The following day, everyone had left the Pokémon Center to register for the tournament. Trip signed up before anyone else, as the others followed suit. The tournament allowed up to sixteen registries to enter. That only left eight other contestants. Ash, Tracey, Iris, Cilan, Burgundy, Georgia, Stefan, and Trip were signed up. Luke only wanted to observe the competition and not compete. As the main group left the Battle Club, a familiar blonde crashed into Ash; making him land in a nearby fountain.
Bianca wanted to take part in the competition too. She had just made the cut as she was the last registry available. Now that all of the positions have been filled, some of the group decided to grad something to eat to pass the time. Bianca, Stefan, and the others went over to a food stand and sat by a bench table.
"So Ash; since you know what Pokémon we could be using, can you tell us what you could be using to make it fair?" Iris asked.
"Iris, we've been over this!" Cilan complained.
"No Cilan, she has a fair point. You guys should at least have a courtesy on what I selected." Ash agreed.
"So who did you go with? I am assuming Pikachu would be your first selection?" Tracey started.
"Actually, I was thinking of training two other Pokémon for this one." Ash denied.
"Really, who?" Cilan was also shocked.
The time has come for all of the participants to meet at the entrance. Don George was going to be one of the commentators along with Freddy O' Martian, a Pokémon Reporter. The duo introduced all of the challengers in the order that they registered in. after the introductions have been made, the randomizer decided who each challenger will face for the first round.
The giant sized screen depicted that the following set order shall take place. Trip was going to face Cilan, while Bianca was going up against Georgia. Iris was looking forward to her battle with a trainer named Liam. Stefan was up against Tracey, and Ash was going to battle Burgundy. Ash and Burgundy was going to be the first battle of the competition.
Burgundy had sent out her Stoutland. Ash pulled out his pokedex to identify the Pokémon, while Tracey took the opportunity to sketch it, much to Iris's dismay. Ash was raring to battle a Pokémon that looked tough and sent out his Pokémon. The dark type Pokémon emerged and let out a minuscule yawn. Burgundy then commented on how Ash actually took her advice on a full party swap.
Ash countered the claim by saying that there was no swap to begin with. That in fact he had captured the Pokémon like he did with the rest of his team. Burgundy tried to act like she did not care and proceeded with the battle. Stoutland was commanded to use Take Down and started to charge at the opponent. Zorua then dodged the attack. Ash had then went for the offensive and asked for Bite to be used.
Zorua's teeth glowed a darkish color as she clamped on the back of the Pokémon. Burgundy then took her chance and went for Reversal. As the move launched Zorua into the distance, Cilan Commented on how strong Stoutland must be to use a move like that. Ash however, did not want to give up and knew that Zorua could handle the intensity of the battle. Ash had to think of a strategy quick.
All Zorua knows was Shadow Ball, Scratch, and Bite. Ash knew that Shadow Ball would not affect Stoutland as a normal type. Although if he went for Scratch or Bite again, Reversal would sure defeat Zorua. Burgundy wasted no time in calling her next attack, Ice Fang. The move hade froze Zorua in her place. Ash tried to call out to his friend but it seemed hopeless at first.
Burgundy was getting ready to use her finishing move to win. As Stoutland charged for Giga Impact, ash thought of a last minute idea that could work. Stoutland dashed at the frozen target as Ash yelled to his companion. Ash's instructions were 'If you can hear me, Use your special ability Zorua'. From there, a mist came from the ice and Zorua had thawed out instantly. Burgundy was shocked, but continued to attack.
Zorua had then raced across the field dodging every attack that came its way. Ash had cornered Stoutland right into his trap. Ash commanded for a Shadow Ball. Burgundy then retorted that that move would have no affect on Stoutland. Ash rebutted that it was not for Stoutland. As everyone pondered, ice fragments were shattered on the field.
When Ash asked for Zorua to use her ability, all she did was make an illusion to make everyone think she was thawed out. Stoutland ended up chasing a fake Zorua while the real one rested in the ice. Ash used the Shadow Ball to break free and get ready to win the battle.
Ash then asked Zorua to use Bite. As Zorua raced over to her target, Burgundy chuckled as she knew Reversal would have the same effect as last time. However, burgundy did not take into consideration how exhausted Stoutland was from running around the way it did. Zorua managed to get a final Scratch in and caused the opponent to pass out from the battle, thus making Ash the winner.
Burgundy was shocked that she lost, but was amazed at how her opponent tricked her to win the battle. She congratulated Ash on his victory, but demanded that he beat Cilan in her place. Ash smiled and the two of them shook hands. The next battle was Cilan versus Trip. The two of them approached the field and complimented each other on their skills.
Cilan remembers when Trip battle his brother Cress for the gym badge, and Trip noticed that Cilan was going to be a fierce opponent being a gym leader. Trip sent out Whirlipede and Cilan chose Snivy. Trip knew better than to judge based on type advantage. The two of them then started to clash moves.
Cilan use Snivy's Leaf Storm to counter Sludge Bomb. Trip then went for the physical assault with Steamroller. Cilan clashed the attack with Leaf Blade. As the moves collided, both Pokémon were taken aback, but Snivy looked flushed. Trip then mentioned that his Whirlipede had Poison Point as his ability. Cilan took this chance to activate Overgrow and power up Leaf Blade for one more time. Trip was not prepared and struggled to get his last move out. Whirlipede was now no longer able to battle.
Cilan showed much gratitude towards Trip for raising the Pokémon he had only recently caught. Trip then walked past the others and started to head out of the facility. Ash asked why Trip was not going to stay, and Trip responded that since he lost he was not going to see who would win since it made no difference to him. The third battle was Iris against Liam.
The two entered the battlefield and sent out their respective Pokémon. Iris chose to go with Druddigon, while Liam sent out his Darmanitan. Druddigon started off with Dragon Claw. Darmanitan used Hammer Arm as a shield to block the attack. Iris then went for repeated Slash's. Darmanitan followed up with Brick Break's to counter. The two trainers called out their final moves. Iris went for Dragon Claw while Liam went for Flare Blitz.
The two moves had made contact. A miniature explosion occurred shortly after. Both Pokémon stood at opposite sides feeling the force from the attack. However, Darmanitan took slightly more damage due to Druddigon and his Rough Skin ability. Iris was now advancing to the following round. The next round was Georgia versus Bianca and then Stefan against Tracey.
Georgia sent out her Beartic that was going to face Minccino. Bianca was taking full advantage of Minccino's Technician ability using weaker moves like Tail Slap and making them stronger. Georgia on the other hand did not seem too phased by the damage and went for a single Icicle Crash and won the battle. Georgia did not seem too thrilled since she did not get to battle a dragon type Pokémon, but was hoping to do so the next round. Now Tracey and Stefan were up next.
Stefan wished the best of luck to Tracey and Tracey did the same. Stefan sent out Zebstrika the same time Tracey sent out Frillish. Stefan wondered what Tracey was planning using a type disadvantage. Tracey did have some plan thought out, hoping it could work. Zebstrika charged at its target with Wild Charge. Frillish just levitated out of the way and used Rain Dance.
Zebstrika kept losing its balance due to the slippery terrain. Stefan conquered through with Flame Charge to heat up its feet to refrain from falling as much. Tracey then went for Confuse Ray and the move made contact. Zebstrika could only see things in a swirling motion and started to stumble. Tracey had then went for Water Gun but Zebstrika fought back with a misdirect Thunderbolt. Frillish had taken too much damage and was unable to continue the battle.
The rest of the battles had taken place, and the new order for the next round had been determined. Iris was up against Stefan and Ash had to face Georgia. Cilan felt honored to be up against a trainer named Lisa. Along with trainers named Henry and a trainer who only went by the name Forecast. The next round was going to take place in an hour so everyone gathered at the snack section of the Battle Club.
Cilan had prepped a delicious meal for everyone. Everyone was grateful that Cilan cooked for them. Luke was going over the footage he had taken and saw a major difference in the battles than the ones in his films. Ash walked over to Zorua who decided to sit in the corner alone. Ash knew better now than to ask her to join the others. So instead he just sat next to Zorua with his tray too. Stefan commented on how ingenious it was to use Illusion like the way he did. Even though Burgundy still thought it was a cheap tactic.
The next round was about to begin. First up was Henry against Forecast. Forecast used Heatmor last round and used Sunny Day as his strategy. Everyone though that he was going to be using fire types only because of that reasoning. However when he sent out his Seismitoed, even Henry was shocked when he sent out his Herdier. With the combination of Swift Swim, Rain Dance and Aqua Ring, Herdier stood no chance and Forecast moved on to the third round.
Ash and Georgia were next up. Georgia sent out her Pawniard. Tracey took the time to sketch the Pokémon as it performed its battle pose. Ash was hesitant to use Zorua again, so Oshawott came out this time. Both Pokémon were ready to fight with physical contacting moves. Oshawott tried to keep up with Razor Shell. Although Pawniard had the upper hand using both arms for Slash.
Oshawott was not ready to give up yet. Ash knew that the best chance to win was to use long range attacks like Water Gun. If he needed to use speed, Aqua Jet was an available option. However, this would give Pawniard another chance to use Slash. Water Gun was dealing a decent amount of damage, but it did not look like it bothered the opponent as much as it should have.
Oshawott was starting to become fatigued from the battle. Georgia took her chance and ordered for a Guillotine. Ash worried that this would defeat him, and Oshawott sensed it too. Oshawott started to glow a purplish color. Everyone, including Ash, was surprised by this look. As Pawniard scurried over to the weakened foe, Oshawott blocked the attack with his scalchop. Oshawott's eyes had a darkened orange tint to them, almost as if Oshawott was not in control.
Ash called out to his Pokémon, but no response was given. Instead, the sea otter used Razor Shell. Although this shell had a different appeal to it than normal. Before, all it looked like was a blue sharpened blade coming from the scalchop. This time it was clear white with two miniature orange blades coming from the side. No one knew what was going on by this point. Oshawott swiped down with its newly designed Razor Shell while Pawniard used Metal Claw to deflect the water move. However, Razor Shell seemed to be too powerful for the opponent to handle and knocked it out of the battle. Leaving Oshawott the winner, while it collapsed after victory was declared.
Ash ran over to his Pokémon to see if he was alright. Oshawott woke up and let out a brief sigh. The judges deemed the victory was valid and Georgia was knocked out of the competition. Georgia only would have cared about her loss if it was to a dragon type instead. Ash hurried to a Pokémon Center to have Nurse Joy examine Oshawott to see what wrong.
The next fight was Stefan against Iris were the next competitors. Iris sent out Axew, while Stefan summoned his Sawk to the field. Stefan took the first move by using Bulk Up. Iris retaliated with Dragon Dance. Even though Axew boosted his speed, Sawk appeared to be faster as he wounded up behind the tusk Pokémon to deliver a Brick Break. Axew had then used Dragon Rage hoping to get the fighting type away from physical contact.
From the dust left behind from the attack, Sawk seemed as if he had not been hurt by the move in the slightest. The battle did not seem to take long shortly after. Sawk was instructed to use Close Combat. The Pokémon then struck the opponent with a barrage of kicks and chops on Axew. The dragon type did not seem as if he was able to continue, so Sawk was declared the winner. Cilan had to face Lisa next.
Lisa sent out her Panpour, while Cilan chose his Pansage. Cilan focused more so on how his opponent worked as a team. Cilan was having a hard time remembering that he was in a tournament instead of his Gym. As soon as he realized, Pansage won the battle using Bullet Seed. Everyone was now looking at the big screen to determine who would be facing off against whom for the next round; even ash who watched at the Pokémon Center's television. It was Forecast and Ash, then Cilan and Stefan.
Ash was still in the Pokémon Center waiting to see how Oshawott was doing. Nurse Joy came out and said all Oshawott needed was some rest. Ashe was relieved but did not want to leave his Pokémon alone. Oshawott nodded signaling that he was going to be alright for the time being. Ash then headed off to the stadium to face Forecast. Ash led out with Zorua and Forecast sent out his Seismitoed.
"Looks like you will be caught in a terrible storm." Forecast said in a low pitch tone.
"Yeah!? Well, we will see about that!" Ash responded.
"Seismitoed, use Rain Dance." Forecast commanded.
"Zorua, use Shadow Ball." Ash stated as Zorua launched the attack.
"This is going to be more fun than I thought. Use Aqua Ring and then Hydro Pump."
"Zorua dodge!" Ash quickly responded.
"Won't do you any good." Forecast pointed out.
Seismitoed surrounded itself in a water veil. With its ability Swift Swim, Seismitoed ended up getting close to Zorua for a close range Hydro Pump. Ash needed to come up with a better strategy before it was too late. Ash then thought of using Illusion again. Zorua then cloaked itself looking as if she used double team. Forecast only looked at the ground for a second and spotted the real. The fake ones did not have their paws in the puddles of the battlefield, but the real one did.
Forecast then ordered a Earth Power to attack Zorua. Seismitoed's arm glowed yellow and punch the ground as soon as it could. A golden crack emerged and went straight towards Zorua. Thus the illusion wore off and the real Zorua was on the field. The worst part for Ash was that Aqua Ring was healing the opponent as much as he was damaging them. Ash then thought of a quick idea, but it was going to be a risky play.
Zorua was asked to use illusion again. This time Zorua used its clones to stack on top of each other. Forecast saw the same pattern as before and knew that the real one was on top for a height advantage. Hydro Pump was ordered starting from the top of the stack and go straight down. What Forecast did not expect was that the real Zorua was not in the row of the fakes. Instead, she used Bite from behind and latched onto Seismitoed's ankle.
Seismitoed tried to shake off the Pokémon but she was too stubborn to give up. With the now close range Shadow Ball's, Aqua Ring did not heal up the Pokémon in time. So Zorua ended up winning the battle. Cilan and Stefan were up next. Both sent out Snivy and Zebstrika. Instead of watching the battle, ash headed back to the Pokémon Center for Oshawott.
Zebstrika led with a Double Kick as Snivy countered with Vine Whip to launch herself in the air. As Snivy was beginning to descend, Zebstrika was ordered to use Take Down. Cilan reacted by using Leaf Storm to block the oncoming attack. Cilan then thought of a plan that could benefit him. Cilan went for an Attract and hoped that Zebstrika would become infatuated. Stefan had a counter strategy for this tactic.
Zebstrika heated itself with Flame Charge. The heat prevented the floating hearts to surround the zebra Pokémon. The fire type move made its target. Snivy struggled to get back up from the attack. Zebstrika seemed more ready to battle than before. Stefan called for Wild Charge and Cilan responded with Leaf Blade. After the two moves collided, Snivy was left unable to continue battling. The battlefield was torn up from the fourteen battles that have taken place. The final battle between Ash and Stefan would be taking place in about five hours, so everyone chose to meet Ash at the Pokémon Center.
Everyone was looking at Oshawott who was resting. Tracey asked Ash how was he feeling, and Ash replied that he was alright for the time being. Nurse Joy walked by and noted that Oshawott has made a full recovery. Ash was thrilled, along with the others. Cilan has prepared dishes for all of the Pokémon that have participated in the following round.
Luke was going over the footage he has taken and was amazed at how the battles turned out on camera. Stefan looked at was impressed how Zebstrika looked when it battled too. Stefan told Ash that he was going with Sawk for the final round. Ash nodded and said he was still going to go with Zorua. Oshawott looked over at Sawk and saw it was flex its muscles and instantly became jealous. Oshawott wanted to be in the final fight more than ever now, so Ash allowed it to take part in the fight.
The battle field has been repaired and the finalists have sent out their Pokémon. Oshawott was raring to go. While Sawk admired the determination in his opponents eyes. Oshawott started off with Water Gun, while Sawk blocked with Brick Break. Sawk then swooped in for a Low Sweep, but Oshawott used Aqua Jet to dodge. While this provided an evasion for the moment, Sawk was still faster than the sea otter. Sawk wounded up using Close Combat like he did to Axew. Oshawott endured as much as he could.
The water type was badly beaten, but still refused to give up. Oshawott struggled to get up from the battle. The referee was about to call the match off and declare a winner. Sawk stepped in and wanted to give the little creature a fighting chance. Oshawott started to glow purple again. This time, his eyes were bright blue instead of orange like the last time.
Oshawott once again could not or even would not listen to its trainer. Instead, the creature used Razor Shell. It looked the same as last time Oshawott was in this stated. Only this time the two blades at the side were the color as his eyes. Sawk used Close Combat to block the attacks. Sawk was using caution when blocking the attack so his defenses would be lowered too badly. Oshawott for sure thought that Sawk would have been too tired to continue. Sawk just stared down the Pokémon to make sure Oshawott got the message. The sea otter collapsed shortly after and returned to his normal state.
Sawk nodded to the ref and walked away from the battle field as the winner. Since Stefan was the winner of the tournament, he won the complete set of the Wings. These wings were a tradition in Unova for those who have all seven would become a stronger person with their Pokémon. Stefan graciously accepted the reward. Now everyone was saying their goodbyes as they had other things that they wanted to do.
Georgia wanted to practice on her Dragon Buster title a little but more. Burgundy was going to her next evaluation exam on ranking up her Connoisseur status. Stefan was going to go train some more before he continued his gym challenge. Luke decided that he was going to head back to Castelia City and work on some film ideas now that he has had footage on proper battles.
As for the rest of the group, they were going to go to Nimbasa City to challenge the gym there. Ash still wanted to know what was going on with Oshawott. Cilan commented on how time will tell when the two of them fully discover what is going on. Tracey looked at the brochure for the next city and saw several sites that they could see while there. Iris even saw something that she wanted to do as well.
The gang started to head out of the town fully prepared with medicines and food. The left the gate that let them go on to the next route. What they were surprised to see was a familiar acquaintance passed out in a shrub. They tried their best to awaken the individual with no progress being made. When they finally came to, yelling was heard. Followed by Furry Swipes from the Meoth that they rescued.
Author's Note: Hopefully you guys are enjoying this story. Leave a review expressing how you like or don't like the story. I am open to all kinds of feedback. There is more to come from series, I promise that. Also, I am going to pull a mulligan with Heatmor. Heatmor will be able to know Fire last in this series because he only had it as a signature move for one generation when it wasn't even available for that gen. hope you wonderful readers have a wonderful life a head of you to come, until next chapter.
