AN: Sooooooooooooooo. Hey? Been awhile, but the Mailman that was supposed to deliver wasn't average enough. That's our excuse.(We were just lazy and never had time to write it) Enjoy!

The fan whirred. It was a peaceful noise, Gray decided. Monotonous, not too distracting. Definitely a bit different from the chirping of the kricketot in the night and the wind rustling the winds of the trees. He liked it, though. It was a more predictable sound. Easier to anticipate what was coming next. Somehow more relaxing, but less adventurous at the same time.

"Of course I'm not." He said suddenly, voice thundering through the silence. He paused for a moment, as if waiting for a response, but there was no noise in the now once again silent room.

"Yeah, whatever. You know that he'll be strong enough." Again, he paused, only to continue once more.

"If that happens, sure. I doubt it though. And besides, you don't want to ruin the surprise." After that statement, Gray stayed tense for a moment longer before relaxing and rolling over, conversation apparently over. Gray shifted a bit, putting his hands behind his head to stare up at the ceiling contemplatively.

The fan continued to whirr, broken only minutes later by Gray's snoring.

Gray walked down the road towards the arena in which his battle against Cynthia would take place.

"Hey! Good luck!" At first, Gray thought these were just the words of another mindless fan, seeing his new favorite trainer and wishing them luck. He scoffed. Thousands of trainers and randoms he'd never seen before in his life would suddenly die on a burning stake for him if he commanded it just because he won a few battles. Big deal. Pausing, he turned his head slightly towards the group of people behind him, ready to dismiss them. It took him a second to register who they were, and another to decide what to do. Keep walking and ignore them? It was tempting. Very tempting. Ash wanted to go back and see his friends, even if they would not know it was him.

Just to gloat. He told himself. Just for a moment. He wasn't very convincing. Spinning on his heel, Gray swaggered towards them. His old friends looked surprised. They hadn't expected Gray to engage them, only to simply nod his head and continue to walk. They were taken aback that he turned around and strode towards them, trench coat whooshing behind him as he whipped around to accost them. Come to think of it, Brock could not recall a time they hadn't seen Gray with a trench coat on. Did he sleep in it too? Shower in it? Hell, what if he even went to the toil-

"Good luck in the battle, Gray!" Misty chirped from the end of their messy clump. "We'll be cheering you on!" Everyone voiced their agreement. Except Dawn, who sniffed. She was from Sinnoh and wanted Cynthia to win. Again. And Max. No surprise there, why would he want the person who had humiliated and destroyed him in front of thousands to win? Gray chuckled lightly, as if amused by a joke only he was in on.

This many years later, and his ex-friends, the ones who told him to give up on being a trainer, were wishing him luck in the Finals of the Master's League? The irony amused Gray greatly. Slowly, he nodded his head in acceptance. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but decided better, and his jaw snapped shut. His face contorted into a thoughtful look, and he walked past the group in the opposite direction from which he had been originally been walking, still thinking. They exchanged looks with one another before Cilan spoke up.

"Um..." Cilan muttered uncertainly before raising his voice. "Weren't you going in the other direction!?" He called out to the retreating form of Gray. Gray stopped, spun once again on his heels and walked in the correct way to his destination, nodding smartly at them again as he passed.

Unsurprisingly, excitement was high for the final battle. You could feel the excitement resonating in the air. This was perhaps the most anticipated battle since Red vs. Blue.

Cynthia vs. Gray. Two absolute monsters in the tournament. Bets were placed, seats were filled, announcements were made. However, oblivious to everything, was a lone figure. Sitting inside the entrance tunnel to the arena. Gray, the trainer that had seemingly come out of nowhere. He sat there, musing about how he had gotten there.

It had been a long journey, that's for sure. Gray wasn't entirely sure when his goal had become winning the tournament and proving to the world that he was the best. It had been his goal when he had first set out on his journey, and he'd found no reason to alter that. Imagining becoming the greatest Pokemon trainer… it still gave him as much of a thrill to imagine his name topping the league rankings as it did when he was ten. A few times Ash had considered if he was growing too old to continue pursuing his journey like his past companions had mentioned all those years ago, but he saw no reason to stop. That meeting had been the "Wake Up Slap" that he'd needed. He knew the full extent of his Pokemon's power, and he knew how to control his emotions. Ash had gotten serious, and he wasn't about to stop when he was so close to the finish line.

As to how difficult of an opponent Cynthia would be? Psht, he'd faced better opponents than her in his sleep! Like…

Like… hm…

Now that Gray thought about it, he hadn't ever gone up against trainers as dynamic as Cynthia. It wasn't really a daily occurence to battle the two-time Master's tournament champion while digging in the bushes looking for pecha berries.

Well, I always have them…

Gray's musing was interrupted by the announcement that the tournament would soon begin.

Cynthia grinned enthusiastically as her eyes roamed across all the adoring fans in the arena. She grimaced slightly as she ran over a particularly excited group of fans. A few of there more tame signs read, "MARRY ME CYNTHIA! I WANNA HAVE YOUR BABY!" Cynthia did not want to know how that worked. She tuned out the announcer as he continued his rambles, and her eyes focused in on Gray's tunnel. He had not yet come out, which wasn't very surprising as he usually came out 30 seconds before the match began. It would be exciting once the battle finally started. She considered the amusing possibility that Gray would fail to show up and she would win the battle by forfeit, but as she was contemplating how her fans would react if that were the case instead of the epic battle they were promised, Gray walked out of the tunnel.

Gray was robed in his signature black trench coat that the stadium had never seen him without, even though it was over 90 degrees, as was usual for that area. Why Gray chose the literal hottest thing you could choose to wear in the literal hottest known region was anyone's guess, but some swore since he was the devil himself, heat didn't bother him. The heat was definitely bothering Cynthia though. She had shed her usual black cloak, for a light blue tanktop with a pair of black baggy jeans.

Gray, for the first time in many years, was nervous. The unexpected emotion surprised him. He was not used to feeling this way.

Let's see... The last time he felt this way was… when Pikachu left. Even thinking of him hurt. Reminding him that a part of him left with his old life, and would never return.

Pikachu… he shook his head. This wasn't the time. It wouldn't do to get distracted now, in the most important battle of the tournament and against what would be his greatest opponent so far. He had to focus.

Gray took his assigned spot, as the announcer delivered the same spiel the audience had grown accustomed too.

Cynthia grinned at Gray, attempting to be friendly. "Was worried you weren't going to make it!" She called over to him, both knowing full well Gray was always exactly on time to every event so far. She'd studied him a bit before the battle, as one would expect from a trainer as successful as Cynthia. A trainer that came out of literally nowhere, with no past history, no other victories to his name, and only using ONE Pokemon throughout the entire competition? Unheard of. Cynthia suspected something was up, but she wasn't sure what. She couldn't shake the feeling that she knew who he was. But she dismissed it as his attitude being eeirily similar to the Pokemon Master's. But Gray took it to the extreme. You couldn't even hold a conversation with him. All she could do was keep her guard up for anything unexpected and battle her hardest. As she mentally ran through her roster, verifying her battle plan, she noticed Gray had not broken eye contact the entire time the announcer had been speaking.

Maintaining her level gaze with him, both elite trainers reached in unison towards their first selected Pokeball. They both knew by heart the words that would come next.

"Ready trainers? BATTLE!"

Snapping her hand back, Cynthia deftly clicked the Pokeball's release trigger with her thumb before spinning it in her hand and rearing back. However, she almost fell over when Gray reached his hand up to his forehead and made a familiar looking motion, then grabbed his pokeball and hurled it in an eerily recognizable motion that summoned his Magnezone.

That movement… It was identical to the one she had not seen since many years ago. Minus a hat. Shaking it off, not fully understanding what she just witnessed, she instead underhanded her pokeball onto the battlefield, completely deflating from her earlier motion. There was a murmur in the crowd when they saw Cynthia's fumbled throw. But that was quickly dispelled when her Spiritomb came bursting out of the pokeball. Spiritomb looked good. Really good. Gray was impressed at how healthy and strong Spiritomb looked as it gave a battle cry.

Too bad Magnezone is better, Gray thought, as a sudden urge to gleefully giggle came over him. He was having fun.

He looked around, the noise of the crowd suddenly falling away. Suddenly, he was 10 again. He was surrounded by his friends… look, there they were on the bench over there! Even Pikac-

Gray shook his head and returned his attention to the fight, chiding himself for getting distracted. The excitement, no, the heat must have been getting to him. Best to not get distracted again.

The stadium shook as the two powerhouses clashed into one another once again. Cynthia grit her teeth. This was not how the battle was supposed to go when she was at the drawing board.

"Gyro Ball." Gray uttered. Cynthia reacted instantly.

"Ominous Wind. Don't let him get near you."

Good move, Gray thought, She definitely was not one of the other push over trainers he had faced previously. No matter. Magnezone started to spin, becoming a blur. Eventually, he began to move dangerously towards the forbidden pokemon. Spiritomb's head spun as a dark wind picked up behind it, blowing past it as if rushing forward to protect the pokemon. The wind slammed into the spinning magnezone, who began to pick up even more speed, with a force a gust of wind should not have, but it had no effect against the gyroing pokemon. Seeing her move fail, Cynthia threw her hands up with desperation and the start of a shout in an attempt to get her Pokemon to move out of the way, but it was too late. Much too late. Spiritomb's attempted dodge was in vain, and Magnezone slammed into the ghost pokemon at full force, equivalent to the force of 20,000 Newtons hitting a stick. Needless to say, Spiritomb was out cold.

"Wow," was Cynthia's response. It was also most of the crowds. And the announcer.

"Amazing…" Max whispered under his breath. He couldn't believe Gray had actually taken out one of Cynthia's pokemon. And in just a couple of minutes, too. It barely looked like Magnezone broke a sweat. Who is he? Everyone wondered. The curiosity was eating Max up. Maybe that's what made Gray such a strong competitor. Everyone likes an underdog, and the fact that virtually no one knew who Gray was or where he came from made everyone believe it could be them, standing there, challenging the champion on her own turf. A far cry from reality, sure. But still a dream nonetheless. Brock stared silently out onto the field, observing. Brock had noticed something the others hadn't, being more interested in Gray than the rest of them. He'd always been interested in figuring out what made people tick, and Gray was the biggest mystery yet. Brock thought about Gray's earlier motion. He first remembered seeing it on a spunky little kid, fresh out of a small town. He had come to his gym, with a pikachu and pidgeotto. Against a rock gym, he had stood no chance. Brock had ridiculed him for his choice of Pokemon against a gym of rock type pokemon. He had run out the gym, the pikachu cradled in his arms. Brock had thought that would be the last he would see of the trainer. Boy, had he been surprised when the same kid walked in, looking even more confident than he had the first time.

The kid reached up to his hat, took a firm grip on the end and flipped it around. Brock rose an eyebrow. He hadn't done this last time he fought. Doesn't matter. The outcome would be the same.

"Pidgeotto!" The bird came soaring out of the ball. Brock grinned. Should be fun. It was certainly better than taking care of 12 siblings. However, he was disappointed when he saw how little this trainer actually knew. He was stubborn, hot headed, and wanted to be the best trainer ever. Brock didn't know how to break it to the kid that he just wasn't champion material.

He still hasn't learned.

"ONIX!" Brock cried out to his Pokemon as the rain showered down. He couldn't believe it. He had lost to a technicality. The fire sprinklers had gone on when the roof had somehow caught fire from the stray thunder bolts. Brock looked on in disbelief as the other trainer raised his hand to finish it off. He had lost to this trainer? "Ash", if that red haired girl that was sticking to his side was to be trusted. "Use your head, Ash!", she had said. He couldn't blame her. He had been thinking the same thing. He wasn't even- "Pikachu! Fini-" A gasp alerted Brock to something. He glanced up and saw his 12 siblings latched onto the trainer, preventing him from moving. Ash was struggling and rambling on about how his conscious was preventing him from doing something, but… He wanted his siblings to hold him. Wanted to complain how the trainer was only going to win by luck, and that this was only fair. But… that wouldn't be fair. It was not the trainer's fault that the fire sprinkler had gone off. Mentally sighing, Brock walked forward.

"Stop it. This is an official battle. We are going to finish it, no matter what." Brock already knew how this was going to finish. Ash seemed to pause for a second, then called out for Pikachu's return.

Brock was shocked. What was this trainer thinking? He'd gotten the luckiest win of his life, and the only time it would be against him. He was making sure to fix those sprinklers first thing tomorrow. He had to admit, he respected the trainer's integrity. He knew he didn't deserve it, and wanted to prove his strength in a fair way.

Respectable indeed, Brock thought. It was this event that later convinced Brock to join him in his travels.

It wouldn't be the last time he saw that hat turn.

Brock stared at Gray, his eyes not fully seeing him, still reminiscing of the past.

Gray… could you be…? No. It wasn't possible.

"We should go now!" A woman's voice said, clearly frustrated at the lack of movement from her partner. Her partner was leaned against the back wall, holding a rose slightly between his fingertips.

"No. We wait for him to be more tired. Then, we strike." The man smiled.