Chapter 19: The Kanto Tournament Starts—Skylark vs. Cody
"Lllllaaaaaddddiiieeeesssss and Gentlemen!" The announcer shouted into the microphone. Skylark was in a large arena, filled with roughly 25,000 people. The Kanto Tournament was always one of the biggest events of the year, and it received a lot of publicity worldwide. "Are you ready to kick off the start of this tournament?!" The crowd roared wildly, like an angry boar, urging to see some action. "On the left side, we have Skylark and his Bulbasaur!" The crowd applauded and cheered Skylark on. Even though he was new to Kanto, much of the world knew his name alone. Anyone who makes it to this tournament always received huge publicity for years to come. "And on the other side of the field, we have Cody from the Sinnoh Region!" The crowd roared as a kid with ginger hair, a purple t-shirt and brown shorts walked onto the field, Pokéball in hand.
"The rules of this match are like the ones you had at home. Is that understood?" Skylark and Cody nodded. "Alright, let the games begin!"
"Go, Drifloon!" Cody shouted as he threw the ball onto the court. A Drifloon came out of the ball, showing itself ready for battle.
"Let's go, Bulbasaur!" Skylark shouted as well. Bulbasaur ran from his side and onto the court.
"Cody, you may go first!" The announcer said.
"Drifloon, he's a grass type! Use Gust!" Skylark immediately shuttered as Drifloon started to send off a giant wind gust toward Bulbasaur.
"Dodge!" Skylark shouted. But it was too late. The gust hit Bulbasaur, knocking her off her feet and rolling her back a few feet. The wind hit Bulbasaur hard. Bulbasaur lay there stunned for a moment, but then stood up and prepared for battle. "Now, let's hit him with a tackle!" Bulbasaur nodded and ran forward, but soon the action was followed by laughs. Bulbasaur jumped straight through Drifloon, leaving it with no damage.
"Alright Drifloon, use astonish!" Drifloon turned around and astonished Bulbasaur, taking out some more HP. Skylark stood there, shocked and in fear.
"How did he completely miss Bulbasaur's tackle?...wait!" Skylark remembered that, in class, he learned that normal types don't effect ghost types. "Bulbasaur! Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur whipped its vines, but it only hurt Drifloon slightly.
"Drifloon, let's try using Gust again!" Cody shouted. Drifloon started to bring up some wind again, and when it shot the wind off at Bulbasaur it completely missed. Bulbasaur had started to naturally run on her own, and she had already managed to dodge the attack.
"Bulbasaur! Turn around and try a Bullet Seed!" Bulbasaur turned around, as commanded, and started a barrage of bullets. They all smashed into Drifloon, who didn't seem concerned with dodging. The bullets took some HP, but as Skylark also learned, Grass types only do half the normal damage to ghost and flying types. But with no other option, he was left with only grass moves.
"I see…Drifloon, let's use Swagger!" Skylark tried to yell at Bulbasaur to dodge, but it was too late. The swagger beam hit Bulbasaur, not only confusing her but sharply raising her attack status. While this was a win-lose situation, Skylark thought it would eventually help him in the end. If Bulbasaur could get over her confusion, she could keep the attack boost and attack with full power. But, it'd take time.
"Bulbasaur! Let's try leech seed!" Bulbasaur looked confusedly at Skylark, and then shot off bullet seeds. Skylark smiled, glad that the attack worked, but soon realized that Bulbasaur was swarming in circles, shooting off randomly. But this time, it was shooting in bursts. It didn't occur to Skylark until now, but Bullet Seed was a multiple hit move. And it seemed as though each burst gained more power. Skylark's face beamed brightly as he soon realized this. The fourth burst, supposedly twice as strong as the first two, hit Drifloon. Mixed with the upgraded attack power, and the stronger bursts, it all worked to Skylark's lucky advantage. It seemed fate smiled upon him today.
Drifloon was hit with that hard attack, taking a pretty hefty amount of damage. Cody grit his teeth and frowned. "Drifloon, let's try to hit it with another Gust!" Drifloon nodded and shot forward more gusts of wind. Bulbasaur, who was confused, didn't bother to move. In fact, it started to run forward and into the wind.
"Bulbasaur NO!" Skylark shouted in dismay. But sadly, the gust hit directly into Bulbasaur's face, spinning her around some and shooting her backward about ten feet. Bulbasaur sat there for a moment, absorbing the blow from the wind. It was low on HP. Red zone. "Bulbasaur! Please, listen to me! You must use your Vine Whip, alright?" Skylark was desperate. He knew that Drifloon was roughly close to the same position they were in right now, and a steady vine whip would assure them a win. That bullet seed was the best thing to happen to them.
Bulbasaur stood up, looking around confusedly. From its back shot forward leech seeds, which fell upon Drifloon and latched onto the skin. "Ha, Drifloon! Astonish!" Drifloon moved forward, ready to astonish Bulbasaur, but it was right about then that Bulbasaur jumped forward and attempted to tackle. Bulbasaur jumped forward and through Drifloon, like last time. Drifloon's attack missed and Bulbasaur's tackle missed. Then, leech seed sucked some life from Drifloon and gave some back to Bulbasaur.
Leech seed helped slightly, giving Bulbasaur an extra boost of power and taking away Drifloon's energy. But it was now Drifloon's turn. "Gust!" Drifloon turned around and began to whip up some wind, but Bulbasaur had snapped back into consciousness. She shouted her name and turned around, facing the enemy and Skylark, alerting him that she was now back.
"Bulbasaur, please! Use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur nodded and ran forward, releasing whips from her bulb and attacking Drifloon. Drifloon was still whipping up gust as Bulbasaur ran forward. Finally, however, it snapped the wind forward and attempted to attack. Bulbasaur foresaw the attack, however, and jumped out of the way of the attack. Drifloon's face was stricken with fear and so was Cody's face.
The whips shot forward, smashing into Drifloon's sides and face. Drifloon fell to the ground, out of energy and defeated. Cody's face was in shock. How could such a weak grass type defeat a flying AND ghost type?! Cody called back Drifloon, his face covered with sadness. It was only a matter of time before the announcer claimed Skylark the winner and the crowd roared with happiness. Cody walked off the stage, saddened by his loss, but was now out of the tournament. Skylark would now advance and move on. His dream was still alive.
He walked off the stage with Bulbasaur and gave Bulbasaur to a nurse. The nurse took her to a healing room, and Skylark walked and met Grace and his mom. They congratulated him and hugged him a lot.
Today was Monday, and the ending of the tournament was Saturday. Saturday would be the day to decide everything, assuming he made it that far. One of these days, he would have to face…her…she also won her battle today too, to no one's surprise. Skylark went back to the hotel after eating a victory dinner, and was soon overwhelmed with worry. How will he fight his loved one?