Ladies and Gentleman, the first match for Misty Waterflower in her regional league début. The talented trainer from Cerulean has never competed in any regional league, and has not appeared in a competitive match since her match against the Pokémon Master five months ago. One of the criticisms leveled at her during her career is that she cannot compete against the best trainers in regional leagues as she has only ever competed in minor leagues up to now. And what a début it is for her, Misty having been drawn against a man who is no stranger to big competitions. Joseph has competed in the last 5 Johto Leagues, and has finished in the top 4 in three of them, although not in his previous outing. This should be a good test of the credentials of Misty, somebody who has already been hailed as a potential winner."
As the announcer continued to drone on to the stadium, Misty was stood inside her preparation room. She remembered the last time she had been in one of these, halfway through her test match against 'Champion'. This time however, she felt her chances of winning were substantially higher. Her opponent wasn't the strongest trainer in memory. Her opponent in fact, she was confident that she could beat. That wasn't the reason for the nerves that were making her shaky. It was the expectation from her friends. Although she had been watched at various times by her friends, there was a higher level of expectation this time. She had never appreciated the pressure that the competitors had been under, it was ever really evident when you were sat in the stands.
One person who completely understood was Gary, who was stood next to her, an arm draped over one of her shoulders. He had spent the two days between her match being announced and now trying to comfort her. Now, there was nothing more that he could do. It was up to her.
Above their heads a buzzer sounded. Misty looked up, before turning to Gary, pecking him on the cheek and stepping out into the stadium. Behind her, Gary sat on a bench to watch. He had made a promise that he would be there for every match, ready to give comfort. He knew better than most the pressure and stress that these tournaments put on people. He had gone through them when he was young, and had competed against his childhood rival and friend at this very tournament.
As Misty stepped out, there was a roar from the crowd, which caused Misty to sway slightly. She regained her composure before stepping into her trainer's box. Looking out across the field, she saw her opponent, a middle-aged man smiling at her. She smiled back, before looking up to the scoreboard. It flashed several times, before her name lit up. She had to choose first. Reaching down to her Pokéball belt, Misty drew back her arm and threw out her chosen Pokémon.
Golduck appeared before her in a flourish, standing proud. Across the stadium, her opponent hurled out his Pokéball, leaving an Ursaring standing in front of her. Misty smiled to herself; a trainer who trusted in strength to triumph. She felt the nerves start to slip away as she called out her first command.
"Golduck, Water Gun."
The Duck Pokémon fired its attack straight across the field, crashing into Ursaring who was too slow to get out-of-the-way. The Hibernator Pokémon crashed down, caught out, before climbing to its feet roaring once again.
"Ursaring, close in and use Hammer Arm" Joseph called, only for the charging Pokémon to be knocked back once again by another Water Gun. Ursaring surged up once again, and pushed through a third Water Gun, before being sent sprawling by the power of Golduck's Hydro Pump. As Ursaring climbed up once again, Misty smirked.
She knew Joseph's strategy; he usually relied on Ursaring's endurance to close the distance before using its physical strength to pound opponents into the ground. A strategy that would be effective against most opponents, but Golduck was too strong for Ursaring. In fact, the power of Golduck's attacks was something of great pride for Misty; she has spent so long working with the Duck Pokémon on focusing its attacks, making them hit a smaller area with a corresponding increase in power. Something that Joseph had clearly realized as he ordered Ursaring to fire a Hyper Beam.
As the orange beam fired at Golduck Misty called out another command and Golduck dived out-of-the-way. From the smoke generated by the attack, Golduck fired his own Hyper Beam straight back out, crashing into Ursaring and sending the Hibernator Pokémon flying. Grinning, Golduck stepped out of the smoke, his arms crossed, whilst the smoke at the other end of the battlefield was still obscuring the form of Urasaring. As it cleared, it showed Ursaring lying on his back, out cold. Misty recalled Golduck, a grin on her face, before waving to the crowd on her way off the battlefield. At the other end of the field, Joseph recalled his downed Ursaring, before looking thoughtfully after Misty.
"Well done Mel" Sam said, the two young trainers walking through the village near the Silver Conference. "That was a good battle."
Mellanie just looked at her friend. "Yes Sam. He was rubbish, you know that. Totodile was fuming at the end, he expected a better battle."
Sam stopped and looked at his friend, her defiant gaze meeting his eye. They held this position for a long moment, before collapsing with laughter, Mellanie falling into Sam whose arms caught her instinctively. People around them looked at them amused; it was a common sight to see young trainers enjoying themselves at these tournaments. What most people didn't realize was how these two trainers would most likely soon be all over the news. Mellanie had utterly destroyed her opponent in her opening match. Both knew that the early rounds were where the weaker trainers were weeded out, but Mellanie's match had been one of the most one-sided yet. How her opponent had managed to get eight badges, she wasn't quite sure. Totodile hadn't needed an instruction from Mellanie as he ran the Furret that he had been up against ragged, the poor Normal-Type having been unable to even get close to Totodile.
The two of them started to stroll through the town once again. Having both had one battle, and both having won their battle comfortably they were pleased with the start to the tournament for them. They were both on course to progress through the preliminary rounds, with the happy assumption that if they won all three of their preliminaries they would be certain to qualify. As they turned a corner, they saw a Pokémon Center with a screen on the outside. Walking up to it, they saw that their match-ups for the following day had appeared. Sam was matched up against a trainer that had never competed in a major tournament before whilst Mellanie was up against a trainer that had only made it out of the preliminaries once. Noting down what time their matches were, they turned and walked away again, heading towards their accommodation whilst chatting about the various battles that they had seen.
As they reached the cottage that they were sharing with the rest of the group, they found Delia Ketchum in the kitchen cooking. When the youngsters walked in, she smiled and hurried over to them, making a fuss. Within minutes the two young trainers were sat at a table with plates of food in front of them, not sure how they had managed to end up there.
"So how did your battles go?" Delia asked, sitting across the table from Sam and Mellanie.
"We won." Mellanie said, whilst Sam started eating. "My opponent was inexperienced; this was his first Johto League, and he struggled." Delia nodded, before turning to Sam.
"How was your match Sam?"
"Fine" said the boy. "He wasn't particularly skilled, Quilava didn't have too many problems."
As the two youngsters ate, a comfortable silence stretched out. Delia watched them a small smile on her face. She was happy to be looking after the two of them, it reminded her of when she used to look after her son. Being at this tournament was hard for her, it brought back painful memories. She remembered watching Ash compete at the same place, against his rival Gary, remembered watching her son triumph with his novel strategy, and remembered the happiness on his face. Even now, years later, she remembered everything about her son. She was just waiting for him to come home.
"Delia?" Mellanie asked tentatively.
"Yes dear?"
"When we were introduced, Gary said that you were the 'mother of an old friend of his'." Mellanie saw Delia's face fall slightly, and she paused before pressing on. "I was wondering… who was Gary referring to?"
Delia sighed, and looked down at the table. Mellanie looked at Sam nervously; neither of them had seen Delia like this. The woman had always seemed so full of energy, but she suddenly looked like she had aged dramatically.
"If you don't want to talk about it…" Sam started, but was silenced by Delia looking at him, her face suddenly perfectly calm.
"It's ok dear." Delia said. "You can't have known and it's only natural to be curious. They are talking about Ash. He would have been before your time, I doubt you would have heard of him. His last tournament was nearly eight years ago now."
Sam and Mellanie looked at each other in surprise. They hadn't really known what to expect, but it certainly wasn't something like this.
"Where is he now?" Sam asked tentatively.
"I don't know. He left to train alone after a tournament in Sinnoh. Nobody has heard from him since. Sometime after he left, his starter returned... Pikachu said that Ash was dead but I don't believe…" Delia trailed off, before looking up at the two youngsters, her eyes damp with tears.
Before anybody else could say anything, the door opened once again, and Misty walked in, Gary in tow. A quick look across the room told them what had happened; Delia looking upset, and the two kids looking unsure of what to do. Moving quickly, Misty moved across the give the older woman a hug, and Gary gestured for Sam and Mellanie to follow him outside. As the trio left the room, Delia broke down into tears, crying into Misty's shoulder, with the Water Pokémon trainer gently rocking the older woman to try to stop her crying.
Outside, Gary turned to Sam and Mellanie. "What did you ask her?"
"We didn't…" Sam's voice trailed off under Gary's gaze. The researcher looked, not angry… more like he was unimpressed with what he had seen. Almost disappointment.
"Sit down." Gary said, gesturing to the chairs that were sat around the back door of the house. The two youngsters did as ordered without question. "Now, what did you ask her?"
"About… her son." Mellanie said tentatively.
"I thought as much." Gary sighed, before leaning back in his own chair. "Why?"
"We wanted to know what had happened." Sam said, before shrinking back into his chair as Gary's head snapped around to look at him.
"So why didn't you ask one of us? Why did you ask her about her son? Don't you think if it was a happy story we would have told you already?" Gary asked, his voice showing signs of strain as he fought to control his emotions. The reaction from the two youngsters was enough to give him his answer. They hadn't really thought about it. Taking a deep breath, Gary made himself calm down.
"If I tell you, do you promise not to bring it up in front of Delia again?" Gary asked, his voice an enforced, emotionless monotone. The two youngsters looked at each other, before nodding.
"Ash was one of my friends from childhood" Gary started. "We were the same age, and rivals in everything. Throughout our lives we competed. I always felt I had the advantage because of my grandfather. Yet he was always trying, always fighting to try to match me in everything. When we turned 10, we both set off on journeys, like you two did. I started with a Squirtle and Ash a Pikachu. The Pikachu that is now with Misty. We both set off around Kanto, and eventually competed in the Kanto League. The following year, Ash went off to the Orange Islands and won the Orange League. The following year, we went through Johto. If anything, the battle in Johto was one of Ash's greatest achievements. Especially in my eyes. He beat me in the first round of the Victory Tournament. It always meant that extra to him, his friends and his family that I was the one that he beat. This is why Delia will find this tournament hard; it brings back memories of Ash. After that tournament, Ash went to Hoenn and then Sinnoh, whereas I moved into research." Gary paused, and looked at the two youngsters. They were totally enraptured, hanging on his every word.
"You have to understand that Ash almost never took breaks." Gary continued. "After touring a region and earning badges, Ash would compete in the league. After the league, he would spend at most a few days at home, before heading off to the next region. Delia never really got to see him often. In fact, I probably saw Ash more than she did; I met him frequently when I was travelling for research. He always claimed that he tried to keep in contact with her, but he was focused on his goals more than anybody else I have ever met. I'm not surprised really that he didn't talk to his mother more. He wanted to be the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world. His aim was to be Pokémon Master…" Gary trailed off, overcome by the emotions.
"Was?" Mellanie asked. "You make it sound like he is gone."
"He is Mellanie." Gary answered. "After the Sinnoh League he came home, like he always did, but this time something was different. He was upset about something. His last ever league battle was against a man called Tobias. Tobias used two Pokémon; Darkrai and Latios. Ash had his entire team thrashed. He came back angry at his loss, almost like he felt he had let his Pokémon down. He always wanted to give his best, but to be thrashed so comprehensibly, he would have felt like the Pokémon who had put their faith into him would have been let down. His Pokémon never felt like that, but that was what he would have thought. It had obsessed with him. And to be honest, it wasn't surprising to me when after a few days back, Ash announced he was going to go away again. What did surprise me was a change in his attitude. He didn't choose a region, he just went to 'go train' instead of journeying. I didn't "comment, I just let him do what he felt best. He left, full of energy, excited about a new adventure. I expected him to be back within a few months, ready to go to another region."
Gary broke off, looking away, a sad expression on his face. The story was painful for him to tell, although he felt that he owed it to his friend. Ash was somebody who he had started to get on with far better, and had genuinely missed in his friend's absence. And now he was telling two youngsters, the kind of people that Ash always seemed to end up befriending, or facing as rivals.
"It was months later that we next heard from him." Gary continued, a shadow of pain visible on his face. "Pikachu came back, alone. Ash had always been the only one who was able to understand Pikachu, so we couldn't tell what was wrong, despite the evident sadness. When Team Rocket showed up, and Pikachu simply refused to attack them, Meowth translated. Pikachu said that Ash was dead, so he had returned home. The rest of the Pokémon had left. At first none of us believed it, but equally, none of us could understand why Pikachu would have left Ash otherwise. Seven years on, we haven't heard from him once. Over time we've all just started to believe Pikachu. Delia hasn't given up on him though. She still thinks that her son will come back to her…"
Gary trailed off, before looking back up at the two youngsters. They looked horrified, clearly having realized the effect their questions would have had on Delia.
"Now you know why Ash is never mentioned." Gary said sadly. "We are all his friends, it's essentially how we know each other. Ash's death was a difficult experience for us all. Please, don't mention it again, especially not around Delia."
Sam and Mellanie quickly nodded their agreement.
"Alright, head off with you two again." Gary said gruffly. "Go and enjoy yourselves, your first tournament is one to be treasured."
Sam and Mellanie stood up, and started to walk slowly away. Before they got far, Mellanie turned back.
"Gary?" The researcher raised his head. "Thank you."
Gary nodded his head again, and returned to his thoughts as the two young trainers walked away, heading back towards the main tournament area.
Tobias stood watching out over the stadium. On the field, a Blaziken was just getting up, having been sent flying by the power of an attack from the Machamp it was facing. As it climbed to its feet, it sent a Flamethrower across the field. A noise behind Tobias made him smile without turning around.
"Welcome back to civilization" Steven said as he approached the Sinnoh-born trainer.
"Thank you" Tobias said, his a half-smile playing across his face. "I must admit, it was an intriguing challenge."
"Oh?"
"The Pokémon out there are strong, far stronger than in the four regions. Darkrai was impressed."
"How are your legends?"
"Strong. Without them I would have struggled. You truly believe that Cynthia is in the wild somewhere?"
"Yes. I would have told you the full story before, but now that 'Champion' has taken a greater interest I wouldn't dare."
"I don't want to know." Tobias said. "I told you this when I agreed to do this for you. The challenge was interesting, and so I did it. I am now here to see if there was anything else you needed."
Steven didn't answer for a moment, watching the Machamp get caught by a Flamethrower, but shaking it off. "I don't have anything else for you to do, but I would appreciate you staying nearby for the time being."
"Oh?
"I have a feeling that your services may be needed soon, either by me or by somebody else in the Pokémon League."
"Very well. I will stay at the tournament. Do you have any idea when this next mystery assignment will be?"
"No sorry."
Tobias nodded, before focusing his full attention to the field once again, just in time to see the Machamp get caught in a huge torrent of fire. As it died out, the Fighting-type keeled over, knocked out. Steven turned to walk away, before hearing the announcer call who was next to battle. Turning around again, he gestured to the field.
"I'd stay and watch this if I were you. The girl is a very good trainer. She's been trained by 'Champion' to give you some idea." With a smile, the leader of Hoenn walked away, leaving Tobias to face the field again.
Mellanie was stood facing a much older opponent. Where her first opponent had been horrifically inexperienced and it showed, she knew that this would be a much tougher fight. The man she was facing had been in 3 other regional tournaments, and whilst not having done that well, he was still an experienced trainer. As the announcer called their names, she reached down to her belt and pulled out the Pokémon that she wanted to use.
"Geodude, you're up!" She called. Her opponent smiled at her from across the field, before releasing his own Pokémon, a powerful looking Typhlosion. As she looked her opponents Pokémon and listened to its roar, Mellanie suddenly felt a surge of excitement. Geodude turned to look at her with a grin before looking back at Typhlosion. Any evolution of Cyndaquil that she faced she knew she would have the edge against. She knew that evolutionary tree inside out having trained with Cyndaquil so much and her Pokémon would always be up for a fight against any of the Johto Fire-type starters. However, she knew that a Typhlosion would be hard to beat.
"Typhlosion, Flamethrower"
"Geodude, Dig."
The Rock Pokémon vanished into the ground as a huge torrent of fire surged over where he had been. Mellanie blinked; she had underestimated the power of Typhlosion, although the time it took for its attack to fire gave her confidence.
"Typhlosion, Earthquake."
"Geodude, get out of there and use Rollout!" Mellanie shouted.
As Typhlosion stamped on the ground, Geodude shot up into the air from a different hole and started rolling. With the field shaking, Geodude used the piles of rock that were starting to appear, to give its attack impetus as he crashed into Typhlosion. The Fire-Type staggered, before recovering as Geodude arced around. A burst of flame shot at the Rock-Type, but missed, as Geodude moved to the side, crashing into Typhlosion again, this time with more force. This happened twice more, before Typhlosions trainer stepped in.
"Typhlosion, use Inferno when he gets near to you."
As Geodude came nearer, rolling faster than ever, Typhlosion waited. Then suddenly the flames on its back roared up, but not quickly enough as the rolling rock suddenly sped up before crashing into its larger opponent. Unable to send its attack anywhere, Typhlosions Inferno caused the ground underneath him to start heating up. Heating up a lot. Geodude stopped moving, swiveling to face Typhlosion, who was slowly getting back to its feet. As it did, the ground underneath its feet started to crack slightly.
"Geodude, Earthquake." Mellanie called. The attack caused the cracks to become bigger, and suddenly Typhlosion fell through into a tunnel that Geodude had created earlier. Mellanie smiled. Although having no idea whatsoever where the tunnel might be, she had a hunch from the cracks that had appeared. Typhlosion had clearly taken damage from the fall, but was able to continue, assuming it could get to its feet.
"Geodude, Earthquake again."
The ground shaking prevented Typhlosion from climbing out of the hole. Suddenly however, the Volcano Pokémon managed to throw itself out of the hole and land on the ground again. Despite being battered, it seemed ready for more battle.
"Flamethrower."
Geodude dodged the burst of flame, along with the two follow-ups, before suddenly glowing with a white light, causing gasps from the crowd. When it faded, a Graveler was stood in its place. Graveler glared across the field at Typhlosion who was showing signs of exhaustion. As the stadium looked on, Typhlosion fell to the ground.
Tobias looked away. Steven had been right, the girl clearly knew what she was doing. The fact that Typhlosion had failed to get a hit in proved that. But still, he was confident that he would have been able to trounce her. His legends were unbeatable. Almost unbeatable he conceded; Darkrai had lost once. Years before, in the Sinnoh League, in a battle he remembered and treasured above all others. It didn't matter that it had taken Ash Ketchum four Pokémon to defeat Darkrai, and then a further two to defeat Latios, what mattered was that he had actually managed to defeat two of his legendries. Tobias had taken some time to recover from the shock of the defeat after the Sinnoh League; it was the closest he had ever been taken in a fight. In the aftermath he had spent some time working on capturing more Pokémon, so that he had a complete team. He had then spent much of the intervening time searching for how it had happened. If a fourteen year old had managed to defeat two legendries, it might be possible for somebody older and better to defeat more. He hadn't found a reason; he hadn't ever lost a Pokémon since. However, when he had faced the Sinnoh Elite Four he had rotated Pokémon, to make sure that he didn't. Tobias remembered that string of battles. For once he had found himself stretched as he tried to overcome the most powerful opponents he had ever faced. Yet he never challenged Cynthia. He hadn't needed to; being a regional Champion wasn't something he wanted. He enjoyed being free. Although having defeated the Elite Four of a region did qualify him to challenge the Pokémon Master. He had been very tempted when he saw the power of 'Champions' Pokémon. If anybody could beat him, it would be the Pokémon Master.
Leaving the stadium, Tobias moved through the crowd, towards the edge of Silver Village. He stood looking up at Mount Silver. There were rumors that there were strong Pokémon around the mountain, stronger than anywhere else. Having been outside the regions, Tobias doubted that they were stronger than the ones he had faced there, but the challenge intrigued him. Maybe after the tournament… Looking away Tobias strode back into the crowd, losing himself among the people, while he tried to think about what to do throughout the tournament.
Misty strolled out of the stadium having comfortably won her second battle. She met Sam, Mellanie and Gary outside the preparation rooms, as they moved away for lunch. Things had been slightly different between the youngsters and Misty and Gary since they had found out about Ash. It was to be expected, although the episode had just brought back memories of Ash; memories that Misty had thought she had suppressed. But then she knew that this whole tournament was going to be difficult. She just had to make sure it didn't distract her from the battling she had to do. As they reached the restaurant and sat down, Misty turned to the two youngsters.
"So I assume you both won your second battles?"
Sam nodded, although Mellanie cast a slightly wary look at him before copying, something that Gary didn't miss.
"Mellanie?"
The girl reddened slightly as Sam twisted in his seat to look at her. "Yes?" she asked hesitantly.
"Something about your battle you're guilty about?"
"Err… Well… I…"
"Something about your opponent?" Gary pressed.
"I…" Mellanie trailed off, looking away from the three faces looking at her. "I kinda felt sorry for him really" she confessed, a smile spreading across her face. "He used a Typhlosion."
Gary and Misty looked at each other in confusion while Sam immediately burst out laughing.
"Shut up Sam!" Mellanie said, although she was clearly struggling not to laugh as well. "This is why I didn't want to say, I knew you'd laugh!"
Sam started to get control of his laughter, before shrugging apologetically at Mellanie, who glared back.
"Sorry, are we missing something?" Misty asked. "Why is Mellanie going up against a Typhlosion funny? To be fair I'm impressed you beat it as easily as it seems Mellanie."
"Because of me." Sam said, his laughter finally under control. "Or more importantly, Quilava." Misty and Gary looked slightly quizzically at him. "Throughout our journeys, we've always competed against each other. Which means that Mel knows exactly how to fight a Quilava, or a Cyndaquil, or even a Typhlosion. If he didn't know…" Sam trailed off as Misty and Gary made the connection, which led to a smile from Misty and a small chuckle from Gary. "I'm guessing he didn't know how to fight you Mel?"
"Nah, it was far too easy. Although Geodude did evolve." Mellanie answered.
"Congrats." Sam said, before returning his concentration to the menu in front of him.
Once the group had ordered, and Gary turned back to the youngsters.
"You do know that if you can win all of your preliminaries, you'll be marked out as trainers to beat?" The two youngsters looked slightly taken aback. "I mean, thus far you've been seen as youngsters. Your first matches they assumed that they would beat you and in your second matches, they would have assumed that the first match was luck. This might even carry through to the third match, but once you're in the main tournament, this will be over. At that point only a handful of trainers will have the same unbeaten record, if you maintain it, they will use their most powerful teams and conduct as much research as they can. Put simply, they will treat you as the trainers you are; powerful."
"I hadn't thought about it." Sam said. "I mean, aren't you expected to try as hard as possible in every battle?"
Misty smiled. "Yes, but people don't. Because this is your first tournament it won't matter, but once you're established, there is more information on you. You get a reputation, your strongest Pokémon would be known, and you would want to keep them for as long as possible. The kind of match they would use them in…"
"Is one against those who haven't yet lost" Gary finished. "This is something you need to be aware of; after this round it will get harder. A lot harder."
"Thanks for the warning." Sam said, as food arrived, and he started to tuck in. "We will be wary."
Gary and Misty exchanged looks. The flippant answer wasn't quite what they were hoping for. They knew that Sam and Mellanie were suffering from overconfidence. Gary even remembered his first tournament in Kanto where he had suffered from a similar problem. Yet to push the point might seem churlish. A shrug from Gary was enough to make Misty sit back and relax, instead of forcing the issue. The youngsters would find out soon enough if they were being overconfident.
Steven and Lance sat in the directors box overlooking an outlying stadium. They were watching a trainer who had lost his first two battles going up against somebody who had won theirs, and the fight was clearly a mis-match.
"So, who's impressed you so far?" Steven asked Lance.
The Dragon Master turned to look at his colleague. "I've been impressed by Misty of course on her regional league début. I'll wait and see how she does in the later rounds, but I suspect that she'll go far in this tournament."
Steven chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised if she is in this tournament for the duration. She is an experienced trainer, knows how to win tournaments, and her Pokémon will fight for her. A potent combination here."
Lance inclined his head in acknowledgement. "You sound in awe. Scared of her?"
"Of course not. I could beat her, unless she has improved dramatically. But I do respect her ability."
"As do I" Lance replied. "What about you, any trainers you saw?"
"Two in fact." Steven said. "Sam Fernandez and Mellanie Rigger have shown why 'Champion' saw so much in them. Two easy victories each, I'm quite looking forward to see how far they go."
"They are young." Lance said. "I doubt they'll get far into the Victory Tournament should they reach there, they don't have the experience. Although for the future they are very definitely ones to watch."
Out on the field the rookie trainer had finally been defeated, and the battle was given a generous round of applause from the stadium. As the two trainers left the field the announcer's voice crackled out of speakers.
"The next battle on this field will be Misty Waterflower vs. Gregory Redwind."
Misty walked out into the sun in the stadium, waving to the crowd who cheered for her. Her reputation combined with her success thus far had given her a large group of supporters among the crowd. Her opponent, Gregory, who the crowd had taken a great dislike to in his previous battles, strode out into the middle of the field. As the two trainers approached the center, Lance and Steven turned their attention back to the field; they had wanted to watch Misty in her last battle to see how good she really was, neither of them having made it to her first two matches.
As they reached the middle, Misty extender her hand and Gregory shook it, before leaning in and muttering something. Misty went rigid, as Gregory retrieved his hand and turning away to walk to his trainers box. As Misty stayed in the middle of the field, murmurs ran through the crowd, until she finally recovered enough to return to her own end of the field. The referee stepped up.
"I choose you, Magnezone" Gregory called, a confident smile on his face.
Misty seemed to hesitate, before choosing her Pokéball, and throwing it without saying anything. Gyarados appeared with a ferocious roar, enough to make many of the crowd recall, although Lance just leant forward. He was now very interested to see this battle; Misty choosing a Pokémon with a double weakness against electricity seemed a strange move, and he wanted to know what had happened in the center circle.
"Magnezone, Thunderbolt." Gregory called.
"Gyarados, Hydro Pump." Misty responded.
Gyarados reared his head and fired a huge torrent of water at Magnezone, who simply fired a bolt of electricity at it. The electricity flowed straight up the water and shocked Gyarados. The Atrocious Pokémons roar of pain was enough to tell the observers how strong Magnezone was.
"Spark, followed by Thunder Wave."
Gyarados was still trying to recover from the Thunderbolt when the Spark crashed into him, closely followed by a blue bolt of electricity. For a moment Gyarados seemed to freeze before sparks were seen flying from his body, and another roar of pain echoed around the field.
"Gyarados!" Misty shouted, starting to panic. "Retaliate with Dragon Ra…"
"Zap Cannon." Gregory said calmly.
As the electric attack streaked at Gyarados he ignored his trainers order to attack and tried to dodge, causing the beam to smash into the wall next to him.
"Now Gyarados, Flamethrower!" Misty shouted.
"Double Team."
As the torrent of fire rushed out from Gyarados, Magnezone multiplied across the field, causing the attack to miss completely. In fury, Misty started to grind her teeth while Gregory looked on calmly.
"What on earth is going on down there?" Steven asked, as he sat with Lance watching the battle unravel. "She hasn't even gotten a hit in yet, and Gyarados is struggling."
"I'm not sure…" Lance answered. "I think it might have been what Gregory said before the start of the battle, she hasn't looked right since then."
"But still, to be so comprehensively thrashed?" Steven said in disbelief. "What could he have said?"
"I don't know…" Lance said thoughtfully. "But she needs to sort herself out, this could get bad."
"Gyarados, use Dragon Rage!" Misty shouted, her composure completely gone.
"Magnezone, wait for him to fire and then use Thunder."
As Gyarados fired his attack at one of the many copies of Magnezone, all of them vanished except for one who was crackling with electricity. As the stadium watched expectantly, a huge bolt of electricity fired up into the sky, before slamming down onto Gyarados. As the Atrocious Pokémon was smashed into the ground, dust covered the stadium. Misty, her heart in her mouth, looked into the dust cloud, desperately trying to see what had happened. As she stared she thought back to where the battle had gone so wrong.
Flashback
Gregory accepted the proffered hand, shaking it, before leaning in to say something.
"When you lose, you'll let him down, that friend of yours. You disgrace his memory with your efforts." When Misty looked shocked, he added a final blow. "Ash Ketchum would be ashamed to know you now."
Gregory turned and strode back across the field, leaving a stunned Misty in the center. She couldn't believe that he had just said that. Surely he couldn't be right. Could he? Could Ash be ashamed of her? She was competing in his memory! She had become as powerful a trainer as possible to honor him. Yet… if she did badly here, it would have all been for nothing. Gregory's words made her realize what a fool she had been for believing that she could win the Johto League, for believing she was better than the other trainers. For believing that she was a worthy successor to the trainer she had known.
Misty turned back to her trainer box thinking. Who was Gregory to tell her she wasn't worthy? She would show him just who wasn't worthy! Angry now, she looked at her Pokéball belt and grabbed Gyarados' Pokéball. Who else could show the upstart why he was wrong?
End Flashback
Misty groaned as she realized what had happened. She had allowed emotions to completely cloud her mind, distracting her. In anger she had allowed Gregory to control the battle, falling into each one of his moves. Gyarados had been made to suffer. As the dust started to clear, Misty relaxed, her composure showing once again. She was going to end this battle now.
As the dust cleared, the whole stadium could see the smirk on Gregory's face. He knew that he was going to win, and nothing could change it. His Magnezone barely looked like it had fought; it hadn't been hit once and didn't look particularly tired from its fighting. Across the field was Gyarados, battered, and looking like it was struggling to stand. Misty had her head down, looking beaten. As the stadium watched, Gyarados' head dipped slightly, and then the pride of the Pokémon caused its head to snap up once again, to glare across the field with a roar.
Lance and Steven sank back down into their seats. As the Thunder attack had connected both had surged to their feet to see, but they could see that the trainer that they were backing was still in the fight. Suddenly beside them they realized that they had been joined by 'Champion'. The Pokémon Master stood tall gazing across the stadium. While the vast majority of the stadium was staring at Gyarados, the Pokémon Master had eyes only for Misty Waterflower.
As her head came up, Misty looked across the field to the arrogant grin of Gregory. Suddenly from the crowd a voice rang out.
"YOU CAN DO IT MISTY!" The call set off a chant around the stadium, causing Misty to look around in wonder. The stadium was cheering for her, and she had no idea why. Yet, the calls made her realize that despite what Gregory said, she hadn't lost yet.
"Gyarados, Hydro Pump." Misty said, her voice dangerously calm.
Across the field Gregory tutted. "Such a shame really, such a foolish move. Thunderbolt."
As the electric attack moved towards the torrent of water, Misty smiled. "Hyper Beam."
As the electricity connected with the water, instead of travelling straight up to Gyarados, it electrified the water that was still flying at Magnezone, sped on by the power of the Hyper Beam. Before Gregory could react, the attack had smashed straight into Magnezone, sending the Magnet Zone Pokémon flying into the air. Before Gregory could react, Gyarados' tail flicked up, and smashed Magnezone back into the ground where it lay unmoving. After waiting a few moments, the referee stepped forwards.
"Magnezone is unable to battle. Gyarados is the winner, meaning that Misty Waterflower has won the match!"
The call set off another round of cheering around the stadium, where Misty looked around, before turning back to Gyarados and recalling it, before turning to the crowd and waving. Across the field, Gregory recalled his Pokémon a look of shock on his face. Defeat had clearly not been something he had believed would happen.
Lance and Steven sat in shock, staring out across the stadium. They couldn't believe what they had just seen. Misty had gone from the verge of defeat to victory in a matter of moments. 'Champion' turned, before regarding the two stunned elites.
"In future, observe a Pokémon. Magnezone had an impressive attack, but had barely worked on its defense. Had Miss Waterflower noticed that, she would have found it far easier to win. As it was, it was the saving feature in a battle that she should have won comfortably and nearly lost. She has a lot to work on." 'Champion' turned and strode out the directors box, leaving Lance and Steven stunned as out in the field Misty continued to receive the adulation of the crowd.
OK guys, this got a little long, well we were trying to figure out how the story should go but all things are settled now.
Well this story really sucked at understanding at the first I also know that but when I started writing more and more it's now becoming interesting.
Also, my other story @ForTheLongestTime is just finished so read it too.Enjoy!!!