Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

"Chimchar, CHAR!"

My little fire monkey cried out challengingly at Tsareena, who looked as if she were smirking at both of us from across the arena.

"Start with Dig." I told Chimchar out loud, feeling as if Erika was waiting for us to do the obvious and use a fire type move. In response, Chimchar immediately leapt up into the air before angling himself back down, and diving into the ground as he Dug a tunnel under the arena.

"Tsareena, use Sunny Day." Erika told her pokemon calmly, who then created a ball of fire type energy before launching it into the sky.

I furrowed my brows at that, since her doing so meant that all of Chimchar's fire attacks would be strengthened against Tsareena, but I guess it would also benefit her grass type pokemon as well. Instead of dwelling on that though, I focused on Chimchar as he Dug his way through the earth below.

"Now Chimchar!"

"CHAR!"

With a cry, Chimchar erupted from the ground with his mouth filled with fire that exploded out at Tsareena in a Flamethrower, engulfing her in potent flames that were strengthened by her Sunny Day.

Or not...

"Reena!"

Tsareena leapt up out of the flames with an elegant flip as she flew at Chimchar, while Erika stated behind her, "Use High Jump Kick."

"Chimchar, aim Flamethrower up in the air!" I hurriedly ordered him, as it was the only way Chimchar might be able to dodge the attack while still in midair.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAR!"

Chimchar expelled the strongest Flamethrower he could manage to send him back down towards the ground, just barely managing to dodge the High Jump Kick before it could land.

*Crash!*

"Tsar!"

Tsareena cried out in pain as she hit the ground, dealing damage to herself instead of Chimchar.

"Good! Now use Dig again!" I told Chimchar, prompting him to create a new hole and tunnel under the arena.

With how powerful Tsareena's physical attacks were, it was best to keep our distance while using hit and run tactics. It would be different if Chimchar had evolved into Monferno, which would increase his physical abilities along with his new fighting typing.

"Aromatic Mist." Erika commanded Tsareena as Chimchar Dug through the arena, digging numerous tunnels under Tsareena to attack her from while she produced a pink mist that enveloped her body to increase her defense against moves like Flamethrower.

"Now use Flame Wheel!"

"CHAAAAAAAAR!"

Chimchar erupted from the ground once again with flames in his mouth, but instead of expelling them in a Flamethrower like before, he instead began to spin rapidly in a Flame Wheel at Tsareena.

"Block it with Stomp." Erika commanded in retaliation.

"Reena!"

Tsareena then proceeded to plant one of her feet right in the middle of Chimchar's Flame Wheel, stopping him in his tracks even as he continued to spin.

"Now give it another High Jump Kick." Erika stated once more, prompting Tsareena to kick Chimchar up into the air while he was still using Flame Wheel.

"Get out of there Chimchar!" I urged him worriedly, but he only had time to cancel his Flame Wheel before Tsareena was on him.

"Reena!"

*CRASH!*

"Chimchar!" I cried out worriedly as the little monkey received a powerful High Jump Kick and was sent flying to the ground, while Tsareena landed gracefully a few feet away from him.

"Ch-char..." Chimchar responded weakly, as he struggled to lift himself up off the ground.

"Finish this with a Stomp, Tsareena." Erika said calmly, already acting as if this round belonged to her.

"Get up Chimchar!" I urged him, channeling my aura towards him in encouragement.

"Chim..."

*CRASH!*

Again, Tsareena used Stomp, this time downwards onto Chimchar's head to bury his face into the dirt. Despite this, I could still feel that Chimchar was refusing to go down.

"One should accept their defeat with grace and dignity. Continuing to struggle only makes one look unslightly." Erika said to me from the other side of the arena, right as Tsareena lifted her foot to bring it down upon Chimchar's head once more.

"Damn it... Chimchar-"

"!!!"

Right as I was about to recall Chimchar, something happened that made me pause. Chimchar's aura suddenly began to skyrocket.

"Chimchar?"

*WHOOSH!*

"What is this?" Erika asked suspiciously, but I didn't have an answer for her as Chimchar's body was suddenly enveloped in a powerful aura. An aura resembling the Blaze ability that all fire type starters possessed, but also different at the same time.

"Chim....CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

With a roar that sounded nothing like my cute, little and lovable Chimchar, a fiery aura exploded outwards that radiated such heat that even Erika and I were forced to cover our faces from it, and Tsareena was forced back.

"By the rings of Arceus..." I uttered in awe as I beheld Chimchar, who now radiated an immensely powerful fiery aura, and looked as if he possessed five flaming tails instead of the usual little flame on his butt.

But despite how powerful it seemed he had become, there was one thing that worried me immensely... Judging from his aura, Chimchar had gone completely berserk.

"Chimchar, try to calm down." I told him while channeling calming aura towards him, but I was completely ignored as Chimchar focused solely on his enemy, Tsareena.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" He roared at Tsareena, before curling up into what was supposed to be a Flame Wheel, but was far stronger than any Flame Wheel I had ever seen.

"Get out of the way Tsareena!" Erika shouted, actually sounding distressed for the first time all day.

"Reena!" She cried out in response as she tried to do just that, only the flames Chimchar was producing were too wild and powerful for her to avoid entirely.

Not only that, but even as she deftly danced to the side to avoid the attack, Chimchar continued his wild Flame Wheel as he changed direction to hit her directly.

"REENA!"

The grass type pokemon cried out in pain as she was hit directly by the rampaging flames, which were also empowered by her earlier Sunny Day on top of Blaze.

"Alright Chimchar, Tsareena is down! You can take it easy." I tried once more to get him to calm down.

"Char?" My little monkey growled as he turned towards me, his eyes red with raw fury.

"Oh shit..." I uttered, right as Chimchar used Flame Wheel once more as he shot at me.

I coated my arms with aura right as Chimchar was about to hit me, catching him in midair as the heat from his flames washed over my body.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAR!"

"Its ME Chimchar, calm down!" I told him while trying my best to channel calming energy to him, even as sweat began to pour from my body from the intense heat.

"!!!"

I glanced to the side as one of my pokeballs opened, revealing Gardevoir with an angry expression on her face.

"To turn your flames against your own master... How disappointing." Gardevoir stated coldly while using the move Hypnosis, which worked to calm Chimchar down before putting him to sleep completely.

"Char...." Chimchar snored lightly as he fell asleep, his flames quickly dying down until he was the same cute little monkey as before.

"Thanks Gardevoir, but don't blame Chimchar." I told her gratefully, even as I pulled his pokeball from my belt and returned him to it.

"I understand the circumstances master, but I still consider a pokemon turning against their master to be unforgivable." She stated firmly.

"Well, we can all talk to Chimchar later." I assured her, before looking down at Chimchar's pokeball curiously.

As I did so I recalled the memories Chimchar had of Paul's training, and the way he had his pokemon basically bully him every single day. Could Paul have been trying to get Chimchar to show his true power? Because what just happened was definitely NOT normal.

"Excuse me." A voice suddenly said, drawing my attention to the referee as he approached me.

"Tsareena was eliminated by Chimchar before, but after everything that just happened I need to disqualify Chimchar as well." He told me seriously.

"That's ok. I don't plan to use him again anyways." I replied while replacing the pokeball on my belt. Until we figure out what exactly is up with Chimchar's Blaze, I would need to be careful using him in battle.

"Sorry about that." I said to Erika on the other side of the arena.

"Are we resuming then? I do hope you can actually control your pokemon this time." Erika remarked, making my brow twitch while I could feel the irritation radiating off of Gardevoir.

"Shall I partake this time, Master?" She asked while concentrating her psychic energy, making her entire body glow in a pink light.

"That's alright. But I'll keep you on standby just in case." I told her as Erika held up her second pokeball.

"Let's put an end to this farce, Serperior." Erika stated as she sent out her second pokemon, a large snake-like pokemon that looked as if it had giant leaves covering it's body. The final form of Snivy.

"Interesting..." I muttered while moving my hand over my pokeballs in brief contemplation.

My first thought was to send out someone like Houndoom or Vespiquen, but then I recalled what Red mentioned during Ash's match.

"I choose you, ONIX!"

"OHHHHHHHHHHHN!"

Onix roared as he appeared in the arena, dwarfing Serperior as he looked down on it intimidatingly.

"Oh my. Do you think you might be able control this one?" Erika asked with a slight smirk.

"..."

I didn't dignify her question with an answer, but apparently Onix had taken exception to the remark.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHN!"

I smirked as Onix roared at both her and Serperior, despite the fact that he was at a dual disadvantage since both rock and ground type pokemon were weak to grass types.

"THE MATCH BETWEEN ONIX AND SERPERIOR WILL NOW BEGIN!"

"Serperior, start off strong with Frenzy Plant." Erika immediately ordered.

"Onix, use Stone Edge!" I countered.

"Ser!"

"Ohn!"

At the same exact time, Serperior and Onix both slammed their tails down onto the ground with enough force that the entire arena began to shake, as the former produced a tidal wave of thorny vines and the latter summoned pillars of jagged stones.

*KER-CRASH!*

Jagged shards of stone and thorns went flying in every direction as the two attacks collided in the middle of the arena, prompting a contest between the two attacks as they struggled to overwhelm the other. After a moment though, Onix's Stone Edge shredded the vines from Frenzy Plant and continued on to Serperior.

"Smash through it with Dragon Tail." Erika told Serperior once it could move again, while appearing unconcerned.

"Perior!"

Serperior charged at the oncoming wave of jagged stones while it's tail glowed with draconic power, which it swung at them to shatter the oncoming wall.

"Now use Double Edge!" I cried out, prompting Onix to charge forward while Serperior was still dealing with the Stone Edge.

"OHN!"

With a roar, Onix shot forward and tackled Serperior with all of his strength to deal significant damage with his size and weight. And while normally the move Double Edge would even hurt the user in exchange for the amount of damage it would do, Onix's Rock Head ability prevented him from receiving any damage in exchange.

"Now use Bind!"

Onix immediately transitioned from Double Edge as he wrapped his massive body around Serperior's, squeezing it tightly to both damage and restrict it's movements.

"Serperior, use Leaf Storm." Erika declared with narrowed eyes.

"Serperior!"

The grass serpent immediately summoned a powerful cyclone of leaves that engulfed both it and Onix, obscuring them from view.

"Onix, Slam Serperior into the ground!" I declared, knowing that the longer the attack went on the more damage Onix would take.

"OHHHHN!"

*CRASH!*

*Rumble...*

Once again, it felt felt as if the entire coliseum shook from the force of Onix's attack as he threw Serperior to the ground, producing a cloud of dust that obscured the impact zone from view momentarily. And when it cleared, we were greeted with the sight of Serperior unconscious in a small crater.

"SERPERIOR IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!"

"Ha!" I exclaimed victoriously as Onix's win was announced, and Erika recalled her Serperior with a frown.

"That was excellent Onix!" I called up to the former king.

"OHN!" He roared in response while returning to my side of the arena, lowering his head as he did so to allow me to pat him for doing a good job.

"It appears as if you are a fan of sheer power." Erika called out to me while holding on to a pokeball.

"It has its uses." I replied as Onix moved behind me to join Gardevoir in spectating the matches.

"In certain circumstances, I must concur." Erika said, before tossing out the next pokeball. "That is why I choose you, Meganium."

*CRASH!*

"MEGANIUM!"

"Oh my." I uttered when I beheld Erika's Meganium, which towered over us at well over ten feet tall.

"Indeed. My Meganium is an alpha I received from a friend in the Johto region. Now will you use your obviously alpha Onix?"

"Nope." I answered with a smirk, before grabbing the pokeball I already decided to use.

"I choose you, Parasect!"

*CRASH!*

"SEEEEEECT!"

"!!!"

This time even Erika was visibly shaken by the appearance of my Parasect, which was roughly twice as tall as her alpha Meganium, and I could feel the alarm coming from all of the spectators around us.

"Now Parasect, start with Sludge Bomb!" I commanded it immediately, since Parasect had the Dry Skin ability that would make it continuously take damage under the harsh sun, which was still amplified from Sunny Day.

"PARAS!"

With a roar, Parasect lobbed a massive blob of toxic gunk at Meganium.

"Block it with a Solar Beam!" Erika hurriedly commanded, which I could even hear a note of urgency in her tone.

"MEGANIUM!"

Aided by the earlier Sunny Day, Meganium fired a powerful beam of pure grass type energy at the ball of toxic sludge, shattering it to send globs of poison flying in every direction.

"Now use Bullet Seed!" I immediately followed up.

"Sect sect sect sect!"

Without giving Meganium any room to maneuver, Parasect bombarded it with a storm of powerful cannon-like seeds.

"Meganium, use Protect!"

"!!!"

A shimmering shield of light appeared before meganium before the Bullet Seed could hit it, protecting it from the attack momentarily.

"Keep it up Parasect, they can't hold Protect forever."

"Hold it Meganium!"

"Mega...."

*Crack!*

"!!!"

Suddenly Meganium's Protect shattered from the barrage of Bullet Seeds, rendering it vulnerable to the massive seeds.

"Meganium, use Frenzy Plant!" Erika commanded urgently.

"Meganium!"

Despite being under the barrage of seeds, Meganium slammed it's forefeet down to summon an even larger wave of thorny vines than what Serperior did earlier.

"Alright, stop the Bullet Seed, and use X-Scissor instead!" I commanded as the wave of vines advanced on to Parasect.

"SECT!"

With both of it's claws glowing with bug type energy, Parasect slashed them in a X shape right before the Frenzy Plant could reach it, shredding the vines before they could reach it.

"Now follow with Dragon Breath!"

"PARAAAAAAAAAS!"

At my command, Parasect expelled a powerful blast of draconic energy right at Meganium, which was still recovering from the energy expended for Frenzy Plant.

"GANIUM!"

Meganium cried out in pain as it was engulfed by the Dragon Breath, on top of the damage it had received earlier from Bullet Seed.

"Now finish it with Fury Cutter!"

"PARAS!"

Moving with speed that was shocking for it's size, Parasect charged forward at Meganium with it's claws glowing with bug type energy.

"Meganium, use Body Slam!" Erika commanded in retaliation.

***

"Amazing!" Ash exclaimed as he, along with everyone else in the VIP box, watched the battle between Ace and Erika with interest.

"I'll say! Ace truly has amassed an army of genuine monsters!" Leon, the current Champion of Galar, said excitedly as Meganium and Parasect collided. As a result, Meganium collapsed from the Fury Cutter after all of the damage it had taken until now.

"Well of course! Every time I visit professor Oak's, all of Ace's pokemon are working so hard to become stronger on their own." Delia said with pride.

"That's right. Not to mention the unwavering loyalty all of his pokemon feel towards Ace himself. Every single one of them do everything in their power to grow stronger for his sake. I've never seen such determined and driven pokemon." Professor Oak added, as the next round began between Erika's Bellosom, and Ace's Grotle.

"Are you sure about that? His Chimchar didn't seem so obedient earlier." Goh remarked in an annoyed voice.

"If you could not tell that there was obviously something wrong with Chimchar at that moment, then perhaps you need to get your eyes checked." Lucario replied irritably, making Goh flinch since he had forgotten that he was there as well.

"Indeed... I don't know what that was, but it is obvious that Ace's Chimchar possesses significant strength. If they can learn to truly control and harness such strength..." Professor Oak muttered to himself in silent contemplation, even as the battle continued below.

"If anyone can do it, Aniki can!" Ash declared with unwavering faith in his older brother, drawing more than a few looks towards himself in the process.

"..."

"How can you just accept all of this, and have such faith in him Ash?" Goh asked him with frustration evident in his voice and expression, confusing Ash slightly.

"Accept what?" He asked back.

"Accept the difference in the way everyone treats you and Ace! The only one anyone even seems to look at or acknowledge is HIM, and you don't even seem to care! I mean look at how they treated this match against Erika! You were basically just another challenger to everyone, but then Ace is the one who gets special treatment while also being regarded as 'special' because he's Red's son! Aren't you too?!"

By now, just about every set of eyes in the VIP box was on Goh from his rant, aside from a few such as Misty, May, Dawn, Joy, Chloe, and Lillie.

"..."

For a moment no one said anything as Ash looked at Goh intensely for a moment, before he smiled suddenly.

"What's there to accept Goh? Aniki is amazing, and they all acknowledge that. But one day, I'll show them how amazing I am as well!"

"Pika!"

With Pikachu puncuating his declaration, Ash then looked back out at the arena where Grotle was still battling against Bellosom.

"Aniki has always been amazing, even when we were little. Not even Gary could compare to him when it came to anything. But before we left on our journey, we both promised that no matter what, neither of us will EVER give up becoming stronger! And one day, my pokemon and I will get strong enough to beat even ANIKI!"

As Ash finished speaking his words left the VIP box silent from a variety of different thoughts. Some thought he was foolish, others admired his optimism, and his parents, Red and Delia, both swelled with pride that Ash was determined to continue growing despite his brother's shadow, all while not resenting him for excelling in the first place.

To Red, it was the fixation of trying to surprass someone that stunted a person and their pokemon's growth, like Blue trying to surpass him instead of just trying to make his team as strong as possible. To Ace and Ash though, things like the League or each other were not end goals to meet, but hurdles to overcome on their respective journeys.

"AND BELLOSOM IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!"

The announcement made them all turn their attention back to the match, where Ace's Grotle had just taken down Erika's Bellosom with a well-place Zen Headbutt. Following that, they began the next round round with Erika sending out her Roserade, while Ace sent out a truly massive Ivysaur.

***

"Ivysaur, come on back." I called out to my recently evolved grass type starter, who came trotting back happily after defeating Erika's Roserade.

Now we were five and zero after taking out her Tsareena, Serperior, Meganium, Bellosom and Roserade, and there was only one pokemon left while almost all of mine were still in excellent fighting shape if need be.

"You did really well buddy." I said while patting Ivysaur on his head.

"Ivy! Ivysaur!"

After saying so, Ivysaur went to join Onix, Gardevoir, Grotle and Parasect behind me, while I turned towards Erika.

"Last round." I told her.

"I am aware." Erika responded as she held up her final pokeball. "Don't let us down, Venusaur!"

"VENUUUUUUUS!"

Though not an alpha like her Meganium, Erika's Venusaur still radiated a powerful aura as it appeared in the arena, even before Erika shifted a strand of her hair to reveal a glowing gem embedded in her hairband.

"Is that how we're doing things?" I asked as I recognized the gem.

"Are you opposed?" Erika asked in return, even as the gem began to glow brightly.

We all watched as Venusar was encased in a sphere of light momentarily, before said light shattered to reveal it's new form. Not that much had physically changed if I was being honest.

Aside from growing nearly two feet in height, the biggest different that I had noted was that the leaf on Venusaur's head was now pink. But neither of those compared to the raw aura coming off of it. And I knew exactly who I was going to send against it.

"I CHOOSE YOU, BLASTOISE!"

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!"

Blastoise roared at Venusaur as he appeared in the arena, his cannons raised and primed for battle.

"Now let's kick this up a notch!" I declared before kissing my ring, and then holding it up high.

"BLASTOISE!"

The giant turtle was encased in a multicolored sphere of light for a moment, before the sphere shattered to reveal Blastoise's new form.

Blastoise hadn't grown taller like Venusaur had, but the two cannons on his shoulders had combined into a single massive cannon directly over his head, while a cannon also formed on the back of both his hands. And like Venusaur, Blastoise's aura spiked significantly with his transformation.

"Let's kick this party off with a Rain Dance!"

"Blast!"

Blastoise then began to perform his Bully Maguire dance, much to the confusion of those watching, which then triggered the rapid formation of dark clouds above us.

"Venusaur, charge up a Solar Beam." Erika said as fat dropplets of water began to fall down onto us. But now that Sunny Day was no longer active, it meant that it would take time to build up the energy needed to attack.

"Go ahead and let them charge up Blastoise. Use Shell Smash while you're waiting." I told him with a confident smirk.

"Blastoise!"

At my command, cracks began to spread throughout Blastoise's shell between the plates before several of them began to fall off onto the ground. This would significantly reduce Blastoise's defense, which many would consider to be a bad move against a grass type opponent that he would be weak against, but the trade off was that his attack power and speed would also be significantly increased.

"Venusaur..." Erika said as soon as her pokemon was done drawing in power.

"Hey Blastoise..." I called out to my giga-turtle.

"SOLAR BEAM!"

"HYDRO PUMP!"

"SAAAAAAAUR!"

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAST!"

The force of the water erupting from all three of Blastoise's cannons sent him sliding back a couple of feet as it rocketed at Venusaur, while the grass type starter resembled a miniature sun of solar energy as it shot the most powerful Solar beam I had ever seen at Blastoise. And that was even while considering Exeggutor's triple Solar Beam attack.

*DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*

The two attacks collided in the middle of the arena as grass met water, where they stalled momentarily as they battled it out for surpemacy.

On one hand was Blastoise's Hydro Pump, which was boosted by both the Rain Dance and his Shell Smash, along with his own power as an alpha. Meanwhile you had Venusaur's Solar Beam on the other side, who felt every bit as powerful as the alpha Meganium from earlier, even before Mega Evolving, along with the type advantage.

"Keep it up Blastoise!" I yelled out as the two attacks pushed back at the other continuously, even as they drained both pokemon more the longer they kept it up.

"Wear it down Venusaur! Use Ingrain to replenish your energy!" Erika commanded on the other side, and I noticed Venusaur plant several vines like they were roots, allowing it to absorb energy from the ground to replenish itself.

"Use Ice Beam!" I commanded as soon as Erika tried to turn this match into a war of attrition, despite the continuous Hydro Pump that he was using.

"BLAAAST!"

Blastoise roared as he opened his mouth wide, concentrating ice type energy in it as he did so before unleashing it in an Ice Beam that froze the streams of water.

"!!!"

I watched Erika's eyes widen in surprise as the Hydro Pump froze where it met the Solar Beam, giving Blastoise's attack the type advantage as it started pushing back the Solar Beam.

"Venusaur, use your Vine Whip to wrap it up!" Erika hurriedly commanded as Blastoise started overpowering her Venusaur.

"SAUR!"

Numerous thick vines shot out at Blastoise, on top of the vines used for Ingrain, before they wrapped around his arms, legs and neck. Once they did so, venusaur then started pulling them as it tried to knock Blastoise off balance, or move his arm cannons.

"Rapid Spin!"

"Blast!"

At my command, Blastosie immediately pulled his arms, legs and head into what remained of his shell as he stopped using Ice Beam and Hydro Pump, freeing him up as he shot forward at Venusaur, spinning rapidly as he did so.

"Brace yourself-" Erika tried to tell her Venusaur, right as Blastoise slammed into it. HARD.

*CRASH!*

"SAUR!"

Venusaur cried out as it hit the ground, before hurriedly getting back up as it and Blastoise prepared to square up.

"Use Double Edge!" Erika commanded as she swung her hand out dramatically, an effect increased by the continuous downpour from Rain Dance.

"Hit it with a double Ice Punch!" I declared in retaliation.

"SAUR!" Venusaur roared as it charged Blastoise in a reckless attack, one powerful enough that it pushed even him back by several feet when it connected.

Instead of even acknowledging the damage he just took though, Blastoise slammed both of his fists down as they radiated ice type energy.

*CRASH!*

"BLASTOISE!"

The hit sent Venusaur crashing down into the ground beneath them, which was rapidly becoming a thick muddy soup.

"Now finish this with an Ice Beam!" I ordered as Venusaur struggled to get to it's feet, and Blastoise finished this battle with a move that looked like it came right out of a Godzilla movie, as he fired a powerful Ice Beam from his mouth at point blank to freeze Venusaur right where it was.

Immediately the pokemon was encased in a massive block of ice that extended several feet behind it, while even the mud around Blastoise's feet had frozen solid, only to break when he lifted his feet to return to my side, the battle over.

"VENUSAUR IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" The referee declared once the time for Venusaur to try to escape the ice passed.

"THE WINNER IS BLASTOISE AND ACE KETCHUM!"

As he announced my victory a great cheer could be heard from the conclusion of the battle, while both Erika and I walked out to the middle of the arena, passing Blastoise as I did so.

"That was excellently done." I said while holding a fist out to him, which Blastoise bumped with his own tiredly. He was so exhausted, that he couldn't even do his Bully Maguire dance like he usually did at the end of each battle.

"Take a nice, LONG, rest." I said while returning him to his pokeball, to which Blastoise responded with a growl of agreement before disappearing. I then turned towards Erika as we both arrived at the middle of the arena.

"That was an excellent battle." Erika said to me, and she genuinely meant it too!

"Thanks. I thought so too." I replied while flashing a cocky smile.

"Hmmm... Perhaps I was wrong about you, Ace ketchum." She continued while holding out my sixth Kanto Gym Badge, the Rainbow Badge.

"Wait, really?" I asked with a fake worried tone, even as I accepted the Badge.

"It looks like I need to do some damage control! Which pickup line do you prefer, one about how I'd 'plow your fields', or one about me 'sowing my seeds'?" I asked her with complete seriousness.

"I guess I wasn't wrong after all." Erika said in a flat tone, before sighing tiredly as she turned and walked away. Of course, I took a moment to admire her ass as she did so.

Normally her kimono was loose enough that there would be nothing to see, but in this heavy rain the thick cloth was clinging to her body nicely. So I got quite the view of her backside before I turned to leave as well.

"You all did REALLY well. Take a nice long rest." I told the rest of my pokemon as I rejoined them, returning them to their pokeballs as they all cried out in affirmation before leaving the arena altogether.

"That was an awesome match." Red called out to me as I entered the tunnel that had been my entrance to the arena.

"Thanks. I hope I wamred them up enough for you." I said as I passed the old man.

"I think you did more than that, before you cooled them down with this rain." Red said jokingly, even as the rain began to let up slightly, before stopping a minute later.

"Look at that. I set the stage for you and everything!" I stated as I looked out, and saw a rainbow forming over the arena.

"That you did son." Red replied as he walked out into the arena.

"AND NOW WITH GYM LEADER ERIKA'S MATCHES OVER, WE MOVE ON TO THE MAIN EVENT FOR THE DAY, RED KETCHUM!"

A thunderous applause met the referee's words as Red walked out to his place in the arena, right where both Ash and I had been standing previously.

"AND FOR HIS FIRST OPPONNENT, COMING ALL THE WAY FROM PALDEA, NEMOOOOOOOOONA!"

I looked past Red to see Nemona also walking out into the arena, her aura blazing like a wildfire with excitment, and even a touch of arousal in obvious anticipation for her match against Red.

"EACH MATCH WILL BE A STANDARD THREE-ON-THREE, UNTIL RED AND HIS POKEMON ARE UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLING! ARE YOU BOTH READY?!"

Nemona and Red both nodded as they reached for their first pokeballs, even as their gazes never left one another.

"Hey!" I called out to Red, making him glance back at me curiously.

"Show them what Ketchum's are made of, dad."

"!!!"

Just from that simple phrase, I felt Red's aura skyrocket to the point that I was surprise he didn't go Super Saiyan or something.

"Well, how can we lose with my sons cheering us on?" Red declared as he grabbed his first pokeball, and threw it out onto the arena.

"RAICHU, I CHOOSE YOU!"

"RAAAAAAAAICHU!"

I blinked at the first pokemon that Red decided to use, which looked like just an ordinary Raichu. Except for it's aura of course.

Were ALL of Red's pokemon such monsters?

I almost felt sorry when Nemona grabbed her first pokeball as well, and threw it out.

"Let's go, LYCANROC!"