The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session: September, Part 5 (09.26.05/09.28.06)
When the first-ever Pokémon Junior Master Tournament began, there were 35 trainers under the age of 18 vying for the title. Now, there are only four.
The final match of the championship contest was a four-trainer battle royale. At first, the match started off as two one-on-ones, with Ash and Pikachu facing off with Gary and Scizor, while Cassie and Kadabra dueled with Marco and Duskull. Thanks to putting up no offense at all, Duskull was the first to go. But he didn't go alone, as he used Destiny Bond to take Scizor out with him! Pikachu was also down, but not yet out.
Marco hoped to take advantage of the situation by calling out his Girafarig to finish Pikachu off. Not wanting his dishonorable act to take place, Kadabra and Arcanine jumped in to protect him. Kadabra's novel effort resulted in him being KO'ed in the process, and the crowd cried out in protest at Marco's actions. Though, since there's no rule against what he did, he was allowed to stay in the match.
As Ash examined Pikachu and tried to determine if he could continue, Cassie brought out her newly-evolved Espeon. Ash then decided to bring Pikachu back to the sidelines and called out his secret weapon, Heracross, a new Pokémon he had caught in his recent Johto travels. Ash, Gary, and Cassie then had their Pokémon attack in unison to get Marco out of the match. Soon after, Girafarig was taken out, and that left the now-hated loner with one Pokémon. But it was his star, Absol, and the Pokémon known for bring about disasters wasn't going to go down easy.
That was proven when Absol took down Heracross after repelling a triple team attack, bringing the match to halftime. After the break, the second half started, with Ash, Gary, and Cassie still intent on taking Marco's Absol out. Gary called out Umbreon to save Arcanine for later, while Ash replaced the fallen Heracross with his powerhouse, Charizard.
At this point, it seemed Marco and Absol were doomed. Not necessarily, thanks to Charizard's wild attack tendencies and Absol's Taunt, which resulted in a mess at midfield that took Espeon out. Cassie's not happy about her Espeon being taken out in a rescue attempt by Gary's Umbreon. Will the alliances fall apart before Marco and Absol are?
"GROOOOOAAARRR!" roared Charizard, bringing his right arm back in an anticipation.
"Absol... dodge!" shouted Marco.
At the last possible moment, Absol dodged, resulting in Charizard's claws coming down and slicing apart a large rock that had been behind Absol.
"What?" Ash yelled in surprise.
After the successful dodge, Absol quickly leapt back into the fray, jumping in and biting Charizard in the left wrist. Absol's fangs were in pretty deep, and Charizard bellowed out in pain.
"We won't be able to take down that Absol without help!" exclaimed Gary. "Umbreon, let's get to it! Use Confuse Ray!"
Umbreon nodded as his eyes glowed bright yellow as he gazed at Absol. The silver colored Pokémon immediately loosened his grip on Charizard, and the fire lizard responded by hastily casting Absol aside... and into a nearby rock. A large crack appeared on the rock as Absol yelped.
Suddenly, one of the referees turned his attention away from the action and pointed his red flag directly as Cassie. He then made a 'come on' motion, moving the flag towards him, or, as the actual intent may be, to the battlefield. With the audience somewhat confused, the announcer filled in what was happening.
"Apparently, Cassie Banks has yet to call out her third Pokémon, and one of the judges has given her the 15-second warning! If she doesn't call it out before then, she will be disqualified!"
What was even more surprising was that Cassie had her Pokéball in hand, ready to throw it in... but she was just standing there, smiling. For some reason, that act actually brought Marco to fire some words in her direction.
"What are you, deaf? Throw your Pokémon in there, you dumb broad!"
But Cassie ignored him. Ash seemed perplexed by the act...
"Why does she not want to battle anymore?"
While his Charizard charged towards Absol, apparently having called in his own 'next move.' Gary had noticed Cassie's hesitation too, but was too focused on also getting Absol out to notice.
"Quick Attack!" he called out to Umbreon.
Umbreon ran towards Absol as fast as he could, while out of the corner of his eye he spot Charizard getting ready for another attempt at Slash. He also noted that the fire lizard was going to get to Absol first.
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Ash said, suddenly aware of what was going on. "Charizard, switch to Flamethrower!"
Gary gasped. "Ash, no!"
Charizard stopped flying instantly and searched in his belly for the energy needed to perform Flamethrower. The lapse in time put Umbreon in position to attack first.
But Absol, this time without a command from Marco, dodged the attempted attack.
"Three... two... one..." the judge counted down.
"Ivysaur, Razor Leaf!" Cassie suddenly yelled as she finally tossed her third Pokéball onto the field.
"Ivy... SAUR!" the grass-type exclaimed as it emerged and immediately fired Razor Leaf at Absol.
Absol saw Razor Leaf coming and was about to attempt a dodge of it as well. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about Umbreon, who hit him hard from the side.
"Umbreon, get out of there NOW!" cried Gary.
But it was too late. At that exact point, Charizard fired Flamethrower. The fast-moving mass of flames went to where Absol and Umbreon were. As the Flamethrower was about to connect, it met with the Razor Leaf from Ivysaur. As a result of the collision of the two attacks, Absol and Umbreon were surrounded by a spinning wall of flames, with the leaves spinning around and about the duo within the fire, though they were disintegrating as they did.
The audience watched intently as the fate of Absol and Umbreon were unknown, hidden behind the spinning tunnel of flame. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard, followed by the sound of a Pokémon screeching. Nobody knew which Pokémon it was coming from... until one of the trainers suddenly burst out, aghast.
"Umbreon!"
Ash turned to look at Gary, who looked to be in some pain of his own as the flame wall dissipated. And sure enough, Absol jumped out without too much damage on him. Umbreon, though, had fainted.
"Leech Seed, followed up by Vine Whip!"
Despite Umbreon's apparent state, Cassie proceeded to have Ivysaur continue to battle with Absol. Charizard, meanwhile, seemed a bit angered that the Pokémon he had fired at was still standing.
Ivysaur leeched Absol, then quickly wrapped him up. As he struggled to break free, one of the officials braved the battle conditions to check up on the unconscious Umbreon, caught in the middle of the field.
And right in the midst of Charizard's flight pattern towards Absol.
"Charizard, look out!" Ash yelled.
The official dove for the dirt, ducking down just in time to avoid getting clocked by Charizard.
"Good going, Charizard! Now, use Fire Spin!"
Charizard roared with approval, then launched his Fire Spin Attack.
"That Absol's not getting out of the way this time!" Ash thought.
Cassie smiled as Ivysaur was keeping Absol tied up and unable to move.
"Heh," she secretly chuckled. "Baiting for time worked! I waited for the absolute last second to call Ivysaur, making Absol forget about us! By taking advantage of situations thanks to Ash and Gary, he doesn't realize how much of a threat me and my Ivysaur are!"
Too focused on how much of an advantage she had over Marco and Absol, she hadn't noticed the disadvantage she and Ivysaur were to Ash and his Charizard's Fire Spin attack. Though it performed the desired effect and ensnared Absol, it also put Ivysaur's vines aflame. Ivysaur quickly pulled them out and started running around comically, raising a ruckus as it frantically tried to put herself out.
"Aye, what the... Ivysaur, stop, drop, and roll!"
As Ivysaur followed her master's commands and, indeed, did stop, drop, and roll, the official had finally rendered a verdict on Umbreon's status.
"Umbreon has been knocked out of this match!"
By that point, Gary, who was upset over what had happened to his Pokémon, quickly recalled Umbreon and then turned to the source of his anguish... Ash.
"Thanks a lot!" he remarked sarcastically. "Thanks to you, I've only got one Pokémon left!"
"Me?" Ash shot back. "How is it my fault?"
"If you had better control of your Charizard, that Absol would've been out instead of my Umbreon! Learn how to be a good trainer instead of dragging the rest of us Pallet Town heroes down, you loser!"
"WHO YOU CALLING A LOSER?"
"THE LOSER IN FRONT OF ME, THAT'S WHO, LOSER!"
"It seems Ash and Gary are in a shouting match over there!" noted the announcer, as out of the corner of the shot the official scampers back to the safety of the sidelines.
"Don't they know this isn't the time?" Misty wondered out loud, sighing.
"Ash!" Brock yelled. "Forget about Gary! Focus on Charizard!"
Brock's words rang true as Charizard, noticing that his trainer was 'preoccupied' at the moment, he decided to once again take matters into his own hands. Getting enough energy in his wings to make them glow, he then flew towards the ring of fire, and the Absol entrapped inside.
Meanwhile, Cassie noticed that Ivysaur's vines had indeed been singed, and that she was taking on burn damage. Thankfully, it was being negated thanks to Leech Seed, which was sapping HP from Absol. But Cassie knew the seed would burn out before Ivysaur's burnt condition went away. She had to make a move.
And apparently, Marco smiled next to her, ready to make one too.
"Ivysaur, Sunny..."
"It's time," Marco interrupted, as Cassie huffed at being cut off again.
Inside the cylindrical wall of fire, Absol nodded. Outside, Charizard roared once more, grabbing everyone's attention, including Ash and Gary's, as he flew towards the outer wall face, in the vicinity of where he believed Absol was.
But to his surprise, Absol was no longer in the ring of fire. Charizard flew through it, stumped. And then he looked up, where Absol's horn was glowing, the dark-type glaring.
"How the..." wondered Ash.
"He used Future Sight, remember?" Gary reminded harshly.
"Now, Absol, use..."
"No, you don't!" jumped in Cassie, this time doing the cutting off. "Ivysaur, Sunny Day!"
"Bah, that won't do anything! Absol, Razor Wind!"
Absol fired two flashing horns of energy, which both hit Charizard square in the noggin. Charizard fell to the ground, nearly shattering the field dirt beneath his back.
"Charizard!"
Gary snickered. "Here's my chance..."
Gary pulled out the Pokéball containing Arcanine, and called it back out.
"Arcanine, Agility!"
Arcanine quickly increased his speed as he charged into battle. As he did, the few clouds that were in the air disappeared as the sun shone brightly overhead. Absol had just landed on the ground, Charizard was loudly disapproving of Absol's sneak attack, and Ivysaur was... smiling?
Yes, smiling, and energy particles seemed to start gathering around the bulb on her back. Her trainer happened to be smiling gleefully as well.
"Time to play knockout!"
Meanwhile, at the Celadon City gym...
"And that's how a group of Pikachu saved the world from the Invaders of 1969!"
A group of young boys and girls clapped in applause as the gym leader, Erika, closed the storybook she had been reading to them. Over in the far corner, their parents watched as their children got off of the ground and started running towards them.
"Remember, next Sunday is BYOB... bring your own book!"
Erika waved goodbye to children, who happily waved back. She watched as two of her assistants help guide the guests out of the gym. Erika then started walking back to the lounge room, where three more assistants were all huddled around the gym's 16" television.
"Why are you guys so close?" she wondered out loud, grabbing their attention.
"We're watching the Pokémon Junior Master finals!" one of the girls responded.
"That still doesn't answer my question," Erika replied, shaking her head as she walked on over to check it out as well. "And why don't you turn up the sound? I can't hear anything!"
"Well, we were afraid we'd disturb your weekly storybook reading time!"
Erika reached into a drawer and pulled out the TV's remote control. She then proceeded to turn the volume up. As she did, the commentators' voice got louder and louder.
"...having just called Sunny Day, Cassie sees her Ivysaur gathering some sort of energy from the bright sun."
"Say, why didn't you send anyone to that tournament?"
Erika shrugged her shoulders. "It kinda came up on me. I didn't have anyone I could send."
They turned their attention back to the screen, as the action continued...
"Okay Arcanine, time to use Flamethrower..."
Gary stopped for a second before declaring his target to Arcanine.
"On Charizard!"
Arcanine used Flamethrower, which not only hit, but easily drew the attention of the enraged Charizard.
"Oh yeah?" Ash yelled, enraged as well. "Charizard, fight back with your own Flamethrower!"
Charizard used Flamethrower on Arcanine, which proved just as effective. The two fire-types continued to exchange Flamethrowers, each one unwilling to back down.
"It looks like the battle has degenerated into a free-for-all once again!" observed the announcer.
"No matter," Cassie said, unworried. "I'm not focused on them anyhow! Like I said before... it's time to play knockout!"
Next to him, Marco suddenly gasped. He had just realized something horrible as he stared at Absol, panting heavily in the middle of the field.
"Crap!" he muttered under his own breath. "Absol's very weak! If that girl's about to call out what I think she is, it's over! And I'm sure Absol doesn't have the energy to dodge! What do I do now?"
"The energy's all here!" Cassie screamed in pompous joyful glee. "Ivysaur, KNOCKOUT TIME!"
Suddenly, the energy that had slowly been gathering around Ivysaur's bulb was now changing into a controlled state, as if it were about to be fired. Which was exactly what was happening.
"SOLAR BEAM!"
"SAAAAAAAUUUUUUURRRRRRR!"
The energy beam of concentrated sunlight fired at Absol. Cassie could already tell that it was moving too fast for Absol to dodge. With no other protective measures in place, Cassie knew this was going to be it.
"Oh no, not again..." Marco sputtered before fainting.
"Wha?" Ash, Gary, and Cassie screamed in surprise.
On the field, Absol began to glow a strange color of red. The solar beam looked as if it was going to hit its market, and then... it suddenly was stopped by a shield of some sort that was blocking its way.
"That's Light Screen!" Cassie gasped. "But can an Absol use that?"
Charizard and Arcanine ceased fighting and noticed the fight Absol was putting up. As well as the strange color Absol was glowing.
"I've never seen an Absol glow red before..." Gary noted.
"Wait!" Ash objected. "Why does this scene feel familiar?"
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Misty and Brock asked each other simultaneously.
"Are you two gonna fill us in?" wondered Cissy.
"Do you know what's going on?" added Morty.
Misty and Brock weren't the only gym leaders who knew what was up...
"That... that's it!"
The three gym assistants were taken aback when they spotted the shocked look on Erika's face. She was pointing at the TV, right at Absol and then, as the screen changed to look at his trainer, Marco.
"That... is... it!"
November 18th, a year and a half ago... Erika was seen sitting at a table at a fast food joint in Celadon, and across the table from her was Misty, who at the time was on her Kanto Badge journey.
And she seemed to be telling her about a familiar legend...
"Team Rocket is after a group of kids... kids who may possess the power of being the greatest in their particular field of Pokémon."
"So who are these kids?" Misty asked. "Do I know any of them?"
"Believe it or not, one of them is sitting right here at this table."
Misty gasped, stunned over the revelation. "Me? But why me?"
Erika shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is that I received this anonymous letter which mentioned five kids, and it mentioned that the first kid has a good head on her shoulders."
A month and half ago, the Celadon City Public Library...
"I'll need to borrow one of your private reading rooms and get a list of all of the books you have on 'Ancient Pokémon Legends.'"
"But... that's over a few thousand books," Bridget, the frantic librarian, stated. "And that's just counting the fiction half of the library! Are you sure you don't just want to take a couple back to the gym at a time?"
The gym leader shook her head in disagreement. "No... I need peace and quiet and loads of time. I'm trying to figure out this puzzling query of a mystery that's stumbled into my lap."
"So..." Erika said coldly. "The second has been revealed!"
"Uh..." the three assistants said, confused about what she was referring to.
"Erika told me about this legend of five kids," Misty told Cissy and Morty. "Five kids with extraordinary powers. Their identities are unknown, but the legend goes that they will be the greatest in their field."
"I'm not following you any," Cissy told them.
"Marco's one of those kids!" Brock exclaimed, pointing at the kid who had fainted on the field and was now being checked out by one of the officials. "Somehow, the soul of a trainer is temporarily absorbed by his or her Pokémon, and said Pokémon gets amazing powers!"
"How do you guys know about all of this?" interrogated Morty.
"Well..." Misty hesitated.
July 8th, one year ago, Viridian City Gym...
Pikachu and Golduck suddenly perked up. They glared at their trainers strangely. Meanwhile, Vulpix escaped from her Pokéball, and she followed suit for her trainer, Brock.
"What is this?" screeched the irate Giovanni, Viridian's gym leader. "Call back your Pokémon!"
"Pikachu, what are you doing?" asked Ash.
Brock did likewise. "Vulpix, why are you out here?"
"Golduck, why are you staring at me?" she asked, exchanging glares with him.
Ash, Misty, and Brock suddenly fainted on the spot, to the surprise of the rest of their traveling posse. Giselle, Todd, and Mikey ran over to check up on them, but they found themselves turning their attention towards the battlefield, where a superpowered team consisting of Pikachu, Golduck, and Vulpix were taking down Speartrio, a cross between a Spearow and a Dugtrio.
"What's going on?" wondered the usually know-it-all, Giselle.
"It's like the Pokémon have the mind of their own," observed Todd.
"This is so weird!" exclaimed Mikey in awe.
"How can this be?" the shocked gym leader said in shock.
The three Pokémon glowed strange colors: Pikachu black, Golduck cerulean blue, and Vulpix brown. They then proceed to perform a triple threat attack.
The trio cried out, in human language, "Hydro-thunder flame blast attack!"
A beam made out of electricity, water, and fire launched from the three Pokémon, easily knocking out the crossbred Speartrio.
Cissy started freaking out. "You mean... the Viridian City Gym collapse... that was all you guys?"
"I would've never guessed," stated a much calmer Morty. "So... why haven't you gotten that checked by some sort of professional?"
"Because we still don't quite understand it," Misty stated. "That, and it hasn't happened since then. That is, until now..."
Brock nodded. "So, that's at least four of the five. Interesting... we might want to keep an eye on him. Team Rocket could go after him, like they did us!"
"But he's not exactly friendly with us! And, who's to say they haven't already got him working for them?"
Down on the field, it had finally come back to Ash as well. But he had no time to relive the moment himself, as Absol suddenly went into attack mode, heading right for Ivysaur.
"Wait... is he allowed to do that?" Cassie asked as she glanced at the official that's examining Marco. "His trainer's not even awake!"
The official reached for one Marco's eyelids and lifted it up. He then saw that, somehow, his eyeball was moving as if he were awake.
"Whoa! Creepy!"
"This some kind of new meditation technique that I don't know about?"
But by drawing all of her attention towards Marco, Cassie was no longer paying any to Absol, who vaulted himself up and onto Ivysaur's back. Before she knew what hit her, Ivysaur was grabbed by the bulb by Absol's fangs and was being shaken as if she were a rag doll.
"SAAAAUUURRR!" it cried out in pain.
"Ivysaur!" shouted Cassie, powerless to do anything.
Absol then spun around twice before, using all of his strength, tossed her in Charizard's direction. Charizard caught Ivysaur, but the force from the original throw pushed him all the way to the edge of the field. Charizard then glanced down at Ivysaur's face, only to see her passed out. He shrugged, then placed her down on the ground.
Charizard then turned his attention towards Absol, ready to give a response to his overwhelming display of power. But the red glow around Absol began to fade. As it did, Cassie looked as if she was in disbelief. Not only did Absol take out her Ivysaur, but the Absol's trainer had done it all without seeing it at all.
Cassie was now out of the tournament, but she wasn't going down alone.
"The Pokémon attacked without an order from his trainer!" she claimed to the official who was watching Marco. "It should be disqualified, as per the rule that all Pokémon must be under the complete control of his or her trainer! And there's no way he had any control over that Absol!"
As Cassie debated a case for Marco and Absol being eliminated, the other official ran out to check on Ivysaur, who was clearly unconscious. Ash and Gary looked dumbfounded at the display, and apparently, Charizard and Arcanine felt the same way.
"It's gotta be... but how... how did a jerk like him..." Ash mumbled, clenching his fist.
"What are you blabbering about now?" queried Gary. "I'm intrigued to see how he pulled that off. Look at Cass over there... jealous because she got outplayed."
"Gary... this isn't what you think it is."
"So, you're defending the ex-secret agent now?"
"That's not what I..."
"Ivysaur is unable to continue!" the examining official interrupted. "Cassie Banks has therefore been eliminated from the match!"
Marco slowly rose to his feet and was being questioned by the other official. Cassie stewed in the background as she recalled Ivysaur and waited for her chance to get a few choice words in.
That wait lasted barely two seconds...
"Hey! How did you control that Absol without even being conscious?"
"Excuse me, miss, but that's none of your concern!" shouted the official.
At that moment, Marco raised a hand to signal the official to step aside. He did, then Marco gave Cassie a reply to her question.
"I'm... psychic."
Cassie was flabbergasted. "What? Psychic? As if! I'm a psychic myself, and I spent two weeks training under Sabrina, the Saffron City gym leader! I know a psychic when I see one, you faker!"
The official, though, believed otherwise. "Since using psychic powers is admissible as long as he is only suggesting to Absol what moves to make and not actually taking possession of Absol, Marco and Absol will therefore remain in the match!"
"A strange decision made by the field judge," stated the announcer, "but, according to the rules, he is correct! And with no proof to show Marco's actions were inadmissible, he will remain in the match!"
The crowd booed with displeasure over the call.
"What kind of rule is that?" Cassie yelled angrily as the aforementioned judge escorted her off the playing field and to a sideline bench.
"That wasn't psychic, that's for sure," Ash thought to himself. "But I can't prove it. I don't even know if I could explain what happen, much less get them to understand it."
"With that..." the other judge said, "the match will now resume!"
"Now with Cassie out of the way, the rest should be a cakewalk!" Gary said. "First things first... Arcanine, Extremespeed on Charizard!"
With a super quick burst of speed, Arcanine slammed right into Charizard's gut. The fire lizard bellowed very loudly before bumping his head into the side of the field and then falling flat on his face! The crowd gasped in shock as Charizard had amazingly been knocked out!
"Charizard!" Ash cried out.
"Heh... looks like Charizard couldn't take the heat," quipped Gary.
"Absol, Razor Wind!" Marco suddenly called out.
Hearing the attack call, Gary quickly turned his attention back to the field and Arcanine. The two projectile horns hit their mark, knocking Arcanine off his feet and out cold as well.
"No way!" Gary yelled.
The other judge ran in Arcanine's direction. As he arrived by his side, the verdict on the other downed fire-type was revealed.
"Charizard is unable to battle!"
Seconds later, the second judge came to the same conclusion about Arcanine.
"Arcanine is also unable to battle! Thus, Gary Oak has been eliminated from the tournament!"
"Just like that, two more Pokémon are down!" the announcer screamed. "And so it comes down to two trainers and two Pokémon!"
"Charizard, return!"
"You too, Arcanine!"
Once Arcanine had been withdrawn, Gary silently made his way down the stairs.
"Gary..." Ash tried to stop him.
"Don't," Gary said back. "That was my fault for letting my guard down."
Gary then continued his 'walk of shame,' going to join the still distraught Cassie over on the bench. With Gary gone, all that was left on Ash's side of the trainers' box was him and Pikachu, who had been resting the entire team, and for once, unaware of what had transpired.
"Pika pi?" he asked curiously of the match's outcome.
"It's not over yet, Pikachu," Ash told him, pointing across the field. "There's still one more left."
Ash was pointing at Marco, who was greeting Absol. Absol was slowly making his way off the field, and he looked as if he had nothing left.
"Don't worry," Marco said to his Pokémon. "I'll figure out a way to win. No matter what it takes, buddy... we will WIN!"
To be continued next week in Part 6!
