Ichigo's greatest challenge has been against Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra uses a variety of powerful attacks and has constantly overpowered almost all of Ichigo's pokemon. Absol is the only one left standing and now both sides are down to only one pokemon. Ulquiorra's last pokemon is Darkrai, but Darkrai might be too much for Absol to handle. Is this really the end? We're about to find out.

Pokemon

Every trainer has a choice

To listen to that voice inside

I know the battles maybe long

Winners may have come and gone

I will carry on

Yeah, this dream will last forever

This dream will never die

We will rise to meet the challenge every time

(Advance challenge)

Yeah, this dream keeps us together

This shows that you and I

Will be the best that the world's ever seen

Cause we will always follow this dream

Pokemon

(Ichigo's voice) Closing to a Dark League

"Absol, move away!" Ichigo said. Absol jumped away from Darkrai and was keeping some distance between himself and Darkrai.

"That Darkrai is fast and powerful. I don't want to call it early, but Absol might be outmatched in this battle. Of course, we won't know until it's all over.

"That Darkrai is powerful. We need to end this fast or else Absol could be in real trouble." Ichigo said. "Absol, increase your power with Swords Dance!"

"Absol!" Absol generated the swords around itself and increased his own power.

"Interesting. He usually uses that in conjunction with a defensive move." Rukia said. "I'm starting to think Ichigo's really feeling the pressure now."

"He's still going to win, isn't he?" Orihime said. They wanted to believe that, but the others weren't so sure with what they've seen.

"Darkrai use Ominous Wind." Ulquiorra said. Darkrai formed the dark wind and blasted Absol with it. Absol was doing his best to resist the attack no matter how powerful it seems. Ulquiorra looked across the field and he could see the determination in Ichigo. 'Interesting.' He thought. 'No matter how much I push back, he's still determined to go through this battle. I can't comprehend this. He's clearly outmatched, but he's holding something that has him still thinking he can win. Maybe there's more to him than I originally thought.'

"Come on, Absol. Try and hang in there." Ichigo said. Absol was doing his best to resist the wind. Absol pushed through and knocked the wind away.

"Just look at Absol. It simply refuses to surrender." No matter how powerful Darkrai might appear to be, no matter how much Absol might actually be afraid, Absol is going to keep on battling until the very end.

'I've never really been one to play around.' Ulquiorra thought. 'I must end this while I still can.'

"Now use Razor Wind!" Ichigo said with Absol getting ready to attack.

"Dark Void." Ulquiorra said. Darkrai formed a dark orb and tossed it at Absol. Absol was surrounded by it as soon as it got close enough and was covered in darkness. Absol could feel something coming over him and couldn't finish the attack. Absol dropped down and was fast asleep.

"No! Absol, what are you doing?! You've got to get up now!" Ichigo called.

"Uh oh. Absol has fallen asleep."

"Dark Void?" Orihime questioned.

"It's a move that only Darkrai can use." Rukia said. "It puts the opponent to sleep. Darkrai's ability will also drain Absol's energy while it's asleep." Darkrai reached over for Absol and grabbed him by his horn with him being lifted. Darkrai held its spare arm at Absol and was ready to deal a finishing blow.

"Hyper Beam." Ulquiorra said. Darkrai fired the beam at point-blank range and caused a major explosion. Ichigo could tell what happened after that. He didn't need the smoke to clear to know that. The smoke cleared away and Darkrai dropped Absol. The outcome of this battle was obvious to all after seeing that last attack.

"Absol is unable to battle. Darkrai is the winner. Victory goes to Ulquiorra." The referee said.

"It's done and over. Ulquiorra will be advancing to the semi-finals." People cheered for it was a great battle. Ichigo ran over and tried to help Absol.

"Absol, you're not hurt, are you?" Ichigo asked. Absol was able to wake up, but took a lot of damage in that battle.

"Poor, Absol." Orihime said.

"That was intense. Using a Hyper Beam that close will do some major damage." Chad said.

"True, but that was a tough battle regardless." Rukia said. "Ichigo made it to the top eight, but that Ulquiorra seems practically unstoppable." Ichigo was upset that he lost, but he was able to deal with it, tried to keep his feelings about it secured inside him. He looked across the field and saw Ulquiorra walk away with Darkrai.

"Ulquiorra…" Ichigo said as he never faced a trainer like him before.

The Finals

Ulquiorra kept battling his way through with his powerful pokemon. He made it all the way to finals and was in the final battle against his opponent.

"Now use Hyper Beam." Ulquiorra said. Darkrai powered the beam in its hands and blasted it at Machamp and took Machamp down.

"Machamp is unable to battle. Darkrai is the winner. Victory goes to Ulquiorra." The referee said.

"It's over! Ulquiorra is the winner of the Johto League!" Everyone cheered for Ulquiorra. He might be mysterious, but he's a powerful trainer. Ichigo and the others were impressed with what he did.

"I can't believe he was able to win that time." Orihime said.

"Even when he had the type disadvantage, Ulquiorra was still able to win." Rukia said. "Everything turned in his favor. He really is a remarkable trainer."

"Indeed." Chad said. Ichigo wasn't sure what to think of this himself. Ulquiorra was being awarded the trophy as he stood there with Darkrai.

"Congratulations to Ulquiorra for winning the Johto League. It was a marvelous time here. We thank you all for joining us and invite you all in celebration tonight."

Later at Night

Now that the Johto League was over, people were celebrating over Ulquiorra's win and that another great time in the Johto League has come and gone. Hiyori was enjoying herself and Desirae tried looking for Ichigo. Orihime and the others were having a great time, but she noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey. Where's Ichigo?" Orihime asked.

"I'm not sure." Rukia said.

"He's been pretty quiet since he lost to Ulquiorra." Chad said.

"Don't tell me he's depressed that he lost. He may have lost, but he really shouldn't let that bother him so much." Rukia complained as she thought he was acting like a child, but Orihime had other thoughts about what Ichigo was thinking.

…..

Ichigo

It was dark out, but Ichigo and Absol bailed on the party. All he did was sat by a lake and stared at the moon as it reflected off the surface of the water. He couldn't stop thinking about what has happened recently.

"What are you doing out here?" Ichigo and Absol looked to the side and saw Ulquiorra.

"I could ask you the same thing. The party that's happening is in your honor." Ichigo said.

"I don't really like being the center of attention." Ulquiorra said. "The only reason I entered the Johto League was to test my strength and abilities."

"Seriously? I'll say that you're pretty strong." Ichigo said. "All the trainers you went up against got knocked around and that's including myself."

"I'm not looking for any praise. My own thoughts are all that matter." Ulquiorra said.

"Sheesh. I'm paying you a compliment. The least you can do is say thank you." Ichigo complained.

"I will admit that for the first time, I was actually wrong about something." Ulquiorra said. "I was wrong about you?"

"About me?" Ichigo questioned.

"I thought you were no more than a child when you got here, but I've seen you battle." Ulquiorra said. "Your battle against Grimmjow and myself had me see that you hold high spirits and that no matter how much you get knocked around, you stayed strong. You do seem to have the markings of a strong trainer. I suppose there is more to you than I thought." Ichigo was surprised to hear him say that.

"Well, I haven't really been acting like that." Ichigo said. "Once I was beaten, I didn't know what to think. I've never faced a trainer like you before."

"Is that a bad thing?" Ulquiorra said, but Ichigo didn't really understand what he was saying. "You can use that as motivation. Use what you saw from our battle to help you become stronger. You may have lost, but are you really going to let one little defeat stop you from pushing ahead. You might hold some potential, but it will end up being wasted at this rate."

"That so?" Ichigo said as he was impressed that Ulquiorra would say such things.

"Of course, you still wouldn't be a match for me." Ulquiorra said and turned away with Ichigo being insulted. "You don't hold much of a chance of defeating me, but if you insist on the path you chose for yourself, move on. If you feel like you can't go on anymore, just give up. What does it matter to me anyway? I'm only saying all this because there might be something special about you and that's a rare sight for me at least to come across."

"You'll see!" Ichigo said as he jumped right up. "I'll get stronger. I'm not going to let this defeat stop me. I'll be back one day and when we battle, I'll beat you next time." Ulquiorra just kept running and Ichigo sees one more person he'll want to beat in the future.

The Next Day

The Johto League has come to a close and the area has been almost cleared out. Ichigo was the last one to leave. He and Absol stood outside the arena and looked back at how far they came from this journey.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted. Wasn't it, Absol?" Ichigo said.

"Absol."

"When I lost to Ulquiorra, I was starting to doubt myself. I never faced a trainer like him before. He sure was powerful." Ichigo said. "Then again, there are other powerful trainers out there. Some we haven't met yet. I can't let that discourage me from what I'm doing, right?" Absol didn't think so either. "We'll just have to keep trying and keep pushing. Eventually, we'll get to where we want to be." Ichigo may have gotten discouraged, but Ulquiorra knocked some sense into him and Ichigo is going to keep going and get stronger so he'll win the next time against trainers like Ulquiorra. Ichigo held up his keystone. "I know you would think so as well, Mom." Absol stared down at his mega stone and was thinking the same as Absol.

"Ichigo!" Orihime called out.

"Let's go already!" Rukia said.

"Our travels aren't over yet." Chad said. Ichigo turned to the friends that stuck by his side through his journey.

"Yeah. I'm coming." Ichigo said as he walked towards them and leaving behind his dark moments from this league and his travel so he can keep moving forward.

Ichigo may have lost the Johto League, but his journeys aren't over yet. There's more to come, more adventures, and more excitement. Where will he go from here? Stay tune as this journey is coming to an end.

To Be Continued…..