Chapter 2
It was half-an-hour after Black Jack and Ash met up after five years of going their separate ways. During that time they had been talking about old times while watching the pokemon they released to get some fresh air.
Along with Black Jack's pokemon and Pikachu, Ash released his ice-ball like creature that had horns on each side of his head called a Glalie, a large gecko pokemon called Sceptile, an armoured elephant creature known as Donphan, a large red, white and black bird pokemon Swellow, and a small blue crocodile Totodile.
While others were playing tag, Sceptile and Chan were looking at the waves of the sea, Salamence and Metagross were taking a nap under the bright sun, and Totodile and Feraligatr were taking a nice swim close to the ship.
"Remember in the Orre region when Brock asked officer Jenny if she wanted to come along and get some doughnuts?" Black Jack asked showing a small smile.
Ash let out a huge laugh, remembering that particular moment. "Yeah," Ash said. "Misty could've gave him a knuckle sandwich there."
After Ash stopped laughing to let out a small sigh, attempting to breath in a normal way. "So what was Alice's toughest gym battle?" Ash asked as the conversation continued.
"I don't often do this… but I got to say that Waterflower was her toughest battle," Black Jack said.
"You mean Misty?" Ash asked with a slight surprise in his voice. When he was at a young age, he and Misty had a great bond of friendship during their pokemon journey… maybe even more than that. When she had to depart for her hometown Cerulean City he felt as though as his heart became broken because of everything they had been through.
It was a year later that she returned back to his life to see him compete in the Hoenn League against Black Jack. After a series of events happened afterwards, Ash and Misty spoke and Ash confessed his love to her. They had been together as a couple since despite that they were far away from each other.
"Yep," Black Jack continued. "She and I also had one heck of a battle. I can remember it like it was yesterday…"
-Flashback-
It was two years ago when Black Jack and Alice were travelling in the Kanto region in an attempt to compete in the Pokemon League. In order to compete in the event, Alice would have to defeat eight gym leaders of Kanto, one of them was Misty Waterflower, one of Black Jack's old associates, the love of Ash's life and leader of the Cerulean City Gym.
They were driving towards a dome shaped building with a gigantic seal Dewgong statue at the front. This was the Cerulean City gym, where Alice would challenge her for a Cascade badge to show that she did beat her.
As they entered the gym, they looked around to see if anyone's there to greet them. Unfortunately, there wasn't. They heard some loud cheering coming from the corridors and walked towards them. Some time after following the joyous applauds they walked into an entrance door and came across a large hall containing a large number of people sitting on the spectators' benches on each side of the hall and a large swimming being used by three women in bathing suits and various water pokemon such white seal pokemon Dewgong as they danced like a synchronising swimming team. They appeared to be finishing off their performance as they rose above the surface of the pool while balancing on top of each Dewgongs' nose.
"I think we got the wrong place, uncle," Alice said as she looked on with a puzzled look on her face.
"No, I know this place," Black Jack said looking around. "Waterflower must be around here somewhere."
"Oh… my… Bl-Black Jack!" a man behind them stuttered nervously yet excitedly. He was wearing some everyday clothing.
Black Jack's eyes widened as he had a feeling that a fan like that man would be asking him for his autograph. He always hated being famous. He quickly turned around and vertically pressed his index finger on his lips signalling the young man to be quiet. "Shush, kid," he whispered. "Have you seen the gym leader here?"
"I can't believe it!" yelled another fan much to Black Jack's dismay. This time it was a woman wearing a yellow t-shirt, blue skirt, and brown sandals. She also had brown shoulder length hair and was walking into the entranceway.
Soon, more and more people were looking into Black Jack's direction, no longer giving any attention to the swimming team's performance. "Great," Black Jack said in a down tone as the crowd started chanting his name. "What am I to do now?"
"Er… sign a bunch of autographs?" Alice replied sheepishly as he looked towards the fans.
"What's going on here?" a young girl asked, catching their attention. She was wearing a yellow, sleeveless t-shirt with a hood at the back, a pair of blue shorts, white socks and red shoes. She had ginger hair with a short ponytail at the side of her head. She was the leader of the Cerulean City, Misty Waterflower. Standing next to her was a little blue mouse that had a zigzag tail with a blue ball at the end; the creature's name was Marill. Another creature was standing behind her was a Psyduck, a small yellow duck who had three short hairs and had his wings holding his head as though he was having a headache.
"Thank, whoever, that you're here," he said. "I was about to tell those people to shut it but they won't listen."
"Hey! What's, like, the deal here?" yelled another girl. She had long blond hair and was wearing a red swimsuit. She was one of members of the swimming team and Misty's older sister, Daisy who was drying herself up with a towel after performing the show.
"Don't blame me," Black Jack said. "These folks must think that this is pantomime or something."
Black Jack looked at his niece and then back at Misty. "Hey, Waterflower, you remember Alice, my niece?" he asked attempting to stop the situation being awkward.
"Hey, Alice," Misty said, pleased to see one of her old friends. They were introduced five years ago after Black Jack saved Alice in a rescue. "It's been a while."
"A long while if you ask me," Alice replied, also pleased to see her. "I mean, five years."
"We want Black Jack! We want Misty!" the crowd chanted much to their surprise.
"What do they want?" Daisy asked in curiosity.
"Knowing those kinds of chants," Black Jack said knowingly as he liked to watch sport shows. "They want to see me and Waterflower battle."
"What?" Misty said in surprise while the crowd still chanted for them to battle.
"What?" Black Jack asked mockingly. "Ya scared?"
"Humph. Why would I be scared?" Misty asked back, showing her confident face. "I'm just surprise that the audience would rather see us battle than to see all that dancing."
"Hey! I heard that!" Daisy complained.
"Well, I did say it out loud," Misty said.
"Uncle, I thought she and I were gonna battle," Alice said.
"Not now, kid, uncle's busy," Black Jack replied. Alice responded by showing a dull look on her face. "I'm kidding. Seriously, if you watch the match you could learn something from this."
"Okay. Good point."
"Waterflower, you on?" Black Jack asked turning towards his upcoming opponent.
"As the leader of the Cerulean City gym, it is my one of my duties to accept every challenge," Misty said, showing her arrogance as gym trainer.
"Looks like you gym leaders and I have something in common," Black Jack said showing his small evil smile.
Soon, the stage was set as a number of large, pink and yellow plastic boards floating on top of the surface of the pool. Black Jack and Misty stood on each side of the pool; she showed a determined look on her face while he showed no expression.
Before the match, they both agreed to use only one pokemon each and would release them at the same time. Standing between them was Alice, acting like a referee for the match while Daisy, Marill, Psyduck and the others were watching as spectators.
"This will be a one-on-one pokemon battle! The first pokemon to knock the opponent out will be declared the winner," Alice announced loudly, raising both her hands up into the air. "Both trainers release your pokemon… NOW!" she yelled as she quickly waved them downwards.
"Go!" Misty yelled as she threw out her pokeball, releasing a blue, gigantic sea snake, Gyarados.
At the same time, Black Jack tossed out his chosen poekball. "Time to whip some," he said, releasing Chan the Blaziken, much to most of the audience's shock, as he landed safely on top of the floating boards.
"Is… Black Jack out of his mind?" one of the spectators whispered to the other. "I mean a fire type pokemon battling a water type like Gyarados?"
"Don't ever count Black Jack out," the other spectator said. "I heard that his Blaziken suffered much more than just being soaked."
That audience member was right, despite Blaziken's type disadvantage and that they were battling on Misty's battlefield she didn't show confidence on her face, instead she looked absolutely focused. Things were very close to even as Gyrardos let out a loud roar in an attempt to intimidate the opposition but neither Black Jack nor Chan were intimidated.
Alice raised her hand up vertically. "And now… BEGIN!" she yelled as she moved it downwards as though she was slicing through the air.
"Gyarados! Hydro Pump!" Misty instructed quickly.
Gyarados heavily breathed in and quickly shot out a huge fountain of water out of his mouth. "Pretty basic if you ask me," Black Jack said with criticism. "Chan! You know what to do!"
"(Uh-huh)," Chan replied with confidence in his tone as he leapt from his floating board making Gyarados hit that instead, knocking it away.
"Land on the board over there!" Black Jack instructed loudly as he pointed to another board on his right. While he was still airborne, Chan looked at the object that his trainer pointed to and attempted to land safely on it.
"Gyarados! Use your Hydro Pump on that floating board!" Misty yelled. The huge snake quickly shot out another huge fountain of water and hit the board, knocking it away.
Despite the board being knocked away, Chan remained in his focused state as his feet safely landed on the surface of the water and then quickly leapt from it, much to the shock of the audience. He then performed a somersault and landed safely on another board; he then rubbed his nose while sniffing before getting into his battling stance again.
"How did he do that?" Misty asked in an impressed tone.
"Lots of practice," Black Jack replied simply. "Now, Chan, hit them with your Triple Kick!"
Chan nodded before he leapt a great height towards Gyarados's head. Misty saw her this as an advantage as she knew that fighters like Chan should not attack straight on. "Gyarados! Hydro Pump again!" Misty yelled. Gyarados shot out another huge fountain of water towards him, attempting to hit him in a close range.
The attack missed as the red fighter dodged out of the way by millimetres. He then dived down, feet first, towards the blue snake and slammed his heavy yet quick kick attacks three consecutive times before landing on top of another board.
Gyarados shook away the dizziness after taking three hefty consecutive blows to the head and looked maliciously at his opponent, who stood in fighting stance waiting for the Gyarados to attack or for Black Jack to call out another order. "You're Gyarados is tough, I'll give you that," Black Jack said across the battlefield. "Normally, those kicks would knock any pokemon out."
"You have no idea," she said with a smirk on her face taking his compliment. "Gyarados! Bubblebeam!" The blue snake obeyed as he shot out a vast number of bubbles towards the opposition.
"Chan, dodge that!" Black Jack ordered. The Blaziken nodded as he leapt in the air.
"Gyarados! Tail Slam attack!" Misty ordered. The Bubblebeam turned out to be a decoy as Gyarados quickly slammed his tail on Chan's entire body with a great force, a force so great that it sent him flying until his back hit the wall, much to Black Jack's shock.
After taking a great deal of damage, Chan got up to his feet and stumbled towards the pool. While Black Jack ordered his Blaziken to shake away the dizziness, Misty saw her opportunity. "Gyarados! Hydro Pump now!" she yelled.
Gyarados wasted no time as he quickly breathed in and shot another powerful spray of water, hitting the red fighter in the abdomen, soaking him wet until his back hit the wall again, much to the shock of the audience knowing of how badly damaged a fire type pokemon can get when they face a water type. Again, Chan stumbled towards the pool but he wasn't able to stand for long as he fell on his back.
After a moment or so, not seeing Chan able to stand up from his attack, Alice raised her hand. "Blaziken is unable to…"
"Hey! Look!" yelled one of the spectators as he saw Chan hoisted his feet and lower back upwards while placing the palm of his paws on the floor near his head. He then leapt from his hands and higher back landing safely on his feet, showing that he regained conscious and ready to battle again. Everyone, apart from Black Jack, looked on with surprise looks on their faces as Chan leapt a great height and performed a somersault before landing safely on top on one of the floating boards.
"I see that you like to trick everyone at times, don't you, Black Jack?" Misty asked.
"Same to you, Waterflower," Black Jack said showing a small smile. "Anyway, you still got a long way to go of beating Chan here."
Gyarados stared down on his opponent growling nastily while Chan looked back with focus in his eyes.
"Gyarados! Bubblebeam attack!" Misty yelled pointing at the opposition.
The blue snake shot out numerous bubbles out of his mouth in a formation of a beam towards the Blaziken. "Chan! Counter with your Comet Punch!" Black Jack commanded.
Chan let out a loud yell as he rapidly punched each and every bubble that threatened to make contact with him until the last one was popped away. "Okay, Chan! Agility!" Black Jack yelled.
Chan jumped off the board and began running on the water towards his opponent, much to everyone's shock, zipping from one location to the other. "Gyarados!" Misty yelled, she was the only person who still had focus in her eyes despite the stunt that Chan was performing. "Flamethrower attack!"
Gyarados shot out numerous streams of flames but Chan dodged each one thanks to his agility. Gyarados then attempted to use his Tail Slam attack upon Misty's command but missed as Chan leapt upwards to avoid the contact and came face-to-face with him.
"Finish him off with your Blaze Kick, Chan!" Black Jack yelled.
"Gyarados! Screech!" Misty yelled.
One of Chan's feet engulfed in flames as he was about to slam it on the blue snake's face but was countered when Gyarados let a loud screech, sending him flying into a distance until he fell into the pool while everyone covered their ears to protect themselves from the noise, apart from Black Jack since he and his pokemon were used to it after their harsh training.
The Blaziken's head risen above the surface of the pool, he spitted out some out of his mouth. Despite being forced away by Gyarados's Screech attack, he was unfazed by it.
"Gyarados! Bite attack!" Misty yelled. Her pokemon leapt upwards out of the pool and then dived down aiming his opened fanged jaw towards the now disadvantaged Blaziken.
"Chan, dive down!" Black Jack yelled.
"(Got it)!" Chan cried back as he dived into the water, dodging the blue snake's attack. The audience looked on in shock when they saw the fiery fighter dived into the pool, thinking that he would get badly hurt.
Unlike most non-water type pokemon, the Blaziken was able to swim like one, despite that he was a fire type. He looked over at his opponent's direction as Gyarados turned to look at him.
Black Jack looked down at the pool. He knew that Chan couldn't use any fire attacks because they were now underwater but that didn't mean that they wouldn't be able to attack.
"Chan! Use your High Jump Kick!" Black Jack yelled. Chan swam as fast as he could towards his opponent, attempting to slam his kick attack on his face.
"Gyarados! Double Team!" Misty instructed. The blue snake glowed vigorously as numerous copies of himself appeared surrounding Chan who stopped his attack and looked hesitantly at them.
Black Jack let out a small snarl. "Chan! Don't hesitate! Use one of your senses to catch the real one!" he yelled to him.
Chan nodded, signalling that he received the order and closed his eyes, as did Black Jack. "Now's your chance, Gyarados!" Misty yelled. "Attack with everything you've got! Hyper Beam!"
Chan still had his eyes closed as he deeply concentrated while his opponent powered up his energy from within. He couldn't smell his opponent's scent because he had to hold his breath underwater, nor could he feel any movement as the real Gyarados held completely still as did his illusions, nor could he feel the temperature of the opposition because the warmth of the pool was the same as their bodies. There was only one thing that Chan could sense… the energy from Gyarados.
He and Black Jack quickly opened their eyes, now knowing who the real one was. "It's coming from your left," Black Jack warned.
Chan nodded in agreement as he quickly swam towards the real Gyarados. "Finish him! Dynamic Punch attack!" Black Jack yelled.
"Gyarados! Withdraw your Hyper Beam and go for your Whirlpool and Dragon rage attack!" Misty ordered quickly.
"What?" Black Jack and Alice yelled in unison in surprise.
They had the right to be surprised as the snake suddenly held back his attack as he and his illusions began to swim around the Blaziken so fast that they created a whirlpool. Chan spun around uncontrollably as he felt the air in his lings about to burst. "(What's the matter)?" Gyarados roared in triumph. "(Am I too fast for you)?"
Along with the audience, Black Jack looked down with shocked eyes, knowing of the disadvantage that Chan was in right now. He lost his concentration when he saw the gigantic whirlpool; despite this minor setback there was no time for hesitation.
"I got you now, Black Jack!" Misty yelled. "Gyarados! Hyper Beam!"
"I don't think so," Black Jack whispered quickly getting his focus back. His eyes narrowed as he yelled out his possible final attack. "Chan!" he yelled. "Ignore the pain inside you, find the real Gyarados and use Focus Punch!"
As Gyarados and his illusions formed a ball of energy each inside their mouths, Chan shut his eyes tightly taking in the pain and suffocation inside his body, letting a small growling noise while both his fists glowed vigorously. Then, out of instinct, he dashed towards one of the blue, giant snakes letting out a yell and aimed both his powered up fists onto his face, avoiding the contact of the huge energy beams that were shot out by his opponent and his copies, not knowing whether or not it was the real one.
Then suddenly, a great, big, gigantic splash occurred from the pool while a thunderous impact was heard from underneath the surface, much to everyone's shock. "He got him!" Black Jack yelled as about a quarter of splashed out water fell on top of everyone, making them completely wet while the rest fell back into the pool.
After everyone shielded eyes from the water, apart from Psyduck who was confused of the whole situation, they all looked back at the battlefield and saw Chan and Gyarados floating motionlessly on the pool's surface. Alice was about announce that both pokemon were knocked out but Chan, with the last ounce of his strength, slowly swam to one of the floating and held onto it for support as he climbed and stood on top of it, much to everyone's shock as they stared in awe.
Alice shook her head, snapping back to reality. "Gyarados is unable to battle!" she announced. "Black Jack and Chan win the match!"
That snapped the audience back into reality as they stood and gave both trainers and their pokemon a standing ovation for a brilliant battle. Out of exhaustion, Chan fell back into the pool again. Black Jack dived into the pool and swam towards him. He held him around his middle, swimming back to his side of the battlefield and then climbed up the ledge.
Chan sat and coughed out water out of his throat and stomach while Black Jack patted his back to induce the coughing. "Easy there, Chan," Black Jack said. "I hope you didn't put your fire out inside you."
"(Thank you, Black Jack)," Chan said, breathing heavily. "(I'll be okay)."
"Chan!" Alice cried worriedly as she ran towards them. "Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?"
Chan looked up to her in an assuring way as he held a thumb up, signalling that he was. "He's alright, folk," Black Jack said, also assuring her. "A day in the Pokemon Centre and he'll be fine."
They then looked at the badly injured Gyarados and Misty who was deeply concerned about him as were Daisy, Psyduck and Marill as they tried to comfort him. "We better go check on them," Black Jack said. "The poor guy seemed to be in bad shape."
They both helped Chan up to his feet and supported him as they walked towards the losers of this match. "Waterflower," Black Jack said. "This is a stupid question but is Gyarados okay?"
Gyarados gave a small growl, convincing them that he was fine. Misty let out a small giggle. "You did a good job, Gyarados," she said. "You deserve a good long rest."
"Blazi Blaziken," Blaziken said weakly to the giant snake who responded back with a small growl before they were zapped back into their pokeballs.
"Good match, huh, Waterflower?" Black Jack as he raised his hand, wanting to shake her hand out of respect.
Misty was surprised by this; a man like Black Jack doesn't do this often, even after battling tough trainers like her. Gladly, she placed her hand onto his and they both shook hands. "Good match," she replied with a smile on her face as the crowd still cheered for them.
"Uncle," Alice said jokingly, acting like a little kid. "Can I have my battle now, please?"
The three adults let out a small snigger each, as did Alice. "True, true," Black Jack said. "We originally planned visiting here so that Alice can battle you for the cascade badge. So, when will it be possible?"
Misty let out a nervous giggle. "Well, it depends," she said looking at the half-emptied pool, wet walls and floors. "It would take us a couple of days to clean this mess up."
-End Flashback-
"So did you and Alice help out with the cleaning?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, it didn't take long cleaning," Black Jack replied with disgust in his tone remembering the moment the huge number of obsessed, soaked up fans wanting to get his autograph. "It was a lot easier after getting those wet wannabes to leave me alone."
"I know how it feels," Ash said, letting out a small sigh.
----------------------------------------------------
More coming! Review please!
