Pokeringer

t seemed to be a normal day for the gang as they took a break out in the open. Ash was busy dealing with his Bagon and Trapinch. Apparently they had been battling a lot at Prof. Oak's lab recently because of their eagerness to evolve.

"Come on you two." Ash said. "I understand you want to evolve, but you can't just continue battling all the Pokemon at Prof. Oak's lab. You'll upset all the Pokemon who live there and you give Prof. Oak and Tracey a very hard time."

Bagon and Trapinch liked Ash and didn't really want to cause trouble, but they were still desperate to evolve.

"What are you going to do Ash?" Max asked.

"Well I am going to keep these two for today and train them, and then I'll send them back to the lab tomorrow." Ash answered. "This way I can give Prof. Oak and Tracey a day off from dealing with them."

Suddenly a Swablu flew towards the ground in front of Ash and Max, holding a pink hoop in it's beak.

"Where did this Swablu come from?" Ash asked.

"Sorry that Swablu is mine." A voice said.

The voice belonged to a blue-haired boy.

"Sorry, Swablu and I were practicing for the Pokeringer today." The boy introduced himself as Shane and told them about the Pokeringer.

The Pokeringer was a competition for flying type Pokemon held once a year in Crossgate Town.

"What happens is a small air balloon rises into the sky while holding a hoop ring and your Pokemon has to grab the ring before the others and send it to the target and then you win."

"This Pokeringer competition sounds fun." Ash said.

"I agree." Tomo added.

"So do I." May continued.

"The Pokeringer is held in Crossgate Town, where I live." Shane said. "Follow me and I'll show you where it is."

Crossgate Town was a town located somewhere up in the hills and it was said to be known for having strong winds.

"So Shane, what happens when you win the Pokeringer?" Ash asked.

"If you win you become an honorary citizen of Crossgate Town." Shane said. "And that's why people from other towns and cities want to participate here so they could become honorary citizens of Crossgate Town."

"So even though you live in Crossgate Town, you wish to become a honorary citizen of it?" May asked.

"Oh yes, and this is my first time entering the Pokeringer." Shane said.

"Is there still time to sign up Shane?" Ash asked.

"Yes there is." Shane said. "Do you want to enter too Ash?"

"Yes, I think this competition will be great for my Taillow." Ash said.

"I wish to enter too with my Wingull." Tomo added.

"And me with Beautifly." May continued.

"Okay come with me. I'll take you to the registration desk." Shane said as the gang followed him.

Meanwhile...

Team Rocket was also in Crossgate Town and they heard about the Pokeringer competition.

"This place is obviously going to be packed with flying type Pokemon." Meowth said. "So we should take this opportunity to steal them."

"You two can do the stealing, I'm going to participate in the Pokeringer." James said.

James explained to Jessie and Meowth that as a boy he was trained for Pokeringer competitions by a past master of the Pokeringer.

"He passed away before I had a chance to become a winner of Pokeringer and then of course I joined Team Rocket and left that past behind me. But now I have the chance to enter the Pokeringer."

"Okay, but don't forget that you are a member of Team Rocket." Jessie said, deciding to let James have his own way.

That afternoon it was time for the Pokeringer competition. Everyone was excited and all the participants were ready with their Pokemon. It showed on a big TV screen that Shane and Tomo would be facing each other in block A, Ash was in block B and May was in block C. James was in block C too. James was dressed in normal clothing instead of his Team Rocket outfit. Shane and Tomo were surprised that they were going to face each other in a round, but they agreed to give it all they got.

Soon the competition began and Shane and Tomo were up first. Shane sent out Swablu and Tomo sent out Wingull. Their two opponent's Pokemon were Yanma and Pelipper. Tomo and Wingull did their best, but as Shane had more experience and knowledge of the Pokeringer Swablu easily scored a goal with the hoop. In the next round it was James and May's turn. As May was using her Beautifly, James was using his Jumpluff. The other two opponents used a Crobat and a Jumpluff. James turned out to be very good at the Pokeringer; when May ordered her Beautifly to blow the others away with Gust, James ordered his Jumpluff to ride the Gust after it grabbed the hoop and Jumpluff won the round. Then it was Ash and Taillow's turn. Aside from being up against a trainer with a Golbat and a trainer with a Ninjask, Ash was up against a trainer named Volt with a Volbeat that knew Thunder. Volt was the winner of the Pokeringer last year and he was certain that he would win again. But Ash proved him wrong; despite the type disadvantage with Thunder Ash's Taillow didn't let that attack defeat him and then he grabbed the hoop and scored a win for Ash.

Ash, Shane and James did well in the Pokeringer and they passed each round one after another. Soon it was time for the Top 4, where it was one vs one rounds. Ash beat his opponent, who used a Skarmory, but now it was time for Shane and James to face each other one on one. Being very knowledgeable of the wind, James and Shane waited for the wind. When the wind picked up, Swablu and Jumpluff flew towards the balloon for the hoop ring. But then James told Jumpluff to stop; a cloud gave way to the sun and Swablu was blinded by the sun. Jumpluff got the hoop ring and then scored a goal. So now it was Ash vs James in the final round.

Meanwhile Jessie and Meowth were beginning to take flying type Pokemon. They were pretending to set up a clinic that would give the flying type Pokemon a nice rest after they participated in the Pokeringer.

"Please have all of your flying type Pokemon in the Poke Balls." Jessie said. "And then I will tell you when the Pokemon are all healed."

The trainers handed their Poke Balls to Jessie and returned to their seats to watch the competition.

"Shall we go get James now?" Meowth asked.

"No we'll let him finish the Pokeringer." Jessie said. "I understand how James has been feeling all day, so we'll pick him up after the Pokeringer is over."

So Jessie and Meowth started to store all the Poke Balls in their balloon.

Right now Ash and James were up against each other and Taillow and Jumpluff were ready to go. James ordered his Jumpluff to use Stun Spore, but it blew that away with Gust.

"Head for the ring now Taillow." Ash said.

Taillow was about to head to the ring, but then a sand tornado suddenly appeared and the hoop ring was trapped inside it. James was glad; he figured that once the tornado died down Jumpluff can easily grab it before Taillow could. But Ash wasn't a idiot; he knew that James would strike when the tornado died down. He turned to his Taillow who flew beside him.

"What do you want to do Taillow?" He asked. "Our only chance is for you to fly through the tornado to get the hoop to win. But if you don't think that you can pull it off, then we will wait for the tornado to subside."

Taillow was willing to go through the tornado for Ash and he entered the tornado. Everyone watching couldn't believe that Taillow actually went into the tornado. James felt more certain he would win now, especially since the tornado could wipe Taillow out.

"You can do it Taillow, I know you can!" Ash shouted.

Taillow heard Ash's words and he wasn't willing to give up for Ash.

Suddenly Taillow began to glow and it transformed into a bigger bird with big wings, two long tails, big claws and a tuft of feathers on it's head. Taillow was now a Swellow.

"Okay Swellow break that tornado apart with Wing Attack." Ash said.

Swellow flapped his wings hard and broke the tornado apart then he grabbed the hoop and headed for the goal. James wasn't willing to give up; he ordered Jumpluff to use Bullet Seed which hit Swellow.

"Use Aerial Ace Swellow." Ash said.

Swellow picked up more speed with Aerial Ace and then scored the goal with the hoop ring. Ash won the round and the Pokeringer competition. He was proud of his new Swellow.

He looked Swellow up on the Pokedex.

"Swellow, the Swallow Pokemon and the evolved form of Taillow. Swellow flies high above our heads, making graceful arcs in the sky. This Pokemon dives at a steep angle as soon as it spots it's prey. The hapless prey is tightly grasped by Swellow's clawed feet, preventing escape."

James was upset with his loss, but he told Jumpluff that he did his best.

Just then there was laughter coming from the sky. Jessie and Meowth were in the balloon and they picked James up. Hanging down from a rope from the basket of the balloon in a net were all the trainer's Poke Balls. Everyone was horrified with what was happening and they ordered Team Rocket to give them their Poke Balls. Ash knew what to do; he ordered his Swellow to cut the rope with Steel Wing and grab the net of Poke Balls. After Swellow did that, Team Rocket was sent flying.

After that Ash and Swellow were congratulated by everyone for winning the Pokeringer competition. So now Ash was an honorary citizen of Crossgate Town. And Ash and Swellow's picture was placed on a board with other pictures of previous Pokeringer winners, where it would stay forever.