Chapter 30
8/18/0046/Sunrise
Odale Town
Blake had spent the better half of a week being lost on the Routes in between Slateport City and Odale Town, but he was slowly progressing toward Meteor Falls, battling whatever trainers he could as he traveled.
Synchronizing with his Pokemon during their training sessions which amassed to nothing more than six way brawls between them, Blake could see that despite Quilava training as much as the others, it was beginning to fall behind in strength when compared to them.
The small Fire type Pokemon was quickly becoming skilled in its execution of Fire type attacks that it knew, but it consistently lacked the power to back up its arsenal, but the power Quilava needed could not be obtained with evolution.
Quilava insisted on battling against Poliwrath in attempt to build some kind of resistance against Water type attacks. Unfortunately, Quilava was crushed on a daily basis by Poliwrath, but Quilava's constant training against the Water type Pokemon allowed Blake to develop another attack for Quilava to work with.
Using the Pyro Quick Attack as a basis, Blake had Quilava use the intense heat as shield against oncoming Water type attacks from Poliwrath which proved to be effective, but the attack drained Quilava's stamina at an unbelievable pace. After just three uses of what Blake had dubbed, the Scarlet Shield, Quilava was completely drained and an easy knock out for whomever the opponent was.
The attack was a work in progress, and it was definitely a trump card Blake would keep in mind for desperate situation, but for now, it was on the 'do not use' listing.
"Quilava, use Lava Plume!" Blake shouted, ordering the for the Fire type Pokemon to attack Tyranitar as another test of its power.
The bruise covered Quilava opened its mouth, releasing a torrent of flames toward the Armor Pokemon who put up its arm as a shield from the flames.
Tyranitar smirked, feeling its shell heat up only slightly from the Lava Plume attack before it ended.
"Now Tyranitar, use Earth Power! Quilava, use Lava Plume as a boost to get yourself into the air." Blake said, giving the two Pokemon another set of orders.
Quilava opened its mouth, releasing another blast of scarlet flames which sent it sailing to the air. The ground where Quilava had previously been standing suddenly erupted, an explosion of flames rising up toward Quilava.
"Quilava, use the Scarlet Shield now!" Blake said, watching the flames from Tyranitar's Earth Power attack completely consume Quilava.
Tyranitar looked up at the flames, spotting an area in the flames that suddenly bulged outward, revealing Quilava who was descending toward Tyranitar, the air surrounding the Fire type being tinted red and blurry from the high temperature it had reached.
"Tyranitar, use a regular Dark Pulse." Blake ordered, the Armor Pokemon raising one hand over its head to allow a black orb to form which it then launched at the approaching Quilava.
Blake smirked as the Dark Pulse completely dissolved as it came into the contact with the tinted area surrounding Quilava, the attack failing to even get close to Fire type Pokemon. Tyranitar gasped as Quilava dropped down onto it, the intense heat easily causing a large amount of damage to the outside of its armor.
Tyranitar roared in pain as it fell backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud, the heat becoming too much for its armor to block out alone. But just when the Armor Pokemon raised its left arm to swat Quilava of its stomach, the heat faded away.
"Tar?" It said, looking down at its chest where it found Quilava resting on its stomach, both its eyes replaced with swirls.
"At least it can use it four successful times without resting." Blake said, reaching out to pick up the Fire type Pokemon. But as his left hand brushed against Tyranitar's armor, Blake found a burning sensation on the back his hands from just the small moment it had come into contact with Tyranitar.
Blake jumped back from Tyranitar, holding his left hand in pain, the entire back side of his hand in pain.
'Whoa. I had no idea the attack could reach such a high temperature.' Blake exclaimed mentally before calling out Poliwrath while withdrawing Quilava to its Poke-ball.
"Poliwrath, use Water Pulse on Tyranitar." Blake said.
"Poli!" It shouted, launching a large sphere of crystal clear water at Tyranitar.
As the Armor Pokemon got back to its feet, it was hit by the large sphere of water from Poliwrath, the water evaporating the moment it made contact with Tyranitar's shell, giving it an instant cool down which it was very grateful for.
"Thanks for the effort Tyranitar, rest up." Blake said, returning the Armor Pokemon to its Poke-ball.
Since it evolved, Tyranitar had become twice as strong as it was before. Although it lost some of the speed it possessed as a Pupitar, Tyranitar's new level of power easily made up for the loss, not to mention it received an entirely new move set to go with its evolution.
"Return Poliwrath." Blake said, returning the Water type Pokemon before looking at the date on his Pokedex.
The second round of the IBF Tourney was less than a month away and at the rate he was traveling at; he should make it right on time.
9/7/0046/Morning
Meteor Falls
The mountainous area of the Hoenn Region that was home to fierce Pokemon that were housed in the large caves that filled this region. A small portion of the northern area of this mountain range had been flattened by humans to construct one of the largest Battle Domes on the planet.
"Whoa!" Grace exclaimed, looking at the huge building that stood on from the mountain side it was built next to. The Meteor Falls Battle Dome was a sight to behold. Larger in size and capacity than any other Battle Dome in the Hoenn Region, the outside of the silver, oval shaped stadium was decorated with fancy lights that were a beauty when seen at light.
"We made it." Matt said as they entered the double doors, finding a large but empty lobby with Nurse Joy seated behind her desk reading a magazine.
"Hello?" Grace said as she and Matt approached Nurse Joy, receiving a wave from the woman.
"Oh yes, what can I do for you?" She asked with a smile.
"We're here to register for the second round of the IBF Tourney." Grace continued, receiving a nod from Nurse Joy as she closed her magazine, spinning in her chair to face one of the two computer screens that rested on her desk.
"Alright, I'll need your Battle Circuit License." She said, raising one hand toward them as she continued to type with one hand.
Grace was first, handing over her license to Nurse Joy who observed the card for a moment before placing her card in a small slot next to the keyboard.
"Grace from Johto?"
"Yep." Grace replied.
"Then you're all set." Nurse Joy said, passing Grace's license back to the girl before accepting Matt's card.
"Hey Nurse Joy, where are all the other competitors?" Matt asked as the woman placed his card in the slot.
"The second round doesn't start for about a week so everyone still training in Meteor Falls." She replied. "Matt from Kanto?"
"Mhmm." He replied with a nod.
"Good, then the two of you can compete in the second round of the IBF Tourney, good luck." She said to them.
"Wait, Nurse Joy. Has a boy named Blake registered yet?" Grace asked.
Nurse Joy directed her gaze at the second computer screen, typing in several commands before scrolling down a long screen.
"No, no one with that name has registered yet." Nurse Joy replied.
"Oh, well thanks anyway." Grace said, waving to her as she and Matt began to head toward the exit.
"Do you think something happened to him?" Matt asked, looking down at Grace.
"I hope not."
9/11/0046/Evening
Meteor Falls
'This is getting really annoying now.' Blake said as he sprinted through the dark tunnel with Quilava in front of him lighting the pathway, a mod of screeching Goldbat's at his back.
Just a few minutes ago their had been a weak quake through the cave that caused now damage, but it awakened a huge number of Goldbat's that had been sleeping. Believing Blake was the source of the disturbance, the Golbat's proceeded to chase him out of their territory.
Seeing a source of light at the end of the tunnel, Blake quickened his pace in hope that the Golbat's wouldn't follow him outside Meteor Falls.
'Wait a second, that light's coming toward me.' Blake said before he tripped over Quilava who had suddenly stopped. Hitting the rocky earth with a hard thud, Blake groaned before feeling the air above him have a drastic change in temperature. "Quilava?"
Blake looked back, seeing Quilava who was resting on its stomach while observing the scarlet flames that the Golbat's had disappeared inside of.
"Then who?" Blake said, looking back at the end of the tunnel where the flames were coming from before a blackened Golbat dropped down beside him, its eyes replaced with swirls. The entire group that had been pursuing Blake fell out of the flames one after another until the flames died down.
"Mag!" A deep voice roared from the end of the cave.
"Qui-lava." Quilava hissed, jumping over Blake to run down the remainder of the tunnel. Jumping to his feet, Blake followed Quilava out the tunnel where he finally saw daylight for the first time in four days. The first thing Blake did was cover his eyes since they needed some time to adjust to light.
"Magmortar!" The deep voice roared again.
"Quilava!" Blake could hear his Pokemon shouted.
"Hey, you better call off your Quilava unless you want us to give it a serious beating!" A voice hollered at Blake who was still rubbing his eyes. Blinking several times, Blake could make out the image of a teenage boy standing next to large fiery Pokemon.
The boy was just a little bit taller than Blake, with messy brown hair and uncombed bangs covering his forehead. He was creamy skinned, with dark red eyes. He wore a pair of black jeans, a pair of sneakers, a black sleeveless vest with a red border and a black jacket with short gray sleeves and a raised collar.
"What makes you think my Quilava's so weak?" Blake asked.
"I know its weak just by looking at it." He replied.
"Then how about we test your theory."
"Fine, but don't start crying when you lose."
"Trust me; I won't be the one who's crying when this is over."
"My name's Griffen, prepare to lose."
"Blake."
"Magmortar, give them your strongest Lava Plume!" He ordered, motioning for the large Pokemon beside him to attack. Raising its left arm, Magmortar took aim with its cannon like arm before firing a huge blast of scarlet flames.
'That spread it way to large.' Blake noted before looking at Quilava who ignited the flames on its head and bottom. "Quilava, use Lava Plume but focus your attack on the center of Magmortar's."
"Quilava!" The small Fire type shouted it fired a condensed stream of flames into Magmortar's wide spread attack. Blake smirked as the flames of Quilava's attack broke through Magmortar's, pushing toward the larger Fire type Pokemon.
"Magmortar, more power." Griffen said simply, receiving a nod from his partner Pokemon.
"Mag!" It roared as the flames it was firing from its left arm doubled in size, overpowering Quilava's focused attack.
'Wow that Magmortar has a lot of power stored up inside it.' Blake noted as Magmortar's attack surged toward Quilava even through the smaller Fire type was doing its best to hold back the attack. "Quilava, stop using Lava Plume and use a reverse Flame Wheel."
'Reverse Flame Wheel? This sounds interesting.' Griffen said with a growing smile, watching Quilava end its Lava Plume attack before performing a back flip while casing itself inside of a wheel of flames that were spinning in a counter clockwise direction.
Quilava disappeared into Magmortar's Lava Plume attack for a few moments making Griffen think the attack was nothing but a bluff.
"Enough Magmortar, I think you cooked it." Griffen stated, ordering Magmortar to halt its attack.
"Now Quilava!" Blake said as the flames began to clear. Quilava burst of the scarlet flames, its Flame Wheel attack now twice as large as it normally was with scarlet flames mixed into the orange flames mixed in.
Leaving a trail of flames behind it as it moved, Quilava raced toward Magmortar who wasn't prepared for the attack. Magmortar gasped as it was hit in the stomach, the force of the attack sending it sliding across the ground on its back.
"Whoa!" Griffen exclaimed as he jumped away from Quilava when the flames around it dispersed, revealing the heavily burned Pokemon.
'Boy, using a reverse Flame Wheel is still a double edged sword. We get a nice power boost and it can absorb the opponents Fire type attack.' Blake said mentally as he walked over to Quilava who was struggling to remain on its feet. 'But if the attack is too strong then when it's absorbed by Quilava it still damages it.'
"That's quite an attack you got there." Griffen commented as Blake kneeled down next to his Quilava, taking the Potion he had on his belt off to spray Quilava. "Hey, you can't heal your Pokemon, the battle isn't over."
"I think your Magmortar could beg to differ." Blake said, motioning to the Fire type Pokemon that hadn't moved since it took that large hit from Quilava.
"Wha…Magmortar!" Griffen exclaimed when he noticed the swirls replacing Magmortar's eyes.
"I thought your Magmortar would be a good opponent, but a one hit KO was unexpected." Blake said.
"That's because we've been training the entire day. Magmortar was exhausted to begin with." Griffen said, raising a Poke-ball to return his downed Magmortar. "Are you here for the IBF Tourney."
"Yep."
"Good, then I'll kick your ass the next time we battle so don't lose until you battle me." Griffen said, pointing at Blake before turning to head to the Pokemon Center.
Blake remained silent, watching Griffen leave before glancing down at Quilava who was struggling to remain on its feet even with the help of the Potion.
"You need some rest too." Blake said, taking out Quilava's Poke-ball to return it.
Meteor Falls Battle Dome
"What can I do for you?" Nurse Joy asked, giving Blake a smile which he failed to return, giving her nothing but a blank stare.
"I'm here to register for the IBF Tourney." Blake said.
"Alright, I'll need your Battle Circuit License." Blake silently passed her the card, watching her begin to type several commands into the system. "Blake from Johto?"
Blake gave her nod.
"Okay then, everything is set. Good luck in the second round of the IBF Tourney." She said, giving Blake a smile.
"And can you heal my Quilava?"
"Sure, just leaving its Poke-ball there and come back in about an hour." She said, watching Blake leave the spherical device on her desk.
"Thanks." Was all Blake said before he left the lobby, planning to continue training for the day since he still had sometime before the second round actually started.
"Poliwrath, focus on blocking Gallade's attacks." Blake said, watching the Water/Fighting type Pokemon spar with Gallade, doing its best to block out Gallade's incredibly precise offense.
"Shelgon, use Dragon Breath to your advantage and limit where Absol can move since it's faster than you." Blake said to the Dragon type Pokemon that was struggling to keep up with Absol's superior speed.
Blake watched as his four Pokemon engage each other in battle, using what they could to over power their opponent as fine tuning for the second round of the IBF Tourney.
"Swampert, get in there and use Brick Break!" A familiar voice called out as a large blue Pokemon burst out of the bushes, joining spars being held between Blake's Pokemon.
Blake sighed, watching the lone Swampert receive several attacks after startling Blake's team.
"Come on Blake, four on one isn't fair." Matt said as he climbed out of the bushes he and his Swampert had been hiding in. "It's good to see you made it in time for the second round. For a second I thought I may not get the privilege of knocking out in this round."
"Fat chance, I'd crush you if we met in battle." Blake said, glancing back at Matt who snorted.
"Beat me? We'll just have to see what happens when we battle Blake."
"So you better not loss until you battle me."
"The same applies to you."
The two looked at each other and smirked, Matt extending his hand that was closed into a fist. Blake looked at his hand for a moment before bumping fists with Matt.
"Come on Swampert, let's get back to our training." Matt called out to the Mud Fish Pokemon that was struggling against the combined effort of Blake's Gallade and Poliwrath.
"Swamp-pert." It said, retreating with Matt to avoid taking any more damage from Poliwrath and Gallade.
"Good job guys." Blake said, giving the two of them thumbs up before motioning for them to continue their training.
9/18/0046/Morning
Meteor Falls Battle Dome
Blake looked up at the grand crowd of over seventy thousand people that were crowded in the enormous, oval shaped Battle Dome. They were all cheering for the start of the second round of the IBF Tourney.
Blake was almost excited for the beginning of this since this part of the tournament was sure to have trainers that would give him a decent battle.
The competition between over forty thousand trainers across the world had dwindled down to the four hundred trainers that were now gathered with in one stadium, waiting to begin.
"Are you excited Blake?" Matt asked, nudging Blake with his elbow.
"Almost." Blake replied.
"Almost? That's all? You should be exploding with excitement."
"Well I'm not. I'm anxious." Blake said. "I want to battle someone right now."
"Hey look, here comes the Commissioner." Matt said, pointing to a short man that Blake thought he'd never see again. The old man that had pushed him off the top of Sky Pillar was now standing before Blake on top a platform as the Commissioner of the Hoenn Pokemon Committee.
"No." Blake said in a whisper, glaring at the man who made eye contact with him, giving Blake a smile.
"Hello all you Battle Circuit fans out there, welcome to the second round of the IBF Tourney!" Titus said, waving to the crowd. "Since I know all of you want to get straight to the battle, so here are the rules. The first day of the tournament will and eighteen hour survival test. You'll be taking six Pokmon into Meteor Falls for as many one on one battles as you can before all your Pokemon are eliminated. The trainers with the most wins at the end of the eighteen hours will move on to the next day. Trainers that are participating, you have forty minutes to retrieve one of the match recorders from Nurse Joy and then head to Meteor Falls. The match recorder will give the rest of the information you'll need to compete. Good luck!"
The crowd roared as the trainers in the stadium went into a frenzy, crowding the exits where a Nurse Joy was waiting to give them one of the small devices that was to be clipped onto their clothing.
After retrieving one of the match recorders, Blake pressed the small red button on the back of the device, activating it.
"Well come to the first day of the second round of the IBF Tourney. I will be guide during this competition and will lead you to the third round of this tournament provided you have the skills to make it." The electronic voice began. "My sensors indicate that you have not yet reached Meteor Falls, please go to that location."
Blake looked at the small device with a blank stare before clipping it to his belt.
'Time to kick some ass.' Blake said mentally as he cracked his knuckles.
Meteor Falls
"You are now located in Meteor Falls. You have four minutes before the timer begins so I suggest you select the Pokemon you're going to use." The match recorder said to Blake. "I will be recording every match you have and I will provide assistance in finding trainers to battle."
"Well isn't that handy." Blake noted as he continued to venture further into the cave.
"The first day of the second round of the IBF Tourney begins in four…three…two…one…begin!" The match recorder said for Blake.
"I challenge you." Blake heard that call from behind him. Turning around to face a female trainer that appeared to be in her late twenties, Blake accepted her challenge, releasing Quilava from its Poke-ball.
"Are you ready Quilava?" Blake asked, receiving a nod from his partner.
"Manectric, let's battle." The girl said as she released her Pokemon from its Poke-ball. "Start off with Thunder Wave!"
"Quilava, attack with Flame Wheel!" Blake ordered.
"Ma-nectric!" It said, releasing a burst of electricity into the floor of the cave that spread out in all directions.
Quilava raced toward Manectric, taking a small leap into the air where it curled up into a ball while encasing itself in flames. Hovering right of the electricity that was traveling through the ground, Quilava continued its path toward Manectric, hitting the Electric type Pokemon without a problem.
Manectric grunted from the attack as it was send sliding across the rocky floor.
"Quilava, get it with Lava Plume!"
"Manectric, use Charge Beam!"
Manectric howled as it gathered electricity into its mouth before firing it as one condensed beam toward Quilava who breathed out a cyclone of scarlet flames.
'The odds are against us for this one.' Blake noted as the beam of electricity began to push through the center of the cyclone, rushing straight for Quilava. "Quilava, cut off the Lava Plume and use the Pyro Quick Attack."
"Quilava!" It said, closing its mouth to end its Lava Plume attack before the air around it increased in temperature creating a dome of intense heat around Quilava.
Quilava burst forward, racing toward Manectric's Charge Beam attack, the dome of heat deflecting the electricity allowing Quilava to continue straight toward Manectric for a second time.
"Manectric, use Spark!"
Manectric ended its Charge Beam attack, building electricity throughout its body as it burst forward, racing toward Quilava.
The two of them met with flashy display of fire and electricity before Manectric was seen being sent flying backward toward its trainer. Quilava could be found standing where it had met and overpowered Manectric.
"Oh no, Manectric." The young woman exclaimed, looking down at her Pokemon that's eyes were replaced with a pair of swirls.
"Blake, one win." The electronic voice said suddenly, saying Blake's record out loud.
"Sasha. One loss." A second voice said, coming from the girl.
Sasha glanced up at Blake as she returned her Manectric to its Poke-ball before turning to leave, promising to beat Blake if they ever met again.
"That was good start Quilava, let's keep it going." Blake said as he returned the Fire type to its Poke-ball. "Where's the nearest trainer that's open for a match?"
"The nearest trainer is four hundred yards north." The match recorder said after a few moments.
"Nice."
"Ludicolo, follow up with Drain Punch uppercut!" Matt shouted, performing an uppercut for Ludicolo.
"Ludi!" The Water/Grass Pokemon said, landing a wide uppercut to Heracross' stomach with its glowing right hand.
"Heracross!" Its trainer exclaimed as the Bug/Fighting type Pokemon smirked, taking a small amount of damage from the punch since it had managed to put a two arm block in the attacks path just before it hit. "Awesome, get it with Megahorn!"
"Ludicolo, use Ice Beam right now!" Matt yelled seeing the danger in the approaching attack from Heracross.
Ludicolo opened its mouth, charging up a sphere of cyan colored energy in front its face where Heracross' horn was headed. Matt smiled as Heracross' horn hit Ludicolo's premature Ice Beam attack which shattered onto the Bug type's horn, freezing it.
"Hera-cross!" It cried out as it jumped away from Ludicolo.
"Ludicolo, get it with Hydro Pump!" Matt ordered, pointing at Heracross who was holding its horn.
Ludicolo opened its mouth, firing a powerful blast of water toward Heracross who was sent flying from the attack straight into the wall of the cave, a portion of the wall collapsing onto Heracross after impact which wiped out the rest of its health.
"Matt, six wins." Matt's match recorder called out.
"Awesome job Ludicolo!" Matt said, giving his partner a thumbs up which was returned by the Pokemon.
"Arcanine, finish that Arbok with Heat Wave!" Grace said, telling her partner to finish off the heavily burned large snake that was struggling to remain up right.
"Arbok, dodge it!"
Arcanine roared it breathed out red hot waves of heat that raced toward the snake Pokemon, engulfing it completely.
"Arbok!" Its trainer shouted, calling out to the snake who collapsed to the ground in heap.
"Bok." Arbok hissed out before its eyes became replaced with swirls ending the match.
"Alright, nice job Arcanine!" Grace said as her partner trotted over to her, nudging her with its nose.
"Grace, sixteen wins." Her match recorder called out, adding another win to Grace's record.
"Let's keep this win streak going Arcanine." Grace said, pointing out their next target.
Meteor Falls Battle Dome
Throughout the first day of the IBF Tourney, numerous critics from around the world would be providing live commentary on the matches taking place in Meteor Falls and pointing out anyone for the crowd to pay close attention too.
"Should I bother asking why Jeff is dressed like that?" One of the critiques asked, motioning to Jeff who was glaring at him, clothed in nothing but a poofy pink skirt.
"I'm glad you asked James. You see, Jeff made the mistake of betting on someone based solely on their record and you can see what happened." Donny explained. "He bet on the veteran that got floored by a rookie."
"Sucks for you Jeff." James said.
"Tell me about this rookie that 'floored' a vet." Another critic said.
"Well Franky, he goes by the name of Blake and just looking at his record, you'd say he'd be the first to get knocked out of the IBF Tourney." Donny explained.
"Let me see his record." James said, pulling up all the information about Blake that had been entered into the system using the small panel on the desk they were seated behind. "This kid is nothing more than a Rookie King with two extra matches. No wonder Jeff went against him."
"Finally, someone who agrees with me." Jeff mumbled out.
"Still, you should know better than to go against someone without researching them first." Franky said.
"But this kid's record said nothing but an over confident rookie that needed to learn his place in the Battle Circuit. I wouldn't expect him to have skills like what he's displayed so far in the Tourney." James noted.
"Me neither. His team isn't too shabby. Tyranitar, Quilava, Poliwrath, Gallade, Shelgon and an Absol. It's a decent team, kind of far from its full potential at the moment, but the way he battles makes up for it." Jeff added.
"So do you think you should expect anything from Blake?" Donny asked.
"I don't think so. The IBF Tourney will be nothing but veterans from here on out and Blake lacks experience. He could get far, but I think he'll lose at some point, probably if he battles one of the Regional Champs or anyone in the SSS-Class." Franky said.
"No, I think this kid could be the next Golden Flash. If you all have forgotten the Golden Flash entered the IBF Tourney in a similar situation that Blake was in and everyone said he'd lose at some point, but he never did. I think Blake can do the same." Donny reasoned.
"No, we all knew that guy was genius from beginning to end. I can't really tell what Blake is. There's potential to be something great, but calling him Golden Flash material is a bit much." Franky replied.
"Well let's see how things go for him in the rest of the IBF Tourney."
Chapter 30, complete. Not much happened this in this chapter, but the next one is sure to be loaded with good battles. Read, review and enjoy. :D