Rayquaza45: Hi there , I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I have my reasons and don't worry, it had nothing to do with reviews this time. But now the chapter is here, so please read and review :)
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.
Chapter 17: Before The Night Is Through
The two days since the semi finals had come and gone like a visit from your favorite relatives. Now, at 1:00pm, in the Battle Tower of Olivine City, Ash Ketchum, Leaf Green, Brock , Dawn and May sat in the audience stands above the battle ground on the 60th floor, ready to witness the battle for third place in the Battle Spirits Tournament commence.
The battling trainers, Brendan Birch and Gary Oak, also happened to be the boyfriends of Dawn and May, irrespectively.
As the acting referee for the match, Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier entered the referee podium on the field below the audience. The instant he came out, the multi-positioned cameras caught his entrance from every possible angle, eliciting cheers from the crowd as he looked up, confused until he saw the cameras and smiled, simply waving to the audience.
"Welcome, one and all!" He shouted into the microphone with his right hand waving in the air. "To the third place battle!"
Once again, the crowd began cheering and, for the first time in the tournament, comically throwing in various items which can only be described as 'inappropriate' for a televised event. Tucker immediately began putting up his arms over his head and started pleading for them to stop immediately. The inappropriate actions did stop and the laughs died down as Tucker spoke.
"We've been on a long and winding road, my friends." He said. "We've seen some great battlers and some not-so-great battlers. But we still have a ways to go so without further ado…will the red trainer, Brendan Birch, please enter the arena."
Heeding the call, Brendan Birch of the Hoenn region exited the red preparation room, slamming the doors behind him and creating an echoing noise throughout the area. Taking his position on the field, he stared up at the crowds, looking for May.
"And now…will our other third place finalist, the green trainer, Gary Oak, please enter the arena." Tucker called out.
As expected, Gary Oak of Pallet Town left the green preparation room immediately and took his place on the field across from Brendan, staring down his opponent. Neither of them said anything to the other as the audience looked on in silence.
"The tension can be cut with a knife." Brock commented.
Leaf looked at the two on the field and over her shoulder. "It's as quiet in here as it's ever been."
"All the better to enjoy the match." Ash added.
"As you know, this match is a one-on-one battle and each trainer is only allowed the use of one pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Both trainers are to choose their pokemon at the same time! Now!"
With almost ninja-like speed, Brendan and Gary took out a luxury ball and a pokeball respectively and tossed them into the air. From the luxury ball came Brendan's Aggron, the iron armour pokemon. From Gary's pokeball came his Golem, the megaton pokemon.
"Now then, both trainers have chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced as he raised his right hand high in the air and lowered it with extreme speed. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Aag!" "Gol!" The two pokemon shouted as they charged in on each other. With colossal force, Aggron and Golem butted heads with one another and began their battle for supremacy. With their legs firmly planted in the ground, Aggron and Golem began pushing harder and harder, trying to force the other one down. But with its larger size and pointed horns, the iron armour pokemon managed to push back the megaton pokemon quite easily.
"Aggron, use head smash!" Brendan ordered.
"Golem, rollout!" Gary commanded.
"Aag…aag." "Lemmm…" The two pokemon shouted as they initiated their attacks. Aggron began running on all fours with its tri-pronged head skimming the ground. Golem retracted its legs, arms and head and rolled itself into a ball shape and began rolling towards the incoming Aggron. As the two pokemon hit one another, Aggron lifted up its head and the ball Golem had rolled itself into was tossed high into the air.
"Golem!" Gary worriedly shouted as he saw his pokemon flying through the air after getting tossed and immediately fall to the ground, making a crater from the impact.
Brendan's Aggron didn't exactly escape unharmed though, since the hardness of Golem's body caused the impact to give the iron armour pokemon ahead ache and resulted in it holding its head as if it were trying to block out all sound.
"I've heard of hard-headed, but…hard-bodied?" Dawn commented.
"Even dynamite can't break Golem's body." Brock stated. "Aggron's lucky to only have a small head ache after a direct collision."
"Still, Aggron isn't exactly a fragile pokemon." Leaf laughed.
"Aggron, get back in there with take down!" Brendan commanded.
"Golem, stop it with rock blast." Gary ordered.
"Goool." The megaton pokemon said as three light blue rings appeared and spun around its body. The rings then began to glow white and turned into glowing white rocks that spun around Golem's body as well. "EM!" Golem shouted as it fired the glowing white rocks at the charging Aggron.
The incoming iron armour pokemon had to run left and right to avoid the incoming rocks. Its large hulking body limited its speed as well and made dodging difficult as the rocks kept coming. When it finally got close enough to Golem, it immediately rammed its head into the megaton pokemon which had run out of rocks to launch. Surprisingly, Aggron was being resisted by its opponent who grabbed onto its horns and held it back as it tried to go forward.
"How foolish." Brendan thought to himself before ordering his attack. "Hyper beam!"
"Gronnnnn!" The iron armour pokemon shouted as it fired a powerful orange beam of energy at the megaton pokemon which was still grabbing onto its horns. The orange beam struck Golem directly in the face and sent the megaton pokemon flying back to the other side of the field with the beam acting as the driving force.
"Golem!" Gary shouted as he saw his pokemon being thrashed for the second time. If he didn't do something fast, he was surely going to lose.
"Brendan sure is as strong as ever." Ash pointed out.
"I guess Gary may not have what it takes to beat him." Brock suggested.
"Don't count him out." Leaf said.
"G…golem." The megaton pokemon grunted as it tried to get off the ground. Despite the resistance of rock-type pokemon to normal-type moves, the point black attack had significantly injured Golem as it was covered in scratches and limped around.
"Golem, we have to keep going!" Gary called out to it. "Use defense curl."
"Gol." The megaton pokemon said as it curled itself up into a ball and began glowing white. It immediately uncurled itself after the glow faded and prepared to face its opponent.
"Use earthquake!" Gary ordered.
"Goool…em!" The megaton pokemon shouted as it jumped in the air and quickly landed. Upon landing, it sent shockwaves through the ground which hit the iron armour pokemon. Aggron wailed in the pain of the powerful ground-type attack as its trainer watched in surprise.
"Aggron, get out of there!" Brendan shouted. "We can attack from another angle."
"Typical." Gary thought to himself. "Golem, rollout!"
"Lemmm…" The megaton pokemon shouted as it retracted its legs, arms and head and curled itself into a ball. The ball of Golem then began rolling quickly towards the stumbling Aggron which had its back turned to it.
"Aggron, use iron tail!" Brendan shouted.
"Aagg…" The iron armour pokemon snarled as its tail took on a silver glow. The rolling megaton pokemon was approaching closer and closer as Aggron spun in a 360 degree angle. "Ron!" It shouted as it flicked its tail at the rolling ball.
"Lem!" The ball of Golem screeched as it passed Aggron's glowing tail and toppled the iron armour pokemon by getting over the incoming tail and landed on Aggron's head. Aggron fell on its back while Golem landed on the tail of the iron armour pokemon and comically slipped as well.
"It's almost like Golem's trying to drag out the fight." Leaf suggested.
"But Aggron clearly wants to win it as fast as it can." Ash stated.
"Just like its trainer." May thought to herself as she looked down at Brendan.
"Aggron! Get up!" "Golem! Get up!" Both trainers called out at the same time. Both pokemon struggled a little to get up as they finally did, they were mere feet from each other and staring the other down.
"Iron tail!" Brendan commanded.
"Magnitude, fast!" Gary ordered.
"Gol!" The megaton pokemon shouted as its body began glowing blue and it jumped into the air. Upon landing, it sent out heavy shockwaves which seemed to hurt Aggron even more than the earthquake from before as it had fallen in pain.
Now with Aggron back on the ground facing up to Golem with an angry look in its eye.
"Now Gary's got Brendan's pokemon on the ground." Ash observed.
"With a super-effective attack, Gary may just win this match." Leaf said.
"Aggron, we didn't come all this way just to get fourth place and nothing to show for it!" Brendan thought to himself as he saw his pokemon on the ground looking up at the opponent. "We need to win this match, here and now!"
"Aaag." The iron armour pokemon grunted as it lay on the ground.
"If I win this match, it'll prove that I still have talent as a battler." Gary thought to himself. "I may not be a trainer anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm letting anyone else take me for a sucker."
"Go…golem." The megaton pokemon said in between its heavy panting.
"Aggron, this is it!" Brendan called out to it. "Use hyper beam!"
"Golem, you use hyper beam too!" Gary commanded.
"Gronnnnn!" "Golemmmmm!" The two pokemon shouted as they fired orange beams of energy from their mouths at one another. Aggron fired its beam upwards at its opponent since it was lying on the ground while Golem's head was looking down while it fired its attack. The two beams of energy collided with one another with extreme force and neither seemed to let up.
"Come on Brendan!" May thought to herself.
"Gary, don't give up." Dawn thought, almost as if she were trying to direct the words towards Gary.
The two pokemon kept firing at one another at point blank range with their beams trying to over power the other. The audience stared on at the amazing display of power while the cameras caught the blasts from the left angles, right angles, above, below and the centre and even behind the back as both pokemon began to weaken.
"Aggron!" Brendan shouted.
"Golem!" Gary shouted.
The two pokemon, hearing their trainer's calls, started roaring louder than ever. Their orange beams of energy became even bigger than before as the force of the two created an explosion, kicking great amounts of dust into the air.
"What's up with that!" Ash called out. "That extra boost."
"Brendan and Gary's determination was felt by their pokemon." Brock stated. "They're trying harder than ever."
"This is the moment that'll decide it all." Leaf added.
Back on the field, Tucker managed to stop coughing as the cloud of dust passed over the referee podium and began to clear over the battle field. The audience was flabbergasted by the sight on the field. Both Aggron and Golem had nearly lost consciousness and were lying on the field both of them struggling to get back to their feet.
"Aggron!" "Golem?" The two battlers called out simultaneously.
"Both of them are down." Brock calmly observed.
"So what next?" Ash thought.
"Well, isn't this surprising?" Tucker commented. "Both Aggron and Golem are down."
The audience started murmuring at Tucker's words. For a minute, it appeared that he was going to declare a draw but then, he held up his microphone as the cameras began focusing on him.
"Because this battle cannot be declared a draw, the first pokemon to rise will be declared the winner." He announced.
"So that's how it is?" Gary asked himself. "Golem!"
"Aggron, this is our last chance!" Brendan shouted.
"Agg." "Gol." The two pokemon grunted as they attempted to overcome their injuries and rise to battle one more time for the sake of their trainers. Aggron's larger body made it more difficult for it to get up while Golem couldn't get up either.
"Aggron, I know I said we didn't come all this way just to get fourth place and nothing to show for it!" Brendan repeated in his head, trying to direct his thoughts at his pokemon. "Even though I don't want you to get hurt, I still say we can win this match!"
"When I was a trainer, I was one of the most overconfident ever." Gary thought to himself. "Golem…you've been with me all the way back to Mt. Moon when you were a Geodude."
"Gary. Never give up." Dawn was thinking, with her hands crossed.
"Give it your all one more time!" Gary shouted. "We may not battle much anymore, but you can always find the will to win!"
"Golemmmmmmmm!" The megaton pokemon screamed in great pride at Gary's words. It managed to stand up almost effortlessly despite struggling just a few moments ago. It looked over at its opponent Aggron and sent a smile at it which was, oddly, not received as a taunt by the iron armour pokemon but rather as an acknowledgement of the battle Aggron had put up. The iron armour pokemon then collapsed back to the ground as its trainer looked on in near absolute horror at what the scene.
"That's how it is." Tucker announced. "Third place in the Battle Spirits Tournament goes to GARY OAK!"
Wild cheers were heard from the crowd, waving ecstatically and whistling like crazy at Gary's victory. Brendan crashed to his knees, knowing that he was now out of the tournament, his pokemon having been beaten and no longer having a shot at a prize.
"I can't believe it." He thought to himself. "I'm…out."
Just then, as he was looking at the ground, a pair of shoes appeared in front of his view. He looked up and noticed Gary looking down at him. The look on his face was not one of pride, but happiness. Happiness that he'd proven himself to be a worthy competitor to someone like Brendan.
"Come on." Gary said to the defeated Hoenn region trainer, extending his hand to him as he was still on the ground.
"You're one strange guy, Gary Oak." Brendan thought to himself as he took Gary's hand and got off the ground, earning the respect and cheers of the crowd.
Dome Ace Tucker, the acting referee of the tournament held up the crowd's cheers for just a minute so he could get in a few words. "That was among the most amazing battles I've ever witnessed in my life." He said. "I expected nothing less from the third place contenders of the Battle Spirits Tournament!"
"It was an awesome match, wasn't it?" Ash shrugged, looking at May and Dawn and their reactions.
"Yeah, those two are gonna be huge in this world one day." Brock said.
"Please join us four days from now for the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament, no doubt it will be very, very interesting!" Tucker said before he placed his microphone back on the stand.
With the audience's heavy applause, Tucker turned around and left the battle field. Gary and Brendan stared up from the ground at the audience circled around them. Whistles, cheers and claps were all audible to the two battlers.
"Let's go back up." Gary said to Brendan.
"I guess you're satisfied with this?" Brendan asked.
"Of course not." Gary laughed as he turned around. "It's gonna be Leaf's job, but I would've loved to kick Ash's butt."
"You'd have loved to try." Brendan thought as he followed his roommate and place holder.
"What did Tucker mean when he said it would be very, very interesting?" Ash asked.
"You don't think he was the one who told the papers about us?" Leaf suggested. "Do you?"
"How exactly would he have found out?" Brock asked them, making both of them stop in their tracks. "Did you even tell him?"
"Why else would he say it was gonna be interesting?" Ash asked.
"Maybe because it's the final battle we've all been waiting for." Brock reasoned. "Anyways, he probably read the papers just like the rest of us when he found out."
"I hope you're right." Ash told him.
Right then, Brendan and Gary approached the group as the rest of the audience was leaving. Dawn and May immediately ran and hugged their boyfriends as Ash, Leaf and Brock looked on. The two battlers who had put on an amazing show for the Battle Spirits Tournament looked at their friends with smiles on their faces as they soon joined up with them and exited the floor.
Back at Leaf's Vacation house, May and Brendan sat on the couch watching TV while everyone else went their own ways. With her boyfriend out of the tournament like her, May was free to spend as much time with him as she wanted which she did by watching TV with him and snuggling while nobody else was near.
Surprisingly, Brendan no longer seemed to be too upset at being out of the tournament.
"I didn't get to win, but I got to have an awesome battle." May recalled him saying to her as they got back to the house a while ago. "That's not exactly winning, but it's the next best thing."
"He's really changed throughout this tournament." May thought to herself. "At first he just wanted to win. Now, just a good match is enough for him."
On the outside training field, it was neither Ash nor Leaf who was there, but Brock with a barbeque grill covered in various meats. He flipped several burgers as his Croagunk brought him a large bag of charcoal.
"Thank you, Croagunk." Brock said to his pokemon as he bent down and took the bag.
"Cro." The toxic mouth pokemon croaked as it turned around and walked over to the corner.
On the second floor of Leaf's vacation house, creaking noises could be heard coming from Dawn's bedroom and one could faintly hear a male voice yelling out in joy.
(The Next Day)
With only three days left till he was supposed to face Leaf, his girlfriend, in the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and his Pikachu got up early in the morning for what was, quite possibly, the first time they ever did.
On the outside training field, Ash and the raring-to-go Pikachu put a large rock in the middle of the field.
"Alright, Pikachu!" Ash called out. "Use volt tackle!"
"-KA!" The electric rodent repeated as its body was covered in yellow electricity and it charged towards the rock. With one jump and tackle, the rock was smashed to smithereens by the attack as Pikachu went back to Ash.
"Pika!" Pikachu cheered.
"Excellent job, Pikachu." Ash told it. "Now I think we should-"
"ASH!" A voice called out from somewhere else, cutting him off.
He couldn't see who was calling him so Pikachu immediately got on his shoulder and the two began looking around.
"People are tryin' to SLEEP in here!" The voice called out again.
"Uhh…yeah…alright." Ash said. "We're going."
"PikaPi?" The electric rodent asked.
"I guess we're disturbing someone." Ash told the mouse on his shoulder as he walked back into the house. "We'll train again in the afternoon."
"Piiiika." The electric rodent begrudgingly agreed.
"Come on." Ash told it. "Let's go eat."
On the inside, Ash and Pikachu ended up having to prepare their own breakfast for the first time since Brock was asleep and the helper pokemon were nowhere to be seen. Ash managed to scrape together bacon and eggs for himself and found a secret storage of pokemon food above the refrigerator to give to Pikachu. Both of them had something to drink after Brendan went crazy yesterday and brought several cases of hard lemonade, which were several cases and nine bottles more than he needed.
"Ash?" A voice asked from behind.
"Huh?" Ash said as he turned around in his chair. Pikachu looked up and they both noticed Leaf wearing her normal clothes looking at them. "Leaf?"
"When did you guys get up?" She asked.
"A while ago." He told her. If she didn't know that they were up, there's no way she could've been the voice that shouted at them outside. "Come on."
"Sure!" She exclaimed as she noticed the bacon and eggs on the stove.
She wasted no time getting a bottle of hard lemonade out of the fridge and on the table and putting some bacon and eggs in a plate. She immediately sat down on a chair next to Ash and began eating.
"Did you actually make this?" Leaf asked him.
"Yeah." Ash said. "How is it?"
"Meh." She shrugged.
"And here I was, thinking you liked me." Ash jokingly said with his eyebrows raised.
Leaf wasted absolutely no time pushing him playfully. "I do like you, you idiot."
"Pika." The electric rodent smiled, as did its trainer who got himself back into place and began eating again.
"You know Ash, we both managed to make the finals." Leaf said while putting the bacon strip in her hand back in her mouth.
"Yeah…I know." Ash said, hanging his head for some reason. "We both managed to keep our promise."
"And now…only one of us can win." Leaf said. "I do wanna win…"
"And I don't exactly want you to lose horribly." Ash said.
"So that's it?" She laughed. "You think you're gonna beat me horribly?"
"Anything's possible." Ash said, in a somewhat unconfident tone.
"PikaPi?"
"I hope you're wrong." Leaf smiled as she cleared the rest of her plate.
Leaf didn't say much to him after that, she just left the plate in the sink, running some water over it as she left the kitchen. Before she left, she looked back and took a look at Ash, who didn't even know she was still there, and Pikachu as she adjusted her hat and went back upstairs.
In the unknown time between the afternoon and the evening, long after everyone was finally awake, Ash had to wait for Leaf to finish her training on the outside field. He, Pikachu, Brendan, Gary and Dawn were on the couch watching TV while Brock and May went out shopping. Brock had scolded Brendan like he'd never scolded anyone before for spending so much money on the hard lemonade even though it was his own money in the first place.
"Are they ever gonna show us who the special guest is?" Brendan said after taking the bottle out of his mouth and gargling.
"Not likely!" Gary said, quickly grabbing the lemonade from Brendan's hand. "How many of these have you had?"
"Like…eight?" He shrugged.
"No wonder Brock wanted to take away all the bottles." Dawn thought to herself. "He's addicted."
Ash paid no attention to the goings on as he kept his head on the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling without a care in the world. There were exactly 493 holes in the ceiling tile that was directly above his head. He wondered when Leaf would finish training so he could go out and train with his pokemon for the upcoming battle.
All of a sudden, a smiling face appeared over his as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. It was Leaf, staring down at him.
"Think of the devil." Ash thought while smiling.
"Feel free to go outside, Ash. I finished my training." She told him.
Ash immediately set his head straight and put his hands on his knees and got up off the couch as Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder. He took a turn around the rest of the gang, blocking Brendan's view of the TV and turned to Leaf.
"Thanks." He smiled at her.
On the outside training field, Ash and Pikachu looked on as Sceptile and Swellow trained together. Swellow job was to hit Sceptile with its wing attack while Sceptile would have to dodge its attacks. For a while, Swellow failed to hit the forest pokemon, who was able to jump high enough over Swellow to avoid the attack.
But then, Swellow started going faster after Sceptile dodged another attack. It made a quick u-turn and ran flew back. Sceptile had been preparing to land and had its back turned while in the air. Flying quickly, Swellow nailed the forest pokemon in the back with its wing attack before it could realize what was going on.
"Tiiiiile!" The forest pokemon screeched as it fell to the ground. With a crash, it had made an imprint of its body in the dirt.
"Sceptile!" Ash called out as he ran to his pokemon with Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Swellow!" The pokemon called out as it landed.
"You're alright, aren't you, Sceptile?" Ash asked as he knelt down to help Sceptile get up.
"Scept." The forest pokemon grunted as it got back to its feet.
"Swellow, that was some serious power." Ash told it. "And you did really well too Sceptile, since you couldn't see the last attack."
"Swellow." "Sceptile." The two pokemon nodded.
"That's it for you two, today." Ash told them as he took out his pokeballs. "Return."
"Pika." The electric rodent said as it saw the two pokemon get covered in a bright red light and return to their pokeballs.
"ASH!" A voice called out to him from the distance.
"Huh?" Ash turned around, noticing Dawn at the entrance to the field. "What is it, Dawn?"
"You've gotta see this!" She told him. "Come inside!"
Pikachu hopped up onto Ash's shoulder as the raven haired trainer ran inside his house. In the living room, he noticed Gary, Dawn and Leaf sitting on the couch, staring intently at the TV. Evidently, May and Brock hadn't finished shopping yet.
"Check this out!" Gary told Ash, point to the TV as he said it.
"For those of you just tuning in, while reporting on the Olivine City lighthouse, we came across Miranda, a girl who participated in the preliminary round of the Battle Spirits Tournament." A television news reporter was saying. "She's been reporting to us about the goings on of the tournament contestants…behind the scenes."
"I've never seen her before." Ash commented.
"That's because she never got to the real battles." Leaf told him. "She was my partner in the first two preliminary rounds."
"Who's that shoulder next to her?" Ash asked as he pointed out what appeared to be someone's shoulder next to Miranda.
"I dunno." Gary said. "Maybe it the person who really got the behind the scenes information?"
"Behind the scenes?" Ash asked. "You don't think…"
"I didn't want to…but look at this."
"So as we know, you reported the juicy news about the two finalists, Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green, who happen to be carrying on a romantic relationship." The reporter said. "How did you come to know about it?"
"Miranda, you did what?" A voice asked from off screen.
"Well a thought came to me during the second preliminary round when I teamed up with Leaf." Miranda told the cameras. "She told me that there was someone tough she had to beat before she could win."
"A tough trainer?" The reporter asked. "So you knew she was talking about Ash Ketchum?"
"Well, after seeing the top 16 battle, I thought she might have been talking about Brendan Birch, since he was so tough." Miranda continued. "But then my boyfriend told me that Ash and Leaf were on a date at the Olivine City lighthouse and then I saw them sitting together in the stands and I knew it for myself."
"So Landon, you told her that?" The reporter asked as the camera shifted to a face that was all too familiar to Leaf and Ash. It revealed that the shoulder was Landon's, Ash's partner from the first two preliminary rounds and the guy they met in the Olivine City lighthouse just before the semi finals.
"Why would you tell everyone that!" He shouted at the girl next to him.
"Landon!" Ash exclaimed.
"He saw them there." Miranda said, patting Landon on the back as it to calm him down. "He said he took them to see Jasmine's Ampharos."
"Landon told his girlfriend and she leaked it!" Leaf exclaimed. "I let that psycho kiss my hand!"
"You did what?" Dawn asked.
"Miranda!" Landon shouted while on TV. "I thought I told you to keep Ash and Leaf's relationship a secret!"
"You didn't keep it a secret." She retorted. "Not from me."
"I never promised to, I was only gonna tell you cause I tell you everything!" He said, the tone of his voice slightly more elevated then before. "But I told you not to tell anyone and now all of Olivine City and probably some other parts of Johto know about those two!"
"Well I…"
"Excuse me, Landon-" The reporter tried to interject before being cut off.
"I can't believe you do something like this!" He started shouting. "It's over!"
And with that, Ash's former partner turned his back to his ex girlfriend and the camera and walked off.
The gang was stunned by what they just saw. Gary was having a hard time holding back his laughter. Dawn kept watching the TV while Ash and Leaf turned to each other. It was clear that Landon didn't want to let everyone know about them, but his girlfriend had spilled the beans even after being told not to. The gang watched on as Landon exited the screen and soon disappeared.
"Getting dumped on TV." Gary laughed. "Now I've seen it all."
Ash started looking around. "Where's Brendan?"
(Several Hours Later)
It was now late in the evening. Ash and Leaf had been trying to get in touch with their former partners to hear the rest of the story, with no luck. Dawn and Gary explained everything to Brock and May, who returned a while later while Brendan turned out to have been upstairs during the whole ordeal. Ash later told him everything.
"That's crazy." Brendan commented.
"Sure is." Ash responded.
(The Next Day)
The early daylight hours had passed by so quickly. Neither Ash, nor Leaf had managed to contact Landon or Miranda yesterday and so planned they spent their day training. With only two days left, preparations had to be made.
It was around 1:00pm as Ash stood on the training field behind his Torterra, who bent its head over and launched a barrage of leaves at the wooden targets hanging from the trees. The powerful razor leaf attack shredded each and every target easily.
"Awesome job, Torterra!" Ash exclaimed. "When Leaf's water pokemon come out, we're gonna be ready!"
"Not quite that easy." A voice called out.
"What?" Ash asked as he turned around and noticed Gary standing behind him. "Gary?"
"If you think you can beat Leaf the way you beat Brendan, you're wrong." The future researcher told him.
"What are you talking about?" Ash accusatorially asked him.
"You beat Brendan because you were able to take the types of your pokemon into account and block Brendan's power." Gary told him. "But Leaf's gonna be a different story."
"Care to explain how?" Ash asked.
"You can't rely on pokemon types to win since Leaf can overcome that kind of disadvantage." Gary explained. "And she's pretty good at using type advantages as well."
He wasn't exactly wrong. Gary's Scizor lost to her Froslass even though it had a type advantage. Ash now had to rethink some parts of his strategy. He couldn't exactly avoid favorable match-ups for himself, but he needed backup plans in case they fail.
"I guess you're right." Ash admitted. "But how do I win without that kind of match up?"
"You're allowed to substitute pokemon in this round, use it to your advantage." Gary told him. "Remember the Silver Conference."
How could he forget? His Charizard defeated Gary's Scizor, Golem and Blastoise in a row. He beat three pokemon, two of which had an advantage against him. Was that was Gary had been referring to? He needs to use an intelligent strategy?
"Yeah." Ash curtly nodded. "I remember it."
"Me too." Gary smiled. "So keep it in mind when you're training, it'll do you some good."
"…Thanks, Gary." Ash smiled.
"Anytime, Ash." He responded. "But just one more thing, don't pull stupid stunts."
"Stunt?" Ash asked aloud before remembering what Tucker had told him. "I can't believe I forgot!"
Back inside, May, Dawn and Brendan watched the repeat telecast of the battle between Gary's Golem and Brendan's Aggron from two days ago. As much as he'd enjoyed the battle, losing and getting stuck in fourth place wasn't something he had expected, but as he kept telling himself, fourth place is better than losing in the preliminary rounds. He sat with his left arm behind his head, chugging the bottle of lemonade he held in his right hand. Neither girl paid attention to him before seeing it.
"Didn't Brock take away all your bottles?" Dawn asked.
"He's gonna have to be a lot quicker on his feet to pull one over Brendan Birch!" The Hoenn region trainer exclaimed.
"And here I thought he was changing." May sarcastically thought to herself.
"So where did you hide them?" Dawn asked.
"They're hidden all over the place." Brendan laughed. "In the living room, the kitchen, the showers-"
"They aren't in the showers!" May shouted.
Upstairs, Leaf Green was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. One would think she was contemplating her strategy for defeating Ash in the finals, but something else was going through her mind. As she let out a sigh, the door to her room opened and a figure with spiky hair stood there.
"Gary?" She asked as she lifted her head up and saw the future researcher standing at the door.
"What's wrong?" Gary asked her. "You're usually training at this time."
"It's nothing." She said, putting her head back down. "I think I'll just let Ash go now and I'll do it later."
"You know…I was really surprised when I heard you'd given up your journey back in Kanto." Gary told her as he took a seat at the end of her bed..
She seemed surprised. "How'd you...oh…your grandfather I guess."
"Yeah." He nodded. "Why'd you do it?"
"My battles in Fuchsia City, Saffron City and Cinnabar Island were disasters." Leaf revealed. "I thought I didn't have what it takes."
"Disasters? But you competed in the Indigo League that year." Gary wondered. "I mean, Ash said he didn't see you, but I ran into you after the top 32 round."
"They were disasters because I couldn't get my head in it." She explained. "It took me three tries to win the soul badge and three tries to win the volcano badge."
"Well what about the marsh badge in Saffron City?" Gary asked.
"That witch-of-a-gym-leader turned me into a doll for losing the first time around." Leaf said, her voice getting slightly angrier. "I had to convince her to give me another chance and when she did, I had to go get some bug-type pokemon"
"Come on." Gary said while laughing and inciting Leaf's rage. "Turning people into dolls isn't possible."
"So I take it you didn't lose?" She asked.
"I was something of a hot shot trainer back then." He laughed. "I even had my own cheerleaders."
"I remember those freaks." She laughed.
"Hey, they weren't freaks." Gary sarcastically told her. "They were the closest things I had to girlfriends!"
"How sad."
"Well then, what made you get back into the game?" He asked.
"I just got tired of doing nothing and decided to go all the way." She revealed. "I got the rest of the badges by some stroke of luck and made it to the final 32 at the Indigo Plateau."
"Who'd you lose to?" Gary asked.
"Some nobody, I can't even remember his name, but he was some king of geek with a Pikachu like Ash's." Leaf explained. "After that, I went to Hoenn and started working even harder and I made it to second place in the Ever Grande Conference."
"Pretty impressive." Gary smiled. "I think Ash only ever made the top 8 there."
On the outside training field, since Leaf was not using it at her regular time, Ash and Pikachu took the opportunity to get their training done. Ash placed a rock in the middle of the field and stood at a distance as Pikachu got itself psyched.
"Ready, Pikachu?" Ash called out as Pikachu began running towards the rock. "Use iron tail!"
"Chuuu…" The electric rodent shouted as it jumped up in the air and turned its body in a 360 degree angle as its tail began to glow. It immediately shouted once more and smashed the rock to pieces. "Pika!"
"We're gonna run out of rocks at this rate." He thought to himself as he saw the rubble on the ground where Pikachu stood. "Good job, Pikachu."
"Pi-Ka." Ash's pokemon smiled.
(Several Hours Later)
At around 7:00pm that day, it had already gotten quite dark as Ash and Pikachu stood in the kitchen of Leaf's vacation house, struggling to look through the window which was the overseeing training field everyone used. Outside, Leaf and her Venusaur were practicing their moves, with Leaf standing a good distance behind her pokemon.
"Earthquake!" One could hear Leaf loudly shout even from inside.
The seed pokemon's immense legs allowed it to jump a few feet into the air and land with a heavy bang, sending shockwaves across the field and obliterating the grass in the distance. Ash and Pikachu looked through the window at the amazing display of power they'd just seen.
"That was one of the strongest earthquakes I've ever seen." Ash said in amazement.
"Pika." The electric rodent agreed in amazement.
In the living room, May and Brock were watching TV as Brendan ran downstairs in a fit. He wasn't wearing his hat, his hair was extremely messy and he was carrying a bottle of his hard lemonade.
"Did you guys hear that?" He asked as he finally descended the stairs, almost tripping over the last one and nearly dropping his lemonade bottle.
"Did we hear what, Brendan?" May asked.
"That sound!" He exclaimed. "It sounded like a tree crushing a car."
"We don't have cars." Brock said.
"Well yeah, we don't." Brendan said, rolling his eyes. "But what was it."
"I think Leaf is practicing outside." May told him.
"W…wow." Brendan came out. "She seems even stronger than she was when she fought Gary."
"She's actually been practicing a whole lot." Brock explained. "So has Ash. They're both really psyched for the finals."
"That goes without saying." Brendan sarcastically laughed as he exited the house, chugging on his lemonade bottle.
"Brendan!" Brock shouted as he noticed the bottle of citrus.
Outside to the left of the front door to Leaf's vacation house was a dirt road leading into the main centre of Olivine City and the Battle Tower. Directly in front of it was a small hill the lead downwards. If you weren't careful when exiting the house, you'd fall.
Brendan sat down in the middle of the hill, his arms in back supporting him to make sure he wasn't going to fall down as he looked up at the night sky and saw the full moon reflecting off the ocean, just as it did three years ago.
(Littleroot Town, Hoenn Region)
(Three Years Ago)
A young boy by the name of Brendan Birch slept in his bed till around 11:30am. Normally he'd make himself get up early but today was different. It was his 10th birthday.
His father, Hoenn's leading pokemon researcher, Professor Birch had promised to let Brendan have his very first pokemon at noon on that day. He could choose from the selection available: a grass-type named Treecko, a fire-type named Torchic or the water-type named Mudkip. As he finally woke up at around 11:40am, he stretched his arms as he yawned and got out of bed.
He was quick to get himself cleaned up and dressed after he got up. He quickly grabbed a bottle of milk off the table and rushed out the door of his house.
His father lab was down the dirt road from his house and he was a pretty fast runner. He made it to the lab with time to spare as he barged in at 11:55am, getting the attention of the lab assistant.
"Good morning, Brendan." The assistant greeted him.
"Good morning, Igor." Brendan replied. "Is my father here?"
"He's in the back getting ready." Igor told him. "Today's the big day. Happy birthday, Brendan."
"Thanks, Igor." Brendan said as he saw his father enter the room with three pokeballs in his hands.
"Brendan, you're a little early, aren't you?" His father asked.
"Good morning to you too, dad." Brendan laughed.
"Oh…yeah." The forgetful professor laughed. "Good morning and happy birthday, Brendan."
"Thanks dad."
"Professor, I think you son is eager to have his first pokemon." Igor suggested.
"Of course." The professor said, putting two pokeballs on a nearby table and throwing one into the air. The red light that emerged from the opened pokeball turned into a small, green gecko-like creature with large yellow eyes.
"This one is Treecko, the grass-type." Professor Birch explained as he took another pokeball off the table and opened it.
This time, the red light that came from it turned into a small, orange chicken-lick creature with thin feet and a beak.
"This one is Torchic, the fire-type." Brendan's father said as he took the final pokeball off the table and opened it.
The pokemon that came from it this time was a blue, guppy-like creature. It had a fin on its head and was just a bit smaller than the other two choices.
"This is Mudkip, the water-type." The professor said. "These three are the starter pokemon available in the Hoenn region."
Brendan carefully looked over the three of them. This particular Treecko looked like it was bored while the Torchic honestly didn't look very impressive. Mudkip looked directly at Brendan, which resulted in a staring contest between the two which Brendan lost almost immediately as he soon went up to see Mudkip closer.
"Dad, what do they evolve into?" Brendan asked as he stood next to it.
"Well, first they evolve into Grovyle, Combusken and Marshtomp and then they become a Sceptile, Blaziken and Swampert." The professor explained.
"So are they always just one elemental type of pokemon?" He asked.
"You see, when Torchic becomes Combusken it becomes part fighting-type and when Mudkip becomes Marshtomp, it becomes part ground-type as well." Professor Birch told him. "But Treecko will remain a grass-type as it evolves into Grovyle and Sceptile."
"A ground-type and a water-type in one." Brendan thought to himself. "That'd be almost invincible."
Fighting-type pokemon were strong, sure, but they had a lot of weaknesses. Ground-types were immune to electricity and the water-type could cover their weakness to ice-types. The only remaining problem would be grass-types and they could always work on that. One final look into Mudkip's eyes was all he needed to be sure of his choice.
"Dad. I choose Mudkip." Brendan proudly stated.
"Mudkip is a fine choice, Brendan." Igor said as he handed the professor some items.
"Brendan, come here." Professor Birch told his son who listened and approached him. "Being a trainer takes dedication, hard work, intelligence and above all, you need to treat your pokemon well."
"Yes, dad."
"I know you'll be an excellent trainer one day, son." The professor said as he game Brendan five pokeballs, a pokedex and a bag which seemed to be heavily wrapped. "Congratulations Brendan, your life with pokemon begins now."
"Mudkip!" The mud fish pokemon cheered.
(Ten Hours Later)
It was now 10:00pm that same day. Brendan had already managed to somehow make it to Oldale Town wearing the new shoes which happened to be in the bag given to him. They were a special pair of running shoes made by the Devon Corporation and allowed him to run, jump and glide on the ground at exceptional speeds as his faithful Mudkip followed him.
Mudkip was proving to be a very energetic and proud pokemon, celebrating whenever it won a battle, though it had only fought once that day. Still, it listened to Brendan's commands without hesitation and walked next to him as they walked along the Oldale River at night, they were the only ones in the vicinity.
"Mudkip, I think we should get a room at the pokemon centre for tonight." Brendan told it.
"Mud." The mud fish pokemon nodded in agreement.
"I think there's one where his river ends." Brendan said as he looked to his left and saw the Oldale River stretch out ahead of him and lead to the oceans surrounding Hoenn. "Let's go!"
As Brendan and Mudkip ran further down the path, the river started widening as it got closer to the oceans and they got closer to the pokemon centre. At a point where the pokemon centre was now in sight and the river met the ocean, Brendan and Mudkip ran the final leg of their journeys first day.
All of a sudden, Brendan noticed that ripples were developing in the river. He and Mudkip turned to see what was going on as a series of large waves were sent through the river and just over the wave; one could see a blue fin.
The waves soon dissipated and just as he and the mud fish pokemon were about to turn away, something caught their attention.
Out of the area in the ocean where the wave dissipated, a very large blue whale-like pokemon with red markings on its side fins was jumping out of the water and into the night sky like a dolphin.
"Is that what I think it is?" Brendan asked his Mudkip.
"Mud!" The mud fish pokemon exclaimed.
The large blue pokemon descended back into the ocean after it had reached the height of its jump, leaving Brendan and Mudkip looking on in amazement at the moon reflecting off the ocean, knowing that beneath it was resting a legendary pokemon.
"Kyogre." Brendan said, almost as if he were in a trance.
(Outside Leaf's Vacation House, Olivine City)
(Present Day)
"It was just over three years ago." Brendan was thinking to himself. "I can't believe how much everything's changed since then."
As the Hoenn region trainer looked up at the night sky and its reflection in the oceans surrounding Olivine City, he realized that it was identical to that same night he saw the legendary pokemon.
Thinking back to those days reminded him of how much he'd changed with his accomplishments, Battle Tower records, wins and…meeting May but also of how much he had to grow.
"This competition is just one of the many." Brendan thought to himself.
Thinking those thoughts, he got up and scooped a small, round rock into his hand. Pulling his rock-holding hand back, he suddenly jerked it forward and let the rock go and travel what appeared to be a mile till ripple waves were made in the distant water surrounding Olivine as the rock landed in the ocean and sunk to the depths.
He then turned around and looked up at the moon which appeared to be directly over Leaf's vacation house and smiled before going inside; know knowing his future plans and what he was meant to do.
"My life's like the night and before it's through, I will be a winner."
Rayquaza45: So...that last line sucks. Also, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I had my reasons. But I really hope you guys liked it and so whether you did or didn't, please review and tell me what you liked or what you didn't and let me know how I can improve. Please :)
Next time: Chapter 18: Leaf Green and Fire...Ash!
The finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament begin. Ash and Leaf, boyfriend and girlfriend, forced to do battle. What will the outcome be?
Stay tuned! Remember to review :)