The Tournament
Chloe let out a scream as she entered the ship's infirmary and saw her friend stretched out on the bed, the burn mark on his back currently on display.
"I warned you it wasn't pretty," May spoke up. "But yeah long story short Obstagoon over there found Moltres and foolishly challenged it, then Zach dove in the way of an attack to save Obstagoon and he pushed an evolution in an attempt to save them both. If I hadn't appeared they'd likely be goners."
"That goofball..." Marnie facepalmed lightly as she shook her head. "At least he's okay."
Chloe turned her back to them as the sight sickened her stomach.
"How long will he be out?" Ash looked to the Nurse.
"About a day or so, that burn mark was pretty bad. Are you his friends? I'm sorry but only one friend can remain at a time, it's too crowded in here. Especially with those two out and about!" She pointed at Lucario and Scorbunny who were resting their heads against their trainer's bed.
"I'll stay here!" May was quick to say. "He'll need a friendly face to wake up to and Chloe's clearly uncomfortable, don't want to risk scaring him into thinking it's bad if he catches her looking at him funny."
"You sure, May? Cause I'll happily watch over him." Marnie offered only for the brunette to shake her head.
"I'm not even officially part of your group, go on! Get your mind off of things and clear your head!" May smiled before taking a seat by the bed as Ash and Marnie looked at one another.
"What now?" He asked in a hissed tone, unsure what they could do.
"We could check out the island, see what it has to offer." Marnie shrugged.
"Feeling up for the challenge? The one and only Scott is scouting participants for the Battle Frontier challenge, enter the Battle Frontier tournament for a shot at fame and glory amongst other prizes!"
"How about that? It could prove a useful distraction." They had been walking through the streets of Mossdeep when the announcer conveniently appeared and got their attention. It should absorb a good chunk of time and help keep their mind off of their friend. Marnie glanced towards Chloe in particular as she said that, the girl looked quite anxious and worried, definitely in need of a good distraction.
"Scott!" Ash's mind instantly pictured his old friend, he had introduced Ash to the Kanto Battle Frontier which was full of some of the strongest trainers that Ash had ever faced, perhaps Scott could give him a good lead on other strong trainers that he could pair up against in the World Championship or give him an invitation to the Sinnoh branch! Ash remembered fighting Palmer, the father of one of his friends and former rival Barry. Palmer appeared to be as strong as the Sinnoh Elite Four members and perhaps even powerful enough to give Cynthia a run for her money, if he was that strong then surely the others were as well if not more!
"I'll take that as a yes then," Marnie smirked upon seeing his reaction, her head soon turning to Chloe once more as she continued. "Would you like to enter as well or...?"
"I-I'll just watch, thanks for the offer though." Chloe spoke, hoping that the battles alone would help clear her mind. Besides there was no way that Eevee would stand a chance against anyone here, perhaps after he was feeling better she could ask to train with Zach's Dratini.
"Out of the way," Ash felt somebody pushing past him and Marnie causing him to quickly dart around with a glare as he spotted Hugh walking towards the battle stadium to get registered. Ash's heartrate immediately increased as an excited look formed across his face.
"Alright, I can get my battle with Hugh!" With how powerful the trainer was a confrontation was practically confirmed at one point during the tournament! Ash was quite looking forward to testing his might against the trainer.
"Hugh?!" Chloe quickly turned and watched Hugh's movement with a warm glow in her eyes.
"Don't get too excited, there's still the chance that the two of us will come to blows again." Marnie teased him. "This time I won't lose!"
"Heh, we'll see about that!" Ash smirked in response as the three started walking towards the Battle Stadium in order to get registered where Ash was immediately confronted by a familiar face.
"Why if it isn't Ash!" Though Scott still wore his shades it was quite easy to tell that he was excited to see Ash once more, the older man rushing on over to greet him.
"Hello Scott, it's great to see you again!"
"Pika pi!" Pikachu's expression matched his trainers as both looked rather pleased to see him again.
Scott reached out to pet Pikachu, the mouse Pokemon's tail twitched from happiness while he emitted out a light 'Chaaa!'
"Everyone this is Scott, he watched over the Kanto Battle Frontier back when I was challenging it, and he's a good friend too."
"Hello, I'm Marnie. Pleased ta meet cha!"
"Hi, I'm Chloe."
"You two sure have been busy since last we met, coming in the quarter finals at the Sinnoh League then advancing to the finals in Kalos, and now you're the Alola champion!" Scott spoke with an excited tone as he gave Ash's friends a wave in recognition, showing that the man had been keeping tabs on his friend despite them not interacting in quite some time. "So I take it ya came here to battle against one of my other Frontier branches?"
"Hold up, you own all of the Battle Frontiers?!" Marnie looked shocked as she looked the man up and down, he dressed so casual like and seemed down to earth. She'd have expected somebody of that nature to be more like Chairman Rose.
"Of course!" Scott grinned as he proudly tapped his chest. "I like to get to personally know everyone who participants in them along with the Frontier Brains themselves, most of which are former challengers like Ash here, who rejected my offer of becoming one but others after him have accepted."
"I just prefer traveling, I didn't like the idea of being permanently rooted in one place." Ash nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Ah don't worry, I have nothing against you for that! It was your choice to make after all." Scott placed his hands into his pockets before getting down to business. "Though you don't have to participate you know, I can just give you an invitation to whatever Frontier you desire!"
"Thanks but I'd still like to battle if it's all the same to you, I don't want special treatment simply because we're buds." Ash shook his head causing Scott to pull back his head and laughed.
"Still as humble and modest as ever I see, well then go ahead and get yourself registered!" Scott backed away, allowing for Ash and Marnie to get registered for the tournament.
The wait wasn't too long for the battles to begin as within half an hour the round one matches had been set up. Ash was set to face off against a male sailor trainer while Marnie was tasked with fighting a male punk trainer. Luck had been on their side as they hadn't been paired up against each other yet though Ash was disappointed he still had to wait to battle Hugh. Marnie's match was up first and she was currently in the midst of it as Grimmsnarl was facing off against a Shiftry.
"Grimmsnarl use Hammer Arm!" Grimmsnarl's arms glowed white as he slammed them against the top of Shiftry's head, the Grass/Dark type letting out a pained grunt before immediately dropping to it's knees and collapsing in a defeated slump as it's eyes turned to swirls.
"Shiftry..."
"Shiftry is unable to battle, Marnie and Grimmsnarl are the winners!" The referee called out as he waved his flag, signaling the end of the match. The punk trainer returned Shiftry with a sour look while a few Team Yell members were seen cheering in the crowd.
"Yay, go Marnie!"
"You rock, Marnie!"
"How did they get here...?" Marnie asked, sweating lightly at the sight of them before taking her leave of the battlefield.
A few matches would pass and Hugh had his turn, facing off against a female swimmer.
"Tentacruel, I choose you!" The swimmer threw forward a Pokeball which burst open as a Tentacruel took his place before his trainer, his eyes narrowing and focusing on his opponent.
Hugh's expression didn't change as he reached for a ball on his belt before activating as he threw it forward. "Eelektross you're up."
"Eelek!"
"Discharge." Hugh calmly ordered as he lightly waved his arm. Eelektross' body became surrounded with electricity as he unleashed multiple bolts of electricity, giving Tentacruel quite the shock and eliminating his competition with ease as Tentacruel collapsed before the attack even ceased! "Enough."
Eelektross halted his attack while the referee waved his flag.
"Tentacruel is unable to battle, Hugh and Eelektross are the winners of this match!"
"Wow that Eelektross sure is something!" Marnie eyed the defeated Tentacruel as the swimmer girl returned him to his Pokeball. "Tentacruel didn't even stand a chance!"
"Well he did face off against Alder and almost won, his Liepard had Alder's Bouffalant on the ropes!" Scott casually stated. "I've had my eye on this one for awhile, his personality could use some work but I've got the feeling that he'd make a great Frontier Brain for the Unova branch!"
"He did?!" Ash's eyes grew and widened upon hearing the news before turning his attention towards Hugh once more as he clenched his fists in anticipation. "Now I'm more eager to face him than ever!"
"Pika!"
"Well if you don't get down there you're gonna lose your chance!" Marnie gave him a light nudge as she showcased that it was his turn.
"Oh right!" Ash quickly made his way out onto the battlefield, passing Hugh along the way. Ash tried waving his hand in greeting only for him to rudely pass by without acknowledging him. Ash frowned at that but didn't let it get to him as he took position. His opponent let out a hearty laugh as he tossed a Pokeball up and down.
"A twerp? This is gonna be cake, Poliwrath let's go!"
"Poliwrath!" A Poliwrath burst onto the field and started slapping it's belly in anticipation of the upcoming battle!
Ash closely examined his opponent's Pokemon from afar before eventually reaching out and grabbing a ball from his belt. "Snivy I choose you!"
"Snivy!" Snivy did a smug pose as she appeared on the battlefield, the sailor and Poliwrath both started having a laughing fit at the sight of the small Grass type, a red vein mark appeared on Snivy's head before she lifted up her head and let out a huff.
"Don't let them get to you Snivy, Leaf Blade let's go!" Ash called out the command while throwing out his arm.
"Snivy!" Her tail became surrounded in a light green aura as she swiftly moved across the field and slashed her opponent with it!
"Poliwrath!" Poliwrath grunted out in pain, holding his leg before looking up at Snivy with a ticked off expression as he started pounding his chest. "Poliwrath!"
"Now you've done it, Poliwrath use Ice Punch!" Poliwrath's fist became surrounded in a light blue energy as he raced across the field towards his opponent.
"Hurl yourself into the air with Vine Whip, then set off a Leaf Tornado!" Snivy whipped out some vines, pressing them into the ground before hurling yourself upwards and just in the nick of time as Poliwrath punched the air where she stood mere seconds before. Snivy gazed down at her opponent with a sly smirk as she fired a tornado of glowing green leaves down upon her opponent!
Poliwrath cried out in pain as the leaves struck his body before collapsing face forward and landing with a soft thud as swirls formed within his eyes. The referee looked down at Poliwrath before waving his flag and marking Ash as the winner!
"Alright Snivy, you did it-"
"Snivy!" Snivy cried out in joy shortly before her body began flashing and glowing a bright blue color, the light blinding Ash as Snivy's body began undergoing changes The light eventually fading to reveal the form of the newly evolved Servine!
"Servine!" Servine gave Ash a smug smirk as the trainer formed an excited look before rushing over and giving his Grass type a hug!
"You did it, Servine! Emboar and Oshawott will be so happy to hear the news!"
"Servine!"
After a few more matches the first round was over and the next matchups were revealed. Ash would be facing off against a hex girl while Marnie was paired up against Hugh!
"The edge lord himself!" Marnie let out a light growl, knowing that it wouldn't be an easy fight.
"You'll do fine, Marnie! Just be careful, we don't know what else he's packing yet." Ash advised, there were quite a few powerful Pokemon in Unova that Hugh likely could own if he was as powerful as Scott said. Hydreigon, Volcarona, heck maybe even a legendary for all they knew!
"Don't worry about me, focus on yourself. If I lose than ya have to win for the both of us!" Marnie gave his arm a light punch and flashed him a smile before heading on out onto the field where Hugh was waiting. His eyes looked her over as she approached, not seeming to be impressed by what he saw as he calmly gripped a ball.
"Flygon, you're up."
"Flygon!"
The Hoenn Dragon burst from it's confinement as the crowd let out a cheer upon the sight of their native Dragon Pokemon!
Marnie looked towards Morpeko before reaching for a different ball. "Bisharp I need your assistance!"
"Sharp!" Bisharp burst from it's ball, surprising Ash as he'd never seen the Pokemon before. He could only assume that Marnie had been keeping it at home until now or caught it when he wasn't looking.
"Laser Focus!" Bisharp began concentrating intensely upon Flygon. "Follow up with Steel Beam!"
"Huh?" Ash leaned forward out of interest as he'd never heard of the move until today. A orb of silver energy began forming between Bisharp's palms as he held them together, the ball steadily grew larger before being unleashed in a powerful silver beam of energy! The attack struck Flygon and pushed him back, the Dragon letting out a grunt before opening his eyes and giving Bisharp a light glare as Hugh calmly ordered out his own attack.
"Flamethrower!" Flygon opened his mouth and blasted Bisharp with a stream of fire, Bisharp let out a pained grunt as he was blasted, gritting his teeth as he did his best to withstand the attack but found himself dropping to his knees, his breath quickly growing heavy before collapsing onto his side in defeat as the referee waved his flag.
"Bisharp is unable to battle, Hugh and Flygon win the match!"
Marnie leaned down to check on Bisharp before returning him to his Pokeball. "Ya did good, old friend. Take a rest." Marnie looked towards Hugh only to discover that he'd already left the battlefield, making no attempt at displaying sportsmanship.
It wasn't long before Ash had his turn as the hex girl took her position on the opposite end and gave Ash a creepy look that weirded him out.
"I'm gonna put a hex on you, Dusclops let's roll!"
"Dusclops!" The Hoenn Ghost type revealed itself from her shadow, making Ash visibly shudder.
"Gengar, let's go!"
"Gengar!" Ash's own Ghost type burst onto the field, giving Dusclops a sinister smirk.
"Shadow Sneak!" The hex girl called out.
"Dusc!" Dusclops's shadow began extending towards Gengar with the shadow lashing out and striking Gengar as it grew closer to the rival Ghost type!
Ash kept his cool as he examined the situation before thrusting his arm forward as he shouted out the next move. "Alright Gengar, Phantom Force!"
Gengar flashed a smirk as a purple portal appeared beneath him, the Ghost type disappeared into the portal with Dusclop's shadow striking at the air where he stood seconds before, a different purple portal opened behind Dusclops with Gengar stepping out of it before lashing out and attacking him with a surprise attack!
"Clops!" Dusclops collapsed in defeat as it's singular eye formed a swirl, the referee waved his flag before pointing towards Ash.
"Dusclops is unable to battle, Gengar and Ash Ketchum win!"
"What?! No, impossible!" The hex girl was aghast as she witnessed Gengar unleashing the powerful Ghost type attack upon her. "I've been trying for years to master that!"
The crowd cheered loudly from excitement at how quickly the match had ended, the anticipation of watching Ash and Hugh battling it out had grown as both had grown a small following from within the crowd.
"Wow, Gengar's actually pretty powerful!" Chloe commented.
"Well he has been training it pretty hard since he got it, he wants Gengar to succeed and not have to worry about getting abandoned again." Marnie informed while watching as Ash approached the hex girl and offered his hand, showing good sportsmanship as the two shook hands though the hex girl still had a sour look across her face as she did so.
"And here we are folks, the final round! Both trainers have proved themselves to be quite the skilled trainers however only one of them can be the winner, which of them will prove themselves the winner and take home the rare Cherish Ball?!"
"Good luck Ash!" Chloe called out.
"And remember be careful, he's gone toe to toe with a champion!" Marnie hissed.
Ash nodded in response though it was a bit tricky to predict what Hugh would do, every round he had used a different Pokemon than the previous one much like Ash himself had done. It was pretty much impossible to plan a solid strategy out as Hugh could pull out Liepard, Flygon, Eelektross or maybe even an entirely different Pokemon!
Hugh already stood in place on his corner of the field as Ash began stepping out onto the field.
"So you actually made it the whole way, I heard that you're some sort of champion so you better give it all you have." With how little emotion Hugh had it was hard to tell if that was a demand or simply a desire.
"Don't you worry, Pikachu and I always give it our all!" Ash pumped his fists as he turned his head to meet Pikachu's gaze. "It's all up to you buddy, let's do this!"
"Pika!" Pikachu flicked his tail in response before leaping out onto the field, cheeks sparked out of anticipation of the coming battle.
"Pikachu, eh? Very well in that case I choose Flygon." Hugh grabbed a Pokeball and threw it forward as he released the Hoenn Dragon once more!
"Earthquake!"
"Quick Attack across the field and leap onto his back!"
Pikachu quickly darted across the field and leaped on up onto Flygon's back as the Dragon type jumped up before slamming his tail down hard against the ground, resulting in the ground shaking and causing some members of the audience along with Ash himself to nearly lose their balance. Hugh seemed in perfectly control of his own balance though seeing how he likely used the attack a lot his body had most likely adapted.
"Now use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted, taking advantage of Pikachu being on Flygon's back. They could possibly deliver a critical hit which could be a decisive factor of rather or not they win, Flygon definitely appeared to be strong so it'd take a few Iron Tail's at minimum to take him down.
"Hmp, Fly up high!" Hugh pointed upwards. "We'll see if that rat can keep holding on when you roll upside down!"
Flygon quickly flew upwards as Pikachu's tail began glowing a bright silver color, slamming it into the Dragon's back as Flygon let out a grunt in response. Pikachu then prepared to leap off only to quickly halt in place as Flygon had already flew quite high up, going as high as the ceiling would allow! Flygon soon rolled himself over much like Hugh had ordered and Pikachu would have fallen had he not grabbed a hold of Flygon's tail.
"Pika!"
"Hold on Pikachu!" Ash called up to him. "Use Iron Tail!"
"Pi!" Pikachu did his best to swing his body, his tail glowing silver once more as he struck Flygon's stomach! The Ground/Dragon cried out in agony while Hugh briefly showed a display of emotion as a frustrated look formed, gritting his teeth before looking up at the ceiling as an idea struck.
"Dragon Tail, slam that rat's body against the roof!"
"Fly!" Flygon's tail became covered in a green glow and grew in size as he lashed out with it, slamming it and Pikachu along with it against the roof of the stadium! Pikachu's eyes widened outwards as he was squished against the roof, taking damage and losing his grip on Flygon's tail. Flygon soon pulled his tail away and rolled over, regaining balance as he watched Pikachu begin falling down towards the ground.
"Pikachu!" Ash quickly dove forward with his arms stretched out, catching Pikachu just before he could hit the ground but the impact was still painful. Ash let out a grunt from the impact of Pikachu hitting his hands while Pikachu let out a faint cry as his eyes were now reduced to swirls.
"Pikachu is unable to battle, Hugh is the winner of the competition!" The crowd let out a cheer as the victor was crowned.
"A waste of my time." Hugh huffed, returning Flygon to his Pokeball. Though his eyes said differently as he gave Ash a brief glance before turning and walking off of the field, completely ignoring the prize he was supposed to receive.
Scott approached Hugh with a wave and a friendly smile. "Hello there young man, I was very impressed with your battling style. I'd like to extend an invitation to one of my Battle Facilities, I can tell you're the sort that likes a challenge so I'd like to recommend the Sinnoh branch. It has the strongest members of the entire operation like the Battle Tycoon Palmer whose gone toe to toe with Cynthia herself! Though you'd have to beat the others there in order to face off against him!"
"Sinnoh sounds perfect, give me directions to the first facility and I'll get going."
"That'll be the Battle Castle, just a ways off Lake Valor!" Scott handed him a slip of paper with instructions. "Once you beat Darach he'll give you further instructions on where to go."
Hugh grabbed the paper slip and turned to go only for Scott to grab his shoulder. "Hold up, what about your prize?"
"That useless thing? Give it to the loser." Hugh huffed before brushing off Scott's hand and walking off.
Scatt stared after him for a moment before eventually making his way to Ash and Pikachu who had recovered shortly after being fed a Sitrus berry. "Congratulations Ash, you've done such a stellar job that I'd like to officially extend an invitation to the Battle Frontier. Any one in particular that you have your eye on?"
Ash thought for a moment as his mind went back to Palmer once more, no doubt the experienced trainer would be in the final 100 when the time came so if Ash beat him before that time it'd be a good showing that he could fully handle the powerful trainers that would also be competing like Cynthia herself!
"Sinnoh please!"
"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out in agreement.
Scott laughed before handing them a similar slip of paper. "Well then good luck, Hugh is also going to be there so I'm sure your paths will cross again soon!" Scott then reached into his pocket before withdrawing the Cherish Ball. "Oh and he didn't want this, only fair that you get it then."
"Thanks... what's so special about this ball anyways?" Ash asked as he'd never seen the ball before or even heard it's name spoken before today.
"It's a special coloring of a standard Pokeball, very few were actually made as the movement was cancelled shortly after production had started." Scott explained.
"So basically it's just a fancy Pokeball without anything special about it?" Chloe asked.
"Bingo! It's still a nice collector's item though or you could even catch something with it if you'd prefer that." Scott shrugged before waving his arm. "Now how about I buy you all lunch for old time's sake?"
Ash's stomach rumbled loudly causing everyone to sweat before he let out a laugh and flashed his familiar smile. "Sounds like a great idea to me!"
"Pika pi!"
"You did what?!" Sonia had a crazed look in her eye as she shouted that out causing Zach to flinch, he was currently chatting with her on the ship's videophone. "That was so foolish, you could have gotten yourself killed!"
"Well I wasn't about to let Linoone die..." Zach quietly said in response while casting a nervous look around to see if anyone was staring after her outburst.
Sonia let out a sigh as she held her hand against her forehead. "I know, you've always had this desire to protect those closest to you." Zach saw a brief vision of the wolf with the shield mane, causing him to rub his eyes and the vision disappeared as quickly as it had came. "I'm just glad you're okay, I'll happily watch over Obstagoon for you and I'll do my best to give him company but you should really think about catching more Pokemon or sending somebody along with him to keep him company. Apart from Yamper we don't have any other Pokemon here and those months are sure to drag on for the poor guy if he's lonely." Sonia's words made him stop to think. she was right he had deliberately tried sticking to a single team but it wouldn't be fair to have Obstagoon at the lab all by himself until he was ready to return to the fold.
"You're right, I should get around to catching another Pokemon or two soon. His absence leaves a hole in my team and I do feel bad about leaving him there." Zach gazed down at Obstagoon's ball as he held it within his hands, he didn't like having to say goodbye to him but he knew it was necessary in order for him to fully heal from his injuries, it was only temporary but it still felt like it'd be forever until they got to see each other again. "Take good care of him." He placed the ball on the transceiver, resulting in the ball being zapped away as it was transferred through the vast computer network and soon into Sonia's hands.
"Got him!" Sonia showed the Quick ball to him before placing it on the table next to her. "Just in the future try to avoid legendary Pokemon if you can please! I'd be thrilled if I was able to research one but I'd be just as thrilled with you coming back here in one piece!"
"Somehow I don't think that'd be possible, legendary Pokemon seem to be drawn towards Ash wherever he does." Zach remarked with a light chuckle
Sonia giggled in response before giving him a light wave. "I'd love to talk longer but it's getting late here and I've got to help grandma after getting Obstagoon settled. Talk to you soon I hope!"
"See ya!" Zach waved back with a smile before the screen went black as they disconnected.
"So according to the captain we should only be a few days off from Glacier Island" Marnie informed as she looked down at a map of the Hoenn region. "So pretty soon you'll be fighting off against another Elite Four member, Ash!"
Ash pumped his fists as an excited expression crossed his face. "Alright, I can't wait to battle it out with Glacia! Feels like it's been forever since I've fought with an Ice specialist!"
"Pika!"
"We have to stop at a place called Big Wave Island first though," Chloe pointed out as she looked at the map.
Marnie pulled out her phone to look up information on the island. "It's named that because it has big waves... how original. A popular surfing spot and there's even been reports of a strange looking Raichu surfing the waves lately."
"A Raichu?!" Zach's interest of the island was immediately risen, sure Scorbunny had Electro Ball but he was going to need something else to even the odds in his favor in the coming battle against Nessa. A smirk quickly crossed his face. "I'm gonna try and catch it!"
"Car!" Lucario cried out in agreement, Scorbunny grabbed her trainer's leg and hid behind it though as the thought of getting wet terrified her. She hoped they wouldn't go surfing in an attempt to catch it!
"If it knows Surf I wonder if we can teach that to you." Ash turned towards Pikachu who shrugged in response but it was sure worth a try!
Ash experienced his first loss in awhile and Hugh is now officially a rival.
Will Raichu be caught and will Pikachu be able to master Surf? And what sort of challenges await Ash now that he's been invited to compete in the Sinnoh Battle Frontier?
