Ace vs Morty

"Oh my Mew..." Lance uttered as he beheld Charizard for the first time, making the 'Meowth' in my arms look at him curiously.

I'm pretty sure I had a smug smirk on my face as the Champion circled my starter a few times to get a really good look at him, with Charizard even posing for him as if to say 'check me out'.

"I can feel the heat radiating off of his body from here..." Lance uttered in awe.

"His internal fire is significantly hotter than normal. The day he hatched I woke to find him curled up on my chest, and it felt like I nearly died of dehydration." I explained to him.

"Amazing... How old is he?"

"He hatched only a couple days after I started my journey.....so roughly a month?" I said while trying to mentally count the days.

"!!!"

"So young!" Lance exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, but he's been in quite a few intense battles. There was the time we got swarmed by an army of Beedrill in Viridian Forest, the cavern of Paras and Parasect under Mt. Moon, and then the battle the other day. Plus there's our usual training twice a day on top of that."

"I see... So this guy started from a young age..."

"I can see now why the cult of Ho-Oh is so interested in it..." Morty said suddenly, catching my attention.

"Well of course! After all, he was blessed by Ho-Oh himself when he was still in his egg!" I stated factually.

"""!!!"""

Lance, Morty, and even Agatha all looked at me in alarm as I said that, while Misty snorted as she asked, "What happened to keeping that a secret?"

I looked at her and said with complete seriousness, "the main reason we needed to keep that secret was because we didn't want to attract attention just yet. But now Team Rocket is already after me, I revealed the existence of Charizard back in Cerulean when I battled Gary, and now apparently the cult already has their eyes on him. There's no point hiding it anymore."

"I'd agree. But can we go back to Ho-Oh blessing your Charizard?!" Lance asked me urgently.

"Hm? Oh yeah! The day I got Charizard's egg and started my journey, we saw Ho-Oh north of Pallet town. I didn't realize it until he hatched, but apparently he blessed Charizard's egg at the time."

Even as I spoke like it was nothing, I saw the eyes of Lance and Agatha twitch irritably. However Morty remained calm as he refuted,

"I'm sorry Ace, but I highly doubt that was Ho-Oh you saw that day."

"Oh?" I asked with narrowed eyes. "And what makes you say that Morty?"

"Because..." He began with a hint of sadness to his expression and tone. "No one has seen or heard from the great Ho-Oh in centuries. Not since the original Tin Tower was burned down by those who desired its power for themselves."

"Ok..." I said with a bit of impatience at his story. "Just because no one has seen Ho-Oh in all this time, doesn't mean it's not still around. I mean, doesn't the cult of Ho-Oh still exist as well?"

"They do, but that's part of why they're so desperate to obtain your Charizard. They believe that it is a sign their lord is returning, and will in turn lead them into battle against the 'false gods' of Kanto."

My eyes narrowed dangerously upon learning the goal of the cult of Ho-Oh, which bled into my aura to also make each of my Pokemon that were present agitated along with me.

"They can TRY, but if ANY of them so much as lay a single finger on my Charizard, then I'll use him to burn their entire cult to the ground." My declaration was punctuated by Charizard opening his mouth to expel a torrent of flame that made everyone around him except for me back up in alarm.

"And just so you know Morty, even the true alpha Gengar recognized Charizard as having the power of Ho-Oh. It was because of that that it ignored all of us and focused entirely on him. If it hadn't been for Mewtwo's timely arrival, I would've had to watch my starter be eaten."

Incredulous looks focused on me as I recounted the events leading up to Mewtwo's arrival, while Charizard snorted in agreement with a puff of smoke coming from his nostrils.

"I see... That's horrible." Morty said after a moment, before adopting a firmer look as he declared, "Ace, I want to battle you!"

"Huh?" I uttered, surprised at the sudden challenge.

"That's right. I want to have a battle with you, the person who claims to have seen and received a blessing from Ho-Oh itself." He stated with a completely different tone and attitude than he'd had before.

"Oh? And why so suddenly?" I asked him.

"Because, ever since it burned in the fire, my family has watched over and guarded the original Tin Tower. Not only was it a good refuge for the ghost Pokemon that we specialized in, but my ancestors believed that Ho-Oh would return to it one day. I may not necessarily believe like my ancestors did, but I still intend to honor their wishes. And if someone has appeared with the favor of Ho-Oh, then I want to see what they're made of."

As Morty finished speaking I looked at him for a moment, before a smile spread on my face.

"You know what, my Pokemon need the exercise anyways. I'm in, on the condition that I get the Fog badge when I win." I told him.

"Ha! Alright then, so long as you use your Charizard as well." Morty said as he added his own condition.

"You've got a deal!" I exclaimed, already having planned to have Charizard participate to give him a test run.

"Honestly..." Misty groaned from the side, while Dawn and May both just giggled.

"What's this I hear about a battle?" Lucario asked as he came over with Pidgeot and Chansey.

"Oh nothing much. Just the Leader of the Ecruteak City Gym challenging us." I told him with a smirk.

"Nice, right after I finished my warmup too!" Lucario declared excitedly, before glancing at the 'Meowth' in my arms. "Who's your friend?"

"It was in my room when I woke up." I told him honestly, though Lucario cocked a brow when I left it at that.

"D-did your Lucario just TALK!?!" Morty exclaimed in shock behind me, making the two of us look back to see them once again gawking at us.

"Yeah? There's nothing too strange about that." I told him seriously.

"Yes there is! Pokemon don't talk like people!"

"Mewtwo does, and so did the alpha Gengar." I pointed out.

"Yeah, LEGENDARIES!" Morty specified.

"Sweet. Hear that partner, you're basically a Legendary Pokemon!" I told Lucario while clapping him on the shoulder.

"It's about damn time!" He declared with his nose in the air.

As Lucario and I were messing around, the girls approached the Champion and co as May said wryly, "you really shouldn't try and use common sense around Ace."

"Every time I think I'm used to his strangeness, he always throws a curveball at me..." Misty added while nodding in agreement.

"But at least things are always interesting." Dawn pointed out.

If only they knew...

I couldn't help but to think that as Lucario, Pidgeot, Chansey and I all made our way to one side of the arena behind the Pokemon Center, where we waited for Morty to make his way to his.

"Are you going to let that Meowth down yet?" Lucario asked as I made no move to do so.

"Nah. I don't think it'll let me if I tried." I said wryly, to which the little 'Meowth' mewled to say 'that's right'! Again, Lucario along with Pidgeot and Chansey all looked at the 'Meowth' curiously, obviously wondering why I was pampering it so much.

But not even Lucario could divine the true identity of my companion, as even its aura was that of an ordinary Meowth.

While we were talking the others cleared the arena for the battle, while Morty positioned himself in the space across from me as Lance took the position of officiator.

"Though it is not taking place in a Gym, as reigning Champion I declare this to be an official Gym match between Morty of the Ecruteak city Gym, and Ace Ketchum of Pallet town!" Lance declared as we prepared to start.

"This will be a six on six match, and only the challenger is allowed substitutions! Now send out your first Pokemon!"

With that, Morty grabbed his first Pokeball and stated as he tossed it out, "I choose you, Gengar!"

"Gengar!" The ghost type Pokemon cried as it appeared, making my brow twitch slightly as it did.

"Really?" I asked him in amazement, to which Morty replied,

"Yeah, really. Gengar has won me several battles without the need for any of my other Pokemon coming out." Morty replied.

"Ahhh..." I said out loud while looking the Gengar up and down. Well, at least it was nowhere near as strong as the last Gengar we fought...

"Come on out everyone!" I declared, calling out ALL of my Pokemon behind me before the silence was broken by a storm of cries. Thankfully I hadn't been able to send them back to the professor yet.

"Yeah, I'm happy to see you all as well. Right now though we got a Gym battle going on. So Exeggutor, get in here!"

"TOR!" Exeggutor cried out excitedly as he stomped out onto the arena across from Gengar.

"The first match will be Exeggutor versus Gengar! Begin!"

Sunny Day.

Immediately I willed Exeggutor through my aura to use Sunny Day, to which he complied as he created a mass of energy and sent it skywards. Not only would it passively boost Exeggutor's ability to comprehend and attack, but it would also affect Gengar since ghost Pokemon typically avoided sunlight.

"Reflect Type, and Perish Song." Morty calmly ordered, making me click my tongue as Gengar forcibly changed its ghost/poison typing to match Exeggutor's grass/psychic.

And then afterwards Gengar opened its mouth to produce a haunting sound that carried out over the arena. It wouldn't do anything right this moment, but if Exeggutor couldn't finish this battle fast enough, then he'll automatically be defeated whenever the song's power took effect. Which was completely random.

But that was ok.

Mega Stomp.

At my command, Exeggutor used his well developed leg muscles and psychic power to basically launch himself up into the air above the battlefield.

"What the..." I heard Morty utter as he watched Exeggutor go upwards.

"Keep your guard up Gengar!" Morty warned his Pokemon against whatever it was mine was doing.

But even as Gengar also looked upwards to do just that, I smirked as the light from Sunny Day blinded it. Changing its typing to grass may have made it more resistant to the power of the sun, but that didn't mean it could look directly at it like a Xatu. Plus it eliminated the greatest strength of the ghost type, which was their ability to become intangible in order to avoid physical attacks.

As Gengar was blinded by the light of the Sunny Day, Exeggutor came racing down with both his feet aimed right at it like a palm tree-shaped meteor.

*CRASH!*

Dust exploded outwards as Exeggutor came crashing down atop of Gengar, flattening it beneath his feet.

"That HAD to have done quite a bit of damage!" I exclaimed out loud as the cloud of dust enveloped the arena. After all, the psychical defense of most ghost type Pokemon was almost nonexistent since their go-to was become intangible to avoid attacks.

And judging by Morty's aura, my assumption was correct.

Though his expression and demeanor was calm, his aura was frantic as we waited for the dust to clear. Though I could tell through its own aura that Gengar wasn't down quite yet.

Solar Beam.

Communicating through aura again, I commanded Exeggutor to finish this as he rapidly gathered power from the sun, accelerated by the Sunny Day.

"Sucker Punch, Gengar!" Morty declared when he saw Exeggutor gathering energy.

"Gengar!"

With a cry the ghost Pokemon shot forward and sank a fist clad with dark type energy into Exeggutor's stomach, which he tanked like a champ before releasing Solar Beam directly into Gengar's face.

"Destiny Bond!" Morty shouted to his Pokemon despite the attack.

The powerful beam of energy continued on for a few seconds, before petering out to reveal a smoking Gengar, who then collapsed.

"TOR!" Exeggutor roared out victoriously, before I watched as all of the energy left his body so he too collapsed.

"And the first round, is a double knockout!" Lance declared as Morty and I both returned our Pokemon.

"As far as I'm concerned, you won." I said to Exeggutor's Pokeball, before returning it to my belt.

That was the problem with fighting ghost type Pokemon. Not only were they exceedingly tricky to fight to begin with with them being able to become intangible, but they also had a fighting style based mainly around tricks and traps.

Exeggutor had that match in the bag, but thanks to a move like Destiny Bond he got taken down alongside Gengar. But that was just a part of the game.

"You're next, Mismagius!" Morty declared as he tossed out the only ghost type Pokemon native to the Johto region.

"MisMAAAAAAG!" The Mismagius wailed as it appeared on the arena.

"I choose you, Mightyena!" I decided.

"Might!" Mightyena barked as he leapt out onto the arena.

"A dark type this time?" Morty asked with a wry smile.

"Battlers ready? Begin!" Lance declared once we had both sent out our Pokemon.

"Mismagius, Power Gem."

Dodge and Howl.

As the concentrated beam of energy fired at Mightyena, he did as I long since taught him and Houndoom.

From the very beginning, their training revolved around pushing their senses to the limit and using them in combat. So it was practically childs-play for Mightyena to sidestep the beam of rock type energy, before opening his mouth to let loose a long Howl.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And as he howled, I could feel Mightyena's aura intensify as his strength increased significantly.

Bite.

"Grrr!" Mightyena growled as he shot forward with his fangs bared.

"Don't let it get close Mismagius! Shadow Ball!" Morty commanded.

"Maaaaag!" Mismagius replied as it formed numerous Shadow Balls all around itself, but they were nowhere near as large or powerful as the ones used by Gengar before.

I didn't even have to give Mightyena an order as he deftly dodged the first Shadow Ball shot at him, and then the second before the third. He was used to working on his evasiveness after all, what with his usual sparring with the three Ratatta, now Raticate.

"Fly away Mismagius." Morty ordered before Mightyena could get too close.

To its credit, Mismagius would have gotten away if Morty was battling anyone else.

Mightyena leapt up in the air after Mismagius like he was flying, before sinking his fangs into one of its cloth-like spectral trails. With Bite being a dark type move, not even going intangible had been able to help Mismagius get away as Mightyena slammed it back down onto the ground.

And without me even giving an order, Mightyena put more strength into his jaws as he used Crunch this time on Mismagius itself.

The ghost let out a cry of pain as Mightyena jerked his head back and forth, before throwing it across the arena into a heap.

"Good job Mightyena. Now finish it off." I ordered him, and he began to prowl forward to do just that. Yet, despite the state of his Pokemon, Morty was still completely calm without giving it any orders.

"Mis....."

"Hm?" I looked over to Mismagius as it let out a soft cry, before it surprised me with what happened next.

"Mis Mis Mis... Mag mag..."

It began to cry.

"What the...?" I uttered in confusion, as I'd never seen a Pokemon cry during an actual match. Let along a Gym Leader's Pokemon.

I wasn't the only one though, as Mightyena slowly approached Mismagius with worry on his face.

"Don't let your guard down!" I warned him, but it was futile.

"MAG!" Mismagius suddenly cried out as it used Astonish, startling Mightyena and making him recoil with surprise.

"Now! Mystical Fire!" Morty quickly ordered.

Again, Mismagius opened its mouth. But instead of sound it belched out a torrent of flames that engulfed Mightyena from point blank.

"Awooooo!" Mightyena howled again, but this time out of pain as he was engulfed in flames and his fur set alight.

"Sand Attack!"" I commanded him urgently, to which Mightyena complied despite being on fire. And as the sand went flying, it slowly began to smother the flames.

Thankfully the flames were put out soon, but there were still numerous patches of smoldering fur that were continuously burning him.

"You got this Mightyena! Just a little longer!" I told him encouragingly.

"Grrrrrr...."

Mightyena growled angrily as he glared at Mismagius, before something happened that I hadn't been expecting.

This time HIS mouth erupted with flames as he lunged at Mismagius to bite down onto it.

Fire Fang!

"Mismagius!"

The ghost Pokemon cried as this time IT was bathed in intense flames while being crunched by Mightyena's fangs.

"Good job Mightyena! Keep it up!" I cheered him on as he kept the flames going all over Mismagius' body.

"Mismagius, Phantom Force!" Morty hurriedly commanded it.

"Magius!" Mismagius cried as its entire body disappeared.

"Stay alert Mightyena!" I told him while spreading my aura senses out for the slightest shift.

There!

Focusing my intent on the spot where I felt Mismagius' aura, Mightyena immediately turned and started amassing dark type energy.

Sucker Punch!

The attack hit Mismagius right as it appeared, when its guard was the lowest since it had been preparing its own attack.

"Mismagius!" Morty cried out as his Pokemon took the hit, and stayed down.

"Mismagius is unable to battle! Mightyena wins!" Lance declared.

"Return!" Morty said as he returned Mismagius to its Pokeball.

"You too Mightyena. Let's have Chansey fix you up." I said as I called him back.

"Might!" Mightyena replied as he hurried back, and Chansey began to use both Heal Bell and Heal Pulse on him.

"You do know that disqualifies Mightyena from future rounds, right?" Lance said.

"Yeah, but that's ok." I told him, not at all worried.

"It's your choice. Go, Trevenant!" Morty declared, sending out something that surprised me.

Trevenant itself wasn't too surprising, since it was a possession type ghost Pokemon that were basically living trees, so they could be found anywhere with a dense forest. What WAS surprising was that instead of the usual brown bark with green leaves, it had white bark with red leaves.

"A shiny?" I asked him.

"Yep! But don't assume it's merely decoration." Morty warned me despite his prideful look.

"Don't worry, I won't. Go ahead, Sneasel!"

"Sneas sneas!" Sneasel cried out as she jumped out onto the arena, flexing her claws as she did so with an evil smirk.

"Sneasel versus Trevenant! Begin!" Lance declared.

"Will-O-Wisp!" Morty immediately cried out.

"Sneasel."

With a sneer, Sneasel vanished from her place before reappearing right beside Trevenant, her claws clad in darkness as she used Night Slash on it.

"Woah! Trevenant, Drain Punch before it gets away!" Morty quickly cried out.

"TREVENANT!" Trevenant roared as it smashed one of its large claws down onto Sneasel. Or so it seemed.

"Sneas!"

Sneasel sneered as appeared right behind Trevenant while forming numerous spears of ice.

"Look out Trevenant!"

Icicle Spear.

Without any hesitation, Sneasel sent every single icicle into Trevenant's back to deal significant ice damage.

Icy Wind.

"Sneas!"

With a cry, Sneasel followed up Icicle Spear with Icy Wind to freeze the ice fragments to Trevenant's body.

"Trevenant, Sunny Day!" Morty shouted, getting his Trevenant to relight the intense sunlight to help melt the ice. But neither Sneasel nor I intended to let the battle go on that long.

"Finish it Sneasel." I ordered her out loud.

"Sneas!" Sneasel cried in affirmation as she started to move even faster, bombarding Trevenant with a variety of ghost, ice, and dark type attacks to bring it down.

With all of the ice buildup on its body it was impossible for the Trevenant to keep up with her as Sneasel rushed around it, not that it could originally anyways.

"Tch... Trevenant return." Morty stated as he called his Pokemon back, disqualifying it from the match since its defeat was foregone.

"Good job Sneasel!" I told her as she came back to my side.

"Sneasel sneas!" She declared, saying 'of course'.

"Gro Grovyle." Grovyle praised her as well, as the main one she trained against.

"Seriously... What's with that thing's speed?" Morty asked me incredulously.

"She's got speed in spades, but hit her once and she pretty much done. She's completely a glass cannon." I told him while shrugging my shoulders.

"Interesting..." Morty uttered, before palming his next Pokeball. "Too bad she didn't go against this one though, go Chandelure!"

"Lure lure!" Cried out the Pokemon that came out next, an antique chandelier with haunting blue flames for light.

"Oh? That's a new one." I said with awe from the appearance of the Pokemon.

"So what next Ace?" Morty asked with a smirk.

"Well, if you're using fire then I will too!" I declared before turning towards my starter.

Charizard let out a deafening roar as he flapped his wings to create a powerful gust of wind, which lifted him up into the air before he settled back down on the arena.

"You do know that Chandelure has the Flash Fire ability, right?" Morty asked with a bit of humor in his voice.

"Oh really? Then I guess we'll just have to see who's flames are stronger!" I retorted back at him.

"This round will be Chandelure versus Charizard!" Lance declared while looking like he was bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. "Begin!"

"Chandelure, let's give them a taste of real fire! Overheat!"

"Chaaaaaaand!"

With a haunting cry, the Chandelure brought its candles together and aimed them at Charizard before a beautiful blue flame roared to life.

I could feel the heat from here as Charizard was engulfed in the blue flames, with even his entire figure being obscured from view by them.

"Meow?" The 'Meowth' in my arms mewled curiously, but I kept my eyes on the place where Charizard was the entire time he was taking the attack.

"Hey Morty, the funny thing about my Charizard..." I began as the flames began to die down. "Is that he also has the Flash Fire ability."

My comment was punctuated by another roar from Charizard as he spread his wings with enough force that he dispelled any remaining flames, revealing that he was no worse for the wear.

"Fly up." I told him with a smile, and he obeyed as my starter darted up into the sky.

"Let's see if Chandelure can withstand the flames of Ho-Oh." I told Morty with a smirk. "Flamethrower."

At my command, Charizard expelled a torrent of multi-colored fire that rivaled Chandelure's Overheat down at the arena. The heat made everyone recoil slightly as they tried to shield themselves from it, but Charizard continued spewing flames as the seconds ticked by.

"Enough." I ordered, and Charizard promptly closed his mouth and cut off the stream of fire. And as the flames died down, an awe-full sight greeted us.

The entire arena was glowing as Charizard reduced the ground to molten slag, while a badly charred Chandelure was just barely hovering above the glowing ground.

"Chandelure, return!" Morty declared as he called his Pokemon back.

"I guess the flames of Ho-Oh don't agree with ghost type Pokemon, even if they have the Flash Fire ability." I told him wryly.

"Yeah.... But how are we supposed to keep battling now?" Morty asked as he looked out over the molten arena.

"Here, Water Gun!" I cried out, before Gyarados, Milotic, Buizel and Wartortle all started spraying a torrent of water out onto the arena.

An explosion of steam enveloped us as the water hit the molten slag, supercooling it almost immediately.

"Clear the air Charizard." I ordered my starter, who began to beat his wings to clear the steam from the air before landing back in the arena.

"Keeping him in?" Morty asked, to which I nodded in affirmation. "Very well then, go Annihilape!"

I blinked as a grey Primeape with wild fur covering its body appeared, and leveled its glowing red eyes at Charizard.

"That's an angry monkey..." I uttered quietly.

"Mew?" 'Meowth' in my arms ask curiously.

"I'll explain later." I said to it, while also wondering if a new Pokemon was going to be born after this.

"Mew." It said contently as I started scratching it behind the ears.

""Meowth...""

"Persian..."

My own Meowth and Persian grumbled from seeing the stranger being pampered by me.

Please don't. This 'Meowth' can kick everyone's asses.

With the Legendary Pokemon pacified, I turned my attention back to the match as Lance declared,

"Annihilape versus Charizard! Begin!"

Flame Charge.

As I willed him, Charizard shot forward while cloaking his entire body in multicolored flames, his gaze firmly set on Annihilape.

"Endure!" Morty declared right before the two hit, prompting Annihilape to cross its arms before it protectively.

*CRASH!*

The impact shook all of us as Charizard charged directly into Annihilape, pushing it back all the way to the edge of the arena while the flames cloaking Charizard's body singed its fur.

"Endure it!" Morty repeated himself, to which Annihilape growled under the force of the attack it was bearing.

Fire Punch.

At my next prompting, Charizard released his charge as he raised both his claws up and clasped them together, before they were both clad in flames. He then brought his flame covered claws down atop Annihilape with enough force that the ground cracked underfoot.

"Endure it Annihilape!" Morty shouted yet again, confusing me since they had yet to make a single attack.

Just as Charizard started to let up on his Fire Punch though...

"Rage Fist!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAPE!"

Giving the first order to attack yet, Annihilape roared with fury as it swung its fist at Charizard.

*SMASH!*

The hit struck Charizard with enough force, that he was blasted clear back to the other side of the arena.

"Charizard!" I cried from seeing the hit.

"How do you like Rage Fist?" Morty asked me as his Annihilape prepared to pursue Charizard.

"The more damage Annihilape has taken before using it, the more effective it is. So thanks for powering it up for us." He continued with a smirk, which made my brow twitch irritably.

But I wasn't worried.

"Take to the skies and pepper it with attacks!" I ordered Charizard, who quickly leapt up before blasting the arena with fire once more.

Unlike last time though, Charizard wasn't powered up from his Flash Fire ability, so the flames weren't nearly as hot or intense. But it was still enough for Annihilape.

"Use Fling." Morty ordered calmly, before his Annihilape chucked something that it had at Charizard.

"Dodge it!" I ordered my starter, but he was unable to dodge in time due to his lack of experience flying.

"RAAAAA!" Charizard roared as he was brought crashing back down to the ground.

"The hell?" I uttered quietly, before I'd noticed what Charizard had been hit with. An Iron Ball.

"Now Thrash!"

"Annihilape!"

With a roar, Annihilape charged at Charizard with its fists and feet glowing.

Smokescreen.

Charizard growled as he expelled a haze of smoke from his mouth, obscuring half of the field so that Annihilape couldn't find him as it rampaged.

Flamethrower.

Being guided by my ability to sense aura, it was child's play for Charizard to locate Annihilape and make sure his attack hit its mark. And without any hesitation, a pillar of flame shot out from within the Smokescreen that engulfed Annihilape.

"Get out of there Annihilape!" Morty cried anxiously.

"I don't think so~!" I practically whistled as Charizard continued the Flamethrower, ensuring that Annihilape couldn't get away.

The attack was only called off when I gave Charizard the signal, to which he closed his mouth and cut off the flames to reveal a burnt up Annihilape.

"Annihilape is unable to battle! Charizard wins!" Lance declared.

"Damn... Return." Morty cursed as he called his Pokemon back.

"You too Charizard, come on back." I called to my starter, since he was probably tired after two rounds.

"Ra?"

"Yeah. You can use the rest buddy. But good job taking two of them out." I said while making sure to praise him.

"Last one..." Morty said as he grabbed his final Pokeball.

"Just to let you know Ace, this is the first Pokemon I received from my father after he came home from a trip to Hoenn."

As he said that, Morty tossed out the Pokeball to reveal one I wasn't quite expecting.

"Sableye!"

"Of course..." I said while looking at Morty's last Pokemon.

Sableye were unique amongst ghost type Pokemon since they also possessed the dark typing. As far as I was aware, they didn't have any type weaknesses except maybe fairy, and the only other one with the same typing I could think of was Spiritomb.

And naturally, I don't have ANY fairy type Pokemon.

"Let's see..." I uttered while thinking, contemplating which Pokemon I would use. I still had two left to use aside from Sneasel and Charizard, but one would definitely be Lucario as a last resort. But who to pick first...?

"Meow!"

"Huh?"

That was all that left my lips as the 'Meowth' in my arms leapt down, and trotted out in the middle of the arena.

"Meow meow meow!"

"Uhhh.... Ok..." I said, not quite knowing what else to say from the sudden request to 'play' as well. Earning numerous weird looks from my Pokemon at the same time.

"What's wrong Ace?" Lance asked while looking between me and 'Meowth'.

"Nothing... Let's go!" I declared, deciding just to go with the flow.

"So what's up with that Meowth anyways?" I heard May ask the other girls curiously.

"I don't know, he's been awfully weird about it." Misty responded.

"Maybe he plans to catch it as well?" Dawn suggested helpfully. I'm sorry Dawn, but I'm REALLY not qualified to catch this 'Meowth'!

"Either way, it's really exciting!" Joy stated excitedly.

"The next match will be Sableye and Meowth! Begin!" Lance declared.

"Sableye, use Power Gem Barrage!" Morty ordered immediately.

"Meowth, Protect?" I suggested, wondering if it'd actually listen to me.

"Meow!"

With a cry, a barrier of light appeared in front of 'Meowth' right as numerous gems surfaced on Sableye's body. Then each and every one fired a powerful beam of rock type energy at 'Meowth', only to be deflected by the Protect.

"Great! Now use Mud Shot!" I declared with a smirk.

"""!?!?!"""

"""WHAT!?!"""

Everyone exclaimed as I ordered the move, which was un-learnable by the Meowth line of Pokemon.

But 'Meowth' used it anyways.

"MEOOOOOOOOOWTH!" It cried while opening its mouth to spew a powerful blast of mud at Sableye.

"""HOW!?!?"""

My smirk widened as everyone exclaimed in disbelief, including the Sableye as it was bombarded with mud.

"Now give it an Earthquake!"

"Meow!"

Crying out playfully, 'Meowth' slammed its tail into the ground with enough force that entire area began to shake and shudder dangerously.

"Sableye!" It cried out in alarm as its footing became unstable.

"Sableye, use Zen Headbutt!" Morty quickly ordered.

"Sableye!" It declared while rushing forward at 'Meowth'.

"How about a Hyper beam?" I asked 'Meowth'.

"Meow!" It cried happily while opening its mouth yet again, amassing energy within.

"Ignore it Sableye!" Morty declared, since it was a normal type attack that ghost types like Sableye were immune to. Normally.

"Wait, what-!?!" Morty exclaimed in shock, as Sableye was engulfed in the blast of the Hyper Beam.

And when the light faded, we all beheld an unconscious Sableye in the middle of the arena.

"Sableye is unable to battle! Meowth wins the match, and Ace Ketchum wins the battle!" Lance declared, ending the battle.