Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon
Training and Preparation arc – Chapter 4 – Reunion in Sinnoh!
Sandgem Town, Sinnoh region…
Dawn Berlitz is a 16 ½ year old, beautiful blue haired Pokémon Coordinator and runner up in the Sinnoh Grand Festival in her first year of her Pokémon journey, losing to her friendly rival Zoey in a tight contest. She was also the winner of the last Wallace Cup in Sinnoh, followed by finishing in the top 2 of the Wallace Cup that was held in Johto. Initially she planned on travelling to the Hoenn region to compete in more Pokémon Contests since Hoenn was the region that the Pokémon Contest originated in. Not to mention, the Contest Master Wallace was from Hoenn.
However in the end, she had chosen to compete in Kanto instead. She didn't really have any particular reason for her change of heart, but the ferries that went to the Hoenn region were unavailable for a couple of days. Granted, she could have went to another town's docks but she just decided to board a boat to the Kanto region. Of course, she immediately informed her mother and Professor Rowan of her newly changed plans. She had wanted to go to Kanto with Ash in the first place, plus she would get the chance to visit Ash's hometown.
It was a decision that she didn't regret.
Back before she had left for Kanto, she had been psyched to get back into Pokémon Contests after Buneary's stint as a Pokémon Fashion Model. While she and Buneary enjoyed the experience, and it was a good option for them to continue in the future when her time as a Pokémon Coordinator was up, but for now, Pokémon Contests were her passion.
However Dawn couldn't deny that she had been bored at times while doing the job of a Pokémon Stylist. It was a pretty demanding job with little chance to go out and have fun and she didn't have anyone really that close to talk to. Sure, Hermione and Paris were always good to talk to but she never really found any common ground with the other Pokémon Stylists. In fact, most of them look down on her since she was so young compared to them.
When she went to Kanto, she caught a few new Pokémon, and successfully gathered the required five ribbons to qualify for the Grand Festival. She didn't win it, unfortunately, but she came close, finishing in the top 4 after losing to Nando by a couple of points. Dawn had chosen to use an unfinished combination between Piplup and Quilava, but it ended up backfiring, allowing Nando to claim victory. Dawn didn't regret trying the combination, she was behind and time was almost up. If it had worked, then she would have won for sure. All she could do was to continue practising and believing in her Pokémon until they mastered it.
It had been a rather smooth sailing journey for her since she wasn't being constantly attacked by the Team Rocket trio but she had to deal with one factor that she hadn't counted on. Loneliness. Travelling in between towns had been by herself had been tough, especially since Piplup would just go back into his Poké Ball whenever he got bored. It certainly made her appreciate her journey through Sinnoh with Ash and Brock much more.
In an attempt to shake things up she took the chance to catch a plane to take her to Unova so she could check out a Pokémon Musical and to see one of Elesa's fashion shows. As a Pokémon Coordinator, she wanted to get as much inspiration as she could and they were two events that greatly helped. Once she heard that Cynthia was going to make an appearance at the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup being held in Lacunosa Town, she couldn't resist competing.
A few weeks into her Kanto journey, she had contacted both Ash and Brock, curious to see what they were up to. Brock was doing exceptionally well in his Pokémon Doctor course. Thanks to all the knowledge that he had gained from years of journeying had been a real asset as he was pushed up to third year material in only his second year. All Dawn hoped was that there wouldn't be a bunch of Brocks running the Pokémon Centres in thirty years… no girl would be able to find any peace.
As for Ash, she learned that he had decided to take on the Unova League, which surprised her, because she thought he intended to go to Hoenn after he finished in Sinnoh. Either way, she was confident that he could go all the way. When she got in contact with Cynthia, telling her that she was competing in the Junior Cup, there was always the possibility of running into Ash. So when she heard from Cynthia that she had run into Ash and was bring back to the place they were staying at, she wasn't surprised. She also got the chance to meet his travelling companions, Iris and Cilan, who she befriended quickly.
Seeing Ash again had been amazing, she had forgotten how inspiring he could be. His drive and his determination to be the best along with his desire to help those he cares about really made him a special guy. She also noticed how handsome he had become since she had last seen him. For a few days before she headed to Unova, she had really been feeling down, being alone on her journey, but being with Ash again reignited the fire in her belly.
Leaving Unova to go to Johto so she could compete in the Wallace Cup, Dawn felt more confident than ever before and never again did she allow her loneliness get the best of her. After all, there would always be the chance that she met someone just like Ash. Well, not exactly the same. There wasn't anyone else like Ash... Her friend from Pallet Town was special.
One – and probably the only one – of the positives of not travelling with Ash was that she didn't have to worry about Team Rocket showing up to steal her Pokémon.
They were mainly after Pikachu, after all.
Johto was the next region that she competed in. After travelling to Johto to compete in the Wallace Cup, she had loved the experience. So naturally she couldn't resist the chance to explore the rest of the region and participate in more contests. Unfortunately she could only make it to the top 8, with her Pokémon being knocked out against her oldest friend, Kenny. Her Mamoswine and Misdreavus – who she caught in Johto – and been defeated by Kenny's Ninetails and Alakazam.
It had been an ordinary performance, one that she just couldn't get into sync and her Pokémon suffered because of it. She vowed to use those two Pokémon in her next contest double battle and the outcome would be very different.
Now she was preparing for her next journey after returning home for a few weeks. She was thrilled and excited for the chance to travel through Hoenn and compete in more contests. Plus she was giddy at the prospect of running into Ash. She had called his house only a few days ago but there was no answer so she tried Professor Oak's lab. Tracey, his assistant was the one that answered and he informed her that Ash was heading to Hoenn. She hoped that they would run into each other, and maybe travel together again.
Currently she was at the docks in Sandgem Town preparing to take a ferry to the Hoenn region. This was one of the smaller docks in the Sinnoh region, with only two ports for ferries to pull in. Separating them was a large cement floor filled with a single row of benches on each port; each bench was separated by a tree or plant. Of course, there was a long and wide building where the tickets were bought.
The Pokémon Coordinator wore brand new clothes for the start of her new journey. Instead of a white beanie, she wore a black one with a red contest ribbon logo printed on the front. Her hair remained the same, with the gold clips to keep the front of her hair up, and the back fell down to the middle of her back. The pink scarf that she wore around her neck during her Sinnoh journey was replaced with a red one. She wore a similar mini dress, sleeveless and down to her thighs, but the colour scheme was slightly different. The bottom of the dress had a red flame shaped design and she wore a light blue undershirt that could be seen through the v-shaped collar. She also wore black knee-high boots with red socks underneath, and she kept the same yellow backpack that she used journeying through Sinnoh.
Standing a few feet away from her was a light-blue penguin-like Pokémon named Piplup, and he was Dawn's starting Pokémon and number one companion. The penguin Pokémon was often out of his Poké Ball, preferring to be out to keep his trainer company.
"Almost time, Piplup!" The 16 ½ year old girl smiled down at her beloved Pokémon. "Ready for a whole new adventure?"
"Pip... Piplup!" The Penguin Pokémon crossed his fins over his chest, a determined look marring his face. He wasn't going to let her down! He was going to defeat any and every Pokémon that stood in Dawn's way of becoming Top Coordinator!
"With you, and the rest of my Pokémon, there's no way we can fail!" Dawn declared, fire flaring in her eyes. "I'll be top coordinator, no need to worry!"
"Piplup!" The Penguin Pokémon agreed, nodding his head smugly.
Dawn reached into her bag to get out her ticket for the ferry. "Found it!" She exclaimed happily, pulling out the important ticket. However when she showed it to Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon wasn't interested in it. Instead, he was looking off in the direction where passengers were exiting off another ferry. What caught Dawn's attention though was how wide his eyes were. He had a look of pure shock marring his face.
Deciding to try and find out just what had shocked Piplup so much, Dawn looked over in the same direction. It was only about midday, and the sun was shining high in the sky, without a single cloud in the sky, making it hard to see. Dawn was forced to raise her hands over her eyes to block out the sunlight and after a few moments of searching, she finally discovered what had shocked Piplup.
A very familiar handsome young man with spiky black hair had just reach the bottom of the ramp that was used to get passengers off the ferry, with a Pikachu on his shoulder.
"It couldn't be..." Dawn muttered in denial, "Why would he be here?"
"Pip?"
The clothing that he wore was different, but still similar to the ones that he wore when he travelled with her in Sinnoh. He had a new hat, and he wore a hoodie instead of a jacket. He wore the same black fingerless gloves with the green border that he wore in Sinnoh, and new lighter blue jeans and blue and black sneakers.
He stood out of the way of the ramp, and pulled out a PokéNav. Suddenly, as if it was fate, the teen looked up, his brown eyes meeting her blue. His eyes widened slightly, before a bright grin formed on his face.
Dawn felt a grin instinctively grow on her face, and she, along with Piplup, hurried over to their friends. When she was only a few feet away, Ash raised his hand above his head, and Dawn immediately copied his movements, and clapped his hand firmly. Then she followed up by hugging tightly, taking the chance to appreciate his newly formed muscles. He had been working out it seemed.
"Nice to see you too, Dawn." Ash grinned, hugging to him tightly. With a light blush, he wondered for a moment if her breasts pressing tightly against his chest had grown a bit.
Dawn broke the hug with a bright grin on her face, "Ash! Pikachu! It's great to see you too! What're you doing here?!"
"Pip, pip Piplup!" The penguin Pokémon greeted them happily from his position on the floor, dancing excitedly at the sight of them. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder down onto the cement floor, and greeted Piplup with a hug.
Of course there wasn't one Pokémon that couldn't stay in her Poké Ball with Pikachu on the scene. Buneary popped out onto the floor, threw a startled Piplup off the electric mouse, and grabbed Pikachu in her own hug. Ash's starting Pokémon didn't get the chance to reciprocate, because in a flash, he was released from her hold and she returned to her to her ball, flustered.
With a slight tilt of his head to the left, the electric mouse let out a confused, 'Pika-pika?'
"Just have to do some things before I head to Johto." Ash informed her, amused by Buneary's actions but his answer just made her even more confused.
"Johto? Tracey said that you were going to Hoenn." Dawn puffed out her cheeks angrily, and she bent forward slightly, hands on hips with an irritated look on her usual pretty face. "What are you up to, mister?!" Dawn almost pouted, she had just been to Johto!
Ash rubbed the back of his head, releasing a light chuckle. "I've got a similar task to do in Johto as I do here. Once I'm done there, then I'm heading to Hoenn, finally."
"And...?" Dawn drawled with a raised eyebrow, her foot tapping the ground impatiently, waiting for Ash to continue.
"And what?" Ash frowned, puzzled.
"What tasks do you have to do?!" Dawn demanded.
"Oh that... ummm... it's not really important." Ash said, trying to be subtly evasive, and failing miserably. He knew without a doubt that Dawn wouldn't be too pleased with what he had planned. "Enough about me, what 'bout you?" Ash asked her curiously, as a powerful horn blew loudly, causing them to flinch. "Where you headed to?"
Dawn shook her head, "Just about to head off to Hoenn to compete in more contests." She declared proudly. Crouching down, Dawn happily caressed Pikachu's chin softly. "It's great to see you again, Pikachu."
"Chu..." The electric mouse enjoyed the soft hands stroking his fur.
"Um, Dawn?" The blue haired coordinator looked back up at Ash to see him pointing behind her. "Is that your ferry?"
Dawn turned back, and her eyes widened in horror. Standing sharply to her feet, Dawn could only watch, horrified, as her ferry began departing from the dock.
"No!" Dawn shouted, clutching her hair tightly, with crocodile tears running down her face. She fell to her knees. "All of that money for the ticket... wasted." She cried in misery. Piplup sweat dropped at the sight of his trainer falling apart.
Ash folded his arms across his chest with a nod. "Yeah, I know the feeling." He chuckled lightly, remembering the times where he had missed a boat. It had happened more times than he'd care admit.
Dawn jumped back to her feet, all traces of misery gone from her face, and quickly fixed her hair with a brush that she seemed to pull out of thin air. "I guess that settles it." In fact, she looked excited.
"Settles what?" Ash inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Dawn mimicked Ash's action, folding her arms across her chests, unintentionally enhancing them, looking smug. Ash noticed this and quickly looked away, with a light blush on his cheeks.
"I'm going with you!" Dawn decided. "Since we're both heading to Hoenn anyway, I may as well go with you!"
"Piplup!" The penguin Pokémon chirped in delight.
"Really?" Ash blinked, startled by the announcement, but he was more than happy to travel together through Hoenn.
"Don't you want me to spend some time with me?" Dawn pouted sadly.
"Of course!" Ash immediately responded, "It's just... isn't going with me going to get in the way of your contests? I won't be getting to Hoenn for a couple of weeks, that's a couple of contests you could possibly miss. Wouldn't it be better to simply meet up in Hoenn?"
Dawn shrugged the matter off, "I've already had a major setback by missing my boat." She hissed the last part through her teeth. "Besides, travelling with you will make us stronger, right Piplup?"
"Piplup!"
Ash grinned, "Good point," Suddenly the grin turned to a frown, "Just so you know, what I'm doing here is kinda dangerous."
"Dangerous, huh?" Dawn said slyly, raising her right eyebrow. "More dangerous than what happened in Alamos Town, or the incident with Giratina. Going into the past to deal with Arceus was extremely safe... that kind of danger?"
Ash stroked his chin as he thought about it. "No, it's not that dangerous. However what I'm going to do is risky and I don't want you to get hurt."
"That's sweet, Ash." Dawn smiled gratefully at him, and because Ash looked away at the compliment, he missed the slight blush on her face. "No need to worry. I trust you, plus we've gotten a lot stronger over the last couple of years! Also I want to hear all about your Kalos journey!"
"Lup, Piplup!" Piplup agreed with his trainer's confidence.
Ash didn't hesitate, and immediately grabbed her hand, and began dragging her towards the dock exit. "Let's get going then!"
"Pika!" The electric mouse had predicted his trainer's movements, and had jumped up back onto his shoulder before he grabbed Dawn's hand.
"Where are we going?" Dawn demanded, surprised at Ash's actions, but she didn't resist.
"Towards Veilstone City!" Ash answered excitedly, racing down the path out of the Sandgem Docks, dragging Dawn along with him. Poor Piplup was left trailing them.
"Are you going to tell me yet why we're going to Veilstone?" Dawn questioned Ash a few minutes later. Ash had finally released her hand once they got out of Sandgem Town however he remained evasive on what he was after. Right now, they were walking along a dirt road along route 202 towards Jubilife City.
"Nope." Ash grinned over at her. Dawn would just try and convince him out of it if he did.
Dawn let out an aggravated sigh, "You're acting like kid, it's really unattractive, you know."
Ash simply shrugged, and Pikachu sniggered.
"If you wanted to go to Veilstone, why didn't you get on a ship that gets off at a town close to it?" Dawn inquired.
"That was my intention… Unfortunately I missed the boat thanks to Team Rocket and I was forced to catch a different one." Ash grumbled angrily. Pikachu's cheeks sparkled furiously, remembering another attempt by the trio of bozos trying to take him from Ash.
"Won't they ever learn?" Dawn scowled.
"I've been wondering that for seven years." The seventeen year old retorted. "I wouldn't hold my breath. Unfortunately for you, since you're travelling with me again, you're going to have to deal with them to."
"Lucky me." Dawn groaned, causing Ash to chuckle, but she quickly perked up. "So tell me about your Kalos journey! Did you travel with anyone else? What did –."
"Hey, you!"
Dawn was interrupted by a familiar looking teenage boy wearing dark red shirt with a dark blue and black jacket over it, a white scarf wrapped around his neck. He also wore denim black pants with dark grey and white running shoes, and a dark red hat with a white and black semi Poké Ball on the back. Ash's eyes were immediately drawn to his black glove that held a Key Stone. He was roughly Ash's height, standing roughly at 5'10", both of them dwarfing the 5'2", Dawn, and it was hard to see with his hat on, but Dawn thought that it looked like he had slate grey hair. Could this be..?
The boy approached them from further down the road, heading straight towards them. "I knew I recognised you." He said, stopping a few feet from Ash, a small grin marring his face. Now that he was up close, Dawn was positive. "You're Ash Ketchum."
"You know me?" Ash blinked, surprised.
The boy chuckled, "Of course I do. I watched you battle Paul and Tobias in the Lily of the Valley Conference. Nobody is going to forget those two matches for a long time." The boy's eyes focused onto Pikachu, who was looking at him with the same curious expression that was on Ash's face. "This must be the Pikachu!" The boy exclaimed in awe, "The same Pokémon that tied with a Latios!"
"Pika!" The electric mouse puffed out his chest proudly.
"You're Lucas!" Dawn interrupted firmly, staring at the boy with wide eyes.
"That's right." Lucas looked over at her closely for a moment, before realisation flashed in his eyes. "You... you're..." He chuckled lightly, "You're Dee-Dee."
Dawn puffed her cheeks, slightly annoyed by the infamous nickname. "It's Dawn." She growled, half-heartedly.
"You know this guy, Dawn?" Ash asked her, eyeing the boy in front of him. He looked familiar... along with his name.
Dawn nodded, "Yeah, his name's Lucas. He grew up with me and Kenny. Unlike Kenny and me, he was allowed to get his Pokémon when he was ten, but our mums wanted us to wait until we were older."
Ash folded his arms, and looked away for a moment, muttering, "Lucas... of Twinleaf Town..." He had heard that name recently.
"Is Piplup the Pokémon you started with Dawn?" Lucas asked his old friend curiously.
"Pip!" The penguin Pokémon puffed out his chest.
Dawn giggled lightly, "That's right." Immediately she frowned when she tried to recall the Pokémon that he started with. "Which one did you choose again?"
"I chose Chimchar, who has long since evolved into an Infernape and is one of my strongest Pokémon." Lucas answered with a grin. "Though, I don't have him with me at the moment, he's off doing some special training."
Dawn couldn't believe that his very first Pokémon wasn't with him, she would never consider parting with Piplup for an extended period, and she knew that Ash would feel the same with Pikachu. Before she had the chance to ask him where his Infernape was, Ash interrupted her.
"Now I remember!" Ash exclaimed loudly, startling them. "You won the Sinnoh League the year after Tobias did, didn't you?!"
Lucas grinned proudly, and nodded.
"Seriously?!" Dawn gasped, "I didn't know that!" Admittedly, she hadn't paid much attention to the Sinnoh League after Ash competed.
"You didn't?!" Lucas gasped in mock pain, clutching his heart. "I'm hurt!"
"Sorry." Dawn apologised sheepishly.
Lucas faked a heavy sigh, "I guess I'll forgive you." Turning back to Ash, he told him, "I did win it the next year, and lucky for me I didn't have to contend with someone like Tobias. I reckon you would have won it all if he wasn't in it."
"Thanks, but I don't know about that." Ash grinned lightly, scratching his cheek quickly. The Sinnoh League finals seemed so long ago, he had forgotten how much he achieved that day. It was unfortunate that he wasn't able to use Charizard or Infernape against Tobias. They had been too badly damaged against Paul to be able to compete against Tobias the next day.
"Haven't you become modest?" Dawn teased him slyly before growing serious, "I totally believe that you would have won it if Tobias wasn't competing. Or at the least if you could've used Charizard! After all, nobody was able to defeat his Darkrai, but you beat it and his Latios! Just imagine what could've happened if Charizard could've fought!" Dawn declared .fiercely.
"Pikachu!"
"Piplup!"
Both the electric mouse and blue penguin agreed with Dawn's reasoning.
"Thanks Dawn... and you too, Pikachu, Piplup." Ash blushed lightly from the praise. "But there's no point dwelling on it."
'Are they..?' Lucas thought silently, eyeing the two of them curiously, with a slight grin on his face.
"Anyway onto the reason why I wanted to talk you, Ash." Lucas got to the point. "How 'bout a battle?!"
Ash had only one response to a proposition like that.
"Sounds great! Let's battle!" He declared excitedly, and he quickly scoured the area for a decent place to battle. Surrounding the path was mainly trees and shrubs, not leaving much space to battle. Eventually his eyes landed on a small block of lawn, with a few boulders scattered around, and two trees separated by roughly 10 feet by plain short grass. "Over there looks a good place! Nice and simple!"
Ash and Lucas faced each other with a field of short grass separating them. Dawn was off to the side, sitting on a boulder with her beloved Piplup sitting next to her. Both were anxious to see how this battle turned out.
"Shall we make it a three on three battle, no substitutions, Ash?" Lucas inquired, stretching his arms out with an excited grin on his face. It had been a while since he battled a trainer with Ash's reputation. His Pokémon were starting to get bored, and growing anxious to take on the Sinnoh Elite Four. Lucas pulled out one of his Poké Balls, with a wide grin, "Cool with you if I start things off?"
"It doesn't matter!" Ash smirked, pulling out his own Poké Ball, "I've already selected my Pokémon!"
"So be it!" Lucas yelled, throwing his ball onto the battle ground, "Prepare for battle, Magmortar!"
Ash whistled as the familiar Fire type Pokémon appeared onto the battlefield. The large red, yellow, orange and pink stocky Pokémon glowered down at Ash and raised one of its arms that seemed to be a cross between a paw and a cannon in preparation for battle.
From what Ash could tell, this Magmortar seemed to be slightly larger than the one Paul had, though it had been sometime since he had last seen Paul, let alone his Magmortar. Still he knew the Pokémon that could handle this.
"I choose you, Totodile!" Ash called out, releasing the happily dancing small croc onto the field, the Water Pokémon only came up to the bottom of Magmortar's large pink thighs. You would think that most Pokémon that were dwarfed that much in height and weight would be a little nervous, but not this dancing croc. Totodile did a quick backflip in joy, ignoring the condescending look from his opponent. It had been such a long time since Ash had used him in an official battle, and he couldn't hold back his excitement.
"That's an interesting little guy you've got there." Lucas grinned, it wasn't every day that you saw a Pokémon dance around like that. It hardly seemed intimidated by his powerful Magmortar, and that was something that Lucas couldn't allow to stand.
On the sidelines, Dawn rested her chin on her hand, with a wide smile on her face. "Isn't Totodile just the cutest?" She giggled lightly as Magmortar launched the first attack, which was a powerful beam of flames from one of his cannons and Totodile simply dodged it with a few nice dance moves.
Unknown to Dawn, who was observing the battle, Piplup was staring up at her with a look of utmost horror. He collapsed onto the ground in total despair… To think that his own beloved trainer thought that another Water type Starting Pokémon was even cuter than him. He had never felt so humiliated. With a snap, Piplup was back on his feet, glaring furiously over at Totodile – who had just hit Magmortar in the chest with a well-placed Water Gun – and the penguin Pokémon swore vengeance.
He could just imagine the look on Dawn's face when he stood on top of the unconscious bodies of Totodile and Magmortar. Dawn would turn to him with sparkly dark blue eyes filled with love and adoration, and declare, "Oh Piplup! There is no Pokémon more handsome and powerful as you! You are the star in my eyes and together we will win the Grand Festival!"
"What're you doing, Piplup?" A dull sounding voice interrupted the picture in his head, and he looked up to see Dawn staring blankly down at him. Piplup gave her a sheepish look in response.
"Smash Totodile with Thunder Punch!" Lucas quickly ordered.
Magmortar's left arm was encased by bright crackling electricity and he swung it downwards aiming for Totodile's head, intending to end the match in one devastating blow.
"Dodge it and use Aqua Jet!" Ash swiftly countered with a smirk, and his counter worked perfectly. Totodile flipped back onto his tail, using it as a spring to jump into the air and evade the cannon charged with electricity that harmlessly smashed into the ground. The force sent out multiple ripples through the ground, but the Blast Pokémon was now in a vulnerable position, bent over with a cannon in the ground and Totodile was in the air in front of its face.
Faster than you could blink, Totodile was engulfed in a bubble of water and he quickly shot towards Magmortar, slamming harshly into the Blast Pokémon's face before it had the time to try and counter.
"Magmortar!" Lucas yelled out worriedly as his powerful Fire Pokémon collapsed backwards on the ground.
After slamming the Aqua Jet onto Magmortar, the blow sent Totodile higher in the air and even though he was upside down, the blue croc had a clear view of the downed Magmortar.
"Hit him with another Water Gun, Totodile! Straight into his face!"
"Counter with Thunderbolt!" Lucas ordered firmly.
Upside in mid-air, Totodile let loose a jet of water from in between his large jaws straight towards Magmortar's face, but the Blast Pokémon immediately raised its left arm. The claws receded as the arm became a pure cannon and Magmortar fired a large and powerful bolt of yellow electricity straight at the incoming jet of water. Both attacks connected, and exploded upon impact creating a cloud of dust.
When it cleared, Magmortar was back on its feet and Totodile had landed onto the grass, with a wide toothy grin. Immediately the blue croc delved back into a dance, clearly enjoying the battle while Magmortar simply stared at the dancing Pokémon, with a hint of caution in its gaze. It was clear that this was no ordinary Totodile.
"Amazing… To think that Totodile's Water Gun was strong enough to deflect that Thunderbolt." Dawn whispered in awe, as Piplup watched on intently. Dawn almost let out a giggle of happiness… It had been more than a year since she had last seen Ash battle in person, and she had forgotten how exciting it was.
'This is Totodile is incredibly powerful… I've never fought one this strong before. I didn't even know a Totodile was capable of becoming this strong!' Lucas thought seriously, as he stared at the dancing Totodile with critical eyes. It wasn't particularly fast, but it had incredible evasive movement, and he needed to make it more difficult for Totodile to dance. He needed to force Totodile into the air.
'That was close.' Ash sighed. He was lucky that it was a Fire type Pokémon using an electric type move and so it couldn't be wielded to its fullest capacity. Now, what was his next move?
By now, Lucas would have fully understood at how effective Totodile's dancing was at evading moves and so logically Lucas would try to force him into the air, but Ash wasn't going to allow that. Instead, he was going to make a change to the ground so it would give Totodile the advantage.
"Water Gun all over the battlefield!" Ash ordered the blue croc, and Totodile quickly began firing jets of water all over the battlefield, much to Lucas, Magmortar, Dawn and Piplup's confusion. "Keep firing, don't let up!"
Lucas was so confused at Ash's intentions that he waited to see what Ash was planning and soon wished that he hadn't.
Within a few minutes, instead of standing in a field of short grass, they now stood in thick, wet, slippery grass and mud. This didn't bother Totodile, if anything, dancing around in mud, splattering it everywhere was even more fun, but the same couldn't be said for Magmortar. With its large cannon arms, it made it hard for Magmortar to keep its balance, and Ash was going to use that to his advantage.
"Let's get in close now, Totodile!" Ash swiftly ordered, intending to utilise his field advantage.
"Quick stop it with Thunderbolt!" Lucas shouted.
"Use Aqua Tail on the Mud to block it!" Ash countered calmly.
Magmortar raised its left cannon, while standing perfectly still so it didn't slip in the mud and released a large bolt of yellow electricity straight at the incoming Totodile. With a happy and playful roar, Totodile's tail was engulfed in a clockwise spinning bubble of water and he slammed it into the muddy floor. The blow went up a large wave of mud straight into the incoming electric attack, and successfully stalled it for a moment allowing Totodile to slide harmlessly underneath it.
Lucas and Dawn gasped in shock at how smooth Totodile was moving around in the mud.
"Now use Crunch on Magmortar's leg!"
Totodile slid into a stop only a few feet from Magmortar, soaking Magmortar's face with some mud, blinding it momentarily before leaping towards Magmortar's exposed legs. The large teeth in the croc's powerful jaw were engulfed in a bright white light and he bit into the blast Pokémon's leg. Magmortar let out a loud bellow of pain, and it tried to shrug off Totodile, but in doing so, it lost balance and slipped backwards on the mud with Totodile still clinging to its leg.
"Get it off with Thunder Punch!"
"Retreat with Water Gun!"
Ash's narrowed his eyes when he noticed that it was Magmortar's left arm that tried to knock off Totodile with Thunder Punch when Totodile had been clinging to the inside of its left leg. It would have been more effective to use its other arm. Still the attack missed when Totodile released his hold on his opponent, and quickly released a jet of water from his mouth into said opponent's leg and sent the blue croc flying back.
It was time for Ash to remove Magmortar's ability to use electric attacks.
"Totodile, use Dig to get close to Magmortar's left cannon!"
The dancing crocodile Pokémon didn't hesitate and immediately burrowed underground, sending splats of mud in all directions, including a few splats nearly hitting Dawn and Piplup, much to her annoyance.
"Get up, Magmortar!" Lucas called out hurriedly.
"Morrr!" The large, powerful Fire type Pokémon let out a low groan as it tried to get up onto his feet, but it was proving difficult. Suddenly, after hearing Ash's order, and glancing at the position of Magmortar's left arm, Lucas quickly identified just what Ash was planning. The opening of the cannon was planted directly into the mud.
"Quick fire off a Thunderbolt straight through the ground!"
"Too late!" Ash smirked triumphantly, "Use Hydro Pump, Totodile!"
"Ash's been holding back Hydro Pump this whole time?!" Dawn said anxiously, absolutely enthralled in the battle before her.
Magmortar roared in pain when the electricity that it had begun gathering in its cannon was suddenly snuffed out when a large combination of mud and water burst into his arm. Totodile jumped back out of the mud, panting heavily and let out a toothy grin when he saw that Magmortar's arm was soaked in mud.
"That should nullify your electric attacks, don't ya think?" Ash grinned, "I noticed that all of Magmortar's electric attacks were powered from his left arm, and so with all that mud clogging inside his arm, it would be hard for him to generate any electricity."
"Wow, Ash." Dawn murmured in awe. It amazed her to see Ash beating Lucas, who had won a league, and it just showed how strong Ash had become over the last couple of years.
"Guess I'll go for broke." Lucas let out a grim smile, fully understanding Magmortar's chances now. "Hyper Beam!" Unfortunately for Lucas, he didn't see Ash's eyes light up when he announced his attack.
After successfully getting back on its feet, Magmortar pointed its right cannon at Totodile and unleashed a large and powerful beam of orange energy. Dawn and Piplup were completely astonished at the power of the Hyper Beam as it tore up the battlefield underneath as it headed towards Totodile. Even Ash was taken back by the power of it, but he quickly recovered.
"Totodile, use Protect!" Ash said with a cheeky grin.
Totodile quickly summoned an oval shaped green shield around his body, covering him from all angles and the Hyper Beam slammed into it ferociously. The force of the impact caused Totodile to skid back a couple of metres but his shield held firm, and the orange beam finally dissipated, leaving Magmortar completely vulnerable.
"Time to finish this! Use Hydro Pump!" Ash called out quickly. The teen from Pallet Town couldn't allow Magmortar to fire off another Hyper Beam as it had been incredibly powerful and if it wasn't for Protect, then Totodile would have been knocked out for sure.
The red spines on Totodile's back and tail suddenly glowed a brighter red before Totodile unleashed a powerful blast of water from his mouth that was easily three times the size of his Water Gun and it spun in a clockwise direction. The powerful wave of water slammed into Magmortar – who tried to block it by crossing its arms across its chest – but it was futile. The force sent him crashing back into the muddy ground, unconscious.
Lucas immediately called his fallen Pokémon back into its Poké Ball, and congratulated it for its efforts. He knew that Ash was a strong trainer, but he hadn't expected to be bested so easily. Lucas let out a grin, this was the perfect training before he challenged the Sinnoh Elite Four.
Pulling out his second Poké Ball, Lucas called out, "Prepare for battle, Weavile!" And with a toss off the ball, the Dark and Ice type Pokémon was released onto the field. The small a bipedal, weasel-like Pokémon gave the ground a look of disgust before glowering at the panting crocodile that was covered in mud.
"Use Ice Beam on the ground!" Lucas ordered swiftly, intending to gain control of the battlefield. In the space of one battle, Lucas knew that Ash was too good a trainer to allow him control the battlefield.
Weavile jumped high into the air and unleashed a light blue beam of cold energy from its mouth straight into the muddy field. Instantly, the field was covered in a block of frozen water. Weavile had no problem landing onto the field of ice as the sharp claw Pokémon found walking on ice easier than walking on solid ground.
'Well, there goes Totodile's Dig attack.' Ash thought, slightly annoyed that Lucas had frozen the battlefield but he could still work with it.
"Hydro Pump, Totodile!"
"Dodge it and use Night Slash, Weavile!"
The spines on Totodile's back began to glow as he began to gather the power within to unleash his strongest attack but before he had the chance to fire, Weavile was in front of him with its right claw brought back behind it wrapped in dark purple energy. Totodile was sent flying back several yards after Weavile slammed the Night Slash with an uppercut to the jaw, and in the process of flying back through the air, Totodile lost all of the power that he'd gathered.
"Whoa! That was fast!" Dawn gasped, before looking down at her starter who was watching with an equally shell shocked look on his face. "Did you follow Weavile's speed, Piplup?" The penguin Pokémon shook his head dumbly, in awe of the sight. "At least I'm not the only one."
"Fast…" Ash murmured with a scowl. He didn't know whether Lucas had figured out the weakness in his Totodile after seeing his previous Hydro Pump or if it was just a coincidence. For Totodile to use a full powered Hydro Pump, it took a few seconds for him to charge it up, seconds that he wouldn't need if the blue croc was in an evolved form. This is one of the reasons why most elite trainers had their Pokémon fully evolve so they could muster up their incredible power without any time drawbacks like Totodile.
That didn't matter right now, Ash thought, brushing aside those thoughts. What was more worrisome was how fast that Weavile had closed the gap to attack Totodile. It moved so quickly and with ease on the ice that it made him concerned enough to try and think of a way to remove the icy field.
"There is no Pokémon that can move faster on ice than my Weavile!" Lucas boasted proudly.
"Dile!" The blue croc croaked, getting slowly back to his feet, and gave his sore jaw a bit of a rub.
"Hit Totodile with Dark Pulse!"
"Block it with Water Gun!"
Weavile clasped its claws together and summoned a ball of black and purple circles before firing the circles in the form of a beam that collided with jet of water that Totodile fired from his jaws. For a moment, the two attacks appeared to be even until Weavile's Dark Pulse eventually overpowered the Water Gun.
The small croc was forced to cease firing his water and slide to the right in order to avoid the dark beam.
"Metal Claw!"
Totodile's eyes widened when Weavile appeared to his right with a cocky smirk and the Dark type Pokémon slammed its glowing white claw into the side of Totodile's face.
"Totodile!" Ash worriedly called out seeing the blue croc once again collapse to the icy floor after another fast and hard blow from Weavile. The big jaw Pokémon struggled to get back to his feet, but his body gave out on him and he crashed back onto the ice with swirling eyes.
"Thanks buddy." Ash praised his resilient Water type Pokémon as he returned him back into his Poké Ball. Looking over his opponent's Weavile, Ash debated on whether to use Quilava or Heracross. He'd prefer not to use Pikachu as he had neglected his Johto Pokémon far too much.
His Bug and Fighting type Heracross would have a clear advantage in terms of type, and he also had the ability to fly. However the only long range attacks he had were Hyper Beam and Pin Missile. No, he would keep Heracross for last. Quilava could destroy that ice field, and it won't matter if Lucas simply recreates it. Ash was very confident that Quilava could easily keep up with Weavile's swift movements. Only Pikachu could match Quilava's incredible running speed.
"I choose you, Quilava!" Ash used his signature phrase, and released the volcano Pokémon onto the battlefield.
The blue and cream coloured slim quadruped Pokémon with a bare back glanced around at his surroundings, and palmed the icy floor. Seemingly satisfied by the conditions, in a flash, the back of his head and lower back sprouted hot red flames. Instantly, the ice he stood on began to melt from the intense heat his flames were giving off.
Since Lucas had the first move in the last match, Ash decided to make the first move this time. "Quilava use Flame Charge!"
The flames on Quilava's head and rear stretched out and engulfed his entire body before he shot towards Weavile with incredible speed. It was like a meteor was charging towards the sharp claw Pokémon, and the ice underneath melted from the heat.
"Dodge it, Weavile!" Lucas yelled desperately.
Weavile managed to dodge slide to the right in time as Quilava's flaming body missed its target by a hair.
"Use another Flame Charge!" Ash swiftly ordered, not fazed by Weavile dodging the attack. He had anticipated that.
"Double Team!"
In an instant, Weavile created ten copies of itself, and hid behind the illusion as Quilava passed straight through one of them, dispelling it leaving only nine remaining. All nine Weavile surrounded Quilava, trapping him in a circle. "Now use Shadow Ball!" Each Weavile gathered a purple ball of energy in between its hands causing Quilava to glance around furiously trying to figure out which one was the real Weavile.
"Calm down, Quilava!" Ash said calmly and confidently. This was easily countered. "Use Counter Shield!"
The volcano Pokémon stood up on his hind legs, and like with his Flame Charge, the flames on his head and rear wrapped around his entire body.
"What's Counter Shield?" Lucas frowned, confused. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place it.
The flaming body of Quilava then followed up by jumping into the air and began spinning in a clockwise direction.
"Hit it with Shadow Ball before it's too late!"
The nine copies of Weavile all threw their purple balls of energy straight up at Quilava, but the real one didn't make its mark as Quilava unleashed the true form of his Counter Shield. Multiple strands of fire erupted from all angles of his flaming body, each one slicing through the illusions before one connected with the real Shadow Ball causing a small explosion. Many of the strands of flames also hit the icy surface, and now the ground had all but burned, becoming hard, and broken.
Ash grinned proudly at the sight of Quilava's Counter Shield, it was a technique that he made sure all of his Pokémon were capable of. Quilava's involved a mixture of Flamethrower and Flame Charge. His body was protected by the flames that engulfed his body from attacks that possibly slipped through the Flamethrower.
"That was an impressive move!" Lucas grinned, "Now I remember where I'd heard it from… You and Paul each used it in your match a few years ago."
"For the record, I created Counter Shield." Ash boasted with a smirk, "Although," he glanced at Dawn, "I can't take all of the credit, it was thanks to Dawn coming up with a spinning dodge."
"Oh shucks." Dawn waved him with a blush, "You give me too much credit."
"You two make quite a team, don't you?" Lucas grinned looking knowingly between the two.
"Well, we're best friends, after all." Ash grinned.
"You know it!" Dawn beamed happily.
"Is that right?" Lucas grinned slyly, 'For now anyway, you two may be something more in the future.' He had no real clue on whether or not they were attracted to each other, but based on their interaction, something more developing wouldn't surprise him.
"Paul used Counter Shield in our match after I used it during a battle against him months earlier." Ash informed him.
'I'll need to adapt it as well.' Lucas thought. It certainly was a useful technique to learn.
"Use Flamethrower, Quilava!" Ash called out hurriedly, ending their mid battle conversation.
"Dark Pulse, Weavile!" Lucas yelled, his mind switching immediately back to the battle.
Now safely back on the ground, on all fours, the flames on his head and rear sharpened and Quilava released a torrent of flames from his mouth at Weavile. The sharp claw Pokémon immediately retaliated by launching the beam of purple and black circles and the two attacks collided in mid-air. Both Pokémon continued firing their attacks, each determined to overpower the other. Slowly but surely though, Quilava's Flamethrower began to push back the Dark Pulse.
"That's one strong Flamethrower." Lucas praised, before calmly ordering, "Use Ice Beam on the ground!"
While starting to skid back as its Dark Pulse was being overtaken, Weavile looked down at the ground and fired the pale blue beam of cold energy. Ice immediately began spreading out along the ground, straight towards Quilava. The sudden change underneath his feet, caused Quilava to stumble for a moment and his Flamethrower's power fluctuated for a moment allowing Weavile to cease firing Dark Pulse and break away, avoiding the intense flames.
"Shadow Ball!"
Weavile gathered the purple ball of energy in a signal hand this time and threw it at the volcano Pokémon, slamming into his head. Quilava skidded back for a moment, but otherwise he was fine, easily shaking off the blow.
"Now Blizzard!"
Weavile followed up by firing a barrage of frozen ice balls out of its mouth and the sailed towards Quilava.
"Dodge it with Dig! And come out with Flamethrower!"
Quilava immediately burrowed into the ground as the Blizzard sailed harmlessly above.
"Into the air and intercept with Shadow Ball!"
Weavile jumped into the air, gathering another ball of dark purple energy just as Quilava burst out of the ground behind it. With a half spin, Weavile chucked the ball straight into the flames that Quilava spewed from his mouth, and the result was a small explosion.
"Now use Brick Break!" Ash swiftly ordered.
As Weavile landed back on the ground, it's eyes widened in shock as what appeared to be a white rocket suddenly burst out of the cloud of smoke that had formed from the explosion and slammed into it fiercely.
"How is Quilava that fast!?" Lucas gasped in shock as Weavile skidded back along the ground, tearing up the ground somewhat. Quilava landed back on all fours, the white light that had engulfed his entire body, receded.
"Quilava is one of my fastest Pokémon!" Ash boasted, "And while those two earlier Flame Charges may have missed, they still increased his speed."
"Then I'll have to take away that speed of yours!" Lucas snapped, with a cocky smirk. "Into the air Weavile and spin while firing Blizzard… Turn this whole area into ice!"
'Just what I wanted.' Ash smirked, "Dig quickly!"
The second Weavile jumped into the air, Quilava had already burrowed underground.
"What's Ash up to?" Dawn wondered curiously.
"Piplup?" Her starter Pokémon was also curious.
Weavile began spinning releasing frozen balls of ice in all directions and the field was quickly covered in ice but unlike the previous icy floor, this one had many large blocks of ice scattered throughout.
"Even your boosted speed won't be a match for Weavile on ice!" Lucas declared as Weavile landed a top of a large ice block.
"I'd love to take you up on that challenge, but I'm afraid this battle ends now." Ash smirked, startling Lucas.
Dawn was also confused on what Ash was talking about until she remembered a move that her friend had pulled off back in the Sinnoh Conference. Could Quilava know that move..?
"Come up to the bottom of the ice and use Flare Blitz!" Ash shouted triumphantly.
"What?!" Lucas's eyes widened in horror. Quilava could pull off a move that powerful? He had never seen one be able to wield such power!
The Sinnoh League winner didn't have a chance to counter as the entire ice battlefield was engulfed by dark red flames as they shot into the air, immediately vaporising the ice. Weavile was caught in the flames as it roared in pain.
Quilava burst out of the ground, landing on his hind legs, before he flinched heavily as red sparks encased him briefly, as he suffered the recoil of the attack. However he was still able to battle. The same couldn't be said for Weavile.
The sharp claw Pokémon landed onto the soft ground, covered in burns and with swirly eyes. Lucas had no option but to return his fallen Pokémon.
"Thank you Weavile, you were great." Lucas complimented the fallen Pokémon after returning it to its Poké Ball before pulling out his final Poké Ball. "Totodile, and now Quilava… The fact that they could beat my fully evolved Pokémon shows how fantastic a trainer you are. However, you won't defeat this Pokémon. Think you're capable of defeating a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve?" Lucas smirked.
Ash knew what was coming… he didn't know which Pokémon it was but he knew whoever it was, it would be using Mega Evolution. The last time he battled against a Mega Evolved Pokémon, he lost, and he swore that he wasn't going to lose this time.
"Prepare for battle, Scizor!"
End of Chapter
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