The Lost Master

Chapter-21

There was silence throughout the stadium. On the field a combination of steam and smoke obscured the vision of everybody; the spectators couldn't even see the battling trainers. In the Champions box Steven and Lance were on their feet, although Ash was still sitting down, his eyes shut. He could sense what the rest of the stadium wanted to see; what was happening on the battlefield.

In the stands, Gary was on his feet, staring down onto the stadium, desperate to see what had happened to Pikachu. Every single one of the gang was with him, to see if the little electric type had managed to endure. As the smoke and steam started to clear, there was a collective gasp throughout the stadium. Stood in the middle of a circle of black scorch marks and water droplets, panting, battered was Pikachu, standing tall. As the crowd watched, the little electric Pokémon dropped to all fours and glared across the arena at Absol who looked back with an interested look on her face. Aaron also blinked in surprise, before a grin spread itself across his face.

"That is an impressive Pikachu you have there Misty. I don't know where you got him, but he is impressive. Absol, get him moving again."

Absol nodded, before firing a Flamethrower across the field that caused Pikachu to leap to the side, and fire a Thunderbolt back. Absol lightly leapt away, but as soon as she landed she jumped again, as another Thunderbolt crashed into where she had been a moment before. She looked across the field to where Pikachu was charging another attack and this time met it in the middle with a Flamethrower. Yet to Absol's surprise, the Thunderbolt crashed through and she only just had enough time to dodge out of the way. As the smoke cleared once again, Absol found a focused Pikachu smirking at her across the field. Absol bowed her head in acknowledgement of her opponent, before charging her first Dark-attack of the battle.

Pikachu fired a Thunder attack into the Shadow Ball, but to no effect, and was unable to get out of the way as the powerful move smashed the Mouse Pokémon of his feet and through the air. Pikachu crashed into the ground once again, with more gasps coming from the stadium. As he slowly got to his feet again, Misty called out to him.

"Pikachu, can you continue? If you drop out now nobody will think less of you."

Pikachu spun to stare at the Water-trainer, and shook his head. He turned to face Absol, sparks flying from his cheeks, and started running forwards, an action that Absol instantly mimicked.

Lance and Steven had just started to settle down in their seats again. Neither of them had seen a battle like this for a long time; two closely matched Pokémon with neither side willing to give up. In fact, both men were considering how their Pokémon would fare against the Pokémon they were watching.

"'Champion'." Steven started, but was cut off.

"Your Pokémon could beat them. Absol and Pikachu are probably more than a match for any but your absolute strongest, and even then I suspect that they would be able to prevail. The problem is that neither trainer has another Pokémon of similar strength. Although their strongest could beat one maybe two of yours, the rest of your teams should easily beat them. Both of them could become stronger, but neither has really found a way. Yet."

"Would you consider training them?" Lance asked.

"I have. I have suspicions that one of them will go on to win the tournament, and therefore will be able to train with me. Although it will have to wait until after the expedition into the wilds." 'Champion' said calmly. "The other may get invited if they can impress me throughout the remainder of the tournament, since it's a good chance to watch them train."

"So you'd considered training Misty after you suspended her license?" Lance asked.

"I did what I had to. Miss Waterflower has clearly learned from her experience, seeing if she wants Pikachu to drop out. Although I suspect that he will fight till he drops, as will Absol. They are impressive."