A/N: Writing is going to be kinda hit or miss for a while. I am still looking for a job and I am also researching graduate schools. I will finish these stories but the updates will probably take longer and I may have time where I am too busy to get something out for a while. I am looking at grad school in Fall of 2014 so as long as I get a job to pay for it you can expect things to really drop off at that point. Anyway onto the story!
Chapter 7 – Overcome
Ash pulled on his fingerless gloves for old times' sake. The familiar comfort of the leather compressing his fingers just felt right much like the pokemon league hat that adorned his head. It was almost time for his first match. Even with Gary's crash course training he still felt underprepared and nervous. It would be a huge let down to him if he got knocked out in the first round. Not to mention Gary would never let him hear the end of it. He shook the thought away and attempted to get himself psyched up for the upcoming match.
After one last check of his equipment Ash turned to address the three pokemon he had selected for the initial encounter. He had selected Sceptile, Snorlax, and Donphan from the Team One that Gary had put together. He figured he may as well start out the tournament with some of his quickest and more durable pokemon. In all honesty he wanted some leeway in case he made a few bad calls. With Sceptile's speed and the endurance of Snorlax and Donphan he'd get that leeway. Pikachu of course rode on Ash's shoulder as normal.
"Alright guys. This is the first time we've been in a tournament in a long time. I just want everyone to do their best. Remember we may face anyone from Elite Four members to a fairly green trainer but with how this tournament is set up I'm not going to take anyone at face value." Ash spoke to the pokemon while moving his eyes to each pokemon to ascertain that they understood the situation that they were in. If they had some room to breathe but if they fell apart here they would go no further.
"Donphan I'm starting out with you and I'm counting on your shock and awe of your roll out attack. Sceptile you'll be up next and I'll need your speed to wear the enemy down before giving them a finishing blow they'll remember. Snorlax if I call you out it means I need you to hold the line, but I promise you'll get a bout in if not here later on in the tournament." Ash continued his speech. Excitement started to build up the closer the countdown came to his debut. He felt a coil of nerves and excitement descended into the pit of his stomach. This was it, either they made it through or they failed but he would be proud no matter what.
"Red Trainer please report to your side. Green Trainer please report to your side." A voice came over the PA system that caused Ash to look up in surprise. The five minutes had gone by faster than he expected despite his nerves playing havoc on him. In an attempt to keep all the tournament participants off balance for the first few rounds no one would know their opponent. Once the knock out round was over they planned on posting the contestants since by then only the high level trainers would be left and people would want to go to certain battles to root for their favorites.
"Well everyone it is time to go." With one last smile of encouragement, Ash quickly recalled his three pokemon and attached the pokeballs back to his belt. After one last look around the small ready room he had been given he let out a sigh. It was time to do this whether he was ready or not. Ash left the ready room and took a left to head down the long tunnel to where his trainer box awaited him. He couldn't see out of the tunnel due to the bright sunlight so he pushed his hat down a little further to protect his eyes from the bright light.
A _ A
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"Welcome folks!" Barry belted out into the mic with a large smile plastered to his face. He had begged, borrowed, and threatened the other announcers to be the battle announcer for Ash's first battle. The general manager had decided that He and May would announce some of the battles for publicity. Of course with their show they weren't expected to be full time announcers so they would get some of the more prominent battles. What better battle than Ash's hopefully glorious return to the center stage. "This is Barry from Battler's Review, here to guide you through what is sure to be an action paced battle!"
Ash glanced up in surprise when he heard Barry's voice. He hadn't expected to see the T.V. personality so soon, especially after the recent blow up on Battler's Review but he supposed he shouldn't be that surprised since Barry had made little attempt to show his favoritism. With a slight shake of his head, Ash climbed into the green box and a moment later he felt himself lifted high into the sky so he had a good overview of the battle terrain below. Immediately a smile crossed his face. The terrain set up was a fairly rocky environment so Donphan would be right at home. Even better nothing appeared to be large enough to stop his roll out attack in the environment. There were a few large outcroppings but nothing that couldn't be avoided.
"Here we are folks! In the green trainer corner is none other than Ash Ketchum! I know a lot of us were excited to see if he still has what it takes to be a trainer and it looks like we will see today!" Barry shouted enthusiastically into the mic. A moment later though the red trainer had also taken position and Barry glanced down at his screen to see who Ash was facing. His face blanched a little when the name appeared. Lucky for Barry his professionalism took over and he announced the name without any waver in his voice. "In the red corner is Blaine! That's right folks the ex-gym leader of Cinnabar island has made a surprising appearance in the first round. It had been rumored that he had entered but most people dismissed this as gossip due to his reclusive nature. Looks like we have got a real show on our hands folks! For our viewers that haven't followed Ash's career, Ash defeated Blaine to get his Volcano badge when he first started out. But! Don't count on Ash sweeping Blaine because Blaine has been rumored on working on some advanced fire techniques with his pokemon for the last few years."
The crowd that had gathered for this bout roared with approval. Most people in the stands had ended up coming here on a whim since no one actually knew where any of the famous trainers would be. It was pure luck that they stumbled onto what was going to be an excellent match up. The only way this could get better was if it was a full six on six match up but for most people this would do.
A _ A
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May sat up in the stands fuming silently while sitting next to her daughter. Barry had begged and pleaded to let Sam attend the first battle that he would be announcing for. Of course by getting her to agree to let Sam come to the battle, by default she would be there to watch over Sam. She wasn't sure how she knew but she had a feeling that Barry knew exactly who he would be announcing for. She wasn't sure how she would kill Barry yet but she just knew he was a dead man. Her co-host may be a popular guy but with all his questionable conquests it wouldn't be hard to make the murder look like a fan girl gone mad from unrequited love and killed her object of obsession.
"Mommy! Look it! That's him!" Samantha practically bounced off of her seat in her excitement. The young girl pointed directly at Ash when his face appeared on the big screen.
"Who's that sweetie?" May asked absently as she was still currently glaring at Barry willing him to fall off of the commentator's box.
"The nice man that found Uncle Barry!" Samantha responded with a smile. When she realized that her mother wasn't looking at what she was pointing at, Samantha tugged on her mother's sleeve to get her attention.
May's eyes narrowed slightly when she heard her daughter's words. "What do you mean found Uncle Barry dear?"
"When I got lost! He found Uncle Barry!" Sam replied to her mother as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
This was the first time that May was hearing about this. After a minute of mental review she suddenly recalled when Barry had intercepted her on the way to the daycare a few weeks ago and surprised her by picking up Sam. She should have known something was up. During the entire time she had known Barry, May had never known him to go out of his way to surprise people with random acts of kindness. When he did he normally spent the next week or two exalting praise upon himself for his kindness. This time he had dropped the subject quickly and changed the subject whenever she brought it up…bastard. "How did you get lost sweetie?"
Sam glanced over at her mom in an attempt to judge how angry she would be. When she decided that her mother did not look angry at her, Samantha decided to recount her tale. "I left daycare and wanted to see you. I got lost and got all scared. Then that nice man with the Pikachu found me and found Uncle Barry for me!"
May felt her heart stop for a moment before she looked at where her daughter was pointing hoping it wasn't at who she knew it was. Ash Ketchum…her daughter had met her father and neither had even known it. There was one thing she knew she had to do…and that was to beat Barry within an inch of his life. "I'm going to castrate him." May muttered under her breathe.
"What is cash rate, mommy?" Sam queried while she tried to sound the new word her mother had used out.
"Just a grown up thing, dear, don't worry." May attempted to quell her daughter's interest in the word but it appeared it was too late.
Samantha stood up on the bench and yelled out as loud as she could so her uncle could hear her over the crowd. The crowd had just gone completely silent as the match was about to begin so Samantha's declaration was heard loud and clear throughout the entire stadium. "Unca Barry! Mommy's gonna cash rate you!"
May leapt into action and grabbed her daughter off of the seat and sat her back down. She could already feel a certain tingling come to her cheeks from the blush she knew was there. In an attempt to redirect the little girl's attention she pointed out the pokemon that had just appeared on the field below. "Alright dear I think the match is about to begin, how about we sit down and watch the pokemon."
The young mother blocked out the knowledge that a fair portion of the stadium spectators were still staring at her and her daughter. Luckily the young girl took no notice of the extra attention. She was just feeling a little more comfortable when a voice she wasn't expecting startled her out of her skin.
"Is this seat taken?" A warm voice asked to May's right.
May almost didn't want to turn but she knew it was pointless. If there was one thing she had learned while traveling with Ash, it was that no one escaped Mrs. Ketchum…ever. "All free Mrs. Ketchum."
"Thank you dear." Mrs. Ketchum scooted by May and took a seat next to Samantha. Delia shot a small raised eyebrow at her son's estranged girlfriend. "It has been a while since I've seen you dear and now you have a child."
"Um…yeah…" May awkwardly responded to Mrs. Ketchum's unasked question. "Her name is Samantha but most people call her Sam or Sammy. I've been kinda busy with work and everything…" She trailed off hoping that Delia wouldn't eviscerate her. May had witnessed Mrs. Ketchum in a towering rage once or twice during her travels with Ash and it was something to behold. Even her own mother did not generate that kind of fear she held for Delia.
"Don't worry dear." Delia responded with a smile. "I know how hard headed my son can be. Of course I will be speaking with you both later. For now I want to get to know my granddaughter." She finished with a smile at Sam. The conversation completely going over the young child's head since the young girl was splitting her attention between Mrs. Ketchum, her mother, Barry, and the trainer's on the field.
May for her part simply slunk down in her chair a little bit and began to silently cursed Ash Ketchum to eternal hell fire in her head.
"You gotsa a gran daughter?" Samantha questioned with a slightly jealous tone sneaking its way into her voice. She had never had grandparents. She knew that her friends had both fathers and grandparents while she only had her mother. While she loved her mother she just didn't see how it was fair that her friends had them while she only had one person and her uncle but he didn't count.
"I do." Delia responded with a warm smile.
"Can I meet her?" Samantha questioned. "I don't gots any friends here since we moved." The little girl pouted a little.
For her part, Mrs. Ketchum smiled to the young girl that was her granddaughter. She was already planning a shopping excursion in her head and would not be deterred. Although she loved her son, she had always wanted a little girl and although she had never had a daughter, a granddaughter would be just as good to bond with. "We'll see but we'll have to check with your mother first."
"Mommmmmmy plllleeeeeease can I can I can I!" Samantha begged and quickly opted to let loose the puppy dog eyes.
"We'll talk about it after the match in a more private location." May patiently responded to her. The last thing she wanted was to have Sam become a babbling and crying incoherent mess at finding out she had a grandmother. If she was honest she hadn't really been fair to Samantha. The jealous tone in Samantha's voice when she learned that Delia was a grandmother to 'another little girl' cut May. She had withheld so much from the young girl in the name of protecting her but in reality she had begun to wonder if she was protecting Sam or forsaking her child's feelings in the matter to protect her own.
"Ooookay." Samantha responded with a dejected sigh before turning her attention back to Delia. "Did you come to watch the match with your gran daughter?"
Delia laughed aloud at the young child's question. She shook her head with a faint smile crossing her lips. "Not at first, I originally came here to see my son battle. He is the one in the green box."
"Oh I like him! He found Uncle Barry for me!" Samantha responded with a smile.
"It's a long story, Mrs. Ketchum." May responded with a slight shake of her head.
"Yeah! And mommy is gonna cash rate Barry cause of it too!" Sam added in helpfully.
For her part May just hung her head in an attempt to get away from the amused look that Delia was shooting her. It was by the grace of Mew that the match started and everyone's attention shifted to the battle on the field.
A _ A
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"Green Trainer! Please send out your first pokemon!" Barry called into his mic. He was attempting to keep his energetic demeanor up despite the fact that he was now worried about what May would be doing to him later. Although Sammy hadn't gotten the pronunciation right he could figure out what "cash rate" meant and he knew May had the drive to follow through with her threat.
If Ash hadn't been so nervous about the upcoming battle he may have heard the commotion up on the stadium and perhaps caught the sight of May next to the little girl he had helped a few weeks ago sitting next to his mother. But it was not to be for Ash was currently in the zone as Gary liked to call it. All the outside noise faded away. The only thing he was paying attention to was his opponent and his pokemon. He heard Barry order him to release his first pokemon. "Alright let's go Donphan!" Ash ended in a yell.
Donphan appeared in a swirl of red before trumpeting out a challenge to Blaine. The fire master did not make the crowd wait long before his Rhyperior appeared with a roar.
"Ash is starting out with Donphan and Blaine has chosen Rhyperior. Donphan was last seen in a league tournament in the Silver Conference as a Phanpy. It will be interesting to see if it can hold its own against Blaine's Rhyperior." Barry commented before giving a slight nod to the official on the field.
The on field judge took command of the PA system momentarily. "This will be a three on three regulation match. Either trainer may switch out their pokemon. Once a pokemon has fainted it must be replaced within fifteen seconds. If a pokemon leaves the boundary of the stadium the pokemon is considered knocked out. Flying types may ascend but must stay within the boundaries and may only be out of visual sight for a period of thirty seconds. Failure to adhere to any of these rules will result in an automatic knock out for the pokemon or your disqualification."
"Alright! Trainers ready!" Barry called out excitedly. He only needed to see the tight nod from Ash and the tip of Blaine's bowler cap for Barry to yell out. "Begin!"
"In recognition of defeating me, I will let you go first, Ash." Blaine called out to the young man on the other side. The well-dressed fire master was wearing a white vest and white pants with black shoes and a red shirt. To top off the whole outfit he wore a bright red bowler hat and his black sunglasses that reflected the light of the sun.
"Fine by me! Donphan, combine your Quick Attack and Roll Out!" Ash yelled out.
The giant armor pokemon quickly spun itself into a tight ball before rocketing towards Rhyperior. The armored elephant bounced across the field like a skipped pebble in a pond.
"Rhyperior Drill Run, catch it on a bounce and throw it into the air with mega horn to throw it into the air." Blaine responded calmly to an attack that would have thrown off a greener trainer.
"Donphan change course!" Ash called out quickly but he could see it was too late. The large elephant was airborne when it hit one of the larger slabs of rock on the field. The drill pokemon had already rushed forward to meet Donphan while the elephant was exposed in the air. Ash watched helplessly as his pokemon was stopped dead against the drill run attack before Donphan was tossed into the air.
"Oh no! Donphan is airborne! Ash will have to think quick to recover from this set back. We've seen Ash come up with some interesting exit strategies in the past but Blaine is no green trainer!" Barry called out. If there was one thing he loved it was commenting on pokemon battles and Ash's always tended to be the most interesting.
"Knock it out of the air with Rock Wrecker!" Blaine called out to his pokemon.
The drill pokemon gathered a giant boulder off of the ground before heaving it towards the airborne pokemon.
Ash felt his face tighten in concern and right when he was about to go into full panic he had an idea. A gleam crossed his face before he called out to his pokemon. "Donphan, quick! Hyper Beam into the rock and shoot yourself further into the air!"
The armor pokemon had been through enough battles with his trainer that he didn't question the orders provided. Without hesitation the energy was shot forth from his mouth and intercepted the giant boulder. The resulting explosion injured Donphan since the rock was almost upon him but also shot the giant pokemon higher into the air.
"This looks bad for Ash Ketchum pokemon fans. We've seen Ash in tight spots before but unless he knows something we don't, Donphan is at the mercy of gravity." Barry announced while staring up into the clouds along with almost everyone else in the stadium.
"I don't know what you're up to Ash but it won't help. Rhyperior slow him down with a nice Blizzard attack." Blaine directed to his faithful drill pokemon.
"You'll see." Ash responded with a tight smile. If his gamble paid off he may just come out of this with a new move.
Rhyperior directed an unnatural bout of winds into the arena before sending the chill air that quickly turned to shards of ice and blowing snow up into the sky.
A cry was heard from Donphan and Ash could only hope his friend could hang on a little while longer. "Donphan!" Ash yelled as loud as he could to be heard over the rushing winds from the Blizzard attack. "Spin yourself into a Gyro Ball and hit the ground to use Earthquake!"
The one plus side of the blizzard was that Blaine could not make out Ash's orders but it appeared that Donphan had heard just fine. The armor pokemon weary from four strong strikes against it managed to tighten itself into a spinning ball of metal before dropping quickly.
The earth rippled in waves from the impact. The giant waves caused splits to form in the arena that rode along the rippling ground. The attack took Rhyperior by surprise. The drill pokemon stumbled under the intense earth quake. The super effective attack would have ended it if not for the Solid Rock ability that it carried.
"Oh man! And this is exactly the kind of battle we were hoping to see out of Ash Ketchum!" Barry yelled before the on field judge caught his eye. The judge motioned to the armor pokemon that knocked itself out in its final attack. "Well looks like Donphan was hit by the recoil of falling and the earth quake attack. Ash is down to two more pokemon and Blaine still has two fresh pokemon. Rhyperior looks ready to go another round as well!"
Ash recalled Donphan with a grime smile. It was a calculated risk but at least he had gotten a hit in. Not taking the chance would have assured that Donphan would have fainted without even landing a hit. "Good work buddy. We'll have to work on that attack later." Without pause, Ash threw forth Sceptile's pokeball. "You're up Sceptile."
The green lizard appeared in a burst of red light. Sceptile casually grabbed a twig of his tail and placed it into his mouth and surveyed the battle field. A glance at the scoreboard and he knew that he would have to erase the lead and then some.
"I'll admit you still have some surprises in you, Ash, but your time off has done nothing to help you here." Blaine called out over the field. "I've been training my pokemon in an intense environment for the past seven years! Don't think you can bluster your way through relying on pure power!"
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Ash gave a slight nod to Sceptile. "End it."
"Confident aren't we." Blaine chuckled, the mirth the old man felt coming through in his voice. "Rhyperior, Flamethrower! Keep it tight and pinpoint!"
The giant drill pokemon pursed its lips before shooting out a blue jet of flame. The errant bits of flame falling to the ground and turning the rock it touched to liquid. Rhyperior attempted to hit the forest pokemon but it was too quick.
Without hesitation, Sceptile used his Quick Attack to dance around the Flamethrower attack as if it wasn't even there. The forest pokemon moved so fast that it only appeared in flashes in between Quick Attack movements.
A grin crossed Ash's face when he saw Blaine start to look concerned and Rhyperior start to back away.
"Change to Fire Blast!" Blaine called out in a split second decision.
"Sceptile! Right under and propel yourself with a Leaf Storm into Leaf Blade!" Ash called out to his pokemon.
Realizing his mistake too late, Blaine could only watch in horror as his Rhyperior released a futile blast of fire that passed right over Sceptile.
The forest pokemon threw himself under the two wide 'legs' of the Fire Blast and quickly shot his Leaf Storm out of his two feet and tail to propel him forward. At the last possible minute he cut the attack from his tail and used the remaining power in his feet to propel him over his opponent. At the height of the arc he brought his two bladed arms down into Rhyperior's shoulders and slowed his speed down by dragging the blades right through Rhyperior's back. With a quick kick the forest pokemon knocked the drill pokemon into the ground.
"Wow! There you have it folks! Sceptile is arguably one of Ash's top three in terms of power and if anyone had any questions, I think they've just been answered." Barry cried out excitedly. "In one combination of moves, Ash read Blaine like a book and brought the power house down with a super effective attack that powered right through Rhyperior's solid rock ability! The two are now even again."
"Well done, Ash!" Blaine called out with a small smile. "Perhaps I was a little too quick to judge but my next pokemon is a lot faster! Ninetales go!"
"Taiiil!" The Ninetales appeared with a quick bark. The moment it appeared on the field the sun suddenly grew brighter when her Drought ability activated.
"No one is as fast as Sceptile, Blaine. I hate to break it to you but we're about to run circles around you." Ash smiled back at the old gym leader. Despite his original worries and mishandling of the first match he was feeling more confident. Sceptile had evened the odds and hopefully would make quick work of the fire fox.
"And here we go folks! Both trainers are down to two pokemon and Ninetales has activated Drought. This may back fire on Blaine though as it will charge Sceptile up." Barry pointed out. Those closer to the field could see that the forest pokemon was already basking in the sunlight.
"Hm…we'll see Ash. Ninetales Double Team!" Blaine ordered with a smirk.
"You too Sceptile!" Ash called out.
Not a moment later the field was filled with duplicates of the two pokemon. It was hard to tell where one ended and another began.
"Not bad Ash…but now you're as confused as I am. Unfortunately you're in a spot of trouble now. Ninetales, Fire Spin across the entire field!"
Without hesitation the copies of Ninetales opened their mouths and created a swirling vortex of flames. The copies of Sceptile quickly disappeared and the heat from the copies felt so real that Sceptile was unable to avoid the attack.
Ash grimaced when he saw the remaining Sceptile caught in the Fire Spin. The bands of fire were slowly closing in on Sceptile. Ash couldn't get Sceptile out now with the fire coming around in bands. Then an idea came to him. "Sceptile break out! Use Dragon Pulse to disrupt the bands of fire!"
"Tile!" Sceptile responded affirmatively before he flinched from an errant band of flame lashing across his back. With a groan the forest pokemon raised his arm and let loose a wavering pulse of draconic energy. The pulse was enough to disrupt the Fire Spin and allow Sceptile to escape.
"Now unburden and use Acrobatics!" Ash called out with a grin.
Without a moment to lose the forest pokemon dropped the berry it had held in his tail. The berry had been ruined by fire anyway. With the item gone Sceptile came at Ninetales even faster than before causing Blaine's eyes to widen. Sceptile disappeared in a flash and appeared over Ninetales head before crashing down on the fire pokemon and inflicting massive damage.
"Niiiiii!" The fire fox cried out as it was thrown across the field from the attack.
Blaine felt a smile come to his face. "It looks like you're worthy. I didn't think I'd have to use this move so early but I can't think of anyone better to see it firsthand. Ninetales, Lava Spout!"
Ash watched hesitantly, unsure what to order Sceptile to do against this attack.
Ninetales threw her head into the air before shooting a strong jet of flames into the air. The fire quickly became a wall of fire. Unlike firestorm which was more of a tornado, this attack was a solid wall of fire that while at first appeared to be an unmovable barrier, started to move towards Sceptile. It only maintained form for a moment before it caved in on itself and the molten fire crashed down towards Sceptile.
"This is one for the record books! Blaine has developed an entirely new attack! While we may be used to Ash thinking on the fly and modifying or combining certain attacks, it is a real treat to see a newly invented attack. This may be the end for Sceptile and Ash if they don't do something quick!" Barry called out near the end when he saw the crashing wave of lava come down towards the grass type.
"Sceptile!" Ash yelled out, it was time to take advantage of the Drought ability that was affecting the weather. "Solar Shot! Try to divert the lava away from you!"
Sceptile didn't need to be told twice. Taking advantage of his unique physical ability he used the pods much like bullets. While a normal Solar Beam attack would use all six of the pods of energy at once by using only one at a time he fire off Solar Shot attacks that while at 1/6th power came out at a rapid rate. Just as the last pod exhausted its energy the first one was recharged. The blasts of energy cut through the lava wave and when the fire crashed down around him most missed. Enough of the super effective attack hit though that Sceptile went down…but not before finishing off Ninetales with the last Solar Shot. "
"And there you have it folks! This is only the first match and both of these contestants are giving it their all. Neither contestant is ready to walk away from this match and with one pokemon apiece it will come down to the better trainer." Barry paused a moment to let momentum build up. He felt a rush from the cheering and calls from the crowd. This was his calling, the spotlight and he reveled in the attention. "Now trainers…please send out your final pokemon!"
"Magmortar show them our burning spirit!" Blaine called out for the audience's benefit. He may be a recluse but he knew how to play a crowd. From the cheering alone he could tell that the audience had grown since the start of the match. No doubt that audience members had called friends also at Indigo and others had stumbled across the match after leaving the match they had originally attended. Prior to the start their stadium was approximately a quarter full and now people were standing on the stairs just to watch. Blaine silently studied Ash for a moment. The boy had changed since the start of the match. After the first round he felt he was assured victory…but now there was a spark in his eye that wasn't there at the start of the match. Perhaps he wouldn't be moving on after all but that didn't mean he wouldn't go down easily.
"Snorlax I want you to do your best for Sceptile and Donphan!" Ash called out with a smile. He could already feel his heart pumping a little faster. At the start of the bout he was all nerves but now he was getting excited at the prospect of this match. These were the matches that he lived for…the ones that came down to the wire. Sweeps while great in theory were not a test to ones skills and more often than not caused over confidence later in the games. He was glad that his first bout may be his last. Blaine was even more powerful than before and he already had gotten a few new ideas for moves.
"Let's end this quickly Magmortar, contain Snorlax with dual Flamethrower!" Blaine ordered his fire pokemon.
"Mort!" Magmortar roared in acknowledgement before his claws disappeared and the cannon like appendages expanded. It let loose two columns of fire to either side of Snorlax effectively keeping the giant pokemon from moving left or right.
Ash growled slightly but now was not the time to showcase Snorlax's special ability. "Snorlax! Use Surf! Ride it right into Magmortar!"
"Lax." Snorlax nodded to its trainer sleepily before a giant wave of water suddenly gathered under the pokemon and Snorlax came to the precipice of the wave. The giant wall of water with Snorlax atop it rode towards Magmortar, extinguishing the fire from the flamethrower attack as it came closer and closer. The water started to boil but Snorlax was able to shrug off the irritation unknown to Blaine.
"You think I haven't dealt with this before." Blaine laughed a little. "Burn off that water with Heat Wave, see how Snorlax likes a nice steam bath."
Magmortar let the flames on his body double in size literally baking the water as it made it to the edge of his aura and soon the water started to turn to harmless steam.
"Now as it comes down Magmortar catch it with Focus Blast!" Blaine yelled out.
When Snorlax came falling down the focus blast caught it right in the gut sending the pokemon back up into the air. Magmortar was readying another focus blast to use Snorlax like a volley ball until he passed out from the super effective attacks. Luckily Ash had other ideas.
"Snorlax! Use Roll Out and when you come down on Magmortar turn it into Heavy Slam!" Ash ordered with a small glint in his eye.
The giant pokemon spun itself into a ball to dodge the incoming Focus Blast and came crashing down on Magmortar before quickly bouncing away leaving Magmortar imprinted into the ground.
"Woah! Another surprise move from Ash! It just shows how dangerous Ash can make his pokemon when they're airborne! Magmortar is back up but he is hurting from that last combination that Ash laid out on him. Snorlax though is also hurting from that super effective focus blast. It is going to be another dynamic ending for these two trainers!" Barry announced with a grin. It was all down to the next few attacks for these two.
"Magmortar show him our raging spirit! Inferno!" Blaine called out with a grin. This attack would surely finish any pokemon bar some rock or ground types.
Magmortar cannon arms let loose a torrent of fire and magma directly from its core. A moment later Magmortar's mouth opened and belched out a stream of lava to add to the swirling vortex of fire. The wave of fire and lava quickly consumed everything in its path including Snorlax.
Ash waited patiently in the green box until he could no longer see Snorlax through the flames. He trusted Snorlax to make it through.
"This looks bad for Ash Ketchum. Blaine has created some seriously high powered fire moves during his seclusion and I don't think Snorlax is going to make it through this. Ash appears to have frozen up and doesn't seem to know what to do. This may be it for Ash Ketchum's grand return and Blaine will be moving on to the next round!" Barry called out while keeping the disappointed tone out of his voice. He couldn't exactly blame Ash. If he were in Ash's position he would also be stunned into inaction.
The crowd went silent when the flames started to die down. The fires were so great that Snorlax hadn't yet appeared and most were expecting to see a downed pokemon appear in a few seconds.
"Now Snorlax! Finish it with Giga Impact!" Ash called out confidently.
The crowd started to murmur a moment or two later when no pokemon burst out of the flames. Even Blaine shook his head in slight disappointment. He had in a way been hoping that Ash would find a way out of the attack but this was far too late. He should know he invented the attack.
"I'm sorry Ash but I have never met a pokemon that could survive my Inferno attack after the fight Snorlax just went through." Blaine responded not unkindly.
"You're forgetting Snorlax's special ability." Ash called out with a smile. Just as Blaine's eyes widened the blazing form of Snorlax burst out of the flames and bulldozed right into Magmortar. The blast pokemon was sent rolling across the stadium floor completely unprepared for the impact. Just like his trainer the blast pokemon thought that Snorlax was down for the count. "Thick fat halved the damage of any fire type moves you used. The steam barely dented him and despite the power of that attack it was halved to the point it barely felt like more than a standard Flamethrower to good ol' Snorlax."
"I can't believe it folks! Ash's Snorlax had the thick fat ability and it halved the damage from that last attack making it completely ineffective!" Barry cried out for the benefit of those not close enough to the field to hear Blaine and Ash's banter. "Magmortar was taken completely unaware from that Giga Impact and has been knocked out. That is the conclusion to this bout and Ash Ketchum moves on to the second round. This has been one of the most intense matches I've ever witnessed!"
A _ A
(o' - 'o) / /
(")_(") /
"He winned!" Samantha cried out in excitement before pointing out to her mother that Ash had indeed won the battle.
"Yes he did sweetie." May let a small smile cross her lips despite the fact that she was mad at Ash, she couldn't help but get caught up in her daughter's excitement.
Samantha turned to Delia with a giant smile on her face and once more pointed to Ash. "I wanna be just like him when I grow up!"
Delia gently ruffled the young girl's hair. "Well you never know."
"Mommy, can we get some ice cream?" Samantha asked with her best puppy dog eyes.
"Sweetie…I have to get you back to day care, Mommy took the first round off to go to a match with you but I have to cover the next match in an hour." May smoothly explained to her daughter. It was times like this that she wished that she had a normal job but such as her life.
"Why don't I take her for the afternoon? We can meet up for dinner if you'd like to explain certain things." Delia offered with a smile.
"Well I guess that couldn't hurt." May agreed. "Just don't let her get into the sweets or she will be bouncing off the walls for hours."
"Don't worry dear, Ash was the same way." Delia responded with a smile. With a flourish she produced her cell phone number and provided it to May. "Just call me when you're ready to meet up for dinner."
"Alright Sammy…you be good for Mrs. Ketchum." May knelt down and gave her daughter a hug. "If you're really good you can meet Mrs. Ketchum's granddaughter later."
"I'll be the bestest!" Samantha responded with a toothy smile. She hoped to not only meet Mrs. Ketchum's granddaughter but her son as well. She really wanted to see him again and thank him for bringing him back to her Uncle. Samantha started to wonder just what Delia's granddaughter was like. She hoped that the girl was nice and fun to play with.
With one last smile May departed and made her way out of the stadium to get changed for her live broadcast of the next bout.
A _ A
(o' - 'o) / /
(")_(") /
Ash and Blaine met on the field to shake hands a few minutes later after the field had cooled down and their pokemon had been recalled.
"You've shown that you still have that burning spirit, Ash. I'm proud to have been knocked out by such a trainer." Blaine said with a smile while offering his hand to Ash.
"Thanks Blaine…I honestly never thought I'd ever see you again." Ash chuckled a little while taking the man's proffered hand.
"I know you'll go far in this tournament." Blaine offered a slight smirk before breaking the handshake but not before pressing two TM devices into Ash's hand. "I am going to return to train. If you ever need to speak to me I will be on Cinnabar in the normal place."
"Uh wow, thanks Blaine." Ash realized after a second that Blaine had given him the TM's for the two moves that Blaine had used against him in the match. A light chuckle left his lungs. "I kinda feel like we are back in Cinnabar after I got the Volcano badge."
"You earned them Ash. I'll be checking up on the tournament so you better make it to the end or I'll return and show you a real battle." Blaine offered a final smile before the researcher and trainer put his hands in his pockets and casually walked off the battle field.
Ash shot a smile towards Barry who was currently still going crazy over the last second win if his excited voice was anything to go by. He slowly walked down the tunnel with Pikachu still riding on his shoulder. It had been a stressful day and he was just looking to take a quick nap. Unfortunately events were not lining up for Ash. A voice he had not heard for a long time suddenly called down the hall.
"Ash Ketchum! Did you think that you could really avoid me!" A slightly shrill voice called out that echoed down the hallway.
Ash glanced over at Pikachu with a slightly worried expression. He knew it would happen eventually and it was time to face the music. The Red Terror AKA Misty Waterflower had finally cornered him and he was in for it now.
A/N: Well there we go end to the first round of pokemon battles. This story is going to be concentrating more on Ash building a relationship with his daughter, May, and his friends so the battles will only be for ones I deem important. I don't think any of you care to see Ash murderously sweep an unknown trainer so I will pick and choose when Ash battles someone notable. When he gets further in the tournament I'll probably include battles more often. Anyway please review and share thoughts, feelings, what have you.