Cerulean Catastrophe: Part 1

While Tyler preferred actually being a part of the battling games, being in charge of the pre-game exhibition was significantly less stressful. He worked well with Xander and not having to deal with Johnny barking orders at him made things much better. The pre-game exhibition was designed to get the crowd excited for the battle games and allowed much more freedom for the participants.

"Hey, West," Xander started. "You seen Loki? I wanted to congratulate him for doing a good job during the exhibition. I've looked everywhere, but I haven't found him yet. We need to know where he is before the game starts. With Cerulean here, Johnny wants to make sure everyone's accounted for."

"Where is Johnny?" Tyler asked.

"Giving one of his speeches to the third years," Xander answered.

"Alright, I'll go look for Loki," Tyler said as he handed Xander a poké ball. "Stay on the field and keep everyone entertained. My Ampharos will definitely be happy to help you. We need to make sure Johnny doesn't find out about this. He's already stressed out as it is."

"Got it."

Tyler figured that the cheerleaders would have an idea about Loki's whereabouts, so he decided to ask them first. However, when he approached them, he was greeted by the sight of the cheerleaders trying to break up an argument between Polly the Poliwhirl and Benji the Beedrill. Though Tyler knew that it was Mike who was underneath the Poliwhirl costume, that knowledge did not make the scene any less bizarre.

"Your tadpole should watch where he's performing!" Benji the Beedrill yelled.

"Screw you!" Mike shouted back, slightly muffled by his costume. "I was performing on my side of the field. It's not my fault that your routine can't match the speed of mine! Guess I'm just too intense for Cerulean. Plus, we're the home team anyway, the whole field is ours!"

"Laila, what's going on here?" Tyler asked the nearest cheerleader.

"Cerulean is behaving like Cerulean," Laila told her bandmate. "That's basically it. Even their mascot is a douche. Mike is a kid and Benji the Beedrill over here is like seventeen or eighteen."

"I can't wait until we own you in the battles!" Benji continued shouting at Mike as he got directly into the younger boy's face. "You won't have much to flip around about after we stomp you into the dirt!"

"Why wait until the battles?" Mike challenged. "I'm right here. I'll rip that stinger off your butt and shove it down your throat."

Tensions were heating up quickly and if things continued to escalate, Tyler knew he would have to do his duty to Johnny and intervene. Even if it were not for Johnny, Tyler felt that he would still defend Mike if it came down to it. It turned out that Amelie had a much quicker reaction than he did. She stepped in between the two fighting mascots and Tyler knew that she was trying her best to keep things from breaking out into chaos for the umpteenth year in a row.

"Mike," Amelie began calmly. "I need you to try to calm down. Everyone needs you to boost the team's morale and you won't be able to do that if you get suspended before the first battle. Do I need to remind you that Drake is up first? And after him is Elyse and then Ellie after her. I think they'll be upset if they don't see you out here supporting them."

Mike sighed and opened the flap on the costume to reveal his sweat matted mop of brown hair. He pushed as much of it out of his face as he could with his gloved hand, obviously thinking over Amelie's words.

"You're right, Amelie," Mike admitted after a few moments of silence. "I'm not going to let this guy ruin the game for me. Sorry about all of this, ladies. I know I shouldn't be acting this way. I'm not twelve anymore."

"Maybe you should go get some water," Kat suggested to him.

Mike nodded his head before giving Cerulean's mascot one of the nastiest glares that Tyler had ever witnessed and walking off to the sidelines. Benji the Beedrill let out a laugh and Tyler could tell that the cheerleaders were trying their bests to keep calm.

"I thought the so-called 'best mascot in Kanto' would be something better than a glorified gymnast with bubble gloves," Benji taunted. "Kid's a complete amateur."

"Is there something in the water in Cerulean?" Laila countered.

"Or are you guys just assholes by nature?" Jennifer finished.

"Both of you, stop," Amelie told them. "Especially you, Jen. The last thing we need is you getting reprimanded. Johnny will go on a warpath if that happens."

"Can't wait to see Guy embarrass Hawkins in the main event," Benji continued. "Not that you'll even make it that far. See you around, Saffronettes."

Benji made his way back to Cerulean's side of the field, leaving the cheerleaders to their devices. The battle games with Cerulean were always a headache and this year was no different. It took things calming down for a moment before Tyler even remembered that he was supposed to be looking for Loki.

"Sorry to intrude," Tyler told them. "I'll only need a moment of your time."

"Don't worry about it, Tyler," Laila replied with a teasing grin. "You are a breath of fresh air. Isn't that right, Amelie?"

"W-well…" Amelie stammered. "A-a breath of fresh air…y-yeah. Definitely a breath of fresh air."

"What do you need?" Jennifer asked curiously.

"We're looking for Loki," Tyler explained. "Have any of you seen him around? He disappeared after the exhibition."

"Mike might know," Kat answered. "I saw him talking to Loki earlier. Maybe you should ask him?"

"Right," Tyler said. "Thank you for your help."

"Uh…one more thing," Amelie stopped him as the other cheerleaders dispersed. "Can you talk to Mike and see if he's okay? It's his first time performing for the upper school, so he's a little overwhelmed. Benji the Beedrill really didn't help matters."

Tyler nodded his head and Amelie responded with a smile before she went to join the other cheerleaders. In truth, she was much more suited to helping others feel better than he was, but Tyler was going to honor her request. He approached Mike and saw that the younger boy was trying to recollect himself on the bench.

"Listen," Tyler began. "Your situation is not unique. Cerulean has a habit of getting underneath everyone's skin whenever they're around. Your behavior isn't anything worse than the usual."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Mike replied. "This is my first time performing at an upper school game and it's like I already have this reputation of being this super mascot."

"Do you feel like you have to live up to that?" Tyler asked.

"Kinda…" Mike said. "It's not even just that. My parents are going to miss some of my performance since they had to find a babysitter for my little sister. They always used to be the first ones at all my events, but now…Listen, I don't mean to whine about all my problems. That's probably not what you came over here to listen to."

Mike's mention of his parents did make Tyler think of his own. Unlike Mike's parents, Tyler's parents would not be coming to this game or any future ones. Looking up into the crowd, he noticed that Johnny's mother was already there. Like Tyler's parents, Dr. Hawkins was an extremely busy woman, but even she always made time for her son's events. As far as his personal feelings about the lack of support from his parents was concerned, Tyler was apathetic or at least that was what he told himself.

"Hey, babe, I got your bubbles!"

Tyler was grateful for Relena's interruption as it saved him from thinking about his parents. The pretty blonde handed Mike a bottle of bubble soap and Tyler figured that it would be best to ask about Loki now. He assumed that one of them must have seen him.

"…So, I don't need to go over to Cerulean's side and break everyone's bones?" Relena asked Mike as he finished telling her of his confrontation.

"No need to," Mike told her as he finished filling up the compartment on his gloves with the soap. "I told Benji the Beedrill that I would rip the stinger off his ass and shove it down his throat if he kept it up."

"Damn, that's my boo!" Relena said with a grin. "You're starting to sound like me. I'm so proud."

It was quick, but Tyler saw the expression on Mike's face briefly change. He could tell that the younger boy was taken aback by his girlfriend's comparison of them and did not know how to react.

"Have either of you seen Loki?" Tyler spoke up in an attempt to shift the focus. "We've been looking all over for him."

"I think I saw him heading inside with a girl…" Relena noted. "Yeah, now that I think about it…it was a Cerulean cheerleader! That moron!"

Tyler let out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Now he definitely had to find Loki before Johnny did or this was going to turn into one giant mess. He left Mike and Relena to their devices and rushed inside the building. He knew from Craig's dozens of sex stories that there were quite a number of places on the school grounds for two people to sneak off to. Time was running out, so Tyler knew he had to quickly search every single location.

"In here…?" Tyler said to himself as he found an old supply closet near the locker room.

"You know I'm going to kill him, right?"

Johnny approached Tyler, looking more annoyed than angry. Tyler took that as a good sign that he could reason with his friend and spare Loki some of his wrath.

"How did you…?"

"The Ceruleanettes came up to me and told me that they were missing a cheerleader," Johnny explained. "Loki wasn't with the other third years. Logical conclusion, the Ceruleanette used her evil Cerulean girl magic on Loki. Now, you might want to stay out here because this isn't going to be pretty."

Before Tyler could even process his warning, Johnny swung the door open and marched into the closet. Tyler heard screams and yelling before he saw a pretty, red-haired Ceruleanette running out, trying to adjust her top. Seconds later, Johnny was dragging Loki out by his arm.

"Johnny, what the hell?!" he shouted.

"Fornicating with the enemy!" Johnny shouted back as he slapped him upside his head. "Vermilion, Celadon, or Fuschia girls are alright with me, but a Cerulean one?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"What are you talking about?!" Loki defended himself. "I wasn't 'fornicating' with anyone, whatever that means. We were just screwing around."

"That's what fornicating means you dumbass!" Johnny yelled.

"Oh…" Loki said. "L-look what happened was that she came up to me after-"

"Save it," Johnny replied with a sigh. "I'm not going to kick you off the team. You're too valuable as a battler. So, we're not going to tell the coach or anyone else. We're going to keep this under wraps and forget this ever happened. Now, your buddy Drake is about to battle and it'll be nice if he had your support. Don't let this happen again and for Arceus' sake I hope you didn't contract anything."

Loki scurried off and Tyler found himself wondering how things really went down between Loki and the cheerleader. He found it a bit disconcerting that Johnny was more worried about the fact that the girl was from Cerulean than the fact that she was at least a year or two older than Loki. Saffron and Cerulean's hatred for one another overtook everything.

"Are you alright?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Johnny told him. "I just want everyone on point. We can't lose to Cerulean. I'm madder at myself than Loki or anyone else. I need to get a better control of the team if I'm going to be a decent captain. Now, enough of this emotional stuff. We need to get back to the field…"

Elyse replayed every single strategy that she had practiced with her Nincada inside her head. She had decided on coming up with seven different strategies that she could utilize. While Elyse did not believe in luck, seven just seemed like a proper number. Her friends would say that she was over-prepared, but there was no such thing as too prepared in Elyse McKinley's head.

"ELYYYYSE!"

If anyone could snap someone out of their thoughts, it was Nadine. It did not matter how self-disciplined you were. It really was not a good time to talk, but Elyse would always make an exception for one of her best friends.

"Did you come to see Drake?" she asked. "He's about to battle in a few minutes."

"I actually came to see if you were okay first," Nadine replied. "Are you ready to kick Cerulean's ass?!"

"You know it," Elyse answered her with a slight smile. "Wait, where's Lilly?"

"She went to some music store opening thing with Craig," Nadine explained. "But it's weird though. They don't seem to like each other like that. She's acting like he's her 'bro' more than anything."

"Guys and girls can be friends, Nadine," Elyse informed her. "Just look at Amelie and Lyndon."

"I guess you have a point," Nadine said. "Still, it's Craig. He's such a greaseball."

Elyse could not argue with that despite the fact that she preferred not to talk about people when they were not around even if it was someone like Craig. Fortunately, Drake's arrival onto the field changed the topic. Nadine blew him a kiss from their spot on the sidelines before she had to clear out. Since she was going after Drake, Elyse had a front row seat to the battle that was about to unfold.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the battle game between Saffron City and Cerulean City is now underway. In our first battle, we have Drake Hicks of Saffron against Brent Norwick of Cerulean. Now, begin!"

"Golduck, let's get ready to stomp Saffron!" Brent exclaimed as he tossed the poké ball into the air.

Haunter appeared by Drake's side and Elyse could tell that Drake was in his 'battle mode'. He was not telling any jokes or hurling any insults. He was simply standing confidently against his opponent. Elyse wondered what he was thinking. She wanted to know if he was nervous on the inside or if his demeanor was actually the real deal.

"Sucker punch!" Drake commanded.

Haunter vanished with a frightening amount of speed and reappeared beside Golduck before slamming an ethereal fist into the water duck's face. Golduck let out a cry of pain and went tumbling to the ground.

"Come on, Golduck!" Brent shouted as the Pokémon got to his feet. "Water pulse!"

"Confuse ray!" Drake countered.

Golduck opened his hands and began charging the blue ball of energy. Unfortunately, he made eye contact with Haunter and immediately fell into a stupor. The water pulse backfired and Golduck was hit with his own attack.

"What the hell?!" Brent yelled. "Golduck snap out of it!"

Golduck stood up and stumbled around in his confused state. Drake looked at Haunter and gave him a nod. Instantaneously, a black ball of shadow energy formed in between Haunter's hands and he fired it at Golduck, sending him back to the ground. Before the Pokémon could recover, he was hit by another shadow ball.

"Third time's the charm," Drake remarked. "Alright, Haunter, let's finish this up! Shadow ball, max power!"

Haunter formed a shadow ball twice the size of the first two and fired it at Golduck. The water Pokémon's screech of pain was heard throughout the arena and it was clear who the victor was. Elyse always found herself impressed on how quickly Drake's battles would end. He did not drag things out or try to show off for the crowd. He kept his opponent from getting the upper-hand and Elyse thought it was something that a lot of other trainers on battle teams needed to learn how to do.

"The winner is Drake Hicks and the first point goes to Saffron!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as Drake thanked Haunter for his tremendous effort before recalling him. He tried to shake hands with Brent, but the Cerulean trainer shrugged him off. Elyse was stunned at how unsportsmanlike they were. She assumed that Johnny and the older trainers were exaggerating how bad Cerulean was, but now she was starting to see some truths in their assertions. Drake did not seem to care though. He simply made his way back to the sidelines and rejoined the rest of the team.

"Damn, Drake, you were ruthless!" Xander said. "That's what I like to see! Drake the fucking Dragon!"

"You straight up embarrassed him!" Loki added. "He's going to be feeling that loss in the morning!"

"Thanks, guys," Drake told them before turning to Elyse. "Your turn. I know you'll own Cerulean."

"Be sure you don't lose your nerves," Johnny informed her. "Your opponent is known for psyching people out, so I made sure I chose someone who won't let people get inside her head. I know you can do it, McKinley. Good luck."

Knowing that she had the encouragement of her team members made Elyse feel much more confident as she stepped out onto the field. It was then that she knew that she had to win at all cost. Losing was not an option. While Elyse did not care about the Saffron-Cerulean rivalry, she still wanted to win. Even though she did not consider herself some sort of prodigy, she was confident that all of her training would pay off.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen! The second battle is about to begin! We have Elyse McKinley of Saffron against Rita Manson of Cerulean! Now, begin!"

Rita sent a Persian out into battle and Elyse called for Taku. Normal type Pokémon were unpredictable due to the variety of moves that they were capable of learning so Elyse would have to stay on her toes.

"If I were you, I would have called for something a little stronger than Nincada," Rita started. "There's no way he's going to be able to match up with Persian. For instance, fake out!"

Persian rushed up to Taku and clapped her paws, sending the bug Pokémon flying backwards. Thinking quickly, tuning out the crowd, and focusing solely on the battle would be the only way to get an advantage early on.

"Fury swipes!" Rita called out.

"Harden!" Elyse commanded.

Taku took the first swipe, but was able to withstand the rest as his defense grew. Taking a page from Drake, Elyse pointed down and Taku began digging underground. Non-verbal communication was definitely a useful asset in battle as it made it less likely that your opponent would interrupt your Pokémon's attack.

"Persian, stay on guard!" Rita ordered.

"Up!" was all Elyse said.

Taku quickly emerged from the ground and used metal claw on Persian before retreating back under the ground. He repeated the process several more times, each time coming up from a different location in the ground. Persian had taken quite a large amount of damage and the battle was squarely in Elyse's favor.

"Swift!" Rita shouted. "Do it into the holes on the ground."

Persian slashed her tail and multiple bright yellow stars went into the holes on the field that led underground. The force from the attack drove Taku up from underground and into the air. He collided with the dirt and Elyse could see that the fall almost had as much impact as the attack did.

"Taku, are you-"

"Screech!"

Persian emitted a positively horrid screech. Even Elyse found herself covering her ears from the sound. Rita quickly began going on and on about how this battle was over as Persian began to use bite several times on Taku. She followed up with several ferocious fury swipes, but somehow Elyse's Nincada endured the attacks and managed to roll to safety.

"Quick, Taku!" Elyse commanded. "Use-"

Taku suddenly let out a sound that his trainer had never heard from him before and starting glowing brightly. Elyse's eyes widened as Taku's form began to change shape and a large smile crept upon her face when she saw the wings emerging. The crowd gasped as the glow faded and Elyse found herself gazing at her newly evolved Ninjask.

"No…way…!" Rita screamed.

"Now, the battle is over," Elyse told her. "Bug bite! One bite for every fury swipe."

Taku's speed was so fast that even Elyse could barely see when he bit Persian the first time and she knew from his ability that he would only get faster. The cat Pokémon tried to swipe at the Ninjask, but Taku's speed was too great. Elyse saw that the bite on Persian's left side did the most damage and she knew how to end the battle.

"Persian get a hold of yourself!" Rita shouted. "C'mon, bite!"

"Metal claw, Taku!" Elyse commanded. "Right on Persian's left side, full power!"

Elyse did not even see the attack happen. Taku vanished from sight and the next thing she saw was Persian lying on the ground, defeated.

"The winner is Elyse McKinley and the second point goes to Saffron!"

The crowd cheered even louder this time around. Elyse looked over to the cheerleaders and received a thumbs up from Amelie and a bubble fist pump from Mike. She smiled at them and gave them a nod before turning her attention back to Taku. Rita had already vacated the field, but Elyse did not dwell on it.

"Well," Elyse said as she gave Taku a gentle pat on the head. "We've come a long way from the 'accidental' capture, huh? You have no idea how proud of you I am. Now, let's-"

Elyse was cut off by the empty poké ball attached to her waist opening itself. The mysterious Pokémon materialized and Elyse and Taku witnessed the Shedinja staring at them with its hollow eyes. In the heat of the battle, Elyse had completely forgotten about this little side effect of a Nincada's evolution, but she accepted the surprise graciously.

"Um, welcome to the family, Shedinja…" Elyse told it. "Alright, guys, we better clear out. The double battle is up next…"

A/N: And there we go. Another chapter down. Battle chapters always take time for me to get out, so I appreciate all the patience. Plus, school is a nightmare as usual, but this time it's definitely like a super nightmare. Oh well, we all have to go through it. Anyway, part two is even going to be more epic with a double battle and a three-on-three battle, so definitely be on the lookout for that one!

The P.O.V. characters for this chapter were: Tyler West and Elyse McKinley.

As always, feel free to come to the forum to discuss the story some more or any other questions you might have.

Later!