Chapter 24:Rival
Gary Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak had once been Ash's best friend, back when they used to be little kids. As they grew up, Gary developed a mean streak and began to establish himself as the big bully of the town—the only unfortunate fact being that he actually had the skills to prove his mettle, even back then in school. Top in the class, top in pokémon theory and stats, and Ash's own contender when it came to practical battling using simulators.
And then that incident happened.
Ash had never really known anything about his own father, not even his name. His mother, being an assistant researcher herself, didn't really suffer from financial troubles. Besides, from what he had guessed, the restaurant that belonged to them, was actually his father's, one that he had gifted his mother before… leaving. And irrespective of how much he would have liked to believe, he knew very well that the restaurant went a long way in establishing financial prosperity to his little family.
Delia Ketchum however, despite being the world's best mom, went seemingly silent whenever Ash had inquired about his father- that, or she would start weeping. Over the years, little Ash had slowly come to associate anything linked to his father, as something of an anathema—not to be spoken in front of his mom. Delia seemed happy to ignore the absence of a father in Ash's life, and not wanting to spoil it, Ash had readily decided to pretend the same.
He had often wondered why his father had left him and his mom. From whatever bits and pieces he could gather, his father wasn't exactly a bad person or anything, and considering that he had willingly transferred the rights to the restaurant to Delia's name—Ash didn't think that his father was a cold-hearted bastard as well. Then why did he leave? His mother had once told him, back when he was a child, that his father was a great man, and a great trainer, who went separate ways of because of personal reasons. The more cynical part of him often wondered (or dare he admit it, feared) that he was the reason why his father had deserted his mother.
And then he had come across a single pokeball, one that looked slightly old-fashioned, what with the strange gold and silver colouring instead of the usual red and white- inside the store room. Also, there was this strange inscription on it, one that could be roughly called a G and a S. When Delia had witnessed him holding it, she had downright panicked and told Ash to throw it away, which he did. However, that didn't stop him from getting it back from the trash later in the day, and hide it safely in a drawer.
The next day, he had taken it to school to observe the strange pokeball in detail. For some unexplainable reason, a part of him had stuck to the half-baked conclusion that the pokeball (coined GS ball according to his little mind), had belonged to his father once, and despite all the rage, and all the confusion he had over his father's departure, little Ash Ketchum had clenched to this lone item that he believed, belonged to his father.
And that was where Gary Oak had found him, staring at the odd-looking pokeball.
As was common with his behaviour, Gary had snatched the GS ball from his hand, an action that had resulted in a simulator battle between himself and a rather indignant Ash Ketchum. The match had ended in a draw.
And then Gary had done something that in Ash's mind, was simply unforgivable.
"It was a draw, and that means… that we both won the match by halves. The prize should be halved as well, don't you agree?" He tore open the GS Ball into two halves, tossing the top part to Ash, while putting the other half inside his own pocket. "Smell ya later, loser."
That was the day when Ash had lost a friend, and gained a rival, or should he say it, a nemesis, one he had sworn to defeat and humiliate in the future.
And that brought him back to the present.
"Hello Gary," He clenched his fists. "What do you want?"
His rival had a cocky smirk on his face. "Oh you know, my fingers are itching to humiliate you in a battle. I missed that chance when I started out for my journey, no thanks to your… convenient accident with this little buddy of mine."
Raichu let out little sparks of electricity from his pouches, his long tail beating against the grassy floor.
"So what do ya say, Ashy boy? Want to know how it feels to battle a real trainer? Let's have a match, right here, one on one, I'll even go easy on you."
A part of Ash's mind couldn't help but admire the symmetry of the workings of the universe. He had once tried to become Gary's best friend, and Gary had backstabbed him in return. He had tried to make Pikachu his starter, ignoring the fact that he wanted a Charmander, and Pikachu too, had meted out a similar reaction like his present trainer.
And now both of them were together, taunting him.
It was almost poetic.
And he gave the answer.
"No."
Silence.
"Huh?" Gary asked, slightly off-guard. "Ash Ketchum is saying no to a pokémon battle? Did I hear that right? What? Did seeing this little tyke remind you of your abysmal failure?"
Ash's countenance betrayed nothing. Even Magnus, Gengar and Absol, who were distinctly glaring at Gary, seemed slightly surprised by Ash's expression.
Gary arched an eyebrow. "Nothing to say?" He paused, waiting as a couple of seconds trickled past. "Well Raichu, I think Ashy boy here's too scared to speak. Let's go battle some real trainers."
"Rai!" Raichu agreed, lashing his tail on the ground in agreement, as Gary turned back to walk downhill.
"I won't battle you here, Gary."
Gary spun around. "Eh? Ashy boy can speak too? So, what is it, you are too scared to battle now, so you'll challenge me after a few months?" He sneered. "I got six badges, already. I bet you don't have half of it."
Ash smiled. "Just three."
"See?" Gary drawled.
Ash didn't give in to his anger. Instead, he went full Paul on him, smiling peacefully through his eyes.
"I don't want to battle you here. Let's meet at the Ranch, say… after an hour. We'll do an official six on six battle. Surely you want to prove the professor how… talented you are, don't you?"
That… paused Gary in his tracks.
"A six on six battle eh? Are you sure you can handle that much humiliation? You know right that Mrs. Ketchum will be there as well at the ranch?"
Ash didn't reply, as he stared at Gary for a confirmation.
"Well, it's your funeral." Gary replied exuberantly, lifting off a single pokeball, and tossing it from his hand up to the air and back, as he turned around and walked off downhill, an excited Raichu following his tracks.
After what seemed like an eternity, Ash let out a sigh, turning towards his pokémon, who were staring at him in a mix of confusion and surprise. "I'd say that went better than I anticipated."
He took out Metagross's pokeball. It was time to see just how much his friend had gained from his training.
Exactly an hour later, a calm and composed Ash Ketchum, accompanied by a gleaming Ninetales sauntered their way to the Oak Ranch, only to be met by an excited and unbearably-conceited Gary Oak, who was ready, standing by the trainer's position on one end of the battle-pitch that Oak had kept at the back of his yard, usually for young trainers to battle. He could see the old professor standing in the centre, with his mum sitting on one of the benches under the canopy of the Pecha-berry trees lining the grounds.
He had still to come to a conclusion about how he felt about Professor Oak sharing about his… incident with Pikachu with his own grandson, but then again, his experiences growing-up without a father had left him slightly jaded when it came to expecting from people. The conversation with Cynthia had only hit it deeper.
"A Ninetales, eh?" Gary leered, walking up to Ash. "That's a rare pokémon. You are putting her to battle against my team, aren't you?"
"Huh?" Ash asked, a little off-guard. "No, not really. Ninetales doesn't like to battle."
"Pfft!" Gary sneered. "You must really be pitiful if you cannot even convince your pokémon to battle for you. Then again, I'm not surprised… what with Pikachu and all."
"Gary, that's enough." Samuel spoke, and his tone wasn't the usual, docile one. Instead, Ash could feel steel in it, reminding himself that this docile, old man was a former Elite.
"Ash here has full right to choose his pokémon for the battle. Which pokémon shall battle, is completely his own choice, not yours." The old professor barked. "I suggest you go to your position."
Gary didn't move.
"Now!"
Gary sneered and stepped back into position.
Aoi looked up at Ash and gave him a rather queer look.
Do you want me to battle?
Do you wish to?
Not really.
Then don't. My team is more than enough to deal with this pest.
Aoi looked thoughtful, before she nodded, looking back at Gary curiously, as Ash stood over his designated position.
"Ash," the old professor asked, his tone curious, "Where you the one to challenge Gary for a full six-on-six battle?"
Ash nodded without a word. He didn't know how Gary had twisted his words. Truth be told, he didn't care.
"Are you sure? I thought you said you wanted your pokémon to rest for the next two days."
"I had a talk with them… and they don't mind it. It is one match, after all."
Oak stared at him with a calculating expression, before stepping back. "Very well, I'll be refereeing this battle."
"Thanks a bunch, grandpa." Gary yelled from his position. "You ready to face defeat, Ashy Boy?"
Said trainer, on the other hand, only had eyes for the woman on the bench, who stared back at him with a soft smile and a nod.
He nodded back, before turning to Gary. "Rules?"
"This will be a six-on-six battle." The old professor intoned loudly. "Substitutions are allowed. Trainers are not allowed to use any items or enhancers during the battle. The match will end when all six pokémon are unable to battle for either trainer."
Ash nodded calmly, as he plucked out his first choice. Rule number one, he reminded himself of Cynthia's battle strategy. A rookie would say choosing first is a mistake because the opponent gains the chance of a type advantage. A professional would say that it makes you look confident, which goes way ahead to set the pace of successive battles.
He turned his cap around, as he sent the ultraball to the floor. "I choose you, Absol."
Absol appeared on the field, her pristine white fur shining bright, even though the sky was remarkably cloudy. She raised her horn high up, as if in challenge.
"An Absol, huh? Wonder how you managed to get that one." Gary sneered. "But you are not the only one who's got foreign pokémon." He lifted up a pokeball and raised it. "Go, Mightyena."
A dark-type vs another. This will be interesting. Ash mused.
A part of him couldn't help but admire how very complementary the two battlers were. Mightyena and Absol, both true dark types, and yet, while the former had an overgrowth of black fur all over, the latter was pristine white. Mightyena worked best in packs, while Absol were, in essence, loners. The former were vicious attackers while the latter were at best, neutral when it came to starting a fight.
"All right," Gary moved ahead, "Mightyena, show him your strength. Use take down and follow fire fang."
Ash didn't say anything. Rule number two. Training pokémon doesn't mean teaching them skills. A TM could do that more effectively than a trainer. Training pokémon means getting them the experience to make their own decisions mid-battle. With the amount of training Absol had undergone against the rest of the team, she instinctively knew what to do in such situations. Ash forcing his will on her would only hinder that.
The moment Mightyena came closer, Absol's eyes glowed brightly, as she disintegrated into several illusory forms of herself, surrounding Mightyena in a circle, completely breaking down his momentum, before stabbing her forelimbs onto the ground, raising fragments of the earth upward, as she jumped backwards, clearly trapping Mightyena in her own version of Rock Tomb.
Ash held a small smile on his face. It had taken quite some time back there on Sulphur Island, but it was good to see Absol being able to use the attack so quickly and in conjunction with Double-team. For all intents and purposes, Mightyena was effectively trapped inside the rock-tomb, created all around him.
"Huh?" Gary snarled, "Mightyena get out of it, and use hyper beam!"
It wasn't so easy. Rock Tomb had literally held Mightyena captive and breaking out of it would require something along the lines of Rock Smash, or a powerful Earthquake, and by the looks of it, Mightyena knew neither. Instead, it raised his head upward and began to conjure a hyper beam, and from the likes of it, was using his entire strength behind it.
Ash smiled.
The hyper beam came in.
"Dodge and use iron tail."
Absol wasn't one for built for speed. However, her reflexes were superlative, especially when it came to dodging and coming back with a counter. She narrowly leapt off the ground, missing the hyper beam by several inches, as she slammed her tail, now shining brightly on Mightyena's head, as the other dark-type let out a groan, as its face was slammed into the ground.
"Return Mightyena." Gary scowled, not wanting to keep Mightyena there any further since it was clear that Absol had the upper hand. "Beginner's luck, Ashy boy. Don't think it was anything else."
"Of course." Ash replied calmly, something that he was sure would get to Gary's nerves faster than anything. Gary's technique had always been to anger the opponent, and hopefully, make stupid mistakes. Keeping a cool head in this situation, not only countered that, but also redirected the effect back on Gary, who was now vividly angry.
"All right, Ashy boy, let's see you face this one. Go, Heracross."
The large, blue, winged, bipedal beetle pokémon appeared in front of Absol, who maintained her offensive stance.
A Heracross huh? A bug/fighting type. I must have pushed Gary too far for him to resort to type-advantage now. A small smile played on his face. Absol's dark nature was at a disadvantage here, but she had plenty of tricks under her fur to deal with this one.
"Say Absol, are you willing to battle the bug or take some rest?"
Absol lifted her horn up in the air, showing her intention clearly.
Very well.
"Heracross, use horn attack." Gary began.
"Psycho cut." Ash muttered, as Absol sent out a powerful slash of psychic energy towards the bug-type, which collided with Heracross, destroying his momentum.
"Use Rock tomb and then use your trick."
Absol let out a tiny grunt in agreement, as her eyes began to glow. Soon after, she raised her forelimbs, and slammed them down to the ground, creating an entire barrage of rocks that shot out of the ground, trying to capture Heracross within its confines.
"Fly up." Gary ordered, as Heracross did the same. "Now use Mega horn."
Ash however, had eyes only for Absol, and from the looks of it, she was done. "Use double team and negate the attack."
Absol followed the commands to the letter, as Heracross had to cancel out Mega horn, being surrounded by illusory forms of Absol all around it.
"Uh… I'm tired of your cloak and dagger, Ashy boy. Heracross. Use focus blast."
"Use psycho cut."
Heracross raised his arms and slammed down onto the ground, creating a powerful focus blast attack, something that sent Absol flying, though before that, she had managed to score a direct hit with a psycho cut, causing Heracross's appendages to bleed furiously.
"Absol, return." Ash replied calmly, and luckily, Absol didn't raise any objections this time. "Go, Gengar."
The red light accumulated as Gengar appeared out of an amalgamation of shadows.
"Absol went first. Go with the plan." Ash whispered, knowing very well that Gengar's sharp senses would pick up on it, as her eyes glowed brightly.
"What?" Gary raised his pokeball, sensing malice. "Return, Heracross." The beam hit Heracross, but had no effect.
"Mean look." Ash explained. "Heracross won't be able to skip the battle until Gengar's present."
"You—you tricked me." Gary replied, stupefied, as his expression shifted to rage. "No matter. Heracross, use Night slash!"
Heracross let out a cry, as he raised his horn, accumulating dark energies into it as he went ahead to charge at the grinning Gengar—
Only to stop midway, unable to move. At all.
"What's happening?" Gary cried out.
Ash smirked. "Use curse."
Gengar's claws glowed maliciously as something leapt from her body toward Heracross, making the bug-type cry out in agony. The curse had begun its assault.
Gary growled, seeing Heracross completely stuck in his position, and by the looks of it, about to collapse anyway. There was only one thing he could do in this position. Deliver an attack that didn't need him to move.
"Use hyper beam!"
Heracross used up the entirety of his power to release a powerful hyper beam. The energy condensed into his maw, before he released it at the grinning form of the malicious ghost in front of him, striking him head-on.
The hyper beam literally travelled past Gengar, hitting the ground behind it.
"Normal moves don't work on ghost types, Gary." Ash replied calmly. "Did you forget that? A pity."
The hyper beam had blasted the point of contact apart, inundating the entire area in smoke. When the smoke had dissipated, a clearly unconscious Heracross stood fallen on the ground.
"Heracross is unable to battle. Gengar is the winner." Oak proclaimed.
"What?" Gary could not comprehend it. How was he losing to Ash of all people? He lifted up Heracross's pokeball, and duly returned him. "All right. You have had your tricks, but no more. Go, Mightyena."
Ash arched an eyebrow. Mightyena again? Was Gary really pining on type-advantage to get ahead of Gengar? The same Gengar who had literally run circles around Absol back at the forest?
"What was that trap?" Gary asked, plainly curious. "It wasn't made by Gengar."
Ash smirked. "You noticed that, huh? It's nice to see you're paying attention. But... unfortunately, it is the wrong kind of attention." He raised his voice. "Gengar, deal with the Mightyena."
Gengar's grin deepened, as it slowly levitated itself into the air.
Gary had had enough. "Mightyena, use crunch."
Mightyena let out a woof as he leapt off the ground into the air to bite onto Gengar's neck, only for Gengar to shatter into a dozen different illusions, making Mightyena fall down onto the ground. As soon as that happened, the illusory forms surrounded Mightyena on all sides.
Gary gnashed his teeth. "Use odour sleuth."
Ash arched an eyebrow. He certainly hadn't expected that one. Odour Sleuth was a normal-type move, similar to Foresight that allowed a ghost-type to be hit with normal-type attacks. However, as good as it was, it wouldn't work against D0uble team, which was also a normal-type move.
"Sludge bomb!" Ash commanded, as the illusory forms shot out large mounds of thick, poisonous sludge towards Mightyena, who was trapped in the centre.
"Use Iron tail to deflect them." Gary ordered.
Ash had to admit. It was a good counter. Steel-types were immune to poison-type moves, and hence, it was the safest counter to the sludge bomb. However, the poison was simply a distraction. The sludge was the main attack.
He grinned. "Will-o-wisp!"
"What? NO!" Gary yelled, as Gengar, with a cackling grin, sent out ghostly flames from all directions which hit the sludge, now covering half of Mightyena's shining tail, as well as the ground around him, causing an ignition that exploded with the force of a small bomb. Gengar, thanks to her ghost-nature, had simply turned incorporeal, vanishing the other illusory forms, enabling her to remain unaffected by it. The same could not be said for Mightyena.
"Mightyena is unable to battle." The old professor declared. "Gengar is the winner."
"Well done, Gengar." Ash congratulated. "Though you know you owe Absol for the first one."
Gengar just grinned maliciously.
Ash turned towards Gary. His rival had just lost two pokémon consecutively, while he had lost none.
Rule number 3. Victory is paramount in the first battle. It puts the opponent on a defensive, and that's half the battle won, allowing you to play your cards better.
Gary Oak had never really been one to take defeat easily. Ever since he had started out his journey with his trusted Squirtle, he had made it an ambition of sorts to capture a multitude of pokémon for the first month, and then create teams of out, both in terms of battling and in terms of power. The former was for delayed gratification, something that would aid him in the league, and the latter, to keep on a winning streak against the rookies he met on the road. He had, thanks to the convertible his parents had gifted him, driven all the way to Pewter to challenge Brock, making sure that he had caught a couple of grass pokémon on the way, since those, along with his squirtle, would be in an advantageous-position against Brock and his rock-types.
He had won the battle without any problems.
He had repeated the same process, only this time capturing pokémon with aerial abilities, or psychic ones, though making sure that he had captured some rock-types as well, since they would be effective against Surge and his electric-types. By the time May was over, Gary had already completed a winning streak across six gyms—Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Chrysanthemum, Celadon and Saffron. Of course, defeating Sabrina had been ridiculously tough, but he had managed to pull one over her, all thanks to his dark types.
That was when he had returned back to Pallet to start training with his collective team of sixty pokémon. After all, he had a lot of time in hand, and only two more badges to acquire. There was no hurry.
Pikachu had been his latest capture, whom he had evolved into Raichu using a thunder stone he had won out of a bet-match against a Unovan trainer he had met at Celadon city.
That had been six days ago.
Being a trainer wasn't an easy thing. That much Gary could agree with. However, what he could not comprehend was how the best of his team, whom he had personally trained over the past two months, were getting their asses wiped by Ashy boy's pokémon.
It was sacrilege.
"I have had enough with you and your hit and run tactics, Ashy boy." Gary snarled. "Let's see what you can do when you don't have the type-advantage to hide from." He lifted out his next pokeball, and threw it into the ground. "Win for me, Sableye."
The pokémon that formed in front of Ash and Gengar had a humanoid appearance, except it had two gems for eyes, and had a dark-purple fur. Its hands were modified into tiny paws, and it crouched instead of standing straight.
Must be a dark-type or ghost-type. Ash ascertained, judging from what Gary had just told him. Thanks for the info, Gary.
He lifted Gengar's pokeball. Time to throw Gary into another loop. "Gengar, return."
Gary arched an eyebrow.
"Go, Crawdaunt."
Crawdaunt appeared with a thud, his giant pincers clicking ominously, as the rogue stared at the darkness pokémon in front of him.
If he is a ghost-type, then Crawdaunt has the type-advantage. If he is a dark-type… well, it's on equal ground. There is no reason to waste Gengar on this.
A grin formed on Ash's face. This one will be interesting to battle.
Samuel Oak had been a hard-core trainer for decades before he had left that life, to settle for the life of a researcher, a life that he had been living for the last forty years. However, that didn't mean that he had forgotten all those lessons, all those experiences he had had as a trainer.
That was probably why Samuel Oak, legendary Elite-level trainer, was currently staring at Ash Ketchum like he was the biggest shit in the town right now.
He had never really understood the reason why Ash and Gary had drifted apart in the first place, what with Gary being too boisterous and Ash being… well, Ash- he had decided to ignore the issue, thinking that the matter would resort itself in the future.
It had not.
Instead, the two best friends had become serious rivals of each other, something the old professor had, if he were to be honest, encouraged. After all, a little rivalry was an excellent thing to have when it came to becoming pokémon trainers. Often, having a good and powerful rival was the very thing a trainer needed, to get the push needed to start striving for betterment.
However, the current state of relationship between Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak wasn't that of a healthy rivalry, like he had guessed. It was anything but that.
Speaking of Ash, Samuel couldn't help but wonder where in hell had Ash gotten the motivation to step up his battling skills to such a high level. He knew that Red's son had always been a natural at battling, even on the simulator. However, now it seemed like someone had taken the raw diamond, and polished it enough for it to start shining. Of course, he was barely good enough to defeat the professional League-level trainers right now, but he was somewhere close to that feat.
What exactly did you go through in Hoenn, Ash? And what could possibly have motivated you to reach that zenith?
Ash stared at the Sableye, who looked ready to pounce upon Crawdaunt, before throwing a side glance at Crawdaunt. The crustacean had come a long way from his initial disposition prior to the events of St. Anne. Back then, he could hardly perform four moves, and even those left a lot to be desired. The tough training that Crawdaunt had undergone, because of Cynthia's Spiritomb, and later, by Gengar and especially Absol, had literally changed the rogue, making him into something Ash was proud to call a battler for his team.
Gary didn't seem to want to wait any longer. "Sableye, use feint attack and follow up with brick break."
Ash raised an eyebrow. Feint attack never missed its target, which made it a rather good move to use in coalition with brick break. In fact, he had himself decided to purchase a couple of fighting-type TMs, which included brick break from Cerulean Pokemart, when he left home.
"Let me help you, Gary." Ash smirked. "Crawdaunt, use Aqua punch."
Aqua Jet was a move in which the user enveloped itself inside a current of water, and began moving at rapid speeds. It was exactly the thing needed for Crawdaunt, who was in effect, a rather stationary fighter in most aspects, to aid to his mobility. Also, alongside its rapid speed, aqua jet was rather mutable in its very nature, something that Ash had worked over during his stay at Sulphur Island.
Crawdaunt's pincers glowed brightly, creating two powerful crabhammer on either side, as he shot towards the incoming attack by Sableye, who was coming in at high speeds, with its brick break attack. The brick break slammed into one of the pincers, neutralized by Crawdaunt's own crabhammer, and to some extent, deflected off by his strong body armour. However, it left Crawdaunt free to use his other pincer.
"Slam into him and then use Guillotine." Ash yelled.
The other crabhammer slammed into Sableye's face, breaking its jaw, before Crawdaunt grabbed Sableye's neck with his pincer, before slamming it into the ground.
"Sableye!" Gary yelled, though it was of no impact. After committing everything into the brick break, Sableye had been driven into a precarious position. The combination of another Crabhammer followed by Guillotine was more than enough to send it reeling to the ground. Sableye were deceptively powerful attackers, but they were no defensive tanks.
"Finish with bubble beam on the face."
With one pincer still around a nigh unconscious Sableye, Crawdaunt raised his other pincer, holding it open, face-first on Sableye, as it showered a torrent of bubble beam on Sableye, rendering it unconscious.
"Sableye is unable to battle. Crawdaunt is the winner."
Gary seemed to be shocked beyond comprehension. "Return Sableye," he replied in a deceptively calm voice. "I will shatter your Crawdaunt's shell, Ash Ketchum." He lifted out his next pokémon. "Go, Blastoise!"
With an enormous roar, Blastoise appeared in front of Crawdaunt, its hulking body inside its near-impervious shell, with two powerful cannons on either side of his head.
"Annihilate that Crawdaunt, Blastoise." Gary roared.
Ash simply narrowed his eyes. Blastoise were naturally powerful pokémon. Even Crawdaunt with his present level of skill would be pushed to try defeat Blastoise. However, doing so could reveal Blastoise's true skill level.
"Crawdaunt, can you battle?" He asked calmly.
"Daunt!" The rogue pokémon let out a yell, raising his pincers. He had been the underdog of the group for quite a long time, and it felt really good to be finally victorious against opponents. The tough-looking Blastoise would give him a real test.
"Daunt! Crawdaunt!" He roared in exhilaration.
"Very well." Ash mused. Gary had already lost three pokémon, and should- no, when Blastoise was dealt with, there would be two more- his eyes narrowed-with Raichu as one of them in all possibility. Obviously, Gary had deemed Crawdaunt as powerful enough to send in Blastoise, even when Raichu would probably have the type-advantage.
Either that, or he wants to save Raichu for later. Hmmm… which is it?
He considered his own team. Pessimistically thinking, even if Crawdaunt should go down before Blastoise's power, he could still cause enough damage for Gengar to pick up the slack. Worse came to worst he could always….
Yeah, that will do. It will leave me Absol, at the very least, to deal with the next pokémon, leaving me two more options to choose.
Ash smiled. Your move, Gary.
Gary glared at the strangely calm Ash Ketchum, as he began his onslaught. "Blastoise, no mercy. Show him the power of a hydro pump."
"Blast!" The fully-evolved turtle pokémon bent forwards a little, forcing out twin torrents of water, powerful enough to cut through steel should it come in direct contact with it.
Very well. Ash mused. "Aqua jet, take the hit."
Samuel glanced sharply at Ash.
Crawdaunt surrounded himself with an envelope of water, as he shot towards Blastoise, only to suffer the wrath of two super-powered water jets, directly head-on.
"Payback!" Ash yelled, follow up with crunch."
Crawdaunt roared in blinding fury, ignoring his existing injury, as he leapt off the ground, his pincer tearing into one of Blastoise's arms, as he drew blood, causing Blastoise to yell out in agony.
"Withdraw, and use Rapid spin." Gary yelled.
Ash knew what was to come. The moment Blastoise withdrew into his shell, it was over. The shell lifted off the ground, and began to spin rapidly, slamming into Crawdaunt, who was sent flying to the ground.
"Blastoise, end this." Gary raged. "Use Flash cannon."
Ash arched an eyebrow. "Return with twin pulse."
Crawdaunt somehow managed to get himself up, and raised his pincers, before ejecting two dark pulses from either pincer, aimed straight at Blastoise. It met midway with the powerful Flash-cannon attack, before detonating out into a large explosion, once which threw Crawdaunt further away, smashing him into the ground.
"Crawdaunt is unable to battle. The winner is Blastoise." Samuel spoke up in a monotone, his eyes never leaving Ash.
Ash slowly walked up to Crawdaunt, before holding him up. The crustacean was almost unconscious, and was hardly being able to stand up, and yet, despite that, he was trying to raise his pincers, trying to prove that he was not done yet.
"It's over, Crawdaunt." Ash muttered slowly. "You have done great. Now let the other take up the mantle. You made your team proud."
Crawdaunt let out a growl, before falling unconscious.
"Return, and rest, my friend. You did a wonderful job." Ash returned Crawdaunt into his pokeball, as he stood up, facing Gary with something like steel in his eyes. Meanwhile, he also observed how Blastoise had not been unaffected, and was panting heavily. It was obvious that he needed time to rest.
"I told you, Ashy Boy. Beginner's luck. I admit it was my mistake to take you lightly. I assure you, it isn't any longer the case."
Ash arched an eyebrow. Was Gary trying to intimidate him or trying to reassure himself?
Gary lifted his pokeball. "Blastoise, return." He took out a different pokeball and threw it. "See for yourself once again why you couldn't get Raichu as your starter, Ashy boy."
Raichu materialized in front of Ash, his long, shiny tail slamming into the ground every now and then. The evolved form of Pikachu, and the one pokémon whose smug grin Ash wanted to erase.
Forever.
A slow grin crept up on his face. Maybe this battle would forever end his internal struggle and fears over electric-types.
He lifted off his pokeball.
"I choose you," Ash looked up, as he tossed the ball towards the sky, "Metagross."
Red light inundated the evening sky, as the immense, iron-leg pokémon appeared in the air, merrily disobeying gravity as he floated on his four legs, by virtue of sheer psychic power, before he slowly levitated himself down, maintaining his position barely an inch above the ground.
"A… Metagross?" Gary stammered. "How… why do you have a Metagross?"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Why do I have him? Because he thought I was worthy to be his trainer. And his friend."
Gary took a step back. "Just because you might have been lucky enough to catch yourself a pseudo-legendary doesn't mean you'll win this battle, Ashy boy." He sneered. "Raichu, show him that a name tag isn't enough."
"Rai! Raichu cheered, his cheek glowing as he let out thousands of volts of electricity towards Metagross.
Ash folded his arms.
Just before the thunderbolt came down upon Metagross, he… shifted, just far enough to avoid getting hit but no more.
Gary gnashed his teeth. "Raichu, use quick attack!"
Raichu did as ordered, sprinting on his tiny legs towards the Metagross, only for Metagross to simply shift to the sides, just enough to avoid the attack, and not an inch more.
This must be what Steven had referred to as Absolute precision. Ash thought inwardly.
It is, and more. Came the mental answer.
"Use Electro Ball."
It missed.
"Thunderbolt, Raichu!"
It missed.
"Use Iron tail."
It missed.
"What the hell, Ash? Are you just going to keep dodging?" Gary snarled.
Ash simply kept quiet.
"Grr!" Gary literally growled. "Very well. Raichu, catch that Metagross. We'll show him who the one with the superior speed is."
Raichu barked in agreement, panting, before he shot towards Metagross, trying to catch him.
However, each and every time Raichu would cross a calculated distance, Metagross simply used psychic to propel his body to a calculated distance, out of Raichu's own range. Had it been a Pikachu, the electric-type would probably have been able to change direction midway, however as a Raichu, that option was disabled.
Two minutes later, Raichu was panting, and Metagross, merrily floating in his place.
"Use thunder wave." Gary yelled, realizing that pin-pointed attacks weren't going to work. He would have to use wide-area ones.
About time he figured it out. Ash mused.
However, no action was needed. A screen of light formed in front of Metagross, with just enough power to absorb the attack and get shattered, and not a unit more than that.
"Are you ever going to attack?" Gary yelled, frustrated.
Ash smiled. "Metagross, let's fulfil his wish."
Raichu felt his entire body locked in a psychic trap, as he was lifted into the air, as he faced the icy blue eyes of Metagross. He momentarily glanced at Ash, at the trainer he had deemed useless and a waste. His glance returned towards Metagross.
"Flash Cannon." Ash muttered coldly.
"Met-taaaa!" Metagross let out a mechanical roar, before ejecting out a shaft of pure white light towards Raichu, sending it straight towards the wall behind Gary. Raichu slammed into the wall, before slowly dropping down unceremoniously onto the ground.
Unconscious.
"Raichu is unable to battle. Victory goes to Metagross." Samuel declared. He turned towards Gary. "You have lost four of your pokémon, while Ash has lost one. Do you wish to continue battling?"
"Don't insult me, Grandpa." Gary sneered. "Ashy boy is just caught me by surprise, that's all. I took him lightly, and he used tricks to win."
Samuel just shook his head. "Choose your next pokémon."
Gary considered it for a moment. "Go, Arcanine!"
The great beast of a fire-type stood in front of Ash and Metagross, growling in anticipating of a good fight. Ash idly noticed that the Arcanine was quite… on the small size, a proof of its recent evolution. Once again, it brought forth the question how Gary had managed to get his hands on such precious stones. First the thunder stone, and now this?
"Get ready to meet what real speed is all about, Ashy boy." Gary sneered.
A remarkably good strategy. Ash mused. Fire has an advantage over steel, and Arcanine's speed is unparalleled.
A well-justified analysis to be excited about, trainer Ash. If you are a speculator.
Ash rolled his eyes. This is just another Typhlosion with extreme speed. Deal with it. Show me what you got.
As you wish.
Gary had no intention of waiting. "Arcanine, use Fire-burst."
As was obvious, Metagross instantly shifted from his position, completely avoiding the attack.
"Stop avoiding!" Gary yelled. "Arcanine, use fire spin. Let's show this Metagross that it cannot escape our wrath."
Fire Spin. An extremely powerful fire-type attack in which the user summons a vortex of flames, and projects it towards the user. Once let go, the attack is highly difficult to control, and hence, becomes sort of a loose cannon, owing to its unpredictability.
Arcanine let out a wild howl, summoning a tornado wreathed in scorching flames, which approached Metagross face-first. Even from the distance, Ash could feel Arcanine struggling to keep the fire-spin under his absolute control.
So fire-spin is easy to create but much more difficult to coordinate. Ash frowned. Good to know.
Lock it in place. He commanded Metagross. Like Alakazam did at the forest. Lock it in. Cut off the oxygen.
It will be difficult, even for me, to contain it for long.
Ash smirked. Don't worry. That's Arcanine's job.
He could almost feel his friend smirking as the iron leg pokémon understood what Ash was going for.
Six plates of psychic energy surrounded the fiery tornado, trapping it inside, as the tornado raged, midway between Arcanine and Metagross, with the former doing his best to keep on supplying innate power into the fire spin to keep it burning, while Metagross held on his psychic, cutting out the oxygen.
Ten seconds slipped by.
"Arcanine, let it go, or else the fire spin will drain you of your energy." Gary yelled.
Unwillingly (and slightly relieved as well), Arcanine let go off the fire spin, which instantly vanished off, not able to continue in the lack of air, as the great beast sagged on to the ground.
"Now use psychic." Ash spoke for the first time.
Taking advantage of Arcanine's somewhat subdued situation, Metagross trapped him in a trap of psychic energy, levitating him high up in the air, despite Arcanine's attempts to struggle free out of it.
"Use Flamethrower on the face." Gary yelled.
Shit. Ash cursed, as Arcanine belched out powerful flames face-first on Metagross, making him lose his focus, causing the psychic trap to break down.
"Get to him and use crunch." Gary yelled.
"Not so easy." Ash yelled back. "Hold him."
Metagross, by virtue of his supercomputing ability, managed to locate Arcanine's trajectory, catching him by the neck before the great beast could bite him.
"Slam him down, and use bullet punch."
"Met—Taaaa! Metagross roared, slamming Arcanine down on the ground, slamming his iron-appendages on his face.
Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!
Had it been any other circumstance, Ash would have chuckled out loud, what with the way Metagross was mentally repeating that mantra, as he kept on slamming his iron-leg on Arcanine. In a matter of seconds, Arcanine was down, unable to battle.
"Arcanine… is unable to battle. Metagross is the winner." Samuel Oak declared, as a completely traumatize Gary Oak stood in his position, his hands hanging down, almost lifeless.
"Gary," Samuel replied quietly. "Choose your next pokémon, or forfeit the battle."
Gary did not reply. A rather calm voice called out. "Return, Arcanine." As soon as Arcanine had been returned to his pokeball, Gary let out his last and only remaining pokémon.
Blastoise.
"Return Metagross."
Gary looked up, scandalized. "You are returning him? Is that behemoth not enough to defeat my already weakened Blastoise? Or do you want to humiliate me even further?"
"I just want your Blastoise to have a fair fight. It is after all, your starter." Ash answered, as he released his next pokémon. "I choose you, Shelgon."
"Gon!" The tiny dragon roared, as he stared at the much larger, albeit slightly injured Blastoise in front of him.
"A… dragon?" Gary, who had instantly realized Shelgon for what he was, spun towards the senior Oak. "You gave him a fucking dragon as a starter?"
"His injuries were my responsibility. I could not get his Charizard, so I got him a-"
"And that thing chose him?" Gary literally yelled. One would think that he had gone round the bend. "I spent three weeks at the Safari, before finally giving up on Dragonair, and that thing chose him?"
Oak did not answer back.
"Great… this is great." Gary muttered, before turning towards Ash. "Very well, Ashy boy. A starter versus starter, it is. You might have a dragon, but it is nothing compared to my Blastoise." He snarled. "Use hydro pump!"
"Shelgon, use Protect!" Ash commanded, "Now use dragon pulse!"
"Blastoise, withdraw!" Gary yelled, panicking.
The high-powered dragon pulse shot towards Blastoise, who safely withdrew inside his shell, allowing his shell to deflect the draconic attack.
"Thank you." Ash smirked. "Now, Draco meteor!"
"Use rapid spin!"
"Charge ahead and use dragon pulse again!"
Blastoise had begun his rapid spin attack, but almost instantaneously, the second dragon pulse shot towards him, scoring a direct hit, causing the turtle pokémon to get out of his shell.
"Blastoise, you hydro pump to deflect!"
It was too late. Large, powerful meteors were already falling down from the sky, and as powerful as Blastoise' shell was, the successive dragon pulses had already scorched it, decreasing its potency as a powerful shield, as the spinning shell fell down to the ground.
"Now finish it with rock tomb!" Ash commanded, as Shelgon slammed his forelimbs down to the ground, raising rock boulders around the shell, preventing Blastoise from getting out.
"Finish it with another Draco meteor." Ash called out.
"Blastoise, break out of that. Use rapid spin." Gary countered, his voice broken. It was clear that his confidence had been shattered, with the consecutive loss of all five pokémon. Even Blastoise, who should have used better attack-tactics, was using defensive manoeuvres, revealing a half-hearted attempt at best.
It was useless. Cynthia's Garchomp had literally drilled the concept of Draco Meteor into Shelgon, enough to conjure one at a moment's notice. It was one of those things that Shelgon was unparalleled in. Even Magnus came short when it came to firing pure draconic attacks at a rapid pace.
And then the meteors fell from the sky.
When the smoke had dissipated, only the broken form of Blastoise remained amidst the rocks, unconscious. Shelgon, who had not even moved from his position, remained unaffected and virtually indifferent to the situation.
"Blastoise is unable to battle." The professor spoke up in an emotionless tone. "Gary Oak has lost all six pokémon. Victory goes to Ash Ketchum."
"I… I lost?" Gary muttered, his eyes gaping, as he felt his knees weaken, traumatized at his humiliating loss. He, who had had a steady win across all six cities, defeating the gym leaders effectively, and had crushed all rookies and professionals who had faced him in battle, had been ruthlessly crushed by Ash, of all people.
It was… disgraceful.
He had… disgraced himself, his own family, his pokémon, by this defeat.
That, would not do. That, would simply not do.
"Gary?"
He looked up. It was Ash.
"What do you want?" He hissed, tears filling his eyes. "Are just not satisfied by humiliating me like this in front of everyone?"
Ash didn't say anything.
"Talk to me, Ketchum." Gary snarled loudly.
Ash sighed, staring squarely at Gary in the face. "You lost because of your arrogance, not because of me, or your pokémon."
"Just because you defeated me in battle, doesn't mean that you get to lecture me like that, Ketchum."
"Gary-"
"Enough!" Gary snarled, picking himself up, as he gathered his pokeballs. "This changes nothing between us. I will train, and I will become stronger, and I will defeat you in the Conference. I swear on it."
Ash stared at him, steadfast. "Very well. I will meet you in the conference then."
Gary stared at Ash with a nigh inscrutable expression on his face, before turning around and running away, leaving the three individuals in an awkward silence.
Ash witnessed his once-best friend turned rival run away from him, angry and humiliated by the loss that he had borne upon himself by his own arrogance. A part of him basked in glee at finally landing humiliating defeat on Gary Oak, the one person who had been the source of so much trouble in his life. At least, this incident would go ahead to make him think about his own faults.
He paused.
Well… probably. Hopefully.
"Ash."
Said trainer turned towards the professor, who was addressing him. "yes, professor Oak?"
"That was masterful battling on your part. One expects that level of battling at the Conference, and not someone barely months into his training. You have truly surpassed my expectations, my boy."
Strangely though, Ash didn't feel any sense of happiness at the man's words. There was no pride surging through him, no sense of confidence oozing out of him as a result of such a near-perfect victory.
Instead, he just felt…
Calm.
"Gary fought like a rookie." He replied finally, "-or at least not what I expected from him. He went for powerful moves, and superficial advantages, and had no form of control over his game. I am not even sure if it counts as a victory for me, professor."
Oak stood silent, comprehending his words. "I can understand, why you might feel like that." He looked squarely at Ash, "you could have replaced Crawdaunt with any other of your team, but you simply wanted to see… to experiment on the level of endurance your pokémon had. Gary was simply a means to an end."
Ash realized the reason for the frown forming on the old man's face. "If that is your way of telling me that I used Gary to prove my superiority, then you are wrong. I didn't challenge him, it was he that did it."
Oak narrowed his eyes. "But you said-"
Ash wasn't done speaking yet. "He was the one who unleashed an electric-attack upon me from a distance. If not for Magnus, I'd be injured. Then, he challenged me to a one-on-one battle, right there on the peak. I denied and chose a six-on-six battle to be held here, in front of you… and Mom."
"I… didn't know." Oak apologised. "He didn't… didn't tell me about it."
"There are lots of things that Gary doesn't tell you, professor. Just like there are lots of things that you don't tell me, or…" his glance shifted, "-or others don't tell me about."
He noticed his mother walking towards him.
"If it is all the same to you, professor," Ash muttered, audible enough for the old man to hear, "then I'd like to stay alone for a while." He paused. "Please?"
Samuel looked conflicted. "Very well, you may go."
"Thank you, professor." Ash bowed his head softly, caressing Aoi's head with his other hand. "Let's go, Aoi."
Yes.