alakazam," said the announcer. "It all comes down to a battle of the minds as these two Psychic-types square off to determine who moves on to the semi-finals and who goes home disappointed."
"You ready to decide this thing, Ash?" Damon called out to his opponent.
"Bring it on," Ash said confidently.
"Alakazam, let's use our strategy," Damon said.
"Alakazam," his Pokémon said. Alakazam closed its eyes, and in a flash, disappeared from sight.
"It used Teleport," Brock said.
"Great, now it could be anywhere," said Ash. "Mew, stay on guard!"
"Mew?" the small Psychic-type said, as it floated around in circles trying to locate where Alakazam was going to reappear. Without warning, it appeared behind Mew and gave it a Thunderpunch right in the backside. Mew, a little shocked, quickly turned around to face its opponent, but when it did Alakazam was already gone. It had Teleported away again.
"This is not good," Ash said. Seconds later Alakazam once again reappeared behind Mew, this time striking it with an Ice Punch. Once more, it used Teleport to escape before Mew could retaliate.
"Come on, Mew!" Ash shouted. "Don't just float there and take it! Concentrate and try to sense when it's going to appear again."
Mew closed its eyes and continued to float in midair at centerfield. Its ears focussed in on the sounds around it. It hovered there, waiting for the familiar sound of a Teleport....there. Mew heard the sound from behind it as Alakazam appeared from out of nowhere and prepared to attack with a Fire Punch. Mew opened its eyes and quickly Teleported itself away from the oncoming attack, as Alakazam swung and miss with the Fire-based punch. Mew instantly came back into sight behind Alakazam, and began charging up its psychic powers.
"Alakazam, behind you!" Damon shouted. His Pokémon spun around to see the image of a large wave of psychic energy being blasted straight at it. There wasn't time to Teleport away as the powerful Psychic blast connected with Alakazam, sending it flying backwards. The stunned Psi Pokémon slowly got back to its feet and was left wondering what just hit it.
"Shake it off, Alakazam," Damon said. "We're not going to back down that easily. Show 'em your psychic powers!"
Alakazam raised its two spoons in front of its body and began to generate a purple-colored ball of psychic energy in front of itself. Mew hovered in the air several meters away, waiting to see what its opponent would do next.
"Mew, watch out!" Ash shouted. Alakazam pushed forward the ball of energy and it surged straight towards Mew, who continued to float there in midair. It watched as the Psychic attack screamed towards it, and just as it was about to hit, Mew surrounded itself with its familiar pink bubble and deflected the blast right back at Alakazam.
"No, get out of there!" Damon shouted at his Pokémon as he saw what was about to happen. However, there was no time to react as the mass of deflected energy was flying too fast for Alakazam to escape. It was a direct hit as Alakazam's own attack sailed into its chest area and the intelligent Psychic-type was sent down to the ground. Alakazam lifted one of its spoons into the air to signal it was still able to fight, but its energy ran out and its arm fell back to the field. The spoon fell out of its grip. The match was over.
"Alakazam has been defeated," the referee said. "The winner of this Round 5 match is Ash Ketchum!"
"He's done it!" yelled the announcer. "In one of the most remarkable comebacks I have ever seen in all my years of covering this tournament, Ash Ketchum and his Mew have knocked last year's finalist Damon Zenrai out of the Masters Tournament competition!"
Ash breathed a huge sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. Mew flew over to him and danced around in the air with delight over its victory.
"Good job," Ash said, pulling out Mew's PokéBall and recalling it. "You're going to be my ticket to the championship."
Damon walked over to Ash's side of the battlefield. He was disappointed he had lost, but still, he had a smile on his face. He offered his hand for Ash to shake, and for the first time in several rounds, Ash took it and shook hands with his opponent.
"You're a great trainer, Ash," Damon said. "You battle with honor, and I respect that. I can tell you're not going to go down easy in this competition."
"It's my ultimate goal to win," Ash said. "Right now, there's nothing in the world that's as important. I'm going to give it all I've got to come out on top."
"That was a great battle," Brock said, giving Ash as well-deserved pat on the back.
"Yeah, good job sweetie," Misty said, though still a little worried by Ash's comments. She could tell his determination to win this tournament was slowly taking him over with each passing round. She wondered just how far this would go, but hoped she wouldn't have to find out.
"Don't congratulate me just yet," Ash said. "There's still two more rounds to go."
Ash looked up into the stands at his family and friends continuing to cheer for this triumphant victory. Specifically, he was looking at his friend Richie.
"I've got a feeling my toughest challenge is yet to come," he said.