I've been having more time to write these chapters now, which is ironic since I'm taking a summer semester at the university. Not that I'm complaining, of course. Let's see how long this good fortune will last…
The next morning…
There were some preliminary battles scheduled as early as nine o'clock, yet prior to their commencement the entire island was filled to the brim with activity and energy. The competing Trainers and the thousands of visiting Pokémon fans were up and about in checking out what's been going on in New Island now that the Champions League New Island Conference had officially begun from the previous night.
Of course, the first round was considered to be the hardest for some Trainers, considering if nerves and anxiety had persisted overnight and prevented sufficient rest and sleep. But that's where the true test would begin if these Trainers have truly earned the right to compete in the first place.
Now turning back to our favorite group…
"Man, I don't know what to do right now or which battle to check out," Iris said, wandering about the wide streets with company. "It's so hard to decide with so many powerful Trainers, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members competing right now. I don't even know who's who right now."
"Misty was set to battle some guy an hour ago and at the water field too," Dawn replied back. "May and Max went to support her. I would've gone, but I slept in by accident."
"Pip-lup," Piplup agreed, hanging from Dawn's shoulder.
"You call that 'sleeping in'?" Iris brought up. "Georgia was still asleep when we passed her room, snoring like her Beartic."
"Brock went to check on his brother for his match prior to noon," Cilan added, reading out of a small pamphlet as the three of them walked about. "I have to say that my brothers and I are dealing with a double-edged knife right now."
"How so?"
"Our battles have been scheduled for two days from now as the Pokémon League wants to let this simmer out as long as possible, also as part of the test of patience for all competitors. I can understand that this kind of waiting can be unsettling on the nerves, especially when dealing with a very delicate and critical recipe for the next battle."
"Uh, Cilan? You kinda lost me."
"Don't worry about it," Iris chipped in. "You get used to Cilan's Connoisseur way of talking after a while. It's actually fun listening to him when you get past his… special mannerisms."
"You're right, Iris," Dawn said with a bright smile. "No need to worry. Hey, Cilan, anyone else we know competing this hour?"
"We've heard that Misty made it through her match with flying colors," Cilan began, skimming through a printed list within the pamphlet. "Brock's brother and Sabrina, the other Kanto Gym Leader we met yesterday, have their battles within the next couple of hours, close to noon. And then the fair Anabel and the overzealous Paul, their preliminary matches take place tomorrow afternoon."
"What about Ash?" Dawn asked.
"Did you find his name?" Iris added. "When we checked the public monitor, his photo was unavailable."
"Yeah, his is… actually one of the last battles to conclude this day," Cilan said. "A funny thing while looking through the tournament brackets is that I found some very familiar faces competing as well."
"What do you mean?"
Cilan looked up from the pamphlet and grinned at what he saw ahead. He then gestured to both Dawn and Iris to look right in front of them. They were greeted to the sight of a familiar strapping young man with auburn hair, wearing a red tank top and cargo shorts, with his back turned towards them.
"Just look right there."
"Is that…? It's Steffen!"
"Hey, it's 'Stephan'!" the muscular young man shouted back, only to see the familiar faces of Iris and Cilan. "Oh, it's you guys! How's it going?"
"We're doing great," Cilan replied. "Are you competing in the tournament as well?"
"You bet, Cilan! I made it into the Top Four of the Kanto Indigo Conference a while ago after our encounter in Unova, thus qualifying for the Champions League New Island Conference. Say, is Ash competing here too?"
"We found out that he's going to be one of the last scheduled matches for today," Iris answered. "When are you going to battle?"
"I'm stuck for tomorrow morning, even though I want to battle right now," Stephan said, miming a crying face.
"Are there any more of our friends and rivals from Unova here as well?" Cilan asked.
"Oh! I actually saw Virgil a while ago," Stephan brought up. "What's today again?"
"Tuesday."
"Then he should be battling Friday morning and I think it might be against someone from the Elite Four."
"Yikes!" Dawn interrupted. "I hope he's strong enough to last."
"Nah, he won the Vertress Conference over a year ago, he'll be fine," Stephan brushed off. "Say, do I know you?"
"No, but my name's Dawn and this is Piplup," Dawn said, having gestured to herself and to the Penguin Pokémon on her shoulder before extending a hand out to Stephan. "I'm one of Ash's old friends from Sinnoh."
"Nice to meet ya, I'm Stephan," Stephan replied back, grabbing Dawn's hand firmly. "And I'm gonna win this whole thing!"
"Good to see that you hadn't lost any of your spice, Stephan," Cilan commented.
Also good to hear someone's getting my name right, Stephan thought with a brief smile. "Anyway, aside from Virgil, I bumped into Cameron earlier."
"Great! How's he doing?"
"I… don't know what to say," Stephan chuckled uneasily. "Thing is he 'almost' made it in, but it turns out that he was supposed to make at least another successive placing in the Top Eight of a regional Conference; his latest was Top Sixteen, which ruined his record a bit… and he missed registration."
"Ouch, what's he up to now?" Iris asked, concerned for the Trainer spoken of. "Why else would he be here then?"
"He told me that he and his Lucario would train for the next one, and then immediately left for the forest to train," Stephan explained with a shrug. "He left before I could tell him that the next one would be in the next ten years."
"That kid," Iris sighed civilly.
"You know, that's how Lucario looked right before they left."
"Hmm… what about Bianca?"
"Last I heard from her, she was studying under Professor Juniper. I think she had an interest in working as her assistant for a bit."
"I see."
"Them aside, the only other Trainer that comes to mind from Unova is Trip," Cilan said with a quick snap of his fingers.
"Is he competing?" Dawn quickly inquired.
"Well−."
"That's kind of a silly question to ask, Dawn, and I'll tell you why," Iris intervened rather haughtily. "Trip thinks very little of the Kanto region, always making fun of it and Ash whenever they crossed paths. Why would he want to be here anyway?"
"Funny story about that," Stephan began. "In order for me to qualify for the Champions League, I actually had to beat Trip in the Indigo Conference, putting him in the Top Eight. So far, if I remember correctly, he also previously ranked Top One Twenty-Eight back at the Vertress Conference."
"Wait… he competed in the Kanto League?!"
"That is quite the wild card dish to taste," Cilan said. "I've noticed that he's been changing up his style back in Unova, but to cross over like that… it takes great leaps and bounds."
"You're all making it sound like he hated the Kanto region," Dawn remarked. "That's not the case, is it?" Stephan shook his head.
"Trip didn't hate Kanto, he just didn't think highly of it at all," Stephan explained. "That was until Ash had beaten him back at Unova that sparked an interest for him to travel here. But going through Kanto eventually grew on him and he came to enjoy the 'simple hillbilly pleasures' Kanto had to offer, at least that's what Trip said. Of course, I loved it either way! But enough of that, I want to see Ash again. He's probably super strong by now!"
"We'll see by five o'clock today if the plate is ready to be served," Cilan said.
"You know, with all this talk about past rivals, I'm surprised we haven't covered your rival, Cilan," Iris brought up. "As much as I feel like I'm going to regret it, what's Burgundy up to? Everything's been too quiet when we briefly returned to Unova and we hadn't had a run-in with her so far."
"It's a funny story now that you mentioned it," Cilan replied, having seemingly conjured an elegant purple envelope in his hand. "My brothers held on to this for me. It's actually from Burgundy."
"What's it about?" Dawn asked.
"Is it more of her screaming vendetta against you for leaving the Unova region… again?" Iris suggested in a deadpan tone.
"Have a taste, my friends," Cilan said, offering the perfume-scented letter to them,
Stephan took hold of the letter from Cilan and he, along with Iris and Dawn at both sides, started to read through it. As the three of them read through Burgundy's letter, each carried on their own expressions. Dawn's eyes grew to be pretty wide. Iris's jaw dropped and hung agape. Stephan was… himself, but nonetheless had a bemused look on his face.
"Um, Cilan?" Dawn first spoke.
"Are you sure that was Burgundy that sent you that letter?" Iris continued off. "Because by the end, she sounded like she chilled out… a lot."
"Let's just say my departure had caused her to make some deeper insights into her life," Cilan began. "Though she's still determined to beat me one day…"
"It says that she's now a certified B-Class Pokémon Connaisseuse and is still studying to become A-Class just so she could finally catch up to you," Stephan said, having reread parts of the letter. "It sounds like she's waiting for the right time to confront you on even ground."
"I've got to admit, that's mature even for Burgundy's standards," Iris commented, a smirk starting to form from her mouth. "Looks like you left more than a sour taste in her mouth for leaving her, Cilan."
"Now, now, let's not dwell on the past for long," Cilan said, taking back the letter from Stephan. "But I really do look forward to see her progress when I do return."
"Wow, it sounds like everyone's growing up now," Dawn said in amazement. "Compared to when I first met them in Unova until now, I'm really impressed."
"Yeah, provided that you have a rival that actually improves herself overtime and not just on her trash talk," Iris brought up.
"Funny, I could say the exact same thing about you," Georgia's voice rang out, seemingly out of nowhere to everyone's shock.
The group did pinpoint the direction from where the Dragon Buster's voice came from and there she was, appearing miffed; no doubt it was from overhearing Iris's last comment about her. Then again, what else is new?
"What are you doing up and awake? I thought you'd still be catching up on your useless beauty sleep."
"For your information, the only one that was sleeping in my room was my Beartic," Georgia clarified. "It deserved to sleep in after some late night training we did last night."
"Then where did you run off to this morning?" Dawn asked, to which Georgia smirked.
"One of the first matches for this morning caught my interest. It happened to be between Sinnoh Gym Leader Candice against the Gym Leader from Johto, Clair."
"And why would you be interested in them?" Iris inquired.
"You seriously don't know?" Georgia snorted in retaliation.
"Will you just stop mocking me and tell me already?!"
Cilan walked over to Iris and placed a hand on her shoulder as a manner to calm her down. Stephan had also stepped in as a precaution next to Georgia to prevent her to do something possibly regretful.
"Clair specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon while Candice uses Ice-types," Stephan explained, to which realization had dawned upon Iris.
"Then that means…" Iris drew out.
"While Clair did manage to pull a last minute victory over Candice's Abomasnow and I was upset over that Dragon Master's win, I learned some new techniques in handling Dragon-type Pokémon from that battle alone," Georgia said with a triumphant grin before sending a pointing finger towards her rival. "Until our next battle, you've better have learned something new from these battles going on right now if you still want to be considered my rival."
"Slow down. What do you want me do exactly?"
"Simple, my dear Iris. Just find the next match with a Dragon Master, learn from his or her battle style, apply it to your own Pokémon, and meet me here at this exact spot in exactly one week for our battle." Georgia concluded with pointing to the ground around her for emphasis.
"At the exact same time?" Iris suggested nonchalantly.
"You know it," Georgia immediately replied, turning her back to the group. "Now, if you ladies and gents… and whatever Iris is excuse me, I'm going to start training for our battle. Later." With an attempted cool wave, she bid off from the group and walked away. Ha, they didn't even try to ask me who I found last night training.
"How did your late night training go?" Cilan asked in a coincidental, but friendly tone. Georgia momentarily stiffened, but regained her composure. Fortunately for her as well, her back was still turned as to not alert the others to her comical facial reaction.
"It was good, you know. By the way, you guys know when Ash's battle going to happen?"
"Later today at five. Why?"
"Oh, nothing," Georgia brushed off with a slight wave. "I'll be off now." She left the rest of them behind for good this time.
"You know, you've got to admit about having a rival that wants you to be better," Cilan remarked. "I know I'll admit that if Burgundy had focused more on stirring up her evaluations instead of her desire for bitter vengeance back then, she might have a bit more of a tasteful impact as a Connaisseuse."
"What the world would be like without rivals," Stephan added in a contented sigh. "Speaking of such, I need to train really hard if I want to catch up to Ash. I'll see you guys at his match!" With that said, he also took off in a rush, leaving the three of them as they were originally.
"Well, at least we managed to kill some time before Forrest's battle," Dawn mentioned. "I'm sure Brock is waiting for us right now."
"It's still not time yet, but it wouldn't spoil the dish to check on it right now," Cilan said.
Before the Pokémon Connoisseur even noticed, his pamphlet of the New Island Conference was snatched by Iris, who was scanning through the tournament roster in a comically fiery speed with an additional growl added for effect. Dawn and Cilan eventually noticed the swift ruffling of the pages, right before the Dragon Trainer threw the pamphlet back into Cilan's hands.
"Iris?" Dawn asked carefully.
Before she got an answer, Iris sped off the same way as Stephan had, if not in a more noticeably faster rate with Axew clinging onto her hair.
"The Dragon Elite Four from Hoenn, Drake, is battling right now!" Iris shouted back in her wake to her friends. "I'm not going to let Georgia the kid show me up! I'll see you guys at Forrest's battle!" Once Iris was out of sight as well, Dawn and Cilan exchanged puzzled looks.
"This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Dawn brought up sarcastically.
Later in the evening…
"Howdy there, folks!" the voice of the commentator vibrated out, mixing in with the cheers of the large-ranged audience. "I hope you all have been able to hang on with all this intensive battling going on today. Though it has only been the first day into the Champions League, I was already on the edge of my seat as the matchups were decided."
"YEAH! WOO-HOO!"
"Now we've finally reached the end of the day and Pokémon League wants to thank all you hardcore fans for supporting the competitors through and through," the commentator continued. "The battles in the other four arenas are coming to their close as far as I've heard, but this battle will hopefully end this fantastic day on a high note. We're all in for a treat, given the Trainers participating on the large and regular battlefield."
More cheering had ensued as the Trainer squares on both opposite sides of the field opened up to reveal the last two competitors for the day being elevated to ground level.
"On the left side, please welcome an up-and-coming Trainer of Mossdeep City from the Hoenn region, Jump!"
A young tan-skinned man with noticeably puffy lips, wearing a gray beanie and an orange sweater with black outlines, was waving out to the crowd with an obnoxious laugh to boot. His opponent was not as energetic as he was as he also emerged from the ground. He simply kept to himself, the rim of his cap continuing to shadow over his eyes. The Pikachu on his shoulder mimicked his rather stoic expression.
"And now on the right, please welcome an old fan favorite returning to the competition for the first time for years and native to our fair region of Kanto, Ash of Pallet Town!"
"Aah!" May gasped.
"May, what's wrong?" Max asked.
"That's Ash?! I-I… I… I bumped into him yesterday!"
"What?!" the rest of their friends chorused in. They all managed to obtain seats at the second row, close to the action. Misty, Brock, Dawn, Iris, and Cilan all looked towards the direction of the brunette Coordinator and her brother.
"When we got off the ship… and when we were separated…"
*Crash*
"Aah! Oh, geez! I'm so sorry!" May cried, not even opening her eyes out of embarrassment of her collision against another person.
She then felt a hand grab onto her right wrist and pulled her back onto her feet. When the Petalburg City Coordinator did open her eyes, she was greeted with a sight of a young man who was a few inches taller than her, garbed in a sleeveless red vest with white outlines and large white collar on top of a black short-sleeve shirt. His eyes were mysteriously concealed in shadow by the rim of his red cap. She quickly felt intimidated for some reason, possibly by his aura alone, and didn't want to deal with this awkward situation any longer than necessary.
"I'm sorry, but I lost my friends and brother and I don't know where they went off to," May confessed, looking down to her feet.
The stranger then pointed to the direction of the Pokémon Center, giving the green-bandanna wearing young girl the idea on where they have possibly gone to.
"Wow, if even you couldn't recognize Ash when he arrived to the island, he must've changed a lot," Misty said.
"I suppose that's usually the case when you don't see someone for a long period of time," Brock mused. "I never imagined such a drastic change in just a year after leaving Iris and Cilan."
"Yeah, what gives?" Iris questioned. "Is that really Ash fighting there right now? How can we be sure he's not an imposter?"
"There's no other way to say it, but that is Ash," Anabel then spoke up, having sat the farthest away from the group next to May.
"Anabel? I didn't realize you were sitting there. My bad."
"I was just recovering from May's astonishment, that's all."
"Sorry about that, but I just get worked up because… well, you know."
"I see Ash is still a touchy subject to discuss," a rather even-toned voice added in, revealing to have originated from Sabrina sitting in the row behind the group, much to their additional surprise.
"Hey, Sabrina," Misty greeted. "Can you confirm for us that this is the real Ash battling down there? No one here seems to want to believe that the sad boy with the red cap completely covering his eyes and Pikachu on his shoulder is Ash."
"Sorry!" Dawn interrupted. "It's just too good to be true!"
"And I wouldn't necessarily label him as 'sad,' more like… 'unenthusiatic'?" Cilan suggested casually. As they carried on their rather meaningless argument, Brock leaned forward on his lap to grab Anabel's attention.
"Hey, Anabel, can you read what Ash or his Pikachu are feeling?" Brock asked, to which he received an immediate response of the Salon Maiden shaking her head.
"For one thing, this crowd's getting in the way of my concentration," Anabel explained, frowning. "And for some reason, I can't seem to feel anything from Pikachu. It's not exactly a 'hollow' or 'empty' feeling, but it's kind of like… running into a wall, a dead-end to be specific."
"Interesting."
"I'm curious about his opponent though. Do you think Ash will have a hard time against him?"
"As far as I know about Jump, the first time I've seen him was back at the Hoenn Ever Grande Conference a few years ago," Brock began. "That was also back when Ash was competing in it as well. Jump faced off against a Trainer named Morrison, who was one of Ash's rivals at the time, during the preliminaries as well, but lost."
"I know I saw Morrison around in the tournament, but I don't know if he started his preliminary round yet," Max intervened.
"Anyway, we'll see how much he's changed since the Ever Grande Conference," Brock concluded.
Elsewhere in the main stadium…
"Man, I can't believe I couldn't find Cilan and the others," Stephan mumbled to himself, sitting in the second-to-front row, surrounded by various screaming Pokémon fans. His frown turned into a smile, knowing full well of what's about to happen. "But that's not going to stop me from seeing how strong Ash has gotten!"
He then stood up with the rest of the cheering spectators and basically joined the crowd.
Up in the higher cheap seats…
Paul stood by the stair railings, leaning down and looking upon the upcoming battle with a grim frown.
Back on the battlefield…
"This will be a three-on-three battle with no time limit," the referee announced as the spectators calmed down. "The Trainer with at least one usable Pokémon left wins. Substitutions are allowed. Trainers, go ahead and select your first Pokémon."
"Heh heh heh heh heh! I remember seeing your face around from somewhere before," Jump chuckled, having a Poké Ball on hand. "I think you're Morrison's friend from the Ever Grande Conference years back, that's right. Oh, boy, this is gonna be sweet! First you, and then Morrison!"
"…" Ash made no reaction to his opponent's arrogant taunts.
"Okay, okay, okay. Let's get this show going! I'll start… with my Dunsparce!"
Jump threw the Poké Ball and in a bright flash from the device, out came the Land Snake Pokémon, landing on the ground with a quiet thump.
"Dun…!" Dunsparce hissed with a quick rattle of its tail.
"I remember Ash wanting to catch a Dunsparce back at the Decolora Archipelago," Iris commented.
"Such bittersweet memories… fading," Cilan mumbled, strangely dabbing a handkerchief to his tearing eyes.
"Hey! Those memories were not exactly the 'fondest,' you know!" Iris complained upon seeing Cilan's behavior.
Ash turned his head to the direction of his Pikachu. Both long-time friends locked gazes. With a brief nod from the Pallet Town Trainer, Pikachu leapt off from his shoulder and into the battle.
"It looks like Ash has chosen his trademark Pikachu to start off his preliminary battle," the commentator announced enthusiastically. "This should be an interesting matchup with Pikachu versus Dunsparce."
"The match begins now," the referee declared, both arms and flags in the air. "Jump gets the first move."
"Sweet, this is going to be quick," Jump remarked, grinning like a fool. "Dunsparce, use Drill Run!"
Dunsparce had lifted itself up with the help of its little wings. It then pointed its drill-shaped tail towards Pikachu and begun to rotate its whole body rapidly. The air pressurized around its body made the Land Snake Pokémon appear as a drill, as to match the namesake of its attack. Within a brief moment, it charged forward to attack. Pikachu stood his ground, waiting for Dunsparce to come closer.
"What's Ash doing?!" Iris questioned in outrage. "Drill Run is super effective on Pikachu. Why isn't he saying anything?"
As soon as Dunsparce was within suitable distance, Pikachu leapt up to the attack and spun his own body, effectively rolling away of the Drill Run. The maneuver caught Dawn's eye, brining back memories on when she first came up with the idea for that stylish evasion before teaching Ash's Pokémon that same technique.
"What is this, a circus?" Jump remarked. "Why don't you attack back instead of being part of a trapeze act? Heh heh heh heh heh! Or does Pikachu not know any attacks? Dunsparce, Pursuit! Let's go!"
A black aura emanated from Dunsparce after breaking out of its Drill Run. The Land Snake Pokémon changed direction and flew in right after Pikachu. Jump smirked to himself as Dunsparce neared its target, not noticing Ash tipping up the rim of his cap as he looked up towards Pikachu with an exposed eye.
"… Iron Tail!" Ash commanded in a calm, yet bold voice, much to the surprise to his former companions and others that knew him.
Power was concentrated into Pikachu's tail, giving it the appearance of lustrous metal. The Mouse Pokémon timed his attack according to his Trainer's command, turning around and striking Dunsparce on the skull as it was close enough for an effective strike. Dunsparce was rattled upon impact and was sent down to the ground, creating a large crater upon its crash.
"Dunsparce!" Jump cried hysterically.
"… … … Iron Tail again!"
Pikachu dove down obediently, quickly charging up power into his once more metallic tail. The momentum from his fall combined with his natural strength created a small explosion of dust upon impact. Pikachu leapt out of the crater unscathed. The same couldn't be said about his opponent, with eyes dazed and in spirals along with the rest of the body motionless.
"Dunsparce is unable to battle!" the referee declared, raising an arm to Ash's side. "The victory goes to Pikachu!"
"Incredible!" the commentator began. "With only two strikes from Iron Tail, Dunsparce is already down for the count. And Pikachu appears to be just fine. How will Jump react to this?"
"Dunsparce, return," Jump grumbled, recalling his defeated Land Snake Pokémon into its Poké Ball. "Thanks though, I owe you one. But that uppity Trainer and his Pikachu are going down for sure! Shelgon, let's go!"
From Jump's second Poké Ball emerged the large Endurance Pokémon. Shelgon landed on the field with a heavier thud. It crouched on its legs, leering at its smaller opponent. Pikachu remained unaffected from the stare.
"Ash isn't switching," May commented. "Pikachu's at a disadvantage against a Dragon-type Pokémon."
"Electric-type moves won't be effective against Shelgon," Max added.
"That kid's letting his ego swell up from his first victory," Iris remarked snidely with a shrug.
"That's happened a lot in the past," Misty sighed.
"Well, this is quite the mystery to solve," Cilan mused. "It looks like there's only one thing to do at a time like this." Iris's ears perked up upon hearing the implications before sending an incredulous look towards him.
"Oh, please no!" Iris cried.
With a snap of his fingers, the green-haired Pokémon Connoisseur stood up from his seat as it was that special time once more.
"It's evaluating time!" Cilan announced precisely, extending a hand out in the direction of Ash's Pikachu. "Ash and Pikachu: they've been long time buddies whose bond has been heated and tempered over time. Potent as the recent Iron Tail attack we've personally witnessed. Without even relying on their elemental abilities of electricity, their strengths lie on their ability to keep their opponents guessing on their next battle ingredient. Elusive, yet able to amount a full-frontal assault… Pikachu's small size and slim build only masquerades his true power and the size of his heart towards his Trainer. Such boldness… such power… such exquisite taste! Their battle recipe leaves you breathless, craving for more until you pass out from overwhelming desire."
"Great, but that still leaves the mystery on what's going on in their heads," Iris commented. The whole group remained uneasy over the said mystery and over Cilan's dramatic evaluation as he still continued on.
On the other side of the arena…
Georgia sat in her seat, intently observing the upcoming battle between Pikachu and Shelgon.
A Dragon-type, just as I was hoping for, Georgia thought as her eyes wandered over towards Ash. Let's see how your last minute training works out here.
The crowd resumed cheering on for the coming round.
"Battle, begin!" the referee declared.
"So you're not going to switch out, are ya?" Jump taunted. "Well that's perfect. I wouldn't mind a free win after what you did to Dunsparce. Shelgon, use DragonBreath!"
From the center opening of Shelgon's body, a shimmering clear orb of energy formed. It expanded to be larger than its face before releasing a strong-looking beam from the front, decorated with white rings and sparkles, towards Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon was poised, leaping up high into the air right as the attack ran through the ground he previously stood upon.
"… … Iron Tail!"
Pikachu powered up his tail once more before diving down towards Shelgon. The Endurance Pokémon remained inert, maintaining its leer upon the incoming Mouse Pokémon.
"Wow, staying with the same attack's gonna get you nowhere fast! Shelgon, counter it with Dragon Claw!"
The tips of Shelgon's frontal legs glowed light blue, brimming with its draconic power. It managed to lift one leg up to intercept Pikachu's Iron Tail, igniting a small explosion of dark smoke upon collision. Pikachu was sent up into the air without any noise, but he managed to reposition himself to look down on the battlefield.
"… Use Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu reacted quickly, garnering up electrical power into his body. Upon reaching the desired level, he unleashed a bright and powerful bolt into the clearing haze, striking down directly upon Shelgon, evident from its low groan of pain from the hit.
"Using an attack that doesn't even do much damage against a Dragon-type is a waste of energy," Jump chuckled, grinning widely. "I guess doing us the favor by using up your power is also fine by me. Shelgon, Double-Edge!"
"Shel…" Shelgon groaned.
Once the smoke had dissipated completely, the Endurance Pokémon was revealed to have electrical static discharge snaking around its entire body. Its clamping eyes explained its condition all too well.
"Okay, okay, okay, what's this?"
"Well, folks, it appears as Shelgon has somehow been paralyzed," the commentator pointed out. The spectators leaned in closer, murmuring towards one another what had happened. As they did so, the commentator vocalized their thoughts. "It is likely that Shelgon had received its paralysis from Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Really now, what are the chances of that happening early on in a match?"
"Brock, what do you think really happened?" Misty asked.
"In all honesty, it all happened too fast to tell what the cause of Shelgon's paralysis was," Brock replied. "Though Thunderbolt itself has a small chance in paralyzing its target, Shelgon hasn't attacked Pikachu enough physically to get it through Static, Pikachu's Ability."
"But it's well-known that Static would have a higher chance of causing paralysis than Thunderbolt alone," Cilan continued.
"Whatever the reason may be, Ash has total control over this battle now, though Shelgon was already slow to begin with," May said thoughtfully.
The group murmured into a consensus while Anabel still maintained a somber gaze upon the field, moreover on Ash's side. Sabrina, who still quietly sat behind the group, noticed this. And hovering over her a fair few feet was Haunter, sporting a large soda cup in one hand and a number-one-emblazoned foam finger on the other disembodied hand.
"Okay, okay, okay, this isn't cool," Jump muttered, frowning before resuming a smirk on his large lips. "Oh, well. I guess even the small fry gets a lucky shot now and again. You won't last against Shelgon's impenetrable defense!"
Ash grabbed the tip of his cap and lifted it up slightly, revealing more of the intimidating glare of his left eye alone as his other eye was still under the shadow. Jump raised an eyebrow at the gesture. Ash's group of former companions was literally at the edge of their seats now.
Something was up. Ash had a plan.
"… … Agility!"
Those that knew Ash sparked up in shock and became fully alert. Georgia grinned knowingly to herself. Paul's eyes shot wide open. Their attention was focused on Pikachu, who then leapt off on all fours in an incredible speed. Pikachu dashed all around Shelgon as the latter attempted to lock its sight upon the wily Mouse Pokémon, but it merely wound up with an additional headache to go with its troublesome paralysis. Just to prove the new speed boost he gained, a few transparent blue afterimages were left in Pikachu's wake.
"Pikachu is surely flaunting off speed power," the commentator said. "While Shelgon is stuck by paralysis, Pikachu's getting faster and faster. Copies of the little Pokémon seem to cover the entire battlefield! Which one's the real Pikachu?"
"Why's Pikachu increasing his speed when he's already faster than Shelgon at this point?" Dawn asked.
"I have a tingling on what Ash's recipe might be for this round," Cilan said, also trying to keep his eyes on the real Pikachu. "It's simple, yet it's definitely going to pack a powerful punch for Shelgon."
"I'm getting dizzy over here!" Jump complained. "Will you quit those parlor tricks and just try to attack?"
Ash smirked barely, though it didn't go unnoticed.
"… … … … Electro Ball!"
Pikachu leapt out of his afterimages, already gathering up electricity. This time, he was redirecting this power around his tail, condensing and forming it into a bright and sizeable orange-yellow orb of electrical energy. Giving it a brief test by dangling the Electro Ball around his tail, Pikachu had then flung the attack at a speed that rivaled his own from Agility. The Electro Ball struck Shelgon squarely in the face, eliciting a greater explosion than the last upon impact. Shelgon was seen thrown back out of the haze, rolling onto its side with revealed spiraled eyes.
"Not you too!" Jump cried out.
"Shelgon is unable to battle!" the referee declared, once more raising a flag to Ash. "This winner of this round is Pikachu!"
"And that's another knockout tally for Pikachu!" the commentator exclaimed. "To be able to overcome the minor disadvantage against Shelgon, Ash and his Pikachu have proven to be quite the exceptional team. Now with two Pokémon down, how will Jump counterattack?"
"What just happened?" Dawn voiced out the thoughts of the group.
"Ash managed to overcome the type disadvantage without getting much damage at all," Max stated. "How?"
"Luck was certainly a big part of it," Sabrina spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Here's what I managed to get from Ash. Even I had difficulty reading into him."
"You had difficulty reading Ash?" Misty repeated incredulously before glancing at the Pallet Town Trainer himself. "Just what happened to him in the first place?"
"Ash's intention was to weaken Shelgon enough to be taken out by one powerful attack," Sabrina explained. "Part of it was to get Shelgon paralyzed, whether by Thunderbolt or by Static through direct contact."
"I see now," Brock intervened. "The Iron Tail was bound to do sufficient damage, and it was aimed on Shelgon's unprotected leg when they exchanged attacks."
"Then the Thunderbolt was extra assurance to get Shelgon paralyzed if the collision didn't do so," Max continued. "But why?"
"To power up Electro Ball, that's why," Cilan explained. "Electro Ball's power is dependent between the difference of speed between the user and the opponent. With Shelgon coming to a complete standstill by paralysis, plus the additional booster ingredient of Pikachu's Agility, the difference of speed was clearly a wide gap between the two. That gave Electro Ball enough power to knock out Shelgon before it could start moving again. What a technical, but very risky maneuver to pull off."
"Sabrina was right," Dawn said. "Luck did play a part in it as the Thunderbolt was able to paralyze Jump's Shelgon quickly. Wow."
Even better than I thought it would go, Georgia thought with a hidden smile. Though that dork is no Dragon Master, it's still refreshing to see a Dragon-type fall in battle. That Ash is capable of being a Dragon Buster if he wanted to with that Pikachu of his.
"Okay, okay, okay, this isn't cool anymore," Jump grumbled, having recalled his Shelgon. "I'm losing to a Pikachu, but I know the perfect Pokémon to take it down once and for all. Let's go!"
Jump threw in his third Poké Ball, revealing his final Pokémon for the preliminary round to be an Electivire. It landed with a thump that rivaled its predecessor. Just as before, Pikachu wasn't intimidated by his larger opponent.
"And Jump's final Pokémon is Electivire!" the commentator declared. "How will Ash go about against this powerful Electric-type Pokémon?"
"I remember he had an Electabuzz when he faced off against Morrison," Max commented. "It must've evolved since then."
"Ash is really asking for it now," Iris added. "Electivire has that special Ability that renders Electric attacks used against it useless."
"You mean Motor Drive," Brock clarified. "In addition to rendering attacks like Thunderbolt and Electro Ball useless, they would also allow Electivire to increase its speed, no doubt making it into a more formidable opponent."
"Wait, you don't think Ash would purposely try to power up Electivire just for a better challenge, would he?" Misty brought up.
"Even then, Ash still has two Pokémon he could use if Pikachu was to fall in battle and they would be fresh and ready to go."
"Still, I wonder how Ash got to be this good," May pondered aloud. "It's almost scary that he was able to anticipate his opponent's moves then destroy them with his own."
"One thing's for sure, we have to corner him," Dawn said resolutely.
"That Electivire is nowhere near as powerful as mine," Paul remarked with a small smirk and eyes closed. "It's already over. He doesn't stand a chance."
Ash gave a brief nod to the referee, who then signaled the next round to begin with raising both arms in the air and announcing that Ash was allowed the first move. Jump scowled over the fact that his opponent still continued battling with Pikachu.
"Now you decide to make fun of me by not switching out despite the clear advantage I have over you?" Jump questioned. "You're not going to get away with this!"
"… … …" Ash remained silent, thrusting a hand forward. Pikachu understood the signal and charged forward towards Electivire.
"And now you're mocking me by saving us the trouble of coming over there. Fine by me! Electivire, get ready!"
"… Iron Tail!"
Still maintaining the major speed boost from Agility, Pikachu quickly leapt up into the air with a powered Iron Tail with the intent of using the additional momentum for extra power. Electivire braced its arms up to receive the impact. Even then, the power of Iron Tail managed to make the Thunderbolt Pokémon slide and stumble a few inches back.
"Not much you can do with your attacks since they'll barely do a thing to Electivire, unless you want to give us the extra speed boost. Now Electivire, grab that Pikachu!"
The two extensible black tails of Electivire quickly ensnared Pikachu just before he could bounce away. Pikachu struggled and kicked, but the binding was firm and wasn't planning to let go of him anytime soon. Ash frowned.
"… …"
"Heh heh heh heh! How are you gonna get out now?" Jump taunted, back to his goofy confident self. "Are you going to zap Electivire and give it a speed boost? Or are you going to recall your Pokémon and break your little record of no substitutions? It's your call! I can't wait to see what you do. Either way, it'll be sweeter than a candy cane!"
"How is Ash going to get out of this situation?" the commentator voiced out as the audience watched intently for the next move. "Pikachu has no way of getting out of those tails any time soon. Will Ash have to forgo his pride and send in a new Pokémon?"
"Okay, okay, okay, just to help you decide quicker, I think I'll torture you for a while," Jump snickered. "Electivire, ThunderPunch back to back! Go!"
Electivire was eager to comply as it charged up both fists with electrical power. They both glowed yellow brightly while sparks discharged from them for additional effect. Electivire promptly started punching Pikachu around in the face, who was still being held captive by the tails. Ash remained silent and strangely calm despite the fact that Pikachu was being repeatedly struck down by multiple ThunderPunches.
"Ash still hasn't given a command to Pikachu, who's still taking the blunt of those ThunderPunches," the commentator said. "Though the type disadvantage won't cause much damage to Pikachu, how long will this last?"
"Poor Pikachu, I don't know how much more the little guy can take," Misty commented.
"I know that Ash's battle style has been unpredictable in the past, but this is still blowing my mind away," Cilan said.
Various spectators were sharing equal feelings of concern over Pikachu as the Mouse Pokémon continued to receive such chaotic punishment. Stephan was mumbling cheers for Ash and Pikachu to hang in. Paul looked on, curious on what Ash had on overcoming this Electivire. And Anabel still held a somber look in the same direction as earlier.
Sabrina took one more careful mental note of her surroundings before wordlessly getting out of her seat, leaving Haunter watching the battle high in the air while vigorously munching on a bag of chips… and the bag itself.
"You're not as tough as I thought," Jump taunted, seeing Pikachu all scuffed up and worn from the ThunderPunch barrage. "Now it's time to make sure you go down with your own medicine. Electivire, Thunderbolt!"
"E-lehhhct…!" Electivire growled as static electricity started to crackle around its body. Pikachu hung mutely from the tails, waiting.
"…" Ash tipped the rim of his cap up once more, exposing his left eye out of the shadow once more, and grinned.
"Aahhh-re!" Electivire groaned suddenly, the stored up electricity seemingly backfiring as the discharge surged erratically throughout its fur.
"Okay, okay, okay, what's this?!" Jump cried; he wasn't the only one bewildered. Every other spectator, including Ash's little group, were dead attentive on the new phenomenon.
"Can it be? It can!" the commentator exclaimed. "As unlikely as this sounds, Electivire's been paralyzed just like Shelgon before it! This time, it'd be safe to assume that Pikachu managed to get one counterattack in under all those direct ThunderPunches with the Ability, Static."
"That's unorthodox, even for me!" Cilan added in amazement. "Waiting through all that physical contact just for Pikachu's Ability to kick in and save him at the nick of time, Ash must have trained Pikachu's endurance for situations like these. Amazing."
"He never ceases to amaze anyone, does he?" Iris brought out, met with the same astounded response from all of his friends.
Pikachu was still hanging around, though with a bored look on his face while watching Electivire suffer from its newly gained paralysis. Then he escaped by adding an additional insult to the Thunderbolt Pokémon's current injury: he bit down on one of Electivire's tails.
"Vire!" Electivire yelped, throwing Pikachu away out of reaction for feeling the Mouse Pokémon chomp on its tail.
"Hey! Can they do that?!" Jump complained, witnessing the act of Pikachu's great escape.
"… Agility… and Iron Tail!"
That was the most enthusiasm Ash had displayed throughout the entire preliminary round, as several people noted. No doubt, it was coming to an end with the intrepid commands he gave out. Pikachu became faster once more, leaping and dashing about with imitating blue afterimages following his wake. Electivire was unable to keep up, especially at random intervals when Pikachu struck with Iron Tail.
"You're not getting away that easy! Electivire, Protect!"
Electivire held its hands up, creating a spherical barrier of gleaming turquoise in preparation for Pikachu's incoming attack. However, the paralyzing static ensnared both of its arms. Electivire winced in pain, unable to hold up Protect long enough to fend off Pikachu. Pikachu snuck through the broken Protect and lashed an Iron Tail up Electivire's chest. The Thunderbolt Pokémon was lifted off its feet, right before Pikachu struck down into its abdomen once more, sending Electivire back onto the ground and on its behind. Electivire still managed to catch itself from its fall.
"… … … … Finish it!"
"Pi-ka!" Pikachu shouted with a final dive, sending the Iron Tail straight upon Electivire's forehead, causing a great explosion with a bit of backlash radiating throughout the field. Out of the crawling haze, Pikachu leapt out back to his side with great finesse, though clearly worn out from the excessive battling. The smoke cleared out quickly to reveal Electivire down for the count, sporting quite the scratch on its forehead to complement its spiraled red eyes.
"Electivire! Aw, man…!" Jump cried, disillusioned.
"Electivire is unable to battle!" the referee declared, raising the flag to Ash. "Pikachu wins! And the victory of this preliminary round goes to Ash of Pallet Town!"
"I can't believe if you can't, folks!" the commentator erupted alongside the raucous cheers of the audience. "For his debut back into battling in the big leagues, Ash has made a clear three-zero victory without having to reveal his other two Pokémon. We certainly have some contenders to look forward to in the Champions League! Thank you all for coming and participating in this grand first day!"
Amidst of all the cheers, Ash walked into the field to retrieve Pikachu. Picking up his long-time friend in his arms, he gave a faint smile and pat to the cheery Mouse Pokémon. Of course, this act didn't go unnoticed.
"At least aside from his new merciless battle tactics, he's still the same Ash that loves his Pokémon," Misty said, touched by the brief friendship scene.
"Maybe now we can try to catch him before he gets away," May suggested casually.
It wasn't until a few seconds after that the idea struck hard in everyone else's minds and looking upon the brunette Coordinator incredulously.
"What're we waiting for?" Dawn demanded.
"Let's get him!" Iris exclaimed.
In another ironic twist of fate, the spectators around them all stood up and began applauding for the great, even though it was one-sided, battle. The space to move around became limited and the group had difficulty in getting out of the crowd. Their cries and complaints were drowned out by further cheers for Ash.
Fortunately for one Salon Maiden, she thought and got ahead and was able to slip away the troublesome crowd.
Back up in the stands, Paul gave a bare nod of approval to the battle before taking his leave as well. Walking down the stairs and into the hallway of the arena, he passed a familiar and rather intimidating presence standing and leaning against the wall. Quick to notice, Paul locked eyes with her, allowing her to momentarily reach into his mind before he left once more in indifference.
We need to talk…
There… Longest chapter so far, but this has a battle in it, so it's justifiable. Anyway, some of you may be wondering, why did I use the minor character-of-the-day (when he really isn't and was just thrown in), Jump? I needed an expendable Trainer that no one would really care if he was eliminated at the start, some of the other rivals and competitors from the anime I actually hold respect and want/can see making it somewhat far in the tournament, and the time's still rather soon for Ash to already be fighting an Elite Four member. Plus, Jump's dialogue was really fun to write after watching reruns of the Hoenn League Ever Grande Conference. "Okay, okay, okay, this is gonna be cool!"
Consider this a benchmark of how far Ash could become if he started playing smart in addition to his usual passion. If you've seen the battle between Ash's Pikachu against Volkner's Electivire, I somewhat based part of that fight here. And considering that Jump's just a regular Trainer, then there shouldn't be much of a problem. Anyway, he is capable of curb-stomping. One instance was against Crasher Wake, where he didn't lose any Pokémon despite revealing all three.
Can you remember the first curb-stomp battle Ash won? Hint: It's back at the Indigo Conference.
Okay, okay, okay, it's time to measure up how my writing skills are. :P Please review!
L-ater! And Happy 4th of July!