Zach and Bede's Showdown

"Incredible! It appears that Opal's decided to publicly announce her successor by setting him up against the challenger, who apparently is Bede's best friend. What a twist, I can't wait to see what the new Ballonlea Gym Leader as in store for us!" The announcer exclaimed.

Bede offered his friend a playful smirk while reaching for one of his Great Balls. "Well if you managed to get this far then you're certainly not a weakling, if you beat me then you'll only be three badges away from competing in the Galar League Finals."

"I'm not the only one that's gotten stronger, Opal wouldn't have pushed as fast as she had if she thought you weren't ready for the responsible." Zach smiled back at his friend while his hand gripped at a Pokeball. "And now it's time to find out which of us is stronger!"

"That's right, let's settle this once and for all!" Bede smirked while giving a nod towards the referee, signaling that he was ready to start the match.

The referee raised up a pair of white flags. "This will be a five on five Pokemon battle with each side being allowed up to three substitutions. Trainers you may release your Pokemon at the mark. Ready, get set... and GO!"

"Time to shine, Gardevoir!" Bede shouted while hurling a Great Ball forward.

"Take to the sky, Corviknight!" Zach shouted while hurling the Pokeball forward.

"Corvi!" Corviknight screeched out upon bursting from his Pokeball.

"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir did a curtsy as she burst onto the field.

"Aura Sphere!" Bede shouted out.

"Huh?" Ash perked up as he was unaware that Gardevoir was even capable of learning Aura Sphere.

"I didn't know Gardevoir could learn Aura Sphere!" Chloe's eyes widened.

"I could have sworn they were incapable of learning it." Marnie muttered.

Sure enough Bede's orders were being fulfilled as a sphere of aura formed between Gardevoir's hands.

"Counter with Brave Bird!" Zach shouted out.

"Corvi!" A bright orange aura surrounded Corviknight's body as he swooped down towards his opponent, the aura beam passed Corviknight before quickly redirecting itself as it gave chase. Corviknight's eyes locked onto his target as he shot towards his target, inching closer by the second.

"Pull up then strike him from behind!"

"Corvi!" Corviknight swiftly pulled up at the last second allowing the Aura Sphere to strike Gardevoir head on while Corviknight turned around before slamming himself against Gardevoir's backside!

"Gardevoir..." Gardevoir grunted out as she was knocked forward, quickly catching herself before she lost balance.

Bede silently gritted his teeth at the sight of the maneuver while the crowd cheered.

"What an impressive strategy, Zach managed to avoid getting hit by the unavoidable Aura Sphere by tricking the attack into striking it's user!"

"Wow, I can't believe he managed to pull that off!" May gasped.

"Well his main Pokemon is Lucario, he probably knows Aura Sphere better than most trainers." Dawn explained while watching her boyfriend with a fond expression.

"Yeah, he's certainly grown into an impressive trainer..." May smiled.

"I'd like to see you try and dodge this, Psychic!" Bede shouted out.

"Gardevoir..." A bright blue glow surrounded Corviknight's body as Gardevoir hoisted him up with the assistance of telekinetic energy before slamming Corviknight down against the ground!

"C-Corvi..." Corviknight grunted as he hopped back onto his feet.

"Use Steel Beam!" Zach shouted out.

"Corviknight!" Corviknight cried out as a powerful blast of blue-silver energy erupted from his beak, a light grunt escaped him as the blast shot towards Gardevoir before exploding shortly after making contact with her body! A thick cloud of dust kicked up before eventually fading away to reveal Gardevoir sprawled out on her back, swirls filled her eyes as she groaned out from defeat.

"Gardevoir's unable to continue battling!" The announcer exclaimed as the referee raised a white flag. "Though that Steel Beam attack is sure to have caused some damage to Corviknight, he might not last much longer!"

The crowd began cheering out while Bede recalled Gardevoir to her ball.

"What do you think, Corviknight? Still got some fight left in you?" Zach asked.

"Corvi!" Corviknight squawked out, his wings spread outwards as he swiftly nodded in response to his trainer's question.

"Alright, just checking!" Zach gave Corviknight's back a friendly pat before turning his attention towards Bede as his rival reached for another Great Ball.

"Mawile, time to shine!" Bede shouted out while hurling the Great Ball foward.

"Mawile!" Mawile flashed Corviknight a light smirk upon emerging from her ball.

"Alright Corviknight let's try out Steel Wing!"

"Corvi!" Corviknight's wings glowed a bright silver color as he swooped towards his opponent.

"Bash him with Iron head!"

"Mawile!" Mawile's forehead shined a similar color as she thrusted her head towards Corviknight, striking his chest as his wings raked across her chest causing both Pokemon to grunt out in response.

"Now use Flamethrower!" Bede shouted out, taking advantage of Corviknight's proximity as the two Pokemon recovered. It was a good strategy but he let his Pokemon get injured in order to pull it off.

"Mawile!" Mawile aimed her oversized maw towards her opponent shortly before a massive stream of fire shot out, the fire blasted across the battlefield and made contact with Corviknight causing the raven to cry out in pain before he collapsed against the battlefield as swirls formed within his eyes.

"Corvi..."

"Corviknight is unable to continue battling! That was a risky move Bede pulled, it easily could have gone wrong but fortunately for him Corviknight had already taken damage from the previous fight. The two opponents now have four active Pokemon remaining, which Pokemon will Zach choose to replace his fallen Corviknight?!"

"I appreciate the work you did, Corviknight. You were awesome out there, now return and rest up!" Zach swiftly returned Corviknight to his Pokeball before nodding towards Cinderace. "Your turn, Cinderace! Use Pyro Ball!"

"Ace ace!" Cinderace eagerly leaped onto the battlefield and swiftly began kicking up a pebble which lit ablaze. Cinderace offered her opponent a sly smirk before kicking the flaming rock forward!

"Mawile!" Mawile cried out as the fire pebble struck her body, lighting her ablaze! "M-Mawile!" She cried out before swiftly collapsing onto her side as swirls formed within her eyes. "Mawile..."

Bede's eye lightly twitched upon seeing Cinderace dispatch her opponent with a singular attack.

"Mawile is unable to continue battling! In a surprising twist Zach pulled out one of his signature aces far earlier than he typically would, perhaps he overestimated his opponent or perhaps he simply didn't have anything else on hand with an advantage against Steel types. Who knows!"

Cinderace eagerly waved towards the cheering crowd while Bede grumbled out as he recalled Mawile to her Pokeball.

"It's your turn to shine, Rapidash!" Bede shouted while tossing a third Great Ball into the air.

The ball swiftly burst open to reveal a large beautiful white unicorn Pokemon that had a long majestic lightblue/light purple colored mane. The Rapidash raised onto his hindlegs and uttered out a familiar sounding neigh.

"Oooh!" Chloe excitedly leaped from her seat, stars filled her eyes as they fixated upon Rapidash. "That's what my Ponyta will evolve into!"

"So that's what Galarian Rapidash looks like," Ash commented while retrieving his Rotom Phone from his jacket.

"Rapidash the Unique Horn Pokemon, Galarian form. Little can stand up to its Psycho Cut attack. Unleashed from this Pokemon's horn, the move will punch a hole right through a thick metal sheet!"

"Cinderace, return!" Zach swiftly called out.

"Ace!" Cinderace sprang back towards her opponent before taking her place by Lucario's side as Zach reached for a Dusk Ball.

"Let's go, Marshadow!"

Though a different Pokemon would burst from the Dusk Ball, a shocked expression spread across his face as he saw Alcremie appear on the battlefield. 'I could have sworn I swapped Alcremie out for Marshadow... or was I dreaming?' Zach facepalmed while uttering out a light groan.

"And it appears that Zach has chosen Alcremie as his third Pokemon, this'll be Alcremie's Galar League debut as he's yet to use her in an official match!"

"Uh oh..." May and Dawn glanced towards the other, sharing a look of concern. They weren't certain of Alcremie's battle strengths just yet and although Scizor only need a single False Swipe to fully weaken her, that didn't exactly mean much as Scizor was among the strongest of Zach's Pokemon.

"Okay um... let's try Sweet Kiss!" Zach began nervously sweating as Alcremie merely gave him a look in response.

"Cremie...?" She tilted her head before gasping out upon realizing what he wanted her to do. Alcremie narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms as she began shaking her head in response. "Alcremie al Alcremie!"

"Carrr!" Lucario frantically motioned as he translated Alcremie's statement.

"W-What?! Alcremie doesn't even like battling?!" Zach gasped out before hanging his head. "Well this sure is embarrassing... we forfeit the round!"

The scoreboard updated as Alcremie's pictured greyed out.

"I'm not sure what's going on with Zach but he just forfeited the round, hopefully the next round will be a return to form as he's now down to three Pokemon!"

May and Dawn sweated lightly as the crowd began booing.

'What am I going to do with a Pokemon that doesn't even like battling?' Zach thought to himself as he recalled Alcremie to her Dusk Ball before proceeding to hurl a Dive Ball forward. "Surf's up, Empoleon!"

"Empoleon!" The emperor penguin burst out with a prideful expression which soon changed to that of a fierce some expression upon hearing the crowd booing his trainer. "Empo!" He cried out, determined to decimate his opponent in order to restore his trainer's pride!

"Psycho Cut!" Bede ordered.

Rapidash uttered out a neigh as a large pink crescent blade fired from the tip of his horn, Rapidash performed a quick swing of his head as he launched the attack towards his opponent.

"Wave Crash!"

"Wave Crash?" Ash blinked.

"Yeah, I never heard of this one either. Guessing he either created it like Scorching Sands or it's some attack he found out about during his time in Hisui." Marnie shrugged.

"Empo!" Empoleon cried out as a shroud of water surrounded his body, slowing Psycho Cut's approach while also weakening the attack. Empoleon then raced through the attack, uttering out a light grunt before proceeding to throw his water coated body up against Rapidash's!

Rapidash uttered out a pained neigh as he was knocked back. Bede gritted his teeth before shouting out another command. "Drill Run!"

Rapidash's drill started spinning before the rest of his body followed, the unicorn spun rapidly in place before shooting off across the field.

"Dodge with Surf!"

"Empo!" Empoleon raised his flippers towards the air above as a massive wave began forming beneath his feet. The emperor penguin leered down at his opponent before uttering out a fierce cry as the wave began riding towards Rapidash. Rapidash's spinning body slammed into the wave, breaking it apart but all that did was make the wave come crashing down upon him. Rapidash uttered out a pained neigh as he vanished beneath the waves.

"Wild Charge!" Bede swiftly ordered out. Electricity sparked beneath the waves as Rapidash shot out, electricity surrounded the unicorn as he raced towards his opponent before slamming against him!

"Empo..." Empoleon grunted out as he slid backwards, the emperor penguin was quick to shake himself off before offering his opponent a light leer.

"Alright Empoleon, let's finish this with Steel Beam!" Zach shouted out.

"Empo!" Empoleon shouted as a large silver energy beam erupted from his beak, the attack shot across the field before exploding against Rapidash's body! Rapidash uttered out a final neigh before collapsing onto his side as swirls formed within his eyes.

"What a turn around, Zach was able to recover from the previous round's mistake and knocked Rapidash off the gameboard! Bede is down to two Pokemon while Zach has three remaining, will Bede be able to turn things around or is this about over?" The crowd began cheering once more as Bede returned Rapidash to it's Great Ball.

"It's your turn to shine, Grimmsnarl!" Bede shouted while hurling another Great Ball towards the battlefield. The ball burst open to reveal a Grimmsnarl however this one was different than Marnie's, it's purple skin matched that of his pre-evolved form while the fur that covered the vast majority of his body was white rather than the usual black coloring.

"Snarl!" Grimmsnarl snarled out.

"Spirit Break!" Bede ordered out.

"Snarl!" Grimmsnarl lunged towards his opponent before slashing him across the face!

Empoleon grunted out and faintly shivered before offering his opponent another leer as he performed a prideful stance. "Empo!"

"Steel Beam!"

"Empooooleon!" Empoleon cried out as another massive silver energy beam erupted from his beak, the attack shot towards Grimmsnarl and exploded upon impact. Grimmsnarl grunted out as the explosion pushed him back but the demon Pokemon remained on his feet.

"Thunder Punch!"

"Snarl!" Electricity surrounded Grimmsnarl's fist as he lunged across the battlefield before delivering a shocking blow to Empoleon's chest.

"E-Empooo!" Empoleon cried out as electricity began surging through his body, giving him quite the shock! "Empo..." Empoleon groaned out shortly before he collapsed onto his side, swirls formed within his eyes as he laid in defeat.

"And down goes Empoleon! The field is even once more as Zach and Bede are both down to their final two Pokemon, will Zach choose to send out Cinderace or will he send out a different Pokemon instead?"

Zach returned Empoleon to his ball before reaching out for a Fast Ball. "I promised you that we'd fight somebody strong soon so here you go, Scizor!"

"Scizor!" Scizor cried out as he burst from his ball.

"Does Zach not own any Poison types...?" Chloe couldn't help but ask. "He keeps using Pokemon with Steel type attacks."

"Nope, he never got around to catching one." Marnie shook her head. He did own Eternatus but he avoided using the Pokemon in official matches.

"Scizor!" A bright blue glow surrounded Scizor's pincers as he shot across the field. "Zor, Scizor!" Scizor cried out as he repeatedly punched his opponent.

"Snarl..." Grimmsnarl grunted out.

"Lash out!" Bede ordered out.

"Snarl..." A fiery aura engulfed Grimmsnarl's body as he lashed out at his opponent.

"Zor..." Scizor grunted out as he was knocked onto his back.

"Scizor, you okay?"

"Scizor..." Scizor faintly nodded as he hopped back to his feet.

"Awesome, then let's use Steel Beam!"

"Scizor!" A bright silver energy beam shot from Scizor's pincers and flew across the battlefield before exploding against Grimmsnarl's body, knocking the demon Pokemon off his feet and onto his backside.

"Snarl..." Grimmsnarl groaned out as swirls began forming within his eyes.

Scizor smirked at the sight before uttering out a light grunt as he held a burn mark, his eyes rolled up into his head as he collapsed against the battlefield floor.

"Scizor may have won the round but he's no longer able to continue battling, things are really getting intense now as both opponents are down to their final Pokemon. Zach's Cinderace remains while Bede has yet to showcase his final Pokemon!"

"Alright Cinderace, you're back on the field!" Zach smiled at the Fire type as she energetically leaped onto the battlefield.

"Ace ace!"

"Hatterene, it's time to shine!" Bede shouted as Hatterene stepped onto the battlefield.

"Hatte!"

"Psycho Cut!" Bede swiftly ordered out.

"Dodge with Flame Charge!"

"Ace ace!" Cinderace eagerly cried out as flames engulfed her body, the rabbit zoomed away from the incoming crescent blade before throwing her fiery body at Hatterene!

"H-Hatte..." Hatterene grunted out.

"Now use Gunk Shot!" Zach shouted out.

"Well I guess that's how he's compensating for his lack of Poison types." Marnie muttered. Cinderace always had Flame Charge, Pyro Ball and Electro Ball at the ready but Zach often changed her fourth attack to suit whatever challenge they were facing, her Libero ability was quite useful.

"Ace!" Cinderace hurled up a multitude of sludge globs which shot across the field, pelting Hatterene's face!

"H-Hattere..." Hatterene shivered with a look of disgust.

"He better change back fast, he's vulnerable now."

"Pika..."

"Psychic!" Bede ordered out.

"Hatte..." A bright blue glow filled Hatterene's eyes as a similar glow surrounded Cinderace's body.

"Electro Ball!"

"Ace!" Cinderace gritted her teeth as she fought against the telekinetic force, managing to get her hands together as she summoned up an electrical energy sphere which she quickly sent flying towards her opponent. "Ace..." Cinderace grunted out as she lost against the force, getting slammed against the ground though she'd saved herself some energy by managing to pull off a type change. The Electro Ball flew across the field where it'd soon make contact with Hatterene's body, Hatterene uttered out a faint screech as the electricity flowed through her.

Bede gritted his teeth as he reached for his Dynamax Band. "Alright Hatterene, it's time to Gigantamax!"

Zach responded by activating his own Dynamax Band. "Cinderace, let's Gigantamax!"

"Ace ace!" Cinderace excitedly cried out as the scarlet and violet colored clouds began surrounding her body. A massive ball of fire formed beneath her feet as she began stretching upwards, her ears began growing out past her feet and would have been dragging along the battlefield had it not been for the massive fireball she stood atop of. "Ace!" The Gigantamax Cinderace cried out as she leered at Gigantamax Hatterene.

"G-Max Smite!" Bede shouted out.

"Hatterene..." Hatterene cried out as a large colorful energy beam erupted from her mouth, the attack shot towards her opponent and delivered a powerful blow that almost knocked Cinderace off balance but she caught herself just in time.

"G-Max Fireball!" Zach shouted out.

"Ace..." Cinderace leaped up before delivering a powerful kick to the fireball that she'd been standing on, sending the massive fire ball towards her opponent. Sweat began pouring down Hatterene's face from both anxious and the intense heat before the ball struck against her body. Hatterene uttered out a pain filled screech as the fire razed across her body, the scarlet and violet clouds soon engulfed her body once more as she began reverting back to standard form before ultimately collapsing onto her side as swirls formed within her eyes.

"Hatte..."

"Hatterene is unable to continue battling, Cinderace wins! The final round and the match goes to Zach and his Pokemon, congratulations Zach! With the addition of the Fairy Badge, that brings him to a total of five badges! His next Gym Challenge awaits in Chirchester where he'll be facing off against the ice-cold professional, Melony!"

The crowd began cheering loudly as Cinderace reverted back to her standard form. "Ace..." She breathed out before uttering out a light gasp as her trainer threw his arms around her.

"Thank you Cinderace, you and the others did an amazing job!"

"Ace!" Cinderace beamed at her trainer before returning the hug, Lucario soon joined in causing Cinderace to rest her head against the jackal. "Ace..." She blushed. Lucario gave her a look but didn't put up much of a fuss.

"Alright, he did it!" Dawn excitedly shouted out.

"Zach won!" May shouted out, the two wrapped their arms around each other and shared a hug as their emotions got the best of them.

"He won!" Chloe cheered for her friend.

"Alright!"

"Pika pi!"

Marnie sat in stunned silence, she was happy for her friend but she now had to deal with the fact that Ash was that much closer to meeting her brother. She wouldn't be able to hold the meeting off for much longer.

Bede returned Hatterene with an emotionless expression, Allister gave his boyfriend a look of concern before uttering out a gasp of relief as a smile formed across Bede's face. The Fairy Gym Leader began making his way across the field before extending his hand towards Zach, offering a medallion shard that had the Fairy symbol etched into it.

"Well I guess we now know who the strongest truly is," Bede chuckled while holding out the badge. "Though you could probably do with a Fairy type that wants to be here."

"I do have one, she's just unavailable at the moment." Zach sweated.

Bede stared off for a moment as he wondered what Zach meant by that before coming to the realization. "Well I hope you're more careful about engaging in that than your Pokemon are, it won't do you much good if your girlfriend gets pregnant before the finals." Bede smirked. "And good luck with the finals, I'm sure you'll get far but I heard that a foreigner managed to get a last minute entry and is sweeping through the competition. Beating him won't be easy, he has to be somebody of great importance to have gotten in like he did."

"Bede's right, that Ursaluna of his is no joke!" Allister exclaimed. "The guy's honestly a bit of a prick..."

"Well I'll be sure to keep that in mind, I appreciate the heads up." Zach offered his friends an appreciative smile before showing the badge off to his Pokemon. "Alright, we just got the Fairy Badge!"

"Carrr!"

"Ace!"

Zach smiled at his partner Pokemon before gesturing them to follow him as he began making his way towards the locker room.

"Congratulations, Zach!" Dawn squealed out as she threw her arms around him upon him entering the locker room before planting a kiss directly upon his lips. "You were amazing out there!"

"Not just amazing, he was spectacular!" May exclaimed with a bright smile as she wrapped her arms around the pair. "It was a great performance, I-I..." May shivered lightly before loosing control of herself as she planted a kiss directly upon Zach's lips. Zach and Dawn's eyes widened but they refrained from pushing or hurting her. A guilty expression soon formed upon May's face as she pulled away from the pair. "S-Sorry about that, I-I just couldn't help myself... I-I've been having these weird dreams or perhaps visions lately revolving around another life... one where Zach and I are together... a-and ultimately have a child!"

Zach and Dawn shared a brief look, Arceus had given Dawn access to a few memories of her past life during their last encounter and it didn't take much to piece together that May somehow got those memories as well. Dawn took a deep breath before offering May a comforting smile as she placed her hand upon her best friend's shoulder. "No need to worry about it, we understand!"

"Yeah but it sounds like we need to have a talk." Zach sweated lightly.

"Carr..." Lucario couldn't help but feel relieved that he wasn't in a relationship. There was too much drama involved with it.

"Ace..." Cinderace tapped her foot while giving Lucario a look of impatience. "What will it take to get him to notice me?!"

"So Sidney's house is through that desert?" Ash questioned as the route stood beside the sign that marked the end of route 111 while also signaling the path ahead which led directly into the Desert Ruins.

"That's what I've heard," Marnie gave off a nod of confirmation. "He prefers living out as he's a bit of a recluse."

"Though I did hear that he often visits Phoebe, his girlfriend who is also a bit of a recluse. Living alone atop of Mt. Pyre." May spoke.

"Huh, then maybe I'll pay her a visit once we're done with Sidney!" Ash eagerly exclaimed.

"Pika pi!"

"Whoa, slow down there!" Marnie raised up a hand. "I was actually going to see if Sidney knows where I can find a Keystone, I've held off on this long enough. If I want to beat the remaining Dark Type Masters, this is something that I've got to accomplish!"

"And we're going to check out the Lavaridge Hot springs!" Dawn exclaimed while wrapping her arm around Zach's. "He could do with a bit of relaxing after that intense match!" 'And it's also a great place to have that talk with May.' She thought.

"Right." May nodded in response.

Zach however was staring off into the distance upon noticing Lucario doing the same. "You see something out there, buddy?"

Lucario's eyes narrowed as he continued staring at the distance before ultimately shaking his head. "Carr..."

"Alright then, we're off to Lavaridge Town! Good luck against Sidney, I hope you two win!" Zach exclaimed. The two groups waved at each other before going their separate ways. While off in the distance, the tree Lucario had been staring at began to rustle as a figure dressed in an ancient tattered robe revealed herself. The figure pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked towards Zach as he made his way towards Lavaridge Town.

"It sure looks like the boy the prophecy was talking about... though I can't be certain as I don't see any Dragon types with him..." The girl muttered out before flashing a light smirk as she pocketed the binoculars. "Well then I guess a little test is in order."

"Exploud!" An Exploud excitedly exclaimed as it rested on the branch beside her, their eyes glanced upwards towards the sky above with hopeful expressions.

"I hope I'm right about this..."

"Oh man, I can't believe we actually got jobs here!" Sophocles excitedly exclaimed.

"Toge!" Togedemaru excitedly exclaimed as she sat atop his shoulder while he looked through an enhanced telescope. "Look Togedemaru, it's Uranus!"

"Toge..." Togedemaru scolded Sophocles.

"You're right, that joke isn't funny. I was just messing with you." Sophocles chuckled before adjusting the scope. "Huh... I've never seen a moon like this before. And it's getting closer...?" Sophocles rubbed his eyes as he uttered out a light yawn. "Or am I just getting sleepy?" Sophocles zoomed out before uttering out a light gasp as he saw a massive meteor flying past Neptune and based on the trajectory, it was destined to hit earth sometime within the next week or so! "Arceus almighty!" Sophocles leaped from his seat before racing off for a second opinion, sweat poured down his face while sheer terror filled his eyes. "I hope I'm wrong about this..."

And another Gym Leader goes down, that was a massive gap between Bede and Allister. Melony won't be quite as long of a wait, in fact she'll be immediately after the Hoenn arc. Or close enough, I might do Bruno after... it depends on how I feel. The rest of the Hoenn Elite Four will battle Ash during this arc so I might lean towards Melony to get a break from that and finish Kanto/Johto's in one go and get that arc going. Then do Piers after that as I've dragged that plot thread long enough, it's time for Marnie to introduce Ash to her brother!

The lack of a Poison type was unintentional, I honestly didn't even realize it until recently.

As for the mystery characters? It should be easy enough to guess who they are, one was hinted at during Darkest Day's conclusion while the other outright hasn't appeared here or in the anime yet but she may have been subtly teased by another character somewhere in the story ;)

Anyways next time, Marnie engages in her Mega Evolution Trial while Ash faces off against Sidney!