Welcome to the fifteenth chapter of the Master's Cup. Today is a day of ifrsts for our heroes. Red will engage in his first Unova Gym battle with Gym eaders Cilan, Chili, and Cress. It will also become his first Triple Battle. A new change will occur for one of our friends. Plus May and Alder will have their first encounter with...well...I wont ruin the suprise. You'll have to read on to find out.

As finally, check out the title of this chapter. It contains many hidden messages of what is to come.

And so, the journey continues.

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Last Time on The Master's Cup...

"Sorry to keep you waiting." A voice spoke from the other side of the field.

Red gazed across the rocky field to find not one, not two, but three people. They looked like brothers, twins maybe. Each had a different color choice in their clothing and each hair style was unique. But besides that, they looked identical.

"My name is Cilan. I am a Grass type connoisseur." Calmy said the green brother.

"I'm Chilli. Fire Type extraordinaire." Declared the red brother.

"And I'm Cress. A Water Type specialist." Spoke the blue brother.

"My name's Red and I'm here to win that badge." Red proclaimed.

"I like this one's attitude." Said Chilli. "He's fired up. Hey bros, wanna try that gym battle style we've been thinking about?"

"Sure." Cress spoke.

"As long as Red agrees to it." Cilan reasoned.

"Agree to what?" Red asked.

The three brothers stared at him, then challenged in one voice,

"A Triple Battle!"

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Unbeknownst to the world, high atop a cliff, three identical figures were watching.

They stared into the valley below as two figures journeyed down a path.

"Come." Said the middle one of the three.

A second later, they vanished.

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The Master's Cup

Chapter Fifteen

Ashes and Shadows

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Red stared at the three Gym Leaders.

"A Triple Battle? I've never heard of that before..." Red spoke in confusion.

"Understandable." Said Cilan.

"Triple Battles are unique to the Unova Region after all." Chili declared.

"Allow us to explain the rules to you then Red." Began Cress.

Cilan spoke again. "In Unova there are two unique styles of Pokemon Battles that are exclusive to the region. They are called Triple Battles and Rotation Battles. A Triple Battle is where each side sends out three pokemon to battle. For our side, each of us will selct one Pokemon while you will choose three. The rules are similar to a Double Battle in which all ally pokemon must work together to defeat the opposing three. For this battle, no substitutions will be allowed. Do you understand the rules?"

"I got it." Answered Red. "But it'll be a lot better to learn upfront."

"He's got a lot of spark inside of him." Chili warned. "Don't let your guards down bros. I can already tell that this one won't be easy."

Up in the stands, a group of girls had appeared, all dressed in cheerleader outfits.

"Come on Chili!" One shouted.

"Beat him Cilan!"

"You're the best Cress!"

Red sweat dropped.

'Wow. Talk about Déjà vu.' He thought. 'This reminds me of Gary from way back then…'

The referee walked onto the stage and began his speech.

"This official pokemon triple gym battle between Red the challenger and Cilan, Chili, and Cress, the gym leaders, is about to begin. Each side will send out three pokemon and no substitutions can be made. Only when all three pokemon on one side are unable to battle, will the opponent be declared the winner. Each side please select your pokemon now."

The three brothers held up their pokeballs and spoke together.

"We'll show you our pokemon first. Go!"

Three flashes of light erupted from within the red and white balls. The lights vaporized and in their place stood three monkeys.

One green, one red, and one blue.

The three monkeys looked nearly identical in appearance, with only few alterations.

The green monkey had what looked like a tree-like formation on its head. Its mouth stood gaping to all.

"Pansage!"

The red monkey had flame shaped hair. One of its arms was raised to its ear, as if trying to hear something.

"Pansear!"

The top of the blue monkey head was shaped like a fountain. Both of its eyes had a horizontal line going through them.

"Panpour!"

"You are in the presence of the three elemental monkeys of the Striaton Gym!"

Red studied his opponents. The three simian pokemon watched him with curiosity. Red pulled out his pokedex and analyzed each one.

Pansage

The Grass Monkey Pokémon

Pansage often dwells deep in the forest. It shares the leaves on its head with weary-looking Pokémon. Eating a leaf from its head whisks weariness away as if by magic and are known to relieve stress.

Pansear

The High Temp Pokemon

Pansear lives in caves within volcanoes. When it is angered, the temperature of its head tuft reaches 600º F. It uses its tuft to roast berries.

Panpour

The Spray Pokemon

The water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. Plants that receive its water grow large. It does not thrive in dry environments and keeps itself damp by shooting water stored in its head tuft from its tail.

"So this is a Grass, Fire, and Water Type Gym." Red realized.

"Exactly." Cress explained. "Normally, we would battle according to which starter pokemon a Unova Trainer had chosen. But this is our first official triple battle with a challenger."

"So you'd better make it count Red! Which of your pokemon are you going to use to ignite the spirit in us?" Chili asked quickly.

Red pulled out the P-Switcher and scrolled through the various screens.

"I choose you!"

From the three white beams of light appeared his choices.

A second later he was forced to the ground.

"Ba!"

"Ow! Yeah. I love you too girl. Now could you please get off, you're crushing me…"

The dino nodded her leafy head and got into position with her teammates.

"Bui!" Cried the water type from Sinnoh

"Riolu!" Taunted the tiny blue jackal.

Red got up and called to the gym leaders.

"Hey…would you guys mind if I let one of my new pokemon come out and watch our battle? I think it could really help him learn what a Pokemon battle is really about."

"I don't see any problems with that." Said Cilan.

"Agreed." Said his two brothers.

Red pulled out another pokeball. Out came a tiny, blue and white otter.

"Osha?" The little guy tilted his head to the side, curious about what was going on.

"Hey Oshawott, do you want to watch a real gym battle?" Red asked.

"Osha!" The little pokemon spoke.

"Okay then." He turned to face his opponents. "I'm ready."

The referee looked at both sides and saw that all was prepared.

"Are both combatants ready?" The four nodded. "Then let the battle begin!"

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Despite the patches of blue sky, appearing through the canopy of the forest, both May and Alder could sense a storm was brewing.

Alder had been explaining to May about Unova. To her delight, he revealed that Unova was going to begin having Contests within the year.

Currently, the two were trudging through the middle of a vast forest on the outskirts of Driftveil.

"So how much father do we need to go?" May asked.

"Yeah. I'm tired. " Said a childish voice.

"You shouldn't complain Victini! You can fly!"

Victini stuck his tongue out playfully and flew ahead of them.

"Don't worry you three, the trees are starting to thin. That means we'll be out of this forest soon and we can fly all the way to our destination."

May sighed. Manaphy stirred and slowly awakened.

"Oh Manaphy! I didn't mean to wake you." May said.

"Mama, what's wrong?" Manaphy asked.

"Nothing."

"Mama…what's really wrong?"

May sighed. Kids were a lot smarter than adults gave them credit for.

"I…I just…miss Ash…"

Manaphy wrapped his stubby arms around May and hugged her tight.

"I miss Papa too."

A few minutes of silence passed until Alder spoke once more.

"May look! There's the edge of the forest!"

They quickened their pace and within another minute, wide open skies had appeared. May felt Victini's invisible form (a trick she and Alder had learned along the way) beside her.

"Alder…something doesn't feel right."

"Don't worry. That's just your nerves talking." Alder pulled out a pokeball. "And now we fly."

"…Stop."

"Who said that?" Alder asked.

"It came from over there." May said.

And sure enough, three people appeared right where May had pointed.

"Good senses May." Alder complimented her. "Now who are you three?"

"... Impressive, young girl. We, the Shadow Triad, are beings of shadows...and not easily noticed. You must possess infinite amounts of wisdom to sense us."

"What do you want?" May questioned.

"…Our mission… was to speak only with the girl, but so be it."

"What do you mean?" Alder asked. "What do you want with her?"

"At Liberty Island…you stopped our plans…"

"Your plans….you're part of Team Plasma!"

"Ghetsis…we have always sworn our loyalty to Ghetsis. He was filled with rage when he was informed of your actions."

"I saved Victini from you!"

"Our Lord N's ambitions…we will fulfill them. He will become the Hero."

"The Hero…" Alder mumbled.

"Ghesis has a message for you. We don't feel anything, when we say this... But you may feel something"

"Surrender or your world shall lose its ash."

"ash…?"

"Ghetsis... What did he mean? What does he plan to do? Why did he choose you? There's no way to know now. Is he testing you? Or...using you?"

May was silent.

"We have always been and will always be the loyal servants of our Lord."

"And we, the Shadow Triad, shall not let you escape ."

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"Pansear, Flamethrower on Bayleef!" Chili shouted.

"All three of you, to the left!" Red yelled.

They nodded and the flames missed their mark entirely.

"Now Bayleef, use leaf storm! Riolu follow it and use force palm!"

True to its name, a literal storm of leaves crashed into the three helpless monkeys. Riolu slammed its glowing fists into all three of the blind apes.

"Panpour! Mud Sport!"

Though blind, the water simian still managed to spill a lake of mud onto Red's side of the battle field.

Bayleef and Buizel had both leapt to the side of the arena, avoiding the sludge. Riolu hadn't been as lucky and struggled to maintain its balance.

"Pansage Bite!"

"Buizel, use SonicBoom on Pansage!"

The grass monkey never even saw it coming. The invisible wave of energy slammed into Pansage sending it flying backwards until it slammed into the ground.

"Pansage! Are you okay?"

Just as quickly and it had fallen, the monkey jumped right back up.

"Sage!"

Riolu tried to move out of the mud but it was no use. Every single time it moved, the result was the same. A face-plant into the muck below.

The three leaders exploited this weakness.

"Pansear Flamethrower on Riolu!"

"Pansage, use Dig!"

Both did as commanded.

Pansage left a gaping hole in the ground and Riolu was left wide open. There was no way it would be able to avoid the hit.

"Buizel, use WaterPulse to intercept the Flamethrower!"

The water summoned its energy and began glowing. The ground began to shake as Pansage prepared to surface.

"Riolu!"

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A flash of Green filled the battlefield.

"Bayleef…wha?"

The dinosaur slammed right into Riolu and sent the tiny pokemon flying out of the way of both attacks.

A millisecond later, the flames covered Bayleef and the earth opened up. Shards of the earth crashed into the female dinosaur as Pansage charged, sending her skyward.

"Bayleef!" Red cried.

"Osh!" Wailed Oshawott.

Bayleef soared high and then fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Red was beside her within a second.

"Bayleef! Are you okay? Please be okay!"

The combo attack had done a number on her. She had a nasty burn on her side and her underside was slightly swollen.

"Bay…" she mumbled.

And then, Red noticed something. A look of determination filled her eyes. He could see the fire burning within.

She jumped up and ran back into the battlefield.

"Bayleef wait…take it easy. I don't want you to get hurt!"

"BA!" She bellowed, and then roared at her opponents. The three chimps gulped.

Bayleef's eyes glowed pure emerald light. The beam spread all over her body.

Her neck grew longer and learner. Two antennae sprouted from its head. A giant flower had bloomed around her neck.

"No way…" Red gasped.

"Bui…"

"It can't be!"

"Pan…"

"Wott…"

"MEGANIUM!"

A tremor erupted in the earth from where the giant pokemon forced her feet.

"You evolved!" Red shouted.

The Herb Pokemon turned her long neck and stared at him with a look of adoration.

He noticed that her eyes had not changed to the color yellow like a normal MEganium. They had remained the same scarlet they always had been.

'Well, she's stubborn…I guess that means that some of her traits just won't disappear.'

It was then that a thought of dread entered his mind. 'Oh no…this means…this means that her body slams are going to be more powerful than ever…'

Meganium turned her attention back to the battle, with her opponents staring up at her in utter shock.

She reared onto her hind legs and then brought her front ones down the ground at full force.

A fissure cracked from where she had unleashed her power. Colossal roots exploded from within their home of the earth.

The elemental monkeys stood motionless, rooted to their places.

The power of Meganium reigned down upon the three, making them collapse instantly.

The roots retracted back into the ground, revealing the chimps, swirls in their eyes.

"P-Pansage, Pansear, a-and Panpour are all un…unable to b-b-battle," Spluttered the referee. "W-which makes the challenger, Red, the winner!"

"Meganium! You did it!" Red yelled. The earth trembled once more. "Oh no…"

Meganium pounced onto him, nearly making him black out. A few seconds later, he felt her head rub against his. Oshawott, Riolu and Buizel had somehow managed to squeeze in and celebrate as well.

"All you guys did amazing."

"Indeed. The bond between you and your pokemon is incredibly deep and complex." The voice of Cress said.

Meganium allowed him to stand so he could speak with the others.

"I've never had such an intense battle!" Declared Chili.

"Which is why you've proven your right to possess this, the Trio Badge." Cilan announced. He handed Red a small emblem which contained a ruby, sapphire, and emerald together in a row.

Red accepted it with honor.

"Thank you. That was a great battle."

"And we're going to train a million times harder so we'll beat you next time!" Chili shouted.

Red smiled. "Now that will be a battle I'll be looking forward to."

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Thanks To...

sortofbored.

Demon Blood Feeder

Dark Jumper

Supernal Godzilla

Arkarian23

The Ambience

Typhlosion15

E-123 Omega mk2

Vital Info

Vaknuva

lil' ninj

severus6

lightning blade49

loveasconstruct

Aprotny

NEBSparky86

ZXCVBNMEM

Swagnilla-Ice0-1985

Master of Ice and Wuji Grey

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Bragging Rights Go To...

Master of Ice and Wuji Grey- Red wins the badge

Swagnilla-Ice0-1985-Red wins the battle

NEBSparky86-Red wins the triple battle. Unova Contests.

severus6- Red wins

Demonbloodfeeder- Buizel

Vital Info- Red working his way to becoming champion.

E-123 Omega mk2- Triple Battle

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Challenges

1. What will Red do now?

2. What will May and Alder do?

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See you all next chapter.

SuperXbrother