Authors note: Oh, btw it's my birthday in literally one hour :) I've asked for Rescue Team DX. I'm also uploading an EP to bandcamp under the name Shed Dust. Be sure to check it out if you like melodeath!

Chapter 21: Challenges of Fate

"Congratulations, Ash. You've beaten the elite four."

A tall man in a red cloak and spiky red hair extended a hand to Ash, who took it graciously.

"Thanks, Lance." he replied.

Lance frowned. "However, if you wanted to become the champion of Kanto, you'd have to find Red. And that'll be a challenge."

Ash tilted his head. "Huh? Red isn't here?"

"No." he told him. "He's been training on the top of Mt. Silver for years, and he essentially never leaves. In fact, nobody's ever challenged him, I bet.

Very few trainers can beat all of the elite four. The ones that do couldn't get past the dungeons."

Ash scratched his head, evidently confused. "Dungeons?"

"The dungeons I'm talking about are a kind of unknown phenomena that only occurs on Mt. Silver and Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh." Lance explained. "We call them dungeons, but it's more like a trick room. You can find all sorts of berries and food items there, but there are also gear and weird orbs that only pokemon can use."

Ash didn't look too fazed by this explanation, so Lance continued. "Red lives at the summit of this mysterious dungeon - but the middle floors are dangerous. There are hostile pokemon on every floor, and if you collapse in a dungeon you get kicked back to the starting point, not to mention losing everything that you had on you."

"That's insane." Ash said, trying not to sound too cliche. "How can something like that exist?"

Lance only shrugged. However, his disturbed expression soon was replaced by a smile. "Well, I thank you for the battle, and here's recognition of your win!"

His Dragonite leaned over and presented Ash with a large frame. Ash gasped as he inspected it. A golden pokeball lay in its center and the name 'Ash Ketchum' was written underneath it.

"If you become the champion, then this'll go up in the hall of champions, along with your picture and the pokemon you took to beat Red." Lance winked. "Good luck!"

Ash walked out to the edge of Victory Road where his girlfriend was waiting for him with a smile on her face. "Ash!" she cried. "How'd it go?"

Ash grinned, which told her all she needed to know - she jumped for joy and ran over to embrace him. "I knew you could do it!" she said. "The champion of Kanto!"

To this, Ash broke away with a more solemn look. "Actually, no. Not yet, honey."

Her face fell. "Wait, what do you mean? I thought you fought the elite four and champion..?"

"I beat the elite four, but Red the champion wasn't there. He's apparently on Mt. Silver, which is the mountain Kanto and Johto's border."

Serena patted him on the shoulder. "Well, let's get you some rest and a nice hot bath, and then we can head out there as soon as you're ready!"

Ash smiled. "That sounds great."

The next morning, the couple got up much earlier than usual - so early the sun had barely started to rise. Ash went to the PC to get his pokemon from Oak's lab, and picked his five.

When he had done so, Serena took his hand and they left from the Indigo Plateau to Silver Town, and by the time they had reached the base of Mt. Silver, it had already gone afternoon.

They scanned the entrance to the internal caverns in the mountain.

"According to Lance," Ash started, the caverns should have staircases that'll lead to the summit."

"We'd best stay on our guard." said Serena with hard eyes. She knew she couldn't have prepared for what was in store, so her nerves were playing on her slightly, but having Ash by her side boosted her courage. "This sure is a strange way to spend your birthday, don't you think?"

Ash chuckled. "Perhaps. But I like adventure." he said simply.

Serena couldn't argue with that logic, and so they went in.

The first few floors they passed with no trouble. Occasionally they would come across and pick up a few items, berries and et cetera, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Then, on the sixth floor, Serena stopped to have a break, and Ash checked around the room they were in for items. "Hey look! There's one of those orbs!" he exclaimed.

Serena leaned over to see a blue sphere in Ash's hand. For some reason, Pikachu was oddly moved by it, and he snatched it from Ash to inspect it.

Ash was about to protest, but Pikachu held it up, and it suddenly glowed white, lighting up the dank surroundings. All of a sudden, the trio could visualise the layout of the entire floor in their minds. The orb also disappeared without a trace, leaving the group speechless.

"Whoa." Ash breathed finally. "This place is weird."

Serena couldn't agree more. They kept on moving, floor by floor, until at last they came across a pair of pokemon.

"They don't look pretty friendly!" Ash warned. "Get ready!"

Serena threw a pokeball, just in time for the first pokemon - a Beedrill, to lunge at them both while a Venomoth lined up behind it, readying an attack.

Pikachu and Popstar crouched on all fours next to each other.

"Quick Attack!"

"Volt Tackle!"

The Pikachus both dashed into the flying-bug types, and the two of them combined could one hit KO them. They got back onto their trainer's shoulders, who continued to walk onwards through the cavern, while Ash casually remarked to Serena how much of a maze it was.

But fortunately for them, it wasn't long until they reached a long hallway, rested on a slope leading up.

They stopped. In front of them was a statue. Ash moved in closer to inspect the statue. "Hey, this is a Kangaskhan statue!" he exclaimed. "I wonder what it does..?"

Serena shrugged. "Well, we've come pretty far. We must be close to the summit by now."

And she was right. One floor (and one small battle) afterwards and they reached the open and saw the sky.

Serena gasped with relief. "Fresh air!"

Ash seemed pleased too. He looked around. "Hey, this is the summit!"

He looked around himself. There was no way to go further up. "Hello?!" he yelled, and Serena could tell who he was calling out for.

"If there's someone there, please show yourselves!"

No reply. However, a shadow moved in Ash's peripheral vision, and his head jerked towards the movement.

A silhouette sat on the edge of a cliff and Ash could just about make out the faintest outline of a human figure, getting to its feet.

Ash moved closer to this figure, and Serena went behind him.

"Are you the champion?" Ash asked. Again, no reply, but by the way he looked at Ash, it was clear he had his attention. The figure gave a single nod.

Ash's eyebrows lowered. This was Red, and his final battle that could make him the pokemon master he had always dreamt of being. There was no turning back now. Not with his pokémon, and not with Serena by his side.

Ash presented his trophy. "I beat Lance and the rest of the elite four! So now, I challenge you, Red, to a battle!"

Red didn't answer him, as per usual. Instead, he was watching Ash intently, wearing an aloof expression that put Ash on edge.

However, he swallowed his nerves. "Well? Do you accept?"

"What's your name?"

Ash was not a person who was easily spooked. He had been inside haunted houses too many times to count, faced countless ghost types and scares, and was pretty much desensitised to any thriller scare. However, this voice was enough to startle him completely. It sounded unused, rusty. Loud, and yet emotionless. The man's demeanor seemed identical to Ash's, even down to the facial features and attire being similar, but it chilled Ash, and he couldn't tell why. He looked to Serena; by her face he could tell that she felt exactly the same.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!" he replied.

Red's eyes narrowed. "I see."

He paused, and turned around, as if basking in the view of the region from the peak of Mt. Silver. On one side of this mountain was Johto, and on the other was where they had all started from; Kanto.

He turned back to Ash with a warm smile, which surprised him completely. "I accept your challenge, Ash."

Then, to himself, "It's been a long time."

Serena was surprised - and a little worried - that they were going to battle right there and then. But she stood back regardless, ready to cheer Ash on.

The two men took their places, and held one pokeball in their hands. "You challenged me, so I choose the rules." Red explained firmly. "A six versus six sound good to you?"

Ash nodded, stoically yet cautiously. "Charizard, I choose you!"

He lobbed a pokeball, and then an orange giant stood between him and his scarlet-clad doppelganger.

Red inspected the growling dragon with curiosity. Then he tossed his own pokeball, and from it's blue and white light stood another Charizard, facing off against the other.

"I thought I'd use Charizard last," Red started, "but this seems like too good an opportunity. Let's do this."

Ash couldn't help but grin. "Don't mind if I do! Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

His Charizard was actually a slight taller than Red's, so they faced off against each other, and then both stepped back quickly, a jet of flames shooting from Ash's pokemon's mouth.

Reds Charizard, however, managed to withstand the move easily. Ash grimaced.

Red then nodded to his Charizard, who then produced it's own Fire Blast attack that hit Charizard and must've inflicted a bit of damage.

Ash had to think quickly. "His Charizard knows exactly what he's is thinking at all times. Which means I gotta play unpredictable and force that Red to speak."

Aloud, he called: "Charizard, into the air, now!"

Red raised an eyebrow when the opposing Charizard took off; his own did the same.

Ash watched carefully. "Okay, Wing Attack!"

Charizard moved closer to Charizard, and with his wings glowing with white tinges, knocked into the other and dealt a bit more damage. However, Red did not seemed concerned - and to Ash's dismay, neither did Red's pokemon.

Red snapped his fingers, and Charizard moved in quickly, and used Mega Punch on Ash's Charizard. However, Ash's hastily dodged it by sidestepping.

The champion was impressed, and Ash grinned. "My Charizard's been training in the Charizific Valley! It's got more than just power!"

Red smiled back. "This should be more interesting, then! Charizard, use Slash!"

"Counter it with a Dragon Tail!" urged Ash.

The two huge lizards stepped up to each other, and their respective moves both connected and dealt a great deal of damage. However, the two powerhouses did not give an inch.

They backed away from each other, when Ash noticed a band on Reds Charizard's wrist. And then, noticed what that bracelet was.

His eyes widened as they processed a double helix within the center. A Mega Stone.

"Red!" Ash called out. "Is that bracelet..?"

Red smirked. "Ah, you've noticed. But it was only a matter of time, after all."

Ash grinned. "This match should really heat up then!"

And with that, he grabbed the rim of his cap, and spun it to face back to front. But this wasn't like his old days. Now, he twisted his cap for a different reason.

The back of his cap contained a similar stone to the one on Red's Charizard. Serena saw it, and did a double take.

That stone wasn't there before.

"Ash!" She shouted. "When did you get..?"

"A gift from a friend of ours! Don't worry, this'll make it all clear."

He took a deep breath, and slowly but readily touched the stone on the cap.

The stone started to glow, and beams of light suddenly burst from it, seeking to find a complementary mega stone. And it found that stone, on a band around his Charizard's tail.

A light overcame Charizard, and when it dissipated, Charizard had transformed into a bulkier version of himself, a Mega Charizard Y!

Red grinned with surprised eyes. "Now that's one I haven't seen before! But if it's anything like mine, I know I gotta take you pretty seriously!"

He delved into his pocket, and pulled out his own key stone to let it react with the mega stone in much the same way.

This time, the stone reacted with his own Charizard, and the same process happened, but turning the dragon black and blue coloured.

The two Mega variants of Charizard stared each other down. They seemed like equals, but which one would triumph?

"Use Flamethrower!" shouted Ash.

Both pokemon breathed out flames, one orange and one blue, which collided and neutralised against each other but still no sign of any giving in.

The two fought head to head, claw against claw, and each side dealt blow after blow to each other. But these close combat, high intensity battling is what Ash and Charizard were used to.

"Okay buddy, let's show them what we've got!" said Ash. "Use Wing Attack, and aim for the wings!"

Charizard obliged, steeling his own wings and preparing to attack. He hesitated, to make his foe lower their guard, and then dashed.

"Block it, then use Mega Punch!" Red ordered, finally speaking. Ash nodded to himself. It was working.

Red's command came too late, so Charizard's attack hit its mark, but his own Charizard managed to still land the Mega Punch before then staggering back from the pain.

Charizard Y bared his fangs, refusing to show how much the punch had hurt. Ash was concerned though, because he knew that Charizard wouldn't be able to tank for much longer. They had to finish this quickly, and there was only one way he could do that.

And an idea came to him on how he would get that scenario to work.

"Charizard!" he yelled. "Fly up high!"

Red's eyes were narrow. "After him, Charizard!"

The two took to the skies, orange and then black, and were immediately specks to the two trainers below.

Ash waited, and then he yelled again. "Now back down!"

"What are you planning.?!" Red questioned, rhetorically of course, but then he watched Ash's hit the ground, and noticed his own slow down, and the penny dropped. "Ah!"

A huge grin spread on Ash's face. "Gotcha! Flare Blitz!"

A blue flame overwhelmed the orange Charizard, matching the flames emanating from the other. However, this huge wreath of flame darted straight for Red's like a cannonball, and made contact just like one too.

It caused a small explosion, making the ground quake heavily, and Ash and Serena had to cover their eyes to stop dust from hitting them.

Both Charizard's were weak, but still standing.

The orange one took a step back. Ash held his breath.

Then, both creatures wobbled, and both started to fall over. Déjà vu started to appear in Ash's head, as he realised how similar the scene was to the end of the Silver League.

However, the orange Mega landed on his knee, and stayed conscious through sheer willpower. The black, not so lucky, and it fell to the ground, to have fainted.

Ash jumped for joy, and gave Charizard a high five as he transformed back to normal. "Man, you were awesome, one hundred percent!"

He looked at Red, who was waking his fainted partner.

Suddenly, the man started to grin. "Aha." he mused. "I see now. You truly are a good opponent."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Uh, thanks?"

Red pointed a finger, winking. "Tell me, do you know what IVs and EVs are?"

Ash shook his head, confusion evident, so Red continued. "How about stats? Natures?"

Ash did nod once, though he still felt quite unsure. "A nature is just a pokemon's personality, isn't it?"

Red couldn't help but laugh. "I haven't seen a person like you, apart from once."

He hesitated. "And that's when I stare at a reflection."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean your battle strategy... It doesn't looking for pokemon with perfect IVs, breeding, teambuilding... You don't use tricks, gimmicks or traps that suit the kind of battle that you do. And that, my friend, is what I pride myself on."

He paced back and forth, and looked Ash dead in the eye. "Have you noticed that there isn't a single champion who uses those setups? It's because in the real world, they can think of a way out instantly."

He patted his Charizard on the back. "I've never wanted to treat pokemon like tools. Most trainers are good anyway, they wouldn't do that. But what they would do, is look solely to be the best, and so they turn their backs on any pokemon that isn't to their liking."

Then, he looked up at Ash, and their eyes locked, as did their smiles. "Not us. We battle along with our pokemon. We don't train our pokemon, we train with them. And that's how I think it should be."

Ash felt his next pokeball. Having one in his hand made him feel unstoppable. Yet, he was humble, knowing that anything was always their strength. He nodded to Red.

You're right. That's exactly how I feel. So let's battle, without any focus on perfection. Let's battle, alongside our pokemon!"

Him and Red tossed their balls into the air, and watched as a pokemon materialised from each.

The first, on Ash's edge. It was Eevee.

The second, Ash saw a Jolteon crouching by Red, and his eyes widened slightly. So Eevee would be up against one of its evolutions. Quite the challenge.

"Okay, bring it on, Ash!" Red yelled. The silent, edgy man was gone completely and replaced by a passionate, staunch figure. Serena looked with wide eyes. This man had the exact same look in his eyes that Ash did.

"Ash..." she whispered, clasping her hands to her chest. "You can win this... I know you will."

"Okay Eevee, let's do this!" yelled Ash. "Swift, and make it double!"

Eevee fired an array of stars, all of which his electric superior avoided effortlessly.

Ash and Eevee cringed simultaneously. This was not going to be easy. But they were one up on Red, so it wasn't as if he was totally out of Ash's league. All he had to do, was stay confident.

"Eevee, don't give up just yet!"

"And you don't let up, Jolteon!" urged Red. "Use Thunder!"

Strangely enough, before Ash called out to dodge, he realised that the Thunder was not aimed at Eevee, so the small brown dog let it's guard down.

Then the strike smashed into a rock, and didn't stop there, splitting in all directions.

Ash's eyes widened as he realised Red's plan - at this altitude, there would be too little air resistance to stop a lightning rod effect on any conductive surface. Essentially, home field advantage.

Eevee was knocked down by the move, tanking a heavy shock.

Red shouted "use Thunder Fang!" and Jolteon was back on Eevee in an instant, causing more damage.

"Eevee, get out of there! Protect!" Ash shouted, but his pokemon was too stubborn to listen, and instead was thrown about once more by its evolved form.

Then, with one final Double Edge, Jolteon crashed into Eevee, sending the little dog flying - and knocking square into Ash's abdomen and sending the two sprawling onto the ground.

However, Red was surprised to see Eevee still get up and bare his fangs, despite the heavy wounds.

Ash lifted his head and spluttered, but then he too got onto his knees and turned Eevee around to face him.

"Eevee, why won't you use Protect?"

Eevee shook his head and whimpered.

"But if you wanna truly be a good fighter, you gotta be able to defend yourself!"

Ash stood up. "Eevee, defending yourself from attacks is a necessary part of battling. Here, use Tackle on me."

Serena watched this intermission from the sides, completely incredulous and expecting Red to intervene and continue the battle. However, he simply watched along with them with a curious, yet slightly bemused expression.

Eevee seemed surprised, but did what Ash said anyway, and rammed straight into him. Ash put out his arms to block, and Eevee couldn't land a hit on his body. Then, Ash flicked his wrists and grabbed Eevee by the waist with a grin on his face.

"See what I mean? I block your attacks good enough, and now I can make a good attack! If you can't defend, then you won't be able to get through!"

Eevee was stunned. Defense... He had always viewed defense as weak. But it made offense stronger..?

"So now, when I say to use Protect, will you..?"

Eevee paced around. Then it looked Ash dead in the eye, and nodded with a smile.

Ash pumped a fist. "Yes!" then he turned back to Red. "Sorry for the wait, but we're ready to go!"

Red shrugged. "Fine by me. And if you're ready, then so are we. Jolteon, Thunder Fang!"

"Dodge it!"

Eevee sidestepped and Jolteon sailed past him.

"Now use Tackle!"

Eevee then spun on his back paws, and broke into a sprint, smashing Jolteon headfirst.

Ash grinned. "Nice, now combo that into Swift!"

"No you don't!" Red yelled. "Thunder!"

Red was too late and Jolteon had already taken a Swift and was wiped through the dust. But, then it's body glowed with a golden tinge, and a lightning cloud appeared above the mountain.

Ash narrowed his eyes. "This'll KO Eevee for sure. I hope he trusts me."

"Okay Eevee, when I say go, use Protect!"

Eevee winced, but Ash could tell the focus in his eyes.

The lightning strike erupted from the skies, and smashed into the floor. Then, several strands shot out to the sides, causing hairlike waves to beam over to an exposed Eevee.

"Go!" yelled Ash.

A green-tinted barricade encapsulated the little pokemon, and the thunder discharge struck the shield, and violently rebounded off in every direction, even sailing within a metre from Ash himself. However, there was so many of these strands that Eevee started to struggle holding up his forcefield.

Eventually, as the Thunder had started to die down, so had Eevee's strength and the shield broke down, the electricity charging over his head. Eevee was still awake, but barely.

Jolteon in the corner was panting for breath, and very weak from the battle, not to mention completely taken off-guard by Eevee's endurance.

The two dogs stared each other down. None showed any signs of weakness on their faces, but the wavering from both of them was clear as day. Then...

"You've done it Eevee!"

Eevee looked up, confused. Ash was beaming, even though the battle wasn't over. "You put 110 percent in, and you've been a huge help! So don't worry about this."

He pulled out a pokeball, but in an instant, Eevee had knocked it from his hands and was snarling. "You what..?" croaked Ash.

"Evui, Eevui vui!"

Ash's mouth was open wide, but he knew what Eevee tried to say. The battle wasn't over yet.

He smiled. "I like your spirit, Eevee. If you're sure, then I won't stop you."

"Enough is enough!" Red called out, his patience having finally waned. "Jolteon, finish this!"

He nodded to his pokemon, who in turn took a deep breath and then made his own fangs glow with electrical discharge.

But when Jolteon sank it's his teeth in, Eevee didn't move a muscle. It just took the attack in the body.

Ash gasped. But then he gasped again, for Eevee had suddenly became shrouded in an overwhelming white glow.

Red's eyes widened behind the shadow of his cap, but he smirked. "What timing."

Ash and Serena voiced their exclaimation at the same time, "Eevee's evolving?!"

Eevee's body morphed to become larger, more sleek, with a more defined head and ears. The tail thinned and Ash could just make out a pair of small whiskers forming.

Then, the glow dissipated instantly, revealing a lilac creature where Eevee once stood. His eyes were purple pools and an even purpler orb sat on his forehead. Ash hadn't known one personally, but he could recognise it from several encounters with this eeveelution - an Espeon.

Ash's eyes shined with exhilaration. "Wow, you evolved into an Espeon!"

He couldn't help but run over and give his friend a warm embrace, and Espeon smiled hugely despite the wounds it still had from the ongoing battle.

"Ready to go, Ash and Espeon?" Red called out. Looks like his patience had finally run out.

Ash picked himself up. "Yeah, let's finish this!" he responded. Then, to Espeon, "use Confusion!"

The lilac dog looked more than happy to test out its new strength, and it's eyes and pearl shone blue, causing a wave of energy to knock down his electric counterpart.

"Jolteon, can you keep going?"

Jolteon staggered back to all fours. Espeon stared him down, and Ash and Red both looked into each others eyes.

"Double Edge attack!" They both yelled, simultaneously.

Then, Espeon charged forward, as did Jolteon. The short moments in which they ran felt like slow motion, but they finally collided into each other, kicking up dust and dirt to hide the outcome of the battle.

Then the dust settled, and within the rubble lay both Espeon and Jolteon, unmoving.

Ash and Red looked shocked, but they both recalled their fainted dogs. "I'm speechless. You've got quite the powerhouse Espeon right there."

Ash grinned. "You aren't bad yourself. I can see why you've been Kanto's champion for ten years."

The other man scratched his nose. "Who knows." he muttered. "You may have a chance. This battle is really heating up."

Ash agreed, and silently made sure he kept his guard up. He may have a lead, but Red obviously was champion for a reason.

"Go!" the trainers yelled, throwing their individual pokeballs.

A huge thud was created on both sides. On Red's, Gengar. On the other, Snorlax.

Ash patted his loyal giant on the leg, which was as far as he could reach. "Okay Snorlax, let's go!"

However, after an arduous hour of pure battling, Ash noticed he had a huge lead. His Snorlax took out Gengar, before getting taken out by Dodrio, which Swellow defeated.

Then, Swellow was switched out for Greninja, who knocked out Red's next pokemon, Lapras, without even needing to transform.

So far, the battle had been easy. But why was Red looking more and more confident as the fight continued..?

Ash still knew he shouldn't let his guard down. It was just a matter of understanding what Red had up his sleeve.

By that point in the battle, the man had stopped talking. His eyes became shrouded by the shadow of his cap, and Ash could no longer feel the presence of an opponent, but now, a spectator.

What was he about to do?

Ash looked at Greninja. "You ready?"

The tall frog nodded, and raised two webbed limbs.

Red merely lowered his head, raised a fist with a pokeball, which enlarged eerily. Then, Red threw it hard, and it hit and opened, revealing his last pokemon.

Ash's eyes widened. "N-no way..!"

He froze on the spot, so stunned that even Serena was taken aback, though she did not recognise the pokemon. She raised her Pokédex out of curiosity, but was returned with zero results.

The pokemon Ash and Greninja stood up against had a purple haze surrounding it, but it's form was easy to make out. A slender white body and huge lavender tail...

"This... This is Mewtwo!" Ash gasped.

Red, returning to a distinct lack of emotion in his voice, nodded. "This is your final challenge." he declared.

Ash couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "What happened to all that excitement from battling?"

"We'll see." Red sighed. "This is not a battle any more."

Ash gritted his teeth. 'Whats that supposed to mean..?" He wondered, but this was no time.

"Okay Greninja, let's give this battle everything we've got, together!"

Greninja prepared himself for what was to come. Ash and him raised his arms in sync - the Bond Phenomenon came easily to them. Greninja transformed within an incredible water whirlwind to become the famous red-marked Ash-Greninja. Usually, Red would've been curious, but he was just... Resigned. Ash frowned, but turned back to the battle.

"Greninja, use Cut!"

Without hesitation, the water type darted at the mythical creature, and lashed out a slicing motion with a silver blade of energy, which landed a direct hit on Mewtwo. Despite it not moving, Ash was certain that Greninja had dealt at least some good damage. But then, he noticed Mewtwo one more time, and suddenly a sense of foreboding pulsed through his blood and into his brain.

"Greninja, quick! Get back, now!" Ash cried.

Unfortunately, they weren't quick enough. Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue, and Greninja was lifted and then slammed into the ground, inflicting so much damage that Ash's knees buckled and Serena immediately rushed over worriedly and picked him up to lean him on her.

Mewtwo, meanwhile, had a green shimmer wrapped around his body, which made the wounds Greninja inflicted fade away.

Ash glanced at Red, who was staring upwards at nothing. "What?"

"That was Psychic and then Recover."

"An unchallengeable attack. Then, a move that will put it back to full health. I've tried to train all of my pokemon against it... And I came to the realisation that it's unbeatable. Even if I had a sweeping move, Mewtwo is too quick for it."

Ash's heart sank. This must've been Red's secret weapon. How on earth could he get past a method that Red had failed to for his entire champion career..?

He took a deep breath. It wasn't over; there was still a chance. He had Greninja, Charizard, Swellow and Pikachu still able to battle. Four pokemon, against a solo Mewtwo. If they worked together, they could do it.

"No matter. We'll do this!" Ash bellowed. "Greninja, Water Shuriken!"

Greninja clapped together a throwing star made of pure water, and tossed it at unbelievable speed at Mewtwo. However, after the move hit the blue eyes knocked back yet again, and the strength of the move was so strong Ash felt like he himself was going to pass out in Serena's arms. But he concentrated for his life, and continued. "Aerial Ace!"

Mewtwo had already used Recover once again, and showed no sign of tiring from it. Then, he lifted his hands in front of his face and a huge shockwave pulsed from them and stopped Greninja dead in his tracks.

Ash choked. Then his strength was sapped, and he sunk deadweight, and not even Serena could hold him up anymore. Instead, she kneeled down and reached over to him to check if he was okay, her mind racing and trying not to panic. Her nerves were already getting to her as she shook her dizzy boyfriend, gave him her water flask, et cetera.

"Serena..." he muttered.

"Ash, I know how tough this may look, but you can do this! Just keep going and something will come, I promise you."

She helped him to stand up; "I... Hope you're right." He said, unable to help the insecurities rising within him.

Greninja was knocked out in front of him, so Ash held his pokeball shakily in front of him and recalled his faithful frog. He reached for Swellow's pokeball and dropped, which made it open upon hitting the ground.

Swellow took to the skies, facing down the creature in front of him. "Use Double Team!"

That caught Red's attention. Ash's hopes were relit - perhaps he hadn't tried Double Team before. The clones of Swellow formed a circle around Mewtwo, who used Confusion and wiped them all out. Swellow, however, was doing it's tried and tested tactic of swooping in with an Aerial Ace and disappearing to ram into Mewtwo from behind.

A supereffective move. This must've dealt a lot of damage to Mewtwo, so even when he used Recover he must've lost a significant amount of health. Ash was feeling better already.

"Aerial Ace again, let's go!"

This time, unfortunately, Mewtwo was ready. Swellow was caught out of the air, just before its famous vanishing point, by a blue shine coming from Mewtwo's eyes. Ash grimaced and Swellow was thrown hard into the ground. Mewtwo used Recover once again and now there was no chance his health wasn't full.

Ash ordered another Double Team, this time into Peck, which worked due to the impressive speed of the bird, however once again Recover served to nullify it's hard work. And then, just like with Greninja, confusion finished him off.

Ash looked down, casting a shadow over his eyes by his cap. 'Is it even possible to win..? Mewtwo... How did Red ever catch a Mewtwo..?'

Serena looked at him with concern. Ash hadn't looked like this since he walked out of Wulfric's gym over a year ago.

But he still put his hand to his belt, and threw his second-to-final pokemon, Charizard.

The massive lizard-dragon landed in front of Ash, still fatigued from it's battle with the other Mega Charizard but itching to go on. Ash was not so enthusiastic at this point - Charizard was probably unable to mega evolve again. Worries clouded his vision, though he didn't let it be known.

A hollow feeling rung in his voice as he gave his next move. "Charizard, fly and use Dragon Tail!"

His Charizard let out a roar and flapped his massive wings to put himself into the air along with the hovering Mewtwo. Charizard's glowing green tail made contact and did a huge amount of damage. But of course, its telepathic powers throwing Charizard back would lead into the move Ash was afraid of, which gave Mewtwo most of its health back. One more would restore it completely - "Quick, get back in there and use Flamethrower!

Ash realised that Mewtwo wasn't well-trained - it wasn't battling on Red's behalf, it just wanted to fight for the sake of defeating it's opponent - currently it must've viewed Charizard as an unworthy pokemon. He gritted his teeth, remembering a time when Charizard himself used to think like that.

Meanwhile, his fire dragon moved above the Mewtwo and showered it in flames, and didn't let up. Mewtwo still looked unfazed, and recovered in the midst of the Flamethrower, before using Confusion to strike down Charizard.

"Charizard!" Ash yelled. "Are you okay?"

Charizard got up to his feet, which was a big relief to Ash, but his troubles weren't over yet.

Mewtwo moved over Charizard, who didn't make a move to dodge, despite Ash's yelling. Next, turning to face the orange giant, Mewtwo summoned a Shadow Ball in its hands.

"Charizard, Flare Blitz!" Ash urged.

Charizard surrounded himself in blue flame, but meanwhile Mewtwo had lobbed the ball of dark matter. Charizard shot straight at it, collided with it.

Ash held his breath. Did he make it..?

Charizard moved past the Shadow Ball and straight into Mewtwo and they both toppled over and smashed into the dirt.

After several moments, Mewtwo climbed out of the dirt cloud, and used Recover once again. Ash ran over to Charizard. His eyes were spirals, and Ash sank to his knees while returning him.

"I don't stand a chance. This Mewtwo can just keep using Recover until I can't go on. Why carry on letting my pokemon suffer for no reason?"

He took a step back. Pikachu was pulling at his leg, ready to take on Mewtwo. However, Ash was as still and cold as stone.

"I told Serena I wouldn't give up, but... This is impossible."

Red was stood there, silent and aloof, and while looking at Ash, raised an eyebrow.

Ash bit his lip, and his breath was harsh. "I-"

Suddenly, he stopped.

A hand was resting on his shoulder, and it brought warmth to his icy body, relaxing his stiffened joints and putting his mind at ease.

He spun on his heel, and saw Serena there, with tears in her eyes. "You can't give up now, Ash!" she cried. Her voice was only a whisper, but in Ash's ears they were powerful.

"You told me once, that nothing you'd ever do is a waste of time. So you have to keep going, you're so close! Remember! Remember everything that you've taught me! It was because of you that I achieved my dream and even more! So don't give up! Never give up until it's over!"

She wore a brave smile on her face, and Ash gazed at her in amazement and shock.

"Serena hasn't given up. Not on this battle, and not on me."

He looked to Pikachu, whose attention was on Mewtwo, and on the battlefield, wearing the same expression Ash always had in a battle - determined, courageous.

And then he saw Red.

Red had given up on this battle long before Ash did. And look where he was. The champion recluse, who had been atop a mountain for seventeen years, whose team was outdated enough to not make the most of abilities, that Ash's pokemon beat easily.

At first, there was silence.

Then a chuckle rang out, filling the air on the summit of Mt. Silver.

Ash stood there, his characteristic grin finally returning to his face. "Thank you, Serena." he exclaimed. "I don't know what I would do without you."

She beamed, but couldn't help but tear up. "I'm glad..." she whispered.

"Red!" Ash shouted. "You'll see! There is a way to combat every problem, and that's how you improve as a trainer! I'll show you everything I've learned on my journey, with the two closest to me!"

He looked at Pikachu. "Sorry for the wait, buddy. You ready to finish this?!"

Pikachu pumped his fists and grinned. It was time to wrap this up, for better or for worse.

He jumped in front of Mewtwo. "Quick Attack!" ordered Ash, and Pikachu broke into a sprint, darting back and forth past Mewtwo, and it looked like the trick was working. Pikachu ran has fast as it could, and finally when Mewtwo lost track, collided into its back and leaving it sprawling on the ground.

Mewtwo got up, and hovered out of Pikachu's range, ready to use Recover.

However, the green glow did not come this time. Mewtwo looked just as surprised as Ash, and tried it again.

Nothing.

While the clone creature started to panic, Ash regained his composure quickly. "Now, Thunderbolt, go!"

Sparks crackled from the lightning mouse's cheeks, and a huge bolt blasted out of his body to envelope Mewtwo.

This was Ash's big break - unbeknownst to everyone, Mewtwo's Recover had ran out of Power Points, and could not be used any more. That meant the battle could be even.

Mewtwo finally stopped attempting to use it and instead fired a Shadow Ball which Pikachu narrow avoided.

"Now use Electroweb!"

Mewtwo tried to dodge, but it wasn't as quick as Pikachu, who slammed the web into Mewtwo and trapped it like he did with Scyther several weeks ago.

However, Mewtwo burst through it with a powerful psychic attack.

Ash wasn't finished yet, and saw an opening Mewtwo had left. He smirked to himself. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on the ground!"

Pikachu looked up - and saw exactly what Ash was aiming to do. His tail shone silver, and he smacked in into the ground to kick up dirt and dust, and most importantly, himself, from the knockback.

Pikachu sauntered over Mewtwo, who looked up, unable to stop the airborne pokemon with a Psychic, and too dazed to aim a Shadow Ball.

Everything was riding on this. If Pikachu missed, Mewtwo could counterattack and that chance would never come up again.

Mewtwo used Confusion - and Pikachu took on the pain, but was sent spinning higher and higher.

Ash waited, watching Pikachu's movements carefully. He was almost too far to see, when he stopped. And the momentum shifted.

"Now's your chance! Quick Attack!"

Pikachu, high up in the sky, turned his body around to face the ground. Then, he flew downwards at an acute angle to Mewtwo itself, running on air.

Then, Mewtwo tried its last. It's eyes started to glow blue, and it focused on Pikachu, and when Pikachu was close, possessed him with blue light.

Pikachu struggled within the Psychic attack, and it looked as though he wouldn't be able to land the final move. "Pi... ka..!"

"Pikachu!" Ash screamed. His throat had started to go sore, but he ignored it. "Don't give up!"

Those words rang through the pair's ears.

Never

Give

Up.

"Pika... Pikachu..."

Mewtwo kept on using Psychic, attempting to hurl the rodent.

"Pikapikapikapika..."

But then, the light broke, and Pikachu was free, and spun his tail towards his gasping foe.

Ash punched the air. His vocals were tearing, yet he still pushed through and gave his final command.

"Use Thunder-Iron Tail!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Surges of lightning cracked through the air, and struck everywhere. Stray bolts shone off Pikachu and made deafening bolts all around.

"Pika... CHUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The attack met Mewtwo's forehead for the ultimate explosion; gusts of wind blew debris all over the summit and tore up the walls around Ash, Red and Serena, exposing the cliff face and the view of the two regions Kanto and Johto from where they stood.

It took an eternity to subside. Ash was covering his eyes, Serena was holding onto her hat, but Ash immediately scanned the area for the two pokemon.

The cloud made it impossible to make out who was who. But as it slowly slowly dispersed, two figures became clearer.

One was faced flat on the ground. The other stood over them.

Finally, the last of the dust settled, to reveal Pikachu.

He was planted firmly on his tail, weak, dizzy, hurt, but still conscious, and grinning happily. Which meant that the one fainted next to him, was the Genetic Pokemon, Mewtwo.

Ash and Red looked at the scene in utter shock. Finally a red light succumbed Mewtwo and Ash looked up to see Red holding a pokeball out in front of him and staring at it.

Then, Red broke out in a smile. "This battle is over."

Ash stood unable to move. Then a force on his side crashed into him and knocked him to the floor: Serena had jumped at him and was hugging him joyously and cheering.

"Ash, Ash, you did it, you did it!" she bawled happily. "I believed in you, and you really, really won!"

He stayed silent. Then, he beamed and returned the hug. "Of course I did. I had my pokemon, and I had you."

She gave him a kiss, and they stood up.

Red walked up to the celebrating duo, and was grinning ear to ear, extremely unusual for someone who had lost a battle and their title.

"Congratulations, Ash Ketchum. You won this battle fair and square. I'm so very happy this region can finally have a worthy champion."

Then, he tossed a pokeball in front of him. Appearing from it was his Charizard.

Ash tilted his head out of curiosity. "So what are you gonna do now?"

Reds eyebrows furrowed. "Probably travel the world. I want to prove myself again. But first, I'm going to go home."

Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a red device. Ash looked at hit - "Hey, it's the old Pokédex!"

Red raised an eyebrow. "Old Pokédex?"

"You've been away for a long time, Red. There's so many more Pokémon in different regions." With that, Ash pulled out his own Pokédex, and handed it over.

Red scrolled through, and his eyes widened when he passed the first 151. "Incredible..." he muttered. Then, louder, "Where do you suggest I visit first?"

Ash thought about it. He recalled his own journey in his head. "For me, I travelled from Kanto, then to Johto, then Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos. And there's probably many more regions I don't know about."

Red nodded. He pulled a Sitrus Berry out of his bag and gave it to Charizard, who downed it in one go. Then, he hopped on Charizard's back. "Ash, I hope to meet you again one day. I'm so very glad I've been surpassed by someone like you. It was years in the making."

And with that, Charizard flapped his mighty wings and took off, leaving Ash and Serena holding hands to watch them go further, further away.

Red was only a dot on the horizon with his Charizard, but still a presence lurked over Ash. A small one, yet Ash sensed its power.

Pikachu pricked his ears up intently. "Pi, pika?"

Serena held Ash's shoulder. "What's the matter? You've just won, you-"

"Wait." he said, softly but firm. His expression was aloof, but his eyes were wide. There was a shimmer above him, like a heat haze in the sky that seemed out of place. And then, when he pointed to show Serena, the haze materialised into a pokemon.

This pokemon looked at Ash and giggled. It was pink, catlike with a long tail and large eyes. In a sense, Serena thought it looked quite a lot like Mewtwo. And Ash's expression turned from concentration to realisation.

"I remember you." Ash breathed. "And I'm sure you remember me, too."

Serena looked befuddled. However, Ash continued, and she listened with awe.

"We've met each other, twice before. The first time, I never knew about, until I beat Mewtwo and got my memories back. But I do know that you killed me. And then brought me back to life."

Serena's eyes widened. Ash had died before? Died?!

His face was not conflicted. It wasn't even angry. Just curious. "Mew, why are you here?"

"Mew, mew!"

The little catlike creature spun in the air, and pointed its tail at Pikachu.

Pikachu pointed a paw at himself. "Pi?"

Mew nodded, and Ash understood what was going on. "You saw Pikachu beat Mewtwo, and you want to battle us?"

Another nod from Mew. Then, it circled above Pikachu, when suddenly the mouse shined with a green glow, and when that glow subsided all of Pikachu's wounds from fighting Mewtwo had completely disappeared.

Ash grinned. "A fair fight it is then! Bring it on, Mew!"

Mew made a happy noise - it sounded to Ash like a giggle. Then, it took to the skies, and swooped down at Pikachu, an orb floating above its head. Then, Mew lobbed it at Pikachu who narrowly escaped to the side.

"Pikachu, use Electroweb!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu lifted his tail, and aimed it's move towards Mew, who disappeared from sight to avoid the energy web.

Mew, while invisible, was unable to attack, but it was also unable to be attacked, so it sauntered around to look for an opening.

But then, it saw Pikachu's eyes. They were closely following Ash's eyes, which in turn were scanning around for it.

Mew smiled, and reappeared in order to prepare another hidden power.

Ash's eyes focused on Mew immediately. "Now! Quick Attack!"

Pikachu, with complete faith, spun a one-eighty on the heel of his back paw and shot up into the air to collide with Mew and inflict at least some damage.

Ash punched the air. "Nice one, buddy!"

The battle wasn't over yet, and now the little mythical pokemon was having fun. It composed itself quickly and spun around both Pikachu and Ash.

"Okay Pikachu, stay focused! Don't lose track of that Mew!"

Pikachu looked wary and kept up a defensive stance on all fours, while Mew attempted to dizzy him. Pikachu hesitated for a second - and the hidden power was fired on him and it hit.

"Oh no!" Ash cringed. Then he regained his composure. "Okay Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

However, when Pikachu got back up, he winced. The hidden power had been supereffective, and had caused a flinch.

Mew's eyes glowed with a blue that then enveloped Pikachu. Ash's eyes widened. "Is this Mew's power..?" he wondered, as his pokemon was lifted into the air with little to no effort. Pikachu struggled, but to no avail. Mew had him in a Psychic.

Then, with an immense force, he was thrown hard into Ash himself, as they both tumbled behind a rock.

But then, the sky crackled, and a huge thunderbolt exploded from the rock, causing a set of chain explosions which caused the cliffside to shake violently.

Ash opened his eyes to see Pikachu, on top of him and seemingly unconscious. "Buddy, are you okay?!"

Ash felt a hand on his arm; Serena was above him, reaching a hand towards him while also holding her hat tightly from a sudden gust of wind that was disturbing the rocks. "Ash, it's not safe here! We need to get out of here!"

Pikachu's eyes opened. Strangely, there wasn't a scratch on him. Then, he pounced onto his feet onto the rock Ash's body had been smashed against.

A lightning strike erupted from the skies again. Ash's eyes widened as the flash surrounded his partner pokemon.

But Pikachu came out unscathed. This time, though, the thunder discharged from all directions, and the entire cliff face caved in.

Pikachu crashed into Ash once again, whacking the poor man against a rocky wall.

Serena was not so lucky. The force of Ash flying out of her hand caught her off guard and caused her to stagger back. And then, trip.

She screamed, and Ash's consciousness, which had started to fade from the blunt trauma, kicked back again.

Pikachu was holding onto Serena who was dangling from the mountainside, in danger of falling thousands of feet.

Just then, Pikachu's back paws gave out and him along with Serena slipped off.

Ash's eyes widened and he ran to the side of the mountain, a plan to save them formulating in his head.

He tore off his belt and let all of his pokeballs hit the ground. Then he jumped down, hurtfalling after Pikachu and Serena.

Hitting terminal velocity in mere split seconds, Ash caught up with the terrified girl.

"Ash, why-" she started to scream, but Ash simply smiled.

"Don't worry!" he yelled. "I trust my pokemon with my life!"

As if on cue, that very moment, a flash of blackness cut in the middle of Ash and Serena, and Pikachu was gone. They looked up - and sure enough, Pikachu was safe on Swellow's back.

Above Ash, Charizard was diving as fast as he could, but it wasn't going to be fast enough.

What did happen, however, was Snorlax, overtaking Ash and Serena on the way down due to sheer weight. But then, Snorlax glowed blue and he began to slow to a halt in midair. There was Espeon, riding on Charizard's back and using Psychic on Snorlax, but struggling.

Ash landed on Snorlax's belly, and he gripped Serena's wrist. But she was slipping too much, and the winds from the earthquake were too strong.

"Serena!" Ash shouted. "Just hang on, okay?! I'll figure something out!"

Serena gulped, and closed her eyes, trying to stay calm. But it wasn't easy, when you were thousands of feet in the air and especially when you have had a traumatic experience similar to what was going on. Her breaths were short and sharp, and she tried her best not to start crying.

Ash gritted his teeth. "It'll all be okay..." but his grip on Serena's arm was weakening fast. At this rate...

Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he saw...

Himself.

A bird's-eye view of himself and Serena. Bond Phenomenon must've kicked in through the resurgence of adrenaline.

He grinned hugely. It was going to be okay.

"Serena!" he yelled suddenly. "Do you trust me?!"

She nodded, words becoming too much for her.

"Throw Pancham to the ground, and tell him to use Stone Edge!" he paused, gulping to bear the fear of what he was about to say. "Then you gotta jump!"

Serena's eyes widened, but she did what he said anyway, due to her undying faith in him. "Pancham, use stone edge!"

She lobbed Pancham's pokeball to the ground. Just then, Snorlax began to fall again, albeit slowly. Espeon's strength was waning.

Serena gathered her confidence, but her breaths were ragged. When she looked into Ash's eyes, however, and saw his determination, it gave her the strength she needed. The courage, if also the grave fear as well - and she let go, closing her eyes.

As soon as she had done so, she felt something on her back. Then, the feeling of falling finally faded.

She opened her eyes gingerly. There she was, on a floating stone edge teetering off the edge of the mountainside, having only fallen half the distance between the summit and base. Next to her was Pancham, and Greninja.

The tall blue frog must have been running down the side of the mountain, Serena concluded, and saved her by catching her with the help of stone edge. Trust Ash to come up with such out-of-the-box strategies for just about anything.

Once Charizard had picked them all back up to the top of the mountain (and Ash returned Snorlax), the winds and tremors had thankfully ceased.

Ash picked his five pokeballs back up, returning each of his pokemon, except Pikachu of course.

But then Ash frowned. He never returned Pikachu, but he had always kept his pokeball on his belt at all times. Now he only had five. Where had Pikachu's pokeball gone?

He fumbled around the floor for it. Then a sharp pain searing through his hands stopped him in his tracks - he retracted his hand to see a cut.

Ash looked down, and his heart sank.

A red and white pokeball was at his feet, but it wasn't intact. In fact, it was in pieces, littered across the ground like pebbles.

Ash's mouth went dry. "This must've happened... When Pikachu crashed into me..."

Serena looked at him with worry. She put a hand on his shoulder but remained quiet. Pikachu had also come to stare at the remains of his destroyed pokeball, and when he saw Ash's face, it showed pure confusion. Pikachu stood in front of him, and gave him a smile, which seemed to cheer him up a little.

Ash then felt a presence looming above him. But it was quite a small one, the power of which he could tell instantly. "Mew mew..?" It said.

Ash's eyebrows furrowed. Mew was too strong for him. But it had a kind heart, and he didn't want to waste this opportunity to spend time with a pokemon that Ash had been in awe of, even as a kid. After all, he had wanted to meet Mew in person ever since his mum had showed him pictures.

That's when an idea struck him. "Mum." he realised. "Mum's gift to me."

Ash moved a hand into his jacket pocket, and felt the present, small and round.

It enlarged in his hand, but was still hidden from the sight of the two pokemon and the girl. Then, he took a deep breath.

"Am I really about to do this?" He asked himself. Then, "Yeah, I'm gonna just try. After all, you only live once."

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Mew looked confused, but Pikachu did not aim for Mew - in fact, quite the opposite. When Pikachu saw what was in Ash's hand, he grinned hugely. Mew tried to take a look - but it was too late.

Ash lobbed the Master Ball at Pikachu, who spun around on a paw and batted the ball back with a tail. With an incredible precision that he had last used to win the semifinals in the Kalos League, the ball was sent, flying like a screwball at Mew, who only looked dumbfounded as it hit and absorbed the mythical being.

One, two, three clicks.

And the Master Ball had worked.

Serena gasped loudly, and Ash took the pokeball in his hand.

"Did you... Did you just Master Ball catch a mythical pokemon.?!" she stuttered.

Ash shrugged, unsure of what to say. A simple 'yes' seemed a bit too underwhelming, but he was honestly just as confused as she was.

But he really had just caught a Mew.

Pikachu hugged him, but his nerves were too worn.

He simply sat limp, with his closest friend and his girlfriend by his side. And they didn't say a word - they just let Ash have a moment. After all, they could understand just how much he had faced.

It was beginning to turn night. After several minutes, an unusually long time for the energetic boy to be so complacent, sat upright. "I'm okay now." said Ash calmly. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Serena kissed him. "You've been through a lot today. Take all the time you need."

"Let's go back then."

Ash got up, the characteristic smile returning to his face at last.

"..."

He stared at the Master Ball in his hand. He then stared at a trophy on the floor. That must've been left there by the champion, Red.

The former champion.

Then, jumping five feet into the air, yelled, "Wow! I'm the champion of Kanto!

And I really just caught a Mew!"

Well, this is it. Ash is the champion now, after all these years, and he caught a Mew. This little story is reaching it's end, slowly but surely, and I hope you stay around to realise it's outcome.

And wowwww, i wrote so much! Haven't written 10,000 words before..!

But let's move onto why I wrote what I did this chapter. Because I'm sure that, while some of you may have enjoyed it purely for reading's sake, others will be pretty confused. So here's my logic behind everything.

The random Mystery Dungeon? Well, I really like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, lmao. I just wanted to pay homage to my favourite pokemon game ever :P

Why did I make Ash's team much better than Red's? Well, Ash had journeyed with all of them (bar Espeon) for a lot longer than Red had. They've seen and gained more experience. In fact, Red didn't even know about abilities! This battle was just purely what pokemon anime fans would want to see rather than game fans.

Red is primarily a game character, even if his team was based on his team in Pokémon Origins.

In games you'd expect to see teambuilding, with pokemon having a special role on the team.

Movesets, natures, IVs and EVs play a vital role in if a team is good.

In the anime, however, if you think like this you can only get so far. If it was like this Ash would never get as far as he did.

Instead, he uses the battlefield, and utilises reaction and wit. Because it isn't turn based in the anime, he and his opponent can do that. And because Red is used to game combat and not on-your-feet like Ash, it really showed.

Why did I get Ash to catch Mew? For two reasons.

Number one, to spite the ongoing pokemon anime. Go's main goal is to catch Mew, but I know that Mew would be better with Ash in a lot of ways, such as because of the first and eighth pokemon movies, so, you know, put that master ball Delia gave to Ash to good use, lol.

Number two, Ash doesn't have a legendary or mythical pokemon in his roster. He has (had) Goodra, a pseudo-legendary, a Bond Phenomenon Greninja, not to mention other rarities like shiny Noctowl, pokemon hatched from eggs, etc. But the one trope he never filled was a mythical/legendary.

Anyway, considering other character's have had legendaries before (Tobias comes to mind, and Red himself), Ash really should. And what better mythical creature than Gen I's own, the one that he's seen and befriended in two movies.

Why Espeon?

Ash has never caught or even raised a psychic type. He did once battle with his mother's Mr Mime, but that wasn't his. So it doesn't count.

Anyway, I decided to give Ash a psychic type considering he was so good with commanding Mr Mime. So that's why Eevee evolved into Espeon (also my favourite out of the Eeveelutions).

Reviews:

Guest: These past chapter were so different in comparisson of the previous ones. I personally didn't like them. Ir was like you got bored and wanted to finish fast. You wrote a couple of gym battles and showcases and then...BOOM! Grand festival and pokemon league (and skipping elite 4 is the same case)

Serena lost against a OC without a previous appearance

Ash won a pokemon league with a team even worst than his Kanto and Johto ones

the opponents were too underwhelming

Just a scyther, eeve and a couple of his weakest pokemons from the past (excluding Charizard)

I mean...how the other competitors got the in the first place? How do they beat Misty, Sabrina, etc? I get that all of them don't have to have megaevolution or Z rings but the lv of everybody was too low.

Okay, first criticism I've had in a long time, but this time, I personally can't agree.

It's a shame you didn't like these chapters, but let me assure you, it's not because I didn't want to finish fast. I was just reckoning that the gym battles and showcases were getting too repetitive. This is amourshipping, after all. Someone did write a review way back saying that the focus should be on AshxSerena rather than his battles through Kalos, and I definitely agreed with that. Serena's loss was just to show that she had a long way to go in terms of contests as opposed to her specialty in performing. It wasn't often that she ever had to battle, remember.

'The opponents were too underwhelming' - yeah, actually I could see where you were coming from there. I have written most of these recent battles as though Ash had plowed through them, but my goal was to make Ash seem as though that experience had made him stand out against the tide. His pokemon were a lot more well trained, not really weak as you called it. Squirtle had won League battles before, after all. But if people did agree that the battles were written too poorly (just write a review letting me know, I'll definitely know for next time. But for now, there will be no more battling. The story is reaching its end, and it will be fully amourshipping from here on out.

And that covers everything. Once again, thank you all for reading.

Like always, feel free to leave a review holding criticism, questions or praise, and I'll see you next chapter...

...

Or will I?