#writewrites

Achievement City Finals

“Mommy, Daddy, come quick! The tournament’s on!” The child squealed, running from the dining table to the living room as his parents trailed behind, content to walk instead of run. She quickly turned the television and practically leapt onto the couch, her mother behind her with a glass of hot cocoa for her daughter and a glass of wine for herself. The father follows suit, relaxing into his armchair with a beer and a content grin. The television hummed as it tuned into the correct channel, to the sight of a massive stadium filled with countless roaring fans.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, welcome to the Achievement City Pokémon League Finals! I’m your host Geoff Ramsey, and with me is my co-host and good friend Jack Pattillo! Jack, how are you doing today?” Geoff asks, looking over at Jack.

“Well Geoff, I’m doing fantastic. I’ve been looking forward to this round since the tournament started. But before we begin the final match, let’s go over a brief summary of this year’s finalists and their tournament matches!” Jack replied, his voice booming through the microphone.

The crowd looks up at the massive Jumbotrons as they roar to life, cycling through past images. “Our first finalist is Michael Jones! Jones comes from Pallet Town where he received a Charmander from Professor Oak. Jones proceeded to travel all over, capturing many Pokémon. In his first match he won a fierce battle against Fight King Jeremy Dooley! Dooley put up a fierce fight with his fighting type Pokémon, even displaying access to the powerful Mega Evolution though his Lucario! But Jones prevailed thanks to his Charizard and it’s own ability to Mega Evolve! Let’s watch a clip of that spectacular battle!”  Geoff finishes, pressing a button on his console, signaling for the broadcast crew to play the final sequence.

“Lucario, use Aura Sphere!” Jeremy shouts, as his Lucario collects energy in it’s hands before launching it at Michael’s Charizard.

“Charry, deflect it with Dragon Claw!” Michael yells. Charry, in it’s Charizard X forme, nods and roars as its hand is engulfed in a claw-shaped field of green energy. It slashes at the orb, using the momentum to spin around and launch it back at Lucario, sending it flying away, knocking it out.

The referee holds up the red flag, signalling Michael as the winner of the round. “What an inventive attack!” Jack comments. “I never would have thought to use Dragon Claw like a ping-pong paddle. But that wasn’t Jones’ only win. He proceeded to beat crowd favorite, Hex Queen Mica Burton in a fierce battle, using his Charizard once again to defeat her Togekiss! Let’s watch.”

“Togekiss, use Dazzling Gleam!” Mica commanded a fierce aura around her. Her Togekiss soared into the air, before firing a shining pink beam from it’s mouth.

Michael sneered. “Charry, use Steel Wing and knock it down!” Charry once again roared as it soared into the air, barely dodging the beam and striking Togekiss directly with it’s wing, sending Togekiss spiraling towards the ground. It attempted to stand but let out a soft trill and collapsed.

“Now Michael has made it to the finals, ready to face off against our other finalist. Let’s now take the time to review his record.” Jack said, nodding at Geoff to signal the second reel.

“Our other finalist hails from parts unknown, armed with Pokémon rarely seen by, well, anyone! This humble trainer dominated his placement matches without using more than a single Pokémon, a trend that continued throughout the quarter- and semifinals! What an astounding feat.” Jack said.

“I’ll tell ya Jack I’ve seen a lot of tournaments and this guy takes the freaking cake. You know Jack his fans call him the Mad King, because of his power and that ominous persona he has when he battles. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s review the Mad King Ryan Haywood!” Geoff says.

“His first match was against another Kanto native, Gavin Free. Free’s wild and at times absurd battle strategy gave his previous opponents a difficult time, but Ryan didn’t even flinch in the face of it, destroying Free’s Blastoise in a single shot! It ended in an instant, and we don’t have any footage of the fight! How disappointing.” Jack follows up. “We do, however, have footage of Haywood battling Free’s long time partner, the Beauty Queen Meg Turney. Let’s observe Haywood overcoming her beautiful team, despite a double type disadvantage!”

“Sylveon, Hyper Voice!” Meg commanded, being sure to strike a cute pose for the camera. Sylveon chirped and began singing, letting out a series of powerful sonic waves.

“Komoo-o, neutralize it and use Poison Jab.” Ryan calmly orders, his Komoo-o snarling in agreement as it begins clanging it’s scales together and creating powerful sonic waves of its own, countering Sylveon’s. Komoo-o walks forward, its fist glowing a sickly purple color and upon reaching Sylveon slams its fist down, creating a massive crater and knocking Sylveon out. Meg falls to her knees and begins to pout, until Ryan comes over and offers her a handshake for a glorious battle, a soft smile upon his face.

“Now that was an upset, Jack. Who’d have expected a dragon/fighting type to beat a fairy type ever? But who cares, let’s begin the 6v6 Achievement City Pokémon League Finals!”

As Geoff finishes his statement, the doors on the ends of the stadium open and the two trainers step out. Michael, resplendent in his standard gear of a simple t-shirt and pants, looks every bit the young, vibrant, trainer he is. He stares across, squinting at Ryan who is adorned with the far more unique attire of a dark long coat, a tight black shirt, and for some reason, a plaid kilt. Both nodded, ready to dispense with pleasantries and begin the battle.

The second the starting bell is heard, hey whip out their Pokéballs and toss them at the arena.

“Go, Beery!” Michael yells, releasing his Bewear from it’s Pokéball

“Komoo-o, take the field!” Ryan says, his eyes narrowing as he sizes up Michael’s Pokémon.

“Beery, use Brutal Swing!” Michael orders, Beery’s arm glows a with a dark light as he sweeps his arm across, smashing the arena with a wave of dark energy.

“Komoo-o, Leap over it and use Sky Uppercut.” Ryan says calmly, his eyes focusing on the energy wave. “Now!” He shouts as Komoo-o leaps forward, over the wave and lands under Beery, his fist glowing white.

But before the attack connect, a large energy wave appears and surrounds them, trapping them within.

The stadium quiets with shock as they hear the roar of helicopters, each armed with massive cannons. “Sucks to suck Achievement Shitty!” A voice says over a loudspeaker. A man’s face appears on the Jumbotron. “You all know who I am, but for those who don’t I’m Don Bruce, leader of Team Funhaus! We saw your tournament battles and we’re here for your Pokémon!”

As he finishes this statement, the cannons on the helicopters fire energy rays at the stadium, pulling all the Pokéballs off trainer’s belts and pulling them in. Michael and Ryan managed to dodge the blasts, securing their Pokéballs.

“Hey Ryan, maybe we should team up to take down Team Funhaus, yeah?” Michael says, a fire burning in his eyes.

Ryan nods. “It’s quite rude to disrupt a tournament battle, you know.” He replies, pulling another Pokéball off his belt.

Michael tosses all his Pokéballs into the air. “Go, Charry, Exply, Bearty, Pangy, Ursy!” The balls open, releasing his Charizard, Exploud, Beartic, Pangoro, and Ursaring. “Alright guys let’s kick their asses and get back Beery!” His team roars in agreement.

Bruce laugh as he snaps his fingers. Multiple grunts with jetpacks descend from the helicopters, throwing Pokéballs containing Crobats, Ariados, and Dragalge. As a horde of these Pokémon appeared, Ryan walked up to Michael.

“You may need some help.” He states, pulling four more Pokéballs out of his coat. Casually tossing them into the air, he reveals a Wash-Rotom, Metagross, Silvally, and Entei. “I’m not fond of these criminal types, you see.” With a wave of his hand, Ryan sends his Pokémon into the fray, save for Metagross, whom he hops atop. “Mr. Jones, would you and your Charizard aid me in the rescue of those innocent Pokémon?”

“You bet your fucking ass I will!” Michael says, climbing atop Metagross. “HEY CHARRY, WE’RE GOING TO CRASH SOME HELICOPTERS!” Charry roars in excitement and Michael immediately mega evolves him into Mega Charizard X. “Bring ‘em down with Dragon Claw, Charry!”

Charry roars as he flies towards the helicopters, both hands coated in the energy claws. Charry rips through all the helicopters, sending them spiralling towards the ground. Michael looks down at the falling helicopters. “I don’t think I thought this through.” He says softly, eliciting a small chuckle from Ryan.

“I have that taken care of, Mr. Jones.” Ryan said, tapping a lapel pin and mega evolving his Metagross. “Metagross, do be a dear and use Psychic to catch all these choppers and free the Pokémon within.” Metagross grunts in affirmation and detaches the cannons, spilling all the Pokéballs out, as well as disabling the energy field holding Beery and Komoo-o captive.

The two trainers looked up to see one helicopter still moving, flying away from the scene. Ryans eyes narrow and his expression darkens. He pulls a Dusk Ball from his belt. “You won’t escape. Not this time Bruce. You won’t escape again.” He tosses the Pokéball as it releases a green light, revealing a giant humanoid Pokémon. “Ladies and gentlemen, meet Zygarde, the watcher of Kalos, in its strongest mode - Complete Forme! Now, use Core Enforcer!” Ryan commands, and reveals a gauntlet on his right wrist. “Combined with Z-Power to make the Devastating Drake!” He continues, his gauntlet glowing as Zygarde roars. Its chest begins to glow and it fires a massive dragon-shaped beam at the helicopter, sending it crashing into the ground.

As the dust clears, Bruce climbs out of the wreckage only to be greeted by men in long brown coats and sunglasses. He scowls, only to let out a sigh and hang his head in shame.

Geoff and Jack, who remained silent from shock, survey the arena, now littered with unconscious grunts and Pokémon, as well as the wreckage of multiple helicopters and a plethora of Pokéballs. “So uh, I guess the tournament’s postponed until we get this whole mess sorted out. Tune in next week, same Pokétime, same Pokéchannel for the actual exciting conclusion to the Achievement City Pokémon League Finals!”

Michael was bouncing, shaking his hands, checking and re-checking his bag to make sure everything was in place. He wasn’t nervous, though it might look that way to outsiders. He was ready to fight, to battle. His pokemon were levelled and trained up to the best of his ability, and he was itching to kick some ass in his first tournament.

He was certainly calmer than the girl in line behind him. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail that stuck out the back of the cap that was pulled low over her eyes, but even without seeing her eyes he could tell she was constantly looking around her from the way her head jerked from side to side. She was chewing on her bottom lip enough to redden it, which Michael definitely didn’t get slightly distracted by because he was fully concentrated on this tournament.

He might have been watching a bit too closely because she startled and turned her back to him.

The registration desk freed up, so he was saved from trying to awkwardly justify his attention. He stepped forward and gave his information to the person at the table, and the girl behind him did the same with the other volunteer next to him.

The registrars handed them their badges and directed them to the participant holding area. He walked next to the blonde girl, and thought she might have made a move to say hi or something, but he was getting in the zone, reviewing what he knew about the other trainers around him. He’d seen a few of them compete in other tournaments that he’d been a spectator at, but most of them were unknown to him. Not unexpected, Michael had chosen this tournament because it was far enough from his own home that the chances of someone recognizing him if he did horribly were slimmer. Not that he was going to do horribly, that is.

A bell rang over the speaker system, and a crackly voice said, “Attention. Registration is now closed. The tournament bracket will be posted on the announcement board in ten minutes. Thank you.”

Michael fought the urge to follow the crowd that gathered around the base of the board. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t recognize any of the names he’d be competing against in the amateur division, so all he needed to know was when and where his first battle would be.

The crowd thinned out and he wandered over to the left side, where the individual bracket was posted. He didn’t spot his name on a quick glance, so he took a minute to slow down and double check each name on the list. And then he checked again, making sure they didn’t just get his name wrong.

“Who the fuck is Michael Jones?” he heard from a few feet to his right. Michael looked up and saw the blonde from earlier. She was staring up at the other side of the board, looking very confused.

Michael asked, “You my first opponent?”, figuring she’d found their names.

The woman looked up at him. “You’re Michael Jones?” she confirmed.

“Yeah. When are we battling? I couldn’t find my name on the bracket,” Michael moved over toward the centre of the board, his eyes scanning that list of names.

“Uh,” she mumbled. Michael looked up when he saw her arm raise, but it wasn’t toward the left side of the board. She was pointing at the top corner of the doubles bracket. There was his name...followed by the name “Lindsay Jones”.

“Who the fuck is Lindsay Jones?” Michael asked, then realized he’d just echoed what the woman next to him had said. “Wait, so how did we get entered into the doubles? What did you say to them?!” He was getting frustrated, and it was coming through in his voice.

“I didn’t say anything!” the woman, who Michael could only assume was Lindsay Jones, defended herself. The way she shifted and didn’t meet his eyes made Michael a bit suspicious.

“So they just decided we were partners? Why?” Michael looked back up at the board. “Cause we have the same last name? Its not like its an uncommon name.”

“Yeah,” Lindsay agreed. “Super common name.” She shifted again and Michael narrowed his eyes at her.

“You name is Jones, right? That’s what is says on the board,” Michael asked.

“Yeah!” she replied, quickly. “It’s such a weird coincidence.”

Michael let the words hang in the air between them. When Lindsay said nothing more, he continued, “All right, fine. So what are we supposed to do? This was supposed to be my first tournament, I don’t want to walk away without even stepping up.”

“We could go talk to the registration desk?” Lindsay suggested. “Maybe they can straighten it out.”

Michael looked up at the bracket written on the board, shaking his head. “Naw, look at this shit, there’s no room to fit two players into the roster at this point.” He turned away and balled his fists. “Damnit!” he shouted to the now nearly empty reception area. “What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”

“Hey, hey, calm the fuck down!” Lindsay yelled back at him, startling Michael into turning back to face her. He was not used to other people meeting his outbursts with a passionate response of their own. “Sorry,” she added, when she saw the shock on his face. “I just mean, we could always just...compete?”

Michael was taken aback by her suggestion. “You mean...just go along with it? Pretend we’re brother and sister, or whatever?” he asked, more to himself than to the woman in front of him.

“Yeah,” Lindsay agreed. “I mean, I don’t really want to give up my chance at competing today, either.”

Michael nodded. “Right,” he agreed. “Well, it’ll be good tournament practice in any case.” He let his pack fall off his shoulder and reached his hand in for a pouch from which he extracted three poke balls and started fitting them into the small pockets in his jacket. “What pokemon are you bringing into battle? I’ve got my Charizard, he’s awesome. And my Pidgeot and if it comes down to it, I have Ghastly, but I only captured him recently so he’s not very well trained, hasn’t evolved yet or anything.”

Lindsay looked down at her feet, where she was drawing senseless lines in the dirt. “I’ve got a Graveler, and my Caterpie just became a Metapod. And Bulbasaur, he’s been my buddy from the beginning,” she listed.

Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise. “How long have you been training?”

“A few months,” Lindsay said. “But I’ve known a few good trainers, in- uh, in my hometown.”

“You’ve had a bulbasaur for a few months and he hasn’t evolved?” an edge of frustration crept into Michael’s voice. He had worked hard, for weeks, long days of battling and training his Charmander until he evolved into Charmeleon and finally into Charizard only a few days ago, just in time for Michael to make the journey to participate in this very tournament. It was inconceivable to him how someone, a serious trainer if she was entering tournaments after only a few months, wouldn’t have done the same.

Lindsay just smiled in the face of his confusion. “Oh, he could have evolved, but he’s just so much cuter as Bulbasaur than as Ivysaur. He’s still pretty kick ass,” she explained.

“That’s...dumb,” Michael replied. Looking at the clocktower in the square, he added, “Come on, let’s go. Our first battle starts soon.”  They reached the tournament grounds just a couple of minutes before the opening speeches ended. Michael turned back to Lindsay and started talking strategy. “Okay, so just follow my lead, and don’t do anything dumb, keep type in mind, and, uh…” He paused, searching for one more piece of advice when the voice on the loudspeakers began calling the first battle of the day.

“...and first time competitors at this tournament, from Celadon City, Michael and Lindsay Jones!”

The crowd was cheering, so Michael grabbed Lindsay by the hand, pulling her toward the battle area.

*****

There was a sheen of sweat on Michael’s forehead when they left the field, having just barely squeaked out a victory.

“What the hell were you thinking,” Michael spat out under his breath. “Why on earth would you tell your Graveler to use Bulldoze? It makes no sense!”

“It takes down their defense!” Lindsay hissed back. “We needed an advantage!”

“But it lowered my defense too!” Michael stopped his march once they’d reached the trainer’s rest tent. He grabbed her arm, pulling Lindsay to face him. “Charizard could have been seriously hurt!”

Lindsay pulled her arm free of Michael’s grasp, her face hard. “It worked, didn’t it?” she said through clenched teeth.

“So,” a voice near them spoke up, and both of them spun to see who was speaking. Another trainer, probably a few years older than they were, approached them with a smile. “I take it this is your first tournament together?”

“Is it that obvious?” Michael asked wryly.

The trainer laughed. “I mean, kind of,” they admitted. “But I think its sweet. You’re newlyweds, right?”

Michael and Lindsay shared a shocked look. “Uhh...what?” Michael got out.

“Both of you forgot your rings,” the trainer pointed out.

In tandem both Michael and Lindsay put their hands out in front of them, even knowing there would be no rings there. Lindsay impulsively reached over and grabbed Michael’s hand in hers, lacing their fingers together.

“Ha, yeah, I guess we were so excited this morning we forgot to put them on,” she said with a giggle. “We’d better get his Charizard to the Poke Center before the next battle.”

As they turned, Lindsay twisted her arm behind her back, pulling Michael’s arm around her waist. He took the hint and let his fingers part from hers and rest on her hip.

“I don’t think they assumed we were siblings,” Lindsay said under her breath, her head turned into his so her lips were against his ear.

It was a dark, stormy night in Los Santos. The Fake AH Crew, notorious criminals and terror of the city, were in Geoff Ramsey’s penthouse apartment, five of the six main members staring at the large flat screen television, watching Pacific Rim.

“Hey, Geoff, why do you think aliens attack Earth all the time? It’s not like we’ve got anything worth taking.” Gavin asks as he pours more whiskey into his glass. “Like I fucking know dude. Just . . . just watch the movie.” Geoff replied, taking a large gulp of his vodka tonic, before deciding he needed to refresh his drink.

Michael put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “Gavin, buddy, who gives a shit why they’re attacking? It’s a movie about robots beating THE FUCK out of alien monsters or something.” Michael says, beaming a smarmy grin at Gavin, who simply huffed.

“Both of you shut up and watch the movie. It’s getting to the final fight!!” Jack said, eagerly shoving more popcorn into his mouth. “I want to finish this and get home before Caiti gets back from her vacation!”

“Come on man, let’s watch the movie, it’s not like there’s much left.” Ray grumbled, visibly annoyed at the film screening. He wanted to play Halo with everyone, but the rest wanted to watch a movie first.

Despite all parties present wanting to watch the movie it had been drowned out by the conversations and arguments, as well as some accented whining. However, all the noise ended abruptly with a flash of lightning, a crack of thunder, and complete darkness.

“Aaaah! What the fuck happened!?” Geoff screamed, dropping his glass, shattering it on the floor.

“Looks like the power’s out Geoff, can’t do much about that.” Jack said, getting up and dusting his shirt clean of popcorn debris. “Looks like movie night’s over.”

“Man, I really wanted to see some giant robot fights and shit!” Michael says, distraught despite his apathetic viewing.

A baritone voice sounds from behind Geoff. “You guys say something about giant robots?”

The Fake AH Crew collectively jump as Ryan’s mild statement, especially Geoff, who leaped forward about three feet.

“Jesus Christ Ryan, warn a guy!” Geoff screams, putting his hand to his chest. “Give a man a heart attack or some shit.”

“I heard stuff about giant robots. You guys want to go rob some banks with giant robots?” Ryan asks, completely ignoring Geoff. Taking a moment to let them stare in utter confusion, he continue. “Come on, let’s go, it’s in my warehouse on the edge of town.”

Quietly, everyone shuffles out of Geoff’s apartment, more than a little scared or confused. A quick drive through the abandoned subway tunnels and they arrive.

“So, uh, Ryan. When you say giant robots, did you mean actual gi . . . ant . . . ro . . .bots?” Geoff says, his question easing out as he stares in awe at the massive automatons stored inside. “Ryan, when did you build these? How did you build these? WHY HAVEN’T YOU TOLD US YOU HAVE THESE?!”

“In order: Yes, I did mean actual giant robots. I build them in my spare time with the support crew. Hi guys!” Ryan says, waving as Matt and Jeremy poke their heads up. “It’s from that budget you give us for supplies, as well as an assortment of personal contacts, and because I wanted it to be a surprise!” He finishes, in a cheery tone.

Michael storms up to Ryan, staring him right in the mask eyes. “You mean you had these robots and we weren’t using them?! I want to fuck shit up! Lindsay, we’re getting in the Jaeger!”

As though a signal was lit, all of the Fake AH crew clambered towards a robot of their choice, with the Jones duo getting in the Gypsy Danger, the main Jaeger from Pacific Rim. Gavin, squealing with delight, bolted into a replica of Optimus Prime, which he immediately transformed into a fire truck. Ray made his way towards a Shield Liger.

Geoff approaches Ryan. “I just have one question for you: Why?”

Ryan shrugs and cocks his head to the side. ““Some guys read, others play games. I cultivate plants and build giant robots. A mecha-horticulturalist, so to speak. Now, let’s go rob some places with giant robots.” He says cheerfully as he climbs into the Burning Gundam.

Geoff, flabbergasted, looks at Jack, who returns the confusion, and the two climb into the only robot Geoff recognizes: Gigantor.

The new pilots all grin like idiots, and with childish glee, launch into the night with their mechanized weapons. Rushing through the sky Geoff and Jack in Gigantor, hooting and hollering as they soared through the air. Lindsay and Michael ran through the streets, knocking over rival gang fronts. Gavin, being the simple soul he is, took to spraying things with high-pressure water from the roof-mounted water spigot. Ray . . . Ray just used his mech as a car to pick up Tina for a date.

Amidst all the madness, Ryan looked around and sighed. “You guys, we’re in giant robots, let’s steal shit!” He says over the intercom before reaching into a bank and tearing the vault out of the ground. Everyone stopped and looked over at Ryan’s direction before all muttering words of agreement and doing similar heinous acts.

Michael and Lindsay, being the destruction-loving maniacs that they are, began smashing cop cars and police stations across Los Santos. Gavin joined in the mayhem by driving with members of the Fire Department until they go to their destination, where he transformed and set fire to more buildings. Ray, however, continued his date with Tina, except for the small issue of being unable to fit his mech into the drive-through lane of the nearest Carl Jr’s.

As they chaos and theft continues deeper into the stormy night, the crew begins to get bored of all the destruction.

“Ryan,” Geoff says over the intercom, “this is fun and all but it makes shit too easy! The cops don’t have robots! The best they have are tanks and fighter jets and that’s like a five-year old trying to fight an adult.”

“I see your point Geoff.” Ryan responds. “Let’s clean up and call it a day, huh? We can walk into the ocean all dramatically, like Godzilla.”

Geoff laughs at the response. “Good thinking, let’s confuse the shit out of them with this. Fake AH Crew, roll out!”