(Guest chapter 25 . Sep 11
The fact own helped her win the first battle will bite her in the end)
Most likely, as it was said earlier, allowing Professor Oak to give Iris advice will hurt them in the long run, but we'll cover that later.
Welcome, back everyone. Before we start I wanna say a few things regarding the last chapter. I expected that some would be disappointed in Bonnie's defeat, because Bonnie is on Ash's side, but like I said, most betrayal stories I've read have Ash and his team absolutely analyte the traitors, so I thought it would be nice to mix things up a little and make the gap in power a little more equal. Furthermore, many also recognized that Bonnie's defeat makes sense in this context as Iris is a champion and has more experience, meaning that it would make sense for Iris to win. However, they also noticed that Bonnie managed to push Iris to her limits and nearly won, which is no small feat and will be important in the story going forward. How so you may ask? All I can say is that the answer is in the chapter below. Enjoy.
The battle against Bonnie and Iris had ended, with Iris the victor. While the Stralia Region was disappointed by the loss of one of their own, thunderous applause echoed around the stadium as they were overjoyed that one of Ash's allies was defeated. Iris revealed in the praise and was now one step closer to exposing Ash for the 'cheater' he was.
Seeing Bonnie in tears, Iris decided to gloat as much as she could.
"I told you you'd lose. But honestly what did you expect. I'm a league champion and you're just a stupid kid in way over your head. You should've just followed my advice and surrendered to avoid embarrassment."
Bonnie stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Defeating me means nothing. Something tells me you won't be so lucky next time."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Iris smugly asked while crossing her arms.
"You'll see," Bonnie replied. She returned her fallen pokémon and left the stadium.
Iris scoffed.
Bonnie went back to the waiting room where her friends were waiting for her. She kept her head down, too ashamed to look them in the eyes.
"I'm sorry Ash, I failed," she cried.
"No, you didn't. You did your best and never gave up. At the end of the day, that's all that matters," stated Ash.
"And while you may have lost the match, you've accomplished more than you think," said Clemont stepping forward to comfort his younger sister. "Bonnie this was your first match in the league, it was against a regional champion and you nearly won. That is no small feat and is way more than many people could accomplish during their first Pokémon League. Be proud of yourself, I sure am."
"Thanks Clemont," said Bonnie wiping the last tear from her eye.
"This has also given us a good idea of the traitors strength," added Gary. "Iris is a league champion. Meaning she's one of the strongest traitors. If she struggled to defeat Bonnie, something tells me that the rest of us have a pretty good chance at defeating the other champions and elite four members that sided with my grandfather."
Everyone nodded in agreement, deep down still fearing that the traitors would come to the same conclusion.
Meanwhile, the traitors were celebrating the fact that they had defeated one of Ash's allies. Everyone was congratulating Iris, except for May, she had gone back to her hotel room saying she wasn't feeling very well.
Professor Oak joined them, but he didn't look nearly as happy as they did.
"What are you all celebrating?" he asked angrily.
"Professor, one of Ash's allies has been defeated. We're one step closer to taking him down," gloated Misty.
"Yeah, I've defeated one of those losers. The rest should be easy," said Iris smugly.
"Oh, should be easy, should it?" he asked angrily. "Tell me Iris, why are you proud of your victory over Bonnie?"
"Why wouldn't I be? With her out of the way I'm one step closer to beating Ash," she answered arrogantly. "Not that she was really an obstacle. I'm a league champion and she's a novice."
"Exactly! You're a league champion and you were nearly defeated by a novice trainer in her first Pokémon League," stated Professor Oak.
"Today was still a victory for us," stated Tracy.
"Really? You think struggling to defeat one of the youngest and most inexperienced trainers among Ash's allies is a victory?" queried Professor Oak.
They were starting to realise what Professor Oak meant, remembering the words Bonnie had stated after the match.
"That stupid kid just caught me by surprise," defended Iris. "If I'd fought seriously from the beginning, there's no way she would've won."
"That's another problem. You were arrogant and it nearly cost you the match. What if you had been facing one of the more experienced trainers like Ash or Gary? Do you still think you would've managed to win?" questioned Professor Oak. "How long do you think you would've lasted if I hadn't told you Dedenne was a Fairy type? From what I remember, she was winning before I told you that?"
Iris had no response to that. She knew the Professor was right. Defeating Bonnie was a tiny victory in a much greater war.
"I'm sorry Professor, I'll do better next time," said Iris.
"Good. But I don't just expect you to do better," he said as he turned to face all the trainers and the coordinators. "I expect all of you to perform better then what Iris displayed today."
They all nodded in unison and Professor Oak left without speaking another word.
Professor Oak had a feeling that defeating Ash would be a lot more difficult then he had originally thought.
The next day round two of the tournaments began. As predicted Ash was facing off against Diantha, champion of the Kalos league and one of his secret allies. Despite being allies in this war, Ash was more interested in showing Diantha how strong he'd become in the years since he'd gone into hiding. Diantha expected Ash to give nothing but his full strength in this fight.
The two passed each other in the waiting room while other matches were occurring. Ash told her that she'd better not go easy on him. To which Diantha responded that she has no intention of taking it easy on a 'cheater' and 'Pokémon Abuser'. She then winked at him to remind him, that what she said wasn't true. A big benefit to having Diantha as an ally was that in addition to being a regional champion, she was also an accomplished actress.
The two were now standing at opposite ends of the stadium waiting for the referee to start the battle.
"The battle between Ash Ketchum, Gym Leader of the Sail City Gym and Diantha, Regional Champion of the Kalos League is about to begin," announced the Refferee. "Each trainer will be permitted the use of three Pokémon and the battle will be over when all the Pokemon on one team are unable to battle. BATTLE BEGIN."
Diantha went first.
"Tyrantrum go."
A large Rock/Dragon type that resembled a T-Rex appeared before them.
"Perfect," thought Ash who had just the pokémon to battle this one.
"Lapras, I choose you," said Ash releasing his own Pokémon that resembled a dinosaur but was a Water/Ice type.
"Clever choice Ash but do you really think I wasn't prepared for this?" asked Diantha.
As an Ice and Water type, Lapras was at a strong advantage. Water was strong against Rock and Ice was strong against Dragons.
"I'm fully aware that there's more to a battle then a simple type advantage. I've won battles where I've had the disadvantage and I've also lost battles where I had the advantage. So, trust me I know just having a type advantage won't win me this battle. I'll also confess that I chose Lapras because it was a smart decision," said Ash.
"Well, I just hope you've improved since the last time we fought," said Diantha before ordering. "Tyrantrum use Crunch."
Tyrantrum charged full speed at Lapras.
"No offence Diantha, I thought a champion would be smarter than that," said Ash before countering. "Lapras Ice Beam."
Lapras opened its mouth and fired directly at the charging Tyrantrum.
"Who says I'm not," said Diantha smiling. "Tyrantrum get out of the way just before it hits."
Tyrantrum did as instructed and side stepped out of the way just before the Ice Beam hit.
"Lapras change your aim," ordered Ash.
"I don't think so," countered Diantha throwing her arm out in front. "Tyrantrum Hyper Beam."
Before Lapras could retaliate, Tyrantrum opened its mouth and shot a powerful beam of orange energy directly at Lapras, causing it to go flying back into the stadium wall. Tyrantrum had to recharge after using Hyper Beam, but it didn't seem to matter, as Lapras was struggling to stand.
"Come on Lapras, you can do it," pleaded Ash.
Not wanting to let its trainer down, Lapras pushed through and returned to the battlefield. Diantha was impressed. Lapras was tougher than she thought.
"Now Ice Beam while Tyrantrum is recharging," ordered Ash.
Lapras fired another Ice Beam directly at Tyrantrum who was unable to move due to its need to recharge. The attack made contact and Tyrantrum screamed out in pain.
"Push though it Tyrantrum," said Diantha encouragingly.
Thankfully being part Rock Type allowed it to withstand the attack without taking too much damage. After Ash's attack had ended Tyrantrum had recharged and was able to continue fighting. Ash however knew he needed to move before Diantha could fight back.
"Lapras make a bowl of ice around Tyrantrum," ordered Ash pointing.
Lapras ran forward for a bit before using its Ice Beam to create a wall of ice. It jumped on the ice and continued to use Ice Beam until it had made a bowl around Tyrantrum. A few people were confused by Ash's strategy, but Diantha figured it out almost instantly. Lapras could now use the ice to move faster than Tyrantrum and attack from multiple angles. It was also now more difficult for Tyrantrum to lauch an attack because doing so could cause it to hit the ice and hurt inself in the process. Diantha had to admit it was a good trick, but her Tyrantrum had a move that was perfect for just this situation.
"Tyrantrum Earthquake," ordered Diantha pointing to the ground.
Tyrantrum stopped its feet, which cause the entire stadium to shake. Not only did Lapras fall off the ice bowl it had created, but the ice shattered.
"Now use Dragon Claw before it can recover," ordered Diantha.
Tyrantrum struck Lapras with its mighty claws, once again sending Lapras flying across the stadium. Lapras was hurt, but it wasn't done yet. Ash could see Lapras wouldn't last much longer so he had to make the next move count. One that would affect the entire stadium.
"Lapras use Surf," ordered Ash.
Lapras created a giant wave and sent itself hurtling towards Tyrantrum.
"Once again Ash, you've left yourself wide open," stated Diantha. "Hyper Beam."
Tyrantrum shot another beam of energy directly at Lapras, who unfortunately could do little to get of the wave it had created. Lapras took a direct hit from the Hyper Beam and went flying off the wave. Thankfully, the surf attack continued and landed a direct hit on Tyrantrum. Both pokémon ended up crashing into walls on the opposite ends of the stadium. At first it was believed to be a double knockout, but then Tyrantrum stood up while Lapras remained out cold on the ground.
"Lapras is unable to battle," called the referee. "The round goes to Tyrantrum and Diantha."
Over lookers would think Ash would be angry by the defeat, but he was smiling. While he was saddened by the defeat of his Lapras, he couldn't deny that he was having the time of his life. To battle a league champion like Diantha was a rare opportunity few people got. Whatever the outcome of this match Ash was just glad he had a chance to fight one of the world's strongest trainers in a match.
Diantha understood the smile on Ash's face. She too couldn't deny that this was turning out to be a great battle. She knew if Ash could beat her it would show the world just how powerful he was by training his pokémon through honest methods. This was why she couldn't take it easy on Ash. If he wanted to prove his strength, she needed to fight him with everything she had. Diantha may have gained an early lead but the battle was far from over. Ash was much stronger than he was the last time she'd seen him. She knew Ash could win this and she wasn't going to make it easy for him.
Will Ash manage to defeat Diantha, or will the Kalos Champion be to big of an obstacle for Ash to overcome. Find out next time on Escape to a Far Away Land.
Thanks for reading everyone, please leave a review and let me know what you think. All feedback is greatly appreciated. I know it might be a little annoying that I've ended this in the middle of a battle, but I promise you, you won't have to wait too long time for the next chapter. It's already written, so you won't have to wait for close to a year for a conclusion like you did with Bonnie vs Iris, which again I apologize for. Once again I want to say thankyou to katanaeyegaming for helping with this chapter your feedback has been truly appreciated.
Thanks again everyone see you next time.