Chapter 44 – An Icy Conclusion
I was so excited! Only one more field to go, and then it was off to the final qualifying battles inside the Indigo Stadium! My battle at the Ice Field was not until 4pm, so May and I decided to walk around in the Pokemon Village, while our parents went on a tour. Trevor took his Rapidash out on a ride in the surrounding areas, and Martin stayed in the apartment, as usual. Anyway, as May and I were walking along, accompanied by Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, and Redfur, a Flareon came charging in our direction! "What the…" I began to ask, when the Flareon tackled Firestorm to the ground! "Firestorm!" I shouted. When I looked to see what was going on, I saw Firestorm, pinned to the ground on his back, and the Flareon was licking his face! "Inferno! Stop that! I'm sure he's happy to see you, too!" I heard a familiar voice shout. It was Bill! "Hi there, Joe. It's good to see you again" he said. I replied, "Bill! This is a surprise!" Then I said, "Oh, Bill, this is May", introducing him to her. May said, "I've heard a lot about you! It's nice to meet you." He replied, "Likewise!" Then I asked him, "So, what are you doing here?" He answered, "Actually, I came looking for you and Firestorm. Inferno has been miserable and depressed ever since Firestorm left. She misses him terribly. She hasn't been eating well, and has been very inactive. I hoped that reuniting her with Firestorm would snap her out of it. It appears I was correct." I said, "Yeah, so it seems" as I watched the 2 of them together. They were now both standing, licking each other's faces. May said, "Aww, that's so sweet!" Flamefox and Amber began licking each other's faces, too! I said, "Well, I'll be glad to let Inferno hang out with Firestorm. But what are you going to do when she has to leave him again?" Bill answered, "Actually, I had something more in mind. I want you to keep Inferno." I was stunned. He continued, "You took such good care of Eve, and evolved her into Vaporeon because she wished it. And your Jolteon is in the best shape I've ever seen a Jolteon in. You care very deeply for all of your Pokemon, and I can think of no one better suited to take care of Inferno." I said, "I'd be honored! But I can only have 6 Pokemon in my party, and Flamefox and Firestorm are my fire types. They are also my best friends, and I won't leave one of them behind." Bill said, "Well, right now, they're a little more lenient about how many Pokemon you have with you, because you can only use 3 at a time in the field battles, anyway. But I talked to Professor Oak and we pulled a few strings to allow you to carry 7 Pokemon with you. But you'll still only be able to use a maximum of 6 in a trainer battle." I said, "Wow, thanks, Bill!" He said, "You're welcome. It's the least I can do for Inferno's happiness." May said, "It must be nice to know someone in a high place. Here I've been sneaking the fact that I've had 7 Pokemon with me." Bill replied, "I won't say anything if you don't!" Then I asked him, "Are you staying at the Pokemon Village for long?" He said, "Just for a little while. I mainly came looking for you, but I sure would like to see how well this year's competitor's fare!" I said, "I hope you'll stay for my battle in the Ice Field at 4pm." He said, "I wouldn't miss it!" Then May said, "And don't miss my battle in the Rock Field at 5!" He laughed and said, "Very well! I'll watch both of your battles!" Then he walked over to Inferno and said, "Farewell now, Inferno. I'll miss you, but at least I'll know you're in good hands, and that you're happy" and he petted her. Then he petted Firestorm and said, "You take good care of her now." Finally, he turned to me and said, "And you keep taking good care of all of your Pokemon. And bring Inferno and Eve to visit me and their family once in a while." I replied, "Thanks! I will!" After he walked on, May said to me, "That was really nice of him! I can't believe you're going to be allowed to have 7 Pokemon with you!" I said, "Yeah! This is great!"
Soon, the time came for my battle. Trevor had returned, and he and Martin met us outside the Ice Field stadium. Before we entered, we ran into my next competitor, Brian. We hadn't seen each other since the bug catching contest in the National Park, north of Goldenrod City! He told me, "The Beedrill I caught is doing great! How's your Scyther?" I answered him, "He's doing great!" Then he said, "Oh, I evolved my Growlithe into an Arcanine, too!" I replied, "That's great! This is gonna be an excellent battle!" He said, "Yeah! Well, good luck! See you inside!" I responded, "You, too! Good luck!" With that, he ran inside the stadium, and my friends and I also entered. The seats were packed, as usual. Somewhere in there were May's and my parents, and Bill. The Ice Field arena consisted of a large, rectangular arena of ice and glaciers, surrounded by normal ground. The announcer came on, "This is Joseph's final field battle before the Indigo Stadium! If he wins this, he goes on to the final qualifying battles in the Indigo Stadium to see if he will qualify to battle the Elite Four!" The audience cheered loudly. The announcer continued, "The red trainer is Brian Yusaki from Azalea Town. He's also been doing very well in the League Finals, and this match promises to be very close!" I stood atop my battle platform with Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, and Inferno, while my friends sat on a bench below. Brian stood atop his platform, as well. The referee said, "Let the battle begin!" Brian said, "I choose Arcanine!" and released the big orange, white, and black dog from his pokeball. I responded, "I choose Vaporeon!" and released my water Eevee. I told her, "Make me proud! You're Daddy's watching!" She nodded to me, and faced down Arcanine. "Arcanine, use body slam!" Brian ordered. Arcanine ran at Vaporeon and slammed into her! I couldn't help but think of when he was a Growlithe and kept shoving Flamefox to the ground during the bug catching contest! Vaporeon stood back up, and I commanded her, "Use water gun!" She shot a stream of water from her mouth at Arcanine, but he dodged it easily with his agility! Brian ordered, "Arcanine, use fire blast!" He launched the "t"-shape of flames at Vaporeon, but she jumped out of the way, and the attack hit one of the glaciers and melted it. "Joe, don't forget! Vaporeon is female!" May reminded me. I replied, "That's right! Vaporeon, use attract!" She set her gaze upon Arcanine, and he fell into a trance – he was in love with Vaporeon! "Arcanine, use take down!" Brian shouted. Arcanine ignored him! "Vaporeon, use hydro pump!" I shouted. She shot an even more powerful stream of water from her mouth at Arcanine, and he took a direct hit! When the waterworks ceased, he fell over, defeated! The referee said, "Arcanine is no longer able to battle! This round goes to the green trainer!" and he held up the green flag. The audience cheered as one light went out under Brian's picture on the scoreboard, and I ran out to the field to hug Vaporeon. Brian recalled Arcanine as the announcer said, "Fire and water definitely do not mix!" Brian took out his next pokeball and said, "I choose Cloyster!" The ball opened to reveal the large, evolved form of Shellder. I responded, "I choose Jolteon!" and released my electric dog. I said, "Jolteon, use thunderbolt!" He said, "Jolt jolt!" as he launched the powerful electric attack at Cloyster. Brian quickly responded, "Cloyster, use withdraw!" Cloyster closed up inside his shell, and he barely felt the attack! "Good, Cloyster! Now use rapid spin!" Brian shouted. The closed-up Cloyster began spinning around quickly, like a top, and came after Jolteon! "Jolteon, use agility!" I shouted. He ran back and forth in a blur, but Cloyster kept up with him, spinning quickly, until he slammed into Jolteon, knocking him down. "Jolteon, try thunder!" I shouted. He took in lightning from the sky and launched it at Cloyster, but it just seemed to bounce right off of him as he spun around! "Cloyster, spike cannon!" Brian ordered. Cloyster launched several spikes at Jolteon, and he managed to evade all but the last one, which hit him and knocked him down again. I was getting desperate. "Jolteon, try a take down!" I ordered. He ran at Cloyster, and hit him in the side, but knocked himself to the ground in the process. Cloyster apparently hadn't felt any damage! As long as that shell was closed, he was virtually impenetrable! "Cloyster, use tackle!" Brian commanded. The closed-up shell thrust itself at Jolteon, who kept dodging the attacks, but was getting tired and soon, he took a hit! He took 3 more hits after that, and now lay on the ground, almost not able to move! I was tempted to recall him. Then Brian shouted, "Cloyster, let's finish it! Use hyper beam!" Martin said, "Now's your chance, Joe! He has to open up his shell in order to use hyper beam!" I said, "Right!" As soon as Cloyster began to open his shell, I shouted, "Jolteon, thunderbolt, now!" He launched a powerful attack right inside Cloyster's shell! It was a direct hit! Cloyster had made himself vulnerable just long enough for us to get the attack in! "Cloyster, no!" Brian shouted. But it was too late – Cloyster fell sideways to the ground, all swirly-eyed! "Cloyster is unable to battle! This round goes to the green trainer!" the referee said. Brian recalled Cloyster and I ran down to the field to hug Jolteon, and return him to his ball for a rest, as a second light went out under Brian's picture and the crowd cheered. The announcer said, "If Joe wins this final round, he'll be battling in the Indigo Stadium tomorrow!" Brian said, "For my final Pokemon, I choose Exeggutor!" I looked at Inferno and said, "What do you say? Want to give it a shot?" She nodded at me and leapt down to the field from the platform. I felt like I was under a lot of pressure because Bill was in the audience – but at the same time, I thought it would look bad if I DIDN'T use her and Bill was in the audience! "Exeggutor, use barrage!" Brian shouted. The large, 3 headed walking palm tree launched several coconut like objects from the center of the large leaves on his head, and Inferno managed to keep dodging them. "Inferno, use flamethrower!" I shouted. "Exeggutor, use endure!" Brian shouted. Her flames hit his leaves, burning them, but he still stood, ready to battle! "Exeggutor, use confusion!" He levitated her into the air, and then she fell back down, and became confused! "Inferno!" I shouted. He said, "Good! Now use egg bomb!" Exeggutor kept launching egg-shaped objects at Inferno, which kept exploding around her, knocking her all over in her confused state. "Inferno, use flamethrower again!" I shouted. She did the attack, but Exeggutor easily avoided it, due to her bad aim from being confused. Then he said, "Exeggutor, use stomp!" He came at Inferno and hit her with his large foot, and sent her flying across the arena, and she hit the bottom of the platform I stood on. As Exeggutor came at her for another hit, I shouted, "Inferno, use fire spin!" She managed to stand up and launched the tornado of flames from her mouth, which wrapped around the quickly approaching Exeggutor! Once the flames dispersed, he fell to the ground, just inches away from her! "Exeggutor is unable to battle! This round and the battle goes to the green trainer, Joseph Ehlle!" the referee shouted, as the audience cheered and threw confetti! I ran down to hold Inferno and told her, "Excellent first battle, Inferno!" and hugged her. The last light went out under Brian's picture on the scoreboard and then only my picture remained, along with the word "Congratulations!" The announcer said, "It looks like Joseph will be going on to the Indigo Stadium!" My friends all congratulated me, and Brian came down to shake my hand after he recalled Exeggutor. Bill came down, too, and said, "All of your Eevee forms battled quite well! You should be proud!" I said to him, "I am!" Of course, the press came down to get pictures of me with Inferno, Vaporeon, and Jolteon, as well as Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, Redfur and my human friends.
After May's final field battle, which she, too, won, we all met our parents for dinner, and I invited Brian to join us. Bill had to leave, but wished all of us good luck with our Indigo Stadium battles. I couldn't believe we had made it this far! Tomorrow, we would be battling at the Indigo Stadium, that much closer to deciding who will be battling the Elite Four this year! I was nervous, but very excited.