Memoirs of a Pokemon Master CHAPTER 21 The Super Ball Tournament

"Wouldn't that have been cool to televise." - Andrew Stolf

After a quick stop in Pallet town, to show off our badges to Prof. Oak, we went back to Lavender Town via a car ride from my dad. During the car ride we told my dad about all our adventures in the world and how we were going to be a team in the Super Ball Tournament. Once we got back to Lavender Town, we all went back to our homes. Once I got home mom told me to give raichu a bath. Raichu wasn't too happy about it. I had to chase him all over the house just to get him into the tub and I got shocked quite a few times in the process. Once we got him dry, and after I got into some dry clothes, his fur was all puffed up. I searched the phonebook for Alexia's phone number. I found it with ease as there is only one Lhouve family in all of Lavender. I called her, Andrew, and Ian and arranged a meeting at the Tower to plan what we were to do until the Tournament. We agreed to meet the next morning. The Ghost Tower loomed above me and raichu. We heard the usual ghost sounds. Andrew and Ian arrived a little while after me and then Alexia and her raichu after them.

"You evolved your pikachu?" I asked.

"Well. It's a long story." She said.

"What happened?" Andrew asked.

"There were these mean people from Team Rocket. They kidnaped her and evolved her hoping that they could use her. But she shocked them really good, but she was already evolved." Alexia seemed down. "I see you evolved yours too."

"He kinda evolved himself." I said.

We went into the Tower. A new gastly came around with our old friends haunter and gengar. I let out my gengar. They bounced around and played, made jokes, haunter blew himself up. We all laughed. We hadn't seen our friends in a long time and they were very happy to see us. Even raichu joined in the festivities.

"The tournament isn't until next summer. We just missed it." Ian said.

"So we gotta wait." Andrew said.

"Great." Alexia said.

"Well we've got until next summer to train our pokemon and get stronger." I said.

"You're actually thinking of going back out there?" Ian asked.

"Why not?" I asked. "This is a great opportunity to make a name for ourselves in the pokemon community. Once we become masters everyone will know us anyway."

"I see. We make ourselves known as trainers and when we become masters, we'll be even more popular!" Andrew said.

"Andrew. This is not a popularity contest." Alexia said.

"But still. Becoming well known could be very good for us. If we make it to the pokemon hall of fame, we could become famous in the pokemon league!" I said. "Heck, we could even join pokemon league itself!"

"Really? Become agents of pokemon league?" Ian asked.

"Yeah. That's why we should do this!" I said.

"Then we should go our separate ways and come back here for the tournament." Alexia said.

"No. We got to go together, the four of us." I said.

"Why?" Andrew asked.

"So we can get used to working as a team." I said. "This tournament is going to be a team effort. The best teams from around the world are going to be there. We have got to be better than them!"

"I can see the logic in that." Ian said.

"Me too." Alexia said.

"What's logic?" Andrew asked with a laugh.

We all had a good laugh. We hung around town for a few days, resting up and telling our other friends about our adventures. We hung out in the arcade and took on all trainers. Then we decided that we should move on out.

"Our best course of action is to go south from here and head to Fuchsia." I said.

"Why is that?" Andrew asked.

"We don't need to fight anymore weak trainers so we can't go back to Pallet." Alexia said.

"Right. We'll start off here and work our way back around." Ian said.

"Remember that we have to come back for the winter semester of school." Andrew said.

"Don't remind me." I said.

We headed out of town and onto the path to Fuchsia. We worked around to the city and then took a different route. Instead of going to Cinnabar, we headed up a path that went around Saffron and up to Celadon. From Celadon, we took the tunnel back to Lavender. By the time we got to Lavender, it was fall. We went back to school until the winter semester ended. Raichu was okay with it because our school, unlike some others, allows pokemon. The gymnasium was a pokemon stadium before and after school and during lunch. Ian, Andrew, and myself were an unstoppable team. Alexia went to a different school. Once the semester ended we headed back out. We trained some more until the summer time. We had made a pretty good name for ourselves as an unstoppable team. When the tournament was upon us, we signed up our team. We could only use a team of six pokemon each and each team had to have four trainers. I chose raichu, fearow, ivysaur, growlithe, gengar, and wartortle. Andrew chose graveller, charmeleon, pidgeotto, dewgong, gloom, and pinsir. Ian chose blastoise, gengar, ninetales, weepinbell, electabuzz, and pidgeot. Alexia chose raichu, gengar, pidgeotto, starmie, flareon, and wigglytuff. The tournament was held at the Indigo Plateau. They told us that the first challenge for all pokemon teams is to get to the plateau by going through Victory Road. We figured that just going through a road would be pretty easy. We were dead wrong. Victory Road is a large, maze-like cave. Victory Road was built to weed out the weak pokemon trainers. Only the strong get to the plateau, is what they told us. We headed into Victory Road, after proving that we won all eight badges. We expected a dark and dank cave but we were surprised when we saw that it was well lit and very clean. There were lots of wild pokemon. We all went on a catching spree. We went through the cave and fought and beat many trainers. We navigated the cave and we soon found ourselves on an incline. Soon we saw a light up ahead. We pressed on and entered the daylight. We were on a high steppe above the plateau. It was a long way down and the walls were very steep. We looked down at Pokemon League HQ. The building was fairly large and it seemed as though it was carved out of the very wall of the plateau. We saw four people come out of a door nearby and head into the large building. We headed back into the cave and walked around for awhile. After lots of walking and more battles we finally emerged from Victory Road and stood in front of Pokemon League HQ. The building was larger than I thought. There were many statues around. Each statue had a plaque. Each plaque stated "Indigo Plateau : The Final Test For Pokemon Trainers". We entered the building and what we saw astonished us. It was a large pokemon center complete with economy size rejuvenator and poke store. There were a lot of pokemon trainers there already. We were brought to a large room with four beds. We were told to rest up before the tournament which would take place the next morning. Once we got settled into our room we walked around Pokemon League HQ. We were allowed to check out the hall of fame. In the hall of fame were many faces that we knew. We saw Prof. Oak's picture and all of the gym leaders. We even saw some pictures of previous winners of the Super Ball.

"Hopefully, we'll be on that wall." I said.

"That'll be cool!" Andrew said.

"Think we'll be on TV?" Ian asked.

"They broadcast the Super Ball every year. It's a sure bet we'll be on TV." Alexia said.

"Knowing my mom, she'll record it and show it to everyone for years to come." I said.

"Ohhh. There's my little boy in the Super Ball Tournament. I'm sooooo proud of him." Andrews said in a mocking voice of my mom. Ian laughed and I smacked Andrew in the head. We looked around until it got late. We weren't allowed to see the stadium at all. Once we got into our room, we each found a pamphlet on our beds. The pamphlets gave us an outline on how the tournament would commence. There would be several teams. Each team would face off in an elimination match. Whatever team comes out on top is to meet the Elite Four, Pokemon League's most elite team of pokemon masters. To become a master, a pokemon trainer must beat at least one of the Elite Four. The Elite Four battle was never televised. The next morning we were led into the stadium. We were told to pick a team leader. Ian wanted to be the leader as he had been a trainer longer than us but Andrew and Alexia voted for me and so did I. Since majority rules, I was voted the team leader. There were ten teams that year. There were even Team Rocket members fighting to become masters. I was hoping that we wouldn't face Team Rocket but our first battle was with them. An announcer stated the rules of combat.

"This is a team pokemon battle. Each team member will fight a team member from the opposing team. This is NOT a tag team battle! Items are allowed. The Team Rocket motto is NOT allowed." The announcer said. "The team leaders will fight first."

"Well at least we don't have to listen to it this time." Andrew whispered.

The members of Team Rocket weren't happy.

"Alexia, you fight after me. Andrew you're after Alexia, and Ian you're last." I said.

"What? Why am I last?" Ian asked.

"Because you've got more experience than we do. You're pretty much our ace-in-the-hole." I said.

The leader of Team Rocket's team stepped into the ring and produced a pokeball. Raichu stood at ready. The trainer threw the pokeball and a charizard appeared. I suppressed a smile.

"Raichu! Go!" I said.

There was a lot of confused faces in the crowd. I heard a lot of people mumbling questions.

"A raichu against a charizard?"

"Is he throwing the fight?"

"What is he thinking?"

"He should be using a water pokemon!"

"Maybe he knows something we don't?"

The charizard roared.

"Raiiiiichu!"

A referee stepped into the ring. It was an old bald man. I recognized his face. It was Judge Mills Lane!

"Alright! Let's get it on!" Mills Lane said.

The charizard took the initiative and let loose with a flame thrower attack. Raichu barely dodged. Raichu ran in and tried a mega punch at the charizard's stomach. The charizard easily dodged and countered with a slash attack. The attack hit and raichu stumbled back.

"Raichu! Quick attack!" I yelled.

Raichu leapt at the charizard and released a flurry of quick hits at blinding speeds. The charizard roared and followed up with a fire blast. The fire ball was so huge that it seemed that nothing could escape it. Raichu tried to dodge it but got burned. I quickly applied a burn heal potion and raichu perked right up. Raichu was not very happy. He turned to face the charizard and let loose with his thunder attack. The electricity was so powerful that the charizard got hit by the shockwave of the attack before getting hit by the electricity itself. The ring floor beneath the path of the electricity began to give way under the power of the attack. The charizard roared in pain. The sheer power of the attack made the people in the stands shrink back in their seats. Even the referee had to take cover. When the attack hit its target, the charizard, there was a large explosion. The room was filled with smoke and dust for a while. Soon the air conditioners got all the smoke and dust from the air. The charizard was out cold. The referee went over to the charizard and checked it. Then he went over to raichu and lifted on of his arms.

"The winner!" The referee said.

Alexia had to fight the next battle. The Team Rocket member she had to fight released a blastoise. She sent her raichu. Her raichu took the initiative and released a thunder bolt. The attack was super effective and the blastoise fell very quickly. Andrew went into the next battle. The Team Rocket member he had to fight released a hitmonlee. Andrew released graveller. The hitmonlee started off with a mega kick. Graveller shrugged off the attack. The hitmonlee tried a jump kick. Graveller moved out of the way. The hitmonlee kept going and crashed. The hitmonlee recovered quickly and did a rolling kick which knocked graveller over. Graveller wasn't very happy about getting tripped up. The hitmonlee did a quick jump kick which hit graveller hard. Graveller got up on his feet and rushed at the hitmonlee. The hitmonlee tried to do another mega kick, but graveller caught its leg with one arm and with the other three arms, grabbed hitmonlee's arms and legs and lifted hitmonlee in the air. The hitmonlee tried to struggle out of graveller's grip but graveller tightened his grip. Graveller jumped high in the air and threw the hitmonlee hard down to the mat. Then graveller plummeted towards the hitmonlee in a massive body slam attack. The graveller hit with a ground shaking slam which split the ring in half. The graveller got up and stood over the large crack. The referee went to check on the hitmonlee.

"He's out! The winner is graveller!" The referee said.

Ian took the next battle after the ring was repaired. The Team Rocket member he had to fight let out a magmar. Ian let out blastoise and took the magmar out with one water pump attack. We were allowed to rejuvenate our pokemon. We were told that because there were only ten teams, we would have to sit out the second round because we were the tenth team. We would fight a team from the second round to get into the finals. Which we did and we got into the finals. Once we finished off the finals we emerged victorious. The Super Ball was over and we had to face the Elite Four. Once the crowd left it was already late. We went back to our rooms to plan our strategy against the Elite Four. The only information we were given about the Elite Four were their bios and the type of pokemon they use.

"Loreli uses ice type. Alexia you take her on. Andrew, your graveller is pretty strong. You'll take on Bruno. Ian, you're good with ghosts so you take Agatha and I'll take on Lance." I said. We agreed on the plan and went to bed. Once morning came we were led to a special pokemon stadium. Four people stood at the far end of the stadium. A man wearing a cape stepped forth.

"I am Lance, the dragon trainer and the leader of the Elite Four. Who is your leader?" Lance said.

I stepped forth. Raichu stood next to me.

"I am." I said.

"Then we shall battle." Lance said. "Your friends may fight my comrades."

I turned and nodded to my friends. They nodded back. Alexia challenged Loreli. Andrew took on Bruno and Ian attacked Agatha. Lance tossed out a pokeball. Once I saw what pokemon he chose I knew exactly what it was. It was a dratini. The memory of what my dad told me in Prof. Oak's lab came into my head.

"That's a dratini son. No one has ever seen one of those in a long time. If someone were to find it, that person would become a great pokemon master." he had said.

Raichu approached the dratini. The dratini rushed at raichu and tried to wrap its body around raichu, but raichu was too big for the little dratini and the attack failed. Raichu let loose with a thunder bolt attack. The attack hit home and the dratini was knocked back a ways. But the dratini was not about to give up. It charged at raichu and attempted a slam attack. Raichu was quick to dodge and let loose another thunder bolt. The dratini fainted. Lance called back the dratini and released a dragonair. I had never even heard of dragonair so I pulled out Dexter.

"Dragonair. The dragon pokemon. The evolved form of dratini. A mystical pokemon that exudes a gentle aura. Has the ability to change climate conditions." Dexter said.

Raichu and the dragonair went at it. The dragonair moved around quickly. It began to glow and soon the room got cold and dry. Raichu tried an electric attack. The attack hit the dragonair but did little damage.

"Hah! Dragonair has crippled your raichu's electric power!" Lance said.

"Raichu! Remember the technical machine we used!" I said.

Raichu nodded at me and turned to the dragonair. Raichu began to gather energy. The dragonair slammed into raichu. Raichu quickly got back on his feet. The dragonair wrapped itself around raichu and began to squeeze. Raichu was able to survive the squeeze. Raichu jumped back, took careful aim and let loose with a beam of pure energy at the dragonair. The dragonair was caught totally off guard and got blasted. The dragonair fainted.

"Huh? That was hyper beam! How does a raichu learn a dragon's attack!?" Lance asked.

"I found a TM that teaches hyper beam!" I said. The room warmed up and the humidity returned to the air. Lance tossed another pokeball and a large dragon pokemon materialized. I pulled out Dexter.

"Dragonite. The dragon pokemon. The final evolution of dratini. An extremely rarely seen marine pokemon. Its intelligence is said to match that of humans." Dexter said.

The dragonite rushed at raichu and hit him with a full force slam attack. Raichu wasn't ready and was knocked back a ways. It took a moment for raichu to get on his feet. It was a moment too long and the dragonite slammed raichu again. Raichu was getting pummeled.

"Raichu! Quick attack!" I yelled.

Raichu jumped to his feet and went into a fury of quick hits on the dragonite. The dragonite tried to counter some of the hits but its efforts were useless. Raichu was just too fast. When raichu finished his quick attack he jumped back and released a thunder bolt. The attack hit home and the dragonite roared in pain. But the dragonite wasn't finished yet! The dragonite let loose with a several large pillars of flame. I pulled out Dexter for an explanation.

"Dragonite's attacks. Dragon Rage. This dragon attack hits repeatedly with a dragon's natural flames. Other dragons such as dratini and gyrados know this attack." Dexter said.

Raichu could not escape the onslaught of flames. When the flames died down, raichu was laying on the ground. I thought he had fainted but he slowly picked himself up.

"I have to admit, that is one strong pokemon. Foolish, but strong." Lance said.

Raichu got to his feet and got hit by another slam from dragonite. Raichu quickly got to his feet and began to charge his electricity. The dragonite tried for another slam, but raichu dodged. The dragonite tried for a wrap attack, but raichu slipped away. The dragonite let loose with a thunder wave attack. The attack hit raichu, but raichu absorbed the electricity. The dragonite was surprised at that and hesitated. Raichu then chose that moment to let loose with an electric attack that I mistook for thunder. A humongous bolt of electricity, much larger than any electric bolt he had ever conjured up, came from raichu and, in one swift motion, slammed into the dragonite. The attack lasted longer than any electric attack raichu had ever done. I pulled out dexter for an explanation.

"Raichu's attacks. Gigashock. This attack has the power of two simultaneous thunder attacks. The voltage in this attack alone could power all of North America for a year. Only the pokemon raichu knows this attack." Dexter said.

When the attack subsided the dragonite had fainted. No one spoke for a while. The sheer power of raichu's attack had put everyone in awe. I surprised to see that raichu was still standing. Usually he gets pretty weak after a large attack like that. Alexia had finished up with Loreli earlier on. Andrew won just before raichu's gigashock. Ian won after Alexia won.

"Wouldn't that have been cool to televise." Andrew said.

The Master's Ceremony was long. Everyone had been invited. The procession was televised as it had been every year. We were all given special badges. The badge looked like a black pokeball with a large red letter M on it. These were the Master's Badges. We had become official Pokemon League Pokemon Masters. We went back to Lavender to rest up. I decided not to quit training. I knew that I just had to catch them all. So did Alexia. We went back to Pallet Town to start from the beginning so we could catch them all. Andrew and Ian decided to stay home and monopolize the arcade. But the story doesn't end here. Alexia and I had many more adventures. And all of them will be told in the due course of time.

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