Chapter 121 - The Aftermath, Ash versus Trevor!
This chapter will mostly be focused on Max's kind of depression? If you can call it that. I don't really know, it was pretty hard to write in order to get the right emotions in it. Let me know if I did a good or bad job in that regard.
Furthermore, halfway down the chapter, Ash's face off against Trevor will start. It will start halfway in the battle so you won't see one of Ash's pokemon shine. (sorry) it does get its acknowledgement though for being there.
Lastly, a bit off topic but I would like to hear some of your opinions about the first four of the 11 episode series about Ash's final part of his journey. Personally, I think the episodes have been pretty pointless so far as it didn't really do anything in a way to make him a pokemon master. The reunions with his friends are nice though and the reappearance of his old pokemon aswell, something we probably all asked for. Now we only need the long awaited Serena return and hope that Amourshipping is finally becoming canon.🙏
Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy the chapter and feel free to comment wherever you want. If you like it aswell, make sure to give it a vote. And if you want to be regularly updated by my posts or anything, make sure to drop a follow.
Next chapter is partly relaxing but also the start of Ash's next battle so stay tuned!
Important info: The commentator will be written in Italics.
League scoreboard:
Bold: Trainer/Pokemon name
Italics: Fainted Pokemon
Underline: Resting Pokemon
(Pokeball): Unrevealed Pokemon
For example - Trainer A: Poke1, Poke2, Poke3, Poke4, Poke5 (Pokeball), Poke6 (active one)
Wordcount: 6034
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Narrator: Last time, Max tasted defeat after a compelling battle against Bonnie. We now continue where we left off last time!
Max sat on his knees. His head hung low and his eyes were overshadowed. A small teardrop could be seen on his face. He took his pokeball and enlarged it. "Return Sceptile!" He said. A red beam followed, enveloping the grass type before it got sucked back into the pokeball.
In the stands, Clemont was celebrating, along with Trevor and Tierno. May however was silent, as were Gary and Shauna. Serena felt happy for Bonnie but she felt sad for Max and even for Ash. Although Ash didn't have anything to do with this battle. But as she stated earlier, Ash was some sort of mentor for Max.
Ash didn't know how to feel either. He wanted to celebrate for Bonnie but he knew how Max felt. His first ever league loss. Max was just like himself in terms of pokemon. Wanting to befriend every pokemon on sight and battle with them till they couldn't anymore.
He remembered his own first ever league loss. It was against Richie where Charizard refused to battle. That still hurted him sometimes and thus, he was able to place himself in Max's position.
Bonnie was celebrating with Delphox. They hugged, jumped and danced. Then, her eyes fell on Max. "Max?" She asked, cocking her head sideways while giving him a questioning look. "Are you okay?" She added with a questioning tone.
Immediately Max's head shot up. He faked a smile before answering. "Y-yeah! Congratulations Bonnie!" He said as he stood up and walked over to her in order to congratulate her. They exchanged a handshake but as he wanted to let go, Bonnie held on to his hand for a second longer while saying; "Thanks Max." She said in a sincere tone.
Max nodded before walking away and leaving the battlefield from his side.
Walking through the tunnel, he looked down, shadowing his eyes.
"Max!"
He looked up to see May running over to him, followed by Ash and Serena. He was quite surprised to see them. May he could understand as it was his sister but he didn't expect Ash or Serena.
He put up a strong face, trying to show that he was okay with the loss and that he could handle it well enough but as soon as he felt the arms of his big sister envelop him into a hug, he couldn't hold it anymore as tears started streaming down his face. "Why does it have to be already over!" He cried out.
Ash and Serena shared a glance at each other before showing some sympathy for Max.
May gently rubbed his back, telling him it was okay and that she was really proud of him.
Once he settled down a bit, and May released him, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ash standing infront of him with a smile. "You battled really well out there Max." Ash spoke to him.
"You've improved a lot in that short time that we've seen each other." Ash continued with a comforting look on his face. He chuckled a bit as he continued. "For a moment, I didn't recognize you out there. The way you battled, it almost felt like I stood there myself." He laughed.
Max looked at Ash in surprise. "Really?" He asked. He was dumbfounded for a moment. It felt like a big compliment for him. Ash has always been important to him and he's always been his role model, his idol.
Serena stepped up to him and bend down so she was at his eye level. She looked at him, her eyes filled with compassion. Max knew that she and Bonnie were like sisters but the fact that she stood infront of him now instead of infront of Bonnie, surprised him quite a bit.
"Maybe it sounds stupid right now and I'm probably the last person you want to hear this from but I think that if you were to lose, that it's better that you lost against Bonnie than anyone else. Like, what I mean to say is, she's a friend to you, am I right?"
Max slightly nodded. Serena smiled gently at him before placing her hand in his other shoulder. She gently rubbed it before standing back up. She didn't want to tease him or make him feel bad by saying that she probably meant more than just a friend to him, even though she knew there was something going on between the two.
Max nodded appreciatively. He was thankful for them being here, supporting him. It made him feel a bit better and he knew it. Serena was right, although it didn't help him to get over the loss that easy. He needed more time for that.
Max dried his eyes. "Hey Ash?" He spoke up, looking at him. Ash hummed, nodding as he paid attention to Max while indicating him that way to go on. "Will you battle me sometime again?" He asked.
Ash flashed an excited smile. "Sure thing Max! I'd love to!" He said, flashing a toothy grin as he did.
"C'mon." May said, standing back up. "Why don't we get some ice cream?" She suggested before she winked. "Ice cream makes everything better!"
"Oh yeah! Chocolate Chip please!" Ash shouted in excitement, petting his belly already.
"Chu-Pikaa!" Pikachu mimicked his trainers actions, just like Lucario who howled as it wanted to get some aswell.
Serena laughed at their actions. "Oke with strawberries for me I guess!" She exclaimed. Max laughed at their reactions. "I can eat two of them!" He raised his hands.
Everyone shared a laugh before they left the stadium. There, they met up with the rest, including Clemont and Bonnie. Ash, Serena and May congratulated her and Max felt a lot better than before. Especially after they all got their ice cream.
After getting their ice cream, the whole group walked towards the pokemon center. Both Max and Bonnie received a lot of praise from everyone.
The pain of losing didn't fully heal for Max but as time went by and hearing how everyone thought about their battle, he felt quite proud of himself. Sure, he did want to continue in the league and possibly face Ash again but as Serena said before, he felt happy for Bonnie.
Back at the pokemon center, Ash let nurse Joy do a final check up on his pokemon. A few minutes later, nurse Joy returned with them, telling him that all of them were in perfect shape and battle ready. Ash thanked her before returning to the group. Ash sat back down next to Serena. The two exchanged a small smile as he did.
Everything seemed better than a few minutes before. Max and Bonnie seemed to get along pretty well and things were returning back to usual.
Trevor and Tierno were back up to their usual conversations. Tierno tried to convince Trevor that he should take a few pictures of him and Blastoise dancing. However, Trevor wanted to go over a few battle tactics he could emply against Ash.
May, Shauna and Serena were talking about something that could keep them going forever. Fashion and performing. Serena did have the question already a million times from her friends, yet they always found a different way of asking it. 'What are your plans as the new Kalos Queen?'
Serena didn't really know how to answer as in secret, all she wanted was to continue to travel with Ash and do some performances here and there. But it all depended on Ash's Kalos League progression. She felt quite nervous about that and whenever the question about her future came along, she got lost in her words, trying to form a reply.
Clemont was trying to convince Gary that one of his new inventions would be a valuable asset to pokemon research and he insisted that Gary should use it. Gary however, being familiar with the explosive aura that surrounded Clemont and his inventions, rather stayed away from it.
Ash looked around his group friends and smiled to himself. Each of them had their own characteristics that made them unique and was a great friend to him in their own way. For example, Gary. The two of them couldn't stand each other but as time progressed, they changed from enemies to rivals and from rivals to even friends. The two of them had many, many adventures with each other and now we're like brothers to each other. What helped in that was them living together in the same house for a year.
Then, he glanced over to Serena. His childhood friend that had changed him in so many ways. Their time at the summer camp, their Kalos journey and now their school journey. During their Kalos journey, he was oblivious and focused solely on battling. This caused him to not notice her hints and feelings towards him.
That changed however this year. Early in the year, he started to develop some feelings of his own for her which resulted in the beautiful relationship that they shared till this day. He looked at his hand which was interlocked with hers. He was proud of what he had accomplished along side and with the support from her. They were an amazing team and that was something that couldn't make him any happier.
Then, he looked to his other side. Pikachu and Lucario were playing. First, his buddy Pikachu who had been with him since the start of his journey. The two had countless adventures, met countless new people and made tons of new friends. You could say that Pikachu was his go-to pokemon, although he had some other, very powerful pokemon like Charizard, Sceptile and even Greninja.
Lucario was next. The fighting and steel type wasn't on his team for a long time. However, that didn't matter at all. One look at Lucario and Ash could see the fighting spirit it possessed. It was solely focused on getting stronger, using its never ending desire to become his strongest pokemon and wanting to be Ash's ultimate Ace one day. Therefore, it hated the fact that it hadn't battled in the league so far. Ash let out a small chuckle, thinking of that.
Serena noticed and turned her head to him. "Everything alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure." Ash smiled at her while nodding. Serena gave him a small smile before returning to her conversation. Pikachu and Lucario however noticed and ran up to their trainer. While Lucario and Ash shared a fist bump, Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek in affection.
Ash smiled and petted the electric type's head to which he earned a satisfied 'chaaa' from Pikachu.
Ash looked over at Trevor who was taking pictures of Blastoise and Tierno. He laughed a little as the red haired trainer had given in to its friends wishes. He thought of the pokemon he wanted to use for the battle against Trevor. He knew that he could count on them. Some, like Kingler didn't have much battle experience on their belts but that didn't matter to him. Each of them were strong in their own ways and Ash believed that if there was any pokemon that could help him win, it were them.
He had thought of his strategy earlier. He didn't have a mega stone to evolve Gengar into Mega Gengar so Mega Evolution wasn't an option. A Z-move could be performed by any pokemon and thus that was a viable option. Adding that to the fact that it wasn't very known outside of Alola, it could be incredibly powerful and it sure was a powerful weapon to have in the arsenal.
He knew that Trevor probably was gonna use and mega evolve his Charizard so he decided to keep the Z-move option open.
Ash stood back up. Serena turned around and looked at him in a questioning manner. "I'm gonna have a quick chat with my pokemon." He excused himself. Serena nodded while Ash bend down to share a kiss with her. He used to do this before his battles so she wasn't surprised once he explained it.
Ash smiled at her once more before leaving the lobby. A few of them seemed confused but didn't bother enough to ask as they were continuing with what they were doing.
Ash stepped outside the pokemon center and ran over to the battlefield. Pikachu leaped off of his shoulder before landing on the battlefield. Lucario made a quick jump before landing next to the electric rodent.
"Come on out everyone!" Ash shouted, throwing up four more pokeballs.
Out came Kingler, Bulbasaur, Gengar and Charizard. Gengar let out a sinister laugh, Bulbasaur let out a happy cry, Kingler clamped it's claws while Charizard released a deafening roar that caused a few pedestrians to look up. Even a few people that were seated in the restaurant area of the pokemon center looked at them in surprise.
Ash grinned, ignoring the looks. He didn't mean to showboat his pokemon but Charizard seemed to have a different mindset about it. The large fire dragon liked to show off the power it possessed from time to time and he knew that he was able to prove it on the battlefield.
The four pokemon stood beside Pikachu and Lucario and all of them looked at Ash, expecting a speech like he usually did.
"Alright Guys!" He started off. "We're gonna battle Trevor in a few hours. He's a strong trainer and he knows what he does so I need the very best of you." Ash said.
The six pokemon roared. "I've decided on a team already so I know, with your help we can win this!" Ash said. Pikachu and Lucario knew the team that was decided beforehand already. Charizard however posed with confidence. He expected he was on the team as he was bursting with energy, eager to battle.
"I've chosen Gengar, Kingler and.... Bulbasaur!" Ash said. Charizard's eyes went wide and dropped to the ground, sweatdropping as he was skipped by Ash. Charizard went over to the corner of the battlefield and sat down in depression, fiddling on a piece of rope, the same way Brock always did.
Ash looked at Charizard in confusion. "Where did you get that rope from?" He asked cluelessly before he walked over.
"Gruaww...." Charizard grumbled, continuing to fumble with the rope. Ash looked at the fire type with sympathy. He knew how much it wanted to battle and how much it loved to do so.
"Hey Charizard?" Ash spoke softly as he placed his hand on the Kanto starter's shoulder. Charizard grumbled a bit in reply. Ash thought for a moment about what he was about to say next. He had to chose his words wisely in order to please his ace.
"I know you want to battle buddy..." Ash began. Charizard grumbled a bit more in depression, allowing Ash to continue. "You know that I promised to give everyone a chance to battle right?" He asked Charizard.
Charizard looked at Ash for a moment before it nodded while listening. "You're time comes buddy, I promise." Ash smiled. Charizard nodded again in understanding. Ash went a bit closer in order to whisper something in his ear. "Besides... I don't want to bore you with easy battles. I'll save the best ones for you so you better be sharp by then."
As Ash moved away, Charizards eyes went wide before it jumped up on its feet, roaring in confidence while firing a powerful Flamethrower into the air.
"That's more like it!" Ash laughed. Then, he walked back to the others. "Let's get some last minute practice, what do you guys say?" Ash asked.
"Saur!" "Kochi-kochii---" "gen-gen-gen!" The three of them cheered before they started working on Ash's orders.
(---)
"Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen! For those who have missed it, the battle between Ash and Trevor is already underway and this one is filled with excitement folks!"
The scoreboard showed two darkened pictured at Trevor's side while there was one at Ash's side. This meant that Trevor was down to his last. On the battlefield stood his Mega evolved Charizard Y against Ash's Kingler. Both pokemon were breathing quite heavy, proving that they were already battling for a while. Charizard stood on a large platform, right infront of Trevor while Kingler stood also on a platform infront of Ash. Also, there were four large pillars in the water, providing a few places where pokemon other than flying or water types could stand on.
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Scoreboard updated:
Ash: Gengar, Kingler, pokeball
Trevor: Slurpuff, Walrein, Charizard
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"Kingler, use Crabhammer!" Ash shouted, punching his fist to the ground.
There were two ways to use Crabhammer for Kingler. One was swimming as fast as it could towards Charizard. However, Kingler wasn't the fastest and the time that Charizard had to get into the air was too big of a risk.
Therefore, Kingler used the alternative method it knew in order to use Crabhammer. Kingler slammed its claw into the water, causing a white ball of energy that came through the small gab it had between its pincer. The force Kingler slammed the water with, allowed the white ball of energy that flew towards Charizard, fly at an incredible speed.
Charizards eyes get wide, as did Trevor's. He had never seen an attack like that before and before he knew it, an explosion happened with Charizard skidding back to the edge of the platform.
It's ability Drought, caused the power of the water type move to be cut in half, yet it still did incredible damage.
Charizard grunted in pain before it looked back at Trevor. Charizard loved its trainer to bits but it was frustrated that Trevor didn't make any calls.
"Are you alright Charizard?" Trevor asked in a concerned manner. Charizard growled but nodded in reply as it took a battle stance again. The area where the Crabhammer landed was surrounded by injury marks but Charizard didn't bother as it was ready to take this crab down once and for all.
"Alright, use Flamethrower!" Trevor shouted, pointing dramatically, straight ahead. Charizard roared as it blasted a streak of fire towards Kingler.
"Use Bubblebeam and stop it!" Ash shouted quickly, forming a counter. Kingler let put a cry as it opened it's mouth, releasing foam from it which was surrounded by bubbles.
The bubbles collided with the large Flamethrower which was powered by the harsh sunlight and the mega evolution.
*BOOM*
The moves clashed but it wasn't long before the Flamethrower overpowered the Bubblebeam attack from Kingler and pushed through it.
The flames crashed into Kingler, enveloping it completely. Kingler let out a loud cry of pain as the flames scorched the Crab pokemon.
"Kingler!" Ash shouted as he couldn't do anything but watch and hope that Kingler was okay.
The flames eventually stopped, revealing Kingler completely scratched up. Kingler opened it's mouth, blowing a small, black cloud of smoke out of it before falling backwards with swirly eyes.
"Kingler is unable to battle, Charizard wins!" The referee declared.
"Now with Kingler out of the match, both Ash and Trevor are down to their last. However, as Charizard has taken quite some damage already, Ash's hasn't battled yet..."
Ash returned Kingler and held the pokeball in his hand for a moment while looking down at it. "Thanks Kingler, you were amazing." He smiled before putting the pokeball away.
Ash looked at Trevor and Charizard for a moment before grabbing his last one. He smiled as the next battle was his greatest challenge yet. He looked towards Pikachu and Lucario who gave him an encouraging nod.
With one swift movement, he pulled his arm back before flinging it forward, releasing the pokeball he was holding. "Go Bulbasaur!"
Mid-air, the pokeball opened and a white flash appeared which materialized on one of the platforms. Once the flash dissapeared, Bulbasaur was formed. "Bulba!" Bulbasaur exclaimed in an excited tone. It looked at Charizard and smiled widely. It hadn't battled in a long while and it's opponent now was an amazing challenge.
"Ash has chosen his... Bulbasaur? Not only does it have a type disadvantage against Charizards fire typing, but also against its flying typing. It's a very questioning choice here from Ash. Let's see what his plan is here."
In the crowd, a lot of surprised murmurs were heard. Most of their friends were shocked by Ash's decision and even Tierno aajd already that this match was as good as won by Trevor now. Serena felt a bit uncomfortable. She knew better than to underestimate Ash and his abilities and that type disadvantages didn't do him much but bringing in a pokemon that's weak against the two typings its opponent had... wasn't it reckless?
Anxiously, she moved a bit around in her chair. She had asked him to make things not as close this time but now, things seemed worse. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, holding them against her chest, right where her heart was. Come on Ash, please win...
Trevor looked at Ash as if he was dumbstruck. He let out a chuckle. "Ash, I admire you and your tactics but you've gotta admit. This is absurd. How can a first stage evolution grass type stand a chance against a full grown dragon that has an advantage in everything over it?" Trevor asked genuinely.
Ash smirked. "Why don't we show you?" He teased, radiating confidence.
Trevor shrugged. "I guess you can try but I warn you, this will be over before it even started..."
On that, we agree. Ash thought to himself before he readied himself.
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Trevor commanded in a fierce tone. Immediately, Charizard roared before it spewed a streak of flames towards Bulbasaur.
*BOOM*
A large explosion followed on the same platform where Bulbasaur was located.
"Charizard used its chance to full extend! Is it all over already for Ash and Bulbasaur?"
Trevor smirked. He felt like he won the battle already as Charizard just had launched a devastating attack towards Bulbasaur and he was sure that he hit the grass type. "I told you so Ash..."
"Are you sure?" Ash asked, to which Trevor looked surprised. Suddenly, a small body shot up from the flames, high into the air while standing on two vines. "Bulba!" Bulbasaur exclaimed loudly.
"Would you look at that! Bulbasaur somehow dodged that Flamethrower!"
Serena breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that Bulbasaur was unharmed. Tierno, Clemont, Max and Bonnie were quite surprised by it. Max especially as a large smile grew on his face. He was smiling because his hero, his idol did something unorthodox and something no one had expected him to do, especially in the way he did it.
"Now Bulbasaur! Use those pillars to your advantage with Vine Whip!" Ash shouted, having a strategy in mind to use the field to his advantage.
"Stop it! Use Air Slash!" Trevor shouted. Charizard roared as it launched sharp, cresent shaped waves of energy towards Bulbasaur.
But as it tried to hit Bulbasaur, the latter used its vines to swing around the pillars as if it was in a jungle, using the field to its fullest extend.
*BOOM*
The waves of energy crashed into the pillars while the others who made it past the pillars, went wide of the mark.
Bulbasaur swung around the last pillar and was now in a direct line of sight with Charizard. It was defenseless in the air and Trevor thought he had now the perfect opportunity to strike.
"Gotcha!" Trevor shouted. "Use Flamethrower and give it all you've got!"
"That won't happen!" Ash smirked. "Close its mouth with Vine Whip!" He shouted.
As Charizard opened it's mouth and prepared itself to blast the biggest stream of fire yet, Bulbasaur launched its two vines forward. Without missing a beat, they went around Charizard's jaw and strapped it tightly, giving it no chance to open it.
"Charizard!" Trevor shouted in panic.
"Hold tight and use Take Down!" Ash commanded with adrenaline rushing through his veins. He widened his stance and punched his fist forward as he did.
"Bulbaa---!" Bulbasaur cried out as it used its vines to pull itself towards Charizard with as much speed and power as it could.
Bulbasaur crashed against Charizard's face to which the latter tried to roar in pain. It tried but it couldn't let out more than a painful grunt as the vines were still tightly strapped around its mouth.
"Charizard! Try to break free!" Trevor shouted with a hint of panic in his voice. Charizard tried to struggle its way out of it but Bulbasaur showed that it was a though cookie and held on tight, not even granting Charizard even a single inch.
"Look at that! Bulbasaur has Charizard completely restrained!"
The crowd cheered as the underdog pokemon was now in an amazing position and now it had a great opportunity to deal massive damage, maybe even take it down.
"Ready to take it down?" Ash exclaimed to which Bulbasaur let out a cry of its own. "Good, Finish this with Solar Beam!"
Trevor gasped as now their ability Drought was working against themselves. Bulbasaur chanted its name while absorbing sunlight into its bulb.
"Get out of there!" Trevor shouted in panic. But then he realised something. "Use your wings, give them a taste of your Air Slash!" He countered quickly.
"Trevor tries to counter with Air Slash, will it be enough to break out of Ash and Bulbasaur's deadlock and maybe turn things around?"
Charizard nodded to its trainers command as it's wings started to glow. However, as it was about to fire, Bulbasaur's bulb glowed brightly.
"Fire with everything you've got!!" Ash shouted on top if his lungs, punching the air with the same drive and passion, giving his all aswell.
"---SAAUUURRRR!" Bulbasaur exclaimed on top of its lungs. Out of its bulb, which was aimed right at Charizard's face, at close range, came a large, white and blinding beam of collected energy.
*BOOM*
A large smokecloud surrounded the two pokemon, leaving the crowd, aswell as everyone at home in suspension.
Both Ash and Trevor gritted their teeth, shielding their eyes from the incoming shockwave of pure power and energy that buffeted them and everyone in the stadium.
Up in the stands, Serena even had to hold onto her hat due to the strong winds of the collision between the two pokemon.
The crowd was buffeted hard by the exchange of power. Some struggled more than others as images of people showed. Professor Sycamore, Diantha and Aria didn't feel anything of it as they were protected by a large, double sized glass.
It took a while for the strong winds of the collision to settle. The two pokemon were still surrounded by the large cloud of smoke which didn't allow anyone to see through.
At this time, Ash and Trevor grew worried. The smoke hadn't settled and both their pokemon were inside. Neither of them knew the state of them, if they were okay or knocked out. And if they were, they were worried that they could've fallen into the water which could be extremely dangerous.
Slowly, the smoke settled and much to their relief, their pokemon were standing on two platforms right across from each other. They were breathing heavily and completely bruised up from the collision of moves.
"Look at that! Both Charizard and Bulbasaur are still standing on their feet!"
It wasn't weird as Bulbasaur had taken on a super effective move while Charizard did resist the grass type move, it was a direct hit and still very powerful. Adding to that was the fact of its previous battle with Kingler who took a lot from the fire type.
"Charizard/Bulbasaur! Are you alright!?" Both trainers asked their pokemon with much concern in their voices.
However, both pokemon didn't have the energy to reply, still locked their gazes with one another. The only sound that was heard was both of them breathing hard as time slowly passed.
Ash looked at his grass type. He didn't know whether to call out an attack or not. Bulbasaur was extremely tired and one wrong move could cost him the battle. He didn't even know it Bulbasaur had one more attack in him.
Trevor however decided to go for it. "If you're not gonna attack, then I will!" He shouted before making a horse stance. "Charizard, finish this off with Heat Wave!"
"Gruawww!" Charizard roared as it was about to move. But as it did, it flinched in pain and time slowed down as it slowly fell forward.
The crowd gasped and Trevor was horrified as he saw his chance to advance fall infront of his eyes. But that wasn't the main thing why he was horrified. No, the real reason was that Charizard was about to fall into the water.
"Quick, catch it!"
As Charizard was about to fall into the water, two vines grabbed it and held on tight, slowly pulling it backwards.
Bulbasaur struggled badly, especially in its exhausted state but it somehow managed to get Charizard on its back. Charizard reverted back to normal and was breathing heavy and groaning as it couldn't any longer.
The referee took a look at Charizard. "Charizard is unable to battle, Bulbasaur wins and the winner of this battle is Ash Ketchum from Vaniville Town! As the referee made his declaration, the big screen enlarged Ash's picture while 'WINNER' was written underneath it.
"Look at that folks! True sportsmanship from Ash and Bulbasaur! They pulled Charizard back so it didn't fall into the water, incredible!"
The crowd bursted out in cheers as the signal was given. Trevor smiled sweetly and hung his head in defeat as the battle was now finally over. Yet he felt at peace with the result. The last move Ash pulled to save his Charizard made him feel incredibly thankful.
It took Ash a bit longer though to process what happened. As soon as realisation hit him, he smiled and laughed before jumping from platform to platform in order to get to Bulbasaur, much to Lucario and Pikachu's surprise and shock while shouting; "Bulbasaur! You did it!"
He reached the platform and picked up the grass starter and spun around cheerfully while holding Bulbasaur up high. "You're awesome!" He exclaimed in pure happiness.
In the crowd, the mood was mixed. Shauna and Tierno were sad that their best friend had lost while others who had a stronger connection with Ash, cheered in happiness.
Serena however laughed, covering her mouth with her head. She felt nervous throughout the match but seeing her boyfriend now goofing around, acting in his childish way, made her unable to give a calm reaction. That was the same childish behavior that made her fall head over heels for him and by the look of things, she still felt the same. Everytime again and it grew more and more as she looked at him.
Suddenly, Ash's platform wobbled a bit, almost causing him to lose his footing. Luckily Trevor, who just jumped onto the platform and caused the wobbling, managed to grab his arm to keep him from falling into the water.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Trevor." Ash smiled appreciatively.
"No prob!" Trevor flashed a toothy grin at Ash. "But I should he thanking you Ash. This was an awesome battle and boy did you prove me wrong with your Bulbasaur!"
Ash smiled as he looked down at Bulbasaur for a moment before returning his gaze to Trevor. "Thanks, Bulbasaur has been amazing!" He said before continuing while looking down at the grass type in his hands again. "But I didn't expect anything less from one of my first and most powerful pokemon. Isn't that right buddy?"
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur nodded in agreement. Both Ash and Trevor laughed.
Trevor took a hold of his camera. "Can I take a picture of you guys?" He asked. Ash raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Uh... I guess?" He answered hesitantly.
"Thanks Ash!" Trevor said before closing one eye behind the camera in order to get the perfect shot.
*CLICK*
Trevor removed the camera from infront of his face and looked at the picture. "Here, take a look!" he said.
Ash and Bulbasaur looked at the camera.
"Wow, that's really good!" Ash smiled. But then he looked at Trevor in a questioning manner. "But why do you want to take a picture?"
Trevor looked at Ash for a moment before sweatdropping and waving his hands defensively. "Oh, I'm just keeping track of things I come across in my journey. This one will probably be labeled as where my Kalos League journey finished." He laughed sheepishly.
Ash shared a laugh, and so did Bulbasaur. The two competitors shook hands and were about to leave the battlefield but as they did, the commentator spoke up again.
"Now that day 7 of the Kalos League is over, let's see who's battling against who in two days!"
The big screen showed all the pictures which turned around so no one could see. Then, they started shuffling for a few seconds before moving into a tournament form with their backs still on display.
The cards then flipped.
Ash saw a few interesting battles on display. Paul against blue haired boy with glasses. He looked smart to Ash. Alain was facing a blond, long haired guy. Ash had seen him battle earlier and he always seemed to bring a guitar to his battles which Ash thought was quite odd. From what he understood, it was needed to sent his pokemon in the right rythim? He didn't really know. He gave up on a rhythmic battle style after the disaster that happened when he tried to copy Tierno's style. And lastly, Sawyer was against Astrid. Mega Absol versus Mega Sceptile was quite an interesting battle he thought so it was a match to look forward to.
Ash scanned the screen but didn't see his picture until Trevor spoke up. "There Ash, in the D section!" He said.
Ash looked to where Trevor had guided him and then he saw his picture. "Thanks Trev-"
Ash cut himself off as his eyes widened at seeing his opponent.
Bonnie.
(The Narrator is left speechless...)