Road To Become A Pokemon Master

Chapter 58: The Underdog

Lance was walking up to the announcer's box in the stadium. Being an Elite Four member, it was the most private place he could watch a match without being disturbed by the media or fans. Lance didn't watch every single match in the Pokemon League and normally waited until at least the semifinals. This time was different, however. He heard Ash Ketchum was going to be battling this time and was really interested to see what his battling style was like.

As Lance walked in, he saw the other Elite Four members were already there: Lorelei, Bruno, and Agatha. He smiled and nodded his head to them before going over and taking a seat between Agatha and the announcer.

"Hello, Lance. You're just in time to see Ash's battle," Agatha greeted.

"Great. I figured it would be a good thing if I watched one of his matches considering I'm helping him. If I study his battle style, I might be more effective in my approaches with Ash and Aerodactyl," Lance replied.

"You certainly have taken an interest in that boy," Bruno commented.

"You haven't had a good feeling like that since Red Ketchum. You even went out of your way to make sure he stayed in the Pokemon League," Lorelei added.

"Well, he is Red Ketchum's son. Maybe that's why. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up where Red is now," Lance replied.

"Hmmhmm. That's quite a bold statement," Agatha chuckled lightly before turning back to the impending battle. "This should be quite a match. That Jeanette is supposed to be really good, too."

Lance nodded before turning back to the battle field. He then saw something that intrigued him. It seemed Ash was going to be using a Dratini in this match. He didn't know Ash had a Dratini with him. This should make it all the more interesting.

"Dratini, use Safeguard!" Ash shouted as soon as the judge waved down his flag. With Safeguard, Dratini would be immune to all of Beedrill's poison to give it an advantage.

Dratini nodded and closed its eyes as a misty glow seemed to form around it before disappearing. It actually felt rather refreshing to Dratini, and it cooed in happiness.

"Not bad for the first move. My Beedrill doesn't need its poison to win, but we can still be prepared for the future. Use Toxic Spikes!" Jeanette called.

Beedrill aimed its three stingers at Dratini and began shooting many purple darts from them. Dratini got an alarmed look on its face and closed its eyes to brace itself, but nothing happened. Instead, the poisonous darts were scattering all around it. It wasn't long before they took up a large portion of Dratini's side of the field. The darts then sat in place for a moment before sinking into the ground. That was rather peculiar.

"Remember to not be scared, Dratini! I'm right here!" Ash yelled from behind the dragon Pokemon.

Dratini stopped shivering in fear at the sound of Ash's voice. It then shook its head and focused once more on its opponent. That's right. Ash was behind it. It would be just fine. It could fight on.

"Use Poison Jab, Beedrill!" Jeanette said next.

Beedrill flew forward and began to stab at Dratini with the stingers on its forelegs. Dratini's eyes grew wide with fear as it began to dodge Beedrill's attacks. Because Dratini had an extremely flexible body, it was able to bend in all sorts of angles to dodge Beedrill. The poison bee Pokemon was quite quick with its stingers, but being such a timid Pokemon, Dratini was faster at dodging.