Here it is! The last chapter before the tournament! I'm very excited to get the tournament started! I'll let you know more about it later though. Without further ado, here's chapter 28!

Chapter 28- Finally Finished

Misty's POV

Ash just defeated the father, son duo of Roark and Byron, who apparently use rock and steel Pokemon. I love the Sinnoh region! It's so beautiful! There are a lot of beautiful scenes and towns here in this region. I like this region much more than I do Hoenn. We've been traveling through the Sinnoh region and doing a lot of training and sightseeing, which is really romantic. It's especially great because that I've made my friendship with Dawn stronger over the past month as we continued to travel together. Now we're arriving at the Lily of Valley Conference, where Ash has to fight one of the members of the elite four. He's very excited! From what he tells me, the Sinnoh elite four is the toughest of them all. I wonder who he'll face.

Ash's POV

Thanks to Roark and Byron, they've made my journey a lot easier. Winning two badges from them at the same time has made it shorter. We've been traveling for the last month, doing lots of training and sightseeing, which Misty loves. She says that she loves the Sinnoh region. I had a good feeling that she would. This trip has been a lot nicer since Misty and Dawn have made up. During some of our training, Buizel evolved into Floatzel and Brock's Croagunk evolved into Toxicroak, which was awesome! Now we've finally arrived at the Lily of the Valley Conference, where I will be facing one of the toughest members of the elite four!

Normal POV

"We're here guys!" Dawn exclaimed as the group stepped off the boat.

They all stepped off the boat and they all stared at the collection of stadiums that stood in front of them. There were four total stadiums, with three stadiums on the outside forming a triangle and one bigger stadium in the center. They began to walk towards the center stadium. Once they entered, they were in the Pokemon Center part of the stadium. So they began to walk towards the Nurse Joy who ran the Center.

"Hi there, how may I help you today?" The kind, pink haired woman asked.

"I would like to face an elite four member." Ash responded with confidence in his voice.

"Alright, I need to see your Pokedex and the two badges you've earned from this region." She requested.

Ash then reached into his pocket to pull out the case he kept his badges in and gave her the case full of badges, plus the tokens, and his Pokedex. She placed them in their respective areas so they could be scanned. Once that was completed, she then gave the items back to the eager Pallet Town trainer.

"Alright, everything clears. This will be your last battle before you can enter the tournament. Just follow me to the main stadium." Joy requested, leading them to the main stadium.

The gang obliged and followed her to the entrance of the main stadium. She opened the doors and they all walked into a full stadium with the crowd roaring. They saw a stage just outside the battle arena, with a radio announcer and each of the elite four members.

"This is definitely déjà vu." Ash said in a nervous tone.

"Don't worry Ash; we all believe in you." Dawn said trying to bring confidence in his voice.

"Yes we do. Now go out there and kick some ass." Misty whispered in Ash's ear while pulling him in for a hug.

"Thanks guys." Ash thanked his friends.

Then they made their way towards the sideline seats where they can sit to watch the battle up close. The announcer spoke into the microphone.

"Ladies and gentleman, today is November 22nd and we have our first challenger, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Rich exclaimed into the microphone.

The crowd cheered wildly for his name. Ash loved every minute of it, but he learned to keep his composure and just smiled and waved back.

Misty, Brock, Dawn, Pikachu, Elektra, and Togetic were sitting on the sideline seats and Misty knew exactly what Ash was doing.

"Ash loves every minute of it." Misty laughed out.

"He seems really calm and collected." Dawn observed seriously.

"He's learned to control himself." Brock told Dawn, smiling.

"We're here with our special guest, the Sinnoh Champion herself Cynthia!" Rich spoke into the microphone.

Everyone cheered louder for their champion, while Ash and the gang looked at her in surprise.

Cynthia stood up and waved to the crowd. She was a very beautiful woman. Her light blonde hair flowed perfectly. She was wearing a black t shirt with black jeans.

"Thank you, people of Sinnoh! I know this young man very well! Whoever he chooses to battle, it'll be a battle to remember!" The Sinnoh Champion spoke into the microphone while giving Ash a warm smile.

"Now Ash, you get to choose which elite four member you would like to face. Who will you decide?" Rich asked Ash in a serious matter.

That's when the crowd went into dead silence. The Pallet Town trainer looked and observed each member of the Sinnoh Elite Four from left to right. The first one he observed was Aaron.

Aaron was the Elite Four member who loved bug type Pokemon. He looked relaxed in his chair. He had short, green hair, with one strand that stood straight up. He had eyes that matched his hair color. He was about the same height of Ash, if not an inch taller. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with an orange design on it. He was also wearing a pair of orange skinny jeans, which matched the design on his shirt. He thought about it, but decided not to battle him.

The member in the chair next to him was Bertha. This member of the Elite Four was nicknamed "The Ground Type Guru". She too also looked relax. She was a short, elderly woman who had brown eyes and gray hair. She was wearing long, black skirt and a red tee shirt. She was also wearing a white trench coat with a brown scarf. He did bring his water type Pokemon with him, so they would be a good match up, but he didn't want to battle him.

In the next chair was Lucian. This member was known as the most powerful of the elite four with his psychic type Pokemon. He had long purple hair and had purple eyes. He was also wearing purple sun glasses. Unlike the other members, he was wearing a three piece suit. The main color of the suit was maroon, his dress shirt was black, and his vest was also maroon. He was considerably taller than Ash. He didn't really look that interested as he was reading his book. Ash didn't want to battle someone who didn't look interested.

The final member sitting in the far right chair was Flint. He was known as the most powerful fire type. Like the other members, he was older than Ash. He had a red afro and gray eyes. Flint's attire was a yellow collared shirt with black pants and a red belt, wearing flip flops on his feet. He was the only member that Ash had battled before and got swept by his Infernape. Ash began to wonder who his other team members were. Flint looked at Ash with a confident grin on his face. Ash had mentally decided that he would battle Flint.

"So Ash, after some thinking, have you decided which member you wanted to face?" Rich asked.

"Yes; the member I wanna face is Flint!" Ash exclaimed, pointing at him.

"I accept your challenge, Ash." Flint said while standing up and walking towards his side of the battlefield.

"It looks like Ash Ketchum decides to challenge Flint!" Rich spoke.

"I've spoken to Flint and he told me that he's battled Ash before and won. I think that's why Ash wanted to battle him." Cynthia predicted.

"Let's see if Ash will get his way this time." Rich spoke seriously, indicating to bring the attention to the battlefield.

The battlefield was exactly like the battle field where he battle Gary on at the Silver Conference. The rocky terrain had huge stones sticking out of the ground everywhere.

After the referee explained the rules of the match, both trainers reached for their first pokeball.

"I'm not that surprised you wanted a rematch. You better give it all you got, cause I'm not going easy on you." Flint told the young trainer with his confident smile.

"Good, I don't want you too. I want you at your best." Ash replied confidently.

"That's what I like about you Ash." Flint complimented. "Enough talk now, let's battle. Go Flareon!"

The Flame Pokemon came out of its spherical home and went into a battle stance right away. It was beautifully groomed, with its reddish-orange fur shining very brightly. The fluff on its collar, tail, and on the top of its head were also groomed very nicely.

Brock, Misty, and Dawn looked at the Flareon from the sidelines

"That's a nice looking Flareon there. Obviously he groomed it very well." Brock observed closely, as he had the most knowledge of breeding.

"It does look very beautiful, but does it mean it's powerful?" Misty questioned, letting her competitive side take over a bit.

"We'll see." Dawn said eager to see who Ash will choose.

"It's time for your first battle." Ash mumbled to himself. "I choose you, Floatzel!"

The Sea Weasel Pokemon came out glaring at its opponent, and then smiled. Floatzel's personality didn't change much after he evolved. He was still cocky and confident with his ability, and never backed down from a challenge.

"Let the battle begin!" The referee exclaimed, raising a green and red flag in each hand in the air.

"Flareon, start this with will o wisp!" Flint ordered, pointing at his target.

Flareon shot out a bunch of medium sized, purple fire balls from his mouth shot it at Floatzel. But Ash knew exactly knew how to counter it.

"Use the water gun counter shield." Ash calmly ordered.

Floatzel shot out water gun while spinning, which formed a shield of water surrounding Floatzel. While taking out the will o wisp, it also began to make his way towards Flareon and hit the Flame Pokemon, causing it damage.

"Excellent, now finish this battle with an aqua jet!" Ash ordered.

The Sea Weasel Pokemon jumped forward towards the Flame Pokemon, covering himself in water. Flareon stood no chance as he was trying to recover from the counter shield.

Once Floatzel finished his attack, he stood over his opponent, checking to make sure he was finished. The referee was doing the same.

"Flareon is unable to battle, Floatzel wins!" The referee exclaimed, pointing the green flag at Ash's side.

Half of the crowd cheered while the other half went silent. That's when they could tell where Ash's real fans were in the crowd.

"Not bad Ash. You've definitely gotten stronger. But let's see you deal with this!" Flint exclaimed as he chucked his pokeball in the air.

When it opened, the Pokemon that came out was a Rapidash. The fire horse came out and neighed very loudly while getting on his hind legs. The flames on Rapdash's back were flaming high and mighty.

"Let's finish this quick Floatzel. Use hydro pump!" Ash exclaimed.

"Use agility and double edge." Flint commanded calmly.

Floatzel charged up and unleashed the mass energy of water at the fire horse. But unfortunately for Ash and Floatzel, Flint's Rapidash was easily able to dodge the powerful water attack and quickly run into the Sea Weasel, knocking it down onto the ground.

"Come on Floatzel, I know you can get up!" Ash encouraged his Pokemon.

"Now use sunny day." Flint ordered again in the same, calm tone.

The sun became very bright, blinding everyone in the stadium.

"Why is he using sunny day?" Dawn asked while covering her eyes from the blinding sun.

"I don't know." Misty answered doing the same thing.

"Now use solarbeam." Flint commanded while pointing at its target.

Because of the sunny day, solarbeam was able to charge up a lot quicker than normal. When Rapidash finished charging up, he unleashed on the still down Floatzel, causing an explosion.

"No, Floatzel!" Ash screamed in concern for his Pokemon.

Once the smoke cleared, Floatzel was still down and had no intentions on getting back up.

"Floatzel is unable to battle, Rapidash wins!" The referee announced, pointing the red flag towards Flint.

The crowd cheered for the home region elite four member's quick comeback victory. Ash, Misty, and Dawn were all shocked to see what had happened. But Ash quickly snapped out of it and returned the fainted Sea Weasel.

"How did Ash lose so fast?" Dawn asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"With the effects of sunny day, not only do fire attacks increase in power and water attacks decrease, it also helps with speeding up the process of attacks like solarbeam and not needing a recharge." Brock explained.

"I hope Ash picks the right Pokemon next." Misty said in concern for her boyfriend.

"So Ash, who's going down next?" Flint taunted his opponent.

That caused Ash to grit his teeth in anger. He quickly grabbed the next pokeball, knowing who it was.

"Crawdaunt, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed while throwing the pokeball.

The Rogue Pokemon came out and was ready for battle.

"I need to take out that sun before he uses solarbeam again. Wait, I know how." Ash thought with a smile crawling onto his face.

"Use solarbeam again!" Flint ordered.

"Dodge and use rain dance!" Ash ordered.

Rapidash unleashed the powerful grass attack, but Crawdaunt was able to fully dodge the attack. Afterwards, Crawdaunt made a rain cloud appear in the middle of the battlefield and it began pouring in the stadium, soaking everybody.

"It looks like we're going to have an all-out weather battle today." Rich shivered out while trying to cover himself up from the rain.

"Now use hydro pump!" Ash ordered.

The Rogue Pokemon unleashed the already powerful water attack at the Fire Horse, knowing that he was able to dodge the attack.

"Use agility and double edge!" Flint ordered.

Flint's Rapidash was able to dodge the hydro pump with ease and began to get closer towards its opponent. But what Flint didn't know was that that's what Ash wanted. Ash didn't order his Pokemon until Rapidash got close enough.

"Now use crab hammer!" Ash ordered.

"What?!" Flint shouted in surprise.

Rapidash was about to hit Crawdaunt, but he hit Rapidash with his gigantic claws. And thanks to the rain dance increase of water moves, knocked out the Fire Horse Pokemon with one swoop.

"Rapidash is unable to battle, Crawdaunt is the winner!" The referee announced.

Only a part of the stadium cheered for Ash, mostly from the sidelines. Flint returned his Pokemon and praised for a job well done. As soon as that battle ended, the rain cloud disappeared and it stopped raining. Flint didn't usually get nervous because he was always ahead in his battles with trainers, but this time was getting nervous. But he picked up his last pokeball and looked at it with great confidence.

"Come on out Infernape!" Flint exclaimed.

The Flame Pokemon came out and looked ready to battle. Ash instantly became nervous as soon as he saw Flint's Infernape. That was the Pokemon who swept his entire team the first time they battled.

"Come on Crawdaunt, use surf!" Ash ordered.

"Mach punch!" Flint countered.

As Crawdaunt was readying his attack, Infernape quickly hit the Rogue Pokemon, making him stop his attack. The impact of the mach punch made Crawdaunt fly back onto his back in front of his trainer, but quickly got back up.

"Now use close combat!" Flint ordered.

The fire monkey leaped quickly towards the giant crab and began to hit it with his fists. Crawdaunt couldn't do much but take the damage. Until Ash thought of a strategy to get him out.

"Crawdaunt, use waterfall to get yourself outta there!" Ash exclaimed.

Crawdaunt charged up and launched itself in the air away from Infernape using waterfall. Everyone looked up at Crawdaunt.

"Now use crab hammer!" Ash ordered.

"Use mach punch!" Flint ordered.

Infernape used his legs to jump towards the falling crab while Crawdaunt used his momentum from falling to gain speed and attack Infernape. Both attacks met in the middle and afterwards, caused them to be thrown back at their sides of the battlefield. They were barely standing up. They took one look at each other, and Crawdaunt fell to the ground unconscious.

"Crawdaunt is unable to battle, Infernape wins!" The referee announced, pointing the flag towards Flint's side of the field.

Ash returned and praised Crawdaunt for his hard work. He looked down towards his belt and wondered who he was going to use next. He thought about it and he picked up the pokeball with great confidence.

"I choose you, Wartortle!" Ash exclaimed.

The Turtle Pokemon came out of its pokeball and was ready to battle. Wartortle looked back at his trainer with confidence and gave him a thumbs up and then put on its famous sunglasses. Everyone looked so surprise, except for the trio of Ash, Brock, and Misty.

"Uh, is Ash's Wartortle wearing sunglasses?" Rich asked in confusion.

"Well, at least Wartortle's got some style." Cynthia complimented.

"Why is Wartortle wearing sunglasses?" Dawn asked Brock and Misty in confusion.

"When Ash first met Wartortle as a Squirtle, he was a troublemaker. He was abandoned and wore those sunglasses, indicating that he was the leader." Misty answered.

"Aw, that's so sad." Dawn moaned.

"Well, he's been a part of Ash's team ever since." Brock added.

"Alright, it doesn't matter what it looks like. So Infernape, use mach punch." Flint ordered.

"Counter with a water gun!" Ash ordered.

Infernape launched itself at Wartortle, but the turtle was able to hit the fire monkey dead on accurate because of his training with the Squirtle Squad. Infernape was flung back because of the hit of the water gun. Flint got really mad very fast and began to lose his cool, getting as heated as his fire Pokemon and his hair.

"Come on Infernape, keep using mach punch!" Flint yelled.

Infernape got right back up and began to swing at Wartortle. Wartortle didn't need any orders to dodge the attacks, so he kept dodging swiftly. The more he dodged, the more mad Infernape and Flint got.

"Use hydro pump!" Ash ordered.

Wartortle jumped back and stuck his head, arms, and legs into his body and unleashed began to spin and unleash the barrage of water from inside his shell and hit the fire monkey, causing him to fall on his back. At this point, Flint was nervous and mad at the same time. It was unusual for him to lose his cool.

"I've had enough of this! Infernape hit it with a thunder punch!" Flint shouted.

Infernape got up and hit the unexpected Wartortle with a powerful thunder punch, which caused it to fall onto his shell.

"No, Wartortle!" Ash shouted in concern.

"Use another one!"

The Flame Pokemon got on top of the Turtle and hit it with another thunder punch. After he attacked, he backed off, assuming that Wartortle couldn't battle anymore.

"Come on Wartortle, stand up! I know you can!" Ash encouraged.

Wartortle was struggling to stand up onto his feet. He looked like he was going to faint at any moment.

"It looks like Wartortle is unable to battle. Is this it for Ash?!" Rich announced.

"Knowing his Pokemon, I'd say the battle has just begun." Cynthia guessed.

The Sinnoh Champion was correct, as Wartortle began to glow white and grow larger until he finished with his full evolution into Blastoise.

"Oh my goodness! I've never seen this before! A Pokemon on the brink of losing and evolving right in the middle of battle! I guess you were right Cynthia!" Rich announced enthusiastically.

"Blastoise use hydro pump!" Ash ordered.

The newly evolved Blastoise aimed his two cannons at Infernape and launched the powerful water attack right at it and hit it directly. Infernape took the hit full on and landed on his back. Infernape struggled to get back up, but he couldn't help to do it.

"Infernape is unable to battle, Blastoise wins, which means Ash Ketchum is the winner!" The referee announced.

The crowd cheered for the winner of the battle. Misty, Brock, and Dawn all ran up to Ash and his new Blastoise to congratulate them both.

"Nice job Ash!" Dawn cheered for him.

"Way to go Ash!" Misty cheered while bringing him in for a hug.

"Nice job Ash!" Brock congratulated with a pat on the back.

"Thanks guys!" Ash thanked his best friends.

Meanwhile, Rich, Cynthia, and Flint all met up with the gang in the center of the field.

"That was an intense battle Ash. In fact, that was the first time I've lost in a long time. Doesn't matter though; You beat me, so here's the Sinnoh token." Flint congratulated while handing him the small, gold coin with the letter S and the number 1 on it.

"Thanks Flint!" Ash thanked him happily. "That was a great battle!"

"So Ash, is that your final battle before entering the tournament?" Rich asked while camera crews were appearing in the center of the field.

"Yes it was." Ash answered nervously.

"Well you know what that means right? You can now enter the tournament!" Cynthia informed the young Pallet Town trainer. "But it doesn't start until the end of February, so you have three months until it starts."

"Oh wow!" Ash replied in awe.

"Well thank you all so very much, but we gotta get outta here!" Misty nervously said and grabbed Ash and got out of the mob of camera men and interviewers.

XXX

Surprisingly, it only took them a whole day to get home from Sinnoh. Well, Cynthia gave Ash and his friends an all expense trip back to Pallet Town on her personal jet. Dawn didn't join them, she decided to stay home with her mom.

Most of the week was spent relaxing and seeing their Pokemon. Professor Oak was informed of some vital information.

"Ash, Misty, Brock, I've just received an announcement from the league." Oak informed the young group of trainers.

"What is it Professor?" Ash asked.

"Well, I just got an email today about the tournament and it said all trainers need to get there as soon as they collected their badges and tokens." Oak answered.

"Why though?" Ash asked.

"According to the email, they need a total count of all the people participating." Oak explained. "It's November 30th, so I suggest you go."

"Let's get going now!" Ash happily exclaimed as he dragged along his girlfriend and Brock.

XXX

Finally, there's chapter 28! It took me a very long time to write this chapter. So next will be the entrance to the tournament! It'll be exciting! Full of twists and turns! I can't wait to get started on it! Until next time, see ya!