A blast of electricity and the Butterfree fell, the battle won by Ash. It was his third battle on the island, and so far Dratini had won all three battles. Her Thunderbolt looked sharp and Powerful, which made As hand Pikachu happy since all the training was showing fruit right before them.
There was a long layover at Mandarin Island which Ash and James took advantage of by battling the local trainers. James' Scyther and Growlie were doing well as well, winning him two of the battles their trainer got them into.
"That's a well-raised Dratini you have on you."
Ash turned and held back a smile seeing a familiar face, but the other face was the one that talked to him.
Lorelei of the Elite Four had spoken to him.
"Thank you. I haven't had long with Dratinin here so I'm trying to get her all trained up for the next Gym Challenge" Ash answered with a smile. He'd spent more time with her, but he couldn't tell that to her now.
"Oh? So has the Indigo League Champion set his eyes on the Orange League now?" Lorelei asked.
"Indigo League was just the first one, and the Orange League is the now. I plan on being the champion of every single League out there. Only then can I call myself the best Pokemon trainer out there."
Lorelei looked at Ash with a slight narrowing of her eyes and for a moment she remained silent. Then as if coming to some understanding, she smiled slightly.
"How would you like to challenge my student here?" Lorelei asked.
"Hi there, I'm-"
"Misty. Yeah, we met before" Ash grinned.
"Have we? Oh, I'm sorry I don't remember" Misty said with a slight blush.
"It was very early on when I started my journey. I didn't think I'd run into you again."
"The Orange Islands is home to many water types, and I want to be the best out there," she said with a slight boasting tone. "I was lucky running into Lorelei, who took me in after I begged her for days" she finished, the boasting tone now a shy one to match the slight blush on her face.
"You have promise" Lorelei chuckled. "How about it Ash? A battle against my apprentice?"
"I'd love that" Ash grinned. "Four on four maybe? I have only four at hand right now."
"A four on four works for me!" Misty grinned.
Both trainers took their positions on the battlefield and sent out their respective first Pokemon, Misty sending out Starmie and Ash sending out Dratini.
Starmie fired Bubblebeam and Dratini used Agility to weave between them, using Wrap to wrap around Starmie and hold it tight. Starmie spun viciously and fought out of Dratini's hold, firing an Ice Beam after. Dratini countered with Thunderbolt before she fired a Dragon Rage into the smoke from the previous two moves clashing. Starmie cleaved through the orb of draconic energy with ease and slammed into Dratini before Ice Beam finished her off.
Ash called her back with a smile while Misty celebrated her first battle win against the Indigo League Champion. She was stronger than Ash remembered her being.
Ash sent out Snorlax next. The Pokemon shook the ground when he took the battlefield and yawned.
Misty called for a Tackle and Starmie slammed into Snorlax, only for it to harmlessly bounce off Snorlax's belly. Snorlax used Mega Punch to slam Starmie into the ground before pinning it down with Body Slam. When Snorlax got up, the Pokemon was no longer able to battle.
Misty called back Starmie with a sigh, but quickly recovered from her loss and sent out Gyarados.
"I thought you hated Gyarados" Ash blurted out seeing the Pokemon.
"Lorelei helped me get over my fear" Misty motioned to her master. "We must have had quite a talk if you know that…"
"The river you pulled me out of back then had a Gyarados in it and I mentioned it and you said you hated those Pokemon" Ash explained. While Misty did pull him out, Ash did not remember having the conversation with her. But since she didn't even remember meeting him, he knew he'd get away with it.
Misty frowned, before shaking her head and shrugging the matter off.
Misty called for a Headbutt and Ash called for Double Edge. The two Pokemon clashed, both bouncing back and skidding on the ground a little after they landed. Both fired Hyper Beams in unison, the moves crashing into one another and causing an explosion that covered the whole field in smoke. Both waited until the effects of Hyper Beam faded, before both launching at one another with headbutt and Double Edge. They both slammed into each other and fired Hyper Beam at one another from close range. Both were sent flying back and crashed into the ground with a loud thud, both knocking the other out.
Ash and Misty called their respective Pokemon back, sending in Lapras and Seeking respectively.
Ash called for Ice Beam and Misty called for Horn Drill. Seaking cut through the Ice Beam easily with Horn Drill, landing a critical hit on Lapras and knocking it out.
"Didn't look out for the one-hit KOs now did you champion?" Misty said in a teasing voice.
"Do all Cerulean City trainers hyper-focus on one-hit KO moves?" Ash muttered calling Lapras back, remembering A.J. He turned to Pikachu and grinned. Pikachu grinned back and took the field with a glad cry and sparking cheeks. Ash flipped his around and took a deep breath. "Let's show them how a champion fights, Pikachu."
It was one thing to know where you were headed than to run forward to explore. Unlike before, Pikachu knew how fast he could get, how powerful his electric type moves could become. So all of their journey through Kanto was Pikachu trying to reach those levels again, whatever came after that would be them once more run in blind to explore.
Pikachu used Agility and practically vanished from sight. Before Misty or Seaking could react, Pikachu landed a Quick Attack and followed it up with Thunder to knock the Pokemon out.
Misty, caught off guard by the sudden change of pace called her Seaking back. She could sense it, the shift in the air and change in attitude. She felt a bead of sweat run down the back of her neck and she shivered. This was the Indigo League Champion, and he just got serious.
She clapped her face between her hands to snap out of it and sent her final Pokemon out, Dewgong.
Dewgong fired Aurora Beams and Ice Beams, all of which Pikachu dodged using Agility. Pikachu disrupted the rhythm of the moves by slamming in between with Quick Attack before a blast of Thunder knocked Dewgong out.
Pikachu rushed back to Ash and high-fived his trainer with his tail before climbing on his shoulder and sitting comfortably.
"Your other Pokemon are not as well trained as your Pikachu" Lorelai noted with a small frown.
"I haven't had them for long and am in the process of training them" Ash admitted with a smile, "Pikachu on the other hand has been with me since the start of my journeys. He's easily the strongest Pokemon amongst all the ones I have caught and used."
"Even Charizard?"
"You know about Charizard?" Ash raised a brow.
"The Elite Four watched the Indigo League Finals, we know all the Pokemon you used for that battle. So, yes I do know about Charizard" Lorelai smiled.
Ash shook his head with a smile. Of course, they did. "Yes, even more so than Charizard."
"I see" the woman hummed, "do you plan to challenge the Elite Four after you're done with the Orange Islands? You do intend to be the best, no?"
He could. Winning the Indigo League made him the Indigo League Champion, but once he beat the Elite Four, he'd be the champion of Kanto. In this case, it would be Kanto and Johto, considering how Lance was the champion of both.
"Eventually. I need to win every league before I challenge the Elite Four" Ash answered. "His friends were out there. If he stuck around for the Elite Four battles, who knows where they would end up. No, he needed to collect them first, win the leagues, and then challenge the Elites.
Lorelai smiled.
"Then I'll wait for the day I get to battle you, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."