kThe day had finally come, it was time for Ash's battle against Agatha. Friday morning was no different than any other, as Ash woke up and got breakfast with Dawn and Brock. After a traditional nine plate breakfast full of pancakes and bacon, the three walked over to the main stadium. Once they arrived to the security gate, Ash was escorted to his locker room, while Dawn and Brock were led to their front row seats. Being best friends of a Pokemon prodigy had its perks.

Ash sat in his locker room, just stroking his fingers through Pikachu's fur. He didn't know why he was acting so weird, he thought Agatha would be the easiest win. He had friends like Persian and Metang that could combat her ghost types. His pokemon were strong. The more he thought about who he brought about for this battle, the calmer he got. But there was still this feeling of pure confusion and sadness twirling around in his stomach. Maybe it wasn't the battle that was making him feel this way. Pikachu could sense his trainer's unease, and looked up in concern. Ash just sighed and forced a smile on his face, while scratching behind Pikachu's ear.

"I'm fine buddy, just thinking about things. Ever since Dawn confessed her feelings, I keep getting this weird feeling in my stomach. I just can't figure out how to feel about what she told me. I guess I will just need to talk to her again soon about everything, maybe that'll help me feel better."

Before Ash could keep thinking out loud, a burly man opened the door, calling Ash to the battlefield. Ash stood up, Pikachu on his shoulder and pokeballs on his belt, and walked to meet his opponent. He made his way out of the locker room, and right towards the staircase leading to the battlefield. As he got closer and closer to the field, the light got brighter and the people got louder. He finally broke out of the dark staircase and was standing across the field from Elite Four member Agatha, who wore a straight-faced expression.

The referee made his way to the podium, and it took a very long minute for the crowd to settle down.

"This is a 3-on-3 battle between Elite Four Agatha and the challenger Ash Ketchum. Substitutions are allowed for the challenger, but not for the Elite Four. This battle will be over once all members of one team are unable to battle. Agatha will choose first, let the battle begin!"

Agatha grabbed a pokeball from her waist, but before she released it she had words for Ash.

"I must say Ash, I am impressed. I thought Bruce would have won easily against you, but I was wrong. You certainly are gifted, but just know I have no intent of letting you win. Allow me to start with one of my oldest friends, Gengar let's go!"

The sinister ghost-type materialized from the pokeball, and Ash shuddered just a bit. Ghost-types never were his thing, and Gengar was one of the creepiest. It stood like a human, and a large-toothed grin was plastered on its face. No matter how many times you hit it, the grin rarely went away. However, Ash may not have liked it, but Gengar had to be respected because of its ability to hide in the shadows and the power it possessed. He took a second to decide his choice.

"Persian, I choose you!"

The Classy Cat pokemon formed, and it snarled at its opponent. Persian was a vicious fighter, due to its competitiveness. Ever since Ash caught it as a Meowth, it hated losing. Ash could never figure out why, but Persian had turned into one of his most reliable fighters. With a type advantage and the ability to use ghost-type moves, this was looking in Persian's favor.

"Gengar, let's start things off with a Poison Jab!"

"Persian, dodge that, and follow up with Shadow Claw!"

Gengar floated towards Persian at a high speed, with a dark purple hand, but Persian nimbly ducked, and countered with a ghostly claw into Gengar's stomach. As soon as Persian's attacked landed, Agatha just stood there with a smile on her face, which befuddled Ash.

"Persian, if she's just going to stand there, use rapid-fire Shadow Ball!"

Persian started forming and shooting off Shadow Balls at an abnormal rate, each of them striking Gengar. However, just when Gengar looked as it was about to faint from the nonstop super-effective hits, Agatha finally called out her command.

"Destiny Bond!"

Just as Persian fired off the final Shadow Ball and hit Gengar, the ghost passed out, but not without a departing gift. A pair of swirls made their way across the field towards Persian, and Ash could only grit his teeth, because Persian's fate was inevitable. The feline snarled as the swirls got closer, but once they hit, Persian was down for the count.

"Both Persian and Gengar are unable to battle, trainers please choose your next pokemon!"

Ash wasn't very happy with what Agatha had just pulled. But he couldn't think about that, he had to move on. He sent out his newly acquired Metang, while Agatha sent out her Arbok. Arbok wasn't a ghost type, but Ash was hoping she would send it out. Especially against Metang due to it's duel steel and psychic typing. It was the perfect opponent.

"Metang let's start things off with a Psychic attack!"

That was all it took, and Ash was surprised. He knew Metang was strong due to its recent evolution, but he didn't know how strong. But Metang shocked everyone in the stadium, as it levitated the snake-like pokemon and tossed it around like a rag doll. Arbok was thrown up, down, and every which way. Being held in a psychic lock and taking damage from the beatings from being tossed around was enough to knock Arbok down. Agatha didn't look surprised as she recalled Arbok, she figured Metang would win with relative ease due to its double advantage.

"Arbok is unable to battle, Metang is the winner! Agatha please select your final pokemon!"

Agatha was now the frustrated one, she had lost her most reliable battler in Gengar, and Arbok did absolutely no damage to Metang. Her last choice was going to be crucial.

"Golbat I need your help!"

Ash recalled Metang, and sent out his trustworthy starter Pikachu. Agatha gritted her teeth, as she understood how difficult winning would be.

"Golbat let's start things off with an Air Cutter" Her gameplan was to attack from a distance to make it harder for Pikachu's speed and electric attacks to affect her.

"Pikachu dodge that and use Double Team!"

As Pikachu clones popped up around the battlefield, Golbat's attack collided with one of the fake ones, causing dust to rise. Ash knew this was his chance to end it.

"Pikachu let's use Thunderbolt!

The clones all vanished, and the lone, real Pikachu jumped from the dust, releasing a convincing blast of electricity from the sacs on his cheeks. The pure power behind the attack was blinding, and once it was over. The crowd was in awe. Many had heard rumors about the boy-wonder, but after this performance it was clear that he deserved to be one of the best trainers around.

"Golbat is unable to battle, Pikachu wins! Agatha is out of usable pokemon, which means Ash Ketchum is the victor!"

Once more, the crowd went crazy as the two opponents made their way towards the center of the battlefield to shake hands. Agatha was smiling.

"I must say Ash, that your pokemon are the strongest I've faced from a challenger in a while. I wish you the best of luck in the future."

"Thank you Agatha, it was an honor to battle you."

The two trainers parted ways, but both would soon meet up at the required post-battle press conference. Ash was excited because of his win, but he was not ready to attend this press conference. He had other things to take care of.

*Hello Guys I am so sorry, I feel like you hate me. I apologize for the incredible late update, and I promise that will never happen again. But there it is! Another one bites the dust, and Ash moves on in his challenge. If you guys have any questions, comments, or suggestions please leave a review or shoot me a PM! Also I have a new poll up so check that out please"