Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

One True Master of Pokemon
by: Jeuxdevie

Ash Ketchum broke into a sweat as his Bulbasaur collapsed from the onslaught of the opponent's Charizard. With that, his opponent won the fifteen-minute-long round. They were now tied, each down to their last Pokemon: Charizard for the opponent, and Pikachu for Ash.

Around them, the crowd held their breath and kept their eyes on the arena, for none of them wanted to miss the result. Nothing was certain. From what they had seen of the two valiant fighters, either one could emerge victorious.

It was the final battle after a grueling ten-day marathon of battles, participated in by hundreds of Pokemon trainers from all over the world. Whoever wins this round, would win the battle... and the title of Pokemon Master and Champion of the Pokemon League for the year.

The referee raised his arm. "Final round! Fight to the finish! Good luck, gentlemen. And... begin!" He blew the whistle.

At their trainers' commands, Charizard and Pikachu rushed to the center of the arena...

-x-x-x-

Ash walked in circles outside of the arena in the middle of the night, with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. He was alone. His Pikachu was not beside him tonight. He had been pushed too hard, as Nurse Joy had chastised Ash a couple of hours ago, and was lucky to have escaped with relatively minor injuries.

"I'm an awful trainer," he muttered, as his eyes filled with tears. He imagined that, somewhere, his opponent was now celebrating a victory which should have been his.

He had been brash and careless and overconfident, letting emotion overtake his reason. His opponent took advantage of this, and lured Pikachu into a trap. The round had been quick, the fight fair, the win incontestable.

"Hey, Ash," a vaguely familiar voice called to him. "That's your name, right?"

Ash looked. It was the referee. He quickly wiped his tears. "Hey. What's up?"

The referee, who was in jogging clothes, ran to him. "I just want to congratulate you on being Pokemon League runner-up. You're awesome! You made a really engaging fight back there." Upon seeing Ash's teary eyes, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I... I really wanted to become Pokemon Master," cried Ash. For some reason, the referee's soothing voice made him feel he could confide in the stranger so easily. "And I blew it," he added.

"That's okay," said the referee, "you can always try next year. But, hey, don't stress it out." He leaned closer to Ash. "I'll let you in on a secret. The title of Pokemon Master... it's an empty one. Everybody in the league knows that there can only be one True Master of all Pokemon, forever and ever."

Ash's eyes sparkled. "Wow! Who is this guy?"

The referee smiled. "His name... is Jesus Christ. And He is the Master of All Pokemon."

"Wow! That is awesome!"

"Yeah. He's the Master not just of Pokemon, but of everything. He is Master of the World, and of the Universe! Isn't it cool?"

"Totally. Can I meet Him? I want to learn from Him."

The referee handed him a book. "This book is called the Bible. It tells so much about how Jesus Christ is Master of everything, Master of All Pokemon, and it tells you how you can meet Him and learn from Him. Read it. And let me know if you have any questions; I'll gladly answer them for you." He gave Ash his business card. "My name is Joel, and I'm a pastor. Come to our church when you have the time, okay?"

Ash nodded, with a grin on his face. "Okay!"

-x-x-x-

As the days passed, Ash read the Bible and attended church, and prayed. He learned more about Jesus Christ, the one True Master of All Pokemon. He grew more in his faith everyday.

He still trained Pokemon, but he no longer aimed to become the greatest Pokemon Master on earth, because he knew that there can only be one Master of All Pokemon, and that was his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

THE END

Epilogue: Because of his intense faith, Ash decided to dedicate his life to the church, where he was molested by a pastor and driven to commit suicide.