Legal Disclaimer: Pokémon is copyright Nintendo. I do not own it, Nintendo and Game Freak do. It and all of its characters are the property of Nintendo, Game Freak, and Satoshi Tajiri.

Pokémon: The Fall of Team Rocket

Chapter 1:

Ash Ketchum, a boy with spiky black hair and hazel eyes, wearing a black t-shirt with a red shirt over it with short black sleeves, a white collar, and a white line down the middle, blue pants and a red cap with a white Poké Ball symbol on its front, stood next to the sofa in the guest lodge of the World Pokémon League Stadium with his best friend and partner, Pikachu, a yellow mouse-like Pokémon that stood was little larger than a house cat with yellow and black striped fur, a lightning bolt-like tail, and red cheeks where he stored electricity, standing on the table. Ash hardly knew what to think as he took each step towards the door. Today was his thirteenth birthday and win or lose; he was going to celebrate it with his mother and Professor Oak once this upcoming battle was over. It was his hope, though, that his greatest birthday present of all time would be that he would win the battle and become the world Pokémon League Champion, and officially be recognized as a Pokémon Master.

Checking the time on the clock next to the sofa, he saw that the time for the battle for the World Pokémon League Championship was fast approaching. It was currently eleven forty-five A.M., and the battle was scheduled to begin at noon. He made one final check of the rules to make sure that he knew all of the differences between the final battle and his previous battle against Cynthia. There were no real significant differences, save for the fact that either he, or the current Champion, Leaf, could specify a specific set of rules that had to be agreed to by both battlers. He thought back to the start of his journey, where Pikachu refused to do a thing he told him and the two were constantly fighting. Now, they were the best of friends. They had never really been servant and master, regardless of what others may have thought, but the bond between Ash and Pikachu was closer than the bond many human friends felt. Pikachu was family to Ash, and Ash to Pikachu. They had both come a long way, and all of it was culminating into a final battle to become a Pokémon Master.

He then thought back on the previous four battles that he and his Pokémon friends had fought in to get to this point. There had been new rules in these latest battles, the most notable being the use of held items by the Pokémon. In his first battle, a battle against the Pokémon Trainer, the Johto League Champion, Ethan, he had found out how powerful the current Champions of the various leagues really were. Despite being his first opponent, he was not the easiest by a long shot. However, as tough as Ethan was, he was not the toughest of the Elite Trainers that Ash had to face. By far, his most formidable opponent had been Cynthia, the current reigning leader of the World Pokémon League. Only the second in command, Lance, the former Johto League Champion until two years prior, he was bested by Ethan, was anywhere close to Cynthia in power. He had since rechallenged Ethan and had managed to pull off a win against the second member of the World Elite Four that Ash had faced in his journey to the top. Still, in his numerous battles with Cynthia, the tall blond woman came out on top in all of them. However, there was one Trainer that was superior even to her, two counting Ash. Ash's upcoming opponent had been the only one to have ever defeated Cynthia on more than one occasion. It was Ash's hope to defeat the true World Pokémon League Champion and be declared a true Pokémon Master.

Once he was ready, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and looked over at Pikachu and asked, "Are ya ready, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" came the electric type Pokémon's response. He then hopped up onto Ash's shoulder.

"Our next battle will be our toughest," Ash told his friend. "We'll need to be at our best if we're gonna win."

Pikachu nodded and clenched his fingers into fists, his cheeks sparking with electricity. Ash could only smile at Pikachu's confidence and determination. It echoed his own. He would not lose to his next opponent. He checked the Pokémon that he had chosen and made sure that he had a balanced team, for despite the fact that his opponent was the World Pokémon League Champion, he knew very little about her team save for the fact that she had a Venusaur that could Mega Evolve since he had battled her Venusaur with Charizard a year ago in an exhibition battle. He did not even know Leaf's real name. All he knew about her personally was that she was said to be from Kanto, or have started in Kanto and that she made a member of the Kalos Elite Four, Malva, look like a complete joke. Unlike the Elite Four members, the computers had little to nothing on the Pokémon she would use. Still, Ash would not let that fact bother him. He knew that he could still win. Once he had slung his backpack over his other shoulder, he left the lodge.

The trip to the indoor stadium was pretty short. Once he arrived at the stadium he scanned his surroundings. There was little security save for some cameras and the fact that the door had an electronic lock that could only be opened by a card key. The door was made of metal and was resistant to Pokémon attacks and many kinds of conventional explosives. On the lock was a single slot for the card and a red light, indicating that the door was currently locked. He went over to the door and drew out a card. He swiped it through the slot on the side and the red light turned green and the door slid open. Once the door was open, he made his way his way through and entered the stadium.

The walk down the hall to the main indoor stadium was relatively long and the lights that lined the hallway were quite dim. As he walked, he thought he could see a figure out of the corner of his eye in the shadows down a darkened corridor to his left. Pikachu also must have sensed something, for his ears quickly flicked back and forth and he alerted Ash to the presence of someone. Ash looked at the shadow where he thought that had seen the figure, but there was no one there. He did, however, find a note on the ground. Stooping down, he went over and picked it up. He opened it and read it. It read: Good luck, Ash. There was no signature at the end of it, but he felt as if he recognized the handwriting on the note, though it did not belong to his mother, Professor Oak, or any of his friends. He folded the note and placed it in his pocket, not knowing what to make of it, but staying on the lookout for any surprise guests that might show up. He then made his way to the indoor stadium.

He entered the stadium and slowly made his way to the field. The stadium was huge, the stands easily able to hold at least ten to maybe even twenty thousand people, something that surprised him for an indoor World Elite Four stadium, especially a stadium where the true Champion for a league that was only available by invitation, like the World Pokémon League. In the center of the arena, a massive high-definition television hung, with four screens on each side of a massive square. This must have been used to show the action more closely for the audience. Above the stands were other screens, likely showing the audience, and the Trainers, the status of the Trainers' Pokémon. He did not focus too much on the scenery and simply made his way to the field, which was a high tech turquoise translucent surface. He suspected that it would utilize holographic technology to simulate various terrains and other surfaces, a far cry from the other Pokémon Leagues that used normal pre-constructed fields for battles. There was a square that was marked for the Pokémon Trainer and he stepped up to it. He glanced across the field and saw that it was still deserted. Checking his watch and found that it was eleven fifty-three A.M. He still had seven minutes before being required to report.

He glanced up into the stands and saw that a good crowd had gathered and while the stadium was not yet filled to capacity, people were still coming in. He quickly searched for his mother and friends, quickly managing to spot them. Sitting a few rows up, and in the best position to see the battle, was his mother, Delia Ketchum, and Professor Samuel Oak, also called the Pokémon Professor and the one who had given him Pikachu. His mother wore a pink short-sleeved shirt and a blue skirt that fell to her knees and had brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Next to her on her right was Professor Oak, the one who gave Ash Pikachu. He had gray hair, black eyes, and wore a red oxford shirt with khaki pants, and a white lab coat over the shirt.

Sitting to the left of his mother were three of his other friends from his previous adventures. The first of his friends to his mother's left was May, a Pokémon Coordinator from the Hoenn region of Japan. She was the same age as Ash. She had brown hair that fell almost to her shoulders in the form of two locks that formed a dog ear-like pattern and blue eyes. She wore a red and white hair band with a bow, a sleeveless red shirt over a black sleeveless undershirt and black shorts. Sitting next to May was Dawn, a Pokémon Coordinator from Sinnoh who had dark blue to almost black hair that fell past her shoulders and blue eyes. She wore a sleeveless black mini dress with an incredibly short black and pink miniskirt along with long pink boots. She, too, was Ash's age. Next to Dawn was Tracey, an assistant to Professor Oak. He was around seventeen years old and had short, thick black hair and wore a green short-sleeved shirt with red shorts that came down to his knees.

As Ash looked up at his friends and his mother, he saw them smile and wave at him. He returned their smiles and then scanned the rest of the bleachers. After a cursory scan, he noticed a shadowy figure standing on the opposite side of the stands from his friends and mother. The figure made certain to keep himself, or herself, in the shadows so as to not be able to be identified, hiding among several other spectators. However, Ash could see that the figure was looking over at the stands on the opposite side of the stands. Ash noticed the figure's eyes focus on his mother and he almost glared at the figure. The figure then looked down at him and for the first time, he could see the figure more clearly. He was still unable to make out the figure's face, but he could see that the figure was male.

A chime soon sounded and a door on the other side of the stadium opened. Cynthia, a tall woman with long blond hair, wearing black pants, a black trench coat, and a black undershirt came out onto the battlefield. She was the leader of the Elite Four and second in ability only to the World Pokémon League Champion and Ash. She made her way out to the center of the battlefield and once she arrived, she looked over at Ash and gave a kind smile. She then pulled out a microphone and began the proceedings, proclaiming, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this special battle for the World Pokémon League Championship. Allow me to introduce the battlers for this Championship battle. To my left is the current Kanto League, Indigo Conference, Champion and Orange League Champion going on two years, Ash Ketchum!"

The crowd gave a standing ovation for Ash as he waved shyly at the crowd. He had not anticipated this battle being so heavily populated. He soon recognized that many of the occupants were Gym Leaders and other important Pokémon Trainers, as well as some specially invited spectators. He heard his mother cry from the stands, "Do your best honey!" He blushed as she called out to him and waved, beaming. He waved back at her, and all of his friends that were sitting near her, who returned his wave and smiled. Looking at the other half of the stands, he thought he saw the shadowy figure give a smile his way. However, when he looked up, the figure had darted back behind some of the spectators.

Cynthia then glanced to her right and the large entry door on the opposite end of the stadium opened. Light shone through the door, outlining a group of shadowy figures that were coming toward him. After a few seconds, the figures revealed themselves to be a human girl that he instantly recognized as Leaf, and six Pokémon. The Pokémon that accompanied the girl were a Venusaur, Starmie, Jolteon, Chandelure, Garchomp, and Tyranitar. Upon laying eyes on the girl, Ash was immediately fixated on her and he ignored her Pokémon, which upon thinking about it, surprised him since it was virtually unheard of for the opponent to reveal his or her Pokémon before the start of the battle. She looked to be the same age as he was, which would have surprised him had he not seen her battle in Kalos. She had black hair, which fell past her shoulders, and blue eyes. She wore a sky blue sleeveless shirt over a black sleeveless undershirt and a red miniskirt. Ash's gaze was fixated on the girl and he could not take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful, but not in a romantic sense, at least not to him, which was surprising since she was the same age as he was and was wearing a rather revealing outfit. If anything, a protective feeling came over him, which was really surprising for him.

She eventually arrived at took her place in the circle in at the other end of the field. He continued to stare at her and a feeling came to him. There was something familiar about her, and while he had never met her before, that he knew of, he could not shake the feeling that the two of them knew each other. "To my right is the current World Pokémon League Champion. She won the Kanto Pokémon League at the tender age of ten and the World Pokémon League Championship at the tender age of twelve. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present, Leaf!"

The crowd gave a standing ovation for Leaf. She merely gave a curt nod to the crowd as they cheered and then focused her gaze on the section of stands to her right. As Ash heard her name, he noted to himself that Leaf was not a common given name. In fact, he thought it sounded more like a codename, especially since no last name had been given and she had a Venusaur, a Grass-type Pokémon, as one of her Pokémon. Thinking for a bit, he remembered that Leaf was very famous in Kanto, for she had been the bane of Team Rocket, having defeated their leader, Giovanni, on three separate occasions and had brought Team Rocket to its knees on numerous occasions. It was said that Team Rocket had even placed a substantial bounty on her head. Rumor had it that it was six to seven figures. He did not know whether or not that was true, but given his own interactions with Team Rocket, when it was someone other than Jessie, James, and Meowth, he knew them to be quite powerful and dangerous. Anyone who could bring them to the brink of annihilation was a formidable opponent indeed.

Ash noticed her give a soft smile towards someone in the audience. Following her gaze, he saw that she was smiling towards the shadowy figure that was doing his best to hide from sight. He also noticed the shadowy figure flash a smile down towards Leaf, and give her a thumbs up. She gave one more smile before quickly turning to Delia and Ash's friends and flashing them a smile before turning towards Ash and focusing on him directly. His gaze met with hers and they both grinned. They both knew that they would win this upcoming battle. After a few moments, Cynthia spoke again. "This will be a six-on-six battle, no time limit. Each Pokémon will only be allowed the use of four moves in battle. In addition, only one Pokémon may be asleep or frozen at any given time. Also, only one Mega Evolution will be allowed per Trainer. The battle will end when all six of either Trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle. Deadly force is disallowed and will be cause for automatic disqualification, as well as prosecution, for both Trainer and Pokémon. Are there any questions?"

Ash shook his head. "No ma'am," he called in a loud, clear voice.

"I have no questions," Leaf began. Ash's eyes went wide with surprise and his mouth practically hung open, for he could have sworn that he recognized her voice from somewhere, only adding to the mystery of whether or not he had met her before, but could not place where he had heard it. "However, I do have a request. If it is okay with my opponent, I want Section One of the Old Rules to apply for this battle."

This request caused Cynthia's eyes to widen in surprise. "Old Rules?"

Leaf nodded. "Yes," she confirmed. "With Ash's permission, I want to invoke Section One of the Old Rules for this battle." She then focused on Ash, who did not know what she was talking about.

"What do you mean by 'old rules'?" he asked.

"Old Rules are the rules for the Pokémon League that were in place long ago when the leagues first began," Cynthia answered. "Among other things, the old rules allowed Trainers to have their Pokémon use deadly force in their battles. That is not what Leaf wants, though. Section One of the Old Rules stated that a Pokémon Trainer was like a general leading his or her troops into battle against an enemy army and general. As such, the Trainer was a legitimate target in the battle, and could also directly participate in the fighting as well. When most of the old rules were abolished fifteen years ago, Section One remained for five more years before finally being abolished, fearing that since humans were not as durable as most Pokémon, physically, that they could, and would, be hurt in the battles. As it is, for any of the Old Rules to be allowed for a battle, both sides must agree to the rule that is going to be used before the battle begins, though the use of deadly force is unauthorized even if all of the other Old Rules are invoked. Are you willing to accept Old Rules, Section One for this battle?"

For a moment, Ash was taken aback by the question. He had been taught, and it had been his experience, that Trainers were there to give commands to their Pokémon and to help bring out their full abilities on the battlefield, not participate directly in the fighting. He then looked at Leaf, who was carefully studying him. For a fleeting moment, he thought he had the feeling that she believed him to be a coward and a hypocrite; that he was someone who only cared about his own title of Pokémon Master, rather than about his Pokémon and that he did not really care about his Pokémon comrades. In addition, he could see in her eyes the question of whether or not his Pokémon had been brainwashed and forced to participate in this battle. Looking into her eyes, he quickly saw the accusation. It caused him to consider Cynthia's question. He had taken part in the action regarding his Pokémon fighting before, but that was mainly against Team Rocket, and that was a rare event that more often than not ended badly for him.

Staring across the battlefield, he saw Leaf turn to her Pokémon and ask them a question. He then saw each of her Pokémon give a nod as they answered her question affirmatively. As he watched her, could not shake the feeling that there was something familiar about her, despite the fact that he had never seen her before today. Looking at Pikachu, and then looking at her Pokémon, each of whom looked as if they would be willing to die for her, and her for them, he realized that if he really deserved his own Pokémon's loyalty, he would go through everything that they had; and the one thing that he had not yet done was take part in a Pokémon battle directly on the battlefield. He looked down at Pikachu and said, "Looks like today's gonna be a first for us." Turning towards Cynthia, he called to her in answer, "I accept Old Rules, Section One for this battle."

"You do realize that by accepting this Old Rule, that you will be a legitimate target, and combatant, in this battle, don't you?" Cynthia asked. "You can sustain a non-debilitating, non-fatal, attack from any of your opponent's Pokémon during this battle. And if you are taken down and rendered unconscious that your Pokémon will have to continue without you, possibly dooming them to defeat even if not all of your Pokémon have battled. Do you understand?"

"I do," Ash replied.

"Then this battle will be a six-on-six Pokémon battle with the Trainers also being combatants and commanders. The winner will be decided when one team's Pokémon, are unable to battle, or enter battle, and the Trainer, either gives up, is forced, or lands, outside of the battlefield, loses consciousness, or unfortunately, kills his or her opponent and/or any or all of his or her Pokémon. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am," both Trainers answered in loud and clear voices.

Cynthia then held up her right hand. "The battle will commence once the battlefield is chosen! Once three of either combatant's Pokémon has fainted, a new battlefield will be set."

As she was explaining this, the scoreboard above Ash and Leaf lit up and the symbols for the various types of battlefield, appeared. A green grassy image appeared for a grass battlefield, while trees appeared for a forest battlefield. Rocky images appeared for a rocky field, and the image of a pool appeared for a water field. There were also fire/lava and ice fields to choose from as well. Once the images appeared, an arrow pointed to one of the fields. In the press box above the stands, a controller then spun a dial near his station, which was shown on the scoreboard. The spinner continued to spin for several seconds until it slowed down, eventually coming to a rest pointing to the image of the grass field. The grass field image lit up and the battlefield before them suddenly glowed. After a few seconds, the glow died down and the image of grass could be seen on the field before them. Ash did not know for certain whether the holograms were tactile or not, but he suspected that they were and could be interacted with physically.

He glanced up at the scoreboard and the image of the grass field was replaced by the faces of both himself and Leaf. There were six slots next to each combatant to signify the six Pokémon that would be used. The slots were blank, but would be lit when each Trainer's Pokémon was sent out. Once the grass field had appeared, the final part of the pre-battle ceremony was determining who got to choose their Pokémon first. A circle with three red triangles and three green triangles appeared on the screen. A spinner then spun around and continued to spin until it landed on a red triangle. Cynthia turned to Ash and told him, "Ash, you have won the right to choose your Pokémon first, as well as been given the honor of initiating the battle." Cynthia brought down her hand in a chopping motion and cried, "Let the battle begin!"

Ash glanced down at Pikachu and asked, "Are ya ready, buddy?"

"Pika!" came Pikachu's enthusiastic response, the electric mouse clenching his fingers into fists with electricity crackling around his cheeks. He was quite ready for battle.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash proclaimed loudly enough that no microphone was needed to pick up on his voice.

"Go, Tyranitar," Leaf said in counterpoint, pointing towards a large, menacing bipedal dinosaur-like Pokémon with dark green armor, fangs, with its fingers and toes culminating into claws. A bluish gray diamond-shaped piece of armor covered its belly and it had a large number of spikes on its head, neck, back, and tail. Leaf's Tyranitar stepped forward onto the grassy battlefield, shaking the field with each step. Leaf had a confident look on her face, though she showed no signs of arrogance or cockiness. Tyranitar shared her confidence, and also her lack of arrogance. This would be a difficult battle for Ash, for while Leaf and her Pokémon were confident in their ability to win, they did not let their power go to their heads. As Tyranitar appeared on the battlefield, a sandstorm suddenly came into being, stunning Ash, as well as his friends up in the audience.

"A sandstorm?" Dawn blurted from up in the stands.

Professor Oak nodded sagely. "Tyranitar's ability is Sand Stream. It allows the Pokémon to summon a sandstorm when the Pokémon comes out onto the battlefield."

"Is there any way to dispel the sandstorm once it's summoned?" Delia asked.

"It will eventually dissipate on its own," Professor Oak answered. "Other than that, one of Ash's Pokémon would need to alter the weather, itself, if he wanted to get rid of the sandstorm."

Looking on, full of concern, May asked, "Does Ash have any Pokémon that can change the weather?"

"I don't know," Professor Oak answered. "I haven't seen the entirety of his team in quite a while. But from what I know, I doubt it."

The others then looked on with concern, wondering what Ash would do to counter the sandstorm, and Leaf's strategy.

Back down on the battlefield, Ash tuned out the announcer's play-by-play commentary and focused on the battle at hand. He was not concerned about the confidence of Leaf and her Tyranitar, for he had confidence in his Pokémon as well. Pikachu shielded his eyes from the buffeting of the sand as he tried to maintain his focus on Tyranitar. Ash, too was having some difficulty, but Leaf seemed to be having no issues whatsoever, having put on goggles to protect her eyes from the sandstorm. Locating Tyranitar, and pointing to the Pokémon, Ash called to Pikachu, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu's cheeks crackled with electricity and after a second, a yellow bolt of lightning was unleashed towards Tyranitar. While Pikachu had been powering his Thunderbolt, Tyranitar had not been idle. Several silver glitters of energy appeared around Tyranitar and grew larger as Pikachu unleashed his attack on Tyranitar. Despite the sandstorm limiting Pikachu's vision, his aim was true and the Rock/Dark-type Pokémon suffered a direct hit, tensing up a bit as it gave a growl of discomfort, though the attack was nowhere near strong enough to distract it from performing its technique. As such, the silver glitters grew in size until they became large, solid gray rocks. The rocks then imbedded themselves into the ground and burrowed underneath the ground until they were no longer visible.

Ash began to become concerned, for he did not immediately recognize the attack that Tyranitar used. "Be careful, Pikachu," he warned the electric mouse-like Pokémon. "She's up to something."

Up in the stands, Ash's Mother, Delia Ketchum, and the others looked down at the battlefield and were dumbfounded that Leaf's Pokémon had performed a move without being issued a command, as well as being concerned that Pikachu's Thunderbolt had inflicted such little damage to the Pokémon. "What attack was that?" Delia asked.

"Stealth Rock," Professor Oak replied.

"Tyranitar used Stealth Rock without being given an order?" Dawn blurted. "How would it know to do such a thing?"

"Don't underestimate Pokémon intelligence," came a voice from behind. It belonged to a young man in his late mid to late twenties with spiky red hair wearing a red and black suit with a similarly styled cape. "They are far smarter than you know. That's why Mi…I mean, Leaf," he paused, catching himself, "only uses volunteers for her teams. She doesn't even keep them in their Poké Balls, save for infiltration missions, and even then, she does not activate the Poké Balls' seals. For her and all of her Pokémon, this is training for far more important future endeavors."

The others turned and May, Professor Oak, and Delia recognized the newcomer as being Lance of the Elite Four. "How do you know so much about Leaf?" May asked.

"Leaf is one of the Pokémon G-Men," Lance answered. "She also battled and defeated me when she rose in the ranks of Pokémon Trainers and became the Kanto Pokémon League Champion. She and her Pokémon used the same tactics against me and the other Elite Four members that she is currently using against Ash. That and one other tactic that Ash will have to realize she can use, and exploit his end of it, if he wants to have any hope of defeating her."

"Leaf's a member of the G-Men?" May exclaimed in disbelief.

Lance nodded.

"How? She looks like she's no older than Ash!"

"Actually, she is Ash's age," Lance replied with a knowing smile that caused the others to wonder if there was something more to Leaf than met the eye. "And technically, she's not an official member, due to her age," he amended. "She's mostly a 'consultant', though she does participate in raids and in missions given by the agency." After hearing Lance's explanation, the group focused back down on the battle below them.

"Enough about Leaf, what about Ash?" Dawn blurted. "First Tyranitar uses its ability, Sand Stream, to summon a permanent sandstorm, and now it uses Stealth Rock to hit any Pokémon that switches into battle. How can Ash contend with this?"

"Trust in Ash," Lance answered calmly. "He's been in trouble before and managed to get out of it."

"Yeah, but not like this," Dawn replied. "Strategies like this would have taken down Trainers like Tobias, the Sinnoh League Lily of the Valley Conference Champion."

"This very strategy did defeat Tobias," Lance corrected, bringing a shocked gasp from both Dawn. "And she did it without losing a single Pokémon. The only difference then was that she used Cloyster, rather than Starmie, because Cloyster knows Toxic Spikes and Tobias used only Legendary Pokémon, none of which was a Poison-type, which would have negated the Toxic Spikes, and none of who also knew Rapid Spin or Defog. Toxic Spikes, combined with Stealth Rock and Sand Stream gave her a quick victory. She could switch to Pokémon that had a type advantage, or simply switch out a Pokémon that needed a rest, while Tobias was trapped into using a single Pokémon, or switch and have his Pokémon constantly take hits from Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes, in addition to the severe poisoning of his Pokémon, as well as them being buffeted by the sands."

"Has anyone managed to defeat Leaf?" Delia asked after hearing her feats.

Lance shook his head. "Not since she became the Kanto League Champion, no. As far as I know, Leaf is completely undefeated in battle. Ash has an uphill battle ahead of him. But it's not hopeless," he added reassuringly. "There's a first time for everything. Maybe Ash will be the first to defeat her. He is uniquely qualified for doing so," he added.

The others then nodded and returned their focus onto the battlefield. Delia, May, and Dawn, then cried in unison, "Come on, Ash. You can do it!"

Back on the battlefield, Tyranitar had finished setting its rocks into the ground. Pikachu stepped into the area where the rocks had burrowed beneath the surface in order to see if it was a trap that had been set. When there was no reaction, both Ash and Pikachu let out a sigh of relief. It was not a new move that he had never heard of. However, just as he was beginning to feel some relief, he could not help but feel a small chuckle coming from his opponent. Looking across the battlefield, he saw Leaf staring at Pikachu and Tyranitar. Ash, viewing this as his best chance to attack and inflict damage with a super effective attack, called out to Pikachu, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu complied and charged towards Tyranitar. His tail immediately shined a bright silver and he jumped towards the Rock/Dark-type Pokémon. He performed a forward somersault as he was about to strike Tyranitar when Leaf cried, "Tyranitar, return!" She held out a Poké Ball and a red beam erupted from it, striking Tyranitar. The large Pokémon immediately turned into a red blob of energy and was drawn back into the Poké Ball, riding the beam of energy. Once it was inside the Poké Ball, Leaf immediately opened the ball, and a blue glowing blob of energy emerged from the ball. The energy soon transformed back into Tyranitar and he took his place next to the other Pokémon of Leaf's team.

As for Pikachu, his Iron Tail attack slammed into the ground, gouging a hole that was at least a few meters in diameter and one meter deep. Leaf looked at the damage and was thankful that Tyranitar had not taken the hit, something that Ash managed to feel. Just as Tyranitar took his place back with the rest of the team, Leaf's second Pokémon stepped forward. This Pokémon was Garchomp. Garchomp was a dark blue Pokémon with a red underbelly that covered most of its abdomen. Its head was shaped like that of a Hammerhead shark, and it had fins protruding from its arms. It also had a dorsal fin and a tail that looked like a fish's tail. The Dragon/Ground-type Pokémon stepped forward and focused on Pikachu, who was beginning to look quite concerned at the prospect of facing a Pokémon like Garchomp when he was at a severe type disadvantage. Ash was also growing increasingly worried since Garchomp had come out without any order given by Leaf, and she appeared to not have any issue with Garchomp stepping out without authorization. It was almost as if this was the plan from the beginning.

Up in the audience, Ash's friends were shocked that Garchomp had stepped forward without a single word from Leaf. Dawn was dumbfounded that Garchomp had stepped onto the battlefield without authorization, and had grown even more concerned when Leaf smiled confidently, rather than recalled him. "She can switch Pokémon without giving any order?" she gasped, not bothering to hide her surprise.

"As stated before, don't shortchange Pokémon intelligence," Lance reiterated. "Leaf has trained her allies quite well. She is the general of this unit, but she is very willing to give her soldiers some leeway in the field, especially if it expedites the accomplishing of her mission. She wants her Pokémon to be smart enough to be able to switch in without any verbal commands or hand signals, and to use attacks against opponents without direction. That keeps her opponents on edge and allows her to play mind games without uttering a single word. It also allows her to participate in the fighting, adding another fighting unit to the battle. And, should the unthinkable happen and she be taken out of the fight, her Pokémon allies can continue the battle in her absence."

"But it's almost as if this was her plan all along," Delia stated, noticing Leaf's grin. "Leaf's grinning almost as if this is all going according to her plan."

"Garchomp is powerful," Lance told him. "But he is not her best Pokémon. For this team, that title belongs to Venusaur."

"Who also has a type advantage over Pikachu," Tracey chimed in. "And if Leaf's smart, Venusaur will also know Sleep Powder."

"Which makes it more likely that Garchomp entering the battle was the plan all along, since she has a lot of counters for Pikachu."

"In addition to Garchomp being part Ground-type and thus, immune to Sandstorm," Tracey added.

"But why not bring in Venusaur and force Ash to use Charizard or Glalie?" May asked. "It's almost a certainty that Charizard is on his team and Stealth Rock would devastate him. Not only that, but if Ash also has Glalie, it, too, would suffer heavier than normal damage due to Stealth Rock."

"We may find out shortly," Professor Oak replied. "I have a feeling that Leaf knows that Charizard is on Ash's team. She just wants to find out who the rest of Ash's Pokémon are. Her refusal to keep her Pokémon in Poké Balls does give Ash one advantage. He knows all of the Pokémon on her team and he can plan a strategy accordingly."

"Assuming she doesn't already know who's on his team," Lance muttered in an ominous tone, one that Delia and Professor Oak quickly caught onto. They both wondered how Leaf would know which Pokémon were on Ash's team. The group then focused on the battlefield intensely, waiting to see what Ash's next move would be.

Back on the battlefield, Ash called out to Pikachu, "Pikachu, return!"

Despite wanting to remain on the battlefield and battle Garchomp, despite his disadvantage, Pikachu obeyed and turned and ran to Ash. "You did great, buddy," Ash told his friend. He took out a Poké Ball and tossed it onto the battlefield. "Go Snorlax!" Ash shouted.

The ball arced through the air and at the apex of its arc, hovered for a moment and opened. A large blob of blue energy emerged from the ball and landed on the field. An instant after it touched the ground, the energy formed into a large, fat bipedal dark gray Pokémon with a tan underbelly and face appeared, sparks flying off of his body as he touched onto the ground. It also had stubby legs and large feet with three claws at the end of each foot, along with relatively small arms. The Pokémon let out a deep, "Snorlax," in anticipation of the upcoming battle. Ash gave a grin as Snorlax prepared to fight Garchomp. As soon as Snorlax had exited the Poké Ball, the ball closed and returned to Ash, who caught it and clipped it back onto his belt.

Leaf only grinned as Snorlax appeared on the battlefield. Ash could not help but notice that it seemed as if she was expecting him to use Snorlax, rather than a more obvious Pokémon like an Ice-type Pokémon or a Water-type that could use Ice-type attacks, like Blastoise or another of his Water-types, or even a Ground-type due to the sandstorm. Just as Snorlax landed on the field, the rocks that had been imbedded into the ground rose up and floated into the air. They spun around for a second before flying in towards the Pokémon, colliding with him. Snorlax gave a grunt of pain as he was crushed between the stone pillars. Ash let out a gasp. Stealth Rock! he thought as he frantically considered what his next course of action would be. Next, the sand from the sandstorm buffeted Snorlax and while the large Pokémon suffered barely any damage from the sandstorm, he did feel it, and every little bit would add up in a prolonged battle. He would not be given much time to think on his strategy, though, for Snorlax's appearance was Garchomp's cue to exit the battle. Garchomp leapt high into the air and landed back among the rest of Leaf's Pokémon team.

Once Garchomp had taken its position back with the rest of Leaf's team, another Pokémon came to take its place. This Pokémon was a dog-like Pokémon with yellow fur that formed yellow spikes on its rear, and a white, spiky collar. The yellow fur could also gain the sharpness of needles. Ash immediately recognized Jolteon as it came out onto the battlefield, having faced Jolteons in the past. This surprised him since Jolteon was not immune to the effects of Sandstorm. The sands buffeted against Jolteon and it gave a grunt. Leaf began to look a little concerned and was fingering one of the Poké Balls at her waist. Seeing that this was a type neutral match-up, Ash decided to test Jolteon's strength. "Snorlax, use Body Slam!" he cried.

Snorlax acknowledged the command and jumped high into the air, his trajectory taking him directly towards Jolteon. Jolteon stood there unconcerned, a ball of electricity forming in front of his mouth. Ash gritted his teeth, for he knew that Jolteon was about to use Volt Switch and switch with one of Leaf's other Pokémon. The ball of electricity leapt from Jolteon's mouth and scored a direct hit on Snorlax and before he could land on Jolteon, the Electric-type Pokémon sped away and another of Leaf's Pokémon came out onto the stage as Snorlax crashed into the ground, throwing up a massive cloud of dust and debris.

Looking out beyond Snorlax, Ash saw a Pokémon that resembled a chandelier was floating onto the stage; ghostly purple flames flickering on the four lamp-like structures on the sides of its head, as well as a flame coming up from the center of its head. He gave a scowl at the sight of Chandelure, a Pokémon whose line he had had bad experiences with in Unova. In fact, the Litwick and Lampent that he had encountered in a dilapidated mansion had been one of the few evil Pokémon that he had actually encountered. Ash then wondered why Jolteon had used Volt Switch. Looking over at Mia, he only saw her grinning. Mia? Where did that name come from? Was that Leaf's real name? He wondered what brought that thought on, and why it seemed to resonate with him so strongly. Who was she?

He did not know what to think and he froze for a moment as suddenly, a ring of gray energy balls surrounded Chandelure. Ash recognized the attack as Hidden Power, but did not know why it would be used for a second until he remembered that Hidden Power could take on the attribute of any attack type. The image of Hidden Power Fighting soon came to his mind and without thinking, he drew out Snorlax's Poké Ball and yelled, "Snorlax, return!" A red beam of energy emerged from the Poké Ball and struck Snorlax an instant before the Hidden Power energy orbs hit and the Normal-type Pokémon was recalled. The orbs struck nothing but air as they passed through the space that Snorlax had occupied an instant earlier and continued on until they crashed into the stadium wall well behind Ash. Ash grinned and selected another Poké Ball and tossed it towards the field. "Donphan, I choose you!"

The Poké Ball opened at the apex of its throw and again, a blue blob of energy was released. As with the other Pokémon that had emerged from Poké Balls, once Donphan came out, a series of sparks erupted from the Pokémon and Donphan gave a cry. Donphan was a light gray elephant-like Pokémon with a thick, dark gray to almost black band of hide that ran down his head and back. He also had four short legs with a dark gray band around each of them, as well as a pair of white tusks and elongated ears that were stiffly held to the side of his head. As soon as Donphan appeared on the battlefield, gray rocks rose from the ground and spun around the elephant-like Pokémon. They then converged on Donphan and collided with him. Since Donphan was a Ground-type Pokémon, though, he suffered only minimal damage and did not even grunt at the strike. Donphan then glared at Chandelure and gave a cry. The sands from the sandstorm that had been summoned by Tyranitar's Sand Stream buffeted against Donphan, but being a Ground-type Pokémon, the sandstorm did not affect him in the slightest. Ash realized that this was his chance to get rid of the Stealth Rock that had been placed onto the battlefield. "Donphan, use Rapid Spin!"

Donphan gave a cry and complied, curling up and appearing similar to a tire. Donphan then rolled in place, much like he would if he were preparing a Rollout attack. However, Donphan remained in place and began to dig up the ground. He rolled along the ground, digging it up, and exposing the stones from Stealth Rock. He barreled into the stones, but upon colliding with them, he was stopped mid-roll, unable to even dent them much less actually destroy them. Ash then heard Leaf call to him, "Rapid Spin doesn't work properly if you use it against a Ghost-type Pokémon. Even if you use it against the ground only, there's something about Ghost-types that throws off Rapid Spin." Looking out at Leaf, he saw her crossing her arms and smirking towards him.

Ash grimaced as Leaf gave him the advice. He had a feeling that there was something else going on, and he quickly realized what it was. Chandelure was simply floating there, a glow emanating from its body. Ash did not know what Chandelure was doing, and he did not care. He knew that he still had to get Chandelure off the battlefield so he could clear away the Stealth Rock. He knew that chances were that Starmie or Venusaur would be the next Pokémon called out and he hoped that Donphan would be able to weather the assault that either of those Pokémon would use against him. He called out to Donphan, "Donphan, use Stone Edge on Chandelure!"

Donphan gave a cry and raised his trunk as a series of white rings surrounded him. Stones from the ground soon rose to the rings and began to ride them. The Ground-type Pokémon targeted Chandelure, who was now in the process of powering a fire attack of its own. Before Donphan's attack was ready, Chandelure unleashed a blast of fire that looked like a human stick figure. As the Fire Blast was bearing down on Donphan, the Pokémon was finally ready to unleash his attack on the Ghost-type. A series of stones were then propelled towards Chandelure, several of the stones making contact with the blast of fire, while a few managed to fly around it and score direct hits on the Ghost-type Pokémon. Chandelure recoiled from the attack and gave a cry of pain as it was thrown backwards by the force of the super effective attack. However, it quickly recovered and continued to focus on Donphan.

Not too far ahead of it, its Fire Blast was focusing on the main strength of Donphan's Stone Edge attack. The stones collided with the fire, but since Chandelure had used Calm Mind to power up both its special attack and special defense abilities, the Fire Blast was too strong for the rocks. Although significantly weakened, it was eventually able to overpower the attack and score a direct hit on Donphan. Since it was weakened, though, Donphan only sustained moderate damage. He gave a grunt as he took the attack, its power forcing him to slide backwards a few feet, but he endured the blow and was ready to continue the battle. Chandelure was ready to attack again when Leaf's voice rang out from behind it. "Chandelure, return!" she cried.

A look of shock came across Chandelure's face as it turned to face Leaf, obviously questioning her command. "Return Chandelure!" Leaf reiterated more forcefully. "You're too valuable a Pokémon to risk against Donphan this early in the battle. Take a few moments to catch your breath. You'll be needed later on."

Eventually, Chandelure acquiesced to Leaf's wishes and it floated back to the main party of Pokémon. After that, Venusaur and Starmie then turned to face her. After a moment, she focused on Venusaur and said, "Venusaur, you're up."

"Saur," came a deep masculine voice in reply as Venusaur stepped forward. Venusaur resembled a cross between a toad and a dinosaur. It had dark blue-green skin with toad-like warts on its legs, but its most prominent feature was the large flower that had bloomed on its back. It was a red flower with six large petals with white spots on it, supported by a brown trunk that looked somewhat like a fat palm tree trunk. In addition, as a Bulbasaur, Venusaur had been Leaf's starter and was her most versatile and useful, if not necessarily her most powerful in raw power, Pokémon. As Venusaur stepped out onto the battlefield, Ash grimaced. He knew that Donphan would get one shot before being either knocked out or forced to switch due to the type disadvantage.

As Venusaur appeared on the battlefield, it was buffeted by the sands from the sandstorm and gave a grunt, but did not seem to be too heavily bothered by the sand. Ash used this opportunity to clear away the rocks from Stealth Rock, calling out to Donphan, "Donphan, use Rapid Spin to clear away the rocks from Stealth Rock!"

Donphan obeyed and curled onto a ball and rolled around Ash's side of the battlefield, digging up the ground. As he rolled, he came upon the rocks from Stealth Rock and barreled into them. This time, though, the rocks shattered upon impact. After a few more seconds, the rocks were cleared and it was safe for Ash to switch his Pokémon once more without fear of having to deal with Stealth Rock. Gripping Donphan's Poké Ball, Ash called, "Good job, Donphan. Return!" He then returned Donphan to his Poké Ball and selected another Pokémon. "Snorlax, I choose you!"

This caused Leaf to raise her eyebrows. "Snorlax again?" she blurted, seemingly surprised. Despite her outward appearance of surprise, Ash had a feeling that she was merely acting, as evidenced by her slight grin when Snorlax reappeared. "You really don't know how to face a Trainer like me, do you," she muttered inaudibly, though Ash seemed to hear her as clearly as if she had shouted it across the battlefield.

"Don't underestimate me or my Pokémon," Ash retorted.

"Your Pokémon?" Leaf called back. "The only ones that Pokémon belong to are themselves." Ash could tell that he had struck a nerve. He also got the impression that she was a little disappointed in him, as well as a little angry. "You're a fool Ash Ketchum. You think you care about your Pokémon when in reality, you're little different from the other Trainers that I've faced, and slaughtered."

Ash almost chuckled. She sounded like a member of Team Plasma. He began to think that he could use Mia's, there was that name again, anger against her when he noticed a cloud of blue dust appear over Snorlax. Suddenly realizing what was going on, he cried, "Snorlax, dodge the Sleep Powder and use Ice Punch!"

Snorlax did his best to dodge the Sleep Powder, but the Pokémon was unable to escape the powdery cloud. The blue cloud covered Snorlax and the massive Pokémon immediately fell asleep, collapsing onto the ground. As Snorlax fell asleep, Venusaur began to glow, and the plant on its back began to grow larger, indicating that it was either using Growth or powering up a Solar Beam. This was Ash's cue to bring back Snorlax. Holding out his Poké Ball, he called, "Snorlax return!"

A red beam issued from his Poké Ball, struck the sleeping Snorlax, turning him into a red blob of energy, and drew him back into the Poké Ball. Ash gave a grin. He had her, as evidenced by Mia's grimace. "Charizard, I choose you!"

Tossing a Poké Ball onto the battlefield, the ball opened and an orange European dragon-like Pokémon with a tan underbelly appeared on the battlefield with a flame on the end of his tail. The dragon-like Pokémon also wore a necklace that had a light orange stone with a red and yellow flame symbol in the center of it. Leaf grinned. She knew that this would be Ash's Mega Evolution Pokémon. Charizard gave a roar and belched out a stream of flame towards the ceiling. A white light appeared on the field beneath the Fire/Flying-type Pokémon, which Ash took to be a safeguard that would prevent Charizard from falling asleep due to a Pokémon attack. Mercifully, the sandstorm that had been raging on the field promptly vanished and Charizard had taken no damage. Venusaur, however, had not been idle during Charizard's entry onto the battlefield. It immediately went on the offensive and launched a Solar Beam attack on Charizard. Charizard saw the attack coming, though, and managed to dodge the yellow beam of light that was launched his way from the top of Venusaur's plant. The beam of light continued until it hit the ceiling, blowing a hole in it. Leaf then called, "Venusaur return!"

Venusaur immediately retreated from the battlefield with blinding speed, far more than Ash would have suspected given its size. The rest of the team then turned to Leaf, waiting for her orders since any number of them could go out and counter Charizard. She turned to Tyranitar and told him, "You're up again Tyranitar."

Tyranitar gave a roar and ran onto the battlefield. As he did so a sandstorm started brewing once more. Ash knew that this Charizard's cue to exit. Ash pulled out his Poké Ball and called him back, calling, "Charizard return!" Just before the beam was emitted from the Poké Ball to bring back Charizard, though, Tyranitar surged forward at Charizard and collided with him, forcing the air out of the dragon's lungs. Just then, the beam struck Charizard and he was drawn back into the Poké Ball, but not before suffering noticeable damage from Tyranitar's Pursuit.

Up in the stands, Ash's friends and mother looked down on the battlefield, their concern for how the battle was turning out evident on their faces. They had had a moment's relief when Ash had gotten rid of the Stealth Rock, but that moment was soon replaced when Snorlax had been put to sleep and Charizard took a strong hit from Tyranitar's Pursuit. While one attack did not decide a battle, the group was quick to notice that Ash had failed to land any serious blows on Leaf's Pokémon, the only noticeable hit being Pikachu's Thunderbolt on Tyranitar. Lance merely watched with a smirk. "She's doing it again," he said casually.

"What do you mean?" Delia asked.

"Leaf's battle plan is not simply to overpower her opponent, but to have her opponent beat himself," Lance explained. "Look at how she's battling. She's drawing out Ash's Pokémon and seeing what his team consists of. Ash has revealed four of his six Pokémon, and one of them is asleep, with another having taken a serious hit from a strong Pokémon of Leaf's. If this keeps up and it remains nothing more than a switching contest, Ash will lose, for when Leaf finally decides to go on the offensive for real, his team will have been worn down in the opening phase of this battle."

"This battle's not over yet," Tracey noted. He focused on Ash and his expression, and noticed him grinning. "And from the looks of things, Ash has a plan of his own."

Lance looked down at Ash, and then at Leaf, who seemed to be grimacing. "Well, well. It looks as if he may be catching on," he mused. He continued to focus on the two combatants, hoping that he was correct and that Ash was about to make a fight of it.

Back down on the field, Ash cried, "Donphan, I choose you!" He tossed the Poké Ball onto the field and it opened up, letting out Donphan onto the battlefield once more. Donphan gave a cry and stomped the ground. The sands of the sandstorm summoned by Tyranitar's Sand Stream buffeted the Pokémon, but did not inflict any damage. Ash grinned. It was time for him to correct a mistake that he had made earlier. "Donphan, use Stealth Rock!"

Several silver glitters rose from the ground and began to spin around Donphan, eventually growing into large, gray stone pillars. The stones soon imbedded themselves in the ground and were buried into the ground. As Donphan was setting up his Stealth Rock, Tyranitar set up its own. Ash had suspected that Tyranitar would set up a Stealth Rock, though, and knew that he would be able to pick his move, for Mia would be loathe to switch a Pokémon into a Stealth Rock. However, he did not want to leave Leaf's Stealth Rock on the battlefield, so he commanded Donphan, "Donphan, use Rapid Spin to clear away Tyranitar's Stealth Rock!"

Donphan gave a cry and curled itself into a ball and proceeded to roll around the battlefield and clear the Stealth Rock that Tyranitar had laid down. After the rocks were cleared, Donphan rolled straight towards Tyranitar and collided with the large Pokémon, forcing it back a few feet, but only inflicting minimal damage to it. Donphan immediately uncurled himself and Ash ordered, "Donphan, use Earthquake!"

Donphan then stomped the ground, causing it to shake. Just before his feet struck the ground, though, Leaf pulled out Tyranitar's Poké Ball and brought him back without saying a single word. Tyranitar was evacuated from the battlefield just as Donphan's feet slammed into the ground, causing it to shake violently. The shaking caused Leaf to lose her footing and concentrate on remaining upright. She wobbled on the ground, barely able to keep herself from falling until the shaking subsided. Once it had subsided, she called over to her team, saying, "Starmie, I choose you! Go!"

A purple starfish-like Pokémon with a red jewel in its center as its core jumped into the air and spun around as it floated onto the battlefield. It gave a high-pitched, feminine cry, despite being labeled in the official World Pokédex as being genderless. As it landed, several gray rocks emerged from the ground and floated into the air. They spun around Starmie and the Pokémon took to the air to try to evade them. However, the rocks zeroed in on Starmie like magnets and collided with it, causing it to give off a grunt of pain. Starmie quickly landed gracefully and gave a confident cry as it focused on Donphan.

Ash knew that with Starmie having appeared that it was time to bring out another Pokémon. Not wanting to give away the fact that he had a Serperior, as well as the fact that he did not want to reveal his strategy with Serperior, he decided to send in Pikachu. He called back Donphan, crying, "Donphan, return!" Once Donphan was drawn back into his Poké Ball turned to his starter and best friend said, "Are ya ready, Pikachu?"

Pikachu clenched his fingers into fists and gave an enthusiastic, "Pika!"

"Then go!" Ash cried, pointing towards Starmie.

Pikachu rushed onto the battlefield, electricity sparking from his cheeks, eager to take on Starmie. Leaf, however, did not think like Ash and was unwilling to send in a Pokémon that had a type disadvantage unless she either had no other choice, or it was a part of a plan. As Pikachu was summoned to the field, though, Starmie had used Rapid Spin to clear away the rocks from Donphan's Stealth Rock. Now both sides of the field were clear of any entry hazards. Knowing that Leaf would not want it to remain in a situation where it had a significant disadvantage, it retreated from the battlefield. As soon as Starmie had retreated, Garchomp stepped forward, about to jump onto the battlefield when it was stopped by Leaf's cry. "Wait!"

Garchomp stopped in its tracks and it, along with the rest of the team, turned to focus on her. She knew that if Garchomp appeared on the battlefield, that Ash would immediately bring in his Blastoise to deal with it, which she could deal with by using either Jolteon or Venusaur, but she decided to throw him for a loop, and give him the idea that she was beginning to get impatient with all of the switching that was going on. She smirked as she said, "Jolteon, engage."

The dog-like Pokémon stepped onto the battlefield, prompting Ash to grin. She had lost her patience and was challenging the strength of his Pokémon directly with this choice. As Jolteon stepped onto the battlefield, both it and Pikachu were buffeted by the sandstorm, taking minor damage from the attack. It was then that he began to wonder why she had suddenly decided to go this route, rather than keep chipping away at his Pokémon's health with each switch. He also considered sending in another Pokémon to deal with Jolteon, but decided against it, for he, too, was fed up with beating around the bush. He wanted to face her directly for the first time and get this battle going. He would play her game. After all, Pikachu was one of his strongest Pokémon, and he knew that Pikachu could defeat Jolteon. He did not notice Leaf's grin as he kept Pikachu in the battle.

Up in the stands, Delia and the others watched the battle and noticed that Leaf had sent out Jolteon to deal with Pikachu, rather than allowing Garchomp to fight, or even sending in Venusaur. "Looks like she's getting impatient and finally decided to fight Ash up front," Dawn noted with a sense of satisfaction.

"Don't be so sure," Lance cautioned. "Leaf always has a plan. And if you notice, it's Leaf whose grinning right now."

Professor Oak nodded. "And Ash isn't switching to another Pokémon. I fear that he doesn't know what he's in for."

"What do you mean, Professor?" Dawn asked.

"Jolteon's ability is Volt Absorb," Oak explained. "If Pikachu uses his Electric-type moves on Jolteon, Jolteon will merely absorb them and use them to restore its own health. Not only that, but even though Jolteon is restricted to four moves, if it charges up its fur, it can cause its fur to stand on end and become as sharp as needles, making an already not very effective Iron Tail, hazardous for Pikachu to use. And the danger doesn't go away if Pikachu decides to use Quick Attack, either."

"I see," Dawn replied as she focused back on the battlefield below. "Come on, Ash, you can do it," she said waveringly as Pikachu and Jolteon were about to do battle.

Ash initiated the battle when he pointed at Jolteon and yelled, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu gave a cry as he hunkered down for a few seconds and then launched himself at Jolteon with blinding speed. Jolteon was ready, though, and use a weak Thunderbolt on itself to cause its hair to stand on end and become needle-like. Pikachu scored a direct hit on Jolteon, forcing the dog-like Pokémon back a few steps, but it was Pikachu who came out the worse for the wear. Jolteon's hair had managed to prick Pikachu and, while he was not bleeding, the attack had been quite uncomfortable, giving a grunt of discomfort as he jumped away upon making contact with Jolteon's needle-like fur. Ash quickly realized that he had to come up with a new strategy. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Jolteon's head!"

Pikachu obeyed, charging towards Jolteon as a bright silvery glow flashed around his tail before it appeared to be covered in metal. Jolteon merely stood still as Pikachu attacked and opened its mouth, a purple orb of energy appearing in front of it. All the while, both Pokémon were being buffeted by the sandstorm. As Pikachu approached, he swung his tail at Jolteon, but just before he managed to score a hit, Jolteon sped away from Pikachu, causing Pikachu to hit nothing but air. Once Jolteon was a safe distance away from Pikachu, it unleashed its Shadow Ball towards the electric mouse. Without direction, Pikachu used Quick Attack to speed away from the Shadow Ball, barely managing to avoid it. The ball landed a few feet away, where it gouged a crater into the battlefield, blasting a hole that was at least three meters in diameter and one and a half meters deep. Both Ash and Pikachu's eyes went wide at the power of Jolteon's Shadow Ball. Ash knew that Pikachu would have to make this a ranged battle quickly, for that would be the only real way that he would be able to inflict damage to Jolteon without taking a serious hit in return. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he cried.

Pikachu complied and powered the electrical attack. Once it was powered, a bolt of lightning was unleashed upon Jolteon. Once the bolt of lightning struck Jolteon, electricity arced across its body, but it inflicted no damage at all. Instead, it healed Jolteon from all of the damage that it had taken from the sandstorm. Once Jolteon was healed, Leaf called out to it, "Jolteon, you've done great. Return!"

Jolteon then ran back to the rest of the team and Leaf opened Tyranitar's Poké Ball and the large Rock/Dark-type emerged. Once he was out, she looked him in the eye and asked, "Are you ready?"

Tyranitar nodded.

"Go!" Leaf said, pointing to Pikachu.

As Tyranitar stepped onto the battlefield, Ash was surprised, as was everyone else, that she had sent out Tyranitar. While Tyranitar was quite powerful, he had no real type advantage over Pikachu, and Jolteon had shown that it was able to neutralize all of Pikachu's electric moves, and was only vulnerable to Quick Attack and Iron Tail, the latter of which had a type disadvantage against Electric-type Pokémon, while Jolteon had at least one powerful ranged attack that could inflict significant damage to Pikachu if it hit.

Ash looked over at Pikachu and said, "I'm through switching. If you want, Tyranitar's yours."

Pikachu gave a grin and cried, "Pika!" Ash took that to mean that Pikachu was ready to go. He then declared, "Alright Pikachu, go and use Thunderbolt on Tyranitar!"

Pikachu's cheeks began to spark as he powered the Thunderbolt. As he did so, Tyranitar set up another Stealth Rock on the battlefield, causing Ash to grimace. As soon as he was finished, Pikachu had unleashed the Thunderbolt on Tyranitar. Electricity arced across Tyranitar's body upon impact and the massive Pokémon demonstrated its discomfort by giving a groan. However, it did not seem to take much damage from Pikachu's attack. Ash grimaced as he saw Tyranitar withstand the attack and then a series of white rings form around him. He knew what came next. He called out to Pikachu, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

As the rings were still forming, Pikachu used Quick Attack on Tyranitar and with blinding speed, closed the distance between him and the massive Pokémon. When he hit Tyranitar, the Pokémon barely felt the attack, but that was not Ash's goal. He then cried, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Tyranitar."

A bright white glow immediately engulfed Pikachu's tail and he jumped into the air, flipping forward, trying to bring his tail down on Tyranitar's head. Tyranitar, however, raised his left arm and caught Pikachu's tail, shocking both Pikachu and Ash. With tremendous force, he threw Pikachu to the ground and used Stone Edge on him. Pikachu, however, was quick to recover and managed to avoid the initial barrage of stones using quick attack. Tyranitar, however, had anticipated the point where Pikachu would stop to catch his breath and launched the rest of the stones at that point. One of the stones landed right in front of Pikachu, prompting him to flee from the remainder of the barrage. He managed to avoid a second stone, but the rest of them zeroed in on him and scored direct hits on the Electric-type Pokémon. Each hit forced Pikachu backwards, causing him to grunt with the attack. The last stone sent Pikachu flying into the air and he crashed into the ground a few feet away, skidding to a halt. He quickly recovered, though, and fired off another Thunderbolt at Tyranitar. Again, the increased special defense of Tyranitar due to the sandstorm limited the damage that the Rock/Dark-type Pokémon took, but Pikachu's attack did manage to do something worse to Tyranitar. Yellow sparks of electricity arced across Tyranitar's body as he went to launch another attack but was unable to move. He had been paralyzed. Seeing this, Ash had Pikachu take the initiative, calling, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Tyranitar!"

As soon as the order was given, Pikachu's tail transformed into metal once more and he jumped into the air. He spun around and was about to ram his tail into Tyranitar's head when he was blindsided by an unknown attacker. He felt a weight collide with him abdomen and slam him to the ground. Ash's eyes went wide as he looked out onto the battlefield through the sandstorm and found Leaf, rubber gloves covering her forearms, pinning Pikachu to the ground. Pikachu was struggling against her strength, but she kept her hands on him, pushing most of her weight on him, keeping him pinned. He tried to use Thunderbolt to shock her and give himself an opportunity to get off, but her rubber gloves, a feature that she did not have before, insulated her hands and kept her safe from his attack as she covered his cheeks with her hand. "That won't work on me, Pikachu."

On the ground, Pikachu looked up and saw that his attacker was none other than Leaf, herself, something that greatly surprised him since Trainers rarely entered the battle along with their Pokémon, and never during official tournaments or Elite Four battles. Just then, though, he noticed something else about her that greatly surprised, as well as disturbed him. She smelled very similar to Ash, despite being a girl, and despite the fact that he had never seen her once before, and it was clear that Ash had never met her before, either. His ears perked up as he noticed her smell, and turned his head to look back at Ash, who stood there, frozen. "Yes, Pikachu," Leaf said, confirming his suspicion. "Your suspicions are correct. Now we'll see just how much my brother really cares about you and the others." She then kept him pinned as a large shadow came over the two of them. Looking up, Pikachu saw Tyranitar looming over them, a menacing grin on his face and several circles surrounding his body, a clear sign that he was powering Stone Edge. And with Leaf pinning him flat with her rubber glove-covered hands, he was helpless to do anything to save himself.

Ash watched from the edge of the battlefield, shocked to see Leaf pinning Pikachu to the ground. He had never felt so helpless before. Pikachu struggled to rise, attempting to shock Leaf with a Thunderbolt once more, but failing once again, as several rocks formed on the glowing energy rings around Tyranitar. Tyranitar was slow to power and unleash his attack, looking at Leaf as if he were waiting for orders. Through the sandstorm, Leaf looked up at Ash and glared. "So, are you just going to stand there or help him?" she asked harshly, motioning towards Pikachu.

Ash fingered a Poké Ball and drew it out. He knew that Pikachu did not like Poké Balls, but he also knew that if Pikachu took a direct hit from that Stone Edge, he would suffer a great deal of damage, if not be rendered unable to battle. After a few seconds, Ash decided that it was his only real option to get Pikachu out of danger. "Pikachu, return!" he cried as he held up Pikachu's Poké Ball and fired a red beam at him.

"Wrong move!" Leaf cried as she intercepted the attack, moving between Pikachu and Ash and raising her gloved hand to intercept the red beam. Despite the rubber taking the hit, the beam washed over her and stunned her for a moment. However, even though she was stunned and Pikachu was suddenly able to move, it was not enough to save him, for Tyranitar unleashed the full fury of his Stone Edge on the electric mouse from point blank range. Gray rocks rained down on him, bombarding the Electric-type Pokémon. Pikachu grunted with each hit and tried to focus enough to launch a counterattack in order to stop Tyranitar's assault, but he was too weak.

After a few seconds, the rain of stones mercifully stopped and Pikachu was able to try to move. However, he had suffered a great deal of damage from the attack and was struggling to rise. Leaf eventually backed off a bit, standing next to Tyranitar, who turned to her as if asking whether or not he should finish Pikachu. She replied, "Finish the fight."

Tyranitar nodded and focused on Pikachu, who was unsteady in his gate. Not wanting to waste energy using Stone Edge, Tyranitar ran towards Pikachu, intending to finish him using basic martial arts. Ash, seeing Tyranitar charging Pikachu, called, "Pikachu, return!"

Pikachu immediately turned to Ash and rushed towards him. However, Tyranitar used Pursuit and instantly caught up with Pikachu. He collided with the mouse and sent him flying through the air, and into the wall. Pikachu smashed into the wall, severely cracking it, and sliding down, unconscious. Upon seeing that Pikachu was unconscious, Cynthia held up the green flag and declared, "Pikachu is unable to battle. Tyranitar is the winner!"

Ash rushed over to Pikachu and held him, cradling him in his arms. Pikachu slowly opened his eyes, looking sad, and weakly croaked, "Pikapi." He then winced, in obvious pain from the attack.

Up in the stands, Ash's friends and family looked down at the battlefield glumly. "Pikachu lost!" May noted warily. "And Leaf directly fought in that battle!"

"Mm hmm," Professor Oak echoed, nodding. "And from the looks of it, it appeared as if Pikachu and Tyranitar were relatively evenly matched before Leaf entered the battle."

"Ash forgot the rules," Lance said from behind the rest of the group. "He was caught off guard by Leaf entering the battle directly and fighting alongside Tyranitar. Unfortunately, for him, she'll likely see his lack of entering the fight to save Pikachu to mean that he doesn't care about his Pokémon when nothing could be further from the truth. In her mind, actions speak far louder than words."

"How will that affect their battle?" Delia asked.

"It will make her focus more on beating Ash," came Lance's answer. "She's already a Champion Trainer and is far more experienced than Ash in fighting high-level battles like this. Her experience, combined with her powerful Pokémon will give her a significant edge over Ash. However, it's not too late for him to turn the tide. He'll just have to do what she does and truly fight alongside his Pokémon. If he doesn't, then he'll never beat her." He then focused on the battle and quietly said to Ash, "Don't let her accusations get to you. Remember the rules, and trust in your Pokémon friends and you'll be fine."

Back down on the battlefield, Ash cradled Pikachu and looked into his eyes, his face beaming, trying to reassure Pikachu. "You did great Pikachu," he said kindly. "You deserve a good, long, rest."

"He most certainly did better than his useless coward of a Trainer, that's for sure," Leaf scoffed contemptuously from the middle of the battlefield.

Ash turned to face her and glared. "What's the meaning of that, Mia?"

Leaf scoffed, ignoring the use of her given name. "I'm following the rules," she retorted with a shrug. "Trainers are allowed, and expected, to fight alongside the Pokémon they send into battles. They're a team, not master and slave. I guess you aren't as close to Pikachu as you wanted us to think." She then gave a cocky grin.

Her accusation and seeming arrogance infuriated Ash and he cried, "You're wrong! We'll beat you and show you that our bond is strong, stronger than anything!" He then took out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. "Donphan, I choose you!"

Donphan's Poké Ball then opened, releasing the Ground-type Pokémon onto the battlefield. Just as Donphan appeared, several gray stones rose from the ground, spun around, and converged on him, colliding with him but inflicting minimal damage. Ash then stood there, glaring at Leaf, who merely quipped, "This time, you might actually want to fight alongside your Pokémon." This merely prompted a glare and growl from Ash. The second phase of the battle had begun.