Part 2: The Tournament

Chapter 16: The Final Badge

Things haven't been going well for me. I know I haven't been writing in my journal lately, but its really hard to write in it when everything went to hell a few weeks back. Eleven weeks its been since I've written in here. That's when I lost Kai and Lys... I only had five Area Badges at that time: Fang, Web, Night, Generator, and Industry. I know, I should've kept a better chronicle of the other Area Leader challenges, but I got so caught up with trying to find my two friends... my two best friends...

Michael and I have both taken to wearing a brown cloak over our clothes. As time went on, it moved from fall to winter, so we figured these cloaks would keep us warm. They also helped us travel a little more undetected. Which is good thing, considering we were trying to sneak around and find Team Cataclysm. We really didn't have much luck on that. I also lost my glasses in the incident in the City Area, but its fine because Gardevoir has helped me to see better using her psychic powers. I don't even need my glasses anymore.

Speaking of Gardevoir; as I was battling the Sky Area Leader (and yes, we really did have to climb up and up and up until we were literally standing on top of a platform right above the clouds), I used Gardevoir, and the strangest thing happened. As the Area Leader, a very tomboyish woman in her early 30s by the name of Zepheryn, skillfully commanded her Altaria, Gardevoir let loose a powerful gust of wind that shimmered and had a pinkish tint to it. It defeated the Altaria in a single blow. I learned that the move was called Fairy Wind, and that Gardevoir is actually a dual typed Pokemon: part Psychic, part Fairy type. Fairy type. Not a type I would see myself using, but it turned out that that move, Fairy WInd, also of this new Fairy type, was able to land a supper-effective hit on the Dragon/Flying type Altaria. If I had known that Gardevoir could use moves super-effective against Dragon types a long time ago, I think my battle with Draco would have been a lot easier. But that's a thing of the past.

The past.

Something I don't like to dwell on much anymore. Guess that's why I haven't been chronicling my journey as well as I promised myself and my little sister I would. Kayla really looks up to me. She's only four, and there is Jacob between us at twelve years old, but she always tells Mom and Dad she wants to be like me. Makes me happy that one of my siblings actually likes me. Jacob, on the other hand, is somewhat of a recluse, but I know he's gonna make something of himself one day. He's a real smart kid. In fact, I just received word from Mom and Dad that Jacob started his journey out in Johto three days ago. He chose Totodile as his starter. This was new for us, considering Skylar and Greg both started out in Unova, Hanna in Sinnoh, and me in Hoenn. I guess that is a good thing, though, meaning Jacob will have a completely different journey from the rest of us. Anyways, as I was saying, I promised Kayla that I would keep a journal so, when she's older, she could read all my adventures here. I never thought I would skip over the majority of my Area Leader challenges... Although, honestly, they all were typically the same: three on three battle, I'd knock out two of the Area Leader's Pokemon, they'd knock out two of mine, then, as we both had our last Pokemon out, I'd conclude it closely, but spectacularly and win the badge. That was basically the formula. I know they're all tough trainers, but hey, when it came down to it, even though I did enjoy the challenges quite a bit, it'd all be a little monotonous for Kayla to read.

Michael, on the other hand... wow, that kid can battle. He's only 15, two years younger than me, and yet, he is definitely the better of us. In all his Area Leader challenges, he would use a single Pokemon. His team is pretty amazing too. He has an Ursaring, an Espeon, a Walrein, a Flygon, and an Electrode. I've never seen his sixth and final Pokemon. He says he only keeps it with him to undo what a villainous team named Cipher did to it. He said he vowed not to use it until he could figure out a way to fix what happened to it. I think its strange, but, then again, given his battling skills, he doesn't even need a sixth Pokemon.

Michael had gotten a few Badges that I hadn't gotten, and vice versa, so we've also been working double to try and accommodate for that. I got a chance to see Tristan and Draco again as Michael needed to battle them. I also had to tell them what happened to Kai and Lyss. I also had to go to the Glacier and Volcano regions, where Michael had already won the Heat and Freeze Badges, respectively. Although, our little revisits weren't simply to battle Area Leaders that the other needed. Oh no, it was much more than that. We also went to those areas because those are areas that had high Team Cataclysm activity. Of course, the Castle is still in ruins, but we had a good look around in the rubble. It brought back some horrible memories for me, of course, especially when we searched through a spot and I had found Marcus's tattered hat. I couldn't help but tear up. We also found the type of bomb used and that the Light and Dark stones were, in fact, taken from underneath the castle. The Darkness Region, as much as I hated going back there, was also pretty important to our search. We returned to that abandoned base where I was held captive under Darkrai's spell and found some documents that led us to other bases. Of course, these other bases weren't as helpful, but we still got the chance to kick some Cataclysm Grunt ass while we were there.

Now the truly interesting parts come in the Glacier and Volcano regions. Michael informed me that, while he was in the Volcano, Lord Diamond was successfully able to capture Moltres. While he was on the Glacier, Michail witnessed Lady Sapphire capturing Arcticuno. Since I was there when Lady Sapphire took Zapdos, this means that Team Cataclysm has all three of the Legendary Birds. When Michael, too, realized this, I noticed he went pale and had a cold sweat. He kept checking that sixth, unused poke ball on his belt. I noticed it wasn't just any ordinary poke ball, though. Michael had, on his very being, a Master Ball. And in that Master Ball was this mysterious sixth Pokemon of his that I knew nothing about. Being that it is in a Master Ball though, I concluded that it must be a very, very powerful Pokemon.

I keep going over it in my head: "Celebi, Darkrai, Reshiram, Zekrom, Genesect, Arcticuno, Zapdos, Moltres." Those were the Legendary Pokemon in Team Cataclysm's possession. Eight. Eight all powerful Pokemon that are from the myths and tales that I was told by my parents, who learned them through their parents, and so on. One of these Pokemon alone in the hands of Team Cataclysm could cause massive destruction... but eight of them... there's no telling what they were up to.

Anyways, I realize I've been going off on several tangents in this entry. Guess that's what happens when I don't write for eleven weeks... But then again, the search and investigation of Team Cataclysm has been consuming a lot of my time...

Anyways, today was, in fact a very special day. I guess you can say I did it. Or, Michael and I did it. We both beat the final Area Leader. Lana was definitely a tough one to fight. Don't let her sweet smile and awesome body fool you, she's definitely worthy of being the Ocean Area Leader.

Michael and I had been traveling around the beach for a few days now, not really bothering with much due to how we needed to find the last Area Leader. We walk a little ways onto a small island and, well that's when she caught our eyes. All we say was a streak of long blonde hair fly on past us on a surfboard. She got out of the water and onto the little island we were standing on and that's when we got a really good look at her. She was super tanned and really toned. She didn't have any trouble showing it off either, given that she was wearing a pretty tiny orange bikini with blue floral patterns. Both Michael's and my own mouth dropped as we saw this gorgeous woman, who was maybe only a year or two older than me.

"Hey boys" she said rather flirtatiously "you looking for the Area Leader here?"

"Y-yes" I stammered. Please remember, I'm terrible, TERRIBLE, with girls. I was already blushing and I could barely even speak now.

"Good" she giggled "I'm Lana, and I'll be your opponent today." Our mouths dropped even further. Who would've thought that the Ocean Area Leader was a flirtatious surfer babe?

Michael won flawlessly, again. All he had to do was use his Espeon. His one Pokemon was able to take out her Floatzel, Kingler, and Sharpedo. I will never understand how he does it, but he always manages these flawless victories, never losing a single Pokemon, and, even when at a complete type disadvantage, as was the case with the Sharpedo, still manages to get his Pokemon out with little to no damage whatsoever. I was the opposite. I almost always came down to the last straw. Today was no exception to that at all.

I started things off with my Garchomp. She sent out a blue eel like Pokemon with orange circular spots and a large mouth with sharp looking teeth. Garchomp, being shark-like in nature, dived into the water after it.

"Okay Huntail, use Crunch!" the eel Pokemon shot right at my Garchomp and sunk his teeth in deep into his arm. I could see everything through the crystal clear ocean water.

"Garchomp get him off with Dragon Claw!" Garchomp's claw began to glow a green color as he swiped at Huntail, effectively getting him off, but not without receiving a lot of damage from the Crunch attack.

"Huntail, use Aqua Tail!" Huntail turned around and swung his tail, sending a powerful pulse of water that hit Garchomp and sent him back a few feet.

"Garchom, Dragon Rush!" Garchomp become surrounded in the green aura and shot at Huntail through the water like a torpedo. He reached an incredibly fast speed and hit Huntail hard. Huntail got back up , badly injured, but ready to fight again.

"Huntail, use Ice Fang!"

"Garchomp, use Crunch"

Huntail's teeth were covered in ice as he charged at Garchomp. He chomped down on Garchomp's arm again as Garchomp bite down hard on Huntail's tail. Garchomp eventually won the battle of fangs and tossed it all the way across the water. Lana recalled him.

"Let's go Gorebyss!" she said as she sent out a long, pink eel-like Pokemon with two purple seashells on its chest, somewhat reminiscent of a mermaid.

"Gorebyss, use Hydro Pump!"

"Garchom, Dragon Rush!"

Gorebyss let losoe a a poweful blast of water at Garchomp. Garchomp, cloaked in the green aura, shot through the water like a torpedo again. He went straight through the blast of water, charging right at the eel mermaid. Garchomp hit Gorebyss dead on, and, like Huntail, badly damaged her.

"Gorebyss, use Whirlpool!" Gorebyss began to swim around Garchomp. She kept swimming faster and faster until Garchomp was trapped in a powerful whirlpool that he couldn't get out of. He tried to swim out, but couldn't. The whirlpool was just too strong.

"Now, use Psychic Gorebyss!" Gorebyss shot out a powerful wave of psychic energy at the whirlpool. Garchomp took major damage from it and the whirlpool combined. He still couldn't escape.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush once more!" Garchomp swam around in the whirlpool, and then shot out in the direction of Gorebyss, cloaked in the green aura again. He hit Gorebyss again and used the speed he gained from the attack to escape the whirlpool. Lana recalled her Gorebyss. Garchomp got back on land, exhausted, but still willing to fight.

"Let's get this over with then" She said "Let's go Cloyster!" Lana sent out a Pokemon that appeared to be a small black ball with eyes surrounded by a strong, spikey purple shell.

"Garchomp, use Earthquake!"

"Cloyster, use Aurora Beam!"

As Garchomp went to hit the ground to cause a massive earthquake, he was hit by a powerful rainbow colored beam. Garchomp, already being pretty weak, went down instantly. I recalled him.

"Alright then, go Bisharp!"

Bisharp got out and assumed his normal, calm demeanor. He readied himself for any attack I would give him the order to attack.

"Bisharp, use Night Slash"

"Cloyster, use Iron Defense!"

Bisharp's blades glowed purple as he rushed right at Cloyster. Cloyster closed his shell and began to glow a deep silver color. Bisharp slashed at Cloyster. He kept slashing and slashing, but never could get passed the near impenetrable shell that Cloyster had, especially when it was boosted to be even harder to get past.

"Bisharp, use Iron Head!"

"Cloyster, use Protect!"

"Bisharp's head glowed silver as he tried to headbutt Cloyster, but Cloyster created a powerful forcefield around himself. When Bisharp headbutted the forcefield, he was sent flying back, never getting past Cloyster's powerful defense.

"Fine then, we'll have to end this in one hit then. Bisharp, use Guillotine!"

Bisharp charged at Cloyster, his blades glowing a light blue. Cloyster jumped out of the way than then closed his shell around Bisharp's head.

"Cloyster, hit him with a Water Pulse!"

I couldn't see what happened in the shell, but I know it wasn't good. I saw a large amount of water come from within the shell and crash down all around Bisharp. Bisharp fell to his knees, and Cloyster unclamped his shell and got right back into the water. Bisharp was really damaged now.

"Cloyster, finish this off with another Water Pulse!"

Cloyster sent out a powerful ring of water right at Bisharp. Bisharp, being exhausted, couldn't move. It hit him dead on. Bisharp slowly sank to the ground. I recalled him.

"Alright then, go Blaziken! Let's win this!"

I knew it was a stretch, using the Fire-type Blaziken against the Water-type Area Leader, but something about using Blaziken to help me win what could possibly be the last badge I will ever receive seemed right. He's been with me since the very beginning. I also thought that Blaziken's Fighting-type would be able to overpower Cloyster's Ice-type.

"Blaziken, use Sky Uppercut!"

"Cloyster, Iron Defense!"

Blaziken went in to deliver a powerful uppercut, but Cloyster closed his shell and began glowing silver again. Blaziken sent Cloyster into the air with his attack.

"Cloyster, use Water Pulse!"

"Blaziken, use Brave Bird!"

Cloyster shot another circle of water. Blaziken began to glow blue as he charged at Cloyster. He broke through the Water Pulse and hit Cloyster head on, without his shell protecting him. Cloyster fell to the ground, still able to fight.

"Blaziken, use Brave Bird again!"

"Cloyster, Protect!"

Blaziken glowed blue and charged at Cloyster again. Cloyster closed his shell and created another forcefield around himself. Blaziken tried and tried, but couldn't break through it. Blaziken eventually tired of attacking in a futile assault and jumped back. Both Pokemon were getting to be pretty tired now.

"Cloyster, one more Water Pulse!"

"Blaziken, Sky Uppercut! Let's finish this!"

Cloyster sent another ring of water at Blaziken. Blaziken dodged it and threw Cloyster up in the air and delivered a powerful uppercut right in between the two sides of Cloyster's shell. When both Pokemon landed, Cloyster was out cold. Lana recalled him.

"You both fought soooo well!" Lana said as she approached Michael and myself. I started to blush again. I had almost forgotten that my opponent was a cute girl in a bikini. Guess I had just really gotten into the battle. She handed me the badge and kissed me on the cheek, causing me to blush even harder. She giggled.

"Th-thank you" I stammered, trying my best to keep my composure. Wasn't successful at all.

"Sure thing boys" she giggled "And, since this is the last week of the Area Leader portion, let me be the first to congratulate you both on winning every against every single Area Leader!" she said excitedly. She kissed my cheek again, I'm assuming as congratulations for making it through the whole thing, making me blush even more.

"Just so you two know, the tournament check in is at the end of this week. I know the numbers have decreased quite a bit since the beginning. I know I personally beat at least two hundred trainers here!" Lana giggled. She really was a great trainer. Probably the toughest Area Leader I fought. But still... two hundred trainers knocked out because of her... wow."

"How many trainers do you think are left?" Michael asked

"Oh, I dunno know..." she said, with an expression of wonder on her face "Hmmm I'd say less than fifty."

"Wow... from one thousand to less than fifty trainers left... and We're two of them..." I said in wonder

"That's right!" Lana exclaimed "that means you two are really exceptional!"

She was right. I never though of myself as a great trainer, but she was right. If this competition started with the top one thousand trainers, and now there were less than fifty of us, that meant that Michael and I were in top percentage of trainers worldwide. That's strange to me, considering I've never actually won any of the official Pokemon League tournaments. Hell, I'm still in shock that I even received the invitation the first place.

Michael and I said goodbye to Lana. She managed to kiss my cheek again, and, yet again, make me blush. I don't know why she kept doing that...

Anyways, Michael and I are off to the Nova League HQ. We were definitely in for a challenge. We didn't know how far Team Cataclysm made it into the tournament, but I knew we had at least Lord Diamond, Count Silver, Master Black, Lady Sapphire, Red, and their mysterious leader to deal with. In all our traveling and researching Team Cataclysm, Michael and I still never learned about their leader. Not even a gender, a name, a hair color. Nothing. We needed to be on top of our game for this. What could be fate of the world depended on us. This has more more nervous than being around Lana...

One we get back, Michael and I intend to research about the remaining contestants. Not really what Pokemon they have, because that could be considered cheating, but more like if any of them have any involvement with Team Cataclysm, so we could make sure who we knew we needed to beat. This really was a lot, but its what we need to do if we're to stop Team Cataclysm and save Kai and Lyss and all the Legendary Pokemon they have.

A/N: Yes, I put a time skip in. I hope you guys don't mind, but I really never received any Area Leaders, and so I just decided to progress the plot. Big things are coming soon! Be prepared! As always, I appreciate any reviews, but flames are really unappreciated... Anyways, enjoy!