CH 65: Friends till the end
It was early in the morning in the Indigo plateau and Ash was standing on top of the same hill he had comforted Sam. Beside him were the 6 pokemon he planned on using in his battle that day.
Venusaur, Blastoise, Trevenant, Talonflame, and Goodra.
His pokemon saw and felt the uneasiness that plagued their trainer.
He knew he wanted to win the Indigo league, but to personally be the one to take him out of the Indigo league.
"Why do I have to battle him?" Ash said.
Ash saw a bit of himself in Ritchie, he didn't like the idea of knocking someone who was just aspiring to do the best he could and create great bonds with his pokemon.
"Pika." Pikachu said trying to convince him that he had beaten many trainers like Ritchie, that it was part of his journey.
Ash sighed.
"Well sitting here all evening won't help me. We should get back." Ash said.
Later that, Ash was staring at the ceiling, he had hoped that he could get battling Ritchie off his mind, but had no avail.
Serena raised her head from his chest, and saw his distressed expression.
"Are you still stressing out about battling Ritchie?"
"It's not the idea of battling him, it's knocking him out of the Indigo league." Ash said as he held his head.
"Ash, you have to realize he's probably just as nervous as you. But just because he's your friend , you can't just not battle him. What did you do when you had to battle Red 6 years ago?" Serena asked.
Ash remembered having to battle Red in the finals and felt a bit more confident.
"You're right, if I can battle my brother, I can battle him." Ash said.
The next morning , Ash was standing on one end of the battle field with Ritchie on the other.
The two gave confident expressions as the match started.
"Don't go easy on my Ash, I want to earn my win."
"I never go easy on any one." Ash said.
"The semi finals battle between trainers Ash and Ritchie is about to begin, trainers choose your pokemon." The ref said.
Ritchie reached for his first pokeball and took a deep breath before he threw it forward.
"Go Cutter!" Ritchie shouted.
A Fearow came out of the pokeball and flew over Ritchie.
"Alright, let's do this. I choose you Trevenant!" Ash shouted.
"Trev!" Trevenant shouted as he came out in front of Ash.
"Well folks it looks like we have a Trevenant vs a Fearow."
"I haven't seen Ash battle with Trevenant in a while, this should be good." Red said.
"Cutter use Agility with Leer!"
The Fearow quickly flew around Trevenant with his eyes glowing white as he lowered Trevenant's defenses.
"Trevenant use Will-O-Wisp."
Trevenant locked onto Fearow's flight path and then opened his mouth as he unleashed a blast of ghostly fire.
When the fire hit Fearow it began to burn him as he fell out of his agility from the pain.
"And Trevenant lands a burn." The announcer said.
"Trevenant's defenses have been lowered, but Fearow is burned. " Brock said.
"Cutter use Drill Peck."
"Fearow!" Cutter shouted as he flew in with his beak starting to glow white.
"Trevenant dodge and use Wood Hammer." Cutter flew in fast, but Trevenant was surprisingly Agile for a pokemon of his size. He moved out of the way just before Cutter could hit him, and smashed Cutter's back with his wooden first.
Cutter squawked as he was hurled forward and felt the pain of the strike and the burn.
"Turn around!" Ritchie shouted.
Cutter used the speed boost from the Wood hammer to quickly turn around and ferociously drill his beak into Trevenant.
Trevenant grunted as he tried to hold his ground.
"Hold on Trevenant!" Ash shouted.
Trevenant held his ground until Cutter flew past him only to feel more pain from the burn.
"Leech seed!" Ash shouted.
Trevenant raised his right hand and unleashed a single seed that hit Cutter and sprouted before entangling Cutter. The leech seed began draining his energy as the burn continued to damage him as well.
"Oh no Cutter!" Ritchie shouted as Cutter's wings were trapped under the sprouts and he fell towards the ground.
"Wood hammer!"
Trevenant rushed forward and smashed Cutter across the battlefield before he hit the ground with his eyes swirly.
"Fear is unable to battle." The ref said.
"Great job Trevenant." Ash said.
"Yes, Ash has the lead." Serena said.
Serena then noticed Alana's conflicted expression, she clearly didn't want Ash to loose after what he did for her with Manny. Then again, Serena had noticed all too well just how friendly her and Ritchie had gotten over the last few days.
"Cutter return, you did your best Cutter. I knew this wouldn't be easy, but we're going to step it up." Ritchie said as he reached for his next pokeball.
"I choose you Winter!" Ritchie shouted as a Glaceon came out of the pokeball and stood in front of him.
"Trainer Ritchie has chosen a Glaceon."
"Trevenant want to stay in?" Ash asked.
"Trev!" Trevenant shouted as he nodded.
"Alright, Trevenant use Phantom force."
Trevenant's eyes glowed violet after he unleashed a force of ghost energy across the ground towards Glaceon.
"Winter dodge and use Tail whip!"
The small Glaceon moved incredibly fast and avoided the Phantom force.
"Trevenant use leech seed!"
"Icy wind!"
Trevenant locked onto Glaceon and launched a seed that went right at Glaceon.
The small ice Eeveelution let out some icy wind that carried the seed away.
After doing so, Glaceon reached Trevenant and whipped his tail across the large ghost tree, lowering his defenses again.
"Wood Hammer!" Ash shouted.
With great precision, Trevenant hurled his right arm down and crashed into Glaceon, hurling him back several feet.
"Phantom force!"
Trevenant unleashed another force of ghost energy at the Glaceon.
"Winter dodge and use Blizzard!"
Once again Glaceon leapt out of the way just in time and unleashed a harsh blizzard all around Trevenant.
"Trev!" Trevenant shouted in pain before falling over onto his back with swirly eyes.
"Trevenant is unable to continue." The ref said.
"Yes, we're back in this." Ritchie said.
"Trevenant return, rest up Trevenant. Alright I choose you Goodra!" Ash shouted as the large Pink Dragon came out his pokeball and stood in front of Ash.
"Dra!" Goodra roared.
"Goodra against an ice type?" Shauna asked.
"Ash has beaten far worse odds then this." Serena said.
"Goodra use Dragon pulse!"
"Winter dodge and use Ice Shard."
The Glaceon one again showed off his speed and avoided the incoming pulse of Dragon energy.
"That's one fast Glaceon folks" The announcer said.
Glaceon unleashed several shards of ice at Goodra.
Goodra's sheer size kept him from avoiding the Ice Shards as they crashed into him.
Goodra grit his teeth as the super effective move took its toll.
"A direct hit, that must hurt." Clemont said.
Despite being hit by the very effective attack, Goodra stood his ground.
"Winter use Icy wind!"
"Goodra use Muddy water."
As Glaceon opened his mouth he unleashed a chilling wind. At the same time, Goodra raised a wall of mud filled water that moved across the battlefield at Glaceon.
The thick mud in the water was enough to stop the wind, but did slow down the wave long enough for Glaceon to move out of the way.
"Ice Shard!" Ritchie shouted.
Once again Glaceon pelted Goodra on the side with more Ice shards as the large Dragon grunted again.
"That's two ice attacks, and he's still standing." Brock said sounding impressed.
"Now let's finish him, Winter use Blizzard."
Glaceon opened his mouth and prepared to launch Blizzard.
"Goodra use Fire blast"
Goodra's mouth lit up as he opened it and unleashed a symbol shaped burst of fire.
Because Glaceon was still using Blizzard, he didn't react in time as the fire easily burned through the blizzard and crashed hard into Glaceon, hurling him back.
"Winter!" Ritchie shouted as Glaceon lay in front of him with swirly eyes.
"Glaceon is unable to battle."
"Geez his Dragon type beat my ice type." Ritchie said nervously.
"Keep it up Ash!" Serena shouted.
Alana was still conflicted about who to root for.
Sam on the other hand wasn't.
"Go Ash!" She shouted.
"Winter return, you battled well Winter. Ok he's clearly tough, I need a tough guy of my own. I choose you Cruise!" Ritchie said as a large Tyranitar came out and roared.
"Looks like trainer Ritchie has sent out a Tyranitar."
"Goodra use Muddy water."
"Dra!" Goodra shouted as he unleashed a wave of mud filled water.
"Earthquake."
The large Tyranitar smashed his front foot into the ground, creating a quake that shook the stadium and disrupted the Muddy wave, causing it to break apart before the quake continued on and smashed into Goodra, forcing him to stumble backwards.
"Now's our chance Cruise, use Dragon claw!"
The Tyranitar roared as he sprinted forward and slashed Goodra across the face 4 times with his now glowing violet claws.
"Goodra!"
"Dra." Goodra said as he fell over and hit the ground with swirly eyes.
"Goodra is unable to battle."
"Alright we evened things out again." Ritchie said.
"Goodra return, you battled great. Alright if he wants to go for the big guys we'll give them to him. I choose you Blastoise!"
"Blast!" Blastoise roared as he came out.
"Blastoise." Ritchie said nervously.
"Blastoise use Hydro pump!"
Blastoise aimed his cannons at Tyranitar and unleashed a massive jet of water right at him.
"Cruise use Rock slide in front of you and then dodge!"
The large Tyranitar quickly hurled several large rocks in front of him that slowed down the Hydro pump and allowed Tyranitar to narrowly avoid the Hydro pump.
"Rapid spin!" Ash shouted as Blastoise got into his shell and hurled himself forward.
Tyranitar turned just in time to see Blastoise's shell crash into him and stumble backwards.
"Blastoise follow up with Hydro pump!"
"Cruise grab his cannons with Dragon claw!"
Tyranitar's claws glowed violet as he grabbed Blastoise by the cannons and tried to aim them away from his body.
The two struggled before Blastoise grabbed Tyranitar's arms and pulled them off his cannons.
"Thunder fang!" Ritchie shouted as Tyranitar's fangs sparked and he bit down on Blastoise.
"Oise" Blastoise said as he endured the pain.
This forced Blastoise to let go of Tyranitar's arms.
"Dragon claw!" Ritchie shouted.
Tyranitar slashes his claws across Blastoise's face.
"Iron defense!" Ash shouted.
Blastoise raised his outer defenses as he endured the attack before hurling his own arms forward and knocking Tyranitar's claws back.
"Hydro pump!" Ash shouted.
As Tyranitar tried to regain himself, Blastoise lowered his cannons and unleashed a massive jet of water that crashed into Tyranitar and hurled him back.
"Cruiser!" Ritchie shouted as his Tyranitar landed on the ground with swirly eyes.
"Tyranitar is unable to battle."
"Ash's pokemon continue to give him the lead folks."
"Keep it up Ash!" Red shouted.
"Cruiser return, get some rest. Alright I need some Air power now, Go Happy!" Ritchie shouted as a Butterfree flew out and over him.
"Butterfree huh." Ash said as he returned Blastoise to his pokeball then took out another pokeball.
"I choose you Venusaur!" Ash shouted as Venusaur came out.
"Saur!" Venusuar shouted as he came out.
"A Venusaur vs a Butterfree folks."
"Happy use Sleep powder."
"We won't get taken out of the match this easily. Venusuar use Razor leaf!"
"Saur!" Venusaur shouted as he unleashed a barrage of razor sharp leaves that collected the incoming sleeping powder, before carrying them back towards Butterfree.
"Happy use confusion!"
"Free!" Butterfree shouted as his eyes glowed red and he caught the leaves with physic energy before casting them aside.
"Happy use Gust."
"Free!" Butterfree shouted as he unleashed a gust of wind down at Venusaur.
"Venusaur dig in and use Vine whip!"
"Saur!" Venusaur shouted as he dug himself in and unleashed a dozen vines forward through the wind.
"Happy dodge it!"
The Butterfree tried to move away, only to have Venusaur's vines entangle around his wings.
"Oh no Happy!"
"He's got him!" Serena shouted before Venusaur hurled him into the ground.
"Double edge!"
"Happy use Sleep powder!"
Happy tried to let out some sleep powder, but Venusaur moved too fast and crashed into Butterfree, hurling him back.
"Free!" Butterfree cried before he landed in front of Ritchie with swirly eyes.
"Butterfree is unable to battle." The ref said.
"There you have it folks, we may be in the Semi finals match, but Ash has taken control of this battle more than he has his last two." The announcer said.
"Happy return, rest up Happy. I'm not giving up now Ash. I've come too far. Go Zippo!" Ritchie shouted.
A large Charizard came out and soared over Ritchie.
"A Charizard." Ash said with some interest.
"No escape fire spin!" Ritchie shouted.
His Charizard quickly flew around Venusaur, completely surrounding him in fire , making it impossible for Ash to return him.
"Venusaur is trapped folks!"
"Charizard use Fire blast!" Ritchie shouted as Venusaur looked up just in time to see the symbol shaped fire before it crashed into him.
"Venusaur!" Ash said.
When the fire faded away, Venusaur was on the ground with his eyes shut and burn marks all over him.
"Venusaur is unable to battle." The ref said.
"Alright great job Zippo!" Ritchie shouted.
"He got him." Serena said sounding concerned.
"It was a Charizard vs a Venusaur, we can't be too surprised." Lucy said.
"Venusaur return. You battled as well as you could. Alright I choose you Blastoise!" Ash shouted as Blastoise came out of his pokeball.
Blastoise stared up at Charizard as the Charizard stared down at him.
"A Blastoise vs a Charizard, I think we know where this is going folks."
"Blastoise use Hydro pump!" Ash shouted.
"Zippo dodge and use Air slash!"
Blastoise aimed his cannons and unleashed Hydro pump , only to have Charizard move out of the way and soar down at him.
Blastoise was about to move when he stopped as electricity surged through him.
"Oh no." Ash said realizing Blastoise must have been paralyzed from Tyranitar's thunder fang.
Ritchie's Charizard slashed Blastoise across the face and made him stumble backwards.
"Thunder Punch!" Ritchie shouted.
"Grauu!" His Charizard roared before his fist sparked with electricity and he slammed it into Blastoise's face.
"Blastoise!"
Blastoise fell backwards before laying on his shell with swirly eyes.
"Blastoise is unable to continue!" The ref shouted.
"Unbelievable folks, Ritchie and his Charizard have turned things around."
"Geez I guess Ash isn't the only one with a good Charizard." Brock said.
"He's not." Red said.
"Awesome work Zippo, we're back in the fight!" Ritchie shouted.
"Come on Ash, you can beat him!" Serena shouted.
"Blastoise return, you battled well." Ash reached for Talonflame's pokeball, but then had another idea as Pikachu nodded.
"Alright I choose you Pikachu!" Ash shouted as Pikachu leapt down from his shoulder and growled at Charizard.
"His Pikchu." Ritchie said very nervously.
"Ready when you are Ritchie." Ash said.
"Don't underestimate him Zippo. Use Fire spin, keep him bottled up."
"Grauu!" Zippo roared as he tried to surround Pikachu with fire.
"Dodge it." Ash said.
Pikachu moved like a flash of lighting and was far away from any of the fire in the blink of an eye.
Ritchie and Zippo could hardly believe this.
"Zippo use Heat wave across the entire field!" Richie shouted.
Zippo got lower and unleashed a massive wave of head across the entire field.
"Pikachu into the air." Ash shouted.
Pikachu sprinted forward and used his now Metal Tail to propel himself up and into the air, over the Heat wave.
"Thunder!"
"Pika, chu!" Pikachu shouted as he unleashed the blast of electricity through the air right at Zippo.
"Zippo use Steel wing!" Ritchie shouted.
Zippo quickly turned his wings metal and covered his body with them as the metal absorbed Pikachu's electricity.
"Hold on Zippo." Ritchie said as Zippo did his best to absorb the electricity.
Despite the fact that the electricity wasn't going into his body, the sheer power of the Thunder was difficult to contain.
"Whew, that was close. Alright Zippo give him a taste of his own medicine, Steel wing!"
Zippo snarled as he flew down at Pikachu with his charged up metal wings ready to strike.
"Pikachu go over him."
Pikachu waited until Zippo was close then leapt up and onto Zippo's head before sprinting across his back and landing behind him.
"Zippo turn around!"
Zippo used his wings to make a sharp turn to face Pikachu.
"Heat wave!" Ritchie shouted as his Charizard raised his mouth and increased his tail flame.
"Pikachu quick attack under him."
"Grauu!" Charizard roared as he unleashed a massive wave of fire and heat across the ground as Pikachu sprinted forward just ahead of the heat wave before going under Zippo.
"He's to fast, we have to try to surround him again. Use Fire spin!".
"Pikachu Thunder."
"Chu!" Pikachu shouted as he sparked his Cheeks and unleashed a massive bolt of Thunder.
"Zippo Steel wing!".
Zippo quickly held his metal wings in front of his body, however, when the Thunder made contact it reacted with the electricity already stored there.
The reaction caused a massive explosion.
"Grauuu!" Zippo cried in pain before he crashed to the ground with swirly eyes.
"Zippo!" Ritchie shouted.
"Charizard is unable to battle."
"Great work Pikachu." Ash said.
"Pika!"
"Unbelievable folks, simply unbelievable. Ash Ketchum turns it around again with his unmatchable Pikachu."
"Only Pikachu." Serena said smiling.
"Zippo return, you did all I could have asked." Ritchie said before he nervously looked over to Sparky who was on his shoulder.
"It's all up to you now." Ritchie said.
"Pika!" Sparky shouted.
Sparky leapt down from Ritchie's shoulder and sparked in front of him.
"Looks like it comes down to PIkachu, vs Pikachu folks. Who will win?"
"Sparky use Quick attack."
"Pikachu Agility."
"Chu!" Sparky shouted as he sprinted at Pikachu with incredible speed. Despite Sparky's impressive speed, Pikachu moved with unbelievable speed. He easily avoided each of Sparky's strikes as he came at him.
"Ritchie's Pikachu is moving fast, but Ash's is like a flash of lightning folks."
"Sparky use Double team."
Sparky made a dozen copies of himself that all came at Pikachu.
"Pikachu use Quick attack."
"Chu!" Pikachu shouted as he unleashed a lighting fast strike through all 12 of the copies, including the real one.
"Pika!" Sparky shouted as he was hurled back.
Sparky landed on his feet and growled at Pikachu.
"Sparky we can't give up, let's see if he can match this combo. Double team, with Agility, with Thunderbolt!"
"What?" Ash said as he and Pikachu sweat dropped.
"Pika!" Sparky shouted as he made a dozen copies of himself that all sprinted around Pikachu with incredible speed and all unleashed Thunderbolt at the same time.
"Now what?" Shauna asked.
"Now Pikachu has to do his best." Serena said nervously.
Ash saw the situation he was in and thought of one way out.
"Volt tackle!" Ash shouted.
"Pika." Pikachu shouted as he covered himself in electricity and sprinted at Sparky and his copies.
With Volt tackle around him he absorbed any electricity that came at him as he smashed through each of the copies.
Ritchie sweat dropped nervously.
"How do I stop him?" Ritchie asked when he thought of something.
"Alright, one chance then. Sparky use Wild Charge!" Ritchie shouted.
"Pika chu!" Sparky shouted as he covered himself in electricity and sprinted at Pikachu who was still using Volt tackle.
"He wants to end this now, alright meet him Pikachu." Ash said.
"Pika!" Pikachu said confidently as he sprinted at Sparky.
Everyone watched closely as the two Pikachu made contact with each other before an explosion of electricity nearly shoat he stadium.
"Sparky!" Ritchie shouted as Pikachu made contact with him.
Ash gave a slightly fearful look before he felt Pikachu through his aura connection.
When the dust cleared, Pikachu was breathing deeply with some electric burn marks on his body. He was standing over Sparkey who had swirly eyes.
"Trainer Ritchie's Pikachu is unable to continue, the winner is trainer Ash Ketchum!"
"It's over folks it's over , we have our winner!"
"Alright Pikachu we won!"
"Pika!".
Ritchie sighed as he walked over and lifted up Sparky in his arms.
"We made it to the Semi finals. I guess we were just beaten by someone with more experience than us Sparky."
"Yes, he did it. He's in the final battle!" Serena said sounding very excited.
"That a way Ash!" Red shouted.
"That's my boy." Felix said.
Pikachu climbed onto Ash's shoulder as he walked over to Ritchie.
"Hey Ritchie, that was an awesome battle, you and your pokemon were amazing." Ash said.
"Thanks Ash, I can see how you made it as far as you have. But since you've beaten me I have to ask that you win the whole thing." Ritchie said.
"We will." Ash said as the two locked hands.
Up in the press box, Daniel and Lance were watching the match.
"So we have our first finalist." Lance said.
"We better get ready then." Daniel said smiling.
Later that night, Ash was standing in the center of the Indigo stadium with Gary beside him.
In between them was Lance and Daniel.
Ash and Gary were giving each other very fierce expressions as Lance turned on a microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen. This year's pokemon league is near its conclusion. We've seen over 200 trainers battle here and now only 2 remain." Lance said.
"Trainers Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak are our finalists. Tomorrow they will battle here, to determine who will be this years winner." Daniel said.
As the crowd began to applaud, Ash and Gary continued to stare at each other.
"So it finally comes down to this Ashy boy. The match I wanted so bad."
"May the best trainer make the elite 4."
"I will Ashy boy."
"We'll see."