Chapter 8
Today was finally the day. The day the Silver Conference started. Ash Ketchum stood in the stadium that would soon be home to many great battles. He reflected on his journey throughout Johto. Setting out after losing in the Indigo League, defeating Falkner with the help of Charizard to earn his first badge; defeating Bugsy for his Bug Badge, winning his Plain Badge from Whitney after mastering a counter for her Milktank's Rollout attack; defeating Morty and his Ghost types; Chuck and his fighting types, and Jasmine and Pryce with their types.
But gym battles were only half of his adventures. He had gotten to meet so many people and Pokémon during his journey. Sometimes it was just a friendly chat, while other times he had to save the world. Becoming a half-Pokemon Hybrid being only one of those times.
"So, Ashy-Boy?"
Ash whirled around to see Gary walking up to him.
Gary smirked. "Don't lose in the first round, I want to be the one to beat you!"
Ash just smiled. "We'll see, I'm not going down easily,"
"Touche," Gary held out his hand. "But until then, good luck,"
Ash accepted the handshake. "Same to you,"
"I wonder how confident he'll be when he sees your Pokémon," said Latios.
Ash smiled at the invisible eon. "You want to battle him, Latios?"
"Maybe, but only if you face him in the six-on-six round," said Latios, "You probably shouldn't use me too early,"
Ash nodded. "Good point,"
"Ash from Pallet Town, please report to the C court!"
"Looks like it's our turn!" Pikachu hopped on his shoulder.
"Right! Come on, guys!" Ash called to the outlines of Latios and Latias. "We have a battle to win!"
His first opponent was Salvador, a boy from Cherrygrove City. The wheel selected Ash to send out his Pokémon first, giving him a slight disadvantage, but he didn't care. Pikachu could handle this battle.
"Pikachu, I choose you!"
"I'm going to start with my most trusted Pokémon!" Salvador threw a Pokeball. "Furret! I choose you!"
"Alright, Thunderbolt!" A Furret shouldn't be too hard to take down, but Ash knew better than to underestimate his opponents.
"Furret, use Double Team!"
Multiple copies of Furret appeared around it, and Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit one of them, making it vanish into thin air.
"Hey, Ash, try to figure out which one's real," telepathed Latios.
"How do I do that?"
"You're a Lati now, remember? We talked about this earlier,"
"Oh, yeah.." Ash remembered their training session yesterday. Latios and Latias could sense people and Pokémon without seeing them by sensing their emotions. Latios could only detect when someone was nearby, but Latias could sometimes detect which emotions she was sensing.
Closing his eyes, Ash concentrated on the surrounding Pokémon. He immediately felt Pikachu and Furret's presence on the battlefield. The outlines of the Pokémon slid into focus, and Ash knew which Furret was real.
"Furret, use Swift!"
"Pikachu Iron Tail to the right!"
Sure enough, Pikachu's tail smashed into Furret, causing all the fake ones to disappear.
Salvador stared at him. "How did you do that?"
Ash shrugged. "I guess I'm just lucky,"
"Yeah, really lucky," Latios telepathed.
"Isn't this cheating?" asked Latias.
Ash hesitated. "I mean, there aren't rules against it…"
"Furret, use Dig!"
Ash snapped back to the battle. It wasn't over yet. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt in the hole!"
"Furret, Headbutt now!"
Furret leaped out of the ground, just as Pikachu's attack hit, sending the normal-type flying into Pikachu. Both Pokémon were promptly thrown against the wall.
"Pikachu!" Ash called, "Are you alright?"
Pikachu picked himself up and sent Ash a thumbs-up.
Ash smiled. "Okay, finish 'em off with Quick Attack!"
"Oh no you don't!" Salvador yelled, "Use Swift!"
Ash shielded his eyes as the attacks blew dust across the field. This match was a lot tougher than he thought it would be. But when the dust cleared and only Pikachu was left standing, he knew he needn't have worried. "Great job, Pikachu!"
Salvador walked up to him as Pikachu bounded onto his shoulder. "Wow, that's a strong Pikachu!" He shook Ash's hand.
"Thanks! Your Furret is very strong too!" Ash beamed. "Good luck on your next battle!"
"You too!" Salvador waved as he stepped off the field.
~~~
The next two battles were fairly easy. Cyndaquill and Bulbasaur won without difficulty, but Ash knew now wasn't the time to get overconfident. This was only the screening, which trainers had to pass to get into the Silver Conference. Only 48 trainers were selected out of over 200 participants, so you couldn't afford to lose more than one battle.
Despite winning all three battles, Ash's heart raced as he watched the TV screen flicker through the list of trainers who had qualified for the conference. The room hummed with the sound of trainers whispering to each other, but Ash hardly noticed.
"Stop worrying, Ash, I know you'll get in," Latias chirped.
"Thanks, Latias." Ash reached out to stroke her head, but realized it would look strange since no one else could see her.
"Look, it's Gary," Brock pointed to the screen.
Ash shrugged. "Figures he would get in,"
Pikachu nudged his shoulder. "I knew it! There you are!"
Sure enough, only a few rows below Gary, Ash's picture drifted up the screen. Ash let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Yes! We did it!"
Misty glanced at him. "Let me guess, you're going to train?"
"You bet! Let's go, guys!" Ash rushed for the door.
"Are we going after him?" asked Brock.
Misty shrugged. "Sure, but I'm walking,"
~~~
Ash stood in his trainer box as a referee prepared for the match. Across from him stood his opponent, Kyle. The second stage of the Silver Conference forced Ash to compete against two other trainers. He would battle both of them, getting three points for a win, one for a tie, and zero for a loss. Whichever trainer had the most points at the end moved on to the top 16.
"This will be a 3-on-3 Battle. Substitutions are allowed, and the first to knock out each of his or her opponent's Pokémon will be declared the winner!" The ref said. "Now, competitors, choose your first Pokémon!"
Kyle threw out a Pokeball. "Go Magmar!"
"Pikachu, you're up first!" Ash said to his partner Pokémon. He knew Pikachu could handle the Magmar. The icons of Magmar and Pikachu flashed onto the large screen under the respective trainer's icon. The first move went to Kyle.
"Begin!" The ref called, and Ash tensed, knowing his whole journey in Johto had been for this moment.
"Magmar, use Flamethrower!" Kyle yelled.
The fire type launched a blast of flames toward Pikachu, which he easily dodged.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu launched a lightning bolt at Magmar.
"Magmar, use Fire Blast!" On Kyle's command, Magmar launched a beam of fire, which took the shape of a star.
The attacks collided in mid-air, sending blasts of air and dust across the battlefield.
"Alright, Pikachu, now use Quick Attack and Iron Tail!" Ash called as soon as he saw his Pokémon.
Pikachu launched forward at a blinding speed, coating his tail in iron. With a flip to maximize the force behind the attack, he slammed his tail into Magmar's face, launching him across the field and into a wall. Magmar fell to the ground, completely knocked out.
"Magmar is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!" The ref called, holding up a flag. The audience around them cheered, and Kyle readied a second Pokeball.
"Go, Jolteon!" Kyle called, throwing out his ball. The electric eeveelution let out a growl as it appeared on the field.
"Ash!" telepatehed Latias, "Remember, electric-type attacks won't work on Jolteon!"
Ash nodded. "Thanks, Latias!" Volt Absorb was very annoying to deal with, and although he had come up with ways to attack without using electricity, thanks to Team Rocket and their electric-proof gadgets, he decided he should switch out anyway.
"Pikachu, it's time for someone else to battle!" Ash called to the mouse Pokémon. Pikachu nodded and ran back to Ash's side. Pikachu's icon faded to a greyish shade, but still had detail on it, which signified he was still able to battle.
Ash grabbed a Pokeball off his belt. "Okay, Bulbasaur, you're up next!" Ash threw out the ball, releasing the grass-type onto the battlefield.
"You ready to go, Bulbasaur?" Ash asked.
"You bet!" Bulbasaur chirped, taking a defensive posture.
"That's the spirit!" Ash praised. "Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed!"
Bulbasaur launched a large seed from the bulb on his back, which struck Jolteon, sapping its energy and slowly giving it to Bulbasaur.
"Jolteon, use Quick Attack!" Kyle called. Jolteon launched toward Bulbasaur, striking Bulbasaur before Ash could launch a counter-attack. Meanwhile, Jolteon continued to ram repeatedly into the grass-type.
"Hang in there, Bulbasaur!" Ash called. The electric type was so fast, it could be anywhere around Bulbasaur. Wait, that was it! "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip and spin!"
Bulbasaur launched two vines from his back and flipped over. Using his bulb as a pivot point, he started to spin, catching Jolteon off guard. With a quick smack from the vine, the electric type was sent smashing into the dirt.
"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!"
"Jolteon, use Double Team!"
Jolteon quickly made several copies of itself, the Razor Leaves destroying a few of the fake ones.
"Ash!" telepathed Latios, "Remember how you found Furret?"
"Right," Ash closed his eyes. He could see the outlines of the Jolteon copies that surrounded Bulbasaur.
Most of them were simply hollow shells. But one Jolteon was brighter than the others. The real Jolteon. "Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf to your left!"
Bulbasaur launched the attack and, much to Kyle's surprise, sent Jolteon flying into the wall. The eeveelution tried to get up, but Leech Seed kicked in and drained the last of its health. Jolteon fell to the ground, unconscious.
The referee raised a flag. "Jolteon is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins!"
Kyle sighed and returned his downed Pokémon. "Good job, Jolteon, you did amazing,"
"Incredible!" The announcer spoke. "After being bombarded by Jolteon's speed attacks, Bulbasaur was able to not only stop the barrage of attacks but also spot the real Jolteon after it used Double Team! Ash is up by two, with all of his Pokémon remaining, while Kyle is down to his last!"
"Alright, Bulbasaur, return!" Ash recalled his grass type. He readied his third Pokeball. "Go, Kingler!"
Kyle threw out his final Pokeball. "Graveler, your turn!"
Kyle went ahead with the first attack. "Use Rollout!" He called.
Ash shuddered, remembering his fight with Whitney's Miltank. "Kingler, hit it with a Crabhammer!"
Kingler swung its large pincher and launched Graveler across the arena. It looked amusingly like a baseball game. Graveler clearly wasn't as strong as Miltank.
"Graveler, use Rock Throw!"
Kingler knocking Graveler back gave Ash an idea. "Kingler, hit those rocks right back at 'em!"
One by one, each rock soared toward Kingler, and one by one, they were hit back at Graveler, who was too slow to dodge the barrage of super-fast stones.
"Nice job!" Ash praised, "Now, finish with Water Gun."
"Graveler, quick, dodge it!"
But it was too late. As Graveler tried to roll out of the way, it was promptly nailed by a Bubblebeam to its face, knocking it out.
"Graveler is unable to battle!" The referee called. "Kingler wins! And with all three of his Pokémon still available, the victor is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
Ash cheered, and Latios had to hold back Latias from hugging Ash in her excitement and ruining her invisibility. "Well, that's round one!" Ash smiled. "Let's keep it up!"
~~~
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