Chapter 8

It was finally the day. The Silver Conference started today, and as Ash Ketchum stood in the stadium that would soon be the home to many great battles, he reflected on his journey throughout Johto. Setting out after losing in the Indigo League, Defeating Falkner with the help of Charizard to earn his first badge; Defeating Bugsy for his Bug Badge, Winning his Plain Badge from Whitney, after mastering a counter for her Milktank's Rollout attack; Defeating Morty and his Ghost types for his fourth badge; Winning against Chuck and his fighting types, Jasmine and Pryce with their desired types, and all of the other insanity that led to this moment. Becoming a half-Pokemon Hybrid being only one of those times.

He was taken from his thoughts as Mr. Goodshow began to speak. "Citizens of the Johto Region! It is a fine year for another fine Silver Conference!" He pointed towards the soon-to-be-lit Flame of Ho-oh sat. An Officer Jenny approached it.

"Now, with the lighting of the Flame of Ho-oh, the tournament will be officially underway!'' Mr. Goodshow announced. On her queue, Officer Jenny lit the Giant flame, and cheers echoed throughout the room.

"Now," Mr. Goodshow announced after the cheers had died down a bit. "It is time to reveal the first-round matches!" 32 cards appeared on the large screen under the Flame of Ho-oh, showing each competitor's face. The cards flipped over and were shuffled. They were then revealed to the audience, each paired with another person. Ash recognized several faces on the board and found his name. His opponent was a boy named Kyle.

He looked through the crowd gathered and spotted his opponent. Ash walked up to him, and they shook hands. "Good luck," Ash said, and Kyle wished Ash luck as well, and as Ash left, none other than Gary walked up to him, followed by his cheerleader squad of his, which Ash had no idea how Gary had managed to get them entry onto the field at the time.

"So, Ashy-Boy?" Gary said in a smug voice. "Don't lose in the first round! I want to be the one to crush you!"

Ash just smirked, confusing Gary. "I hope you remember you said that," he stated calmly.

Beside Ash, Latios smirked as Gary walked off with his fan club. "That kid thinks he's the world's next star. I can't wait to show him how wrong he is. Oh, and also watch him pee himself when he realizes I'm with you."

Ash nodded to the invisible eon. He had already chosen a team for the first round so all he had to do was wait for his match to be called.

Ash stood in his trainer box as a ref prepared for the match. Across from him, Kyle seemed to be thinking bout something, most likely strategies for the battle.

The referee appeared to be ready as he began to state the match rules. "This will be a 3-on-3 Battle. Substitutions are allowed, and the first to knock out each of his or her opponent's Pokemon will be declared the winner!" The ref said. "Now, competitors, choose your first Pokemon!"

Kyle took this as his queue and threw out a Pokeball. The energy expanded from the ball to form the shape of a Magmar.

"Pikachu, you're up first!" Ash said to his partner Pokemon. The choice wasn't the greatest, but Ash had decided that the first pokemon to get to battle in the league would be his partner. Ash had no doubts that Pikachu could handle the Magmar that stood before him. The icons of Magmar and Pikachu flashed onto the large screen under the respective trainer's icon.

The first move was decided to go to Kyle, and he wasn't going to waste it.

"Begin!" The ref called, and Ash tensed, knowing his whole journey in Johto had been for this moment.

"Magmar, use Flamethrower!" Kyle yelled, and the fire type launched a blast of flames toward Pikachu, which he easily dodged. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu launched a lightning bolt at Magmar, who took some damage.

"Magmar, hang in there and use Fire Blast!" On Kyle's command, Magmar launched a beam of fire, which took the shape of a star.

Pikachu tried to dodge the attack but was quickly overcome by the fire attack. Pikachu got up slowly, not finished. "Good job Pikachu! Now use Quick Attack and Iron Tail combination!" Ash called. Pikachu had learned Iron Tail while training for the match as it needed better coverage.

Pikachu launched forwards at high velocities, and when he got close to Magmar, his tail began to harden as it was coated in iron, With a flip to maximize the force behind the attack, he slammed his tail into Magmar's face, launching him across the field, and into a wall. Magmar fell to the ground, completely knocked out.

"Magmar is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!" The ref called, holding up a flag. The audience cheered for the battle before them, and Kyle readied a second Pokeball.

"Go, Jolteon!" Kyle called, throwing out his ball. The electric eeveelution Let out a growl as it appeared on the field. "Ash!" Latias warned beside him from where she and Latios were watching. "Jolteon has the Volt Absorb Ability! Electric attacks will power it up!" Ash nodded silently, telepathically thanking her for the advice.

"Pikachu, it's time for someone else to battle!" Ash called to the mouse Pokemon. Pikachu nodded and ran back to Ash's side. Pikachu's icon faded to a greyish shade, but still had detail on it, which signified he was still able to battle, unlike Magmar's which had faded like Pikachu's, but only had Magmar's outline, showing that it had been defeated.

Ash grabbed a Pokeball off of his belt. "Okay, Bulbasaur, you're up next!" Ash threw out the ball, releasing the proud grass type onto the battlefield.

"You ready to go, Bulbasaur?" Ash asked.

"Ready to kick some Jolteon butt!" Bulbasaur replied.

"That's the spirit!" Ash praised, confusing Kyle. Had he just understood Bulbasaur?

Ash decided to get off a quick move. "Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed!" He called. Bulbasaur in turn launched a large seed from the bulb on his back, which struck Jolteon, growing into a plant that started to drain Jolteon's energy and slowly give it to Bulbasaur.

"Jolteon, use quick attack!" Kyle called. Jolteon launched off towards Bulbasaur at extremely fast speeds, striking Bulbasaur before he could comprehend what was happening. Jolteon then continued to repeatedly ram into Bulbasaur.

"Hang in there Bulbasaur!" Ash called. 'There's got to be a way to hit that Jolteon!' He suddenly got an idea. "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip and spin! Bulbasaur caught on quickly and launched two vines from his back. He then started to spin rapidly, catching the Jolteon off guard and smashing it into the dirt as it tried to ram him. It wasn't out yet, though, and as it got up, Ash quickly called another order.

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!" Ash called. Bulbasaur launched sharp leaves at Jolteon. "Jolteon, use Double Team!" Kyle yelled. Jolteon quickly made copies of itself to try to confuse Bulbasaur.

"Ash!" Latios said. "You can find the real one! Just close your eyes and focus! You'll know what I mean!" Ash decided to listen to the advice, and closed his eyes, confusing Kyle. He could see the outlines of the multitude of Jolteons that now surrounded Bulbasaur.

Most of them seemed to feel… empty to Ash, almost lifeless. One Jolteon, however, was brighter than the others and seemed more alive. Ash knew what to do.

"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf 40 degrees to your left!" Bulbasaur launched the attack at the spot Ash had pointed to, and much to Kyle's surprise hit home and sent Jolteon onto the ground. At first, it looked like it was okay to battle, but Leech Seed kicked in and drained the last of Jolteon's health, causing it to fall unconscious.

Once again, the ref called it, raising a flag. "Jolteon is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins!" Kyle returned his downed eeveelution and praised it on a good attempt as Jolteon's icon lost its color and detail.

"Incredible!" The announcer spoke. "After being bombarded by Jolteon's speed attacks, Bulbasaur was able to not only stop the barrage of attacks but also spot the real Jolteon after it used Double Team! Ash is up by two, with all of his Pokemon remaining, while Kyle is down to his last!"

After some cheering from the crowd, Ash recalled Bulbasaur and praised it on a job well done. He then readied his third Pokeball. "Go, Kingler!" The large crab-like Pokemon appeared in a flash of light.

Kyle threw out his final Pokeball, releasing a Graveler.

Kyle then went ahead with the first attack. "Graveler, use rollout!" He called, and Ash shuddered, having horrid memories of his fight with Whitney's Miltank. "Kingler hit it with a Crab Hammer!" He called, and as Graveler approached rapidly, Kingler swung its large pincher and launched Graveler across the arena and into a wall. It looked amusingly like a baseball game.

Graveler slowly got up due to its Sturdy Ability and was promptly nailed by a Bubblebeam right to its face, knocking it out. Ash sweatdropped at the anticlimactic battle that had just happened.

"Graveler is unable to battle!" The ref called. "Kingler wins! And with all three of his Pokemon still available, The victor is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, with a flawless victory!"

Ash cheered, and Latios had to hold back Latias from hugging Ash in her excitement and ruining her invisibility. "Well, that's round one!" Ash said. "We just have to keep it up!" Each of his Pokemon nodded in agreement.

Ash ran into Brock and Misty after the match. "That was amazing, Ash!" Brock congratulated his friend. "You didn't even lose one Pokemon!" Ash accepted the praise and afterward ate an overly large dinner at the League's Buffet for competing trainers.

The next morning, Ash was given his round 2 matchups and was told there would be a day break for trainers to get ready for their battles. Ash was going against a girl named Christy.

As Ash began training for his next match, AJ smiled proudly as he watched Ash perfect his transformation.

That's chapter 8!

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