Chapter 32: Start of the League
Reviews:
Lady Arcanine: I know I answered your question in our pms already but just to remind everyone else, I'm going by the anime version that allows Pokemon to have more then just four moves. So Castform will be able to keep its weather
Dark Drgon: You might be right on the shortness and it could be split as well. And I'm thinking of splitting part of what I planned for this chapter into two now as well. Unfortunately I haven't introduced Tyson in the story so far so I think we'll just have Morrison in this version as a rival along with most of the opponents from the anime. As for Gabby and Ty, well I guess I forgot to include Ash and May's battle with them on TV. So I guess for the story I'd say they missed the broadcast while they were walking to Fortree City. I know in the game it waits till the time when the trainer can see it but no such luck in reality.
Forcesmuggler: Thanks.
Notes: Okay so we are getting a couple more chapters here to avoid cramming a bunch of stuff together in one chapter again. Might be 38 chapters now but we'll see.
They arrived in Ever Grande City on the final day before the league began. But the deadline was soon, so they had to run up the docks and onto the colossal building that served as the Hoenn League. It had multiple arenas inside to be able to run
"Okay first thing we got to do is register," Ash said.
They headed inside and made their up to the front desk where they found a receptionist.
"Hello, here to register for the Hoenn League?" she asked.
"Yes," Ash told her.
The receptionist looked at all his friends. "All of you?"
"No," Ash elaborated. "Just me and Morrison."
He gestured to the red haired man among his group.
"Alright, I'll just need your ID's and badges," the receptionist said.
Ash pulled out his trainer card and handed it to her before doing the same with his badge case. She scanned each of them and then did the same with Morrison.
"You got here just in time, today's the last day to register before the league begins tomorrow," she said. "Good luck."
"Thanks!" Morrison said.
With Ash and Morrison registered, they could relax a little bit. They headed to one of the local hotels that were reserved for participants and friends. It was lucky that the rooms were large had multiple sets of beds, cause there were a lot of them. They were lucky to still have one room with just enough space for all of them. There were a total of eight beds. Perfect for Ash, May, Serena, Drew, Dawn and Morrison as they all looked around and at the large multi person bedroom.
"This is great! We'll all be able to stay in the same room!" Morrison said.
May blushed. "But what about the bathroom?"
They looked and saw there was a bathroom nearby with a pair of showers and a toilet inside.
"Not bad," Ash said with a blush as he looked at May who knew what he was thinking.
"I guess we'll take couple turns huh?" Serena suggested as she blushed as well with her eyes wondering to Drew.
"That kind leave me and Dawn as the odd ones out," Morrison said.
"We'll just take our showers separately," Dawn said with rosy cheeks of her own. "To bad my boyfriends not here and in another region. I should see him when I get home though."
May smiled. "What's he like?"
Dawn smiled back and began to describe him. "His names Kenny. He's a tease! Always calls me Deedee!"
"Why?" May asked.
"I'm not telling you!" Dawn said with a blush before putting on a smile. "But he's also very carrying and there for me whenever I'm down."
"He sounds wonderful," Serena said. "We all sure got lucky with our men!"
"Yes, we did," May said putting her head on Ash's shoulder.
Ash in return put an arm around her.
"So, what are you guys going to do after this?" he asked looking at Drew and Serena.
"I'm going back to Kalos," Serena told him. "Been a while since I've been home."
"Yeah," Ash said. "I visited home a couple months ago, but only briefly."
"I'm going with Serena," Drew told them.
"I'll be heading back to my home here in Kanto," Morrison said. "Need to see my family again."
"You guys are lucky," May said. "All of your family members are just a short trek away."
"Well not short but we can get there with a simple plane or boat ride," Serena said.
"What do you mean May?" Dawn asked, curious. "Aren't you the daughter of the Petalburg Gym Leader? You can just go back to there to visit him?"
May clenched her teeth lightly. "Oh, uh… yeah. Its just… I have other family that's far away."
"Surely you can see them again though with a plane or boat?" Morrison asked.
"Its not that simple," May said.
"How so?" Dawn asked.
"Its… complicated," May said.
They didn't press the issue. Serena and Drew knew about May's secret but they didn't know Dawn well enough to say whether or not she could be trusted with it. They enjoyed a nice lunch, if one could Ash and Morrison having an eating contest as a nice lunch.
"I bet I can eat more rolls then you Ash!" Morrison said to his rival presenting a plate loaded with rolls.
"We'll see about that!" Ash accepted the challenge and grabbed a plateful of rolls for himself.
They immediately began wolfing the rolls down but soon got stomach aches. Drew sighed.
"You're not gonna win if you make yourselves sick," he said.
They had to take it for the rest of the day and went to bed after a light dinner. The next day, the preliminary matches began. Ash waited and watched a couple matches going on in the meantime with May, Serena, and the others. Morrison's match was first among the two of them that day and it looked hopeless for a while.
His opponent, a man named Jump who had an abnormally large set of lips, was using an Electabuzz against Morrison's main Pokemon, Beldum.
"Take Down!" Morrison ordered.
Beldum charged and used its Take Down attack.
"Protect, Electabuzz!" Jump said.
Electabuzz, a yellow and black electric Pokemon put up a barrier to protect itself. This caused Beldum to be pushed back.
"Take Down again!" Morrison said determined.
Beldum tried against but was met with the same result.
Jump laughed. "That's right! Just keep using Take Down and we'll keep blocking it!"
This was bad, Take Down was Beldum's only attack. It hit again but was thrown back once more.
"Well, hey time to finish this!" Jump said. "Electabuzz, Thunder!"
"Electabuzz!" it cried out and shot a powerful Thunder at Beldum who gave a cry of pain.
"Beldum!" It managed to stay up despite the damage.
"Still going huh?" Jump asked. "Well take a Thunderbolt!"
"Dodge Beldum! And use Take Down!" Morrison said.
Beldum dodged the Thunderbolt and moved in.
"Uh oh, quick Protect!" Jump exclaimed.
Electabuzz managed to put up a protect just in time. Yet again Beldum was thrown back and Jump laughed.
"Face it! You can't beat me with your puny Take Down!"
"That guy has a big mouth," Dawn grumbled.
"In more ways then one," Drew agreed.
"No kidding," Serena said.
"Oh poor Morrison," May said.
Ash just watched, hoping his friend and rival would be able to turn this around somehow.
"I'll never give up!" Morrison said.
"You're just gonna lose!" Jump taunted.
"Beldum!" Beldum exclaimed before it started to glow, causing the crowd watching to gasp.
"Hey hey what's going on?" Jump asked in surprise.
Beldum grew, its body turned from cylindrical to round and clawed arms sprouted from it. A new Pokemon emerged. Metang.
"Alright, my Beldum's evolved into Metang! Now I'm gonna have some new moves!" Morrison declared.
"A new move won't be enough to defeat me or my Electabuzz!" Jump said. "Thunder Punch!"
Electabuzz charged, lighting its fist up with electricity as it did so.
"Metang, use Confusion!' Morrison ordered, having known that Metang would get that attack when it evolved.
Metang's eyes lit up and a blue aura surrounded Electabuzz as it prepared to land the Thunder Punch. Then Electabuzz was thrown to the side and hit the nearby wall. It slid down and collapsed, knocked out.
"Alright Morrison!" Ash raised his hands.
Soon after, the time came for his first match against a man named Gilbert. Gilbert was a man in a martial arts outfit with a red headband around his head. Ash had seen people like that before, martial artists who often used fighting type Pokemon to match the techniques they themselves were taught. Ash had never been the type to prefer one Pokemon type over the other as he simply caught whatever came his way. But as Brock once said when they'd traveled together, it helped to have a variety of types at your disposal, that made for a balanced team that could tackle almost anything. But here, he'd only get one shot. These first matches were purely one on one, no substitutions. So Ash had to be lucky and determined, if he was up against a Pokemon that his chosen battler was at a disadvantage on, he'd just have to try his best and hope his Pokemon were strong enough to overcome their weaknesses.
"Alright, Pikachu! I choose you!" Ash said.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried out and leapt off Ash's shoulder and onto the battlefield.
"Hitmonlee! I choose you!" Gilbert said as he threw his pokeball.
The brown kicking Pokemon emerged. Ash had seen plenty of those before, and knew they could be tough. Thankfully, this was not a Pokemon that Pikachu would be a disadvantage against, unless Hitmonlee happened to know a ground type move. But that was unlikely, so they should be pretty evently matched.
Okay, Ash thought. Hitmonlee is a fighting type so it have to get up close. If I can keep my distance and focus on using long range attacks like Thunder and Thunder Bolt I should be good.
"Begin!" the referee called raising his flags.
"Hitmonlee, Mega Kick!" Gilbert ordered.
"Hitmon!" Hitmonlee charged at Pikachu.
Ash had already planned a counter strategy.
"Dodge and use agility!" he ordered.
Pikachu ran around the stadium, moving so fast it appeared as a blur. Hitmonlee's attack struck where Pikachu was but the electric type vanished. Hitmonlee tried to follow it with its eyes but seen grew dizzy. This reminded Ash of when he'd faced Lt. Surge for his third badge back in Kanto.
"Now, Thunderbolt!" Ash followed.
"Pikachuuuuu!" Pikachu called out. "Take this!"
The thunder bolt made contact with Hitmonlee who cried out in pain.
"We're not out of this yet!" Gilbert said. "Rolling Kick!"
Hitmonlee charged once again. Ash could have ordered Pikachu to dodge again, but he wanted to fight back rather than run. Pikachu might be little, but his power was incredible, and not just in his electric attacks.
"Counter with Iron Tail!" he ordered.
Pikachu did so, his tail glowing and he swung just in time to meet Hitmonlees attack. They remained locked for a moment, but both were pushed back. They quickly recovered however and prepared to attack again.
"High Jump Kick!" Gilber ordered.
"Dodge and use another Thunderbolt!" Ash called.
Hitmonlee leapt up high and came crashing back down, its leg aimed at Pikachu who leapt back just in time. Hitmonlee's kick hit the ground and it flinched in pain. High Jump Kick was the kind of move that hurt the user if it missed. Pikachu also followed up and shot another Thunderbolt at Hitmonlee who cried out once again.
Gilbert grit his teeth. It was not looking good. Another move and it probably be over.
"Mega Kick!" he yelled desperately, hoping that powerful move would be enough to one hit ko Pikachu.
Hitmonlee went in for another kick.
"Iron Tail!" Ash ordered.
Pikachu leapt and lit up his tail again, rising above Hitmonlee's attack as it tried to aim in response to Pikachu's move. The Iron Tail then hit Hitmonlee on the head and it fell, swirls in its eyes.
"Hitmonlee is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner! The victory goes to Ash of Pallet Town!" the referee declared.
"Yeah!" Ash said.
He soon found May and the others.
"Great job Ash!" May said as she hugged.
"You've really a come a long way as a trainer since we traveled together," Serena said with a smile and look of admiration.
"Nice work," Drew agreed.
"Amazing," Dawn said.
"Can't wait to face you myself Ash!" Morrison said.
"Right back at you Morrison!" Ash agreed.