As soon as the Sinnoh Grand Festival finished, Ash's gang decided to relocate to Gramp's Ranch until the Sinnoh League started. They trained there for the following three weeks and welcomed the evolution of another member of their family, Greninja. The water-dark pokemon had finally achieved his dream of evolving to his final stage.
Watching Ash train was...overwhelming to say the least.
They destroyed half of the ranch, daily. However, what made me choke in disbelief, is the fact that afterward, they built the whole thing back again. It was an impressive but intimidating scene. Watching what Ash is capable of achieving after a year of working hard and seriously, and making smart decisions... made me wonder what would he have been capable of if he had acted the same way since his first day as a trainer? Or what he will be able to achieve with time?
Luckily, before I descended into the rabbit hole of the 'what if?', we had to go to the Lilly of the Valley so Ash could sign himself in, in time. The first two preliminary rounds went fast for most of Ash's friends. They were a breeze for Paul, Nando, and Barry. Ash, on the other hand, had to complicate his life and use his newly caught pokemon. For the Top 256, he used Staraptor, Grotle, and Infernape. Meanwhile, for the Top 128: Glliscor, Floatzel, and Torracat. I understood what he was doing, this was the league of the region of his Sinnoh pokemon. Luckily, he used them in the first rounds, where the competition is the weakest. Smarter than what he is used to doing, using them for the whole league.
At the moment we were watching Ash wipe the floor with a Psychic Specialist, who had used a Hypno, a Xatu, and a Grumping. Ash in response had sent out his Crawdaunt, Swellow, and Snorlax, who at the moment was knocking the Grumping out with a Body Slam.
"Auch!" Dawn winced. "Being on the receiving end of a Snorlax's Body Slam must hurt like a bitch!"
"I said it once, and I'll say it again, that Snorlax moves way too fast for being of his species," I commented, shaking my head bemusedly, as I clapped along with the crowd.
I chuckled as I watched the crowd go wild, cheering almost in synchrony for The Saint. I will hold it over Ash forever. He used to make fun of me for having a couple of girls cheerleading for me, while he now has a whole stadium doing the same for him.
"He'll be facing Nando next," Riley commented. "From being the runner-up in the Sinnoh Grand Festival to a Top 32 finish in the Sinnoh League."
"Don't count him out so soon," I replied with a smirk.
"You think he'll win against Ash?" Dawn turned to me with started confusion.
"What I am saying is to never say never," I answered. "Everyone counted Ash out at the beginning and thought I was a clear winner, he finished better than me in the two Pokemon Leagues we competed in together," I recalled that time with equal fondness and guilt. "Ash might be considered the Top Dog now, but his heart will always be with the Underdog. After all, he used to be one."
"I couldn't have come up with wiser words," Lucario smiled at me proudly, making me blush slightly. I ignored it, of course. I had a reputation to hold.
"Also, there's no shame in a Top 32 finish for your first Pokemon League," I exclaimed in fake indignation. "I had a Top 32 finish on my first Pokemon League!"
Riley and Lucario stood up and went to get us some drinks and snacks, while Dawn and I stayed to guard our seats. Normally, during the intervale between matches, we would go backstage to be with Ash. But the fame of The Saint after the incarceration of Team Galactic is over the roofs. Poor Ashy is going from his private dressing-room to the arena and back, no detour, unless he wanted to get mobbed by fans and paparazzi. Luckily, Barry, Nando, and Paul were visiting his dressing-room and keeping him company.
Though I feel that the ones that should be wished luck are Ash's opponents. The arena is filled with The Saint merchandise, it would be very intimidating to be facing someone as famous as Ash and being surrounded by an arena filled with banners and posters of The Saint.
"Here you go," Riley said, as he handed me a coke and nachos, he was having popcorn and lemonade, just like Dawn.
No one appreciates nachos, I pouted in my head, but soon my attention was grabbed by the announcers announcing Ash's next battle. I need to invest in some good quality earplugs, I thought as the crowd cheered loudly. Otherwise, I'm going to go deaf soon.
"It's another 3 vs 3, right?" Dawn asked as we watched Nando and Ashy preparing themselves to go.
"Yes, and so will be the Top 16," I answered. "It's on the Top 8 when they start going all out."
"Roserade!" Nando called out, cutting our conversation short.
"Magcargo!" Ashy released his pokemon at the same time.
"Yes! Ash has the advantage!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, Nando tends to prefer Grass-types and Bug-types," Riley commented.
"But that does not mean those are the only ones he has," I replied. "He did use a Lopunny and an Altaria in the Sinnoh Grand Festival."
"Sweet Scent!" Nando commanded, but unfortunately, Magcargo simply burnt the powder before it could reach him. "Sunny Day! Follow it with Magical Leaf!"
"Flamethrower!" Was Ashy's answer, torching the leaves easily and rapidly.
"That's a distraction," Lucario deduced seriously.
"What?" Dawn turned to the pokemon in confusion.
"Dawn, Sweet Scent was burnt away easily, why would Nando attack Ash with Magical Leaf? This is not a contest, there are no points for that," Riley explained to her.
"He simply wanted to buy time for Roserade to use Solar Beam," I continued, pointing at the Grass-type pokemon readying to attack.
"No!" Dawn exclaimed concerned.
"Don't worry, distraction strategies are Ashy's specialty. He knows what he is doing," I assured her. Just as I said, Magcargo well-timed an Earthquake that had Roserade missing the mark, followed by a Rock Slide to the gut and a Lava Plume that put her out of commission. "That was a bit overboard." Blackie turned her head back at me, from her seat on the railing next to Piplup, and gave me a mocking smirk. "I got it! It is the season's competition, they have to go all out. But I was not expecting that from Ashy," I huffed, ignoring Blackie's cackling, and turned back to the battle.
Nando was returning Roserade and had released his Kricketune. In response, Ashy returned his Magcargo, after congratulating him on a good battle, and taking out Bulbasaur. Many girls in the crowd were awed at the cute Kanto Grass Starter. But none of them understood how serious things have gotten. Next to me Dawn gulped, surely recalling Bulbasaur's gym battle.
"Sword Dance!" Nando started pumping Kricketune's stats up. "Silver Wind!"
"Light Screen!" Bulbasaur rapidly protected himself, Kricketune's attack bouncing off the Light Screen.
"I still remember the time in which Ash only had his pokemon learn attacks and his only defense was speed and dodging," I commented with a chuckle.
"You know I keep on hearing so much about Ash's past but I find it hard to believe that my Ash and that Ash are the same," Dawn replied.
"People grow and change," Riley answered her with a soft smile. "That's what being alive is all about."
"Aerial Ace!" Nando ordered as Aerial Ace is a physical attack it shattered the Light Screen and sent Bulbasaur flying away. The Grass-pokemon looked worse for wear. "X-Scissor!"
"Recieve it! Power Whip!" Ash commanded.
What followed was a fencing competition, Power Whip clashing against X-Scissor, with a force that rattled the battle stage and sent air currents that had Ash and Nando's clothes swaying in the wind.
"Wait! Is that..." Lucario exclaimed, leaning forward. "Bulbasaur's bulb!"
"Shit!" I cursed. "He had truly become quite the sneaky trainer!"
"Bug Buzz!" Nando ordered, his Kricketune jumping a few meters away, to prepare for the attack, after seeing that the X-Scissor was taking him nowhere.
"Solar Beam!" Ash answered with speed, and quicker than it would have been possible if Bulbasaur had not been preparing for that same move, he attacked.
It was a one-move knock-out.
"Yey!" Dawn exclaimed, jumping on her feet to cheer for Ash. "Nando only has three pokemon now and Ash still has all three!"
"I'm surprised that Nando changed his battle form for the Sinnoh League," Riley commented. "If he still fought with coordinator's combinations, it would have made it harder for Ash to predict him."
"Maybe he believes that for the Pokemon League he has to change," Lucario answered his partner. "That he is supposed to divide himself."
"Well, let's hope Ashy teaches him differently," I replied. "Ashy is surprisingly good at teaching."
"We know!" Dawn exclaimed. "He was invited to give various guest lectures during our journey."
"Only Ashy would get to do that without being a professor or a teacher," I shook my head in bemusement, as I watched Ash return Bulbasaur to his Poke Ball and release Skarmony to battle against Nando's Armaldo. "Now that is a pokemon I was not expecting from Nando."
"Steel Wing!" This time it was Ash that attacked first,
Sakrmory moved with a speed I expected from Pidgeot not him. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough and Armaldo dodged at the last minute and sank his fangs into Skarmory. Armaldo then roughly shook the Steel-type with Bug Bite, before spitting him out. As soon as Skarmory landed precariously on the ground, he was received with a point-blank Ancient Power.
"Well, the underdog is doing his comeback," I commented, as I watched a stunned Ash return his pokemon after being on the receiving end of a Hyper Beam. "He went all out."
Of course, Ash chose Magcargo again. Opening with a Flamethrower that was neutralized by a Brine from Armaldo. The two moves clashing against each other ended up creating steam that covered the whole battlefield and obscured our view and the pokemon's sight. Then suddenly white and red flames erupted from within the steam, clearing it away, only to find a fainted Armaldo.
"What... just happened?" Dawn asked us in confusion, as we all watched the referee announce Ash as the winner. "Wasn't that attack too powerful to take an Armaldo in a one-hit knock-out?"
"That was Overheat one of the strongest Fire-type moves out there," I answered. "But still, it was a too fast win."
"Look up," Riley told us, pointing at the sky. "He used the steam as a cover for a Sunny Day. Everyone was too focused on the steam and trying to find the pokemon, that no one watched the sky. Not only helped Magcargo's Overheat charge faster, but it also overpowered it."
"Ashy has become quite the tricky trainer," I chuckled, as we all got up and headed toward the main arena, where the rest of the matches will be happening. "Do we know who Conway is? Ashy is battling him next."
"He is a fan of Ash's," Dawn answered as we took a seat in the main arena. "He was my partner for a competition in Hearthome City and we saw him participating in Professor Rowan's Pokemon Summer Camp."
"He was?" I inquired startled, I was an assistant on that camp and I don't recall a Conway.
"He was the guy with weird glasses and a Slowking," Lucario answered me and I suddenly recalled the guy. He had a weird obsession with Dawn if I am not wrong. But still, we all turned to Lucario in surprise at his description. "What? I am polite, but none of you can tell me he is not weird!"
"You are right."
"He does have weird glasses."
"And a weird obsession with Ashy and Dawn."
Even the pokemon we had out made noises of agreement, poor Piplup looked done for some reason, glaring at Dawn in betrayal.
"Hey, that Paul! He is going first!" Dawn jumped waving her hand widely. "Good luck Paul!"
Paul turned around towards Dawn and nodded in greeting, before turning towards Barry. No matter how much he tried to hide it, I could notice his ears tainted in red.
How cute! Young love, I exclaimed in my head. Paul has a crush!
"It seems like Barry will finally have his battle against Paul," Riley commented with a smile. "You see, Barry is a fan of Paul."
"Really?" I inquired surprised. "Let's see how things will end."
Barry's Empoleon, Skarmory, and Hitmonlee fought bravely against Paul's Electivire, Ursaring, and Magmortar. The battle was hard and many clashes between the pokemon shook the bleachers with the strength of the attacks. However, in the end, Paul ended up the victor.
"Wow! Paul!" Dawn exclaimed, jumping up in down in excitement, gaining a small smile from Paul, before his expression returned to normal.
"Please tell me you see it too," I turned to Riley, who smiled in accomplice. "Ha ha ha," I laughed in return. A few minutes passed later I watched Conway and Ashy step onto the battlefield. "It's about to start!"