Chapter 7

When we arrive at a deserted town near an old mine, we find a lot of Psychic Type Pokemon having a dance party. And there are the Ghost Type Pokemon who don't like how noisy they are and want to stop them. In the end, we decide to have the Psychic Pokemon party in Abra's soundproof psychic bubble so that the Ghost Pokemon won't hear a thing. And Emerald also captures a Dusclops for himself.

On the way to the Battle Arena, May's Munchlax falls ill, even refusing to eat. An elderly couple approaches us, and we are surprised to see the old man has a Mime Jr..

"That is some fever... but I'm sure I can help." Then they decide to take us to their house.

After we put Munchlax on the bed, we decide to find the nice couple who take us here. But much to our surprise, we find Team Rocket also there.

"It's Team Rocket!" Serena gasps, but just then, James suddenly says, "Guys! Long time no see!" And then he brings us out of the room.

"Alright, what are you doing here?" I demand.

"You watch your step. There's a nice old couple living here and help with the Pokemon." Emerald says.

"Will you guys give me a rest?" Then he reveals that this place is actually one of his vacation houses, and the couple is James' grandpa and grandma, and he lies to them that he's the president of a company that didn't exist.

"So that means you're rich..." Max says.

"Yeah, but what are you twerps doing here, too?" James asks.

"See... my Munchlax is feeling really sick, and your Nanny and Pop-Pop are helping us take care of it." May says.

"That's not surprising at all. Since you're here, how about we call a truce?" He says, "I promise I won't do anything nasty while we're here as long as you guys keep it a secret about me being in Team Rocket. I couldn't bear to hurt Nanny and Pop-pop..."

"I feel the same way too." Reisa says.

"After all they've done to the Munchlax, it's the least we can do." I say.

Then Nanny and Pop-pops show us around the house, and for some reason, I start to feel bad if we try to kill James after the 1000th time they annoy us...obviously, I'm not going to count this one, but that will change when we see that Jessie and Meowth are still doing their nasty ways.

And when we find them trying to steal the Pokemon, James surprisingly helps us free the Pokemon this time.

"How dare you, have you no shame?" James yells.

"You prepare for trouble." "And you guys are going to cover your eyes!"

Jessie sends out Seviper and I call Rhydon to battle. When James sends out Cacnea, he yells, "Not them! Seviper is the enemy for now!"

This causes Jessie and Meowth to be surprised. "What do you think you're doing siding the twerps?"

"I'm siding with Nanny and Pop-pops!" James says. Cacnea complies, lashing Seviper with a Sandstorm and Needle Arm. James and I have Rhydon and Cacnea attack together, with the Rock Blast and Pin Missile combo sending Jessie, Meowth, and Seviper blasting off. Nanny and Pop-Pop rush into the greenhouse having heard all of the commotion, and James admits we were simply playing with the Pokémon. Jessie and Meowth suddenly crash through the ceiling next to the couple and act like nothing happened.

The next morning, we set off, May thanking the couple for the treatment Munchlax received, and the couple also bids us good luck in the Battle Arena. Although we didn't get to say goodbye to James, but I know he'll be back with Team Rocket and things are going to be like they were...

When we are resting in a Pokemon Center, we meet Scott. "I have a feeling I'd see you kids soon."

"How are you doing, Scott?" I ask.

"Nice to see you again." The others greet.

Since he's here, that means the Battle Arena is nearby, and he reveals, "Greta is the Frontier Brain in the Battle Arena. And she is really tough."

Then we all head to the Battle Arena, I try to yell, "Hello in there!"

But nothing happened, and Scott says, "We wish to have a battle." That's when the door opens. Greta comes out with a lot of students. She says, "The Battle Arena welcomes you. I am the Frontier Brain and the Arena Tycoon as well. Greta."

"Thanks, and this is your challenger, Ash Ketchum." I step forward and say, "It's a pleasure to meet you. And this is Pikachu, Meowsie, and Absol."

"A pleasure." Greta says, "I hope you're ready for a real battle. First, you'll have to face my students."

Then a student asks me to go to the arena, and then I start to face a trainer first. The three Pokemon I chose for this one are Pidgeot, Sceptile, and Snorlax, and all of their levels are reduced to Level 50 and so are my opponents'. At first, I thought I just needed to knock out all three Pokemon from my opponent, and I successfully did so in the first match. There is also a guy who will heal my Pokemon after every battle, just like in Battle Frontier.

"Seems like these guys are not that tough after all." I say. But in the second round, Sceptile struggles against a Jynx, who uses Lovely Kiss after I manage to strike a Night Slash attack on it, Sceptile wakes up after Jynx uses both Blizzard and Psychic to deal some damage, and Sceptile is still standing, but the referee yells, "That's it! We will now go to judging to determine the winner!"

"Wait, what?" I was confused, and then the referee states, "Judging category 1, Mind! The Pokemon showing the most guts! Judging category 2, Skill! The Pokemon using moves the best! Judging category 3, Body! The Pokemon with the most vitality!"

I noticed that on the board, I lost the Mind, win the Skill, and then I had a draw with the Body. Then much to our surprise, both my Sceptile and Jynx are counted as fainted as we have to switch the next Pokemon. After 3 turns without defeating the opponent, this time I get a 5-on-1 with the draw in mind this time, and the opponent Pokemon faints as a result.

"So what is actually about the Mind, Body, and Skill?" May asks.

Scott says, "I should explain the rules about this one. As you can see, every Pokmon in the arena is given three turns to use, and if no winner is decided after three turns, then the battle will be assessed. They will be scored based on their 'Mind', 'Skill', and 'Body'. The Mind score is based on the amount of attacks that were executed. If you defend all the time, you will be judged a weakling. Skill is exactly what it says, a score that is based on how effectively the Pokemon executed in skills. And for Body, it is a score that is based on how much vitality the Pokemon lost during the course of the battle."

Emerald says, "And since Brother Ash can't change the sequence of the Pokemon that he brings along for the battle, even if he bumps into a Pokemon of an opposing type, it is still possible to win because of how the battle is scored."

"Wow..." The others are listening in amazement. After I finished my seventh battle, I only got one Battle Point this time.

"Only 1? I guess this doesn't take too much time like the Battle Factory..." I say. "So how many rounds should I go before facing Greta?"

"To win the symbol, you'll have to face Greta in the final match of the 8th round." Scott says.

"That means... Ash has to battle 48 more battles?" Serena asks.

"Great... we're going to spend more hours watching Ash's battles..." May frowns.

After 7 rounds, I'm now with 22 Battle Points, and after my 55th battle, it is finally Greta's turn. Greta says, "I don't know how to say it, but... To put it bluntly, you look pretty weak. Are you sure you're up for me?"

"Oh? You're quite confident in saying so, if you don't know I was able to beat Lance and Wallace." I say. "I also swiftly defeated the 55 opponents before you as well."

"Hmm... Well, all right! We'll take things easy to start with! Okay! Let's see you ignite my passion for battle!" Greta says.

She starts off with a Heracross, and my set order is Pidgeot being the first one. I have Pidgeot go for Aerial Ace first, and when Pidgeot strikes Heracross, it goes for a Reversal to send the damage back.

"Let's see how you can take this. Rock Tomb!" I have Pidgeot dodge the attack with Agility, but just before I can finish with the Wing Attack, Heracross dodges the attack and uses Megahorn, hitting Pidgeot.

"That's it! We will now go to judging to determine the winner!" In the first round, I lost the Mind because Greta used 3 attacking moves and I used 2. For the Skill, we both miss one attack, so it is a tie. And for the Body, it is obvious that I won this round because Heracross' HP is lowered than Pidgeot's.

"We have a tie!" And that means we have to forfeit Pidgeot and Heracross in the end.

"That sure is a bad start for both sides." Max says.

"You're right about that." May says. "If Ash didn't use the Agility and use an attacking move instead, he would have the win."

"I can't blame him because he wants Pidgeot to dodge the super-effective Rock move." Serena says.

"And now, to bring out my Pokemon. I'm going to go with Umbreon!" So the second Pokemon is Umbreon versus my Sceptile. I say, "Sceptile! Quick Attack, let's go now!"

Sceptile approaches a Bullet Seed, though Umbreon blocks the barrage with Psychic. "Let's get them, Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade this time. But much to my surprise, Umbreon dodges and goes for a Confuse Ray, which causes Sceptile to crash into the pillar instead.

"Sceptile! Use Quick Attack!" I yell, but much to my surprise, the Confusion causes Sceptile to hurt itself, and Umbreon goes for a Feint Attack that sends Sceptile flying.

"Sceptile! No!" I yell, and Sceptile hits the ceiling, falls to the ground, and faints.

"Excellent, Umbreon." Greta says.

"I can't believe that Confuse Ray really cause Ash this match..." Reisa says. "He didn't even get to the Mind, Skill, and Body aspects..."

Scott says, "Greta's Umbreon is a strong opponent after all."

Serena says, "Ash only has a Snorlax left..."

Greta says, "Well done. You show a lot of courage out there."

I say, "Thank you, but we're just getting started!"

My final Pokemon is Snorlax, and Greta says, "Umbreon! Use Feint Attack!" When Umbreon tries to attack, Snorlax uses Protect to protect itself.

"That is a bad move, Ash! Protect will lower the score of its Mind!" Emerald yells.

"That sure was some defense." Greta says, "But you can't win with defending!"

"I'm going to win this for sure. Use Body Press!" "Stop it with Psychic!"

But much to Greta's surprise, Snorlax dodges the Psychic attack and slams itself on Umbreon, landing a critical hit. "No way!" Greta gasps.

"Finish it with Ice Punch!" I say, and before Greta can have Umbreon use Body Slam, Snorlax uses the Ice Punch, freezing Umbreon and knocking it out.

"Alright! We did it!" I say.

"That's awesome!" Max cheers.

"Snorlax manages to pull it off!" Reisa says.

"Now they're tied with one-on-one." Serena says.

"That Ash, his strategy is really impressive. But Greta has one Pokemon that hasn't battled at all. This should be something."

Much to my horror, her final Pokemon is a Shedinja. "It's up to you, Shedinja."

"Of all the Pokemon... she has to use a Shedinja?" Emerald asks.

"It has the Wonder Guard ability, which means Snorlax can only use five moves..." Max adds.

"But Snorlax is a Normal Type, and that means Shedinja can't also use its Ghost moves as well." Serena says.

"Okay, Shedinja! Let's go with the Return attack!" Return? I immediately have Snorlax use Rollout, it is the only move for Snorlax to hit Shedinja because of the Wonder Guard ability, but when Shedinja dodges the attack, Snorlax is about to hit the other students. Fortunately, they all run off, but somehow Team Rocket is also hiding in the crowd as well.

"Not you guys!" Reisa gasps.

"Team Rocket, what are you doing here?" I demand, and they also start their annoying motto once more.

"Team Rocket, I heard about you! You're the group who raided the Silph Co. two years ago!" Greta says, and Jessie says, "Oh, a fan."

"But the autographs will have to wait." James says as they try to take Pikahcu. But Snorlax's Rollout crashes them and sends them flying.

"Yes, nice work, now where are we?" Greta asks.

"Snorlax! Just continue to use Rollout!" I say. I have to bet that Snorlax is able to hit Shedinja with the attack, and in the second round, Shedinja dodges the attack and goes for Confuse Ray, confusing the Snorlax.

"Not another Confuse Ray... that only makes Snorlax's Rolling even worse..." Emerald says.

"Snorlax! Don't give up!" I yell. "Roll around in circles for now!"

Then Snorlax tries to fight the confusion with dizziness, and once it works, Snorlax lands a direct hit on Shedinja, knocking it out of the battle before the Mind, Skill, and Heart judging can work.

"We did it, Snorlax!" Snorlax hugs me and I can't believe we've won. Reisa says, "Despite having the ability Wonder Guard, Shedinja only has 1 HP no matter what. That hit of Rollout really saves him from losing!"

Scott says, "I'll say this, there are only a few trainers that can outsmart Greta."

Greta says, "Well, Ash. You are tough after all! I like you!"

"Thanks, I haven't had a fun battle this long time." I say.

"I also haven't watched a fun battle in a long time as well." Scott adds.

"It's my pleasure to give you the Battle Arena win. The Guts Symbol." I receive the symbol along with 13 BP. Max says, "You earned it for sure."

"Yeah, you sure did." May says.

"Don't forget that's Frontier Symbol number 2." Serena says.

"And your next battle for number 3 will be Battle Done. It is just south of Lavender Town." Scott says.

"Don't forget. Keep that fire burning. It's going to be fun the next time! I'm looking forward to it!" Greta says.

"Right, you can be sure it will never go out. I promise." I say as we bid farewell to Scott and Greta.

Here is a new chapter, and this is the chapter of the Battle Arena and I hope you like it. The next chapter will be back to N's perspective.