Episode 29: Trainer of the Strong! The Gym Leader is Silver!
Leaving the sunny county of Mexico, the trio took a flight across the Pacific Ocean to Japan, where they would be acquiring their final gym badges to qualify for the Pokemon World Tournament. In the Land of the Rising Sun our heroes arrived at the Kyoto District, where a super strong Pokémon Trainer was rumored to live. The most prominent building in the area was a tower constructed to honor the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh, which also served as a home to the famous Kimono Girls of Kyoto.
"There's so much history here!" Kris said, taking pictures of the tower.
"Yeah, I'm surprised this place is still standing. They built it back during my time, you know," Ashton said.
"Maybe we'll find something on Rei and the others here at the museum," Dylan suggested.
"Let's find the Gym first," Ashton said. Entering the tower, the trio found themselves in an ornate room with ancient tapestries depicting Ho-Oh and Lugia on them, alongside the Legendary Birds and Legendary Beasts. "Oh yeah, this is a fancy place for sure."
"Welcome guests," came a voice, and a kimono girl with a Flareon walked out into the room, giving a bow. "This is Bell Tower, home to Ho-Oh and the kimono shine maidens. What brings you travelers here today?"
"We're here because we heard there was a strong Gym Leader in the area," Ashton explained. "And I've been itching for a strong opponent to face."
"You must be referring to the Daimyo of the tower," the kimono girl said. "If you'll follow me, we may introduce you to him."
The trio followed the kimono girl up the tower, making their way up to the topmost floor. Once there they found the other kimono girls, along with a young man sitting on a raised platform. He had red hair that came down to his shoulders and wore a fancy kimono that was patterned after Ho-Oh. He locked eyes with Ashton before giving a nod.
"So, you're here to challenge me, are you?" the young man said, standing up. "If you are, I gotta warn you that I never hold back."
"And wouldn't want you to either," Ashton smirked.
"Oh my, such a young man to be a Daimyo," Delphi said.
"Master Silver is a powerful Trainer, so for him to accept your challenge right away means he can sense your own power," the kimono girl said.
"No way, you're the Silver!?" Kris exclaimed. "You're up there with Trainer Red as a legend, even winning the Johto League!"
"It took a lot of work and finding myself, but everything you see before you is what my strength brought me," Silver said, holding out his arms. "So then, if you want to battle, we'll do it right away. My only rule is that it's a one-on-one encounter, so the rest of you will have to wait outside until the battle is done."
"Ashton is going to get to be a room alone with Silver?" Delphi teased. "I'm jealous."
"No, he's going to be alone with me," Ashton retorted, waving her friends off as the door closed behind her.
Silver reached into his robes, pulling out a Poké Ball from his sleeve. "This will be a first to three knock out match. I hope you're prepared."
Ashton nodded, pulling out her own Poké Ball. The two locked eyes, tension rising, before…
"Crobat, Air Cutter!"
"Vulcan, Rollout!"
The Bat and Volcano Pokémon clashed, piercing air catching the spinning body of Vulcan. The Typhlosion bounced off the attack, pushing off a wall of the room and continuing the Rollout attack. Crobat continued to counter with Air Cutter, before Vulcan's movements became fast enough to break through the Bat Pokémon's defense. Crobat cried out in pain, before smirking and sending a Confuse Ray right into Vulcan's face.
"Your Typhlosion's speed is impressive, but how will you fair when your Pokémon can't even focus?" Silver questioned. "Crobat, give this badger a good Bite!"
Ashton grit her teeth, watching as Vulcan held a paw to his head, vision swimming with confusion. "Vulcan, hear my voice and snap out of it!" she shouted. "When I tell you, use Swift in my direction!"
Silver quirked an eyebrow, watching as Crobat closed the distance between opponents. As the Bat Pokémon went in for a bite, Ashton shouted "Now!", making Vulcan fire out a volley of Swift stars. While some of them came back around and hit Vulcan, others sprayed out around the room, digging into Crobat or embedding themselves into the walls of the room.
"Do try to keep damage to the room to a minimum," Silver sighed.
Vulcan shook off his confusion but shuttered as a sickly purple aura emanated from his body. "Darn it! Crobat must have used Toxic with that Bite!" Ashton cursed. "Vulcan, let's finish this before you get knocked out!" The Typhlosion readied himself, before lunging at Crobat and grabbing its body in a hold. Flames turning bright blue, Vulcan caused an Eruption around his body, sending the two Pokémon up in flames. Crobat fell to the floor knocked out, while Vulcan took a breath, still shuttering from the poison in his system.
"Crobat, you did well to start this fight," Silver said, returning his Pokémon. He pulled out a Premier Ball from his robes. "You've showed me your partner, so here's mine. Meganium, Body Slam!"
The Herb Pokémon burst of its Poké Ball, dropping down onto Vulcan with all of its weight. The attack combined with the poison was enough to knock out Vulcan. Ashton called her Pokémon back. "You made sure to take out my best Pokémon to deal with your Meganium. Clever," Ashton complimented. "However, Vulcan isn't my only powerhouse. Orochi, don't hold back and use your Strong Style attacks!"
The Hydreigon came out swinging, using Dragon Rush to close the distance before firing a Flash Cannon. Meganium's petals shone with energy as it erected a Light Screen, nullifying the attack. "My Meganium is built for defense," Silver explained. "However, I will say that your Hydreigon's move almost broke through that Light Screen. What was it you said, Strong Style?"
"My Pokémon are trained in the ancient fighting styles, so don't expect this to be a normal battle," Ashton said. "Now then, keep up the pressure, Orochi!"
The Hydreigon continued with Flash Cannon and Hyper Beam, hitting against the Light Screens that Meganium put up. Whenever an attack went through, the Herb Pokémon would use Synthesis to heal up, turning the battle into a war of attrition. Silver kept a cool composure, commanding his Pokémon with quick and efficient calls, while Ashton kept her fiery passion alive. 'This girl reminds me of myself,' Silver thought. 'She still as a wildfire inside, not yet cooled by experience. Even still, she doesn't lose herself in that fire, instead directing it into her fighting style.'
"Orochi, Speed Style!" Ashton called, the Hydreigon using Dragon Rush to get behind Meganium's Light Screens. "Then point-black Hyper Beam!"
Silver gasped. "Meganium, Petal Dance!" The Herb Pokémon sent out a flurry of flower petals just as it was bombarded by the beam of energy. Smoke kicked up in the room, shaking the building from the intensity of the battle. Once it cleared, Meganium was laid out on the floor knocked out, with Orochi's heads nursing the cuts it got from Petal Dance.
"That's two for me!" Ashton pumped her fist.
Silver showed no emotion as he called back Meganium. "You've done well, but now we reach the end." With a flick of his wrist an Ultra Ball was sent out, followed by a powerful sphere of energy that slammed Orochi into the wall, knocking him out. Out of the smoke came an Alakazam, floating with its psychic powers. "That was just a taste of my Alakazam's power. I made sure he knew Focus Blast to deal with Dark types like Hydreigon, and the damage yours took from Petal Blizzard was just enough to make the attack knock Hydreigon out."
Ashton gave a grunt of annoyance. "Okay then, this is our last battle." She took out a ball and summoned Phantasm from it. Reaching into her pocket, Ashton smirked as she held up her Gengarite. "Do you know what this is? I got during my travels to Egypt."
"A Mega Stone, used to unleash the power within your Pokémon," Silver said. He closed his eyes, giving a smirk of his own as he reached into his other sleeve and pulled out an Alakazamite. "I have one of my own, a prize I won facing one of the strongest Trainers in the Indigo League. Does the name Blue ring a bell to you?"
Ashton nodded. "You're so cool, Silver. Let's give this all we've got!"
The two held up their Mega Stones, shouting in unison, "Mega Evolve!"
[***]
Down below in the tower, Dylan and Kris were getting a tour of the tower from the Kimono Girls, looking through all the ancient tapestries and artifacts that were held there. "And this is a photo taken by an expedition team," one of the girls said, showing a photo that hung on the wall. "It was during a big festival when this city was called Ecruteak."
Looking at the photo, Dylan and Kris gasped as they recognized one of the people in the photo. "That's Rei!" Kris said, pointing him out. "And look, he has Rockruff with him as well!"
"Zorua!" Inari called from Aurora's arms.
"Yes, it looks like our friends made it to their destination safely," the Lucario replied.
"It looks like there were two towers back then," Delphi noted.
"Yes, that photo was taken before the Great Fire of Ecruteak," the Kimono Girl said. "The tower we stand in now is the Tin Tower, while the other one was the Brass Tower. A thunderstorm struck the Brass Tower, causing it to burn down, killing many people and Pokémon inside. Just when it looked like the entire city was lost, Lugia and Ho-Oh arrived and put out the fire. Ho-Oh then did something amazing: it raised three Pokémon from the dead, transforming them into Legendary Beasts!"
"That would be Suicune, Entei, and Raikou," Kris said, looking over at a statue of the three.
"The Tin Tower was then renamed to Bell Tower after we installed a bell on top celebrating Ho-Oh," the Kimono Girl said.
"Oh Inari, look at this!" Delphi called, pointing to one of the displays. Inside of it was a mask in the shape of a Hisuian Zoroark. "I wonder if you'll look like this when you get older?"
"Well, Inari has been training hard with us to get strong," Aurora mused. The Lucario suddenly tensed before shouting, "Everyone outside, now!"
Everyone did as they were told, going outside to see the windows on the upper floor burst. Silver fell out one side, held in the psychic grip of Mega Alakazam, while Phantasm fell to the ground on the other side, the Mega Gengar popping out of the ground and spitting Ashton out safely. "You two just had to go all out, didn't you?" the Kimono Girl sighed.
"Hey, we're just not holding back," Silver said. "Ashton has given me a real challenge today."
"Maybe you should make sure the energy doesn't cause a massive explosion next time," Kris sighed.
"Either way, it's time to finish this!" Ashton said, wincing at bit as she held a shoulder. "That blast really took a lot out of us… but I'm not giving up!"
Silver nodded. "Then let us end this. Alakazam, Psychic!"
"Phantasm, Shadow Ball!" Ashton called.
The two Pokémon sent out their attacks, a wave of psychic energy rushing to meet the ball of ghostly darkness. The two attacks clashed, with Phantasm and Alakazam using their power to try and push the other back. Everyone watched in anticipation as the attacks struggled, going one way, then the other, until…
"Ge-Gar!" Phantasm shouted, ducking into his shadow and letting the attack fly over his head. Alakazam looked around in shock, not noticing as its own shadow grew teeth and rose up, swallowing the Psi Pokémon whole.
"Now Dark Pulse!" Ashton screamed.
Phantasm spit the Alakazam out, swirling up Dark energy that tore into the Mega Evolved Pokémon. When the attack ended, Alakazam lost grip on its spoons, reverting to normal before passing out. Silver looked in shock, gritting his teeth in anger before calming down and smirking.
"Well, it looks like there will always be someone stronger," Silver said, calling Alakazam back. "You did well, Ashton. I think you'll make a fierce Gym Leader one day."
"Nah, I'd rather be a Frontier Brain," Ashton boasted. "I wanna put people through Hell before they can fight me."
"Then you'll need this to continue on your journey," Silver said. He walked over and handed a badge to Ashton, which was in the shape of a blue shield with a silver jewel in the middle. "This Versus Badge is one I seldom get to hand out, but it was worth it. Next time you're in Kyoto, why don't we have a rematch?"
"I'll take you up on that, Silver," Ashton said with a nodded. "With this, I only need one more badge to move on to the World Tournament!"
"And I'll be meeting you there soon as well," Dylan added. "Kris, what's the next Gym we can go to?"
The blue-haired girl pulled out her Pokégear and looked at her map. "There's one in Tokyo that holds a special type of Triple Battle."
"Then Tokyo is our next destination!" Dylan exclaimed.
Author's Note
Silver gets to be his badass self here, with him being the master of Bell Tower being a reference to him having Ho-Oh in Pokémon Masters. The Versus Badge is in the shape of the Versus Seeker item from FireRed and LeafGreen.