Chapter 9: Hoenn, the New Frontier! Part 2

Luckily for our heroes, they managed to just beat the deadline and sign up. A half our later, Scott entered the arena to officially open the tournament.

"Welcome, Pokemon trainers! I'm proud to be able to open this new battle facility. I hope one day soon to open more like it, both here and abroad. Now, who's ready to get this party started?!"

The crowd of trainers erupted into excited cheering, making Scott cover his ears until it had died down.

"Now then, the rules. Each trainer shall use two Pokemon for the tournament, no more no less. Each battle will be 2-on-2 with a time limit of 10 minutes. The winner of this tournament will be the winner of this exciting prize..."

He gestured to the podium behind him, the sheet on top being pulled off to reveal...

"This Pokemon egg!"

This got the crowd excited, and a few of the trainers tried to push their way up on stage to see it closer.

"Now now, no need to push. Let the games begin!"

Up first was Goh and Hodge. Goh, eager to prove Hodge's assessment of him wrong, confidently sent out his Scyther first. His confidence only grew when Hodge sent his Mightyena out, knowing that he had the type advantage. His confidence didn't last long, as Mightyena's experience won out and he took Scyther down without taking much damage at all. Down to his last Pokemon, Goh sent out his Scorbunny in the hopes that he would get lucky, but he did not, ending the battle in Hodge's victory before the halfway mark.

"Scorbunny is unable to battle! Mightyena is the winner, and the battle goes to Hodge from Lavaridge Town!"

"Heh, what'd I tell ya? You didn't do too bad for your first time, I'll give you that, but experience trumps type advantage everyday."

Goh sighed and walked out of the stadium, Ash and Lillie running to cheer him up.

"Hey, its okay. You did great!"

"Yeah, I wasn't that good when I first started out!"

"Thanks, guys. I just wish I could've wiped that smug smirk off that guy's face!"

"Ah well, better luck next time."

Just then, Goh caught sight of a Tailow, and his mood changed.

"I'll catch up to you guys later! There's Pokemon to catch!"

"Goh, wait! What about the rest of the tournament!"

"Ah, what about it? I've already lost, but you guys have fun!"

Ash and Lillie shook their heads in amusement.

"He cheered up quickly."

"He's got spirit, you've got to give him that. Come on, your match is next."

Both Ash and Lille managed to make it through the next few rounds, though Lillie struggled a little with her first Trainer Battle, but Ash was behind her all the way, and she managed to make it through. In the semifinals, she was up against Hodge.

"Begin!"

"Go, Mightyena!"

"Snowy, I choose you!"

"Vulpix vs Mightyena, begin!"

"Crunch, Mightyena!"

"Snowy, use Mist!"

Mightyena ran in to attack, but soon found his vision impaired by a thick fog covering the battlefield. Confused, he sniffed the air to find his target...

"Now use Ice Beam!"

…Only to get hit from behind by a beam of cold energy, knocking it back while Snowy emerged from the mist.

"Snarl, Mightyena!"

"Aurora Veil!"

Snowy managed to put up a shield just in time, dampening the damage from Mightyena's howl. Hodge was starting to get impatient.

"Aurora Beam, Snowy!"

"Get in close with Fire Fang!"

Mightyena, not wanting to be outdone, charged right through the attack with fangs burning, biting down hard on Snowy, making her cry out in pain, But Lillie wasn't concerned, in fact she was banking on that.

"Hit him with a Draining Kiss!"

Snowy, recovering from the attack, landed a quick kiss on Mightyena's snout, shocking the hound so much that he couldn't even move for a minute, giving Lillie the opportunity she needed.

"Aurora Beam, Snowy!"

While Mightyena tried to regain his bearings, Snowy fired off a point blank Aurora Beam, sending him flying back to Hodge's side of the field out cold.

"Mightyena is unable to battle! Vulpix is the winner!"

Hodge gently stroked Mightyena's fur before returning him, getting him a content growl from his companion.

"You did a good job, Mightyena. Get some rest. Go, Hariyama!"

"Hariyama vs Vulpix, begin!"

"Arm Thrust, Hariyama!"

"Snowy, dodge and use Ice Shard!"

Snowy jumped just in time, Hariyama cringing as his hand smashed right into the hard ground. His pain was only worsened when Snowy shot an icicle right into his palm, causing him to howl in pain while he tried to dislodge it.

"Don't let her stop you! Use Focus Blast!"

"Go underground to dodge it!"

"Vul!"

Snowy burrowed underneath the arena, just barely managing to avoid the attack. Hodge began to seethe with fury.

"Keep using Focus Blast! Hit the whole arena if you have too, she can't hide forever!"

Hariyama kept it up, covering the arena in smoke in an attempt to hit his opponent. But when the dust settled, Snowy was nowhere in sight. Just then, Hodge saw the ground behind the fighting type begin to shit.

"Behind you!"

"Snowy, use Zen Headbutt!"

Hariyama turned around just in time for Snowy to burst out of her tunnel and headbutt him hard, making him stumble back.

"Now use Confuse Ray!"

Before Hariyama could make a counter attack, Snowy created three ghostly lights that circled around him, sending him into a state of confusion.

"Snap out of it and use Brick Break!"

"Finish him off with Ice Beam!"

Despite Hariyama's best efforts, he couldn't focus enough to find his target and wound up attacking himself instead. That, along with an Ice Beam right to the face, was the final straw and he fell down, out for the count.

"Hariyama is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Lillie from Aether Paradise!"

Hodge smiled, and shook Lillie's hand.

"Well, I guess experience isn't everything. Good match."

"You too, Hodge."

Just then, they heard the ending to the other match across the arena.

"Breloom is unable to battle! Pidgeot is the winner, and the battle goes to Ash from Pallet Town!"

Lillie smiled.

"Of course he won. Who else?"

"Would you look at that, folks? Looks like we've got a bit of a lover's quarrel coming up! We'll take a 30 minute break, but don't you go anywhere!"

Ash walked over to Lillie, hand outstretched.

"Not bad for your first tournament, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you."

Lillie smiled and shook his head.

"I'm counting on it!"