Ash and Alain shared a look, as Mega Charizard X and Ash-Greninja retroceded, Water Shuriken parrying every Thunder Punch.
Alain smirked. Ash was the opponent he was looking for. He never had felt such a surge of excitement, anything that could match this moment.
His expression turned serious. He couldn't hold back. Ash was worthy of his fill power, and he wasn't going to give him anything less than that.
"This was a great battle Ash, and I thank you for that," Ash said, making a fist in front of him. "But this ends now. Me and Charizard can't afford to lose!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Ash smiled.
"I'm glad to know that, Alain." He put a hand on his cap, closing his eyes. He then flashed a grin, turning it backwards. "Because me and Greninja are feeling the same!"
Ash-Greninja and Mega Charizard X took battle stances in unison. Then, they went at each other again: Thunder Punches met Water Shuriken, Aerial Ace clashed with Dragon Claw, Cut deflecting Flamethrower, aa fast as the eye could see.
Over the stadium, Ash's friends were on the edge of their seats. Serena clasped her hands together, praying for the best.
In Cerulean Gym, an orange-haired girl was clutching her Azurill close to herself, eyes glued on the screen.
In Pewter Gym, a young doctor and his maasive family were looking on sternly.
In Petalburg, a fledging coordinator and her little brother were cheering on loudly.
In Twinleaf, a young blue-haired girl smiled on, while a Piplup in a cheerleader outfit waved his pom-poms.
In Blackthorn City, a violet-haired girl sighed with a smile, as an Axew munched a Berry from her hair. Even in the greatest battle of his career, he was still such a kid.
At her side, a Connosieur smiled. The combination of Ash and that Greninja was one of the tastiest he had ever seen, for sure.
Many other people, friends, rivals, even simple acquaintances, were all united as one in cheering for Ash, no matter the time or place.
In Oak's Lab, Delia and Samuel Oak were watching the finals of the Lumiose Conference. Or at least tried to, if it weren't for the cries and cheers of sixty-one other Pokémon fighting to get a good look of the screen, while a newly arrived Squirtle tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the stampede. Tracey tried his best to contain them, but the eagerness of Ash's previous Pokémon was proving too mich for him.
"Looks like Ash is really putting his all in this battle," Oak said, arms folded.
Delia adjusted her hair, smiling. "That's just like him. Ash always puts his all, no matter what."
"Let's just hope it will pay off for him." Oak said, looking on. "Rotom, can you please raise the volume?"
The television buzzed in agreement, raising the audio to drown out the Pokémon cheer. Delia and Oak kept looking, hoping for Ash's victory.
"Greninja, Double Team!" The battlefield was swarmed by copies of Greninja, all running towards Charizard.
"Flamethrower!" The copies were burned away, aside from one who jumped up.
"Water Shuriken!" The flame was extinguished by the shuriken; Charizard flew away from its route.
"Thunder Punch!" Charizard shot towards Greninja, an electric fist raised.
"Cut!" An energy kunai blocked the punch.
The two attacks clashed briefly, the two Pokémon's faces an inch from each other, staring at their opponent. They kept trading blows, deadlocked
Alain punched onward. "Blast Burn!"
Flames engulfed Charizard as he punched the ground. Greninja, too close to move away, was blown away by the blast, crashing on the ground. Behind him, Ash felt a sharp pain on his side, falling on his knees.
"Ash!" Both Bonnie and Serena rose up at once, holding their breath.
"Right, Ash shares the pain of Greninja." Clemont rubbed his chin, worriedly looking on. "And it looks like he is not gonna last too long."
"Don't say that, bro!" Bonnie turned at him, shaking her head. "Ash can't lose! Not after all he did! Right, Serena?"
She faced Serena, only to see her with a hand clutched over her heart, looking on nervously. She crooked her head. "Serena?"
"Oh!" Serena snapped out of her trance, turning to Bonnie and nodding before looking over to Ash again. "Yeah, Ash can't lose. I know he won't."
At their side, Sawyer had his eyes on the match, a stern look on his face as he clutched tightly his notebook.
Ever since he came to Kalos, Ash had been his point of reference. A teacher, a friend, and a rival to surpass. Someone that could strive him to do better.
And he did become better: he went from a beginner that had issues with the basics of battling to an expert strategist that managed to reach the Semi-Finals at his first League Conference. He felt bad about losing, sure, but he thought getting that far had been worth it.
Sawyer sharpened his glare. Ash had to win. He knew he could do it.
Back on the battlefield, Ash tried to ignore the pain as he got back on his feet, with Pikachu helping him stand, checking him worriedly.
Ash rubbed his partner's head. "Don't worry, Pikachu, I'm okay."
He then turned serious, looking at Greninja on the battlefield: like him, he was breathing hard and barely standing, definitely proved by the battle. He turned to Charizard: he was still very much healthy, keeping a battle stance and ready to strike at any moment. The odds were completely against him.
Ash met Greninja's glance, and they smiled at once. It's not like odds ever stopped them.
"Greninja, let's do this!" Ash pointed onward. "Cut!"
Greninja rushed at Charizard, kunai in hand.
"Dragon Claw!"
The two attacks clashed once more, meeting over and over. As Charizard tried to overpower him, Greninja kicked the Mega Evolution with an Aerial Ace in the stomach.
Charizard was knocked back, only to retaliate with a Thunder Punch. Ash and Greninja ducked, only to be met with an electric uppercut. In spite of the pain, Greninja materialized a Water Shuriken and threw it point-blank.
Charizard tanked the hit and steadied himself, flying back towards Greninja; a Double Team later however, an army of Greninja clones surrounded Charizard. Charizard spun around and destroyed all the copies, only to not find the real Greninja. He frowned until a shadow blocked his vision, looking up to see Greninja diving towards him, a Giant Water Shuriken ready to be thrown.
Alain bared his teeth. "Flamethrower!"
Greninja flinched as he had to put his Water Shuriken in front of him to shield himself, the Flamethrower going on until Greninja's weapon shattered, forcing him to jump backwards.
"That's not enough." Ash clenched his fists, frowning. "We need to become even stronger than we've ever been!"
Ash raised his arm to the sky. "Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
Greninja did the same, as the ninja star spinned above him.
Alain held a fist in front of him. "Charizard, Blast Burn!"
The shockwaves made their way towards Greninja, as the Water Shuriken kept charging. Ash and Greninja glared on. They had come so far. They couldn't afford to lose now!
The Water Shuriken enlarged, taking a round shape and an orange color.
"Huh?" Everyone in the public looked on, confused.
Clemont adjusted his glasses, eyes widened. "What is that?"
Alain stared at it with his mouth agape, only to shake his head and recompose himself. He wasn't going to lose now. "Charizard, Blast Burn!"
Charizard tried to punch the ground and send the shockwave, but Greninja was faster than him: he threw the orange Water Shuriken, and Charizard could only look as it crashed on him.
He was blown away right under Alain's platform, strong enough to shake it and ruin part of it. A giant dust cloud covered that section of the battlefield. Everyone looked on tense, as Greninja landed in front of Ash. Everyone, in Kalos and beyond, kept waiting for the upcome.
The dust cloud started to dissipate, and a big smile dominated Ash's face, as Mega Charizard X was now unconscious.
"Charizard is unable to battle! The winner of the Lumiose Conference is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" The referee said, as the screen changed to show Ash's snapshot, with the word 'WINNER' written under it.
As the whole stadium stood and erupted in a roaring applause Ash, Pikachu and Greninja punched the sky at once, a big smile on their faces.
"Yes!" Bonnie, Clemont and Serena both raised from their seats, overjoyed.
Serena rubbed tears off her eyes, her smile shining brighter as she saw Ash so happy on the battlefield.
Tierno, Shauna and Trevor threw punches on the sky while smiling as well, as Sawyer took a deep sigh and looked at Ash, glad for the victory.
In the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh regions, all of Ash's friends are family were cheering at once.
In between all of this joy, Alain had no words to say, looking at his knocked out signature Pokémon. All his training, victories, accomplishments... none of them had been enough to win. To beat Ash. He looked forward for this match, only to find out he was not ready yet.
He closed his eyes, recalling Charizard. He then smiled at the Poké Ball. "You did a great job," he said, placing it in his belt.
Alain then walked towards Ash, as Greninja reverted to his normal form and Ash and Pikachu had the largest grin they could muster on their faces.
"Alain." Ash pumped his fists, a determined expression on his face. "Thank you for this battle. It was the most fun I had in a while."
Alain smiled. "Same goes to me."
He offered a hand, and Ash shook it, ending the match as friends.
"Yes! He did it!" The Team Rocket trio yelled at once, still keeping up their journalist disguises.
"That's the strenght of a twerp capable of beating us!" Meowth said, waving his microphone happily.
Jessie grinned. "And now that he and the other have both their teams exausted..."
"We can just come in and take them both!" Meowth grinned as well, punching her open paw.
James rubbed his neck, looking uneasily at Ash on the battlefield. "You know, do we really have to steal them right now? Can't we allow the twerp to have his moment of glory?"
Jessie frowned. "What, do you want to give up on getting Pikachu for once?"
"Oh no no no! I'm not implying that!" James waved his arms around. "I just mean that, well, wouldn't it be better to wait until he leaves? That way we can jump on him when he least expects it!"
"Uhm, fair enough." Jessie folded her arms. "Just a bit then, and all the Pokémon of the twerp are going to be ours!"
"And nobody will get to stop us!" Meowth said.
As the trio kept conspiring against Ash, Malva didn't hear them, moving out of the way to read a message from her boss. She had to get ready for the main event of the day, after all.
"I knew Ash had potential in him," Diantha said. "I'm not surprised to see him win."
"Hmh." Professor Sycamore nodded, looking at the battlefield. Or more specifically at Alain, as what he said the previous day echoed in his mind.
"To regain what I've lost... I have to become stronger and stronger."
Sycamore shook his head, sighing and slumping on his chair. Alain, what are you planning to do now?
Outside the stadium, a man in red with a mohawk chuckled, a Kabuki Trim Furfrou at his side. That kid really did keep his promises no matter what.
Mairin put a hand on the glass, looking down. She couldn't believe what just happened.
"Alain..." She sighed, before turning around and smiling. "Well, at least Alain did his best, right?"
She was surprised when her gaze met no one, neither Lysandre or that weird bald guy that was watching the match with them. She tilted her head.
"Huh, Mr. Lysandre?"
Lysandre held a frown as he walked away from the Lumiose Conference stadium.
Alain never was invincible, that much he knew, but it was still surprising to see him lose. The bond between that trainer from Kanto and Greninja was completely unlike anything he had ever seen: somewhat close to the Mega Evolution, yet also not. And it was powerful enough to defeat the same Mega Charizard X that could defeat ten opponents in a row, included an Elite Four member.
He smirked. Once his plan was in motion, he will have to look into the boy's power...
"It's a great honor to give you this trophy, Ash," Diantha said, giving Ash his well-deserved sign of victory.
Holding the trophy high to the sky, Ash could feel something he couldn't quite describe. All his travels, battles, defeats and victories had led him there, and he had to thank all of his friends and all of his Pokémon, from Butterfree to Noivern, for having finally achieved such a victory.
Ash and Pikachu shared a glance. This was far from the ending: there was the Elite Four challenge to take on, and many other places to visit and people to know. His journey wasn't going to be over any time soon.
But for now he was happy, and nothing could ruin that moment.
After the episode and seeing the backlash, I had to write this. I'm actually satisfied with Ash being the Runner-up of the Lumiose Conference, and how the battle itself was for the most part fair compared to what we got from Tobias and Cameron. And while I think too many people got obsessed over if Ash wins a League to validate his trainer skills, I do think it would be fun to have a different take on the ending, diverging from the canon fight from the moment Greninja is parrying Thunder Punches with the Water Shuriken. These scenes all take place right after the hypotetical Team Flare arc coming after this happening mostly the same way, unless a lot of it will hinge on Alain winning. We will see.
I might eventually redo the whole battle if you would like to see that, and including the Team Flare arc and what else XY has in store, just to give fans an alternative and trying to keep the salt contained to an extent. In any case, I hope this fic was good, and that you enjoyed this piece. See you next time!