"Heracross, Mega Horn!" shouted Corey. He winced again as his ribs throbbed. This was not looking good; for him of course. Relatively speaking, is Pokemon were fine, but Corey couldn't take much more of this. Battling took a lot out of the trainer as well after all. Heracross charged forward and finally made a solid connection on Cynthia's Gastrodon, knocking it out. Not twenty minutes ago, Corey stood tall against Cynthia, ready to battle to the last. Now he was surprised that he had managed to go this long without losing consciousness himself. He hadn't intended to show up to the battle heavily injured, but escaping an insane girl and her equally demonic Pokemon could do that to a guy.

"Gastrodon is unable to battle!" called the judge. Cynthia withdrew her Pokemon, he face showing no emotion as she stared at Corey. So far Corey's Raichu had taken out her Togekiss, his Gengar had defeated her Milotic, and now Heracross took down Gastrodon. All in all, it was pretty good; or at least, it just looked good. All he had left was a tired Heracross and an equally spent Empoleon who he had recalled just in time earlier. Cynthia still had three unused Pokemon on her side.

"Garchomp, Brick Break," said Cynthia, her voice cold. Corey made to call out for Heracross to jump to the side, avoiding the top-to-bottom chop, but he was seized by pain again and couldn't speak. Heracross, unable to dodge such a fast attack on his own, was instantly taken out by the completely fresh dragon. Corey recalled him and sent out Empoleon, trying to remain straight. He couldn't let it out now that he was hurt. There was no way that his pride would allow it.

"Empoleon water gun!" he shouted and Empoleon shot a jet of water at Garchomp. Garchomp didn't even bother dodging it, with Empoleon already exhausted and Water Gun's low power to begin with, it barely had any effect. "Good now Ice Beam!" The combo worked perfectly, Garchomp was frozen from the chest down, unable to move. He didn't thrash out in an attempt to break the ice however.

"Your Pokemon fought well today, Corey," said Cynthia, making him look at her in confusion. "But you didn't," she said quietly, keeping the last part to herself. "Garchomp, Dragonbreath!"

XxxxxX

"What the hell was that!" Cynthia was pissed. She had just won her battle against Corey five minutes ago. The crowd could still be heard dimly through the walls, despite being in the waiting room, cheering their favorite champion. But the moment that Corey's final Pokemon had fallen, she had lost all sense of the world but him.

"What the hell was that, what?" he shouted back, wincing slightly. Cynthia was always calm and positive looking so it was very unnerving to see her otherwise; few probably had ever seen her angry. Lowering his voice he continued, "So I lost just like I did last time. So what? I got better yeah, but so did you so-" but he never finished as Cynthia grabbed the collar of his shirt, bringing her face within inches of his.

"Don't give me that crap, I've seen you're earlier battles! If you had battle like you were fully capable of to begin with, you might have had a good chance of winning, instead of a one-hundred percent chance of losing!" Cynthia backed up a foot, giving herself some breathing space, but still held his shirt. Corey made no move to free himself. She took a couple of breaths, calming herself down, and when her eyes met his again, he thought he saw disappointment in them. "You wouldn't know this, but I'm removing Aaron from the Elite Four. Long story short, he's not up for it anymore. Aaron's known about it for a while now and he's going to announce his retirement from the group in a month or so. The only thing is, I can't have an Elite Four without four people." Cynthia broke off. She looked bitter.

"You couldn't really be... you were going to ask me?" said Corey weakly, feeling bemused. It was like a dream come true; to be a member of the Sinnoh Elite Four... Elite Four!

"Going, being the operative word. Ever since that battle, I've kept you in the back of my head as a candidate, but now... well, forget it." Cynthia finished, letting go of his shirt with a push causing Corey to bump into the wall behind him. He gasped in pain, clutching his side. Cynthia looked at him sharply and Corey stood up straight, pretending that nothing had happened, but too late.

"What's wrong?" she shot at him, moving closer and bending down.

"It's nothing really," he said, knowing full well that he couldn't stop her, whatever he told her. "Just," Cynthia lifted the side of his shirt and inhaled sharply, "a few cracked ribs I guess..." he finished with a sigh, wincing as he did.

"You battled like this?" Cynthia was stunned. Corey wasn't to blame for the way he battled, but this was too much. "How can you even move? You need to get to the hospital right now!"

"Cynthia!" came a sudden shout from the doorway. Miranda stopped short as the two trainers looked at her in confusion, then one began to back away, visibly sweating. Cynthia looked from Miranda to Corey, confused.

"Corey? What-"

"Y-you, the girl with, with the Eevee..." he stammered, backing up, eyes locked on Miranda. Miranda's eyes flashed, but otherwise she remained normal, albeit furious.

"You were with them! With Vince and Aero and that girl!" she seethed, every fiber of her being focused into controlling herself. She had to stay calm. She had to. Cynthia's look of confusion and worry vanished instantly.

"I'm speechless, Corey. Really, I am."

"Miranda, calm down!" Ash burst into the room, veering to avoid Miranda, and went head first over one of the couches. The other three watched as he tucked in his right shoulder and rolled safely to a stop. "Miranda, whatever it is I'll... oh," he said blankly, noticing the complete lack of chaos. "Well, uhh looks like you've got it under control then, hehe. Heya Cynthia, didn't see you th- ow!" Ash rubbed his head where it connected with the counter he had unknowingly rolled under. Voices could be heard from outside the room; it was about to become a lot less private.

"Let's change locations shall we?" said Cynthia, walking over to Corey. She smiled at him in a way that spoke of nothing good. "Then we can have a nice long chat."

XxxxX

To Corey's surprise, by "change locations" Cynthia had meant to a hospital and not, as he thought, a dungeon. Ash was able to get a large cab to take them to the hospital, which unlike the Pokemon Center, wasn't a short walk from the stadium. Corey spent the ride thinking about what to say when they began to question him. With everything but the truth being weak at best, he resigned himself to the fact that his deal with the Hunters was over.

"Ah well," he muttered as they walked him into the hospital, "it's not like it was really working out anyway. Dammit." One hour later, the four of them were alone in Corey's recovery room. For some reason, Miranda was glancing at Cynthia every once in a while, looking guilty. Seeing the girl who had single handedly destroyed Stadium Square look like that did nothing to improve his mood.

"So," began Cynthia, taking a seat at the side table facing him, snapping him back to reality, "Corey, would you please mind telling me what your relationship to the Hunters is?" Corey suppressed a shudder at the deadly tone her voice had developed. Wonderful, he thought, Cynthia looks like a really close friend, and with my luck Ash is her boyfriend. Not that he was particularly sacred of any of them; except Miranda, of course.

"I'm using them," he said calmly. "All I'm doing is catching some wild Pokemon for their bigger clients and in return I'm getting information." The three said nothing. Corey felt the creeping of nervousness. Plowing on he continued, "And for the record, uhh Miranda, I only protected them before because I still needed them, not because I support what they do. I really have no idea what happened between you and them, but I have nothing to do with it. I swear."

Miranda looked hard at Corey, as though trying to read his mind to confirm the truth in what he said. Then she traded looks with Cynthia who was also frowning. Whatever they were concluding however was instantly overruled as Ash came to Corey's rescue. "Yep, that about sums it up," he said nodding. The girls and Corey both looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" Miranda asked.

"I believe him," Ash replied, scratching his chin briefly. "Never mind, it's an Aura thing okay? Just trust me on this." Ash sat down in an empty chair. "Plus, I don't know about anything serious between them and Corey here, so I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Sound good?" he finished, looking from Miranda to Cynthia. Corey remained quiet as the girls pondered his fate. Also, something Ash had just said was bugging him.

"We believe you Corey," said Cynthia finally, Miranda nodding her agreement.

"Umm, I'm really, really sorry, Corey!" burst Miranda suddenly, making him jump a little. "I, I hurt you..." Why in the world did the girl look so sad?

"Haha, don't worry about it," Corey said quickly forcing a smile, "It was a misunderstanding for both of us anyway." Ash moved over to Miranda and slid an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a comforting hug.

"See? He's alright about it so don't beat yourself up again, please..." he added softly. Miranda naturally slid up against him, returning the hug. Definitely her boyfriend, decided Corey. He noticed that Cynthia looked a little agitated. Corey began to get worried again.

"You do believe me, right Cynthia?" he asked, and Cynthia coughed standing up.

"Yes, of course I do." Abruptly turning to Ash she said, "Shouldn't we try to get some information out of him about the Hunters? If he's been working with them-"

"Speaking of information," Corey interrupted loudly, remembering what he had wanted to say before, "even though I'm not involved with them that much, how would you know if I was?" Expecting a snappy reply, Corey was surprised when Ash began laughing.

"Hahaha, 'Who the hell do you think you are, Kid?' right?" said Ash with a grin. Corey suppressed a sigh. And here he had thought that Ash might be the only normal one in the room.

"Bluntly, yes."

"I've got a good information network, just like Aero does." Seeing the look of surprise on Corey's face he continued, "Yeah we've got some history."

"I can see that," Corey grumbled. Everyone seemed to know more than he did. At that moment, the Nurse walked in closely followed by the Doctor assigned to Corey.

"Out," he said flatly, jerking his thumb at the door. "I've already been more than patient and you've well exceeded the visiting time." The doctor glared at Miranda who recognized him at once as the guy she had fought with the last time she was in the building. She grinned sheepishly and quickly made her escape. Ash made to follow her, stopping just before he left the room to say,

"Corey, once the tournament is over, come see me. I think you'll find that I can help you a lot," and he dashed off, calling for Miranda to slow down. Corey watched him leave curious by what he had just said, when he realized that he still wasn't alone. Cynthia was still standing in front of him.

"When this is over, we're going to have another full battle and if I think you do well enough, I'll reconsider dropping you as an Elite Four candidate," she said, crossing her arms. Corey could see the corner of her mouth twitch.

"Oh?" he countered, grinning now, "Well here's what I think. I challenge you to a Title Match after the tournament, and when you lose I'll think about letting you stay on as an Elite Four member." He held out his hand, and Cynthia looked at it. She grinned broadly and slapped it.

"Deal."

XxxxxX

"Ash you bastard!"

"I knew it was you! I knew it!"

"Pfft, don't lie Max."

"Shut up!"

Later on that evening, upon arriving at his suite, Ash wasn't surprised to find that it was already completely full of his friends, who had prepared another party/ambush for him. All of his Pokemon were checked into the Pokemon Center for a full night recovery. Gardevoir would actually be sitting the next battle out, with the purpose of being completely healed for the semi-finals. She needed a good rest anyway. She always seemed to be awake, keeping an eye on them all. And so, unable to simply vanish to a quieter place, Ash simply resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be hearing the end of the Eighth business.

'Still,' Ash thought, as he watched Max desperately trying to escape his sister's hold, 'It does feel better to have that out in the open. I wonder how Scott's faring...' He looked over the heads of those nearby him and finally spotted Scott sitting by the TV surrounded by the other Brains. Seeing that Scott was under fire, Ash made his way over to rescue him.

"Ash!" he said over the others, gratefully. "Perfect, tell them the secret part was all your idea!" The Brains all turned to face him.

"What are you talking about, Scott?" Ash replied innocently, causing Scott to pale slightly as the others resumed glaring at him. "Wait, wait guys, I'm just messing around. It really was my idea." Taking a seat next to Anabel he said, "Actually, it took me while to convince him too, so don't beat the poor guy up." Anabel glanced at him but said nothing. This was the closest they had been to each other since that night.

"But why didn't you want anyone to know?" asked Brandon frowning his usual frown.

"I'll bet you thought it would look cooler to just come back and say, 'Surprise!' right?" jibed Anabel, saying something for the first time that evening and elbowing Ash in the side. He laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, uhh yeah that pretty much is about it." The Brains all rolled their eyes as one, the mood lightening immensely.

"So Ash, you got your symbol, but I still haven't told you where the facility is yet have I?" said Scott, smiling. Much of the group perked up at this, including some of the other party-goers who were listening in.

"No, actually you haven't," realized Ash, wondering how the lack of such an obvious piece of information had slipped his mind.

"Take a guess." Scott obviously loved to have fun with people's minds.

"It's near Pallet isn't it," said Lucy, comprehension showing on her face. "You've been putting a lot of effort into that town lately, now that I think about it."

"What?" Ash was totally lost. "What's been happening at my home town?" He hadn't set foot in Pallet town for a very long time. "Holy crap I haven't talked to my mom in over six years!" Ash practically shouted, horrified with himself. He sprang up. "Phone, need a phone! Sorry guys tell me a little later! Phone..." Everyone watched, bemused as he began to make his way to a phone, wherever one may be. But he stopped, frozen in place, before he had taken two steps. Ash looked at his hands, then took his seat again.

"Wa- what the hell was that?" Anabel cried, taking a seat cushion and whacking him with it. "You idiot, do things that make sense!"

"Sorry," said Ash, fending off the attack. "I just thought, I want to wait until the tournament is over before I go back. It will work out better that way." He shook his head and continued cheerily, "Plus if I talk to her now she'll probably fuss over me and my effects like she always does... in front of people I might add." They laughed at that.

"Ash, could you come here for a moment?" asked Dawn, poking him on the shoulder. He looked around at her, curious.

"Yeah, sure. Be nice to each other while I'm off kids," he joked at the group and they waved him off.

"This way," Dawn said, grabbing his arm and pulling him through the tightly packed rooms. Eventually, they emerged on the balcony, which was empty. The air was much cooler at night in Element, especially at this height. His place was located on the eighteenth floor.

"What's up?" Ash asked, a little concerned. Something was off. It was unlike Dawn to seek out such privacy when talking about anything. She was usually a little more, well, up front about things.

"Are you avoiding your mom?" Ash made a mental note never to follow Dawn anywhere alone.

"What makes you say that?" Ash said coolly, unaware that he had already become trapped by the conversation.

"That whole bit about your mom in there was fake," Dawn said flatly, crossing her arms and taking a step towards him. "Don't give me that look. I know I'm right and you know it too." Ash was annoyed. Why was she getting so involved about this?

"I can contact her whenever I want. It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," Ash said, biting his tongue before he could say anything else rude. Dawn just looked at him. Unable to handle a staring contest, Ash turned his back on her and made to go inside, but Dawn's next words stopped him cold.

"You did the same thing to us..."

Ash turned around and instantly regretted it. Dawn wasn't facing him directly, but he could still make out the pout on her face. "Wait Dawn, it's not-" but she turned her back on him with a sniff. Why did girls always make him feel like the bad guy?

"When you first saw us you were happy to see us all, to talk with us," she murmured, so softly that he had to take several steps closer to hear. "Or at least we thought so... but after that you avoided us. Even the few of us who traveled with you all that time." Ash was a few feet behind her now, her voice continued to drop, drawing him closer. Then she turned suddenly landing a full punch on his chest. Ash grunted in surprise.

"It hurt, Ash! You avoided me and it hurt! All of us felt it," she lowered her voice and continued, eyes boring into his. "Did you think we wouldn't like you any more because you lost? Because you ran away? You don't need to prove yourself to your friends that you're worth something because to us you already are. Dammit, now I'm crying..." Dawn swiped furiously at her eyes, angry at herself for getting this worked up. Considering what she had originally wanted to ask him earlier, she couldn't have gotten further off track. "Ash I- I don't really know where that came from. Just forget -eep!"

Dawn squealed in surprise as Ash suddenly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a firm hug.

"Looks like I was the bad guy..." Ash muttered to himself ruefully. "I'm so sorry, Dawn."

"N-no, Ash," she stammered, somewhat overwhelmed. Ash's body was very warm. His arms tightened briefly and Dawn almost felt like she was going to faint. Ash had never made her get like this before. Not really. This was like a completely reverse allergic reaction. Forcing her voice to remain steady she said, "I... I was going to say that you eventually stopped that. Recently you've been a lot like your old self, so we're happy about that, even though we don't see you much... you know this is really nice but how much longer are you going to hold me?"

"Ah, sorry," he said hastily releasing her and taking a step back, blushing a bit. Red faced, Dawn took a breath of cool air, noting that it seemed to get so much colder all of a sudden. Still it was better to be cold than all wobbily on her feet.

"It's okay," she said. "Ash all I really wanted to say was that you shouldn't cut yourself off from your mom because if she's anything like mine then she will always support you, no matter what happens."

Ash sighed. Maybe he was feeling a little nervous that his mom would be disappointed in what he did before. "I just want my reunion to be one where I have something for her to be proud of." Dawn looked at him flatly.

"You're kidding right? Do you listen to people at all, Ash Ketchum?"

"No, no, no, I understand. I was just saying I want to really wow her this time. Kind of like a sorry it's been a while since I last called thing..." he finished lamely. "Anyway, I'd rather see her in person."

"Now that is a reasonable explanation. Stick to that one please," Dawn said, patting him on the arm.

"Right. Right." Ash made to go back inside; it was really getting cold out on the balcony and he still wanted to chat with some other people. However, Dawn's hand remained on his arm, preventing him from going anywhere. Ash turned back to her with an exasperated look. "Come on Dawn it's cold now, what?"

"Do you really want to get away from me so soon?" she pouted again, blinking at Ash. His head felt muddled. Why did girls always do this to him.

"No it's not that, I just don't want to get sick standing out in this cold. Speaking of that," he continued gesturing at her skirt, "you're out here wearing that ridiculously short skirt. Don't you feel a draft or anything?"

"Don't you feel a draft through that empty head of yours?" said another girl's voice as a hand slapped the back of Ash's head, hard.

"Oh come on May, I'm just saying that it's really cold out here so we should go inside."

"Which is smart of you, but should sound more like, 'Oh Dawn aren't you cold out here in just that? Let's go inside so you can warm up.' See?" They walked inside and Ash rolled his eyes.

"What happened to Max, by the way?" asked Ash curiously. It was more apparent that May wasn't beating on her brother as opposed to when she was.

"Oh I killed him a while ago," she said unconcernedly. Ash sweat dropped, looking into the sea of people still in his home. Poor Max.

"So around when he said you were flat, I take it? I did hear a muffled scream," Ash said, not catching the hint from Dawn's furiously shaking head. May stopped and looked at Ash over her shoulder. "Mistakenly, said you were flat; of course." Ash hastily added, dodging a bullet. Another close call for the evening. Ash sorely wished that Gardevoir was here with him. He never fully realized how important it was to his survival that he be able to vanish on the spot; even in a party. Especially in a party. Lost in his thoughts, Ash realized too late that again he had become trapped with two girls who loved prying into stuff.

As luck would have it, every room they walked into was full of people, who barely even noticed them as they ducked in and then out. Even better, when they finally got to Ash's bedroom, they found it locked. Ash's fortune ended there, however, as May instantly turned to him and said, "Gimme the key or I'll strip search you." Deciding not to press his luck, he opened the door and they walked in, Dawn locking it behind them.

"Okay, what are you kidnapping me for? In my own room too," Ash said weakly, sitting on the bed. Instantly he knew it was a bad move, as both girls moved in to take either side. Almost before they began moving, he practically launched himself into the solitary arm chair across from him. His moment of triumph ended swiftly when they just sat on the arms. "Come on you two, please?"

One minute of arguing later, both girls sat cross legged on the bed facing Ash who was required to move the chair closer under their mini truce. They clearly wanted information, and Ash had a haunting suspicion what it may be. He hoped he was wrong. He also had a feeling that someone had given them wine, and again hoped he was wrong. Baaad idea.

"So," said May, aggressiveness all but vanished, replaced with her normal Max-less cheer, "we were hoping you could tell us some stuff, Ash." He just looked at them before moving his eyes elsewhere. Clearly they were tipsy at least. Their shirts were a little messed up and he could even see the top of Dawn's bra.

"You don't say," said Ash sarcastically. The only thing that the scene lacked was the ropes that would surely be tied around him, preventing escape. "Fine, I'll talk about anything you want."

"Great! So-" but Ash interrupted Dawn quickly.

"With the exception of one thing," he finished.

"Okay, name it," said May evenly.

"Girls."

"Rejected," chorused the girls, crossing their arms in big X's.

"I don't see how it's any of your business to begin with," Ash stated dryly.

"That's because you're not a girl," reasoned Dawn. May nodded as if that were the ultimate truth.

"...ask," grumbled Ash, resigning himself to the fact that they wouldn't be going anywhere until they got what they wanted.

"Are you dating Miranda?" they began.

"I- no," said Ash.

"For certain?"

"How uncertain could 'no' be?" said Ash loudly. Dawn shook her head.

"Fairly. Let's just cut to it. Do you love Miranda?" she asked bluntly.

"...well, I dunno," said Ash softly looking out of the window to avoid their eyes. May and Dawn traded looks. For a lack of something to do, Ash grabbed the water glass on the small table next to the chair and took a big swig.

"What about the Champion?" Ash sputtered, spraying water in the direction of the window. Wiping his mouth hastily he said,

"W-what?"

May let herself fall back on the bed, muttering to herself moodily. "Well crap, how are you supposed to win against a girl who looks as good as Miranda and the Champion..."

"Wait you two, what are you talking about? I mean I like Cynthia a lot, but I don't love her," Ash said quickly. Unbidden he was reminded the times they had spent together the past weeks, just the two of them. Ash quickly pushed the memories out of his head. Absolutely not what he needed when facing these two.

"I mean it's not obvious, but to a trained eye..." said Dawn.

"You mean an eye like yours?" Ash said, rolling his own eyes. "Look, I'm sorry but I Cynthia's just a friend. Alright, a close friend. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Sure, you say that to us pretty easily, but could you say it to her face?" asked Dawn shrewdly. "Could you tell her she was nothing more than just a friend?"

"What?" repeated Ash. "What does that matter?"

"It matters a whole lot," Dawn said simply.

"I don't really understand why you two are jumping into the middle of my private life to begin with," Ash said, aiming to guilt them. "I mean, it's not like I've ever done this to you guys." But they weren't even listening to him.

Dawn was whispering to May, "I have an idea." May perked up as she listened to what the other girl breathed into her ear. Then to Ash's complete confusion they proceeded to play rock-paper-scissors. One minute later, Ash stopped trying to figure out what was going on and the two girls turned to him.

"Okay, we've decided," said May with a smile.

"What are you scheming?" asked Ash knowing this wasn't going to be good for him.

"We're going to go get Cynthia and straighten this all out!" Ash nearly fell out of his chair.

"I told you I don't-" he argued but he was cut off.

"...Unless you go on a date with one of us. A real date."

"You can't be serious! That's blackmail! You two are supposed to be my friends!"

"Oh come on Ash, it's just a date." Ash didn't know how to get out of this.

"So who am I going with?" he asked.

"That's what we just decided," said May. "It was a tie."

"So how are you going to choose who wins then?"

"We did, silly," said Dawn smiling evilly. And suddenly Ash knew.

"You're going out with both of us!"

XxxxxX

All in all, the twisted double date wasn't really torture like Ash thought it was going to be. In fact, he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He thought that they would tease him and pretend that they all were one odd couple, but he eventually figured out that it was really just their way of wanting to spend time with him. Dawn was right. He had been avoiding everyone. It was about time he stopped; soon anyway.

"Sorry about last night Ash, we kind of got carried away," Dawn apologized at the end of their day out. May, looking equally guilty, nodded.

"Yeah we shouldn't have done that. Um, I think we might have had a little wine..." her voice drifted off and the pair of them blushed. Oh yes, a little wine. Ash was doing his best to hold back his laughter.

"Would you two relax? I really enjoyed today. Seriously," he added, seeing the apprehensive looks they gave him. "Just, you know, don't say anything. And I really don't love Cynthia. You two are just dreaming up romance for the sake of it." He left them shortly after that, not wanting to give either a chance to pick him apart.

However for the next few days, even during the quarter-finals match he had against Cliff Exford, which he won fairly easily, Ash had little else but Cynthia on his mind. Compared to the beginning of the tournament, Ash now saw her nearly as often as he did Miranda. On top of that, he actually found himself alone with Cynthia more than with Miranda. Whenever they were together his pulse got quicker, and he felt drawn to her. But it wasn't just him. Ash noticed that Cynthia went well out of her way to get time alone with him. It was becoming difficult trying to figure out which he actually liked more, and truth be told, that worried him. The feelings he had for Miranda stemmed from somewhere completely different than what was surfacing for Cynthia, but without a doubt they both were taking up most of his mind.

Never having been faced with such a dilemma, it was with apprehension that he knocked on Misty's door, the night before the semi-final matches.

"Ash?" said Misty in surprise, her head poking between the door and the wall.

"Hey, Misty. Can I talk to you for a bit about something? I, uhh, I need your help." Ash looked around a little nervously. He felt jumpy for some reason.

"What? Yeah, alright. Come on in." she said curiously, and opened the door, letting him walk inside. Once again, it was a much smaller place than his suite, and once again Ash had to wonder exactly how he had gotten such a huge living space to begin with. Misty was wearing a pair of pajamas that had various water Pokemon all over them and she also had her hair down. She looked like she was about to go to bed. A book and a steaming mug on her coffee table told him otherwise.

"You know if you're busy I can always come back another time," started Ash, already moving to the door. Misty grabbed him and pulled him to a seat.

"I didn't let you see me in these pajamas for nothing, tell me what's up, Ash?" she shot at him, though not unkindly. "Actually let me guess, you're here about girls right?" Ash nodded slowly and Misty put a hand to her forehead laughing softly. She mumbled something, but the only words Ash caught were 'finally' and 'irony'.

"So, what's the problem?" she asked finally, pouring Ash some cool tea that she had been drinking and refilling her cup.

"I think I might um, interested, in Cynthia." The little tea that Misty had begun drinking returned to her cup posthaste.

"You think you're in love with the Sinnoh Champion?"

"I said interested, not love," shot Ash defensively. "Why, is that a bad thing?" Had this been a bad idea?

"No, just a bit dreamy," she said as if he would understand what she meant by it. Which he didn't. "But I thought you were with Miranda," she continued looking a little puzzled. "Did you break up with her?"

"No, no," Ash replied, quickly shaking his head. "We didn't break- wait a second we aren't together to begin with. We're just really close." Seeing that she was about to say something Ash added, "Look it's just getting a little confusing and I'm not really sure how to handle this."

"Riiiight. So you like Miranda but now have a small crush on the Champion, what's the problem? You've been around Miranda for years so consider that. You know her a hell of a lot better than Cynthia I'll bet. How much do you know about the Champion anyway?" Ash frowned. She was right. How much about Cynthia did he know in the end? The fact that her parents had passed away when she was young was probably the only piece of personal information he had on her. He didn't even know her favorite color.

"You might be right but when it comes to Cynthia, I don't know really why I think so, but I was thinking... thinking it might be mutual." Misty quickly put down her tea before she lost any more of it.

"Ash, somehow I doubt that," Misty said, though not unkindly. "Cynthia's, well, Cynthia. And.."

"I'm me?" said Ash hotly. "I came here to see if you could give me some advice Misty, not for you to insult me."

"Sorry that didn't exactly come out right," said Misty with a yawn. "In general though, when you like someone and you don't know how that person feels about you, you start reading too deeply into every little thing and that quickly leads to bad mistakes that can ruin even the closest friendships." Ash simply blinked at her.

"You think I'm overreacting?"

"It's more than likely. I'm sorry Ash but she is the Champion after all."

"What does that have to do with anything?" said Ash, crossing his arms. Misty imitated him.

"Well, think about Cynthia's position for a second. How many guys do you think have thrown themselves at her over the course of her life? Girls too I'll bet. I just figure that if she's still single despite having literally half a world to pick from she's either not interested in relationships or looking for something she hasn't found yet." Well, she certainly had a point. "By the way, why are you exploring this the day before you may be facing her in a battle? They aren't going to announce the match-ups until right before it starts you know."

"Dunno, seemed like a good a time as any I suppose." Ash got up and walked to the door but Misty held him up.

"Wait Ash, at least let me say one thing to try and help you out before you go." Ash nodded tiredly and she said, "Look, let's assume that you're right about Cynthia. I think the best thing would be for you to figure out your relationships with them and then choose from there. Just, just tell the other girl that you don't like her as much."

"That's the problem," said Ash, rubbing his head. "Every time I'm around them I like them each more. How am I supposed to figure anything out like that?"

"I don't know but you obviously can't have both. Life doesn't work that way. Just, do your best to figure it out and make it plain to them both. I know it's not going to make everyone happy, but that's life... Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Misty."

XxxxxX

"Everyone! It'll be starting in five minutes, so please be ready!" The young attendant ran out of the waiting room.

The four remaining trainers in the tournament sat around a table, each side having a single person. Ash sat in an armchair, Pikachu in his lap wearing his cap for something to do. To Ash's right sat Cynthia, on a short stool she had found somewhere. She was staring off into space, thinking about something. Her long hair moved slightly in the small cross breeze coming from the doorway. She even makes being oblivious look good, though Ash, before he shook his head to clear it. She was not the thing he needed to be thinking about right then.

Ash turned his head to the man sitting opposite him, Steven Stone. While Ash's quarter-final battle hadn't been worth discussing over even a glass of water, the battle between the former Hoenn Champion and the current one, Wallace, was probably already in books. It was the first time that Ash had ever seen any of Steven's Pokemon other than his Aggron which he knew about from the last time they met, years ago. Retired or not, he was a force to be reckoned with. A sudden sigh drew Ash's attention to the final member of the group, Dion Liddick.

This was the first time that Ash had come face to face with the current Champion of his home region Kanto, and according to Anabel the only other person ever offered a position as a Battle Frontier Brain. Despite having separate conferences, the Kanto and Johto regions shared an Elite Four, as well as a Champion. This meant that essentially there were twice as many people gunning for his spot; however, Dion still remained unmatched after the two and a half years of being Champion. Personally, Ash didn't particularly like the guy. He seemed too arrogant. However, this was probably because Ash had just met him. Being a champion already told Ash a lot about him, but only really as a trainer. Even so, it was the trainer that he may possibly be battling in the next few minutes. Scott suddenly walked in and everyone stood up automatically.

"It's time!"

Ash squinted as the sunlight hit him. His ears, already used to the sounds of crazy Pokemon battle fans, only seemed to recoil slightly as a positive wave of sound hit them. He rubbed his temples, hoping he didn't end up going deaf eventually. It only took him a moment to locate his friends. They sat directly in the middle almost in the front row, just as they had done for the past few battles of his. He waved covertly, and they all enthusiastically waved back. As the five of them reached the center of the battlefield, Scott stepped forward and spoke to the crowd through the microphone attached to his shirt.

"Welcome everyone, glad to see that the stadium is still holding up under this audience," he said cheerfully and the crowd quieted considerably.

"First I'd like to give a great hand to the four incredible trainers who have battled their way to the top of the top! We have Battle Frontier Brain number eight, Ash Ketchum! Kanto and Johto Champion Dion Liddick! Former Hoenn Champion Steven Stone! And finally Sinnoh Champion Cynthia Shirona!" The crowd roared its approval, especially for the three Champions. They were idolized by everyone, Pokemon trainer or not. After all, Champions represented much more than just winning a few Pokemon battles. Ash traded glances with Cynthia and they both grinned.

"And now," called Scott loudly to get everyone back under control, "I get to explain the rules of the semi-final battle." Ash traded confused looks with the other three. Looked like he hadn't misheard.

"Battle?" he said to Scott quickly, but Scott continued as if he hadn't heard him.

"Many of you may remember a poll that was put out to all four regions a couple of years ago about tournaments like this one. It asked specifically if people would be interested in watching something a little different for the semi-finals. Instead of two single battles, we asked if people would like a tag battle." The crowd was beginning to go crazy; Ash could feel it even past the barriers he always kept around his mind to prevent himself from being assaulted by the aura in everything. Still, even he was feeling some adrenaline. A tag battle?

Scott plowed on. "The results of that poll were astounding; so astounding that we did it again half a week ago while everyone here was cut off from the regions. And here were the results!" Scott suddenly motioned to the main data boards opposite each other at the top of the stadium. Everyone watched as they suddenly flashed showing the results of the poll.

Tag Battle = 91%
Single Battles = 9%

"So do you all agree?" he shouted excitedly at them. The stadium burst with cheers, yelling, and all around chaos that clearly meant, "Hell. Freaking. Yes."

"Then I officially announce that the semi-final match is a two on two tag battle! Each trainer will have four Pokemon each and may only substitute twice. And so, you four, please choose two Pokemon and leave them with me. No changing your mind later," he added handing out his hand. The four looked at Scott, then immediately stared at each other, planning. Eventually Ash handed Scott Armaldo.

"Sorry, buddy, I'm sitting you out for this one," Ash said to Pikachu with an apology. "I'll be needing you for the finals though. Be sure on that." Pikachu gave a disgruntled sound then jumped over to Scott's shoulder where he sat perfectly balanced. Dion, Steven, and Cynthia all looked at him then each made one change before handing over two pokeballs over to Scott each. Ash glared at them. "Thanks guys, really subtle."

"Sorry Ash, that's just the way it works," shrugged Steven with a grin. Dion and Cynthia copied him.

"Now that everything is set, the only thing remaining is to choose the teams, which will be done randomly right here, right now!" The moment the words left his mouth the screens changed to show four empty boxes separated into two groups and divided by a big 'VS'. Within seconds their faces began to flash in the boxes so rapidly that he could barely make out who was who. And then it stopped; as quickly as it had started.

"Well, looks like it's you and me," said Ash turning to his right. He was grinning; he knew it. There was no reason for him not to.

"I guess so," said Cynthia, still looking up at the board. She faced him, her smile just as wide as his. "That means when we win I'll finally get to face you in the finals."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."