"Tomorrow is the last day before round 3 comes to an end. Tyler you still have to battle right?" Asked Brock. He, Tyler and all the others had walked back to the pokemon centre that night and were currently having a delicious dinner that Brock had whipped up for them.
"Yeah. I wish I knew who I'm going up against. Then I could prepare for whoever I'm dealing with." He said. He needed to win his battle tomorrow to move on to the top 32 along with Ash, Jamie and Seth.
"I know. It's tough when you have to face whoever you're up against on the spot. Especially when you're matched up with someone really tough like Tobias or Barrett." Said Max.
"Luckily they've both moved on already." Misty pointed out.
"Good luck in your battle tomorrow." May said to Tyler.
"Thanks. I've got to do my best to be prepared for anything." Said Tyler.
"No worries Tyler. I'm sure you'll do great." Encouraged Ash.
"Yeah, you've beaten two elite 4 members in previous rounds. I don't think you've got anything to worry about." Gary chimed in.
"Yeah, you're probably right." *But that doesn't mean I shouldn't be concerned.* Tyler thought to himself.
"Hey Ash, I gotta ask. What is you're strategy for your next battle?" Asked Iris.
"That's an easy one. To win of course!" Ash responded confidently.
"So In other words, you don't have one." Said Max while pushing his glasses up. The three of them were hanging around the pokemon centre while Ash's pokemon where being looked after.
"That's not true Max. The faith I have in my pokemon is all the strategy I need." He said wisely.
"Confidence alone won't win you the tournament. You're such a little kid." Iris commented. Ash only grumbled in response. He was so sick of hearing that.
"Well Ash, what will your strategy be if you get matched up with a champion like Steven or Wallace?" Max asked.
"Well I'd have to give a little more thought to battle either of them." Said Ash.
"Don't forget Ash. You could be at your best and have the best strategy in the world and still not beat a champion." Said Iris.
"That's why I've got some training to do. Let's go Pikachu!" Ash said to his partner before they bolted from the pokemon centre almost hitting Jamie on the way out.
"Sorry!" He called over his shoulder as he ran off from the pokemon centre. Jamie just gave him a weird look before walking inside.
"Hey Jamie!" Called Max as he and Iris ran up to the brother of their new friend.
"Hey guys. Where's Tyler? Getting ready for his battle?" He asked.
"Yep. He said that he wanted to research the other trainers who haven't battled yet to see who he may be up against." Just as Iris said this Gary and Dawn were walking downstairs from their rooms.
"Oh, Hey Jamie." Greeted Dawn.
"Hey. You won your round three battle right?" Asked the young Oak.
"I did. My opponent was really tough. I only had one pokemon left by the time it was over." Jamie summarized.
"Just goes to show you, everyone here is really talented." Said Gary.
"So out of your little gang, who of you are still in?" Jamie asked gesturing to the four of them.
"Well after Brock lost today, Ash and Tyler are the only ones left." Said Dawn.
"I wish I was still in. This tournament has been really exciting." Said Iris sighing a bit.
"Honestly if I were out, I wouldn't be sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I'd probably look for something else to do. You know, keep traveling, moving forward with my training." Jamie said.
"What if Tyler was still in?" Asked Dawn.
"Oh. Yeah I'd probably stay for that. I'd like to see how he'd fare." Jamie admitted.
"That's why all of us are still here. To cheer on our friends." Said Iris.
"I Get that. So then where's Ash at then?" Jamie asked as he pointed to where Ash had ran out.
"He ran off after dinner, probably to go train somewhere." Said the kid with the glasses.
"That's good. Because that guy is a long way from being the best." Said Jamie as he looked out the centre doors.
*Okay. So Cynthia and Flint are the two biggest threats that I have to prepare for.* Tyler thought to himself. He was on the tournament database searching for info on any of the 15 other trainers he may have to compete against.
*Other than them Claire, Anabel and Somek have had pretty good performances so far. I'll have to be on guard to beat any one of them.* Tyler thought to himself as he continued to look through some online trainer profiles.
*Clare is the gym leader back home, I know how tough she'll be to beat, but I'm pretty sure I can take her. Anabelle is the battle brain of the battle tower in Hoenn, so she will be tough no doubt.* Tyler rested his chin in his hand as he continued his search. *Then there's Somek. Says here that he is the strongest trainer in Mt. battle, that place in the Orre region dedicated to battling. I can't afford to be caught off guard against him.*
He leaned back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. He was going to be up all night at this.
"Ahh, I'm going to drive myself crazy…" He said to himself. There were too many variables to anticipate. Nether the less he turned his attention back to the screen and looked at the next profile.
"Now, as for Draden…"
"Infernape flare blitz!" Ash called.
The fire monkey became encased in red hot flames that quickly turned to a blue flare.
"Boldore, get ready to block it." Ash forewarned.
Infernape charged forward towards the ore pokemon. The blue flamed Infernape crashed into the rock pokemon with considerable force. Boldore was fire resistant and had high defense so it didn't take such a heavy hit. After contact Infernape backed off and jumped back to its starting position. It then suffered the recoil damage from its used attack.
With the days battles over and done with Ash decided to do some extra training under the star lit sky in a grassy field.
"Nice work Infernape. Now flamethrower!"
With a deep breath the flame pokemon spat flames towards Boldore.
"Now Boldore flash cannon!" Ash commanded.
The ore pokemon counter attacked with a metallic beam that collided in midair with the flames. Once the smoke settled Ash figured that they had gotten stronger than when they started.
"Alright, that's enough for today guys." Ash said. Infernape and Boldore relaxed their battle stance as their buddy Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder to praise the two others for their battling prowess.
Nearby Ash's other pokemon along with some of the ones Tyler was training were having a late dinner courtesy of Brock. Buizel, Swellow and Torkoal were enjoying Brock's home cooking.
Brock had also taking the liberty of feeding Tyler's pokemon while he concentrated on his match preparation, and at the time Tracey was making a brief sketch of all of them. He admired the physical stature of both Skarmory and Gallade and noticed how the sheen of Houndoom's fur indicated its good health. Charmeleon calmly ate its food and ignored Tracey's drawing habits while Zweilous two heads were tearing through its meal like nobody's business. Flygon didn't seem to care either way as it just happily enjoyed the delicious food.
Brock suddenly looked up and saw Jamie approaching from the direction of the pokemon centre with Iris and Max following. The lamp posts on the side of the path illuminated the ground they walked on as they trailed behind Tyler's brother.
Jamie stopped and turned around to the two of them. "Iris you're from Unova right?" He asked.
"That's right. I'm from the village of dragons." She said.
"You've been to Unova right?" Asked Max
"Yep. Here's a few pokemon I caught while in Unova." Jamie said as he threw three pokeballs into the air to reveal a Haxouras, Bisharp and Braviary.
"Whoa, a Haxouras!" Iris admired the axe jaw pokemon.
"Cool a Braviary. I've heard people call them the soldiers of the sky." Said Max as he inspected the valiant flying type.
"Yeah. Braviary sure are tough ones aren't they?" Jamie agreed with Max.
"Haxouras looks very well trained. Doesn't Haxouras look strong Axew?" Iris asked her partner.
"Axew!" Cheered the tusk pokemon in agreement.
"Hax." The axe jaw pokemon said back to it.
"Bi." Bisharp said that caught Jamie's attention. He looked over at his steel pokemon and followed its gaze to see a crowd of Tyler's pokemon, one in particular caught his attention which he was sure Bisharp had noticed as well.
"Iris, go get Tyler." Jamie said without breaking his gaze.
"Huh? Why?" Asked Iris.
"We have something to settle." Jamie said to her. He looked over to see Bisharp with a look of determination and anticipation.
Tyler walked out to see Ash, Brock, Max, Jamie, Tracey and their pokemon crowed around in the park.
"What is going on Iris?" He asked the purple haired girl who had called him out of his room.
When he got close enough to see what was going on he realised that the cause of the commotion was Gallade and Bisharp having a stare down with their eyes locked on each other.
"Oh. This again." Tyler sighed.
"Hey Tyler what's going on?" Asked Brock as he noticed him approach.
"Just a little rivalry we've got going on." Said Jamie with a smile on his face as he looked to Bisharp.
"Sharp." Bisharp agreed. It stared down at Gallade just waiting for the chance to engage in combat again.
"Rivalry? Between you two?" Iris asked Jamie.
"Nope. Between Gallade and Bisharp." Tyler answered.
"Between the pokemon?" Wondered Brock.
"Yeah. Cant explain it. They've had a rivalry for as long as they've known each other." Jamie explained.
"Right. I don't know why but these two have always been at each other's throat, so to speak, when it comes to competition." Tyler said.
"So what usually happens?" Asked Tracey.
"Usually we just have a battle. At the very least it gets them to settle down." Jamie said.
"Then let's settle this." Tyler said locking eyes with his brother.
Jamie and Tyler stood across from each other with their chosen pokemon between them. Gallade on one side and Bisharp on the other. Ash, Brock and the others along with their pokemon were watching from the sidelines.
"Finally. It's about time we saw these two have a battle!" Max said excited.
"I'm interested to see how their battle styles differ from each other, despite them being brothers." Brock said intrigued.
"But Jamie's Bisharp is a steel and dark type, while Gallade is a psychic and fighting type." Said Tracey.
"So Gallade clearly has the advantage as a fighting type." Said Iris.
"Sure but its psychic attacks won't do any good." Explained Brock.
Gallade use leaf blade
Gallade made the first move and ran forth with its right arm forming a green blade attachment to it.
Night slash
Bisharp did the same with its black glowing blade arm. The two met in the middle and slashed at each other's move. Leaf blade was less effective than night slash so Bisharp was able to overpower its adversary.
Now stone edge
Several pointed large rocks generated around Bisharp and then were launched across at the blade pokemon.
Counter with psycho cut
Gallade spun around and shot off multiple crescents of psychic energy that made contact with, and destroyed the sharp stones.
"Not a bad use of psycho cut considering that it's ineffective on Bisharp itself." Said Brock impressed.
Iron head
Bisharp charged through the debris and struck Gallade in the chest with the large silver glowing blade on its head. Gallade was forced back and doubled over in pain holding its torso.
Now night slash
Bisharp ran up to Gallade once again with a black glowing blade.
Catch it
Much to the surprise of everyone, especially Bisharp, Gallade raised its left arm up and actually stopped the sword blade Pokémon's attack.
Use your night slash
Gallade countered Bisharp with the same attack and slashed across Bisharp's face, but due to type the damage was minimal.
Now close combat
Gallade went on the offensive and ran up to strike Bisharp.
Brick break
Bisharp tried to keep up and block the shots from Gallade, but its rival quickly got the best of it and knocked Bisharp back with quadruple the damage.
"That had to have hurt." Max observed with a wince.
"Gallade had the type advantage from the beginning. That Bisharp is one stubborn pokemon to keep picking a fight with it." Said Tracey.
"I guess you could say 'like Pokémon, like trainer'." Iris shrugged.
Finish with leaf blade
Gallade got ready to end it with its grass type move.
Night slash
As Gallade ran up, Bisharp swatted it away with a black glowing blade. Gallade stumbled back prompting Jamie and Bisharp to end it.
Finish with night slash
End it with leaf blade
Both pokemon ran forth ready and willing to put down the other. But when Bisharp lunged to slash Gallade, it ducked and used leaf blade to strike across Bisharp's midsection. Gallade stepped back to get ready if the battle were to continue, but Bisharp momentarily hesitated. It sent a determined look over to Gallade and then collapsed in defeat.
Brock made the call. "Bisharp is unable to battle. Gallade is the winner!" He declared.
Tyler walked up to Gallade. "I guess that's it." He said looking over at Jamie. "Nice work Gallade." He said.
Flygon, Charmeleon, Houndoom, Skarmory and Zweilous cheered for their victorious partner. Jamie walked up to his fallen pokemon with his pokeball in hand. Bisharp looked up as its trainer knelt down beside it.
"Nice battle Bisharp. We'll get them next time." He said with a kind smile as he returned the sword blade Pokémon.
"That was a great battle you two." Brock said walking up to them.
Jamie then stood up to face Tyler. "I'll get you next time." He said to Tyler. "Bisharp will to." He said pointing at Gallade. Gallade just smiled in anticipation.
"See you tomorrow." Tyler said after his brother started to walk away with his hands in his pockets.
"Just win your match." Jamie turned around to say and then kept walking.
"You ready?" Asked Brock alluding do his battle tomorrow.
"Of course you are right? Carry this momentum and win it tomorrow!" Cheered Ash.
"We'll see Ash." He said chuckling. "We'll see."
So the brothers finally duke it out, with Tyler coming out on top. The white knight and the dark knight have a score to settle and they drag their trainers into it. I guess it goes to show, just like humans have ambition and pride pokemon are capable of the same things as well. Thanks for reading and remember to R&R.