Unova. Aspertia City. The Pokemon Festival. Pokemon Baccer Junior Event. Day.
Here at Aspertia City, the Pokemon Baccer Junior event was currently ongoing with a game already being played. With two teams outside, going at it, the other teams were currently indoors, chatting about their approach for their upcoming games. But one team was struggling and that was the Pichu Eleven.
Comprised of kids who didn't seem all that interested in Pokemon Baccer despite wearing their respective team uniforms, their Team Captain, Jay, felt otherwise. Scootaloo saw it all occur, being a temporary new member for this event. And she was the only member in this club while other kids have chosen different clubs, making this one the least popular Baccer Club.
"This Baccer club exists because of Jay's Pichu. I was with him back then when forming the team." Explaining it to Scootaloo as the Co-Captain Aubree. And in her hands, she held a picture, showing the bond between Jay and his Pichu. There, the two of them were together like most Trainers and Pokemon. Aubree was there too, being next to them both.
"Pichu loved Pokemon Baccer just as much as Jay and I did. We'd usually practice at Jay's back garden. And from there, all of our practice sessions got some attention, and Pichu didn't let that go to waste."
"So Pichu gathered everyone together?" Scootaloo asked.
"Jay wasn't all that eager to do it, but Pichu convinced him to do it. She played the biggest part in getting our team together.."
"So then...What happened?"
"Well, right now, Pichu, even though she's our mascot, isn't able to join in anymore. Not for a while, anyway." Aubree sighed.
"Pichu's still recovering." One of the kids spoke, deciding to throw his two cents into this. "She took a pretty bad hit one day and now she's been at the Pokemon Center for months now."
"I think it was from when one of those weird demons attacked us." Another kid said, bringing up one of the 100 Demons. Apparently, they were involved in this and by extension, the Dread League. "Pichu got caught up in the attack and got hit by something strange."
"It was probably a curse..." Scootaloo gasped as that sounded exactly like a Magehold Curse. Leftovers from the Dread League were present and not everything has finished healing just yet. And it seems like Pichu was an example, currently afflicted with a Magehold Curse.
"After she fell ill, Jay promised Pichu that he'd help grow the entire team and reach the frontier of Pokemon Baccer. That meant we'd have to win as many games as we could." Aubree continued. "We did well, but it was only back in our hometown."
"Yeah. The more teams we faced, the harder it got." The kid playing a game would pause it to throw his own words into this discussion. "We kept losing to other teams and scored a pretty mean losing streak.
"It was just two weeks ago that we won a game after a lot of losses. The team that we took on heard about our Pichu and took it easy on us. That's how we won and got the chance to enter this event. Because they felt bad for us. Jay was stoked to get a chance to enter but everyone else..."
"There's no chance we're winning in this." One of the kids spouted. "That team went easy on us. These teams won't do the same, I just know it. But I don't wanna ruin Jay's dreams and I definitely don't wanna disappoint Pichu. We're all doing it for her."
"Mhm. But I don't think doing it for her is enough when we're outclassed." The reality was that they wished to do their best but their best might not be enough, especially with how their previous victory went.
"Hah! Who said anything about outclassed?!" Returning to the club room with a different energy was none other than Jay. But there was a reason for this. It was the Desire. The Rift-Powered force that targets a person's desire and makes it a reality in some way. However, instead of appearing as a cosmic visage of the individual, it was a part of Jay instead.
The energy was faint. So faint to the point where everyone in here didn't notice it. Jay's eyes were emitting the purple colour of the Rift, silently sparkling.
"Jay? You look better already." Aubree observed.
"Well, yeah. As if that was gonna keep me down. No way. I'm still confident we can win this."
"Still on this?" One of his teammates uttered.
"I am. Victory's gonna be ours for the taking without a doubt." Jay grinned. "We'll be going on soon, so get ready. I know for a fact you're ready deep within."
And at that moment, the power of the Desire would act. As soon as Jay said that, the cosmic energy would send particles through the air which then passed through all of his teammates.
"T-Totally!" Against her own will, one of the teammates agreed with Jay, changing her tone. She immediately put her hands on her mouth as that was not the response she was looking for. "I mean..."
"We'll back you up, Jay." Yet again, it happened. Soon all his teammates began spouting out words that agreed with Jay instead of arguing back with him. This was just an example of how a Desire can truly shape the reality of someone. Thus, it was official They would partake in this match, with no backing out whatsoever.
"Love to hear it! Now, let's get ready. Our Pokemon are eager to swing into action."
"Uh, what about me" Scootaloo asked, being the odd one out.
"You don't have to worry about anything, Scootaloo," said Aubree. "Now that everyone's spirit to play Pokemon Baccer is back, all you have to do is go with the flow."
"Oh, okay. But something seems pretty weird here..." Scootaloo was the only one who felt that something was amiss. But for now, she was just going to do what Aubree said. Go with the flow.
Baccer Stadium.
One of the matches came to an end at last. While it was early in the day, these junior matches were relatively short and that only made sense since they were children. The stage was set for the next team to arrive.
"Great match as always. Now, we can give it up for the next match of the day. The Pikachu Eleven vs the Lampent Orphic." The Commentator said. It was time for Jay's team to swing into action and join in. Ash and the others were especially excited for this one since it involved Scootaloo, who was temporarily on this team.
"I can't believe we're doing this...We were so against it earlier. What happened?" One of the members of the Pichu Eleven still couldn't understand how they managed to get into this after refusing to do so. But that was the power of the Desire. With its control over reality, anything can happen, so as long as the user desires it.
"I hope none of you have stage frights." Jay smirked, being the most excited for this. "We'll have so many people watching us compared to how things were back home. Here's to making Pichu proud and winning this thing! Does everyone have their Pokemon ready?"
"I do! Go, Axew!" Aubree sent out her Pokemon to represent the Pichu Eleven and that was her Axew.
"Axew!"
"I'll start small and have Gible go first." Her first pick was Gible. Upon appearing, Gible met with his fellow miniature dragon as they looked like a pretty consistent team. All that mattered was who else would be sent out.
"Um, I don't know...We didn't see their matches so who knows what kind of Pokemon they have?" Hesitation was brought into the scene once more by Jay's teammates. While the Desire managed to get them out of the club room, there was still some work to do.
"Pssh. Who cares? All that matters is that we play our best game with our Pokemon and win this. Now, bring 'em out." By speaking once more and desiring the Pokemon to appear, his teammates were once again compelled to do so. Unable to control their hands, they held out their respective Poke Balls.
Out of them emerged a few other Pokemon with some of them being repeats. Corsola, Beautifly, Spheal, Minccino, Purrloin and Servine were summoned. They would be the first to represent their team. And not a single sign of a Pichu anywhere. Since they were relatively standard Baccer Players, it made sense why their Pokemon would be so small and adorable. But sometimes, the smaller Pokemon can pose big threats in the right situations.
"Ra! Raboot!" There was one more Pokemon joining in. That ended up being Raboot, who quickly dashed here as soon as he could. Scootaloo wasn't the only member who managed to join the Pichu Eleven. Thanks to Fluttershy's permission, Raboot was the second member. At least this team had two new members instead of zero considering how low their mojo was.
"Raboot? I was wondering where you were." Scootaloo said.
As for the opposing team, they came with bigger Pokemon. Stepping out, they revealed some eerie opponents. A majority of them ended up being Ghost-Types. The name gave it away as their team mascot, Lampent was summoned, followed by Dusclops, Haunter, a Female Frillish, and some Banettes. It was a mish-mash of Pokemon-Types versus Ghost-Type Pokemon.
The Pichu Eleven gulped just by looking at their opponents. Of all the teams they had to go up against first, it had to be the ones with the Ghost-Types. With Jay being at the heln with his Desire, he made them step forward even in the face of fear. Soon, they all appeared in front of the Baccer Stadium, with the Pokemon jumping inside the ring.
"Put your all into it, Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash shouted from the stands, cheering for her fellow pegasus.
"This match will be over once at least 5 points have been scored." said the Referee, laying out the rules for this match. It would be a short one but that all depends on how both teams play.
"I know you guys. Aren't you the onesw who managed to make the Starmie Stars feel bad because of your Pichu?" One of the members of the Lampet Orphic pointed, knowing who the Pichu Eleven were. While they most played back at their hometown and other towns, their name was not invisible at all. "Just so you know, you won't get us with that. When it comes to our team, Ghost-Types aren't worried about who gets hurt."
"Don't worry about that. We don't want your pity and you're not gonna get any after we beat you guys." Jay grinned as his eyes would flash purple for a moment.
"Ready...?" The refree paused his words as the ball was dropped onto the stadium while the goal posts from both sides were starting to move around. "Kick-off!"
The game of Pokemon Baccer had started. And the one to kick things off was Minccino. By using its tail, it launched the ball into the air, bringing it to her team's side so they can get a headstart. Raboot grinned, eager to kick the ball and let his atheltic abilities truly shine.
"Haunter!" Haunter would intercept this immediately. By using Night Shade, it summoned a spectral black energy that would wrap itself around the ball. Raboot and the others didn't get the chance to interact with the ball since Night Shade pulled it away with its dark claws. The ball was brought over to Haunter's side before being promptly passed onto its teammates.
"Banette!" One of the Banette's caught the ball, striking it with its head as it was instantly going for the goal that was moving across the air.
"Beautifly!" This is where the airborne Pokemon come into play. Beautifly quickly went for the ball, trying to use Air Cutter to slow down its movements.
"Dusclops!" However, another intereption was made. Beautifly was promptly grabbed by the hands of Dusclops. It couldn't unleash sharp blades of winds at all with the grip of Dusclops holding onto it.
"B-Beautifly?!" Thanks to this interruption, the ball would travel after Banette struck it. But there was another Beautifly. This was one of the repeats of the Pichu Eleven. It would pick up where the other Beautifly left, but this time, with success.
"Banette!" Banette wasn't done yet. No succsess came from the Pichu Eleven. Thrown into the air by a Psychic from Haunter, Banette gained a boost in speed, reaching the ball faster than the other Beautifly could. After reaching the ball yet again, Banette used Hex on the ball creating an illusion.
Multiple balls were summoned, all being mirages while the real one was now concealed. Phantoms of the Baccer Ball appeared before their eyes as Banette would send them flying. Now it was hard to tell which ball was the right one.
"B-Beauti!?" Beautifuly stammered, unable to decide. It furiously flapped its wings with all of these balls approaching. And since Banette created plenty of doubles, many of them spread out, making this even harder. Beautifly failed to stop any of them, being too indecisive.
"Seriously?!" Jay gasped after that blunder from Beautifly.
"Ra..Boot!" But there was someone to stop it and who easily saw through the mirage. Leaping into the air was Raboot, delivering a powerful kick to the ball. Lo and behold, he found the right one, striking against it while the fake balls would fizzle out.
"It found the Phantom Ball already?! How?!" One of the members of the oppossing team was stunned to see Raboot adapt so quickly.
"Boot." Raboot grinned before forcing the ball down. Now he had control over it. His foot was over the Baccer Ball as he wasn't about to let his team, who he just met, go out so easily.
"Raboot looked at its shadow." Fluttershy knew the answer to that, knowing her Raboot very well. "Since some of there were illussions, it was easy to see which one had an actual shadow and which ones didn't.
"Geez...That Raboot just got here too." A member of the Pichu Eleven uttered. "Was it wathcing us or something?"
"Whatever! We have a good player on our side and that's all that matters! Having a Raboot of all Pokemon on our team makes things way better!"
"Can't let Raboot show me up. Stay with Raboot, Gible!"
"Gible!" Gible would take off, along with Axew. The two small dragons would run alongside each other while Raboot was upfront, going straight for the other team.
"Stop the three of them, Dusclops!"
"Dusclops!" To stop these three Pokemon, Dusclops used Mean Look. The Ghost-Type used its singular eye to make a rather fierce face, sending a pulse of energy forward. Dusclops affixed them both with a dark, arresting look, prompting them to flinch and slow down.
"R-Raboot!" Raboot growled, trying not to let this scare him. He's seen scarier thanks to the Dread League so this shouldn't phase him at all. But it was rather effective when coming from a Ghost-Type. Gible and Axew would also slow down, more noticeably than Raboot.
"Look at Raboot, still pressing on!" Lucas bellowed, pumping his fists. "You love to see it!"
"Hm. I didn't think they'd have a Raboot on their team. Those Pokemon are great at Pokemon Baccer. Which is why we won't let that Raboot play its best game. Banette!"
"Baaaaaneee!" This team was all about keeping their opponents from going all out and it showed after how Banette used Trick. By giggling and flashing its eyes, it managed to affect the ball itself. Raboot didn't notice it at first until he felt something harder hit his foot. While travelling with the ball, he wasn't hitting on something comfortable anymore.
"Ra?" Raboot looked down to see none other than a Watermelon in front of him. Banette swapped the ball with a Watermelon, stealing it under Raboot's nose. "R-Raboot!"
"You can do that?! No way!" Sweetie Belle frantically shook her head. Was that even legal? Where did Banette even get the Watermelon from to quickly swap it?
"It totally is in Pokemon Baccer. It says here that this team's all about stunning their opponents. Not in the Electric-Type sense. But in a way that punishes the opponents for doing certain things." Lucas was already reading up on them. "So Scootaloo's team is gonna be hit with back to back stuns.
"Banette!" Now Banette was the one travelling with the ball as Haunter was right behind it. To make sure anyone up ahead didn't get any ideas, Haunter used Scary Face. Similar to Mean Look but with a greater emphasis on fear. Corsola and Minccino were certainly afraid and so were their respective trainers.
They were so scared they froze on the spot, allowing Banette and Haunter to pass by them, cackling. Up ahead was Beautifly, who Haunter was prepared for, keeping the Scary face up as well.
"Come on you guys, don't be scared!" Jay bellowed. "Beautifly! Don't you hve a Scary Face of your own on your wings!?"
"B-Beautifly!" That much was true. Beautifly could mimic a fearsome face by using the pattern on its wings. Unfortunately, it was already intimidated by Haunter's Scary Face to retaliate.
"You too, Beautifly?!" Jay couldn't believe his eyes.
"This isn't going so well already...Why'd this have to be the first time they went up against?" Applejack lowered her head as this wasn't the best showing. Even though Raboot was sticking out the most, everyone else in the Pichu Eleven were lagging behind.
These smaller Pokemon were certainly timid when it comes to something like this. Banette passed by them while approaching the goal with only a few of them trying to make an attempt. And this was just a few of the team members taking action. The other Ghosts might do much worse than this.
"This isn't how it ends. You guys are holding yourselves back." said Jay with a dissappointed voice. But at that moment, his Desire kicked in once more. Seeing this display, he wanted his teammates to perform better and in response, this made the aura of the Desire clearer.
Previously, it was rather faint and hard to see. But now, it was growing. It would flare for a moment before reaching a considerable size for Jay. His eyes lit up once more, spreading cosmic particles.
"Hey..That aura around their Team Captain...Isn't that?" Rainbow Dash blinked.
"It's Desire!" Ash gasped, recognizing that energy. "He's got one too?!"
"Pikachu!"
"But it looks different. He doesn't have an energy silhouette of himself going around. What's up with that?" Applejack noticed how the energy was around Jay instead of away from him. And yet, he wasn't trapped by his Desire, unconscious or anything like that. He was utilizing it himself. It almost looked like he was in full control.
This wasn't just the Desire. It was a new variant of the Desire. And Jay was using it to his full advantage which Scootaloo soon realized but a majority of the crowd had no idea about. As the journey continues.
Chapter 288 End.