Chapter 15

Ash and Serena brought up the rear as they walked back to their seats. Ash was feeling incredibly wary of his new acquaintance. He wanted to say something to Serena but he was worried that if he even whispered, that Luke would overhear him; in fact, he was worried Luke was somehow reading his thoughts right at that moment. However, some of his anxiety was alleviated as he and his friends – along with team rocket – took their seats in one of the upper rows of the arena. Like the main stadium, Arena number 3 was circular in shape, but only contained one large level of seats. According to the match program, this stadium could hold more than 16,000 spectators and as Ash looked around the stadium, he observed that most of those seats were already filled, as fans continued to stream in, most returning from the break between the 2nd and 3rd matches of the day. The main stadium could hold over 27,000 people.

As the seats continued to fill up, Ash and his companions began to turn their attention to the match ahead, "So, who is Clement playing next?" Ash asked. None of them were sure, so Serena began to look in her program: "it's some gym leader called Whitney", she responded. As he processed this information, Ash's eyes began to light up: "Yes!" he exclaimed, "Clement couldn't have wished for a better opponent. This is a golden opportunity for him to reach the next round", he finished, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Wow", Serena responded, looking confused, "is this girl really that bad?"

"Perhaps disorganised would be a better word." Neither of Ash's travelling companions from his time in Goldenrod City (Misty and Brock) were currently present, so he was having a difficult time articulating Whitney's eccentric persona to his new friends. "Wait a minute", it was Jesse who spoke, "do you mean that ditzy girl from way back in Goldenrod City, the one with the pink hair?"

Ash nodded in reply. "I don't think your little inventor friend has too much to be worried about in that case", she replied.

"If this girl is really that bad", Drew began in his regular condescending tone, "then how do you explain that", pointing to the big screen positioned in front of them, on their right. It showed the current records and stats of both competitors and the pokemon they would be using in the battle. It showed Clement had won one game and lost one also. Surprisingly, that was also the case for his opponent. "Wow", Ash replied, "I guess she isn't going to be quite as much of an easy beat as I thought." This information had Ash's mind working overtime, 'how could she have won a match?' 'Was there something wrong with her opponent or their pokemon?' However, he also had no option but to consider the possibility that Whitney had changed since they had last met. Three years was quite a lot of time after all, even if that time does go by really fast. However, his anxiety was soon alleviated as the two contestants made their way into the arena.

"Hellooo everybody!" Whitney exclaimed, flapping her hands enthusiastically as she waved to the crowd. She was also twirling – presumably so she could wave at the fans on all sides of the arena - , presumably with next-to-no self-awareness of how she came across to others. Ash chuckled to himself, trying to contain a bigger outburst of laughter; something some of his companions were unable to do. Serena for one couldn't contain herself whatsoever.

"Oh wow", she began, "now I see what you mean Ash, she's definitely eccentric. But then again I suppose Clement is too, so who knows what to expect."

"She sure is", Ash replied "but there's eccentric and there's eccentric. The Clement I know won't have any problem finishing her off."

Only moments later, the announcer came into the middle of the arena, right between Whitney and Clement, and briefly ran through the rules of the battle. It was the usual: It would be a three-on-three battle, pokemon may be substituted, and the battle was over when all of one gym leader's pokemon were no longer able to battle. And with that, the announcer blew his whistle and the battle was underway, to the raucous applause of the now near-full arena.

Clement had opted to begin with Luxray, while Whitney opened with Nidorina. The opening exchanges were nothing to ride home about, as the pair exchanged relatively harmless blows, using moves like bite and scratch. This went on for some time, and both were quite hesitant in making moves. This gave the impression the contest was fairly even, but Ash knew that if it was becoming a strategic battle, then Clement would be at a massive advantage.

The crowd was becoming more impatient the longer this went on, but Whitney was clearly the crowd favourite. It appeared most of the audience had been hypnotised by her beauty and girlish charm, but this did not seem to bother Clement, who appeared to Ash very composed, and confident in his own abilities. Bonnie noted how different he looked from his first battle, which had only taken place earlier the same day. All of a sudden Whitney made a bold move: "Nidorina, double kick", she screamed enthusiastically. Luxray was unable to dodge in time, but Clement responded promptly, "Luxray, leer." This was a move that lowered the opposing pokemon's defense, but as it stood, Whitney's pokemon was still in a slightly stronger position than Clement's. But Ash soon saw what his friend's strategy was, as he quickly made the next move, catching Whitney unawares: "Luxray, electric terrain." All of a sudden the battlefield came alive with electricity, which from Ash's seat shone majestically against the deep blue summer sky, as a magnificent combination of yellow and blue illuminated the air. "What's he doing?" Serena asked with a concerned tone in her voice, "why doesn't he do something that inflicts more damage on Nidorina?"

"He's set it up perfectly", Ash responded. "Now the battlefield is charged up so that Clement will be able to execute Luxray's more powerful electric type moves, which will now be even more effective because he's used Leer on Nidorina."

"Oh", Serena responded with a sudden sense of understanding, "well I hope you're right."

Ash was right, all of a sudden, Clement commanded a barrage of moves. "Luxray, Wild charge."

It was a perfect hit and Whitney was too stunned to make the next move, but Clement was happy to go again, "Luxray, crunch."

Luxray's fangs inflicted more damage upon Whitney's weakening pokemon. In desperation, she pulled out what she hoped would be a game changing move, "Nidorina, flattery."

However, this move only had a brief effect, and Clement was able to command his pokemon to dodge Whitney's next move. It also had the added effect of increasing Luxray's attack. He then executed his next move, "Luxray, discharge".

It was another direct hit, and it also had the added effect of paralysing Nidorina. It was soon clear that Whitney's pokemon was not getting back to its feet. "Nidorina is no longer able to battle, the winner is Luxray."

The crowd let out a modest chear, and it was loudest of all in Ash's section, as he and his friends – with the exception of team rocket – started cheering loudly for Clement. Bonnie even began dancing on the seat in front on her, which was currently unoccupied. "Woo, go big brother," she cheered.

Then the second battle was underway. This time around, Whitney opted to use her Clefairy. Clement started more aggressively this time around, firing a number of shots his opponent's way, including wild charge, tackle and bite, while Whitney's confidence was still shot after things didn't go the way she had planned in the previous battle. She hesitantly told Clefairy to use Metronone, but Clement, who was sharp and alert, was able to quickly instruct Luxray to dodge the move. However, he noticed luxray was starting to move a little slowly, obviously exhausted from all the powerful moves it had executed, so Clement decided to substitute him for Chespin: "well done luxray, you were brilliant, now get some rest. Chespin, I choose you."

Chespin sprung out of his pokeball enthusiastically, ready to go, and Clement wasted no time in having him make his first move, "Chespin, pin missile."

The pin missiles, like almost all of Clement's other moves so far, was dead accurate, further weakening Whitney's Clefairy. Clement then decided to keep his foot on the pedal, "Chespin, vine whip."

Clefairy was now trapped in Chespin's vines and Whitney was hapless. There were few moves she could use while her pokemon remained trapped. She attempted to weaken Chespin by using growl, but this made little difference with Clefairy still unable to break free; it was then that Clement went in for the kill: "Chespin, bite."

Using its own vines to slingshot the hapless Clefairy towards him, he then delivered a bite that left his opponent wriggling on the ground, and unable to recover. A few moments later, the announcer made it official: "Clefairy is no longer able to battle, the winner is Chespin."

Once again, the applause from the crowd was modest, but Ash didn't care less. He was now growing in excited anticipation of his friend's victory and progression through to the second round.

Suddenly that victory appeared only moments away as Clement's Chespin picked up where it left off against Clefairy, in its next battle, which was against Whitney's final pokemon, Miltank. Chespin took the early initiative with another early onslaught of tackles and pin missiles, while Miltank had only made one tackle move. But suddenly, Whitney had a surge of confidence: "Miltank, growl." The move in itself had little effect, but Whitney looked like someone with a plan, and with little hesitation she quickly made another move: "Miltank, body slam."

It was a direct hit. Suddenly, the effect of this move, combined with Chespin already being slightly weakened from the previous battle, put Clement's pokemon in a vulnerable position. Then Clement made his next move: "Chespin, overgrow."

This would increase the power of Chespin's grass type moves, and Clement didn't want to waste any time making his next move; however this time around, Whitney was alert to Clement's tactics as she beat him to the punch: "Miltank, gyro spin", but Clement was alert and quickly reacted to his opponent's move: "Chespin, dodge it!" Chespin did just that and this time around, Clement was the first to react: "Chespin, seed bomb", suddenly a barrage of shells was hurtled in Miltank's direction, most of them hitting their intended target. Clement wasted no time regaining the upper hand: "Chespin, vine whip!" Chespin now had his opponent trapped, and this time Clement used a tackle to further weaken his opponent. Whitney knew what to do next: "Miltank, Milk dri….." but once again Clement had been just a little too quick for her. Before she could complete her healing move, Clement had commanded Chespin to bite. And with Miltank still trapped in Chespin's vines, there was no escape, as the hapless pokemon now lay motionless on the ground, much to Whitney's anguish. "Miltank is no longer able to battle, the winner is Chespin." This time the overall applause from the crowd was somewhat louder. Ash let out a big cheer for his friend; he was so proud of the way Clement had battled, and Ash knew he thoroughly deserved his victory. Even from high in the stands Ash could see the big grin on Clement's face; he had rarely seen him that happy. Bonnie, instead of being her usual high energy self, now had tears streaming down her face.

"Wow", Serena began, "Clement sure has come a long way."

"What are you talking about Serena?", Bonnie protested, "my brother was always a really great trainer." Serena now began to blush, "I'm sorry Bonnie, I know Clement is really talented, I just meant it's the first time I've seen him this composed, and battling at such an advanced level."

"Oh, well I guess you're right, but I always knew my brother had it in him."

"So did I", Ash added.

It was a festive atmosphere when they returned to the hotel, where the main lobby and the adjacent hall were filled with contestants, trainers and other fans. Luke had left them a few blocks short of the hotel, closer to the hotel he was staying in, citing exhaustion after his long journey to Silver City. Ash and his friends soon spotted Clement and Misty in the adjacent room, which was lined down the middle with tables, each of which contained bowls filled with various kinds of foods, including pizza, chips, and sushi among others. Bonnie ran straight into her older brother's arms. "I knew you could do it brother, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks Bonnie", Clement blushed, while making an awkward glance in Misty's direction. "But we're still waiting for confirmation I even made it through to the next round, remember only 12 out of the original 32 competitors will progress past the first round."

"I already explained this Clement", Misty stated, "you didn't lose a single pokemon in your final battle, and both your first two matches were three to one, so they cancel out, which means overall you have a ratio of plus 3, so I think you will definitely make the cut."

"But you said yourself that 7 trainers won all three of their battles, and another 8 won 2 battles, so that only leaves 5 places between 8 trainers."

"And", responded Misty, in an almost irritated tone, "you will have one of the best ratios out of all of those 8 trainers. The chances of you missing are less than one in 100. Personally, I'm more nervous about whether or not I will be progressing straight to the third round, or if I will have to go through the wildcard stage. Like you said, there were seven trainers who won all of their battles, and only 4 trainers automatically progress past the wildcard stage. Two of my battles I won quite easily, but the last one was really close, so I think I will be either number 4 or 5, and if I'm number 5, that means I have to battle again tomorrow."

"Hey Misty", Clement began, with an awkward smirk written over his face, "you don't think that m-maybe, you and I will be b-battling against each other do you?" Misty's face lit up at the thought, but after a brief pause she replied: "I don't think you'll be number 12, but you never know", she quipped, "that sure would be good fun."

"I agree."

Although team rocket had returned to the hotel with Ash and the others, few words had been exchanged between the two groups, and the former were now huddled in a corner between the dining hall and the main lobby, looking like they would give almost anything to be somewhere else. Ash felt a certain pity for them, and he was considering going over to them when a loud voice came in over the speaker. "Good evening gym leaders, trainers, friends and fans. We hope you've all had a wonderful day", began the soothing female voice, "if you would make your way to the big screen on the right side of the main lobby, you will see the results of the first day of competition, rankings, and the matchups for tomorrow's wildcard round! It's sure to be an exciting day of competition tomorrow, so make sure you don't miss out!"

The crowds now moved eagerly towards the big screen located on the other side of the wall that team rocket were currently occupying. It was almost a stampede as everyone made their way out of the dining hall, and turned around the corner into the main foyer, where the information everyone was so eagerly anticipating was on display. As they all arrived at the big screen, Ash suddenly turned towards the stairway perched on the opposite side of the large, gold-coated foyer, to see his friend Dawn – with Piplup in hand – eagerly making her way down the stairs to read the results, while simultaneously adjusting her cap. Ash smiled at his friend, who blushed back in his direction.

As the results came up, it began with a brief summary of each of the day's matches, which only increased the tension and sense of anticipation in the room. Then finally, the rankings were revealed, starting with the highest ranked contestant, going all the way down to number 12, as each profile appeared on the screen, one by one. There were not too many surprises. Unfortunately for Misty, her fear came true, as she had been ranked fifth, meaning she would have to survive tomorrow's wildcard round against the 12th ranked contestant in order to progress to the final eight. Misty had also been right about Clement, who ended up being seeded 10th, meaning his opponent would be the 7th ranked contestant, who happened to be the boy from the Albion region, whose appearance was not that all unlike Clement's. Then finally the 12th seed was revealed to be none other than…Dawn. "Yes!" She shrieked. "I'm in…oh sorry", she said, with a guilty look at Piplup, "we're in", as she began to tickle her pokemon affectionately.

In all the excitement and euphoria of the occasion, Ash, Dawn and the others had all forgotten something very important; then the pin dropped, as Misty stared a piercing stare in Dawn's direction. "Wait, y-you're going to be my opponent", Dawn said softly, staring nervously back at Misty."

"See you tomorrow, number 12", Misty responded, with a harshness in her voice, her eyes like steel, and focused intently upon her opponent.

"See you tomorrow, number 5", Dawn answered, all of a sudden regaining her composure, and staring resolutely back at Misty.

"Uhhh, look at the menu on table 5", James gushed, as he and his team rocket companions rushed back into the now empty dining room, where they had all the remaining food to themselves.