A/N: Wow. That was embarrassing. I was having difficulties last night and I had no idea that the last few sentences somehow made it to around the beginning of the battle. I apologize for such a grievous error on my part. I'll make sure that never happens again. Texting late at night can do unfortunate things sometimes.
As Ash and Dawn made their way to Oreburgh City, they noticed Barry up ahead, almost as if he were waiting for them.
"Barry? I thought you'd be halfway to the next city by now." Ash inquired bewildered.
"Please Ash, that was only a couple of hours ago! Even I can't run that fast in such a short amount of time!" Barry laughed from the exaggeration describing him. "Oreburgh City is a two day walk, and it's only been a couple of hours after 10:15! Not even I could do a full 30 miles in 2 hours! I just don't have the speed or stamina. But I will tell you why I'm here!" He dramatically pointed a finger at Ash. "I challenge you, Ash Ketchum, to a Pokémon battle again!" Ash now got excited seemingly out of no where from this particular challenge.
"Oh really? Only a day later and you think you've strengthened your Pokémon with only one day's worth of training? You must be really impatient to lose after yesterday's loss." Ash replied rather smugly, unusual of him. Barry raised his hands up, pretending to be insulted.
"Oh! Oh! Is that how you want it?! Alright then! Let's get it on!" He commanded with a huge smile on his face.
"My pleasure. Stand back Dawn. This may get a little intense. Or... maybe Barry will just lose again." Ash said while poking another jab at his childhood friend. Dawn took a step back while the two boys looked at each other with intense glares, just waiting for the other to strike. They begin their move at the same time.
"Starly, I choose you!/Stara, get ready!" They both shouted as they summoned the exact same bird Pokémon.
"Stara, use quick attack!" Barry's bird begun to move super fast about to attack when Ash snapped his fingers. On instinct, Starly used quick attack to dodge. "What?!" Barry gasped out of shock.
"Wing attack!" Having moved out of the way, Ash's starly went in for the attack, it's wings glowing white with energy before delivering a powerful blow to the opposing bird, sending it crashing into the ground.
"Wait wait wait!" What was that?!" Barry called out, quite annoyed.
"Like I'd explain it to you? You're going to have to figure it out on your own." Ash denied. Barry groaned out of anger.
"Fine! Just don't get cocky! This isn't over yet! Stara, quick attack again!" Barry's Stara shook off the pain from that hit and begun it's attack. Ash snapped his fingers with more force, so Starly attacked with the same move. The birds hit head on, and though it looked even, Stara was knocked away and fell to the ground unconscious. "Stara, return!" His defeated bird returned to its Pokeball. "You did good Stara. Rest now." He put that ball away and threw another one. "Chimchar, get ready!" The Chimp Pokémon appeared and beat it's chest, ready for battle.
"Haha, looks like your starter is rearing to go compared to last time." Ash remarked.
"That's right! We've been training hard for this moment! We've learned a trick of our own!" Ash grinned as he snapped his fingers. Starly headed in with a quick attack when Barry ordered,
"Chimchar, use ember!" From it's mouth, the fire starter spit out embers into Starly's incoming eyes. It cried out in pain as it flew around frantically. "Now use scratch!" The chimp leapt into the air and swatted the bird down into the ground, defeating it. "That's how you do it!"
"Starly, return." Ash said as his own starly went back into its ball. "You did well. I'm proud of your progress." He put that ball away to hold another one. "I'm impressed. Blinding an opponent during their attack. I guess strategy isn't something beyond your comprehension in battling." Ash trashed talked.
"Heh, my Chimchar is going to burn your team to a crisp!" Barry boasted.
"Is that so? I think my second choice would say different. Shinx, I choose you!" He threw the ball to release his second strongest pokemon. It looked like a lynx kitten. It's fur on its front half was blue yet black on the back half like fluffy pants. It had a black tail with a gold colored star on the end. It had big ears and eyes that had golden irises in them. The Flash Pokémon, Shinx. As soon as it came out, it snarled at Chimchar, intimidating it a little.
"Whoa, where did you get that?!"Barry asked in wonderment, now in a positive mood.
"Route 202. Given you don't know that, you must've only caught a starly and ran into Jubilife, didn't you?" Now Barry looked annoyed, his rival guessing exactly right. "Well, let's see how your Chimchar fares against my Shinx."
"Yeah! Chimchar, use ember again!" The chimp blew more embers at the little lynx.
"Charge!" Ash commanded. Electricity sparked around it before the fire attack hit, dealing damage, but not as much as it could have.
"Yes! Use ember again!" Barry ordered. For a third time, embers were spat out heading straight for Shinx.
"Dodge and use tackle!" Shinx leapt over the fire attack and bashed itself into Chimchar. "Charge!" Ash yelled out again. Shinx again emitted electricity to up its protection.
"Chimchar, retaliate with scratch!" The monkey got up and leapt at the lynx kitten.
"Counter with tackle!" The Flash Pokémon charged and both managed to land a blow. Shinx with its head into the chimp's torso, and Chimchar with a scratch to the lynx's side.
"Chimchar, use ember!" Barry ordered. Chimchar once again attacked with embers.
"Dodge it!" Ash shouted as Shinx did.
"Now use scratch!" Barry exclaimed as the Chimp Pokémon used its superior speed to dash at the dodging lynx and land a full scratch on its side again.
"Counter with tackle!" Rolling on it's back and landing on its feet like a cat would, it sprinted forward and rammed it's head against Chimchar's.
("Chimchar's getting weak here. We need to think of something fast.") Barry then realized something.
"Shinx, use tackle!" Ash ordered. Shinx began its attack when Barry instructed,
"Counter with ember!" Without getting up, it spat fire hot embers at Shinx.
"Spin while charging!" Ash said rather quickly, but Shinx was able to rotate itself creating an electric barrier that mostly negated the ember's effects and Shinx landed a shocking blow to the Chimp Pokémon.
"Too bad Barry." Ash commented while Shinx returned to his side. "You can't fool me with the same trick twice." However, both trainers and Ash were caught off guard when the fire of Chimchar's tail erupted violently, and Chimchar roared with revived vigor.
"It's Chimcar's blaze ability!" Dawn gasped. Hearing that, Barry grinned.
"Now that's what I'm talking about! Chimchar, use ember one more time!" The enraged Chimp Pokémon threw up much stronger embers, nearly looking solid fireballs as they hit Shinx, causing a small explosion. Once the smoke settled, Shinx was knocked out.
"Incredible. So that's the power of blaze first hand. I wonder what Turtwig will do when he's activated the overgrowth ability." Ash whispered to himself. He held out a Pokeball, returning Shinx. "You fought valiantly Shinx. You earned your rest." He whispered to his friend. "It seems like I've been underestimating you, have I?"
"Clearly!" Barry confirmed. "You thought I was some chump? I've beaten two of your Pokémon with one!" He gloated.
"Perhaps, but how much longer can Chimchar last from the looks of it?" Ash asked smugly. Barry looked to see that Chimchar was panting a fair bit, and he was dirty and covered with bruises.
"I can still beat what you dish out!" Barry shouted in defiance.
"We'll see. Bidoof, I choose you!" He threw a third ball and out came what essentially looked like a derpy beaver. It had three tufts on its tail.
"A bidoof?! Hahaha, we agreed we'd never fight with Bidoofs! They're dumb!" Barry laughed.
"Dawn taught me a few things. Bidoof, use tackle!" Ash instructed. The beaver began it's charge.
("This'll be over quick.") Barry thought to himself. "Chimchar, ember!" Like last time, the monkey spewed out a torrent of fireballs, making a direct hit on the beaver, but it managed to push forward despite the injuries. It tackled itself into Chimchar's chest, knocking it back but not out. "Nice try, but it won't survive this next attack! Ember once more!" In a final bid of victory, the Chimp Pokémon fired more blazing hot embers at the beaver, who took it all on.
"Tackle!" Ash cried out. Despite the burns, Bidoof pushed past the blaze it withstood and leapt at the frightened Chimchar, mirroring Barry's face. The beaver smashed into the fire starter, finally defeating it, and thus, Barry.
"What! I lost again?!" Barry practically sobbed, dropping to his knees.
"Bidoof, return." Ash said, sighing as his Pokémon returned to its ball. "Thank you so much Bidoof. You and Shinx are getting big dinner's tonight." He put the ball away and walked to his rival who returned his starter.
"You did your best. Thank you Chimchar." He said to his ally. He looked up to his rival who was offering his hand like last time.
"Sorry for some of the stuff I said there. It was a better fight than I expected." He offered in condolences. It took a few seconds before Barry could wipe away any forming tears and took the hand.
"Thanks bro. Apology accepted." Barry accepted as he was pulled up and the two did a bro hug... right before Barry blindsided him and gave him a noogie as revenge. "I may have lost again, but I still managed to get you on the ropes there! If I can nearly beat you that badly, I know I'll beat you next time! I'm still going to be Pokémon Champion!" Ash laughed as he broke free of the hold and readjusted his hat.
"Hmph, yeah right. I bet I could beat the gym leader in the next city before you." This really set Barry off in hyper energy.
"Oh yeah?! Let's bet on it! The person that beats the gym leader second is fined $100 million dollars! Watch me!" And just like that, he ran only to stop 10 feet away. "Oh right! I nearly forgot to pay you!" He literally threw a $5 bill, four $1 bills, and three dimes before running off for real. Ash chuckled as he picked up the frankly unnecessary money.
"That was incredible!" Dawn complimented.
"Yeah, he gave me a better fight than I was expecting. I guess he's not going to be as terrible as I thought." Ash admitted genuinely surprised and impressed.
"And that platonic brotherly love I saw? It made me feel so warm and good." She added.
"Yeah. He may drive me up the wall more times than not, but when it comes down to it, we always got each other's backs. We may not be brothers, but we've certainly got a bond just as strong." Ash chuckled fondly. Dawn smiled as she raised her hand high. Ash smiled as he returned the high five.
A/N: Now, this chapter may seem short, but trying to fit this battle and Oreburgh City in as well would've left a chapter maybe a little too long by the word count standards. I hope I made it geninuly exciting and suspenseful for a Pokémon battle with only tackles and embers. Leave reviews about the battle. That snapping thing was that Ash trained his Pokémon to respond to non-verbal commands by giving them treats if they did it successfully. Isn't that Pavlov training or something? Anyway, Sayonara.