When we last left our hero, he and Sara had opened an unofficial gym inside the Viridian Forest.  But being only a gym leader is beginning to bore our young hero and he makes plans to embark on another adventure.  And now…

    “Go Rattata, you’re my last chance!”  A small purple rat stood in front of the little girl.  Her other pokémon, a Pidgey, was recovering inside its pokéball.  Icy recalled Wiggler and floated Buttercup’s pokéball into the field.
    “Ready to fight, come in sight!  Icy calls, Buttercup!”  The small, green Butterfree fluttered above the ground.
    “Go Rattata, tackle it now!”  Rattata charged toward Buttercup.
    “Throw it back with whirlwind Buttercup!”  She flapped her colorful wings hard blowing the Rattata back towards its trainer.
    “C’mon Rattata, use your quick attack and pin that Butterfree to the ground.”
    “Buttercup, psybeam now!”  Rattata wasn’t more than a foot off the ground before met to beam of energy head on.  It fell to the ground helplessly.  “Buttercup return.  Good match Kelly.  Just keep training and by the time you get to Pewter City, you’ll get to add your name to the long list of trainers who’ve humiliated Brock.”
    Kelly tried to giggle but her thoughts were transfixed on her pokémon.  Icy sensed her feelings and handed her a few potions.  “Thank you Icy.  Bye Sara!”  Sara waved good-bye, as did her golden Butterfree whom she named, Aura.
    “You fought well that match Icy.  Wiggler is really getting strong.”
    “Yahh…”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I don’t know.  I thought I had everything, but, something’s missing.”
    “You’re bored right?”
    “Uh huh.”
    “Well, maybe this will interest you.  Lance, from the Elite 4, emailed you this earlier today.  She handed Icy the memo.

    Dear Icy,
        I would be honored to invite you to compete against the Elite 4 and me.  Please visit us at the Indigo Plateau.  I’ve already taken care of housing arrangements.
                            Lance

    “Hmm.  An invitation to compete in the Pokémon League.  What do you think Sara?”
    She laughed as she nodded.  She had already packed for the trip.  “Let’s go!”
    “Ok.  We’ll ride Cyber there.  Come out Cyber!”  Icy’s Porygon materialized.  “Run program, Land Rover Conversion, Cyber.”  Cyber glowed as it rearranged its code.  After a really neat light show, Cyber had transformed into a small car.  Icy and Sara hopped in and drove off the Indigo Plateau.

    Meanwhile, at the Pokémon League HW, Lance was addressing the other members of the Elite 4.  “You won’t talk back to me Bruno.”
    “Lance, you can’t just let the kid have a free ride past us, it’s against the rules.”
    “I make the rules here!  Let Icy win, and make it look easy.  I want to really test him.”
    “Losing is not my specialty Lance, but if that’s what it takes to please you, then so be it.  You just better be careful how many enemies you want to make.”
    “Please Lorelei, enough empty threats.  Just get Icy up to me.”
    “And what if he wins?”
    “That’s impossible…”  Lance drew his cape and left the room.  The others discussed the issue.
    “Forget it.  Lance has gone too far this time.  Something smells foul here.  I’m not purposely losing a match to some silly kid.”
    “Agreed.  If Lance wants to get to battle this Icy fellow, he’ll have to beat us three first.”
    “Count me in too.  I’m not standing up for his oppressiveness anymore.”  The three elite trainers left the conference room.

    By now, Icy and Sara were only a few moments from the entrance to Indigo Plateau.  A guard stopped them.  “I’m sorry, but only trainers with eight badges may enter Indigo Plateau.”  Icy showed the guard his badges and the letter from Lance.  “Oh, you’re Icy.  Yes.  Your apartment suite is just down that road to the right.  Third on the left.”  Icy thanked the guard and drove to the apartment.
    “Wow, these sure are nice accommodations,” Icy said examining the inside of the room.  Sara unpacked.  A computer was in the corner of the main room and a TV in the bedroom.
    “So, when do you get to battle to Elite 4?”
    “It says I need to sign up tomorrow in the Grand Stadium.”  Icy put down the card and turned on the computer.  It greeted him with a message similar to that that was on the card.  It also gave to times of all the events happening.  “Well, looks like the fun starts tomorrow.”  They went to bed immediately afterward being worn out from the trip.
    That next morning, Icy was awoken by the cries of a Dodrio.  “Those things are sooooo annoying,” he thought.  He woke Sara and they went to the café for breakfast.  When they got there, they found many other trainers there too.
    “They must be here to challenge the Elite 4 too,” Sara said.  Many of the trainers were much better built and broader than Icy making him look very small.  One of the larger one’s walked over to him.
    “Hey, ain’tch you dat pikachtu keed?”  The man was obviously up all night drinking and still had a good amount of alcohol in him to stay drunk.  Icy just nodded and turned away quickly.
    He and Sara got their breakfast and sat at a table in the back for two.  After finishing, they went to the Grand Stadium to sign up. A match was already in progress.  Icy decided he’d better learn all he could about the Elite 4 before actually battling them.
    “Go Lapras!” Lorelei commanded.  The challenger sent out a Raichu.  Icy stared at the Raichu for a sec.  Perhaps not all his Pikachu emotions had been purged yet.  “Lapras, blizzard attack!”  It began to snow heavily over Raichu.  It looked quite confused but its trainer was still sharp.
    `”Raichu, thunderbolt now!”  The large electric mouse regained its focus and zapped Lapras with every drop of electricity it could muster.  Lapras fainted, but moments after the trainer had been declared the winner, his Raichu fainted as well.  The trainer took out some revives and potions to recover his pokémon.
    “The league rule for battle the Elite 4 state that you must defeat them all in order at one time.  You only choose one set of six pokémon.”
    “Ok.  Where do I sign mis?”  The clerk point to a line with an ‘X’ on it and Icy signed up.  “What time do I get to battle them?”
    “Let’s see…”  She punched some commands into the computer.  “Look’s like you’re scheduled for at 2:00.”
    “Ok.  Thanks!”  Icy and Sara went back to apartment.  Icy took out all of his pokéballs, setting the caterpies to the side.  They were now inside green colored pokéballs called, “Forestballs”.
    “I wonder what pokémon I should use.  You can only select six.  Hmm…”  Sara thought with him.
    “How many, Hyper?”  Icy nodded and set Hyper’s pokéball aside.  He also found Buttercup’s pokéball and placed it beside Hyper’s.
    “Ok, I’ve got a dragon and a psychic/bug type, what else.”  Icy snapped his fingers.  “Almost forgot!”  He took Hocus’ pokéball and added it to the set.  “I’ll need Hocus.  Hmm, that’s three…”
    “How about Cyber?  That triple attack illusion thing is sure to win.”  Icy agreed and placed the ball with the others.  “Ok, two more, right?”
    “Right.  Let’s see.  Who to pick?  Who to pick?”
    “Are you going to use any of your Caterpies?”
    “No.  They won’t stand a chance against these trainers.  It’s too bad I don’t have any fire pokémon.  A Charizard would crème all of them, hehehe…”  Sara just rolled her eyes.  “Hmmm, maybe not…”
    “We still need to pick two more.  What about your Pidgey or Spearow?  Are they any good?”
    “Too weak…  Oh, I know!  I’ll take Leafy.”  Icy put his Gloom’s pokéball with the others.  “That leaves just one more…”
    “Ehem…” Sara said clearing her throat as she held Static’s pokéball out in her hand.  “Take Static, a pikachu.  If not for the look, for its electric attacks.”
    “Right.  Good idea.  Well, that’s six.”
    “I heard there’s a training center in town where you can practice.  I’ll go the store and buy you some potions and other healers for the matches.”  She ran off towards the Pokémart mega store while Icy put back the pokéballs he wasn’t going to use.  He attached his six chosen pokéballs to his belt and headed for the trainer arena.
    As he entered through the double glass doors, Icy saw a few different trainers all working with their pokémon.  A poster in the back of the room caught Icy’s eye.
    “ELIMINATION STYLE TORNAMENT to be held NEXT WEEK with whoever is TOUGH enough to DEFEAT the ELITE FOUR.  There can only be ONE TRUE POKEMON MASTER!  Sign up after you DEFEAT the ELITE, if you can!”
    “Cool, maybe I’ll get to compete in that,” Icy thought to himself.  “Well, time stands for no one, cept, ahh, never mind…  Come out Hocus!”  The wise Kadabra materialized in front of its master looking down.  “Hocus, up here…”
    Hocus sweatdropped.  “Oh… right… I forgot,” said the not-so-wise Kadabra as he lifted his head.  “Where are we?  This doesn’t look much like a gym.”
    “It’s not, it’s a training arena.  I need you all in great shape before the big battle.”  Hocus tilted his head in confusion.  Icy had never gotten around to informing his pokémon about fighting against the Elite 4.  “I’m sorry, I signed up to go against the Elite 4 Hocus.  You are in my lineup.”
    “I see.  Well, who’s my sparing partner?”  Icy pushed a few buttons on a computer and a Porygon rolled over.  “This?”  The Porygon emitted a bright green beam producing a holographic Machamp.  “Oh, ha!  Even easier!”  The Machamp made the first move smashing Hocus into Icy.
    “Owww…  Ugh…  Get off me Hocus…”
    “Sorry master.  Hmph, I’ll show that overgrown brute.”  Hocus used a couple of psybeams and made short work of the Machamp.  “Told ya, piece of cake.”  Icy’s other pokémon fought against other holopokes the porygon created.  Icy had them stop around 1:15 so they could go to be healed and get some rest.
    Icy brought his pokéballs up to Nurse Joy who took them to be regenerated.  Then, he stopped by the local diner where Sara was waiting there.
    “Something told me I should wait here for you.  Strange huh?”  Icy merely smiled and gave her a soft kiss.  “Hehe, stop it.  Not in public.”
    “Huh… Why not?  You didn’t mind it when we were pikachu…”  Sara sighed as Icy kissed her hand.
    “Well, what shall we eat?” she asked pulling her hand away.
    “Ummm, I don’t know.  These decisions were mush easier when we were pikachu…  Oh well.  I think I’m just going to have a salad.  You want one too?  The people at the arena said they are very good.”
    “Ok, I’ll try it”
    “My pokémon are still at the pokécenter in the arena.”
    “Oh, did someone get hurt?”
    “Nah, not much.  But they were pretty worn out.  Don’t wanna pull an Ash Ketchum during a battle by sending out a worn out pokémon…”  Many people standing nearby starting laughing hysterically.  “Hmm, was it something I said?”  They finished laughing and resumed their previous actions.
    Icy and Sara picked up their lunch, paid, and sat at a table next to the window.  “This city is so beautiful.  Everything here is so well kept.”
    “Yeah.  Too bad we can’t live here.  I think it’s reserved for the trainers competing and the staff.  But, it would be nice…”  Icy looked at his watch, “1:37,” it read.  They finished their meals and headed back to the pokécenter inside the training arena.  Icy pokémon were anxiously awaiting the return of their master.  He gave them all a big group hug, something he hadn’t been able to do for quite some time.
    “Ok guys.  This is what we’ve trained for our whole lives.  This day.  The day when we would come up against those trainers people called the best.  But we are stronger than them.  We can beat them.  I know you all have it in you to make me a Pokémon Master.  So, are you all ready to take on the Elite Four and win?”  They all cried out in acknowledgement.  “Alright then, let’s go show them what we’ve got!”  They cheered again.  Icy returned them all to their pokéballs and headed with Sara to the Grand Stadium.
    “Think they’ll let me watch from the field with you Icy?” Sara asked.
    Icy shrugged.  “Don’t know.  Just ask the official when we get there if you can.  But you can always cheer me on from the stands.”  When they got to the stadium, an official checked Icy’s appointment and his pokéballs.  Sara asked her question.
    “You can watch your friend from the fan section on the sidelines miss.”  Sara was pleased and the official led them both in.
    “Well Lorelei… time for Icy.  Remember, forget about Lance.  Just get it over with fast so we…” She quickly nodded to Bruno.  He stopped talking and left her to go to the battle.
    “Now entering the stadium, the next challenger, from Saffron City, please welcome, Icy!”  The crowd cheered.  “Icy, as many of you already know, was once a pikachu due to a scheme by the notorious Team Rocket.  He is now the gym leader of his Bug Gym in the Viridian Forest.  His first opponent this afternoon will be Lorelei!  Let the game begin!”  Lorelei stepped into her trainer’s box and prepared to start the battle.
    “You don’t look so tough.  This will be easy.  Go Lapras!”  Her Lapras appeared on the field.
    “In that case…  Ready to fight, come in sight!  Icy calls, Static!”  Icy’s pikachu took the field.  “Thunderbolt now!”
    “Ice beam now!”  Lapras charged her ice beam while Static prepared to use its thunderbolt.  Something told him to wait for Lapras.  She made the first move by firing her beam of ice directly for Static.
    “Piiiiiiiiiii-kaaaaaaaaaa-CHUUUUUUUUUHHHUUUUUUHUUUUU!” Static shouted firing the thunderbolt.  It sliced through the ice beam and hit lapras.  Unfortunately, the ice and weakened the lightning bolt so much that it hardly damaged lapras.
    “Alright Static, agility now!”  Static quickly headed for Lapras.
    “Mist attack Lapras.”  Suddenly, Static for himself in an icy cloud of haze.  “Tackle it Lapras.”  Static was completely unprepared when Lapras smashed him down the field with a heavy blow to the back.
    “Agh!  Static return.  Icy calls, Leafy!”  Lorelei laughed.  “You won’t be smiling much longer!  Leafy, posionpowder attack now.”
    “What the…”  Lapras was poisoned.
    “Ok, leech life now!”  Leafy sucked Lapras’ hit points dry.
    “Ouuuu…  you win that round.  Go Dewgong!  Use your aurora beam attack now!”  Leafy stepped back.  The colorful beam threw her back towards Icy.
    “Oh… Leafy…  C’mon…  I know!  Leafy, solar beam!”  Leafy began taking in sunlight.  Good thing they were battling during the day.
    “Don’t let it charge fully.  Ice beam!”  Dewgong’s horn glowed blue as a sphere of ice appeared above it.  “FIRE!”
    “FIRE!”  The intense heat of the solar beam melted right through Dewgong’s ice beam and torched it.  Dewgong flopped around in pain.
    “That’s impossible!” Lorelei muttered.  Sara cheered Icy on from the sidelines.  “Ouuu…  Dewgong return.  This time, you’re through Icy.  I call, Cloyster!”
    Leafy was getting tired.  She had used most of her energy on the solar beam.  Now, her opponent was almost 4 times stronger than her.
    “Stun spore now.”  Leafy tried spraying Cloyster but it withdrew into its shell.
    “You can’t beat my Cloyster.  Not that easily.”
    Meanwhile, from atop a balcony overlooking the entire field, Lance was beginning to anger.  “What the h*** does she think she’s doing?  D*** her!  She’s not supposed to beat him.”
    “Cloyster, aurora beam!”  Cloyster opened its shell and blasted Leafy right towards Icy.
    “Aghh!  Leafy return!” he screamed quickly.  She was sucked into the pokéball seconds before she would have hit Icy in the face.
    “Well folks, the score is now tied at 2!”  Sara jumped up and down cheering for her boyfriend.
    Meanwhile, Icy worried about who to choose next.  Lorelei only had 2 more pokémon left after Cloyster.  “Ready to fight, come in sight!  Icy calls, Hyper!”  The adorable yet powerful Dratini slithered onto the field.
    “Ha!  You foolish boy.  Watch as Cloyster sends your dratini back to the Ice Age!”
    Icy realized his grave error.  “Oh crap!”  He wanted to hit himself on the head, but determined there would be plenty of time for that later.  “Ok, agility now!”
    “Cloyster, turn that worm into a popsicle with your ice beam.”  Cloyster fired the frozen ray at Hyper but was too slow for him.  “C’mon Cloyster, hit it!”  It fired and missed again.
    Icy telepathically ordered Hyper to charge its Hyper Beam.  After Cloyster missed Hyper for the fifth time in a row, Hyper lunged into the air and nailed Cloyster with a blinding hyper beam.  Cloyster immediately fainted while Hyper began recovering from the energy drain.
    “Cloyster return.  You just got lucky that time.  I call, Jynx!”  The crowd immediately turned in disgust.  “Oh put a lid on it…”  Jynx herself lowered her head in shame.
    “Hyper return!  I call, Cyber!”  Icy’s porygon appeared in front of jynx.  “Double Team attack Cyber!  Sharpen and tackle that horrid monster!”  Icy had suddenly got a huge adrenalin rush it seemed.  The Jynx didn’t know what to do as the three Porygons crashed into it.
    “Jynx, don’t just stand there, blizzard attack!”  The snow froze the two porygon clones leaving just the original one.
    “That won’t help you much.  Cyber, psybeam now!”  Cyber defeated the Jynx with just one well-aimed psybeam.
    “Ouuu… Jynx return.  Slowbro go!”  The strange pink pokémon appeared in front of Cyber.  “Use psychic now!”  Slowbro just stood there.  “Did you hear me?  Psychic!  Now!  On him!”  She was furious.
    “Here, lemme show you how it’s done.  Cyber, psybeam, rapid fire!”  Although every beam hit Slowbro directly, it didn’t really seem to mind it.  However, about 5 seconds later, the dopey pokémon collapsed.  The psybeams had confused it and caused it to knock itself out.
    “The match is over!  Icy of Saffron City has won this battle!  Congratulations young trainer!  We will now have a short break.  Remember, refreshments are being sold directly behind your seats inside the stadium.  Now’s a great time…”  His voice continued blaring into the distance.
    Icy walked over to Lorelei’s end and extended his hand.  “Good match.  That was quite a challenge.”
    “Ha.  You may have beaten me Icy, but you haven’t even seen half the elite’s might!  I suggest you heal those pokémon of yours during the break time.  Bruno is going to make short work of them.”  Icy stepped away and went to heal his pokémon with the potions and revives Sara had bought for him.  Sara walked over to him.
    “You were great Icy!  I’m sure you will be able to defeat the next elite trainer.”
    “I hope so…”