Greetings everyone, Mgunnels3 here, and welcome back to A Promise Kept Ash's Johto Journey. Let's get this short chapter going.
Chapter 31: Starter and Rivals
"Human Speech"
"Pokemon speech"
It was the day of the next round of the tournament. Ash was ready for his next match against a young man named Jackson, who looked very confident in battle. Both of them walked out to the battlefield to the trainer's box.
This was a one-on-one battle, given that Jackson and Ash had only one grass Pokemon. "Now, will both trainers let out their Pokemon so we can get this match going?" the announcer said as Ash and Jackson pulled out their Pokeballs.
"Bulbasaur, I choose you," Ash sent out his grass starter, who was ready for battle.
"Bayleef, come on out," Jackson sent out his grass starter for this battle.
Bulbasaur and Bayleef stared each other down as if they were rivals, as both were raring to battle.
"Bulbasaur vs. Bayleef, let the battle begin,' the ref said, letting know the battle could now start.
"Alright, Bulbasaur uses Razor Leaf," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who fired a flurry of Leaves at Bayleef.
"Use Light screen," Jackson commanded his Pokemon, who built a screen around itself that cuts the Razor leaf's damage in half, not that it'll do much damage anyway. Ash groaned as Jackson smirked at this, thinking that he's won.
"Come, now, Ash. Bayleef and I have prepared for your head-on Grass-type attacks like that. It would be best to throw in the towel," Jackson said confidently.
"Casey was right about Jackson. He may be an airhead, but he knows what he is doing," Ash thought but smirked, and Jackson wondered why Ash wasn't worried about this. "Use Vine whip, Bulbasaur," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who launched his vines at Bayleef, hitting him and sending him to the ground. "Now use Take Down attack, Bulbasaur," Ash commanded Bulbasaur, who charged in and slammed right into Bayleef.
"Use counter, Bayleef," Jackson commanded his Pokemon right after Bulbasaur hit him, which landed its attack on him, sending him to the ground hard.
"Counter? I wasn't expecting that he had planned for everything?" Ash thought while in shock. "I guess we have to go a different approach," Ash said.
"Now, use Strength Bayleef," Jackson commanded his Pokemon, who charged towards Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, use Vine whip now," Ash commanded, who jumped out of the way and tripped Bayleef's legs sending him to the ground. Bulbasaur was panting in exhaustion from this, as did Bayleef, who got angrier at him.
"Use Furry cutter, Bayleef," Jackson commanded his Pokemon, who slashed his leaf at Bulbasaur, hitting him as Bulbasaur struggled to get up. Bulbasaur was starting to glow from this, not for using Solar beams but was evolving.
Ash was surprised as he remembered that Bulbasaur didn't want to evolve a while back, but he must've thought he was done being held back now. Ivysaur glared at Bayleef, who was surprised by this as well. Ivysaur fired a petals flurry right at Bayleef called Petal Dance.
"That was Petal dance, ladies and gentlemen, and an evolution. This match is getting interesting," the announcer said as the crowd cheered. Although he had evolved, Ash knew that Ivysaur wouldn't last long in this match.
"Ivysaur uses Solar Beam," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who charged for a Solar Beam.
"Use Solar Beam as well, Bayleef," Jackson commanded his Bayleef, who also charged up its buds around its neck as the two fired the attack right at each other's Solar beam, causing an explosion. The explosion cleared as both were about to collapse but stood firm, wanting to battle more.
"Use Vine whip," Ash and Jackson commanded their Pokemon, who launched their attacks right at each other, hitting them in the face enough for both of them to fall and then struggled to get up, refusing to lose.
"Come, Ivysaur, you can do it," Ash said to Ivysaur, who was getting up from Ash's words.
"Bayleef, don't give up. We aren't going to let that get to our victory," Jackson said to Bayleef, who struggled to get up, only to trip over its feet and fall forward, down and out.
"Bayleef is unable to battle, Ivysaur wins, and moving on to the next round is Ash," The ref announced as Ash ran to Ivysaur, who passed out from exhaustion from this battle.
"You did good, boy. You earned a good rest for the rest of the day," Ash said to Ivysaur, who nodded and smiled.
"Thanks. Ash wasn't expecting to evolve like this and against another starter," Ivysaur said to Ash before seeing that Jackson went to check on Bayleef. Ash and Ivysaur walked over to both Jackson and Bayleef. Bayleef looked at Ivysaur, glaring at him.
"This isn't over, Ivysaur. I will win next time, the next time we meet," Bayleef said to Ivysaur, who smirked at him.
"Anytime, anyplace, Bayleef. You're a good rival for me after all," Ivysaur said to Bayleef, who humphed at this, accidentally waking Jackson on the head.
"Hey, that wasn't necessary, Bayleef, and we had a good battle, and you gave it you're all. That is all that matters," Jackson said to Bayleef, who nodded.
"Sorry, Jackson," Bayleef apologized as he smiled and accepted it. Ash offered a handshake, as did Ivysaur, for a vine shake that they both accepted. As the two went back to the stadium as the tournament was going on.
Ash went to check on Bayleef and get Ivysaur healed. Ash explained what happened during the battle to Bayleef, who was surprised by this and had to watch out for Ivysaur just in case she got him made. "Wow, I wished I had seen that, but glad that you made it through to the next round," Bayleef said to Ash, who chuckled.
"So, how are you feeling, Bayleef? Do you think that you will be okay to battle again? Nurse Joy did say you are free to go now?" Ash asked Bayleef, who nodded at this and looked down at this.
"S-sorry, Ash," Bayleef said to Ash, confused by this. "I'm so reckless during that battle, and my self-confidence almost cost you your trainer's badge. I," Bayleef was interrupted by Ash.
"No, it's okay, Bayleef. You managed to show that Team Rocket was cheating and managed to win. Luckily the crowd saw that, so that nothing would be a problem. But no more acting like that? I already have enough to deal with Charizard and Skarmory," Ash said to Bayleef, who humphed at this.
"No promises, Ash, but the part of me who overestimated the other Pokemon and thought I would win easily won't happen again," Bayleef said to Ash.
"You and Flaafy have Sas when it comes to this. Are you sure you weren't spoiled amongst you and your brother?" Ash said to Bayleef, who slapped Ash with the leaf on her head, not as hard as Jackson's did to him. "And I thought her parents spoiled Flaafy. Your ego spoils you, Bayleef," Ash said jokingly, and Bayleef chuckled.
The next day came as Ash, Casey, Erika, Tyson, and Drew made it to the top 8 next. The battle was Ash vs. Casey in the next round, and if Ash won, this battle would be Erika, with whom he would be facing off in the match. Casey was stoked to face off against Ash again. However, the one battle that caught Ash off guard was the last match of the top 8, Tyson vs. Drew.
"Man, first me and Casey, now Tyson against Drew, so whoever wins this battle will be the tournament's last match against me," Ash thought as he, as excited as Casey was, turned to her and offered a handshake. "To a good battle, Casey," Ash said to Casey, who accepted it.
"May the best trainer win," Casey said to Ash as they were ready to fight the next day.
The battles are heating up with the tournament now in the top 8. Rivals Ash and Casey and Tyson and Drew are now squared off against each other. Who will win and make it to the next round? Stay tuned and find out as the grass-type tournament continues.
Stay tuned.
Done and done, man. This was a fun chapter and longer than I thought it would be. Yes, I evolved Bulbasaur. For those who asked for this, you got it. I thought long and hard about it, which would be a good time to do so. I felt like Bulbasaur felt like he's gotten strong enough to go ahead and evolve, no longer worrying that Ash would see him differently if I remember correctly. I know that he wanted not to be forced to evolve. I did skip the top 16 battle because I wanted to avoid dragging the tournament out as long as it did that, and I have other tournaments, including the league, that will be even longer than this tournament. It's Ash vs. Casey in the following chapter. Catch you guys next time.