The day after the PokéRinger Competition was finished, Ash and Amber were seating on the field outside of the Crossgate Town.
Yesterday, the Crossgate Competition was held, and Amber, Macy, Casey, Marina, Serena and May have all entered to compete. They didn't enter because they were particularly interested in the prize for the winner, which is to become an honorary citizen of the Crossgate Town, but instead, they have entered so they can train their Pokemon, to get them to the next level.
In the first round in the A-Block, where Casey fought, she was able to pass the round using her Ninjask. She was barely able to get to the ring before Shane's Swablu, and thus, pulled a win. Though it was a really close call, because Shane was using a Pokemon which had a Type advantage over Casey, and also was able to train his Swablu for the completion longer then Casey could train her Pokemon, not to mention the fact that Shane is from the Crossgate Town, so he knew the winds around the place, which give him a good advantage, as she can predict them, while Casey couldn't. In the end though, Ninjask was only able to win, because of its superior speed, over Shane's Swablu.
Shane was disappointed that he has lost in the first round, when he has trained for a while for this competition, but in the end, he came to a conclusion that Casey had her Ninjask trained much more then he trained his Swablu, which he has only caught recently, and didn't have a time to work with him for too long. He decided to try again next year, and by then, he will prepare his Swablu to run circles around the opponents, and have a clean win in the end.
In the B-Block, Amber has whipped the floor with all of her opponents, including the returning champion, Volt, and his Volbeat. Amber has proven that her Talonflame is very powerful Pokemon with high fire power, which he was able to use to take out Volbeat and his Thunder attack, which has taken out the other two trainers Pokemon.
Amber was satisfied with herself and her Fire Pokemon. She was also looking forward to the next round and the battle against Casey.
The C-Block was much more interesting than the A and B blocks, since there were two great trainers, with a powerful Pokemon, going up against each other. Those two trainers were Macy and Marina, who were using Charizard and Pidgeot.
The two girls have traveled together for a while, and know almost everything about each other. The same goes for their Pokemon, which they have for about the same period of time, and have gone through pretty much the same amount of training.
In the end though, the battle was won not because Marina was stronger than Macy, or Macy was stronger and better trainer then Marina. The battle was won because between the two equally talented trainers, with nearly equally powerful Pokemon, one of the two Pokemon, just had a bit higher NATURAL endurance and power, then the other.
The winner was Charizard, which allowed Macy, to go to the next round.
Finally, the D-Block of the first round of the PokéRinger Competition. What was supposed to be a battle between four trainers, turned out to be a match between two friends, May and Serena.
Serena entered into the round with Swellow, which is a superior Pokemon, then May's Taillow. Serena could also be considered a better trainer, and has more experience, so she should have had a clear win.
May though. She was angry at having to go against the only trainer in the competition she didn't want to go against. She was hoping that if she can miss Serena in the first and the second round, she can go against her in the final round, but by having potentially two rounds before that, she was hoping to give her Taillow some good matches, where the small bird Pokemon can get experience to evolve.
Unfortunately for May, she ended up in the same group as Serena, who is more experienced trainer then she is, and has a higher level Pokemon.
Still, while she knew that she was at a disadvantage, May gave it her all, in order to win. She has actually done much better than anyone, including Serena, Max and Ash have thought she would. May realized right from the start that her Taillow can't outfly her evolved form. She also shouldn't be able to defeat it in a head-on battle, but May thought that she has higher chances that way, then to fly straight for the ring.
The two Pokemon attacked each other for a while, with Swellow clearly having the advantage, and more power, but May and her Taillow didn't give up, no matter what. May didn't want to lose, while Taillow' were very competitive Pokemon, and when Taillow saw how important this competition is to May, she fought harder than she ever did.
The push to fight harder has paid in the end, when May's Taillow, has evolved into Swellow, in the middle of the battle.
May was super happy with this, and from then on, she ordered her Swellow to go after the ring, because now both Pokemon are on the equal level when it comes to speed, so May thought that she has a chance.
She was right, and her Swellow did get to the ring, before Serena's Swellow, and then started to fly back to the goal post.
Unfortunately, May's Swellow wasn't able to get all the way to the goal post, when Serena told her Pokemon to use Sky Attack on May's Pokemon. May's Swellow was hit, and sent to the ground, while Serena's Swellow caught the rind, and brought it to the goal post, thus, making Serena the winner of the D-Block, and taking her to the semi-final. There, she has to go against Macy and her Charizard.
May wasn't happy with her loss, but she was happy that in the end, even though she lost, she did get what she wanted, and that's her Taillow getting the experience she needed to evolve, and finally evolving in the middle of the battle.
Serena was happy with the win, and though she thought that she could have won sooner, as she does have more experience than May, and had a stronger Pokemon; she won't get mad, and start thinking of what if's. She won the round, and is now in the semifinals, so she was happy.
Ash was happy that his sister and one of his friends have gotten to the semifinal. He wished that May didn't have to go against Serena, and he would have wanted to watch her in the semifinals, as she has deserved it, but in the end, not all of them could have gone to the semifinals, and someone had to fall out from the competition. He was happy that May's Taillow has evolved, though, and he knows that even though she lost, May isn't angry, as she has gotten what she wanted.
In the next round, the first semifinal match between Casey and Amber, was a good round, but not to the level that the match between Serena and May's match was. Casey's Pokemon, Ninjask, had a high speed, but not much beyond that, while Amber's Talonflame, had speed, power, endurance. It had it all, which is why in the end, it was no surprise that Amber got the win. Her Talonflame got to the ring, before Casey's Ninjask, and was able to get to the goal post, winning the match.
The second semifinal match was a slaughterhouse… well, maybe not, but just like the battle between May and Serena, this battle between Serena and Macy was not decided with the race to the ring and back to the goal post… well, not at first, anyway. It was decided with the battle between the two trainers, who didn't want to rely on luck to get to the ring, and neither trainer had any kind of experience to predict the winds, in order to outsmart and outfly the opponent.
Now, while in terms of fire powers, Macy and her Charizard, clearly had the advantage against Serena and her Swellow, Serena and her Pokemon, did spent all their time around Ash and his Pokemon, so the fire powers they lack, they made it up with experience, and the battle skills, which they learned around Ash. Those skills, which Serena and her Swellow had; Macy and her Pokemon, didn't have, as they were not around Ash, to get them.
Taking all that into an account, the two Pokemon, were evenly matched, which was obvious to everyone who was watching the match. In the end, though, Serena was able to pull off a win, when she used a chance to tell her Swellow to fly to the ring, take it and get it to the goal post. She did this, because both her Swellow, and Macy's Charizard, were tired, and Serena decided to use the fact that Swellow was smaller, and had higher speed then the Charizard. With this, Serena and Swellow, were able to win the match, which sent them to the final round of the competition, where they had to battle against Amber.
Finally, the final round of the PokéRinger Competition. Amber VS Serena. Talonflame VS Swellow.
XXX
"That was a good run in the final round, Amber," Ash said to his sister, as they were seating on the field. "You and Serena have really shown everything there, that you two, are the best this year, and that no matter who won in the end, it would have been a deserving win."
"Yeah, it was a good round," Amber agreed with Ash, with a smile on her face. "Serena did really well though, and I think she deserved to win, even though I won in the end. It's a shame, that there can only be one winner."
"It's a shame, yes," Ash agreed, "but, you won anyway, and now you are an honorary citizen of Crossgate Town. How does it feel?"
"It's nice," Amber smiled. "I don't know if I'll ever return here to compete again, but no matter what I do, this one win means that my name will be remembered her for the rest of my life. It's a nice feeling. I'll admit that."
"Well, let's talk about something else," Ash said. "Tell me about your journey. We didn't have many chances to talk about it on the phone."
"There is nothing much to say about it," Amber said. "We arrived here, and immediately started to go through the gyms. We started in Rustboro City, and from there we went to Dewford Island, and so on. Of course, we spent some time training our Pokemon, before each gym, and with the four of us traveling together, and with some gym leaders always using the same Pokemon, there were few times we had to spend several days in one place, to get all of our badges. Not to mention that each of us lost in at least one of the gyms."
"Really," Ash said in surprise. He didn't think that Amber would lose to any of the gym leaders. He can't say anything about the other girls, but Amber got to the finals of the Silver Conference, and as such, he didn't think that she could lose to a simple gym leader in Hoenn Region. "Who did you lose to?"
"I lost to Juan, in the Sootopolis Gym," Amber admitted. "It was the last gym, and Juan is pretty tough. He uses Water Type Pokemon, and Macy and I decided to go with Fire Pokemon. We both lost the first matches, while Casey and Marina were smarter, and won on their first try. Of course, even after we lost, neither I nor Macy, wanted to change out Pokemon, but instead we decided to go even in the rematch, with the same Pokemon. We wanted to prove that we can beat a Water Gym, with Fire Pokemon. I managed to win on the second try, but Macy lost again, before she finally won on the third try.
"So, when you take into account the amount of time we spent training our Pokemon, then the time we spent in some cities because the gym leaders always use the same Pokemon, and then the time we spent re-training, after the losses… yeah, it took us a while to get all the badges."
"Well, congratulations," Ash said. "There aren't that many trainers in the world who can pull-of a win like that." Amber smiled at Ash's praise. She is always happy when he praises her, as it means that she is doing a good job as a Pokemon Trainer.
"Did something else happened while you were here?" Ash asked, interrupting Amber's thought.
"Like what?" Amber asked back.
"We had several run-ins with Teams Aqua and Magma," Ash said, making Amber's eyes, widen. "Did you run into them so far?"
"Yes," Amber spoke. "We run into them, but only once." Ash narrowed his eyes at that.
"When?" He asked.
"Few days ago, actually," Amber spoke, and this time, Ash's eyes widened. "We were on the way here, when we stopped by at the place called the Weather Institute, because it was raining and we needed a shelter. It's there that the Team Aqua showed up as they were searching for…" Amber went and explained to Ash what happened. She said that the Team Aqua were searching for the information of Groudon and Kyogre. She then said how Team Aqua didn't get the information, but that another person did. That person was Brodie, the Man of a Thousand Faces. He is a member of the Team Magma and he did manage to get away with the disk containing the information they were searching for.
"So now Team Magma has some information on the two Legendary Pokemon," Ash stated, and Amber nodded. "Damn it. That can be bad. Who knows what they've got, and what they plan to do with it. I still haven't figured out why Team Aqua and Team Magma are searching for the Groudon and Kyogre. For some reason only known to them, they are messing with powers which can destroy the world. How stupid can they get?" Ash continued his rant for a while, while Amber just sat there and listened to him. She didn't know what to say, as she didn't know what was going on to begin with.
After a while, Ash stopped with his rant, before he looked at Amber. "What about before that day? Did you ever met any member of Teams Aqua and Magma?"
"No," Amber said.
"I guess you were lucky," Ash sighed. "It's a good thing though. We met them several times, and there were some skirmishes, the worst of which was on Mt. Chimney."
"What happened on your journey, Ash," Amber asked. "I heard some things, some from you, and some from dad, but I don't know the whole story. Tell me, what happened."
Ash sighed, before he started to explain everything that happened since he arrived in the Hoenn Region, from his first run-in with Teams Aqua and Magma, all the way to what happened in the Petalburg City. He didn't give her all the information, though. He never said about Grace's history, or her relatives and connection to the Shadow Legion. He promised to Grace that he won't say it to anyone and he didn't. He also said that Serena was kidnapped and hurt, but he didn't go into details, so Amber doesn't know that Serena was caned. She also doesn't know the extent of Serena's powers, only that she is Psychic. The last thing he omitted from his explanation, was the extent of the torture Norman went through. Ash just didn't think that Amber needs to know that.
"You sure have been through a lot," Amber commented with a sigh. She couldn't believe all the things that happened to her brother and his girlfriend and friends. It's like their journey through Hoenn Region, has been cursed.
"We did," Ash said. "But we are still alive and mostly well. Serena will still need some time to completely recover, while May and Max will be haunted by their father's death for a while. I am sure though that in the end, all of us will end up coming from all of this much stronger than we are now, and when the time comes, we will have our revenge against all those who have made our lives miserable." As he said this, Ash's eyes flashed red for a moment, before they returned to normal. This wasn't missed by Amber though. She saw it all, and wondered, what will happen in the future.
Finally, Ash decided to stop thinking and talking about bad things. He had some other things to ask Amber, so he decided to focus on that. "Tell me," Ash spoke. "Where did you find, Talonflame? It's a Pokemon from the Kalos Region, and while it's not impossible to find it in other regions, it's very hard and rare."
Amber smiled. "Actually, I got it in Lilycove City, almost six months ago. It was still a Fletchling back then, though. There was a Pokemon Swap gathering, just like the one in Johto Region, and we decided to trade some Pokemon. From then on, I trained him, until he evolved from Fletchling, all the way to Talonflame."
"I didn't know that there was a Swap Meet in Lilycove City." Ash said in surprise.
"Yes, there is," Amber confirmed. "There is a gathering every six months, and the one where I've been at, was almost six months ago."
"Well, I guess we won't be able to get to there, by the time the next Swap Meet happens." Ash said.
"Do you have some Pokemon you would want to trade?" Amber asked.
"No, I don't," Ash said. "But I can always catch a few, and then trade them if necessary, just like I did in Johto. It doesn't matter anyway, though. There is no way we can get there in time. Maybe if we head there right now, but since we have to go to the Fortree City first, and then to Lilycove, it will take us probably a month, to get there. And that's only if we don't run into any trouble by then."
"I guess you can always find some trainers who are willing to trade," Amber suggested. "There are always trainers around, who want to trade."
"It's not worthy searching the trainers for trading," Ash said. "But, if we happen to cross by some, we'll see."
"OK," Amber said.
"Did you get any other Pokemon, except Talonflame?" Ash asked.
"I got many Pokemon since I got to the Hoenn Region," Amber replied. "But at the Swap Meet, I got Fletchling, and few others, but I won't tell you which ones. I'll leave that as a surprise for when the League starts." Amber smirked.
Ash smirked back at her. "Well then, I guess I won't tell you which Pokemon I got," he said to Amber, who only shrugged.
"I'm ok with that," Amber said. "It will be a bigger challenge to battle you without knowing which Pokemon you have. You would be just like any other trainer we meet at the tournament."
"If you say so." Ash shrugged. "What do you plan to do now? The tournament won't start for a while, and you and your friends already have all badges needed to qualify."
"We'll just train," Amber said. "There is nothing else we can do. We will go to several interesting places in the Hoenn Region, where a terrain and the weather are harsh, and train there. It will be better for our Pokemon, then if we just stay in a city and train at some battlefields behind the Pokemon Center, or in the forests."
"I agree with that," Ash nodded, agreeing with Amber. He like her idea, and though that it was a good one. "You mentioned Hoenn Dessert, before."
"Yes," Amber said. "That place is hot as hell. I know, as we've passed thought there when we were in the Lavaridge Town, Mt. Chimney and the Valley of the Steel. As such, I think that it would be a perfect place to train, we just need to get enough supplies to last us a while, and to make sure we find a good spot for training, so we won't be on the sun all day.
"While we are there, we plan to visit the Desert Ruins. I heard that you can find Regirock there, and I want to fight it."
Ash raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure that's a good idea," he asked? "Regirock is one of the Legendary Titans, and it's not an easy opponent to defeat."
"It will be perfect Pokemon to fight against, in order to make my Pokemon stronger," Amber said. "I always have my Pokemon fight against Latias, but fighting other Legendary Pokemon will do them good. Besides, the Legendary Titans are strong, but not on the level of… I don't know, Lugia, Ho-Oh, or even Groudon and Kyogre. The titans can be defeated."
"Do you plan to catch them?" Ash asked.
"No," Amber said. "None of them is a Fire Pokemon, so I won't bother catching them. I might go after Heatran, though. I heard that one can be found at the place called, the 'Scorched Slab'. It's located just outside of the Fortree City. Last time we were in the Fortree City, we didn't go to that place, but now, we might. Getting that Pokemon, can be interesting, and I'm sure Macy would want to catch it as well."
"Well, good luck with that," Ash said. "They are called Legendary Pokemon for a reason, and trust me, they won't be easily defeated, regardless if they are high, or low level Legendary."
Amber shrugged. "I lose nothing to try, and my Pokemon get the experience of fighting them, regardless of the outcome."