Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! OMG NO WAY? you say... YES WAY!
(Skip)
"Good luck Red."
"Good luck Marie."
Both trainers had swiped their access cards and it showed their first opponent. They each headed towards different fields. Marie was off to the grass field first while Red went to the sand field. Secretly, Red hoped Marie was strong enough to get to the final rounds so he could battle her. But not until they were at least in the top 20, otherwise he would be sad if he had to beat her.
(Skip)– The Grass Field
"THIS WILL BE A ONE ON ONE BATTLE WHICH WILL DETERMINE WHO QUALIFIES TO GO TO THE NEXT ROUND. THE BATTLE WILL END WHEN ONE SIDE'S POKÉMON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE. THERE WILL BE NO SUBSTITUTES. ARE BOTH SIDES READY?"
"Yup!" Both trainers nodded simultaneously.
"OKAY, THEN BATTLEEEE BEGINNNNN!"
"Go Castform!" Marie shouted and her pokéball released a white ghost looking Pokémon.
"This should be easy then," her opponent smirked, "Go Infernape!"
"Hey, just because you've got the type advantage now, doesn't mean you'll have it later." Marie smiled slightly before calling out her move. "Rain dance."
Her opponent started, "But Castform's a normal type. What's rain dance going to do? Even if your Castform knows water type moves, their power won't be boosted by that much." Rain began to fall.
"You'll see," Marie told him with a wink. "Castform, your Rainy form please!" Suddenly Castform transformed into what looked like a large raindrop with eyes sitting on a couple of rocks. Marie's opponent suddenly realized his combination fire and fighting type was now at a distinct disadvantage.
"That's okay Infernape, I know you can still do it! Use mach punch!"
"Castform, dodge and use hydro pump!"
"Infernape dodge it now!" His trainer screamed.
But Castform had been trained very well by Marie and its current stats far exceeded its base ones. Due to rain dance, Castform's speed had been upped incredibly and with one hit of that powerful hydro pump, Infernape was unable to battle.
"AND TRAINER MARIE FROM SINNOH TAKES THE WIN ON THE GRASS FIELD WITH HER AMAZING CASTFORM!"
Cynthia smirked.
"What?" Lance asked aloud. He was shocked by how quickly Marie pulled off the win. He knew she was strong, and even though Castform had had the type advantage, its speed and hydro pump's power were simply incredible.
"We're in for a challenge. Did I tell you she's beaten me before? After she beat the elite four in Sinnoh, she crushed me in a battle."
"But then why isn't she Champion?"
"When she beat the elite four it was more of a friendly challenge, not an actual battle," explained Cynthia, "And besides, it's not like she actually beat me, it was only a three on three battle. So she insisted it wasn't official. But I'm sure if she wanted to, she could cream me in a six on six."
Lance looked at Cynthia strangely for a moment before saying, "Wow, she must really be strong then if even you are speaking of her in such high regard. I've known her for awhile. She challenged the gyms but then decided to quit half way through the Indigo League. Although she wasn't nearly as strong as she is now of course. I still wonder why. Her battles were all full of clean hits and her Pokémon took minimal damage. She just withdrew before getting into the top four. We had to ask one of the trainers she had beaten to come back and take her place. I then saw her a few months ago travelling through Johto again when she and Clair became friends—"
"She's friends with Clair?" Cynthia looked startled, "She never told me that."
"Well, Clair says she's friends with Marie at least. I don't know much about their friendship, I just know Clair looks up to her a lot. Which is why I thought it was strange she withdrew from the Indigo League before she could actually engage in an entertaining battle. We even invited her over to dinner which is where Marie and I became friends. I've always asked her to come to dinner again with me, but she's always refused." Lance sighed wistfully, "It was a fun dinner too. Her sense of humor is really astonishing."
"She likes to describe it—" Cynthia started to say before Lance finished for her, "As refreshing. I know. She lectured me about it too." Cynthia and Lance both began to laugh at their mutual friend's quirks.
"How about we go see how Red is doing, after we meet up with Marie," suggested Lance. Cynthia accepted the invitation and they headed off to the sand field.
(Skip)
"ON ONE SIDE WE HAVE RED FROM KANTO AND ON THE OTHER WE HAVE LAYLA FROM HOENN! TRAINERS WILL USE ONE POKÉMON EACH AND THE BATTLE WILL END WHEN ONE SIDE'S POKÉMON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! ARE BOTH TRAINERS READY?"
Both trainers nodded the affirmative.
"THEN BATTLE BEGINNNN!"
"Pikachu, you're up!" Red threw his pokéball into the air and Pikachu popped out. The yellow mouse Pokémon's cheeks crackled with electricity as it looked around for its opponent eagerly.
"Golem, please join me!" A round boulder shaped Pokémon emerged from Layla's pokéball and quickly assumed it's fighting stance. "Your Pikachu doesn't stand a chance against my ground type Golem!"
Red smirked, "Pikachu, agility and then quick attack." Pikachu obeyed instantly, picking up speed and then storing energy for its quick attack. Normally, the sand would have dragged Pikachu down, but the yellow mouse was going too fast for gravity to have an effect.
Layla stared at Pikachu's speed as she shouted at a command, "Rock polish and then try to dodge!" Golem obeyed as Pikachu rushed towards the Megaton Pokémon.
"Aim downwards Pikachu!"
"Pika-pika-pika-pika-pika!" Pikachu built up power and then launched its quick attack which was doubly fast from the earlier agility. Add to that Pikachu's original immense speed and Layla's Golem had no way to dodge the streak of lightning that came towards it. Quick attack hit with an ample amount of power and Golem was knocked onto its back. Pikachu jumped up while Layla looked on with desperation.
"Golem, use roll out now!"
"Pikachu, Iron Tail." Red said calmly. His face was impassive and unpitying towards his opponent's misery.
"FOLKS, I DO NOT BELIEVE! IT'S LIKE RED PREDICTED THAT LAYLA WOULD HAVE GOLEM USE ROLL OUT WHEN IT FELL OVER AND HE KNEW THE SAND WOULDN'T OFFER ENOUGH TRACTION WHICH LEFT PIKACHU ENOUGH TIME TO DELIVER THAT SUPER EFFECTIVE IRON TAIL FOR A KO! THIS IS ONE AMAZING TRAINER RIGHT HERE!"
"Golem, return," Layla said as a red light from her pokéball recalled her Golem, "You battled bravely. I'm sorry I wasn't prepared enough."
(Skip) – Red, Marie, Cynthia, and Lance outside of the sand stadium.
"What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be battling," asked Marie. Her face was surprised although she knew it shouldn't be.
"I've finished my battle. I thought you were supposed to be battling as well."
Marie blushed, "Finished already."
Red smiled while Lance gaped and Cynthia smirked. "I don't believe this. Marie is blushing. Why can't I make her blush?" Lance tore at his hair in mock fury while Cynthia pretended to comfort him. "There there Lancey-poo, you'll always have that dinner you two shared." Lance grimaced as he stole a look at Marie.
"You told her about that?" she asked. Lance wasn't sure if she was upset or amused.
He grunted, "Yeah."
Marie burst out laughing as she told Cynthia, "I am so sorry that he had to tell you that. Dinner lasted about thirty minutes with him drooling at me while I chatted with Clair about dragon-types. Lance couldn't even close his mouth. He didn't eat anything and Clair had to slap him to get him out of his day dreams. It wasn't exactly my idea of a 'dinner date.'"
Cynthia laughed along with her friend. Red looked down at his shoes so he could hide his jealousy. But why am I jealous? I don't even know her. I share a room with her for one night and already I can't control my emotions. What's happening to me now?
"So, you won with Pikachu." A voice came from behind the group as all four turned and recognized Elesa. Marie rushed forward and gave her Electric-type gym leader friend a quick hug. Elesa returned the hug and then began to stare down Red. "I haven't quite forgiven you for what happened during our gym battle. That's really wasn't fair."
"If it makes you feel any better, I won't use that Pokémon during our rematch."
"I figured," said Elesa, "Which is why I'm looking forward to a fair battle between us."
Red nodded. His face, once again, was impassive. Marie, Lance, and Cynthia exchanged glances as Elesa left the group. Red smirked and began to walk towards another PC to find out who his next opponent was and where he would be battling him or her.
"We're headed off to the other champions to discuss some mentoring program. Do you wanna come, or are you going to prepare for your next battle?" Cynthia asked Marie quietly.
Marie sighed, "I guess I better go prepare, but that mentoring program does seem interesting. I'll go find out how Ash and Trip did first and then go find my next opponent. I hope it's someone I don't know."
Lance and Cynthia waved goodbye to her as she headed in the direction Red went. Lance and Cynthia shared a meaningful glance and they began to discuss prospective trainers they would think of mentoring and how they would end up deciding.
(Skip)
Red, Marie, Ash, and Trip are all part of the forty trainers left. Now, the computer has them matched up against various gym leaders. Red is up against Fantina, Hearthome City's ghost Pokémon gym leader in the Sinnoh region. Marie is battling against Clay of Driftveil City who specializes in Ground type Pokémon. Ash is up against Whitney while Falkner is taking on Trip.
"These battles will all be three on three and will be over when one trainer's Pokémon are all unable to battle. Substitutions are allowed. If you use a move like self-destruct or explosion, you will automatically lose if that is your last Pokémon." Freddy "The Scoop" O'Martian explained the rules to the remaining trainers and battling gym leaders. "The computer has randomly selected your opponents and the first battle today in the main field will be Red from Kanto versus Fantina, gym leader of Hearthome City.
A/N Those battles weren't as hard as I thought they would be to write. I rather enjoyed that. I hope my descriptions were clear. Please tell me what you thought.
