The tram's door opened and Nick proceeded out to a cooler part of the volcano, it was the same as Jacob's a giant stone platform, though on the other side stood Francine Morrison, her amber brown hair was tied back and she fixed the collar of her brown leather jacket.

"Aunt Francine." Nick smiled as Pikachu jumped to his side

"Nicholas." She smiled "I see you finally made it."

"And based on what I see, Joshua already made it?"

She nodded "Indeed he did, I'm proud of the way he grew up but I'm not proud of his attitude."

"You just realized that?" Nick asked as he drew a Pokeball

"No, he has his father's determination, and his one track mind." Francine grinned "As for me, he inherited my skill. A skill I have further honed since I went back on my training."

Nick drew a Pokeball from his belt "Oh I'm ready."

"Then this will be how it is, it'll be four on four, a single Pokemon battle, and only you can make substitutions. Let's see if you can win." Francine smirked "Vaporeon, take to the field!"

She tossed a Pokeball into the air, as it burst open, the four legged water Eevee evolved Pokemon gracefully landed on the field.

"Tranquill, stand by!"

Nick's Pokeball opened and the flying Unova Pokemon flew through the air and flapped his wings in a small area a few feet away from Nick, his mind was so focused on the battle, he didn't even realize his phone was ringing.

"Let's begin!" Francine smiled "Vaporeon, use Hydro Pump!"

The bubble jet Pokemon stepped backwards and fired a large blast of water at Tranquill.

"Use detect and turned it into an air cutter." Nick commanded

Tranquill's eyes began to glow white as it flew around the blast of water and when it managed to clear a path, it flapped its wings and sent sharp currents of wind at Vaporeon, sending it backwards, but it managed to stand its ground.

"Ice beam!" Francine commanded

A thin beam of ice shot from its mouth and struck Tranquill in the chest, sending it to the ground.

"Tranquill, get up!" Nick called out "Come on buddy!"

He grabbed the Pokeball, just in case he needed to, but smiled when Tranquill stood and cawed as its body began to glow.

Nick's smile grew wider as Tranquill's body began to grow bigger; its stomach had grown brown feathers, gray wings and black stripes on its wings, a black neck, a gray face and a black base tail with a gray inside.

"Unfezzant!" It cried

Nick drew his Pokedex and scanned the new Pokemon "Unfezzant, the Proud Pokemon and the evolved form of Tranquill. Males swing their head plumage to threaten opponents. The females flying abilities surpass those of the males."

"Unfezzant, you're on! Show her what you got!" Nick smiled

Unfezzant flew through the air at a speed that seemed to be ten times faster than before; her body began to glow with a bright light.

Sky attack, perfect.

"Stop it now!" Francine growled "Hydro Pump!"

Vaporeon fired as Unfezzant flew around the blast and shot forward, its body began to glow a bright light as it slammed into Vaporeon causing a large field of dust over where it stood. A second later, Vaporeon lay on the ground, fainted.

Francine returned the Pokemon to its Pokeball and smiled "Good job old friend, take a rest."

Nick smiled as Unfezzant flew around Nick, he gently returned her to her Pokeball "Take a good rest."

He then turned back to Francine "So tell me Auntie, did Joey's behavior make Joshua such an ice man, or was it the divorce?"

She smiled, she knew what Nick was doing, back when they were kids, Dominic used to do the same thing to her, she was jealous for a time after he married Sophia, she couldn't understand it, they were together for a couple of years when they were teenagers, but nothing more past that, she could never understand it herself, even when she got married and had her three children, she was still jealous.

"Doesn't matter, what does is this." She drew another Pokeball "Miltank, take to the field!"

The Pokeball opened as a pink colored cow stood on the field; it mooed and glared as Nick drew his next Pokeball.

"Boldore, stand by!"

The Ore Pokemon stood in front of Nick, he smiled, this little guy was proving to be a big improvement, but he had a few aces up his sleeve for when the league started.

"Rollout!"

"Iron defense!" Nick smiled

Boldore began to roll, its body folding into it as a circle and began to charge, Boldore slammed its arms into the ground and its body casting a metal sheen, as the attack made impact, Nick's phone went off yet again.

"Flash cannon!" Nick called out

Boldore fired as Miltank fell backwards from the rollout; the attack made impact and fell backwards.

"Magnitude!"

As Miltank charged again, Boldore slammed its leg into the ground and began to shake violently; Nick held his ground as Miltank fell backwards and fainted.

"Nick, you have definitely improved since you were a child." Francine smiled as she recalled Miltank "But the fun stops here, it's time for what I can do."

"Bring it on." Nick smirked

"Mienshao, take to the field!"

The next Pokemon that took to the field was a white and light purple colored ferret Pokemon; its arms were covered by its sleeves. Francine smiled as Nick cracked his knuckles and fixed the collar of his denim jacket.

"Aura Sphere!"

"Iron Defense!"

As Boldore held its ground, Mienshao raised its arms and charged a sphere in its hands and fired it, the attack made impact and Boldore fell backwards, as it tried to stand, it staggered.

"Flash Cannon!" Nick called out

"Jump kick!"

As the cannon shot flew through the air, Mienshao jumped into the air and slammed its foot into Boldore, who fainted.

Nick quickly recalled Boldore and drew another Pokeball, he was down to three, and he had to think rationally about what he had to do.

"Alright," he looked at Pikachu "You're on buddy."

Pikachu nodded and jumped onto the field "Pikachu…" he growled, cheeks sparking

"Mienshao, hi jump kick!"

"Quick attack! Move out of the way!" Nick smirked

Pikachu waited as Mienshao jumped into the air, leg out, he quickly jumped out of the way as Mienshao, and it flew through the air and slammed into a wall way out of the battle field, but managed to spring jump back onto the field.

"It's already taken damage, now I just need to finish this off." Nick smirked "Pikachu, thunderbolt!"

"Pika! Chu!" Pikachu cried out as it sent out a bolt of thunder from its body and struck Mienshao; the Pokemon took the attack and stood on its own two feet.

"Impossible!" Nick cried "Keep it up!"

"Reversal!" Francine cried out

As Mienshao jumped, it broke the attack and slammed a fist into Pikachu, sending him flying backwards.

"Pikachu, are you okay?"

"Pikachu…" he said weakly as he stood to his feet

"Come on back buddy."

"Pika?" Pikachu gave him a weird look

"You're gonna be needed in the last round, we need to match speed for speed here."

"Pika…" Pikachu grumped as he walked back to the Nick's feet "Unfezzant, stand by!"

The Pokeball opened and Unfezzant burst into the battle field

"Hi jump kick!"

"Aerial Ace!" Nick cried out

Unfezzant dove up as Mienshao ran toward Unfezzant, and jumped into the air, as Unfezzant moved, Mienshao slammed into the wall again, fainted, as it was about to fall, Unfezzant dove to her and pulled her back toward Francine, who graciously took it in her arms.

"Come on back, you did great."

Nick smiled as Unfezzant soar through the air, he couldn't believe the energy she possessed.

"This is it Nick, the last one." Francine took the Pokeball from her belt "Umbreon, take to the field!"

The Pokeball opened as a Umbreon stood in front of her, Francine had worry in her eyes, Nick always remembered Umbreon when he was growing up, especially when it used to play hide and seek with Nick and Joshua when they were kids, this one was always special to her, Joey had an Eeveevolution as well, he just couldn't figure out where Joshua's was.

"Unfezzant, you're good to go!" Nick smirked

"Shadow ball!"

"Brave bird! Wrap this up!" Nick cried

As Unfezzant began to charge up its energy, Umbreon charged a black orb and fired it at Unfezzant who took the attack head on, and unfortunately, fainted on the spot.

Nick sighed as he recalled Unfezzant, the stress of two battles plus evolving got to her, he could understand it.

He quickly drew another Pokeball from his belt and tossed it "Flareon, you're on!"

The Fire Eeveevolution took to the field, and shook its head as Umbreon charged at him.

"Fire spin!" Nick cried out

Flareon fired a spinning fire attack at Umbreon who jumped into the air and began to dig into the ground, a few seconds later; he jumped up and smashed into Flareon, causing it to fly into the air and managed to stand yet again.

"Heave wave!" Nick called out

Flareon jumped toward the edge of the stadium and charged up a flame around its body, intensifying from the lava around them. He fired a burst of fire and it struck Umbreon, causing it to faint upon contact.

"Well done Nick, very well done." Francine smiled as she walked over to Umbreon and rubbed his head "You can move on, though you'll want, and you'll want to answer your phone."

Nick's eyes grew wide as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, and saw there were two missed calls.

"Right, come on Pikachu." Nick smirked as he jumped onto his shoulder.

"And Nick!" Francine cried out

Nick looked back at Francine, who had a look of determination on his face. "My son has become lost in his own lust for power and his own lust for glory. I've always considered you family, and I need you to take down Joshua, I feel if you win against him, it'll snap him back to reality. Please, teach my son a lesson."

Nick nodded "I will, don't worry Aunt Francine. You have my word."

Nick sat down on the bench and looked at his phone, ironically, he had good cell phone coverage, and he pressed a few keys and let the voicemail play.

"Nicholas Gray, this is Lieutenant Price of the International Police." A female voice said over the speaker "I know your involved with the NeoTerra League, but I was hoping when you were through the Elite Four, I could ask you a couple of questions about Team Anubis. It'll be good to see you again, when you're ready, I'll meet you at the VIP area on deck three."

He hung up his phone and sighed as Pikachu jumped up next to him, he thought about who this Lieutenant Price was, she obviously knew him, of course, he met a lot of women.

"That's interesting huh buddy?" Nick smirked

"Pika Pikachu!" He cried out

Nick looked out, Ashei was up next, and he was going to win, half way in, fifty percent closer to facing his father's legacy.

Author's Note: Everyone I am so sorry for the lack of updating! I have been suffering from writer's block for a long time now! I've had difficulity writing this story, I know this is been a year old and I appreciate everyone who has read it all these years! This story is wrapping up soon and we'll soon be ready to begin the league!

Expect a sequel coming up and a new character surfacing in the chapters to come! So please expect another chapter coming up very soon!