Hello everyone on Fanfiction welcome back to another chapter of Mesoa League: The Ultimate Challenge. As always, I'm your host, A.M.P 1008. In the last chapter everyone had arrived in the Mesoa Region after some startling revelations were made to more than just Ash's group
In this chapter, teams we'll finally be selected and we'll get the real competition underway. All of you; prepare for one hell of a long-ass chapter
Chapter 4: Arrival in Mesoa. Let the teams assemble
It took only two days before the ship docked in a place called "Portwood Town." Everyone had gotten off and the competitors had been directed to the laboratory of a Professor Sugi, where the opening ceremony would begin. Since everyone had about an hour for sightseeing, they decided to look around town and find out a few things about the town itself.
"How about we split up and meet at the lab before the ceremony starts?" said Ash
"Sounds like a good idea. It'll give us time to get details of this place, and maybe even a map for the travels." Said Brock
The groups divided as such: Ash, May, Brock, Gary, Misty, and Tracey. Max, Cilan, Iris, Dawn, and Gavin.
While Ash's group was sightseeing, they heard something just down the road
"You heard us, fork over everything you have, including your Pokemon, punk!"
"If you don't comply, we'll simply kick your ass and take them by force."
Ash and the others raced to see someone six feet tall with sharp green eyes and short, messy brown hair, wearing a pair of green cargo shorts and combat boots and a white t-shirt with an M1A2 Abrams main battle tank on the front with a pair of fingerless combat gloves.
Ash and the others saw that while he gave no response, he was getting agitated very quickly
"All right then. Time for an ass whooping!"
The first thug tried to throw a right hook, but the victim quickly deflected it with his left hand and threw a punch of his own into the thug's face, which broke his nose and made him fall on his ass
"Shane! That's it, you're dead!"
As he went to charge at his "victim", said "victim" grabbed the thugs face and kneed it and chopped him on the back of his head, knocking him out. The first thug, after getting up, tried to low sweep him, but the would-be victim simply jumped and landed on the thug's stomach with force. As the thug gasped in pain, the "victim" lifted him up by the collar of his shirt and knocked him out as well with a well-placed chop to the head.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Brock
"I'm fine."
"What happened?" asked Misty
"Nothing. A few idiots tried to mug me for everything, but clearly they didn't think everything through."
"Oh. Well, I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu."
"Pikachu!"
"I'm May, a coordinator, and Ash's girlfriend."
"My name's Misty, and I'm a Water Pokemon Trainer
"I'm Gary, Pokemon researcher and former trainer."
"My name's Brock, and I'm a Pokemon Doctor, in training."
"The name's Henry, and I'm competing in this year's league."
"Same with me." Said Ash
"I'm competing in this year's Grand Festival."
"Great, hope you two wind up on the same team."
"Thanks." They both replied
"So, we still have about half an hour left. How's about we do a little more sightseeing." Brock suggested
"Sounds okay with me." Replied Henry
The group, now with Henry about, had began walking around a little more. Eventually, they made their way into the forest, which had evidence of a savannah like habitat. Not long after, they came across an unususal Pokemon
The Pokemon stood around 3 feet tall and was purple. It resembled a komodo dragon and had bulbs on its shoulders. It also revealed itself to have a forked tongue
"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Ash asked as he pulled out the Pokedex
Commo, the Komodo Dragon Pokemon. Newborns live a total of at least 5 years in tree tops to avoid predators. They secret poison gas in the bulbs on its shoulders to ward off enemies and predators.
"Wow. It packs quite a punch for such a small Pokemon." Said Ash
The Pokemon heard the human and turned around.
"Hey there, little guy."
The Commo started hissing and prepared to attack
"Wait!"
Everyone turned to see a man around 5'10 with black hair that was tied at the nape of his neck, yet flowed down to the middle of his back. It also formed bangs around his blue eyes, which actually contrasted with his light colored skin. He seemed faily muscular, and wore a red t-shirt under a white jacket, with blue pants and black shoes.
The man stepped towards the Commo, saying, "Calm down, little fellow. No one's here to hurt you. Just calm down now." in a soothing voice.
The Komodo Dragon Pokémon appeared to ponder the man's words, hissed at Ash and his friends one last time, and slithered away.
Ash, May, Gavin, and the others walked up to the man.
Gavin said, "Thanks for the save."
The man nodded, and started to walk away.
Ash yelled, "Wait!"
The man turned back to look at Ash, looking like he was feeling awkward.
"The name's Ash Ketchum." Ash said, "And this is May, Brock, Misty, Gary, Tracey, and Henry.
Each member of the group gave a collective, "Hello."
The man nodded, then after a grand pause, said, "Tai Ishihara."
Gary then asked Tai, "How did you get that Commo to go away without hurting us?"
Tai, after another pause, responded, "I guess I just know my regions own Pokémon."
'This tournament is going to be quite hard to win if more Mesoa natives like Daisuke and Tai show up. But, I guess that's what makes it more fun.' Ash thought
Tai then said, "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you in the League. Goodbye, all." He said before walking away.
Henry then remembered "Oh, yeah. I've got to be somewhere as well... See you guys at Sugi's!" before running off.
The group, minus Henry, just looked at the strange turn of events.
Brock then said, "Guys! We gotta hurry! The thing starts in ten minutes, and we've wandered to the other side of Portwood!"
Ash, impatient as ever, yelled, "Well, let's go!"
As the group started to dash off towards the Mesoan professor's lab, Ash thought, 'Here comes Ash Ketchum, Mesoa League! You'd better be ready!'
Ash and the others managed to get back to Portwood with a minute to spare
"What happened? You were almost late!" hissed Iris
"We kinda got side tracked and nearly wound up Pokémon food for one of the native region's Pokémon. We were lucky that Tai came by and helped out."
"Attention everyone!" came a voice from the podium
The man was around of average height with gray hair, and stocky. His outfit consisted of a suit with red and white vertical stripes on the chest with red sleeves. His hat, which was a bucket hat, consisted of the same pattern of red and white. His pants were a normal red color, and he seemed to be holding a cane in his hand, though whether or not it was for aesthetics was anyone's guess.
"As your town representative, it gives me great pleasure in starting off this year's Mesoa League!"
At his announcement, a group of people that had gathered, along with most of the competition, started roaring in approval.
"This year's league, as always, promises to be more dynamic than last years. So, without further ado, here are this year's teams."
He then pulled out an orange packaging envelope. He took out a document from said envelope after opening it.
"Team 1 will consist of Ash Ketchum, May Maple, Brock Slate, and Max Maple."
Alright, we're on the same team!" Ash and May yelled in joy as they hugged.
"It'll be like Hoenn all over again." said Brock.
"Yeah, but this time I have my own Pokemon with me." said Max.
"Team 2 will consist of Gavin, M, Dawn Berlitz, and Sierra Scott."
"Looks like we're on the same team." Gavin said to Dawn.
"Yeah. It'll be great."
"I hope it is." a new voice said.
Walking towards them were M and a girl 5'8" tall, skinny yet fit. She had chin length dark purple, almost black, hair that was a little messy. Her eyes were black with white iris's. She had tanish skin and six pack abs. She wore a dark purple hoodie with cut off sleeves and a black tank top underneath. She also wore black denim shorts and knee high black boots. She had three silver earrings in each ear and a nose stud. She also had a scar in the shape of an X across her whole back and a scar across the bridge of her nose that spread to under her eyes.
"Hey, I'm Sierra." she said, extending her hand.
"I'm Dawn." she replied, shaking her hand.
"So, M's your real name?" asked Gavin.
"No, it's short for my real name, something that, at the moment, I'd prefer to keep to myself right now." he replied.
"Okay..." Gavin was a little confused at the moment.
"Hi, I'm Dawn! Nice to meet you." she said extending her hand to M.
"Likewise." he said while shaking her hand. He also gave her a look that one would give to someone they really liked, which irked Gavin a little for some reason.
"The next team will be Ryan, Kirrie, Axis Leto, and Cielia Rovera."
At that, the next group of 4 managed to find each other. The first one having a red shirt, black vest, black pants, messy black hair, glasses, and black/white/red shoes. He was of average height with light gray eyes.
The other one was a short female, only 4'10, wearing a black vest with light blue around the zipper area. She had emerald eyes and was wearing a blue skirt as well. Walking beside her was an Emboar.
The third one was also on the short side, standing only at 5'2. He was wearing a hoodie, though his teammates could see tuffs in the form of cat ears underneath. His eyes were yellow, giving them a cat like appearance. The top of his head was rather spiky, having removed the hood, but it was rather tamed, until it reached the bigger spikes of hair framing his face.
He had a lithe build, and was rather flexible. His body also looked naturally agile. He wore a Dark Brown sweatshirt with yellow sleeves with its hood looking like a kitty's head. He also wore yellow jogging pants with a brown pair of sandals. Finally he was wearing a belt on his waist that contained a lot of pockets. He had a furry, fluffy, dark brown cat's tail that occasionally twitched and moved like an actual feline's tail.
The last one had long black hair, orange eyes, and pale skin. She was 5'3", skinny. She was wearing black and red checkered hoodie, blue jeans, and a red converse.
"Are those real cat ears?" asked Kirrie.
"No, they're just tufts."
"And the tail?" she asked as she tried to grab it.
"Hey, knock it off!"
Kirrie just laughed at the poor boy's misfortune.
'Wow, she's pretty cute, though the guy next to her must be her boyfriend. I wonder if it's okay for me to "borrow" at some point.'
What was shocking was it was the GIRL who had the though, not the neko boy.
"Anyway, I'm Axis." the neko boy introduced himself
"I'm Kirrie, and this is my boyfriend, Ryan."
"Hello." he said.
"I'm Cielia." the girl said.
"Alright then. Moving on. Team 4 will be Ryan, Katie Hikari, Ginji Phoenix, and Crystal Serpentine."
The four that were announced had no need to move since they were already in their group along with a few others.
The first was around 6 feet tall with neck length silver hair. He was wearing a leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath and jeans. Around his neck was a dragon pendant concealed by the black, gang patterned bandana. He wore cowboy boots with a Spanish style to them. He also wore black sunglasses. If you looked at it in the right lighting, you would see his scleras were black and his irises were purple. At his side was a Raichu
The next one was a female around 5'8 with dark blue hair and eyes. She wore a denim jacket over a white t-shirt and uggs, as well as a black skirt. She looked like she could be Dawn's long lost sister. She also wore a wolf necklace.
The third one was male at 5'11 with red hair in a flame like style and eyes. He was wearing a red shirt and jacket, along with black jeans and black sneakers with a flame like pattern on them. Around his neck was a phoenix pendant.
The last one of the team stood around 5'9 with sea green hair and eyes. She was wearing a green shirt with a snake going in a downward spiral motion with the face looking out towards the looker. She was also wearing simple jeans. Around her neck was a serpent necklace.
"Looks like we're on opposing teams this year." Ginji said to Mike, who just gave him an intense look.
"I look forward to finally beating you in this year's tournament, Mike."
All he did was nod back.
"You better not disappoint me when we do meet again Mike. You've shown me your talent from Day 1 as a trainer, so I expect nothing but the best from you and the others." Ryan said sternly.
"I won't disappoint." Mike replied, which shocked the others a little. He always was the silent one in the group and only really spoke when giving out commands in battle.
"Whether we're on the same team or not doesn't matter, Ginji. It'll still be fun for all of us on the end." said Crystal.
"Yeah, besides, it'll give you and Ginji a chance to get closer." A different Sierra whispered to Crystal, who blushed.
"Like you with Mike?" asked/whispered Katie, smirking at seeing the tomboy blushing like an innocent schoolgirl.
"Perhaps you should ask me that AFTER you've gotten to Ryan." she countered, making the bluenette blush.
The crowd of competitors looked at the group of six after their little talks, not knowing what the hell they were saying, and the natives got a little surprise.
"Is that really the Shadow Dragon?" one spectator whispered.
"Yeah, it is." replied another.
"I can't believe he's competing this year, and with 3 of his friends. Que Suerte (1)!"
"Man, it's gonna be tough for the others."
"Tough, that's an understatement."
Ash and his friends were confused at what was going on with this group. He caught little stuff like "Shadow Dragon" and "one of the strongest."
"What's going on?" Ash whispered.
"I don't know, but from the looks of it, he's pretty well known around here." said May.
"It's the Shadow Dragon." replied a new voice.
Ash and his teammates turned around and saw Tai there.
"Hey Tai, how are you?"
"I'm doing fine Ash, and you?"
"Great. So, what's this about the "Shadow Dragon?"
"You see those 6 right there?" he asked pointing to the group.
"Yeah, what about them?" asked Ash.
"All of them, especially the one with the silver hair, built a reputation for being some of the most powerful trainers out there, even by Mesoa standards. Ryan's been called the Shadow Dragon because of a certain pokemon he has.
"What kind of Pokemon is it?" asked Ash
"It's a Hydreigon, but not just any Hydreigon. It's a shiny one, and it's said to be able to speak human language.
"Woah, you're kidding!" said a shocked Max.
"No, I'm not joking. What's more is that it's rumored to contain partial DNA traces from both Reshiram and Zekrom, enabling it to use their signature moves."
"How is that possible?" asked Brock.
"Sorry, but that would be going into too much depth of their past. You could ask them if you want, but they won't tell you anything. I've tried before, and they just shut me off."
Ash looked towards the group, and Ryan had done just the same thing. They made eye contact and knew one thing was for sure; things were going to be very intense this year.
"Okay. I understand the surprise, but I do have to continue. The next team will consist of Michael Hawk, Sierra Gonzales, Iris, and Cilan."
The Dragon Master-in-training and the connoisseur looked over to the group and saw a male around Ryan's height completely covered in purple ninja garbs wearing a Chinese umbrella hat and a girl around 5'10 wearing a loose shirt and pants. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail, and had brown eyes.
"Hi, my name's Iris."
"I'm Cilan, a Pokemon Connoisseur."
"The name's Sierra, nice to meet you two."
Mike just continued to look at them, uninterested,
"So, that must be Mike?" asked Iris,
"Yeah, he's Mike. He's the silent one in the group, so you really won't hear him talk all that much." replied Sierra.
"Oh, well I hope we'll be able to get along nicely." said Cilan.
"Probably. It really all depends on how well you can perform."
"Don't worry about that. I used to be a Gym Leader before I decided to join Ash and his friends in Unova."
"So you're one of the outsiders?" asked Sierra, getting a serious look in her eyes.
"Um..." Cilan had no response to the question, and could only swallow the lump that formed in his throat.
Sierra didn't wait for a response and decided to leave, Mike following not that far behind.
"I wonder what could've possibly caused them to become so upset with us." Iris asked sarcastically.
"Heh heh heh. Sorry, I forgot."
"Oh great. Not even 5 minutes as a team and things already look bad."
"The next team will consist of Paul Shinji, Ari Davies, Zoey Nozomi, and Jack-"
He was interrupted by an explosion nearby. As everyone looked towards the explosion, they saw that several trees had been incinerated by an extremely powerful blast of fire, launched by a Charizard from the last aforementioned trainer's party. Jack himself was about 6'4", and looked to be around 18 years old. He had eyes that were a shade of brown that could only be found naturally; in trees, an average build, black hair that was slightly spiked, and tan skin that was hazelnut-colored. He wore a blue, unzipped hoodie on top of a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers, and had a Pichu on his shoulder with a mischievous expression on its face.
The town representative glared at Jack, eyes blazing with fury, as he said, "Young man, we do not allow explosions at the Mesoa League's opening ceremonies! Please return your pokemon immediately, before I disqualify you from the League!"
Jack returned his Charizard to its Pokeball before running over to meet his teammates, yelling, "Sorry about that. Just eagerly anticipating the Mesoa League, and I needed an outlet for my energy."
Paul frowned and thought, 'I had to get stuck with losers this year.' As Zoey, Jack, and another guy with messy brown hair walked up (or, in Barry's case, ran). The third guy, at a height of around 5'9", had a pair of blue go-goggles on his forehead, just above his brown eyes. His clothes consisted of a black t-shirt with a pokeball icon on it, jeans, and a blue backpack.
The new guy said, "Hello. My name's Ari! I'm glad to meet you all!" as he shook everyone's hands. "I'm really glad to be in the Mesoa League! How about we battle to see our skills?" He then pulled out a pokeball and was about to throw it when Jack raised his hand to stop him
He yelled, "Listen, Ari. I know you're amped up as well, but don't make the same mistake I did. We don't want our team to be incomplete for the Mesoa League."
Paul gave a grunt of uncaring, Zoey looked at him oddly, and Ari frowned, sad that he hadn't been able to battle.
After this happened, Zoey thought, "This team should be quite interesting."
The representative then read off the next team. "The next team shall be 'Alex,' who, apparently, has no surname, Chase Gasnier, Jen Trinado, and Tim Commadan.
Alex, a guy about 5'7" wearing a white button-up shirt found someone around, age 18, standing at 6'1", wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and blue jeans, black-and-white sneakers, and a green hoodie, sleeping.
Alex said, "Nice to meet you. My name's Alex
Chase replied, "Chase." before falling asleep, still standing up. Alex facepalmed and shook him awake, saying, "Come on! We have teammates to meet!"
Chase woke up as two people walked up to them, hand in hand. The boy towered above most of the competition at a height of 6'3", and had blue hair with cold, icy blue eyes. His blue hair was only kept out of his eyes by a camouflage visor with three claw marks that extend all the way to the edge of the brim of the visor. He had on black-and-yellow headphones that appeared to be playing a background soundtrack to his everyday life. He wore a black, long-sleeved, unbuttoned shirt over a white t-shirt with a tribal design on it. Blue jeans and shoes which were black with blue soles and a yellow flame design on them completed the outfit.
The girl who was walking beside him was about 5'5" with long, sandy blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back. The girl also had very vibrant green eyes which seemed to get darker the lighter it is out.
Alex waved to them, saying, "Hey, guys! You ready to win this League?"
The two newcomers, Tim and Jen, nodded briefly to Alex's statement, as they sat down next to the two boys, as Chase had once again fallen asleep.
Alex, facepalming once again, shook Chase awake furiously, saying, "For Arceus' sake, Chase, wake up! You're going to make a bad impression on our teammates!"
Jen smiled at her boyfriend and said, "Well, having these two on a team is certainly going to make this year interesting."
Tim responded, "Agreed." before sitting back and letting the music take over.
The candy-cane-esque man continued, "The eighth team in this year's Mesoa League will be Dean Cooper, Corey Spina, Desiree "Dez" Clark, and Zero Sage."
Dean thought, 'A pity I'm not on Chase's team this year. But, I bet my team's going to be awesome!' as he walked over to where his team was supposed to meet. Dean wore army-style cargo pants, a gray sleeveless shirt, and brown boots.
The three people that walked up all came from separate directions. The first, who walked with a Raichu beside him, and was older, was about 5'10", had lightly tanned skin, and looked muscular. His hair was a light brown, but was strangely spiked only in the front. His eyes, a light brown, almost a hazel, seemed to exude an aura of calmness that extended to all around him. He wore a blue shirt with a symbol that proclaimed his love for the game of hockey by the National Hockey League insignia, white shorts with horizontal blue stripes on the edges, and a pair of sunglasses clipped to his waist. The most noticeable article of clothing were his sleeveless gloves, colored blue with a lightning bolt emblazoned on the backs.
The second guy looked to be around Dean's age, but just a little older, wearing a determined expression on his face. In addition to his mindset, he had two differently colored eyes; one blue and one blood-red. He was tall; around 6 feet, and wore blue jeans, a half-white, half-black shirt with the legendary dragons of Unova, Reshiram and Zekrom, on either side. He wore black running shoes, and gloves with another legendary duo: Latios and Latias.
The final member of the team was a girl, around 5 feet tall, with orange hair, with a brown streak just at the front. She had on a light blue tank top under a short-sleeved blazer colored in a darker blue, baggy black capris, running shoes that were also black, and a pokeball dangling from a black string around her neck.
The older guy said, "Well, I suppose this is our team for this year. Congratulations on making it into the Mesoa League. The name's Corey. Nice to meet all of you."
The younger guy said, "Zero's the name. Glad to make your acquaintance."
The girl said, "Sweet! Let's win this, everyone! The name's Desiree, but you can call me 'Dez.' "
Dean finished with, "And my name's Dean. Let's win this all, Corey, Zero, and Dez! We got this!"
Portwood's representative continued once again, saying, "The ninth team will be Jared Marks, Elizabeth and Anya Heart, and Tobias Takuto."
The two sisters in question, Elizabeth and Anya, immediately high-fived and hugged, saying, "Yes! We're on the same team!" at practically the same time. Elizabeth was young to be in the tournament at the age of twelve, but no one really paid it mind since the tournament expanded so much from here. She was a bit small in height in comparison to some of the other trainers there, at 4'2", but her amber eyes outshone them all in determination and spirit. She had bright red hair that was tied into a ponytail, a sleeveless light blue t-shirt with a mermaid's silhouette on the back, and a short green skirt. She wears a Silver Wing around her neck, and guards it as if it had some deeper meaning.
Her older sister, Anya, took care of Elizabeth, as she was seven years older than her. In contrast to her sister's appearance, Anya stood at 5'1", with deep green eyes and long, brown hair, arranged in two curly locks on either side of her face. She wore a black, long-sleeved shirt, short white jeans, a blue-and-white scarf tied in her hair, and a mermaid necklace around her neck.
Just then, another coordinator walked up to them. He looked to be a couple years younger then Anya, and stood at a height of 6'2". He had hazelnut skin, blue eyes and spiky brown hair. He had on a pair of black shorts, white sneakers and a yellow shirt, and had an acoustic guitar slung around his neck.
He walked up to the girls and played a riff or major guitar chords as he said, "Hello to you all. My name's Jared Marks, and it's a pleasure to meet both of you."
Elizabeth said, "My name is Bess, and this is my sister Anya. Nice to meet'ya as well," shaking his hand.
Anya interrupted, "Wait a second... Since we're all coordinators, shouldn't there be a Trainer on our team?"
Jared frowned. "Yeah. Where is... Tobias, I think his name was?"
Tobias, the fourth member of the team, watched patiently from the sidelines, pondering the team he had been given. He came to the conclusion, 'This year's Mesoa League will be a challenge. I can already see so many powerful people: my previous opponent Ash Ketchum, the infamous Shadow Dragon, and I'm sure there are many others, like Daisuke, the one who brought me here. Either way, it's sure to be an intense affair, and it will take all my focus to survive.'
"The next team shall be Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower, Tracey Sketchit, and Beryl Strange."
Misty, Gary, and Tracey high-fived, happy that they wouldn't be separated from their friends. Misty, however, took a glance backwards at Ash, who was conversing with May, Max, and Brock, when a voice reached out to the trio of Team Ten, saying, "Hello. You ready to win this?" She was a girl with a slightly toned, perfect hourglass figure that stood at 5'4", her curly, strawberry blonde hair extended to barely below her chest, with a fringe swept to the left side of her head. her skin tone was light, but she had only a few freckles on her face. She wore small earrings, white sneakers and a matching strapless, mid-thigh length dress, a purple-and-yellow leather jacket that cut in at the waist, and a matching pair of fingerless gloves.
Tracey asked, "So, I'm assuming you're Beryl? Where are you from?"
Beryl retaliated, "My past is none of your business, and you have no right to know!"
Misty was confused by this strange new girl that had walked in on them, and a little mad. Gary, however, stepped in with, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No need to get so hyped up... look, we're sorry. Perhaps we just got off on the wrong foot. My name's Gary, this is Misty, and this is Tracey."
Beryl calmed down a bit, saying, "Hello to you all. My name's Beryl. Nice to meet you."
Gary sighed in relief, but then thought, 'The tension is going to be pretty high on this team with both Misty and Beryl... I hope I can keep the peace long enough for friendship to take root.'
"The next team shall be Tyson Silva, Trentavious Phoenix, Kai Anderson, and Evangelyne Wilde."
Kai stood near where his team would meet, keeping on his trademark smile; he never went anywhere without it. Kai had tannish skin with a good build, stood at 5'8 and wore a plain black shirt with blue jeans. Kai also had hazel green eyes and spiked-up hair.
Again, three people joined Kai, and they must have been the quietest team thus far.
One was 6'3" with long, spiky, grey hair that leaned to the right, as well as steel grey eyes with a lean build with some muscle showing, lightly tanned skin, and a small goatee forming on his chin. He wore an open, black long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows over a light grey t-shirt, a black belt around faded grey pants, and black-and-white sneakers. He appeared to not care about anything as he walked up to the rendezvous point, listening to music with a blank expression on his face.
The second was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a long, button-down black vest. He seemed to radiate an aura of coldness, and the air around him seemed to be several degrees colder than what it really was, although it really wasn't.
The third person was a 5-foot tall girl with blue eyes and hair that was black; all except for the top of it, where it was dyed red. She had a tattoo of a Solrock- No, wait, a sun, on her right cheek, wore a blue t-shirt that had a small white circle on the front, and a black skirt. She appeared to be a calming presence, but had a fire in her eyes that was impressive by any counts.
Kai walked up to the trio and said, "Well, hello, everyone. I'm assuming you're the only ones going in the right direction, because this road leads to the winner's circle. By the way, the name's Kai Anderson. Pleasure to meet all of you teammates."
The first guy nodded, pulling off his headphones long enough to hear Kai's introduction. He said, "Tyson Silva." and looked at the other members of the group, waiting for them to say their names.
The colder guy said, "Trentavious Phoenix. But, I do prefer Trent." in a way that sent chills down everyone's spine.
The only girl in the group said, "Evangalyne Wilde. But Eva would be fine, I guess."
Kai remarked, "Now that we know each others' names, let's get to know each other better with a nice spot of tea." in a British accent. Tyson just shook his head and plugged his earphones back in, although a smile formed on everyone's face.
"The next team will be Tai Ishihara, Katherine Fuller, Eclipse Silverline, and Laura De Vos."
Tai nodded to Ash, saying "See ya round. Got to go."
Ash replied, "Bye, Tai. See you 'round."
Tai walked over to where three people were standing, waving at them as he walked up. As they nodded in return, Tai was able to determine their appearances.
The first was a woman that was around 6'6" with long hair, of a variety of red that could only be described as rust. Her eyes were blue, and, strangely enough, she had a thin scar running down her arm. She wore a red shirt with long sleeves and a pink skirt that reached to her knees and brown boots. She also had an orange headband, a blue poketch, and an orange handkerchief.
The second was only a bit younger than the first, and had emerald green eyes that shone with fierceness. His silver hair was tied back into a sleek ponytail, usually worn by the aristocracy that settled just below his shoulders. His face was politically-shaped; pointed, his skin was tanned, and his figure was somewhat muscular and well-toned. He wore black jeans, which were circled by a black belt, a white t-shirt under a black, unbuttoned, long-sleeved dress shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots. He also wore a pair of sunglasses that seemed "in style" and a black onyx ring with a silver ring band as well as a diamond center, which seemed precious to him. He appeared to glare coldly at Tai before looking at his other teammates.
The third was one of the younger competitors, a girl much younger than most of the other competitors. She looked to be around 12 years old, and had flowing brown-blonde hair. She had a well-toned figure, semi-tanned skin, hazel eyes, and stood at 4'11". She wore a neon purple tank top that was covered by a navy blue, unzipped jacket with a white lightning bolt down the center. She had black shorts and running shoes, as well as a sky blue hairband.
Tai nodded to the trio as the woman said, "You seem to be quite talented. My name's Laura De Vos. Nice to meet you... Tai, was it?"
Tai nodded once again as he looked to the other guy in the group. He snarled, "Eclipse." Before going a short distance away, and generally being antisocial.
Tai frowned and asked, "Is he always like that?"
The younger girl answered, "He's pretty much been like that all day. Well, ever since we met him. My name's Katherine, but you can call me Katy."
Tai smiled, and said, "Well hello, Katy. Nice to make your acquaintance."
Tai reached his hand out to shake her hand, when all of a sudden, Tai jumped back a few feet as a verdant blade of energy slashed the air where his hand was a ssecond earlier.
Katy glared at the pokemon that had attacked Tai; a Sceptile. Surprisingly, the Sceptile flinched in response.
She then scolded the Sceptile, saying, "Marie, haven't I told you not to attack strangers?"
The Sceptile drooped its head in sadness, saying, "Scep-Sceptile..." sadly.
Katy then hugged Marie saying, "I know you only want to protect me, but it's not a wise choice to attack someone without a foresight and a reason. So, try to stay away from that, okay?"
Marie nodded, smiling, saying, "Tile tile-Sceptile." as Katy returned the Forest pokemon to its pokeball.
She then looked apologetically at Tai, saying, "Sorry about Marie... She's been by protector ever since we arrived in Mesoa, and she's a bit tense around strangers, so..."
Tai smirked and gave an understanding smile as he actually completed the handshake this time.
"The next team shall be Kellan Kreiss, Zack Oliver, Tommy, and Kimberly."
Zack, a sixteen-year-old, walked up to his team's designated point. Zack had tan skin, brown eyes, an average build, a mess of black, spiky hair, and stood at 6'3". This trainer wore black jean shorts and a plain green t-shirt under a checkered green-and-black button-up shirt. He had a calm expression on his face as he searched among the crowd for his other team members
However, this calmness was not to last. As he walked up to the meeting place, he bumped into another person, presumably a teammate. He had messy black hair that was almost bluish, which reached almost to his shoulders. However, a tuft of hair protruded over his forehead, and small strands of it also pointed upwards. His eyes were also strange: red, slitted pupils. He also had an oxymoronic slim yet muscular figure, lightly tanned skin, and stood about an inch taller than Zack. He wore a jacket with a raised collar over a blue shirt with a purple stripe at the end of the neck. The jacket was the inverse of the shirt's color scheme; purple with a blue stripe down the sleeves. The raised collar of the jacket had a thin black stripe on it. He also wore blue jeans, purple sneakers with blue laces, and a XTransceiver on his right wrist. He seemed uncaring to everything, which kind of creeped Zack out.
Just then, a voice called, "Hey, Zack!" The Zack in question turned around to see two of his friends, Kimberly and Tommy.
Kimberly was 5'9" and skinny, with a white skin tone, green eyes, and long, curly black hair. She wore a blue-and-black jacket over a pink t-shirt as well as a blue-and-black headband. She seemed to be the most expressive of the group, as she ran up and hugged Zack.
Tommy was also skinny and had a white skin tone, but with blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. Tommy wore a red-and-white hoodie as well as black jeans. He seemed to care about pokemon a lot, but also his friends, as he smirked as soon as Kimberly ran up to hug Zack.
"Well, I'm glad you two lovebirds meet once again, but I'm sure there'll be more time for that later." Kimberly and Zack both blushed as Tommy turned to the new guy. "Since I know everyone else, I'm just going to call you New Guy. So, New Guy, I'm Tommy, and the two people that are obviously in love over there are Zack and Kimberly, respectively."
As Zack and Kimberly's blushes became redder still, The "New Guy" said, "The name's Kellan. Kellan Kreiss. Nice to meet you all."
Kimberly shook Kellan's hand and smiled, saying, "Nice to meet you too, Kellan."
Tommy teased her again, saying, "Well, it appears as if Zack has been left in the dust. Better luck next girlfriend, buddy." Tommy only laughed in a friendly kind of way as Zack and Kimberly's blushes somehow managed to become even redder than before.
Kellan looked around and saw Eclipse. He heard the announcement and was looking for him. After he found him, he saw Eclipse doing something with his Pokegear. Kellan's started to ring after that. He looked at the message that said: "You better not be a disappointment this year, Kellan."
Kellan glared at his rival and vowed he would be the one to take Eclipse down
"The next team shall be Seth Trodaire, a different Zach, Siphon Rayzar, and Maxwell Hendricks."
One of the members of the group was already at the rendezvous point. His name was Maxwell Hendricks, and he was not impressed with the three trainers that were walking up to him.
The first trainer that walked up was 6'3", with a slightly muscular build, although he was big-boned, and had a mass of brownish-red hair upon his head. He wore jeans with a blue shirt under a black jacket, and had black shoes and glasses just over his dark blue eyes. He had a pendant with the legendary pokemon Mew on it as well as a ring of amethyst upon his right hand's middle finger. His skin was lightly tanned, he had freckles on his arms and legs, and seemed like a reserved, quiet person.
The second was of an average height, having Orange hair that was spiked towards the back, and had blue eyes. He wore an orange shirt with an olive green stripe around its middle as well as shorts of the same olive green, and appeared to have quite the passion for battling.
The third stood at six feet tall, looked to be about sixteen years old, as well as slightly tanned skin, an average build, and was slightly muscular. His hair was unexplicably white, which was long and droooped to just below his eyes, which were of an icy blue, with a somewhat misty look to them. Something interesting about this guy was that he had a Japanese symbol tattooed on the back of his right shoulder... I believe it stands for "Honor." He also wore a ring with amethyst on it; except this one had a silver ring band and a white spine. Maxwell made a mental note to keep the two guys on his team with rings of amethyst apart. To solve this, he saw that this guy's clothes were slightly different than the first guy's. His clothes were jeans, and he also wore a black jacket. However, his jacket was leather with gold edgings on the shoulders and arms. This jacket was over a white t-shirt, and he wore heavier shoes/work boots.
Maxwell himself was kind of skinny and had a kind of pale skin tone. He always wore a business suit, and carried a cane with him at all times. He had blonde hair that was slicked back, so that he kind of looked like a business executive, and intelligent blue eyes that reflected his attitude, which was, in fact. quite arrogant and prideful. He was just a hair under six feet tall, and sighed with disappointment at the three trainers that came his way.
Maxwell, said, "Well, look what the cat dragged in. And just who might you be?"
The second boy, with the jet-black hair, spoke up first "My name's Zach. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, as he stuck his hand out, intended to shake hands.
Maxwell, however, slapped his hand away with the cane. "I do not usually confer with individuals of a lower class, but I suppose I shall make an exception for now."
Zach gave a halfhearted 'Seriously, Dude?' stare at Maxwell, as if he was so used to being happy that anger was a foreign emotion, shaking his hand in pain.
The two others looked at each other, especially at their amethyst rings. They reached their hands up at the same time, and shook hands. They both nodded to each other, but then realized that there were a few differences which kept them from being complete doppelgangers, such as height and everyday clothes.
The first person spoke up, "The name's Siphon Rayzar. It's nice to meet you."
The third person nodded to Siphon, and then continued, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Siphon. My name is Seth Trodaire."
Siphon put his hand out again, and Seth hesitantly shook it while Zach was still weakly glaring at Maxwell, who callously stared off in a different direction.
Seth looked towards Eclipse and Kellan and knew one thing for sure: this competition just got a lot more intense for the three of them
"The next team will be Ryan Morgan, James Czar, Henry Green, and Keagal "Kean" Aviatus."
Henry let out a sigh of relief upon learning he would not be on the same team with his rival, Maxwell, so he walked over to the rendezvous point to see what his teammates were this year.
Henry was 18, had short, messy brown hair and sharp green eyes, and was six feet tall. He had an athletic build, but was decently strong. Henry wore a white t-shirt with the M1A2 Abrams model tank on it, combat boots, green cargo shorts, and fingerless gloves. Despite his military appearance, he was really a kind and caring person. Henry also had a genius intellect, but he rarely played that card.
Henry was just about to get to the rendezvous point when he was toppled over by another guy. At first, Henry suspected it was Barry (whom Ash had told him about earlier that norning), but then realized it was someone else. The person who had crashed into Henry was about three inches shorter than Henry, but had a muscular build. He had sky blue hair with whitish tips at the end, which extended to just below his neck. His hair was covered by a dark blue bandanna with the eyes of a Taillow on it, whose "tails" extended to just below his knees. His eyes were of a vibrant red coloration, which could be easily recognized. He wore a white muscle shirt under an unbuttoned sky blue polo shirt. He also wore dark brown cargo shorts, and part of his left arm was wrapped in cloth. He also had a light brown duffel bag, black fingerless gloves and combat boots, a Lunar Wing dangling from a chain wrapped around his right shoulder, and a blue pair of headphones that were shaped like eighth notes.
The other guy literally sprang to his feet and held out a hand to Henry, who took it.
The new guy said, "Well, hello! I'm Keagal Aviatus, but you can call me Kean!"
Henry nodded to Kean and smiled before saying, "Greetings to you as well, Kean. The name's Henry Green. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Kean then pointed in a different direction and said, "Look! More teammates!"
Kean was correct; two more people were walking towards the duo. The first looked to be between thirteen and fourteen years of age, and stood at 3'11". He had brown eyes, was dark-skinned, and had black hair. He wore a blue-and-black shirt under a green jacket, wore red shorts, and had yellow-and-white Vans.
The second person was 6'1" and had blonde hair with reddish tips that, at the front, extended to just below his eyebrows. He wore dark blue jeans that dropped to the heels of his sneakers, which were black and white, with a blue Nike symbol on them. However, he also wore a black sleeveless shirt, over which hung a black "X," which made up the sheaths of two katana blades, which were strapped across his back. He also had lightly tanned skin and on his left bicep was a tattoo of two crossed swords.
Kean waved at the two people, who simply nodded back. as they reached the rendezvous, Kean shook both their hands vigorously and said, "Hello, both of you! My name is Kean Aviatus!" Then, pointing to Henry, he said, "And this is Henry Green! What are your names?"
The younger one was the first to respond. "My name is James Czar. Nice to meet you."
The other person then said, "Ryan Morgan. It's a pleasure."
Henry asked, "Do you ever get tired, Kean?"
Kean, used to this question, responded, "What's tired?" Much to the dismay of the other three, who sweatdropped.
"The final team in this year's Mesoa League shall be a quartet of kids known as Chris, Bill, Platinum, and Jillian."
The quartet of 21-year-olds gave a collective, "Yeah!" upon finding out they were on the same team.
Chris wore a blue shirt, and had a green jacket in his backpack in case it got cold. His hand was intertwined with that of Platinum, who wore a red coat over pink clothes.
Two other people, stood next to each other; another boy and girl. The girl, who was named Jillian, wore the same clothes as Platinum; pink clothes covered by a red coat; but the guy next to her, who was named Bill, wore a backwards cap, as well as red clothes with a blue jacket.
Chris sighed to his team, and then said, "Well, I'm just glad that no girls have tried to make a move on me, seeing that I'm dating Platinum and all."
Platinum agreed with, "Agreed. I really hope that doesn't happen again. It's infuriating, as a girlfriend, to constantly have people trying to take away your boyfriend."
Chris tightened his grip on Platinum's hand, then, as they reached the rendezvous point, pulled her into a hug, concurring with her statement.
Jillian's eyes were glossing over the terrain around her, searching for anything that might be of value. She was a natural-born treasure hunter, and valuable items brightened her eyes, and every new discovery brightened her day.
Bill gazed longingly at the treasure hunter. He thought to himself, 'I love her. I've known that for a while now. But... I guess I'm just too scared or nervous to tell her. I suppose I'll have to someday, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
Chris and Platinum continued to hug, clearly enjoying each other's company, while Jillian scoured the landscape for valuable items while Bill's stare at her intensified, showing that he was clearly battling his own emotions.
The town representative smiled at the teams, then said, "Let us all welcome our 16 teams to this year's Mesoa League!" To which the crowd erupted with applause and cheers.
The town representative then continued, "Now, seeing as this is the first year that we have allowed... outsiders," he spoke the last word with clear hate, "we are beginning a new tradition about the Mesoa League: a battle of past champions!" The crowd applauded once again, yet the cheers were more vigorous then before. "So, we will ask our teams to be seated at the benches that are now arising from the stadium sidelines." As he spoke, bleachers rose from the side of the court big enough for the 64 people to sit down comfortably. Even Michael Hawk and Sierra Gonzalez, who had walked away upon learning their teammates were outsiders, came back upon the mentioning of two previous Mesoa League Champions meeting in battle.
"But first, let me introduce the referee for today's battle, Professor Sugi!"
Everyone cheered as the teams looked at the woman rising dramatically from the floor. She had brown eyes and hair, and stood at 5'7". She wore a light blue blouse and navy blue skirt under the standard white lab coat.
Immediately, Brock jumped up to flirt with her, but Max pulled his ear to stop him before he even got away from the bleachers. Ash and May looked at him strangely before he said, "I guess it was just too much at this point. Besides, she's a little old for you, Brock." Brock fell to the floor in "grief" as the rest of his team, Dawn, and Misty just sweatdropped.
"The first Champion shall be... Alexander Stolikov!" The crowd cheered ever louder as a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties arose on one side of the battlefield. He was 5'11" and wore a navy shirt, indigo pants, and had a pair of goggles around his neck. He also had tanned skin and a well-trimmed beard, and if one looked closely, they could see that he had a tattoo of a Drapion on his chest.
"And, his opponent shall be a slightly more recent champion, Samuel Esquane, the Aura Master!"
Everyone looked at him in unison and exclaimed, "Aura Master?!"
He certainly looked the part. Samuel rose at the other side of the coliseum. He stood at about an inch shorter than his opponent and had lightly tanned skin. His hair was brown with gold-and-white streaks running throughout, and he had a semimuscular build. He wore a gold t-shirt with a Dusk Ball emblazoned on the front under an unzipped green jacket with a horizontal white stripe down the center. He also had on dark blue jeans, white-and-black shoes, and sky blue fingerless gloves with an image of a Lucario on each glove. A real Lucario, although it was Shiny, was standing next to him.
He smiled at Professor Sugi, who blushed. Brock frowned in embarassment. however, the others didn't notice, because they just stared intensely at the stadium, ready for the epic battle that was soon to cone.
Professor Sugi went on with the referee's speech: "This will be a best two-out-of-three match. Each trainer will use one pokemon per round. There will be no substitutions. Do any of you have anything to say before the match commences?"
Alexander spoke up, which was a rare occurrence, saying, "Mesoa Pokemon last, since it'll be the most intense battle of them all."
Samuel nodded, saying, "Agreed. Professor Sugi, you can continue."
Professor Sugi nodded at Samuel, and then said, "Is everyone ready?"
The crowd roared in approval and the 16 teams just stared longingly at the battlefield, waiting on the action.
Alexander nodded, and Samuel glowed, for a second, with a golden and green aura before returning to normal.
Professor Sugi continued, "Let the battle begin!" Inciting voluminous applause from all the audience.
Samuel nodded to Alexander before saying, "Show your inner strength! Forward, Joan!" and throwing a Great Ball.
At the same time, Alexander threw his pokeball, saying, "It's your turn! Let's go, Aerodactyl!"
Everyone watched as two pokemon formed from the energy bursts. The first looked like an ancient pterodactyl with a grey-purple body, and had wings, a tail, and many sharp teeth; enough to make any normal trainer shiver in fear. It let out a challenging roar at the other pokemon that appeared.
Samuel's Pokemon appeared like a knight, except much smaller and buglike, even having armor. However, this was no ordinary Escavalier. Instead of the normal silver armor, hers was pastel blue. Instead of red striped and crest, hers was striped gold-and-blue and her crest was gold. It glared defiantly at Aerodactlyl and motioned for its trainer to continue.
Professor Sugi continued, "Aerodactyl vs. Escavalier! Begin!"
"Alright, Joan! Let's start with a Swords Dance!"
The blue Escavalier complied, and several images of swords clashing surrounded Joan as it did a strange dance. Also, Joan's lances got longer and sharper.
"Use Fire Fang!" Alexander called.
'I see you're not wasting any time, Alexander.' Samuel thought as he grinned and thought up a counter... literally.
"Take the hit, Escavalier!"
People in the stands were awed at the risk that Samuel was taking. "That move is Ultra-Effective: Four times the normal damage!"Brock remarked."It'll never survive!" People yelled and jeered at Samuel.
As Aerodactyl, its mouth cloaked in fire, got closer and closer, Samuel's smirk only increased as he said, "Well, I never said she would be taking it lightly. Use X-Scissor to block it!"
The Escavalier's sharpened lances crossed and became covered with Bug-type energy. At this point, Aerodactyl crashed into the defending blades, creating a small explosion.
When the smoke cleared, both attacks were still going on strong. Even with all the momentum Aerodactyl had, it was unable to beat the sheer power of Escavalier.
At this point, Cilan commented, "Interesting. Two powerful Pokemon with their powers practically evenly matched. I'm impressed with the flavor in this dish." Michael and Sierra stared at him in confusion. Iris sweatdropped and said, "You get used to it eventually."
As the struggle continued, Alexander called out to his prehistoric Pokemon, "Aerodactyl! Change from Fire Fang to Thunder Fang to Ice Fang in quick succession!"
Its fangs changed from being cloaked in flames to being surrrounded with electricity to covered in ice once every second; similar to a physical version of the move Tri Attack. Escavalier began to shudder, even with its power. Aerodactlyl eventually had all three elements in its mouth at once, and it appeared that all was lost.
Samuel just smiled and remarked, "Counter."
Escavalier let go of the lance, allowing the Aerodactyl's fangs to hit the Cavalry Pokemon. Then, as it flew over Escavalier's head and turned in midair to go in for another attack, Joan slammed it with a tremendous amount of force; double the amount of damage it took.
Aerodactyl was by no means out yet, however. Alexander called, "Use Substitute!" to him as it flew back to his side of the field. Aerodactyl suddenly vanished, leaving a small, dinosaur-shaped doll in its place. Samuel told Joan, "We can beat this, Joan! Use Iron Head!" Joan complied and charged at the Substitute, its body becoming cloaked in not the normal silver energy, but a pastel blue. The Iron Head attack hit the Substitute, but did not destroy it.
Alexander called out, "Use Rest!" To the Aerodactyl. Samuel realized that he had to beat that Substitute before Aerodactyl was awake again in three turns. He then knew that no moves would do that except for one. Samuel sighed as he said "Alright, Joan! Use Aura Sphere!"
The entire stadium, even his opponent, was in awe. Alexander burst out, "That Pokemon's not supposed to know Aura Sphere! How is this possible?!"
Samuel responded, "All it takes is extensive training, heart, and above all, determination." The Escavalier charged a pastel blue ball of energy between its two lances. "Let me explain." Samuel continued. "This Escavalier is only able to use Aura Sphere because it has been transformed, by me, through a long and extensive process over the years, to utilize Aura. I can only do this because it is tied with Lucario for having the greatest bond with me among my Pokemon. That's also the reason for the alternately colored armor: Her aura is blue, and mine is gold. Thus is the power of Aura."
By now, the orb had grown to the size of Escavalier herself, and Samuel said, "Attack!" The Aura Sphere flew towards the Substitute, and both the orb of energy and pseudo-pokemon exploded, revealing a sleeping Aerodactyl.
Samuel, however, seemed as if some of his energy had been taken away, and was now panting. Alexander asked, "You OK down there?"
Samuel responded, "Yeah. It's just a side effect of the Aura Sphere... takes away a bit of my energy every time Joan uses it."
Alexander nodded, before saying, "Aerodactyl, Sleep Talk!"
Aerodactyl didn't just talk; it released a hypersonic wave at Escavalier. This wave had an unforeseen effect when it made Joan's armor vibrate at a pitch that instantly woke up Aerodactyls, fully refreshed. Professor Sugi looked at Alexander in confusion, who only shrugged, confused as well.
Alexander continued, "Alright, Aerodactyl, use Dragon Tail!" as the Fossil Pokemon swung in with its tail charged with draconic energy.
Joan charged another Aura Sphere itself, seemingly communicating with Samuel by thought alone. Although this Aura Sphere was significantly smaller than the first, it still exploded on contact, effectively parrying its strike from a distance.
They both said, "Use a ramming attack!" leaving it up to the Pokemon to choose. Escavalier, obeying the order, began charging at the pterosaur with an Iron Head. However, Aerodactyl used Smack Down instead, which turned out to be a good decision, as it knocked Escavalier down to the ground.
Immediately, Joan charged another Aura Sphere, bigger than all the previous ones, and looked to be akin to a bomb. Aerodactyl fired DragonBreath, Smack Down, Flamethrower, and even Hyper Beam at the Cavalry Pokemon. However, the Aura Bomb just absorbed the projectile attacks, and evaporated the Smack Down attacks instantly. When it reached a point where it was more than twice Escavalier's size, Samuel said, "Release!" And Joan certainly did, throwing at the flying pterosaur. The Although Aerodactyl nimbly evaded the bomb by mere inches, it exploded once it hit the ground, and Aerodactyl got caught in the blast radius.
After the smoke cleared, the Fossil Pokemon was clearly down, and both Joan and Samuel were panting.
Professor Sugi declared, "And the winner of this round is Joan and Samuel!" And were met with uproarious applause.
At that point, Samuel fell backwards onto the battlefield, exhausted. Professor Sugi ran over to check his condition as Alexander returned his Aerodactyl.
Professor Sugi asked, "Are you okay?"
Samuel responded, "Of course, Sugi. All I need is a glass of water and I'll be good as new." Sugi nodded, and ordered a bystander, which happened to be M, to get him a glass of water. He nodded and ran off to the nearest exit. As soon as M was out of sight, he moved at an almost extreme speed, pouring the water into a cup within milliseconds. He jogged back, not wanting to spill a drop of water. Within seconds, he was back at the arena.
As he gave the cup to Samuel, he also gave him a bit of his energy through the silver aura he possessed. Samuel grinned, nodded to M, and said. "The force is strong in this one," then jumped to his feet, ready to start the next match, as if he had gotten an extra life in a video game.
Professor Sugi walked back to her post as Samuel returned Escavalier, smiling and thanking it for its efforts telepathically.
Professor Sugi then continued, "It's time for round two, everyone!" She was met with more applause and cheers. M mused, "If people keep yelling like this, they'll lose their voices before the battle is over."
Professor Sugi then continued, "Trainers, choose your Pokemon!"
Samuel looked at his Lucario, who shook his head. Samuel nodded and then said, "Vincent! Show the power within yourself!" He threw out a Net Ball, strangely enough.
At the same time, Alexander called out, "It's your turn, now! Let's go, Drapion!" throwing a pokeball as well.
Out from the Pokeballs, two pokemon appeared. The first appeared to be a squid-like creature, with frilly tentacles and a crown-like structure around its head. It also had pale green skin, beady red-violet eyes, and what appeared to be a white mustache.
The second pokemon was what looked like a scorpion, but was about a hundred times bigger, and had four legs and two "arms." It had a long, segmented body, with bulky arms and a tail, with alternate segments in different shades of crimson and pink. It had white fangs and pincers (and tail pincers, surprisingly), as well as sky blue eyebrows and circles on its "hands" and tail.
Professor Sugi was ecstatic about this gathering of Shiny Pokemon. "Shiny Jellicent vs. Shiny Drapion! Begin!"
Alexander called out, "Swords Dance!" Drapion emulated the dance that Samuel's Escavalier was doing earlier, and the same images of clashing swords appeared in the air.
Samuel gave his usual smirk, and said, "Will o'Wisp. Just like we practiced." Vincent nodded and bounced happily in the air, much to Alexander's chagrin.
He called out, "Get on with it already! This is battle, not a game!" He looked around at his opponent, who glared at him. Jellicent then created several tongues of flame around him. He then rapidly spun around in a circle and, to everyone's surprise, the flames joined together, forming a ring of fire. He then said, "Psychic that Ring and do it again!" Jellicent repeated the process until he was surrounded by several fiery rings. Samuel smirked and thought, 'Try getting through that, Alexander.'
Drapion roared at Jellicent, his pincers now razor-sharp. "Drapion! Use Earthquake!" The scorpion-esque pokemon obliged, slamming its tail on the ground, causing the earth to tremble. Jellicent began to lose its concentration, and rings began to fade.
Samuel yelled, "Quickly! Fire a ring at Drapion!"
Vincent did just that, nailing Drapion in the face and burning it.
Drapion was mad now. Alexander called, "Take your anger out on Jellicent! Use Poison Missile!" The Ogre Scorp Pokemon complied, charging its pincers with cross poison, then firing off its pin missiles throughout the toxin, coating them with the poisonous substance.
Samuel smirked and said, "Acid Armor!" Vincent faded into a small pool of water. As the missiles flew ever closer to the now-liquified Jellicent, Samuel yelled, "Scald! Just like we practiced!" A blast of steaming water flew out of the pool of water and intercepted the missiles, creating another explosion. This time, when the smoke cleared, Jellicent was gone!"
Everyone looked at Samuel in awe, whose smile only grew. "Jellicent isn't completely gone, actually. Use Surf!"
A wave appeared from behind Drapion and slammed into the Scorpion Pokemon. When the wave passed by Drapion, it revealed Jellicent, in one piece, several feet above the ground.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, looked to Samuel for an explanation. "It's all simple science, people. When Jellicent used Acid Armor, it basically became a pool of water. Then, when it used Scald, it reached its boiling point, and thus turned into an ethereal, or gaseous, form. Its molecules were held together with Psychic. Then, upon using surf, it cooled down again, and thus reappeared."
By then Alexander was amazed and frustrated by his opponent's preordained tactics. "Just battle me without all this magic, Samuel!"
Samuel shrugged, "It's not magic, but whatever. Shadow Ball." Jellicent charged a ball of shadowy energy, then fired it at Drapion.
Alexander countered with, "Fire Fang!" Drapion, its fangs cloaked in flames, chomped down upon the shadow ball, filling its mouth with shadowy energy as well. Samuel cursed under his breath.
Alexander smirked at Samuel and said, "Ultimate Fang!" Once again, Alexander's Pokemon combined the elements of fire, ice, and electricity, except this time, the fangs had ghostly and umbral energy as well (from the moves Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Crunch, and the Shadow Ball it absorbed, respectively).
Samuel commanded his Jellicent to use, "Recover!" before the big hit. As Jellicent was restoring his energy, Drapion quickly became mad and Night Slashed it in the face, ending its recovery. Then, it chomped down, and all types of energy, 60% of which were super effective, shocked Jellicent. Immediately, Vincent's happy, carefree self was gone, although he was at very low health. Samuel then urged Jellicent to use, "Giga Drain!" But, sadly, the Floating Pokemon was Paralyzed from the Drapion's Powerful Jaw Strike.
Alexander then saw his opportunity, and called, "Use Crunch, Drapion! End it!" However, when he tried to use it, an apparition of a skull appeared in front of Drapion, stopping it from Crunching Vincent. Samuel said, "That would be Jellicent's Cursed Body. It-"
"I know what Cursed Body does, you auratized freak!" Alexander said, clearly frustrated and angered by Samuel. "Use Venoshock, then!" Drapion fired a shot of a ferocious toxin at Jellicent, who was in pain. A few seconds afterward, Vincent fell to the ground, exhausted. "Vincent!"
Sugi remarked, "The second round goes to Alexander and Drapion!"
Alexander said, "You did good, Drapion. Rest now, okay?"
Drapion nodded and said, "Pi Dra-Drapion," before returning to its pokeball.
Samuel told Vincent, "That was a stunning battle, my friend. Rest easy now, for we have much to do later. Now, though, you deserve a break."
Vincent just nodded before returning to its pokeball.
Professor Sugi then called to the crowd; the teams, especially, and yelled, "You ready to see how we do battles in Mesoa?"
The crowd applauded and cheered, but the teams watched in anticipation and awe, eagerly awaiting the tension to be broken.
Professor Sugi then continued, "Trainers, choose your Pokemon!"
Samuel smiled at Alexander, saying, "You ready, Champion Stolikov?"
Alexander actually smiled before returning the remark, "Of course, Champion Esquane."
Then, they both yelled in unison, "Here we go!"
Samuel then pulled out a strangely colored pokeball, that was a tannish-brown color on the top half and red on the bottom half, with a darker brown divider around its center. "Let's go, Coatlus! QuetzlPter, show your true power!"
The pokeball opened to reveal a reddish-brown, bird-like dragon, with batlike wings and a small amount of plumage at the wingtips. It had a few teeth within its bill, but they were razor-sharp. Its neck, wings, tail, and a crest on its head were ignited with bright red flames, making its crest look like a blazing, fiery mohawk. It had talons that were as sharp as swords, which were situated at the ends of birdlike legs. Its eyes had a look of determination that would not be ignored. It gave out a triumphant roar as it flew circles around the colosseum.
The teams stared in awe at the pokemon for a few seconds. Max then held out its pokedex to the creature. The pokedex happily responded, 'QuetzlPter, the Solar Pokemon. Quetzlpter is the evolved form of Coapter. QuetzlPter is a prehistoric dragon-like creature whose powers rival that of the sun. Its blazing wings and fiery spirit keep opponents on the run from this powerful pokemon.'
"Cool!" Max yelled.
It was now Alexander's turn. He pulled out a Dusk ball and threw it saying, "Finally; your turn! Let's go, Houndgrim!"
What appeared from his pokeball was a black doglike creature that looked like the fictional hellhound. It had three tails with red barbs on the ends of them and long, spiky ears with an what apeared to be an earring on Houndgrim's right ear. It had three extremely sharp black claws on its four feet, and appeared to have a silver chestplate with a skull emblem on the front. Its "armor" also had a spiked line going down its back and up to its head, where it had, apparently, a helmet, as well as two horns shaped like lightning bolts. It roared with such ferocity that it silenced everyone in the colosseum and scared just about everyone. May held Ash so tightly that she was crushing the air right out of him. As he pulled away, he pulled out his pokedex, which read out the following words:
"Houndgrim, the Spirit Hound Pokemon. Houndgrim is the evolved form of Houndoom. Many people fear this pokemon, as they believe it brings chaos, bad luck, and even death, making it a very lonely pokemon. However, it is said that its burning steps pave the way for fertile soil, which proves that this so-called demon has a good side."
Gavin remarked, "Interesting. A battle of two fire-types. Since it's Mesoa, they'll probably have an advantage over each other, but until it is revealed, it should be interesting."
Professor Sugi was excited to see how this last battle would turn out. "QuetzlPter vs. Houndgrim! Battle, begin!"
Samuel started with, "Fire out a flurry of Dragon Pulses, okay?" QuetzlPter complied, and with a roar, it fired orbs of draconic energy at the Spirit Hound Pokemon.
Alexander called, "Houndgrim, dodge with Agility!" Houndgrim gave a howl as it moved faster than the speed of sound, running out of the way of every Dragon Pulse. "Now, use your own multi-attack; Shadow Ball style!" Houndgrim gave its own roar, then emulated QuetzlPter's moves, escept using dark, shadowy orbs instead of the dragon-type ones.
Samuel countered, "Block with Dragon Pulse!" That it did, firing a Dragon Pulse to counter every one of Houndgrim's Shadow Balls, creating a "wall" of explosions. When the smoke faded away, both pokemon were still going strong.
Samuel then yelled, "It's time to take this to the next level! Use Scald!"
QuetzlPter then fired a blast of water (water inside of a Fire-Type? I'm not going to even try to justify that...)Which smacked Houndgrim in the face. Although it could not burn the fire-type, it still did some damage.
"Alright! Use Hidden Power, Houndgrim!" Alexander said. Samuel bleakly thought, 'I don't even know what type it is yet... Guess QuetzlPter will have to take a hit... I'm sorry, my friend.' Everyone watched as the wave of energy suddenly turned into rocks, revealing its type, and smashing into QuetzlPter, damaging it about the same as Coatlus had damaged Houndgrim.
Alexander ordered, "Again, Houndgrim!"
As Houndgrim prepared to fire his Hidden Power once more, Samuel cried out, "Block it with your own Hidden Power, Coatlus!" A similar wave of energy appeared around the Solar Pokemon as Samuel spoke.
The two waves were released at the same time. While Houndgrim's turned into rocks, Quetzlpter's energy wave went into the ground. A few seconds later, plants sprang up from the ground, their vines trapping the rocks and throwing them back at Houndgrim, who easily jumped over it.
Both trainers were, by this point, quite ready to amp up the action yet again. Samuel shouted, "SolarBeam!" Quetzlpter charged energy in its mouth at a faster-than-usual rate, then fired the beam of solar energy at Houndgrim.
Misty asked, "Why do you think it was able to fire a SolarBeam that fast? It usually takes time for that to happen."
Gary answered her, "Well, it's possible that, since QuetzlPter's powers are supposed to be like the sun's power, it's able to charge it on its own energy."
Tracey nodded, and then continued to sketch the two Mesoa pokemon in battle.
Alexander said, "Houndgrim! Dig!"
Houndgrim howled once more and dove underground, narrowly missing the intense blast of solar power.
Samuel said, "Coatlus, aim the beam inside the hole Houndgrim just dug for itself!"
The Solar Pokemon nodded, and focused its energy to fire the blast inside Houndgrim's subterranean tunnel.
Alexander smirked and said, "Wrong move!" Samuel only gave a suspicious look at Alexander before he realized what he had done a second later, and his eyes widened in fear.
"Too late now, Aura boy." he said with pride, "Use Dig at rocket power!" Instantly, Houndgrim burst out of the ground, the power of the SolarBeam accelerating his attack, and slammed into the Dragon-type at about mach-2, knocking QuetzlPter to the ground.
"Quetzlpter!" Samuel yelled in anguish.
Professor Sugi sadly continued, "And the winner is-"
Professor Sugi was interrupted by a stentorian roar from QuetzlPter, who had rose to its feet. The flames on its crest, tail, wings, and neck had rose to about twice their normal height, and its eyes were blazing with red energy. "Qutezlpter!" it yelled ferociously.
"Ah, you activated Blaze. Nice work. QuetzlPter, show this guy a Draco Meteor, Okay?"
QuetzlPter roared again and fired a flaming comet into the air. A few seconds later, a fiery meteor shower came down and smacked Houndgrim in several places, doing a large amount of damage. "Now, Fiery Dance!"
Quetzlpter danced around in a circle around the Spirit Hound Pokemon. Even the already blazing hot Houndgrim was sweating. The heat was so intense that the sand in the colossseum around Houndgrim turned to glass.
Everyone except Samuel stared in awe, their jaws dropped at Quetzlpter's astounding power.
Alexander, however, had had enough. "Use Hyper Beam!"
Samuel remarked, "Dodge with Flare Blitz!" as Houndgrim fired an extremely powerful beam at Quetzlpter. However, Quetzlpter's body became coated in flames, and it flew out of the way with astounding speed. As soon as Houndgrim was unable to move, it lands on the colosseum floor and rests, awaiting the next move.
Houndgrim, enraged by this point, uses Sludge Wave at the Solar Pokemon. However, Quetzlpter countered with a Heat Wave. The two waves of energy collided, and both disintegrated on impact, leaving both none the worse for wear.
All of a sudden, though, Quetzlpter began glowing in a fiery red light and appeared to relax, as if it was absorbing energy like a solar panel. Samuel was the first to realize, "That was Morning Sun! Yes!"
Houndgrim looked tired and exhausted from the extensive battle, and Alexander didn't dare use Rest, because he knew that Samuel 's Quetzalpter could easily beat Houndgrim in the two turns that it would be asleep.
So, he commanded, "Use Reversal!" figuring that it would be pretty powerful by now.
Samuel countered with, "One-Shot Dragon Pulse!" Quetzlpter charged an extraordinarily large Dragon Pulse in its beak, and blasted Houndgrim with the orb, stopping its charge.
Samuel decided, "It's time to finish this! Use Dragon Blitz!"
The audience watched, perplexed, as Quetzlpter fired a Dragon Pulse into the air, then, as it was falling back to earth, Quetzlpter used Flare Blitz through the Dragon Pulse, covering the already powerful pokemon with an even stronger attack.
As Quetzlpter began winging its way towards Houndgrim, Alexander knew he was out of options. He yelled, enraged, "If I'm going down, then you're going down with me! Houndgrim, use Skull Crash!"
Houndgrim 's body was immediatelt enveloped in an umbral, spooky energy that manifested itself around the Spirit Hound Pokemon, and it charged at Quetzlpter. As soon as the two attacks made contact, they were struggling for supremacy. As soon as one Pokemon has the edge, it lost it to the other. All of a sudden, a huge explosion occurred, with both skulls and bursts of dragonified flame flying out from the rubble.
The explosion was so powerful that both trainers were knocked back into the wall behind each of them. When both trainers could see again, they saw that both Quetzlpter and Houndgrim were knocked out.
Professor Sugi stared for a minute before responding, "This round ends in a tie. Thus, this match is a tie! Now, let's hear it for our champions!"
As the crowd and Mesoa League teams applauded vigorously, Alexander and Samuel walked up to each other and shook hands.
Alexander commented, "That was probably one of the most intense battles I've had in my entire life. It was a pleasure to battle you, Aura Master."
Samuel smiled, his smirk gone, and replied, "It was indeed a great battle. Hopefully, we can settle the score someday?"
Alexander nodded and smiled, then walked out of the stadium.
Professor Sugi walked up to Samuel and impatiently said, "Can we leave yet?"
Samuel replied, "Not yet, Sugi. Just one more thing, though."
He walked up to the teams and said, glowing with his Aura, "Okay, I need to speak to you three for a minute." As he said this, three "tendrils" of Aura flared out from him and alighted on Ash, M, and Zero Sage.
They all shrugged and walked out to the side, following Samuel. As soon as they were out of earshot, Samuel said, "Hello, brothers in Aura. Nice to meet you all." After Samuel spoke, they began to glow with Samuel's Aura, which sharpened their senses sonehow. "I am one of the few Aura Masters and, being the chivalrous person that I am, decided to help you in the Mesoa League.
"How, you might ask? Well, I have here three Pokemon eggs. I will set them here on the table, and their Auras will call out to you, revealing your choice.
He set the three eggs on the table. Immediately, Ash felt a pull towards the second one. Ash looked around, and could see that they were all feeling the same thing.
They walked up as one, and each grabbed the Pokemon egg that felt right to them.
M grabbed the Pokemon egg on the far right, which was a tannish-brown color and had a red stripe near the top. Zero grabbed the egg on the far right, which was line green with several wavy white lines. Ash took the egg in the center, which was red and black, with sky blue spots.
"Well, I 'd best be off, young ones. I'm fairly sure we shall meet again, so good bye, future Aura Masters." Samuel then ran off at top speed away from the trio, who stood there for a second, confused, before walking back inside.
As Ash sat with his team, May asked, "What was that about, Ash?"
Ash replied, "He just recognized us for being able to bend Aura is all."
May eyed him suspiciously. "Something tells me you're not telling the whole truth."
Ash sighed. "I'll tell you all about it later; Okay, May?"
May nodded. "Okay, Ash. I trust you."
Professor Sugi then said, "Thank you all for attending this year's Mesoa League opening ceremonies! The Mesoa League is starting bright and early tomorrow morning, so be ready! Thank you all, and good luck!"
The crowd applauded once more before everyone left the stadium, anxiously awaiting tomorrow, which would be the first step in their amazing, new adventure in Mesoa.
And that is a wrap for this chapter. Commo is property of Vaynard. Houndgrim is property of Twime777, and Quetzlpter is property of Emerald Dynamo
Que Suerte-What luck
Put it simply, here are the authors who are the same team
2. PichuAuraGuardian18, Emerald Dynamo, Breekitty
3. Sleep Arypsure, Fanfiction360, I'm My Own OC, Meteorthunder3
4. All mine
5. Again, mine
6. PandarianMist, TravelingMaster
7. thatperson23, Lightningblade49, Tbroome535
8. Ahkalia, Lightningblade49, Cyclone20, GhostHuntingLuxray456
9. Elinea, TravelingMaster
10. eonhunter357
11. ItsSuperEffective, Trentavious Phoenix, Barrett M107, owner of Evangelyne
12. KingFatMan25, ZAFT Prime, KCNederland, owner of Katherine
13. Tendou Souji, White-Falcon-06
14. Sol21, Titanic X, Siphon 117, TheUltimateEevee
15. Lightningblade49, Titanic X, nintendosegapokefan, Meteorthunder3
16. God People
The teams have assembled, and some seemed to hit it off better than others. For those of you who don't remember, Ryan, Katie, Ginji, Mike, Sierra, and Crystal made appearances in Pokemon League of Ultimates, though Katie was Hikari, Ginji was Infierno, and Mike was Kaze
I have officially found a new writing partner in this; Emerald Dynamo. After struggling with writer's block, and cold, he offered to write out the chapter. Really, man I owe you one for this. BTW, the Star Wars thing was his little input. Wasn't really a big fan of the series myself so…yeah
Anyway in the next chapter, the teams will begin their journeys starting with Ash's team, and then going in numerical order of introduction
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I'm A.M.P 1008, signing out!