A Brand New Journey

Chapter 10 : Friend or foe?

Ash's POV

*Pant**pant*Looks...like I...arrived...on t-time...

"Ash! You are late! Where were you! You almost missed the battle! If this was the way you lost, I would definitely kick your butt!" May shouted in my ear loudly. "I'm worried, Ash. You've been gone a few times recently, and I don't know where you went. If something is troubling you, tell us. We're your friends."

"Thanks, Serena. I'm glad you're concerned for me."

"Okay! Okay! Now stop with the lovey-dovey talk and get on to the battlefield Ash!" May said grinning at Serena.

"What?!?!"

"She's right, I better get going. Wish me luck!"

__________________________________________

"Go Ash! You can do it!"

I sweatdropped as my friends cheered loudly at the stands. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have friends who're cheering you on and helping you in every way, but...I just wished that they weren't so loud. Like seriously, I could hear them all the way from Kanto. Though hearing their cheering, makes me feel one step closer to winning this tournament.

"You've got some supportive friends there."

I turned around to face my opponent---Paige. She was looking at me smirking. "Ash, right? Meet me at the Pokemon Center after the battle.

...

'What? Did she just say she wanted to meet me? Why?'

All the same, I agreed. But the thought of why she wanted to see me was still in my head. What with meeting that guy and this, there's been a lot of things in my mind lately.

"Trainers! Are you ready! Battle...begin!"

"Florges, time to battle!"

Standing before me a Fairy type Pokemon from the Kalos region. Just by looking at it, I could tell it was strong. Also, it had a special feature that other Florges' did not have.

"Shiny..." I muttered under my breath.

I grabbed the Pokeball of the Pokemon I was going to use. "Sorry, buddy. But you're gonna have to sit this one out." Pika...

"Charizard, I choose you!"

I knew that Charizard was pumped because as soon as he came out of he's Pokeball, he shot a powerful Flamethrower into the sky and shouted his name super loudly that the ground even shook. Even the opposing Florges looked a bit nervous. But that nervous was soon replaced by motivation as its trainer called out their first attack.

"Florges, use Moonblast!" Florges!

Florges suddenly began charging power into its hands, making a small pink ball which became bigger and bigger. "Charizard, dodge it!" 

Luckily, Charizard was prepared and dodged that attack with ease. However, she wasn't done just yet. "Now, while its distracted! Use Magical Leaf!"

As Magical Leaf was a 100% accuracy move, the attack landed and hit Charizard. But as it wasn't super effective, Charizard was barely harmed. 

"Now it's out turn to counter! Charizard, Flamethrower!" "Dazzling Gleam!"

The attacks collided, causing an explosion. While Florges was distracted, I asked Charizard to attack. "Charizard, Wing Attack! The follow it up with Slash!"

"Florges, look out!" Unfortunately, Florges was blinded by that explosion, so it was unable to attack. The Wing Attack hit its mark, and then Charizard used Slash on it. Because of the continuous attacks, Florges was pretty hurt, giving me a advantage.

"Tch, Florges use Magical Leaf, then follow it up with Moonblast.

"Charizard Flamethrower! Counter it!

The Flamethrower cancelled out the Magical Leaf, but the Moonblast hit Charizard. Again, another not very effective attack. "Tch, I gotta admit, your Charizard is strong, I'll give you that. But we're not giving up. Use Dazzling Gleam!"

"Dodge, then use Wing Attack!"

"Protect!"

The Wing Attack was protected by Florges' protect. "Slash!" With all his might, Charizard slashed his claws onto Florges. Due to the power of this Slash, and all the other attacks which hit, Florges couldn't take it anymore and fainted. "Florges, no!"

"Florges is unable to battle! The winner is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

"Yes! Great job Charizard! You were awesome out there!" I went up to Charizard and petted him on the head. Charizard shouted his name in delight and used Flamethrower on me. Again. Really makes me think back to the old times. "Still as powerful as ever Charizard! Take a good long rest! Now, return!" Charizard! I returned him to his pokeball and started walking towards the Pokemon Centre, remembering her request. As I was on my way, I passed by a familiar person. 

"It's you."

He walked towards me and whispered beside me, " Good battle. But if you're thinking of beating me, you're gonna need more than that."

"What?"

Without turning back, he walked on. 'What's that supposed to mean?' I walked towards the Pokemon Centre with him still on my mind. Without noticing it, I had already reached. Waiting for me there, was Paige. "Tut. You're actually pretty good at battling. I thought I could beat you. But anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. You should be careful of that guy, he's dangerous." 

"How so?" I asked.

"I fought with him once, he one-shotted all my Pokemon with only one Pokemon."

"Woah! That strong?"

"Ya. Crazy, right? Anyway, I'm just giving you a warning. Don't think this makes us friends. Cause we're NOT."

After that, she stormed off.

'Okay?'

Hope you liked it! ~Speedy