Rayquaza45: Hello again, readers. The end of the semi finals has come and, with it, the revelations of Gary and Leaf's interactions when they were kids. Please remember to review at the end of the story, I hardly get any these days and it makes me go into a state of depression :(
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.
Chapter 15: Battling Your OldRival
"Will the green trainer please approach the field?" The referee, Dome Ace Tucker, called out.
On the call, Leaf Green walked out of the green trainer's preparation room and took the field. The audience cheered wildly at her arrival and, for males, her looks. Slated to battle her old friend from Pallet Town, Gary Oak, she did her best to maintain her confidence and keep her promise to meet her boyfriend, yes boyfriend, Ash Ketchum, in the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament.
"And now, will the red trainer please approach the field?" Tucker called out once again.
Immediately, Gary Oak walked out of the red trainer's preparation room and took the field. The audience, specifically the females, began cheering wildly at his arrival just as had happened to Leaf. The brown haired trainer-turned-researcher began smiling at the prospect of battling the first person he'd ever considered a rival in his life before becoming a pokemon trainer.
"Leaf, Gary are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked from his stand.
"Yes."
"Sure."
"Very well then." Tucker started. "Both trainers are to release their pokemon at the same time."
"Go for it!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokeball into the air.
"Time to fight!" Gary shouted as he threw his own pokeball.
On Leaf's side came a pokemon she hadn't yet used in the tournament. On her side came a Froslass, the female evolution of the pokemon known as Snorunt. On Gary's side of the field came his Scizor, the pokemon he didn't get a chance to use in his top 8 battle against May.
"Fro." "Sci!" The two pokemon said as they exited their pokeballs.
"Leaf!" Ash got up from his seat in the stands. "Win this one!"
The rest of the gang stayed neutral for the battle, except for Dawn that is.
"Gary!" She cheered. "Don't you lose this battle!"
"Both trainers have chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the second semifinal match of the Battle Spirits Tournament BEGIN!"
"Froslass, use ice beam!" Leaf shouted.
"Scizor, get in the air to dodge it." Gary told his pokemon.
"Frosss!" The snow land pokemon said as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and broke off into several different beams of energy and headed for Gary's Scizor.
"Sciz!" The scissors pokemon said as the small white wings on its back started fluttering. Scizor took to the air immediately and was able to make several sharp turns to dodge Froslass's ice beam. The snow land pokemon grunted at its failure as Scizor returned to the ground and began taunting it.
"Sci Sci!" The scissors pokemon taunted as it waved its arms from inwards and outwards from left to right, similar to a person doing a dance. The audience laughed at the display while both Leaf and Froslass were significantly upset and disturbed by it.
"I've never seen him do that before." Gary thought to himself. Even he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Froslass, use attract!" Leaf shouted as Scizor continued to dance.
"Frooooos!" The snow land pokemon calmly said as a white heart was formed in front of its body. The white heart hit the scissors pokemon in the chest, causing it to blush furiously and turn away from its opponent.
"Scizor, get back in there!" Gary pleaded.
"Scizor's been immobilized…by love!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Sounds like someone else we know." Ash said, turning to the future pokemon breeder.
"Hm?" Brock asked.
"Not quite, he gets immobilized after love." Dawn pointed out.
"Now use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Frosss!" The snow land pokemon said as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and broke off into several different beams of energy and headed for Gary's Scizor. The still immobilized Scizor made absolutely no attempt to dodge the incoming attack and was frozen over by it. Now with his pokemon encased in a block of ice, Gary Oak could only watch helplessly at his opponent's next move.
"Now it's time, use thunderbolt!" Leaf commanded.
"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon shouted as its arms began to spark with yellow electricity and it then released a beam of yellow electricity from its arms at the immobilized opponent.
"Scizor!" The scissors pokemon shouted in pain as the thunderbolt blasted through the ice encasing it, freeing it from its icy prison but injuring it heavily at the same time. As it stumbled around the field in pain, its trainer came up with a plan.
"Scizor, get in the air and come down with quick attack!" Gary told it.
"Sciz!" The scissors pokemon said as it finally stopped stumbling around the field and its small white wings finally began to flutter and allowed it to take to the air. Scizor came down almost immediately, easily hitting Froslass with its left pincer as it had simply been looking on at the flying pokemon. But given Froslass's ghost type, it took no damage from the attack.
"Darn, the attract wore off already!" Leaf reasoned.
"Scizor, quickly, use steel wing!" Gary ordered.
"Sciiiizor!" The scissors pokemon screeched as it used the speed from its quick attack to improve its speed on its next attack. Its wings began to glow white as it flew down, turned its body in a 180 degree angle and hit Froslass in the head with it, causing it to stumble.
"Froslass, get your head it in!" Leaf advised. "Use thunderbolt again!"
"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon shouted as its arms began to spark with yellow electricity once again and it then released a beam of yellow Electricity from its arms at the incoming Scizor.
"Scizor, come down on Froslass with metal claw!" Gary shouted.
"Sciz…or!" The scissors pokemon said as its pincers became surrounded in a silver aura. The thunderbolt send up by Froslass was blocked by Scizor's pincers and prevented them from doing any damage as Scizor came down. When Scizor finally reached the snow land pokemon, it brought its claws forward and slammed them together in front of it, creating a large gray energy ball that shot a bolt of lightning at it. The bolt hit Froslass directly in the chest as Scizor looked on.
"Fross!" The snow land pokemon wreathed in pain as it was pushed across the field.
"Scizor, use another steel wing!" Gary shouted.
"Sciiiizor!" The scissors pokemon screeched as its wings began to glow white. It began flying towards the snow land pokemon at top speed with its arms out wide, ready to fight.
"Frosslass, use ice beam!" Leaf shouted.
"Frosss!" The snow land pokemon said as a blue ball in front of its mouth formed and just as quickly broke into several smaller beams of energy. The beams made their way to the incoming scissors pokemon.
"Scizor, dodge!" Gary ordered.
The scissors pokemon attempted to dodge the snow land pokemon's ice beam attack by turning on its side to be upside down and getting under it. But it failed to get low enough while it was upside down and was frozen over by the attack. The block of ice encasing it immediately hit the ground below and shattered, leaving the scissors pokemon to stare up at the ceiling as the audience looked on at the cameras, wondering why it wasn't moving.
"Scizor, get up!" Gary shouted.
"Quickly, use thunderbolt!" Leaf commanded.
"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon shouted as its arms began to spark with yellow electricity for what was hopefully the last time and it then released a beam of yellow Electricity from its arms at the grounded Scizor. The attack hit the scissors pokemon directly, creating a dent in the field and knocking out the red trainer's first pokemon.
"Scizor!" Gary shouted.
"Scizor is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon!"
"Scizor had the advantage!" Dawn exclaimed. "What's with that?"
"Dawn, come on, types aren't everything" Brock reasoned.
"PikaPi?" The electric rodent asked its trainer as he stared off into the distance.
"Yeah…Pikachu…really." Ash said without thinking straight as he watched Gary recall his Scizor. He was trying his best to keep his glee to himself about Leaf's first victory over Gary, even if it was just one round. Considering what used to happen in Pallet Town, it was nice to see her win.
(Pallet Town, Kanto Region)
(Seven Years Ago)
"Checkmate!" A young boy with brown hair exclaimed as he moved his rook into the optimum position.
"What!" A young girl across from him on the board said questioned as she looked around the board, wondering if he made a mistake.
"Nothing, you lose Leaf." He said confidently. "But it only took me seventeen moves this time; it only took five last time."
"I'm gonna beat you one day, Gary." Leaf told him.
"You tell 'em!" A young boy with black hair cheered from across the room.
"Stay out of it Ash!" Gary told him. "I beat you in just four moves every single time!"
"When I'm a pokemon master, you'll never beat me!" The young boy named Ash proclaimed. "I'll be the best trainer ever!"
"You'll be the worst trainer ever, I say." Gary taunted him.
"What was that?" Ash shouted. He was just about ready to get out of his chair and wrestle with Gary for saying such things.
"It'll take you years to even come close to me." He believed. "You'll nev-"
"Come on, boys." Leaf said, interrupting their argument. "We have to turn ten before we can become pokemon trainers."
"…She's right." Gary admitted. "When we're ten, then I'm gonna beat you."
"Don't count on it!" Ash exclaimed.
(Olivine City, Johto Region)
(Present Day)
"Go for it!" Gary shouted as he threw a pokeball into the air.
"Arc!" The light from the pokeball turned into a canine-like pokemon colored orange, white, black, red and cream. The pokemon known as Arcanine, typed 'legendary' in a possible mistake, took the field and stared down its ice and ghost-type opponent. The audience cheered for the new entry as it stood tall and proud, gathering great attention.
"Ready?" Gary asked.
"Of course we are." Leaf said.
"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Froslass, use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Arcanine, flame thrower!" Gary shouted.
"Frosss!" "Arrrrc!" The two pokemon shouted at one another as their two attacks collided with one another. The blue ice beam and the reddish-orange flamethrower met in the distance between the two pokemon and began to push one another around. Due to the disadvantage of ice-types to fire-types, the flamethrower soon managed to get the upper hand and burn through the ice beam, hitting Froslass directly in the face.
"Frossssss!" The snow land pokemon shouted in pain as the fire burned its face. Having already taken damage from Scizor's steel-type moves, the flamethrower proved to be a difficult attack for Froslass to cope with as it was burned.
"Froslass!" Leaf cried.
"Arcanine, use fire spin, now!" Gary commanded.
"Arrca…nine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it opened its mouth and a flame was released at the snow land pokemon from it. When the flame reached its opponent, it curled around it in a tornado. The fire prevented Froslass from going anywhere since it would likely get a bad burn if it tried and it was forced to stay where it was and find a way out from there.
"Use thunderbolt to try and break out!" Leaf told it.
"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon said as yellow electricity charged up in its arms and was then shot out at the barrier of fire surrounding it. The yellow electricity collided with the red fire and created a dust combustion. Black smoke filled the surrounding area and the cameras couldn't show what was going on. Underneath the cloud, Arcanine stared furiously into one particular area while Froslass looked around, unable to see anything and unwilling to go anywhere out of fear of being found.
"Arcanine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it came through the cloud of dust. Using its speed and keen eyesight, it managed to find Froslass wandering around the cloud. As the cloud of dust began to clear, Arcanine took aim at its opponent who had not yet noticed its presence. Arcanine opened its mouth wide and released a stream of flames from it, taking the snow land pokemon completely by surprise and causing a great deal of damage.
"Froooos!" The snow land pokemon shouted from the pain of the flamethrower as the cloud of dust finally dissipated, allowing Leaf, Gary and the entire audience to see Froslass being pushed to the brink.
"Froslass!" Leaf cried out as she saw her pokemon sustain serious injury from the legendary pokemon's attack. "Get out!"
"Arcanine, keep going!" Gary commanded.
"Arrrrr!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it continued to hit its opponent with its flamethrower. Showing no signs of relenting till it could breathe no longer, the flames intensified momentarily and hurt the opponent for all the worse. Eventually, Arcanine was forced to stop attacking which allowed Froslass to finally faint after enduring so much pain.
"Froslass!" Leaf cried out.
"Froslass is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon!"
"I can't believe how easily Arcanine won." Brock admitted.
"Now they're tied at two pokemon each." Brendan said.
"Come on, Leaf." Ash thought to himself as he saw Leaf recall and thank her fallen pokemon.
"Go for it!" Leaf shouted as she threw a pokeball into the air.
The light from the pokemon turned into a long and beautiful serpentine-like creature. Its body was mostly white with red antennae and a red and blue tail. The tender pokemon known as Milotic amazed the crowd with its beauty, eliciting wild cheers and looks of jealousy from various other trainers in the audience.
"Fitting that a beautiful trainer should have a beautiful pokemon." Ash thought to himself.
"Oh wow, Milotic is so beautiful!" Dawn said in amazement.
"Now that Leaf has the advantage, Gary's gonna be hard pressed." Brendan stated.
"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Arcanine, use take down." Gary ordered.
"Milotic wait for it!" Leaf said.
The tender pokemon coiled itself up in snake-like fashion as the legendary pokemon approached it. Gary's Arcanine ran on all fours at an extremely fast pace, making many zigzags along the way despite not being attacked. Milotic's large red eyes enabled it to track Arcanine's movements with relative ease despite the latter's speed. As it approached, Leaf began her plan.
"Miltotic, use ice beam on the field!" She commanded.
"Miiiii!" The tender pokemon whaled as it fired several blue beams from its mouth at the field, covering it in a layer of ice and causing the legendary pokemon to slip up its movements, its four legs losing balance on the ice and sliding around on it.
"Use hydro pump, now!" Leaf shouted.
"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon shouted as it inhaled its breath and then unleashed a powerful jet of water from its mouth. The jet directly hit the opponent who was still sliding around on the frozen ice and sent it splashing back to the other side.
"Awesome!" Leaf cheered as she looked at her pokemon and at the field, which now had lost some of the ice from the freeze.
"That was impressive." Gary admitted to himself. "But I guess I don't have to be surprised."
(Pallet Town, Kanto Region)
(Five Years Ago)
"I can't believe it!" A young Gary Oak stated in disbelief as he looked at his defeated Bulbasaur.
"Believe it!" A young Ash Ketchum told him from across the room, having witnessed the battle.
"Better luck next time." His opponent, a young Leaf Green told him as she knelt down, petting a Squirtle on the head who happily received it.
"But I had the advantage." Gary whined. "What did I do wrong?"
"You spent way too much time showing off, Gary." Leaf told him. "You should've worked with your pokemon more."
"Leaf totally owned you!" Ash joked. "You need to work harder!"
"It was his first ever battle, Ash." Leaf scolded the raven haired trainer. "You wouldn't have done any better, even with two pokemon."
"You could have six pokemon, and you couldn't beat one of us Ashy." Gary taunted.
"Don't call me Ashy!" Ash shouted.
Just then, Professor Samuel Oak walked through the front door. The three nine year olds quickly put on their best faces and greeted him.
"Hello there, you three." He said. "How did your battles with the new starter pokemon go?"
"Leaf won, Gary lost!" Ash revealed, greatly irritating Gary.
"Oh is that right?" The professor joked as he looked at the defeated Bulbasaur next to Gary and the smiling Squirtle next to Leaf. "Well then, these pokemon are surely ready for their new trainers."
"When are they coming, Professor?" Leaf asked.
"Well now, I believe it's tomorrow." He answered. "And next year when the three of you are able to become pokemon trainers, I'll be waiting."
"Well I'm gonna get here first and get the best pokemon ever!" Ash proclaimed with his hand in the air.
Later that day under the night sky outside the Professor's lab, Leaf and Gary sat next to one another discussing their futures now that Ash had gone back home.
"I still can't believe you beat me." Gary told Leaf. "After all that research, I lost."
"What can I say; maybe I'm just a natural." She giggled.
"I lost the first pokemon battle of my life!" Gary realized. "Well I will never again lose to my rival!"
(Olivine City, Johto Region)
(Present Day)
"Arcanine, use fire spin!" Gary commanded.
"Milotic, water gun!" Leaf told it.
"Arrca…nine!" "Milooo!" The two pokemon roared as Arcanine's flames created a flame barrier around Milotic similar to the one on Froslass. Milotic quickly used its water gun attack to douse the flame barrier, converting the fire into steam relatively quickly and freeing itself, now able to concentrate on Arcanine.
"Darn." Gary silently cursed.
"Alright now Milotic, use hydro pump on Arcanine!" Leaf told her pokemon.
"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon shouted as it inhaled its breath and then unleashed a jet stream of water at its opponent.
"Arcanine, use extremespeed to dodge it!" Gary commanded.
"Arca!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it began running. It moved so fast that the top half of its body remained visible while the lower half became blurred to the naked eye. Even Milotic's large eyes had trouble keeping up with its movements. The legendary pokemon managed to narrowly avoid being hit by Milotic's hydro pump attack and soon managed to get closer.
"Use take down!" Gary shouted.
"Arc!" Gary's pokemon shouted as it smashed its entire body into the tender pokemon, knocking it down as everyone watched.
"Milotic, come on, you can give up like that!" Leaf pleaded.
"Mi!" The tender pokemon said as it coiled itself up and quickly got up once again. It began to sway its head back and forth and to the left and right, relaxing all the viewers in the audience as they watched it on the cameras which were around the field.
"Alright now, time to use water gun!" Leaf told it.
"Arcanine, you use flame thrower, fast!" Gary told it.
"Milooo!" "Arrrrc!" They both shouted as they unleashed their attacks. Milotic's stream of water clashed with Arcanine's fire breath and created a cloud of dust. Unlike last time, Arcanine couldn't go through it to attack its opponent since two things had changed. Milotic was able to track Arcanine and, unlike Froslass, had the advantage in type. One mistake and Arcanine would bite the dust, in more than one way. Eventually the cloud cleared up and allowed everyone to see what was going on, the two pokemon stared down one another.
"Milotic, use hydro pump!" Leaf ordered.
"Arcanine, dodge it, fast!" Gary told it.
Milotic immediately launched a jet of water at the legendary pokemon as it started running around the field. The water followed Arcanine wherever it went, leaving a wet trail as it did. Arcanine used its excellent agility to jump over, around and get under the powerful water attack many times over, preventing Milotic from effectively hurting it.
"Milotic, end it." Leaf said.
"Mi." The tender pokemon said as it stopped attacking Arcanine. The legendary pokemon immediately turned around to face Milotic as its trainer looked more confident than ever.
"Alright then Arcanine, use extremespeed!" Gary told it.
"Arca!" The legendary pokemon said as its feet became a blur and it began to run around. It quickly approached Milotic as Leaf expected it would and leapt into the air.
"Hydro pump!" Leaf shouted.
"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon whaled as it unleashed a jet of water at the legendary pokemon who was still heading towards it in the air. The powerful attack hit Arcanine directly in the stomach and pushed it back. Its fours legs were high in the air as its head was down when it finally came into contact with the ground.
"Arcanine, run away!" Gary pointlessly shouted at the unable to move Arcanine. The best it could do was wiggle around in place.
"Milotic, water gun!" Leaf commanded.
"Milooo!" The tender pokemon shouted as it released a spiral of water from its mouth at the grounded legendary pokemon. The attack hit directly since Arcanine couldn't move away, sending the legendary pokemon across the field, dragging the ground beneath it as it went.
"Ar…ar…arc." The legendary pokemon said after a few moments of struggling to get up. It had already taken several direct hits and had failed to inflict any degree of damage to Milotic, but was still not ready to give up.
"If you can, use fire blast!" Gary shouted.
"Arrrrrcaniiiiine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as its pupils began to glow orange and its whole body became surrounded in a fiery aura. It then, struggling to do so, managed to fire five blasts of fire from its body. When seen above by the audience, the blast looked like a man. The man-shaped blast of fire headed towards the tender pokemon, marking the field behind it.
"No sweat." Leaf joyfully thought before giving her orders. "Milotic, blast through it with water gun!"
"She's not gonna be able to do that." Gary thought as he saw Milotic pull its head back.
"Milooo!" The tender pokemon said as it swayed its head forwards and unleashed a spiral of water from it. The attack met with the fire blast in the middle of the field and started pushing it away from Milotic. Steam arose from the collision and headed into the air.
"Keep going, Milotic!" Leaf cheered.
"Miii!" Leaf's pokemon shouted as it continued to fire its water gun. Eventually, much to everyone's surprise, it managed to evaporate the fire blast attack and go on through. Its power had been greatly weakened from the collision and only splashed Arcanine briefly before it fizzled out.
"Arcanine, flame thrower!" Gary shouted.
"Use hydro pump!" Leaf commanded.
"Arrrrrc!" "Milo…tic!" Both pokemon shouted as their attacks collided. With little effort, the tender pokemon managed to overpower the flamethrower of the tired legendary pokemon and pushed it back further and further. Eventually, Milotic's hydro pump overcame the flamethrower and hit Gary's Arcanine in the face and pushed it to the ground, knocking it out.
"Arcanine, no!" Gary shouted for the fallen legendary pokemon.
"Arcanine is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Red trainer, choose your final pokemon!"
"Now Gary's down to his last pokemon!" Dawn cried out from the stands.
"So against a water-type…an electric-type or a grass-type would be best." Ash said.
"Wouldn't you know?" Brendan thought to himself as he looked at his silent girlfriend. "Come on, May. Come back to us."
"Since Leaf still has two pokemon left, Gary's gonna be in a tighter spot than ever." Brock stated.
"Well if he's strong enough, he'll win." Dawn said. "And he'll battle Ash in the finals."
"Leaf, remember our promise." Ash thought to himself as he saw Gary recall his Arcanine. "Meet in the finals."
(Indigo Plateau, Kanto Region)
(Three and a half Years Ago)
"Leaf!" The Top 32 participant, Gary Oak, called out as he saw someone he thought he recognized.
"Who's there?" A girl with dark brown hair asked as she turned around and noticed him.
"Don't you remember me?" Gary asked.
"Of course I do." She laughed. She was wearing white gloves, black shoes and a black dress that went down to her knees.
"What've you been doing here?" He asked as he got closer to her.
"Competing." She said bluntly. "But not very well."
"What're you talking about?" He asked.
"I just got knocked out." She revealed. "It really sucks."
"How far did you get?"
"Top 32."
"Seriously?" He was amazed. "That's how far I got!"
"You don't say." Leaf shrugged. "Well you know your old friend is entering the Top 16."
"Sure but now that I'm out; I have no reason to stay here anymore." He explained as he turned around. "And my old rival is out too."
(Olivine City, Johto Region)
(Present Day)
"She stayed to watch Ash lose in the next round and he didn't even know it." Gary thought to himself as he held to pokeball containing his final pokemon. "…But that was then and this is now!"
"Red trainer, release your final pokemon or you will face disqualification!" Tucker warned him.
"Wah!" Gary shouted as he snapped out of his trance, nearly dropping his pokeball in the process. The audience laughed hysterically at his display, even his friends in the audience couldn't help but chuckle at it.
"Yeah!" Gary shouted as he threw his pokeball. "Let's end it!"
"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it exited Gary's pokeball and flexed its arms, garnering the crowd's cheers.
"An electric-type." Leaf muttered. "I can deal with that."
"The red trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Milotic, use water gun!" Leaf shouted.
"Milooo!" The tender pokemon screeched as it shot a spiral of water out of its mouth at the thunderbolt pokemon.
"Electivire, use iron tail!" Gary ordered.
"Elect!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its two tails began to glow white. It quickly jumped into the air as it saw the water gun attack coming. It quickly spun around and hit the spiral of water with its iron tail attack, splashing water around and eliminating the attack.
"Did you see that?" Brock exclaimed. "Gary's Electivire completely nullified Milotic's water gun."
"And with the type disadvantage, Leaf's gonna have to work out a foolproof plan to win the match." Brendan added.
"Let's see how she handles it." Ash suggested.
"Electivire, use thunderpunch!" Gary ordered.
"Electi!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it began running towards its opponent and its right fist took on a yellow spark. Electivire quickly jumped up into the air and looked down on Milotic as it pulled its arm back, ready to strike.
"It's time to use toxic!" Leaf shouted.
"Milot!" The tender pokemon screeched as it exhaled a strange purple gas from its mouth. The gas filled the surrounding area near Milotic and prevented Electivire from attacking since the gas was too thick to see through. Eventually, the gas dissipated just after Electivire accidentally inhaled some of it.
"Get out of there!" Gary shouted as he saw his pokemon frantically cover its mouth. Obeying his order, Electivire used its strong legs to jump away from Milotic and closer to Gary. It continued to hold its hand over its mouth, hurt by the poison.
"This is bad, this is very bad." Gary frantically repeated in his head. But no matter how many times he did it, it never got any easier.
"Milotic, use hydro pump!" Leaf ordered.
"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon screeched as it blasted a powerful jet of water from its mouth at Electivire. Gary's pokemon was still affected by the powerful poison-type attack used by Milotic and it found it difficult to flex its muscles as it did earlier.
Gary's eyes snapped up as he saw the incoming hydro pump and got an idea. "Electivire, use thunder!" He ordered.
"Eleci…vire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as the balls on the end of its tails were surrounded by yellow electricity. Electivire then stood tall as its entire body became surrounded in electricity and was encompassed into a blast which was sent at the incoming hydro pump.
"Water conducts electricity, you're done for!" Gary proclaimed.
The blast of electricity met with the jet of water and it did exactly what Gary predicted. The electricity swirled around the water and climbed back up to the mouth from where the water had come. The electricity zapped Milotic with amazing power and evaporated the water into nothingness as Milotic whaled from the pain of the attack.
"Milotic, no!" Leaf frantically shouted at her injured pokemon.
"Electivire, thunder punch!" Gary commanded.
"Electi!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its fist became covered in electricity and it ran towards Leaf's Milotic. Though it was still suffering the effects of the toxic, it was now able to keep it under control and not allow it to get worse at the moment. Electivire put its hand up in the air, getting ready to punch down on Milotic who was still on the ground after the last attack.
"Milotic, get out of there!" Leaf screamed.
"Electi!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its fist of thunder made contact with Leaf's pokemon.
"Milo!" The tender pokemon shouted in pain.
"This is really bad for Leaf!" Brendan exclaimed. "At this rate, Milotic's gonna be knocked out."
"But Leaf still has one pokemon." Ash stated. "And she could still win with Milotic."
"Yeah, but, Milotic's looking really worn out." Brock said as he looked at the tender pokemon which could barely stand up.
"Use iron tail!" Gary commanded.
"Dodge it!" Leaf shouted.
"Milo!" The tender pokemon shouted in pain as it was unable to dodge the attack and sent flying back by Electivire's tail. It now lay on the ground, struggling to move with its trainer knowing that just one more attack could defeat it.
"Milotic, can you still fight?" Leaf asked.
The tender pokemon let out a high pitched sound which forced all but Leaf to cover their ears. As its trainer, Leaf seemed used to the noise while the entire audience whaled in pain, even Tucker needed to cover his ears as the sound waves could visibly be seen in the camera screens.
"Milotic, use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Miiiii!" The tender pokemon shouted as it fired a blue ball from its mouth which broke off into several blue beams of light and headed towards the opponent. But for some reason, Gary didn't appear worried.
"Electivire, protect!" He commanded.
"Electivire!' The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it covered itself in a green barrier just before the ice beam hit. The ice-type move was blocked by the attack and rendered useless. The barrier was then lowered and Electivire stood confident and tall.
"Darn, I didn't know Electivire knew protect." Leaf angrily thought.
"Alright Electivire, it's time to finish off this battle here and now!" Gary declared. "So, use thunder!"
"Electi…vire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as the balls on its tails became covered in yellow electricity which soon surged around the rest of its body. The electricity quickly converged into a single beam which was directed by Electivire at Milotic. The powerful electric-type attack shocked the tender pokemon almost as hard as it did the first time, this time being lighter since there was no water present.
After withstanding the blast for a few moments, Milotic fell to the ground in defeat as the attack dissipated. Electivire put its arms upwards and sparked electricity between its antennae, taking pride in its victory as the audience cheered for it. As Leaf sadly recalled and thanked her Milotic for the work it had done, considering that the toxic was still in effect, working slowly.
"Milotic is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Green trainer, you must choose your final pokemon!"
"Now she only has one pokemon left, just like me." Gary thought to himself. "What type is she gonna use?"
"Only a ground-type pokemon would be effective against Electivire." Brock stated.
"But another electric-type could resist those thunderpunch and thunder attacks." Brendan suggested.
"Yeah but then Electivire could resist those same attacks and they'd be evenly matched." Dawn reminded him. "If she uses Leafeon's grass-type to resist the electric attacks, she just might have the advantage in that scenario. Otherwise, she won't."
"If it's a grass-type pokemon you need, I think I know which one you're gonna need." Ash thought to himself as he looked over at Leaf's actions being relayed on the cameras. She was going through her bag, frantically looking for something.
"Found it!" She cheered as she took out a pokeball and threw it into the air. "It's your turn now!"
"Saur!" The seed pokemon boomed as it exited its pokeball. Leaf's very first pokemon now stood in the way of Gary's victory. With its grass-type attributes allowing it to resist any electric-type attacks, Electivire's chances of victory appeared slim. The face off between the two pokemon elicited cheers from the entire crowd as the cameras focused on every angle of their faces.
"We need to do something about these cameramen." Tucker thought to himself.
"Don't worry, Electivire!" Gary told his pokemon. "We can still win this!"
"Now it's her Venusaur she's using!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Well, it is a grass-type, so she won't go down easy, regardless of Electivire's power." Brock stated, stroking his chin.
"Now it gets interesting!" Ash cheered.
"Pika!" The electric rodent cheered alongside its trainer.
"The green trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the final battle of the semi-finals BEGIN!"
"Electivire, use iron tail!" Gary commanded.
"Elect!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its two tails began to glow white. It quickly jumped into the air over Venusaur and came down with its tail first. Venusaur looked up to see it coming but appeared relatively unconcerned.
"Use seed bomb!" Leaf shouted.
"Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as a white orb formed inside its flower. It then fired several white seeds from the orb upwards as Electivire as the thunderbolt pokemon came down for iron tail. The white seeds exploded on contact and sent Electivire flying back to Gary's side of the field, landing on its back.
"El…elect…" The thunderbolt pokemon muttered as it struggled to get back to its feet.
"That's not good." Gary said to himself in realization.
"Venusaur, earthquake!" Leaf commanded.
"Venu…Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it jumped a few feet into the air and then made its way back down. Upon landing, it sent shockwaves out across the field. Electivire was still struggling to get off the ground after the seed bomb attack and was instantly swept away by the earthquake. With its weakness the ground-type moves, Electivire couldn't do anything.
"Electivire!" Gary shouted as he saw his last pokemon get pummeled.
"Things really aren't looking good for Gary." Brendan observed.
"I guess we know who you're going to have to battle in the finals, Ash." Dawn subtly told him as she looked at the brunette coordinator who hadn't spoken a word since her boyfriend lost the battle.
"Elect…electi." The thunderbolt pokemon said as it managed to get to its feet after the devastating attack.
"Venusaur, use seed bomb again." Leaf told it.
"Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as a white orb formed inside its flower. It then fired several white seeds from the orb at Electivire from across the field. While Electivire didn't know what to do, its trainer remained confident.
"Electivire, protect!" Gary shouted.
"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it raised its arms upwards and put up a green barrier around itself. The white seeds exploded on contact with the barrier and left Electivire completely unharmed. The barrier came down and showed Electivire standing proud, despite its many injuries. The crowd started cheering at this display of perseverance.
"Nice try but it's nowhere near enough!" Leaf shouted. "Venusaur, get in close!"
"Saur, Venusaur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it began running on all fours towards the thunderbolt pokemon, its large hulking body slowed it down. It soon met up with Electivire, who hadn't moved despite seeing its opponent coming.
"Electivire, now, use iron tail!" Gary shouted.
"Venusaur, use frenzy plant!" Leaf commanded.
"Frenzy plant?" Ash thought to himself as Electivire and Venusaur initiated their attacks.
"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokemon boomed as its body started developing a light green aura. It the stomped on the ground and all of a sudden, many large roots sprouted from the ground. They were covered with thorns and headed straight for Electivire. The thunderbolt pokemon was knocked around by the roots as its iron tail attack was nullified by the battering.
"Electivire!" Gary shouted as he saw his pokemon get lost in the massive jungle of roots Venusaur had brought up. Frenzy plant was the ultimate grass-type attack, and it sure looked the part. Gary's final pokemon had completely disappeared.
"Now he's finished." Leaf thought to herself.
"Saur." The seed pokemon said as it relaxed its body, sending the roots back into the ground. Their disappearance allowed the audience to see Electivire lying on the ground on its stomach, trying its best to get up.
"Electivire, don't ever give up!" Gary shouted to his pokemon. He was clenching his teeth as hard as he could, standing as tall as possible and trying his best to remain confident through the battle. But it was hopeless, he'd grown rusty from his lack of competitive battling and it now seemed like he couldn't measure up to trainers who had been battling for a long time, like Leaf.
"I can't believe it's over." Brendan said in disbelief.
"It…it can't be…over." Dawn struggled to say, trying to keep the tears back. "Not…yet."
"He hasn't been in serious competition for a long time." Ash reasoned. "He may have been able to beat beginners or even coordinators but against a trainer like Leaf, he may as well be done for."
"He hasn't moved an inch." Leaf thought.
"I…I don't know what else I can do." Gary thought to himself, fighting the impulse to scream at the top of his lungs. "I'm sorry Ash; it looks like I won't be getting the chance to fight you."
"Elect…Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it managed to get to its feet after a great deal of struggling. It looked over at its large opponent who met its eyes with its own, much larger, eyes.
"Are you saying you wanna keep fighting?" Gary asked his pokemon.
"Elect." The thunderbolt pokemon responded.
"It's admirable that Electivire wants to keep going after all that punishment, but I won't hold back." Leaf told them. "Venusaur, seed bomb!"
"Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it formed a white orb inside its flower. It them shot a large number of white seeds out of the orb and aimed them at the injured Electivire.
"Electivire, protect!" Gary commanded.
"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it raised a protective green shield around itself, preventing the seed bomb attack from hurting it. Once the shield was lowered, however, Electivire and its trainer noticed something bad approaching.
"Look out!" Gary shouted.
"Saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokemon shouted as it brought several thorn-covered-roots out of the ground and sent them at Electivire. Venusaur had once again used frenzy plant, the ultimate grass-type attack. The roots took Electivire by surprise, scooping it off the ground and hitting it again and again in the air, tossing it around and hurting it even worse that it had already been.
"Elect." The thunderbolt pokemon said as it dropped onto the ground, not moving an inch. From the cameras displayed around the field, it was clear what the outcome was.
"Electivire is no longer able to battle and so the red trainer is out of pokémon!" Tucker declared. "The victory goes to the green trainer, Leaf Green!"
Leaf and her Venusaur looked up and around at the cheering audience upon Tuckers announcement. The entire crowd was cheering for her impressive victory over Gary as Venusaur walked back over to its trainer who thanked it for its hard work and returned it to its pokeball. Gary sadly looked over at his defeat pokemon which he called back as well.
"Congrats, Leaf." Ash thought, almost as if he was trying to direct the congratulations towards Leaf with his mind.
"Oh, Gary." Dawn softly said as she looked at her boyfriend who was nearly desolate of emotion.
"Well…I guess that's that." Brock shrugged as he looked down at the field.
Due to the crowds continuing cheers, Tucker couldn't make any more announcements and had to put up his hand to signal the audience to stop. "Thank you." He said with his microphone once they finally quieted down. "Can we have out other two semifinalists, Ash Ketchum and Brendan Birch, come down here?"
"He wants us to come down there?" Ash asked aloud.
"Guess so." Brendan said as he started to leave.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Once they reached the field where Leaf, Tucker and the reluctant Gary awaited, Ash and Brendan stood alongside their fellow semifinalists and looked up at Tucker. Leaf and Ash's eyes met one another, filled with emotion, as they could keep their promise. But concentration broke once Tucker began speaking.
"So there you have it, the four semifinalists of the Battle Spirits Tournament!" Tucker announced to the crowd that suddenly became enthusiastic and started to cheer before they were signaled to stop.
"Brendan Birch and Gary Oak, you two will battle for the third place title two days from now on the 65th floor. It is a one-on-one match, however so you can only use one pokemon for battle." Tucker told them. "Do you acknowledge?"
"Yes!"
"Yeah, sure."
"And as for our two finalists, Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green." Tucker started. "The finals will be a six-against-six full battle with substitutions allowed."
The audience cheered at hearing that. After not being allowed to substitute pokemon for the preliminaries or any of the rounds that came after it, they now could. It allowed them to change their pokemon to try out different strategies, counter a type disadvantage and more.
"It will be held one week from today on the 70th floor." Tucker told them as he turned to the cameras. "And that will be a live telecast rather than a day-late broadcast. This concludes the semi finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament; please rejoin us for our third place match and our upcoming finals!"
When he finished his announcement, the cameras stopped rolling and the audience got up to go. The four semifinalists could see from where they were that their friends in the stand had gotten up and were waiting for them. They proceeded to leave but something stopped them.
"Ash, Leaf, I'd like you two to stay here for further information." Tucker called out to them as the audience continued to clear out.
"We'll catch up with you guys later." Ash told Brendan and Gary.
"Let us take care of this first." Leaf told them.
The two finalists went back to see the acting referee after he called them.
"The tournament is nearing its end and our television ratings have never been higher." He told them. "But for the finals, we need one…extra…push."
"A publicity stunt in the tournament?" Leaf asked.
"More like an extravagant stunt." Tucker corrected her. "What do you say?"
The finalist couple looked at one another and then turned back to Tucker.
Back at Leaf's vacation house, time had passed and Leaf and Ash hadn't come back. May had kept herself in her room and neither Brock nor Dawn had any luck in getting her out. Brendan and Gary had split up from the group to go to the pokemon centre and have their pokemon healed for their third place battle.
Soon after, Ash, Pikachu and Leaf returned. They walked in and noticed Dawn sitting on the couch watching television, Brock sitting alone in the kitchen but the other three were nowhere to be found.
"Dawn, where's everyone else?" Ash asked her.
"Brendan and Gary went to the pokemon centre." Dawn told him. "And May's in her room."
"What's she doing in there alone?" Leaf asked.
"I wish I knew." Dawn replied. "Ever since Brendan lost she's been really quiet."
"I'll go up a-"
"Allow me." Leaf said as she grabbed his arm just as he was about to go upstairs. "You go to the pokemon centre, you pokemon need to be healed."
"But what about yours?" Ash asked.
"I can heal them myself." Leaf assured him. "I have the right number of potions."
"…But if May's not-"
"Trust me Ash, it's a girl thing." She smiled. "Let me take care of it."
And with those words, Leaf went upstairs leaving Ash and Dawn downstairs in the living room. Ash sat down on the couch as well and started watching TV with Dawn. Brock was pretending not to notice the conversation since he was thinking of his own problems with the ladies.
"I guess I could go when Gary and Brendan come back." Ash thought.
A few hours had passed since Ash returned. May and Leaf were still upstairs. Ash was outside with his Infernape, training while Brock was outside too, staring into the sky.
"Alright Infernape, use mach punch on the tree stump!" Ash shouted as he pointed out a tree stump on the ground, the same one where he opened the safe containing the picture of his first kiss.
"Inferna…peeeeee!" The flame pokemon said as its fist started to glow light blue and it punched the tree stump. The attack shattered the stump with little effort, leaving only pieces of bark scattered on the ground.
"Great work, Infernape!" Ash cheered from behind. "We need to keep working hard now that we're in the finals!"
"He's got that right." Brock thought as he managed to pay attention for once.
Back inside the house, Gary and Brendan came back from the pokemon centre. Dawn immediately took notice of their entrance and immediately ran to hug Gary.
"Gary, I'm so sorry that had to happen but you were still great, all your pokemon battles hard, your strategies were-"
"You're…crushing m-me." Gary struggle to say inside of Dawn's seeming choke-hold.
"I'm sorry." She said as she let go. "How are your pokemon?"
"Well, Nurse Joy healed them and says they're all gonna be fine." He told her.
"How's May?" Brendan asked.
"Well Leaf is with her upstairs right now, they've been there for a few hours." Dawn explained. "Maybe you should go see her, since you're her boyfriend and everything."
"You've got a point there." Brendan said as he threw his backpack on the couch and ran upstairs.
"Hey Brendan!" Dawn called out as the trainer in the strange hat was nearly at the top of the stairs. "Thanks for the information about Leaf and Ash!"
"No sweat!" He said as he turned the corner of the stairs and left.
Gary began looking around. "Speaking of him, do you know where Ash is?"
"While we were watching TV, he said something about training and going to the pokemon centre after you and Brendan got back." Dawn told him.
Gary then started walking towards the outside training field as Dawn turned around to see him go. "I gotta talk to him. I'll be back."
Back on the outside training field, Ash and Infernape were celebrating the success of another successfully destroyed wooden target hanging from the tree as Gary showed up unexpectedly.
"Ash!" He called out.
"Uhh…hey Gary, you're back?"
"Clearly." The brown haired researcher laughed. "You need to go to the pokemon centre, don't you?"
"Well yeah, but I was waiting for you to get back." Ash explained. "And Leaf and I had some things to discuss with Tucker so we came back late."
"Never mind that, when you get back…we need to talk." Gary told him.
"Fine." Ash replied as he held out Infernape's pokeball. "Return!"
The raven haired trainer put the pokeball away, his faithful electric rodent Pikachu jumped up on his shoulders as he sprinted off towards the Olivine City pokemon centre. The breeder with the perpetually shut eyes and the future researcher returned to the house right after.
"So Gary, which pokemon are you using against Brendan for the third place match?" Brock asked.
His question was met with a shrug. "Beats me. I'll figure it out after I get my training done tomorrow."
"And that bit of info about Ash and Leaf this morning, nice!" He said with a surprisingly large smile on his face.
"No problem."
Back inside, Dawn sat in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn next to her. He seemed intently focused on the current commercial as Gary and Brock entered.
"Guys!" She turned around. "They say there's gonna be a special guest in the finals."
Rayquaza45: So there you have it, the end of the 15th chapter and more to come. Please, please, please review now that the chapter is done! The more reviews I get, the faster you get the next chapter!
Next time: Chapter 16: Difficult Acceptances
Brendan and May have a conversation about themselves and discover what they really mean to each other. Meanwhile, Leaf has read the Olivine City newspapers, and she's not happy about it. And you won't like her when she's angry. And just who is this special guest?
Till next time!