Chapter 8:Elimination
"What do you think was that… thing?" Ash questioned, unsure how to describe the stranger who had literally played with them at a whim, and then disappeared, not because of any fear of being defeated, but more due to boredom than anything else.
"I… have no idea." Paul, the ever-confident trainer, looked unusually subdued. "In all my years, I have never encountered something even remotely dangerous to that… thing."
"Do you think that's a pokémon?" Harrison inquired, his mind deep in thought. "Maybe something… legendary?"
Paul raised an eyebrow. "A legendary pokémon that was stealing electrical power enough to feed a city for more than a month? What is this… some legendary Snorlax or something?"
Ash snorted at the comparison. "Who knows?" His mind went back to his own interactions with the legendary Articuno, and then with the King Dragonite back in Cerulean. The powers these… ancient pokémon seemed to wield were beyond human comprehension, though Ash couldn't help but wonder about their apathy towards the sheer destruction they caused.
"Whatever," Paul waved it off, glancing at Ash. "So Ash Ketchum, it seems I misjudged you. To hold power over a Rhydon, no matter how weak, is an achievement, for a kid nonetheless."
Ash bristled over the insult about his Rhydon's power, but didn't counter that statement. There was no point in trying, considering that from Paul's own perspective, Rhydon was weak. Besides, he had just evolved, and there was a long way to go.
"He might be weak," Ash returned, "after all, he's just evolved. But he did manage to defeat an entire army of Magnemite without breaking a sweat. I'm sure he will grow into the strongest of his species with time."
"Yeah, tell me when I see you getting ousted in the Eliminations." Paul sneered, much to Ash's chagrin.
"So… Paul, are you looking ahead for the St. Anne trip?" Harrison asked out of curiosity.
"Nah!" Paul waved his hand. "Spending two weeks in a ship filled with babies and their starters, all for some measly sum at the end? Not for me."
Ash cried in indignation. "Take that back."
"Make me." Paul challenged. "Besides, I already made some money."
Ash looked away, nodding in acceptance. After the psychic had teleported his way out of the tower, Ash had taken Metang for another attempt for the second time, and was glad to see that it worked. From the looks of it, without the psychic forcefully maintaining his own hold upon their collective consciousness, the people could be broken out of that… trance, for lack of a better word, by another psychic attack. With the people safe and restored, it had been a little time before the Manager had thanked them, rather exuberantly for their aid, going so far as to add eight thousand pokedollars in their individual accounts for their contribution in saving them from that… psychic's trance. Unfortunately, the manager had no recollections about the entire thing, how it had started or who might be responsible for the entire thing in the first place, only that he had an impromptu meeting with a certain someone…
The rest was… as he put it, hazy.
"Yeah, eight thousand pokedollars, I know." Harrison put in. "I kind of feel bad for accepting it, since all I did was run into trouble. You and Ash here had some actual contribution."
"Come on, Harrison," Ash returned, "even you know that your pokémon couldn't have helped. You saw how the psychic just tossed ours aside like they were less than an afterthought.
Harrison nodded but said nothing.
"Yes, eight thousand's a good amount, but that wasn't what I was referring." Paul chimed in, smirking as he did.
"Then?"
Paul gave Ash a look of exaggerated confusion. "Did you think I just happened to loiter around this compound, hoping I could save some kid's petty arse again?"
"You…." Ash growled.
"I was hired by Nurse Joy to inspect the matter. She have me a call, making me come here all the way from Cerulean."
"You… flew all the way here?" Ash asked.
"Teleported." Paul corrected. "My Hypno is rather good at it."
Ash opened his mouth to speak, but decided better of it. He wasn't the expert but the Drowzee-line were more in tune with physical and mental manipulation. Creating spatial and temporal distortions weren't exactly their forte. "TM, I take it?"
"Rather helpful." Paul, it seemed, was capable of normal conversation when the companion was somewhat knowledgeable of the matter being discussed. "Hypno have better control at physical manipulation than the Abra-line, and I didn't want to raise a sleepy bear because I wanted a quick teleporter."
"What do you mean?" Harrison asked, not being able to follow along.
"The ability to teleport isn't something present by default in the Drowzee-line, so it has to be a TM. Abra on the other hand, learn teleport the first thing they do on being born." Ash answered.
"You are… quite knowledgeable about them." Paul noticed.
"My mom researches on psychic pokémon. You'll be surprised on the amount of stuff you pull in just from random conversation."
"And here I thought you were demonstrating real diligence for once." The purple-haired trainer sighed.
"Can you be any more of a condescending arse?" Ash countered back.
"Yes." Came the cheerful answer.
"So Nurse Joy talked you into coming here, in return of…." Harrison drawled, wanting to get back to the topic.
"Ten thousand pokedollars." Paul replied succinctly. "What? I assure you my services aren't cheap," He paused mid-sentence, as he checked the watch-like device on his right hand, "Yep, the money's already filled in."
"But you already got eight from here." Ash complained.
"Your point is?"
"You have no sense of decency." Ash declared.
"I will take that as a compliment." Paul snarked. "Now, as much as I would like to chitchat like nobodies, I actually have some work to do back in Cerulean." He lifted a pokeball off his belt, as a Hypno appeared next to him. "Till next time, fella's." The Hypno didn't make the slightest movement, before the duo teleported away.
"Arsehole." Ash muttered.
"You can say that again." Harrison sighed, looking at the empty space where Paul stood seconds ago. He turned back to face Ash. "You were right. There was something wrong going on over here."
"Well, it did come out all right." Ash replied cheerfully. "My rhyhorn evolved, and I got a sum of money too." He paused, before a frown appeared on his face. "Also, I caught this…" he held out a pokeball as red light shot out of it, revealing the Magneton.
"A Magneton?" Harrison exclaimed, "that's… cool. These are quite rare back in Hoenn."
"I assure you I'm willing to trade him for anything you've got." Ash replied distastefully. "I only captured him because Rhydon wanted me to."
"Then why so…?"
"Distasteful? Unwelcoming? Apathetic?" Ash supplied.
"…yeah."
Ash scrunched up his face. "I don't really have the best experience with electric-types."
"But you handled your Crawdaunt fairly well." Harrison supplied.
"Yeah, and I am a hypocrite for judging electric-type for that. Your point?" Ash retorted.
Harrison raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not judging."
"Good, because we need your Arcanine to return to Vermillion. The St. Anne leaves tomorrow and I need to get my pokémon treated and healthy and… get some things from the Pokemart."
"Like?"
"Oh, you know… A little of this and a little of that."
The next evening. Vermillion Harbour.
The St. Anne wasn't just a cruise ship. It was a venerable city-on-wheels, made for none but the Elite. For Ash Ketchum whose sea travel experience had been limited to the steamer he had embarked upon back at Cerulean, this was certainly… bizarre and enthralling at the same time. The cruise was dozens of times bigger than the largest Wailord he had heard about, and even those mighty Gyarados looked positively tiny before the steel behemoth this size. He wondered for a moment how the King Dragonite would look like, compared to this… magnificent piece of human ingenuity.
And I'm going to spend two weeks on this ship. How the hell does a mechanical contraption this size manage to float?
Returning back to Vermillion, Ash hadn't wasted a moment in getting to the Pokémon center to get his pokémon treated and checked for health. The moment they had been declared fine, Ash had instantly sent them off to Professor Oak to have the old man have his own way with them, except for Bagon. Oh, and he had also managed to have a talk with Magneton, which had gone just wonderfully.
I cannot believe, even now, how a pokémon can be so… so….
He searched for an appropriate word, but couldn't manage to get anything good enough from his limited vocabulary. Magneton had accepted the fact that he had been caught by Ash and thus, was his captured pokémon. He also accepted that Ash had the right to use him in battles, and that he would fight those battles, and win, in order to become a powerful Magnezone in time. However, he had no expectations from his trainer, and didn't believe for a second, that Ash had anything to teach him, that he couldn't learn himself.
Bottom line. Magneton would fight if entered in a battle, but he wouldn't listen to Ash's commands. He could use Magneton for a battle, and hope the electric-type stay true to his word. Crawdaunt, was an entirely different thing, but how did you manage someone like this?
After all, he is just another stupid electric-type. Ah thought venomously.
"Ash," Harrison elbowed him, as the duo approached the ticket collector. The sailor in question, accepted their tickets, verifying them via some kind of electronic equipment.
"You may go." The man in blue finally declared, letting Ash and Harrison pass through, handing them two plastic cards with the lettering F67 and F68. "Directions can be found on any part of the ship. If you need further assistance, please ask any of the ship personnel. Have a pleasant stay."
Ash and Harrison thanked the sailor before moving ahead, into a less-crowded area of the cruise, looking up at the plastic cards in their hands.
"I guess we will be having adjacent rooms for the next couple of weeks." Ash remarked.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Harrison raised an eyebrow.
"Just an observation." Ash returned. The two of them walked ahead before they encountered another personnel on deck, who directed them the way to their respective rooms. They were first class. More space than they needed, more lavish décor and gadgets than they had seen before, and more expensive furniture than either could afford.
"Let's put our luggage in there, and meet outside in say… two hours?" Harrison offered.
Ash tilted his head in agreement. He too, wanted to see exactly how it was the Elite lived their life. "Alright."
The room was amazing. No scratch that, it was the pinnacle of luxury. This was where kings and queens of fairy tales were supposed to live. The couches, the bed, even the tea table looked so grand and expensive, he couldn't help but feel a slight inferiority complex.
Ash took off his travelling outfit, before settling himself in comfortable Tee's, and khaki pants, his feet marvelling the exquisite softness of the carpet upon which he stood, as he took in his surroundings. The place was big enough for all his pokémon to fit on snugly, and even then, the bed would be free for him.
Rhydon would probably take the entire floor to himself. Ash observed. Then again, his smoother hide is probably for the best. Rhyhorn's protrusions would've torn the carpet apart.
He looked around. There was even a miniature Jacuzzi in the attached bathroom, big enough for a person. Poliwhirl… and Crawdaunt would probably have an ideal time in it. As for Metang, he had no idea if the iron claw pokémon even slept on anything, or simply maintained its state of constant levitation. Then again, knowing Metang, he wouldn't put it beyond it not to keep his psychic powers active even in sleep.
Bagon… would probably want to take the couch, or anywhere else he would like. Charmander… he would have to be careful, lest his tail flame burn the entire room to ashes. It would not do to burn the magnificent room because of a simple error.
I'll have to look into that. As for Magneton, he can stay at the coral for now.
Pidgeotto…. Pidgeotto would probably pick a good perch somewhere, maybe on the bed posts for all he knew, and knowing the avian, she would probably pick a spot higher than the others, if only to assert her pride as an avian.
Ash smirked. Having fun wasn't all that bad.
The cruise had its own personalized Pokémon center and hospital, in case they ran into any unfortunate accidents, or if the travellers simply wanted a duel. For the oncoming tournament, the staff and facilities at the center had been tripled, since they wouldn't be getting any external aid during their time on the cruise. There was a grand dining hall, with an attached ballroom and hall. Bars hosting drinks of all assortments, a piano and performance space for live music, elevators, spiral staircases and grand archways, just name it and it was there. Ash wondered if it was possible to simply live here for the rest of his natural life.
"Grand place, ain't it?" Harrison asked, as the two of them stood at the balcony right outside their rooms, each separated from the other by artistic grilling. It was past seven, and the announcement in the grand hall downstairs was due at around eight.
"Yeah. Eager to get started on the tournament?" Ash asked.
Harrison lifted his head and let out a snort. "Ash Ketchum, you need to start enjoying the finer things in life. For once, you are on a cruise you might never have a chance to be on, ever again. Cut the desire for pokémon battling and enjoy your trip."
Ash chuckled. "My mom and Professor Oak said the same. They said that I need to enjoy it a little more, else it will become tedious."
"Of course it would." Harrison agreed without hesitation. "Dude, you've barely made it a month into being a trainer, and you already have a solid team of seven….. No, eight pokémon, right?"
Ash nodded.
"You need a minimum of six pokémon to enter the Indigo League, which you already do. Even if you stop capturing pokémon any further, and just train and evolve the present ones to the limit, you already have a fantastic team." Harrison exclaimed enthusiastically. "You already have three badges for God's sake."
Ash chortled. "Now you are sounding just like my mom."
"Wonder why." Harrison drawled.
Ash snorted again. "Yeah, I know. Initially, I was thinking of attaining eight badges as soon as possible, maybe in six months, if I could make it."
Harrison muttered something like 'understatement', but Ash didn't inquire about it.
"After that, I could get my team trained for a while… maybe on Mount Mortar or somewhere similar."
"And then?"
Ash flustered a little. "Then I was actually hoping to challenge gym leaders and battle their original teams all over again."
Harrison raised an eyebrow. "Reworking your way all over the circuit to battle gym leaders, no strings attached? Quite… ambitious."
Ash shrugged. "I don't know… I just want to build a nice, powerful team for myself, and not depend upon a limited group. You know… I just don't want to face the situation of being limited to a single powerful heavy-hitter, and then risk everything upon the well-being of said pokémon."
"I… see."
"Yeah," Ash expressed. "Back when I was smaller, I used to have a dream of having a large, powerful Charizard who would be literally unbeatable, and would win all my battles for me." His face frowned. "But then as I grew up, the holes in that grand plan began to appear to me. Having a single heavy-hitter meant complete dependence on him, no matter how strong he might be. In case Charizard lost, I'd be without a trump card and lose my next match."
"That's… a rational approach."
"Yeah well, that's why I need an entire team, enough that I can simply use an entire team for one, and then use an entirely other one for the next. Besides, that's what a pokémon trainer is being about, right? Catching a lot of pokémon." He paused. "Besides, after meeting that psychic, who was playing with even Paul, I cannot help but think that no amount of training is overboard."
Harrison tilted his head at Ash's words. "Yeah… oh guess what? I forgot to tell you, but I also captured some pokémon from the tower."
Ash's eyes glowed with curiosity. "Which one?"
"An Umbreon and a Golem." Harrison replied.
"I thought they belonged to Team Rocket." Ash scowled. That had been his sole reasoning behind his lack of attempt at capturing them.
Harrison snorted. "I said the exact thing to Paul. Turns out, Team Rocket stole them from someplace, and they aren't registered. So, it's a free for all thing, I guess." He paused, "though, I will say that the pokémon were in bad condition, and need proper treatment."
"Did you put them to the Pokémon center on the ship?"
"Nah! Sent them back to Hoenn. Professor Birch decided to entertain my unusual request."
"Ah." Ash deadpanned.
The banquet hall was at the very least, three times larger than the sky-high Pewter city gym in sheer size. In fact, it was twice the size of the turbine chambers present at the Commerce City Power plant. On the main platform, stood a single host, a blonde-haired woman dressed in robes of immaculate blue, with the entire audience facing her, standing opposite the grand platform.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." The host spoke gracefully, her expressive eyes shining brightly at the audience in front of her. "Welcome to your very first night at St. Anne's. I hope you all have a lovely travel experience."
The entire audience clapped at her welcoming statement, as she continued. "I will take this moment to call in someone extremely special, to introduce all of you with the finer details of this particular trip." With an elegant wave, she welcomed a certain brown-haired man, who looked slightly embarrassed before walking up to the stage.
"Why the hell did we need to dress up like this?" Ash complained, muttering to Harrison, who snorted.
"Because it is the dinner code. Black coat with tails, white shirt and black trousers. That's why they got us a suit in the rooms."
"Yeah, but still…" Ash whined.
"Hush!"
"-please welcome on stage, the former Champion of Hoenn, and presently, the Deputy to the Champion of Kanto and Johto. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Steven Stone."
"THAT is Steven Stone?" Ash muttered excitedly. He had heard about the nearly unbeatable Steel-master who had reigned as Champion before leaving his seat for Wallace, who was reigning as the present Champion of Hoenn. While Steven was popular, Ash wasn't that mad about him as he was for Lance. After all, the dragon-master Lance, was the Champion of Kanto and Johto, and thus, much closer to home.
"Hello everyone…" Steven began, his bangs falling right in front of his eyes, getting him quite the exotic ruffian look with his silver hair color, as he addressed the audience. "To those of you who don't know me… My name is Steven Stone and I…."
He paused, as he was met with a cheering audience, pausing until most of the cheers had ceased.
Steven chuckled. "I am presently serving as a special Deputy to Champion Lance, who is presently, working to ensure everyone's safety from any and all forms of external threats. So I would like a round of applause for our diligent Champion."
Another set of cheers inundated the hall.
"I have been chosen to conduct the entire event by the League, because Lance said… that I'd manage it best, but I can't help but feel like Monarch Henry VIII's last wife. I kind of know what I'm supposed to do, but I'm not sure how to do it any differently."
Snorts reverberated in the entire hall.
"The world is changing," Steven began, "and with the latest developments, we have seen amazing, exciting things. Pokémon, of a variety of types and forms and legends arising all over, our own mythology coming to life, and regions coming together in mutual aid and support." He paused, "like our own Kanto-Hoenn Exchange."
After the thunderstorm of clapping had ceased, the silver-haired man continued, "Keeping that desire in mind, this cruise trip is something that Champion Lance, the Elite Four of Kanto, and similarly, Champion Wallace of Hoenn and respective Elite Four, have all been working on, over the last couple of months. And now, that we are all here, which brings us to our main event."
He lifted his hands wide open in welcoming fashion. "I invite you all, to the St. Anne's Clubsplosion Event!"
Thunderous cheering met his statement.
"-but I haven't even mentioned what it is yet!" He returned with a fake whine, much to everyone's chuckling. Former Champion or not, Steven Stone knew how to charm an audience. "The Clubsplosion, is going to be an all-open tournament, open to every single trainer in this compound, the number, I'm told reaching a staggering high of two hundred and fifty six." He joined in with the clapping. "Two hundred and fifty six, and all of them being just trainers."
He allowed himself a brief pause. "There are, hidden among us, some very, very special guests, who have requested me, not to reveal their identities, until the tournament is over." He smirked at the crowd's reaction, before continuing, "Nevertheless, I can assure you that they will be present to award the prizes for the Clubsplosion event which begins just tomorrow."
Another cheers ran amongst the audience.
"The organizers have decided, to have three rounds of elimination, with a single round a single day, which I believe, should be good to include all the trainers around here, and reduce it down to thirty-two, who would proceed to the Quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and eventually, the winner will be decided seven days from now, when we have a grand celebration, and a live performance by Jimmy Carrera."
The crowd cheered madly.
"We have decided that the top-four, will each get a mystery pokémon, kept inside these brand-new ultraballs." He waved his hand as a table materialized into existence. There were eight, shining ultraballs, sitting on pouches on the table, the distinct U on the ball shining vividly, even from the distance. "Initially, we were planning to have four pokémon eggs for the Top-4, without revealing the nature of the pokémon within. Then, our dear Ice-Queen Lorelei, had an intriguing idea."
He mysteriously paused, as he allowed the audience to digest that.
"Instead of eggs, we decided to get fully-evolved pokémon, taken from the Kanto and Hoenn Safari, eight pokémon, all of whom agreed to be part of this contest, and be awarded to the winners. All eight pokémon inside these balls are powerful, and hope to develop their abilities under their future trainers." He pointed towards the eight ultraballs. Each of the Top-4 will have the choice to choose one from these eight at random, though, you'll have to wait for the finals to know what those… mystery pokémon actually are." Steven smirked at the reaction before continuing. "Additionally, the Top-4 are going to get four packs of full-restores each as well."
"You think Paul's missing out?" Ash asked, not bothering to hide his excitement.
"You think?" Harrison agreed in the same spirit.
"The third runner-up is going to be awarded with five ultraballs." Steven began, the audience cheering at the mention of the highly anticipated prize. Ultraballs, were after all, a thing of luxury in the pokémon world, and every trainer's dream purchase, alongside TM's.
"The second runner-up will get five ultraballs and three thousand pokedollars." Steven continued. "The runner-up, shall be getting seven ultraballs and five thousand pokedollars."
Steven took a break. "The winner, of the Clubsplosion event, will be awarded…."
Everyone waited with baited breath.
"… With ten ultraballs and a direct entry into the top-32 of the upcoming Indigo Conference."
Hot damn. Ash and Harrison thought in unison.
The next morning, the entire deck looked completely unfamiliar. The gargantuan platform seemed to be divided into two different portions, an outer, larger region for the spectators, and a smaller, inner region, divided into four podiums, in order to have four elimination battles happening at the same time. The podiums were individually compartmentalized and fortified by psychic shields, in order to prevent any kind of interference from one field to another.
Ash found himself standing on the third podium, staring at the violet-haired Morrison, from Eterna city in Sinnoh, ready to begin the battle that would decide their future for the tournament.
"This will be a two-on-two battle. Trainers may rotate pokémon at will. You may not use more than two pokémon." The referee paused for a moment, before turning towards Morrison, who was standing on the blue square. "The Blue trainer shall choose first."
Morrison gave a sharp look towards Ash, before taking a step backwards, as he threw his pokeball into the centre of the battlefield. "Go, Tailow!"
The dark avian materialized in front of Ash, before spanning its wings outward, and soaring upwards, as he took note of it. Using the pokedex wasn't an option during an official battle such as this, since both trainers had to release their pokémon within ten seconds of each other.
Tailow, huh? Flying types are usually weak against electric types. Should I use it?
Ash made his decision, and plucked his pokeball out. "Go, Magneton!"
The magnet pokémon zoomed in the air above Ash, though luckily for him, did not resort to attacking him back like he had expected.
Perhaps I was a little too hasty about him? Ash thought. Either way, I can always compensate with Rhydon in case he ends up losing.
"Magneton, do your thing." Ash gave the order with a frown, knowing very well that Magneton wouldn't really accept his commands. As if in response, the magnet pokémon made a buzzing sound, and threw a bolt of electricity towards the flying type.
"Tailow, dodge and use agility." Morrison exclaimed, and as ordered, the flying type narrowly dodged the attack and almost vanished from in front of them, only to appear randomly at different places in the air, circling the magnet pokémon.
"Now use double team." Morrison ordered.
"Magneton, use thunder shock!" Ash commanded.
Magneton however, had other things in mind. Concentrating some of the ambient electricity within himself, he let out a powerful wave, ionizing the air between himself and the illusory avians.
Interesting. Ash thought. I didn't realise Magneton knew thunder wave as well.
The thunder wave attack was powerful enough to paralyse the flying pokémon, who let out a screech of pain before losing its altitude. A successive streak of electricity from the magnet pokémon simply ended the battle.
"Tailow is unable to fight. The winner is Magneton." The referee raised his flag on behalf of Ash. "Trainer Red, choose your next pokémon."
"Well," Morrison gave him a half-sneer. "Try this then, go, Ivysaur."
The evolved form of the Kanto grass-type starter Bulbasaur sprang onto the battlefield, staring at the floating magnet pokémon intently.
"Ivysaur, this will determine my continuity in the tournament. You have to win."
Ivysaur barked in agreement, and finding a bolt of electricity racing towards himself, he used his vines to provide himself upward momentum, throwing himself into the air.
"Use razor leaf!" Morrison commanded.
"Thunder wave." Ash commanded, and once again, Magneton did his own thing by trying to burn the leaves using thunder attacks. That, proved to be his misfortune, as the leaves struck him hard and true.
"Now send him down using vine whip!"
Magneton tried to dodge but the numerous vines caught him off guard, lashing Magneton in the face, as the magnet pokémon fell to the ground.
Ash refrained from saying anything.
"Finish with leach seed!"
Ivysaur let out a bark, as he ejected a leech seed out of his bud, which hit Magneton, instantly incarcerating him and sucking out his energy, making the electric-type lose disoriented.
"Ivysaur wins the battle." The referee declared.
I didn't know that. Tell me more. Ash thought cynically. Just as he had expected, Magneton was being more of a liability than an asset to his team. However, that was for later and he had an ivysaur to deal with. "Go, Metang!"
Numerous mutters of surprise rang among the audience. Apparently, Metang weren't that easy to find, much less capture.
"Ivysaur, use razor leaf!" Morrison commanded.
"You know what to do, Metang." Ash replied, a little laid-back, considering that he had trained the psychic-type enough to handle the grass-type by itself. The iron claw pokémon had instantly hardened its shell, as the leaves broke at surface contact.
Metang's eyes glowed an eldritch blue, as a blue aura surrounded Ivysaur, levitating it upwards in the air, as Metang pulled one of its fists backward, as a sliver of electricity ran through its shiny claws. Using its own psychic powers to create momentum, it shot towards the trapped grass-type, smashing a powerful thunder-punch in the face, dismissing its psychic trap just that very moment, as Ivysaur went tumbling down to the ground, unconscious.
"Ivysaur is unable to battle. Ash Ketchum moves to the second round of elimination."
"That was nicely done, Ash," Harrison praised, "although I never expected you to use Magneton like that in the start."
The two trainers had been lounging on the deck after a full lunch, enjoying the afternoon sun. Ash had let out Pidgeotto to spread his wings for a change, and Poliwhirl had jumped down into the sea, swimming amongst the waters, keeping up with the floating ship with its strong muscles. While Ash's own match for the day had been done, Harrison still had his left, which would probably be one of the remaining two sessions left.
Ash frowned at the other boy's question. "It was an acceptable risk. Magneton wanted to battle on his own, and I knew he was powerful, but I needed to know his limits. Besides, I needed to know if I could depend on him in the later rounds."
"Later rounds? Confident much?" Harrison taunted.
"Slightly. I want to win the tournament. I can't hope to win the trophy if I can't hope to qualify for at least the Quarter-finals."
Harrison snorted. "That's right, but what if he lost to Spearow?"
"It took Rhyhorn to transform to defeat him. He wouldn't lose to a Spearow." Ash scowled. "And worse came to worst, I could always rely on Metang to solve the problem, or Rhydon, if it needed a heavy-hitter in physical strength."
"That's… surprisingly well-planned." Harrison raised his eyebrows. "You are improving as a trainer, Ash, not the wee little newbie as I initially thought you to be."
Ash decided to give him a mature reply, by sticking his tongue out.
Harrison guffawed,
"When is yours?" Ash asked.
"Dunno." The trainer from Hoenn shrugged. "Maybe later during the day or something. Haven't really checked yet."
"Somebody's being incredibly lax or over-confident." Ash teased.
"Nah, just enjoying the finer things in life."
"Like the St. Anne cruise?"
"It's an acquired taste."
That evening, Ash found himself standing on the deck, staring at the waters rushing by, as the sea breeze kissed his face. Harrison had defeated his opponent earlier in the afternoon, and had chosen to take a siesta before dinner, leaving Ash to his musings. Ash had submitted Magneton to the Pokémon center for treatment, and collected him back after a couple of hours, planning to send him over to Professor Oak. Magneton's personality, strangely enough, seemed to irritate him beyond anything else, which was almost ludicrous. Was he simply being too… reactive about him because he was an electric-type, and had, in a way similar to Pikachu, made an attempt on his life? Or was it because like Pikachu, Magneton had thought less of him as a prospective trainer even before trying?
Am I just painting my notions about Magneton based on his similarity with Pikachu?
"Hey… you are Ash Ketchum, right?"
Ash spun around, only to meet Morrison, the trainer he had battled earlier in the morning. Wondering what the boy would be wanting from him of all people, Ash nodded uncertainly.
"Yes, you are Morrison, right?"
"Well, who else can I be?" The boy, Morrison grinned.
Ash chuckled softly.
"Anyway," Morrison frowned, as if having difficulty in choosing his words, "I was wanting to talk with you about… well, something."
"Sure…" Ash nodded.
"I was battling your Magneton earlier, as you know, and I noticed, it didn't seem too… enthusiastic about following your commands."
Ash rubbed the back of his head, feeling a tad embarrassed. "Yeah, I kind of caught him two days ago, and we haven't exactly… bonded."
Morrison chuckled. "My Tailow went down against an untrained pokémon." He chuckled again. "Shows how much I still have to prepare."
"Nothing like that," Ash replied, "your Ivysaur was one tough nut."
"It took one single strike for your Metang to bring him down." Morrison challenged.
It felt odd, trying to downplay his own pokémon. "Well, Metang has been with me from the beginning of my journey. He's… quite excellent at what he does."
"I can see that." Morrison accepted. "How long have you been training?"
"A little less than a month." Ash replied genially.
Morrison opened his mouth to retort, but then decided better. "One can hardly tell."
"I have heard that one before." Ash returned, chuckling. "Anyway, you mentioned you wanted to talk about something?"
"Uh, yeah…" Morrison looked a tad embarrassed. "Well, I was wondering if you would be interested in trading your Magneton."
Trading my what?
At Ash's perplexed expression, Morrison explained. "I have a Lairon, they are… well, native to Hoenn and Sinnoh, and rarely available over here. They evolve into Aggron, which kind of… are Sinnoh's counterpart for the Kanto Rhyperior."
Aggron huh? Ash remembered the giant, hulking beast that Paul commanded. That thing was enough to even make Rhydon sit and follow orders without question.
"Well, I'm kind of… having troubles with him. See, my Lairon is somewhat… enthusiastic, and I don't think I'm someone he needs at the moment. He's a bit…"
"Difficult to control?" Ash supplied.
"Not really. He's more like… wild and ready to battle at all times, and that causes more problems than you can imagine."
Ah. A zealot version of Metang?
"So, I was wondering if you would be interested in trading your Magneton for my Lairon."
Ash blinked.
Then blinked again.
"I'm sorry… but why would you want my Magneton? He's… not exactly the most affable or anything." He almost snorted at his own choice of words.
Morrison snorted. "Not like that, but well, I am more choosy over pokémon-types, going with flying, steel and electric types over others. Magneton fits that sort of description easily, and I have heard that it takes an incredibly long time to evolve magnemite into Magneton."
Point.
"So… would you be interested?"
Good question. Would I? Ash thought over it. Trading pokémon with others wasn't exactly something he looked forward to. However, this was a way of… substituting Magneton with another steel-type, only without his winning personality.
Should I do it?
He looked up at Morrison. "Can you… you know, show me your Lairon?"
Morrison beamed, as he plucked a pokeball out of his waist, and released the pokémon within. Red light flashed, as a pokémon that faintly resembled Rhyhorn, except that it looked slightly smaller, and its body was encased in steel armour all over its body, with single protrusions on the top, unlike Rhyhorn who had protrusions all over. The metal rhinoceros let out a grunt on seeing Ash observing him.
Lairon. The steel armour pokémon. Lairon is the evolved form of Aron, and feeds on iron contained in rocks and water. It makes its nest on mountains where iron ore is buried. As a result, the Pokémon often clashes with humans mining the iron ore. Groups of them fight for territory by bashing one another with their steel bodies.
Interesting. Ash thought, as he performed a thorough check.
This Lairon is male. Current move set: Head-butt, rock tomb, tackle, protect and metal claw.
Just for a recheck, Ash checked back on what Dexter had on Aggron. Just as he remembered, Aggron seemed to be the apex of physical strength, in addition to being steel-type, and he already had experience training rhyhorn, which should add to Lairon's training.
Rhydon and Aggron, two powerful behemoths if trained right. Too heavy-hitters, in case I need to fall back to using sheer force.
Decided, Ash took a deep breath as he looked up, with a slight smile. "Alright, I'll do it."
Morrison grinned. "Great! Then all we need is to get to the Trading Machine and seal the deal."
"I guess."
The two trainers walked across the deck, to the Pokémon center, beside which, was the Trading Room, with a rather sophisticated looking machine, with two different arm-like protrusions on either side, each landing onto a brass-plate, that was moulded to hold a pokeball without it rolling over.
Ash took one last look at Magneton's pokeball, not really wanting to allow second thoughts to float up. This is for the best, he told himself, as he placed Magneton's pokeball on the brass-plate on his end, while Morrison put Lairon's pokeball on the other end. The screen lit up, with pictographic representation of both Lairon and Magneton, along with their ownership info.
"Would you like to do the honours?" Morrison offered.
Ash, slowly negated.
"No worries." Morrison shrugged, pressing the key for trade, as the pokeballs got sucked into the machine, and the pictographic representations exchanged spots, before their ownership info, now reversed, flashed on the screen once again. The pokeballs, with a strange buzzing noise, fell back onto the plates.
"That settles it." Morrison stated, as the trading machine successfully exchanged the ownership of the two pokémon with each other. Lairon, who had been captured by Morrison of Eterna City had his ownership shifted to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. The reverse happened with Magneton, as his ownership shifted to Morrison at the same time.
"Nice doing business with ya." The trainer from Sinnoh declared, before giving him an enthusiastic bow, before leaving the trading room, whistling as he did. Meanwhile Ash, his face shifting into a frown, looked at Lairon's pokeball that was now in his hands.
"Now I just need to see what to do with you, pal."
The next day.
The tournament was back in action, and this time, Ash Ketchum was on the first list of participants for the second level of the Eliminations. There had been a lot of speculation on the identity of the mystery pokémon that would be awarded to the Top-4, resulting in a rise in enthusiasm amongst the participants, especially considering that the winner would get a direct entry in the Top-32, a mind-boggling thing.
Currently, he was facing a trainer from Goldenrod City of Johto, who had, from the rumours, literally devastated the last match with an abnormally powerful Raichu, defeating the opponent's Hit-mon-Chan and Wartortle without breaking a sweat. The trainer, Jimmy Matthews, was a dangly, tall guy that would've reminded Ash of Lt. Surge, only if the man wasn't just as large. Strangely enough, both of them had a Raichu as their prime battler.
What's it with tall guys and Raichu? Did that Pikachu try to electrocute me because I wasn't tall enough? Ignoring the sarcastic thought popping up in his mind, Ash selected a pokeball from his belt, waiting for the referee to start the battle.
"Trainer Red will choose first." The white-clad referee declared, turning towards Jimmy, who was standing in the red position.
"Win the battle for me, Raichu!" Jimmy exploded, as he threw Raichu's pokeball into the centre of the battlefield, releasing the final evolution of the Pichu line, as the large, overgrown mouse stood on her hind limbs, her large tail liberating generous amounts of electric sparks out of it.
Ash had a small smile on his face as he remembered his battle at Vermillion city. It was time to bring out his heavy-hitter. "I choose you, Rhydon!"
With a roar, Rhydon stomped into the podium, flexing his arms as he stood, glaring at the yellowish mouse before him. Almost on cue, Raichu seemed to flex her own limbs as a response, lashing her tail on the floor, making a deep scratch on it.
"A Rhydon, eh?" Jimmy asked, "Think type-advantage will be enough to beat me and Raichu?"
Ash returned a smirk. "I'll just take any advantage I can get."
"So be it," Jimmy declared, "Raichu, show them that type-advantage isn't everything. Use thunderbolt."
The counter attack didn't need any aid from Ash. Rhydon's evolution itself had been influenced by an overdose of electric-type attacks. The Rhydon, instinctively knew what to do in this situation.
Just as expected, Rhydon stomped forward, taking the entire discharge head-on, while at the same time, slamming the ground powerfully, as the raw power of Earthquake shot through the podium, scoring a direct hit on Raichu.
"Use Rock Tomb!" Ash calmly ordered.
Another powerful attack through its powerful hind limbs, as the entire podium shattered midway between the two opponents, raising the concrete upwards. The rest, for Ash, was almost like nostalgia. Rhydon spun its tail around, and slammed it against the fragments, all of them projected towards the electric mouse.
"Raichu, counter with iron tail." Jimmy ordered, as the electric-type, somewhat disoriented by the effects of the earthquake, leapt off the ground, and began to smash the incoming barrage into smithereens. Apparently, Jimmy must have evolved his Raichu pretty early, considering it wasn't half as fast as Surge's beast.
That was all that Ash needed. It was time to employ a move that Rhyhorn had learnt but never managed to use effectively because of his anatomy.
"Flamethrower!"
With a roar of blinding fury, Rhydon opened his maw and belched out powerful flames, scoring another direct hit on Raichu, who was too busy trying to beat away the concrete fragments. The flames struck him face-first, burning her skin as the mouse fell down on the ground, her fur charred at several places.
The referee raised the blue flag. "Raichu is unable to battle. The winner is, Rhydon!"
Rhydon let out a roar of triumph.
"Your Rhydon is rather well-trained." Jimmy observed. "Let's see how it deals with my next pokémon." He plucked out another pokeball and released it. "Go, Wartortle."
As expected. Ash thought. Rhydon still has to get rid of his weakness against water. Hmmm… might have to step-up his training in that regard.
"Rhydon, return!" Ash commanded, sucking the giant beast back into his pokeball. It wouldn't do to simply waste Rhydon's power against a type that held a distinct advantage against him. On second thought, if Jimmy already had a water-type, why didn't he change pokémon and go for it the first time?
The answer was pretty simple. Doing so, would reveal all of his cards.
A sly grin formed on Ash's face. "I choose you, Crawdaunt!"
As the red light from the pokeball dispersed, Crawdaunt materialised on the battle field, raising his pincers in an intimidating manner as he grunted his name out.
"A Crawdaunt." Jimmy inspected. "Haven't seen one of these guys in a long time. You want to battle my water-type with a water-type?"
Ash didn't bother to give him a reply, save a shrug.
"It's your funeral." Jimmy declared. "Wartortle, show them the power of a real water-type. Use water-gun."
"Dodge, and use Aqua jet." Ash returned, withholding back a smirk. It was one of those rare moves that Crawdaunt knew, but lacked enough practice to pull off. After their… initial disagreement had been done with, Ash had put the crustacean through a rigorous effort to get the move perfected. It wasn't perfect yet, but enough to go by.
Unlike what the name suggested, Aqua Jet wasn't a water-based elemental attack. Instead, it was a physical, fighting-based move employed by water-types, to increase their speed momentarily to high levels, not unlike the move Extreme Speed.
Using its appendages to generate enough momentum, the crustacean leapt off to his right, avoiding the water gun attack, as he used Aqua jet, incrementing his speed to nigh-unbelievable levels, as he shot towards the turtle pokémon.
"Withdraw and use Rapid spin!" Jimmy warned.
It was a perfectly good move. A spinning wartortle was a powerful defence and offense at the same time. Against anyone else, it would be a good combination against a speed-attack. However, this was Crawdaunt, and he had his own moves ready.
"Use Crabhammer, full power!"
Crawdaunt's right pincer shone brightly, as he used his entire physical strength, augmented by his own momentum thanks to Aqua jet, into slamming the powerful pincer towards the spinning shell of Wartortle, banishing the spinning turtle far away as it slammed against the psychic shields surrounding the podium.
"Wartortle!" Jimmy yelled in shock.
"Ice beam." Ash commanded quickly, as Crawdaunt raised another pincer, as a mist of white light materialised within it. With a loud screech, Crawdaunt projected it towards the fallen turtle, enveloping it with white light. When the light had receded, Wartortle was encased within a thick layer of ice.
What a way to master ice-beam! Ash thought.
"Wartortle is unable to battle. Crawdaunt is the winner." The referee declared, raising the blue flag. "Ash Ketchum moves to the next round."
Ash smiled, fondly looking at the way Crawdaunt was basking in hi triumph. Then again, the grumpy crustacean kind of needed it.
Besides, it wasn't all that bad. After all, one more battle and he would in in the Top-32, and then, the main competition would begin.