Greetings everyone, Mgunnels3 here, and welcome back to Ash's Unova Journey, my version. I don't have much to say. Let's get this battle going, shall we?
Chapter 42: Childhood Rivalry Ash vs. Stephan
"Human Speech"
"Pokemon Speech"
The day of the top sixteen battles has just started. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, the first match of today will now begin. Will, both trainers, come out please," the announcer said. Ash and Stephan came out to the trainer's boxes.
"First is the current trainer, who has had many evolutions that save his battles. Will it be another today? Give it up for Ash Ketchem from Pallet town," The announcer said as the crowd cheered as Pikachu and Servine were watching on the sidelines by Misty and Brock.
"Now for the other trainer. He is a trainer who shows that he is more than just muscle and loves to compete. Our hometown trainer who made it this far gave it up for Stephen," The announcer said as the crowd cheered even louder for Stephan. Virgil and Cameron watched from the sidelines as Georgia and Iris watched in the audience.
"Now that we are in the top sixteen, these battles will now be a 3v3 battle from this point onwards, and both sides are allowed to switch at any time. With that said, let the battle begin now. You two send out your first Pokemon," the announcer said.
"Zebstrika, come on out," Stephan sent out his Pokemon.
"Let's go, Dewott," Ash sends out his Pokemon as both Ash and Stephan and their Pokemon stare each other down, getting ready to battle.
"Zebstrika vs. Dewott, let the battle begin," The announcer said as Ash and Stephan were ready to get things going.
"Okay, Dewott, use an Ice beam," Ash commanded Dewott, who launched an Ice Beam attack toward Zebstrika, who jumped out of the way.
"Now use Flame Charge, Zebstrika," Stephan commanded Zebstrika, who charged in with a Flame Charge attack.
"Now use Aqua Jet Dewott," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who charged in with an Aqua Jet. The two attacks clashed. As both were evenly matched, both were sent back as if nothing had happened at all.
"Now use Wild Charge," Stephan said as Zebstrika charged in with electricity towards Dewott.
"Use Hydro Pump, Dewott," Ash commanded Dewott, who launched a powerful Hydro Pump as Zebstrika was charging in a while, being hit with the attack. "Now use Reversal, Dewott," Ash said as he was waiting for the right time for this attack to hit Dewott slammed his shell right at Zebstrika, sending him down to the ground and knocking Zebstrika out.
"Zebstrika is unable to battle Dewott wins," The announcer said as Stephan returned his Pokemon before turning to Ash with a determined look on his face.
"Not bad, Ash, but this will take much work. Braviary, come on out," Stephan sent out his next Pokemon as Ash scanned it and knew that Dewott could handle it well.
"Now, Dewott, use an Ice beam," Ash commanded Dewott, who launched an ice beam towards Braviary, who flew up quickly.
"Now use Brave Bird Braviary and then Brick break," Stephan said as it charged into Dewott, striking him; however, the side effects of the Brave Bird attack didn't hit Braviary as Dewott was knocked out.
"Dewott is unable to battle Braviary wins," The announcer said as Ash was surprised by seeing this. "That is the power of Breviary's Sheer Force ability, folks where moves can be used with any downside that comes with them," The announcer said as Ash returned Dewott.
"Krokorock, come on out," Ash sent out his next Pokemon, who let out a roar upon coming out. Many trainers were curious why Ash would send out a ground type against a flying type, especially since the said flying type also knows a fight-type move.
"Stephan is known to be headstrong, so he probably wouldn't expect what I have in store for him," Ash thought as he could tell that Stephan wasn't worried at all but not because he had the advantage. "Alright, Krokorok uses Stone Edge attack," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who launched the attack right at Braviary.
"Now use Brick break Braviary," Stephan commanded his Pokemon, who dove down and struck Krokorok.
"Use Payback Krokorok," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who slammed right into Braviary with a dark aura doing a good amount of damage to it.
"I see Ash was waiting to get in close range to get a good attack on Braviary," Stephan thought with a smile. "Not bad, Ash, but that will be your mistake. Use Sky drop," Stephan commanded his Pokemon, who caught Krokorok and sent him up in the air.
"More like your mistake, Stephan; use Thunder Fang Krokorok," Ash commanded his Pokemon. Krokorok bit Braviary's leg sending shockwaves throughout Braviary as it could perform the move as it let go as it was sent to the ground. Braviary was knocked out.
"Braviary is unable to battle Krokorok wins," the announcer said. Stephan was surprised by this as he wasn't expecting Krokorok to know an electric attack as Stephan returned his Pokemon.
"You may be one step ahead, growing Stephan, but right now, I am showing my feats as a trainer," Ash said to Stephan, who smirked and laughed upon hearing this.
"You haven't changed in my eyes, Ash. You are always showing your hand early every time. Now I won't fall for that again; Sawk, come on out," as he sent out his ace Pokemon, a pure fighting-type Pokemon. Ash returns Krokorok, knowing he couldn't bluff his way out of this fight.
"Swanna, come on out," Ash sent out his last Pokemon as this was her first official battle other than her battle against Trip. Now was ready for her debut in the tournament.
"A flying type typical of Ash, but I am ready for one," Stephan thought as it was Ash's turn to show that he knew that Stephan had something planned for this. "Huh? Ash is calmer than in the last battle. He must have something planned," Stephan said to himself. "Well, let's get going, Ash. Use Bulk up Sawk and then use Stone Edge," Stephan commanded his Pokemon, who bulked up and then sent stones at Swanna.
"Swanna dodge it was Aerial ace and then use Brave bird," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who quickly dodged it and slammed right into Sawk.
"Now use Thunder punch Sawk," Stephan said as it hit Swanna, sending her back hard.
"I figured that given that you are a fighting type, you would have a move for fighting types now; use Mirror move, Swanna," Ash commanded Swanna, who used the move and copied the Thunder Punch hitting Sawk.
"Great, now I can't use moves that might be used against me. Well played, Ash," Stephan said, but he knew that that'd make this battle even better. "Now, Sawk uses Counter," Stephan said as Sawk returned the damage to Swanna.
"Great, now he has something that we can't use against him since it's only attacking moves," Ash thought as Swanna looked at Ash, indicating that this was the type of battle she hoped to be in. "Now use Water pulse," Ash commands Swanna as she sends the attack at Sawk, striking him.
"Now end this with Giga impact," Ash commanded Swanna, who charged in with that move before Sawk could counter it and hit him, knocking him out.
"Sawk is unable to battle Swanna wins, and moving onto the next round is Ash Ketchem pallet town," The announcer announced as Ash was celebrating and ran over to hug Swanna.
"You did great, Ducky. You won today's battle," Ash said, mentioning Krokorok's nickname he called her a lot. Swanna smiled at this and nodded at this.
"Yeah, it was fun and what I was preparing for this type of thing, but I'm looking forward to another one," Swanna said to Ash, who nodded at this before turning to Stephan, who picked his Sawk up.
"You did great, Sawk, now. Let's get you some rest," Stephan said to Sawk, who nodded as they saw Ash and Swana approaching them. "Well, Ash, congratulations on our victory, and I hope that next time we meet, things will be different," Stephan said while holding a hand for a handshake.
"Yeah, you got it," Ash said with a chuckle before returning the handshake as the two head off to the benches as the tournament moved on during the day.
Cameron, Trip, Misty, Cillian, and Iris were going through the tournament as the next day's battles revealed the top 8. Ash vs. Cameron, Trip vs. Steven, Misty vs. Amy, and Iris vs. Cillian.
"Just a reminder, ladies and gentlemen and contestants, that tomorrow is still a 3v3 battle, so get some rest, and the tournament will resume tomorrow afternoon. See you, folks, till then," the announcer said.
Ash knew that he would be up against either Cameron or the others from the looks of it, but it was time to face one of his friends again. Ash noticed Cameron was nervous about meeting Ash tomorrow as he walked towards him.
"Hey, don't let this affect our friendship, Cameron. Tomorrow is a warm-up for the league, so don't worry about it," Ash said to Cameron, who nodded at this.
"Yeah, you got it, Ash. I'm just thinking about what to use tomorrow," Cameron said as he smiled at this, as did Ash. As the rest of the day went by.
Later, as Virgil, Georgia, and Stephan were waiting outside the city, it seemed like Ash and Cameron were the only ones who didn't show up to the anniversary of the day they met.
"Man, can the two hurry up already? It's not like Ash to ditch his friends like that," Georgia said to the group. As stubborn as she was, she wouldn't miss this for the world.
"According to what Ash told me, he had to go find Cameron as he was going to bed for tomorrow's match," Virgil said to Georgia, who sighed in annoyance.
"That's Cameron for you. He's always forgetting or misremembering the said days. Here's hoping that he doesn't forget that he needs to use three Pokemon tomorrow," Georgia said with her arms crossed. "It was always you or Ash who always helped him out, Stephan."
"Give Cameron a break Georgia. You know his family's situation and had trouble teaching him things growing up, and at times that I've seen him, he's been trying to get better at this and willing to ask people," Virgil said to Georgia. Georgia was about to say something but noticed Ash and Cameron running toward them.
"Hey, sorry about that, you guys. I had to ask around for where Cameron's room was," Ash apologized to everyone.
"Yeah, I was so worried about tomorrow's match that this slipped my mind. Again sorry, guys," Cameron said to everyone. They nodded at this as they let out one of their Pokemon. Cameron and Ash with Dewott, Stephan with Zebstrika, Virgil with Umbreon, and Georgia with her Bisharp. The group was catching up more than their dinner the other day, more importantly, the old times.
"You know me being the oldest of the group, I've always looked out for all of you, and yet here we are looking out for each other," Georgia said as the group nodded at this. "Sadly, this region will be the last one that I will be taking part in league-wise," Georgia said to the group.
"Wait, is Pryce going to retire soon, Georgia?" Ash asked Georgia, who nodded at this. "I mean, he still looked like he still had years as a gym leader left?" Ash said as the group turned to Georgia, who sighed and looked down.
"You not wrong there, Ash, but after the matches ended, he called me. He said I did well the tournament-wise and that this was the right step to be the next gym leader," Georgia said, unsure of herself.
"Georgia, you sure you want to take over as the Mahogany town gym leader? I mean, you don't specialize in ice types," Stephan asked Georgia, who looked at him and sighed.
"I understand what you are trying to say, Stephan, but I looked up to him a lot, and aside from Shella, I'm technically the only relative he has that can still run the gym. Neither of my parents are trainers, and my mom is his only daughter," Georgia said.
"I can relate to that, Georgia. My parents set so many high expectations that I don't even think they notice that I am struggling as a trainer or that I am still not good at remembering things," Cameron said, relating to Georgia on this.
"Same here on my end," Virgil said to both Georgia and Cameron, who turned to him. "I barely got a chance to wind down as a trainer because of my family's job heck. I also want to travel a lot, but" Virgil was interrupted by Ash.
"Duty calls for you and your family? I can understand," Ash said as the group turned to Ash. "You guys know that my family used to visit here a lot. Well, mostly, the reason I am here isn't just to take part in the league but on the league's orders from my father," Ash said as everyone was surprised.
"I had a run-in with your father recently, Ash," Virgil said to Ash, who nodded. "Given that your family works with the league as well, I can see why," Ash said as Virgil nodded.
"The truth is he helped fund me starting to do gym battles and participate in the league, knowing that we might run into each other," Virgil said.
"You know that this was supposed to be more of a fun time together, but it seems like our lives outside of our friends have gotten in the way," Stephan said as he had a point. In contrast, he didn't have as high a standard as saying the others; he could tell that they were showing that they were just here for their families rather than their own goals.
"Stephan is right. We can't just let this affect us as friends, Ash. That was also the reason why I spaced out yesterday. It was because of all of this and how it felt like we were just here for more than a tournament or whatever," Cameron said. The group was looking down and nodded at this.
"You know, when the league happens, we should do this again next time, hopefully not with all of this," Stephan said to Ash and the others, who nodded.
"Let's just hope that it won't be another six years for this to happen," Ash said jokingly, and the group laughed at this though Ash had a point there. "I guess we should hit the hay tomorrow is a big event for Cameron and me," Ash said as the group nodded at this.
"Alright, see you tomorrow Ash and don't expect me to hold back because we are friends until then. See you guys later," Cameron said as he turned and left with his Dewott, as did the rest of the group, as a new day was abounding.
With that bit of reunion out of the way, the tournament is about to start again. The battle club is getting interesting as the battle club's top 8 is about to begin.
Stay tuned.
Done and done, man; this chapter was fun to write. We are almost done with the battle club pretty soon. I'm sure that you all were waiting for it but oh well. Ash vs. Cameron is next, and then it will be Cillian vs. Iris. See you all next time.