Author Notes: I've noticed that the trickles of reviews has ground to a halt. Dont' be afraid to review people. Nothing makes an author feel better than having a positive review (hint hint) but also it is just as important, if not more so, that I get feedback on my writing whether good or bad.
Everything seemed to degenerate for Jack after that one terrible moment. His memory of that time was slightly patchy. The shock and anger had unhinged him and his brain began to see strobe lighting.
One moment everything was black then the next an image was superimposed brightly onto his retinas.
He remembered yelling and throwing himself at the pile of huge rocks that blocked the exit.
He remembered Steven hauling him back and throwing him onto the ground.
The Hoenn Champion screamed one word into the air. 'Jirachi!' It came to him, coalescing into being in front of the two trainers in a flash of purpling purple light. The Pokémon which Jack suddenly recognised from legends all over. The Wish Maker – the all powerful Wish Maker. And it was shaking with pain and fatigue from fighting with Mewtwo.
Then everything went dark again as the strobe lighting flickered across Jack's vision.
The next few hours passed by extremely quickly for Jack – or was it extremely slowly? Jack could not tell through the strange haze that seemed to fog his mind. All he would ever be able to recall from that time was his huge argument with Steven and the Hoenn Champion's final parting words.
'Forget her. Forget everything that's happened here. She's dead. We can only hope that it's dead too.' There was no doubt what the "it" was referring to. 'Move on. Get your badges. Challenge the League. Make your fortune. Just, whatever you do, forget this ever happened.' The two trainers did not separate on the best of terms.
Jack would hear the parting message ringing in his head for days and months to come. Steven would likewise take the accusations levelled at him – coward and pretender to name but a few – to heart and almost go out of his way to prove he was none of those things. Whether to himself or to others he didn't know but he still worked harder and harder than he had ever done before.
Jack tried to slip back into normal life – or as normal life as a Pokémon trainer can be – after his forced sabbatical but he found it difficult. After his stint in the underground he felt that he could no longer relate to most other people. He met people, other trainers or just general travellers along the way, and completely rebuffed their friendly advances and made a name for himself as a bit of a loner.
He could not help it. They all seemed shallow to him, stupid and naїve and full of self-interest. Even the girls who tried to win the favour of the tall mysterious trainer with smouldering eyes were given the cold shoulder. Whenever Jack saw a pretty face or a short skirt he was reminded of a girl that he had lost.
A girl that he had not known for long enough but a girl that had ingrained herself so deep into his skull that he knew that he would never get her out of his head. Even when he was talking to those girls – and there were a surprising amount of them - a different face tried to superimpose itself on top of theirs. Every single one of them reminded him of her.
Jack was surprised to find that he had been out of action for four months. Four months! Not only had he missed the Silver Conference qualifiers but he had almost missed the Silver Conference itself. Jack began to hate Team Rocket even more. They had made him miss something that he had watched and wanted to compete in since he was a small boy.
Heading to Celadon City, the home of the sky piercing department store and the famous Twilight District of casinos, Jack found that his luck began to take a turn for the better. As it turned out, the group stages for the Silver Conference were being held in the city centre and the brand new stadium had caused quite a stir.
Before he would challenge Erika – a prospect that he thought would be easy with the fiery Dante – Jack wanted to give this stadium a reconnaissance and explore the city.
The Stadium was built right at the centre of the city in the vicinity of the Pokémon centre. It wasn't particularly large for a stadium but the gleaming steel and glass construction of its exoskeleton gave it stature above its size. It somehow looked much more impressive. Pack in ten thousand people and forty Pokémon trainers and you have yourself quite a spectacle.
Jack was staring at the arena when he bumped into something round and soft. A familiar girlish voice followed the collision. 'Ooh Matt. Fancy seeing you here. I wondered why you weren't in qualifying because we could use a trainer of your skill to make this a bit more of a spectacle.'
The small fat man named Scott in the Hawaiian shirt draped a pudgy arm round the slightly bewildered Jack's shoulders and shepherded him through the smooth aluminium turnstiles, along bright sterilised corridors to what looked like a clerk's office decorated in old-fashioned decor which was at odds with the gleaming tangle of metal around it.
'Eric my dear friend,' squeaked Scott jovially, 'I have found our fortieth competitor.' The small mousy clerk looked less than happy to see Scott. When he replied his voice was deadpan, 'Hello Scott, what a ... pleasant surprise,' he muttered quietly. 'May I ask where you found this trainer?' He looked measuringly at Jack as if he was sizing up a race horse. Scott nodded enthusiastically. He was always enthusiastic.
'This trainer is a good friend of mine and a very talented trainer. I saw him a while back and put him on my list. I expected him to turn up for qualifying but for some reason he did not....' Scott shot Jack surprisingly piercing glare, which told Jack that there may be hidden depths behind the bumbling exterior, before continuing, 'for some reason he did not arrive. Since we have a free space I think we should enter him.'
Eric stared at Jack for a full minute before entering details into his computer. 'I'll need him here from a bit longer Scott. You can go now.' Scott seemed slightly bemused at being dismissed but he left anyway, his hugely round belly jiggling as he moved. Jack stood in silence as the Clerk's long bony fingers danced across the keyboard in front of him. He spoke quite abruptly and bluntly, 'good friend? Really?'
Jack smiled ruefully, 'this is the second time I've ever met him. You? Are you really his dear friend?' Eric also looked quite rueful when he answered the question. 'I first met Mr. Enthusiastic one week ago. I graduated to dear friend yesterday.' Jack laughed and realised that he actually like this clerk. They chatted for the next hour or so as Eric asked a plethora of questions and entered them into his computer.
After he had taken what seemed like Jack's life story he finally announced that he had finished. 'The group has been split into eight groups of five competitors. Two trainers from each of the groups go through into the last sixteen where you play knockout three vs. three matches. The winners of each mach progress until there are only two left. Both of those two qualify for the Gold Conference at the end of the year. There are five of these group stages held in each region for single battles, five for double battles, five for tag teams etc. You are in group three.'
As Jack walked out with his instructions Eric called after him. 'Good luck mate.' Jack nodded back at the clerk smiling to himself. The effects of the Underground were starting to wear off at last.
The tournament drew quite a crowd. Not only were there ten thousand spectators packed into the stadium, but hundreds of camera crews from a multitude of different TV companies were there filming and many more spectators with no tickets lined the city centre to watch on the big screen from on top of Heinmin Hill – named after the most loved and successful gym leader in the town's history.
There were also a lot of big names competing, not least the town's gym leader. Erika herself was making an appearance and she was using her actual team of Pokémon, not the team she'd bred for gym challenges. The bald scientist/gym leader Blaine had also arrived to give Erika a bit of a fiery headache to contend with as well as other trainers who had quite a large fan following, though with his seclusion in Pallet Town Jack had not even heard of most of them.
Jack managed to drop below the radar and stay out of the public's eye. No-one seemed to have caught onto the fact that Jack had not even come through qualifying and that was partly down to the efforts of Scott and Eric to keep Jack's last minute entry hushed up.
The the week long training session before the Conference started was open to spectators and televised, though it was the most famous trainers that were filmed rather than the dark horses of the tournament.
Jack's training stadium was the smallest and pokiest – it had an ageing gym for him as well as a small arena for his Pokémon to fight against each other in, large bags which they could practice their physical attacks against as well as targets which they could practice their ranged attacks on – and there were no spectators or TV crews. Because of this Jack was able to practice for most of the week in peace. Most of it.
It was on his last day that Jack's quiet practice arena exploded into a circus. The journalists and TV crews had exhausted all of their stories on the famous trainers – Jack would know, it was on TV twenty four hours a day, seven days a week – so they came hunting down the lower practice arenas for smaller game. They didn't think they would get a good story – maybe just an interview or a small special. And they didn't at first.
Most of the trainers down there had barely scraped through qualifying and in the producer's opinion not worth the air time. Still they showed it though, just to satisfy the media hype if nothing else. By the last day every single trainer except Jack had been interviewed and filmed.
It was with some trepidation that they prepared to film him, down it the most dilapidated area of the complex. They thought they would find another mediocre trainer. How wrong they were. Little did they know that they would find perhaps the biggest story of the competition in the smallest, oldest arena looked over by everyone.
When they burst through the corrugated iron door Jack was in the middle of intense training. He was working out himself, straining his pectorals on the iron bench-press whilst barking out orders to his Pokémon. Kabi and Dante where partaking in a physical battle. They were pushing against each other, trying to flip the other using just their physical strength amidst much grunting and popping of joints.
Harry and Asrael were engaged in a strangely intricate dance of attack and counterattack where Asrael would attack with electricity, fire or an iron hard tail and be repulsed by hastily erected barriers of psychically bound molecules and send scurrying away by sparking balls of psychic power.
It was a strange training ritual that their eyes took in and immediately Jack was assaulted by flashing cameras, large fluffy microphones and leering video cameras. It was very quickly that Jack's training session degenerated into a media-run farce.
For a reason that Jack could not fathom the media loved him. He was the perfect dark horse for them to film. He was aloof, mysterious with an almost abrasive personality and his Pokémon were rare, powerful and extremely photogenic.
They seemed to identify it as their personal goal to paint him as a force to be reckoned with in the competition and ruin his quiet training session and plan to take his opponents by surprise. With his training session effectively over and things out of his hands Jack decided to let events lead him and enjoy the attention and publicity that was being heaped upon him.
He spent the next hour placed in different poses, conducting his Pokémon in entirely fake training sessions and lifting the heaviest weights possible whilst the cameras recorded his every move. And he enjoyed it. It was exhilarating.
When Jack returned to his room he idly flicked on the TV to see his face staring out on every channel. Every single channel. For a while Jack just watched the stories of himself marvelling at his new look. He had not seen himself since he was kidnapped by Team Rocket and four hard months in the underground had really transformed him. Before that he had been a lanky kid who hadn't quite grown into himself and who walked around with a determined expression.
On the outside at least, there was nothing to separate him from the scores of other new trainers. Now the story was completely different. He had grown taller and was verging on six foot. His months of hard physical training had turned his body from lanky to a well-oiled machine of rock hard muscle. His face had also adapted and grown well and now smouldering eyes stared intensely out of his face. He looked like a real trainer now. A professional.
It was this look that he carefully cultivated for his group stage. He turned himself into a hardened professional Pokémon trainer who would do all he could to win. In his group stages he was supreme. He left out Harry in all but one of the matches and used the combined brunt of Dante, Kabi and Asrael to batter his opponent's into submission.
Add in moments of real skill against the more talented opponents which really turned the battles around and he was starting to garner attention. After finishing at the top of his group – granted a relatively weak group – with five wins, no losses and having not lost one Pokémon he was a real talking point in the hype surrounding the Conference.
Add in the fact that somehow the journalists had managed to dig up information on his parents and painted him as "the misunderstood boy who ran away from controlling parents to pursue his dream of becoming a Pokémon trainer" the hype began to climax to a feverish level.
Jack knew that he would not have an easy road of it through the knockout rounds. That was made abundantly clear in the last sixteen where he came back from the brink of defeat with Dante to beat an extremely powerful Charizard. That trainer wasn't even one of the favourites.
His quarter final match was a fight with the pre-tournament favourite. Not only had this trainer progressed through his group stage without losing a Pokémon but he had steamrollered through the last sixteen as well against another of the pre-tournament favourites.
His incredibly powerful Tyranitar, which he always opened with, had not been beaten so far in the tournament and his other two Pokémon – a Shiftry and an Umbreon – weren't weaklings either. When Jack stepped out onto the circular training platform protruding out of the side of the stadium directly over the battlefield and placed his Pokéballs in their slots he was nervous about a Pokémon battle for the first time in his life.
A slim man in his early twenties dressed in black jeans, a white vest and a black leather jacket stood confidently opposite him waving to the cheering crowd. When he was introduced by the commentator as Emre over a loudspeaker he put his hand to his mouth and blew a kiss to the cheering fans whose rise in volume completely drowned out the man talking over the speakers.
Jack looked on in disgust as the girls screamed in delight at this action and began to argue over who he was aiming the kiss at. He bit his lip and tried not to let the contempt show on his face when commentator announced his name to the crowd and waved lazily as he was obliged to do.
He was surprised at the strength of the support he had built up in the short time he had been battling at the Silver Conference as the cheer the greeted him was every bit as loud as the cheer that had greeted the favourite.
Same as always Emre released his Tyranitar onto the grassy floor of the stadium. The creature was six foot tall and looked hugely powerful with its tree trunk arms and legs, spiked tail and vicious serrated claws. It stomped the ground hard and let out a terrifying roar which immediately silenced the whole stadium. Jack didn't have any Pokémon which would be effective against the Tyranitar so he decided that he would fight like with like.
It was not often that Emre and saw a Pokémon that was both taller and heavier than his Tyranitar, but Kabi was exactly that. She was nearly a full foot taller than her opponent and over twice as heavy. The two Pokémon circled each other, each sizing the other up, before retreating to opposite corners of the battlefield. Both were tensed like taught bowstrings and exploded towards each other when the battle was started.
They collided hard and Kabi's superior weight enabled her to shoulder barge the Tyranitar to the grassy floor. Following through with the attack she threw herself on top of the Tyranitar and crushed the armoured Pokémon into the ground.
The Tyranitar positioned its arms underneath Kabi's stomach and heaved. The huge muscles in its shoulders bunched and knotted as it used its incredible strength to throw the enormous Snorlax onto the ground beside it. The Tyranitar surged to its feet and slashed its serrated claws into Kabi's thick, protective blubber.
The claws ripped out great chunks of flesh from the floored Kabi before she could even react and the poor Pokémon yelled in pain and anger. A stubby but powerful limb connected with the rhombus-shaped hole of bare flesh – the only place on the Tyranitar's body where it wasn't protected by rocky armour – and bludgeoned the creature to the ground.
Kabi regained her footing uncertainly and body slammed the winded Tyranitar at Jack's urgings. It let out a small yelp accompanied by a squeak of escaping air as its lungs were crushed empty. Whilst she lay on top of her opponent Kabi began to smash her fists into its face after being ordered to do so by her trainer. The Tyranitar tensed its thick neck and took the powerful punches before latching down on one of Kabi's fists with its mouth.
The sharp teeth bit deep into Kabi's flesh and it twisted the huge Snorlax off its own body with a twist of the muscles in its powerful neck. The two Pokémon grabbed each other and began to roll around as the fight degenerated into a wrestling match. Neither trainer was ordering their Pokémon about as the two became indistinguishable in the rolling mass of limbs.
Finally it seemed that Kabi had got the upper hand as she slammed her shoulder into the Tyranitar's gut and viciously kicked it. As the creature rose slowly Jack barked out an order. 'Kabi use mega punch!'
Kabi's fist smashed into the rising Tyranitar's chin with a loud crunch that echoed around the stadium causing all noise to cease immediately. The creature's neck snapped back and it began to stagger around dazed like a drunkard. 'Again,' ordered Jack as he closed in on doing something that no-one had succeeded in doing the whole tournament.
Kabi followed her powerful right hook with an even more powerful left one. It was a knockout blow. The creature hit the ground with a thump that echoed around the silent stadium. For a second silence reigned still and Emre's shocked intake of breath could be heard, then the crowd erupted with applause and cheers and jeers.
Jack took a bow and Kabi beat roared triumphantly. Jack saw Emre's lips pull back from his teeth as he growled under his breath and recalled his fallen Tyranitar. Cursing he pressed the button directly beneath his third Pokéball and a medium sized black cat was released in a concave beam of white light. Yellow bands ringed its tail and ears and bright orange eyes shone out from its pitch black body.
It wasted no time in attacking Kabi. Clouds of dark energy began to wrap around its body as it smashed into Kabi with a tackle that seemed too powerful for its size. It completely flattened Kabi and began to claw at her body with small but very sharp claws. Before Kabi could recover the Umbreon stared intently into her eyes and a purple ray passed between them.
The Umbreon prepared to attack again but Kabi threw it bodily away from her and got to her feet. The creature flipped in the air almost immediately and landed lightly on its feet. It began to prance madly, taunting the already angry Kabi with its arrogant swagger. Jack did not see the ray pass between the two Pokémon and wanted to take advantage of Kabi's superior size and strength.
'Kabi use mega punch,' ordered Jack for the second time. It was only after the order issued from his mouth that he realised Kabi was looking decidedly confused. She staggered around for a bit then punched herself in the face. The crowd winced as Kabi fell immediately to the floor. She wasn't unconscious but she was as dazed as the Tyranitar after one punch.
The Umbreon closed in on its dazed prey and finished the battle with one move. All the shadows around the stadium were suddenly highlighted before being dragged towards a point directly in front of the Umbreon. They were fused together so a ball of twisting and writhing shadow stuff hovered in the air. Then the ball was smashed into Kabi.
It was surprising how much damage a ball of shadows can do to a living creature. It hit with more force than any blows Kabi had taken so far and it hit her in her weak point. The attack knocked her out cold and left her face as a mass of swelling and deep cuts. The Umbreon howled chillingly and yawned contemptuously at its unconscious opponent.
It settled its haunches down on the ground and stared up at Jack. Emre smiled and pressed his fingers to his temples as if he was massaging out a headache. The Umbreon cocked its head to the side as if it had heard something interesting and bobbed its head up and down as if assent.
Jack recalled Kabi and released Asrael in her place. The Dragonair was immediately transfixed by the Umbreon's gaze before it could even move to attack. A purple ray passed between the two Pokémon and Asrael's eyes began to whirl around in his head. His flight through the air became erratic and his actions lost all logic.
The Umbreon sniggered and began to taunt Asrael as it had done so to Kabi. Asrael snarled in anger and electricity began to crackle around his body as he let lose a hail of electricity towards the Umbreon. In his confused state the electricity exploded out uncontrollably in all directions.
Most of the electricity shocked through the Umbreon's body and dropped in one attack due to Asrael's increased power, however some of the stray bolts arced into the crowd causing a small ripple of exclamations and screams through the stadium.
Emre looked shocked that he was down to his last Pokémon but he still had that arrogant confidence that made Jack want to punch him in the face. He released his third Pokémon with a flourish and stared intently at Jack. He slowly drew a finger across his neck as a wooden skinned, long nosed Pokémon with a white, bushy mane and broad, leafy hands got ready to join the fray.
Though it was Emre's last Pokémon it certainly wasn't weak. Its eyes began to glow purple as it attacked psychically. Quick as a flash a faint purple aura exploded from its body and crashed into Asrael. Asrael shook as the aura slashed through his body and dropped suddenly in his flight. He began to shake even more as the attack ended and crashed heavily to the ground.
The Shiftry began to let out pulse after pulse from its body as Asrael seemed to implode. He continued shaking harder and harder as if his body was wracked with death throes before finally stopping, his body collapsing in on itself and his eyes staring unseeing into the distance. Jack couldn't tell what had happened, because it had all happened so quickly, but he could see that Asrael was well and truly out of action.
Emre looked worried and his confident demeanour melted away for the first time since Jack had seen him when he saw Jack's Pokémon. Jack knew he had the advantage with Dante on the field and wanted to finish the match as quickly as possible. At an order from Jack Dante opened his mouth and released a blazing inferno. Emre blanched at the intensity of the inferno and pressed his fingers to his temple insistently.
The Shiftry cocked its head to the side and began to beat its broad leafy hands through the air creating powerful winds. For a second it looked like the flames were going to be blown back by the wind then the intensity of the flames overwhelmed the wind and the Shiftry was surrounding by a raging firestorm. 'Oops,' said Jack mockingly, 'that was a mistake.'
Emre shot a violent look at him, grinding his teeth together as he realised that he was going to lose for the first time this tournament. The first time in a very long time.
Then his Pokémon was engulfed in a raging fiery inferno.