I'm not going to be as lucky as I've been the first ten chapters, meaning I really won't be updating as quickly as I used to. Fall semester in my second year means more work load. I'm also wondering why I'm losing readers, but that's just something beyond my control. Pity though… Still not going to give up on this story, even with the various reactions concerning the previous chapter. I'm actually amazed to hear back the good and bad, even though there weren't as many reviews this time around. I wonder why.
And another quick heads up, I'm keeping my fun little poll up on my profile for who-knows-how-long. Maybe until the time of the unveiling that I'll close the poll and reveal the results of what many of you expected the third Pokémon to be. Just remember as wanted and expected are two different things. It's really amusing and predictable to see what many of you wanted in regards of what's really meant to be for this story, but regardless…
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome all to a brand new day here in the New Island Champion Conference!" the cheery voice of a new commentator announced throughout the grass arena.
"YAY! YAH! WOO!" intertwined voices of the early morning spectators roared loudly. Even at an early time, there were hundreds of dedicated Pokémon fans that want to watch battles live in place of watching them from their convenient televisions from their hotel rooms.
"It's a fine morning to continue the second rounds and to be in the grass field of all places, that's for sure! Please welcome in the combatants in place to start off this field with a bang!"
The intensity of the cheers rose up from the conclusion of the grass field commentator's introductory. The Trainer boxes split open and the two challengers of practically the same age rose out of the ground. For most long time viewers, the scene seemed rather nostalgic and very familiar.
Emerging from the left side of the tournament screen was a young man of seventeen years, closer reaching eighteen, with thick purple hair and an ever stoic expression draped underneath. Across from him was another young man of similar age with messy hair, kept underneath a cap, and a determined look to trade back to his opponent. For those that could remember such a scene, the most memorable being that of the Sinnoh Lily of the Valley Conference over two years ago.
"These two Trainers have made their reputations well known throughout the regions, but now they're put to the test in this round," the commentator continued.
Several individuals seated and scattered around the grass field stadium that knew either combatant looked on firmly, eager to see what was to erupt from the first round. From the serious to the comically indifferent, a sparse handful spoke out their thoughts concerning this battle.
"Let's see how you do against someone that appears remarkably similar to Ash," Sabrina muttered under her breath.
Haunter floated next to her with a wicked grin, holding up a plain white cardboard sign with a crude comical crayon drawing of Paul's face, decorated with stars and hearts around the head, as means to support their somewhat favored competitor at the moment.
"I should've expected Ritchie to make it this far, he's like a smarter Ash back when we first met him," Misty commented to Dawn.
"Then this should be a great battle, Paul against an Ash clone," Dawn said keenly. "It's too bad the others aren't around for this. I was sure that Brock would be here since he's the only other from our group that knows him."
"And Ritchie too. I seriously think this tournament's getting in everyone's head with all the extra training and all."
"But aren't you concerned about staying in it too, Misty?" Dawn asked concernedly.
"Of course I am, but there's also no point trying to burn yourself out from it," Misty answered. "I trained my Water Pokémon after a quick dinner yesterday. They're all in tip-top shape and raring to go at the call."
"That simple? I suppose that makes sense, but I don't think I'll ever understand regular Pokémon Trainers," Dawn sighed, glancing back to the field as the grass field commentator began giving out the introductions for both entering Trainers.
As the brief background introductions were shared to all those tuned into for this particular battle, one particular Salon Maiden sat in her seat with her mind preoccupied with other things once again. The familiar introductory scene of the current Trainers triggered another fresh memory for Anabel to mull over; strangely enough, it was this recent one, having took place last night.
Yesterday evening…
This day had been very eventful. From a morning full of preparatory meditation for a fierce afternoon battle, along with some drama thrown in after where she inadvertently caught herself into, she couldn't wait to finally unwind and sleep for the coming morrow. A simple walk by the border of the New Island Park and forest was one of the ways to give her peace, though she would guiltily admit to herself that it would've been better if a certain someone was by her side other than her loyal Espeon.
The forest air was cool and crisp. She always found herself particularly to be at peace with nature, especially since she was a little girl. At this stage, any matter of worry or concern wouldn't bother her at the slightest.
And of course, his timing was ever impeccable…
"A-Ash!" she stuttered out of surprise, catching the young man with the red cap, along with Pikachu on shoulder, emerging out of the forest.
"…!" an equally astonished and wordless gasp escaped his lips as far as any of them heard.
A quiet moment passed, indicated by another breath of wind, whose scented combination of the leafy forest and the dainty, albeit manmade park walked through the two humans and their Pokémon. On Anabel's behalf, the awkward tone fell on her considering her last confrontation with the estranged Pallet Town Trainer.
"… Hello," Anabel greeted as calmly as she did, wanting to end the rather painful silence.
"… …" Ash lifted his head up slightly, revealing an eye underneath the dark shade of his visor. Normally, he would manually tip up his cap with a hand if he were to show his eyes off, which happened more on the battlefield than anywhere else as evident from his preliminary battle with Jump.
Anabel didn't know why that particular detail stood out, but once more, she recalled after her battle with Byron upon catching him mixed in with the audience that the same sort of phenomenon took place where she did see eye to eye instead of dealing with the usual brooding cap visor covering the top half of his face or the predatory hat tip upon making the kill in battle.
However, she knew that if she was to get anywhere with learning more about Ash, what had happened to him the past year, and to ultimately deal with her own personal feelings for him since those first couple of days meeting him, she had to act now.
"I… I… Listen," Anabel began with a sigh, "I don't regret anything, except for this… for not helping you when you clearly need it."
"… …"
Ash's eye narrowed slightly, even though aesthetically it was hard to determine anything concerning his eyes underneath the shadow of his visor. But even sensing the intimidating aura from the stare, the Salon Maiden stood her ground undaunted.
"Ash, there are people that care about you… and they still do now," she said. "Even though I don't know exactly what's going on, I want to know… I want to understand you. Please."
"… … … …"
As far as Ash ever knew of Anabel, she was a kind, friendly, and conservatively powerful Trainer in her own right, certainly powerful enough to attract Scott's attention and warrant a place in the Kanto Battle Frontier regardless of her age as the second strongest out of the seven. Aside from her titular prestige and her special ability of great empathy to Pokémon, other aspects surrounding her were still a mystery to him.
She also wasn't particularly close to his old companions, but they all had taken a liking to her upon meeting each other. He would've been otherwise foolish to ignore their interactions that first day upon arriving at New Island; it was hard to ignore the scene anyway when their main attraction had been a scuffle between a Dragon Trainer and a Dragon Buster that he knew personally and did consider as friends in his previous journey.
As much as he wanted to bring himself back to his dear friends…
No…
It's too far for anything to be done…
It was his fault…
It's always been his fault…
"You're too late, you meddlesome brats! We've only begun our return!"
"The Pokémon… Cubone… His mother… They're all…"
"Ash, snap out of it! We have to stop them!"
"I… I let them down…"
"Pikapi…"
"Ash, we can't dwell on this. Let's go!"
"NO!"
"Ash?" Anabel's voice spoke up, concerned.
The Trainer whose name was just mentioned discovered himself in quite the precarious situation. His legs were spread slightly apart, knees were bent, and his hands were placed on both sides of his head as though he was suffering some migraine, which was not the case. Memories of the previous year left him shocked to the core in exchange for the power he has now. But because of this one last obstacle, he was still a step short of reaching his true potential as a powerful Pokémon Trainer.
Why he had yet to confront this, well, no one is perfect.
"… …!" Ash breathed unsteadily, taking a step back.
"Wait, Ash! I won't hurt you!" Anabel called out.
"Pika, Pikapi," Pikachu intervened, appearing to nuzzle himself against the side of Ash's head as to calm him down.
"Pikachu, please… tell me what happened to him," Anabel advised evenly, treating the situation as though any sudden movement would set off a sensitive bomb around them. "I want to help." Espeon then mewled up, particularly with edge. "We want to help."
The Mouse Pikachu shook his head. Anabel understood the blatant emotion, much to her own disappointment. It would make sense that the story would be for Ash to tell at his own pace, not for anyone else to compromise with it. But taking into account the last encounter, this time had some major progress. It was essentially the classic 'take-what-you-can-get' scenario.
"Well, just so you know, Ash, I'll be here for you," Anabel said reassuringly, taking a couple of steps back to give him space. "I meant what I said when there are people who still care about you. Anyway, have a good night and I'll see you later."
She knew she could've been bolder with her approach, but she also experienced firsthand where that path led her previously on the last confrontation, which was the road to nowhere with discouragement on the side. As difficult and painful as it was for her in simply watching his distance from his former companions, she knew she needed to fully break down and comprehend the situation he's been over the past year one step at a time.
Anything to see him the way he was before.
"… … Anabel."
As she and her Espeon departed from the forest and park border and left behind the ever silent young man in red, an unnoticed but familiar brooding figure took note behind a tree and smirked before sneaking in some last minute training with his Pokémon.
Though she wouldn't openly admit it, watching Ash's battles and his particularly unorthodox battle style from the previous League Conferences and other minor competitors broadcasted gave her a refreshed feeling and greater motivation to become stronger as a Trainer herself, especially with her title as Salon Maiden. Anabel knew that he made remarkable progress during his time in Sinnoh, judging from his last two battles in his year at the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Even though she was watching someone who was comparably a clone of him, at least according to his friends and other zealous followers, battling against Paul, the thought was amusing yet strangely comforting to her.
At a considerable distance at her seat at the lower levels, Sabrina smiled from seeing that faraway look she had, whether Anabel realized it or not.
Well, Paul, that was a good little scoop you managed to dig up, she thought, redirecting her gaze to the Veilstone City Trainer on the field. You'd certainly make a fine spy if not a hit man.
"This round will be a three-on-three Pokémon battle," the referee announced. The commentator had finished the introductions and the audience had quieted down to watch the match unfold. "The battle will be over when all three Pokémon on either side are unable to continue. There's no time limit and substitutions are allowed. Trainers, please select your first Pokémon!"
"I can tell that this is going to be an exciting battle," Ritchie stated aloud, drawing out a Poké Ball with a star sticker decorating the top red portion from his belt as he glanced at his opponent for a final word. "I've heard much about you and did the research beforehand. You even fought my old friend, Ash, but lost to him in the Sinnoh League. I won't expect anything less from anyone he considers a true rival."
"Then bring it," Paul demanded brusquely, warily lifting his first Poké Ball out of his pocket.
"You got it! Ringo, let's do this!"
"Nidoking, stand by for battle!"
Ritchie's Pokémon took flight into the air, revealing itself once the energy had dispersed to be a bold Staraptor. Paul's Nidoking, on the other hand, materialized on the ground, crushing a wide circumference of long grass under his rather massive weight. Ringo glared down at its opponent with an additional growl bared from its beak. Nidoking slightly bent back as his entire body briefly illuminated crimson red with pale white streaks vibrating down.
Paul narrowed his eyes, obviously not amused.
"Ohh! Just before the battle even began, ladies and gents, Ringo's Intimidate has already struck down and lowered Nidoking's attack power like a thief in the night," the commentator remarked.
"Ritchie is allowed the first move," the referee announced, directing a flag to the right side of the field.
"Alright! What luck!" Ritchie exclaimed. "Ringo, let's start with Aerial Ace!"
"And Ringo's off flying high in the air as if tomorrow never knows," the commentator narrated as the battle commenced.
The Staraptor flapped its wings a couple of times to gain additional altitude before diving down with great speed, the friction through the air causing bright white streaks to flare from its beak. Both Nidoking and Paul stood steadily, but from the look on their faces, they were both expecting a full direct assault from their opponent.
"Nidoking, Double Kick!"
The Drill Pokémon swung his powerful tail down on the ground, allowing himself to jump at an incredible height for a creature his size and mass. Ritchie and Ringo were caught off guard, the latter disengaging from its Aerial Ace once its target miraculously disappeared from range.
Nidoking's shadow descended ominously over Ringo's back while the latter attempted to recover from its failed attack. Nidoking had then used his full weight to fall back to earth; both feet spread out and ready to strike down the Staraptor.
"Ringo, use Double Team!"
The Predator Pokémon was fortunate to have trained reflexes; upon hearing the command, it momentarily flashed white before several blurs escaped from its spot. Nidoking landed on what appeared to be Ringo, but phased right through the body upon attempting the Double Kick. The landing caused a small cloud of dirt and grass blades to fly up.
Several Staraptor copies flew overhead in quite the organized formation around Nidoking, moving about in patterns and exchanging places with one another. The cloud from Nidoking's land dissipated, revealing the Drill Pokémon not too pleased with the situation. With one shadow copy down, Nidoking kept glancing around, attempting to find the real Ringo.
"Ringo, let's try this again! Use Aerial Ace!"
The Staraptor copies ceased their elusive formations and flew up all together. Nidoking leapt back to his original place on his Trainer's side while Ringo and its copies dove in at varying levels. Several of the copies that struck first around Nidoking vanished. Paul quickly made the assumption that the last Double Team copy was the real Ringo, flying in from the rear.
"Nidoking, behind you! Block it!"
With a hefty snort, Nidoking spun on one foot to catch the last Staraptor diving down with Aerial Ace right before it struck. He held his hands out to stop the Predator Pokémon, although he was unable to place both feet on the ground for support. Ringo tackled into Nidoking's abdomen and managed to push the Drill Pokémon back a good amount of meters along the grass field before Nidoking swung his tail down to regain equilibrium.
With his inherent brute strength, Nidoking was able to hold down Ringo and eventually broke it out of its Aerial Ace formation. The Predator Pokémon struggled in the tight grip, its wings completely held down and legs kicking out aimlessly without any luck. Nidoking held it high, keeping enough distance between himself and his opponent's wild legs.
"Ringo, get out of there!"
"Now use Thunderbolt!"
"Aah!"
"Niii-dooooh…!" Nidoking growled as he quickly generated a powerful bolt of electricity from his horn.
He then struck the captive Ringo point blank at very close range upon reaching the desired volt level. Poor Ringo screeched and squawked in pain, disorientated and severely damaged from the Thunderbolt from its place. It resiliently continued to struggle while still under the powerful Electric attack, getting lucky as its foot managed to strike up against Nidoking's chin. The Drill Pokémon inadvertently stumbled back from the short retaliation, ceasing his Thunderbolt while releasing Ringo.
Ritchie's Pokémon flew back to his side. Its scorched appearance and haphazard flight back was apparent that it wasn't going to last any longer at the rate the first round's been going.
"That was surprise trick from Paul's Nidoking, using a super effective Thunderbolt at close range," the commentator voiced out. "Ringo managed to survive that round."
"I think I've got you and your battle style figured down for real," Paul began speaking, much to Ritchie's surprise. He knew his Sinnoh opponent was not much of a talker and figured from the way he carried himself that he doesn't often have nice things to say when he does talk.
"What makes you say that?" Ritchie inquired.
"That fact that you mentioned that you knew Ash wasn't coincidental to me," Paul explained pointedly. "I'm also sure that you've been compared to him by others that knew him, given your appearance and… tastes in Pokémon."
"Staraptor are uncommon Pokémon to have, though I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ash also owned a Staraptor," Ritchie countered.
"I'll give you this, though, that you've commanded your Staraptor more efficiently than he had his back when I battled him. However, with intelligence and common sense aside, you lack any particular strength to fully distinguish yourself from him, thus rendering any possible strategy you come up with as predictable when facing the more experienced Trainers. In short, it's so predictable that it's pathetic."
"Hey, I battled and defeated him in the Indigo Conference six years ago."
"Yes, you battled a Charizard that refused to fight back and follow orders, who is now regarded as one of his strongest and most reliable Pokémon in battle. If this was anything like the past, you might have a chance of winning over me, but this is no longer the case. I don't plan on losing to him the next time we battle here, and I'm certainly not going to lose to a clone of his."
"Is that so?" Ritchie challenged, more determined than disheartened from his opponent's ruthless speech. "It's still the first round, Paul. Nothing's decided yet until the end. Now Ringo, use Brave Bird!"
"Staaahhrrrr…!" Ringo screeched, valiantly taking off into the air once more.
Ritchie's Starpator had powered itself up after rebuilding its speed, seeming to catch fire from the entire process. However, the Staraptor appeared to redirect itself back towards Nidoking's direction after staying away at a fair distance to recover and build up its strength. Its Brave Bird reached full power once the flames that had consumed its body faded away and replaced with a bright blue aura. Ringo had then taken into another full frontal charge once again.
"Not yet, Nidoking," Paul advised, observing the Brave Bird-powered Staraptor closing in towards his Pokémon.
Nidoking made no other response to the command but to wait patiently as his Trainer wanted. The distance was closing up fast. The fiery blue aura of Brave Bird even seemed to reflect off of Nidoking's eyes, the light only growing bigger as Ringo got closer and closer. The moment of truth was just about to arrive. Who was to survive this collision?
"Go, Ringo! You got this! Dive!"
"Use Poison Jab!"
Nidoking showed a fist glowing a venomous purple at the incoming Staraptor. Just as Ringo was about to strike, the Drill Pokémon implemented another creative sidestep with the use of his tail. And right as Ringo was passing through, Nidoking sent a sharp Poison Jab into one of its blind spots. Since it was in its Brave Bird state, the collision of the attacks elicited a significant explosion, Nidoking being the first to be thrown out of the smoke from the impact.
The Drill Pokémon slid back on his feet, revealing to have taken some damage with some minor black marks on his hide. The explosion smoke quickly dissipated, revealing Ringo to have crashed into the wall of the arena in a self-made crater after being struck by Poison Jab. A closer look revealed its eyes to be spiraled and dazed.
"Ringo is unable to battle!" the referee declared, raising a flag to Paul. "Nidoking wins!"
"And Bob's your uncle!" the commentator exclaimed in a curiously foreign accent, followed with the somewhat halfhearted cheers of the spectators. "The first round is now over and the field is like an Octillery's garden. Nidoking's Poison Jab made sure it was done. If only Ringo had a little help from its friends, if you catch my fancy. At least I know what to do when I'm sixty-four. Heh heh heh… heh… ehh…"
Various members of the audience, along with other spectators watching from afar on live television, quickly murmured and exchanged opinions over this particular battle, immediately disregarding the commentator's obscure and out-of-the-blue references. These two young battlers were sought to make it far in the Champions League, but now it was either one or the other to advance further.
"Doesn't look like Paul's taking any prisoners, seeing how he quickly overpowered Ritchie's Pokémon," Dawn brought up casually. "Usually he'd use up a Pokémon to figure out his opponent's strategy before completely overwhelming them, unless he already knows."
"It also doesn't help that Ritchie bears a bit of resemblance to Ash, including the kinds of Pokémon he owns," Misty added. "Since Ash did have a Staraptor, he must've already known how to deal with them. Ritchie just needs something unexpected to throw Paul off guard long enough to defeat him."
Back on the grass field, Ritchie had recalled Ringo and thanked it for its hard work in weakening the opposing Nidoking. At this point, he felt confident that he'd be able to overcome the Drill Pokémon with the Pokémon in his second Poké Ball.
"Zippo, let's go!"
A fierce Charizard emerged from the light of Ritchie's Poké Ball, landing on the ground with ease before showing off with a guttural roar. The echoing sound waves of the roar appeared to blow through the grass and even caused Nidoking to brace up his arms over his face. Paul briefly looked impressed and was rather eager to see if that Charizard lived up to its power.
"And Ritchie's second Pokémon is a Charizard nicknamed Zippo," the commentator announced as Zippo's picture lit up underneath Ringo's blackened image on the scoreboard monitor. "Ladies and gents, this is sure to be a promising battle of brute force. But with the previous battle taking its toll, Nidoking would appear to be at a disadvantage."
"Let the battle continue!" the referee declared.
"Nidoking, use Thunderbolt!"
"Dodge and use Flamethrower!"
Zippo took flight and easily maneuvered away from the oncoming Thunderbolt. No matter how Nidoking tried to redirect the attack, the Electric attack eventually ceased and the Charizard counterattacked with a bright burst of flames from its mouth. Nidoking instinctively held his arms up in front of his face to brace against the attack, but the Flamethrower was able to momentarily knock him off balance.
"Now Zippo, finish this with Steel Wing!"
Ritchie's Charizard fully extended out its wings and stored up energy in each one, causing them to give off a metallic sheen and strengthening them into steel density. Zippo confidently glided down towards the disorientated Nidoking, preparing to hold a Steel Wing back to strike.
"Nidoking, block it!"
A ferocious glint sparkled in Nidoking's eye, immediately after he regained balance. Ritchie was stunned by the gesture that he was unable to call off the attack, not that it mattered at that point as it was too late. Using both hands, Nidoking managed to catch Zippo's Steel Wing, this time using his tail to assist in braking and preventing him from being pushed back.
It was the same old song and dance with the Drill Pokémon catching a physical attack with brute force and capturing his opponent after breaking them out of their attack. Zippo was unable to do anything else with both wings in Nidoking's grip.
"Zippo, no!" Ritchie cried.
Paul was shown to be smirking his rare small smile. He knew what was coming next. Nidoking then suddenly threw his head forward, his sharp forehead horn pricking into Zippo's abdomen. The might from the action knocked Ritchie's Charizard back and rolling on the grass. Zippo managed to stand back up despite of that, but its pained face contrasted its supposed well-being.
"Zippo, what's wrong?" Ritchie asked worriedly.
A faint violet blush appeared over Zippo's muzzle. Its fatigued expression complemented the look of illness. It also didn't help that sinister violet sparks began to discharge around Zippo's body, even over its flopped wings. Every taxing breath that Zippo took only seemed to make it appear even weaker.
"Oh, my! It appears that Zippo's been poisoned by Nidoking's special Ability, revealed to be Poison Point!" the commentator pointed out anxiously. "That's a bit of bad luck right there as the poison will continue to sap away its strength until it's no longer able to continue."
"Zippo, hang in there!" Ritchie called out.
"Return!" Paul's voice was heard.
"… What?"
Ritchie looked over his opponent's direction and witnessed Paul recalling Nidoking into his Poké Ball and fleetingly thanking him. A Pokémon substitution was taking place, much to Ritchie's sudden confusion. Nidoking was capable of fighting back, but Paul probably wanted to use a fresh Pokémon to take on Zippo.
"Ursaring, stand by for battle!"
The released Hibernator Pokémon was revealed to be even more aggressive and hostile in demeanor than Nidoking, giving off quite the angry roar while flexing out its arms. With that action seen and done, Ritchie had decided on his next move by also pulling out a Poké Ball.
"You're not the only one allowed to substitute," Ritchie called out. "Now Zippo, return!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, looks like we're seeing a double substitution here," the commentator went on. "Paul's second Pokémon is Ursaring. I wonder what Ritchie's third Pokémon is!"
"With a Normal-type like Ursaring, you're definitely the best choice. Go, Funky!"
From the flash of Ritchie's third Poké Ball emerged a Pokémon of a fairly small size and stature. Its overall mass came from its body, which was basically round and covered with scruffy white fur with triangular ears on top. Its brown arms and legs each had a pair of metal wristlets and anklets. However, its most notable physical feature was the pulsing vein stress mark on the left temple.
"Pragh… Pragh…!" the Pokémon snorted heavily, blowing visible steam from its nostrils.
"And Ritchie's final revealed Pokémon is Primeape!" the commentator announced. "I wonder how the lad comes up with these wacky nicknames!"
The crowd watched on, cheering and shouting on as enthusiastically as they normally would. Two notably short-tempered Pokémon were on the field, viciously staring down one another. In a similar yet ironic twist, Ritchie and Paul shared their own heated but calmer stare down before resuming their battle.
"Ursaring, Bulk Up!"
"You use Bulk Up too, Funky!"
Both Ursaring and Funky flexed their arms up as bright crimson aura emanated over their heads and backsides. However, while Ursaring briefly shown the muscles in its forearms tightening up, Funky had decided to show off its arm and leg muscles with different flexing bodybuilder poses. This particular Primeape appeared to have a wider personality than the norm of its species.
In one of the Pokémon Center meeting rooms…
"Not bad, but still amateurs," Stephan commented, proudly flexing a beefy bicep with a large grin.
His partner, Sawk, sent him a look before resuming the ongoing battle on the large monitor with the other idle contestants around them.
"Funky, use Cross Chop!"
The Primeape crossed its arms as they started to glow white with its stored fighting energy. Funky had then dashed forward, kicking up dust and pieces of grass in its wake. Ursaring was caught in surprise when Funky appeared right in front of it, leaping up and striking it in the chest with the Cross Chop. Ursaring roared in pain, momentarily lumbering back before regaining its footing.
"Use Hammer Arm!"
Ursaring began its raging retaliation with a powered forearm, aiming to punch out Funky's lights. However, Funky proved to be comically elusive by leaping away from the Hammer Arm while making chattering noises resembling laughter as it did so, only to wind up enraging Ursaring even more.
"You can't catch Funky!" Ritchie taunted. "Now Funky, Karate Chop!"
"Use Slash!"
The two animated Pokémon went forward with their respective attacks. Funky leapt up for the Karate Chop, revealing a white-glowing fist outstretched open to strike down. Ursaring, in turn, sent up a paw of glowing sharpened claws to swipe up its irritating opponent. Simultaneously, the two attacks struck one another, the Karate Chop slamming hard on Ursaring's neck while Slash scraped up Funky's face and sending the Pig Monkey Pokémon flying high.
Ursaring remarkably recovered quickly from the Karate Chop strike in spite of the super effective hit, raring to go at the vulnerable Primeape that's been quite the nuisance.
"Use Focus Blast!"
The Hibernator Pokémon then conjured a sizeable light blue orb of energy, vibrating off power, between its hands. Just before Funky could land back on the ground, it was struck in the face by a swift toss of the Focus Blast. A small explosion had erupted on contact, the force sending it into a wall. Ursaring gave a faint smirk, satisfied that the hit made up for its missed Hammer Arm.
Though in a short moment in spite of the crash, Funky leapt out of the smoke and right back into the field. It appeared to be quite worn out from the attacks, as did the opposing Ursaring.
"Now Funky…!" Ritchie began.
"Ursaring…!" Paul called out, almost in tandem.
"Karate Chop / Use Slash back to back!"
Funky and Ursaring charged forward once again for another altercation, fists and claws glowing brazenly to be used in combat. They exchanged attacks while avoiding the other, Ursaring surprisingly as well as Funky in terms of evasion. Some Slashes across the chest and Karate Chops on the head managed to get through, but these two heated Pokémon have shown their resilient endurance with every traded blow.
"This is incredible, ladies and gents!" the commentator cried out as the ongoing physical confrontation went on. "Neither one plans on letting up while the other survives. I know I don't want to be in a dark alley at night with these two powerhouses!"
The scuffle came to an end in Ursaring's favor as its last Slash managed to knock Funky back to its side of the grass field. Funky came rolling to a stop, face down and greatly worn out even more.
"Funky, get up!" Ritchie yelled out. "I know you can do it!"
His Primeape was breathing heavily as it stood back on its feet. However, something appeared different about it. The stress mark on its forehead appeared to be pulsing bigger and more vigorously. A sharp gleam crossed its normally furious eyes. And a flame of red aura momentarily flared out of Funky's body.
"Pryyagh!" Funky snorted, seeming to have reenergized as it flexed out its arms.
"What the…?!" Paul muttered incredulously.
"What's happened to Funky?" Dawn asked, amazed by the turn of events.
"I recognize that Ability, one of my previous challengers managed to win a Cascade Badge because of it," Misty explained. "It's called Anger Point and it activates when the user receives a critical hit. That last Slash must've triggered it."
"What does Anger Point do?"
"It maximizes the attack power of the Pokémon with that Ability when it receives a critical hit from the attacker. Trust me, Dawn. It's not pretty."
"Now Funky, Cross Chop!"
The Pig Monkey Pokémon leapt up in the air, higher than it normally did. Paul and Ursaring looked up as Funky had centered itself within the morning sun, diving down with a particularly brutal looking Cross Chop. The rage in its eyes was all too palpable.
"Ursaring, out of the way!"
Ursaring managed to leap back as Funky crashed into the ground and smashing a crater twice its size in front of it. The dust cleared quickly and Funky was back on one knee, in a predatory stance.
"Funky, use ThunderPunch!"
The Primeape charged electricity into one fist before leaping up and sending it up Ursaring's chin. A bit of static discharge managed to latch onto Ursaring from the ThunderPunch, sparking off small and gradual. Ursaring tumbled back, nearly exhausted from its bouts with its raging opponent. It attempted to catch its breath as it placed its hands on its knees.
"Alright Funky, finish it with another ThunderPunch!" Ritchie called out.
Funky tightened its fist as electricity crackled around it once more. In spite of the power boost from its induced raged, it felt confident in taking down its larger foe. Funky ran in rather recklessly while Ursaring was still holding onto its knees, only to receive the shock of its life.
"Urr-raaaargh!" Ursaring roared, straightening its torso and arms back up. Funky was thrown off by the sudden roar and retreated.
A horrible crimson aura emanated from its body, as though it was using Bulk Up, but there were different features about it. The same bloody color of the aura filled up its eyes. At the same time of the fearsome display, static electricity crackled about its body. Funky wasn't intimidated and instead, flared out its own raging power.
"Ladies and gents, it looks like it is Ursaring's turn to power up via its special Ability, Guts!" the commentator exclaimed. "Together Funky's recently activated Anger Point, the next hit might be the last for either one! A battle of rage-pockets!"
The ThunderPunch must've paralyzed Ursaring, Ritchie thought, displeased with the new results. I've got to finish this now.
Paul noted his focused look, predicting and sharing the same idea under that assumption.
"Funky, let's end this! Use Cross Chop!"
His Primeape leapt up into the air once with white glowing crossing forearms, this time making sure that it chops down its opponent.
"Hammer Arm!"
Ursaring intently pounded its fists together, holding up its equally glowing forearms up high to smash in anything coming in from above.
In a mere few seconds, the dual attacks collided and a bright force erupted from the clash. The backlash blew throughout the field as Ritchie and Paul shielded themselves from the aftermath shockwaves. The flash of light that occurred from the collision died down soon enough and both Ursaring and Funky were standing and facing down one another; it had become a final battle of willpower for those two.
It felt like a century passing between their terrifying stare down. Every spectator held his or her breath, anxiously looking upon the field. Even the commentator refused to break the silence. At the drop of a hat or a blink of an eye, anything could happen.
Then something happened.
"Prhy…"
Funky stumbled about on its feet. Everyone glanced forward, closer to see.
*Beat*
*Beat*
*Beat*
*Beat*
*Beat*
*BEAT*
*THUD*
Another short moment of silence passed through until the commentator decided to say something, just to break this painfully awkward passage of time.
"And Ursaring is down!" he announced, accompanied with soft cheers and shouts.
Ursaring was revealed to have fallen forward, face down in the ground. Funky was breathing heavily. In spite of still having its attack boost, its stamina was completely drained from the last clash. The excessive stress ultimately took its toll as its body was practically numb. Funky did what it could do at that point.
*Thud*
"And… Funky is also down!" the commentator added.
The referee looked over the fallen bodies. Funky was lying on its back, sharing the same dazed expression as did Ursaring, whose face was visible from the side. It was time to make the judgment.
"Both Funky and Ursaring are unable to battle!" the referee declared, raising both flags in the air. "It's a draw!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was quite the barbaric battle to behold! As for the current standing, Paul is down one out of three Pokémon while Ritchie is at his last Pokémon, who suffered poisoning right before switching out. Can Ritchie turn this around?"
"Ursaring, great work," Paul mumbled with eyes glumly closed, arm outstretched with the Hibernator Pokémon's Poké Ball recalling it.
"Funky, return, you did great," Ritchie spoke in passing as the fainted Primeape was recalled.
He then took out and held up his Charizard's Poké Ball, looking upon it unwaveringly. Zippo had already suffered some damage from its first release into the battle and for as long as it would stay out in the field, the poison would eventually sap it of all of its strength.
Paul still has his weakened Nidoking and one more Pokémon, Ritchie thought, taking a quick look at his impassive opponent. It's going to be a long shot, but we'll need to somehow be able to outsmart and overpower him despite our limits.
"Nidoking, stand by for battle!"
The Veilstone City Trainer sent back out his Nidoking, who appeared to have recovered some strength, but still carried on battle damage from his bout against Ringo and short brawl with Zippo. As the commentator made a quick remark about Paul resuming the battle with Nidoking, Ritchie decided to give in everything with Zippo.
"Alright, Zippo, you're up again!"
His last Pokémon was back out again, appearing the same since it had been poisoned. Violet sparks violently discharged about, draining away another small portion of Zippo's stamina. Zippo shook its head and attempted to appear strong, for the sake of its Trainer.
"And now we get to see Zippo again, this time as Ritchie's final Pokémon in this match," the commentator stated out. "The poison it had received previously from Nidoking is still in effect. Can it find a way to turn the tables?"
"Let the battle continue!" the referee declared.
"We're not done yet!" Ritchie yelled out. "Zippo, use Slash!"
Zippo quickly took off into the air, in spite of the poison circulating in its body. Its wings appeared to have momentarily regained strength as they expanded out and successfully allowed the Flame Pokémon to fly. The claws on Zippo's right hand were glowing white as they sharpened and lengthened. With a tentative swipe in the air and a huffing bellow, Zippo dove down, ready to Slash at Nidoking.
"Nidoking, Poison Jab!"
Nidoking stood his ground as he powered up a Poison Jab into his right fist. Zippo was ready to strike, but unfortunately the timing could not be any more horrible than it was as the poison decided to make itself quite the hindrance mid attack. Zippo cringed as the poisonous sparks briefly intensified around its body and sapped a bit more of its stamina.
Its Slash was narrowly avoided overhead as Nidoking ducked, having noticed the moment of weakness. He then threw the Poison Jab as an uppercut into Zippo's abdomen. Zippo managed to catch itself on the ground despite having been knocked out of the air from the last attack. However, things were certainly not looking up in it future.
"Now Poison Jab back to back!" Paul commanded.
"Zippo, dodge every one of them! Then counter with Steel Wing!" Ritchie intervened.
Nidoking stepped up once again with a rancorous grin, this time with both fists glowing poison. He ran up to Zippo while it was trying to catch its breath. Zippo was still mindful of its remaining strength, and thus managed to utilize its ability to fly for short moments in evading every thrown Poison Jab its way. It should be fortunate that there was nothing on the field to otherwise obstruct its escapes.
Several Poison Jabs were thrown and the Charizard was able to roll away, long enough to prepare its counterattack. Steel Wing became active and was used to knock away Nidoking's persistent barrage, blow by blow.
"What's this, ladies and gents? Zippo's starting to regain momentum as it's able to defend itself against the Poison Jab onslaught," the commentator pointed out. "And because Poison-type attacks have no effect on Steel, courtesy of Steel Wing, Zippo's managed to negate much of Nidoking's power."
"… Poison Jab!" Paul growled.
Nidoking could sense his Trainer's growing aggravation, using it to fuel his own motivation. He powered up one last fist with his inner poison, waiting for the exact moment to strike down Zippo. Ritchie's Charizard has been on complete guard the entire time since recovering from the first Poison Jab, keeping its Steel Wing defense up.
They've reached a deadlock…
But that was until…
"Zippo!" Ritchie cried.
The poison sparks overtook and distracted Zippo with its draining discomfort, at all moments. Nidoking locked into his target with narrowed eyes, sending a potent Poison Jab right into Zippo's face. The Flame Pokémon fumbled back onto the ground, this time stationed on its knees. It was becoming closer to defeat, even evident with the lackluster flame burning from the tip of its tail.
"Zippo, please!" Ritchie called out again. "Don't give up!"
"Ladies and gents, Zippo's currently down, but can it find the will to fight?" the commentator voiced aloud as every spectator watched on with breaths held up.
"Zippo, I believe in you!"
Paul watched on neutrally, astounded on how much emotion a Trainer would put into encouraging his or her Pokémon. His astonishment grew even more as Zippo responded by slowly standing back up on its feet, leering fiercely at Nidoking as a bright burning red-orange aura emanated from its body. The flame on its tail even grew three times its original size as Zippo let loose a fearsome bellow that rippled through the field.
"Hmph, that power," Paul mused, softly smiling.
"This is it, ladies and gentlemen," the commentator began. "Zippo's Blaze has just activated due to its low endurance, ensuring greater power behind its Fire-type attacks! Will this be enough to turn the tides in Ritchie's favor?"
"If Zippo can take out Paul's Nidoking with one hit, it might have a chance against his last Pokémon," Dawn said optimistically.
"Yeah, provided Zippo can last out for the remaining round," Misty pointed out. "One more direct hit and that Charizard's a goner. Zippo's still a very strong Pokémon, one of his strongest in fact."
"Who's the other strongest?" Dawn asked.
"Take a guess," Misty suggested with a wink.
"Now Zippo, it's time to show off our secret weapon! Use Blast Burn!"
The small blue pupils in Zippo's eyes lit up in the same flaming aura that erupted from its body as the flame of its tail grew even larger than it had from the activation of Blaze. The outer flames seemed to radiate, forming a great sphere of fire that encapsulated the Charizard. Zippo then opened its mouth, gathering and focusing the flames into a fireball more visibly appealing than a simple Flamethrower.
With a raucous roar, Zippo unleashed the Blast Burn, taking the form of a powerful stream of flames with the fireball in the lead. The tail of the attack was a transparent orange sphere of destruction that incinerated the grass on the field. Paul remained indifferent.
"Nidoking, Protect!"
"What?!" many 'familiar' voices, Ritchie's included, yelped.
Right as the Blast Burn approached Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon held up his hands and conjured a large spherical turquoise barrier that held up against the powerful Fire-type attack. The Protect showed no signs of giving way, even against a Blaze-powered Blast Burn.
"Either my eyes are deceiving me, or Paul had pulled his own counter trick against Ritchie's Charizard," the commentator also said in surprise. "That Protect will negate any damage that Zippo's Blast Burn could've possibly done, and at a great cost too."
The Blast Burn eventually burned out and disppeared, having immolated the entire field in its wake save for a large circular patch of grass that Nidoking stood upon. Zippo's body slouched and staggered, having used up much of its remaining power in its last attack and feeling discouraged on how vain the attempt was.
"Like I said: so predictable that it's pathetic," Paul repeated. Ritchie looked down to the ground, frustrated at the inevitable loss and elimination looming over him. "However…" He looked back up at the Veilstone City Trainer. "The power behind your Charizard's Blast Burn with Blaze activated can't be ignored. Only at another moment in time have I witnessed such power and passion that I hope to have myself one day. Even as Funky managed to take down Ursaring, you still have a long way to go before you can even hope to compare yourself to any remaining Trainer in this tournament."
"Gee, to think that you compared me to Ash earlier this match," Ritchie mumbled, finding himself smiling in spite of his current circumstance. "I still remember watching his first match in the Champions League. His Pikachu was something else. Sparky was jealous, though… he wasn't the only one."
Paul took a deep breath. It's been a while since he felt quite energized at a Pokémon battle. There was no doubt that he enjoyed the thrill of fighting and snatching victory, but he had a goal to live up to at the moment, which also included taking down anyone in his way.
"Nidoking, Thunderbolt!"
Swinging his arms as a gesture to measure his remaining strength, Nidoking began generating a larger amount of voltage from his energy. Starting from his horn before sparking out throughout his body, Nidoking released the Thunderbolt from the direction of the horn and striking the immobile Zippo.
To say that that Flame Pokémon was being fried was somewhat an understatement. With little to no stamina left and having been rendered useless after using up Blast Burn, Zippo's fate was apparent to all once the Thunderbolt ceased and wispy smoke fizzled and evaporated from its body.
"Zippo is unable to battle!" the referee ultimately declared, raising the flag to Paul. "Nidoking wins! And the victor of this three-on-three battle is Paul of Veilstone City!"
The audience of the grass arena cheered and applauded for the great battle, whether it had been in Paul's conquest or not. The grand monitor stationed above eliminated Ritchie's image and showed off the Veilstone City Trainer as the winner of that battle.
"Having lost only one Pokémon in battle, Paul ensures his advancement into the third round of the New Island Champions Conference!" the commentator celebrated. "This has otherwise been an engrossing battle that I know I won't quickly forget. Both Paul and Ritchie have shown that they deserved to compete here. Give them another round of applause, ladies and gentlemen!"
"YAY! YAH! HOO!" various hot-blooded spectators cried out, showing off their excessive joy in the battle.
Ritchie gave a quick wave off to them before tending to his fallen Charizard in the field. Zippo recovered enough energy to sit comfortably on the charred ground; no doubt the field crew would have to grow back some grass for the next scheduled battle within the next hour or so.
"Zippo, you did awesome, don't worry about it," Ritchie murmured in sympathy, to which Zippo barked happily.
They noticed Nidoking was still standing right in front of them just before being recalled back into his Poké Ball. Once his red energy form retreated, Paul appeared from where his Pokémon stood, looking as stoic as ever with both hands in pockets.
"That was a really great match, Paul," Ritchie spoke up, smiling good-naturedly. "Thanks for that."
"Yeah, you too," Paul replied tersely, glancing around at no particular direction. "So… I'll see you later."
"Hey, before you go, would you mind if we had a rematch one day?" Ritchie requested earnestly, standing back up with Zippo. "You were tougher than I thought, definitely tougher than back when you faced Ash at the Sinnoh League. I thought I had a chance against you, but now I know I've fallen way behind you two." Paul looked at him curiously as he continued. "You know, I actually couldn't decide before the match whether to use Zippo or another Pokémon of mine that you've had experience battling against already."
"Let me guess. Was it a Pikachu?"
"That's right!"
As Ritchie answered back, he had out another Poké Ball and opened it, releasing the said Pokémon onto his shoulder. Indeed it was a Pikachu, with a particular characteristic of having a scruff of fur standing out from the top of his head. Even the Pikachu's voice was slightly different than Ash's Pikachu when it gave a greeting upon release.
"Similar, yet altogether different," Paul mused as he examined the Pikachu.
"Sparky here insisted that he go out and fight in Zippo's stead, but I chose Zippo to battle you today so I guess I had that coming," Ritchie explained with an attempted chuckle. "He really wanted to prove that he was capable as Ash's Pikachu."
"Here's a word to the wise," Paul interrupted. "Instead of trying to model after them, strive to be even better than them, get it?"
"I got it now," Ritchie sighed, recalling only Zippo to its Poké Ball while still keeping Sparky out. "But that doesn't mean we can't find out our own battle style together. So will you be willing to have a rematch with me one day?"
"Yes, I look forward to it," Paul replied with a respectful nod before turning away.
"By the way, if you don't mind telling, what was your third Pokémon from our battle?"
"… Magmortar."
Watching the small interaction at the center of the grass field at a fair distance from the stands, he adjusted his red cap from the visor and smiled faintly.
As you all just read, I wanted to see how well I could write a battle with Paul in it since he'll certainly be a significant battler later on in this fic. I also have nothing against Ritchie and do think he could've made it farther than the second round, but those are the brakes. In a real tournament, you never know who'll be facing exactly unless you've really done some snooping around.
Speaking of wanting for more, I may continue off on Ash's situation next chapter before his turn to battle again. That is all.
Anyway, what do y'all think about Ritchie's new Pokémon mentioned here and their particular nicknames that I sto…-creatively borrowed from is what I meant to say, err type?
In addition to that, it's time to measure up my writing skills. Please review!
L-ater!
And good luck to those starting school soon or already!