"Statements"

'Thoughts'

Side Notes

"So you're in the Ultra Class, too? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. After all, you gave me some of my toughest battles, even beyond Sinnoh," Ash admitted.

Paul smirked. "I suppose I should feel honored being complemented by the Alola Champion, but don't think I've been slacking off since our last battle. I've covered my flaws as a trainer, and I've spent the better part of the last few months teaching myself to work around them. The Normal and Great class were filled with pushovers. Now that I know you're in the Ultra Class, I'm sure I'll be bound to get some real competition."

"But enough on me. The battle gathering is an event set up for people without a battle ticket. Guess its fair to assume you're not in the Ultra Class Tournament?" Paul continued.

"Nah, still not there yet, but you know better than anyone that I'll get there soon enough, especially since I've got a few bones to pick now."

"Bones to pick? That's strange to hear from you, Ketchum, but it's none of my business. Are we gonna get to this battle?" said the trainer in purple.

"Oh right," Ash nearly forgot about his rival's challenge. "Hey Sirfetch'd, you think you can bag this win for me?"

"Sir," His loyal Pokemon complied.

Paul pulled out his Pokedex and made a quick scan.

"Sirfetch'd, the Wild Duck Pokemod, a Fighting type, and the evolved form of Galarian Farfetch'd. Only Farfetch'd that have survived many battles can attain this evolution. When this Pokemon's leak withers, it will retire from combat."

"Interesting catch. I guess I better bring one of the powerhouses for this one," Paul began, "Drapion, stand by for battle!"

The Ogre Scorp Pokemon grappled its claws together and got ready. Ash gulped, remembering how overwhelmingly powerful that tank was in the Sinnoh League, but his Pokemon bolstered his confidence back up with an inspiriting call.

"Sorry for the little delay, but we're ready. Sirfetch'd, go with your best Fury Cutter!"

"Siiiirrrr," Sirfetch'd invigoratingly called out.

"Intercept!" Paul shouted.

Drapion's front claws extended towards Ash's Pokemon, but failed to secure its target as Sirfetch'd maneuvered around them and cuffed a direct hit on Drapion's face, managing to knock Poison type on its back. The Ogre Scorp got up and shook its head to recuperate - now carrying a vexed expression.

"Looks like you've got some fight in you, but don't let the title of 'friendly battle' fool you. You're about to see far more from Drapion and me," said Paul.

"Well how about you show us." Ash hoped to elicit Paul's fighting spirit.

"Cross Poison!"

"Night Slash!"

Drapion crossed its appendages and projected the 'X'-shaped poison attack, to which its opponent reciprocated with a barrage of dark blades. Despite the swift counterattack, Cross Poison merely trounced Night Slash and managed to hoist the Fighting type back. It exploded in midair, and left Sirfetch'd panting on the ground.

The difference in raw power was made clear to Ash, and he knew they'd have to change up their strategy. From across the field, he could spot his opponent with a proud smirk, which he construed as a disadvantage; Paul wasn't one to express pride from sheer arrogance, at least not solely.

"Guess we're not coming off this battle without a hitch," Ash muttered, now attempting to formulate a feasible counterstrategy.

"If you're not attacking, then we may as well finish the job. Pin Missile!"

Dozens of barbed projectiles soon started making a beeline for Sirfetch'd, who awaited its master's next command.

"Alright Sirfetch'd, try using your leek sword to pole vault yourself up, then slam it down with Fury Cutter!"

Sirfetch'd obeyed and flung itself above the missiles. Drapion was left aghast by the heights it reached, as was its trainer. Paul surmised that any direct hit from such high elevation would surely garner enough momentum to end the battle; he couldn't afford to let it make contact. Fortunately, the farther distance also meant that he was left with plenty of time to forestall the attack.

"Aim a ball of Toxic Spikes and make sure it hits." Paul commanded.

Calling the poisonous orb that approached a mere threat would be downplaying it. As such, Ash had to act quickly in order to preserve his Pokemon's wellbeing, especially if he still held any desire to win this battle.

"Cover yourself with Protect!" Having Sirfetch'd use Protect from its current position in the sky meant having to disrupt its attacking momentum, but Ash's only other option was to let it get poisoned. Either way, this exchange was a triumph for Paul.

Sirfetch'd crashed to the ground. Protect cushioned its fall, but the missed opportunity of a descending blow made for a bleak result.

"You're done for! Pin Missile!" Paul shouted.

"Protect! Wait no-" cried Ash.

Too late.

Unfortunately for him, a Pokemon's inability to constantly repeat the move Protect was not something that crossed his mind in time. The melee attack battered Sirfetch'd, but not enough to badly damage it. Despite Protect's failure, the leek shield still succeeded in diminishing some of the impact, and it's type resistance to Pin Missile definitely helped as well.

Drapion's irritation was a product of its opponent's resilience. Without even a command from Paul, Drapion hurled up an orb of Toxic Spikes that separated to cover the field. Both Paul and Ash were left speechless by the sudden tirade, but the latter knew better than to let that get the better of him.

"Use your shield to keep your feet off the ground!" Ash commanded.

The shield allowed Sirfetch'd to be safe from the Toxic Spikes, but left it an immobile target.

Or so Paul thought.

Paul was perturbed at the sudden turn of events, but composed himself to continue the battle. "If the Toxic Spikes won't poison you, then we'll have to implement it ourselves." Paul shot off.

Drapion began setting up Poison Fang on the now-stationary Sirfetch'd; the peculiar matter was that Ash hadn't shown a single hint of concern on his face.

"Sirfetch'd, you know what to do!" Ash declared.

"Sir," Sirfetch'd nodded.

Drapion was mere inches away from clamping onto its target and ending the battle, but nothing of the sort could occur. In response to its master's order, Sirfetch'd used its sword as leverage to allow it to slide on its shield, evading the charging Drapion.

Paul's eyes widened at the sudden reaction. "But how!?"

"Fury Cutter!" The raven haired trainer exclaimed.

Before Drapion could react, the Wild Duck Pokemon smacked its trunk with an instantaneous Fury Cutter before dashing back on its provisional leek board.

"Again!" Sirfetch'd repeated the same sequence and found just as much success as before. Drapion failed to keep up, leaving it with no choice but to relent and get on the defensive. At this point, Ash's victory seemed imminent.

'I'm going to lose,'

Was the only thing Paul could hear. He closed his eyes in lamentation and lost himself in thought.

'Those two are in complete sync. This entire battle seemed to be nothing more than a mere overture to his next victory. Perhaps I'd never advanced as a trainer, or maybe he's advancing far too fast for me. I've tried using what I learned from our last battle to progress as a trainer. I've learned his techniques and tried my hardest to replicate them, and yet...and yet I'm losing again. Am I really worthy of everything I've accomplished as a trainer? Or was it sheer luck that drove me to where I am?' Paul pondered, clenching his fist in frustration. Memories of Infernape and Electivire surfaced, reminding him of his failure to enforce his philosophies as a trainer.

As these thoughts overcame him, he heard the sound of his Pokemon dropping to the ground. He was startled, but it was what he needed to finally snap out of his trance. Drapion rose as Paul expected to receive a derisive scowl, like the many he'd given to all of his Pokemon when he trained them. But in place of a derisive scowl...was a trustful gaze. At that very moment, a breeze of realization came to him. Drapio-no, all of his truly trusted him, and yet he never knew how to turn that into strength.

"Heh, I get it now. Fine," Paul murmured before reaching out to his rival. "Hey Ketchum!"

"Yeah?"

"I learned a little something. I never became your rival because I copied your parlor tricks. I made the mistake of trying to use your methods to become stronger, but that turned out to be an error in my judgement. The reason I'm your rival is because I challenged your spirit with my strength, just as Cynthia believed. That's what drove me."

Ash smirked. "Then there's nothing else to say. Paul, you're my rival. Win or lose, this battle will show everything we've got as trainers."

Sirfetch'd and Drapion proudly called their names out to confirm their acknowledgement.

Ash had already proven himself to be worthy of this rivalry, and Paul acknowledged this long ago. Now was the time for him to prove that he was worthy, too. The only way to prove himself was to lay everything on the line.

"Drapion! Toxic Spikes!"

It was an uncanny choice as Paul was well aware of how Sirfetch'd kept itself impervious to the Toxic Spikes that were already on the ground, that being the leek shield that it stood on.

'It's a risk, but we have to take it,' Paul thought as he continued his attack, "Pin Missile!"

"Sirfetch'd, fire off Night Slash!" Ash retaliated.

Drapion launched the green needles. But instead of aiming for approaching Night Slashes or the braced Sirfetch'd, it directed the missiles over to the descending Toxic Spikes, creating a large dust cloud above the field; Ash was left baffled at the sight while Paul's Drapion received the full brunt of Night Slash.

"Stay on guard!" Ash exclaimed, but nothing he said could've prepared Sirfetch'd for what came next. From the still existing dust cloud, purple pins blasted down and bombarded Sirfetch'd. The Fighting type tried its best, but failed to persevere through the overwhelming surge of Toxic infused Pin Missiles.

On opposite sides of the field stood two rivals that challenged each other to the bitter end. And once the dust settled, the victor was made clear. The two returned their Pokemon in satisfaction and walked to the middle of the battlefield. Standing face to face with exchanged smirks, they shook hands.

"Great battle," Ash said.

"Yeah, I can't say I'm too disappointed with the result." Paul responded.

"You shouldn't be. After all, you won, and that last attack was unreal."

"I named it 'Toxic Missiles'. It's a devastating move that requires pinpoint precision to properly execute, otherwise, Drapion would have to risk getting caught up in the attack as well. We've trained for weeks, but we'd never gotten a complete hold of it, until now."

"Glad to know I could help."

"We might see a different result in the Ultra Class Tournament."

"You bet! And the next round's going to me." A bold declaration was made. Paul scoffed and began to depart, but not without a parting message.

"Oh, and Ketchum, I heard a member of Sinnoh's Elite 4 was gonna join the tournament, but take that news with a grain of salt." And with that, Paul left.

Ash beamed with excitement, this news got him really pumped for the competition. Despite whatever else he got from this battle, he was just glad to have his spirits lifted back up again for the events to come with Tobias. Pikachu ran up to Ash's shoulder and nestled up to its trainer, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"Thanks buddy. Chloe and the Professor should've arrived by now, what do you say we give them a greeting that only a future Pokemon Master can?" Ash smiled and raised a contented fist.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

Unova Region

"Psycho Cut!"

"Gaaaallllllaaadddeee!"

Virizion was too slow to avoid that atttack and absorbed the full impact.

'Virizion!' Cobalion telepathically exclaimed.

'I am fine, but we must keep running!'

Despite being hit with a super effective attack, Virizion continued to persist, not allowing its pursuers to catch up. However, even legendaries have their limit. After covering multiple miles of distance, they halted at a remote clearing to recover.

'Your injuries are severe. It's best that you remain here for now. I'll lead them to another direction and do what I can to fight them off. When you're good enough to move again, I want you to escape,' Cobalion firmly stated.

'No, Cobalion! I can keep going.' Viridion pleas were heard on deaf ears as its struggle to even stand was made clear.

'I cannot allow any more of my brethren to be caught by those fiends! Keldeo and Terrakion have already been caught. As much as I hate to admit it, you may be the last Sword of Justice to be free, please do no allow the humans to befoul our name any further,' Cobalion spoke.

'Do not speak like that! There's still hope. We can still esca-" Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a roar reverberating throughout the vicinity. They'd been found.

"You didn't believe escape was plausible, did you?" The mystery trainer had returned with an accomplice. Accompanying the trainer and his Gallade, were another trainer and her Salamence.

"Did you truly reject humanity out of spite, or were you simply just too weak to defend your legacy?" The female trainer mocked.

'How dare you mock us!? You humans have vitiated the lives of countless innocent Pokemon! Your selfish desires will be the end of you!' Cobalion's anger and disdain could be felt for miles.

Cobalion summoned a celeste blade above his forehead and lunged for the Salamence, who easily side stepped the attack swatted it with a brutal Dragon Tail. Cobalion pulled itself up, but was only met with the merciless strikes of Close Combat from Gallade.

'You...you foul brutes, how could you turn your back on other Pokemon!?' Even through telepathy, Cobalion's words slurred. It's thoughts were too distorted to focus. Despite being capable of responding through the telepathy, neither Pokemon replied; instead choosing to stare impassively at their fallen victim.

"Their signature Sacred Sword...that was a rather disappointing display," The male hunter commented.

Virizion could only lay mortified as it watched its comrade and leader get beaten down with a flurry of ruthless strikes. When Cobalion's body dropped, the pupils from its eyes had disappeared; it had fallen like the others.

"That had to have hurt, and it was super effective, too." He stated.

He threw a Great Ball at the unconscious Cobalion; the lack of resistance ensured its capture. Tears filled Virizion's eyes when it realized it truly was the only Sword of Justice left.

"You vermin, Rinto! The agreement was for me to catch Cobalion!"

"Settle down, J. You've already caught Terrakion and Keldeo. Besides, we'll have to turn them in to the leader, anyways, so it's not like we can even keep them for long."

Hunter J gave her acquaintance. "You were only recently recruited, Rinto. You have no right to address me as an equal."

Rinto simply ignored her and turned his head to address the uncaught legendary. "Excuse my partner's rudeness. As your allies have already shown, opposition will only prove to be a futile effort. You won't fare any better."

Virizion shook the tears off its face. 'You despicable monsters! I'll never submit!'

"It's a shame." Rinto replied.

"You've made your choice, so I'll make mine." said J.

She looked to her Salamence, who nodded. From its mouth came a scorching Flamethrower that could rupture buildings. The final Sword of Justice closed it's eyes and prepared to accept the fate that approached. The flames loomed in on Virizion, getting ever so close.

Closer

And closer

Bang

Psycho Cut struck a Pokemon, but not the correct one. Standing before what should've been an unconscious Virizion, was an unfazed Charizard.

"Looker, I found them," Alain spoke over the intercom.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Champion of Kalos?" Hunter J berated.

"Rinto and Hunter J, are my assumptions correct?" Alain questioned.

"Salutations," Rinto tauntingly bowed.

"Both of you have some impressive backgrounds. The most infamous Pokemon bounty hunter along with a trainer of the Ultra Class. I was sent here by request of the International Police to interrogate you on the group known as 'Team Scythe'."

Hunter J evaluated their predicament. Even a 2-on-1 handicap could prove to be useless against a champion. "A practical response on their behalf. But Unova is quite the distance from Kalos, was the Champion of Unova too busy to defend her own region?"

The Kalos Champion remained silent, much to her chagrin.

"A personal goal of mine was to negotiate. I've shared similar experiences under a criminal organization, so I may be capable of comprehending your intentions. If you leak what intel you know of Team Scythe, we'll lighten the severity of your punishment, perhaps even letting you free."

Rinto sighed and readjusted his tie. "And that's where you misunderstand. My allegiance with Scythe was meant to aid a personal cause. The Swords of Justice have willingly turned their backs on humans, so they're expendable to our society. The Pokemon they've been 'protecting' can grow strong with the help of humans. These so called legends simply want to put themselves on a pedestal by keeping these wild Pokemon weak and isolating them. Take your Charizard, for example. It must've had its modest beginnings as a frail Charmander, now its the most powerful Pokemon in Kalos."

"So the grounds of your philosophy are the mutual interrelations of human and Pokemon. And thus, you've discarded the legendary Swords of Justice, Pokemon who've consistently retained their refusal to connect with humans." Alain answered.

"Exactly. They're a lost cause. Our world has already proven itself to revolve around that concept. Those who fail to adhere must simply be cast aside for other purposes. That is my belief. I've suppressed this desire and believed it to be an impossible goal, only for it to resurface when I'd been acquainted with Team Scythe. They held the power to make that desire a reality. So tell me, where do you stand on that ideology?"

Their adversary listened intently. "I do believe in the relations of human and Pokemon, but I also believe the right to disregard it, at least to a certain extent. In layman's terms, I disagree with you."

Despite expecting that answer, Rinto's face contorted into a sullen grimace.

"And what of J. How did you survive Lake Valor?"

"Don't expect an answer, I won't be as compliant as my subordinate. But for what it's worth, I do take pride in knowing that I wasn't a stray lapdog like you were for Team Flare."

In contrast to Rinto's civil manner of diction, Hunter J took a more hostile approach with her speech patterns. They shared one thing in common, however, and its that their Pokemon were more than strong enough to reinforce their ideals.

Alain went silent for a few seconds. "For such prideful individuals, you're both certainly gullible."

Rinto was at a loss of words, while Hunter J looked disgruntled, but both soon came to realize the meaning behind their enemy's statement. The outline of a fleeing Virizion had entered their peripheral vision.

"You were stalling?!" The slate haired hunter was outraged by the deception. Salamence and Gallade began their pursuit, but were both caught and thrust back by an amused Charizard.

"Its been quite some time since we got this back," Alain spoke, raising his arm in the process, "You ready, Charizard?"

The smile on its face was all he needed to see. In one swift motion, he tapped the stone on his wrist and the battle began.

4 extra things:

1. Yes, Rinto is part of Team Scythe and I moved him up to the Ultra Class offscreen. Since his character in the actual Journeys anime isn't too fleshed out, I figured I'd take a few liberties with it. And since he hasn't been completely established to be a morally good person, I didn't think turning him evil would be too much of a leap for his character(the anime might change this). One of his "values" in the canon is that he respects trainers who're fully connected with their Pokemon, so I just amped it up and twisted a few things to fit the story.

2. As for Hunter J, I'll expand more as to how she survived being consumed by the Lake Valor whirlpool from DP's Team Galactic arc.

3. Alain defeated Diantha to become the Kalos Champion. I guess I did cheapen out on Diantha's part(especially since I never intended on writing up their battle), but I might be willing to do a retcon if popular demand says so.

4. Don't worry, I won't be forgetting about Serena, Chloe, and Goh. They may not get as much spotlight as the battlers(depending on what direction I take with the rest of the story), but I promise to include more of them in future chapters.

5. Unfortunately, summer break is coming to an end for me and I'll be heading back to school, which means I'll have less time to publish new chapters. Sorry for the little inconvenience but it is what it is.