Chapter 23 The sun’s rays shone blindingly into the little cabin through the small window, lighting up the room and screaming for the occupants to awaken and arise. Pikachu was the first to become fully conscious, taking a moment to look about and wonder where his trainer was. A little grin became quickly plastered over his furry little lips when he spied the two teenagers still in the other bed with their arms still wrapped tightly around each other. Seeing that they too were stirring, he ushered the bleary Azurill onto the floor on the other side of the bed for her to stay hidden and allow Pikachu a chance to see their reactions, especially Misty’s! The first thing she realised when she awoke was that she was not alone in her bed, and it was definitely not Azurill beside her. Opening her eyes with a squint she looked up to see Ash above her as he rubbed his eyes with a free hand. A moment later he ceased rubbing and peered sleepily back at her, first with a relaxed nature, then with utmost fear and terror while awaiting her reaction. “Wha…what are you doing in my bed?” she asked in a surprisingly nervous voice, quiet the opposite from what Ash was expecting. His fear lowered a little upon hearing her tone as he felt her tense up. “Well, last night you fell into the water, I don’t know if you remember that bit but it was after Seviper might have hit you with a Poison Tail. Anyway when we got back onto the ship you were so exhausted you fell asleep I kinda had to carry you here.” He paused for a moment to scratch behind his head, awaiting her respons, but continued when none came. “And then…well…Pikachu tripped me up before I had put you down and we landed like this on the bed. I swear I tried to get out but it was kinda difficult when you wrapped your arms around me…” he finished this last part as though it was a casual observation, missing the sudden explosion of red that spread right across Misty’s face as she sat up and looked away from him to hide her blush. “Oh…right…well…um…yeah…sorry about that…” Misty stumbled uncomfortably over her words full on tension, feeling nothing but a sense of deep relief when she felt him rise from her bed and go over to his own things. “Oh, um do you know what the time is?” she ventured to ask, scratching her arm and realising her clothes were still damp. “About 9:50ish, youch that was a lie in!” he joked, pulling out a new pair of jeans from his bag and moving towards the bathroom for a quick shower. “What!” she screeched, leaping over to her own belongings and gathering together the necessary clothes for the day. “You do know that the registering for the pairs tournament closes at 10am!” “Huh?” he stood there clueless for a moment before remembering what the Nurse Joy on the first ship had told them, about the three different competitions. “Oh yeah, I didn’t know you wanted to enter…” Misty paused for a moment and looked at him to ask, “Don’t you want to?” “Um, yeah, course I do. I just didn’t think you would want to…” he replied before he was knocked to the ground as Misty barged past him to use the bathroom. “Hey I was first!” “Just shut up and get ready!” echoed from behind the closed bathroom door. “Yes ma’me!” Ash leapt to his feet and performed a fake salute to the open door before changing at lightning speed. Once Misty emerged in her normal gear the two raced through the ship as fast as possible. “Pika?” said the small yellow rodent as he sat up from a large pile of clothes with his trainer’s underwear over his head. He hurriedly shook them off and shivered slightly with distaste while looking through the pile of clothes for his little friend. “Azu?” said a small faint voice as a large blue ball wiggled slightly. Pulling off the jumper from Azurill’s head, they excitedly trilled their names in happiness that each had been found safe after the whirlwind passing of their trainers. Laughing happily, Azurill followed Pikachu to the open door, carefully closing it behind them and taking off after their rather forgetful trainers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “All pairs who still wish to take part in the Couples Tournament this afternoon should be mindful that there is only a few minutes left to do so. Thank you.” A sweet voice echoed around the main parts of the ship over the sound system. Most people were either uninterested or had previously entered so the life of many continued uninterrupted until two people shot past in a small tornado of chaos. “Nurse Joy!” said the boy with unruly black hair as he pushed open the doors to the Pokemon Centre, tripping over a small Aron as it ran to its trainer and crashing to the floor with Misty thudding down upon his back moments later. “Ow…hang on, you’re not Nurse Joy!” He exclaimed once looking up to see an unfamiliar woman with long jet black hair and a wonderfully full face that held a smile that could stretch from one ear to the other, radiating friendliness and kindness. Her long blue over coat flowed down to below the counter, hiding its true length while the pale pink polo jumper supported it beautifully. “Oh, I’m sorry but Nurse Joy isn’t feeling too well today. I’m her apprentice cousin Nurse Bliss so I will be filling in for her.” She gave them both a sweet smile. “Ok then, well I hope she gets better soon but how come you don’t look like all the other Joy relations? Ow!” asked Ash as he rubbed his arm where Misty had just elbowed him. “Don’t be so rude!” she hissed under her breath. “Oh, don’t worry about it as people say that all the time! I’m what you may call the black sheep!” she sweat dropped a little with a small smile. “Can we still sign up for the Partners Tournament today?” asked Misty as she glanced hopefully towards the clock on the wall behind the raven haired woman, but it already read as five minutes past ten. “Well, strictly speaking I’m not allowed to accept any more entries, but I can’t see any harm in letting you two in. In fact it’s a good thing you came because now we have eight couples taking part to divide up perfectly for three rounds.” Nurse Bliss tapped away on the computer for a moment. “Now all I need are your names and pokemon of choice.” “We have to state them now?” panicked Misty. They hadn’t put any thought at all into which would be the best partnership of their two teams. “Don’t worry Misty, let’s just put down our strongest pokemon and take it from there.” Beamed Ash as he radiated his usual confidence. “Plus, how can we go wrong with out strongest buddies?” “I guess so. In that case I’ll use my Gyarados.” Misty told Nurse Bliss along with her name. “My name is Ash Ketchum and I’ll be entering Pikachu.” Said Ash as he leaned on the counter to watch the Nurse enter their details. At the mention of his name, Nurse Bliss’ eyes lit up as she reached for one of the notes next to a pokeball on her desk. “Oh, I have a note for you from Nurse Joy about your Grovyle. He woke up this morning completely normal and with no recollection at all of the previous day. She wanted me to give him back to you so here he is.” She held forward the pokeball that had lain next to the note which Ash took with a thoughtful look. “Thank you Nurse Bliss…when does the tournament start?” he looked up from the red and white sphere in his hand to direct his question to her. “At 11:00 on the main deck.” She replied before turning back to her computer to organise the teams and who their opponents would be. “So what are you going to do with Grovyle?” asked Misty while the walked slowly away from the main desk in the vague direction of the video phones. Stopping with him at the video phone and pokemon transporter she waited for his answer. “Well, I still think the Professor should have a look at him and stuff. Plus he could really use a break now that I think about it.” he grinned while dialling the familiar number to the Professor’s Lab. The phone was soon answered by a dark haired boy, a few years older than Ash and Misty with a green shirt and a headband to hold his hair back. On both his shoulders and on his head perched three Aipom who seemed intent on causing damage. “Hello? Oh hey Ash, hi Misty. How are you doing?” he asked while the Aipom constantly swapped their perches. “Not too bad…” said Ash for both of them as he observed the hyper Aipom. “What’s up with those guys?” “Nothing much except for getting into and completely devouring the Professors entire stack of not-so-secret chocolate bars. The store has been out of those ones with nougat in for ages and he had at least five but never thought to offer me one while I wasted away without that chocolaty nougat…” a completely sad, depressed and utterly heart broken face peered back at them while all three Aipom decided to sit on his head at once. “Ehehehe…well that really sucks…” said Ash with a bemused expression. He loved those chocolate bars too but wouldn’t be that depressed if he’d found out someone like, Misty for example, had been stashing away a hoard while he had none. “Look, is the Professor around?” “No I’m afraid he’s away at the moment at a conference but he should be back some time tomorrow. Can I give him a message from you?” “Well, I’m sending back Grovyle for a thorough check up and a bit of a rest.” He continued to explain what had happened the day before and Tracey agreed that perhaps a bit of time out of the arena may do the pokemon some good. Placing his pokeball on the stand for transportation, Ash gave it a frown of worry before pressing the transfer button and the ball vanished in a flash of electricity. “He’s arrived safe and sound.” Said Tracey, holding the ball in his hand that one Aipom immediately snatched with its tail before racing around the lab with the other two Aipom close behind. Clutching his head and saying goodbye, Tracey swiftly hit the red button to end the conversation and was last seen chasing the purple monkeys around the room. Sweat dropping a little at Tracey, Ash and Misty began to walk towards the doors when two familiar faces appeared to beam at them through the glass, one yellow and the other blue. “Azurill! What are you two doing here all alone?” asked Misty as she retrieved her pokemon from the floor, giving her a small kiss in the process. “Pika pichu pi pika chupi pikachuchu?” (You think we like being deserted?) Huffed Pikachu once he had hopped onto Ash’s shoulder with a disgruntled expression. “Oh shut up you stupid little hairball!” chuckled Ash as he dug out a packet of ketchup and handing it to the scowling rodent who took it to become instantly absorbed in the task of opening the packet and retrieving the sweet ketchuppy goodness inside. “Just don’t eat so much that you make yourself sick, you’re in another tournament today as a partner with Gyarados.” Pikachu paused for a moment to take in this information, shrug a little and continue with his ketchup. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Gyarados, you’re up!” cried Misty as she threw her red and white sphere forward to bounce on the ground and release her fearsome blue sea snake that roared upon arrival that made their opponents, a Tauros and a Hitmontop, shudder slightly. “Pikachu, you too!” said Ash and the little furry mouse bounded from his trainer’s shoulder and onto the battle field alongside Gyarados, his cheeks sparking slightly with anticipation. “Begin!” announced the umpire and the crowd began to cheer as Ash and Misty’s opponents, Danny with his Tauros and Diana with her Hitmontop started their match. “Pikachu, let’s kick this off with your thunderbolt!” cried Ash, already in the battle zone. “Pikachuuuuuuuuuu!” he said in response, leaping into the air to deliver two swift streams of vibrant electricity that streamed through the air to crack the ground where the Hitmontop and Tauros had previously stood. “Hitmontop, Quick Attack that Pikachu!” called Diana with a slight squeal as her long black hair floated in the light breeze. Her pale blue skirt flowed down to cover her legs, turned bronze from the sun to her matching blue slippers. A gold edged blue blouse completed her outfit and gently caught the sun as she moved. Her strange piercing blue eyes were rumoured to be able to freeze a man’s heart with a single glance. “Gyarados, Water Gun to block now!” called Misty as soon as the Hitmontop began to speed across the arena stretching out her hand to point to the exact spot on the ground. Complying swiftly with his trainer’s wishes, Gyarados aimed a jet of streaming water that knocked back the opposing Hitmontop, blocking its attack on Pikachu. “Whoa…thanks Misty.” Said Ash once he realised how she had protected his own, “Pikachu Iron Tail Tauros quickly!” While Misty’s attention had turned to him, Danny had instructed his Tauros to attack Gyarados with a Take Down but Pikachu’s swift actions prevented the charging beast from getting anywhere near its target as it stumbled back, reeling from the blow it its head. Grinning at each other as they began to get the hang of battling together, saving each other from the harm of their opponents while still slipping in the odd attack. Looking across the arena, they could see that Danny, in his faded denim jeans and red shirt, was beginning to tense up, blaming Diana when his Tauros was hit for not blocking the attack while forgetting to do the same for her. Filled with reckless fury at her partner, Diana took the matting into her own hands and instructed a Double Team and Quick Attack combination that left Gyarados and Pikachu baffled, allowing a direct hit on Pikachu as he flew through the air to crash into Gyarados’ face that sent the large blue monster reeling. Together, Danny and Diana called for their two most powerful attacks from Tauros and Hitmontop, Take Down and Rolling Kick respectively. The attacks hit home to send Gyarados and Pikachu flying while Danny, who was filled with the feeling of success momentarily forgot Diana and her pokemon's presence and called on his Tauros for an Earthquake. Tauros reared onto his hind legs, tails flailing to come crashing back down onto the arena surface as shockwaves cracked the ground to ripple out and deal severe damage to Pikachu and Hitmontop while Gyarados appeared to hardly feel a thing. “Danny!” shrieked Diana as her Hitmontop struggled to its feet, determined to keep fighting. “Just what do you think you’re doing? That affects Hitmontop as well you idiot!” she completed her statement by hitting him over the head with a fan that magically appeared from no where. “Ow…ow…hey quit it!” protested Danny once he was brought back to her presence with a stinging head and shoulders. Wincing each time the fan connected with Danny, Ash knew only too well what it was like to suffer a woman’s vengeance yet at least his punishment was usually delivered by a much more substantional, mallety object while that fan must really sting. Misty gently nudged him on the arm, motioning that while Diana and Danny were arguing, Pikachu and Gyarados were ready and in position for the next attack. Quickly formulating a plan, Ash called out “Pikachu thunderbolt on Tauros!” “Gyarados use Hydro Pump on Hitmontop!” added Misty as their two pokemon launched their attacks at the same time. Danny and Diana were immediately brought back to the battle as Tauros momentarily collapsed on the ground and Hitmontop was thrown back to crash to the ground in a heap. “No! Hitmontop, please be alright!” pleaded Diana, her hands clasped before her as she silently prayed for her pokemon get to his feet again. Slowly, he sat up, gritting his teeth and glaring at Gyarados though a barely open eye before struggling to his feet. Once there, he swayed slightly but regained his balance to give his trainer a look for the next command. “Come on Tauros buddy! You can beat these two!” encouraged Danny as his large bull like pokemon got to his feet with little shudders of surplus electricity quivered over his flanks. “That’s it boy, now time for us to beat these losers!” he passed a look to Diana who returned it with a decisive nod. Time for Emergency Tactics Level 1. “Hitmontop, produce as many clones with Double Team as you can!” instructed Diana, flicking her fan with an elegant twist of her wrist. Soon the entire half of Danny and Diana’s field was covered with an endless quantity of glaring Hitmontops. Ash and Misty were as stunned as their pokemon as their attention became fully focused on the army of Hitmontops before them. “Now Tauros!” called Danny from the other end of the arena, his arm outstretched to urge his Tauros in the charge as it ploughed through the many clones to appear on the opposite side of the field it had last been seen standing to crash into Gyarados and send it sky high. “Your turn Hitmontop with Swift!” called Diana and her face lit up with an exquisite smile as her pokemon bombarded his opponent with an array of gold stars. “Pikachuuuuuuuuuuu!” suddenly reverberated around the arena as Pikachu let loose a deadly shot of electricity to hit Hitmontop hard. The fighting pokemon remained on its feet with its muscles paralysed from the electricity, falling in a heap once the yellow charge ceased. The umpire observed the fallen pokemon for a moment before announcing that Hitmontop was no longer able to battle. “Oh my poor boy!” cried Diana as she rushed over to gently stroke her weak pokemon on the head before returning him in a flash of red light to be withdrawn into his red and white premier ball. Returning to her side of the arena she stood behind the trainers box, illustrating she was out of the battle. Satisfied the other pokemon were able to continue, the umpire resumed the match. “Tauros, Earthquake!” roared Danny with determination born from the defeat of his partner’s best pokemon. For the second time in the match, Tauros rose onto his hind legs and crashed down to the ground again to send more reverberations through the ground. Hoping that would finish off the Pikachu, Danny was dismayed to find that his opponents had worked out how to protect the electric rodent from his most powerful attack. By sitting on Gyarados’ eyebrow. “Gyarados, lets wrap this up with a Dragon Breath!” called Misty pumping her arm into the air while her pokemon took in a deep breath and expelled a stream of green fire from its maw. “Tauros, Hyper Beam!” called Danny and the two attacks collided in the air to mingle a sphere of green and gold flames that hung in the air between them. “Come on Gyarados, let’s turn up the heat!” cried Misty as she beamed once the green flames began to beat back the golden stream. “Don’t let them beat you Tauros, you can do it now turn it up to maximum power!” responded Danny and the gold beam increased to a dangerous degree and the sphere between them grew. “Pikachu.” Called Ash up to this pokemon who had remained balanced upon Gyarados’ brow. “How about a thunderbolt?” “Pika!” he cheerfully agreed, jumping high into the air and letting loose a strong burst of electricity that shot through the air to hit Tauros on the ground who cried out in pain and ceased his Hyper Beam attack. It soon vanished from sight at Gyarados’ green Dragon Breath attack swamped the poor beast. Once sure their opponent was well and truly beaten, both Pikachu and Gyarados ended their attacks to allow the umpire a chance to inspect the Tauros and make his declaration. “Tauros is no longer able to continue with the battle. Gyarados and Pikachu are the winner and the victory goes to the red team of Ash and Misty!” He held up his right hand with the red flag towards Ash and Misty to illustrate his point while Danny ran over to his Tauros, placing a hand upon its brow. “Well done boy. That was an excellent battle and you just need to take a good long rest.” He withdrew his pokemon into its pokeball in a red beam of light, staring at the ball for a moment before placing it on his belt and standing up to face Ash and Misty. “Hey, well done Danny. That was a great battle.” Said Ash, his Pikachu perched on his shoulder while his red haired partner stood beside him with her pokemon safely in its ball in her hand. “Yeah, but not as good as it could have been I guess.” He grinned back but turned sharply around when he heard a noise of frustration and anger from behind him to see Diana’s black hair swirling around her as she flounced off into the crowds. “Yeah…that for example…” he scratched his black hair for a moment before saying, “Diana is a great pokemon trainer but she’s only been in tag team battles and used to looking out for her partner’s pokemon. This was my first so I’m not that great at it, coordinating with someone else and all so it’s probably my fault we lost and she’s not going to let me forget that. I recon I got carried away with it all a bit and just forgot that her Hitmontop was there to help me rather than one of the opponents.” “She’ll forgive you, I’m sure of it.” Smiled Misty before she was distracted by Azurill as she popped out of her ball to say hello and get some attention. “Yeah, I’m sure she’ll understand.” Added Ash. “I don’t know, but I hope so cos she’s a really, really nice girl once you get past her exterior but after this, I doubt she’ll want to talk to me at all. I really wanted to win this with her, to, you know take her out with the prize. Anyway, if I couldn’t win it for her, I hope you can win it for your girlfriend, you’re such a great team together!” he smiled cheerfully while Ash coloured an interesting shade of red while feeling very pleased that Misty was too occupied with Azuril to be listening to the conversation. “She, she’s not my girlfriend! Honestly, we’re just really good friends, nothing more than that!” rushed Ash as he tried to set the confusion over his and Misty’s status straight. Danny frowned for a moment in confusion but decided to pursue Diana rather than talk to this young man who was in such serious denial, it was pitiful. “Well, ok then. I think I should do as you guys suggested and talk to Diana for a bit. See you around!” and with a wave he began threading through the crowd, searching for the black haired female. “He left kinda quickly…” Frowned Misty as she stood up with Azurill now happily installed in her arms. “Yeah, he wanted to talk to Diana I think.” Replied Ash, passing a sideways glance at the Pikachu perched on his shoulder as it tried to stifle its mirth. Together they stood side by side to watch as two more couples began their match to see who would advance to the next round. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Would the partners of Ash and Misty, Ray and Amanda please report to the Arena One. Thank you.” chimed the voice of Nurse Bliss over the loud speaker system. “That’s us.” Said Ash with a smile before stepping back slightly with a cheeky smile to add, “After you.” Blushing slightly and suppressing a small giggle, Misty replied with equal merriment, “Why thank you sir. It’s nice to know you do have some manner.” Ash remained where he was for a moment, frowning at her back before he realised the implication of her comment, “Hey, I have manners!” “Yeah, but I’m lucky to ever see them!” she replied, loving the time delay from her response before darting through the crowds to emerge onto the arena with Ash close behind her. “I’m always polite to you, you just take all the wrong way!” he protested. “How dare you! You rarely act like a proper gentleman and could still use a few lessons is etiquette before being let lose on the public domain.” She replied, however more jovial than actually accusatory. “Me? It’s you who need a few more lessons in etiquette with your mallet and-“ “Ahem!” their argument was sharply cut off by the umpire who had been trying to get their attention for some time as he frowned at them with their opponents glaring at them from behind. “As I was saying, would Ash and Misty like to take their places at the other end of the arena for this battle to begin?” “Oops…sorry about that…” said Ash before he and Misty decided to swiftly spin round and march off to the other trainers box to face their opponents, Ray and Amanda at the other side of the arena. “Azurill, you’re going to have to be very good and remain here at all times. Do I make myself clear?” asked Misty of her little pokemon as she placed her on the ground by her feet. Satisfied with the little chirrup of agreement, Misty stood up to hear the umpire announcing the start of their battle and throwing her pokeball containing Gyarados onto the field to join Pikachu against the Jolteon from Ray and Spearow from Amanda. Once satisfied that all the trainers and their pokemon were ready, the umpire lifted his two flags into the air to announce the start of the match. “Go Sparkwave!” called Ray as he made the first move while his partner’s Spearow took to the skies, “Start this off with a Thunderbolt on that Gyarados!” His Jolteon barked a few times in response while gathering his energy to its maximum to let out the powerful attack to fly through the air to the defenceless Gyarados. “Pikachu, use your own Thunderbolt to intercept the attack!” called Ash and Pikachu expertly released his own electricity to collide in mid air to partially absorb and re-direct the attack away from Gyarados. Pikachu kept up the violent barrage of electricity against Sparkwave’s own attack to neutralise the effect until Sparkwave ceased. “Now Spearow!” called Amanda, her mouse brown locks partially obscuring her face for a moment before she hurriedly tucked them back beneath her white brimmed hat with a red ribbon around it. Her outfit was simple, a blue tank top over a sleeveless black shirt with a faded red skirt and rumpled blue socks that reached half way up her calves, while her feet were encased in red and white trainers. Her pokemon dived down from above to hit Pikachu with a vicious barrage of pecks before it soared off into the sky, hovering over its opponents while remaining hidden from sight in the sun’s glare. “You alright buddy?” asked Ash as Pikachu vigorously shook himself and crouched on all four feet, ready for another go at the enemy. “Good, now try your Volt Tackle on Sparkwave!” Pikachu paused for a moment; they hadn’t done any training on this move yet. He’d only managed to pull it off once and it could really hurt if it didn’t work. Misty also short Ash a quizzical look at this order but his confident expression prevented her from speaking her concerns as Pikachu began to race across the arena for his foe. At first, it looked as if he would be able to pull off the attack as he began to glow with an increasing intensity. However, just metres from his foe the golden glow vanished and he was left to smash into the Jolteon with a momentum that sent them both flying. Amanda took advantage of her opponent’s distraction to launch another attack, now upon the unsuspecting Gyarados. Its beak flashed up and down with a Fury Attack, pecking first at one eye and then the other to blind Gyarados and send him into a stampeding rage. Thrashing about in pain, Misty and Ash narrowly avoided the swinging tail at it swept across the ground. “Gyarados, it’s ok, please calm down Gyarados! Just listen to my voice, you can do this!” pleaded Misty as she gazed up at her large leviathan as it thrashed about before them, Sparkwave and Pikachu dodging the large tail every time it threatened to wipe them out. “Misty watch out!” cried Ash as he leapt forward to grasp her by the waist and leap out of the way as Gyarados’ tail smashed down onto the deck, destroying the wood where she had been standing. They landed heavily together and Ash grimaced as one of Gyarados’ fins crashed down on his leg. “Gyarados!” wailed Misty, tears forming in her eyes at the sight of her distressed pokemon. “You have to withdraw him!” growled Ash through gritted teeth as he clutched his leg. “Just do it Misty, his welfare is more important that this battle!” “But that leaves you and Pikachu to face those two alone!” she protested. “Weren’t you listening to me? Just return him!” screamed Ash as they were forced to roll away from each other to avoid Gyarados’ tail as it smashed down again onto the deck. Flying a desperate glance at her partner, she took in his grim expression before holding forward her pokeball and asking the pokemon to return. However, Gyarados’ rage had reached a peak so high that it was unable to be withdrawn and continued to rampage over the deck, scattering the crowds and breaking up the other battle. “Misty, we have to stop him and I’m afraid that the only way to do that is to knock him out.” Ash whispered quietly once he’d limped over to her. “Please, just let me reason with him, I know we don’t have to take such drastic measures!” protested Misty as she remembered the first time she had met her powerhouse as he charged uncontrollably around the gym pool, terrorising everyone in sight. But that time he had been in the water and he hadn't been as badly injured as he was now. “Azu-u-u-u…” she jerked her head up when she heard the pained cry of her baby pokemon as she was thrown high into the air to land painfully on the deck at the feet of Sparkwave the Jolteon. The poor pokemon lay still as Sparkwave hurriedly but gently too the little pokemon’s tail in its mouth to leap out of the way of a powerful stream of water Gyarados was now projecting over the deck. Azurill was still limp when she was placed on the ground out of harms way. “Do what you have to…” she choked over her words before trying to reach her Azurill. Nodding with grim determination, Ash called out for Pikachu who had taken refuge beside some crates. Pikachu bounded swiftly over to his trainer while Ash released Bayleaf and Corphish to help knock out the enraged Gyarados. “Pikachu, use your strongest Thunder attack on Gyarados. Corphish, use your Bubblebeam and Bayleaf, summon up the largest Solarbeam you can!” ordered Ash with grim determination. As one, his three pokemon attacked Gyarados as he writhed in pain from the electricity, grimaced from the bubbles and roared from the concentrated sunlight. Glancing at his straining pokemon, Ash willed them to continue for a few moments more before calling for a ceasefire. In place of the writhing leviathan was left the body of the defeated Gyarados. As it lay on its side, it gave a few shuddering breaths before coughing slightly and lying still bar the rise and fall of its chest. “Misty, you should return Gyarados now.” Said Ash quietly, his voice full of regret at the manner in which he had been forced to knock out the rampaging beast. As the tears flowed down her face at the sight of her injured creature, she held up the pokeball and Gyarados vanished in a red light. “Go to the pokemon centre and see if they can heal Gyarados properly.” She nodded silently while Azurill remained unconscious in her arms before walking across the silent deck to the centre. The remaining crowd parted silently for her and all she could feel was a sense of intensifying shame at the display of lack of control she had over her pokemon when he was in such a rage. Ash quietly thanked Corphish and Bayleaf before returning them to their balls while Pikachu hopped to his customary place on his shoulder. The umpire approached him with Ray and Amanda behind him, Sparkwave at his trainer’s feet while the Spearow was perched on his trainer’s hat. “Due to the rampage of your partner’s Gyarados and it’s withdrawal from the match you have the choice of either forfeiting the match or continuing alone since the Gyarados’ behaviour was caused by its injuries and not from a dangerous temperament that endangered lives.” With a sigh, Ash looked up to the pokemon who would have to battle alone against Sparkwave and Spearow. Looking at his two opponents, Pikachu sense the fatigue of Sparkwave and the feeling of guilt from Spearow. “Pi kachu!” (Let’s go!) “We’ll continue the battle as a two on one I think.” Said Ash as he tried to summon a smile, but Misty’s tearful face came as a vision before him and smile became half hearted. “Right then.” Said Ray, spinning his red cap with a white semi circle on the front around his head. “But don’t think we’ll go easy on you because of what happened to the Gyarados!” Taking in his opponent’s image, Ash noted that he dressed in a similar way to himself, in a black short-sleeved red and white jacket with a pair of rather travel worn jeans and trainers. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.” “This match between Ray and Amanda against Ash, now without his partner will now continue.” Called the umpire as the crowds began to gather around the arena again and the other semi-final match was resumed on the neighbouring arena. ‘This will be for you and Gyarados, Misty.’ Thought Ash to himself as Pikachu launched himself from Ash’s shoulder and onto the compacted ground to face Sparkwave and Spearow. “Pikachu, Thunderbolt Spearow!” he shot out the command with such velocity and Pikachu obeyed with a matched speed that Sparkwave was only just able to respond in the manner he had been taught. With a giant bound he leapt into the path of the thunderbolt and absorbed the electricity with relish. “Thank you so much Ash for charging up Sparkwave. I’m not sure if you know this, but Sparkwave can absorb electrical attacks and use that power to replenish his strength. Sparkwave, why don’t you show them how much better you’re feeling?” laughed Ray as he anticipated the easy win. Sparkwave barked his agreement before jumping into the air to fire off a thunderbolt while Spearow joined him in the skies to open its beak and produce a barrage of golden stars to rain down on the defenceless Pikachu. “Buddy, use Quick Attack to get out of the way!” cried Ash as he watched the combined attack fly closer to Pikachu. Moving across the field with a speed so intense that he sent up chunks of earth behind him, Pikachu was able to avoid the thunderbolt but still took damage from the unavoidable barrage of stars. “Now Iron Tail on the Jolteon!” he called, throwing his clenched fist into the air. “Pikachuuuuuuuuu!” he cried as he bounded up into the air, his tail aglow to summersault and crash straight into Sparkwave who skidded across the ground with a howl. “Now take this chance to use your thunderbolt on Spearow!” said Ash as quickly as possible. It wasn’t a strategy they needed, just luck and a hope that they could communicate faster than their opponents could think and counter attack. “Double Team!” Unfortunately, their luck run out as Spearow created multiple clones on the field at the request of his trainer. “You’ll have to do better than that to beat us!” she taunted Ash from across the battle field as the image of the hit Spearow vanished into thin air to show only one of the clones had been hit and not their target. “Now Spearow, Peck attack!” “Pika!” cried Pikachu as a multitude of Spearow began to rain down upon him, every beak aglow. His trainer’s voice of despair echoed through his mind and the little rodent was sent back to the time when he had first met Ash and a flock of Spearow had descended on the pair of them. Filled with the power of their first moments together, Pikachu unleashed a deadly Thunder attack that fried every clone and the real Spearow who fell to the ground instantly. Breathing deeply, Pikachu surveyed the Spearow on the ground beside him; its brown feathers tinged a slight black at the edges while the acrid smell of burned feathers filled the air. As t he fallen bird croaked its name the umpire raised Ash’s flag into the air to announce that Spearow was no longer able to continue and the battle would continue as a one on one battle with Ash against Ray. Returning to his trainer, Pikachu found that he was down to his last energy reserves and in order to beat this foe, he was down to just a few attacks. “Are you ok to carry on Pikachu?” asked Ash as he knelt down to talk to Pikachu from his box. “Pi…pika pichu pi pikachu ka pika ka pika kachu pikachu…” (Yeah…but maybe I shouldn’t have had so much ketchup though…) he replied with a small smile over his shoulder while he waited for the command to attack his foe. “Ok then, if you’re sure.” He muttered while still a little reluctant to continue, “Pikachu Quick Attack!” “Pika!” spat Pikachu venomously as he launched himself off the ground in a flash of white light to charge straight for his foe. “Iron Tail now!” countered Ray while Amanda willed him on from behind. Sparkwave lifted himself into the air upon his front paws to gather the strength in his tail to spin around and slice the air where Pikachu had previously been to find the attack blocked seconds later by Pikachu responding with his own Iron Tail. The two electric type pokemon glared into the others eyes, constantly sending more of their power to their tails to strengthen their attack and repel their opponent. The tremendous force between their tails resulted in an explosion that threw them both back to land on the ground before their trainers. Both Pikachu and Sparkwave struggled to their feet, scratches and bruises adorning each body. “That’s it buddy, you can do this!” called out Ash to help motivate his partner. “But we’re still going to win, right Sparkwave!” added Ray as he too called out to his pokemon. “Now finish him off by putting everything you have into a Thunder attack!” Sparkwave let out a tremendous bark as he tensed up his body to store every ounce of his energy into the attack. As the bolts of electricity travelled across the earth to Pikachu, the arena floor was ripped and became torn up as every bolt converged to the exact spot Pikachu stood, or had been standing at least. Taking an old tactic back into play, Pikachu had propelled himself high into the air from his tail, avoiding the powerful attack. Sparkwave cowered in fear as he gazed up at Pikachu high above him as he tail began to glow a blinding white before crashing down onto his head. Sparkwave fell in a crumpled heap on the deck while Pikachu trembled on his four feet for the umpire to deliver his decision on the victor of the match. Everything began to swim around him as his eyesight failed and he too fell unconscious.