New Beginnings

Chapter 13: Ash vs. Gary

I watched as the match began.

"Go Arcanine!" Gary called out and he appeared in a second.

"Go Kingler!"  Ash called out and I watched as a weird crab came out of his pokeball. I pulled out my pokedex.

"Kingler, the Pincer Pokemon. It can hardly lift its massive overgrown pincer. The pincer's size makes it difficult to aim properly."  I looked up.

"Ash has the type advantage, but I'm wondering as to why Gary decided to start with Arcanine." I said out loud.

"Well I would have to agree with you. Arcanine is one of Gary's strongest Pokemon." Sabrina commented and I watched as the first moves were called out.

"Kingler use Hydro Pump!"

"Arcanine dodge and use Thunder!" I jumped forward and leaned out against the wall.

"Gary taught his Arcanine Thunder?!"

"I wonder when he did that." I wondered out loud as I watched the thunder hit Kingler. I watched as Kingler plopped to the ground unable to continue.

"Kingler is unable to battle, Arcanine is the winner." I smiled a little at Gary's determination to win.

"He definitely has gotten stronger over the time we have traveled together." I muttered lightly.

"I would agree." Brock said.

"Go Pikachu!" Ash called out.

"So Pikachu is next huh?"

"Arcanine use Flamethrower." Gary called out and the flames poured from Arcanine's mouth.

"Pikachu dodge and use Thunderbolt."  I watched Pikachu jump into the air and let out a huge bolt of lightning that hit Arcanine with no problems. I watched Arcanine collapse to the ground.

"Arcanine is unable to battle Pikachu is the winner." I smirked.

"So both of them are pretty even when it comes to battling. Ash isn't letting up one bit, which means this battle is going to get exciting." Sabrina said before I could state it.

"Indeed. Let's see which Pokemon Gary comes out with next."

"Go Umbreon!" I chuckled a little.

"I forgot Gary had an Umbreon. I'm always so uses to seeing yours out all the time." Sabrina exclaimed and leaned forward to watch more intently.

"Don't underestimate Gary's Umbreon Ash, it's a lot stronger than it looks." I watched as Umbreon used Shadow Ball, Pikachu dodged swiftly, but Umbreon was there in seconds and had it pinned to the ground underneath it's paws.

"Umbreon use Hyper Beam!" Gary called out.

"This match is over." I said and watched as the Hyper Beam made contact with Pikachu's body. When the smoke cleared Pikachu was down for the count.

"Pikachu is unable to battle and the winner is Umbreon."

"How did you know?" Brock asked confused.

"Because, Hyper Beam is a move that could make or break the person who uses it. But seeing as Umbreon had Pikachu pinned down to the ground with no way to escape, it was over before it even began. I knew when Gary pulled out Umbreon he was getting serious. He doesn't want to lose to Ash here. I mean who would when you've come this far."

"Go Muk!" I looked at Muk disgusted a little when it came out.

"That thing smells horrible." I covered my nose. I saw Umbreon was on the ground covering hers as well.

"Gary please make that Muk go away!" I called out.

"Umbreon use Iron Tail!"

"Muk, grab Umbreon and hold it inside of you!" Ash called out and I watched in horror and amazement Umbreon being grabbed and pulled inside of the sludge that was Muk.

When Muk moved Umbreon was on the ground unable to continue.

"Umbreon is unable to battle the winner is Muk."

"It's time for the final battle. Let's see who out of Gary's last Pokemon will he chose."

"Go Nidoqueen!" I froze a little seeing that Pokemon come out. It reminded me of my fight with Giovanni.

"Nidoqueen use Earthquake!" Gary called out and I saw the battle field begin to shake everywhere.

"Muk, throw yourself into the air!" Ash called out and I watched Muk fling itself into the air quickly.

"Nidoqueen use Hyper Beam!" I looked away as the destructive blast blasted Muk away.

"Muk is unable to battle, Nidoqueen is the winner and the winner of the match is Gary Oak." I smiled a little, but rose from my seat.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to congratulate Gary when he gets back?" Sabrina asked.

"Yeah, I will later...right now I want to go for a walk. Come on Umbreon." We turned and walked out of the arena.

"Is everything alright?" Umbreon asked me lightly.

"Yeah, it just reminds me of the battle with Giovanni...I couldn't watch anymore...Does that make me a coward?" Umbreon shook her head.

"Not at all. It makes you human." I chuckled lightly.

"Human, you know for the longest time I didn't think I was...that is until I met you and all my other friends. You've all shown me that I have the feelings of a human, that even though my body is genetically messed up I can still live a normal life without having to worry about that."  I stopped and looked down at Umbreon lightly.

"Kat..." I dropped to my knees and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you Umbreon, for staying by my side all this time. Thank you for being my friend from the very beginning." Her head rested against my shoulder lightly.

"I have you to thank as well for bringing back my faith in humans. We bring out the best in one another and I think that's why we're the strongest of combinations. Now we should go back and congratulate Gary, he earned it and that means we are one step closer to battling him as the Champions of this region." I looked at her face lightly and then nodded.

"You're right." We walked back to the arena and when we got back to our seats Gary and Ash were both sitting there. Ash looked a little bummed.

"Hey don't worry Ash, I'm sure you're going to train even harder for the next Pokemon League and win for sure." I said trying to cheer him up. I think it worked because he gave me a small smile.

"You're right."

"Trainers work hard every day. We work out to bring the best out of our Pokemon, but more than that we work hard to bring out the best in ourselves as well. So just think there's always more to learn no matter how far you go." I looked at the battlefield and saw another battle was starting.

"That was very insightful, Kat." I smiled lightly and sat down next to Gary.

"I guess you could say that, but that's what I've learned so far on my journey. I've learned more about my Pokemon and myself as I've traveled. I want to keep traveling and learning new things about Pokemon and people every day." Gary touched my hand. I looked at him lightly.

"That's a good goal to have. I hope you'll let me come with." I smiled brightly.

"Of course. Congratulations by the way. Just think we might battle each other for the title of Champion." He gave me a sharp look with a smile.

"But I'm going to win when that happens." I chuckled.

"We'll see about that."