Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Never have done, more than likely never will do.
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 23: RIVAL REUNION! SURROUNDED BY POTENTIAL OPPONENTS!
Even after I had healed Nidorino and Pelipper of their wounds, the loss still played at the back of my mind. From the very start, it meant nothing to me but now that I had tasted the bitterness of defeat, it was difficult to get that taste out of my mouth. Darkhan's motives were inexcusable, but he still managed to defeat me with conniving tactics and a superior strategy. Despite this, it seemed to fuel me to gain total glory. To climb the highest mountain and become the Pokemon League Champion. This was only a minor setback really, yet it felt as though I had lost everything. I knew that in reality this was not the case, but the small twinge just would not depart from my mind. By now, we had all reached the lobby. Rufus Goodshow still followed us, although his cohorts had now left him. Cynthia was continually talking to Ash, whereas Misty was stuck onto my arm as if by glue. I wriggled it slightly and she would not budge. It seemed to me as though she felt my sorrow of defeat. Although she seemed to provide comfort at the same time, which brought a small smile to my face. We all suddenly stopped, as Rufus' voice boomed from over the PA system.
"Would the remaining thirty-two competitors please make their way to the Trainer Lounge immediately. The Fourth Round Draw is about to commence." We all turned to face him. He had a microphone in his hand, which seemed to have appeared from nowhere. "What?" he shrugged as we all stared at him in our own strange ways. Cynthia let out a small chuckle.
"We could have heard you without the microphone, hun," came a voice. I instantly let out a desperate sigh. Harley wriggled his head between Misty's arm and mine. "So how's the damsel in distress?" he snickered, Misty finally releasing my arm to get away from the bizaare man.
"What is the matter with you?" Misty shrieked. "You're so annoying!"
"Ooh," Harley cooed mockingly. "I see you've picked out the cleverest banana from the bunch," he prodded me with a single finger. I glanced slightly at where he had poked me, brushing it off casually for no particular reason.
"We've got places to be, Harley," I scowled.
"So have I, sugar," he grinned. "I completed my match with flying colours. Who'd have thunk it? Little old me in the fourth round of the Pokemon League." He carried on talking, but I paid little attention to what he was saying. Misty glanced at me and smiled at my idea. It did not take long for us to reach the entrance to the Trainer Lounge. It was only an extremely short walk from the lobby where we had reached just beforehand. Rufus shuffled past us, stopping just in front of Misty.
"I'm sorry," he said to her. "But I'm afraid that only trainers who have advanced to the fourth round are permitted to enter."
"Oh, come on Rufus!" Misty wailed a little. "I'm not going to be causing any harm, am I?"
"I'm afraid that since Darkhan interrupted Cynthia's battle and threatened your boyfriend, I've had to heighten security a little bit."
"Aww…" she moaned, pressing herself into me.
"It's alright," I smiled. "I'll meet you back at the cabin, if you want."
"I guess that's the best thing to do," Misty shrugged. "Well, don't keep me waiting. I'll miss you too much." She grinned at me playfully, pressing her nose up against mine.
"I'll miss you too," I replied, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.
"Ugh, get a room!" Harley attempted to interject as he strut past us. Once again though, we decided to ignore him. This made him huff in frustration a little more. Misty gave me a cute wave as she began to walk away. I gave Rufus another look. In turn, he raised his palms to his shoulder level.
"Don't blame me, it's for the people's safety," he explained. I did not reply, I simply looked around at the hoard of trainers that were now approaching us. Aside from the trainers I had been with for most of the afternoon, I hardly recognised anyone else from the crowd. That is until the chattering crowd fell silent as one particular trainer walked through the masses. His hands in his pockets and eyes apparently closed, he seemed colder than usual. Even as he walked past me, he kept his eyes closed.
"Not with your girlfriend?" he asked coldly. "She's not good enough for my standards."
"I doubt a Regigigas would be good enough for your standards, Paul," I let out a small sneer as I rose to the bait.
"Pathetic," he snorted, opening his eyes. They slid across to the other side of his face, until they made contact with a surprised looking Ash. "Speaking of which, look who it is."
"What are you doing here?" Ash gasped, a little stunned to see Paul stood in this location. He shot a cold stare at Ash, who chuckled to himself a little embarrassedly. "Oh… right," he scratched the back of his head. "The same reason the rest of us are."
"Yes, well after the Sinnoh League's events I'll look forward to wiping that goofy smile off your face," he taunted. Some of the trainers began to converse a little after this statement was made.
"Don't be bitter just because I beat you," Ash smugly grinned. Paul matched his with one of his own, but his was much more serious than Ash's.
"I'm not bitter. I told Cynthia earlier that even though I was defeated by her, I have trained much harder and become a lot stronger than before. I take my defeats as inconveniences, not as something to pout about. That's why when we battle, Ash, I will be the one with the smile on my face." Ash and Paul did not even blink as they stared bullets through one another. Rufus eventually stepped forward.
"I think that it would be best if we leave this for the battlefield," Rufus interjected. "Now then, please follow me into the Trainer Lounge. With that, he opened the door. After walking in himself, we followed him in nearly single file. Although Harley was a little bit too close behind me for my liking, I did not hesitate to sit down on a nearby chair. The Trainer Lounge itself appeared to have been completely revamped since I last came here. All the lockers and benches had vanished. Only some scattered chairs and a plasma screened television hung from each wall were to be seen. The room looked more spacious than it actually was. Once I noticed that Harley had vanished to the other end of the room I stood up so I could see one of the screens. Cynthia and Ash came and stood by me. But then something in my head suddenly clicked…
…why was Ash here?
I thought I heard him or Brock say that he had been travelling throughout the Sevii Islands?
"I didn't think that you were in the Pokemon League," I nudged him slightly.
"Yeah, well I didn't want Misty to get too worked up about it," Ash replied. "She used to sit in my corner and give me advice. But I didn't know about you two at the time." There was an awkward pause. I coughed a little whilst trying to think of something to say.
"So you know, then?" I asked a little bit too obliviously.
"Misty told me all about it at the lake," he replied with a slightly negative tone. "But I've got a girlfriend myself, so it's no problem."
"Really?" I asked again a bit too dimly. "What's her name?"
"Anabel," he smiled as he mentioned her name. "She's a Frontier Brain of the Battle Frontier."
"Battle Frontier?" I shrugged. "What's that?"
"It's a series of buildings throughout the Kanto region that were designed to challenge the very best trainers from across the land," Cynthia replied. "Personally, I've never attempted it as of yet. But I know for a fact that Ash has managed to win at all seven locations."
"Whoa," I gasped. "You're more impressive than I thought. And you're actually going out with one of the leaders there?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "She's a Psychic Type Expert…"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please!" Rufus called out on a second microphone. We cut off our conversation there for the moment as the entire room fell silent. "Congratulations to all of you for making it this far. This year has by far been our most spectacular to date. Over one thousand trainers from across the world came to Kanto and registered for the Pokemon League. Many did not get past the Gyms and only two hundred and fifty six were left to battle in the main tournament. And after just three battles for you, the survivors thus far… we have whittled you down to just thirty two! And that number shall be halved as we go into Round Four."
"Wake me up when it's finished," I yawned sarcastically. Ash and Cynthia both let out a small chuckle.
"So now we shall begin randomly choosing your next opponents. Bear in mind, all of you have battled on three of the five battlefields before moving to the grand stage. Now, first we will select the draws to take place on the Rock Field…" the screen began blinking various pictures of trainers. The only one I recognised was the girl that I met after my battle with Darkhan… the girl called Mimi. She wasn't facing anyone that I particularly recognised. "Next, the draws for the Steel Battlefield…"
"Steel Battlefield?" Ash questioned. "When I was here, I didn't have to battle on a Steel Field."
"There were so many trainers advancing to the finals that they had to build an extra stadium." Cynthia replied. "It's a good way to produce more competition and revenue."
"Ah…" Ash replied. "That's quite clever actually." I did not pay much attention to this. I was too busy watching the trainers' mugshots appear on the screen. Seeing as how I had yet to battle on this field, it was a possibility that I would see who my opponent was right at this moment. More pictured flashed past, but I could see that Harley had been paired to face someone else that I did not know as well as Cynthia. Paul's name had yet to appear, neither Ash's.
"So I'll be battling on the Water Field," I concluded. "Wonder what sort of match it will be… and who I am facing."
"It could be against me," Ash frowned a little, apparently not too fond of the idea of battling me again.
"Now for the Grass Field Matches," Rufus called. I let out an impatient groan. Cynthia gave me a sort of look, one that my mother would give me a child to stop me misbehaving. I quickly stopped whining and resumed looking at the plasma screen, which was still shuffling through the remaining trainers. I saw that Paul's name had finally appeared in one box. The below it belonged to Ash! I rubbed my eyes when I saw that match up, only to realise that the pictures were still shuffling. They were battling on the same field, but not at the same time. Shame, but there might still be time for that yet.
"Come on…" I scowled beneath my breath, hoping that I wouldn't be heard by Cynthia.
"Next, the Ice Field battles," Rufus called. I did not saw a word. No-one had left, even the ones who's matches had been drawn already. There may well be words left unsaid by the chairman's relative, Rufus Goodshow. The anticipation was horrendous. I was starting to get a little impatient as the battles that we to take place on the Ice Field were approaching confirmation. "And finally, the battles that will take place on the Water Field," Rufus smiled. My eyes became fixed on the screen once again. All I focused on the picture with my face on it shuffle around the screen. At the very top, my face was the first to appear in place. My opponent would be revealed to me in an instant. Finally, the picture appeared. It was that of a female dressed in the manner of a certain Pokemon that I had seen before. It definitely wasn't Harley, who I thought of briefly… but someone who I had met in my recent encounters…
"So… we finally get to battle for real," the voice of the picture laughed. I recognised it almost instantly. The girl walked up to me, who had been stood at the back of the crowd all this time. I looked at her, she did not seem even phased to be battling me. In fact, she almost looked ecstatic.
"Don't burst a blood vessel," I grinned, trying to sound unphased as well.
"Not as much as I will your bubble, Jonathyn," she smirked at her taunting comment.
"We'll see about that, Dragon Princess," I smiled upon thinking of the pathetic mocking name that I had given her.
"It's Sandra, actually," she reminded me. "Although Dragon Princess does have a nice ring to it. Suits me quite well."
"Oh well," I shrugged. "I guess I'll be seeing you on the battlefield…"
"Hold up," Sandra halted me before I could turn back to Ash and Cynthia. "We still don't know what kind of battle it is."
"Oh right," I choked, a sweatdrop appearing on the side of my face. At that moment, Rufus lifted the microphone back up to his mouth once again.
"Unlike previous rounds, all trainers must register which Pokemon they will use," he instructed us. "All battles will be four against four and they will all take place tomorrow from noon. The order of which battles will take place are the order of which they were drawn…"
"That means we'll be battling first thing," Sandra prodded me.
"Alright, I'm not completely stupid," I snapped back quietly.
"Now, as many of you are aware we have had problems with Pokemon thieves in the area, so therefore we are issuing a curfew to all trainers staying in the Trainer Village." Rufus seemed to boast his authority. There were several moans from the trainers. "Now, now, I know that this seems pretty drastic. But we must ensure the safety of our contestants. So therefore any trainer found outside of their dormitories after eight in the evening will be disqualified from competition." There were even more moans of protest and disgust at this decision. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," Rufus attempted to explain. "This is the only way that we can ensure that no-one's Pokemon will be taken. We will have a night patrol scanning the village, which is being organised by Officer Jenny and her staff."
"What about food, huh?" someone blurted out from the crowd.
"And what if there is an emergency?" another unknown voice called out.
"If there is a problem, simply use the telephones in your dormitories to call Headquarters." Rufus answered. "They will then advise you and if need be take action. But for now, I think it is best if we register our Pokemon over in the main lobby. I sincerely apologise for this." With that, some trainers left immediately. Others began to comment on the official's proclaimation. Sandra simply stood next to me, as Ash and Cynthia both examined their opponents, Ash seemingly trying to pick his out as the crowd left.
"So, which Pokemon are you going to register?" Sandra asked me with a sly tone.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," I smirked back, trying to counteract her cunning method.
"Well, I highly doubt you'll use your Lairon, since it doesn't cope well with water," she guessed.
"That's a good point," I grinned. "And it evolved into Aggron earlier this afternoon."
"That's nice," she smirked. "So did one of my Pokemon. Which one though, that's for me to know and for you to find out." She let out another sly smirk. "Tell you what, let's make this battle a bit more interesting."
"How do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her comment.
"You look as though you might be a gambling man," she ran her eyes up and down my body. "How about a little wager?" I took a moment to think. Cynthia and Ash both seemed equally intrigued as to what Sandra was about to propose. In turn, this made me wonder what she had planned.
"What do you have in mind, exactly?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
"I'll make you a deal," she slyly began. "If I win, then your Gabite has to mate with one of my Dragon Pokemon." I chuckled at this proposition slightly.
"I can't just force Gabite to mate with one of your Pokemon just like that!" I laughed. "Didn't you ever hear story about the Delibirds and the Beedrills?"
"Oh, I've got a dead cert way of getting them together," she smirked intently. I pondered the idea, stroking the short facial hair growing on my chin where I had not shaved since arriving.
"What's in it for me?" I asked, still considering her offer. Sandra shrugged her shoulders. Was she really that desperate to breed another Dragon Pokemon. She really must be crazy…
"Name your terms and I'll see what I can do," she replied with anticipation, as if daring me to agree to her deal.
"How about if I win the match…" I stammered, trying to think of something that would benefit me somehow. I began looking around, completely absent-mindedly for some form of inspiration. Then… something struck me. I saw Harley wiggling his hips as he walked out of the room. I snapped my fingers at the very thought! "If I win, you have to make out with that guy!" I pointed over in his direction.
"Which one?" Sandra asked, looking over at the bundled crowd. Harley was waiting rather impatiently for the exit to be cleared. Once again, I pointed over to him. "That guy!?" she shook with disgust. "The one with the purple hair and the green outfit?"
"That's the one," I chuckled. "His name's Harley. Nice guy… a bit too nice for my liking." Sandra ran over the idea in her mind briefly, but then shrugged.
"Fine," she grinned at me, but obviously still creeped out by my suggestion. "It's not as if I'm going to lose anyway. There are no Pokemon that can harm my beautiful Dragons, so I'll take you up on that offer." I then extended my hand forward. "What are you doing?" she stepped back nervously, still glancing over to where Harley was.
"Seal it with a handshake. Ash, Cynthia, you're both witnesses to this, right?" They both nodded, giggling and snorting under their breaths. Sandra grabbed it vigorously and shook it.
"Fine… I can live with that," she cringed as she lied. "But I am quite happy knowing that all I have to do is beat your sorry butt into next Tuesday. And then I will finally have a super-powerful Dragon. The ultimate Gible, then Gabite, then Garchomp! So if you will excuse me, I have to register my Pokemon." With that, she turned and walked towards the door. Harley was still at the back of the now slightly moving queue. She looked at him a little, before he turned to her. He let out a creepy smile.
"Hiya, hun!" he ogled her. "Nice outfit! Where'd you get it from? Wal Mart?"
"Get stuffed!" Sandra scowled as they finally exit the Trainer Lounge. I could not help but burst out laughing. Ash and Cynthia did the same, but stopped when all three of us noticed Paul glaring at us intently.
"Hmph, childish!" he huffed, walking away through the now empty doorway. We all looked at each other, none of us now laughing at what had just happened.
"I suppose we should all register our Pokemon for the next round." Ash suggested. "I know which Pokemon I'm going to use. How about you, Jonathyn?"
"Good question," I replied. "It's the Water Field facing Sandra, a Dragon Pokemon Trainer… so I've got to think about what might be useful. Houndoom wouldn't be much good around water, nor against Dragons. I suppose Pelipper would have a type advantage and Nidorino could at least help with Thunderbolt. Maybe even Bayleef, being a Grass Type. But that still wouldn't help against a Dragon Pokemon…"
"Your Gabite would be a good choice, except for the fact that it's weak against it's own kind of attacks," Cynthia informed me.
"I've got to go with Gabite, though," I thought out loud. "It's one of my strongest Pokemon. Aggron wouldn't even be much use on the Water Field. It'd sink quicker than it could swim for sure."
"You never know," Cynthia smiled. "I've seen a Tyranitar that could swim great distances before. Even a Pokemon like Rhyperior can use moves like Surf."
"Yeah, even my Snorlax used to swim between islands before I captured it," Ash pipped up. "And Snorlax is one of the heaviest land Pokemon in existence."
"Good point," I pondered the idea once again. "I suppose I could throw Aggron in there as a wildcard, but I saw how Paul's Torterra was on that battlefield. It couldn't even move, hardly."
"But if you recall, Paul's Torterra still won," Cynthia said. "It just goes to show that you can't judge a Pokemon just by it's looks. Aggron may be big and bulky, but it could still pull something out of the hat. You just don't know. That's all a part of Pokemon battling and how well you know the Pokemon you are battling with."
"OK, I'll give it a shot," I decided quickly. "Gabite, Aggron and Pelipper… and I've just thought of who my fourth will be."
"Which is that, then?" Cynthia looked at me with great interest.
"That's a surprise, for now!" I grinned, turning for the door. "Are you coming?"
"Right behind you," Ash began to give chase, as I literally burst out of the room. I almost knocked Rufus clean off his feet I was in that much of a rush. I headed for the lobby, where several other trainers were still waiting around trying to determine which of their Pokemon they would use in the upcoming fourth round battle. We let out a small sigh each upon seeing the size of the queues. This was going to be a long wait…
TO BE CONTINUED
Next Time: The curfew effects everyone, as Jonathyn waits for a special delivery to be sent to him in time for his next battle against Sandra, the Dragon Master…