Sink or Swim

The boy Red was up against in the C pools was a strange one to say the least. The teenage version of the bug catchers Red always find in the deep woods stood before him waving his bug net as if he was the one going to battle. His pupils hid behind the white light his round glasses reflected the bright sun. He wore a white polo paired with khaki cargo shorts.

"On this side, Red Ketchum from Pallet Town," the referee for the match shouted, raising his red flag towards Red before lifting the flag in his other hand colored green towards the challenger. "and over to this side is Marcus Warren from Vermilion City! Raise the Pokeballs you're planning to use for this match with both hands."

Red took a quick guess on the type this trainer specialized and retrieved the first two Pokeballs from his belt. Marcus did so as well, sticking his giant bug net on his back like swordsman in a RPG game. Red took the moment to survey his surroundings. He was in the stadium east of the main stadium he was just in. He wasn't the only on battling in this ceiling-less stadium as three other battlefields were set close to him, all three already starting their matches.

"Don't start until I give directions to begin," the referee in a yellow polo shirt emblazon with the Indigo League logo made clear. "Release both of your Pokemon trainers!"

They both simultaneously released their Pokemon onto the field. Standing on Red's side was his trustworthy Charizard paired with Nidoking. On his opponent side, Red guessed correctly on the type of Pokemon this trainer used as a Scizor materialized. A small, light-blue Pokemon sporting two pairs of diamond-shaped wings on a tear-shaped body speared intimidating with its two large antennas that resembled a pair of anger eyes.

-"This out to be easy,"- Charizard muttered, seeing it was a great matchup for him. The unnerving stare from Scizor did slightly put him off.

-"The tournament started,"- Nidoking smirked, entering a battle stance and kept his eyes on the buzzing blue bug.

"Are you ready, Red Ketchum?" the referee shouted with excessive enthusiasm.

"Yeah I am!" Red yelled back.

"Are you ready, Marcus Warren?" the man turned to Red's opponent.

Marcus pulled his bug net from his back and held it like a weapon. "Let's get this match started!" he bellowed with passion rivaling the referee's.

"Let the match, begin!"

"Charizard, Fire Blast them!" Red shouted his first command for the tournament.

Charizard reared his head back and lunged forward, releasing his Fire Blast. The flames were increasingly growing, larger than any Fire Blast he ever fired before.

"Fire won't work on us!" the bug maniac shouted, frantically waving his net around. "Hydro Pump, Masquerain! Scizor Agility now! Let's show these chumps the power of Bug Pokemon!"

To Red's surprise, the small Masquerain attacked the Fire Blast with a voluminous amount of water, dispelling the flames in an instant. Scizor, on the other claw, began to increase its speed through Agility. The two bug Pokemon disappeared in the cloud of hot vapors.

-"I've got this,"- Nidoking decreed, stepping forward. Having used Foresight at the start, as Red ordered him to do before the battle, he had a clearer sense as to where they were.

"That's it, Nidoking. Rock Slide! Charizard take to the skies," Red ordered pointing up.

Charizard jumped straight into the sky, avoiding the barrage of boulders, and climbed higher as to get a better view of the battlefield. He nearly left the stadium but steadily dropped down to the height of open field stadium. He watched the seats fill with people interested in the first few rounds of the tournament. He witnessed intense battles in nearby battle grounds. He could see everything happening in the area but he still kept a close eye on the battle at hand.

Scizor tried to break all the boulders with his Bullet Punch to protect his partner but was overwhelmed with the amount in the foggy terrain. A single boulder escaped his punch and collided with his steel exoskeleton, sending him flying backwards. Masquerain tried to break the next boulders but her techniques weren't as hard hitting as Scizor's and took the super-effective attack head on.

Red took this opening to make his move. "Smokescreen from above, Charizard. Keep them in the dark!"

The fog was dissipating on the opponent's side but Charizard dropped down to blow out a cloud of black smoke. Marcus's side of the field was pitch black, even more suffocating than the fog from before.

Marcus adjusted classes and pointed his net at his Masquerain. "We can't be stopped! Masquerain, Whirlwind the smoke away!" he shouted what he should have shouted earlier with the fog.

With small wings, Masquerain blew the deleterious smoke away after several flaps. Masquerain breathe in fresh air and tried to get rid of the smoke of its body.

-"I can't believe how difficult it is to get rid of this black stain,"- Masquerain remarked in a high pitched voice, determined to clean herself. Scizor stood motionless covered in soot from head to toe but kept his focused stare at his foes.

-"This guy sure is getting on my nerves,"- Nidoking muttered under his breath, glaring back at Scizor's emotionless face.

-"I'll make him show some emotion,"- Charizard declared, closing to deliver a Wing Attack.

"Double Bug Buzz!"

Flapping their wings their wings in quick successions until they became white blurs, the two bug Pokemon formed a harsh, high-pitched ringing noise. The buzz stunned both Charizard and Nidoking, both straining their faces in agony.

"Quick Attack the Nidoking and Masquerain, Air Slash the Charizard!" Marcus bellowed once the Bug Buzz died down, leaving their opponents stunned.

Scizor dashed with his increased speed and full body tackled the burly poison type. He didn't stop there and began to pummel Nidoking with a flurry of Metal Claws. Nidoking raised his arms similar to how a boxer uses his arms to block. The thick armor padding on his forearms provided extra cushioning for the blows, allowing him to stand his ground. Scizor continued to attack, unfazed by Nidoking's smug smile.

Red acknowledged that this was what Nidoking wanted for specific purpose. "Nidoking," Red called his Pokemon's attention. Red pointed to the sky battle between Charizard and Masquerain. Both landed direct hits on each other with their respective fire and water attacks.

-"I understand,"- he grunted, focusing now on the Scizor in front of him.

"Hah, poison isn't effective on Steel types," Marcus guffawed at the situation.

"I know which is why Nidoking will punch him towards Charizard to finish him with a Flamethrower," Red announced his plan. "Fire Punch!"

Scizor's eyes lit up and seized his assault. He tried to fly back out of range but Nidoking grabbed him by his right claw. He pulled him forward and met him a Fire Punch from his right fist. He landed the blow in Scizor's chest, making his eyes bulge out. The force of the punch sent Scizor spiraling upwards, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

-"Scizor!"- Masquerain shouted alarmed.

-"My turn!"- Charizard dived down, Flamethrower ready to go.

Masquerain unleashed a second Hydro Pump in an attempt to stop Charizard but the alert Pokemon looped back around to dodge it before diving down again. He doused the dazed Scizor with his Flamethrower.

"Masquerain, give it your all and Hydro Pump!" the bug maniac encouraged.

Masquerain used every ounce of strength in her to help Scizor. She released another Hydro Pump directly onto Charizard and caught Scizor in the blast. The gush of water pushed both of them down onto the field like a waterfall. Masquerain increased her speed with Aqua Jet and chased after the two falling pokemon. She caught up to both of the on the ground.

Masquerain sighed in relieve seeing Scizor slowly get up. The red insectoid nodded his head as to thank her for her assistance.

"Watch out, Masquerain!" Marcus jumped nearly losing his glasses in his fright.

Masquerain fluttered to side, avoiding the Ice Beam. She flapped her two large wings and ascended higher ready to dodge another. She quickly realized that it was Nidoking who attacked her to get her away from her partner. She watched in shock as Charizard recovered after having been doused with gallons of water and burned Scizor from behind with a Flame Burst technique.

Scizor staggered forward before falling straight into the ground. Burn marks scorched his backside, leaving him barely conscious. Scizor in his pitiful state still tried to fight as he lifted a damaged claw. He unhinged his claw to reveal an attack he kept up his sleeve. Light gathered in his claw was released all at once. The white beam struck Nidoking directly in his chest, sending him toppling backwards.

-"Give it your all,"- Scizor managed to say before fainting.

The red flag was held up high before the judge shouted, "Scizor is unable to fight! Return your Pokemon Marcus!"

Marcus became passionate with his Scizor's will. "That determination is what we are all about, Scizor. Masquerain, let's not let Scizor's loss go to waste. Take out Charizard with one last Hydro Pump!"

Nidoking hurled another set of boulders at the tiny Masquerain who eloquently dodged through. Following her orders, Masquerain fired another Hydro Pump despite her weariness and struck Charizard for a direct hit.

-"Gah!"- Charizard collapsed onto his back.

Nidoking caught Masquerain with his second Ice Beam, hit the left pair of wings, freezing them in an instant. Masquerain lost control of her mobility and crashed into the hard packed dirt. Charizard lifted his head for a swift Ember that struck her. The burns were enough to finish her off.

The referee studied Masquerain, making sure she was really out for the count.

"Masquerain is unable to continue. The winner is Red Ketchum!" the battle judge waved his flag towards Red.

Marcus sighed but kept a sincere smile. "You both did your best which is the least I can ask of you guys," he accepted his defeat. "But we are not done yet! We have more rounds to complete to make it to the next round! I'll face you again. Red! Till next time!"

"I'll be waiting," Red replied back.

"Challengers please clear the arena as the next two contestants step up," the battle judge kept the pools going without breaking a sweat. "Will Phillpa Eilhart and Radovid Mallore please step up to continue the tournament."

Red returned his Pokemon congratulating on an excellent first victory. "I guess I'll get in some practice before our next battle," Red mentioned to himself seeing it will be taking a while to finish.


Emily took a generous sip out of her plastic cup filled with pineapple flavored water. She squinted, her eyes not used to the bright light as she entered the stadium. The sun was still in the sky but it began to set in the east. She didn't drown in the pools as she made it first place in her group with some arrogant guy being the runner up.

She scanned the bleachers before finding the spot Leaf texted her. She jogged up the somewhat empty bleachers to greet her warmly. She took the empty seat right next to her. Leaf had her slim laptop on her lap skimming over various notes she had on the Pokemon.

"Why do you have your laptop out during Red's match?" she asked, looking onto the field. They were in the fifth row away from the action.

"This tournament has various Pokemon from every part of the world," Leaf explained. "I doing a special study that requires a variety of Pokemon to study."

"And you still won't tell us what it is your so intent on studying on," she grumpily said.

"Well not yet I can say what it is," Leaf replied not looking up from her computer. Emil rolled her eyes and returned to Red's final match.

How incredibly reckless, she thought to herself in between sips. She witnessed Pidgeot and a Red feathered bird, that she recognized it was a Talonflame, collide with each other using their devastating Brave Bird attacks. Both birds flopped onto the ground with no signs of getting up. The ref called out the defeat of the two Pokemon, and did so such gusto which surprised her as other referees were drained of energy at this late in the day.

She reminded herself to ask later what kind of coffee that man drank in the morning as Red's match was coming close. It was only Pikachu against a floating washing machine.

Appliances are now becoming Pokemon? She thought to herself seeing how ridiculously it was getting. Well, come to think of it…didn't Red say his brother used a Pokemon that could become a microwave oven.

She took notice of Red's opponent, a teen close to her age stood in the opposite trainer box. He sweated uncomfortably in a long sleeve red jacket paired with red jogging pants. His jet black hair was combed into a Mohawk probably by using an entire van of hairspray.

A boy that falls into the demographic that calls themselves the Ace Trainer class, Emily figured the type of player the teen was from his appearance. She asked Leaf who it was and simply got his first name: Henry.

"Quick Attack into Mega Kick!" Red shouted his command. Emily sensed the enthusiasm Red had in his tone as well as his confident stance and smug smiled.

"Signal Beam, Rotom!" reacted the ace trainer with urgency.

Pikachu tackled a Rotom before it could even register its order. The agile mouse somersaulted above the washing machine after his first attack and came down with a glowing white foot. Rotom raised its hose and fired a multicolored beam, striking Pikachu midair with great precision.

Pikachu was blown back to Red's side but he immediately got up. He began to show signs of exhaustion and Red knew about this but he didn't seem at all worry. Rotom, also, faltered and struggled to keep itself up.

This is the clear difference between a both trainers, Emily noted the dissimilarities. Red was smirking not with arrogance but with enthusiasm. He was enjoying the match as it got this close. The other guy was however stressing over the fact that the match was getting close. He was visibly trembling and nervously sweating over his predicament.

"Confidence in your ability can lead you to victory," Emily mentioned to Leaf.

"Protect!" Henry ordered. His Pokemon obeyed, forming an impenetrable bubble around itself thus giving his trainer more time to think of a strategy to win.

"Pikachu, relax with Agility," Red calmly ordered.

-"My muscles were getting sore,"- Pikachu smirked, relieving the tension in his body to increase his speed.

"Rotom, Hydro Pump," Henry began to panic seeing Pikachu boost up its stats.

Rotom dropped his shield, opened the round door in his front and brought forth his Hydro Pump. The pressurized water was carefully aimed at Pikachu who dodged it at the last possible moment, startling both Rotom and Henry.

"Thunder Bolt."

Pikachu positioned himself close to Rotom to deliver the final blow. The shock from his electric type was neutral thanks to Rotom's form being water. Rotom lost its blue glow and collapsed onto the ground.

The ace trainer collapsed onto his knees in defeat as the referee announced Red as the winner. Emily determined that this match was the deciding point if the ace trainer made it to the next round. The defeated trainer sadly returned his Pokemon.

The match was over but Red walked over to his opponent and offered him his hand. Henry looked up in disbelief. He said some words that Emily couldn't hear but were undeniably encouraging words seeing Henry slowly smiled. Red helped him onto his feet and shook his hand before walking in separate directions.

"My cousin Blue can be a real jerk but in his earlier battles, he showed great sportsmanship like Red. That tells me he has grown a lot. I like to believe that Red helped him greatly along the way," Leaf stated her thoughts to Emily keeping her eyes on Red. She waved at him from the bleachers which he caught and turned to take the path upwards.

"He does seem to have the uplifting attitude that brings you up despite the circumstances," Emily remarked.

"Is that what you feel with your time being around him?" Leaf nonchalantly remarked, shutting down her laptop.

Emily glanced at Leaf with an uncertain look. "Leaf, I could tell that you had a thing for Red-"

Leaf raised a finger as to stop here. "I 'had' a thing for him. I've move on seeing that I have other objectives enter my life. You, on the other hand must have changed with Red at your side in part of your journey and you made a much stronger connection with him."

Emily looked slightly away, catching sight of Red having taken the stairs up to their aisle and began to ascend. "I've only helped him in the last part of his journey," she disputed.

"Here he comes," Leaf warned Emily. "Just ponder on what those moments meant to you."

"Hey, you're already finished?" Red reached the girls.

"I've finished my pools some time ago, while you took your sweet time to finish," she said, placing her drink down. "I even got the chance to get a quick bite before coming here."

"Yeah my match was pushed later due to one trainer attempted stall out an opponent who couldn't touch him," Red explained. "The match was called a draw to keep things the tournament going."

"There was nothing you could do so it's acceptable to see it got this late," Leaf said packing her laptop into her backpack. "It's getting late so let's go meet up with everyone in the food court."

"Sounds great! It's been an exhausting day so I think I'll turn in early," Red said, checking the time.

"We got time so let's go," Emily led the trio out the stadium.


A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the first round of the tournament. Couldn't include every battle Red partook in for obvious reasons such as how long the chapters will be. Next will be the top 64 trainers who made it out of the first the day of the tournament. The battles are going to be just as intense if not more than the first day.