I don't own Ash, his Pokemon, or any other aspect of the Pokemon franchise. What, were you expecting a joke here?

"This battle just keeps getting better!" The announcer cried as Snorlax and Gengar faced each other. "Incredibly, Ash and Tobias have been on almost equal footing throughout! Now, with only three Pokemon to Ash's four remaining, Tobias is actually losing a battle! Let's see how this plays out!"

Tobias smiled, and it was the kind Ash was most used to seeing on his challengers: an adrenaline-fueled grin that he knew wouldn't come off for a while.

"Gengar, Will-o-Wisp!"

"Body Slam to block it," Ash ordered with a smile. Slowed by Curse, Snorlax didn't have many options, but Body Slam was one of them. The teddy Pokemon slammed his face into the floor, and the resulting spray of rock was enough to dissipate the oncoming flames.

"Gengar, get in close and use Will-o-Wisp as a Countershield!"

Ash groaned as Snorlax barely dodged a swipe from his patented technique. He really needed to stop being too good for his own good; the only way he could think of to remove Gengar's Countershield would be to Counter-Countershield it, but Snorlax's moves just didn't have the flexibility to pull it off.

Or at least, a single one of them didn't have the flexibility. Two, on the other hand, were more than enough. "Snorlax, use Rock Tomb on yourself, then Ice Punch!"

From out of nowhere, five gigantic slabs of rock surrounded Snorlax, leaving a surprisingly large amount of room inside before a fifth rock fell to form a roof. Tobias blinked.

"Trying to force us away from our Countershield?" He surmised, smirking as he watched Ash's face fall. "Sorry, but Gengar's flames are just as ghostly as she is! Move in!"

Wearing the tooth-filled grin shared by her species, Gengar went in for the kill, phasing right through the rock. Tobias turned to Ash...

Who suddenly flashed a thumbs up. "Hyper Beam!"

The ceiling of Snorlax's hut was blown to smithereens. Gengar, face literally frozen in a twisted horror, found herself blown sky-high, hurt not by the beam itself, but by the pelting stone chips of Rock Tomb.

Tobias tried to form words as he recalled Gengar, having been unable to even use Destiny Bond, but found that he couldn't.

Ash pointed at the smoke dissipating around Snorlax, and Tobias stopped short. "The Ice Punch," he realised in disbelief. "You replaced the air with water vapour."

He was met with silence, and glanced back to Ash, just in time to see him tilt his head. "Actually, I thought that Ice Punch would make it too cold for a fire. Why, is that wrong?"

"Close enough," Tobias deadpanned back, and Ash shrugged apologetically. Hadn't this kid ever read a book? Combustion was one of the earliest taught subjects where he came from.

Then again, fire-types ran rampant where he came from. Perhaps that lesson wasn't as necessary here. And either way, the kid was technically right. Fire did need heat too, after all.

And Gengar's fire was fueled by her own soul...

Well, it was about time to get serious.

"Ash, very well played. Now, are you ready for the real battle to begin?"

"You bet!"

Yes, I know I said two battles per chapter, but I wanted to get this out because reasons. Reasons that mostly involve ensuring that you all know I'm not completely dead, but reasons nonetheless.

Snorlax vs Gengar went surprisingly well for Ash, all things considered. Snorlax didn't even get burned, which would have ended the battle because I was working under the assumptions that Gengar knew Will-o-Wisp, Hex, Substitute and Destiny Bond.

I am sticking to the four move limit, by the way, and for Ash's team they're moves that the Pokemon already knew or could have conceivably learned within a couple of days. For Tobias' team they're all moves that the Pokemon could learn, and for Darkrai and Latios, I used the movesets given by the anime.

Ash's Team:

Sceptile: Leaf Blade, three unknown moves

Corphish: Bubblebeam, Crabhammer, Ice Beam, Harden (Ice Beam replacing Vice Grip)

Snorlax: Body Slam, Rock Tomb, Curse, Ice Punch (leaving no room for Rest but feh, details)

Tobias' Team:

Darkrai: Dark Pulse, Dark Void, Dream Eater, Ice Beam (all shown in the anime)

Latios: Luster Purge, Light Screen, Giga Impact, Thunderbolt (Latios only went against Pikachu and Sceptile in the anime, so Thunderbolt wouldn't have been useful then)

Slowking: Trick Room, Power Gem, Shadow Ball, one unknown move

Gengar: Will-o-Wisp, Hex, Substitute, Destiny Bond

So that's about all I have to talk about. Remember, consistency is important (except in chapter length). Something that the anime seems to forget.