Chapter 2

It was a bright afternoon at the Hoenn League stadium. It was the grand final of the tournament. Fireworks were exploding in the sky and the audience were waiting patiently for the finalists of the Hoenn League championship. Ash and his Pikachu came out of the entrance and made their way to his respective part of the arena.

“Introducing first, from Pallet Town of Kanto… Ash Ketchum!”

Ash Ketchum: Before he started his pokemon journey, he made a vow that he would become the greatest pokemon master ever. He grew up his whole life training his pokemon to be the absolute best. He participated in four different regions so far, the Kanto region, the Orange region, the Johto region and the Hoenn region. He was in the top six in the Kanto region; he was the Orange League champion, he participated in the Johto region League and at the moment he’s at the grand final of Hoenn League championship tournament. He grew up his whole life wanting to do this. Pokemon was his life and destiny.

As soon as Ash and Pikachu stood in their respective part of the arena, Black Jack made his way out.

“And his opponent, the man on his winning streak of 2003 – 0… Black Jack!”

Black Jack: He and his pokemon earned the reputation as the toughest SOBs of the pokemon world today. He started his pokemon journey at the age of ten a few months later after discovering that his parents died of murder. After twenty years of training, no one has more will to win than him. No one was more intense than him. No one had more wins than him. His current winning streak was at 2003 – 0. But much the same can be said for his opponent, Ash Ketchum.

They both stood in their respective parts of the arena as the announcer told everyone about the rules. “In the final round,” he cried. “Both trainers will use all six of their pokemon each, but only one at a time! The trainer who defeats the opposition’s sixth and last pokemon will be the winner and the Hoenn League champion! Now get ready for one of the most historic battles ever!”

Almost everyone who Ash and Black Jack have met and known on separate occasions were there as part as the audience, most noticeably Misty, Brock, Max, May, Delia, Professor Oak, Tracey, Gary Oak, John, Cecilia, Cassandra, her Gardevior, Lao Ping and others. Half of the audience were cheering for Ash, while the other half were cheering for Black Jack.

The man in a red tuxedo walked down the stairs and looked at his ticket to see where his seat was. Following him was a man in a black suit. “Ah,” he said. “Over there.”

Cassandra noticed the man in the red tux and immediately recognised him. “Mane,” she snarled quietly with evil look in her eyes. That caught the others’ attention; they turned to her to see what Cassandra was looking at. They turned to see Mane and gave him a nasty look. Mane spotted them and responded by waving politely at them while showing a polite smile. “What nice people,” he said as he sat down, while the man in the suit sat next to him, which turned out to be his henchman.

The big screen of the stadium selected Black Jack to be the first to pick his pokemon. “Before we start, kid,” Black Jack said. “I just want you to know that it’ll be a real honour battling you. And you’ll be always be the kid that I’ll respect the most.”
“Likewise,” Ash replied as he showed a small smile.
“Having said that,” Black Jack continued. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you and I want you to give me your best shot, cos you know that there’s more on the line here than the title.”

“He’s right,” Ash thought. “He wants his family free from Mane. I want Mane to release them too but I also want the pokemon released as well, but Mane would just keep either Black Jack’s family or the pokemon no matter who wins. But I can’t hold anything back, because if I lose, Mane would use the pokemon for whatever sick use he has in his mind.”

“Now without further ado,” the announcer cried. “LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!”

“Alright, Ketchum!” Black Jack said. “Get ready to be broken! Go! Feraligatr!”

He tossed out a pokeball and Feraligatr came out, giving a loud roar as he prepared for battle.

“We’ll see who gets broken!” Ash replied. “Tauros! I choose you!”

He tossed out his pokeball and Tauros came out, ready to battle.

“How’s that for starters?” Brock commented.
“Not much advantage I see here,” Cecilia said. “Normally, the trainer who picks first would be at a disadvantage. We all know that Ash has a Pikachu at his disposal that would or could take out Feraligatr in a single electric blast. But seeing Black Jack battle during the whole tournament, Ash sees that Black Jack’s has an uncanny ability of being unpredictable. Therefore, Ash, being cautious, would be using Pikachu for later use. Even though Ash is using Tauros, Tauros is not the pokemon to be messed about with.”
“Wow!” Max thought as he heard everything Cassandra said. “It looks like I’m not the only pokemon encyclopaedia around here.”

“Tauros!” Ash cried. “Tackle attack!”

Tauros charged at Feraligatr like a speeding bullet.

“Feraligatr!” Black Jack cried. “Grab his horns!”

Feraligatr grabbed his horns to stop him from charging. Both pokemon struggled to push or throw each other. “Feraligatr!” Black Jack cried. “Headbutt attack!”

Feraligatr lifted his head and smashed his head against Tauros. Only Feraligatr received damage, but Tauros wasn’t even fazed.

“Shoot!” Black Jack thought. “That didn’t work, Tauros’ head is harder than Feraligatr’s!”

“Now! Tauros!” Ash cried as he noticed Feraligatr was losing strength and balance. “Seismic Toss!”

Tauros used his horns to throw Feraligatr up into the air. Feraligatr instantly recovered from his dizziness and regained his balance as he somersaulted and landed on Tauros’ back, squashing him.

“What?!” Ash shouted in shock.
“Should’ve predicted that, shouldn’t you Ketchum?” Black Jack replied. “If Nidoking can do that, so can Feraligatr.”

Feraligatr quickly jumped off Tauros’ back. Tauros’ quickly stood up also. Although Tauros didn’t show it, he felt the pain on his back.

Back at the audience balcony, everyone was amazed of what Feraligatr did.
“You see?” Cecilia said. “Even when Black Jack’s pokemon are struggling against the opposition, they always manage to come back big time.”
“I agree,” Cassandra replied. “I never predicted what his Salamence did to my Absol in our battle.”

(Author’s note: For Cassandra’s battle with Black Jack, refer to Episode three: Rustboro Ghetto, chapter five).

“Hmm?” Max murmured. “You know, Black Jack has age and experience on his side. That must be the reason why Black Jack is unpredictable.”
“I think you’re right there,” Brock continued. “Knowing Ash for so long, he has also gained experience but not as much as Black Jack, but he and his pokemon does have youth and agility on their side and he also relies on his instincts than on knowledge.” “Both of them have high trainer statistics to become pokemon masters,” Gary said. “Even though Ash and Black Jack have weaknesses and strengths against each other, they have one thing that is very high and mostly equal… their will to win.”
“Wow…” May said to herself. “My brain hurts.”

Back on the battlefield, Feraligatr and Tauros stood up again to receive more orders from their trainers.

“Feraligatr!” Black Jack yelled. “Hydro Pump attack!”

Feraligatr leaned back as he breathed in heavily.

“Tauros!” Ash yelled. “Tackle attack!”

Feraligatr then blasted out a huge foam of water out of his mouth aiming at Tauros. But Tauros dodged the attack and ran until he headbutted Feraligatr right in the gut, sending him flying.

“Feral…” Feraligatr groaned as he struggled to get to his feet.
“That Tauros’ tackle attack is one of a kind,” Black Jack thought as he noticed his pokemon being in pain. “Feraligatr may not last much longer.”

“Tauros!” Ash cried. “Tackle again while he’s getting up!”
“You’re overconfidence has gotten the best of you!” Black Jack shouted. “Feraligatr! Hydro Pump!”

Feraligatr quickly shot out a bigger foam of water out his mouth and the water shoved Tauros right into the arena walls, creating a huge crack on it. As the attack finished, Tauros was knocked out.

“Tauros! No!” Ash cried as he ran to him. “Are you okay?”

Tauros couldn’t answer, as he was unconscious. Ash picked out a pokeball off his belt. “Tauros return!”

He picked out another pokeball. “Swellow!” he cried as he tossed it out. “I choose you!”

Swellow popped out of his pokeball and flew over to the field as he prepared himself for battle. “Swellow!” he cried.

“Hmm…a Swellow,” Black Jack murmured to himself. “I’ve heard that Swellows have the ability of never backing down. Let’s see if the rumours are true.”

“Swellow!” Ash cried. “Wing attack!”
“Feraligatr!” Black Jack yelled. “Hydro Pump!”

As Swellow flew towards Feraligatr, he leaned his head backwards as he heavily breathed in the air. “Feraligatr’s charging himself for a big attack,” Ash thought. “Swellow has to get him before he lets it out.”

Swellow flew directly at Feraligatr like a speeding bullet while Feraligatr was still breathing in. Noticing this, Black Jack ordered, “Feraligatr! Mega Punch attack!”
“What!” Ash cried in shock.

Feraligatr closed his mouth tightly as he went to punch Swellow. “Swellow! Dodge!” Ash commanded.

Ferlaigatr barely missed Swellow as Swellow flew slightly back. “Release the attack now!” Black Jack ordered.

Feraligatr opened his mouth widely and shot a huge and powerful water jet, catching Swellow off guard as the jet shoved him right into the wall of the arena making another huge crack in it.

After the attack ended, both pokemon were down but not out. Swellow was struggling to get up, as he felt pain in almost every part of his body. Feraligatr was breathing heavily after his Hydro Pump attack, but evertime he breathed his felt pain in his gut due to the damage caused by Tauros earlier on.

“Feraligatr, are you okay?” Black Jack asked noticing Feraligatr’s pain with concern. In response, Feraligatr gave a thumb’s up.

Swellow slowly picked himself and flew back into the field. Black Jack smiled at Swellow’s guts. “So it’s true,” Black Jack said. “That swellow of yours never backs down from anything, Ketchum. I’m impressed.”
“Ha! The best has yet to come!” Ash replied.
“The best huh? Let’s end this round then! Feraligatr! Focus Punch!”
“Swellow! Sky Attack!”

Feraligatr ducked down as he charged up the remaining of his energies while Swellow flew up high. Swellow dived directly down at Feraligatr with the speed of a meteor while he and Black Jack waited for the right moment to attack. As Swellow dived down, he felt a scorching heat surrounding him.

“Brace yourself, Feraligatr…” Black Jack said as he waited. “NOW!”

Feraligatr gave a huge mighty swing at Swellow. When the two collided, there was an explosive impact, which almost reached Black Jack and Ash. Everyone protected their eyes from the bright light of the explosion. As the dust of the explosion cleared, both pokemon lay unconscious; both pokemon also had burnt and bruised marks on almost every part of their bodies. “Both pokemon are no longer able to battle, Black Jack still leads 2-1.”

Ash and Black Jack ran onto the field to check on their pokemon, while Pikachu followed Ash closely. “Swellow…” Ash whispered softly with concern. Swellow came round and looked at his trainer and smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Ash whispered again. “Pika pika!” Pikachu cried, trying to cheer Ash up.

“You okay?” Black Jack asked with concern as he ran up to Feraligatr. Feraligatr opened his eyes slowly and smiled at Black Jack, who was also smiling. Feraligatr then felt that something was in his mouth; he reached inside his mouth and found a lost tooth inside it, he looked it and frowned as an anime sweat drop appeared on his face.

“It’ll grow back in a day,” Black Jack said while smiling, almost enough to chuckle. “Get back inside, you big baby.”

Black Jack took out his pokeball and Feraligatr went back in. “Just be happy that you’ve did you’re best and I’m very proud of you,” Black Jack said as he looked at the pokeball.

Ash called back Swellow back into his pokeball and noticed Black Jack smiling. “Even though he’s rough on the outside,” Ash thought. “He is caring on the inside. But I don’t think he will ever admit it.”

In the audience balcony, Mane was applauding at what he saw so far. “Oh, that was so much fun. Haha!”

“Shall we continue with the battle?” the ref asked. Both Ash and Black Jack stared at each other in the eyes with determination.
“You have to ask?” Black Jack replied. “Neither of us has shown our best yet.”
“I agree!” Ash said. “This battle’s far from over!”
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