The Young Master's Quest Ch. 12: Izzy VS. Ash
"We will now have the final match. Will everyone please leave the field." The announcer said. Everyone left to wait in the waiting room.
Inside the room, Izzy, Jessie, and James went to the healing machine to heal their pokémon. They put their poké balls in the machine. The poké balls started to flash a rainbow of colors and after a ding, their pokémon were fully healed. Ash had to ask the stadium's Nurse Joy to heal Pikachu.
"The field change is complete. Will the referee please take his place." The announcer said through an intercom. One of the referees from the last match stood up & walked back outside to the field.
"Well ladies & gentlemen, it's time for the final match!" The announcer said. "Presenting eastern division champ, Izzy!" The crowd on one side of the stadium was chanting, "Izzy! Izzy! He's our man! If he can't do it, nobody can!" Izzy came out & waved at the crowd. A couple of girls fainted.
"I hope Ash destroys him!" Brock said through gritted teeth.
"Jealous are we?" Misty teased.
"Hmph!" Brock said, folding his arms.
"And now, western division champ, Ash!" The announcer continued. The other side of the stadium chanted "One, two, three, four! Who do we appreciate? Ash! Ash! Gooooooooooo Ash!" Ash then came out & faced Izzy on the field. The crowd's cheers & chants turned to quiet whispers as the competitors stared at each other.
'I haven't battled Izzy before. I hope I win.' Ash thought.
'Ash, please prove yourself worthy of battling me in a gym match.' Izzy thought. 'Though it may mean my first loss, I will get my revenge when we battle in Platinum City.'
"Begin!" The ref yelled.
"Go! Dragon King!" Izzy yelled as he tossed the silver master ball. Dragon King appeared.
"Go! Pikachu!" Ash said.
"Pi kaaa!" Pikachu yelled as it ran into the field.
"Dragon King! Take to the sky!" Izzy ordered. Dragon King took off like a jet & flew into the air.
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered. Pikachu fired its attack at Dragon King.
"Quick Dragon King! Use your Ice Beam!" Izzy called out.
"Roooaaaar!" Dragon King roared as he fired an Ice Beam at Pikachu. Both attacks collided, creating an impressive light show. The crowd cheered at the spectacle.
'Pikachu shouldn't be able to fight against Dragon King's attack. He must be holding back.' Izzy thought, then said, "Come on Dragon King! More power! Don't hold back!" Dragon King did as he was told & intensified his attack.
"Hang on Pikachu! You can do it!" Ash said, but Pikachu was struggling against the force of the Ice Beam.
After a few minutes of this display of power, Dragon King's Ice Beam started to freeze Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Pikachu tried to hang on for a little longer, but the attack was too strong & Pikachu lost control. The Ice Beam froze the entire Thunderbolt & sped, full blast, towards Pikachu.
"Pikachu! Dodge it!" Ash ordered.
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said as it ran. Dragon King's Ice Beam missed Pikachu by a hair & made a small stand, which held up the frozen Thunderbolt.
"Wow! That giant ice block looks like a thunder stone! What does this mean for our competitors?" The announcer said.
'Hmmmmmmm… I wonder… Nah!' Ash thought as he was contemplating the possibility of Pikachu evolving by touching the giant 'thunder stone.'
"Dragon King! Fire a Hyper Beam at that ice block!" Izzy ordered. Dragon King started to charge energy & then fired the hyper beam at the block. Within seconds, the ice block exploded & the stray lightning from Pikachu's attack flew up to the sky and disappeared. Snow started to fall.
"Snow? In September?" Ash asked himself.
'I always wanted to have it snow on my birthday.' Izzy thought. 'I wonder, how come I've never made Ice Master use its blizzard attack before? Oh well.'
(A/N: You'll meet Ice Master later in the story. Try to guess which pokémon it is.)
"Now that there's more room to battle. Pikachu! Agility!" Ash ordered. Pikachu started to speed around the field. All anyone can see is a yellow blur zigzagging around.
"Oh, you think you're speedy, huh? Dragon King! Ice beam!" Izzy ordered. Dragon King fired a chilly Ice Beam at Pikachu. It missed & it made an icy spot on the field.
"Ha! It missed!" Ash gloated.
"Who said I was aiming for Pikachu?" Izzy asked. "Keep firing, Dragon King!" Dragon King obeyed him & started to shoot his Ice Beam at random spots all over the field. Pikachu was able to dodge every shot.
When there was one spot of unfrozen turf left, Pikachu couldn't run anywhere without slipping on the ice.
"Anybody want a pika-sicle?" Izzy teased.
"That's not funny!" Ash yelled.
"No, but this will be. Dragon King! Finish it!" Izzy commanded. Dragon King charged up the attack & fired.
"Pikachu! Jump!" Ash yelled. Pikachu jumped up just as the Ice Beam froze the last spot.
"Dragon King! Slam!" Izzy said. Dragon King charged at full speed towards Pikachu.
"Pikachu!" Ash started. "Jump again!"
"Again?" Izzy asked, confused by the trainer's order.
Pikachu used a double jump & landed on Dragon King just as he flew under it.
"Dragon King! Don't give Pikachu a piggy back ride! Get it off you!" Izzy ordered.
The audience laughed as Dragon King sped all over the field in an effort to knock Pikachu off. It did barrel rolls and went into a few dizzying dives, but all methods failed. The audience clapped when they saw that Pikachu stayed clung to Dragon King.
"Enough of this. Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled.
"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaachuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Pikachu used its attack. Dragon King roared in pain.
"Time to fight fire with fire. Dragon King! Fight back with your Thunder attack!" Izzy said.
"What!?" Ash said. "A Thunder attack?"
"Ro ahhhhhh!!!!!" Dragon King's horn sparked & he used his attack. Soon, both attacks ended and both pokémon started to fall towards the ground.
'There must be a way to end this.' Izzy thought. He looked at the field & noticed the line marking out of bounds and got an idea.
"Dragon King! Use your Slam attack to knock Pikachu out of the field!" He ordered. Dragon King maintained his balance & flew towards Pikachu to deliver the final blow.
'I gotta do something or we'll lose!' Ash thought, then blurted out, "Pikachu! Thunder attack!"
"Pika," Pikachu weakly started just as Dragon King bashed right into it. "Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"
Dragon King got shocked & Pikachu got slammed. They both fell, unconscious, to the ground.
When they landed. Izzy felt as if a jolt of lightning had struck him.
'What's this feeling? I've never felt this way before. Dragon King, my strongest fun pokémon, has fallen to a pikachu. I feel empty. One of my pokémon lost! No. This can't be happening.' He felt a tear drip out from his eyes & down his cheeks.
Everyone was quiet as they waited to see which pokémon will get up. Neither of them did.
"Dragon King & Pikachu are both out of the match! This battle is a draw!" The referee yelled.
"This is amazing! For the 1st time ever, we have two champions, Ash & Izzy!" The announcer said. The crowd was hushed as the two trainers ran to their pokémon.
"Poor Dragon King. I'm so sorry for putting you through this." Izzy said as he was fighting back his tears.
"Pikachu. I'm proud of you. Get some rest." Ash said.
There came a lone clap from the crowd. Ash & Izzy looked up and around for the source of the sound. They saw someone standing. It was Misty. Another person stood up & started clapping. Then another & another until the entire stadium was standing and cheering for Ash & Izzy. Both trainers looked around themselves & then at each other. Their faces showed both anger & happiness. They then shook hands.
"Good match." Ash said.
"Same to you." Izzy said.
'That was my first tie.' He thought. 'Ash, I consider you worthy of battling me for the Jeweled Crown Badge.'
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"And now, we will present the winners of the tournament." The announcer said. "Since we have two champions, they will share the first place prize, Josephine will get the second place prize, and Jack will get the third place prize!"
"Did ya hear that!?" Meowth asked in the waiting room.
"We get the porygon…" Jessie started.
"And we get the years supply of pokémon food." James finished.
"Well, what are ya waitin' fer!? Go git ya prizes!" Meowth ordered as he pushed Jessie & James out into the field. They walked to the podium, collected their prizes, and ran away.
"Ok. We got da goods. Now let's git on with da plan." Meowth said.
"Right." Jessie & James said as they took off their costumes & were once again in their Team Rocket uniforms.
"Will the champions please get their prizes." The announcer said. Ash & Izzy, who were tending to their pokémon, went to accept their prizes.
"Here are your trophies." The organizer said as he handed them their gold trophies. They were a gold cup with a handle on each side and a gold poké ball on top. "Now which prize do you want?"
"I'll take the free dinner." Izzy said immediately.
"I guess I'll take the money then." Ash said. The festival organizer handed the trainers their prizes.
"That's it for the tournament we hope to see you next year." The announcer said. Everyone started to leave, except for Ash & pals.
"That match was amazing!" Misty said.
"Yeah. Thanks for getting the entire stadium to cheer for us." Ash said.
"Oh. You noticed." Misty blushed.
"Well, let's go to the pokémon center." Izzy said as he was holding up Dragon King's master ball.
"Hold it!" A familiar voice yelled.
"Is that who I think it is?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah." Brock sighed. Everyone looked up and saw the meowth balloon.
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A/N:
How will Team Rocket battle our heroes? Will they actually win for once? What will become of the porygon they won? Find out in the next chapter of The Young Master's Quest!