Rayquaza45: Hello there, readers! Sorry to have kept you waiting. Though it hasn't been as long as my last massive break, I am a bit later than I'd have liked so I apologize. But anyways, chapter 19 is now here! I really hope you guys like it and so far, it is the longest chapter.
Leaf's really been handing it to Ash in the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament. What has he been doing wrong? Maybe an old opponent has something to say.
Thanks to Gerbilftw for being the beta reader.
So please read and review! We only have a few chapters left and then it's all over!
Let's get on with it!
Chapter 19: The Advent of Ash's Comeback
"Darn it!" Ash Ketchum furiously shouted as he smashed his fists onto his knees in frustration, his head hanging low in anger and frustration.
"Pika?" The electric rodent next to him asked as it lightly tugged his shirt.
"Stop it, Pikachu…please." He requested as his eyes were clamped shut.
He was down three pokémon while Leaf had only lost one. His Infernape managed to put up a good battle against Leaf's Froslass but was overpowered by it in the end, despite its type advantage. Then his Swellow managed to hit Froslass but Leaf recalled it and sent out her sixth pokémon which she hadn't revealed so far, her Fearow that she coincidentally caught in the area outside Pallet Town. After an impressive battle in the air against said Fearow, Swellow was knocked. Then it was Torterra's turn and even with the disadvantage, it managed to hit Fearow out of pure luck. Then Fearow was recalled and Leaf's Dusknoir, which had recently learned ice punch, was sent out. Eventually, Torterra and Dusknoir were both knocked out at the same time and the match was called for a break since Ash had lost three of his pokémon. The fact that all these defeats were shown on the field camera screens from multiple angles made the experience even more humiliating.
"Why is this happening?" He asked himself. "I trained like never before. I worked harder than I can remember!"
The idea that he was losing this badly was a serious blow to the Pallet Town trainer. This was going to be his biggest victory so far and yet he couldn't seem to get the edge. He'd developed new strategies, tried new methods and even placed himself at a disadvantage to mimic and intimidate Leaf. He was sure his pokémon had become stronger, so why couldn't he win?
All of a sudden, Ash heard a knock on his preparation room door and got up to check it out. When he opened it, he expected to see May, Brock, Gary or another of his friend but the person who was standing there was someone he hadn't seen in quite a while and wasn't someone he had expected to see any time soon, giving him a surprise.
"Lucas?" Ash asked in confusion.
"Hi there, Ash." Lucas replied.
It had been a long time since Ash had seen his old opponent from the top 8 round. They'd first met after the preliminaries and they had ended up battling in the top 8 round after both got past the top 16. After he won that battle, he proceeded to shake Lucas' hand but the loser ended up running away as Ash looked on in confusion. For some reason, he was now back.
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked.
"Pika?" The electric rodent asked.
"I've been watching you match with Leaf." Lucas told him. "You're really losing it, you know?"
The two of them just stared at one another for a few moments. Did he just come here to say that? How pointless.
"What is it you want, Lucas?" Ash asked point blank. "You ran away from me after you lost and now you show up here of all places, at this of all times?"
"You're right." Lucas said, not defending himself but submitting to Ash's words. "I was just being a sore loser when I lost but I'm over that. I just wanted to make a final peace with you before this tournament was over."
"You may have been a poor sport, but I don't hate you for it." The raven haired trainer explained.
"Well that's good to know." Lucas chuckled. "But better be safe than sorry. I wanted to clear it out of my head or it was gonna keep eating me for a long time."
"Understandable."
"I'm sorry if you got a bad impression of my after I ran away like that, I didn't mean to offend you or anything by refusing to shake your hand." Lucas stated. "I was just really distraught. I've lost before, but never when someone I liked was watching."
"Liked?" Ash asked. "Do you….?"
"Pikaka?" Pikachu asked.
"Is it that obvious?" He asked with a slight chuckle. "After she saw me lose, I felt pretty humiliated. Just like anyone else, I was aiming for the top."
"Well…I guess having the person you like seeing you lose would be pretty devastating." Ash admitted.
"Yeah, so that's basically why I ran away." Lucas said. "But then I started thinking about the battle itself and you. I realized that when I was just concentrating on the battle, I was actually having fun. You gave me that and then I went and ran away from you. It was just plain wrong."
"Well, I'd have to agree with you there." Ash told him.
"So Ash, I'm sorry about that." Lucas told him. "Can we just forget about that?"
"Yes." Ash smiled for once since the end of the round. "Let's let bygones be bygones."
"But I also came here because I wanted to talk to you about your match." Lucas added.
"My match?"
"I was watching your match and I've been thinking that you've lost that spark you had at the beginning of the tournament." Lucas explained. "The one that helped you get past the preliminaries, win against me and trounce Brendan."
"What are you talking about?" Ash asked him, his eyes narrowing in curiosity.
"When you were battling Leaf, you were overreacting to everything." Lucas said. "I know we don't know each other that well, but I can tell that that's not you."
"Overreacting?"
"Pi?"
"You were giving yourself a disadvantage just to prove that you can handle it." Lucas started. "Using a flying-type against an ice-type? Not exactly a move I would recommend."
"Spare me the sarcasm and go on." Ash told him.
"Well, Leaf switched Frosslass for Fearow and beat Swellow in an aerial battle." Lucas reminded him. "But Swellow could've been the winner because of its superior speed. You got deranged and angry, always going in for the attack. That's why you lost, Swellow was left wide open, and especially after Froslass hit it, it was more vulnerable."
At first, the statement seemed somewhat odd but once considering it a bit deeper, Ash began to realize the truth of Lucas' words. He was being rash, much more than usual. Remembering how many times in the past he had lost battles due to his overconfidence or rash actions, Ash finally started thinking a bit more clearly about the situation and what needed to be done.
"I guess…you could be right." The raven haired trainer admitted.
"You seem to be a trainer who prefers fast pokémon so you can conduct quick hits." Lucas said. "It's a strategy that's gotten you this far."
"You're right…" Ash agreed. "It has."
"Why not just have faith in your own style of battle?" Lucas asked. "As long as your bond with your pokémon is strong, there's nothing you can't do."
"You know, you're a lot smarter than you look, Lucas." Ash told him as he looked at the clock on his wall. "I think it's time."
"Go out there and win it all, Ash." Lucas told him. "I believe you can do it."
"Thank you, Lucas." Ash said, holding his hand out.
"Anytime, champ." He responded as he took the extended hand and shook it.
"For now, it's Champ-to-be." Ash jokingly corrected him.
"Pikachu!" The faithful electric rodent cheered at the sight.
Within a matter of minutes, Ash had gotten his items together and was ready to fight to attain the title of Battle Spirits Tournament Champion. With his pokéballs on his belt, hat on his head and Pikachu on his shoulder, he made his way to the field as the door to the green preparation room opened and allowed him to hear the crowd jeer at his return, as they had been doing since he performed his stunt.
"Man this crowd is unforgiving." Ash cursed under his breath.
Meanwhile, up in the stands were Ash's friends who sat together as they watched the match.
"He's finally back." Dawn exclaimed.
"Is it just me or is he looking a lot better than he did when he'd left." Brock asked aloud.
"I guess he's finally come to terms with himself." May stated.
"It's in the realm of possibility." Brendan acknowledged.
"Whatever happened, he's back." Gary said. "Now he's sure to put on a good match."
On the other side of the field, Ash noticed that Leaf was already there, standing in full confidence and smiling at her opponent/boyfriend.
"Welcome back, Ash." She called to him.
"Great to be here." He sarcastically replied.
Just when the crowd finally settled down, Johto Champion Lance, the acting referee of the battle, took his microphone and ordered the cameras to start up. In a flash, the cameras around the edge of the arena were showing every angle of the battlefield as the two trainers faced off.
"Welcome back to the finals of the BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT!" Lance exclaimed with enthusiasm, eliciting cheers from the audience. "Our intermission is over and we now take you back to the match!"
"Feel free to surrender, baby." Leaf tauntingly suggested to Ash.
"Not happening, Leaf." Ash slyly laughed, shaking his head. "Now it's my turn to take charge of this match."
"Because the previous battle ended in a draw with both pokémon, both trainers will be releasing a new pokémon at the same time." Lance announced. "So are both trainers ready to begin?"
"Yep."
"Yeah."
"Alright then." Lance said. "Both trainers shall now release their pokémon!"
"Go!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokéball.
"It's your turn!" Ash called out as he threw his own pokéball.
On Leaf's side came her Milotic, the tender pokémon from Hoenn. Having most recently been used against Gary in the semifinals, the tender pokémon looked ready to go.
On Ash's side was his Sceptile, the fully evolved grass-type starter from Hoenn, also known as the forest pokémon. Sceptile had been with Ash's team since he arrived from Pallet Town and had taken part in the semifinal round of the tournament against Brendan.
The cameras around the field showed the two pokémon staring the other down from different angles, ready to battle.
"Both trainers have now selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"
"Milotic, use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Sceptile, leaf storm!" The raven haired trainer ordered.
"Miiiii!" "Tor!" The tender pokémon whaled as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and quickly broke off into several smaller beams. Sceptile's leaves were all blocked in the air and created a cloud of dust from the explosion.
All of a sudden, the dust cleared up as a Sceptile held out its green blade and zoomed through at an amazing speed such that Leaf didn't notice at first. The blade hit the unaware Milotic square in the chest, knocking it down and dissipating upon contact.
"What the heck was that?" Leaf cursed as she looked at a smiling Ash Ketchum on the other side of the field.
"That was Sceptile's leaf blade attack." Ash proudly stated.
"Scept!" The forest pokémon proudly exclaimed.
"Did you see the power of that move?" Dawn asked around.
"It was pretty intense!" May added.
Gary nodded in agreement. "This is just gonna get better."
"Nice strategy, using the dust as a cover for your attack." Leaf admitted. "But it isn't gonna work again."
"Milo!" Leaf's pokémon screeched as it rose from the ground, in support of its trainer's words.
"Time for hydro pump!" Leaf exclaimed.
"Miloooo!" The tender pokémon shouted as it unleashed a powerful stream of water from its mouth at Sceptile.
"Sceptile, leaf storm!" Ash commanded.
"Scep…tile!" The forest pokémon bellowed as seeds on its back started to glow light green and released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from them towards the incoming hydro pump.
The leaf storm was able to pierce the stream and thus showed its power by sending many of the leaves right through the hydro pump, cutting Milotic while only suffering a minor drench itself.
"Use, leaf blade!" Ash commanded.
"Milotic, water gun!" Leaf ordered.
"Miloooo!" "Scept!" The two pokémon shouted at the same time as they unleashed their attacks.
Sceptile's light green energy blade met with the end of Milotic's water gun stream and collided with it in midair for a moment as the forest pokémon began pushing against it to overpower it. The water gun pushed back equally hard and the two attacks were locked in a stalemate for a few moments until, on Sceptile's direction, the leaf blade managed to direct the water upwards and create an opening.
The forest pokémon jumped into the air and with its green leaf blade, pierced through the water gun eventually, due in part to its natural elemental advantage, overpowered it.
"Excellent!" Ash exclaimed as the leaf blade caused the water gun to dissipate and nailed the tender pokémon in the chest and knocked down to the ground.
"I can't believe this." Leaf cursed. "He's battling in a totally different way from before!"
"Sceptile, let's end this with another leaf blade!" Ash shouted
"Scept!" The forest pokémon bellowed as its arm blades began glowing green with energy as it ran at its opponent.
"Milotic, ice beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Milo…tiiiiiiiic!" The tender pokémon screeched as it formed a blue ball in front of its face which then broke off into several blue beams and made contact with the leaf blade.
"Don't let up, Sceptile!" Ash called out.
"Scept…!" "Milooo…!" The two pokémon shouted as their attacks clashed as they met and attempted to bypass or overpower the other.
The battle went on as such for several moments, but it was painfully obvious that Sceptile was being outmatched this time since ice has a natural advantage over grass. Though the forest pokémon tried as hard as it could, it could not make the leaf blade pierce the ice beam while Milotic simply waited for an opportunity
"Finish this!" Leaf ordered her pokémon.
With that, Milotic put even more power into its ice beam and slowly overpowered the leaf blade. As the blue jets raced towards Sceptile, the raven haired trainer made a frantic call.
"Sceptile, get out of the way!" He shouted.
But his words went to waste as Sceptile was frozen over by the tender pokémon's attack while Milotic slithered in place.
"Hit it with hydro pump!" Leaf commanded.
"Miloooo!" The tender pokémon shouted as it unleashed a powerful jet of water at the frozen Sceptile. The block of ice encasing Ash's pokémon was shattered instantly and fell to the ground while the water sprayed Sceptile in the face for a few more moments until it ran out.
The entire audience was silent as Sceptile did not move for a minute. It could be seen struggling to stand in one spot and looked like it may have been knocked down for the count.
But true to its determination, Sceptile managed to stand back up and raised both its arms.
"No sweat!" The raven haired trainer assured his pokémon. "We're still in this!"
"Sceptile!" The fully evolved grass-type starter from Hoenn exclaimed as it got back to its feet.
"Solar beam!" He called out.
"Scept." The forest pokémon shouted as it firmly planted its feet into the ground, kicking up dust as it began sucking in energy from the open roof into its tail. Little by little, particles entered Sceptile's body as it prepared to fire its attack. Finally, its tail turned white.
"Well this is gonna be unfortunate for him…" Leaf thought before ordering another attack. "Ice beam!"
"Sceptile, now!" Ash commanded.
"Sceeee!" "Milo…tiiiiiiiic!" The two pokémon shouted as they unleashed their attacks. The blue beams of ice from Milotic were blocked mid-way by the bright yellow attack. The collision immediately created a dust cloud which left both pokémon invisible to the other and blocked their view from the cameras.
"We're breaking through!" He exclaimed. "Sceptile, bullet seed!"
"Sceptiiii…" The fully evolved grass type starter from Hoenn shouted as it shot many glowing yellow seeds from its mouth at the cloud of dust at a high velocity, shredding it like cheese and exposing the vulnerable tender pokémon.
"Gotta end this." Ash said. "Sceptile, time for leaf storm!"
"Scept!" The forest pokémon shouted as the seeds on its back began to glow white and it released a barrage of light green glowing leaves from all around at the tender pokémon. The leaves ripped through the air like a knife to paper and hit the unsuspecting Milotic on the other side.
"Miii!" The tender pokémon whaled in pain as Sceptile's leaves struck its body like sharp blades.
"Milotic!" Leaf exclaimed.
"Milo…mi…" The tender pokémon blurted as the attack stopper just as it hit the ground, unconscious.
"Milotic is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokémon!"
"Thank you for your hard work, Milotic." Leaf said as she recalled her pokémon back into its pokéball and took out another one.
"So now Ash has three pokémon left and Leaf has four." Brock reviewed. "Looks like Ash is beginning to turn this around."
"It's still a long way to the end so let's not count Leaf out yet." Gary suggested.
"She probably has some more tricks up her sleeve." Brendan said. "Ash still needs to keep his guard up."
"Go get 'em!" Leaf shouted as she threw her next pokéball into the air.
The pokéball opened in mid-air and released a flash of red light which turned into a lady-like pokémon made of ice. "Froslass."
"Hmm, Froslass is back." The raven haired trainer reviewed in his head. "I'll have to keep on my toes with this one."
"The red trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"
"Sceptile, let's go for it right now with leaf blade!" The green trainer shouted.
"Sceeeep!" The forest pokémon hollered as the four leaves on its wrists began to glow light green and formed into two. Sceptile then ran up to its opponent and prepared to slice it into two.
"Fros?" Leaf's pokémon probed in confusion.
"Scept!" Sceptile shouted as it ran and slammed its glowing blade into the snow land pokémon, knocking it back several dozen feet as it glided along the ground from the force, occasionally bumping into the ground and getting back in the air.
"Froslass!" The red trainer shouted as she saw get pokémon being knocked across the field by the forest pokémon.
"Grass-type moves aren't strong against ice-type pokémon but that's gotta hurt." Ash commented as Froslass landed on the other side of the field and struggled to get back up.
"Come on Froslass, let's get back in this." Leaf encouraged her pokémon. "We won't lose this battle, here."
"Sceptile, bullet seed!" Ash shouted.
"Froslass, ice beam!" Leaf ordered.
"Sceeeee!" The forest pokémon bellowed as it started shooting many glowing yellow seeds from its mouth at its opponent at a high velocity.
"Frossssss!" The snow land pokémon screeched as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth broke off into several small blue beams which hit the incoming bullet seeds and created a dust cloud around the field.
"You know what to do, Sceptile." Ash told it.
Meanwhile, Leaf was unable to see anything past her half of the field while Froslass hovered in place, waiting for the cloud to clear up.
"Fro?" The snow land pokémon inquired as it noticed a figure moving in the foreground.
"What is it, Froslass?" Leaf asked.
"Fro!"
As the smoke cleared a bit, both Leaf and Froslass could see a pokémon crouching down in front of Froslass. It was Sceptile and it was now only a few feet from where Froslass was and was holding up its green leaf blade, obviously preparing to strike.
"Now, Sceptile!" The raven haired trainer shouted from across the field.
Immediately, Sceptile jumped at its opponent and nailed it in the stomach with the leaf blade at point blank range, hitting the snow land pokémon in the mid-section and sending it flying.
As Froslass flew backwards, it crashed into the field, dragging the ground back with it.
"Frooo!" The snow land pokémon shouted as it wreathed in pain.
"Sceptile, solar beam!" Ash commanded.
"Scepppppp!" The forest pokémon muttered as it began collecting energy in its tail from the open roof.
"Ice beam!" Leaf ordered.
"Sceptiiiiile!" The forest pokémon shouted as it fired a white beam from its mouth at its opponent.
"Froo" The snow land pokémon screeched as its blue beams hit the incoming solar beam and battled with it.
"Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed as he saw his pokémon struggling from the ice beam holding off the solar beam. Unbelievably, the ice beam actually managed to overpower the solar beam as Froslass put more energy into it and shattered the solar beam, barely giving Sceptile enough time to dodge.
"Good job, Froslass, now use attract!" Leaf told it.
"Frooooos!" The snow land pokémon calmly said as a white heart was formed in front of its body. The white heart hit the forest pokémon in the head, causing it to blush furiously and turn away from its opponent.
"Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed in concern.
"Frosslass time to use ice beam!" Leaf shouted.
"Frosss!" The snow land pokémon 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 immobilized forest pokémon.
"Sceptile, you have to get out of the way!" Ash pleaded.
The forest pokémon made no attempt to dodge the snow land pokémon's ice beam attack given its infatuation. It stood in place and was frozen over by the icy attack, covering it in a block of ice.
"No!" The green trainer wailed.
"Alright, let's hit it with blizzard!" Leaf exclaimed.
"Frossss…!" Froslass said as it raised its arms into the air and released a blizzard from its hands into the air. "Lass!" The snow land pokémon shouted as the blizzard shot up and curled around and circled around the frozen forest pokémon.
All at once, the blizzard crashed into the ice shell around Sceptile and smashed it to bits. The forest pokémon fell to the ground at once, knocked around hard by the doubly effective attack.
Amazingly, the forest pokémon had not fallen unconscious despite the powerful attacks and could be seen struggling to get back up until its trainer had another thought.
"Sceptile, return!" The raven haired trainer shouted as he pulled out his pokéball and called Sceptile back into it.
Once again, the majority of the crowd began cheering loudly for Leaf after she'd forced Ash to recall a pokémon. This grudge they had against him, up to this point, he had ignored and saw no reason to give into their nonsense yet.
"Thank you, Sceptile." Ash said as he put away his pokéball and turned to his faithful first pokémon. "It's your turn."
"Pi-Ka!" The electric mouse pokémon exclaimed as it ran out onto the field to battle.
"Ash is using Pikachu now!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Yeah, Sceptile is just too injured to fight a pokémon it's this disadvantaged against." Brock stated with his arms crossed.
"But will Pikachu be able to do any better?" Brendan asked.
The brunette coordinator lightly nudged Brendan for that. "Beat your Mantine, didn't it?" May laughed.
"Well Pikachu had the advantage there." Gary pointed out.
"That's right," Brendan agreed. "Let's see how well Pikachu does here."
"The Green Trainer has selected their Pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"
"Pikachu, volt tackle!" Ash ordered.
"Froslass, ice beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The electric rodent repeated as it ran to the snow land pokémon. Its body was surrounded by golden electricity, which made its body appear black and white. From the left, right, behind, front and top, the yellow mouse's body created a blinding sensation with its bright electricity.
"Frosss!" Leaf's pokémon said as a light blue ball formed in front of its face and fires light blue beams from it at the incoming electrically-charged rodent.
The ice beam did manage to hit Pikachu but the electricity covering its whole body protected it from being frozen over. Though it was slowed down, the electric rodent kept charging at its opponent, ready to smash its body into it.
"Pikapikapika…Pi-Ka!" Ash's starter pokémon shouted as it head-butted the snow land pokémon in the stomach, sending it reeling.
"Fro!" Froslass wreathed in pain.
"Froslass, don't give up!" Leaf pleaded. "We need to end this! Use attract!"
"Frooooos!" The snow land pokémon calmly said as a white heart was formed in front of its body and floated towards the electric rodent.
"Pikachu, dodge that heart!" Ash exclaimed, knowing the danger of letting it hit.
"Pika…pika…pika." The yellow mouse panted as it ran around the field, evading the white heart until it finally hit the ground and fizzled out.
"No!" The red trainer exclaimed.
"Yeah, alright, use thunderbolt, Pikachu!" The raven haired trainer told it.
"Pika…chuuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the snow land pokémon at point blank range, hitting it square on.
"Froossslaaaaaaa…" The snow land pokémon shouted in dire pain before collapsing on the ground, knocked out cold.
"Froslass!" Leaf exclaimed.
"Froslass is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokémon!"
"Return!" Leaf said as she brought out the snow land pokémon's pokéball and recalled it.
"Well, how's that for Pikachu's ability?" May asked her boyfriend.
"I'm impressed." He responded with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Now Leaf and Ash are both down to three pokémon each." Dawn observed.
"I'm interested in seeing how much further they can go like this." Brock said. "This is getting pretty interesting."
"It's still a long road to victory for either of them." Gary stated.
Back on the field, Leaf was rummaging through her bag to find the next pokéball. When she found it, she zipped up her bag and stood with the ball in her hand before throwing it up.
"Come on out!" She shouted as she threw the pokéball into the air.
The pokéball opened up in midair and released a red flash of light while the ball itself went back to Leaf. The light turned into a small bipedal cat-like pokémon. "Leafeon!' The pokémon shouted.
"Leafeon." Ash thought. "With its grass-type, it'll be able to resist Pikachu's electric attacks."
"The Red Trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"
"Leafeon, use razor leaf." Leaf shouted.
"Leafeeeeeon!" The verdant pokémon yelped as the outline of the leaf on its head began to glow green and it lowered its head. A wave of golden energy formed in the back of its head and moved up the leaf until it reached the end. It then released several razor-sharp leaves from the leaf on its head at the electric mouse.
"Pikachu, iron tail, let's go!" The raven haired trainer ordered.
"Pi-Ka!" The yellow rodent pokémon shouted as its entire tail turned white and it hit the razor leaves with it leaving behind a white trail of energy where it swung.
"Darn it," Leaf cursed. "Leafeon, use hyper beam!"
"Pikachu, volt tackle!" The green trainer ordered.
"Pikapikapikapikapikapika…" The electric rodent reiterated as it ran at the opponent. Its body became surrounded by golden electricity which made its body look black and white.
"Leafe…onnnnnnnnnn!" The verdant pokémon shouted as it opened its mouth and a red-orange ball appeared in front of it. Even as Pikachu came charging out like a raging bull the verdant pokémon didn't bother to move or attempt to escape. It fired the beam of orange energy at the electrically charged Pikachu.
However, Pikachu's body embarked through the beam, shattering it in the process. Leaf gasped out in shock when she saw Pikachu slam against Leafeon's body, believing that the power of the hyper beam should've overcome the volt tackle. The verdant pokémon's body started twisting in pain and sparking with electricity.
"Leafeon's been paralyzed, this can work for us." Ash told Pikachu. "Iron tail!"
"Pi-ka" The electric mouse pokémon shouted as its entire tail turned white and it hit the injured verdant pokémon with it, sending it flying across the field.
"Leeeeeeeee…" Leafeon screeched in pain.
"Piiii." The electric rodent whimpered as the recoil energy from the volt tackle started affecting it. Within a matter of seconds, however, Pikachu regained its composure and stared at its injured opponent.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.
"Pika….!" The electric rodent muttered as yellow sparks appeared around its tail and cheeks.
"Dodge it!" Leaf shouted in vain as the paralysis prevented Leafeon from moving.
"…Chuuuuuuu!" Pikachu shouted as it released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the verdant pokémon, shocking it with great force as its most famous attack created bright flashes of light which filled the battlefield.
"Leeeee…" The red trainer's pokémon shouted in pain from the powerful electric attack.
As the attack fizzled out, the verdant pokémon shook its body violently to rid itself of the paralysis, to no avail. Pikachu smiled proudly at its opponents disadvantage and positioned itself, waiting for Ash's next order.
"Pikachu, finish it off with thunder!" Ash told it.
"Piiiiikaaaa…"
"We aren't letting this round go without a fight!" Leaf proclaimed. "Leafeon, use hyper beam!"
"Le...leeee…" The verdant pokémon screeched as it began gathering the energy for hyper beam. In a moment, the orange beam fired from its mouth at the electric rodent.
"…chuuuuuuuu!" The yellow mouse shouted as it unleashed a powerful and huge thunder strike at its opponent.
The orange beam of energy and the bright yellow thunder collided with one another and began pushing the other to get through. Pikachu put more and more energy into its thunder as Leafeon followed suit with its hyper beam. Sparks broke off the attacks and fizzled out with contact to the ground as the orange beam and yellow bolt pushed against one another to gain ground. It seemed like Pikachu, having been in better physical condition, would've been able to overpower its opponents attack but the verdant pokémon refused to give up without a fight and put all its energy into the hyper beam.
"Keep going, Pikachu!" Ash called out to his pokémon.
"Pika….chuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it heard its trainer's encouragement. By gripping the ground tighter, it manager to concentrate more on putting energy behind the thunder attack and fired additional energy at the hyper beam, overpowering it and pushing it back at the verdant pokémon, causing it to explode in its face and create a dust cloud.
Once the cloud cleared, Pikachu could be seen panting heavily while Leafeon had been completely knocked out. Despite the verdant pokémon's grass-type attribute giving it a resistance to electric-type moves, it had been unable to even damage Pikachu or even land a hit. Ash smiled subtly at this revelation while Leaf looked on in disbelief at how easily her pokémon was beaten.
"Leafeon is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokémon!"
Once again, the majority of the audience booed loudly at Ash's success against Leaf. He was beginning to wonder if there was anything at all he could do to get them on his side, or at least off his back. The display of Leafeon's defeat by the cameras around the screen was somewhat of a catalyst for the hate, though the cameraman had to try to be as unbiased as possible.
Up in the stands, Ash's friends, among the only ones who weren't rooting against him, we conversing amongst themselves.
"So Leaf's got like what, two pokémon left?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, Fearow and another." Gary said.
"I can only guess who the other one is." Brendan commented.
"It has to be Venusaur." May concluded.
Brock nodded. "Leaf's first and strongest pokémon."
"Come on out!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokéball into the air.
Her pokéball opened up and released a bright flash of red light which manifested itself into a large flying-type pokémon.
"Fearow!" The beak pokémon cried as it spread its wings.
"Pika!" The electric rodent shouted as it prepared to face its opponent.
"The Red Trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" The raven haired trainer commanded.
"Pikaaa…chuuuuuuu!" The yellow mouse shouted as it charged and fired a bolt of yellow electricity at the beak pokémon. Without even having to be told, however, Fearow glided to the side and dodged the attack without much effort before it began to swoop down.
"Fearow, drill peck!" Leaf shouted.
"Fearfearfearfearfearfearfear…" The beak pokémon yelped as it repeatedly pecked Pikachu with its incredibly sharp beak multiple times.
"Pikachu, hurry, get out of there!" Ash told it.
"Pika!" The electric rodent exclaimed as it jumped out of the way of Fearow's incoming beak, causing it to hit the ground.
"Use volt tackle!" Ash commanded.
"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The yellow mouse repeated as it ran towards its opponent as its body was covered in electricity for the attack. With one jump, the electricity-covered rodent nailed the beak pokémon's wing just as it was preparing to fly higher. The shock knocked it off balance and injured its wing slightly, causing it to flail in the air for a bit but failed to do anything significant.
"Fe…fear..." Leaf's pokémon grunted.
"Fearow, use tri-attack!" The red trainer commanded.
"Fea…row!" The beak pokémon opened its mouth and wailed. First, a blast of fire appeared from its open mouth and hit Pikachu square in the face. Next, a bolt of thunder emerged and hit the electric rodent in the same way. Finally, a block of ice appeared from Fearow's mouth and hit Pikachu, sending it flying across the field, dragging the ground beneath it.
"Pikaaaaa…." The yellow mouse squeaked in pain.
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed in worry.
"Good job, Fearow!" Leaf shouted. "Now use aerial ace!"
"Feeeearrrrrow!" The beak pokémon bellowed as it flew around its opponent before diving down at it as its body became surrounded by white streaks. It inched closer by the second, preparing to slam into the injured Pikachu.
"Pikachu, dodge it!" Ash pleaded.
"Pi-ka!" The electric rodent grunted as it struggled to get on all fours and jump away. But before it could gain its composure, the beak pokémon's white-streaking wing slammed into its small body and sent it tumbling backwards.
"Pikachu!" Ash called out worriedly.
"Fearow, hit Pikachu with another drill peck!"
"Fear!" The beak pokémon exclaimed as it took a U-turn in flight and went back to attack Pikachu.
"Pi…pika…" The electric rodent grunted as it saw its opponent coming around.
"Pikachu, use volt tackle!" The raven haired trainer ordered.
"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The yellow mouse repeated as it ran towards its opponent as its body was bathed in electricity, giving its fur a black-and-white appearance. As the flying-type came down, Pikachu jumped into the air and delivered a powerful electrically-charged tackle to its mid-section, sending it crashing down to the ground while sparking in electricity, signaling the status effect of paralysis as having affected it.
"Alright, Pikachu," Ash cheered. "Good job!"
"Fearow, it's not over yet!" Leaf exclaimed. "Come back into it!"
The beak pokémon managed to hover a few feet off the ground on its trainer's words and give out a call. Despite the type advantage of electric-types over flying-types, Fearow was certainly giving Pikachu a run for its money and making smaller flying-type pokémon look like nothing, at least to Ash.
"Pikachu, grab on to Fearow!" Ash commanded.
"Pi-ka!" The electric rodent exclaimed as it jumped on Fearow's back while the beak pokémon was loafing off. The flying-type quickly noticed its presence, however, and did its best to shake it off. However, it was unable to do so since Pikachu grabbed onto its feathers and held on tight. Even as Fearow flew around the field, upside-down or right side up, the yellow rodent kept its spot.
"Fearow, come on!" Leaf shouted, trying to help it.
Try as it might, the beak pokémon was unable to shake the electric rodent off its back. The only thing it could think of was to smash it into the ground, but it would run the risk of injuring itself in the process. As it began to fly faster, hoping to use wind to help it, Pikachu's trainer came up with a plan.
"Pikachu, time to use thunder!" Ash told it.
"PIKAAAAA…" The electric rodent began charging its power when it received its command. It was about to unleash its strongest special attack on a pokémon with a serious weakness to it.
"Fearow, you have to get it off!" Leaf urged it.
"Fe…Fear...Fearow!" The beak pokémon rumbled as it tried its best to shake off its stowaway, but to no success as the yellow mouse had seemingly finished charging.
"…CHUUUUUU…" Pikachu unleashed a massive unloading of electricity on its opponent. Yellow flashes of light filled the stadium and were even going out of the open sky roof and became visible to the people gathered outside the Battle Tower.
"FEEEEEAAAARRRR…" The beak pokémon shouted in pain at the electricity fried its already-injured body, damaging it to even greater extents.
"UUUUUUUU." Eventually, Pikachu ceased its attack on Fearow and the electric energy disappeared. However, the beak pokémon fell to the ground unconscious and just before crashing, the electric rodent jumped off and landed on the ground. With a *thud*, the beak pokémon landed on the ground, unconscious and defeated.
"Fearow is unable to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, you are down to your final pokémon!"
At last, Leaf was finally down to her last, but most powerful pokémon: Venusaur. In a serious turn of events, Ash still had three of his pokémon left, one of which had yet to actually battle in the tournament. The crowd was keen to see how this was going to end, though a large number of them still preferred to have Leaf win over Ash.
"At last…he's giving me the challenge I'd expect from him." Leaf thought as she looked through her bag.
After having come from three pokémon down to Leaf's just one, Ash had now knocked out four of hers, giving him the count advantage.
"It's all up to you!" Leaf exclaimed as she tossed her pokéball into the air.
The ball opened with a bright flash of red light and revealed her final pokémon: Venusaur the seed pokémon. Having evolved from its beginning stage of Bulbasaur into the big tank-built pokémon it was now, it was evident that it was truly Leaf's strongest and easily best raised pokémon.
"Saur!" The seed pokémon thundered, its voice bellowing all around.
"So Leaf's really down to her last pokémon here, huh." Brock observed.
Dawn nodded. "Ash has been making a serious comeback."
"I'd have been disappointed if the man who beat me had been defeated so easily." Brendan expressed.
"And now, Venusaur is Leaf's last chance to win." May observed.
"True, but I still can't count her out quite yet," Gary stated. "Venusaur is the strongest pokémon she's got."
"The red trainer has selected their final pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"
"Pikachu, give your all with a volt tackle!" The raven haired trainer shouted to his faithful yellow mouse pokémon.
"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The electric rodent repeated as it ran towards its opponent on all fours as its body was surrounded by shining golden electricity.
Though its opponent was cruising towards it, the seed pokémon made no movements. It seemed almost as if it knew what to do by itself.
"…pikapikapikapi-ka!" The yellow mouse shouted as it jumped up with its charged body and prepared to deliver a hit to the seed pokémon. However, Venusaur had managed to catch Ash's pokémon in its vine whip tentacles while it was in midair, causing the electricity to dissipate and the yellow mouse to just hang there at the mercy of its opponent, unable to get free despite its struggles.
"Alright, Venusaur!" Leaf cheered. "You know what to do!"
"Veee…" The seed pokémon boomed as it wound up its vine whip similar to a baseball player preparing to throw a pitch. The yellow mouse was getting dizzier by the second and just as the whirling was speeding up, Venusaur let go. "…NUSAUR!"
"Piiii…" The electric rodent screeched as it was viciously thrown across the field at a harsh speed. After a few moments in the air, it created a crater when it landed on the ground before rolling backwards and tumbling over itself while lying on the ground.
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.
"Venusaur, time for earthquake!" Leaf called out.
"Venu…saur!" The seed pokémon bellowed as it jumped into the air and back on the ground, sending white shockwaves around the field. The electric rodent, being a ground-based pokémon was unable to escape these waves and was hit dead-on by them, sending it flying back across the field and nearly out of arena before it landed on the ground.
"Pikachu, are you alright!" Ash worriedly asked his faithful friend.
"Pii…ka…" The yellow mouse squealed as it attempted to get back on its feet but it was not to be as it immediately collapsed as it did. "Chaaa…"
"Pikachu!" Ash called out.
"Pikachu is unable to battle!" Lance declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokémon!"
"I can't believe how easily Pikachu was taken out." Dawn commented.
"Well, it was pretty exhausted after fighting Froslass, Leafeon and Fearow." Gary stated.
"Leaf seems to have taken a page from your book, Brendan." Brock sarcastically commented.
"My book?" The Hoenn region trainer asked aloud.
"You know, because you had Swampert do the same thing to Pikachu when you battle Ash." Brock pointed out, referring to when Swampert caught Pikachu's tail and knocked it out when it tried to execute its iron tail technique.
"I don't remember." Brendan told him.
"Big surprise." May laughed.
Back on the field, Ash had brought Pikachu back to his side and taken out a pokéball from his belt.
"Go for it!" He shouted as he threw the ball, releasing the pokémon inside.
The red light which emerged from the capture device flashed brightly before forming Ash's fully evolved Hoenn region grass-type starter: Sceptile, who appeared in a sleek, bright fashion.
"Scept!" The forest pokémon resounded as it arrived on the field, ready to do battle with its Kanto region counterpart.
"I know what you're trying, Ash." Leaf told him. "But it isn't gonna work."
"We'll I guess we'll see about that, won't we?" He replied.
"The Green trainer has chosen their pokémon!" Lance declared. "Let the battle RESUME"
"Sceptile, use leaf storm!" The raven haired trainer commanded.
"Scep…tile!" The forest pokémon exclaimed as the seeds on its back began to glow white and it released a barrage of light green glowing leaves from all around its body at the opponent.
"Venusaur, seed bomb!" Leaf shouted.
"Saur!" The seed pokémon shouted as a white orb formed inside its flower. It then fired several white seeds from the orb at the incoming leaves, shredding most of them to bits but causing all the seeds to dissipate as well.
"Darn." Ash cursed. "Sceptile, use leaf blade!"
"Sceptile!" The fully evolved grass-type starter from the Hoenn region exclaimed as it got on its hind legs and bent down fast before jumping back into the air and making the razor-sharp leaves on its arms glow green before it placed them forward for the attack. These razor-sharp leaf blades pierced the air, creating a *whoosh* sound as they cruised by.
"Venusaur, use vine whip!" Leaf ordered.
"Venusaur!" The seed pokémon exclaimed as it released multiple vines from in between the leave and the flower on its back and raised them in the air. As Sceptile approached, each of its arm blades was swiftly taken hold of by the vine whip, preventing it from moving as it was dangling in midair.
"What the-" Ash blurted.
"Venusaur, let's finish this fast!" Leaf called out. "Use frenzy plant!"
"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokémon boomed as it tosses Sceptile into the air while its body became surrounded in an aura and it released two energy beams from the sides of the flower on its back at the continent pokémon. The beams twisted around each other as they fired at Sceptile who was still up in the air. Eventually, the energy around the beams faded into two giant roots with large thorns on them, and hit the fully evolved grass-type from Hoenn, knocking it around hard. "Sceeeep." The forest pokémon bellowed in pain.
"Sceptile!" Ash called out as he saw his pokémon down on the ground in pain.
"Scept..." The forest pokémon grumbled.
"Can you still fight?" Ash asked it.
"Sceptiiile.…" The fully-evolved grass-type from Hoenn moaned as it managed to get on its feet with some difficulty and began sucking in energy from the open roof.
"Solar beam?" Ash questioned as he wondered why his pokémon was beginning to attack without his order, though he quickly shrugged it off. "Alright then!"
"Venusaur, you use solar beam!" Leaf commanded.
"Veeeee…" The seed pokémon bellowed as it began collecting yellow energy within its flower
Little by little, Sceptile gathered energy as fast as Venusaur was collecting energy. Yellow energy entered Venusaur's bulb while Sceptile's tail did the same, both having identically coloured energy due to the fact that both came from the sun.
Just as Sceptile finished absorbing its power, Venusaur also finished charging its attack. "SAUUURR!" The seed pokémon hollered as it unleashed its bright white beam of energy at the forest pokémon. "TIIIIILLLL!" Sceptile shouted as it fired its own bright white beam of energy at the incoming attack.
The two beams collided in the centre of the arena and pushed against one another in an attempt for dominance.
"Sceptile!" Ash called out as he saw his pokémon lying on the ground still.
"Sceptile is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Green trainer, you are down to your final pokémon!"
Once again, Ash's defeat caused great joy for the majority of the audience who were on Leaf's side. Ash's friends were refraining from cheering for either person as best they could but still felt the need to have discussions about the match's progress.
"Can you believe how easily Sceptile was taken out?" May asked around.
"No," Brock answered. "And just after it used synthesis, too."
"If Sceptile is a grass-type, shouldn't solar beam be ineffective?" Dawn asked.
"That's not technically true." Gary told her. "Grass-types do resist grass-type moves but that doesn't make them immune to grass-type attacks."
"That's unfortunate." Brendan commented. "And now he's down to just one pokémon."
"He didn't mention which pokémon it was to you, did he?" Brock asked around.
"No, he didn't." Brendan answered, earning nods from Dawn and May.
"I don't see any real reason for him to worry." Gary thought to himself as he looked on at Ash below. "He's fine."
Back on the field, Ash had recalled Sceptile and taken out his last pokéball.
"I was really hoping Sceptile and Pikachu would put up more of a fight against Venusaur." Leaf thought to herself as she saw Ash stare at the sphere in his hand.
Inside Ash's pokéball was his last shot to win it all.
His last chance to defeat Leaf, one of the toughest opponents he'd ever faced.
His final chance to win the Battle Spirits Tournament, the first big tournament-style competition of which he had ever reached the finals.
And bring himself a big step closer towards his goal of becoming a pokémon master.
"It's all down to you." Ash relayed to his pokémon though his mind, almost as if he was trying to speak with telepathy.
The entire audience looked at him through the screens from all angles as he gripped his pokéball tightly and lifted his head.
He gestured himself into position and turned his hat backwards with his left hand as he threw his pokéball as hard as he could, while feelings of his first days as a pokémon trainer rushed back into his mind.
"I ch-…need you….." The raven haired trainer called out as the pokéball entered the field.
The pokéball opened up and released a flash of red light. The containment device returned to Ash as the light formed the final evolution of the fire-type starter pokémon from the Kanto region.
"…..CHARIZARD!"
"ZAAAAAARRRRDDD!" The large orange dragon roared ferociously upon exiting the pokéball and coming into the battle at long last.
The whole arena was awe struck by the appearance of Charizard, Ash's strongest pokémon. Lance, Tucker and Wallace admired the look of the flame pokémon, acknowledging its strength. Venusaur looked up with great interest and a grin crossing its face. Leaf was much more anxious now that she had ever been before this match.
Ash had initially planned to use Charizard for his stunt that Wallace had told him about; similar to how Leaf used Venusaur. However, he later decided against it for some reason, possibly because he didn't want anyone to see Charizard before it got to battle. But now, the audience had seen the flame pokémon and was awed by its magnificent appearance.
"Wow, so Ash's final pokémon was his Charizard!" May exclaimed.
"I never knew Ash had a Charizard." Dawn expressed.
"Me neither." Brendan added.
"It was one of the first pokémon he ever caught." Brock told them. "It used to disobey him after it evolved into the second stage of Charmeleon but one day, it started obeying him long after evolving into a Charizard."
"I still remember how he lost at the Indigo Plateau when Charizard refused to battle some kid's Pikachu." Gary commented. "Even at the Silver Conference Victory Tournament, Charizard lost to some guy's Blaziken."
"If I recall correctly, Charizard beat half your team even with disadvantages against your Golem and Blastoise." Brock countered.
"He did?" Brendan asked.
"He did." Brock answered. "So with Charizard on Ash's team, I wouldn't count him out."
"And Charizard has a type advantage over Venusaur." May pointed out.
"Well, if Leaf's proven anything, it's that type advantages aren't everything." Dawn said.
"But now it's the final battle." Brock said. "This is where it ends."
For the first time in the match, members of the audience aside from Ash's friends gave him applause. It wasn't much compared to what Leaf had gotten but considering their earlier behavior towards him, he appreciated it. Of course, it was hard to know if they were cheering for him or for Charizard, but it was practically irrelevant since he took it anyway. The cameras showed the fierce expression on Charizard's face and the interested one on Venusaur's.
"Charizard, it's up to you," Ash told it. "You're the last hope I have!"
"ZAAARD!" The flame pokémon roared loudly in acknowledgement.
"At long last, he gives me the ultimate challenge." Leaf thought to herself. "I watched the Silver Conference Victory Tournament"
"The green trainer has selected their final pokémon!" Lance announced. "LET THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT BEGIN!"
"Charizard, flame thrower!" Ash commanded.
"Zarrrrrr!" The flame pokémon shouted as the flame on its tail burned brighter than normal just before it released a powerful orange stream of fire from its mouth at its opponent.
"Frenzy plant!" Leaf ordered.
"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The Seed pokémon bellowed.
As Leaf ordered it, Venusaur's body became outlined in a light green aura and it stomped on the ground. Immediately after, giant roots with spikes on them came out of the ground and produced a wall in front of Venusaur which blocked the flamethrower from getting through due to their thickness. The roots burned brightly before being reduced to ashes and scattering the field but leaving Venusaur unharmed. Ash was admittedly impressed by the strategy while Charizard showed Venusaur a look of serious contention.
"Venusaur, earthquake!" Leaf called out.
"Veeenu…SAUR!" The seed pokémon boomed loudly as it lifted its two front legs into the air and slammed them down into the ground. When it did, two pulses of energy erupted from its legs for a moment and a crack then travelled along the ground and towards Ash's pokémon. When it reached him, the ground underneath began to shake violently as Charizard lost its footing and fell backwards, landing on its back while the ground continued shaking violently.
"Charizard!" Ash worriedly exclaimed.
Up in the stands, the rest of the gang were discussing the recent events.
"If Charizard is part flying-type, shouldn't a ground-type move be ineffective?" May asked aloud.
"Actually, since it was on the ground, the earthquake was effective." Gary explained. "If Charizard had taken off into the air, it would've been safe."
"Ash probably thought Charizard would be safe even if it stayed on the ground." Brock said.
"But Leaf's not gonna use a move unless she thinks it's gonna work." Brendan commented. "She seems to know Ash well."
"I guess this mean's Leaf's been analyzing Ash and not just his pokémon." Dawn stated.
"Charizard, get in close on Venusaur!" Ash ordered.
Obeying orders, the flame pokémon raced down the field to where the seed pokémon was, flapping its wings widely. Venusaur looked at its opponent as it came in and gestured back at Leaf who nodded back just as Charizard was coming within a few feet of striking distance.
"Venusaur, seed bomb!" Leaf ordered.
"Sauuuur!" The seed pokémon exclaimed as it opened its mouth and a white orb was formed inside of it. It then fired multiple glowing white seeds from its mouth at the flame pokémon and began exploding on impact with its abdomen.
"Charizard, use overheat!" Ash called out.
"Zaaaaarrrrrrrrr!" Charizard shouted loudly as it endured the seed bombs while its body turned red. When it began glowing brightly, it released a white fire with a red-orange flame spiraling around it from its mouth. The seed bomb attack's seeds were incinerated while the flames scorched Venusaur intensely, leaving it to wreath in the pain.
"Overheat gets weaker each time you use it." Ash stated. "The first time's gotta make it count."
"So…that's why you had Charizard get in close." Leaf realized.
"Bingo."
"Not bad, but it's fruitless cause Venusaur is still standing!" Leaf exclaimed. "Use vine whip!"
"Veeeen… " The seed pokémon bellowed as green tentacles came out from under the flower on its back and smacked the flame pokémon in the face repeatedly until, tired of the slaps, Charizard grabbed into the vines and held them tightly, preventing Venusaur from moving them. Or so it believed.
"Zaaar." The fully evolved fire-type starter from Kanto roared as Venusaur used its vines to toss it into the air and disorient it while it freed itself.
The flame pokémon rolled around in the air for a few moments while Venusaur shook its vines and prepared to retract them. But what happened next was certainly not expected by Ash. The seed pokémon's vines grabbed Charizard's feet and wrapped themselves around tightly. Charizard took notice and immediately attempted to fly away; however, Venusaur had foreseen that.
"Charizard, flame thrower!" Ash called out.
Just before Charizard unleashed its flames, Venusaur tugged the vines and Charizard's flames missed the seed pokémon entirely. Venusaur comically swung Charizard around the air for several minutes while it was attacking. But due to its lack of aim and disorientation, the flames never managed to hit the seed pokémon, or even scorch it, though it nearly scorched some members of the audience, making them even angrier at Ash, as well as nearly burning Lance, Wallace and Tucker. Eventually Charizard stopped the flamethrower, however, when it did, Venusaur forcefully used its vines to viciously smash Charizard's whole body into the ground.
"Charizard!" Ash exclaimed as he saw Venusaur retract its vines and left Charizard injured on the ground, struggling to get back to its feet.
"Zaar…za…" The flame pokémon grunted as it managed to get to its feet.
"Venusaur, time to use solar beam!" Leaf told her pokémon as she noticed Charizard struggle.
"Sauuuuuu…" The seed pokémon droned as it collected yellow energy from the sun into the glowing flower on its back in preparation for the solar beam. Charizard stood its ground, unsure of what to do next until Ash came up with a plan.
"Charizard, get up above Venusaur!" Ash told it.
The flame pokémon took off into the air, creating a gust of wind on the field from its wing flaps. As it began to circle above Venusaur as it was gathering energy, both trainers looked at their pokémon but Leaf had no clue as to what Ash was doing.
"Alright Charizard! Flame thrower!"
"Zaarrrrr…" The final evolution of the Kanto fire-type start roared loudly as it unleashed a powerful stream of fire from its mouth at its opponent below.
"Venusaur, quick, solar beam!" Leaf hastily exclaimed.
"Sauuuuurrrrr…" The seed pokémon bellowed as it fired its white energy beam into the air above where Charizard was situated and firing its own attack.
The two attacks collided in a bright flash of light which was all the more illuminating due to the cameras focusing on the clash and lighting up the entire arena as a result. The flame thrower pushed against the solar beam as intensely as it could while Charizard flapped its wings hard in an attempt to gather momentum and make the attack go down harder. Several moments passed as the two attacks pushed against one another but it was Venusaur's solar beam that was pushing harder due to its comparative strength and Venusaur's footing on the ground.
Before long, Charizard's flame thrower was quickly overpowered by the solar beam. All of a sudden, the beam burst brightly into the air and forced the flame thrower to dissipate as Charizard flew to the side as the attack headed into the sky, narrowly missing the large orange dragon.
"Darn, not close enough." Leaf reviewed. "Venusaur, frenzy plant!"
"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokémon bellowed as it stomped the ground and brought up a large number of thick green vines covered in thorns.
"Time for the final move!" Ash shouted as he clenched his fist. "Charizard, you know what to do! Come back down."
Obeying orders, the flame pokémon flew back down to the ground, narrowly dodging the thick vines of the frenzy plant as it did. The seed pokémon angrily sent up more vines than ever before to bring down its opponent but to no avail as Charizard swiftly avoided the vast majority of them, only suffering minor scratches here and there.
"Bring it down!" Leaf yelled loudly.
"Saurrrr…" The seed pokémon shouted as it furiously brought up many more vines than last time. Charizard suffered more and more scratches than before as it glided around above Venusaur but did not get back down. The flame pokémon now hovered a dozen feet above Venusaur.
"Vine whip!" Leaf shouted.
"Veeeen…" The seed pokémon bellowed as it took out its green tentacles and reached toward the flame pokémon above. They slashed Charizard's back and snout multiple times, causing Ash's pokémon to yell out in pain while it still couldn't land as the field was covered in the frenzy plant.
"Charizard, steel wing!" Ash called out.
"Zar!" The flame pokémon roared as its wings took on a white glow and batted away the vine whip. Charizard immediately took to the skies and zoomed down to attack Venusaur while Ash looked on with a smile. When it was directly above Venusaur in clear view of all the cameras around the field, Leaf called out her next move.
"Seed bomb!" She exclaimed.
"Sauuuur…" The seed pokémon screeched as it fired several small egg-shaped seeds from the flower on its back at the flame pokémon above. The eggs exploded on contact and caused the white glow in Charizard's wings to fade as the final evolution of the Kanto region fire-type starter began plummeting towards the ground.
Oddly enough, the smile on its trainer's face remained.
"Zaaar…" The flame pokémon growled as it glided downwards. As it approached the ground, like a jet, it immediately took off again just as it was barely a foot off the ground and headed towards Venusaur. The seed pokémon looked on in confusion as its trainer was wondering what it would take to beat Charizard.
The final evolution of the fire-type starter from Kanto quickly zoomed over Venusaur's head and made a 180° turn in mid-air before it stopped flapping its wings and its body slammed down on Venusaur. The flame pokémon held a tight grip on its opponent as Ash shouted his command.
"SEISMIC TOSS!"
Rayquaza45: Holy crap, Ash can't be serious! What good is seismic toss? Well, here's a hint...it's not really seismic toss. 'Nuff said.
I bet a lot of you guys wanted to see Charizard fully and now you have. I did take some liberty with his technique as you have seen (and will see again). Still, I hope you guys liked him coming into the story.
So now Ash has caught up with Leaf in pokémon count but Venusaur just knocked out Pikachu and Sceptile with ease. It's happened to Ash in the anime before but now...Charizard is his last hope. Can he do it or is Leaf too strong for even him? Who will be the winner of the Battle Spirits Tournament?
Next time - Chapter 20: Till we meet again!
So we've reached the end of chapter 19. Only two more to go. It's been a long road and it's nearly over. So feel free to write a review.
Till next time!