Lysandre Academy
"Alright class, I've got some exciting news for you all!" Professor Oak looked over his class shortly after all took their seats. Most of them looked at him with interest while Damian was busy boasting to his two goons and not really paying him much mind.
Oak glared at the back of the room for a brief moment before shaking his head with a sigh. "Alright now you all remember how I told you that Lysandre was funding quite a few school trips for us? Well he did ask for one thing in return, he's requested that I bring my top students to Kalos after the first five weeks of school, naturally four of those weeks have gone by but now that one remain and some of you barely qualify." He glanced towards Ash as he said that. The boy lowering his head as Damian laughed.
"Hahaha, Ketchum's an idiot!"
"I wouldn't go calling names, Damian as right now you don't even qualify!" Oak retorted causing Damian's mouth to drop before growling at Oak.
Gary snickered at that.
"If you all want to attend the trip then both your battling and your test skills must be in good order." Oak continued, shaking his head. "A few of you are good battlers but unfortunately academic wise you aren't doing so hot. Thankfully you though that this Thursday's test is worth quite a significant amount so if you study hard then you just might make it!"
Oak then went on to continue this week's on status effects and how to deal with them effectively.
Damian left afterwards, muttering out about how Charmander's poor battling was ruining it for him despite that not even being the issue.
Brock and Gary meanwhile approached Ash with a smirk.
"We'll help you, Ashy boy!"
"Right, we'll make sure you're on that plane to Kalos with the rest of us!"
Ash was holding his breath on Friday morning as Oak walked in and handed out the test scores.
"Giselle and Gary, A+ as always." Oak responded, placing their papers down. Both trainers looking quite proud of themselves.
"Flash, B-!" Damian's eyes widened before looking over at his former friend's paper.
"No way! How'd you do that?"
"Chloe, A+! Zach, B+! Good job!" Oak praised. "Ash, B! Excellent work!"
Ash started in shock as his test was handed back before quickly filling with excitement as he wouldn't be left out of the Kalos trip! And it turned out all of his friends and most of the class as a matter of fact had made it, Damian had barely scraped by while Ben and Ken were left.
Leaf placed her arm on Ash's shoulder as a light blush formed across her face. "Just wait until you find out what city we're going to!"
Scorbunny shot up into her trainer's lap with a smirk across her face.
"Scor!"
"Yes Scorbunny, as promised I'll buy you some of those sweets they sell there." Zach laughed while stroking the rabbit's fur. Scorbunny let out a cry of delight before nuzzling him affectionately.
"Espe!" Espeon cried out as she raised her upper half up onto Ash's desk before placing her paw outwards for a fist bump, resulting in Ash letting off a light chuckle.
"Of course, we're going to try and catch a new friend while we're there too!"
Honestly Ash was just delighted that all of his friends would get to come, not all the regional trips would be like this from what Oak said but he'd have hated to see one of them left out!
The plane ride went rather smoothly, Ash had sat next to Leaf as she wanted to spent the time talking with someone and Ash was rather relieved she allowed him to take the window seat without fuss.. Ash took a look around the plane and couldn't help but smirk as he saw Damian with quite an irritated look as a toddler was kicking the back of his seat while Flash and Giselle sat across from him and were busy chatting it up. He then let out a light chuckle as Zach had fallen into a deep slumber and was drooling as his head leaned onto Lucario's shoulder, the jackal having the seat directly next to him while Scorbunny sat in his lap with him convincing Giselle to go after Flash nobody was currently making a hurry to get a seat next to him like she had. Chloe was talking with Gary Oak further along while Janine was hanging upside down like a bat from the luggage compartment with her eyes closed while Sabrina looked up at her with a face that could only read 'the heck are you doing?'.
Brock meanwhile would shoot up whenever a flight attendant would pass and try flirting with her only for Misty to grab his ear and drag him back to his seat!
"Passengers we're now arriving in Lumiose City, please buckle up as we prepare to land!"
"Lumiose City..?" Ash asked, tilting his head as he wondered what Leaf meant by her earlier statement. He looked out of the window and noticed a rather strange looking building, no doubt the famous Lumiose Tower he'd always heard about but nothing else really stuck out to him. He merely shrugged while Brock shot up excitedly and began rushing out of the plane for some reason immediately upon it landing on the ground
"What's he up to...?" Ash asked.
"Don't know but I hope he doesn't get lost," Misty stated as she stood up. "We're supposed to stick in a group with the Professor!"
"H-Huh?" Zach woke up as he heard people walking by. "Are we there already?" He yawned out before following the others out.
Flash and Damian were the last ones to leave.
"Hold up one second, I'm gonna teach that brat a lesson!" Damian turned around and growled. Professor Oak had left the plane so he couldn't possibly get in trouble now!
"Damian, I-" Flash merely shrugged before walking off the plane, Damian hadn't even bothered to listen as he'd already stormed off.
"Listen here you little shit, I've had it with you kicking my freaking seat the entire Arceus damn time! I'm gonna kick your a-!" Damian's eyes widened when he noticed a large bald biker dude next to the toddler. Damian could only mutter out. "Mommy..." Before he was quite literally sent flying from the plane, landing in front of Flash with a black eye visible on his left eye!
Ash would soon find out what had Brock so excited as when they arrived in the plane lobby he noticed him lowered on one knee in front of a girl who was possibly only a year or so older than him, holding up a sign that read "Vermilion Academy!". She was currently wearing a black and maroon collared shirt along with rather tight looking jeans, complete with short mousy brown hair and green eyes along with a pair of earrings on her ears.
"It's fate, can't you see?! You and me coming together in Lumiose City, the city of love! How about later tonight you and me head on out and see the sights together? I'm sure that you'll end up seeing that we're meant to be!"
"Not again!" Misty groaned out about to grab the older male's ear only for her to pause and suddenly collapse as she heard the girl's response.
"Sure, why not! It could be fun!" Even Brock looked surprised as he just stood there with quite the blush across his face.
"If only finding a girl were that easy," Zach remarked with a sigh, Flash placed his hand on his shoulder in a supportive manner.
"I'm sure you'll find somebody soon, she may not be in Kanto but maybe she's waiting for you to find her here or in one of the many other regions!"
Professor Oak spoke up as a yellow lizard Pokemon suddenly came into view on Alexa's shoulder, apparently it had been there the whole time but Brock's sudden outburst had scared it out of sight before they'd gotten there.
"Ah, you must be Alexa! Lysandre told us that you'd help us find his Academy!"
"Of course, Lumiose is quite big and you wouldn't believe how many tourists get lost here!" Alexa laughed before looking over the class with a smile. "You've got quite the class here, including a Pokemon I've never seen before." She noted as her eyes landed on Scorbunny who was currently in his trainer's arms as he was keeping the rabbit from running off to find treats too early.
"Scor!" The rabbit gave Alexa a wave while Ash got out his Rotom Phone to scan the yellow lizard.
"Helioptile, the Generator Pokemon! When spread, the frills on its head act like solar panels, generating the power behind this Pokemon's Electric attacks!"
Alexa looked at Helioptile and smiled as she pet the lizard Pokemon, Damian meanwhile raised an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you evolve that Pokemon by now? It's weak-AAAAAHHHH!" Helioptile apparently didn't like that as he rewarded Damian with a Thunder Shock!
"I wouldn't go insulting another person's Pokemon like that," Alexa shook her head before turning to the others. "Anyways we should get going, Lysandre's expecting us!"
The group stuck rather close to her as she'd lead them through the city, talking about certain restaurants and shops that they really ought to visit before they leave in a few days. That didn't seem to interest Ash though until he heard the words 'Battle Café'!
"Battle Café?"
"Yes, they're a specialty unique to our region! Trainers wind up battling over free food!" Ash's stomach growled rather loudly at that, causing him to blush as he rubbed the back of his head. Maybe he'd find the time to enter one, the food probably tasted better than whatever the hotel they were staying at was serving!
Leaf had closed her distance on Ash, practically walking side by side now as she flashed him a smile. "How are you liking it here so far?"
"It looks great, I can't wait to visit the Battle Café later!" Leaf smirked at his words, wondering if she could weasel her way into going with him.
Not hearing Alexa speak out as the group had arrived at a rather large building that didn't look much different from the Vermilion Academy, perhaps it was the same architect that made this one?
A man in a lab coat with black hair in the same coloring as Ash's stepped on out, giving them all a wave. "Welcome, welcome! I'm Professor Sycamore, the regional Professor of the Kalos region and the leading professor at this school!"
"I thought Lysandre taught? The school's named after the guy..." Damian muttered.
"Lysandre has better things to do than teach I'm sure," Flash crossed his arms, still wearing his trademark sunglasses despite the place not even being as remotely hot as Vermilion City or bright at all in fact!
"You're right, while he funded the school teaching duties are left to me and Xerosic!" Sycamore smiled. "Though Lysandre does check in from time to time and pick favorites for his own personal mentor ship programs."
"Just wait until he sees me in action!" Damian smirked, pounding his chest. "Once he sees how great I am he'll be begging for me to stay and learn under him! It's about damn time that somebody recognizes my talents!"
"Do you really like the guy or is it the money? I've literally never heard you mention him-" Damian glared at Flash to shut him up.
"That's actually what he wants to do unfortunately," Sycamore didn't sound happy about it, rather sour actually. He turned and guided them into the school and down towards a large room that had been constructed into a battle field.
"This is where we are to wait while Lysandre brings my students here, you can only imagine what's going to happen next." Sycamore didn't sound like himself anymore, spitting at the ground in disgust as he clenched his fists.
Lysandre soon walked on in, everyone noticing how calm he looked almost immediately though as he stared at them with a rather cold expression a few of them like Chloe, Leaf, Brock, and Scorbunny couldn't help but shiver. Zach and Lucario had their eyes narrowed as if they were trying to read something only to come up blank.
"Welcome students of Vermilion Academy!" Lysandre spoke as several students came into view. Almost enough for everyone in Oak's class to have an opponent! "Today I have brought your school and mine together as I want to seek out another protégé! So I'm going to pit you all against one another and whoever is still standing at the end will have the honor of being my protégé!"
"Astrid," Lysandre turned towards a rather attractive blonde girl, looking almost to be wearing a school uniform if it weren't for everyone else wearing different attire. She had purple eyes rather surprisingly, some of the guys could be seen checking her out. Damian in particular.
"Say toots, you know there's no need to fight. I'm going to win anyways so why don't the two of us go behind the bleachers and f-" Flash smacked his former friend in the back of the head with an annoyed look.
"She is rather attractive," Zach noted with a smirk as his eyes looked her over.
"You're not facing Astrid," Oak shook his head before pointing at Flash. "Flash, you think you can handle her?"
Flash looked Astrid over and merely shrugged before stepping onto the field as he enlarged Electabuzz's ball.
"Go Electabuzz!"
"Absol!" The girl shouted out. "You may be nicer than your friend but I'm still taking you down!"
"That jerk isn't my friend. I don't care about this mentor junk but I never back down from a fight!" Flash shouted back as he clenched his fists. "Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!"
"Electa!" Electabuzz rushed forward, his fist sparked brightly with electricity as he pulled back his fist and prepared to bring it down upon Absol!
"Dodge with Quick Attack," Astrid smirked. "Then attack from behind with Night Slash!"
Absol quickly moved out of the wall with incredible speed then when Electabuzz had his back turned to the Dark type, Absol's head scythe began to glow with bright purple energy before slashing at his opponent!
"Electa!" Electabuzz was sent flying with a critical hit before landing in a defeated slump.
Flash returned Electabuzz as Astrid's class could be seen cheering for her.
"Ha, you lost to a girl!" Damian laughed.
"Wow, she's strong!" Zach remarked as he continued looking her over. "But I bet Lucario and I could take her!"
"You have a Lucario trainer among you too?" Lysandre spoke before turning to Sycamore's students. "Korrina, mind battling this lad?"
"Gladly!" Another blonde girl skated into view, "Lucario and I have been wanting to tussle with another Lucario for some time!"
"Lucarrr!" A female Lucario stood by her side, Zach's Lucario froze up for a moment as the jackal appeared to recognize Korrina's aura. Zach noticed a familiarity as well, he didn't remember anything about his old life as he'd received amnesia during his fall, all he knew was Riolu was his best buddy and the scarf was likely one of his parents' given how attached he felt to it. Zach decided to shake off the feeling in his gut, dismissing it as him having a thing for blonde chicks.
"You can flirt with her later buddy, put all your attention on the fight!" Lucario nodded, smirking at his trainer before withdrawing his aura charged bone clubs, growling at Korrina's Lucario as the two prepared to face off.
"Bone Rush!" The two Lucario rushed at each other, seeming to be evenly matched as their attacks ground hard against one another with neither seeming to back down! The attack soon ended in a stalemate as the Lucario wore themselves out, breathing heavily as they waited for the next attack.
"Aura Sphere!"
"Lucaaar!"
"Lucaaar!" The two fired off spheres of aura energy that were evenly matched, exploding immediately on impact and creating a large dust storm that flew across the gym and blew hats off trainers like Ash along with making skirts of girls like Chloe, Astrid, and Leaf fly about like crazy!
As the dust cleared both Lucario were still standing though looking quite worn out as their attacks were quickly wearing them out!
"Well it's been fun but I think we need to wrap this up, don't you?" Korrina asked with a smile.
"Of course, got to give the others a chance to battle!" Zach responded.
"Power-Up Punch!"
"Fire Punch!"
"Wait what?" Korrina's eyes widened from shock as Zach's Lucario smirked before his fist ignited in blue flames, rushing forward and punching Korrina's Lucario with the last bit of stamina that he had! Her Lucario would hit the ground with a thud shortly before Zach's collapsed from exhaustion as well.
"Well well, an Oak student takes the win!" Lysandre praised, looking quite impressed.
Zach and Korrina walked out to help up their partner Pokemon, helping them up before extending their hands to one another.
"That was a great battle!" Zach smiled
"You weren't so bad yourself, teaching Lucario Fire Punch...? Grandpa told me that was a very difficult task." Korrina gazed towards his Lucario who was staring at hers with a goofy expression. "I must say the bond you two have is very admirable, I haven't seen that since-" Korrina paused and appeared to be reading him.
"Well Lucario I and train hard every day whenever we get the chance! I thought teaching him a Fire type attack would come in handy someday, of course I never imagined owning a Fire type in the first place." He laughed as he glanced down towards Scorbunny.
"Maybe you could teach me sometime?" Korrina smirked lightly before extending her arm as the two shook hands. Upon touching one another both experienced brief images of them playing together as children on multiple different occasions. Korrina's eyes widened in recognition but Zach merely rubbed his head, the images merely confusing him as he turned and didn't see Korrina's look. "Zach...?" She muttered to herself, tilting her head cutely. Her grandfather always said they were the only ones left on the good guy team but it looks like there was another!
Brock seemed to be quite resourceful as he battled against a trainer who also specialized in Rock types that the others referred to as Grant, their two Onix clashed much like the two Lucario had only unlike with them there wasn't a victor as both would wear themselves out and crash down onto the ground with loud thuds that shook the entire stadium grounds!
Ash pat his friend's shoulder as he returned. "You did great, Brock!"
Brock smiled, giving Ash a thumbs up before wishing him luck as his opponent would be heading up any second. Ash noticed it was a honey blonde female with a yellow fox Pokemon, he tilted his head as the Pokemon didn't exactly look like it had much experience to him.
"This is Calem-Wait, where's Calem?!" Lysandre sounded angry before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Okay, okay calm down..." He muttered to himself.
"I'm right here!" The doors burst open as a trainer in a blue jacket and red hat burst through with a cross expression on his face. "PROFESSOR!" He stormed to Sycamore before letting out a growl. "It happened again, Froakie ran off!"
Sycamore let out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "Calem, I did warn you that Froakie was quite picky on his trainers and he's abandoned each and every single one. You knew what you were getting into."
"I thought I could handle it but evidently I was wrong," He held out a pokeball. "Here, take it. If he doesn't want me then I want nothing to do with him, at least I have my Rhyhorn!"
Ash gazed towards the situation, wondering what exactly a Froakie was and why it kept running off on people. Though little did he know that a certain blue frog was staring down at him from the ceiling!
Calem soon walked towards the honey blonde girl and smiled. "Thanks for covering for me while I was gone, sis. I know you're not into Pokemon battles like I am but I appreciate it... sis?" Calem noticed his sister had seemingly frozen into place, her eyes locked onto Ash. She was unable to get out a single word or show a single sign of emotion. Calem seemed to know what was going on though, or at least he thought so.
"So ya thought you could flirt with my sister did you?" Calem crossed his arms, taking a protective stance as he enlarged a Pokeball. "Well now that I'm here if you want to continue that kind of talk towards her, you have to go through me!"
"But I wasn't-" Ash tried to defend himself only to see that there would be no reasoning with Calem as he saw a Rhyhorn take center stage, brushing it's feet against the ground before letting out a deep huff. Ash had to admit he was disappointed that so many Pokemon they'd seen so far were Pokemon that he could have seen back in Kanto, so far the strange fox and Absol were the only Pokemon out of the ordinary!
Ash reached for Espeon's ball only to wind up grabbing Caterpie's by mistake, not even realizing it until the small Bug Pokemon was released!
All of Ash's classmates sweated as they wondered if Ash had done that on purpose, a few of the rival school's classmates laughed along with Damien while Calem merely looked insulted.
"Is this a sick joke of yours?! Bulldoze it!"
Rhyhorn let out a roar, his body becoming surrounded in an orange aura as he temporarily stood on his hind legs before crashing his front legs against the ground! An orange ring of aura pulsated around the impact mark, shaking the battlefield and also breaking it apart. Some of the students had difficulty standing, Korrina for instance ended up losing her balance due to her skates, resulting in her falling down of her butt while Damian laughed at her expense. Caterpie's body shook as he looked towards Ash, Ash had a light smirk across his face as an idea crossed his mind.
"Cast a string shot horizontally in front of you!" Ash called out. Caterpie responded by making a trip line out of his string, Rhyhorn was unable to adjust his movement due to his body being unable to quickly adjust like that. Rhyhorn went charging straight into the string shot before tripping over it and landing flat onto his back! "Now use Bug Bite!" Caterpie sprung forward and sank his teeth into Rhyhorn, the rhino uttered out a groan before going limp as his body entered a state of unconsciousness, showcasing his defeat!
"What?!" Calem pulled at his hair with a frustrated look, though he appeared to be a sore loser he didn't blame his Pokemon like Damien did.
"How...?" Flash asked, looking in complete shock.
"Piii!" A bright blue light engulfed Caterpie as his body became encased in a bright green cocoon, the Bug type having finally evolved into a Metapod!
"That was quite the impressive display!" One of the other girl's from Lysandre Academy spoke up, her Bulbasaur letting out a cry in agreement while Ash let out an excited shout before hugging his newly evolved Pokemon.
Lysandre watched on in amazement, a twinkle in his eyes for a moment as his eyes began rather focused on Ash. Could it be...? But he had to be sure!
"Actually... it happened on accident!" Nearly everyone face faulted at that.
"Touch break, Calem!" A kid with short black hair and with a rather large figure stepped onto the field. "But it looks like it is my turn!"
Gary smirked, quickly stepping up. "To lose? You bet!"
Ash noticed the pair both using Squirtle, along with hearing the other Bulbasaur trainer shout out. "Go Tierno, you can do it!"
Calem didn't budge, merely staring as he returned Rhyhorn. Muttering out incomprehensibly as he tried to process what exactly had just happened here! His sister on the other hand had moved, sneaking up on Ash before tapping his shoulder.
"A-Ash...? C-Can we talk?" She shook lightly as she wondered if he'd even be able to remember her.
"Hm?" Ash turned to face the girl before looking down at the fox Pokemon with a smile. "Sure, but we can't talk for too long. I don't want to miss the battles!"
Leaf didn't notice them leave as she was too entranced by the battle, watching the Squirtle battling it out but Brock noticed, he rubbed his chin for a moment before resuming focus on the battle.
"Ash, I-I'm not sure if you'll remember... but we met almost eight years ago, at Oak's Summer Camp!" Serena quickly put it out, a light blush quickly forming as she remembered the circumstances of them meeting up. "I'd gotten lost and ended up tripping down a ditch, spraining my ankle in the process. It was quite scary... but then you came like a hero from one of those ancient stories, rescuing me in my time of need and wrapping my leg up in your handkerchief." She reached into her pocket before withdrawing it. "I-I still have it actually,"
Ash stared at the handkerchief for a moment as the memories came flooding back to him, he looked up before forming a smile. "I remember you now, I had no idea you were from Kalos though! That's quite some coincidence, huh?" 'That's a second childhood friend I forgot about, is something wrong with me? Why don't I remember my friends without them having to say it first?'
Serena nodded, unable to recall why exactly her parents even sent her to a camp so far away from home. Though to be fair, the only memory she really had of the time was meeting Ash. He was the constant focus of her dreams, both day and night! One could say love at first sight was complete nonsense and couldn't happen, but she believed it! Even when there were times where she forgot about him for brief periods the memories would come flooding back and she tried moving on upon the request of her worried mother but neither Tierno nor Trevor could replace the hole that Ash had left.
"So you're still looking to become a Pokemon Master right?"
"Of course, someday I plan on entering the Indigo League and winning it all the way through! Then I'll battle my dad and his Elite Four and participate in the Pokemon World Tournament where I'll truly show that I'm a Pokemon Master!" Ash grinned.
"I wish you luck, I'm still a bit conflicted on my goal. I can't decide between Showcases or Contests, though Showcases don't exist outside of Kalos and Contests aren't even in Kalos... so it's quite a dilemma you see." She frowned, looking at her feet while uttering out a light sigh. "But whatever I choose, I want Fennekin by my side."
"Fenneki!" The yellow fox cried out.
"Fennekin, eh?" Ash got out his Pokedex as it rang up Fennekin's information.
"Fennekin, the fox Pokemon. Fennekin expels hot air that can reach nearly 400 degrees. It also likes to snack on twigs!" And Ash would see that was correct as the fire fox was currently snacking on a twig as she looked up at the duo.
"There you two are!" Serena's classmate with the pink top from earlier showed up, grabbing at Serena's arm. "Come on, the last battle is starting soon!"
"B-Bug... why did it have to be bugs?" Misty was shaking as she stood on her side of the battlefield, her opponent looked almost like a younger version of Alexa only with blonde hair. The girl smirked as she threw out her arm.
"Alright Vivillon, let's finish it with Psybeam!" A butterfly Pokemon with a bright purple elegant color scheme started firing a rather colorful beam from her eyes only for it to get stopped mere inches from Psyduck's face, the Water type's eyes shined brightly as he held it back before redirecting it and making it fly back towards her!
"Vivi-!" A loud explosion was heard shortly before the butterfly hit the floor. Though Misty hadn't been able to utter a single command due to her intense fear of Bug types, Psyduck had still taken the win due to getting a massive headache from all the blows delivered to it!
"Well done, Psyduck!" Misty bent down to hug him, smiling brightly as she pulled him close to her. The duck merely tilted his head as it let out a soft. "Psy?" Having the usual blank yet confused look to it.
"That just leaves me and that jerk!" Serena's friend narrowed her eyes as she looked at Damian who was laughing.
"This should be rather easy, if Ketchum could beat your classmate then I can easily beat you! Especially since you're a girl!" Damian laughed while Giselle and Leaf grit their teeth angrily at him.
Serena's friend merely kept a calm head, letting out a Bulbasaur which nearly made Damian fall over from laughter.
"Oooh, you're gonna regret that! Charmander, Ember now!"
Charmander burst out, holding his tail rather nervously as he gazed at Bulbasaur before opening his mouth and shooting off a small burst of flame!
"Vine Whip into the sky, then come crashing down with Tackle!"
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur whipped out her vines, quickly launching herself up and out of the way before coming crashing down on Charmander with a heavy Tackle attack!
"Chaaaar!" Dust flew up for a brief second before revealing Charmander laying beneath Bulbasaur, eyes reduced to mere swirls as Damian let out a frustrated growl. "You little sh-" He rolled up his sleeve only to pause as he realized Oak and Sycamore were there. He reduced to merely glaring at Charmander before returning him to his ball.
"How ironic." Flash muttered, Giselle giggling at his comment while Damien cast the two a deadly glare while growling out.
"Way to go Shauna!" Tierno cheered out.
Lysandre had walked away while Ash had left but had now returned, slowly clapping his hands. "Well done, I'm quite shocked that five of you managed to beat my students." He gazed towards Ash, Zach, Gary, Misty and Giselle as he said that. "But I have one last test for you, I want to see how well you all fare against the school's top student." Sycamore's mood seemed to grow sour again as he glared at Lysandre. "All of you are to have a battle against him, if any of you can succeed in putting a dent in him then you pass! I'll be giving the same test to my own students later."
"A senior?" Misty raised her eyebrow while Zach and Giselle looked like they were about to forfeit right then and there rather than risk harming their Pokemon.
The door soon opened up as a rather tall student with short black hair and piercing blue eyes came stepping in. He was currently wearing a black jacket and had quite the unusual blue scarf around his neck. After a nod from Lysandre the male enlarged a ball before tossing it forward as a Charizard burst from the ball, letting out a loud roar but that wasn't all! The male then touched a stone embedded on the ring around his arm, resulting in Charizard getting engulfed in a huge bright pink light before a larger version of Charizard that had a black and blue color scheme resided in it's place!
"Yeah, forget this." Zach merely waved his hand as he and Lucario turned to walk away, Giselle joining him. "We're no match for a senior let along one with a Mega Evolution and the type advantage!"
"That's Mega Evolution?!" Ash stared in wonder while Misty bit her lip, wondering if she should join Zach and Giselle or stay and fight.
"Meet Alain, he wants to become the strongest Mega Evolution user so he'll be quite the challenge for you!"
Gary thrust out his arm. "I call dibs on first battle, Squirtle use Water Pulse!"
"Squirt!" Squirtle fired off the powerful blast of water as it hit against Charizard's body, though it didn't seem to even scratch or affect it at all. Charizard still standing in the exact same position before Alain ordered an attack.
"Dragon Claw!" Charizard's claws glowed green and with one swipe, Squirtle was taken out of commission! The Water starter laying on his side in defeat as Gary returned Squirtle with a frown. "You did great Squirtle, I probably shouldn't have had you go up against him..."
"Alright Poliwag, let's-"
"Psy!" Psyduck burst back out, holding his head as Misty quickly shot red.
"Get back in the ball you idiot, this isn't the time for your games!"
"PSY!" Psyduck's eyes widened, waving his arms frantically before Misty huffed.
"Okay fine, Confusion!" Though it appeared Psyduck still couldn't use the attack on command. Only being able to do so when he got a headache.
"Blast Burn!" Mega Charizard X's body became engulfed in light blue flames before slamming his foot down against the ground, resulting in a large series or fiery exploding flames to burst out around the battlefield, soon striking Psyduck and showing just how strong he was as the Fire attack took him out! Psyduck laid in defeat as Misty hung her head, Zach and Giselle looked rather relieved to have called it as they held their partner Pokemon rather closely.
Ash wasn't going to give up though, he looked at Espeon who nodded before they stepped forward. Alain showed hardly any emotion at all as he merely looked at Ash as he stepped out.
"You can give up kid, I won't think less of you."
"No way, I'll never become a Pokemon Master if I give up anytime things look impossible!" Ash adjusted his hat before throwing out his arm. "How about we start with a Quick Attack and strike when he least suspects?"
Espeon nodded, quickly darting across the gym while Alain struggled to keep his eyes on the Eeveelution. He let out a growl before uttering out. "Blast Burn!"
"Groooa!" Charizard's tail ignited brightly as he launched off the Fire attack once more, flames exploding out of the ground around Espeon though thankfully missing due to her still using Quick Attack in order to dodge. They were now at Charizard's backside as Ash smirked before shouting out.
"Dig!" Espeon quickly burrowed beneath the ground while Alain gritted his teeth before looking around for the pesky Eeveelution. "Strike with Iron Tail!" Espeon burst out of the ground behind Charizard, her tails shined brightly before she slammed them against the Mega Evolution's wings causing it to let out a pained roar!
Alain's jaw dropped for a brief second, clenching his fists as he could swear Charizard actually looked like he took some damage from that attack!
"Dragon Claw-!"
"Confusion!"
Charizard charged at Espeon with his claws glowing bright green-blue with Dragon energy, Espeon's eyes glowed bright blue as she halted the Mega Evolution in place though it caused her a great strain to do so, she slowly began hoisting Mega Charizard X up before dropping the Mega directly onto his back, the Mega uttered out a pain filled roar as his wings which were previously severely damaged from the last attack were struck yet again! He stood firmly upwards though after a minute, reaching out to slash Espeon with a Dragon Claw and quickly ending the fight! Lysandre stepped on out to examine Charizard while Ash rushed to Espeon's aid, handing his partner Pokemon a Sitrus berry which she quickly ate up.
"Incredible-" Lysandre breathed, pointing at Charizard's stomach where a large red area remained from Espeon's combined attacks landing critical blows. Lysandre reached out to gently touch it only to pull away as Charizard let out a growl of pain, it most certainly struck hard!
"My my, I do believe I've found my protégé."
"I thought I was your protégé?" Alain asked with narrowed eyes only to get ignored as Lysandre focused his attention on Ash, circling him like a predator would its prey.
"How would you like to study under me? You'd have to leave Vermilion Academy behind of course but you'll enjoy it here at Lysandre Academy!"
Ash thought about it for a moment, gazing at Lysandre before looking back towards his friends. He knew Gary practically all his life, he couldn't imagine not being in the same region as him let alone breaking their promise of facing off in the Indigo League while the others? Ash only knew them for a little over a month but he couldn't ask for better friends! The only classmate that he wouldn't mind not seeing again was Damian but he wasn't worth losing Leaf, Brock and the others.
"No deal, Lysandre! I only got here because of my friends and I intend on sticking with them the whole way!"
Lysandre clenched his fists, lowering his head for a brief moment before looking up with his normal cold expression. "Alright then, best of luck to you then!"
Professor Oak turned to his class and waved his hand. "Come on, I'll show you to where you're staying then you can all go off on your own adventures so long as you're back here by Sunday night. We're headed back Monday morning."
That gave them tonight and almost the whole weekend, Ash's heart skipped excitedly as he looked forward to getting to see some of the region before he went back. And possibly catch a Pokemon too, unaware of the one watching him the entire time. The frog's eyes fixated rather heavily on him as he muttered lightly with an impressed look.
"Froakie..."
I actually was going to have a Jigglypuff get caught in the last chapter but then decided against it. I love the anime Jigglypuff and I'd like to do her justice, having Jigglypuff get caught in a few lines and not resurface for a bit didn't feel right. A few people have mentioned it so I thought I'd say it. Jigglypuff will happen whenever I can make a good story for her
'Will we see Hilda, Rosa and Nate?' I've always viewed the four Black and White protagonists as relatives. If Nate and Rosa appear, it'll be as Zach's kids in the epilogue seeing how his birth parents were Hilbert and Gloria. I don't really see a purpose of having them around before then seeing how Ghetsis is supposed to be responsible for wiping his family out and I'd like him to maintain that tribute as it shows how much of a menacing threat he truly is when he eventually crosses paths with Ash and friends