Chronicles Rematch

The episode starts at the bar in the hotel where Jessie is drinking a glass of soda. She was all alone until Leaf joined in and sat next to her. "Hey, Jessie." She greeted her.

"Oh hey, Leaf!" Jessie greeted her back with a wave. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I wanted to go to the bar to think of a strategy against my current opponent, Nikolaus and I saw you, so I decided to sit next to you," Leaf answered. "By the way, where's Domino, James, and Meowth?"

"Domino and Annie are currently shopping together at the mall, it seems like they have been getting along after Domino cheered her up. James and Meowth are both back at the hotel." Jessie answered. "Oh, speaking of that Nikolaus guy, from the reaction I saw when you two got paired to face each other, it seems like you two know each other?"

Leaf nods to answer her question. "Yeah, we know each other. We met on Cinnabar Island, during that Eevee, now Evolution Stone, Convention. We faced each other in the finals and I managed to defeat him, but I bet he's going to focus a lot on getting his revenge and beating me this time."

"Come on Leaf, you can't lose here to that Nikolaus guy. I want to face you in the league tournament so I can get my revenge on you instead!" Jessie declared, raising her fist.

Leaf can't help but chuckle for a little bit. "I'm so flattered, thanks. I know Nikolaus is stronger than the last time I faced him, so this is going to be one tough battle for me."

Jessie stands up. "Then let's do a training battle, you against me. That should be a huge help to prepare for your battle against Nikolaus!"

Leaf has a confident look on her face as she stands up as well. "Alright! I'm down for a training battle, let's go!"

The title screen shows.

"Chronicles Rematch"

It cuts to Nikolaus walking on the streets of the Indigo Plateau he passed an alley where Samantha was there. He didn't notice that she was looking at him, but Samantha decided to slowly follow him and then spoke up to get Nikolaus' attention. "Hey you, you're Nikolaus right?"

Nikolaus turns around to Samantha and nods. "Yeah, I'm Nikolaus. Who's asking?"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Samantha. I have been watching your four-field battles and I have to say, you're a pretty good strong trainer." Samantha complimented.

"Thank you! I also watched some of your field battles too and I was also impressed with your skills as well. You also seemed like a strong trainer too." Nikolaus complimented back.

Samantha chuckles and rubs the back of her head. "You're too kind! If you don't mind, I would like to see your badges. I'm interested in what badges you won that led you here to the Indigo Plateau. I'll show you mine too."

"Oh, okay!" Nikolaus pulls out his badge case from his pocket, opens it, and shows all of his badges to Samantha.

Samantha looks at Nikolaus' eight badges, but no sign of the Earth Badge anywhere in his case. "Here's mine!" She also pulls out her badge case to show to Nikolaus, to not act suspicious and after a few seconds of looking, both trainers put their badge cases away. "So about your matchup, can you tell me more about her?"

"Leaf?" Nikolaus questioned who Samantha meant before answering. "We met on Cinnabar Island actually and aren't strangers to each other. We faced each other in a battle before and I unfortunately got the end of the stick, but this time, I'm going to beat her!"

"So you're saying she's a strong trainer?" Samantha asked once more.

Nikolaus nods in response. "I have to say, she is pretty strong. She was the underdog in this Eevee tournament we competed in and came up on top. I'm a little nervous about facing her, but I think I'll hold up on my own."

"I see, well good luck on your matchup against Leaf, Nikolaus!" Samantha says with a smile and wave.

"Good luck with yours too, Samantha!" Nikolaus says back as he waves goodbye and both trainers walk away.

It focuses on Samantha walking away and she pulls out her list, crossing out Nikolaus' name on it. "There we go, the two trainers that must've beaten Giovanni, Leaf, and… that trainer with the Dragonite! Yes, it has to be the two!"

It cuts to the Team Rocket trio spying on Samantha from a distance where she can't see them. "She's got one of the twerps right, but unfortunately for her, she didn't get our twerp right." Cassidy laughs.

"So we're spying on the cheerleader girl now? What a downgrade." Butch says.

Cassidy looks at her partner-in-crime with an annoyed look. "Open your eyes, Butchy. She's a part of a different criminal organization that is setting their sites in Kanto! Team Rocket should be the only criminal organization here! Also, she has that powerful Persian, so it's not like we're spying on an annoying person who doesn't have a strong Pokémon that we can get our hands on."

"What's the plan this time, Cass?" Mondo asked.

"The plan is simple. Blonde cheerleader girls want to know what we know. The two trainers that beat Giovanni, since we watched the entire match go down. So we bribe her into handing us one of her strong Pokémon for information!"

"So we're just going to help her and M.A.R.S.?" Mondo questioned in disbelief. "Hello! Giovanni told us that we need to get rid of them, not help them!"

Butch immediately disagrees with Cassidy's idea. "Fuck that! Instead of handing us one of her strong Pokémon, have her join our side, Team Rocket, instead! Now that's a plan!"

"What's not stopping her from betraying us for M.A.R.S.? We don't know how loyal the cheerleader girl is to them. Besides, we already tried that, remember? We got blasted off with one move! I don't like that plan either." Mondo says.

"Okay, do you have a better plan, Mondo?" Cassidy asked.

Mondo thinks for a little bit before a little light ball appears above his head. "I do!"

Samantha is still walking on the streets of the Indigo Plateau. An oppositely tall person with a big trench coat, covering their entire body, arrives next to Samantha and talks directly to her. "I know the answers that you are looking for."

Samantha stops and looks at the tall trench coat person with a raised eyebrow. "What answers are you talking about?"

"The two trainers that defeated Giovanni, yes? I know they are and I know you want answers and I know the answers." The trench coat person replied.

Samantha grits her teeth and growls. "I don't know how you know that about me, but you're lucky I rather know who than how you know. Tell me about the two trainers!"

The tall trench coat person shakes their head no. "I'm not just going to give you the information like that, you're going have to do something for me before I tell you about the two trainers. You see, there's a particular pink hat trainer with a talking Meowth. I'll need you to hunt for this talking Meowth and bring it to us- me! Do we have a deal?"

Samantha immediately can tell that the trench coat person is talking about Jessie and her talking to Meowth. She immediately nods. "You got a deal, you better tell me when I steal it." Samantha leaves.

Once Samantha was gone, the trench coat was taken off, revealing that it was the Team Rocket trio on top of their shoulders, making the illusion that it was one tall person. "Nice plan, Mondo! She didn't see through our disguise and now she's bringing the talking Meowth to us!" Cassidy laughs. "I should get a raise for this plan!" Mondo says with confidence in himself. Meanwhile Butch was at the very bottom and his legs were shaking like jelly from getting tired. "Can you two get off already?! I'm getting tired!"

It cuts to Samantha arriving outside of the hotel, she sees Jessie and Leaf training by battling each other with Pidgeotto out for Jessie and Venusaur out for Leaf. "Pidgeotto, fly out in the air so that Venusaur can't possibly reach you!"

"Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto flies up in the air, looking down at Venusaur.

"Venusaur, use Razor Leaf and land hit on Pidgeotto in the air!" Leaf countered.

"Venusaur!" Venusaur throws some razor-sharp leaves from its flower in the back right at Pidgeotto and manages to hit the bird Pokémon, as Pidgeotto falls to the ground.

"Nice one, Leaf!" Jessie complimented.

Leaf smiles and bows. "Thanks!"

As the two rivals continue to train and battle, Samantha sees them and notices Meowth isn't there with Jessie. "That's odd, her Meowth isn't here. Maybe it's relaxing in her hotel room, just gotta sneak past them stealthy." Samantha sneakily passes through them to enter the hotel building without her being spotted. Inside the hallways is now Samantha right in front of the hotel room where Jessie and the gang are staying. Samantha pulls out her Poké Ball and sends out her Persian.

"Persian?" Persian cries out in confusion.

Samantha tells her Persian what to do. "Okay Persian, once I knock on the door, I want you to use Hypnosis immediately to put Meowth and whoever else is in there to sleep, got it?"

Persian nods in response. "Persian!"

Samantha knocks on the door and immediately hides inside a big plant nearby. A few seconds pass and James opens the door, but before he can say anything, Persian's red gem immediately glows pink, putting James to sleep instantly as the sound of his snoring is heard.

"Jimmy, are you okay?" Meowth's voice is heard, he arrives at the door entrance and sees James snoring on the ground. Meowth groans. "Come on, I told you to not stay up all night watching sitcoms!"

Persian jumps out of nowhere with a pink glowing gem and Meowth is looking at it, immediately falling asleep as well.

Samantha comes out of hiding. "Nice job, Persian!" She picks up the sleeping Meowth. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Persian!" Persian cries out in joy.

It cuts back to Jessie and Leaf still training by battling outside, but with different Pokémon out this time as Jessie has Electabuzz out and Leaf has Lapras out. "Electabuzz, use Thunder!" Jessie commanded.

"ELEBUBUBU!" Electabuzz jumps up in the air as powerful electricity starts flowing in its antennas and blasts right at Lapras.

"Lapras, roll on your sides to dodge it!" Leaf countered.

Lapras quickly withdraws and rolls to the side to dodge the Thunder from Electabuzz, and then the transportation Pokémon withdraws and cheerfully cries out. "Lapras!"

"Wow Leaf, I have to ask, why were you even scared in the first place to face Nikolaus? You're doing great!" Jessie complimented.

Leaf blushes a little bit and rubs the back of her head. "Thanks, Jessie." However, the blush immediately fades away once she sees someone with blonde hair running with Meowth in their arms. "What the?"

Jessie was facing away from the blonde person because of her facing toward Leaf, she didn't see the person as she questioned. She raises an eyebrow. "What is it, Leaf?"

"I think I just saw someone trying to steal Meowth!" Leaf pointed out.

"WHAT?!" Jessie yelled out in shock. "Where did they go?!"

"I think this way! Just follow me!" Leaf and Jessie both recall their Pokémon before Leaf starts sprinting in the direction where the blonde-haired thief went as Jessie immediately follows her.

The scene cuts to Samantha sprinting towards the streets with a sleeping Meowth in her arms, trying to find this person with the large trench coat, but as soon as she is about to make a turn into an alley, she accidentally runs into the trench coat person, causing a collision. "AH!" After the collision, Samantha opens her eyes and then sees the Team Rocket trio. "YOU THREE AGAIN?!"

Cassidy immediately gets up. "That's right and you fell for our trick!"

Butch also gets up as well. "So just give us what we want and make it quick!"

Cassidy and Butch start saying their lines for their motto. "To infect the world with devastation!" "To blind all people within every nation!" "To denounce the goodness of truth and love!" "To extend our wrath to the stars above!" "Cassidy!" "And Butch of course!" "Team Rocket circling Earth all day and night!" "Surrender now or you will surely lose the fight!" Mondo appears in front of them to conclude the motto. "I'm Mondo, alright!"

Samantha growls. "I can't believe I have been tricked by the likes of you three!"

"What can you say? We're the master of disguises!" Cassidy gloated about themselves.

Butch follows up. "The absolute best!"

"Maybe you should've taken our deal earlier and joined us, cheerleader girl!" Mondo says. "Now hand us, Meowth!"

"Hold on!" Samantha holds Meowth away from the trio. "You three say you know the two trainers that beat Giovanni, right? Tell me about them and then Meowth is yours! That's our deal, remember?"

Cassidy scoffs. "You're going to make us hold up our end of the deal first? I can see that you're not dumb at all."

"Because if I give you guys Meowth first, what's not stopping you from immediately running away as soon as I hand Meowth over to you three?" Samantha questioned.

"Hold up!" Butch interrupted. "What's not stopping you from immediately running away as soon as we give information about the two trainers to you?"

"Because I'm a woman of my word, plus I know you three would immediately rat me out as soon as that trainer finds and questions you three!" Samantha replied.

"She's got a point," Mondo admitted. "Give her the information, Cass."

"Fine, I will. Your little list there, what are the names you haven't crossed out yet?" Cassidy questioned.

"I see you three must be huge fans by stalking me." Samantha pulls up her list and reads the names she hasn't crossed out. "Leaf and that trainer with the powerful Dragonite."

Cassidy starts giving her information. "Ah, but you see, you got one name right and one name wrong. The other person who defeated Giovanni might shock you. These two trainers tag team battled against our boss, Giovanni, so you could say the second person is very close with one of the two trainers that you haven't crossed. Let's just say they would protect each other at all costs."

"There! Now hold up your end of the deal and give us Meowth!" Butch demanded.

Samantha starts talking inside her thoughts. "Jessie might arrive soon and I have to get rid of Meowth off my hands before they spot me. Consider yourselves lucky, Team Rocket." She hands Meowth over to Cassidy and then immediately sprints away from the scene.

"Alright let's get out of here before-" Cassidy was cut off by the sound of a familiar female.

"TEAM ROCKET!" It was Jessie who shouted at them with Leaf, who sprinted directly towards them. "I should've known it was you three all along trying to steal Meowth as always."

Leaf starts thinking inside her thoughts. "That can't be, wasn't the girl earlier had blonde hair? That woman has golden hair."

Cassidy laughs "This time, we're going to get away with it!"

"And there's nothing you can do about it, twerps!" Butch followed up.

"So beat it you two, we're going to get away from you this time with Meowth!" Mondo declared.

"I don't think so!" Jessie says, as she and Leaf pull out a Poké Ball and so do Team Rocket, all shouting a Pokémon to send out.

"Rapidash, I choose you!" "Machamp, let's go!" "Take care of them, Muk!" "Primeape, destroy them!" "Ditto, you're up!" Everyone said at the same time, sending out their Pokémon they just called out.

Everyone Pokémon does a battle cry once getting sent out. "Neigh!" "Machamp!" "Muk!" "Primeape!" "Ditto!"

Mondo laughs. "Three against two, you twerps stand no chance!"

"Let's see about that! Rapidash, use Take Down directly at Muk!"

"Neigh!" Rapidash starts dashing toward Muk.

"Muk, use Minimize!" Cassidy countered.

"Muk!" Muk shrinks itself to a tiny size as Rapidash completely misses the sludge Pokémon.

"You miss me- AH!" Cassidy shrieked once realizing that Rapidash was aiming for her now, recklessly charging at her, slamming into her, and causing Cassidy to send Meowth in the air from getting tackled and directed towards Jessie.

"I got ya, Meowth!" Jessie manages to catch Meowth from the air. "That was a close one!"

Butch glares directly at Cassidy. "Nice move, Cassidy, now Meowth is in the twerp's grasp!"

Cassidy growls at Butch in response. "Well just don't stand there! Get Meowth back from her!"

"Primeape, use Cross Chop directly at the twerp with the pink hat," Butch commanded. "Get Meowth back!"

"Primeape!" Primeape dashes towards Jessie and crosses its arms to form an 'X' and is about to hit her.

"CRAP!" Jessie turns around in fear and closes her eyes to brace for impact.

"I don't think so! Machamp, stop Primeape by using Vital Throw!" Leaf quickly counters.

Before Primeape could attack Jessie, Machamp grabs the pig monkey Pokémon with one of its arms and starts swinging Primeape around and around, causing Primeape to get dizzy and then Machamp throws it directly towards Butch.

"AH!" Butch gets hit with his Primeape and both are now knocked out.

Mondo growls. "Good for nothing partners! Ditto, transform into Machamp and use Submission on it!"

"Ditto!" Ditto glows white and transforms into Machamp and then tries to grab it.

"Rapidash, use Stomp on the transformed-Ditto!" Jessie quickly commands

"Neigh!" Rapidash kicks the transformed Ditto with its hind legs before they can grab Machamp, flinging the transformed Ditto directly at Mondo and they both get knocked out as Ditto transforms back into its original form from being knocked out.

Cassidy looks at her partners-in-crime and their Pokémon being knocked out. "Looks like I'm the one now with the number disadvantage… doesn't matter, I'll fight to the end! Muk, use Poison Gas attack!"

Muk grows back to its original size and then opens its mouth to release a thick purple gas right at both Rapidash and Machamp.

"Rapidash, use your Agility to save yourself and Machamp from getting hit with that Poison Gas!" Jessie countered.

"Neigh!" Rapidash disappears from its fast speed, then reappears under Machamp, disappearing and reappearing again to a distance where the Poison Gas doesn't reach with Machamp on top of Rapidash and riding the Pokémon.

"Nice one, Jess!" Leaf says with a smile.

Jessie nods. "Of course! I couldn't let your Machamp get poisoned like that!"

Leaf turns her attention back to the battle. "Alright, Machamp, use Karate Chop!"

"And Rapidash, use Take Down while you're at it!" Jessie commands.

Rapidash starts dashing towards Muk while Machamp is still on top with one of its hands glowing white. Rapidash and Machamp both hit their moves at the same time on Muk, flinging the sludge Pokémon to Cassidy, hitting and knocking her out.

Jessie points directly at Team Rocket and their Pokémon. "Rapidash, use Fire Blast, and blast Team Rocket off!"

"Neigh!" Rapidash opens its mouth and shoots out a big flame in the shape of a kanji at a knocked-out Team Rocket and their Pokémon, burning and blasting them off. Ding!

After Team Rocket gets blasted off, Meowth slowly opens their eyes and regains consciousness. "Huh? What happened?"

"Oh, you know, saving you from getting stolen from Team Rocket, the usual!" Jessie chuckles.

"I was in our hotel room and suddenly James was napping on the floor and then I guess I also fell asleep. It was weird." Meowth explained.

Leaf starts thinking in her thoughts again. "All of a sudden Meowth just fell asleep? Not to mention the girl I saw running with Meowth in their grasp is blonde. Something fishy is going on here." She looks at her watch, notices the time, and shrieks. "I'M GOING TO BE LATE FOR MY BATTLE AGAINST NIKOLAUS!"

"Well, you better get over here. I'm assuming Domino and Annie are already there, so I'll get James, he's probably still sleeping on the floor for some reason." Jessie says.

Leaf nods as she recalls her Machamp and starts sprinting to the Indigo Stadium, waving goodbye to Jessie while doing so. "See you at the stadium, Jessie!"

Jessie waves back at her. "Good luck against Nikolaus!" She then looks at Meowth. "Come on, let's get James."

Meowth nods. "Yeah, before the battle starts!"

It cuts to the hotel room where James is still sleeping and snoring on the floor from Persian's Hypnosis earlier. Jessie soon arrives with Meowth and tries to get him up. "James wake up, come on, we're going to miss Leaf's battle!"

James starts talking in his sleep, thinking her mother is waking her up for school. "No Mother, I don't want to go to school today!"

Jessie groans in annoyance before Meowth speaks up. "Don't worry, I got this!" Meowth's claws glow white and become sharper as the talking Pokémon scratches James right in the face.

James immediately wakes up and screams in pain. "MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!"

Jessie screams out loud to get his attention. "JAMES, LISTEN!" She speaks in a normal tone. "Leaf's battle is about to start. Come on, we have to hurry!"

"Oh right! I'm right behind ya!" James replied with a thumbs up.

It cuts to the Indigo Stadium as the battle between Leaf and Nikolaus is about to happen, where Domino, Annie, and Oakley are in the crowd as Jessie, Meowth, and James both soon arrive while catching their breaths. "We… made it," Jessie says from exhaustion.

"There you guys are!" Domino exclaimed. "I thought you three were going to miss the opening. They already announced the Elite Four members, the champion, Lance, and the competitors. Also, Azurill was getting sad and worried about you guys!"

Azurill cheers happily upon seeing Jessie, James, and Meowth. "Azurill!"

"Where were you three anyways?" Annie asked.

Jessie comes up with some excuse. "Oh, I had to deal with some stuff and James and Meowth accidentally overslept."

Both James and Meowth nod. "My alarm clock didn't wake us up," James says with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Then you need to get a louder alarm clock," Oakley suggested.

Jessie, Meowth, and James take their seats as it focuses Leaf and Nikolaus on the two platforms over the battlefield, Leaf on the green side and Nikolaus on the red side. Leaf pulls out a Poké Ball and sends her Pokémon out first. "Alakazam, I'm choosing you first!"

Alakazam materializes. "Alakazam!"

"A psychic type, huh? Then I'll throw you a curve ball and send my psychic Pokémon out too!" Nikolaus pulls out a Poké Ball. "Espeon, I choose you!" He sends Espeon into battle against Alakazam.

Espeon materializes. "Espeon!"

Jessie and her friends in the crowd all looked amazed at the site of Espeon. "What's that Pokémon?!" Jessie pulls out her Pokédex and aims it at Espeon, trying to identify it.

Dexter displays the unidentified message. "This Pokémon is not identified with the version of this Pokédex."

Jessie looks completely annoyed from receiving that message again. "I have to ask Professor Oak to give me an updated Pokédex one day…"

Leaf starts the battle with the first move. "Alakazam, use Psybeam!"

Alakazam crosses its spoons and releases a multicolored beam from them at Espeon. Espeon gets hit by the Psybeam, but it barely damages the Pokémon.

"Espeon, use Quick Attack!" Nikolaus commanded.

Espeon starts dashing towards Alakazam, disappearing and reappearing from its quickness.

"Alakazam, use Reflect before Espeon can hit you!" Leaf counters.

Alakazam tries to cross its spoons to form a barrier to protect it, but Espeon manages to attack the psi Pokémon before it can use Reflect to protect itself.

"Good work, Espeon," Nikolaus commands his next move. "Now use Quick Attack once more!"

"Espeon!" Espeon dashes and tackles Alakazam again from its quickness, dealing more damage to the psi Pokémon.

"Alakazam!" Alakazam cries out in pain from the attacks.

"How do you like that, Leaf?" Nikolaus grins. "As you can see, I improved on my battling skills from the last time we battled!"

"I can see that Nikolaus, but I have a magic trick for you. Now watch all of the damage that your Espeon dealt to my Alakazam disappear! Alakazam, use Recover!" Leaf commanded.

Alakazam's whole body glows yellow and then recovers all of its health that it took from Espeon's two Quick Attacks.

Leaf grins back. "Now how do you like that, Nikolaus?"

Nikolaus' grin disappears as he is now gritting his teeth. "Espeon, use Quick Attack!"

"Espeon!" Espeon starts dashing towards Alakazam with its quickness.

"Alakazam, use Teleport to dodge the attack!" Leaf quickly counters.

Alakazam disappears before Espeon can attack it and appears right behind Espeon.

Nikolaus warns his Espeon. "Behind you, Espeon! Use Psybeam!"

"You use Psybeam too, Alakazam!" Leaf countered.

Alakazam crosses its spoon and Espeon's red gem on its forehead starts shining. Both Pokémon release a multicolored beam at each other and when both Psybeams collide, it causes a huge explosion around the battlefield, dealing major damage to both Alakazam and Espeon. Smoke starts forming around the battlefield area.

Alakazam slowly gets up and starts looking around for Espeon and can't find the Pokémon. "Alakazam?"

"Now Espeon, use Quick Attack!" Nikolaus commanded.

A silhouette that matches Espeon's body shape starts appearing behind Alakazam and getting closer and closer.

Leaf tries to warn her Alakazam with a shout. "ALAKAZAM, BEHIND YOU!"

"Alakazam?!" Alakazam looks behind them, but it is too late as Espeon strikes the psi Pokémon with its quickness. Once the smoke clears up, it's revealed that Alakazam has fainted.

The referee holds up the red flag. "Alakazam is unable to battle. Which means the winner of this round is the red corner!"

"Wow… I had a struggle trying to take out Leaf's Alakazam in my battle against her, but this Nikolaus guy didn't struggle too much." Jessie says.

"Well it has come to my knowledge that these two battled before not so long ago, so maybe this Nikolaus guy studied Leaf or something." James assumed.

Leaf recalls Alakazam back in its Poké Ball. "Alakazam, return! Take a good long rest."

"Then I'll also be recalling my Espeon too. Espeon, return!" Nikolaus recalls his Espeon back in its Poké Ball as well then pulling out a different one. "Fearow, I choose you!"

Fearow materializes on the battlefield. "Fearow!"

Leaf pulls out a Poké Ball and then proceeds to send out her next Pokémon. "Eevee, I choose you!"

Eevee materializes on the battlefield against Fearow. "Eevee!"

Nikolaus commands the first move of the battle. "Fearow, fly up to the air, and use Fury Attack!"

Fearow flaps its wings and starts flying in the air. The beak Pokémon stares directly at Eevee and starts flying down toward the evolution Pokémon, getting ready to strike it with its beak.

"Dodge those Fury Attacks the best you can, Eevee!" Leaf countered.

Eevee jumps to the right to successfully dodge one of Fearow's attacks. Fearow turns around by flying and tries to attack it again with its beak, but Eevee dodges Fearow again by jumping to the left this time.

"You're doing good, Eevee! Now use Focus Energy!" Leaf commanded.

"Eevee!" A light blue aura surrounds Eevee as its critical hit ratio rises.

Nikolaus immediately commands his next move. "Use Drill Peck, Fearow!"

"Fearow!" Fearow's beak spins like a drill and flies downward toward Eevee, about to peck the evolution Pokémon.

Leaf clutches her fist. "When it's the right time, Eevee, use Take Down!"

Eevee watches Fearow heading towards them with a spinning beak and waits for the perfect opportunity. Once Fearow gets closer and closer, Eevee charges and slams right onto the head of Fearow while the beak Pokémon strikes Eevee with its drilling peck, both Pokémon taking damage and falling towards the ground.

Both Leaf and Nikolaus called out their Pokémon in fear. "Eevee!" "Fearow!"

Eevee and Fearow both slowly get up and stare at each other. After a few seconds pass, Fearow drops onto the ground and faints from the battle. The referee holds up the green flag. "Fearow is unable to battle, therefore the winner of this round is the green corner!"

Leaf smiles at her Eevee. "Way to go, Eevee!"

Eevee looks back at its trainer with a cheerful cry. "Eevee!"

"If it wasn't for that Focus Energy that Leaf commanded Eevee a turn ago, I believe Fearow would've been the one standing after that collision," Annie stated.

Domino nods. "Yeah, a good strategy for Leaf at the last second."

"Can it, nerds, I'm trying to watch this battle here!" Oakley said.

"Fearow, return!" Nikolaus recalls Fearow back in its Poké Ball and pulls out a different one. "Sandslash, I choose you!"

Sandslash materializes on the battlefield against Eevee. "Sandslash!"

Leaf looks directly at the Sandslash and starts talking to herself quietly. "I don't know why… but that Sandslash seems familiar to me like I used it before."

Leaf starts to have a quick flashback of Kanto High, specifically, at the Autumn Dance.

Flashback Leaf starts looking around and worrying. "Goddammit, I don't have a Pokémon to battle that loser Jessie with! Come on, someone has to have one!" Leaf sees a student with purple hair drinking some punch, minding his own business. She walks up to him. "Mister, do you have a Pokémon I can borrow for a little bit for a quick battle?"

The purple-haired person turns out to be Nikolaus, revealing that Leaf and Nikolaus were students together at Kanto High and met way earlier than at Cinnabar Island. "Oh, sure!" Nikolaus hands Leaf a Poké Ball. "Here, this is my Sandslash. You can borrow it for a little while, take care of it now."

Leaf happily accepts Nikolaus' Sandslash's Poké Ball and bows. "Thank you very much!"

The flashback ends and Leaf realizes with her eyes widened. "That's the same Sandslash I borrowed in my first battle against Jessie at the Autumn Dance!"

"Sandslash, use Slash!" Nikolaus commanded.

Sandslash slashes at Eevee with its two front claws while Leaf is distracted from having a flashback and deals damage to the evolution Pokémon.

"Eevee!" Eevee cries out in pain.

The sound of Eevee's cry snapped Leaf into reality. "EEVEE!" She glares at Nikolaus. "I was in some sort of zone!"

"Leaf, this is the Kanto League Tournament! You can't easily get distracted in these battles!" Nikolaus replied.

Leaf grits her teeth. "Use Focus Energy!"

Eevee is surrounded by a blue aura, focusing on hitting Sandslash's weak spot, increasing its critical hit ratio some more.

"You're going to have a hard time hitting another critical hit when your Eevee will have a hard time seeing through a sandstorm," Nikolaus commands his next move. "Sandslash, use Sandstorm!"

"Sandslash!" Sandslash crosses its arms and spins around counter-clockwise, the entire battlefield becomes a huge sandstorm with heavy winds and sand.

Jessie and her friends start shielding their eyes from the sand. "I can barely see the battle in this sandstorm!" Jessie complained.

"This sucks! I hate getting sand in my eyes!" Meowth also complained.

Domino doesn't shield her eyes, she ducks down to protect and shield her baby Azurill from the harsh sand.

"Eevee, if you can hear me, just keep using Focus Energy!" Leaf commanded again.

"Eevee!" A blue aura surrounds Eevee again and increases its critical hit ratio once more.

"Alright Sandslash, use Fury Swipes!" Nikolaus commanded.

Eevee couldn't see where Sandslash was from this sandstorm, but the evolution Pokémon got swiped out of nowhere by Sandslash's two front claws, then again, and again, and again, and again for the fifth time with Eevee crying in pain with each swipe and taking even more damage from the sandstorm.

"EEVEE, HANG IN THERE!" Leaf shouted. "Focus where Sandslash is coming from and use Take Down!"

"Sandslash, end this round by using Slash!" Nikolaus countered.

Eevee closes its eyes and focuses. Once the evolution Pokémon starts hearing footsteps getting closer and closer on their left, Eevee's ears pop up. "Eevee!" Eevee charges directly where the sound of the footsteps is coming from and slams into whatever is coming from the left side.

The sandstorm all of a sudden starts clearing, revealing that Sandslash has fainted from the battle, signaling that Eevee managed to strike Sandslash as the referee holds up the green flag. "Sandslash is unable to battle!"

Leah jumps up in the air in excitement. "You did it, Eevee, you did it!"

"Eevee!" Eevee cheers happily, however, Eevee also falls onto the ground and faints from the recoil damage it took from using Take Down.

"No!" Leaf shrieked.

The referee also holds up the red flag. "And Eevee is also unable to battle, which means this round is a draw!"

As Leaf and Nikolaus both recalled their Pokémon, it pans to Jessie and her friends in the crowd. "It all comes up to this final round, both trainers are down to one Pokémon," James says.

"I hope Leaf wins!" Jessie says out loud, standing up.

This causes Annie to glare right at Jessie, a little jealous. "And why do you want her to win so much?"

Jessie slowly sits back down with an embarrassed smile and chuckles. "So I can battle her in the tournament, hehe…"

Meowth facepalms. "I wish I could move spots…"

Leaf and Nikalous both pull out their last Poké Balls they can use in this battle. "Venusaur, I choose you!" "Espeon, I choose you!"

Both Venusaur and Espeon materialize on the battlefield. "Venusaur!" "Espeon!"

Leaf smirks. "Your Espeon is just seconds of fainting after taking damage to my Alakazam!"

However, Nikolaus just smirks back at her. "That won't be for too long! Espeon, use Sunny Day!"

Espeon's red gem on its forehead starts glowing and then two white orbs shoot out from its gem into the sky. The two orbs combined to create one bright sun over the battlefield.

Jessie and her friends start sweating from the heat. "Can someone hand me some water please…"

"This heat!" James takes his jacket and shirt off because of how hot the temperature just got, being completely shirtless.

Oakley starts staring and drooling directly at James being shirtless. "That's extremely hot, oh my goodness…"

Annie replies to her sis without looking at her, thinking she's talking about the move Espeon just used. "I know what you're saying, sis, that move Espeon just used is extremely hot!"

Domino pulls out a water bottle and pours it all over her baby Azurill to cool the baby Pokémon down. "There you go, this should cool you off."

Azurill cries out happily. "Azurill!"

Leaf raises an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're planning, Nikolaus, but Venusaur isn't a water type and Espeon isn't a fire type, making your Sunny Day worthless!"

"Sure Leaf, whatever you say." Nikolaus chuckles.

Leaf growls. "Venusaur, use Razor Leaf!"

"Venusaur!" Venusaur starts launching multiple razor-sharp leaves at Espeon from the leaves from its back.

"Dodge them, Espeon!" Nikolaus countered.

Espeon dashes to the right, left, and then jumps over to dodge each razor-sharp leaf that Venusaur launched.

"Now use Morning Sun!" Nikolaus commanded.

"M-Morning Sun?" Leaf questioned.

"Espeon!" The gem on Espeon's forehead shines brightly and the damage that the Pokémon took from the battle with Alakazam earlier is all erased by completely healing full health.

"WHAT?!" Leaf yelled out in shock from seeing Espeon's health fully restored.

Nikolaus starts explaining. "You see Leaf, Morning Sun works by the current weather, and since it's such a 'sunny day' my Espeon's health is fully restored! That's why I used Sunny Day despite the fact my Espeon isn't a fire type and your Venusaur isn't a water type!"

"Then it's time to take it back down to its original health! Venusaur, use Sweet Scent!" Leaf commanded.

"Venusaur!" Venusaur releases a light green powder from the flower on its back at Espeon, making the Pokémon feel more relaxed.

"Espeon, use Psybeam!" Nikolaus commanded.

However, Espeon doesn't use Psybeam from the effects of Sweet Scent. "Espeon…"

"What?! Why aren't you using Psybeam, Espeon?!" Nikolaus questioned in shock.

"When Sweet Scent is in play, you can't command a move until the effects wear off as Espeon is too relaxed!" Leaf explained. Venusaur, use Vine Whip and slam Espeon onto the ground!"

"Venusaur!" Two dark green vines come out under the leaves on Venusaur's back and grab Espeon, picking the Pokémon up by its vines and slamming them down to the ground.

"Come on, Espeon, snap out of that Sweet Scent!" Nikolaus ordered.

However, Espeon still looks relaxed and dazed. "Espeon…"

"Venusaur, slam it down again with Vine Whip!" Leaf commanded again,

Venusaur lifts Espeon again in the air and slams the Pokémon down once more to the ground with Vine Whip.

Nikolaus looks at Espeon, who is still dazed and relaxed from the Sweet Scent, and starts to worry. "Come on Espeon, I know you can hear me! Stay strong!"

Leaf once more commands the same move for the third time. "Keep slamming Espeon down with Vine Whip one final time, Venusaur!"

Venusaur lifts Espeon in the air again with its dark green vines and then slams the Pokémon down again with its vines. After that, the Venusaur finally retrieves its vines back into its flower.

"That should be the end of it!" Leaf declared.

However, it wasn't. As soon as the referee was about to call the match, Espeon's eyes shot open and got back up immediately, shaking its head to snap back to reality from the Sweet Scent. "Espeon!"

"NO WAY, IT CAN'T BE!" Leaf shouted in shock. "After all of those Vine Whips, Espeon still able to battle?!"

"You better believe it, Leaf!" Nikolaus smirks. "Espeon, use Morning Sun!"

Espeon's red gem on its forehead starts glowing again.

Leaf needs to think of a strategy before Espeon heals up to its full health once more and she does. "I hope this works… Venusaur, cover Espeon's red gem with your vines to prevent Morning Sun!"

Nikolaus raises an eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

"Venusaur!" Venusaur extends its vines from its back directly at Espeon, rapping its head around and covering the Pokémon's red gem, preventing Morning Sun from being used.

"Espeon?!" Espeon cries out in shock and confusion.

"Now that you have Espeon right where you want them, use Solar Beam!" Leaf commanded.

The inside of the flower on Venusaur's back glows white as sunlight is gathered in it.

Leaf clutches her fist. "And thanks to your Sunny Day from earlier shining in the sky, my Solar Beam is more powerful than before!"

"ESPEON, GET OUT OF VENUSAUR'S GRASP!" Nikolaus yelled out.

"Espeon!" Espeon tries to escape from Venusaur's grasp, but the seed Pokémon has Espeon locked tightly.

Leaf points directly at Espeon. "Now!"

"Venusaur!" Venusaur then fires a white beam of energy from its flower right at Espeon, causing a huge explosion.

After the explosion, Venusaur retrieves its vines back into its plant on its back as it's revealed Espeon has fainted and the harsh sunlight disappears. The referee holds up the green flag. "Espeon is unable to battle! The winner of this battle and moving on is the green corner, Leaf Oak!"

"Venusaur, you did it!" Leaf runs up to the battlefield and hugs her Pokémon.

"Venusaur!" Venusaur cheers happily.

As Leaf is hugging her Venusaur, she looks around the crowd and then spots Samantha in there, slowly clapping at her victory. She gets up, turns around, and starts leaving the stadium. Leaf remembers the hair color that tried to steal Meowth earlier and glares at Samantha while her back is turned. "That blonde hair… it has to be her. She tried to steal Meowth earlier!"

It cuts to the crowd where Jessie and her friends are at. "Finally, the heat is gone!" James puts his shirt and jacket back on.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Oakley yells out loud.

"Don't worry sis, I'm sad too that the battle is over. That was such a great match!" Annie once more assumed what her sister meant.

Jessie clutches her first together in excitement. "Leaf won, that means Leaf moves on which means I have a higher chance of facing her in the tournament!"

"Someone wants to face Leaf so badly." Domino chuckles.

"Well of course! I want revenge for her beating me on Route 22!" Jessie replied.

Meowth scoffs. "Good luck with that."

Nikolaus sighs and recalls his Espeon. "Espeon, return!" He then looks at the Poké Ball. "You did great as always, Espeon. I'm proud of you!" He then turns around and starts exiting the stadium.

Leaf notices this, recalling her Venusaur, and then following Nikolaus outside of the stadium. "Nikolaus, wait!"

Nikolaus turns around. "Oh hey Leaf, that was some nice battle we had. Great match!" He extends his arm for a handshake to Leaf.

Leaf nods and accepts the handshake. "You did so well, Nikolaus. That Sunny Day and Morning Sun combined to heal your Espeon in full health, that was so smart! I thought you had me there. Also, there's something I just realized when you sent out your Sandslash, which caused me to be distracted back there."

Nikolaus raises an eyebrow. "What is it, Leaf?"

"Well, we didn't exactly meet back on Cinnabar Island." Leaf starts explaining how they met. "It was actually in high school, Kanto High. I asked you to let me borrow one of your Pokémon for a Pokémon battle I was going to have and you lent me your Sandslash to use."

Nikolaus' eyes widened. "That was you?!" He then now realizes. "That was you after all! Wow, what a shocking turn of events!" Nikolaus chuckles.

Leaf also chuckles with him. "Well, I got to go and celebrate this win with my friends." She turns back around, about to head back to the stadium.

Nikolaus sees Leaf start heading back to the stadium and wants to ask her one thing. "Leaf, wait!"

Leaf stops in her tracks and turns back around. "Yes, Nikolaus?"

"Remember on Cinnabar Island, I asked you to come with me and we both can be traveling companions? Well… I still want to travel with you, Leaf." Nikolaus admitted.

"Oh… I see." Leaf looks down. "I was more of an alone person, but… I don't know."

"Please think about it and when we both cross paths again, give me your answer, okay?" Nikolaus suggested.

Leaf looks back up at Nikolaus with a smile and nods. "Done! I will, Nikolaus, when we meet again!"

"Thank you, Leaf. I guess this is goodbye for now. Good luck in the league, Leaf." Nikolaus tells Leaf what happened earlier with Samantha." Also, earlier this morning before our battle, some girl with blonde hair named Samantha asked me to show my badges to her for some reason."

"Samantha huh?" Leaf immediately knew who Nikolaus was talking about. "Interesting."

"Yeah, I thought you should know. Anyways, goodbye, Leaf!" Nikolaus waves goodbye to Leaf before turning around and leaving.

Leaf waves goodbye back and watches Nikolaus leave, still smiling. As soon Nikolaus disappears out of view, Leaf's smile fades into a serious glare. "What are you up to, Samantha… what are you up to?…"

"The battle came down to that last wire, but Leaf managed to pull through at the very end and move on to the league tournament." The scene displays Jessie on the right and Leaf on the left. "With both rivals, Jessie and Leaf, in the top eight, will both of them cross paths and face each other or will the power of technology prevent it? Find out as the journey continues!"