What's happening, dudes?
I'm sorry for the late update. Alas, things have been kind of tricky in my personal life, and that kind of sapped my motivation for a bit. Don't worry, I have not given up!
And I thank you all for all the wonderful support!
Chapter 8: The Exhibition Match: Part 1
It was as if an earthquake was shaking the stadium as the gathered audience screamed their lungs out in excitement. Truly there was no single word to describe the noise. As the noise gradually, and slowly, began to die down, the sounds of shouting could be heard, with some sentences becoming coherent amidst the noise.
"Ash Ketchum? THE Ash Ketchum?"
"He was a competitor in every League years ago!
"HE'S SO HOT!"
"He also won the Orange League! I was in the audience during his match against Orange Crew Supreme Gym Leader Drake!"
"I heard he conquered the Kanto Battle Frontier as well!"
"He was quite a fan favorite, from what I remember!"
"HE'S SO HOT"
"I met him once!"
"I think I did too! He was very kind!"
"I battled him once! He was tough!"
"There were rumors he was helped take down Team Aqua and Team Magma in Hoenn!"
"He fought against Team Flare in Lumiose City!"
"I've heard rumors he helped take out all those gangs! And he took out many more too!"
"HE'S SO HOT!"
"You've got to be FREAKING KIDDING ME! NO! NOOO!"
That comment got the roaring noise to die down faster in shock, but Trip didn't wait for it to die down as he continued his rant, apparently forgetting he was among the competitors on the stadium floor.
"There is NO WAY that this PUNK from these boonies can be a Champion! The fool who I beat with my BEGINNER SNIVY!" Trip roared, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. The reactions of the traitors, while varied, showed the same intensity and shock at this revelation.
Iris had bulging-vein eyes, and a mouth that seemed to be distorted from how far it was hanging open.
Max had lost feeling in his legs and had sunk to the ground, his eyes even wider than his glasses frames.
Paul, while the least extreme, had his eyes wide, his eyebrows creased, and his teeth grit so hard he might have cracked them.
Misty was drooling, and had hearts in her eyes.
Tracey was just plain frozen from shock.
Dawn had bulging veins, bulging eyes, and was openly gagging.
Trip continued.
"How...just HOW could this weak out of WEAKLINGS be KANTO'S CHAMPION! THIS LEAGUE MUST BE EVEN MORE PATHETIC THAN I THOUGHT!"
The air was filled with loud gasps. The Kanto population was shocked and utterly insulted by this punk. Trip continued.
"That must be the case! There is no way he could beat ANY Elite Four! I bet he was sleeping with…"
"MR. SHOOTI"
The sound of President Goodshow's microphone-amplified shout brought Trip out of his rage. It was at that moment Trip realized where he was, and who was listening.
Goodshow glared at Trip with anger no one knew the little old man had.
"I am completely and utterly ASTOUNDED that you would say such things on the floor of this opening ceremony! The fact that you shouted such obscenities in the first place, while among the competitors in the middle of a CEREMONY! To insult our new League with so HORRIDLY vicious words is utterly disgraceful!"
Trip stupidly swept Goodshow's reprimand aside.
"Yeah, yeah, I bet this old imp was getting desperate so he picked the first trainer that he sees! I wouldn't expect any more from the Kanto boonies."
"RIGHT, THAT'S IT! TRIP SHOOTI, you are hereby DISQUALIFIED from this year's Indigo Plateau Conference! Your place in the tournament will be granted as an automatic victory to your first opponent! You have clearly shown that you do not deserve to compete here!"
"WHAT!? Exclaimed the in-denial Trip, "THAT'S NOT FAIR! YOU CAN"T DO THAT! I HAVE EARNED MY 8 BADGES! I WORKED HARD! I DESERVE THIS!"
"Apparently you did not work hard enough," mused Mr. Goodshow, as stadium security dragged a screaming Trip off the stadium floor.
A few moments passed, letting the shock die down, before Mr. Goodshow resumed.
"ASH KETCHUM, the man who worked tirelessly to bring the Indigo League back, has proven to be the strongest Pokémon Trainer in this region! I now turn the mic over to our new Champion so he may say a few words."
Mr. Goodshow stepped back, as Ash stepped down to the microphone podium to address the crowd.
"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Trainers and Spectators, Kanto Natives and Visitors! Sixteen years ago, I began my Trainer career in my hometown, Pallet Town, with the hopes to become the greatest Pokémon Master. I traveled the Kanto region, saw many sights, caught many Pokémon, and made many friends. I eventually earned 8 Gym Badges, and was eligible to compete in the Indigo Plateau Conference. My Pokémon and I worked hard, and in the end, we emerged among the Top 16 Trainers."
"We have since traveled the world, competing, training, and learning, yet the memory of home and our first adventure were always cherished and treasured. Therefore, when rumors began of the Indigo League being shut down, I was only one of the many people who took action! President Charles Goodshow, Polly Todhunter, Jack Soong, Alex Parker, and Ron Anderson, and myself are only a handful of people who worked tirelessly together, working to bring life to the League that started them all! Breathing new air into this home, so that hopefully future generations will want to watch and compete here! So those future Trainers and Pokémon will be able to grow, learn, and live! So those future Trainers and Pokémon will learn to trust each other and work together, and become something greater than they thought possible!"
"It is with these dreams, and the dreams of many more, that we all welcome the first of these new competitors. Rival or friend, rookie or expert, with hard work and determination, you can go far! We are honored to host you in this year's Indigo Plateau Conference!"
The stadium cheered, as Ash stepped back to give Goodshow the microphone.
"Great speech, Mr. Ketchum, great speech! Now to kick off this year's Conference, we have planned a special treat. A special Exhibition Match between Kanto's Champion and a fan favorite competitor from these recent years! This fan favorite, who has emerged among the Top 4-2 in recent tournaments, has earned quite a reputation! This competitor is none other than Paul Jiinju, of Veilstone City, Sinnoh!"
The stadium spotlight shined down on Paul, as the crowd erupted into another round of cheers and applause. Paul for his part still seemed rather unnerved, but his callous smirk was slowly making its way back onto his face. He apparently had more sense than the recently-ejected Trip, at least.
"Now," Goodshow continued, "we shall allow the competitor's time to select their greatest and best Pokémon, and for the battlefield to be prepared! Stay with us just a little longer!"
The competing trainers were ushered out of the stadium floor, as two entry points on either side of the field lit up, one red and one green. Paul was directed to the red entrance, where backstage these trainers were to select their teams.
Paul smirked callously. He knew just which Pokémon to choose.
Less than ten minutes later, both Ash and Paul stood on opposing sides of a plain battlefield, Ash in the Green corner, and Paul in the Red one.
The traitors had all regrouped in the stands, and all were utterly shaken to their cores.
"This c-c-can't be true!" Iris spluttered, clearly not able to wrap her mind around all this. "That…that…kid!"
"I know…," mused Tracey, "It's a lot to take in…"
"Oh HECK NO it ain't!" exclaimed Max, there is no way, NO WAY that weakling can be Kanto's Champion! Something doesn't smell right!"
"YEAH!" agreed Dawn, "Ketchum must have done something illegal! He must have bribed, threatened, or cheated someone!"
'I'll find out what he did,' though a daydreaming Misty to herself, completely unaware that she was drooling a great deal. "When I make him MINE!"
"No yellow rodent I see," remarked Paul with his trademark arrogant smirk.
"I've been using Pikachu quite a lot in my career," replied Ash with a somewhat excited yet smug look, "one of the things I have learned over the years is that I need to diversify."
"Too little, too late," sneered Paul, "I was surprised when I heard the announcement just now. Ash, you're quite strong, I'll give you that."
Ash quirked an eyebrow at this.
"You must be, to have battled your way up to here. But this is the end of the road for you, I must say. We both know how much stronger I am than you!"
Ash's response was simply to smirk, "A lot can change in a decade. And really now, you expect me to think that your stronger than me without the match having started?"
Paul was a little taken aback by the whole conversation. Judging from the dialogue alone, Ash HAD changed. Paul suspected that his taunts would get under Ash's skin, maybe even get him fired up. But Ash just stood there and SMIRKED.
They didn't have time to say anything else at that point, as the referee's platform rose, to reveal a sickly pale man with smoothed-back hair who stood with an odd, unreadable expression on his face. Strange thing was that even though he was extremely pale, he looked fine and even fit in all areas otherwise.
This being, whose name was Adrian, would be serving as referee for this match, proceeded to call out the rules of the match.
"This will be a full six-on-six match between Challenger Paul Jiinju of Veilstone City, and Champion Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. The battle will not end until all six of either Trainers Pokémon is unable to battle. Substitutions are allowed. The Champion will choose their Pokémon first."
Ash held up a Poke Ball. "Noivern, I Choose You!" He called (getting a cheer of excitement from the crowd in the process) as he threw the Ball onto the field, and the Sound Wave Pokémon emerged, emitting a reverberating cry in the process, as he landed in a battle stance.
Paul smirked. "Weavile, Standby for Battle!" He called as he sent out his Sharp Claw Pokemon, whose partial Ice typing gave it a double advantage clearly. Weavile jumped and then snarled at Noivern.
The stage was set.
Adrian held both of his flags into the air, and brought them down in a signal: "Battle begin!"
"Let's end this early. Weavile, Blizzard!" Paul called nonchalantly; Weavile took in a deep breath, and blew out the Blizzard out of its mouth.
Ash smiled. "Noivern, take to the air and use Air Cutter to disperse it."
Noivern leapt into the air, and launched the attack by flapping his wings. The attacks collided, and canceled each other out in a gust of wind.
Paul raised an eyebrow. "Hm. I expected the Blizzard to overpower your Air Cutter. Blizzard is super effective, and very powerful after all."
"Power isn't everything," was Ash's reply.
Paul shrugged it off. "Weavile, Ice Beam!"
"Swerve to avoid it and launch an Air Slash."
Weavile launched the Ice Beam at Noivern, who gracefully avoided the beam, and launched its Air Slash attack…so fast that if you blinked you would have missed it. Unlike the Ice Beam, the Air Slash hit its mark, kicking up a small cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, Weavile looked rather…winded.
'That was strong,' thought Paul to himself, 'it was not very effective on Weavile and its Dark/Ice typing, yet it appears to have done a great deal of damage.'
Ash did not hesitate. "Follow it up with Dragon Pulse!"
"Dodge," Paul said simply.
Noivern launched the draconic energy from his mouth toward Weavile. Weavile jumped to its side to avoid the pulse…and Noivern adjusted his aim to follow, striking Weavile.
'What?'
When the dust cleared, Weavile was shown to be panting on one knee, breathing heavily and clearly almost out.
This shocked Paul. "Quickly, use Blizzard again!"
"Boomburst. Don't mind moving."
This command surprised Paul, and many in the audience. He wasn't going to doge a powerful and double super effective attack?
Weavile managed to launch its attack, but Weavile's fatigue and the moves accuracy caused it to miss, and therefore only graze Noivern. This should have done at least a fair deal of damage, given the high power of the move. However, to everyone's surprise, Noivern just shook the Blizzard's snow off, and quickly followed up with an immediate Boomburst. Weavile barely had time to react before it was struck with the attack.
When the dust settled, Weavile was lying on the ground, clearly fainted.
"Weavile is unable to battle. Victory goes to Noivern. Challenger, choose your next Pokémon." Adrian called out.
As the crowd went wild and the announcer boomed, Paul could only stare in awe. His Weavile had been knocked out in only three hits! Weavile barely managed to make any hits, and when it did hit, Noivern only shook it off. A double super effective move!
After callously recalling Weavile without thanking it, he looked up and eyed Ash. To Paul's utter shock, Ash wasn't cheering or giving an 'alright'. Ash was simply standing with slight smile.
"It's like I said," Ash stated simply, "A lot can change in a decade."
To be continued…