Chapter 8: The battle with a rival, part 1

As Ash (with Pikachu on his shoulder), Gary, Leaf, Dawn, Bonnie and Max made their way towards the Oak's Lab, they noticed the others who were staying at the lab except Tracey and Lusamine, coming towards them.

As soon as Ash's former classmates saw him and the others, they grew excited and ran towards them with smiles on their faces except for Kiawe who walked calmly with his hands in his pocket, similar to Gladion.

"Hey guys! Morning!" Sophocles warmly greeted as he came to a stop in front of them. They greeted back.

"Say, is it only me or is Ash looking happy more than he usually is?" Lillie asked curiously after noticing how Ash was grinning as the others joined in.

Ash stuck his tongue out and rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly as those who knew the reason why, grinned but then shook their head.

Noticing this Ash scowled at them.

"What!? I can't help it! Anyone of you would have probably been on cloud nine if you were given an invitation yourself. I mean, c'mon! Having a battle with the Pokémon master is like a dream come true! Even though it's just an exhibition match…" He nearly grumbled the last part.

The Alolans gasped in surprise.

"What!? A battle with the Pokémon master!? And an invitation!? When in the world did that happened!?" Kiawe exclaimed in surprise, his previous calm demeanour forgotten.

"This morning." Dawn replied calmly with a smile.

"And he's been in his dream world ever since then." Leaf grinned.

"I was not!" Ash retorted.

"You totally were!"

"Was not!"

"Was!"

"Was not!"

"Was!"

"Wa-". "Except it, Ash. You were." Max said while stopping him mid-sentence.

"Yeah." "Pikachu!" Gary and Pikachu agreed while Bonnie and Dawn nodded.

Ash turned his head away from them as he folded his hands over his chest and grumbled.

"I told you~" Leaf replied with a smug smile.

Ash scowled at her but didn't say anything.

Everyone sweatdropped at his reaction.

'Acting like a kid. That's Ash for ya'!' Everyone thought but didn't say it out loud.

"Sooo, anyway, where are you all going?" Mallow asked.

"Ash and Gary here were going to have a battle for Ash's exhibition match against the Pokémon master." Dawn told them.

"So, it's a training battle, huh?" Lana said out loud.

"Not quite." Ash replied.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" It was Leaf who asked.

Gary grinned as he kept an arm on Ash's shoulder and leaned in.

"Well, you see, Ashy-Boy here has only been able to defeat me once and that was during the Silver Conference. Even after I turned into a researcher, we battled quite a few times but I always won-"

"That was pretty bad…" "Chu…" Ash grumbled under his breath and Pikachu agreed but unfortunately for them, every one heard.

Gary snickered. "-so, seeing how Ash is going to go up against the Pokémon Master and now holds an official title of league champion, we are going to take this match VERY seriously."

"Yup! And this time I am going to win!" Ash exclaimed as he flew his fist in the air.

"Pi pikachpi!" Pikachu agreed while mimicking his trainer's actions.

"Keep dreaming Ashy-Boy. Because the one who's going to win this match is me."

"Don't decide the outcome of the battle before it's over Oak." Ash said, his confident smile never leaving his face.

Gary smirked back. "We'll see about that Ashy-boy, we'll see." Gary said as he patted Ash's shoulder.

"Alright then! Onto the battlefield! I can't wait to see this battle undergo!" Leaf exclaimed and ran off while holding the hands of the two people who were closest to her, who happened to be Bonnie and Dawn.

"Whoa!" The two girls exclaimed at the sudden pull because of which they almost lost their footing.

Leaf stopped and turned around with a blush on her face as she left their hands. "Whoops! Sorry you guys! Got a little carried away there."

"Yeah, we could see that." Sophocles replied as he stared at her. Leaf's blush deepened.

"The thing is, I've never really seen anyone of these two battle before, other than T.V that is, so, I got excited."

"It's alright Leaf, we understand." Dawn told her with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah." Bonnie agreed with a smile.

She smiled back at them. 'Ash's friends are all so nice.' She thought to herself.

"In that case Leaf, I can't wait for you to see how badly I defeat Gary here. Right Pikachu!?" Ash declared while patting Pikachu's head.

"Pikcha!" Pikachu agreed.

"As I said before, dream on Ashy-boy." Gary replied calmly and right after that they started glaring at each other as sparks flew through there eyes.

Leaf observed them for a moment and grinned. Gladion noticed this and asked her why she was grinning as everyone's attention turned towards her other than the two boys who were having a staring competition.

Leaf turned towards him with mischievous shinning in her eyes. "Just watch."

Everyone got questioning looks on their faces as she turned towards the two boys. But their questions were soon answered when they saw what happened next.

Leaf shouted, "The last one to reach the battlefield is a Caterpie!" And just like that, the two boys started running while trying not let the other get ahead. Within second they disappeared out of sight.

Pikachu sweatdropped, being the only oldest member there right now who knew full well of the history between the rivals. Other than Leaf(from when they were kids), anyway.

"…. That was fast." Bonnie said in bewilderment.

"I know right." Leaf grinned. "I don't even have to try when those two are like that."

The others chuckled.

"I think it's time we get going. I don't think any of the two are going to sit there patiently and wait." Max said.

"Yeah. Knowing them, they would probably start the match as soon as they reach the battlefield." Dawn replied.

Everyone started to laugh and ran towards the direction where the two boys left.

"First!" The two pallet rivals shouted in unison as soon as they reached the middle of the battlefield.

"You lost your mind or something Ashy-boy? I am the one who reached here first."

"Quit your babbling Gary Oak. No one wanna hear it because everyone knows I reached here first! Right you guys?"

The two teens turned towards the others only to find an empty field with no one else there but them.

"….."

"….."

After a moment of silence, they collapsed on the ground, taking support from the others back as they breathed tiredly.

"She did it again. Didn't she?" Ash groaned and facepalmed.

Gary nodded. "That damn girl." He cursed.

"Pikapi!"

Ash looked up and saw Pikachu running towards them.

The Alolan champion smiled at the sight of his Pokémon and opened up his arms. On seeing his trainer's arm spread wide, Pikachu sped faster and jumped onto his trainer's arms and relished the much-appreciated hug.

"Sorry for leaving you behind buddy."

Pikachu waved off his little paws in dismissal as he made himself comfortable in his trainer's lap.

Ash smiled at his starter and rubbed the back of his ear which caused the Pokémon to 'chaaaaa' in the cutest way possible.

Gary saw the interaction with amusement in his eyes and couldn't stop himself from thinking that how happy and cute the two looked together as a smile formed on his face.

Ash turned towards him and gave a confused look. "What!?"

Gary blinked and then quickly shook his head. "Nothing."

"Just thinking that how that girl made a fool out of us in front of the people she met just the other day." Gary quickly replied 'cause never in his whole life is he ever going to tell Ash that he looks cute. Not in this life and not in any other. He is an Oak after all.

"Yeah. Tell me about it. She can't even let me have a break. I just came back home yesterday after winning the Manalo Conference!"

Pikachu chuckled.

Ash looked down at his partner. "You are laughing at me. Aren't you?"

Pikachu looked up at his trainer with an innocent eye and an innocent smile which could have sent any girl unconscious at the cuteness it was emitting, but almost sadly enough for Pikachu, Ash wasn't a girl.

"Well, you are laughing the wrong way. Let me teach you how to laugh."

And before Pikachu could jump out of his lap and run away, Ash caught him from the waist and started tickling him mercilessly.

Then and there Pikachu decided to electrocute his trainer without any second thought like he usually did as sparks came out of his cheeks but that didn't faze Ash as he ignored Pikachu's warning and continued with the tickling. Having no choice left, Pikachu more than happily let out his electricity with his eyes closed for a good few second, but the tickling never stopped. The poor Pokémon opened his eyes in confusion only to see Ash all good and healthy as if he never electrocuted him. What's more, his trainer had a smug look on his face!

On the confused look in Pikachu's eyes, Ash decided to reveal the secret behind 'no electrocution'.

"These gloves aren't my usual one's buddy. Aunt Blue gave them to me this morning and guess what? They are electric proof. Pretty handy item. Don't you think?" Ash grinned.

"Pika!" Pikachu denied and sent daggers at the cursed gloves while laughing as Ash kept on tickling him.

Ash chuckled as a certain yellow electric mouse Pokémon's laughter filled the air.

All the while Gary Oak sat a few feet away from Ash and Pikachu, afraid of being electrocuted in his rival's stead and watched them with amusement.

"Did you guys hear that?" Mallow questioned as everyone jogged towards the battlefield.

On Mallow's question, they all stopped jogging, just then they heard the laughter of a Pokémon.

Lillie squinted her eyes to see where the laughter was coming from when she noticed the silhouettes of a certain champion tickling his starter while his rival sat a few feet away from him.

"There they are, huh?" Kiawe mused.

"Looks like they are having fun." Leaf said as she observed them while a small smile made its way to her lips.

Lillie noticed the approving look in her eyes at the pallet rivals interaction and it got her confused.

'What's with that look?'

But before she could ponder over the thought any further, Max's exclamation pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Man! Am I glad that they didn't start the match without us!"

"No kidding! Anyway, let's hurry up! We shouldn't keep them waiting any longer." Bonnie told them.

"Why? They are in sight, right? So, what's the rush?" Sophocles asked.

"Are you nuts!? Can't you see what's happening there?"

"They are having fun?"

"No! Ash is killing his starter! So, if we reach there quickly then we can stop the inevitable from happening! C'mon you guys!" And with that Bonnie ran off.

..…

"Wasn't that a little too farfetched?" Gladion asked.

"Maybe. But Ash sure isn't showing any mercy to Pikachu." Max answered while watching bonnie run off towards the two boys.

"I am surprised he hasn't been electrocuted yet." Lana stated.

Everyone chuckled.

"I think we should hurry and stop Pikachu's torture. Piplup here is getting uneasy at sensing his best friend's distraught…. aura." Dawn said as she kept a hand over Piplup's shaking poke ball to tell him to calm down.

The others nodded and so they made their way towards the champion of Alola and his greatest rival who was sitting in the middle of the battlefield.

"Ash!"

On hearing his name called, Ash looked up and saw Bonnie coming towards them. And that little distraction was enough for Pikachu to get out of his trainer's grip and run away for dear life. He ran and hid behind Bonnie.

Ash cursed under his breath while Pikachu stuck his tongue out at him. On seeing the interaction, Gary chuckled.

On hearing Gary laugh, Ash turned towards him with frustration written all over his face.

"So, you think it's funny, huh?"

"What!? No! Not at all! I mean I was thinking of something else. I wasn't laughing at you." Gary regretted saying the last line as soon as the words came out and cursed under his breath.

"So you were laughing at me!" Ash growled and lunged forward towards him but Gary was quick to get out of the way. The young professor in the making quickly stood up and ran as the newly crowned champion chased after him.

As Gary ran, he saw Leaf and Dawn coming towards them (with others but he ignored them for the time being since he didn't know the others all that well) and never has he been more relieved to see the two girls in his life than he is now.

'Those girls always show up at the perfect time that it's almost unbelievable! Not that I am not happy about it.' He thought and started running towards Leaf and Dawn.

As soon as he reached them, Gary quickly hid behind the two girls who got surprised at the sudden action but then calmed down..

"What are you hiding behind the girls for? You coward!?" Ash growled at him as he came to a stop in front of the two girls.

And then he smirked.

"Scaredy little cat! And here I thought the great Gary Oak wasn't afraid of anything! You surely proved me wrong today! Isn't that right Leaf?"

"Yup! Yup! My thoughts exactly Ash! And to think Gare-Bear is cowering behind girls!" Leaf replied as she walked towards Ash and kept her arm over his shoulder and smirked at Gary who was now completely behind Dawn.

Ash and Leaf turned their face towards each other with smiles and let out a long 'Right!?'

"Hey! Hey! I asked for your help here Lea! And you are betraying me? That's not fair!" Gary complained.

"You never asked me for my help Gare-bear. You simply hid behind me and that's not called 'asking help'. Besides, when did I say I was going to take your side anyway? Hmm?" She asked with a grin.

"Why you…"

"Now, now, guys! I don't think it's good to fight here. So, calm down. Ok?" Dawn said.

"What are you two fighting about anyway?" She further asked.

"Oaktree here was making fun of me!"

"I wasn't!"

"You said you were!"

"I didn't say anything like that!"

"You did!"

"Quit it boys!" Dawn interjected while stopping the two boys from further argument.

The two rivals quickly quiet down when they heard Dawn scream.

"Why don't you two settle it down with a battle? Besides, isn't that the reason why we came here in the first place?" Dawn suggested.

"Sounds good to me! But let me go and get my Pokémon first."

"What!? You don't have them with you? You should have brought them, Ash." Leaf told him.

"Well, that was my plan, to get them while crossing the lab, but thanks to a certain someone who made me run all over here and made a complete fool out of me, I couldn't!" He glared at Leaf while she stood there with an innocent look in her eyes and a sweet smile on her face as she said, "Your welcome!". "I wasn't thanking you!" Ash shouted at her. Leaf looked at him with a confused look on her face and asked, "You were not?" and then she smiled. "Oh, well, anyway, I think it's about time that you go and get your Pokémon Ashlyn!"

"Don't call me tha- ". He didn't get to complete his sentence as Leaf gave him a light push from the shoulders, telling him to get moving.

Ash grumbled as he walked away with an 'I hate you.'

Leaf heard this and waved him off and replied, "I love you too!". A blush formed on her face but she quickly calmed herself down.

Ash's face suddenly went beet red as he hid his face with his hat and quickly ran off.

Leaf chuckled and turned around towards Gary and Dawn.

"Looks like Dawn saved you, huh? Gary?"

"Yeah. No kidding. Thanks, Dawn. I owe you one."

"Your welcome. I guess. But I didn't do much. It was Leaf who helped you out in the end." Dawn rubbed the back of her head as a slight blush appeared on her face out of embarrassment.

"Me? Help Gary? Puh-lease! I wouldn't do it even if the world was coming to an end! Besides, I was just teasing Ash for my own entertainment!" Leaf said as she flicked her hair.

"That's true." Gary agreed.

Dawn sweatdropped.

"Anyhow, let's go where the others are and wait for Ash to come back."

The two palletions nodded. And so, they jogged up towards the others.

They went to the side of the battlefield where everyone was standing. When they reached the others, Lana asked what all the ruckus was about while Leaf and Dawn told them what happened. Pikachu was hiding in Bonnie's bag, a place usually occupied by a certain electric/fairy type Pokémon, native to Kalos who was sitting on Bonnie's head at the moment, and listened to what the girls were saying.

After making sure that his trainer wasn't around anymore to torture him, he jumped out of the bag and curled himself on the green grass in front of Leaf for a much-needed rest after the tickling torture as the group was now sitting.

Ash stood in front of his ranch as he saw all his Pokémon training with each other according to the instructions he had given them as a smile crept.

He moved his gaze away from them and looked down when he felt someone nudge at his leg and saw no one other than Bulbasaur with confusion in his eyes.

He smiled at the Kanto starter and told him that he was here to pick some Pokémon for his battle against Gary.

Bulbasaur nodded and smiled back at his trainer as he realized what that meant and went to tell a certain Pokémon that their trainer called him.

Ash watched Bulbasaur disappear somewhere in the ranch and then turned his attention back to the group of Pokémon who were training near him and sighed.

Now out of so many Pokémon, he only had to choose four….. which was a hard task.

Who was he going to choose?

Before he could ponder over the thought any further, he suddenly felt a familiar aura nearby but when he looked around, he couldn't see anyone other than his Pokémon.

What was going on?

Just then, a wave of air hit him in the back because of which he almost tripped but just as soon regained his composure and turned around. There was no one there and he grew anxious.

Feeling the anxiety coming from their trainer, all the Pokémon stopped training and turned to look at him with their guards up!

Before Ash could take any action, he again felt a familiar aura, though this was different, coming from a distance. Ash's head quickly snapped towards the sky and soon enough he could see something coming towards them. All of his Pokémon surrounded Ash, thinking that it could be another attack from those 'shadow beast' but as it came closer, Ash was easily able to identify who it was, but he couldn't believe his eyes.

Though, soon enough he broke into a large grin.

As he stepped forward to get closer to the coming figure, he suddenly bumped into something invisible in front of him and fell down. When he looked up, he saw a ripple in the air.

The Pokémon started to growl as the ripple grew thicker and thicker but soon, few of them stopped when the invisible thing that Ash bumped into got visible. Noticing the astonished looks from some of the older Pokémon, others quitted down.

And Ash?

He couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"Man! What's taking Ash so long!?" Max complained as he fell back on the green grass with his hands under his head as he gazed up at the vivid blue sky.

"With Pokémon as many as he has, I am not surprised it's taking him this long." Lillie said.

"Yeah, choosing just six Pokémon out of that many…" Leaf agreed.

"Not six but Five. Pikachu is a given in a battle against Gary." Dawn told them.

"Actually Dawn, change that to four because Charizard is also a given." Gary corrected.

"Oh! So, you two will be doing a repeat of the Silver conference?" Kiawe asked.

"Not exactly. But pretty much, yeah," Gary answered as Kiawe nodded in understanding.

"You mean that match where Gary lost despite having a type advantage?" Leaf asked as she looked at Gary with a smirk.

Gary blushed in embarrassment.

"How do you even know about that!?"

"Because I saw it on T.V., live." Leaf replied nonchalantly as she rubbed Pikachu's back, much to Pikachu's appreciation.

"Weren't you travelling at that time? Didn't you had a league to take part in?"

"Yup! I indeed was travelling and I did have a league to take part in but Mom told me that you two would be competing in the Silver conference and I couldn't miss that for the world! So obviously, I stayed at the Pokémon centre to watch it all. Though I only saw your match. Not the whole thing. I was running late, you see."

"That aunt Blue….. even miles away and she can't leave me alone!" Gary mumbled to himself but Leaf heard him.

"Why of course! She can't leave you alone. She always remembers you in her prayers. Aren't you happy she thinks so much about you?" She asked the last part with a fake hurt tone.

Gary opened his mouth to speak but Leaf quickly interrupted him.

"No!? That hurts Gare-bear. And she loves you so much too!" She said with the same fake sad tone.

"At least let me say!" Gary exclaimed.

Leaf turned her head at the side and stuck her tongue out.

"Leaf!"

She chuckled and so did the others as Gary turned red.

He growled at her and she apologized.

"Hmph! Anyways, -"

Before he could continue any further, he got cut off by Ash's voice coming from a distance.

They all looked towards the direction where the voice came from and saw Ash running towards them.

He had a large grin on his face.

They waited as Ash reached them.

Just as Ash reached them, Pikachu squeaked and jumped into Leaf's arm.

Noticing this Ash scowled at him.

"Ha, Ha, Ha! Very funny!" He said sarcastically as he glared at his starter. Pikachu stuck his tongue out at his trainer.

Before Ash could retort at his actions, Lana interrupted him.

"What took you so long? We had started getting bored here!"

Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and replied, "Sorry about that! Things... came up."

He unconsciously smiled.

Everyone raised an eyebrow at this but shrugged as they stood up from the ground.

"Well can we start the match already!? I am dying to see a battle between you two!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"The feeling's mutual Bonnie." Max said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Alright, alright! Calm down you two! C'mon Oaktree Let's get this started!" Ash exclaimed as he ran off towards one side of the battlefield with Pikachu on tow.

"Then let's get this party started!" Gary smirked as he went towards the other side of the field.

"I will be refereeing!" Leaf exclaimed as she happily went at the middle of the battlefield.

Before she could say anything, a flash of light came from behind her and when she turned to look at what happened, she came face to face with a certain water type Sinnoh starter who was scolding his trainer for not taking him out of the damn ball sooner as Dawn apologized and promised to give him some Poppins later as an apology. Piplup thought for a moment and decided to agree at the offer. He then turned towards the battlefield and gave Pikachu a thumbs up as Pikachu gave him one of his own.

"Those two are such a cute pair!" Leaf smiled as she thought so and then turned back towards the battlefield as everyone did the same.

"This is a battle between Ashlyn Ketchum and Gare Bear Oak-"

"Leaf Hazel!" The said boys shouted in unison.

"Sorry, Sorry!" Leaf chuckled as the two boys glared at her.

"Let's try again." She said and began

"At the green corner, we have Gary Oak and on the red corner, we have Ash Ketchum! This is a six vs six unofficial battle between the two Pallet trainers. Substitutions are allowed. When all the Pokémon of a trainer is unable to battle, the battle ends." leaf said as she looked at the two trainers who were looking at each other with determined expressions. So, she continued.

"Are both trainers ready!?"

Ash and Gary nodded.

"Then let the battle begun!"

As soon as Leaf finished speaking, the boys threw their respective poke balls simultaneously as the poke ball opened up with a flash!

When the light dimmed out, there stood two dual flying type Pokémon.

"Aerodactyle!"

"Rowlet!"

The respective Pokémon cried out their names and locked eyes with each other.

Ash gulped inwardly at seeing the rock/flying type Pokémon as a bad memory started playing in his head but quickly shook his head not wanting to ponder over the thought.

"Why does Ash suddenly look like he is nervous after seeing the Aerodactyle?" Lillie asked.

"Because he has a history with it" Dawn and Max grinned.

"Double Team!" Ash called out without wasting another second.

"Aerodactyle use Rockslide!"

"Dodge it and use Ominous wind!"

Gary grit his teeth as he watched Rowlet, who successfully dodged the attack and attacked with Ominous wind which hit Aerodactyle and caused him to lose his balance but regained it just as quickly.

"Use Crunch!"

"Protect and use Steel wing!"

"Quick dodge it!

But Aerodactyle was a few seconds late as steel wing made contact right at his chest and send him flying towards his trainer and past him. He came to a stop when his back hit at a nearby tree.

Ash smirked while Gary called out to his Pokémon, asking if was okay or not.

Aerodactyle shakily stood up and shook his head. He flew back at the battlefield and gave his trainer a thumbs up as he looked at Gary with determination filled eyes. Gary sighed in relief.

"That was some power!" Bonnie exclaimed in awe.

"Yeah. No kidding! Even though he is at a disadvantage." Max agreed.

"Even if he is at a type disadvantage, steel wing is a steel type move so that had to make some damage." Kiawe said.

"Not to mention that the move had a lot of power in it too." Mallow pointed out.

"And the ominous wind he used earlier gave him a boost." Gladion added.

"But what I am curious about is when in the world did he learn those moves?" Lillie wondered.

"My thoughts exactly!" Lana agreed.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"What they mean is that Ash's Rowlet didn't know those moves before and he didn't use them during the league either." Leaf answered.

"How do you know that?" Bonnie asked.

"Because I saw the finals and the exhibition match."

The others nodded in understanding.

"But the question that actually arises here is that did he really didn't know those moves or he just didn't use it? It could be that Ash and Rowlet were working on those moves even before the league started because you can't learn Ominous wind in an overnight." Leaf said with her eyes glued on the battlefield and her hand folded near her chest.

What leaf just said, left everyone wondering as they made a mental note to ask Ash about this later.

"Alright, Aerodactyle! Let's show them who the boss is! Attack with Dragon breath!"

"Protect and then use Leaf Blade!"

"Block it with Aerial Ace!"

The two attacks collided, forming a big cloud of dust which blocked the two Pokémon from the sight.

Everyone held their breath.

After the dust settled down a little, both Pokémon were yet again visible and were flying as they glared at each other.

"Bite!"

"Quickly dodge it!"

But Aerodactyle came so fast that Rowlet didn't have the time to dodge and got hit because of which he fell down on the ground.

"Rowlet!" Ash called out in worry as Rowlet tried to get up.

"You think you can keep on fighting buddy!?" Ash asked, afraid that he might be pushing his Pokémon too hard.

Rowlet shook his head to remove the dizziness from his head as he stood up and looked at his trainer with determination and nodded.

Ash smiled as Rowlet flew up in the air again.

"Alright so then! Time for some payback! Use Feather dance!"

Rowlet threw a cluster of feathers towards Aerodactyle as he was enveloped in it.

"Tch! Use take down!"

"Giga drain!"

Both trainers said in unison but the first Pokémon whose attack was hit on its target was Rowlet who was soon after hit by takedown.

Both Pokémon fell on the ground as they tried to stand up.

"Get ready for a solar beam!" Ash ordered and soon enough Rowlet started to store up energy.

"Don't let him! Use hyper beam!" Gary barked out the order though it took Aerodactyle a few minutes to unleash the Hyper beam and just as it was unleashed, on the other side Rowlet had unleashed his Solar beam as well.

The two attacks collided causing a big explosion in the middle of the battlefield as dust flew all around.

"What was that!?" Lusamine asked in alarm when she heard the sound of an explosion.

Delia, who was sitting beside her in the Ketchum residence's backyard with the others, waved a hand in dismissal as she took a sip of the tea.

Blue chuckled.

"Don't worry Lusamine. It's not a big deal. Must be Ash and his friends." Blue told her as she took a sip of the tea herself.

Burnet nodded.

"Yeah! Those kids must be having a battle or something. No big deal." Kukui replied as he took a bite of the biscuit kept on the table.

Lusamine looked at them with a stunned expression as she thought how in the world were they so calm after hearing an explosion like that…

She could only wonder.

"What happened!?" Bonnie and Max exclaimed in unison as they coughed due to a large amount of dust that was flying around.

They couldn't see the battlefield! What were the results!? What happened!?

Everyone thought the same things as they tried to see through the huge clouds of dust and into the battlefield.

"What do you think could have happened!?" Lillie asked.

"I don't know. Both sides were equally wounded." Dawn replied.

"That was one strong attack! Brings back memories!" Leaf grinned as she mused aloud.

Everyone looked at her curiously but didn't bother her about what she meant by that.

"….. so, who do you think won?" Lana asked Leaf.

She turned towards Lana with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes as she replied, "I am betting that it's a draw!"

"A draw!?" Sophocles exclaimed.

Leaf grinned. "Just wait and watch."

Everyone turned their attention back at the battlefield and waited with their held breaths till the cloud of dust settled down.

When the dust settled down at one side of the field, they saw a fainted Aerodactyle lying on the ground while on the other side of the battlefield, Rowlet…. had also collapsed. Both the Pokémon had swirls in their eyes.

A draw.

"Both sides of the Pokémon are unable to battle! As such, this match is a draw!" Leaf exclaimed with a grin.

Both the trainers looked at their Pokémon in shock but then quickly shook their heads and ran towards their respective Pokémon!

"Are you alright Aerodactyle!?" Gary asked as he laid his Pokémon's head in his lap.

Aerodactyle opened his eyes weakly and sadly looked at his trainer as he apologized for loosing.

Gary reassured him that it's okay and told him that he did a great job. After that, he sent him back inside his poke ball.

On the other side, Ash told Rowlet the same thing as he picked him up in his arms and walked up to Gary with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Hey Oak tree! Is that the same Aerodactyle you told me about!?" Ash asked.

Gary grinned as he stood up.

"It sure is!"

Ash's eyes twinkled in amazement.

"Cool! I've wanted to have a battle with er…"

Pikachu facepalmed.

"Him."

"Right. Him. With him ever since you told me about it! And I am so happy I finally got to have a battle with him! He is really strong! Just what I had expected!"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

Gary smirked as he let his pride take over.

"Courtesy's of Gary Oak! And who else!?" Gary grinned.

Before Ash could reply, Leaf asked as she walked up to them.

"What are you guys talking about!?"

Gary grinned as he replied.

"It's a long story. I will tell you after the battle." Leaf nodded.

The two trainers turned and walked back towards the trainer's boxes as Rowlet flew over to Lillie and sat on her head and fell asleep.

Lillie chuckled as she sent her attention back towards the battle that was about to begin.

"Are both trainers ready!?" Leaf asked as she took the position of the referee again.

They nodded.

"Trainers sent out your next Pokémon!"

"Pikachu, I choose you!"

"Umbreon, I choose you!"

Both the trainers shouted simultaneously as Pikachu jumped off of his trainer's shoulder and onto the battlefield while Gary threw his poke ball and with a flash of light, came out Umbreon.

Both the Pokémon looked at each other and smirked as sparks flew out of Pikachu's cheeks.

"Those two looks like they are old rivals," Kiawe mused.

"That's because they are." Dawn agreed while Max nodded.

"At least that's what we have been told." Max added. Dawn agreed.

"Bite!"

"Dodge using Agility!"

"Tch! Use snarl!"

"Don't Let him! Quick-Iron Tail!"

Pikachu used a quick attack with his tail ready to attack and quickly got close to Umbreon and without giving him any time to dodge, he hit him with an iron tail. The iron tail hit Umbreon in the back and he fell flat on the ground as he winced in pain while Pikachu backed off. He smirked at the dark type as Umbreon glared at him and stood up.

"What the!?" Leaf exclaimed in astonishment.

Max and Bonnie chuckled.

"That's Ash's speciality!"

"Don't let him recover! Use thunder tackle!"

"Quick! dodge it with a quick attack and confuse him with double team!"

Soon enough there were multiple copies of Umbreon around Pikachu. As he struggled to find the real Umbreon, the dark type attacked him with dark pulse. Pikachu got hit by the attack and went flying towards Ash as he fell down in front of him but stood up just as quickly and glared at Umbreon who stood there calmly with a smug smile on his face.

"Thunder Battlefield!"

Pikachu ran towards Umbreon as he stored a large amount of electricity in his tail and jumped towards him to hit him with the attack but Umbreon quickly dodged the attack.

"Ha! Missed!" Gary exclaimed

"Wrong! Right on aim!" Ash corrected

Pikachu slammed the large amount of electricity into the ground with a grin on his face, causing huge rocks to fly in the air which hit Umbreon though he was successful to dodge a few while Gary had a shocked expression on his face.

"Hell, no way! He used that! But I guess I should have seen that coming!" Dawn grinned.

"What do you mean?" Sophocles asked

"That move was originally used by someone else on Ash."

"On Ash?" Max asked.

"On his Pokémon, duh!" Dawn rolled her eyes.

"In which battle?" Lana asked.

"In a battle between Infernape and Electrivire." (A/N: I don't remember if he used it while battling Ash or while battling Barry. If I am wrong, correct me.)

"Electrivire?" Gary asked when he heard the name while turning towards them.

"Not yours, dummy! It was Paul's"

"Paul?" Leaf asked curiously when she noticed the way Gary's eyes widened and Ash smirked.

"Ash's toughest rival ever."

(A/N: Paul was there during the whole gathering but Leaf didn't have enough time to interact with everyone in the short time so she doesn't know him, though she does remember how everyone looked like. Also, she doesn't remember everyone's name and their relationship with Ash)

Ash grinned as he quickly ordered another attack.

"Electric slam!"

Pikachu ran up to Umbreon while gathering electricity and absorbing it in his tail as he slammed him with his electrified tail sending him flying towards the feet of his trainer. As Umbreon tried to stand up Ash ordered.

"Thundershock!"

"Dodge it with a quick attack!"

At the end second, Umbreon was able to Dodge the attack successfully.

"Use agility! While increasing your speed get close to him and use skull bash!"

As soon as Umbreon reached Pikachu, who was trying to aim a thunder shock on Umbreon, He attacked the electric type with a skull bash and sent him flying out of the field.

Pikachu stood up on wobbly feet but before Ash could say anything, Gary ordered.

"Psychic!"

Pikachu suddenly flew into the air and was slammed down into the ground two times as dust flew around the electric type.

Umbreon stopped using psychic on Pikachu as everyone waited for the dust to settle down.

Once the dust settled sown, Pikachu could be seen lying on the ground.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out in worry.

"Pika!" He called out as he tried to stand up.

"Not gonna let you! Tackle!" Gary ordered.

Umbreon ran up to him.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out.

Umbreon reached the said Pokémon and was ready to tackle when Ash smirked and ordered.

"Now!"

Pikachu jumped on his foot just when Umbreon was going to make contact and slammed him with an electrified Iron-tail.

Umbreon cried out in pain as Pikachu jumped behind her.

"Electroweb!"

Without letting Umbreon have the time to recover Pikachu attacked him with an electrified web and covered him with it as he screamed in pain at the electric shock.

As Umbreon fell on the ground, Ash ordered, "Use rest. Regain your energy."

Pikachu did as was told while Umbreon tried to get out the Electroweb desperately.

"Calm down and use Psychic to get out of it!" Gary instructed.

Umbreon used psychic on the electric web around himself and lifted it up. Then he threw it towards Pikachu who dodged it.

"Lash Out!"

And so Umbreon decided to vent out all his frustration of getting beaten towards Pikachu as he ran towards him.

"Pikachu!"

Umbreon hit Pikachu with all kinds of moves without any break like a wild cat. After around 2 minutes he finally backed off from the electric type while Pikachu laid on the ground.

Both Pokémon were breathing heavily.

"You can go on buddy?" Ash asked.

Pikachu nodded as he slowly stood up and without a warning ran towards Umbreon and attacked him with facade.

After that both Pokémon collapsed on the ground but tried to stand up nonetheless.

After a few seconds both Pokémon finally stood up on shaky feet as they faced each other.

"Alright, Pikachu let's finish this! Use Iron Tail!"

"Iron Tail!"

Both trainers shouted in unison and without wasting a second the respective Pokémon ran towards each other and clashed their Iron Tails with every amount of energy left as a huge wave of air was formed.

They quickly jumped on the side where the other Pokémon was standing before with their backs turned to each other. After about a few seconds of tense atmosphere both Pokémon collapsed simultaneously.

For a few seconds, there was silence and no one dared to speak but it was soon broken by the two trainers as they ran towards their fainted Pokémon.

"At least let me announce the outcome of the match first….." Leaf quietly said.

Then she shook her head and said loudly.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle and hence, this match is also a draw."

Both trainers took their Pokémon in their arms as they reassured them and told them that they did a good job since they were looking at them with apologetic eyes.

After that, both of the Pokémon walked away and sat where everyone else was sitting.

The two trainers looked at each other with a look that said 'It will be my win next time.'

After that they went back and stood at their respective places, ready to begin the match.

"Are both trainers ready?" Leaf asked.

The two rivals nodded

"Then sent out your next Pokémon!"

"You are up Electrivire!"

"Show 'em what you can do Lycanroc!"

Both trainers said simultaneously and threw the poke balls towards the battlefield as the respective Pokémon came out and got ready to battle

"Let the battle begin!"

Whew! Finally done. This was my first time writing a battle scene so I would greatly appreciate it if you guys left a review telling me about your thoughts on it.

Reply to a guest review- First, I am glad that you are enjoying the chapters.

Second, I didn't incorporate both elements of anime and game but rather the elements of anime and Pokémon special/adventure manga which has its own different story line. I just thought I would correct you. And don't worry. I will try my best not to make the characters OOC, though if you feel like that's happening feel free to let me know and I will look into it.

Once I get to the part where Ash have battled the Pokémon master, I will stop there for a while and correct the mistakes in the previous chapters. It shouldn't take too long.

There is a reason why I didn't name Touka and Touya as Hilbert and Hilda which you will learn in the coming chapters. As for Toka & Toya…... that was the spelling error in my part. Sorry about that. I will correct it up later on.

And yeah. There will be shipping's here, though the main focus would be Cavalier and Burningleaf shipping i.e., Gary x Dawn and Ash x Leaf.

And lastly, don't worry. I won't abandon this story.

Thanks for your review!

Please R & R!