Chapter 22: Rematch

I walked out to the arena. I was the first battle in Round 2 against Master Black. I was really nervous. The one time I fought Jared was in the Unova Conference finals. He beat me pretty badly. I was going up against one of the three Unova champions here (the others being Greg and Skylar of course). And then there was Michael, the hero of Orre. I honestly had no idea about the other three members of Team Cataclysm left, but if they made it this far, I know they had to be exceptional trainers. It was very nerve wracking for me to just be in this situation.

Jared walked up to the other side, still dressed in his all black attire for his persona of Master Black. I stood at my edge of the arena and waited for Tom to announce that the battle had begun.

"For this round, ladies and gentlemen, we're throwing in an extra twist!" Tom boomed over the speaker "Just watch and see!"

I felt the ground shake beneath me as the center Poke Ball opened up. It moved off to the sides as a different terrain popped up. This one was a very rocky terrain with large boulder all around it. I guess the surprise Tom was talking about.

"That's right folks! This time around, we went with the Rock Terrain! The trainers must now navigate this new, rocky battlefield while trying to win the battle! And with that, folks, let's have the trainers send out their first Pokemon and begin the second round of the Nova League Tournament!"

"Go Eelektross!" Master Black said, sending out his blue, electric eel Pokemon.

"Go Gengar!" I said sending out my purple, shadowy Ghost Pokemon.

I knew that his Eelektross was very powerful in the fact that it could resist poison in a way that seemed impossible. So I had to plan accordingly. With the Celebi machine out of commission, I figured I could easily inflict other status ailments fairly to help win this battle.

"Eelektross, use Wild Charge!"

Eelektross became shrouded in electricity as he charged right at Gengar. The attack connected and Gengar went flying backwards, but got right back to his feet, ready to battle.

"Gengar, use Hypnosis!"

Gengar sent a pulse straight at Eelektross. It hit and Eelektross went right to sleep.

"Now, use Nightmare, Gengar!"

Gengar sent a weird, devilish sprite thing engulfed Eelektross. Eelektross then began to be suffering clear mental damage from whatever horrid nightmare it was having. I let Gengar wait a bit so that it can take more damage before finally calling out the finishing move of our combo.

"Gengar, now, use Dream Eater!"

Gengar engulfed Eelektross in a red aura as the dream was taken away. Eelektross woke up, quite angry.

"Eelektross, use Crunch!"

Eelektross lunged right at Gengar and bit down hard on him. I knew this was bad because this Eelektross was an incredibly powerful Pokemon. Gengar was already taking serious damage.

"Gengar, quick, use Shadow Ball!"

"Eelektross, finish this with Crunch!"

Gengar produced a powerful ball of shadowy energy and launched it right at Eelektross, hitting him head on. Eelktross, though taking considerable damage, burst through the attack and bit down on Gengar again. Gengar went down. I recalled him. At least I could be sure that my next Pokemon could take him down a lot easier.

"Alright, go Bisharp!" I said sending out my chess piece Pokemon.

"Eelektross, another Wild Charge!"

"Bisharp, use Night Slash!"

Eelektross came charging, covered in a veil electricity. Bisharp expertly dodged the attack and, when Eelektross's electricity was gone, he slashed with the blades on his hand. Surprisingly, Gengar's attacks combined with Bisharp's final blow knocked Eelektross right out.

"Fine then. Guess I'm pulling out the big guns" Master Black said. "Let's go Volcarona!"

Master Black's Volcarona appeared on the rocky field. I was not expecting him to use such a powerful Pokemon this early. Bisharp needed to take him out soon, but I knew that wouldn't be very easy here.

"Volcarona, use Quiver Dance."

"Bisharp, use another Night Slash!"

Volcarona began to move in an odd fashion. The dance, I knew would greatly increase many of Volcarona's stats. If that combined with his Fiery Dance, Bisharp was screwed.

Bisharp's blades began to glow a dark purple as he charged at Volcarona. He slashed him, causing some damage, but not enough.

"Now Volcarona, use Fiery Dance"

Volcarona produced a massive amount of flames around himself and Bisharp. I knew how this was going to end. Volcarona was just too powerful a Pokemon. By the time the flames receded, I found I was right. Bisharp was down and unable to move. Volcarona was only slightly damaged. I recalled Bisharp.

"Alright then, let's go Staraptor!"

Staraptor appeared and spread his wings, ready for the intense fight he knew was ahead.

"Staraptor, start off strong, use Brave Bird!"

Staraptor flew up high as a blue aura surrounded him. Then he swooped down at a very high speed. He hit Volcarona hard, but suffered damage himself. Volcarona didn't seem too terribly fazed by it, but I know if I kept it up like this, he'd be down soon.

"Volcarona, use Heat Wave"

"Staraptor, Aerial Ace!"

Volcarona shot out large flames that scattered around. Staraptor did his best to dodge them all, only getting hit by a few of them. Staraptor then flew right at Volcarona, slashing him with his beak. Now Volcarona looked badly damaged. I knew one more attack could do it, but then again, I still had Fiery Dance to worry about.

"Staraptor, finish him with Brave Bird!"

"Volcarona, use Fiery Dance."

Staraptor became cloaked in a blue aura again and charged at Volcarona. As Staraptor got closer and closer, Volcarona's Fiery Dance began to start as flames surrounded the two of them. The flames got higher and higher, completely covering up both Pokemon. No one could see what was going on inside the fiery vortex, but we all knew that one Pokemon had to be down.

Finally, the flames receded and, much to my shock, Saraptor stood, very badly beaten, but still flapping his wings nonetheless, and Volcarona was on the ground, unconscious. Master Black recalled him. Now I had two of his Pokemon down, and he almost had three of mine down.

"Let's go Beeheyem!"

Master Black's strange alien Pokemon appeared in front on the field. I knew Staraptor wouldn't be able to battle much longer, but I had to do some damage.

"Staraptor, use Aerial Ace!"
"Beeheyem, use Psybeam"

Staraptor slashed Beheeyem with his beak, causing some damage. However, as soon as Staraptor was done, Beheeyem was able to fire a beam of concentrated Psychic energy from point balnk range. Staratptor went down, putting up a great fight. I recalled him

"Let's go Ninjask!"

I sent out my small, ninja Bug-type Pokemon.

"Ninjask, use Double Team!"

"Beheeyem, use Psybeam once more."

Ninjask began to move at an incredibly fast pace around Beheeyem, creating illucions of himself all around his opponent. Because of Ninjask's ability, he just kept getting faster and faster. Beheeyem tried firing the beam, but it just kept hitting an illusion.

"Now, use X-scissor Ninjask!"

All the copies of Ninjask crossed their forearms and swooped at Beeheyem. They all slashed, hitting Beheeyem hard and then resumed their place in the surrounding circle. It was looking in Ninjask's favor.

"Beheeyem, use Psychic."

"Ninjask, hit him with one more X-Scissor!"

Beheeyem kept trying to trap the real Ninjask, but kept grabbing an illusion. Ninjask finally came in and delievered a powerful slash. Beheeyem went down pretty fast. Master Black recalled him.

"Go Gigalith." Master Black said, sending out his Rock-Type Pokemon with a body covered in red crystals.

"Ninjask, use Dig!"

Ninjask dove to the ground and buried himself in it. Gigalith looked around, searching for his opponent. Ninjask then popped up and delivered a powerful strike.

"Gigalith, use Stone Edge."

Gigalith stomped his feet and many pointed, gray stones floated into the air and struck Ninjask. Unfortunately, Ninjask is very bad against Rock-Type moves, so he was out after just one hit, but he did do an amazing job.

"Let's go Garchomp!"

Garchomp came out and gave a glare at his opponent. I only had two Pokemon left for this battle, and Master Black still had three. It wasn't looking good for me, but I knew I had to win. I wasn't going to let Jared beat me again. Not when the consequences were this huge.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush!"

Garchomp became cloaked in a light blue veil as he charged at Gigalith. He hit him head on, causing some damage, but Gigalith still didn't seem to be out just yet. The combination of this attack with Ninjask's dig was taking its toll though. Just one more good hit...

"Gigalith, use Rock Slide."
Gigalith stomped his foot on the ground and, suddenly rocks began falling around Garchomp. They hit him, but it didn't seem to bother him too much. He was ready and willing to fight.

"Garchomp, use Earthquake!"

Garchomp jumped up and then slammed his fist into the ground, creating a powerful shockwave that shook the whole arena. Gigalith was hit by the earthquake and went down. Master Black recalled him.

"Fine then. Let's go Samurott."

The blue, sea-lion Pokemon with a large horn that appeared to be made out of a shell appeared on the field. This was Jared's starter Pokemon. I knew from experience that he was strong, but I couldn't let him beat Garchomp, because then I would only have one more Pokemon left.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Claw!"

"Samurott, use Megahorn."

Garchomp's claws glowed light green as he charged at Samurott. Samurott's horn began glowing white as he charged right at Garchomp. Garchomp raked his claws across Samurott's face as Samurott's horn pierced Garchomp's arm. Both Pokemon jumped backwards, taking quite a bit of damage from each other's attack.

"Samurott, use Water Pulse."

"Garcomp, Dragon Rush!"

Samurott produced a ring of water that quickly approached Garchomp. Garchomp became cloaked in a light blue veil as he rushed at top speed at Samurott. He broke through the water ring and hit Samurott full force at top speed. Samurott was sent flying several feet backwards and landed with a loud thud. He slowly got back up.

"Samurott, Hydro Canon."

"Garchomp, one more Dragon Rush!"

Samurott fired a powerful blast of water. Garchomp once again cloaked himself in the light blue veil and rushed at Samurott. The blast of water made contact with Garchomp as he charged. He fought it. The water pushed him back and then he pushed through it. It was a tough battle. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Garchomp broke through the blast and hit Samurott, effectively knocking him out. Master Black recalled him. Garchomp was looking pretty beat now. He took out two powerful Pokemon.

"Well then... I think you know what's next." Master Black said

He was right. I can't believe I didn't realize it til now. He hadn't used that Pokemon. It totally destroyed my team in the Unova Conference. And now... now I had to fight it once more.

"Go Hydreigon."

I swallowed hard as the large dragon Pokemon appeared. This was it. I knew I had to win it here and now. I only had one more Pokemon left... and I didn't bring Blaziken this time for... well I don't know why, actually. All I knew was that if Garchomp went down, my last Pokemon wouldn't be able to hurt him.

"Hydreigon, use Dark Pulse."

"Garchomp, use Dragon Claw!"

Garchomp's claws glowed green as he rushed at Hydreigon. He raked them along his sides, causing a good amount of damage, but this meant that Hydreigon had point blank range for his attack. Hydreigon fired a powerful blast of black energy right at Garchomp. Garchomp got back up, almost ready to pass out, but still willing to fight.

"Garchomp, get one more Dragon Rush in there!"

"Hydreigon, finish with Dragon Pulse."

Garchomp cloaked himself in the blue veil one more time and hit Hydreigon with all the power he had left in him. Hydreigon fired a powerful blast of light blue energy. It hit Garchomp dead on and he fell. I recalled him.

Now I was screwed... why did I bring her with me? Why not Blaziken? What was I thinking? Oh well, guess there was no use, she was all I had and I needed to win... but Psychic against a Dark-Type Pokemon was never a good thing.

"Go Gardevoir..." I said hesitantly.

"Well, this victory will be very easy for me then" Master Black said, jeeringly. He was right, what chance did Gardevoir have against a powerful Hydreigon?

"Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse"

Hydreigon fired the powerful blast of light blue energy again. I braced for the worst. It hit Gardevoir dead on and completely engulfed her. When the attack subsided I saw Gardevoir and she was... completely fine? The attack didn't affect her at all.

"Wh-what the hell just happened!?" Master Black exclaimed

"That's right folks" I heard Tom's voice boom over the speakers, the first time I ever really listened to his commentary "Gardevoir's Fairy-Type completely nullifies any Dragon-Type attack. Not to mention it weakens Dark-Type attacks. Andrew was smart in choosing a Fairy-type Pokemon for the end of this battle!"

Of course! How could I forget that? Gardevoir, as I just recently learned, was a Fairy-type Pokemon. I guess Fairy-type Pokemon didn't take damage from Dragon-type moves. This means I can finish this with just that one move she learned that one time... what was it?"

"Gardevoir, finish this with... uh... oh, right, Fairy Wind!"

Gardevoir closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Suddenly, the wind got slightly cooler as a pink gust of wind engulfed Hydreigon. Hydreigon was suffering from this attack. With Garchomp and Gardevoir's combined efforts, the mighty beast that is Jared's Hydreigon went down.

"I-I won... I won!" I exclaimed in shock and joy

Master Black slowly walked back to the tunnel he came out of. He was probably really pissed. Would they do to him what they did to Lucy and Count Silver?

I walked through my tunnel and found him in the lobby. His mask was off and he was actually crying. I couldn't believe it. It had been awhile since I had seen his face. He had very sharp features and a strong jawline.

"Jared..." I said

He looked at me and stopped

"You won that fair and square" he said

"But... are... are they gonna do to you what they did to Lucy?" I asked

"Probably..." he responded. "Glen is probably looking for me right now..."

"Glen?" I asked

"That's Lord Diamond. He's a champion of the Sinnoh Region" Jared said.

"Oh..." I responded

"Listen to me" Jared said as he looked me in the eye "they're going to wipe my memory soon. When they do that, I don't want you to remind me of any of my time with them. Its something that, as of now, I very much regret. Do you understand me?"

I nodded in response.

"Good" he said. "Now, let me tell you something important. The machine I built, I know Red showed it to you, and I finally added the spot for Darkrai. Its beside Celebi. The whole thing is powered by Genesect. If you can release Genesect from within the machine, it will stop working. The button to do that is behind the triangular fixture for the Legendary Birds. Do you understand?"

I nodded again

"Good" he said "Now, I must go... they're probably looking for me. Andrew... thank you..."

Jared left. He knew what was to come. Why did he thank me though? Did he want to be free from Team Cataclysm?

I kept walking. I found it disturbing how Team Cataclysm would do that to their leaders when they lost.

As I kept walking, I walked right past Red. I stared at him as I passed, and he stared back at me.

"I'm up next, you know" he said in a calm voice. I turned around and his back was still to me.

"I think you should watch me fight my leader. It may be very entertaining" he said and then resumed walking.

Red vs. Catalyst was next. I don't know what Red meant. I didn't want to watch him throw the match for his leader... but, still... watching the match could give me insight as to how she battled, and it seemed likely that I would face her in the next round.

I went up to the stands and sat down in the first row to get a good view of the match. I saw Red enter from one side, the side that I was just on, and Catalyst from the other.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen..." Tom's voice boomed from the loudspeakers "Let the second match of the second round, Red vs. Catalyst, begin!"

A/N: So, another chapter. Did you guys enjoy my use of the new Fairy-type match-ups? As always please review and tell me how I did and all that jazz. Still need some characters for my prequel too, just saying... Anyways, keep on reading!