A Little Bit of Wish Fulfillment

Warning: If you actually like Ash and don't read Ash-bashing, push the back button.

Disclaimer: I own my character, nothing more. I don't even own the basic premise; too many people want to beat Ash up for me to claim ownership.

"So, you're the infamous Ash Ketchum, eh?"

The speaker was about fifteen, with brown hair and eyes. His face was impassive, or at least appeared so. But if you knew him well, which Ash, Dawn, and Brock did not, you would be able to see the faint smirk on his face.

"Ah, yeah, that's me," Ash replied, somewhat taken aback from the sudden appearance of the stranger. One second the path ahead had been clear. The next, the teen was there, as if he had appeared out of thin air.

"Good. That being the case, I challenge you to, not just a battle, but a bet."

"A bet?" Brock interceded, not quite trusting the guy.

There was no mistaking the mischief in the teenager's eyes as he explained, "I'll bet 500,000 Poké that I can beat Ash's entire team...with just one Pokémon."

Now it was Ash's turn to smirk. "No way that's happening!" he exclaimed cockily.

"Uh, Ash, I don't think that-."

"Are you sure that you want to-?"

"I accept the battle and the bet!" Ash declared, cutting off the words of caution from his friends.

Brock groaned in frustration. 500,000 Poké was a lot of money. And this guy would never have offered that much money if he wasn't sure that he'd win...then again, this was typical of Ash.

Dawn was slightly more positive. "Well, we'll lose a lot of money, but we get to see Ash taken down a peg!"

"Your confidence is overwhelming," Ash said sardonically.

"This match will be between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and..." Brock announced in a resigned tone. As always, he was officiating the match.

"Warren F. Minifassis, of Hearthome."

Brock raised an eyebrow at the strange name, but continued the officiation. "...and Warren F. Minifassis of Hearthome City. This match will be a single battle. If Warren loses a single Pokémon, Ash wins the match. Ash can use his full team, but he cannot make substitutions. Are the terms acceptable to everyone?"

Warren nodded, saying nothing as he observed his confident opponent. He allowed himself a small smile. Ketchum had no idea what he was up against. Whereas he had thoroughly analyzed Ash's battle style, especially with his Sinnoh team. Unless Ash sent out the right Pokémon first, before he could get going, he was confident that he would win.

Ash was thinking similar thoughts. It never occured to him that he knew who Ash was, what he had done, and still challenged him. No one did that, not after hearing that he had seen nearly every recorded Legendary in the book. No, Ash was thinking that with the odds rigged in his favor, he couldn't possibly lose. Not with his team.

"Alright, Pikachu, let's show him what we can do!" Ash yelled, his best friend and partner hopping from his shoulder to the ground. Sparks flew from Pikachu's cheeks, matching his fierce and determined expression.

"Okay, Frunk. Let's take this loudmouth down a peg," Warren said as he tossed a Pokéball into the air. It popped open, revealing a snorlax. "Lax," he droned contentedly, seemingly unconcerned by the prospect of a battle.

"Ready...battle!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" The electric rodent complied, shocking Frunk with a burst of electricity. When the electricity cleared, however, the snorlax was completely unfazed, his expression unchanged.

"Wha?" Ash was astonished, to say the least. Electricity from Pikachu's attacks could even hurt Ground types, against all odds! How come Frunk didn't even seem to feel it?!

Frunk did, indeed, feel it, unknown to Ash. What he was, however, was disciplined. Warren had found that the more composed the foe, the more careful his opponent played things, which worked out just fine for him most of the time.

"Toxic." Frunk's eyes flashed a dull purple as Pikachu's eyes did the same. After the purple cleared, Pikachu seemed, ever-so-slightly, weakened. And Warren smiled...

"Uh-oh," Brock commented to Dawn. "Toxic poisons the foe so badly that the poison does mored damage as time goes on. Ash had better finish this quickly, before it gets too much for Pikachu."

If Ash was aware of his precarious position, however, he showed no sign of it. "Try an Iron Tail!"

Pikachu's tail began glowing white as he rushed towards his foe. As he reached the gargantuan creature, he jumped up and whacked Frunk on the head with his tail.

Frunk rocked to the side somewhat, but didn't show any sign that the attack had indeed hurt.

"Rrgh," Ash growled, frustrated.

"That Snorlax must have really high Defence and Special Defence," Brock said comtemplatively. "Otherwise Pikachu would be doing more damage against him..."

"Stockpile." Frunk followed his trainer's calm command, closing his eyes and letting energy build up in him.

"Try another Thunderbolt!" The electricity washed over Frunk, again not seeming to affect him at all.

Warren took a moment to assess the situation before making his next move. Pikachu was still healthy, but he had caught some faint trembling in the rodent's body. The Toxic was working. Frunk, on the other hand, while somewhat depleted in HP, was still good to go. "Use Stockpile again."

Another Thunderbolt and Stockpile later, Pikachu was beginning to sweat slightly, as his body tried to expel the deadly poison coursing through his body. Frunk was also betraying weariness, several electricity burns on his body.

Warren couldn't help being slightly anxious. If something went wrong, he'd lose the battle. He didn't care about the money, just about Frunk and humbling this trainer. But if Ash did something unexpected...

He didn't. "Thunderbolt!"

This was it: the turning point of this round. Would Frunk succumb to the attack?

The electricity took a while to clear; Pikachu was keeping it going as long as he could, trying to make this sturdy opponent fall. Frunk's eyes were closed in pain. His HP was steadily lowering...

and then Pikachu stopped, unable to sustain the attack any longer. And Frunk still stood.

"Yes!" Warren's soft exclamation went unheard by Ash, who was smirking, sure that Frunk would soon fall.

And then came the command: "Swallow."

Frunk followed gladly: he knew that it would make him feel better. He visibly swallowed, lightning burns vanishing from off of his body as he did.

"That's not good!" Brock exclaimed. "If I understand correctly, he's back to full health!" And indeed, even if he wasn't, he still looked like he did.

Ash was grinding his teeth, frustrated. Just moments before, victory had been in sight. Now, things were looking very bad for Pikachu. But he couldn't give up. "Use another Thunderbolt, Pikachu!"

And so the battle proceeded. Frunk's Defence and Special Defence were raised with every Stockpile, and he healed himself with every Swallow. Pikachu, in contrast, grew weaker and weaker as time went on. Once, Frunk was paralyzed by a Thunderbolt, but Frunk was holding a Lum Berry, and so the paralysis was short-lived.

With such a mismatched mix-up, there could only be one conclusion. Pikachu fainted while trying to use his fifteenth Thunderbolt. "Pikachu!" Ash rushed to his fallen Pokémon as Frunk ponderously walked towards his own trainer, who was showering his with praises.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Warren has won the first round!" Brock couldn't keep the astonishment from his voice. He just couldn't believe that the almost-undefeated Pikachu had been defeated in a fair fight! Dawn, having seen less of Pikachu, was less impressed and more amused. After all, she was seeing her impulsive companion be taken apart by someone with little to no effort on the part of his foe.

"Okay, let's try a type advantage," gritted Ash. "Go, Infernape!" His Infernape came out, ready for battle. Frunk turned back to the battlefield.

"Infernape vs. Frunk: begin!"

"Use Close Combat, Infernape!" Infernape lunged at Frunk, who didn't even try to dodge the speedy ape. A flurry of punches and kicks rained on Frunk, but the thirteen Stockpiles had had a significant effect on his survivability. When the flow of attacks finally slowed, Frunk was bruised all over, but not at all fazed.

Warren was grinning. Unknowingly, Ash had played right into his hands. "Quick, use Earthquake!"

The rotund Pokémon slammed the ground hard, giving the nearby Infernape no chance to dodge. Between that, lowered defence, and type advantage, Infernape fell much faster than Pikachu did.

"No!"

"Infernape has fallen to Frunk! The second round has been won by Warren!"

From there, it all went downhill for Ash. Staraptor's Close Combat's were even less effective than Infernape's had been, Torterra couldn't outlast Frunk, and Buizel's outmaneuvering was useless against such a nonresponsive foe.

"Pay up, kid," Warren said smugly, an insufferable grin on his face.

Grumbling, Ash emptied his wallet into his foe's hands.

Ash and company had never been the sort of people to hang around long. As they walked into the distance, Warren's faint shout could be heard: "Anytime you have extra money, I'll be happy to relieve you of it like I did today!"

Dawn hid a giggle as Ash grumbled unintelligibly.

Meanwhile, Warren looked straight at the nonexistent camera and said, "I hope you enjoyed the show! Very effective strategy, no? Well, I'll see you next time: Same Crobat-time, same Crobat-channel!"

Fin