Crossroads - Between a Mermaid and a Princess Chapter 1: All aboard!, a pokémon fanfic

Crossroads – Between a Mermaid and a Princess.

By Fox McCloude.

Note: It's recommended to have read "Friends and Rivals Alike" previously.

Part 1: All aboard!

Vermillion City port…

Ash Ketchum was starting to get impatient. As he stared at the device on his hand, a handheld, state-of-the-art, blue and silver video-transceiver, a gift for his last birthday, he had to resist the temptation to push the Call button. Excellent as a mobile phone, music player and endless other applications, yet at the time, all it was good for was seeing the time on the digital clock. After all, he had an appointment in that place, and for once in his life, he decided to come half an hour ahead… only for him to wait for around ninety minutes after the scheduled time.

"The ship's gonna set sail in half an hour, where are those two?" He wondered aloud, looking around.

"Pikachu." The electric rodent in his shoulder shrugged, having a similar boredom expression in his face.

Tired of waiting while standing, Ash went to seat on a nearby bench, stretched out his arms and reclined himself on his back, still waiting for his two female friends to come to their appointment. Since in the past two years he had earned some prestige and in a way a bit of a celebrity status in the Kanto region, so when he walked towards the port of Vermillion City he chose to wait in a relatively empty area. At the time, he was wearing a sleeveless, hooded vest, and hid his brown eyes behind a pair of elongated, triangle-shaped sunshades (pretty similar to Squirtle's) and his messy, black hair partially hidden below one of his many, trademark baseball caps. The vest was blue, with white horizontal lines, matching his fingerless gloves and boots. He wore black pants, and on each wrist he wore a bracelet with a very valuable object. The left one was white, and it had a rhomboidal-shaped yellow crystal, whereas the right one was black, with a small marble-like stone, shinning like a rainbow and with what seemed like a small black leaf inside, a Mega Key Stone.

"Unbelievable. Considering what I went through to come here, I hope those two don't think of standing me up." He muttered in annoyance, removing his shades for a bit, since there weren't too many people around. However, right then, as if responding to his thought, a pair of feminine hands covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" Two female voices asked in unison.

Of course, he knew exactly who they were, and also that each of the hands belonged to a different girl. He just let out a small chuckle, and stood up turning around to face them. His two "best female friends", if he could call them that way, and the traveling companions with whom he definitely grew the closest during his journeys. Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean Gym Leader, and Serena Yvonne Gabena, Pokémon Performer-Coordinator from the Kalos region. The years definitely had had their effect on Ash, since the boy took his time to admire the two beauties before him.

Misty was the taller of the two (almost as tall as him) and had a slender, yet athletic and curvaceous figure. She was wearing a yellow blouse, with green straps baring her midriff, and two X-like marks on the chest, with matching shorts and knee-high boots. Her red-orange hair was just a little bit longer than he remembered, and she had done it on a very particular style: she had curved the lower bangs forward underneath her ears. Her aqua green eyes shimmered with a little flirtatious spark at the time.

Serena, on the other hand, was shorter in height and had a build slimmer than Misty's, though she was no less pretty. Out of the two, she had lighter skin and her facial traits were more delicate, giving her a more innocent demeanor. Her honey-colored hair was tied on a high ponytail, with two large bangs framing her face and blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a black blouse with a white collar and a red miniskirt, her legs covered in black, thigh-high stockings and brown leather boots. A blue ribbon was tied on her collar.

"Well, about time you girls showed up." He finally said.

"Sorry if we made you wait, Ash." Serena apologized.

"I'll say, I'm quite surprised you came here early." Misty added. "We were trying to look nice for you, you know."

Next up, Pikachu jumped off of his trainer's shoulder, right into the girls' arms. They too seemed quite happy to see him, as they affectionately patted the electric rodent's head.

"Hi, Pikachu, good to see you too." Serena said.

"You look really good, seems like Ash hasn't lost his touch, has he?" Misty added.

"Pikachu." The mouse happily nodded.

"Well, if we're done with the greetings, can we get on the ship?" Ash asked, retrieving his friend to return him to his usual spot. "That's why we came here, isn't it?"

"Sure." Misty pulled out of her bag the three tickets for the ship, giving Ash and Serena one each. Talking to the former, she added. "Don't go losing it, you'll need it when we return."

"You really trust me, don't you?" Ash asked with a half-sarcastic smile. "So are you finally telling him were we're going for this little vacation?"

"You'll love it." Misty said. "The Alola region is a tropical paradise, I heard the beaches are the best in the world in this time of the year. And just imagine the Water-type Pokémon native to that region."

"I heard from Professor Sycamore many Pokémon in Alola have developed differently than the way we know." Serena added. "I'd love to take one if I can."

Ash couldn't help but smile a little. He had already been before in the Alola region. Even though at first he had just gone for a vacation with his mother, he decided to stay for a much, much longer season. For some, the idea of staying at school during holidays would sound like a nightmare. But for him, with everything he learned, it was well worth it. Plus, he made some new friends, and it was in that place he got his Z-Ring, although perhaps he was so busy learning, he didn't take the time to relax as much as he should have. This was his chance to do so properly.

"Well then, shall we go, Mr. Ash?" Misty said, as she clung to Ash's right arm. Upon noticing Serena's shocked expression, she added immediately. "What? He's got an arm for each of us, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yes, of course." Serena quickly followed suit and grabbed his left arm. "Shall we go?"

Ash didn't know if he should feel lucky or uncomfortable, so he finally just sighed and started walking towards the ship they were supposed to board. What were this two girls up to? Unsure as to why, a mental image of Brock suddenly popped in his head, maybe he would have envy of his current situation. In fact, despite the fact that there weren't many people around the port at the time, the black-haired young man did notice they were attracting some gazes from other boys walking close by, who seemed quite envious. It was no surprise, considering he had two lovely girls clinging to his arms, and both of them making no effort to hide how happy they felt of being close to him.

The trio walked towards their cabin almost immediately. Took them long enough to arrive, since this S.S. Anne was a lot bigger than the one Ash and Misty had travelled in before, during their first journey through Kanto (and they hoped it was safer too). The trip on the cruiser would last an entire week, until they reached their destination: Melemele Island. While Misty and Ash unloaded their baggage and had an argument over the beds (fortunately, the cabin had capacity for five, and they were only three), Serena took the pamphlet with the full details of the prize Misty had won. Aside from the three-week stay in Melemele Island's best hotel, there were several different events during the cruiser, some of them even with special guests, so there was no way any of them would get bored during the journey. These included, but weren't limited to: exhibition Pokémon battles, with the chance of winning prizes, a rock concert featuring the Unova Gym leader, Roxie and her band "Koffing and the Toxics", a fashion show featuring Elesa and Valerie, and a cosplay contest. This last one seemed to attract Serena's attention, she felt like she wanted to try it.

"Well then, what do you guys want to do first?" Misty asked. "I don't know about you, but I'd love to go for a swim."

"Sounds good, but in my hurry coming here, I was unable to get my Pokémon to have their routine checkup." Ash said. "Is there a Pokémon Center on board?"

"There's one on the third deck." Serena replied, looking at the ship's map and pointing it for Ash to see. With the size of that ship, it would be easy getting lost.

"Alright, I'll go over there first and then I'll meet up with you two."

"Hey, Ash. Since you're about to go over there, could you take mine too?" Misty asked, and without even waiting for the response, she threw her bag with her Pokéballs at him.

"Hey!"

"Even better, you can take Serena's Pokémon too, don't you agree?" The redhead continued.

"Misty, you can't be serious." Ash frowned slightly.

"C'mon, is it too hard to make it for us?" Misty asked, turning towards Serena to discreetly wink at her, without Ash noticing. The Performer-Coordinator quickly got the message. She took her own bag, but instead of throwing it, she just politely handed it to him.

"Please, Ash, could you take them?" Serena asked.

Ash wanted to open his mouth to protest and telling the two girls to take their Pokémon by themselves, but his heart melted before Serena's sweet face, there was no way he could say no. Plus, Misty asking "favors" of him was a notable improvement of the treatment she had always given him since they met, and he'd gotten used to it. He would only protest out of inertia now.

"OK, I'll do it. Just try not to have too much without me before I join you, alright?" He said before leaving the cabin.

Misty let out a small giggle. That comment from Ash made it evident that he was perceptive enough to realize their intentions. That was positive, after all, she always felt irritated at how oblivious he could be when they first met. She definitely liked this mature, more attractive Ash, but he was still him, that was what mattered.

"Let's see which one he'll like the most."

Misty placed across the bed some of the bathing suits she had brought along for the trip. Serena looked sideways at the redhead while she deliberated on which one she would wear. She had, amongst others, a light yellow bikini with a skirt and a red star on the top, another green and white striped one, and a red one-piece with white flowers.

"Did you really had to bring so many of those?" Serena asked.

"Like you're one to talk, with so many dresses you take along for your showcases." Misty replied. "I think we can both agree, we should give Ash something different to look at us for every once in a while, am I wrong?

"Good point." Serena said, giggling a little. She had only brought two swimsuits, but maybe following Misty's advice, she'd buy more while they were on the ship, or later when they reached Melemele Island. It seemed that their little "competition" had just begun.

On the deck, a couple hours later…

If was lucky for him that the ship had several Pokémon Centers on board, since on the way to the Vermillion port, Ash was challenged to several battles, and he wouldn't be able to say no. Nevertheless, out of fear of being late to his meeting with Misty and Serena, he couldn't go back to the center of town to get them for a proper checkup. None of them had suffered any severe injury, of course, but he knew by experience that he could never be too careful. Then again, the team he was carrying at the time consisted in full of several of his strongest Pokémon: aside from Pikachu, there was Charizard, Sceptile, Pidgeot, Tyranitar and Greninja. The last three had been relatively recent additions: the previous year, Ash took a small trip to Johto. On the way out of Pallet Town he had another hostile encounter with that angry Fearow and its Spearow flock (he was surprised that it still held that grudge over a simple stone for so many years), but Pidgeot immediately came to his rescue. Not wanting to deal with this annoying bird ever again, Ash this time caught it and sent it to Professor Oak's ranch so the rest of his Pokémon could teach it some respect, and it worked. This also removed the scourge from the Pidgey and Pidgeotto in the zone, since without their leader to command them, the Spearow no longer felt as brave and they chose to fly away, giving the other birds their territory back, and Pidgeot the chance to come back to his trainer full time. An once he arrived in Johto, when he passed through Route 46, he didn't expect to run into an old friend: the Larvitar he had cared for many years before had grown into a large and powerful Tyranitar, but he still recognized him after so long, and when Ash was about to say goodbye, he wouldn't let him go until he had let him come along. Just like before, Ash couldn't say no. Lastly, with Greninja, it was thanks to Serena, who somehow met him in Kalos and brought him with her for Ash as an early birthday gift. The trainer wasn't just happy to see him, he was also surprised to see him in his Ash-Greninja form, as his transformation had apparently become "permanent", somehow finding the way to tap into his inner power even without Ash's presence, albeit they could still synchronize for an additional power boost if needed. This was good, considering that the rest of the members of his team had received Mega Stones, and Ash had decided it was time to up his game to a new level.

Aside from his own Pokémon, Ash had the chance to take a peek into the teams of his two friends. Serena had brought along the five partners he saw on her on their last meeting: Delphox, Pancham, Sylveon, Roselia and Froslass. On the other hand, Misty's included Starmie, Politoed, Corsola, Azumarill and, not lacking on big guns, Gyarados. Both of the girls had intentionally kept an empty slot in case they found (and they hoped to) a Pokémon of their liking in Alola to take it as a souvenir.

At the moment, the trio of friends was at one of the exterior swimming pools on the ship. The general checkup for all their Pokémon would take at least a couple hours more, which meant they could relax until then. Serena was standing by ship's railing, enjoying the sea breeze stroking on her face. The performer-coordinator wore a light pink, one-piece, with darker pink frills around her waist and a ribbon on her chest. Ash, who was only wearing a pair of knee-length shorts, dark blue with white Pokéball logos on each side, decided to rest on one of the chairs, listening to his favorite music on his player. Finally, Misty was standing on the pool's springboard, ready to take a dive from there. She wore a bikini with a yellow top and a blue bottom.

"Look out down below!" The redhead called out before taking the plunge, making a clean and stylish entrance into the water. A few seconds later she swam back up to the surface. "Hey, Ash, won't you come in? Come on, we have to enjoy ourselves."

"Misty's right, Ash." Serena added, but Ash didn't even budge. Maybe the earphones had something to do with it, so she carefully removed one of them. "Hello? Earth calling Ash?"

"Maybe later, it was a long walk back and forth from there." The young man replied.

"Aw, come on, don't be such a party pooper." Misty said as she came out of the water for a bit. "We're on vacation, after all."

"What's the hurry? The trip's just begun." Ash replied.

Misty placed her hands akimbo and burrowed her mouth, while Serena giggled a tad nervously. They both found very strange that Ash wanted to rest instead of enjoying some time with them. While in fact, partly it was true that he was a bit tired for the battles he fought during the morning before they boarded the ship, another reason he wanted to remain reclining on that chair had more to do with his two female friends. Their daily clothes surely made them look extremely pretty, but seeing them both in their bathing suits, admiring how much they had grown over the years… he couldn't help but wanting to eat a bit of the eye candy they were giving him. Especially Misty, having just come out of the water and her hair all wet, he couldn't deny that she looked… sexy, maybe? Of course, him being who he was, he had learned to keep it hidden under a "clueless-kid-who-doesn't-notice-his-surroundings" façade (which actually started being real, but over time, it became just a mask to keep his reputation).

"And for the very same reason, we can't waste any second." Misty insisted, deliberately leaning forward so Ash could have an ample view of her cleavage.

In response, Ash turned his head to the side, although his sunshades hid that he actually moved the eye to the corner so as to take a little peek. Not wanting to give up so easily, Misty gave her partner a gaze, as if asking something, to which Serena replied with a nod, as if saying "let's do it". They both stepped away for a bit, with Misty specifically walking towards her bag, and pulling out something without letting Ash see what it was, and then went back to the water, never facing towards him.

"Alright, if you're not coming into the water… I'll take the water to you!" She exclaimed, turning around and revealing…

SPLAAAAAAAASSSHH!

"HEY!" The black-haired young man yelled upon receiving two water streams right to his face. Misty had pulled out of her bag a two water soakers, and discreetly filled them up inside the pool.

"Serena, back me up!" Misty called out, as she threw one of the soakers at her, while still firing at Ash with the other. The Kalosian girl quickly joined in the fun and began spraying the water on him too.

"Hey, no fair, it's you two against me!" Ash yelled, trying to cover himself from the water streams as best as he could, while the two girls just laughed.

Unfortunately for them, they quickly ran out of ammo, since the guns were of high pressure but low capacity, although it was enough to leave the boy all soaked to the bone, and both girls, especially Misty, seemed quite satisfied with themselves. Of course, these actions would have a reaction from him.

"So you wanna play?" He said as he stood up, dripping a little. "Alright, let's play."

He immediately ran off, first going after Misty for having started the game, while she dared him to try and catch her. At one point he almost succeeded, but Misty caught wind of his attempt, and stepped aside, causing him to trip over and fall nose first into the pool. She immediately high-fived with Serena, and they both waited for him to come back out.

"What am I gonna do with you girls?" He asked.

"C'mon, Ash, admit that was fun." Misty said.

"Yeah, for the two of you."

No matter if he tried to deny it on the outside, they could see that he too was enjoying himself, he felt like a kid again. As he came out of the water, the young man's stomach growled loudly, and both girls just had the more reason to laugh at him. That was their Ash, after.

"How about we go for something to eat?" Serena suggested. "We still have time before the checkup of our Pokémon is done, don't we?"

"Sounds good." Misty agreed. "What should we have? Hamburgers, a pizza?"

"Anything's just fine for me, I'm starving." Ash replied.

Misty immediately clung to the boy's arm. Serena took a little longer to get the clue, but she quickly followed suit, while the boy just rolled his eyes. Were they planning on making a habit of this? Well, it wasn't like he had any choice but to get used to it, so without further ado and with both of his female friends holding firm to his arms, he began walking, to the restaurant area. Since all of the expenses of the prize Misty had won included the food and general services aboard the ship and eventually at the hotel, if there was an all-you-can-eat buffet, he'd make sure to get as much as he could from it.

Restaurant area, a while later…

After changing clothes, the trio of friends went towards the zone with the food fair on the ship for lunch, each one going to a different stand. Ash ordered a triple cheese burger, with max-sized fries and soda. Misty chose a king-size pepperoni pizza with iced-tea, same size as Ash's soda. Serena came back with a regular-sized pasta and Caesar salad, and icy water for drink. As a shared dessert, they ordered a Banana Split from the ice-cream parlor with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

"Let's dig in!" Ash and Misty said in unison.

And they both started eating, or rather, devouring their lunches, while Serena just stared at them with a sweat drop behind her head, preferring to eat her pasta and salad calmly and slowly. She had seen Ash's voracious appetite firsthand, but she was also surprised at seeing that Misty was capable of eating at the same speed and in the same amounts as him. In fact, she had the feeling as if they were trying to out-eat the other, and finish their meals first. It was… weird, yet funny at the same time. At one point when Ash wasn't looking, the redhead couldn't resist the temptation to snatch a few fries from Ash's tray, who managed to spot when these vanished into her mouth.

"Hey, those were mine!" The boy protested.

"You still have plenty." Misty replied. "You snooze, you lose."

"Oh yeah?" In retaliation, Ash snagged a (very large) slice of Misty's pizza, managing to get into his mouth over half of it in a single chomp. And it had several big pepperoni slices on top.

"Hey!" Misty seemingly got mad at this, Ash, still chowing down replied with something that sounded like "We're even now." Of course, that didn't subside her rage. "No fair, that pepperoni is worth more than your fries, give it back!"

"Come get it!" Ash replied, keeping the slice away from Misty, while she struggled to retrieve it.

"Hey, you guys, please calm down!" Serena cried out, leaving her food for a time, worried that they might start fighting each other or something.

The final result was Misty giving three large bites on Ash's burger and eating over half of his fries, and in return, he ate at least one third of the redhead's pizza, all the while with Serena trying to get them to stop, until they sat back, broke into laughter and said something about the "old times", and how it had been so long since they last did that, and they missed it. Serena stared at them in confusion, until they explained that "this was their way to show affection when they started traveling together", and it was fun to remember. The Performer-Coordinator felt a little more at ease, even though inside she was intrigued; maybe a part of her wanted to know more about the time Misty and Ash traveled together, before he later went to Kalos.

Having finished the main courses, they quickly grabbed their spoons for the ice-cream. Just like before, Ash and Misty seemed to be competing on which of the two managed to eat the bigger part; in fact, Serena was barely able to taste the chocolate part, as this was the favorite of the other two and each seemed determined to finish it first, so she had to make do with vanilla and strawberry. Not that she minded, of course, since she was not as much of a glutton as her two friends.

Not too far from them, at the juice bar, there was a certain young woman from Sinnoh who, unbeknownst to Misty and Serena, had also made contact with the trainer from Pallet Town a few years ago. Once upon a time, her teal, short hair and her boyish choice of clothing would make her easy to mistake for a boy. Now, even though she still liked wearing long slacks, she had changed her sweater for a sleeveless blouse, making it more evident that she was female. She was enjoying an iced tea by the bar, looking at her surrounding through her brown shades as she pondered on her own future plans. After that small vacation, she was planning to challenge the Kanto League.

After a few minutes, she apparently heard what sounded like a fight over food, and upon turning around, about two tables away from her, she saw a boy her age with jet-black messy hair, arguing with a red-haired girl over the remains of a large ice cream they had eaten along with their other female friend. At first she didn't pay much attention to them, until suddenly she lifted her sunshades, just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

"Ash? Could it be, is that him?"

She had to make sure, so she quickly finished her drink in a single sip (having to put up with the cold brain) and leaving a small tip on the bar, she walked towards that table. Misty and Serena had no idea on how much potential competition they would have had, if they had accompanied Ash during all of his Pokémon journeys.

"No fair, you ate more chocolate than me." Misty protested.

"Oh yeah? Who ended up eating more vanilla? Not me, I'm sure of it." Ash replied.

"Please, calm down, both of you." Serena begged, trying to act as a mediator of sorts. "How about we just order another one?"

"Excuse me, am I interrupting?" Suddenly a female voice spoke up (sounding almost as tomboyish as Misty). "I knew it, I knew it was you, Ash."

"Eh? I'm sorry… do I know you?" The brunet asked. In response, the girl removed her shades.

"Don't you remember? It's me, Angie. Angie from Solaceon Town."

"Angie?"

Ash brain cogs took a while to click in (so many people he had met during his journeys, it would be nigh impossible to remember everyone). However, after a few seconds he finally recognized her: it was that girl from Solaceon, the daughter of a married couple who ran a Pokémon Daycare house. And looking her now, she seemed quite… different. Different in the sense that now there was no way he'd mistake her for a boy.

"Hey there, I almost… didn't recognize you. Owwwww!" That was all Ash managed to say, he suddenly felt someone was pinching him in the leg under the table, and he had to grit his teeth so as not to scream.

"Ash… won't you introduce us to your… friend?" Misty was smiling, but it was a 'if you scream I'll kill you' type of smile. Who else could have been?

"Yeah, sure." Ash said, still feeling the pain. Then he whispered to Misty. "You didn't have to pinch me that hard."

"Nice to meet you." Serena said, either she didn't notice what happened between Ash and Misty, or actively chose to ignore it for peace's sake. She then stood up and extended her hand towards "My name is Serena."

"And I'm Misty." The redhead added. "So, tell us… Angie, where do you know Ash from?"

"We met during a Summer Academy in Sinnoh." The teal-haired girl answered. "I still remember, Professor Rowan got mad at us for causing trouble."

"Yeah, and it usually was you who started." Ash replied, with a tinge of annoyance. "Or have you forgotten that you called me a big dummy?"

"Aw, come on, Ash, you still hold it against me for that?" Angie said, still smiling. "Anyway, what a surprise to meet you here."

"I just came because these two invited me." The boy confessed. "I won't deny, though, I needed a vacation."

"I see. So what have you done in the past years?" Angie said. "After we parted ways, I saw you competing on a few regional leagues, but after that I only heard… interesting rumors."

"Oh, you know, a bit of this, a bit of that, nothing out of the norm… Ow!" He felt Misty was pinching him on the leg again. "What was that for?!"

"Ash, you're underselling yourself." The redhead said. "Why don't you tell her the truth? Tell her you're a Kanto Battle Frontier Brain."

"Battle Frontier?" Angie inquired. "There's one of those Sinnoh that started very recently, but they say it's too hard, to the level of Elite Four members or even Champions."

"No kidding, you should see the one from Kanto." Misty confirmed. "They're very specialized battles, unusual challenges only for the best of trainers. Although it turns out, the Pallet Town Battle Coliseum also doubles an official Gym for Indigo League badges."

"Is that so?" Angie asked, smiling in excitement. "That's great, that means I'll have to challenge you one day."

"Challenge me?" Ash was a little surprised at this. "You're planning to take on the Indigo League?"

"After my vacations, yeah." Angie replied. "You have no idea how hard it was to convince my parents, but they finally relented, and I wanted to see something else than the Sinnoh region. Well, nice to see you, I guess we'll be meeting again soon."

"Hold on." Misty suddenly spoke. "If you're planning to take on the Kanto League, why wait?"

Ash turned toward her. Was she up to something?

"Why don't you do it right here?" The redhead suggested. "Who knows, you might even win your first Kanto League badge."

"Right here?" Angie stared in confusion. "Well, I do have my Pokémon with me, after all."

"Hey, Misty, what are you …? Owwwww, stop that, knock it off!"

"Angie, I don't know if you're aware of this, but since a couple years ago, we Gym Leaders in Kanto usually carry badges when we leave on journeys, in case we might run into a challenger." Misty explained. "You did know that, right, Ash?"

"Of course I know." Ash felt a little insulted.

That was one of the first rules in the manual he had to read when he agreed to let the Coliseum be built in Pallet Town. It was a twofold, since aside from the traditional Gym protocols, those he had to follow for Frontier challengers were separate, and he had to memorize them all. It was a bit of an annoyance, since he wasn't too fond of learning from books. He was more of "hands-on approach" type.

"Plus, there are battle arenas aboard the ship." Misty added. "We can make arrangements for an official Gym challenge. And Ash… you never back off from a challenge, do you?"

The boy squinted his eyes; that was a low blow. Asking Ash Ketchum that question was almost as like asking any other person if the water was wet. There was one thing he still didn't like of Misty even after all these years, and it was her ability to push his buttons. Then again, if it wasn't for that, maybe they wouldn't be friends. He had already his share of battles that day, but by that moment, his Pokémon should be rested and ready, one more wouldn't do harm.

"If he doesn't have a problem, I'll gladly take it." Angie clearly liked the offer. "What do you say, Ash? A battle, for old times' sake?"

"I cannot refuse that." Ash replied with determination. "Alright, just let me go get my Pokémon, and we'll meet at one of the battle arenas. One more thing, though: I don't want to brag, but I've never handed out a badge outside of the Coliseum, and I don't plan on doing it now."

"Who knows, maybe I could be the one who breaks that streak?" Angie winked at him in challenge. This gesture of course didn't go unnoticed by Misty and Serena, of course.

Saying goodbye to the trio, the new arrival went her own, while Ash decided to go to the Pokémon Center to get his team back, not without Misty reminding him to pick up her and Serena's Pokémon on the way back. He rolled his eyes: did they really think he'd leave them behind? Once they were alone, both of Ash's female friends sat at their table, and Misty, whose stomach seemingly still had room for more, ordered another ice cream. Serena, meanwhile, just stared in the direction Angie had left, and just on a simple hunch, decided to ask Misty "that" question.

"Hey, Misty… do you think that, maybe Angie…?"

"So you noticed too?" Misty said, to which Serena nodded. The two of them knew that look perfectly, since they had seen it before, in themselves and in several other girls… especially around Ash. There was no mistaking it. "You remember what we promised, don't you?"

"Of course." The Kalosian girl nodded firmly. "Angie seems like a nice girl, but if she tries to get close to Ash… we'll do what's necessary."

As a reminder of that "pact of love" they made, the Gym Leader and the Performer-Coordinator intertwined their pinky fingers. If they ran into another girl who had romantic intentions with Ash, they'd work together to keep her away. That was the rule.

Battle arenas aboard the ship, two hours later…

Since Ash was a prominent member of the Kanto Pokémon League, the preparations for this official challenge were much easier than he expected. They just had to talk to the staff in charge to set up an hour and a specific battle arena, and call Angie through the speakers to get her to show up. They were facing each other, at the battle arena number four under the third deck. It was an ample area, with enough room for trainers to fight without causing collateral damage or disturbances in the cruiser for the other passengers who wanted some peace and quiet to enjoy in their own vacations.

"This is an official battle for a Trichromatic Badge between Ash Ketchum, the Coliseum Gladiator from Pallet Town, and the challenger, Miss Angie from Solaceon Town." The referee overseeing the match declared. "The rules are as follows, the challenger will fight three one-on-one battles against the Gladiator, and she'll have to win at least one to earn the badge. Substitutions are not allowed for any of the trainers."

Angie thought it was strange that they set up these specific rules. If they were fighting three one-on-one battles, wouldn't it make more sense to fight to best two out of three? In that case, she seemed to have an overwhelming advantage. Although this handicap had its reason to be, it was in great part to even up the difficulty. This was something that Ash and his two female companions knew at the moment. While the Gym Leaders' rules dictated they had the right and partial duty to accept challenges even when they were outside of their Gyms (a way to take temporal leaves of absence and stay active so they wouldn't get shut down), the rumors said that Ash, despite having taking many challenges this way, never ever handed out a badge outside of the Coliseum. The answer as to why, the only ones who knew were Ash himself, his closest friends, and those who challenged him, whose only reply was always "you have to see it yourself".

Misty and Serena had a front row seat. None of them had seen Ash battling in person (only on TV) for a long time, and the two were particularly interested in seeing how much he had progressed since the last time they met. Pikachu was sitting with them, since Ash wasn't planning on using him, following the Gym battle rules. There was a motive it was called "Trichromatic Badge", and Angie was about to find out.

"This is going to be exciting." Misty said.

"Isn't Ash a little at disadvantage if she only has to win once?" Serena asked.

"Don't worry. If it comes to battles, there's no way he's going to lose now." The redhead assured. "The fact Ash has never handed out a badge out of the Coliseum is a record he can be proud of, and there's a good reason he has it. When he takes a leave, he usually goes off with his best team, or that's what our friends in common have told me."

"Hmm… is that true?" Serena asked Pikachu.

"Pikachu." The electric rodent nodded in confirmation.

As the only constant member of Ash's team since day one, Pikachu knew exactly why Ash had never lost a challenge outside of the Coliseum. Since its inception, whenever he took leaves of absence he always carried what some would call "the big guns", that is, the Pokémon exclusively reserved for the battles for the Determination Symbol. Thus, the trainers who challenged him outside were more often than not out of their league (literal and figuratively speaking) whenever they tried to get the badge out of him to spare themselves the journey to Pallet Town, only to find out they'd have to do it anyway. And the three members taking part for this battle were no exception.

"The first round begins!" The referee raised his hands. "Trainers, release your Pokémon now!"

"Sceptile, I choose you!" Ash threw his first Pokéball.

"Sceptile!" The Grass-type gecko-like Pokémon appeared on the field, placing his trademark twig in his mouth as usual.

"Grass-type." Angie recalled having seen Sceptile on TV, when Ash competed in the Sinnoh League. He managed (barely) to take down the Darkrai owned by the other guy. "Let's go, Toxicroak!"

"Croak!" The Poison/Fighting-type amphibian made his own entrance to the field. Upon seeing his opponent, he shivered slightly, but not out of fear; his ability, Anticipation, was alerting him of a potentially dangerous attack.

"START!"

"Toxicroak, Poison Sting!" Angie commanded, opening up with the first move.

"Croak!"

"Sceptile, counter with Bullet Seed!" Ash yelled from his side.

"Tile!"

Sceptile responded to Toxicroak's attack with his own, firing off from his mouth a barrage of green energy seeds. The purple poisonous darts collided in midair against them, and despite the type advantage they were unable to overcome them to reach Sceptile. Seeing that the ranged attack didn't work, Angie decided to go on melee combat.

"Toxicroak, X-Scissor!"

"Tox! ¡Toxi… croak!" Toxicroak crossed both hands and they glowed with a bright, light green energy, forming a pair of sharp blades, as he ran towards Sceptile.

"Sceptile, defend with Leaf Blade!" Ash called out.

At this command, the leaves on Sceptile's forearms extended and also glowed green, but instead a more intense green. Rather than rushing in to attack, he followed Ash's command to shield himself of the incoming charge, placing them in a crossed guard position in front of his body when Toxicroak approached with the X-Scissor. Rather than dodging, he blocked the enemy attack with his own, watching for the Bug-type attack to only hit the Leaf Blade. Like the previous attack, he avoided taking supereffective damage with sheer brute force, and Sceptile brusquely opened his arms forward to push his opponent backward. Angie was quite impressed, but she couldn't help but wonder, why was Ash on the defensive? The last time they met, his style was attacking first and asking second.

"Don't give in, Toxicroak, use Poison Jab!" Angie called out.

"Croak, croak!"

This time, Toxicroak engulfed his hands in a poisonous purple energy, and began punching jabs like a skilled boxer. Sceptile kept defending using Leaf Blade, even though he stepped back to avoid direct damage. This attack was much stronger, being the same type as its user. Ash finally decided he was done with evaluating his opponent, and when Toxicroak was ready to deliver a hook to the liver, he started his counterattack.

"Aerial Ace!"

With this, just as Toxicroak was about to punch him in the stomach, Sceptile vanished and reappeared behind him, his arms and legs leaving behind a white trail as he charged forward to hit him in the back. So this was the attack Anticipation alerted him from, now Angie would be ready for it.

"Toxicroak, use X-Scissor again!" The girl yelled.

"Toxicroak!"

The amphibian crossed his arms to form the blades and charged forward again, trying to press Sceptile with his attack, but the pattern began repeating itself: every time they seemed to corner him or got in good range for attacking, he used Aerial Ace to dodge and counterattack. Angie, determined to break it up, took her own initiative.

"Toxicroak, prepare Poison Jab, but hold it until I tell you!" She said.

Obeying his trainer, Toxicroak prepared the attack, but this time, he didn't charge forward. Ash commanded Sceptile to attack from a distance with Bullet Seed. While it wasn't a very effective attack, it still had notable power and Toxicroak felt it. Angie then called Toxicroak to charge forward, using the energy of the Poison Jab as a shield to deflect the seeds. Fighting his way through, Toxicroak managed to shorten the distance between him and his opponent. When Ash was about to pull off the Aerial Ace evasive maneuver yet again, Angie had her response in the ready.

"Turn around and strike upwards!" She yelled.

THUMP! The right uppercut hit square on Sceptile's jaw, followed by a hook to the liver, which caused poisoning, for good measure. Before this would take its toll, Ash called for another Aerial Ace. Angie thought he would reappear again from behind, but he didn't: this time, he charged from the side. Knowing he couldn't waste a second and let the poison act up more than necessary, Ash decided to end the battle on the spot.

"Leaf Storm, Sceptile!"

Sceptile turned around and aimed with his style, firing of a huge leaf tornado spiraling towards Toxicroak. Regardless of if it was a supereffective attack or not, it had enough force to lift Toxicroak from the ground and sent him flying through the air. Seeing him floating helpless in the air, Ash commanded Sceptile to jump and execute an Aerial Ace from above. He did so, first jumping, vanished and reappeared on top of Toxicroak, delivering a knee strike right on the belly, send him back down like a meteor crashing on the ground. After the dust had settled, his eyes were spiraling and his body motionless. He'd been KO'ed.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle! Sceptile is the winner!" The referee declared.

"Wow! That was amazing." Serena commented. Her initial concerns had mellowed a lot after that.

"What did I tell you?" Misty replied. "If it's about Pokémon battles, he never rests on his laurels."

Serena already knew that, yet she couldn't help but feel quite impressed. Ash's battling skills hadn't diminished a bit since their last meeting. If possible, they might have even increased, and that Pokémon's raw power was proof of that, since with a type disadvantage, and with sheer power, he managed to overcome his opponent with just some effort and taking relatively little damage, other than that lucky strike that poisoned him.

Meanwhile at the arena, Angie recalled her fallen Pokémon, congratulating him on his effort. It was incredible how Ash directed Sceptile to counter a type disadvantage and win, he clearly had a lot of power. Looks like she was in for a more exciting battle than she first expected. Well, she had lost the first round, she still had two more to go. Time for the second battle. If Ash's other Pokémon were on the same level of this Sceptile, she had to be careful.

"Charizard, I choose you!"

Ash threw his second Pokéball, revealing the winged fire lizard. As usual, he announced his entrance with a mighty roar and a Flamethrower. Angie's first impression was that he looked pretty tough, perhaps even stronger-looking than the Sceptile she just fought. A dual Fire/Flying-type… she'd save the most obvious choice for last, and for now, she'd try to beat Ash in his own terrain.

"Infernape, go!" She threw her second Pokéball.

"Ape, ape!"

The large fire monkey appeared on the field, making his own dramatic entrance just like his opponent, except that instead of shooting fire and roaring, he pounded on his chest and clenched his large fists. The second round would be a clash of two Fire-type starter Pokémon in their final evolution. A burning duel in all senses.

"START!"

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Ash this time decided to go for the first move. Which better way than starting out with Charizard's favorite attack?

"Chaaaaaar!" Charizard launched a torrent of flames at his opponent.

"Use Flame Wheel, Infernape!" Angie called out.

The fire primate curled up and began rolling engulfed in flames towards Charizard. Not needing his trainer's command, he flapped his wings and flew upwards to dodge the attack. Angie called Infernape to turn around and go back right as Charizard was descending, but Ash, predicting what she was about to do, called to counter with Dragon Tail. Charizard turned around, his tail glowing in a light blue energy, and stopped Infernape dead on his tracks, forcing him out of the Flame Wheel.

"Steel Wing, Charizard!" Ash called out.

"Char!"

The flying lizard's wings became covered in a silver metallic energy as he flew towards the helpless Infernape, hitting him hard. Once again, despite not being a supereffective attack, the raw power was so high it still caused serious damage. However, Infernape was down, but not out just yet. He jumped up to get back on his feet, ready to go again. Angie had his own ace in the hole, his Infernape had the ability Iron Fist, the best she could do was trying to exploit it for all it was worth.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower again!" Ash exclaimed.

"Infernape, use Flame Wheel again and roll around Charizard!" Angie commanded.

This time, Infernape didn't use the Flame Wheel to attack, but rather to roll around the entire field, dodging Charizard's Flamethrowers. This could serve as a good way to make up for the flyer advantage Ash's Pokémon had, since he could move much faster while rolling. The only problem, of course, was that he couldn't see where he was going while rolling, so he needed Angie to direct him. Ash wondered if he didn't get dizzy from rolling out so much.

"Charizard, fly low and use Dragon Tail again!" Ash called out.

"Infernape, stop!" Angie cried out at the same time.

Charizard was about to deliver the tail strike when he was getting in range, but Infernape slammed both fists to stop right before the tip could even scratch him. Charizard was now at optimal range for Angie to make her move. Out of instinct, and anticipating an attack, Ash took a preventive defense he used in this kind of situations.

"Cover up with Steel Wing!"

In normal circumstances, this would be an effective defense, Ash had learned to use Steel Wing in many manners, one of them being as protection. Unfortunately, like everything, this wasn't infallible, and Angie ordered Infernape to use an attack just perfect to break through that defense.

"Close Combat!"

"¡Infernape! ¡APE! ¡APE! ¡APE!"

Said and done, the fire monkey started bombarding Charizard with a rapid-fire barrage of punches. Against a Fighting-type attack, even more a high-powered one, the Steel Wing eventually gave out, the metallic layer shattering in pieces and leaving Charizard exposed again. And they weren't done yet.

"Thunder Punch!" Angie called out.

Ash became alarmed upon seeing the electric sparks forming around Infernape's right fist, if it hadn't been enough with breaking Charizard's Steel Wing defense. It made sense, that attack gave coverage against two of Infernape's main weaknesses: Water and Flying, the latter of which Charizard was. Thus, this Thunder Punch was supereffective against him, also boosted thanks to Infernape's ability. The electric-charged uppercut hit hard on Charizard's jaw giving out many sparks, but fortunately didn't seem to cause paralysis.

"Charizard, are you alright?" Ash asked in concern.

"Char!" Charizard replied with a tone that clearly said 'Do you need to ask?'

"Wow, that Charizard can even take supereffective hits." Angie said in awe. "But we're not backing down. Infernape, Thunder Punch again!

"Charizard, fly and use Dragon Tail!"

Charizard once again took to the air to dodge the electric punch, not wanting to feel it again. He flew as high as he could as he focused the energy, and delivered the tail strike, using the gravity to hit harder. He got Infernape right on the head, causing his eyes to go blank, and with the energy still active, Charizard turned around to deliver another tail strike to the legs to make him tumble down. Still on the ground, Ash commanded Charizard to attack with a pointblank Flamethrower. Charizard did so, stepping on his stomach just in case he thought of trying to get away, and spat the fire stream right on his face for quite a while. Finally, he stopped exhaling and flew away to take impulse again.

Angie saw Charizard's Flamethrower had done its thing on Infernape, but she couldn't give in just yet. If she could connect another Thunder Punch, she could still have a chance to win. Charizard made a U-turn in the air (the aerial maneuver, not the attack), and was coming flying right at Infernape to what would most certainly be the final clash. If he was charging head on, it was the perfect chance to deliver a decisive strike.

"Infernape, give him another Thunder Punch!" Angie yelled.

"Ape!" Once again, the fire monkey charged his fist in electricity, ready for a killing blow. This time, however, Ash knew how to counter it. That first one had only struck thanks to the surprise factor.

"Charizard, Steel Wing against the ground!" Ash cried out.

"Char!" Charizard's wings once again took on the metallic glow, as the fire lizard dove down charging against Infernape. He leaned laterally right when the two were about to make contact, his wing scratching the floor.

The resulting clash left Angie in complete shock. Not only Charizard took the full brunt of the Thunder Punch, but… it didn't do any damage whatsoever! How could that be? He took it head on! Of course, Ash had developed this specific defense for his Flying-types and against Electric attacks in general. A Steel-type attack could act as a made-shift lightning rod, thus neutralizing the full damage. Now, Infernape was at their mercy.

"Finish him, Charizard, Seismic Toss!"

"Char!"

Holding tightly on Infernape, Charizard flew up (as high as he could inside that place) and began flying in circles. Once he gained enough momentum, he flew back down, slamming his opponent face first against the ground. Charizard stood up back again, while Infernape was left lying on the ground, unable to continue. Second KO on Ash's favor.

"Infernape is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!" The referee declared.

"Incredible." Serena said. "Especially that move he used to take the Thunder Punch head on."

"Charizard is definitely one of Ash's strongest Pokémon." Misty nodded. "He trained for a long time in the Charicific Valley."

"The what-Valley?"

"It's a natural reserve in Johto. Many wild Charizard use it as their personal training grounds." Misty explained. "He learned several of his best attacks there, and believe it or not, he's been able to go toe-to-toe with legendary Pokémon and even winning sometimes. In terms of raw power, Charizard would most likely be Ash's strongest Pokémon."

Serena stared at Misty for a moment. Indeed, the Fire-type Pokémon had proved to be quite powerful, and making an estimation (not taking into account a potential Mega-Evolution factor), he might even be stronger than the Charizard owned by Alain, the trainer who beat Ash during the Kalos League. Although the Kalosian Performer-Coordinator believed could argue that there was one who could challenge Charizard for the title of "Ash's strongest Pokémon", and if her hunch was in the right, they'll see him up next.

"Return, Infernape." Angie recalled her second fallen Pokémon, and Ash did the same with Charizard. "Excellent work, you've earned a good rest. I'm impressed, Ash. Your Pokémon are much stronger than I imagined."

"We've worked hard." Ash smiled. "We have a little prestige to maintain, you know."

"Of course." Angie didn't feel bad for being losing. On the contrary, she felt excited, and she had never felt this kind of thrill in a battle as far as she could remember, and she wanted to enjoy it until the end, regardless of the final result. "Well then, I've lost two chances, but I still have one more. I'm not giving up till the very end."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ash took his last and third Pokéball. She had faced Grass and Fire, there was one more to go to complete the basic elemental trinity. "Greninja, I choose you!"

"Ninja!"

The third Pokémon, of course, was the aquatic ninja frog. He posed firmly, the giant water shuriken forming on his back. Many of the spectators stared in awe at Ash's third Pokémon, quite surprised. Amongst them, a certain Water-type female specialist took her time to admire him with an appreciative eye.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" She asked Serena, pointing specifically at the water shuriken on Greninja's back. "It's a Water-type, isn't it?"

"It is." Serena confirmed. "It's a Greninja, or should I call him, Ash-Greninja?"

"Ash-Greninja?"

Misty looked at the blue frog again. Staring at his face, there were some traits that vaguely resembled Ash. Serena however, decided to better illustrate it and pulled out her Pokédex. The latest version was capable of projecting 3D holographic images. Pointing at Greninja, she activated it.

*GRENINJA, THE NINJA POKÉMON, THE FINAL EVOLUTION OF FROAKIE. IT USES ITS SWIFT MOVEMENTS TO CONFUSE ITS ENEMIES, MOVING WITH THE GRACE OF A NINJA IN THE SHADOWS, AND CAN COMPRESS THE WATER TO FORM THROWING STARTS TO ATTACK WITH GREAT SWIFTNESS AND PRECISION.*

Misty took notice of something else thanks to Serena's Pokédex. The holographic image shown by the device, and the one she was seeing in real life looked very different from one another. The blue skin tone of Ash's Greninja was a tad lighter, plus it had red and black markings around his face, with a couple of black protuberances on the sides of his head, somewhat reminiscing of Ash's hair. Not to mention the giant shuriken on his back.

"Why do they look different?" Misty finally asked. Serena seemed quite enthusiastic to tell the story.

"Ash's Greninja has a unique ability." The Kalosian girl explained. "He used to be normal, but over time, he learned a special transformation to increase his power, when he synchronized with Ash."

"Synchronized?" Misty asked. Suddenly, those traits reminiscing of Ash made sense.

"I don't understand very well how it works, but it seems that they bonded together their hearts, and it gave Greninja an additional power boost." Serena explained. "They said it was similar, yet different to Mega-Evolution."

"Wow…"

"Thing is, Ash had to leave him behind… for an important mission." Serena said that with a bit of nostalgia. "But one day, he showed up in my home, and he was transformed. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he learned to transform even without Ash's help, and if I had to guess, maybe he did it for so long it became permanent. And I think he came looking for me because he wanted to reunite with Ash. So I took him with me when I went to participate in the Kanto Pokémon Showcases."

"Astonishing…" Misty couldn't help but be amazed. Of course, she knew that Ash had a particular ability to make things beyond the impossible.

Angie too was quite impressed upon seeing Ash's Pokémon. She had never been in Kalos, so this was an unknown Pokémon to her, but with that shuriken on his back and its colors, she could only guess it was a Water-type. She would play safe and take as much advantage as possible. With that in mind, she threw her final Pokéball.

"Luxray, go!"

"Ray!" The Electric-type feline roared upon seeing his opponent, apparently trying to intimidate him, but Greninja didn't seem fazed.

"START!"

"Luxray, we have to go all out from the start! Use Spark!"

"Luxray!"

Luxray became engulfed in blue electricity, running forward to charge at Greninja. Ash could appreciate he was quite a fast runner, and the attack itself looked pretty powerful. Nevertheless, if it came to speed, he would never match Greninja.

"Greninja, start with Double Team!" Ash shouted.

"Ninja!" Greninja kneeled over his legs and jumped high, evading Luxray's attack and making appear multiple clones of himself all over the battlefield.

"We won't fall for that trick!" Angie said. "Luxray, use Discharge over all of the area!"

"LUX… RAY!"

Luxray charged up more power and unleashed an expansive electric wave in his surrounding area, which managed to catch all of the images of Greninja in its reach, fizzing them out in contact, but the real one managed to (barely) get out of its range, doing some backflips to take his distance and begin his counterattack once the electric wave had faded.

"Greninja, use Cut!"

"Ninja!" Kneeling down, Greninja created a white blade in his hand and leapt towards Luxray.

"Use Quick Attack to get close and use Crunch!" Angie commanded.

"Lux!"

Luxray rushed forward, leaving behind a white trail, and opening his jaws to intercept Greninja's attack head on. The result was that Luxray's fangs clashed directly against Greninja's blade, which he used to shield himself from the attack, both of them locked in a duel of strength. However, Greninja had an advantage; since he only needed one hand to hold the blade, the other was free for another attack.

"Ice Punch!" Ash commanded.

"Nin-JA!"

PUNCH! With Luxray's jaws closed down on the white blade, Greninja raised his left webbed hand, engulfing it in a freezing aura, and punching his opponent hard and cold in the face. For the past few months, after Ash regained Greninja, trying to increase a bit his move arsenal, Ash put him to train with Snorlax and Buizel, who knew how to use Ice Punch. This could come in handy, since Cut could be used with one or two hands, either making a long katana or two short kunais, although in the latter case, the power would be split in half per blade and would cause less damage, plus having both hands occupied. In that case, he couldn't do a surprise attack, like now.

Luxray fell backwards after the Ice Punch, so Ash commanded Greninja to continue pressing with Water Shuriken. At first, Angie paid no mind to it, until he saw it with her own eyes: Greninja pulled out the giant shuriken on his back and hurled it, spinning out at high speeds.

"Luxray, dodge quick!" Angie cried out.

Luxray tried to obey, but he jumped the wrong way, and she spinning effect of the shuriken caused it to curve into his direction and hit him. One of the additional effects of the Ash-Greninja transformation was the power boost to this particular attack, and with this being now his default form, he could reap this benefit all the time, and Luxray could feel it firsthand. The strike left him stunned, but he managed to get back on his feet.

"Luxray, use Quick Attack and Spark!"

Once again, wanting to use Quick Attack to get close and connect the strike, Angie tried to get Luxray to match Greninja's speed. This could work to an extent, problem was that he could only maintain that speed running in a straight line. Greninja, on the other hand, could use his natural agility to move around and switch directions much easier. The frog evaded the electric charge and quickly took distance to attack again, charging up the Water Shuriken. This time however he didn't throw only one, instead grabbed one in each hand, and hurled them at Luxray one after the other. He managed to leap out of the way of the first, but the second one hit him hard just as soon as he landed.

"Greninja! Let's power up, Giant Water Shuriken!" Ash called out.

"Ninja!"

Once again, Greninja multiplied himself using Double Team, but this time he didn't intend to use the clones as decoys. Rather, he absorbed them to use their power and increase the size of his Water Shuriken, making it more powerful. Even further, when he threw it, its range expanded greatly, making it nigh impossible to dodge.

"Luxray, use Discharge to stop it!" Angie cried out desperately.

Luxray stored up as much electricity as he could to make his attack, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to fully eliminate it, the giant shuriken still impacted, causing a lot of damage. One more strike like that and he'd be on the edge of going down for the count. Ash, however, felt a sudden urge to finish this battle in style.

"Greninja, let's do it, use Ice Shuriken!"

"Ice Shuriken?" Serena, Misty and Angie wondered all aloud at the same time.

Pikachu was a little worried upon hearing this. They both had been training to perfect this combo, based on Buizel's Ice Aqua Jet. In theory, they used an Ice-type attack to solidify the Water Shuriken, thus increasing the damage by making it hit like a solid object. They hadn't been able to perfect it yet, but if they didn't practice, they'd never pull it off.

Greninja threw the Shuriken in the air, charging his other hand with freezing energy, ready to catch it. Upon falling on his fist, the water started to become solid ice. It required a lot of focus and power from the Ice Punch, to freeze it before it shattered. Greninja ran towards Luxray and was almost ready to throw it, but in that very instant, the unthinkable happened.

CRAAAAACCKKK!

"NO!" Ash shouted. The shuriken couldn't keep the cohesion, and it shattered to pieces before Greninja could throw it, leaving both Trainer and Pokémon in shock. Angie, on the other hand, saw this as a potential chance to turn around the battle.

"Luxray, Quick Attack and Spark!"

"Ray!"

The Electric-type Pokémon ran off fast, with his blue electric aura flaring up. Ash shouted at Greninja to jump to dodge, but it was too late. Luxray was faster and managed to strike on Greninja with his full speed and force. The frog flew backwards, and Angie, seeing that she managed to get a solid hit in, decided to press forward with the electric attacks.

"Luxray, use Spark again!"

"Greninja, Double Team!"

"Ninja!"

Despite being a little stunned with the Spark, Greninja managed to pull off the move, creating the clones to dodge, and barely evading Luxray's charge. They wouldn't take any more chances. It was best not to use that combo again until they had finally perfected it. Luxray used Discharge again to attack the remaining clones, hoping to hit the real one, but he didn't make it. Time to end the battle.

"Greninja, prepare Cut, and get in close with Aerial Ace!"

Greninja pulled out the blade again, holding it with reverse grip, as it took on an even brighter glow. When Luxray ran out of power from attacking the fake clones, Greninja stood before him, trying to goad him into attacking again. As soon as he did, Greninja vanished and reappeared behind, there was no escaping from this strike.

SLASH! A clean Cut in the back, Greninja landed on the other side with a flip, and made a gesture as if he sheathed his sword, posing firm, while Luxray collapsed in defeat. Third KO in the match, and it was all over.

"Luxray is unable to battle! The winner is Greninja! The Coliseum Gladiator, Ash Ketchum, wins the battle!"

The crowd exploded in applause. Ash had won the three rounds, his Pokémon showing impressive power and strategy. No doubt that the Coliseum Gladiator epithet wasn't just for show. Meanwhile, as for Angie...

"Luxray, return." She said as she recalled her last Pokémon. "Excellent work, you've earned a good rest."

While Ash came approaching to congratulate Greninja on a job well done, Angie felt mixed emotions. The strange part, however, none of them was negative. She was happy of having had such an exciting battle, happy to see Ash again and see firsthand how much stronger he had grown since the last time they met, and more importantly, impressed to see that this boy who was as immature and hotheaded as her had grown into a real man… and for Arceus, what a fine man.

"You all fought well, Angie, congrats." Ash said, offering her his hand.

"Hah, what are you talking about? We were no match for you guys." Angie shook his hand. "Seems that your streak remains intact."

"In my defense, these Pokémon you fought are usually reserved for the Determination Symbol challenges. They're amongst the strongest ones I have."

"Wow, really?" Angie said. "No wonder you curbstomped us like that. Well, does this mean that, when I challenge you again, you'll go a little easier on me?"

"Maybe…" Ash scratched his cheek.

"To think I planned to ask you for something else if I won…" Angie whispered, slightly blushing. Unfortunately, Ash heard her.

"What was it?" He asked.

"Nothing, nothing! I was talking to myself." She quickly replied. "Anyway, even if I lost… could I at least see the badge, just once?"

Ash supposed it would make no harm, so he reached into his pocket to pull out the badge. He wasn't as arrogant so as to think he would never had to hand it over, otherwise he wouldn't carry it with him on the hypothetical scenario that she would win. The badge had a shape similar to a three-leaf clover, with platinum edges and each of the "leaves" was a different color: green, red and blue. Angie held it for a bit, it was really precious. Done with it, she placed it back on his hand.

"I hope I will rightfully earn it next time." Angie then turned towards Serena and Misty. "If you don't mind, can I talk to your friends for a bit?"

Ash was a little surprised at this, but he just shrugged and let her go with them. The defeated challenger walked toward the stands, while some of the spectators were still in awe at this incredible battle.

"Well, that was… interesting." Angie said.

"That's underselling it." Misty. "You did real good, but against that team… no offense, but…"

"None taken, I get what you're gonna say." Angie looked over her shoulder at Ash again. "Hey, you two are… with him, aren't you? Think I could ask you for a little favor?"

Serena and Misty stared at each other confused, unsure as to what she meant. Pikachu, on the other hand, had a slight idea of what was coming.

"Truth to be told, I was thinking of… asking him out if I won." Angie confessed. Both Misty and Serena tensed up upon hearing this, but they managed to not to show it. "Knowing him, though, I'm not sure he will accept, or even catch an indirect."

"Yeah, that's our Ash." Misty made a little emphasis on "our".

"Anyway, what favor did you want to ask of us?" Serena asked.

"I'm glad to see he became an excellent trainer, but if I know him well, he'll need someone to look out for him with… other things." Angie replied. "Could you two please do that for me? He might be a big dummy, but… he's still a big, cute and adorable dummy."

The three girls couldn't help but giggle at the remark; that much they could all agree on. Serena and Misty felt a little relieved that they didn't have to intervene this time. The world was quite a small place if they ran into another girl who knew and had a crush on Ash in that ship, and they had the feeling she might not be the last one. Meanwhile, Ash stared at them, a little surprised at how fast they took to each other and wondering what could they be laughing at (part of him inside having the feeling that they were making fun of him).

At nightfall…

The day was ending, the three of them were exhausted. As soon as they went back into the cabin, Ash and Pikachu dropped themselves onto the bed, Ash quickly removing his running shoes. A good Pokémon battle was something he was always up and ready for, but outside of that, walking around the ship with Serena and Misty (strangely getting the feeling they were trying to keep him away from Angie) was really tiresome.

While Ash laid on the bed, the electric rodent went into his master's backpack, pulling out a small ketchup plastic bag. He ripped it open and started sucking its contents. Misty sat on the couch, grabbing the remote to flip around the TV channels, and Serena sat on her own bed and took a fashion magazine to read. The redhead suddenly stopped on the Hoenn League channel, which at the time was rebroadcasting a match of the regional Ever Grande tournament, and she quickly recognized one of the participants.

"Hey, Ash, look who's competing at the Hoenn League." Misty said.

"Hmm?"

Ash got up to check the TV. On the right side of the battle arena, which at the time had a forest-like field, there was a dark blue-haired young man, whom Ash could easily tell had swapped his old intellectual glasses for protective goggles, looking more like a real trainer than a little nerd.

"Is that Max?" If he didn't know better, he wouldn't believe that was the same little know-it-all kid whom he traveled with through Hoenn. At the time, May's younger brother was commanding a Gardevoir, who fired off an electric attack to intercept that of its opponent. And when the camera focused on the opposing Pokémon and its trainer, Ash had a double surprise, since Max's opponent turned out to be someone else Ash knew quite well. "And he's fighting Bonnie?"

Clemont's little sister had grown quite a bit, she had become a very lovely young lady. Her blonde hair was still in the same side ponytail she had as a child, except it was longer now, going a bit down below her shoulders. Serena heard Bonnie's name and immediately dropped the magazine to check out the battle as well.

"Now that I remember, the last time I saw her, she said she's try her luck at the Hoenn League." The Kalosian girl commented.

"You know the other one?" Misty asked with interest.

"She's the younger sister of Clemont, another of our friends." Serena nodded. "He's the Lumiose City Gym Leader."

"Wow, it's really a small world." The redhead commented. "Someday, we need to make a get-together so we can all meet each other."

Ash at the time didn't say anything, but the idea Misty suggested didn't sound bad at all. With so many friends he made during his journeys, it would be great if they could all get together someday, if only for a special occasion, since after having spent the last two years for the most part in Kanto (and occasionally Johto), he hadn't seen many of them in a long time. Of course, they hadn't lost their contact, since they frequently exchanged email and traditional mail, while others would call him, yet it didn't feel the same as being in the same place as them, with all the adventures they shared.

The battle was on its final round, with both of them having one single Pokémon on the field. The scoreboard showed Max had on his team, aside from his Gardevoir, a Grovyle and a Mightyena, while Bonnie had a Floette and a Tyrunt already eliminated from the match. The battle was quite even, and victory was decided when Dedenne charged with Nuzzle, literally through Gardevoir's Charge Beam, leaving her paralyzed, and then summoned a Thunder to finish her off. The referee overseeing the match raised his hand, declaring Bonnie as the winner, and she began jumping in joy. Max, meanwhile, accepted his defeat in stride after giving out his all, and recalling his Gardevoir, congratulated her on a job well done. Bonnie went to the field to pick up her Dedenne, and they shook hands as a gesture of sportsmanship, and thanking each other for a great battle.

"I'm sorry for Max, he was fighting well." Misty said.

"Yeah, too bad. One of them had to win, though." Serena added. "Which round were they fighting?"

"According to the league calendar, the semifinals were scheduled for today." Misty replied.

"Meaning Max made it to the top four." Ash noted. "Must be humiliating having lost on your own home turf to an outsider, don't you agree?"

"You must know that very well." Misty commented, squinting her eyes towards him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." The redhead just shrugged it off.

With the match over, Misty grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels again. She wasn't following any particular series, and there were no movies she liked or anything. She absently looked at her male friend, taking her time to assess him. No doubt, Ash had grown into a fine young adult, and he wasn't lacking on physical attractiveness, but sometimes, even she felt that he lacked… style? Fixing himself a bit? Her eyes became fixated specifically on the boy's hair. It had always been wild, untidy and impossible to comb, and even more now that it had grown longer, and Ash wasn't wearing his trademark cap, which usually served to keep it well hidden. Maybe, it was a good time to do something about it.

"Ash, I've been thinking… maybe you could use a haircut?" Misty asked.

"What?"

"Just look at yourself, your hair's messier than the quills of a Sandslash." The redhead said without mincing her words.

"It can't be that bad." He said as he flicked it a bit.

"Misty's right." Serena agreed. "It's way too long, and becomes a real mess at times. When was the last time you cut it?"

"My memory's not that good." He snarked, even though it was… six, perhaps seven months at most.

"There must be a good stylist aboard the ship, with all of the events they're gonna make." Misty suggested. "Problem is, they're expensive, I don't know if they can be included in the prize."

"I can do it, if you want." Serena offered.

"You know how to make haircuts?" The redhead was quite surprised.

"I've taken some courses, they've come in handy for my showcases."

"Oh, well, that's just perfect." Misty was delighted. "That way we don't have to pay anyone. Isn't this great, Ash?"

"Well, I'm not sure…"

"Come on, you really need that haircut." Misty insisted. "Serena, go get your scissors, I'll hold him in place."

"Hey, wait, what are you…? Misty!"

The boy tried to protest, but Misty had grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to sit on the couch before the mirror. Just like when they were younger, she was just as strong as or even stronger than him. Serena, meanwhile, pulled out the comb and scissors, she was ready to start.

"Stop it, I said I don't want to!" He began yelling.

"You'll thank us later." Misty said. "Serena, you may start when you want."

"Here I go." The Performer-Coordinator went click-click with her scissors.

"You can't be serious!" Ash exclaimed, unable to believe she was playing a long too. "Pikachu, help me over here!"

"Chaaaaa…" The rodent let out a lazy yawn and turned around on the bed to sleep. The message was "Sorry, you're on your own".

"This can't be, you too?!" The boy couldn't believe it. "Somebody save me from these two!"

But his cries for help wouldn't be heard through the cabin's sealed door. As much as he protested, yelled or cried, with Misty holding him in place he wouldn't get away. Serena happily hummed a little song as she began cutting, while the black hairs fell to the floor (they'd sweep them off later), while Ash kept yelling like he was being tortured or something. He had no way out, the trainer was trapped with the two girls, and they'd enjoy every minute of it.

Oh yeah, these would be some very interesting vacations, and it was just the first day.

To be continued…

Author's notes:

What's up, everyone? Finally I got this story going. And with all the ideas I've gotten, looks like it's gonna be longer than I expected. So much that I was planning on covering the trip on the cruiser in a single chapter, but with the events I thought of, I ultimately had to split it in two. Of course, I'm not planning on making a day-to-day with each chapter, but something's for sure, this story won't be the two, or three-pater I expected, it has for a lot more than that.

Alright, I hope you enjoyed it, like I said at "Friends and Rivals Alike", I'll do do more emphasis on the humor than the drama, which is why Misty and Serena had not begun to compete "officially" yet. For the next one, with the events on the ship, we'll definitely see a little of their "friendly rivalry", although you can already see how hard is for Ash just to be in-between the two of them, hehe. There's gonna be a lot of humor and fanservice, so if that's not your thing, I'm really sorry XD

Before I leave, a little special thanks to Viroro-kun, who gave me a small yet important contribution to the title of this story. If you're Pokémon fans, you might want to check his work too, I'm sure you will love them. Also, thanks to Marsy3 on DeviantArt for letting me use her fanart as a cover image for this story and the previous one (still waiting for that commissioned covers I got for these two). Last but not least. thanks for the reviews on "Friends and Rivals Alike" to: Omnistar, Marches Meines Lebens, Kori A Grayson, nami, guywithglasses, aris2, Tropicallight, Captain Bones, Guest, cake0108 (if you don't mind me asking, please enable the PMs so I can properly reply to you), Harmonious Wolf and jordanlink7856. And to those who just faved or followed without commenting, thanks too, although I'd appreciate more if you shared your thoughts with words. Time to go on to the next story, see ya around!