Jason and Silus! Six on Six Pokémon Battle!

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Monkshood Again

Jason breathed in deeply. "Ah Monkshood Town. It hasn't changed a bit."

"Jason." Misty sweatdropped. "We were just here two days ago."

"Oh yeah."

"So, anyway. Why are we here?" Misty asked as they walked into town. Jason hadn't told her.

Pichu looked around.

"Pichu Pichu!" It jumped down from Jason's shoulder, pointing at a young body standing by the Pokémon Center.

"That's why." Jason said simply. "A friend of mine called me out here." He cleared his throat. "Yo Silus!"

Silus, in a fresh new outfit, turned and looked towards the direction of where he was being called; only to smile when he saw who it was.

"Yo, Jason! You made it!" he said happily. "How has your adventure been so far?"

Jason grinned. "It's been great." He opened his vest to reveal two badges and a new ribbon.

Silus grinned back, "Still ahead of me, eh? I've only got one badge still." he admitted.

Just then, Lyra came out of the Pokémon Center, "Silus, why did you walk out on me?! I was all alone in there!" she shreaked before noticing Jason and Misty. "Oh! You're-!" she gasped, pointing at Misty.

Jason laughed for a moment at the sound of the new girls voice.

Misty looked over a the sound of the voice, and her eyes widened. "Lyra? What are you doing out here all the way in Hora?"

"Training!" Lyra replied proudly, taking out a badge case and showing her three Hora badges.

At this, Silus's mouth nearly fell off. "You have three badges?! Why wasn't I informed of this?!" he yelped.

"You never asked." she replied bluntly, waving him off.

Jason let out a laugh. "Wow Silus. You're traveling with her and you didn't know she has more badges than you do?"

"You have three?" Misty echoed Silus, though in a much calmer manner. She held out her own Badge Case. "I've been collecting as well, but I only have two."

Silus was now clearly upset, nearly fuming. "Great, everyone I know has more badges than me..." he grunted. "Still...I beat you with no badges when you had one, I bet I can still beat you." he challenged Jason with a confident grin.

Jason looked over at him, grinning. "I'll be more than happy to prove you wrong Silus." He said, Pichu bounding up on his shoulder.

"Pichu Pichu!" The Tiny Mouse Pokémon's cheeks sparked.

Silus suddenly became more serious, "Fine then, let's have a six-on-six Pokémon battle. The first one to lose all six loses the match. You game?" he asked.

"Six on Six?" Jason hesitated for a minute, thinking about Charizard. His face however, became confident. "Fine. Six on Six! Where do we battle?"

Duel at the Pokémon Center

Silus led Jason, Misty, and Lyra around to the back of the Pokémon Center, through an open gate, where a battle arena was positioned.

"All visiting trainers are welcome to use these at any Pokémon Center." Silus explained.

"Oh. Makes enough sense." Jason ran over to the red side. "I got dibs on red!"

"Green's fine with me." Silus said, taking his own position. "Now then, let's see what you've got. Since I made the challenge, I'll be courtious and let you choose your Pokémon first!"

"Oh? How nice." Jason grinned. "Pichu, you wanna go?"

"Piiii!"

"I thought so. Get in there Pichu!"

Pikachu vs Pichu

Pichu jumped down from Jason's shoulder, it's cheeks sparking again.

"Well, what do you know? So you got a Pichu too. Alright then, Pikachu, stand by for battle!" Silus declared, tossing his Pokéball.

The spiky-eared electric mouse appeared on its side of the field, adjacent to Pichu. "Pika!" it cried, causing its cheeks to spark in a similar manner to Pichu.

"You have the first move, Jase!" Silus shouted.

"Your Pikachu evolved? Well, color me surprised." Jason held up his Pokédex.

"Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pichu. Pikachu's tail is sometimes struck by lightning as it raises it to check its surroundings." Dexter chirped.

"Pichu, let's get the ball rolling with Quick Attack!" Jason ordered.

"Pi pi pi Pichu!" Pichu dashed towards Pikachu, followed by a slight trail of white light.

Misty and Lyra took a seat over in the "bleachers".

"So, Lyra, who do you think has a chance of winning this?" Misty asked, dusting off her seat.

Lyra observed, "Well, if we're going by credentials here, Jason has the advantage since he has more badges. Still, Silus is unpredictible, especially since his training in Mimosa City." she replied.

"Pikachu, Shock Wave!" Silus commanded, as the scene switched back to the battle.

Pikachu stood its ground and released an unmissable wave of blue electricity from its body directly at the oncoming Pichu.

"Chu Pi!" Pichu cried as the electricity hit in, blasting it back. It skidded along the ground, landing right back where it had started.

"Pikachu seems to have the advantage here." Misty said, her eyes following the battle. "It's stronger than Pichu, but maybe Pichu's small size can come in handy."

"Pichu, use Thunderbolt."

"Piiiiichuuuu!" The Tiny Mouse Pokémon used it's strength to release a powerful jolt of electricity that shot towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, dodge with Quick Attack!" Silus countered.

Pikachu was surrounded by white light and burst from its spot, avoiding the electic blast and then taking aim at tiny Pichu.

"Alright Pichu. Show him our special combination!"

"Pichu!" Pichu dashed towards Pichu, and jumped into the air to spin. Then it performed Quick Attack, adding a white glow and speed. Finally it added Iron Tail to for perfect power. It was now heading toward's Pikachu's Quick Attack with it's "Gyro Ball".

"An invented attack?!" Silus yelped in shock.

Pikachu was hit head on, and sent flying back into the ground.

"Pikachu!" Silus called out to it.

Slowly, it got to its feet. Pichu sparked, a sign that Pikachu's Static had taken effect.

"Alright Pikachu, Shock Wave once more!" he shouted.

"Piiiikaaachuuuuuuu!" the mouse Pokémon cried, releasing another jet of blue electicity.

"Pichu!" The Tiny Mouse Pokémon cried out as it was zapped. It fell to the ground, the paralysis crackling around it. It shakily got to it's feet.

"C'mon Pichu! I know the Paralysis hurts, but you gotta fight." Jason called out to it.

"Pi..." Pichu struggled, but managed to stand up.

"Alright Pichu, Volt Tackle!" Pichu was surrounded by electricity, and it dashed towards Pikachu. "Pichu Pichu Pichu Pichu Pichu Pichu Pichu Pichu Chuuuuu Pichu!" Pichu made a leap, heading right at Pikachu.

"Right back at you! Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Silus commanded.

"Pika pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu grunted as it too charged electricity around its body and went in for the finish.

Both Volt Tackles collided, causing a minor explosion that sent both Pokémon flying back. Jason dived to catch Pichu, who was already knocked out.

Likewise, Silus caught Pikachu, who was also down and out. "Good job, buddy. I'm proud of you." he said, putting it back in its Pokéball.

Lyra's eyes widened, "Look at that! A double knock out!" she exclaimed.

"Didn't see that coming!" Misty was equally surprise.

"Alright Pichu, you did really good. Take a good rest." Jason said, placing Pichu next to him on the ground, where Pichu abruptly fell asleep.

"Alright, Silus, I'll let you choose your next Pokémon first this time!"

Round Two!

"With pleasure!" Silus replied, "Roselia, standby for battle!"

Silus's Roselia appeared out of a bright flash of light, "Rose!" it cried out.

"Snorlax, it's showtime!" Jason cried, throwing his Poké Ball and Snorlax emerged in a white-blue flash of light.

"Snorrrrr!" Snorlax punched the air.

"Now is the perfect chance for me to test out the skills I learned in Mimosa City." Silus thought, "Let's go, Roselia! Start off with Toxic Spikes!"

Roselia's flowers glowed purple and it shot dozens of purple streams into the air, which then came crashing down into the arena; concealing themsleves.

"Now, Weather ball!" Silus continued.

Roseilia gathered a flaming ball, made from the sun's energy, in his flowers and fired it at Snorlax's gut.

"Snorlax, use Protect!" Snorlax conjured a blue-green sphere of energy around itself, and all damage that would have been caused by Weather Ball was negated.

"Now Snorlax, Harden!" Snorlax stiffened its body's muscles, raising it's defense.

"Now's your chance, Roselia! Poison Jab!" Silus countered.

Roselia's flowers again lit up with a purple color. This time, however, the little Grass-type Pokémon leaped into the air and jabbed at Snorlax.

The damage taken from the Poison Jab was reduced due to Snorlax's Harden, as Poison Jab is a Physical Move, and Roselia itself bounced off a bit from Snorlax's flabby stomach. "Now Snorlax, while it's near you! Use Fissure!"

"Snoooorrrrr!" Snorlax slammed it's fist into the ground, creating a bright wave of light that traveled in a straight line at Roselia.

Roselia was hit head on and knocked to the ground, fainting from the one hit KO move.

"Roselia, return!" Silus commanded, putting the Pokémon back in its Pokéball. "You did well."

Round Three!

"Okay, Tyrogue, your turn!" Silus declared, sending out the small Fighting Pokémon.

"Rougue!" it said, geting into a fighting pose.

Jason held up his Pokédex.

"Tyrogue, the Scuffle Pokémon. Tyrogue is the pre-evolved form of Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. It has a small but very energetic body." Dexter chirped.

"Snorlax, can you still battle?" Jason asked, looking over at the Pokémon.

"Lax!" The Pokémon took a stance, showing it was ready.

"Alright. get things rolling with a Hyper Beam attack!"

"Snorlax!" The Sleeping Pokémon let loose a powerful beam attack from it's mouth that headed right towards Tyrogue.

Misty sighed. "There he goes again, quick to use a high powered move. What will he do if that misses?"

"Tyrogue, dodge it!" Silus shouted.

"Ty!" the Pokémon replied, leaping over the intense energy beam.

"Now, use Ankle Sweep!" Silus commanded.

Tyrogue aimed a sweeping kick directly for Snorlax's head.

The attack hit Snorlax head on, knocking it back and causing a good amount of damage. Snorlax got up, but it couldn't move. Hyper Beam's negative effect was taking effect.

"I knew it." Misty muttered.

"Now then, Tyrogue, before it can move use Rock Smash!" Silus called out.

"Tyyyyyyrogue!" the Fighting Pokémon replied, leaping into the air with its fist glowing, and slamming down on Snorlax with blinding speed.

"Snoor!!!" The Pokémon was thrown back and hit the ground hard. "Lax." It was down for the count. Jason held up it's Poké Ball. "Snorlax Return! Take a good rest." He reached for another Poké Ball.

"Heracross, it's showtime!" He cried, sending out Heracross in the familiar flash of light.

"Heracross!!!" The Single Horn Pokémon buzzed above the ground and looked excited and ready to go. "Heracross, use Aerial Ace!" Heracross jumped into the air, charging in at Tyrogue, covering in spiraling white light. Like Pikachu's Shock Wave, it never missed.

Round Four!

"TYYYYY!" the Fighting Pokémon cried out as it was sent sprawling.

"Hang in there, Tyrogue!" Silus shouted. "Use Rest!"

Tyrogue suddenly dropped to the ground and went to sleep.

"While using Rest, Tyrogue can recover if it is damaged. Time to put that strategy to use." he thought.

"Heracross, use Aerial Ace one more time!" Jason commanded it to use the same move since he knew that Tyrogue was a Fighting-type. Aerial Ace was ideal.

"Ok, its time!" Silus thought, "Sleep Talk!"

Tyrogue suddenly got to its feet, though it was still clearly asleep. Its fist glowed white again, and it punched at Heracross coliding with its horn using Rock Smash to cancel Heracross's attack out.

"Sleep Talk?" Jason held up his Pokédex.

"Sleep Talk, a Normal-type move which allows the user to randomly use one of the moves it knows."

'That's gonna get annoying. It's asleep and it can STILL fight back?" Jason frowned. "Heracross, use Night Slash."

"Heracross!" Heracross' horn glew white with red outline and it dashed towards Tyrogue, aiming a slashing attack at the sleeping infant.

Silus waited for Heracross to strike the sleeping Tyrogue, waking it up.

"Now Tyrogue, while its still close, use Ankle Sweep!" he commanded.

"Ty!" the Pokémon grunted, aiming a spinning kick direcly above it at Heracross.

The kick hit Heracross, knocking it onto the ground, where the Poison Spikes planted earlier took effect.

"Oh for the love of truth and justice!" Jason hissed. Heracross was struggling, the poison attacking it.

"Now's our chance, Tyrogue! Use Rock Smash!" Silus roared.

Tyrogue gathered energy in its fist, making it glow and then struck at the struggling bug Pokémon, aimining to finish it.

Suddenly, Heracross ducked, and raised a glowing red fist up at Tyrogue.

"That's Counter!" Misty gasped from the sidelines.

Heracross's Counter hit Tyrogue square in the gut, causing it to lose its breath and faint as it was thrown to the ground.

"Oh no! Tyrogue!" Silus yelped, "Return and take a good rest!"

Tyrogue returned to its Pokéball in a flash of red light. Silus then took out his next Pokéball.

Round Five!

"Jason has knocked out three of my Pokémon. Counting Heracross, he still has four. I have to turn this around!" Silus thought. "Ok, let's go Dewott!"

With a flash of light, Silus's Dewott took the field.

"A Dewott!" Jason exclaimed. "I have gotta catch me one of those!" He held up Dexter.

"Dewott, the Training Pokémon. The kinds of mastered swordshell-wielding attacks differs between Futachimaru. It never fails to keep its swordshell in shape."

"Alright, Heracross is almost done. But I still have those spikes to worry about..." Jason thought for a moment. "Wait, I think I have an idea."

"Heracross, use Aerial Ace all over the field!!!" Jason ordered, and Heracross, though tired, took the the sky, wrapping itself in spiraling white light and dove for the field, beginning to tear it up, followed by purple explosions in various places.

"He's trying to take care of Roselia's Toxic Spikes. That gives me an opening." Silus thought, "Okay, Dewott. Use Whirlpool!"

"DEWOTT!" the Pokémon bellowed, glowing bright blue as it spat out a jet of water that quickly turned into a water cyclone. It then sped direclty at Heracross.

"Heracross!" The Single Horn Pokémon was knocked back forcefully by the water, and fainted. It did it's job however. Most of the Toxic Spikes were gone. Jason merely needed to be careful where his Pokémon landed. He held up his Poké Ball. "Heracross, return!" He called the Pokémon back into it's ball with a red light stream. "You did real good. My next Pokémon will avenge you." Jason turned his cap backwards. It was time to get serious.

"Servine, let's show them a thing or two!" Jason threw his Poké Ball into the air, and Servine emerged in a flash of white light, landing neatly on the field.

"Ser!" Her tail gleamed.

Round Six!

Silus grinned, as if he had been expecting this.

"That's odd." said Lyra on the bench. "Why is Silus grinning? Dewott is weak against Servine."

"Okay Dewott, start us out with Water Gun!" Silus shouted.

"Dew, Dew!" it replied, firing a jet of water at Servine.

"Servine, dodge it!"

"Ser!" Servine jumped into the air, flipping and dodging the Water Gun.

Misty looked thoughtful. "Well, Dewott is a Water-type. There's a possibility it knows some powerful Ice-type techniques."

"Servine, use Leech Seed!"

"Vine!" She spit out multiple seeds in Dewott's direction.

"Now's my chance!" Silus thought, "Not so fast! Dewott, Counter Shield formation!"

"Dewott!" Dewott said, flipping onto its back and spinning fastly while shooting water from its mouth, creating whips of water that batted each Leech Seed away, while at the same time aiming for Servine.

The water whips made contact with Servine, beating it down. They weren't too damaging, but it was a good way to shut Servine down for the moment. "Servine, c'mon! Use your speed to get away."

"S-seeervine!" The Pokémon struggled to get up against the whips of water, and fled, heading to a farther side of the field, away from the whips of water.

"There has got to be a weakness in that shield..."

"Looking for a weakness?" Silus asked, as if reading Jason's mind, "I won't give you the chance. See, out of all my Pokémon, Dewott here has mastered more variations of this strategy. Not only that, but its become one of my most efficient battlers ever since it evolved. Now Dewott, switch formations; use Whirlpool in Counter Shield formation!"

"Dewott!" Dewott continued spinning but its jets of water were now far more intense, becoming a large water cyclone around Dewott with no oppenings, all the while releasing whips of water that spread out farther on the field like the Water Gun variation.

Servine was now spending it's time running, though to the untrained eye, it looked as if it was gliding. Jason was looking over the Counter Shield. It looked like a cyclone, minus the damn whips. He could smash through it, but the whips were in the way. Wait. Maybe the top.

"Servine! Aim an Energy Ball right at the sky!"

Servine stopped running charged a powerful Energy Ball, which it shot nearly straight up. It went higher and higher, passing the top of the water cyclone, and stopped in the air briefly, above it. Then it began to fall, gathering more and more speed, with it's power increasing as well.

"Nice try, Jase, but not good enough! Dewott, break formation! Use Aqua Jet to boost your speed and then use Razor Shell!" Silus shouted.

Dewott erupted from inside the cyclone, encased in a water jet as it shot at tremendous speeds at Servine, giving it no chance to escape. It then took both of its shell blades and tossed it at Servine from very close by, each shell gaining "razor sharp" water jets around them as they traveled.

"Viiine!" Servine let out a cry of pain as the blades slashed it from either side, but it did not fall. Servine grinned as it got back up. "Servine, use Leaf Tornado." Servine jumped and turned upside down. It then began spinning on it's head with it's tail in the air, and a tornado of wind with circles of light green energy and leaves spinning around it appears at the tip of Servine's tail. It swung onto it's side, swinging the whirling tornado right at Dewott.

Silus showed no sign of worry, "Dewott, use your super sharp shell blades to cut the leaves!"

Dewott leaped up with a grunt and used its shells to cut each leaf as they came at it, preventing them from hitting her.

"Now Dewott, Aqua Jet in Counter Sheild formation!" Silus continued.

Dewott spun in mid air, creating a disk of water with water whips flying from it that batted the remaining leaves away and again began to strike at Servine.

"Oh, you cannot be serious." Jason said exasperatedly. "There has go to be a way to beat this man. His moves are flashy and perfect for blocking attacks while attacking. Ideal for situations like this. But what do I do? Servine has no Protective moves."

"Servine, keep moving for a minute! I need to think us a way out of this!" Jason ordered.

Servine nodded, and it began to glide around again, keeping to the field's edges.

"Jason, what are you doing? Servine's going to wear itself down if you keep that up."

Jason started going over Servine's moves in his head. He couldn't risk Attract. What if Dewott was female? Then he came up with an idea. It wasn't foolproof, but hell, he needed to try something.

"Servine, start spinning and use Energy Ball!"

Servine jumped into the air and began to spin around fast, releasing a bombardment of Energy Balls in nearly every possible direction. As many Energy Balls as it was using, perhaps the power of many of them would break through Silus's shield.

Silus' eyes narrowed, "Making use of my strategy, eh? Not gonna work. I went through special training to master this strategy!" he thought. "Dewott, keep up formation and close in on Servine!"

Dewott began moving, still spinning and releasing its deadly Couter Shield. The whips of water and Energy balls were cancelling each other out whenever they collided, but the closer Dewott got to Servine, the less that happened.

"Now, one big push! Aqua Jet!" Silus commanded.

Dewott once more erupted from its shield aiming a large push of water for Servine, which would push it into one of the few remaining Toxic Spikes from earlier.

"No!"

Servine was thrown back and let out a cry of pain as it made contact with the spikes. It was poisoned. But, it began to give off a soft green glow, and it stood up, glaring at Dewott.

Jason gasped. "It's Overgrow again!"

"Hmph, there it is. Servine's ability, Overgrow. Now's my chance to switch and give Dewott a rest!" Silus thought, "Okay, Dewott, take a break!"

"Dew!" it replied, nodding as a red light drew it back into its Pokéball.

"Now then, Monferno, finish this with Flamethrower!" Silus declared, bringing out his own starter Pokémon.

Monferno burst from its Pokéball and immediately released a jet of intense hot flames on the powerful Servine, giving it no room to be returned for a rest.

Servine dodged however, the power boost it got from Overgrow obvious. It glared at Monferno.

"Apparently, it remembers you Pokemon." Jason chuckled weakly. "Servine, Energy Ball!"

Servine let a large and powerful energy ball fly towards Monferno.

"Dodge it, Monferno!" Silus shouted.

"Monferno!" it replied, leaping over the energy ball and landing right across from Servine.

"Now then, its time you saw Monferno's true power! Dewott may have the most variation in its Counter Shield, but Monferno's is the strongest! Monferno, Flame Wheel in Counter Shield formation!" Silus barked.

"MON....FER..NOOOOO!" it roared, rolling into a ball of flames while ejecting powerful flame whips that slammed and burned the battlefield, all the while aiming for Servine.

"Servine, let's go down fighting! Energy Ball full power!" Jason called out.

"Seeerrvine!" Servine briefly charged up an Energy Ball and shot it down at Monferno, aiming for the bottom of it's "wheel", hoping to throw it off balance.

The flame whips of Monferno's attack, however, burned the Grass-type attack with ease.

"Let's finish this, Monferno, with your trump card move! Use Vacuum Wave!" Silus roared.

Monferno spun around, gathering air on its palm and then launched it in the form of a devestating punch; right at Servine.

The punch hit Servine in the stomach, winding it, and knocking it out. Jason called it back into it's ball. "Servine...you did good. You did real good..." He gripped his next Poké Ball. "Take on something that will put it off guard." He murmured to the Ball, throwing it into the air. With a POP and a flash of white light, Houndoom appeared, and let out a roar.

"Houndoom?"" Misty thought. "When did he acquire that?"

Silus narrowed his gaze, "Houndoom?" he questioned, taking out his Pokédex.

Round Seven!

"Houndoom, the Dark Pokémon. Upon hearing its eerie howls, other Pokémon get the shivers and head straight back to their nests."

"So its a Dark-type, huh? What are you thinking? Monferno still has the type advantage!" Silus shouted. "Monferno, let's go! Close Combat!"

"Mon! Monferno!" his Pokémon replied, leaping into battle with both fists glowing and then using a series of jabs and kicks on 'Houndoom' at close range.

"Now!!!" Jason called out, and Houndoom's eyes began to glow, and vines sprouted out from the area, heading right towards Monferno to strange it.

Silus stopped and looked breifly at the battlefield before breaking into a smile, and then a laugh. "You've went too far, Jason. I knew something was fishy." he said.

Lyra looked just as confused as Misty, "Since when can Houndoom use Grass-type attacks?" she asked.

Silus folded his arms, "Monferno, that's not Houndoom. Snap out of it." he snapped.

"Mon?" his Pokémon chipred, immediately stopping its struggle to realize that it really didn't feel anything.

"You see, Jason, you should've used your little trick a bit smarter. You forget, you used the same trick in the Pokémon Contest in Gardenia Town, against that Jessilina woman." Silus explained, "You used Zorua to use its ability, Illusion, to convince her that your Pokémon was just an Eevee, dispite the fact that you had sent Eevee back to Professor Changi before your match."

Lyra looked even more confused, "Zorua? What kind of Pokémon is that?"

"You can't pull the wool over my eyes! I'm a battle strategist, and that means I remember every battle I fight or see in minute detail in order to improve my strategies." Silus declared, "Now Monferno, use Vacuum Wave!"

"MONFERNO!" the chimp Pokémon roared, gathering air on its fist and punching towards 'Houndoom' to create yet another damaging punch.

"Dodge it!" Jason cried, and 'Houndoom' lept into the air, landing a few feet away from Monferno. It jumped into the air, spinning and glowing pink, to reveal Zoroark.

"You're good as ever Silus." Jason said, not sounding dissapointed at all. "But, if you expecting Zorua, you were wrong. It evolved just yesterday in my Contest battle. Now it's Zoroark and it's ready to bring your Pokémon to it's knees."

Silus grinned, as if excited with the challenge. He took out his Pokédex, "Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokémon. It has the power to delude many people at one time. It protects its den by displaying an illusory landscape."

"That's an interesting Pokémon indeed. However, you're still at a type disadvantage." Silus declared, "Use Flame Wheel, Monferno!"

Monferno curled into a firey ball and launched itself at Zoroark.

"Use Dig!" Jason commanded, and Zoroark dove into the ground, keeping itself hidden.

"I hope Jason knows what he's doing." Misty said, watching the Flame Wheel skid over the hole Zoroark had dug.

"Ha, I was expecting that!" Silus said, more of an excited laugh than a derogitory one. "Monferno, shoot Flamethrower into that hole!"

"Monferno!" it replied, nodding.

Monferno then leaped into the air and spewed intense flames into the hole Zoroark had disappeared into. As it did, the ground began shaking, and soon serveal jets of flames erupted from the battlefield from underground, though whether Zoroark had been hit was unseen as of yet.

Jason grinned. "And I was expecting that."

"He was?" Misty was schocked.

"Zoroark! You already know what to do!"

The ground began to crack, and Zoroark burst out from under it, it's claws glowing, combining Night Slash with it's Dig attack, heading right for Monferno.

"Fighting me with a ground and dark-type move won't help." Silus retorted. "Vacuum Wave!"

Monferno again spun to gather air, and then launched an intense punch right for Zoroark.

The two moves collided, throwing each Pokémon in a different direction, Zoroark straight down and Monferno right up. "Zoroark, stop yourself!"

Zoroark let out a roar, but was unable to do much else as it hit the ground. It got up shakily. All that remained was either Monferno's impact or Monferno saving itself.

What Monferno did instead, surprised everyone.

"Monferno, Flamethrower on the ground." Silus commanded calmly.

Monferno blasted a jet of intense flames at the ground, shooting it up into air instead of allowing it to fall. Now high over the battlefield, Monferno began to descend on Zoroark in a intesnifying speed.

"Now, Close Combat!" Silus continued.

Monferno's hands and legs began to glow, and it aimed a furious punches and kicks at the downed Dark-type Pokémon.

"We are not going down here! Zoroark Double Team now!" Jason ordered and Zoroark began to split into many clones that circled Moferno, Close Combat hitting a fake.

"Shadow Ball!" Jason ordered and each Zoroark began to form a Shadow Ball (only one will actually do damage), and let them fire from all sides.

Monferno was hit head on and thrown back towards Silus, slamming hard into the ground.

"Are you okay, Monferno?!" Silus shouted.

"Mon...fern...." it replied, weakly as it tried to stand up.

Suddenly, it grunted and began to glow as it had when Chimchar had evolved. Silus held his breath when he saw the undertaking, but soon the glow stopped, and Monferno was still present. Now it looked even more exhausted than it did a moment before.

"It tried to force itself to evolve to win this battle for me." Silus thought, shocked.

Monferno stagered backwards and began to fall, but Silus managed to catch it.

"Don't force yourself, Monferno. You'll evolve when the time is right." he told his Pokémon.

Monferno's mouth curled into a smile, and it fainted.

Silus smiled softly, "Take a good rest buddy, you did great." he whispered, returning it to its Pokéball.

Round Eight!

Silus took out another Pokéball, "Jason will be expecting Dewott, but man do I have a surprise for him." he thought. "Alright Darkrai, standby for battle!"

His Pokéball burst open, revealing the menacing figure of the legndary Dark-type Pokémon. "Hyaah!" it growled.

"Who's that Pokémon?" Jason asked, pointing his Pokédex at it.

"Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon. Legend has it that on a moonless night, Darkrai will lure people to sleep and unleash nightmares upon them."

"Not a Pokémon I'd want to have at my bedside." Jason murmured. "Zoroark, are you still O.K. to battle?"

Zoroark let out a mighty roar, it's clones fading. "Alright! Zoroark, Shadow Ball!"

Zoroark cupped it's hands at it's sides, and formed a ball of black energy, which it shot at Darkrai.

"Darkrai, evade and use Dark Void!" Silus commanded.

Darkrai soared into the air, forming a shadowy ball of energy above his head and then releasing a barrage of Dark Void spheres on Zoroark.

"Zoroark, Double Team 'em!" Jason ordered, and Zoroark created many clones of itself that took many of the sphere hits. However, by some stroke of bad luck, one of the spheres hit Zoroark dead on, and it fell dead asleep.

"What the heck?" Jason cried in shock.

"It's asleep?" Misty was equally surprised. "The way that move was performed, I thought it was meant to damage!"

Zoroark began grunting, as if in extreme agony.

"That's Darkrai's ability, bad dreams. It damages a Pokémon while its asleep. Dark Void is also an extremely powerful hypnosis move, so it won't wake up as quickly as it normally would." Silus explained. "Now Darkrai, use Dark Pulse!"

Dakrai formed dark energy in its hands and then fired out a large stream of overlapping waves of darkness at the sleeping Zoroark.

The blasts hit Zoroark head on, knocking it back aways, still sleeping. The Nightmares began to affect it again.

"Zoroark!" Jason called out. "Wake up!"

"Calling out to Zoroark won't wake it up. They say that only the wing of a legendary Pokémon can wake those afflicted with Darkrai's power." Silus said. "Now Darkrai, finish things up with Ice beam!"

Darkrai formed an orb of ice energy and fired several arcs of it directly at the still sleeping Zoroark.

"Zoroark! Wake up! We can't lose here!" Zoroark, still asleep, could hear the cries of it's trainer in it's mind. What was it doing sleeping? Jason was calling to it.

Zoroark's eyes snapped open and it leapt from the ground, the Ice Beam missing. "Way to go Zoroark!" Jason grinned. Zoroark let out a roar, and fired a beam of black and purple or dark blue circles from it's chest at Darkrai.

"What's that move?" Jason was about to hold up his Pokédex, but Misty answered for him.

"That's Dark Pulse!"

Dakrai was struck, causing an explosion. When the smoke cleared, however, it looked as though Darkrai was mostly unphased. Silus smiled and clapped his hands.

"Good work, Zoroark." he praised Jason's Pokémon.

Lyra's eyes sofened, "Wow...it takes a true trainer to applaud his opponent's Pokémon after a direct hit like that." she thought.

"Now Darkrai, Shadow ball!" Silus continued.

Darkrai formed an orb of darkness and fired it directly for Zoroark.

"Cheering on Zoroark?" Jasonw as surprised. "Thanks, I think. Moving on, Zoroark, use Dig!" Zoroark dove into the ground, the Shadow Ball missing it. Now all was quiet.

Silus shut his eyes and smiled, "And now my strategy comes to frutation. Darkrai, use Ice beam on the openings in the field!"

Darkrai fired its ice beam at each open hole that was present on the battlefield, including the ones Monferno had opened up earlier with Flamethrower.

"Okay, now use it again on the entire battlefield!" Silus finished.

Darkrai fired its Ice beam once more, this time glazing the entire field in a thick sheet of ice.

"Well, Silus, I can't really say I was expecting this one." Jason said, looking over the field. "You seem to have trapped Zoroark. Or maybe not. Zoroark! If you can hear me, use Dark Pulse straight up!" It was quiet for a moment, but then the ground began to rumble. The ice began to crack and Dark Pulse began to shoot up from various places under the field, signifying that Zoroark was moving around while attacking. As the ice broke up enough, Zoroark leapt from the ground, landing onto the icy field. It looked exhausted however.

"What's to say I didn't want Zoroark to escape?" Silus asked, "Darkrai, use Shadow ball on the field!"

Darkrai formed another dark energy ball and shot it at the ice covered feild. The blast threw thousands of sharp shards of ice into the air, which then came raining down on Zoroark.

Zoroark hissed as the shards cut into it's body, placing up it's arms in a guarding position. "Zoroark! Resist it and use Dark Pulse!"

Energy began to glow on Zoroark's chest and it roared, releasing a powerful beam of black and blue circles at Darkrai.

Again Darkrai was hit head on, but showed little signs of damage as dark moves were uneffictive against it.

"Darkrai, end it with this attack! One powerful Ice beam!" Silus roared.

Darkrai unleashed a massive Ice beam at Zoroark, which only served to coat the field in another layer of ice.

The beam hit Zoroark head on, knocking it back and freezing it. Jason knew it was time to call it quits for Zoroark. He raised it's Poké Ball. "Zoroark, return." The Pokémon was recalled in a beam of light. "You did good. Take a rest now." Jason took out the Old Ball, and slowly began to unscrew it. "I'm going to regret this..." He held the Old Ball out, and in a burst of white light, Charizard appeared.

Charizard let out a mighty roar, and looked over at Jason. It was really hard to know what the Pokémon was thinking.

Round Nine!

Silus suddenly glared, as if intensely worried, "Charizard, eh? This is about to get bad..." he gasped.

Lyra looked concerned, "How did Jason get a fully evolved starter Pokémon of Charizard's caliber with only two badges?" she questioned.

"I'm not sure." Misty replied, looking at Charizard. It didn't seem all to happy to be partnered with Jason.

"I'm scared to be sending this Pokémon out myself." Jason confessed. "But it's my last one." He turned to Charizard. "Charizard, you see that Pokémon there?" Jason pointed at Darkrai and Charizard's eyes followed. "It's very strong. Can you obey me long enough to fight a strong opponent?"

Charizard turned it's attention back on Jason. It looked like it was thinking.

"Charmander! Fight with me! If you do, I promise you you'll get to me really strong opponents!" Charizard smiled at the memory. His new trainer was a lot like his old master. He turned his attention back to Darkrai and roared.

"I hope that means yes." Jason murmured. "Charizard, use DragonBreath!"

Hesitating only briefly, Chariazard released a large blast of yellow energy from it's mouth in the direction of Darkrai.

"Darkrai, dodge!" Silus yelped.

Darkrai tried to move, but was struck by the fully evolved Pokémon's attack due to its better speed.

"As I thought...Darkrai is only a few weeks old. Even though it is a legendary Pokémon, it hasn't matured nearly enough to fight on par with this Charizard." he thought to himself.

All the damage Darkrai had taken was beginning to take its toll.

"I've got to move fast." Silus decided, "Dark Void!"

Darkari again created an energy ball of darkness and then fired a barrage of Dark Void at Charizard.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Jason ordered, and Charizard let loose a large flamethrower, the flames were nearly white, and they enveloped the Dark Voids that headed Charizard's way while still heading towards Darkrai.

Darkrai was hit head on, causing a large flaming explosion. It fell out of the smoke, landing with a thud on the ice-covered ground. Silus took out his Pokéball and returned the legendary Pokémon.

"Something didn't feel right about my first battle with this guy. He didn't sync well with me. I need to talk to the professor about this.." he thought.

The Final Round! Dewott & Charizard

With a flick of the wrist, Silus released Dewott for its next match.

"Take care, Dewott." he warned his Pokémon with a worried expression, and then face Jason once more.

Jason grinned. "Charizard! You did it! You listened to me!"

Charizard turned it's head the other way, spitting out flames.

"O...k." Jason said slowly. "Alright, Charizard, one more time. Charizard, Dragon Rage!" Charizard formed a crackling yellow ball of energy in it's mouth, and shot it straight at Dewott.

"Okay, I've got one plan that's sure to work if I can execute it....but it's a long shot.." Silus thought. "Dewott, dodge to the left and taunt Charizard!"

Dewott skidded to the left, avoiding Dragon Rage, and then stuck out its tongue at Charizard; making a funny, yet annoying face.

A vein throbbed in Charizard's forehead, and it shot another Dragon Rage at Dewott, however, it's aim was way off.

Dewott didn't even have to dodge this one, because Charizard's blast was far enough away.

"C'mon Charizard, turn up the heat..." Silus prayed silently. "Dewott, taunt it somemore with Water Gun!"

Dewott shot a jet of water at Charizard, aiming for its tail flame.

Charizard noticed, and swept it's tail out of the way. It shot a small bullet of flame at Dewott.

"Charizard! Don't do anything without my orders!" Jason yelled up at it.

"Charizard's not listening." Misty sighed. "He's doomed."

"Dewott, dodge right this time!" Silus shouted.

Dewott nodded and skidded to the right. The flames ignited just on the edge of the battefield.

"That's it big guy, just a little more." Silus thought, watching Charizard carefully. "Dewott, a few more Water Guns please."

Dewott shot short jets of water, hitting Charizard annoyingly in the face and chest, as if poking it.

Charizard let out a huge roar, and it dove down at Dewott, it's wings turning into metal.

"Oh for the love of! Charizard, stop it!" Jason called out to no avail.

Silus tensed up and prepared for intense fighting, "Crap, not the result I was hoping for, but its a start!"

Dewott used the ice on the field to slide away from Charizard. It then continued to fire mini-Water Guns at the large dragon-like Pokémon.

Charizard let out a roar, and fired a large Overheat attack at Dewott. It was getting out of control.

"Jackpot!" Silus nearly leaped for joy.

As Overheat bore down on the battlefield, the large sheet of ice that had been covering it from Darkrai's attacks melted and covered the battlefield in cold water. The water filled the holes created by Monferno and Zoroark in the earlier parts of the battle, creating underwater tunnels, while the top of the field was coated in a few inches of water as well.

"Now Dewott, go under!" Silus commanded.

Dewott jumped into the water and into one of the water tunnels, swimming to the bottom.

"This is perfect! As long as Dewott remains underwater in those dug out tunnels, it can avoid Charizard's attacks with ease. Furthermore, Charizard cannot land or it will risk getting its tail wet, which forces it to stay airborne. All the while, Dewott can attack with long range attacks from the ground. This plan may turn the entire battle around." Silus thought.

"Charizard! Calm down and focus!" Jason ordered.

"Charmeleon! Stop acting up already! If you don't concentrate, we can't win!" Charizard stopped in mid-air, and began to clam down.

Jason sighed in relief. One tradegy averted. His eyes glazed over the field. Silus had certainly outdone him, not only having the advantage type-wise, but now the field was in his favor as well. "There are several holes in the ground, giving Dewott several places to pop up and attack. Being smaller, and made for the water, Dewott will defintely be faster than Charizard. Still, I'm going to need to time my attacks to when Dewott surfaces. It'll be like a game of whack-a-mole, with Charizard as the mallet."

"Now Dewott, use Whirlpool!" Silus countered.

From deep underwater, Dewott began spinning rapidly, allowing her to project a large swirling water tornado out of the water and directly at Charizard.

"Grandfather, I hope you raised this Charizard to be fast." Jason thought desperately. "Charizard, fly up!" Charizard moved straight up as quick as it could, the whirlpool missing. "It didn't come up for that attack. It must have plenty of air left... This could pose a problem." Jason started to think. "I don't want to, but maybe I can suffocate it!"

"Charizard, use Dragon Rage to plug up every opening!" Charizard fired multiple blasts of Dragon Rage that, when they hit the holes, they merely floated there, closing them with energy. "Celine, thank God I witnissed your appeal in the Contest. If this works, I owe you big time."

"Crap! Dewott!" Silus mentally screamed, "Dewott, surface, hurry!"

Dewott struggled to the surface, hitting one of the floating orbs in the process, causing a major explosion. Dewott landed near Silus, obviously having taken massive damage from Dragon Rage, but it managed to wobble to its feat.

"Dew...." it cried.

"Hang in their Dewott." Silus comforted it. "Use Razor Shell for me!"

Dewott grabbed its shell blades and tossed them with razor sharp jets of water tailing behind them.

Charizard let out a roar of pain as the super-effective Water-type move collided with it, and knocked it out of the air, right down onto the water.

Pichu, who had been sleeping to recover from it's battle with Pikachu, felt the water and stood up.

"Pi..." It muttered, shaking off the water and running to climb up on Jason's shoulder.

Luckily for Charizard, it had managed to keep it's tail flame from hitting the water as it got up. It looked tired. Maybe it'd old age was getting to it. "Charizard, are you alright?"

Charizard let out a small hiss and burst of flame from it's mouth, showing it wasn't out yet.

Jason grinned. "Charizard, use DragonBreath!" Charizard let out a blast of yellow energy from it's mouth, aiming for Dewott.

"Dewott, get out of there!" Silus shouted.

Dewott managed to leap away, but when the blast hit the ground, the shockwave threw it down hard.

"Deww..." it moaned, trying to get up.

Silus fought with himself internally, "Dewott is hurt pretty bad...even if I attack again, it might get dodged and Dewott would be hurt further. Is winning this important to me?" he struggled with himself.

Dewott was raising itself up, only to fall back down again. Silus left his box in the ring and stepped into the puddles of water to where Dewott was. It lifted its head up to him, confused.

"Its okay, girl." he said warmly, bending down and picking her up in his arms. "You tried your best, there's no need to overdo it."

He carried her back to his spot and faced Jason, "I give up. You win this one, Jase." he said, as a cold breeze blew threw the air.

Somehow, Jason didn't look too delighted. He recalled Charizard back into it's Old Ball, and gave Pichu a scratch on the head. "I did win, but somehow I feel guilty. Charizard belonged to Grandpa, not me, so I can't really say I won this with my own Pokémon, can I?"

Pokémon Trade

Silus returned Dewott to its Pokéball, and walked over to Jason's side. "Looks like I've got a lot more training to do. I won't lose to you next time." he said with a big grin.

It was funny, even though he lost and initially felt horrible, he felt happy that he'd stopped himself from putting Dewott into harm's way.

"So, how did your last Pokémon Contest go?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Jason grinned as Misty and Lyra walked out from the stands and he and Silus began to head into the Pokémon Center. "It went alright actually. The maneuver with the Dragon Rage I pulled on you earlier, I got that from my latest opponent, Celine. She had done something similar with her Shadow Ball during an appeal, and I was hoping it would work in a battle situation."

"Its amazing what you can learn from Contests. I learned that the Counter Sheild was a move that was developed during a Contest in Sinnoh. So I guess we both learned something from Contests that we used today." Silus said, chuckling at the thought.

Jason grinned. "It's amazing what you can learn from rivals." He said as the doors opened automatically and they entered the Pokémon Center. "Now that you've shown me that Counter Shield, you can expect I'mma try to work on it myself."

Silus smiled back, "I'm glad you liked it. Its hard to learn, but its usefull." he replied, "Anyway, I have a proposal for you. As soon as I get my badge from the local Gym, I want to head to my next contest. Would you mind having a trade with me? I'd really like to use an Eevee in one of my appeals, but I don't know where to find wild ones."

"Hm?" Jason sounded hesistant. "Well, I suppose a trade wouldn't hurt. But what Pokémon could you offer in exchange for one of my Eevee?"

Silus thought for a moment, and then smiled brightly, as if an idea had hit him, "How about my shiny Aipom? I'd have to ring the Professor to get it for you, but I don't want it to just sit around his lab all day. Maybe you could train it?" he offered.

"An Aipom?" Jason was puzzled, and took out his Pokédex, searching manually for Aipom.

"Aipom, the Long Tail Pokémon. Aipom is able to climb and hang from branches using its powerful tail. Aipom live atop tall trees."

"Hey it's cute!" Jason exclaimed. "Alright Silus, you've got yourself a trade!"

Silus grinned, "Alright!"

He walked over to a nearby terminal and punched in the professor's number. Within moments, the young face of Professor Changi appeared on the screen.

"Oh, hello again, Silus! How can I help you?" he asked.

"I need to swap Pokémon with you." Silus replied, pulling out his Moon ball. "Take this Pokémon here, and give me my Aipom."

Silus set the ball down on the transporter, and withing moments it was replaced with a regular Pokéball, containing Aipom.

Jason butted into the screen. "Hey Professor!"

"Oh, Jason. Hello again. You're getting to become a frequent caller." The Professor chuckled, referring to Jason's calls in the last few weeks to exchange his Pokémon for Contests.

"Yeah, sorry if I'm disturbing you." He said, holding up a Poké Ball. "I'd like to exchange Pokémon again. Could you send over Eie for me in exchange for this one?"

Jason set the ball down on the transporter, and it vanished in a flash of light, soon to be replaced with the Poké Ball containing Eie.

"Thanks for your help, Professor!" Silus said, switching off the screen and walking over to the nearby trade machine, setting Aipom's ball down on his side. "You ready, Jason?"

"Yeah." Jason placed Eevee's Poké Ball down on his side. "Wanna do the honors?"

Silus nodded and flipped the switch. The two Pokéballs were sucked up into the machine and sat down on the opposite side. Silus picked up his new Pokémon's Pokéball and released it onto the floor.

"Hello there, Eie, I'm Silus, your new partner!" Silus said, happily.

"Vuiii?" the Pokémon chirped, looking from Silus to Jason and then back.

Jason pressed the button on Aipom's Ball and it popped out, forming in a flash of white light, sparkling with gold sparks. "Hello Aipom. I'm Jason and I'm going to be your new Trainer."

"Eieipam!" Aipom hooted cheerfully, but it looked back at Silus. Jason bent down to look at Eie, petting his old Pokémon on his head. "Eie, it was nice having you as my Pokémon. Please be good for Silus, alright?"

"You too, Aipom. Take care of Jason and make sure he wins some more contests, okay?" Silus said to his Pokémon; sure it'd understand.

"Vui!" Eevee responded happily.

Silus then picked up the furry little Pokémon and hoisted it onto his shoulder. "I'll make sure to take good care of Eie for you, Jason." Silus said as Eevee settled down on his shoulder.

Aipom nodded at Silus, hooting again.

Jason grinned. "I know you will." Aipom jumped onto Jason's free shoulder, where it and Pichu began to have an argument. He sighed. "I'm in for some trouble, aren't I?"

Silus grinned, "Yep. Watch out for him, he's spunky." he replied causing Misty and Lyra to laugh.

"Well, guess it's time to hit the road again." Jason said, calling Aipom into it's Poké Ball to prevent more fighting. To his surprise, it burst out, climbing back up onto his shoulder. "Oh my." He said, sighing. "Anyway, Silus, I wish you lots of luck in your next Gym Battle and Contest."

"The same to you!" Silus said.

Eevee hopped onto Silus' head and let out one more cheerful cry as a way of saying goodbye to its trainer before the two parted ways.

Aipom waved as well, and Jason waved to Eevee. "Well Misty, it's time to get back to our Journey. We've got more Gyms to conquer, and Pokémon to capture."

Misty grinned. "You said it!"

"Aipom, Pichu, are you guys ready to roll?"

"Eipam!!"

"Pichu pichu!!"

Silus turned and headed for for the counter, to heal his Pokémon. "Come on, Lyra. We've got places to go too." he said.

"You're not the boss of me!" she snorted.

After a breif pause, the two burst into laughter and then were on their way...

Jason's Story: Second Contest! A new rival?!?|Trouble at the Day Care!

Silus' Story: The Ghost Pokémon Master!|Parents in Moonkshood!