DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR ANY OF THE MATERIAL I HAVE USED IN THIS FANFICTION, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS OF MY OWN CREATION. IF I DID OWN POKEMON, ASH WOULD HAVE WON A LEAGUE!

Chapter 1

Prologue

The Battle has Just Begun

A young raven-haired man walked alone at night, only his faithful Pokemon by his side. Everyone else, human or Pokemon otherwise had entered into the realm of Darkrai. Of course trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town would have found this ironic considering who he had to fight in his next match in the Sinnoh League final.

Tobias and his Darkrai.

They had been an unstoppable force throughout the gyms and the league alike, never having to use any other Pokemon. There were only thoughts of winning on the 16 year old's mind. He had come so far since he started his journey. His previous League losses came to mind as he mulled over the next days match. Charizard refusing to listen to him, Charizard's tie against Blaziken making him unable to proceed to the next round, Pikachu's tie against Tyson's Meowth.

But with loss comes an opportunity to grow

And growth brings strength.

Every moment was fresh on his mind as if it had happened yesterday. Pikachu using all his remaining electricity into one final Thunder on Dragonite, Volt Tackle on Regice finally putting a stop to the legendary ice type Pokemon and the Pyramid King, Brandon and the Thunderbolt on Riolu putting down Cameron at last.

He had had his ups and downs in life, but he had always emerged stronger than before. It was finally time to see just how much stronger he had gotten. The final match in the Lily of the Valley Conference would be a test for his Pokemon. Would the strength that Ash Ketchum had forged from over 5 years of hardships bow down to the might of legendary Pokemon? Not if Ash Ketchum had anything to say about it.

Though the nervousness was still there somewhere in his heart, it was overshadowed and buried deep by the excitement he was feeling from the upcoming match. Six pokéballs hung from his belt. Six trusted and wise friends, all of whom were ready to battle amongst legends. He had to plead Gary to go around Kanto and get one of his Pokémon. From this point onwards only his skill as a trainer and his Pokémon defined him as a battler, and more importantly as a person. And with that he took his first steps towards attaining the new level.

The crowd was deafening as both trainers walked towards the battlefield. Each foe's every movement was observed by the other. They both stopped at the same time and gave a nod towards each other. A sign of acknowledgement for the other, though Tobias still had an overconfident smirk plastered on his face, while Ash showed a neutral expression.

Ash's eyes broke off first and searched the crowd until he found them. His friends in the region of Sinnoh that had supported him throughout his journey and driven him to become stronger.

Brock, the dark skinned rock-type specialists had been with Ash on his journey throughout many years and he had seen how his best friend had grown in strength from a rookie trainer who couldn't control a Charizard to a finalist in the Sinnoh League.

Dawn, the blue haired coordinator, had been just as supportive of Ash's dream as he had been of hers. He was a mentor of sorts to Dawn and she saw him as an inspiration of what she should be like.

Barry, the blond haired, hot headed trainer was a sort of rival who wanted to surpass Ash. He couldn't have his rival lose to anyone other than himself, could he?

The deafening crowd quited down as the judge began to finally speak,"This is a six-on-six match between Tobias Takuto of Jade City and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. Substitutions are allowed and the match will end when all Pokémon on either side are unable to battle. Green trainer send out your first Pokémon!"

Ash steeled his nerves as Tobias released his first, strong but obvious, Pokémon. Darkrai. Ash just grinned slightly, though it was hidden by his cap overshadowing his face. He threw the half red, half white contraption with determination and excitement, yelling,"Sceptile, I choose you!"

The fully evolved form of the Grass type Hoenn starter materialized on the battlefield, twig in it's trademark position. Though his posture screamed arrogance, his eyes flitted across the battlefield scoping out every crack and crevice which could be advantageous or disadvantageous. After a moment's pause the first command came,"Darkrai use Dark Void!"

The Dark type legendary gathered energy and fired it off towards Sceptile. Though underestimating a Pokémon could lead to disaster.

"Start off with Sunny Day, then Quick Attack to dodge it Sceptile!" Ash shouted. Sceptile disappeared like a blur, reappearing very close to Darkrai, so Ash gave the next command,"X Scissor! Let him have it!"

With one jump, he closed the distance between them and crashed into the Nightmare Pokémon. Darkrai flew back and crashed into the ground, though recovering quickly, it stood back up and glared at the Pokémon that had dared to hurt him.

The crowd was silent. Never had Darkrai once taken damage, and now it just had, and that to a kid! Ash and Sceptile just grinned and got ready for his opponent to make a move.

In the stands, Brock, Dawn and Barry were shell shocked, the former lesser so than the latter. They thought that Ash would have lost atleast half his team to Darkrai before seriously doing some damage to it.

"Wow! Sceptile is so fast, I couldn't even see him move!" Barry shouted with glee. The crowd seemed to be in a similar line of thought. The kid actually seemed confident that he could win this.

Dawn had pride in her older brother/mentor figure. In her eyes, Ash was the best Pokémon trainer ever, regardless of if he won or lost. She had never seen anyone else treat Pokémon with as much compassion that he did. Though if compassion alone was not enough, power to go toe to toe against legendaries was nothing to scoff at.

Brock simply smiled, though it held respect and admiration for Ash in spades. The fan girls cheering for Tobias to ' crush that Ketchum kid' would soon realize it was sooner said than done.

Petalburg City Gym

Trainers had gone home disappointed that the gym was closed for the day, just given a reason that the gym leader had somewhere else to attend to. Right now, Norman Maple along with his wife and two children May and Max were engrossed in the Sinnoh League final. Max and his new starter, Treecko, had stars in their eyes as they saw Ash and his Sceptile land a hit on Tobias and his legendary.

"Wow! Isn't Sceptile just awesome?! We'll be just as strong very quickly don't you think, Treecko?" He asked his starter. Treecko nodded his head in determination and got ready to watch the match, just as the trainers gave out commands again.

"Luck won't get you very far. Darkrai, use Dark Pulse!" Tobias commanded. Dark Pulse formed between it's two hands and Darkrai fired them off as quickly as it could.

Ash saw them coming and pumped out his fists, shouting,"Cut it apart, with Dragon Claw"

Sceptile's hands got encased with a green energy and he threw them in front of him like a glove. Dark Pulse met Dragon Claw. Sceptile struggled against Dark Pulse but refused to back down. Just when it seemed that Dark Pulse would fade out, Tobias barked out his next command,"Ice Beam! Be quick about it." Ash and Sceptile's eyes widened as Ice Beam drew closer to impact. And then it hit. Ice spread around and over Sceptile like frosting on a cake. Soon, he was completely encased in ice.

Ash could only shout in distress,"No! Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade to break out of there! Come on you can do it can't you?" To the viewers it was an empty struggle, nothing else.

Their train of thought was cut off because of a noise. A crack. A crack in the ice. And then it was shattered, as Sceptile dropped to his knees in pain, his hands glowing green, signalling Leaf Blade.

Tobias was shocked as he saw a Grass type break out of a complete chunk of ice, though he wasn't done yet.

"Dark Void, once more!"

Darkrai charged up ominous energy in hands and fired it off towards Sceptile. Sceptile had barely recovered from the chilly situation he had just broken out of, as he got hit by Dark Void, putting it to sleep.

Ash's expression changed to one of fear and panic. He pleaded words of encouragement, even Pikachu shouting out in panic.

In a dark place, Sceptile's mind was trapped in slumber. He looked around and saw nothing but neverending darkness. Suddenly all his past failures in life started to flash in his eyes. His losses in battles, his inability to use attacks after evolving, how Meganium had been stolen from him by a Tropius. Each and every bad memory, kept repeating, as if on a loop. Suddenly, a Golden light started breaking through the darkness and Sceptile heard it.

His trainer's pleading voice along with Pikachu. Of course, how could he forget! He was fighting Darkrai. One who sent Pokémon and people alike into endless sleep, and tormenting them in their dreams. He couldn't just be defeated by falling asleep. He would never hear the end of it from Charizard.

In the real world, Sceptile's eyes snapped open, and the entire stadium fell silent. Sceptile got up and blinked the dreariness out of his eyes, getting ready to battle again. The crowd gasped. This Pokémon wasn't put down even after being put to sleep by the Lord of nightmares. His determination was nothing to be put down. Ash was nothing short of pleased and made a plan,"Sceptile, charge up Energy Ball and then hold it!"

There were murmurs among the crowd as to what the kid was thinking. But before any more discussion could take place Tobias was quick to retaliate,"Use Dark Void one more time!"

Darkrai fired it's signature move as quickly as it could, getting ready to end the match. Ash quickly finished off his plan by shouting,"Absorb Energy Ball, then use Agility at the last possible moment!"

Sceptile, without question, ate the Energy Ball and it's effects were immediate. Strength surged into his limbs once again, a greenish tint surrounded his body signalling a rise in power, and just as Dark Void was close to him he leapt into the air. Eyes focused on Darkrai, like a predator's on a prey.

When the darkness from Dark Void disappeared, Sceptile was nowhere to be found. Darkrai searched around the field but Sceptile was nowhere to be seen. Left, right, forwards, backwards, so that only left... Up!

As soon as Tobias looked up in sync with his Pokémon they were blinded by the sun directly above them, making them unable to retaliate for just a second, but enough. Sceptile fell from the sky as Ash shouted,"Now, Solar Beam!"

"Scep...tile!" Was a cry that was heard as a beam of pure solar energy came down slamming Darkrai into the ground, from which it was unable to get up a second time, while Sceptile landed on the ground, although on his knees from being frozen, but still very much conscious.

Silence for a moment. Then deafening roars were heard as a legendary fell in front of their eyes. Tobias himself seemed to be in shock as he recalled his Pokémon. Darkrai had never fallen before, yet it did. How could a kid manage to do something that no other trainer before him could?

But one thing was certain.

This battle was just getting started

Author's Note:

Hey guys, this is OmegaLordtheFirst. I have been interested in righting a competent Ash story for quite some time now. This is my first fanfiction story ever. Hope you guys enjoy, and remember to favorite, follow and most of all review. I look forward to seeing people (hopefully) enjoy and criticise my work.

Onto the next topic, when will the next chapter be released?

Answer: I already have most of the next chapter ready to go(it's about 7,000 words). Most of the chapters will have an average length of 4,000-6,000 words. The next chapter will be up when I feel that a significant number of people have already viewed this work. Though if not, I'll still upload the chapter in 2-3 days, though don't expect all the chapters to be uploaded so quickly. I am currently in highschool so I have a lot going on.

This is OmegaLordtheFirst.

Peace out.

I will take your opinions into place when the story will advance to that point, of course. Somethings, on the other hand, have already been decided, so sorry about that.