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As Ash sat in the small room that separated him from the Arena he felt beads of sweat drip down the back of his neck. He felt his heartbeat start to increase; he felt his stomach start to churn and for a second was afraid that he might vomit. He took a deep breath and tried to drown out everything around him, which was very hard considering the noise that was coming from the crowd outside. For a few brief moments Ash was at peace. Until his mind drifted back to what was about to happen. This was his chance to go down in history to be part of an elite group of people who could say that they were, at least for a portion of time, the best. He had wanted this since he could remember, and now he had the opportunity to seize his dream and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers. Where moments before was nervousness now lay a burning desire and determination.

Ash's head spun round at the sound of the door opening and revealing a stadium full of people. Ash walked out onto the battlefield and was temporarily blinded whilst his eyes adjusting to the beaming Kalos sun. He soon reached his box and swallowed a lump that had appeared in his throat. His competitor walked out to a roar of support from the crowd. Diantha was wearing her signature winged dress and gave Ash a quick smile. The referee then appeared and took up his position halfway down the field and said over the stadium speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming to this year's Kalos champion challenge. Today's battle will be a full six vs six battle and will be decided when one side is no longer able to battle." He then looked Ash dead in the eyes. "Challenger are you ready?" Ash gave a curt nod, he was itching to get going. The referee then looked at Diantha and asked the same question and she gave a similar response. "Then without further delay let the battle begin."

The two of them threw their pokeballs into the air and the first match was revealed. Diantha's Hawlucha vs Ash's Talonflame. The minutes flew by in a dizzy blur. Ash's instincts doing the work for him. Often barking orders to his pokemon before his brain has a chance to fully process the information. One after another pokemon on both sides started to fall. It would look like Ash had a foothold in the battle then he would be put back in his place by the champion. As soon as he knew it Ash was down to his last Pokémon, Charizard facing Diantha's penultimate Pokémon Goodra.

"Charizard. Hyperbeam!" A beam of raw power erupted out of his mouth and headed towards his opponent.

"Counter with dragon pulse." A blue line made contact with the hyper beam in mid-air. For a moment it looked perfectly matched but then Charizard's hyper beam won out and made contact with Diantha's Pokémon. The dragon type then collapsed forward onto the battlefield throwing up a cloud of dust.

Diantha recalled her Pokémon to its Pokeball. She then pulled a Pokeball out of her pocket and kissed the top of it and muttered some words under her breath. She threw it into the air and unleashed her most powerful partner.

"Voir." The Pokémon said.

"Charizard, quick use flamethrower." Ash barked. However Charizard was still feeling the after effects of its hyper beam and took a while to prepare the attack.

"Gardevoir moonblast." A small white sphere glowing with a pink aura appeared above Gardevoir and shattered. The pieces then started to fly towards Charizard. Ash's Pokémon had recovered from the hyper beam in time and an orange flame poured out of his mouth. The pieces started to disintegrate however it wasn't enough to get all of them. Charizard tensed up at the contact. However he soon then stood up straight and gave a nod to show Ash he was alright.

Before anything more could happen Gardevoir started to glow. Ash knew what was about to happen. Soon the light got too intense and Ash had to look away, when it subsided standing on the battlefield, Gardevoir's dress had expanded and so had her headdress. Even from all the way across the battlefield he could see that Diantha had cracked a smile. Smug at the advantage she had instantly gained. Ash hadn't been paying attention enough to notice at first, but the crowd had gone silent. They were all in awe of what they had just seen. Ash held the pearl tightly and shouted.

"Now Charizard."

Charizard then started to glow like his opponent. One again the glow was too bright for Ash. However when it subsided Ash thought it hadn't worked. Charizard wasn't black and blue like Red's had been when it mega-evolved. Ash's Pokémon was still its usual orange and white. When Ash's Pokémon stretched out its wings Ash saw the difference. Charizard's wing span had almost doubled and he now had spines running down the lower end of his tail. With two flaps of its huge new wings Charizard rose into the air.

"Charizard. Flamethrower." A huge expanse of fire appeared from his mouth.

"Gardevoir, Shadow ball." A ball of pure darkness appeared in front of the psychic type and was blasted into the flames.

The battled raged for the next few minutes, the two mega Pokémon trading blows until both were starting to feel the effects. Charizard was starting to become sluggish in the air and the flame on the end of his tail was burning less brightly, indicating he was running out of energy. Gardevoir wasn't a hundred percent either. Although looking not so bad physically. On the face of the Pokémon you could see that her mind was tiring.

"Charizard slash." The talons on its hands started to elongate and the fire type jetted towards its enemy.

"Psychic." Diantha ordered.

Charizard now had a blue aura around it and stopped in mid-air. Gardevoir had to use all her strength to overpower Charizards momentum. After levitating in the air for a few seconds, Ash's Pokémon was then thrown back and slammed into the battlefield and slid back until he almost collided with Ash. Charizard tried to get up but was unable to stand up straight. Instead he remained on all fours.

Ash saw that he was almost of the competition. He decided that the risk that he had been holding off on was worth it. "Charizard put all you power into one last hyper beam!"

Charizard took a deep breath and then the beam of energy blasted out of his mouth. Before either Diantha or Gardevoir could react the Pokémon was already colliding with the wall of the battlefield, making some of the people in the first few rows jump. Ash could hear Charizard's breathing was laboured and very fast. For a moment Ash was worried that Charizard might faint. When he looked back to the other end of the battlefield he saw Diantha standing over her Pokémon and soon heard over the stadium loudspeakers.

"Gardevoir is no longer able to battle. Diantha is out of Pokémon. The challenger, Ash Ketchum is the victor." Hearing it made Ash put the pieces together. HE HAD WON. Somehow he had managed to do what he set out to do more than eight years ago. Ash collapsed to his knees and tears started to run down his face. Charizard shuffled over to Ash and rested its head on its trainers shoulder. Ash threw his arms around his Pokémon.

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you." He kept repeating it over and over. Whilst doing so he scratched behind Charizards ear. Ash hadn't realised that Diantha had walked over to Ash and was standing with a smile on her face. She held out a hand to help Ash up. He accepted, he didn't know if he could even stand up by himself.

Ash returned Charizard to his Pokeball and followed Serena to where the referee was standing. He handed them a microphone each. Diantha turned to Ash.

"Ash congratulations. That was a brilliant. You are a worthy entrant into the Kalos hall of fame. Tell us, how are you feeling?"

Ash tried to answer. He tried to put into words the emotions that were flowing through his body. For the first few seconds all he could force out a feeble. "Urgh…" However hearing how idiotic he sounded Ash took a deep breath. Then he tried again. "I… I'm not sure I can."

"I know there must be so many things going through your mind just tell us a few of them."

Ash was amazed at how natural Diantha could make this situation feel. "I'm lost for words. I've dreamed of this moment since I was a kid. Until now that was just a dream."

"Do you know if there is anything that you want to do now?"

"Well this has been an amazing time for me but it's been exhausting so what I really want to do is just spend a few days relaxing with my fiancé."

"I think we can all appreciate that after the intense few weeks that both you and your pokemon have had. Now Ash do you want to enter the Hall of Fame now?"

"Yes please." Ash said sounding like he was ten years old again. Diantha handed the microphones back to the referee and then all three of them walked into a narrow corridor that led out of the battlefield. The referee opened a door and Diantha led Ash into a brightly lit hallway. The door closed behind them and Ash looked back to see that the referee hadn't followed them.

"Where are we?" Ash asked puzzled.

Diantha ignored him and kept walking. At the end of the hallway there was a set of golden doors. As the pair walked closer the doors slid open, revealing a large room.

"Ash welcome to the Kalos Hall of Fame." Diantha said.

Ash walked slowly into the room and took it all in. The first thing that struck Ash was how beautiful the room was. With a dark marble floor, white stone walls adorned with portraits of the winners most of which were set in intricate golden frames.

"Why are some in black frames?" Ash asked.

"Those are winners who went on to become champions." Ash looked around for Diantha's portrait and soon found it. He wandered over to it. It was different to the one in the hall of Fame for tourists.

"Is this from when you became champion?" Ash asked.

"Yes. My winner's one is over there somewhere." Diantha pointed to the other side of the room.

"How do you become champion?"

"Somebody's looking forward."

"No. It's not that. Trust me; I have no interest in becoming champion for a while. I'm just interested."

"Well, once you've entered the Hall of Fame you can challenge the Elite Four and me. However you only get one challenge. So if you fail, you need to win the Pokémon League again if you want another shot. We can talk more about it later." Diantha motioned Ash over to a large silver console with a large black screen above it. "Please place your Pokeballs in the machine."

Ash did as asked and soon a picture of himself appeared on the screen. He was soon joined by his Pokémon.

"What do you think?" Diantha asked.

"It's weird. To see myself like that, up there. To think It's gonna be in here surrounded by these great trainers."

Diantha placed her hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Ash, you are a great trainer. You deserve to be here."

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for telling the truth." Diantha said smiling. "Now, I have a feeling that there is a young woman who will be wanting us to rap this us as soon as possible."

Serena. Ash felt guilty that he hadn't spared a single thought about what she must be feeling.

"Are we finished?" Ash asked. Hoping he could get back to his fiancé. However there was a little part of him that hoped that Diantha would say no. A little part of him wanted to enjoy this room a little longer.

"You want to stay, don't you?"

"No. Maybe. Only for a few more minutes." Ash admitted. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"Of course not. This isn't something that happens every day. Savour it."

Ash gave a nod of thanks then asked "Where will my picture go?"

"Where do you want it to go?" Diantha replied.

Ash paced around the room looking for somewhere suitable. There were a few empty spaces here and there. He looked at an empty space at eye level about a quarter of the way down from the doors. "Here."

"I'll make sure that's where it goes. Do you want to go now?"

Ash gave a nod and Diantha led him back down the hallway and out into the corridor. They then went down into the lobby of the arena and Ash was surprised by how many people were there waiting for him. They were all shouting questions at him and taking pictures. Ash spent the next ten minutes answering questions which all seemed to boil down to either. How are you feeling or what's next for you? When he was finished he went looking for Serena. He found her waiting by reception. Just sitting there, calmly. She looked up and saw him. The calm expression was then replaced by joy. She ran towards Ash and threw her arms around him. He kissed her and in that moment all the tension that had built up over the last two weeks suddenly left Ash's body. He could finally relax. He placed one hand on the small of her back and ran the other through her hair.

"Hey." Ash said.

"Hey." Serena replied.

"I expected you to be there when I came out."

"I was going to but then I saw all the reporters and all the fans. You have quite a few by the way. Then I decided I would wait until you could be all mine." Serena said with a smile.

"I'm always all yours. Wanna go back to the room?" Serena gave a small nod and they walked back to the Pokémon Centre. Ash kept his arm around Serena the entire way. He just wanted to be close to her. All of a sudden Serena stopped and pulled Ash back.

"What is it?"

"I just think that they'll probably be a lot of people in the Pokémon Centre."

Ash held Serena's hands in his own and looked her in the eyes. "Yes there probably will be. That's okay. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because this is only a short blip that we have to go through. And once it's over it'll just be you and me." Ash gave her a quick soft kiss then added. "Okay?"

"Okay." She confirmed.

Sure enough the Pokémon centre was crowded with people all hoping to get a photo with Ash or ask him a question or two. Serena didn't like it. All the people in there were making the whole place hot and sweaty and she could only stand it for a few minutes before she had to go outside for some fresh air. She walked quickly to the exit and gulped a few long breaths of air once she was out. She placed her head in her hands and felt a hand on her shoulder. At first she thought it was Ash however when she looked up she saw a rather concerned Clemont there.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm just feeling a bit queasy."

"Well, you're pregnant. That's to be expected. It might not be my place to ask this but have you and Ash really talked about it yet?"

"Not really." Serena admitted slowly. "His mom doesn't even know."

"Well that's the first thing you need to fix when all this dies down. Then I think that the two of you need to talk about what you are going to do." Clemont didn't know why he was saying this. He had no right to give Ash and Serena advice on what the two of them were going through.

"When did you become such a guru?"

"I'm not. It's just that travelling with you guys and Bonnie has changed the way that I see the world and I don't know what I'll do when you leave. So the least that I can do is making sure that everything is the best it can be before you go."

Serena kissed Clemont on his forehead. "It will be. And who said anything about us leaving?"

"I just assumed that you guys would move back to the Kanto region. Are you not?"

"I don't know? We still need to talk about it."

"Well, if you want you can come back to Lumiose City with me and Bonnie."

"I'll mention it to Ash."

"Mention what to me?" Ash had appeared next to Clemont. Ash had obviously told people he wouldn't answer any more questions because the crowd started to pour out of the Pokémon Centre in front of them.

"Quite a lot actually. I think we need to talk later."

Ash had a confused look on his face when he said. "That sounds ominous."

Serena smiled at him for reassurance. "Don't worry. It's nothing like that. There are just a few things that we need to decide on."

"Okay, sure." Ash said sounding not entirely convinced. "Now Clemont if you will excuse us I would like to spend the afternoon with my fiancé."

Clemont gave a small nod. "Of course. See you guys later."

After that the couple went upstairs to their room and Ash collapsed on the bed. He patted the space next to him, motioning for Serena to join him. She lay down next to him and he rapped and arm around her. "So? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Serena shook her head. "Not now?" Serena didn't want to spoil the moment. She had seen so little of Ash in the last few weeks she wanted this moment to be theirs. Just being close to him made her relax. They both soon feel asleep.

Ash was the first one to wake up. Serena still asleep beside him. For a few minutes he just lay there beside her. Watching her sleep, listening to her breathing softly. It had been far too long since he had spent any time just appreciating the woman who was with him throughout this journey. He thought of the way she would always look on smiling when he trained. The way whenever something hadn't gone right she had been the one to look him in the eyes and make sure he understood it wasn't the end of the world. He had spent the last few weeks thinking only of himself. Ash decided that that needed to be corrected, soon. He slid out of bed as quietly as possible and went to find anything he could to show his gratitude to Serena. Ash walked down to the lobby of the Pokémon centre. He looked around and saw the row of videophones. Ash realised that his mom would want him to call her so that she could congratulate him. He walked over and dialled the number for his home. After a few seconds his mom appeared on the screen.

"Ash?" His mom asked looking confused.

"Hi mom. Is it a bad time?"

"No, of course not. I just didn't expect you to call so soon. I thought you'd be too busy partying now you're the strongest trainer in Kalos."

"Well. I had a few minutes and thought I should give you a call."

"Thank you. So tell me what was it like?"

Ash was about to tell her when a conversation that he had had with Serena a few days ago appeared in his mind. He had promised to tell his mom about the baby as soon as the competition was over. "Um. Actually there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay, sure what is it?"

Ash thought about how he was going to phrase this. "I… Serena and I are…"

"Ash, honey. Breathe."

Ash did as he was told and tried again. "Serena's pregnant." He blurted out before he could think against it. "You are going to be a grandmother." He added. Ash looked at his mother on the screen. She was perfectly still and for a moment Ash thought that the connection had broken. "Mom?"

"Serena's pregnant?" She asked slowly. Ash nodded, wanting to give his mother time to process this, he kept quiet. The seconds ticked by and there seemed no sign that she was handling this well.

"Mom, please say something."

Ash could see in that moment everything clicked into place. "Ash, you're old enough to make your own decisions about these sorts of things. So all I'm going to say is; make sure that you and Serena both know what you're getting in for by having this child."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"Just that having a baby will affect your lives in so many ways, for the better." She quickly clarified. "However you will have to think about the allowances you both will have to make for your son or daughter." Seeing the look on her son's face she said. "Ash, I think you need to talk to you future wife about what sort of life you will have together."

"Okay." Ash conceded. "Bye mom."

"Bye honey." Ash then ended the call. He knew that he should go upstairs and talk to Serena about this, however he just walked over to the seating area and sat down. He held his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths. He had known that he couldn't wander the world forever, but to have to stop so soon. He felt as if part of life was over. Ash didn't notice Serena until she was kneeling in front of him. She took his hands in hers and looked him in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Ash thought about denying it but he knew that she would know he was lying.

"It's just now that the competition's over. I've realised that things are going to change. Things between us, we won't explore the world, we won't have adventures. It'll just be you me and the baby. And that scares me."

Serena gave a small, quiet laugh. "That scares you?" Ash nodded. "Well, it scares me too."

"It does?" Ash asked not believing she wasn't just saying that to make him feel better.

"Of course it does. You think I know how to take care of a baby? You think I won't miss walking all over the world with you?" She slid her right hand out of Ash's and held it up to her face forcing him to look at her. "But we'll be okay." She said assertively.

"You don't know that." Ash countered.

"Maybe not, but what I do know is that we love each other and we'll love this child. And that's all we really need."

Ash stood up pulling Serena up with him. He threw his arms around her. "Okay." He said softly. "Okay."