Chapter 4: The Omega Pokémon
"Update on the location of Pokémon X?" asked the shady head of Team Rocket as he meticulously stroked his Persian's fur.
"Well, sir, after analyzing the data on Arceus brought back by Rockets Jessie and James, we've gotten an initial idea of what we're looking for. Arceus gives off an entirely unique aura from anything we've seen so far, and we're certain that Pokémon X gives off the exact same aura, given that they are the polar opposites of each other," the researcher replied, pulling out a notepad full of geometric equations, trigonometric measurements, possible coordinates, as well as Arceus's chromosome data.
"Do you have a location yet, Cray?" Giovanni inquired of the redheaded Rocket as he took the proffered pad. He glanced down at it, acting as though he knew exactly what he were reading, but in truth he only saw a jumble of countless numbers and shapes that meant precisely nothing to him.
"Sir, if you look there, we've at least narrowed down Pokémon X to four possible locations," Researcher Cray answered, pulling out a map of the various Pokémon regions and setting it down on the boss's large oak table. "First, we have the Ruins of Alph and its surrounding routes in Johto, since we've received a great amount of Legendary activity there. Next, we have Mount Moon in Kanto, because of its tendency to house extraterrestrial life such as this. Then we have Spear Pillar in Sinnoh, for the most obvious reasons, seeing as Arceus is a Sinnoh legend anyway. And finally, we have Mirage Island in Hoenn, an island almost as rare as Pokémon X itself."
"So you're saying after all the time spent on this project, you haven't come up with one absolute location of Pokémon X?" Giovanni prodded, cocking an eyebrow in Researcher Cray's direction. Clearly Giovanni wasn't very pleased with the news; after all, time was running out to find out the Legendary Pokémon they were searching for.
"Well, sir, it seems that Pokémon X may be able to teleport, and by doing so it makes it increasingly harder to track. These four locations are most recently visited as well as most often spotted," Cray pointed out, retrieving his notepad back from the boss.
Giovanni sighed. He supposed it would have to do for now. "We'll post a team of Rockets at each location. In fact, send in Jessie and James. I have an… important request for those two. I also want Butch and Cassidy shipped off to Kanto immediately, along with Annie and Oakley to Hoenn, and Attila and Hun to Sinnoh. They can take a few of the others if need be, but no more than four."
Cray nodded. "I'll let them know right now. Thank you, sir." With that, Cray disappeared behind the double doors leading to the boss's office, and in his place came the two Rockets that Giovanni had requested, along with their talking Meowth.
"You asked for us, sir?" Jessie asked, glancing around the room precariously to avoid making eye contact with the boss. It was incredibly dark and mostly sparse, save for a single light emanating from the center of the room, the boss's throne-sized redwood chair, and a large oak table in the center with a map of the Pokémon World rolled out onto it. Empty light sockets adorned the mostly bare walls, and the floor was mostly made up of white ceramic tile.
James gulped, glancing over at his magenta-haired partner nervously. Either the boss was mad, or he had a new mission for them to take; with them it usually ended up being the former. And Giovanni being mad never ended well.
"We may have located an extremely rare Pokémon in the Johto region, and I'm sending you three to search for it. We'll have more information on it given to you before you depart. It's supposedly located near or in the Ruins of Alph." He waited for the trio to look toward him before continuing, as they currently seemed preoccupied with examining the room's décor. When Jessie finally met the Boss's gaze, he began his explanation once more. "With that being said, there's another reason I brought you here. Recently there have been unusual reports of mass amounts of energy gathered in various spots on our radar, and I need you three to figure out what they are and apprehend the persons responsible. Do you understand?"
The trio nodded. "But Boss? Who da ya tink was behind all dat energy stuff?" Meowth wondered, scratching his head. "I mean, if we has an idea ta go by, we might be able ta find 'em quicker."
"Meowth, I want to say it's been caused by portals from a parallel dimension, because the energy resembles the same energy given off by Giratina's portals to the Distortion World," Cray explained, having returned from giving the boss's orders to the other thieving duos. "There's four so far, one for each region. Here, I'll use the same map I showed the Boss for the possible locations of Pokémon X." He casually strolled over to the table once more, followed by Jessie, James, and Meowth, and began pointing at the various markings he'd made on it. "See, one portal appeared on Route 4 in Kanto, another on Route 112 in Hoenn, a third off the coast of Sinnoh, and a fourth on Route 29 in Johto."
"Wait, weren't we just at Route 29, Meowth?" Jessie inquired, raising an eyebrow at her talking Pokémon companion.
Meowth nodded. "Dat's where I found da Pikachu at!" Wait a second. Didn't Pika say he was in Saffron before he showed up in Johto? "Jessie, I tink I know who da culprit is."
Jessie grunted. "And we had to give him up right before we came here, too," she muttered, having been on the same train of thought as the talking Pokémon.
"Guess this means we're heading to New Bark Town," James pointed out, sighing in exasperation and running his fingers through his indigo hair.
"You mean you've already found one of the culprits?" Cray asked, green eyes shining in amazement as he took in what the trio was discussing.
"Well, we tink we know where one is, anyways," Meowth explained as Cray rolled up the map of the Pokémon World and put it away. "And it's on our way ta da Ruins da Boss was talkin' about."
Cray gaped at the talking Pokémon in amazement. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "If that's the case, you'd best get going," he finally told them, rolling up his map and pushing the trio toward the glass double doors. "Wouldn't want to keep the Boss waiting, eh?"
Upon being put out of the Boss's office, Meowth gave Jessie a pensive look. "But Jessie, if Pika happens ta be one of dose guys, den wouldn't dat Red guy he was lookin' for also be one of 'em?"
Jessie thought about it a moment before replying, "Well, Meowth, you could be right. But that means Red is either in Kanto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh. Then again, Elm might've already found him, so if he has, it'll be just like catching two Pidgey with one Poké Ball."
"But Jessie, how is da tree a us supposed ta convince Pika ta come back wid us?" Meowth asked as they turned the corner leading to one of the many corridors inside Team Rocket Headquarters.
"Who said we had to convince him of anything, Meowth? We're thieves, not negotiators. Cutting a deal with that electric furball is what got us into this mess to begin with," Jessie pointed out, rolling her eyes and flicking her hair back. "Besides, it's not like the Boss asked us to get rid of him. He just asked us to apprehend the little fella before things get out of hand."
However, even Jessie could tell that it was odd for Giovanni to willingly send them after a seemingly harmless Pokémon like Pika. In fact, it was a wonder he'd gone along with their many escapades to capture Ash's Pikachu over the past year or so. Something was definitely wrong with the big picture, but the trio was too stubbornly prideful to acknowledge the fact that Giovanni hadn't disclosed any information as to why they were sent after the Pikachu in the first place. After turning down yet another ostensibly endless corridor, the trio finally reached front rotating door, where a lone researcher awaited them with a large manila envelope in his right gloved hand.
"Cray asked you to give this to us?" James inquired, directing his attention at the young blonde with thick rectangular glasses covering his baby blue eyes. The young researcher nodded, handing James the thick envelope and waiting for the blunet to unravel its contents.
"Everything you need should be there," the researcher explained as James undid the latch and opened the envelope to sift through what was inside. While he immediately noticed a lump sum of Pokédollars secured by a rubber band and a map of the Johto Region, his eyes particularly caught sight of a file labeled Pokémon X. He pulled the file out to reveal what looked like a Pokédex entry for a Pokémon named Onio.
"So this is the Legendary Pokémon the Boss was talking about?" Jessie asked, looking over James's shoulder at the file. "It doesn't look very legendary to me." In truth, she was right; the Pokémon didn't look extraordinary enough to be called a legend.
As a matter of fact, it more resembled a cuddly Teddiursa doll than anything else, but its stats, classification, type, and in-depth description quickly led her to believe otherwise. It was a light, almost transparent blue, with curved green ears and green-tipped hands and feet. At the center of its forehead lay a tiny yellow crescent facing upward, and its eyes were the deepest shade of violet Jessie had ever seen. "It looks like a little kid's Pokémon Doll," she remarked, frowning as she took in its appearance.
"Da Omega Pokémon," Meowth read, having climbed in between his two partners to have a look for himself. "Its special ability is Multitype, meanin' it can use dose plates dat Arceus has ta change its type. Height, one foot, and weight, fifteen pounds. Da description says, 'Dis Pokémon is da Legendary opposite a Arceus, da Alpha Pokémon. While Arceus wields da power ta create an entire universe, dis Pokémon holds da key ta destroy it.'"
Meowth glanced back and forth between the two Rockets, amazement quite apparent on the talking Pokémon's face. "So dis is da Pokémon da Boss is sendin' us afta? Wowza, dat's a surprise! I knew dat stuff on Arceus would come in handy!"
"You're telling me," Jessie mumbled, glancing back at the manila envelope with the rest of their provisions for the mission. By then, the young researcher had taken his leave, disappearing down the corridor, undoubtedly heading back in the direction of HQ's laboratory.
"Well, we betta get going, you guys," Meowth said, hopping off the duo's shoulders and making his way toward the door. "If we don't get outta here soon, Pika might already be gone." Jessie and James nodded, agreeing with the talking Pokémon, and quickly followed suit in the direction of their hot air balloon. "Ya betta get ready, Pika, 'cause here we come!"
"We have now arrived at Goldenrod City," a lady called over the intercom of the magnet train Red and Misty were seated on. "We hope you enjoyed the ride, and have a wonderful time at this year's Johto Grand Festival!"
"Great. Thanks a lot, perky lady," Misty muttered as she rose to her feet. She glanced over at Red, who'd decided to take a nap on the way over (though it possibly couldn't have been longer than thirty minutes, due to the magnet train's intense speeds). Misty sighed and clucked her tongue impatiently. "Red, are you gonna sleep all day or are we gonna find that Pikachu of yours?!" she snapped, whacking him on the head with her mallet.
"Wha—Ouch! Talk about a rude awakening! What in Mew's name was that for, Misty?!" he barked, rubbing at the bump she'd left on the crown of his head.
"Hmph," she grunted, rolling her eyes. "Shouldn't have been snoozing on the train. Now get up; we're here."
"Already? No way! How fast is this thing?" Red wondered, glancing around at the vacating train and watching people walk out the various exits.
"I dunno, Red. Do I look like a train expert?" Misty countered, giving Red a blank expression. "I'd say about two hundred miles an hour, I guess."
Red sat there, mouth agape as he took in what she was saying. "Seriously?! Wow!" he exclaimed as Misty started to walk away. "Hey, where are you going?"
"Well, if you wanna sit there another hour more power to you, but I'm getting off and heading to the Grand Festival," she replied, not bothering to glance back at the raven-haired boy; she knew he would tag along eventually.
Red sighed. Of course she'd be excited to go that Grand Festival thing she kept talking about; that Ash kid was bound to be there somewhere. He stood up and within a few steps closed the distance between Misty and himself. "You're just ready to see that Ash kid," he muttered, and the look she'd given him was enough to make even Mewtwo beg for mercy.
"Say one more thing about Ash and I beat you senseless with an even bigger mallet than the one I've been using," she threatened, to which Red stuck his tongue out in reply.
Mother of Mew, how many mallets can one ten-year-old girl possibly have? he wondered, closing his mouth before Misty noticed what he was doing behind her back. Within minutes they were off the magnet train and heading toward the Grand Festival; according to her watch they'd make it just in time for the third battle round. "So, could you explain to me what a Grand Festival is before we go inside?" Red asked, eyeing the redhead warily.
He knew asking too much would lead to an unsightly case of mallet fever, but this wasn't the case; instead, she nodded and willingly explained what she and Tracey had been talking about earlier. Gee, with this Ash guy so close by, she's starting to act completely different. Almost like a playful Growlithe, as opposed to a growling Arcanine ready to pounce on the next thing it sees. Heh, de-evolution, he thought, a smile gracing his lips as he thought about the comparison he'd just made.
"Red, were you paying attention at all?" inquired Misty, to which Red nodded violently in reply.
"'Course I was, Misty! Appeals are where they show off what their Pokémon can do and if they make it past that they get to battle their way to the top, kinda like the Indigo Plateau!"
Misty sighed. "I guess, if you wanna look at it that way," she muttered as they reached the double glass doors to the stadium. "Well, this is it."
Red glanced over the building in amazement, having not seen one quite like it before. "Wow, it's huge!" he commented as he glanced up at the silver banner that had Grand Festival! scrawled across it in loopy gold lettering.
"Ahhhhh!" he heard a scream from above, and right as he looked up to see what it was, something struck him, knocking him to the ground.
"Red!" Misty screamed. "Are you okay?!" She knelt down beside Red, who appeared fine other than the fact that he'd just been slammed to the ground and probably gained a minor concussion.
"Ngh," he mumbled, trying to sit up. "What in the world just hit me?" he asked, opening his eyes and glancing down at the light blue furball protruding from his chest.
"Tee hee, I'm such a klutz! Thanks for breaking my fall, mister!" he heard a light, childlike voice exclaim.
"Uh, no problem?" Red replied dubiously, scratching his head and wincing in pain as he did so. "Who are you?"
"Whoops! Silly me! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Onio!" the little voice answered as the blue furball unfurled to reveal its violet eyes and a crescent mark on the little Pokémon's forehead. "And what's your name, Mister?"
"Well, I'm… My name is… Uh, Misty? A little help here?" Hm, how could I forget my own name?
"So your name is Misty? That's not really a boy's name," the Pokémon remarked, frowning poutily in Red's direction.
"No, no, Onio, his name's Red," Misty explained, sighing. How could he forget his own name like that? It didn't make sense to her, even if he was slightly concussed.
"Oh, so you must be Misty! That makes way more sense!" the Pokémon squealed in delight, clapping joyfully at its observation. That was when Misty noticed that the Pokémon hadn't moved its mouth to speak.
It must be using telepathy, she deduced, putting a hand to her chin and smiling amusedly. She had to admit, the Pokémon was about as adorable as the Togepi she used to carry around, even acting as childish as her old baby Pokémon, it seemed.
"Well, Onio, could you get off me now? I'm kind of stuck here," Red pointed out, gesturing at the fact that Onio was splayed out across his chest.
Onio gasped and immediately began to apologize. "Oh, Red! I'm so so sorry! I forgot I was even sitting on you!" it exclaimed, jumping off of Red and landing almost perfectly on the ground. As soon as Onio perfected its balance, Misty started to help Red up.
"You okay, Red?" she asked, worry prevalent in her sea foam green eyes.
Wow, she's actually worried about me, Red thought, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, I'm good. Not even a scratch."
Bam! She whacked him on the head with her mallet, possibly further concussing the teenage boy.
"Ouch, Misty! What was that for?!" he screamed, rubbing at the sore spot; it'd even been the same spot she'd hit last time. Obviously she'd hit it on purpose. "What if I have a concussion?!"
"Oh dear, you probably do, since I hit you so hard," Onio said, frowning slightly at the thought.
"Don't scare me like that again, Red! And to think I was worried about you!" Misty exclaimed, fury replacing the worry he'd seen moments ago in her eyes.
"Well, excuse me for saying I was okay. I'm probably not now, though," he countered, rolling his eyes and turning to face Onio. "So, what was such a cute little Pokémon like you doing falling out of the sky like that?"
"Oh, you think I'm cute?" Onio asked, blushing slightly. "Well, you see, I was trying to get away from these baddies, this guy with funny looking blue hair, and this lady with blonde hair sticking out on both sides like this"—Onio stuck its hands out from its head to display gravity-defying hair, much like a certain brunette's Misty knew—"so I tried teleporting to the Ruins of Alph, this awesome place I like to go to to talk to all my Unown friends, but I ended up here instead by accident."
Misty glanced over at Red, an amused look on her face. Onio was quite the chatterbox, but she couldn't say she wasn't enjoying every bit of it. "Hm, those two sound familiar," she remarked, scratching her head. Where had she seen a blonde and blunet working together?
"I sure hope not. I don't ever wanna see them, ever again!" Onio exclaimed, jumping into Misty's arms. "Misty, could I stay with you for a while in case those bad guys show up again? I mean, I'm sure I could beat them, but they had a bunch of other people with them! It was so scary, Misty!" Onio looked up at Misty, a pouty expression on its face and tears welling up in its extraordinary violet eyes.
"Well, I can't really say no to that, now can I?" Misty answered, smiling down at the doleful little Pokémon. "You can stay with me, Onio. However long you need to."
Onio's expression immediately changed from gloomy to joyful as it leaped with excitement. "Yay! Tee hee hee, I knew you'd say yes, Misty! Thank you so so so much!" Onio shouted, dancing around happily in the air at the good news it'd received.
Hm, so it can float too, Misty noted, sighing. I have a feeling that this might not be the best idea…
"Misty, are we gonna go see this Grand Festival thing or what?" Red asked, waving a hand in the redhead's face to grab her attention.
"Oh, yeah, Grand Festival," Misty said, snapping back into reality. "I almost forgot. Onio, have you seen a Grand Festival before?"
Onio shook its head, frowning dolefully at Misty as it answered, "No, I don't think so. What is it?"
"Well, I guess I'll just have to show the both of you," Misty replied. "Come on, Onio. It'll probably be easier to understand if you see for yourself."
"Okay, Misty!" Onio exclaimed happily, jumping into Misty's arms and nuzzling against her chest. Arceus, it was such a little kid. Misty sighed and made her way inside, followed shortly after by Red, who observed every single thing he could find. They soon reached the inner stadium, where the battling was taking place, and Misty immediately noticed that Drew was one of the contestants on the field, battling his fellow rival and old friend Solidad.
Misty glanced around, wondering how on earth she was going to find Ash in such a large crowd when Red shouted, "Blue! What are you doing here?!" Misty's attention snapped in the direction of the boy in question, just to find him sitting beside two familiar raven-haired boys, a professor, and Brock.
"Red?" Blue inquired, cocking his head to the side. "What are you doing with Misty?"
"Misty? Where?" Ash wondered, directing his attention at the conversation taking place.
"She brought me here to find Pika," Red explained as he strolled over to his rival.
"Oh, so you're the Red Blue mentioned earlier?" Ash prodded, to which Red shrugged his shoulders in reply. How was he supposed to know if Blue had been talking about him?
"You mean you lost one of your Pokémon?" Blue asked, giving Red a blank look.
"That's what I said!" Misty exclaimed, rolling her eyes as she made her way toward her raven-haired friend.
"Hey, it's not my fault that crazy ball of light dropped us in different places," Red retorted, taking a seat beside Blue.
Blue rolled his eyes and abruptly dropped the conversation, deciding instead to pay attention to Ash and Misty's reunion.
"Ash!" she called to him, coming up to stand behind his seat.
"Misty!" he shouted in reply, smiling up at his old friend. "How did you get here?"
"We took the magnet train from Saffron so we could come get Red's Pikachu from Professor Elm," she explained, sighing. "Arceus knows how it ended up there."
"Oh, I see," Ash replied, his chocolate eyes growing wide as he noticed the little furball nestled between Misty's arms. "What kinda Pokémon is that?"
"Well, um—"
"Tee hee hee, my name's Onio!" the Pokémon exclaimed, opening its violet eyes to meet Ash's chocolate gaze. "And you're Ash, aren't you?"
Ash nodded, shocked not only that the Pokémon knew his name, but also by the fact that it could even speak. "Hm, never seen you before. Let's see what the Pokédex has to say about you," Ash said, but Onio quickly stopped him.
"Oh, I wouldn't bother with that thing; I'm probably not even in it!" it shouted, shaking its head.
Professor Birch shook his head, agreeing with the little Pokémon. "Onio's right, Ash. I've seen the updated Sinnoh Dex and its nowhere in the system," he remarked, staring at the Pokémon in amazement.
Max also looked surprised, having also seen the updated list of Pokémon and not having a clue where Onio came from. "Wow. You're a pretty cool little Pokémon," he commented, smiling up at it. "Can I see it, Misty?"
"It's up to Onio," she answered as the little Pokémon jumped into Max's arms.
"And what's your name, mister?" it asked, glancing up at the eight-year-old.
"The name's Max, Onio," he told it, pushing his glasses up out of habit.
"Well, Max, you're a pretty cool little person," Onio pointed out, mimicking Max's compliment before jumping right back into Misty's arms.
Max almost seemed disappointed that it'd jumped away, but the compliment seemed to make up for it. "So, who all is left?" Misty asked, taking a seat beside Ash and directing her attention to the battle taking place and the amount of points left on the scoreboard; Drew and Solidad were neck in neck, with Solidad ahead by no more than a few points and only thirty seconds to go.
"May won the last round so she's definitely moving on to the finals and is gonna face either Drew or Solidad," Ash explained, also turning his attention back to the battle at hand. "Probably Solidad."
"See, Onio? This is what a Grand Festival is," Misty pointed out as Onio observed the area around them. "Pokémon Coordinators from all over the region come to compete for the title of Top Coordinator."
Onio didn't look very happy to be watching the battle; in fact, it looked almost sorrowful that the battle was even happening to begin with. "So you guys battle with innocent Pokémon to prove who's better than who? That isn't very fair to the Pokémon, if you ask me," Onio remarked poutily, crossing its arms and shutting its eyes defiantly.
"You make us sound like slave drivers when you put it that way, Onio," Ash said, glancing down at the upset Pokémon. "I mean, I'm sure not every Pokémon wants to fight, but I know mine want to prove they're strong just as much as I do. Take Pikachu, for example. He's perfectly happy battling for me, and not because he has to; he does it because he wants to. He's my best friend, right, little buddy?"
Pikachu nodded. "Pikapi!"
Onio opened its eyes long enough to meet Ash's, and at once saw the same sense of justice in the young Trainer's eyes that it felt in its own heart. "You see, I'd never make a Pokémon battle that didn't want to do it, Onio. I'm sure some people would, but that's their fault for not understanding what it's like to be friends with Pokémon."
"Well, I guess when you put it that way… But I still don't like it," Onio answered, sticking its tongue out at Ash.
Pikachu sighed, hoping Ash wouldn't take that as a challenge. But of course he would. "Onio, I challenge you to a battle then. After the Grand Festival's over, anywhere you want."
Onio shook its head. "I don't like battling, Ash. Please don't make me do it! I don't like hurting other Pokémon!" It gave Ash its signature pouty face, earning a whine of disapproval from the ten-year-old.
"But Onio, can't we just do a one-on-one? You and Pikachu, and that's it. Come on," Ash begged, to which Onio sighed in reply.
"Fine, but I can't promise I'm not gonna hurt your Pikachu. And only if Pikachu agrees to it," Onio stated, gesturing at the little yellow mouse.
"Of course Pikachu will agree. Won't you, little buddy?"
Pikachu nodded; he loved accepting battle challenges from any Pokémon, just like his Trainer. "Pikapi! Pikachu!"
"Okay then. Right after the Grand Festival I'll take you to my favorite place and we'll battle there," Onio answered, smiling somewhat dolefully at the Trainer and his Pikachu.
"You got it, Onio!" Right as he said that, the crowd erupted in excitement; apparently the arduous battle between Drew and his rival had finally ended. But who won? Ash thought as his gaze wandered over to the scoreboard, where a lone picture of Drew was displayed along with his leftover points and the caption of "Winner!" scrawled across the bottom. "So Drew's gonna face May in the final battle," Ash remarked, smirking at the thought.
"Makes me wonder who's gonna win that Pokémon they were fighting over," Blue pointed out as the applause started to die down.
"Oh yeah, the Natu," Ash remembered, chuckling lightly. "Even if May loses, Drew'll probably end up giving it to her with another one of his roses for her Beautifly."
"You still think those roses were for her Beautifly?" Misty asked, giving Ask a blank look. "You're just as dense as you used to be."
"Well, who else could they be for, Misty?" quipped Ash, glancing over at his friend. "I mean, he doesn't like May enough to give her a rose after every single contest."
Misty sighed. "Oh yeah, because he really loves giving a Bug Pokémon roses every time he sees it."
"Just because you don't like Bug Pokémon doesn't mean he can't," Ash retorted, sticking his tongue out at her.
Misty roller her eyes and gave Brock a look that said, is he really being serious?
Brock laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Ash, Misty's right. Those roses were for May to begin with."
At his confirmation, Ash's eyes widened in amazement. "No way! Seriously?"
Misty facepalmed. He was absolutely hopeless. Red and Blue and even Max couldn't help but agree. Professor Birch was too busy writing down information about his latest find (Onio) to notice. "Well, they're about to start," Misty pointed out, ending the pointless conversation and directing her attention to the battlefield.
Drew stood on one side, with his chartreuse hair slicked back and sporting a black and white tuxedo. May stood on the other, with the same outfit she'd worn earlier and grasping two red Poké Balls in her hands.
"We've got five minutes on the clock. Contestants, begin!" the announcer called, her high soprano voice ringing throughout the entire stadium.
"Blaziken, Wartortle, take the stage!" May exclaimed, throwing out the Kanto and Hoenn starters.
Drew smirked. So those are the two Pokémon she planned on using. And Drew knew just how to counter it. "Absol, Roserade, stage on!"
"Wartortle, use Ice Beam on Roserade!" May commanded, pointing at the rose Pokémon. Suddenly, a ball of blue light appeared in front of Wartortle's mouth, and it began to shoot beams of ice at its opponent.
"Roserade, use Magical Leaf to break the ice!" Drew countered. Roserade nodded, holding its bouquet hands out; they were quickly bathed in a white light and out shot hundreds of glowing leaves, aimed straight at the ice beams. Roserade hit its targets with ease, causing the beams to burst into bright sparkles and immediately bringing May's points down a notch. "Now, Absol, use Water Pulse on Blaziken!"
Absol became outlined in blue as a wave of water formed around it and was pushed toward Blaziken. "Blaziken, Sky Uppercut on the ground to fly out of the way!" May called as Blaziken's fists began to glow a light blue. Blaziken punched down, launching itself into the air and narrowly missing Water Pulse's attack. "Now, Wartortle, use Rapid Spin and aim straight for Roserade! Blaziken, Fire Spin around Wartortle once it withdraws!"
Wartortle did as it was told, retracting its limbs and spinning straight toward Roserade. Blaziken also obeyed and shot a carefully aimed spiral of fire at its partner, surrounding the shell in flames as it hit Roserade dead on. Roserade was thrown backward, plummeting Drew's points to right below May's. "Roserade, you okay?" Drew asked as Roserade struggled to get to its feet.
"Rose, Roserade!" it replied, grimacing as it took its place once again beside Absol.
"Okay, Absol, use Flash to blind your opponents, and Roserade, prepare your Solarbeam!" Drew commanded, watching as Absol's forehead began to glow and Roserade's bouquets began gathering in sunlight. Luckily, the roofing was made completely of windows, and the sun was incredibly bright out, so charging Solarbeam would take less than ten seconds.
"Wartortle, Withdraw, now! And Blaziken, Mega Kick Wartortle at Absol!" While Wartortle could very easily use its defensive move, Blaziken was left blinded by Absol's Flash and couldn't see to move.
"Roserade, Solarbeam on Wartortle, now!" Roserade released the white ball of light, hitting Wartortle's shell and slamming it against the wall, further plunging May's points and bringing her even with Drew with only three minutes to go.
"Wartortle, no!" May exclaimed as the Pokémon came out of its shell. It seemed okay, other than the many bruises and scratches covering its shell from the impact of the powerful Grass-type attack. She turned to face Drew, a look of fierce determination on her face. "Blaziken, Sky Uppercut on the ground followed by a Blaze Kick in air aimed straight at Absol!"
Blaziken shot itself into the air, its foot becoming enveloped by flame as it flew straight at Absol. "Absol, Razor Wind on Blaziken!" Drew called as Absol's forehead began to glow once again.
"Wartortle, Ice Beam on Blaziken's flaming foot!" May countered. Wartortle shot a single beam in Blaziken's direction, encasing the flames in ice as Absol's Razor Wind struck Blaziken's foot. The crescent-shaped slashes shattered the ice, but the flaming foot remained, hitting Absol violently and knocking it back a few feet. May's points dropped from the Razor Wind, but not as much as Drew's had from the direct hit she'd made.
"Absol, are you alright?" Drew asked, to which Absol stood to its feet and grunted in reply. With less than two minutes to go and May in the lead, Drew needed to think of something, fast. The combos were what brought him down so much, he realized, so he had to come up with a counter combo. "Absol, use Water Pulse once more to create a tornado around Roserade!" Absol obeyed, surrounding its partner with walls of impenetrable water.
What is Drew planning? May wondered as she watched the tornado build around Roserade.
"Now, Roserade, use Magical Leaf in the tornado, followed by Petal Dance to climb out of the waves!" Roserade nodded, using its bouquets to shoot glowing leaves at the water surrounding it, causing the water itself to glow. It then followed up with Petal Dance, dropping petals as it danced its way to the top and rode the waves. "Okay, Absol, launch the tornado at your opponents!"
So that's what he was planning! May realized, but she was a moment too late. Absol hurled the tornado, viciously hitting both Wartortle and Blaziken head on. "Wartortle, Blaziken!" May screamed, mouth agape from the force of the combo. The Magical Leaf had powered up the Water Pulse so it would be super effective against both starter Pokémon, she noted.
The two Pokémon hadn't fainted, but she could tell that Blaziken barely had the strength to stand. She glanced at the scoreboard; the timer read forty-three seconds, and she watched as her points fell closer and closer to zero. Drew wasn't far behind, but it'd take one good combo to bring him even with her. And May wasn't about to go down without a fight.
"Blaziken, Fire Spin on Roserade, and Wartortle, surround it with your Water Gun attack!" Blaziken complied, shooting a spiral of flames straight for Roserade. Wartortle launched a stream of water to surround the stream of fire to create a similar combination she'd used with Dawn's Piplup not too long ago.
"Absol, Razor Wind to break the attack!" Drew commanded as Absol released a flurry of crescent-shaped slashes at the opponents' moves.
"Not so fast, Drew! Wartortle, protect the spiral with your Ice Beam attack!" May countered, watching as Wartortle froze the outside of the pillar of water and fire they'd created. The Razor Wind just bounced off the ice, which was indubitably about to make direct contact with Drew's Roserade.
"Roserade, try your Magical Leaf!" Drew shouted, but his attempt was futile. The ice pillar struck Roserade, shattering on contact to release the water and fire it had previously sealed away. Roserade was sent flying, landing painstakingly close to its own Coordinator. Drew looked up at the scoreboard and watched as his points were drained away. With five seconds to go, there wasn't much left to do but wait.
May also watched in anticipation, knowing that each point deducted brought her another step closer to the title of Top Coordinator. She pursed her lips, ogling at the screen ravenously as his score came closer and closer to dropping below hers. The time finally stopped, and with it, May's and Drew's hearts.
Neither could believe what they were seeing, especially not May. She felt her knees buckle underneath her and her mouth flung agape as tears sprung to her eyes. Drew stared at the screen in shock, unsure whether to shout or cry; either would've been suitable for the outcome they'd just witnessed.
"And it looks like we have a winner!" exclaimed Lilian Meridian, the host for Johto's Grand Festival. "What a shocking outcome! Congratulations to Drew Hayden, Johto's newest Top Coordinator!"
Ash, Misty, Max, and Brock stood there in awe, excited that a friend of theirs had won the Grand Festival, yet also disappointed that their best friend, sister, and traveling companion had lost. Blue and Red were thoroughly impressed by the battle, the former realizing there was much more technique and time put into the combinations and attacks he'd witnessed today than a standard Indigo Plateau battle required, and the latter wondering if one of the Coordinators could teach him a thing or two before he went home. Professor Birch was still too consumed by his own thoughts to have an opinion of the battle, though he was quite disheartened that May hadn't won.
But no one was more shocked than the Coordinator herself. After working so hard, to fall just a few points short of victory almost felt like a knife in her heart. In fact, said knife probably would've hurt far less. However, she refused to look weak in front of Drew. After drying the few tears that had defiantly escaped down her face, she rose to her feet and called her Pokémon back in their Poké Balls.
She then walked across the battlefield to come face to face with her grasshead rival, who almost looked like he would explode into a ball of confetti. As soon as he noticed her standing there, however, his expression changed from one of awe to one of arrogance, an expression she was all too used to seeing. "Well, well, June, guess this means I'm the winner of our little bet," he said, smirking down at the brunette.
For once, she actually didn't feel like fighting her grasshead rival; rather, she wanted to tell him how wonderful he performed and congratulate him for beating her in the end. So she did just that. "Congratulations, Drew. You deserved it," she told him, earning a somewhat confused look from the chartreuse-haired boy. He wasn't sure how to react to her sudden humility, and she could tell it left him speechless.
May gave him a weak smile, and before she even realized what she was doing, embraced him tightly, her head nestled against his chest as she breathed in his earthy scent of oak and pine. She looked up, staring straight into his emerald eyes, and almost thought he would kiss her. His lips were so close, and she couldn't help but wonder what they must've felt like. But the moment never came. When she finally pulled away, she could just make out the hint of a smile gracing his lips and a light flush spread across his entire face, enough to let her know that the hug was appreciated, welcomed even.
However, the genuine smile left almost as soon as it had come, replaced by the indignant smirk she knew the grasshead for. "I suppose I'll let it slide this time," he told her, pulling out the Poké Ball with the Natu inside and tossing it to her. "Since you're being so nice all of a sudden."
May caught the proffered Poké Ball, raising an eyebrow at her rival as she answered, "But a deal's a deal, Drew. You made it farther than I did, so it should belong to you."
"Really? Last I checked we both made it to the finals, July. Just take it; you deserve it just as much as I do," he answered, winking, to which May blushed a fierce crimson in reply. "Oh, and May?"
May nodded, letting him know he had her full undivided attention. As he closed the small distance between them, she started to wonder why she suddenly felt so strange. The feeling wasn't altogether unenjoyable, but it made her stomach flutter with each step closer he got. Tell me I'm not falling for this stupid grasshead, she thought, grimacing slightly. But she couldn't deny the feeling she got whenever he was around, even if they did fight ninety-nine percent of the time they were near each other.
As soon as he was close enough, he reached behind her ear and pulled out a rose, offering it to her like he always did after a contest. "Win or lose, I never fail to give my Beautifly a rose," he said, smiling as she plucked the flower from his hand and looked at it contentedly.
"Well, you can bet I'm gonna beat you next time, olive-brain!" she exclaimed, returning his smirk with one of her own as she turned to exit the stadium.
"We'll see about that," he said, returning his Pokémon and making his way to the very center of the stadium, where Mr. Contesta would soon present him with his trophy and title. He waved at the judges, who were still seated at the table to the right of the battlefield, and waited anxiously for the ceremony to begin, his thoughts quickly being occupied by May's beautiful appearance and amorous gaze.
A/N: Truthfully, I've had this chapter done a while, but never seemed to find time to post it.:/ I apologize for the wait, but I do hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it!:) And I have a question for all you Contest specialists: were the move combinations pretty plausible? And for the Contestshippers, was May's humility still pretty IC? As I said, never really got the chance to watch the Advanced Gen episodes, so I hope it was too OOC of the two of them... Anyways, I'd love to hear from you, so please, don't forget to leave a review!:D (Ha ha, I just )