Tyler woke up the next morning in a slight daze. He groaned and sat up to see Brock sitting on Ash's bed and Ash flat out on his back.
"What happened to him?" he asked.
Brock turned around to see that Tyler had woken up. "Oh hey Tyler, Ash has been vomiting a bit this morning."
"What? He wasn't drinking last night was he?"
"Oh no, he ate too much last and now he's sick."
"Tyler actually laughed a bit. "That's just like Ash too."
He got up and went to the bathroom, however he got up to fast and sent himself in a daze and so he leaned over the sink. He waited for a moment for the feeling to pass when he remembered something from the party last night.
He was sitting at a table enjoying a root beer float when a familiar face came along.
"Man you sure have one of those every chance you get."
Tyler looked up to see his Jamie standing over him. "So what, there're good. I plan to have another when I win in round 2."
"Yeah, if you even make it that far, how's Zweilous by the way?" he asked.
"Zweilous still hasn't evolved, but I'm still working on it."
"I've got to admit, he was a really hard dragon type to evolve; took me forever." Admitted Jamie.
"But it's totally worth it, Hydreigon is the best, it's a really powerful pokemon."
"Well you would Know."
"Why's that?"
"Because he decimated half your team at the Unova league this year!" He said as he laughed in a mocking tone.
"Big whoop, I know we're both stronger since then. But I will be the winner this time, I can feel it."
"Oh you'll feel it alright, right down in the bottom of your gut with that root beer when I beat you in a major tournament… again!" He said as he walked of smiling.
Tyler looked at himself in the mirror and said "I can't lose to him again." He then went down stairs to meet the others for some breakfast.
"So, what's going on for the tournament today." Said Max excitedly.
"Well since round 1 is over all the trainers get the weekend to rest, train and research for the tournament." Answered Gary. Max looked a little disappointed. He wanted to see some more battles.
"So what's everyone going to do today?" Asked May.
"Well I'm off to do some research into some of the remaining competitors. I could be paired up against anybody and I like to be prepared." Said Gary as he got up and walked off.
"He sure is putting a lot of thought into this." Said Brock.
As time passed more of the gang left to do their own thing for the day. Dawn and May went to go shopping, Misty and Brock headed out to check out the Driftveil gym, and with Gary researching and Ash's stomach out of commission Tyler, Max, Iris and Tracey were left on their own.
"Hey I have an idea, Tyler do you wanna have a battle with me?" asked Max.
"Tyler looked down at the enthusiastic boy and was unable to refuse. "Alright, you're on." He replied.
Iris was enthusiastic as well. "That would be great. I'd love to see a dragon type in action." She said.
"Then I'll serve as referee." Offered Tracey.
The 4 of them left the pokemon centre and moved around to the back battlefield. Tyler and Max took their places on the opposite sides of the field.
"What are the rules Max?" Asked Tyler.
"How about just a 1 on 1 battle? Sound cool?"
"Sure, you got it."
"Alright both trainers can use 1 pokemon, begin!" Called Tracey.
Max took his pokeball in hand and throw it. "I choose my Slacking!" The lazy pokemon materialized on the field.
"Ok then, go Zweilous!" The hostile pokemon stood oppose to Slacking.
Slacking use focus punch.
Slacking sat up and charged energy in its fist.
Zweilous hit it with dragon pulse.
1 of Zweilous's heads launched a blue pulsing ball from its mouth at Slacking, it hit it in the chest and slacking's fist lost its power.
Oh man, try using hammer arm
Slacking's arm glew in a red light and swung its massive arm at Zweilous.
Counter with dragon rush.
Zweilous gathered its power and charged head first towards Slacking. The 2 attacks collided and a both pokemon were enveloped in smoke. When the dust settled both pokemon were still conscious, but exhausted.
"Wow, now that's what a brave dragon type should be like!" Shouted Iris. She was giddy watching a strong dragon type in battle.
"It looks looks we're reaching the end Tyler." Said Max.
"Maybe, but I have a clear advantage." Said Tyler.
"What do you mean?" Asked Max.
"Slacking's ability is Truant. It makes Slacking a slow mover." He explained.
"Shit." Muttered Max.
Now Zweilous use flamethrower!
Zweilous 2 heads shot a stream of fire at Slacking. The bulky ape pokemon was wrapped in flames as it fell on its back.
"Slacking is unable to battle, Zweilous is the winner and victory goes to Tyler." Called Tracey. Max returned his pokemon after the hard battle.
"Great battle Max." Congratulated Tyler.
"Thanks Tyler. Your Zweilous is pretty impressive." He said.
"Thanks Max. I've been training Zweilous for a long time now." He said as he petted the 2 headed dragon.
"Zweii." Was all it said in response.
"I'll tell you, Zweilous is really cool." Said Iris expressing her admiration for his dragon.
"It was a good battle too." Said Tracey. "You are a really good battler."
"Yeah, it kind of runs in the family, although none of my parents were pokemon trainers."
"Really? Than where did you get your battle talents from?" Asked Tracey.
"I learned mine from playing with the wild pokemon in the forest outside the village of dragons." Said Iris.
"Really? That's really cool. I learned my skills at home in Blackthorn city by battling Jamie in the front yard. We practiced all day battling with our pokemon.
Tyler and Jamie were in Blackthorn city. This part of the city was surrounded by high cliff walls with plentiful trees up in the mountains. The 2 boys were standing in front of a house about 25 feet from each other. Both took a battle stance as they guided their pokemon through the battle.
Bulbasaur use tackle.
A young looking Bulbasaur moved ahead to attack its opponent.
Charmander use scratch
A small, young Charmander ran forward with a with glowing claw and slashed it across the face of Bulbasaur, who stumbled back rubbing its face.
"You can do it Bulbasaur." Encouraged Tyler.
Use smoke screen
Charmander opened its mouth and black smoke billowed onto the battle field. The smoke blew around Tyler and his Bulbasaur. The 2 of them were blinded and couldn't see.
Now use ember.
Charmander opened its mouth a 2nd time, but this time little fire bits flew out and hit Bulbasaur through the smoke. After the super effective attack Bulbasaur laid on its side unable to continue.
"No, Bulbasaur!" Yelled Tyler in concern for his starter pokemon. He picked up the grass pokemon and looked across at Jamie and his fire brand starter.
"Great work Charmander. You have gotten a lot better." He said as he returned his partner into its pokeball.
"You may have beaten me now, but when I go out on a journey I'll catch a bunch of new pokemon and I won't have a type disadvantage against you anymore." Tyler said as he returned his fallen partner.
"Idiot, when we go out on a journey I'll be catching new pokemon too. I'll just keep getting bigger and stronger ones until I become unbeatable."
"Yeah right. Once I get more stronger pokemon I'll whip your butt."
"Well what do you say we settle this at the indigo plateau."
"The indigo plateau? You want to decide this at the pokemon league?"
"You bet. By then I will have lots of stronger pokemon on my team and I will go on to win the whole thing."
"No way. I'll go on to win the competition."
"Like I said we start our journey tomorrow, see you at the pokemon league." Jamie said as he walked inside the house. Tyler just stood there thinking about all the adventures and fun he was going to have with his partner once his journey got under way.
"During the next week we both set off on our own journeys. We saw each other multiple times in our travels and had countless rival battles. Then when we finally got to the pokemon league it got real intense. The battles were harsh and the competition was fierce and we kept winning, but the real high point was when we were matched against each other in the quarter finals." Said Tyler as he told the story of his brother rivalry.
"So what happened then?" Asked Max.
"Jamie and I faced off in a 6 on 6 full battle In front of a huge crowd. It was one of the best battles of my life. But when the battle was over, I was eliminated. It was my first major loss as an official trainer." He said looking down. "Jamie went on from there to win the whole thing. His Charizard and Rydon were both Especially powerful and swept most of the battles for him."
"So practicing with your brother is how you got so good… and losing to him at the Kanto league is why you strive to become stronger." Said Tracey.
Tyler looked up again. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. After our trip through Kanto we preceded to challenge the Hoenn, Sinnoh, Johto and Unova leagues, but neither of us won any of them. But Jamie outlasted me in every conference tournament, well except for Johto where we tied. That is why I have to keep winning, so I can finally beat him in front of a huge crowd."
"That's good. You should always strive to get stronger." Said Iris.
"Thanks Iris, that is exactly what I plan to do."