Chapter 9: The Exhibition Match: Part 2

Up in one of the stadiums VIP Boxes, a certain group of people were watching the first round of the match with smug satisfaction.

"Well," mused a smirking Dr. Brock Harrison, now taller and clad in dark khaki pants, orange shoes, a tan collared shirt, finished off with a white doctors coat. He was the head doctor for the tournament, who oversaw the present medical staff, and was in charge of the health and well-being of the injured Pokémon in the competition.

"That MUST have felt good," remarked Assistant Professor Gary Oak, "That was faster than I expected as well, especially given Noivern's double weakness to Ice-types." Gary was wearing black shoes, khaki pants, and a black jacket.

"That's Ash for you," remarked Clemont Limon, "He always turns a disadvantage into a favorable outcome." Clemont was wearing a dark blue suit with a gray tie, complimented by his signature glasses.

"He always does just that." remarked the last person in the room. Clad in a pink wooly jumper, with a red skirt, black knee leggings, and brown shoes, with honey blonde hair still mostly short, except for long section at the back, Serena Yvonne-Ketchum beamed from ear to ear, her eyes sparkling.

"Paul is a good trainer as well," wondered Gary aloud, "Do you think Ash'll break a sweat?"

"I doubt it," remarked Serena, "Ash has been training so hard for so long. What's more, he actually cares for his Pokémon as beings, not viewing them as tools."

"And after all, Ash focuses on the unique characteristics of each of his Pokémon much more than most trainers I know." Clemont concurred.

Brock was more doubtful. "You guys have not seen Paul battle. I have, and I know how dangerous an opponent Paul can be. Although he seems to rely on sheer force, he does a lot of strategizing too. He can be unpredictable."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Not so sure, eh? Wanna bet on it?"

"Gary. I'm a doctor, not gambler."

"Well, if you're scared…"

"Name your stakes."

In another VIP box, Kanto's Elite Four was observing the match as well.

"Yawn," remarked Todhunter, "That was nothing. Pump up the heat, will ya?

"Polly," Anderson chimed in, "Paul has next to NO idea on how to bring out a Pokémon's full potential in battle. No doubt it is going to go a little slow. Have patience."

"But I agree with Todhunter," Parker stated, as he stood up in his chair, subsequently forgetting he was not outside in the stands. "ASH, KICK HIS ASS ALREADY, OK?"

"Ah for fuck's sake, Parker, sit down ya bastard!" griped Soong, who was covering his ears.

Paul was feeling unnerved, but he quickly shook it off, his arrogant confidence returning.

"You got lucky, I suppose. No need to fret, I still have five Pokémon left, and all are much stronger than Weavile anyway."

"How judgmental," Ash responded simply.

Paul ignored this. "Magmortar, Stand by for Battle."

From the tossed Poke Ball emerged a large Magmortar, who proceeded to launch flames into the air from its arm cannons as an image of Magmortar appeared as one of Paul's Pokémon on the stadium screen.

"BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Magmortar, start things off with Rock Tomb!"

Magmortar proceeded to fire a purple sphere toward the ground, which turned into a large rock and bolted toward Noivern.

"Take to the air to avoid it," Ash countered.

"Now, launch a Flamethrower!" Paul responded quickly.

Noivern leapt into the air, managing to dodge the Rock Tomb, but was hit suddenly by the Flamethrower, which dealt a good amount of damage.

"Clever move, you turned the relief of a successful escape into an advantage." Ash mused. "Noivern, Fly through the air, and launch several Boombursts!"

Noivern flew through the air, launching the Boombursts from his ears. Two hit Magmortar before Paul counterattacked.

"Flamethrower! Get it out of the sky." Paul ordered. Magmortar launched the flames from its arm cannons, first blocking a Boomburst mid-attack, then launching at Noivern.

"Noivern, dodge quick!"

Noivern soared and maneuvered through the air, moving away from the flames, albeit getting closer to the ground in some cases.

"Now, while it's close, use Will-O-Wisp!"

As Noivern dove, Magmortar shot a swirling ring of fire at Noivern, hitting it and Burning it. Noivern fell to the ground, but the fall was rather short, and it was able to jump back into the air again.

"Dang." Ash grunted, "Noivern, are you alright?"

Noivern nodded and cried out, but Ash could tell he needed to finish things quickly. Noivern was definitely tiring, and the Burn, would weaken him and lower his attack effectiveness.

"Right, time to turn things up a notch. Noivern, Launch Boomburst, Dragon Pulse, and Boomburst in quick succession!" Ash ordered.

"Hurry, counter with Flamethrower," Paul countered.

Magmortar launched its Flamethrower, but it collided with the first Boomburst, which blew the flames back to hit Magmortar. The added Flamethrower did not add so much damage to the Boomburst, but it caught Magmortar off guard, preventing it from attacking while the Dragon Pulse and second Boomburst hit. When the flames died down, Magmortar was on one knee, but quickly collapsed and fainted.

"Magmortar is unable to battle. Victory goes to Noivern. Challenger, choose your next Pokémon." Adrian called out, as the Screen's image of Paul's Magmortar faded to black.

"Heh. Lucky break I guess, with that rebounded Flamethrower and all." Paul replied as he recalled Magmortar. He proceeded to pull out another Poke Ball.

Ash knew he was in the lead, But Noivern was still Burned, and quit tired out.

"Noivern, you've done fantastically return, return." Ash told his Noivern with a big smile as he recalled his Noivern, the Noivern image on the screen fading, but not blacking out. "Torkoal, I Choose You!" he called out as he sent out his Fire Pokémon, it's image appearing on the screen.

"Hm, Torkoal. Ursaring, Stand By for Battle!" Paul called out his Normal type Pokémon, who growled loudly, its image appearing on the screen as well.

"Ursaring. I have to be careful about that Guts ability." Ash thought to himself, looking toward Adrian as the ref made the announcement.

"Battle Begin!"

"Ursaring, use Hammer Arm!" Paul called out. Ursaring's arms glowed as it ran forward toward Trokoal."

"Torkoal, Iron Defense."

Torkoal retracted into its shell, with its Defense increasing, as Ursaring proceeded to bring its Hammer Arm down on Torkoal's shell, and then jump back. The increased Defense did its job, and Torkoal emerged from its shell, shaking the attack off quite easily.

"Time to counterattack, Torkoal. Use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered, and Torkoal proceeded to launch the jet of flames from its mouth.

"Quick, dodge!" Paul ordered. This was easier said than done, given Ursarings sheer bulk. Ursaring managed to dodge most of the attack, with the Flamethrower only grazing Ursarings right shoulder. Paul noticed this, and was quick to order.

"Use Bulk Up!" Ursaring surrounded itself in a red aura, which built up its Attack and Defense stats.

Ash was quick to respond. ""Torkoal, Flamethrower while Ursaring is still immobile!" Torkoal quickly followed the order, launching the attack and hitting Ursaring dead on, dealing significant damage. This surprised Paul.

Ash smirked. "Wrong stat. Now Torkoal, use Lava Plume!"

Torkoal launched the plume of lava at Ursaring, who grunted in pain. Suddenly, red flames briefly engulfed around Ursaring, indicating a Burn.

"Shit," Ash thought to him, "probably shouldn't have used that attack."

"Heh heh," grinned Paul, "Ursaring is Burned, and I am sure you know what Guts does."

Ursaring growled loudly as a surge of power erupted from its body.

"Now Ursaring, use Slash!"

Ursaring complied, its claws glowing and extending, as it launched itself at Torkoal, Slashing it repeatedly. Torkoal was unable to dodge due to its body structure and low Speed, and the resulting Slashes caused Torkoal to faint.

"Torkoal is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ursaring. Champion, please send out your next Pokemon." Adrian announced to a stunned crowd, with Torkoal's image on the screen blacking out.

"See!" snarked Iris, "His Torkoal went out like that! I Knew he wasn't all they said he was!"

"Not to mention his Noivern is very tired out. It won't last long when he sends it out again." Added Dawn.

Tracey raised an eyebrow. "Torkoal was only one Pokémon. We do not know his other four. Let's not jinx it.

Ash recalled Torkoal, whispering soft words of comfort and thanks, as he turned to Paul.

"See," smirked Paul, as a sense of relief returned to him. "You just had a lucky break. That Noivern was not that strong; He'll be out when you next send it out!"

Ash smiled. "No problem, I just won't send him back out then. Seismitoad, I Choose You!"

As the Water/Ground Pokémon emerged it's Poke Ball, it sent off reverbeats of sound as it growled at Ursaring.

"BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Ursaring, Slash!" Paul shouted, and Ursaring charged and swiped it's glowing claws at Seismitoad, hitting it and dealing a Critical Hit.

"That was powerful," Ash mused.

"Indeed." Paul smirked.

"Better not drag this out too long, then. Seismitoad, Drain Punch."

Paul's eyes widened as Seismitoad charged up to the rapidly tiring Ursaring, and brought a glowing fist into Ursaring's stomach, dealing a Super-Effective move. This proved too much for Ursaring, who proceeded to faint, while the Drain Punch restored some of Seismitoad's energy.

"Ursaring is unable to battle," Adrian called as Ursarings image blacked out on the screen, "Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon."

Paul was starting to sweat now, but he shook the feelings of nervousness aside.

'Ursaring was injured already! And the Drain Punch didn't look like it restored Seismitoad to peak performance. I know what to do.' Paul reassured himself, as he recalled Ursaring, and pulled out his next Poke Ball, "Honchkrow, Stand By for Battle!"

Honchkrow materialized, and image of it appeared on the screen, and Adrian made the announcement.

"BATTLE BEGIN!"

'Hm,' Ash thought to himself. 'Honckrow can fly, is very fast, and can land powerful hits. Not a good matchup for Seismitoad.'

Ash was proven correct when Paul called out his order.

"Honchkrow, Aerial Ace! Quickly!"

Honchkrow sped forward through the air, surrounding itself in wind streaks as it did so, hitting Seismitoad, who stumbled back.

'Damn,' Ash thought, as Honchkrow returned to the air, 'that looked like a Critical Hit.'

"Sludge Wave!"

"Dodge and use Sky Attack!'

Indeed, Honchkrow managed to swerve midair to avoid the purple wave that was shot at it, and began charging up the Sky Attack.

'Damn, I'll have to just do what I can.'

"Bring up a Drain Punch!"

Seismitoad brought up its glowing fist as Honchkrow finished chargin and proceeded to launch the attack.

"Steady…"

Honchkrow dove in faster and faster.

"Steady…"

Honchkrow was about to hit Seismitoad head-on.

"Now!"

Right as Honckrow impacted, Seismitoad brought the Drain Punch slamming into Honchkrow's side, hitting Honchkrow. It appeared to do a good deal of damage, but the damage from Sky Attack was already done, and Seismitoad proceeded to roll on its back and faint.

"Seismitoad is unable to battle. Champion please select your next Pokémon." Adrian announced as Seismitoad's image blacked out on the screen.

"Heh. I can easily recover" Paul reassured himself out loud.

Ash recalled Seismitoad. "Thank you Seismitoad. I won't let your efforts be in vain.

"Don't worry," Paul mocked, "Sky Attacks power was too great. It knocked out Seismitoad before the Drain Punch could heal it. Nice try though."

"Who said I was trying to get Seismitoad to recover?"

"What?"

"I knew Seismitoad was too damaged to survive a Sky Attack, and to pudgy to dodge in time. So we timed the Drain Punch to hit right after Sky Attack hit. It wasn't in time to heal Seismitoad, but it was at least able to do some damage before Seismitoad fainted."

Paul was stunned at this level of strategy and improvisation. Ash continued.

"Weavile, Magmortar, Ursaring, and now Honchkrow. It looks to me like you are doing the same thing I did against you in the Lilly of the Valley Conference. You're using the Pokémon from our first full battle, yes?"

"Mostly," Paul answered, "all of them are Pokémon that have beaten you actually."

"Ouch," Ash responded, "What a way to open old wounds. I have to admit though; I did something similar to your strategy too."

"What?"

"It's like your Aggron and Gastrodon, actually. If I needed to assess your strategy, Torkoal, and Seismitoad agreed to be sent out to feel your strategy out. I didn't expect Noivern to take so much damage so early, but not everything goes according to plan, I suppose."

Ash smiled a Cheshire cat grin, as he pulled out another Poke Ball "The real battle begins now. Gliscor, I Choose You!"

"What, he planned that?' asked Parker.

"It appears so," Soong mused, before he noticed Anderson smirking. "You knew, didn't you?"

"More or less." Anderson replied. "Make Paul seem like he has the upper hand, only to turn the tables suddenly. Ash was sandbagging him the whole time."