Chapter 6: Exorcising Demons

Ash and Harrison are currently fighting in the first round of the tournament.

"Weavile, go!"

"Garchomp, I choose you! OK Harrison, let's do this. Garchomp, Dig!"

"Weavile, use Dig too!"

Both Pokemon burrow underground and trade blows.

"Garchomp, come out and use Earthquake!"

Garchomp jumps out, and before Weavile can, too, it uses Earthquake and buries Weavile under the rubble.

"I thought that might happen, Ash."

All of a sudden, the Weavile under the rubble disappears.

"What?!"

"It was a substitute! Now, Weavile, Sheer Cold!"

Weavile jumps out of the ground and uses Sheer Cold on Garchomp.

"Garchomp is unable to battle!"

"Good job, Garchomp. Pikachu, let's go buddy!"

"Pika!"

"Use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu rushed toward Weavile.

"Detect, Weavile!"

At the last second, Weavile side steps Pikachu.

"Hmm… Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Ice Beam, Weavile!"

Thunderbolt and Ice beam collide and cancele each other out.

"Thunderbolt's not enough huh? Then Pikachu, Thunder!"

"Pika!"

A dark cloud appears and sends out a huge bolt of lightning to smite Weavile.

"Detect!"

Weavile evades the Thunder, but it doesn't notice that Pikachu had sneaked towards it while it was distracted.

"Now Pikachu, use Iron Tail plus Electroball!"

"Oh, no!" yells Harrison.

"Weavile is unable to battle!"

"Amazing job, Weavile! Steelix, go!"

The colossal Steelix towers over Pikachu.

"Don't let him intimidate you, Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!"

"You too, Steelix!"

The Iron Tails collide, but Steelix is just too strong, and Pikachu is shot down to the ground.

"Now, before it can recover, use Earthquake!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu is rocked, but it stays alive.

"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!"

"Hyper Beam, Steelix!"

At first, Pikachu is pushing through, but Harrison pushes on Steelix, and Pikachu is engulfed in the Hyper Beam and is knocked out.

"Great job, buddy. Snorlax, I choose you!"

"Snorlax, eh? This should be interesting." says Harrison.

"Use Ice Punch, Snorlax."

Snorlax just lies there.

"Snorlax?"

No response.

"Come on! Don't fall asleep now!" yells Ash.

"Oh, well. Steelix, Flash Cannon!"

Snorlax was hit hard by the Flash Cannon, causing it to wake up and be super pissed.

"Shouldn't have done that Harrison! Snorlax, Ice Punch!"

"Lix!"

"Steelix, stay strong! Use Crunch!"

Steelix bites Snorlax and won't let go.

"Snorlax, use Hyper Beam!"

"You too, Steelix!"

Both Snorlax and Steelix beam each other and both are knocked out.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle! Both trainers have one Pokémon remaining!"

"You know what that means Harrison?"

"Yeah."

"Charizard, I choose you!"

"Blaziken, let's go!"

When their eyes met, the Pokémon become so pumped up to battle each other that they rush forward without command.

"Blaziken, wait!"

"Harrison, let's let them go. They need to see for themselves who's stronger." says Ash.

"Hmm, okay."

Charizard and Blaziken ae in sync, blow for blow. Charizard hits Blaziken with Dragon Tail, then Blaziken hits Charizard with Sky Uppercut. Flamethrower, Flamethrower. Steel Wing, Double Kick. Neither can get the upper hand. Charizard gets hold of Blaziken and uses Seismic Toss, but, similarly to the first match, Blaziken softens the blow with Flamethrower. Then, Blaziken hits Charizard with a Blaze Kick. Finally, they take one last strike at each other, and they both go down.

"Come on, Charizard! You can do it!"

"Blaziken, just a little more!"

They both get up, and it seems like they're going to go at it again, but Blaziken succumbs to its injuries and falls.

"Blaziken is unable to battle! That means the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum!"

"Yeah! Great job, Charizard!"

"You did well, Blaziken. Don't worry about it."

Ash walks over to Harrison.

"Harrison, thanks for the great battle."

"No. Thank you, Ash."

They shake hands and go to watch the other matches. Gary defeats Trip in a nail biting match. Morrison is able to beat Glacia with a last second Meteor Mash. Paul beats Silver in a rather close fight. Richie just sneaks by Agatha, Tyson shakes up Sydney, and Jeanette gives Tobias a rather close battle, knocking out Darkrai, Latios, Latias, and Shaymin with Bellsprout, but she is ultimtely unable to defeat him. So, after this first round, three of Ash's friends have fallen.

"Okay, trainers, you will have an hour reprieve to relax and heal your Pokemon. Remember, you can use only the 6 you have registered."

"Okay, guys, we've got an hour, so I'm gonna go get something to eat. Anyone want to come along?" Ash asks.

"Yeah, we don't want you to eat everything in the restaurant." says everyone.

So, they go to Snorlax and Slaking's™ and talk about their matches.

"Well, Trip, how does it feel to have the honor of being eliminated by The Gary Oak?" questions Gary.

"Like a bat to the head."

"You know it."

"I can't believe you took out so many of Tobias's Pokemon, Jeanette." says Ash. "I mean, I could only take out 2."

"Yeah, me neither. I guess Bellsprout was really fired up."

"Silver was a pretty tough trainer." says Paul. "He actually reminded me of myself, except with red hair."

"Hey, Tyson and Richie, we should be in the Elite Four busting club." said Morrison.

"Yeah, we should." said Richie.

"Oh, yeah." said Tyson.

"So, Harrison, Trip, Jeanette, what're you gonna do now?" asked Ash.

"Well, I'll stay here to see who wins the tournament." says Harrison.

"Yeah, me, too." says Trip.

"I'm going to visit my friend Gideon. He's a vassal, you know."

"Oh, you mean the Slaking guy. Where'd you meet him?" asks Gary.

"Well, I was in Cinnabar, and I went over to the famous lab. He came out the door and accidently bumped into me. He felt so bad about it that he bought me lunch. Then, we became friends and have been ever since."

"What is he, your boyfriend?"

"O-of course not!" Jeanette angrily replies.

All of a sudden, a speaker phone goes off telling all trainers to return to the stadium where their matches will be announced.

"Whoa! Let's hurry guys!" said Ash.

Back at the stadium, the matches are announced. Ash will be battling Tobias, Richie will battle Wes, Morrison will battle Shunsui, Paul will battle Marshal, Tyson will battle Drake, and Gary will battle Will.

"I'm against Tobias!" Ash yelled. "He's incredibly tough, but I've gotta beat him!"

"Wes, eh?" says Richie. "He tied with a vassal. Why'd I have to get someone so strong?"

"You shouldn't be so worried Richie!" says Morrison. "I mean, I'm the one who has to take on the old champ!"

"Well, Tyson and Paul, I guess we're the new Elite Four busters now." says Gary.

"I hope." says Tyson.

"I will be as soon as I'm back." said Paul. "I'm the first to go, so I'd better get down there."

"I'm last, so I'd better prepare for Tobias." said Ash.

Paul is able to knock out Marshal's Conkeldur to advance. Tyson iced Drake, both literally and figuratively, to win. Gary turns the tables on Will for a victory; however, Morrison and Ritchie were beaten. Shunsui seems to always have an answer for each of Morrison's Pokémon and only lost two of his own. Wes takes out Sparky, Zippo, Happy, Cruise, and the others with little effort. But now, it's time for Ash to face Tobias.

"Okay, you trainers know the shtick, so begin!"

"Darkrai!"

"Sceptile, I choose you!"

"Ahh, the Sceptile! One of the few Pokemon Darkrai has ever fallen to. This should be fun." says Tobias excitedly.

"Let's go, Tobias! Sceptile, use Fury Cutter!"

"Dodge it, Darkrai…"

"Don't let it escape! Keep spamming Fury Cutter!"

Sceptile unleashes its fury with Fury Cutter, but Darkrai dodges every time.

"Dark Void!"

Darkrai shoots a massive black mass at Sceptile.

"Detect!" yells Ash.

Sceptile sidesteps it with Detect.

"Detect? You're only prolonging the inevitable, Ash!"

"I don't know about that. Sceptile, Quick Attack plus Leaf Blade!"

"Dodge it and use Dark Void!"

Sceptile zooms toward Darkrai, but it just misses. Then, Darkrai shoots the Dark Void at it, and Sceptile falls asleep.

"Now, use Nightmare!"

Sceptile is panicking inside its mind. There is nothing but darkness. Then, Darkrai appears to torment and beat it up.

"Sceptile! If you can hear me, use Calm Mind!" yells Ash.

Just barely, Sceptile hears Ash and uses Calm Mind. It takes control of its dream and expels Darkrai, allowing itself to wake up.

"What!?" yells Tobias.

"Now, use Leaf Blade!"

Sceptile finally hits Darkrai with a double Leaf Blade.

"Krai!"

"Now, finish it with Solarbeam!"

"Dark Pulse, Darkrai!"

Dark Pulse and Solar beam collide and cancel each other, leaving a pume of smoke behind. And, when it clears, Sceptile is gone.

"Where is it?" questions Tobias.

"Look above!" said Ash

"Huh?"

Tobias sees that Sceptile is above in the sky.

"Finish it with X-Scissor!"

"Krai!"

"No, Darkrai!"

"Darkrai is unable to battle!"

"Well, Ash, I never thought you'd give me this much trouble. Latios!"

"Lat!"

"But, don't think you've won already."

"I know I haven't yet. Let's settle this now!"

Ash has defeated Darkrai, but will it be enough to defeat Tobias and exorcise this demon once and for all. Find out next time.