AN: So, here's the next chapter. Recently, my laptop broke down so I have to use an older computer :/ I can't remember the last time I used a computer as slow as this. Anyway, enough of my rambling about my computer, I don't really have much to say in this AN, apart from I hope you enjoy the chapter and to thank Tealgryffin for being my BETA.

Normal POV:

"Tobias."

"Ketchum."

The clearing was completely silent. The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife. Delia and the other girls stood behind Ash looking wary and angry, staring straight towards Tobias. Ash, Kieron and Mia were standing side-by-side, glaring at Tobias unflinchingly. He merely looked back with curiosity and amusement, seemingly not bothered by the fact that he was outnumbered, although looking in his eyes, you could see the anger and hate towards Ash radiating from them.

"Honestly, I didn't expect a petty child like you to have the audacity to come off your little mountain and actually come back to civilisation. I should have killed all of you when we first met each other; it would give me a lot less work to do." Tobias said with a smirk.

"You know." Ash said, no emotion in his voice. "The fact that you used my mother and friends against me, and used Kieron's family and Mias surrogate family against them, you're the child here. You're a coward too, forcing children to fight against each other and killing others families for your own gain." Ash said coldly, without pause.

"Haha." Tobias chuckled to himself softly. "With the way you're talking, I'm guessing you don't like me much, huh little boy?" Tobias asked mockingly, causing Ash's eyes to tighten in anger.

"Don't listen to him Ash." Kieron said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He's trying to anger you, make you do something you will regret. Wait till the end of the tournament to finally destroy him and tell the world of the type of monster Tobias really is." Kieron muttered, causing Tobias to snarl.

"You are mere children, you know nothing of the power I have. Nor do you have an idea of why I have done all of this." Tobias said with an angry growl, taking a step towards the group. Immediately, Ash and Kieron put their aura shield up, with Ash's looking a lot brighter to show the difference in power between their aura levels. Mia had an aura sphere in her hand, which was a purple colour. The rest of the group brought out a Pokeball each. Tobias stopped, looking at Ash in shock.

"What... How can a mere mortal like YOU have the power of the gods and demi-gods AND have it so powerful?!" Tobias asked in outrage. This was bad, if he continued getting stronger with his aura, and with Mia and Kieron by his side, there was no way that Tobias would be able to beat them. From having Darkrai watching them in the shadows, he understood that they always stuck together in their group, and at the very least, Ash, Kieron and Mia would have the rest of the regular trainers in a group of their own of they split up. Tobias needed to think of a plan to split the three of them up if he was to be able t take the whole group out one by one.

"Hmm, you appear to all be training the power that you shouldn't have. Yes, having Darkrai haunt your dreams would be perfect punishment for your insolence, no? No matter, I will simply have to take you all out, starting with the weakest hmm?" Tobias asked with a lecherous smirk toward Mia. He was then surprised, when an aura sphere flew at him with great speed.

"You even think about touching Mia, you'll find that even Ash wouldn't be able to make you suffer as much as I can." Kieron growled, his eyes flashing maliciously. Soon, Ash and Mia sent their own aura sphere's towards Tobias, causing him to quickly activate a shield. Soon, dust picked up as they impacted against the shield. Once it was clear, Tobias had completely disappeared.

"Damn, he got away. Oh well, we'll just have to wait for now. Hopefully, one of us battle him in the tournament relatively soon. The sooner we take him out and show the world what he really is, the better." Ash said with a quiet sigh, causing the others to nod in agreement.

"I don't like this..." Kieron said with a hand to his chin, looking around cautiously. "He said something about a Darkrai keeping an eye on us and spying for him. I think we should take turns sleeping so if Darkrai appears near any of us we can wake the other up." Everyone nodded at this, although there was another problem.

"Um, I was staying by myself in the hotel. And you guys saw the way Tobias looked at me." Mia said with a shiver going through her body. Kieron looked at her in worry, trying to come up with an idea.

"There was an extra bed in our room, she could use that." Delia said with a look of sympathy towards Mia. She sent a simple grin back, stating that she would give the key back for her own room. "Wait, have you already paid for the room for the duration of the tournament?" Mia nodded at this. "Okay, you won't get much of a refund back. So, how about we keep the room in case we need an extra room to meet up in. Also, you could give it to Ethan and Lyra and have them pay you to use it so you could get more money than you would back from the Pokémon Centre." Everyone thought this was a good idea, although Mia wasn't really bothered about the money.

After that ordeal, they all just wanted to get back to the Pokémon Centre without problems and they were tired. So, without much more conversation, they set back off to the Pokémon Centre, hoping for no more problems. Luckily, they got back to the Pokémon Centre quickly without encountering anyone else and they just wanted to go to bed. Ethan and Lyra were also at the Pokémon Centre and they were able to give the two of them the extra room. Without much conversation between the now complete group, they all headed upstairs for some sleep.

Normal POV - Next Morning:

The group woke up, bothered about how quickly the night went by. Soon though, the excitement for the tournament made them rush to get ready and soon, they were on their way to the Indigo Plateau. Walking relatively quickly, considering the amount of trainers that will be there and how long they would have to wait in line, the group were sure they would be able to get to the Plateau before most other trainers. Looking around, the group noticed that the trainers they passed in their quick walk were looking more sluggish and annoyed at the early time they had to be awake. Soon, the group came across another unwelcome surprise (even if Mia didn't fully know why her friends disliked this group so much).

"Well, well, well. We meet again, huh Ashy-boy?" Gary asked with a smirk. The group merely looked at him distastefully before continuing on their way. "Oy, I'm talking to-" Gary stopped talking when he realised they didn't care about anything he said and sped up to get as far away from them as possible. "Stupid bunch of morons. Who are they to ignore me?" Gary asked with a huff.

Soon, the group managed to get to the Plateau without anyone else bothering them. Looking around, there didn't appear to be too many trainers around, thankfully.

"Looks like we're in luck. I'm glad we managed to get here and only Gary bothered to talk. I don't think I could've held my temper if the rest of them tried to bother us." Ash said in slight annoyance, causing the rest of the group to chuckle slightly. Eventually, the group managed to get to the front of the line, with most of the other trainers now in the Pokémon Centre and the place quickly filling up, with most of the trainers looking exasperated at the amount of people that were here now and how long they would have to wait to actually get sorted for the tournament.

"Aren't you glad we got up so early guys?" Kieron asked with a smirk, being the first of the group to find out his opponent for the tournament. "Hmm, it appears my first battle is a 1v1 against someone called Drew Rossi. Wait, isn't that..." At Ash's stiff nod, Kieron nodded back grimly. "Looks like we'll have one of those 'betrayers' of yours out the tournament soon, huh?" Kieron asked with another smirk, causing Ash to simply nod back. Soon, the rest of the group had their opponent, with them stating it was people they had never heard of or saw.

"Okay, looks like it's my turn." Ash said, taking the slip Nurse. Joy handed him. "Well, looks like you're not the only one with an... Amusing match Kieron." Ash said, showing them the slip of paper with his opponent showing. Well Max, looks like your dream of being a Pokémon Master ends today." Ash said with a smirk towards the - still - small boy. From the rapidly paling features from Max, he was apparently terrified of who he would be facing, greatly amusing Ash and the others.

"My brother is twice the man you are Ketchum." May said in annoyance. The group merely looked at her in slight amusement before continuing on their way to area where Mr. Goodshow will be opening the main tournament for everyone. Soon, the group were at the main stage were everything would be happening, looking around as more and more trainers started to trickle into the stadium. There were even some familiar faces to the whole group, with Ethan and Lyra looking over to them with a grin and a jaunty wave. Surprisingly, it didn't take too much longer for the rest of the trainers to get into the stadium, which was now completely packed.

"Uh-hum." Goodshow coughed lightly through the mic he held, causing all talk to stop and making all of the trainers to turn to him. "Good, I see I have everyone's attention now. So, I'm happy to see so many bright, young individuals here today. Ah, Cynthia, if you could go join the other Champions, that would be wonderful." Goodshow said with a slight twinkle in his eyes. She looked at him in annoyance for a second; having to leave the group she was currently with, before walking towards the stand next to the one Goodshow was standing on with the other Champions. Whispering broke out between other trainers as they looked at the group Cynthia was with, but a simple glare from Ash diverted their attention. "Anyway, welcome to all you bright, young individuals. This is the first time in quite a long time since we have done such a large tournament like this. With 300 of the best trainers around the world here on this day, this is sure to be exciting for everyone." People shouted out their excitement, with the spectators in the stand creating even more noise.

"Damnit, it's really loud here." Ash muttered. The rest of the group simply chuckled at him and listened as Goodshow continued.

"Right, so the tournament is going to work like this. Over the next two days will be the first set of battles because of the sheer amount of trainers here. After these two days, there will only be 150 trainers left in the tournament. After this, the battle will be 3v3. Once there are only 75 more trainers left within the tournament, we will all have 3 days to recuperate and get some extra training in for anyone that needs it. After these 3 days, we will then move onto double-battles, with all 4 battlers using a full team of six Pokémon each." People started to mutter at this, wondering how fair teams will be picked with 75 people.

"Hmm, that's quite curious. Unless..." Ash was cut off as Goodshow continued.

"Ah, I see what has you confused. What I meant to say was, Tobias will be exempt from this part of the tournament so there will be 74 battlers." Ash's eyes narrowed at this, wondering what was happening. "Since Tobias has won every league, he is essentially the current person holding the title of Pokémon Master, so he will not be a part of most of the tournament. In the final battle, it will be one of you trainers within the crowed against Tobias to win the Pokémon Master title." Everyone started talking excitedly at this, with Ash looking at Tobias in shock and hate. Did he just get the title of Pokémon Master just to spite him? No, it was probably more along the lines of power and bragging rights.

"Looks like Tobias thinks he's unstoppable from this. He's also acting really cocky about everything, which will be his downfall. If you get to the finals Ash, make sure you completely destroy him. He's going to mess up if he's always over-confident." Kieron said, putting his hand on Ash's shoulder. Ash nodded back at him with a small smile.

"Yeah Ash, hopefully no of us have to battle each other in the tournament. It'll be even better if we can choose who to team with in the double-battles so we can work together." Serena said with a small smile. Ash simply grinned back, stating that he would definitely pick her as his teammate. She blushed brightly at this, smiling back at him.

"One more thing trainers." Goodshow said, catching everyone's attention. "The final thing is the prizes one of you will obtain. Like I stated, you will have the title of Pokémon Master. Also, if you've forgotten, the winner receives 1,000,000 Poke'dollars." Everyone continued to talk about this, with the group thinking about what they could do with that amount of money. "Right, so the first three battles will be happening in an hours' time. It will all be randomly chosen, with Nurse Joy saying through the loud speakers which trainers will be battling and at which stadium. There will be three battles happening at once, so you will all have plenty of time to get ready. So, off you all go back to the Pokémon Centre and I wish good luck to everyone here." With that, Goodshow left the stage to go talk to the Champions. Cynthia looked towards them for a second, before waving her hand, implying they should just go on. She would probably meet up with them later.

"Okay, looks like we'll have to wait at the Pokémon Centre for now. With an hour to wait, we might as well decide who to use for our first battle and just wait in the Pokémon Centre." Ash stated, with everyone quick to agree. Getting to the Pokémon Centre would be rather annoying though, considering the amount of people that were trying to do that at this moment in time. "Also, no, Kieron and I won't be teleporting us there. We still need to keep our aura mostly secret and it takes a lot of energy to teleport us all there." Ash whispered, causing some of the girls to groan before agreeing with him. With that, the group hurried over to the rather lengthy queue, annoyed at how long it would take to get to the Pokémon Centre.

Thankfully, it only took around thirty minutes for the group to finally be in the Pokémon Centre and having a seat.

"Okay, so has everyone chosen which Pokémon they will be using for their first battle?" Ash asked, with everyone nodding their head. "Okay, I think I have a pretty good idea on who to use against Max." Ash said with a dark grin, causing the others to smirk back and ask who he was using. With a simple whisper, the group immediately started roaring with laughter, just thinking about how disheartened and shocked Max would be at seeing this Pokémon again.

"Haha, Ash, that's just evil." Ash chuckled, remembering the time Ash told them all about hi old adventures. "I have a few different Pokémon in mind to use against flower-boy." Everyone started laughing again at the nickname Kieron came up with for Drew. "Since it said on our slip that for the first battle, you could have more than one Pokémon with you and the trainer to choose their Pokémon first is random, I might decide to either go easy on flower-boy or completely obliterate him." Everyone chuckled at this.

"Hmm, I'll probably just choose Absol for this. Since he can Mega-Evolve(1) it'll surprise everyone and give me an easy win." Serena said with a small shrug, causing everyone to nod at her logic.

"That Mega-Absol is a beast. I can't believe how you managed to defeat Venasaur with it. I've been training with him quite a lot on the mountain to increase his overall defence and resistance. I'm proud of you Serena; you've trained your Pokémon really well." Ash said with a small smile, causing Serena's face to heat up. The rest of the girls giggled to themselves slightly and started whispering between each other. Ash, Kieron and Mia watched this with amusement and curiosity as whatever they were saying was making Serena even more embarrassed.

"Okay girls." Mia said, catching their attention. "I think if Serena goes anymore red she'll faint or something." The others laughed at this as Serena calmed down slightly and mock-pouted.

"You guys are impossible." She said, pretending to turn away.

"Haha, you're adorable Serena, don't worry about it." Ash said with a smirk.

With the light banter and the others saying what their plans were for the first battle, the time seemed to fly by as there was only ten more minutes before the first trainers would be picked to battle.

"Oh, looks like Nurse Joy is getting everything ready to get the names of the trainers who will be battling first." Ash stated, causing everyone to look at the main desk. Sure enough, Nurse Joy was setting up a small microphone and activating a program on her computer to pick the random trainers. The group quickly headed to the desk, with other trainers following their lead. A large screen turned on behind the desk, with 6 boxes. There were 2 boxes on each row, with a small 'vs.' between each one. Currently, the boxes were sliding between pictures of each trainer.

"Okay everyone." Nurse Joy said down the microphone, catching the attention of everyone within the Pokémon Centre. "The first three battles are about to be chosen. Listen out for your name and which stadium you will be battling in." With that, Nurse Joy watched the board along with everyone else as it started to slow down.

"I can already tell what is going to happen." Ash said with a small smirk, causing the other in the group to look at him.

"What do you-" Serena stopped short when the board suddenly stopped and the trainers were chosen.

"I knew it."

"Oh god..."

"Oh well Max, may the better trainer win."

"I'm completely screwed."

AN: There we go! Another cliff-hanger, mwah-ha-ha, I am evil. Haha, just kidding. Anyway, if everyone is too excited to wait for a week, make sure to leave a review and tell me to hurry my arse up, lol. If we get, let's say... 10 reviews? If we can get that on this chapter, I'll make sure to start writing the next one immediately. I check the story every day for peoples review, I love reading everyone's reviews, whether they are praising me for my beautiful writing (sarcasm) or if it's a critique trying to help, I'm happy with anything. Also, next chapter I'm going to start responding to anyone that leaves questions in their review, so make sure you guys always check out the AN's at both the start and end of the chapter. Also, I've left a little bit of shipping in this chapter; you guys can bet that soon Serena and Ash will be getting together. A date first though, they have a lot to talk through before they just jump into bed and start humping like rabbits.

(1) Only Serena can Mega-Evolve her Pokémon at this moment in time, but do not fret! Soon into the tournament, Ash, Kieron and Mia will be getting their own Mega-Ring for their Pokémon. There's gonna be a bit of a spoiler here, so stop reading if you don't want to hear it. (SPOILER ALERT: Ash will be getting the ability to mega evolve his Charizard into Mega Charizard X (I just like this version better, it looks cooler and is part Dragon type too!). Kieron will get the chance to mega evolve his Salamence. And Mia will get the chance to mega evolve a... Swampert! Yes, that's the first Pokémon I have introduced that Mia has! And at this moment in time, I won't be giving any hints of the other Pokémon that anyone from the group has until I show their own battles.)

I also won't be showing battles the group aren't in, otherwise it would just be reading for you guys and the random trainers aren't particularly important in the tournament. So, that's all I have to say for this and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

One more thing, I dunno if it's just my computer or the document editor; I just copy-pasted this to word to spell check everything. Now, the text looks a bit weird. So, if the chapter looks different, I apologise and I simply wanted to spell check everything.