Everyone, this is an oneshot spin-off of The Ability of a Master. However, the main pairing will not be AbilityShipping or IkariShipping, although they are side pairings. Instead, the pairing will be something I have never worked with before: AlexandrianShipping. This is the result of my ten minutes or so of thinking about it and my two to five hours or so of improvising along the way.

This was a grand night. The Kanto-Johto Champion, Lance, had just gotten married. However, this was no ordinary marriage. His blushing bride was none other than the former Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia! When she had lost her title to one of the Aura Guardians who helped save the world a while back, the one named Paul, the current Hoenn Champion, Max, had asked the reluctant Dragon Master Lance to comfort her. Of course, Cynthia wasn't all that hurt in the first place, and it wasn't long before a few friendly talks about Pokémon turned into Lance treating Cynthia to dinner. Soon enough, they had developed their relationship from a friendly, brisk, business-related one into a loving, gentle, romantic one.

Mr. Goodshow himself was the one to oversee the proceedings. Lance's best man had been another former colleague, the former Hoenn Champion, Steven, while Cynthia's maid of honor had been Paul's wife, Dawn, who held a steady title as one of the Top Coordinators. All the Gym Leaders from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh were invited, as well as Scott and the Frontier Brains from both Kanto and Sinnoh. A few Top Coordinators had also been invited.

However, even during this grand night, there were some who found it difficult to enjoy themselves. One of them was the Shining, Shocking Star himself, Volkner. He was wearing a blue suit and black bow tie. He also was looking around, bored out of his mind. The only reason he came was because Flint dragged him here, saying that he should get out more.

"Stupid Flint. Of all the times he could have picked to convince me to come here, did it have to be in the morning? That bastard KNOWS I can't exactly think straight in the mornings!" Volkner thought angrily, twirling a glass of wine in his hands as he watched the slightly inebriated Flint make a move on one of the female Frontier Brains wearing a stunning green dress that complimented her hair. She was pretending to respond positively, but Volkner couldn't help but notice a green-clad man stalking up behind Flint. He watched with some amusement as the Aura Guardian named Leon grabbed Flint by the back of his suit, dragged him away from the blond woman and out the door, then proceeded to pitch him into the shallow pool outside. The girl Flint had been flirting with, also known as Sarah, Leon's wife, walked up to her husband and chastised him for treating Flint so roughly, then kissed him for the help.

"Good evening, Volkner." Volkner looked up and smiled a bit more as the leader of the group that saved the world walked up to him. Ash Ketchum, currently clad in his blue Aura Guardian's outfit, was one of the few trainers to have battled with and beaten almost all of the guests currently in the hall, and this earned Volkner's respect. One of those guests was the lilac-haired woman wearing a light blue dress on his arm, his wife, Anabel. She was about four months pregnant and beginning to show signs of it. Her belly was larger than it had been before, and Volkner had heard more than a few rumors about her violent mood swings and cravings. Just before, Volkner had seen her eating already rather spicy fish and chips and dipping them in some of Flannery's super-hot volcano sauce. Even Water-Types couldn't handle that stuff, but Anabel had been eating the super-spicy fish and chips like ordinary French fries dipped in ketchup!

"Good evening, Ash, Anabel." He shook Ash's hand and kissed Anabel's, then bent down to pet Ash's ever-loyal Raichu, who was conversing with Volkner's Raichu while keeping a sharp eye on his mate, Anabel's Espeon.

"Did you see what Leon did to Flint?" Ash laughed.

"Well, the idiot deserved it. Everyone knows that Leon can get extremely protective of his wife. I think being separated from each other for a few years has something to do with it." Volkner agreed.

"I agree. If there's anything you should never do in front of Leon, it's flirt with Sarah. Besides, I think Flint got off easy. If Leon didn't do something, Sarah's Lopunny would have. I saw how she was glaring at Flint." Anabel said.

"For that matter, where are Paul and Dawn? They're supposed to give a speech in a few minutes about the joys of marriage and such. Then it will be time for dancing." Volkner asked.

Ash and Anabel blushed a bit. "Yeah, about that…um, we kinda walked in on them making out in one of the bathrooms and a few clothes were kinda thrown about…" Ash mumbled.

Volkner held his hands up. "Whoa, whoa! I did not need to know that much!" he protested.

Anabel blushed even harder. "Anyway, they gave us a death glare and we volunteered to do the speech for them so they could…have their own personal sweet time to themselves. We even put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the bathroom door and locked it from the outside. If they want to get out, they can just call us." she explained.

"Seriously, those two are shameless. They're twenty-two and they still act like teenagers!" Volkner growled.

"Speaking of which, what about you? Don't you have a date or something?" Ash asked.

"Flint dragged me here. Dragged me. You seriously think I had time to find a date? Besides, I'm not all that interested in that kind of stuff anyway. I haven't found the perfect girl yet, I guess." Volkner sighed.

Ash patted Volkner's shoulder sympathetically. "Cheer up, Volkner. Come on! This is a party! You could at least try to enjoy yourself!" he said.

Volkner glared at him. "You remind me of Flint. I do not wish to be reminded of Flint." he said.

Ash sighed. "Very well. See you around." Anabel waved as Ash escorted her to the stage.

Volkner sighed. When he said that he hadn't met the perfect girl yet, he was sort of lying. He thought back to when he was just a child living in Olivine City, right before he moved to Sinnoh.

Flashback…

Volkner had just been to the lighthouse of Olivine City. He had met the Ampharos, nicknamed Amphy, which powered it. Unfortunately, when he asked someone who took care of the lighthouse in general, as well as Amphy, his only answer was that it was a girl named Jasmine, and that she was out. He wanted to meet her, but decided against it. His father, the Gym Leader Lt. Surge, expected him home soon, and he was moving tomorrow, so he didn't have time.

"Excuse me? Can you help me?" Volkner snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see a girl around eight years old, two years younger than he was. She had her hands behind her back and looked rather shy. "My Pokémon is missing."

"And why are you asking me?" Volkner asked.

The girl looked rather taken aback at Volkner's response, and she started to tear up. "But…"

Volkner frowned. If there was anything he hated, it was making little girls cry. He sighed. "Fine. Where was your Pokémon when you last saw it? Come to think of it, what is your Pokémon?" he asked.

"It's a Magnemite. I was playing with it in the park when it suddenly flew off and I couldn't find it anymore." she whimpered.

Volkner gave her a queer look. "You were playing with a Magnemite?" he asked.

The girl blushed. "I like Steel-Types. They're cool." she said.

Volkner sighed. This girl was pretty for an eight-year old, but she wasn't what he expected. "Pikachu, come on out!" he called, throwing a Poke Ball. His Pikachu came out with a small cry. "Pikachu, we're going to the park. We gotta help this lovely girl find her Magnemite."

"Pika!"

They ran to the park, holding hands along the way but too occupied to notice or acknowledge it, where Pikachu began walking around, sending out electrical sparks as it went. "What is it doing?" the girl asked.

"Magnemite has some electromagnetism. If it's still in the park, it might be attracted to Pikachu's electricity." Volkner said. Sure enough, after a few minutes, a Magnemite did show up, drawn to Pikachu's electricity.

"Magnemite!" the girl cried, running up to hug it. Magnemite saw her and its eye gained a sort of happy expression. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" She cried a bit, then looked around to thank Volkner. But she saw nothing. In his place was a rose lying on the ground with a note attached to it.

"To your thank you, I say you're welcome. My name is Volkner. Don't try to find me and tell me yours. I don't think we will ever meet again. Sorry for running off. I don't want to hurt your feelings any more than I already have. I always hurt girls' feelings if I stay with them and get to know them. I don't want to hurt yours, too. You're too gentle and beautiful. Goodbye." the note said.

The girl blushed. He thought she was beautiful? No one except her mother had ever said that to her. She held up the rose and kissed its head, imagining it was Volkner's cheek. "Thank you, and goodbye, Volkner. I know you're not listening, but my name is Jasmine." she whispered.

Elsewhere, Volkner walked with his hands in his pockets, ready to continue training with his commander…his general…his father. He would not mention this incident to anyone, although that girl had been very pretty. But what did it matter? He was never going to see her again.

End flashback…

Volkner sighed for about the umpteenth time that night as he got up, his Raichu walking beside him. He had been right. He had never seen that girl again. He moved to Sunyshore City the very next day. When he was a child in school, he always hurt his girl classmates' feelings, and many of them had never even cared about him. But there was something different about the girl he met that day. She was strong, much stronger than one would expect from a girl with her appearance. He didn't see it as a kid, but looking back, he saw it now. She loved Steel-Types, and was perfectly fine with hugging one like it was her pet. That cold, hard exterior didn't matter to her. Thinking about it now, Volkner wondered if he should have stayed. Maybe she could have taken what he threw at her. He sighed again. In any case, there was no looking back at the past. If only he had any idea who she was, he would have been a very happy, shocked, and disappointed man.

But as it is, the past is the past, and the future is what matters. And Volkner's future was about to get a whole lot brighter. Volkner was deep in thought, so he didn't notice a woman about to bump into him until it actually happened. "Oof!" he grunted. The woman cried out in surprise, falling to the ground. "I'm sorry, miss. I was deep in thought, so I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you alright?" he asked, extending a hand to help her up. As he did, he felt a small spark of familiarity, like he had held this girl's hand before. But no, that was impossible.

"Yes, I'm fine. It was my fault as well. Like you, I was also deep in thought." the woman answered, letting Volkner help her up. She dusted off her white dress. As she did, Volkner looked at her and was taken aback by her beautiful appearance. Although she simply wore a long white dress and sandals, she was very pretty. Her light brown hair went down to the middle of her back, and two cat-ear like appendages stuck up, held in place by two hairpins. All in all, she captivated him.

He regained his wits before she noticed him staring at her and cleared his throat. "It's not my place to ask, but if I may, what were you thinking about?" Volkner asked.

The woman looked down. "A friend of mine…died recently. I came to this party not only because I'm a Gym Leader, but also because I wanted to take my mind off of him. I've been taking care of him for so long, but he still…passed on." she said.

Volkner put her hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss." he said.

The woman smiled charmingly at him. "Okay, now you have to tell me what you were thinking about." she said.

Volkner smiled as well. "I guess I walked right into that one. I was just thinking about this girl I met when I was a kid. She lost her Pokémon and I helped her find it. It was back when I lived in Olivine City for a few weeks." he said.

"What a coincidence. I am the Gym Leader of Olivine City. My name is Jasmine, the Steel-Clad Defense Girl." she introduced herself.

Volkner's eyes widened a bit. "Jasmine? Aren't you the one to take care of the Glitter Lighthouse in Olivine City, as well as the Ampharos who powers it, Amphy?" he asked.

Jasmine looked down. "I used to take care of Amphy…" she whispered.

Volkner's gasped slightly. "No…don't tell me Amphy's…" He couldn't bring himself to say it. He really did like the Ampharos, even if he had only known it for a short amount of time.

"Amphy's dead. I couldn't save him." She started crying, and Volkner found himself embracing her.

"I'm sorry. I know how much he probably meant to you." Volkner mumbled. Jasmine didn't know why, but she found comfort in this stranger's arms.

Suddenly, one of her Poke Balls burst open, revealing a Magnezone that floated towards Volkner's Raichu. "What the…?" Volkner asked as Raichu began talking to the Magnezone like they were old friends.

"Magnezone, what's wrong?" Jasmine asked. She then caught sight of Raichu, who was letting loose some sparks in response to Magnezone's electromagnetism. The sight looked awfully familiar to her. Then it hit her. "You can't be…"

"What's wrong?" Volkner asked, growing concerned.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"Oh, yes, where are my manners? I'm the Gym Leader of Sunyshore City. My name is Volkner, the Shining, Shocking Star." Volkner introduced himself.

"It's you…Volkner…" Jasmine embraced him again and kissed him on the cheek. "I never got to thank you…for helping me all those years ago." she whispered.

Volkner's eyes widened in surprise and recognition, looking between Jasmine and the Magnezone. "It's you. You're that girl I helped. And this is the Magnemite that I found, isn't it? So I helped the very girl I wanted to meet that day, huh?"

Jasmine looked up at him. "You wanted to meet me?" she asked.

"Yeah. I was impressed from what I heard about you. I thought I would never see or meet you again. Come to think of it, you're different than when I saw you last. You've grown even more beautiful." Volkner said.

Jasmine blushed and was about to reply when there was a screeching sound from the stage.

"May I have your attention, please?" It was Ash's father, Liam, at the microphone. Volkner had heard that Liam had skill even beyond Ash's in both Aura usage and Pokémon battling, being able to take on two Gym Leaders with little difficulty or defeating both Ash and Leon at the same time. He, Ash, and Anabel were standing at the microphone. "Everyone, before I let my son take the stage, I would like to congratulate Lance and Cynthia for their marriage. Considering their history, though, I'm surprised they took this long. I don't even know who's the dominant one!" Everyone laughed. "Seriously, though, who is the dominant one?" he asked.

"Dad." Ash said. Liam sighed and handed the microphone to him and Anabel. "Everyone, since Paul and Dawn are currently…occupied, Anabel and I will do the marriage speech. First of all, the pairing of two beings is a beautiful thing. In the Pokémon world, there are many Pokémon that mate for life. It is more than just joining up with each other, it's making a commitment to your partner. When Anabel and I got married, it was the happiest day of my life, and it was also the day I gave myself to her."

Anabel took over. "Marriage is not a tool. It is not a plaything. It is not a joke. It's the proof of the romantic love that exists between two individuals. All of the married couples in this room love their spouses, and hopefully would never consider cheating on them." She looked pointedly at Ash, who gave her a charming smile.

"I feel hurt that you do not trust me." he said.

"I'm a psychic, Ash. My Pokémon and I combined can read your thoughts. Of course I trust you." Anabel said.

"And I'm an Aura Guardian. I can block my mind from being read." Ash countered.

"You know, you're just giving me more reason not to trust you." Anabel said.

Ash pulled her into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss. They remained like that for a minute or so before they needed air, and Ash pulled his lips away, but kept their foreheads pressed together. "Trust me now?" he asked.

"I never doubted you." Anabel whispered.

They started leaning in for another kiss when Scott spoke up. "Whoa, whoa! Guys! This is Lance and Cynthia's day, not yours! Do that on your own time!" he said.

The crowd laughed at this exchange, and Ash and Anabel followed Scott's suggestion, quickly running off the stage and retreating into a dark corner to make out while Liam took the stage again. "Okay…you and Anabel go do that, son, while we start up the first dance shared by the bride and groom! Hit it!"

All My Life by K-Ci and Jojo began playing as Lance and Cynthia stepped up to the middle of the dance floor. The crowd formed a circle around them as they started with a rumba, moved into a tango, and then ended it with a waltz. To the crowd, it seemed that even Lance enjoyed the waltz, because during that time, he actually began twirling Cynthia around like a spoon on a string. Cynthia followed his lead, and her elegant movements coordinated with Lance's rough ones as she spun into the Dragon Master's arms. He caught her and the song ended when he slowly dipped her down, one of her feet raised in midair.

Volkner and Jasmine applauded as Liam announced the time for the slow dances. The bride and groom themselves were tired out, but that didn't mean the others couldn't dance. In fact, the only reason the others didn't join was because Mr. Goodshow had wanted the younger people to understand what a true ballroom dance looked like. Some were as nervous as hell, for they didn't know how to dance like Lance and Cynthia. Upon seeing couples consisting of members their age like Leon and Sarah do it flawlessly convinced others to begin.

Volkner looked at the girl beside him and bowed a bit, holding his hand out to her. "May I have this dance, milady?" he asked, faking a slight British accent.

If it were possible, Jasmine blushed even harder than before. However, she regained her composure and curtsied. "Why, of course you may." she answered. Volkner smiled and led her to the dance floor. They fell into place beside Falkner and Janine, whose dancing styles were full of speed and precision. Together, they made a very entertaining pair to watch.

However, Volkner and Jasmine looked quite happy to the spectators as they danced. There were hints of blushes on both their cheeks throughout their dance, but their dancing was just below the level of Leon and Sarah's. The others stopped dancing just to watch the two move in unison. They "awwww"ed when Jasmine leaned her head on Volkner's chest, and Volkner drew her even closer.

"Whoa! Volkner is dancing with Jasmine?" Flint asked.

"He's just like his father…charming and handsome!" Lt. Surge laughed.

"You're too arrogant for your own good, son." Wattson sighed.

Surprisingly enough, the two were oblivious to the stares. They just continued, lost in their own world. "You're quite good at this." Jasmine said.

"You're not too bad yourself." Volkner answered. He then decided to end the dance and lifted Jasmine above his head. The girl was initially surprised, but then laughed as she raised her arms like wings. Along with her white dress, she looked like an actual bird as Volkner gently spun her body around a few times before he lowered her down and dipped her as the song ended. He then raised her up, twirled her once, and kissed her hand. "And that's the way to end a dance." he said.

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Well, that was interesting. I am happy that you two became a couple." Liam said from the stage. Volkner and Jasmine blushed as the crowd laughed and they sputtered out pointless denials in vain.

Later…

It was now two in the morning. The party was over, and Volkner and Jasmine were among the last to leave. Many people released their Flying-Types and flew back to their respective homes. The aforementioned two people, however, were currently standing at the entrance, looking at each other.

"So you're heading back to Olivine, huh?" Volkner asked.

"Yeah. I can't leave the gym unattended for too long." Jasmine answered. She looked down for a minute, then looked back up at the man she had begun to fall for. "Will I ever see you again?" she asked.

He shrugged and smiled. "Probably. Don't be surprised when I turn up at the gym for a visit. The Sunyshore Gym hardly gets any challengers, anyway, and the ones it does get are mostly weaklings that hardly give me any challenge. I usually spend my time renovating the gym. Visiting you would be a great change of pace." he said.

Jasmine smiled. "I'd like that." She embraced him then, burying her face in his chest. Volkner smiled as well, feeling rather bold as he tipped her head up and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. He was lost in their deep wisdom, despite Jasmine's young age.

Jasmine was captivated by Volkner's blue eyes as well. Like hers, they were full of wisdom and kindness, but she noticed that there was some depression in them as well. She promised herself to do her best to end that depression.

Slowly, the two leaned closer to each other, and it wasn't long before they shared their first kiss with each other. In that moment, everything around them disappeared, even when Ash, Anabel, Leon, and Sarah, the last ones to leave before Lance and Cynthia, came out. To the new couple, their presence simply melted away. It was unimportant now.

They pulled away. "I'd like that." Jasmine repeated.

"So would I." Volkner agreed.

They pressed their lips together once more.

I think this might have been a little unfocused, but I got my goal accomplished. My writing spirit is back, and I'm not bored anymore. Besides, I got Volkner and Jasmine together, and some of you guys were wondering what happened after The Ability of a Master, so I gave you a small taste.

AlexandrianShipping forever! This pairing needs more love! Seriously, people! Write more stories about these two!

This is only a oneshot, but in any case, please review!