Et Tu, Unova? Chapter Eleven, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 11

Despite the harshness of the desert to the south, the hills between Castelia and Nimbasa cities are a pleasant place to spend a day. This is precisely what motivates Ash, Jessie, and Shauntal to take a short break from their travels and train for the gym battle and the contest awaiting Ash and Jessilina in the city ahead.

Ash and Oshawott continue to practice Aqua Jet, as its poor aim has already caused one loss. Sewaddle has been kind enough to mark a straight path with its silk, despite having good reason to avoid Aqua Jet. As Oshawott surrounds itself with water, he aligns itself with the lane ahead. The attack rapidly charges forwards and Ash is thrilled to see it fly straight. Until it suddenly veers left past a hill.

"Ow!"

Ash runs over to check on Oshawott and the voice he heard, leaving Jessie and her contest practice in his dust. Trip is rubbing his head and glaring at Oshawott.

"It figures a kid from the boonies can't even teach his Pokémon to land an attack." Trip's demeanor has not changed from his last encounter with Ash. The lucky critical hit with Iron Tail is an anomaly that won't happen again. Frankly, he's surprised that the hick is all the way out here. He probably had to give up on the closer gyms and is trying for Nimbasa's badge instead.

"Hey! We're still training, of course there'll be some issues to work out. Who do you even think you are insulting Kanto like that?" rages Ash.

"Hmph. I could beat your training Pokémon without breaking a sweat. They just don't do training right out in the boonies."

Shauntal interrupts, "Then let us back our claims with actions. While words have power, especially in my profession, it is generally preferred to show your points rather than tell them. I propose a friendly battle between the two of you to test your training. A three Pokémon switch-in format would allow the most varied stories to test, I think."

Trip is startled by the elite trainer's presence, but realizes she must be traveling and have heard them. He'll do her and Unova proud and crush the hillbilly. He looks at the Ghost-type trainer and lets Lampent out to begin.

Oshawott shoots a torrent of water at its foe with Water Gun, but is stopped in its attempt by a powerful Night Shade. It continues its assault with Aqua Jet, though poor aim proves an issue once more. On the bright side for Ash, the inaccurate move does avoid Lampent's follow-up Night Shade. Oshawott goes for a Razor Shell only to be stopped by a jarring noise from Astonish. He looks up and sees that Lampent has approached directly next to him. A Will-o'-Wisp burns Oshawott, weakening the Razor Shell he uses to take advantage of Lampent's nearness. Lampent continues its combination attack with its Hex, taking Oshawott out of the match.

Ash recalls Oshawott as Trip smirks. Ash decides his Snivy will teach Trip a lesson about Kanto training so Trip switches to his evolved Servine for the next round. Servine attacks with Slam, but its tail meets with empty ground as Snivy adeptly dodges and sends a Vine Whip to attack her evolved opponent. Trip's next attack ensures a hit and Servine strikes true with Aerial Ace for super effective damage. Somehow, Snivy endures the attack, so Servine goes in for a second Aerial Ace. It never hits though - Snivy halts Servine's movements by blocking its path with Twister. Ash makes a gamble with what he knows of most starter Pokémon. Snivy attempts to further immobilize Servine and uses her Attract. The attack is successful, giving Snivy free reign to knock out her opponent with a few well aimed Twisters. With the match over, Snivy is surrounded by a blue glow. Everyone watches on, but the glow soon fades. Both trainers withdraw their Pokémon.

Trip decides on Vanillish for his third Pokémon. Ash counters with his Scraggy. Vanillish uses Icicle Spear to send a flurry of ice at its opponent. Scraggy's baggy pants block each projectile, allowing it to attack with Headbutt. Vanillish recovers quickly and shores up its defenses with Acid Armor. Scraggy's Feint Attack and Headbutt won't have much effect anymore. An Icy Wind sends Scraggy flying, much to the concern of a desperate Ash. But Scraggy's training has been paying off: it uses its height to come down on Vanillish with a powerful High Jump Kick. Ash orders Scraggy to use its new move once more. Vanillish attempts to block with Mirror Shot, but Scraggy's jump avoids the attack. Mirror Shot is bright though, and Scraggy closes its eyes to avoid the light. When Scraggy's attack lands, it is a glancing blow, sending Vanillish spinning to the ground, but dealing Scraggy damage on its own impact. Neither Pokémon gets back up.

"As each trainer achieved one win, one loss, and one draw, I believe it is safe to say that their training methods equal each other," Shauntal calls both the battle and the argument to an end.

"Yeah right. Like I'd only be equals with a trainer who can't even make his Pokémon keep their eyes open when they attack. And even worse than that Scraggy, Oshawott didn't even have Mirror Shot as an excuse."

"What do you mean?" Ash asks. Trip shows a picture of Oshawott's Aqua Jet on his camera - Ash's Pokémon did indeed have his eyes closed. Despite the draw with his obnoxious acquaintance, Ash considers the day a win: he knows the next step in training Oshawott and Scraggy learned a new move.

Days pass as Ash and his friends continue on their way. The going is somewhat slow because they stop at each body of water they pass. The delay is worth the effort though: Oshawott finally masters keeping his eyes open underwater and with this new skill, he has also mastered Aqua Jet. During Oshawott's efforts, Shauntal's Golurk also returns from its errand and begins its own training sessions with some of Ash's other Pokémon.

"He may have given you some good advice, but that Trip's attitude still stinks." Jessie grumbles. She hadn't watched the previous battle, so Trip had yet to experience her wrath over insulting Kanto. "At least you managed to beat the pants off of him."

A passing traveller startles at Jessie's remark.

"You mean you beat Trip? Green haired guy with a camera and a Servine?"

"That's him. And I only kinda beat him," Ash replies, "We ended up tying in our last battle."

"Man," the stranger sighs, "his Servine beat my whole team. And he wasn't nice about it either. But if you can even tie him, I wanna see if I can beat you. The name's Stephan and I challenge you to a Pokémon battle."

"Well I'm Ash and I accept your challenge. Does three on three sound good?"

Jessie looks around, but apparently Shauntal has pulled another vanishing act. She groans at losing more time she could be spending at the nearby sand springs. "I'll referee."

Stephan opens the battle by sending out a Basculin, which Ash has his Pokédex identify. He responds to the water-type with his Sewaddle. Basculin hops into the air for a super effective Bounce, but is knocked off course by a Razor Leaf from Sewaddle. Ash's Pokémon follows up with a Bug Bite attack. Stephan smirks and has Basculin use Crunch to show a real biting move. Sewaddle's speedy movements avoid the brunt of the attack, so Basculin grimaces in a ferocious Scary Face, halting its foe's movements. It blasts Sewaddle with an Ice Beam, sending it flying towards Ash. Basculin uses Bounce to close the gap, which Sewaddle only narrowly avoids. Ash notices something about all of Basculin's attacks. When Stephan orders another Crunch, Sewaddle uses its powerful String Shot to bind Basculin's jaws shut. After futilely struggling to break free, Basculin attempts the only attack it can use without its mouth, but Sewaddle uses its string to slam Basculin into the ground from the maximum height of Bounce. A Razor Leaf finishes off the stunned Pokémon.

Stephan's next Pokémon is a Sawk, who begins the battle with an impressive show of Strength. Sewaddle is hurt, but gets back up and launches a Razor Leaf. Sawk's series of Karate Chops block every one of the projectiles. Sawk charges up a Fire Punch, only to find its fist wrapped in Sewaddle's String Shot. The flames from the attack make quick work of the sticky silk. Sewaddle is panting, but determined to go on. It glows and changes shape, eventually revealing its evolved form of Swadloon. Sawk attacks with Fire Punch, but is blocked by Swadloon's new Protect. Razor Leaf hits for a fair amount of damage afterwards. Sawk gets back up and uses another Fire Punch. Swadloon's previous battles have left it damaged enough that the type advantaged move knocks it out. Ash thanks Swadloon for all its hard work and for evolving and promises his other Pokémon will finish the job.

Tranquill enters the battle for her type advantage and immediately strikes with a Quick Attack. Sawk strikes back with a Karate Chop, forcing Tranquill to fly and gain distance. Sawk follows with more attacks, but is kept at bay by Tranquill's forceful Gust. Sawk jumps and uses Strength, knocking Tranquill close to the ground. Tranquill flies in for an Aerial Ace and collides with her opponent. She tries again, but is met with Sawk's Thunder Punch. Both Pokémon are knocked unconscious by the super effective damage.

Ash calls Oshawott as his last choice, but is countered by Stephan's Blitzle, who uses Spark to avail itself of its type advantage. Oshawott recovers from the blow and deflects the incoming Shock Wave with his scalchop, then blasting Blitzle back with Water Gun. Oshawott is told to combine his Razor Shell and Aqua Jet moves. He charges the blue blade from his scalchop before surrounding himself with water. Aqua Jet spins and is surrounded by the sharp edges of Razor Shell, taking the appearance of a whirling drill. The combination attack crashes into Blitzle, smashing it into the battlefield, unable to battle. Jessie calls the match in Ash's favor.

"Wow," Stephan remarks as he recalls Blitzle, "you're really strong. Are you planning on entering the Nimbasa Battle Tournament?"

"Battle tournament? What's that?"

"It's a competition hosted by the Battle Club in Nimbasa City. It's supposed to be great training for the Unova League. You should get there and register - the prize is a set of ability boosting items."

Ash and Jessie are both interested. Battles and contests could become easier with those items. Their trip to Nimbasa City is looking to be a busy one.

The packed schedule only gets denser when Jessie spots a sign for the sand springs she's been looking for. There's no way she's going to miss the chance to be pampered and relaxed. She's just started really relaxing when her newly captured Frillish pops out of its Pokéball and latches onto her face. The Twerp helps her pull it off, and she decides to leave it out, but puts it on the other side of the spring.

Jessie dozes for a while before hearing her Frillish call out in panic. Some kind of reptilian Pokémon has Frillish in its oversized jaws. Jessie easily defeats the kidnapper with her Yanmega's Sonic Boom, when another of the same Pokémon shows up. This one is wearing sunglasses and knocks out Yanmega with a super effective Stone Edge before grabbing Frillish and dragging it off. Jessie calls over the Twerp, who looks the kidnapper up in his Pokédex and finds out it's called Sandile.

Ash follows to help save Frillish and ends up involved in a whole situation with a bunch of Sandile trying to save other Pokémon from scalding water. The misunderstanding is eventually cleared up and Ash, Jessie, and Shauntal leave to go on their way. None of them notices the glint of sunglasses from the Pokémon following them until a couple days later, when a group of rowdy Ducklett steal Ash's hat and the Sandile's sunglasses. Ash and the Sandile team up to get their stolen items back, but Pikachu's Electric-type attacks are reflected by the Duckletts' probably-pilfered umbrella. In the end, Pikachu learns Electro Ball and the Sandile evolves, and the combination of added power takes down the thieves. With the situation resolved, Ash turns to the newly-evolved Krokorok.

"Thanks for all your help!" he says, "I guess you must have followed us all the way from the springs. Do you think you might wanna come with us for good?"

Krokorok enthusiastically agrees, bonded with Ash through their shared crises, and when Ash and his friends reach Nimbasa City, he's added a new Pokémon to his team.

Upon arrival, nearly late as per usual, the travelers head straight to the Big Dome of Nimbasa City's sports complex in order to register for the upcoming tournament. Once both Ash and Jessilina (it was the safer name to register under) have selected the three Pokémon they would use, they take a look around the complex to see a slew of familiar faces.

"Well, well, well," Ursula calls out, "It looks like another reunion at the battle tournament. But don't go getting ideas, the ability boosting items will be mine once I win and my Pokémon will shine even brighter for having them."

"Hah!" Trip laughs, "You're one of those new coordinator-types. That whole thing is a huge waste of time! There's no way you'll actually be able to beat a real trainer."

As those two argue, Stephan walks up. "Glad to see you made it! I guess Trip is still the same as ever, huh?"

Jessilina, meanwhile, inches away so as not to be spotted by Burgundy. I'm really not in the mood to hear her rave about revenge. However, she only manages to back herself into the middle of an argument between Iris and Georgia. Sigh. I guess it's dragons and dragon busters. I wonder if hearing about revenge would have been better.

As the opening ceremony approaches, Ash sits to have lunch by a fountain, only to be knocked in by a frantic Bianca. After she gets registered, she comes back over to Ash, dragging a well-dressed, dark-haired boy behind her.

"Sorry about knocking you into the fountain! Especially after you were so helpful finding my Munna! Cheren, this is my friend Ash who I told you about. Ash, this is Cheren, a friend of mine from Nuvema town who left on his journey a couple months before I did."

Ash finds it pretty astonishing that Bianca manages her whole speech in one breath, but greets her and her friend. Cheren reminds Ash of a calmer Max or a less creepy Conway and Ash can see why he'd be a good friend for a person like Bianca to have.

Jessilina points out that Brianna seems to have entered the tournament as well and Shauntal notes that both coordinators and trainers have turned out for the prizes. A nearby blond lady perks up at that and scribbles something down on the piece of paper she's holding.

Ash goes wandering around outside for a bit and accidentally bumps into a man with long, green hair tied back in a ponytail, causing a startled expression from both Pikachu and his trainer. As he goes to apologize, Ash is stopped by the odd expression on the man's face.

"Your Pikachu," the man muses, "he simply shouts how happy he is to be traveling with you. And you don't keep him inside a Poké Ball?"

"Huh? No, Pikachu doesn't like it in there, so I'm happy to have him walk around with me. But what do you mean about Pikachu shouting?" Ash replies.

"I can communicate with Pokémon. And I should say it's quite rare to meet one quite so happy with its trainer."

"Yeah, me and Pikachu have been through a lot together. After all this time, sometimes I'm pretty sure I can understand what he's saying, too."

A pause. "That's not quite what I meant-"

"Are you also here for the battle tournament?" Ash accidentally interrupts the man.

"I assume you are?" Ash nods. "Then I will as well. I hope to meet you and your Pokémon in battle and learn more about you."

The man heads off to register. Soon it's time for the opening ceremony, and Don George calls forward someone special to kick things off: Nimbasa's gym leader, Elesa. The blond lady who was listening to Shauntal comes to the podium.

"Welcome, all, to the Nimbasa City Battle Club's tournament, where the winner takes home a full set of ability enhancing feathers. For this event, we have people participating from many places and from various walks of life. As a model and a gym leader and most recently an aspiring coordinator, I can safely say that having a wealth of different experiences is a fantastic way to learn and grow. Even if you don't think Pokémon Contest battles are the same as gym battles, the skills from one match remarkably well with the skills from the other. So I hope everyone here today comes ready to learn from their fellow competitors. I wish everyone the best of luck and hope to see some of you at the upcoming Nimbasa City Pokémon Contest as well. Now let's get this tournament started!"

Author's Note: So... It's been nearly 9 years since I've updated this story. I had been planning on not updating again until I had at least half the story finished, but I've had a really bad day today and thought posting this would be at least something productive to come out of it. Don't expect another chapter until I've actually gotten to that halfway point (that'll be Chapter 25 - currently I'm done through 17 with 2-3 new chapters being written per week, but that could change). This is already a long note, so feel free to check out here, but if you care to read some of my thoughts there's more below. Otherwise, "see" you next time!

Regarding the story and the long break I took: It turns out I enjoy the planning portion of the creative writing process far more than the actual writing part (I have several more entries in this series all planned out), but I've started to need to write more in my real life and this story seemed like a good way to get into the habit. In the time since I last posted, I've taken a creative writing class, read a lot more fanfiction, and gotten 9 years older, so my writing style has evolved quite a bit. If anyone is still left from when I was first posting this, first: I really appreciate it, but also be aware that I've gone back and rewritten all the previous chapters. No plot-critical content was changed. There's a new format for battling that is less trainers yelling orders every line in a way that doesn't flow well using the written word rather than a graphical format, a couple of character details are different, and I've tried to use a more serious tone (e.g. no Poké-speak or fandom-based terms in the story). Dialogue will never be my strong suit, so I've tried to use it only where I think it really matters. If anyone did read (and still remembers) the old version, I'd love to hear what you think of the changes.

Regarding this chapter: If this chapter seems choppy, it's because it was written in pieces over the course of 9 years. I eventually just had to accept it as it was, since it was a really bad place to pick up an old project and I needed to move on to new content. Chunks of this chapter haven't changed from the anime, but still needed to be covered, so it was just hard to write overall. I'm not a fan of deus-ex-evolution (hence why it didn't happen against Burgh), so when it does happen I try to have it be different in some way: like here, where Sewaddle evolving was nice but didn't help win the battle, or back in Chapter 3, where Oshawott learned a new, super-effective move mid-battle, but did so in a way that made sense (it was FURIOUS, therefore Fury Cutter) and happened at a time when Ash's creative strategies would likely have won the battle even without it.