Tournament Begins...

Chapter 15 - Tournament Begins...

The next morning the group of friends woke up at the sound of a very loud alarm clock, which was set up by Gary so no one would sleep in and cause them to be late for the tournament's opening ceremony. Each person grumpily woke up and the quicker ones were able to get to the bathroom first, causing some of them to hold it in for a while and becoming distressed before finally able to get their turn. Ash however, since he had his own master bathroom attached to his room, did not go through this problem. When he joked about the others' situation though, a few of them chased him around their suite, yelling promises of severe beat downs once they caught him.

"Ha ha ha ha! You will never catch me, slowpokes!" laughed Ash as he was using his aura to help him speed away from May, Max, Iris and Serena, who were the ones who had to hold it in the longest.

"You're dead Ash Ketchum!" screamed May and Serena, leading the other two.

"Shouldn't we stop this? I fear it may turn to a sour flavor soon." A look of concern was on Cilan's face.

"No way! This is great! I want to see Ashy-boy's face once they catch him! Oh man, I wish I could've recorded this!" laughed Gary.

Brock, Misty, Dawn and Richie sighed as they watched the five run around the large suite. They were impressed a few times at some of the moves that Ash pulled off in order to squeeze past his chasers. The four were beginning to get tired when Pikachu got an idea. He smiled evilly and when he saw the group get close to Ash, he tripped up his trainer at the last second, causing him to stumble a bit, but it was enough for May to close the distance and tackle him since she was closest to him.

"Gotcha!"

"Aaah! Oouf!" Ash slammed into the ground with May on top of him. He attempted to wiggle out of her grip, twisting this way and that but May held on tight. He ended up facing her, his back against the floor, May sitting on top of his stomach, holding his arms down with her hands.

"Nowhere to run now Aura Guardian!" sneered May. Ash gulped and laughed weakly. Before anything else happened, Serena tripped over Pikachu's trap that he didn't move out of the way yet, falling on top of May, who gave a shout as she was pushed on top of Ash. What occurred next caused everyone to stare open mouthed.

Serena was on top of May and May had been pushed down completely on top of Ash, her head above his, her eyes closed, with her chest pressing against his face. Serena hurriedly got up off of May, apologizing as to what she caused to happen.

"I'm so sorry May!" cried Serena, in shock over what she caused to happen. May opened her eyes and noticed her embarrassing position as she looked down. She saw that most of Ash's face was covered but saw his brown eyes were wide with surprise and his forehead was blood red.

"EEEK!" May yelped loudly and quickly got off of Ash. He stayed on the floor, still as a statue, his eyes wide and his face red. Slowly, he moved into a sitting position staring straight ahead of him. Nobody made a sound for a few seconds until…

"HA HA HA HA! OH MY ARCEUS! HA HA HA HA! YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE! OH ASHY-BOY! HA HA HA HA! THAT WAS YOUR FIRST MOTOR BOAT WASN'T IT?! HA HA HA HA!" Gary burst out laughing, falling onto the ground while holding his stomach, tears falling from his eyes. Ash shot his childhood rival an angry look but slowly turned his head to face May. Her face was red too, her arms crossed over her chest. Everyone else was frozen in shock.

"Sorry May," muttered Ash. The raven-haired trainer hung his head and kept it that way as he got back on his feet, put his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the door, using his aura to guide him without bumping into someone or something.

"I'm gonna go visit Gardevoir. I'll see you guys later." Pikachu followed him with his ears dropped and his cheeks were dark red, no doubt embarrassed over what he caused to happen.

"Oh my…I wish I took a picture of his face…I hope I never forget that…" said Gary as he stood up, wiping a tear from his eye.

WHAM!

The sound of a sickening blow shot through the room as Misty walloped Gary hard on the head with her mallet, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Ugh…"

"Nice hit Misty."

"Thanks Dawn."

"C'mon, let's have a quick breakfast and we'll go join Ash downstairs. We'll take some for him too." Brock said as he and Cilan went into the kitchen to prepare the food.

The rest gathered around seating on the dining table, leaving Gary on the floor while Serena escorted a still shocked May to her seat. They ate breakfast and commented on what happened, laughing at how it was hilarious and after finally calming down, even May started eating and joining in on the talk. Gary joined soon after, complimenting Misty on the fierce hit. They finished quickly and started cleaning up the table and dishes when Dawn spoke.

"When does the tournament opening ceremony start?"

"Starts at 9am, so we have one hour to get there," answered Richie.

"We should head down right now. That way we can join Ash and visit Gardevoir before leaving for the stadium."

Everyone agreed to Max's suggestion. They finished cleaning up quickly, grabbed some food for Ash, Richie retrieved his pokémon, clipping their poke balls onto his belt and they took the elevator to the ground floor. They greeted Joy at the counter, who informed them that Gardevoir had been taken to a less intensive care room nearby since she was recovering without problems. They headed towards her room, Richie staying behind, saying he'll catch up. Brock and Gary both gave Richie a knowing look before they left.

"How are you doing Joy?"

"I'm doing well, thank you Richie. Looks like you start today. I hope you do well."

Richie's cheeks turned pink at what she said. "Thanks Joy." He noticed the pink flower hair pin on the right side of her head. "I see you're using the hair pin."

Now it was Joy's turn as her cheeks too turned pink. "Yes, it's very nice and I couldn't just keep it without using it you know."

"Agreed. No need for something if you don't use it right?"

"Too true."

They went quiet for a couple seconds, as neither could come up with something to talk about. Before it could get awkward, Richie said that he'll see her later, since he wanted to visit Gardevoir as well before heading out for the match. They said bye to each other and Richie went to join his friends. Both he and Joy were lost in thought thinking about each other. Richie came out of his trance when he heard his friends talking when he got closer.

"I can't believe he ate the food we brought him in less than a few minutes," remarked Iris.

"That's Ash for you. He thinks with his stomach," joked Serena. Everyone laughed as they noticed Richie came in.

"So what did you and Joy talk about?" inquired Dawn, raising her eyebrows. All eyes turned to Richie, who immediately felt embarrassed.

"Nothing special. Just wanted to see how she was doing." Richie shrugged.

"Is that so? Right, we getcha." Gary winked at Richie, who face palmed, earning some chuckles from the group.

"Man Gary, I swear you're so annoying…Anyway, how are you doing Gardevoir?" Richie asked.

"I'm doing well thank you. Joy checked in on me and said I'm recovering very quickly and should be okay to leave by tomorrow morning."

"That's great news! "exclaimed Richie.

"Hey guys, we have to get going or we'll miss the opening ceremony and won't find good seats," interrupted Max.

"Oh you're right. Gardevoir, I'll come back and to visit okay soon as I'm done. Lucario watch over her okay?" Lucario took up his usual position of being by Gardevoir's side.

Ash got up, putting his hat on top of his messy black hair and stepped out of the room, Pikachu on his shoulder, with the group after everyone said their byes. They made their byes to Joy, who informed Ash that she has let President Goodshow know that he isn't using his alias anymore and Ash thanked her for updating the president. The stadium was a five minute walk away from the hotel but they wanted to get there a little early to find good seats and also because Ash and Richie had to go to the trainers' area. They soon reached the stadium and the group split up with Ash and Richie heading towards the trainers entrance and the rest heading through the public entrance.

"Hold up Ash!"

Ash turned around to see May coming towards him. He gestured to Richie that he'll catch up.

"What's up May?" asked Ash, a little nervous since they hadn't spoken since the morning incident.

"Ash, I just wanted to say it's not your fault and its okay. I don't want you distracted in case you have to battle soon."

"Oh. Thanks May." May hugged him and he returned the hug, Ash's head on top of her shoulder. He whispered into her ear after a few seconds.

"They felt nice."

He quickly let go, gave her a slight grin, and bolted down the trainer's entrance. May's face flushed as her eyes widened over what he said and she was too stunned to move or do anything after he said it and ran. After a moment, she regained her senses and smiled sheepishly, crossing her arms over her chest as she headed back to the public entrance to find where her friends decided to sit.

Did he really just say that? I never would've thought he'd say something like that. Does this mean he likes me? Was he flirting with me? May shook her head. Calm down damn it. He was probably only teasing. Anyway, you better think so Ketchum or next time my fist will hit your face, thought May.

She soon found her friends and joined them in their seating area. They found one of the best spots, which were on the side of the field, sitting in the front rows. They were far enough to see the whole field and close enough to the action. The stadium soon filled up to the maximum as more and more spectators arrived. At 9am sharp, the sound of trumpets was heard over the crowd, causing silence to welcome everyone after a minute. Right after that, they heard a loud voice.

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMAN TO THE SPIRIT TOURNAMENT!"

The crowd roared in delight and clapped their hands hearing the announcer. The group of friends clapped and cheered as they looked at one another, big smiles on their faces.

"WITH GREAT PLEASURE, I NOW ANNOUNCE TO YOU THE GREAT AND HUMBLE PRESIDENT OF THE POKEMON LEAGUE, MR. CHARLES GOODSHOW!"

As the crowd clapped, they saw Goodshow's face on the huge screens that were all around the stadium. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie. He had a fairly large group of people standing behind him, but they're faces weren't visible as they stood in the shadowy part of the room. Goodshow began speaking, his voice heard over the many speakers that were placed around the stadium.

"Thank you everyone for attending the Spirit Challenge also called the Spirit Tournament, trainers and spectators alike. I must say something before we start the tournament. It was hard getting this event together as I wanted to find the best of the best in the world, to find the next Pokémon Master in the making. With a lot of work from all the leagues, we have pulled together our sources and brought to you the best trainers in the world. Whoever wins this tournament, will have proven to the world that they have the spirit and will to become a great Pokémon Master one day. All of the trainers who will be competing are the strongest we have ever seen and can only be here if they have competed in multiple tournaments and have placed highly in them or have beaten at least one of the Elite Four of any region. The winner of this tournament will have the right to challenge the Elite Four and Champion of every league in the world. The first five rounds will be three versus three, rounds six and seven will be double battles with four pokémon on each side, the eight round will be a triple battle with again only four pokémon and the last two rounds nine and ten will be with full six versus six, one on one battles. Now without further ado, let's get this show on the road! Welcome everyone to the SPIRIT CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT!" Goodshow shouted out the last few words with great pride.

The crowd roared in agreement and right after, many trainers took to the field. Ash and Richie's group were looking for their friends.

"Where are they?" asked Misty as she scanned the mass of trainers on the field.

"I don't know. There's so many of them." Serena was leaning against the guard rail, same as Dawn, as they tried to find them.

"There they are! Look, third row from the bottom, fifth from the right. You can see Pikachu and Sparky on their shoulders!" exclaimed May.

The others soon found the two thanks to May's details. Ash and Richie were waving to the people in the stands, both Pikachus waving as well from their shoulders.

"They look ready to go!" yelped Dawn, jumping up and down, causing the people in the stands near them to eye her with a little concern, fearing she might be going crazy.

"EVERYONE PLEASE TURN TOWARDS THE SCREENS IN THE TOURNAMENT TO FIND OUT THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE TOURNAMENT!"

The announcer's sudden loud voice caused most everyone to jump. Annoyed, the group turned their heads to the closest large screen to them. It showed a long list of competing trainers split up into four columns. On the bottom of the screen, it said;

TOTAL NUMBER OF TRAINERS – 160

"So 160 of the world's best are competing here. This should be awesome!" shot Max as he pumped his fist into the year.

"This should be quite an interesting tournament," remarked Cilan.

"Ash better have some cool pokémon and strategies to show off," said Iris.

"Yea. I hope Ashy-boy has some tricks up his sleeve besides an overpowered Charizard," chuckled Gary.

"I'm sure Ash is ready. We'll soon see what he's been up to for the past few years," commented Brock.

"AND NOW THE COMPUTER WILL PICK THE FIRST MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT!"

The announcer's sudden words caused everyone to look at the screen, spectators and trainers alike. Two outlined, colored boxes began flowing through the list of names, one red and one green. They rapidly went through the list before slowly coming to a stop. The two names it stopped on were Ash Ketchum with the green box and Sarah Wiseman with the red box.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE COMPUTER HAS SELECTED WHO WILL START THE TOURNAMENT OFF. TRAINERS, PLEASE LEAVE THE FIELD SO THE OFFICALS CAN GET IT READY!"

The trainers all left the field so the stadium officials can get it ready for the opening match as well as letting the two trainers get ready. Their battle would begin in ten minutes.

"Wow, talk about starting things off with a bang! I hope we see some new pokémon that Ash has caught!"

"We probably will Iris. And I bet it will be a great match. Ash never disappoints when it comes to battling," smiled Misty, confident that Ash would get to the higher positions at least.

"Hope it's a more entertaining battle than what we saw with Charizard."

"That wasn't really a battle Max. Even though it was an awesome display of Charizard's new strength, it was more like someone taking out the trash!" May laughed and a few others joined her.

"I have to remember to ask him how he came up with that defensive strategy of his though. That was genius, using offensive moves to boost your defenses," thought Gary out loud.

"I must say that was quite an impressive demonstration. It made all those other pokémon's strongest attacks look like child's play," commented Cilan.

"Well you have to remember that Charizard is one of Ash's strongest pokémon and they've been together for a long time, practically from the beginning. He even held his own against several different legendary pokémon, such as Entei and Articuno," explained Misty.

"True. But then again those other pokémon that those bastards used could've been low leveled compared to Charizard or just not as healthy and fit, making those strong attacks not as powerful as they could've been," added Gary.

"Well, we don't really know the full extent of what new levels or accomplishments he and his pokémon have reached until we see them battling," shot Dawn quickly, earning surprised looks from everyone. "What? I'm not just a beautiful, enthusiastic girl you know. I do read and I know more than you think I know."

The others stared at her for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing. Dawn went pink as she puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THE FIELD IS READY AND LET US BEGIN THE SPIRIT TOURNAMENT!"

The crowd roared again and clapped.

"Looks like we're about to find out!" said Serena.

"IN THE RED BOX, FROM CHERRYGROVE CITY OF JOHTO, WHO HAS COMPETED IN THE JOHTO LEAGUE AND CAME OUT AS THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDER TO FACE THE LEAGUE CHAMPION AFTER BEATING THE ELITE FOUR OF THAT REGION, PLEASE WELCOME THE BEAUTIFUL YET TOUGH SARAH WISEMAN!"

The crowd shouted and screamed for Sarah Wiseman as she took to the field, walking towards the referee standing in the middle of the field. She had blond hair, a blue button down short sleeve blouse, with a red skirt that reached almost to her knees, with an athletic yet curvy build on her. She was a very attractive trainer, causing many in the stands, such as Gary and Brock, to stare at her while others cat called and wolf whistled at her, though she didn't pay any attention to it.

"AND IN THE GREEN BOX, YOU ALL KNOW WHO HE IS. HE HAD DISAPPEARED WITHOUT A TRACE FROM THE BATTLE CIRCUIT FOR A FEW YEARS, AND NOBODY HAS SEEN HIM IN A LONG TIME. BUT NOW HE'S DECIDED TO COME BACK! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR ONE OF KANTO'S FAVORED SONS, FROM PALLET TOWN, ASH KETCHUM!"

The stadium erupted with the amount of cheers the crowd gave for Ash as he took to the field, his Pikachu on his shoulder, waving frantically at everyone with a huge smile on. The duo walked over to where Sarah and the referee were standing. The referee gave Ash his microphone to put on his collar. Sarah already had hers. They shook hands as Sarah smiled at Ash, causing him to blush slightly as he noticed that she was very pretty and gave a smile in return.

"Let's have a memorable match Ash."

"Wouldn't have it any other way Sarah."

Their words were heard by everyone because of the microphones. People cheered as they saw the two trainers sizing each other up with respect. They let go of each other's hands and went to their respective trainers' boxes on opposite ends of the field.

This should be a good match. I've heard stories about this guy. He should be a challenge. He's not bad looking either, thought Sarah as she smiled to herself.

They reached their boxes and faced each other.

"This will be a three versus three battle. One on one, no Mega evolutions allowed, no time limit, substitutions allowed. Are you ready?" Sarah and Ash nodded. "Let the match begin!" yelled the referee as he raised his hand.

Sarah and Ash both tossed out a poke ball at the same time and two flashes of light later, two battle ready pokémon appeared on the field.

"AND THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SPIRIT TOURNAMENT HAS BEGUN! SARAH HAS CHOSEN STEELIX WHILE ASH HAS CHOSEN PIDGEOT! BAD BREAK FOR ASH AS HIS PIDGEOT WILL HAVE A TOUGH TIME BREAKING STEELIX'S INCREDIBLE DEFENSES! WILL HE SWITCH OUT OR TRY HIS LUCK?"

Sarah's pokémon, Steelix, a large steal coated snake-like pokémon towered over Pidgeot, laughing at his small opponent. Pidgeot however, looked to be unfazed, staring directly at Steelix without any expression shown.

"Ah, what bad luck! Ash is facing off against the number one contender against the Johto League Champion and has a type disadvantage! This is bad!" whined Dawn.

"What an unfortunate turn of events," sighed Cilan.

"I'll let you switch out your Pidgeot Ash! I don't like winning easily or unfairly!" Sarah yelled out confidently. Ash merely smiled, and crossed his arms.

"Thanks, but don't worry about it. Make your move."

"WHAT?!" yelled out his friends together.

"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT FOLKS? SARAH WAS GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO LET ASH SWITCH OUT BUT HE DIDN'T! DOES HE HAVE SOME TRICKS UP HIS SLEEVE OR HAS HE LOST HIS MIND?"

Sarah scowled a little. So you're that cocky huh? Okay, time to teach you some manners in humility.

"Have it your way then! Steelix, Dragonbreath!"

Steelix let out a stream of green blue flames of draconian energy at Pidgeot. Ash didn't react to the attack and Pidgeot didn't move, waiting patiently for her trainer's command.

"What is he doing?!" yelped Misty, the others too busy gazing at the battle to comment.

When the flames were about twenty feet from Pidgeot, Ash gave out his command with a single word.

"Counter."

Pidgeot, still standing on the ground, flapped her mighty wings once, causing a shockwave of powerful air currents to flow in front of her, meeting the flames head on and canceling them out as if the flames were a small candle light. Everyone was stunned over how easily Pidgeot dispelled the powerful attack.

"No way! Steelix, Rock Slide!" commanded Sarah hurriedly. Steelix dug his tail into the ground and shot it up, causing many small boulders to go flying towards Pidgeot.

"Fly."Pidgeot shot straight up into the sky with such speed that she was a blur to everyone, avoiding the attack.

"LOOKS LIKE ASH HASN'T LOST HIS MIND FOLKS! HIS PIDGEOT IS OUTMANEUVERING SARAH'S STEELIX! IS HE TRYING TO WEAR HIM OUT?"

You would love to know. But I guess we should move this along and stop playing games, thought Ash.

Pidgeot seemed to notice his thoughts and glanced at him.

"Alright, let's finish this Pidgeot."

Sarah sweat dropped. Finish this?

"Heat Wave!" Pidgeot glowed orange, then bright red as she collected energy and then started flapping her wings rapidly causing waves of scorching hot energy to shoot through the air towards Steelix.

"No! Steelix, use Dig!" shouted Sarah but it was too late. The attack was faster than she anticipated and struck her pokémon. Steelix roared in pain as the super effective attack connected. Steelix had high physical defenses but his defense against special attacks was average at best and this attack was too powerful. Steelix grunted as it fell to the ground, swirls in its eyes.

"No! Steelix!"

"Steelix is unable to battle. Pidgeot wins!" said the referee as he raised a green flag.

"UNBELIEVEABLE! ASH'S PIDGEOT TOOK DOWN SARAH'S STEELIX WITH ONE ATTACK! I'VE NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"

The crowd was silent over what they just witnessed for a moment before they erupted in surprise. Ash's friends' jaws were dropped, unable to neither speak nor make a sound. Sarah returned Steelix, thanking him for his work. She started at Ash for a second in disbelief before she pulled out another poke ball and tossed it into the air. A roar was heard over the crowd.

"LOOKS LIKE SARAH HAS CHOSEN TYRANITAR! WILL THIS TYRANT POKEMON AVENGE HIS FALLEN COMRADE?"

"Good job Pidgeot, you did great," complimented Ash to his pokémon as he was about to return her, but Pidgeot chirped in defiance.

"You want to stay and battle him too?" Pidgeot nodded but then chirped again. "So you want to battle until we win the match? That's really selfish Pidgeot." Pidgeot stuck her beak in the air. Ash chuckled. "Alright you can stay. But you're going to have to explain to the other two I had in mind of competing why I didn't have them battle. Got it?" Pidgeot sweat dropped, but nodded.

"THAT'S ONE STUBBORN POKEMON FOLKS! LOOKS LIKE ASH HAS DECIDED TO KEEP USING PIDGEOT, EVEN AGAINST TYRANITAR! WILL THIS BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR ASH? WILL THIS DECISION COME BACK TO HAUNT HIM?"

"Let's see what you have planned Ash! I must say I'm impressed with what you did against my Steelix! But let's see you try to beat my Tyranitar!" yelled Sarah. Ash didn't react, still in his same position, arms crossed and smiling.

Ooooo! He's starting to annoy me!

"Tyranitar, Dark Pulse!" Tyranitar shot a purple and black beam of energy at Pidgeot.

"Double Team." Pidgeot split into multiple copies surrounding the large green mountain pokémon. The attack shot through a copy. Tyranitar looked around him, confused.

"Relax Tyranitar! Use Flamethrower as you spin around!" Tyranitar spewed out a stream of flames from his mouth as he spun around in his spot, causing the flames to rush towards all the copies surrounding him.

"Dodge then Air Slash." The real Pidgeot flew up over the flames and shot a blade of condensed air at her target. The attack hit Tyranitar, but it didn't do much damage, thought it did cause him to flinch.

"Tyranitar, pull yourself together! Use Hyper Beam!" Tyranitar took a couple seconds to compose himself before readying to fire the powerful attack. Ash took this opportunity to set up his next move.

"Twister!" Sarah's eyes widened as Pidgeot rapidly flapped her wings, causing strong winds to pick up and circle around her pokémon with powerful air currents. The mountain pokémon shot a beam of white energy from inside the twister but missed his mark as the harsh winds obscured his vision, the beam hitting the stadium wall instead. Pidgeot continued her relentless whirlwind as her opponent recharged, the sharp winds cutting into Tyranitar's thick skin, causing him some pain.

"Use Dig!" Tyranitar dug into the ground to escape the ruthless winds. Pidgeot stopped her attack but stayed up in the air to have some distance between the two.

"Stone Edge!" Tyranitar shot up from underneath the ground and sent up dozens of small sharp rocks at Pidgeot.

"Defend." Pidgeot brought her wings in front of her, covering her body and head as they turned a metallic sheen.

"Hey, that's the same thing Charizard did!" exclaimed May.

"Yeah. Looks like Ash taught his pokémon how to defend themselves from certain attacks," Iris said.

The sharp stones hit Pidgeot, but her Steel Wing attack used for defense lessened the damaged considerably. After the attack, Pidgeot's wings returned to normal and then the falcon pokémon glowed white for a second and then faded away. Steel Wing had increased her defenses. Sarah grimaced. No matter what she did, she couldn't bring the bird down. She was starting to get angry and panicky.

He's really good but I can't lose! I beat the Elite Four for Arceus' sake! I must win!

"Good job Pidgeot!" called out Ash as Pidgeot endured the attack and screeched loudly, the power up giving her a boost. "Now let's use that for offense! Quick Attack and Steel Wing combo!" Pidgeot's wings again turned a metallic sheen as she shot down towards Tyranitar, a white stream of energy trailing behind her.

"Wait for your chance and when it gets close use ThunderPunch!" shouted Sarah in fury. Tyranitar waited for Pidgeot to get close as he readied his attack.

Pidgeot slammed into Tyranitar with her hardened wings at maximum speed. The impact caused dust to explode around them, covering the two pokémon. Ash's eyes glowed blue for a split second as he used his aura to check on the pokémon then went back to his brown color after he saw what everybody else would soon see. The dust faded away and everyone saw Tyranitar on the ground, swirls in his eyes with Pidgeot standing next to him, panting heavily. Tyranitar had landed the blow and done significant damage to her before fainting.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle. Pidgeot wins!" The referee raised the green flag again.

"INCREDIBLE! PIDGEOT WINS AGAINST TYRANITAR AS WELL EVEN AFTER A THUNDERPUNCH TO THE SKULL! IS THERE ANYTHING THIS POKEMON CAN'T DO?"

The crowd shouted and screamed in surprise over the outcome of the battle.

"I can't believe Pidgeot pulled it off," whispered Serena.

"Ash trained her well. She's one of his first pokémon and Pidgeot are extremely fast. Imagine getting hit by even a pebble going that fast," said Misty with glee.

"Yea, but look she's tired out," pointed out Dawn. Everyone then noticed Pidgeot was panting heavily. "I hope Ash doesn't keep using her. She needs to rest."

"Ash isn't like that. He won't let any of his pokémon continue in that state when he notices it," frowned May.

"Kind of hard not to notice how tired Pidgeot is. If Ash makes her continue to battle than he's an idiot and you know it," shot Gary. The girls glared at him.

"Don't worry guys," interrupted Brock. "Ash will do the right thing."

"Yea guys, this is Ash we're talking about. He always puts others first!" chimed in Max, pumping his fist into the air.

"Yea, Ash may act like a kid most of the times, but he knows better, right Cilan?" asked Iris.

"Yes, I agree. He knows when to stop."

"AND THAT'S TWO OF SARAH'S POKEMON THAT ASH HAS BROUGHT DOWN TO THEIR KNEES WITH JUST PIDGEOT. WHAT POKEMON WILL SARAH USE AS HER LAST HOPE?"

Sarah returned and thanked Tyranitar. She put away his poke ball and looked at Ash and Pidgeot. Pidgeot was tired out, but Ash was still calm and focused, arms still crossed over his chest, with a smile on his face. It infuriated her that he was able to beat two of her pokémon with ease.

What's your secret? How are you so freaking strong? I only have one pokémon left and he still has two fresh ones that I don't even know which pokémon they are.

"You're not bad Ash but this is far from over! I will beat you and that's a promise!" shouted Sarah as she tossed her final poke ball into the air, releasing her last pokémon onto the field with another flash of bright light.

"SARAH HAS RELEASED HER FINAL POKEMON ONTO THE FIELD AND IT'S A TOUGH LOOKING JOLTEON! WILL THIS POKEMON BRING HER BACK FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT?"

"Of all the pokémon to send out!" worried Misty.

"Ash definitely has to switch out now."

"You're right Gary and don't worry he will," replied Brock.

"You're bird is toast Ash! I hope you like extra crispy wings for lunch!" taunted Sarah.

Jolteon grinned as his fur stood on end, sparks shooting around him. Pidgeot had flied back towards her trainer, standing a little ahead of him. She turned her head back at Ash. They locked eyes for a couple seconds, as if communicating. Pidgeot faced the yellow electric dog and chirped loudly, taunting Jolteon.

"ASH IS STICKING WITH PIDGEOT! HAS HE GONE MAD? HOW MUCH MORE CAN HIS POKEMON TAKE? WHAT KIND OF MAD PLAN DOES HE HAVE IN STORE?"

"WHAT?!" Ash's friends yelled out together. Misty leaned over the guard rail and shouted at Ash.

"Ash! Don't be an idiot! Switch her out! She's too tired!" Ash looked up towards Misty when he heard her yelling over the murmuring of the crowd. He merely smiled at her and shook his head. Misty was in shock and so were the others.

Ash never used to gamble with his pokémon like this. He knows the consequences. What in the world is clouding his judgment? Thought Misty.

"Jolteon, let's turn Pidgeot into fried chicken! Thunderbolt!" Jolteon barked and let off a powerful bolt of electricity at the falcon pokémon.

"Double Team," responded Ash calmly.

Pidgeot once again made copies of her and surrounded Jolteon. The Thunderbolt attack hit one of the copies and it disappeared.

"Roost." All the copies of the falcon pokémon began glowing white.

"No! Jolteon don't let it! Use Discharge!" Jolteon let off powerful electric bolts all around him, striking each of the copies. After the attack ended, they saw that the field was empty.

"Where did Pidgeot go?" wondered Sarah out loud while her Jolteon looked around the field.

A loud screech answered her question from high up in the sky. Everyone looked up to see Pidgeot hovering in the middle of the air with ease, no longer looking tired. Truth be told, she looked even better than before.

"WHAT A PLAN! ASH AND PIDGEOT KEPT SARAH AND HER JOLTEON BUSY WITH HER COPIES AS SHE RESTED HIGH UP IN THE AIR! THAT IS ONE TALENTED PAIR!"

Ash's friends were stunned. They couldn't believe it and they all felt a little ashamed, especially Misty. She had insulted Ash in front of everyone and he merely smiled back at her.

"I guess we should've never doubted Ash. He really knows what he's doing," May said quietly. The others agreed quietly, still ashamed slightly that they thought he didn't know better.

"No way! No freaking way! Impossible!"

Sarah lost her cool as she yelled in frustration, and then fell to her knees, staring at the ground. Jolteon glanced at his trainer, worried about her. Pidgeot gently landed back on the field, in front of Ash. After a moment of silence, the stadium heard her as she whispered something, the microphone attached to her blouse catching it.

"I forfeit."

For one second it was total silence in the stadium. The next, it erupted so loudly that it caused the glass in the VIP room to vibrate slightly. President Goodshow and his guests inside it were astonished to the outcome of the match. They expected that it would be a close one to call, considering the match up, but not a total blow out.

"Didn't I tell you that he was something special?" asked Goodshow happily as he turned to the others in the VIP room.

"Yes, you did and it looks like you're right," answered one of his guests, as they watched the two trainers return their pokémon and shake hands in the middle of the field. "We will have to keep an eye on Ash from now on." The other guests agreed with the man who spoke.

'He may be who we have been waiting for who can finally give us a challenge' thought the man.