A Dream Come True

Broken Diamond

By the Davids (DK and Darth David)

Chapter One: A Dream Come True

"And it seems defending Pokémon Master Cerilus Montella will now choose, as his next Pokémon, Venomoth! It's been a close battle until now, folks, and looks like challenger Ash Ketchum is pulling out all the stops with his mighty Charizard! Will Montella's Venomoth be able to do the trick?" The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats as the announcer's voice blared, eagerly awaiting the result of the Venomoth-Charizard battle.

"Venomoth, use Sleep Powder now!" Montella commanded sharply, cracking his brown, leather whip. Ash grinned. It reminded him somehow of a trainer he'd battled along time ago and lostsomebody named DJ or AJ or somethingbut the trainers he'd lost to in the course of his Pokémon journey were too many to count.

"Alright then, Charizard! Fire Spin around yourself!" The spinning tornado of flame enveloped the fire lizard Pokémon, obscuring him from view, and leaving Venomoth no choice but to fly overheard in circles, waiting for Charizard to come back into view.

"And it seems that Ash has used Charizard's Fire Spin technique to his advantage by utilizing it as a barrier against Venomoth's attack!" the announcer shouted.

"Very well done, Mr. Ketchum," Montella congratulated from across the field. "But, I'm afraid it won't protect you from this next attackVenomoth, Psybeam attack now!" Venomoth flapped twice, charged briefly, then fired the Psybeam straight toward the whirlwind of fire encasing Charizard.

"Charizard, Fly out now!" Ash yelled, hoping Charizard would be able to hear him amidst the Fire Spin. And hear it he did, making use of his large, strong wings and breaking free of the confines of the Fire Spin, just as the powerful psychic blast blew a rather large hole through the Fire Spin, dissipating the flames.

"An excellent move, Mr. Ketchum," Montella called out, "but it won't save you from an un-dodgeable attack! Venomoth, Psychic attack now!" Venomoth began to emit incredibly powerful psychic waves from his body, nearly scrambling Charizard's brain and Ash's as well. The attack seemed to have a very wide radius, and yet Venomoth had executed it without affecting the rather large crowd of viewers.

"Arrgghhh!" Ash screamed in agony as his thoughts jumbled together in a giant, muddled mess inside his head. One of the judges, Bruno of the Elite Four, jumped to his feet in protest, but Lance calmly reminded him that some of Ash's Pokémon's attacks had affected Montella as well. Which was one of the reasons Montella was soaking wet – he had been the unfortunate target of a Water Gun which had missed its opponent. Accidentally, Ash claimed.

"Ash! Get a hold of yourself!" Misty hollered from the stands. Brock stood up to put in his own two cents as well.

"Concentrate, Ash! Don't focus on the pain! Focus on Charizard and your battle against the defending Pokémon champion!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, pounding his fist against the hard, cold metal railing. "Focus, Ash! Focus!"

"Yeah" Ash murmured, his mind drifting away from the match, surroundings getting blurry, brain still scrambled. "Unnnnnhhh" He shook his head, tried to get a grip on reality. He heard words echo in his earssomething about getting a hold of somethingsomething about focusing

That was it! Focus! Ash concentrated with all his might, shutting his eyes tightly and shaking his head back and forth to clear it. Suddenly his bearings came to him

"Charizard! Flamethrower attack!" His head was completely clear now; he was thinking normally once again. Venomoth, surprised that his victims had recovered from the attack, tried to dodge the attack by flying to the left but his right wing was badly burned. He fluttered helplessly to the ground, writhing in pain, trying vainly to get airborne with his one good wing.

"Looks like Mr. Ketchum is going to wrap things up after that close shave with Venomoth's Psychic attack!" the announcer guessed as the crowd leapt to its feet

"Charizard! FIRE BLAST!!!" Ash cried out as loudly as his lungs would allow, giving Charizard the boost of adrenaline he needed to launch the 5-pointed death sentence straight at Venomoth. Just as it was about to hit

"Venomoth! Return!" Montella said quickly, returning the injured Pokémon to its Poké Ball as the Fire Blast created a large, black marking on the ground. Montella coughed, waving away the smoke which plagued his lungs, and managed to speak. "AshI was very impressed with your performance today. I have but one Pokémon left, but I'd rather not use him than run the risk of having it well done on a silver platter." He straightened, cleared his throat, and smiled. "I forfeit to youmeaning you, my friend, are the Pokémon Master"

Ash swallowed. And swallowed again. His throat was dry. At first, no thoughts came to himhis mind was empty and blankand then it came to him

"I've won," he thought, breaking into a gigantic smile. "I've won, I've won, I've WON!!!"

The crowd leapt to their feet, cheering madly, erupting into loud applause, hoots, and catcalls. It felt as if the entire stadium was vibrating with praise for his performance

Ash's mother broke into tears. "Oh, my dear Ash is all grown upachieved his dreamI'm so happyI've been waiting for this day"

Professor Oak nodded in agreement. "Yesat last, he has reached his ultimate goal. After all these years, I thought I'd never witness such a wonderful performance in Pokémon battling and training" He smiled warmly. "I suppose my work is done," he said, getting up from his chair.

Ash's mother looked surprised. "What? But, Samuel, what about your lab? Your grandson? The Pokémon?"

Professor Oak smiled again. "Oh, don't worry about that. Gary will be finenow that he's gone into the Pokémon business, as I have. The Pokémon are under the gentle care of Brock, who's started his own breeding centerand, of course, he has the help of my aides and staff, as well as his own."

He stared up into the sky. "I've always hoped one day that one of the many trainers that leave Pallet would become the Pokémon Master," he explained softly. "Now I know my guidance and patience for him was never wasted."

Ash's mother nodded slowly. She understood perfectly, for she'd felt the same way all her life. Ever since she'd been separated from Davidshe knew Ash had enormous potential in himjust like his father

"-and to celebrate this momentous occasion, a party will be hosted in the League Square this Saturday night by famous Pokémon researcher Professor Oak and also by a well-known Pokémaniac by the name of Bill"

"Bill's come back to see me battle," Ash breathed. "They're all coming backall my friend I met in my journey" As if a bell had gone off in his head, Ash began to recognize various faces in the vast crowd. "There's Duplica," he noted as soon as he saw the Ditto trainer in the third row, waving and jumping up and down. This caused him to smile even more broadly, and when she blew him a kiss, he blushed slightly. "There's AJ," he murmured as he saw AJ give him a double thumbs-up, his Sandshrew perched atop his shoulder. One of the many trainers that had defeated him, Ash grinned now. He was the Pokémon Master – few people had believed in his dream.

He shifted his gaze to the other side of the field. "There's the Samuraiwow, his Butterfree really looks awesome! And there's Atoshi, Marowak's looking as strong as everbet he wants a rematchthere's FlorendaStella, with Mr. Mimeand Susie" There were so many people he knew, his head was spinning. He needed to rest, enjoy his first day as the Pokémon Master, and *RUMBLE* needed some food – fast!

He was just about to head out of the stadium as the crowd began to disperse, but then a high-pitched, squealing voice jerked him around on his heels. Hid eye caught a flare of Misty's orange hair as the sun caught it in an angle, making it look as if her hair was on fire. Tracey was there too, Marril dancing a happy jig with his own Pikachu right there on the bleachers. And Brock, who now looked much older and mature than he used to be, arms crossed, similar to the position Ash first found him when he entered the Pewter City Gym to win his very first badge, only now he was smiling.

"All right, Ash, you've won!" Tracey shouted from across the field as Ash waved at them. He gave them his traditional V-sign two fingers up, and as he stared at them he couldn't stop the clear liquid that gathered at the corner of his eyes and filled them.

They mean so much to me, Ash thought, and he couldn't stop smiling. They were his friends, and that's how it would be, even if it was the end of his first journey and the beginning of an entirely new one. He had finished the race, and finished strong. Not as quickly as he thought he would, but most of his predictions turned out incorrect, he thought as he chuckled softly. They'd stuck with him to the end, no matter how annoying, how selfish, how stupid he'd been. And now

All the happy things he'd done, all the most wonderful and joyful events that had ever happened to him, all his best memories, everything in the entire universe could not have compared to the overwhelming happiness he felt now, combined. Nothing beats this, he thought as the tears of joy trickled steadily down his face, as the warm rays of the sun warmed his body, but he wouldn't have cared if it was minus 350 degrees out. Then, as Pikachu leaped from the stands and hopped into his open arms, he couldn't help thinking, over and over and over again, so many times this event would be permanently burned into his memory forever

I am the Pokémon Master.