Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon.
AN: Thanks for reviewing and for giving me OCs. As of right now, I don't need any more.
Responses to reviewers:
Imsuprisedthisnameisnttaken: Unfortunately, Cynthia's Lucario won't be battling. Hopefully, the battle is still good though.
EspeonIsEpic: You're awesome too!
Chapter Twenty Five
Ariana and Archer sat on one side of the table, while Proton and Petrel sat on the other side. They were sitting in the conference room of the headquarters of Team Rocket. After a few moments, Giovanni entered the room. His faithful Persian strode behind him. Giovanni sat down at the head of the table and poured himself some wine. In the meantime, Persian jumped onto his lap.
As Giovanni started to talk, he also petted his Persian. "So the Cup has officially started. I'd like to review a bit now. Everyone remembers our primary objectives?"
"Yes sir," murmured the four other people sitting at the table.
Giovanni sipped his wine, and then continued to speak. "Now, onto specifics. Petrel, Proton; I want you two to terrorize the rest of the island. The main mission will take place within the Coliseum as Gowly battles the winner. However, by terrorizing the rest of the island, hopefully some champions will be drawn outside to deal with you two. Get it?"
"So just general mayhem?" Proton asked.
"Bomb various hotels and restaurants. Terrorize people passing by. Take a few grunts, but most grunts should go with Ariana and Archer." With that, Giovanni turned to the other two admins. "Your job will be to terrorize the people in the stands and to keep the champions and rangers occupied."
"But then who will target Gowly and Ketchum?"
"You leave those two to me and Domino." Giovanni sipped some more wine.
"You'll be joining us?" Ariana said in a shocked tone. Giovanni almost never participated in operations.
"I'll be monitoring the situation from my helicopter. Does everyone understand the plan?"
"Yes sir," the quartet spoke up as one.
"Good. You all are dismissed then. As the admins filed out of the room, Giovanni continued to pet his Persian. "Soon, soon." He chuckled darkly to himself.
-Line Break-
"This will be a one on one exhibition battle between Commissioner Gowly and Champion Cynthia. There will be no time limit, and the battle will end when one side is out of usable pokémon. Begin!"
"I choose you, Lucario!"
"Garchomp, battle dance!"
The two trainers' signature pokémon appeared on the field. They eyed each other quietly. This wasn't their first battle, and it probably wouldn't be their last.
"This reminds me of our first battle. Remember Cynthia?" Gowly asked.
"How could I forget. I feel like that battle only happened yesterday...
-Flashback-
"Wake up, Cynthia. Your grandfather has a present for you. Be a good birthday girl and wake up." Caroline gently nudged her granddaughter.
When Cynthia heard the word present, she shot out if bed and ran downstairs. Caroline chuckled to herself slowly and followed the energetic child.
"Grandpa!" Cynthia shouted as she hugged the man.
"Good morning and happy birthday, Cynthia!"
"I heard you got me a present!" The small girl started bouncing in place.
"Who told you that?" He looked at Caroline's face for a second and smiled gently. "Anyways, yes I did get you a present."
"Where is it? Where is it?"
"Now Cynthia, before I give you the present, have you been a good girl?"
"I have! I have!"
"And do you promise to take care of your present?"
"I do! I do!"
"Ok then. Here you go!" Reaching into his pocket, Cynthia's grandfather pulled out a pokéball.
"You mean..?" Cynthia trailed off as she gazed at the pokéball.
"Yes. Since you're ten years old, it's time for you get your first pokémon. I caught this little fella in Wayward Cave. Why don't you let her out?"
"Ok." Cynthia took the pokéball, and with trembling hands, she enlarged it and pressed the button in the middle. On the floor, a little Gible materialized. Pokémon and human stared at one another before Cynthia hugged the little land shark. After a few moments, Gible reciprocated the hug.
Just then, one of the neighbors knocked on the house. Before Caroline got a chance to answer, the neighbor let herself in. No one in Celestic Town locked their doors.
"Caroline! Caroline! You'll never guess who's here!"
"Who?" Caroline looked intrigued. Nobody visited Celestic Town. There was no gym or pokémon center.
"Do you remember the guy who won the Sinnoh League last year?"
Caroline recalled the young man. He and his Lucario ended up winning the Lilly of the Valley Conference. They had watched the matches on TV. Caroline nodded. Cynthia and her grandpa looked at the neighbor with interest.
"He's here! Here in Celestic!"
"Really?" Caroline asked in shock.
"Yep. He's exploring the ruins, and everyone is just staring at him. It's kind of creepy, actually."
"Well, let's get over there. Cynthia, where are you going?" Cynthia and Gible had run off.
"They're probably going to the ruins." Grandfather spoke up. He, Caroline, and the neighbor then left the house and made their way to the ruins.
When they got there, the young man was inspecting the painting on the wall. There was a large semi-circle around him composed of the residents of Celestic. Cynthia was standing behind the man, and everyone watched her and the young man.
"Hey you!" Cynthia finally shouted at the teenager.
"Me?" He turned around and looked at Cynthia.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm just exploring the ruins. Can't a guy be interested in mythology and history?"
"But aren't you a trainer?"
"I am. But trainers can have hobbies."
"Ok." After a few more seconds, Cynthia again spoke up. "Anyways, I'm Cynthia and I challenge you to a battle!"
The people of the town gasped. Everyone knew Cynthia, and everyone knew that she had only just received her pokémon. Everyone also knew the young man, and they knew that he was a champion.
"Well, I'm Gowly, and I accept your challenge."
The two trainers moved to a nearby field, and Cynthia again spoke up. "I don't care if you're a champion or not, I'll still beat you!"
"You're confident. That's a good trait. But overconfidence is a bad trait. Let's begin."
"Go Gible!" Gible walked onto the field.
In the meantime, Gowly had silently sent out his Lucario.
Caroline, who was acting as the referee, yelled out "Begin!"
-End Flashback-
"You trounced me the first time." Cynthia said as her mind returned to the present.
"True, but it was your first battle. I made it up by traveling with you as you challenged the Sinnoh gyms though."
"It's not like you only did it for me. You were challenging the Sinnoh Battle Frontier at the same time."
"Whatever. Enough chit chat. Let's these people a show! Aura sphere!"
"Fire blast!"
Lucario concentrated his aura and fired at Garchomp, who released the star shaped fire attack. Both pokémon attempted to dodge, but Garchomp was hit because aura spree never misses.
"Time for my secret weapon. Mega evolve!"
Cynthia's necklace started glowing. A gem on Garchomp also started to glow. Before long, Mega Garchomp appeared on the field! The mighty dragon let out a fierce roar that shook nearby stands.
Gowly slowly applauded. "Congratulations Cynthia. I take it you finally found a Garchompite. Unfortunately, that won't be enough to save you. Lucario, it's your turn! Mega evolve now!"
Gowly's ring and Lucario's bracelet started glowing and before long, Mega Lucario stood on the field.
"I'm afraid Cynthia, the balance has tipped in my favor. Your Mega Garchomp has much higher offenses, but she is also now slower than my Mega Luario. One super effective move will probably win you the battle. Unfortunately, you'll never actually hit Lucario. Now, use aura sphere once more!"
Lucario fired another aura sphere, and this one sent Garchomp flying.
"You see Cynthia." Gowly said as he noticed Cynthia's bewildered expression. My Mega Lucario has a different ability than his regular counterpart. This new ability is Adaptability, which doubles the power of all moves that share Lucario's type, like aura sphere."
"That won't matter. Garchomp may be slower, but she can still attack you. Use earthquake!"
The field shook again as Garchomp let out another fierce roar.
"Jump and execute combination beta!" Gowly said, seemingly unfazed by the shaking field.
Lucario jumped high into the air and avoided the earthquake. As he was coming down, however, he angled himself towards Garchomp. His fists became coated in ice as he rained them down on the poor dragon. The speed of the attack resembled the move close combat. When Lucario stopped punching, Garchomp collapsed to the ground with swirls in her eyes.
"Garchomp is unable to battle. The winner is Lucario, which means the Commissioner has won the battle!"
Recalling their pokémon, Cynthia and Gowly approached each other and shook hands. Gowly then spoke up.
"Again, welcome to everyone who is participating in the Cup! Battles start tomorrow, so good luck! Check your iDexes for details. And I'll see one of you right here on this field for our battle!" The Commissioner waved as the spectators applauded wildly. He then released his Gardevoir who used teleport to whisk away Gowly and Cynthia.
Once the field was empty, people started exiting the stands, and they headed to their hotels because it was now dark out.
Ash and his friends walked together for a while, but eventually people left to go to their own hotels. They all had agreed to meet for breakfast the next day though.
As Ash lay in his bed that night, he kept replaying that evening's battle. He had never seen Cynthia's Garchomp lose before, but he still thought that he would beat Gowly if he made it to the final round. With thoughts of battles and pokémon, Ash finally succumbed to sleep.