Author's Comments: Two Battles this chap, two battles next chap, and then there will be a break chapter before we get into the quarter finals, which are two on two matches. I haven't decided yet if the quarter finals will be two matches per chapter or one match per chapter yet, if it is one match per chap the quarter finals arc will be 8 chapters so idk.
"My hair!" May screeched as she looked at herself in the mirror, her brunette locks stuck up every which way due to the static from her pillow.
"I gotcha!" Dawn chimed, the smile on her face a bit too sharp to be innocent.
"No wait! It's actually-" "Piplup use Bubble Beam!" "Pip-LUP!" Puplup's Bubble Beam started hailing down on May's hair, the cold bubbles popping and watering down the staticy mess. Piplup landed on the bed beside her when he was finished, puffing his chest out proudly at his work.
"I hate when you do that, but I will admit its effective." May conceited, running her hair brush through her newly unstaticed hair, before tying in her new blue bandanna. Her style had shifted over the years, but a bandana stayed her calling card, even as it shifted from its original ruby red, to emerald green, and its current sapphire blue. Her current style was a long white tank top under a loose short sleeved crop top and dark blue capris with white and blue flats, nothing drastic but different as she became more mature.
"What Pokemon are you using for the first round?" Dawn asked as she situated her own hair with her usual clips. "You're up against Zoey aren't you?"
May nodded absentmindedly. "I can't decide on Delcatty, or Blaziken." She admitted, glancing over to the sleeping cream and purple normal type.
"Del~" Delcatty yawned, rolling over in her sleep.
The two trainers and Piplup sweatdropped at her antics. "Somehow she got even lazier since she evolved." May sighed mournfully.
Dawn giggled quietly. "So, Ash is a Regional Champion." She stated. She had wanted to bring the subject up the previous night, but Misty immediately started ranting if anyone so much as hinted towards the man.
May simply hummed in agreement. "It's kind of crazy isn't it?" She started bitterly. "All the years he traveled with us and when we turn our backs on him thats when he finally accomplishes something."
"Makes you wonder," Dawn gazed out the nearby window, where she could see two Pidgey play tag mid flight. "Were we really the ones holding him back?"
May didn't respond.
—-
May waved at Zoey from her stage. Zoey had grown taller as she morphed into a young adult, her red hair cut into a pixie cut with longer bangs that swept to the side. Her clothes were generally the same, except she wore blue jean shorts and a short sleeved maroon shirt, likely because of Kanto's hotter weather in comparison to Sinnoh's more frigid temperatures.
"Welcome to the second day of the Preliminary rounds!" The referee didn't hesitate to start once everyone was seated. "Starting us off today is May from the Hoenn Region and Zoey from the Sinnoh Region. Are both trainers ready?"
"Yep!"
"You know it!"
"This is a One on One battle, no substitutions. The winner is decided when one side is unable to battle or the trainer forfeits. Begin!"
"Glameow, Curtain!" Zoey called out. From its Pokeball, a glamorous grey and white cat Pokemon emerged, its tail wound up like a spring with a fluffy white tail tuft.
"Delcatty, Take the Stage!" May sent out not a moment later, watching as the cream cat Pokemon with its own built-in pillow took the stage, yawning tiredly as it did so. May couldn't stop herself from sweat dropping at the normal type.
—-
"Wah!" Bonnie squealed, her blue eyes glimmering at the cute cat Pokemon. "They're so cute!" She gripped Ash by the shirt and shook him back in fourth in excitement.
Chuckling hesitantly, the man patted her head to calm her down. "Maybe you'll catch them if you journey through Sinnoh or Hoenn, but for now lets sit down and watch the match, okay?"
"Okay!" The blonde caved, settling back down in her seat, but she couldn't resist bouncing in her seat a little bit.
—-
"Iron Tail Glameow!" Purring in agreement, the grey cat used her spring like tail to propel herself up, once in the air Glameow's tail shone silver and straightened out before it flipped, aiming its tail directly at Delcatty.
"Now Delcatty, Double Slap!" Delcatty yawned lazily, but in a flash whipped around, using her own tail, powered by Double Slap, to collide with Iron Tail, putting its assault to an end. However, Double Slap hits twice, so with another lash of her tail, Delcatty hit Glameow, making the other cat jump back to give them some distance. "Delcatty, Assist!" Delcatty's right paw lit up a shimmer white ball before two bright green vines sprung from it, zipping towards and wrapping around Glameow.
Glameow growled in discomfort, but Zoey simply grinned. "Thunderbolt Glameow!" Murrowing, Glameow let out a burst of electricity. The electricity flowed through the Vine Whip, leading up to Delcatty, who howled in pain as Thunderbolt struck her, and the vines receded.
"Oh no! Are you alright Delcatty?" May worried over her Pokemon, who shook her pelt to rid herself of Thunderbolt's after shocks.
"Catty!" Delcatty growled, now fully awake.
"Thats my girl!" May cheered in relief. "Now, use Disarming Voice!"
"Del~" The cream and purple cat's mouth opened and pink sound waves shook the battlefield, high pitched in frequency. The soundwaves echoed around Glameow, causing her to wither from the damaging noise.
"Quick Glameow, disrupt it with Shock Wave!" Blue static gathered around Glameow's tail, before bursting forth in a wave of static electricity, canceling Disarming Voice as Delcatty became paralyzed. "Alright, lets wrap this up with Fury Swipes!"
Delcatty struggled to stay standing, blue coils of static rippling up and down her body as Glameow charged her, claws outstretched and sharp. "Blizzard Delcatty!" Delcatty attempted to form a Blizzard from her maw, but her attack stuttered due to a sudden pain from her paralysis. Glameow delivered a flurry of blows, knocking Delcatty back and forth with its Fury Swipes. May grit her teeth and tried to thing. "Double Slap!" Twisting in Glameow's hold, Delcatty's tail lashed out, slapping Glameow across the face once, disorienting her enough that she didn't see the second slap, sending Glameow a few steps away. "Now before she can recover, use Assist!"
Delcatty's paw lit up again, and from her paw shot sharp blades of Silver Wind, knocking Glameow even further away once she was able to stand. "Fury Swipes, and then Shadow Claw!" Glameow stood, she was heavily beat up but she wasn't going down without a fight. Her claws glowed white, outstretching once again before both claws became masked in Ghost Type energy, making loud scraping sounds as she ran towards Delcatty.
"Two can play at that game! Delcatty use Blizzard, and then Assist!" May ordered, hoping for Wartortles Bubble attack, or Beautifly's Silver Wind again. Delcatty's mouth opened to let out a ferocious Blizzard, while her paw lit up. From her paw now fired sharp shards of Ice, courtesy of Glaceon, making the attack a double Ice Type attack. May winced as her plans didn't work out, especially as Glameow used Shadow Claw to destroy the double ice attack, drawing both attacks into Shadow Claw, making the attack bigger in size and glittering with stunning white snowballs. "Disarming Voice again!"
"Catty~" Sound waves burst from Decatty's mouth again, shattering what was left of Blizzard/Ice Shard, and knocking Glameow back. Shadow Claw flickered as Glameow was thrown back by the sudden burst of sound.
"Meow~" Glameow meowed as she was knocked out, eyes in swirls where she lay.
"Glameow is unable to battle. Delcatty and May are the winners!" The ref called out quickly, and Zoey recalled Glameow.
May silently recalled Delcatty, murmuring a quiet thank you to the cat Pokemon as she did so with one hand. Her other hand though was bound in a tight fist, her nails digging into her palm, because she knew. They had won the match, the match in the form of a normal Pokemon battle, but had the battle been a contest battle, she knew she would have run completely out of points the moment Glameow powered up Shadow Claw/Fury Swipes. And as a coordinator, it burned.
—-
"I've never seen a battle like that before!" Serena said in awe.
"May and Zoey are both Coordinators." Ash explained easily. "Pokemon contests are kind of like a mix of normal Pokemon battles, and Showcases. Instead of two Pokemon battling it out, in a contest battle the Coordinators are given points and the idea is to whittle your opponents points away while battling."
"That sounds amazing!" She exclaimed.
"You competed a few times didn't you?" Kaiwe asked, leaning over slightly to join in the conversation.
Ash nodded. "Yeah, they're interesting, they just aren't for me. Right buddy?"
"Rai Raichu!" Raichu nodded in agreement.
—-
"Congratulations on winning May!" Max greeted his sister with a grin, running up to meet her as she neared their seats. "Hey what's wrong? You and Delcatty were awesome!"
May smiled a bit and reached out, messing Max's hair up and causing him to whine. "You're right, we're so good we're definitely going to beat you too!"
"W-Well you weren't that good!" He floundered, pouting when she laughed at him.
May took her seat beside Dawn, who gave her a tense, but comforting smile.
—-
Ash had vanished to talk with the other champions sometime after the first match, something about an audience member losing their Pichu in the crowd. Little protest was put out about the man leaving as no one they knew would be battling until just before the lunch break, when Gladion would be battling against a trainer named Ritchie, so the group of Alolan natives and two Kalos natives watched the remaining matches without him.
Ash didn't return until Gladion was standing to go to his match, panting heavily with Raichu on his shoulder. "Sorry, the little tyke was a better runner than we thought." He sighed guiltily.
"I thought you would miss my match." Gladion teased, helping Ash steady himself.
"Why would I ever miss your match?" Ash asked with a knowing, and flirty smile.
"Well-" Gladion leaned a bit closer to him with an equally flirty smile.
"Oh ew!" Kaiwe gagged, and Lillie, Lana, and Bonnie started laughing while Serena hid her red face in embarrassment. "Get a room! Better yet, Gladion, go to your match before you get disqualified."
Ash snickered while Gladion huffed in mock offense and turned to leave. Ash grabbed his hand before he could get too far, giving it a soft squeeze and causing the blonde man to look at him. "Good luck. Ritchie is a really good trainer." He said with his usual blinding smile.
"I'm convinced you know everyone." Gladion said, somewhat exasperated, but he had grown very used to his fiance's tendencies of knowing everyone and every Pokemon in the years he had known him. With a final squeeze to Ash's hand, the Aether Heir made his way towards the green stage, while Ash took his seat.
—-
Gladion carefully fixed his vest as they waited for the referee. While his hair had more or less stayed the same since his teen years, his style had changed quite a bit. Instead of the edgy 'emo' clothing he had worn, he tended to dress in long sleeve formal shirts, suit vests, and slack(Ash told him it gave him a 'Young Master' vibe, whatever that meant). He also pulled on a single black glove, watching as the silk material glided over his engagement ring to keep it safe from any stray moves. Once everything was in order, he lazily looked across to the blue stage, where a brunette young man with a spiky furred Pikachu stood.
Ritchie had changed very little, other than his brown hair was cut short, and his baggy green clothes traded in for blue jeans and a tight green tee shirt. His hat, while torn a bit from many years, was the exact same as when he was ten, though obviously altered to fit his adult head. Noticing Gladion's gaze, he raised his hand to offer a friendly wave, which Gladion returned out of politeness.
"Sorry for the wait folks." The Referee said into his mic, after finally taking his spot. "The battle between Gladion and Ritchie is about to Begin! This is a One on One battle, no substitutions. The winner is decided when one side is unable to battle or the trainer forfeits. Begin!"
"Lets go Zippo!" Ritchie called out first, throwing his Pokeball out. From the Pokemon popped out a large orange reptile, with stunning teal wings, and a very healthy flame on his tail. The Charizard roared loudly. Noticeably, on its right horn was a holder for Charizardite, but the mega stone wasn't in place.
"Absol." Gladion called out not a moment later, releasing the beautiful stark white Pokemon, who took the field silently.
"Star us off with Flamethrower!" Ritchie commanded, and in an instant a pillar of flame shot from Zippo's mouth, hurling towards Absol.
"Double Team." Absol blinked, and in that moment a ring of Absol surrounded Zippo, all identical to the original. The flame thrower took out one of the doubles, causing it to vanish. "Future Sight." One of the Abasols' red eyes started glowing blue and four wormholes rippled around Zippo, from the wormholes, strong bursts of Psychic energy hurled towards the Charizard.
"In the air!" Zippo's wings flared and with a hearty flap, he was in the air, dodging Future Sight's first blast. "Now use Fire Spin to get rid of Double Team!" With a mighty roar, Zippo unleashed a powerful Fire Spin, sweeping the doubles away and slightly singeing the real Absol before she was able to maneuver away with Quick Attack on Gladion's order. "Hit it with Iron Tail!"
Zippo's tail shone a brilliant silver before he nose dived towards Absol, swinging his massive tail with the intent to hit. "Meet it with Night Slash." Absol's horn glowed dark blue, elongating with power before Absol threw her head back, causing Iron Tail and Night Slash to hit with a loud clash. "On its back." Before anyone could blink, Absol leapt onto Charizard's tail, and ran up his back.
"Shake it off Zippo!" Ritchie ordered, and Zippo was back in the air, trying desperately to shake Absol from his back, but Absol simply dug her claws in, refusing to be shaken.
"Thunderbolt."
"No way! Absol knows that?!" Ritchie gasped, Sparky letting out a worried "Pika!" from his shoulder.
Bright yellow electricity rippled from Absol, shocking the Charizard below her claws, and causing him to roar out, and start descending to the ground. Just as Zippo crashed to the ground, Absol was thrown off, hitting the ground with a thud, but she Quickly got to her paws. Zippo growled, pushing himself up, sizzling slightly from the Thunderbolt.
"Dragon Tail!" Stunning green scales took up the Charizard's tail, before it swung towards Absol, hitting her and throwing her back. "Yes!" Ritchie sighed in relief, but the relief was quickly wiped away as wormholes reformed.
"Quick Attack." Absol was quick on her feet, and hit Zippo in the chest, causing him to skid backwards into Future Sight's range, and get blasted with the Psychic energy. Zippo collapsed, eyes in swirls as he did so.
"Charizard is Unable to battle! The winner of this match is Gladion and Absol." As the referee spoke, Absol collapsed as well, Dragon Tail having done more than they realized, but was quickly returned along with Zippo. "We will be taking an hour for Lunch, the next match, Susie Carmichael vs Phoebe Heyerdal, starts at 1:30."
—-
Misty frowned as the blonde guy, Gladion, exited the stage and glared over to where Ash and his posse were sitting, well standing and cheering. From afar she watched as the man was greeted by the group, Ash all but barling into him to scoop him up into a hug, followed by the blue haired girl, Lana, saying something that caused the whole group of young adults(and one 12 year old child) to burst out laughing. She felt bile rise up and burn her throat, and forced herself to look away. "Let's go get some food." She said to the rest of her group, taking Gary's hand as he helped her up, and refusing to acknowledge the twist of bitterness that festered in her chest.
Author's Comments: Sorry this one took a bit longer as well. As I said battle chapters take a while, but there was also a screw up that I had to deal with. I have whos battling who figured out but for gladion i had him against reggie and I was very confused because i didn't want to write reggie in this story so I had to deal with that, and came to realize my computer turned richie to reggie. Plus the sheet I have everyone's pokemon moves listed on got deleted and i had to completely rewrite it and that was a pain.
Oh some advice if you use the move Assist in a story: Make sure you have moves from all the other pokemon the trainer has, and put them in a randomized spinner. Keeps things fair and interesting.
Next Chapter: The End of the Preliminary Round