Here we go! We're almost done, here - just a few chapters to go, and then this story is going to be marked as complete!
Chapter 62 - vs. Red
"Welcome, contestants and spectators, to the first annual Verity Tournament! This is Ruby -"
"-and I'm May-" another voice added.
-reporting to you live from Spatial Colosseum!" they finished together.
"It's been two short weeks since the world has been restored to normal," May continued. "Thanks to Palkia, we've managed to remove every speck of Cyrus' work from the planet."
"And we have Palkia to thank for this awesome colosseum," Ruby added, looking out over the presently vacant battlefield below. "Room to hold almost all of Sinnoh's population, plus a climate-controlled battlefield, which can take the characteristics of any environment! We have it set at 'Random' for today's last two battles, so who knows what the Trainers will have to face!"
"In fact, here come two Trainers now!" May made a motion for two of the cameras to zoom in on the two figures approaching the Trainer Boxes. "One of them is Red, the Kanto Champion. Before he had come over here with Professor Oak at the start of the Crisis, Red was the sole human inhabitant of Mt. Silver, the toughest mountain in the world!"
"Tough for you, anyway," Ruby responded. "Avatar Trainers, as well as Miss White, have been the only ones to make it up there." He ignored the glare he was receiving from his younger sister. "Unfortunately, White won't be here today - her parents said that she was 'out', whatever that means."
There was a loud "boo!" from the crowd.
Below, the as-of-yet-unnamed Trainer got into a defensive stance.
"But we have someone who's probably just as famous down there!" May called. "Khrista, an Avatar!"
Upon hearing May's exclamation, the boos turned to cheers, and the named figure below seemed to relax.
"These two Trainers have risen through the Tournament's rounds so far," May continued. "Now that we're in the last round of the finals, things can only heat up!"
The crowd roared in agreement.
Joshua rolled his eyes at the siblings' antics. He knew they were trying to ramp up the crowd as much as possible, but it seemed to him that the prospect of two powerful Trainers battling was more than enough.
His eyes went over the stances of Red and Khrista - both relaxed - before stopping to look at the Trainer to his left, who was wearing a blue jacket and a red hat on top of a mess of black hair. The boy's brown eyes were also observing the Trainers below.
"Out of all of you guys, she has to be the most like her," the boy finally stated. He looked at Joshua. "Maria, I mean."
Joshua gave the boy a curious look. "You think so?"
"I know so. She and I traveled around Unova when Team Plasma showed up again." He held out his hand for Joshua for shake. "Name's Black."
Joshua shook Black's hand. "Joshua. I remember Red knocking you out of the competition in the semi finals."
Black nodded. "I'd hoped to battle Khrista before I got kicked out, but I guess it didn't work out."
"She was open for a battle before the tournament started."
"I was training on Mt. Coronet from before you guys got back to when Palkia dropped the Colosseum on Cyrus' old foundation and turned the Underground into New Sandgem." The Unova Trainer smirked. "At least I got some new Pokemon to of it."
Joshua nodded. "I saw the Abomasnow you put against Red's Aerodactyl. The temperature felt like it had dropped ten degrees by the time they had both fainted."
Black's eyes widened slightly. "Huh. I guess that I was so into my battle that I didn't notice. And your battle against Ash! It was like you were predicting his every move!"
"I learned that from experience," Joshua responded calmly. He looked down at the two Trainers below, who both looked like the had a PokeBall in one hand. "Looks like it's about to start."
Below, Khrista was grinning at the prospect of a battle against the boy was considered the strongest Trainer in Kanto and Jhoto combined. She didn't know which Pokemon he was going to lead with, and she didn't care at this point - she had chosen her team with Red in mind.
Red was also confident. He had figured out Khrista's strategy, and was prepared to answer in kind. Red was also planning on defeating Joshua, who was waiting for the winner of this match.
"The three-on-three match between Red and Knrista starts now!" Forrest, Brock's brother, called.
Two PokeBalls were tossed out, followed by two flashes ad the two Pokemon were released.
Liz's Flareon named Flare and Red's Venasaur were soon standing on the battlefield, which began to morph and change. The ground heated up, turning into obsidian stone as lava pooled into crevices.
Khrista let out a whistle. "Now that is cool. Flare, how about we start things off with a Flamethrower?"
The Flareon smirked, then fired off a steam of fire in the direction of the Grass/Poison-Type.
Red nodded once. "Earthquake."
Saur let out a roar, and slammed the rocky ground when cracks started to appear in the ground, lava seeping out.
"Keep moving, Flare!" Khrista called out. "Try to get as close as you can and use Fire Fang!"
Flare nodded, then started to jump around in floating bits of rock in order to get close to Saur, who had taken both the brunt of the Flamethrower and a couple spurts of lava. Before the Fire-Type could bite the Grass-Type, however, Flare found himself punched into a rock by a ThunderPunch from Poli.
"Seismic Toss!" Red ordered the first Pokemon he had befriended. Before the Pokemon could grab Flare, however, the Fire-Type was gone, replaced by an Electric Mouse. Poli soon found himself covered in static, while Raichu stood glaring at him from a floating piece of obsidian.
Khrista nodded in approval. "Your Pokemon are strong, I'll give you that. But can you stand for a little surprise from mine?"
Red's eyes narrowed. He hadn't seen Khrista use any Pikachu or Raichu in her battles, but he knew what the girl was probably referring to. "Don't let your guard down, Poli! Hydro Pump!"
"Raichu, Surf!"
As the Hydro Pump surged towards Raichu, the female Mouse raised her arms, and the lava instantly responded, riding up in a gigantic wave in front of her. As soon as the Hydro Pump hit the wave, steam erupted from the molten rock and covered the battlefield.
"An Electric Mouse like that is very hard to come by," Ruby noted over the loudspeakers. "Very few learn Hidden Machine attacks like Surf or Fly."
"Light it up!" Khrista called. "Discharge!"
The cloud of water vapor started to darken as electric sparks flew about the cloud. Red's eyes widened as he realized what Khrista was planning. "Poli, get out of there! Now!"
"Do it!" Khrista responded. "Supercharged Thunder!"
There was a slight rumble rom within the cloud, and a flash as bright as a firework came and went, followed by a loud clap of thunder. By the time the cloud had dissipated, the volcanic ground had no lava left, and the great magma wave had become a rocky cliff, on top of which Raichu sat, a proud grin on her face. Below, Poli lay fainted.
"Poliwrath is unable to battle! The victor is Raichu!" Forrest called out.
Khrista thrust a fist into the air, letting out a whoop of delight. "Nice job, Raichu! One down, two to go!"
Raichu gave her Trainer a thumbs-up, only to tumble off the cliff when it collapsed underneath her. Grass started to peak up between the rocks, and Raichu was soon standing alone on a grassy field.
Red smirked. "For a kid who watched a screen when she used to fight, you seem to know what you're doing." He tossed out a PokeBall, releasing the giant Pokemon that was his Snorlax. "You still have a long way to go, though. Lax, use Double-Edge!"
Khrista let out a laugh. "Two can play at that game! Volt Tackle!"
The two Pokemon charged at each other, their reckless attacks slamming together with a flash and the smell of ozone. When the flash faded, Raichu lay there fainted and Lax, although worse for the wear, was still up.
"Raichu is unable to battle! The winner is Snorlax!"
The crowd roared in response to Forrest's words.
Khrista returned the Electric-Type to her PokeBall. "What do you say to a hand-to-hand? Caleb, you're on!" Joshua's Lucario appeared on the grassy field. "Go in close and use Close Combat!"
"Keep it away with a Mega Punch!" Red countered.
Lax, for all his strength, didn't have the speed that he needed to hit Caleb before the Fighting/Steel-Type could score a hit. The gigantic Normal-Type was down for the could before he even hit the ground.
"Snorlax in unable to battle! The winner is Lucario!"
"Which leaves Red with Saur," Khrista muttered under her breath.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Black was shaking his head. "They should have let us go six-on-six, not three-on-three."
Joshua shrugged. "Maybe they'll do that next year."
"Maybe. Maybe they'll have us do Triple Battles; who knows?"
Red released Saur from his PokeBall. "This is it." The grass disappeared, and rocks grew into giant pillars out of the battlefield. "Earthquake, Saur!"
"Use ExtremeSpeed to avoid the move as best you can!" Khrista called.
Caleb moved quickly to avoid the cracks that started to appear in the earth, but to no avail; a tower of rock collapsed on him as he dashed by it. Caleb managed to crawl out partway, only to collapse.
"Lucario is unable to battle!" Forrest called. "The victor is Venasaur!"
"And we're down to one on one," May added.
Khrista fingered Flare's PokeBall, a smile on her face. "This really is it." She released the Flareon onto the battlefield. "No holding back!"
Red nodded. "Saur, Frenzy Plant!"
"Fire Blast, Flare! As strong as you can make it!"
Large roots appeared from the ground and shot at Flare, only to be incinerated by the Fire Blast, which ate up the Grass attack greedily and followed the roots far enough so that it could jump onto Saur. The plant-like lizard let of a roar as the fire began to lick away at him.
"Saur's got a nasty burn," Ruby noted. "It doesn't look like it might have much health left."
Red ignored Ruby's voice. "Saur, use Earthquake to kick up the dirt and put out the fire!"
"Fire Blast!" Khrista called out.
Flare was quick to charge up and fire at Saur as a weak rumbling started to shake the area. Saur, despite his efforts, was quickly taken out.
"Venasaur is unable to battle! The winners are Flareon and Khrista!"
The crowd went nuts.
Khrista couldn't help but jump up and down in delight at winning against the Kanto Champion. Flare released a few sparks of flame in celebration, as well.
"We're not done yet today, though," May warned. "Next, it's cousin against cousin in a final match! Joshua, Khrista, you've got an hour to think up a strategy and pick your teams."
Khrista nodded as Flare climbed onto her shoulder, Red having long since returned Saur to his PokeBall. "I've got a feeling that I already know what Joshua is going to use..."
Flare gave his Trainer a curious look. "You do?"
"Yup. And you're not in it. I'll let Nurse Joy look you over, then you can join Liz's other Eeveelutions."
"Ah. I was really hoping you'd let me help beat him!"
"You're not even one of my Pokemon," Khrista replied, irritated.
"You and your cousin have a long-standing rivalry?" Red asked as he came over.
"Yeah," Khrista replied with a smile, looking over at the Kanto Champion. "When we first met, we both had gone through Hoenn, and decided that it would be a good idea to test out or strengths. We've been fighting each other whenever we can ever since. This one is really going to be different."
"All that's different is that you're here in our world," Flare pointed out. "Nothing's new other than that."
Khrista laughed. "Easy for you to say. No one in my family can say that they've competed in an actual tournament like this! And with real Pokemon, no less!" A delighted grin crossed her face. "Race you to the Pokemon Center, Red!"
Spacial Break
Lien looked up sharply from her thoughts as soon as she caught sight of a figure standing near the entrance of her cave. She had been monitoring the tournament until something had disturbed her. "Who's there?"
The figure's head moved from one of the walls and towards the back of the cave, where the Mesprit was hovering with her paws on her hips.
Her figure gave a slight smile. "Hey, Lien. It's just me."
The Mesprit frowned and, after a moment, flew a little closer to the figure so that she could get a better look, her arms in front of her as though she was swimming. She caught sight of an orange jacket, red shirt, and brown hair and blue eyes with a strange glow to them.
"Maria?" she asked in shock.
The girl gave a nod. "Yeah."
Lien's eyes widened, then she put her paws on her hips again while a scowl came over her face. "Where have you been?! We thought you would have gotten here during the trouble, not after!"
Maria gave a sad smile. "Sorry. I was called to another world and...got caught up with something."
"What? I know there's something about you that's different, Maria White." Lien crossed her arms over her chest, now. "What happened?"
Maria paused, making a face for a moment. Then, looking at Lien, stated, "I kinda...got into an accident."
As if she had said the magic words, her clothes flickered like insubstantial light and vanished, revealing red, orange, and gray armor - with white gloves covering her hands and gold rings on her wrists.
Lien let out a gasp of surprise. "What-"
"A roboticist did this to save my life," Maria explained. "He had to, or else I wouldn't have been able to help him out, and then I wouldn't be here."
The Being of Emotion looked really emotional at this statement. "Where did you go? This design...it doesn't look like anything I'm familiar with."
"You probably wouldn't be," Maria replied. "This didn't come from Mobius." She motioned to her armor. "It came from a section of the universe called Capcom-specifically a world known for a robotic hero named MegaMan."
"MegaMan?" Lien frowned. "What kind of name is that?"
"The robot gave himself that title, and he was pretty much a newborn when he volunteered to take on the evils of his world." Maria shrugged. "I doubt he's going to change it anytime soon." She looked around the cave. "So, what's up with this stadium on top of Lake Verity?"
"It's a gift from Palkia for releasing him from the Red Chain," Lien explained. "This used to be the sight of Cyrus' headquarters, so he thought it would be pretty fitting. Because it got dropped here, though, Twinleaf has been turned into something of a tourist town, and there are a lot more people in New Sandgem as a result." The Mesprit paused and cocked her head to one side. "There's a tournament going on right now to celebrate our victory, and...it seems as though Red and Khrista just finished-the Avatar won."
Maria looked confused. "Avatar?" A moment later, she looked like she had realized something. "Wait - Khrista is here? The last I checked, she was trying to finish off White 2!"
"One question at a time," Lien replied irritably. "An Avatar is a human from your world who had played these 'games' that they have been speaking of. Only certain Psychics were aware of their existence, on the account that they were only seeable by them. And as for Khrista, she is actually the one who assisted us the most in destroying Cyrus' regime."
"Really?" Maria blinked in surprise. "That's...unexpected. And you said she managed to beat Red?"
"Not but a few seconds ago. She is going to be facing off against her cousin, Joshua, in about fifteen minutes."
"I don't want to miss this," Maria remarked, grinning. That faded seconds later, however. Lien thought that she had heard a voice whisper something, but it was gone before she could identify it.
"Hey, Lien, do any of these kids know of a way home?" Maria asked. "Besides my sister?"
Lien frowned, then shook her head. "Most of them don't think they're ever going to go home, but some of them have considered it."
"Only some?" Maria frowned. "They're not worrying about what their parents are thinking? I know Mom nearly blew a gasket when Matthew walked out to the garage to practice his guitar and never even plucked a string."
"They may think that they have no way home because Cyrus brought them here and that device now sits as a lawn ornament in front of the stadium." Lien smiled dryly. "Maybe you should go and show off to show them a way home."
"Yeah...that might not be a bad idea." The grin reappeared on her face. "Which way to the stands?"
Didn't expect that ending? It's a connection that leads from one of my other characters' stories - the series I've started that's been marked under "Maria's Adventures." That specific segment came from the revised ending of number three, which I changed some time ago to work with the changes I was making in the reboot.
And eclipse, I completely changed up Maria's first story, as well, so what you remember from reading and what may be there now could be two entirely different things. Just a warning. ;)
See you guys tomorrow with Joshua vs. Khrista!