Heavyweight Matchup

After Lunch was finished we all separated yet again to continue earning points for the tournament, though this time I had Chloe and Lillie following me since they themselves weren't participating. While Lucario also had his shadow following him.

"So who are you going to challenge next, Ace?" Chloe asked me.

"A Gym Leader once we find one. With so many of them here it would be a waste to not collect as many Badges as possible." I answered.

"Are there any Gym Leaders in particular that you're looking for?" Lillie asked curiously.

"Koga is my top target right now, as the only Gym Leader on board from the Kanto region that I don't have a Badge from. Aside from him I also want to battle Whitney and Clair to gain more Johto Badges, though I'm not too picky just yet. We still have two and a half days after all."

"And it seems as if this Koga is avoiding us. Perhaps you hurt his pride too much by revealing his hiding spot before?" Lucario added while pointedly ignoring his shadow.

"Its possible... Plus I could definitely see a ninja saying 'if you want to battle me, come and find me'."

"Indeed. Shall I start searching while you focus on battling others?"

"Knock yourself out Lucario. Just remember one thing though..."

"???"

"Wrap it before you tap it."

"???"

"I have no idea what you are trying to allude to." Lucario stated, before disappearing as he went to go find Koga for me. I could also sense his shadow following him, her aura blazing with determination.

I mentally wished her luck while Chloe, Lillie and I continued looking for more challengers. Though from the outside it probably looked more like a date as I bought them smoothies and a couple of souvenirs, which made Chloe blush when I pointed it out while Lillie turned completely scarlet.

We continued like this until I noticed a commotion going on, which we went to see before realizing it was Brendan battling against a man who shared similar physical features to him. And if there had been any doubt regarding who the man was, it was dispelled a second later when I heard Max shouting from the sidelines.

"Go dad! Get him Brendan!"

Hearing what Max was saying, along with him cheering for both parties, confirmed that this was Norman of the Petalburg city Gym in Hoenn. And now, my next target.

I watched as Norman's Zangoose fiercely battled against Brendan's Seviper, a battle all the more intense when one knew they were natural enemies. Kinda like my Tinkatink and Rookidee...

Putting the troublesome duo out of my mind for now, I focused on the battle before me as the Zangoose darted about Seviper with fury and murder in it's eyes, it's claws bared and ready to attack. At the same time Seviper flicked it's forked tongue repeatedly, all while baring it's bladed and poison dripping tail.

I watched the battle with interest and studied how both Brendan and Norman commanded their pokemon. It was also the first time I had seen one of the 'protagonists' battle firsthand.

Brendan was entirely in his element as he commanded his Seviper, even more so than his Gym Leader father as his pokemon skillfully blocked or evaded every single attack coming at it. His eyes darted about the arena to take in every single detail, and his pokemon was able to determine exactly what he wanted from the barest of commands. This guy was definitely a Champion in the making, and I couldn't wait to see the others in action now as well.

Eventually the match came to an end as Brendan had his Seviper do a Poison Fang attack that missed the agile and speedy Zangoose, but was actually a feint that drew Zangoose in for a clean Brick Break to the back of the head with Seviper's tail.

"Zangoose is unable to battle! Seviper and Brendan win!" The drone declared, before flying off to the next match.

"An excellent battle as always, son." Norman said as he quickly returned his Zangoose, and Brendan did the same with his Seviper.

"Thanks dad. I've been working with Seviper and a few others to open up some variety in my team, I'm glad that its paying off." Brendan said while approaching his father, before the two smiled and grabbed each other in a manly hug.

Norman then said in a voice so silent I was probably the only one who overheard, "I truly am proud of the young man you have become. Now go on and win this whole tournament."

"I will, dad." Brendan answered in an equally quiet voice, before the two separated.

Seeing the two of them made me wonder once again about my own absent father, but I had nothing to go off regarding who he was other than the brief memory when I was first reborn. And mom never said anything about him, let alone his name.

"Ace?" Brendan said suddenly, drawing me out of my thoughts as father and son approached me. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Brendan. I was just looking for another Gym Leader to challenge and came to see what the commotion was. Glad I did though."

As I said that I looked to Norman with a look that had my intentions plastered all over my face.

"I see I have another challenger!" Norman said with a smile, his aura spiking at the idea. There were probably few Gym Leaders and members of the Elite Four, if any, who would reject a challenge from me during this tournament after my battle against Cynthia.

"I hope you're ready for me." I said, pointing out the battle he and his son just had.

"Of course I am! Brendan and I already had our battle long before we boarded the SS. Anne, so now we just spar occasionally to test some of our pokemon."

As Norman spoke we took our places on either end of the arena, and the drone returned to officiate our battle.

"Ace Ketchum versus Norman of the Petalburg city Gym!" the drone announced, before Norman suggested,

"How about a two on two?"

"Sounds good to me." I answered while swapping out some of my pokemon.

"You may now begin!"

"I choose you, Spinda!"

"SpinnnnnDAAAAAA!"

I blinked in surprise as a curious looking pokemon appeared in the arena, one that resembled a panda with red spots that seemed to be completely unstable on it's feet.

"I see... Then I'll choose you, Lickitung!"

"Tuuuuuung!"

As Lickitung appeared she put her hands up in the air as if to say 'Iam here', before turning around and giving me her signature Lick.

"Again..." I groaned while trying to wipe the slobber off, and ignoring the giggles of the two girls on the sidelines.

"Tung!" She declared, stating 'of course!'

"A Lickitung huh? How interesting." Norman said with curiosity in his eyes.

"Humph! Ace wants to use a normal type against a normal type specialist like dad? He's a fool!" I heard Max declare from the sidelines.

"Be quiet and watch, Max." Brendan said while giving him another Gibbs smack. This made Max pout while rubbing the back of his head, all while a woman who seemed to be their mother watched us with a smile.

"Well then, lets say we get this battle started? Spinda, Teeter Dance!"

"Spindaaaaa!" The panda-like pokemon cried out in affirmation, before it began an unusual dance that made it look even more unsteady on it's feet. Watching almost made ME feel confused, while I also noticed a few people in the gallery growing unsteady on their feet as well.

Lickitung as well began bobbing her head while trying to follow Spinda's movements as it slowly got closer, until Norman suddenly cried out, "Now! Sucker Punch!"

"Spin!"

As if they had the opening they were waiting for, Spinda launched itself at Lickitung with dark type energy gathering it's fist. Right before the move could connect though....

"Tuuung!"

Lickitung stuck out her tongue so that it was between her and Spinda, allowing it's Sucker Punch attack to harmlessly slide off her slobbery tongue instead of hitting her body.

"You'll have to do better than that Norman." I said with a smirk. "My Lickitung is both Oblivious and marches at her Own Tempo!"

"Tung Tung!" Lickitung declared while putting her hands on her hips, basically saying 'thats right', even though I also called her Obvlivious.

"How interesting! Looks like we'll have to change tactics for this one Spinda!" Norman declared with a wide grin.

"Spin spin!"

"Use Assist!"

I blinked at the sudden order as Spinda's ears began glowing in preparation for the move.

"Use Rollout Lickitung." I quickly ordered her, which she readily obeyed as Lickitung tucked herself into a rocky ball.

Assist was a wildcard move that pulls ANY random move that can be used by another pokemon in Norman's party. It was more narrowed than a move like Metronome, but that made it more dangerous since it was less of a gamble.

"Spinda-da-da!"

With a cry Spinda suddenly began moving at a faster rate, probably from using Agility, which also sped up the tempo of it's nonsensical dance. And since it's dance steps were completely random, that made it impossible to predict as Lickitung rolled right by Spinda.

"Oh? Looks like Assist went well~!" Norman said with a smirk, before turning serious as he ccommanded, "Spinda, use Assist once more!"

"Spinda!"

Once again it began building up power for the random move, while Lickitung came back in for another attempt at attacking it.

"..."

I focused all of my intent on Spinda in order to try and determine which move it would use this time before it used it, and right as the power it had amassed reached it's peak, I felt it shift to ground type energy.

'Lickitung! Use your tongue as a spring NOW!' I mentally commanded her, and she did just that as her tongue appeared and pressed against the ground, flexing to send her flying through the air while still maintaining her Rollout. And not a second too soon either.

Right as Lickitung made herself airborn, Spinda's Assist turned into an Earthquake that made every single one of us unsteady on our feet as the entire arena shook. It was a wonder that the ship could take this much abuse with no damage!

But then Lickitung had to come down from her impromptu flight, and did so right on top of Spinda's head right as the Earthquake was about to end.

"Spin....da...."

"Hit it again Lickitung!"

"Its coming back Spinda!"

Norman and I both shouted, prompting our pokemon into action. Well, MY pokemon at least.

Spinda was apparently too dazed from that hit to the head to even keep dancing as it teetered slightly in place, leaving it completely open as Lickitung came in for another attack, and then a third, and then a fourth. After that one Lickitung had to stop using Rollout, but that was fine since Spinda fell to the ground after that attack, and didn't look like it was going to get back up.

"Spinda is unable to battle! Lickitung wins!" The drone announced, prompting a cheer from the gallery as Lickitung returned to my side.

"Good job!" I said, holding my hand out to her.

"Tung!" She declared, high-fiving me in return...with her tongue.

"..."

I decided not to say anything, this time, but even if I did I wouldn't have gotten far with what happened then.

Lickitung then began to glow as she grew a couple feet taller, and notably more round, before the glow faded to reveal my newly evolved Lickilicky.

"Licky!" She cried out happily.

"Congratulations!" I exclaimed, also pleased that she had finally managed to evolve. But of course, that meant one thing to Lickilicky...

"Licky!" She cried while whipping her tongue at me, and giving me the biggest and slobberiest Lick yet.

"..."

"Really...?"

"Licky!"

I shook my head at her as someone brought me a towel to wipe myself off with.

"Thank you." I said as I did just that, feeling as if the girl handing me the towel was familiar somewhat with her light-blue tank top, red skirt, and white hat.

"Don't worry about it~! Glad to help!" The girl said with a smile that I didn't quite trust, before I handed the towel back to her. The second she had it back in her hands though...

"GET YOUR AUTHENTIC ACE KETCHUM USED TOWEL OVER HERE! FRESHLY USED AT A STEAL OF ONLY 50,000 POKEDOLLARS!"

I don't know if I should've been offended that she just used me to make a quick buck, or impressed that people ACTUALLY began placing bids for the towel as she walked away.

"You better get used to it." Norman said with a wry smile. "The people back in Petalburg city are the same way towards me, and Brendan's success in the League has only made them worse..."

I shared a sympathetic smile with Norman, having already spent quite a bit of time in limelight back in my previous life, while also wondering where I had seen this girl from. I was quite certain that we had never actually met before, cause if so then I would have recognized her right away. Especially with her wearing a skirt so short it looked as if she was about to flash all of us here at any given moment. Yet somehow she never did...

"On to the next round?" Norman asked me suddenly, drawing my attention back to the battle.

"Of course!" I declared, pulling out my next pokeball while Lickilicky stood attentively beside me. I already had a good idea of who Norman would use next, and had my own counter for it prepared.

"Alright then! Go Slacking!"

*Crash!*

"SLAAAAAAAAACK!"

As I expected, a massive ape-like pokemon appeared in the middle of the arena while looking ready to do battle. It did NOT live up to it's title as the 'Lazy' pokemon.

"Try this one on for size!" I declared while sending out my own pokemon. "SNORLAX!"

"LAAAAAAAAAX!"

I swear the entire front of the fucking ship started dipping a little as Snorlax appeared, adding well over a thousand pounds to the total weight on the ship all at once.

"Well I can't say I haven't always wanted to see THIS matchup!" Norman said with a wide smile upon seeing Snorlax.

"You mean no one has challenged Slacking with a Snorlax before now?" I asked him.

"Nope! They typically try to use a fighting type pokemon to battle us due to their advantage over normal types, so this match should be pretty interesting!"

Unfortunately, neither of us knew just how accurate that statement would be, as at that moment both Snorlax and Slacking caught sight of a certain someone.

"Licky?"

""😍😍😍""

Literal hearts seemed to appear in BOTH of their eyes as the two pokemon caught sight of Lickilicky, and they both quickly hurried over to her as if we weren't trying to have a battle here.

"Slacking!"

"Licky?"

"Snorlax!"

"Licky?"

"Slack! Slacking!"

"Snore snore, Slorlax!"

"Lick?"

I had to fight the urge to facepalm as both Snorlax and Slacking tried to woo Lickilicky, only to start arguing between the two of them since neither one wanted to share. Meanwhile poor Lickilicky was completely Oblivious to what was going on around her. I guess that ability was both a blessing and a curse sometimes...

"Is there going to be a battle?" One of the people watching from the side asked after a couple minutes.

"Just wait a moment. Snorlax and Slacking are starting to get pissed at one another." I said, giving them a little bit of the context for what was going on.

"Slack slack, Slaking!"

"Oh my..."

"Lax lax, Snorlax!"

"Oh shit!"

"What? Do you know what they're saying?" Norman asked curiously.

"Ummm.... I don't want to repeat the entire thing, but Snorlax just said some choice words to Slacking about it's mother being a Skitty, and then something about a Wailord..."

"""..."""

NO ONE knew how to respond to that one, and I didn't even give the full context of what was actually said...

"SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKING!"

"Oh! That seemed to do the trick!" I exclaimed, as Slacking roared in fury and charged at Snorlax.

"Alright then! Slacking, use-"

"SLACK!"

"Huh?"

Norman wasn't the only one confused as Slacking completely ignored whatever order he had been about to give, and instead tried to attack Snorlax in his blind fury, raising one of his massive fists to use the move Hammer Arm.

NORMALLY this move would be devastating on another normal type pokemon coming from a Slacking, but unfortunately for him the opponent this time was Snorlax. And Snorlax had several feet of height on him, as well as being AT LEAST four times heavier.

The jolly fatass didn't even flinch as the massive fist slammed into him at full force, the most it did being the ripples that spread through his fat all over his body from the impact.

"Snore snore." Snorlax taunted Slacking, stating that it's attacks were too wimpy and pathetic.

"Snore!"

Snorlax then moved at alarming speeds for something of his....mass, using the move Heavy Slam to literally send Slacking flying across the area. Then, with great steps that made the ship shudder underfoot, Snorlax charged at Slacking while using the move High Horsepower, bulldozing the poor pokemon with his entire body behind him.

To his credit though, Slacking managed to make a comeback as he planted his hands into the ground after taking Snorlax's attack, and used his longer reach to drive both feet into his head for an explosive double Mega Kick.

This time Snorlax was the one was dazed as he stagged unsteadily on his feet from the attack, while Slacking returned to his own as he prepared for more, though he too was incredibly battered and exhausted.

"Aren't Slacking usually supposed to be slow and lazy?" I asked norman curiously.

"Typically, but they can really get moving with the right motivation." Norman responded, though his wry smile told me this was probably the first time Slacking was so 'motivated'.

"Slacking!"

As if proving his point, Slacking roared at that moment as he charged Snorlax once more, building up a tremendous amount of energy as he did so.

"Oh boy... Giga Impact..." Norman groaned.

"Snorlax, get ready!" I called out to him, snapping him out of his dazed state as he realized Slacking was coming at him.

"Snorlax!" He declared while bracing himself, basically saying 'bring it on!'

*BOOOOM!*

There was practically a shockwave as Slacking slammed into Snorlax with all of his might, even managing to push Snorlax back just a foot or so. But my massive fatass won't go down so easily.

"Snor....LAAAAAAAAX!"

With a great cry, Snorlax grabbed Slacking and lifted him up into the air, stunning everyone before we watched him slam Slacking back down onto the ground beside him with all his might.

*CRASH!*

We felt the floor shake beneath us yet again at the impact, and Slacking did not move from where he had been dropped. But Snorlax wasn't finished just yet.

We then watched with horror as Snorlax turned his back on Slacking, and proceeded to sit down on top of his head.

"He's fucking dead..." One of the bystanders exclaimed, a sentiment shared by just about everyone else here as they all probably imagined what it was like to have a Snorlax sit on you, let alone your head.

"Slacking is unable to battle! Snorlax wins!"

With the drone making it's declaration, it then flew off while Snorlax slowly rose to his feet, his victory undeniable.

"Did you really have to sit on him?" I asked Snorlax with undisguised exasperation as he returned to my side.

"Snorlax~." He said without any form of regret or consideration, before going straight for Lickilicky.

"Snore snore Snorlax!"

"Licky?"

I shook my head as he attempted to woo Lickilicky, who was still as Oblivious as ever.

"Is he ok?" I asked Norman, directing my attention to Slacking instead of the botched attempts for love happening beside me.

"Yeah, just knocked out and probably concussed, but I don't think there's any lasting damage." Norman said as he hurriedly looked Slacking over, before returning him to his pokeball.

"I would still hurry and take him to get looked at, just in case." I advised, to which Norman nodded in agreement.

"I will, I just want to give you this before I go."

As he said that, Norman handed me a Badge that liked like a couple of dumbells. My first Hoenn badge!

"Thank you." I said with genuine sincerity.

Norman nodded and said, "you and your pokemon earned it. I don't think I've ever seen a Snorlax that strong, and I can't wait to see just how strong it'll get."

With that said, Norman collected his wife before the duo made their way to the Pokemon Center, leaving the rest of us here by ourselves.

"I don't think I've ever seen Slacking take a beating like that." Brendan said as he approached me along with Max, Chloe and Lillie.

"That's cause Ace trains Snorlax a lot! I've never heard of someone training one like he does." Chloe said as she clung to my side.

"Well, I think a big part of the outcome of this battle was Snorlax's own motivation though..." I said while glancing at him, only to see that Snorlax had become slightly dejected as Lickilicky ignored his advances.

"Go ahead and return you two." I said, calling them back to their pokeballs. As I did that, a new voice suddenly spoke up.

"I'd say that was quite the profitable battle~! We need to work together more often Ace Ketchum!"

I looked to see the same girl that gave me a towel earlier approaching us, as she counted a stack of money in her hand. She then tucked it away and offered her hand while saying,

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Leaf Green."