The Greatest Summer of My Life

Semi-final Intensity

This was it, just one more win, and Ethan could face Red in the final battle. He knew Red was going to make it, he was too strong not to. After defeating Blue, Ethan felt more confident than ever; now to take down whoever else was in the competition. That next someone was Leaf, "Hey Ethan!" she greeted as she happened upon him.

"Hey Leaf, it's no surprise you've made it this far."

"Same to you," Leaf said with a smile.

"It's the final four now. You know what that means don't you?"

Leaf flashed a grin and reached for one of her pokemon, "I do. And I'm not about to let it end here!" she declared.

"I'm not going down that easy either. Togekiss, go!" Ethan said releasing the flying and fairy type pokemon.

"Gengar, let's go!" Leaf said releasing the Shadow Pokemon.

Gengar stuck his tongue out and laughed upon making his appearance.

"Let's do this thing!" Leaf said with determination, "Gengar, Shadow Ball!"

Gengar generated a ball of ghost energy in his hands and hurled it at Togakiss. The attack came at them fast, so fast Ethan didn't have a chance to fully process it. Togakiss ducked out of the way of the attack. Ethan broke out of his shock long enough to counter-attack, "Use Air Slash!" Ethan commanded.

Togakiss flapped his wings sending several blades of air at Gengar. "Dodge it!" Leaf commanded.

The attack seemingly connected as it exploded on contact. However, as the dust cleared, Gengar was nowhere to be found. "Crap, crap, where is it?" Ethan wondered looking for any sign of the shadow pokemon.

Leaf looked back at Ethan with a mischievous grin. "Whatcha gonna do, Ethan?" she asked.

Ethan looked around the ground for any sign of Gengar hiding in the shadows. Something dark darted out from behind between his legs. Ethan looked around frantically, "Togakiss, brace-" he began to say as Gengar shot up out of Togakiss' shadow.

"Now, Sludge Bomb!" said Leaf.

Gengar took a breath and spat out several balls of sludge at Togakiss. Being attacked at close range meant that Togakiss was hit with every shot; he cried out in pain as the super-effective attack sent him crashing into the ground.

Gengar turned back into a shadow on the ground and returned to his side of the battlefield. Togakiss shook off the pain as it flew back into the air. "You OK, Togakiss?" asked Ethan.

Togakiss cried out signaling he was OK to continue. "Great! Alright, Leaf, no more Mr. Nice Guy," Ethan continued.

"Bring it," Leaf replied.

-----

Red could hear the intense clash happening nearby. That meant two of the others had already found each other. Now, who was going to be his opponent?

"Oh boy," a feminine voice said.

Red turned to find Rosa getting ready to face him. "So, I guess it's time for you to see what I've got," she said.

"I guess so," Red replied as Pika stepped up to the plate.

Red stared focused on his opponents. Red had never spoken with Rosa nor did he know anything about her so he had no idea what to expect. All he knew was that she was Nate's girlfriend and that she was from Unova. Given that, he could at least guess that she had a lineup mostly consisting of Unova pokemon.

Rosa pulled out her pokemon, "Serperior, let's go!" she said as she released her pokemon.

So, she was going with her Unova starter. If the strength of her friends was any indication he and Pika were in for a heck of a ride. "Serperior, Leaf Blade!" Rosa commanded.