Last time:

Alakazam could do nothing but gasp in shock as its body was consumed in the multicoloured light before dropping to the ground.

"Alakazam is unable to battle. Victory goes to Haunter," the referee announced raising the coloured flag that represented Ash's side.

"Not bad. Let's see what else you got," Ken Greene smiled towards his opponent. "Slowbro to the battlefield!"

Chapter 47: The Foreigner

Ash never thought he'd make it here, he was so close to winning that Indigo League Trophy, he was only a few battles away from Victory! This was like a dream come true to him and he could not believe that he had made it this far. Yesterday, he had stood in this very position in one of the most difficult matches he had ever had. He was sure that he was going to lose, however, he had managed it. How? He made a winning mistake.

You see, Ash found that Ken Greene had a bad habit of criticising his opponents. So much so, that he distracted himself by berating the raven-haired trainer for every mistake he made. In the end, that was his downfall. A mistake so obvious that Ken could not help but become so utterly frustrated that it left his Pokemon open for the attack.

Ash pulled himself from his thoughts, centred his mind and looked out to his opponent across the battlefield, grinning widely in anticipation. With brilliant blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, it was clear that his opponent was not from the Kanto Region. Furthermore, his Pokemon arsenal made it even more obvious. They were creatures that the boy had never come across in his life.

The announcer's voice rang out across the stadium, introducing Ash and the man opposite, "In the next round, we have Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, showing great promise on his first run of the Battle Circuit! We also have, from the far region of Hoenn, Logan Taylor. His water types have drowned the competition so far! Let's see what else he has in store!"

Ash stared across the field at his opponent, ignoring the sounds around him. "Good Luck!" He called, Pikachu flashing the opponent thumbs up but was met with a scoffed.

"Luck?" Logan growled, "You should save that for yourself Little Boy, prepare to get Demolished."

The raven-haired boy rolled his eyes at the man's confidence. Sure Ash had never battled against this mans water types before, however, he was confident that he could hold his own. After all, winning was not a priority for him anymore. He had made it further than he had ever dreamed and would not be disappointed if he lost. Heck, he had made it further than both of Gary's attempts. Although, that would not stop him and his team from trying their best.

The two were then told to call their first Pokemon, so as Ash called out his Pikachu, Logan threw out his Pokeball and shouted, "Staryu, go!"

Staryu is a golden-brown sea star-like Pokémon with five appendages. These appendages surround an exterior organ called the core, which is held in place by a golden ring looped around Staryu's left "leg". The core resembles a red jewel and is similar to a madreporite. It was also a Pokemon known in Kanto and one Ash has faced before.

"Pikachu, use thunder stock," the boy shouted and immediately the yellow mouse Pokemon ran towards Staryu, before leaping in the air and shooting a bolt of yellow thunder towards his opponents.

However, Staryu merely cartwheeled out of the way.

"Staryu, use water gun," the foreigner spoke confidently. Immediately, the brown starfish-like Pokemon jumped into the air with an exclamation of "HYAH," before slightly bending its top appendage and shooting a jet of water towards the Pikachu.

"Pikachu, dodge it," Ash told the Pokemon, who instantly moved aside, shouting "Pika!"

The water gun attack missed the yellow mouse Pokemon by a couple of inches. Close enough that he could hear the water rushing past him, making his ears twitch at the sound. Yet, far enough away that no damage was dealt.

"Thundershock, now!" the raven-haired trainer shouted.

"Psywave!" Logan called.

In the arena, everyone gasped as both attacks collided, meeting in the middle. The lights sent a shower of sparks into the sky, yet neither one gave in as they hoped to push back their opponents attack.

"You can do it, Pikachu," Ash told his friend as his hands clenched into fists. "Don't give up!"

The yellow mouse Pokemon's ears twitched as he picked up Ash's voice, then with a sudden wave on determination, he stamped his paws into the ground, securing his body in place. Then with a shout of "Pi-ka," more power was fed into the thundershock and the point where the two attacks collided grew ever closer to the Staryu.

BOOM!

"Staryu is unable to battle. The winner is Pikachu," the referee announced to the audience once the dust had cleared. The water type Pokemon lay flat on its back, spiralled eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

Logan huffed in annoyance before recalling Staryu and throwing out another Pokeball, "Poliwrath, go!"

Poliwrath was another Pokemon from the Kanto Region and was a blue, bipedal creature with muscular arms. It had bulbous eyes that protruded from the top of its head. Its belly is covered by a white and black swirl an there appear to be white gloves on its hands.

With Pikachu exhausted from the amount of power it took him to take out Staryu it did not take long for the water type to knock the yellow mouse Pokemon unconscious. Though, Ash's Pokemon did not go down easily. It took two dynamic punches and a bubble beam to defeat his friend.

So, upon his Pokemon's loss, Ash ran onto the field and held his friend to his chest as he slept in order to regain the energy lost in battle. Then returning to his position the boy threw out his second Pokemon of the match. "Haunter, I choose you!"

As the purple ghost and poison type Pokemon emerged he cackled wildly, as he regularly did when he was planning to pull some pranks and have fun with his opponent.

"You actually think you can defeat me with that Pokemon. I would like to see you try, boy, as I have much more battling experience than you," Logan said in a thick accent that made Ash think that he was some kind of rich Lord.

"Well, I guess we will have to see, won't we?" Ash asked not even the slightest bit riled up by the man.

"Haunter use mean look, then shadow punch," Ash ordered. It was one of the best combos that he had when it came to this Pokemon. Mean look would freeze his opponent solid with fear and shadow punch causes plenty of damage. And that was exactly what happened, although Poliwrath was still capable of fighting it was slightly weaker now.

"Poliwrath, use Dynamic Punch," Logan shouted.

Ash was about to tell his Pokemon to dodge but found that he had no need to as the Ghost and poison type turned himself invisible in order to escape the attack.

"Get behind it and use shadow punch again," Ash ordered.

As the invisible Haunter reappeared behind Poliwrath, Logan was unable to call out an order before the punch struck the water type, weakening it even more.

"Double Slap!"

Immediately, the water type turned to face Haunter, slapping the Pokemon only once before it disappeared once again. Cackling to himself as he went.

"Haunter, lick," Ash said with a smile knowing that he had won this round.

Once again the purple Pokemon reappeared behind Poliwrath, catching the Pokemon off guard as he ran his paralysing tongue down its blue bipedal body. The water type then began to stagger drunkenly around before collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Haunter had won this round.

"Poliwrath, return," Logan said before pulling out another Pokeball with a smirk, "Octillery, go!"

The Pokemon that emerged from the red and white Pokeball was one that Ash had never seen before. It was not even in the League database, meaning that this was the first time that Logan would be using it in the tournament.

Octillery is a red, cephalopod-like Pokemon with large, round eyes and a turret-like mouth. There are yellow lumps on its rock-hard head and yellow suction cups on each of its eight tentacles.

"Octillery, water gun," Logan ordered hoping to lore Ash into a false sense of security with the average water type move. However, what his opponent did not know was that his Pokemon also had attacks such as Aurora Beam, Gunk Shot and Rock Blast.

"Dodge it, Haunter," Ash said. After the Pokemon did as he asked, he continued, "Now, Confuse Ray!"

"Counter with gunk shot," the foreigner said calmly.

Before Haunter could aim the confuse ray at his opponent, he found himself hit in the eyes with the poison attack. Seeing no other way out of his current position, he turned himself invisible once again.

"Okay, Haunter shadow punch."

"Grab it and use aurora beam," Logan said.

So, as Haunter reappeared behind the Pokemon Octillery used one of its eight red legs to hold the ghost and poison type Pokemon's fist. After all, whilst the hand was not physically attached to Haunters body it was still part of him, so he could not go far without the limb. Therefore, as he hovered frozen in shock Octillery began to focus its energy towards its mouth. Until, finally, a stream of multi-coloured light burst forth and consumed the purple Pokemon.

"Haunter is unable to battle. Octillery wins," the referee sated and the audience screamed from their seats.

Quickly, Ash recalled his Pokemon and brought out his flying and normal type, Pidgeotto. However, even with the bird Pokemon's agility she still managed to get caught in Octillery's tentacles and hit with an aurora beam so powerful that she was down for the count. This meant that whilst Ash had three Pokemon left, Logan had four – the raven-haired trainer was certainly at a disadvantage now.

"Magnemite, I choose you," Ash shouted hoping the electric type would save him with its long-distance attacks. "Thundershock."

"Psybeam," Logan ordered and just like last time the two attacks connected.

However, instead of having Magnemite use up too much power like Pikachu did the boy ordered, "Breakaway and use a sonic boom."

Immediately, the electric and steel type Pokemon stopped its attack and moved higher into the air, letting the psybeam pass right under it. Then from the two magnets attached to its body came a thick white sound wave. It cut through the air like a hot knife through butter… and it hit its target dead on.

"Octillery's weakness was so clear, I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner," Ash muttered to himself. You see, the octopus-like Pokemon is unable to dodge attacks effectively because of its body type (it was too heavy and was made more for water than land)- especially when its suctions cups did more harm than good when it comes to movement.

"Logan sneered, "Octillery return. Azumarill go!"

Azumarill was yet another Pokemon Ash had not come across in his travels, however, from the League data, he knew that it was a water and fairy type meaning that it was weak to poison, grass and electric types.

Logans Pokemon was a blue, bipedal creature that had an ovoid body. The lower half of which was white with a white, bubble-like pattern above it – which, if Ash remembered correctly from when he was researching the Pokemon, helped it to camouflage in the water.

"Azumarill, play rough," Logan ordered.

Immediately, the aqua rabbit Pokemon began kicking, scratching, punching and bitting at Magnemite. Although this made Ash's Pokemon exclaim in shock, the fairy type move was not very effective.

"Magnemite, use magnet bomb," the trainer said.

Instantly, the Pokemon rose into the air as it glowed with the amount of white electricity it let run through its body. Then from the two magnets at either side of its form, half a dozen blue orbs fell, aimed towards the blue and white Pokemon underneath it.

"Dodge them," Ash's opponent shouted and Azumarill moved quickly to comply, running back and forth, left and right to avoid the balls.

"Now, Thundershock," the raven-haired trainer call out.

As the water and fairy type panted in the middle of the battle arena, a zig-zag of yellow thunder hurtled towards it. Ash thought that he had won this round until Logan said, "Azumarill, superpower."

It was almost as if Azumarill had disappeared altogether and reappeared right beside the electric and steel Pokemon. With that one move, it had managed to dodge and attack, forcing Magnemite down for the count. Leaving Ash with two Pokemon and Logan with three.

"Parasect, I choose you," Ash called out throwing his red and white Pokeball towards the arena.

"Use poison powder," he ordered as soon as the white light that was wrapped around the Pokemon dispersed.

"Defense curl," Logan countered, allowing for the Pokemon to escape the poisonous ar around it until it was separated by the wind.

"Rollout," the foreigner then shouted out.

Immediately, the blue Pokemon curled tighter into a ball and then rolled at a shockingly fast pace.

"Dodge it," Ash ordered and the bug and grass Pokemon quickly jumped to the right, only to find the water and fairy type following him.

With a click of panic Parasect leapt into the air, letting the Pokemon roll right underneath him. However, Azumarill kept returning.

"Parasect, jump again and use fury cutter on your way down."

Just as Azumarill came towards him again, the mushroom Pokemon did as asked. The fury cutter caused Parasects opponent to scream out in pain before uncurling from its rollout, moaning as it jumped a distance away.

"Azumarill, play rough," Logan said.

The aqua rabbit Pokemon then attacked Parasect like it did Magnemite, but with one big difference. It was a rather effective attack this time round. So, whilst the Mushroon Pokemon was trying to dodge some attacks got through until Parasect became weaker and weaker.

"Rollout, once more."

"Dodge it," Ash said quickly, however, the bug and grass Pokemon was much to tired to even attempt to escape.

"Parasect is unable to battle. Azumarill wins," the referee announced, though Ash did not register the voice as he cluctched his last Pokeball in his right hand.

"Ivysaur, I choose you," he yelled.

Funnily enough, Azumarills defeat at the hands (or rather paws) of Ivysaur was quick and easy. All it took was a razor leaf to fraw it into a efense curl and then a leech seed to drain its energy whilst it was still in that position.

It was Logan's next Pokemon that Ash and Ivysaur struggled with. Swampert.

Swampert was a bipedal Pokemon with a large cobalt blue body and large three-fingered hands. It had two orange gills that protrude from round patches on its cheeks. Its head had two large semi-circular fins that extend from the top of its orange eyes to the back of its head. Its tail fin is big, broad, and black. It has a white underside and orange ridged portions above its hands and three-toed feet.

Ash and Ivysaur just couldn't keep up.

"I will admit that I am impressed, Ash Ketchum," Logan suddenly said. "After all no one has yet to make me use more than three Pokemon a match. Also, no one has lasted so long against Swampert. It is commendable."

"Erm," Ash muttered scratching the back of his head. "Thanks?"

"Though out battle is going to end with this final attack," the foreigner grinned. "Swampert, Hammer arm!"

"Ivysaur, leech seed," Ash shouted.

Immediately, Swampert had its arm raised and began to bring it down on the grass and poison type. However, just as the Hammer arm hit its mark, the leech seed clutched onto the mud fish Pokemon and began to drain all of the energy out of its body and Ash's Pokemon stumbled around. Both were evertually unable to stand of their feet and collapsed in a heap one after tha other.

"Ivysaur and Swampert are unable to battle, this battle is a tie. Logan Taylor wins the match."

After his battle, the raven haired boy met with Louise, Brock, Professor Oak and his mum. They all smiled proudly at him and he could not help but grin back. After all, he, Ash Ketchum, not only made it to the finals but he was in Second place. He had achieved more than he ever thought he would and next time he knew he could win it all.

All he had to do was brush up on his weaknesses, meaning that he had to travel to other region. Discover all the Pokemon he could and catch and train as many as he could find. Next stop, the Orange Islands.

Hey guys, I am so sorry it took me so long to write this, but I had a sudden lack of inspiration on top of everything going on such as exams and my mum's surgery. I also apologise for the time skips, especially the one between the last chapter and this one - my excuse is that I lost of flow of the match and instead of ruining it, I thought it would just be better as it is and then to skip ahead with Ash's final match.

Yes, there will be another fanfiction based on the Orange Island/ Season 2 anime. Though I do not know when I will be writing it.

FINALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO Llew444 BECAUSE I DEFINITLEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER WITHOUT YOU!