This chapter marks the beginning of the tournament arc. This chapter itself has been split into two parts. This chapter is more like a set up for the heat up in the next chapters.
10. Old Friends, New Rivals and Team Rocket! Part I
The mini-van finally stopped before the wide empty road. The door opened, and a boy wearing red sneakers jumped down. He stretched his body lazily, and adjusted the cap on his head.
It was 5 A.M in the morning, and the air was perfectly fresh. He took in a deep breath, letting the air rejuvenate him.
Another pair of feet landed on the ground behind him. He was a sixteen year old brown haired. He had looks that could make a girl's heart skip a beat.
Joining these two, a third creature jumped from the van, and landed on the first guy's hat.
Needless to say, the trio was Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak, and Pikachu.
Gary turned behind, "I thought you'd drop us inside."
The van driver leaned back facing Gary. "Vehicles aren't allowed. You need to walk inside to get into the Rosenburg complex."
"What?" Gary looked incredulous. It was five in the morning, walking wasn't one of the best options he had in mind.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave then," the van rumbled, and was soon moving away back to the airport.
Gary and Ash landed on Rosenburg Island about an hour ago. They were told that the actual tournament complex was fifteen kilometers away from the airport. The two of them had to book a van to get in here.
"It's amazing isn't it," Ash spoke at last. Gary noticed the glee in his face. Typical Ash. He was obviously excited for the tournament. It's undeniable. Who wouldn't be?
"What is?" He asked casually.
"It's just the two of us," he pointed at the empty road. It was forty feet wide, enough to accommodate a horde of people that would assemble in the next few hours.
"Yeah, not everyone comes this early," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "I shouldn't have listened to your Dad. I mean look, we're the only ones here."
"That's not it Gary," Ash said, shaking his head. Gary remained silent at this.
"When the two of us began our journeys," Ash said, "We began our walk at the same time, on the road to be a Pokémon Master."
Gary smiled at this, "I drove though."
Ash chuckled, "Yeah, you did, with a lot many girls for a ten year old."
Gary noticed the expression in Ash's eyes. He wasn't being his usual excited self. Instead, he seemed more laid-back than ever. "You're being sentimental today. How unusual," the young professor muttered.
"Yeah," Ash said, looking at his curled up fists. "I suppose so."
"Well in that case," Gary said looking at the road in front. Having understood his friend's sentiment he said, "Let's walk the Road to be a Pokémon Master, together."
"Sure," Ash said. "Let's go!" He pumped his fist into the air.
One Day Ago
The Pokémon League Association Board meeting.
Several esteemed people were sitting in the round table conference room. Each of them had invested millions into the world tournament. And so, a meeting between them was usual at this juncture, as its human nature for people to worry about their investments.
But this meeting was different. Instead of worrying about the arrangements, they were discussing the possibility of including a new 'system' into the tournament.
The board room was dark. All of their eyes were on the video playing on the large screen. Not one of them looked away even for a second.
The video ended, and the lights flickered on, revealing the somewhat impressed and confused board members.
"Well, what do you think?" The newest member of the board was standing, as he was the one speaking.
As most of you know, he was Giovanni, the former leader of Team Rocket, and the current CEO of 'Speed of Light' Group of Restaurants, and a board member with six percent shares in the P.L.A.
He looked at the silent board, as each member considered his idea. Except for one.
"It's preposterous," Goodsho slammed his fist against the desk, startling everyone.
"We can negotiate about it," Giovanni said, smiling at the old man.
"No," Goodsho shook his head. "I wouldn't even think twice. I'm not allowing these so called 'Hold Items' into my tournament. You'll ruin the traditional Pokémon battles."
Giovanni frowned at this. He didn't like the obstacle in his path. The look on the remaining board members' face told him that they seemed convinced by his idea. It'd only need a simple pushing. He spoke, "The 'Hold Items' boost up a Pokémon's ability, making the battles even more interesting. There's more scope for strategy than ever. This, if anything, will Pokémon battles a better sport."
"This isn't just any sport," Goodsho argued. "Pokémon are living creatures. These things are unacceptable. I'd prefer a natural battle over this artificial nonsense!"
"You're ninety-five year old," Giovanni said, with a cold voice. It was almost like a threat. "It's natural for you to be old-fashioned." He turned to the other members of the board. "But the rest of you. What do you really think of my idea? Should we be sticking to ideals from eighty years ago, or face the modern world with a new era of Pokémon battles? This world tournament is the best way to start this."
Goodsho clenched his fists. If his experience hadn't taught him to be calm, he would have walked up to Giovanni and hit him on his face.
What Giovanni suggested was to equip Pokémon with strange devices called 'Hold Items'. He had demonstrated a few of them in the video. One of them particularly ravaged his heart.
A Life Orb.
The Pokémon's powers were dramatically increased, but its life was being drained away by the orb. It was cruelty to the extremes. Giovanni's idea was as sick as Giovanni.
Goodsho didn't like the idea of the man sitting among them in the first place. He had tried his best to find a way to get rid of the worm inside the board. He paid for the costliest attorneys so that they'd put him in the prison for all the crimes he committed.
All of that went in vain.
On the other hand, Giovanni won the hearts of the board members with his idea. He has successfully established Goodsho as a senile old man who struck to his old beliefs.
The problem was big. Goodsho had a 30.8% shares in the P.L.A. If the rest of the board was convinced, and vote for Giovanni, then Giovanni's idea would come to pass.
Knowing where Giovanni's speech was going, he would propose a vote anytime soon.
"If a general consensus isn't possible, then I believe it's for the better if we decide it with a vote," Giovanni said, sending a warm smile to each and every member.
Goodsho was terrified, as for what would happen if Giovanni's ideas would come to pass. Giovanni already has a research division developing the 'Hold Items'. He'd be the only one with the rights on production. Obviously, he'd rule the world tournament with his business.
He disbanded Team Rocket, but that's because he found a new way to take control of the world.
September 30th, 2013.
Cynthia's Villa, Rosenburg
Countdown 00:18:42:36
The time was almost twenty minutes past five.
In the peaceful Villa that belonged to the Sinnoh Champion, and the Champion's League title favorite Cynthia, the said blonde woman and the old man Goodsho, were sitting in the yard, taking a sip of their delicious tea.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you at a time like this," he said taking a sip. "But you do know the severity of this."
Cynthia nodded, and placed her cup on the table. "I understood the severity when you called me last night. It's not a change any trainer would like."
"But if at least one trainer uses them," Goodsho said, "The rest would follow suit. I want to ban them, but I am helpless if my board votes me out."
"Worse," Cynthia said. "Giovanni would then use the opportunity to vote you out for good."
Goodsho massaged his forehead. "I couldn't get a wink last night. Giovanni's all over my mind."
Cynthia gave him a warm smile, "What if I say, I have a solution for this."
Goodsho's eyes shot up with hope. He found the young woman, beaming at him.
"Harvey McMillan," Cynthia said, "He's the answer to all your troubles."
"Harvey who?" Goodsho asked.
"Harvey McMillan. He's a childhood friend of mine. A B-school graduate. More than that, he's pretty good at manipulating people to his side. All I want you to do is make him a part of your board. He'll take care of the rest."
"This Harvey McMillan," Goodsho muttered, looking doubtful. "Will he really be able to do it?"
"Trust me," Cynthia said, "Once he's in, Giovanni will never be trouble."
"This is it. This is it. THIS IS IT!" I yelled at the top of my voice.
After a long walk along the empty road, we finally managed to reach the place that was the center for most trainers' dreams.
There was an arch that stood as the entrance to the infamous Rosenburg Complex. On the banner, with bright letters were the words: 'Welcome to Pokémon World Tournament—Rosenburg Convention'.
Just reading that ticked my mind into super excitement mode. I don't know why, but I'm feeling like I am about going to explode with all this excitement inside my heart.
"You're on steroids today, Ashy-boy." Gary laughed. Even he looked pretty excited, as evident from the constant smile on his face. He wasn't just as expressive.
"Let's go!" I yelled once more, and ran through the gate.
Despite being early, a festive atmosphere greeted when we walked in. There was a huge board that showed an enormous map of the Rosenburg Complex. Beyond them, on either side were stalls of many kinds. Some of them were simple food stalls, while some sold merchandise like Pokémon related toys, while a few of them sold important items like Pokéball, Potions and all.
The general stream of the crowd however, seemed to be coming in and out the massive Pokémon Center that stood directly in front of the gate.
"For five in the morning, this place is sure lively," Gary said. "I think we did a good thing coming this early on. Your Dad sure knows his stuff."
"Hey, he's my Dad," I said, smirking. "Let's go and register before this place gets crowded."
"Yep," Gary nodded.
In a short while we were walking in through the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center. What lay inside of course blew our minds. The Center, despite being ten times the size of Viridian Center looked small thanks to the crowd inside. There were people everywhere we looked. Even a grain of sand would have tough time finding a space in there.
There was a general ruckus going on. People pushed at each other, yelled at each other, and some did worse.
"Hey, I've been standing here for the past seven hours!" A man yelled, "Don't cut the line!"
Apparently, a few people didn't like the idea of waiting and decided to go the easy way inside.
"Alright, that's enough," the green haired officer, Jenny pulled the two apart, "Let's be social and polite, okay?" The woman said, pulling the man who cut the line.
"We should've come a bit earlier," Gary said, his eyes still widened in surprise.
It's funny how his opinion changed two times quickly.
"Hey, tell that woman at the counter to move her lazy ass," another guy yelled. "The line isn't going anywhere!"
"What should we do?" I asked Gary. The line was too big. It'd easily take two hours of standing to complete our work.
"We have no choice," Gary shrugged. "We should've come with Misty or Iris."
"I'll call them," I suggested. If they were around, then we can use the chance to finish things quickly.
"Sounds great," Gary nodded.
Surprisingly, even the telephones were completely full. There were about thirty phones in the center; surprisingly all of them were occupied.
Having nothing else to do, the two of us walked into the waiting hall, to settle down on some couch.
It was then that I noticed a light-bluish green haired woman, sitting on a couch, her arms folded, and her eyes closed in a deep concentrated pose.
There were a couple of guys around her. I'm not sure who they were, but they seem to be asking her something.
Nevertheless, I walked forward to greet the woman.
"Look," the brown haired guy beside her spoke. "I've saved a couple of spots in the line. Come with me."
She opened her eyes, "I told I'm not going to—" She paused, when her eyes fell on me, waving to her.
She stood up, much to the surprise of the three men around. She walked forward and greeted me, "Aren't you, Ash Ketchum?" She asked.
"Yep," I smiled back. "Nice to meet you Katie. I'm glad you remembered me."
"How'd I forget the guy who beat me in the Hoenn League," she brushed her green hair behind, and smiled. She wore a red shirt over her long black skirt. If my Dad were here, he'd have described her as 'stuffed in the right places'.
Uggh. I'm starting to think like my Dad. One year with him was too much for my mind.
"So," I asked, drifting back to the conversation. "Did you complete your registration?"
She put a helpless smile, "I didn't. I just came here. Not sure if I should join this monster of a line."
"Like I said," the brown haired behind her said, "I saved a couple of spots for you. Why don't you just join us?"
"Hmm," Katie turned around, a smile on her lips. "Why not? But I'd prefer to be in the line with my friend Ash. What do you say?" She asked me.
The sudden question left me in confusion. "U-Um, sure." I smiled, exposing some teeth.
I could say the guy gritted his teeth. He perhaps had other agendas for her, and I arriving seemed to have done some damage to it. I'm glad I'm not that dense anymore. Well, my Dad says I still have a long way to go. "Fine," he gave in at last.
And that's how, luck favored us once again, and I ended up in the first half of the enormous line to the registration counter.
During our wait in the line, Katie and I talked a bit about what we did after the Hoenn League. She told she had travelled a couple of other regions and started training in the Rosenburg City, all by herself.
Amidst our discussion she told the Rosenburg city and the Rosenburg Complex were two different things. The Rosenburg city was opened to all trainers who wished to train to become a top Pokémon trainer. A lot many trainers had costly villas in the Rosenburg City, and happen to be the closest to the airport. The Rosenburg complex was only opened during the world tournament, and specifically designed for accommodating stadiums, Pokémon Centers and residence for participating trainers.
So, the place where my Dad trained for ten years was where our plane landed. Not here.
After three hours of wait, my turn finally came. I extracted the registration card I took in the Viridian Pokémon Center from my pocket and handed it over to Nurse Joy.
"Ash Ketchum," she said, typing at something on the screen. "Sixteen year old."
"Yep," I said. She then removed the card from the machine where she inserted it. The other nurse beside her then handed a strange device along with the card.
"Thank you for participating in the PWT," she bowed. I walked away, letting Gary take the opportunity.
"Thanks," I said to Katie. If it weren't for her, it'd have taken another two hours more.
"Don't mention it," she said. "Anyway, nice to meet you again, Ash." She said extending an arm.
"The pleasure's mine," I smiled.
She smiled back before turning around, and disappeared into the crowd.
"You're a smooth talker you know that, Ashy-boy?" Gary joined me. "Well, I'm glad that we finished the boring part right away."
"What are these things anyway?" I asked, pointing to the new object in my hands.
"It's called the trainer Dex. It gives a lot of information like our battle schedule, who are we supposed to fight, and which stadium. It even has a map," Gary finished.
"Wow," I said looking at the object, "It sure is handy."
"Mhm," Gary nodded.
"Do you know what else is handy?" A voice behind me asked.
I turned around, wondering who it was—
Only to see a fist end up on my face, pretty hard.
The punch sent me back, staggering onto the Pokémon Center's floor.
"I guess it's my hand," the brown haired guy who was speaking to Katie earlier appeared.
"Hey," I said, holding my nose. It was really throbbing. Guy's sure tough. "What the heck was that for?"
"What the heck was that for?" He repeated the question as stepped forward, to hit me again, but Gary stepped in.
He placed his hand on the other guy's chest, "Calm down, buddy. Let's talk."
"Oh look, Mr. Smarty Pants," he glared at Gary. "This isn't about you, so put your filthy hands on something else." He then turned to me, "The next time I see you talking with Katie, I'll beat you to pulp."
"Who are you?" I asked, finally getting back to my feet. The punch was still giving me the spin. But I wasn't just going to let some random guy hit me and get away with it.
"I'm her boyfriend," he said, looking straight into my eyes.
"So that's what you say people about us?"
Startling all of us, the subject of discussion was standing, glaring at the guy who punched me.
"K-Katie?" He was dumbstruck. It wasn't just her. I didn't realize that the entire crowd around was watching us.
"You're just a stalker who keeps trailing me everywhere I go," she said. "You're my boyfriend? Not in your dreams." She shook her head.
"What the heck's so wrong with me?" He asked. "I've came at 3 AM just so that I could save a place for you in this damn line. You didn't even say a word to me properly," He pointed his finger at me. "And this random guy comes and you keep talking to him for three hours. What the hell should I do, then?"
"Well," I guess I shouldn't have taken her offer. "I'm sorry."
"I don't need your damn sorry," he glared at me.
Katie retorted at this, "I don't need you either. So back off from me, okay?"
The man looked like he was shot in the chest. I kinda feel sorry for him though. I didn't know if it's appropriate to say anything at this point. So, I decided to remain quite.
But my stomach didn't.
A thunderous rumble caught everyone's attention. The rumble was loud and clear enough to make everyone around turn their heads directly at me, without any need to confirm the source. They all looked like me strangely, as if I was some strange creature that dropped off from the moon.
I laughed in embarrassment, "I guess I'm hungry."
The rest of the crowd except the three guys burst into laughter at this. Gary pretended as if we didn't know each other. I could only scratch my hair in embarrassment.
Katie's frown softened. She walked up to me. "There's a restaurant nearby," Katie offered. "My treat."
"Gee thanks," I thanked. I was so hungry at this point, I didn't realize I pissed the guy again. I didn't notice it because he decided to remain silent at that moment.
But as we walked into the crowd on our way outside he yelled, "Hey Kid!"
I turned back and glared at him. That was the worst word he could pick up. Nobody calls me a kid.
He continued, "Remember my name. It's Richard. You're gonna regret making an enemy out of me."
I didn't respond to his threats, and simply continued to glare at him. He responded to my glare with a smirk. Maintaining the glare I turned around and proceeded to walk.
Soon we were out again. But this time, the sun was a whole lot brighter, and the crowd outside tripled.
"You're kidding me, right?" I asked, looking at how the line which originally ended inside the center itself, now spread out.
"They should've put a few more counters," Gary said. "Oh well, let's hope this is the only unsatisfactory part of this tournament."
"Well yes," Katie said, "This place's really wonderful actually. I know, why don't I explain how things work in here while we walk?"
Gary exchanged a glance with me, "That'd be really kind of you," he said, brushing his hair.
Okay, so who's the smooth talker now?
"Well," she started, taking the thing called Trainer Dex out of her pocket. The trainer Dex was the same size as a Pokédex. It had an upper screen and a keyboard in the bottom. It worked like a cell phone. "These things can work as a scheduler, a means to message your friends, it also has a map."
We listened intently as she continued, "Since placing the battle fixtures of all 40,000 odd trainers is impossible on the main screen, they send the necessary info through the T-Dex. It also gives info like where your match's going to be held, and how to go to that location from wherever you are."
"That's handy," Gary said. For some reasons, I involuntarily looked back. Yep, no one to quip me with a punch.
"I'll explain the Rosenburg Complex a bit," she said, tapping on the touch screen with her gentle fingers. The map of the Rosenburg appeared on the screen, and a red dot blinked on the middle bottom.
She placed a hand on the dot, "This dot is where you are, right now. The Rosenburg Complex has been split into seven regions. The place we are right now is the entrance region. It's meant for registrations, ticket bookings. It also has a few battle nets, for practicing purpose."
"Battle Nets?" I didn't know what it was.
"Those are small battlefields. From Tier 5 onwards, trainers are given their own nets to practice. But some of the tier 7 battles will be held in the nets itself."
"I've been wondering," Gary said. "What'd the format be? I mean there are forty thousand trainers for god's sake."
"I don't know either," She said, "But I do know one thing. There are enough battlefields to accommodate them."
Gary raised an eyebrow at this. She nodded, "Let me explain. Other than the entrance region itself, the Rosenburg Complex has six more regions. Five of those were meant to represent the stadia of Indigo Plateau, Mt. Silver, Evergrande, Lily of the Valley and Vertress. The sixth one has the grand stadium. Each main stadium is surrounded by five smaller stadiums, like the ones in the Pokémon Leagues."
"Ah," Gary punched his fist against his palm. "So each of these 'regions' are as big as the League village of the respective regions?"
"What?" I exclaimed. I honestly couldn't follow what Katie said, but when Gary elaborated it, I did realize it was big.
I've been to all those five League Villages, and if this so called Rosenburg has space for five of these villages, just how big could it be?
"Don't be so surprised yet," Katie said. "Each of these regions has their own hotel facilities, stalls, Pokémon Centers and not to mention a hundred battle nets."
"A hundred battle nets?!" This time both Gary and I exclaimed together.
"Yep," she said, "That's 106 battlefields per region and a total of 530 if you include all five regions. The sixth region is opened only from Tier 3 onwards."
Gary began calculating in his mind, "If the tournament would be a knockout in the first stage it would take around 20000 battles that would be forty battles per battlefield."
Katie joined him, "An average full battle takes two hours. Give half an hour for break between battles. They can easily do ten battles a day if they work round the clock. A knockout tournament means the first round will be completed in four days."
I honestly couldn't keep up with their level of math, and so remained silent.
"But," Katie said, "I heard this tournament isn't just going to be a knockout tournament."
"No surprise there," Gary said, "I guess they don't want this to be a game of luck. That's good, because even if we lose one match we needn't worry about getting eliminated in the first round itself."
"I personally think I shouldn't lose any match till I get the title," I said, "The moment you think losing once is okay, you'll lose. Because—"
"Only the ones who truly want to win can win," Gary completed before I did. "Honestly, I am sick of hearing that line again and again."
"Those were an Elite's words," I pouted. Gary shrugged, as if indifferent.
"Well, here we are!" Katie stopped. We were now standing before a restaurant that lay among a line of other stalls. The line extended from the entrance and encircled the entire region it seems.
The restaurant before which we stood had the name 'Rick Hoenn's' inscribed on it. It was a Hoenn cuisine restaurant.
"Well what are we waiting for," I said, "Let's go."
Gary nervously smiled at Katie as Ash continued to devour the food like a gluttonous Swinub. She was looking at Ash, who emptied the plates with ease. She could perhaps consider her wallet the next time she wants to treat Ash to anything.
"I'm full," Ash said finally after finishing his fifth plate. Was it just his feeling or did Ash's hunger go up in the span of one year? "Thanks, Katie," he said. Well at least his manners were top notch.
Now that everyone was finished, Gary thought it's better if he called the waiter for the bill. He turned to the counter, and saw an unexpected commotion.
"How can you not have a hamburger?" A loud voice demanded.
Commotions at restaurants were always funny, because the reasons were always ridiculous.
"What's going on?" Katie inquired.
"Well," Gary said, "Apparently someone wants a hamburger and this place doesn't have them."
"That voice," for some reason Ash stood up. "I think I heard it somewhere. I'm going to take a look."
The trio walked to the center of commotion. Amongst the crowd surrounding they spotted a thin, timid restaurant manager, a very angry waitress, and a stout orange haired guy, dressed in an equally orange robes, that seemed to have directly descended from Middle Age Hoenn.
Gary apparently didn't recognize him but, "Morrison?" Ash did.
The orange guy responded, and turned to Ash. His face brightened all of a sudden. "Ash," he pushed the crowd away. The two then slapped their palms and held each other's hands firmly, as if they were arm wrestling. "You've grown dude!"
Ash exclaimed, "You too!" He then paused and said slowly, "A bit more in the horizontal direction."
Morrison obviously didn't hear that. "I'd like to catch up with you, but I have a hamburger to deal with. Which complex is your hotel in?" He asked.
Ash responded with a blank face. Obviously he didn't check that yet. "Indigo," Gary answered for him.
"That's cool," Morrison jumped, "I got mine in Vertress though." He suddenly seemed disappointed.
"Let's hangout in the evening," Ash said, realizing his long-lost friend was preoccupied with something else. The two boys then parted each other's hands.
"Now what were we talking about?" Morrison turned around.
"Hamburger," the manager said meekly, earning a cold glare from the waitress.
"Oh yeah, where's my hamburger!"
"I can't believe it," Ash said as they walked out of the restaurant. "I just realized I'm going to meet all the rivals I have met throughout my journeys."
Katie wanted to laugh, but restrained because it seemed inappropriate. This guy, Ash was really strange. At some point she wondered if he thinks before he speaks. But his attitude to battle-related things was well, interesting. "Why didn't you realize that a bit before?" She asked, in a teasing manner.
"Well, I didn't think of it," he replied innocently, not detecting her mocking tone. Oh well, being subtle won't be a problem then. He burst suddenly, "Hey Katie, I'm planning on gathering all my friends at one place. Will you join us?"
"I can't," she refused. She was planning to spend her time on her Pokémon. By tonight, the matchups for the tournament will be decided. "Besides you are in Indigo while I'd be in Silver region. I'd have to take the train to get to your place. It'd be quite tiresome wouldn't it?"
"Well," Ash paused. "A train?"
She decided it would be for the best if she explained it to him. "The seven regions are separated from each other by the Rosenburg Forest. Or let me rephrase that, the Rosenburg complex was built by cutting the Rosenburg forest into parts. You could walk from one region to the other, but it'd take a day."
"Makes sense," he nodded. Then suddenly brightened in realization, "Wait. Trains? I'm pretty sure Cilan would be impressed."
Must be one of his friends.
"You do know how to impress people," a sour, and a familiar voice rang through her ears.
"Oh," she sighed. "Not you again, Richard."
Standing before them was the trio of Richard, and his two friends.
"You," he pointed a finger at her. "I've been after you like a Growlithe for the past seven years. I invited you to dinner countless number of times. Oh heck you didn't even turn up for a coffee. And this guy comes—" He glared at Ash. "And ruins everything."
"Look," she retorted. This was getting annoying. "I don't care what you think. Just get out of my way."
"Why don't you at least choose a proper guy?!" He exclaimed. "Look at this kid, he doesn't look like he'd last the first round."
"What did you say?" Ash glared at Richard.
"You heard him well," the guy beside Richard, the black haired Darryl responded. He was one of Richard's lackeys. They didn't have much luck as trainers, but they were good at aiding Richard in arguments. She honestly didn't see much in them beyond that.
To his credit, Ash didn't get all riled up. Judging his childish character, she expected him to be fired up by Richard's comments. He actually seemed so when Richard called him a kid. But now he looked calm.
Scarily calm.
A smirk spread across Ash's face. "You don't even have a clue how strong I am. Do you?"
Richard was obviously annoyed by the confidence in Ash's face. It was as if a different person stood before them, than the seemingly goofy kid a few seconds ago.
"Oh yeah," Richard grumbled. "Why don't we battle?" He spouted out at last.
And that's how we ended up in a 'battle net'.
The P.L.A's rule explicitly stated that any battles outside the stadiums are strictly prohibited. So we had to make the nearby battle net our battlefield.
Katie, Gary and Richard's friends occupied the line of benches to the right, while Richard stood before me, a frown on his face.
He obviously didn't want to battle me at first. He gave his word accidentally and forced himself to do it.
What Dad said was correct. Every time someone tries to rile you up, if you stay calm, then it hits them back double as hard. It's working.
"We'll have a one-on-one battle," he said, enlarging a Pokéball. "Okay?"
"We could have a full battle if you aren't scared," I taunted him.
If you win a mental battle against your opponent, then you already won half the battle.
"You think you are smart, aren't you?" He, much to my surprise didn't seem to be so worked up. "Sadly, I can see through your cheap tricks."
What did he—
Wait. I see. He was trying to work me up again. I smirked, "Good for you. So can I."
He smiled in return, "Let's see how well you can actually see…" he enlarged his Pokéball, and gave it a kiss. "Slash through them, Escavalier!"
The Armor Pokémon materialized in no time. It was a half-bug, half-steel type. The Pokémon had two arms that qualified more as a spear than a hand. It had a red projection on its bottom that supported it on the ground. The Pokémon wore a sharp glare, telling me that he means business.
"Pikachu," I commanded my best friend. I'm going to start with my first Pokémon for my first battle in Rosenburg.
Either Pokémon have exchanged glares, quickly developing the hostilities in between them.
"I'll make the first move, you know?" Richard said.
Well I'm good with that. But before I start battling, there's something Gary needs to know. "Gary you asked me why I tied up Pikachu's tail for two weeks, right?"
Gary remained passive, but he nodded.
I turned to Richard, "Well you're going to know now."
Richard seemed ready, I simply had to signal him to start, and I believe my last sentence did so.
He raised him arm and slashed it through the air, "Escavalier, X-Scissor!"
The Armor Pokémon, despite its lack of legs charged at a speed unbelievable for a heavy Pokémon.
"It's fast," I muttered. "But let's see about it. Pikachu, dodge!"
As Escavalier approached Pikachu, it lifted its hands to bring them down simultaneously in an X-shape.
There was a confident smirk even on Pikachu's face. Despite facing a powerful attack, he was more than assured that he could dodge an attack so straightforward.
Just as Escavalier's dangerous lances came to strike Pikachu, the yellow rodent flipped on his back, and landed on his tail. The tail despite how thin it looked worked like a spring and lifted the rodent into the air with ease.
"Esca!" Escavalier was stunned to see the Pokémon that once stood before it jump into the air in a jiffy.
There was an equally look of surprise on Richard's face, but he seemed more composed than his Pokémon.
"Now," I yelled my first attack, "Iron Tail!"
As Pikachu flipped in the air, the yellow tail shone with energy. The light amplified by the sunlight, blinded Escavalier. The Pokémon instinctively braced itself, by crossing its arms in defense against the upcoming move.
With an energetic 'Chu', Pikachu began spinning in the air like a top. The spinning stopped as it closed on to Escavalier and landed the Iron Tail powered by the momentum of spinning on Escavalier.
Clang!
That was the sound when steel met steel.
The attack landed with a brutal force, pushing Escavalier back to the ground. The red projection on its bottom dug itself deeply into the ground, trying to anchor Escavalier against the ground.
Escavalier's arms seemed to take the advantage as they struggled to push the Iron Tail back. But they finally gave away, as the Iron Tail pushed back the steel-type with intense momentum.
"What's up with that ridiculous attack power?!" Richard exclaimed, realizing Pikachu was having the upper hand.
The ground failed to anchor Escavalier at its position. As Escavalier was pushed back by the attack's momentum, the ridge on its bottom plowed through the ground, forming a neat trail across the field.
Had Escavalier like most Pokémon had two legs, it'd have fallen on its back, but it didn't. It's back almost touched the ground, but before that happened Escavalier balanced itself on the ridge, and pushed itself back up straight.
Richard looked shocked and angry. A similar reaction could be seen on the faces of Gary, Katie and the other two.
The smirk on my face only grew wider at that. "Let's not let him rest," I pointed at Escavalier. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
The rodent's cheeks flashed with electricity. Then a powerful jolt shot out from the Pokémon's body at the steel type.
The attack was so powerful that, it ripped the ground that was already plowed by Escavalier's ridge wide open, and proceeded to—
Meanwhile, Richard didn't seem to be scared. "That won't work," he yelled as he punched either of his fists forward. "Escavalier, you know what to do."
As the blast of electricity approached it, the Pokémon's arms began to glow with blue energy. It then placed the lance-like arms before the electric attack. The next second, something amazing happened.
Yes, much to my surprise, the electric attack split into thin streams of electricity as if it were water. The trickles of electricity rained on the ground like the glistening sparks of fireworks.
"It split the electricity?" Gary exclaimed from the sidelines.
I couldn't find any words to say. They simply missed my mouth. "B-But…" How the hell did it split electricity? Electricity wasn't a physical object like water. It was simply energy.
"I've used energy to cut energy," Richard shrugged. "As simple as that."
I see. Escavalier's arms glowed with the same energy like when it used X-Scissor.
"My Escavalier's arms are sharp enough to split even electricity," he smirked. "Even if a teensy bit of electricity strikes it, that ridge over there grounds it to safety. So basically your thunderbolt was only a little more than tickling for my Escavalier."
"I never knew you could defend like that," I said, halfheartedly complementing him. In that case, "How about an attack like this?" I pumped my fists, "Electro ball!"
Pikachu stood firmly on its four legs, pumping energy into its tall. The electricity surged through Pikachu, forming a sphere of energy thereafter.
"Let's rip it with a Megahorn!"
'Rip it?!'
Following Richard's command, Escavalier aimed one of its lances at Pikachu and shot itself like a missile towards my buddy. The arm began to glow with an intense blue energy. The power was so much that the air around started to form a turbulent shield around Escavalier.
Pikachu spun around and tossed the electric attack at the steel type.
The sharp attack struck the ball, but the lance pierced right through it, resulting in an explosion. But the discharged electricity, thanks to the momentum developed by Megahorn failed to strike Escavalier. It passed through the attack, with minimal damage and shot straight at Pikachu.
But Pikachu wasn't the kind to fall so easily.
Escavalier breezed through where Pikachu once stood, only to find the rodent above its head.
"Iron Tail!"
Richard commanded almost instantaneously, "Block it with X-Scissor!"
Escavalier's arms shone with the blue energy once more. As Pikachu prepared to slam Iron Tail onto Escavalier's face, the Pokémon parried away the attack successfully with its glowing left arm.
As soon as the attack failed to hit, Richard's facial expression eased up. But—
"It's not over yet!" I exclaimed, "Double Iron Tail!"
Pikachu spun in the air right after, and attacked Escavalier again, from the right side this time. But Escavalier's right arm came just in time to block the attack on its face.
"Triple Iron Tail!"
The close combat was far from over. With movements that are possible only to an extremely flexible rodent, Pikachu spun around once more and this time performed a vertical slash through the middle.
"Block with X-Scissor Again!" Richard yelled.
The attack, powered by Pikachu's spins from the first two Iron Tails, struck with a ground breaking momentum.
Had it been anything less defensive, the Pokémon would have had its face buried in the ground by now.
But Escavalier's two arms, crossed in an X, proved to be more than a perfect defense.
As either Pokémon's attacks failed to pierce through the other, both Pokémon pushed with a final effort and propelled back away from each other.
Now standing apart, either Pokémon grunted at each other in acknowledgment.
The feeling was mutual for the trainers. Richard carried a simple smirk, "You're not bad," he said. "But there's more in our arsenal than that."
"Likewise," I said. While it's true that Iron Tail and Thunderbolt were matched by X-Scissor, we still had a fourth move.
Agility.
Iron Tail, Agility, Thunderbolt and Electroball. That was my Pikachu's secondary move-set.
Agility boosts up Electroball's power. Once we're fast enough for Escavalier even that Megahorn wasn't gonna stand a chance against us.
I opened my mouth to speak out my next command but—
My attention was caught by something that moved in the corner of my vision. A jeep was passing by the road. My vision narrowed on it the second I identified the people on the jeep.
They were—
"Team Rocket!"
The battle was splendid. Pikachu's movements left Gary completely dazed and shocked, but much to his discomfort that Escavalier managed to put up well against the rodent.
He was envious, but enjoying at the same time. It was that good.
He could say the same for Katie. He saw her clenching her fists when she noticed Pikachu's power.
There was more to this battle. But then suddenly, Ash's attention shifted to something behind Gary, outside on the main road.
"Team Rocket!" Ash yelled.
The next instant, he was dashing through the gate, chasing a jeep that trailed off into a distance.
"Pikapi," Pikachu called out for the charging trainer. It looked back indecisive as to what to do, and finally followed its trainer after apologizing to the Escavalier.
"Hey wait," Gary tried to stop him at the same time. He ended up running behind them too.
I am positive. It was them. The combination of a violet hair, pink hair and a Meowth, there wasn't any other possibility.
So, I ended up chasing the jeep. The people on the Jeep didn't notice me and soon they were only a distant dot on the road.
To my luck, I spotted them taking a turn at the end of the long road that led to a dead end.
I realized the road stood before a line of restaurants, similar to the one we visited earlier.
I followed the jeep's path and walked right to the end, and took the turn to the left.
The area behind the line of shops seemed like a dump yard at first. Upon closer inspection, I realized these were all back entrances used by the employees. The area behind wasn't exactly a dump yard, but that's where most of the garbage was being thrown away.
The jeep in question stood a few shops away from me, behind some restaurant. The trio was casually chatting to each other, as they unloaded the cartons and took them into the building.
What the heck was Team Rocket doing in a restaurant? Were they planning something sinister? Were they doing some under-the-table business behind the restaurant?
Without realizing it, I moved as forward as possible, carefully hiding behind a garbage can.
"Well two more cartons and we're done," the purple haired James rubbed the sweat off his face. He seems to be doing the hard work for all the three.
"Hurry up, James," the pink haired Jessie said impatiently as she twirled her long hair.
The conversation seems to be normal, and they weren't wearing their uniforms either. Perhaps—
Perhaps, they might have changed for good.
Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have suspected them too much. I mean, they weren't that bad when they weren't members of Team Rocket, and Team Rocket was disbanded so—
"You know eavesdropping isn't such a good idea," suddenly a voice whispered into my ears.
The cold whisper in my ears terrified me. Instinctively I jumped forward, and ended up crashing on the trash can in front.
The net result was me ending up in a pile of thrash.
I jumped back to my feet once more and faced the guy who frightened me.
He was red-haired guy, almost my age. He wore a blue dress, with red outlines. He had cold grey eyes that watched me scamper with glee.
The commotion apparently alerted the trio I was eavesdropping on too.
"Well if it isn't the twerp," Meowth greeted me from behind.
Jessie laughed for some reason, "My, I thought the entrance was on the front."
"Apparently he's lost," James said flicking his hair a bit.
At that moment I realized I was in danger.
Team Rocket's JJ&M have made their appearance at last. Now what role would they serve in this story? A serious one? A comedic one?
Also I had a moment of inspiration last week, and so here's a snippet of a possible future chapter. I'm not sure if I'll include it in the actual chapter or not.
Don't read this if you don't like snippets of future chapters…
Possible spoiler of a possible future chapter: (Note: Italicized dialogue indicates commentary like in the anime.)
"This full battle between Ash Ketchum and Morrison keeps on raging on. Right now Morrison has the upper hand, having left with two Pokémon, one of which is completely unharmed."
On the other hand I still have only one Pokémon left. Damn it all.
"Ketchum's only hope lies in his sixth Pokémon, Torterra!"
'That's right!' I said to myself. I still have Torterra left. Not to mention, Morrison's Gliscor was pretty tired.
As if to say my supposition was right, Morrison's Gliscor landed on its short feet. It was heaving for breath, and its tail seems to be pretty bruised.
"We can win this," I said kissing my last Pokéball before tossing it. "Torterra, I choose you!"
For the second time, the continent Pokémon materialized with a menacing roar. His ego was pretty much hurt after getting commissioned out of the battle by Morrison's Swampert.
"Gliscor vs. Torterra! Will Ash Ketchum turn this battle around? Or will Torterra lose? The fate of this young trainer lies on the heavy shell of this Pokémon."
Torterra glared at its opponent, and gave off an intimidating grunt. Gliscor retorted with its own battle cry.
Morrison knows Gliscor doesn't have much strength left. Then in that case, he'll try to finish this off in one go.
Morrison's face shone with excitement. He believes he has a good chance of winning against me. He could try attacking me with a super effective move.
"Gliscor!" He yelled. "Use Aerial Ace!"
Here it comes.
"Torterra," I ordered the Pokémon. "Let it come closer!"