Author's Note:
Here it is, the champion battle. I hope you like the six Pokemon I gave Ash in the end. This chapter will only be part of the battle because of its length. Drake's team is exactly like the anime. Remember to vote in the poll, it will change when the Johto arc will begin. With that, let's begin...
Chapter 23: Orange League - The Champion Battle
It was the morning of the final battle of the Orange League. This is the day Ash will battle the champion Drake in a full six on six battle for his chance to win the Orange trophy and go down in the Orange League hall of fame.
Currently Ash is sat at a table having breakfast with his friends: Serena, Misty, Leaf and Drake. Of course, Pikachu is also their, but he is having his breakfast with Eevee before the big match and Togepi is having fun flinging his mashed banana around instead of eating it.
"So, Ash, have you decided which six Pokemon you're going to use after what we discovered on the league database?" Drake asked as he took a sip of his morning coffee. He was helping Ash research Drake's team, but the champion has fifty different Pokemon registered on his team and the only one he used in every single battle as champion was his Dragonite, so it was next to impossible for them to guess who the champion would actually chose since both teams need registering beforehand.
"Of course, I have put them down on paper so now all we have to do is win." Ash replied with a smile.
"Care to enlighten us to who you will use then?" Misty asked in a deadpan tone.
"Well obviously Pikachu was my first choice." Ash replied as he smiled at the electric type. "Then I remembered Drake's advice for taking on the Viridian gym all that time ago, so I built up a fire water grass core with Charizard, Gyarados and Ivysaur respectively. For the last two spots, I went with Dragonair because of her spirit.".
"I think you mean stubbornness." Leaf interrupted with a laugh.
"Hehehe, maybe." Ash chuckled slightly. "And knowing Drake would be using a Dragonite, I knew I would need someone strong enough to take it on, so I picked Aerodactyl as he is my strongest Pokemon and most experienced.".
As Ash explained his full team of six Pokemon and why he chose them, his brother listened with a thoughtful expression. In all honesty, it is a good team on the surface and all of Ash's reasoning is solid but going in with three flying types is practically asking for trouble. Anyway, now isn't a good time to mention these downfalls as it would take Ash's mind off the battle ahead and it is too late to switch his team around anyway.
"It doesn't matter who you use, Ash. We know you'll win." Serena told her boyfriend before planting a small delicate kiss on his lips. She whispered something as she withdrew. "That was for good luck.".
The rest of the meal was filled with chat and excitement for the upcoming match. Soon two officials showed up to escort Ash to the stadium, along with his friends so they all packed up and set off. Once at the stadium, Serena took Togepi and wished Ash good luck with another quick kiss. Ash's other friends also wished him good luck but not like Serena did. One of the officials showed Ash to the waiting rooms while the other showed his friends to the spectator's box.
"This is an exciting day folks as this year's champion battle between the challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto faces of against our currently undefeated champion Drake Yūji." The announce spoke as the crowd roared.
Waiting in the hall which connects to the main battle field, Ash is stood with Pikachu on his shoulder. While one might think this would be easier than the Indigo League since Ash has already competed and by all accounts the Orange league is smaller than a regional league, the raven-haired boy is just as nervous, maybe because of his young age, maybe the excitement or it could be because he has made it to the final round of the tournament.
"Now here he is, this year challenger…" The announcer announced as the crowd roared. Seeing as this is his cue, Ash took a deep breath and started to walk onto the field. "Ash Ketchum!".
The screamed with excited meant. None more-so then Ash's friends, namely Serena (who was holding Togepi) and Leaf. Of course, Misty was also showing her support for Ash but wasn't quite as vocal as the other girls. Drake was also supporting Ash but failed to see what shouting about it would do other then put un-needed pressure on Ash.
The raven-haired boy took his spot in the trainer's box as Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, he attempted to smile at the crowd but the nervous prevented him from doing so, he maybe the challenger but the main star was yet to show up.
"While young being only twelve years old, this up-coming trainer proved himself to be quite the battler in the last Indigo League where he placed in the top four despite it being his first league." The announcer informed. "While he demonstrated to have a close bond with all his Pokemon, the one which got the attention of our champion was his Gyarados who has been shown to have an affectionate side for the young trainer, and not afraid to show it either.".
Once again, the crowd roared with excitement as Ash blushed in embarrassment. While he loves to battle, he isn't so fond of being the centre of attention.
Lucky for the Pallet native, soon a massive roar shook the entire stadium, bring it to a silence. Sure enough, a powerful looking Dragonite began its decent into the stadium, on the opposite side of the field to Ash and Pikachu, with a man in his mid-twenties on its back.
"And now your champion folks, Drake Yūji." The announcer announced as the crowd cheered. If it was loud for Ash, it was at least triple the volume now. "Drake has been the undefeated Orange League champion for ten years now and has proven himself to be quite the strong but caring trainer during his time.".
As the crowd calmed down and as Drake returned his Dragonite, clipping the Pokeball to the string around Drake's neck to act as a neckless, a referee took the ref's stand, signalling both trainers to also take their positions in the trainer's boxes.
"This will be a full six on six battle between the Orange League champion, Drake Yūji and the challenger, Ash Ketchum." The ref declared. "Once three Pokemon on either side has been defeated, there will be a field change and fifth teen minute intermission.".
As the ref explained the rules for this battle, the bland looking field opened as another field took its place. This looked like the typical rock battle field as sharp jagged rocks were poking out of the field in all directions. Although the thing to set it apart from other rock fields is a pool of water at the centre.
"The first half of the match will take place on a rock and water field." The ref added. "While there is no time limit, the champion shall reveal his Pokemon first. Furthermore, only the challenger can make substitutions.".
"You must be a great trainer to have made it this far, Ash." Drake praised as he took a Pokeball off his belt and enlarged it. "I am looking forward to see how this battle shapes up!".
Throwing the Pokeball into the air, it burst open releasing the Pokemon inside in a flash of light. Ash knows Drake has over fifty different Pokemon to choose from, and the only common member to all his champion battles was the Dragonite who was saved until last. Soon Drake's first choice appeared, and it was a Ditto. Taking his Pokedex out, Ash scanned the normal type:
Ditto, The Transform Pokemon. It transforms into whatever it sees. If the thing it's transforming into isn't right in front of it, Ditto relies on its memory—so sometimes it fails.
While not battling against one himself, Ash knew that a Ditto can only learn the move transform. This means he would be fighting the Pokemon he sent out. While Ash believes any of his Pokemon could win the match, he wants to start the battle of right with his very first Pokemon.
"Then I choose you, Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he pointed out into the field. Like a bolt of lightning, Pikachu jumped from Ash's side to the battle field, sparking his cheeks to show he is ready to battle, while Ditto stared back with a blank expression. Up in the stands, Serena's Eevee let herself out to watch her boyfriend battle.
"Drake has started off with his tricky Ditto while Ash has gone for his Pikachu." The announcer informed. "This isn't odd for Drake as many challengers have failed to overcome this shape shifting Pokemon when used in the past. But will it be able to do the same to young Ash and his trusted Pikachu who has proven to also be a tough battler in the Indigo League?".
"Ditto VS Pikachu…" The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P. I):
"Transform!" Drake shouted the moment the battle begun without missing a beat.
Ditto's whole body began to glow white, like when other Pokemon evolve but instead of evolving since Ditto has no known evolution, his body took the shape of Pikachu. Although this was expected by both Ash and Pikachu since this is what Ditto are best known for.
"Quick Attack!" Ash shouted as the transformation ended.
Shooting off like a bullet, both Ash and Pikachu wanted to take an early lead. They we're doing this by starting off with a barrage of attacks, to hopefully throw them off.
Pikachu slammed into his copy before either Drake or Ditto had time to react. Ditto went flying through the air as Pikachu came to a stop. The Transform Pokemon was able to correct its path and landed on a rock, looking like it hadn't even been hit.
"Quick Attack, again." Ash instructed.
Pikachu shot off like a bullet once more, towards Ditto who was crouched down on the rock, waiting for its orders. When Pikachu was moments away from impact, the champion made his move.
"Quick Attack to dodge." Drake countered.
Ditto shot forward, barely missing Pikachu who slammed into the rock. The impact caused a bit of dizziness on the electric mouse Pokemon as Ditto came to a stop. He already knew what to do.
"Dig." Drake instructed.
Ditto jumped into the air, spinning around before burying through the ground. Pikachu got up to find the whole. Great, that is super effective against himself and Drake has clearly studied to have a good idea about his move set since Ditto can only use the moves Pikachu knows himself.
"Keep moving Pikachu, we can't make it easy for Ditto to hit you." Ash instructed.
Pikachu nodded at Ash's instruction and began to jump from rock to rock in an attempt to avoid the Ditto who could be anywhere underground. Unfortunately, Drake already had a plan to make sure Ditto didn't miss.
"Grass Knot." Drake instructed barely above a whisper.
Deep under the ground, Ditto closed its eyes and tensed up. Two blades of grass sprout above the ground, tying themselves together. Since neither Ash or Pikachu heard the command, they weren't expecting the attack and Pikachu got caught it in, making him fall over.
Ditto didn't waste its time and didn't need to be told what to do. Shooting up out of the ground, it burst out directly under Pikachu who was attempting to stand up after being tripped. The two Pokemon went flying. Ditto landed perfectly on a rock as Pikachu landed on the ground with a thud.
"Come on Pikachu!" Ash pleaded. "You just gotta get up! I believe in you!".
Pikachu gritted his teeth as he attempted to get up, this is the battle they have been preparing for, arguably their most important battle to date. Trying to ignore the pain he is in thanks to that Dig attack, he was almost up off the ground, but Drake wasn't just going to let them off that easy.
"Iron Tail." Drake instructed.
Ditto jumped into the air as his tail was coated in metal. Spinning around, it was able to add momentum to the steel type move. Ash tried to call out for Pikachu to move but the pain from the previous Dig attacks took over. Unable to move out of the way, Ditto landed an Iron Tail attack on top of Pikachu's head. The electric types eyes seemed to become diluted. As Ditto bounced back onto another rock, Pikachu fell to the side but still conscious.
"Come on buddy, I know you can get up!" Ash shouted encouragement.
Pikachu heard his trainers voice and was brought back to the field. He rolled onto his stomach as he started to push himself up. This was exactly what the Orange League is about, the bond between Pokemon and trainer.
Unfortunately, Ditto wasn't about to let either Pikachu or Ash have the chance to recover. It ran at the struggling electric type, once it appeared in front of his opponent, it swung his tail around in an attempt to land a Slam attack. Ditto chose this attack for a number of reasons, it has a lot more base power than a Quick Attack, not to mention Iron Tail is much slower than a Slam attack thanks to the tail literally being turned into metal.
Luckily, Pikachu has good reflexes and was able to jump back, avoiding the incoming Slam attack. Although Ditto is trained well enough to keep up the pressure, of course it took him a little bit to get use to this body but now he is good to go. It charged forward and attempted another Slam attack. Pikachu continued to back up to avoid Ditto's assault but the Transform Pokemon refused to give up.
As it continued to launch a several Slam attacks, it also tensed up. No-one noticed two small blades of grass sprouting out of the ground behind Pikachu due to them being so small. Pikachu continued backwards as he continued to dodge Ditto's assault.
The electric mouse landed in the corner with Ditto falling down as it attempted another Slam attack. Being an experienced battler, Pikachu shot forward with a Quick Attack, easily avoiding the Slam. Unfortunately, Pikachu didn't know about the Grass Knot and thus couldn't dodge it. His paw was caught in the two blades of grass which made the electric type fall over which resulted in a large thud.
"Pikachu!" Ash gasped as he too was shocked by the surprise Grass Knot attack.
Pikachu was quick to recover and began to push himself up. Normally Grass Knot's power is based on the weight of the Pokemon which gets used but because the electric mouse was using a speed attack at the time, that seems to have multiplied the grass moves power.
As he stood up on all fours, Pikachu attempted to look for his opponent. Unfortunately, Ditto was no-where to be seen. There were two possible options, the first is it is running so fast that he can't spot him, the second is...
The ground underneath Pikachu began to stir as Ditto shot out underneath the electric types feet. Ditto had used Dig. Pikachu attempted to move out the way and shot off to the side with an agility attack as Ditto shot high into the air. It seems like Ditto was prepared for this as it had used a second Grass Knot attack while underground. Pikachu's foot was again caught in the blades, causing him to fall over.
Ditto's tail was coated in metal as it began to spin towards the grounded electric mouse Pokemon. Ash shouted out for Pikachu to look out, but it was too late, he didn't want to risk escaping with another speed move in there was a third Grass Knot and his paw was hurting after the last trip, so he was unable to move out of the way. Ditto's Iron Tail landed directly on top of Pikachu's head, his eyes seemed to dilate before Ditto jumped back and Pikachu fell on his stomach.
"Pikachu is unable to battle, this first round goes to the champion Drake Yūji and his Ditto." The ref declared.
Ash walked out onto the field with a sad expression, as Ditto returned to his normal form. Kneeling down next to his partner, Ash took his jacket off and wrapped the electric type in it. As he carried his starter back to the trainer's box, Ash whispered a thank you to his starter. Upon in the spectator's box, Ash's friends weren't too happy with the start of the battle.
"And the champion takes an early lead in this match by defeating Ash's Pikachu." The announcer announced as the crowd cheered once more. "We have seen Drake destroy entire teams with his shape shifting friend, how will Ketchum fight against it now?".
"Vee vee." Eevee groaned sadly, her boyfriend went down in the first battle, of course she is upset.
"Don't worry Eevee, I am sure Pikachu will be okay." Serena comforted her normal type.
"Poor Pikachu..." Misty sighed.
"Guess they weren't kidding when they said Drake is one strong trainer." Drake commented.
"Doesn't matter how strong he is, Ash will win." Leaf stated bluntly.
Ash looked at the normal type after setting Pikachu down next to him, still wrapped in his blanket. While he knows all five of his Pokemon are tough, he needs someone who is more than tough. Wait, Ditto becomes its opponent. Well if Ash knows his Pokemon there is one more than any other who wouldn't like to be copied, she is the perfect choice to put the transform Pokemon in its place.
With his mind made up, Ash unclipped the Ultra Ball off his belt. "I choose you, Dragonair!".
In a flash of light, the female dragon type appeared as Ash caught the Ultra Ball again. He clipped it back on to his belt as Dragonair let out an elegant battle cry, extended towards the sky. Ditto didn't even need to be told what to do and automatically transformed into a Dragonair.
Ash's Dragonair humphed at her opponent, this purple blob wants to impersonate a princess does it. Well, she would be sure to show this thing exactly what happens to those who try to impersonate her. Besides it wasn't even a good copy, then again no-one could match her beauty, could they?
"And Ketchum has gone with his Dragonair, but will she be enough to handle Drake's Ditto?" The announcer questioned.
Dragonair narrowed her eyes, she will be more than enough for this copycat and any other Pokemon foolish enough to take her on. She doesn't need to
Ditto lowered itself down and slammed its tale on the ground to try and intimidate this Pokemon. Since Ash has used Pikachu in more league battles, Drake knew his move set better and Ditto knows this will be a harder opponent.
"Ditto VS Dragonair..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P. II):
"Dragon Rush!" Drake shouted.
While he doesn't know the more special moves Ash's Dragonair has been taught, since his Dragonite was once a Dragonair, he knows the level up moves Ash's is likely to know. Unfortunately, until he sees the other moves he will need to stick to the level up moves anyway.
Ditto was surrounded by dark blue dragon type energy with dark yellow eyes. Shooting forward like a freight train, it was ready to impact onto Dragonair hard, but the princess wasn't fazed in the slight. She was ready to dodge on instinct, but Ash made a different call first.
"Counter with Ice Beam." Ash instructed.
Dragonair doesn't mind countering instead of dodging because ultimately both makes Ditto's move worthless. With an elegant battle cry, a light blue ball of ice formed just in front of her mouth before a powerful beam of Ice shot out and struck Ditto directly.
Ditto wasn't able to dodge the close-range attack. The ice began to expand around the Dragon Rush attack, the super effective attack was slowly damaging the transformed Pokemon. Ditto was slowing down as Dragonair increased the power of her Ice Beam. Ultimately Ditto crashed into the ground, just in front of Dragonair who stared at her importer with disgust. She just proved who is stronger.
"Wrap." Drake instructed.
Ditto opened its eyes but didn't attempt to push itself of the ground. Slyly, in one quick movement, it swung its tail around, wrapping itself around Dragonair. Making its grip as tight as possible, Drake smirked until he saw the expression on Dragonair's face.
The princess who looked like a raging Tauros after being stung by a Beedrill. First this purple blob impersonates her then it has the nerve to touch her. Ash knew straight away that Ditto just made a big mistake. Despite acting like a princess, it takes a lot to make Dragonair angry. Plus, as shown when she helped Lapras learn Ice Beam, she can be a sweet and caring Pokemon but once she is angry someone will pay.
"Outrage." Ash instructed with a nervous voice crack.
While Dragonair has never disobeyed him before, she has never really got angry during a battle so the chance she would lash out with Outrage anyway was high. A red out line appeared around Dragonair before whacked Ditto with her tail, sending him flying into the ground as his Wrap was made useless.
Not giving the transform Pokemon a chance to get up, Dragonair shot forward with her Outrage attack, sending Ditto into a rock which imploded upon impact. Still in her Outrage, Dragonair shot for Ditto once more. The Transform Pokemon attempted to move but the onslaught of attacks is causing major pain to it, thus slowing it down.
Dragonair Bite down on Ditto's neck, causing it to cry out in pain as the dragon type energy provided by the Outrage inflicted Super effective damage. Pulling both herself and her impostor up, still with the tight grip she turned towards a wall.
"Try and use Thunder Wave!" Drake shouted in a panick.
Ditto's jewel under its chin began to glow but before any sort of attack could be made, Dragonair shot towards the wall. Zooming past Drake. The jarring motion made Ditto cancel his attempt at a defence. Less than then a second later, the two Pokemon crashed into the wall with a cloud of smoke covering them.
A Dragonair slivered out of the cloud first but the issue is knowing if this is Ditto still transformed or Ash's princess. The Dragon type slivered to the starting position in front of Ash. Despite her mind being in a sort of daze confusion from the onslaught of attacks, she still held herself like a princess, it was clear that this is Ash's Pokemon.
Seeing as his opponents Pokemon made it out, Drake looked back towards the cloud of dust where his Pokemon still remained. He severely underestimated Dragonair in this battle and as a result his Ditto paid the price. While unlikely, he would like to know his Pokemon is okay.
Soon the cloud of dust settled and flat on its stomach lay Drake's Ditto with swirls in its eyes. Covered in bruises and scratches it was clearly in no-shape to continue battling. Dragonair humphed at her work, despite still feeling the confusion effect, she is proud of what she did to that impostor.
"Ditto is unable to battle, this round goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum and his Dragonair." The ref declared.
"There you have it, folks. The challenger Ash Ketchum evens up the rounds by defeating Drake's Ditto." The announcer informed as the crowd roared in excitement.
"Yes! Keep it up, Ash! Leaf shouted encouragement.
"Hehehe, if anyone wouldn't like being copied, of course it would be the princess." Misty giggled as she watched Dragonair act like royalty.
"But Ash is still at a disadvantage, since one of his remaining Pokemon has already battled, while all of Drake's Pokemon are still fresh." Drake informed.
"He will still win." Serena informed in a scolding tone, which caused her boyfriend's brother to sweat drop, he never meant to sound like he wasn't supporting his brother, of course he is, but he is just being realistic with the current predicament.
"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Ditto as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "That was well done, Ash. I am guessing you knew your Dragonair well enough to know she doesn't like to be copied.".
"Yeah, I guess I did." Ash blushed in embarrassment. "Will Ditto be okay?".
"Of course, it will." Drake replied as he took out his second Pokeball. "But just beating it is impressive, you wouldn't believe how many challengers don't get past my first Pokemon.".
Even though he has many Pokemon, just the fact that many of his challengers don't make it past one of his Pokemon even when he isn't allowed to make any substitutions is a true testimate to his strength as the Orange League Champion.
"But now it is time for my second Pokemon, and this one is gonna rock you." Drake smirked as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Onix!".
In a flash of light, the giant snake-like Pokemon made completely out of rocks loomed over both Ash and Dragonair. It let out a powerful battle cry which shook the stadium, just a show of this Pokemon's power. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:
Onix, The Rock Snake Pokemon. Onix has a magnet in its brain. It acts as a compass so that this Pokémon does not lose direction while it is tunnelling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother.
Ash already made his mind up and pulled out an Ultra Ball, recalling Dragonair to it. While she is certainly strong enough to handle Onix and even has a type advantage with her preference of fighting in the rain. Ash doesn't want to risk the confusion working against them and also wants to save Dragonair for any later and likely strong Pokemon. Since Dragon is one of the most resilient types, she would hold an advantage over a lot his other Pokemon are weak to after all.
"Thank you, Dragonair. Get a good rest since I will need you later on." Ash whispered to his Pokeball.
He knows Dragonair won't have a problem with being returned since she took out her opponent. She isn't like some of his Pokemon who like to stay until they fall. Ash quickly swapped the Ultra Ball for a Pokeball. Since Onix is going to be a powerful opponent, Ash will need to go with a Pokemon just as powerful who also has a type advantage. Lucky, he has just the Pokemon to fulfil that role.
"I choose you, Gyarados!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball. In a flash of light, the atrocious Pokemon appeared and let out a load battle cry which matched the one Onix made on his appearance. Narrowing his eyes, Onix had his attack state lowered from the intimidate.
With his entrance over, knowing they will have an important battle soon, Gyarados fulfilled he entrance requirements and turned towards Ash. Diving at his beloved trainer, he began his typical affectionate lick, which caused the raven-haired boy to laugh over the affection from his partner.
"Hahahaha, come on Gyarados." Ash laughed as he struggled to stay up. "We have a battle; can't this wait until later?". After about a minute of the show of affection, Gyarados finally let his trainer up and returned to his battle stance. The audience weren't quite sure how to react.
"Here it is folks, the famed affectionate Gyarados." The announcer informed. "It was this Pokemon which gave Ash the chance to compete in the Orange League, so we can expect great things from this Pokemon.".
"Onix VS Gyarados..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P III):
"Rock Tomb." Drake instructed as soon as the battle started.
Onix let out a loud battle cry as he slammed his tail onto the ground. The ground shook slightly but not enough to knock Gyarados of balance or to even cause damage like an Earthquake or Bulldoze would. Four large rocks shot into the air before falling down while set to land directly on Gyarados.
Not being an idiot, Gyarados reacted quickly and slivered across the ground to avoid the falling rocks. Although he isn't at his most mobile on the land and the centre pool is too small to hold him, Gyarados was able to avoid all the rocks. Although Ash came up with a strategy thanks to Pidgeot back in his battle against Tierno.
"Dragon Dance." Ash instructed.
Gyarados extended up and let out a massive battle cry as red lights appeared around his body. Both his physical strength and his speed increased. He roared once more at the rock ground type. The Rock snake Pokemon knew this was a powerful opponent but his display of affection really took away from his intimidation.
Onix charged forward as a power barrier formed around him, he was using Double Edge. Using his increased speed, Gyarados slide to the side and out of the way, due to him moving with such power, Onix wasn't able to change his path. He slammed into the wall but was quick to get back up. Ash didn't take long to notice the Rock Snake Pokemon didn't take any recoil damage, of course his ability must be Rock Head.
Gyarados coated his tail in water, powering up an Aqua Tail attack. The atrocious Pokemon swung his tail around, thanks to his increased speed, Onix was too slow to move out of the way. Being struck by the super effective attack, Onix was knocked down to the ground.
Needing time to recover, Onix quickly buried underground, using a Dig attack. While Gyarados is technically a flying type, it is highly likely the dig will still hit the atrocious Pokemon. This is because a Pokemon's type is determined by the two main type energies which are within their DNA, this also determines how effective certain type moves are on each Pokemon. This is also why some Pokemon who can fly, like Beedrill, aren't classed as flying types themselves.
"Careful Gyarados, Onix could come up anywhere and at any time." Ash warned.
The water flying type nodded in understanding before narrowing his eyes, watching the ground very carefully. He is on high alert and ready to strike when the Rock Snake Pokemon decides to show its ugly face. Gyarados is going to win this battle, he has already decided.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Drake smirked.
The ground started to shake violently but it wasn't strong enough to be an attack like Magnitude or Earthquake. Suddenly, bright blue rock formations shout out of the ground, followed by another and another. The rocks were moving towards the atrocious Pokemon.
Gyarados wasn't an idiot and was able to move out of the way but the blue rocks continued to sprout up under the atrocious Pokemon although the water flying was able to keep moving to avoid the attack, although he couldn't keep dodging them forever.
Ash's main issue with this is, he has never seen a move like this. It is presumably a rock type move or a ground type move but which one. Drake saw the confusion and panick on the young boy's face and decided to cut him a break.
"Ash, Onix is currently using a Stone Edge while underground." Drake informed with a sense of superiority. In the long run, this wouldn't cause to much in the battle as even if Ash didn't know the attacks name he would work out a counter just by looking at how it is working.
"But this isn't like any Stone Edge I have seen before?" Ash questioned.
"Pokemon can change and adapt how they use a move to certain situations. Since the normal way a Stone Edge can't be used underground, Onix and I developed a way to combine the attack whilst using Dig." Drake informed.
A roar from his atrocious Pokemon drew Ash's attention back to the battle, which caused Ash to look on in horror. Gyarados was surrounded by a circle of blue rocks which extended so high that he couldn't jump out of the prison.
Before Ash could think of or tell Gyarados a plan to escape, Onix shot up from the ground completely underneath Gyarados. The Rock Snake Pokemon struck the water flying type hard. Onix also acted quickly by wrapping his body around Gyarados in a vice tight grip. This angered the atrocious Pokemon who attempted to struggle against the Rock Snake Pokemon, but the rock ground type only tightened his grip.
"Ice Fang!" Ash shouted.
Gyarados let out a mighty roar as he coated his teeth in ice. Gyarados bite his teeth down on the rock ground types neck, while not pleasant to bite down on a rock, Gyarados' teeth are kept in good condition so they didn't hurt from using this attack.
Onix shouted out in pain, despite not being a super effective, the atrocious Pokemon is clearly a strong and powerful Pokemon so this did cause pain the Rock Snake Pokemon. Onix ended up loosening his grip on the water flying type.
Gyarados took advantage of this and struggled free from Onix's grip while holding the rock ground type with Ice Fang. Due to the duration of this attack being used, ice began to form around Onix's neck. Gyarados knew he couldn't keep this up forever and decided now was time for his surprise.
Building up the power with in his body, a powerful blast of water shot out of Gyarados' mouth. He used Hydro Pump. Technically, he learnt this move the other day while training, but he wanted to keep it secret from even Ash, so he could surprise him in battle.
Due to Onix literally being stuck at Gyarados' mouth, he took the super effective move head on. This also ensured the move was a critical hit. This is because the move is most powerful when it hits close to the source as it loses power as it travels. Onix was sent flying into a wall but Gyarados didn't let up on the attack, no longer needing to use Ice Fang to hold him in place, Gyarados cancelled that attack which meant he could increase Hydro Pump's power.
After around thirty seconds, Gyarados ended his powerful water type move. As Onix could be seen once again, no-longer being covered by the powerful blast of water, he was lying on the ground motionless with swirls in his eyes. Gyarados let out a powerful battle cry as the ref made the call.
"Onix is unable to battle, this round goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum and his Dragonair." The ref declared.
"Awesome Gyarados, you've learnt Hydro Pump and you beat Onix!" Ash cheered, although he was soon silenced as Gyarados turned back to his trainer. The atrocious Pokemon was still full of energy ready for another battle, but before that, he dived on his trainer using another affectionate lick. It is a little jarring to see a furious and dangerous Pokemon in battle quickly turn back to an affectionate Pokemon in the blink of an eye.
"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Onix as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "It appears I have underestimated the strength of your Gyarados, he has been well trained.".
"Hehehe, yeah." Ash laughed as Gyarados finally let him up. "Gyarados is really strong?".
Drake smiled as Gyarados let out another roar as if to emphasis Ash's point. It may seem weird because he has seen many challengers which openly affectionate Pokemon, but it just seeing it from a normally angry Pokemon brought a smile out on his face.
"And young Ketchum has taken a lead by taking out Drake's second Pokemon." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. "It is a rare occurrence to see the challenger take a lead against Drake, can he keep this momentum up or will he go the way like the previous challengers?".
"Who would've thought I would be down to my third Pokemon already?" Drake asked in a slight amused tone as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "But this time you don't stand a ghost of a chance! Go Gengar!".
In a flash of light, the purple ghost Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before floating up into the air with a mischievous smile on her face. Ash sweat dropped as he remembered his own Haunter, hopefully the evolved form is more mature... And sane, then what his is. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:
Gengar, The Shadow Pokemon. The final evolved form of Gastly. Sometimes, on a dark night, your shadow thrown by a streetlight will suddenly and startlingly overtake you. It is actually a Gengar running past you, pretending to be your shadow.
"How do you feel about going in for another round, Gyarados?" Ash asked. It may not seem like the best match up but in all honesty, none of Ash's Pokemon registered for this battle are a clear counter for the ghost poison type, although a lot of them do have different ways to handle it. Not to mention, Gyarados has the stat boosts from the Dragon Dance, which would disappear if he switched out and if needed Ash is allowed to make substitutions at any time.
Gyarados let out another roar to show he is ready to take this ghost on, he would do the same to it that he did to the rock snake. As the atrocious Pokemon entered another battle stance, Gengar let out a menacing laugh as his own battle cry.
"Ash is going to use Gyarados against Gengar as well?" Drake questioned in a judgemental tone.
"What's wrong with that?" Misty asked.
"First, it would be good to let Gyarados rest. It is still relatively early on in the match." Drake replied thoughtfully. "Plus, Gengar has a large possible move pool so it isn't good to take a risk against it.".
"Wow, you sure know your stuff." Leaf cooed in an adoring tone. Drake's facial expression showed her 'flirting' attempt had absolutely no effect on him.
"Ash knows what he is doing." Serena replied as she clenched her fist.
"Gengar VS Gyarados..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P IV):
"Dragon Dance!" Ash shouted.
Although he already has one Dragon Dance up, Ash isn't stupid, he knows Gengar is much faster than Onix and this should help re-energise his atrocious Pokemon, despite winning the previous battle and being in decent battling condition, every little helps.
Gyarados extended up and let out a massive battle cry as red lights appeared around his body. Both his physical strength and his speed increased. He roared once more at the Shadow Pokemon. Gengar wasn't intimidated by the atrocious Pokemon, not in the slightest.
Gengar floated down in a speedy fashion towards the water flying type. Gyarados narrowed his eyes and used his enhanced speed to sliver to the side but to his surprise, Gengar didn't launch an attack at him. Although Gyarados kept his eyes locked on the ghost type. Gengar quickly turned to the side, also looking Gyarados in his eyes. A red beam shot out of Gengar's eyes and they struck Gyarados' eyes, Gengar used Mean Look.
"What was that?" Ash asked, seeing as the 'attack' didn't seem to injure Gyarados in any way.
"Gengar used Mean Look, Ash." Drake smirked. Ash used his Pokedex to look the move up:
Mean Look: Mean Look prevents the target from switching out or fleeing (including via Teleport). It bypasses accuracy checks to always hit, unless the target is in the semi-invulnerable of a move such as Dig or Fly. The effect only applies as long as the Pokémon that used it remains in battle.
Great, part of the reason he let Gyarados start this fight was because he was safe in the knowledge that he could make substitutions while Drake couldn't, but this has thrown that advantage out of the window. Of course, Ash still believes in Gyarados but now things are just going to be even more difficult.
Gengar wasn't about to let Ash or Gyarados have a moments break. It floated high into the air, out of reach of Gyarados' physical moves because those would naturally be more powerful because of how Gyarados is built not to mention the boosts from Dragon Dance. Once he felt like he was at a safe distance, Gengar formed a Shadow Ball at his hands. As the first projectile shot towards Gyarados, Gengar formed the second one.
Gyarados used his enhanced speed to avoid it but was soon raining with Shadow Balls. Gyarados continued to sliver across the ground, avoiding the ghost type moves but it was difficult because of the amount of them. Ash knew this was just tiring Gyarados out and he had to come up with a counter to this predicament.
"Twister!" Ash shouted.
Gyarados roared as his eyes glew red. A powerful wind filled with dragon type energy began to swirl around the battlefield almost like a tornado. The wind forced the incoming Shadow Ball attacks of course and they just started swirling around Gyarados. Some ended up smashing into each other, causing them to implode upon impact others ended up imploding when hit with the dragon type energy. In short, none of them came close to hurting Gyarados.
Gengar was soon dragged into the Twister but in all honesty, he didn't put much resistance, almost like he wanted to be drawn in. As Gengar was frown around the atrocious Pokemon, he was laughing almost psychotically, there was no way to tell if he was taking any sort injury from the Twister attack. To be completely honest, it was unsettling to hear Gengar's laugh, even for the atrocious Pokemon who was put on edge by the laugh.
"Thunderbolt." Drake smirked.
While Gengar is a smart battler, he knows not to use what is obvious the most effective move against an opponent until his trainer tells him to, in case he is planning something. Ash was shocked when he heard Drake's command, he didn't know Gengar could use Thunderbolt.
As he continued to spin around on the Twister, using it like some sort of theme park ride, electrical sparks formed around Gengar's body. A powerful bolt of electricity shot at the atrocious Pokemon. As Gyarados cried out in pain, the Twister was brought to an abrupt end. Gengar stopped the electric type move, as he has his own personal favourite way to finish off each battle.
Gyarados fell on his stomach as the electricity stopped. His eyes burst open as he struggled to try and get up. He lost a battle back in the Indigo League because of an electric move and now it looks like history is going to repeat itself. No. He can't lose another battle for his beloved trainer. Luckily for Gyarados, he didn't take the full power of the Thunderbolt. The dragon type energy in the Twister protected him slightly and because Gengar was being thrown around, he couldn't use his full strength Gyarados attempted to push himself up, weak from taking the electric move mere moments ago Gengar put his plan into action.
Gengar floated dangerously close to Gyarados' face but the atrocious Pokemon was using all his strength to push himself up, thus couldn't launch an attack at the ghost poison type. Gengar laughed hysterically as he unleashed hypnotic waves from his eyes. Due to the close range, Gyarados was in no position to even attempt to dodge. Drake smirked, his Gengar has a preferred method to finish off every battle and he is happy for him to do so.
As the Hypnosis attack took its full effect, Gyarados slumped back down on the field, fast asleep. Ash gasped and start to call out in hopes of waking his atrocious Pokemon up, but it was useless. No doubt a good sleep would feel great when in pain after taking a super effective Thunderbolt.
With Gyarados now sleeping helplessly on the battlefield, Gengar smirked as he performed step two. He shot at Gyarados' head and seemed to enter it due to Gengar's ability to pass through solid objects as all ghosts do. Gyarados started to thrash around in his sleep in some sort of distress. Gengar was using Nightmare. Ash could only look on helplessly as he water flying type struggled. After about a minute, Gengar re-emerged from the water flying type with a psychotic laugh.
"Gyarados is unable to battle, this round goes to the champion Drake Yūji and his Gengar." The ref declared.
"Return Gyarados and get a good rest." Ash recalled his fallen friend sadly. Once the atrocious Pokemon was safe in his Pokeball, Ash looked at it sadly. "Sorry that that happened to you, friend. And thank you for all your hard work, it won't go to waste.".
"Poor Gyarados..." Misty commented sadly.
"I hope he will be okay." Serena added, also in a sad tone.
"Gyarados is tough, of course he will be fine." Leaf replied, filled with determination.
"But now Ash has a tough decision to make. No doubt Gengar will trap his next opponent with Mean Look again, which makes things twice as hard for Ash." Drake informed.
"And Drake goes and evens the score by making this two defeats a side." The announcer informed. "Since we have the intermission when one side loses three Pokemon, this next battle will decide who has the lead going into the second halve.".
Down on the battlefield, Ash is going over the remaining Pokemon on hand. Aerodactyl is certainly powerful enough to handle Gengar but he is arguably Ash's strongest Pokemon and his current best option for Dragonite. Ivysaur might be able to hinder him with some status conditions but lacks the fire power or type advantage to defeat him. Charizard and Dragonair are both strong enough but Charizard is still fresh, does he want to reveal a fourth member already?
Ash made his decision and quickly picked an Ultra Ball of his belt. While she has already battled, so has Gengar and when dealing with someone who tries to trap their opponents like Gengar does with Mean Look, she shows them who is boss. If anyone can beat Gengar, she can.
"I choose you, Dragonair!" Ash shouted as he threw the Ultra Ball once more.
In a flash of light, the princess appeared once more on the battlefield. Ash caught the Ultra Ball, clipping it back onto his belt. Dragonair had a smug look on her face as she stared at her next opponent. Perfect, she will prove she is stronger than the sea serpent by defeating the Pokemon which took him down and also prove that she is stronger than the psychotic ghost on Ash's team by defeating her evolved form.
"Gengar VS Dragonair..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P V):
As soon as the battle started, Gengar attempted to float away and levitated high into the air. Dragonair isn't a fan of cowards who run from battle, she will prove who the strongest is. She let out an elegant battle cry as dark blue dragon type energy surrounded her body, her eyes also glew a dark yellow. She shot upwards towards the Shadow Pokemon like a Bullet. Dragonair used Dragon Rush.
As the princess shot up on a direct collision course for the ghost type. Gengar shot another red beam out of his eyes. They struck Dragonair's eyes thus making her unable to be returned until the round is over. Although it didn't stop her attack and she collided into the ghost poison type. Gengar fell to the battlefield, despite him needing to have felt the powerful move, he was still laughing. Gengar landed on its back, covered in soot as Dragonair let out an elegant battle cry.
"Rain Dance!" Ash shouted.
If he is going to win now that Dragonair is stuck in the battle, he is going to need to use the field to his full advantage, lucky he has always seemed to have a natural talent in that area but Dragonair works best in the rain so that is the best way to set the field up for her.
Dragonair let out another elegant battle cry as the jewel around her neck glew a light mystical blue. A black storm cloud formed over the whole stadium and soon it began to rain heavily. Rain Dance works by drawing in all nearby water vapour into one condense area, do to this being an island surround by ocean, there is a lot of water vapour to power up the weather move. Drake frowned as he knew Ash held the field advantage for this battle.
Gengar stood up as his laughing fit came to an end, he is actually quite the serious battler but tends to laugh like that as it can put a lot of opponent on edge, but he knows that he is at a disadvantage in the rain as none of his moves really take advantage of it, so he also knows now is the time to get serious.
The Shadow Pokemon wound his fist back as it glew a darkish purple. Letting it fly forward a sort for shadow in the shape of a giant fist appeared out of the glowing ball. Gengar was using Shadow Punch. Despite working best with special moves, Gengar chose Shadow Punch right now because it can't be avoided.
Dragonair was prepared for this, however, because of her training match with Haunter the other day. She coated her tail in water, which seemed to be powered up thanks to the rain. The princess did a complete spin in the air with her tail going over her head. As the tail slammed down, it collided with Gengar's fist. The two may have seemed evenly matched but due to her being above him, Gravity was working in Dragonair's favour and she knocked the ghost back down to the battlefield.
"Dragon Rush!" Ash hollered.
Letting out another elegant battle cry, Dragonair once again covered herself in the dark blue dragon type energy. She shot straight down after the ghost type who was falling towards the floor. Although impossible for anyone but Dragonair to tell due to the angle that he is falling at, Gengar opened his eyes a moment before hitting the ground and smirked. Dragonair crashed into the ground as a combination of black smoke and dust created a cloud around the collision.
Due to the rain dampening the cloud away, it wasn't long before both Pokemon could be seen. Dragonair was on the ground looking rather annoyed as Gengar floated above laughing hysterically. It doesn't take a genius to work out Gengar dodged the move by phasing into the ground and is now taunting the princess.
Not liking to be made to be an idiot, Dragonair hissed as a ball of ice formed at her mouth. A powerful Ice Beam shot out of the ball and due to how close the ghost type was, it made dodging very difficult. Gengar attempted to float out of the way with some impressive aerial manuvers but he couldn't dodge it completely and a foot of his became frozen. As Dragonair cancelled her Ice Beam, Gengar landed to inspect his injury. Lucky he wasn't fully frozen.
"Thunder!" Ash hollered.
Dragonair let out a battle cry which was more mighty than elegant, seems she is quickly getting annoyed with the ghosts jokey and mocking attitude. It is like he isn't even taking this battle seriously. He is almost as bad as Haunter... Almost.
A loud roar echoed from the rain cloud above the stadium, looking around it showed even the audience is being affected by the weather effect. A large and powerful bolt of lightning shot down and it covered almost the entire field. Dragonair was safe from the blast but Gengar wasn't so fortunate. It seemed as though Gengar took the blast of the Thunderbolt head on without even trying to escape.
After about twenty seconds of continuous Thunder, the lightening began to dissolve into thin air. Dragonair was obviously fine as it was her controlling the attack in the first place but surprisingly, Gengar was fine too, even the ice on his leg had disappeared. It turns out, Gengar used Thunderbolt to protect from the more powerful electric move, just like Ash's Tauros did in yesterday's battle against Virgil.
"We can keep on the defence, Gengar. It is time we moved onto an attacking front." Drake told his ghost type. "Dark Pulse.".
Gengar held his hands in front of him as a black ball of dark type energy appeared between the two of them. Dragonair was still hurting after that powerful explosion and wasn't able to effectively dodge the incoming attack. She powered up a second Ice Beam. The two special attacks were sent flying towards each other, each Pokemon putting their all to make the attacks as strong as possible.
The two moves collided head on in between the two Pokemon. The Dark Pulse and Ice Beam turned into an explosion which quickly expanded over the entire field, covering both Pokemon in a cloud of black smoke. Neither had the chance to move out of the way. Once again, the rain was effective in revealing the outcome of the battle as it dampened down the black smoke cloud. Soon both Pokemon were revealed on the ground covered in soot with swirls in their eyes.
"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, the round is a tie." The ref declared. "Because both sides have lost three Pokemon, we shall take a short intermission.".
"Return Dragon and thank you." Ash recalled his fallen dragon type. He smiled sadly at the Ultra Ball in his hand before clipping it back to his belt, Dragonair was one of his strongest Pokemon and she proved that by dealing with two of Drake's Pokemon but now it is a three on three battle.
"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Gengar as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "Well done Ash, not many challengers can keep on an even footing with me moving into the second half.".
"Thanks Drake." Ash smiled at the champions words.
Drake smiled as the raven-haired boy took a seat on the bench behind his trainer's box for the intermission. He too took a seat on the bench behind his trainer's box, this is turning out to be one of the most fun matches he has had in a while. As the trainers relaxed, Dragonair's rain dance also came to an end. Pikachu finally woke up and went over to talk with Ash, but he was far from ready for any sort of battle.
"And after the first half, everything is even." Drake commented thoughtfully.
"That's got to be good?" Misty questioned. "It means Ash can match Drake, right?".
"Yes but look at Drake." Drake replied as he gestured down to the champion. Drake was smiling while sat on the bench, rolling the Pokeball on the neckless around between a finger and thumb. "He doesn't look the least bit worried, which means everything going is how he would think the battle should go.".
"That doesn't prove anything." Serena butted in defensively. "Ash will still win.".
The field was also changed to a sandy desert field, that would make it difficult for a lot of Pokemon to move, luckily for Ash, two of his remaining Pokemon can fly and the other one is more of a defensive battler so in a way, it shouldn't hinder his team in the second halve of the battle. Of course, that also depends on who Drake chooses for his final three Pokemon. No-doubt he will be using Dragonite in the end, so he can also take advantage of the air and avoid the field issues.
"Well folks this battle is turning out to be a treat, as we enter the second half both trainers have three Pokemon remaining." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. Taking this as their cue for the battle to continue, both Drake and Ash returned to their trainer's box.
"Both sides have three Pokemon remaining, the same rules as before apply. There is no time limit and only the challenger, Ash Ketchum can substitute Pokemon when he likes." The ref explained. "Once again, the champion shall reveal his Pokemon first.".
"You have done well to make it this far, Ash. But this Pokemon is going back to my roots as a trainer." Drake informed as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Venusaur!".
In a flash of light, a sort of dinosaur plant Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before letting out a mighty battle cry. Ash sweat dropped as he went over his remaining Pokemon, Ivysaur wouldn't be able to handle its evolved form considering his own reluctance to evolve. Both Aerodactyl and Charizard are strong against Venusaur but with Aerodactyl being the strongest member he is best saved for Dragonite later on. Ash could only guess that Venusaur was Drake's starter all the way back when he first became a trainer, not only because of his line about going back to his roots and because out of all of his registered Pokemon on the league database, Venusaur was Drake's only Pokemon that are typically given as a 'starter' Pokemon. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:
Venusaur, The Seed Pokemon. The final evolved form of Bulbasaur. There is a large flower on Venusaur's back. The flower is said to take on vivid colours if it gets plenty of nutrition and sunlight. The flower's aroma soothes the emotions of people.
"I choose you, Charizard!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball high into the air.
In a flash of light, the fire lizard with wings appeared on the battlefield, standing opposite the grass poison type. Seeing a fellow final evolved form of a starter Pokemon, Charizard let out a mighty battle cry and launched a Flamethrower into the air. He entered a battle stance to match Venusaur.
"Venusaur VS Charizard..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P VI):
"Vine whip." Drake instructed, not the least bit intimidated by the fire lizard with wings.
Venasuar let out a might roar as several thick vines shot out of the plant on his back. The number of vines easily out matched the amount Ash's Ivysaur is able to send out in one go. Due to them being so close together, it was impossible to count them together. They were also moving a lot quicker than Ivysaur's.
Charizard reacted on instinct and roared as he shot out another Flamethrower to intercept the vines. Thinking the Seed Pokemon wouldn't be able to recover quick enough, Charizard spread his wings before shooting off into the air. However, the vines continued to push forward until they wrapped around the fire flying type mid-air, taking the flame Pokemon by surprise.
A couple vines wrapped around Charizard's snout to stop him from countering with another Flamethrower. While the rest of the vines wrapped around the fire flying types body. Charizard began to struggle against the vines but Venasaur's grip was too strong. Ash remained calm though as he examined the situation.
"There has to be some way for him to escape." Ash thought to himself.
As Ash looked for a way to free his fire flying type, Venasuar slightly moved the plant on his back so it was aimed directly towards Charizard. A giant blob of purple poisonous sludge shot out and made direct contact on Charizard. Venasaur used Toxic.
Charizard continued to struggle as the badly poison took effect on the Flame Pokemon. This could easily turn into an easy win for Venasaur as the Toxic has put a time limit on his battle capability. Ash continued to watch Charizard in more of a panick before he saw a possible counter to this predicament.
"Calm down, Charizard!" Ash shouted which got him the fire flying types attention. "Use the flame on your tail to burn those vines.".
The fire type seemed to smirk at the idea and quickly swung his tail around the vines that were restraining his body. Venasaur gasped and on instinct his vines that were burnt retracted. Still being held down on the snout, Charizard used his tail once more and burnt the vines wrapped around his snout, freeing Charizard from the restraints. Charizard flew high into the air out of Venusaur's reach as he suffered from the poison.
Now that he was high in the air and safe out of Venasaur's reach, Charizard began to unleash a series of powerful Flamethrower's down on the grass poison type as he seemed to let out his anger about being restrained. Venasaur grunted as the flames struck him head on.
Ash smiled at the turn of events, if this kept up than he would take the lead in the battle once again. Although something seemed off about this current attack plan, Venasaur hasn't launched any sort of counter to protect himself and Drake hasn't told him either. Looking at the Drake, showed he was smirking. This made Ash panick as they are clearly up to something. Ash soon spotted why they were so confident, Venasaur was taking sunlight through his plant.
"Look out Charizard, he is going to use Solar Beam!" Ash shouted to the fire flying type.
Charizard roared as he dug deep for the fire power, normally he would prefer to finish a battle with the move Seismic Toss but due to the size of Venasaur and the fact that he is poisoned which is taking his strength, that move simply isn't an option in this battle. Soon Charizard built up enough fire power and turned his Flamethrower into the more powerful, Fire Blast.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Do to Venasaur's experience against all types of opponents, he had no problem standing tough against the Flamethrowers and was able to build up enough solar energy. A white beam with a little yellow tint shot out of the plant on his back towards Charizard. He used Solar Beam.
It was the most powerful Solar Beam Ash has ever seen and was so bright it made him, as well as the audience cover their eyes. Even the ref had to look away from the bright light. The Solar Beam and the Fire Blast collided mid-air, causing a massive explosion. Being more of a slow tank Pokemon, Venasaur was unable to move out of the blast radius. Normally, Charizard would have a similar issue when dealing with the badly poison from the Toxic but being smart, Charizard opened his wings as far as possible. The shock-wave from the explosion was caught in the wings and blew Charizard higher into the air and out of the blast radius.
Black smoke filled the field and covered Venasaur from view. The explosion also blew a lot of the sand from the field around. After about a minute, the smoke began to clear up to reveal Venasaur flipped over with swirls in his eyes. Looks like the combined Flamethrower's and the explosion was too much for him. Charizard landed in front of Ash and let out a mighty victory roar as the ref made his call.
"Venusaur is unable to battle, this round goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum and his Charizard." The ref declared.
"Awesome job, Charizard. You okay to keep going?" Ash asked.
Charizard was glowing purple due to the Toxic taking effect and was panting heavily but despite that, the fire flying type put his thumb... err, claw up. While it might seem like Ash is making the same mistake that he made when he kept Gyarados in against Gengar but there are a few things to consider. First, even if he returns Charizard, he likely wouldn't be in any condition to come back later on. Not to mention, the battle is coming to an end anyway, so it is best to use what is available.
"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Venasuar as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "You have definitely earnt your place in this match, Ash. I can't remember the last time Venasuar lost in a one on one match.".
"Thanks Drake." Ash smiled as Charizard shot a Flamethrower into the air. "But it is Charizard who deserves the credit?".
Drake smiled at the modesty, a lot of trainers would take full credit for each victory but that is why not every trainer can take part in the Orange League. Despite each of his Pokemon having different personalities, Ash is bringing the best out of all of them, he is arguably the most promising challenger Drake has had as champion.
"And young Ketchum has taken a lead again by defeating Venasuar with his Charizard." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. "In his ten years as champion here, we have never seen Venasaur go down without at least one victory under his belt. This is proving to be quite a match.".
"Ash is doing pretty well, he might actually win." Misty commented.
"But Venasaur did a number on Charizard despite being at a major disadvantage." Drake commented. "And we haven't even seen Drake's ace yet.".
"You mean Dragonite?" Leaf questioned.
"Yeah." Drake replied.
"But Ash hasn't shown his strongest Pokemon either." Serena butted in. "Ash can and will win.".
"Well Ash, this has been the most fun I have had in a while, but the battle is coming to an end. Although I still have a few surprises to shock you." Drake told the raven-haired trainer as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Electabuzz!".
In a flash of light, the yellow and black electric type Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before slamming his fists together as sparks appeared over his body. Ash sweat dropped as he remembered this as one of Paul's main battlers but that doesn't really matter. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:
Electabuzz, The Electric Pokemon. The evolved form of Elekid. When a storm arrives, gangs of this Pokémon compete with each other to scale heights that are likely to be stricken by lightning bolts. Some towns use Electabuzz in place of lightning rods.
Despite Charizard being at a clear disadvantage against the electric type, not even bring his poison condition into the argument, Charizard doesn't stand much chance against Dragonite anyway. Knowing Charizard, he would want to go down in battle not on the side-lines and he could prove useful if he can reveal some of Electabuzz's secrets, no-doubt he has some like the rest of Drake's team.
"Electabuzz VS Charizard..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P VII):
Electabuzz was the first to make a move once the ref started the battle. Rubbing his two hands together, sparks appeared all over the electric Pokemon's body, mainly around the two antennae with bulbous at the ends. Soon a powerful Thunderbolt shot out of the electric types antennae.
Charizard was too tired to try and take flight again since he was suffering from the poison damage between the two rounds. As such he dug deep and breathed out a Flamethrower, it was still powerful but not quite as strong as before. It was still able to match even with Electabuzz though and hold the Thunderbolt back.
However, Ash soon noticed that Electabuzz was pumping more electrical energy through the Thunderbolt and that was slowly pushing the Flamethrower back. He knew it wouldn't be long before Charizard got zapped but the flame Pokemon was in no position to dodge or increase the fire power... That's it.
"Air Slash along with the Flamethrower!" Ash shouted.
As the Flamethrower did its job of holding the electric move off although barely since the two moves were slowly moving towards the Flame Pokemon, Charizard flapped his wings with as much might as he could muster. Shock waves through the air flew across the field towards the electric type Pokemon.
Being fast on his feet, Electabuzz quickly cancelled his Thunderbolt and dove to the side for safety. Moments later, both the Flamethrower and Air Slash combination blew past him. The Air Slash even blew some of the sand of the field around. Luckily, Electabuzz used his arm to stop it entering his eyes.
"Get close." Drake instructed as he watched the battle with an unreadable expression, a first since the battle began.
Electabuzz smirked before he started to charge across the sandy field towards the fire flying type. Despite his species not being known for being particularly fast, the electric type was very quick on his feet. Charizard took a few steps back and entered a defensive stance seeing as his current health limited his mobility to escape.
Taking a deep breath, the Flame Pokemon breathed out one final Flamethrower in an attempted to deter the electric type. Unfortunately, Electabuzz was too quick and skidded under the flames before he was at Charizard's feet with a cocky smirk on his face.
Not giving the fire flying type time to move or redirect the Flamethrower, more sparks appeared around Electabuzz's body. Less than a second later, a giant ball of electricity engulfed both Pokemon on the field. Electabuzz used Discharge. The Flamethrower instantly stopped as Charizard cried out in pain. The fire flying type was brought to his knees as the poison once again showed up within the Discharge as Electabuzz stood up, looming over his opponent.
While it felt like forever to Ash and Charizard, it was little more than five seconds in total before Electabuzz ended his attack. The electric type smirked at the wanna be dragon before turning around and walking back to his starting position. Charizard couldn't make a sound as he fell on his stomach with swirls in his eyes.
"Charizard is unable to battle, this round goes to the champion Drake Yūji and his Electabuzz." The ref declared.
"Return Charizard and get a good rest." Ash recalled his fallen friend sadly. Once the fire flying type was safe in his Pokeball, Ash looked at it sadly. "Sorry that that happened to you, friend but you did great against Electabuzz considering you was poisoned so thank you.".
"Poor Charizard..." Leaf commented sadly.
"I hope he will be okay." Serena added, also in a sad tone.
"Hey Serena, how come Delphox did let herself out to watch the battle?" Misty asked in a confused tone
"I don't know..." Serena replied with concern, just like Eevee does with Pikachu, Delphox seems to always want to watch her boyfriend battle. Serena took Delphox's Pokeball of her belt, she would be sure to speak with her starter later since now isn't exactly the best place to discuss it.
"And Drake goes and evens the score by leaving both sides with one Pokemon each." The announcer informed. "Who will Ketchum use to take on Drake's powerful Electabuzz?".
Down on the battlefield, Ash is going over the remaining Pokemon on hand. It is quite the easy decision considering his two remaining Pokemon registered for this battle. Aerodactyl is certainly powerful but he is weak against Electabuzz and has the best chance against Dragonite. Not to mention, Ivysaur has a good advantage over Electabuzz since grass resists electricity. This has turned out pretty well for the last part of the battle.
Ash made his decision and quickly picked his Pokeball of his belt. With Ivysaur still fresh and Electabuzz technically having used up some energy despite not taking a hit from Charizard, Ash has another advantage over the electric type.
"I choose you, Ivysaur!" Ash shouted as he threw the Pokeball high into the air.
In a flash of light, the grass poison type appeared on the battlefield. He seemed a little discomforted by the sandy battlefield at first because he hasn't battled on a field like this before, but he put that aside and entered a battle stance. Ivysaur has been training hard on his more defensive battle style so now is the perfect chance to put it into action. Both Pokemon entered a battle stance ready for the match to begin.
"Electabuzz VS Ivysaur..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
Drake VS Ash (P VIII):
"Ice Punch." Drake instructed.
Electabuzz clenched both of his fists as they were coated in ice. Ash sighed, of course Drake's Electabuzz would have a counter to grass types. The electric type Pokemon started running towards the Seed Pokemon.
Ivysaur didn't even flinch and stood his ground. He isn't stupid and knows that he can't dodge the attack but that is where his evolved body as an advantage over the normal speed dodge. The grass poison type shot four vines out of the plant on his back. Two of them sweeped at Electabuzz's feet but the electric type jumped over them. This was what Ivysaur wanted, while stuck in the air, the second two vines shot towards Electabuzz's antenna's. Do to him being airborne, he couldn't dodge this, and the vines wrapped around them in a tight grip.
Electabuzz continued forwards despite being restrained but this was where Ivysaur used a neat trick he learnt while sparring against Tauros. Keeping the vines wrapped around Electabuzz, Ivysaur whipped them at his base which sent a shock wave through them. Using such a move as a Bulbasaur would like to help him dodge by sending him high into the air but being the heavier Pokemon meant he controlled who went where.
The shock waves reached Electabuzz and slightly lift him into the air before slamming him down into the sand, face first. That didn't sit right with the electric type, and he grabbed a hold of the vines with the Ice Punch's still activated. Ivysaur grunted in pain as his vines attempted to withdraw back to his plant as it is the natural reaction but Electabuzz held them tight, now he is the one in control.
With one mighty tug, Electabuzz pulled the grass poison type towards him. This might seem like an unlikely accomplishment, but you have to consider the likely hood that Electabuzz spars with Drake's Venusaur on a regular bases, which would obviously be heavier and stronger than Ivysaur.
"Leech Seed!" Ash shouted.
As Ivysaur was sent flying towards Electabuzz, he was able to adjust his body so the plant on his back was facing Electabuzz. A small brown seed appeared in the centre of the plant. When merely moments away from impact, Ivysaur launched the Leech Seed, it struck Electabuzz in the chest, having roots expand over his body as Ivysaur slammed into him.
Electabuzz was originally planning on striking Ivysaur with a powerful Ice Punch as he was helplessly flying towards him, but the Leech Seed caught him off guard thus him not launching the counter attack. In all honesty, the sight was something you'd expect to see in a cartoon. The end result was Ivysaur standing onto of the electric type, as if he used a make-shift Body Slam attack.
The Electric type didn't appreciate being made to look like an idiot and his eyes glew a light blue before the same colour energy surrounded Ivysaur, lifting him high into the sky. Electabuzz was using a Psychic attack. Standing up, now that he didn't have the weight of the grass poison type on his body, Electabuzz used his hands to start spinning Ivysaur around like a puppet master, this is just a little payback for making him look like an idiot before.
Drake shook his head with a light laugh at his electric type Pokemon. While definitely a strong Pokemon, he is very hot-headed and hates to be embarrassed on the battlefield. While his current antics of making Ivysaur dance in the air with Psychic aren't very mature or fitting for a champion, they are definitely helping win the battle as all that Psychic type energy can't be good for a poison type.
As he was being made to dance around the air, while also being crushed and hurt by the psychic type energy, Ivysaur was absorbing solar energy in secret. Ash caught onto this almost straight away but didn't make note of it, so they could launch a surprise attack.
Unfortunately, Drake isn't an idiot. He knows Ash wouldn't let his Pokemon be made helpless as he flew around and even if he hadn't come up with a way to escape the current predicament he would've shouted some support to his Ivysaur. It didn't take long for the champion to notice what Ivysaur was doing.
"He's gonna use Solar Beam!" Drake warned his electric type.
Electabuzz grunted in annoyance, he was enjoying his puppet show but guess he will need to get his revenge by beating the plant in a battle. Thrusting his arms forward, Ivysaur was sent high into the air until he was out of the Psychic range. Fortunately for him, the higher up he is the quick he is able to absorb solar energy so that last little pushed made the Solar Beam ready to fire.
Remaining calm thanks to his new battle style requiring him to keep a cool head under pressure, especially since it requires him to take a lot of hits head on, Ivysaur was able to position his body so the plant was facing Electabuzz... More or less since he was falling towards the ground.
Ivysaur launched the Solar Beam out of the plant on his back and it was on a direct path to strike Electabuzz. The electric type unleashed a massive Discharge attack in an attempt to protect himself as the Leech Seed drained more of his health. In the end the two attacks collided and created a sort of explosion, almost like a fertiliser bomb, which engulf Pokemon.
Black smoke covered both Pokemon, hiding the result of the battle. The only thing which could be made out was a loud thud which was obviously Ivysaur crashing into the field. It took about a minute before the smoke cleared and that was when the ref made his call.
"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, the round is a tie." The ref declared. "Going into the final round, Drake shall reveal his Pokemon first.".
"Return Ivysaur and thank you." Ash recalled his fallen grass poison type. He smiled sadly at the Pokeball in his hand before clipping it back to his belt, now it has come down to one final battle, Ash has no-doubt about who Drake will use
"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Electabuzz as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash.
Up in the stands, Ash's friends are all happy with the turn of events. Leaf and Serena are on their feet shouting encouragement down to the raven-haired boy along with Togepi, they even heard some of the nearby spectators talking like Ash could become victorious.
"Despite making a few mistakes, he has actually made it to Dragonite with Aerodactyl still fresh." Drake commented thoughtfully. "He might actually stand a chance of winning this.".
"I know what you mean." Misty added. "Then again, this league is all about bonding with Pokemon and that always seemed to be natural to Ash.".
Serena smiled as she heard what her two friends were saying, they have been more critical of Ash's decision making during this battle but that is because they are also supporting him and just singing his praises wouldn't exactly help him improve. Honestly, maybe Serena could learn a thing or two from them.
"This battle has been filled with many twists and turns folks as it all comes down to this, the final matchup between the two trainers." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. Taking this as their cue for the battle to continue, Drake unclipped the Pokeball hanging on the neckless around his neck.
"I have to say Ash, you are probably the most promising trainer I've battled as champion. So let's get on with our final round." Drake informed as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Dragonite!".
In a flash of light, a giant orange dragon Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before letting out a mighty battle cry. It was quite tall, easily looming over both Ash and Drake, with a fierce expression. Ash kept his cool and scanned his last opponent with his Pokedex:
Dragonite, The Dragon Pokemon. The final evolved form of Dratini. Dragonite is capable of circling the globe in just 16 hours. It is a kind-hearted Pokémon that leads lost and foundering ships in a storm to the safety of land.
"I choose you, Aerodactyl!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball high into the air.
In a flash of light, the mighty dinosaur appeared on the battlefield, standing tall and proud before letting out a threatening roar. Seeing the pseudo legendary on the other side of the field, he smirked, this will be a good show for his strength. He entered a battle stance to match Dragonite.
"Dragonite VS Aerodactyl..." The ref declared. "Begin!".
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