He could hear the roar of the stadium from all the way in the backroom. This was it, the quarter-finals. Ash hadn't made it this far in the Indigo League the last time. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous because he was. It also did not help that his opponent was someone very strong. A.J. was strong. Ash wasn't sure how far into the Pokemon League he made it last time, but that did not matter. He was here and Ash had to deal with him.
The boy stood and inhaled deeply.
Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and the two walked out to face their challenge.
-x-
"Ladies and Gentlemen! We've seen some astounding fights in the quarter-finals! But make no mistake this will be something just as entertaining!" the commentator declared, to the roar of the crowd. "Please welcome, Ash from Pallet Town and A.J. from Cerulean City!"
"Do you know which six Pokemon Ash has decided to take into this battle?" Professor Oak asked Brock over the roar of the crowd.
"No. Thought you'd know" Brock answered.
"No. The boy flew back to the Lab and came back with six Pokemon of his choice. Very secretive that I didn't even see which Pokemon he flew back on."
Brock chuckled.
"I can tell you that Pikachu would be part of the six," Brock said as Ash entered the arena with Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Pikachu huh… I'll be honest, I didn't have much hope for that Pokemon when I gave him to Ash. Disobedient and naughty, Ash only got him because he was the only Pokemon I had left. But Ash has done a good job training him."
"Ash has a way of training his Pokemon that defies the normal understanding that we have" Brock chuckled.
Ash and A.J. shook hands before taking their respective positions on the battlefield. The Cerulean boy was confident, and Ash clapped himself in the face to help him focus. Both sent out their Pokemon when the referee called for them to do so.
A.J. sent out Butterfree.
Ash sent out Pidgeot.
The battle began with Butterfree using Supersonic. Pidgeot flew high and fast, taking himself out of the range of Supersonic before diving down to land Double Edge. The move hit and Pidgeot immediately flew away, a classing hit-and-run tactic. Butterfree lashed out with Psybeam after recovering from the hit, Pidgeot dodging the move by using Quick Attack. Pidgeot dived to attack again with Double Edge and Butterfree let loose Sleep Powder at the charging Pokemon. Pidgeot turned mid-air and did a barrel roll, using Whirlwind to create a draft around itself that repelled the Sleep Powder from hitting him. Pidgeot's attack hit and Butterfree went down.
"Ash from Pallet Town has drawn first blood! A.J. loses his Butterfree!"
The crowd roared as A.J. called his Pokemon back, sending out his replacement Tauros.
On habit, Ash was about to call Pidgeot back. That would have been a stupid way to lose a Pokemon.
The battle began at the call of the referee, both Pokemon charging with Double Edge. They both clashed head-on, but Tauros came out the victor in a show of strength. An Ice Beam quickly followed and Pidgeot was hit by bolts of freezing energy. The flying type lost one wing to the Ice Beam and Tauros took full advantage of the grounded bird and knocked him out with another Double Edge.
"And A.J. has brought it back! Ash loses his Pidgeot!"
Ash called Pidgeot back over the roar of the crowd. He sent out Wartortle next.
Tauros charged with Double Edge once more but Wartortle used Hydro Pump to blast himself out of the way. The turtle Pokemon quickly followed it up with a Skull Bas, hitting the raging bull from behind. Tauros turned, whipping itself with its three tails before charging again. Wartortle blasted out of the way with Hydro Pump again, but the bull fired an Ice Beam that froze the Pokemon and made it fall straight into Tauros' path. The Double Edge hit, the ice broke and Wartortle was sent flying. He landed harshly on the ground, knocked out.
"And that's a double! Ash loses his second!"
Ash called back his Wartortle and breathed out to steady himself. He sent out Ivysaur.
Tauros charged much like last time, but unlike Wartortle, Ivysaur held his ground. At the last moment, he used Vine Whip to push himself out of the way, releasing three Leech Seeds as the bull rushed by. The seeds sunk into Tauros' mane and sprouted roots that tangled Tauros's legs. The bull fell and immediately cried out when the roots began to sap its energy away. Ivysaur grabbed Tauros by the horns and threw him back to A.J.'s side, slamming it hard and knocking it out.
"The match is back at an equal! Ivysaur has clutched it for his trainer!"
The crowd roared in response.
A.J. called back Tauros and sent out Dodrio.
Ivysaur used Razor Leaf to start the battle, and Dodrio took it all down with its three beaks using Fury Attack. It then charged with Drill Peck, and Ivysaur used Vine Whip to hold the heads back, taking damage in between because he could only handle two heads at once. Ivysaur used Vine Whip to hold back two heads, firing Leech Seeds at the third. The third head destroyed most of the seeds, but the ones it couldn't had latched onto it and wrapped its roots around the third head's beak and throat.
The two heads broke out from Ivysaur's Vine Whip and quickly rid the third head of the roots before they could suck all the energy out. Then all three heads opened their beaks and blasted Ivysaur with Tri Attack.
Ivysaur skidded back, the flower on his back glowing mildly. When the beams vanished, Ivysaur lashed out with Solarbeam. This time Dodrio skids back.
As the attack faded, Dodrio charged with Drill Peck. Ivysaur used Razor Leaf to slow the charge, diverting attention so all three heads focused on dealing with the leaves while Ivysaur shot Leech Seed on the ground before the Pokemon. Dodrio cut through the leaves easily, stepped on the Leech Seed, and immediately fell over when the roots latched onto the Pokemon's leg. Sowly the roots grew up the Pokemon's legs, but a quick Tri Attack removed them completely. They then fired a Tri Attack at Ivysaur, who fired a Solarbeam in return (he had been gathering energy while Leech Seed kept the bird busy).
The two moves clashed and exploded. Dodrio broke through the smoke and landed Drill Peck for the knockout.
Ash called Ivysaur back over the roar of the crowd. He could send Pikachu now, but Sandshrew would come out next and a Fissue would take him down. So the next choice was obvious.
Gengar joined the battle. The Pokemon immediately dove into the shadows when the match began, popping out right in front of Dodrio's face and putting it to sleep with Hypnosis. The battle was won by Ash as a result.
Back to three all, A.J. sent out Hypnos.
This battle was nothing but weird.
Hypno and Gengar clashed using Psychic, their other attacks not doing much to the other until a Hypnosis from both Pokemon knocked the other out. A double knockout.
Both trainers called their respective Pokemon back over the roar of the excited crowd and sent their next ones in. A.J. sent out Kingler and Ash sent out Pikachu.
Kingler used Bubblebeam to start the battle, Pikachu weaving and dodging them with Agility. A Thunder was blocked using Harden and Crabhammer for minimal damage before the Pokemon charged to attack. Pikachu dodged using Agility again, increasing his speed even more before blasting another Thunder. Kingler cut through it with another Harden boosted Crabhammer before its claws came very close to ending Pikachu with Guillotine. Pikachu escaped from that by the fur on his body using Agility. Pikachu landed on Kingler's head and blasted Thunder from close range, using it as a close-range option was the only way. Kingler struggled under Thunder before passing out after no longer being able to handle the damage.
A.J. called his Pokemon back and sent out his last one, Sandslash.
To the shock of everyone, Ash called Pikachu back and eliminated him. No reason to make Pikachu take damage when it was clear Sandslash had an ace up his sleeve.
Ash sent out Charizard, his final Pokemon.
Immediately Charizard took to the skies the moment the battle began. Sandslash attacked with Swift but Charizard dodged with ease. It had become very obvious that other than Swift, Sandshalsh did not have anything else to hit a target flying in the skies.
Until it used Dig and launched itself into the air.
Charizard dodged it and fired a Flamethrower at the falling Sandslash. Sandslash dug back down, but the Flamethrower followed it all the way underground. After a moment the battlefield began to crack and fire began to seep out through it. Sandslash dug out and jumped away as a flaming pillar burst out from the hole it dug out of.
Sandslash was burned.
Charizard fired a Fire Blast and Sandslash had no choice but to take it, with the underground being a hot mess because of Charizard's Flamethrower.
Ash knew it already, but this victory did a lot in affirming Ash's hopes and dreams and stomping on his insecurities. He could win it all with the Pokemon he had with him.
-x-
Reporters had cornered Ash the moment he'd left the battlefield, but Ash shrugged them off with an excuse of being tired and headed straight for his cabin, where Brock, James, Professor Oak, and his mother waited for him.
Congratulations were given and his mother cooked him a feast again at another restaurant she dragged them two.
"So, are planning on using the same six for your next battle?" Professor Oak asked over a bite of his food.
"I'm not sure yet" Ash confessed, staring at the screen where the matchups were shown. The semi-finals were another lottery selection, a bit odd but Ash just shrugged it off. They probably wanted to build suspense in the competition.
His opponent was Assunta, who had beaten Melissa, who had knocked out Gary.