Ash headed for the large building on the north end of Phenac City. He sighed and shook his head.
"Well, Pikachu. I came here to train for the Indigo League, but I wasn't expecting this type of situation," Ash said.
"Pika?"
"A colesseum fight? I hope I'm ready for this," Ash muttered.
Pikachu leapt on his shoulder and Ash entered the building. He saw a woman sitting behind a desk.
"Greeting. Welcome to Phenac Colesseum. Are you here to participate in the tournament."
"Uh. Yes. I'm new to Orre and am training for the Indigo League," Ash stated.
"It is a good thing you told me. The rules in Orre are double battles only. Each contestant will have two Pokemon out at a time. It is believed that it takes a bit more skill than regular single battles."
"I thought two Pokemon at once were against the rules," Ash stated.
"That's only in the Indigo and Johto Leagues. The Sinnoh and Hoen leagues allow two Pokemon at once if both participants agree. I would say Orange Islands are also single battles only, but there is a gym that has double battles. Orange Islands is an oddity with the way it has its gyms set up," the receptionist responded.
"Thank you," Ash replied while shaking his head. "How much longer before I get called in?"
"You are contestant fifteen. I'd say in ten minutes. You'll be in the last set. If you win, you move up. You will only have to fight four times," the receptionist said.
Ash nodded and headed for the waiting room. While there, he pulled out his Pokeballs. "Who do I use for this?"
After releasing his Pokemon from their balls, he saw that Squirtle and Bulbasaur were looking a bit sick. Pidgeotto was also looking a bit off.
"This place must be getting to them," Ash muttered. "I'll have to send them back to Professor Oak. I have Tauros and Muk as my other choices. The heat isn't bothering Charizard and Primeape is tough. Pikachu? Are you all right?"
"Pika," Pikachu replied while waving its arm.
"Charizard. Primeape. It looks like the two of you and Pikachu will have to fight in the battles. I doubt the others have the strength to fight right now."
The two evolved Pokemon nodded their acceptance. Ash recalled his Pokemon and then waited. He soon heard his name being called and entered the arena. His first opponent was against a girl wearing a short blue miniskirt.
"I hope you are ready for a battle against cute," the girl said and tossed two Pokeballs.
Out of the Pokeballs appeared two pink Pokemon. Ash quickly pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at them.
"Igglybuff: the pre-evolution of Jigglypuff. Clefa: the pre-evolution of Clefairy."
"Great, just great," Ash muttered and tossed out two Pokeballs.
"Charizard! Attack the Pokemon to your right with Flamethrower. Primeape! Karate Chop! Keep on them and don't let them sing!" Ash called out.
Charizard turned his head to stare at Ash.
"Think Jigglypuff!" Ash responded to the unasked question.
That was all Ash had to say, as Charizard turned its head and unleashed a stream of fire at Igglybuff. Primeape didn't bother and struck Clefa with a Karate Chop. Because of the type advantage, Clefa fell quickly to the attack. Charizard fueled its anger at Jigglypuff into the fire it was shooting at Igglybuff and quickly knocked it out. The girl sent a single Pokeball out and a small blue mouse bounced on a large ball.
"Azuril."
"Primeape! Fury Swipes! Charizard! Scratch!"
Charizard shook its head and complied with the order to help Primeape. The small blue Pokemon didn't stand a chance. After it fell, Ash looked at the girl.
"Why didn't you toss out more Pokemon?" Ash asked.
"I only have the three. I might have lost, but it is good training. Why were you afraid of Igglybuff?"
"There is a Jigglypuff that has followed me around occasionally and its song has put an entire city to sleep in the past."
"That Jigglypuff is a tad overpowered."
Ash nodded and then addressed Charizard. "Charizard, this double battle routine is different and it will help with teamwork and marksmanship."
Charizard growled a bit in disgust, but didn't make any further objections. Ash recalled his Pokemon and they were healed, while waiting for the next match. Like the previous match, Ash blasted through his next two opponents with ease, due more to him using two fully evolved Pokemon to first stage Pokemon.
"So, I'm a finalist," Ash muttered to himself, as he waited for his Pokemon to get refreshed. "It doesn't feel like I've done much."
"You have to understand, this is Phenac City. This is where Trainers start, Ash. If you want a better challenge you head to Pyrite Town," a woman wearing a purple dress said.
"Right. I came here to train, but all Charizard and Primeape are getting is accuracy training," Ash said. "They only have three Pokemon each."
"I'm your next opponent. Like the others, I only have three Pokemon. Unlike them, they have no evolutions or pre-evolutions."
"Right. Let's get to it."
Ash tossed out his Primeape and Charizard and the girl sent out two Pokemon. One Ash recognized as a Corsola. The other was yellow on the front half and black on the back half and it looked like it had a small head as a tail.
"What is that?" Ask asked.
"That is a Girafarig. It is a Normal/Psychic Pokemon," the girl replied.
"Primeape! Karate Chop on Corsola! Charizard use Flamethrower on Girafarig!
"Corosla! Bubblebeam Charizard! Girafarig use Confusion on Primeape!"
Ash's Primeape got to Corsola first and the Karate Chop sent it back, causing it to miss Charizard. Charizard managed to hit Girafarig with a Flamethrower, but it was able to hit Primeape with Confusion. The two Trainers gave orders to keep fighting. Corsola and Primeape fainted at the same time. Charizard looked a bit worse for wear, as did Girafarig.
"Pikachu! You're up!"
"Go Tropius!"
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt on Girafarig! Charizard use Flamethrower on Tropius."
"Girafarig! Light Screen! Tropius! Solar Beam!"
Before Pikachu was able to get its Thunderbolt off, Girafarig was able to put up a Light Screen and shielded the two from the special attacks of Ash's Pokemon.
"Pikachu! Quick Attack on Girafarig! Charizard try a Seismic Toss on Tropius!"
"Girafarig! Disable on Charizard!"
Pikachu managed to get to Girafarig before the Disable struck and took Girafarig out. Tropius managed a return blast of Solar Beam on Pikachu and knocked him out. Charizard managed to grab a hold of Tropius and went into the Seismic Toss spin and sent it crashing to the ground.
"I still have three more Pokemon! Is it legal?" Ash called out.
"Yes!"
"Pidgeotto! Go!"
The large bird Pokemon appeared and it staggered a bit as it took the air.
"I really don't think your Pidgeotto like Orre that much."
"It doesn't matter. Pidgeotto! Charizard! Use Wing Attack on Tropius!"
"Tropius! Stomp Charizard!"
"Stomp?"
The large Grass Pokemon flew up and dropped one of its large feet on top of Charizard's head. The resulting blow sent Charizard into dreamland. Pidgeotto was able to get a Wing Attack off on Tropius. Ash sighed and tossed out another Pokeball, while recalling Charizard.
"Pidgeotto! Sky Attack! Bulbasaur! Solar Beam!"
"Tropius! Synthesis!"
Ash watched in shock as Tropius recovered from the damage done to it. He shook his head and waited it out.
"Tropius! Stomp Bulbasaur!"
Bulbasaur mange to get off its Solarbeam right before it got ht by the Stomp. The beam blast didn't do much damage against the Grass/Flying Pokemon. Bulbasaur, due to the conditions in Orre, wasn't in the best of shape and quickly passed out.
"Squirtle I know you're in bad shape, but go."
"Squirtle", the tiny turtle Pokemon sighed heavily as it waved its hand in front of its face.
"You're Squirtle looks like it fainted already."
"Squirtle! Skull Bash!"
"Tropius! Giga Drain on Squirtle!"
Before the Giga Drain could hit, Pidgeotte unleashed its Sky Attack and sent Tropius reeling and caused the Giga Drain to miss. Squirtle's Skull Bash finished the job and sent it to dream land.
"That was intense!" Ash stated.
"That it was," the girl said. "At any rate, thanks for the match."
Ash left and met the receptionist.
"Congratulations on a fine match. Here is you prize money and you get one of our new Pokemon prizes," the receptionist said.
"Just told me that if I won that match, that I could choose to get a hover scooter instead of money. I also need to send three of my Pokemon back to Professor Oak," Ash said.
"Let me take a quarter of the money and you can use that machine to talk to Professor Oak if you want. After that, we'll deal with the hove scooter issue," the receptionist replied.
"Hello? Professor Oak?"
"Ah? Ash! I was hoping you'd call. I was hoping to talk to Vander."
"Vander? I haven't met a Vader. Who is he?"
"He is the most respected Trainer on Mount Battle."
"I have not been to Mount Battle yet. I participated in a colesseum battle here in Phenac. I barely won, due my opponent having a Tropius, Corsola and Girafarig. If she had one more Pokemon, I would have lost. Charizard and Primeape were taken out by her team."
"I thought your Charizard didn't obey you and you left Primeape with someone."
"You can thank Justy of the Pre Gym for that," Ash said. "Professor, I have to send Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pidgeotto to you. They can't take the heat here. Pikachu seems to be able to hang on. Charizard is a Fire Pokemon and Primeape is just tough."
"Justy? Oh? That Justy! I remember him. Sad. He could have been a member of the Elite Four. Agatha of the Elite Four was upset that he left for Orre. She was hopeful that he would take over for her," Oak replied with a sad shake of his head.
"I might want to ask him about that. Still, I need to send those three Pokemon to you."
"Right, Ash. You want me to send Muk or maybe a Tauros to you?" Oak asked.
"Maybe later. Apparently, I received a Pokemon for a prize. I have no idea what yet, but it should be able to handle Orre. By the way, have you told Brock and Misty where I am yet?"
"No. They left a note, saying they were heading to one of the islands to surf and swim. They both checked back at their gyms as well," Oak said. "I need to get back to my studies."
"Bye, Professor Oak."
Ash hung up the phone and nodded at the receptionist. She hesitated and then grabbed a white Pokeball with a light blue marking. To Ash it looked tike someone took two raindrop drawings and stuck them together point first.
"That is the symbol of Phenac. Two raindrops on a white background," the receptionist explained and handed Ash the Pokeball. "Here is your prize Pokemon. Let's go get your hover scooter."
Ash followed the receptionist into a garage and saw quite a few dusty hover scooters in the area. The receptionist looked Ash over and nodded.
"Well, some of those are too big for you."
"After I return to Pallet, I'm handing off to my mom. She can use it for her own use," Ash said.
"That narrows it down a bit more. Since fuel stations don't exist in Orre, you'll need something that has solar panels as well as a normal recharge outlet."
Ash's eyes were drawn to a mid-sized hover scooter. He couldn't tell what color it was because it was coated with a lot of dust, making it brownish-gray. Ash walked over to it and saw that it had side bags and a tail bag. He brushed off the seat and saw that there was a latch to lift up the seat as well.
"How about this one?" Ash asked, as he pointed to it.
"That thing has been here since before I was born," the receptionist said.
"Pikachu can probably recharge it if it needs it. Yes. It has solar panels." Ash said, as he brushed more of it off. "If it works, I'll take it."
"Let's get it outside and then we can get the dust off of it and probably replace the battery on it."
They quickly did so. As the receptionist used and air hose to blow the dust off the hover scooter, it was revealed to have a paint job that was primarily the color of desert sand with black flames as decoration. The receptionist replaced the battery in it and scratched her head.
"There is no place to put oil in this thing."
"Maybe it doesn't need it," Ash speculated.
"If it doesn't, you got one of the few scooters that don't and it is worth a fortune," the receptionist said and spotted a key with a strange ball on the end. "Don't tell me. Item ball."
"Item ball?" Ash asked.
The receptionist removed the key from the ignition and pointed the ball at the scooter. A beam of blue light shot forth and the scooter vanished in a flare of pale blue energy.
"Item ball. It's like a Pokeball, but it is only used for items," the receptionist replied with a rueful shake of her head. "Here you go. Talk about getting the better end of the deal. You received a hover scooter that is probably worth more than Rolls Royce. You chose it as your prize and we lost it, because we thought it was nothing more than an ordinary scooter for gathering dust for so long."
The receptionist laughed a bit as she handed Ash the key and Item Ball chain. "Just point the ball and open the sphere. The Item Ball will do the rest."
Ash opened the sphere and saw the scooter reappear in a flash of green light.
"If that item ball is the top of the line, and I believe that it is, it can store the scooter while it has Pokeballs or other items in the bags. I think it can even have Pokemon inside Pokeballs stored inside."
"Thanks. This will help me get around Orre a bit."
"You're welcome," the receptionist said, as she headed back inside the stadium.
"Well Pikachu? What do you think of our new ride?"
Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder into what looked like a small basket in the front of the scooter and quickly fastened what looked to be a small seatbelt.
Ash chuckled a bit. "Whoever owned this, must have had a Pokemon that he kept outside as well."
Ash mounted the hover-scooter and thought about where to go.
"Do I head to Pyrite or Mount Battle?" Ash muttered. "I probably should talk to Justy before I go."
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(Posted Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:55)
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