Chapter 35: Second Round
The audience went wild. The match was over.
And Ash Ketchum had won. Triumphed over Misty, the Gym Leader expected to win.
Exhaustion kicked in. The blood red eyes finally calmed.
The raven-haired Trainer lost his strength to stand and was panting heavily.
'Again… It's stronger now…,' he thought, his mind still reeling from the adrenaline.
He then looked to his Pokémon, wondering how she was.
Lapras was exhausted as well but cried out happily to Ash, rejoicing in their victory which prompted a smile from the Trainer.
With some energy back in his legs, he walked slowly towards Lapras.
Ash shuffled closer to her and finally, hugged her.
"Well done, Lapras," Ash praised, patting her head gently.
"You really gave it your all. Thank you."
Lapras' eyes widened at her Trainer's tired but heartfelt words and began reminiscing of their past.
How the raven-haired boy saved her from Team Rocket. From Giovanni.
His small back protecting her from Nidoking's assault moved her to tears. Both from his kindness and her uselessness.
But Lapras had grown stronger now. For her Trainer that gave her a new lease on life.
"Kyuu~," Lapras cooed while nudging her head against Ash affectionally, tickling the boy, and drenching him in water again.
"That tickles, girl," he chuckled.
Kalos Region. Pokémon Academy.
The figure of Ash Ketchum pointing to the sky was burned into the memories of everyone watching.
The illuminating blood red eyes were now visible for all to see, its presence demanded everyone's attention.
{ [VOLT TACKLE (FAKE)] ! }
The students watched with bated breath as the lightning coated Lapras descended rapidly towards a frozen Starmie.
The clash of [Hydro Pump] and [Volt Tackle (Fake)] elicited gasps of shock and amazement. Everyone could not peel their eyes away for even a single moment.
And then…
{ FORWARD! }
The sight of the raven-haired boy giving his all alongside his Pokémon rendered Serena into a teary mess.
All to become the very best. Like no one ever was.
The tears would not stop. Nor did she want them to.
She gave him that dream. The Pokémon Master.
And he was giving everything he had to achieve that dream.
All to honour her for everything she gave him.
And she burst into happy sobs as she realized it. Grace patted her on the back with a tender smile.
{ THE WINNER IS RED OF PALLET TOWN! }
Cameran Palace, Rota Kingdom
"Sir Riley, the sword…" Queen Ilene muttered softly.
The blade of rust that rested on her lap began to shine dimly as if responding to something.
"There's no mistake. It's that boy…" Riley confirmed, turning his attention to the raven-haired Trainer in the screen.
The man's eyes shone a steel blue as he murmured in curiosity at the young Trainer.
"Who are you, Ash Ketchum?"
The crowd cheered with deafening vigour while the raven-haired Trainer recalled Lapras back into her Ball.
Finally letting the taste of his first victory in the Indigo Grand League permeate into his body, he howled triumphantly with his fist pumped into the air.
"Yeeeeeeah!"
Back in the competitors' viewing room, Lance and Lorelei began piecing together Lapras' surprising counterattack.
"I'm surprised Lapras held onto [Thunderbolt]'s charge for that long," the man commented.
"Starmie has an organ that handles Electric-moves in a similar manner," Lorelei explained.
"Lapras has it as well which is why despite being primarily a Water-type, it can learn Electric moves via TM. But I'm not sure whether the boy realized it or not."
"Quite the interesting thing, this Red…" She concluded with a glint in her eyes.
'And Misty… You have certainly become stronger than I initially thought,' the woman pondered with satisfaction.
'If the matches were determined by personal growth, you would be the winner by a long shot. But that's not how things work here.'
'All that matters is who wins and who loses.'
'…I'm sorry.'
The conclusion of Ash's match prompted Gary to leave in preparation for his own match later.
But before he could leave…
"Woohoo! Red won! Wasn't that awesome, Green?" Blue squealed in celebration.
"Just a fluke," the orange-haired boy simply said as he passed the older girls behind them.
"Aww, don't be like that~," the chestnut-haired girl teased.
"You seemed pretty excited just now~"
"You must have been dreaming, Snorlax Blue. Smell ya later," Gary shot back.
"That's so awful!" Blue shouted back before pouting.
Unbeknownst to every Trainer in the room, a small smile crept onto Gary's face.
Ash turned his attention towards the Cerulean City Gym Leader. His mind began to realize what he had done.
The two Trainers walked towards each other. Each step, the raven-haired boy pondered in slight guilt.
'Misty came here chasing her own dream,' Ash thought as he ambled closer.
'And I crushed it… for my own.'
'So, this is what it's like at the top… This is the Indigo Grand League!'
The two Trainers' eyes met as they stood in front in front of each other.
Cerulean blue gazed at blood red. Both not saying a word.
Before…
"…Wow, you're too much," Misty admitted with a smile as she broke the silence.
The Tomboyish Mermaid began examining her last battle in her head.
'Attack, attack, and attack some more,' she mused.
'I thought I could power my way through the match…'
'But I got carried away. I got impatient.'
'My mind was already fixated on the next battle when I should have been focusing on the current one.'
'Ha… serves me right.'
The redhead took another look at the young boy.
'I should have known better.'
Blood red eyes that seemed more beautiful than rubies.
'How many times have I seen Ash turn the tides of a battle?'
'Young and inexperienced…'
The figure of the object of her musings stood determined.
'But… if there was even a slight chance…'
'A probability so infinitesimal…'
'He will use every last drop of his power to grasp it.'
'No matter what it takes.'
Then, Ash finally spoke.
"Umm, Misty…" he began awkwardly, prompting an indifferent look from Misty.
Suddenly, the older girl pinched his cheeks, pulling them apart like mochi.
"What're you getting all gloomy about?!" she chided.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Ash screamed in pain.
Misty finally let go, although slightly amused at his throbbing cheeks.
"You just won, dummy," the redhead said firmly.
"You're now one step closer to your dream. So, smile, okay?"
"That's…"
A stunned Ash took in Misty's genuine remarks while still caressing his cheeks.
"Your duty, victor."
With that, Ash gave his signature toothy grin once more.
"Like this?" he asked confidently.
"Ugh. Y'know what? That smug look ticks me off," Misty groaned with disgust.
"Oi."
"Kidding. Here," Misty replied while reaching out to Ash's gloved hand into a handshake.
"Word of advice," the redhead voiced out with a smile.
"Keep sticking to your own path."
"Never lose sight of your goals."
"And also, don't get your butt handed to you next round. She's a lot stronger than me."
The raven-haired Trainer widened his eyes in surprise.
"…Yeah. And thanks, Misty," he thanked.
With another smile, the Tomboyish Mermaid began to leave the arena, with Ash doing the same on the opposite end.
{ THESE TWO YOUNG TRAINERS HAVE SHOWN US A GREAT BATTLE! }
{ RED OF PALLET TOWN ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND! }
The cheers continued booming the stadium even after the competitors made their exit.
Out of the audience's sight, Misty took off her hairband that held her side ponytail.
Meanwhile, Ash stared at his hand that shook his opponent's hand with solemn eyes.
Recalling widening his eyes at Misty's trembling hand that gripped him tenderly.
And the boy looked behind for the last time. Seeing the back of the young Gym Leader.
Her sobs, her hiccups, and her warm tears were all unseen by anyone as her free orange hair flowed behind her.
Clenching his hand into a fist, the raven-haired boy faced forward with determined eyes.
Kalos Region. Pokémon Academy.
"What a marvellous show of sportsmanship," Sycamore complimented.
"I feel bad for that poor girl though," Grace commented sadly.
"Well, that's how the Pokémon Leagues are, ma'am," Calem replied.
Serena looked at the two Trainers' handshake and began to feel envious of Misty.
'At least she could be there with him,' she thought.
It would be a lie to say if the honey blonde did not feel a twinge of jealousy, but the girl also felt sorry for the redhead loss.
Just then, a notification popped out on the screen.
{ NEXT MATCH : KAREN OF JOHTO VS GREEN OF PALLET TOWN }
{ WATCH? ( Y / N ) }
"Hmm? Pallet Town? Isn't that where Ash is from as well?" Shauna questioned aloud.
All were now looking towards the Ice Queen for answers now, startling the young girl.
"Ah… Well, he's probably the rival Red talked about once," Serena answered.
"Apparently, he's a genius compared to Red," she continued, recalling their conversations.
She remembered how peeved she was when Ash would put himself down in comparison to Gary.
The honey blonde still felt the same.
"Anyways, I've never met him since he was away during summer camp," Serena elaborated.
"Well then, shall we watch?" Sycamore asked the crowd.
A resounding reply of YES filled the hall and the answer was decided.
"Here you go, Ash. We've restored your Pokémon to full health. We hope to see you again," Nurse Joy said with a bow.
"Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy," Ash thanked before speeding towards the spectator room.
A few minutes later, Misty entered the room with swollen eyes and without her side ponytail.
The competitors said nothing and nodded towards her as a show of respect to the young Gym Leader.
Lorelei made her way towards the redhead and comforted her.
"You've exceeded my expectations, Misty. Well done," the Elite Four complimented with a heartfelt smile.
Misty smiled at her person of admiration and nodded as thanks.
Then, the other one came in.
"Red!" Blue exclaimed happily.
The raven-haired Trainer was sweating bullets with Pikachu in a daze from all the running his Trainer did.
"Huff… puff… You people… should really… put up… some damn directions…" the boy said with a rasp in his voice, struggling to breathe.
Blue snickered as she helped her childhood friend to Gary's previous seat and gave him some water. The other competitors watched the boy gulped down an entire bottle of water in amusement.
"Pwah~! That's good water!" Ash said, refreshed and energetic again.
"You're gonna choke if you keep that up," Blue said with a deadpanned face.
"Aren't you going to congratulate me for winning?" Ash asked cheekily.
"All I see is an upcoming loser next round," Blue snorted.
"You little…" Ash gritted his teeth in annoyance.
However, this was merely friendly banter between the two.
"…Congrats."
"Heh. I'll be rooting for you, Bluey."
Then, the older girls crept up on the new boy who came in.
"Are you two dating?" they asked in unison.
"Hell no," the two friends refuted together.
"Her prince is right… Where's Green?" Ash asked in confusion.
"Pay attention, silly," Blue said with a blush before pointing at the arena below. The word 'prince' got her heart racing.
Pikachu, who had recovered from the spinning, then turned to the arena.
Espeon, who had been beside Blue since the beginning, greeted the mouse by nuzzling him. The electric mouse replied in kind.
Then, a loud explosion could be heard from the battlefield, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
The explosion was caused by Arcanine who had leaped towards a Murkrow, biting down his wing within a blink of an eye.
The black bird cawed out in pain before the large canine put him out his misery.
With a direct [Flamethrower], Murkrow fell easily.
{ NO WAY! MURKROW IS ALREADY UNABLE TO BATTLE! }
With that announcement, Arcanine howled triumphantly.
"Don't get carried away. You merely defeated one," Gary coldly called out.
"Overconfidence is poisonous. Take this seriously if you want to keep winning."
Despite the cold demeanour and words of his Trainer, Arcanine merely nodded in agreement.
The two were on the same page.
{ GREEN HAS DEFEATED KAREN'S FIRST POKÉMON AND TAKES THE LEAD! }
"Hey, hey. That the best you got?" Gary cockily said.
"I thought you're supposed to be an Elite Four candidate. Was I wrong?"
"Well, doesn't matter."
"I will crush you either way."
Chapter 35: Second Round