A Blond Ray of Sunshine

Chapter 9

In the early evening, the sky had become a layered mix of bluish-purple littered with long streaks of orange clouds. Antoshi and Fireball sat in the stands. They watched the end of the first round of preliminary matches while enjoying the meal provided for them by the staff. The number of other Trainers had thinned out to half as many as there were hours prior.

"Trainer 501 wins!" the voice on the loudspeaker said. "That concludes the first round. If you haven't already, Trainers, please heal your Pokémon by your own means or inside the stadium concourse where you'll find our Pokémon Center. The second and final round of preliminary matches will begin in just a few minutes."

The giant screens lit up with an updated tournament bracket. Antoshi furrowed his brow curiously when he saw the number of their next opponent: 145. His eyes lit up. The battle involving '145' was one that he'd witnessed from afar earlier. It was a young boy, younger than him, with dark skin and an almost completely shaved head. The Trainer had used a powerful Tyranitar to knock out both of his opponent's Pokémon. It was quite the intimidating sight. Now they had to face off against that themselves.

"Trainers 1 and 3, report to battlefield one."

The bracket process started all over again, only this time with tougher Trainers.

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"Trainers 145 and 147, report to battlefield two."

Antoshi took a deep breath and sighed. The pair nodded to each other, putting their game faces on, heading down to the assigned field. The young boy that Antoshi remembered was already waiting for them. He smirked confidently, tossing a Poké Ball up and down. Antoshi and Fireball stood in their respective positions on their side of the field.

"Battlefield two — you may begin!"

"Go," their opponent exclaimed as he threw his Poké Ball out, "Lanturn!"

From the ball emerged a cheerful, large blue footballfish with a Y-shaped antenna tipped with glowing orbs. It cried out, raring to battle. Fireball gave his own shout, flaring up the fires on his back. Antoshi wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, already dreading the impending reveal of the opponent's Tyranitar.

'That's not good,' Antoshi thought, huffing sharply. 'Thunder Punch is effectively useless now and Lanturn's Water-type drowns out all of our Fire-type attacks. ... Rollout isn't as effective—'

"Lanturn!" the other Trainer exclaimed, interrupting Antoshi's train of thought. "Use Rain Dance!"

Lanturn did an adorable shimmy from side to side, singing as it did so. A dark cloud emerged high over their quadrant of the battlefield, a downpour of rain falling upon the two Pokémon. Fireball idly lifted his head and opened his maw to lap up a brief drink of water.

'And he's setting up,' Antoshi thought. 'I wonder ... if he watched our battle, too.'

"How do you like that?" their opponent asked, boasting confidently. "Let's see your Typhlosion deal with this!"

Antoshi hesitated for a moment before issuing their next move.

"Fireball — use Burn Up!"

Fireball appeared surprised by the decision. He turned his gaze to Antoshi, who nodded confidently at him. Fireball dropped down to all fours, snarling loudly as his entire body became enveloped in an inferno. The flames were hot enough to evaporate the rain falling upon him. He swiftly charged at his opponent, slamming headlong into it. Lanturn cried out, bouncing and skidding backwards from the force and the intensity of the flames. Fireball headed back to his side of the field.