So this chapter will conclude Ash's fourth battle of the qualifiers. Enjoy
"Pika!" Pikachu was surprised at the question. He knew his trainer was dense, and wasn't sure how he should answer. He had a feeling that Ash felt something special about Dawn, but he didn't know, since Ash never talked about the subject.
"What does that mean?" Dawn asked.
"Pika!" Pikachu made a motion as if he was zipping his lips closed.
"Not telling, huh? I should have figured." Even though Pikachu isn't saying anything, the fact that Ash blushes at seeing my new outfit has to mean something, right? She continued to the bleachers, deep in thought, and sat down in the front row, Pikachu on her shoulder. "You ready Pikachu? Ash should be out in a few minutes, then his battle will start!"
"Pika!" He cooed, excited to see the upcoming match.
Ash was heading into the trainer's room. He was still wondering about Dawn's sudden change in character.
"What was that all about?" He wondered aloud, pulling two Pokeballs from his belt. He released them, revealing Typhlosion and Sceptile.
Sceptile immediately put his signature twig in his mouth, then gave his full attention to Ash.
"Okay guys, I'm facing one of my oldest friends. He beat me once because Charizard wouldn't listen to me. I'm sure I won't have that problem with you two. Watch each other's backs, and do your best."
His Pokémon nodded, a bell ringing in the background, signaling Ash to head out to the battlefield.
He recalled his Pokémon and headed out. The crowd was large, as usual during the double battle rounds. This was Ash's last match of the qualifiers, win or lose. He was facing one of his oldest friends, having lost to him during his Kanto quest. He looked into the crowd, and saw Dawn and Pikachu cheering for him. He took a deep breath as he stepped into the trainer's box.
Ritchie Speed was already in his own trainer's box, having arrived a minute earlier.
Ritchie looked a bit like Ash in the physical sense, however his clothing was different. He wore a blue hat with a horizontal yellow stripe running across it on his head. He wore a green t-shirt with a dark blue vest over it. He wore pants the same color as his shirt. He looked over at Ash and spoke up.
"Ash, let's make this the best battle we've ever fought." He said, determination in his eyes.
"I'm with you on this one. No matter who wins, we should still remain friends. I'm giving it my all, and I hope you will too." Ash replied.
"Of course."
Before the two could say anything more, the ref began his pre battle statements.
"This will be a two on two battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, and Ritchie Speed of Frodomar City. This match is a two on two double battle, and it is over when both of either side's Pokémon cannot continue battling. If one Pokémon is knocked out, then the match will continue as a two on one. The winner of this match will continue on to Driftveil City, and the loser goes home. Both trainers will send out their Pokémon at my command. Are both trainers ready?"
"Yes!" Ash and Ritchie said together.
"Begin!" The ref shouted, raising his flags.
"Zippo, Happy, let's go!" Ritchie shouted. He threw two Pokeballs, releasing a Charizard and Butterfree.
"Sceptile, Typhlosion, I choose you!" Ash shouted. He threw two Pokeballs, and the Forest and Volcano Pokémon appeared, ready for battle. Sceptile placed his signature twig in his mouth before striking a battle ready pose.
"I would've thought that you'd choose Cruise," Ash said.
"I was going to, but I realized that Sand Stream would've done more harm than good. Time to start this battle," Ritchie replied. "Zippo, Flamethrower on Sceptile! Happy, Stun Spore on Typhlosion!"
"Sceptile, Dragon Pulse on that Flamethrower! Typhlosion, burn that Stun Spore to a crisp with your own Flamethrower!" Ash countered.
Zippo released massive flames from his mouth, aimed straight at Sceptile. Sceptile retaliated by sending a green orb from his mouth at the flames. The two attacks crashed in the middle, causing a small explosion. Meanwhile, Happy flapped her wings, releasing a cloud of orange dust, aimed straight for Typhlosion. The Volcano Pokémon released flames from his mouth, burning the powder before it could go anywhere.
"Sceptile, Night Slash on Butterfree! Typhlosion, Flamethrower on Charizard!"
"Happy, stop it with Psychic! Zippo, Flamethrower once more!"
The two fire types spewed flames at each other, not giving an inch. The flames met in the middle, causing a power struggle to ensue. On the other side of the field, Sceptile enlarged his wrist blade, covering it with a dark aura. He charged towards Happy, whose eyes were glowing with a blue energy. Sceptile became covered with the same energy, but he expertly broke free using Night Slash, continuing towards Happy. He struck the Butterfly Pokémon with his blade, causing a significant amount of damage.
"Sceptile, Quick Attack into Low Kick on Charizard! Typhlosion, keep up that Flamethrower!"
Before Ritchie or his Pokémon could react, Sceptile charged towards Zippo in a streak of light. Zippo couldn't do anything, since a slight diversion would cause him to lose the Flamethrower battle with Typhlosion. Sceptile then kicked out Zippo's legs, causing him to fall into the ground. With no resistance, Typhlosion struck Zippo with a Flamethrower, dealing damage.
"Happy, Sleep Powder on Typhlosion, Zippo, Heat Wave in Sceptile's direction!"
"Typhlosion, same thing as before. Sceptile, use Dig to escape the heat!"
Happy released a blue dust from her wings, flapping them to send it towards the Volcano Pokémon. Typhlosion retaliated by repeating his previous actions, spewing flames and burning the powder.
Zippo, on the other hand, was struggling to get up. When he finally did, he had a look of pure anger on his face. He roared, venting his anger, took to the sky, and flapped his wings rapidly, increasing the temperature. Sceptile dug a hole in the ground to escape the heat, but was helpless to do anything else.
"Typhlosion, get Charizard to stop that Heat Wave with Lava Plume! Hit Butterfree if you can! Sceptile, stay put until it's safe to come out!" Ash commanded.
"Happy, String Shot on Typhlosion, prevent him from moving!"
Dawn was watching the battle from the stands, fully into it. The battle had lasted a good five minutes by now, and neither side looked like they were winning. Ash had gotten a few hits off on Ritchie, but Dawn knew that it was far from over. Being a Sinnoh native, she felt slightly uncomfortable when the Heat Wave started to spread to the stands, even in her new outfit. She watched as Typhlosion burned through a string shot with a Lava Plume attack, hitting both of Ritchie's Pokémon. Once again, like many times while she watched the battle, her mind wandered off, still wondering about Ash's earlier reaction. While she was in thought, she saw a man sit next to her out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey Dawn, what's up?" He asked, snapping Dawn back to reality.
"Oh, hey Brock. I'm just watching Ash's last battle. He's facing one of his friends he met in the Indigo Plateau." she replied.
"Ah, yes. Ritchie Speed. I remember him quite well. He and Ash hit it off almost immediately. They both got separated from the rest of us, when Team Rocket decided to try and steal everyone's Pokémon. Luckily, they were back the next day, and they had returned with everyone's Pokémon. They've been friends ever since." Brock said. He noticed that Dawn had been deep in thought, but decided to ask about it later.
"Speaking of Team Rocket, I haven't seen them lately. I wonder where they are. Although it's nice not to have to worry about them for once. Maybe they've given up."
Unbeknownst to them, one of the vendors stopped for a second, before continuing on serving a random person in the stands.
"Maybe. I guess they finally decided to stalk someone else." Brock replied.
Suddenly, there was a cheer from the crowd.
"Butterfree is unable to battle, this match will continue as a two on one!" The ref shouted.
Apparently, Typhlosion had hit Butterfree with one too many flamethrowers, causing him to faint.
"Hey, Ash is winning!" Dawn exclaimed, turning back to the battlefield.
"Yeah, now he just has to beat Charizard and he moves on!" Brock added.
"Speaking of which, did you advance?"
"Yeah. I managed to squeak out a victory in my final match. I'm going to Driftveil!" Brock said excitedly.
Back on the battlefield, Ash was issuing commands to his Pokémon. Sceptile looked worn out, while Typhlosion still looked relatively healthy.
"Typhlosion, hit Charizard with a Shadow Claw! Sceptile, Bullet Seed!"
Zippo was tired, but he still had a lot of fight left in him. However, he was starting to look worried at the two attacks coming is way, waited for his trainer to give an order.
"Zippo, fly up and dodge that Shadow Claw! Then use Flamethrower to burn through those seeds!" Ritchie commanded.
Typhlosion charged towards the Flame Pokémon, a glowing purple claw extended. Sceptile started shooting dozens of seeds at his opponent. Zippo flew up, out of the Volcano Pokémon's reach. He was hit by the Bullet Seeds in the process, but shrugged them off as if they were nothing. He then shot a jet of flames, easily overpowering the small seeds and scorching Sceptile, who cried out in pain.
Damn, Sceptile can't do much, thanks to him being a grass type, and he needs to get in close if he wants do deal any significant damage. As for Typhlosion, he doesn't have very many ranged attacks that can significantly hurt Charizard. Hmm Ash pondered. "Typhlosion, cover the whole field with an Eruption! Sceptile, Dig to dodge!"
Ritchie knew that he had no way of countering one of the most powerful fire type attacks, so he could only watch what happened.
Sceptile dug a hole in the ground, preventing him from being collateral damage. The flames on Typhlosion's back grew four time their normal size, then a massive amount of lava came from his back. Zippo could only watch as he was scorched by the lava, dealing massive damage. He was forced to land, causing Ash to smirk in confidence.
"Sceptile, hit him now!" Ash shouted.
Sceptile emerged from the ground, striking Zippo in the back. Since he was grounded, the ground type attack was able to connect, dealing massive damage.
"Zippo, Flamethrower on Sceptile!" Ritchie yelled desperately.
"Shadow Claw Typhlosion! Sceptile, try to dodge those flames!" Ash countered.
Zippo unleashed a Flamethrower, hitting Sceptile dead on. He collapsed to one knee, smiled, then fainted.
Before the referee could react, Typhlosion struck Zippo with a purple claw, knocking him out.
"Both Sceptile and Charizard are unable to battle, therefore Ash Ketchum is the winner!"
Ash cheered, throwing a fist into the air. He had beaten Ritchie, one of his oldest rivals. One he had lost to on his first year of his journey. Now he was here seven years later, beating him in the biggest tournament of the year. However, he still remained a good sport, and after recalling his two Pokémon, he walked up to Ritchie.
Ritchie was busy recalling Zippo, giving him words of thanks for a great battle. He then looked up and noticed Ash walking towards him. Grinning, he started heading over towards Ash.
"Great battle Ritchie, one of the best I've had in a while." Ash said, meeting up with Ritchie.
"Agreed." Ritchie replied, holding out his hand.
Ash shook it. "You wanna catch up over dinner? I'm sure Brock would like to see you again, and Dawn won't mind."
"Sure. The last time we saw each other was the Orange Islands when we stopped Team Rocket from stealing Silver."
"Ah, the good 'ol days. Come on, Dawn's waiting for me in the trainer's room, and I'm sure they won't mind if you head over to my side of the field," Ash stated, recalling his hand.
"Sure, lead the way!"
At that, Ash and Ritchie headed off to the trainer's room to meet up with Dawn.
So there it is, chapter 18. Hope you liked it. Ash beats Ritchie, and he goes on to Driftveil, as well as Brock. Next chapter goes back to Jake and May, so what happens after this won't be for a while. There's a little hint of foreshadowing in the chapter, so kudos to you if you figure it out. Just don't spoil it for others. That's all I have to say, so as always, read and review everyone!