"So maybe if I go with Starmie I can use its speed to confuse and attack, or maybe Ninetales would be best as it a special attacker and keep out of the way or Poliwrath can take hits and deal good damage it would be good to get the match over quickly"
The water of the shower head beats down on my head as I rest my forehead against the wall. The day of my preliminary match had come, the first week of the tournament would consist of these preliminaries. The match would be a one v one shoot-out, this style had been adopted for almost all the junior competitions now but originated back in the Johto Conference league. It had been deemed a little harsh to begin with as junior trainers would work all the way to the finals and then only get to show off one Pokemon, however with the plethora of new trainers heading out, tournaments had to be streamlined some way and this seemed to be the easiest way. I push open the shower door and grab the towel from the rail, I dry myself off and pull on my clothes before taking a seat on the bed.
"Come on Dustin, just calm yourself down, you'll do it" I breath to myself as I tap my thighs
My battle isn't for another 3 hours and is on battleground A meaning it is right between the schools and the line of centres. I jump up from the bed and sit myself down at the computer, I load up Nicola's profile once more, she only had 4 Pokemon but all of them looked very powerful. Its normal for junior trainers to have less than 6 Pokemon as it much more difficult to train Pokemon but also to obtain as there hundreds of trainers on the junior routes which means while the Pokemon are bountiful but you need to get there first if you want to get some. Also with so many trainers on the routes, Pokemon are quite wary and will hide away.
"Okay so she has a Hitmonlee, Electabuzz, Weezing and Dewgong" I say as I bring up her profile
She had managed to only just scrape 8 badges having started from Saffron City with a Tyrogue, she had managed to get 7 badges quite easily but had left Sabrina till last and struggled through a month of being unable to get the badge. Only a week before the tournament started did she finally win and gain entrance to the championship. She is ranked 118th out of the 128 competitors.
"Okay lets head to the practice pitch" I say to myself grabbing my backpack
I walk over to the practice pitches, the school pitches had been divided up with nets so a trainer could use a quarter of it for some privacy in working out tactics. I load up the championship app as I have to allocate my team with their moves, only four moves can be used throughout the tournament with changes only being able to be, made before the Semi Finals and Final rounds. I have to think carefully upon each selection. Luckily I had managed to save up a lot of Championship points to use to teach any moves I wanted to my team. Starmie, Blastoise and Ninetales I made no changes too. Dodrio, Jolteon and Poliwrath I only made one change to each, with Dodrio getting Steel Wing, Jolteon Hyper Voice and Poliwrath Belly Drum.
"Okay girl you are last" I say throwing up Venusaurs ball
"Saur!" She calls out happily before running up to me
She nudges her head into my midrift happily as I stroke her head
"Feels like the start of our journey again" I laugh to her as she relents and paces back
I sit myself cross legged on the floor into front of her and smile
"Okay girl we need to take a look at your moves for the tournament, Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, Mega Drain and Sludge Bomb might need a few changes"
"Saur!" She calls back with a nod
"So I have enough points to get you three new moves, I was thinking we keep Sludge Bomb but the other I think we replace, what do you say?"
She nods back happily
"Well we have some options, Solar Beam, Weather Ball, Energy Ball"
"Saur!" She calls out in affirmation
"Energy Ball you want to try that?"
She nods and I smile
"Okay" I say pulling up the instructional video
It shows an older gentleman dressed in almost a karate uniform and he is accompanied by a Vileplume, they take Venusaur and myself of the process of using Energy Ball. It takes a few tries but its similar to Razor Leaf usage so Venusaur catches on very quickly and is able to use it proficiently. We move on and decide upon Earth Power as her other move as it will help against fire types
"So I suppose we just need to pick a last one"
"Perhaps I could help with that" Comes a croaky voice
Wanders in an older lady, past 60 possibly in her seventies, she strolls up supported by her own Ninetales
"Oh hello, uh thank you" say as she brushes past me
"A fine specimen we have here" She says peering down at Venusaur
Venusaur is unsure to begin with but as the mysterious lady pats her she becomes much more passive
"You have a very gifted Pokemon here, what was your name young man?" she questions
"Uh Dustin and thank you" I stammer out confused at the situation
"A lovely name" She says before grabbing a ball from her belt and throwing it down
A hulking Meganium appears and calls out stretching itself outs
"Meganium, could you help me please dear" She calls up to her Grass type
She peers between her trainer and Venusaur before nodding
"Frenzy Plant"
Meganium glows a bright green and white before shooting its vines from its neck flowers into the ground, a huge wave of roots appears and tear the ground up. Both me and Venusaur stand in awe at the huge display of power
"Do you think you and Venusaur would be capable of commanding this move" The lady says proudly and quietly as Meganium coddles up to her
"Thats the ultimate grass move, if Venusaur could use that it would be amazing!" I shout with happiness
"Its a very powerful move but it comes with it downsides" She says leaning against Meganium
"Like what?"
"Venusaur would be unable to move for a brief period afterwards, this period would become longer depending how tired Venusaur is, it only for skilled trainers"
I pause for a moment and think about it. Venusaur is pretty powerful but it would rely on me judging the situation better, I would have to pick the right time to use this move otherwise Venusaur would be completely venerable in battles to comeback
"We can do it!" I shout with determination
The mysterious lady smiles and wanders up
"Then follow me in what I do"
She takes me through the process, the move originally comes out as Power Whip as a single large vines coming from the ground and swatting, after nearly an hour Venusaur is managing to summon three separate vines
"Excellently done the pair of you, now the test will be in a real match"
"A real match?" I say as I turn to the lady
"A real move cannot be a success until it is used in real time" She says with a smile as she returns her Meganium
"Good luck in your battles Dustin, I'll be keeping an eye on you both" She say as she begins to leave
"Wait but can you train us a little longer, my match isn't for another hour" I shout in protest
"You're more than capable plus you should make preparations for your battle" She says with a nod before slowly vacating the pitch
I turn to Venusaur who looks slightly confused
"Well that was interesting, I guess she right, I haven't even picked who I will use against Nicola" I say scratching my head looking down at the ground
"Saur!"
I turn to Venusaur who face has changed from confusion to determination as she continues to call out defiantly at me
"You want to battle?"
"Saur Saur!" She roars nodding violently
"Aren't you tired out from the training?"
She shakes her head before slamming her feet summoning four vines now
I smile and nod
"Of course girl, we will do it together!" I say holding up two clenched fists
AND WELCOME TO THE PRELIMINARY BATTLES, WE HAVE OUR NEXT BATTLE BETWEEN TOW MORE JUNIOR COMPETITORS LOOKING TO MAKE IT TO THE FULL TOURNAMENT, PLEASE WELCOME OUR FIRST BATTLER DUSTIN
I breath out as I walk up to my box, I spot across the way Nicola my opponent is already at her box awaiting me, she quite rotund girl, she has long black hair which is tied up onto a pony tail with dark thick glasses.
OUR SECOND BATTLER IS NICOLA!
The announcer sits up in the small row of bleachers, he has a small table in front of him which holds a laptop which his microphone is plugged into, a few students and staff members of the school make up the crowd.
One of the staff members stand up and walk to the side of the pitch and announces they will referee.
"Both trainers will select their Pokemon at the same time, this will be a one v one match with no time limit. If both trainers are prepared please select your Pokemon" She shouts
"Venusaur!"
"Electabuzz!"
Venusaur slams down to the field with a huge roar, while Electabuzz touches down, it swings its arms around to its side as electricity zip around its body
Okay, Venusaur resists electric moves so we have an advantage
"Begin!" The referee shouts
"Electabuzz, Thunderpunch!"
Electabuzz flashes yellow before darting in slamming it fist crackling with electricity straight into Venusaurs face, she recoils and takes a step back as the electricity encompasses her
"Now Ice Punch!"
Electabuzz other fist glows bright blue and it slams it downwards onto Venusaur who front envelopes in ice
"Venusaur!" I shout as Electabuzz jumps back
"Venusaur you have to break yourself out! Use Energy Ball!"
Venusaur shakes its face trying to summon the ball of energy from it mouth to break the ice but cannot
"Hmmp this is over! Electabuzz Fire Punch!"
Electabuzz darts forward fists glowing red hot
"Use the Ice to block it!"
Venusaur moves its head up as Electabuzz makes contact with the ice, it breaks but as Venusaur moves it attack cracks and breaks the ice but whiff Venusaur completely who still has the charged Energy Ball
"FIRE!" I shout
Venusaur releases the ball which slams into Electabuzzs chest sending it flying backwards
"Sludge Bomb!"
Venusaur follows up firing a barrage of sludge from it flower which connects with Electabuzz. It groggily pulls itself up to two feet
"Venusaur you're doing great!" I shout out as she shakes her head still slightly dazed from the hits
"Thunderbolt"
Electabuzz whirls its arm charging up before send a bolt straight into the ground, tearing it all up causing earth and rock to hit Venusaur before it struck by the bolt too
"Venusaur are you okay?"
She shakes herself and grunts back in affirmation
"Okay Earth Power!"
She slams her two front legs down into the ground which tears up the ground around and flies towards Electabuzz
"In the ravine you made!" Nicola shouts
Electabuzz jumps down it the ravine created by its Thunderbolt avoid damage from the Earth Power
"Fire Punch!"
Electabuzzs sprints up the ravine and jumps up out of the hole slamming its fist it Venusaur face once again. She stumbles backwards as it enveloped in flames
"Venusaur! Sludge Bomb"
She jolts and fires off the Sludge Bomb but it can only skim Electabuzz as it springs itself backwards
"Energy Ball"
"Block it with Thunderpunch"
Venusaur fires off the ball of energy but Electabuzz bats it upwards with it Thunderpunch
"Earth Power!"
Venusaur regaining its composure slams its legs down
"Into the ravine again!" Nicola shouts
Electabuzz dives in again avoiding the ground attack before jumping out to in front of its trainer, Venusaur pants heavily as Electabuzz chortles spinning its arms again crackling with electricity
Gotta think of something, Venusaur cannot take any more hits, I gotta try and hit it when its in the ravine as it going to keep using that to dodge, but Earth Power cannot hit it there, think!
I clench my fists and grit my teeth, before it hits me
"Venusaur Earth Power again!"
Nicola scoffs
"Dodge again in the ravine!"
Electabuzz darts down as the Earth Power misses again
"Gotcha! Now Frenzy Plant!"
Venusaur glows a bright green slamming its vines into the ground around her, the vine tear the ground up and 5 explode from out of the ravine, they slam Electabuzz head on before another bursts from out of in front of Venusaur slamming Electabuzz in the midrift sending it flying towards the ground, it skids across the floor on its back towards it trainer, the dust finally settles revealing Electabuzz out cold on the floor unable to go on
"Electabuzz cannot continue! The battle goes to Venusaur, Dustin advances to the first round!" The referee announces
I stand still shocked that it worked, I come back to it and sprint out to Venusaur who groggily turns to me, as I get to her she smiles wide. I jump into her
"YOU DID IT! YOU WERE AMAZING VENUSAUR!" I squeal as I bury my head into hers feeling my eyes well up
"Saur!" She calls back
I wipe my eyes before meeting Nicola who holds her hand out
"Nice work, the plan was to stay away from you in the ravine and you turned it on me" She says scratching the back of her head with a wry smile
"It was a good plan, I didn't really know how to get around it till the last minute"
"Not good enough to get me through though! Ah well, congratulations I wish you luck in the battles to come, make sure you go all the way" She says with a laugh
"Thanks, we will do our best"
She smile before speeding off to the centre to revive Electabuzz, I turn to Venusaur and congratulate her once more before returning her. I take a deep breath before beginning my walk to the centre
"So you made it!" comes a shout
I turn and see Alvin stood to the side of the field, his arms are crossed and he has a smug look on his face
"Can't believe you made it all the way here, that display was terrible, you got so lucky" He snorts finishing with a laugh
I freeze up and look down, I feel my face go red and feel myself sweat all over
"I I won that's all that matters"
"Barley, I wouldn't even count that as a win to be honest OW!"
I look up to see Alvin rubbing the back of his head, I can see the lady from before wandering up propped up by her Meganium
"Oh I do apologise young man, Meganium uses it vines to support me and it must have hit you by accident" She says with a wry smile
"Whatever!" Alvin spits before rushing off
She waits till he is out of earshot before turning back to me
"Such a detestable young man" She mumbles
"Uh thank you" I stammer as I walk up to her
"Now then, first off congratulations on your victory, you and Venusaur did excellently against a good opponent"
"I'm not sure, she was ranked really low and I barley scrapped through"
"Nonsense, ranking at this stage is worthless, plus in a one v one situation it means nothing"
"Really?"
"Of course, you are all rookies, rookies make mistakes, any one could win this tournament" She scoffs waving her hand
"Regardless, you managed to use Frenzy Plant successfully and at an impeccable time too, I'll be keeping an eye on you" she says with a wink
"Uh well thank you" I say with a bow
She smiles and moves to walk away
"Oh sorry I meant to ask! Who are you?!" I shout as her and Meganium wander away
She waves her hand back
"You'll find out eventually"
I sigh and rub my forehead
"Okay lets head to the centre"
I spend the next few hours at the centre while Venusaur gets healed up, I grab some food from the stalls outside. Grandma and Mom call, they congratulate me on the battle as it had been shown on the battle channels. I take there congratulations even if I do still feel like I got a little lucky. I finally get Venusaur back, the Joy behind the counter advise that the opening ceremony would be in two day times where we would be drawn our first round opponents. I thank her and head back to my cabin for the night, I release Venusaur outside and give her a huge feast, she gobbles it down almost instantly before falling asleep, I return her and smile touching her ball to my forehead
"Thank you for all your work girl"
I open the door, just as I do my phone buzzes, its Ryan
"Congratulations young man! I watched your battle back, a little shaky to begin but you dealt with it excellently" He shouts chuckling as he does
"Uh thanks, I kind of got a bit lucky I think" I say siting down on the bed
"Every win needs a certain amount of luck! That last move was no luck, you calculated and worked out a way around your opponents strategy"
"I suppose, I kind of owe it all to this odd old lady who was wandering around the grounds" I retort
"Old lady? Tell me what did she look like?"
"Uh well she was quite frail, she had to get support from her Ninetales and Meganium, she had black hair but it was speckled with grey, glasses"
He smiles before leaning back in his chair and grabbing a photo
"Look like her?" He says pointing to it
The photo is of Ryan as a kid maybe a bit younger than me with an Eevee which I assume is his Espeon, he is accompanied by his late Grandfather and a younger looking version of the lady
"Yeah! You know her?" I question
He laughs before putting the photo back
"Yeah that's my Grandma"