Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter forty-two: Lily of the Valley Conference, rounds three and four
The day for round three of the Lily of the Valley Conference had come at last, and due to how things had gotten to the top sixteen by this point, all battles from this point movie forward were going to be held in the main stadium. The first battle of the day, surprisingly enough, saw Dawn face off against some random girl named Tabitha; she looked to be the very stylish, prim and proper kind of girl, and she had total and complete confidence in her person, despite how said person looked to weight just a little bit over a quarter of a ton.
It didn't matter in the long run, given that Dawn defeated Tabitha's three Pokémon, Rapidash, Delcatty, and Bagon, using Souji for Rapidash, and Nobunaga for the other two. Despite how she lost to Dawn, not only without taking out either Pokémon she had used but never seeing what Dawn's third Pokémon was, Tabitha was able to take the loss quite well. "I have to admit," Tabitha said as she congratulated Dawn, "You have the air of a girl with complete and total confidence."
"I... was actually thinking the exact same thing about you," Dawn admitted, "Seriously. You look like you totally own everything you have and experience in life."
Tabitha, with an amused smile, placed her right hand on her very plump hip as she bounced some of her hair with her left hand. "Well I do run my own boutique, not to mention that I have the ear of the fashion world here in Sinnoh. Oh, do you know that boy whose Pikachu is dressed up in that adorable little libre wrestler outfit? I must ask where he got it from."
Dawn couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "That's actually my friend Kenny and his Pikachu Juan that you're talking about. I can introduce you to him when he's not battling." Thusly, Dawn and Tabitha, on good terms, left the arena of the main stadium, making the audience cheer at the display of good sportsmanship between the two girl trainers.
...
Later on, Kenny was also having his round three battle, competing against someone named Randy who fancied himself as a collector of shiny Pokémon; as a case in point, all three of Randy's Pokémon that he used in the battle against Kenny, Arbok, Nidoqueen, and Crobat, were shiny Pokémon. They were also all poison type Pokémon, so Kenny's own two shiny Pokémon, Cell and Elay, were able to easily net him the win against his shiny hunter opponent.
"I have to say, Kenny," Randy began as he congratulated Kenny, "You're quite lucky to have gotten more than one shiny Pokémon."
Shrugging, Kenny replied, "Well hey, Cell and Elay have earned spots in my cringe posse. I've gotten out of some tight spots thanks to the both of them."
"I... guess that means you won't be willing to trade them to me?" Randy replied, "Because I lack both a shiny Sandslash and a shiny Scizor."
Laughing a bit, Kenny said, "Yeah, imma have to say no on that. Sorry." As the two trainers shook hands, the audience cheered, excited to have seen so many shiny Pokémon all in one battle and all at once. It terms of surprise value, other matches were going to be hard pressed to try measuring up to the battle between Kenny and Randy.
"Congratulations, both of you," Ash said as he and Brock met up with Dawn and Kenny, "You both made it into round four!"
"Keep in mind that the battles in round four moving forward will be full battles," Brock pointed out, "So you two better be ready to use all six of whatever Pokémon you two respectively have on hand to win against your opponents."
Dawn nodded in understanding, knowing full well that the battles moving forward were only going to be getting more and more difficult. "...Yes. I can tell full well that the battles Kenny and I stand to face for the rest of the Conference are going to be long and hard." That's just the way that Kenny's Machamp Zarbon likes it, but it's not like Dawn was going to say anything about that there.
The heroes were still talking when Kenny was cut off before he could say something when a few of the spectators said something about how that guy was walking past, having just won his battle for round three. The heroes turned to look, and thus saw that the person being talked about so well was Tobias, the man who had entered the Lily of the Valley Conference with a Darkrai.
The heroes didn't see his face, but they could tell that Tobias, as he made his way through, gave off the air of a person who was well assured that nothing could stop them from achieving victory in the Conference. "...Geez, he can turn down the level of smug that he's giving off," Kenny remarked, "He does realize that there's still a few rounds left in the Conference, doesn't he?"
"Well can you blame him for being so confident in himself?" Brock replied, "I mean, he's packing a powerful legendary Pokémon."
"Which is all the more reason that I hope I get to face him in the Conference!" Ash declared, himself also radiating confidence, but not the smug kind like what Tobias was giving off.
Dawn and Kenny, for their parts, gave some serious consideration to Tobias. They knew he'd be the most powerful trainer taking part in the Conference that anyone would have to deal with, and Dawn remembered from the anime in her and Kenny's previous life that Tobias ended up winning the Lily of the Valley Conference, using just Darkrai for everything except the battle against Ash, where he had to use Darkrai and Latios but still won.
Tobias might just very well make it to the first place spot in the Conference here as well. After all, he's packing multiple Pokémon straight out of myth and legend.
A short while later was the third round battle for Ash where, just as it was in the anime in Dawn's and Kenny's previous life, he was squaring off against Conway. "This third round battle in the Lily of the Valley Conference will be between Ash and Conway!" the referee announced, "Each trainer may use up to three Pokémon each, and the battle is over when all of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle. Also, trainers may substitute Pokémon out at any time. Let this battle... BEGIN!"
"Shuckle, I choose you!" Conway said as he sent his first Pokémon out, which turned out to be his Shuckle.
Tossing up a pokéball, Ash called out, "Swampert, I choose you!" To the surprise of the other heroes who were watching, Ash's first Pokémon in the battle against Conway was his Swampert.
"That's the first deviation here," Dawn thought as she watched the battle unfold, "I wonder how things will play out here since Ash already is using a different selection of Pokémon than what he had used in the anime in my previous life."
Down on the battlefield, Ash said, "Swampert, use Waterfall!"
"Shuckle, use Power Trick!" Conway ordered.
Swampert ran in quickly, cloaked in water, as Shuckle began glowing with rainbow lights. Swampert had rammed into Shuckle before it was done glowing, doing some super effective damage that was still mitigated a good deal by Shuckle's massively high defense. After Swampert had struck Shuckle, the defensive Pokémon finished its glowing with a flash of light to show that it had just finished using its attack.
Conway chuckled smugly as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Under normal circumstances," Conway began, "Shuckle has atrociously low physical attack and monstrous high physical defense. But Power Trick reverses that, swapping the values around so that Shuckle now has monstrously high physical attack and atrociously low physical defense." Clenching a fist as he held it up in a challenging manner, Conway declared, "Now that Shuckle's physical attack is at its peak, I'm more than ready to-"
"Swampert, use Waterfall!" Ash called out, prompting Swampert to rush in and slam down on top of Shuckle while cloaked in water, making Shuckle cry out in great pain as it was sent reeling back until it came to a stop on the battlefield, clearly having gotten knocked out by the super effective attack that exploited its now atrociously low physical defense.
Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Shuckle is unable to battle! The winner is Swampert!"
Conway, with a look of wide eyed shock on his face as his cheeks were puffed up, just stood there for a second out of shock before he regained his sense of self and recalled his fainted Shuckle. As for the other heroes who were watching, Brock gently applauded Ash for having scored an early lead against Conway while Dawn gently chuckled at how Conway's plans were foiled because of how the side effects of having Shuckle use Power Trick were used against him.
As for Kenny, he was laughing his butt off. "He was talking all that good stuff just now," Kenny said, "But he ended up getting shut down before he could use what all power he was boasting that he now had! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Down on the battlefield, Conway said to Ash, "...Impressive. But it will take a lot more than that to beat me!" Tossing up the pokéball that held his next Pokémon, Conway said, "Lickilicky, I choose you!" Coming out onto the battlefield was Conway's second Pokémon, his Lickilicky.
"Swampert, return!" Ash said as he called his Swampert back, "Noctowl, I choose you!" Ash's second Pokémon in the battle against Conway here was his shiny Noctowl, amazing the audience because of the fact that Noctowl, due to how it's a shiny Pokémon, made it incredibly rare. "Noctowl, use Extrasensory!" Ash called out.
"Lickilicky, use Thunderbolt!" Conway ordered. As Lickilicky was charging up to cast its Thunderbolt attack at Noctowl, Noctowl itself conjured and cast its Extrasensory at Lickilicky, hitting it right in the face and making its Thunderbolt attack flounder as Lickilicky held its arms up in front of its face as much as it could. "Hmm, you managed to avoid your Noctowl getting hit by Thunderbolt by getting Lickilicky to flinch," Conway remarked, "But the odds of it happening for a second time aren't in your favor, and soon enough I'll land a super effective attack on Noctowl!" Gesturing forward, Conway said, "Lickilicky, use Thunderbolt!"
"Noctowl, use Air Slash!" Ash commanded.
Once again, Lickilicky tried to conjure and cast a Thunderbolt attack. This time however, Noctowl whipped up a slashing force of wind that it threw right at Lickilicky, striking it on its front side and making Lickilicky flinch again, as it raised its arms up to shield its face as best as it could. "Wow," Brock said up in the audience as he and the other heroes were watching the battle between Ash and Conway continue on, "Ash got Conway's Lickilicky to flinch two times in a row."
Dawn nodded in agreement, impressed and a little amazed by Ash's luck here. She wondered if Ash would be able to score a third flinch on Conway's Lickilicky in a row. Down on the battlefield, Ash called out, "Noctowl, use Extrasensory!"
Gesturing forward, Conway ordered, "Lickilicky, use Thunderbolt!" For a third time in a row, Noctowl was quicker than Lickilicky, striking it with Extrasensory which, to the surprise of Brock and Dawn and the amusement of Kenny, made Lickilicky flinch for the third time in a row so far. Is was clear that Conway was starting to get a little frustrated with how his Lickilicky was constantly flinching and not being able to land any hits period.
Pointing towards Noctowl, Conway called out, "Lickilicky, use Thunderbolt!"
"Noctowl, use Air Slash!" Ash commanded.
Lickilicky tried, for the fourth time, to conjure and cast its Thunderbolt attack. But Noctowl was quicker again, whipping up a slashing force of wind that it threw at Lickilicky, striking it and making it reel back until it fell over onto the battlefield and laid there, clearly knocked out. Raising a hand up, the referee announced, "Lickilicky is unable to battle! The winner is Noctowl!"
The audience cheered as Ash's Noctowl scored an impressive win despite being constantly threatened by Lickilicky with Thunderbolts. Conway had to force himself to calm down as he called back his fainted Lickilicky. "...Not bad, Ash," Conway said, "Taking out my first two Pokémon like that no problem." Holding up the pokéball that held his third and final Pokémon for the battle, Conway went on, "But my last Pokémon here will turn the tables for me! Dusknoir, I choose you!"
Swapping his Pokémon out, Ash said, "Noctowl, return! Dusknoir, I choose you!" Ash's answer to Conway's Dusknoir was to use his own Dusknoir, amazing the audience with a Dusknoir mirror match that was easy to see which Dusknoir belonged to who due to the fact that Conway's had the normal coloration while Ash's was a shiny.
Conway's eyes widened a bit out of sheer surprise at seeing that the battle was now a Dusknoir mirror match. "So you also own a Dusknoir, Ash," Conway said, "And what's more is that yours is a shiny. But we'll see who has the superior Dusknoir!" Gesturing forward, Conway ordered, "Dusknoir, use Trick Room!"
"Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch!" Ash commanded.
Surprisingly, Conway's Dusknoir was able to get its Trick Room move off first, inversing the battlefield so that the slower a Pokémon is, the sooner it'll get to attack. After successfully getting Trick Room set up, though, Conway's Dusknoir took a staggering Shadow Punch to the face from Ash's Dusknoir. "...Wait a minute," Dawn began as she sat up in the audience with Kenny and Brock, "I think that Conway's Dusknoir was initially faster than Ash's Dusknoir. But with Trick Room now being in effect..."
Down in the arena, Conway said in a smug, self assured manner, "Dusknoir is usually slow to move, but with Trick Room in play now, attack order in turns will be reversed, meaning that Dusknoir will get to be the first to attack now! Ah ha ha!"
"Yours or mine?" Ash replied, before pointing forward and saying, "Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch!"
"Dusknoir, you use Shadow Punch as well!" Conway called out.
True to what Dawn had been suspecting, Ash's Dusknoir now held the speed advantage against Conway's Dusknoir, slugging it in the face with another staggering Shadow Punch before the other Dusknoir's Shadow Punch could reach. Ash's Dusknoir's Shadow Punch must have been a critical hit, because Conway's Dusknoir's Shadow Punch floundered out as Dusknoir fell over and hit the ground of the battlefield, clearly knocked out.
Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Conway's Dusknoir is unable to battle! The winner is Ash's Dusknoir!" Gesturing to Ash, the referee declared, "Ash will move on to the semifinals!"
As the Kanto region native jumped up in celebration for winning, Conway sighed in a resigned tone as he recalled his fainted Dusknoir. "...I guess I can't win them all..." Conway said, his tone kind of sad and lame, as he relented and admitted defeat.
Brock and Kenny cheered for Ash's victory, as that meant now all of the heroes entered into the Lily of the Valley Conference had made it into the semifinals. As for Dawn, while she still applauded the efforts Ash had just given, she wasn't as loud and excited as the boys with her. Rather, Dawn simply sat there quietly and gently clapped her hands together. Dawn knew better than to get too excited, especially since the prelims were basically gentle warm-ups; the semifinals were going to be so far out there by comparison that it's not even funny.
Especially since the cream of the crop was all that was left in the Conference.
"You all made it into the semifinals?!" Maylene said when the heroes phoned her later that evening after they had dinner but before they went to bed.
"And before you know it, I'll be winning the whole Conference!" Ash boasted confidently.
Maylene couldn't help but chuckle in sincere amusement. "I wish that I had even a fraction of that confidence that you got there, Ash."
Dawn couldn't help but look concerned. "...Are you feeling at least a little better since we had talked to you last?"
"...A little bit," Maylene replied, "My Lucario is slowly regaining some strength, and that's always welcomed. Oh, I was able to get a clerk job at a retail mall here in Oreburgh City. So now I won't be a total drain on Roark's wallet."
Sighing gently, Brock said, "Oh Maylene. You've got to learn that when a guy has a girl in his life, he won't mind it at all if he has to splurge on her a little."
"We're talking about how Maylene feels, not how Roark may feel," Dawn pointed out. Turning back to face the video phone, Dawn said, "Well I am glad to hear that you and your Lucario are both on the road to recovery. Oh, that reminds me." Giving Maylene a serious, knowing look, Dawn asked, "Have you given any thought to accepting an apology from Pa-"
"No way." Dawn was cut off by Maylene, who gave her a serious look. "After what he had put me through..." Maylene said, "...Put my Lucario through... just because he didn't like that he lost to me on his first try at me for the Cobble Badge... I don't think that I can honestly accept any apology from him, at least I can't do so the way that I am right now. Part of me is actually glad that he had gotten creamed by the Darkrai user in round one of the conference. Oh, that reminds me."
Maylene then suddenly took on a serious hint. "...You guys will be in for the fights of your lives now that you're in the Lily of the Valley Conference semifinals, given that Roark had confirmed for me that the Darkrai user is still in it."
"Yeah," Dawn nodded in agreement, "Tobias will provide the biggest challenge to overcome out of anyone still in the Conference."
Sighing, Maylene said, "Well anyway Ash, Dawn, Kenny, congratulations on all of you making it into the semifinals. Good luck in your future matches there." Looking a bit unsure, Maylene added, "And if any of you end up getting matched up to face Tobias, please try not to get too upset when he wins against you." Maylene then ended the video phone call on her end, prompting Dawn to hang up on the heroes's end.
After Dawn had put up the phone, Kenny said, "Geez, what is Maylene's deal? Thinking any attempt to stand up to Tobias is a lost cause just because he has Darkrai in his corner."
"Well in her defense," Brock began, "Tobias hasn't been challenged in the slightest by anyone in the Conference thus far. And Maylene's not the only one to have seen that." Folding his arms over his chest, Brock went on, "He's proven that he has earned what people are saying about him being the trainer most favored to win the Conference in the end."
"Which is why I'll prove everyone wrong by winning the Conference and defeating Tobias!" Ash declared as he stood up, with Pikachu on his shoulder crying out in agreement.
Seeing Ash confidently boast how he was going to defeat Tobias and win the Conference put a small smile on Dawn's face, reminding her of just how great of a person Ash was. Granted, she had a dreading feeling that Ash would lose to Tobias if he faced him; after all, Tobias boasts multiple legendaries, so virtually no one in the conference stood a chance against him. This was real life now, not Dawn and Kenny's previous life where having the right setup and strategy would let one pull off in the video games what would be impossible in the anime.
The following day was round four of the Lily of the Valley Conference, the first day of the full battles. Dawn faced an opponent who was using an all flying Pokémon team consisting of a Skarmory, a Tropius, a Swellow, a Beautifly, an Altaria, and a Pelipper. Dawn won fairly handily, using a mix of Luan, Luna, Souji, and Chi-Chi. With her place in the top four secured, Dawn left the stadium so that the remaining round four battles could take place.
Ash won his round four battle against someone using all bug Pokémon. His opponent also had a Beautifly, but also had a Dustox, a Kricketune, a Volbeat, an Illumise, and a Butterfree. Ash's Donphan was able to defeat the first four bug Pokémon because Ash had him spam Rollout which, in addition to being super effective against all of the bug Pokémon, kept increasing in damage the more times in a row it was use and it landed.
Donphan was eventually defeated by the bug Pokémon user's Butterfree, but said Butterfree was in turn defeated by Pikachu, who also went on to defeat Illumise, winning round four for Ash and thus securing Ash a place in the top four. Dawn, who saw Ash's battle against the bug Pokémon user, was impressed by Ash's easy win in round four; Ash's round four battle in the Lily of the Valley Conference in the anime in Dawn's previous life was nowhere near as easy for Ash, as there he only had one Pokémon left by the time he won.
Then there was Kenny's round four battle, where he fought against someone running an all psychic Pokémon team consisting of Girafarig, Xatu, Exeggutor, Slowbro, Solrock, and Lunatone. Despite the heavy temptation to do so, Kenny didn't use Black who could have, as Kenny would put it, 'pull a Tobias' and sweep the whole psychic Pokémon team. Using a mix of Roshi, Goofy, Cell, Shallot, and Juan, Kenny won against the psychic Pokémon user with only Shallot and Juan going down in the process of securing Kenny's place in the top four.
Predictably, Tobias defeated his round four opponent with no difficulty whatsoever, sweeping the guy's entire six Pokémon team using just Darkrai to do so.
"...It was in the top four in the anime in me and Kenny's previous life where Ash faced off against, and ultimately lost to, Tobias," Dawn thought grimly as she watched the large monitor randomize who would be fighting who in the fifth round, "And since things have more or less been playing out like the anime did, then I expect that Kenny and I will be duking it out in round five, then whoever between us wins will move on to the final round to fight-"
Dawn's thought process was cut off when the large monitor stopped randomizing the pictures of the remaining trainers in the Lily of the Valley Conference, showing the matchups for round five. To Dawn's complete and total surprise, Ash was not the one who was slated to face off against Tobias during the fifth round. Similarly, it wasn't Kenny who was slated to face off against Tobias during the fifth round of the Conference.
It was Dawn who was set to battle against Tobias in the fifth round.
"...So, I'm set to face a guy who will undoubtedly defeat me," Dawn thought grimly, "Very well, then. I can understand it that this is where my journey through the Lily of the Valley Conference is set to come to an end." Dawn clenched her fists, steeled her resolve. "...But just because I'm slated to fight the guy who is guaranteed to win the Conference doesn't mean that I'm going to be going down without putting up one hell of a fight."
Dawn turned to look where Tobias was looking up at the monitor. He saw that he was going to be facing her, gave a mildly amused hum, then turned to walk away, giving off the air of a person who had already believed that they won. Dawn turned back to look up at the large monitor, to look back up at where she had been paired to face off against the infamous Darkrai user during the fifth round of the Conference.
"...I hope you're ready for a rude awakening, Tobias," Dawn thought firmly, "Because my all-star team and I are going to be coming at you with every trick in the book that I have access to here. I may not win against you, but I'll be damned if I at least don't make you work for your win." Dawn continued to look up at the large monitor, knowing full well she'd have to whip out everything she knew if she was wanting to at least make Tobias sweat.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Author's notes;
Here we see Dawn, Ash, and Kenny all make it into the semifinals, where they start seeing full battles. They also check in on Maylene again, who expresses concern about any of them facing off against Tobias at any point. Those worries will end up coming to pass in round five, where here it's Dawn set to battle against Tobias, rather than Ash battle against him. Dawn plans to make Tobias work, and she'll bring all the know-how she cultivated in her previous life to the table to do so.
The battle will be big.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Luna (female Luxray), Luan (female Weavile), Leni (female Lucario), Souji (male Rampardos)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Goofy (male Houndoom), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon), Juan (male Pikachu; Libre), Black (Giratina)
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Swampert (female), Infernape (male), Noctowl (male; shiny), Donphan (male), Dusknoir (male; shiny)