Chapter 38

Just after we leave the preserved area, Daisy decides to bid farewell to us and give me the Silver Badge, which is silver colored. And we continue towards Silver Town until we notice people gathered at a large closed gate.

"Excuse me, are you guys waiting for something special?" Ash asks a pair of bystanders when they get there.

"Yeah, you haven't heard about that? The Torch!" The man says.

"What Torch?" Reisa asks.

"We're talking about the Johto League Silver Conference Torch!" The man says.

"We can see the torch here?" East asks.

"You're standing in front of the Ho-Oh shrine. The torch starts its journey right on this spot." Another man says.

A shrine attendant finally opens the gate and explains that the torch runner is currently delayed. I rush forward and ask, "What is wrong here?"

Great, a lot of people started to recognize me as the one who won the Kanto League and the Johto Grand Festival. The attendant says, "If that's case, I want a giant favor to ask of you, is that okay?"

"I guess so..." We say. Then he tells us that the trainers so far have been running away in fear after asking them.

"I see. No sweat. I'll be happy to help all out." We turn around to see a boy with a Houndoom step in front of me.

"Um… who are you?" Lillie asks.

"Oh, my name is Harrison. I am a Pokemon Trainer from Littleroot Town."

"Littleroot Town, so you are a Hoenn Native." Reisa says. "Both of us are also from Hoenn."

"Well, it is nice to see two more people from Hoenn here, are you here to join the league as well?" Harrison asks.

"No, I am here to cheer my friend Ash." Then we introduce ourselves to him.

"Oh, I have heard of you. You have had a lot of achievements. Nice to meet you." Harrison shakes hands with me.

With Harrison now on board, we follow the attendant to the shrine building.

The attendant shows us the torch and he says, "There is one little problem. We can't get to the actual flame to light it."

"How come?" East asks.

"You see...the Ho-Oh Shrine was where a terrible war was fought. People ravaged the place so badly that the Pokémon suffered because of it and the vegetation was wiped out. Ho-Oh appeared after a battle and unleashed a rose-colored flame that set the area alight and destroyed the weapons of war. From the ashes came new life and the area was restored to nature. But a bit of a tree was left burning for the longest of times. And we placed the fire in a shrine declaring the Sacred Flame that is now housed in the Ho-Oh Shrine." The attendant says.

"Wow...that is a new thing to hear." Kris replies.

"You need the sacred flame to light the torch, but where is the flame?" I ask.

"It is in the shrine way on top of the stairs. And the sacred flame is stored inside." The attendant says, "There is a wild Sneasel up there that lives very close to the shrine."

"Sneasel... that's one of the Pokemon we haven't gotten yet." I say. "I'm going to capture that Sneasel."

"That Sneasel is quite a terror. It is quite territorial because they will attack every trainer or Pokemon that approaches the shrine no matter what. Every Trainer who volunteered to try to stop the offending Pokémon ended up coming back with hurt Pokémon, broken bones, and other serious injuries. It gets worse when he's teamed up by Machoke and Machop." The attendant says. "Without the fire, the ceremony for the Silver Tournament can't start, and then it will be no tournament this year."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that we can get it secure no matter what." I say.

We get upstairs to the shrine, then the three Pokemon come and prevent them from taking it. I try to approach the top, but I almost get battered by Machoke's arm. I lean backward and avoid it.

"Ash!" Lillie rushes to me in time to avoid a calamitous fall down the stairs. When everyone reaches the top, we spot the Machop and the Machoke that the attendant was talking about.

"Wait, Sneasel, please hear us out! We need that fire to start the tournament." Reisa says.

But the Sneasel doesn't listen and still tries to attack them. So Reisa sends out Corsola and Harrison sends out Houndoom.

Harrison has his Houndoom use Flamethrower on Machop. With the Fighting duo occupied, Harrison says, "Ash, this is your chance!"

I nod and rush into the shrine, and I open the door and gaze at the magnificent Sacred Flame for a moment before Sneasel tries to take a swipe at me.

"Woah, Sneasel!" I gasp.

"Feraligatr! Hydro Pump!" Lillie rushes in and then sends out the Pokemon to attack, but Sneasel leaps and avoids it. Sneasel strikes back with Slash and knocks Feraligatr down, but not out. Corsola and Houndoom finally knock out Machoke and Machop with a Tackle attack and Flamethrower respectively. The group now runs over to me. Feraligatr tries another Hydro Pump, but Sneasel dodges it again.

Finally, the Sneasel uses Shadow Claw to slash Feraligatr. With the weight, it falls and then he also sends Lillie right back down the hill, and their descent ends when they collide into a tree.

"Lillie! Are you okay?" Everyone comes to her aid.

Lillie smiles, "That Sneasel is stronger than I thought, I have decided, as a future Ice Master, I am going to capture him."

Later, we return to the shrine, but Machoke and Machop have recovered. I use Donphan and Harrison uses Houndoom. Donphan takes Machop down with a Take Down and Houndoom hits Machoke with a Headbutt. This knocks the fighters back, but Sneasel orders them forward again. Houndoom and Donphan lift them up and throw them down the hill. The duo crashes through a tree and hits the ground hard, much to the surprise of the shrine attendant.

"Now it is the Sneasel..." Harrison says.

But then, Team Rocket appears with a Sneasel balloon, they also perform their motto.

"Why is Meowth wearing a Sneasel costume?" Kris whispers to Reisa.

"Probably trying to deceive the Sneasel..." Reisa groans.

Meowth approaches Sneasel with an enticing present box, which contains a smoke bomb. Sneasel slashes at Meowth, and as he flies backward the smoke bomb still hits the ground and explodes. Jessie and James rush into the black smoke to collect Sneasel before lifting him back into the air. The pair happily declare that Meowth has officially been retired. As the pair laugh, Jessie is mortified to find that she actually grabbed Meowth. Out of revenge, Meowth gives both Jessie and James a good scratching to the face. Jessie attempts to throw Meowth away. However, he instead lands on the Sneasel balloon and bursts it with his sharp claws, sending Team Rocket blasting off.

The smoke clears and the group is surprised to see that Sneasel is still there. "There's Sneasel... Now we should try to capture it." I say.

Lillie nods and sends out Typhlosion, using Flame Wheel, it hits Sneasel and knocks him out. "Good job!" I say.

Lillie throws the Pokeball and captures the Sneasel in the end.

Sneasel: The Sharp Claw Pokemon: Dark and Ice Type. This cunning Pokémon hides in the cover of darkness, waiting to attack its prey.

With the obstacles now clear, the torch runners can finally begin the long-awaited relay to the Silver Conference stadium. The shrine attendant thanks everyone for their efforts and reveals that he has decided to hire the Machoke and Machop to permanently protect the shrine.

"So now that the league can start, we are rivals now." Harrison says.

"You bet, I am looking forward to it." I say to him as well as Ethan.


After we register for the league in the Pokemon Center, they hear a familiar voice.

"Old habits die hard, huh? Ashy Boy?" Gary says.

"Gary!" I gasp.

"Long time no see, huh?" Gary says. "This conference is important to me. And I see you still have that naive enthusiasm."

"Oh really?" I start to get annoyed.

"Just because you win the Indigo League with luck doesn't mean you're going to win this time." Gary says.

"And just because you and Ash are main rivals doesn't mean that you can ignore me." Ethan says with confidence.

"He is right, you know." They then see Silver walking towards us.

"Silver..." I say as Silver adds, "Although you two have prove your strenth when battling against Team Rocket in Goldenrod City, but the true winner will be me."

"We'll see about that." I sigh, not wanting this to continue.

Later, we are at the Athlete's Village, we see Mr. Goodshow handing out balloons to children.

"Mr. Goodshow! How are you?" We greet him.

"Say, Ash. It's been a long time since I saw you, are you in this Johto League as well?" Goodshow asks.

"You are right." I say. "And it will be a breeze like last time."

"As confidence as I see." Goodshow remarks. "I'm looking forward to seeing you at the conference."

We enter our accommodation, a hotel room complete with a view of a lake and a computer for analyzing the other competitors. As I sit on a comfy couch, Lillie says, "Well, Ash. You still have some challenging battles ahead."

Reisa says, "She is right, there are the Screening rounds, which are one-on-one battles. The reason is that they are going to trim the field of 200 down to 48."

"Seems tough." I mutter.

"Yeah, but with the match-ups entirely computer-determined, no trainers are going to battle more than three times." Lillie says. "I am sure you can pass it as well as Ethan."

"Thanks, I really need that." I smile.

My first opponent is Salvador from Cherrygrove City. I send out Feraligatr while he sends out Furret.

I order a Mega Punch, which Furret evades with a Double Team attack. Feraligatr soon finds himself surrounded and confused by Furret and its duplicates. Salavdor orders a Swift attack, and the move hits its mark. Feraligatr holds his ground and then it tries to use Thrash. However Furret Digs underground and follows up with a direct Headbutt on it.

Salavador continues to use the Dig and Headbutt combination and each time Feraligatr is struck down. As Furret prepares to land another Headbutt, I have Feraligatr bite onto Furret's back. Furret attempts to shake Feraligatr off, but it is unable to. It soon dives into one of the dug holes. This allows Feraligatr to Hydro Pump a trapped Furret, and a final Mega Punch seals the match for me. I have no further troubles in the screening process, as Espeon and Typhlosion helped me earn another two victories.

As for Ethan, he is doing very well, with Exbo, Aibo, and Togebo, he also advanced to the next round like me.


Back in the Pokémon Center, I noticed that Gary, Silver, and Harrison have also passed the screening round.

"Wow...this is going to be tough as I thought." I say.

"After all..." Goodshow suddenly appears in front of them. "This isn't going to be easy. The 48 trainers are placed into groups of three in the semi-final round, where only one Trainer from each group will advance to the Victory Tournament."

"But it won't be hard for us." Ethan says, "Right? Ash?"

"Yeah..." Now I wonder what is actually hard in this conference.

That night, I can't get any sleep from all the anticipation. I get out of bed, and accidentally wake Lillie, Pikachu, and Togetic up. We all go out for a walk to clear our heads. Then we also stumble across Gary, who then says, "I didn't know that you two are having a night date at a time like this."

We blush and we try to deny that. Then Gary asks us to sit beside him, and he says, "When I looked at the moon, I always remembered our first journey. I don't know what could have been...what if something different happened that time?"

"You are right..." Lillie says. "We should stop hating each other, right now it is about the rivalry."

Then we make it clear to each other that they will defeat anyone who gets in their way to the top, that also includes each other.

The next day, the Opening Ceremonies begin. Silver Stadium, the Pokémon Stadium for the Silver Conference, is filled to capacity, awaiting the arrival of the finalists, and even Professor Oak, Tracey, Professor Elm, and my family watching from home.

The semi-finalist Trainers are soon corralled off awaiting their entrance cue. But suddenly, a pair of officials approached me, at the back of the line, and they asked him whether he has a "Silver Pokémon Footprint Panel", and that I could be disqualified if he did not.

"Strange, I didn't know there was a thing..." I already know that the two are Team Rocket, and of course, they try to take Pikachu again and tie me up. Fortunately, Gary and Silver manage to find me and untie me.

"Team Rocket! They still got my Pikachu!" I say.

"Not for long now." Silver says as we chase after the idiot trio. Then the trio bumped into the Torch Runner and crashed, I got Pikachu while Gary got the torch. They try to run away, but Silver says, "Not so long you clowns."

He has Sneasel use Icy Wind to send them flying. We also rush to the Torch Runner, he is injured because of Team Rocket.

"He must have sprained his ankle." Gary says. "You shouldn't run on it."

"But they're waiting for the torch..." The runner mutters.

Then I decide to bring the torch to the stadium, I then make my way into the arena and run up the stairs to light up the big torch. Everyone is cheering for me because they know who I am, and after I light up the giant torch, Mr. Goodshow walks onto the center stage and gives a resounding speech to kick off the Silver Conference.


The day after the opening ceremonies, at the Athlete's Village Pokémon Center, we are finding their groups.

"So I am in Group E..." Ethan says, "What about you, Ash?"

"I am in Group H." I say. "The semi-final round is a round-robin tournament, where each Trainer battles the two others—with three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. The Trainer with the most points in the group stage will move on to the Victory Tournament."

"Though it is really confusing, it will be fine." Kris says.

When they head outside, we meet Ash's first opponent, a young girl named Macy. Then Team Rocket tries to steal her Vulpix and we have to save her Pokemon. However after they are sent flying, Macy gives a look that Kris and Lillie are giving me all this time, and I can see Lillie and Kris are glaring at her.

"So are you Ash's Girlfriend?" Macy asks Lillie.

"It doesn't matter if I am or not." Lillie says.

"Then get out of his personal life! I believe that I have a romantic future ahead with him." Macy says.

This is what I don't like about girls... I decide to run away as soon as possible and I yell, "I'm going to prepare my match!"

"Ash! Wait!" Then I can hear Macy saying something about going on a date with her if I win the match, Lillie says, "You better win this."

Kris says, "Yeah, you can't lose to her."

I sigh, "Don't worry, I don't feel anything to her."


At the B-Stadium, the match begins, with Macy making the first move. Macy sends out Slugma, while I go with Donphan. The battle began by exchanging Flamethrower and Mud Slap, but Macy, anticipating that a Ground Pokémon would be sent out, told Slugma to use Double Team to evade Donphan's attacks.

It works for a moment, but the luck runs out as Donphan manages to hit Slugma while evading with a Rollout. Donphan uses Earthquake and Rollout in quick succession. Slugma retaliates with another Flamethrower, but Phanpy blocks with Defense Curl. Donphan also blocks Slugma's Body Slam, and hits another Earthquake on the recovery. One Take Down later, and Slugma is out for the count.

The second Pokemon is Typhlosion. Donphan starts with a Rollout, but is counterattacked with a Flame Wheel, followed by a Quick Attack. Donphan's attempt at a Takedown is met with another Flame Wheel, knocking it out.

"Slowking! I chose you!" I take out my Water Type Pokemon. Macy pulls Typhlosion out and calls on Electabuzz.

"An Electabuzz?" I gasp.

"Don't think I will only use fire Pokemon." She replies.

Slowking begins with a Water Gun, but Electabuzz blocks it off with a Light Screen. Slowking's Confusion manages to break through, however, this allows Electabuzz to land a Thunder Punch, knocking it out.

"Well, here goes nothing. Tyranitar! You are up!"

Macy is terrified at the sight of the Pokemon, but she quickly tells Electabuzz to use Thunderbolt, Tyranitar hits it with Ancient Power before Electabuzz can fire the Thunderbolt, confusing Macy. Then Electabuzz uses Iron Tail, which causes some damage to Tyranitar.

Meanwhile, Larvitar is sitting on Lillie's lap, cheering for his mother. Tyranitar responded the cheer as she fires a Dark Pulse, knocking it out.

The match is down to Typhlosion against Tyranitar, with momentum back on Ash's side. Tyranitar opens with a Rock Slide, which Typhlosion counters with Flamethrower and Swift. Tyranitar responds to the Swift with Ancient Power. The projectiles collide, creating a smoke cover for a Stone Edge to hit Typhlosion. Then Tyranitar finishes it off with a Hyper Beam.

As for Ethan, he is facing Jackson. He uses Azumarill first, and Ethan sends out Sudobo as his first Pokemon. Although Azumarill is able to land some water attacks on him, she is still defeated. The next Pokemon is Magneton. It defeats Sudobo using a Mirror Shot, but Ethan sends Exbo next and uses its typing to win. The last one is a Meganium. Exbo has a type advantage, but Meganium isn't too weak. It manages to make the battle a draw. But since Ethan still has a Pokemon left, he advances to the next round.


They then meet up with Ethan, I ask, "How is it?"

Kris says, "He gets advanced, I assume you guys do as well?"

"Of course." Then Macy appears again, showing her newly evolved Magcargo to them.

"Even though we can't have a date, this Magcargo will be the reminder of the love between me and Ash." Lillie and Kris are really annoyed at the girl, and I can only sigh.


Here is the first part of the three-part league chapters, I hope you enjoy it and the next chapter will be facing Gary and Harrison.

Ash + Lillie's Pokemon:

Charizard x2 (In training), Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Lapras, Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Furret, Noctowl (Shiny), Ledian, Ariados, Crobat, Lanturn, Togetic, Xatu, Ampharos, Bellossom, Azumarill, Sudowoodo, Politoed, Jumpluff, Aipom, Sunflora, Yanma, Quagsire, Espeon, Umbreon, Murkrow, Slowking, Unown x28, Wobbuffet, Girafarig, Forretress, Dunsparce, Gligar, Steelix (Crystal), Granbull, Qwilfish, Scizor, Shuckle, Heracross, Ursaring, Magcargo, Piloswine, Corsola, Octillery, Delibird, Mantine, Skarmory, Houndoom, Kingdra, Phanpy, Porygon 2, Stantler, Smeargle, Hitmontop, Miltank, Blissey, Raikou, Entei, Larvitar, Tyranitar, Celebi

Reisa's Pokemon:

Blastoise, Tentacruel, Seaking, Starmie, Gyarados, Feraligatr, Lanturn, Azumarill, Politoed, Quagsire, Slowking, Qwilfish, Corsola, Octillery, Mantine, Kingdra

East's Pokemon:

Noctowl, Ledian, Crobat, Jumpluff, Gligar, Delibird, Mantine, Skarmory

Ethan's Pokemon:

Typhlosion, Pichu, Sudowoodo, Politoed, Togetic, Aipom, Sunflora, Mantine

Kris' Pokemon:

Parasect, Arcanine, Hitmonchan, Meganium, Cubone, Xatu, Smoochum