Tourney Journey

The IFL Tournament was ready to begin and the crowd was ready and excited. Tyrano explained the tournament bracket seeding. “As you all know, the tournament is going to be base on a bracket. We observed and compiled the data on our 32 participants and here’s how we’re doing things. Our best and top fighters in both brackets will face the…well, not so best of the 32 fighters. Each fighter, both professional and amateur, will face each other in elimination matches until there are 2 left. The winner will have a title shot against the IFL Champion later in the evening. So without further ado, let the tournament…begin!” The crowd cheered. In the press box was a Golem holding a gold plated belt and a Gengar. “Hehehe, seems your old friend is in the tournament. Hope he’s able to make it to you Granite, hehehe.” said the Gengar. “Hmm…we’ll see…we’ll see…” thought Granite.

I was in the locker room as Ariel, Rain, and Serena came in. “Well Pyro, seems your seeded number 4 in the second bracket and Brian’s number 2 in the first.” said Rain. “Yep. Should be pretty good competition.” “Still…your up against a Marowak, aand he uses that bone of his. Seems unfair if you ask me.” said Serena. “Not necessarily little lady. It’s illegal if he uses it as a projectile like his Bonemerang. Other than that he can use it.” said Brian. “Say, your going first, right?” asked Ariel. “Yep. Wish me luck.” said Brian and he left. I didn’t know why, but something tells me he’s looking forward to seeing me in the finals. Minutes later Brian was in the ring with a Machop. “Ok folks. Our first is IFL’s Basher Brian vs. a local Machop. Ok, let the match…begin!” “So you’re the former 9-time champ. Ha! I’ll take you down and the other so-call competition.” said the Machop. “Hmm…you’ll go down in one move.” “One move?! I’ll show you!” Machop came at him with a flurry of Karate Chops. Brian took the hits. “What is he doing? That Machop’s hitting him fast and hard with those chops.” said Serena. “Don’t worry about Brian. He has this under control.” said Rain. The Machop was getting frustrated. “Go down now!” He went for one more Karate Chop, but Brian grabbed his arm and tossed him into the air. His fist was glowing more purple. He hit’s the falling Machop with a Poison Jab, knocking him out. “And your winner is Basher Brian.” The crowd cheers as Brian was able to move on to the next round. A few bouts later my match was on as Marowak and I were matching blow for blow. “Marowak the Mauler is having a hard time with our newcomer. This red hot Charmeleon is matching him move for move.” “Pyro’s not doing to bad. Of all the amateurs that had they’re matches he’s the only one the crowd’s stood behind.” said Serena. “Yeah, but he needs to turn it up a notch if he’s going to beat Marowak.” said Rain. “You did good kid, but I’m ending this.” said Marowak as he came at me. “We’ll see.” I said as I charge for him. Brian was watching from the locker room monitor. “Hmm…let’s see what the kid can do.” Marowak tried to swing his bone at me, but I leaped to dodge it and grabbed the bone with my tail, then using all my strength and momentum, swung the bone at him, knocking out Marowak. “Wow folks. In an upset, our newcomer has defeated Marowak the Mauler and will go on to the next round. “The crowd and my friends cheered. “Very good kid. Very good.” said Brian.

The tournament continued with Brian and I steamrolling the competition. After a lot of matches it was now down between the 2 of us in the finals. We were in the ring staring each other down. “Well folks, were down to our last 2 competitors: this newcomer name Pyro and the 9-time former IFL champion, Basher Brian. This is sure to be a good match.” said the MC. “Well, it comes down to this. Will my new friend win, or will my favorite IFL fighter win?” said Rain. “It seems you’re a fan of Brian’s…right Rain?” asked Ariel. “Well, I…um…that’s to say…” “It’s okay Rain. Cheer your lungs out for Brian.” said Serena. “Ok. Go Brian!” shouted Rain. “Brian’s a good fighter. He took his opponents down in less than 5 minutes. He’s got strength.” I thought. “The kid’s come a long way in this tourney. He’s very innovative and uses an opponent’s strength against them.” thought Brian. “This is gonna be interesting.” we both thought. “Seems Brian and this newbie are both tough. They can wreck everything I worked so hard for.” said Gengar. “Did you say something Gengar?” asked Granite. “Oh. Uh…no, its nothing, hehehe.” The match started and Brian and I charged for each other and we locked claws. That was a mistake on me. Brian tossed me up and got his Poison Jab ready as I was coming down. But I countered with an Iron Tail and regained my composure. I went in with some slash attacks and Brian took the hits, then slammed me with his thick tail. We traded blows for over 5 minutes and pretty much exhausted ourselves. “Well folks, this match is keeping everyone in they’re seats. Both combatants aren’t quitting.” “Something tells me the next hit will decide the match. They both only got one more attack in them.” said Ariel. “As much as I like to use my signature move, I’m pretty worn out and don’t have the strength to use it. All I can go for is a Mega Punch…” thought Brian. “Well…I’m very tired. A Mega Punch is all I can try to do at this point.” I thought. We both charged at each other and nailed one another with a Mega Punch. Though we both were knocked down, I took the worse of it. I was out while Brian was on one knee but able to get up. “And our winner is Basher Brian. He’ll face off against the IFL Champion later today folks.” The crowd cheered.

I woke up in a rest bed as a Chansey was treating me. My friends came in. “Well, you sure took a wallop didn’t you?” asked Serena. “Yeah. Brian throws a mean left hook. Say, where is he?” “He’s already taking on Granite. The match started a couple minutes ago. Rain said he’ll keep an eye on things while we came and got you.” said Ariel. “Come on. He’ll need our support.” I got out of the bed and ran out. “Wait a sec, your not fully recovered.” said Chansey. “You’ll have to excuse me, but I don’t do well in hospitals. We dragons of Draconia are fast healers.” I said and ran out. “He’s Draconian?” said Chansey. We manage to make it to the ring as Brian and Granite were already locking claws to see which were stronger. “You guys just made it. So far these 2 are evenly match.” said Rain. “What about that Gengar? Did he try anything funny?” I asked. “No. I kept my eyes on him. He did tell Brian good luck, he’ll need it, then laughed. So far Gengar’s been doing nothing suspicious.” So we watched the match. So far Brian had gotten the upper hand on Granite, but Granite seems to make a comeback. Gengar had a worried look on his face. “Grr…that Brian’s gonna ruin what I worked so hard for. Hehehe…but not for long…”

As the title match was getting closer to its conclusion Brian and Granite were getting tired. Brian went charging in. “Alright. Brian’s going for the Blitzkrieg. It’s his Horn Attack, and when he strikes the opponent and knocks them down he goes in for a Splash.” said Rain. “But Nidokings can’t use Splash.” said Serena. “No, not that Magikarp Splash. The one I’m referring to is a wrestling move. When an opponent’s down on the mat, the other jumps up and lands they’re body onto the down opponent. Just watch.” My head started to hurt. I then saw a blurry image. It hits Brian in the back. “What?! No way!” Granite caught Brian’s horn. “Oh no. Granite countered it?!” “Tough luck amigo.” said Grante and lifted Brian in the air. “No! He’s going for the Granite Grinder…more knowing as the Seismic Toss.” said Rain. Granite jumps way up, does several vertical spins, and aims Brian down towards the mat. Brian was able to counter with a Mega Punch, forcing Granite to let go. Brian lands on his back, but was able to get up. “Did you guys see that?” I said. “Yeah. Brian was able to escape that near disaster.” said Rain. “No not that. There was something in the ring with them.” Huh? In the ring? But I only see Granite and Brian. And Gengar is still on the other side of the ring doing nothing.” said Rain. Something wasn’t right. As the 2 locked claws again, I saw the image again. I didn’t know what was going on, but I headed for the ring. “Huh? Pyro wait!” I went into the ring and headed for Brian. He saw me coming. “Huh? What’s he doing here?” thought Brian. “Well folks, it seems our fiery newcomer still wants a piece of Brian.” said the MC. “Hey! This is an important IFL match. Get out of the ring!” shouted Tyrano. I leaped into the air and went for an Iron Tail. “Brian, get out of the way!” Brian got out of the way and I whacked the image. It was sent into the ring ropes and fell to the center. The image revealed to be a Gengar.

The crowd was stunned. “What?! Gengar?! What‘s going on here?!” asked Tyrano. My head stop hurting. “Geez…what a headache…sir, I saw Gengar was interfering in the match.” I said. “But…Granite’s manager is over-.” The other Gengar vanished. “What?!” “Gengar must have pulled a Double Team. It worked so perfectly…well, almost.” said Ariel. “I knew something was up.” said Brian. “Gengar, what is the meaning of this. Have you been interfering in my matches so I can win?” asked Granite. Gengar woke up. “Grr…blast that lizard…it almost worked…” “So it is true. You did interfere…and Brian was telling the truth. Why Gengar?” demanded Granite. “Hmph. I took you to the top to be the champ and that’s what I did. When you were going to lose, I decided to ‘bend the rules’ so you could win.” “You did this for me? Are you mad?! I‘m not a cheater. I want to prove I have what it takes to win. Gengar…” Granite went for a Rollout. “Aaaaaaa!!!” Gengar was hit and sent flying out of the arena‘s roof. “Consider yourself fired.” Granite then walked over to Brian and Tyrano. “I want to win, but not if it means cheating. Sir, I hearby vacate the title and all the wins I’ve obtained. I want to start at the bottom and work my way back to the top. I want to regain the IFL fans trust, and will work my hardest to gain they‘re trust back.” said Granite. The crowd applauded and cheered. “Well spoken Granite. You earned the fans respect.” said Tyrano. “Well Brian, hope that when we face each other for the title again, it’ll be for the right reasons.” “I look forward to that.” said Brian and they shook claws.

Outside the arena we were ready to go, but Rain was nowhere to be found. I was looking at my reflection and saw my eyes turned red. I shook my head and saw they were blue. “Guess Brian really bash my brains out.” “Hey, it’s the IFL Tour bus. We saw Brian and Rain in it. “Rain, what are you doing in there?” I asked. “Well, I’m going to hang out with Brian for a while.” “Your friend wants to tour with me for a bit. The IFL will be in River Town one month from now. It’s known as a beautiful beach resort city. We’ll meet you there.” “Ok. Take care and we’ll see you guys there.” We waved good-bye to Brian and Rain as the bus rode off. Ariel, Serena, and I decided to head off. Our next destination: River Town. Meanwhile, Gengar landed somewhere. He heard a ringing. He takes a phone out of his vest and answers it. “Ugh…its you. Yes, that lizard you warned me about was able to see me even when I was invisible. You do what you want with him, but if I ever see him again…this ghost will be his worst nightmare…hehehe…”