Authors Note: Okay, i feel like an ass for not doing this in the first chapter...

Story Edited By: Shadowrunner240

Chapter 7

Ash sighed, tossing a ball up towards the ceiling of his office, and then caught it flawlessly. It was obvious to any observer that he had been doing this for quite a while, thinking about something. And they were right, he'd much rather be out exploring than sitting and waiting for the many challengers to show up; he was glad for the time off he had coming up though. He'd be able to go back home and visit everyone. The pokémon master frowned as thoughts of Pallet town brought thoughts of Gary to mind.

He, like Daisy and Samuel, was worried for Gary. Brock called him at least once a week for an update, and Misty tried to help as she could, but nothing seemed to work; it appeared that their friend and loved one continued to slowly slip away from them.

"Mr. Ketchum, you have a battle." The voice of his receptionist came over the intercom, interrupting his deep thoughts and worries; Ash stopped playing throw-and-catch with his pokéball and sighed deeply. He put his feet down from where they had been resting on his desk, got up out of his chair and walked through a side door in his office to where his pokémon were lounging.

"Alright guys, who wants to have a good fight, hmm?" He asked, kneeling down. Pikachu perked up from where he was laying on a rock, sunning in a warm lamp, and pounced on Ash's head excitedly making the young man laugh as a result. "Alright, alright you're number one." He grinned. His other three top choices, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venasaur plodded forward. Ash patted them all in turn, as well as an Alakazam and Tauros. "Alright, let's go." He smiled. They all entered their own pokéballs, except Pikachu who opted to ride on his shoulder as usual.

Ash fondly stroked his old friend's side as they rode the elevator down to the arena; He didn't know what to expect. Never did. However, the usual contestants were either very poorly trained and or connected to their teams, so it was a wonder how they ever made it to the finals; or very abusive of their Pokémon. This made Ash fight all the harder not to let them win. It helped that his own team of Pokémon, no matter which one of his many captures he was using, felt the same way. Occasionally there was the celebratory Trainer, the one most like himself, which gave him the hope that a decent master could come from them.

Today, he was not expecting who was waiting for him at the bottom of that elevator.

There was no way he could have been prepared.

As the two year running Champ exited the box hands in his pockets, his famous Pikachu on his shoulder, and stepped into the large, standard Battle Arena; He looked across the way to the person who wished to challenge him, he was rather taken aback.

He was older than Ash, which was obvious, and was dressed what looked almost like a uniform; with black knee high leather boots, white pants that hung only a little below the tops of the footwear and sported a blue stripe on the sides of the legs, a black long-sleeved shirt to match the boots, and a vest like jacket that was white in color and also sported blue stripes and blue protrusions where buttons would go to close the clothing article. On one of these blue protrusions was a gold stripe, and on the back was a large golden star, with the letter X in black beneath it.

The Pokémon Master stood watching his challenger for a few moments, letting the image sink in. The man was playing with a Victini, who was dashing around his shoulders, its tiny hands grappling for holds on the jacket; its massive ears wiggling happily as it ran about and occasionally took to the air.

Ash was finally noticed as the man grabbed the Pokémon out of the air facing towards him. The trainer smiled, holding the Victini under his arm as they crossed to shake hands. Ash had recovered from his surprise, and reached out with a returning smile and hand to grasp the others firmly.

"Hello, nice to meet you. Quite the energetic one there, isn't he?" He asked, nodding to the Pokémon. The man laughed.

"Yes. Teggun is quite the happy little fellow. Aren't you, you little ball of fur?" he asked, scuffing the Pokémon's head with a noogie. "Vivi!" was the squealed reply.

"My name is Ash Ketchum; it's nice to meet you and your Victini," Ash smiled, reaching up to pat the Pokémon on his shoulder. "And this is my number one, Pikachu."

"Adam; it's nice to meet you both." Adam smiled. His eyes were a pale blue, almost gray, and they smiled with the rest of him. Ash nodded.

"Alright, standard Pokémon battle, how many in your party?" He asked.

"Six, as normal; however, I would like to, well, as they like to say it, 'up the stakes' a little." He said, smiling. Ash frowned.

"How, exactly?" he asked.

"Well, I have a very special Pokémon here." He said, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a poke ball, one of a design Ash had never seen before. It was white all over, with a thick blue stripe on the top half going from the button to the back, and a gold star on either side of the stripe.

"I would like to play you for possession. You win, you keep this Pokémon inside; I win, I keep one of yours." Adam said, talking as if this was the most normal thing to ask of a trainer. Ash didn't know what to say. He was dumbfounded. He could only blink at Adam as he tried to make sense of this deal. The other man simply waited calmly, the pokéball still held up in offer. At this point, Teggun started going crazy, waving his little arms at Pikachu, the two chattering. Pikachu's ears wiggled in interest, his head tilting this way and that. Ash snapped out of his slight daze as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and darted off, returning a few minutes later, a pokéball in his mouth.

"Pika Pii," He said, voice muffled. Ash frowned, picking the ball up.

"You sure?" he asked. Pikachu nodded, hopping back to his master's shoulder. Ash sighed. "Very well."

"Alright, here's the bet Champion Ash." Adam said. Ash hated to chance it, but Pikachu was already sparking, and he did want to know what Pokémon was inside that strange ball the other man was betting. Adam smiled and let Teggun down, walking to their side of the arena, Adam speaking quietly to the Pokémon.

Ash stood waiting, unsure of the outcome of this battle; although He did like the vibe Adam gave him. He was good with his Pokémon, and seemed to love and care for them. However, he was unsure of how to take this bet. Or as to why Pikachu had agreed to it. He smiled down at his friend as he stretched, psyching itself up and prancing about his feet, cheeks sparking. He looked across the way to see Adam ready with Teggun.

"Alright, let's go." Ash said, reaching for his first pokéball. Adam was watching carefully, waiting to see who he would need to call out first. Ash changed his team every time, so no one could stack against him. And it worked. Trainers only brought their best, and balanced out the team so as to have a fair chance against the Master.

Ash released Tauros, pawing the ground, head bobbing up and down threateningly. Adam seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally released Archeops. Tauros snorted, recognizing the type difference, but with a little reassurance from Ash, charged headlong into battle, Pikachu cheering him on from Ash's shoulder.

Tauros won with a Head-butt, catching the opponent in its horns as it tried to execute a Fly attack. Adam recalled the Pokémon before it hit the ground, and moving swiftly, a Sawsbuck was in the ring next. Ash took the break to heal the Tauros, and Adam gave Sawsbuck some type of amplifier, and the pair went at it. Ash could tell his own Pokémon was happy by the particular whipping his tails made as he fought. He could also see the Sawsbuck enjoying himself, as he seemed to almost prance around the ring.

Again, Tauros won, and fairly strutted back to Ash for his healing item. "Don't go getting cocky now." Ash warned, but true to his nature, Tauros was hardheaded and the words didn't seem to get through; so Ash wasn't too surprised when the Dragonair Adam sent out next defeated the bull Pokémon. The other trainer took Ash's example and healed the Dragonair before sending her back in to the ring to face off with Alakazam.

The focused psychic type turned out to be very little of a challenge for the dragon and was defeated quickly. Ash glanced at the clock as he recalled the exhausted Pokémon. Already an hour had gone by? He sent out Venasaur, and Adam started the new round with an attack from his end, Dragonair lashing through the air elegantly.

Surprisingly, it was terribly close, but Venasaur collapsed, and Ash recalled him, vowing to give him special treatment for the fight he put up against the Dragon type. He then released Blastoise, who fought and won against the opponent with a rather harsh Hydro Pump.

Adam sent out a Luxray next, calling it by the name of Aspero, the Pokémon tossing his head and pawing the ground, facing off with the massive turtle. The fierce electric reminded Ash instantly of Charizard, but he sensed a deep connection between those two that he hadn't built with Charizard until very late in their partnership. In fact, Ash sensed a different kind of connection right from the start of the battle between Blastoise and the Luxray. Adam moved around the field more, seemed to concentrate more. Aspero never needed to look back. His ears swiveled to keep track of his owner. It was a lot like how he and Pikachu battled. They'd had a rough start, but almost instantly Ash's determination to keep the stubborn Pokémon safe had created that connection and it had stayed; only growing stronger over the years.

This battle took much longer, but in the end, Aspero did indeed win. Ash released Charizard only once the Luxray had been healed, knowing the fire dragon would charge right away; and he was right. Charizard came charging out of his pokéball right for the opponent. Pikachu actually smacked his forehead with a tiny paw, shaking his head exasperatedly; but Ash had to act quickly to instruct the hot-headed Pokémon.

He kept the dragon mostly on the ground, which helped to keep Aspero in front of him. In the end, it managed to stagger back to Adam to be recalled; Charizard flaring his wings proudly, boasting with a rather loud roar of approval. Ash did shake his head here and tried to call him back, but the Pokémon refused the healing. Adam waited, but when Ash shook his head, the trainer looked over his shoulder and nodded.

Ash frowned. And then his eyes widened in surprise as a Victini bounded out from behind Adam. Ash frowned, glancing between Teggun and the Victini on the ground. Charizard actually paused, taking a moment to assess the situation, before he let loose a flamethrower. After a few turns, and damage dealt on both sides, the air around the Victini started to shimmer, and revealed a Zoroark; which also explained all the Dark type moves the Pokémon had been using. Charizard did not like this. He hated being tricked; always had.

Ash groaned as the fight went on. Luckily, Charizard listened to him now, even when he was in a fit of rage. Adam was just as involved with this Pokémon, named Custos, as he had been with Aspero. The Pokémon seemed to fight more smoothly, and sometimes even went against an order if it saw something Adam didn't. Ash had to admire them.

The match between the dark and fire type ended in a tie; both collapsing at almost the same time. Custos managed to moved back to Adam, curling up behind him and letting Adam apply a healing agent to him, an all-natural one from the look of the package. Ash recalled Charizard and then looked at Pikachu.

"Ready buddy," He asked, even though he didn't need too. Ash knew that Pikachu was ready for anything.

"Pika-chu!" was the determined reply, a smile on the mouse's face. Ash smiled and patted his head.

"Go get 'em then." He grinned. Pikachu nodded and jumped from his perch, bounding out into the arena, Teggun following suit not long after. Ash let out a deep breath, and glanced again at the poke balls on the side. This was it. He watched Pikachu, concentrating on the battle.

Pikachu and Teggun circled each other until Adam called out for a confusion attack. With Ash's instructions, Pikachu dodged, and aimed an Iron Tail attack, barely nicking the Victini.

Both Pokémon were evenly matched and equally connected with their trainers. Ash had a slight sense of déjà-vu, unconsciously reminded of the battle at Mewtwo's Island. Although this was an even match, it wasn't to the death, and the Pokémon were enjoying it, despite the high level of concentration.

Pikachu sent Teggun flying with a Volt Tackle, and received a Zen Head-butt in return. He used Agility to dodge a Fire Blast, and ran in for another Iron Tail. It took an hour, but Pikachu stood victor in the end, panting excitedly as he bounded back to Ash. He and Adam both healed the Pokémon and met at the center of the field, shaking hands.

"Good fight." Ash smiled. "It's rare to see the level of connection, trust, and friendship you have with your team." He said. Adam smiled.

"It's nothing. We've been together for a long, long time and been through quite a bit together. I've had Teggun, Custos and Aspero since they were infants." Ash nodded. Pikachu hadn't been that old when he'd gotten him. Perhaps a year or so. The trainers walked to the stand they had placed the pokéballs on, and Ash took his back, while Adam held out the strange pokéball with an odd smile on his face.

"Take it, and treat her well. I'm sure you'll know what to do." He said. Ash nodded, watching Adam's face. "Are you sure? You don't have to part with her." He said; using the same gender class, correctly assuming the Pokémon inside was female.

"Oh no, I do." He said. "You were just the one I knew I had to leave her with." He smiled, and without further ceremony, turned and left, Teggun waving from his shoulder, calling out to Pikachu as if saying 'What a great fight! Let's do it again sometime!' Pikachu was waving and calling back, then settled on Ash's shoulder, content and happy.

Frowning, Ash headed back to his office, wondering what the heck the fight had been all about if he'd just needed to leave a certain pokémon with him. Pushing these thoughts from his mind, he went back through the door to his pokemon's 'retreat', released the Pokémon and gave them everything they needed while his two Chansy's attended the battle weakened Pokémon who stretched out happily and rested. Then, with Pikachu, he stood at the end of the racks holding the empty pokéballs; and let the one in his hand expand to full size. He looked it over, marveling at the custom form and engineering. After a nod from his friend, he pressed the button and watched as the blue, not red, beam of light materialized into a Pokémon he wasn't quite expecting.

"Veee," It was an Eevee.

Authors Note: Okay, Okay, i know Victini is a legendary and supposed to e only one, and i know the same is true with Zoroark, but i couldn't resist making them a little more common. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and i also hope the battle was believable, evenly paced, and detailed enough.

I hope you stick around for the rest! Thanks for reading!