Round One

Ethan's opponent held his Poké Ball firmly in his hand and opened it without saying anything. A few moments later, a Snorlax came out, lying on its back.

"A Snorlax..." Ethan uttered. "Okay, then I'll match it up with you," he referred to his Poké Ball as he threw it high into the air. "Go, Ambipom!" and with a loud 'PING', the Poké Ball opened and a happy, smiling Ambipom popped out.

Red didn't react. At all. But Ethan wasn't bothered. "I'll make the first move then. Ambipom, use Double Hit!"

Ambipom quickly ran towards Snorlax and used its tails to hit Snorlax's sides twice. But Snorlax didn't respond. In fact, it didn't move a bit.

"Not calling any shots, Red?" Ethan tried taunting his foe, but Red remained as still as his Snorlax, which annoyed Ethan. "Fine! Ambipom, Double Hit again!"

Ambipom carried out its orders and hit Snorlax, this time both hits were delivered towards its belly. Again, the hits landed but Snorlax was still unmoving. As did its Trainer.

"What the... you're not gonna attack? Or at least tell Snorlax to dodge?" Ethan asked in astonishment. In response, Red fixed his hat.

"That's it? Nothing?" Ethan called out, but Red stayed quiet. Angered, Ethan shifted his focus towards his Pokémon. "Ambipom, jump and use Double Hit on its head as hard as you can!"

Ambipom screeched as it jumped towards Snorlax's head and used its tails to slap Snorlax's cheeks hard. The blows hit home and Snorlax grunted a little.

"Heh. How do you like that?" Ethan said to Red. Red didn't answer back. Ethan took a deep breath to prevent himself from getting annoyed further. "Alright then, I'll just keep up the attacks."

"Ambipom, use Double Hit again and again until that big lump of fat moves!" Ambipom did what Ethan told it to and ran around Snorlax, using its tails one after another to strike Snorlax from all sides in rapid succession. Snorlax still didn't move.

"Change tactics. Use your Seed Bomb attack!"

From out of nowhere, Ambipom gathered a cluster of big, hard-shelled seeds on its hands and then it ran rings around Snorlax, scattering the seeds all over its foe, which blew up on impact.

"More! Keep up the Seed Bomb, Ambipom!"

Ambipom picked up more seeds and jumped again and again over Snorlax while slamming the seeds on it. Even though the sounds of the explosive impacts make it sound painful, Snorlax didn't seem to mind at all.

"I guess it can shrug off Seed Bomb, too," Ethan said through gritted teeth. "Alright then. Ambipom, stop and focus."

Ambipom stopped jumping around and suddenly took a battle stance. Its right arm glowed white and Ambipom closed its eyes. Ethan inhaled.

"Now, Ambipom. Focus Punch!" Ethan shouted, and Ambipom opened its eyes as it yelled and threw a powerful punch right at Snorlax.

"Snorlax, stop it with Crunch," Red said suddenly and Snorlax stood up even more suddenly and actually bit into Ambipom's right hand, and its Focus Punch attack failed.

"What the heck?" Ethan was taken completely by surprise as Ambipom screamed loudly in pain. Snorlax's face still showed a relaxed expression, but it was evidently crunching hard.

"Snorlax, Body Slam," Red said calmly, and much to Ethan's horror, Snorlax jumped high into the air, carrying Ambipom - whose right hand was still in its mouth - with it. They stopped at about ten meters in the air.

"Ambipom, Double Hit! Hit its face and try to get loose!" Ethan quickly ordered as gravity started to bring the both of them down. Ambipom complied and repeatedly struck Snorlax's face with its tails, but again Snorlax brushed the attacks off.

A few seconds later they crashed to the ground. With its tremendous weight, Snorlax's fall caused a small earthquake in the area. Ethan shook where he stood, but Red didn't. And the bad news for Ethan was that Snorlax managed to pull Ambipom towards its stomach before they hit the ground, effectively crushing Ambipom beneath its massive belly.

"Ambipom!" Ethan screamed. Snorlax stood up, and it was obviously hurt. Its face and body were bruised. After such a long fall, it became wobbly. But it managed to stay standing anyway.

"Snorlax, Rest," And Red's Snorlax lay down and went to sleep.

As for Ethan's Ambipom, it was still on the ground, just lying there unmoving. It had taken the brunt of the fall and was crushed by Snorlax. Ethan dropped a sweat of instant fear.

"Ambipom, no! Are you okay? Get up!" But Ambipom did not get up.

Ethan called out. "Ambipom! Answer me!" Ambipom managed to answer back with a little shout itself, and then it started to get up.

"Oh good, you're okay!" Ethan was relieved to see his Pokémon moving again as Snorlax snored. However, Ambipom's body was badly, badly damaged, much more so than Snorlax's.

"Can you keep fighting?" he asked as Ambipom struggled to its feet. Ambipom nodded, looking fierce as it tried its hardest to stand up.

"Then come on, stand up! This is our chance to strike back while Snorlax is sleeping," Ethan shouted. Ambipom propped itself up with its tails, but then it fell again. Snorlax snored once more.

Ethan's heart was beating fast. "Hurry up, before it wakes up! You've got to stand up! Ambipom!" Ambipom punched the ground with its hand and slowly stood up, breathing very heavily.

"Yes!" Ethan smiled with relief for a second, before Snorlax grunted loudly and then proceeded to stand up, and Ethan's smile turned into a look of astonishment. Snorlax was awake again.

This time Red took the initiative. "Snorlax, prepare yourself. Move in close," he commanded. Snorlax lifted its feet and then ran towards Ambipom! It ran slowly but surely.

Ethan sure didn't want Ambipom to take another direct hit. "Dodge and then drop a rain of Seed Bomb attack on Snorlax!"

But Ambipom was too tired to run away, and that became evident quick. So Ethan changed plans. "Ambipom, use your tails to throw you up high into the air!"

Ambipom used its remaining strength and hopped in place using its tails just as Snorlax was about to reach it. Ambipom spun in the air and threw massive seeds on top of Snorlax's head.

"Snorlax, turn around, grab its tails and use Outrage."

"WHAT?" Ethan was dumbstruck as Snorlax turned around - bathed in a mystical red glow and apparently unfazed from the Seed Bomb attack - and started rampaging at Ambipom!

Poor Ambipom's tail was suddenly pulled down by Snorlax and then it was slammed at the ground before being thrown to a thick tree nearby. Snorlax then released a barrage of punches, and occasionally kicks, on Ambipom, one after another without so much a second of pause in between.

The Long Tail Pokémon could move nowhere to save itself, and despite Ethan's desperate cries, it couldn't counterattack. The sound of Snorlax's fists meeting Ambipom's face was sickening, and the sound of Ambipom's body impacting with the tree with each of Snorlax's hits was unbearable to Ethan.

Snorlax kept up the attacks; punching, punching, punching, kicking, then punching again, and so on, mercilessly pounding Ambipom to a pulp blow after blow after blow. Red said nothing. Ethan kept on shouting. And Ambipom kept screeching loudly for help.

After another half minute or so, the worst thing happened: the tree snapped in half, which meant the thick tree had taken more pressure than it could handle. And Ethan didn't dare think what that implied for his poor Pokémon.

Snorlax stopped and started getting wobbly again. It walked away from the tree in a zig-zag fashion, and it looked woozy. It was obviously confused.

As for Ambipom, it had fallen on its knees before dropping to the snowy ground, unconscious. As Ethan neared it in a hurry, he could see splatters of blood red on snow white.

"Ambipom!" he yelled as he picked it up, and saw that it was bleeding in several places, most notably its face. It didn't move.

"Ambipom... speak to me. Please, tell me that you're gonna be okay." When Ambipom didn't respond, tears formed in his eyes. "Ambipom!"

And Ambipom still didn't make a sound. However, it managed to let out a small breath, and Ethan took that as a sign that it was going to be okay, after some rest and intensive medical care.

Ethan smiled a little. "Ambipom... Don't worry, I'm going to get you to a Pokémon Center right away. For now, you go and rest up." He then grabbed his Poké Ball and returned Ambipom to it, before a drop of tear fell on top of the Poké Ball.

Red also returned Snorlax to its Poké Ball. Over on the other side of the field, Leaf opened her mouth and asked Blue. "Time?"

Blue silently checked his wristwatch. "One minute and forty two seconds," he stated loudly. Then he looked towards Ethan, who was trudging through the snow towards Red in absolute rage. "That battle lasted longer than I thought."

The next second, Ethan punched Red in the face.