Hi everyone ;)

Long time, no see, huh? Yeah, I've got various reasons why I haven't bee updating any of my stories for the last four months, but none of which probably interest you much. I recently had a family member go into hospital which put me off writing for a while, and fanfiction altogether. But now I'm back! I'm sure you're all jumping up and down in glee :P. I still enjoy writing and since I've been gone for so long, I've decided to start things off from the beginning. This story is one that all of you who've read my stuff will recognise, its basically a re-re-write now of the very first story I ever wrote. And somehow it managed to get even longer haha. But I still think it works better as one long chapter, rather than split down into several. I hope you enjoy it, all those who are reading this for the first time and I hope all of you who favorited the original agree this one is better than the last. Anyway, without any further ado, let's get reading!

Misty wrapped her coat round herself tighter as she walked up the steep incline, her eyes staring up ahead, searching the night.

By all rights, she shouldn't be out at all. The cold was biting at her exposed legs below her shorts, while the brisk night breeze threatened to rip the warm winter coat from where she tightly grasped it round her body. The gym leader paused for a moment to catch her breath, staring out behind her for a moment at the remarkable view, before shaking her head briefly and resuming her climb. This was not the time to admire the night ocean as she had done so many times before. No, Misty was on a mission. And as a pair of emerald eyes stared determinedly upwards, searching for one particular raven-haired boy, she felt sorry of anything that might get in her way.

...

The locker room was completely empty, save for a few benches and one lone trainer slumped in a corner. A brightly coloured yellow mouse-like pokemon sat near the teenager, staring at him with wide eyes. Its master made no noise other than the continued sound of his breathing, his eyes clenched shut, every cell in his body just waiting for the call.

"Mr. Ketchum? It's time, we're ready for you now."

The official sounded hesitant as he lingered by the doorway. After all, this trainer had become famous in the last few weeks. But looking now, all the man could see was an ordinary teenage boy with a terrified look on his face. The man waited as the teenager raised his head and nodded, then turned and left without another word.

It's time...

"Well Pikachu, this is it. Just one more battle eh?"

"Pikah!"

His friend responded enthusiastically, ever faithful as it tried in vain to dispel its trainer's nerves. Ash nodded back, a smile touching the corner of his mouth as he stared into the small creature's black eyes, before pulling his cap down further over his face as he climbed to his feet.

The feeling was familiar, but never before built to this level. Each step felt like a mile, every breath felt like he had just ran a marathon. Even the ticking from his watch and the beating of his own heart seemed to have slowed down to almost non-existence. And as the young Pallet town trainer took his place on the small platform set to take him towards his destiny, he felt for a moment as if his his whole life, every step he'd ever taken since that fateful tenth birthday was flickering before his eyes.

Ash raised a hand as the platform suddenly shuddered into life below, protecting his eyes against the dazzling sun that opened up above, as a crescendo of noise crashed down upon him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, poke-fans everywhere, welcome, welcome to the event of the decade, welcome to the championship battle of the Champion's League!"

The voice boomed out across the stadium as Ash's eyes slowly adjusted to take his surroundings. He'd been in quite a few stadiums in his life, but he'd only ever entered this one four times before. This battlefield had been built fairly recently, re-severed purely for Elite Four and Championship matches. And it surpassed anything he had ever seen. Stands rose impossibly high in every direction, lights flashed everywhere as thousands of people began to take his picture. And even now, something was different.

Everyone in the arena was slowly rising to their feet. The applause was like an explosion that detonated at the precise time that the platform had clicked into place. The noise felt like it was a hundred thousand times louder than it had ever been when Ash had been introduced during his very first league, back at the young age of ten.

Back then, Ash received a polite smattering of cheers as a relatively unknown. Today, there was absolute pandemonium inside the massive stadium. People were on their feet, screaming his name, holding up hand-made signs with words of encouragement on them, and making noise louder than anything Ash or Pikachu had ever heard. The two Pallet Town natives were in absolute stunned-silence.

In front of him lay a plain, chalked out battlefield on a dusty floor, with high walls surrounding the edges. Ash gazed across the battlefield, his eyes searching the large heavily decorated oak doorway built into the arena wall at the far side. Any moment now his opponent would emerge from that entrance, but so far, there was no one to be seen.

"It's just another battle. I've done this a thousand times before so it's not a big deal," Ash muttered to himself through clenched teeth, trying in vain to calm himself down.

"Chuuu..."

His small starter replied from his feet, looking up at its trainer, the worry and nerves starting to become evident in its own voice as well.

"And here he is, the unstoppable trainer with his famous Pikachu by his side! Hailing all the way from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, this man has astounded thousands everywhere with his extraordinary instinct and unique battling style, continually seeming to pull victory out of defeat at the last moment! The Sinnoh League tournament champion and victor of the Elite Four, give it up for... Aaaaaaaassh Ketchum!"

The stadium truly felt like it rocked as the crowd roared for the young trainer.

"Yeah! Come on Ash!"

Misty cupped her hands around her mouth as she shouted above the noise. Flanking her on either side, May and Dawn were also on their feet, screaming words of encouragement forward. Even Brock's usual stony expression looked truly giddy with excitement, while Gary was staring up at the crowd with a look of wonderment on his face.

"KETCH-UMM! KETCH-UMM! KETCH—UMM!" the crowd was chanting. The chants were raining down from the seats loud enough to be heard over the blaring music that was now being played.

"And here is a trainer who needs no introduction, reigning champion-master for over eight years, Sinnoh born and bred, none other than... Cynthia... Shirona!"

The stadium exploded again, the screams now beginning to hurt as the great oak door slowly opened, revealing a tall woman with long blonde hair. The champion walked out into the field, stopping at the far edge of the battlefield. Raising one hand, Cynthia looked around with a wide smile on her face, taking in the crowd and waving.

Ash watched her, fists clenched tightly by his side.

"Boy, does Ash looked determined. I don't think I've never seen him this tense," Dawn said worriedly to a older tanned boy with spiky hair, sitting in the seat to her right.

"Lup!" A small blue bird-like pokemon stood to the girl's front, squeaked loudly in agreement.

"Well, he should be Dawn. After all, we've seen him spend the last two months training for this battle, not to mention whatever he did before. I'd be worried if he wasn't a little nervous," Brock placated, although he couldn't help thinking the same as he took in his long-time friend's appearance on the field below.

"Well, so long as he doesn't lose his focus in the battle." A purple-haired boy in his late teens leaded forward from the row behind Dawn, the frown on his face evident after making no attempt to join in the cheers. While he had gotten over his animosity for the raven-haired trainer quite a few years ago, the Veilstone native couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the heights Ash was now attempting to reach. "He's got his work cut out if he wants to stand any chance against Cynthia. You saw his battle with Lucian, he barely pulled that one together in time and Cynthia's a whole other level. I just hope he knows what he's doing out there."

From her position between the two girls, Misty immediately tore her eyes away from the arena, spinning backwards.

"He knows! You better shut your mouth before I do it for you, Ash's gonna win this, you'll see," she yelled, rather more forcefully than she intended.

"Good thing Ash brought his cheerleader, isn't it?" Gary joked from his position next to his grandfather. Overhearing him, Dawn began to laugh, only to shut up with a nervous squeak as Misty twisted back round to glare at her instead. It had been a common joke between the group during the last few weeks while they had all been together that the two old-time friends had a crush on each other.

"Wow, the crowd loves Ash!" Max yelled over the continued roar of the stadium from his front-row seat. He had been raucously joining in on the 'Ketchum' chants with glee, oblivious to the conversation to his right.

"You're right! This is so exciting!" May squealed, craning her neck to look all around the stadium.

Misty opened her mouth, comeback already half-formed for Gary's remark, before giving up and turning her attention back to the battlefield where Cynthia and Ash were approaching to shake hands before the match.

...

Misty leant on her knees, feeling her breath finally beginning to return back to normal, before looking up. From this side of the large hill, the whole island lay out before her, the twinkling lights of the huge city lighting up even the night sky. At the very centre of the city, the four brightest lights shone, easily spotted. Oval-like shapes, three placed out like the points of a triangle and the fourth, easily the brightest light of all, in the middle. The championship stadium, Misty realised. Undoubtedly the centre of attention for everyone in the city right now. But no more it seemed than the object of her little night-time excursion.

Misty hesitated a moment longer, then slowly walked forward, her eyes fixed on the young man who sat down on the grass a few metres to her front, his chin resting on his knees.

...

Cynthia...

Ash watched the champion approach from the other side of the battlefield. The feeling in his stomach had built to a peak, the butterfrees in his stomach had turned into ravenousness fearows with the champion-master's appearance. As Ash slowly set off from his side to meet her, his eyes took in every feature of the woman in front of him. Cynthia Shirona. Born in Celestic Town, a town rumoured to have a deep hold in pokemon legends. And there never had been a more fitting place for the woman in front of him to have grown up in. She was a legend. Unbeatable. Unstoppable. Cynthia had reigned over Sinnoh as the champion for over eight years now and in that time, no one had even come close to defeating her. Even Sinnoh's own Elite Four challenged her on a regular basis, only to get swept aside with ease. And the worst part of it was... she was so calm about it. Collected. So sure of her own superiority, yet so nice about it. Never hesitating to help out beginning trainers. Never afraid to give a word of advice here and there when needed. A true champion with a near perfect blend of power, skill and humility, a trainer that many believed to be stronger than even the champions of Johto and Hoenn. And as Ash crossed the final distance to greet his opponent, he knew they were right.

This is insane...

Ash could hardly believe he was here, about to have this battle. Despite the fact he'd won his way to this battle fair and square, Ash still suspected he had a long way to go before he could consider himself in Cynthia's league. He could remember first meeting her, watching with awe as she swept aside over half of his entire rival's team with a single pokemon, then later on how she'd handily disposed of Team Galactic's plans. The champion-master was on her own, so far above the rest, they faded out of view. But today at least, if only for a day, a moment, or until she defeated him, they were equals.

The champion took Ash's hand and grasped it firmly, her long black coat wafting gently in the air. She had never felt the need to dress up for her battles, a suit would get in the way and a cape would look simply ridiculous. Cynthia stared at her opponent, almost level with hers now thanks to the long years that had passed since she last met her young challenger, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"You're quite popular today, aren't you?"

Ash managed a half-smile in return and a nod, still struggling to find his voice as the cheers still rained down upon the battlefield. Cynthia laughed lightly.

"It's a pleasure to see you again after all this time, and an even bigger pleasure to have his match. I always knew you would go far from the first time I met you." Cynthia paused for a moment, then continued with a more serious tone. "But I will not go easy on you Ash."

Ash nodded again, a bigger smile now forming. Despite his doubts and the nerves still spinning around this chest, if there was one thing that he could ignite his enthusiasm, it was a challenge.

"Give me everything you have Cynthia."

Cynthia acknowledged the reply with a sharp nod, retaining hold on his hand as she again looked off to one side at the crowds. "You know how I once said that whenever one life meets another, something will be born? Well, let's just say I'm looking forward to finding out what that something is. Good luck Ash." With that, the champion-master abruptly dropped her challenger's hand. Ash hesitated for a moment before nodding back again, tight-lipped, before turning to walk back to his position.

'Oh, and one more thing Ash...'

Ash paused without turning back. Cynthia gave a half-smile, unable to stop herself from giving one last warning as she observed the pokemon trainer from behind, his hunched-up shoulders betraying his inner emotions. After all, he was the challenger, but this was her stadium.

"I am champion-master of this region. You know this, but do you realize what that actually means? I'll tell you. It means I am the most powerful pokemon trainer in all of Sinnoh and I fully intend to keep that title." Without another word, Cynthia strode to the far end of the stadium, confident her words had done their job.

Ash swallowed hard. Cynthia's words had indeed been well-placed, the pokemon trainer could feel what little confidence he'd had to begin with now start to crumble beneath him, the stadium itself seemed to sway in all directions. If he lost here, months, no, years of work and training would have been wasted.

No. We have come too far to lose now. Cynthia's not going to know what hit her... Ash gritted his teeth, then set off back to his position at the edge of the battlefield, determination growing in every step.

"No matter what happens, I'd say we're in for an extraordinary battle," Samuel Oak stated to Delia Ketchum in the stands.

"As long as none of Ash's pokemon get too hurt," she responded worryingly as she looked down at her son. It wasn't just the pokemon she was worried about, she knew just how much preparation her son had put into training for this battle. Delia had been there herself as her son had battled the Elite Four in the previous months, all nail-biting battles that had been extremely hard won. If Ash lost now, all that work would have been for nothing. And if he lost, he would more than likely disappear again. And she knew she wouldn't be able to stand that. Delia pursed her lips worryingly. She knew exactly how much this meant.

"This will be a full six on six pokemon battle!"

A referee, stood at the edge of the battlefield, holding two flags, shouted to the screaming crowds, the small microphone clipped on his collar sending his voice booming across the stands.

"Both the challenger and the champion may switch their pokemon at any time! The competitors will be battling on a plain field! There will be no time limit!" The scoreboard, fitted to the very top of the stands suddenly lit up, showing both Ash and Cynthia's faces with six blank squares each running in a semi-circle round their personal picture. "And we will now decide who gets the first move!" the referee finally shouted. At his words, the lights on the scoreboard began to spin between Ash and Cynthia, a giant electronic roulette board, starting fast, but eventually slowing down. The crowd held its breath as the light slowly ground to a winking halt on Ash's side of the scoreboard, then burst into enthusiastic cheers once more.

Over in the stands behind Ash, sitting in front the grey-haired professor, a brown-haired pokemon coordinator groaned loudly along with her little brother sat beside her.

"That means Ash has to send out his first pokemon without any idea what Cynthia's gonna use first, right?" May exclaimed, face dropping with concern.

"Yes true. But don't forget Ash can switch at any time too. It's not really a disadvantage in high-level matches like these, just a formality" Tracey replied knowingly, from his position one row behind where he sat next to his mentor. Suffice to say, his time under the professor had also resulted in him learning many things about pokemon battles, as well as their natural state.

Ash took a deep breath as he unclipped his first pokeball from his belt. He'd spent a long time working out who to place on his team for this final battle. Pikachu was a given, the electric pokemon had been with him through thick and thin over the years. Ash wouldn't even want to win, nor would he feel he could, without his starter stood by his side. But the remaining five had required a great deal of thought. Nothing other than his most strongest would suffice in a battle like this. And now, he and his team were about to be put to the ultimate test.

Here we go...

"I choose you... Snorlax!"

Ash cried out as loud as he could as he hurled his first pokeball onto the field. The pokeball exploded in mid-air in a flash of white light and Snorlax landed with a crash in front of its trainer, bellowing loudly. The young pokemon trainer looked at his first chosen pokemon with a small grin. Usually Snorlax cared about only two things, eating and sleeping. But today, it was fired up for battle, eager to get started. Ash watched as the sleeping pokemon waved its arms above its head in excitement, feeling his own confidence start to re-emerge.

If Snorlax isn't nervous, then why should I be?

"Not a bad choice for your starting pokemon," The pokemon professor stated again from the stands. "Snorlax doesn't have many weaknesses and is powerful enough to deal with almost any opponent."

Out in the front row, Misty nodded slowly in agreement, tension gripping every part of her body as she stared from Snorlax to Cynthia. She'd seen first-hand how powerful the large pokemon could be, several times in the Orange Islands...and in Johto.

Cynthia pulled her own pokeball from behind her long black coat.

"Then lets get this under-way, Garchomp, battle dance!" In a murderous snarl, her dragon-type Garchomp appeared in a second flash of light, drawing stunned gasps from the crowd.

...

"Ash?"

"Huh?"

The young trainer jumped to his feet, eyes widening as he span round to see who was behind him.

"Misty...? Whataya doing..."

"Well, now you mention it, I was here to see you. What are you doing up here?"

When Misty got no response other than a blank stare, she continued, now in a more heated tone.

"You have a pretty important day tomorrow! I'm just here making sure all those people won't be angry they wasted their money on a trainer who thought it would be a good idea for a little night time stroll... before the biggest match of his life!" Misty paused, again watching the trainer silently fumble around for a comeback. "You should be in bed Ash! You think you can afford to fall asleep tomorrow?"

"I know..."

The trainer had finally managed to find his tongue. Misty was almost surprised at the exasperated, quiet tone to his voice, before she watched him back sit down in the exact same spot. "You don't need to worry about me."

"Could have fooled me," Misty retorted. When she didn't get anything in return, she continued. "So, what are you doing up here in the middle of the night?"

"I just needed some fresh air," Ash replied quietly.

"Fresh air?" Misty glanced at her watch, then looked back up sceptically. "At 4am? Here?"

"Fine." Misty stopped, surprised as the Pallet town native slowly climbed back to his feet, speaking again in a calm voice. "I'll go then somewhere else then. I'm sorry you were worried, but I'm fine. Nobody asked you to come find me. You might as well head back."

Misty stared, wide-eyed, for some reason now not able to say a word as Ash casually walked off again, his face hidden by darkness.

"Ash...?" Misty whispered, almost frightened, as the trainer disappeared into darkness.

...

"Well, this is a surprise!" The commentator roared. "Cynthia has called out her Garchomp as her first pokemon. Is she planning to finish this up and go home early?"

Ash had watched with an open mouth as the dragon-type burst out off its pokeball. He, of course, knew of the dragon type, in fact he'd dedicated much of his time in the previous months trying to figure out an effective strategy that involved bringing the snarling powerhouse down. However, like the commentator, he had not expected Cynthia to bring out her strongest pokemon as her first. And his strategy for bringing down Garchomp certainly did not involve the large pokemon in front of him. Ash hesitated, unsure whether to switch even as Garchomp stretched its wings and snarled loudly.

"Snor-laxxxx!"

Ash started, looking up at his pokemon. Snorlax looked back at him, beating its chest with one claw, its face almost non-caring. Ash, hesitated a moment longer, then nodded quickly. I can't just switch straight away, everyone will think I don't know what I'm doing... Plus, it wasn't his style to run away when Cynthia had clearly brought out her dragon-type to test him "I don't care if she uses Garchomp now or later, I'm still gonna knock it out," Ash muttered to no one in particular, more to boost his own confidence.

"And both trainers have revealed their first pokemon!" The referee waited a moment longer, then raised both flags to the sky, before shouting out the iconic words; "Then let the battle begin!"

"Snorlax, let's do this then! Start things off with a Body Slam!"

"Garchomp, fly and dodge," Cynthia responded calmly. Garchomp bent its powerful legs, then shot up like a rocket into the sky. Snorlax landed hard on its stomach, its failed Body Slam sending up a small cloud of dust into the air and a couple of jeers from the crowd. Cynthia gave no hint of an emotion as she watched the sleeping pokemon climb back to its feet, her pokemon floating high above it. Ash clenched his fists, frustrated at the miss.

"Fine then! Snorlax, Hyper Beam now!"

"Dragon Rush."

With impeccable timing, Garchomp flew at Snorlax at a thunderous pace, crashing into its stomach before the beam attack was even half-formed. Snorlax doubled over, groaning in pain as it staggered back a few steps.

"Hang in there Snorlax! Try it again!" Ash shouted, now worried. By the looks of it, Cynthia's attack had caused way more damage than he'd expected, he could already see the sweat pouring down his pokemon's face.

How strong is that thing?

Snorlax straightened up again, then with a deep breath, blasted a huge beam of light upwards, so strong that many of the spectators were forced to shield their eyes. The very air seemed to ripple as the powerful beam of light raced towards the land shark pokemon, who had re-taken its position in the sky.

"Garchomp, dodge it, then Brick Break!" Cynthia commanded, looking almost amused.

Tucking one scaly wing into its body, Garchomp dived forward, spinning round once as it fell, flying round the orange beam of light. Then with glowing wings as it landed a-top Snorlax's shoulders, smashed them into the sleeping pokemon twice before taking back into the air. Snorlax fell onto its front once more, now groaning in pain, one claw struggling to hold itself off the floor. Ash clenched his teeth as the crowd roared again, he had no choice but to either switch or play defensive now. Brick Break was a fighting move after all, if he didn't act now Snorlax could be out of the match completely.

"Snorlax, are you okay?"

Snorlax looked up, grunting loudly as it slowly climbed to its feet once more, then glanced back at its trainer with a thumbs up. Ash nodded quickly. "Good. Time to do what we planned. You know what to do." Snorlax nodded, then living up to its reputation, immediately fell into a deep slumber, trying to recover its health. Cynthia observed with slightly narrowed eyes.

"He's putting Snorlax to sleep! What's he thinking? Snorlax is wide open!" Max yelled.

"I'm sure Ash has a plan for this, don't worry," Brock muttered. "He's no amateur."

"Quick, another Brick Break!"

Garchomp dove towards Snorlax again, wings glowing once more.

"Quick Snorlax, use Sleep Talk!" Ash yelled.

Snorlax jumped up and smashed a shining fist into Garchomp as it approached, sending it spinning back. A small trick, one Ash had used a few times to escape tricky situations like this, yet the pokemon trainer couldn't help but feel his confidence soar as he watched the dragon-type spin away.

It was more than a trick though with Snorlax. Due to its huge defence and the ability to use Rest and attack while asleep, Snorlax became a insurmountable wall that could outlast any opponent. It was the ultimate defensive pokemon.

Up in the stands, Ash's family and friends gave a small cheer as they celebrated his first successful attack of the match.

"Yes, that was Ice Punch, that'll cause problems for Garchomp for sure!" Ritchie exclaimed, a few rows back as he watched with his small electric pokemon.

"Pikah pi!" cried Sparky with enthusiasm.

"And that's the first hit taken by Garchomp and a super-effective one at that! Will Cynthia's Garchomp be able to carry on?" The commentator's words sent the already excited crowd into another frenzy.

However even as he spoke, Garchomp righted itself in mid-air and spun to re-face Snorlax, a soft growl emitting from it's jaws. Ash grimaced slightly, it hardly seemed affected. It would clearly take a lot more. Across the other-side of the arena, Cynthia watched on, her face calculating, before she raised a hand to the sky in an almost casual matter.

"Giga Impact!"

Ash and the crowd gasped, stunned as Garchomp dove towards the ground for a third time, only this time surrounded by a hue of purple swirling energy, the power so great that the pokemon creating it almost disappeared from view, becoming a mere shadow in the middle of the attack it created.

"Finish it."

"Oh no! Snorlax, Sleep Talk again!"

Snorlax leapt toward the dragon-ground type again in its sleep, but it was clear to both trainers it wasn't going to work a second time. The Body Slam collided straight into the oncoming attack with a deafening boom, causing smoke to gush out all over the arena. Both Ash and Cynthia looked on as it cleared to reveal both pokemon in the centre.

Garchomp stood a-top its fallen opponent, holding one glowing wing at the sleeping pokemon's throat to ensure it wasn't going to get back up, before lifting both arms and snarling its name in victory. Behind it, Cynthia nodded slightly, a small smile on its face.

"Snorlax is un-able to battle, Garchomp is the winner! Ketchum now has five pokemon remaining!" The referee shouted, raising a flag in Cynthia's direction. Even as Ash watched in absolute disbelief, the square that Snorlax had filled on the scoreboard winked out as groans suddenly rose from the crowds.

"And Snorlax is outta there!" The commentator screamed. "And Garchomp just looks ready for more, how will Ketchum respond to a pokemon that has ended so many dreams in this stadium?"

"Ash..." Misty whispered softy. "C'mon Ash, I know you can do this..."

...

"Ash!"

Misty stumbled up the hill, cursing the fact she was only wearing her Golduck slippers, all the while getting angrier and angrier. What right did Ash have to run off like that? She hadn't travelled thousands of miles to watch him battle only for him to walk away like that!

It had been the same for the last few weeks. And according to his other friends, it had been the same for the past four months, ever since Ash had magically turned up again after almost five years of absence. Misty had tried to brush it aside, telling herself he was just under pressure, or that it was normal for him to act more grown-up and it was even normal for them not to ever argue anymore...

Screw that.

"Ash Ketchum! You better get back here, right now! Do you have any idea..."

"Here."

Misty span around, noticing the trainer sat a few metres away again, this time leaning casually back against one of the protruding rocks that littered the ground.

"Looking for me?" Ash called, almost sing-song like.

His now almost amused tone only served to infuriate her further, as did the casual way he was laid-half on the ground again, while she was still sweating from her search . "Yes! What was your problem back there, just walking away like that? You're lucky I don't have Gyarados on me right now, he might be hungry!"

The trainer snorted slightly at the mention of Misty's most fearsome monster. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just needed to think, you know?"

That shut Misty up again. One, Ash said sorry. Ash never used to sorry. At least, not to her anyway. And two, Ash was... thinking? True, he could have grown up, but there was no way he'd change that much. He'd never been the quiet sit down and think type. The Ash Ketchum she'd once knew threw himself into his problems head on. Misty hesitated a moment longer, then slowly walked over to where the young trainer sat.

"...What about?"

"Oh, you know. Just stuff..."

How enlightening, Misty thought. The gym leader sighed, then sat down slowly, wincing slightly at the cold grass, before drawing up her legs close to her body and wrapping them up in her coat to warm them up. It seemed she was in for a long night.

...

Ash placed Snorlax's ball back on his belt, his hand slightly shaking as he searched for his next pokeball. Just like that, he was a pokemon down. With just one attack... Ash lowered his head slightly, the cap on his head shielding his eyes as all watched him, waiting for his next choice. He had known Cynthia was powerful, but this was way beyond what he was expecting. His whole team could get swept by her Garchomp alone at this rate.

I can't do this, that Giga Impact was so powerful! I don't have any pokemon that can take a hit like that!

Suddenly all his years of training leading up to this point, all his work, all the strategies he'd thought of in that time, all of it seemed incredibly childish now he was here.

Ash clenched his teeth, his anxiety suddenly re-placed with self-contempt as he ripped his next pokeball from his belt.

No! Not yet! I beat Aaron, Bertha and Flint and I even defeated Lucian. I can do this!

"Pikaa," Pikachu growled at Garchomp, sparks flying from its cheeks. The electric pokemon sharply tugged at its trainer's leg while looking fiercely to it's front. Ash smiled slightly, before narrowing his eyes and holding up his next choice. It was time for an old friend.

"Not yet buddy! Let's see if they can handle this first!"

Ash flung his next pokeball with all his strength.

"Lapras, I choose you!"

The large water pokemon appeared in mid-air, before landing with a crash in front of Ash.

"Woah, I didn't know Ash got back his Lapras!" Misty yelled, standing up to get a better view of the water ice type.

"Oh, wow!" Tracey cried out.

"He must have kept it pretty quiet, I certainly didn't know. Ash obviously kept Lapras hidden up his sleeve, hoping he'd catch Cynthia off guard with a powerful ice-type. After all, Lapras is the ideal choice against something like a garchomp," Professor Oak replied with a slightly stunned expression on his face.

Ash grinned as he looked at his pokemon crying out happily to his front. He was particularly pleased to have this pokemon on his team. Lapras had left him to re-join its herd long ago in the Orange Islands, but had spent a long time searching for it in preparation for this match. To have any hope of defeating Cynthia's monstrous Garchomp, he knew he needed to bring an powerful ice-type to the table and his only other option, Glalie, wasn't going to cut it this time. Especially since that was what Cynthia was probably expecting him to use.

In short, Lapras was his secret weapon, Ash thought, and now Garchomp was about to learn just how powerful it had become.

"Let's do it Lapras! This is what we trained for!" Lapras squealed back, happy for the chance to be battling for its old trainer again in a major competition.

"Return."

Ash gaped as Cynthia recalled her dragon-ground type, effectively disintegrating his plans with one word.

Uh-oh, now what...?

"Gastrodon, lets go!"

With a fresh flash, Cynthia's new pokemon sprang forward.

Gastrodon, the sea slug pokemon. Gastrodon is the evolved form of Shellos and lives in shallow tidal pools. If any part of a Gastrodon's boneless body is ever ripped or torn off, it can grow back in very little time, Dawn's pokedex squeaked from among the crowd.

Ash hesitated, unsure. Should he re-call Lapras too? Ideally, he'd need to save that pokemon for whenever Cynthia chose to bring out her Garchomp again. But Gastodron's is part ground too, so water and ice moves should still work reasonably well even though Gastrodon's also part water, Ash thought. And if I switch pokemon, hoping for an ideal type match-up, Cynthia could just do the same.

"Lapras, I'm going to stick with you," Ash called, making his decision. Lapras squealed again happily in response. It'll be fine so long as this battle doesn't take too long.

"Gastrodon, use Mud Bomb!" Cynthia suddenly shouted, beginning the second battle.

"Lapras, freeze it with an Ice Beam!" The ball of frozen mud fell to the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces. Ash grinned, impressed with the attack's result. "Now use Hydro Pump!" The challenger roared, thrusting an arm forward. A powerful jet of water raced towards Gastrodon, fired from the transport pokemon's mouth at high speed.

"Gastrodon, sandstorm and blow it away." Cynthia replied, calm as ever.

The wind suddenly picked up around the stadium as Gastrodon span its head rapidly, somehow sending sand blowing in every direction, dispersing the Hydro Pump. Ash covered his eyes with his arms as he tried keep an eye on Gastrodon's position, but the sand hid it from view completely.

"Be careful Lapras, it could be anywhere," Ash cried desperately, starting to panic a little. Lapras looked left and right, its long neck slightly hunched over as the fast moving sand began to sting its skin. A low rumbling suddenly filled the stadium. Ash's eyes widened, he dropped his gaze to the ground as he realized what was happening.

"Lapras jump out the way, it's below you!"

He was too late. Lapras had barely acknowledged its trainer's shout before Gastrodon burst out of the ground, sending the water pokemon flying.

"A great example of a powerful dig showed there by the champion using sandstorm to hide her approach," the commentator shouted out excitedly. Lapras landed heavily as Ash looked about for Gastrodon, but it had already hidden itself again in the sandstorm. "And Lapras is taking additional damage from the sandstorm, this is sure turning into one tough battle for the challenger!"

Ash strained his eyes searching for Gastrodon, but the sand had again completely hidden it from view. Tough is right, how do we fight something we can't see? I have to get rid of that sandstorm somehow! What's more, the howl of the storm was preventing him from hearing any of Cynthia's commands and so was unprepared for the array of Mud Bombs that flew out of the sand, impacting heavily onto Lapras' shell.

C'mon! There's got to be a way round this! Ash thought, unable to stop the frustration mounting.

More Mud Bombs flew out of the storm from random directions. Ash quickly ordered Lapras to use Withdraw, causing it to curl up inside the giant shell that covered half its body, but he knew that was only a temporary fix. The shell hiding his pokemon began to rock as Gastrodon began to focus the full power of the wind from the sandstorm on its enemy. Sand built up around Ash's feet and for a moment, Ash was a young boy again, playing on Pallet beach, swimming, watching as Gary stepped over his sand castles...

Wait...

Suddenly the young trainer's mind began to work at a thousand miles per hour as his subconsciousness began to draw lines between dots Ash barely remembered. With a start, Ash experienced one of those rare moments that only came to him in the heat of battle.

That's it!

"Lapras, jump into the very centre of that sandstorm!"

"What on earth...? Ashy boy's gone mad!' Gary exclaimed from the sidelines as the young pokemon professor watched Lapras jump out of its shell and dive straight into the epicentre of the sandstorm, showing complete trust in its trainer.

"Now use Whirlpool in every direction!"

Raising its head high despite the ferocity of the storm surrounding it, Lapras began to spray powerful jets of water into the centre of the sandstorm. Ash watched the water and sand began to complete in the air for mastery. Ash gritted his teeth, praying his idea would work, before suddenly the water and the sand began to mix, forming into heavy clumps of wet sand, too heavy to be carried by the wind anymore. The battlefield suddenly cleared completely, leaving both Lapras and Gastrodon plastered in sodden sand, the arena around them becoming a giant mud bath.

"Yes! Alright, it actually worked!" Ash shouted, half-laughing.

"Ash used Whirlpool to get rid of the sandstorm? How is that even possible?" Barry yelled. As the whole group of friends twisted to stared at him, the Twinleaf trainer leapt to his feet, pointing one hand dramatically down below at the field. "Ash! You better show me how you did that or I'm gonna fine you big time!"

Cynthia watched with an open mouth for a moment as her pokemon reappeared. "Gastrodon Dig!"

"Lapras Surf now!" Ash yelled. Lapras, carried by a thick layer of mud, skated across the battlefield and crashed into Gastrodon before it could move. "Now use Ice Beam!"

Gastrodon's tumble quickly came to an abrupt halt as the back half of its body suddenly froze to the arena floor. Cynthia replied quickly, sensing the battle beginning to tip. "Mud bomb again Gastrodon!"

"Body slam it, Lapras!"

Gastrodon looked up as the giant water type blocked out the sun, falling towards it at high speed. Lapras squealed in pain as spheres of mud impacted into its underbelly before the transport pokemon landed on its opponent with an almighty crash.

"Gastrodon is unable to battle, Lapras WINS!" The referee shouted to a suddenly screaming ground as the water type moved away, back to its trainer, revealing a slightly squashed Gastrodon with swirling eyes. "Both trainers now have five pokemon remaining!"

Ash breathed a huge sigh of relief, even while slightly indignant at the surprised tone the referee seemed to be using. He couldn't deny he'd been worried for a while there, but for all the referee knew, that could have been his plan all along.

"How about that, Ketchum uses seer nerve and quick thinking to overcome Gastrodon's sandstorm, it looks like this battle is just starting to heat up folks," the commentator roared.

Cynthia held up Gastrodon's pokeball, re-calling it as she stared over at the challenger. That had certainly been a unique way to deal with a sandstorm. But then again, why should she expect anything different? This was Ash Ketchum she was battling after all.

Ash Ketchum. The name on the tip of every battle fan and trainer's tongue. The trainer who had remained the top topic of conversation throughout all of Sinnoh and beyond, ever since he'd returned and won the Lily of the Valley Island League tournament earlier that year. Cynthia had not been able to believe her eyes when she had seen his face, happy and enthusiastic as ever, with his trusty Pikachu on his shoulder, walking up to take the trophy from Charles Goodshaw. After all, it had nearly been five years since she had last laid eyes on the young pokemon trainer. Of course, there had been the recent rumours pre-leading his appearance. A whisper here, a small section in a newspaper there that a powerful trainer had emerged again. That another league had been defeated, no, swept, by a trainer from Pallet, that another tournament had been destroyed by a trainer with a pikachu riding on his shoulders. Cynthia had waved aside such tales with a sense of amusement. Of course, a part of her wanted to believe them, in fact, back when she knew Ash when he first competed in the Sinnoh league, she had wanted nothing more than to see the young boy flourish. However it was hard to believe that the young boy back then could be capable of such greatness.

But he's not a young boy anymore...

While he had to be only in his late teens, the boy in front of her had matured into a well-developed young man. Cynthia's eyes began to travel over her opponent, taking in the muscular arms, the longer hair, the weathered cap half-hiding a older face now full of experiences.

But what struck her most was his eyes. The brown eyes, so filled with fear at the start of the match, had now filled with rock-hard determination. Cynthia could see defeating one of her pokemon had filled him with fresh confidence once again. Cynthia allowed a small smile to reach her face as she reached for a fresh pokeball. Wherever Ash had been these last few years, his power had certainly increased tenfold.

Well... Maybe this is the challenge I've been waiting for...

Back up in the stands, Gary Oak let out a low whistle. "Well, looks like he pulled it outta the bag again. I will say this though, Ashy boy always could think on his feet. Then again, he'd have to to be able to beat me... You look pretty happy though Misty, I must say," the young professor added quickly with another sideways smirk. Misty jumped and span around, suddenly realising she was the only one still up and cheering after Ash's win.

"Get lost Gary! You're just jealous it's not you out there instead of Ash," the Cerulean gym leader replied as she sat back down with a huff. Ash's old-time rival held up his hands in mock apology as he continued to smirk at her.

Just like making sandcastles, that worked even better than I thought! Lapras looks pretty worn out though, I better re-call it, Ash thought, concerned as he looked at his friend. And he still might need the water ice type for when he came up against Garchomp again.

"Great job Lapras, but you take a break for now, I might need you later," the trainer said, the pokeball in his hand turning Lapras into red light. Ash looked over at Cynthia as she re-called her own pokemon and picked another, but there was no reaction other than a slight smile on her face.

"Okay Roserade, you're up," she cried, tossing another pokeball into the field. The grass type appeared in a flash of light and stood tall, giving Ash and Pikachu a menacing stare.

A deep frown crossed the trainer's features as re-placed Lapras' pokeball and felt for another, all the time watching the bouquet pokemon, thinking hard. At present, he had two pokemon on his team that would be super-effective against grass types. Three actually, if he included Lapras' ice attacks. Ash's hand hovered over a pokeball right at the back of his belt before changing his mind and picking one near the front. Better leave that one until I really need him.

Besides, he had complete confidence in the pokemon he now held in his hand, its pokeball enlarged and ready.

"I wonder what he'll pick this time..." Misty said quietly as she watched Ash pull out another pokeball.

"Well I think we all know what the obvious choice would be, but I think Ash will want to save him till later," Brock stated with conviction.

"Wait, you mean his-" Max jumped up in excitement, the glasses falling off his face in the process. May giggled slightly at her younger brother's antics, before spinning back to the field as the trainer below suddenly threw a the pokeball forward, the pokemon inside appearing in a flash of light. "Oh wow, I didn't know Ash had one of those..."

Misty and Brock cheered loudly as Barry began to jump up and down excitably again. "Alright, a Pidgeot! Flying types cream grass types, Ash should have it easy in this match," Barry said excitedly.

"A Pidgeot? Where?" Max shouted frantically, re-emerging after retrieving his glasses.

"Come on Ash you better win this or I'm gonna fine you again!" Barry yelled.

Pidgeot flapped its wings almost lazily as it faced the grass-type, effortlessly keeping itself air-born. Ash grinned again as he looked at another recent addition to his team. He had come across the bird pokemon while training in a nearby mountain. The flying-type had been left in nearby forest at its own request, in order to protect the native pidgey and pidgeotto from invading spearow and fearow. But now many of the pidgeotto had evolved of their own accord, allowing their leader to return, in search of its old trainer. And Ash had been only too eager to accept his old friend back after so many years apart.

Ash felt his confidence begin to mount higher now as he looked across the battlefield, the knot in his stomach becoming distant somehow as he took in the huge crowds. He had never really believed in fate, but he couldn't help but maybe get a strange feeling as his gaze returned to the flying pokemon in front of him. What with Lapras and Pidgeot returning and all his friends and family from so many different regions coming together to watch him battle after so long apart, he couldn't help but feel like this was what his whole journey had been leading up to. That his whole life had pointed to this day, to this battle. Ash grinned at Cynthia, now allowing it to spread the width of his face. This was the match he had been preparing for his whole life.

And he was going to win.

...

"So..."

"So how's the gym going? I never asked you before..."

Misty glanced sideways. Her companion was now laid on his back, his arms behind his head. She couldn't even tell if his eyes were open or closed. Misty let out another quiet sigh. Clearly Ash wasn't going to come out and say what was bothering him, or what had caused the strange change in his personality.

"Oh, you know, okay. I get a lot of challengers."

"You beat them?"

"Of course! What else do you expect from the world's number one water pokemon trainer?"

Misty smiled a little as she heard Ash chuckle. Then again, this was almost feeling like old times, she thought.

"Your sisters still travelling then?"

"Only Lily and Violet. Daisy stays at home now, she says she's getting too old for stuff that now."

"Oh cool!" Misty jumped slightly, startled at the sudden enthusiasm as she span round to stare at the trainer again. "So you can come travelling again, right?" Ash asked, now sat up to stare straight back at her.

"Well... not really," Misty replied uncertainly "I mean, Daisy can look after the gym an all, but she's nowhere near as good a trainer as I am. I mean, few people are," Misty teased, expecting, or rather hoping for a quick comeback along the lines of 'Never be as good as me!'

"Oh."

The Cerulean native growled inwardly as Ash just slumped back down again. "Okay then..."

Misty paused for a moment, considering, even as her temper now threatened to get the better of her. Right after losing in the Sinnoh semi-finals five years ago, the Pallet town trainer had disappeared of the face of the earth. In fact, no one would have even known he was still alive if not for the occasional letters his mother had received in Pallet. And there had been no return address, no nothing. And any time one of the group so far had tried to ask him where he had been, he simply replied 'training', then hastily changed the subject. He'd even avoided the subject with his own mother, who according to Gary Oak, had been worried sick during his absence.

But despite that, Delia Ketchum had insisted that none of the group tried to force (Misty had suggested 'beat') the truth out of him. Truth was, she was just relieved to have her son back after so long apart.

"Must get boring though..."

"Huh?" Misty mentally shook herself, realizing Ash was talking to her again. "What?"

"I mean, being stuck in the gym all the time. Must get boring..."

"Oh." Truth was, Misty did get bored easily. Although maybe it was wrong to compare the gym to all the fantastic adventures the two of them and Brock had shared over her younger years. "Yeah, it does a bit." Misty raised her tone a little whimsically, fighting the urge to yawn now as she glanced back again at the young man laid back with his cap half-covering his face. "I mean, I wouldn't have minded the odd visitor you know..."

"I'm sorry," Ash murmured, almost instantly.

"It's okay. I mean, I know you've been busy with other stuff."

"I still wanted to visit you know... All the time."

Misty caught her breath slightly, before smiling slightly to herself. "Yeah, I'm sure you did Ash..."

A long silence followed as the pair sat there, so long that Misty wondered if her late-night companion had fallen asleep. In the sky, the stars began to dim slightly as the first hint of light began to appear towards the horizon.

"Ash?"

"...Yeah?"

"Where'd you go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yon know what I mean Ash," Misty replied, now impatiently. Out the corner of her eye, she could see Ash suddenly seemed to be wearing the familiar uncomfortable expression he'd always worn when confronted with this question. "Where did you do after the Sinnoh League? When you were fourteen, remember? According to your Mom, you just disappeared one day with all your pokemon. Saying stuff about training... and that's the last anyone ever heard of you."

"Well, that's right... I was training."

"For five years?" Misty replied sceptically. "On your own? Where?"

"I wasn't on my own. I had Pikachu and the others..."

"Oh yeah? Anyway, where is Pikachu?"

"I left him at my room. He needs the sleep for tomorrow."

"So do you," Misty replied pointedly.

Another silence followed. Misty sighed deeply.

"Well Ash... If you don't want to tell me where you went, then at least you can tell me what we're doing up here in the middle of the night instead of down there in our nice warm beds?"

"You don't have to stay..."

"Well, I clearly do, since you've gone all weird now!"

"I'm sorry."

Misty suddenly snapped.

"Stop saying sorry! What's wrong with you? What happened to you?"

"What?" Misty glared at Ash, who now looked wide awake and almost scared. "What did I do?"

"Nothing!" Misty shot back, unsure what was really annoying her, but still pretty certain of that feeling. "That's what you're doing wrong! Argue, act like you used to do! Like you did before! I can handle you not wanting to tell us what you've been up to for the last five years. I can't handle the way you seem to be a completely different person now!"

"You want me to argue...?" Ash now looked completely bewildered.

"YES! I need to know you're the same Ash I once knew. You haven't been the same since you came back! What happened to you?"

"I grew up Myst. That's what happened."

Misty's breath caught slightly. Myst. She hadn't heard that name in a long time. "Yeah, I noticed," Misty finally replied sadly. "But I didn't think you'd change this much..."

...

"Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace!"

Pidgeot dove forward, flying faster than the eye could follow, straight for Roserade, trails of white light forming behind it as it picked up speed.

"Roserade, Sunny Day!" Cynthia replied loudly.

Roserade shot a small sphere of light into the air, creating an artificial sun just above the height of the stands. Beams of bright light lanced through the stadium, drying the mud bath as Pidgeot struck home, sending the grass type rolling across the field.

"Alright Pidgeot now, hit it with a Wing Attack!" Ash shouted, swinging his arm in front of him as his excitement mounted. Below, Pikachu jumped up and down, cheering its friend on. Again, Pidgeot struck Roserade, this time from the other side, sending it tumbling in the other direction.

"Now, finish this with Drill Peck!"

Pidgeot span back around from the last attack and circled round high, this time dropping on Roserade from directly above while spinning furiously. Cynthia showed no hint of an expression as the bird pokemon struck Roserade for the third time, causing the grass-type to face-plant heavily into the ground. Ash stared forward, hesitating a little at the champion's complete lack of response.

What's Cynthia doing? One more attack at most and- Ash's thoughts were cut short as Pidgeot suddenly screeched in pain and plummeted back to the ground.

"And it looks like Pidgeot's been poisoned, thanks Roserade's special ability, Poison Point," exclaimed the commentator. "But after taking so much damage, is there anyway Roserade can possibly make a comeback?"

"Roserade, Synthesis," Cynthia cried. Immediately Roserade stood back up, opening its petals towards the powerful beams of light.

"Of course, that was the point of Sunny Day," Paul murmured. Dawn twisted round to look at him quizzically. "Sunny Day increases Synthesis' power to heal, Roserade's back to almost full health. And that's not all it can do for a grass type..."

"Roserade Solarbeam!" Cynthia commanded, gesturing forward with one hand.

Instantly, Roserade fired a huge beam of green light from the bouquet on its arm, the power of the attack ripping up huge hunks of the arena floor, heading straight for Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot!" Misty screamed out.

"Pidgeot move now!" Ash also screamed franticly at the same time.

"Pidgeoooo!" The solarbeam missed Pidgeot by a hair as the bird pokemon again took flight.

"Well, Ketchum got a lucky escape there, but with Pidgeot still feeling the effect of poison point, can he still win this round?"

Ash called out one flying attack after another in an attempt to bring down Roserade. Cynthia, knowing her pokemon wouldn't nearly be fast enough, didn't even bother to try and command her pokemon to dodge them, simply opting for calling out Synthesis between each attack to heal her grass type instead. Ash gritted his teeth as his Pidgeot let out another screech of pain, faltering a little in the air.

If this keeps up, Cynthia won't even need to attack me, the poison will finish off Pidgeot before long. I've gotta end this quickly! Like, right now!

Across the arena, Cynthia smiled in triumph. She hadn't counted on Pidgeot becoming poisoned, but it still had been a very welcome surprise. Now she didn't really need to use her Sweet Smell and Solarbeam combo in order to slow the bird pokemon down so Roserade could take it out.

But still, better safe than sorry. Overkill was not a word that existed in pokemon battles. Finally seeing a break in Pidgeot's onslaught, Cynthia opened her mouth to issue the command.

Back across the arena, Ash racked his brains frantically, trying to think of a strategy he hadn't used yet.

Pidgeot doesn't have a powerful enough attack to take it out before it can heal... But maybe... Ash suddenly grinned, another idea suddenly occurring to him. "Pidgeot recover your strength, use Roost!" Pidgeot immediately fluttered down to the arena floor and began to relax, trying to gain its health back.

Cynthia closed her mouth, clenching a fist by her side in triumph. Why bother trying to slow it down when its trainer does it for you?

"Big mistake Ash, Solarbeam again!" Cynthia yelled, raising her eyes to glance over at her challenger. To her horror, Ash replied with a shout of triumph.

"Yes! Just what I wanted! Pidgeot, Mirror Move!"

As the Solarbeam raced towards its target, the bird pokemon suddenly took on a reflective look, refracting light as every one of its feathers seemed to become miniature mirror, making them all look like a set polished armour. The beam of light surrounded Pidgeot for a moment, them jumped back along its original path at twice the size, heading straight back at Roserade. Cynthia couldn't help but cry out again as the attack made contact with her pokemon, exploding on impact in a large puff of smoke.

I thought Cynthia wouldn't be able to resist attacking when she saw Pidgeot resting, Ash thought triumphantly.

"Now finish this with Quick Attack!"

In a flash, Pidgeot struck the grass type as it reappeared, sending it skidding across the arena. Cynthia looked on, now in shock as the smoke cleared and Roserade lay in the centre, not moving.

"And that's Roserade gone too! The second pokemon in a row the young challenger has managed to knock out, can he possibly keep this streak going to a final victory?" The crowd was going wild now, shouts of 'KETCH-UMM' once again filling the air, everyone egging Ash on. Ash grinned, he could now feel his confidence slowly being boosted to a feeling of invincibility.

This is it! This is my battle Cynthia, and I'm going all the way!

Cynthia recalled her pokemon, a reluctant smile growing across her face as she realised her error. Of course this was still Ash Ketchum she faced, but it was clearly a completely different trainer she was battling to the one she'd watched all those years ago. Whatever he'd been up to since their last encounter had clearly worked. And despite her reputation for remaining cool and collected in battle, she had allowed herself to under-estimate her young opponent. A mistake she would not repeat.

"That was a very nice move Ash, you really have come a long way. But lets see how you do against this..." Cynthia paused for a moment, then thrust her next choice forward with a cry.

"Lucario... battle dance!"

The crowd roared at the aura pokemon's appearance near the centre of the field. Ash just felt confused.

A fighting type?

While it was also a steel type, Lucario would still be weak against flying moves.

What's she doing? Ash mused for a moment, then shook his head. Well, whatever. Pidgeot's still taking damage from the poison, but I can't miss this chance.

"Pidgeot up, then Aerial Ace,' he commanded.

His pokemon took flight again, gaining height quickly as it flapped its powerful wings.

"Lucario, Hi Jump Kick!"

Lucario jumped high, its blue form a blur as it flew past Pidgeot and spun into a blindingly fast back kick.

"Pidgey-ott!"

"Pidgeot no!" Ash shouted in panic as the kick landed home. Pidgeot spun away from the impact and landed heavily on the ground, skidding towards its trainer.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle, Lucario wins." stated the referee.

"Well look at that folks," the commentator laughed. "Seems you need more than a type advantage to beat Cynthia, she wrapped that round up in record time! And now both trainers have just four pokemon remaining!"

Ash ground his teeth. As quick as that that, he'd been punished for his over-confidence. And worse, the punishment had been another one of his pokemon. "Pidgeot you did a great job, return," Ash muttered, holding up Pidgeot's pokeball. The motionless bird pokemon jumped back to its pokeball in a flash of red. Ash placed it back on his belt, thinking hard he watched the blue aura pokemon re-take a fighting stance in the centre of the arena.

Now focus! Think about it... Lucario's a steel-type as well so fire attacks will be super-effective too. But against a Lucario that quick, I need speed to beat it. Ash narrowed his eyes as he came to a decision, pulling another pokeball from his belt. So I'm gonna need something fast.

"Sceptile, I choose you!"

The grass-type flew from the pokeball, did a forward flip in mid air, then landed heavily on its feet facing Lucario.

"Well, Ash's sceptile certainly seems ready for anything," Oak commented.

"Yeah, go Ash," Delia cried happily as Sceptile placed a small twig in its mouth, then brought up its arms in a fighting stance to match Lucario.

"Sceptile, let's go, use Leaf Blade!"

The leaves on Sceptile's arms suddenly grew longer, then glowed green as Sceptile charged towards Lucario. The aura pokemon growled loudly as its opponent closed in, swinging down viscously at its head.

"Detect."

With its trainer's sharply spoken command, Lucario reached upwards with a spark in its eye, its arms a blur as it grabbed hold of both of Sceptile's before they could complete their swing. Sceptile looked down at Lucario in surprise, the twig falling from its open mouth. Lucario grinned up at its opponent, emitting a low growl.

"Now Close Combat."

Lucario shoved the leaf blades away and leapt towards Sceptile, unleashing a powerful barrage of lightning fast punches, kicks, elbows and knees into the grass type's torso, sending it stumbling back in pain.

"No Sceptile!" Ash cried, "use Quick Attack now!"

"Lucario, Extremespeed Counter!"

In a blur of shapes that the crowd couldn't even hope to follow, Lucario elegantly span out the way of Sceptile's attack, then fired a blue sphere of aura into the grass type's back. Blasted forward, Sceptile nose-dived into the floor in front of Cynthia. Lucario held its last position, showing unwavering discipline as it watched the grass-type slowly climb back to its feet.

"That Lucario is unbelievably quick," Oak exclaimed to the surrounding people. "Ash's Sceptile is very fast, even for its species, but it can't seem to get a move in here!"

Ash watched his pokemon get back to it's feet with shock. Lucario was even faster than he thought!

Fine then!

"Alright Sceptile, now, keep your distance and use Leaf Storm!"

Sceptile immediately began to back away further, all the while unleashing hundreds of leaves at Lucario.

"Close combat those leaves Lucario!" Cynthia shouted back.

No way!

Ash watched horror as Lucario knocked aside every single leaf that came near without moving a yard from where it stood, its arms moving in a blurred frenzy. Cynthia smiled, proud of how her pokemon was battling. Around the stadium, much of the crowd had even begun cheering loudly in support of the pokemon, some even chanting Lucario's name now, instead of Ash's. The champion-master held her smile as she thrust her arm forward while shouting over to her pokemon.

Time to show you what Lucario's truly capable of then...

"Lucario, now, advance on Sceptile!"

Sceptile backed right to the edge of the arena as Lucario began to stride toward the grass type with a menacing leer on its face, all the while continuing to bat aside every leaf that came near.

"No, Sceptile, jump back over here now!" Ash yelled, panicking slightly again at the sight of Lucario advancing so calmly on his pokemon. Sceptile immediately broke off its attack and leapt high in the air, heading back to its trainer's side of the battlefield. Lucario followed the grass type with its gaze, both it and its trainer calculating silently.

"Flaming Uppercut now!"

The Pallet town trainer shouted out in fear again as the aura pokemon suddenly sprang into the air, delivering a fiery punch to the grass pokemon's chin as it reached the apex of its jump. Squinting in pain, Sceptile found itself propelled even further into the air, almost higher than the stadium, flames licking its face from its burn.

Lucario fell back down to the ground, landing lightly by Ash's position with bent knees, keeping its eyes trained on its opponent. Cynthia closed a fist as she watched Sceptile begin to plummet back down once again, the roar of the crowd growing even louder.

Time to finish it.

Lucario, charge an Aura Sphere. Make it a big one!'

Lucario growled as it clapped its paws together, creating a sphere of blue energy between them, all the while watching as Sceptile fell closer and closer to its position.

Ash half-stepped forward from his position, helplessly watching his pokemon tumble down towards its defeat. I've got to do something! The trainer held up his hand against the bright sunlight as Sceptile fell, head first...

Wait, the sunlight... That's Roserade's Sunny Day, why didn't I think of that earlier!

Ash screamed out his command as the aura pokemon suddenly thrust upwards with its giant Aura Sphere, hoping he wasn't too late.

The Solarbeam and the enlarged Aura Sphere, both fired from their pokemon at point-blank range, collided with unbelievable force, sending shock-waves rushing through the stadium. Up in the stands, all Ash's friends and family gasped as the resulting cloud of smoke, the largest one so far, covered the entire arena, hiding both trainers from view.

"Those were some high energy attacks!" The commentator screamed.

Misty stood up and lent forward over the barrier at the edge of the battlefield, desperate to get a glimpse of what was going on below. The stadium slowly cleared, the clouds of smoke breaking apart to reveal Lucario in the centre. The aura pokemon was breathing heavily as it stared down at Sceptile, laid face-down on the arena floor to its front.

"Grrraa!"

Lucario growled, taking a half step back as it watched Sceptile start to fidget on the arena floor in front, charging a fresh Aura Sphere of its own accord.

However, its efforts were unneeded. Despite its trainer's frantic encouragement, the grass type's arm gave way underneath it as it struggled to get back to its feet. Sceptile fell to the ground heavily once again, this time for good.

Lucario calmly allowed the aura sphere between its paws dissipate, then with a series of athletic bounces, returned to stand in front of its mistress, ready for the next opponent.

"Sceptile... return."

Sceptile disappeared back into the pokeball.

"Trainers! A small break will now follow as the challenger is down to three pokemon. Resume the match in five minutes!" the referee ordered.

Ash placed the pokeball back on his belt and made his way slowly to the benches at the side, head hanging low and confidence now gone, where he collapsed as the light from Roserade's Sunny Day winked out, casting his supposed victory into fresh doubt.

...

"I don't get it."

"Well, I don't either."

"You said it. How can I have changed so much?"

Misty cradled her head in her arms, exasperated. She definitely wasn't getting anymore sleep tonight. "I mean, for starters, look at you!" Misty gestured vaguely in Ash's direction. How did you get so..."

"So..."

"So big!" Ash frowned in confusion, forcing her to elaborate. "I mean, you look like you've been doing nothing but working out since you left. When did you get this tall, or... I dunno, well-built?"

The Cerulean couldn't help but blush slightly as she took in his appearance once more. Mew help her, but he was good to look at now.

"Why, you like what you see?" Ash asked, now grinning, correctly guessing the young gym leader's thoughts.

"No! I mean, that's not the point!" Misty replied heatedly. "I mean, you're so grown up now... You don't argue like you used to, your pokemon are so strong..."

Wait, was Ash flirting with her now? Chalk up one more change...

"You've grown too," Ash replied with a slight sing to his voice again. "Not just me. I'm sure you're a lot stronger too."

"Yeah, me and Gyarados could take you any day."

"You wish."

"I don't have to."

Misty shot her companion a small smile, glad to see he was still capable of arguing. That her Ash was still under there somewhere. Wait, her Ash? Well whatever, it was still Ash. Except...

"Ash, what are we doing up here?"

The trainer stuffed his feet slightly. "I was just thinking..."

"Couldn't sleep?"

When Ash remained silent again, Misty shook her head.

"It's fine to be nervous you know. About the battle, I mean..."

"It's not."

"What's not?"

"I mean I shouldn't be nervous."

"Shouldn't be nervous?" Misty repeated sceptically. "This a a championship battle, remember. Course you're gonna be nervous Ash. It's fine to admit it."

"It's not fine to be nervous!" Misty jumped in shock this time as the trainer beside her suddenly leapt to his feet for the second time that night, this time with a fierce look suddenly appearing on his face. "I've spent five years training for this moment! In fact, my whole life! I should feel ready, but I don't! And I can't let everyone down again!"

Misty gaped upwards for a moment. Ash took a deep breath, then shook his head, one hand scratching the back of his neck.

"I..."

"Forget it Misty. Let's just head back." Misty continued to gape as the trainer slowly turned and began to walk away, before one thought suddenly shot through her mind.

Stop him.

"Hold it Ketchum!"

Almost soldier-like, Misty saw Ash freeze, mid-step. Good, at least he still listened to her. Misty shot to her feet, then marched back towards him, raising one hand as she walked.

"OWW! What was that for!"

"Don't do that again!" Misty replied threateningly as Ash rubbed the back of his head."You scared the living daylights out of me." Misty paused, then mentally re-wound the last minute. "And just who do you think you are letting down, exactly?"

"Well, everyone really. You, my pokemon, my family and friends. Everyone I've ever battled is expecting me to win this and I..."

"Okay, for starters," Misty interrupted, raising one finger in front of his face in a warning, cutting the trainer off. "You shouldn't be battling for anyone other than yourself. We aren't expecting anything other than for you to do your best. You're in a championship battle with Cynthia, one of the strongest pokemon trainers in the whole world! That alone is amazing. And we've been treated like a VIPs for weeks now, thanks to you, so rest assured, I'm very happy. Secondly!" Misty added with some force as she saw Ash try to interrupt. "Secondly... your pokemon love you. More than I've seen any pokemon ever love a human. They've stuck with you all these years, through the various losses you've suffered and they're still here. So you can cut that rubbish right now. And thirdly, you already know all this! So what's the real reason?"

"I..."

"Well?"

"I just..."

"I'm waiting..."

"OKAY!" Misty forced herself not to flinch or back down as Ash suddenly yelled in her face. "Fine! It's me, okay? I don't know if I can win! All this training, everything we did, and I still don't think I'm ready! My dream, what I've wanted my entire life is right in front of me and..." Ash let out a deep breath, then turned away, marching away forcefully, back down the hill away from her. "You weren't there last time Misty, you don't know what it was like, losing like that..."

Misty gaped forward, suddenly horrified as Ash continued to walk away from her. In a instant, the gym leader knew why Ash had sneaked out of the lodge they were all staying in the early hours of the morning. Why he hadn't even bothered to bring Pikachu along with him. Hell, why he might have even felt the need to disappear for five years to train. It should have been obvious the moment she'd talked to him tonight, but in her naivety, she'd dismissed it. This was Ash after all and Ash didn't get that. Not her Ash, never.

But he was. She'd watched him take on gods without fear, but now, facing the final match, Ash was scared.

Misty remembered watching with the rest of her sisters on TV as the young pokemon trainer had lost, two to six, in one of the most devastating matches she'd ever seen, losing to a trainer that seemed to house only legendaries. Tobias. After using the combined strength of almost every pokemon he'd ever caught and the experience of over five regions, Ash had still come short. And that was the reason Ash had run away after the Sinnoh League. He'd been afraid he'd never be good enough to achieve his dream.

Misty didn't know what to do. Of all the monsters and evil men she'd seen and met, and all the dangers she'd faced, the idea of a scared Ash Ketchum frightened her most of all. Ash never got scared. Never. Not ever. This was the kid that took on Mewtwo with his bare fists at the age of ten. No way he'd be scared of a simple pokemon battle.

But it's not just a pokemon battle, a small voice inside her whispered. It's his whole life, and he's scared that if he loses, he'll be a failure...

Misty swallowed hard. Of all the people to help out a friend having a apparent nervous break-down, she would not of put herself forward. But she was here, the only one. And by Mew, she was either gonna fix Ash before tomorrow, or kill him trying.

...

"Ash is still doing remarkably well though considering the fact he's up against Cynthia, I must say Delia," Oak said, sounding impressed. "He really has grown into a trainer of real contention. The way he thought to use that Solarbeam was quite impressive even if it was a little too late. Now, if he can just find a way to overcome that Lucario, there may still be a chance he could actually win this."

"But look at him," Ash's mother replied worryingly, staring down at her son with wide eyes. "He looks exhausted."

It was true. Ash had not moved since sitting down on the bench. His cap was by his side and his head was in his hands. Pikachu sat by his side, its gaze never leaving Cynthia and the battlefield, watching with narrowed eyes as the champion re-called her Lucario.

Cynthia, by comparison, didn't seem to need a break, after placing her pokeball back in her long black coat, her gaze simply wandered over the stadium and the crowd, a bored expression on her face, seemingly unaffected by anything that had happened. The crowd had gone oddly quiet, save for a whisper here and there, as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for battle to recompense.

"You needn't worry about Ash, Mrs Ketchum" May laughed suddenly from her front. "I once saw him enter a gym battle after almost a day without food. We were all starving, but once Ash found out where the gym was, there was no stopping him. He may look tired, but when it comes to a pokemon battle, he'll always be ready for more."

Delia Ketchum immediately whipped around to face the brown-headed girl, somehow failing to hear the last part of the sixteen year-old's remark. "-and what exactly were you doing that meant my little boy had to go without food for an entire day?' Her tone rose higher as her gaze travelled from a cringing May to a mortified Brock.

"Well we, we were in, in a b, big forest and w, we didn't..."

Ash raised his head slowly to look back at the battlefield, one hand snaking across to stroke the yellow mouse pokemon beside him, the other hand pulling out his remaining two pokeballs.

Ok, no more mistakes. I can't afford a single slip-up now if I want to have a chance at this.

Ash gazed down at his remaining team members. Cynthia's back in the lead now and every pokemon she throws out at me seems to be stronger than the last. And there's still Garchomp...

With a wince, Ash remembered the Giga Impact that had wiped out Snorlax with one hit.

No! Don't think about it. We'll deal with that when it comes, like we always have.

A loud horn sounded the end of the five minutes, the crowd around the stadium burst into enthusiastic cheers once again. With a grim, determined expression, the young challenger stood up again while hooking his pokeballs back on his belt, his starter jumping off the bench beside him, both making their way back to their position with purposeful steps.

Misty kept her eyes purposefully trained ahead, pretending to ignore as the brown-haired, wanna-be professor turned to flash her another grin. Clearly Gary had thought of some other clever remark. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the nineteen year old suddenly leaned sideways, whispering into the blue-haired coordinator's ear, the latter bursting into furious giggles. The gym leader leaned forward, staring ahead with even greater intensity as the pair looked over with barely hidden grins, fighting a desperate battle against the blood that insisted to rising to her cheeks yet again. The real problem was though, they were closer than they realised.

...

"Ash!"

Misty ran down the small hill, finally catching up with the trainer in order to grab his arm.

"Ash! Will you just wait a minute!"

The trainer made no attempt to break free of her grip, but the stony vacant look on his face almost scared Misty back into silence again.

Screw that.

"Now listen here, Mr so-called pokemon master," Misty began with a menacing growl. "I didn't spend nearly two years of my life travelling round with you, listening to you make that same stupid claim everyday, only for you to give up now you actually have a chance to achieve it. And I certainly didn't spend a small fortune travelling over here, leaving the gym in the hands of my sister for almost three months only for you to have a mental breakdown the night before your big match!" Misty paused to take her breath, then spat out the next part with even more force. "Forget the bike, you owe me this, Ash Ketchum, and you better make good on that payment tomorrow! Now pull yourself together!"

At this point, she could see Ash was looking almost as scared as she felt a couple of minutes ago, but Misty didn't care, she was gonna say this and he was going to hear it. "I mean seriously, after all the things you've done, you're going to let a stupid battle be the thing that stops you? I mean you've taken on Team Rocket, you've battled Mewtwo, you've saved the world god knows how many ti..."

"Um Myst..."

"I mean, most people would freak out at the sight of three legendary birds trying to kill them, but you just go running ahead with a smile and a wave, not worrying about the people who are left watching, who are positively terrified by the way!"

"Misty!"

"And who was it who fished you out of that stupid ocean? Me! But no thank you, despite the fact you would have died without me. I thought you had, I almost started crying! But up you jumped, running off again with that stupid sphere, not thinking to look behind you, at who had actually saved your..."

"MISTY!"

Misty broke off her rant in shock, noticing dimly all the indignant cries from all the awakened starly in nearby trees. "It's okay, you can stop now!" The gym leader re-directed her attention back to the trainer in front of her, who was now standing a little uncomfortably close with both his hands cupped around his mouth. "I mean... it's just well... you know..."

Misty held her glare as she let go of his arm and gripped his collar with both hands forcefully. "Yeah, I know Ash! I know exactly! But it's just a battle! That's all! This doesn't mean anything, don't you get that? You win and that's great. You lose and you just come back and try again. That's what's so great about you, you never, ever give up! That's why I lik..." Misty caught herself before she said too much. "Look, just do your best and you have nothing to be afraid of."

Another long silence followed. It seemed Ash had no comeback, but Misty had nothing else to say either. She'd done her best. It was up to Ash now. Her hands still lingered near his collar, but for some reason, she didn't feel like letting go just yet.

...

The two pokemon trainers took their places once again as the score board lit once more showing the trainer's remaining pokemon. Ash had three squares still lit up, one filled with Lapras' face. Cynthia had four still alight, two filled with Garchomp and Lucario, and the remaining two still hidden. The referee looked from one trainer to the other.

"Let the battle recompense!"

Cynthia chose first this time.

"Milotic, let's go!"

With a burst of light, Cynthia's pokemon seemed to glide out of its pokeball. With a shrill musical cry, Milotic appeared to float around the arena, swimming as if all air had turned to water.

The sea serpent pokemon. It is said to live at the bottom of large lakes. Considered to be the most beautiful of all Pokémon, it has been depicted in many paintings and statues, Dawn's pokedex called out amid gasps from the audience.

Pikachu tugged at his leg again, more instantly than before.

"This is a job for Pikachu, that's for sure!" Dawn stated confidently from up in the stands.

"Pip piplup!"

"I dunno..." Brock replied doubtfully. All surrounding eyes turned to look at him as the older boy watched Milotic finish its lap of the field and land elegantly by its mistress.

"But Pikachu's an electric type! Surely that makes it an ideal choice against a water pokemon like Milotic?" Max exclaimed loudly.

"Yeah, but don't you think that's exactly what Cynthia's expecting?" Ritchie cut in as he leaned forward. Beside him, Sparky stood, looking down at the field with concern on its small face. "I don't think Cynthia would send out Milotic unless she had some sort of plan for dealing with Pikachu..."

"So that means Pikachu could be the wrong choice," May slowly replied from next to her brother.

"Yeah, but I don't think he has much choice either way..."

Please be careful Ash, Misty thought as she turned her worried gaze back on the field.

Ash stared down at his starter. Pikachu looked back at him with pleading eyes.

"Alright then Pikachu, time to battle."

"Pikah, pikachu!" The yellow pokemon cried, over-joyed as it leapt forward onto the field. The small yellow mouse had been kept out of this battle for long enough in its opinion, and was very eager to win a battle for its trainer.

"Well, it seems Ketchum has chosen his famous Pikachu for his next pokemon. It may have the type advantage, but will that be enough to over-come Milotic?"

The crowd roared in excitement to the commentator's words, it seemed to Cynthia as if the appearance of the recently popular pokemon had won much of Ash's support back that her Lucario had taken away. The champion watched the electric type carefully as it flashed a quick victory sign with one paw at the crowd, then fell to all fours, sparks cascading from its cheeks. Perhaps it was the underdog theme Pikachu seemed to bring to its battles, the way it seemed to pull through and win so many matches against superior opponents, perhaps that's what made its appeal. Indeed, over the last few months the champion hadn't been able to move without seeing some trainer with a pichu or a pikachu on their shoulders. Cynthia gave a small sigh as she returned her gaze to her own pokemon.

It will be a shame to disappoint so many of its fans...

"Milotic, Ice Beam!"

"Pikachu, Quick Attack, now!"

Pikachu rocketed forward in a trail of white light, almost teleporting left and right as it dodged ice-cold streaks of blue, before reaching Milotic and leaping into the air to tackle it directly in the face.

"Look at the speed people! Pikachu's got Milotic completely overwhelmed! Incredible!" The commentator exclaimed as Pikachu began to circle Milotic using agility to further boost its speed, its small paws beating hard against the dusty surface of the battlefield.

"Milotic, re-direct your Ice Beam onto the field." Cynthia commanded calmly. The crowd gasped as ice began to spread from Milotic in a larger and larger circle of frozen ground.

"Pikah!" Pikachu cried in panic as its feet lost momentum on the slippery surface.

Ash cursed silently as he watched his pokemon slide back towards him, flat on its stomach.

"Pikachu, enough running around, hit it with a Thunderbolt attack!"

Pikachu flipped itself back towards Ash, its feet finding grip on ground devoid of ice at its master's side of the field, then jumped in the air, curling up into a ball and letting loose a powerful bolt of electricity at Milotic. The attack smacked into Milotic head on in a large flash of yellow, knocking it over backwards in a awkward tumble. Ash glanced at Cynthia, half-expecting her to switch or at least look worried. To his concern however, the champion seemed to be wearing a look of mild indifference.

"Milotic Recover."

In a glow of blue energy that seemed to encase its entire body, Milotic fully recovered its strength and straightened back up, looking forward at Pikachu with a fierce glare.

"Did you really think, after watching all your matches, that I didn't predict this scenario? I obviously wasn't going to leave Milotic in the battle unless I'm confident it can take any electric attack Pikachu can throw at it," Cynthia called over the noise of the crowd, unable to help herself commenting on the apparently simple strategy Ash seemed to be employing. "Trainers at our level have to consider more than their pokemon's type in battle, you know..."

Ash gritted his teeth, feeling his frustration now begin to boil again over. "Fine! Then I'll show you a non-electric move! Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

The electric mouse took off again, sprinting at Milotic, this time with a tail glowing bright silver.

"Mist!"

With eyes turning bright red, Milotic drew itself up to its full height with a shrill cry whilst calling on the powers of nature. With a gasp, Ash looked upwards as a huge cloud suddenly formed out of nowhere, then descended upon the battlefield. Cynthia's side suddenly became totally invisible, hiding the tender pokemon and its trainer completely.

Pikachu continued running forward even as its target disappeared, keeping its eyes trained on Milotic's last seen position. With a cry, the electric type jumped up and forward flipped into the mist, prepared to bring its rock-hard tail crashing down.

Cynthia smiled.

"Now, Aqua Tail!"

Pikachu gave a small cry of panic as its tail impacted into empty ground in the middle of the swirling clouds.

"Where is it, Pikachu?" Ash cried to his friend as he heard his pokemon's cries of confusion. "Keep still and maybe you can sense its movements!"

But it was too late. Pikachu looked in all directions frantically from the centre of the clouds to no avail until a shadow appeared to its front. Knowing it wouldn't be able to react it time, Pikachu simply raised its gaze defiantly to the red eyes glowing above it. With another shrill cry and a swing of its scaly tail, Milotic sent the electric mouse flying, back out of the mist, back towards its trainer.

"Pikaahhhh!" The rodent squealed in agony.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he leapt into the air, managing to catch his pokemon as it sailed by him.

"That did a lot of damage..." Brock murmured, stunned at the force of the attack that had not only sent the small pokemon flying, but also the trainer who'd caught it.

"Ash is in trouble, isn't he?" Max replied, almost fearfully as he watched the Pallet trainer climb back to his feet cradling his starter.

"Yeah, if he doesn't win this one, he'll be down two to four and he still has to take down that Garchomp!" Barry shouted, jumping up and down on his seat.

"He's in over his head down there," Paul muttered, too quietly for anyone to hear him.

Ash swallowed hard as he looked down at his starter stirring feebly in his hands. Cynthia's pokemon are so strong...

He'd faced strong pokemon in his training over the last five years, some absurdly strong, but this was way beyond what he had been expecting.

Off to one side, the referee watched with rapt attention, waiting to see if the challenger would declare his pokemon unfit to continue. Ash gave a little start as the pokemon in his arms suddenly opened its eyes.

"Pikachu, how're you feeling buddy? Are you okay? You want to take a break?"

Pikachu looked up at its trainer with wide, blinking eyes, struggling to understand how it had suddenly gone from being out in the field battling to suddenly back in its master's arms. And now Ash was offering it a break? Already?

Ash jumped again as the electric type suddenly leapt out of his grip, an angry growl escaping its small mouth as it landed back on the field facing the giant cloud of mist, small bolts of electricity jumping from its cheeks. Ash felt a over-whelming feeling of pride as he saw his starter's determination.

Pikachu's right! We can do this! Cynthia's good, but then so are we!

Ash raised his head with fresh determination of his own, staring at the wall of cloud where Milotic still hid.

"Milotic, Ice Beam!"

Jets of blue light flew from random directions inside the clouds.

"Pikachu on your left! Right! Spin around it! Duck! Roll out the way!"

"Look at that teamwork ladies and gentlemen, Ash and Pikachu are working together seamlessly to dodge all the Ice Beams!"

The crowd roared its appreciation.

"Well, if there's any pokemon Ashy boy has a strong bond with, it's his Pikachu. Those two trust each other without limits, always have been a tough team," Gary stated.

"Wow Gary, I sure would never have guessed you paid so much attention to Ash and his pokemon..." Ritchie teased. While he hadn't known the trainee professor long, the rivalry he shared with the trainer down below was common knowledge.

"Well any decent trainer would know that the bond between a trainer and their starter pokemon will always be the strongest." Gary quickly replied. "I mean, it's only common knowledge. Just like me and Blastoise," the young professor finished in most professional tone of voice he could muster.

"Hey! I do know that, just check out me and Sparky!" Ritchie shot back.

Oak laughed quietly behind them. Well those two certainly have come a long way since they first met, he thought, casting his mind back to when Pikachu first shocked the ten year old boy who arrived late for his pokemon.

"Pikah!" Pikachu cried, flinging itself backwards to avoid another ice attack. Milotic was still impossible to pin-point among all the mist in the air. Finally seeing a break in the onslaught of Ice Beams, Ash acted quickly, utilising a strategy he'd worked out for situations like these.

"Alright Pikachu, time to find Milotic! Shock Wave, let's go!"

Pikachu crossed its small arms across its chest, charging power, then with a loud cry, threw them outwards. A powerful wave of electricity spread from the small mouse pokemon in every direction, entering the mist and continuing until a cry of pain was heard off to the right-hand corner, electricity crackling around a Milotic-shaped shadow.

"That's it, Volt Tackle!"

"Pika-pika-pika-pika-pika-pikaahh!" Pikachu shot off like a missile into the cloud, a yellow flame of electricity building around its fur. A moment later, bright light filled the stadium, burning away all the mist as Pikachu's attack hit home with a huge clap of thunder.

"Alright, yes! Pikachu, awesome, you did it!" Ash praised with a wide grin as Pikachu ran back to him. He looked back through the now cleared battlefield to see Milotic slumped on its side in the corner.

Cynthia smiled again as she shook her head slightly.

"Recover Milotic."

"Pikah!?"

What?!

In another flash of blue light, Milotic slowly sprang back up, seemingly back at full health once more. Ash looked on with a sudden sinking, despairing feeling as his pokemon gasped.

No way! This is impossible if Milotic just heals after every attack and if even Volt Tackle can't bring it down!

Ash stared over at Cynthia. The champion just smiled back. She had him exactly where she wanted him. Pikachu was now worn out from using so many electric attacks. It was time to bring this battle to a close and finish off Ketchum's starter once and for all.

"End it now with Whirlpool!"

Milotic raised its head to the heavens, giving its loudest cry yet as jets of water began to circle above it, forming a giant, open-top twister. Ash watched with an open mouth as Milotic floated upwards, disappearing into the centre of its whirlpool.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out in panic as the whirlpool, still hiding Milotic, suddenly began racing towards it.

"Wait! Pikachu! Dive into that whirlpool!"

"Pika?!"

Barely knowing what he was doing, but certain it was the only chance, Ash gritted his teeth and shouted forward.

"Trust me! Do it!"

With fresh resolve and trust built upon almost ten years of adventures, Pikachu dove forward and was immediately caught in the vortex of water, spinning it round and round, faster and faster. Gasps and screams rose from the crowd as Milotic appeared in the centre of the vortex, bursting out of the water. Milotic gave another fierce shrill as it watched the small mouse pokemon spin around it in helpless circles.

"Time to end this Milotic, Hyper Beam!" Cynthia shouted while raising a hand to the sky.

Milotic threw back its head, white light forming in its mouth.

"Pikachu, Thunder, NOW!" Ash yelled, the shout tearing at his throat.

The whole whirlpool suddenly turned a fantastic shade of yellow, blinding the entire stadium, before exploding into a huge cloud of steam. Both trainers looked frantically for their pokemon, trying to pierce the steam with their eyes.

"Pikah, pika-CHU PI!"

A loud cry came from the centre as the steam cleared to find Pikachu standing atop of Milotic, who was finally and completely knocked out.

"Milotic is un-able to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" The referee shouted out to the trainers and the crowd who were literally jumping up and down in their seats, screaming in celebration of their favourite pokemon's victory. "We are now down to three pokemon per trainer!"

"KETCH-UMM! KETCH-UMM! KETCH-UMM!"

"Yes!" Gary yelled. "Genius!"

"Pikachu did it!" squealed May.

"Yeah, but how?" Her younger brother asked. "Where did all that extra power come from?"

"Of course," murmured Brock. As all eyes turned on him he continued, "Ash must have remembered that electricity's power is boosted when it's used in water. It's a strategy he used a few times before, he even used it against a Milotic in Hoenn under similar circumstances. That Milotic was also healing in-between attacks, but it was only when Pikachu used an attack after it had been knocked into the water was it able to find the strength to defeat it."

"Wow, Ash is amazing," Max piped up as he watched his hero down below punch the sky in celebration.

"Well, I guess he's bound to have the odd bright idea now and again," stated Paul, speaking again for the first time in almost twenty minutes.

"Hey! You take that back!" Max shouted, his glasses falling off his screwed up face again.

Ash forced himself to calm down, even as the crowds continued to cheer their support for his pokemon out to his front.

This match isn't over yet. In fact, we've only just drawn even. There's a lot more work to be done before we can go home...

Ash watched Pikachu carefully. Although the electric type was clearly trying to hide it, no doubt because it wanted to keep battling, Ash could see it panting heavily. I'm not gonna make the same mistake with Pikachu as I did with Pidgeot!

"Pikachu, return! Take a break for now!"

With clear reluctance, the electric mouse obeyed and ran back to its trainer's side amid disappointed cries from the audience.

Cynthia watched as her opponent knelt down beside his electric type to give it a quick pat on the head. Pikachu had proven itself even more formidable that she had calculated, despite its small size. It didn't matter though. By her memory, he still had a weakened lapras, plus a pikachu and one other to work with. Neither of his revealed pokemon were very effective against the pokemon she now held in her hands again. With any luck, he would reveal his sixth pokemon and once she knew what it was, she would be able to effectively formulate a strategy for bringing down her young challenger once and for all.

Without a word, Cynthia tossed her pokeball onto the field.

Ash involuntarily gulped as the aura pokemon leapt forward again in a flash of light. The fighting type had already wiped out two members of his team and looked ready to take a third as it re-took its place in the centre of the field.

I have no choice now. I wanted to save him for later, but I'm going to have to use him if I have any chance of keeping this battle moving in my favour, Ash thought as he reached for the pokeball at the rear of his belt. The pokemon trainer held up his choice, the pokeball gleaming in the sun when suddenly something else caught his attention, also gleaming in the sun. The small circle of ice, created by Milotic, was still there on Cynthia's side of the field, slightly cracked from the previous battle.

Huh. Well, why not? After all, it's so crazy, it just might work...

With a small laugh that captured everyone's attention, including his opponent, Ash re-shrank the pokeball in his hand and picked the other, before throwing it back out onto the field with a loud cry.

"Lapras, time to go back to work!"

"Lapras?"

Misty leaned forward, worry etched into her tone. As Brock turned to look at her she continued, "I mean I know Lapras is strong water pokemon, but it took so much damage in that battle against Gastrodon, plus its nowhere near fast enough to attack Lucario. I was sure he'd stick with Pikachu."

"Yeah, I know Lapras isn't fast, but Ash tried matching Lucario's speed with Sceptile and it ended with Sceptile being knocked out. I think Ash must have a different strategy in mind this time."

"I hope so Brock." Misty replied. I hope so... C'mon Ash!

"You up for this Lapras?" Ash shouted. Lapras squealed in response. Although tired, it seemed to be in good spirits to Ash. He'd just have to hope his plan worked. Across the field, Cynthia narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. She hadn't been expecting the water-type to return until she played her Garchomp. Still, if Ash chose to send it out, she'd be more than happy to send it back.

"Lucario let's go! Extremespeed!"

"Grrraaa!" Lucario raced towards Lapras, turning into a blue blur as its legs moved too quickly to see.

"Withdraw now!" Ash shouted quickly. Lucario's attack was foiled at the last possible moment as Lapras withdrew into its shell just in time, causing the aura pokemon to bounce harmlessly away. "Now use Hydro Pump!" The Pallet town trainer yelled, thrusting an arm in Lucario's direction. Lapras retaliated with a powerful jet of water fired from its mouth, Cynthia couldn't help but utter a small laugh of surprise as she watched the attack race towards her pokemon.

"Dodge it!"

The fighting-steel rolled backwards, performing a fantastic flip in mid-air, avoiding the attack by centimetres and allowing the water attack to harmlessly pass over its head to crash into the opposite arena wall.

"Lapras, another Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge it again, Lucario!"

Again, Lucario avoided the attack, this time by springing effortlessly sideways.

"Just keep up those Hydro Pumps Lapras, you're doing great!" Ash encouraged, undeterred.

"Pikah pikah!" Pikachu cheered from his feet.

He can't be serious! Is this his plan?

"Lucario, just keep dodging," Cynthia called back.

Water flew in all directions around the stadium as Lapras tried to hit Lucario to no avail, the fighting-steel type leapt all over the arena, changing directions often with sidesteps and small jumps, refusing to let the water attacks hit. Squeals and angry shouts rose from the audience as many fans found themselves soaked through, many even shaking their fists at the young trainer below, their loyalty now disappearing with their comfort. Ash ignored them all as he focused the battle in front of him, waiting for the right moment.

"It's no good, Ash!"

Ash looked up at Cynthia, the champion seemed to be holding back a laugh. "You may have done well in that last round, but you're getting desperate. I'm afraid Lucario's far too fast for Lapras to hit it." Cynthia suddenly thrust one hand forward, her face falling serious once more.

"Lucario now, move in close and finish it, Close Combat!"

To her surprise, her challenger re-acted to her words with a small laugh of his own.

"What makes you think I was trying to hit it?" Ash grinned. "Lapras, use Ice beam... on the entire arena!"

The battlefield was soaked through, thanks to all of Lapras' missed water attacks. Now one Ice Beam turned it into a virtual skating rink.

"Lucario, no!" Cynthia cried in utter shock as Lucario lost balance on the ice mid-attack and fell over, still travelling towards Lapras. Ash raised one hand, complete focus now in his eyes.

"Lapras end this, one last Hydro Pump, full power!"

A powerful jet of water shot from Lapras' mouth, much stronger than the previous ones, and struck Lucario head on. The aura pokemon roared in surprise and pain as the water propelled it backwards, slamming it into the far arena wall with an almighty crash.

"Lucario!" Cynthia cried out again. In response, the aura pokemon fell forwards out of the crater the impact had made in the concrete wall, landing on all fours, breathing hard as its limbs quivered. Cynthia reacted quickly, bringing up a pokeball. "Lucario, take a brea..."

"Sheer Cold!"

As fast as Cynthia had been, Ash was faster still.

Helped on by the water and ice covering the field, a frigid wave of air spread out from Lapras and hit Lucario, slamming it back against the arena wall. The champion-master shouted after her pokemon again, but this time there was no getting back up. Lucario fell forward, almost as if in slow motion, before hitting the ground to its front.

Ash was deafened by the roar that followed.

"Lapras, you were awesome, take another break," Ash praised with a wide smile as he drew his water type back to its capsule again.

"Amazing! Lucario is out cold! And I mean cold, people! The champion has just two pokemon remaining!"

The crowd were all on their feet, all injustices forgotten. The young trainer before them had gone into this match a seven to one underdog, but was now leading by one pokemon against the champion-master. Even Ash had to exert some serious self-control to stop himself jumping up and down like a maniac, like he used to when he was younger.

Stay focused! Lucario may be beaten, but I still have to bring down Garchomp. And Cynthia still has one pokemon she hasn't even used yet...

Still, the young trainer couldn't help but begin to taste the possibility of victory once again, even amongst the nerves still spinning around his chest. Nobody had managed to bring Cynthia down to her final two pokemon in well over three years, possibly longer. And nobody could now say the trainer from Pallet didn't deserve to be here in this battle, he had achieved more already than several of the Elite Four. Even if he lost now, he'd still be respected and revered all over Sinnoh and beyond.

No! Forget about that. It doesn't matter anyway because I'm going to win this! I have to!

Cynthia re-called Lucario, thinking hard as she put her pokeball back on her belt. She had to admit, even she'd not seen that move coming, even though it was a move she herself had used on a slightly smaller scale against his pikachu. And now her young challenger was back in the lead once again.

Cynthia raised her head, staring over at her challenger as he pulled a new pokeball out, enlarged and at the ready. There was something about battling this trainer, something she'd never experienced before, but had heard other trainers talk about. Even her own Elite Four had mentioned it after their respective battles. Cynthia shook her head slightly, clearing her thoughts as she pulled a new pokeball from her long black coat. Whatever this trainer seemed to possess, he would be hard pressed to stop her next pokemon.

The champion allowed a small smirk to touch the corner of her mouth as her looked down her arm to the pokeball in her hand. While information on her various pokemon was freely assessable on any main database, it would be impossible for Ash Ketchum to know about this pokemon. And there was a good reason for it, Cynthia had only just caught it a few months ago. With a small smile still lingering on her face, Cynthia tossed her next pokeball forward.

Ash felt his jaw drop as the crowd gasped at Cynthia's next choice. He, of course, knew all of the champion's pokemon and the ones regularly used for league battles.

More than that, I memorised them. All sixty!

Ash gave a little groan as he remembered all those days he'd been stuck in his room behind the computer, trying to remember them after Professor Oak insisted he learn them, the ageing pokemon expert refusing to let him leave until he could recite them all successfully. And after all that work, Cynthia had to go and use a pokemon nobody even knew she had.

Figures...

Spiritomb appeared as a huge cloud of dark gas, anchored to the ground by a small cracked rock. From the centre of the darkness shone two menacing green eyes, and a mouth slowly grew underneath, forming into a wide smile as the ghost pokemon began to laugh...

Spiritomb the dark-ghost pokemon. This pokemon was formed by uniting 108 spirits. It is said it was bound to the old keystone as a result of mis-deeds five hundred years ago, the pokedex stated.

"Oh no, Spiritomb sounds really scary!" cried May, suddenly clutching onto Misty's left side .

"Never mind sounds, Spiritomb looks really scary!" whimpered Dawn, joining May and grabbing hold of Misty's right arm.

"Will you two pull yourselves together!" Misty shouted, tearing her eyes away from the arena to scowl at the two quivering girls either side of her. "Coordinators..." she muttered under her breath with exasperation as she shook both off and returned her attention back to the battle.

"Hey!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ash returned his gaze to the pokeball he now held in his hand in front of him, now certain of his choice.

Spiritomb's going to be a handful no doubt, but if anybody can handle it, you can.

Ash raised his eyes back to Spiritomb, determination now ablaze in his eyes.

It's time.

"Charizard, c'mon out!"

With a flash of light, Ash's last unrevealed pokemon burst forward. Ash watched as what he considered to be his most powerful pokemon roared furiously, announcing its arrival, drowning out even the roar of the crowd. Across the field, Cynthia watched fire type with a guarded expression, silently weighing up her options as Ash's pokemon shot her a look of contempt, then roared again while shooting a powerful Flamethrower directly upwards into the sky, creating a huge column of fire. She had known Ash owned a charizard, after all she'd seen him use it in the old video re-runs of the Indigo League and the Silver Conference. However, that had been over seven years ago, and this was the first time her challenger was using the pokemon since he re-entered the Sinnoh league earlier this year. And the charizard in front of her now looked a lot more powerful than the charizard she'd seen in the videos.

Charizard roared for a third time, stretched its wings, then bared its teeth at Spiritomb, who abruptly halted its menacing laugh as the flame emitting from the fire pokemon's tail suddenly flared out to twice its usual size. Cynthia balled both her hands into tight fists.

Bring it on.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

"Spiritomb, Dark Pulse!"

The two attacks hit dead centre of the arena and met with a mighty crash. They're even... Ash thought as he watched the two powerful attacks strive against each other.

"Alright Charizard, ramp it up! I know you've got more power than that!"

Charizard roared through the attack as more flames suddenly came from its jaw, this time with a greater intensity. Cynthia watched with narrowed eyes as Dark Pulse slowly began to get pushed back towards Spiritomb.

It's strong...

"Disappear, now!"

The Dark Pulse ceased immediately, causing the Flamethrower to crash into Spiritomb's position. Charizard kept up the onslaught of flames for a few moments, then stopped, roaring with victory. It was short lived.

"Faint Attack!"

Spiritomb reappeared, bouncing up from within the ground, inches in front of Charizard, laughing again in its demonic voice. Charizard's roar turned into a yelp as Spiritomb enveloped it in its gas-like body, then threw it out, sending it crashing to the floor.

"No Charizard! Are you okay?" Ash cried out. Outraged at being knocked to the floor so easily, Charizard again roared in response as it scrambled back to its feet, letting loose a random stream of fire that nearly set the referee alight.

"Alright then, let's try Dragon Rage!"

Instead of flames, a bright ball of energy formed in the fire pokemon's jaw, to be spat out at Spiritomb with tremendous force.

"Shadow Ball Spiritomb!" commanded Cynthia. The two attacks met again in the centre of the arena, the balls of dark and light forming another miniature explosion. "Now use Shadow Sneak!"

What's that attack? Ash wondered. Having never truly owned any ghost pokemon, he'd never even heard of Shadow Sneak before.

The answer became painfully clear a moment later. Spiritomb never moved, but its shadow grew out of all proportions, coating the floor in darkness until it reached Charizard, enveloping the fire type in crackling red and grey energy.

"Charizard!" Ash shouted, panicking as his pokemon again let out a roar of pain. "Fly up out the way now!"

Charizard bent its powerful legs and launched into the sky, leaving Spiritomb's shadow behind on the ground.

At least Shadow Sneak can't hurt us in the air, Ash thought as he watched Charizard circle the battlefield. But I still don't have a clue how to fight Spiritomb... Ghost pokemon are tricky at the best of times. Until I can think of something better, we'll have to attack it head on!

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

"Curse Spiritomb!"

Spiritomb ceased laughing, its face in the dark clouds seemed to resemble pain or annoyance. Meanwhile in the sky, Charizard seemed to choke mid-attack, swallowing the half-formed Flamethrower and whimpering in distress, a sound Ash had never heard his friend make. Ash sprang into action, he still didn't have any real plan, only he knew Curse had just removed half of Spiritomb's strength.

"Charizard Flamethrower again, do it now!"

Charizard span around and swooped towards its opponent, opening its jaws wide, this time successfully unleashing a powerful barrage of flames angrily at Spiritomb. However, unlike before, Cynthia remained silent, simply watching on as the fire attack completely enveloped her pokemon. Charizard broke off its attack after a few moments and circled away. The flames soon died away and Spiritomb had shrank dramatically in size. Its mouth had disappeared and its eyes looked mournfully on, defeated.

"Charizard, great job, spin around and finish it with anoth-"

"Spiritomb, Pain Split!" Cynthia suddenly shouted again.

Charizard roared in unbelievable agony as streams of dark energy burst from its body, flowing from it to Spiritomb. Ash gasped along with the rest of the crowd as the fire type fell in an awkward head over wing roll and ploughed hard into the battlefield. Spiritomb meanwhile grew again in size as its mouth reformed, gloating once again at the fire pokemon.

Charizard rose to its feet unsteadily, only to cry out in pain again as Curse took effect, damaging it even more.

"Ash is in a tight spot," Brock murmured as he watched Ash command Charizard to use Flamethrower again. "I've never seen a charizard as powerful as his, but if Ash can't even land successful hits on Spiritomb, Curse is going finish off his pokemon without Cynthia even having to lift a finger."

Spiritomb was now twisting into weird shapes, using its gas-like body in a way no living creature could to dodge the Flamethrowers as its opponent took to the air again, laughing the same demented laugh as it did. Misty stared down at the field with a frantic expression as another roar of pain echoed around the stadium from the fire-type.

Come on Ash! You better think of something fast!

I've gotta hold it still long enough to land at least one powerful attack! Ash thought, panicking slightly.

He'd seen how much damage the flamethrower had done to Cynthia's pokemon earlier, if he could increase it a level, maybe use Charizard's more powerful attacks, he was sure Spiritomb would fall. But if he didn't do it soon, Curse would wipe out the remainder of Charizard's health.

He could always switch out he knew, that would at least remove Curses' effect, but switch for who? Lapras had barely any health left and Pikachu was still tired out from its battle with Milotic. Ash clenched his teeth, Charizard could do this, he knew it could, but only if he could figure out how.

Ash took in the battlefield, looking for any clue. To hit Spiritomb he'd have to practically turn the whole battlefield upside down... A certain other fire pokemon suddenly sprang to mind.

But no, Charizard can't use that move. Then again, maybe it doesn't need to...

"Charizard, fly into Gastrodon's old hole!" Ash suddenly yelled.

"What the-" Cynthia said to herself as Charizard suddenly tucked its wings into its body and dove down through the air, down into the crater her Gastrodon had made by using Dig on Lapras near the start of the battle, a lifetime ago.

"Now use Over-heat!' Ash shouted in a roar to match his pokemon.

The arena exploded from underneath Spiritomb. Both ghost pokemon and chunks of rock and ice alike flew into the air as fire raged in every direction. Ash covered his eyes, blinded by the intense heat. Screams rang out from the crowd as red-hot debris began to fall among them. Large cracks appeared in the sides of the stadium and the earth shook violently, knocking both trainers to the floor.

Ash curled up, arms protecting his face, and waited until the ground stopped trembling. When it did, he opened his eyes slowly. The chalked battlefield had turned to rubble. Charizard was hovering above the ground, roaring triumphantly at Spiritomb, who was well and truly knocked out at his feet. The gas-like pokemon was spread like a sheet over the ruined floor, and the usual laugh had been replaced by a weak groan.

"Charizard!" Ash yelled, jumping to his feet. "You did it Charizard, yes! That was awesome! That was...uh..."

Ash's eyes had just taken in the rest of the stadium. The crowd was just beginning to pick themselves back up, most were coated in dirt and dust, some staggering around as if unsure where they were. The wall above the stands had massive cracks and the rocks and debris blown up from the arena floor had landed all around the stands, one jagged piece bizarrely wedged in the side of the score-board, causing the lights to flicker and dim at random. Miraculously, no one seemed to be hurt, but as Ash looked around he could see scorch marks everywhere.

The stadium fell silent save for one crying baby as the everyone looked at Ash. The cheers of 'KETCH-UMM' seemed to be a distant memory.

"Er, sorry about that..." Ash said sheepishly, one hand reaching up to rub the back of his head.

Up in the stands, Gary slapped his head with his hand, groaning and laughing at the same time.

Across the arena, Cynthia was also getting to her feet, recalling Spiritomb as she did. Unbelievable... Cynthia looked about the arena, taking in ruined stadium, then despite herself, began to laugh as well, crystal and clear across the arena. While her pokemon had been defeated, this was the battle she'd dreamed of. Too many weak trainers challenged her during her reign.

White noise blasted infrequently as the commentator tried and failed to get his microphone working again. All the lights around the arena had winked out or been destroyed, sending the stadium into gloomy shadow caused by the sun already beginning to approach the horizon.

"Referee!" Cynthia called over to the side of the battlefield. "I say we finish up this match before the challenger destroys our stadium even more, wouldn't you agree?"

The referee slowly climbed to his feet and looked from Ash to Cynthia with a incredulous stare before shrugging helplessly.

"Spiritomb is unable to battle, the champion has just one pokemon remaining, the challenger has three, let battle re-commence!"

And with that, the referee turned tail and ran to the far side of the arena and pressed himself into the wall, covering his face.

"Shall we continue Ash?" Cynthia asked mildly.

"Yeah of course, wait Charizard!" Ash shouted with worry as Charizard suddenly fell to the earth, pain etched across its face.

Of course, Curse is still in effect! Ash remembered, furious with himself that he had not immediately recalled Charizard the moment the round was won. "Charizard return now!"

In the stands, Ash's friends and family had all re-taken their seats, Oak was moaning about his aching back, and Dawn had forgotten all about the battle as she tried to rearrange her ruined hair. Even Sparky and Piplup where laid flat out on the ground, both with dazes expressions on their faces Only Misty and Gary where paying any attention to what was occurring below.

"Guys, they're still battling!" Misty shouted.

"Yeah, and Cynthia's down to just one pokemon!" Gary yelled back, despite the fact they where only metres apart. "This is it...!"

Cynthia watched as Ash drew back his Charizard back into its pokeball. There was no more denying it now, the young man had truly turned into an exceptional trainer, far better than she had been at his age. Whatever he'd been through during the last five years had made him exceptionally strong. But the real question that remained though, was he stronger than her now? Cynthia lowered her gaze to the final pokeball already clenched in her hand, her knuckles starting to turn white from the pressure.

Despite the fact that her challenger actually still had three pokemon left in his arsenal, the champion had no doubt that the pokemon in her hand could take them all out. Her final pokemon was stronger in many ways than the rest of her team put together. In fact, a small part of her wondered, had she left it out at the beginning of the battle, just how many of Ash's pokemon it could have taken out before the challenger eventually brought it down. Assuming he even managed to bring it down at all...

Cynthia held out the pokeball it front of her, pointing it directly at her challenger in open warning, her eyes signalling that hell was coming. The champion-master was down to her last pokemon, but she had saved the best for last and now the whole world was about to see once again just how powerful her Garchomp really was.

"Let's finish this," the champion murmured to herself.

"Garchomp, battle dance!" Cynthia roared, as she threw her last pokeball forward with all her strength.

For the second time that day, the dragon-ground type sprang forward, teeth bared, ready for battle.

...

"But... you can do it Ash. I know you think you're not ready for this, but everyone else thinks you are. You beat the Elite Four, your pokemon are stronger than ever."

Misty paused, looking out towards the horizon. The pair had sat down again, both looking over the view before them once more. The sun was beginning to break over far ocean, slowly lighting Lily of the Valley city. "All you have to do is believe in yourself...like you used to, back when we travelled together..."

A long silence seemed to follow, much longer than the others as the two sitting teenagers stared into the distance, watching as the sky slowly got lighter and lighter. It was almost time.

"You really almost cried?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, when I fell in that ocean and you had to rescue me. You really cried?"

"Well, I did think you were dead..."

"Suppose life would be pretty boring without me," Ash casually stated, leaning back to rest on one arm. Misty rolled her eyes.

"Oh, get over yourself."

Misty could feel another blush coming on as she saw Ash looking sideways at her with a lopsided grin. What was with this crush that never seemed to go away no matter how hard she tried?

"Myst..."

"Uh-huh?" Misty continued to stare over the city at the championship stadium with fevered interest.

"Misty..."

Misty's skin seemed to crawl as she felt Ash gently grab hold of her wrist and slowly pull her back around.

She couldn't let herself believe, not after so long, she'd promised herself that she'd give up on this stupid idea that Ash...

"Misty... thank you."

He was far too close now, their legs were touching and he still hadn't let go of her damned wrist as his brown eyes stared at her face, and it was only now Misty realised that five years was really no time at all.

"Um, n,no problem."

No matter what league he won or where he went or how old he got, from this close he'd always look like the same stupid kid who she'd fished out of a river so long ago and had stolen her bike. It was only now Misty realised fully that he had taken something else as well, something she never got back. Suddenly, Misty knew what was about to happen, something she had long thought impossible, but it was happening anyway.

"You seem to be good at saving me..."

With a sense of stunned disbelief, the gym leader felt Ash begin to lean in closer and...

"Wait."

A pair of brown eyes widened in shock at the slim hand now covering his mouth, mere inches away. "Oh Mew, I'm sorry. I thought you... I didn't mean..."

It was kind of funny, Misty couldn't help thinking as she watched the trainer in front of her start to scramble backwards as fast as he could. Normally, it was her that got embarrassed around him, not the other way around. But then, change wasn't always a bad thing, she thought

"I'll be going now Misty, er thanks for the talk, see ya later!" Ash was now talking again in that feigned casual matter, except it was slightly ruined by the fact he seemed to be yelling rather than just talking.

Misty sighed deeply. It was strange how calm she felt all of a sudden, considering the fact her life had pretty much done a violent back-flip in the last thirty seconds.

"I said wait!" The gym leader stuck out a hand, as Ash suddenly tried to run away, tripping Ash back up, causing him to land painfully on his face.

"Oww! What was that for!"

"Stop whining, you're not hurt," Misty responded impatiently. She watched as the pokemon trainer slowly turned around to face her again, a look of pure terror taking over his features once again.

"Misty, I'm sorry, I didn't me..."

"It's fine."

"But..."

"I said it's fine," Misty repeated, returning his look of utter confusion with a tentative smile. She couldn't even explain where this sudden idea had come from. "I mean... It's good, I think... But not right now..."

"Not righ...?"

"I mean later." The gym leader turned back around, looking towards the city. In the distance, the sky began to light up as the sun suddenly beamed over the horizon, the stadium throwing long shadows on the ground.

"You know, after the battle..." Misty turned back to look at Ash, this time with a wide confident grin. "When you win."

She watched as what she said started to take effect, in place of words, she could at least do this much to motivate him. A fierce grin suddenly lit up the young man's expression as well as he looked away from her to the stadium down below, she could see the fire ignite in his eyes once more. With a feeling of pure joy, Misty could see the ten year old Ash beginning to burn back though the older face.

"When I win..."

...

"Course, on a surface level, it looks like Ash is in a really strong position here with having three pokemon still on the board," Samuel Oak commented. "But unfortunately all his pokemon are low on health, and Lapras is the only one that might be able to hurt Garchomp. What do you think Tracey?" The professor turned around to see his young assistant laid on the ground, still dazed by the last explosion.

"What...pokemon...who?" Tracey replied dizzily.

Charizard's wiped out by that last battle, I gotta give it a break. And Pikachu's not gonna have much effect on a ground type, Ash thought grimly. Lapras is still weak, but maybe if it can land some ice attacks, Charizard's Dragon Rage can finish the job...

Even though, he was in a bad position and he knew it. He'd seen just how strong Cynthia's garchomp was, plus it was still relatively fresh compared to his pokemon which were all close to their limits.

Well, no sense in waiting...

"Lapras, I choose you!" A few cheers went up from the remainder crowd that had not fled after the last attack as they began to catch up with the battle. Lapras re-appeared for the third time, this time arcing its neck with a long determined cry.

"Now use Ice Be-,"

"Dig!" Cynthia spat with force.

"Lapras, look out!" Ash shouted, but it was too late. In a matter of seconds, Garchomp dived into the earth and re-emerged underneath its opponent with a savage cry. Lapras cried out in pain as it found itself flung towards the edge of the arena.

"Dragon claw!"

"Withdraw Lapras!" Ash called out desperately as he saw the dragon type descend on his ice type. Heeding its trainer's call, Lapras quickly pulled all its limbs in-towards its body, hiding in the huge shell just in time as Garchomp gave it a brutal swipe with a shining claw at the end of its right wing. While the attack was not enough to break the rock hard shell, Ash still gasped as the shell hiding his Lapras span away like a top to the far end of the battlefield. Not to be out-done so easily, Cynthia's pokemon leapt after it, delivering further strike after strike, beating the water type into the ruined earth.

"Lapras, hang in there!"

Even above the roar of the crowd and the snarls coming from Garchomp's jaw, Ash could hear Lapras crying out in pain over the brutal assault. At the other side, Cynthia watched with a guarded expression. She knew all too well just how much her pokemon liked to beat its opponents into submission. But despite its completive nature, she knew it would still back off when the necessary damage had been done. Besides, she was through playing games here, the sooner Garchomp could finish this battle, the better.

"Lapras!" Ash watched in desperation as Garchomp staggered backwards after slamming its whole body into Lapras' shell. "I know you're hurting, but this might be our only shot, you gotta try Ice Beam, once more!" With a slow squeal, Lapras poked its head back out from underneath its shell, looking up with a now frightened stare at Garchomp.

"Brick Break!"

Before the transport pokemon had even begun its attack, Garchomp delivered a merciless side swipe at Lapras' exposed head, the force of the horizontal strike so great, it took the water type off the ground. Ash cried out in shock as his pokemon hit the arena wall, the resulting impact causing a miniature explosion of rocks and dust.

"Lapras is un-able to battle, Garchomp wins!" The referee called out, poking his head back out from the large boulder he was now hiding behind, his microphone-enhanced voice making everyone jump again. Ash stared after his fallen pokemon for a moment, before pointing its pokeball at the side of the arena where it now lay with swirling eyes.

"Lapras return," Ash said. "Thanks buddy, I know you did your best."

He placed the pokeball back on his belt as he looked up, trying to decide what to do next...

"I think Cynthia was going for this all along," Paul said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him, Paul paid them no attention, continuing to watch Garchomp, speaking as if he was talking to himself.

"The way she ordered her pokemon line up, I was confused when she sent out Garchomp first, followed by Gastrodon. It didn't make sense, two ground types in a row. But now I see why, Cynthia sent Garchomp out straight away to see what Ash planned to use against it, then sent out Gastrodon to tempt him to leave it out so she could weaken it. That way, when Garchomp truly came out, there would be nothing to oppose it. Cynthia may have been down on numbers, but she's managed to arrange it so she finished with a almost fresh Garchomp, her strongest pokemon, up against a weakened fire and electric type, neither of which will stand much of a chance."

Paul paused to take breath, then crossed his arms. "This is over. That's how a true champion battles after all, by using cool logic, not by luck and last minute tricks like Ash has been doing. He's been stumbling through this entire match..."

"What?!"

Misty leapt out of her chair and span to face behind her with one fist raised. "What was that?!"

Ever vigilant, Brock leapt sideways, grabbing hold of her raised arm with a look of panic on his face. "Misty, I don't think he meant it like that..."

"I did actually," Paul disagreed instantly. "I think it embarrassing really."

"Why, you arrogant, little..."

"Guys, help me!" Brock yelped, now bear-hugging the gym leader to keep her from launching herself at the Sinnoh trainer, who now looked slightly offended. Tracey, Ritchie and Gary all jumped forward to help. Samuel Oak, oblivious to the potential fight breaking out beside him leaned forward with a concerned expression.

"Hmm..."

"What is it Professor?" Delia asked worryingly. She had been near enough silent for the entirety of the battle so far, simply watching and twisting her hands nervously in her lap.

"It seems Cynthia's eager to end this battle right now. Her attacks are becoming a lot more aggressive. Course, that's partly due to the aggressive nature of her pokemon, but still..."

"Are you saying Cynthia is trying to finish Ash off now?"

"It seems so. I'm not saying she has gone easy on him so far, far from it, but she has been pacing herself. Now I think Cynthia's aim is to take Ash's remaining pokemon out as quickly as possible."

"Well, it doesn't matter!" Misty shook herself free of her restrainers, then span back to stare at the field below. "Ash is still going to win!"

"But, how do you know?" May asked hesitantly. "I mean, we all want Ash to win, but Garchomp is so powerful..."

"I know," Misty repeated firmly, sitting back down and crossing her arms tightly. "Trust me. Just watch..."

As easily as that, his secret weapon had been defeated. And now he was stuck with only one choice to make, Pikachu or Charizard. Ash cursed silently. Neither was a great match-up against Garchomp.

I shouldn't have tired out Lapras so early in the match...

Still, the slightly honest part of his brain wondered whether Lapras would have been able to withstand such a viscous attack even at full health. Ash scowled, baring his teeth, mirroring the small electric pokemon down below.

It's not over yet!

Giving in to a sudden urge, Ash seized the front of his cap and repeating an action he'd not made in years, ripped it backwards as his free hand pulled his last pokeball from his belt, enlarging and throwing it in one fluid motion.

"Charizard, I choose you!"

The great fire pokemon burst forward once more with an almighty roar, stamping its feet angrily on the arena floor.

"Charizard I know you're tired, but I really need your strength now buddy! Its time to show everyone how you gained your reputation as the most powerful charizard in the Charicific Valley!" Ash yelled out, holding both arms out wide.

"Raaaghhh!"

The fire pokemon responded to its trainer's plea with a deafening roar even louder than the last, shaking the entire stadium. Not to be out-done, Garchomp took half a step forward, responding with a equally fierce roar. The two pokemon snarled at each other while the cowering referee, losing the little nerve he'd had left at the sight of the two titans about to wage battle, fled the stadium as fast as he could. Neither Ash, nor Cynthia, nor even the surrounding crowd noticed his departure.

"This is gonna be so awesome! I can't believe how good this battle is, someone's gonna get fined big time!" Barry shouted, waving both arms above his head in excitement. Misty couldn't help but gulp slightly at the sight of the two pokemon facing each other down below.

"C'mon! Beat that dragon up Charizard!" Gary yelled, cupping both hands around his mouth.

"Let's do this!" Ash yelled, before swinging one arm forward. "Flamethrower!"

"Dig!" Cynthia suddenly screamed in response. Garchomp leapt forward into the ruined floor, just dodging the Flamethrower in time.

"Charizard, time to take to the air!" Ash called out quickly, pointing towards the sky. Charizard spread its wings, and with another roar, launched itself upwards, leaving the battlefield behind.

"After it Garchomp!" Cynthia immediately shouted. Instantly Garchomp burst out of the ground and took off into the air like a rocket, chasing the fire type down.

The two pokemon drew level with each other in the air, just above the highest edges of the stadium, then rushed each other, colliding with great force, before then beginning to wrestle in mid-air like two wild creatures.

"Blast it back with Flamethrower!" Ash yelled upwards. Charizard arched its head back, gathering power, then blew Garchomp backwards out of its grip. Garchomp snarled in pain, righting itself in mid-air just before crashing into the stands. Eager to prove its dominance, Charizard proceeded to fire off more Flamethrowers, all of which Garchomp managed to avoid in the air before shooting forth its own brand of bluish fire, which hit Charizard square in the torso.

"Charizard!" Ash yelled out as the fire pokemon smashed into the ground just to his front. The shout was unneeded however, the dust had barely settled before Charizard launched back into the air, firering yet more Flamethrowers with a truly furious expression on its face.

"We gotta close the distance Charizard!" Ash shouted as Garchomp continued to evade Charizard's attacks. "Try a Steel Wing!"

Abandoning its fire attacks, Charizard dived straight forward, both wings glowing bright white.

"Counter with Dragon Claw!" Cynthia shouted in reply. The two pokemon met with a horrendous screech of metal as Garchomp smashed Charizard's wing aside with one claw, then followed through with the second, just catching the fire pokemon below the jaw.

"Take it on! Slash, now!"

The two pokemon rapidly began to tumble down towards the arena floor, both losing control as they now exchanged blows like a pair of heavy-weight boxers. Ash gritted his teeth.

Charizard can't keep fighting like this forever! And Garchomp's not even slowing down...

"Charizard, kick it away, then use Dragon Rage!"

Moments before impact, the flame pokemon savagely booted its opponent away with both feet, sending it careering into the broken up battlefield. Not wasting a moment, Charizard landed by its trainer, then threw back its head, gathering a huge ball of orange energy in its mouth.

"Garchomp, Draco Meteor, straight at Charizard!"

Even while still getting back to its feet, Garchomp beat Charizard to the punch, firering a similar ball of energy into the flame pokemon's direction before the opposing dragon attack was even half-formed. Ash cried out in utter panic, forced to cover his eyes Garchomp's attack hit Charizard, as his first ever fire type literally disappeared in an explosion of blinding fire and light.

"Rrrraauugh!"

"Charizard no!"

"Pikah!"

As the light faded, Ash lowered his arms, staring desperately out at the huge cloud of smoke that now covered the battlefield. "Charizard! Where are you?"

No answer was given. Ash shouted out again, one hand already reaching back for the fire type's pokeball. He could already hear Garchomp's screams of victory from somewhere high above the smoke. His pokemon had fought as hard as it could, Ash thought despairingly. Garchomp was just too strong...

"RRRRAAAUUGGHHH!"

Ash gasped loudly as an extremely familiar shadow suddenly appeared to his front, moving among the smoke still lingering across the battlefield floor.

"Charizard! You're okay!"

"Rrrraaauughh!"

Ash grinned wildly. Below, Pikachu began to jump up and down cheering again. "Alright! Then let's get above this smoke and start hitting Garchomp with a Flare Blitz attack!"

With a loud 'Whoossh!', Charizard launched itself back upwards, dispersing the smoke and colliding with its surprised rival above in another flash of fire, repeatedly ramming the dragon type over and over. In the stands, those that remained leapt to their feet, cheering the fire pokemon on.

Below, Ash and Pikachu continued to shout their encouragement upwards. Charizard had now taken the battle into its own hands, drawing on its vast experience of battling other charizard, most of which had been at one point much bigger and stronger than it was, beating Garchomp over and over with a combination of Steel Wings, Slashes and close range Flamethrowers.

At the opposite end of the field, Cynthia watched the mid-air brawl with increasing shock and concern. This Charizard just wasn't giving up! Both pokemon were now taking this rivalry very seriously and Cynthia could see it wouldn't be long before her pokemon lost all self-restraint completely. But Cynthia couldn't let that happen. While she was confident Garchomp could out-last Ash's Charizard if it had too, she still had his Pikachu to bring down afterwards. It was time to bring this battle to the finish.

"Smash it away now Garchomp! Stone Edge!"

Ash gasped the instant he heard the command. "Oh no, Charizard, dodge it!"

But it was too late. Fired at close range, the fire pokemon had no chance of avoiding the multitude of large rocks, and howled loudly as they slammed into every part of its body, sending it spiralling backwards.

"That was super-effective," Max gasped.

"Worse than that. It was even more powerful because Charizard is both a flying and a fire type," Brock whispered as the group watched Charizard right itself, clearly barely hanging in the air. "I'm amazed Charizard can even keep flying after a hit like that..."

Cynthia couldn't stop the snarl that came out of her mouth at the sight of the fire pokemon, still concious and flying at the far side of the stadium. How could it still be flying after all this? In all her years as champion, she'd never seen a pokemon that could hold its own against her Garchomp for so long.

"Enough of this! Garchomp, Giga Impact now! Finish it!"

Her pokemon launched forward with a furious snarl to match its mistresses' as it closed its still dazed opponent down.

I've gotta do something or Charizard's not going to survive this, Ash thought desperately, remembering the power of the attack from earlier. But what to do? Charizard's fire attacks had proved in-effective, and all the close range attacks so far had proved too weak.

Only one thing to do then, Ash thought grimly. The only problem was, he wasn't sure if Charizard could survive it. "Charizard! Hold still and draw Garchomp in!"

Charizard bared its teeth, and glared at the oncoming dragon-type. Garchomp had already closed more than half the distance between them, and the hue of purple energy surrounding it only looked to be getting stronger and stronger.

"That's it!" Ash called up. "Just a little further!"

What's he planning? Cynthia wondered furiously. She considered calling off the attack for a moment, then dismissed the idea. The moment Charizard got hit by that Giga Impact, it was all over anyway.

"Garrrrr!" Garchomp roared as it passed the final distance between it and its rival and prepared to slam into it at full force.

"NOW!" Ash yelled, thrusting forward with one hand. "Seismic Toss!"

Charizard howled in pain as it took the Giga Impact head on, then grabbing one of Garchomp's wings in either claw, flipped backwards, dragging the dragon pokemon downwards into a spiralling dive towards the battlefield floor.

"Yes!" Misty screamed. "Go for it Charizard!"

"Come on Charizard!" Brock yelled out.

"Pikah pikachu!"

"Finish this Charizard!" Ash yelled, feeling elated that his pokemon was strong enough to actually pull off the last attack.

This is it!

But there was something wrong. Even as Ash watched, the grin of triumph on his face suddenly turned to a look of dread as he noticed Charizard's dive was now completely out of control. Mere feet before the arena floor, Garchomp kicked free of its captor, causing both to impact into the ground in separate spots...

...

"This is some battle..." Charles Goodshaw whispered to himself from the presidential box, situated at the top most edge of the stands. "I never expected anything like this..." The president of the pokemon league turned to look at the man sitting a few feet away from him. "Have you got that thing working again yet?"

The commentator looked around with wide eyes at his boss and shook his head meekly. "The entire system's short-circuited and I have no idea how to fix it," he replied.

Goodshaw nodded slowly, before turning back to stare at the arena floor with a new idea. "Perhaps I should stop this before to goes too far... They've already destroyed half the stadium..."

"You stay where you are."

The voice, through quietly spoken, brimmed with authority. Goodshaw now turned to look at the tall man, sitting half-hidden in shadow at the far end of the box, a cap barely visible on his head. A small pokemon lay at his side, seemingly uninterested in the battle.

"Well, I don't think it would be exactly uncalled for," the president huffed, slightly miffed that someone else was telling him what to do as he rose from his seat. Even if it was him. "Don't you see what's happening down there? This stadium took millions to build and they're destroying it in a single match! Some of the spectators are fleeing, and I can't blame them. One more major attack and the whole thing may come crashing down!"

The man didn't move, not taking his eyes of the battlefield for a moment. "You wanted a championship battle and you got what you wanted. Are the television feeds still up?"

Goodshaw looked down, troubled. "Yes and viewer numbers have tripled in the last twenty minutes."

"Then the profit made from them will more than cover the cost of repairs as well as bringing massive earnings for your pokemon league. Fact is, I've sent too much of my time, investing into this battle for the last five years, getting him ready, and I will not have you stop it now. Now sit down."

The last sentence was no request, Charles Goodshaw lowered himself back down to his seat again. Out on the arena, one of the two creatures laid on the battlefield had now climbed back to its feet, its savage roars of triumph now filling the entire stadium...

...

Not even Charizard was strong enough to beat it...

Ash stared forward in a state of semi-shock, unable to believe how his most powerful pokemon had been defeated, right when it looked like it was going to win, before lowering his head and re-calling his fallen pokemon in a flash of red.

I guess that last Giga Impact was too much for it... Ash thought, swallowing hard as he gazed down at the pokeball in his hand. "You did great Charizard, that was my fault..."

This is it...

For a moment, Ash couldn't move. This was it. His final pokemon, up against a monster. He'd thought Charizard had almost worn it down to its limits, but maybe he was wrong. Garchomp certainly didn't look tired, the pokemon was just standing in the centre of the battlefield, just roaring its challenge out to any that would hear it. Already Ash could feel Pikachu tugging at his jeans, wanting to be called forward, but he couldn't do it. What was the point, after all, now he knew he couldn't win? His Pikachu was pretty amazing, but it was a facing a severe type disadvantage, and it was up against that... beast...

Cynthia just seemed to be standing there, waiting patiently for his final choice. Even the crowd had fallen deathly silent, as if confused as to what the hold up was. Ash was frozen, he couldn't move. The next few minutes could change his entire life... Or maybe ruin it.

"WHOOO! ASH! PIKACHU! YOU CAN DO IT!"

"Huh?"

Ash span to face the audience. Right at the front of the stands, stood among his terrified-looking friends and family, Misty stood, hands cupped around her mouth, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Misty!" Ash yelled back. That was it. He wasn't giving up, he was fighting for everyone of his friends who were supporting him. It wasn't fair to his friends to just give up yet.

"You shouldn't be battling for anyone other than yourself. We aren't expecting anything other than for you to do your best."

No, that's not right. He was battling for himself! But what if he failed, now, right at the end? He'd lost plenty of times before after all. How could he possibly come back if he lost here?

"But it's just a battle! That's all! This doesn't mean anything, don't you get that? You win and that's great. You lose and you just come back and try again. That's what's so great about you, you never, ever give up!"

Misty was right, he wasn't giving up. Not now, now ever! That wasn't who he was, who he wanted to be, champion or not! But did he have any chance at all? Sure, he wouldn't give up, he and Pikachu would go down fighting now to the bitter end. But was there any chance left he could win this?

"All you have to do is believe in yourself...like you used to, back when we travelled together..."

Ash looked across at Cynthia, then at Garchomp, then at the rest of the ruined arena. He almost laughed as another realization struck him, causing a reluctant grin to slowly grow across his face.

Here I am again, last pokemon left, down to the wire yet again...

Battles, stadiums, opponents, Ash could not count the amount he'd had and seen on his path to this moment, this battle was infinitely different to any he'd had before, yet he couldn't help getting a strange sense of deja vu as he looked over at his ultimate rival.

This is was what he lived for, after all.

Different battle, different place, different opponent.

Facing a seemingly unstoppable pokemon, commanded by a skilled trainer, all success hinging in his last pokemon... He'd been here a million times before.

This is gonna to be one great battle.

For the first time that day, for the first time in almost five years, Ash felt as if he was having fun.

Forget the title, forget Cynthia, forget even about winning or losing. This is my dream, a great battle against a great opponent, and I'm gonna enjoy it, regardless of the outcome.

"You know, after the battle... when you win."

Smile growing into a laugh, the knot in his stomach finally gone, Ash was suddenly ten years old again.

"Pikachu!"

The yellow mouse pokemon looked up at its trainer, its best friend.

"Its time to win this thing!"

"Pikah!"

"Then Pikachu... I choose you!"

"Go Pikachu!" Misty shouted again across the stadium. All around her, she could hear people lamenting about Pikachu's chances against the monstrous Garchomp, but she paid them no attention as the worry that had pressed on her shoulders all day seemed to lift slightly.

If there's any team out there that could bring down Cynthia and her Garchomp, its Ash and Pikachu...

Cynthia watched as small electric mouse pokemon leapt forward, back onto the field, doing a little zigzag as it came to a rest facing Garchomp. Ash's last pokemon. Despite the type match-up, Cynthia refused to believe this was going to be in any way easy. She'd seen in the battles with the Elite Four and her own pokemon just how strong and versatile this little pokemon could be and judging by the amount of twists this battle had already taken, there was no way the champion could afford to let her guard down.

This is it...

Pikachu growled in anticipation, sparks flying from its cheeks, the small electric bolts barely contained on its trainer's side of the battlefield.

Garchomp just snarled right back, its feet already digging at the ground underneath it as it awaited word from its mistress.

Let's finish this!

"Let's get this under-way! Garchomp, Stone Edge!"

Razor sharp rocks appeared around the dragon-type in flashes of white light, before flinging themselves spinning through the air in Pikachu's direction.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack full speed now!"

Like before against Milotic, Pikachu leapt forward, dodging rocks left and right, drawing ever closer to Garchomp.

"Garchomp, quick, Dragon Rage!'

"Pikachu jump!"

Pikachu leapt high above the stream of fire and landed on Garchomp, striking it directly on the head.

As her pokemon reeled back in shock, Cynthia screamed another command.

"Fly up, then come down with Brick Break!"

Even as she uttered the words, Ash was already telling Pikachu what to do next.

"Now Pikachu, Double Team Agility, go!"

Pikachu ground to a halt, then suddenly dozens of carbon copies seemed to jump from its back in all directions, racing all around the arena. Fast as lightning, Garchomp descended, striking at the original Pikachu only for it to disappear the moment it made contact.

"Garchomp, attack all the pikachu!" Cynthia shouted wildly, making a wide gesture with her arms. Now frustrated, Garchomp began to swing, cutting through one pikachu to another, unable to find the real one.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Ash yelled, punching forward with one hand.

"Pikah!"

Behind Garchomp, one pikachu out of the dozens suddenly jumped into the air, higher than the others, its tail glowing a metallic grey. "Garchomp behind you!" Cynthia cried, but it was too late, Pikachu uttered a loud cry as it made contact with Garchomp, sending the dragon type stumbling backwards again.

"Yesss! Come on now Pikachu!" Professor Oak shouted, surprising everyone with his sudden outburst.

Misty clenched her fists so tightly it hurt.

"Dig!"

Garchomp immediately leapt forward, diving into the earth.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack, straight up!"

Pikachu ran forward in a streak of light, bounced off a boulder and propelled itself high into the air.

Bad move Ash, Cynthia thought fiercely. "Garchomp, come out and Dragon Rush it!"

The dragon type burst from the ground, aiming for the small mouse pokemon as Pikachu cried out in panic, unable to dodge in the air. Ash quickly cried out a 'Double Team' command, but a fraction too late as Garchomp slammed into Pikachu before it could make its move. Ash cried out again as he watched Pikachu do a series of backwards somersaults mid-air and smash into the field floor like a rag doll. Cynthia gave a low growl of satisfaction at the sight. But even as she stared forward, Pikachu climbed out of the small crater and back to a standing position, refusing to relent.

"Pikachu, are you okay?"

Pikachu just gritted its teeth and growled at Garchomp hanging in the air, signalling to Ash it was ready to continue the fight.

"Quick Attack!"

Garchomp wound up a another swipe at Pikachu with its Dragon Claw, but the lightning-fast rodent was able to lunge out of the way and struck Cynthia's pokemon in the face with a swift head-butt. Pikachu moved so fast that it looked like a yellow blur. Garchomp snarled in pure frustration.

"Garchomp Brick Break again!"

"Pikachu look out, dodge with Agility!" Ash yelled, this time sweeping one hand across his body.

The dragon pokemon landed and ran forward, slashing at Pikachu again and again with brutal force. Pikachu now retreated backwards in small jumps, skilfully dodging everyone of the dragon's attacks, but it seemed to Ash as if Garchomp was coming closer with each swipe of its arms. They needed to open up some space.

"Quick, Pikachu, run back to me now!"

The mouse pokemon seemed to disappear, leaving a small trace of dust as he sprinted back to his trainer.

"Now go for it, run back and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu dug its paws into the ground, skidding to a halt before sprinting back the way it came, tail glowing silver once more.

"Garchomp, block it now!" Cynthia called as Iron Tail was almost upon them. Crossing its wings, Garchomp blocked the attack without flinching, then slashed sideways with one claw, catching the rodent full on in the face, sending Pikachu flying backwards through the air.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried again, terrified for his best friend as it hit the ground hard once more. But yet again, the mouse climbed tenaciously to a standing position, refusing to lose.

"Pikachu is getting pummelled out there!" Dawn groaned.

"It certainly doesn't look good right now," Tracey observed with a sombre tone in his voice.

"Yeah, but Pikachu isn't giving up!" Max argued. "It could still come back!"

"I hope so, Max," his sister replied. "But if they can't even use electric attacks, what chance does it have?"

Ash gritted his teeth. This isn't working... To have any hope at all, he'd need more than just Pikachu's speed.

Time for a change in strategy...

"Garchomp! Take it now with Dragon Rush!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt... on the battlefield!"

Without moving, Pikachu sent a powerful electric charge at the ground in front of the oncoming Garchomp. Cynthia ground her teeth in frustration at the fact her opponent had managed to pull off yet another unconventional attack as she watched her pokemon come under attack by dozens of pieces of debris, successfully halting its attack.

"Garchomp, it's time to finish this! Draco Meteor into the sky now!"

Rearing its head, Garchomp fired a orange ball of energy into the sky from between its razor sharp teeth. The orb rocketed to above the height of the arena walls, before breaking apart and raining down on the entire battlefield.

"Pikachu, Counter-shield now!"

Cynthia could only watch with an open mouth as the small electric pokemon started to spin on its back, sending small shoots of electricity into the air as it successfully defended against the falling Draco Meteor, each one of the meteors causing a small scale explosion as they were caught one by one by the circling electric bolts.

"Yes, Pikachu!" Ash shouted with excitement, clenching both fists. "Now use Quick Attack again!"

Like a missile, Pikachu flew out of the smoke, almost taking off as it sprinted forward again.

"Meet it with Dragon Rush!"

Garchomp dove forward, gathering energy as it hollered, determined to crush the small mouse in front of it.

"Spin and dodge it!" Cynthia gasped as Pikachu suddenly jumped a moment before the two where about to hit, rotating rapidly as it flew past her pokemon's head. "Now use Iron Tail!"

"Pikah!"

With a nimble spin as the dragon type rushed by, Pikachu powered a shining tail into Garchomp's back. This time, the dragon-type fell to the ground, snarling in fury as it slid towards Ash before it finally re-found its grip on the arena floor and leapt back to its feet. Ash gaped forward, scarcely able to believe the level of endurance Garchomp seemed to hold.

It's just not going down...

Ash looked up, meeting Cynthia's gaze, both trainers staring at each other briefly before shouting their next move.

"Brick Break!"

"Pikachu, defend with another Iron Tail!"

"Pikachu's really battling its heart out down there!" Gary exclaimed, his knuckles growing white on the safety railing to his front as he watched Pikachu and Garchomp meet again with a mighty clash. "Its speed is really keeping it in this match. Still, Ashy better start thinking of some more strategies soon, Pikachu's just not causing enough damage! And it can't keep this pace up forever!"

"What do you think he should do?" Misty asked, her annoyance with the boy forgotten as she watched Pikachu run forward again using Quick Attack again to dodge round another Dragon Rage before diving into the dragon-type's side. "Garchomp must be getting tired by now..."

"I'm sure it is. But it certainly doesn't look it! And I'm not sure Pikachu can simply out-last it. All I know is Ashy better put his battling mind to good use if he wants any chance at pulling through this..."

"He will," Misty assured.

He has to...

"Pikachu, Shock Wave!" The second Draco Meteor impacted with the expanding wave with more small scale explosions. "Now Volt Tackle!"

"Pika-pika-pika-pika-pika...!"

Pikachu sprang forward in flash of yellow electricity. Cynthia gritted her teeth, electric attacks weren't going to do a thing to her pokemon.

"Garchomp, meet it head on with Giga Impact!"

Ash gulped slightly at the sight of Garchomp using its most powerful attack, the one that had successfully taken down two of his pokemon. With seconds to spare, Ash yelled out Pikachu's next move.

"Now flip, and use Iron Tail!"

At full speed, Pikachu released its hold on the electricity surrounding it and dived forward in a forward somersault, bringing its tail over its head to come crashing down on Garchomp's cranium, the momentum of the impact driving the dragon type's nose into the dirt and the electric pokemon into the air.

"Now use Thunderbolt again! Do it Pikachu!" Ash yelled.

"Pika-chuuuuuuuuu!"

Pikachu seemed to explode in mid-air as it unleashed another powerful electric charge, not at Garchomp but at the arena surrounding it yet again. Cynthia watched with bared teeth as rock and dirt began to pour on her pokemon, burying it in rubble while Garchomp, thanks to the after-effects of Giga Impact, was unable to fight it off.

"Yes Pikachu! Awesome!" Ash cheered his pokemon on as it landed in front of him, panting heavily. The Kanto-native raised his eyes to the mound of rubble now piled in the centre of the battlefield, feeling his heart miss a beat. What this it? Had he achieved his dream at last?

"GAAARRRR!"

With a roar, the pile of dirt and rubble suddenly burst upwards, revealing Garchomp screeching in fury, finally recovered from its last attack. Across the arena, Cynthia relaxed. She'd thought for a moment then, no, Garchomp's fine. It's taken a lot more than that before...

Ash stared forward with an increasing feeling of pure despair as the dragon-type shook itself free of the last pieces of rock and debris.

What do I have to do to beat this thing?

Ash watched with concern as Pikachu continued to breathe heavily, growling between gasps. For a moment, Ash let the idea of losing to Cynthia creep back into his mind again. There would be no shame after all, he'd given the defending Sinnoh champion an incredible challenge. No one could say-NO!

"No!" Ash growled out loud. He had come this far… he would NOT settle for just a close loss now, no matter how impressive his battling had been up until this point. He was going to win this.

Ash racked his brain for any sort of plan left.

Electric attacks won't work... and I'm going to need something powerful to have any chance of stopping Garchomp...

"Pikachu, use the lamps, anything! Charge your power now!"

Electricity jumped from the ruined lamps surrounding the stadium. Ash flinched as even the scoreboard shattered completely, electricity pouring from it and coursing through the air in the form of huge lightning bolts, smacking into his electric pokemon with incredible force. Pikachu snarled loudly as it felt the electrical power in its body suddenly increase ten-fold.

"What's Ash thinking?" Max exclaimed, jumping up from his seat for the fifth time in the last two minutes. "He's going to try an electric attack?"

"Will it even work?" May squeaked.

"He knows what he's doing," Gary shot back between gritted teeth.

Cynthia watched Pikachu draw power with incredibility. Surely Ash wasn't about to try electric attack? It would take an incredible amount of power for her ground-type Garchomp to even feel the attack, let alone take damage from it. But regardless, it was now finally time to wrap up this challenge once and for all.

Cynthia raised her hand to the sky one last time, striking her signature pose as she signalled to the heavens.

"Garchomp! Giga Impact go!"

"Spearows, do you know who I am?" He shouted to the bird pokemon above. Ash stood before a hundred or more spearow, raising his arms wide to try and protect his injured pokemon. Pikachu lay limply behind him, he'd had his pokemon for less than a day and he'd already nearly killed him with his disastrous attempts to catch a pidgey that morning.

"I'm Ash from the town of Pallet. I'm destined to be the world's number one pokemon master! I can't be defeated by the likes of you! I'm going to capture and defeat you all!" He howled. Suddenly he felt Pikachu run up his legs and jump forward towards the spearow. Uttering a loud cry, the yellow pokemon let loose a huge bolt of electricity...

"PIKACHU! VOLT TACKLE GO!" Ash roared.

"Pika-pika-pika-pika-pika-pika..." the mouse pokemon cried as it charged forward towards the oncoming Giga Impact, electricity crackling around it in a huge cone of swirling yellow. In front of it, the dragon-type howled, long and spirited one last time as it dove forward, purple energy building up all around it. Although the time separating the two pokemon was actually seconds, it seemed time was passing slowly to Ash, as if the entire battle had suddenly gone into slow motion.

"Garrrrr!"

Garchomp roared as it passed the final distance to the electric mouse.

"Pikaahhh!"

Pikachu snarled back with seconds left to spare.

"Pikachu, change direction! Circle it now!"

What the...?

Cynthia looked on in surprise as the electric pokemon suddenly changed track, sprinting off to the right. In front, Garchomp howled in pure frustration as its victory was denied it yet again, as it few straight passed its intended impact point with no collision. The dragon type slammed its claws into the ground, grinding to a halt as the electric pokemon did a lap of Cynthia's side of the field, then curved back round towards it.

"Garchomp, guard up!" Cynthia commanded sharply as Pikachu closed in again, still shrouded in electricity, but the electric pokemon deliberately missed again, instead choosing to sprint round Garchomp in tighter and tighter circles. The dragon type growled in confusion, Cynthia just gaped forward, bewildered, before gasping as Pikachu's Volt Tackle seemed to suddenly have no end.

Ash could only watch in awe as Garchomp disappeared completely, hidden by an unbroken circle of lightning, before watching the electric cyclone slowly expand upwards towards the sky.

And I thought Charizard was my most powerful...

Still, he had to keep going. The electricity alone wouldn't be enough. He couldn't afford to waste any time, this was their only chance, everything was poured into their ultimate combination.

"Pikachu, now Iron Tail again! Hit it from all directions!"

Garchomp roared in fear and frustration the yellow tornado span around it. While being a ground type, Garchomp had no fear of electricity, but had never encountered something like this before. The dragon type howled as the power of the cyclone began to lift it right off its feet, right off the ground into the air, unable to control its own assent as electricity crackled all over its body.

"Pikah!"

Garchomp twisted around to suddenly see Pikachu emerge from the curved electric walls, holding itself up impossibly in mid-air while a torrent of sparks poured from its cheeks. Despite the extreme strain of maintaining the attack, the electric mouse flashed the dragon-type a wicked grin, before spinning and slamming a rock-hard tail into the side of its head. Garchomp snarled in pain as the impact knocked it backwards, only to see Pikachu disappear to its front and re-emerge behind it, again with a glowing tail.

"Pikah!"

"Chu!"

"Pi!"

"Pika!"

"Pika-CHU!"

Garchomp could do nothing to defend itself as the electric mouse continued appearing and disappearing in rapid succession, playing a literal game of ping pong with the dragon type, high inside the electric tornado.

"Garchomp!" Cynthia cried out in shock and panic as she lost sight of her pokemon completely, almost stepping forward onto the battlefield and forfeiting the match in her fear. The crackling tornado had extended all the way to the sky above the stadium, both trainers had lost sight of their pokemon completely, but the cries of pain from the dragon-type were echoing out for all to hear.

Around the stadium, the crowd sat in shocked awe, some following the others before and fleeing at the unbelievable display of power in front of them.

In the presidential box, the half-hidden man looked on with a fierce grin on his face, ignoring the shocked exclamations from Goodshaw and the commentator. His pokemon by his side stared forwards, finally paying attention to the events to its front.

Out on the field, Cynthia cried out again, then closed her mouth, furious with herself that she had allowed Garchomp to get caught in such an attack, and even more furious at her loss of control now. Her shouting wouldn't do her pokemon an ounce of good unless it was an actual command. She had to figure out something quickly or there was no doubt in her mind that she would lose this match.

Keep going buddy...

Ash silently willed on his pokemon with all the strength he could muster. Above him he could still hear his pokemon's battle cries and the yelps of pain coming from Garchomp, but as he couldn't see either of them, he had no choice but to accept that the battle was now out of his hands completely.

It's up to Pikachu now...

Instead, Ash stared over to Cynthia, noticing with a small feeling of dread the look on her face as she stared up into the sky, the flickering light sending shadows dancing across her face.

I don't think it's over ye...

"Garchomp! Dive at the floor using Dragon Rush, then dig your way to safety!"

Inside the cyclone, the dragon-type dove towards the ground, narrowly dodging another Iron Tail as it poured all its remaining power into getting out of the electrical storm as fast as it could. Garchomp slammed into the ground, burrowing in and disappearing from view. Seeing its quarry disappear, Pikachu wearily cut off the electricity still pouring out of it's cheeks as it began to fall, absolutely and completely spent, from its last position high above the ground.

Ash cried out in terror as the electric storm suddenly dissipated before his eyes, finally catching sight of his pokemon as it plummeted towards the ground.

"No, Pikachu!"

Across the arena, Cynthia watched the electric mouse's descent as well, before lowering her eyes back down to the ground, screaming out what she knew would be her final command as loud as she could.

"Garchomp! This is it! Summon your remaining energy, and fly back into the sky with one last Giga Impact!'

With a deafening roar, the dragon type burst from the ruined ground, sending earth in all directions as it took off directly upwards in one last effort. Ash kept his eyes on the electric pokemon above, knowing that he could do nothing to help it.

Ash opened his eyes slowly. Pikachu's face filled his vision, the electric mouse was laid right next to him. His pokemon's face was scorched and worn, its body littered with scars, but Ash couldn't help the smile of relief that slowly spread across his face.

"Pika-chu?"

"Well, we beat em."

"Chuu."

"Pikachu, I know you can do it! Use Volt Tackle one more time!"

Pikachu opened its eyes slowly as it fell, looking not at the roaring dragon rushing towards it, but at its trainer down below, at the friend it had known nearly all its life.

"Pikaaa-CHUUUUUUUUUU!"

The pokemon met in a huge explosion, electricity discharging in all directions. Howling winds rushed around the arena as both trainers found themselves blown off their feet due to the resulting gush of air that blasted in all directions. In the stands the crowd, outside the entire world, everyone was upstanding, all terrified at what they were about to see appear from the resulting cloud of smoke in front of them. Around the edge of the arena, the already weakened walls began to crumble and fall apart.

Even as all Ash's friends and family watched on, each suffering from some form of minor cardiac arrest, the battlefield slowly cleared. After a collision like that, there would be only one victor, if any at all.

Surprisingly however, there were still two.

Both pokemon were upstanding. Ash looked forward, slowly climbing back to his feet, his mind strangely vacant as he spotted his own pokemon. Pikachu sat on its hind legs near the centre of the battlefield. Garchomp stood a few metres to its front, leering down with a terrible gaze, still growling in-between now gasping for breath.

Ash looked on, wanting desperately to call another attack, but for some reason couldn't seem to find the words. Pikachu closed its eyes finally in defeat, unable to move from the attack it knew was coming to finish it off.

Garchomp fell to it's knees...

then finally fell to the ground.

"No way..." Ash whispered.

No one on the stadium moved, unable to believe what had happened in front of them. Petrified that what they were seeing was true. A deafening silence fell on the whole area, as if the whole world seemed to be catching its breath, no one wanting to be the first to call out what had happened, in-case Garchomp suddenly got back up again.

"Well done."

Cynthia bowed her head, then slowly brought up her pokeball, turning her defeated pokemon into red light.

A moment of silence longer, then crowd exploded, absolute chaos in every direction. As a sea of people thundered towards him however, Ash had eyes and ears for only one.

"Pikachu!"

Ash sprinted onto the field, Pikachu turned towards him, managing two steps before Ash wrapped him up in his arms, finding himself laughing and crying at the same time as he fell to his knees in the middle of the field.

The floor shook as crowds of people flooded into the arena, Ash began to get knocked left and right as all his friends and many compete strangers hugged from all angles, shouting words and cheers at him. Ash became strangely deaf to everything, scarcely able to believe his surroundings, this couldn't have happened to him, that wasn't his name being chanted over and over? It wasn't him and Pikachu who the crowd were now picking up and carrying up out of the arena on their way to the presidential box. He looked up through Pikachu's ears in a state of utter disbelief to see none other than Charles Goodshaw, a huge smile on his face as he waited by the front of the box, a huge trophy sat next to him, somehow making him look even smaller.

As the crowds carried him on his journey, he caught sight of all his friends and family. His Mom and Brock were sobbing uncontrollably, unashamed in the background, a literal rainstorm falling at their feet.

Max and Barry were jumping up and down in the air along with Samuel Oak in excitement, all three shouting in pure gibberish.

Dawn and May hugging, crying and laughing into each other's shoulder. Paul shaking his head with a stunned smile, Gary punching the air along with Tracey and Ritchie, "Alright Ashy boy, way to go!" Even Piplup and Sparky danced in celebration, moving quickly to avoid all the stamping feet.

The crowd lowered Ash and Pikachu down as he reached the presidential box, seemingly by accident, right in front of Misty. Ash looked into her sapphire eyes and she looked back, with the same fierce blazing look she had on the night before. The same blazing look she'd had all those years ago when he stole her bike.

The rest of the screaming crowd began to fade out for a moment as they stood there, staring at each other for what felt like an eternity, before simultaneously reaching for the other. Misty laughed, tears stinging the back of her eyes as she hugged her best friend, feeling her best friend doing the same, before breaking apart.

"Told you," Misty grinned.

"Yeah, you did."

And, with that, Ash lowered Pikachu to the ground, and kissed her.

The immediate crowd immediately broke into a chorus of "Awww"s, and a series of wolf-whistles cut through the air, punctuated only by the hysterical cries of "Oh, my baby's all grown up!" from a still-sobbing Mrs Ketchum. But Ash and Misty couldn't care less.

"Hey, come on you two, break it up! No one likes to see that!" Brock shouted from somewhere in the back, enticing another series of laughs from the surrounding crowd.

Regretfully, the two broke apart. Misty beamed up at Ash for a moment longer, there were so many things she wanted to say to him. But they'd have time now. He wasn't going anywhere, ever again.

"Well, better go get that trophy before someone changes their mind," Misty joked.

Ash grinned back, then moved up meet the now former champion who had caught up with them whilst they were talking. Cynthia seemed to be looking at him with an expression he had never seen on her face before. Then Ash realized with a start, it was awe.

Cynthia looked at him for a moment longer before breaking out into a wide smile, Ash jumped as she suddenly started shouting.

"A battle ago, you were the most powerful challenger! Now you are the most powerful of all trainers! I hereby name you as our newest Champion-Master of the Sinnoh Pokemon League!"

At her words, the crowd went into a mad frenzy as fireworks suddenly began to shoot off into the sky. Ash looked all around him, not only at his surroundings, but at his entire life, his gaze finally finishing at the pokemon at his feet.

We did it.

"Well Pikachu... We beat 'em."

"Pi-ka-chu!"

The megaphone was finally working again, but the commentator was completely drowned now out by the sound of cheers and stamping feet. And with that, Charles Goodshaw stepped forward, staggering slightly under the weight of the large trophy. As he handed it to Ash, Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder and together, they lifted it into the air...

...

The crowds had long since departed the stadium, he could hear music being carried on the night air, the sounds of parties already under-way. The stands were coated in darkness, in the clear sky, thousands of stars shone brightly. The trainer remained where he was, reliving the battle in his mind, then the last five years, his hand scratching the neck of the yellow mouse pokemon beside him.

Good. Well done Ash. Well done...son.

With a slight smile, the trainer suddenly rose, picking up a red jacket as he strode out of the presidential box, the yellow mouse pokemon following him close behind.

Yeah, I told you it was long :P. But honestly, I think for it to be a good battle, it had to be long. And I think if Ash ever challenged a champion in the anime, and the creators allowed him to win, it would probably span over half a dozen episodes anyway.

Right, a few things. Originally, this story was intended as a one-shot, but I have actually written sequels to them. However, I do advise you not to read them just yet if you haven't already done so. The sequel is full of mistakes in my opinion and the final story after that isn't even finished. I intend on doing the same to the second story (Trial of Legends) as I've done to this one very soon and once I do, then you will be able to read my best work. Then I intend on doing the final story.

I really hope you enjoyed this story. I claim no credit for it, it was inspired by the many awesome stories on this site. I enjoyed writing it and re-writing it. And I'm sorry for not updating my other stories in so long, but that's now set to change. If you want someone to thank, thank reppad98. She was the one who persuaded me to start up again. Her stories are pretty good too, if you like shipping in general, I'd recommend giving her stuff a read.

If you've already reviewed this story, there's no need to leave a second. However, If you're reading this for the first time, I'd love to hear what you think. Or if you want to leave a second review. that would be great too.

See you again soon. Byeee ;)