Chapter 13: A Battle Packed Festival Part 1

After an hour of preparations, the tournament was ready to begin. As the crowds gathered to watch, the King stood up from his throne to give a speech.

"Greetings, and welcome once again to the Summer Festival. Ordinarily, this would be the start of our jousting tournament, but this year I've decided to mix things up a bit. Recently, many of my subjects have taken to training Pokemon, a goal made easier with the recent invention of the Pokeball. Thus, I've decided to commence the first ever Pokemon Battle tournament, something I hope to hold annually from now on."

The crowd cheered and applauded, making the king smile.

"Since this is our first time doing this, I only allowed sixteen people to enter. But now that I know there's an interest in this, I'll be sure to increase the limit next time. But for now, let's see what our brave trainers will be battling for!"

The queen pulled back the cloth covering the table, revealing a Pokemon egg, making everyone gasp.

"My lead Pokemon researcher, Professor Birch, found this egg washed up on the beach. A search for the parents proved ineffective, so he took it back to his lab to study it. But after a few weeks of waiting for it to hatch, he realized that it was waiting for a strong trainer to unleash its potential. Can the winner of this tournament prove themselves worthy? Let's find out!"

Ash was in the first match, against a blue haired teen.

"The first match will be between Sir Ash and Squire Tate. Each trainer will be allowed one Pokemon, and the battle will end when either one is unable to battle!"

"So, you're this mysterious new knight I've been hearing about? Don't think that just because I'm a squire that I'll be a pushover!"

"I wouldn't dream of it!"

"Go, Solrock!"

"Pikachu, I choose you!"

"Let the battle begin!"

"Start things off with Sunny Day, Solrock!"

Solrock launched an orb of energy from his body into the night sky, creating an artificial sun, momentarily blinding Ash and Pikachu.

"Now use Solar Beam!"

While Pikachu was blinded, Solrock launched a powerful beam of energy, blasting Pikachu backwards.

"Huh? I thought that move required time to charge?"

"Ah, under normal circumstances, yes! But, with Sunny Day active, Solrock can use it immediately."

"Wow! Hey, that's pretty awesome!"

"Thank you, but don't think flattery will win you our battle!"

Ash then turned to Pikachu, who was picking himself up off the floor.

"Pikachu, can you keep going?"

Pikachu shook himself wildly, before nodding.

"Alright then, use Iron Tail!"

"Flamethrower, Solrock!"

"Dodge with Agility!"

Solrock blasted a huge wave of fire towards Pikachu, the artificial sun serving to strengthen it. Pikachu barely managed to dodge it, the flames singing his fur as he ducked around it. But the heat didn't deter him, in fact it only served to fuel his determination. With a mighty leap, he rammed his tail into Solrock, causing the Pokemon to stumble back.

"Solrock!"

"Electro Ball, Pikachu!"

While Solrock was busy trying to recover, Pikachu launched a ball of electricity right into its face, finally putting it down for the count as the artificial sun faded.

"Solrock is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner, which means the battle goes to Sir Ash!"

"Alright, way to go buddy!"

"Pika!"

Tate sighed, and returned his Pokemon.

"You fought well, Solrock. Get some rest."

He then walked over to Ash, and shook his hand.

"Congratulations, Sir Ash. Your Pikachu was amazing."

"Thanks, Tate. Your Solrock was pretty strong too, I never knew Solar Beam could be fired instantly like that!"

"I hope that once we get stronger, you'll accept a rematch?"

"Count on it!"

A few minutes later, it was May's turn to battle. To Ash's surprise, her opponent looked just like his, except she was a girl.

"Ah, Lady Liza! I didn't expect to see you here."

"Good evening, Princess. I hope you don't expect me to go easy just because of your status, do you?"

"I should hope not!"

"This battle between Lady Liza and Princess May shall now begin! Each trainer will be allowed one Pokemon, and the battle will end when all Pokemon on either side are unable to battle! Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

"Then let the battle begin!"

"Go, Lunatone!"

"Poochyena, I choose you!"

"Battle begin!"

"Snarl, Poochyena!"

"Light Screen, Lunatone!"

Poochyena let loose a mighty growl, the soundwaves racing towards Lunatone. Lunatone glowed, creating walls of psychic energy to lessen the damage, the attack barely making it move.

"Now use Psychic!"

"Mud Slap, Poochyena!"

Poochyena dug up some mud from the ground and tossed it at Lunatone. But Lunatone effortlessly floated above it, before surrounding Poochyena with Psychic energy. But much like his opponent's efforts, his attack didn't even faze Poochyena.

"Surprised? Guess you didn't know Poochyena was a Dark Type, meaning Psychic type attacks won't do any good!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you should know that with Lunatone's Levitate ability, your Ground Type attacks won't do you any good."

"Doesn't matter, we'll beat you anyway! Poochyena, use Sucker Punch!"

"Moonblast!"

Poochyena raced towards Lunatone, ramming his head right into Lunatone, making it grunt. But his victory was short lived as he was soon hit with energy straight from the moon, knocking him back.

"Now use Rock Slide!"

As Poochyena got to his feet, rocks began falling from the sky, trapping him in as they kept coming until he was entombed.

"Don't give up, Poochyena! Use Snarl once more!"

Poochyena roared, throwing the rocks off of him, some of them even hitting Lunatone and making it flinch.

"Now use Crunch!"

"Rock Throw, Lunatone!"

Poochyena charged once more, ready to strike Lunatone and end this. Lunatone, not one to go down without a fight, summoned a barrage of rocks to pummel him, but Poochyena just bit right through them before leaping into the air, biting down super hard on Lunatone. Lunatone floated in the air for a moment, before crashing to the ground.

"Lunatone is unable to battle, Poochyena wins! Which means the battle goes to Princess May!"

Lisa sighed, but smiled as she returned Lunatone to its Pokeball.

"Good job, Lunatone. Get some rest."
Afterwards, she walked over to May and shook her hand.

"Congratulations, Princess. You've trained Poochyena well."

"Thank you, Lady Lisa. Your Lunatone was amazing. Tell your brother he fought valiantly."

"I will."

After her battle, May walked over to Ash and sat down, Pikachu hopping into her lap and allowing her to pet him.

"That was awesome, May!"

"Thank you. You were amazing, too."

"Ah, it's nothing. Pikachu and I just did what we normally do, right buddy?"

"Pika Pika!"

"Ninjask is unable to battle! Roserade is the winner, which means the battle goes to Lord Drew!"

Ash and May glanced over to the battlefield, where the green haired Lord was taking a bow, one hand petting his Roserade as he caught a bouquet of flowers, which he happily handed to his Pokemon

"Looks like Drew made it to round 2 as well."

"At least he cares about his Pokemon."

May nodded in agreement.

"He's an ass, but I have to give him that. His castle has a big open park for the Pokemon to play in. Still though, I wish I could take him down a peg."

"Who knows, you may just get your chance."