Chapter 22 - True Champions
We travelled from the Tin Tower back to Ecruteak City. It was beginning to feel like a second home to me, as this was, I think, our fourth time returning to this city. Even Officer Jenny remembered us and said "Hi" as Tauros and I rode into town, accompanied by my other Pokemon. I decided to stop in at the Pokemon center just to have my Pokemon checked out, even though I was sure they were fine after Ho-oh had used her recover on all of them. Nurse Joy and Chansey were behind the counter. "Well, hello again. You must really like our city" she said to me. I replied, "I'm definitely getting familiar with it. Could you please check out my Pokemon once again, Nurse Joy?" "Of course we can" she happily replied. I gave her the 4 pokeballs, while Flamefox and Firestorm followed her into the examination room. About 10 minutes later, I saw my Vulpix and Ninetales leaving the back room, and they ran over to me in the lobby. I walked over to the counter, behind which stood Nurse Joy and Chansey, and my other 4 pokeballs were on the counter. Nurse Joy looked almost perplexed. I asked her, "Is there a problem?" She responded, "No. In fact, your Pokemon are even healthier than the last time I examined them. I'd sure like to know how you did it." I knew it must have had something to do with Ho-oh's recover technique, but I didn't want to say anything, so I just said, "Wow, really? No, I can't think of anything I did differently." She said, "Well, however you've been raising and training them, keep it up!" I said, "Thanks, Nurse Joy!" and with that, I collected my pokeballs and got ready to leave. She answered, "You're welcome!" and then my fire foxes and I went out the door. We stopped at the Pokemart to stock up on supplies, and after that, once we reached the end of the city, I looked back at it once more. I would have a lot of fond memories of my experiences near here, especially my encounters with legendary Pokemon. Anyway, I released my other 4 Pokemon and said, "Okay, guys, it's a long way to Olivine City. Let's get started." I mounted up on Tauros, and with Flamefox in my lap, said, "Let's go, Tauros!" He began to run ahead, and my other Pokemon kept up.
We continued to run through the vast grassy and forested areas in the routes between Ecruteak and Olivine Cities. I saw the farm again, where I had helped the farmer with his Miltank a while back, in the far distance as we passed through that area again. As Tauros ran, I held on tightly to his brown furry mane and felt the wind in my face, while Flamefox sat up on my shoulders. I just loved this feeling of complete freedom.
As we got further ahead, I heard galloping coming up from behind us. I looked back to see a young man with brown hair, wearing a black stetson hat, riding a Rapidash and another man with black hair and a mustache, wearing a red headband, riding on a Dodrio. "Slow down a second, Tauros" I said to him. The 2 men rode up to us. The man on the Rapidash said, "That's a fast Tauros you have there. He looks like you've raised him well." I replied, "Thank you." The man on the Dodrio said, "We're taking part in the annual Route 39 race/obstacle course for riding Pokemon tomorrow. How would you like to enter?" I answered, "Sure! That sounds great! What do you think, Tauros? Are you up to it?" He raised his head and "mooed" loudly. "All right! Just come with us. We'll take you back to the racing camp. Oh, my name's Trevor" said the man on the Rapidash. "My name's Joe. It's nice to meet you" I replied. He continued, "I won last year's race, but I'm always looking for stiffer competition, and you just may be it!" The man on the Dodrio said, "My name's Edward. Trevor and I go way back. In fact, we helped found this race!" Still riding on Tauros, I followed the 2 of them, accompanied by my other Pokemon.
We reached the camp in about half an hour. The other contenders were there with their Pokemon. Among them, I saw an Arcanine, Ponyta, Stantler, Nidoking, and others. Trevor said, "We begin the race first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, make yourself at home. There's food, games, and entertainment. Have fun!" I said, "Thanks" and dismounted from Tauros. I walked around with my Pokemon, and checked out the activities going on. Suddenly, a guy in a Pikachu costume ran up to me and said, "Your Vulpix and Ninetales look very impressive. We're having a random target contest for fire Pokemon. You must enter yours in it! Come on!" He literally grabbed me by the arm and pulled me over. There were a bunch of other trainers with fire Pokemon, such as Growlithe, Flareon, Charmander, Magmar, Ponyta, and then there was Trevor and his Rapidash! "Well, come to see how good your fire Pokemon are against mine?" he asked. I replied, "Well, I was kind of dragged into it, but yeah. So what are we doing?' He said, "In the field in front of us are a lot of random targets, that will pop up unexpectedly from the ground, one by one. Whoever's Pokemon hits the most targets with their ember attacks wins." There were squares chalked out in a row on the ground, and each Pokemon was to sit in a square. I said, "Okay, Flamefox, Firestorm, pick a square." My Vulpix and Ninetales each sat in a square, along with the other fire Pokemon, who were getting all lined up, facing the field. I then said to my fire foxes, "Okay, guys, this is just like our target practices in the woods, except this time, the targets will pop up randomly. Just stay focused! I know you can do it!" "Vulpix!" Flamefox exclaimed, and Firestorm shouted, "Ninetales!" The announcer said, "Ready... begin!" Suddenly, wooden targets began to randomly pop up from the ground in the field in front of us, and I shouted, "Flamefox, Firestorm, keep hitting them with your ember attacks!" The other trainers commanded their Pokemon the same way. My fire foxes hit one target after another with their ember attacks. Soon, they were just anticipating, hitting them as they popped up. They were blowing away their competition - except for Trevor's Rapidash! It seemed to be an almost even draw between the 3 of them so far. But my fire foxes were doing quite well! Soon, Flamefox had 15 targets hit, Firestorm had 14, and Rapidash had 18! "Good work, Rapidash! Keep it up!" I heard Trevor say. I said, "Come on, guys, just a few more!" Their ember attacks shot out left and right, each one hitting a target! Their training was definitely paying off! The last few targets popped up and everyone watched intently! My fire foxes anticipated each target. Finally, the last target was hit, and I heard the announcer say, "Finish!" The final score was Rapidash 23, Firestorm 24, and Flamefox 25! "The winner is Joseph Ehlle and his Vulpix, Flamefox!" came the announcer's voice. "Way to go!" I shouted to Flamefox as I picked him up and hugged him. As we were handed a small, flame-shaped golden trophy, Trevor walked over to me. He said, "That was an impressive display of fire. I'd like to challenge you and your Vulpix or Ninetales to a little personal contest. Do either of them know fire blast?" I answered, "Yeah, Firestorm does." He said, "So does Rapidash. Let's see whose is more powerful." He pointed to a giant billboard sign, about 15 x 20 feet, advertising the race. "That's an old sign I've been wanting to get rid of and replace with a new one for a long time now. Its rotted out and is falling apart. This will take care of 2 things at once! They'll each launch a fire blast at that old sign. Whoever makes a bigger hole in it wins!" I agreed to it. Rapidash and Firestorm stood a few feet apart. I said to Firestorm, "Put everything you've got into your fire blast!" He nodded, "Ninetales!" Trevor said, "Ready, set, go!" We watched as both Firestorm's and Rapidash's bodies glowed brightly, and then they launched their attacks. I had never seen Firestorm launch a larger fire blast! It had to be ten feet tall! 2 huge holes were burned through the old billboard. A couple people ran up to measure the holes. I waited, with my arm around Firestorm, and said to him, "Whatever happens, you did great, Firestorm!" Finally, one of the people said, "The hole from Firestorm's attack is bigger by half an inch!" "Good job, Firestorm!" I shouted, and I hugged my Ninetales friend. Trevor said, "Congratulations! You did great! Tomorrow we'll see if your Tauros' speed is equally impressive as your Vulpix's and Ninetales' flame attacks!" I said, "You're on!"
That night, my Pokemon and I slept in our designated tent. I petted Tauros and said, "I know you'll do your best tomorrow, Tauros. I just want you to know that I'll be proud of you, even if we don't win. Just give it your all!" I then scratched under his horns, which he still loves for me to do to this day! After that, I lay my head on his side and fell asleep, with Flamefox, Firestorm, Jolteon, and Vaporeon curled up to me. Scyther was never really the affectionate type, and preferred to sleep over by himself.
The next morning, after breakfast, everyone got ready for the race. I ran into Trevor and Edward again. "Good luck, guys!" I said to them. Edward said, "Yeah, thanks! You too!" and Trevor said, "You'll need it to beat me! It's not a fire attack contest this time!" After he walked away, I commented to Edward, "You know, Trevor seems like a nice guy and everything, but he also seems a little full of himself." Edward said, "Don't hold it against him. He's very competitive, and has won this race for the past 3 years, plus he's won many other races. Sometimes he lets that get to his head. But he really is a great guy!" I walked Tauros to the starting line. I had all of my other Pokemon back inside their pokeballs, except for Flamefox and Firestorm, who decided to unofficially enter the race, Flamefox riding on Firestorm's back! I mounted up on Tauros, and Trevor was already there, with Rapidash, ready to begin the race. Edward came up on his Dodrio, and then other trainers rode up on their Pokemon, including Arcanine, Ponyta, Onix, Nidoking, Stantler, Rhyhorn, Kangaskhan, and a few other rideable Pokemon. There was a man with a Voltorb off to the side. He shouted, "On your marks... get set..." Suddenly the Voltorb used explosion! The Pokemon and their riders were off, before the Voltorb guy could utter "Go!" as he fell over, swirly eyed, next to his Voltorb. Trevor had immediately taken the lead, followed by Edward, then the Arcanine trainer, and Tauros and I were in fourth place, with Firestorm and Flamefox close behind! The first obstacle was just ahead - the riders' Pokemon had to leap over hurdles. Trevor's Rapidash and Edward's Dodrio leapt gracefully over each one. Tauros did an excellent job - he leapt over each one perfectly! "Nicely done, Tauros!" I said to him as he continued to run ahead, trying to catch up with the others. Firestorm also handled it quite gracefully. I looked behind to see the Rhyhorn trip over the hurdles, knocking them down, which slowed down the racers behind him. Next up were huge logs lined up a few yards apart, which Rapidash, Dodrio, Tauros, and Firestorm all leapt over with great ease. Then the path led up a hill. Tauros continued to run, up to the top of the hill. Down the other side, it was very rocky. Rapidash leapt from one rock to another, as did Dodrio. "If they can do it, we can do it!" I said to Tauros. He also leapt from rock to rock, until we reached the bottom of the hill, followed by Firestorm and Flamefox. Tauros sped up, and he passed the Arcanine trainer. We were now in third place, as he continued to gallop ahead. It was still Trevor in the lead! Even though we were in third place, I thought Tauros was doing extremely good! All that riding between cities was paying off! As we ran along level ground, we passed Edward, and I waved at him, smiling. He just gave me kind of a dirty look. I could see Trevor just yards ahead of us. Firestorm and Flamefox were still right behind us. Edward was still in third, followed by the Arcanine, Stantler, Ponyta, and Rhyhorn trainers. Everyone else was way behind! The next big obstacle was just ahead. There was a huge, muddy swamp, with large boulders forming a sort of path, but the Pokemon had to leap from boulder to boulder. I watched as Rapidash easily leapt from rock to rock, and Tauros did, as well. But he didn't coordinate his next leap quite right, and missed the rock. Instead, he landed in the mud! It wasn't deep mud, only about a foot and a half, but it was so thick, it significantly slowed him down as he walked through it towards the next boulder. Edward, as well as the Arcanine, Stantler, and Ponyta trainers all passed us! The Rhyhorn also missed the rock, and fell into the mud, but in the process, he tripped the Nidoking and Kangaskhan, sending them into the mud, as well. The Onix trainer didn't even try to cross the swamp! Tauros finally got onto a boulder, where Firestorm and Flamefox were waiting for us, and he continued to leap from boulder to boulder. We were gradually catching up. Once we hit firm ground again, he went full throttle, and passed the Ponyta, Stantler, and Arcanine trainers again. We were doing good! My fire foxes kept up with us, no problem! As we continued ahead, I couldn't believe my eyes - Edward had taken the lead! We gradually caught up with Trevor, as Tauros increased his speed. Then I saw the next big obstacle - a lake, with large rocks that stuck up from under the water. Again, the Pokemon had to leap from rock to rock to get across. I thought, "It's pretty dangerous for Rapidash to do that! If he falls into the water, his external flames could be put out on his mane and tail! That could be fatal." Dodrio leapt from rock to rock with great ease, as did Rapidash. So, Tauros also leapt from rock to rock, followed by Firestorm. All of a sudden, I saw Rapidash just miss the next rock. He got only his front legs onto it. He tried to pull himself up, but lost his grip and went under water! "Trevor, Rapidash!" I shouted. As soon as Tauros leapt onto that rock, I jumped off his back. Trevor was holding onto Rapidash, who was almost unconscious, in the water - his flames were out! "Vaporeon, Scyther, go!" I shouted, as I released them from their pokeballs. Vaporeon leapt into the water and swam towards Trevor and Rapidash, while Scyther flew over to them. "Trevor, grab hold of Vaporeon. Scyther, grab Rapidash and bring him over here!" The other racers, in the meantime, passed all of us. I heard Scyther yell, "Scyther!" Trevor said, "I think Rapidash is too big for Scyther to pick up! We have to get him out of the water!" I looked at Tauros and asked him, "Can you swim?" He nodded, and jumped into the water with a big splash! He paddled over with his front legs, and went underneath Rapidash. Then, with Rapidash on his back, he paddled back over to the rock. Vaporeon brought Trevor over. "Good job, Tauros!" I said, as he shook himself off, getting me all wet, as Scyther and I pulled Rapidash onto the rock. Rapidash lay there, unconscious. Trevor said, "This is all my fault! I'm too competitive. I asked too much of Rapidash!" I said, "It was an accident. You can't blame yourself. Now we have to get him dried off. Flamefox, Firestorm, do a continuous flamethrower just over Rapidash!" They did so, and the heat from their flames gradually dried Rapidash's fur, mane, and tail. After a while, the flames on his mane and tail began to burn again, and he opened his eyes. "Rapidash!" Trevor said, and he hugged his fire horse. "Thank goodness" I said to my Pokemon. Suddenly, Edward came riding over on his Dodrio, and he yelled, "What happened? I didn't see either of you behind me as I neared the finish line, so I knew something must be wrong. I'm glad I turned around and came back!" Trevor said, "We had a little accident, but we're all right now, thanks to Joe and his Pokemon", and he petted his Rapidash on the head. I said, "It was no big deal." Trevor then asked Edward, "You really gave up the race to come back looking for me?" Edward answered, "What are friends for?" To that, Trevor said, "Too bad you gave up your one and only chance ever to beat me. But thank you."
The winner of the race ended up being the trainer with the Arcanine. But in addition to having a ceremony for the winner of the race, this year they had a special award made up just for me for displaying outstanding sportsmanship and helping out a competitor in need. After the ceremony, I got ready to leave once again. Trevor said, "Thanks again for forfeiting the race to help me and Rapidash. I hope someday we can have a rematch." I replied, "It was no problem. And I look forward to a rematch!" Edward said, "Well, it was good to meet you and race with you." I said, "Same here. I hope all of our paths cross again someday." With that, I mounted up on Tauros, and my Pokemon and I continued en route to Olivine City.