Chapter 2
The chef prepared lunch. The gang waited patiently for the food.
"Oh right!" Axel said. "Serena, can you help with something?"
"Uh, sure?" Serena replied.
They walked to the porch door and stepped outside. Then, Axel whistled as loud he could.
"Lunchtime, everyone!" He yelled.
There was initially silent. Then, the ground began to rumble. And from within in the gardens, some Pokemon ran towards the house. Serena took cover. But the Pokemon stopped in front of Axel. The Pokemon were Infernape, Staraptor, Azumarill, Misdreavus, Flareon, Beedrill, Aggron, Pichu, Haxorus, Cryogonal, Torterra, Empoleon, Snivy, Chandelure, Gastrodon, Electivire, Glaceon, Bisharp, Ambipom, Vivillon, Gigalith, Croagunk, and Floette.
"Ready to eat?" Axel asked. The question was answered by a chorus of happy roars and growls.
Serena stood up and saw all of Axel's Pokemon. She was surprised. She had never seen this many Pokemon all in one place before. Ash saw this and sent out his own Pokemon, followed by everyone else.
"Come on out, everyone!" He called as Fletchinder, Hawlucha, and Froakie came out.
"Lunchtime!" Serena sang as Fennekin came out.
"Feeding time!" Clemont called as Chespin and Bunnelby appeared.
Soon, everyone was happily chewing and munching their way through the food. They had pleasant conversations here and there. Even the Pokemon were enjoying their company together. For example, Electivire and Pikachu chattered a couple times and Staraptor shared some of its food to Fletchinder, much to Chespin's dismay.
After lunch was over, everyone decided to relax and take in the fresh air on the port. All the Pokemon were playing together in the gardens. Dedenne jumped all over Torterra's back, Hawlucha was chasing after Misdreavus and Chandelure after the two pulled a prank on it and Bisharp was holding Hawlucha back, Staraptor was flying around with Fletchinder, and etcetera.
"Your Pokemon are so kind!" Bonnie complimented.
"Not to mention powerful looking, too." Clemont commented. "Especially your Infernape."
"Guess so." Axel stated. "Infernape was my first Pokemon, after all."
Everyone gasped when he said that.
"That means you evolved it all the way from a Chimchar?" Ash asked.
"Bingo." Axel commented.
"You see, my nephew started his Pokemon journey from Sinnoh." Diantha explained. "My sister lives there with her husband."
"And after he got all the badges there, and moved onto the next region!" Korria added. "And in a long story short, he's now here, taking a break."
"A break?" Ash asked.
"You see; I only need two more badges to enter the Kalos League." Axel explained. "But after the sixth, I think me and my Pokemon could use for a nice long rest."
"So I had him stay here." Diantha finished. "He quickly became friends with Korrina here."
"Yep!" Korrina said.
Right then, Ambipom appeared and took Serena's hat. It laughed and ran away.
"Hey! Give it back!" She cried, chasing after it. After a bit scuffling, she got her back though.
"Sorry about that." Axel apologized. "Ambipom likes to do a lot."
"Is it okay if we see all your badges?" Clemont asked suddenly. "I would love to see what you got."
"Sure." Axel replied. "Follow me."
The gang followed Axel into a hallway. There were picture frames with every badge he has ever earned. And they range from Kanto to Kalos League Badges, the Battle Frontier Symbols, and Contest Ribbons.
"Wow…" Bonnie sighed. "It's amazing…"
"Yeah…" Axel sighed. "Pretty proud of myself."
Ash looked at the Battle Frontier Symbols. He had all seven.
"Wow! You have all seven Battle Frontier symbols?" Ash asked cheerfully.
"Yeah." Axel answered. "The guys took quite a beating from Brandon, though."
"I feel ya." Ash chuckled.
"The Battle Frontier? What's that?" Bonnie asked.
"It's a group of facilities, somewhat like gyms, only a lot more intense." Axel explained. "And you battle a group of amazing trainers called Frontier Brains. Brandon's the most powerful one of all. Everyone calls him the Pyramid King."
"What about these?" Serena asked, looking at the Contest Ribbons.
"They're so pretty!" Bonnie commented.
"Those are Pokemon Contest Ribbons." Axel answered.
"Pokemon… Contest?" Serena and Bonnie asked.
"They're sort of like Showcases, but not as complex." Axel explained again. "They have appeal and battle rounds. Your Pokemon are the main stars. All you have to do there is make sure your Pokemon look good when performing a move."
"I'm… not sure what you mean." Serena said sheepishly.
"I'll show you." Axel offered. "Come outside."
They followed outside to the battlefield. The Pokemon were still playing together.
"Hey, Electivire! Cryogonal!" Axel cried.
The two Pokemon walked over.
"You two remember the Thunder Palace?" Axel asked.
The two nodded.
"Try it." Axel suggested.
The two Pokemon got into position. Electivire started first. It used Thunder straight at Cryogonal. Before the attack landed however, Cryogonal used Gyro Ball. As soon as it landed on Cryogonal however, the Thunder shot in every direction down diagonally, surrounding Electivire in a rotating dome of its own Thunder. Then, Cryogonal shot Ice Beam around the Thunder, freezing the Thunder inside. It stopped moving when the freezing stopped. Right then, Electivire used Thunder Punch on the ground, shattering the iced up Thunder, which resulted in the Thunder shooting right to the center and exploding like an electric firework. Electivire and Cryogonal smiled together.
"And… scene!" Axel said.
Everyone clapped loudly.
"That was so cool!" Bonnie cheered.
"I didn't know you could do that!" Serena commented.
Ash, after he had done clapping, spoke up.
"Hey, Axel." He began. "You sure left a mark with me. How about a battle?"
Axel thought for a short second. Then he smiled. "Sure."
Ash called out to his Pokemon, while Axel called out to his.
"Well, isn't he battle-crazy?" Korrina commented.
"That's Ash for you." Serena replied.
