"Donphan! Earthquake, one more time!"

"DOONNNPHAAAAN!" the Armor Pokémon roared as it hammered its legs against the ground, causing shards of rock and rubble to tear away at the fractures.

"Is that all you've got?" Sighing in disappointment, the Challenger frowned and brushed her hair aside. "Ninetails! Leap and use Energy Ball!"

"Energy Ball?"

His opponent raised her brow and smirked. "Does that surprise you? I think you should've figured out by now that my ninetails doesn't exactly follow the norm."

Following the command with perfect timing, the Fox Pokémon loosened itself and allowed the swell of the crags below to launch it skyward. Its eyes sparked into a shade of emerald. With a soft bark, Ninetails opened its mouth – a glowing green ball of light forming at its opening.

Ash panicked at the sight. If that hits, I'm done for! "Donphan, quick! Use Hyper Beam!"

Donphan took a deep breath, a white flow of energy warping into the center of its mouth. The ninetails' Energy Ball scraped past Donphan's cheek, causing it to wince – though continued its charged attack.

The Challenger hardly seemed impressed. "Really? Using such a slow powered move against a fast pokémon like mine? What a waste of a dodge."

Ash growled in irritation. "Quit yammering and show me what you've got!"

"You asked for it. Ninetails! Protect then Energy Ball again!"

"It knows Protect too?"

"You're too easy to excite."

The flash of the Hyper Beam dissipated as it came into contact with Ninetails' fiery barrier. Out of energy and flinching from exhaustion, Donphan was unable to react to the second burst of Energy Ball. The green orb launched once again from Ninetails and struck the Armor Pokémon across its side – a glancing blow that would've been easily ignored if it weren't for the condition that Donphan had already been in.

"DON–!" The Ground Type Pokémon's eyes widened as it gave its last grunts before falling over and losing consciousness.

"Oh no! Donphan!" Ash quickly hopped over the safety fence and ran towards his fainted pokémon. The attack was hardly enough to require critical attention, but it wasn't the physical damage that Ash found reason to worry over. It was their pride. "…I'm sorry, buddy… I guess we're just not having any luck…" he muttered with a tone of failure as he patted the slightly damaged marks on Donphan's body.

A casually-dressed referee raised his arm towards the opponent's area of the arena. "Donphan is unable to battle! The Challenger wins!"

The Challenger called back her pokémon and walked towards Ash with confidence.

Responding almost negatively to her movement, the grieved defeated swiftly pulled out an item from his pockets and waved it towards the Challenger without looking up to her. "You fought with the admirable will and unshakeable strength of those who are truly determined to reach their dreams. For this, you have rightfully earned the Perseverance Symbol. Take it as a reminder of the valor a Trainer must hold in order to achieve the goals set ahead of them."

…

The Challenger kept her distance and made no attempts at taking the Symbol.

Annoyed, Ash looked up at the Challenger in confusion. She stared at him in the same sense of confusion. It unnerved him immensely.

"Um… Your Symbol?"

"What about it?" she asked almost with a tone of irritation.

"What do you mean 'What about it?'? You earned it! Take it already!"

"Did I? Those battles hardly took any perseverance to win! If anything, it just showed that you needed perseverance just to keep sending out your pokémon!"

The argument bit into Ash's already-hurt pride. Anger and frustration would have been his immediate reaction if it weren't for the undeniable truth that hid underneath it. Twelve losses in a row in the week alone had chipped away at his once-unbreakable optimism in battle. It was a shameful statistic that spat on the name of his Frontier Field's Symbol. The Challenger's words were the first to ever bring that reality into a light he had been doing his best to avoid looking directly into…

"You're right…" he responded in surrender, "But rules are rules. You won. So take it."

His opponent raised one of her thin brows and made a quick glance to her left… The referee was already asleep, finding a comfortable spot underneath a tree. She shrugged and returned her attention the defeated Frontier Brain. "The referee probably didn't make it official in any notes, and unless you do it: No one can count this as an official battle."

"What? You don't want the Symbol or something?"

"Not if it was that easy to take it."

Ash sighed. "Sorry to be a disappointment."

Crouching over and spraying the downed Donphan with a Potion, the Challenger gave a heartening smile towards its owner. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying you weren't into it like I thought you would be. You were out of funk, so it wasn't a fair fight."

He saw her kindness as a pitying insult. "Did Misty tell you to do this? I swear, she needs to keep her nose out of this. Tell her I can handle my own place, thankyouverymuch!"

"…Misty?" She blinked at his angered announcement. Much to Ash's discomfort, the Challenger tilted her head, eyeing his left hand.

"Um… Can I help you?"

She laughed in embarrassment. "Really weird for me to ask, I know… but… Misty wouldn't be your…?"

…

Her question fell short of its complete description. Ash decided to complete it with the safest assumption, "Friend? Yeah. Long-time friend. When did you meet up with her?"

She shook her head and continued her awkward laugh. "O-Oh! N-No, I didn't meet up with her. At least, not any time recently. Last time was when I last met you."

"…met me?" Ash blinked in surprise. Before he continued the conversation, he returned Donphan into his poké ball and smiled towards the opponent. "Thanks for the Potion, by the way. I'll give you a free one to replace that."

"No thanks. It was just my way of looking after my opponent's pokémon. No hard feelings and all that."

The Frontier Brain pushed himself to his feet and moved towards a door in the rear of a small shack. "Then let me show that I look after my opponents. No hard feelings and all that." He grinned and waved her over. "Come on!"

Looking around in panic, the Challenger pointed towards herself in questioning gesture.

"Yeah, you!" Ash snickered. "Who else have I been talking to this entire time?"

Losing the confidence she had held throughout her four round match, Ash's opponent shyly approached the shack with a slow and unsure pace. "A-Are you sure this isn't going to look a little…?"

Her question once again fell short of its complete description. And once again, he decided to complete it with the safest assumption, "Rude? Nah, Francis prefers sleeping out here. Ain't that right, Francis!"

The slumbering referee snorted out of his dreams and lazily waved at Ash in response.

"I said you prefer sleeping out here, don't you!"

The referee fell back to sleep without answering.

Ash snickered again. "See? The guy only likes refereeing and sleeping. Got to hire him for cheap since none of the Gyms wanted him. He doesn't really clean up after any utilities…" Unlocking the door and turning on a light switch, he entered the shack and opened up a small chest next to its entrance. "I don't really need a janitor though. Since my place doesn't really have anything to clean up after."

Cautiously peering into the shack, the female Trainer studied the small space of what the Frontier Brain considered his "office". She had never seen the "office's backroom", as she had only visited the front stand-like portion, where Ash had been sleeping in while he waited for challengers. The backroom was only slightly larger than the front, and offered only a small area for a bed, an out-of-place sink to the side, and the chest of items Ash was currently rummaging through. It was a sad excuse of an Official Frontier Facility, and she had wanted to ask him what bad end of a gamble he had lost in order to "win" it… but she had a more important question for him, "Um… Excuse me, Mr. Ketchum?"

"Please, call me Ash. All that 'Mr.' stuff still sounds weird to me."

"Where's your pikachu?"

"My Pika–" He turned towards her in surprise. "Oh! Right! You said you've met me before! Pikachu's at the Center right now. He was injured pretty bad in the last battle I had. Trainer had one tough hitmonlee that just wouldn't let up. Almost had him at one point, but he just kept coming at me. Guess he didn't like how close he was to losing that match…" 'Pikachu's the only one I ever get close to winning with… I'm kind of a one trick ponyta.' was what he wanted to add – but prevented himself in order to refuse any further pity parties.

…

The Challenger didn't respond immediately. And her response jabbed at his pride again with an unexpected question, "So why's this place a piece of crud? You lose a bet or something?" Her eyes immediately widened in shock. "A-Ah! I didn't mean to sound so rude! I just –!"

"N-No, th-that's okay!" Ash laughed shamefully. "You sound a lot like Misty… You sure you didn't meet with her?" He returned to his search for a Potion in his cluttered chest. "I actually chose this place as my arena. The others in the Battle Frontier offered me a bunch of other places. Big, fancy places that really seemed beyond me. This was the only one I felt comfortable in… But I guess it isn't very official-looking, is it?"

"I mean… It's nice. But yeah. It's not exactly what a Frontier Brain would be expected to have…"

"It's not much. But it's my home away from home. Feels like a place I won't just visit, but actually can settle down in, ya'know?"

"S-Settle?" Her face turned slightly pink at his choice of words. "Y-You're not… um… settled, are you?"

Ash shrugged. "I dunno, I feel like I'm pretty settled in here." he responded almost naïvely. He knew full well what she was referring to – just as he was quite aware of all her other suggested questions – but he decided, like always, to choose the safe guess. "By the way, you said we've met before. Where exactly?"

"O-Oh… n-nowhere special… I'm sure you've met a lot of girls in your travels."

"I have, actually. It's hard to remember all their names."

The nonchalant comment caused his opponent's eye to twitch. "R-Right. So you probably won't remember me then."

"Yes!" celebrating quietly to himself, Ash turned and offered the found Potion to the young woman. Like the Symbol, she seemed to refuse to accept it. However, he had no care for her refusal of his gratitude – Ash held her by the wrist and wrapped her fingers around the Potion. "Take it. I have tons more. …somewhere in here, that is. I can never really find them." He laughed in embarrassment.

…

…

The Challenger's silence spread to Ash, as he realized the rather unique position he had put the both of them into: Down on one knee, her hands in his, looking up into her dark, aquamarine eyes – the two of them looked away from one another, their faces flushed into a deep red.

Ash cleared his throat, and quickly pulled his hands back to his sides – though he noticed that her fingers latched onto his at the last minute, almost refusing to let go. His success of separating the both of them had left them in an even stranger predicament… Her hands were moved away, held against her chest as if she had committed a taboo act. His hands were pocketed, as if hiding the actions they were involved in just seconds before.

"Er…" He did his best to look towards her, wanting to show no estranged feelings between the both of them. Her eyes sparkled almost in reaction… In combination with her pale sienna hair and thin eyebrows, the sparkle in her aquamarine eyes seemed too familiar. "I… think I remember you."

Her cheeks turned a noticeable pink, sending further clues to her almost forgotten identity. "Y-You do?"

"Yeah… Um… I can't really remember your name, though." he half-lied. In truth, he had several names in his head that may have been owned by the mysterious Challenger, but none of them he was fully sure of. "O-Oh! Right! You need to sign your name for me – so I can make your win official."

"I thought we agreed that fight didn't count."

"R-Right…"

"Nice try, though." She giggled. "And don't think you can get my name just from another battle. I won't challenge you again until you remember my name."

"Th-That's not fair!"

"It's quite fair." She grinned and put her hands to her waist. "Besides, you only have yourself to blame. You never properly introduced yourself as a Frontier Brain – and you never asked for mine."

"Well… I'm still new to this Frontier Brain stuff. Cut me some slack."

"That wouldn't really excuse you from having no manners. Besides, you've been a Frontier Brain for six months. You've been one long enough."

Ash's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute… I've only been an official Frontier Brain for the last four months…"

"Not if you count when you first established yourself here."

"But that's the thing! No one knew I established myself here then!" He smirked and pointed at her accusingly. "You HAVE met with Misty, haven't you? Or at least talked to Anabel! They were the only ones that knew where I set myself up six months ago!"

"N-No! Not at all! And I don't even know who Anabel is!"

"AHA! More proof that you met with Misty! Unless you're into the most in-depth news of the Battle Frontier, you wouldn't even get a hint of where I'd be placed! And since you don't know Anabel, you DEFINITELY wouldn't know about all that!"

The Challenger's face turned red with frustration. "M-MAYBE I JUST KNEW WHERE YOU WERE BECAUSE I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU!"

Ash tilted his head, taken aback by her statement. "Looking for me?"

"Y-YEAH!" she shouted, her face still red and her head still flustered. "MAYBE I JUST HAPPEN TO BE YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN AND WONDERED WHY YOU QUIT YOUR DREAM IN BEING A POKÉMON MASTER! EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT?"

"F-Fan?"

The Challenger quickly covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said. Her face returning to a different shade of pink, she nodded slowly in surrendered embarrassment.

…

"You don't happen to know Bianca, do you?" he asked in a forced hushed tone, "From Alto Mare? I heard she started up a fan club over ther–"

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" she roared, "I HAVEN'T MET WITH ANY OF THE GIRLS YOU KNOW! I'M MACY! WE MET AT THE SILVER CONFERENCE IN JOHTO!"

Ash raised his finger in success. "MACY! My first guess at your name was right!"

Her shoulders drooped in crestfallen loss. "Yeah. Nice one, Einstein."

"No, really. That was one of my guesses."

"I bet. Like how you genuinely needed my name for an official win."

"Well that was just something I made up… But I really did remember your name!"

"Uh huh." She sighed.

"I mean it! You were the one with the vulpix! You had a magcargo! It was a slugma during our match with my phanpy!"

Macy blinked in surprise. He remembers that? I guess all that's really in his head are pokémon battles… "Y-Yeah… and your totodile defeated my electabuzz."

Ash shook his head. "Actually, your electabuzz defeated my totodile. I used Squirtle to beat your electabuzz."

"Huh… You're right! I barely remember that!"

"See? I DO remember you!"

She smiled humorously. "Or my pokémon, at least."

"No, no. I actually do remember you, specifically."

"Uh huh." she repeated with the same sarcastic tone.

"If I remember correctly, you said that if you beat me, I had to take you out on a date."

Her face turned immediately red, and she stumbled backwards, her knees losing all feeling. "WH-WH-WHAT? YOU REMEMBER THAT?" She covered her face in shame. "AHH! I WAS SO STUPID AND PUSHY! AND –!"

"And since you beat me this time around," he interrupted her panicked self-insults, "I think I owe you a date."

"WH–…" Her eyes nearly rolled back, as her head felt faint. "I… You… can't be serious…"

Ash scratched at his cheek as he offered his arm to help her off the ground. "…Yeah, I'm probably not very good date material nowadays, huh?"

"N-N-NO! YOU ARE! YOU COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY ARE! YES! DATE! WE! DATE! YES!" she stammered quickly in response, afraid that he would rescind his offer… an offer she never expected to ever be given to her. I'm… I'm just a stupid fangirl. Why would he –? "IF-IF ANYTHING – WHY WOULD YOU EVER WANT TO DATE ME?"

He laughed at her hysteric reactions. "I dunno. You're cute?"

"WHAT?" I… I must be dreaming… Ash isn't like this… not the Ash I knew… I think. "UM… OKAY?"

He laughed again and pulled her to her feet. "And don't let the shack and lazy worker fool you, I can afford quite a lot!" he half-bragged, hoping that his impressive funds would make his continual losses not seem too pathetic. "So, anywhere you want is fine with me! …oh right. When do you want the date?"

"N-NOW!"

"N-Now?"

"Y-YES!" Macy gripped onto his elbow firmly and was pulling him out of the shack. I'm not letting that Misty get a chance at pulling you away this time! she growled to herself. "N-NOW! BEST RESTAURANT YOU CAN AFFORD!"

"Uhm… O-Okay!" Ash responded awkwardly. "Hey, Francis! Close up the place for me! Apparently I'm on a date!"

The sleeping referee woke in time to see the Frontier Brain be dragged deep into the woods. He waved lazily and smiled. "Sure thing, boss! Just five more minu–" he didn't bother finishing his sentence as he fell back into snoring.

Ash waved oddly back. "I'm going to have to check on the place after our date… he's probably not going to do what I told him." He sighed. Turning towards the still-dragging young woman, he mentioned nonchalantly, "You know, this is going to be my first date… I don't really know how to have one… So, I'll probably just as bad with my manners with this as I am as a Frontier Brain."

"No more talking about battles or Frontier Brain things!" she shouted back. "A-Ah! S-Sorry. I don't mean to be rude… I just –"

He snickered at her response. "Alright. No more talks about that stuff. You know how to run this date stuff better than I do."

"…I-It's my first date, too…"

"Hm?"

"…I've been saving myself for you, Ash…"

Ash's face turned a bright red. "S-Saving y-yourself?"

Her face turned the same shade as his. "D-Don't think that. Not yet…"

"Yet?"

Her arms wrapped around his tighter and she began to pull him faster through the forest. "You have to take me out on a date first, silly!" She giggled and began pushing them into a run.

"Wait Macy, we're going too fast!" Ash yelped as he nearly fell over several times in their rush.

"That's what you get for being too slow. Won't work with fast ones like me, sweetie."

"WHAT?"

Macy laughed. Realizing the full extent of what this date would mean for the both of them from this moment on, her confidence had filled back to its full strength. After this, you and I will be official… And I'll show you why the fire of our hearts simply can't be extinguished. I always knew we were meant for each other. Her eyes began to sparkle as her imagination went to other thoughts…

…thoughts that Ash didn't seem comfortable with, as he glanced at the faces she didn't realize she was making. "Eheh… So where do you want to eat?" he asked as he adjusted comfortably to their speed. "I know a lot of expensive places here. But what are you in the mood for?"

"Something spicy…" she nearly growled in aggression.

He flinched at her tone. …What did I get myself into?

As Macy continued her passion-fueled push through the forest, thrusting Ash towards a date he could never have expected to be his first – the two questioned and considered what sort of new relationship and experiences they would find themselves in. But with valor and perseverance, the two pressed on – more curious than afraid to face the obstacles and goals that they would find ahead of them.