The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session: September, Part 4 (09.19.05/09.21.06)
The world's greatest Pokémon trainers under the age of 18 had been gathered in Evergrande City in order for the League to name the first-ever Pokémon Junior Master!
After surviving the grueling preliminaries and winning two tournament matches, our hero Ash was one of four individuals who were still in the running to win the title. But surprisingly, he knew every one of the other three still fighting with him. There's his rival, Gary, former PTA member Cassie, and the mysterious and menacing Marco.
The four trainers were surprised the following morning when they discovered that the one-on-one matches were being discarded and that instead the tournament would end with a four-person battle royale! Each trainer would get three Pokémon and the last one standing would claim the title of Pokémon Junior Master!
Surprisingly, the match didn't start off like a free-for-all, as Ash and Gary immediately sent their Pokémon after each other, and Cassie and her Kadabra were dueling a opponent who didn't seem interested in fighting back in Marco and his Duskull. What's going on, and how long will this one-on-one fighting last?
The blast of Confusion hit Duskull dead on, knocking the ghost Pokémon back a few feet. Despite the direct hit, though, the Duskull didn't seem to be showing any ill effects from the attack.
"Blast it with Confusion again!" Cassie ordered.
Kadabra raised his spoon into the air, and channeling his psychic energy through it, created another Confusion attack to send Duskull's way. This one too, also hit its mark. Duskull didn't hold up as well against it as he did the first time, made apparent this time as he screamed in pain.
"Duskkkk!" it cried.
"You've got Duskull on the ropes!" Cassie exclaimed. "But..."
She turned to her right to glance at Marco, who had remained almost as motionless as a statue since throwing out Duskull's Pokéball.
"I have this feeling that you're toying with me!" she shouted at him. "Why? Why don't you have Duskull fight back?"
Marco remained stoic, not even acknowledging Cassie's question or what was happening on the battlefield before them.
"He's acting as if he wants to lose on purpose!" Cassie said to herself.
"Pikaaaaaaaa!" Pikachu shouted in agony as one of Scizor's Quick Attack strikes had gotten the better of him and knocked him to the ground.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted. "Hang in there!"
"Scizor, use Slash!" Gary quickly ordered.
"Sci... ZORRRRRR!"
"Ash's Pikachu may be tough," Gary thought, "but if I can take it out now, I'll surely take Ash's confidence out with him!"
Pikachu quickly regained his composure and managed to dodge Scizor's Slash without any prodding from Ash, who was already contemplating his next move.
"Okay, Pikachu, use Thunder!"
"Pika... CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
A humongous bolt of thunder rained down from the sky and struck Scizor square on the noggin. The attack resulted in chipping away a good portion of Scizor's HP. But Gary's Pokémon was far from finished.
"Time to step it up, Scizor! Use Swords Dance!"
A strange light surrounded Scizor as he boosted his attack strength.
"And now, for an even bigger boost... use Metal Claw!"
Scizor charged at Pikachu, and, before he knew it, Scizor had landed a haymaker of a closed claw-fist from underneath Pikachu's jaw. The punch sent Pikachu flying into the air and back down.
"Pikachu!" Ash gasped as he watched Pikachu, covered with dust and bruises, struggle to get back to his feet.
"One more attack!" Gary yelled. "Scizor, Metal Claw again!"
Scizor ran towards Pikachu once again, but this time both Marco's Duskull and Cassie's Kadabra had come into sight. And both seemed unaware of the danger approaching them, especially with Cassie yelling for Kadabra to attack one more time.
"Kadabra, Confusion! If this guy doesn't want to put a fight, then so be it!"
Kadabra tapped into his psychic powers and launched the third blast of Confusion of the match towards Duskull. If it connected, it would surely knock the ghost Pokémon out of the match.
Unfortunately for Cassie and Kadabra, Marco and Duskull suddenly decided to produce a counter move.
"Duskull, use Destiny Bond!"
Cassie gasped, knowing immediately what that attack did. She watched as a pink ring of energy was fired at Kadabra. It passed Kadabra's wave of Confusion, which continued on its direct course for Duskull.
"Quick, Kadabra, use Teleport now!"
Kadabra followed his master's orders and, in an instant, teleported himself to a safe spot elsewhere on the field. At that moment, the Confusion he had fired previously hit Duskull. And the Destiny Bond ring which had originally been fired at Kadabra? Well, it had kept going and ran straight towards Scizor, who was about to connect his Metal Claw on Pikachu again. Both of their trainers motioned for their Pokémon to dodge.
"Pikachu, get out of the way!"
"Stop, Scizor!"
Pikachu jumped up, but not soon enough to avoid getting a piece of Scizor's Metal Claw. Meanwhile, the Destiny Bond ring had hit a mark, surrounding itself around Scizor's waist. About thirty feet away, Duskull had just fallen to the ground, being knocked out thanks to Kadabra's Confusion. Pikachu came back down to Earth, but he had hit the ground hard. As for Scizor, it began feeling the effects of Destiny Bond and he suddenly fainted as well.
"Unbelievable!" the announcer yelled with the crowd cheering in the background. "Three Pokémon, in a strange twist of events and attacks, have taken themselves out of this match!"
"What was that?" Misty asked.
"I've never seen anything like that before!" concurred Brock.
"It's a move called Destiny Bond," explained Morty to the three gym leaders, including Cissy, who also shot him a curious look. "When the Pokémon who casts it is knocked out, the Pokémon that was hit by Destiny Bond is also taken out."
"Whoa..." the Pewter gym leader uttered. "That's a killer move."
Ash was a little confused, to say the least, as the judges went to go check on the three fallen Pokémon. Ash, Gary, Marco, and even Cassie, who had the only active Pokémon left on the field in Kadabra, were a bit stunned as to what had just occurred.
"Duskull is unable to battle!" noted one judge after his examination.
"Scizor is also unable to continue!" stated the other.
The attention then turned to Pikachu, who was still conscious yet had a look of desperation on his face as he tried to get back on his feet. Ash looked on with great concern as his best friend fought with himself to stay in the match.
"The trainers of Duskull and Scizor must now recall their Pokémon and call out a replacement within the next minute!" the first judge stated as he ran back to his officiating spot.
The second judge kept an eye on Pikachu, who grimaced and cried in pain as he tried to muster all of his will to stay up.
"Pikachu..." Ash uttered softly as he saw a flash of red light out of the corner of his eye.
"Scizor, you did a great job out there!" complimented Gary as he patted the Pokéball in his hand.
On the other side of the field, Cassie and Kadabra watched solemnly as Pikachu continued to fight. Marco, though, was having none of that, as he had finished recalling Duskull and was throwing out his second Pokéball.
"Girafarig, come on out!" Marco shouted.
The giraffe-like Pokémon made her appearance on the field, both of her heads, the second being the one on her tail, grinned as if they were ready to battle.
"Okay, Girafarig... let's Stomp on Pikachu!"
Girafarig made a beeline for the struggling electric mouse, which had finally managed to get up on all fours. But Pikachu was definitely in no position to put up any sort of defense.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried, running out onto the field.
"Arcanine, go and use Extremespeed!" Gary exclaimed, tossing out his second Pokéball.
Upon emerging from the Pokéball, Arcanine immediately zipped by Ash and went to stop Girafarig from getting to Pikachu. Girafarig kept charging anyway, despite any attempts to stop her. And no one did stop her, as Girafarig got to where her target was and executed a Stomp attack.
Everyone, including Ash, Gary, and Marco, gasped when they saw that it wasn't Pikachu taking the hit, or Arcanine, who had gone in to protect him. It was actually Kadabra, who had teleported in to take the Stomp.
"Dabra!" the psychic-type gasped as he had been knocked to the ground, and out as a result.
"Kadabra and Arcanine both wanted to protect Pikachu?" Ash wondered out loud as he looked at each of Pikachu's savior's trainers.
"The nerve of that guy," Gary noted mentally.
As Ash ran past the official who was going out to check on Kadabra, he yelled out for him to stop.
"Hey, what are you doing out on the field?"
"I'm exchanging Pikachu for another Pokémon! It's within the rules, right?"
The second official, who was near Pikachu, stepped back as Ash knelt down to cradle his best friend in his arm. Arcanine barked and nodded to Pikachu's trainer, then turned his attention back to the Girafarig standing just a few feet in front of him.
"Kadabra is out and unable to continue!" yelled the first official.
"It looks like Girafarig tried to immediately go for the weakened Pikachu, but both Arcanine and Kadabra jumped to his defense, with the latter sacrificing himself for a fellow opponent! This is just unbelievable, folks!"
"That was low, you know!" Cassie yelled angrily at Marco.
Marco smiled and looked at her. "The battle doesn't stop for a fainted Pokémon. I didn't break any rules attacking like I did."
But apparently, the crowd thought otherwise, as Marco was showered with boos and hisses from the sympathetic crowd.
"What a jerk!" hissed Misty.
"Apparently, the guy needs to learn some manners," chided Cissy.
"Don't worry, Pikachu," Ash told his best friend, patting him on the head. "You're going to be just fine."
"Cha..." Pikachu chirped weakly.
Ash then got up and ran back to the trainer's podium on his side of the field, Pikachu cradled safely in his arms. As he did, Cassie recalled her Kadabra and reached for a second Pokéball.
"Espeon!" Cassie cried. "Let's show 'em what we're made of!"
"Spe!" the psychic-Eevee evolution called out as she appeared onto the field.
"So your Eevee finally evolved," Gary shouted as Ash arrived by his side.
"You like it?" Cassie shot back. "She evolved before my eyes last night! It's the perfect foil for your Umbreon! Too bad it's not out on the field!"
She then turned towards Marco and raised a clenched fist at him.
"But for right now, I'll be content with keeping your dishonorable self from winning this tournament!"
Marco smirked, then returned his attention to Girafarig.
"Agility!" he called out.
Girafarig started running at high speed towards Espeon. But Cassie's second Pokémon reared back on her hind legs, ready for a fight.
"Match up with Quick Attack, Espeon!"
Espeon complied, running for and leaping at Girafarig before she could defend herself. The resulting attack forced Girafarig to take a few steps back, startled out of her wits.
Back on the other side of the field, Ash gingerly placed Pikachu down on the ground next to him. As Pikachu tried to get some rest, Ash glanced back at Gary, who seemed to be concerned for him.
"You... didn't have to do that, Gary," Ash said to his rival.
But Gary shook his head. "But I did. It's no good if this isn't a fair fight. Besides, how will we know how good we all are if someone cheats to get an advantage! I can't let that Marco guy, or anyone, do that!"
"Thanks, Gary. You're the best."
Gary was taken aback, a little surprised they were getting so chummy. "Don't take it the wrong way... I still wanna win this match!"
Ash smiled. "Then you're going to have to get past me! But first..."
Ash reached onto his belt and prepared to call forth his second Pokémon.
"Okay... I choose you... Heracross!"
Out of the Pokéball came out a giant blue beetle Pokémon, one that came as quite a shock to both Gary and Cassie.
"He managed to capture one of those?" Cassie said with amazement.
"Impressive," Gary nodded. "So, is this that secret Pokémon you were getting from my grandpa this morning?"
"Yep! And now, he's going to get his first true test... by knocking out that Girafarig!"
Up in the stands...
"So we finally get to see his Heracross in action," gasped Brock.
Misty nodded. "He said he caught it in the Johto region. Though... I'm kinda freaked because, well..."
"It's a bug Pokémon?" finished Cissy.
Misty nodded again, a bit scared to do anything but that at the moment. Other than curl up in a ball and having started to whisper happier thoughts to herself.
"Is she really that afraid?" Cissy asked.
"Afraid so," confirmed Brock.
Back down on the field...
"Heracross, let's go with Tackle!"
"Cross!" Heracross chirped as he flew towards Girafarig.
"Follow Heracross and hit Girafarig with a Take Down attack!" ordered Gary to Arcanine.
The two Pokémon followed orders, with Heracross hitting first. Having knocked Girafarig off-balance with Tackle, Arcanine then followed with Take Down, which sent Girafarig down to the grassy field beneath him.
"Your turn, Espeon!" exclaimed Cassie. "Psybeam!"
With Girafarig down, she was unable to avoid the Psybeam, which scored a direct hit.
"It looks like it's three-on-one down there!" observed the announcer. "Displeased with the unfair attack on Pikachu earlier, Ash, Cassie, and Gary have teamed up to take out Marco!"
"Hold on, it ain't that easy!" Marco screamed. "Girafarig, Astonish!"
"Oh yeah? Espeon, use Swift!"
"Arcanine, Ember!"
"Heracross, Horn Attack!"
Girafarig's eyes glowed a strange red as her three opponents prepared to launch attacks. But as they motioned to do so, Espeon, Arcanine, and Heracross all flinched.
"What?" the trio of trainers shouted in surprise.
"Now... use Shadow Ball on all three of them!"
Screeching loudly, Girafarig let out three Shadow Balls in succession, one right after the other, one for each of her opponents. All three hit their marks, with the flinching Pokémon unable to dodge. Cassie's Espeon, though, seemed to shake off the hit as if it were nothing. Both Arcanine and Heracross were more visibly hurt by the attack.
"Focus Energy, Espeon!"
Espeon glowed a bright orange as she worked on gathering her strength back and her wits.
"Girafarig, Shadow Ball on Espeon!"
"No way!" Ash yelled. "Heracross, Take Down!"
Heracross flew over and stopped Girafarig before she could fire Shadow Ball. He then proceeded to, well, take her down, as he drove his entire body into hers, knocking her off her feet.
"Arcanine, finish it off with Flamethrower!"
The powerful fire attack blasted over Girafarig's body, burning the last of her HP away and causing her to faint as a result.
"Girafarig is unable to battle!" remarked one of the officials.
"The team-up has proven successful as Girafarig is now out of the battle and Marco is down to his last Pokémon!" the announcer stated.
The crowd went up in cheers of glee thanks to Marco's Girafarig being taken out of the battle.
"Yeah!" Ash cheered.
"That'll teach him to mess with an 'amateur' trainer," Gary stated, remembering the insult Marco had delivered back in the prelims.
Cassie giggled, tentatively taking her eyes off of Espeon as she finished charging up with Focus Energy. She turned to look at Marco, and nearly jumped back in surprise as she saw him fuming with anger. Marco had Girafarig return, then he went for his third and final Pokéball.
"You're all in for it now!" he yelled. "Absol, let's go!"
"Absol, sol," stated the white fur Pokémon as it made his appearance.
Ash and Gary both gritted their teeth in disgust. They already knew first-hand how strong Marco's Absol was, and they weren't looking forward to having to take it down. Especially since Absol hadn't exactly revealed all of his moves yet.
"Double Team!"
The opposition watched as one Absol quickly became three. Espeon, Arcanine, and Heracross took a second to observe the situation.
"Hey, there's three of them and three of us!" Gary yelled across to Cassie.
Getting the point, Cassie smirked and replied, "That means there's a 100 chance one of us will hit the real Absol if we attack all three simultaneously!"
"Sounds good to me," agreed Ash, catching on a little late.
"Espeon, Swift!"
"Arcanine, Flamethrower!"
"Heracross, go for the Take Down!"
Espeon and Arcanine fired off their projectile attacks, while Heracross moved in for one up close.
"Heh," Marco chuckled, drawing the attention of his opponents. "That's a sound strategy you three came up with..."
Swift and Flamethrower hit their marks... or do they, as both Absol disappear before taking the full brunt of the attacks.
"But you need to check your math!"
The two Absol suddenly appeared at opposing angles behind Heracross, with the third coming in from the front.
"Absol, Razor Wind!"
From each Absol came two horned blades, all heading directly towards Heracross. The bug-type was trapped with nowhere to go.
"Heracross, Counter!" Ash yelled in desperation.
Heracross moved to Counter the Razor Wind, but he suddenly came to a realization. Heracross... didn't know how to use Counter. As a result, all three Razor Wind attacks hit Heracross, and combined they do enough damage to knock him out.
"Heracross, no!"
The official ran over to check on Heracross. He was out cold.
"Heracross is unable to continue!"
"Marco strikes back with his Absol, using a combination of Double Team and Razor Wind to take Heracross out of the battle! With that, five Pokémon have fallen in this championship match, and all four trainers will now retreat to the locker rooms for a 15-minute break while the field is changed."
Marco called back his Absol and immediately headed down from the podium and off to the locker room, boos being directed at him as he departed. Ash, Gary, and Cassie just watched for a second before recalling their battle partners and too withdrawing from the stadium.
"That Absol seems to be tough," observed Brock from the stands.
"Maybe so," Morty chipped in, "but being Marco's last Pokémon, he's gonna need a lot of stamina if he hopes to make it to the end."
Misty, who had recovered from her fetal state now that Heracross was gone, concurred with Morty's theory.
"I don't think Ash and the others will have to worry about Marco much anymore. He's done for."
Down in the locker room, Ash was taking care of Pikachu, prepping him to go back out again if Ash needed him.
"Are you sure you're up to battling again so soon?" Ash asked his best friend. "I don't want you getting hurt or anything."
Though not fully recovered, Pikachu nodded and replied, "Pika pi! Pikachu pi pika, pikachu!"
"You're saying you're willing to do whatever it takes to win?"
"Pika!"
"Okay then... if you're confident, then so am I!"
Ash and Pikachu stared down the way at Marco and Absol, who were keeping to themselves and ignoring everyone around them. They sensed something odd about the pairing, who were in the midst of mentally preparing for the match's resumption.
"I don't trust this guy at all, Pikachu. We need to get him and Absol out quickly, before he has chance to pull out another trick."
"Pikachu," agreed his battle partner.
The crowd cheered as the four trainers emerged from the tunnels and took their places in the boxes on either end of the battlefield. They noted that a field favoring rock-types was now in place.
"The championship battle royale will now resume with a Rock Field for the trainers to battle on," stated the announcer.
"Absol!" Marco quickly stated, telling the Pokémon, who was by his side when they had come out, to run onto the field.
"Time for another round, Espeon!" shouted Cassie, tossing out Espeon's Pokéball.
"Here's my third Pokémon, Umbreon!" exclaimed Gary, substituting to start this portion of the match.
"And that leaves me and... Charizard!" proclaimed Ash.
Espeon, Umbreon, and Charizard joined Absol on the battlefield.
"The match resumes... NOW!" the two officials stated aloud.
"Absol... power up with Swords Dance!"
Cassie gasped. "He's trying to raise Absol's attack strength!"
"Not if I can help it!" Gary yelled. "Umbreon, Quick Attack!"
Umbreon moved in for a quick strike, but Absol was ready for it.
"Now, Double Team!"
Absol split into three once again, and just in time, as Umbreon hit one of the Absol head-on. One of the copies, that is, as it disappeared within an instant.
"Time to get in it, Charizard! Use Flamethrower!"
"GRRRRROOOOOOOAAARRR!" roared Charizard, before letting out a gigantic blast of fire towards one of the two remaining Absol.
"While he's distracted... Espeon, use Bite!"
Both Absol moved to dodge Charizard's Flamethrower, but one of them ended up right in the clutches of Espeon's fangs.
"Sollllll!" Absol screamed in pain.
"Yes," Cassie pumped her fist with glee. "I found the right one!"
Cassie was so busy being excited she missed the dark smile forming on Marco's face.
"Okay... Taunt!"
Absol glanced up at Espeon and started taunting her. As a result, Espeon lost concentration on what she was doing and focusing more on how much she wanted to attack Absol. In the process, she released Absol from her grip.
"Now... run towards Charizard!"
Absol did as he was told, and started bolting for Ash's Pokémon, bouncing off of rocks as he did. Espeon followed suit, chasing Absol.
"Wait a minute... Espeon!"
"What's going on?" Gary asked as he glanced towards the unfolding scene, then towards Umbreon, who had turned about and was also following, and then to Ash.
"If he wants to battle head-on..." Ash gritted through his teeth.
"Wait!" Gary shouted, suddenly catching onto Marco's plan.
"Charizard! Wing Attack!"
Charizard roared again, then started flying towards the oncoming trio of Pokémon with wings glowing white, just barely getting over the rocks that jutted out of the ground. Absol continued charging forward, with Espeon chasing without fail, and Umbreon bringing up the rear, but trying to stop them.
"Umbreon... use Faint Attack on Espeon!"
"Bre!" Umbreon nodded, as he directed his gaze towards Espeon.
Using the power of Faint Attack, Espeon began to slow down and turn her attention towards the closing Umbreon. Meanwhile, Absol ran head first into Charizard, nearly getting his head knocked off as Charizard pretty much tried to fly through him. Charizard's momentum kept him flying right at the nearly-at-a-standstill Espeon. Espeon herself was about to be blindsided, yet she had her head turned towards Umbreon... who suddenly leapt at her!
Umbreon tackled Espeon out of the way, just in time to save her. But that left him ripe for a near-beheading of his own by Charizard.
"Charizard, stop!" Ash shouted.
It was in vain, though, as he had waited too late to try and stop him from hitting another target. As a result, Espeon was knocked off his feet the same way Absol was. When all was said and done, Charizard had stopped flying on the far side of the field and was celebrating like the match was over, roaring and spewing fire left and right! Absol and Umbreon were grimacing in pain as they made their way back to their feet. Espeon was not so lucky... that last attack, which was meant to save her from Charizard's Wing Attack, ended up knocking her out anyway.
Much to Cassie's chagrin and dismay.
"Hey!" she yelled, pointing a finger at Gary. "I thought we just agreed in the locker room that we were working together until we defeated 'dark boy wonder' over here!"
She pointed a second finger at Marco to emphasize her point.
"You could show some gratitude..." Gary responded. "I was saving your Espeon from getting clocked by Charizard, thanks to you trying to tail Absol!"
An official was already on the field, examining Espeon. The news for Cassie wasn't good...
"Espeon is unable to battle!"
"Unbelievable!" screamed the announcer. "It looks like Absol pulled a misdirection or two to shake things up, and even if it took massive damage, I guess for Marco it must be some kind of success if one of his opponents did lose a Pokémon. Even if it was risking his chance of winning the whole match!"
"He really doesn't care if he wins this match or not!" Cassie thought to herself as she shot another glare at Marco. "That's not why he's here! He's here for something else..."
Suddenly, Charizard roared and took to the sky once again, as he set his sights on picking out his next target. He glanced at Umbreon, then at Absol, and then back at Umbreon again.
"Future Sight!" yelled Marco.
Ash froze in his tracks. Having experienced the attack firsthand back in the preliminaries, he knew Charizard was in danger. Especially if he was about to try a high-risk maneuver. Trying to counter, he went for an attack that was low-key.
"Charizard... use Slash on Absol!"
As Absol employed Future Sight, Charizard dive bombed towards Absol. Gary and Umbreon took a wait-and-see approach, while Cassie recalled Espeon and fumbled around for her third and final Pokéball.
"Folks, with this unbelievable battle, who knows what'll happen next?" egged the announcer, adding to the tension everyone in the crowd had as Charizard descended upon Absol.
To be continued next week in Part 5!
