A/N: Another name chaaange. From XxGlacexX to Patori-chan. Why? 'Cuz I like it better that way. :P
Sorry for the long awaited update, guys. Don't worry; I have tons of excuses piled up over the months and I will start using them whenever I'm slow on an update. Hahahaha.
(RANT TIME:) Y'know what I hate? Whenever a writer "updates" only it to turn out to be an Author's Note. That's it. No writing on the actual story, just an A/N. What's the point? It only wastes chapter space. I'd rather explain things before/after a real chapter is done instead of bringing people's hopes up thinking that they've actually updated with a real chapter for a story. What the hell? Seriously, it's annoying... THERE'S ALSO CALLED PM'S AND A PROFILE FOR A REASON, PEOPLE. Just write your excuses there instead of making a chapter only for them... This rant isn't directed towards anyone specifically, by the way. To all Fic writers on FF.
/rant
Disclaimer: I will never, ever own the rights to Pokémon, their characters, or the setting. I'M NOT WORTHY.
.:Chapter 2:.
One Helluva Battle
"Round two of the battle between Dawn of Twinleaf Town and Castle Valet Darach will commence," the referee announced. "Ready... go!"
With that, Darach ordered the first move; "Empoleon, use Metal Claw,"
Empoleon reared up and it's flipper started to glow. It ran towards the determined Piplup and swiped at it; inflicting damage on the small penguin. Piplup cried out in pain as it slid back from the force of the Metal Claw. It stood back up and held it's ground, waiting for Dawn's orders.
Dawn was astounded with the emperor Pokémon's speed. She's never seen an Empoleon with great speed as Darach's. She focused back at the battle at hand and ordered her first move; "Piplup, use Drill Peck!"
Piplup complied and put it's energy in it's beak, making it glow white. He started running forward, pointing his beak towards Empoleon. Before Piplup was able to inflict damage, Empoleon managed to jump over him, causing the smaller penguin to look around, confused for a short moment. He then looked up, only for the force Empoleon's attack to meet his head, causing him to stumble around in a dizzy daze.
"Piplup! Are you alright?" Dawn asked her injured Pokémon in worry. Piplup got back into place and shook off the dizziness from Empoleon's Metal Claw. Apparently, Empoleon has had plenty experience in battle over the years. Piplup nodded back to Dawn, reassuring her. Dawn nodded back; "Okay, now use Bubblebeam!"
Piplup let loose a barrage of bubbles heading straight for Empoleon.
"Empoleon, use Waterfall," Darach ordered his Pokémon. Empoleon jumped on Piplup's many bubbles, soon turning them into a wave of water. It rode on it and sent it straight to Piplup, knocking him (Piplup) against the opposing wall, causing even more damage to the tiny Pokémon.
"Pip... lup," Piplup uttered out in exhaustion. Before Dawn could do anything, Piplup face-planted the ground, knocked out.
"Piplup is unable to battle, the round goes to Empoleon!" the referee called, raising his arm in Darach's direction.
"Oh, Piplup..." Dawn whispered, picking up her worn-out starter Pokémon. Piplup raised its flipper, trying to comfort her. Dawn gave him a small smile before pulling out Piplup's Pokéball, returning him in a flash of red light.
Ash was worried, to say the least, that Dawn's first ever Pokémon couldn't handle a battle against Darach's Empoleon. "Pika..." Pikachu uttered in sadness to see his best Pokéfriend fall before his higher evolution.
Dawn thought carefully on what to do; 'Empoleon is a speedy Pokémon alright...' She pulled out her next Pokéball and threw it in the air, calling out Ambipom.
"Ambipom, Spotlight!" she called forth. Ambipom materialized out of the ball and started hopping around, all the while chanting her name repeatedly. "Ambipom, get ready for a tough battle!" Dawn told her. Ambipom stopped hopping, took a good look at her opponent—Empoleon—and replaced her goofy smile with a determined one.
"Ambipom!" she cried, getting into a battling stance. Dawn smiled at her and prepared herself.
"Alright, Ambipom! Use Double Team!" Dawn ordered, watching as her monkey Pokémon made multiple copies of herself around Empoleon, confusing the emperor Pokémon.
"Empoleon, try to hit the right one with Brick Break!" Darach yelled, getting a little worried at how Dawn got in defense so quickly instead of a straight-forward attack like with Piplup. Empoleon complied and hit the nearest one, which was obviously not the real one. It kept going, hitting multiple ones; all illusions. Dawn watched as Empoleon kept on attacking. Soon, there were only a few left, so she decided to start her plan.
"Ambipom, use Focus Punch now!" she ordered. Empoleon had just finished making an illusion fade away with it's Brick Break, not noticing that it hit the one that was nearest Ambipom; making itself an easy target for her Focus Punch to deliver. Empoleon reared back in pain as the Fighting-type move made contact, causing great damage.
"Empoleon, get yourself together and use Knock Off!" Darach yelled to Empoleon, who started to run towards Ambipom, getting it's attack ready.
"Ambipom, dodge and use Double Hit!" Dawn called out. Ambipom managed to barely get away from Empoleon's attack and used one tail to smack it in the face, and the other to knock it down from the back. After lifting her tails away from the fallen Pokémon, the ref decided on the winner for the round.
"Empoleon is unable to battle! Round 2 goes to Ambipom!" he announced once again, pointing towards Dawn's side as Darach returned his Empoleon.
"Alright, you did it Ambipom!" Dawn cheered for her Pokémon. Ambipom happily cheered back as Ash and Pikachu were doing the same.
"Alright! That was awesome, Dawn!" Ash said before turning to his former Pokémon; "You did great out there, girl!". Ambipom was very happy of her praises and hugged Ash, causing him to laugh at her enthusiastic spirit. "Wow, Dawn, you knocked out two of his Pokémon already! I can't wait to see the last round of the match." he told her, causing Dawn to blush slightly, being shy of all the attention she was getting from her crush.
"Thanks, Ash," she told him, causing him to smile at her and they stood there for a few seconds, enjoying each other's company; "Well, I gotta go back for the next round." she told him and took out Ambipom's Pokéball, recalling her before whispering to it silently, "You did great out there, have a long needed rest." She then walked back to the field, preparing for Darach to start.
"Now, for my last Pokémon," Darach started. He took out his last Pokéball and threw it nonchalantly. Coming out of the ball was none other than a Houndoom. Houndoom was a hellhound Pokémon that consisted of two types; Fire and Dark. Houndoom had two white bands at each of it's ankles as well as three bands on it's back. It had a long, skinny tail that ended in an arrow-head. It appeared to have a collar with a small skull attached to it and a pair of curled horns on it's head. It let out a bone-chilling howl that made Dawn's skin crawl. She tried not to show any weakness to it, and brought out her next available Pokémon to battle; Buneary.
"Buneary, Spotlight!" she called out as she threw the ball into the air, bringing forth Buneary for a second time that battle. Buneary seemed to have recharged, as she was bouncing up and down while punching air like a boxer waiting to kick some butt.
"Ready? Battle... Start!" the ref called to start the battle.
"Houndoom, get in there and use Fire Fang," Darach ordered. Houndoom started running towards Buneary, baring it's fangs while they start to engulfed in a fiery inferno and clamped them down on Buneary's arm, causing the poor bunny to cry out in pain.
"Oh no, Buneary! Quick, use Dizzy Punch!" Dawn started to panic as Buneary might not have as much energy as she initially thought. Buneary started randomly throwing punches at Houndoom, but they all missed as Houndoom lifted her and threw her across the room, making her land on the ground harshly. She tried to stand up, but fell back as it was unbearable and fainted.
"Buneary is unable to battle. Houndoom is the winner!" the ref called out again. Dawn ran to pick up her fallen Pokémon and returned her to her ball, thanking her for trying hard, and went back to her place, ready for the next battle. She pulled out her last Pokéball and threw it, sending out Ambipom. Ambipom put up a serious expression; clearly not happy with the way Darach's Pokémon are beating on her friends and team mates.
"Battle... Start!" the referee called to start off the last battle for Dawn that day. She immediately ordered a Swift attack on Houndoom, catching it off guard and hitting it dead on, but wasn't enough to create great damage on it.
"Grab one of its tails with Crunch, Houndoom!" Darach commanded. Houndoom did as told and Crunched Ambipom's tail, causing the happy monkey Pokémon's health to decrease some more.
"Ambipom!" Dawn cried out in worry as her Pokémon was struggling against the hellhound. '...At this rate, we'll lose for sure...' she thought, watching Ambipom try her best in shaking off Houndoom's grasp on her tail. Suddenly, an idea popped in her mind; "Ambipom, wrap your tails around Houndoom!"
Ambipom did as instructed and wrapped both tails around Houndoom's neck, turning it into a death grip. Houndoom was startled by this turn of events and started flailing around frantically, trying to set itself loose. Ambipom's grip only tightened the more the hound struggled.
"Now, Ambipom! Use Focus Punch!" she ordered. Ambipom's fists at the ends of her tails started glowing white and she started concentrating; her focus not being broken on the advantage that Houndoom couldn't attack in its situation. After she finished focusing her engergy into her fist, she briefly let go of Houndoom's neck, but quickly punched it at the top of it's head. Houndoom stood there for a moment before slumping to the ground, unconscious.
"Houndoom is unable to battle! Ambipom wins and therefor Dawn is the winner!" the referee called, raising both flags in Dawn's favor, indicating that she won.
"...I did it?" she uttered out in shock before breaking out in a large grin and opened her arms for her tired Pokémon to fall in, exhausted of the heated battle with the demon dog. She gave Ambipom a quick hug and returned her into the Pokéball, giving her rest. After she put her ball away, she started hopping in glee; "I did it! Oh my gosh! I actually did it!"
"I knew you could do it," a voice called out behind her. She stopped hopping and turned around to see Ash—with Pikachu on his shoulder—with a proud smile plastered on his face. Dawn only smiled back and pounced him with a big hug, causing Ash to blush uncontrollably. Dawn finally let go after a small cough interrupted her loving embrace with the boy she loved. She immediately blushed and turned around to see Darach standing there with an amused smile.
"Dawn, for your amazing victory against me, I would like to award you with the Battle Castle's Commemorative Seal. May I please see your Battle Recorder?" he asked. Dawn was curious as to why he needed her Recorder, but complied and brought out her Battle Recorder before handing it over to Darach. He then brought out a small card, inserted it into the Recorder, took it out, and handed back to Dawn, who was still dumbfounded by the small transaction.
"Um..." she muttered, still confused at what happened. She started, slowly, to turn it on and checked it before understanding dawned on her. She looked up at Darach with a surprised expression and he nodded; "Really?!" she asked with joy. She looked back at her Recorder and thanked him before turning back to Ash, who was just as—if not, more—confused than Dawn was earlier. Dawn showed him the screen on the Recorder where it showed the seals obtained all over the frontier; it showed a small colorful seal with a small picture of the Battle Castle on it.
"Oh, wow, Dawn!" he exclaimed before raising his hand to welcome a high-five from her—which she gladly returned. He then turned to Darach; "So, I get to battle you tomorrow, right?" he asked.
Darach nodded in agreement before adding, "But if you want to battle me first, I advise you to come here early in the morning or else someone else might beat you to the punch," he said. "But, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Just make sure to get here early enough if you really want to battle sooner than later." he added before turning and going back through the passageway under the stand. Ash noticed something different.
"Hey, where's Lady Caitlin?" he asked Dawn. She looked up at where the Lady was sitting previously and wondered the same thing; where was the Lady?
"Hello, Dawn,"
Dawn turned around at the source of the voice and there was Lady Caitling, looking as frail as before.
"Lady?" Dawn asked, confused as to why the Lady was addressing her first hand.
"I'd like to congratulate you on your stupendous win against my wonderful butler; Darach," she said. She then held out a pale, slender hand to Dawn. Dawn only stared for a few seconds before wrapping her hand around Caitlin's. They shook them and a voice called out to the Lady and she flinched a bit; "Coming, Darach! Well, Dawn, I'll see you later." she finished before turning and scurrying out of the room. Dawn stood there for a while and a small smile graced her lips.
"Yeah, I'll see you, too."
"What was that about?"
Ash and Dawn were currently walking around the area, heading to the Pokémon Center to sleep for the night for the following day's battle for Ash. Dawn's Pokémon were already healed , complimentary of Battle Castle own restoration machine. Piplup was slightly sulking on Dawn's head while Pikachu was on Ash's. They were all checking out the shops and the scenery while eating ice cream that Ash bought; they haven't eaten all day and were starving.
"Huh?" she asked with a curious expression.
"You know, with that Lady Caitlin. What was that about?" he repeated, reminding her of the event that occurred after receiving the seal from Darach. Dawn pondered for a moment before shrugging.
"I don't know. Maybe she does that with every challenger..." she trailed off, not noticing that Ash was in deep thought. He then snapped his fingers as an idea popped up.
"Maybe she looks up to you?" Dawn turned her head to see that Ash was looking at her with an understanding look. She thought about this for a while before shaking her head in denial.
"Why would she look up to me?" she responded with her own question. Ash thought for a moment before answering.
"Maybe by your passion for battling?" he asked again; "After all, she isn't allowed to battle on her own. I think she envies you." he finished.
Dawn finally understood what Ash was telling her. Having to sit on the sidelines all the time must have made Caitlin feel left out. Watching as your Pokémon were being controlled by another trainer and battled with another trainer; no wonder she was feeling left out and lonely.
"Thanks, Ash. I understand now." she flashed him a warm smile and giggled, noticing that he had ice cream on his nose. Ash only stared back in bewilderment, not noticing the piece of dairy treat smeared on his face. Dawn wiped it off with her finger and licked it clean, enjoying the tiny and sweet taste. Ash laughed and turned a bit red, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. They continued the peaceful walk together, talking about Pokémon, battles—even contests—while the orange blur of the sunset slowly turned into a nighttime shade of blue, telling our favorite couple that the hours of sleep was creeping up on them. They resided to their room, falling asleep and awaiting the morning to come.
A/N: FINALLY DONE. Hope you all enjoyed. After reading this over, I never knew how much my writing changed, even a little. You see, I had all this chapter already written out, but no real ending for it. I wrote the ending part today, but I think it's a bit different from the rest... I don't really know. I think I should rewrite the whole story... but I'm too lazy. Typical me. I'll just leave it as is then.
Remember, REVIEWS are welcomed. I always love feedback and criticism (no flames!)
Patori-chan
