Crisps are Potato Chips in America. Just an FYI.
Chapter 27
Around the world the public were glued to their TV sets as they watched the greatest battle there had been for a long time. A lot of people expected Ash to be blown away, after all the upstart was only thirteen, there was no way he could compete with the Champion Blue. There were very few places of business open today, unless you owned a bar of some sort in which case the majority were packed. No one could really say they had a horse in this race as Blue was fairly reclusive, very rarely seen outside his official capacity so he was a bit of a mystery. Ash was fairly notorious by now given his exploits in the last two years and the recent issue with the Kanto Board but he was still largely unknown outside of his League appearances. If you had to place a bet though it was odds on for Blue given he was the Champion.
So to see Ash not only show he had skills but also compete on a seemingly even keel astounded people. No one had seen Blue compete since his battle with Cynthia all those years ago and as expected he won, but they all saw the skill Cynthia had so they knew it would only be a matter of time before she was the standard. This battle had people questioning whether or not she was anymore. She was certainly more of a visual champion though, and they had seen her battle several times when she beat various Leagues over the last few years but she still hadn't challenged Blue again. So for Blue to be showing how good he was intrigued everyone and it was clear why he was still the Champion as his team was very strong.
The greatest surprise though was Ash. For the entire two weeks since it was announced he was challenging many of his past matches had been played over and over again, some comparing him to his dad and it was almost unanimous in the belief that he wasn't as good as his dad. Ash hadn't seen any of these shows as he had been in Mt Silver but the general public ate it up. The fact he was now going toe-to-toe with the Champion put paid to those claims. Ash was sensational but the question still remained on whether he could finish the job. Beating three Pokémon proved nothing, anyone could get lucky like that but could he finish the match off and prove he wasn't a fluke?
The half an hour break was both blessing and curse for people as they could finally go to the toilet, get something to eat etc but they were also riveted to their TV set on waiting for the conclusion and were impatient for it to continue.
In various places the people who knew Ash the best were sat hoping that he would win. Brock was currently sat with his staff at the Pewter Centre for Doctoring excellence happily telling people about his best friend and discussing how he was doing so far. Brock was incredibly proud to call Ash a friend.
Zoe was sat with Ava at home excited about her friends achievement to date. She had no idea about battling, and didn't really want to but her daughter thought of Ash as her hero, after all how many people had been given Pokémon by Ash?
"Uncle Ash is doing very well isn't he sweetheart?" Zoe asked earning an enthusiastic nod "do you think he's going to win?"
"Yes mummy" Ava said nodding enthusiastically again "Uncle Ash is the best!" Well, Zoe mused, with such a declaration how could she be wrong?
Frank Surge was sat in his living room next to his wife and daughter sipping on a beer only paying half attention to the conversation they were having. He mused over the last time he had contact with Ash. They had talked for a few hours a couple of weeks ago about Mega stones for unevolved Pokémon and he wondered why Raichu didn't have one. Surge explained that their bodies just aren't capable of handling that kind of power but Ash refuted that by claiming there were several electric types that had them that weren't much stronger than Raichu. The Mareep line had one after all so Frank had spent the last few days emailing back and forth about it. For Franks part the issue with his daughter never came up again after the initial fallout, his daughter had learned the hard way of what her actions had done and she was grateful his aura hadn't killed her. She had sent him an email apologising but only received a short reply of "Don't do it again. It's over with now, so we will move on".
Nia was sat with her Pokémon listening to it on a radio just off shore of Mandarin North. She had built up a campfire and they had all gathered round listening to the commentary. Strangely enough she was more nervous for Ash than she was in her own final, back then she was just irritated but her journey through the Islands so far had given her an extraordinary sense of peace and she had come to terms with her loss and vowed to never do it again. Hearing about Ash's Pokémon though made her feel slightly inadequate, after all if he was challenging the Champion and competing then what chance would she have against him? It was a question she was wrestling with at the moment.
"He's doing very well" she told her Pokémon getting various nods "It seems that we have a lot of catching up to do to reach his level."
Danny and Cissy were currently cuddled up on the couch watching the match and other than a comment every now and then they were just content to be in each others presence. It had been the best year of his life so far Danny mused as he stroked her hair and looked down at her. As his hand wandered down to her belly he wondered just when he should ask the most important question he would ever ask, after all there would soon be a third member of their family soon and he didn't think waiting for much longer would be a good thing.
"I can hear you thinking" Cissy said looking up at him and poking his face "what are you thinking?"
"Marry me" he said abruptly looking down at her.
"Ok" she said smiling up at him happily "when?"
"As soon as you like" Danny said happy that she had said yes.
"We'll wait for Ash to win first" she replied grabbing a crisp from the packet she was eating as she turned her attention back to the screen as Ash's name was mentioned. Chuckling he grabbed a crisp and watched the TV himself.
"Welcome back" The TV announcer said "You join us on a spectacular day where so far we've had a fantastic battle. The Challenger Ash Ketchum currently holds a 2-3 lead however his Machamp took some serious damage because of a great piece of improvisation from the Champion. That's why Blue is the Champion though, right Lance?"
"It is" Lance said as they looked at the footage being replayed "It's not often you see the move Endeavour used, and you'd certainly never expect it to be used in a Championship match but all bets are off in this one. You either overcome your opponent through strategy or get swept aside."
"It was a fantastic piece of thinking" Cynthia said smiling at the screen "Ash was all set to go into this break with four healthy Pokémon to Blues three, as it is his Machamp is on its last legs and it'll soon be 3-3."
"What can Ash do to maintain this advantage?"
"He doesn't have one" Cynthia said "it's essentially a draw right now. But what he has to do is keep going the way he's going; he's acted extremely well so far to a high-pressure situation and his reactions have been extremely good. I think he's proven a lot of doubters wrong, but can he finish the job off? That remains to be seen."
"Is he growing on you?" Lance asked her smirking at her.
"I never doubted his battling ability" Cynthia laughingly replied shaking her head "just his temperament outside of the battlefield. I think it's plain to see though that he isn't going away anytime soon."
"Who's your money on?" the announcer asked.
"Blue" Cynthia said immediately "he's the Champion, and he has the Champions advantage here."
"Ash" Lance said "I've seen firsthand how good that boy is. I'll go on record here and say that if he doesn't win today then he will in the next few years. He's set an almost impossible goal for himself; one I'm not sharing by the way but if anyone can do it, he can."
"there you have it folks, the couch is divided on the outcome of this match but what we do know is it's going to be a cracker." The TV announcer said as they panned back to the field.
Taking his position back in his box Ash took in a deep breath and looked over to see Blue taking his place.
"Champion Blue, Challenger Ash, please release your Pokémon" the referee said.
Ash didn't even look at the ball as he threw it and Machamp came out looking only slightly better than before the interval. Blue for his part threw his ball and out of it materialised a huge orange dog.
"Arcanine vs Machamp, begin" the referee shouted.
"Extremespeed" Blue shouted wanting to get this over with as soon as possible and even up the score.
"Wait for it Machamp" Ash said as his Pokémon set himself "Now, Protect." Before Arcanine could react a blue shield appeared in front of Machamp and Arcanine bounced off with a yelp as he skidded along the ground. "Earthquake" Ash shouted again and the ground, that had been rolled over during the break split open again and tossed the orange dog around before he managed to stabilise himself and shot forward slamming into Machamp sending them both crashing to the ground. Arcanine quickly rose to his feet and prepared to attack again before Ash shouted "Stop, I forfeit Machamp."
"And Arcanine makes quick work of Machamp but will the Earthquake Machamp managed to get off play any part in this battle?"
"Machamp is unable to battle, Ash please send out your next Pokémon".
"Let's go Gyarados" Ash shouted as his thirty-foot shiny behemoth materialised immediately taking up a quarter of the field, glaring at her opponent. Arcanine for his part didn't flinch but Blue cursed silently. He didn't think Ash would use Gyarados,
"You're not using Blastoise?" Blue asked Ash, talking for the first time "I must admit I didn't expect Gyarados."
"We have our reasons, the main being you have a Blastoise so you know all their strengths and weaknesses" Ash said smiling "I can't afford to give you that kind of advantage. But trust me, you'll have your hands full with Gyarados."
"Arcanine vs Gyarados, begin" the referee said.
"Flamethrower" Blue shouted trying to come up with a strategy. This would be tough as he didn't really have any moves that could seriously hurt a Gyarados, at this point he knew he was setting up for his next Pokémon but hopefully he would do enough damage to even the score back up quickly.
"Hydro Pump" Ash said "flood the field."
Immediately Gyarados reared her head back and an enormous geyser of water shot out, easily ploughing through the fire towards Arcanine who had to stop his attack and quickly move out of the way.
"Extremespeed into Take Down" Blue shouted as his dog shot forwards underneath the stream of water and slammed into Gyarados' jaw halting the attack as she was sent sliding backwards into the wall. Luckily her huge bulk enabled her to shake off the attack.
"Again" Ash said as his Pokémon did as he asked and the field began to get slowly take on water. "I'll let you know when to stop."
"You too Arcanine, you can avoid these attacks." Blue said and for the next few minutes Gyarados tried to hit Arcanine who dodged out of the way and continued on his hit and run strategy. Gyarados for her part was starting to get a really sore jaw from not only using but taking the attacks and was hoping Ash had a plan. After a few minutes though Blue could see what the plan was as the field began to become more muddy as his dog ran around and a lot of it had standing water on it. Two minutes later there was a clear few inches of water covering the field. Cursing he knew what Ash's plan was and he hadn't been able to stop it in time.
"Ok Gyarados, I think the field is wet enough now. Thank you for trusting me. Now, let's end this one. Use Splash." Ash said making everyone including Bue wonder where this one was going. Only a few people in the stands knew what Ash was doing having faced Gyarados before and they all winced in sympathy as Gyarados swivelled on the ground creating a whirlpool before she leapt up and slammed her bulk onto the ground creating a tidal wave which was sent towards the rooted dog.
"Damn, get out of there Arcanine" Blue shouted as his dog began to run around hoping for a way out but he only reached closer to his trainers box. "you're going to have to charge through it" Blue shouted as Arcanine set himself, thirty feet away from the wall facing the oncoming wave which at this point had reached ten foot high and charged forwards.
"Aqua Tail" Ash shouted as Gyarados' tail glowed blue and she slithered forwards, easily making up the distance and slammed her tail into the wave which unluckily enough for Blue was exactly where Aracanine was and he took the attack head on being blasted into the wall at high speed. As the water wave hit the wall a good portion of the crowd winced in sympathy for the fire dog and as it settled, they all gasped in astonishment as the very wet dog slowly climbed to his feet and shook his fur wincing as he did so.
"Astonishing endurance from Arcanine" the announcer shouted "how it is still standing is incredible."
"That's some Pokémon" Ash said quietly but was picked up by the microphoned box he was in.
"Extremespeed into Flare Blitz" Blue shouted as his dog barked angrily and charged forwards. Gyarados for her part had only just got back to her side of the field having thought the battle was over and quickly turned at Ash's voice.
"Earthquake" without hesitating she slammed her tail into the ground causing it to heave again but Arcanine relentlessly sped towards her like a missile that was set ablaze and smashed into her making her wince from the impact.
"Wrap" Ash shouted as she quickly slithered after the dog who had bounced off and used the momentum to try and put some distance between them. Unfortunately for Gyarados she wasn't quick enough and Arcanine quickly sped away causing her to growl as it turned to face her again.
Ash had a good look at his water-dragon. She wasn't looking great; her mouth had been bleeding profusely for a while after taking all those Take Down attacks and her right side had a burn on it from the Flare Blitz. He was very unhappy with himself that he had turned a certain win into a possibility of losing due to not reacting quick enough from the start. Blue on the other hand was very happy. He had turned a certain loss to a possibility of winning because Ash acted too slowly. The move he had pulled off was certainly ingenious and very strong but allowing your Pokémon to take direct hits, in a match of this magnitude showed his inexperience. Looking over at Ash he knew that Ash realised this too as he was shaking his head and muttering to himself.
"Flare Blitz" Blue said hoping to end this one quickly. His dog realised this was probably the best chance it had to win this match and sped forwards wreathed in flames heading straight for Gyarados.
"Wait for it" Ash said earning a growl from his Pokémon "wait for it, now Waterfall."
She twisted in mid-air and sent a wall of water towards Arcanine who couldn't react quick enough, the water slamming into him sending him skidding backwards where he rested along the wall. Ash waited to see if he was going to get up and breathed a sigh of relief when the referee called it.
"Arcanine is unable to battle, Champion Blue please send out your next Pokémon"
"Gyarados, you're up" Blue shouted as he sent his own water-dragon onto the field who roared at his opponent before suddenly falling silent as she observed him.
"Gyarados vs Gyarados begin." The referee shouted dropping his flag.
"Thunderbolt" Blue commanded as soon as it began. Slowly though, he slithered forwards much to the confusion of the crowd and their trainers.
"My lady?" Blue's Gyarados enquired "is that you?"
Ash's Gyarados just remained silent as the other Gyarados got closer to her. When he was about twenty feet away she growled at him halting his progress. Turning to face Ash he roared at him which caused Ash's to swell in outrage and she launched herself at him and they both began rolling over the field biting each other as much as they could, using random moves hoping to beat the other one. Ash's Gyarados was already tired after her last battle and struggled against the smaller Gyarados who managed to get a point blank Thunder off sending her crashing down to the ground creating a minor tremor where she tried to raise her head but found she couldn't. She was just too exhausted.
"Ash's Gyarados is unable to battle. Ash please release your next Pokémon." The referee said.
Blue's Gyarados however raised his head in anger when Ash recalled his own and roared again at him causing Pikachu to spark warningly at it. Ash for his part merely smirked at the water-dragon and prepared to release his fifth Pokémon.
"Ash" Blue shouted over worried at the battle that had just taken place "what the hell just happened?"
"You'll have come across the term Royal Pokémon in your travels I assume?" Ash asked ignoring the Gyarados that was swearing up a storm down on the field. Blue nodded and Ash continued "My Gyarados is known to many as a Royal Gyarados. That means they're descended from the Ancients of the past and as such hold a lot more power in them than normal Pokémon of their type. You'll find many Royal Pokémon dotted around the world and usually they rule over their particular territory with absolute authority. When I caught mine she was a Magikarp on Rind Island, I was doing some field research for your father with Dr Quackenpoker, the pre-eminent authority on Magikarp and Gyarados. Evidently she was the ruler of that island, something I didn't know at the time as she was just a Magikarp but according to your Gyarados she's very important. In fact be glad you can understand him because he's been swearing up a storm threatening me if I don't release her."
"So why is Gyarados so angry?" Blue asked "I mean I caught him as a Magikarp nearly thirty years ago now."
"She is special!" Gyarados roared at his trainer who looked confused "her coming has been foretold for centuries, passed down from Magikarp to Magikarp. She must be released!"
"Why?" Ash asked leaning over the barrier "why must she be released?"
"She is to lead us all into a new tomorrow!" Gyarados shouted "her progeny will bring about a new age."
"She is not a brood mare!" Ash shouted angrily "and I will certainly never release her now I know what you're really angry about."
In response Gyarados launched a Hyper Beam at Ash causing outrage from the crowd and Blue who didn't understand what was being said. What he did understand was his Pokémon attacking another human, something which was highly frowned upon. Ash though merely stood there and raised an Aura shield around him causing the attack to bounce off upwards. A few seconds later a panting Gyarados stopped his attack and glared balefully at Ash.
"Charizard, you're up" Ash shouted coldly releasing his fire-dragon. Immediately the air became humid as he materialised with a thud as his feet touched the ground. Blue gasped as he took in the fire-starter. Usually they were fairly small individuals, the average height being 5'6, his fathers was an impressive 6 foot but this one had grown enormously since he last saw him nearly six months ago. It was pushing six foot itself and had a wicked looking scar across his muzzle reaching his eye, something which certainly wasn't there half a year ago.
Charizard had long since stopped roaring when he was released, he knew his own strength and power so he no longer felt the need to try and intimidate his opponent. Instead he cracked his neck, unfurled his wings and snorted at the Gyarados who had gone still at the sight of the hulking Pokémon.
"Gyarados vs Charizard, begin" the referee shouted.
"Hydro Pump" Blue shouted coming back to himself as his Gyarados launched a huge geyser of water at Charizard who just stood there and took the attack head on, bowing his head to take it on the skull rather than his nose, being moved just slightly backwards but otherwise looking unharmed. To the crowds amazement Charizard didn't seem to even flinch at being hit with the super effective attack. And as the move finished Charizard just looked up and snorted contemptuously. "Pathetic" he growled.
"Flare Blitz" Ash commanded. He wasn't going to hold back against this particular Pokémon given what it was after.
"Charizard" Pikachu shouted seemingly echoing Ash's thoughts "this Gyarados wants our princess to be released so she can be used as a baby making factory and then it attacked Ash. Do not hold back."
The entire stadium felt the heat as rage took a hold of Charizard as he shot forward like a flaming missile, scorching the ground into almost glass as he did so as he left a line of flame behind him.
"Protect" Blue shouted frantically. He was still clueless as to what was going on as only Ash had the ability to communicate with Pokémon but he was intelligent enough to know whatever had been said wasn't good news for Gyarados. He was very concerned that his Pokémon had attacked his opponent and would have to have a very serious conversation at some point about it, hopefully talking to Ash would clear up matters. There had to be more than his Gyarados wanting to procreate with that particular Gyarados as he had never acted like that with any other Gyarados he had battled over the years.
Thankfully his Gyarados was still alert enough to be able to use Protect and move out of the way and he automatically shot out a Hydro Pump at the fire lizards back causing steam to envelop the field. Thankfully for Blue they could still see Charizard as he was glowing in the steam and he rocketed forward again, relentless in his pursuit of Gyarados who continued to dodge and fire back.
"Fly Charizard, this is getting us nowhere." Ash said as his Pokémon obeyed and took off upwards.
"Dragon Dance" Blue commanded as his Gyarados began to glow blue as it twisted and turned before stopping, its eyes glowing blue. "So that's what happened with Salamence and Pidgeot" Blue said laughing "I knew I'd seen that colour blue before, that's how you matched his speed."
"Do the same Charizard, use Dragon Dance too." Ash said just smiling in response as his fire-dragon copied Gyarados.
"Rain Dance" Blue said as Gyarados slithered to the middle of the field and sent several blue balls of light into the sky, gradually clouds began to form and specks of rain began to drop onto the ground, turning quickly into a rain storm "Hurricane".
Ash very quickly saw where this one was going and they needed to put a stop to it, he had already let this one go on for too long as it was and they still had Blastoise to come yet. "Aerial Ace and grab hold of it." Like a dart Charizard shot down to the ground as the rain began to swirl around the centre of the field, the focal point being Gyarados, with the wind quickly picking up speed.
"Blizzard" Blue said a lot more confident now he had been able to pull of the combination of moves. It was something they had practiced relentlessly over the years and was often a finisher in a battle, Blue was puzzled as to why Ash let it happen but mentally shrugged his shoulders and went along with it. Immediately the rain, wind and snow turned into a huge snowstorm, carpeting the entire field with ice and snow buffeting Charizard around. He was suddenly very grateful for Ash taking them to train in these conditions and soon found a particular air current on which he could stabilise himself and he dove down again, into the eye of the storm. To the naked eye the crowd thought that Charizard was easily carving through the storm but to Ash and Blue they knew better. He was still taking damage but he managed to find Gyarados and with incredible strength grabbed hold of it just below the head and quickly flew upwards.
"Thunder" Blue shouted over the winds which was dying down.
"Let go Charizard and Flare Blitz downwards" gritting his teeth as he took the super-effective attack, he dropped Gyarados who began to flail as it fell the fifty or so feet downwards. As the ground rushed towards it he felt a burn on his back as the entire weight of Charizard impacted him sending him crashing into the ground kicking up mud and dirt that had been flung around during the storm.
"Gyarados is unable to battle, Champion Blue please send out your final Pokémon." The referee shouted over the noise of the crowd.
Charizard landed heavily on Ash's side of the field, wincing as it did so as a spark of electricity flashed across his body. Ash cursed as he realised the next battle just got so much harder.
"Blastoise, you're up" Blue shouted as his turtle landed across the field from Charizard. Looking up at the scoreboard he saw he still had another opponent to beat after the one opposite him and focused.
"Congratulations Lizard, you don't look so good though" Blastoise said "I'm afraid this is where your battle ends."
"It may do" Charizard said wincing as another arc of electricity flashed across him "but I guarantee you will remember me turtle."
"Blastoise vs Charizard, begin" the referee shouted.
Before Ash could say anything though Blastoise began to glow. Ash knew instantly what was happening as it happened with his Charizard when it mega evolved. Ash had never seen a Mega-Blastoise before, he'd seen pictures but to see it in person was still a sight to behold. His height didn't change that much from just over five feet but his shell retracted and then stretched out to cover his arms which had bulked up to be able to hold them up, his cannons that were usually inside his shell moved to be located on each arm and in the middle a huge cannon appeared in the centre of his back. His head had expanded slightly and his arches over his eyes gave him a more vicious look. Overall, Ash was very impressed with how he looked and considered trying to get one for his own Blastoise.
"Oh, it's like that is it?" Ash said shaking his head in amusement. Lifting his pendant from underneath his shirt he touched the ring on his finger to it and from his own side Charizard evolved. They had talked about this over the last few days on which way he should evolve. He usually went with the Dragon stone as he felt more comfortable but for this one he decided to go with the Flying stone. The crowd looked on in awe at how visceral and vicious Charizard now looked and several were to be seen taking their coats off as Charizards ability Drought came into play.
"Fill the place up Blastoise, Surf" Blue shouted.
"Don't let him. Solarbeam" Ash shouted as Charizard took off and glowed a bright golden colour. Within seconds he had built up power with the move and sent the vast beam of light towards his opponent. Blastoise ignored what his opponent was doing and started spinning around inside his shell send water flying out from inside his three cannons quickly filling up the field and moving across the field out of the way of the beam that quickly ate up the water as it flowed the turtle. Ash could see that his Charizard wouldn't be able to keep this up for very long as he had already been through a gruelling battle. And just before Ash could say anything the Solarbeam petered out as an arc of electricity went across Charizards body causing him to flinch.
"Hydro Pump" Blue said not missing a beat as his turtle stopped spinning and cocked his cannons upwards sending high pressured jets of water upwards at his opponent. Charizard found this particularly difficult to dodge as Blastoise could direct the jets with his arms and essentially trapped Charizard. Blastoise began rotating his arms in a circular motion as he directed Charizard to where he wanted him to be, guiding him towards the side wall. Ash could see what was happening and wondered what he could do when he realised that he didn't have a choice.
"Charizard, Aerial Ace through the water, you're being herded to the wall. We have no choice but to plough through the water." Ash shouted. Charizard heard over the roar of the water and realised Ash was correct. Not only was he being herded but the field was starting to refill again from the water. Setting himself he took one of the streams head on and streaked through it at a terrific pace quickly making it through and reaching his opponent. "Flare Blitz" Ash shouted when he saw his Pokémon was in a much better position. Coating himself in flames Charizard shot forward like a missile towards a rooted Blastoise.
"Rapid Spin into Waterfall" Blue shouted to his Pokémon who quickly withdrew and sent lines of water from his cannon towards Charizard with each rotation. The ability Drought really came into play here as Charizard managed to make his way through the jets of water and send Blastoise skidding backwards along the muddy field and into the wall. Quickly it righted itself and sped forwards into an Aqua Jet and smashed into the belly of Charizard sending him sprawling across the muddy field. Standing up Charizard snorted and looked at his wings that were caked in mud, mud that was now drying very quickly due to the heat coming from his body. Flapping his wings he tied to get as much off as he could before he had to twirl in mid air to avoid another Aqua Jet, a feat that proved fairly difficult due to the added weight on his wings.
"Aerial Ace and spin, get that mud off you" Ash shouted as Charizard tried to do that only to take a well directed hose of water to the face. Shaking his head he managed to perform what Ash asked but there was still bits of caked on mud on his wing membranes that made balancing in the air difficult. "Aerial Ace again, we need to get in close." Going into a deep dive Charizard headed straight for his opponent who charged forwards in an Aqua Jet and they bounced off each other in the air. "Quickly, grab him!" Ash shouted ash he saw Blastoise falling to the ground. Charizard managed to straighten up very quickly and raced towards the falling turtle and grabbed him, straining as he did so and flew upwards.
"Hydro Pump" Blue shouted and his Pokémon aimed both of his arm hoses at Charizard and blasted him in the face causing a lot of irritation.
"Seismic Toss" Ash shouted. He knew it was coming down to the wire for his dragon and he need to do as much damage as possible before Pikachu went in to battle.
Twirling in mid air Charizard began to build up momentum ignoring the water that was hosing him in the face and seen began his descent slamming Blastoise into the muddy ground. Unfortunately as he did an arc of electricity passed over his body causing his wings to go rigid and he too hit the ground hard. The crowd had fallen silent wondering what the outcome was and when all the dust and mud settled Blastoise was seen to be standing up looking slightly bruised on his face and panting. To the crowds delight Charizard rose to his feet too looking exhausted.
"I will get to face you again turtle" Charizard said as he fell to one knee transitioning back to normal "and this battle will go a lot differently." Another arc of electricity flashed on him, and he groaned as he fell forwards, the battle finally having taken its toll on him.
"Charizard is unable to battle, Ash send out your final Pokémon" the referee said looking at him. Smiling Ash recalled his Charizard thanking him as he did so before looking at his starter. "Well Pi, it's come to this, as we suspected. Do your best pal, and no matter what just know I'm proud of what we've accomplished."
"As you should be Ash" Blue called over from his box as the crowd had heard every word "twenty-odd years ago when I battled your father I was convinced that I would never have a challenge like Red ever again. He was incredible and that too came down to our starters. I never once, for one second imagined that I would be battling his kid, my godson all these years later and saying this battle is just as good as that one was and yet I am. Whatever happens Ash, you should be very proud of yourself and what you've accomplished."
"Thanks Blue" Ash said nodding "but we've not finished yet. Pikachu, I choose you."
Pi nodded as he jumped down to the field and set himself waiting for the referee to give him the go ahead. He looked around as he did so noticing a few things that he could use and a few things that worried him.
"Blastoise vs Pikachu, begin" the referee shouted.
"Flood the field Blastoise" Blue shouted looking confident as his turtle repeated the process again. "get it nice and muddy."
"Oh, that's not good" Ash said immediately spotting the issue "Thunderbolt" Pikachu started moving towards Blastoise who amazingly repelled the move by twirling around sending water everywhere making Pikachu take evasive action to avoid the drenching and soon enough the mud that had dried and hardened from Charizards Drought soon became wet and turned to mush again.
"Use the field Blastoise, coat yourself in the mud" Blue said as the second part of their plan was put into action.
"Dammit" Ash said cursing "Thunderbolt again Pi." This time the move hit and Blastoise grinned as a move that would usually do significant damage only stung a little. It was something they had practiced over the week they had as they hadn't come up against an electric type since Red's Pikachu, they found that if Blastoise coated himself in mud it nullified any electric moves and thus swung the advantage back towards them. It said a lot about the power of Ash's Pikachu that he was even able to affect Blastoise. The only downside is it added significant weight to their already significant bulk so the week was spent getting used to it, that and they had trouble getting moves off quickly. For instance they couldn't use Aqua Jet as it would slough off the mud so they had to get creative with what they used.
"Blizzard" Blue shouted "infuse it with water."
They had also practiced this over the years too to make a makeshift Rain Dance and Hail. Soon enough the field was carpeted with bits of snow and water that Pikachu had to endure under a Light Screen.
"Create mud again" Blue shouted as his Blastoise recreated their first move to once again cover himself with mud as the move they used washed a bit off. This gave Ash an idea but he wondered when to put it into action as Pikachu was too busy shaking the snow from his tail.
"Hydro Pump" Blue said using the same technique that they did against Charizard.
"Big mistake" Ash said "Pi, use the water as a conductor, Thunder"
Pikachu smirked as finally they had regained some form of advantage due to a mistake from Blue and Blastoise lit up, shouting in agony as it cut off the attack and blocked the rest with his mud covered back only feeling a slight sting.
"Flash Cannon" Blue shouted and Blastoise turned around looking slightly angry that he had been hit and cocked his cannons creating two beams of silver that lanced their way towards Pikachu who reacted by using another Thunderbolt which only redirected the attacks. Ash could see this would get very difficult for Pikachu if he didn't act.
"Ok Pikachu, we've given them enough of a head start. Use combo move S and keep moving" Ash shouted much to the confusion of Blue who ordered another Flash Cannon. Pikachu however redirected them once again and stopped, jumping out of the way at the last minute before speeding off to Ash's side of the field where he stopped and concentrated before sending several blue balls up into the sky. Many in the crowd knew what was coming as it had happened earlier in the match and put their umbrellas up as drops of rain started falling. Pikachu hadn't stopped with just a few balls of water; he was running around the field dodging attacks and firing Rain Dance balls interspersed with Thundershocks. Blue could only watch on as Pikachu was just too fast to hit and soon enough the rain became heavier and heavier, washing away the mud from Blastoise's back and creating many puddles on the field.
"Blizzard" Blue said trying to regain control as his Pokémon sent a huge wave of snow at Pikachu who used Quick Attack to plough through, taking a big hit but carrying on with his combo move. As the snow stopped rumbles could be heard from overhead as lightning arced across the sky.
"Thunder" Ash shouted "Aim for the sky." As the rumbles grew in sound Pikachu sent a huge bolt of lightning up into the sky setting off a chain reaction. Little bolts started to fall from the sky, not enough to do any damage but to make Blastoise wary. "Another Pi." Ash said as Pikachu did what he was asked. Within minutes a huge bolt streaked downwards, drawn towards Pikachu. This was the moment Ash had been waiting for. "Volt Tackle" Ash commanded as his Pokémon sped forwards, the bolt following him streaking across the ground behind him.
"Protect" Blue shouted in alarm.
"Thunderbolt" Ash countered "keep up with the Volt Tackle Pi."
Blastoise immediately brought forth a shield which took the impact of the Thunderbolt and reduced in size, it then grunted, straining as Pikachu impacted it bodily with his Volt Tackle which send him skidding backwards, his Protect having failed taking two high powered moves before he looked up as Pikachu used Quick Attack through his legs. Before he could turn around the bolt of lightning that had followed Pikachu hit Blastoise who lit up, screaming in pain as the combination finally did what it was supposed to. Blastoise went arcing backwards landing very painfully, twitching in pain as the lightning stopped. After a minute of no reaction the referee, who had been stunned into silence went to raise his flag before amazingly Blastoise moved. Picking himself up he looked at Pikachu who was ten yards away, electricity flashing across his body as he absorbed some of the lightning that was still falling down in tiny sparks.
"Blastoise, are you ok?" Blue called concerned about his Pokémon. Blastoise looked up and narrowed his eyes at Pikachu as his body transitioned back to a normal Blastoise "good match mouse." Blastoise grunted in amusement before falling forwards knocked out.
"Blastoise is unable to battle, Pikachu wins. Therefore, your new Champion of the Kanto region is Ash Ketchum!"
The noise from the crowd swelled when they realised the match was over and soon fireworks went off over the stadium causing the crowd to go wild. Blue sighed and recalled his Pokémon. He always knew he would eventually be defeated and looked forward to spending more time with his wife, something he hadn't been able to do for over ten years now. But losing to Ash actually hurt, more than he thought it would. Maybe it was all the fanfare that had preceded their battle with Silph and the public thinking Ash had already won, maybe it was because yet another Ketchum had beaten him. He would have to have a talk with Laura about it to try and figure out what was wrong with him. Looking up he saw Ash standing stock still, seemingly in shock at his win.
Looking at Ash, looking so vulnerable made him feel very sad. He had been in that situation before, many years ago and knew what he was feeling. He knew Ash was trying to process just wat had happened, and just how big of an achievement it was. He was by far the youngest Champion in Pokémon League history, surpassing himself and his father by three years. It was unprecedented and incredible at the same time. Walking down the steps he waited at the bottom and sat down to reflect on an amazing battle.
Ash couldn't decide on an emotion, whether that be elation, relief, fear or pride so he just stopped feeling altogether. His brain had shut off and he hadn't moved for a good few minutes. It was only Pikachu hopping up on to the railing and saying his name that made him come back to himself. "Are you ok Pi?" Ash finally asked.
"I'm sore Ash" Pikachu said leaning against the banister "that was a tough battle."
"It really was" Ash said calmly nodding "for a minute there I didn't think we'd win. We're going to have to practice that mud covering technique with Blastoise. We need to overcome that."
"We also need to speak with Blue about his Gyarados" Pikachu said heaving himself up and jumping onto Ash's shoulder "he needs to explain himself satisfactorily to us about his behaviour. I have no doubts if she wasn't already tired she'd have likely killed him."
"One of many questions to have answered" Ash said looking up and seeing his opponent sitting down on the steps of his box in deep thought "come on, we need to go and congratulate Blue for a fantastic match."
Walking down the steps was an ordeal for Ash. He hadn't realised how taut he was and having finally relaxed his body he felt like jelly. Walking around the side of the field he nodded in thanks to the crowd that were hanging over the edges hoping for Ash to give them high fives but oddly enough he didn't feel right doing them. As he reached Blue he stopped in front of him and held his hand out. Blue finally coming back to himself looked at the outstretched hand and then up to the person holding it out. It was a good twenty seconds later that Blue took it and let himself be heaved onto his feet.
"Congratulations Ash" Blue said pulling him into a hug "really, congratulations. You deserve it."
"We deserve it" Ash said looking at his partner "but thank you for a terrific battle. It was by far the hardest we've ever had. I'm looking forward to battling you again sometime."
"Sometime" Blue said chuckling and looking around "I didn't want to lose" he said looking back at Ash "I thought I did, but after what happened this week, I was desperate to beat you. Losing doesn't feel good."
"What do you mean?" Ash asked confused "does this have to do with the mood you were in at the press conference?"
"Yes" Blue said nodding "Silph pissed me off, and by extension you did."
"The premature 'Champion Ash' stuff I assume?" Ash asked getting a nod "I repeatedly asked them not to do that. To assume I would win was nice, to do so and mock my opponent was not and I told them as much. I don't work like that, we don't humiliate anyone in the process of winning, psychics being the obvious exception. Sadly, they didn't listen to me. The only replies I ever received were 'we're a business Ash'. Honestly, I had nothing to do with it."
"I believe you" Blue said surprising Ash "if you say you had nothing to do with it then I believe you. My dad knows you better than I do and he said the same but I needed to hear it from you rather than him."
"I hoped we'd win, but I never thought that it was a given" Ash replied "I watched your Championship match with my dad a fair bit after the League win trying to find a weakness but there just wasn't one I could find so strategy had to come into play. When you used the mud I thought our advantage was gone as I didn't expect that."
"We came up with that to battle your dads Pikachu" Blue said laughing "Gyarados and Blastoise were getting sick of being paralysed by her so we devised something to combat her." Looking around he searched for the words to say "congratulations Ash, you're the new Champion of Kanto."
"Thank you, really" Ash said nodding looking around at the crowd who were still cheering for them both. "what do we do now?"
"Well the battle was the easy bit" Blue said "you've got five years now to prepare for this role so we have plenty of time. You're still planning on travelling aren't you?"
"I am yeah" Ash said nodding "I plan on getting a lot of the Leagues done in the next few years and their Champions out of the way to become a Master so I think it'll be a lot of learning on the road through video calls."
"We'll discuss it later" Blue said nodding to the field, turning around Ash saw that the field had changed to a grass field and a podium was being set up with many chairs on the field for what was clearly a presentation.
"Oh, I hate this bit" Ash said shaking his head "let's all smile for the cameras shall we and get this over with."
"You're a very strange person Ash" Blue said clapping him on the shoulder and leading him to the podium. As he sat down a Nurse Joy came over and took both sets of Pokéballs from them so they could be healed, Pikachu however refused to be taken saying he was ok. Sitting down Ash looked out over the field that was filling up with the dignitaries and VIP's who were chatting excitedly, seeing his mum sitting down at the front next to Laura he smiled and decided to hell with protocol and jumped down walking towards her and sweeping her up in a hug.
"You did it Ashy" she said between tears "I'm so proud of you, and I know your dad would be too."
"Thanks mum" Ash said hugging her tightly before releasing her "I think I'm still in shock."
"I think you need to get back on the stage" Delia said squeezing him again "go on, we'll talk later."
Clambering back on the stage he sat back down and watched as Charles Goodshow came onto the stage with the rest of the Elite Four who sat next to them.
"Hello everyone" Charles said "what an absolutely astounding spectacle we have just witnessed. And now at the end we crown a new Champion, but first we need to give a huge round of applause for the former Champion. Blue Oak has been Champion for over a decade now and has served this body of people with honour and integrity and has made the job of Champion of Kanto a thing worthy of recognition. Please stand and give your appreciation for Blue Oak."
As one the people rose applauding and shouting, something that was mirrored by Ash and the Elite Four. Blue waved his hand and acknowledged the praise before sitting back down as the noise calmed down.
"And now we come onto Ash" Charles said smiling "what more can we say about this remarkable young man? He was made Junior Professor at the age of 11 when he set out on his travels because of his work that was published that every college and university in the Pokémon world uses as the standard, then less than six months into his journey, with the help of his Pokémon took down a fifty foot Pokémon that threatened to level a city, six months after that he saved the world again from a Team Rocket plot, a few months after that he became the youngest winner of the Indigo League at age 12, later he challenged the Orange Champion and had a lead in that match before walking off due to poor refereeing and has stood by the comments he made in the face of a lot of adversity. It was during Loreleis exhibition in the Orange Islands that he gave his official challenge to the Elite Four and less than a year later he made his way through them one by one until he reached today. Today he created history yet again by being the youngest person to challenge for the title of Champion across all regions at the remarkably young age of 13, he then cemented his place in history by becoming the youngest Champion in history." Charles turned to the side of him and picked up a medium sized golden trophy and beckoned Ash forwards "Can you all please stand and give a huge round of applause for your new Champion of Kanto, Ash Ketchum!"
The whole crowd rose and went ballistic as Ash lifted the trophy up at the crowd. It seemed to go on forever Ash thought as he placed the trophy onto the ground and again jumped down to hug his mum. Eventually he made his way back onto the stadium and remembered something that made him feel slightly ashamed. Kneeling down he focused on the one being that had been with him throughout his travels and started openly crying. Motioning towards Pikachu he waited until his Pokémon hopped down and onto his arm and then his shoulders before standing up and placing the trophy on the main podium, plopping Pikachu inside. Pikachu slightly irritated popped his head up just as Ash raise the trophy again. The picture that was taken would go on to become Ash's most treasured memento.
The rest of the evening dragged for Ash. He had eventually made his way back to his room and dropped down onto the couch, Pikachu on one side and the trophy on the other. Sighing he spotted something that he had almost forgotten about. Standing up he walked over to the TV stand and picked up his fathers hat and sat back down holding it. It was this picture that Delia, Laura and Blue walked in on twenty minutes later.
"That's what was different" Blue commented making Ash look up "throughout the entire battle I knew something was different about you but for the life of me I couldn't put my finger on it. It was the hat. You didn't wear Reds hat."
"I had a conversation with mum a long time ago" Ash said "for the longest time I haven't felt right wearing it, like it doesn't belong to me. And when dad returned a few weeks ago I knew the time was right to give it up. I've felt like I had a lot to live up to for so long, and it wasn't until I won the Indigo League that I realised that I had been carrying the ghost of my father around with me the entire journey. When I got home that night I realised that I wasn't my dad, and others could now see that as I was starting to rack up my own accomplishments but I knew some would still see me as Reds son. Today I made the decision that I wasn't going to wear it anymore, if I was going to earn peoples respect I needed to do this on my own and today I won it without him. I'm very proud of what my dad accomplished, but I'm my own person, I'm Ash Ketchum not Red Ketchum and the world can now see that."
Sighing Blue sat down and thought over what he was going to say. "Your father was the most gifted battler and trainer I have ever seen. He had this way with Pokémon that not even you have Ash, he couldn't understand Pokémon the way you can but somehow he always intuitively knew what they were saying to him. I grew up the same way you did, my father was the guy growing up. He was a former Champion who gave up his position to become a family man and Professor and the people had no choice but to respect that. Throughout my journey all I heard was 'oh, that's Sams son' or 'please welcome the son of Samuel Oak…blah bah blah.' So I can very much understand what you have gone through. When I became Champion, I thought things would change but being beaten by your father days later made things stay the same. I was very envious of him for the longest time until our battle when I felt at peace with my loss but the aftermath wasn't good. For months I overheard conversations people didn't think I was listening in to, 'Oh Blue proved he wasn't as good as his dad, after all he lost quite quickly.' Etc etc, never mind the fact your dad was a bloody prodigy. I have always been content with earning the title Champion despite how short amount of time I had it, but when it was thrust on me again I became determined to make that title worthy of its utterance. Has Delia ever told you why Red became a Master?"
"No" Ash said thinking over what Blue said. He was right that they had more in common with each other than Ash realised "just that he was the youngest ever."
"Your father was a shit Champion" Blue said bluntly earning a gasp from Delia and Laura "don't look at me like that, you know I'm right. Red, for all his skill had one major flaw. He couldn't sit still. He was born to roam, and as soon as he accomplished something he became antsy and restless and wanted to do something else. He never treated the title with reverence, possibly because it was just a stepping stone for him but no one ever saw him in the first six years of being Champion doing his role. Over the years the irritating or bad memories drifted away until all we and the world remembered was the man he became but I have known him since I was four, believe me when I say he had an irritating streak that he would be famous for years later. Maybe it was because everything came easy to him that he just didn't care enough, oh don't get me wrong he was never arrogant about it but you could still just tell when he was shaping up to set out on a new challenge. He was the Champion of Kanto but it wasn't until he reached Master status that he actually settled down and became the Champion Kanto needed."
"That was my doing" Delia said looking wistfully out of the window "We wanted children but I was not going to have them with a man who was never going to be present. I loved Red, I still love Red but he was the most irritating man I've ever met at times."
"I coveted the title because it was something my father always said was an incredible accomplishment" Blue said carrying on "and when I was given it again I was determined to do right by the title. I'm not blowing my own trumpet when I say I was a better Champion than your father. Battling-wise he would always win that competition but doing the actual job of Champion is something I know I'm better at. You see the difference?"
"I do yeah" Ash said nodding and thinking about his own future "you know I'm wanting to do the same right? I want to challenge different Leagues, see new places, meet new people and catch new Pokémon."
"I know" Blue sighed "but you have five years to learn what you need to, after that I will simply be the last member of the Elite Four if I've not retired by then that is so after that it's down to you. I won't hold your hand Ash, and I will call you on your decorum with regards to the title if you don't treat it with the respect it deserves. But ultimately that's now Charles Goodshows problem. He and you are on timer and I won't be there to pick up the pieces should you let the ball drop. I have earned my demotion, more than anyone except Laura knows and I plan on enjoying the latter half of our lives. Just think on it Ash, think on what you want. You are now Champion, and in five years' time the buck now stops with you." Clapping him on the shoulder he nodded to Delia and left with Laura.
That evening Ash was back at home, after picking up his team, feeling restless. Looking at the time and seeing it was only 10pm he got up from his couch, picked up his trophy and trekked down Route 1 towards Pallet Town with just himself for company. Walking through town he didn't see a single person and as he made his way to his mums he contemplated his future. Blues words had quite the impact on him as everything he said was right. Ash didn't think he'd be a great Champion, to be honest he didn't even think on what the title meant other than an affixation to his name. Opening up his mums door he walked in and walked straight upstairs and into his dads room, formerly his own. Placing his trophy on the foot of the bed he sat down next to his dad and looked at him. Delia was in the process of getting ready for bed when she heard the front door go and saw Ash walk past the kitchen and up the stairs. Confused she silently followed him and stood at the doorway as she saw him sit down next to her husband.
"Well dad I won" Ash said "so what do I do now?"