BP: Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows. I appreciate it.
But I really want to say two things: If you don't like the story, don't read it, and number two, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Anyway, there's a signed review that didn't like it and made it so clear (thanks a lot, girl), and the problem with signed reviews is, I CAN'T delete it. Anyway, this girl (apparently she has two fanfic accounts, according to Four4Two) doesn't know or care that what she said may hurt others' feelings.
And this story is a story of friendship, and even the most broken can be healed with help, which you would find out soon enough. Also, this is a story where Ash has to save his friends before he can save his region. If you don't like Pakura, the deuteragonist, don't worry, you will have a choice to kill her to spare her after I post the chapter that ends Season 1. (She'll probably be replaced by Shiki if you choose to kill her off)
Well, if you think these scenes are nonsense like spacecowboy2011, don't read!
"You may have the first move." Ash offered to Alder.
"Don't mind if I do. Chandelure, start things off with Flame Burst!"
"Protect yourself with Sandstorm!" Flygon used Sandstorm to form a shield around itself to protect from Flame Burst. The Flame Burst was extinguished by the Sandstorm, which left Flygon safe.
"Use Sonic Boom!" Ash said, and Flygon's wings glowed white and it waved them, releasing a shockwave from its wings at the opponent. Due to the Sandstorm still surrounding Flygon, the Sonic Boom mixed in with Sandstorm, and both attacks hit Chandelure. Chandelure was knocked back but it simply shook its head, before getting back to battle stance.
"No way!" Alder said.
'While Chandelure is immune to Normal type moves, being part Ghost-type, it is weak to Ground type moves, which is what Sandstorm is. I simply mixed Sandstorm with Sonic Boom to make an improvised Ground-type move, which of course hit it effectively.' Ash thought.
"He made use of the Sandstorm to hit Chandelure using a Normal-type move. Amazing." Alder said. "But I have some more tricks up my sleeve. Chandelure, use Trick Room!" Chandelure's body glows light blue and large light blue rectangle with light blue transparent walls and ceiling appeared around the battlefield, trapping the two Pokémon inside.
"Darn." Ash muttered. He knew Trick Room was a troublesome move, as when it is in effect, the slower Pokémon on the field would move extremely fast. Sure enough, Chandelure is like a blur, moving around the Trick Room, as if to taunt Flygon. Flygon looked like it was about to attack Chandelure for taunting it.
"Calm down, Flygon." Ash said. Flygon looked at Ash, and gave a nod of understanding.
"Chandelure, Shadow Ball!" The Shadow Ball fired was extremely fast.
"Flygon, hit it back with Iron Tail!" Flygon obeyed, and the Shadow Ball went flying back to Chandelure. It managed to dodge the Shadow Ball, due to its current speed thanks to Trick Room, but the Shadow Ball merely grazed its arm.
'I have to get Flygon out of the Trick Room somehow.' Ash thought. 'Hmm….I got it!'
"Chandelure, Energy Ball!"
"Counter with Hone Claws!" Flygon managed to slice the Energy Ball in half, which exploded in green sparkles. The residue of the Energy Ball stuck to Flygon's Hone Claws, which Flygon tried to slash Chandelure with it, but Chandelure was too fast. The slash left a trail of green light behind, which Rosaline noted it might be good for Pakura's future Appeals for Contests.
"Flygon, Signal Beam at Chandelure!" Ash commanded. He gave a subtle nod to Flygon, who understood what Ash really wanted.
"Dodge it!"
"A mistake, Alder. I wasn't really aiming for Chandelure."
"What?" Alder was surprised, as Signal Beam actually hit the Trick Room wall instead, which cracked, and the crack spread all over the Trick Room, finally shattering it.
"No way…" Alder said in awe.
"Now, Flygon, use Dragon Breath!" Ash ordered. Flygon obeyed, and shot a Dragon Breath towards Chandelure.
"Chandelure, Fire Blast!" Both Dragon Breath and Chandelure clashed in the middle, exploding in the middle.
"Supersonic!" Ash said, and Chandelure became confused. It started to float around randomly, bumping into walls.
"Chandelure!" Alder cried out, concerned for his Pokémon.
"Use Rock Tomb!" Ash commanded. The Rock Tomb surrounded Chandelure, and Chandelure, still confused, began bumping into the rocks.
"Chandelure, try to use Flame Burst to break free." Alder said. At the same time, Ash told Flygon to use Stone Edge, which managed to hit Chandelure. The Flame Burst exploded into Chandelure's face when Stone Edge hit it, and Chandelure fell to the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"Chandelure is unable to battle. Flygon wins. Champion Alder, please send in your next Pokémon."
"Wow that was amazing!" Tenma and his fellow Zodiacs were up in one of the private boxes as their ticket entitles them to the private box. The private box was a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated somewhere near the VIP Box. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows, and they were able to have an unobstructed view of the battle. "I'm so glad I asked Prince Red for those tickets."
"You can say that again." Ran replied, as Makoto was busy taking pictures for his next article on the tournament, as he was assigned to cover the tournament. Mika and Kenta were currently cheering for Champion Red.
"But what's with the Trick Room thing?" Ai enquired.
"Champion Red knew that while Bug-types moves aren't effective on Chandelure, it's most likely super effective against Trick Room, which is a Psychic move, and he figured it might break Trick Room. It's a clever move on his part." Ryoko explained.
"He was right, though. It didn't take much to shatter Trick Room, did it?" Jin asked.
"It didn't." Tappei agreed.
"Do you think he'll switch Pokémon, or stick to Flygon?" Gou wondered.
"If the glimpses of his previous battles are any indication, it's most likely he'll switch." Akira answered, watching as Alder sent out his Druddigon next. Sure enough, Ash returned his Flygon, thanking it for a job well done, and sent out Milotic.
"Wow, that Milotic is beautiful." Ai admired the Tender Pokémon.
"Yeah." Naoto agreed.
"It's just like Pakura's or Jude's Milotic." Mika remarked, as she, like everyone else, was admiring the Pokémon.
"Everyone is looking at me with admiration? But why?" Milotic wondered, looking around at the audience.
"Milotic, it's because everyone thinks you're beautiful." Ash smiled.
"But I'm ugly!" Milotic protested.
"No you're not. True beauty is always on the inside. But now, you're beautiful, both inside and out." Ash replied gently.
"Thank you." Milotic blushed.
"Now are you ready for a battle?"
"Definitely!" Milotic nodded, and readied herself for a battle.
"Good luck, Milotic!" Pikachu was waving pom-poms he got from nowhere.
"Let the battle begin!" Evan announced.
"Milotic, start things off with Ice Beam!" Ash said. Milotic nodded, and started to fire an Ice Beam at Druddigon.
"Counter with Flamethrower!" Alder said. The Flamethrower and Ice Beam clashed, and (not) surprisingly, the Ice Beam managed to freeze Flamethrower. The Ice Beam then went on to hit Druddigon, which caused it to skid backwards.
"You can freeze Fire-type moves?" Alder was surprised.
"Yeah, do you really think Paku is the only one?" Ash replied.
'This Red is full of surprises. He really is unpredictable.' Alder thought.
"I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve." Ash announced, as if he read Alder's thoughts. "Milotic, Disarming Voice!" Milotic opened her mouth and released a beam of purple hearts in a loud shrieking voice, hitting Druddigon. Druddigon was also covering its ears at the move.
"Druddigon, Hyper Beam!" Alder commanded.
"Counter with Dragon Breath!" Ash ordered.
Both attacks clashed in the middle but Dragon Breath managed to overpower Hyper Beam after a few moments, and Druddigon was hit by Dragon Breath. It was a risky move on Alder's part since Hyper Beam required a time period to rest.
Ash took advantage of this resting time to fire a Toxic at Druddigon, effectively poisoning it.
"Druddigon, use Draco Meteor!" Druddigon obeyed, and its body glowed orange and it shot an orange ball of light into the sky that exploded, releasing multiple smaller spheres at Milotic. It groaned as the poison slowly took away its energy.
'Not bad, he knows how to use Draco Meteor. But…' Ash thought. "Milotic, counter with Ice Beam!" Ash said out loud. Milotic opened her mouth, and fired Ice Beam at the incoming spheres. The multiple light blue beams managed to his the spheres, freezing it, and turning them into ice shards.
"Now, use Twister to destroy them!" The Twister mixed in with the ice shards created from both the battlefield and the ice spheres created earlier, and everyone could see that the ice shards were spinning at a fast rate inside the Twister.
"Destroy the Twister using Heat Wave!" Alder ordered. Despite the fatigue caused by poison, Druddigon managed to fire a powerful Heat Wave, which Ash silently commended him for, but expected as a Champion's Pokémon.
"Use Icy Wind!" Ash countered. "You've got to take on the Heat Wave!"
Milotic took on the Heat Wave with Icy Wind, and held it there until Ash nodded. Milotic then slithered to one side. Due to the ice battlefield, she got out of the way relatively quickly, and that was when the Twister, infused with Ice Shards, hit Druddigon.
"Finish it off with Dragon Pulse!" Ash commanded.
"Druddigon, Flamethrower!" Alder countered.
The sphere clashed with Flamethrower, and slowly pushed through Flamethrower despite Druddigon's best efforts. Eventually, it reached its mark and it hit Druddigon, and exploded in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Druddigon was shown with swirls in its eyes, the damage taken and poison clearly taken its toll.
"Druddigon is unable to battle. Champion Alder, please send out your last Pokémon!"
"Wow, Red trained it well for someone who only had that Milotic for a few days." Jude commented.
"Wait, he only had it for a few days?" Aaron, who was sitting behind Phillip, heard what Jude said.
"Yeah, I remember he traded 29 of his Pokémon away to various Trainers, and he only got all his traded Pokémon on the third day of tag battles, which was a break for us since we already won two matches. There's something about him that makes Pokémon like him, so I guess that's why." Rosaline explained. As soon as Rosaline finished her explanation, the other guests talked among themselves as to how powerful the Champion really is.
"Doesn't Pakura have the same trait? I mean, that little Eevee was practically clinging to her and refused to return to her Pokéball so she can be out with her. Also, the Shinx and Vulpix wanting to be adopted by her." Phillip said.
"There are Pokémon wanting to belong to her?" Aaron was incredulous. What was it about the sullen princess that made Pokémon want to be under her ownership, and three of them in a span of a few days, no less?
"Wow, she's lucky to have an Eevee. It's such a rare Pokémon." Caitlin said enviously. "I always wanted to have an Eevee to evolve into Espeon, but alas, I can never find one."
"Don't worry, Caitlin, I'm sure you'd find an Eevee somewhere in this region." Cynthia said in an assuring tone, thinking about the wild Sylveon she had caught just the other day.
"Speaking of which, what is taking Pakura so long to handle the Shinx and Vulpix?" Grimsley enquired.
The others shrugged, not knowing what Pakura is currently doing either.
Alder decided to send out his Volcarona as his final Pokémon. While he was sending out Volcarona, Ash decided to send out his Gyarados. Gyarados came out with a roar to the heavens.
"Ready for that, Gyarados?" Ash gave Gyarados a "You know what I mean, right?" look.
"Of course, Ash." Gyarados replied. He hadn't spent the few years with Ash for nothing, since he was one of the Pokémon Ash caught during the four years.
"Gyarados, let our aura become one!" Gyarados' Mega Stone was reacting to Ash's Mega Glove, and the lights of Mega Evolution appeared. Gyarados glowed in a colourful light, and evolved into Mega Gyarados.
"Battle begin!" Evan announced.
"Volcarona, don't let Mega Gyarados react! Use Sunny Day, followed by Solar Beam!" Due to Sunny Day, Solar Beam could be fired immediately.
"Gyarados, counter it with Dragon Rage, hurry!" Ash said. Both attacks clashed, and the moment they did, Alder ordered Volcarona to use Hurricane, and Mega Gyarados was sucked into the Hurricane.
"Darn it! Gyarados, don't give in! Use Twister!" Ash commanded. Mega Gyarados opened his eyes and formed a Twister, cancelling the Hurricane.
"Signal Beam, Volcarona!" Alder said, before Ash could react. Mega Gyarados must've sensed Ash's panic, as he moved out of the way without command, signalling that Ash and Mega Gyarados' hearts are now synchronized.
"Wild Charge, go!" Alder commanded.
"Giga Impact!" Both Pokémon met head on, and passed each other, landing safely on the ground.
"Volcarona, let's use Leech Life."
"Oh, no, you don't. Gyarados, Crunch!" Mega Gyarados bit on Volcarona, and swung it around before throwing it towards the wall, but Alder had Volcarona save itself with Gust.
"Gyarados, Thunder Wave." Mega Gyarados obeyed, which paralyzed Volcarona.
"Volcarona, Façade!" Alder ordered.
"Gyarados, Stone Edge." Volcarona took the Stone Edge head on, and managed to hit Gyarados with Façade. Mega Gyarados, not willing to give up yet, pushed Volcarona off him.
"Dark Pulse!" Ash said, and Mega Gyarados hit Volcarona with the most powerful Dark Pulse it can muster. Volcarona fell to the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"Volcarona is unable to battle. Mega Gyarados wins. Which means, Champion Red would be moving on to the Top 16!" Everyone cheered for Ash, who gave a polite wave as he made his way back to the VIP Box with Pikachu and Lucario.
"Great battle out there." Lucario complimented.
"Thanks. Alder did put up quite a fight, though." Ash remarked.
"I want a Mega Stone for my Gyarados." Clair remarked to her cousin, who was clutching to his Egg case, pointing to Mega Gyarados. "Our remaining clan members can use something like that. It could help restore our clan's reputation."
Lance stayed silent, as he thought of the night Blackthorn City was wiped out, and placed in an eternal winter. In a way he was actually glad it happened because whoever did it killed his fiancé that the Elders arranged for him, as he had never liked his arranged fiancé anyway. He thought she was a bimbo, and she was a creepy stalker, having an obsession with him. How she was daughter of an influential family in the clan was beyond him. Well, at least he is free to choose his own wife.
Lance blushed when he suddenly thought of the Dragon Princess, the gentle girl who gave him so much help related to training Dragon Pokémon and the concepts of Mega Evolution.
"Are you listening, Lance?" Clair sounded irritated.
"Huh? What?" Lance snapped out of his thoughts.
"I was asking you if you had found out anything about the culprit that killed our clan." Clair whispered.
Lance shook his head. "No."
Clair sighed. "Alright, but your match is up next. Good luck."
Lance nodded his thanks as he gathered his Egg case, and left the VIP Box along with Jasmine, just as Ash returned to the VIP Box, asking his Elites where his Leader went, only for Rosaline to reply they haven't seen her since they left her behind to take care of a Shinx and a Vulpix that were following them.
Jasmine sighed, as she sat near the edge of the lake. She had lost her battle to Lance, and she came to the forest to give herself some time to think and reflect. How was she supposed to know Lance could also Mega Evolve his Pokémon too?
She heard footsteps, and looked up, only to find Pakura standing there holding a basket full of various Berries.
"Hey, Pakura." Jasmine greeted her.
Pakura nodded. "How did the battle go?"
"Lost." Jasmine shrugged. "Expected it actually, but who knew Lance himself can Mega Evolve his Pokémon? So what happened to the Vulpix and the Shinx?"
As answer, Pakura held up two Pokéballs, indicating she caught them. "Didn't expect them to know Baby-Doll Eyes." She remarked, causing Jasmine to giggle. "Anyway, you seem to have some other trouble, and I'm sure it's not losing to Lance. So spill."
Jasmine didn't know what it was, but she suddenly found herself actually telling Pakura about her love life. She didn't really want to, but it started spilling out, just like Pakura told her to. Luckily for Jasmine, everyone was still watching the current match between Grimsley and Phoebe. She told Pakura all about how and why she liked Phillip in that way, but Phillip doesn't seem to notice her, and only treated her as an acquaintance. What is more, he seemed to think no one would like him for who he is due to his lack of social skills, and told her how she wished she could prove him wrong, as she thought of it as cute.
Pakura was surprisingly a good listener, staying quiet while Jasmine talked, and Jasmine finally concluded with "I guess he'd never want someone like me."
"What do you mean, he'd never want someone like you?" Pakura frowned. "What's wrong with you?"
"First of all, he's an Elite Four member, and not just any Elite Four, he's a member of the PAL Elite Four, and he's ranked 2nd, just behind you. And Phillip's a genius in all aspects, not to mention he can use aura. What would he want with a girl like me?"
"One thing you are not, Jasmine, is unintelligent. If you want Phillip, you must let him know it. Never keep your feelings to yourself, out of shyness, or worse, pride. Faint heart never won fair lady."
Jasmine nodded, as she knew Pakura was right.
"Anyway, you might want to start by sending him notes. Phillip likes receiving sincere notes, you know. Prove to him someone out there likes him for who he is. Let's stop at Dion's Deli."
"What's Dion's Deli?" Jasmine asked.
"It's a shop that is a cross between a convenience store and a bookshop. They are bound to sell some cards there." Pakura got up, throwing her Pokéball, revealing Gardevoir. She passed her Berries basket to Gardevoir, and told her to send it to her Secret Base. Gardevoir nodded, and teleported away.
"Come on, let's go. Sooner we do this, the better. Don't want Phillip to be taken by someone else, do we? He may not look it, but he's fairly popular with the girls."
Jasmine nodded, and followed after Pakura.
"Where did Lance get a Key Stone and a Mega Stone?" Cynthia asked his Elites.
"Did any of you give him one? I'm pretty sure all of them are stored in the gym, and only we can access it." Jude wondered.
"No, I didn't give Lance a Key Stone or a Mega Stone, that's for sure." Rosaline said, but thinking she should give Grimsley a Key Stone and a Mega Stone for himself and his Pokémon.
"Neither did I." Ash added.
"Why would I give a Key Stone or a Mega Stone to someone I'm not close to?" Phillip added.
"How about Pakura? Maybe she did it?" Grimsley suggested.
"Please, both of them hate each other." Ash said dismissively. "Phillip, your match is starting. Good luck."
Phillip nodded, and walked out of the VIP Box. He spotted Lance walking past him on the way back to the VIP Box.
"Wait one minute." Phillip stopped Lance, who turned to look at him.
"What is it?" Lance asked.
"Where did you get a Key Stone and a Mega Stone? They're placed at our gym, and only we can access those items." Phillip said, suspicion lacing his voice.
Lance gulped, as he knew he was cornered. If he told the truth, Phillip would want to know where the Dragon Princess is, and if Pakura was right, they would most likely take her away for interrogation, or worse, eliminate her.
"One of your Elites gave it to me." Lance lied.
"Really? Which one?" Phillip raised his eyebrows.
Lance weighed his options. He knew that the name was important, as Phillip can verify just by asking, and if he said the wrong person, his lie would be exposed and the Dragon Princess may be put in danger of being placed in the spotlight once more, and not in a good way. Who he knew would not expose him? He sighed when only one person came to his mind, and that was Pakura.
"It's Pakura." Lance said, knowing she was the best option.
Phillip glared at him. "You stay right here." He ordered, as he activated his CommuniDex to send a message to his Leader. Lance prayed to Arceus that Pakura would help him lie one more time, although he doesn't have much hope since they hated each other.
Phillip's CommuniDex beeped, indicating a message, and Phillip opened to check. He looked up to Lance, and sighed.
"I wonder where Pakura got this funny idea to give you a Key Stone and a Mega Stone from. True, she did say she wants a good fight from her opponents, but what gave her the idea she would be up against you in the tournament is beyond me." Phillip muttered.
Lance inwardly sighed in relief. This meant that Pakura had lied for him.
"Anyway, got to go for my match, later." Phillip nodded to him, and left for the stairs that led to the Launch Room.
"Found what you want?" Pakura asked Jasmine. They were looking at a rack of greeting cards at Dion's Deli.
"Well….not exactly." Jasmine replied. "I want a card that is blank inside, with a picture on the front that is sophisticated but not too sexy. You said Phillip liked the sophisticated type, right?"
"He prefers girls who smile as well. So my advice is always smile in front of him." Pakura added.
"The only blank cards that do not have drawings of cute Pokémon on them are photos of fruit being dipped in chocolate sauce." Jasmine sighed.
"Good. Phillip likes chocolate after all. What about this one?" Pakura picked out a card with strawberry that has chocolate sauce dripping off it. "He does like strawberry, especially when dipped in chocolate fondue."
"Alright…." Jasmine said, though she thought the picture was sexier than she'd have liked.
After buying the card for Jasmine, Pakura said, "Now the next step is to write what you want inside. I suggest a poem-like message, Phillip likes poems after all." She remembered that before she erased his memories, both she and her former best friend Phillip liked to go to the Coffee Pot together, where they hold regular poetry readings.
"Well….can you print…" Jasmine whispered it in Pakura's ear.
Pakura nodded. "Of course. I'll even pass it to Phillip for you."
Jasmine smiled. "Thanks. You've been a great help."
"Now go back to watch Phillip's match, you have to support your future boyfriend." Pakura said. "Meanwhile, it's the print shop for me."
"Froslass is unable to battle. Raichu wins. Elite Glacia, please send out your last Pokémon."
"Abomasnow, I choose you!" Glacia sent out the Frost Tree Pokémon. As soon as Abomasnow appeared in the battlefield, a brief blizzard occurred, covering the grass field with snow.
"Huh, it looks like her Abomasnow's Ability is Snow Warning." Ash commented.
"Indeed. I wonder what Phillip would do?" Cynthia replied.
"Raichu, return for now!" He returned Raichu back to her Pokéball. 'Hmm, should I send out Empoleon again, or a new Pokémon? I never really seen an Abomasnow in battle because Pakura doesn't own one. Oh well.'
"Phillip, will you use me for this one?" Emolga asked. Dedenne blinked up at Phillip for his answer.
"Not today, Emolga. I'll use you next time." Phillip replied, petting Emolga on the head, at the same time taking out another Pokéball.
"Alright." Emolga nodded, though she sounded a little disappointed.
"Metagross, I need your help!" He sent out his Iron Leg Pokémon.
"Now…Mega Evolution, commence!" Metagross' Mega Stone was reacting to Phillip's Mega Stickpin, and Metagross Mega Evolved into Mega Metagross.
This Mega Evolution interested a certain Steel-type Champion, namely Steven Stone, as he never knew until now that his main Pokémon, Metagross had the potential to Mega Evolve. He wondered if he should ask one of them for a Key Stone and a Mega Stone for his Metagross.
Just then, the door opened, and Jasmine came in, looking happier.
"What did I miss?" Jasmine asked, sitting at the front row with the PAL Elites.
"Phillip took down Glacia's Beartic with his Empoleon in the first round, and her Froslass with his Raichu. Her fatal mistake was to use Attract, as Phillip's Raichu is female." Ash explained to Jasmine. "They are now beginning Round 3."
Glacia wondered how she could counter Phillip's ability to command Pokémon without saying anything and what she should do about it.
"Both Trainers ready?" Glacia and Phillip nodded. "Alright then, battle begin!"
"You may have the first move." Phillip offered.
Glacia smiled. "Wrong move. Abomasnow, Earthquake!"
'Ground-type moves are super effective. Clever, but…..' Phillip thought. 'Metagross, Magnet Rise!' Mega Metagross' body became surrounded in yellow and it rose off the ground, effectively avoiding Earthquake.
'Now, Gyro Ball!' Phillip inwardly commanded. Mega Metagross slammed into Abomasnow, sending it skidding backwards.
"Shadow Ball!" Glacia countered. Mega Metagross was hit by Shadow Ball, but it simply shook its head and got back to battle stance.
'Flash Cannon!' Phillip countered mentally, and Mega Metagross shot a powerful one at Abomasnow.
"Dodge, and use Bulldoze."
'Use Magnet Rise one more time, and counter with Sludge Bomb!' Phillip nodded to his Pokémon. Mega Metagross managed to avoid the Ground-type move by using Magnet Rise, and from where it was floating, it shot a Sludge Bomb with Abomasnow. Luckily for Phillip, the Sludge Bomb managed to poison Abomasnow.
"Abomasnow, Grass Whistle!" Glacia commanded. Despite the poison spreading, it managed to use the move, causing Mega Metagross to fall asleep, deactivating Magnet Rise.
'Metagross, Sleep Talk, hurry!' Sleep Talk turned out to be Psychic, and while sleeping Mega Metagross threw Abomasnow against the wall. Abomosnow got up, glowing purple, signifying the poison status. At the same time, Mega Metagross woke up.
"No way…" Glacia gasped. "How did it wake up so fast?"
Phillip smiled. "When a Pokémon is affectionate with a Trainer, a Pokémon would do anything to show their best side to their Trainer, including fighting off status conditions. In this case, my Metagross shook itself awake so I wouldn't worry about it. Isn't it right, Metagross?"
"That's right, Phillip." Metagross replied happily.
"Amazing…the friendship between the PAL Elites and their Pokémon is so deep…no wonder they stand out among us, and you can command without saying anything." Glacia muttered. "But, I'm not giving up just yet! Finish it with Sheer Cold!"
'Use Psychic one more time to send it back!' Phillip thought, and Mega Mategross obeyed. Phillip told Mega Metagross to use Aerial Ace, which finished off Abomasnow.
"Abomasnow is unable to battle! Mega Metagross wins! Which means, the winner is Elite Phillip!" Evan announced.
"Alright, Phillip won!" Rosaline cheered.
"Well, Phillip did have a huge advantage even without his mental command when he sent out Metagross. After all, Abomasnow has like, 7 weaknesses, since it's Ice/Grass?" Jude tried to remember.
"Yeah, it's seven. Fighting, Flying, Poison, Rock, Bug, Steel and a double weakness to Fire." Ash ticked them off. "It has a Mega Stone as well, but when used, its Speed is cut in half, which could be risky. And speaking of Ice Pokémon, where is our Ice Master? Her match is next, and she is nowhere to be seen."
"Well, last we saw her, we left her behind to deal with a Shinx and a Vulpix that followed her." Grimsley shrugged.
"You what?" Ash was incredulous.
"Well, Phillip and I tried to get them, but they dodged to her arms. Seems to me they like her very much."
"I can understand the Vulpix, but why the Shinx?" Ash wondered. "And what is taking her so long to deal with them."
"Oh, no, she already dealt with them, she told me just now. I saw her when I was out." Jasmine interrupted.
"Really? What did she do to them?" Cynthia asked.
"Caught them, if the Pokéballs she showed me was any indication." Jasmine answered.
"They must have used a move against her like the Eevee." Ash remarked.
"She did. Said something about them using a move called Baby-Doll Eyes?"
Much to Jasmine, Cynthia and Grimslsy's confusion, the PAL Elites and their Pokémon started laughing.
"What?" Cynthia asked them.
"You see, Baby-Doll Eyes is a Fairy-type move where the Pokémon stares at the target with its baby-doll eyes, which makes the target infatuated with the user, which would normally soften the target's Attack, but in this case, it's to make Pakura catch them. Looks like it worked, especially since they looked like younglings." Ash explained, just as the door opened, and Phillip entered with his Emolga.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Ash asked.
"Oh, Pakura passed me a card, saying it's from a secret admirer. I had to go to my own special area and place it there."
Ash knew that Phillip was referring to the Secret Bases that each Elite had, a special getaway place that they go to relax and hide from the fans and press if necessary. Ash's own Secret Base is located at a bush hidden deep among the grasses and trees in the forest, which made a perfect place to hide out in and he designed it in such a way that it resembles a typical bedroom with a computer and TV with a bookcase filled with books. That was where he usually reviewed his notes and do his paperwork and studies when he's outside his Elite Mansion.
"How do you know it isn't one of your fan girls?" Jude frowned, and Jasmine inwardly gulped.
"One, if Pakura says so, it must be true. Two, why would she lie for fan girls?" Phillip answered. "And that message was a poem. I do like poems, even if it was a very short one."
"Well, if Paku was the one who gave you the card, it must mean she is in the Battle Arena." Ash shrugged, as he sat back on his seat. "I wonder who your secret admirer is."
"Beats me. But I'm sure I'll figure out in time."
Jasmine sighed in relief, as that meant Pakura didn't tell Phillip.
Just then, Ken started to announce the next match. "The match between Leader Clair and Elite Pakura would now commence in the neutral battlefield. Now, would Leader Clair be able to overcome the Dragon Slayer's team, or would she fall like Leader Drayden? Let's watch and find out." At the last comment, both trainers were launched into the battlefield, Pakura with her usual three Pokémon out with her.
"Don't think you'll get this easy, Pakura. I'm the world's best Dragon-type master." Clair grinned at her.
"If that is true, why are you a Gym Leader, and not at least a member of the Elite?" Pakura said, bored. That witty remark earned laughter from the audience.
"I'm very sure I'm the strongest female Dragon user here." Clair was ticked off at Pakura's remark.
"That's because you're the only female Dragon user competing in this tournament." Pakura snorted.
"That's got to burn." Jude said, as he and his group were laughing themselves silly, along with the other people sitting in the VIP Box. Even Lance was trying to hide his laughter.
"Is it true, though?" Cynthia asked. She didn't really take note of the Dragon users, since her region didn't have one.
"Unfortunately, that is true." Phillip consulted his notebook containing the names of the competitors in the tournament, and their type specialty (if any). The ones who are eliminated had been crossed out. "The ones who are Dragon users in the tournament are Drayden, Drake, Lance and Clair. Clair is the only female among the four. The Dragon Princess doesn't count because she's not in the tournament." He pointed out the four names, including Drayden's name which had been crossed out.
"But even if the Dragon Princess is competing, she'll probably take the title of the strongest female Dragon user, not Clair." Ash said, looking over to see the notebook. "I mean, she was good enough to be crowned ruler of PAL, even if she only had the crown for a short three years."
"And according to the picture of them being crowned, she was only in her early teens at best." Rosaline added. "Clair is probably in her early twenties at least."
"Seems to me that the Dragon Princess is some sort of prodigy. If only she hadn't used it for destruction, I think she'd be an asset to helping us run the region." Ash sighed.
"I'm the member of the Clan with a long history of Dragon Pokémon." Clair folded her arms. "I've been training them all my life."
"Your appearance says otherwise. Your cape is on backwards." Pakura remarked. Clair checked, and much to her embarrassment, it was. At the VIP Box, Lance was laughing to himself.
"But if you want to prove me wrong, do it right now then." Pakura took out a Pokéball.
"Very well." Clair said, as she took out her own Pokéball.
"Alright, Trainers, please send out your Pokémon."
"Druddigon, I choose you, go!" Clair sent out the alternately coloured Druddigon she caught back in Unova.
"Let's go, Altaria!" Pakura sent out the Humming Pokémon. Clair noted she was wearing a Mega Stone.
"A Dragon-type? We can handle this." Clair nodded.
"I won't say the same thing. Altaria, let's show them the power of our bond." At these words, Altaria's Mega Stone on her neck reacted to Pakura's Mega Charm, and Altaria Mega Evolved to Mega Altaria.
"Trainers ready?" Both Clair and Pakura nodded. "Alright, battle begin!"
"You may have the first move." Pakura said to Clair.
"Then, I won't hold back. Druddigon, start things with Hone Claws!"
Mega Altaria turned to look at Pakura, and both nodded, seemingly understanding each other's thoughts, and Mega Altaria dodged the Hone Claws, reappearing behind Druddigon.
"Druddigon, behind you! Use Flash Cannon!"
Pakura simply nodded to Mega Altaria once more and once again, Mega Altaria dodged the attack. No matter which direction Druddigon attacked from, Altaria simply dodged all of them.
"Wow that Mega Altaria is fast." Lance muttered, watching Pakura's Mega Altaria dodging all of Druddigon's attacks with ease.
"I can't catch Mega Altaria like this." Clair muttered "Then….Druddigon, Draco Meteor!" Druddigon obeyed, and a sphere of bright orange energy formed inside of Druddigon's mouth and was fired into the sky, where it exploded and released several spheres of energy that rained down on Mega Altaria. Clair thought she got Mega Altaria because she didn't hear Pakura give a command to Mega Altaria to counter Draco Meteor. She was wrong, however. When Draco Meteor ended, Mega Altaria was standing in the middle of the wreckage unharmed.
"How can this be?" Clair was surprised.
"When Altaria Mega Evolves, it becomes a Dragon/Fairy. And you know that Dragon-type moves have no effect on Fairy types." Pakura explained. "Surely as a Dragon user, you should know. Now, it's my turn."
"Get ready, Druddigon. She might call out a Fairy-type move." Clair said warily.
Just then, Mega Altaria started to fire an Ice Beam at Druddigon.
"Druddigon, quickly, Flamethrower!" The Flamethrower and Ice Beam clashed, and Ice Beam started to freeze Flamethrower.
"Oh, no! I forgot!" Clair suddenly remembered that Pakura's Pokémon's Ice Beam can freeze Fire-type moves. "Druddigon, Shadow Claw!"
'Altaria, Steel Wing.' Pakura mentally commanded Mega Altaria.
Both Shadow Claw and Steel Wing clashed, and Clair wondered how Mega Altaria can attack without Pakura saying anything, just like Phillip.
"Is Pakura doing what I think she's doing?" Pikachu asked.
"Yeah. She's definitely not going easy on Clair." Lucario said grimly.
"I kind of expected it, actually." Ash said quietly.
"Really? Why?" Lucario asked curiously.
Ash was sitting in front of the TV watching the recaps of who are the Gym Leaders, Elite Fours and Champions of each region, which were in the crowd favourite of winning the tournament.
"What are you watching?" Pakura asked Ash, joining him in the couch.
"Just seeing who our stronger competition would be." Ash shrugged. "Apparently, if they are placed high in the tournament, they would bring fame and glory to their hometowns."
Pakura watched the television screen with little interest as they announced the Kanto Gym Leaders, and their hometowns. She zoned out for a moment as she watched the Nature Loving Princess, Erika, giving a few words about her participation, and her desire to explore the region because according to media, PAL was a nature-rich and beautiful region.
"Which ones do you want?" Ash suddenly muttered from her side, snapping Pakura out of her reverie. Pakura shifted her gaze towards the television screen again, only to see they are announcing the Johto Gym Leaders.
"What are you talking about?" Pakura yawned.
"I mean, which one of these do you want to kick out?" Ash said. "You're bound to have a grudge against some of the competitors in the past."
"And how would you know?" Pakura raised her eyebrows.
"Can see it in your eyes. Besides, you're the one who took me in, so I gained some of your personality streaks. Not that I mind, though." Ash replied.
"Taught you well." Pakura muttered, directing her gaze back to the television, only to see Pryce, Leader of Mahogany Gym giving a few words about how he hoped that the young talents would give him a good fight.
"Well, if you don't have a grudge, how about them?" Ash joked, pointing to the TV, where they announced Clair, Leader of the Blackthorn Gym. She was seen on TV along with Lance, her cousin, as both were from the same hometown. "Those two are great Dragon Masters, and you're a Dragon Slayer. It'd be interesting to see you fight them out."
Pakura stayed silent for a long time, before finally saying, "Them." in a definite tone. She narrowed her eyes into a dreadful glare. "They're mine."
"You what?" Lucario said.
"She seemed to hate those two very much at that time, and I don't know why. Was it because she wants to crush them being Dragon users, or was it something else?" Ash wondered. "Either way, Clair is at a huge disadvantage here." He looked down, only to see Mega Altaria firing a Fury Attack on Druddigon, only that Mega Altaria's beak was glowing pink when she repeatedly pecked Druddigon.
"Druddigon! Are you ok?" Clair asked, concerned. Druddigon nodded, as it got up.
Clair smiled at her Pokémon, but…"But how was Fury Attack super effective?"
"Mega Altaria's Ability is Pixilate. Pixilate turns Normal-type moves into Fairy-type moves." Pakura explained. 'What did the Elders teach them anyway?'
"Druddigon, use Dig, and use Rock Tomb!" Druddigon burrowed itself in the hole, and even sealed the hole with Rock Tomb so Mega Altaria couldn't fire an attack inside.
Unfortunately, Pakura could pin point Druddigon's position via her aura. She gave a look to Mega Altaria, who floated over to a certain spot and used Earthquake to force Druddigon to come out. When the ground was destroyed, Mega Altaria's foot landed on Druddigon's head, indicating Druddigon was directly below Mega Altaria when the attack occurred.
'The problem is I can't tell what Mega Altaria's next move would be because she doesn't say her commands out loud. How is this even possible, commanding without saying anything?' Clair thought.
'Now use Draco Meteor, and before Draco Meteor explodes, fire a Moonblast in it.' Pakura thought. Mega Altaria obeyed, and fired a Draco Meteor.
"She's using Draco Meteor! Druddigon, destroy them with Flash Cannon!" However, at the last second Mega Altaria fired a Moonblast at the Draco Meteor before it exploded, and when it did, spheres or orange and pink were raining down onto the battlefield.
As Druddigon used it to destroy Draco Metoer, the pink spheres of energy streaked down towards Druddigon, which hit Druddigon painfully, causing him to stop firing Flash Cannon, and thus being damaged by Draco Meteor and Moonblast.
'Dragon Rush, go. Finish it' Pakura nodded to Mega Altaria. The Dragon Rush sent Druddigon flying against the wall, and Druddigon slid down the wall with swirls in its eyes.
"Druddigon is unable to battle! Leader Clair, please send out your next Pokémon!" Evan said.
"Pink? But Draco Meteor isn't pink…" Clair muttered. She was still shocked over the fact that she saw a pink Draco Meteor.
"It isn't. I fired a Moonblast into the Draco Meteor right before it exploded, so it would split into smaller spheres and rain down along with Draco Meteor. You should've aimed Flash Cannon at Moonblast as Steel is super-effective against Fairy. But in this case, even if you focused your Flash Cannon to the Moonblast, Draco Meteor is super effective against your Druddigon anyway." Pakura shook her head.
'I hate to admit it, but the way she pulled off this move was extremely clever, and even managed to corner Clair. Clair's Pokémon couldn't even land a hit on Mega Altaria, and that Pokémon looked like it hardly battled.' Lance thought. 'Not to mention, like Phillip, she didn't even need to say her commands out loud, which gives her a huge advantage, in addition to the type match-up.'
"Clair would lose at this rate." Drake said to Drayden.
"Definitely. It looks like Clair would lose this match. Pakura's very strong." Drayden replied. He knew because he had first-hand experience, and Pakura didn't bother with the non-verbal commands. He watched as Clair sent out her Kingdra as her next Pokémon.
"Dragonite, Hyper Beam!" Clair commanded. She was down to her last Pokémon while Pakura still had her Mega Altaria out.
'Altaria, Disarming Voice.' Pakura countered mentally. Mega Altaria nodded and fired Disarming Voice to counter Hyper Beam. She managed to slow down, but not stop Hyper Beam, and at the last second, Pakura nodded, and Altaria dodged to one side. Dragonite had to recharge due to the power and energy put in for this move.
'Get in close range and use Moonblast.' Pakura told Mega Altaria, and when she did, she fired a close-range Moonblast, which sent Dragonite flying.
"Dragonite, straight up and use Ice Beam!" Clair commanded.
'Now, use Dragon Rush, and follow it with Giga Impact.' Mega Altaria flew after Dragonite, and before Dragonite could even fire an Ice Beam, Mega Altaria slammed into him with Dragon Rush. As Dragonite fell, Mega Altaria slammed into Dragonite with Giga Impact, and flew back to Pakura's side.
Dragonite struggled for a moment to get up, before falling to the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"Dragonite in unable to battle! Mega Altaria wins! Which means, the winner is Elite Pakura!" Evan announced, to cheers.
"That was brutal! Did you see how Pakura didn't give Dragonite a chance to recover from the previous attack?" Phoebe gasped.
"Yeah, she really is giving no mercy to Clair for some reason." Brawly was gaping at the scene.
"Did she have a grudge against Clair or something?" Marshal wondered.
"Nah, how could it be, they don't know each other until this tournament. If not, Clair would have said something." Lorelei answered.
"And she hasn't even gone all out yet." Jude remarked, sighing when he heard the comments.
"Yeah, she can already do a lot of damage with type disadvantage, and her having the type advantage is like signing a death warrant." Rosaline trembled slightly at the thought of that horrible loss despite having a type advantage. Heck, she had a type advantage against her Fairy Pokémon too, but that wouldn't do much in a battle either. At least Ash had the sense of stopping when he knew the opposing Pokémon can't take any more attacks. Pakura? Not so much.
'Well, the way things are, Clair better be grateful Paku didn't do enough damage to be sent to the Emergency Ward. Luckily I made her promise.' Ash thought, shuddering at the number of Pokémon that may be sent there if he didn't make her promise. 'The thing is, when Paku battle someone any of us do not like, sometimes, she likes to send them to the hospital to deal mental damage to trainers itself.'
But the question is, why doesn't Pakura like Clair? He was sure she'd have mentioned it if she had a grudge against her when Ash was telling her about all his adventures.
"And another spectacular battle between Elite Jude and Elite Lucian has come to an end!" Ken announced. Jude had his Bisharp out while Lucian was returning his fallen Mr. Mime, wondering how Jude can command his Pokémon without saying anything just like Pakura and Phillip.
At the scoreboard, a Pokéball next to Jude indicated he still could send out a third Pokémon, but didn't. In fact, he wouldn't have done it at all if Lucian hadn't sent out his Espeon as one of the Pokémon. He sent out his Vaporeon for an Eeveelution battle, which Jude won with a combination of Attract (his Vaporeon was female, like Umbreon) and Signal Beam.
"Time for a getaway." Ash muttered. It was lunch, and this time, Cynthia decided to spend it eat with her Sinnoh Elites, and Ash figured he could have do with some alone time, which was why he rejected having lunch with his Elites (except Pakura, because she disappeared after her match). He bought a bento set from a Japanese restaurant, got a can of drink from the vending machine and headed towards his secret spot, which is located in a tree.
"Going for the secret base, Ash?" Pikachu asked.
"Yeah, time for a getaway. According to Paku, regional reporters are now going around their region looking for a good story to report. Their main targets are the PAL Elites, especially him and Pakura herself. He reached his secret spot, and smiling, he moved the long grasses aside, revealing what looked like a normal bush, but he pushed aside some specific leaves to reveal a secret entrance. He entered with Pikachu and Lucario, before sealing the entrance, and walked down the cool but dark passageway to his base.
His secret base contained a bookshelf with the books all stored in order. It also contained a huge desk with a laptop plugged at the mahogany desk. The chair has rollers and the cushioning is soft. He also has his own TV plugged in with a black couch in front of it. There was also a pantry where he stored snacks and cans of drinks. A dark blue table in the middle had a few electric blue chairs around it, and another brown table contained the doll set he had won at a festival when he visited the Unova region with Jude (though in disguise).
Ash sat down at the chair, and turned on the computer. He opened his bento and started eating, while typing at some words.
'I wonder if those notes were part of a quote.' Ash thought, chewing on his croquettes. As soon as the search result popped out, Ash spat his food, coughing as he choked.
"What is it, Ash?" Pikachu and Lucario scampered over to him.
Ash pointed to the search result, as he continued eating his bento. "The notes the Dragon Princes sent us: It's all part of a quote."
"The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest." Lucario read out. "Who is the first person that comes to your mind?"
Ash sighed, but answered. "Paku. But she doesn't fit the second sentence."
"Maybe each sentence is referring to one person." Pikachu pointed out.
"Second one probably refers to me, but Paku fits the rest of the sentences. If the Dragon Princess is describing herself in one of these sentences, then the Dragon Princess is Paku. But she'll never do anything to harm me, so the Dragon Princess can't be her."
"I have to agree. I mean, she was the one who took you in when you are at your worst." Lucario said. "Even showed you around the region, and recommended the Hunter Exam for you."
"Besides, she always gives me a good battle." Ash smiled, thinking about the time he battled her in the Elite challenge, as he finished his bento, and opened the can of drink. "And she is a good listener." He shut down his computer. "At least we are one step closer now. I never thought I'd thank myself for being bored." Just then, he saw a notification, which he clicked, and led him to a website where it says that the announcer is going to update them about the Top 16.
Ash hastily flopped onto the couch, and turned on the TV. Sure enough, the announcer sat in front of a desk, paper ready.
"Hello! It's time for Pokémon Fanatics, your source for the hottest news about anything and everything! Now today, we are finally down to the last sixteen players, where they would fight it out on a six-on-six, and from Top 16, the battlefield would be a neutral one! Let's see who had made it to the final sixteen!"
Here, the camera zoomed in to a board, and the faces of the remaining 16 trainers were shown on the board. Ash noted that Gary and Paul made it to the top 16, a miraculous achievement as most trainers can only make it to the top 32 at best. And besides his four Elites, the others who made it were Cynthia, Lance, Steven, Wallace, Grimsley, Drake, Volkner, Sabrina, and to his surprise, Salon Maiden Anabel.
He had completely forgotten about the Frontier Brains, since they were not allowed to sit in the VIP Box, and never had rooms in the Tower. And he had never watched the matches beyond lunch, and also, there were too many people to keep track, so he just kept track of his own matches! How could he be so stupid as to assume the Frontier Brains won't be competing! Even when he watched the announcement of the players making it to the next round, he just blankly watched his own friends' pictures, forgetting about the rest! His Elites must have assumed he had known, which made him feel foolish.
"I completely forgotten about the Frontier Brains. And looks like Anabel is in." Pikachu commented. He too, never bothered to look at the board, only keeping track of his own.
The pictures flipped, showing the Pokéball symbol at the back of the cards, before they randomly shuffled. Much to his surprise, he was up against Paul, Phillip would be fighting Gary, Cynthia would be up against Drake, Pakura would be against Grimsley (He grimaced at the fact that Pakura had a huge advantage against Grimsley), Rosaline would be battling Steven, and finally, Jude would battle Lance. Also, Anabel is against Sabrina, which would make a good psychic against psychic battle, and Volkner is up against Wallace.
Just then, his CommuniDex rang. He opened it to see a worried Rosaline.
"What is it, Rosaline?" Ash asked.
"Ash, you've got to come back to the Tower immediately!" Rosaline sounded panicked.
"Why? What happened?" Ash asked.
"It's Clair. Someone pushed her down the stairs. There's a note next to her."
"Got it! I'm on my way!" Ash turned off the CommuniDex, and said to Pikachu and Lucario, "We'll teleport there. Grab my hands!" As soon as they grabbed his hands, the room spun around them, and they suddenly found themselves outside the Tower. He rushed into the Lobby, where Clair was sitting, groaning in agony, and Lance was reading a note with a frown.
"What's going on?" He rushed to Phillip, who was nearest.
"Apparently, Clair was walking down the staircase at the Tower, when she felt a force at the back of her head, she then lost her balance, and was going to land head first at the first landing, but fortunately, she managed to cushion that fall with her hand, but she broke her hand in the process. Unfortunately, the momentum of the fall caused her to continue falling, until she hit the bottom, and her leg landed on the ground, and she inadvertently crushed her own leg when she landed on it moments later. Lance heard the fall as he was visiting his Kanto friends on the floor below where she resides, and went to check, and he carried her down here." Phillip explained. "We already called the ambulance for her."
"Did you see who it was?" Ash asked.
"No, we checked the surveillance, and it showed nothing, except for the landing between the ninth and tenth floor, but it was all black." Phillip explained. "I went to check that particular camera, and it was coated in mascara."
"I see. Did you see the footage before it went black?" Ash was thoughtful.
"Yeah, early in the morning, Pakura was walking down the stairs fiddling with her mascara, and when she thought she couldn't get the mascara out, she threw it against the ceiling out of frustration, and the container burst, and the mascara accidentally coated the surveillance camera on that floor."
"What makes you think it was an accident?" Rosaline looked at Phillip funnily.
"That's because she wasn't even looking at the surveillance the whole time." Phillip replied.
'Wait a minute, I know from training with her that Paku can hit targets without even looking at them. I wonder if she did it on purpose. No, it couldn't be, Paku would never endanger us. Maybe it's an accident after all. But why would she be using mascara? I thought Paku doesn't use mascara….or any makeup for the matter. And also, if Clair didn't see her attacker, it's most likely the person used telekinesis.' Ash thought. He turned to Lance. "What does the note say?"
"It says, 'You need to be taught a lesson on how to be appreciative of what you have. If you don't, I might just kill you next time.'"
"Do you think it's the Dragon Princess?" Phillip asked in Latin, which only Ash understood.
"No doubt about it." Ash replied. "It won't be very difficult to pull this stunt if you can use telekinesis from a far distance and only one person besides Rosaline and myself knows how to use telekinesis. And we all know who it is." Ash wondered what grudge she had against Clair, as she herself is a Dragon user.
Lance and Clair were looking at them, not understanding a word.
"What are you guys saying?" Clair asked.
"I was just asking where Paku is, since Phillip contacted her." Ash lied smoothly. "Forgive me, but we tend to speak another language when we are extremely worried. Where is she anyway?" Ash asked the other two.
"Don't know. We can't reach her." Rosaline shrugged.
"Besides, we all know what she would say." Jude said.
"Yeah, she'd probably say something like, it's just a broken hand and a leg. It's not as if you are dying." Ash's Pikachu replied.
"Hey, you can't blame her. She has extremely high pain endurance, better than all of us, in fact." Ash replied, as the ambulance arrived, and they proceeded to help Clair into the vehicle.
'I wonder what Ash's Pikachu said for Ash to reply like that.' Lance thought. 'And what is it about Pakura having high pain endurance.'
"Never seen you eat lunch with us anymore, Grimsley, ever since you started courting Rosaline." Marshal remarked. "What changed?"
Grimsley smiled. "I just figured it'd be a good idea to spend time to eat and chat with you all." In actuality, when Cynthia announced her intention to eat lunch with her Sinnoh Elites, he realized he had been spending so much time with Rosaline and the others (he even stopped sitting with his Unova Elites when he dated Rosaline) he had forgotten to spend time with his friends, and the tournament may be the only free time they have from their duties before it's back to Unova with the paperwork and the accepting of challengers when they win a Conference after getting the required 8 Badges. "So what do you think of our stay so far?"
"It's amazing. The battles happening in the tournament gives me so much inspiration for a new book." Shauntal exclaimed.
"I'm enjoying my stay too." Caitlin said. "I may have lost to Cynthia in the match, but I have learnt lots of things. Also, I wish to train my psychic powers with Rosaline or even better, the Dragon Duo."
"Why the Dragon Duo?" Marshal asked. "They are the strongest Dragon users, not psychic users."
"No, Marshal, they are strong psychics too. I heard Phillip mention that the Dragon Duo is stronger than Rosaline in terms of psychic power." Caitlin replied.
"What makes you think they are even alive? They vanished like five years ago." Shauntal said.
"I have a feeling at least one is alive." Caitlin said confidently. "The fact that I can't detect them makes this even more exciting."
Grimsley nodded. "Well, I guess it won't hurt to tell you, but…" Just then, the elevator dinged, and the receptionist from the front desk at the lobby came in.
"Excuse me, is Elite Grimsley here?" The receptionist asked.
"That's me." Grimsley said, standing up. "What is it?"
"There's a delivery for you. Would you follow me?" The receptionist replied.
Grimsley nodded, and followed her down the elevator to the lobby, where Tenma was waiting with a package.
"Here, this is for you." Tenma held a package that was wrapped in brown paper.
"Is there any note as to who it came from?" Grimsley asked.
"No note, as far as we know." Tenma shrugged. "Sorry it was late. We had to inspect it for any bombs or weapons or something dangerous. Would you sign here please?" He thrust a piece of paper at Grimsley.
Grimsley nodded, and signed at the part Tenma indicated.
"If I were you, I won't take the stairs."
"Why not?" Grimsley asked.
"Do you know Leader Clair?" Tenma enquired.
Grimsley nodded. He knew she was the Blackthorn City Gym Leader in Johto. "Yeah, what about her?"
"Well, she was taken to the hospital from here ten minutes before you came down someone pushed her down the stairs, and she injured her hand and leg. The PAL Elites are investigating and problem is there is no surveillance because Princess Pakura accidentally coated the lens with her mascara early in the morning." Tenma explained
"I see. But who would do such a thing?" Grimsley asked.
"Beats me. Well, I got to go. I got another delivery to make. See ya."
Grimsley nodded and waved, before taking the package and going back up his floor.
"What did the receptionist want, Grimsley?" Shauntal asked.
"We'll know soon enough." Grimsley replied. He set the package down, and unwrapped it. He widened his eyes when he realized what it was.
"It's a Pokémon Egg." Shauntal said in awe, watching as Grimsley removed the Egg case from the box. The Egg was brown with a cream-colored zigzag stripe around its middle. "I wonder what would hatch from it."
"Who is kind enough to give you an Egg?" Marshal commented.
"Maybe Rosaline gave the Egg." Grimsley answered, smiling as he looked at the Egg. He couldn't wait to see what Pokémon would hatch from it.
Meanwhile, Caitlin was wondering what Grimsley wanted to say before he got cut off.
"So, how is your relationship with Red, Cynthia?" Bertha asked, as they ate lunch.
"It's great. He's good at organizing dates, and I got to know his friends better." Cynthia replied, taking the last bite of her fish.
Aaron snorted. "Yeah, you don't have to be a genius to know that Pakura's a violent, foul-mouthed bitch."
"Aaron! That's not nice at all." Lucian chided.
"What? It's true!" Aaron protested.
"But even so, she's the PAL's Princess. She can easily withdraw PAL's support from our region. Do you want that to happen?" Flint replied.
Aaron opened his mouth to answer when the elevator dinged, and Grimsley entered.
"Hey, Grimsley." Cynthia greeted, before she saw his grim expression. "What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.
"Cynthia, can we talk? Alone?" Grimsley requested.
"Sure." Cynthia stood up, and followed him. They got to the balcony that overlooked Luonto City.
"What happened?" Cynthia asked, and Grimsley told her everything about the incident involving Clair. When he was done, Cynthia had a look of sheer horror.
"Was it the Dragon Princess?" Cynthia whispered.
"Most likely." Grimsley nodded. "It looks like the Dragon Princess does have access to the Tower, or she can get in without being detected."
"Where's Ash?" Cynthia frantically asked. She needed to find him now.
To her disappointment, Grimsley shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
"I'll go find him!" Cynthia cried, and rushed back to the living room, towards the elevators.
'Well, who knew a fan's gift of some cheap mascara would be useful?' Pakura thought, walking briskly through Luonto City with her three Pokémon, 'And it isn't very difficult to push someone without them seeing when you know how to use telekinesis.'
Though her face and eyes didn't betray her emotions, Pakura was in a bad mood because she just caught a regional reporter searching through her dressing room (specifically, her underwear drawer) in the Contest Hall shortly after escaping from the Tower, and not only had she almost killed him (landing him in hospital wrapped in bandages like a mummy) she also made sure he'd never get a job again. How dare he violate her privacy like this!
"Hopefully we don't see that reporter again." Eevee remarked.
"Yeah, and also let's pray Tenma doesn't tell Grimsley who delivered the Egg to him." Skitty added.
Pakura made a non-committal noise at her throat, as she almost forgot she had asked Tenma to deliver the Eevee Egg to Grimsley before attacking Clair.
Unbeknownst to her, she was being followed the traitors (sans Trip and Cilan). May had her Venusaur out, ready to attack on cue.
Brock went up to her, and tapped Pakura on the shoulder. Pakura turned, and pointed her knife at his throat. Brock held up his hands in surrender.
"Whoa, whoa, put the knife down!" Brock said.
"So tell me what do you want?" Pakura asked coldly.
"Well…." While Brock was talking, May snuck behind Pakura with her Venusaur. When she got into range, she shouted, "Venusaur, Sleep Powder!" Venusaur released a sparkling blue powder out from the flower on its back, which engulfed Pakura and her Pokémon, and they fell to the ground, asleep. For good measure, they jabbed Pakura with sedatives they got from the pharmacy.
"Alright! We got her!" Max cheered, rushing into the scene with Iris.
"What should we do with her?" Iris asked, pointing to a sleeping Pakura.
Max examined Pakura. He may have just reached his pre-teen, but he still has hormones "Well, she does look like a good lay. Why not have some fun?"
Brock smirked, and nodded, and was about to reach his hands out to carry Pakura when a leg shot out, and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying and breaking four trees before finally hitting the ground, skidding a few meters before coming to a complete stop. Max was hit in the right arm, effectively shattering the bones. May and Iris froze halfway in grabbing the sleeping Eevee and Skitty, only to be mind-controlled, forcing them to drop the Pokémon. They did not even register that Pakura had knocked out Venusaur, and returned her to May's Pokémon, neither did they know that they were being frozen in an ice block, except for their heads, along with Max and Brock, who were unconscious.
They were knocked out with psychic powers when the three Pokémon woke up thanks to Awakening, and they left the scene.
'They really should know better than to use Sleep Powder and use sedatives, because thanks to the torture training I've been though, I'm immune to poison and moves such as Sleep Powder. And I'm also immune to drugs thanks to my Healing Regenerative Factor.'
She turned to her partner Pokémon, Sylveon. "Come on, Sylveon, let's go see your mate." With that, she rushed off to the forest, towards the Dragon Princess' cave, her three Pokémon dashing after her.
With her enhanced speed, it only took her a few minutes to get to the cave, and she went in without hesitation. The psychic defences doesn't work on her since she had mental shields. Sylveon, Skitty and Eevee went in after her, Sylveon excited to see her mate Espeon again.
"Hello Pakura." Espeon came out to meet her.
"Espeon!" Sylveon charged towards him, and pounced on him, licking his face. "How I missed you!"
"Missed you too, Sylveon. How are you?" Espeon intertwined his tail with one of Sylveon's feelers.
Pakura, meanwhile, was tapping away at one part of the cave walls. She finally found the loose part of the said wall, and what looked like the end of the cave opened to reveal a room filled with bright light. Pakura smiled to herself, and slipped in the room.
The room was very cold, due to the fact that it was frozen. Pakura stepped closer to the big block of ice, where a body had been frozen in ice, and in front of it, was a plaque made out of ice that is placed on an ice stand. She approached closer to the body that is frozen in it.
The body was that of a 22-year-old man, but Pakura knew many people referred to him as a boy because he was young at heart. He was dressed in his formal Dragon Prince outfit, which was complete with the crown. She snapped her fingers, which cancelled the frozen ice in an instant, and the body fell, right into her arms, the crown slipping from his head, clattering to the ground. She smiled at how it was still well-preserved despite the body being dead for five years, thanks to her ice powers.
"Don't worry, my Prince, I will revive you soon." Pakura whispered tenderly, cradling the body like it's a fragile doll. "I don't care what they say, but my love, I valued you more than my own life. When I get kicked out of the tournament, I promise, I'll return you to Lance. After all, I can tell he misses you very much. I'm sure he'll be glad to see me go, in exchange of you returning. However, you know I have to do my best in the tournament, as expected of the Elite Leader and PAL Princess."
With that, she used her telekinesis to lift the boy, and refreeze him in his icy grave.
She looked down at the plaque that she had made years ago.
Shiki Kurobane
11 April 1988 (D.O.B) to 4 December 2010 (D.O.D)
A loving friend, a caring lover
"Death is simply the beginning of another story."
She wondered if she should vent it on another one of the Elites. She nodded to herself, she should. After all, what else does she have to lose?
"Alright, remind me to go to Dream Paint to get soft lead pencils, spray mount, and canvas stretchers for Rosaline, drop off the laundry and fix Jude's shirt in an hour." Pakura said, poking her head out to her Pokémon.
"What are you going to do?" Espeon asked.
"I'll be taking a rest in the Ice Grave." Pakura replied. 'And hopefully, I'll freeze to death, but that's highly unlikely, since my powers protect me from the effects of cold.'
Virgil sighed, as he walked down Luonto City. He had lost to Lucian in the Top 64, and he was a little depressed he got kicked out early. Then again, what to expect with a tournament full of the strongest trainers from all over the world?
His Eevee nuzzled him, trying to cheer him up. Virgil managed a smile at his Eevee.
Eevee nudged him, and pointed to a shop not far away. The Ice Cream picture on the shop window indicated it was an ice cream shop
"Do you want some ice cream?" Virgil offered to Eevee, who nodded eagerly.
"Alright, let's go get some then." He walked up to the shop, opened the door, and entered
"Yes, what ice cream would you like?" The man smiled at him.
"Er…" Virgil was astounded at the amount of choices the shop had.
"It's ok, take your time." The man nodded, being used to customers being indecisive.
"I recommend the strawberry cream. If you want something sweeter, I think you should get the Chocolate Paradise." A voice spoke up.
Virgil yelped in fright, and turned, only to gasp when he saw Rosaline. Beside her, Espeon was looking at them curiously.
"You're…Rosaline Pyra!" Virgil gaped at the girl.
Rosaline smiled. "Hi to you too. So what are you going to buy?"
Eevee pointed to the ice cream flavour, and Virgil said, "I'll get one Strawberry Cream for me and one Chocolate Paradise for Eevee."
"I'll get the Peppermint, please." Rosaline said to the shopkeeper. "And Chocolate Chip for Espeon here."
"Totals up to 1200 Pokédollars." The man answered.
Virgil went to take his wallet, but Rosaline stopped him. "It's my treat." Rosaline smiled.
"But I can't…" Virgil started to protest, but Rosaline went to the counter. Surprisingly, Virgil didn't see her take any money out, but the man allowed her to leave with the ice creams.
"What just happened?" Virgil asked, as they left the shop eating their ice creams.
"Well, it's complicated to explain this privilege. Just search in the library for Hunters." Rosaline grinned, as she licked her ice cream. "You'll understand better. Hey, what's with the gloomy face?" She asked, seeing Virgil's expression.
Virgil sighed, and told her about his horrible loss to Lucian, not even able to take out one of his Pokémon despite having the type advantage with his Umbreon.
Rosaline listened without interruption, and when he was done, she petted him on the shoulder. "Hey, ever since I joined the Elite, sometimes when training, it has been one disaster after another for me."
"You? But you're good enough to be accepted!" Virgil protested.
Rosaline laughed. "Don't let it fool you, Virgil. I once took on Pakura's Ice team with my Fire, and well, I lost badly. My Fire types have a type advantage over her Fairy and Ice, you know."
"Really?" Virgil was sceptical.
"Yes, really. Don't degrade yourself like this. You are very talented. I mean you did win the Vertress Conference 4 years ago, didn't you?" Rosaline smiled.
"How did you know?" Virgil was surprised.
"PAL is a crowd that loves to watch Pokémon battling." Rosaline replied casually. "You stood out among us because you owned nearly all the Eeveelutions, something that only our Champion had, and if you count us, we own every single Eeveelution as well…except he doesn't have Eevee, and you don't have Sylveon, and the PAL Elites together don't own a Leafeon."
"Oh yeah! Could you tell me how Pakura evolved her Eevee into Sylveon? Eevee wants to evolve into a Sylveon!"
"That's right!" Eevee yipped in agreement.
"It looks like your Eevee is affectionate towards you, which means half the battle is won." Rosaline smiled softly. "The second one is you got to teach Eevee a Fairy-type move, as Sylveon is a Fairy type."
"What exactly is this Fairy type?" Virgil asked. He only heard about it when he was fighting Pakura, the Fairy master herself, alongside Lance.
"Those Pokémon are very cute and feminine looking. Bug, Fighting, and Dark type move don't work very well against them and they are immune to Dragon type moves. However, they are weak against Poison and Steel." Rosaline explained. "They are many Pokémon that are now Fairy types. I suggest the library if you want to know exactly what Pokémon are now Fairy types, because some of the Fairy type Pokémon are originally native to the other regions." She took out a notebook and wrote down something, before passing it to Virgil. "These are the moves Eevee can learn that are Fairy-type."
"Charm and Baby-Doll eyes…" Virgil read. "What are they?"
"Don't worry, my Espeon would teach your Eevee those moves. Won't you, Espeon?"
"Of course!" Espeon said.
"Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Rosaline gently pushed Virgil along towards the lake.
Tyson and Morrison, two of Ash's rivals in the Hoenn region, were relaxing at Jude's café.
"This cake is definitely delicious, don't you think?" Tyson asked.
"Definitely!" Morrison replied. "We may have lost in the Top 64, but don't you think we're having a blast here? We even got to see the PAL Elite…not up close, though." He sighed in disappointment, which made Tyson laugh.
"You're right. All of them are unique in their own ways. But the one that stands out the most is Champion Red. He uses different Pokémon for every round. I wonder how many Pokemon does he have under his ownership, and if he has anymore Legendaries besides the Jirachi and Manaphy."
"I want to see what Champion Red looks like though." Morrison replied. "I wonder why he always wears a hood."
"Your guess is as good as mine." Tyson shrugged. "Maybe we can ask him?"
"I wouldn't try it if I were you." A voice said.
Both of them jumped, to see Phillip Robinson standing by their table with his Emolga and a small, round, orange mouse-like Pokémon that he must have acquired recently.
"Oh My God…" Tyson gaped.
"It's Phillip Robinson!" Morrison said, awestruck.
"Great to meet you too." Phillip nodded, swinging a chair from a neighbouring chair until it was near their table and straddled it. "So, how are the pastries?" He nodded to their cake.
"It's great." Tyson replied.
"Good, because this is my friend Jude's shop you know." Phillip said.
"Are you kidding? When we entered, we saw a girl running the shop."
"Oh, she's a part timer Jude hired to run the shop in case he has other duties to do. Even with the tournament, out Elite duties still continue, although Pakura and Red gets the most work, being the Prince and the Princess of PAL, so technically, we got it easy." Phillip waved it off.
"Can we have a battle?" Morrison asked eagerly.
"I would battle, but you guys are eating." Phillip pointed to their unfinished cake. Morrison hastily stuffed the cake, and gulped it down, while Tyson just took his time to finish. Since he only had a few bites left it didn't take long.
"Alright, then, follow me. I know a good place for a battle." Phillip said, as they left the shop
Ash was running through the forest, with Pikachu clinging tightly to him and Lucario by his side. He hoped he wasn't too late in saving Pakura.
"Hey, Ash." Ash looked around, before looking down to see a Croagunk sitting there. He was in the PAL Hospital talking to Akira about Clair's injury, while Lance was inside comforting his cousin, and he swore he heard Clair screaming at Lance about not telling her he had a Key Stone and Mega Stone, while Lance was trying to pacify her. Apparently, it would take at least a few weeks for her injuries to heal completely, when he was called by Croagunk.
"Hi, Croagunk. What's the matter?" Ash asked.
"You look tense." Lucario remarked. "Something wrong?"
"Yeah, there is something." Croagunk said.
"What is it?" Pikachu enquired.
"I heard Brock and the others discussing they are going to target Pakura during the Top 64, because she was the closest to you and she is the one always seen alone and this morning they said they were going to corner her once she's alone in the forest so you'd hand over your Pokémon they think you poached, and belongs to them." Croagunk reported. "They bought some sedatives from the pharmacy so as to try and subdue her."
Ash paled, as he thought of Brock's perverted nature and Pakura's beauty isn't helping matters.
"Thanks, Croagunk. I'll teleport you to the Pokémon Center right away. Pikachu, Lucario, we're going." Pikachu and Lucario nodded, as instead of running down the stairs, Ash simply opened the nearest window, grabbed his Pokémon, and jumped, somersaulting while using telekinesis to slow down his fall at the same time, and landing on his feet gracefully, not as easy feat considering he was at the ninth floor, and began dashing towards the forest.
'Please let me not be too late, please…' Ash thought, but screeched to a stop when he saw something light blue out of the corner of his eye. As he got closer to the light blue thing, the colder it got. He reached the ice block, and looked in amusement at the unconscious traitors trapped in a block of ice up to the neck.
Ash's aura glowed, and created a countless amount of lava bullets, before shooting it at the ice, trying to melt it. To his surprise he only managed to melt a quarter of the ice (which meant that the ice is now up to their chest level). He then launched extremely sharp crystal shards from his hands, to try and cut the ice, which scratched the ice, but did not shatter it.
'Now that's weird. Usually, even with the strongest Ice type move by the strongest Ice Pokémon, I can easily melt the ice with Lava Manipulation or break the ice with Crystal Manipulation.' Ash frowned, and then approached the ice, before touching the ice block. 'I knew it. It was aura infused'
Ash wondered if he should leave them there or help them out. Ash placed a crystal barrier around the ice block, before filling the barrier with hot lava up to ankle level. He is now immune to burns thanks to his Lava Manipulation. Maybe the lava would slowly melt the ice. He assumed they can figure a way out when they wake up.
Ash dashed towards the library, wondering if he might find some info there.
"You've got to concentrate Eevee. Look at Espeon with the biggest and cutest look you've got, and make sure Espeon can't attack!" Rosaline encouraged. She and Virgil were at the forest training his Eevee to use Baby-Doll eyes. Espeon demonstrated it once and now it was Eevee's turn.
Eevee widened her eyes, trying to charm Espeon into not attacking, while Espeon charged her Psybeam. Once again, it failed, which saddened Eevee.
"Hey, Virgil." Rosaline said, as Virgil looked up. "Will you have a battle with me?"
"A battle?" Virgil was surprised that a PAL Elite would want to battle him.
"Yeah. Your Eevee against my Espeon. How does that sound?"
Virgil looked down at Eevee, who nodded her head, and readied herself for a battle.
"You may have the first move." Rosaline offered.
"Eevee start things off by using Iron Tail!" Virgil commanded.
"Espeon, you use Iron Tail too!" Both Iron Tails clashed, and after a moment of struggle, Espeon's Iron Tail overpowered Eevee's, causing her to hit the ground, but Eevee got up, not ready to give up yet.
"Eevee, use Swift!" Virgil said.
"Counter with Psybeam!" The Psybeam managed to destroy the Swift Stars, and Rosaline commanded Espeon to use Tackle, which Eevee narrowly dodged.
"I won't let you get away. Espeon, Confusion!" This time, Confusion managed to hit, and luckily for Virgil, Eevee wasn't confused, but it did a lot of damage so she was struggling to get up.
"Use Tackle, one more time!" Rosaline nodded to Espeon. She charged towards Eevee, who looked like she was about to cry.
"Eevee!" Virgil shouted.
But something happened. As soon as Espeon looked into Eevee's eyes, which was sparkling she stopped, not wanting to attack.
"Eevee, you did it! You learned Baby-Doll Eyes!"
"Alright!" Eevee cheered and then froze. She glowed white and became bigger, and when the glow died, in Eevee's place was a Sylveon.
"Eevee, congratulations! You evolved into a Sylveon!" Virgil was ecstatic for his Eevee
"I did it! I evolved into Sylveon!" Virgil's new Sylveon was jumping around.
"That's great." Rosaline nodded, as her CommuniDex rang. "Excuse me for a moment." She said, as she pressed a button on her CommuniDex to answer.
Rosaline turned back and said, "I'm so sorry. We have to go. I have to give some tourists a tour on the Historical Museum."
"Thanks for all your help!" Virgil waved to her with his new Sylveon.
Rosaline and Espeon smiled, and ran out of the forest.
Virgil looked down at his new Sylveon. He couldn't wait to return to Unova with a newly-evolved Pokémon.
"Forbidden techniques known to man" Ash read out the book title. He yawned. He had been poring over book after book after book, and found nothing. He hoped this had something promising, as he turned to look at the content page. He looked down and saw the word Dragon, and that peaked his curiosity. He turned to the page, and saw the word "Forbidden Technique"
"A forbidden technique." Ash whispered. He had found what he was looking for, and the page was brief, but it stated a life reincarnation technique that only people with draconic powers can use, which was a trait the Dragon Princess fitted.
Dragon Reincarnation Technique
This reincarnation technique uses the user's life force, and only those born with the draconic powers can use it. The user places their hands over the target. After this, the user forms a hand seal which causes their entire body to start glowing after which the person's life force is transferred to the target, bringing them back to life, but at the cost of the user's life.
Side note: If the technique fails, the user would die, but the target would not be restored to life. Should the technique be interrupted mid-way, all the life force would return to the user. Details on how to perform the technique used can be found in the Restricted Section Accessible by the Prince and Princess of PAL
"The ice is most likely very hard to melt and if the Dragon Princess plans to use this, she would have planned to use it on the Prince, which means…"
He gasped. That meant that the Dragon Princess was hiding his corpse.
Another thought occurred to him. 'Wait a minute, so the Dragon Princess must've froze the traitors too. But how did the traitors mistake the Dragon Princess as Paku?' Ash widened his eyes. Either the Dragon Princess is disguising herself as Pakura, or…
Pakura IS the Dragon Princess.
BP: And that is the end of chapter 12. A few more chapters before Season 1 ends, and I start the Alternate Version of Ash x Pakura! (please read below)
Yes I've been so busy these past weeks, I had to make a Learning Center for the kids (at least 5 activities to make and keep the kids busy for 15 minutes) and my lesson implementation is coming up (Why is mine so much earlier than most of my classmates? WHY?) And my exams are coming up so I have to study. Which means I can't update as much, so please understand as to why it took so long to update.
I'm still upset about the troll comment. If you don't like it don't read simple no need to be so outspoken, as the phrase goes, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it!"
And another news is, I'm writing a High School AU of PAL Chronicles (Yeah, Ash and the PAL Elites going to high school with the other regional Gym leaders, Elite Fours and Champions as students as well. I'm also thinking of writing a resurrection story, where Professor Sebastain resurrects five people as part of his evil master plan (Yes Ash and the PAL Elites died prior to the story, but he was resurrected by Professor Sebastian in this fic. Inspired by the Resurrection Technique from Naruto, but it works differently)
Yes, Pakura's mind is disturbed and she's not sane. Who knows if I'll kill or save her in the story. Yes, she has a grudge against the entire Blackthorn City population, which is why she doesn't treat Clair or Lance very well. Yes, she wanted to kill the traitors and Clair, but didn't because she knew Ash wanted to take them down himself, and as for Clair, it's be suspicious if a Johto Gym Leader was killed, so she spared them this time.
Thank you all for reading, and suggestions are welcome on:
1. Pairings in the story (I think you can suggest any pairing you want to see here.)
2. Any traitors you want Paul, Gary, Tracey, the Elites, or their love interests to battle in particular (outside of tournament)
3. What should Pakura train Cynthia in their next session?
4. What kind of Key Stone should Grimsley get?
5. What Pokémon should Cynthia, Grimsley and Jasmine catch?
6. I decided that people should meet Ash and the others for a change, since this time, Ash is the celebrity instead of a fan. Who should Ash meet? It can be his old rivals from the regions he travelled in, or even characters of the day from Pokémon episode (but if it's the latter, I'd appreciate it if you mention which episode this character came from)
7. Do you want me to start writing the Ash x Pakura version of this story after I finish season 1 or I finish this entire story? I am fine with both. Oh and tell me what differences would you like to see in the alternate version, as the AV is a much darker fic than the original.
8. What sentence (not verdict, since she is guilty) should Misty be given in the next chapter?
9. Should Pakura remain alive, or should she be killed by Ash?
10. What other abilities do you want Ash to have (Yes I'm letting you decide his other powers)
11. For the Alternate Version (Ash x Pakura) should they remain as Prince and Princess or upgrade to King and Queen?
12. Should Pakura and Cynthia be rivals (enemies) in the AV?
13. For the upcoming High School AU, Ash wouldn't like the traitors (in this story) If I were to include Serena, Bonnie and Clemont, who should side Ash? And who would be part of the traitors?
14. Any suggestions on how I can write the next chapter? (Running out of ideas)