Author Notes: Thanks Eli. W for reviewing. If you don't review this chapter after reading I'll be very sad...please review and make me happy!
It was a testament to the quality of the trainers in the tournament that Jack's quarter final wasn't even the highlight of that round. An hour after his match had finished he sat down to watch a real spectacle – a testament to the skill of trainers everywhere and a beacon of quality that all youngsters should aspire to.
There was nothing more entertaining than watching two gym leaders fighting in a match made even more interesting by the fact that Erika had a severe disadvantage with her easily burnt grass Pokémon. The match lasted for nearly two hours and both trainers and Pokémon exhibited fantastic skill. Erika especially surpassed herself on the battlefield, even with the huge disadvantage against her she was in contention for the whole match.
In fact she had Blaine down to his third and last Pokémon – his signature Magmortar – before she had had lost her second – the powerful Tangrowth. Then she pulled off the biggest surprise of the tournament by actually winning – a feat that no-one had expected from her. Her last Pokémon, one that had been drafted from another region, had wiped the floor with Blaine's Magmortar and taken her through to the semi-finals.
Which were a bit of a letdown. Neither of the fights was ever in doubt; there was no contest from the very beginning to the very end. Erika set a record for the quickest win in the ten year history of the silver Contest. Three minutes and thirty seven seconds. Jack knew that this semi-final match would be the easiest so far but he didn't expect it to be a whitewash.
He opened with Harry and their telepathic communication gave him a great advantage that he was just beginning to realise the potential of. Harry defeated his opposite number – a fairly mediocre Venusaur – with consummate ease and carried on the confidence into the next pairing. When Harry completely destroyed an also fairly mediocre Magnezone Jack was starting to wonder how his opponent had even progressed beyond the group stages.
The last Pokémon didn't enlighten Jack that much either. The wicked looking Scyther, which didn't capitalise on its physical advantages, was easily defeated by a veritable hailstorm of psychic attacks sent its way, to end the battle within fifteen minutes of its starting. Jack's opponent was booed off the court as the spectators expressed their anger at being cheated out of a good match for the second time. At least they had one thing to look forward to. As one commentator so eloquently put it, "This final threatens to be a rather good show!"
The nervousness that Jack had felt before battling with Emre had completely vanished. It had left him the moment he had defeated the trainer's Tyranitar and never even threatened to poison Jack's mind again. As he stood on the semi-circular oval platform and stared at the kimonoed Erika he felt calmness descend over him. It was the calmness that came with the knowledge that you were fulfilling your true calling
He watched the two Pokémon standing on the field below prepare themselves for the battle. Harry, four feet of a goofy Social Darwinist, bounced around on his demented black feet as he psyched himself up for the battle to come. The Tangrowth idly scratched its vine covered forehead with its elastic arms and blinked heavy-lidded eyes out of the mass of vines that hugged its body.
It stood up suddenly, its red furred feet barely visible beneath the trailing skirt of vines, and began to wave its boneless appendages to the crowd.
Though both the Pokémon were afflicted with comical visages they were devils when they fought. The Tangrowth attacked with surprising ferocity, slamming Harry to the ground with flailing arms before immediately releasing a shockwave of bright energy that Jack recognised as the "ancientpower" attack.
The attack was repulsed by a concave barrier that shimmered into being around Harry's body; a barrier which the Tangrowth would immediately batter against with all its might – though the effort was ultimately in vain as the barrier did not give. During the battle Jack was engaged in a quickfire mental conversation as he ordered Harry around.
Drop the barrier and attack with psychic he thought and almost before he had finished message Harry was acting out his orders. The barrier dissipated and the Tangrowth was thrown backwards by a tremendous invisible force. It was pinned to the ground and crushed as Harry brought the full force of his mind to bear down on it. It takes a lot of effort to carry out that kind of attack and Harry trailed off quickly before he could finish of the Tangrowth.
It rose from the ground looking like a primordial beast and smashed a powerful, elastic arm into Harry's chest as Erika's order of, 'power whip,' echoed around the stadium. The psychic Pokémon was driven to the ground, clutching his ribs in pain as two loud cracks pierced the air.
Though he was injured Harry was adamant he was not going to be defeated – he angrily seared this message into Jack's mind when the boy suggested he should be recalled – and attacked with two disorientating psychic beams. They hit the Tangrowth as hard as any punches and the creature staggered under the force of the attack. Harry dragged himself to his feet and launched a hail of weaker psychic attacks towards his rapidly flagging opponent.
'Protect yourself,' ordered Erika, her voice cracking slightly in panic, and the Tangrowth obliged by dropping to the floor and curling up into a ball. The attacks battered the curled up Pokémon but in its current position, and with its thick covering of protective vines, the Tangrowth wasn't injured at all.
It tried to rise again but Harry was having none of it. He focussed his mind for one last attack before unleashing an explosion of psychic energy. The Tangrowth had uncurled from its defensive position and was standing up when it was caught unawares by the attack. The attack connecting with its midsection and it was sent pirouetting through the air to hit the metal wall at the base of the stadium head first.
It didn't get up. Sighing regretfully Erika recalled her Tangrowth and ran a delicate hand with intricately painted nails through her silky black hair. Her fingers hovered over her the tray in which her Pokéballs were resting before finally choosing a destination. She pressed the large steel button beneath her intended Pokéball and a beam of white land signalled its arrival onto the field.
This match up quickly degenerated into a complete stalemate. The Victreebel – a frankly horrifying plant with a cavernous maw – used the corrosive acid brewing in its stomach to keep Harry running at all times. Mix in a light sprinkling of toxic sludge, wickedly barbed leaves and groping vines you have to feel sorry for Harry who was unable to get an attack in.
In the very rare moments where he could create a counterstrike Harry's attacks were blocked by quickly assembled walls of leaves. In was very frustrating for the attack-minded Pokémon and soon he was panting with exertion from the battle. The Victreebel on the other hand barely needed to move and looked – though Jack wasn't sure he could tell because of its alien looking anatomy – to be barely breaking a sweat. It didn't take much effort to spit up some acid or toxic sludge or call forth razor edged leaves to do its bidding.
With Harry tiring quickly he was always going to leave an opening. It was after nearly an hour of lightning quick fighting that he finally slipped up. It was a very small slip-up - there was barely anything he did wrong!
He raised a barrier maybe half a second to slow. That was it. But that half a second enabled the Victreebel to get in a hit. The highly corrosive acid ate into Harry's skin almost immediately and with the fiery pain engulfing his whole body the Pokémon could not continue maintaining his shield. More acid was spewed forth onto his body and soon his skin had completely disappeared revealing raw red flesh beneath.
Jack's mind was full of Harry's agonised screaming and he could barely reach down and press the button to recall his injured Pokémon, such was the volume of the psychic Pokémon's agony. As soon as Jack's finger exerted force on the steel button Harry was recalled and the screaming stopped, leaving a loud ringing sound, like a brass gong being hit, echoing in his ears.
Asrael made the mistake of underestimated its acid-spewing opponent. He paused to take in the situation and was greeted by a jet of corrosive acid. He screamed as the acid began to eat into his scales and billowed flames from his mouth in the direction of his tormentor. The Victreebel showed surprising speed as it rolled quickly out of the path of the fire and hosed more acid in the stricken Asrael's direction.
The dragon Pokémon did not know what had hit him. He had barely been on the battlefield thirty seconds and he was already drenched in potent acid that was eating painfully away at his skin. Asrael crashed heavily to the ground and began to roll around on the grass as he tried desperately to rub off the acid from his skin.
Whilst its opponent was engaging in the strange antics the Victreebel took the opportunity to belch highly potent toxic sludge towards that same opponent. The toxic sludge exploded onto Asrael and clung to him viciously as the poison began to seep into his bloodstream.
The poison quickly weakened him and the Victreebel aimed to destroy him completely with another jet of acid. Unfortunately for the grass Pokémon Asrael saw the attack coming. It was also unfortunate that the acid was highly flammable. Asrael met the acid with a jet of flame and the effect of the two colliding was simply explosive. The liquid ignited just above the Victreebel's...stalk?...and drenched the grass Pokémon in liquid flame.
It screamed as it burnt. Asrael screamed as the acid he hadn't managed to remove from his skin finally reached his flesh and the poison began to pool around his organs. 'The decision from the referee,' barked the commentator excitedly, 'is a double knockout!' Though neither of the Pokémon were actually unconscious the referee could make the decision to withdraw both of them if they were experiencing undue suffering and agony.
The battle came down to the last two Pokémon. Dante was facing a mutant. At least, that was what Jack thought it was, for it was the most bizarre Pokémon Jack had ever seen. Its skin was made up of green scales but long cream fur striped with brown zigzags covered up most of its body. It had extremely large green hands, a large yellow platypus-esque beak and a wide, leafy lily pad perched on top of its head which, because of its covering of fur, was indistinguishable from the rest of its body.
From its beak issued a large trilling sound and it began to dance gaily from foot to foot, prancing around with enthusiasm that reminded Jack of Scott. Cross this with a Snorlax and you have him thought Jack wryly before chuckling at his own joke. A voice in his head reminded him that laughing at your own jokes was sad. Jack didn't care – he thought he was going to win easily so he was feeling cheerful. He could not have been more wrong.
It was his lack of knowledge that finished him in this match. He assumed that the Pokémon he was facing was either grass or poison type. He did not even entertain the fact that it may be water. The lily pad on its head should have given him a clue but he dismissed it. That wasn't a good idea. It went wrong from the very start. Jack ordered Dante to finish the match quickly with fire. Erika quirked an eyebrow at this order and matched it with her own.
'Use rain dance,' she called. Jack frowned, 'what? Rain dance?' Erika's enigmatic smile did not reassure him. Before Dante could attack clouds began to form above the stadium. Soon rain began to drum down onto the floor, the equal of any monsoon. Huge water droplets burst with the force of tennis ball on top of both the trainers – who were the only two people apart from the Pokémon caught inside the storm.
Dante's flamethrower attack was not extinguished by the storm, but it may have well had been. The strange Pokémon moved so fast that it blurred inside the sheeting rain and dodged the attack easily.
'Now Ludicolo, use hydro pump,' ordered Erika. Jack's eyes must have popped out of his skull at this order, such was his surprise. He opened his mouth to issue an order, but he was so gobsmacked that only a small breath of air escaped. An incredibly thick column of water knocked Dante onto the ground as he was caught in what must have been like hell to him.
Whilst Dante was crushed to the floor by the sheer weight of the water assaulting him Erika fired off another order. Immediately the "hydro pump" attack stopped and Dante was able to struggle to his feet. He shouldn't have. The Ludicolo's fist began to crackle with white energy as it focussed through meditating and suddenly it was directly in front of the fire Pokémon.
The punch it delivered was indescribable. All six hundred pounds of him was lifted high into the air and thrown a good ten metres before crashing heavily into the ground, ploughing a muddy trough through the previously untouched grass. It was clearly a knockout blow. Jack had lost.
As both trainers recalled their Pokémon the downpour stopped immediately leaving the field a muddy pool and Erika and Jack completely drenched. The crowd exploded into a cacophony of cheering as they chanted the name of their gym leader. Erika took a bow as both of the trainers were led to the winner's podium by smart suited ushers. As he passed Erika the trainer pressed something into his hand.
'You deserve this very much,' she said quietly, 'you have well and truly earned it.' As Erika walked away Jack opened up his fist to see the multicoloured rainbow badge nestling in the flesh of his palm. He called the thanks back to Erika but she was already out of view. 'And that makes four,' he whispered under his breath as he tucked the badge into a small pocket sown close to his heart.
The presentation passed by in a whirlwind of pompous speeches and flash photography. Both of the finalists were awarded trophies – granted Erika's was substantially larger and fancier than Jack's – as well as sizeable prize money. There was also the shiny gold ticket enabling the holder to enter the Gold Conference.
Jack folded the gold ticket carefully and slipped it into his pocket so he definitely would not lose it – he definitely would never forgive himself for that! Things seemed to graduate from good to better for Jack as he was approached by a tall, lanky, corporate man in a black suit. Ignoring all questions from Jack he hastily ushered him into a black stretched limo where his boss was waiting – though he was separated by a black tinted glass partition which Jack definitely could not see through.
'Jack Lovata,' said "the boss" in a deep melodious voice, 'I've been watching you for a while now. You have great talent and I can help you fulfil that. If I sponsor you at the Gold Conference you will get considerable benefits from it.' The man stopped speaking to let his message sink in.
'Not only will you get fantastic training facilities, more fame and publicity and the most adept staff that money can buy, but you will also get to train with the large group of friendly, talented trainers who work for me. The sponsorship doesn't only cover the Gold Conference, don't worry about that. I will also organise special exhibitions and other such events that will make you a household name and I will assist you in your Pokémon League Challenge. How about it?'
Whilst the man was speaking Jack began to get the nagging feeling that the offer seemed too good to be true. There must be a catch he thought so I have to be very careful in what I actually agree to.
'I know your thinking,' continued the man, 'that there must be a catch to this offer.' He paused as shiver travelled up Jack's spine at how accurate his guess was. 'There is no catch. All I ask for in return is a small share of the profits you make – only 5% mind you – and the honour to add my name and my managing team below yours.'
Jack considered the offer. 'Hmmm,' he hummed consideringly, 'hmmm.' It took him a while before he answered. 'I accept,' he said finally, 'sounds too good to be true but...still I accept.' Somehow Jack could tell the man was smiling, 'that's good. I thought you might...I...thought...you...might.' Jack shivered again, though this time there was no reason behind it. He thought he could sense something malevolent near him. 'What's your name?' he asked suddenly.
'Indigo,' came the reply.