Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 64: A Fierce Rematch

"Who knew Oshawott had that much power?" Serena heard Iris muttering to Cilan. "If he'd done that against Cameron, Ash would've won easy."

"Well," Cilan said, laughing lightly, "this is a very different Ash, I think. He seems much better at bringing out the power of his Pokemon. And Oshawott learning Revenge helped. It's very powerful when a Pokemon's endurance is low."

"So getting hit by that Hyper Beam actually ended up being a good thing?" Serena asked.

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Cilan said, pointing to Oshawott who, although looking determined, was clearly quite tired. "It brought out great power, but Ash needs to rely on Oshawott's speed for this next match."

That next match looked like it was just about to start, too, as Astrid was pulling out her next pokeball and throwing it into the air. "Meowstic, let's do this!" she shouted, and her female Meowstic emerged on a rock in front of her. It stood still a moment and then a blue aura appeared around it and it started to float up into the air, much like Olympia's Meowstic duo.

"Alright folks, we've got Oshawott versus Meowstic." the announcer informed the crowd, for any who somehow didn't know. "After this match, we're guaranteed an intermission, so let's hope it's a good one."

The referee signalled for the match to continue and Ash made the first move. "Oshawott, we've gotta use the water to our advantage. Dive in!" With a quick nod, the little otter Pokemon dove in and submerged himself quickly.

"Don't think you can avoid Meowstic," Astrid warned, a confident smirk on her face. "Psychic on the water! Let's make the waters a little rough for swimming." Meowstic's eyes glowed a bit as the water seemed to violently whirl around. It wasn't like when Gyrados had used Twister, but the surface was wildly whipping around and it was clearly not much better underneath.

"You can do this, Oshawott," Ash encouraged loudly, obviously trying to make sure his voice was heard above the water. "Use Aqua Jet!"

Astrid's counter order was so fast, Serena was barely able to register it. It was like the blonde trainer had known that would be Ash's next order. "Quick Guard!"

It didn't look like Meowstic had done anything. All Serena saw was her eyes flashing quickly, and then hold up two paws. Oshawott rapidly shot out of the spinning water, emerged in his torrent of water. He was moving at such a speed, Serena was sure it would be a powerful strike. However, just as the otter Pokemon was about to hit, his Aqua Jet slammed into the air in front of Meowstic and the water around him shot outwards and he leaped back, landing on one of the rocks, careful to avoid falling into the water which hadn't calmed down.

"That Meowstic is still pretty strong," Ash acknowledged. Serena could see from her spot in the stands how his eyes were narrowed while he tried to think of a plan.

"We didn't stop training after beating you the first time," Astrid said with a laugh. "All of my Pokemon are stronger. This battle is just a question of which of us has improved more."

"Right," Ash said, nodding. "Well, how about we try this. Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge and use Charge Beam!" Astrid ordered quickly.

The speed at which Oshawott moved, as he backflipped from the stone he was on to another one behind, was quite impressive. The jet of water he produced, however, was even more so. It shot towards Meowstic like all the water from an ocean was being fired out. The psychic cat Pokemon was ready, though. It waited for the water to approach and then thrust out its arms and a beam of electricity fired out, colliding with the Hydro Pump and straining against it for a moment, and then it shot forward and jolted through the water. It smashed into Oshawott and the otter Pokemon cried out in pain and fell into the water. A moment later, he floated up, eyes cloudy.