A/N: Hello again everyone! This is you're good friend DrPhill26 and man I'm so happy today to be bringing you guys a new chapter on this day.
Tyler: What gives Phil? How come you're so giddy today?
DrPhill26: Well, I know it's late in the day but today is the 20th anniversary of Pokémon!
Tyler: What? What exactly does that mean?
Wendy: Yeah, Pokémon have been around a lot longer than just 20 years you know. I mean, I'm 20 years old. I know Pokémon are older than that.
DrPhill26: Well... let's not get into that discussion right now. But basically we're getting new Pokémon games coming out at the end of the year. Brand new region, brand new Pokémon! I could not be more hyped about Sun and Moon coming out in the winter!
Tyler: Sun?
Wendy: Moon?
DrPhill26: Look, you two don't need to worry about it. All you need to know is I'm happy, like kid on Christmas happy, and here's my contribution to the 20th anniversary! Have fun you guys and enjoy the chapter! Team lists are at the end again so yeah :D
"Mmmf. You were seriously right about this place." Tyler happily said with the final bite of a sandwich entering his mouth. As he chewed, the salted flavors of cured meats, the crispness of the vegies, and the soft loving embrace of the bread painted with spicy mayo danced in perfect harmony across his palate. His eyes rolled back slightly into his head as he looked out the window and onto the busy side street, his hand resting happily on the satisfied bulge in his stomach.
"I told you so when we drove past it." Wendy said with an equally satisfied expression on her face. "Okeer's Deli is the best place to get food in all of Hearthome City."
"Can we come here for lunch like every day?" Wendy laughed at Tyler's question. "No I'm serious; I'm hooked! I could probably eat that roast beef for the rest of my life and never get tired of it."
"You know there was a time a couple years ago where I did come to Okeer's every day for like a month and a half straight." Wendy smiled as she picked up a fried pickle spear and started waving it around in her hand. "I'd come in here and sit right in that table over there, order my turkey sandwich and a couple orders of these pickle spears, and just type away on my laptop for a couple hours on end doing work for Poké press and Sweet Kiss."
"Oh God, I'd get so fat if I did that." Wendy laughed again at Tyler's remark as she threw the pickle spear into her mouth.
"So did I. Like not really of course because Pulse and Tess helped keep me in relative shape, but I put on more than a few pounds during that time. Totally worth it though." She picked up another spear. "I knew everyone on a first name basis I came in so often, still know almost everyone here actually except the seasonal hires. And I got free pickle spears after a while so bonus points." She ate the second spear and her smile grew even bigger. "Not that this place needs them with food like this."
"Hey! Don't hog all of them!" Tyler half-shouted as he saw the order of pickle spears had mostly disappeared over the past couple minutes.
"But I love them!" Wendy complained innocently as she picked up a third and a fourth, forcing Tyler to grab the last remaining one for himself before she could steal it. "Seriously, fried pickles are my favorite food ever."
"Apparently…" Tyler commented as Wendy dipped these two spears into some of Okeer's special sauce and ate them, squealing to herself as the taste washed over her. "Wait, I thought you said caramel cupcakes were your favorite food."
"What, a girl can't have more than one favorite food?" Tyler had to concede the point there. It felt like he had a different favorite food for each day of the year sometimes when he was still in trainer's school. "Write this down for future reference cutie-Ty. Lunch here, and then a salted caramel cupcake later is a guaranteed perfect date."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind then." Tyler laughed as he bit into his own pickle spear, falling deeper into the chair as he did.
"How is everything today?" One of the staff asked as she approached the two.
"Amazing as always Becca." Wendy smiled warmly at the woman.
"Why have I never been here before?" Tyler added, making the hostess laugh. "I legitimately don't want to leave it's so good."
"I'll be sure to send the kind words to the back, enjoy the rest of your day Wendy, sir."
"Thanks hun." Wendy waved a goodbye to her apparent friend, reaching into her pocket and pulling a few bills out and putting them under her plate as a tip. When she put her money back, she felt something buzzing in her other pocket. "Oh, that's Rose."
"Yeah what time is it? Shouldn't the next round be starting soon?" Wendy thumbed at her phone, reading the message on it.
"Yup, Rose's match is in about half an hour over at South Stadium."
"Oh come on, how come she gets the big stage in the first match of the tournament?" Tyler complained as he made his way to the exit.
"Because of the same random assignment that has you at the Gym tomorrow and me at Amity Square." Tyler shivered at the thought. They'd found out their assignments for tomorrow's matches on their way out of the contest hall. And the moment Tyler saw Gym next to his, his heart sank a bit, remembering it was a Ghost typed Gym. And if Gardenia's was any indication of how elaborate the appearance reflects its type, he was going to hate walking into that Gym tomorrow.
"Yeah thanks for reminding me of that." Tyler spat with annoyance.
"Hey I didn't pick the locations. Though I like that I can just walk to my battle tomorrow."
"You're not helping." Tyler grumbled as he stepped outside and towards his moped.
"Well sorry babe, it's out of my control." Wendy lightly patted Tyler's shoulder as she walked past him and sat on the back of the moped.
"So where are we going?" Tyler asked as he sat down on the vehicle himself and put his helmet on.
"South Stadium. Just take the first available right, then another one, go three blocks and then you can figure it out."
"Okay." With that, Tyler fired up the moped and with a rev of the throttle, the two of them took off.
Fortunately, the traffic this time around wasn't as chaotic as the early morning rush. But still, driving through the middle of a bustling city like Hearthome during wasn't fun for Tyler. At least a couple times he got cut off and had to quickly throw on the brakes to avoid rear-ending someone. Wendy would do the yelling for him in those cases as he quietly scanned the roads for a path, and she was good at it. He concluded that it must have been a learned trait in the city to handle yelling at them so frequently, and so colorfully as well. But the time element was the most frustrating for Tyler, as what he figured could have been a five-minute drive given how short it would have been to travel the same distance back home, turned into an almost twenty-minute commute.
Eventually they were able to find a spot to park the moped and make their way up to the stadium and their focus changed to finding William. Tyler figured it should be an easy task as the man stood over half a head taller than him, and most of the people nearby were his height. But the crowds of people were so densely packed that they were having difficulty finding him. Wendy eventually gave up searching by herself and gave him a call to try and find him that way.
A few minutes of walking later, Tyler saw Wendy hang up her phone and skip absentmindedly forward as she made her way towards her giant teddy bear of a friend. The two of them naturally picked up small chat with each other like it was nothing, but Tyler saw another man besides Will, who on realizing his presence made him do a double take. This other man looked like a fun-sized version of Will. They shared the same black hair color and both had lightly tanned skin, but that's where their similarities ended. Fun-sized Will was only up to the larger man's chest, his hair was short and business like compared to Will's wilder mane, and his body was more like a small sapling to Will's mighty Oak sized bulk.
"-to be here sooner but we stopped at Okeer's for lunch." Tyler picked up Wendy's voice in her conversation. "I mean I like stadium food and all, but you can't make a meal out of it."
"That is definitely true." William nodded in agreement. "You should have said you were going to Okeer's though."
"Oh well we didn't want to take away from focusing for your match today." Wendy responded.
"Fair enough. But man, just thinking about the Reuben that they serve there, all that corned beef and the sauerkraut?" William's eyes rolled back into his head slightly. "Way too good of a sandwich."
"Then how about dinner after your match? I mean sure Ty and I just ate there but I think he'd go back."
"Go back? We'd still be there if you didn't have a match coming up." Tyler jokingly inserted himself into the conversation making Will chuckle.
"Hey Tyler. How's it going?" Will offered his hand in greeting, which Tyler took only to be reminded of Will's crushing grip instantly.
"Good, very good. We were almost late to my match this morning, but we managed to be on time."
"And you won I take it?"
"Both of us did." Tyler said wrapping his arm around Wendy's shoulder. "Pretty handily too. My partner Jason and I swept our match and Wendy won… what was it 3-0 with hers?"
"Damn guys, that's impressive." Will smiled as he turned to fun-size next to him. "Looks like we might have some competition in the second round huh Eric?"
"Huh?" The fun-sized man replied, looking at Will, then at Tyler and Wendy before awkwardly shaking himself to alertness. "Sorry, zoned out for a bit."
"So this is your partner huh?" Wendy said sizing him up, making the boy quiver slightly. He seemed to tuck his head into the smoke covered jacket slightly to try and avert Wendy's inquisitive stare of him. "Seems like a nice enough guy."
"Eric, this is my friend Wendy and her boyfriend Tyler." William said introducing the two. "Guys this is Eric Jesseve-Lee, my partner for the tournament."
"Hey, that kind of sounds like Eevee. Can I call you that?" Wendy asked excitedly as the boy blushed nervously.
"Um, well I, I mean some people do call me that."
"Great! Eevee it is." Wendy clapped her hands together triumphantly, which only seemed to make Eric behave more reclusively.
"Well, let's get going, Rose's match is about to start and I don't want to miss my fiancé in action." Will turned around and started walking towards one of the entrances into the stadium's bowl.
"Wait, you're not going to watch backstage?" Tyler asked curiously but William shook his head.
"It'll be more enjoyable to watch with you guys, that's why you're here isn't it?"
"Fair point." Tyler said as he fell in stride with Wendy and Will, Eric slightly behind the three.
"So where's your guys' partners?" Will asked curiously. "You said yours was named Jason right Ty?"
"Yeah, but he's back at the contest hall. He said he wanted to scout our opponents for tomorrow."
"Same with Madison." Wendy added to Tyler's explanation. "Though I'd have loved them to tag along with us. More the merrier right?"
"That's true… So what are they like? You guys getting along with them well enough?" Will asked after a moment.
"Yeah, Madison and I are getting along great. I can't speak for Tyler and Captain-yells-a-lot though."
"Don't remind me…" Tyler rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Remember that guy who was all like 'Eighty-five needs to report on the double' or something like that?" Will nodded. "That's my partner. Real impatient guy him; hell he almost chewed me out this morning when I was late getting to the arena. I think he said he got it as a result of his being a Pokémon ranger back in basic. Something about his batch of cadets being lazy and making everyone do more pushups in the morning so now he just gets pissed the more you make him late." That statement made Will chuckle his deep laugh again.
"You know, this might sound like a weird coincidence, but I think I actually know your partner Tyler."
"What?!" Tyler and Wendy both looked at William in surprise.
"If his name is Jason Ivy, then yes I do know him."
"Yeah that's him." Tyler replied, still feeling stunned. "How do you know him?"
"Did Wendy tell you about my family at all after we met?" Tyler shook his head. "Then you wouldn't know that my father, Thomas Weiland, is actually the commander of the Sinnoh region's Pokémon Ranger forces."
"Holy crap, really?" Will nodded again.
"Yup, he's been the commander since before the Red Chain Saga took place, played a role in tracking Team Galactic's plans and organizing resistances to their advances at their strongest moments before the whole Mt. Coronet incidents took place."
"Wow…" Tyler remarked as the group stepped into the bowl of the stadium itself. Tyler took a quick moment to look around, noticing the stadium was once again filled with people, but that the arena looked relatively small in comparison. He'd always felt that way about stadiums for some reason; that the actual battlefield in the center felt larger than the entire stadium itself. It was a weird feeling to him, but he curtailed the thought as he continued to follow William.
"Yeah, Dad's a real hero for some of the stuff he did. Jason too. Like I know Jason actually was responsible for leading a raid against an outpost of Galactic near Pastoria City. He got a commendation for that."
"No kidding," Tyler said with respect in his voice. "I knew he was a ranger, but had no idea he was good at it."
"Oh no, Jason is an exemplary ranger. Hell, dad even treats him like he's part of the family, like a third son. I see him as another brother as well."
"And I'm the daughter he never had." Wendy chimed in, laughing just as joyfully as Will did at that remark.
"Wendy, you're so much of a handful that you'd be more like the twin daughters he never had. You sure you'll be able to keep up with her Ty?" Will asked as he ushered the group into an open group of four seats.
"I'm gonna have to try." Tyler smiled as he walked past Will, taking the furthest seat in the row. Wendy took a spot next to him, Will going next to her and Eric taking the aisle seat.
As Tyler took his seat, he looked down across the battlefield more closely. It seemed like a different place than where he'd been standing just the other evening now that the actual arena was in place below. A thin layer of grass seemed to be growing across the entirety of the field, adding a more natural element to the its otherwise manufactured appearance.
"You know, there's multiple stadium fields that get rotated in and out for the various battles held here." Will added as he saw Tyler's curious stare. "There's the grass field that you see there, there's one that's mostly sand and desert-like, another covered in rocks, even one that's mostly water."
"That's impressive. We certainly don't have anything like that in the Orre region." Tyler replied again. "Or maybe we do. I mean if there's one thing we have too much of in Orre, it's fucking sand."
"Hey look! I think that's Rose and her partner!" Wendy pointed excitedly as a pair of girls stepped out onto the field from the group's left. Tyler followed her gaze and was barely able to make out one who he thought was Rose. The lengthy waterfall of auburn hair resting around her yellow top and reaching the hem of her plaid skirt with the black leggings seemed familiar. "Wow, look at her, she's gorgeous!"
"Well she's always gorgeous to me." Will chuckled, as he stood up, cupping his hands to his lips and taking in a huge breath of air. "KNOCK 'EM DEAD BABE! YOU CAN DO IT!"
"Holy fuck…" Tyler clapped his hands to his ear at the surprise loudness right next to him. He could also see a number of the other people in the group at least flinch if not join him in covering their ears at Will's outburst.
"Ow…" Eric coldly looked at Will as he sat back down, which made Will blush a bit awkwardly.
"Oh… sorry guys. I just wanted to make sure she heard me."
"I'm pretty sure everyone in Sinnoh could hear you just fine Will." Wendy said as she shook the stars out of her vision. "And I wasn't referring to her, I meant her partner."
Tyler looked down again and focused on the other girl. She stood next to Rose, who it seemed definitely heard her fiancé as she waved up at his general direction, and Tyler had to admit that Wendy was right. She was wearing an elegant sundress, mostly white with a pink collar and another band at the hem of her skirt. But scattered across it were a series of equally delicate looking bows and ribbons with the same white and pink color pattern, the ribbons ending in tips of blue.
"Oh, yes." Will timidly scratched at his beard. "She looks nice too."
"What's her name?" Wendy asked as she watched the girl adjust the sunhat on her head and slowly walk with Rose to their place on the arena.
"Alicia Erianthe." Will answered. "Rose didn't say that much about her last night when we were talking but she seems like a nice girl. Maybe a bit on the shy side though.
"Well I think she's adorable. She looks just like a doll with her dress! So beautiful."
"You know… it kind of looks like a dress a Sylveon would wear." Will said as a picture of Alicia and Rose appeared on a video board. "See the ribbons and the colors?"
"Oh my GOSH you're right!" Wendy squealed excitedly. "I love her already! Do you think she has a Sylveon?!" Will shook his head and Wendy's bubble popped instantly.
"Afraid not."
"Awww… I was hoping to meet a Sylveon."
"Maybe another day Wendy." Will consoled her, rubbing her shoulders like a father for a moment before a distinct sound of a Poké ball opening nearby caught the groups attention and they turned towards its sound.
"Sylveon!" As if on cue, materializing beneath a silver spark shower was the Fairy typed Eevee-lution, sitting patiently in the aisle beside Eric and smiling at everyone in the row. Naturally, hearts exploded into Wendy's eyes as she saw the Pokémon so close to her, instinct forcing her to stand up with her hands clasped together over her heart. Tyler meanwhile instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, preparing himself to have to restrain her from tackling the Fairy type with a barrage of cuddling.
"You want to meet a Sylveon?" Eric's voice asked as the three looked at him curiously while Sylveon walked out of the aisle and sat before him, mewling at him as he pet her forehead. "This is Nymphia. She's one of my partners."
"Vee-on!" The Sylveon purred happily as she looked over at Wendy.
"You want to say hello?" Eric smiled at Wendy, making her squeal with childish glee again. He stood up, offering her his seat which she nodded to and the two traded seats.
"Hi Sylveon!" Wendy said lightly holding one of her ribbons as Eric sat between Will and Tyler. "I really want to be friends, can we?"
"Sylveon!" The Pokémon happily mewled her name, tracing one of the ribbons against Wendy's cheek.
"OhmyGod Eric thank you! You don't know how happy this makes me!" Wendy smiled lovingly at the boy, making him blush.
"Wendy… kind of has a major thing for the Eeveelutions." Tyler explained. "I like to call it Eevee-lution mode."
"I understand." Eric replied, watching his Nymphia laugh as Wendy tried to tickle her. "I kind of get the same way actually."
"Well then you'd get along really well with Rose and Tyler as well." Will said, pointing at his fiancée. "Rose has a Jolteon named Thor, and Tyler here has a Glaceon named Yuki."
"You'll have to introduce me later." Eric said with a lesser but still intense version of Eevee-lution mode sparkling in his own eyes.
"After the match." Will replied quickly. "It looks like the battle is about to start… And Wendy, can you promise that you'll behave yourself with your new friend."
"I'll be good! We can be quiet right Sylvie?" The Sylveon drew one of its ribbons across its mouth and made Wendy giggle innocently. "Yup, we'll behave."
"Good, now let's get focused on the battle. We've taken enough focus away from the four down on there long enough." Tyler agreed with Will's thoughts and cast his eyes again on the battlefield where all four combatants had stood in their marked spots. Both Rose and her partner Alicia stood closer to the group in the stands. Across from them their two opponents stood. One of them in the clothes of an outdoorsman, a bulky green vest over a sky blue shirt and mud colored pants beneath him. The other, with an outfit like Eric's, only instead of smoke grey his was mostly a navy blue color with white stripes up the side of his jacket and pants. A judge's platform then raised out of the ground with the head official atop it. When it stopped, he reached at his waist and then spoke through a microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to South Stadium for this first round match of the Hearthome Tag Battle Tournament from the C-2 block." Everyone in the crowd roared their applause as the judge pointed first to Rose's opponents. "This match is between the team of Isaac Steel and Max Fulger and their opponents, Alicia Erianthe and Rosetta Neoma! This is a standard double battle, both trainers are allowed two Pokémon each for a team total of four. The battle will continue until all four Pokémon from one team are declared unable to battle. Now, Isaac, Max, are you both ready to battle?"
"Yes!" Both of them said at the same time, which surprised Tyler until Will poked his shoulder.
"They even mic the competitors here so the audience can hear everything like we're down on the battlefield." Tyler nodded in understanding, but became juvenilely curious how common it was for trainers to slip up and swear into the microphones over the voice system.
"Alicia and Rosetta, are you two ready to battle?" The judge asked the girls.
"I'm ready."
"You bet your ass we are." Tyler rolled his eyes at Rose's response, having immediately found his answer.
"Then let this battle begin!" The judge announced as the video board on the far side of the stands illuminated with a video feed of the battle and the trainer's faces appearing on it.
"Let the sparks fly Thor!" Rose quickly detaches her ball from her belt and tosses it skyward, revealing her Jolteon to the field that made both Wendy even more excited for this battle as his body sparked with electric energy.
"I need your help Terra!" Alicia's softer voice played as she throws her ball over the field and reveals a powerful looking Donphan who slams into the ground on release, loudly bellowing a call of superiority throughout the battlefield."
"Cut them to shreds Pinsir!" The bulkier outdoorsman called out as he threw his ball and before him revealed a large stag beetle Pokémon, clicking its large pincer claws on its forehead together in a show of strength.
"Let's make a splash Golduck!" Lastly, Max threw his ball skyward and a bipedal blue duck materialized beneath his spark shower, his body briefly flashing with a pulse of blue energy around his body.
"Let's start fast Alicia!" Rose announced as she struck a commanding pose. "Thor, use Agility!" Jolteon were already naturally fast, everyone knew that. But as Rose's Jolteon started to sprint back and forth across the battlefield, his raw speed made him move fast enough to leave multiple afterimages behind him as they crossed around the field, making him hard to track.
"I agree, Use Ice Shard on the Pinsir Terra!" Alicia called out as her Donphan raised its trunk to the sky while its tusks glowed an icy blue and a ball of ice formed between them. Then with a flick of his head, the Donphan threw the icy attack towards the bug diagonally from her position.
"Brace yourself with Harden!" The Pinsir's trainer called out. Pinsir responded quickly, taking a strong pose as his body shined with a metallic glint before the attack hit him, the ice ball crumbling harmlessly around his body as he took it.
"Nice defense Isaac. Let's up that power with Light Screen Golduck!" The Golduck's body seemed to shine with that same blue flash of power before a golden hexagonal barrier seemed to fold into place around both Pinsir and Golduck's bodies before fading for a moment. Tyler could see from the camera zooming in on the Pokémon that his eyes now glowed a faint purple color as the barrier faded away.
"Oof, this isn't gonna be fun. Things just got really hard for those two." Will commented from the peanut gallery, which made Eric chuckle briefly, but Wendy frowned at him.
"Really Will, a pun?" She asked with disgust.
"It wasn't intentional." Will protested defensively. "I was just-"
"I know what you meant," Wendy rolled her eyes. "But it wasn't funny."
"I thought it was." Eric grinned, making Wendy roll her eyes again and look at her Sylveon friend.
"Your trainer has bad taste in jokes." The Sylveon just looked at her curiously then turned her attention to the battle again as Wendy scratched her ears.
"Alicia, we need to bring down that Golduck." Rose pointed at the Water type emphatically. "Thor! Use Thunderbolt on him!"
"Terra, you use Double-Edge on it as well!" Alicia added as Rose's Jolteon finally stopped in place and fired a crackling bolt of lightning towards his opponent.
"Counter that with Ice Beam!" Golduck raises his hands up to the bead in his forehead and fires from it a jagged beam of arctic energy towards the incoming Thunderbolt. Both attacks meet in the center of the field, exploding in a cloud of snowdust that the Donphan charges through on a path straight for the stationary Golduck with a golden trail of energy lagging behind its body.
"Intercept that Donphan with Seismic Toss Pinsir!" Isaac's Pokémon quickly lunges forward, his head lowered to the ground with his pincers swung wide open. Just as Donphan is a few steps away from her target, Pinsir crashes into her from the side, clamping its vice-like pincers down around its body and pushing it aside. Then with equally impressive strength, pivots around, lifting up the heavy elephant in the process and hurling it back across the battlefield. Terra lands a moment later, landing roughly on her side, but she gets up and casts a rough gaze at the Pinsir, as does her trainer.
"Send that bug flying with Head Smash Terra!" With another bellowing roar, the Donphan stood up on its hind legs before slamming them into the ground and charged forward with a burning blue cone of energy surrounding its body.
"Iron Defense Pinsir!" The Stag Bettle Pokémon clacked its horns together as his entire body took on a vivid metallic gray sheen, glinting in the light as he braced himself for the stampeding elephant barreling down on him. He lowered the pincers on his head as Terra crashed into him, and for a moment appeared to be holding the rampaging Pokémon in place. But despite Pinsir's best efforts, Donphan's persistence prevailed and began pushing him back, before finally running over the Bug type and launching him skyward, knocking him completely across the field and almost out of the arena.
"Pinsir!" Isaac cried out as he watched his bug's body shake as he tried to get back up.
"Don't foret about us. Use Discharge Thor!" Again the speedy Jolteon let loose a storm of electric energy from its body that forked off in nearly every direction towards both the downed Pinsir and his concerned partner Golduck. Even his partner Donphan received a jolt but completely ignored it as she struggled to make her way back towards her trainer's side.
"Fight it off with Ice Beam Golduck!" Again the Golduck fired a jagged beam of ice towards the lightning forks headed for him. However, he was only able to hit one, the other bolt flying towards him and scattering against the hexagonal shield that materialized infront of both him and Pinsir as the bolt for him crashed against it as well. But despite his shield, Golduck still appeared to take damage through it, dropping to a knee while the shield faded. As he stood back up, the shield rematerialized, but appeared to fluctuate as it solidified again.
"That's it Thor, keep kicking butt!" Rose called out encouragingly.
"Jolteon!" The Electric typed Eeveelution barked happily at his trainer's praise.
"Use Double Team!" Again the Jolteon took off, running with blazing speed across the battlefield, although this time the perceived afterimages stuck around, leaving a half-dozen Jolteon around the battlefield.
"Let's go Terra, use Fire Fang on the Pinsir!" Now the tusks of Alicia's Donphan began to glow a burning orange color. But as she charged forward, she slipped on her foot as the accumulated recoil of her last attack hit her, leaving her immobile on the ground.
"Capitalize Pinsir, use X-scissor!"
"Take out those clones with Water Pulse!" Golduck molded a ball of water into his hands, throwing it towards the various Jolteon on the field, hoping for a hit as his partner's clawed hands began to glow a blueish color. As he crossed them across his body in an X-shape, they added a purple hue before an x-slash of energy was fired towards the stationary Donphan while the first in a series of water balls were launched towards the Jolteon clones.
"Terra look out!" Alicia called out in concern!
"Block that attack with Shadow Ball Thor!" Jolteon halts his movement again and charges up a purple ball of energy in his mouth, firing it on path for the X-slash and crashing into it, canceling the attack out.
"Thank you Rose." Alicia smiled gratefully towards her partner, who flashed her a thumbs-up back.
"Don't worry about it girl. I got your back."
"But who's got yours?" Max taunted. "Golduck, use Aqua Jet before Jolteon can get away!" Golduck swiftly springs into action, charging forward with a veil of water surrounding him as he rockets towards the stationary Jolteon, slamming into his side. "Finally, got you right where I wanted you!"
"You sure I don't have you right where I want you?" Rose taunted with a playful wink and a grin back at Max. "Fry that duck with Thunder Thor!" With a loud howl Thor arced his back as his body became surrounded in a cloud of electric energy that crackled loudly for a moment before being completely discharged towards the stunned Golduck. His shield once again absorbed some of the damage, but it was painfully evident from the warping of his Light Screen that it wouldn't last much longer.
"Hurry Pinsir, use Quick Attack on Jolteon!" Isaac's Pokémon raced forward with a blur of white speed behind him, crashing into Thor's side and knocking him off balance, discharging the rest of his attack into the clouds above as he lands before his trainer. Pinsir meanwhile clicks his pincers menacingly at his opponents.
"Finish them off Terra, use Hyper Beam!" Donphan raises its trunk, opening its mouth as a small ball of orange in its mouth.
"Isaac, get your Pinsir behind Golduck!" Max shouted as Donphan's orange ball grew in size.
"Right, Pinsir get into position!"
"Golduck, use Hydro Pump on Donphan! Give it all you've got left!" The Golduck's mouth opens and a spiraling column of water shoots out towards the Donphan.
"Fire!" On Alicia's command, her Donphan launches its attack, firing off a sparkling orange beam of energy into the watery attack with both of them struggling against each other for a moment. But as time grows on, the Golduck gets weaker, dropping to a knee as his remaining strength gives out. At that time, the orange beam overcomes his water, bursting through it and crashing into Golduck's shield, shattering it as he and Pinsir both get sent flying back by their trainers. And although Pinsir is able to get back to his feet, Golduck simply cannot.
"Golduck is unable to battle! Max is down to his final Pokémon!" The judge announces as the crowd erupts in applause at the emphatic knockout.
"Nicely done Alicia!" Rose's voice sounds over the applause as her Jolteon makes its way back to her side. "And you too Thor. Yous still good to go?
"Jolt!" Thor happily nods his head with a bark.
"'Atta boy!" Rose smiles as she sends Thor back out to the field, her partner however has grabbed a Poké ball from the sash tied around her waist and enlarged it.
"Thank you for your hard work Terra." Alicia soothingly says as she returns her Donphan in a pulse of red energy. She then swaps balls with another one on her sash and throws it out over the field. "I need your help Morgan!" Replacing her injured Donphan, a new Pokémon that Tyler hasn't seen before is revealed from its spark shower. It has the appearance of a fox with mostly yellow and red fur, but standing upright on its two legs instead of being on all fours. And for some reason it was holding a stick in its hand that had caught fire as it was pointed out towards the battlefield.
"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Tyler asked curiously.
"Delphox" Eric answered quickly. "It's a Fire and Psychic type from Kalos known for their witch-like appearances and ability to use that flame to see into the future."
"Really?" Tyler said with surpsied interest. "Cool." Meanwhile, Max has returned his defeated Golduck with a pulse of energy and has reached for his final Pokémon.
"Shut them down Magneton!" Max calls as he hurls his second ball onto the field.
"Magneton?" Tyler and a lot of the stadium seem taken aback by the choice as the Electric/Steel type materializes, sparking its own storm of electric energy between the various magnets attached to its body.
"You sure about that choice Max?" Isaac asked over the microphone.
"Too late to change it now." Max replied calmly. "And besides, I have a plan in mind. You just need to keep up the offense."
"Don't need to tell me twice. Let's kick this into another gear Pinsir, use Swords Dane!" The Bu type proudly clacks his pincers together as they take on a bright blueish-orange color, beginning to glow vividly as he clacks them together again.
"I don't like where this is going," Rose said worriedly. "We need to take Pinsir down. Thor, use Thunderbolt!"
"Agreed, Morgan use Flamethrower!" As the Jolteon's body sparked another lightning bolt towards his foe, the flame on Delphox's wand grew more intense as it expanded into a pillar of flames aimed towards the glowing bug.
"Take them both Magneton, use Protect!" Max's new Pokémon drifted over in front of his partner and both his opponents' attacks. As he got into position, the sets of magnets all glowed yellow before a barrier of energy formed around and in front of it, dispersing both attacks away from their targets as Pinsir's glowing ceased.
"Now let's fight! Use Quick Attack on Jolteon!" Pinsir lowered his head and charged forward as a blur of white, racing towards Thor's spot on the battlefield.
"Keep an eye on him Thor! Use Detect!"
"That's not gonna work on us. Make a Feint!" The Jolteon's eyes sparkle as he watches the Pinsir slow his charge, springing his pincers wide. He flinches, jumping back to dodge but Pinsir doesn't make his move. Once Jolteon is airborn again his attack continues, slamming roughly into the side of the Electric type and knocking his legs out from beneath him.
"Morgan, use Calm Mind!" Delphox's flame weakens as he closes his eyes and a faint pulse of blue energy surrounds him and his stick.
"Charge Beam Magneton, on Delphox!" Once again the magnets spin on Magneton as three balls of lightning form between the six magnetic pairs. The separate balls them merged into one beam and fired it towards the Delphox, but the Fire/Psychic fox appeared unfazed by the attack.
"Now let's use Flamethrower!" Alicia's Delphox again let out a more powerful looking pillar of red-orange flames that roared towards the Magneton.
"Protect one more time!" For the second time, Magneton's barrier intercepted the attack as it fanned around him even after its apparent power boost.
"Dammit this is annoying." Rose grumbled to herself. "Try Thunder Wave on the Pinsir!"
"Retreat with Quick Attack!" As soon as the Jolteon fired off a rippling wave of lightning, Pinsir jumped across the battlefield, retreating to his partner's side. "Okay, I say we go for it. Ready Max?"
"Ready. Magneton use Magnet Rise!" Another yellow glow surrounded the Magneton's body as he began to levitate higher off the ground.
"I don't like the look of this…" Rose worriedly looked at the rising Pokémon. "Use Double Team!"
"That's not gonna help you! Pinsir, use Earthquake!" Isaac roared as his Pinsr clacked his pincers together, slamming them violently into the ground as the Jolteon clones reappeared.
"Morgan quick! Use Protect!" Now Delphox cast a defensive barrier around itself as the shockwave began to approach their side of the battle, the field itself beginning to crack from the attack's magnitude.
"Thor get inside the barrier quick!" With every ounce of speed he could muster, Thor took off towards his partner's green shield. However, the ground continued to crack and crumble around him, knocking him off balance. He got up, only to be knocked back down and then around before finally being launched skyward. Thor landed with a heavy thud on his side, unable to get back to his feet despite his trainer's plees.
"Jolteon is unable to battle! Rosetta is down to her final Pokémon!" The judge proclaimed as the crowd mostly applauded.
"BOOOOOOOO!" Wendy loudly complained from the audience. "I hate that Pinsir! He's so annoying!"
"Would you say he's bugging you?" Tyler sneered as Eric chuckled again at the death glare Wendy gave to her boyfriend. "Get it, because he's a Bug type?"
"I get the joke… KICK HIS BUTT ROSE!" Wendy yelled as her friend retreated the Jolteon.
"Good job buddy, take a good rest." She returns her gaze to the battlefield as she grabs a new ball. "I need your strength Gurren!" On release to the arena now was an Excadrill, its distinct jagged drill-like claws crossing across its chest as it let out a proud cry of its own.
"Use Rock Slide Gurren!" A pair of rings formed around the Excadrill's body, fragmenting into boulders as they were each thrown towards his opponents.
"Crush those rocks with Brick Break!"
"Blast them with Flash Cannon!" Both Isaac and Max's Pokémon started fighting off the incoming rocks as they came towards them. Isaac's Pinsir would either deflect the rocks or outright catch them in his glowing white pincers, to knock them away from him. Magneton meanwhile points each of its magnetic pairs towards the incoming rocks and fires a silvery-blue pulse of energy at each of them as they come in, shattering them to dust.
"Keep it up Gurren, more Rock Slide!" Another band of rings is fired off towards the Excadrill's two opponents, but they once again start beating off the attack like they had previously.
"Now Morgan, use Heat Wave!" The Delphox held up its wand as a light red orb formed at the tip of it surrounding a soft flame. As he lowered he slashed his wand down, red wisps of burning air fired off from it towards both the Pinsir and Magneton. Both of them being too preoccupied with the rocks were unable to dodge the attack as it did huge damage to both of them, knocking Pinsir on his back and Magneton out of the sky.
"Now let's show them a real Earthquake Gurren!" This time the Ground type jumped up into the sky and slammed into the ground, another violent shockwave rocking the arena as it raced out across the entire battlefield.
"Protect Morgan!" For the second time, the Delphox put up a protective barrier to prevent the attack from harming it. His opponents however were left scrambling to their feet and trying to get off the ground. But the move hit too quickly for either of them to dodge, kicking up a crumbling cloud of dust that only when scattered revealed its true carnage. The arena was a fractured mess, and both Pinsir and Magneton were lying under chunks of the rubble unresponsive.
"Both Pinsir and Magneton are unable to battle! Isaac is down to his final Pokémon and his partner Max is out of usable Pokémon!"
"YES! We did it!" Rose pumped her fist excitedly before hi-fiving Alicia.
"Dammit!" Max dropped to his knees in frustration, returning his defeated Magneton in a pulse of energy. "Sorry Isaac, I let you down."
"No worries man. I mean it isn't over yet." Isaac returned his defeated Pinsir and grabbed another ball. "Wash them away Swampert!"
"Oh that's not good…" Tyler and Will said at the same time as the ball was tossed onto the field. It burst open with its silver spark shower and the Pokémon inside morphed onto the field. But as it took shape, it started to look less and less like a Swampert.
"Golem!" Emerging instead was the large rock turtle, landing on the battlefield with a thud equally as heavy as his trainer's jaw hitting the floor.
"GOLEM?! What are you doing out there? I threw Swampert's ball, not yours!" Isaac screamed hysterically.
"Golem?" The Pokémon looked back at his trainer with confusion as the audience started murmuring curiously.
"Hey man look; I didn't want to use Golem." Isaac began appealing to the judge. "It was a mistake, I meant to use a different Pokémon. Please let me replace him with my Swampert."
"I can't let you do that." The judge replied coldy. "If you return your Golem off the battlefield, it will count as a forfeit and you will lose the battle."
"But I didn't mean to grab his ball! It was an honest mistake!"
"Golem?" The rock turtle still looked confused as Isaac continued pleading his case.
"Sorry, no can do. Either fight with your Golem or forfeit the battle." Isaac sighed heavily at the judge's response, wiping his hand off his face in frustration.
"Alright fine, we'll keep fighting. It's okay Golem, we can still pull this off. We just need to level the playing field."
"Don't you think we've already done a good enough job of that?" Rose laughed teasingly as she picked up a chunk of the arena and tossed it around in her hands.
"Fair point, but one more leveling won't hurt. Golem use Earthquake!"
"Tie him up with Grass Knot Morgan!" On Alicia's command, the Delphox held up his wand again and pointed it at the Golem as he jumped up into the air. He tried to tuck his limbs into his boulder-like body, but a group of vines shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around his legs, pulling him back towards the ground with a strong thud. He tries to free himself from the vines, but more of them sprout around his body, rooting him to the ground.
"Let's go Gurren! Yours is the drill that will pierce the heavens! Use Drill Run!" Rose loudly proclaimed.
"I really wish she'd stop saying that every time he uses Drill Run." Wendy sighed heavily as everyone watched the Excadrill hold its arms above its head and tuck the rest of himself behind them. He then sprang forward, twisting in a fast corkscrew as he slammed into the defenseless Golem.
"Golem! You holding up?" Isaac asked as the Pokémon rolled back towards him, trying to get back up off the ground.
"Gol…lem." The Pokémon groaned with a deep ache in his voice.
"Alright, you know what?" Isaac shook his head in a smile. "I'm not gonna let you get beaten up when we already know we've lost."
"Golem…" The Pokémon's head drooped disappointedly.
"Hey no, it's not your fault. I'm the one who grabbed the wrong ball." The outdoorsman reached out and rubbed his Pokémon's forehead. He then stood back up and looked at the judge. "I forfeit the remainder of the battle. I'm not letting my Golem fight anymore." The judge nodded a response, raising a flag towards the two female battlers.
"Isaac Steele has forfeited the remainder of this battle. Therefore, the winners are Alicia Erianthe and Rosetta Neoma!"
"Yeah! We did it Alicia!" Rose smiled happily at her partner.
"Yeah, we won." Alicia replied shyly. The two of them appeared to continue their conversation, but the microphone feed was apparently cut off now that the battle was over.
"Well, that's why the number's game is so important." Tyler commented rather bluntly as he stood up and stretched his back. "The moment you lose advantage it's almost a guaranteed loss."
"True, but it's unfortunate that the match had to have that blunder in it." Will added. "I felt bad for Isaac, but I applaud him for not letting his Golem fight a losing battle."
"Yeah, even if he got past the Delphox, Donphan was waiting in the wings. And that's not even mentioning Rose's Excadrill."
"But hey, Rose won! Let's go down and celebrate with her!" Wendy clapped her hands gleefully before looking at Eric's Sylveon before her. "I bet Rose will just fall in love with you instantly just like me! You want to meet her?"
"Vee-on!" The Sylveon mewled excitedly in response.
"Yay! Let's go say hi!" With that Wendy quickly stepped into the aisle of the stadium with the Sylveon, Will, Eric and Tyler quickly followed her, walking around the people filing out of the arena towards the first row. As they descended, Isaac and Max both left towards one of the stadium exits with Rose and Alicia heading towards a different one.
"ROSE!" Will loudly bellowed again waving at her and getting the two girls to stop. "OVER HERE!" Both of them looked at each other a bit and then started heading towards the edge of the bleachers.
"Hey guys!" Rose said as the group reached the edge. "What'd you think?"
"I think you looked awesome!" Will said as he reached over the edge of the stands, grabbing Rose's hand and holding it up for a kiss.
"Tell me something I don't know." Rose laughed as she swooned at her fiancée's gesture.
"I made a new friend!" Wendy said holding one of Sylveon's ribbons in it.
"Sylveon!" Eric's Pokémon poked her head over the railing.
"OhmyGOD! It's a Sylveon!" Rose jumped up and held her arms over the edge of the railing, looking at the Fairy Type. "Hi Sylveon! Gah, you look so CUTE!"
"Vee-on!" She laughed happily and smiled at Rose. "Sylvie Syl-vee!"
"Oh you are just so adorable! I love you!" Rose reached out and stroked her fur. "Oh it's so soft! Is she yours? I mean I know you said that you were trying to get an Eevee of your own, but I didn't think it'd happen that quickly!"
"Oh heavens no." Wendy laughed as she stepped back. "She's Eric's."
"Uh… hi." Eric waved shyly. "Yeah, that's my partner Nymphia."
"Well she is just sooo cute!" Rose swooned again.
"Well if you want to meet her more properly, we've got a bit until our match begins." Will said calmly. "Plus they need to replace the arena that you two wrecked. So how about we hang out in the lounge until they're ready for us?"
"Oh that'd be so much fun. I'll see you there guys. But don't take too long, I want to meet that Sylveon. Come on Alicia."
"Okay." She replied quietly as the two started to make their way backstage.
"So, lead the way backstage maestro." Wendy poked Will at Will and with him leading them back up the steps towards the bowl of the stadium so they could go make better friends with everyone in the group.
A/N: And there you have it guys, the 34th chapter in the books of our story. Hope you guys had fun with it, I certainly had fun. In fact I had some of the most fun I've had in a long time writing this chapter. And I owe a lot of that to my good buddy Okenuthanos who helped a ton with the planning of this chapter. So special shout out to you once again man, and thanks again for submitting both Rose and Will's characters to the story. Additionally, I want to make a shout out to The Pokemon Otaku for his character Eric who made his debut this chapter as well. Hope you enjoyed the little snippets he got this chapter, and that you can't wait to see him in action next chapter. And thank you as well reader for giving this story your support. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to the Kanto region and have another adventure there. So once more, this is DrPhill26 signing out and I hope to see you guys again next time.
Tyler's Team: Magnus (Quilava, Male), Caelum (Staraptor, Male), Felix (Gligar, Male), Yuki (Glaceon, Female)
Wendy's Team: Pulse (Lucario, Male), Tess (Ampharos, Female), Yuri (Lilligant, Female)
Rose's Team: Thor (Jolteon, Male) Gurren (Excadrill, Male)
Alicia's Team: Terra (Donphan, Female), Morgan (Delphox, Male)
Eric's Team: Nymphia (Sylveon, Female)