Chapter 7

"Max!" I exclaimed, just as surprised as the spectators, who were watching on silently as the new event unfolded. "What're you doing?"

"Saving your ass." He replied.

I frowned.

"But…you don't have any pokemon!"

He gave me a sly smile. "That's where you're wrong, dear friend. You didn't think I'd come here without actually catching something. Somehow I just knew you'd manage to cock it up; hence why I'm here a bit late."

He looked across at Ash. "Apologies."

Ash didn't smile, but looked instead furious. He turned to the referee.

"Is this allowed?" he asked, his jaw hanging down, blatantly shocked by Max's entrance to the battle.

"According the rules and regulations, it is. It just turns it into a double's match. To continue, you'll need another friend to battle with you."

Ash frowned, looking confused for a moment. Then he turned to his trainer bench. Gaia was sat on, still hunched over. He walked forward, put his hand on her shoulder and appeared to be whispering to her. I saw her pull away, looking mortified. My opponent just smiled, dragged her up violently by her arm and pushed her towards the front of his box.

"I've found someone." He snarled.

The referee nodded. "The new match-ups will be: trainer Ash vs trainer Dan, and trainer Max vs trainer Gaia. The double who defeats the other will win the round."

I turned to Max. However, he wasn't watching me. His eyes were set across the battleground at our rivals, and he was silently chewing the side of his cheek. He appeared deep in thought.

"Okay, let's kick this off. Gaia, go." Ash shouted, playing the crowd expertly. Even I had to admit that he had a way with people.

Gaia drew a deep breath and threw a poke ball onto the surface. "Go, Caterpie!"

The bug-type pokemon burst out of the capsule, wriggling forward slightly. Max let out a small laugh. It definitely wouldn't have the advantage when it came to speed.

My Gengar was still at my feet, now looking a bit healthier as it had rested for a while during Max's entrance. Somehow it was still surving. It was now time for my friend to choose his Pokemon.

"Let's go, Magby!"

The crowd let out a collective 'oooh', as the fire-type entered the arena. It was a slender figure, all red, with a yellow stomach, and crested head. It appeared to be very rare, as lots of people in the crowd were craning their necks in order to get a better look.

I shot a look at Max.

"I'll explain later." He said. "Now, Magby, use Ember on the Caterpie!"

I knew immediately Gaia's worm pokemon was done for. Fear built up in its eyes, as the Magby made its way forward, almost strolling, and spat fire onto the bug. With a small noise that sounded like a whimper, the Caterpie was defeated. Small tendrils of smoke floated off it, riding gently on the wind into the sky.

The referee stood forward. "Caterpie is defeated. Advantage to trainers Dan and Max."

Ash growled menacingly, as Gaia moved forward to release her second Pokemon.

"Let's go, Pidgey!"

Ash became even more incensed, shoving her out the way in order to command his own pokemon. He obviously hadn't forgotten our very first showdown with each other.

"Pikachu, use thunder wave, on that Magby!"

The electric mouse pokemon lashed out with its tail, firing a shimmering light towards the fire type. However, Max was on top of the situation.

"Magby, dodge it and then counter with smokescreen!"

The Magby rolled out of the way, and when it had clambered back to its feet, it fired off a large plume of smoke that hovered around our pokemon. I could no longer make out the figures of Ash and Gaia through the smoke.

"Good tactic!" I whispered to him. "Now, let's get Gengar on the case."

He nodded, pointing towards the smoke.

Use the smoke…

"Gengar! Use confuse ray! Through the smoke!"

My pokemon cackled, and fired off the ray. It passed through the smoke, and I could hear Ash curse aloud as it hit his Pikachu square in the face. We had confused his electric-type, but at the cost of the smoke veil as it silently drifted away.

The battlefield had cleared, and I assessed the situation quickly in my head. The Pikachu had been confused; giving it a lesser chance of attacking out pokemon, and the Pidgey would eventually be nothing to worry about. All in all, we had a good chance of winning. I still had my Drillbur, but Gengar was still going surprising strong out there.

I turned to my friend.

"Let's end this for good." He nodded back in exchange, gritting his teeth.

"Magby, hit that Pidgey with fire spin!"

The Magby spun around twice, and fired off a ring of fire that surrounded the small bird. Gaia just sighed, and sat back down heavily. She knew what was inevitably about to happen. The fire touched the Pidgey, setting it on fire. It tried to take off, to escape from the place, but it failed, and hit the floor with a hefty thump.

"Pidgey is unable to battle. Trainer Gaia is all out of Pokemon. Advantage once again to Trainers Dan and Max." The referee explained.

"Goddamn it!" Ash roared into the sky. The crowd let out a collective laugh; which did nothing but anger him even more. He pulled down his cap over his eyes even more.

"Gengar, hit it with Curse. Let's end this now!"

My pokemon flew forward, cackling still. It leaned out to hit the Pikachu, but Ash had other ideas, telling his pokemon to withdraw slightly and counter. It managed to evade the attack, and fired off a thunderbolt. It slammed into my Gengar, wiping it out of the arena.

This time there was no miraculous recovery. The referee stepped forward and announced that I was down to one pokemon. We still had the advantage though, and I was silently confident when I sent out Drillbur.

Max withdrew his Magby, and sent in his second Pokemon; which was also a new catch.

"Come on, Elekid!"

He unleashed the small yellow and black striped pokemon to the field. Two electric types on the ground, and it was obvious which one was more effective.

What was Max doing?

"It's all yours, buddy." My friend said, beckoning to my Drillbur.

"Drillbur, use Dig!"

Ash roared again, and pointed violently at my pokemon, which was beginning to scurry inside the ground; it's metallic claws shining brightly in the harsh sunlight.

"Pikachu, hit that bastard with all you've got! Use Thunder!"

The crowd fell silently, my heart seemed to stop for a moment. Even Max staggered backwards a bit. The referee stepped forward, holding one hand up.

"Trainer, that move will wipe out everything on the ground!"

Ash snarled at him. He was almost animalistic in his behaviour. "You think I care? Go, Pikachu!"

"PIKAAAAAAAA!" the mouse shouted.

My Drillbur had just come up from under the ground, directly in front of the electric type. Now was our chance. If I didn't hit it quick enough, Ash would wipe the floor with both our Pokemon in one horrific move. No wonder the referee had tried to intervene. It would probably damage the veranda big time…

"Hit it now, Drillbur! Metal Claw!"

My pokemon did exactly what it was told; the timing could not have been any better. It lashed out it's sharp claws, swiping the Pikachu that was building up its thunder attack.

Time seemed to pass by slowly. The Pikachu fired off the thunder in mid-air, just as it was tripped backwards by the metal claw attack from my Drillbur. The bolt flew up into the air. The referee ducked for cover. I sprinted forwards, collected Drillbur back in i's Poke ball. Max did the same. We jumped back into our trainer box, and ducked. The thunder hit the ground, directly where the Pikachu was lying prone.

The battle was over. The mouse pokemon had been annihilated by its own attack, once again. Ash screamed a volley of curses, shoved the Pokedex in the hand of the referee and disappeared from view.

The crowd let out a unified cheer. We had done it.

Max came over, gave me a fist bump, but I pulled him into a man-hug. We had beaten Ash again, in an insane doubles battle.

The referee made his way over, and handed me my new Pokedex. I beamed at my pokemon, who had burst out of their poke balls and were sat around my feet, smiling back at me. They didn't look at all bad, considering the damage they had been subjected to.

All in all; it was a good day. I looked up, Gaia was gone too, presumably dragged away by Ash in his rage.

Max had suddenly stopped, and was being beckoned over by someone. They were hiding behind a building, pressed away in the shadow cast by the overhanging roof. And they were dressed in the uniform grey and black of Team Plasma, the pokemon-stealing gang from Unova.

What were they doing here?

And more importantly…

What did they want with Max?