So yeah, once again, a longer chapter, however, I'm not gonna split it, and I think most chapters from now on will be around this length. A lot happens this chapter, and this also officially marks the start of the tournament. Anyways, here's chapter 8!
Jake, as usual, was late getting up. Eevee had to nudge him for several minutes, but even that didn't work. Just as he was about to release Shockwave for a repeat of yesterday, there was a knock on the door. Seeing that Jake wasn't going to answer it, Eevee took it upon himself to answer it. He jumped down from the bed and walked over to the door.
"Jake!" May said. "Are you coming or what?"
"Eevee!" Came the reply.
"I take it he's not waking up? Alright, Eevee, see if you can slip the key card under the door. I know how to wake him up." She instructed.
A few moments later, she saw a key card slide under the door. She then unlocked the door and walked in. "What's up Eevee? Obviously not Jake, but how are you doing?" She asked, scratching him on the head. "Oh, he's gonna hate me for this. I know it," she said to herself. She walked over to the bed and looked at Jake. He is cute when he sleeps she thought to herself. Oh well, I'm gonna get a kick out of this. She walked over to the side of the mattress, and she lifted it up, sending Jake tumbling over onto the floor.
"What the fuck!?"
"Good morning sunshine!" May said, doing her best to keep from bursting out in laughter.
"Oh. Morning May," Jake said groggily. "Wait, how the hell did you get in here?" He asked, finally realizing what had happened.
"You have Eevee to thank for that. He slipped the key card under the door, since you wouldn't wake up."
Jake glared at Eevee, who was hiding behind May's legs. "Thanks a lot bud." He said sarcastically.
"Jake, it's almost nine o'clock. You gotta be at the stadium in an hour. We were supposed to meet up for breakfast. Max already ate, and it's been killing me waiting this long to eat."
"Alright, I'll meet you down there in five. Let me just wake up properly and fix the bed."
"Okay, just hurry up. I don't want to have to wait any longer."
After watching May walk out, he turned to Eevee. "You know, I don't appreciate you waking me up like that."
"Vui! Eevee."
"I guess you're right. Thank god this wasn't a repeat of yesterday. I hate having to wake up like that."
He stood up, fixed the bed, and put his hat on his head. After putting on his shoes, Jake walked out of the room to meet May, Eevee hitching a ride on his shoulders. Walking down the hallway, he turned to his friend. "You wanna help me see if May likes me back today?"
"Vui."
"Alright. Here's the plan. Just cuddle up to her, try to get her to talk. I'll be over getting something to eat, taking my time."
"Eevee?"
"I know, it's not that much of a plan, but if you have a better idea, tell me."
Eevee sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Jake's crappy plan was the only thing they had to go on. "Vui."
"Thought so. When we get back to the room, tell me what she said." He looked up, noticing that they had arrived at the cafeteria. "Hey May!"
"Took you long enough." She smiled. "I've been waiting for almost ten minutes now!"
"Calm down! I'm here now aren't I? I'm gonna leave Eevee here while I go get something to eat."
That's a bit weird. Usually Eevee stays with Jake wherever he goes. Oh well. At least I'll have someone to talk to while he's gone. May thought to herself.
Watching the two converse, or at least May talking to Eevee, Jake went to get some food, making sure to take his time. After waiting a good ten minutes, he headed back over towards them.
"...yeah, I don't think I would mind that at all. After all he is a really nice guy and he's—"
"Hey. Who's a really nice guy?" Asked Jake.
May looked up, blushing slightly after realizing that Jake had heard her speaking, not knowing how much he heard. "Oh nobody." She lied. "I was just talking to Eevee here. Even though I don't fully understand him, he makes great company."
"That's part of the reason I keep him around."
Eevee looked up at him, a smirk on his face.
Thanks bud Jake thought to himself. He smiled at them both, letting Eevee know he was in the clear. Upon seeing this, Eevee hopped over to Jake, eager to see what he had brought him to eat.
"So, Jake. You never told me yesterday. Why don't you keep Blazer out of his ball anymore?" May asked, striking up a conversation.
"Well, I don't really have an answer to that. I guess he prefers to stay in his ball. I mean, he started staying in there more often after he had evolved into a Combusken, and then after Eevee started traveling with me, he only came out to eat or battle. I don't think he likes walking a whole lot, since when he was a Torchic he rode on my head."
"You don't think he might be jealous that Eevee is always with you?"
"No. I'm sure. We had a talk about it, and he was perfectly fine with Eevee staying with us. I know when he's lying, and he was telling the honest truth when he said that. In all honesty, I think it might be because of all the attention he draws."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean he's a shiny Pokémon. Most people have never seen one before, and even less have captured one. When he was a Torchic, although it was noticeable, people overlooked the fact that he was a shiny. Why? I don't know. But when he evolved into Combusken, people started to take more notice of his different colors. Although he's a bit of an attention whore, I think the final straw was when Team Rocket tried to take him from me, claiming that the boss would want a super rare shiny Pokémon. After that, he started to stay in his ball more. Although I have every bit of faith in him, and he knows with all of his heart that I would never let anyone take him from me, I think it got to him."
"Wow. That's actually king of sad. I remember a trio from Team Rocket was always after Ash's Pikachu. They never gave up, even after hundreds of failed attempts. Even after all of that, Pikachu still stays out of his ball to this day. The fact that Team Rocket trying to take Blazer away from you got to him is sad. Are you sure that that's all that happened?"
At hearing this, Jake's eyes started to tear up a little. "No, not exactly. It took me two fucking weeks to track them down. TWO WEEKS." Jake started to sob, tears now flowing down his face. "When I finally found those assholes, it took Grace's Psychic to stop me from killing them right then and there. As much as I hate to admit it, it's a good thing she stopped me. I had found him in a cage that was electrically protected, which prevented him from using any fighting moves to get out. And it was apparently fire proof, too. He was in really bad shape when I finally got to him. I can't believe that there are people in this world who can not only steal other people's Pokémon, but also abuse them. Just for money!"
Jake was full on crying now, and May had pulled her chair up next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder trying to comfort him.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know it was this bad. If I had known, I wouldn't have asked."
"Don't be," Jake said, starting to regain his composure. "I've never told anyone this, not even my parents. I feel much better, now that I've told someone."
"If you ever need to talk to someone, my offer still stands." May said, smiling at Jake.
"Thanks, May. You're a great friend."
"Any time Jake. Any time."
After sitting like that for a few more minutes, May holding her arm around Jake comforting him, they finally finished eating.
"I'm gonna go take a shower, where do you wanna meet back up, the lobby sound good?"
Jake asked.
"Yeah, me and Max will meet up with you there."
"Alright, see you in twenty minutes."
At that, the two walked back to their rooms.
When Jake got back to his room, he took a quick shower, got dressed, then looked at Eevee. "Alright, after all that back there, spill it. What was May talking about when I came back in?"
As Eevee started to recall what May said, in the other room May was thinking to herself, waiting for Max to finish getting ready.
Wow. I never knew that Jake had a history with Team Rocket like that. And even though he mentioned that he wanted to kill them for what they did, I can't help but feel bad for him. I guess this explains why Blazer seemed to ruthless in that battle yesterday against Drew. All that aside, I know he left Eevee with me to spy on me, and I know Eevee is going to tell him what I said about him. I just hope this won't make things awkward between us. Yes, we've been best friends since we were kids, but it's been six years since we last saw each other. And frankly, I don't think that it would be wrong. Even though he didn't say it out loud, he practically told me that he now sees me as more of a friend, and I can't help but feel the same way. He's caring, he's smart, he's good-looking, and on top of all that, he'll go to hell and back to find one of his Pokémon, even if there's no guarantee that he'll ever see them again. I just wonder what he's gonna do with what Eevee tells him. He's definitely not dense like Ash was, jeez, I kept on hinting, and hinting, and hinting at him, yet he barely noticed me! Yes, we were best friends, but whenever I said that maybe we could be something MORE than best friends, what did he say? Oh yeah. Bestest friends! How dense can you get? I feel bad for any girl who wants to try and go after him. They're gonna be in for a rude awakening. I hope I won't have to make the first move with Jake, I mean it might take him a minute to realize that I like him, and I know he has balls because he asked me if I wanted to accompany him in the case that Max didn't make it, but I can't help but feel that I might have to give him a little push to get the ball rolling—
"Hey sis, you ready?" Max's voice rang out, causing May to lose her train of thought.
"Yeah, I'm coming. Just let me get my bandana on, and then we can go wait for Jake in the lobby." She called back.
Meanwhile in the other room, Jake was shocked at what Eevee had told him.
"What?" He exclaimed. "You mean she told you that I would make a good boyfriend?"
"Vui."
"Alright then, I can't help but think that she figured out our little ploy. I hope that she isn't trying to embarrass me though."
"Vee! Eevee vui eev!" Eevee shot back, not hearing one bit of what Jake was implying.
"I know bud, I don't think she would ever do something like that to me, I know that she knows that I would never talk to her again if I did that. Now the real problem is, how, and when, do I ask her?"
"Eevee!"
"Good idea! After we qualify, I could pull her aside and ask her then. Between what you told me earlier, and the good mood I'll be in after qualifying, it'll be the perfect time! Alright, time to go meet up with them in the lobby. I just don't know what to say to her until then. And hopefully Max won't give me a hard time."
Jake smiled, knowing that this was going to be the best day of his life. Walking down to the lobby, he scratched Eevee in his favorite spot behind the ears. "Thanks bud." He whispered.
Eevee cooed in response.
The group met up, and headed out to the stadium. They arrived there after a short walk and headed over to the registration desk.
"Do you have your registration cards with you?"
"Yes, here you go," Jake and Max said together, handing their cards to the lady behind the desk.
"Alright, you're good to go!" She said, handing them a new set of cards. "You both are in group D. Good luck!"
"Thanks, they both said.
Jake turned towards Max. "Don't worry, even though we're gonna have to battle each other, we can both advance. We just need to win three battles each, and we're off to the prelims." Jake said, reassuring his younger companion.
"I know. Just don't expect to win when we battle." Max said, smiling. "My first match is in thirty minutes. When's yours?"
"I have fifteen minutes. It's against some guys named Jack Schuette. That gives me about five minutes to look him up; although I'm pretty sure I know who I'm gonna use."
Jake headed over to a computer and typed in the name.
"What does it say?" May asked.
"Hmm. It says here that he's 10 years old, his starter was a Mudkip, and he made the top 128 in this year's Hoenn league. Man, I can't help but feel bad for him."
"Why?" May asked.
"Because, I have a good six years' experience on him, and this is only his second major tournament. I've participated in seven leagues, and have won twice. Both here in Hoenn."
"Oh, yeah, I guess this is a little one-sided. Even Max could probably beat him."
"Wait a second, ah. I know who I'm gonna use now."
"Who?" Both Max and May asked.
"Come here and look for yourself."
As they looked on screen, their eyes widened. "Wow. That's impressive!" They both exclaimed in unison.
"This will be a one on one battle between Jake Smith of Littleroot Town, and Jack Schuette of Fallarbor Town. The winner of this match gets two points, a tie is one point each for both trainers, and a loss is zero points. The scoreboard will determine who chooses their first Pokémon at random. Are both trainers ready?"
"Yes." Jake said.
"You betcha!" Exclaimed Jack.
They looked at the scoreboard. After alternating between red and blue, it landed on red, which happened to be Jack's color.
"Would the red trainer please send out his Pokémon?"
"Alright, Hydreigon, I choose you!" Jack shouted, a triumphant look on his face.
A blue and black dragon appeared. He had three black appendages on each side of his back, which appeared to be wings. He had two legs, which appeared to be shredded at the bottom. The most noticeable thing however was that his two hands were actually mini heads.
The ref looked at Jake. "Would the blue trainer please send out his Pokémon?"
"Just as I expected. Grace, engage!"
Out came his Gardevoir. She had two, long skinny legs that ended in points, covered by what looked like a white gown. She had a red horn protruding from her chest and back, and had two green arms. Her face seemed to be covered by what looked like green hair.
"Oh come on. A psychic type against a dark type?" Jack said, a little shocked at the choice of Pokémon.
"For someone of your level, I would have at least expected you to have gone with a type advantage, since I did choose first."
"Just wait and see boy, wait and see." Jake replied.
"Gardevoir versus Hydreigon, begin!" The ref shouted.
"This kid's gonna be in for a rude awakening, right guys?" May asked to Eevee, who Jake had left with her, and Max.
"Yep. He won't even know what hit him, although I have to say I'm pretty impressed that he was able to get a Hydreigon. Based on what I've heard Jake say, they are very hard to raise."
"Vui." Eevee agreed.
"Hydreigon, let's start out strong! Use dragon pulse!"
"Grace, wait for the attack to finish, then Dazzling Gleam!"
What is he thinking? I know Gardevoir usually have a good special defense, but why is he not ordering her to dodge? Jack thought to himself.
Hydreigon opened his largest head, sending a green orb of energy shooting towards Gardevoir. Gardevoir stood there, waiting for the right moment. The orb hit its mark, causing a small explosion right on top of Gardevoir, however, it didn't seem to do a thing.
"What the hell? Why didn't that work?" Jack asked, shocked at the outcome.
"Now!" Jake shouted.
Gardevoir's eyes glowed pink, and she emitted a pink ray of light at her opponent. Not hearing his trainer order to dodge, Hydreigon hovered in place, taking the full force of the attack. The attack hit its mark, and the four times super effective attack caused massive damage.
"Alright, we can come back from this, use Crunch!"
"Counter with Ice Punch!"
Hydreigon floated over to Gardevoir, and crunched down on her neck with his two mini heads. Showing obvious signs of pain, she reared her fist back and struck him in the chest with an ice cold fist, sending him flying back, crashing into the ground in front of his trainer.
Dang it, I have to go out strong if I want to beat this Gardevoir, no matter how high her special defense is, she won't be able to take a "DRACO METEOR!"
"Just wait, then use moon blast on my command!" Jake countered.
What the hell is he thinking!? Surely he knows that even a Gardevoir can't survive the most powerful dragon type attack!
Hydreigon's stomach started to glow, and he aimed his three heads into the sky, and emitted dozens of mini meteorites into the air. They came crashing down, with many of them hitting Gardevoir cleanly. When the smoke cleared, Gardevoir was still standing, looking unfazed by the attack.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Jack screamed, flabbergasted that Gardevoir was unhurt. "Did you call for a protect?"
"Nope. I'll explain after I win. Now Grace!"
All of a sudden, a pink moon appeared in the sky. Gardevoir then started to glow pink, and the moon shot a pink energy wave at Hydreigon. It struck his entire body, and he collapsed, unable to withstand the powerful attack.
"Hydreigon is unable to battle, Gardevoir is the winner! The match goes to Jake Smith of Littleroot Town!"
"Hydreigon, return." Jack said, still shocked at the outcome. "Spill it. NOW."
"Alright, calm down. First, I want to congratulate you on to your Hydreigon, he's clearly been raised well. As for why dragon pulse and Draco Meteor didn't work, it's because Grace is part fairy type." Jake explained.
"Fairy type?"
"Yes. It was recently discovered, and some Pokémon were found to have been part fairy type. The type is completely immune to dragon type attacks, hence why she was unaffected. Plus they're resistant to dark type moves, so Grace was only hit neutrally by that Crunch attack. They're also super effective against dragons, as well as dark types and fighting types. That's why it only took a couple of hits to take out your Hydreigon. Four times super effective moves are really hard to survive. You should be proud of him for withstanding THREE super effective hits."
"Wow. I've never heard of the fairy type before."
"Don't worry about it. You still have a long road ahead of you. Losing to the Hoenn league victor is nothing to be ashamed of." Jake held out his hand. "Good match."
Jack shook it. "Good match."
After recalling Grace and meeting back up with May and Max, May spoke up first.
"Wow. You completely owned him. The match was in your control the entire time!"
"Yeah, well if he knew about the fairy type, it could've been a completely different match altogether. I took a gamble, and it paid off. I was lucky."
"Oh come on, don't be so modest!" May exclaimed coyly. "You won, and you only need to beat two more trainers to qualify!"
"Yeah. At the rate you're going, you'll be qualified in no time! And I'll be right there with you!"
"Speaking of which, your match is soon, right?"
"Oh shit, I got ten minutes! I won't even have time to look up my opponent!"
"What's his name? I can look him up on my Pokenav for you."
"Barry Jenkins."
"It says here that he's from here, Slateport. Here, don't drop it."
"I won't." Max replied, taking the Pokenav and looking at it while they were walking towards the stadium.
May and Jake stayed back, letting Max take the lead.
"So..." May said, trying to start up a conversation.
Ahh fuck it. I was gonna wait until after, but with Max preoccupied, I have a chance without him interrupting Jake thought to himself. "So, is what Eevee told me true?"
"What do you mean?" May asked innocently.
"That you said that I'd make a good boyfriend."
"I don't know," May said, flirtatiously. Wow. He's already making a move. Just go with the flow May, and let nature take its course.
Jake blushed at the response. Aha! So it's true! Time to seal the deal! "Well, if you don't know, maybe I could sway your opinion over dinner tonight?"
"You're smooth. I'll give you that. But what about him?" She replied, pointing to Max.
"Shit. I don't know. As much as I'd hate to leave him behind, I don't really want to listen to his teasing."
"Tell you what. Let's skip the dinner, and after Max is in bed, we can go see a late night movie. That way we can have some alone time, and Max doesn't have to find out."
"Alright deal." Jake replied. YES! YES! YES! My first date! I really hope I don't fuck this up. The last thing I need is for her to be turned off by me, right in the middle of a tournament.
Eevee looked up at his friend, a proud smirk on his face. He snuggled up to Jake, as a way of congratulating him.
"Come on, we can talk more while watching Max's battle." May said.
"Okay, but can you do me a favor?"
"Yeah?"
"Please don't tell Max, at least not until its official. I don't think I could deal with him if something went wrong."
"Nothing will go wrong!"
"Please?"
"Okay, fine. I won't tell him."
"Tell me what?" They both looked ahead, noticing Max had turned around. "Don't tell me you two are doing anything inappropriate behind my back."
Both blushed at the comment.
"Nope, we were just talking about how we know you're gonna win this match." Jake said quickly.
"Uh-huh. Suuure. Anyways, I found out what Pokémon Barry is probably gonna use, and I have the perfect counter for it."
"Mind filling us in?" May asked.
"Wait and find out."
They arrived at the stadium, with Max hurrying off onto the field, and May, Jake, and Eevee heading into the stands.
Jake held out his hand, and May took the hint, grabbing it. They found front row seats in the relatively empty stands, since not many spectators came for the qualifiers.
May spoke first. "So, what movie do you want to see?"
"I wanna see that new action flick, Starmie Wars." Jake replied. "I've already seen the first one, and it looks even better than the first!"
"Ugh. I was thinking something more romantic, you know, a chick flick. Like Celebi, the Time Traveller. You know, the one where Celebi has to travel through time to find true love." She squealed in excitement.
"Eevee. Eev."
"You're right. Maybe we could compromise. The Snorlax Games just came out, that's supposed to be an action flick with romance in it. How about that?"
"Okay!" May conceded. She knew that was the best she was gonna get. Even after six years, she knew Jake was as stubborn as they came.
"Look, Max's match is starting." Jake said.
This is a one on one match between Max Maple of Petalburg City, and Barry Jenkins of Slateport City. Each trainer will use one Pokémon, and there is no time limit. The match will be over when either side's Pokémon is unable to battle. The Winner gets two points. A tie is one point each, and a loss is zero points for the loser. Are both trainers ready?"
"Yep!" Max stated.
"Yeah." Barry said blankly.
Both looked at the scoreboard, and it stopped on blue.
"Barry Jenkins, please send out your Pokémon.
"With pleasure. Tyranitar, stand by!"
The seven foot green lizard appeared, striking a fighting stance. Sand immediately started to whip up.
Shielding his eyes, the ref looked over to Max. "Would the red trainer please send out his Pokémon.
"Sandslash, I choose you!" Max shouted.
A hedgehog looking Pokémon appeared. He was a light brown color, and he had brown spikes sticking out from his back. He had two sharp claws coming from each arm. He immediately faded away into the sand.
"Damnit! Fucking Sand Veil. Oh well, I'll just have to draw him out." Barry said to himself.
"Sandslash versus Tyranitar, begin!"
"Tyranitar, start out with a stone edge! Cover the whole field!"
"Dodge it with dig!"
Tyranitar created three rings of stones around his body, and shot them all around. Although nobody could see him, both trainers knew that Sandslash had burrowed himself deep underground.
"Earthquake!" Barry commanded.
"Strike it, then go into a crush claw!"
Tyranitar reared one of his feet back preparing for an earthquake. Before he could slam it on the ground, Sandslash emerged, knocking him off balance. He immediately struck him with a glowing claw, sending Tyranitar staggering back. He then vanished into the sand again.
"Damnit! How the fuck am I gonna hit him?" Barry said, angry at his disadvantage. "Tyranitar, ice beam. Aim all over the place!"
"Dodge it! Then use brick break when you get the chance! Don't rush, take your time!" Max said calmly.
"Wow, Max has this in the bag. That Tyranitar has no chance." Jake said.
"I know it looks like it, but are you sure? That ice beam could hit Sandslash, and the super effective move will deal a lot of damage." May said.
"No. Trust me, Maverick does this all the time." He chuckled. "As long as Max has Sandslash use hit and run tactics, he'll win this for sure. He's got this in the bag."
Back on the battlefield, Tyranitar was spraying a cold beam of ice into the sand, aiming everywhere. Suddenly, Sandslash struck him with a glowing claw, dealing massive damage with the four times super effective move. Tyranitar, being completely fatigued, was on the brink of collapsing.
"Earthquake!" Barry shouted.
"Dodge, then metal claw!"
Tyranitar slammed his foot on the ground, causing a massive tremor. After the shaking died down, Barry smiled.
"I think we got him!"
All of a sudden, a glowing claw struck Tyranitar in the back, dealing massive damage. Tyranitar, unable to take any more, fainted on the spot.
"Tyranitar is unable to battle, Sandslash wins! The victory goes to Max Maple of Petalburg City!" The ref shouted.
"Tyranitar, return." Barry said, his face red with anger.
"Good job Sandslash, take a rest bud," Max said. He looked up at Barry. "That was a great match!"
"Maybe for you." Came the reply, before he walked away.
Coming down from the stands, May and Jake congratulated him.
"That was awesome. The way you battled was exactly how you should have. Using your opponents' abilities against them is a great strategy!" Jake congratulated.
"Yeah Max, that was awesome!" May exclaimed. "Who are you facing next, and when is the match?"
Max looked at his card. "Great. It's against him," he pouted, pointing at Jake. "We battle in an hour. On a side note, is there a reason why you two are holding hands?"
Realizing that they may be found out, they both let go, slight blushes on their faces.
Changing the subject, Jake turned to Max. "Don't worry, we still have two more matches after this one. If either of us loses, we still have a shot at advancing. No matter what happens, let's keep it friendly, okay?"
"Okay."
"Let's go get something to eat real quick before the match, I'm starving!" May exclaimed.
"I'm with you on that one!" Jake laughed.
"Alright then, let's go!"
The trio headed off to get a quick lunch, with the two males thinking about the upcoming match.
So yeah, Jake made his move, and things are looking good for the young couple. I know that it might have seemed like they moved a little fast, but I think it works. After all, they did grow up together, and after six years apart, they saw each other in a different light. Moving on. Next few chapters will go back to Ash, Dawn, and Brock. It'll cover the time up until this point. Like I said before, it's gonna be a skewed timeline. About the whole team rocket ordeal, it literally popped into my head when I was writing this, and I feel like it explained Jake's personality whenever he uses Blazer. Plus I needed to explain why Blazer no longer stays outside of his ball, since I mentioned it last chapter. One last thing, by the time this is uploaded, I'll more likely than not have chapter nine done, so that'll be up tomorrow. Starting next week, I have baseball workouts Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, all throughout the winter, so I may or may not have to slow down with the updates. I don't know. Anyways, thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think! I'm still accepting OCs, but time is running out!