Hey! Not too sure about this chapter. Hope you like it.

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"Phew..."

Aaron wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "That was close..."

"I thought the kid was a goner there," Flint agreed.

Inside the presidential box, the all members of the Elite Four and former Champion each wore identical expressions of relief at the sight of Darkrai down and out on the field.

"But..."

Flint leaned backwards, a crooked smile growing across his face.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. That kid is good."

"I said there was no need for concern," Bertha admonished, a pleased expression on her face never-the-less. "The boy will pull through this one yet."

"That was only one pokémon though..." Cynthia reminded them, her gaze still fixed on the scene in front of her, listening carefully as the referee confirmed what their eyes were telling them. "Tobias still has five more. And they could be a lot worse than Darkrai."

"Worse than a legendary pokémon?" Flint scoffed. "I doubt it."

"While it's true we shouldn't jump to any hasty conclusions," Lucian continued carefully, "I can't help but feel Ash might have at least broken the backbone of Tobias' team. Darkrai was the one pokémon he used to use for everything, so logic tells us that the rest of his team may not be as powerful. Of course there's still Latios..."

"Ash took down Latios last time though," Aaron replied quickly. "He can do it again. But don't forget, Tobias didn't use either of those pokémon against us. His plain old regular pokémon were strong enough to wipe us off the board. Just remember that Feraligatr... And I wish Ash nothing but luck if he comes up against that Weavile."

"That's right," Bertha agreed, tapping her cane on the floor again. "Personal pride aside, Tobias crushed us with what some would consider normal pokémon. So it's clear that while Darkrai is defeated, the others on his team will be equally strong, if not more so, regardless of whether they hold legendary status or not."

"Probably stronger," Lucian muttered. "I hate to say it, but on second thoughts, Darkrai has been beaten. Other than paralysis, it didn't look like Feraligatr even took a scratch away from its bout with Pikachu."

The group fell silent for a long moment after this remark.

"Ash can still beat him," Aaron suddenly stated. "I mean, look what he just did to Darkrai."

"We're about to see if you're right," Cynthia replied softly as she saw the challenger down below pull another pokéball out and toss it high into the air. "Looks like we're about to see what else Tobias has up his sleeve."

A brief flash of light suddenly lit up the top of the stadium, followed closely by a deafening shriek.

"Oh, you've got to be freaking kidding me!" Flint exclaimed.

...

"Oh. My. God!" Dawn uttered, covering her mouth in shock, the Penguin pokémon below likewise stunned into silence.

"What the... another one?"Gary exclaimed loudly, his own mouth hanging open.

Moltres replied to the gasps of horror with another deafening primeval shriek. Bright orange flames poured out the back of its wings as it circled the top of the stadium twice, before slowly descending. The legendary Flame pokémon landed gently to its master's front, facing the Pallet trainer with open hostility in its eyes. Misty gazed down at Ash with wide, unbelieving eyes of her own.

The Champion just seemed to be standing there, frozen in place with Lucario's pokéball still in his hand, also transfixed on the legendary bird to his front with a gaping mouth. Misty could easily guess what he was thinking. Of all the pokémon they'd predicted Tobias to use, this was the last thing they'd been expecting. Darkrai and Latios sure, but for some reason neither of them had imagined for a moment Tobias might have a third legend hidden up his sleeve. Why would they, legendary pokémon were extremely rare and almost impossible to capture. In fact, it was utterly amazing in itself that such powerful creatures would obey any human master.

Misty took a long shallow breath, a thousand thoughts flying through her head all at once.

How on earth had Tobias managed to acquire another legendary pokémon? Pokémon like Moltres didn't exactly pop round in the middle of tea and toast and say "Hello." Who was Tobias really? Very little was actually even known about the trainer, there hadn't even been a hint of a home region, let alone anything else. And what about the rest of his unrevealed team? Other than Feraligatr, were the rest of his team legendary too? And if they were, how on earth could Ash have even the slightest hope of winning?

"Well folks, I can't quite believe what my eyes are telling me," the commentator began, his hesitating voice again booming across the battlefield. "But it seems Tobias has also managed to capture himself a Moltres! What a sight!"

Beside the commentator the President of the Pokémon League, Charles Goodshaw, stared forward in absolute disbelief. At the rate this battle was going, it could be even worse than the one in which Ash had gained his title.

...

What the, Moltres...!?

Ash stared forward, his brain numbly telling him that what he was seeing was actually reality. The last time he'd seen the fire pokémon of legend, it had been all the way back when he was eleven, travelling through the Orange Islands. Although this was undoubtedly a different Moltres he was seeing here (or at least he hoped, Ash had no desire to play the Chosen One role again), it was still a stunning sight to behold.

"Reminiscing Ash?"

The Pallet trainer shot a startled gaze at his opponent. "Huh?"

How did he know that?

The legendary-owning trainer simply laughed lightly in return as Ash stared at him, confused. While still not giving much away, Tobias did look slightly pleased at the reaction his newly-released legendary pokémon had created. The crowds were going wild, cameras around the edges of the arena walls were fixed on the fiery flying creature and Ash knew its image (and his) would now be playing around the world. This was unheard of after all, breaking news, no one else in known history had ever owned and trained such a pokémon. And now Ash was the one who was meant to fight it.

Panic began to creep into his very bones. Defeating Darkai with only Lucario had felt like a miracle at the time.

Ash had prepared himself mentally and in training to face Darkrai and Latios again, he had never thought for one moment Tobias had more than those two legends he'd known of on his team. He'd just figured after those two, he'd be facing the pokémon Tobias had used previously against the Elite Four.

Now what do I do?

How was he meant to improvise when faced with... with that?

"So Ash... what's your next choice going to be?" Tobias now asked, a look of supreme confidence now on his face.

Ash gave himself a little shake, breaking the shock that had temporarily settled over his system. Tobias thought he could simply win by throwing powerful creatures at him, did he? Well Ash had met a few rare creatures in his life, some far more powerful than a mere Moltres (even if he'd heard it once called 'The Titan of Fire'), and it would take more than that to scare him.

It's fine. I beat Darkrai so I can beat Moltres. It's gonna be tough, but I'll figure something out. Nothing to worry about.

"Pikapi..."

Ash glanced down, meeting his starter's worried gaze. "It's okay Pikachu. We've got this one."

The Champion placed Lucario back on his belt, then began to run his fingers over the remaining four, thinking hard, before selecting one and pulling it out. Pikachu would have again been the ideal choice, but Ash felt reluctant to allow his starter out into the battle again after his first, almost disastrous battle against Tobias's feraligatr without at least giving him a longer chance to recover some of his energy.

I can't use Pikachu again so soon.

Making things even tougher was Moltres's flying capabilities. The typical choice of a water type would prove useless. Even the most powerful ocean-dwellers could not hope command water attacks that would out-range fire or electricity. The former was subject to gravity after all, the latter two mere forms of energy.

"So, what will Ketchum send out to counter this fiery phoenix?" the commentator questioned.

Ash took a deep breath, then looked down to the pokéball in his hand. Moltres gave another ear-rendering shriek.

"Swellow, I choose you!"

...

Hundreds of miles away in the middle of a small city, a small family sat gathered round a television, all four sets of eyes fixed on the screen in front of them.

"Swellow?"

The youngest of the bunch, although now nearing his seventeenth birthday, exclaimed loudly at the sight of the Swallow pokémon on the screen. The teenager pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose to help his eyes focus better as he stared intently forwards.

"Why Swellow?"

The man sat in the armchair behind his son leaned forward, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. Although his hair had begun to grey and recede, he was still respected as one of the most powerful gym leaders in all of Hoenn.

"I'm sure he has a plan Max."

"Maybe Ash just didn't plan on facing something like Moltres when he chose his team..." the boy's twenty-two year old sister replied, her face worried.

"Well, I'm sure Ash will come through it okay," the girl's mother stated, for the benefit of her two grown-up children more than anything else.

It saddened Caroline slightly that one of the few times she had the family together could quite probably be marred by the event of the family's long-time friend losing his Championship title. But such was the way of the world. With her two children now away travelling for most of the year, pursuing their separate careers and her husband spending nearly all his time training in the nearby gym, she was determined to cherish these moments, regardless of the occasion.

"Hey May, what do you thin-woah!"

Max shouted as the television screen suddenly turned to red.

...

"Double Team!"

He was barely in time, the sudden Flamethrower attack had come without warning, setting nearly a third of the arena floor alight. With a sense of relief, Ash spotted his pokémon high in the air, floating above its opponent and cawing defiantly. Ash let out his held breath with a gasp, trying to slow his suddenly rapidly-beating heart. By the looks of that Flamethrower, it might have taken Swellow out there and then had the attack had struck true.

"Moltres, ascend!" Tobias called out. With powerful flaps of its mighty wings, causing more flames to spray out onto the battlefield, Moltres took to the air, shrieking loudly again as it fixed its cruel-looking eyes on the flying type above.

"Flamethrower."

"Double Team again!"

Swellow rapidly copied into twelve, four of the fakes almost instantly incinerated by the searing heat.

"You can't evade Moltres forever Ash..." Tobias stated without emotion. Expression still blank, but his face now looked flushed from the rising temperature in the stadium. Or maybe flushed with pleasure at the display of raw power. It was impossible for Ash to tell.

"Moltres, use Heat Wave!"

Blistering orange waves of heat spread out towards Swellow from the legendary's beak, which had now drawn level in the air with Ash's pokémon .

"Swellow, dive outta the way!"

"Swelloooo!" The swallow pokémon tucked its wings into its body and plummeted towards the ground, narrowly avoiding the fire attack as it flew earthwards at full speed.

"Pursue," Tobias commanded his pokémon simply, his face still calm as he gestured towards the ground with one hand. "Use Flamethrower again!"

Ash couldn't help but panic at the sight of the huge inferno racing down after Swellow. Below, Pikachu gasped in fear.

"Swellow, spin out and climb again now!"

A few feet before hitting the ground, Swellow span in mid-air, diving out to one side as the huge fire attack rushed by. Ash covered his face with his arms, feeling his skin now almost start to blister as the missed Flamethrower hit the arena floor, creating a huge fountain of fire and heat. For a moment, Ash felt a rush of pure despair as the flames that were already burning around the arena built up even higher with the missed attack.

I can't beat something like this, no one can! It's so powerful!

"Swelloooo!"

Ash snapped his head back up, now glaring at the legendary fire pokémon with sudden furious self-contempt.

Don't you dare give in, not when Swellow needs your help! We can do this!

"Swellow, use Quick Attack to get higher into the sky!"

The flying pokémon shot up into the air like a rocket, this time so fast a trail of white blinding light formed behind it. Without even waiting this time for a command from its trainer, Moltres opened fire again on its flying foe, resulting in fresh screams of panic from the crowd as the cyclone of fire cut through the sky just behind the Champion's pokémon .

"Pika pika pikachu!" the yellow mouse cried, jumping up and down as he watched his friend narrowly escape defeat and possible serious injury once again.

"I know Pikachu, I'm on it!" Ash shouted back, staring up into the sky as Moltres took off after his pokémon once more, chasing Swellow even higher into the sky. "Swellow, turn and use Aerial Ace, now!"

"Sky Attack!"

Swellow rose higher than ever, disappearing into the sun's glare. Moltres gave a high-pitched scream of frustration as its entire body began to glow with a stunning white aura. The titan of fire flapped its wings with even more force, still climbing as Swellow suddenly reappeared, now diving back down towards Moltres, no trace of fear on its face as white streaks of light formed all around it.

All the occupants of the large stadium jumped to their feet, all necks craning and mouths open as they watched the two flying pokémon race towards each other, both creatures each screaming their own individual cries.

"Spin Swellow!" Ash shouted as loud as he could, hoping his pokémon could still hear him high in the sky.

His pokémon did hear. A moment before the two made contact, Swellow dipped one wing violently, spinning to one side while still managing to strike Moltres on its flank in a glancing blow as the fire pokémon rushed by.

"Now use Hyper Beam!" Ash roared, thrusting a hand into the sky.

With furious determination written all over its feathery face, Swellow flipped over to face the sky as it fell earthwards again, its back to the floor this time as it charged a orange beam of light in its beak.

"Moltres, Fire Blast and let's get this over with!" Tobias ordered loudly.

Moltres circled back around, flames already gathering in its beak even as Swellow released its attack.

The colliding attacks caused an explosion could be seen for miles around. Ash braced himself as the resulting shock-wave threatened to blow him off his feet as howling winds rushed past his sweat-covered face. Below, as the small rodent didn't have the weight to ground himself, Pikachu leapt sideways and clung onto his leg desperately.

"Swellow! Where are you buddy?"

The cloud of dust slowly cleared. Swellow re-appeared on the ground, now sprawled out on its back, talons in the air and twitching feebly.

"Swellow, are you okay? You need to get up, right now!" Ash called out in worry as his pokémon slowly rolled itself back onto its stomach. Above, while Moltres too had been blown back by the explosion, it had already recovered and was now speeding back towards the ground again with the clear intent of finishing Ash's pokémon off.

"Looo..."

The Hoenn-native bird pokémon cawed feebly as it struggled to climb back to its feet. Ash looked up at the rapidly approaching Moltres again, his expression frantic.

"Return now!"

Making a snap decision, Ash withdrew it in a flash of red. The fire pokémon shrieked angrily as its talons slammed into the spot Swellow had previously laid a split-second before. Moltres slowly twisted its head, pure fury and hate in its eyes as it turned to stare at the Sinnoh Champion.

...

Misty let out her held breath in a sharp exhale, breathing for the first time in over two minutes even as the crowds around still roared and screamed in rising hysteria at the sight of the fire building up around the arena floor.

That was too close...

"Poor Swellow," Dawn said sadly.

"Luppp..."

"I think Ash was attempting to overpower Moltres using Swellow's superior speed," Professor Oak muttered.

"Ash should know better than that," Gary exclaimed as he faced his grandpa. "It's a legendary pokémon. Ordinary pokémon need to use a lot of tactics to hope to win against them. What was he even thinking down there, thinking he could take Moltres out that easily?"

"I think Ash is feeling under a lot of pressure, from the crowds and himself," his grandpa replied slowly. "He fought Darkrai before, even defeated it before, so he well-prepared himself for facing again it this time. But he wasn't expecting Moltres, and its appearance would be enough to unsettle anyone."

Misty bit her lip. They were both right. And while Darkrai had been formidable, its raw power failed to compare to what Moltres had shown so far. Swellow had been fighting a losing, hopeless battle from the very start. Misty gazed at her old-time travelling companion down below, now feeling a knot of raw fear. Tobias was just going to throw one legendary after another forward. And Ash was going to lose this. He was going to lose everything. Tobias was going to take it all from him, just like he had before. Much as she fought to deny it, the reality of the situation was out there for anyone to see.

A image of a young boy and a pikachu facing up to a huge onix suddenly flashed across her mind.

No. He can do it, Misty thought forcefully. We can't give up yet.

Misty stood back up, ignoring the panicking crowd around her and ignoring the huge flaming bird as she leaned forward, cupping her hands back round her mouth.

...

Ash hung his head low, staring at Swellow's pokéball, his mind in a daze. Around the arena floor officials ran in all directions. The referee had called a brief time-out to allow a chance to combat the rapidly-growing flames before they could spread into the stands. At the other side of the field, Moltres perched on the ground, constantly switching between staring arrogantly at Ash and eyeing any nervous fire-fighters that got too close.

Tobias however was paying no attention now to either his opponent, or the situation on field. To the slight bewilderment of his opponent, Tobias was now covering his face with one hand, rubbing his temple and hiding his expression. Ash tore his eyes away from Tobias to stare at the legendary once again, forcing himself not to betray any fear as Moltres locked eyes with him once again.

"Come on Ash!"

A voice in the stands. Ash raised his head, startled. The spectators had near enough fallen silent again, everyone captivated once more by the flaming bird at the other side of the battlefield, but one set of eyes still faced his way. Ash could easily make out the mass of orange hair as Misty stood up amongst his other startled spectators.

"Time to see some of those awesome battle skills! Stop wimping out already, hurry up and beat this guy so we can go home!"

"Pikachupi?" Pikachu murmured at his feet. Ash stared blankly into the crowds, for a moment forgetting all about the battle...

Ash could still remember all too well, the devastation that he'd felt at losing the Sinnoh league the first time. He'd come to Sinnoh just off the back of his Battle Frontier victory, a now certified Frontier Brain. And Sinnoh was the place, he'd felt it the moment he'd set foot on its shore. This was the place where he'd make that final step, that final step to fulfilling that promise he'd made over four years ago, on the very first day of his pokémon journey before a flock of angry spearow. Kanto, he'd been young and naive. Johto and Hoenn has been close shaves. Sinnoh was the place where he would win it all. He was ready.

But it was not to be. After finally defeating his greatest rival, Ash had lost yet again, defeated by a trainer that had turned up out of nowhere, in a battle that's only seemed purpose was to belittle Ash's efforts throughout his entire career. And yet again, Ash had found himself making that lonely journey back home, a loser once more.

"...so once again Cynthia defends her title as Champion and remains on her throne! Can anyone beat her?"

"Yeah, I can!"

No, he wasn't just going to give in! But there had to be some change this time. He'd couldn't just continue travelling to new regions, hoping to get lucky. And as Ash watched that battle between Flint and Cynthia on his last day in Sinnoh in Dawn's house, and imagined himself one day in Flint's place, battling Cynthia for her title, he'd remade that promise to himself. He was going to be the best. He had to get there, no matter what it took. He'd never imagined himself doing anything less.

"That came out of nowhere..."

"Lupp."

"No way Dawn. It's always on my mind. Someday, somehow, I'm going to win the Champion's League and become Champion-Master."

"Pika, pika pikah!"

"You're right. And of course that means I'll finally be a pokémon master!"

"Pik-a-chu!"

"Awesome. Your big dream."

But he wasn't powerful enough to achieve his dream, no matter what determination he felt. He'd proved well enough during his very first league competition that determination was never going to be enough on its own. He needed to become stronger, to go somewhere to make him better than he'd ever been before. Unova still beckoned, the easy way out. Already Ash had heard of the strange new region far away with its amazing new pokémon. In fact, his mother was even going on holiday there later this summer, it would have been so simple to jump aboard and forget this loss like he'd done for all his previous regions and previous defeats.

But it was time to start growing up. Simply going to another region and catching more pokémon wouldn't help.

Mt Silver was the obvious choice. Situated on the Kanto/Johto border, it was world-renowned for being the most dangerous place a pokémon trainer could ever visit. The harsh climate of the thin mountain range had caused the few wild pokémon that could live there successfully to become the strongest untrained creatures in the world. In fact, many trainer had died trying to traverse that area, hoping to capture one of those creatures, only to find themselves vastly unprepared and overpowered.

But Ash was convinced it was the right place to go as soon as the idea popped into his head. To be the best, he'd have to push himself past what other trainers were capable of. Plus it was right on his doorstep, the mountain and its unreachable peak was clearly visible from his childhood home. It seemed perfect.

He hadn't dared tell his mother his intended destination. She would've tried to stop him from going. Nor had he told any of his numerous friends. They would've wanted to come, or failing that, tried to visit during his intended solitude. Ash couldn't allow that. It would have been too dangerous to take them with him and besides, this was his personal choice. There would be no sights after all to see in this small journey, no contests to compete in this time, or exotic water pokémon to capture. And while Ash knew anyone of his friends would come to help him train in a heartbeat if he asked, it would be unfair and selfish to bring them. They had their own dreams. This was his, his and his own pokémon's quest, and only they could get there.

The decision to go had been a surprising easy one at the time, sat in Dawn's house, well-fed and relaxed. At fourteen, he was well-used to spending time away from home. How would Mt Silver be any different to travelling alone to compete in a new League? His mom would understand his absence at least, like she always did. Ash had never used to understand what other people meant when they said they felt homesick anyway. Home was just the same, always the same, whereas the world was big, exciting and unknown.

But upon arrival, the harsh conditions had immediately made life near to impossible. Ash had liked to think of himself as a hardened traveller back then, but nothing could have prepared him for what he'd faced. Isolated in the snowy peaks, there had been no comforting Pokémon Centre to run to. The Pallet town trainer narrowly escaped death from the hostile environment and the savage wild pokémon so many times in those first couple of months, he'd soon lost count. But every narrow miss was making him stronger, better, tougher, harder. It was working. Slowly, painfully, he was changing, becoming better.

Occasionally memories of past adventures had flickered through his mind as the months slowly began to turn to years. They'd flicker on the edges of his dreams often at the end of any particularly tiring day. For a long time though, it'd never bothered him much. In fact, he would sometimes even enjoy sitting back and reminiscing with his pokémon during of their rare allotted breaks. It helped pass the time. He wasn't completely cut off after all, he told himself. He still exchanged frequent mail with his mother (Ash could never bear her worrying about him). Every reply was always the same, asking where he was, begging him to return, but again he was here for a reason and that reason was not yet fulfilled.

And his mother surely understood this must be important to him, even if she didn't know where he was exactly, Ash reasoned to his occasionally guilty conscience. All that really mattered was him and his pokémon, and his fighting friends supported his decision with whole hearts. Ash had never been one for missing people anyway. His mother and all his friends were always there, and he would see them all again someday. This wasn't a permanent exile after all.

Until one day, when he reached down into the furthest reaches of his backpack, past the sleeping bag and the cooking utensils to the small objects long-forgotten hiding at the bottom.

Suddenly it had all come rushing back.

Ash had stared at the rusty knife and fork, wondering whether his old friend Brock had ever become a full Pokémon Doctor without him. At the Terracotta half-ribbon as he wondered what May was doing right now, and whether Max had started his own journey yet. Had Dawn ever managed to win the Grand Festival? Was Tracey still working for Professor Oak back home? Did Gary still have the other half of the pokéball he now held in his hand? Names and faces, an endless list, more and more questions, growing in size until he'd reached the final piece of junk, hidden underneath the rest.

A simple fishing lure, made utterly useless thanks to the fact that water up Mt Silver was frozen nearly all the year round.

Suddenly Ash needed to go home. He couldn't bear this any longer, he needed to see all his friends, his family and one certain gym leader who had always been a strange mix of both. In fact, he might have run home there and then had he not been held back. It wasn't time, he wasn't ready yet. An answer given to him that he'd hated at the time. Yet it was true. If he ran home now, all that he and his pokémon had achieved during those first few harsh years would have been for nothing.

But Ash made another solemn promise to himself there and then, this one seeming vastly more important than the first. When he did finally return, it would be for good. He would see his friends again, he would see his mother, he would see Misty and say those things he should have said all those years ago.

And now he was back. He'd achieved everything he'd ever dreamed of achieving, the perfect life. And Ash wasn't about to give that up. Not this easily, and certainly not to the same trainer who had taken it from him the last time. Whether he faced legends or not, he was going to win this. No matter what it took.

This one's for you Misty...

Ash span his head back around to face the legendary bird pokémon, his eyes now burning with a fire of their own, one hand already plunging back down towards his belt.

"So, ready to continue Ash?" Tobias asked. The mask of nonchalance had finally dropped, if only a little bit. The triumph of forcing Ash to retreat his flying type still clearly heard to be lingering in his voice. Tobias clearly thought Ash was on the run.

Ash let out a little laugh in reply, pulling a new pokéball from his belt.

"You bet! I think it's time to show you just how strong we've become!"

"Pika pikachu!"

The trainer opposite seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded in reply. For a moment, Ash could have sworn he saw a fleeting look of respect cross the hardened face.

"Then bring me your best."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Little bit of Ash's past given there, hopefully it explains Ash's back story a bit better and where my story branches off from canon. Anyway, here's today's recommendations!

-'Five Days of Midnight' by 'Some Enchanted Evening'. One that's been completed for a while, but I've just finished reading it for the third time now. Written like a movie, this is scarier than any real pokémon film, yet probably does the best job of shipping Ash and Misty together that I've ever read.

-'Game', by 'Branmuffinpower'. Mostly an older shipping fic where Ash and Gary fight over Misty, which usually wouldn't interest me much. However, it's written well and the best part is, they are in the middle of a very interesting battle :P. I'd give it a look.

-'Back Around Again', by 'Vondrakenhof'. Ash returns from Unova and takes the Kanto League on again. This has only just been started, but it's looking good. The battles are nice (which appeals to me), and looks like there's gonna be some shipping in it as well.

Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd love a review if you feel like giving one. If it's a review pointing out a mistake, even better! Updates comin' tomorrow, as per usual. Thanks to all that have reviewed so far, and see you then!