Chapter 52:  First Fights (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

“... And Tetsubo’s Magmar falls head over heels to the arena floor, now he has 
no choice but to bring his Starmie back into the battle or forfeit the match.” 
shouted out a commentator.  
“I can’t believe I’ve come this far, just to fail.” I groaned.  
“You’re nothing Capture, Nothing!” gloated Bryan darkly, before outstretching a 
hand for his Arcanine to attack.  
Twinkill was blasted, and tried ever so hard to stand, but couldn’t pick itself 
up.  
“And the victory goes to the Red Trainer, Bryan.”  
A roar of cheers went up, and I fell to the ground in disbelief, “But its not 
fair, his Pokémon...  They’ve been enhanced through drugs...”  
“Forget it Capture, you can’t prove a thing, for all the training you’ve done, 
its all been for nothing, I have wiped the floor with you every time! And you 
will be remembered as a loser for the rest of your life.  Your friends will 
remember, your family will remember, and perhaps if you have any, your 
offspring will remember.  You’re a loser...  Loser...  Loser...”  

I shouted out as I jumped out of my nightmare and back into reality.  
“No! I’m not!”  
“Fine, you don’t have to shout, I’ll get breakfast alone then.” said Scott 
leaving our room frowning.  
“Huh?” I questioned, before realising that he must have thought I was awake and 
asked if I was hungry, Chad was snoring away on the bunk below me.  
Emily and Abby had decided to share a room despite their occasional dislike for 
each other.  
I breathed in and out for a little while, the first match of the Kanto League 
had yet to begin, but that nightmare had left me in a state of panic.  

Shortly after I’d dressed and cleaned myself up, and was soon wandering around 
Pokémon Village, a place in which all participants (and usually friends and 
family) could stay, eat, rest and generally hang out between matches.  
Most trainers were rushing around to get registered, but me and some of the 
other guys had wisely done that last night.  
The trainers were all counted up and their matches sorted out last night, but 
they still had to register between then and this morning.  
My first match was not too far away, in a couple of hours in fact.  
I wandered around the nearby restaurants and cafes, greeting some people I’d 
met in the past occasionally, until I found Scott.  
“So, you decided to join me after all...” he said in his calm manner.  
“I wasn’t trying to be rude, I was actually having a nightmare.”  
A waitress came over and I ordered a small breakfast before returning to 
Scott.  
“That’s not a good sign...  Tetsubo, I actually wanted to tell you something, 
well, actually Abby wanted me to.  About myself really.”  
“I’m all ears, If you’re going to tell me what I think you are, hopefully it 
will explain why you ran off with my nugget back in Delft Town.”  
“I flew actually, but anyway, you remember Casey?”  
“I heard you talk about her, but I didn’t hear anything relevant to who she 
is.”  
“She’s my sister, almost a year ago, I had a row with my parents, and as a 
result, they got into an accident, and died, only Casey survived.”  
“You talk as if you’re to blame directly, Scott, you’re not, are you?”  
“Of course not... but I do tend to blame myself.  As you have no doubt figured 
out just now, the reason why I battle for money is because of Casey...  She’s 
in need of a special operation, if I can’t get the money, she’ll surely 
die...”  
“Scott...  I had no idea, and here’s me calling you a thief when you’ve got 
such a good cause.  I’m sorry I snapped at you, you can keep that nugget, it 
wasn’t that important to me anyway.”  
“Tetsubo, what would you do if you won the Pokémon League?”  
Before I could answer, and probably for the best, we were interrupted by Carrie 
and Eve.  
“Hi Tetsubo.  Its been a while.”  
“Carrie, hi, its good to see you two again.”  
“I can’t stay long, I have a match to get to, but we should hang out.”  
“We should.”  
She quickly took out a scrap of paper and wrote down some details, “This is 
where I’m staying, once you’re done with your first round, swing by.”  
“I’ll try, but what if either of us doesn’t make it past the first round?”  
“I know you and myself better than that, we’ll see each other again before this 
tournament is over, and we’ll both be competing at that time.”  
“Who’s your friend, Mister? I was starting to think you only hung out with 
girls.” asked Eve.  
“Carrie, Eve, this is Scott.” I introduced.  
Scott stood up and walked straight to Carrie to shake hands.  
“Hi Scott.” said Carrie politely, “Are you competing too?”  
“That I am.  Looking forward to your first round?”  
“Um, I suppose...  Listen, I wouldn’t mind meeting up with all of Tetsubo’s 
friends, since its just me and Sis here in the village, so come along with him 
if you’re not busy.”  
“I might just do that...”  
“Will Trainers Carrie Summers and Ruth Ferris please report to the Grass Field, 
your match is due to begin in five minutes.” said a female voice on the 
intercom that echoed around the whole village.  
“Oh shoot, I’d better go, I’ll see you soon Tetsubo, and it was nice to meet 
you Scott...” said Carrie, darting off, followed by her sister.  
“Shouldn’t you try to get a seat?” asked Scott.  
“I would, but I need to check into a Pokémon Centre and choose a team to battle 
on the Water Field.  Right after breakfast.”  
“Okay then, well, I’m done here so I’ll catch you back at the hotel later on.”  
“Sure thing.” I said, gazing at Scott as he hurried towards the Grass Field 
arena, I think he had developed a crush on the lovely Carrie...  

In the Pokémon Centre, I had gathered a rounded team that could handle the 
water, but I had to lower it down to three Pokémon.  
In the four preliminary matches on the Water, Ice, Rock and Grass Fields (not 
in that order exactly as it was randomised), trainers could only use and carry 
with them three Pokémon, I’d probably have dreamed of which three if not for 
the nightmares.  
I closed my eyes to think, but was forced to open them as a familiar voice was 
heard.  
“How’s it going Bro’?” asked Cody.  
“Cody, you made it.” I exclaimed, getting up and giving him a brotherly hug, 
but in the process noticing two people with him.  
“Larry? Lorraine? What are you two doing here?” I questioned to the two, both 
dressed in casual clothing and without anything that branded them as Rockets.  
“Competing.  You Capture brothers are great for believing in us, after you set 
us on the right path, Cody helped us out against some Rockets, and helped us 
along with collecting Gym Badges.” smiled Lorraine.  
“We’re ready to compete against you in a legitimate battle.” grinned Larry 
pleasantly.  
“If we get put against each other.” I amended.  
“Well, I’ll look up your hotel and we’ll meet up soon.” said Cody, leading his 
new friends to the reception desk.  
I turned back to the Pokéballs and separated them, “Okay, I’ve decided...”  

Earlier on, Carrie’s Nidoqueen charged forward and slammed into its opponent, a 
Kangaskhan, ending the match.  
“And the Red Trainer Carrie’s Pokémon performs a stunning Tackle attack and 
gives her the win! What an impressive first battle for this young starlet of a 
trainer, I’m sure she’ll give everyone a good show in her next battle!...”  
“I’m sure she will...” smiled Scott, having watched the whole fight, “Beautiful 
And talented...”  
As Carrie turned constantly to view the crowd cheering loudly, she noticed 
Scott, and wondered why he was here, Scott ventured another gaze but was 
noticed by Carrie, and hastily turned away and headed for the exit...  

Rick, the mysterious trainer in red, and my new rival, made his way towards his 
first battle, but he noticed his old friend, to me she was the violet clothed 
trainer that was an ex-Rocket, to Rick, she was Veronica, his childhood friend 
who had rediscovered Rick under tragic circumstances.  
He was about to call out to her, but he was interrupted by a female voice, 
“Could Trainer Ricky Zane and Katie Sweep please report to the Grass Field, 
your match is due to begin.”  
“Is it that time already?” Rick questioned, “And why is the name Katie Sweep so 
familiar?...”  
Rick remembered the time he returned to his home, Saffron City, and while in 
the Pokémon Centre, this Katie and two others, Kara and Bentley if he recalled 
correctly, were very overconfident in their ability to win the Fighting 
Championship, and all were pretty foul towards him.  
“I guess I’ll get to prove myself to Miss Sweep.” smiled Rick...  

Shortly after that, I’d left the Pokémon Centre and headed towards the Water 
Field.  
On the way, I noticed many screens showing matches currently in action, a 
Poliwrath was beating back a Pikachu harshly on the Water Field.  
On the Grass Field, Rick’s Victreebel was up against a Rapidash that had just 
forced him to recall his Dodrio, a bad line-up I thought, but at the last 
moment, it unleashed its Vine Whip and tightened around all four legs, causing 
it to fall awkwardly, the Victreebel then poured Poison Powder over its fiery 
opponent, and it looked hopeful for my good rival.  
On the Rock Field, a Dragonite hovered over it, awaiting a Golem that shot 
upwards and hit it in the back, probably Scott’s Dragonite by the looks of 
things, and on the Ice Field, I could see Cody’s face, preparing to battle, and 
his opponent, Ryan, the young kid me and Emily had escorted through Route 9, I 
wished I could watch, but my match was due to begin soon and I didn’t want to 
leave getting there until the last moment, so I wished Cody good luck silently, 
and hurried onwards.  

I arrived at the Water Field through the trainers’ entrance, entered a room to 
store belongings and unused Pokéballs in a locker, and then back to the 
reception desk and remained there until my battle was called for.  
I turned my head up to the massive TV screens, and watched the match that was 
currently going on.  
It was in the Water Field, and a trainer had unwisely used a Raticate to face 
off against a Poliwrath, who blasted it with a Water Gun, it fell off the flat 
ice disc platform and couldn’t fight in the water, it could barely swim.  
“And that’s it folks, Kit’s last Pokémon is unable to battle and the Red 
Trainer Lion takes his first victory without switching Pokémon!”  
“Lion?” I asked, “What an odd codename...”  
The camera first turned to Kit, a boy I’d once seen beaten by Scott, and then 
to the Red Trainer Lion, or more accurately, Bryan.  
He’d obviously been using a codename along with that mask of his to prevent 
people from seeing his face and finding him out.  
It wasn’t against the rules, some people simply needed to escape their old 
lives by using codenames, others didn’t want to be seen competing for various 
reasons, mainly family disputes.  
I remember five years ago when a trainer called Discord won the Pokémon League, 
but wore a green hood throughout so that no one saw her face.  
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I scowled, “I wish I could’ve gone to my battle 
without seeing him.”  
During my rant, Bryan had spoken to some reporters and exited the arena, and 
appeared at the other side of the room I was in.  
“Will Trainers George Derby and Tetsubo Capture now head for the stadium.” 
called the receptionist, the message was only heard here since the both of us 
had made it known we’d arrived early.  
I didn’t check on my opponent, as I had to walk past Bryan and that ridiculous 
metal mask with a tiger’s head stripes painted on it.  
“Don’t say a word Bryan, I’m not in the mood.”  
“You’re fighting now? Maybe I should get a seat so I can ‘cheer you on’.” he 
said sarcastically.  
“I don’t need this...” I said, walking forward, quivering through a little 
fear.  
“I wanted to face you, but it looks like I won’t get that wish, you’re scared 
of your first match! Hah! You’re more pathetic than I thought...  I’ll be 
watching your match Capture, so either shape up or ship out, the Pokémon League 
has no room for scared weaklings...”  
I frowned, and really felt like striking a blow, even if Bryan would probably 
block it, I managed to resist, and walked forward, but my anxieties were at an 
all-time high.  
I walked down the halls, and stopped, I could hear the crowds screaming out 
already, but for who? I’d made an impact on some people’s lives, but most 
probably no one in the crowd.  
What they thought of me would be decided in this opening battle, and that made 
me nervous.  
It was bad enough that I didn’t much like large audiences, but Bryan had made 
that fear twice as bad with his comments, a little voice inside me reminded me 
that if I progressed through this tournament, I’d have to face Bryan, the one 
with the enhanced Pokémon that I’d never truly beaten...  
I had to stop in the long hallway leading to the field, and I released 
Twinkill.  
“Star...” it said in its new wisp-like voice.  
“Twinkill, I’m really scared, Bryan is participating in the tournament, and he 
intends to humiliate me in front of the world.”  
“Starmie...” said Twinkill comfortingly.  
“You’re not afraid, are you? You represent my best qualities...  And neither 
should I.  Twinkill, do you think, if we tried really hard, we could beat 
Bryan?”  
“Star.” it said decisively.  
“Thank you Twinkill, you’ve just helped raise my morale when I really needed 
it, Return, but I’ll be calling you out real soon...”  
I recalled Twinkill, and raced to the arena, feeling better about the battle, 
even if I wasn’t one hundred percent in terms of confidence...  

The trainer podiums rose up as the commentator yelled out to the crowd, “And 
now our next battle, two trainers participating for the first time, the Red 
Trainer George Derby from Cinnabar Island, and the Green Trainer Tetsubo 
Capture from Fuchsia City.  George looks as though he has the advantage being a 
fisherman, but perhaps newbie Tetsubo will surprise the crowd despite his 
obvious stage fright.”  
I nearly fell in disbelief, was it that obvious I was nervous?  
“Let the match begin!”  
“Hey there Kiddo.” said George, the first person I’d battled and won against 
some time ago, he was dressed up in a thick chequered jacket and wore a large 
fisherman’s hat like before, “Its been a long time, show me how well you’ve 
progressed as a trainer...”  
With that, his Pokéball dropped into the water, and returned to him, while I 
threw out Scramble’s Pokéball on one of the five ice platforms for it to 
appear.  
Moments later, a Seaking dived out of the water and dropped back in, this was 
the same line-up as before, only both Pokémon were now evolved.  

The Seaking immediately entered its Agility technique and was quickly leaping 
from one side of the ice, trying to hit Scramble with its spinning horn, and 
then landing on the other side, continuously, from different places, and all a 
deadly hit should any of them contact Scramble.  
Scramble was nervously hopping around to avoid the Seaking, but its weight and 
unsturdiness made the possibility of it falling in highly likely.  
“And George starts out strong, keeping this Grass-type on its toes, perhaps off 
its toes soon.” said the commentator, it was really distracting so I tried to 
block it out.  
“We have to stop this before Scramble takes the plunge, use Psychic attack!”  
“Tor!” it wailed, and the Seaking froze, but thrashed around and broke the 
hold, this was a lot harder than the first time these two Pokémon tangled with 
each other.  
Horns suddenly blasted out of the water, hitting Scramble and making it stumble 
about.  
“Scramble! We have to keep it out of the water! Use Barrage!”  
Several projectiles popped out of the Exeggutor and blew up areas in the water 
like mines, and soon enough we could see the Seaking trying to navigate around 
them.  
“Scramble! To your left! Egg Bomb!”  
The glowing egg hit the water just ahead of the Seaking and sent it spinning 
into the air.  
“Scramble-”  
I was about to utter “Solar Beam.” but it was already underway, I’d heard a 
rumour that Psychic Pokémon could form a link with their trainers if they were 
close enough, maybe that was the case here.  
Before the Seaking could drop back in, it was lifted by the bright beam and 
hurtled high into the air, the sunlight making it unclear just how high.  
It came back down, but its horn pointed straight down, and it was able to deal 
a huge hit with its Peck attack as it landed on Scramble, it braced the pain, 
swung its heads back as it twisted its body, and threw it forward to ram its 
heads at the Seaking with its Double Edge attack.  
It dropped into the water and floated there weakly.  
“A stunning victory for Tetsubo, but George looks confident.” said the 
commentator, having just narrated the whole battle to the audience.  
“I’d better call you back Scramble.” I said, recalling it and throwing the 
second Pokéball to match George’s one’s speed.  
“Star!”  
“Gaaaaarrr!!!” screamed our next opponent.  
“Remember this Pokémon? Probably not.” grinned George, to him this seemed like 
a game, while I had treated it like a test, maybe I shouldn’t have taken it so 
seriously in order to focus better.  
The Gyarados immediately began with a Dragon Rage attack, but Twinkill leapt 
forward and circled around the blue fiery ray and tackled its large opponent, 
while two platforms behind it shattered due to the harsh breath, I’d have to 
stop that or my third Pokémon might be hindered.  
The Gyarados slammed its teeth down hard and held Twinkill in its jaws, 
cracking its gem, but the next attack was more effective as a result of the 
close range.  
“Thunderbolt!”  
Twinkill’s sparks forced the Gyarados back, and then it spun itself to generate 
a huge blast of electricity.  
“Leer.” I heard George say.  
“Light Screen!”  
The shimmering barrier that rose in front of Twinkill blocked off the 
Gyarados’s scary eyes, as soon as it lowered and vanished, an Ice Beam was 
unleashed, and cold ice started to freeze the Gyarados from bottom to top, but 
it thrashed around and shattered it, sending the shards at Twinkill.  
I saw the next attack coming and it would turn the match around if I let it, 
Twinkill needed orders as it couldn’t see past the glittering ice flying at 
it.  
“Confuse Ray!”  
A rainbow beam was fired and hit the Gyarados in the eyes just as it was done 
charging its golden energy, its eyes turned to spirals and it fell back, the 
Hyper Beam shooting directly into the air and fading.  
The opponent now panted and stood there tired, so Twinkill slammed into it with 
Double Edge and followed up with Thunderbolt.  
As the Gyarados plunged into the water, a roar of cheers went up, and I could 
hear my name called out by people I’d never met, and surely the same was 
occurring with people who couldn’t be here (like my folks) but I knew they were 
watching me on TV.  
I’d won the crowd’s respect, and it really cleared away my anxieties, my 
confidence had returned to me.  
“Heh, you’ve really grown as a trainer Kid, but this Pokémon is a rare one.”  
“Bring it on!” I called out with a smile on my face.  
“Mie!” added Twinkill.  
“I choose Omastar!”  
“STAR!” it roared out.  
“And now its the battle of the stars!” called out the commentator, “Tetsubo 
seems to have regained his confidence, and gained the respect of the audience, 
but will it be enough against this rare Pokémon?”  
“Twinkill! Thunderbolt!”  
As the crackling electricity shot forward, the Omastar dived, I’d battled an 
Omastar once, but not in water, and this one was fast, as it quickly positioned 
underneath Twinkill to fire many of its spikes upwards.  
Twinkill was bombarded, and spun randomly to avoid them but the opponent didn’t 
let up, Twinkill landed on one of the two remaining platforms but it was nailed 
down many times and the whole thing shattered.  
“Twinkill, fight in the water! You know what to do!”  
Twinkill dived in and started to spin, the sparks already showing, but the 
Omastar shot at it and Twinkill was bitten for the second time this match, and 
then tangled by Omastar’s tentacles.  
“Twinkill!” I cried out.  
Both Pokémon flew out of the water and skidded across an ice platform, with 
Twinkill at the bottom.  
“Hydro Pump!” I shouted.  
Five of the star points pointed forward and blasted away the Omastar, Twinkill 
tried another Thunderbolt, but the Omastar withdrew into its shell and 
propelled itself to the side by using Water Gun.  
It slammed down on the ice platform and shattered it, but Twinkill wasn’t 
there, I had recalled it.  
“Sorry Twinkill, but I know when we’re beat, Scramble, let’s try again, Rock 
and Water-types are weak against Grass.”  
“Ex-eggutor!” said Scramble, appearing on the last platform.  
“And Tetsubo’s Exeggutor returns to the battle, but now there’s only one place 
it can fight.”  
“He’s right.” I sighed, “We lose this platform, and my team will be hindered.  
Scramble, try your Mega Drain!”  
The sphere shot forward, but the Omastar was able to spin around it and land in 
front of Scramble, then its eyes glowed white to scare it.  
“Hypnosis!”  
Scramble was braver now, George probably didn’t realise that, but his Omastar 
was smart, as the waves of psychic energy lulled it to sleep, it flipped itself 
back to land in the water, which awakened it.  
We were back to the first problem, as I couldn’t see the enemy now, not until a 
Water Gun sprayed at the opposite end of the arena.  
“Use Barrage wherever you see the jets!” I called.  
Another jet fired closer to us, but the pattern after that was random, and 
blasting each area proved useless.  
Before we even covered all the jets, the Omastar shot out of the water from 
behind and slammed into Scramble with its horn, forcing the heavy Pokémon to 
stumble forward and splash down in the water.  
I immediately recalled it and drew out my unused Pokémon.  
“Its not looking good for the crowd favourite now, as he’s down to one Pokémon 
at full strength and one platform, and this Omastar is a strong battler.”  
“I know...” I groaned, “But they’re no longer suited to this battle, go get ‘em 
Shockwave.”  
“Bllllabuzzz!!!” he growled, before noticing the audience and its opponent, who 
showed no mercy and spun forward to collide with my faithful Electabuzz.  
He growled, held onto the fossil Pokémon while grounding its feet, and then 
pulled back one fist, charged it with electricity, and punched forward.  
The Omastar went flying back but fired off more spikes which grazed Shockwave 
all over.  
The Omastar returned to the ice platform, aware that by breaking it, Shockwave 
would be hindered.  
It first leered at him, but he leered back, and I could just about recognise a 
confident grin on his face.  
His fist was clenched and his stance was shifting slowly until he was aiming 
down.  
“I hope you know what you’re doing Shockwave, Mega Punch!”  
The punch didn’t shatter the whole island, but a tremor cut through the centre, 
surprising the Omastar which dropped.  
Shockwave was living up to his name, he leaped aside to a floating piece of ice 
from another island, but his weight on the two halves of the present platform 
just before he jumped tipped them over inwards, wedging the Omastar between 
them.  
“Alright!” I shouted, “Now go for the Seismic Toss and Thunder!”  
Shockwave leapt onto one of the pieces trapping the opponent and flung the 
Omastar upwards with one arm, before calling upon the storm clouds to blast 
down their wrath.  
The electricity that would have hit Shockwave to charge the attack instead 
blasted the opponent and dealt it double the normal damage of a Thunder 
attack.  
Finally, the Omastar dropped into the pool and gave off a weary “Star...”  
A roar of cheers among the whole arena went up and its hard to describe how 
good I felt from it.  
“A stunning and tactical finish to this impressive battle! The Green Trainer 
Tetsubo wins the match without any of his Pokémon fainting!”  
“Yahoo!!!” I shouted out.  
“Hey kid.” called George, “Great match, I’m glad I got to face you again.”  
“Thank you.” I replied, recalling Shockwave and turning to leave the arena, 
unable to hide my joy.  

End of Chapter 52A  

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Chapter 52B
Back to Story List #41 - #60
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