Greetings, Mgunnels3 here, and welcome back to A Promise Kept Ash's Johto Journey. Let's get this second-to-last chapter of this tournament going, shall we?
Chapter 34: Rematch Ash vs. Erika.
"Human Speech"
"Pokemon Speech"
It was the second to last day of the grass-type tournament, as 128 trainers are now down to four in several days.
Ash and Erika came out of the stadium onto the battlefield. Ash knew he was in for a tough battle as last time. Ash didn't get a chance to finish his battle with Erika. Now this time, no more interruptions. It's a fair fight. Erika requested this would be a two vs. two-fight given that she knows that Ash and she have two grass types which Ash accepted.
"Jumpluff, come on out," Erika sent out her first Pokemon Ash wasn't expecting a new Pokemon for this tournament, and it was a flying type.
"Ivysaur, come on out," Ash sent out his Ivysaur. It was about to go down as they were staring each other down.
"Jumpluff vs. Ivysaur, let this first battle of the day begin," the ref announced as Ash and Erika was ready to take things off.
"Jumpluff use Hidden Power," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who fired its attack right at Ivysaur.
"Razor leaf now, Ivysaur," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who fired its attack at the said move, which overpowered the Hidden Power and hit Jumpluff but shook it off. "Now use Takedown," Ash commanded Ivysaur, who charged at Jumpluff.
"Jumpluff, use Confusion," Erika commanded her Pokemon as it caught Ivysaur, which caught Ash off guard wasn't expecting this as Jumpluff sent Ivysaur back to the wall hard.
"Ivysaur, you okay," Ash asked, who nodded and growled at Jumpluff.
"Takes more than that to beat me," Ivysaur said while returning to the battlefield. Ash nodded at this as he knew that this wouldn't be as easy as he thought.
"Ash has changed a lot since we last battled each other he's shown empathy with his Pokemon. I will give him that much," Erika thought, clenched her fist. "Use Giga Drain," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who fired its attack at Ash's Ivysaur.
"Dodge it and then use Petal Dance," Ash commanded him as Ivysaur dodged it and used Petal Dance on Jumpluff, hitting it hard. However, the side effects of Petal Dance took over as Ivysaur was confused. Ash had a feeling that this would happen and knew that it was a side effect. "Ivysaur, snap out of it, my friend. You can't let this get to you," Ash yelled to Ivysaur, who barely snapped out of it.
"Well, done, young man, you were prepared for the side effects, but I won't let you get the advantage. Use Solar beam, Jumpluff," Erika commanded her Jumpluff, whose cottons glowed and fired at Ivysaur.
"Dodge it with Takedown now," Ash commanded his Ivysaur, who dodged the Solar Beam quickly. Erika was surprised by this. "Now use Mega Drain," Ash commanded Ivysaur, who used said move at Jumpluff, which damaged it.
"Confusion now," Erika commanded Jumpluff, who tried to take Ivysuar up in the air, trying to end this now. Ash noticed the bulb on Ivysaur's back glowed.
"Ivysaur, fire Solar beam at that height," Ash commanded Ivysaur, who fired it right at Jumpluff, hitting it and knocking it out.
"Jumpluff is unable to battle Ivysaur wins," the ref announced as the crowd cheered at this Ash was celebrating as Erika returned Jumpluff and smirked at Ash.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, young man, Bellossom, come on out," Erika sent out her last Pokemon, which was the Gloom that Ash faced in the past. This time he will be facing it without issue.
"Ivysaur uses Sludge bomb," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who fired its attack at Bellossom.
"Safeguard now," Erika commanded her Pokemon as Bellossom was hit, but the Sludge bomb's side effects didn't hit her. "Now use Return," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who charged in, hitting Ivysaur hard. This was much stronger than usual, meaning the bond was strong enough to knock Ivysaur out.
"Ivysaur is unable to battle Bellossom, wins the match is tied with both sides now down to one Pokemon each," the ref announced as the crowd cheered even louder as Ash returned Ivysaur to his ball.
"Bayleef, come on out," Ash sent out his last Pokemon, who was ready to battle.
"I figured you would use her as the last Pokemon, Ash, but this won't be easy for you," Erika said to Ash, who nodded.
"Use Razor Leaf," Ash and Erika commanded their Pokemon, who fired their attacks at each other.
"Bayleef, use Ancient Power," Ash commanded, who fired rocks at Bellossom.
"Petal Dance now," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who fired the petals like a tornado cutting the stones as one approached Bayleef.
"Use your vines to jump, Bayleef," Ash commanded her, who jumped quickly, making everyone awe at this. "Now use Razor leaf," Ash commanded Bayleef, who fired a flurry of leaves at Bellossom, hitting her as Bellossom was confused from the Petal Dance. Erika groaned at this. She was hoping that this wouldn't happen. "Body Slam now, Bayleef," Ash commanded her, who went down and tried to slam her body at Bellossom.
Bayleef was getting close to Bellossom, and she snapped out of the Confusion.
"Sludge bomb now," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who fired it right at Bayleef.
"Razor Leaf quickly," Ash commanded her, who was hit as she fired the leaves right at Bellossom. Bayleef and Bellossom were exhausted and panting Bayleef heavily wasn't affected by the Poison from the Sludge Bomb, but it was taking its toll on her.
"Use Return Bellossom," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who charged at Bayleef.
"Dodge it and use Vine Whip," Ash commanded Bayleef, who jumped out of the way and launched her vines at Bellossom.
"Petal Dance now," Erika commanded her. She twirled and sucked Bayleef in by the vines and then hit Bayleef hard. Bayleef got up, refusing to lose in this battle that Erika and Ash were worried about Bayleef.
"It will do more than that to beat me," Bayleef told Ash and Bellossom.
"Okay, if you say so, Bayleef, use Earthquake," Ash commanded her, who slammed her legs on the floor, causing Bellossom to be off guard.
"Not going to work, Ash. Use Sludge Bomb," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who fired the attack at Bayleef.
"Bayleef use Ancient Power and then use Solar beam," Ash commanded her, who launched the rocks at the sludge.
"Solar Beam now," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who charged up as both Pokemon fired their attacks—causing an explosion that was hard to see. When the smoke cleared, Bayleef was nowhere to be found. "Huh? Where did she go?" Before remembering that Bayleef could jump only to see her in the air, Erika said. Bayleef had another powered Solar Beam.
"Fire Solar Beam now," Ash commanded her and fired said the attack at Bellossom.
"Petal Dance now," Erika commanded her Pokemon, who fired the attack as the two moves clashed, only for the Solar beam to overpower Bellossom's attack knocking her out. Erika was shocked by this.
"Bellossom is unable to battle Bayleef wins moving onto the finals is Ash," the ref announced. Ash was celebrating and ran to Bayleef, hugging her. She nuzzled Ash, knowing that this battle could've gone either way.
Erika returned to Bellossom and then went to Ash, offering a handshake which Ash accepted.
"Well, young man, you've gotten better than the trainer that battled me a couple of years ago," Erika said to Ash, who rubbed his head in embarrassment.
"Just don't remind me what happened then, please," Ash said Bayleef noticed this and got a curious look on her face.
"Oh, what happened back then," Bayleef asked Ash with a curious and wanting-to-know look as Ash worried about this.
"It's nothing, Bayleef, I swear," Ash said, not wanting to reveal that he dressed up as a girl to get into the gym. Bayleef had the I do not believe looks on her face and a sly look of wanting to know more, to which Bayleef was pressing a lot as the two were heading to the Pokemon center. Erika giggled at this before heading to the two to clear things up.
Later as Ash told Bayleef what had happened away from the ears of the public, Bayleef laughed at this. This image was enough to understand why he wanted to forget that day.
"Not one word about this to the team Bayleef. Only Pikachu is the only one on the team that knows this," Ash said to Bayleef, who finished laughing and nodded at this.
"Man, that was a good laugh; now that image is in my head. Thanks, Ash," Bayleef said to Ash, who was red in the face from the laughing Bayleef finished and noticed Ash's expression. "Relax, Ash, I understand why you would, and to be honest, I'm not a fan of perfume either," Bayleef said to Ash, surprised by this. "I'm allergic to it, I've seen a few trainers as wild Pokemon who were always using strong amounts of it, and I couldn't stand it," Bayleef said to Ash, who was now curious about what she meant by that. Erika, who was about to leave seeing this, walked over to Ash and Bayleef.
"Young man, I must admit that day we met, I went overboard with what happened not only at my store by the gym," Erika said to Ash, who nodded. "If you would've been a little nicer and not acted as you did, I would have let you challenge the gym, but I know that not many people are a fan of it, and some are allergic, as was shown by your Bayleef," Erika said as Ash and Bayleef were taken aback by this.
"Wait, you can understand, Bayleef?" Ash asked Erika, who shook her head.
"Her body language and facial expressions are something that I've seen with many of my challengers, and I knew that not everyone is the same," Erika said to Ash.
"I do want to apologize for my actions as well, Erika. I could've handled it better by getting the league involved or trying to reason with your gym trainers or," Ash was interrupted by Erika.
"Already accepted your apology when you saved Bellosssom that day, Ash, and it's in the past now," Erika said to Ash, who nodded at this, as did Bayleef. "Stop by the gym if you are ever back in Kanto and the area. I would like to have a rematch with you again to make things right for both sides of the argument. Until then, I'll see you later, and best of luck," Erika said as she walked off.
Ash and Bayleef waved goodbye at her before Bayleef turned to Ash, who still had that image in her head and was laughing at Ash. "Oh, come on, Bayleef, that wasn't called for," Ash chuckled at this but was a bit stung because she still found it funny. The next day happened, and it was the finals. It was Ash vs. Tyson, as both trainers were ready for this battle.
"Now, will the two finalists come out of the battlefield," The announcer said as Tyson and Ash walked out. "First from Mawville City, a young man who has been winning his battles with only one of his Pokemon. A trainer who always comes up with a strategy for his facing his opponent, give it up for Tyson," the announcer said as the crowd cheered as Tyson was at the trainer's box.
"Now for the second trainer from Pallet Town. A trainer who has been running on more than luck to win his battles. And he has earned his right to be in the finals today. Will his luck continue today? Give it up for Ash," the announcer said as Ash arrived at the battlefield. Tyson suggested a two vs. two battle, and Ash happily accepted this offer.
"Now, this final battle will determine who will win this tournament, so both Trainers let out your first Pokemon," the ref announced.
"Bayleef comes on out," Ash sent out his grass starter, ready to go.
"Hey, Ash, don't think that we are friends and that I'm going easy on you today," Tyson said, pulling out his Pokeball. "Nuzleaf comes on out," Tyson sent out his Pokemon, which Ash was taken aback, thinking that Grovyle would be first. "You wanted this battle, Ash, and now you're going to see what my two Hoenn Pokemon have in store for you," Tyson said to Ash as Nuzleaf and Bayleef stared each other down, ready to fight.
The tournament finals are underway as Ash is against Tyson, a trainer with Pokemon Ash has never seen before. What does Tyson have in store for Ash, and will Ash win as the grass-type tournament concludes?
Stay tuned.
Done and done, man; that was a fun chapter to write. Yes, I was mean to Ash near the end, but he could've handled that episode better. As Bayleef mentioned, not everyone is a fan of perfume, and I've known a few females who are either allergic or not. One writer who made her version of that episode I've read tackled this issue and mentioned that as well, but better. That said, it's the finals of the grass-type tournament, and it might go differently than you think it will. That is all I'm going to say. See you all next chapter.