Battle Dome

Today the gang came to the Battle Dome and they just exited the Pokemon Center. Suddenly they were surrounded by reporters and cameramen. The reporters and cameramen heard about Ash competing in the Battle Frontier and they wanted to ask him questions. Before Ash could answer any questions Scott came up and told the reporters to save the questions for the press conference. Ash was puzzled that he was going through something like this; he didn't have to go through this when he faced Noland and Greta. The press conference was held in another building.

"You must be quite a trainer since you already obtained two Frontier symbols." A female reporter said to Ash. "Would you mind sharing your secrets?"

"Well." Ash said. "My best strategy is a best defense is a strong offense. As long as I stay strong so do my Pokemon."

Another reporter asked Ash what he thought about Tucker. Ash didn't know who Tucker was, but he had a feeling that he must be the Frontier Brain he had to face.

"Well this will be my first time meeting Tucker as well as battling him." Ash admitted. "But I will beat him just like how I defeated Noland and Greta."

After that the press conference was over and Ash had to get ready to face Tucker.

The Battle Dome was a dome-shaped building and inside were millions of seats surrounding the battlefield. Scott explained to Tomo, Brock, May and Max that Tucker was a big superstar and he likes to entertain people with his Frontier battles. Tucker had millions of fans and all the seats were filled. Scott and the others sat in special seats above the battlefield. Ash was introduced to the audience and a announcer explained he went through the Indigo League, Johto League, Hoenn Grand Festival, Hoenn League and his victories in the Orange League and Whirl Cup. Then a purple-haired man dressed like a musical stage star appeared on the stage; he was the Frontier Brain Tucker.

"I welcome you to the Battle Dome." Tucker said to Ash. "And this battle will be a battle for the Tactics Symbol."

"And that symbol will be mine." Ash said.

The Tactics Symbol was shown on a big TV screen and the symbol had an arch shape as well as a smaller arch shape and two crescent shapes on either side. Tucker then sent out what Pokemon he was using; Arcanine and Swampert. The referee was standing on a flying platform and he explained that it was a double battle. He also said to Ash that he was allowed to transfer any Pokemon if he wanted to; a transfer machine was set up behind him. Ash had to think hard about what Pokemon to use.

*'I can't use any grass type Pokemon against Swampert due to Arcanine.'* He thought. '*But I can use a different Pokemon that knows a grass type move and I will also use a flying type Pokemon.'*

"I'm going to do a quick switch." He said before running over to the machine.

"I wonder what Ash will use?" May questioned.

"I don't know." Brock answered. "But whatever he uses, he must be careful with his choice."

A minute later Ash made his choice and sent out his Pokemon; Miltank and Dragonite.

"Why would he use Miltank?" May asked. "I know Dragonite is a good choice, but I'm not sure about Miltank."

"Well Ash's Miltank knows Surf." Max said. "I saw her using Surf at the Silver Conference on TV."

"Let's see how Ash deals with this." Scott said.

The battle had now started and Ash started off by telling his Dragonite to use Extreme Speed on Arcanine. But Tucker's Arcanine used Extreme Speed too and they tackled each other with Extreme Speed.

"Okay Miltank help out with Surf." Ash said.

Dragonite flew into the air while Miltank used Surf. But Swampert knew Protect and it jumped in front of Arcanine protecting both itself and Arcanine.

"Oh man." Tomo said. "And that strategy was a good one too."

"It was a good strategy." Scott said. "But Tucker's battling style is countering his opponent's Pokemon's moves. So in this battle Ash will have to think really hard."

This meant that the battle will not be easy for Ash.

"Okay Miltank let's use Rollout." Ash said.

Miltank rolled towards Swampert to tackle it, but Arcanine charged in with Aerial Ace and tackled Miltank.

"As you can see Ash." Tucker said. "You're going to have to come up with better tactics to beat my Arcanine and Swampert."

*'He's right.'* Ash thought. *'His Arcanine and Swampert are a tough pair. But my Dragonite and Miltank are tough too, and we will beat them.'*

Tucker told his Arcanine to use Flamethrower.

"Use Water Gun Dragonite." Ash said.

Flamethrower and Water Gun collided with each other, creating a lot of steam.

"Miltank use Stomp on Swampert." Miltank got ready to stomp Swampert, but it used Mud Bomb and Miltank was thrown back.

"Okay Swampert it's time." Tucker said.

Swampert's tail glowed orange; this meant that it was gathering water vapor from the air to use a powerful water type move.

"Now use Water Pulse." This was a problem; Water Pulse trapped both Dragonite and Miltank in a watery tornado.

"Now Arcanine use Fire Blast." Arcanine's Fire Blast combined with the water tornado creating a fire and water tornado.

"Behold my creation of a combination attack." Tucker said. "One that causes two attacks to deal a lot of damage; my fire and water fusion."

Everyone in the crowd was cheering; it seemed that this was Tucker's favorite move. Ash and the others were surprised by this; they had never seen anything like this. Dragonite and Miltank were hurt, but they could still fight. Ash knew that if his Pokemon were hit by any more combination attacks he might lose the battle. Tucker ordered his Swampert to use Dynamic Punch on Miltank, but Ash told Dragonite to use Dragon Rush on Swampert. A blue dragon-shaped energy covered Dragonite and it slammed into Swampert before it could attack Miltank.

"Now Miltank use Hyper Beam on Arcanine." Ash said.

Miltank fired Hyper Beam at Arcanine, hitting it. Swampert and Arcanine were not beaten yet.

"This is the fighting spirit that I like to challenge." Tucker said. "Arcanine use Fire Blast."

"Counter that with Water Gun Dragonite and Miltank get onto Dragonite's back." Miltank rode on Dragonite's back and Dragonite fired Water Gun to counter Fire Blast. Fire Blast and Water Gun created a thick mist and no one could see a thing. Ash saw this as a chance to attack and he told his Dragonite and Miltank to use Hyper Beam. The two Hyper Beams headed towards Arcanine and Swampert, who still couldn't see in the mist. Tucker had no time to give his Pokemon a command and Arcanine and Swampert were hit by the attacks. Swampert and Arcanine couldn't take anymore and were defeated. So Ash won the battle.

Ash told his Dragonite and Miltank that they did a wonderful job and Tucker returned his Arcanine and Swampert. Scott and the others were happy for Ash, but the audience wasn't cheering because Tucker lost. Tucker walked up to Ash, clapping for him.

"Ash you showed an impressive grasp of tactics with flexibility." He said. "You are a top notch tactician."

At that moment the crowd cheered for Tucker's good sportsmanship and for Ash. The others congratulated Ash and Scott said he was very impressed. Tucker had one more tactic for Ash; he somehow magically placed the Tactics Symbol on top of Ash's hat. Ash was surprised by that trick but was happy to have earned his third Frontier symbol.

Today had been quite a day for Ash.