That tournament aboard the S.S. Anne went well into the evening and I remained undefeated. Between matches, I wandered the promenade deck sizing up the competition. The entire ship was buzzing about a rising star trainer aboard the ship. He was competing in a higher bracket than mine, so we wouldn't face each other here, but I really wanted to see one of his matches. Unfortunately, we never crossed paths but I would be on the lookout for this trainer named Red. It wasn't terribly surprising when I stumbled into Wolf. I assumed he wouldn't miss a chance to show off for a crowd of Pokémon enthusiasts. I caught sight of him just as he was soundly defeating an opponent in a few decisive seconds after the match had started. I quickly checked to see which bracket he was in because I relished the idea of soundly defeating him in front of spectators. And as luck would have it, the next time I trounced Wolf would be in front of a live audience.
When our numbers were finally called, Wolf was calm and collected as he stood across from me. We both had the confidence of a trainer who hadn't lost a single point yet. We exchanged casual, semi-friendly greetings and then chose our first Pokémon to battle. I opened with Douglas and he opened with his Pidgeotto. It was a predictable move. My tiny, ground-type Pokémon was at a disadvantage, but Douglas needed the training and I was over-confident. I let Douglas intimidate his opponent with fierce growls, but as soon as Pidgeotto landed a small hit, I withdrew Douglas and tossed out my own Pidgeotto, Kiwi.
"We've done this dance before," Wolf said across the arena.
"How did that work out for you?" I said with a sneer. Kiwi began kicking up dust and dirt. It was our traditional opening move, but it was much harder to pull off on a freshly swabbed deck. As Kiwi continued to harass the accuracy of his opponent, he took quite a few hits from Wolf's Pidgeotto. Restorative items were not prohibited in the tournament, so a Super Potion ensured Kiwi would be able to stay in the fight. Wolf looked annoyed, but he made no objection. As his Pidgeotto continued to flounder and land only the luckiest and lightest of attacks on Kiwi, Kiwi was able to swiftly put an end to Wolf's Pidgeotto. The crowd cheered.
Wolf tossed out his Raticate and I withdrew Kiwi and replaced him with Lucky who hadn't seen much action aboard the S.S. Anne. The Raticate was naturally faster and landed some quick attacks on Lucky. When it moved in close, Lucky showered the Raticate with a comforting sleep powder from its wings and it was lulled into a deep sleep. Lucky took a second point from Wolf when he used a psychic assault to knock out the Raticate without ever waking it up. The crowd was slightly less impressed with this boring victory, but Wolf was frowning. That was just as good for my morale as a cheering crowd.
Wolf called out Kadabra next. We were both underwhelmed by Abra's performance in our last match, so I had no doubt that Wolf had been training him into an impressive Kadabra since we last battled. I didn't quite know what to expect from this creature, so I went with my current powerhouse, Rascal Jr. A solid hyper fang instantly downed the Kadabra and all my worries instantly disappeared. The crowd went wild at this turn of events as Kadabra was apparently the star member of Wolf's team today.
I knew what was next and I knew how to handle it. I knew the crowd was more excited by tremendously powerful, fast-paced biting Raticates, but I was here to win. Wolf tossed out a Pokéball that released his Wartortle into the arena. I withdrew Rascal Jr. and brought out Arnold. He took a solid headbutt from the Wartortle, but managed to burst a puff of sleep spores into its face. Then Arnold proceeded to absorb Wartortle's energy, replenishing its own, until Wartortle was forced to submit.
Wolf actually looked impressed. "Well, I made it this far undefeated. I thought I had a chance this time. I guess you're still one step ahead of me," he said casually. He crossed the arena and extended a hand toward me. I felt a sneer crawl across my face as I took his hand and shook it in front of the cheering crowd. "You're still too serious, man," he laughed, cocking his head at me. "But I guess your seriousness is paying off. Until next time, Fox." Wolf waved one last time to the crowd overhead and then disappeared into the crowd around us.
After my very public victory over Wolf, I felt like I was living in a dream. Since knocking him down a few pegs, I was leading the tournament at our amateur level. It felt incredible. I battled well into the night and maintained my undefeated status. The talk of Red faded away and now there was a buzz around the young out-of-towner named Fox! Basking in these successes, I felt a deeper connection to the world of Pokémon training and competitive battling. The pride I felt I shared with my Pokémon and in return they fought harder for me.
Unfortunately, this euphoria was not going to last the night. My final match aboard the S.S. Anne was against a member of the crew. He was just a few points behind me, meaning he'd only let two of his team faint throughout the day. I knew the risks using Douglas against a sailor, but so far Douglas had grown considerably stronger and faster with our in-and-out techniques to get potshots on our opponents. This time, however, the sailor opened with a Machop. This small fighting-type Pokémon was not the typical water-type that sailors usually carried around. It should have been no problem for Douglas to get in a quick hit and then rest, but Machop was not fooling around. A critical Karate Chop came down on Douglas's head and Douglas was completely done.
As good as I had been feeling all day was instantly shattered. I had only known Douglas for 24-hours but he was going to be my ace in the hole against Lt.Surge tomorrow. I'd been meticulously training him and keeping him going all day and now in the final showdown it was all over, all for nothing. It felt like that critical chop went straight to my heart. Kiwi easily took care of the rest of the sailor's Pokémon - and I went on to win this level of the tournament. I graciously accepted access to the Hidden Machine which taught Arnold how to slice through excessive overgrowth, but inside I was deeply wounded that I had failed yet another Pokémon.
Current Team:Attacks in Blue are recently learned.
Bill's Storage: Shakespear (Spearow) & Royal (Magikarp)
Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)
