Don't Give Me Diamonds
Diamond 040: Give me Skill
Time continued to pass and the number of trainers left in the tournament was significantly smaller. Ash was sitting in the lobby, he didn't have the energy to stand by the window and watch the battles. He wanted to shout out advice as if he were part of the crowd, but that red haired waiter in the lime green suit told him he had to be quiet. The excuse was that he shouldn't distract the battling trainers. The truth was that people might complain if they thought the champion's advice decided the match instead of the battling trainers.
Just watching quietly made Ash grow more impatient for his name to be called. He was sitting with his head down in impatient frustration when someone asked, "why the long face, Ash?"
"I haven't been called out to battle, not even once." Ash looked up at the one who had spoken, instantly recognizing the other young man, "Ritchie! What are you doing here?"
"Rumors travel fast. I was at the Pewter City Pokemon Center when I heard you were here. I made a few calls and rushed over. They're letting me participate as a late entry." Ritchie happily announced. Normally, he would only be interested in official Pokemon League competitions, but being able to battle Ash within a tournament was worth the exception. It was more exciting than a private battle, as it felt different with the energetic atmosphere of battling in front of a crowd. It helped both trainers battle at their best.
Ash's mood took a sharp turn for the better, "this is great! We'll finally get to battle; I'm looking forward to it so much!"
Ritchie laughed, "you haven't really changed at all." While the two Indigo League champions talked, the battles continued. The champions were being saved for last.
xoxox xox xoxox
Out in the arena, another match was about to start. Fan girl squeals erupted through the crowd as the mysterious Rose Mask appeared again. He looked dashing in his black tuxedo, cape, mask and top hat. He held a single red rose, posing with it.
From the window of the lobby, Sailor Flame, who was Jessie in disguise, rolled her eyes and vowed to get a louder applause. She was wearing a white and red mini skirt sailor suit with a yellow bow. Her hair was in pigtails and she also had a mask similar to James'.
"For our next match we have Samurai versus Rose Mask, on a two on two battle. You may switch between your two chosen pokemon at any time, fight!" Jango announced the beginning of the match. The earlier rounds had been one on one to accommodate for the fact that some trainers only had one hastily caught or borrowed pokemon. They had already been eliminated so the number was increased to two for the next series of battles. The remaining trainers had no problem with that.
Samurai was from Viridian City, thus Mayor Antilles would be pleased if he won. It seemed most of the women in the crowd were cheering for Rose Mask, except for those who were Samurai's friends or relatives. Living up to his name, Samurai was dressed in classic armor with a helmet included and a katana at his waist. He threw out his first pokeball, which bounced back into his hand after releasing a red beam of light. The beam took the shape of a Butterfree. "My specialty are bug pokemon and they are all strong and noble!"
"They're also weak against fire types!" James reminded as he threw his own pokeball into the arena. His loyal friend Growlie emerged from the pokeball ready for battle. James looked back at Jessie, who was watching from the lobby's window. He wanted to see her reaction to his smart move, but she only glared at him. She was getting fed up with the constant high pitched squealing of the girls in the audience.
"You are very wrong if you think you can win judging only by types. I'll show you the true strength of an honorable warrior!" Samurai ordered the first move, "Butterfree, fly high up and use stun spore!"
"Don't let Butterfree get away, Growlie," James urged, "flame thrower!" Growlie began to shoot fire balls at James' command.
"Dodge it Butterfree!" The bug pokemon didn't even need to be told this, as she moved rapidly in the air out of the way of the flames immediately. At the same time, Butterfree released her stun spores. The potent yellow dust fell on Growlie, who immediately started feeling the effects.
"Don't give up Growlie! You just have to hit that Butterfree with your flame thrower, I'm sure it'll be super effective," James cheered for his pokemon, but Growlie was severely suffering from paralysis due to the effects of stun spore. He couldn't defend himself.
"Butterfree tackle!" The bug pokemon was small, but very strong. She swooped down at Growlie flying as fast as she could and collided with him pushing him back.
"C'mon Growlie, use flame thrower!" James watched as Butterfree tackled Growlie again and again. If that kept up, Growlie would faint. "Growlie, return for now." Since Growlie had not fainted, James still had the option to call him out again, but he was paralyzed and the use of healing items during the matches was prohibited. "Go Weezing!" Long ago, James had freed his Weezing at the same time Jessie freed her Arbok. During their journey years later, Jessie and James had ran into them again and the pokemon rejoined them. They had spent their time apart training their wild pokemon friends to defend themselves.
"Butterfree, tackle!" Samurai wasn't about to end the relentless attack.
"Weezing, smoke screen!" Hidden behind a curtain of smoke, Weezing was able to evade Butterfree's attack. "Good, now use a sludge bomb!" Weezing shot sludge at Butterfree. Some of it fell close to the referee, who jumped back in fright. Though Butterfree was lost in the smoke screen, she didn't stay still and it made her hard to hit.
"Use sleep powder Butterfree!" Samurai called out. He couldn't see what was happening behind the smoke. When it finally started to clear out a very sleepy Weezing was revealed. Butterfree kept flapping her wings with abundant blue dust coming from them.
Weezing flew lower by the second until he was on the ground fast asleep. "Weezing you have to wake up!" James called out to his pokemon as loud as he could, but Weezing wasn't moving.
"Alright Butterfree, finish him off with hyper beam!" Samurai was sure he would win. After Weezing was out of the picture, all that remained to be done was to finish the paralyzed Growlithe.
"Weezing!" James didn't know what to do, he couldn't substitute Weezing with Growlie. He was still paralyzed, so that wouldn't make the situation any better. For a moment he was sure he would lose, but even so, there were people in the audience still loudly cheering for Rose Mask. The cheers of the crowd gave James an idea that might be crazy enough to work. He held up his rose, made a pose, winked and blew kisses at the audience. Simultaneous loud squeals erupted from the crowd in such a massive high pitched volume that Weezing woke up. The poison pokemon was so startled that he used self destruct.
Butterfree and Weezing both lay on the arena unconscious, "Butterfree and Weezing are unable to battle!" Jango announced; "both trainers are down to one pokemon each!"
Samurai considered calling it cheating, but a warrior needs to be aware of his surroundings and how the field of battle can affect the outcome of the fight. He called his pokemon back into her pokeball, "Butterfree return, you fought excellently my friend."
"Time to rest, Weezing, you did great," James recalled Weezing into his pokeball and sent out Growlie again. "Don't give up Growlie, just try to recover and let's win this!" Growlie was struggling, trying to get his body to respond.
"There's no way you can win with a paralyzed pokemon," Samurai called out his second pokemon, "go Pinsir! If you refuse to give up, I have no choice but to end the battle myself."
"I'll never give up and I'll win!" James' supporters in the crowd continued to cheer for him.
"Pinsir, vice grip!" Samurai commanded and Pinsir easily captured Growlie between his horns.
The fire pokemon let out a pained howl and James seriously considered giving up until he heard Flareon calling out to Growlie. "Flareon, flareon flare!" Flareon yelled from the window of the lobby.
"Growlithe, growl!" Growlie looked frightened for a moment, then suddenly determined. He would not give up.
Seeing Growlie try so hard to force himself to move, James knew he couldn't give up either. "Growlie, fire blast!" Growlie continued to struggle against Pinsir's vice grip with Flareon's words ringing in his ears. Finally, Growlie took a deep breath and let out a fire blast at point blank, which knocked out Pinsir.
"Pinsir is unable to battle!" Jango announced, "the winner is Rose Mask!" The crowd cheered with many shouting flirty compliments at the mysterious Rose Mask.
"Return Pinsir, that was a valiant effort," Samurai called him back.
James took a vow for the crowd and made a few poses with his rose. Then he realized that Growlie was really having trouble staying on his feet because of all the damage received from Pinsir. Before the fire pokemon fainted, James called him back into his pokeball, "congratulations Growlie, I'm sure Flareon is very impressed."
"That was a very good battle, you've proven yourself to be a worthy adversary," Samurai congratulated honorably.
"Thank you Mr. Samurai, you're pretty good yourself!" After a few more poses, James returned to the waiting room and Samurai left.
Jessie received her husband with a deadly glare and hit him on the head, "show off!" She then stomped away and began to eat all the cookies the waiter in the green suit had recently brought and set on the table.
"Why are you mad at me?" James pouted, then sighed at Jessie's refusal to reply. "I have to get my pokemon healed, I'll be back soon." He looked at Meowth, "before I go, just out of curiosity, what was it that Flareon said before?"
Meowth made a scary face as he translated, with a menacing tone imitating Flareon, "if you lose this battle, you'll have to face my wrath!"
'Flareon really is the perfect pokemon for Jessie,' James thought as he went off to have his pokemon healed.
xoxox xox xoxox
The activity at the Viridian city hall had slowly decreased. As James entered, he bumped into Brock, who was running away in sadness. They both stumbled backwards, but soon recognized each other. James couldn't help it but to notice Brock's depressed expression, "did you get dumped again?"
"You have no tact!" Brock cried, "she said I made it too easy so it was no fun to be with me. What does that mean? Am I cursed to forever be lonely? The world is a cruel place!" Once again Brock ran away.
James watched him disappear among the people outside, "poor guy..." He went over to the blond nurse who had witnessed the drama and seemed to be amused. She was the cause of the drama herself. "Hi, I have a Growlithe and Weezing in need of healing."
"I'm sure it's nothing serious," at least not compared to the injuries Laiki was used to treating, "I'll make them feel better in no time." She examined Weezing first, giving him some medicine to help him recover, "there now, you're okay," she petted the poison pokemon and returned him to his pokeball. She gave the pokeball back to James and asked, "have I seen you somewhere?"
James froze, the last thing he needed was to be discovered by the resident Rocket gossip expert. Not that there was anything wrong with his participation in the tournament. It's not like he was disclosing any information about Team Rocket, therefore he wasn't breaking his oath of silence. He just felt like avoiding Team Rocket altogether, deep down, he missed it. "I'm the mysterious Rose Mask! Maybe you have seen me or maybe you haven't, you can never be sure." He made a pose and tried to look like some kind of super hero on TV.
Laiki shrugged, "maybe not," she examined Growlie, gently pressing her hands on his mid section. The fire pokemon complained in response. "It seems he got pretty hurt out there," it was still not as bad as many of the injuries Laiki treated, but it was enough to be the highlight of her dull day. "You'll have to keep him out of battle for a while."
"Oh no! Is Growlie hurt badly? My poor Growlie!" James hugged his pokemon, which only caused Growlie to howl in pain from being squeezed in an Ursaring hug.
"Stop it you're just making it worse!" Laiki scolded, "it's not that bad, just make sure you let him rest." The undercover Rocket nurse bandaged the fire pokemon and sent the mysterious trainer on his way.
xoxox xox xoxox
James returned to the waiting room with Growlie in his arms rather then putting him in a pokeball. He got there just on time to hear Jessie being called out to the battle field.
"Our next battle will be an encounter between the mysterious Sailor Flame and the famous AJ!" Jango announced. "This will be a two on two battle. You may switch pokemon at any time, fight!"
"I'll win this just like all the other battles, go Arbok!" Jessie sent out her pokemon, she knew this wouldn't be easy. AJ had been dominating each of his battles so far.
Many people had heard of AJ and his pokemon gym. His training methods were very strict, which earned him the admiration of some and the scorn of others. Some thought he was too harsh with his pokemon. "I won't go easy on you, I choose Beedrill!"
"Don't expect any mercy from me either!" Jessie retorted, "Arbok, poison fang!" Arbok attempted to poison Beedrill, but Beedrill flew and dodged the attack.
"Beedrill, poison jab!" AJ commanded.
"Be careful Arbok, dodge it and use acid!" Despite Arbok being a poison type, being stabbed by Beedrill would still hurt a lot. The bug pokemon's stingers looked very sharp. Arbok struggled to dodge the hits while spitting acid as fast as he could, but Beedrill moved too fast. Beedrill managed to stab Arbok repeatedly, while Arbok's acid only graced the tip of his stingers. Even so, Arbok would not fall so soon, he kept trying to reach Beedrill with his acid.
"Arbok, back away and stay still," Jessie's new command surprised AJ. He wondered what the mysterious Sailor Flame was up to.
"Attack Beedrill, poison jab!" AJ insisted and Beedrill obeyed, flying towards Arbok.
"Now Arbok, iron tail!" With a loud battle cry, Arbok whipped his tail towards Beedrill and came close to hitting him. However, Beedrill dodged at the last second. Seeing as that strategy wouldn't work, Jessie decided to switch pokemon, "Arbok return, rest for a while, I might need to call you out later. Go Flareon, avenge Arbok with flame thrower!"
"Flare, flare!" Flareon was protective of her fellow pokemon. It was something she learned back when she was a shy Eevee and her big brother Pikachu would protect her. She threw out her flames, though Beedrill kept dodging the fire.
"Use hyper beam, Beedrill!" AJ was still feeling confident.
"Dodge it Flareon and use fire blast, fill the arena with fire!" Jessie was determined to win no matter what. Flareon's fire blast cancelled out Beedrill's hyper beam.
"Time to finish this," AJ still had another strategy to try, "evasive maneuvers, get close and use hyper beam!" Beedrill flew in speedy zigzags towards Flareon preparing to shoot a hyper beam. At point blank Flareon couldn't counter it like before.
"Don't let Beedrill escape, fire blast!" When Beedrill was in range, Flareon suddenly bit into his leg, holding Beedrill down. Beedrill desperately stabbed Flareon. Before the bug pokemon could shoot the powerful hyper beam he had been preparing, Flareon let out a massive fire blast right into Beedrill, effectively ending his struggle.
"Beedrill!" AJ couldn't help it but to call out to his pokemon, who was not only unconscious, but also severely injured. "Return! You put up a great fight, don't worry, I'll get you to the Pokemon Center soon." The crowd loved the show. They were getting increasingly excited as the match became more heated.
"Hey Flareon, do you think you over did it?" Jessie watched as Flareon's breathing became labored, she was poisoned. "Take a break in your pokeball, Flareon return. Arbok, you're up again!" Jessie switched pokemon, giving Flareon some time to rest and sending out Arbok once more. Both her pokemon were in bad shape from that Beedrill. Yet she still had two pokemon, while AJ only had one. Jessie knew what to expect, he would surely send out that strong Sandslash he used in previous battles.
"I'll show you my strongest pokemon, go Sandslash!" Sandslash looked fierce and strong, much more intimidating than a Sandslash would normally look.
Jessie had a plan, Arbok would weaken Sandslash as much as possible to give Flareon time to rest. Then she would use their special secret strategy. For it to work, Flareon needed to recover first, she was a little too disheveled from the recent battle. "Arbok don't get too close, use acid!"
"Sandslash, defense curl!" Sandslash curled into a ball and though the acid hit its target, it had no effect. "Earthquake!" The entire Stadium shook with the force of Sandslash's attack.
"Endure it Arbok, you can do it!" Arbok struggled to stop himself from fainting. Years of fighting Pikachu and later training wild pokemon, had made him very resistant.
"Don't stop, keep using Earthquake!" AJ insisted.
Up in the VIP balcony, Mayor Antilles fell out of his chair, "this is terrible, they're going to tare the stadium apart right before the elections! If this place is reduced to rubble, where will I give my next campaign speech?"
"If it falls apart it's your own fault for using cheap materials," Giovanni countered, focused on the match. He didn't recognize Sailor Flame, nor had he recognized Rose Mask.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" The mayor was clearly not enjoying the constant shaking. He was especially worried about how the arena's floor had become cracked and fissures had started to climb up the walls.
"I like strong pokemon, why wouldn't I enjoy it?" Giovanni could have been thinking about sending agents out to steal those pokemon. He could have been thinking of what he would do if he were the one battling either trainer. He could have been thinking a lot of things. Yet the thought that occurred to him was how much he missed watching the Indigo League championships. Giovanni was usually too busy with Team Rocket. Battling amateurs who wanted badges made him forget what a real battle was supposed to feel like.
Suddenly, he found himself looking forward to seeing the Indigo League's past champion in action. He wanted to see how strong Ash was. Giovanni didn't know anything else about him, save for a few details. His name was Ash, his home town was Pallet and one of his pokemon was a Pikachu. He didn't know Ash's lastname, information concerning the rest of his pokemon or any other details. Remembering the conversation with Delia earlier made Giovanni look forward to seeing Ash battle even more.
In the battle arena, Arbok finally had all he could take. He had managed to buy Flareon a good amount of time. He lasted far longer than any other opponent had against Sandslash since he evolved. "Arbok return, you did very well. Don't worry, we'll get revenge for you, go Flareon!"
"I didn't expect your Arbok to last that long," AJ admitted, "but don't forget, Flareon is weak from the previous battle. Not that it would make a difference against Sandslash even if she was fully healed."
Flareon had groomed herself the best she could within the pokeball. She adjusted her ribbons tugging away the turn edges inside the folds of the bows. She licked her fur, much like an average Meowth would, to try to look as good as possible.
"Sandslash, giga impact!" Sandslash went on the attack at AJ's command. He dashed towards Flareon on the other side of the battle field.
"Use your secret weapon Flareon, just like we planned!" Jessie knew everything depended on this strategy. Using all the contest experience she had gained with Jessie to her favor, Flareon used attract. She looked absolutely adorable, cute and irresistible. For a moment Sandslash was captivated by her beauty and hesitated on his attack. "Overheat!" Flareon covered Sandslash with fire, struggling to keep her flaming breath going on for far longer than usual. She could sense that her opponent still had not fallen.
James was watching from the waiting room's window with Growlie in his arms. The pokemon was barking wildly in a fit of jealousy, yelling at Sandslash to keep his distance from Flareon. "Calm down Growlie!" James held on to him tightly.
Sandslash battled through the fire, trying to perform his own attack, heartbroken and angry. Flareon was at her last breath. When the fire ceased, another attack followed, "facade!" With one last brave effort, Flareon glowed as she launched herself at Sandslash like a lethal wild beast and finally defeated him. The crowd cheered loudly, with Jessie feeling very victorious at having obtained the biggest applause so far.
AJ stared at his unconscious pokemon in disbelief. Jango announced Sailor Flame as the winner. "Sandslash return, I guess we still have to train harder. That was an unexpected strategy, but none the less you won the match." AJ never thought his pokemon's lack of social life due to their constant training would create such a weakness towards the opposite gender.
"Nothing can beat the power of cuteness!" Jessie posed for the crowd that continued cheering.
Up in the VIP balcony, Giovanni was a bit disappointed with the trick, "of all the ways it could end..."
"You should never underestimate what a woman can do," Delia smiled.
"I know that already," Giovanni couldn't deny it but he still thought that Flareon used a cheap trick. Still, she was amazingly strong.
Mayor Antilles was shaking even after the earthquake ended. He kept shaking out of fear and worry, "I'm just glad it's over."
"It's not over yet, we still haven't seen the past Indigo League champion in a single battle. The real battles are about to start," Giovanni's reminder caused the mayor to faint.
To be Continued
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Don't Give Me Diamonds
Diamond 041: Give me Amusement
The trainers in the Viridian tournament continued to be eliminated until only four remained. It was clear that the champions would be called out to battle soon. Ash couldn't stay still, pacing around the waiting room. "I'm guessing you're more eager than nervous," Ritchie accurately theorized.
"Of course!" Ash happily exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're here. I was looking forward to my turn to battle before, but after I saw you, I just couldn't wait."
"It's ironic, when we were set to battle each other in the Indigo League years ago, you weren't too happy about it," Ritchie thought of the memories fondly.
"Yeah, but it's okay, because we can help each other improve and we'll both have fun," Ash smiled for a moment, then pouted impatiently again, "I just wish they would hurry up and call us or..."
Ritchie looked at Ash suspiciously, he had a sparkle of mischief in his eyes, "or?"
Ash grinned, "or we could have a practice match right here and now!"
Ritchie laughed, he should have expected such a crazy idea from Ash, he could have a wild side sometimes. "We'll get into trouble if we do that. Besides, I'm sure we'll get our chance soon."
Comet returned to the waiting room, replacing the empty tray of snacks with a new one. It was full of little triangle shaped mini-sandwiches with peanut butter and jelly in the middle. He handed a paper to Jango who had gone to the waiting room after the previous battle. It listed the lineup for the final four matches, not counting the bonus match that the winner would have against the Viridian City gym leader.
"Ritchie and Rose Mask," Jango read as he looked around the nearly empty waiting room for the two battlers.
"Here!" Jessie exclaimed as she pointed at James, who had his mouth full of mini-sandwiches. This caused Jango to jump in surprise; he didn't see Sailor Flame and Rose Mask make their way to the snack table. They could certainly eat.
"Looks like I'm up," Ritchie observed Ash's pouting face. Ash got there first but still hadn't been given a chance to battle. As mused that maybe his name was stuck on the bottom of whatever hat they were pulling the names out of. "C'mon, be a little more patient," Ritchie encouraged. "There are only four of us left, so you have to be in the next battle or the one after that at the latest."
"Alright, I'll wait a little longer," Ash agreed, though he still looked very impatient. He glanced at James who was stuffing his face, while he waited for Ritchie to lead the way into the arena. James, Jessie and Meowth loved free food. "Good luck to you both!" Ash spoke louder than needed, as if hinting he wanted the two combatants to go out and battle already. Ash expected Ritchie to win, but he also wanted to see James put up a good fight.
James choked on his last handful of mini-sandwiches. He was saved by Jessie, who patted him on the back harshly, but with good intentions. "In the words of Flareon, if you lose this battle, you'll have to face my wrath!"
James gulped, "Rose Mask will do his best!" Then he hurried after Ritchie. He left the bandaged Growlie on the table to eat the rest of the mini-sandwiches.
xoxox xox xoxox
"Out of all the trainers that had entered the tournament only four remain!" Jango announced as the crowd gathered in the Viridian Stadium cheered.
Many of the spectators were once again screaming in delight at the return of the handsome Rose Mask. Others, who recognized Ritchie as the Indigo League champion from last year, cheered for him. They were filled with joyous surprise to see him there.
"For this semi-final match we have the mysterious Rose Mask versus a surprise guest. Here's the champion from last year's Indigo League competition, Ritchie!" The crowd went wild at the announcement, cheering and clapping even louder.
Up in the VIP balcony, Mayor Antilles began to have a nervous breakdown. "Why? I thought the only Indigo League champion was Ash. Why are there two of them?" He feared for his precious stadium, it could be torn apart.
"He must have been a late entry," Giovanni reasoned. He was pleased with the situation. Two champions meant double the power. After they faced off against each other, he would battle the strongest one.
"This is... this is..." it was so terrible that Rune Antilles couldn't find any words to describe it.
"Perfect," Giovanni supplied, it was much better than watching the Indigo League championships on TV. He had both of the champions from the previous two years right in front of him. He would have a real battle after such a long time.
Delia smiled at the newly added twist. She knew Ash was looking forward to battling Ritchie and was happy that he could. He had not been called out yet and it was obvious that Giovanni still didn't know who he was. She had a worrisome thought as she remembered Ash's expression during Giovanni's speech. Delia had calmed down and convinced herself that everything was alright. But what if it wasn't? What if Ash had left in confusion? "I'll be right back. I just have to check on something really quick."
"Are you going off to find shelter?" Rune suddenly asked. "Maybe I should do the same. Oh, but how is that going to look? If I come out as a coward who hides when ferocious pokemon appear, I'll lose the elections!" He paused, examining Delia's face with his panicked expression suddenly changing to perplexity, "have I seen you before?"
"Probably in the crowds," Delia made her way out of the VIP balcony and down the stairs. Giovanni made no motion to stop her. He was focused on the battle. He noticed her leave, but he knew she would return just as she said.
The mayor rubbed his chin, "hmm..." he had seen many people in many crowds, he was the mayor after all. He was used to giving political speeches in front of large audiences. Even if the speeches were never written by him. The mysterious woman who came with Giovanni seemed to stand out in his mind from somewhere else.
Rune didn't remember that she was the same woman who had been at Giovanni's side when he first became gym leader. It was back when they started their secret negotiations with the help of the pokemon epidemic's antidote. Rune shrugged and decided to forget about it.
"Since these are the semi-finals, new rules have been added to make things more interesting," Jango had continued his explanation. "The pokemon limit per trainer has been increased to three and substitutions will count against the trainers. Ready? Fight!"
There was a moment of tension in which the audience grew eerily silent and Giovanni could hear an odd irregular sound. He looked at Rune who was pale and sweaty as he gripped the armrests of his chair. "Don't go into cardiac arrest so close to the elections," 'or any other kind of arrest,' he mentally added.
"Huh?" The mayor snapped out of his daze, "oh, yes, thanks for reminding me." Rune retrieved a small bottle from his pocket and swallowed a tiny pill, it was his heart medication. The sound of the mayor's heartbeats became more stable, though it was just as loud in the unfathomable silence.
The participation of Jessie and James, whom she recognized because of their pokemon, didn't come as too much of a surprise for Misty, but Ritchie's arrival was. As she sat in the audience, she almost expected a tumble weed to roll by as James and Ritchie engaged in a staring contest. It was reminiscent of Ash's contest with Samurai years ago when they waited for something to decide the battle between their Metapod. The most notable difference was that in the battle of Rose Mask versus Ritchie, neither had sent a pokemon out yet.
xoxox xox xoxox
Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Ash stood near the window impatiently. The undercover Jessie, the bandaged Growlie and the recovered Flareon devoured all the food Comet brought. The trio had been temporarily joined by Pikachu, who retreated after snatching a couple of cupcakes. He offered one to Ash. Only Meowth understood Pikachu's remark about cooties, but he was used to Flareon and Growlie getting all cuddly and flirty.
Ash had finished his cupcake, contemplating that it was nowhere near as good as his mother's. The thought brought back his curiosity about why his mother was sitting with the mayor and gym leader. He pressed his face against the glass window, angling himself to try to see the balcony. He found that his mother was no longer there.
Seconds later, Delia entered the waiting room following Comet. He had gone to deliver more food, a pizza. The food kept getting better as trainers were eliminated. It was part of mayor Antilles' plan to butter up the winner into putting in a good word for him.
Jessie and Meowth jumped on the pizza immediately. It caused Growlie to whimper, and Meowth to make room for him to grab a slice in his mouth. The slice was playfully stolen by Flareon, who also stole a kiss in the process. Meowth backed away; maybe he wasn't used to this after all. Jessie on the other hand was fascinated. She paused her eating in favor of staring at the cute couple of fire pokemon adoringly.
"Ash," Delia called softly, her voice ringing out clearly in the absolute silence.
Ash turned around to face her, "mom! I was wondering why you disappeared from the balcony. Why were you up there?" Ash's curiosity presented no worries, only puzzlement.
Delia knew right away Ash's surprise during Giovanni's speech must have been entirely due to seeing her and not due to recognizing Giovanni. "The gym leader and I are," she corrected, "were," she paused and rephrased her reply, "I met Giovanni a long time ago and we were catching up. We haven't seen each other in years."
"Oh, so that's it!" Ash concluded, then elaborated noting Delia's confusion, "I had this feeling that I've seen the gym leader somewhere before, even if I didn't battle him for an Earth badge. I thought it might have been on TV, on a magazine or something, but that didn't feel right. You said you haven't seen each other in a long time; did he visit when I was very young? I can't remember where I've seen him before, but I know I have."
"No, he never visited," there was a hint of bitterness in Delia's voice. She forced herself to smile to make up for it. "Maybe you remember him from somewhere else." Sometimes the answer could be right in front of a person, but they would not see it unless they looked straight at it. It seemed that the picture of the man Delia confessed had been her boyfriend was yet to surface in Ash's mind. "You shouldn't think about it now, just focus on your coming battle."
Ash nodded in agreement, full of excitement once more, "yeah!"
Delia smiled sincerely, seeing her son so cheerful. He was that way for every competition. She would forever share that same enthusiasm to watch him participate in one pokemon tournament after another. "I just wanted to wish you good luck. I really should be going back to my seat now."
"Thanks!" Ash cheered, "I'll try my best and I'll win," then he could get Misty a ring that would make her jump into his arms in absolute joy. He wanted it to amaze her.
xoxox xox xoxox
Delia returned to the VIP balcony and took her seat next to Giovanni, who was looking very impatient. Noticing her presence he commented, "they say that when the eyes of two pokemon trainers meet, a duel between them is destined to happen. I just wish they would get on with it."
"I'm sure one of them will have to blink eventually, try to be patient," the last four words were spoken with the same tone Delia would use for Ash. She remembered how Giovanni and Ash's eyes met when Giovanni was giving his speech. Perhaps their battle would be a true duel. Delia couldn't decide how she felt about that.
In the battle arena, Ritchie inevitably blinked, "ha!" James pointed at him with his rose. He finally shattered the silence that loomed over the stadium. "I saw that!" He declared in what he thought was a heroic tone, "you blinked, I won!"
"How did we get into a staring contest anyway?" Ritchie blinked again, this time repeatedly in confusion. "Either way, it's impossible to tell if you're blinking or not behind your mask. That doesn't matter; this is a pokemon battle, so let's battle!" Ritchie threw out a pokeball, "Sebastian, I choose you!" A strong looking Kingler came from the pokeball's red beam.
"I won the staring contest," James lied, he had been blinking behind the mask, "and I'll win this battle too!" He threw out a pokeball as well, "Rose Mask calls upon Weezing!" This would be a difficult match and James couldn't count on Growlie, who had been injured earlier. He tried to look and sound as cool as possible, hoping that it would somehow empower him and his pokemon.
"Sebastian," Ritchie called out to his Kingler, "use crab hammer!"
"Dodge it Weezing, go higher and use smoke screen!" James posed with his rose as he instructed his pokemon. Sebastian dashed forward with his pincers ready to smash into Weezing. The poison pokemon floated away hastily and covered the battle field in smoke.
"Blow away that smoke with blizzard!" Ritchie urged. His Kingler obeyed, unleashing a powerful blizzard upon the battle field. It chilled the air and blew away the smoke. "Good, now use crab hammer!"
"Get out of the way Weezing!" Weezing had lowered his floating, shielded by the smoke screen as he prepared to launch a sneak attack at James' command. The poison pokemon was quick to gain altitude once more. It was rather comical to watch Sebastian leap into the air trying to hit Weezing with his largest pincer. Weezing continued to float, unreachable above the jumping Kingler.
"Sebastian, get Weezing down with a bubble beam!" Ritchie's change in strategy worked. The bubbles hit their target, causing Weezing to have trouble floating due to the constant hits. The attack also left him in a half-fainted daze.
"No Weezing, don't go down, go up, up!" As much as Weezing wanted to do what he was told, he could not.
The poison pokemon helplessly landed exhausted on the cracked floor of the battle field. Ritchie was quick to take the opportunity, "let's finish this, Sebastian!"
As Sebastian dashed forward to smash Weezing with his pincers, James desperately called out, "self destruct!" At least Weezing would take that persistent Kingler down with him; that was what James had in mind.
Ritchie reacted quickly, "dig!" Weezing exploded and the arena was filled with light and toxic smoke. It was impossible to see if Sebastian had evaded the attack on time by hiding underground.
When the smoke finally cleared, Weezing lay unconscious in a crater on the floor. The sight made mayor Antilles whimper in pain, witnessing the additional damage to the stadium. Sebastian came into view seconds later, digging himself out from the ground. The mayor noticed that the powerful Kingler had used his strong pincers to break the cracked floor and dig a hole. He took another heart pill and tried to endure the distressing sight without fainting again.
"Weezing is unable to battle!" Jango exclaimed.
"Weezing!" James cried out, dramatically reaching out for his fallen comrade. He retrieved Weezing's pokeball from his belt and called him back, "return!" Then, tapping his red rose on the pokeball he declared, "I shall avenge you!" The crowd went wild, much to Jessie's annoyance in the waiting room lobby.
As he watched the so called battle, Giovanni complained, "first a staring contest and now a soap opera? I thought the battles were finally getting good, but it looks like things won't get serious until the two Indigo League champions face each other." The mayor gasped for air, his breathing becoming more labored by the second. The noise annoyed Giovanni, who had been put in a bad mood due to the silly turn the battle had taken. "Can't you have a heart attack quietly?" He snapped.
"Giovanni, that's mean!" Delia scolded Giovanni, then looked at the mayor with worry.
Rune's face continued to pale, but his breathing stabilized, at least temporarily. "I know who you are," he recognized Delia. "You were there, in all those events long ago, in the parties, you were there," he stuttered.
"Don't try to speak now, just focus on your breathing," Delia instructed in a motherly tone.
"It is you, right?" Mayor Antilles continued, "you were Giovanni's lover!"
"Rune," Giovanni growled, causing the mayor to jump in his chair and look at him, "shut up."
"Yes, sir!" Rune squeaked, then remained quiet after that. He kept fidgeting worriedly in his chair and twisting the ends of his large mustache. The mustache used to be black, even after his hair had turned white, but was now white to match it.
In the battle arena, James sent out his next pokemon, "go Victreebel! I mean, Rose Mask summons Victreebel, avenge our fallen comrade!" James had met many Victreebel over time. Some were his own and others were pokemon he took care of at the day care center he and Jessie had in Saffron City.
Something that never changed was that each Victreebel James had taken care of had a peculiar habit of trying to eat people or pokemon. Some tried to eat James, others tried to eat Jessie, several tried to eat Meowth and one had made the mistake of trying to eat Flareon. That last one became the only one to be cured of the habit, though he would only be able to eat soft pokemon food for the rest of his life.
The particular Victreebel that James called out to battle had the habit of trying to eat people at random. She let out a high pitch screech that made Jango, James, Ritchie and the first few rows of people in the audience cringe and cover their ears. It signaled the start of her chase. The grass pokemon hopped right out of the battling area and towards Jango, who was refereeing from the sidelines. "What are you doing?" Jango backed away.
"Run!" James urged hastily in alarm.
Jango wasted no more time and dashed away. He ran in circles around the battle arena. James hurried after them, trying to calm his berserk pokemon. "Stop Victreebel, the referee is not food!"
Watching the disaster play out from the window, Jessie grumbled, "you idiot."
Giovanni was angered by the ridiculous scene, "this is turning into a circus show," he criticized.
In contrast, Delia was having fun, "I know!" She laughed.
"Well," Rune let out a breath, "as long as they don't cause any more harm to the stadium, it's okay."
Unfortunately for Jango, he wasn't fast enough to evade Victreebel and soon found himself inside her mouth up to his waist, with his legs flailing in the air. "Oh no! Oh no!" James tried to pull Jango out and Ritchie rushed to help while the spectators' laughter echoed.
Between James and Ritchie, they managed to pull Jango out of Victreebel's mouth. The grass pokemon was quick to choose a new victim, attacking Ritchie instead. Ritchie was caught off guard and suffered the same fate as Jango before he could even try to run away. Trapped in Victreebel's mouth, Ritchie called out for help. Distressed over the peril of his trainer, Sebastian attempted to free Ritchie by sending a flood of bubbles their way. The action only made matters worse when not only Victreebel, but also the three men suffered from the attack.
Unable to pull Ritchie out of Victreebel's mouth, James had no choice but to call her back into her pokeball, before Ritchie suffocated. "Victreebel return!" In a beam of red light, Victreebel faded away into her pokeball, leaving Ritchie to fall face first on the floor. "Sorry about that, are you going to be alright?"
Still a little dizzy, Ritchie nodded, "I think so... It's okay, accidents happen," he struggled to stay on his feet and made his way to his side of the arena.
James returned to his own side of the battle field and Jango stood at the sidelines. "Since Victreebel was recalled, Rose Mask only has one pokemon left."
James sighed sadly and the audience that had previously been laughing, chorused an, "aw!"
"Rose Mask never gives up!" James held his rose up high in a sudden change of attitude from sad to determined. "I summon..." he looked towards the window where Jessie, Flareon, Growlie and Meowth were watching, "Meowth!"
"What?" The talking pokemon gasped. Before Meowth could further protest, Growlie escaped and ran into the battle field.
"Growlie?" James stared in surprise. "You can't, you're hurt!"
"If you call back your pokemon, you will be forfeiting the match," Jango reminded. He was in no mood to be lenient after his traumatic Victreebel experience.
"Growlithe, growl!" Growlie bravely declared.
Even if the fire pokemon didn't speak the human language, James understood that Growlie wanted to help him. "Growlie!" He emotionally exclaimed, "alright, let's do this, flame thrower!"
"Counter with bubble beam!" Ritchie quickly commanded. The two opposing powers collided. Surprisingly, the bubbles were extinguished into vapor by the flames that barely diminished. The attack was not very effective, but it still caused Sebastian pain due to all the strength and energy Growlie put into it.
"Bite him Growlie!" James cheered, watching his loyal pokemon dash forward.
"Crab hammer!" Ritchie called out, expecting the strategy to work. However, Growlie moved out of the way of Sebastian's pincers and jumped over him. He spun around quickly and bit one of Kingler's thin legs.
Growlie was fighting with an injury and the strain was too much for him, he released Sebastian and collapsed. Sebastian was left in a pained daze, swaying from side to side unable to find his balance. "Growlie!" James was distressed; he knew Growlie shouldn't be battling in his condition.
"Growlithe is unable to battle," Jango announced, "the victor is Ritchie!" He declared with satisfaction.
"Flareon!" Flareon screamed as she ran into the battle field, "flareon flare!" She raged at Sebastian and released a blast of fire that finished knocking him out, but her breath of fire didn't cease.
"Stop it, Sebastian can't defend himself anymore!" Ritchie quickly recalled his unconscious and burnt pokemon to the safety of his pokeball. The pokeball had a star sticker on it, as all of Ritchie's pokeballs did.
"Flareon, flare!" Flareon directed her anger at Ritchie, whom she blamed for the state Growlie was in.
"No, Flareon!" Jessie, still in her Sailor Flame disguise, rushed into the battle field along with Meowth to try to calm the turmoil. First Flareon threatened to beat up Growlie if he lost, then she got all cuddly and sweet. Next, she became protective and rushed out to attack Growlie's opponents, even threatening the trainer. Jessie knew something was going on with Flareon. She would be frying Ritchie if Jessie wasn't blocking the way.
To be Continued
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Don't Give Me Diamonds
Diamond 042: Give me Emotion
"Growlie?" The orange pokemon whimpered softly, "you're okay, right? Please tell Flareon you're okay." James pleaded.
"Flare!" Flareon rushed to Growlie's side, crying abundantly and licked his face gently. "Flare, flareon, flare!"
"Now she's crying?" Jessie watched in shock while Meowth went through one of the few occasions in his life in which he was speechless. No one could make heads or tails of Flareon's extreme mood swings. Wait, mood swings... "Flareon, sweetie," Jessie knelt down beside the pokemon, "you're going to lay an egg, aren't you?" Flareon nodded her head, her tears ceasing. "It's alright, we can go home now. You and Growlie should rest; there will be other chances to battle. I have a good guess who our opponent would have been," it had to be Ash, since he had not been called out to battle yet, "we can battle him any time. Let's go home, do it for the baby's sake," Jessie voiced gently.
Flareon nodded in agreement, she wanted to stay and continue battling, but Jessie convinced her to go home for her child's sake. Jessie understood Flareon had been pushing herself and endured a harsh battle despite her condition. Now she had the accumulated fatigue from the previous fight and her subsequent recovery from poisoning. The effect on her body of having to spare energy to feed the egg within her and her worries about her injured mate all piled up. Jessie didn't want Flareon to have to battle while dealing with all that.
Jessie knew the other pokemon would understand if they returned home before the tournament ended. She was looking forward to playing nurse and helping take care of the baby when it hatched. She glanced at Ritchie who seemed to understand. Then she looked at the stunned Jango and informed him, "I'm leaving the tournament to take care of our pokemon. Continue without me."
At first, Jango could do nothing except nod dumbly. Then, as Sailor Flame, Rose Mask and their pokemon left the arena, he woke from the daze he was left in after the commotion. The referee spoke into the little microphone that extended from his earpiece over his mouth, "Sailor Flame has forfeited the tournament. This means that only two participants remain: Ritchie, the winner of the Indigo League championship from last year, and the challenger, who is also a champion. He won the Indigo League tournament two years ago... Ash! Many thought they would have to wait until this year's Indigo League to see the two champions face each other. The wait is over, it will happen today, right here in the Viridian Stadium!"
Ash ran out of the lobby and into the arena when he was called. The crowd cheered wildly, looking forward to the battle of champions. Jango continued with his announcements and explanations, "it's a three on three match with no substitutions. Additionally, if a pokemon leaves the battle area, that pokemon will be disqualified and must be recalled into the pokeball immediately," it was a hastily added rule, but Jango didn't care if he got into trouble for it. He didn't want to relive his Victreebel experience. "Ready? Fight!"
"Charmander, I choose you!" Ash was the first to eagerly throw out a pokeball.
The red beam from the ball took shape as the basic Kanto starter pokemon of fire. He looked very eager to battle, "char! Char!" Far from looking menacing, he looked cute.
Ritchie studied Ash's choice in pokemon. The Charmander was clearly very young. He was still smaller than an average one, with big innocent blue eyes. "I know appearances can be deceiving and I intend to try my best!" Ritchie took note of the flame on Charmander's tail and realized it was too big for such a tiny pokemon. No doubt about it, the little Charmander had to be strong. He sent out his first pokemon, determined to seriously try to win. Vaporeon was just the pokemon to help him accomplish that. "Aqua, I choose you!"
"I'll try my best too," Ash didn't look at all worried about the type disadvantage. He knew Charmander, albeit very young, was amazingly strong.
From the balcony, Giovanni watched the battle arena below. The presence of Charmander surprised him. He expected to see nothing but fully evolved pokemon on a champion's team. For a moment he wondered if the Indigo League was just over-rated, but he decided to keep an open mind. If there truly was something special about Ash, he would soon find out. It might turn into an interesting battle after all. He had Delia to thank for rediscovering his love for challenging pokemon battles. Giovanni didn't plan to watch the tournament. He originally intended to make an appearance in the beginning to give a speech, sneak off to work on his world domination plans, then return on time for the bonus round in which he would participate.
The mayor swallowed another heart pill. He didn't want to overdose, but he didn't want his heart to burst from the stress. "I'm too old for this," he complained pitifully.
"None sense, all that matters is being young at heart," Delia tried to encourage him, she felt truly sorry for Rune, seeing his worried expression.
"That's the problem," Rune whimpered, "my heart isn't young."
"Stop complaining," Giovanni interrupted; Rune had always been a wimp in his opinion.
Mayor Antilles pouted indignantly, "you know, my heart only started failing me after that time you almost killed me," he reminded in a low raspy voice.
Delia gasped in angry shock, "Giovanni!" She scolded upset, though she didn't know what else to say or do, except to glare.
"It was many years ago," Giovanni calmly stated with indifference.
"What happened?" Delia insisted on knowing.
Giovanni brushed off the inquiry and it was the mayor who replied, "it was indeed a long time ago, but I never fully recovered. I was having second thoughts about a business deal and was kindly expressing my concerns."
"Whining," Giovanni corrected with annoyance.
Mayor Antilles cleared his throat and continued, "as I was saying, I was expressing my concerns about a business deal. I guess it must have been a bad day for Giovanni. He seemed to be angry at the entire world on that day, except his Meowth." Rune glanced at Persian, who had been quietly purring next to Giovanni during the entire tournament, as his trainer petted him. "The point is that when I cautioned him about his business practices, Giovanni lost his temper and punched me really hard. He broke my ribs and nearly caused a piece to be stabbed internally into my heart. Fortunately, I was taken to the hospital on time and they removed the rib fragment that had come off. I was saved, but the fragment managed to scratch my heart a little. I've had a weak heart since then, albeit my worries generally decreased after that."
"You poor man," Delia frowned in pity, but there was something she didn't quite understand, "why were your worries less after that? Did the near death experience make you reevaluate your life?" She inquired with puzzlement, then caught herself in an old habit, 'no, don't do that again,' Delia mentally scolded herself. Even after so many years apart from him, Delia felt like she was falling into her old habit of twisting things around to justify Giovanni.
"Well, not exactly," Rune confessed, "I just realized that Giovanni was scary enough to deal with any troublesome people that might complain. I concluded there was nothing to worry about after all." After a short moment of reflection, the mayor added, "now that I think about it, the last time I saw you with Giovanni was before that happened."
"Rune," Giovanni growled, causing mayor Antilles to give him a worried look, "shut up," he ordered once more.
"Yes, sir," Rune once again complied and remained silent for some time.
Delia thought about what the mayor had revealed. The time he referred to might have been an event that happened right after she left. Was that the reason Giovanni was in such a bad mood that day. "Gio... When you punched the mayor back then, the reason you were angry, was it because..."
"Is there a point to this conversation?" Giovanni found it to be useless and irritating, but Delia looked insistent. He knew she wouldn't back down until he answered her question. He did, though not directly, "it seems you haven't dropped your habit of blaming yourself for everything."
Delia stared at Giovanni for a moment, then smiled, which caught him off guard. Studying his puzzled expression, she clarified, "I'm only glad you're not indifferent," angry seemed to be a little better than completely uncaring, even if it was unfortunate for mayor Antilles. "It was still wrong, what you did to the mayor," Delia added, "but you're right, it happened many years ago." Even so, Delia wanted to sit down for hours and catch up on everything. Yet she seriously doubted Giovanni would ever do that.
Rune opened his mouth to speak, lifting his index finger as if indicating he was about to make an important point. Then he wisely decided to keep his questions and comments to himself and remained silent. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and gripped the armrests in tension. Both Giovanni and Delia turned their attention back to the battle.
Jango had implemented a new rule that stated that pokemon would be disqualified if they left the battling area. The rules before that had been rather lenient to keep the contestants as happy as possible. However, there was nothing Jango could say about the pokemon's attacks remaining within the designated area.
The Viridian Stadium clearly wasn't built for strong pokemon battles. Average battles were fine, but the field wasn't big enough for true power. Many of the people in the first, second and even third rows in the audience had to dodge stray fire balls and beams of water. When the water hit them it was at least refreshing, though still annoying and often painful. The lethal fire would be another story.
The people in the first few rows didn't know when a fireball would fly their way, how far it would go and how strong it would be. Some got on their feet, ready to move away any minute, while others tried to retreat, pushing back the people behind them. With those in the front rows standing up, the people in the rows behind them had to stand up as well. Soon the entire attendance of the stadium, save for those in the balcony, were on their feet.
Charmander was agile and avoided Vaporeon's water gun, even if the water pokemon was also fast and many members of the audience were soaked. "Flame thrower!" Ash commanded with a glow in his eyes that hinted he had a plan.
"Water gun!" Ritchie countered. The two attacks collided and it looked like Vaporeon was winning. Ritchie noticed that Charmander's tail flame was growing, "watch out Aqua, don't lower your guard. Make the water gun stronger, give it everything you have!" It was best not to give the little Charmander the chance to prepare his attack.
The water gun intensified, but so did the flame thrower. The opposing forces produced a curtain of steam that swallowed the whole stadium. "Overheat!" Ash called out and the fire coming from the small Charmander intensified further.
Ritchie couldn't see the battle behind the thick veil of steam, but he could hear Aqua's water gun becoming weaker. "Aqua, push that fire back with everything you have, then get out of the way!" The Vaporeon trusted in his trainer and followed the commands perfectly, managing to dodge the fire. Ritchie saw a bright light and jumped out of the way. The fire that Charmander had been pushing against Aqua's water gun blasted through the steam. It went past Ritchie and into the wall behind him. Sparks and rubble flew all around on impact. The spectators in that area screamed and panicked, hastily stumbling to get away, pushing the people around them.
Misty was feeling very uncomfortable in the audience. She could only compare the experience to a time when she went to an outdoor concert with Ash and Brock. The singer's name was Akira, a woman rumored to be involved with Team Rocket. Brock insisted on going and not surprisingly, he fell in love with Akira. She was admired by many, who claimed she had the elegance of a Ninetails along with its imposing presence. Brock claimed Akira was the image of perfection. From her sweet voice to her sky colored hair, emerald eyes, pearl smile and flawless snow skin. He was nearly crushed to death as he helplessly tried to reach the stage during the concert.
On top of worrying that Brock might do something crazy and end up with a few broken bones, Misty also had Pikachu to worry about. The powerful yellow pokemon had shocked the people around him, Ash and Misty included, several times when he felt suffocated. Displeased remarks and foul words followed the electric shocks. It made Ash lose his temper and yell back, even if he knew he was walking right into a fight.
While all of that had been happening, Misty was thrown around in the mush pit of fans, shoved, elbowed and kicked by the multitude. She was driven over the edge and joined Ash in releasing her pokemon to fight off the overwhelming crowd. It got worse when Akira's back up dancers revealed themselves to be Team Rocket agents. They took advantage of the mayhem to try to steal from the crowd. The theft was a failure; the situation was far too out of control for the Rockets to make their way through the chaos.
In the end, Team Rocket fled, many people where injured and abundant bones were broken. That included Brock's right arm and left leg. Somehow, the pokemon breeder was satisfied with the experience. He almost made it onto the stage before Akira herself violently sent him away with a kick to the face and a broken nose. He was delirious with a stupid smile for a while, chanting, "she touched me," even if it was with the bottom of her boot.
Misty escaped the commotion with many bruises and cuts, but her most serious injury was a sprained ankle. By some miracle, Misty and Ash survived without broken bones, albeit Ash had to get stitches for a cut he got on his right arm.
Even if Akira was revealed as a member of Team Rocket, she still had concerts, which were troublesome. It was still better than dealing with a riot of her fans if the police took direct action against her. The casualties would be far more numerous then.
xoxox xox xoxox
As the battle raged on, Charmander became cocky, despite his opponent being a powerful Vaporeon. The small fire pokemon refused to listen to Ash, instead running around the arena, wagging his flaming tail and making faces at Aqua.
The display caused the audience to go from astonishment and fright to amusement and laughter. Giovanni recognized the power of the tiny Charmander, but he could certainly use more training.
"What have you figured out so far?" Delia inquired with curiosity. She theorized that Giovanni didn't know too much yet.
"What do you mean?" Giovanni looked away from the battle for a moment. They weren't really battling like before; Charmander was just running around making fun of his opponent.
"You have that analytical look in your eyes. I can tell you're trying to gather as much information as you can from watching the battle and the trainers." Delia found that she could still read Giovanni after all. She just needed to spend a little time with him to remember how it was done. "You're looking for information, have you found anything yet?"
Giovanni gave his observations some thought and began to construct a profile. "Charmander is young and needs more training, but he's very strong. Ash is a good trainer and has powerful pokemon."
"His pokemon are strong, that is true, but they grew with Ash's guidance," Delia elaborated, "what I mean is, simply having strong pokemon isn't enough. It doesn't just happen; they have to be raised to be strong."
Giovanni didn't comment on the lecture. He was still puzzled as to what role that young man could possibly play that made Delia return to Viridian City. "I would say he's a risk taker," anyone who would send out a pokemon that was not properly trained couldn't have a problem with taking risks. "He's stubborn, I can just tell."
Delia couldn't help it but to laugh, "you're absolutely right about that, Ash is very stubborn, just like you. He really likes pokemon and sometimes his winning streaks go to his head. Even if he has a mischievous side, he's a very caring person."
Giovanni didn't catch the true meaning behind Delia's comment about stubbornness and instead pointed out, "you're pretty stubborn yourself." He didn't wish to wait any longer, "whatever it is you wanted to tell me about him, I don't think I can figure it out just by watching the battle after all. Besides, this is turning into a circus show again," Giovanni complained impatiently.
Delia sighed, "so impatient," she kept her expression neutral as she spoke, "like father, like son."
"What do you mean?" Giovanni had no suspicions about Ash, he didn't show any hints of surprise.
Delia looked towards the battle arena, "he's a lot like his father. He's a bit more playful, but he's stubborn, strong and can get a little cocky unless someone is there to keep his feet on the ground. Most of all, he's determined, cunning and has a deep desire to be the very best." Delia paused and looked at Giovanni again, his puzzlement surfacing with a hint of curiosity. With a secretive tone she voiced, "Charmander."
Giovanni turned his attention to the battle once more, "I still say he needs more training." Giovanni observed Ash and his subconscious seemed to realize something he couldn't quite fully grasp. Ash reminded him of someone.
After a lot of running around, Charmander was finally getting tired from too much showing off. "Aqua, use hydro pump!" Ritchie called out, it was time to finish the battle.
Charmander stood his ground, despite Ash's expression becoming alarmed in realization, "no, don't do that!" It was too late, Charmander jumped backwards and sliced through the hydro pump's blast of water with iron tail. The end of his flaming tail collided harshly with the exhausted Vaporeon's head and finally knocked him out. "Charmander, why? Aqua was tired; you could have finished him off with an attack that didn't leave you so exposed to damage!"
"Charmander char!" Charmander dizzily argued as if trying to say he would do whatever he wanted. "Char..." he fainted as well.
"Vaporeon and Charmander are unable to battle! So far the match is a tie; both trainers each ha