A/N: Guest reviewer, since you have apologized and say what you said was not intentional as you say, I can forgive you for the slip. Just be more careful please. Also, to the rest of you, I'm going to ignore Elesa's personality in the anime, and you'll see why. I think you'll like it.


N was the first to send out his Pokémon, silently showing he had a sandile.

"Pansage, I choose you!" Ash summoned his Grass Monkey Pokémon, whom started saying its name while beating on its chest. With just a knowing smile, N's Desert Croc Pokémon used a move that not only caused the ground below Pansage to swirl around him, but even cave in downward, making him yelp in surprise as he took damage from said attack. "Pansage, use Vine Whip to escape!" Ash ordered. From the grass type's tuft on the top of his head, vines sprouted out that grabbed onto a tree branch, and pulled himself out of the sand pit, now swinging on said branch. Taking a breath in, the ground/dark type spat out wet dirt as to use Mud Slap.

"Seed Bomb!" Ash yelled. Like Sandile, Pansage opened his mouth to fire glowing seeds that exploded upon contact with the mud, countering it. In fact, it was even overcoming the attack since Ash's Pokémon was much stronger. Finally reaching the scared Sandile, the attacks exploded against the Sandile, blown back onto its back, defeated in one blow. Pansage howled in triumph as he jumped back down to the ground. However, the Sant Tomb effect was still active as sand swirled around him, hurting him somewhat. N returned his Pokémon and sent a darumaka.

"Pansage, return." Ash withdrew his Grass Monkey. "Good job. Pignite, I choose you!" As soon as Ash let his starter out, the Zen Charm Pokémon ran forwards with it's forehead prominent, going to use headbutt. "Counter with Rollout!" Going into a run as well before jumping forward to roll like a ball, he sped towards the smaller red Pokémon and the both smacked into each other with a loud smack. Darumaka was surprisingly strong, as it was able to stall the heavier Pignite for a few seconds before the Fire Pig's mass overcame the opposing fire type, rolling over it. It wheezed in pain from being rolled over. As it tried to get up, it was unable to either get out of the way or counter against the still rolling Pignite and was plowed right into, flying into a tree, knocked out. Pignite stopped rolling and landed on his feet, satisfied. "Well done, Pignite!" The way he looked proud from the compliment made N's smile disappear. N's third Pokémon was Scraggy. Immediately, it crossed its arms and glared at Pignite, intimidating him before his eyes glowed red. The Fire Pig Pokémon started to stumble around in confusion.

"That's Swagger." Bianca realized.

"Use Flame Charge!" Ash instructed anyway. Surrounding himself in flame, he sprinted in a random direction, missing Scraggy completely and running into a tree, injuring himself as he grunted from the impact. Leaping at the fire type, the Shedding Pokémon delivered a strong Karate Chop against his back, making Pignite squeal in pain.

"Counter with Arm Thrust!" Knowing where he is just now, he thrust his elbow back into Scraggy's head, disorienting the fighting/dark type. Turning around, Pignite delivered a critical blow against the exact center of Scraggy's face, practically punching the Pokémon down, knocked out now.

"Way to go Pignite!" Bianca cheered. Returning his fallen friend, he finally sent out his current ace, Sigilyph. Shaking off his confusion, Pignite turned to the psychic/flying type.

"Flame Charge!" Ash commanded, now filled with confidence. Producing more fire, he went even faster, bashing into the initially faster Pokémon. With a glare, N gave the silent instruction to use Tailwind, blowing around around everyone involved making a cyclone. "Again!" Ash said. Pignite tried to hit the Avianoid Pokémon, but it got out of the way rather easily despite the fire type having the speed advantage just a second ago. Crossing its wings, it sent out a bright blue X that exploded upon contact with the Fire Pig Pokémon, making him howl in hurt. Ash started to sweat, for he didn't know if Pignite could survive a back and forth of this kind. Looking at the tailwind surrounding them, then at his fire type, a brilliant strategy came into mind. "Pignite, use Flame Charge in the tailwind!" Nodding, trusting his master, the Fire Pig Pokémon created even more fire around himself, and zoomed around the cyclone, rushing as fast as he could.

"What are you thinking?" N questioned, curious what this was for.

"You'll see. Flame Charge!" Pignite ran faster and faster with each passing second, and it was becoming evident as his fire became a ring around the trainers, and it quickly developed into a fire cyclone. At this point, Pignite was lost in the flame, so nobody could see where it was at any moment. With a grunt, his eyes glinted towards the Avianoid Pokemon, whom obeyed by blowing intense wind like a Whirlwind, blowing the fire away, but by then, it was too late.

"Flame Charge!" Ash commanded, and like a flaming cannonball, Pignite blitzed the flying/psychic type, ramming into it with such strength that the two shot past N and smashed through several trees before stopping. With a huff of fire, Pignite stood above the destroyed foe.

"Yes! We won Ash! You're so cool Pignite!" Bianca cheered. The Fire Pig quickly went back to Ash and they hugged in celebration, before Ash had to back away in pain since Pignite was really hot. At a loss for words, N returned his Pokemon and turned to this fascinating person.

"Who are you? You're not like any other trainer." N asked, stupefied by his display of ingenuity. They turned to him. "You're quite strong. But I have a future I must change. And for that future, I must defeat the champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other.

"Nobody's unbeatable. Not even that lady, uh...Cindy, I think, from Sinnoh." Ash said, standing up to stare down the Plasma King in the eyes, fully determined.

"But unlike all the champions, I'm going to be the new hero, and I'll make every trainer free their Pokemon. Just try and stop me." All his lackies came to him and threw down several smoke bombs, and when it cleared they disappeared.

"Damn." Ash muttered, now having a new goal.

"What do we do now?" Bianca asked.

"Now? We train. Let's go to the Pokémon Center. so I can heal up." He answered. Returning his Pignite, they walked through the city, that is until a voice called out to them.

"Bianca, there you are!" They jolted from the unexpected shout and turned to see it was Bianca's father!

"Daddy?! What are you doing here? Are you and mom on a date here?"

"No, I've come to take you home, where it's safe. With all this Team Plasma stuff happening, I can't sit on the sidelines anymore." Bianca looked distraught now and complained.

"I don't want to go home! I'm going to keep traveling with Ash, whom is my boyfriend now!" She hugged him to prove her point, sending her father into a rage.

"You're in a relationship?! Why didn't you consult me?!"

"I don't have to tell you everything, Dad! I'm independent now, and it's my choice to be with my boyfriend! So just go home to mom!" The blonde girl shot back. Mr. Schroeder stepped up to his daughter.

"Absolutely not! You're not ready to explore the world! Your autism makes you gullible and naive!"

"That's why I have Ash to help me! He's been more help for me ever since I've left than you have my whole life!" Ash was really becoming uncomfortable being almost literally in between a family dispute.

"He's been more helpful?! Who gives you a roof to sleep under?! Who gives you a bed to sleep on?! Who provides you with education so you're smart?!"

"But you don't bother to understand me! Mom and Ash and Cheren and Juniper helped me grow as a person! What gives you the right to tell me how I live my own life?!"

"I have the right because I'm your father! You know what, why are we arguing about this, I'm dragging you home if I have too!" He took her wrist and tried to pull her away.

"No, I don't want to!"

"Let go of Ash!" As the two screamed at each other, Ash used his free hand to grab onto a lamp post so that he was anchored onto something. "This is what's best for you Bianca! I do this because I love you!" At that Bianca kicked at her dad's knee, causing him to yelp in pain as he buckled to the floor.

"You never let me do anything I want! I-I HATE YOU!" Bianca screeched, causing her dad to pause.

"What?" He gasped, shocked by this.

"I hate you dad! You're so mean! You never took the time to understand me! You try to protect me but that only makes me feel miserable! Why can't you treat me like a person instead of some fragile freak!" Once she said all that she had to say, Bianca just stood their like a frenzied animal before realizing what just happened. Seeing her father on the ground clutching his knee and Ash freaked out by her outburst, along with an audience that watched some if not the whole thing, keeping his distance, the girl just broke down and fell to her knees, unable to keep her pent up feelings in and cried. Ash got over his moment and stooped down to her, holding her close in an embrace.

"What have I done?" Mr. Schroeder asked himself.

"Indeed, what have you done exactly, mister." A flat toned voice asked him. All but Bianca turned to see the gym leader of the city. Her hair is short and bright blonde, and she wore yellow and black clothes in a way she looked like a supermodel, along with headphones with super long cords going down to her mid-calves.

"Wow, that's Elesa Parker." One of them said.

"Do tell, why are you causing such a ruckus in my city's amusement park, mister?" Even though her voice was flat of emotion, her eyes staring down at him

"The name is Darius Schroeder, lady." He grunted as he got up to his feet, testing his knee. "I've come to take her home because it's getting too dangerous for my baby girl. She has autism, and I wanted to protect her." Darius explained himself.

"Really?" She asked, not impressed at all. Her face was practically unreadable from her stonewall face and indistinguishable voice. "So you think holding your daughter at home against her will is the right option, like her opinion doesn't matter?"

"Uh...well..." He didn't know how to respond without seeming like the bad guy. "I-I'm just a concerned father who worries for his baby girl, you know?"

"I wouldn't know. My father abused me as a kid because I didn't do what he wanted me to do, even though I have a disorder too." That shut him down right away. Elesa walked past him and stooped down to Bianca, whom was still crying. "Hey there. Can you answer me?" Bianca was able to look up, her face soggy with tears and snot running down her nose, but she was responsive. "What's your name?"

"Bi-Bianca." The girl replied. Elesa smiled in the slightest.

"Bianca. Nice name. Let me tell you something. I have an emotional disorder. My disorder is alexithymia, meaning that I'm my emotions are nearly non-existent. My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps in becoming an actress as he became older, but I could never put in the effort he wanted. He never hit me, but he called me many things. Useless, good for nothing, other things. But my grandmother helped me through my childhood, and helped learn what I really wanted to do: modeling. Dad had a tough time accepting it, but he did eventually learn to accept my job and my disability as who I am. He even accepted that I have a girlfriend, even if that took the longest to accept." Standing up, she spoke to the crowd, striking a pose without meaning to. "There's many people in this world. People whose way of thinking can either be identical or opposite to ours. And sometimes, that means you get hurt along the way. But what is important is to keep trying, to learn about the differences between each of us, between other people. To learn that being different is okay, and that others shouldn't have to worry about you. In this case, trainers will always have Pokémon by their side. And friends to accompany them if they so choose. To really grow as people, whether it's a father and a daughter, or a mother and a son, you have to trust they can do things on their own, depending on their own skills and help." Now Elesa turned to Darius. "Mr. Schroeder, if you're still not convinced, then watch Bianca battle me for her gym badge."

"Da-daddy? Please?" Bianca sobbed, her face looking conflicted and desperate. Feeling guilty about always being the one person in his town making her sad her whole life, he relented.

"Alright. I'll watch."

"Good." The gym leader nodded. Turning to Bianca, she asked the girl, "What do you understand of your journey, Bianca?" Wiping away her tears and snot, she stood up and looked at her father.

"I know there's gonna be painful stuff like you're worrying about. I know, and I get it. After all, Cheren did leave us." Her dad gasped from that. "But, like, listen... There'll be tons of nice people, too. Know what else? Since I've been traveling with Ash and training with Pokémon, I've already gotten tougher. I have three badges anyway, so if I beat Elesa, than this will be my forth, and I'll be halfway there."

"Follow me. Let's get this show on the road." Elesa suggested as she started walking to the gym, along with everyone else. Ash just noticed that Elesa was quite tall for a woman now that he was walking just behind her to her left, her head being literally a head taller than he was, a 16 year old boy. She had to be just reaching 6 feet exact at the tallest. Interesting.

Once Ash was in the gym, it was quite interesting to be in. The inside was like the walls of a laser tag set with colorful neon lights and techno music playing through the speakers. A female amusement park worker acted as referee.

"Prepare yourself for an electrifying match between our illustrious gym leader, glistening with beauty as bright as the sun! Our very own gym leader, Elesa Parker! While in the challenger spot is Bianca Schroeder from Nuvema Town! This will be a four on four matchup, and the battle will be over when all four Pokémon on the field are unable to continue! Only the challenger may substitute Pokémon! Begin the battle now!"

"Go, Tynamo." Elesa said, summoning a cute little electric white fish that floated in the air.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Bianca gushed in excitement. "Come on out, Servine!" Throwing her Pokeball after a windmill spin of her arm, came her grass starter.

"Tynamo, Thunderwave." Elesa said as an order. Tynamo began to spark before firing a zap of electricity that hit Servine, paralyzing her.

"No, Servine!" Use Leaf Tornado!" Even in her weakened state, she was able to jump and spin on her nose, creating a tornado made of leaves. Despite being faster, the electric fish was caught up and damaged by the barrage of leaves, though it did manage to recover well enough. ("Ohhh, what do I do? There's no way she'll allow the same trick twice. What would Ash do?" Looking over to Ash, whom had his arms crossed and stared at her in a way that just stoicly said, 'You can do this.' ("Right, I can do this! If something seems insurmountable, then just make yourself bigger than the obstacle!") "Servine, use Growth!" Looking up at the lights, the Grass Snake Pokémon closed her eyes and let the light fill her with energy, letting her power grow.

"Charge Beam." Elesa said. Tynamo's body began to surround with yellow sparks, before firing a blast of lightning that hit the grass type Pokémon, shocking her and making her hiss in pain.

"Keep it up!" Bianca pleaded, so Servine did.

"Again." And so it went on for several turns like this.

"What is she doing? She's going to obviously lose at this rate." Darius grumbled.

"Don't be too sure." By the time the forth Charge Beam hit the grass starter, she appeared to be done for.

"What are you planning? With your Servine paralyzed it can't outpace my Tynamo." The gym leader said cooly, but Bianca grinned instead.

"I don't need to be faster, I just need to overpower you! Leaf Tornado!" Once she began to spin on her nose, she created a gigantic Leaf Tornado, one that which enveloped the entire field! Everyone screamed from such a display of power. Even Elesa herself couldn't contain the sheer shock she was experiencing, while her poor Tynamo couldn't escape and was swallowed up by the tornado of leaves, lasting a few more seconds before the move ended, a shower of leaves covering the field, the audience, and the trainers. After a few seconds comprehending what just happened, they everyone cheered from seeing something so amazing.

"Wha-How did she do that?" Her dad asked stupefied.

"She trusted her Pokemon, and took a page from my book." Ash chuckled, recognizing something he himself uses.

"ty-Tynamo is unable to battle! The wi-winner is Servine!" The referee panted, having to jump out of the way or else be swept up by the attack.

"Tynamo return. Bianca, I must admit this. I'm almost incapable of feeling my emotions. But what you did left me more shocked and impressed than anything before in my whole life." Elesa remarked, her eyes wide and a real smile considered normal on her face.

"Thank you! It means so much coming from you!" The blonde trainer said, a huge smile on her face. Elesa's disappeared as the extreme high wore off.

"But, your luck has run out. Emolga, go." Of the Pikachu clones, this one was Emolga, a flying squirrel variant with a black back and tail, yellow wings in the inner side, and a white face and body with yellow dots for cheeks. "Use Aerial Ace." While the Sky Squirrel Pokémon zoomed at Servine with white energy streaks, Bianca blurted,

"Hide in the leaves!" Obeying, she slithered into the many, many leaves, just as Emolga was on her, missing by inches. Noticing some hunching and zapping from a spot, Elesa ordered,

"Aerial Ace." Taking another shot, she ploughed threw the leaves, but didn't ram into a Grass Snake.

"Gotcha! Leaf Tornado!" The leaves littering the place started to swirl around, catching the electric flying type by surprise as she was snagged into another arena spanning tornado of leaves. Even with her resistance against grass type Pokémon this was seriously hurting her. This time, Elesa kept her composure and was ready.

"Get to the center and use Aerial Ace." Navigating through the leaves, she managed to get to the middle of the green storm, finding the spinning Servine. Divebombing, she slammed into the grass starter's back, slamming her into the ground and thus disrupting the attack, resulting in even more leaves falling. Emolga picked up Servine and threw her down on the leaves, defeated.

"Servine is unable to battle! The winner is Emolga!" The referee declared. The audience cheered once again.

"Oh, and she was doing so well." Darius bemoaned.

"She's just getting started" Ash said.

"Servine, return. You did awesome. Take a well earned rest. I know just how to deal with you! Come on out, Drilbur!" Now on the leafy field was her trained Mole Pokémon.

"Typical. Aerial Ace." The gym leader sighed, prompting the electric flying type to go on the attack.

"Dig with Dodge! No-wait!" Even though she confused her words, Dig was all he needed to hear before jumping into the leaves, evading the flying attack.

"You do realize that ground type attacks are useless against flying types, right? I've defeated a many ground types because my Pokemon are well adapted for such a type." Elesa explained, but Bianca ignored her.

"Use Hone Claws!" Although, since Drilbur was underground, nobody saw what happened. "Now use Slash!" Bursting from the ground right behind the Sky Squirrel Pokemon, she only had time to looked shocked before being slashed across the back by Drilbur's sharp claws, screaming in pain before fainting onto her front.

"Emogla is unable to battle! The winner is Drilbur!"

"Yeah, way to go Drilbur! Just because you've beaten them doesn't mean you can't be beaten period." Bianca smugly pointed out.

"So it seems." The gym leader acknowledged as she returned her Pokémon. "Time to get rid of the leaves. "Zebstrika, use Flame Charge on the field." A fully grown eclectic zebra named Zebstrika, whom produced flame and ran around the field for one lap, burning the leaves and creating a fire ring around the two Pokémon.

"Quick, use Dig again!"

"Flame Charge." Before the Mole Pokemon could burrow his way underground, he was run over by a flaming lightning horse, howling in agony before falling onto his back.

"Dig!" Bianca pleaded. Since Zebstrika just attacked, he was able to go into the ground again.

"Use Flame Charge. Become untouchable." She instructed stoicly, so he started running around, constantly gaining more and more speed as he sprinted. But even this did not deter her.

"Dig through the ground, but don't surface above it!" The girl commanded, confusing the gym leader and everyone else but Ash.

"But how can Drilbur attack without exposing himself?"

"If someone has a field advantage, take it away if you can." Ash simply stated. From the combination of the hooves beating against the ground at faster speeds and stronger force, along with the fire heating the ground, all those factors caused the field to cave, the electric type yelping as he fell into a wide pit, again surprising Elesa, if not as much. "Attack!" From the ground, Drilbur went on the offense with a smile, unlike the fearful Zebstrika before being struck by the tiny mole. Landing on the ground on all fours, he waited a few seconds before the electric type fell.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle. The winner is Drilbur!"

"Yeah, Bianca! Beat her!" Darius cheered, before realizing what he said, making Ash chuckle.

"So, what do you have next, Elesa?" Bianca challenged the gym leader whom returned her ace. But Elesa shook her head.

"Zebstrika is my ace. And you've beaten him. My next Pokémon won't beat your particular Drilbur. I forfeit." The entire audience gasped. She's never surrendered before to a challenger.

"Uh...Elesa has forfeit the match, so the victor goes to Drilbur and Bianca."

"Yes! Come here Drilbur!" She laughed as she hugged her Mole Pokémon.

"She really did it." Her dad said to himself, a tear slipping down his cheek, and a smile on his face. As the two women met up close on the side of the field, both of them were smiling.

"That was quite a dramatic battle you gave me. Full of flair and peril. You're a great trainer."

"Thank you Elesa." Bianca nodded, feeling overjoyed about her victory.

"Here, the Bolt Badge." True to its name, the badge was a lightning bolt. Bianca turned to her dad and Ash whom walked up to them. Father and daughter were conflicted on what to say, fidgeting and unable to look one another in the eye, until Ash elbowed Darius.

"Bianca...I'm so sorry I made you feel so bad. I knew you didn't like my strictness, but I never wanted you to think you were a freak or cause you to hate me. I was just worried what the world would do to you. But after seeing that battle, I could see that you're not just my baby girl, but a proud and independent woman now. If you wish to travel with Ash, then I won't hold you back."

"Dad." Bianca uttered with tears growing in her eyes before the two awkwardly hugged.

"I love you Bianca."

"I know." She said. From the sidelines, Ash knew what that meant. While her dad finally understood her, it would take a long time to cover up years of resentment and trauma. But he also knew that now they could finally be close. Eventually, they'd have a proper father and daughter relationship.


A/N: So, was that whole drama thing between Bianca and her dad great or what? I've also had problems with my dad, so my past influenced this chapter to a degree. Don't get me wrong, I've never hated my dad, and we've actually been on good terms for years now, but yeah, our relationship was not the best ever during my childhood and adolescence. What do you guys think?