25/4/2013 I have posted a bad news in the bottom. Do read it if you haven't.
Hey guys! Guess what? I am back! I wonder if it's been one month actually!
Anyway, this chapter is a fresh start to me after my exams, and happens to be the first proper chapter in the League Arc. A lot of things will start to happen, the first thing being Ash versus Tobias.
14. Broken Hearts
October 1st, 2013
"The exciting battle between Ash Ketchum and Tobias is about to begin. How will this trainer from Pallet Town fare against the legendary user?"
I clenched my fists. Yes, today's the day. The day when I, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town would be remembered as one of the strongest trainers in the world, who defeated Tobias, the legendary user, better known for being a threat to Cynthia's championship position.
The crowd around was relatively silent when compared to that in the Rose-Red Stadium. In fact they were too quiet. The stadium was eerily silent as if they were all here to mourn for Tobias's upcoming defeat.
The said man however seemed oblivious to it. He stood, as confident as ever, with his hands in his pocket and a proud smile on his face. He had no doubts of his chances of victory, and the battle with me seemed only like another chance to display his legendary performance.
"I'm going to defeat you Tobias!" I exclaimed, just so that I could say 'I told you so' later.
Tobias closed his eyes, as if my proclamation was just another joke to him. He enlarged the Pokéball in his hand, and gave me a brief glance before tossing it away. It was an invitation from him to see if my Pokémon were good enough to fight his mighty army of legendary Pokémon. He was challenging me.
The Pokéball was thrown high into the air, as if Tobias wanted to see how high he could throw. The ball exploded, and a bright mass of energy shot at the ground beneath. The bright mass then slowly took shape and then grew and grew and grew…
I held my breath and so did, perhaps, the fifteen thousand people seated in the Lily of the Valley, Rosenburg Stadium. The Pokémon that was materializing before my eyes was clearly tremendous in size as it now easily stood taller than a building. Legs and hands slowly shaped, and a hunch backed body was formed. The Pokémon finally grew to a good fifteen feet in height and then the materialization finally stopped, much to my sanity.
"Pika….!" Even Pikachu took a gasp when the bright light disappeared, exposing the tremendous Pokémon underneath.
It was a monstrous creature, one with an extremely bulky frame that would make any manmade structures of the same size seem like matchsticks. Its skin wasn't skin. They were hard, powerful armor like plates that were deep red in color. The Pokémon's body was entirely covered in those red masses, supported with jagged projections that protruded out of its body. The projections were like spears which looked powerful enough to tear through buildings. Its entire structure was hunched and the red layer of skin on its back continued down its back and formed a powerful tail that was similarly lined with the jagged projections.
A creature that large should block the sunlight completely from our faces, but instead, everything seemed a lot brighter than every day.
"G-Groudon…!" I was fascinated, and terrorized by the Pokémon. The Pokémon let out a low growl and stooped a bit to look at me in the eye, with those giant yellow eyes that were the size of a football.
My legs shook. This wasn't what we prepared for. Yes, we did expect more legendaries on Tobias's side, but what stood in front of me was just a beast. It was something you pray to, for good sunlight, for good crops and to protect the world from droughts, not something you battle.
I lost the battle before it even began. No wonder Tobias was so confident.
"Now which Pokémon will Ash send against Groudon?!"
What could I possibly send against this?
"Use your Pikachu," a voice muttered in my ears.
I looked to my right, and found a blonde man in a business suit standing beside me on my platform. "That's suicide!" I said. Pikachu doesn't have a chance against Groudon in the first place; add the fact that his electric moves would do nothing to it and it would give you 'No' as an answer. Besides, what was Harvey doing over here?
At that point, I noticed that a certain purple-haired trainer was standing behind me, a frown on his face. "Sometimes, I don't understand how your brain works. You're too naïve for your own good."
"No, I am not!" I yelled.
I am not naïve. I won't just use Pikachu against a Groudon just because Harvey told me to.
"But you were prepared to use it against Jason's Excadrill," a new voice spoke. At the referee's spot, was a familiar man, who always liked to boss me around. Dad glared at me and said, "It's a trap, Ash."
At that moment, the sky suddenly turned dark. Out of nowhere, a purple lightning erupted amidst the sea of darkness above. The whole sky seemed to twist around the source of the lightning. A vortex formed in its place, slowly sucking everything around me leaving nothing but an empty space.
"What's going on?" I turned around, and asked no one in particular.
A blue sphere formed somewhere in the distance. It wasn't the sun nor the moon, as the blue object carried an eerie glow. It was an eye, I recognized. A Darkrai's eye.
"Darkrai," Tobias's invisible voice echoed through the space. "Dark Void."
Something in the darkness moved. It was the hands of a gigantic Darkrai that slowly shaped a dark sphere from somewhere far away.
"No!" I yelled desperately.
The Pokémon lifted the hand carrying the Dark Void, ready to pitch it at me.
"Chu!"
And then something else happened. A powerful lightning erupted from seemingly nowhere and shot its way towards the Darkrai.
I turned around and found my best friend, the source of the lightning, Pikachu.
My eyes brightened, "You have come to save me, didn't you?" A sense of relief swept through me. The rodent however, gave off a sharp glint that was uncharacteristic to it. The Pokémon gave me a wicked grin I never saw on its face.
"Pikachu…" I sensed something was wrong. Something was really wrong. I stepped back, comprehensively in fear.
The rodent's cheeks sparked with electricity. Suddenly, a powerful lightning was released from the Pokémon's body. The next thing I knew, my body was engulfed in a powerful shock.
My lungs started betraying me. I couldn't breathe anymore. My hands turned numb with shock, and felt like they were no longer a part of me.
I jumped awake, all of a sudden. My breath was ragged, as if the dream I just had was real. I was no longer in the unending darkness, but in the presence of a pleasant morning sun, on my bed, in the hotel room.
"Pika?" The rodent stood on the bed, watching me curiously.
My hands were still numb; a sense of vibration was tingling inside my body. Normally that would mean one thing. My little buddy woke me up with a thunderbolt again.
"You were screaming," Gary who stood by the bed said. "Heard you say Darkrai."
I took a deep breath and compelled my unresponsive body to stand. The sunlight coming through the windows was bright, it must be over nine if my guess was correct.
"Yeah," I said making my way towards the window. The scenery beyond was really amazing. The lake-view totally justified the price the hotel demanded. The water body was separated from the hotel only by a small walk, beyond the trees that lay in between.
"Well," Gary said as he took his position at his computer. "Given your matchup, I can't exactly laugh at that."
Yeah. Of all the people I know, I perhaps had the worst matchup. Maybe not as worst as Max, but he was still a long way before he could deal with some serious opponents. It wasn't like I was scared of fighting Tobias or something. It's just that facing him in my first league match was slightly unsettling.
I peeped at the screen, wondering what Gary was doing. There was a trainer's photo on the screen, coupled with a few achievements he made and the Pokémon on his team.
"Joey huh," I muttered. Joey was some trainer with three league experiences. His record was good, if not excellent. "So when's your match?"
"Day after," Gary said. "Kid's a third-grade trainer. Nothing I can't handle."
"Good for you," I sighed. I wish I could share some of his luck.
I walked back to my bed and opened the T-Dex I left by the pillow. "Still Tobias," I muttered, before putting the device back in its place.
"You can't expect the matchups to change overnight," Gary gave me a sympathetic smile.
He was correct. I'd rather get used to it. I gave the T-Dex another look, trying my best to get familiarized with the feeling.
Group C1
October 2nd, Lily of the Valley, Main Stadium, Tobias versus Ash Ketchum. Time: 9:00 A.M
October 2nd, Lily of the Valley, Stadium 87, Green Randall versus Max Maple. Time: 9:00 A.M
October 7th, Ever Grande, Main Stadium, Tobias versus Casey Britt. Time 11:30 A.M
October 7th, Ever Grande, Sub Stadium 4, Ash Ketchum versus Max Maple. Time 11:30 A.M
October 10th, Indigo, Main Stadium, Tobias versus Green Randall. Time 2:00 P.M
October 10th, Indigo, Stadium 54, Casey Britt versus Max Maple. Time 2:00 P.M
October 13th, Vertress, Sub Stadium 2, Ash Ketchum versus Green Randall. Time 5:00 P.M
October 14th, Vertress, Main Stadium, Tobias versus Max Maple. Time 7:30 P.M
October 15th, Silver, Sub Stadium 1, Casey Britt versus Green Randall. Time 7:30 P.M
October 16th, Silver, Sub Stadium 1, Ash Ketchum versus Casey Britt. Time 10:00 P.M
Tobias, Max, Green Randall, Casey. That's the order I would face my opponents in. But right now, my mind's just Tobias, Tobias, Tobias, Tobias.
October 2nd, Lily of the Valley, Main Stadium, Tobias versus Ash Ketchum. Time: 9:00 A.M
October 2nd, that's tomorrow morning. I would be facing Tobias and his legendary Pokémon in the Lily of the Valley Stadium. It's quite ironic because the last time we faced, we did so in the real Lily of the Valley Stadium. Perhaps, it's a perfect stage to set my revenge against what I suffered last time.
Heracross. Torkoal. Gible. Sceptile. Swellow and Pikachu. All six of my Pokémon except Pikachu were defeated pretty easily. There's no way I'd face the humiliation again. I have one year of my Dad's intense training behind me right now.
"I'm going to win this, Pikachu." The rodent gave a nod at this. He was thinking the same too.
"You sure are motivated," Gary smiled, finally taking his eyes off the screen.
But then a strange rumbling noise interrupted any further conversation between us. The culprit was of course, my stomach. I rubbed my hair, "I guess I'm hungry too."
"Yeah," Gary chuckled. "Although it seems like the League wants to drive away all those with a good-appetite."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Both you and May are the only ones to have bad matchups," Gary said.
"What's up with May's matchup?" I asked. I was too shocked by Tobias's news last night, I didn't hear anyone else talk. By the time we got back, I was half-asleep. Brock and Cilan helped me walk back, like I was drunk. Speaking of which, where were the two?
Gary made a sly face at that. "Why don't you find it out yourselves? I'd love some chemistry between the two of you."
What? That sentence made no sense unless he was making romantic implications between me and May. But that'd be something out of the blue, wouldn't it?
"You're really dense aren't you," Gary sighed. "Makes me envious, Ashy boy."
Envious? "Why would you envy me?" I asked. Although I hated to admit it, Gary was much more of a ladies man than I was. He had looks, style and he knows how to push the buttons (according to Dad).
Gary shrugged and turned back to whatever Joey he was studying earlier. "Brock's downstairs, by the way," he said. "He said he'd order breakfast. Told us to come down in case you get hungry."
"Wow really," I jumped at the mention of breakfast. "I gotta freshen up, quick!"
Fifteen minutes earlier, before May entered the bath, she found Misty sitting on the windowsill, a depressed look on her face as she watched the lake. Dawn was on the bed, her face buried into the pillow, and Iris was trying to use the computer, failing to do so.
And now…it was only a surprise to her when she saw the three in the same pose.
There was an incorrigible silence in the room, something the brunette didn't like. She walked up to Iris, who was trying her best to open the Pokémon data list of Tobias.
"Tobias?" May asked, taking the mouse under control. The list took some time to load.
"Well everyone was making a fuss out of him," Iris said. "Thought I'd see what Ash's first opponent could do."
The list opened and the icons of two Pokémon appeared. "Only two?" Iris was surprised.
"Well," May said. "Tobias never used more than two Pokémon outside the League battles and the battles with the Elite Four were secretive."
Iris's attention fell on the second icon. "Latios," the woman muttered.
"So," May said in a low voice, "What's up with those two?"
"Dawn, I could say Paul," the gym leader said in an equally low voice. "Misty, I don't know."
"Let's find out," May said, a foxy smile on her lips.
"Before that," Iris had her own cunning smile. "What were you doing with Ash yesterday?"
May's face didn't go red in embarrassment. It went pale in fear. Ash told her to keep the whole thing a secret from the others as it was sensitive information.
"N-Nothing," May stuttered.
Iris frowned. May was terrified for a second, wondering if she would pursue the matter, misunderstanding it as a romantic affair. But Iris didn't.
"Okay," Iris said, an obvious fake smile on her lips. "You take Dawn. I'll take the bomb."
"So what stole your peace of mind," Iris asked, as she leaned against the wall beside Misty.
Misty sighed, and continued to maintain her gaze on the greenish blue waters of the lake. "Nothing," she said with a defeated tone. "Just watching the water."
Iris rolled her eyes. "Well you can tell me about it," she said, placing her hands against the wall.
Misty looked at the dragon trainer, "I told you there's—" the redhead paused when Iris was looking at her intently. "Fine," Misty admitted. There was no lying to Iris because she could study her like a book. "It's that idiot. He's getting on my nerves lately."
A smile spread on Iris's lips. "What exactly are we talking about?"
"He's ignoring me," Misty said, her eyebrows knitting in anger. "Purposefully. He visited Cerulean for a match and left without waiting for me. He ignored me all the time during our stay in Pallet. Even yesterday…" she stopped, as her heart was only burning more and more with the events she recollected.
"C'mon Misty," Iris clasped her arm. "Why would Ash do that? He isn't the type to avoid people if he doesn't like them. You know him better than that, right?"
"People change over years," Misty said, as if it were a terrible thing. "The way he acts around his Pokémon, the way he battles. He's changed a lot. Why can't this be another change?"
"Well I met him only two years ago," Iris said, "But I don't see anything of that sort in his character. He's just having his mind fixated on other things."
"You talk as if I want him to date me," Misty shrugged. "I'm just telling that he isn't giving the minimum respect one should treat a friend with. I was talking to him about it when he just left."
"He could have something else to do," Iris defended. "Maybe some important work."
Misty jumped from her position on the windowsill. She was obviously furious at the way Iris was defending him. "He spent ten minutes talking to May after that," she almost yelled. "Secretly," she added.
Misty didn't realize she was speaking too loudly until she noticed that the other two broke their conversation and were looking at her.
May jumped onto Dawn's bed, the blunette shifted her head at the sudden movement. "Hey May," she greeted, obviously lacking her usual cheer.
"Well…" May hesitated for a second. "What's wrong?"
"Just been thinking," Dawn said.
"About?" May asked.
"A lot of things," the blunette replied.
"Like Paul?" May added teasingly.
The blunette took a heavy breath. "You people like teasing me, don't you?"
May felt bad for the blunette at that moment. They had indeed been teasing her a lot. The poor girl was perhaps finding it difficult to share things with them anymore.
"I promise I won't," May said, surprisingly without crossing her fingers.
The blunette rose, "Well," she started, pulling her hair back. "I was just thinking about what Paul did yesterday. The only way I could understand what he did was by getting into his shoes and think the way he thinks. But I couldn't figure anything out."
"That's it?" May was surprised that there wasn't a heart-wrenching story behind her dull mood. She was just trying to be Paul, hence the gloominess.
"Yeah," Dawn smiled. At that moment—
"He spent ten minutes talking to May after that," Misty yelled. "Secretly," she added.
A chill went down May's spine. It was clearly obvious that everybody had figured out she and Ash had a couple of minutes of talk. That of course had many implications, but May was more worried if she'd accidentally leak Ash's secret out. She knew her lips wouldn't hold a secret tightly.
"Look," Misty turned to the brunette having realized she dragged them into the conversation. "I don't care what's going on between you and him. But that doesn't mean he treats me like thrash. We were good friends for two and a half years; he should at least respect that. "
"Nothing's going between me and Ash!" May defended. Of course she couldn't say what exactly they spoke because it was a precious secret.
"I just heard you stutter," Misty pointed to the computer, referring to the conversation she and Iris had earlier.
Sharp ears.
May looked down, defeated. She could have argued something, but it meant compromising Ash's secret.
Misty took a deep breath. She looked at the lake one last time and immediately walked away out of the room, despite Iris's protests to stop her.
"Let's go!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of my room. "It's Breakfast time!"
"You're the only one in the world who gets excited over breakfast," Gary rolled his eyes.
"Of course," I said. "I'm a lot hungry. And as soon as I finish eating, I have a lot of work to do."
"Preparing a team for Tobias?" The brown haired asked.
"Yup," I said, pumping the excitement into my body. It was perhaps the only way to calm my nerves that would otherwise get to me. Tobias. Tobias. Tobias. My mind kept echoing the name to me.
As we talked, the door to the girl's room opened, and a redhead stormed out of it. She took brisk footsteps and walked towards the lift. It just so happened that we were standing between her and the lift.
"Hey Mist," I greeted her as she approached me. Misty halted her footsteps, and looked at me with intense emerald eyes. Although she tried to look calm, judging by the twitch of her eyebrow, one could say she was genuinely pissed at something. She walked towards me briskly, which somehow seemed dangerous. In a surprising move, she stopped beside me and—
STOMP!
Something hard crunched my foot. In moment's notice, I was in a world of pain as the hard object on my leg twisted, generating excruciating amount of pain in my foot. The redhead then dashed past me, ignoring Gary, and pressed the elevator button.
As I clutched my foot and exclaimed, "What the hell was that for?!" She didn't even give as much as a glance before disappearing into the lift.
"Wow," Gary said, as soon as the storm called Misty left. He turned to me, giving my foot a sympathetic look. "You have a way with girls, Ashy-boy."
Somehow, I realized that was sarcasm.
As we sped downstairs, eager to get the breakfast, we spotted Brock at the reception, talking to the brunette receptionist. There was a kind of blush on his face as he spoke, but one can't say the same about the receptionist.
"He tries hard," Gary commented. "Guy has some tough luck though."
"Yeah," I admitted. Although my knowledge on such issues was minimal, I have witnessed Brock's attempts over four years of my journey. He'd fall in love with every girl of proper age and end up with heartbreak. "I wonder how long this one would last."
"Wanna bet?" Gary asked.
"No thanks," I said. "Both of us want the same choice don't we?" It's not like either one of us was foolish enough to put money on Brock.
"I'm going to go to the lake and get Cilan," Gary said, "You don't like putting your stomach waiting, do you?"
"The lake?" I asked. What the heck was Cilan doing in the lake?
"Fishing sommelier," Gary rolled his eyes as he walked past the reception. He gave the receptionist Brock was talking to, a small wink. The woman blushed, surprisingly.
Goddamn Gary.
Brock finally noticed me, he left the receptionist, much to her sanity. "I presume you're hungry," Brock said.
Of course.
"So what are we going to eat today?" I asked.
"Well," Brock scratched his chin. "The hotel management gave the eight of us a private dining room. But I can't exactly cook. They're strict about it. But the food here's great too."
My eyes gleamed with happiness. "Let's hurry up then!"
"Easy boy," Brock said, "They told it's going to take some time. By the way," he asked. "Have you decided on your team against Tobias?"
"I didn't," I admitted. "But I have a good idea on whom I want to use. All my Pokémon are equally trained right now, any of them can fight legendary Pokémon."
"So you won't make a predictable choice and use the strongest Pokémon you caught in each region?" Brock smiled at that. "That's some pretty good thing to do, Ash."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Dad taught me using only a couple of strong Pokémon against tough opponents will get me in the long run."
"I've checked their levels," Brock nodded. "Yeah, you did one hell of a job in raising them to equals, Ash. One year ago, there was a huge power imbalance in your team."
It was true. Most of the Pokémon I caught in Johto and Unova were improperly trained when compared to those I caught in Sinnoh. My Dad says Paul was responsible as for how strong they have become. Because he was my driving factor. Having an amazing rival like Paul would make me amazing too, I guess.
"Well," I realized I was keeping Brock away from the receptionist. "I'll go wait in the dining room."
"One more thing, Ash," Brock said as I was about to leave. "No matter what's the result. I'm pretty sure you'll give a great performance tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it."
I smirked at that, "Tomorrow, you'll exactly know how far I have made since we parted in Sinnoh, Brock."
Because tomorrow, I'll be winning.
By the Rosemary Lake, Rosenburg Indigo region…
Three women were hiding by the trees as they watched a certain green-haired man fish. Out of the three women, only one of them was in fact interested in him, despite her denial. The rest two were dragged out in the process.
"Look at him," Burgundy snarled. "He acts all cool and elegant, but he hadn't caught a single Pokémon in ten minutes!"
Georgia rubbed her forehead. She was keener on training than stalking Cilan Striaton. If she needs to fight Iris or Drayden or even Lance, she needs to put her top performance in the rest of her battles and make it to Tier 5. But knowing Burgundy, if she didn't allow her to stalk and rant about Cilan for some time, the tasting-princess would definitely be in a fouler mood and somehow manage to ruin Georgia's day. She doesn't even know why she was hanging with Burgundy despite the fact that she hated her personality. Maybe because, she was similar to Burgundy, Georgia thought. Except she was less outspoken.
Their new companion, Casey Britt was in a gloomy mood. She rested her cheeks on her palm as she picked pebbles with her other hand and threw it at a distance.
"What's wrong with her?" Burgundy asked, finally taking a notice of the Johto trainer.
"Well, she fell in the same group as Tobias," Georgia said, "There's a good chance she gets knocked out in the first round."
"Oh," Burgundy crossed her arms as if giving it a deep thought. "You know Casey," Burgundy said, gathering the girl's attention. "Your chances against Tobias are good to zero," she said frankly. "But," she smiled. "You can always get the second position and make it to Tier 6. That Ash Ketchum makes decisions based on Cilan's evaluation. His Pokémon will obviously suck. So he'll lose like the sore loser he is."
"Ash isn't a sore loser," Casey said, "But I think I'll defeat him. I was only a rookie when I last faced him. But now," she clenched her fists. "My parents have decided to root me over the Electabuzz team this year. I can't fail them."
"That's the spirit," a male voice said. The three girls were startled by this. A brown-haired teen stood before them.
"Gary Oak," Georgia muttered his name, as she barely remembered. He was sitting right next to her in the opening ceremony last night and seemed to have a good knowledge on Pokémon battling.
"Hey Georgia," Gary said, brushing his hair. "You look beautiful, today."
Georgia couldn't help but smile at this. He was obviously a player considering the fact that they weren't even proper acquaintances. "I suppose so," she said, giving him a skeptic glare.
Gary faked a smile at this, "I need to check on Cilan. Got to go."
As the brown-haired walked past them, Georgia thought, 'At least he's smart enough to know when to back down.'
"Is he hitting on you?" Burgundy asked as they watched Gary's retreating figure.
"Not really," Georgia said, As if she would let someone do that.
"I wouldn't mind someone like that," Casey said, to which Georgia and Burgundy gave her a strange look.
The dining room wasn't hard to find. It was a small room, separated from the other ones by a partition. There were two tables inside, each accommodating four chairs. It's perfect for the eight of us.
As I walked in, I realized I wasn't alone. A familiar redhead was in there, seated by the table on the left, reading the menu card.
I still don't have a clue why she stomped me earlier. Maybe she was in a bad mood and I caught her in midst of it. Anyway, I think it's better if I greet her again. She could be in a better mood this time.
"Morning Mist," I greeted.
There was no response. Misty was still reading the menu card. Alright, now it's getting ridiculous.
"That's not a book," I said. "You don't need to read it all day."
Misty dropped the card on the table and gave me a cold glance, "Happy?" She asked.
I tried pulling the chair opposite to hers to sit down. "Why don't we—" I paused when the chair wasn't coming out. Misty had locked the chair with her legs. I raised my eyebrow at this, but the redhead looked indifferent.
Okay, something was really wrong with her and I am not exactly sure what was. She stomped my foot first, and then pretended to ignore me and now she doesn't want me to sit with her.
"What's your problem?" I asked.
Misty gave me a defiant look. "You are my problem," she said. "Now kindly get out of my face."
"Pi," Pikachu muttered, much like me the rodent didn't have a clue.
Giving her one final glance I walked over to the other table and sat down. No sooner did I do so, someone else came in.
"Breakfast!" May skipped as she came in. Gary was wrong; I wasn't the only one who gets excited over breakfast. May's cheerfulness however disappeared when she saw Misty, who was giving her a cold glare.
May gave her a sheepish smile and skipped over to my table and sat before me. She leaned down and whispered, "So how are things going on the Pokérus front?"
I jumped at this, as if I just felt a ghost on my shoulder. That was completely out of the blue. "May!" I hissed. "You do realize how dangerous the topic is?" I glanced at Misty, wondering if she might have overheard something.
"Aw come on," May whispered, getting too excited for my own good. "Misty can't hear us."
At the mention of her name, Misty gave us a sharp glance.
Now, I really regret telling May about this. If she keeps this on, I could end up in a big soup without having a way to swim out of it.
"Okay," I said, leaning closer to the brunette as she did the same. "The guy Harvey who offered to help me told we'd meet tomorrow after my match with Tobias." I gave Misty another glance, just in case she might have heard something. The redhead looked indifferent, as she played with the fork on the table.
"He seems to be a good guy," May said. "He's willing to clear your Dad's name."
That wasn't exactly true. Harvey clearly said he was doing it for his own benefit. He didn't have any qualms admitting that. No wonder Dad told me to be careful. "Well," I said, "He caught Paul by the collar and called him names."
"Wow," May's interest only piqued. I am clearly doing a bad job at keeping things from her. "Could you tell me what exactly happened in the waiting room?"
I caught Misty giving the two of us an awkward glance. "Hey May," I said, "I think Misty can hear us."
May looked in the redhead's direction. "No, she doesn't have a clue. She's just curious. Isn't that cute?"
I am not sure how she felt those powerful glares cute. "It's a long story, May," I said, trying my best to avoid the conversation.
"Well, tell as much as you can," May said.
"Fine," I said, giving in to her insistent demands for the second time.
Misty was getting more annoyed as the moments passed. Ever since May entered the room, the two of them have been whispering into each other's ears as if they were lovers who were sharing some private jokes. May was getting more and more excited as the time passed. She never knew Ash was capable of something like that.
But the annoying part was that they kept looking at her. She even heard her name once or twice. So whatever was going on, it was clearly some bad joke about her.
"….Misty can hear…." Her ears picked up the words as Ash whispered something to May. May looked at her, and said something to Ash while smiling. They were laughing at her, the redhead realized. That Ash Ketchum! She couldn't help but feel bad that May was in cahoots with him. She considered the brunette a friend, but it seems she was getting betrayed.
As they spoke, May gave a wide variety of reactions. Misty unconsciously clutched onto the fork in her hand.
"He told the three of us to get lost," I said, finally concluding the story.
May leaned forward as I did the same. "Well how does this affect Pokérus?"
"Not sure," I said, "But I definitely don't want to get slammed against the wall like Paul did."
May giggled at this. "Harvey sounds scary after what you said."
"Yeah," I said. "That's why I am considering what my Dad—"
My words were interrupted when something whizzed past our noses. At first I thought it was the wind playing tricks on me. Then again we were in a closed room.
Both May and I stared at each other, wide-eyed, as we looked to our left and found a fork, embedded into the perforated walls of the partition. A chill went down my spine. Judging by the dreaded look on May's face, she must be equally tensed too. The two of us turned to the right and found Misty shaking her left hand. "Sorry," she didn't sound so. "My hand slipped."
Slipped?
"Look who just got an upgrade to her hairstyle!" Iris exclaimed as she walked in. She sensed the tension in the atmosphere and gave me a strange look. Then she noticed the fork embedded in the wall. "How did that go in there?" She pointed at it.
"M-Misty's hands slipped," May said, still shaking from the dread. Iris narrowed her eyes and mentally measured the distance between the two tables to see if what May said was physically plausible.
"Anyway," I said gingerly taking the fork out of the wall. It's to the best of our health if we don't talk about dangerous stuff right now. "You were saying something?"
"Well," Iris said, running her hair through her neat combed—
Wait. Iris's hair was combed?! In fact, her bushy purple hair was now perfectly still like anyone else's. It extended down to her hips and was tied up with a yellow piece of ribbon. The bangs on her face were neatly curled, and the hair itself seemed to glitter.
Even May and Misty watched her with a stunned expression. "You look gorgeous," Misty said.
"Things that Dawn can do when she's depressed," May said, watching her in wonder.
"Well Ash," she said running her hands through her smooth hair. "How do I look?"
Dad's preaching flashed in my mind. "When a girl asks you about how she looks, you must always reply with one answer."
"You look beautiful," I said, giving her my best smile.
Iris frowned at this, "Your expression ruined the dialogue," she said. "You need to blush when you say that."
What? Why would I blush?
At that moment Brock, Cilan and Gary came in and spotted Iris as soon as they entered. Needless to say, they were baffled.
"Wow, you look amazing," Brock commended her.
"You just fell into my radar," Gary said, studying her carefully.
I expected Cilan to throw in a heavy dialogue weaved with words that would make Iris happy. But instead, "Uh…I-Iris…y-y-y-y…." he tried to speak something, but the words simply missed his tongue. He looked like he was sweating profusely even in the presence of an air conditioner.
"Now that's a reaction I like," she smiled, obviously looking happy.
What the heck? I spoke more than Cilan did. I never understand these girls.
"Well the credit goes to me," the last member of our crew entered with a happy smile. "It was a wonderful piece to work with."
"You did a fantastic job Dawn," Misty said. "One of these days you need to work on my hair too."
"You need to let them grow a bit first," the blunette said. "Then I'll make sure your sisters will be jealous of you."
Misty smiled at this. So was she pretending to be grumpy only around me? I realized I might have done something to upset her. But what exactly?
Breakfast ended pretty soon after that. Both May and I obviously topped the list for eating the most.
"So," Cilan said as he wiped his hands. "What are you guys planning for today?"
"I'm going to the ranch and decide my six," I said, "Then I will go train for some time. My Pokémon need to be in top condition for tomorrow."
"In that case," Brock said, "I'll join you. I need to do a weekly checkup anyway."
"I'd like to watch Ash train," May said. "But my brother's going to have his first league match tomorrow. I guess he needs my support."
"I agree with that decision," Cilan said. "Max is a green trainer with no league experience whatsoever, he needs some nurturing."
Max would face Green Randall, another guy in my group. I don't know much about this Green Randall guy other than the fact that he was from Unova and won a league before. Nothing else was on my mind with Tobias upfront.
"I'm going to Zoey's," Dawn said. "I don't have a match for the next five days. Zoey has one on 4th. We could try a few contest moves."
"I'll just go wherever Iris goes," Misty said. "The two of us don't have a match for like—ages."
"I'm going to watch Ash train," Iris said, which immediately changed the expression on Misty's face.
"Then I'd go fishing," Misty said, bitterly. "It's not like I'm interested in watching a Mankey train."
The rest of the guys looked at me, wondering what happened between the two us. I simply shrugged because I knew nothing.
"I will be glad to join you," Gary said, "I studied all my four opponents. Let's just say I have a ticket booked to Tier 6 already."
He's changed but he's as cocky as ever. But Gary's cockiness always has a good amount of analyzing behind it. He knows when to slack and when to work hard.
Misty gave me a small glare. I stopped responding to them because my brain was having a hard time understanding why she was mad in the first place. But it seems like her anger was only growing by the second.
I don't like this at all. But I'll find a way to sort out things with her. I just need to finish my battle with Tobias first.
"Well in that case I'll join Ash," Cilan said. "My battles don't start until 5th."
Brock and Cilan, huh. Yeah, this training could be interesting. I just need to decide on my six first.
Somewhere in the Rosenburg Island…
It was an industrial complex, one could say. An abandoned one, one might add after some hesitation. But the fact was that the factory in the outskirts of Rosenburg was very much alive. It has been claimed to be owned by the Neon Corporations, an industrial unit that existed only on papers.
An old man supervised as the objects moved through the conveyor belts, transforming them from useless piece of metal to mechanical wonders.
The said old man was more a scientist than an engineer, one would say judging by the lab coat he wore. He was short, but not fat. He had black eyes that studied everything around him critically. He had white hair with hints of gray in it, and an equally white moustache,
A man dressed in a grey work uniform approached. "Professor, Lord Giovanni has called."
Few minutes later, he was in the control room of the factory, which was air conditioned and cool unlike the rest of the factory that was contrastingly hot. "Yes," he spoke into the phone which carried a video footage.
It was Giovanni, the leader of the former Team Rocket that was disbanded a year ago. "How are things on your end," Giovanni asked, as expressionless as ever.
"We've only managed to make the prototypes for now," the scientist said. "They don't have much rigidity. But the analog system is more or less perfect. The response time has been significantly improved too."
There was a hint of impatience in Giovanni's face. "Are they usable, Professor Zager?" He asked.
"No, I'm afraid," the Professor admitted. "Cancelling the Hold Items project and switching onto the new one increased the work load in here. You must understand that we're trying to do make great things in a rusty old abandoned plant. Time is essential."
"I want it ready by the second match at least," Giovanni said. "Also did you manage to deduce a way to escape the checkups?"
"I did," the Professor said. "Unfortunately we have no choice but sneak our data inside manually. Fortunately, I have the right person to do it. Although we need some extra funding for doing that. The grunts are unhappy with our salaries."
"The workers," Giovanni corrected. "I know how to handle them. As for the funds we may have to let Mr. S deal with it."
"Mr. S, huh," the old man chuckled. He's a dangerous man, alright. But a resourceful one indeed. "Speaking of resources," he said. "Jessie, James and Meowth have become obsolete since their premature departure from the league complex."
Giovanni's face remained indifferent. "Tell them that they need to sort it out on their own or they might have to leave the team."
Zager was slightly disturbed by this. "They are loyal, Mr. Giovanni. They are valuable assets."
"I said my word," Giovanni didn't like people talking back, but Zager held an extremely important position for him. He was also the glue between Giovanni and Mr. S. "Tell them to start with the person who put them in a mess in the first place."
"I will," Zager grunted. Seems like Old Jessie, James and Meowth would have to work hard to prove their worth again. "Then I shall take leave. There's a lot of work to do, and very less time."
The League ranch was only a couple of blocks away from the Hotel and the Stadium Complex. The place was enormous; in fact it puts Professor Oak's to shame in many ways possible.
Our T-Dex was used as an identification to let us in. Care has been taken so that unauthorized people won't come in and mess with the Pokémon inside. A rusty old gate separated the main building from the ranch.
The ranch was a huge chunk of greenery. Most of the land near the gate was a plain meadow where Pokémon like Tauros, Rapidash race through. Beyond the grass were three different kinds of regions. One had a small water canal passing through, the other was a marsh land and the fourth was filled seemed almost like a dense forest.
"Wow," I said eyeing the Pokémon around. "This place is giant."
"Well yes," Cilan said. "A perfect place for all the Pokémon to rest. Most of them will be going through a lot of battles thanks to this tournament. A place like this is ideal for them to relax and replenish their mind and bodies."
"Cilan blabbers," Iris was disinterested in his speech. "As usual. Now moving on."
"This place has so many Pokémon," Brock said, "But the funny thing is, unlike most places, Pokémon here don't group with other Pokémon belonging to the same species."
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Well," he explained. "Most trained Pokémon tend to behave like that. They would rather group with their trainer's Pokémon and form a territory for themselves."
"So where are my Pokémon?" I asked. If that's correct, my guys would have selected a good territory.
"Paul's Pokémon took the part near the waterside," Brock pointed. "So I had to shift yours to the woods. They don't exactly like each other."
Wow, I never my Pokémon had rivalry with Paul's. I guess it was expected. Like trainer like Pokémon, they say.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed suddenly. I looked in the direction the rodent pointed and found an Umbreon running towards us. The rodent jumped off my shoulder to greet the Pokémon.
"That's Gary's Umbreon," Brock said as Pikachu and the dark Pokémon exchanged a friendly chat.
"The way Pokémon interact with each other reflect their trainers," Cilan said, "It clearly shows Gary and you respect each other."
Yeah, Gary's become more of a friend than I thought. I bet if someone told me this six years ago, I would laugh at them.
"Gli! Gli!"
My thoughts were disturbed by a familiar cry. It was Gliscor, he had a happy look on his face, judging by the tongue he struck out. "Hey!" I waved. The Pokémon lunged and tackled me to the ground.
"It sure likes you," Iris said as Gliscor crushed me with its hug.
I pulled the Pokémon off me, who looked at me with gleaming eyes. "Yeah," I said. Gliscor used to be an oddball in my team. As a Gligar, he wanted to battle and get stronger but he was too much of a coward. But thanks to Gary, I solved that problem and he evolved into a super strong Gliscor.
The black Pokémon Umbreon greeted Gliscor, who gave her a salute in return. "Ash look," Iris tugged my shoulder.
In the sky there were five more Pokémon. "Staraptor, Unfezant, Noctowl, Pidgeot, and Swellow," I greeted each by name. The five bird Pokémon took it as a cue to land and perched in a circle around us.
"All of you are here huh," I said studying each of them. "Good. I want you guys to gather all of the Pokémon at one place. Tell them it's an important meeting."
The bird Pokémon nodded and took off into the sky all at once. Gliscor stuck its tongue out once more and did the same, using his tail as an aid to propel into the sky.
"I haven't seen Ash's Pokémon since then," Iris said, obviously excited. "They must have changed a lot in one year."
"There are some whom you haven't met," I said. Gengar, Primeape, Pidgeot and Squirtle have returned since then.
Meanwhile…
Dawn and May were in the subway station. The blunette was heading to Vertress to meet up with Zoey, while May was heading to Silver where she would be training with her brother and father for the rest of the day.
"So," May said as they headed to their respective platforms. "Tell me the truth, Dawn."
The blunette looked at her, confused. "Truth about what?"
"Are you really going to meet Zoey?" She asked, giving her a sideward glance.
"Well…"Dawn smiled sheepishly. "After I meet Paul on the way."
May grinned. "I thought so," she said, pumping her fist.
"Well before you come to conclusions," Dawn said, adjusting her scarf a bit. "I'm worried because I was the one who told him to take care of that Rhyhorn."
"And—?" The brunette asked.
"And I just want to know why he threw that match with Wallace," Dawn said, folding her arms. "I assure you, I have no other reason."
"Well," May mused, "What if I tell the reason?"
"You?" Dawn raised her eyebrows. "I've been racking my head all night and I couldn't figure it out. Besides you barely know Paul."
May gave the blunette a devious smirk at that. "It's because Paul felt insulted by the guy who forced him into a battle without any prior info."
"That…" Dawn gave her a skeptic glance. "Maybe," she said as her brain began working. Her eyes shone in excitement at her discovery, "Paul would definitely take it as an insult. Yes it fits!"
May gave her a victorious smile. Dawn continued, "Add that to the fact that Paul doesn't like doing things that wouldn't benefit him in any way possible. It perfectly fits!"
May simply shrugged. "Told ya."
"But…" Dawn now looked befuddled. "How would you know that?"
"Ash told me," May said, "He told it as if it was quite obvious."
"Ash?" Dawn lowered her eyes. "How did he?" She was genuinely surprised. As far as she knew, they were opposites. So Ash should never be able to figure out why Paul did things. "I couldn't figure out, even when I tried putting myself in his shoes all night."
"Maybe," May said, unsure herself. "It's because Ash doesn't put himself in Paul's shoes to understand him. He simply understands him."
Simply understand? "I see," Dawn realized her folly. Instead of making a futile attempt by thinking like Paul does, she should simply understand him more. Ash does, so it didn't take him any time to figure out his reasons. "Thank you, May!" Her face brightened.
As Dawn left her a few minutes later, May thought, 'I'm sure you don't have any other intentions right now. But this is how things start.'
The brunette was excited. She liked watching real-life love stories after all. Then again May likes anything that's remotely adventurous.
Back in the ranch…
"And with that," I announced. "Everyone's here, right?"
A collective cry replied me in return. All the Pokémon I registered for the tournament now assembled at a clearing among the line of trees, which was my Pokémon's territory. It was relatively dark thanks to the shade of the trees, despite the fact that the afternoon sun was in fact blazing.
"Good," I said, taking a seat on top of a log. Brock and Cilan did the same while Iris sat on a branch. I took a deep breath and said, "Today we've all gathered because I've an important announcement to make."
The Pokémon nodded seriously. "Tomorrow is my first PWT match."
A glint was seen in almost everyone's eyes. "Wow," Cilan said. "They all look like trained soldiers."
I ignored his comment. "My first match will be against Tobias." There was a mixed reaction among the Pokémon. Some had no clue as for who it was while few were a bit shocked. Garchomp was explaining something to Feraligatr who listened to it intently.
"He's a trainer who uses legendary Pokémon," my voice cut down the murmurs between them. "I have faced him in the Sinnoh League and…" Memories of that dreadful day still flashed in my mind. "I lost. Pretty badly."
Torkoal began to cry all of a sudden. He was obviously disappointed that the only match I had used him in a year ended up into one-hit KO for him. "But this time, I'll defeat him." I clenched my fists. "We've trained and trained and trained. And it's all come to this. This is where I prove to the world how strong of a trainer I am!"
The collective roars of the Pokémon echoed through the silent ranch. The battle cries my Pokémon sent the rest of the Pokémon around scurrying.
"So," I said, "I can only use six of you tomorrow. But remember, I need all of you to support me."
The Pokémon growled in agreement. Now it comes down to which six I should be choosing.
"So," Brock spoke. "What's the plan?"
"I only know two of his Pokémon," I said, "I can only guess that he's got four more as such."
"Hmm," Brock fell into deep thought. "You need to choose your members carefully, taking care into consideration that you'll face Latios and Darkrai."
"Heracross is the best match I suppose," Cilan suggested. "Bug and fighting isn't something Darkrai or Latios would like."
"Either of them can use Psychic type moves," I said. A sudden realization hit me. "Of course!" I exclaimed. "I just have the best Pokémon for both Darkrai and Latios!"
"Good," Brock smiled. "So let's go with the other five."
"Wait," Cilan asked, shifting his gaze from me to Brock. "He didn't tell what his first Pokémon is."
I couldn't help but smile at that. Brock said, carrying his own smile. "Ash never reveals his team before the match. He likes to put us on a hold."
"Uh," Cilan said looking at me strangely. "Now that I remember you always avoided telling me which partners you'd be using in the Unova League."
"And I am planning to choose more than six," I said, "I won't decide on the final team till tomorrow morning."
"Now, now," Iris said jumping from her tree. "You don't do that to us. I was actually hoping to see which six you'd choose."
"Well," I grinned. "You'll see them in action tomorrow."
"Moving on," Brock said. "Ash, most legendaries are psychic types, so you need to take care of that. And there are a few in the legends that could move fast like Suicune and some very defensive like Brandon's Regirock. "
"So are you telling me I need a team that could deal with fast Pokémon and has some good offense," I stroked my chin. "Alright, two more to my team."
"So fast," Iris blinked in surprise.
"Well it's only a shortlist," Cilan explained. "The main selection could take more time."
After much discussion, I finally came with a team of twelve Pokémon. The names were only privy to me, but I think my friends understand my reasons.
"Brock, can I get the ranch people to send the six Pokémon when I need them?" I asked.
"Yeah," Brock said. "Just go to the Pokémon center and give us a ring."
"Good," I smacked my fist against my palm. "Off we go to the battle nets then." I ran excitedly, Pikachu in tow. Tomorrow, I am going to win. No matter what!
The Rose-Red region…
In a posh looking restaurant that only attracted the higher set of the people in the money chain, a man and a woman sat, one opposite to the other by the table. People who knew the woman were surprised as for who the man was. The women around commented that the man was handsome enough to deserve someone as popular and beautiful as she was, while the men only gave envious glances at the man.
The woman was Cynthia, the blonde champion of Sinnoh while the man was one Harvey McMillan, a blonde man whom most women termed as charming, handsome and dashing.
"I'm glad you accepted my offer," Harvey smiled. "So, I expect you have forgiven me?"
"Forgive you for what?" Cynthia raised an eyebrow. She looked straight into his blue eyes with her grey ones.
"Well," Harvey smiled, conceding in defeat. The woman wanted a confession out of him. "Okay, I am sorry for yelling at you like that the other day."
The champion shook her head at this. "Paul," Cynthia said, "Paul's the one you need to apologize."
Harvey leaned against the chair, reeling from disappointment. "I don't need to apologize to him for anything."
"You insulted him," Cynthia reminded.
"And he paid back for it," Harvey gave a derisive laugh. "In fact he did more than make me pay for it. He made my event an international embarrassment."
"It was a hit," Cynthia tapped her fingers on the table. "The TRP ratings of all the channels that broadcasted shot up like crazy."
"Paul did nothing to contribute to that," Harvey frowned. "He only deterred the progress."
"Come on Harvey," Cynthia looked at him as if he was a little child. "He's no different from you. You forced him to do something for your own reasons; he didn't do it for his own reasons."
"I know I'm a selfish asshole," Harvey shrugged. "And that makes him?"
Cynthia sighed at this. "There you go. Turning my words on me."
"Cynthia," Harvey said, "When I heard about Ash and Paul's story from you, I was excited. Now this was something people would like. Two trainers, two different paths, and the same goal that would make sure they'd confront each other at some point. It's poetic."
"Your point?" Cynthia asked.
"I wanted them to face each other in the Tier 6 Knock out round," Harvey said. "Now, I have lost interest in this Paul guy."
"You wanted to do what?" Cynthia was more troubled by what Harvey said. She gave him a judgmental glare.
"Okay," Harvey sighed, raising his arms in defeat. "I may have something to do with Ash facing Tobias in round one right off the bat."
"You rigged it," Cynthia looked at him as if he was unbelievable. She stood up immediately. "I can't believe I trusted you."
"I can explain," Harvey tried stopping her as the woman opened her purse and placed her share of the money. She stormed off after that, ignoring Harvey who called out for her twice before giving up.
Harvey rubbed his forehead. Yes, it was true he rigged it, but he did so only because it didn't seem unfair to him. Ash was bound to face Tobias at one point or the other. There was no point in him facing random useless people after all the hype he gave to him.
Cynthia was mad, and that meant he was in trouble. But he knew he'd find a way out of it. More importantly, he didn't want to ruin things with her.
Nevertheless, what the audience wanted was only good battles, not curbstomping all the way till Tier 4. If he hadn't adjusted a few matchups, the tournament would become the longest and boring tournament in the history ever.
In fact all the fifteen thousand tickets to the match between Ash and Tobias were booked in just fifteen minutes of the opening. If anything, his strategy was an astounding success.
The Vertress Region…
"Rhyhorn, Rock Blast!"
The rock type Pokémon let out a growl as it opened its jaws. A bright energy shaped in the Pokémon's mouth, and soon a barrage of rocks was shot at the opposing Pokémon.
The opposing Pokémon was Weavile, a Pokémon that was as dark as night, and had a red crown on its head. The Pokémon had sharp claws that were good enough to slice through steel.
As the Rock Blast was shot at the ice-type, it smacked them off with its powerful claws, not leaving a single Rock Blast to fly past it.
"You need to focus," the purple-haired trainer yelled. "Aim for Weavile's Chest."
The Pokémon nodded, it then refocused its aim on the ice-type and prepared for another barrage of rocks.
The blunette watched them train in the battle net from afar. Paul was more like a strict coach, she realized. Ash usually helps his Pokémon by doing what they do, and understand their problems. It's amazing how those two differ in everything, right from the basic training methods.
The Weavile moved its claws swiftly, parrying away each rock with ease.
"Put more power!" Paul exclaimed. "Weavile wasn't even trying."
The Rhyhorn looked down, discouraged. Paul frowned at the Pokémon's defeatist attitude. "This isn't the time to look down!" He yelled. "Get up, and aim!"
The Weavile looked bored. It was so because the Rhyhorn was probably the weakest training partner it had under Paul's care. It couldn't even fathom why it was still in the team. Normally a weak Pokémon like that wouldn't even make it into the team. It shifted its gaze to outside the net and promptly found the blunette watching them from afar.
"Wea," it warned the trainer.
"What is it?" Paul asked, shifting his attention to where the Pokémon pointed. Surprised washed over his face. It then turned into a frown.
Realizing she was caught peeping at him again, Dawn scratched her hair in embarrassment. Since she was caught watching, she thought she might as well go and greet him.
As the blunette approached Paul, he shifted his attention to the Rhyhorn, who was still in a dark mood of disappointment. His eyebrows twitched. He had to find a way to re-ignite its spirit.
"Well," Dawn said with a bright smile. "How's the training going?"
"Terrible," Paul said, not giving her a glance. "I'm having a hard time dealing with Rhyhorn. I could've trained five more Pokémon with the time I spent on it."
"I see," Dawn realized his frustration. "But I'm glad you're not giving up on it. I guess you're stubborn too."
He scoffed at this, "I can't be Ash, I realized from training this Rhyhorn. I am what I am."
"Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on it," Dawn said stooping to the Pokémon's height. "So," she addressed the Pokémon. "How are you Rhyhorn?"
The Pokémon grunted something inaudible. Dawn could at least understand that it was down. "Listen, Rhyhorn," she said placing a hand on the Pokémon. "You want to become stronger, don't you?"
The Pokémon nodded. Dawn smiled, "Then you need to put more energy into your training. You've to give it your all!"
She rubbed the Pokémon's rocky scales. Much to Paul's surprise, the Pokémon seemed happy. It grunted and growled something at Paul. Paul's frown relaxed. "Weavile, get ready."
The Pokémon nodded and took an offensive stance. Dawn walked away from the field and stood behind Paul. "Rhyhorn," the trainer commanded once more. "Rock Blast!"
The Pokémon moved with more energy than ever. It opened its jaws to shoot the Rock type move. Its eyes shone with a bright blue energy and soon rocks were fired through its mouth like cannon.
The first shot was repelled by Weavile with ease, and so was the second shot. But as the Pokémon prepared the third shot, it muffled another grunt and fired it with extra force.
If the first two shots moved like a car, then the third one struck like a plane. The dark type startled by the sudden change in pace was struck by the attack on its chest. The supereffective move had a significant impact on it, and the Pokémon was thrown away by the force. Before it could even do a proper landing two more attacks struck it, dealing more damage than the Weavile liked.
The Weavile angered by the attack, spread its hands and summoned an attack. A powerful cold wind was generated by the Pokémon's dance. The Rhyhorn, not expecting the Ice-type move was completely wide open to the attack. The snow pellets rained on the part-ground type, it managed to endure for a while but soon it fainted on the spot.
Dawn was panicked by the sudden attack. "Why did Weavile do that?"
"It was a part of training," Paul said. "I told Rhyhorn not to let its guard down after launching a successful attack." He enlarged the Pokéball he plucked from his belt and sucked the Pokémon right back in. "You should never let your guard down," he said to the Pokéball before putting it back onto his belt. He didn't say it aloud, but he was actually surprised to see Rhyhorn move like that. It showed how a little bit of kindness changed Rhyhorn's attitude. The Rhyhorn would match well with a friendly trainer like Ash rather than a harsh one like him. He took another Pokéball and returned the ice type back. "Good job," he muttered.
"Your training methods are too harsh," Dawn chided.
Paul frowned at this. "If a Pokémon isn't trained for all worst possibilities in the basic training itself," he said. "It won't stand a chance in actual battles. My training methods may be harsh, but they're better and make sure I don't yell things like 'Get up', 'I believe in you' a lot often."
Paul's words brought a smile on her face. Yes, it was true that Ash did that a lot often. In fact, Ash always trained his Pokémon in improving their skills and strengths. He never prepares them for terrible eventualities. That was his flaw, he hardly plans much.
"He has a quick brain to compensate it though," Paul said. "Unlike him, I can't make up things on the spot."
Of course she wouldn't admit he was right. "So," he said, giving her an awkward glance. "What brings you here? I thought you'd be watching Ash train right now."
"I will," she said. "I just wanted to see how you were doing first."
Paul raised an eyebrow, "I don't need a babysitter."
"Excuse me," Dawn said putting her hands on her hips. "I didn't come to babysit anyone. I was just wondering what happened to you yesterday."
Paul's face changed colors. "Nothing happened yesterday."
Dawn relaxed her shoulders. "This guy called Harvey forced you, Ash and Tyson to battle the top favorites. You threw your match because you felt you were insulted and used like a marketing tool."
He looked puzzled for a second. "Yeah," he sighed at last. "But you can't exactly blame Harvey for manhandling me. I ruined him a lot of money. Besides, my main motive was not to reveal my cards till the actual game begins."
"So I guess you are alright with it?" She asked.
"I'm not a two year old, and you're not my mother," he said, brushing part her. "But, uh," he paused. "Thanks for coming."
Dawn realized, Paul was more of a Cyndaquil than she thought. For some reason, she started liking him getting uncomfortable around her.
"Paul," Dawn stopped the purple-headed trainer. "Ash understands how you feel. So…" she hesitated, "I just wanted to say…." She paused again. "I want you to make up things with him again."
The purple-haired trainer gave her a strange look for a second. "You know who my first opponent is?" He asked.
"Of course I do," she said, "The two of us are in the same group, right."
Yes, it was something she hadn't shared with her friends, but she and Paul were in fact in the same group and they'll be battling in their last group matches. She didn't tell anyone because her friends would start talking stuff like fate blah, blah, blah.
"Of course," he murmured. "His name is Ash Jr., a trainer from Pallet Town."
"Pallet?" Dawn didn't know this. She knew his name was Ash Jr. At first she thought it was just a strange coincidence but—
"He has the same Pokémon Ash had," Paul said. "His starter is a Pikachu, he has a Charmeleon, Bulbasaur and Squirtle and a Pidgeotto. I don't think it's just a coincidence. He's a thorough Ash fan."
"Wait," Dawn stroked her chin, surprised that Ash actually had a follower. He'd be really excited to hear it. But of course if he's an Ash fan, then—"That means he hates you."
There was a strange smirk on Paul's face. "I'm looking forward to meet the kid actually."
As Dawn and Paul continued to chat, among the bushes outside the battle net were two young men, who watched the blunette interact with the purple-haired trainer.
"Look at her," the chubby Kenny pointed. "She's getting awfully close to him."
"I have made a thorough study on them," Conway said, adjusting his glasses. "I have figured the reason behind Dawn's interest in Paul."
"Mind sharing?" Kenny asked, although he knew Conway couldn't hold himself from telling about his discovery.
Dawn has a kind heart," Conway said. "She's obviously worried about Paul ever since she learned new things about him."
"Like what?" Kenny asked.
"Like behind every asshole," the nerd said, "Is a painful backstory. But at this rate…" there was a hint of worry on his face, "She might end up falling for him or the vice versa."
"Or in the worst case," Kenny made a dreaded face. "Both."
Conway gave his hideous laugh at this, "Of course, that's why we're here."
He, he, he.
This chapter was mostly dedicated to a bit of character development for everyone. I know I'm divulging quite a bit from the main character, but the other ones need some focus too.
Also, I hope I am dealing the shipping department slightly differently. I'll do my best to not make it clichéd. But sometimes, few things are unavoidable. Working with a dense main character is really difficult; he misses most of the romantic hints. But that's fun in its own way.
Also, who is this new Ash Jr., I have mentioned in this chapter? He'll make his appearance soon when Paul battles him on October 3rd. We have Ash's battle on October 2nd, first! (And we're still midway through October 1st.)
The next chapter will be more like this one, but there'd be a surprise in the end. Look forward for another chapter, next week.
Review and review more, people!
Also, I'd like you to ask a question: Which character do you like the most in Road to be a Pokémon Master? It could be anyone who has appeared from chapters one through fourteen. Do mention it in your reviews!
25/4/2013
A terrible news. I got into a fight in a train, and the guys I fought did the worst thing possible. Smash my laptop against the floor. The display was gone, and I can longer use it (till I get it fixed). I have developed a lot of plot for the upcoming chapters in my Pokemon fics, Road to be a Pokemon Master and When I became a Master, and my codegeass/fsn fanfic When Geass Twists Fate, and the worst damage was taken by my dbz fic, the hunt for gold (because I barely remember anything and I wanted to write it this summer.)