Last Time, Ash battles with Drayden but ultimately loses, Axew is inspired by the sheer power of Drayden's team, and admires dragon types even more, wanting to learn Hyper Beam, Iris' fears get reaffirmed, and her eventual release of Axew set in stone, other than that there's really nothing else that happened last chapter, hmm.

"Keep it up guys!" Ash said, he and his pokemon were training really hard for the rematch with Drayden, which they planned to do tomorrow.

Iris was training too, although Axew had gone with his mother, again, they were training nearby.

Cilan was taking a morning stroll, as he had nothing to do.

Deino and Excadrill were battling, and Emolga was watching, although Iris was looking at Axew and Haxorus instead.

Emolga took notice and went over to Iris.

'Are you okay?' She asked.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine" Iris said, man her inferring skills are great.

'Doesn't look like it, you've been staring at Axew and Haxorus for ages now' Emolga said, pointing to the duo.

"What!? It has nothing to do with them" Iris said.

Emolga raised a brow, if she even has one.

"Okay, Axew and Haxorus they make a great team, in just a few days they've already bonded greatly, and Axew's gotten much stronger" Iris said.

'Oh so you're scared that Axew might want to stay with his mother instead?'

"I think that releasing Axew here would be the best move actually" Iris elaborated. "If he's left with her, then he'll be a Haxorus in no time, but look at me I've had him for years, and he's not even a Fraxure yet"

'But you still don't know quite yet' Emolga said. 'He still hasn't evolved, period, I know this is kinda mean, but maybe it's not you but him? You know?'

"If Axew evolves under Haxorus' training especially before we leave, then it's settled then, Haxorus is just a better trainer than me" Iris said, slumping forward.

Emolga looked towards the little family, they were a great duo, and were training constantly, but Axew was still keeping up, yet being challenged at the same time.

Ash was still training with his pokemon, then he got an idea.

"Hey Deino wanna come train with us?" Ash asked.

'Uh well' Deino said.

'Go on, I don't mind' Excadrill said.

'Well thanks! See ya' Deino said, heading over to Ash. 'Hi, so why did you call me over?'

"We kinda thought that training with a dragon type will help us with the dragon type gym" Ash said.

'Oh okay, I kinda thought you just wanted to for me and not my type' Deino said.

'Hey we still think you're pretty cool' Dewott said. 'You're relatively strong'

'Yeah, and plus uh, you've got nice hair' Krokorok said.

'I wish I didn't have hair, it gets in the way too much' Deino said.

'Well let's go train already!' Braviary shouted.

'Come on guys give him some space' Servine said.

'Yeah back off' Pikachu added.

'Don't worry Deino we'll make you feel welcome here' Whirlipede said.

Deino trained with Ash's mons for a while, for now he was training with Whirlipede.

'You know, I've always been neglected for my entire life' Deino said. 'First at that daycare, now here with you guys, I never really get to be in the limelight'

'It's not just you you know' Whirlipede said. 'I haven't really gotten my chance to shine either, not recently anyway, haven't finished any gym battles, taken on any particularly strong opponents'

'Heh that sounds a lot like me, you ever wish you got more attention?' Deino asked.

'Yeah it'd be nice, but I think I'm content with where I'm at' Whirlipede responded.

'Really how come? I mean you never get any attention, you're just kinda there'

'No I'm not, I still help the others, and help them be in the spotlight, just because I'm not the focus doesn't mean I'm not important'

'Oh, well I see what you mean by that, when you fight against the first pokemon in a gym battle, you get the whole battle started, you might take out a pokemon, and make everything easier, or get taken out, and add a reason for everyone else to fight better, without being the big finisher everyone remembers, you still set up how the rest of the battle would go'

'Pretty much what about you?'

'I don't know, I guess sometimes I do explain a thing here or there, or at least ask a helpful question'

'Yeah, you know when someone doesn't understand exactly what's going on, you could help them by doing just that, like me you don't take the spotlight, but make way for others to shine even brighter than what they would've been doing without you, you and I are quite alike in that area, we don't usually get any moments to shine, but we still matter, we're still important'

'Wow, that got deep, I suppose even when people don't seem important, or very interesting, they can still play an integral part of another person's story, not everyone can take the spotlight, so the one's who don't, help the one's who do by setting up the scene, making situations seem more dire, and providing much needed exposition, or even just helping them out with a small task, or simply just talking to them, therefore forwarding the plot of a story, which would've otherwise been really hard to do if there was just a few characters, who also would have to constantly be in the spotlight'

'Yeah exactly like that, in fact we do quite a lot in the background while everyone the viewers actually care about do their stuff, we hardly ever get a scene to ourselves, and when we do usually one of the main characters is there too, but hey what's the point of being a supporting character if you're not supporting anything, so I'd say it's a good thing, what would a scene with just supporting characters even look like anyway?'

'This conversation got surprisingly meta surprisingly fast' Deino said.

Axew and Haxorus were at it again, Haxorus going much much tougher than she was a couple of days ago, yet Axew was still keeping up.

Haxorus swung down with Dragon Claw, which Axew dodged and retaliated with Dragon Pulse, causing a bit of whiplash.

Axew went in for an Iron Tail, but was grabbed by Haxorus who threw him down.

She waited a good few seconds before firing a Hyper Beam, which Axew dodged, he tried firing a Hyper Beam of his own, but it never came.

Haxorus recovered from the move, and stomped the ground furiously, powering up, she then swung another Dragon Claw, hitting her unevolved counterpart.

Axew got up and used Slash, but Haxorus dodged, Axew slashed a few more times, missing every single one.

Haxorus buried the little dragon under a Rock Slide, which Axew took a while to Dragon Pulse out of.

He jumped at the opportunity to Iron Tail from above, which struck his mother, causing her to stumble a bit.

Haxorus clawed at Axew twice, hitting both times, he landed on the ground bruised, but not beaten in his head at least.

'Phew, that was a good battle' Haxorus said. 'You wanna stop for now?'

'Hmm, no I still haven't gotten you down once' Axew said. 'I'm just naturally weak I guess'

'What? No you're not, you're just still improving' Haxorus said.

'I want to beat you one day, it's the only way to make up for my unevolvedness' Axew said.

'Well I say you're already good enough'

'Really? But I'm still not as strong as you'

'No, but you've still got just as strong, maybe even stronger will than me'

'Will?'

'Yeah, even after hours and hours of training you still want to keep going, you really do want to get stronger, and that is what's truly important'

'Oh, I never thought about that, it's not about our ability, it's how far we are willing to go to achieve what we desire'

'That's what I mean, so what if you can't do it now, if you truly wish to do it, then one day you will'

Axew looked at Iris for a bit, who was looking quite sad, then said. 'Mom I actually want to stop training now'

'Oh, well if you say so'

Axew walked over to Iris. "Oh Axew, aren't you going to train with your mother?"

'No, you don't look happy'

"I see, you want to cheer me up"

'Yeah, what's wrong, you've just been sitting there for so long'

"I know it's not your fault, but I still don't want to tell you the problem, it's kinda let's say selfish"

'But Auntie Emolga, and Auntie Servine always tell me to open up with my feelings, why don't you open up with yours?'

"I don't think either of us would feel comfortable with it"

'But it won't get better if you don't open up'

"I'm sorry Axew, I just can't do it, not now at least"

'Okay, I understand'

"You can leave Axew, I don't mind"

'No I want to stay here with you' Axew said, hugging Iris' leg.

Iris caught something in her eye, she pet Axew on the head for a bit, and watched the others train.

Back to Ash…

"Come on Pikachu you can do it" Ash and his mons were doing some more training, and Deino and Excadrill joined them.

'Is that all you got?' Excadrill asked the electric mouse.

'Not quite' Pikachu responded, he dashed forwards with Quick Attack and slammed into Excadrill.

Excadrill Drill Ran Pikachu, sending the mouse flying.

Pikachu struck Excadrill with an Iron Tail.

Excadrill charged up a Focus Blast and fired it at the mouse.

Pikachu countered the ball of energy with a Thunderbolt, causing it to explode, making a small crater.

Pikachu dashed into Excadrill with another Quick Attack, before slicing the subterranean pokemon with an Iron Tail.

Excadrill followed it up with a Dig, encircling the mouse.

Pikachu struck the ground with multiple Iron Tails trying to find the mole.

Excadrill evaded each one, and erupted underneath the mouse with Earth Power.

He jumped out of the ground and Drill Ran down on the mouse.

But Pikachu swatted him away with Iron Tail.

Pikachu dove down on Excadrill with another Iron Tail, knocking him out.

'Whoa, that was great' Excadrill said, laying down on the ground, exhausted. 'I even had a type advantage, and you still won'

'Thanks, you did pretty good too' Pikachu responded.

'Are you kidding me?! Both of you were amazing!' Braviary shouted.

'I've never really seen you battle until now Excadrill' Servine said. 'And I'm impressed'

'You and me gotta battle some time Pikachu' Krokorok said. 'It'll be a blast'

'How about me and Krokorok against you?' Said Dewott. 'I'd like to taste some of that power too'

'Well that's weird Pikachu's more of a supporting character, so who's he supporting here?' Whirlipede said.

'Who knows, sometimes supporting characters could also just fill the space' Deino said. 'Not every single line of dialogue is going to be part of the-'

'Okay, I think what we discussed a thousand words ago, should stay a thousand words ago'

'Alright, fine, no more self conscious fourth wall breaks, in this chapter at least'

"That was great guys, I think we really got a shot at winning this time, I say we call it a day"

There was mixture of cries, most were alright, some were glad, one or two were sad, but quickly got over it, they had been training for a while now, a rest would be nice.

"Well, that sounds like a good sign" Boomed a voice from across the field.

"Oh, hey Drayden, didn't see you there" Ash said, surprised.

"Hello Ash, how's training going?" Drayden asked.

"Well it's going pretty well" Ash said.

"That's good to hear, I see that Axew and Haxorus are doing well too" Drayden said.

"Yeah they are, Iris doesn't seem too motivated though" Ash said.

"She's setting the bar too high for herself" Drayden said. "I'm afraid I'm partially the reason for that"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"Ever since she left this village she wanted to raise Axew into a strong Haxorus, now that is a tough task, I know I raised mine up in less than five years, but the normal Haxorus lifespan is well over a hundred, wild Axews don't turn into Haxorus until their mid thirties, but most trainers, especially ones from here, raise Haxori in just a few years, I suppose Iris just feels as if she's letting everyone down, but in truth she's not"

"Then why are you telling me this?" Ash asked. "Shouldn't Iris be hearing about this?"

"I've tried talking to her in the past, before she left I told her that it's okay to be less than okay, but she's not like that, she swore she wouldn't return here without a Haxorus, and well, that didn't quite happen what makes matters worse is that Haxorus and Axew have been bonding greatly, and Iris has been left in the dust, her self esteem must be down the drain by now"

"Hey I got an idea, what if you battle Iris, Haxorus vs Axew, and maybe then she could realize her full potential" Ash suggested.

"But that won't change much, if she wins she'll just think the win is because of Haxorus' training, if she loses then she'll think the loss is because of her training" Drayden said.

"This is complicated, so how do we help Iris?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid, I don't know" Drayden simply said.

It was a little while later, and everyone gathered around to eat dinner, even Cilan came, who otherwise would've been completely absent from this chapter.

"I must say Cilan, this is some of the best food I've ever tasted" Drayden said, munching on some salad.

"Why thank you" Cilan said, bowing.

"Iris you're not eating very much" Ash said. "Is something wrong?"

"No I just I don't really feel like it" Iris said, looking rather blue, figuratively speaking.

Axew had finished eating really quick, he then ran over to his mom. 'Hey mom, could we have another battle?'

'Hmm? Well I suppose I could, just after I finish this meal' Haxorus responded. 'Why do you want to battle right now anyway?'

'I think I finally got it' Axew said.

'Got what?'

'You'll have to see'

'Well now you've gotten me excited too' Haxorus dumped the food bowl in her mouth. 'Let's do this'

"Looks like Haxorus and Axew are gonna have a battle" Cilan said.

"Iris would you like to watch?" Ash asked.

"Well I suppose I could" Iris said.

"I guess I'll be the referee" Drayden said. "Are you ready?"

'As ready as I'll ever be' Axew said.

'Then I guess I am too' Haxorus said as well.

"Then begin!"

Axew started with a Dragon Pulse which Haxorus dodged.

She stomped the ground wildly, getting stronger in the process.

Haxorus swung down with Dragon Claw, which Axew dodged.

Axew struck Haxorus' back with Iron Tail causing her to stumble.

Axew followed it up with Rock Tomb, but Haxorus recovered quick enough to dodge it.

Haxorus went for Hyper Beam, hitting her child, sending him flying.

Axew got up and rolled right out of an incoming Rock Slide, firing another Dragon Pulse, searing Haxorus' face.

Haxorus clawed at Axew sending him tumbling to the ground.

She capitalized on this by using Dragon Dance again, but much to her surprise she was stopped by Axew's strategic Iron Tail.

Haxorus Hyper Beamed once more, missing as Axew leapt away as quickly as he came.

Axew shot another Dragon Pulse, causing Haxorus to stumble, but Axew didn't stop there, he followed it up with Rock Tomb, and then a Hyper Beam of his own!

Haxorus wasn't done just yet however, she swung at Axew with a Dragon Claw.

Axew dodged the first, but Haxorus did another and another, both hitting him.

Axew wasn't deterred however, he shot another Dragon Pulse, Haxorus took a little more time to shake it off though.

Haxorus threw a Rock Slide at Axew, who proceeded to dodge the whole thing, much to his dismay it was a trap, as Haxorus had used Dragon Dance again in secret.

She charged forwards, clawing at Axew, who crashed down to the ground, getting up slowly.

Axew retaliated with a power Iron Tail to the chest, followed by another Dragon Pulse, which ended up knocking Haxorus to the ground, she got up after some time, and charged up a Hyper Beam.

Axew did the same, and the two dragons unleashed their most powerful moves on each other, the two bright yellow beams of destruction collided, and what was only a few seconds felt for what seemed like ages, eventually Axew's Hyper Beam overpowered Haxorus' and the ray of doom struck the Axe Jaw pokemon, causing dust to plume everywhere.

When the dust settled it was revealed that. "Haxorus is unable to battle, Axew wins!" Drayden called out.

'I did it? I did it!' Axew celebrated, Braviary went to pick him up, placing him on her back.

'That was an amazing battle Axie!' Braviary said.

'Thanks!' Axie said.

"Man I was on the edge of my seat the whole time" Ash said.

"That was truly spectacular both pokemon were most definitely raised well" Cilan said.

'I don't think I could've done that' Dewott said.

'You beat your own evolution man, that was great' Krokorok added.

'Aw guys you're making me blush' Axew said, embarrassed.

Haxorus had gotten up with some help from Drayden. 'I'm so proud of you my son, you beat me at such a young age, and that Hyper Beam, that was stronger than any I've ever made'

'Thanks mom' Axew said, running up to hug her.

At that moment, something clicked in Axew, and he started glowing blue, his jaw spikes got larger, his body more bulky, he could feel himself getting taller, his tail getting longer, had he finally done it?

'Axew you evolved' Haxorus said, finding her son a Fraxure now.

'I did, hey I did!' Axew, now Fraxure said, more excited than before.

'Wow, you're a lot bigger now' Braviary said.

'Iris I evolved! Grrr, I'm a Fraxure now, haha, I feel great!' Fraxure said, jumping up and down in pride.

"Yeah, that's great" Iris said, Axew getting stronger without her was already uneasy for Iris, but now evolving too, it shattered her heart, but she still felt happy for him, she just wasn't very glad with how it came to this, alas the facts were laid out as clear as day for her, Haxorus truly was a better trainer for Axew, now Fraxure, and releasing him was for the best. That's it, tomorrow I'm gonna leave Opelucid, without you Axew, I'm sorry but it's what best for you, you and your mother will become stronger together, you'll be happy together, so what if I'm sad, it's none of my business anyway, you'll be fine without me, and that's okay.