I originally planned to get this out on Saturday, but decided against it as I really didn't want to push myself too hard and slow down progress on the next chapter. This chapter is short, around 2000 Words less than what I usually have. I will most likely be taking a small break from writing, consisting of the rest of the week and possibly the first few days of next week. The first of half of Ash vs Lance is underway (even though it will pale in comparison to the 2nd half)! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

"Pikachu!" The yellow rodent shouted as she shocked her trainer and his girlfriend, the latter most likely ignoring her attempt at waking her trainer.

"I'm already up!" Ash sat up straight in his bed after Pikachu's rude, but very much necessary, wake-up. "I wish waking up like that could be effective and pleasant."

'That doesn't work though,' Luna cut in, suddenly floating on her side of the bed. Looking at her like that was something Ash could get used to. 'Good morning.'

"Good morning" Ash replied, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Glancing at the clock next to his bed, he read 9 am. He had an hour left until his match with Lance, enough time for a cold shower, breakfast and talking with his team and getting to the arena on time. At least he hoped that.

'Can we bring Froakie along?' She asked, using her big pleading eyes as she moved closer to him. 'Please?'

His attempts at not caving failed miserably. Sighing, Ash just shook his head and let Luna have her way. It didn't matter really, so there was no reason to deny her request. While she probably had a different reason in mind, he didn't care. He could also gain something from it, in the form of Froakie getting to see him and his Pokemon in a true battle. Stretching as he stood up, he shot Pikachu a quick glare before he headed for the bathroom. As usual he could hear his mom and Brock downstairs already and a voice he recognized as Sabrina's. Feeling a pair of arms wrap around him, meaing she had transformed, Ash leaned backwards and gave Luna a quick peck on her lips. He shouldn't get distracted that easily. Shaking her off, he entered the bathroom.

Much to the dismay of everyone, his breakfast only consisted of getting a cup of coffee and something to eat, in this case two slices of bread with whatever was in his reach. Now standing outside his house, Ash threw all of his pokeballs in the air while having Pikachu jump off his shoulder and join the others in front of him. With everyone expectantly looking at him, he had to figure out how wanted to say what he had in mind.

"Thank you," Ash knew that these words weren't even close to being to express his gratitude to his Pokemon. "Without you, I wouldn't be challenging Lance today for the title of Champion."

His Pokemon cheered at his words, going quiet as he told them to keep it down.

"But we're not done yet. We still need to battle Lance today, and everyone will play a role. Especially you, Glalie. You will be most likely be my ace against Lance, since pratically all of his Pokemon are weak against you. That doesn't mean this battle will be easy though. This will be our hardest battle so far, and I will all of you to perform at their best in order for us to win."

Ash hadn't noticed that he wasn't alone anymore, as his mother, Brock, May, Bianca, Luna, Sabrina and even Prof. Oak and Gary stood behind him.

"Don't forget about us." Brock said, Ash turning around as he heard him speak.

"Yeah, we will be cheering you on from the side." May added, Bianca nodding in agreement.

"You've beaten me Ash, so beating Lance should be no problem." Gary spoke, a cocky smile on his face.

"I believe, no, I know that you can win today Ash." Prof. Oak continued, his words holding no doubt.

"There's nothing that can describe of how proud I am of you right now." His mother's words were so honest, Ash's smile got even bigger than it already was.

"Do not worry about what is to come," Sabrina's voice cut right through, a more serious tone to it. "You're ready for whatever is to happen."

'You're never alone,' Reshiram's soothing voice echoed in his head. 'I will always be there for you.'

Reshiram had been a constant presence in his life since she made herself known to him, always helping him in any way she could. Finally, Luna approached him.

'I'm here for you as well.' She said as she hugged him, having to put down Froakie who had been in her arms nearly the entire morning, his Pokemon roaring in agreement.

"It's time to go." Ash declared, having seen the time on his watch. Only 20 minutes left until his match would begin and he had no plans of risking being late. Sabrina released her Alakazam, while he recalled all of his Pokemon except Pikachu, telling it where it should teleport all of them. Looking closer, Ash finally took notice of its mustache, meaning it was a male. He really needed to teleport more often, as he still wasn't used to it.

"Ash Ketchum?" A new voice asked, everyone turning in the direction where it came from. Going by the clothes, the woman who had spoken was a League official.

"That's me." Ash said as he took a step forward.

"Good. I am to accompany all of you to the stadium," She explained, gesturing in the direction they would have to walk. "As the challenger, you will be given access to the waiting room so you can prepare yourself for the battle, while the rest of you will be given special seats."

Wishing him good luck, with Luna giving him a peck on the cheek, Ash was shown where he needed to go before the official lead the others to their seats.

"Alright Pikachu, this is it." Trainer spoke to starter as he simply stood in the waiting room, anxiously awaiting the call that he could go out there. Battling in front of a crowd was nothing new to him, he had done it in every League he had participated after all, though this was different. His train of thought didn't get any further as another official, a man in his early thirties if Ash would guess, appeared.

"It's time," Nothing else needed to be said as Ash followed him, Pikachu rubbing her cheek against his in encouragement. They had reached the entrance to the battlefield. "Good luck."

"Please welcome, challenger Ash Ketchum!" That was his cue.

Nodding in thanks to the official, Ash took a deep breath as he walked out on the battlefield as confidently as he possibly could. He couldn't doubt himself or his Pokemon now, not when he had come so far.

"I've been waiting for you, Ash. You're finally here!" Lance shouted across the battlefield, looking as regal as ever he stood there.

"I am. I have been waiting for this!" Ash called back, smirking at his opponent. He knew who he would send out first. Lance's team would consist of dragons, but he had nothing else to go on really. Except Dragonite. Dragonite was a constant he knew would be there. About to continue, the referee coughed lighty, getting the trainers' attention.

"This will be full 6 on 6 battle where both trainers are allowed to switch as they please. Once one trainer has lost 3 Pokemon we will have a break."

"We will find out who is the strongest trainer in Kanto and Johto, right here and right now!" Lance declared, going on as if the referee had never spoken, pokeball in his hand. "As the strongest trainer and Pokemon League Champion of our regions… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"

Lance threw his Pokeball, the battle under its way, releasing Haxorus, who appeared on the field with a roar.

"Primeape, battle time!" Ash shouted as he threw his own pokeball, Primeape instantly ready to battle. "Ice Punch!"

"Dragon Dance, then Earthquake!" Lance responded, Haxorus standing at its full fize as it roared, before it stomped the ground.

"Be careful!" Ash warned, watching the ground for any surprising movement that could catch Primeape offguard. Spotting a slight movement, Ash did what he had to. "Jump!"

Primeape jumped, avoiding any damage as he stood before Haxorus, his fist pulled back.

"Dragon Tail!" Lance ordered, his dragon swinging its tail at full force in Primeape's direction. Both attacks struck home, as Primeape was sent flying right after his fist connected with Haxorus. That Dragon Dance sure could work wonders.

"Mega Kick!" Primeape began to sprint, the white glow on his right leg increasing with each passing second.

"Earthquake again!" Ash frowned as the ground shook again, Primeape getting knocked down as the ground split apart below him. Lance clearly had something planned, if the way he completely trashed the battlefield was anything to go by.

"Keep going!" Ash shouted, Primeape standing up again as he continued his assault on Haxorus. Lance had not told Haxorus to move at all. That could mean two things. Either he was confident in Haxorus' ability to match Primeape, or Haxorus was just there to set up the field the way Lance wanted. The field wasn't a massive problem in his opinion, since only Primeape and Donphan were truly affected by it. Charizard and Pidgeot would have no problem, neither would Glalie and Pikachu could manage. That meant that Lance wanted to take it to the air.

"Outrage!" That certainly didn't work in Ash's favor as Haxorus' eyes glowed red for a split second.

"Close Combat!" Primeape's Mega Kick didn't hold a candle to Haxorus' Outrage. Both Pokemon charged at eachother, their attacks colliding head on. Outrage wasn't that different from Close Combat, except it was far less controlled and just a display of brute force. As it became clearer what was going on, Ash grinned as he Primeape holding Haxorus in a headlock.

"Haxorus, break free!"

"Not a chance, pummel him with Ice Punch!" Primeape did just that as his fist was glowing, hitting Haxorus' head as many times as he could. "Now, Seismic Toss!"

The crowd hadn't been quiet for a single second so far, but now they went completely quiet as Primeape put his arms around Haxorus. He hadn't even thought about the fact that he could hear his own voice amplified. Somewhere there had to be a microphone, picking up anything he, and Lance, said. In an incredible feat of raw determination and strength, Primeape lifted a struggling Haxorus, letting himself fall backwards and slamming Haxorus into the ground.

"Incredible," Lance muttered, as Haxorus stood up shakliy on its legs. "Dragon Tail!"

"Jump over it!" Ash called, Primeape deftly jumping over Haxorus' tail. "Let's go with Ice Punch one last time!"

Sending his fist straight into Haxorus' chest, Primeape shoved him as far as he could. It didn't take long for Haxorus to fall over, swirls in its eyes.

"Haxorus is unable to battle!" The referee shouted, raising a flag. "Champion Lance, please send out your next Pokemon!"

"Most impressive, Ash," Lance spoke calmly as he recalled his fallen dragon, seemingly not having an ounce of worry. "Haxorus hadn't evolved too long ago, and he did what I wanted."

"I somewhat expected that with the way you kept it using Earthquake. But I'm not done either," Ash replied, as he grabbed Primeape's pokeball. "Primeape, return."

"Glalie!"

"Altaria!"

They released their Pokemon at the same time, with vastly different reactions at their opponent's choice. Ash grinned as he saw Lance's Altaria while Lance paled. Glalie would have a field day with the dragon and flying-type.

"Ice Beam!" Ash didn't wait as he immediately called out his first attack.

"Dodge it and then use Toxic!" Lance shouted, Altaria softly flapping its wings, avoiding Glalie's Ice Beam while staying close enough in order to attack. Opening its mouth, the poisonous substance left it.

"Spin to the side!" Ash ordered, Glalie spinning to side. "Now use Ice Shard!"

Compared to his previous attack, Glalie had no problem hitting his one, or part of it for that matter. Altaria's cry of pain indicated that the ice-type had gotten in some hits.

"Roost!" Lance had by the looks of it recovered from his surprise of seeing his Glalie. This was definitely reminding him of his battle against Karen yesterday.

"Ice Beam, let's go!" He hoped that Altaria would be immobile for long enough to Glalie could get a clean shot on it with his Ice Beam. The attack struck the now recovered Altaria, its effort of recovering wasted completely.

"Fire Blast!"

"What?!" Ash had completely disregarded the fact that many of the dragons could learn fire-type moves, and one as strong as Fire Blast would absolutely devastate Glalie. "Dodge it!"

Altaria unleashed the attack, the uniquely formed flames that were Fire Blast barely missing Glalie.

"Toxic again!" Lance changed it up as Altaria for the second time tried to poison Glalie.

"Get close and use Gyro Ball!" Ash retalliated, the ice-type in a surprise showing of speed started to spin faster and faster as he crashed into Altaria.

"Fire Blast!" As soon as the dragon-type had recovered, flames engulfed Glalie, making a noise that indicated the pain it was in.

"Icy Wind!" Ash knew that Glalie wasn't out yet. While he knew that another Fire Blast would most likely spell the end, anything else was still doable. Blowing out the attack, Ash cheered as he could see Altaria's left wing being frozen. That meant he had one or more free shots.

"Hit its right wing with Ice Beam!" If Altaria's right wing ended up being frozen as well, getting in hits was guaranteed. As Glalie fired the Ice Beam at the dragon and flying-type's right wing, Ash noticed Lance stance. Confidence and no worry. Something was clearly off.

"Tailwind!" Lance ordered, Altaria, flapping with her right wing while the left wing tried its best to follow suit. Soon a strong wind had been created, right before Glalie's Ice Beam right Altaria.

"Finish it with Gyro Ball!" Ash shouted, surprised as Lance held out a pokeball.

"Return, Altaria." Lance recalled his damage Altaria. "Go, Kingdra!"

Lance's replacement for Altaria, floated in the air, compensating for the lack of water. While water-type moves weren't the best against ice-types, neither were dragon-types, Ash knew that Glalie was having a tough time after that Fire Blast from Altaria. And the Tailwind that had just been used would really hurt Glalie, since now Kingdra would be much faster than Glalie.

"Glalie, come back!" He couldn't have his trump Pokemon against Lance already go down. A change was needed. Recalling the ice-type, he picked his next Pokemon. "Primeape, take his place!"

While Primeape had already battled, Ash expected him to be fine for at least another battle, maybe more.

"Scald!" Lance ordered, going first this time.

"Dodge it and use Close Combat!" Ash called out, his loyal fighting-type preparing to pummel Kingdra.

"Send him flying with Hydro Pump!" Lance countered, Kingdra holding in its attack until Primeape already had his fist lifted and ready. The high pressured stream of water hit Primeape, hurling him backwards like a ragdoll.

"Get up and use Mega Kick!" Ash resigned himself to defeat there, unless he found a way around Kingdra's barrage of ranged attacks, and Primeape's lack of them. While he could recall Primeape, Ash wasn't sure that Primeape would be in a better spot against any of Lance's other dragon.

"Draco Meteor!" The Champion shouted, Ash's eyes widening as his move of choice. What an opportunity he was given there!

"Use Mega Kick to propell yourself upwards with the help of the meteors falling down!" Primeape sent him a questionable look, but nodded as he braced himself. Leaping off the ground, Primeape used the increased force behind his leaps that Mega Kick gave him to climb higher and higher.

"Knock him out of the air with Dragon Pulse!" Lance answered as he soon as he had gathered himself from his initial surprise.

"Mega Kick, full power!" Ash commanded, as Primeape had gotten as high as he possibly could. "Let's go!"

As Kingdra's Dragon Pulse was about to engulf Primeape, the fighting-type did the opposite of what the dragon-type and its trainer had expected. Primeape, putting all of his power behind this one kick, pushed straight through the Dragon Pulse, taking the attack with him as he aimed for Kingdra. The fighting-type kept pushing, never slowing down until his Mega Kick and Kingdra's Dragon Pulse all crashed into the seahorse, creating an explosion and hindering any clear view on what exactly was going on.

"Kingdra and Primeape are unable to battle!"

Letting go of the breath he had been holding, Ash trying to spot his friends. Searching for them, he found them relatively fast, sitting directly to his right, having a perfect view of the battle. Smiling at them, Ash focused on Luna and Froake before he quickly refocused on the task at hand. While had nearly expected Primeape to faint from Kingdra's Dragon Pulse without getting anything in return, Primeape had prevailed through raw determination. He was ahead of Lance with only Primeape down, while Lance had two of his Pokemon down, that meant nothing so far. Glalie wouldn't be able to take that many hits anymore. Depending on who Lance chose though, Glalie could be in a very good spot.

"Glalie!"

"Dragonite!"

A sound of surprise went through the crowd as Lance's Dragonite was standing on the field. While Ash was no stranger to Dragonites, this one was unique in its own right. Larger than average, its facial expression was the complete opposite of what you'd expect from Lance's ace. A soft expression was what it wore, looking at him and his Pokemon with big eyes.

"Don't let her expression fool you. While she's not as battle hungry as the Dragonite you fought last time, she's still my first and strongest Pokemon. If you want to become Champion, getting past her is something you have to do." The Champion explained, a smug look on his face. If this would be any other Dragonite, Glalie's chances wouldn't be that bad, but against the titan that Lance's Dragonite was things were very different.

"Ice Beam!" Ash knew that something had to be done. Any hit could help him win, and that was what he signalled Glalie.

"Fire Punch!" Lance shouted, surprising Ash with another fire-type move. He should have expected it though, since what easier way was there to beat ice-types then with fire-type moves? As Glalie aimed for Dragonite, Ash thought through his options. He expected Lance to switch out Dragonite out eventually, since Lance knew that Dragonite would be needed for his strongest Pokemon.

"Slow her down with Icy Wind!" Missing his Ice Beam, Glalie didn't let that affect him as he called for the cold winds, pelting Dragonite and trying his best to hinder her. Altaria's Tailwind, which was still in affect, hadn't helped Kingdra that much. It was clearly still there, as Dragonite moved at a respectable speed through Glalie's Icy Wind, but the slowdown was enough for the ice-type to avoid Dragonite's Fire Punch.

"Nail that Glalie with Extremespeed!" Lance ordered, his loyal dragon zooming forwards as she nearly disappeared from sight. Being used to such feats from some of his own Pokemon, Ash was ready for it.

"Gyro Ball!" Ash called out, Glalie anticipating Dragonite, as he started to spin right as she would hit him. Hurling Dragonite back, Glalie was unprepared for the speed at which she recovered and attacked again.

"Hyper Beam!" Lance had no intentions of letting Glalie continue, the orange beam hitting hard as Glalie crashed into the ground.

"Ice Beam!" Ash returned fire, the Ice Beam being unavoidable as Dragonite had to recover from her usage of Hyper Beam while Glalie was ready faster. "Now, knock her out with Sheer Cold!"

"Sheer Cold?!" Lance exclaimed, taken back by his choice of move. "Dragonite, return!"

"Wait for it." Ash muttered, still loud enough for Glalie to hear. There was no point in attacking if there was no target to hit.

"Altaria, take her place!"

"Go!" He shouted as Altaria materialized on the field. If Sheer Cold would connect he would be in a very favorable position, with only one Pokemon knocked out and Glalie quite hurt plus 4 Pokemon at the ready while Lance would only have 3 left.

"Dodge it!" Lance didn't rest on his laurels as Altaria did a well executed spin to the side, Ash's chance at knocking it out immediately going to waste. "Use Roost!"

"Ice Beam!" Ash ordered, trying to take the chances he were given. Instead, Altaria only recovered for a short time as it dodged Glalie's attack again.

"Draco Meteor!"

"Power through with Gyro Ball!"

Glalie spun through the barrage that was Draco Meteor, crushing the stones as they made impact.

"Fire Blast!" Ash grinned at Lance's choice of move.

"Explosion, let's go!"

With no distance between them, Glalie rammed Altaria as he started to glow stronger and stronger.

"Fire!" To Ash's shock, the dragon-type still managed to use the attack, blasting Glalie with the fire-type move.

"Glalie!" Ash shouted as his Pokemon landed in front of him.

"Using an ice-type against me isn't a bad idea. Don't think that I don't know how to deal with them though," Lance spoke, Glalie clearly struggling to get up. "He's still not down?"

Glalie, slowly but carefully, floated in the air again, looking more pissed off than Ash had ever seen him.

"Ice Shard!" Using Glalie's anger towards Lance and Altaria to his advantage, Ash had to fire on all cylinders if he wanted to force the break. The small pieces of ice struck Altaria, who didn't look any better for wear than Glalie. Noticing the hand Lance placed on his pokeballs, his eyes narrowed as he removed it again. Altaria was at its limit, so the point of switching wasn't there.

"Dragon Pulse!" Lance retalliated, Altaria in pain as it fired off the attack.

"Counter it with Ice Beam!" As the attacks met head on, it was clear that Altaria's Dragon Pulse wouldn't be able to overcome Glalie's Ice Beam. Overpowering the opposing attack, Altaria was unable to dodge the ice-type move as it hit, dropping the dragon-type to the ground. Seeing that Altaria had fainted, Ash focused on Glalie who clearly wasn't faring any better than his opponent. Another second passed before he too dropped to the ground, making it another draw.

"Altaria and Glalie are both unable to battle! With that Champion Lance has lost 3 Pokemon!" The referee declared as he raised two flags, booming out his declaration. "Both trainers will be given 15 minutes to recover and prepare themselves for the remainder of the battle!"

As Ash slumped down on the bench in the room he had been guided to, he closed his eyes as he rested his head against the wall. That battle had taken more out of him than he thought. He had managed to get in a few words with his friends, who had all praised him. Thinking about what was awaiting him, Ash knew it wouldn't get any easier once he and Lance went at it again. Besides Dragonite, he had no idea what dragon-types Lance had in his arsenal. Except that they would be strong, no doubt about it. A nudge on his arms pulled his attention away from what could possibly happen.

"Yeah, I know you're itching to battle. You will get your chance soon enough," Ash reassured his starter, as she kept nudging his arm. "What is it?"

Ash certainly was capable of understanding Pikachu, for the most part. Even after all these years he sometimes got a little confused by some of the things she was saying, or she was just talking fast, way too fast for him. As he sent her a look of confusion, Pikachu did what worked when not talking to him. Pointing to the exit, Pikachu tried her best to depict something big, hoping Ash would understand her.

"I'm not sure I understand. Something big outside?"

"Pika." Pikachu sighed. Kissing the air, she knew she had gotten her point across.

"Luna? What about her?" Trainer asked Pokemon, blushing lightly. They had never truly talked about the relationship he and Luna had. He should have known that it would be coming eventually, and now seemed to be the moment they would talk about it.

"Pikapi, pi cha." Listening to what his starter was saying, he nodded as he understood.

"I'm not really sure yet. We haven't talked about how our plans for the future look."

"Pikapi, kachu ka." Pikachu grinned at her best friend as he his cheeks turned deep red.

"A family? I haven't even given that any thought, " Ash admitted, scratching his head in embarrassment. "I would like that though."

'Pikachu, dont put Ash on the spot like that," Reshiram admonished the electric-type, her tone soft. 'I'm happy to hear that you like a family with her, but that's nothing you should worry about yet.'

"Suppose so," Ash said, about to say something more as a signal alerted him that it was time. "It's time to go."

Standing up, Ash took confident steps forward as he walked through the hallway that would lead him back outside.

"This is it," Ash spoke, both to Pikachu and to the rest of his team, even though they couldn't hear him. "Together we will pull through."

With that he stepped out onto the battlefield. He wouldn't falter and neither would his team. He had complete trust in them and his ability as a trainer and that was all they would need in to prevail.