This marks the start of Ash's double battles. Chapter 15 Everyone!
Ash woke up first once again. And once again, Dawn was cuddled up to him.
"I should just start to expect this." He muttered to himself.
Luckily, he was able to get up without waking Dawn, so he headed down to get breakfast, making sure not to wake anyone up as he slipped out the door.
Once he got to the cafeteria, he piled his plate high with food.
Ash decided to look up his first opponent while eating. He pulled out his Pokenav, typed in a few things, and an image popped up.
"Ben Howl. Starter was a Charmander. From here in Viridian City. Says he won the Kanto League twice. Hmm..." Ash trailed off, deep in thought.
"He's most likely gonna use Charizard, but who else?" He asked himself. He was so preoccupied, that he didn't see that Dawn had sat across the table from him.
"Whatcha doin?" She asked coyly.
Ash, not knowing that she was there, fell backwards in his seat, dropping his Pokenav upon hearing her voice.
What the hell?" He said, slowly getting up, rubbing the back of his head. "I thought I told you yesterday not to scare me like that!" He scolded. He bent down and picked up his Pokenav, letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing that it wasn't damaged.
"Sorry!" Dawn replied meekly.
"Don't worry about it." Changing the subject, Ash said something that was on his mind. "You were clinging me to me again in your sleep. Luckily I was able to get up without waking you."
"I don't even know if I should apologize anymore, since it's becoming a regular occurrence." Dawn replied, her face beet red.
"No need to worry, like I said, I don't mind. It actually feels kinda nice." Ash said, unaware of what he implied.
If only he knew what he was saying. "Anyways, what were you looking at on your Pokenav?" Dawn asked, changing the subject.
"I was looking up my first opponent. His name is Ben Howl, he's eighteen, and he won the Kanto League twice. I've already figured he's gonna use Charizard, I'm now trying to figure out who else he'll use."
"Maybe I can help. What other Pokémon does he have?" Dawn asked.
"Umbreon, Breloom, Salamence, Gengar, and some Pokémon called Noivern."
"What's a Noivern?" Dawn asked cluelessly.
"I don't know, it looks like it's from Kalos. Says here it's a Dragon/Flying type."
"Based on those, I'd think he'd go with either Gengar or Breloom."
"What do you say that?"
"Because, Salamence and Noivern are both part flying type, and not many people pair flying types together."
"Your guess is as good as mine. As for who I'm using, I'm gonna go with Pikachu and Reuniclus. Speaking of Pikachu, is he still asleep?"
"Yeah, last I checked, he was out cold, soundly sleeping at the foot of our bed."
"Good to know. He'll need the rest for today. Now that I think about it, I have a feeling Ben will use Breloom. Grass and Fire have good type synergy, so he'll probably use him."
So a psychic type and an electric type. On paper, there no contest. You'll win hands down."
"Pokémon battles are not won on paper, Dawn. There's still the question of how he'll use them."
"Okay, Captain Buzzkill."
Ash continued to eat, while Dawn got herself a bowl of cereal. The two talked about various things, and finally finished eating up, so they decided to head back to the room. On the way there, they ran into Brock and Pikachu.
"Oh hey Brock, did you just get up?" Ash asked.
"Yeah. I don't want to be late, and Pikachu here wanted to see you. I'm gonna head down to eat. I don't know when I'll be done, so I'll meet you down at the stadium. Sound good?" Brock replied.
"Yeah, sounds good. Come on Pikachu, I'm using you in the first round, so you need to be ready." Ash said, holding out his arm.
"Pika!" Pikachu cooed, hopping aboard his trainer's arm and finding a comfortable spot on his shoulder.
The three went their separate ways, with Ash and Dawn heading back to the room.
Ash was already dressed, and was waiting for Dawn to finish up so he could go to the Pokémon Center to exchange his Pokémon.
"Is this gonna be a repeat of yesterday?" Ash asked through the door.
"Yes. Now can it so I can finish my hair," Dawn said bluntly.
Ash sighed, looking at Pikachu. "What is it with girls and their hair?" He asked his loyal companion.
"Pika. Pikachu pikapi." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"This is taking forever!" He said to no one in particular, annoyed at the circumstances.
Almost as if on cue, Dawn stepped out, once again in her new outfit. Once again, Ash felt that same feeling in his stomach. This is starting to get old. You'd think that I'd be used to her new outfit by now
Dawn noticed Ash blushing and smiled. "Come on, let's go!" She exclaimed, snapping Ash back to reality.
The two headed off to the Pokémon Center, conversing along the way.
"So who else are you gonna use today?" Dawn asked.
"I'm bringing in Charizard to battle alongside Garchomp for either the second or third match. Sceptile and Typhlosion for one of them, and Infernape and Torterra. You already know that I'm using Reuniclus and Pikachu for the first match." He replied.
"Sounds like some good matchups. It's been awhile since I've seen Infernape and Torterra in action." She replied, reminiscing of the Sinnoh days.
The two continued chatting, talking about their adventures in Sinnoh, until they got to the Pokémon Center. They walked inside, greeted Nurse Joy, then went over to the video phones. Ash dialed a number, and an old man appeared.
"Ash! Dawn! Pikachu!" The old man known as Professor Oak said. "How are you guys?"
"We're good. I came to tell you that I made it to the second round of the qualifiers." Ash stated.
"Congrats! I knew you could do it. Gary called yesterday and told me he made it as well. I'm assuming you also called to make some Pokémon exchanges?"
"Yep. I need Reuniclus and Charizard, so I'll send over Crawdaunt and Scrafty."
"I'm sure Charizard is gonna be rearing for a fight. Ever since he came back from the Charicific Valley, he's pretty much made the ranch his kingdom, since no one has come close to beating him. He's not a tyrant or anything, he just doesn't put up with Pokémon fighting each other over stupid stuff." Professor Oak said.
"It's about time Charizard stepped up. I'm sending my Pokeballs over now Professor." Ash replied.
"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes, I just need to get those two." Oak replied, taking the two Pokeballs that were just transported with him.
"Wow. Professor Oak is a really nice guy. I hope I can hear one of his poems!" Dawn squealed.
"Yeah, he is. I'm glad that he'll go out of his way to help me out." Ash replied.
A few minutes later, Professor Oak returned, holding two Pokeballs. Here they are! Good luck in your battles Ash." He said, putting the Pokeballs in the transporter.
"Thanks professor. I just got Reuniclus and Charizard. I'll talk to you later today."
"See ya!"
Ash then hung up, and turned around to find a disappointed Dawn.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I wanted to hear one of his poems, but you hung up so fast that I didn't get a chance to ask him." She replied dejectedly.
"No need to worry, you'll have your chance later today when I call him back to get my other Pokémon."
"Okay!" Dawn piped, seemingly over her brief mood swing. "Come on, your match starts in twenty minutes, so we should head over to the stadium."
"Good idea."
"Where's Brock?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know. He said he'd meet us here, but I guess his first match started sooner than he thought." Ash replied.
"That's a bummer. I wanted to wish him luck for his match. Oh well, I can still wish you luck!" Dawn said coyly.
"Alright, I'll see you after the match, I gotta go." Ash said, completely missing the hint.
"See ya! And good luck!" Dawn replied, walking off into the stands.
"Thanks." Ash said, heading off into the trainer's room. He walked inside and sat down on a bench. He pulled out a Pokeball, and threw it, with Reuniclus appearing. The Multiplying Pokémon eagerly floated next to Pikachu, awaiting what Ash was going to say.
"Alright guys, we're gonna be facing some stiff competition. Ben has won the Kanto league twice, so expect one hell of a fight. I've figured out that he'll use Charizard and Breloom, so we have the type advantage. But that doesn't mean it'll be an easy fight. All in all, do your best. That's all that matters."
A bell rung, signaling Ash to head out to the battlefield.
"Alright, return Reuniclus." Ash said, recalling his Pokémon. He then headed out to the field, which was just plain dirt. A dirt field. No one's gonna have the advantage here Ash looked up into the stands, which were packed.
"I guess the former Sinnoh champ and Kanto champ is too much to pass up," he muttered. He kept looking, and finally spotted Dawn. He saw her give him a big thumbs up, giving him a slight boost of confidence. Ash took a deep breath, then walked up to the trainer's box. He eyed his opponent.
Ben looked to be in his late teens, and had short brown hair. He was wearing a white button down shirt, a red jacket, black cargo pants held up by a black belt, and boots. His eyes hid behind a pair of sunglasses, and Ash thought he saw a ring on the middle finger of his right hand, but wasn't sure.
"This will be a two on two double battle between Ben Howl of Viridian City, and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. Each trainer will use two Pokémon, and the match is over when both of either side's Pokémon cannot continue. If one Pokémon is knocked out on either side, the match will continue as a two on one. This match will be fought on a dirt battlefield, and both trainers will send out their Pokémon at the same time at my command. Are both trainers ready?"
Both Ash and Ben nodded. Ash pulled out a Pokeball, with Pikachu getting ready on his shoulder. Ben pulled two Pokeballs off his belt.
"Begin!" The ref shouted, raising his flags into the air.
"Reuniclus, Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash shouted. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder, while he threw a Pokeball, Reuniclus emerging from it. They stared down at the other side of the field, where Ben was sending out his Pokémon.
"Charizard, Breloom. I choose you!" He shouted.
The Mushroom Pokémon and the Flame Pokémon appeared, rearing for battle.
Ben made the first move. "Breloom, Mach Punch on Pikachu. Charizard, use Air Slash on Reuniclus!"
"Pikachu, dodge with Agility! Then Thunderbolt at Charizard! Reuniclus, redirect that Air Slash at Breloom!" Ash countered.
Breloom briefly extended his fist, before rushing towards Pikachu in a Flash of light. Pikachu tried to dodge, but to no avail. He was struck by the attack, sending him skidding across the field. Meanwhile, Charizard created five blades of air, and sent them at Reuniclus. He was able to catch them with his Psychic attack, and redirected them at Breloom, who was completely unaware.
"Breloom, move it now!" Ben shouted.
Breloom looked up, to see the redirected Air Slash coming right at him. He was able to dodge the first four, but the last one hit, dealing major damage thanks to his extreme weakness to flying type attacks. He was panting heavily, but still had a lot left in him.
"Breloom, Spore on Reuniclus! Charizard, Flamethrower on Pikachu!"
"Reuniclus, try and redirect that Spore with your Psychic! Pikachu counter Flamethrower with Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled.
Breloom lowered his head, allowing small white spores to emerge from it, aimed at Reuniclus. The psychic type's eyes glowed, and he tried to stop the spores in his track, but there were too many, and he fell asleep on contact. Meanwhile, Charizard opened his jaw, letting loose a massive stream of flames, aimed straight at Pikachu. He countered it with a perfectly placed Thunderbolt. The two attacks clashed in a battle of will, and finally caused a massive explosion, damaging all four Pokémon. Reuniclus was on the ground, fast asleep, while across from him Breloom was panting heavily. Both Pikachu and Charizard were relatively unphazed, and stared each other down.
"Charizard, fly into the air, then go into a Flare Blitz at Pikachu! Breloom, Giga Drain on Reuniclus!"
"Pikachu, counter with Volt Tackle! Reuniclus, WAKE UP!" Ash shouted frantically.
Charizard flew into the air, then dove downwards, covering his body in flames. He leveled out, shooting straight towards Pikachu. Pikachu charged forward, enveloping his body in an electrical aura. The two Pokémon crashed into each other, causing a massive explosion. The explosion distracted Breloom, who was busy sucking the energy out of the sleeping Psychic type with green tendrils. The tendrils disappeared, and the noise awoke Reuniclus, who wasn't too happy about being attacked while sleeping. Smoke covered the entire field, and no one could see a thing. Finally, after about a minute of no action, the smoke started to clear. Two silhouettes were lying on the ground. Once the smoke lifted a little more, the ref made his call.
"Both Charizard and Pikachu are unable to battle, this match will continue as a one on one!" He shouted.
Ash walked onto the battlefield to pick Pikachu up, while Ben recalled Charizard back into his ball. Ash set Pikachu on the bench near the sidelines, covering him with his hoodie. He walked back over to the trainer's box, so the match could continue.
Thanks bud, you just allowed me to win he said mentally.
Once Ben saw that Ash was ready, he made his move. "Breloom, put Reuniclus to sleep again with Spore!"
Time for my trump card! "Reuniclus, Trick Room, then Psyshock!"
As Breloom was about to release his Spore attack for the second time, the field became surrounded by a white grid. In the blink of an eye, Reuniclus released three orbs of psychic energy, all three making contact with the Mushroom Pokémon, breaking his concentration and preventing the attack.
"Mach Punch!" Ben shouted.
"You can take that! Confuse Ray!" Ash countered.
Since priority moves weren't affected by Trick Room, Breloom extended his arm and was up onto the Multiplying Pokémon in a flash. He delivered a punch to his face, but it didn't do very much damage. Reuniclus retaliated by firing six golden orbs of energy at his opponent. They circled around Breloom, then exploded in a flash of light. Once the light died down, Breloom was seen hitting himself in confusion.
"Breloom, snap out of it!" Ben yelled desperately.
"Reuniclus, finish with Psyshock!" Ash shouted.
As Breloom continued to hit himself, Reuniclus fired three orbs of psychic energy, which shot towards Breloom and exploded. When the smoke cleared, the Mushroom Pokémon was lying on the ground, defeated.
"Breloom is unable to battle, Reuniclus is the winner and the match goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" The ref shouted.
As the crowd roared in excitement, Ash quickly recalled Reuniclus, then dashed off to the sidelines to where Pikachu was. Luckily, he had regained consciousness, and he was cheering for Ash's victory.
"Come on bud, let's get you to a Pokémon Center." Ash said, heading towards the trainer's room. He was so preoccupied with making sure that Pikachu was alright, that he almost walked past Dawn. She put a hand out on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. Ash looked up, staring into Dawn's eyes. There's that feeling again...
"Congrats on winning!" Dawn exclaimed. She then noticed Ash's face turning red, but she decided not to press the matter.
"Thanks." He replied meekly. "Come on, I need to get Pikachu to the Pokémon Center."
Dawn nodded, knowing that no matter what, Ash put his Pokémon's needs in front of his own. She followed him there, chatting with him all the way. "Do you know who your opponent is for your next match?" She asked.
"Not a clue, but I've already decided to go with Garchomp and Charizard. I heard that he's a Dragon Tamer, but other than that, I don't know anything about him."
"At least you have two of your most powerful Pokémon to go against him," Dawn said.
They had just arrived at the Pokémon Center, so they walked inside. Ash greeted Nurse Joy, and then asked her to take a look at Pikachu. Joy happily complied, heading off into the other room with Pikachu on a stretcher, leaving Ash and Dawn alone in the lobby.
Dawn saw Ash looking worried, so she did her best to comfort him.
"Don't worry, he'll be alright. He seemed fine after the battle, why are you so worried?"
"Because, taking a Flare Blitz head on with a Volt Tackle wasn't the smartest move. I always make these reckless decisions in the heat of battle, and my Pokémon have to suffer the consequences."
"Ash, you know that you did your best out there. The fact that you beat a two time champion in your first try proves it. Anyone knows that a reckless trainer would have lost. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Pikachu did the best he could, and the trust and love between you two allowed him to take a much bigger, and probably much stronger opponent head on. He may have been knocked out, but he took out a Charizard with him. I'm sure that there will be no hard feelings between you two when this is all over."
"Thanks Dawn, it always seems like you know exactly what to say to make me feel better." Ash said, a smile creeping up on his face.
Dawn blushed slightly at the comment. "No problem Ash."
"Ash?" A voice called from across the room.
"That must be Nurse Joy!" Ash exclaimed, getting up excitedly. He turned around, and sure enough, Nurse Joy was standing there, a newly recovered Pikachu sitting on her shoulder.
"Your Pikachu needs the rest of the day off, but he'll be good to go tomorrow." She stated sweetly.
Pikachu hopped off Nurse Joy's shoulder and scurried off to greet his trainer. Ash picked him up, and gave him an affectionate hug.
"Thanks Nurse Joy, you're the best!" He exclaimed. He looked down at Pikachu, who was content lay snuggling into his arms. "Thanks bud. You were wonderful out there last match."
"Pika!" He cooed back, climbing out of Ash's arms and climbed up onto his familiar perch on Ash's shoulder.
"Now that that's settled, what do you wanna do now? You have half an hour before you gotta be there for your next match, so is there anything in particular that you wanna so to pass the time?" Dawn asked.
"I could go for some ice cream. Even though I still have three battles left, I think I deserve a large cone after defeating a two time champion."
"Okay! But you're paying this time. I don't owe you squat." Dawn said playfully, poking him in the stomach flirtatiously at saying 'you're.'
"Deal." Ash replied, obviously in a better mood than he was not even five minutes ago.
The two headed off to an ice cream shop, located not far from where the Pokémon Center was at.
So slightly shorter, but I decided to limit myself to one battle per chapter. Otherwise, the second one won't be as good as the first. Next chapter will be Ash's second battle.
Ben Howl belongs to Alleluia00.
On the topic of OCs, they are coming to a close. The next update should be Friday, so that'll be the last chapter you can submit them. I mentioned this originally, but a few people seemed to ignore it. NO LEGENDARY Pokémon. Period. some stories have trainers own legendaries, heck even the anime during the Sinnoh League (Tobias and his Darkrai) had legendaries, but my story mill not have them. Sorry if that disappoints you, but this will be a normal tournament. That rant aside, I hardly have any Johto or Hoenn OCs, so there are still some slots left for those two regions. Every other region has enough, but you can still submit them. Sorry for the rant, but that's just something that's been on my mind.
As always, R&R!