{A/N: I forgot to put that Vixie the Delphox that she's a shiny when writing the Kanto Arc}
The day after Ashlyn had defeated Macey, Macey was against her next opponent in the round-robin tournament. Her opponent was a trainer from New Bark Town, named Vincent; he was also the opponent that Ashlyn had to battle next. Macey had won the match with her last Pokémon which was Quilava who defeated Vincent's Poliwhirl. Macey was the winner and now earned three points.
"Now that Macey has three points like you Ashlyn, you'll have to beat or draw with Vincent to win." Brock warned her.
"Yes, and I am going to win." Ashlyn said with determination.
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When the gang went to the Pokémon center, they encountered Vincent talking to Prof Elm on the phone. Prof Elm and Vincent were talking about Vincent's friends Jimmy and Marina, who were also from New Bark Town. Prof Elm explained that he gave Vincent his first Pokémon, a Chikorita, when he started being a trainer, and he also said that it was now a Meganium. Ashlyn said that she had a Meganium too, as well as a Typhlosion and Feraligatr.
"Wow Ashlyn, you seem to have some incredible Pokémon. I look forward to our battle." Vincent stated.
"So do I, Vincent." Ashlyn agreed.
Ashlyn told Prof. Elm about their success of returning Larvitar to his mother at the Pokémon Reserve. It made Prof. Elm happy to know that Larvitar was back with Tyranitar.
"[Vincent, Ashlyn, I wish you luck in this tournament.]" Prof. Elm said.
Vincent and Ashlyn thanked him and finished the phone call.
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The gang started to look up on Vincent on the computer. Apart from having Meganium, Quagsire, Golduck and Poliwhirl, Vincent also had a Azumarill and a Magneton. Ashlyn to think about this.
"I've got it," She finally said, "I'm going to use Veton, Lucifer, and Cross."
"Those are good choices." Misty said.
Volkner, Flint, and Brock liked the idea too.
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Next day it was time for Ashlyn and Vincent's battle. Vincent picked out his Azumarill to battle first and Ashlyn sent out Veton.
"Azumarill, use Water Gun!" Vincent commanded.
"Veton, Thunderbolt!" Ashlyn countered.
The thunderbolt and water gun attacks collided and broke apart.
"Use Iron Tail Azumarill!" Vincent ordered.
Azumarill ran over to Veton with its tail glowing white.
"Grab Azumarill's tail!" Ashlyn countered.
Veton stopped Azumarill's tail from hitting her which surprised Azumarill and Vincent.
"Now Thunder Shock!" Veton shocked Azumarill good with Thunder Shock. Then Azumarill fainted.
"Well done, Veton." Ashlyn complimented her Electric Pokémon.
Veton rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. Suddenly Veton glowed white which surprised everyone. Veton's shape began to change as she grew bigger. When the glow died down, Veton revealed her evolved form.
"Electabuzz!" Veton smiled.
"Veton, you evolved!" Ashlyn smiled back.
Vincent returned Azumarill and sent out his next Pokémon, a Magneton. This Magneton was shiny; its body was a darker grey than normal.
"Magneton!" Magneton said as it appeared on the field.
Ashlyn returned Veton and sent out Lucifer.
Lucifer howled when he appeared on the field.
"Use Flamethrower, Lucifer." Lucifer blew flamethrower at Magneton, but Magneton dodged it.
"Use Thunderbolt Magneton." Vincent ordered.
"Dig!" Lucifer dug into the ground before Magneton could shock him.
"Come out and use Fire Blast!" Lucifer came from out of the ground and hit Magneton with a fire blast, causing Magneton to faint.
Vincent returned Magneton and let out his last Pokémon: Meganium.
"Meg!" Meganium said as it appeared on the field.
Ashlyn returned Veton and let out Cross the Heracross.
"Hera!" Cross said as he appeared on the field.
"Meganium, Razor Leaf!" Meganium summoned a bunch of leaf and shot them towards Cross.
"Cross, dodge and use Pin Missile!" Cross's horn glowed white and fired white, arrow-shaped streams at Meganium which was a direct hit.
"Meganium!" Vincent cried out, "Are you okay?"
Megnaium nodded, "Meg."
"Alright then, use Sunny Day!" Meganium formed an orb of white energy in front of its mouth and threw it into the air, making the sky sunnier.
"Now Solar Beam!" Meganium gathered energy in the flower around its neck. Then the flower glowed white and it fired a white beam from its mouth and shot it towards Cross.
"Dodge again and use Aerial Horn!" Cross's horn glowed bright green with multiple shades of yellow as his body was surrounded in white light and rammed Meganium with his horn which caused Meganium to cry out in pain. But it soon fainted from all three attacks.
Since all of Vincent's Pokémon were defeated, Ashlyn was declared the winner and earned another three points. Since Ashlyn had six, she was advancing to the final rounds, and Macey and Vincent couldn't as Macey had three points and Vincent had none. Macey and Vincent congratulated Ashlyn and wished her luck in the final rounds.
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That evening, after the round-robin tournaments were finished with, everyone was in the Pokémon to look at the results for the first Pokémon battles in the final rounds. There were now sixteen Pokémon trainers left so the next battles were the Top 16. The gang saw that Harrison made it to the finals, and they saw that not only did Gary make it; he was also Ashlyn's next opponent.
"Lucky you, Ashlyn. This will be the battle where I'll defeat you." Gary declared.
"Don't underestimate me or my Pokémon Gary," Ashlyn retorted, "because we have worked and trained very hard to come this far."
"I have too, and my Pokémon will beat yours, Ashlyn." Gary said with confidence.
Gary took out something from his right trouser pocket; it was half of a broken Pokéball.
"We shall settle this old challenge of ours in our battle tomorrow." Gary declared.
"Very well." Ashlyn said with determination.
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That evening Ashlyn showed the others her half of the broken Pokéball.
"What's the deal with you and Gary with that broken Pokéball, Ashlyn?" Misty asked.
"Well it happened before Gary and I was old enough to become Pokémon trainers." Ashlyn replied.
Ashlyn's story was when she and Gary were still nine years old; they were fishing at a stream. Ashlyn hooked a Magikarp, but it got away. Gary asked Ashlyn what attacks Magikarp knew; apparently Gary always liked to ask Ashlyn questions about Pokémon, because he always thought himself the only one in Pallet Town who knew everything about Pokémon. Ashlyn correctly said it was Splash, Tackle, Flail and it could learn Bounce too. Gary got mad because he hated the fact that Ashlyn knew a lot about Pokémon too. Ashlyn and Gary flung their lines into the stream together, and they hooked up an old Pokéball together. The two fought over the Pokéball, pulling the rods back and forth. Then the Pokéball snapped in half, being so old and rusty. Ashlyn had declared it being a tie, but Gary refused. He called it Ashlyn's loss.
After Ashlyn finished her story, she explained that she kept her half as a good luck charm.
"I'm looking forward to our battle. I've wanted to battle Gary again ever since our last battle back in Pallet Town." Ashlyn admitted.
Volkner, Flint, Misty and Brock knew that Ashlyn would do just fine because of her training with her Pokémon.
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The next day there were no battles because it was a day off for the Pokémon trainers. Ashlyn thought this was a good time to think about what Pokémon she should use in her battle against Gary. On the computer she saw that Gary had quite a lot of Pokémon, so it would be tricky with deciding who to use.
Then she had made a decision to use Moriko and Poseidon in the battle.
"Is it okay to use legendary Pokémon at the tournament?" Misty asked.
"Yes its fine," Ashlyn assured her, "I told Mr. Goodshow about my legendary Pokémon, and he said that it's not against the rules to use legendary Pokémon."
"Well there have been some trainers who've used legendary Pokémon in the Pokémon leagues before." Volkner spoke up.
"Really? That's amazing." Misty said, interested.
"Aren't you going to use Mewtwo and Talos as well?" Brock asked.
"No, I asked Mewtwo if he wanted to battle in the Silver Conference, but he doesn't." Ashlyn replied, "he prefers wandering free in the world and he'd rather fight by my side when we are against evil villains. And he said that battling here would probably attract Team Rocket again. For Talos, he doesn't want that kind of attention. He wants to be in gym battles instead."
"That makes sense. I mean Giovanni would do anything to try and get Mewtwo back." Brock stated.
"Yes." Ashlyn agreed.
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Later that day Ashlyn and Gary had a surprise waiting for them; Prof Oak and Delia had turned up. Prof Oak and Delia wanted to watch Ashlyn and Gary in the final battle rounds at the stadium, rather than on TV.
Delia brought a camera with her to take pictures of the battle. Ashlyn and Gary both got some confident words from Prof Oak and Delia, and then they continued to work on their battle strategy.
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Next day it was time for the final battle rounds to start. Apart from the battles being a six-on six, the battle rounds were fought on different fields; rock, ice, water or grass. It was like the preliminary rounds at the Indigo League. So far Harrison had defeated his opponent on the ice field, and now it was time for Ashlyn and Gary's Pokémon battle. It was held on a rock field. Prof Oak and Delia were watching in the stadium stands, Volkner, Flint, Brock and Misty were watching from behind Ashlyn and Harrison was watching from the stands too. Gary's cheerleaders were also there and they were cheering for him.
Gary's first Pokémon was Nidoqueen.
"Nido!" Nidoqueen said when she appeared on the field.
Ashlyn chose Psyche the Girafarig.
Psyche neighed when she appeared on the field.
"Just because Girafarig is a Psychic Pokémon, doesn't mean we'll lose." Gary stated, "Nidoqeen, use Rock Smash!"
"Dodge with Agility!" Ashlyn called out.
Psyche dodged Nidoqueen just in time.
"All right Nidoqueen use Mega Punch!" Nidoqueen ran towards Psyche, with her fists ready to punch Psyche.
"Use Confusion to stop Nidoqueen, Psyche!" Psyche's eyes turned blue, and then Nidoqueen got surrounded by a blue light and was hoisted into the air.
"Now use Psybeam!" Psyche fired Psybeam from her horns, straight at Nidoqueen. Being a Poison-type Pokémon, Nidoqueen took great damage from the attack.
"Now finish it with Zen-headbutt." With the top of her head glowing blue, Psyche charged at Nidoqueen and headbutted her. Nidoqueen got more hurt from that Psychic-type move and fainted.
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"Ashlyn certainly has trained her new Johto Pokémon well." Prof Oak complimented, impressed.
Delia smiled, "I agree."
Volkner, Flint, Misty, and Brock were happy for Ashlyn's first win.
"Ashlyn is doing well at the moment." Flint said.
"Yeah." Brock agreed.
"But Gary will fight back." Volkner pointed out.
"No doubt." Misty agreed.
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Gary sent out his next Pokémon; Magmar.
"Magmar!" Magmar said as it appeared on the field.
Ashlyn returned Psyche, "Hey Gary, I will now introduce you to one of my legendary Pokémon, Poseidon!"
"Auuu~" Poseidon cried out as he appeared on the field.
Gary and everyone in the audience gasped that Ashlyn had a Lugia. Even the referee was amazed.
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"I can't wait to see Poseidon in battle," Prof. Oak admitted to Delia, "Poseidon has grown up so much ever since Ashlyn caught him as a baby in the Orange Islands. And it also knows some powerful moves."
"I can't wait to see this either." Delia smiled as she was taking pictures.
Volkner, Flint, Misty, Brock couldn't wait to see Poseidon battle either.
Misty smiled, "Gary better watch out because Poseidon has become very strong."
"You're right about that, Misty." Brock agreed.
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"Magmar, use Flamethrower!" Gary ordered.
Flames gathered into Magmar's mouth and he fired his flames towards Poseidon.
"Poseidon, counter with Hydro Pump!" Ashlyn countered,
Poseidon hydro pump attack shot through the flamethrower and struck Magmar good. Magmar was sent back into the rocks by the hydro pump attack and it fainted. Gary was speechless with how strong Poseidon was, and so was the audience.
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"Poseidon really has grown up now." Misty commented.
Volkner, Flint, and Brock agreed.
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Gary returned Magmar and sent out Blastoise.
"Blastoise!" Blastoise said as he appeared on the field.
Ashlyn returned Poseidon.
"Why did you return Lugia, Ashlyn?" Gary asked, confused.
"So that I can let my second legendary Pokémon have a turn." Ashlyn answered with a smile.
She sent out Moriko the Celebi. Gary and the audience were surprised that Ashlyn also had a Celebi. Moriko made sure not to speak, because Ashlyn warned her that she might become a target to other trainers for having the ability to talk telepathic. Moriko promised not to speak during the battle.
"How on earth did you get a Celebi?!" Gary exclaimed with shock.
"We'll talk later." Ashlyn promised.
"Okay then, Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!" Blastoise shot out water from its two cannons and aimed them towards Moriko
"Moriko dodge and use Leaf Storm!" Moriko dodged the attack and glowed green. Then she released a cyclone of leaves towards Blastoise.
"Quick use Withdraw, Blastoise!" Blastoise went into its shell to defend itself against the leaf storm attack. But Blastoise still got hurt by the powerful leaf storm attack.
"Blastoise, use Rapid Spin!" Gary ordered.
"Quick use Energy Ball!" Ashlyn called out.
Before Blastoise could do attack Moriko, the energy ball struck Blastoise and it fainted. So, Ashlyn was down to three wins and Gary one.
Since Ashlyn had defeated three of Gary's Pokémon, it was now time for a five-minute break.
"You're doing great, Ashlyn." Volkner complimented.
Ashlyn smiled, "Thanks, Volkner."
"Yeah, if you keep this up, you'll end up beating Gary for sure." Flint added.
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After the five-minute break was up, it was time to get back to the battle.
Gary sent out Arcanine to battle next, "Go Arcanine!"
Arcanine howled when he appeared on the field.
Ashlyn sent out Azure the shiny Suicune, "Go Azure!"
Azure roared when she appeared on the field.
The audience gasped in amazement at Azure. They probably didn't expect that Ashlyn had a shiny Suicune as well.
"Azure, Rain Dance!" Azure summoned a bunch of rain clouds over the battle field and rain began to pour down.
Arcanine flinched at the effect the rain was giving it.
"Now Hydro Pump!" Azure released a powerful stream of water from her mouth at Arcanine who got hit hard by it.
"Arcanine! Are you okay?!" Gary called out.
Arcanine carefully stood up.
"Okay, then use Hyper Beam!" An orange ball appeared in front of Arcanine's mouth and then fired the ball as a beam at Azure.
"Protect and then Surf!" Azure projected a green colored barrier in front of her, protecting her from Arcanine's Hyper Beam. Then she summoned a huge tidal wave and rode on it. The surf attack crashed down on Arcanine. When the water subsided, it showed Arcanine with swirling eyes which meant that it fainted.
Azure jumped next to Ashlyn and nuzzled against her. Ashlyn smiled and petted her. Gary returned Arcanine.
"I have to admit that your shiny Suicune is strong, Ashlyn. But my Pokémon and I aren't done yet. Go Scizor!" Gary sent out Scizor next.
"Scizor!" Scizor said when it appeared on the field.
Ashlyn turned to Azure, "Azure, get some rest, okay?" She returned Azure and let out her next Pokémon, "Let's go Maple!"
"Furret!" Maple the Furret appeared on the field.
Gary smirked, "That little ferret doesn't stand a chance against Scizor." He said, "Scizor, use Metal Claw!"
Scizor's pincers glowed a metallic color.
"Maple, use Dig!" Ashlyn ordered.
Maple use dig to escape. Scizor looked around to try and figure out where Maple might be.
"Now Maple, use Flamethrower!" Maple jumped from out of the ground and used flamethrower on Scizor, which was hit hard by it.
"Just thought I'd let you know Gary; Maple knows a lot of other types of moves apart from normal type moves." Ashlyn informed him.
"Use Bullet Punch Scizor!" Scizor's claws glowed red and then it repeatedly punched Maple. "Now Scizor, use your Metal Claw!"
"Quick, counter it with Iron Tail!" Ashlyn called out.
Maple and Scizor were clashing at each other with their iron tail and metal claw attacks
"Now Scizor, Flash Cannon!" Gary ordered.
"Use Ice Beam Maple!" Ashlyn countered.
The flash cannon and ice beam attacks went at each other like crazy, and then an explosion happened. Ashlyn and Gary braced themselves to see if their Pokémon were okay. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that both Scizor and Maple were still standing. But then Scizor fell forward and fainted.
"No way!" Gary gasped.
Ashlyn grinned, "I told you not to underestimate my Pokémon, Gary."
Ashlyn and Gary returned Maple and Scizor and sent out their Pokémon for this final battle.
Gary sent out Golem.
"Golem!" Golem said as it appeared on the field.
Ashlyn sent out Behemoth the Steelix.
Behemoth roared as he appeared on the field.
"Golem, use Focus Punch!" Gary ordered.
"Behemoth, counter with Iron Tail!" Ashlyn countered.
Both attacks clashed against each other.
"Behemoth, Ice Fang!" Behemoth's mouth glowed in an icy blue energy and bit down on Golem, who soon started to get covered with ice.
"Golem!" Gary cried out.
"Now Flash Cannon!" Behemoth formed a white orb of light blue energy inside his mouth, and then fired a white beam of energy with light blue energy at Golem who got hit by the attack and soon fainted.
"Golem is unable to battle!" The referee announced, "This match goes to Ashlyn Ketchum!"
The audience cheered for Ashlyn.
Ashlyn had won her match against Gary. She couldn't help but smile at that.
Volkner, Flint, Misty and Brock congratulated Ashlyn for her victory.
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Gary had earned Top 16 place in the Silver Conference. Of course, after the battle Ashlyn was questioned about her Lugia and Celebi. She explained to the reporters that she found them and saved their lives from evil men, and that the Pokémon joined her after she saved them. Ashlyn didn't dare tell the real truth about their capture or where she got them, because telling the real truth may cause trouble for Shamouti Island in the Orange Islands and for the forest in Arborville with troublemakers.
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That night Ashlyn and Gary had a talk with each other by the lake. Ashlyn told Gary about how she really got Poseidon and Moriko, and she also told him about her Mewtwo, Latias and Latios.
"I'm amazed, Ashlyn. You have such powerful legendries on your team." Gary admitted, "I never expected that Mewtwo was the Pokémon I battled at the Viridian Gym."
"He wasn't truly evil. He was confused and angry on how he was treated as a weapon instead of a Pokémon." Ashlyn stated, "Now he's free from Giovanni's grasp."
Gary nodded, "Yeah."
"Gary, you won't tell anyone about Poseidon and Moriko?" Ashlyn asked.
"Don't worry, I won't. The last thing I want is for Team Rocket to look where they were from." Gary promised.
"Thank you, Gary." Ashlyn smiled in gratitude.
"Here, Ashlyn." Gary handed his half of the broken Pokéball to Ashlyn.
"Are you sure, Gary?" Ashlyn asked, unsure.
"I'm sure. It was indeed a tie." Gary admitted, "I'll be cheering you on in your next battle."
Ashlyn smiled, "Thanks' Gary."
She and Gary shook hands with each other; this meant that Ashlyn and Gary were friends again.