Ash and company decide to spend the day touring Titian City and sampling some of what the city has to offer! Besides seeing the historical landmarks and the shops, the main drag also plays host to Performer's Square, where the group decides to put on a streetcorner serenade. But, Gary comes and challenges Ash to defeat his deck, a deck so full of legendaries that it puts even the Grand Masters to shame!
However, the group also meets up with an old friend...Ash and Misty reunite with Tracey while waiting to go into the arena for the second round...but before the three of them can reminisce about their adventures in the Orange Islands, the handsome Water Pokemon duelist Brian O'Leary challenges Misty!
Can Misty make a splash in the second round? Find out!
The Heart of the Cards, part 10: There Will Come Psychic Rains
Ash watched as Brian and Misty shuffled their decks, until a burning question crossed his mind. He gently gave Maya a nudge. "Uh, Maya?
"What is it, Ash? Something wrong?" Maya asked.
"No, I'm curious about something...do you have profiles on any of the duelists?" Ash wondered. "I'd really like to know so I can plan my deck accordingly."
"Why...yes, I do. Just a minute..." Maya got out her PokeNavi and turned it on. "Let's start by looking at Misty's opponent, Brian O'Leary." With that, she ran the search and waited as Brian's profile came on the screen.
"Well?" Ash asked.
"Pika pika pi?" Pikachu skittered onto Ash's shoulder, apparently fascinated by the flickering screen.
"What does it say? Just wait until Maya finishes loading it and we'll find out." Brock assured Pikachu.
"Here we go..." Maya cleared her throat and began to read the profile. "Brian is known as a great adventurer, and has traveled all over the world. His suave demeanor and friendly personality hide his true skill at the trading card game. His deck, Aqua Breeze, not only contains Water Pokemon, but also has Flying Pokemon too."
"Hmm..." Ash watched as Brian shuffled Misty's deck. "He looks pretty calm and relaxed up there..."
"He's not the type to brag. He's a good sport and treats his opponents respectfully." Maya explained.
Brock sighed. "I wish I could've dueled him....
---------
Meanwhile, Misty set up her play area. "Let's see...I have Horsea, Abra, and Psyduck ready to go...and Staryu for the arena..." she thought as she looked over her cards. "This shouldn't be TOO hard...I hope..." She glanced up at her stats-SAPPHIRE 3 3 53 4 170. and gave a content sigh. "I'm ready!"
"One moment...I'm still preparing." Brian called back as he organized his cards. Misty sighed and drummed her fingers on her platform as she waited for her opponent's stats to appear. Finally, the scoreboard updated with Brian's stats-RUBY 5 1 53 4 100 "Now, I'm ready to begin."
"Are both sides ready?" the ref asked. Both Brian and Misty nodded. "Okay...if heads, the challenger plays first." With that, the coin went up...
"170 to 100...that looks about even..." Brock noted as he made a scoreboard chart for himself.
"Here's hoping that Brian doesn't flatten Misty like Ken almost did to Brock..." Ash mused as he leaned back in his chair, watching the scoreboard.
"Actually, Brian prefers to wear the opponent down gradually instead of pounding away with sheer force." Maya assured Ash. "Sometimes, he'll talk with the opponent while they're dueling..." She was about to say more when the ref blew the whistle, signifying that Misty had won the toss.
"Here we go..." Brock sighed, readying his pencil to fill in his score chart...
"Go for it, Staryu!" Misty flipped up her active card, making a Staryu appear in the arena.
"Chinchou, go!" Brian comanded, flipping up his active card.
"Sapphire's turn!" the ref called.
Misty started by drawing Seel lv. 20. She added that to her bench, boosting her HP to 230, then attached a Water Energy to Staryu, ending her turn.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Chinchou, Confuse Ray!" Brian commanded.
The ref blew the whistle. "Coin toss! If heads, Sapphire is confused!"
Misty swallowed hard as the coin went up. "Ugh, I hate being confused..." she thought. She waited as the ref checked the coin, and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief as an X appeared on the scoreboard, signaling that it had come up tails!
"Whew..." Ash was also relieved.
"I know how annoying Confusion can be, too...especially if you end up knocking out yourself!" Maya giggled as she watched Brock write 'SAPPHIRE CONFUSE CHECK--NO' on his score/commentary sheet.
"Sapphire's turn!" the ref announced.
Misty attached another Water energy to Staryu. "Staryu, Swift attack!' she commanded. The Staryu hurled a barrage of stars at the Chinchou, making Brian's HP go down by 20.
"Ruby's turn!" the ref announced.
Brian first put a Spearow lv 10 on his Bench, boosting his HP to 110. "Chinchou, Sparkling Wave!" he commanded.
"Chin...CHOU!!!" The Chinchou sent a wave of sparkling water at the Staryu, knocking Misty down to 190.
"Sapphire's turn!"
Misty looked at her next card--Starmie lv. 28! She quickly overlaid the card on top of her Staryu, revealing a Starmie in its place and boosting her HP to 220. Next, she attached a third Water Energy to it. "Starmie, Bubblebeam!" she commanded.
"Coin toss!" the ref announced, getting everyone's attention. If heads, Ruby is paralyzed!"
"Not to mention knocked out, too..." Misty thought as the coin went up. She glanced at the scoreboard and smiled as an O appeared. "Okay, Starmie!" The Starmie sprayed rainbow bubbles everywhere, getting some people near the front wet! Brian's HP returned to 80.
"Sapphire, select a prize!" the referee announced as Misty's prizes appeared before her.
"Well, you're actually quite clever!" Brian smiled. "For my next Pokemon, I choose--Corphish!" With that, he laid a Corphish card down in the arena.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Corphish, Slash!" Brian commanded. The Corphish tried to slash Misty's Starmie, only to be blocked by a blue shield.
"Sapphire's turn!"
Misty attached a Psychic Energy card to her Abra, then returned to her Starmie. "Give'em another Bubblebeam!" she commanded, and another blast of rainbow bubbles went flying! Brian's HP went down to 50.
"Ruby's turn!"
Brian attached a Water Energy to Corphish. "Corphish, Toxic!" he commanded. The Corphish sent some purple goo on top of the Starmie, making Misty's HP go down by 10.
"Poison rule!" the ref announced. "Sapphire will be poisoned in three turns, unless the Pokemon is benched or knocked out!"
"You hear that?" Maya asked.
"Actually, Misty just might win..." Brock began.
"How so?" Ash leaned over to look at Brock's chart, interested.
"Look here..." Brock flipped to a clean page in his notebook and drew a rough sketch of the arena floor. "You know that the current matchup is Corphish versus Starmie, right?" he asked as he sketched a Corphish and a Starmie in the arena. The others nodded. "We've just been told that Starmie will be poisoned in three turns, unless it's knocked out..." and he drew a fainted Starmie picture under his arena sketch. "...or benched." and he then drew a card on the bench.
"So?" Ash sighed.
"I have a way that Misty could win before her Starmie is poisoned." Brock explained. He wrote 'TURN #1' under the arena picture. "If she uses Bubblebeam to knock Corphish out, that brings Brian down to 30 HP." He drew a picture of a fainted Corphish to illustrate his point. "Brian brings out his Spearow..." and Brock drew a picture of a Spearow. "Misty uses Bubblebeam again, and game set!"
"Oh..." Ash mused. "I see..."
"Sapphire's turn!" the ref called.
"Bubblebeam, now!" Misty called. The Starmie again drenched the Corphish, defeating it. "Got any more left?" she called to Brian as she took one of her prizes.
Brian sighed. "Indeed, the end is in sight...but I can still make one last shot...allow me to present...Spearow!" and he laid his Spearow card in the arena.
"Sapphire's poison count is 2!" the ref announced. "Ruby's turn!"
Brian attached a Double Colorless energy to Spearow, then commanded "Spearow, Drill Peck!" The Spearow lunged at the Starmie, pecking it furiously. Misty's HP went down by 20.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"One more Bubblebeam!" Misty commanded. The Starmie fired one last wave of rainbow bubbles, until the Spearow fell, defeated.
"Game Set!" the ref announced. "Sapphire wins!" The wet, but happy audience applauded as Brian and Misty stepped down from the platform and shook hands.
"Well done, miss." Brian began. "Although I have lost, I still had a great time dueling..."
"It's okay..." Misty put a hand on Brian's shoulder. "You can't win every time."
"That's true..." and Brian fished a booster pack from his pocket. "Here...take this booster to remember me by..."
"Thank you!" Misty waved goodbye as Brian disappeared into the crowd. Then, she ran back to her teammates.
"Great job!" Brock smiled. "I must be developing psychic powers, since I somehow guessed your strategy perfectly!" He showed his demo picture to Misty.
"Try using those psychic abilities to develop your artistic skill!" Misty laughed as she walked to the awards podium.
"Congratulations, Sapphire. Take the Cascade Crest!" the ref announced as she handed the coin with the Cascade Badge on it to Misty.
"Thank you so much..." Misty began. She flashed the Crest to the cheering crowd and cried "The Pokepals are a-comin' in!" The audience cheered in agreement....
"Hold it right there!" a voice called from the arena.
"Huh?" Maya scratched her head, confused.
The crowd gasped as some lights came on the Ruby platform, revealing Gary ruffling his cards. "I'm sure you all enjoyed that particular duel, but are you ready for the main event?" he asked. He glanced around the room, waiting for an answer. "Well, are ya?" The crowd began to yell enthusiastically. "Yeah! That's more like it!..."
"Gary, Gary, he's our man! If he can't do it, nobody can!" cheered Gary's cheerleaders.
"Oooh..." Brock grumbled, annoyed. He stood up and began to clap. "We're the Pokepals, we're a-comin' in, with our combined power we are gonna win..." he sang, clearly overpowering Gary's cheerleaders.
"Gary, Gary, fight fight fight! Gary Oak is dynamite!...." the cheerleaders screamed over Brock's singing.
"...Onward now we go, onward to the fight, with our Pokepower as our guiding light...." Ash led the rest of the audience in the fight song. Before long, the room was so loud, it was hard to tell whose side was louder, Ash's or Gary's.
Just then, a whistle interrupted the shouting match. "Everyone, please! If an uninvited guest has made a challenge, then someone has to duel. Who will accept?" the ref asked.
"I will!" Ash confidently strolled up to the arena and took his place as the Sapphire platform. "Bring it on!"
"You wanna piece of me?" Gary asked, smoothing his hair back. "Prepare to be smashed to pieces, Pokewimps!" he laughed as the scoreboard blipped to life with the deck information: RUBY I'M GARY SAPPHIRE FLAME OF CONFUSION
Can Ash put Gary in his place? Stay tuned!