I'm back for round 3! Thanks to those who took the time to review; it makes me feel great. I'd like to reply to the other review now:
Vyser Adept Of Dragons: Thanks for giving me Blake's Pokemon. I noticed that Manectric isn't called Electro like in your story. Can I add this?
Anyway, on with Chapter 2!
Chapter 2: Warm Up
In the four day run-up to the Battle Frontier, Jack and Laura were going an extra mile. Jack had trained up his Pokemon by challenging the Gym Leaders again. Brock wasn't just using Rock-Types this time; he had a Crobat, Forretress, Marshtomp and Ludicolo, in addition to Geodude and Onix. Misty, it revealed, was training for the Battle Frontier as well, and used Starmie, Corsola and Gyarados. Lt. Surge was putting finishing touches to the Seagallop ferry, but had time to use Raichu and Electabuzz in a quick battle. Erika used a Bellossom this time, Sabrina had an Espeon, Koga, a Venomoth and Crobat, Blaine, a Magmar, Magcargo and Arcanine and Dan did a one-on-one with his newly evolved Scizor. Meanwhile, Laura was working on contest flair in attacks. She was training Ninetales to do some acrobatics, having Venusaur strike it's Magical Leaf attacks with a Vine Whip, creating sparks all around the garden and teaching Jigglypuff to dance. Jigglypuff, it seemed, wasn't the type to displease. Pikachu had made out to Jigglypuff that it wasn't a good dancer, and as a reward was chased around the town. Dan had been made Viridian Gym Leader and couldn't go with the siblings, but agreed to call them when he could. A day before they left, Jack and Laura had been blindfolded.
"Mum, where are we going?" Laura asked.
"You'll see." Lily said, with a sly smile that they couldn't see. She led them out the door.
"Ready… take off your blindfolds." Jack took his off and saw a large party calling "SURPRISE!" with a large banner saying "GOOD LUCK JACK AND LAURA!". The party included Dan, his sister Daisy, Professor Oak, his Aides, the kids in the street and near to everyone in Pallet. Jack stood there, amazed.
"What is all this?" He asked.
"Since you're going to the Battle Frontier, we might as well have a party." Dan said. "Y'know, to wish you luck." There were drinks, chips, fries, hats, streamers, the whole shebang. People were asking Jack about his plans, strategies and if he'd call. Happily, Jack noticed the fan club were out of the party, fiercely guarded by a cluster of Arcanines. Professor Oak had made a request for them to catch as many as they could.
"I'd love to have a look at them; I know there's Munchlax and Bonsly, but tell me if you find any more." The kids, meanwhile, were looking at the Pokemon in awe. Charizard flew them around the town, Dragonair became a roller-coaster ride and Jigglypuff had inflated itself, so it became a weird sort of hot-air balloon for the five-year olds. Oak also did the honour of updating their trainer cards; Jack's card was red with a flame design on the back and Laura's was green with a leaf design. Their badges were listed on there and, after printing pictures off their PokeNavs, their Pokemon. On the back were their achievements; Hall Of Fame time, battles in the Union Room and, in Jack's case, a sticker of the Indigo Cup. The party went on for hours before Lily declared that Laura and Jack were tired and needed a rest. Jack was glad that Lily had said this; despite all the sodas, he was starting to doze.
"Thanks Mom." He said when he had gone upstairs.
"Don't worry. Just rest up as much as you can. OK?" She went back downstairs. Jack got into bed, the sugar rush over at last. He ran through his mind the Frontier. Only trainers who had come close to, or won, a championship were entered. Jack had a hard time with the Indigo League and this was a real challenge. Oh well, he thought, best to embrace it. Slowly, he let the urge to sleep overpower him. This was a time when Jack didn't want to battle.
Jack woke up a little earlier before the alarm had even gone. He got dressed, tied up his Running Shoes and sped downstairs to the kitchen. He grabbed himself some cornflakes and had finished them in record time. The sugar rush, it seemed, had returned to full strength. Laura got up, fully dressed, but looking really tired.
"Wh-what's the rush?" She yawned.
"Well, what do you think? I want to get an early start. We don't want to be late!" Jack replied cheerfully.
"It's 7am!" Laura cried.
"I'm doing some training with the guys." Jack explained. "We've got 'til quarter to 11, so I'm fine-tuning my skills ." Laura looked like she wanted to continue the debate, but seemed too tired to continue. Instead, she ate her cornflakes without saying anything. Jack was out on Route 1 training. He had set up targets around the route.
"Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!" Pidgeot flew up then down to just a few inches off the ground. It then disappeared, then struck the target at full force, causing it to break.
"Dragonair, Dragonbreath! Eevee, Shadow Ball!" Dragonair hit the target with greenish-gold flames while Eevee launched a dark energy orb. Poliwrath launched a Water Pulse, Charizard used Dragonbreath and Pikachu practised Thunder on a rock, splitting it.
"Nice work Pikachu! Now use Surf!" Pikachu's body glowed with a blue aura and a surfboard suddenly appeared at it's feet. Next second, Pikachu was riding a wave, washing out the boulders.
"Nice work. That training in Fuchsia really paid off." Jack turned to see Laura, who was now no longer tired, but rather cheerful.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Jack sighed.
"I dunno. Guess I just like watching battles." Laura shrugged. "Anyway, I'm practising my moves as well." She turned to her Venusaur, who was using Frenzy Plant on it's Magical Leaves. (Author's Note: Venusaur learnt Magical Leaf from a Move Tutor in the Safari Zone) The sparks flew again. Jack looked at his watch.
"C'mon, we gotta go!" Lily had sensed this as well. She had walked onto the route.
"Take care of yourselves, and do the best you can out there." She said, smiling. "Love you!" Jack and Laura waved to her, both on Pidgeot.
"Bye Mom!" Pidgeot then took off at dynamic speed, using Aerial Ace, towards Vermillion City. When they arrived, a crowd that was likely to outweigh a Snorlax, or even two, was gathered around the harbour. After finding a spot to land, and one that was several feet away from the Fan Club, Pidgeot swooped down.
"Thanks, Pidgeot. Return." Jack recalled Pidgeot back into it's ball and walked onto the harbour. Jack remembered that the top eight of any league were permitted to go, so there was only seven there, including himself and Laura, and excluding Dan. Their turn finally came. The sailor examined the ticket, to check if it was fake.
"Well, everything seems to be in order. Please step on, Mr. Cameron." Jack stepped onto the boat and waited for Laura. The sailor did the same procedure, and then Laura boarded the ship.
"Alright, get the supplies on!" The sailor cried. Another group, assisted by Machokes and Machamps, pulled the last few crates onto the ship.
"Anchors away!" The sailor yelled. With the Fighting-types acting as backup, the sailors hoisted the anchor up from the sea.
"The motor's broken and we didn't have time to fix it." The sailor whispered to Jack and Laura, who were looking puzzled. The ferry drifted forward slightly. Next came an enormous roar as the engine kicked to life. The Seagallop ferry could go at a fast speed, but it slowed down seemingly to let the people at the harbour wave bye-bye to the Kanto representatives. Jack and Laura noticed the president of the POKEMON Fan Club on his Rapidash waving to them. They waved back. Then the president of the OTHER Fan Club ordered the girls to pull out their freshly captured Gyarados and follow the ferry. Jack's fingers curled around Pikachu's Pokeball, itching to give them a Thunder. His wish somehow came true, as a Thunder attack struck them, and he looked around wildly; maybe Jirachi had overheard him. He turned to see it was a Raichu. The Electric-type then landed onto the shoulder of Lt. Surge, who seemed to be working on a PokeNav. Jack's own one vibrated. He pulled it out and went onto Match Call. Instead of a phone call, it was a text message.
I'm getting sick of them as well, so I did us both a favour. See ya later kid!
Jack grinned. In the Lightning American's eyes, he was still a kid. Oh well. When the boat finally reached the end of the harbour, the engines kicked into life and it sped into the distance.
"Excuse me." Jack and Laura turned. The sailor was facing them. "Lunch will be served in 3 minutes. Do you want to join?" They nodded. The sailor gestured towards a flight of stairs. There was an arrow pointing down saying Dining Hall. Jack and Laura went down to find a large hall with several tables. On there were the other trainers, who had let out their Pokemon for the food. Jack and Laura did so. They sat down at a table, where a display of breads, cheeses, fruits and fries were lain out, to name a few. Jack got out some fries and a burger (artificial meat, of course; killing Pokemon was illegal), and Laura grabbed some salad tongs and started putting the stuff onto her plate, mixed with some strawberries. The Pokemon were eating Pokemon food. All they had to do now was kill time. How to do it, though.
Jack and Laura bolted upright when a foghorn sounded. In the case of killing time, they were guilty of having Pokemon battles, finding several rare items in the ship's hull and sleeping in their rooms. The horn had stopped any dreams they were having. Automatically, they rushed out onto the deck. There they saw it. The Frontier was amazing; a gigantic theme park for any region. Jack could make out a large pyramid, a gargantuan Seviper, a large seaside hut and, towering over them all, a large tower with God knows how many stories. In the middle, a large stadium. Land had apparently been expanded in a few months, as there were five contest halls dotted around and a larger which would likely be used for the Grand Festival. The ferry pulled in. Jack and Laura ran so fast they could probably outrun a Ninjask or even Deoxys in Speed Form. Outside on the harbour was an orange building with the Battle Frontier logo on top. They walked through the mechanical doors and came to a desk. Sitting behind it was a smiling brown-haired woman in a mauve suit and a nametag with the logo on the left saying, Kate.
"Hello there. Can I see your Trainer card please, sir?" She had addressed Jack, who stepped forward, Trainer Card in hand. He handed it to Kate, who ran it through a scanner.
"Name?"
"Jack Cameron." Kate typed this in.
"Business?"
"Battles." More typing.
"Hang on a sec…" Kate had put it into another scanner. When she had finished, she handed back the Card and something blue. On it was a picture of Jack, the words BATTLE FRONTIER on the top, a map of the Frontier, Jack's ID number, a section called ACHIEVEMENTS with space for stickers and something called BP. There was 100 of whatever it was.
"Your Frontier Pass, Mr. Cameron." Jack took it and put it in his pocket. She then asked Laura, who said her name and that she was there for contests. Kate handed her a Frontier Pass as well. She then told them to go through the doors. They waked through….right into an immense crowd. A man was standing on a large stage. He was brown-haired as well, his eyes behind sunglasses, a red PokeNav strapped around his neck, tan shorts and a blue flowered shirt.
"Welcome Trainers!" He called. "My name is Scott Enshida, but you can call me Scott. I'm glad you're all here. It's always something to see some of the best trainers in the world in one place. The main objective is to obtain the seven symbols from the Frontier Brains. Here they are! In order, Noland!" Something blue came rocketing out of the sky. Jack gasped.
"Articuno!" He said softly. Riding it was a tall man with stubble, brown hair under a red factory cap, heavy black boots and an open-at-the-chest silver jacket. Noland and Articuno landed on the stage.
"Greta!" A flash appeared and with it came a teenage girl with blond hair and a black judo robe with a Shedinja.
"Tucker!" A Salamence streaked across the sky onto the stage, it's rider in lilac Lycra with purple hair and a jetpack on his back.
"Brandon!" A thickset man in full hiker gear appeared off the coast with a Swampert.
"Isabel!" An orange streak Jack recognised as an Extremespeed Arcanine came to the stage with a purple-haired girl in a lilac sequin suit.
"Spenser!" An old, sage-looking man in a robe with a wooden staff and tattoos floated down to the stage on a Crobat.
"And…Lucy!" A haze of smoke appeared from the stage up and when it cleared, there stood a woman in black leather with a Seviper. Scott continued.
"As for the co-ordinators out there, you must win in the five Contest Halls in the five categories; Coolness, Beauty, Smartness, Toughness and Cuteness. Win five Ribbons and the Grand Festival is open to you. Once you beat the Brains or win the Ribbons, you're entered into the Grand Festival or Frontier Tournament. Win them and you'll receive the Gold Shield or the Ribbon Shield. Of course, it wouldn't be much fun here without a quick battle, would it? Two trainers chosen at random will battle in the stadium. And here we go!" He pressed a button on the pedestal and as he did so, two screens appeared. A collection of trainers appeared at random. The first rested on a 13-year old boy with light brown hair, a black shirt with a blue Pokeball imprint with a grey vest over it, jean shorts and blue and black sneakers.
"Blake Sabers of Serene Town!" Scott called. Blake moved from his place in the crowd onto the stage. The second screen stopped on…
"Jack Cameron of Pallet Town!" Jack moved up as well, not surprised by this at all.
"Thanks guys. Would you please move to the stadium?" The two trainers followed Scott to the stadium, or rather, ran; Scott was sprinting, clearly excited by the whole thing. They moved into a rock-strewn field. There were two trainer boxes on either side. Blake to the left, while Jack took the right. The moment they stepped into them, they rose.
"This will be a one-on-one battle with no time limit." Scott explained. "But, they usually are. Anyway, choose your Pokemon!" Blake pulled out a Pokeball.
"Spirit, I choose you!" The ball opened and a Ninetales appeared.
"Go, Eevee!" Eevee appeared. The referee stepped in.
"Ready, go!" He waved his flags.
"Spirit, Flamethrower now!" Spirit unleashed a blast of flame at Eevee.
"Eevee, dodge and use Shadow Ball!" Eevee jumped aside and launched a ball of dark energy at Spirit. It connected and Spirit was thrown back.
"Spirit, Will-O-Wisp!" Spirit's mouth opened and with it came a blue flame heading for Eevee.
"Protect!" A blue aura surrounded the Normal-type blocking off the flame.
"Confuse Ray!" Spirit retaliated with a yellow orb at Eevee.
"Eevee, dodge it!" Too late. The attack connected and Eevee looked spaced out.
"Eevee, try and use Shadow Ball again!" But Eevee didn't listen. Instead, it ran around the field in circles.
"Spirit, hit 'em with a Flamethrower!" Another jet of flame. The Confuse Ray, however, had an unexpected side effect. Jack's Pokemon were usually fast ones and when Eevee was running, it unknowingly dodged the attack.
"Try it again!" Another miss. Then another, and another. One only touched Eevee lightly, but it had now snapped out of confusion. It skidded to a halt.
"Eevee, use Quick Attack!" Eevee came at full force at Spirit.
"Spirit, hit it with another Flamethrower!" Eevee ran right into the jet!
"Quick Eevee, use Iron Tail!" Eevee flipped over the flame and it's tail glowed.
SMASH! The Steel attack hit Spirit on the head, causing a critical hit and it to faint.
"Ninetales is unable to battle. Eevee wins!" The referee called. Blake recalled Spirit.
"Nice battle Jack. Your Eevee's gonna be hard to beat." Blake said.
"Could say the same about Spirit." Jack replied.
"But don't get cocky. Next time we battle, you're mine." Blake gave the Kanto Champion a grin, turned on his heel and walked out of the stadium.
Next chapter involves May and Brendan, and Laura prepares for her Contests.