20. Scrafting your way to victory!

(Where W.U.T learns that puns are terrible!)

The battle till now: Pokémon World Tournament, Rosenburg Cup. Ash and Tobias face off each other in the first match of Group C1, Tier 7. The battle began with Ash dominating the first few rounds, but with a team composed of legendary Pokémon possessing unnatural abilities, Tobias managed to turn the tables on Ash at last. The first half of the match ended with Ash losing three of his Pokémon while the legendary trainer lost only two of the mythical beats battling for him. Now—

"Hey, Ash!"

"You're awesome!"

"Don't lose your spirit!"

"Good luck for the second half, man!"

Words of admiration and encouragement poured in from every direction as I passed by the entrance leading to the dressing room. They were all people I never met. They weren't cheering me because they were my friends or family. It wasn't like I had a big name either. Well, outside of the blazing stars thing Harvey stuck to our backs.

They were all cheering me because of the struggle I had put before them. Face it. A team full of legendary Pokémon was unreal and unnerving. Maybe they were sympathizing with me. Maybe they liked the fight I was putting up, despite the odds stacked up against me. Thinking of it that way, I wondered, could it be that they were cheering me on because I was struggling and losing? Would these people still support me if I were on the winning side? Were they on my side because I was Ash Ketchum or because I was facing Tobias?

"Pikapi," the rodent in my arms shifted a bit, giving me a worried look.

"Sorry, I drifted off," I said, giving the Pokémon a reassuring smile. 'I shouldn't be having gloomy thoughts. I told Tobias I was gonna beat him. And I am going to beat him.'

Back in the square dressing room, I settled down on the soft couch, the rodent resting by my side. A couple of men in a blue uniform, the league association's official dress code, helped out with the refreshments. They were also keeping a strict vigil on me, because Pokémon were strictly prohibited from having any kind of medicine like a Potion or an Antidote to keep things fair. Pokémon were allowed to stay out of their Pokéball, unless they had a special ability that lets them heal automatically when outside the Pokéball.

I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves. The room was fresh and air-conditioned, the clear air rejuvenated my spirit and freed it from all the negative thoughts plaguing me.

"Alright," I began to focus on what was at hand, rather than lament on what happened. Good ones or bad ones, I had made a lot of choices in the match and I don't regret any of them. I had made what I thought was the best move in every scenario, putting my experience from the past to the test. Yes, all I had to do was figure out, what's next.

Few Months ago…

Somewhere in Kanto

The sky was turning grey. The sun was retiring for the day, letting the full moon take its territory for the night. The winds were slightly harsh in the mountainous region, blowing the stray leaves and dust across the clearing. But any of that didn't deter the training going on at the mountain foot, not one bit at all.

"Gliscor, Giga Impact!" The voice that commanded the move wasn't Ash's, but a much older man's.

However, the fang scorpion complied with the man's command and jumped high, riding the air current and gained enough height to make the move. The Pokémon charged from above, with gleaming eyes that gave it a menacing appearance under the silver moonlight. The flying type tucked its wings and screeched as a purple vortex of energy shrouded the Pokémon.

"Here it comes, Scrafty," the voice belonged to Ash this time. "Hi Jump Kick!"

The Hoodlum Pokémon narrowed its eyes as the gliding scorpion mercilessly charged at the lizard, not hesitating to obliterate its comrade with the brunt of the massive move. The fighting type, its muscles tensed, waited for a tentative second, carefully watching the opponent coming down before it suddenly jumped into the air thrusting its left knee at the falling Gliscor.

In an anticlimactic finish, the knee made contact with Gliscor's jaws, hidden underneath the vortex before the said attack touched the lizard. The sharp attack from the Pokémon's knee deflected the flying type's charge, and sent it hurtling into a tree. The flying bat ended up crashing into it and hit its head against the solid trunk, pretty hard.

"It actually worked," Alex exclaimed, as the said flying bat slumped against the tree and dropped to the ground.

"You're amazing, Scrafty!" Ash looked much thrilled than his father was.

"Gli!" The attacked Pokémon however, held its jaws and cried, trying to hold back its tears but failing to do so.

"Ah, I'm sorry Gliscor," the trainer apologized. He attempted to soothe its pain by rubbing its forehead where a small bump was formed. The Pokémon liking the affection its trainer displayed stuck its tongue out and grinned.

The other Pokémon Scrafty wasn't so amused by the scene. It simply folded its arms and looked at the Gliscor with somber eyes, not hiding how it felt about the scene.

Ever since Ash and his dad began training on his specialty, figuring out the opponent's weakness and taking advantage of it, they tried many new tricks and tactics. While the success rate wasn't hundred percent, most of Ash's plans usually ended up well.

"I still can't figure it out though," Alex muttered, shaking his head, his long hair rustled along with it. "How could someone like you who can't even spell physics do all these complicated stuff?" He crooked his head to the left. "It's Bruno all over again. Uggh," he grunted in displeasure. "You guys make me feel jealous. I wish there's some secret behind that…"

"I don't know either," Ash laughed, scratching his cheek. "I guess it has to do with mom's side of things?" Ash remembered his dad telling that once and pointed the same explanation back to his father although, he wondered why he sought for an answer to the question in the first place. Does he actually need a reason to be extra observant? But rather than arguing with him, Ash would play along with his father just so that he wouldn't be disappointed.

"Anyway," Alex said, deciding to put his self-criticism aside. "That move just now was really good. Judging from what I saw, Giga Impact puts a lot of pressure on the user's head, mostly around the area near the focal point of the attack," the older man said, pointing at his own forehead. "And its neck."

Ash nodded at that. "I guess so." He wasn't so sure about it, himself. "Anyway if we can time Hi Jump Kick correctly, we can overturn Giga Impact and put the other Pokémon down. Isn't that right, Scrafty?"

The Hoodlum Pokémon, eyes closed, shook its head slightly with a confident know-it-all expression. It was perhaps convinced that it was the coolest Pokémon on earth.

Back to present…

So, what was the situation of the match again?

Tobias had lost two Pokémon, Raikou and Landorus. Darkrai took decent damage, but there was still a lot of fight left in it. Moltres was much more beaten up in that regard, even so the phoenix would be a tough opponent to face. I had lost Garchomp, Infernape and Glalie. Staraptor couldn't battle anytime soon, and needs rest for the time being. That leaves me with…..Scrafty and my last Pokémon.

I gritted my teeth out of frustration. "Fire and flying types have advantage over both of them."

"Pika…" Pikachu agreed, a hint of disappointment in its tone.

The frown on my face lightened up at that. "I'm not giving up, Pikachu. Even if things look bad, we can still turn this match around."

If we manage to defeat Moltres somehow, then I could handle Latios in case it does end up being Tobias's fifth. But the sixth…I don't have a clue about it. But if I could play my cards well, there was actually a good chance we could win. The matchup would boil down to Scrafty facing Latios and Darkrai, leaving my last facing Tobias's last. Yes, that could—

I was so deep in my thought that I didn't notice a pair of legs before me. Lifting my head, I looked at a familiar face, giving me a toothy grin.

"Dad!"

"Yo," the old man waved.

"Don't 'Yo' me!" I exclaimed, jumping from my seat. "What are you even—" I paused when I noticed that there were more people standing at the entrance, somewhat surprised by my sudden outburst. Iris, Dawn, Cilan, Brock and even Misty were blinking at me strangely. On the other hand, Professor Oak and mom simply tried to look normal, ignoring the small scene I made.

"Hey everyone," I greeted, lightening up the tense atmosphere.

May, mom, Gary and Professor Oak were the only ones who knew about the whole Pokérus thing. May wasn't here because of her brother's match, so the rest of them possibly couldn't understand what was going on. But they seem to have let it slide as another case of our abnormal father-son relationship because most of their expressions returned back to normal.

"Ash," Dawn clapped her hand. "That ice structure you created was amazing!" She was almost close to squealing.

"Thank—"

"Mhm, Mhm," Iris hummed to agree. "You handled the match pretty well for a little kid. Of course I am impressed by your Garchomp too."

Coming from Iris, it was a genuine praise. I opened my mouth to say something. "Gee tha—" Except I wasn't given much time to speak again.

"The battle was fantastic and marvelous," Cilan said, suddenly spreading his arms, as if he was enjoying a cool breeze in an open meadow. "Each and every moment was tense, exciting and full of dazzling explosions, Ahhh," he moaned, before standing straight. "That ice structure was especially—"

His dance was stopped when an annoyed Iris pushed him away. "Yeah, yeah," she said. "We get it, we get it."

"Guys—"

"Ash, take a look at this," my mom suddenly jumped in, putting her expensive camera in my unreliable hands. "I've taken a couple of good shots from your battle."

"Uh Mom—"

"Alright that's enough women!"

Dad had finally interrupted the onslaught, saving me some breath. He took the camera from my hands and shoved it back into mom's. "The battle isn't over yet, and you guys need to give him some time to think straight and plan what's next. "

I decided to put a wry smile, just to add that he was correct about it. He was easy to be antagonized after all.

"That's right," Professor Oak chuckled. "I'm pretty sure there are other things bothering you right now, young man."

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "The battle's only halfway done."

"Speaking of which," Dad spoke, a hint of seriousness in his voice. "Do you have any plans for the next half?"

I frowned, giving him a sideward glance. "I do have a plan," I said, before looking down at the carpet. "We can still win this match."

An uncomfortable silence stood in the room, as neither Dad nor the rest of the gang spoke anything after that. But when he finally spoke after that he smiled, "Well I guess you seem to have something in that creepy head of yours after all."

I nodded with a smile, and looked at the group standing before me. There was one person who hasn't spoken a word since they came here. Misty was standing behind everyone, observing the walls of the room rather than taking a part of the conversation.

Noticing my gaze, Iris and Dawn turned back too and then so did everyone else. Realizing that the room had turned awfully silent again, Misty looked down only to find all set of eyes in the room upon her. "Huh, what?" She asked, confused.

Iris didn't want to be silent like the others. "Don't you have anything to say?" She said, putting a sly face.

"No," Misty replied quickly, but then seemed to have regretted saying so, after looking into my eyes. "I mean," she paused, thinking for a bit. "He's gotta be busy thinking about strategies and all…."she paused again, when everybody continued to stare at her silently. "So I thought…" she paused again, realizing the point she was making was silly. She muttered slowly, "Good luck."

"Thank you, Misty."

Misty let out a small uncomfortable smile in reply to that.

The afternoon sun was blazing brilliantly, heating up the rocky field. The spectators were gathering back in their seats, some chattering excitedly, some enjoying the refreshments they bought at the stalls nearby. The scoreboard turned on again, revealing the two trainers and their respective Pokémon.

Scoreboard

(5-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (4-4)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty –

"The league match between Tobias and Ash is underway. We are moving on to the next round, with Ash having three Pokémon left while Tobias still carries four of his legendary mammoths, two of which are yet to be revealed. We have a field change. Replacing the clay stadium, we have a rock one. I wonder how much destruction this field will be subjected to."

The two trainers took their place in their respective trainer boxes. Ash's expression mellowed from the confident one he carried the first time when he entered the field. Tobias, on the other remained with a placid expression. He looked confident, but at the same time he wasn't being overly smug either. If anything he seemed like he was truly into the battle, unlike the last time.

"Will Ash turn this match around? The chances seem to be slim but this trainer from Pallet Town is one of the blazing stars of the tournament. There's every chance we might see a miracle happening here."

'Miracle ,huh?' Ash thought, wondering if something like that could happen. "Yeah," he muttered under his breath. "I'll show them one."

'A miracle, huh?' Tobias smiled at the thought. 'No matter what he tries to pull, the end result will be the same.' He clutched onto the Pokéball he had enlarged beforehand. 'But the struggle he's putting up is fun to experience for sure.'

"Now it's time for Tobias to send his Pokémon out. Will it be a new Pokémon or one of the two he has already revealed?"

"Humph," Tobias grunted, as he tossed the Pokéball. The ball spun around and burst open a few feet away from the ground. The dazzling light emerging from the capsule materialized into a large bird, with an orange plumage and a fiery mane.

"Tobias sends out Moltres again!"

"Moltres, huh?" Ash muttered. 'So he knows we are weak against it. He's trying to pressurize us but—'

"Now, what shall Ash send to face the legendary bird of fire?"

'It's do or die. I'm counting on you.' He enlarged the contraption in his hands, and prepared to toss it into the field. "I choose you—" he said, pitching the red-white textured ball straight into the air.

"Sceptile!"

The Pokéball burst open revealing a five foot tall bipedal green lizard, with slender arms that had two blade-like projections. The gecko Pokémon fumbled its hands through its bushy tail and extracted a small twig out before placing it in its mouth. The Pokémon narrowed its sharp yellow eyes at the bird standing in front. "Scep…" the Pokémon muttered for some reason.

"Be careful," the trainer warned. "Your opponent is a legendary Pokémon. Concentrating on dodging than attacking."

Sceptile simply nodded, understanding the risk he had been put in. It was a bold move, even by Ash's standards. The Pokémon was absolutely positive that the trainer's back was to the wall to have made such a drastic move. Realizing that, the creature's expression grew much serious.

"Ash reveals his last Pokémon, Sceptile. But now this seems like an overwhelming matchup for the young man from Pallet Town."

Scoreboard

(6-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (4-4)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty –

Sceptile -

Tobias smirked at Ash's choice. 'Just as I thought.'

Meanwhile on the stands, the group containing his friends and family were back in their places to cheer the sixteen year old trainer.

Brock frowned, "So, it was Sceptile after all."

"Now this could turn ugly," Alex muttered, to which Brock grunted in response.

Needless to say, the entire crowd has suddenly grown silent and stiff ever since Ash's reveal. Even those who didn't know much about Pokémon and types could figure out how bad the matchup was, just by looking at it. An eager expression was seen on almost everyone's eyes as most of them wondered how Ash would handle the devastating matchup while the rest declared that the match was already over.

The referee took his position and raised the flags. "Moltres versus Sceptile let the match begin!"

'This matchup won't last long.' Tobias thought. "Moltres fly up and use Flamethrower!"

The bird complied with the legendary trainer's orders and took off into the sky immediately. Once having reached a proper altitude it craned its neck at the grounded opponent and opened its beak, prepared to jut out the red hot flames.

"Get ready Sceptile," the raven-haired trainer barked orders. "Agility!"

The bird Pokémon breathed out the super-hot column of fire at its grass type target, attempting to singe the grass type in just one hit. But—

The attack only burned the rocky field as the target that should have been standing there disappeared in an instant, only to reappear at another spot, a boulder to the right of its original position.

"Whoa!"

'So it's fast?' Tobias spread his lips even more. "No matter how fast you are, you won't escape Moltres. Use repeated flamethrowers till you get them!"

"Keep using Agility to dodge!"

Moltres quickly breathed another flamethrower at the wood gecko, but the reptile disappeared once more, causing the fire to melt a portion of the boulder it once stood upon. The bird immediately craned its neck to the left, its legendary ability letting it guess Sceptile's reappearing position beforehand. Spotting the grass type almost as soon as it reappeared, it let out the flames once more. But the grass type didn't hesitate even for a millisecond to disappear again. The process repeated as Moltres kept on guessing Sceptile's movements and used flamethrower to strike it, but each time, Sceptile disappeared before the bird's attack even made contact.

The reptilian Pokémon was all over the stadium, dodging each and every attack being hurled at it while being careful enough not to step on the melting parts.

"Now, what is this? Sceptile proves impossible to hit for Moltres!"

'It's too fast!' Tobias pursed his lips. "Then in that case, blow the whole field away with Hurricane!"

"Sceptile, use the wall and jump!"

The legendary Pokémon began flapping its wings, and whipped up a powerful air current in no time. The winds began to grow stronger and fiercer and were transforming into a powerful twister, swallowing everything that came in its way. The swirling current of air pulverized rocky field, catching up a good amount of dust and rubble in the process.

But none of that mattered to Sceptile, because the said Pokémon immediately disappeared from the scene. The Pokémon, with an agility burst landed on one of the thick walls protecting the stands and kicked itself high into the sky, a feat something only the reptilian creature and perhaps its fire type counterpart, Blaziken could pull off.

The roaring winds continued to crush the uneven surface slinging the rubble everywhere, something which can be compared to a fruit being crushed inside a mixer. The immense gap between the rectangular borderlines of the battlefield and the stands protected the audience. But the trainers couldn't say the same, as they were forced to cover their faces from the rubble. The referee sought cover behind the platform, though that didn't save him from the huge amount of sand that rained on him.

When the noise slowly settled and the air current died down into a small breeze, the trainers opened their eyes to look at the sky, only to spot something lean and green flying above Moltres The said creature curled itself into a ball and spun as it made its way down.

"Sceptile is soaring above Moltres! An excellent use of the Pokémon's natural characteristics!"

The green lizard uncurled itself as it closed down to the ground and landed firmly on its two feet, kicking a good amount of the settling dust into action again.

"Fast, agile and a powerful jumper! Sceptile is amazing, but what exactly is Ash planning through the jumping around? Is he planning to tire Moltres out?"

'If that's what you're planning then it won't work,' Tobias thought. "Moltres, use Sky Attack!"

The legendary bird spread its wings, letting a bright energy shroud its amber glory. The Pokémon let out a screech, focusing the flying type energy it needed to put down the grass type once and for all. But the said Pokémon didn't look keen on getting attacked by such a move, as evident from the displeased look on its face, while it played with the twig in its mouth impatiently.

Meanwhile on the sidelines, Alex had an equally displeased look. "Moltres has the ability to predict the opponent's moves no matter how fast they are. They can't just dodge Sky Attack forever."

Sceptile could dodge a long ranged move with ease, but dodging a close ranged move from Moltres was impossible thanks to Moltres's ability to predict the enemy's movements.

But on the other hand, Ash was calm, a stark contrast from the expression his father carried. "So it's using Sky Attack at last," the trainer behind muttered. "Sceptile, charge in!"

The Pokémon knew it was suicidal to do that, but that didn't make it hesitate any bit. The creature trusted its trainer more than anything, and knew he was having some plan that would involve using its quick movements.

'I don't know what you're planning,' Tobias thought as Sceptile lunged at Moltres. 'But you're simply making the chase easier for us.' He had expected that with Sceptile's speed, it would take a huge amount of chasing and dodging before Moltres could finally catch hold of Sceptile. Moltres's legendary ability guaranteed that it would hit Sceptile at some point, it was just a matter of when. If Ash was simply throwing his Pokémon at him, then it would only make sense for Tobias to use that opportunity.

"Intercept them!"

The trainer's command pumped Moltres up. The Sky attack wasn't finished yet, but if Moltres could collide with Sceptile before that, it could still do plenty of damage. The damage would be enough to finish the match once and for all.

"Did Ketchum give up on the match after all?"

Moltres slowly glided down to come as close to the ground as possible. The closer Moltres was to the ground, the less was the space for Sceptile to dodge. The legendary Pokémon let out another screech when Sceptile was two leaps away from the bird. But then—

"Agility!"

In a flash, the scene changed completely. The bird was coming down to hit the grass reptile head on, but just in the last minute the reptile dodged with its lightning speed. Moltres was too low on the ground for Sceptile to go from underneath, which meant that there was only one way for Sceptile to go, based on the direction it was running in.

Above Moltres.

In the next second, Sceptile was above Moltres. But it doesn't take rocket science to figure out Sceptile's obvious move. The bird twisted its neck, and swerved its body, in an attempt to change the attack's direction.

Tobias smirked at that. 'I knew you would do that. You've tried to trick me, but now you're gonna fall prey to my trap.'

Sceptile, thanks to its jump boosted by Agility, was still going up in the air, just as Moltres twisted its body to face the grass type. However that was also the moment when Sceptile twisted its body to face it's extremely dangerous opponent. Sceptile was in the air, apparently no ground to help it using agility and dodge anymore. It was locked in its position, letting it become an easy prey for the phoenix. But—

"Rock Slide!"

When the raven-haired boy's command reached Tobias's ears, it sent a shudder down his spine. The legendary trainer's eyes widened in surprise, his lips moved in reflex, to say something to the bird that was turning around to strike at the easy target.

In a second, the air was suddenly filled with massive boulders that have been created out of thin air, a magical technique that only the magical creatures called Pokémon could do. A moment earlier, Sceptile was the easy target. The next moment, Moltres was the easy target.

It was too late for the bird to do anything, even screeching for help. The heavy boulders, weighing more than a ton when put together fell freely toward the ground, passing past Sceptile towards the ground as commanded by gravity. Moltres was simply too unfortunate to be in their way. The huge weight crashed on the bird at once and pushed it down, not giving the phoenix an option to dodge.

The boulders rained one after the other with loud bangs followed by painful screeches that were cut off when more of them rained down. The legendary bird was buried under the mass of rocks, with only a portion of its wings being and fiery tail visible.

The grass type landed near its trainer, a few steps away from the boulders that were now collected at the center of the rocky field. Both the trainers watched the scene with bated breaths as the referee moved closer to examine the Pokémon's situation. He peered in through one of the gaps between the boulders. Having confirmed something, he raised the green flag. "Moltres is unable to battle."

"Moltres is down!"

Scoreboard

(6-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (4-3)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty –

Sceptile -

The stadium went into an uproar at once. The cries of regard from thousands of spectators touched the sky, putting any loud speaker to shame. It was because the underdog had won again. The matchup between a grass type and a legendary fire type ended up in the victory of the former. That was how the world worked. People admire more when the weak won against the strong than when the strong won against the weak.

"Sceptile has used a last minute Rock Slide to finish off Moltres using the supereffective move. This is the second time Ash has saved a move till the last minute and surprised Tobias."

'So, I'm the fool because I fell for it twice? Or are you the smart one?' Tobias wondered as he extracted the legendary phoenix back into its Pokéball. He glared at the raven-haired trainer for once, hoping to appreciate his strategy. But the said boy was involved with his Pokémon.

Sceptile was panting for breath, and was barely standing straight. While the agility bursts took a very small percentage of its energy, Rock Slide, which involved creating boulders out of thin air, devoured a major share of the Pokémon's stamina.

"Sceptile," Ash said, taking out the reptilian creature's Pokéball. "You've spent a good amount of strength in this battle. So, take a good rest and recover as much as you can." The Pokémon nodded, after which a red light disintegrated its presence and sucked it back into the small contraption.

When a Pokémon takes injury, then it would take more than a few minutes of rest to recover its energy. However, when it's more or less unscathed, a simple rest for a few minutes would recover around a tiny portion to about half of the energy it had expended during a battle, depending on the amount of time it rested.

"Ash has switched out Sceptile for a well-earned rest. Now what shall either trainer send next?"

Scoreboard

(6-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (4-3)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty –

Sceptile -

"Now," Ash muttered, clutching a Pokéball attached to his belt. "Is it going to be Latios?"

The loud cries from the Lily of the Valley have managed to reach the battle net number 87.

"That was a lot louder than last time," Max said, amidst the drink he has been having. That was one of the benefits of having your mother by your side. The battle between Green Randall and Max had just reached the midpoint. Although the battle started pretty late, it didn't take much time in catching up with the legendary battle going on, in the main stadium.

While Max did concentrate for most of the match, the constant roars from the Lily of the Valley bothered him. The giant explosions that even shook the metal frames occasionally didn't help either. Relatively, his battle with Green Randall was quieter. But then again, his sister going all chummy with Green Randall's girlfriend ruined the tranquility for him.

Scoreboard

(4-3) Max Maple – Green Randall (3-5)

Grovyle – Accelgor

Manetric – Serperior

Swellow – Alakazam

Combusken -

"Status update?" Norman asked the referee for the millionth time. Every time the crowd went on a buzz, the gym leader would pester him to tell the score. The referees received constant updates from the entries made in the scoreboard directory, which were all connected to a single main network for easy access.

"It seems like Sceptile has defeated Moltres," the referee said. "The scores are even now."

"That Ash," Norman said, scratching his chin. "He must have used speed to confuse them."

Max sighed at this. "Dad, right now speed is a word I don't want to hear." He looked at Green Randall, who was interestingly listening to what the referee told about Ash's match. 'I had enough of speed today.' Max thought. Accelgor, Alakazam, and Serperior. All three of the Pokémon had supreme and unmatchable speeds. It took the young trainer a great deal of effort to actually defeat the Serperior.

"Alright," the referee clapped. "Let's get the second half started."

"You're tough, I'll tell you that." Those were the first words Tobias uttered ever since Moltres losing sent him into a shock. 'Winning isn't a cakewalk, is it?'

"Thank you Tobias," Ash said, a genuine smile on his face. "I'll win, just like I said."

"I can see where that confidence is coming from," Tobias said in reply. "But," he said, raising his hand, holding a Pokéball. "But I'm pretty sure I'll be the one winning here." He looked at the Pokéball he was about to toss. 'I'm sending out my fifth huh?' The legendary trainer mused to himself. "Humph," he grunted as the ball was tossed high into the air.

With a soft yet strong battle cry, a creature with a form akin to a jet plane emerged out from the Pokéball. The dragon like bird had a blue, white texture with nimble arms that can be tucked into its body and sharp fin like feet suited for flying incredibly fast.

"Tobias's fifth is Latios! Will Latios be the cause for Ash's defeat once again? Or does Ash have some sort of plan against Latios."

"Scrafty, I choose you!"

With a cocky grin on its face, the lizard Pokémon appeared for the second time in the match. The dark type sneered at the legendary levitating in the sky and taunted the eon dragon to come at it The legendary Pokémon however shrugged the lizard's taunts off as if they were childish tantrums.

"Ash makes the obvious choice—Scrafty!"

Scoreboard

(6-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (5-3)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty – Latios

Sceptile -

"Scrafty versus Latios! Begin!"

"Type advantage doesn't matter if we use this move!" Tobias commanded to the eon dragon at his helm, "Giga Impact!"

'A Giga Impact right away?'Ash gritted his teeth as the jet-plane alike prepared to attack. "Scrafty, counter it with Hi Jump Kick!"

The Pokémon not only resembled a jet plane but even moved like one. Picking up a huge amount of momentum in a short span of time, the super-fast creature shrouded itself in a vortex of normal energy. The Infinity Pokémon seemed like a meteor raining down to demolish its sole target, Scrafty. However, the speed has its own demerits. It was virtually impossible for it to suddenly change its flight path in the midst of its attack.

Making a move that seemed only like a suicide, the lizard Pokémon lunged at the huge vortex of energy coming towards it, and thrust its left knee from below, just as the dragon was about to ram into the fighting type. The knee struck the area below the vortex's center and pierced into the swirling energy, successfully catching the Pokémon's neck.

"Wait a minute," Professor Oak blurted out when he saw Scrafty's movements. "Isn't that a—"

The recoil from the kick twisted Scrafty backwards in the air, while it deflected Latios's flight path by a bit. Having taken a kick to its neck, the Pokémon immediately lost the focus required to maintain Giga Impact and its control over its flight. After that, the dark type completed two full circles in the air and landed on the field, firmly on its two feet.

"A Bicycle kick?" Someone else from behind, perhaps a soccer fan completed the sentence for Professor Oak.

"Isn't this time for me to shout—GOAL!"

"No," Alex said, in reply to the commentator's words. "It's only goal if the ball goes into it."

That was when Brock saw the eon dragon regain control over its flight just before it hit the ground. The mythical creature then took a deep circle around the circumference of the stadium and glided low before stopping by its trainer, taking a battle stance against Scrafty. Needless to say, the Pokémon wasn't happy because of the neck cramps Scrafty's attack left.

"Latios is amazing," Ash said, watching the dragon survive the fall from Scrafty's otherwise fatal kick. "But I guess we did defend ourselves pretty well."

"Scraf, Scrafty," the fighting type fletched its thin muscles, as if to taunt the dragon. The Pokémon once again, didn't fell for the obvious trick.

"As usual," Tobias said, smiling at Ash. "You impress me."

"Let's attack more," Ash said, pumped with enthusiasm. "Ice Punch!"

The bipedal Lizard began running towards the dragon, hands filled with icy energy to freeze the levitating creature. "Stop it with Dragon Pulse!"

In reply, the dragon type prepared a sphere of pure draconic energy between its nimble arms and proceeds to shoot at the ground-borne Pokémon. But—

Ash was known for his quick reactions. The trainer exclaimed, "Jump!"

With Ice Punch still charged Scrafty jumped above the sphere aimed at it. Finding Latios within its landing range, the Pokémon pulled its right hand back in order to maim the dragon with a powerful blow on its neck. But—

Instead of sitting like a duck, Latios moved at the jet speed it was famous for and passed past Scrafty before the lizard could make the move. The ice punch only met thin air as a result.

Brock observed, "It seems like Ash is getting back his attacking momentum from the Raikou match again."

"Tobias isn't bad either," Cilan remarked.

The two Pokémon faced off each other once again, except with reversed positions.

'It's fast, alright.' Ash had a wry smile on his face. "Focus Blast!"

"Luster Purge!"

Scrafty concentrated a sphere of fighting type energy using its left hand and tossed it at the eon dragon, but the latter opened its mouth at the same to shoot out a bright beam of energy. The blinding beam of light energy struck the Focus Blast in midair, creating an explosion, but the Luster Purge proved to me much stronger than the fighting type's attack and proceeded to hit the lizard with an extreme force only to—

Do nothing.

The lizard Pokémon was completely immersed inside the light, but the attack itself did nothing to it. The light didn't stay long as Latios immediately stopped the meaningless assault, an expression of distaste on its face.

"Tobias," Ash said, a boastful look on his face. "Psychic type moves don't work on dark types, remember?"

"Cocky aren't you?" Tobias earnestly laughed at that. "Giga Impact."

'I know the same trick won't work twice but….' Ash thought. "Scrafty let's use the special tactic we prepared for this match, use Double Focus Blast."

Tobias froze for a moment. 'Double Focus Blast? Didn't they use it before?'

The eon Pokémon flew up high and dashed at an incredible pace, preparing the infamous Giga Impact again. But as his Pokémon proceeded to charge, Tobias couldn't help but feel a certain kind of déjà vu.

The Lizard Pokémon prepared two of the spheres and tossed either of them, one after the other. Latios was too fast, and had only enough time to arc a bit away from the attack. The first sphere of energy struck the Pokémon's sidelines, slightly toppling Latios away from its path to the right, but that was when the second Focus Blast hit a similar spot on the right, deflecting it to the left. Although the attacks weren't simultaneous, the attacks hit the Pokémon in different directions almost at the same time. The sudden shake up caused the Pokémon to slow down, out of fear that it would lose its control again. 'It worked.' Ash clenched his fists. "Block it."

After launching two Focus Blasts, as Latios had slowed itself by quite a bit, the lizard was given a perfect chance to get ahold of the Pokémon before it could finish its own attack. Using its thin arms, the dark type quickly plunged for the eon Pokémon's neck, a spot that always a weakness to Pokémon using colliding moves. The slower Giga Impact was stopped before it could hit Scrafty, leaving the dragon's beautiful long neck under the hold of Scrafty's dirty hands.

"Latios is caught! Ketchum's tactics prevail once again!"

"Get away, Latios!" Tobias exclaimed.

"Ice Punch!" Ash punched in the air.

The dragon pulled itself away from Scrafty, but the Pokémon's left hand was firmly gripped to its neck, while the right was pulled back to prepare the icy wave of energy. The legendary Pokémon let out a desperate cry when the dark type's punch landed on its face.

"The supereffective Ice Punch lands a direct hit!"

The attack sent Latios flying away. It took a good sense of flight on the Infinity Pokémon's part to not hit the ground. The icy energy from the punch spread across the Pokémon's body, causing minor freezing on many parts of its body. The sharp ice flakes stuck to the Pokémon's body prickled its skin with an intense pain that prevented it from resuming its flight.

"Urrgh," Tobias didn't like what was going on. "Dragon Pulse!" He ordered, attempting to do some damage through direct attacking.

"Counter it with Focus Blast," Ash ordered.

The eon Pokémon shook its head from the numbness caused by the pain. The Pokémon took off a few inches away from the ground and closed its hands together, to prepare a green ball of energy.

Meanwhile, Scrafty prepared another sphere of energy and tossed it at the dragon Pokémon. Either spheres met in midair and exploded into nothingness.

The Ice Punch began to show its toll on Latios, as the Pokémon couldn't stay up for much long and was hovering at a much lower altitude. Its breath was ragged, however—

Scrafty looked similar in that respect. The Pokémon hadn't showed much exhaustion till now, but the last Focus Blast took a lot out of it. "Scrafty, are you okay?" The trainer asked, concerned. The Pokémon simply nodded its head, but Ash was more than smart enough to take his Pokémon's word on that subject. 'We've been using up a lot of Focus Blasts. Scrafty is running out of fighting type energy. In that case, I won't be using Focus Blast anymore.'

"Your Pokémon seems to be reaching its limit," Tobias said, understanding Scrafty's situation just by gazing at the Pokémon "Latios may have taken more damage but we've a lot of energy left. Dragon Pulse!"

"That's true but," Ash replied. "Its speed is not much right now. Scrafty, charge in!"

The fighting Pokémon complied with the trainer's orders and began running, holding its pants with its hands. Scrafty were slow as a species, but Ash's was another story.

Latios tossed the sphere of attack at the advancing Pokémon, but the fighting type didn't need a command to simply jump away from the attack. With its excellent jumping sense, the Pokémon dodged the first attack with quite an ease.

"Keep them coming."

Tobias wasn't about to let go of Ash so easily. Latios shot out another Dragon Pulse, which the lizard dodged by jumping to the left while continuing its charge. Noticing that the smaller Pokémon was coming straight at it, Latios shot another Dragon Pulse, however, Scrafty dodged that too by jumping above it. The distance between the two Pokémon was closed down to a couple of leaps.

'This isn't good. We'll attack from a distance.' Tobias thought. "Latios," he ordered the Pokémon. "Fly away."

'So he doesn't want to get hit by Ice Punch again.' Ash deduced from the move Tobias did. "But…" he smirked. 'I'm pretty sure you won't expect this.'

The trainer pumped his fists into the air. "Scrafty, jump!"

As the legendary Pokémon sped up in no time, Scrafty followed it with a jump. However, the difference in speed between the two Pokémon was too much, even after the damage done by Ice Punch. If Ash's intentions were to grab Latios in the air and attack with an Ice Punch, he would have miserably failed because the gap between Scrafty and Latios was plenty.

'I knew he would try to jump and attack us. Now he's too far away to use Ice Punch or Hi Jump Kick.' Tobias smirked. "Now, let's use—"

However, his next command was cut off when Ash uttered his own.

"Now, Dark Pulse!"

"What the?!" Tobias froze on the spot. 'He only used three moves till now?!'

Scrafty closed its two hands together, collecting its dark thoughts into a powerful pulsing energy between its hands. Ash's command caused Latios to take a look back. But, by the time the Pokémon turned behind and realized that Scrafty had a new move prepared, it was too late. The legendary attempted to swerve to the left and move away as far as it could, but the fighting type shot its move at an angle accurately, to hit the legendary dragon.

Latios let out an excruciating cry when the hot pulse maimed the eon dragon. The deep pain created by the fatal move, caused the legendary Pokémon to lose control over its flight and fall down.

"Once again, Ash attacks with a surprise supereffective move! Dark Pulse has done some massive damage!"

"Latios!" Tobias exclaimed, to snap the falling Pokémon back to its senses. The dragon opened its eyes before it almost hit the ground, and quickly balanced itself to break the fall.

Scrafty landed a few feet away from Latios, a grin on its face, after having bringing down the legendary Pokémon to dire straits.

"Latios has taken a lot of damage," Ash smiled in glee. "Scrafty, let's finish this match with the next move!"

The fighting type turned around to face the legendary Pokémon standing only a few feet away from Scrafty. With its speed cut off majorly, Latios wouldn't have enough time to dodge a Dark Pulse from that range. In other words, the match was over or so one would think.

'I won't let you do that!' Tobias frowned. "Latios, Light Screen!"

However Ash simply smirked at the move. "Ice Punch," he said, putting the words simply.

The legendary Pokémon's eyes shone with a brilliant light, to protect itself from the next possible move. A huge screen surrounded the Pokémon in all possible directions, protecting it from any long distance moves.

It was too late for Tobias to change his orders. "Latios!"

Scrafty jumped at Latios, the latter obviously not prepared for a sudden physical attack. As soon as the eon dragon finished making the screen of light, the punch landed on the helpless Latios's neck. The icy energy quickly spread across the dragon's body, causing it to shudder and freeze in shock. The punch finished the match on the spot as Latios fell down, chin first.

Tobias watched the scene dumbfounded. He simply lost because he made the wrong move in panic.

"Latios is unable to battle. Scrafty wins the match!"

"It's settled! Scrafty has defeated Latios! Ash has clinched the lead again!"

Scoreboard

(6-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (5-2)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty – Latios

Sceptile -

"H-He won?!" Brock was absolutely stunned.

Alex nodded, a bright smile on his face. "Tobias made the wrong move in his hastiness." Latios and Scrafty were too close to each other. Tobias had assumed that Ash would go for Dark Pulse again, and used Light Screen but Ash instead went for Ice Punch and settled the round.

"Not only that," Cilan said, a hand on his chin. "This whole round, Ash seemed like he knew what to do beforehand. A few moves he did couldn't have been done on the spot."

"Yeah," Brock nodded. "It seems like Ash was saving Scrafty specifically for this matchup. The strategies he did against Giga Impact didn't seem like they were cooked on the spot."

"You guys hit the mark," Alex smiled. "Even for Ash, the moves were too good to be spontaneous." Raikou, Landorus and Moltres were all Pokémon Ash faced for the first time. But Ash didn't seem to have much trouble with Latios or Darkrai. That was the flaw in Tobias's battle style. He relied too much on the abilities of his legendary Pokémon, so someone like Ash who thrived on focusing the opponent's weakness would have a distinct advantage against those Pokémon.

"Ash still has a chance to win then?" Iris asked.

Alex beamed at this. "Right now," he said. "Ash has more chances of winning than Tobias." The older Ketchum's claim brightened the faces of the rest. Things were looking good after all.

Scrafty was tired, but it didn't take any proper damage yet. Not to mention, Ash still had two more Pokémon. While Staraptor didn't have much fight left, Sceptile was fresh as a leaf. On the other hand, Tobias had a damaged Darkrai and just one more Pokémon.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Tobias returned his legendary Pokémon back. He had lost two Pokémon in a row, ever since the second half of the match began. Things didn't look bright for him at all.

'I panicked.' Tobias closed his eyes, attempting to calm his nerves. "This feeling…" he muttered. 'I haven't felt this anxious since the Sinnoh Elite Four. He's still not at Flint's level, but…he's too young and so strong.' Tobias smiled when Harvey McMillan's words rang in his mind. "Blazing stars…huh?" He said aloud. Ash did look like one.

The legendary trainer's praise however didn't make Ash feel happy. Tobias's words reminisced Ash of the scene back then.

"Blazing…stars?"

"Yes," Harvey smiled. "The kind that tries their best to win the tournament."

"…And fail in the process," Paul added, startling everyone in the room at the same time. He snorted, "Just like a star before it dies."

"I refuse to accept that title," Ash gritted his teeth. "Because," he said, putting up the innocent smile he was famous for. "Because I want to be the world's strongest Pokémon Master. I will not lose."

"The battle's coming to an end," Tobias said, his face not showing any expression. "The next few rounds will determine everything. Good luck." He said, enlarging a Pokéball. "Humph," the legendary trainer grunted when he tossed the ball once again.

The ball materialized into the shadowy creature, and Tobias's signature Pokémon. The ruler of darkness returned again, terrifying the entire stadium with its spooky presence. The Pokémon glared at Ash and his Pokémon with eerie blue eyes, causing the raven-haired trainer to tense up a little.

Scoreboard

(6-3) Ash Ketchum – Tobias (5-2)

Staraptor – Darkrai

Infernape – Raikou

Garchomp – Landorus

Glalie – Moltres

Scrafty – Latios

Sceptile -

"Darkrai has returned. Tobias has chosen to use his first Pokémon over sending his sixth. How will he handle this disadvantageous matchup? Who will win this exciting match? Ash or Tobias?"

"Darkrai again, huh," Ash muttered. "Let's do this Scrafty. Let's attack and attack like there's no tomorrow!"

"Scrafty!"

Next Chapter 21: The Last Pokémon!

Ash: Let's do this Scrafty. Let's attack and attack like there's no tomorrow!

The legendary battle is finally coming to an end.

Tobias: Darkrai, use Dark Void!

Scrafty and Darkrai engage in an intense battle that could potentially change the outcome of the match.

Commentator: Ice beam lands a direct hit on Sceptile!

Ash: Sceptile!

Shocking decisions and unexpected moves.

Tobias: This is….the end.

Do things end terribly for Ash, after all?

Ash: Not yet. We won't lose….until I defeat that sixth Pokémon of yours.

Road to be a Pokémon Master. Book 1 Finale!

(Yeah I watched too many TV Serials)

With the next chapter 21, Road to be a Pokémon Master will come to an end. No, no, no, don't panic! However, that doesn't mean this story will end! I just wanted to split this series into "Books", just for giggles. Of course, new readers will have to read this part one to understand what's going on. The new book will include a few minor plot retcons I have decided to implement for Road to be a Pokémon Master, of course all these stuff will be explained in the Preface of the new fic.

Also, I have decided to give my final judgment on incorporating Gen 6 Pokémon.

1) Kalos Pokémon won't exist in this fic's continuity.

2) Fairy types won't happen

3) Mega Evolutions….that will be a surprise.

Since I making a new book from chapter 22 anyway, I've decided not to explain the mechanics here. Explanations will resume from Chapter 1 of the new fic.

(Side Note: I remember how I used to get all furious on writers who don't update in ages. I like how I turned into one of them.)

By the way people, just tell me how hyped you are for the XY anime? Did the new trailer excite you?!