DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon. If you don't believe me, ask Nintendo. They'll definitely prove you otherwise.
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 36: THE AFTERMATH OF YESTERDAY! ROUND FIVE IMMINENT!
Strangely, Misty and I had both awoken at the same time. We must have only had six hours sleep a piece, as we were both up and about by just before quarter to seven in the morning. Already though, we had both changed into our clothes and generally prepared for the day ahead. By now, an hour had passed and we had already attended breakfast inside the Indigo Plateau, the lobby of which had been fully restored after my newly acquired Rotom had nearly destroyed the place. I had left my Pokemon to heal with a different Nurse Joy than the one that had accompanied us yesterday. Where she was at the moment I wasn't too sure. I spent the rest of the time talking to Misty about various things. She mentioned her three older sisters, who each had a different claim to fame. It was mostly idle talk, though as I could not help but keep thinking about the events that had occurred yesterday. In truth, I did not want to leave Sandra to battle her father all alone. Who knows what could have happened to her? Whether or not Nurse Joy's message got across in time and Gordon was now safely locked away remained a mystery thus far. But I knew… or rather I hoped that all would be revealed soon.
A couple more hours had passed and Misty and I were starting to get a little bit bored. We had returned to our dorm for the time being, allowing our Pokemon optimum time to heal and prepare for the battle in their own way. Misty passed me a hot cup of coffee, which I began to sip slowly as so I didn't burn my tongue.
"Ahh, that's better," I smiled, nourishing the taste of the sugary brown liquid. "Thanks, sweetheart."
"Not a problem," Misty beamed happily, giving me a short kiss on the lips, before sitting beside me. "So your match is one of the last of the day," she began after taking a loud slurp of her iced tea. "What do you want to do before that?" I simply shrugged like I usually do when I cannot think of a good answer, or rather be bothered to think of one. "Give me some idea, Jon," she rolled her eyes as I raised my shoulders. "We could go for a walk, we could go and meet Brock or Ash…"
"Ash is battling Cynthia today," I replied. "First match of the day if I'm not mistaken."
"Ooh, do you want to go and watch?" she asked with an excited tone. "That ought to be one of the best matches ever!"
"If you want to," I nodded. "I want to have a bit of time with my Pokemon as well, particularly Aggron and Gabite. I can't afford to have them spark off their rivalry again. This match is too important to lose."
"And how about Nidorino?" Misty asked. "Do you think it's up to the challenge?"
"He tries his best and that's good enough for me," I replied rather bluntly, taking another sip out of the cooling coffee. "Besides, all he needs is a bit more experience battling. I haven't given him much of a chance so far."
"I still would have thought Quagsire would prove more useful…" Misty thought out loud. "But it's your decision. And I'm sure you have faith in your Nidorino just like you do with your other Pokemon."
"Dead right," I nodded sharply, almost spilling a bit of coffee over me. "Also, I'm hoping Nurse Joy can tell us what happened after we got back last night."
"I hope they stopped Gordon and Darkhan," Misty lowered her head a little. We both fell silent for just a moment, allowing us to finish our respective drinks. I left a small amount of coffee left in the bottom, yet all that remained of Misty's iced tea was… well…ice. Even so, she took one cube of ice and crunched it up in her mouth. Something that seemed a little bit strange to me at the time, but thought nothing more of it. I stood up and began to head for the door. "Where are you going?" Misty asked me, looking up at me with those sweet little eyes of hers.
"To find out," I replied, heading for the door. Misty smiled and stood up. We both exit the dorm and headed back out into the daylight. After closing the door behind us, we headed in the direction of the Indigo Plateau once more. Some of the security personnel who I recognised last night gave us some more funny looks, but as before I paid little attention. We passed some other trainers who had been eliminated from the tournament already, as well as some who were still in. Just before we exit the Trainer Village, a boy with purple hair stopped directly in front of us. I scowled as Paul let out a small, arrogant chuckle.
"The happy couple," he chuckled to himself. "I suppose you're both cheering each other up after your cooling-off period?" I let out another small growl as he referred to when I was frozen by Darkhan's Articuno. An experience that I truly did not want to remember for a fairly long time.
"I didn't see you do much better against him," Misty retaliated viciously. This only seemed to give Paul more ammunition against us.
"Mind you, YOU didn't do any good at all when you faced me," he taunted.
"…You…" Misty snarled. She really did get wound up far too easily. But when it is a guy like Paul doing the agitating, I wouldn't exactly blame her.
"How pathetic," Paul huffed. "I don't suppose you even know what went down last night, do you?"
"Of course I do," I snapped back. "Why, what did you hear?"
"You tell me what you heard first… or perhaps you're just saying you know what happened to try and make it seem that you're less of a loser,"
"Huh?" I titled my head, a little confused. "Fine, I heard that there's a group of people called Squadron Seventeen running around the place." Paul gave me a disapproving look.
"You're part right, so I guess you're at least half a loser." I let out a scowl as he said that. "That girl you beat in the last round… Sarah, is it?"
"Sandra," Misty corrected with venom. Paul seemed to take delight in her tone of voice.
"Whatever," he muttered. "I heard she's in intensive care. Beaten down mercilessly somehow. Don't know what did it, nor do I really care."
"Sandra's in intensive care!?" I gasped. "Where? Where have they taken her?"
"How should I know?" Paul grumbled. "It's not as though I have anything to do with her." I gave Misty a short look, I could almost feel the fear rising from my gut and into my throat.
"Nurse Joy would know," Misty said to me in a comforting way. We quickly began to run towards the Indigo Stadium, straight past Paul.
"Hmph, you're welcome," he snorted arrogantly once more. I paid no attention to the state that he made. All I cared about right now was finding out Sandra's condition. Or at least whether it was at all true. Misty seemed to understand the friendly bond that Sandra and I now shared. At first, I knew she was slightly envious but I think that those foolish thoughts had now dissipated. At least for now. We literally ran into the lobby of the Plateau, before heading to the desk where I had left my Pokemon before. A slightly different looking Nurse Joy to the one that I had seen this morning greeted me with a half-hearted smile.
"Hello Jonathyn, hello Misty," the Nurse Joy from last night greeted us. My face was drooping a little. "From the looks of things, you've heard the news."
"Sandra?" I asked, with a worried look on my face. Nurse Joy nodded a little.
"She was rushed to Viridian's Emergency Room in the early hours of this morning," Nurse Joy began. "She's stable, but it will take some time for her to fully recover."
"What happened?" Misty asked, surprisingly interested in the detail.
"Using Chansey's Teleport, I managed to take Officer Jenny and Mr. Goodshow to where they were battling before," she explained. "When we were there, Sandra's Pokemon were completely wiped out by Gordon's Dragonite. She was the only thing left in the way. The Dragonite literally destroyed her. She's suffered third degree burns, several broken ribs and a concussion at least! We won't know the full extent of her injuries until the doctors get back to us."
"What about Gordon?" I scowled, not intended to offend Nurse Joy at all. She simply shook her head.
"He got away," Nurse Joy sighed. "His Dragonite created a diversion with a powerful Flamethrower attack, before flying off into the night. We have no leads as to his current location. I did tell Officer Jenny that the other two, Sabheen and Tyne were seen heading for Pewter City. Police forces all over Kanto have been alerted."
"Hold on," I paused, suddenly had a thought. "Gordon said that the one that looked after him was based in the Sevii Islands. Perhaps he's headed back there."
"You never know," Nurse Joy pondered my analysis. "It is possible, but the Sevii Islands are so vast in size it would be impossible to search every single little inch. It's hard enough doing it around this place."
"You have a point," I frowned. I wished there was more that I could have done, but there wasn't. If only Sandra had let me fight alongside her. Perhaps I could have prevented some of her injuries. She might still be standing up at least if I was there to assist her.
"Don't blame yourself," I heard a kind voice say to me. I looked around, but no one was there.
"Who said that?" I asked, still bemused as to who was talking to me.
"What?" Misty asked with a confused look on her face. "I didn't hear anyone."
"Over here," the voice said again.
"Where?" I called out loud.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Misty said to me, looking even more bewildered. It wasn't until I looked over in the direction of the lobby entrance that I saw Anabel waving. She ran over to us welcomingly.
"How many times have I told you…"
"…not to read your thoughts?" Anabel chuckled as she finished my sentence off for me. "I knew you were going to say that."
"You should also know to stop it!" I thought. I knew she would carry on reading my thoughts regardless, so I thought I might as well at least try and wind her up a little. At least it took my mind off of Sandra for a moment.
"I heard about what happened. I'm really sorry," Anabel comforted me. I shook my head, slightly less disappointed than I was before. "I know it's tough, but she'll pull through. She seems like a strong enough girl."
"It's not the injuries that upset me," I said softly to everyone who was around me. "It was the way that she obtained them… That damned Gordon. How could he do that to his own daughter."
"It's the world we live in," Anabel sighed. "There are a lot of sick people in this world and there are more and more coming out of the woodwork every day. Even though it is mainly a minority, they seem to be the only sort of people you ever hear about."
"There is some good news, though," Nurse Joy said to me with a more cheerful tone. This in turn made me smile a little. I looked at her with absolute interest. "We found out where Darkhan was heading. He was seen flying south of here on the back of that Articuno."
"What's south of here?" I wondered out loud. "There's Pallet Town and Cinnibar Island…"
"He might be heading to the Seafoam Islands," Misty suggested. "It's a perfect place for Articuno to breed."
"The Sevii Islands are even further south," Nurse Joy added. "Maybe he's gone after the leader of Squadron Seventeen."
"I'm sure that wherever he's gone, he will be out of our way at least for a few days. Maybe until this whole tournament is over, God willing," I smirked. I noticed that Nurse Joy had placed a small tray containing six Poke Balls on them. "Did you send for the other one?" I asked Nurse Joy with a small smile.
"Yes, Jonathyn," Nurse Joy smiled. "I got in touch with Professor Elm. Your Pelipper seemed ecstatic to see him."
"Why? What's Pelipper doing with Professor Elm?" Misty gave me a short frown.
"I had to see just how powerful my new addition really is…" I let out another smirk, taking the Poke Ball from the tray and throwing it into the air. What emerged was the Rotom that I had only just caught yesterday evening.
"Rororororo!" it chuckled mischievously, looking around at the area that it had destroyed only to find it had all been fixed. It then paid attention to me, floating down just in front of my face.
"Rotom, my name is Jonathyn," I greeted it calmly. "Welcome to my team!" The Rotom seemed a little bit bewildered at first, but then a small grin appeared on its face. It let out a small buzz as it acknowledged the fact that it was now with us, before sliding its eyes in the direction of one of the monitors that was hung from a nearby wall. Rotom let out a sly buzz before floating up towards the screen. I could see small sparks coming out of its body. "Stop!" I called to it, thinking that it was about to cause even more destruction. Indeed it did stop, before looking at me with a disheartened expression on its face. "You can't go around messing stuff up," I informed it. "It's not right." Rotom seemed to apologise by drooping its two bolt-shaped 'arms' before lowering itself back to our level. "That's right. Now, how about I introduce you to your new friends?" Rotom let out an excited squeal, before bobbing up and down in mid air in ecstasy.
"It's kinda cute when it does that," Misty giggled, which made the Rotom laugh a little as well. I couldn't help but smile at this as well, releasing my other five Pokemon on hand from their Poke Balls. Aggron and Gabite immediately snorted at one another, before redirecting their attention to the Rotom. Houndoom seemed to snarl, remembering how it had caused it so much pain yesterday. Quagsire, meanwhile, had jumped up and began wrenching my neck in the painfully gleeful manner it usually does. Nidorino watched this, completely dumbfounded as to what the Ground Water Type was doing. Once Quagsire had finally released me (and after a moment massaging the side of my neck) I took a stand next to Rotom.
"Everyone, this is our new friend Rotom. Rotom, this is Aggron, Gabite and Nidorino. And you've already met Houndoom and Quagsire. Say hello to Rotom, guys!" My Pokemon each welcomed the Rotom in their own ways. Rotom had an overwhelmingly joyous expression on its face, releasing a small shower of sparks. Gabite and Quagsire seemed unaffected. Aggron simply shrugged off the electrical shock, whereas Houndoom and Nidorino were both a little annoyed at the unwelcome and unexpected shock.
"Rorororo!" Rotom laughed again in its seemingly trademark fashion. I grabbed a hold of Rotom's Poke Ball, as well as Quagsire's, who was trying to hug pretty much everything in sight.
"We'll get better acquainted later. But for now, return!" Two red beams shot out from the Poke Balls, before absorbing the two figures back into them. I then turned to face my remaining four Pokemon, who were to help me defeat Mimi. "OK," I began. "We've got a tough opponent next and I'm going to need each of you to put everything you've got into this battle. I promise you, I will do my very best too." Each of the Pokemon were listening to every single word I said, acknowledging my wishes. "I don't know which of you will start, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. All I do know is that our opponent will be using some strong and unusual Pokemon. But never back down and never give up! You ready to do this?" My Pokemon all cheered, fuelled with desire to win. I nodded, respecting their obedience. "Rest up for now. We'll be battling later." With that, I returned Gabite, Aggron, Nidorino and Houndoom into their Poke Balls.
"So what do we do now?" Misty asked, looking a little bit bored.
"We've got some time before Ash's match with Cynthia. Perhaps we should go and see Sandra."
"That's probably not too wise," Nurse Joy said to me over the counter. "The best thing you can do is let her rest. Company might cause her some discomfort."
"I suppose…" I frowned, wishing that Sandra was alright. I suddenly had a flashback to a few days ago… when Casey was still here and her Vespiquen had gone on a rampage. I recalled the injuries that it gave me… and the way I was soon healed. "Nurse Joy, couldn't your Pokemon use their healing techniques to help Sandra?" Nurse Joy shook her head slightly.
"The extent of her injuries are too severe," Nurse Joy replied. "Although I had my Chansey team do as much as I could, Pokemon are better at healing other Pokemon than humans, just like humans are better at healing humans."
"But you seem to be able to help out Pokemon pretty well…" Misty objected.
"Yes, but you must remember that I have been working with Pokemon my entire life," Nurse Joy explained to us. "Most Pokemon have never used their techniques on humans before."
"I guess we didn't think that one through," I remarked sadly.
"It's alright," the Pokemon nurse smiled encouragingly. "At least you have the right idea by wanting to help her. But for now, she needs a good rest and the doctors will take it from there."
"Thanks Nurse Joy," I smiled. "So then… what should we do?"
"I saw Brock earlier," Anabel suddenly pipped up. "He said he was doing some last minute training with Ash. Perhaps we should go and join them."
"Did he tell you where they were training?" Misty questioned yet again.
"He doesn't have to," Anabel grinned. I knew exactly what she meant, but Misty seemed a little bit confused. "Shall we go?" Misty and I nodded to one another and began to follow Anabel out of the lobby and back outside, but not before thanking Nurse Joy once again by bowing gratefully to her, which she acknowledged by bowing back. Once outside, I absorbed my surroundings, taking a deep breath of fresh air. The skies were now a clear blue. Only a few specks of white were seen in the gleaming summer sunshine, not to mention the bright orange sphere that is the sun. Anabel led us just to one side of the Trainer Village into a lawn-like area. I could immediately see two human figures along with four Pokemon. We approached closer. As Anabel had predicted, Brock and Ash were having a Training Battle. Brock's Pokemon of choice were his familiar looking Croagunk, along with another Pokemon that I did not recognise. It looked almost like a giant walking pineapple wearing a sombrero-like hat. I didn't want to hazard a guess as to what it was. Ash on the other hand was using a large, dark purple bat-like creature with a tail similar to a scorpion. Also battling alongside it was a small tortoise like Pokemon with a small stick on its head. The pineapple-shaped Pokemon spat a stream of water from its beak-like mouth straight at the flying scorpion creature, which was able to quickly avoid.
"Croagunk and Ludicolo against Gliscor and Turtwig," Misty observed. "Should be interesting." It was at that point the battle seemed to cease as Ash and Brock both noticed our presence.
"That ought to be enough training for one day, Brock," Ash called over to his opponent, walking in our direction. His Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder and clung on to the side of his head as he walked.
"Good call, I'm getting kind of hungry," Brock smiled, as his Croagunk and Ludicoil or whatever the hell you call it began to walk alongside him over to where we were stood. Ash approached Anabel slowly before kissing her softly on the lips. For some reason, Misty turned away, turning an angry shade of red. She quickly lost this unsuitable shade and reverted back to the direction she was facing. "How are you all doing?" Brock warmly asked us.
"Seems like we haven't seen you for a long time," I chuckled, trying to think of the last time I actually saw him.
"What have you guys been doing all this time?" Ash indicated to Misty and I. We both looked at each other and let out a couple of sheepish grins.
"Uhh… we'd better tell you that a bit later," Misty giggled. "So, you ready for your big match?"
"Sure am!" Ash grinned confidently. "I've got Charizard, Sceptile, Gliscor and Pikachu ready to take Cynthia down! I've no idea what Pokemon she'll be using, though. I haven't really had a chance to check."
"She's going to be difficult to beat, you know," I warned him. "She's one of the all time greats!"
"If I beat her, then so will I!" Ash exclaimed with a hint of adrenaline. "What about you, Jonathyn?"
"I'm battling with Nidorino, Aggron, Houndoom and Gabite," I told him my line up. "Mimi, my opponent has a Chatot, a Sudowoodo, a Ditto and a Smeargle if I remember correctly."
"Whoa… quite a mixed bag there," Ash gasped a little. "Think you can win?"
"I know I can, Ash," I smirked, trying not to act so cocky as I did so. "You know, I'd love to battle against you in the next round," I confessed slightly. "You're a talented trainer and I don't want to fight weak trainers. They're no fun. It's when I face a true challenge that my body starts to change… I feel a sudden surge of energy like no other… like a Pokemon about to unleash an attack…"
"We'll definitely battle again, Jonathyn," Ash nodded. "Whether its in the tournament or not will be down to fate."
"I agree," I grinned. "So let's both go out there and give it our best shot." I extended my arm out, offering my hand to seal the deal in some respect. Ash did not hesitate in the slightest before grasping it, shaking it firmly.
"You've got it!" he smirked, releasing the grasp on my hand. "How long to go until zero hour?" I quickly looked at my Poketch to find the answer. It was almost half past eleven in the morning.
"You've got just over half an hour until the battle starts," I answered. "Do you need to prepare anymore?"
"I mainly need to heal my Pokemon one last time," Ash replied. "Can't have them going into battle not at one hundred per cent."
"You're telling me!" I chuckled. "You'd best get a move on."
"Alright," Ash nodded, before turning back to Anabel. "Wish me luck," he said softly, kissing her on the lips once again. Anabel giggled in response. All of a sudden, Misty grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and wrenched my head down and kissed me a lot more firmly on the lips. My eyes seemed to widen for some reason. She finally let me go, blushing rather heavily. There was rather an awkward silence as Ash and Anabel both looked at Misty strangely. Even Brock seemed a little bit dumbfounded by seeing this. Misty looked at the three, still blushing.
"I'm sorry," she giggled in a weird way. "I don't know what came over me."
"Nor do I, but I like it!" I smiled, giving her another little kiss on the lips, but this time she almost seemed to pull away from me. I raised my eyebrow at her. Another moment of silence fell over the area, but was quickly broken by Ash.
"Better get going, see you later!" Ash bid us goodbye, starting to run towards the Indigo Plateau.
"Good luck!" Anabel waved to him as he began to fade from view. The fifth round was approaching fast. I hoped that Ash had prepared properly, because I knew that Cynthia was about to push him to a limit that no other oppoent that he would have faced in his history as a Pokemon Trainer...
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT TIME: The showdown between Ash and Cynthia officially begins! Which of these two talented trainers will be heading through to the Quarter Finals? And who else will be joining them?