“Squirtle, use your Water gun across the bottom of the ditch at full power, and get outta there,” Ash commands at the same time that Doduo gets in with his Pokemon.
The water Pokemon uses his attack on the trench’s base all the while running from the bird Pokemon. Because of the force, the Water Gun hits the base and runs up and out of the walls of the trench. From one end to the next, the water comes back down refilling the trench making a wall of water close in on the two Pokemon. While Squirtle comes to the end of the line and jumps out, the water catches up to Doduo right before he could catch his prey engulfing him in the trench.
“Bubble Beam, fast!” Ash’s Pokemon does one final attack on the trench making it explode with water.
“Great job, Squirtle! You really got him!”
The water Pokemon gives his trainer an exhausted, “Squirtle,” and sits down ready to pass out.
Pulling his water logged Doduo out of the trench, the man tells Ash, “You’re pretty good kid. There’s not a lot of people who can beat my Doduo.” The Doduo stumbles back to its feet, and shakes all of the water off.
Brock gives Ash a small applause and says to him, “Good match, Ash!”
“Congrats, Ash. You actually beat him,” Nina says walking up with the rest of the group. “Although I’ll never know why you took so long.”
The man’s daughter comes walking up as well and asks, “If it’s not a bother, could one of you battle me too?”
“There you go, Nina! Now you can pick on someone your own size,” Ash says in a mocking tone.
“Wow, you are so generous,” Nina unenthusiastically replies. “Okay little one, don’t expect me to go easy on you.”
“I choose Meowth,” the young girl says tossing out a Pokeball.
“Go, Birdy!” Nina says as she throws out her Vaporeon.
The young trainer begins to give out orders before their Pokemon even appear.
“Start with a Scratch!” Meowth hits Birdy’s shoulder as it buries itself in its forearm trying to block the attack.
“Good, now your Mega Kick!” Birdy is not as lucky this time as the small Pokemon strikes her across the face.
“Keep it up! Use another Scratch!” Jumping straight up, Birdy dodges this Scratch as the young girl yells out more orders.
“C’mon! Mega Kick em’!” The feline Pokemon flies at Birdy with another attack, but misses as the water Pokemon lunges back.
“Nina, why aren’t you fighting back?” Misty questions.
“Enough toying around. It’s time for your Thunderbolt!” The Meowth stops and begins building up an electric charge. It lets out a fast Thunderbolt which sails right at the water Pokemon.
“Look out! Water Pokemon are weak against electric attacks!” Ash bursts out.
As the Thunderbolt is just in front of Birdy, it raises a paw and swats it away making it hit the dirt road a couple of feet away.
“Okay Birdy, Acid Armor.” Water pours over Birdy making the Pokemon turn clear, but it continues to sit in the same spot.
“Use a stronger Thunderbolt!” The girl’s Pokemon builds up another attack a little longer than the last one and fires directly hitting Birdy. However, the electricity flows through the Acid Armor never touching the Pokemon inside it.
“All right, hit her with a Mega Kick then a Scratch!” Hitting Birdy in the chest, Meowth’s attacks pour water across the ground but never seem to hit the Pokemon itself.
While the Meowth jumps back getting ready for another attack, Nina simply tells her Pokemon, “Takedown”. Meowth curls into a ball trying to block as Birdy jumps out of the Acid Armor and knocks it out of the air.
Right before Meowth can land Nina goes on, “Two Quick Attacks”. The young girl’s Pokemon jumps furiously to the left and right avoiding Birdy’s blows.
“It’s finally starting to tire. Hit it with another Takedown.” With no room to dodge again, Meowth can only block as the larger Birdy knocks it back with the next Takedown.
“I get it,” Brock almost says to himself.
“Get what, Brock?” Ash queries.
“Nina has trained Birdy like a rock Pokemon so it must have a lot of HP. Its endurance just lets it wear down her opponent until Nina feels like going all out.”
“You’re letting him get too far away, Birdy. Quick Attack.” The water Pokemon rushes under Meowth as it jumps over her.
“Hurry and Thunderbolt!” Meowth lands, turns swiftly around, and fires as Birdy jumps to safety.
“Acid Armor,” Nina says as the feline Pokemon comes running up.
“Furry Swipes,” the young trainer says quickly.
The girl’s Pokemon slashes away but only gets paws full of water as the trainer adds, “Now a Mega Kick!” The attack only sinks half way into the Acid Armor but still does no damage.
“Nice shot. Now get him with a bite,” Nina commands as Birdy jumps out of the Acid Armor again.
“Um, Double Team now!” Birdy misses its target as the feline Pokemon splits into two selves.
“Yes, use your Double Kicks!” The water Pokemon tries to use the Acid Armor again as the two Pokemon attack, but it is not as strong making Birdy feel the weakened blows.
“Hit them with your Mist,” Nina says.
Meanwhile, Misty asks, “Hit em’ with Misty?”
Ash falls over in disbelief as Brock tells her, “No, Hit em’ with Mist.”
Meowth jumps out of the cloud as Birdy trails him catching its leg just before it can escape.
“Go for the Bite,” Nina says in a more intent voice.
The water Pokemon clamps down on Meowth’s neck as Nina continues, “Now lead into another Takedown.” Nina’s Pokemon lets go as it plows into the small Meowth trying to win the fight.
“Good, and a finishing Ice Beam.”
While Meowth tries to land, its trainer yells, “Look out! Use your Thunderbolt, quick!” Birdy uses its Ice Beam as the feline Pokemon uses its own attack making the two cancel out right before it could reach Meowth.
The older trainer is happy that she waited for this fight. Nina starts out, “As I continue to travel I come across worthy trainers. I see the few years I’ve trained to build up my Pokemons’ strength have not been a waste. It is too bad that today’s winner has already been decided, and that would be me.”
Turning her attention back to Nina, the young trainer replies, “You do fight well enough. Although you’re starting to talk too much.”
“It’s a pretty close match, huh Brock?” Ash says looking from Brock and back to the Pokemon.
“Yeah, it could go either way,” Misty answers instead.
“I don’t know guys,” Brock answers himself. “Nina’s getting too overconfident. That might become her weak point.”
Both Pokemon position themselves to attack again as they wait for their individual attacks.
“It’s time, Birdy. We’ve let this fight go on long enough. Start with your Acid Armor.”
While the water Pokemon’s defense takes effect, the young girl tells her own Pokemon, “It’s Acid Armor can’t be as strong as before. Attack with Fury Swipes.” Meowth hits Birdy repeatedly with it attack, but unlike before the Acid Armor stops them like it were stone.
“Fine, use a Fury Attack of Thunderbolts!” The trainer’s Pokemon jumps up using three separate Thunderbolts in a row, but each have little or no effect.
“Good. You’ve got him. Quick Attack,” Nina says with her previous excitement gone.
Birdy goes straight at Meowth not losing its Acid Armor. The feline Pokemon blocks with astonishing precision and shoves its opponent back at the same time.
“That’s the way to do it! Your Mega Punch, quick!” Meowth hits Nina’s Pokemon in the face making its head fly back as water pours across the road.
“It worked! Hit em’ again!” The girl’s Pokemon plunges right into Birdy’s chest, but does not hit the Pokemon itself. The water Pokemon grins at the small Pokemon dragging it to the other side of the road as it Acid Armor holds onto it. Before Birdy can use an attack on its captive, Meowth breaks free.
“He’s loose. Catch him with another Quick Attack.” The older trainer’s Pokemon barely misses as Meowth jumps overhead.
As the Pokemon gets ready to land, the water Pokemon catches it by the leg as Nina commands, “Use a Slam.” Meowth is pulled into the air and thrown down into the dirt road. Jumping away to get some distance between the two, the young girl’s Pokemon looks exhausted as it stands there panting for breath.
Nina only says, “Ice Beam,” as her Pokemon quickly lets out the blast. Again, Meowth is airborne while the beam hits the ground. The feline Pokemon lands and jumps back forward as leftover pieces of ice rain through the air.
“Here’s your chance! Your Slash should do some real damage!” The young trainer’s Pokemon makes a large arching Slash, but it does no harm as Birdy melts into a pool of water and reemerges a ways off.
“Some real damage?” Nina asks. “Your damage is merely sport. My Pokemon’s damage is the strongest around. Time for the money shot, Birdy,” Nina tells her Pokemon with that look of intent again.
“Blizzard, now!” The water Pokemon pulls back and lunges forward with a huge blast of ice. Meowth jumps back trying to escape, and avoids the first wave of ice. Despite its efforts, Birdy lunges forward adding more to the attack. The small Pokemon cannot dodge this in midair getting knocked back. Nina’s Pokemon lunges forward a third time finishing off the attack. Chunks of ice and snow rain forward as Meowth is thrown down the road.
The younger trainer picks up her fainted Pokemon and lowly utters, “Boy...We... we really lost.”
Nina decides to forgo her usual laugh and tells her opponent, “You made it very close. I don’t even think Ash over here pushed me this far.”
“Oh well! Hey, when I’ve trained more and gotten stronger, would you fight me again?”
“Uh... Sure...!”
As the four trainers wave good-bye to their competitors, Ash brings up a new proposition.
“That battle really took a lot out of me. What do you guys say we go all out and try to get into Pallet by dark. I could really go for a home cooked meal.”
Misty replies for the rest of the group, “Yeah right, Ash. I could go for a good meal myself, but we’re barely even half way to Pallet. Maybe if we had skipped the battles and ran from there we might have come close, but it’s too late now.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I guess its canned food for dinner again,” Ash says lowering his head as Pikachu gives an accompanying sigh. “Well, I think we should get as far as we can before it gets to dark so we’re sure to make it tomorrow.”
