Rayquaza45: Hey there readers! I know you've been waiting for it so here it is. The 11th chapter, with this we begin the second half of the overall story. So here I am, hoping that you're all gonna read and review this fanfic cause I could really use some positive reviews as of now. I recently had my first flamer who simply reviewed in order to trash some of the ships and thinks they're being cool by acting like a deranged child. But enough of that!
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it!
Chapter 11: I Think The Tower Moved
The next day had come quickly. On the 50th floor of the Olivine City Battle Tower, the matches for the top 8 round of the Battle Spirits Tournament were to be conducted. Ash, Brendan, Leaf, Gary and May were the only members of the gang who'd got to the round. Even still, Brock and Dawn came to see the battle alongside everyone else in the audience seats. Ash's battle was the first of the day and was against an old acquaintance of his friend Dawn, a boy named Lucas.
Ash waited in the green preparation room with Pikachu by his side, doing his best to mentally prepare himself for his battle. Yesterday, Brendan told him that water-type pokemon would be effective against Lucas's team, which contained many powerful fire pokemon. Still, feeling the need to maintain diversity, Ash carried one pokemon not of the water-type with him.
Suddenly, Ash heard the referee call him, the green trainer, to the battlefield. The referee sounded somewhat different from the others and yet familiar. The roar of the crowd was more thunderous than the previous round. As Ash entered the field, he understood why he recognized the voice just as the referee turned to call out his opponent.
"Will the Red Trainer please enter the arena?" Called Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier, the acting referee of the round.
"Tucker, you're the referee?" Ash asked the man in the white and purple costume.
"That's correct." Tucker told him. "I'll be hosting the battles for this round as well as being referee."
"Hi, Ash!" Lucas, Ash's opponent said as he approached the field from the preparation room.
"Hey there, Lucas." Ash replied.
"Now, Ash and Lucas, are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah!"
"Sure am!"
"Now both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" Tucker announced.
"Come on out!" Ash shouted as he threw his pokeball into the air.
"Let's get on with it!" Lucas shouted as he released his pokemon at the same time.
On Ash's side came his Buizel. Just yesterday, he'd called Professor Oak and requested that he send Buizel over for the tournament since Brendan told Ash that Lucas uses fire-type pokemon quite often.
As Ash expected, Lucas released a fire-type, the blast pokemon, Magmortar.
"Alright you two, this is a three-on-three battle and there will be no substitutions." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Buizel, water pulse!" Ash ordered.
"Fire blast." Lucas said unemotionally.
"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon said as it put its hands together and formed a blue ball. It then threw the ball at the floor and it glided on the ground across a stream of water heading for Magmortar which raised its arm which made its hand disappear into its arm cannon. A ball of reddish-orange fire then appeared in front of the cannon and Magmortar fired it at the water pulse attack sent by Buizel, evaporating it and creating a large amount of steam which covered the arena in a blanket of thick steam.
"Buizel, clear it away with sonic boom!" Ash told it.
"Bui Bui!" It said as its tailed began to glow white and sent a large white shockwave that pierced the steam and cleared up the view.
"Thanks for that, Ash." Lucas chuckled. "Magmortar, use lava plume!"
"Mag!" The blast pokemon shouted as it created a small explosion which produced a mix of fire and smog which were aimed for Buizel.
"Buizel, counter shield!" Ash yelled.
"Buizel!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted as it quickly spun its body around in a 360 degree angle while using water gun at the same time. The attack defended Buizel from the incoming lava plume attack as well as splashing Magmortar heavily.
"Nice one Ash, never seen that before." Lucas smiled. "Magmortar, use fire punch!"
"Buizel dodge it!" Ash yelled.
"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon said as Magmortar attempted to hit it with its flaming fist. Magmortar continued to aim for Buizel, but the orange sea weasel was too fast for the large and bulky fire-type.
"Strike again with a flamethrower!" Lucas cried.
"Buizel use water gun, now!" Ash said.
"Bui!" "Mag!" The pokemon shouted as their attacks collided with one another. Both of them kept staring the other down for several moments as the attacks continued to flow from their mouths and collide with the other one. Eventually, Buizel's water gun managed to get the better of Magmortar's flamethrower and overpowered it, sending a stream of water into the blast pokemon's face and knocking it down.
"Magmortar!" Lucas shouted. "You have to get back up!"
"Maaag!" The blast pokemon shouted as it got back to its feet and assumed a fighting pose.
"Awesome, Magmortar!" Lucas cheered. "Use fire blast again!"
"Mag!" It said as a ball of reddish-orange fire appeared in its arm cannon and was preparing to launch it at Buizel.
"Buizel, use aqua jet!" Ash told it.
"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted as its body became covered in water. It then levitated itself into the air and sped towards the blast pokemon, intending on tackling it full-on. Upon approach, the aqua jet collided with Magmortar's fire blast right in its face, creating smog similar to before.
"Buizel!"
"Magmortar!"
Both trainers were worried about their pokemon as the smog showed no signs of lifting at the moment. If anyone had won, they didn't know it yet. But after a few moments, the smog started to clear, revealing both Buizel and Magmortar face to face, both panting heavily and visibly damaged from the last attack.
Up in the audience seats, Ash's friends were discussing the match.
"Lucas is pretty tough." Leaf said.
"Sure is." Brendan said. "Ash is gonna have his hands full."
"I wouldn't count anyone out, just yet." Brock stated.
"Come on, Ash!" Gary thought. "Beat him!"
"Buizel, use water gun!" Ash told it.
"Magmortar, use flame thrower!" Lucas ordered.
"Buiii!" "Maaag!" The pokemon shouted as their attacks collided with one another just as before. Now both pokemon were more exhausted than before and struggling to outlast their opponent and win.
"Magmortar's pretty powerful, but it's slow." Ash thought. "Maybe I should have Buizel do something else."
"Magmortar's at a serious disadvantage." Lucas thought. "I might not be able to keep this up much longer."
"Buizel, break off the water gun and get out of the path of the flamethrower!" Ash ordered.
"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon said as it stopped using its water gun and ran off into the corner, escaping the path of Magmortar's flamethrower.
"Go after it, Magmortar!" Lucas told it.
"Mag!" The blast pokemon said as it lumbered on over to the orange sea weasel.
"Wait for it!" Ash said.
"Use fire blast!" Lucas ordered.
"Now, Buizel, use aqua jet, fast!" Ash shouted.
"Bui Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted as it quickly covered its body in water and quickly tackled Magmortar before it had a chance to unleash its fire blast. The blast pokemon was knocked down by the attack but it got up soon after and struggled to stay up.
"Magmortar!" Lucas shouted.
"Maaag!" The blast pokemon shouted as it fell to the ground in defeat.
"No!"
As Magmortar fainter, the audience's applause occurred and was amplified by the acoustics of the room. The cheering for Buizel's victory was heavy.
"It would seem that Magmortar is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"I guess I'll need to beat Buizel before anything else." Lucas thought as he took out a cherish ball. "Go get 'em!"
The flash of light that came from the ball turned in to a Gardevoir, also known as the intermediate pokemon.
"A Gardevoir?" Ash wondered.
"You didn't think a guy who has a lot of fire-types would prepare to fight a person who may have had a water-type without some kind of backup, did you?" Lucas asked.
"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Gardevoir, use magical leaf!" Lucas ordered.
"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon shouted as it unleashed several glowing leaves from its head and aimed them at Buizel, intent on ending the battle quickly.
"Buizel, dodge it!" Ash told it.
"Buiii!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted in pain as it was unable to dodge most of the leaves, causing it great pain from the impact.
"Buizel use ice punch on Gardevoir." Ash yelled. Buizel spun in mid air with a white-blue left hand and punched Gardevoir in the face, making the intermediate pokemon cry out.
"Watch out!" Ash screamed as Gardevoir turned and gasped before leaping high up into the air.
"Gardevoir use energy ball." Lucas squealed.
"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon shouted as it opened its mouth and fired a green ball of energy at Buizel, nailing it in the stomach and knocking it out.
"It would seem that Buizel is unable to battle!" Tucker declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon!"
"I guess now's as good as ever!" Ash thought. "Go for it!"
The flash of light that came from Ash's pokeball turned into Infernape, the fully evolved fire-type starter pokemon of Sinnoh.
"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Infernape, use flamethrower!" Ash told it.
"Gardevoir, teleport!" Lucas ordered.
"Infer!" The flame pokemon shouted as it inhaled its breath and unleashed a wave of fire around the battlefield, scorching everything it touched. As the flames approached Gardevoir, the intermediate pokemon managed to teleport itself to safety in a place that Infernape couldn't see it.
"Now Gardevoir, use psychic!" Lucas commanded as Gardevoir appeared behind Infernape.
"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon shouted as its eyes started to glow and it raised its arm. Infernape suddenly became covered in a strange green aura and levitated into the air. Gardevoir's hand started moving up and down and this caused Infernape to be smashed into the ground several times.
"Infernape!" Ash worriedly shouted.
"Get rid of it!" Lucas ordered.
Gardevoir's eyes stopped glowing and simply threw its hand up, sending Infernape flying high up and about to come crashing down.
"Infernape, spin around and use flame wheel!" Ash told it.
"Infer!" The flame pokemon shouted as it started spinning its body around with insane speed and activated its flame wheel attack, spinning with mind-blowing speed towards Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir, teleport!" Lucas commanded.
"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon said as it teleported out of harms way just as Infernape was about to nail it with its flame wheel. Infernape finally landed where Gardevoir had been and spun around while landing, dissipating the flames.
"Infernape, keep an eye out to see where Gardevoir shows up!" Ash ordered.
Suddenly, Gardevoir showed up on Infernape's far left.
"Now, Infernape!" Ash shouted. "Use mach punch on Gardevoir, fast!"
"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as its fist began to glow bright blue and nailed Gardevoir in the face, sending it flying backwards.
"Gardevoir, get up!" Lucas pleaded.
"Gar…devoir!" The intermediate pokemon struggled to say as it got back up.
"Infernape, use flame wheel!" Ash ordered.
"Energy ball!" Lucas shouted.
"Infer!" "Gard!" The pokemon shouted as their fired their attacks at the other. Infernape's flamethrower and Gardevoir's energy ball began to expand, trying to push the other back to the opponent. Both pokemon showed no sign of giving up until Gardevoir started showing weakness in its knees, causing it to kneel down and the energy ball to weaken.
"Infernape, full power!" Ash shouted.
"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as it pushed its flamethrower to its limits, pushing the energy ball back towards Gardevoir and causing an explosion which covered the field in dust.
"Infernape, come back to this end!" Ash shouted to his pokemon which was rendered invisible by the dust.
Several moments later, the dust cleared up. Infernape was on Ash's side of the field while Gardevoir was covered in many scratches and hunched over on Lucas's end, severely injured.
"Infernape, we need to end this!" Ash told it. "Use flame thrower!"
"You're not going to win this one. Gardevoir, let's go for it." Lucas said. "Now, use double team." Red cried.
Infernape stared as Gardevoir sent out its copies. It looked around at them and then aimed its flamethrower at one of them and mowed it down, revealing it to have been a copy.
"Infernape, hit all of them until you get the real one!" Ash ordered.
"Infer." The flame pokemon shouted as it continued breathing its flamethrower and mowing down the Gardevoir. Eventually, the copies disappeared and the real Gardevoir took the flamethrower at full force.
"Gardevoir, are you alright?" Lucas shouted.
"Infernape, get it with flame wheel!" Ash ordered.
"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as it jumped in the air and spun its body towards Gardevoir, covering its body in flames and approaching at a fast speed, the injured intermediate pokemon had no chance to dodge the attack.
"Gardevoir you have to teleport!" Lucas told it.
But the intermediate pokemon was unable to so much as move by the time Infernape's flame wheel came down on it, sending it into the ground and knocking it out of the battle. Lucas took out his cherish ball and recalled the injured Gardevoir.
"It would seem that Gardevoir is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"Thank you for working so hard, Gardevoir." Lucas said to it as he took out a pokeball. "You're my last chance!"
The light from the pokeball formed itself into a pokemon, one which surprised Ash, Infernape and the audience.
"Infernape!" The flame pokemon brought out by Lucas shouted with great pride.
"An Infernape?" Ash asked.
"Infernape was my very first pokemon, Ash." Lucas explained. "We've been through a lot together."
"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Infernape, use flare blitz!" Lucas ordered.
With amazing speed, Lucas's Infernape managed to cover its entire body in flames and smash itself into Ash's Infernape, sending the latter reeling backwards, its body skipping on the ground like a rock on water, far into Ash's side of the field.
"Infernape, are you alright?" Ash worriedly asked.
"In…fern!" The flame pokemon said as it got up from the powerful attack. On the other side of the field, Lucas's Infernape was panting as well, considering that flare blitz is a variation of double edge and therefore causes damage to the user as well.
"Infernape, use calm mind!" Lucas told his flame pokemon.
"Infernape, you have to attack!" Ash told it. "Use flamethrower!"
"Infer!" The flame pokemon shouted as it breather a stream of fire towards its identical opponent who was currently powering up. The flames struck the opposing Infernape, but soon dissipated, revealing that they only caused some minor damage to it.
"Infernape, use mach punch!" Ash ordered.
"You too!" Lucas told his Infernape.
"Infer!" "Infer!" The two flame pokemon said as they charged down the other, fists glowing blue, legs running fast. Both pokemon struck the other in the face at the same time, sending them both hurdling back to where they had started.
"Now, Infernape!" Lucas shouted as it returned. "Use dig!"
"I'm not sure where it's gonna come up next!" Ash thought. "This could be a serious problem!"
"Infernape!" Ash's flame pokemon shouted in pain as Lucas's Infernape came out of the ground from beneath it, hitting it hard and sending it flying upwards.
"Infernape!" Ash worriedly shouted.
"Finish it off with mach punch!" Lucas ordered.
"Innnnnnferrrrr!" Lucas's flame pokemon shouted as it jumped high up in the air above Ash's Infernape, as its fist started glowing blue it punched its opponent in the face, sending it crashing back down into the ground.
"No!" Ash shouted as he saw his pokemon get knocked out by Lucas's flame pokemon. He took out his pokeball and recalled his pokemon!
"It would seem that Infernape is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"It's time to put our training to the test!" Ash said as he threw his pokeball. "Let's win it all!"
The flash from the pokeball turned into Ash's Totodile, a pokemon he caught in Johto and took from Professor Oak's lab yesterday to train.
Up in the stands, the group continued their discussions about the battle.
"I never knew Ash had a Totodile!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Dawn, you saw it in Sinnoh while he trained for the Sinnoh League." Brock pointed out.
"He he, oh yeah." Dawn realized. "I forgot!"
"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Totodile, use leer!" Ash ordered.
"To-to-to-to-to-to dile!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as is began to stare at Infernape. Its eyes began to glow a bright red color and a similarly colored aura appeared on Infernape, causing it to bend over in pain.
"Its defenses are low, use water gun!" Ash told his Totodile.
"To-todiiile!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it unleashed a massive burst of water from its mouth at the flame pokemon.
"Infernape, use dig!" Lucas ordered.
"Infer!" The flame pokemon said as it quickly dug a tunnel underneath it and escaped into it, effectively evading the water gun. At this, Totodile began dancing and moving around the field in an uncontrollable manner.
"Totodile! What're you do-" Ash shouted before he had a sudden thought. "Wait, I can use this movement against Infernape!"
Suddenly, Totodile turned around at the sound of a rush. It noticed Infernape coming out of the ground in the exact spot Totodile had been standing in while shooting the water gun. Without even waiting for Ash's order, Totodile jumped up in the air and used skull bash on Infernape, sending it reeling back to the ground as Totodile landed safely on its feet.
"Totodile, I didn't tell you to do that!" Ash told his pokemon.
"To-to-to-to-to-to dile!" The big jaw pokemon said as it continued to dance around, with its legs kicking high up in the air, while Ash called out to it.
"I guess since it worked, it's okay." Ash thought.
"Infernape, use mach punch!" Lucas ordered.
"Totodile, dodge it!" Ash told it.
"Toto!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it was unable to dodge Infernape's mach punch and was knocked about by it.
"Finish it off with flamethrower!"
"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as it unleashed a burst of fire from its mouth at its opponent.
"Totodile, use water gun!" Lucas ordered.
"To-to-to-to-to-todiiile!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it started blowing a stream of water from its mouth at Infernape. It met the flamethrower halfway and the two attacks began pushing the other one around. Taking both Infernape's superior power and Totodile's type advantage into account, both attacks were evenly matched and blocked each other for quite a few moments.
"Totodile, keep going!" Ash cheered.
"Infernape, never give up!" Lucas called out.
"Toto!" "Infer!" The two pokemon shouted as they continued to fight off the other attack with their own.
Several minutes later, the continuous attack had taken its toll on the already-injured Infernape, which ceased its attack and ended up allowing Totodile's water gun attack to hit it with full force, knocking it into the ground.
"Infernape, are you alright?" Lucas worriedly asked.
"Inf….fer." The injured flame pokemon said as it struggled to stand up and continue the fight.
"Totodile, skull bash!" Ash ordered.
"Infernape, dodge it!" Lucas pleaded.
"To-to-to-todiiiiile!" The big jaw pokemon repeated as it put its head down and began running towards Infernape. Reaching it, Infernape mustered the last of its strength and dodged it, but continued its heavy panting.
"Use mach punch!" Lucas commanded. "You're close enough!"
"Inferrrr!" The flame pokemon shouted as its glowing arm punched Totodile square in its big jaw, sending it flying back about 9 feet.
"Totodile!" Ash screamed as his pokemon continued to lie on the ground.
"To-to…" The big jaw pokemon muttered as it began to get up.
"Use mach punch again!" Lucas ordered.
"Inferrrr!" The flame pokemon shouted as it punched the rising Totodile in the face once again, sending it back another 9 feet.
"Yup. Just a little more and it's all gonna be mine!" Lucas thought.
"We need to finish this!" Ash told it. "Use water gun!"
"To-to-to-to-to-todiiile!" The big jaw pokemon said as it jumped up in the air and released its water gun, landing on its feet after.
"Flamethrower!" Lucas shouted.
"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as its attack collided once again. Infernape began to get up and walk towards the big jaw pokemon. Totodile realized its plan and did the same as their trainers continued to encourage their pokemon to do their best.
"Totodile, jump!" Ash commanded.
As the big jaw pokemon jumped, its water gun attack managed to spray all parts of Infernape's body above its mouth. Totodile's small body allowed it to evade the full force of the flamethrower while in the air and the force of the water gun knocked the flame pokemon out cold so, ultimately, Infernape succumbed to its injuries and fainted, losing the battle.
"It would seem that Infernape is unable to battle! The red trainer is out of pokemon." Tucker announced. "Victory to Ash Ketchum, the green trainer. Ash will be the one who will go through to the semi finals!"
"Good job…..Infernape." Lucas struggled to say as he recalled his pokemon.
"Lucas, that was…." Ash began to say as he approached Lucas to congratulate him. But Lucas only kept his head down, not even looking at Ash and running away.
"What was that?" Ash thought to him self as Lucas left. He turned to Tucker, who simply shrugged.
Ash returned to the stands to greet his friends. Brendan had already left the stands to go for his match, which was coming up next. Dawn's face showed her concern for Lucas, who hadn't been seen since the match ended.
"Hey, guys!" Ash called out to them.
"Ash!" Leaf shrieked.
"Great battle, Ash." Brock told him.
"What happened to Lucas?" Dawn asked.
"I dunno." Ash said. "He just disappeared."
"Dork." Gary thought about the boy who'd lost and disappeared.
Back on the battlefield, Tucker started up the next match.
"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called out. A boy unknown to the gang approached the field.
"Will the red trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called out. At that, Brendan Birch entered the arena and stared down his opponent.
"Hi there!" Brendan's opponent said.
"Hey there…dude." Brendan replied.
"The name's Josh!" The boy told him.
"Now, Brendan and Josh, are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah!"
"No doubt!"
"Now both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" Tucker announced.
"Come on out!" Brendan shouted as he threw his a pokeball into the air.
"It's time to battle!" Josh shouted as he released his pokemon at the same time.
On Brendan's side came his Tropius. Tropius hadn't made an appearance in the tournament thus far and this was its first battle.
On the other side, Josh released a Skarmory.
"This is a three-on-three round. There will be no substitutions." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Tropius, use sunny day!" Brendan commanded.
"Skar-" Josh started before stopping. "Sunny day?"
"Brendan's got him totally confused!" May shrieked.
"You have to admit, using sunny day now of all times and here of all places isn't exactly common." Brock said.
"Troooo!" The fruit pokemon shouted as the leaves on its back opened up. The sunlight coming into the arena got brighter all of a sudden despite not having a sky roof.
"Skarmory, air slash!" Josh ordered.
"Skar!" The armor bird pokemon shrieked as a ball of wind gathered in from it its left wing. Flying a few feet closer to Tropius, it threw the ball at the fruit pokemon, hitting it on the back.
"Tropius, get up and get closer!" Brendan ordered.
"Trop!" The fruit pokemon said as it got back on its feet. Flapping its 'wings', it flew up in the air and approached Skarmory.
"Skarmory, use fury attack!" Josh ordered.
"Take the attack!" Brendan told his pokemon.
"Skar, skar, skar…." The armor bird pokemon said as it repeatedly used it very sharp beak to poke Tropius many times as the fruit pokemon simply hovered in the air, taking the damage. The attacks continued until Skarmory appeared to have hurt itself.
"Solarbeam!" Brendan shouted.
"Tropius!" The fruit pokemon shouted as it quickly gathered the necessary energy in its mouth and fired it at Skarmory. The armor bird pokemon was sent crashing down into the ground, hard and fast while Tropius hovered high above it.
Up in the audience stands, Ash and the others were discussing the progression of the battles.
"Impressive strategy." Brock said. "The sunny day, letting Skarmory get in close and the solarbeam."
"Grass moves aren't very effective on Skarmory." Ash stated. "This isn't over yet."
"It's still on the ground!" Brendan shouted. "Use body slam!"
"Trop!" The fruit pokemon shouted as it stopped flying all of a suddenly and began its decent down onto the injured Skarmory. Its legs spread apart, allowing it to cover more ground on impact.
"Skarmory, get up!" Josh pleaded.
Unfortunately for the armor bird pokemon, it was unable to get up and so Tropius used its 220lbs body to slam it down into the ground even further. The fruit pokemon got up soon after and allowed Skarmory to get out of the crater it had been impacted it.
"Skarmory, we need to win this!" Josh shouted.
"Skar!" The armor bird pokemon whimpered as it struggled to get into the air.
"End this with one more solarbeam!" Brendan commanded.
"Tropius!" The fruit pokemon shouted as it fired another solarbeam at the already-struggling-to-move Skarmory, sending it crashing far away and knocking it unconscious.
"This is ridiculous!" Josh angrily thought. "Just three attacks?"
"It would seem that Skarmory is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"I'll need your help, a lot!" Josh thought as he threw out a luxury ball. "Go get 'em!"
"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon, also know as Weavile, called out.
"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"
"Weavile, use ice beam!" Josh shouted.
"Tropius, dodge it, fast!" Brendan ordered.
"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it quickly created a blue ball in its hands and broke it off into several light-blue. The beams were fired at Tropius and hit it square in the face, knocking it down.
"Weavile, use dark pulse!" Josh ordered.
"Tropius, leaf storm!" Brendan commanded.
"Wea!" "Trop!" The two pokemon shouted. Weavile's dark pulse mashed into Tropius's leaf storm at a position closer to Weavile than Tropius and so several sharp leaves got through and clipped Weavile's shoulders. The remainder of the attack caused a minor explosion in their field and kicked up a great deal of dust.
"It's Weavile!" Brendan warned Tropius as the sharp claw pokemon pierced through the dust cloud and got behind the fruit pokemon in a position where it couldn't be see.
"Get out of there, Tropius!" Brendan shouted.
"Ice beam!" Josh shouted.
Of course, since Tropius couldn't see where Weavile was, it made it impossible to know where to go. The fruit pokemon was frozen over from the behind to the front.
"Tropius!" Brendan shouted at his now-frozen pokemon.
"Weavile, finish it off with hyper beam!" Josh ordered.
"Weaaavillle!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it fired and large orange beam at the fruit pokemon encased in the block of ice. Hyper beam was amongst the strongest attacks a pokemon could learn, the amount of damage it could do was unbelievable.
"No!" Brendan shouted as the block of ice encasing his pokemon was shattered by the hyper beam. The strength of the beam had even passed on from the impact of the ice and smashed on to hit the fruit pokemon hard, similar to Ash's battle in the top 16. Clearly, Brendan's pokemon had a lot of attack power but were comparatively weaker in defense, leading to this outcome.
"Tropius!" Brendan shouted in agony.
"Hey, Weavile." Josh snickered. "It seems Tropius isn't finished yet."
"Weavile." The sharp claw pokemon laughed as it saw Tropius stand up on its feet again.
"End it with ice beam!" Josh shouted.
"Weaaville!" His pokemon shouted as it fired one more ice beam at the injured fruit pokemon knocking it down and out.
"It would seem that Tropius is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"I'm gonna make you pay for that!" Brendan thought to his opponent as he recalled the fallen Tropius. "Finish him off!"
Out of Brendan's luxury ball came his Aggron, the iron armor pokemon who'd helped Brendan in the final preliminary round.
"That was brutal how Weavile took down Tropius!" Ash exclaimed.
"And all this time I thought Brendan was the insane one." Dawn silently added.
"Aggron isn't weak to dark or ice-type moves." Brock stated. "Let's see how this goes."
"Come on, Brendan." May thought. "Beat him."
"Now the red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "It's time to battle!"
"Aggron hyper beam!" Brendan shouted.
"Weavile, you too!" Josh ordered.
"Aaaag!" "Weaaavillle!" The two pokemon shouted as their orange energy beams met one another in the same path and began fighting for dominance over the other one. Eventually, the beams couldn't overpower the other and ceased.
"Aggron, use take down!" Brendan ordered.
"Weavile, get in there first with Quick Attack." Josh commanded. Aggron and Weavile ran towards each other though Weavile was faster and slammed into Aggron first; the iron armor pokemon grabbed Weavile by its crown with its teeth and threw it down the field.
"Weavile, get up!" Josh shouted.
"Weeeavile." The sharp claw pokemon said as it got back to its feet.
"Now, use aerial ace." Josh called out.
"Aggron, use head smash!" Brendan called. Weavile began to spin to perform the attack but Aggron came forwards and knocked down Weavile and sent it reeling back.
"Nice one!" Brendan congratulated his pokemon.
"Forget about that, Weavile; it's your time to shine!" Josh assured it. "Use dark pulse on Aggron."
Weavile leapt over Aggron's head and hit the iron armor pokemon square in the horns with its dark ball of energy.
"Aaag!" The iron armor pokemon shouted in pain.
"Weavile use Ice Beam." Josh said with glee. Weavile put its hand in circular form and fired several pale blue beams. Aggron moaned slightly as it was hit, the attack not having as much hurt as previous attempts.
"Shake it off, Aggron!" Brendan told it. "Use take down!"
"Aaagron!" The iron armor pokemon shouted as it used it tri-horned head to bash down on Weavile once again, scarring it and sending it reeling in pain.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Josh thought.
"We'll need to end this soon." Brendan thought. "Aggron, charge in close!"
"Aaagronnn!" The iron armor pokemon shouted as it began running on all fours towards Weavile, intent on finishing off its opponent once and for all.
"Weavile, jump over Aggron!" Josh ordered.
"Fool."Brendan smirked
"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it jumped high into the air above the approaching Aggron, roughly 10 feet high off the ground.
"This is getting intense!" Leaf exclaimed.
"It can still go either way at this point." Brock said.
"Both of their battle styles are pretty similar." Gary said. "Power, brutality, anger, they're all for overwhelming the opponent."
"Weavile, use ice beam!" Josh ordered.
"Wrong move!" Brendan shouted. "Aggron, use hyper beam, now!"
"Aaagronn!" "Weeeavillle!" Both pokemon shouted as they fired their attacks at the other. Aggron's orange beam met with Weavile light-blue beam and the two engaged in a violent struggle to overpower the other. Since hyper beam was a naturally more powerful attack than ice beam, the odds were tipped in Aggron's favor but Weavile's type advantage proved to be a struggle. Gathering the very depths of its power, Aggron prepared for a final boost to its attack.
"Aggronnnnn!" The iron armor pokemon shouted as it fired its attack with greater intensity, overpowering Weavile's ice beam and knocking the sharp claw pokemon unconscious.
"Weavile is no longer able to battle!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"I'm gonna beat him!" Josh thought. "It's now or never!"
Josh threw out a pokeball containing a Rampardos, the head butt pokemon. It had a blue plate on its large head.
"Ram!" The head butt pokemon shouted as it entered the arena.
"Aggron, let's finish it off, fast!" Brendan yelled. "Use take down!"
"Zen headbutt!" Josh shouted.
"Aag!" "Ram!" The two pokemon shouted as they smashed heads with one another. Take down, as powerful as it was, was unable to outmatch zen headbutt, the signature move of Rampardos. The head butt pokemon managed to throw Aggron aside and continued to smash its own head into the side of the iron armor pokemon.
"Aagronnnn!" The iron armor pokemon shouted in pain as it was being violently bashed by the head butt pokemon.
"Aggron, get out of there!" Brendan pleaded.
"Rampardos, use earthquake!" Josh ordered.
"Ram!" The head butt pokemon said as it used its powerful legs to jump 6 feet in the air. Upon landing it let out another roar, while its landing sent out shockwaves on the ground which hit Aggron, who was still on the ground.
"Aggron, hyper beam!" Brendan shouted.
"Rampardos, you use hyper beam too!" Josh shouted.
"Aagronnn!" "Rammm!" The two pokemon shouted as they fired their orange energy beams at the other. Aggron was on the ground and managed to score a direct hit on Rampardos' left leg while Rampardos' hyper beam caused an explosion of dust as it hit Aggron. Upon the clearance of the dust, it was revealed that Aggron had been knocked out while Rampardos limped.
"Aggron is no longer able to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."
"Thank you, Aggron." Brendan said as he recalled the iron armor pokemon. "There's no never, it now!"
"Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon shouted as it came out of Brendan's pokeball.
"So, he's using Rhyperior." Brock observed.
"It's one of his strongest, he'll need it." Gary said.
"Why didn't he just use Swampert?" May asked.
"He must have some kind of plan." Leaf suggested.
"This is the top eight, there's a lot at stake." Ash said.
"Now the red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "It's time to battle!"
"Rhyperior, use rock wrecker!" Brendan commanded.
"Rampardos, you use zen headbutt before it can attack!" Josh shouted.
"I knew he was a fool." Brendan thought.
"Rhy!" The drill pokemon shouted as an uncountable number of rocks came out of the holes in its arms and form a massive single massive rock that Rhyperior takes in its arms. Seeing the approaching Rampardos, Rhyperior bent its knees slightly and let the bead butt pokemon get a little closer before chucking its huge rock at it, sending debris everywhere and significantly injuring Rampardos.
"Rampardos!" Josh worriedly yelled. "You need to get up!"
"Ra...am." The head butt pokemon said as it got back on its feet after being hit by the powerful attack. The path of destruction caused by the attack was starting to seriously damage the field.
"Use earthquake!" Josh ordered.
"Rhyperior, use hammer arm on the ground!" Brendan ordered.
"Ram!" The head butt pokemon shouted as it jumped up in the air and landed once again, sending shockwaves at Rhyperior.
"Rhy…perior!" The drill pokemon shouted as it took its glowing fist and smashed it into the ground, sending up rocks into the air which blocked the shockwaves sent by Rampardos.
"Excellent!" Brendan cheered.
"Rampardos, finish it off with fire blast!" Josh shouted.
"Rhyperior use Thunder." Brendan said, quickly grabbing his shoulder. He grabbed it as tightly as he could in order to put all the pain and anticipation he felt in one controllable method.
The two Pokemon let out collective roars and fired their attacks. They met in the middle and the fire blast was completely at ends with the thunder. Still the massive force of the attacks and the force of the thunder colliding with the fire blast caused the resulting energy to merge with the ground to form a huge wave of earth. Brendan and Josh opened their eyes in awe as the ground in the centre of the field broke apart piece by piece and chucked a number of said pieces at Rhyperior. The central force of the attack struck the head butt pokemon much worse, completely knocking it out and destroying much of the field.
"Well now….Rampardos is unable to battle and the green trainer is out of pokemon to use." Tucker announced. "Brendan Birch, the red trainer, will be the one to proceed to the semi-finals."
"Wow." Brendan thought.
There were several moments of silence as the audience cheered for the battle. Josh was visibly upset with his loss but shook Brendan's hand nonetheless. He left the arena shortly afterwards while Tucker looked around the stadium and finally spoke up.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment." Tucker asked. "I'll return shortly."
"Where do you think he's going?" Ash asked.
"I bet he has to consult with the tournament committee." Brock said.
"Brendan smashed up the field pretty bad." Leaf said. "He needs to know what to do."
Several minutes later, Tucker returned to the referee stand and made his announcement.
"Due to the damage to the field, the tournament committee has decided to move the remaining quarterfinal battles to the 51st floor of the tower." He announced. "Would all viewers please proceed to said floor?"
At that, the entire audience got out of their seats and proceeded to the exit.
"One more thing." Tucker said. "Would the trainers who are to compete next please enter the preparation rooms on the 51st floor that corresponds to their color?"
For Ash, the journey to the 51st floor was worse than when he had to wade through gangs of couples on his date with Leaf. Countless people crowded the stairs and help up the elevators a long periods of time. Finally managing to get to the 51st floor; Ash, Brendan, Gary, Dawn, May and Brock took their seats as without Leaf, who'd gone to the preparation room since her match was next.
"So, who's Leaf's opponent?" Ash asked.
"You mean you didn't recognize her?" May asked in a shocked voice.
"Recognize who?" Ash asked.
May was puzzled as she turned to Dawn for assistance. "Dawn?"
"Yeah, but still, I wasn't there when they announced the match-ups for this round." Dawn explained.
"So how do you know who this trainer is, May?" Brock asked.
"She's one of the top coordinators around." May explained. "She won the Johto Grand Festival last year."
"So that's why you think Leaf's gonna have trouble?" Gary snickered.
"It'd make sense." May said. "She's probably gonna have to deal with a huge combination of moves."
"What if this girl just battles normally, this isn't a contest it's a real battle." Gary said.
"WHAT?" Dawn asked him.
Raquaza45: Oh boy, Gary's gonna get it, isn't he? Well that's the end of it this time, but stay tuned for the next chapter, the more reviews I get for this chapter, the faster it's gonna get here. So now that you're done reading, remember to review! Please!
Next time: Chapter 12: Heading For The Top
Leaf has to face an opponent, one of the top coordinators around apparently. Can she win? After that, Gary engages May in a battle with the winner getting to the semi finals. Remeber to review if you want the chapter to get here soon! If you review enough, soon you may find out the origin of the 'lemonade' jokes that have been appearing here and there.
Till next time!