Thanks for reviewing! Hopefully this is the last time I'll update any of my chapters from a school computer. My own computer has a memory-drive error, so I have to re-install Windows XP, but then my updates should be back to normal after that! I've spent a while working on this chapter and with some ideas from myself. So I don't own Pokemon, but enjoy my work!
Chapter 50: Kickin' Some Grassy Rumbles
Angelina and Jeremy woke up the next day and had breakfast at the same restuarant from last night. Dani was tagging along with them until she received a phone call on her Poke Gear.
"Hey guys, that was my step-mother," Dani said. "She needs help with her Pokemon Center so I need to go home."
"Oh okay." Angelina slowly responded, realizing the time with her best friend was cut short.
"Tell your aunt I said thanks." Dani said. "Wish I could stay for your last battles."
"So this is goodbye?" Jeremy asked.
"For now," Dani smiled, grabbing her backpack. "But I'll be back!"
"And I'll be waiting!" Angelina said, standing outside the League Stadium; waving goodbye as Dani walks down the road and out of sight. Leaving the original duo behind.
"I guess it's back down to us," Jeremy stated.
"Yeah, I'm gonna miss her." Angelina said, cuddling her Pichu. "Well, let's go find out our fourth round opponents."
The receptionist told Angelina's her match would be on the Grass Field against a girl named Olivia at 3:00pm while Jeremy's battle was on the Water Field against Amber at 1:00pm.
Angelina sat with Marcus and April cheering on Jeremy and Amber as they battle on the Water Field. They were amazed by how skillful and fierce the first two rounds had been; Jeremy's Typhlosion and Scyther took down Amber's Sandslash and Persian in less that three attacks. The last battle ended with Jeremy's Venusaur and Amber using her Gengar. They knew Gengar was capable of using a variety of attacks, no surprise as it was going to be stronger than Venusaur, but the Grass-type defeated the Ghost Pokemon in the end and Jeremy advanced to the Top 16.
They arrived at the Rock Field just in time to see the last round of Gary's match against Melissa. They could hear Gary's name being chanted by his cheerleaders; the Pallet Town trainer was down to his last Pokemon, Nidoking while his opponent, Melissa, used a Golem.
"Nidoking, Horn Attack now!" Gary yelled.
The Nidoking charged at the Golem, full speed.
Melissa smirked and yelled at the Rock-type Pokemon, "Golem, Seismic Toss!"
Golem rolled up to Nidoking and jumped, grabbing onto its horn. It twisted the other Pokemon around and leapt into the air, only to slam Nidoking into the ground with so much force that the ground shook.
The referee ran up to the injured Pokemon and raised the red flag, pointing the opposite way of Gary. "This battle goes to Melissa!"
"Ouch, that's not good." Jeremy winced unhappily.
Angelina couldn't belive Gary lost. She watched him walk off the field; biting her lip, she held out her Pichu to Jeremy. "Hold Cocoa, I'll be right back."
"But Angel," Jeremy said, confused as he held Pichu and watched his best friend run across the field after her brother's rival. He sighed and followed right behind.
"Gary, are you gonna be okay?" Angelina asked outside the stadium, taking a couple breaths and she finally caught up to the brown-haired boy. His head hung low and he appeared engrossed deeply in thought, wondering where he went wrong with his battle.
"Yeah just fine, couldn't be better," Gary said, masking his disappointment behind a cocky grin but Angelina could tell he was sincerely hurt. "You're doing really great out there, Angel. It's a shame we won't be able to battle each other."
Angelina smiled, and was surprised that the boy wasn't talking in arrogance. "Thanks, I'm sure we'll get to someday."
"Gary!" another voice startled the two trainers, a black-haired cap-clad boy running toward them.
"Great, it's Ash." Gary muttered, then smirked at his rival with arms folded. "That trainer was lucky that I got distracted by all the girls cheering for me." he replied while the cheerleaders continued crying, "They're disappointed, but you'll get over it, won't ya, girls?" he snapped his fingers at them, but they wailed loudly. He then jumped into the red convertible and waves as he drives away. "Smell ya later!"
"He's gotta lot to learn," Angelina sighs, just as Jeremy approached holding Pichu. "Even if he takes things too hard." She turned to her best friend and smiled weakly.
Ash looked worried and nervous. He glanced down at his Pikachu. "Can you believe Gary got knocked out? I thought he'd make it through at least four rounds. I don't know, Pikachu. You think we should quit while we're ahead?"
"Pika-chu!" Pikachu yelled and shook his head. (Are you crazy?)
"Ashton Ketchum, don't you even dare!" Angelina said, not wanting the boy to give up everything's he's done to get where he is now.
"Listen, you're a great trainer, and as long as I'm around, you're not even gonna think about quitting, okay?" Brock added, he stood in front of Ash with his hands on his hips. "Pikachu and I believe in you. Don't we, Pikachu?"
"Pika-pika!" Pikachu nodded.
"Okay," Ash said. "I guess you win!"
"Hey Ash, you better hurry up. Your fourth match is starting on the grass field any minute now!" Misty reminded, waving to her companion.
"Ahhh, no way!" Ash yelled, running down the sidewalk toward the Grass Field with his friends and Pikachu.
"Good luck," Angelina whispered, not even moving from her spot where she stood.
"We're not going?" Jeremy asked.
Angelina shook her head, "I want to, but I want to strategize before my own battle." and she spent almost half an hour figuring out what Pokemon she was going to use according to the information she found online about her opponent. They arrived back at the Grass Field and caught the last round of Ash's match; he picked his Muk while Jeannette used Bellsprout.
"C'mon Ash, you have the type-advantage! Win this for Pallet Town!" Angelina cheered.
Bellsprout does a flying-mud kick, but Muk did not even flinch and continued absorbing Bellsprout's attack energy such as a Razor Leaf not having any effect. Ash ordered a Body Slam and Muk smothers the Grass type with it own body.
"Bellsprout is unable to battle! The fourth round match goes to the green trainer!" the referee raised the green flag, while on the board the word 'WINNER' appeared next to Ash's picture.
"He won, he won!" Angelina shouted as the crowd erupted in cheers.
They made their way into the locker room where Ash and his friends congregated, and they were also joined by Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum.
"You were awesome!" Angelina exclaimed, she ran into the room and hugged Ash.
"Aw thanks, it was nothing." Ash blushed.
"Muk-muuuuuuk!" Muk jumps on Ash and Angelina, knocking them both to the floor.
"Now I know how Bellsprout felt." Ash said, struggling from Muk's grasp.
"Right," Angelina giggled as Brock helped her out.
"You would've been in trouble if it wasn't for Muk." Misty says, and then Muk starts to hug her. "Ahg, Muk! Not me! Stop it!"
Everyone laughs, but in the meantime, Pikachu and Cocoa talk up a storm in their language.
"Pika pika?!" Pikachu stared in shock at Pichu, everyone heard the loud squeak. (Say what?!)
"You okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"Pika-pika-chu-pikachu-chu?!" Pikachu waved its little arms exhasperatedly, quickly pointing at him and Angelina, who looked worried and hoped he did not understand. (You and Angelina are related?!)
Ash stared blankly, and Angelina knew he was confused and sighed in relief. Then she knelt down to pick up her Pichu and pets Pikachu lightly behind the ear, "It's probably tired and wants to relax. However, my last battle starts in a couple minutes."
"Really? We'll come watch you," Ash said, recalling his Muk and everyone left the locker room.
Angelina noticed the crowd that had gotten bigger since Ash's battle. Marcus and April made their appearance, but Aunt Vicky was not seen since leaving the house in the late morning.
'One last time….' Angelina thought to herself, she was standing in the green booth and viewed her opponent while blocking out the announcer's statements. A young girl with cream colored flowing hair and huge blue eyes, her outfit was simply made up of green baggy pants and a black shirt with a Pokeball on it.
"And green goes first!" the announcer said, referring to Angelina's opponent.
"I can't wait!" the girl smiled and quickly enlarged a Pokeball, "Go Firestorm!" she threw the Pokeball and from the light merged a big orange, white, and black dog.
"And Olivia picks her Arcanine!" the announcer told the crowd.
"A fire-type, eh?" Angelina said as she enlarged a Pokeball and threw it, "Go Spritz!" she threw it and summoned her aqua-rabbit Pokemon.
"Begin!" the judge ordered, raising both flags.
"Firestorm, start off with Body Slam!" Olivia commanded.
"Dodge and use Water Gun!"
"Arrr!" the legendary dog jumped into the air and prepared to slam into Azumarill, but the aqua-rabbit moved and sprayed a stream of water from her mouth in Arcanine's face, soaking the dog's fur and leaving it damp.
"Firestorm, use Fire Blast!"
"Counter with Water Gun!"
Arcanine's pupils glow orange and it's whole body becomes surrounded in a fiery aura. It then launched a star shape of flames at Azumarill, but she fires out another stream of water that extinguishes the fire attack.
"Firestorm, use Take Down!" Arcanine howls and begins to run at Azumarill in very high speed.
"Spitz, use Attract!" Angelina ordered, remembering that her Pokemon was female.
Azumarill winks at Arcanine and multiple pink hearts are released from her body. Arcanine stops running and followed the path of the hearts' movement until they pop all over its body. Immediately, hearts form in Arcanine's eyes and it's face blushed at the sight of Azumarill.
"Looks like Arcanine has fallen in love with Azumarill!" the announcer told the crowd.
"What does that mean?" Ash asked, not understanding the situation.
"Since Arcanine is the opposite gender of Azumarill, it became infactuated and makes it that much harder to attack." Marcus explained.
"Kinda reminds us how Brock reacts to every pretty girl," Misty said, smirking as she watched her older companion blushing madly at the sight of Angelina.
"Now finish it with Hydro Pump!" Angelina shouted.
"AZUUUUU!" the aqua-rabbit jumped back and sprayed out a powerful jet of icy blue water at Arcanine, taking a direct hit and fell over with X'ed out eyes.
"Arcanine is unable to battle! Azumarill is the winner of this round!" the referee said, holding up the red flag as one light went out under Olivia's picture on the scoreboard and Angelina ran out to the field to hug Azumarill.
"So far.…" Jeremy started.
"So good.…" Marcus interrupted.
"Thanks Firestorm," Olivia said after returning Arcanine, putting up the Pokeball and enlarging another one and threw it, shouting, "Let's go, Cloud!" from the Pokeball formed a vicious looking white-colored mongoose.
"The heck kinda Pokemon is that?!" Angelina quickly whipped out her Pokedex.
"Zangoose, the Mongoose Pokemon," Dexette replied. "This Pokemon lives honing it's skills because of it's never ending battles with it's natural rival, Seviper."
"Hmm…. now what's a Seviper?" Angelina thought out loud, but shook her head and resumed her battle. "I'll do research later."
"Olivia chooses Zangoose!" the announcer gasped as the crowd looked on in wonder.
"Start off with Bubblebeam!" Angelina ordered.
Olivia retaliated, "Cloud, use Thunderbolt!"
"ZAN!" the sinister mongoose hissed as it's white fur sparked up some lightning, quickly charging into a blue lightning bolt and striking Azumarill before it could move, knocking it out on the spot.
"Azumarill is unable to battle! This round goes to the green trainer!" the referee said, raising the green flag as the first light went out under Angelina's picture.
"Olivia comes back!" the announcer remarked with excitement as did the crowd, joyed by the heated battle.
"Thanks sweetie!" Angelina replied as the red light sucked up Azumarill, putting the Pokeball away and enlarging another one, "Go get'em Rocky!" she threw the Pokeball and called on the megaton Pokemon.
"Go Angelina!" Aunt Vicky shouted from the crowd.
"Cloud, use Slash!"
"Dodge!" Angelina countered, "Then use Brick Break!"
"Goose!" the Zangoose, Cloud, swiftly brought down it's right claw, missing Golem by an inch. The rock megaton roared and formed its clawed arm into a clenched fist and struck Zangoose in the stomach with immence force, sending the mongoose flying into the back wall of the field under Olivia's platform, it fell to the ground but wasn't down for the count just yet.
"Now finish it with Body Slam!" Angelina smiled.
"Golem!" the rock megaton nodded and jumped into the air, landing hard with all it's weight on Zangoose's back, knocking out the mongoose. Golem got up with triumph and roared with courage to the clapping crowd.
"Zangoose can't go on! The winner is Golem!" the referee ordered as another light went out under Olivia's picture.
"Good job!" Marcus shouted from the crowd.
Olivia kissed Cloud's Pokeball after she withdrew her Pokemon, enlarging another one with hype and throwing it, "Go Rukia!" she summoned a green-and-white Pokemon that resembled a slender creature wearing an elegant ballgown.
"Now what's this Pokemon?" Angelina pulled out her Pokedex, for the last time.
"Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokemon." Dexette replied. "It apparently does not feel the pull of gravity because it supports itself with psychic power. It will give it's life to protect it's trainer."
"It's a psychic type," Angelina understood, placing away her Pokedex. "Better switch," she said to herself, thanking Golem and withdrawing it and latching it to her belt. Then she enlarged another Pokeball, "Go Shadow!" she unleashed the dark type as it growled at its opponent.
"Gardevoir versus Absol! Begin!" the announcer man shouted over the intercom to the raging crowd.
"Rukia, start off with Attract!" Olivia ordered.
Gardevoir raised up its long green hands and in between its small arms formed a mass of pink light. Soon, the light transformed into the shape of a pink heart and began to float toward Absol.
"Shadow, use Faint Attack to dodge!"
Shadow, seeing the pink heart floating towards it, immediately jumped into the air and vanished from its spot of the field, causing the Normal-type attack to hit the empty target, breaking in two before it dissolved into the ground. Gardevoir frantically scanned the field with its ruby eyes in hopes of finding its opponent.
"SOL!" the dark type formed behind the psychic type and slammed into it, the dark power caused critical damage to Gardevoir as it fell to the ground but shakily got back up.
"Now use Thunderbolt!"
"Shadow, dodge!"
Gardevoir chanted lightly as purple static formed around it's body, morphing into a purple lightning bolt and throwing it at Shadow, shocking the dark Pokemon before it could move, the lightning move died down and Shadow glared at Rukia, still holding on.
"Rukia, Shadow Ball!"
"Shadow, you use Shadow Ball too!"
The two Pokémon both created a black blob in front of themselves, throwing it at each other. The black blobs missed each other by inches, flying towards the targeted Pokémon and exploding once they touched them.
A dark shadow from the explosions covered up the stadium, concealing the two Pokémon. And once it cleared away enough to see the two Pokémon, it was clear which Pokémon had fainted.
"…Gardevoir is unable to battle! The match goes to the green trainer, Angelina Murakami from Pallet Town!" the referee declared, raising the green flag as the the last light went out on Olivia's picture and changed to Angelina's picture showing the words "CONGRATULATIONS!"
"YES, WE DID IT!" Angelina screamed, running onto the field and embraced her Absol happily. "You were amazing, Shadow! Thank you!" She smiled as the audience cheered and threw confetti.
Olivia smiled and withdrew her Gardevoir, then waiting for the platform to lower and walked out of the Grass Field without a word, knowing she had a lot to learn.
Angelina recalled her Absol and made her way to the Pokemon Center where she was greeted by her family and friends. She noticed Professor Oak and Delia standing next to Aunt Vicky, whom had not been around for a day and a half, and the reason behind that was the three-year-old baby held in her arms. Her chocolate brown hair was held up in pigtails, she wore denim overalls, a pink tee, baby shoes, and was sucking on her thumb.
"Hi Lina!" the baby exclaimed, her dark blue eyes lit up at the sight of her older sister and held out her arms to her.
"I'm so glad to see you, Tina." Angelina said, taking hold of the infant in a gentle embrace. "You can watch me battle lots of Pokemon and win a big trophy!"
"Honey, I've heard you're doing very well." Aunt Vicky said, half embracing her step-niece. "I knew all those years of Pokemon training would pay off."
"I was quite impressed with the way you've battled out there. Everyone in Pallet is cheering for you and Ash now that Gary has been defeated." Professor Oak added.
"Really? Wow." Angelina said, then looked over at her brother. "I won't be surprised if we're battling each other."
"And I'll be proud of you two no matter what." Delia said. "Ive decided to cook lunch for everyone to keep your strengths up while you compete."
One of Jeremy's eyebrows rose, "Is there gonna be room for everyone at the house?"
Aunt Vicky and Delia grinned evilly, "No worries. Leave everything to us." and they led the group to one of the many restaurants that looked like a skyscraper from the outside. After finding a seat, the two women went to the kitchen and began to cook everyone's food. They all sighed at how embarrassing the Pallet Town women were. Even the cooks were baffled. They were not used to their customers cooking their own meals.
"This will either be very good or very bad," Misty muttered.
"This looks great!" everyone said almost a half hour later as they eyed all the different plates of food that were placed on the table. Compliments went around as they were eating the delicious home-cooked meal; Aunt Vicky was a really good cook, and Delia taught her everything she knew. Brock comments about the croquettes that Delia made were really good and understood why the chef of the restaurant had asked for the recipe. They were very pleased and asked to prepare food for Marcus and April's wedding.
"If you two win your next battles, you'll then be aloud to use up to six Pokemon per match." Professor Oak told Angelina and Ash. "Have either of you decided which Pokemon you'll choose?"
"I was thinking of using the ones I have or maybe switch depending on what my opponent's Pokemon are." Angelina answered, while Ash said he would wait to see who his opponent was.
"Tomorrow they decide who everyone is going to battle." Brock informed.
Professor Oak nodded. "Don't forget to let me know if you need anymore Pokemon. Call me and I'll transport them right away." he reminded Ash and Angelina.
"We will, professor. Thank you." Angelina said.
Afterwards all the plates were empty and everyone's bellies were satisfied, they all made their way to the elevator while Professor Oak explained to the three remaining trainers in the tournament to do their best.
"Hold the door, please. I'm going down too." a voice called out. A young boy around Ash's age, with spiky reddish-brown hair and dark blue eyes, stepped into the elevator just as the doors close and heads down to the ground floor. He wore a blue hat with a yellow stripe in the front, an outfit of different shades of green and yellow, dark blue and black designed sneakers, and black fingerless gloves. "Thank you very much."
"No problem," Professor Oak said.
The boy looked down at Pikachu, "Ah, a Pikachu. Who's is it?"
"Mine." Ash said. "Pikachu belongs to me."
The boy smiled, "You're really luck," he then reached his arm out to pet Pikachu. Ash warns him to be careful, but the boy scratched Pikachu on its cheeks, and the electric-type seems to be quite comfortable with it. The boy also compliments how well Pikachu was being raised.
Suddenly, all of the lights in the elevator switch off and the elevator stops abruptly. Everyone is worried, and Professor Oak says that there must be a power outage and they were stuck until someone restored the electricity. Brock presses the emergency call button on the elevator panel to try and send for some help, but it seems that the button wasn't working either.
Angelina and Jeremy noticed the boy open up the panel containing the wiring to the elevator and was fiddling around with the wires. He turned to Ash, "Excuse me, can I borrow your Pikachu for a second?"
Ash nodded and picks up his Pokemon. "Yeah, what for?"
"I want to use Pikachu's Thndershock to jumpstart the elevator. That should get us to the lobby." the boy explained, which Professor Oak thought it was a good idea. He grabs some wires and puts them to each side of Pikachu's cheeks. Pikachu uses its Thundershock attack and the electricity surges through the wires, starting the elevator up again and reached the ground floor.
"Haha! We made it!" Misty said, exiting the elevator with everyone.
"I'm glad we held the door for you." Brock said in relief.
"We can't thank you enough," Delia said appreciatively.
"Don't thank me, thank Pikachu." the boy said.
"Thank you... Your name?" Ash asked.
The boy laughs, "Oh yeah. My name's Ritchie."
"My name's Ash. Nice to meet ya!" Ash said, shaking hands with the trainer. "These are my friends, Misty and Brock."
"I'm Angelina, and this is my best friend Jeremy." Angelina said, introducing themselves.
"Nice to meet you all. I gotta go, see'ya." Ritchie said as he ran off.
"What a sweetie," Delia said.
"He's very mature for a boy his age." Professor Oak said.
Misty nodded, "Yeah. Unlike a certain other boy we all know."
"Huh?" Ash looks confused. Angelina just laughed at the two.
"I was really impressed by how he handled Pikachu." Brock said.
Suddenly, two familiar voices began shouting over a megaphone:
"Attention please! May I have your attention please?"
"This is an emergency announcement for a participants in the Pokemon League Competition. This is not only a test."
"All trainers must bring their Pokeballs to the Pokemon Pavillion for official inspection immediately!"
As everyone walked out of the building, they see a white van drives down the street with giant megaphones on top.
"I wonder why they want to inspect Pokeballs?" Misty asked.
"We better go find out." Ash said, running down the street. Angelina and Jeremy following at a steady pace as they stood with a group of trainers at the Pokemon Pavilion. They had also ran into Ritchie again.
"We must now collect all your Pokemon to perform the required physical examination. Please deposit all your Pokeballs in the bag held by this official looking man with the mustache."
"Bad people!" Christina yelled, pointing at the woman with long magenta hair was holding a megaphone. She was wearing a red blazer and a white skirt. There was also a blue-haired man also wearing a red blazer and holding a bag.
"Any trainers who fail to turn in all their Pokemon will be disqualified from the League."
Angelina and Jeremy immediately recognized them right away as Jessie and James. They watched the two walk through the crowd as trainers drop their Pokeballs into the bag.
"Take care of Christina, I'll be right back." Angelina said, placing her sister in Jeremy's arms. She pretended to reach for the Pokeballs on her belt just as James approached her. "Oh no! I left all my Pokeballs at the Pokemon Center! Are you really gonna disqualify little ol' me?" she batted her hazel eyes and played with the hem of her pleited mini skirt in a way that made James's eyes widen and his face blush hard.
"Uhm, heh, w-well... d-don't worry bout it, Miss," James told the girl, he nervously pulled at the collar around his neck when Jeremy glared daggers at him. He walked away, but stopped in front of Ash. "Alright, in the bag twer- I mean, young man."
Angelina noticed how hesitant Ash and Ritchie were because they didn't want to be disqualified from the tournament and put their Pokeballs into the bag.
"And I'll just take this Pikachu." Jessie says, bending down and reaches out for the electric Pokemon.
"You better not pick up Pikachu, ma'am." Ash warns.
"Don't worry, young man. I think I can handle a Pikachu." Jessie assures as she grabs hold, but Pikachu releases a Thundershock that electrocutes her. She screams and then shoves the Pokemon into the bag. "Th-that was easy."
"We finally got Pikachu, Jessie!" James exclaimed.
"Did you say Jessie?" Ash asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"It's Team Rocket!" Angelina said, just as Jessie and James throw off their disguises and recite their motto from on top of their van.
"Not you guys, again!" Ash yelled.
"Give us back our Pokeballs!" Ritchie demanded, but the Rockets just laugh evilly and before anyone could stop them, James' Weezing used Smog while they take off down in their van.
"They're getting away! Hold it!" Ash yelled, running down the street after them in hot pursuit.
Angelina and Jeremy would have went with them, but remembered they were watching Christina. They were soothing the crying baby and headed back to the house where they explained to Marcus and April that Ash had gone after Team Rocket. They agreed with Marcus about finding his friends and mother to let them know what was going on. They spent the rest of the day walking around the entire town of Indigo Plateau, although Angelina became slightly distracted by window-shopping and checking out the souvenier stands.
Twilight was approaching and there were still no signs of Ash and Ritchie, luckily they ran into Brock and Misty, whom were worried about the boys' disappearance as they have not returned to their cabins. The last place they have not looked was the park located just off the town square, and it was there they found Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum standing on a bridge.
"Last time I saw Ash was this afternoon when he took off after that van," Delia said.
"Well he still isn't back yet," Angelina said worriedly. "We've been searching high and low, but no signs of him nor Pikachu anywhere."
"We even went to Richie's place, and he hasn't been back, either," Brock added.
"Now, I wouldn't worry too much," Professor Oak said. "I'm sure they probably went off to explore the town or the woods around Indigo Plateau and lost track of time."
"Still," Delia said worriedly, "Maybe we should go back to the hotel in case Ash tries to call."
"That sounds like a good idea," Jeremy said. "I'll keep looking around town with Brock."
"And I'll go with Misty back to their cabin in case Ash does show up," Angelina said.
"If he's not back by tomorrow morning, then we'll let Officer Jenny know," Professor Oak said.
Everyone nodded and went off in different directions. Angelina grabbed her dufflebag from her cabin and walked back over to Ash's cabin where she was going to stay with Misty and Brock. They decided to get some sleep and resumed their search in the morning with Officer Jenny and her many look-a-like relatives. The girls threatened to rip off Brock's ears if he didn't behave himself as they rode through the forest with Officer Jenny in green jeeps. They were relieved to find Ash and Ritchie in a clearing and give back all the stolen Pokeballs to the rightful trainers. Then they return to the registration pavilion to see whom they would be battling for the fifth round of the tournament.
Angelina stood in front of a pond and took a deep breath, then using her fishing pole to reel in a Magikarp that was marked B-3. She looked up at the board, a picture of her ran parallel to one of a boy a little older than her with shaggy black hair, silver-rimmed glasses. "But," she sighed, "Who is it?"
"My name is Hiroki Surgihara," a voice said, Angelina turned around and saw her competition. He was a year younger than Marcus; wearing a lite-blue dress shirt, black trousers, and black leather dress shoes.
'He looks okay for now,' Angelina thought to herself, "I'm Angelina Murakami. I guess you're my fifth round opponent," she shrugged calmly.
"Yes indeed I am," Hiroki replied, something was funny about him, his rough image contrasted his simple kindness. "So where are you from?"
"Pallet Town, it's south of Viridian City," Angelina responded.
"Well I'm from Hoenn," Hiroki responded, "I competed in the Evergrande Championships three years ago, but then I heard about the Indigo League and traveled around the Kanto Region for the badges."
"Wow! I've always wondered what Hoenn was like, but I was too busy traveling around Kanto." Angelina said excitedly. "Ya know, my cousin and his girlfriend competed in Hoenn's Tournament too. You might know them, Marcus Trainum and April Jettison."
"Marcus Trainum?" Hiroki gasped. "So he's your cousin?"
"Sure is," Angelina triumphantly grinned from ear to ear.
"Good," Hiroki said, his calmness quickly evolved like a Metapod to Butterfree, "Then this means sweet revenge! Guess you'll be able to get your chance to compete in the Evergrande Championships after all." he smirked and walked off.
"Oh no," Angelina sank to the floor in distress, "This isn't good," she thought to herself for a second, 'I can't let Marcus know,', she slowly picked herself up, 'Maybe he won't remember!'
"Chu, Pi-chu?" Pichu tilted her head in concern for her trainer,. (You okay?)
"I'll be fine, Cocoa," Angelina tried to smile.
"Hey Angel!" a voice called from behind, Angelina turned and saw Jeremy approach her. He looked very shocked. "You're not gonna believe this but Ash's next opponent, it's Ritchie."
"The nice boy that help us in the elevator?" Angelina asked.
"Yep, and he's friends with Ash." Jeremy replied, putting an emphasis that made Angelina's face go from utter confusion to incredulous shock. She realized this must have happened while they were stopping Team Rocket.
"Oh geas, that's…. wow!"
"Exactly how I feel," Jeremy nodded. "Their battle is tomorrow at three o'clock."
Angelina sighed, "Right after mine, it starts at two. We better tell the others, c'mon." they leave the registation pavilion and walk down the street to their cabin.
And so, Ash's next opponent is his new friend while Angelina is up against her step-cousin Marcus's opponent from the Hoenn League. How will both our heroes find the courage to put their skills to the ultimate test? Whatever you do, don't miss round 5!
§To Be Continued§
*This chapter is based from two episodes: "The Fourth Round Rumble" and "A Friend In Deed"
*Danielle says goodbye and heads home to Crystal City.
*Gary loses his fourth round, placing in the Top 32 and heads home.
*Angelina's fourth round oppenent has two Hoenn Pokemon, Gardevoir and Zangoose.
*Ash uses Muk in battle for the first time; Muk also knows Body Slam.
*Aunt Vicky brings Christina to watch Angelina and Jeremy in their battles.
*Ash, Angelina, and Jeremy win their fourth round matches.
*Angelina, Ash, and friends meet Ritchie.
*Team Rocket steals Pokeballs from trainers; Angelina gets out of it by flirting with James.
*Ash and Ritchie are paired for their fifth round battle.
*Angelina's opponent battled Marcus in the Hoenn League.
Thanks much for reading! The next chapter should be up sometime soon, or whenever my computer is re-fixed. All reviews and suggestions are welcomed! Luvins, Dani