Well, here it is, the 106th part of the fourth installment in my 'Heart' series on the right day as promised. It's time to start the Lumiose Conference and we're starting with the preliminary battles all in one chapter as they are a little too short to be their own chapters and that would get tedious anyway so as with the Indigo Conference back in Dreams I will be doing all the preliminary battles in one Part for y'all to enjoy and then any full battle afterwards will get its own chapter. This is the last super long Part though all Parts after this will exceed 10k at least so they'll still be long for y'all to look forward to in the final few chapters of Winning. As this covers the 4 days of the preliminaries and the next Part will be after the 2 day break the next Part will be released in 6 days' time as that Part will occur 6 days after the first battle in this Part due to the real time covered by the events of this Part and from then on it will be as the tournament progresses but that's all I will say. The Supplement will be released in 4 days time however and again that is because it will be in real time. Lastly, as stated at the end of the last Part, Paul will not have the Pokémon he showed in Journeys regardless of if he caught them before he showed them, they were debuted in Journeys and as such I consider them Journeys Pokémon so if they debut it will be in Hearts 5 if Paul appears there and this applies to other Pokémon introduced in Journeys as new Pokémon to canon characters like Cynthia's Kommo-o. The one exception to this is game canon Pokémon for characters that are in both hence why Cynthia mentioned that she had a Spiritomb despite the anime not confirming it until Journeys but as Winning is almost over and Hearts 5 will be set during Journeys once it's first arc is over most of this is moot. As for evolutions of canon Pokémon that Journeys showed, some will be done and some won't be and it will be based on whether or not that Pokémon evolved during the series they were a part of though I had already evolved Delphox before it was confirmed. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff I have for this Part and there are no guest reviews to respond to or questions to answer here so I will leave this note off here. Do please do keep your reviews coming as I love hearing from y'all. Anyway, that is it for this pre-Part note which means that it is once again time to sit back which and enjoy the latest installment in Winning Takes Heart. Part CLXXXV: Begin the Kalos League.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Part CLXXXV: Begin the Kalos League

"Alright folks, the Lumiose Conference has officially begun!" The announcer for the North Stadium, who wasn't the main announcer, said as the crowd cheered, and Ash walked out of the trainer's entrance on his side and towards the battlefield that wasn't there yet while the boy he was facing did the same opposite him. "At this moment four matches are going on so welcome to the North Stadium for the opening match here between Ash and Everett!"

So, the guy Ash was facing was called Everett, good, he liked to know the names of those he was about to face. It helped foster bonds between trainers when the battle was over, and he was looking forward to this match as he made his way to the starting point. It had taken a year of hard work, ups and downs, and several fun events to reach this moment but he was ready for the Kalos League to begin.

The night before had been the simple opening ceremony and initial draw, followed by Ash preparing his team for today. As per the rules, he was allowed to register 6 Pokémon for it but could only use three in the battle and though not stated yet as the announcer had forgotten the day before, substitutions were permitted but only after a battle ended and before a move was used by either trainer.

This was a rule that would continue throughout which made sense as while Ash had no issues with quick substitutions he did recall how it significantly bogged down his battle with Paul back in Sinnoh despite its epicenes. In fact, Paul being back and openly challenging Ash was another factor motivating Ash to win and advance today. He was eager to progress and hopefully get a draw against Paul in the final tournament's full battles. They'd split those battles in the past and with an old rival back Ash was eager to face him again to see how much stronger he had gotten.

First though Ash had to win today to advance to tomorrow and that's just what he intended on doing as he made his way to the starting point, a noticeable platform overlooking the gaping pit in the middle of the stadium. The 4 satellite stadiums around the big one were modeled off it just smaller though the battlefields were the same size for uniformity. The big difference was that where the main stadium still had an open ring around the circular battlefield it used, the smaller ones did not so the battlefield, when raised, would fill the area.

Ash was interested in seeing what kind of battlefield it would be as Kalos seemed to do things a bit more elaborately than other regions did and soon he'd get that moment as he reached the starting point. It was time for his Kalos League quest to start and he'd start it with a decisive win.

"And now we will learn what the random battlefield is." The announcer said excitedly as there was a whirring sound and suddenly the field was raised from beneath them as the crowd cheered in anticipation for the battle to come. "And it looks like it's a grassland with rolling hills, how exciting!"

Ash just blinked at it because that was exactly what the battlefield was. It was a full-on field of grass with a small hill to his left, and a larger one to his right with a peak that came up to the to of the wall that separated the battlefield from the stands with a grassy path between the trainers.

On the larger hill was the referee for the battle but it all still boggled Ash. He'd had battles on grass before, several of his past Conferences had used it but this was a full-on rolling field like the ones he'd seen during his journey in Kalos. The level of detail and dedication to the atmosphere of the battlefield was beyond anything Ash had competed on before.

"You seem surprised." Everett said his voice as cocky as his attitude as he stood across from Ash one hand on his hip and head cocked. "Never seen something like this before?"

"Not with this amount of detail, usually it's just a standard battlefield that is covered in grass when I've had a grasslands theme." Ash admitted as he grinned at the experience to come. "But I don't mind, it just makes the prelims more fun. The last few times I've battled like this in a Conference the field hasn't been much of a factor with the exceptions of ice and the odd boulder on a rocky field but this, this really adds to it as it makes tactics all the more important as you have to factor in the theme as well."

"Other Conferences?" Everett asked clearly pissed by that. "So, you're a trainer who's managed to get 8 badges in other regions as well then."

"Yup, this is my 7th Conference in my 6th region." Ash said smiling and missing the tone in Everett's voice. "I was in the Indigo Conference in my native Kanto last year for a second time before coming here, even beat 7 of the 8 gym leaders there again in full battles to practice for it but the 8th gym leader never got back to me so I couldn't repeat my gym battles last year. I've been in the ones in Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova as well."

"So, you expect to win then, the arrogance." Everett said snarling at Ash now. "It took me two years just to get the 8 badges I needed for the Lumiose Conference. I'll show you that that doesn't mean I'm lesser than you."

"Congrats, I look forward to this." Ash said not seeing the rage in Everett's eyes. "Bring it on."

"I'll put you in your place." Everett said.

"Folks we really do have a treat to start out with." The announcer said cutting into the conversation before Ash could respond. "One of the trainers, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, is one of three trainers in this year's Kalos League who's made it all the way to a Conference final, or in the case of one of the others the Galar Cup final, before having placed lost in the Indigo Conference final last year. That was also the Conference where he revealed fairy types to the world in the quarterfinals, so we've got a famous trainer to start out with. Against his, making his Conference debut, is Everett, a local boy from the Kalos region."

"So, you clearly think a lot of yourself." Everett said as he pulled out a Poke Ball. "Well, I'll show you that just because you have a better record doesn't mean you're better than me."

"I look forward to the challenge." Ash said though he didn't pull out a Poke Ball as he was starting this one off with Pikachu. "Let's begin this battle then."

"You heard it folks, it's time to start." The announcer said. "This will be a three-on-three match with substitutions only allowed after one Pokémon has been knocked out and before the next move is used. If a Pokémon is improperly subbed out then it is considered defeated and disqualified from the battle. So, with that, let the battle begin!"

"Furfrou, let's have a battle." Everett said tossing out his Poke Ball.

"Pikachu, I choose you." Ash said pointing out.

"Pikachu." Pikachu said excitedly as he scampered out and onto the battlefield ready to battle as the Poke Ball burst open and a Furfrou with a different trim to the ones that Ash had seen this year appeared before Everett.

This Furfrou had all of its fur still on it though it was trimmed town to a smooth level on it's lower chest, body and upper legs while flaring out at the bottom. It's head hair was styled into two long bangs down the side and an expanding back thing from the top with an uneven tail.

As with all Furfrous it had some of its fur dyed, in this case being its tail, lower legs, forehead area, and upper bangs, with the color being red with 4 black Vs on the bangs, the third one marking the boundary between the red upper part and white lower part, and two small black rings on the red of each leg. It certainly stood out and in general really matched with Everett's personal style and Ash deduced that this was his main Pokémon.

"Cool what trim is that?" Ash asked. "My girlfriend has one but it's in the Diamond Trim though she opted for dark blue dye not the usual orange but that's not one I've seen before. I think someone in the Master Class had a Furfrou with a Dandy Trim but that's not that either."

"It's a Kabuki Trim." Everett said clearly thrown by it and this other trainer's attitude to things. "But enough of that, Furfrou, use Take Down."

"Intercept it with Iron Tail." Ash ordered as his first Kalos League battle began.

Furfrou growled as it charged forward at full speed, but Pikachu leapt into action a second later as he ran at Furfrou. This would take timing and skill, but Pikachu had that in abundance from his years of experience, and he was looking forward to showing everyone why he was the most seasoned Pokémon in Ash's team as he competed in his 7th Conference.

That came a moment later when he leapt into the air the as soon as he knew that Furfrou wasn't going to be able to change direction, turning his tail to steel at the same time, and flipping to bring it down as hard as he could. It wasn't as accurate as Pikachu would have liked as Furfrou was slightly faster than he was expecting but he still managed it as he cleared Furfrou's lowered head mid flip and then brought his tail down onto his opponent's hind quarters thus avoiding the Take Down in the process.

Furfrou let out a howl of pain as his hindlegs were driven down and he crashed to the ground, rolling from the unusual location of the hit and yipping as he did. Thankfully, he didn't lose any health from a recoil but that was because he'd missed and taken the steel type attack in the process which annoyed him.

Pikachu for his part finished his flip with a twist to land on all fours and skid over the grass facing his opponent, cheeks sparking as Furfrou rolled. Ash saw this and knew exactly what he had to do.

"Thunderbolt." Ash called out.

"Cotton Spore." Everett said. "Slow Pikachu down at least."

Pikachu let out his war cry as he discharged a powerful bolt of electricity as Furfrou came to a stop and got his head up to face Pikachu. He knew that he couldn't avoid the blow, so he just opened his mouth and spewed forth the cotton-like substance of Cotton Spore. A second later he was hit by the Thunderbolt and wailed in pain from it.

However, it had been worth it as the Cotton Spore traversed the field covered Pikachu as he finished his Thunderbolt causing him to cough from the move that would slow him down. That cough allowed Furfrou to get up for his counter.

"Giga Impact." Everett ordered.

"Dodge that with Quick Attack." Ash said as Furfrou snarled and charged at Pikachu as fast as he could. "Then use Thunderbolt again."

Pikachu heard the order and set to move but he was a fraction too slow thanks to the Cotton Spore and as he began to run, Furfrou reached him and slammed into his side sending him flying into the air from the powerful move. Pikachu wailed if pain from the hit, but he knew he'd survived it, though it was so strong that he wasn't sure how much more he could take in this battle and as such he looked to Furfrou who came to a panting stop and unleashed his Thunderbolt at it while in the air.

Furfrou barely had time to comprehend it when the second Thunderbolt hit him, and he howled in pain as Pikachu hit the grass and rolled away. As Pikachu rose, battered but still in the fight, he saw that Furfrou was also still standing, one eye close and snarling but not moving thanks to the cooldown required after using Giga Impact. That was just the opening that Ash needed.

"Now Pikachu, Thunderbolt again." Ash said. "We've got this."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said as he unleashed his Thunderbolt while Furfrou could do nothing but growl in frustration as the third Thunderbolt flew at and hit him.

This time Furfrou didn't let out a noise, he was well beyond able to as his damage limit had been surpassed so as the Thunderbolt ended a charred and slightly smoking Furfrou collapsed to the side with a thud. It was clear that he was out before he hit the ground with swirls for eyes and the ref was already on it.

"Furfrou is unable to battle." The ref said raising his hand to Ash's said as the image of Furfrou on the stadium's jumbotron that showed Ash and Everett with 3 hexagons in a jagged line next to their names to show the images of their Pokémon turned gray. "Pikachu is the winner."

"Pikachu, come back, you've done well but you need a break." Ash said right after a clearly upset Everett recalled his Furfrou and pulled out a second Poke Ball. "You earned it."

"A quick change won't save you." Everett said as he tossed out his Poke Ball as soon as he could while Ash took out his own second Poke Ball. "Pyroar, let's have a battle."

"Conkeldurr, I choose you." Ash said a second later, a choice that gave him an advantage, but which was purely coincidental. "And start with Fling as soon as you can."

"Incinerate." Everett said as his Pyroar, clearly a female one based on the lack of a mane and that it was exactly the same as the one Dawn had that Ash knew was the female form of Pyroar, burst from her Poke Ball.

Conkeldurr had burst forth a second later and so the fire was already tearing across the field, burning the grass as it bore down on Conkeldurr as soon as he arrived in the battle. Conkeldurr realized that he wasn't going to get out of the way in time so instead he just spun to increase his centrifugal forces, hands over the ends of his pillars, as the fire reached him.

While the pillars did cut through the fire, it didn't dispel the Incinerate attack enough to prevent it from washing over him, but Conkeldurr used that, ignoring the pain of the fire as he let go of first one and then the other pillar. The fire had covered him so Everett and Pyroar didn't see in time before the pillars shot out of it and across the battlefield.

As such all Pyroar could do was let out a yip of surprise before the first pillar slammed into her face that blasted her back and was followed up by the second pillar hitting her in the side causing her to fly back further. That was just what Ash needed.

"Drain Punch." Ash said as his plan to defeat Pyroar materialized in his mind. "Get in close and stay there."

"Fire Fang." Everett said as Pyroar hit the ground and rolled the second pillar skidding over the grass behind her cutting a grove into the grass while Conkeldurr charged at her.

This was all going just as Ash wanted as Conkeldurr charged forward as fast as he could. He could tell what Ash wanted from him and was going to show it now. He may have been a delinquent Pokémon back when he first met Ash but since then he'd learned the joys of fighting for someone, for a team and how much stronger a human could make a Pokémon. Now he was going to show all that by winning his debut matchup in one of these Conferences that he'd heard so much about.

All that powered Conkeldurr on as he reached Pyroar with his right fist cocked back as she got to her feet, her mouth filling with fire, but he was there before she could bring her Fire Fang to bear on him. That was because Conkeldurr gave a roar as he brought his fist down and slammed it into the side of Pyroar's face.

Pyroar let out a howl of pain from the super effective attack that drove her face first down to the side and into the ground with a thud as Conkeldurr regained some energy from the blow. It wasn't enough to take her out, but she was down for a second and Ash finished his combo sequence as the second pillar was right there to ensure it.

"Hammer Arm." Ash called out.

"Overheat." Everett yelled sounding desperate.

The only reason why Pyroar had a chance was the fact that Conkeldurr had to turn and grab the end of the pillar near him in both his hands, turn back to Pyroar, raise it above his head, and then bring it down onto her. In that time Pyroar had begun to glow red in preparation for the Overheat.

As such the time it took for Conkeldurr to get into position allowed Pyroar the moment she needed to open her mouth and unleash an intense blast of fire that was Overheat at its strongest and fully covered Conkeldurr with the flames. However, Conkeldurr just powered through with a roar of pain it as he brought his pillar down in the flames to slam it into Pyroar's side.

All this was missed due to the flames but when they died down they showed blacked but still standing Conkeldurr, now a few places back have retreated after landing his hit, his pillar resting on the ground as he panted from the effort of what he'd just done. The same couldn't be said for Pyroar as she was on her side in a circle of now charred earth with swirls for eyes.

"Pyroar is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Ash's side as Pyroar's image on the screen went gray showing that Everett only had one Pokémon remaining. "Conkeldurr is the winner."

"Pyroar, return." Everett said showing a quick change as he had his third and final Poke Ball in his other hand that he tossed out the moment Pyroar was out of the battle while giving an order to ensure that Ash couldn't swap Conkeldurr out. "Pidgeotto, Aerial Ace."

It was one of the fastest changes Ash had seen and he hadn't even gotten his hand to his belt to grab Conkeldurr's Poke Ball to recall him as planned before Everett's third Pokémon burst forth with a caw and flew straight at Conkeldurr with glowing wings. The Pokémon, one Ash knew very well, was on Conkeldurr just as he looked up to see the glowing wings slam into his face and send him flying backwards in the air before he hit the ground on his back and skidded over the grass, his pillar having been dropped as he was hit.

"What a swift change over." The announcer said excitedly as the crowd roared and Conkeldurr came to a stop on his back, arms wide and eyes swirls. "That's got to be one of the swiftest we've ever seen and as it was involved a move there was no way Ash could have recalled Conkeldurr from that."

"Conkeldurr is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Everett's side as Conkeldurr's image went gray on the screen. "Pidgeotto is the winner."

"Conkeldurr, return." Ash said recalling his Pokémon and looking at the Poke Ball in his hand. "You fought well my friend, but that quick change did you in. That Overheat was a powerful one and ensured you couldn't survive a super effective Aerial Ace, but you were amazing despite all of that. Take a rest, we win it now."

"Just because you have a type advantage doesn't mean you'll win." Everett snapped. "I'm still in this battle."

"I know that a type advantage isn't everything and I know that I can never underestimate an opponent." Ash said as he put away his Poke Ball and pulled out his third one. "But I'm not going to rely on type advantages to win this battle. Noivern, I choose you."

At that Ash tossed out his Poke Ball and Noivern burst from it was a roar as he beat his wings and landed on his feet looking at the now hovering Pidgeotto before him. This was the Pokémon that evolved into Pidgeot, a Pokémon that Noivern knew well and looked up to in their team as he'd spent time with Ash's first flying type in the Professor's lab where Pidgeot was currently based due to his Mega Stone. As such Noivern knew not to underestimate a Pidgeotto and he was ready to win this for his human and his team.

"Twister." Everett ordered. "Unlike you, I'm not arrogant enough to not use a type advantage when I have it."

"Dodge and strike from above with Boomburst." Ash countered. "I know that you can do it Noivern."

Noivern let out a caw of agreement as he launched himself off the ground as Pidgeotto whipped up a raging tornado that despite looking like a flying type attack was actually a dragon type one. Still, Noivern knew that he could do as he opened his wings and then used the wind of the tornado to fly around it as it moved at full speed in the direction the wind was blowing, his wings wide and body clearly not touching the Twister as he got around it and then shot forward from the top of, using the wind to his advantage the entire time.

All Pidgeotto could do was look up with a mix of surprise and confusion as Noivern got above him having avoided the Twister attack. That was all he could do as Noivern leveled his large ears at Pidgeotto and unleashed his Boomburst from them.

The powerful, sound based, normal type attack bombarded Pidgeotto from above and drove him down and into the still warm, scorched, ground with a crash that kicked up dust thanks to the damage it had taken and covering his body. Clearly Everett believed that his Pokémon was still in it and gave an order accordingly.

"Aerial Ace." Everett called out.

"Steel Wing." Ash said as there was a caw from the dust and Pidgeotto suddenly shot up and out of it with his wings splayed showing that it was still very much in the battle.

Noivern gave his own caw as he pitched forward and dove down at Pidgeotto as it flew up at him. Both were experienced flying types so as they neared then angled their wings accordingly so that the ends of then scored lines along their opponent's side as they passed wing over wing so that both imparting their moves to the others in a split second as they passed each other.

Almost at once, Noivern rolled in the air from the hit he'd taken, pulled up and extended his wings to slow his descent and then land on his feet as he looked up at Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto was still rising in the seconds after the hit but as it did its wings folded in and it then arced on pure momentum before it fell from the sky as limp as can be.

Between a powerful Boomburst and a Steel Wing, a Pokémon like Pidgeotto couldn't maintain its health and had passed out in the air hence why it was limp. That was confirmed a moment later when it landed with a thump on the ground and lay there on its side with its beak open and swirls for eyes.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Ash's as Everett fell to his knees, tears in his eyes at his loss and any confident bravado gone while Pidgeotto's image on the screen went gray. "Noivern is the winner. Everett is now out of Pokémon, so the match goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."

"Folks there it is, the first battle of the day in this stadium and I'm hearing the second completed match of the Lumiose Conference is in the books." The announcer said as a shocked Everett recalled his Pokémon unable to really say anything after such a decisive loss. "The winner is Ash Ketchum. He advances to the next round tomorrow."

"Noivern, return." Ash said recalling his Pokémon and smiling at the Poke Ball in his hand. "You were great my friend, won it for us just as I knew you could, and we can move on to focus on the next battle. Take a rest, you and the rest of the team earned it."

Ash put the Poke Ball away and looked up to see Everett still there and realized that he had a moment as the battlefield was lowered to be replaced following the amount of grass that had been burnt up during the battle. He knew that Everett needed a word to cheer him up.

"You did well." Ash called out getting Everett's attention. "That change was really impressive, fastest I've ever seen which will come in handy in the future as a quick change can really alter the momentum of a battle if done right. You took advantage of the rules and used types and moves to ensure that I couldn't recall Conkeldurr in time. You've got a lot of potential, keep it up and I hope to face you again."

Everett looked at Ash and blinked through his tears. He'd tried so hard to get here and now he'd lost in his first ever Conference battle but the kid he lost to was complementing him with a sincere smile on his face. Everett wiped his eyes and rose.

"Th, thank you." Everett said. "I hope so as well."

Ash nodded at that before turning and leaving, there was no time for a handshake and those wouldn't be allowed until the full battles anyway due to time needed to get through all the scheduled battles of the day but knowing that Everett would be ok. Ash just smiled now as he and Pikachu left the battlefield to go and rejoin the girls of his group to enjoy the rest of the day.

He'd won his first battle in the Lumiose Conference and advanced to the next round. His Kalos League quest had started strong, and he intended to keep it up going into the next day and hopefully his friends all joined him there.

After Ash's win he rejoined the girls, noting that all of them were in cheerleader outfits for him as he hadn't noticed that morning or during the battle, even Miette for some reason, and sat back to watch the rest of the morning session in the North Stadium. There wasn't any of their friends in the stadium for the morning session, though Trevor would go early in the afternoon one here, but it was still worth watching and enjoying the battles that unfolded before them.

The morning was ultimately uneventful, it was a lot of whittling down the numbers and the strong were usually clear to most at this stage of a Conference. Ash watched Astrid, the only other person he knew the name of going into morning battles in the North Stadium though he personally didn't know her at all, sweep a trainer with her Mega Absol to advance with ease towards the end of the morning session. Along with her and Ash, they learned of Adam, Tierno, Lyra, and Remo's advancements in the morning slate with minimal difficulty for them as well.

After that they had a nice lunch outside in one of the parks around the main stadium before they headed over to the East Stadium for the afternoon slate as Max was there, so they joined Bonnie and Owen in supporting him in it. Adam and Emily also showed up, but Tierno went to watch Trevor's match while Lyra and Khoury opted to wander the area instead as they weren't as close with anyone currently competing.

As with the morning slate, the afternoon one wasn't much of an issue for the people they knew as all of their friends, well it was just Max and Trevor, advanced, as did Paul and that Titus kid. There really wasn't anything to complain about the entire day and soon they all regrouped as they went to the same place as the day before for tomorrow's draw. Only now it was dark as night had fallen so street lamps were lit but they were all eager to see who they would be facing as they gathered in the area for the draw.

"Welcome back winning trainers and their friends." The announcer from the day before who'd been the announcer in the West Stadium that day, though he was apparently rotating between them over the 4 days before taking up as the main one for the last 16 onwards, said when the time for the draw rolled around though it was only him on the stage today. "A first day of exciting battles in the Lumiose Conference is in the books and now it is time to find out who you are facing tomorrow. So, without further ado, here are the matchups for tomorrow's battles."

Again, the trainer cards of the remaining trainers appeared on the board only now they were slightly larger as only 128 remained so it would be easier to find their images after the draw. As with before, they were suddenly scattered as if blown by a violent wind, and the animation showed the spinning all over the screen before they settled face down in the 4 quadrants with vs. between them and the order in which they'd go. Only once that was sorted did they flip over and reveal the matchups.

Ash quickly scanned for his image though unlike the day before where he'd been in an opening match, this time his card was harder to find. Finally, he did find his name in the South Stadium's quadrant and in the middle of the afternoon slate of battles which meant that he could enjoy the morning matches in the stands with the girls and whoever else could join them.

As soon as he found his face, Ash looked at his opponent to see who he was facing. The image of his opponent showed a trainer with an androgynous face that looked a few years older than Ash with long, straight, dark teal colored hair held back with a thick red headband that covered the whole forehead and violet eyes.

Something nagged at the back of Ash's mind, and he looked around for the trainer and finally found the person standing off to one side looking intently at him. Seeing the person in full Ash was able to tell that it was a man thanks to the white tank top he wore under a short hot pink jacket not giving rise to any signs of breasts or bra straps. The man finished his look with a blue sash belt, lime green pants that flared slightly at the bottom, and light gray boots. Around his throat was a lose yellow ascot tied in the center of his chest.

His gaze met Ash's and he grinned before turning in a full circle and vanishing in a puff of smoke that caused Ash to blink at that. He was certainly facing someone quite eccentric it seemed, and Ash was positive that he'd seen the man before somewhere.

"Do you know him Ash?" Dawn asked as she too stared at where he'd gone.

"That was a man?" Miette asked. "I couldn't tell."

"He didn't have breasts or a bra." May pointed out. "And even though he's a little feminine he gives off a strong, masculine confidence for some reason. I've seen that type before in Contests though often they're overconfident in their skills while usually having a rather dedicated, all female, fan group behind them."

"That's it." Ash said as it hit him with the last part of what May had said. "I can't remember his name, but I faced him many years ago in my first ever Indigo Conference, in fact he was my first ever Conference opponent if I remember correctly. He had a lot of fans back in Kanto and could do some magic tricks but in the end I beat him with just my Krabby, who evolved into Kingler in that battle. Well, I've grown in the years since so I expect he has as well, can't take him for granted that's for sure."

"A wise move." Serena said. "Do you know him Clemont?"

"I think his name is Mandi and yes he's male and really comfortable with his masculinity." Clemont said as he wracked his brains to remember what he could about the man. "I faced him early this year, can't recall the Pokémon he used though he was a little overconfident for sure, lost two of his Pokémon to me because he didn't factor in their weakness or at least negation of resistance, to electric types. Still, he won in the end."

"Well, we know who Ash is facing so time to head home." Dawn said though May stayed to chat with Max and see who he was facing, some Unovan girl called Flora apparently as the girl in question had come over to introduce herself to Max, while the others nodded and headed home. "He's got to rest up for tomorrow's battle."

The first day had been an eventful if standard one and now they were all ready for the second. The preliminaries were in full swing, and Ash fully intended to keep that momentum going into the next day of battles as he pressed forward in the Kalos League.

"The field's been replaced as the damage was too great from the last battle so it's time for the next match of the day." The announcer, the one who was doing the draws and would do the final rounds' announcement, said as Ash walked out of the trainer's entrance and towards the battlefield that was raising to meet him, a wooded area with a path in the middle so that the trainers could see each other this time, while his opponent did the same opposite him. "Next up we have an all-Kanto battle between Ash Ketchum and the Astounding Mandi!"

Ash was ready for this. He'd spent the night preparing and deciding the Pokémon he wanted to use, though he was going to try and replicate what he'd done the last time against Mandi, before getting to bed at a good time to get plenty of sleep so that he ready for the match. He'd then spent the morning in this stadium watching the battles and supporting his friends as both Lyra and Tierno had battles in the stadium.

Tierno was facing someone Ash recognized, a Hoenn trainer called Clark who gave Tierno a solid challenge but in the end Tierno pulled it out though he had to rely on Mega Blastoise, the Mega Evolution he'd been teasing before the Grand Festival, to win it. Lyra meanwhile still hadn't shown if she could Mega Evolve or not but regardless won with only one of her Pokémon being beaten against someone who Ash didn't recognize.

As for the others, only Paul and Trevor had morning matches that Ash kept an eye the scoreboard for the results as they were in other stadiums. Paul naturally won, another sweep with Electivire over a Johto trainer called Salvador that looked vaguely familiar to Ash in the picture, while Trevor took all his Pokémon to win though he didn't Mega Evolve his Charizard against a Unovan trainer called Geraldo. The others that Ash was focused on, mainly Max and Adam, but Remo, Titus, and Astrid as well were going that afternoon like he was.

None of those battles had happened yet and as Ash had his own to focus on he wasn't paying attention to them at the moment. He had a match to win and advance to the next round to join those who had already advanced, and he fully intended on doing so.

"I remember you Ash." Mandi said as they both reached their starting points and looked out down the path between the trees at each other. "You shocked and upset me in Kanto many years ago, but I am better now and will show you that by besting you with the same team you beat all those years ago though I should warn you, two have evolved since then."

"Cool, I look forward to the challenge." Ash said as he pulled out his Poke Ball for his first Pokémon, the one he wanted to win all three matchups in this battle with. "I can't recall who you used but I know I used my Krabby who evolved during our last battle. He's back in Kanto though as I don't take past Pokémon to new regions other than Pikachu with a few exceptions if it's for experience, so you'll get a different Pokémon this time, one of those exceptions in fact."

"Well, I shall still show you how I am better than you are now." Mandi said withdrawing his Poke Ball. "I have grown since last we met, and I shall vanquish you this time."

"Well, I'm always game for getting stronger so bring it." Ash said grinning. "Let's see how much we've both grown in the last 8 years."

"Folks this is actually a rematch of a first round Indigo Conference matchup from 8 years ago if the records are correct." The announcer said sounding amazed at the news. "That's got to be one of the longest gaps in time ever recorded for a rematch between two trainers in Conferences. In that time Mandi has challenged all the regions except Alola and never progressed passed the preliminaries while Ash has always surpassed the preliminaries and progressively gone deeper into the Conference baring a step back in the Vertress Conference a few years back. That bodes well for him as he was the runner up in Indigo last year, but we shall see what happens now."

"So, you have done well, but round is just a number to me." Mandi said. "I shall show you that I am still as good as ever."

"Er, ok." Ash said unsure what to say to that and looking around for the ref who was standing in an observation platform above on of the trees. "Well then let's get this started already."

"It's time to see who will win this rematch." The announcer said. "Battle begin."

"Kingdra, come on out." Mandi said tossing his Poke Ball out.

"Lucario, I choose you." Ash said throwing his own Poke Ball out. "And start by getting in close with Metal Claw."

"Dragon Pulse." Mandi said as the battle began.

"Use that Metal Claw to block that move and then strike with it." Ash said as Lucario charged forward, the spikes on the backs of his hands morphing to form the steel type attack as Kingdra opened its mouth. "I know you can do it."

Lucario barked in agreement as he felt Ash's passive aura fill him with strength as he ran forward, crossing the Meta Claw together in front of him and lowering his head. As he did the shockwave that was the dragon type attack Dragon Pulse shot out and at him, but Lucario just kept running so that the attack was intercepted by his Metal Claw. That caused the Dragon Pulse to part around him which surprised Kingdra enough that Lucario was able to close the distance and slash the claws across Kingdra's face.

The Dragon Pokémon wailed but more in frustration than pain as his water type ensured that he was resistant to the steel type attack and recoiled back but Lucario kept pace to be close for a follow up attack. He knew his moves well and what he had to do in battle after all he'd done this year and his connection with Ash. That was paid off a moment later when Ash gave then next order.

"Bone Rush." Ash said.

"Agility." Mandi called out as Lucario formed an aura bone in his paws.

Kingdra boosted his speed but that came as Lucario assaulted him with the Bone Rush so he couldn't use it to evade the attack. Lucario swung his bone like a master as he pressed his advantage and struck Kingdra first across the face with the blow, then slammed it into Kingdra's side three times alternating each time, before he spun the bone to launch it up and catch Kingdra under his jaw and flip him back and crash to the ground.

The rare, maximum 5 strikes of Bone Rush had occurred and Kingdra wasn't weak or resistant to ground type attacks, so he felt all of them. Still, he wasn't out, and Mandi tried to press his speed advantage.

"Waterfall." Mandi called out.

"Dodge and counter with Aura Sphere." Ash said opting to not leave things to chance with Kingdra's speed boosted at the moment.

Lucario barked in agreement as he tensed his knees and then leapt the moment Kingdra charged at him with the speed and strength needed to climb a waterfall. The only reason that Lucario could do this was because he'd put Kingdra on the ground from the Bone Rush attack which gave him the extra second needed to leap up and flip over the charging Kingdra so that the water and dragon type passed harmlessly beneath him.

As he was doing this, Lucario twisted mid flip so that he was facing Kingdra when he was coming down to the ground and formed the ball of fighting type power between his paws. Still in the air, he released it at Kingdra's back as it slowed to a stop before he landed on his feet his eyes locked on Kingdra. The Aura Sphere flew true as Ash knew it would and slammed into Kingdra's back sending it sprawling forward with a groan to faceplant the path in the woods.

"Kingdra, use Hyper Beam." Mandi said.

"Aura Sphere one more time." Ash said. "This should do it Lucario."

Lucario barked in agreement as he formed the ball and fired it off as fast as he could while Kingdra rolled onto its back and flipped up, it's mouth glowing orange. However, again Lucario showed his speed and the advantage he had from knocking Kingdra to the ground as he got the move off just in time that it struck Kingdra in the face right before he could get the Hyper Beam off causing him to careen backwards before landing on the ground and skidding to a stop as dust settled over it. When it cleared they all saw Kingdra lying on its side with swirls for eyes.

"Kingdra is unable to battle." The ref declared raising his hand to Ash's side the moment it was clear that Kingdra was out and as such its image on the stadium's jumbotron went gray. "Lucario is the winner."

"Lucario, come back to stand before me." Ash said as Mandi recalled and thanked Kingdra for his efforts in the battle. "Stay in though, we're going to win this without the need for the others, I'm sure of it."

Lucario barked at that, he felt Ash's drive and passion to do just that and fully intended to make it happen not just to show off his own strength but because it would show off how good Ash was if he could sweep his opponent. That determination in Ash also fueled his fighting spirit and his passive aura grew as his battle intensity grew, something Lucario could draw on to get stronger and faster to ensure that they could win this without Lucario going down or needing to be subbed out.

"Impressive but Kingdra is not the only Pokémon I used last time that has since evolved." Mandi said having thanked Kingdra and pulled out his second Poke Ball that he then tossed out with a flourish. "Crobat, come on out."

"I remember your Golbat." Ash said as a familiar poison and flying type with 4 wings and a purple body burst from its Poke Ball facing Ash as he knew Brock's Crobat well. "Lucario we still go this."

Lucario barked in agreement as he grinned and got ready for this battle. He'd not faced this particular Pokémon before, but he could easily tell the types it had and knew that defensively he had an advantage at the start. Offensively, well things would be a bit different as this type combo significantly reduced his moves by completely negating one and being ultra-resistant to his two fighting type moves. However, all Lucario did was embrace the challenge.

"Double Team." Mandi called to start the second matchup. "Then converge on Lucario and use Mega Drain."

"Leap up and at it to use Aura Sphere to find the real one and down it." Ash said instantly using Aura Sphere to his advantage in this situation despite Crobat's resistance to the attack. "Then strike it with Metal Claw before backing off, we don't want to let it drain you."

Lucario barked in understanding as he ran forward and leapt into the air as several shadow clones of Crobat, forming the Aura Sphere between his paws as he did. This was an ingenious strategy from Ash, exactly what Lucario would expect from his human, and he used it to perfection as he unleashed his Aura Sphere down at Crobat.

Even with Double Team, it wasn't one of the semi-invulnerable moves that could actually cause a technically infinitely accurate move like Aura Sphere missing during the invulnerable phase, so it just shot down at the flock of Crobats that were flying up to intercept Lucario with glowing fangs. The Aura Sphere moved to the side as it avoided a few of the shadow Crobats created by the double team and slammed into the real Crobat's face driving it down and into the ground with a crash as the rest of the clones vanished in an instant.

It was a little off the direction Lucario had leapt in, so he just formed his Metal Claw in the air and then landed, twisting as he did so as to face Crobat as he slid on the path from his landing and then rushed Crobat as it tried to get up. Rather than pause to strike it, Lucario just ran past it as it began to take to the air, hitting it in the side with the Metal Claw on his right hand as he passed it and sending it spinning to the side and into a tree that lined the path.

"That's it Lucario." Ash said as Lucario looped around to face Crobat as it was trying to stabilize itself after bouncing off the tree. "Aura Sphere again."

"Razor Wind." Mandi called out.

Lucario just barked again as he formed the Aura Sphere between his paws and focused on Crobat who beat its wings hard and fast to generate blades of wind that shot at Lucario right after he fired the Aura Sphere. The moves somehow missed each other, and the Aura Sphere slammed into Crobat's face sending him end over end backwards as the blades of wind that was actually a normal type attack hit Lucario in the gut.

Thankfully Lucario was resistant to normal type attacks, so it was more a mild nuisance than anything else though did do slightly more damage than his Aura Sphere had. As such the Pokémon still had plenty more to give in this battle.

"Take Down." Mandi called out as Crobat stabilized himself.

"Block and send it back with Metal Claw." Ash said.

"Do whatever you can to make it hit." Mandi ordered as Ash realized in surprise that Mandi hadn't taught Crobat any new moves since they'd last battled which seemed rather odd to him.

Lucario barked in agreement as he formed his Metal Claw once again and got it up in a cross guard as Crobat charged at him at full speed. Metal Claw was the only useful move he had in this matchup, but he'd use it and the others that would work on Crobat to win it for Ash and the fact that he was so offensively challenged in this match would only add to the prestige of winning it. This was going to be straightforward; he knew it.

Well, that was what Lucario thought but Crobat had other intentions and used his extra mobility granted him by having 4 wings to move down at the last moment so that rather than be intercepted by the Metal Claw it slammed face first into Lucario's gut, winding him but not doing as much damage as usual due to Lucario's resistance to normal type attacks. Still, the force of the blow forced Lucario to double over and step back while the recoil hit Crobat but naturally Lucario wasn't out of this fight just yet.

With a growl Lucario slashed his claws up as he rose and caught Crobat in the face with the right-hand Metal Claw and sending it flipping backwards through the air. Unbeknownst to Lucario he'd managed to land a critical hit that would be very useful but for now he was just straitening, his teeth clenched as he got ready to keep the fight up an end this as soon as possible.

"Mega Drain." Mandi ordered as a battered but still fighting Crobat righted itself in the air.

"Aura Sphere." Ash said as Crobat now flew at Lucario with glowing fangs. "Keep it away from you."

Lucario growled at that as he formed the Aura Sphere between his forepaws. It wasn't going to be very useful against Crobat other than being a guaranteed hit that would weaken it some more but that wasn't the point of it, the point was to send Crobat back and keep it from landing a Mega Drain that would prolong the battle even more.

At least that was the plan when Lucario let off the Aura Sphere at the incoming Crobat. The attack flew true and hit Crobat in the face sending it flying back once again. However, this time Crobat's wings went limp the moment the Aura Sphere hit it, and it didn't right itself as it fell limp to the ground and skidded on it, wings splayed, before coming to a stop on its back a few feet in front of shocked Mandi with swirls for eyes.

No one expected that but the critical hit from the second Metal Claw had allowed for the third Aura Sphere to just tip Crobat over the limit and knock it out giving Lucario his second win of the battle. Even Lucario was surprised by this, but he wasn't complaining as he backed up to be in front of Ash as he awaited his final opponent.

"Crobat is unable to battle." The ref declared raising his hand to Ash's side as the image of Crobat on the big screen went gray. "The winner is Lucario."

"Well, that was unexpected." Ash admitted, as did Lucario with a yip at his human's words while Crobat was recalled and thanked by Mandi for its efforts. "Stay in Lucario, we're going to win this now."

"You may have bested two, but you can't best the last one I have." Mandi said not sounding to phased at all as he put away his second Poke Ball and pulled out his third and final one of the battle. "This one will surely deal with that Lucario. Exeggutor, come on out."

With that Mandi tossed out his final Pokémon of the battle and his Exeggutor burst forth and landed in front of him with a thud, all of its heads smiling for the match to come. This was going to be an interesting matchup, but Ash was sure that he and Lucario could still pull it off and Lucario felt that trust through Ash's passive aura and let it fuel him in the coming battle.

Lucario was ready for this. This matchup wouldn't be as bad offensively as the last one as he could at least land all his moves though three weren't going to be very effective in the matchup and the final one only average due to Exeggutor's types. It was still a solid defensive match though as Lucario's steel type really came in handy as it negated his fighting type weakness to one of this Pokémon's types and that would come in handy, he knew it.

"Egg Bomb." Mandi called out.

"Get in close and strike with Meta Claw." Ash said causing Lucario to instantly run forward as Exeggutor launched a large egg that Lucario wasn't sure how it produced at him. "Avoid that Egg Bomb at all costs."

Lucario barked in agreement as he ran forward and tracked the egg as it arched towards him. then, at the last moment, he leapt forward with a shallow, low, leap so that the egg crashed down and blew up on the path behind him thus missing him as he rolled on landing. Lucario then popped up from his roll forming his Metal Claw as he did and never breaking stride as he closed in on Exeggutor and then slashed it along its body with both claws causing it to grunt with pain and take a step back from the attack that it was neither weak nor resistant to.

"That's it press out advantage with Bone Rush." Ash said.

"Not this time." Mandi countered. "Use Psychic to toss it back."

"Abort that move and use Aura Sphere." Ash said as Lucario formed the aura bone but before he could do anything else Exeggutor's eyes glowed blue followed by Lucario's body. "You won't land the Bone Rush, but you can land the Aura Sphere."

Lucario understood Ash's orders, this was a move many in the team had spoken of their experiences against and he knew that there were ways to counter it as he took the Psychic hit as Exeggutor lifted Lucario up and tossed him backwards. As Lucario flew back, he formed and released the Aura Sphere and sent it flying at Exeggutor who couldn't do anything but take it in the chest and groan as it was forced back a step but thanks to its psychic type it was resistant to the attack.

"Now this time we will get it to work." Mandi said as Lucario hit the ground and rolled from the impact. "Hypnosis."

"Into the trees." Ash said finally using the battlefield's features. "Use them to avoid it."

Lucario barked in acknowledgement of that as he closed his eyes and scrambled to his feet before diving into the trees on one side to avoid the attack. Now he was free, but Mandi had a plan for this as well, he wasn't going to be swept by Ash again.

"Egg Bomb." Mandi said. "Bomb the trees and force Lucario out and then grab him with Psychic to force him to you so that you can use Hypnosis."

"Lucario evade and counter with Aura Sphere." Ash said. "Keep it up as long as you can."

Lucario didn't let out a noise, he knew that would be dumb as that would let Exeggutor know where he was, but he understood the order and formed an Aura Sphere that he sent at Exeggutor through the trees as Exeggutor launched an Egg Bomb into the trees. Lucario was able to get it off in time to move to the side and avoid the Egg Bomb but the trees near him were blown apart by it, they weren't the best trees after all, but at least his Aura Sphere flew true and slammed into Exeggutor's chest to stagger him but not do too much damage.

What happened next was an interesting game of cat and mouse as Exeggutor bombed the trees to destroy them and limit Lucario's hiding spaces with as many Egg Bombs as he could get off while Lucario used any moment he could to fire off an Aura Sphere. The path ensured that Lucario only had half the battlefield to work with, but he did his best as he got off his attacks whenever he could.

The problem for Lucario was that he needed to pause to get an Aura Sphere off and wherever he did Exeggutor had a moment to narrow down his location in the trees and fire another Egg Bomb before the Aura Sphere hit it. However, Lucario knew that this was how he won so he did all he could to get as many Aura Spheres off as possible.

This kept up for three Aura Spheres that all stuck and chipped away at Exeggutor's health, but it was undeterred and finally luck's coin fell on Exeggutor's side as the Egg Bombs paid off. Lucario had been forced to a smaller and smaller area as his cover was steadily destroyed and as he had to avoid the Egg Bombs long enough to get off an Aura Sphere it meant that Exeggutor could just spam his Egg Bombs to bombard the area relentlessly.

Eventually all that worked to Exeggutor's favor and one of the eggs landed on Lucario's shoulder as he stopped to prepare his fourth Egg Bomb. Naturally, the Egg Bomb blew up upon landing on Lucario and the force of it sent him flying sideways with a growl of pain.

Fortunately, Lucario was resistant to the normal type attack. Unfortunately, due to the lessening cover Lucario had been forced nearer and nearer the trees that directly lined the path. As such the force of the explosion from the blow that landed on blasted him sideways out of the trees and into the path. The moment he was there Exeggutor struck.

Lucario had barely hit the ground when Exeggutor's eyes glowed blue and grabbed Lucario in a psychic hold with its Psychic. Exeggutor then yanked Lucario towards him but dropped the hold as it did so that it could look into Lucario's eyes as he flew towards Exeggutor and use Hypnosis in a smooth, fast action before Ash could get an order off.

There was no way for Lucario to avoid it and he was asleep just as Ash processed what had happened. The one advantage was that his momentum carried him into Exeggutor, and he slammed into his foe causing Exeggutor to stagger back again as Lucario dropped to the ground fast asleep.

"Now Psywave." Mandi said. "Then use Psychic to pull it back to you and repeat the process."

"Lucario get up, I know you can do it." Ash said pouring all his love for his Pokémon into his words as Exeggutor unleased a psychic wave at the sleeping Lucario. "And as soon as you're up use Reversal."

The wave that struck Lucario's back was an intense one that did a lot of damage though not enough to knock out Lucario thanks to his steel type negating his fighting type's weakness to it. The force of the blow did bounce Lucario off the ground and into the air but didn't wake Lucario up.

Mandi was grinning at this as Exeggutor then glowed blue and grabbed Lucario in a psychic hold while Lucario was still in the air and yanked him back towards Exeggutor to slam Lucario hard into the ground at its feet. Naturally it was another hit but Lucario snoring away showing he was still in the fight just asleep so helpless at the moment as Ash couldn't recall him or else Lucario would be disqualified from the battle.

"Lucario, wake up!" Ash called out and that got to him.

Normally a Pokémon who could be put to sleep by a move like Hypnosis wouldn't be able to get up so soon, but Ash's passive aura was able to speed up the recovery process enough for Lucario to suddenly snap away as the Psychic ended. He was bruised and battered and pretty near the end of his ropes, but he was still in the battle, and he knew it.

As he woke Lucario also knew what his order and as soon as he was awake he punched the ground with one of his forepaws to force himself up and flipped with the move to kick Exeggutor in its center head as it prepared another Psywave. The blow surprised and staggered Exeggutor enough for Lucario to land on his feet and finish the all-out attack of Reversal. Thanks to the blows he'd taken in the course of the battle Lucario was already near the end of his ropes and he used that to his advantage as he landed a near maximum power Reversal on his opponent.

Even with its resistance to the fighting type attack, it was a lot for Exeggutor to handle and when combined with taking four Aura Spheres and a Metal Claw earlier in the battle it was all too much for Exeggutor to handle as the Reversal ended and Lucario backed away from his opponent. Exeggutor stood there for a moment before it keeled over backwards like a felled tree and landed on the ground with a crash, all of its eyes swirls and the match over.

"Exeggutor is unable to battle." The ref said sounding amazed at what he'd seen as Exeggutor's image went gray on the screen showing that Mandi was now out of Pokémon. "Lucario is the winner. Mandi is out of Pokémon and therefore Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town has won this match."

At that Lucario lent back his head and unleashed a howl of victory to the sky. He'd done it, he'd single handedly taken down all three Pokémon he'd been sent to face and remained standing at the end thus winning it all by himself.

Few in the team or back at the ranch could claim such an achievement, the only ones that Lucario knew of were Kingler who'd done it in Ash's first ever Conference battle and evolved during it and Pikachu who'd done it in a gym battle but only because he'd been accidentally overcharged by the gym leader's pre battle antics. Lucario didn't know that he'd just done what Kingler had done exactly, albeit in a different order with two evolutions since then, all he cared about was that he'd done it and they'd advanced to the next day.

"Well folks, there you have it." The announcer said to the cheering crowd as Mandi thanked his Pokémon and then turned and left before Ash could say anything to him. "Ash has advanced again and Lucario has joined only Astrid's Absol and Paul's Electivire in sweeping an opposing team single handedly, an impressive achievement for sure but given Ash's record this is well within his abilities."

"Lucario, return." Ash said recalling Lucario once he was done celebrating his own victory. "That was impressive my friend, you did it, you beat all of Mandi's Pokémon by yourself. You earned this rest; take a break and we'll get you healed up later as we prepare for tomorrow's battle."

With that Ash put away Lucario's Poke Ball, turned and walked off the battlefield as it sunk for repairs or replacement before the next match. He'd done it, he'd won his second match in convincing and smooth fashion and now it was time to move onto the third preliminary round.

Ash was halfway to the final tournament, and he knew he would get there. Now it was time to relax and enjoy the rest of the day before he learned who his next opponent in the Lumiose Conference was.

After Ash's dominating win over Mandi, a surprise as Lucario wasn't actually that good of a matchup at all against any of the Pokémon as they all had resistances or immunities to his attacks though in return none had anything strong on him. In the end it was just Lucario's sheer will and strength, and a strong Reversal in the final bout with Exeggutor, that had won it for them but still it was the first time in a long time, possibly even since Ash's last matchup with Mandi, that Ash had fully swept an opponent with only one Pokémon in a multi–Pokémon Conference battle.

It had certainly taken the wind out of Mandi's sails, and he left before Ash could say anything to him so all he could do was leave the battlefield to get ready for the next draw. Before that though he regrouped with the others, and they went to watch Max's battle as he was near the end of the day.

As they went they learned that Remo, Adam, Titus, and Astrid had all won their respective battles in the afternoon session to advance, not that Ash was surprised by any of that, so that just left Max to advance. That came in short order when he beat Flora, a Unovan Ash was certain had been in the Vertress Conference with him, to claim victory and advance with the rest of them.

After that it was just a matter of enjoying the rest of the day before heading to the same place as the previous two days for the upcoming draw, this time as night fell as it was a little earlier than the day before and gathering for the announcement. So far things were going well, and Ash was eager to see who his third opponent was.

"Once again congratulations to the trainers who have made it to the round of 64." The announcer said once everyone was gathered, and those like Ash had helped themselves to the free food available. "You know the drill by now so why bother waiting with any pomp or bluster and commence the next draw."

Again, the screen filled with the images of the 64 competitors, the number of competitors that had been in the Lumiose Conference in years past, on the screen before they were scattered. Again, the animation showed the images spinning and flying all over the screen before settling into the four quadrants once more and then flipping, the standard vs. and order next to them.

As with the last few times, Ash was quickly scanning the images for his own. Thankfully, it didn't take too long as the numbers were less now and soon he came across his face in the East Stadium's quadrant and in the last matchup before the designated lunch break. Once he confirmed that he checked the image of the trainer he was facing in the third round and the image showed a girl about his age with dark magenta hair done in a set of short pigtails to the sides and vibrant green eyes.

The image was familiar, and Ash looked around to try and find the trainer and noticed that she was standing by a table on the other side of the area. She wore a light pink jacket that didn't come to her waist, the third challenger Ash had faced with such a style choice, a dark magenta shirt that nearly matched her hair, cream mini skirt and thigh high brown boots. At her side was a Persian of all Pokémon and unlike the last two she didn't look to find Ash, only turned and left the area after she found her picture with her Persian walking by her side.

"Do you know her?" Dawn asked, no jealousy of course but she had seen the intense look in Ash's eyes as he looked the girl. "Is she someone from a past region?"

"She's familiar." May said. "We saw her in Hoenn I think."

"Of course, you did." Max said coming up to them having found his own image. "Her name is Vivica, and she was the first-round opponent of Tyson's there. Her Persian lost to his Meowth, so it was quite a memorable battle."

"Now I remember." Ash said as it all came back to him. "We'd met Tyson only shortly before it and learned of his Meowth and its history, so it was kinda a matter of pride like with Pikachu and Surge's Raichu."

"Pikachu." Pikachu said with a nod of agreement, he remembered that Meowth well as he had sympathized with it when they met because of their mutual desires to not evolve but always beat their evolved forms. "Pi, Pikachu."

"Though Tyson's Meowth went a little far and had to be recalled." Max said. "I remember it clearly because of how out of control his Meowth got."

"I'm surprised you remember it." May said looking at her brother.

"Well, my own opponent is a fellow Hoennite called Gavin." Max said pointing to a muscular brown-haired man in a purple tank top who was walking away, the tips of dyed blond hair poking out at the sides of his head. "He's some fitness bro I think who lost to Morrison in the double battle stage there, so I remembered him and seeing Ash against a Hoennite as well made me remember the first Ever Grande Conference I was at. There are a fair few of our countrymen and women here dear sister."

"Probably has to do with one of our own winning it all last year coupled with the Mega Evolution allowance." May said as she thought on it. "As well as the Indigo Conference."

"We also had a native win the Ever Grande." Max reminded her. "So, we won 3 of the 7 though yes I am sure Sawyer's success here helped entice many from Hoenn into coming here to try their hands in the Kalos region and Lumiose Conference. I saw Clark lose in the last round and I think there are at least 4 more as I recognize Jump, Gilbert, Dominick, and Johnny in the images on the screen. Johnny is facing Lyra this round while Jump is against Paul. The others aren't that I can see."

"How do you know all that?" Serena asked amazed.

"It was my first ever Conference that I attended, albeit as a spectator, so I made sure to remember as much of it as possible." Max said as he adjusted his glasses.

"That and his little device as all the info in it so he looked up the familiar faces." Bonnie added helpfully. "It was really helpful with that."

"That to." Max said with a nod. "I did have to look up their names, but I recognized the faces, so I looked them up. Gotta know who you might face after all."

"Well, I can't wait." Ash said. "So, let's get back and enjoy a good night's rest."

The others all nodded at that and headed back to their respective lodgings for the night. Another day of the Lumiose Conference was in the books and Ash was on a roll, he was eager to keep it up for the third round as he got ready to face off against his next opponent, Vivica.

"Folks it is time for the final battle of the morning session and not a moment too soon as this field can't take much more of it." The announcer, one Ash hadn't heard before, said as he and Vivica walked out and to their positions. "This time it's Vivica from the Hoenn region in her second ever Conference against Ash from the Kanto region who is in his 7th Conference."

The announcer certainly wasn't wrong about the battlefield Ash noted. This matchup was in a deliberately ruined cityscape with a street that was cracked and cratered as the path between the trainers while crumbling buildings, bent lampposts, and a few broken benches were on the sides of the battlefield. Clearly this was designed as a battlefield that didn't need to be repaired or replaced during the match, but it was also on it's last legs. However, all Ash really got out of it was how elaborate the Kalos themed battlefields were.

Still, he pushed that to the back of his mind as he made his way to the starting point. The morning had been pretty standard, Ash had sat with the others in the stands to watch some of the matches, including the only one of the people he focused on going in this stadium in Paul who was a few matches before his, before going to the waiting room for his own match when the time came. Naturally, Paul won, again sweeping Jump and his Pokémon with only his Electivire.

As for the others, Ash had kept abreast of the few that he knew about in the morning slate and was pleased with the successes. Max had won with only one Pokémon lost during the battle, same with Lyra, and Trevor too had advanced against a Unovan that Ash was certain he'd crossed paths with during his year there called Kendrick. That just left Adam and Tierno who had afternoon matches in their group.

Of course, there was still the three Kalos natives that Ash was keeping an eye on in Remo, Titus and Astrid but all three had afternoon matches so he wouldn't know until later if they advanced as well. He expected them to, so he was going to focus on his own match as he neared the starting position.

"You look familiar." Vivica called out as she and Ash reached their trainer's boxes and looked at each other across the ruined cityscape that was their battlefield. "Did you enter the Ever Grande Conference a few years back?"

"Yeah we ended up both losing to Tyson in it." Ash confirmed. "It was 5 or so years ago."

"Right, I left after I lost but you were the kid who lit the flame that year because you stopped some crooks from taking it or something like that." Vivica said. "Didn't see the point in staying after that so went traveling and training. This is my first Conference since then, my return if you will. What did happen to that Tyson character, his Meowth had serious issues."

"It was only because you used a Persian and his Meowth had been traumatized by one before it joined Tyson, so it unjustly took it out on yours." Ash explained. "And he won it all, beat me in the quarterfinals actually, it was a great battle. He got a chance to become one of the Elite Four via a special tournament about this time last year, but I never learned how it went."

"Huh well whatever." Vivica said with a shrug as she pulled out her first Poke Ball. "If you lost to him as well then I shouldn't have much of an issue with you."

"We'll see." Ash said doing the same as he took out his first Pokémon for this battle. "I'm looking forward to a good battle."

"That's what we all want." The announcer said interrupting any chatter between them as the crowd cheered for coming battle. "So, on that, battle begin."

"Persian, go." Vivica said throwing out her Persian as Ash hoped and had prepared for.

"Hawlucha, I choose you." Ash said. "Start us off with Karate Chop."

"Stop it with Shadow Ball." Vivica said as Ash's third battle began.

"Dodge that and press on to land your hit." Ash called out as Hawlucha ran Persian who in turn opened its mouth as Hawlucha charged at it. "I know you can do it."

"Hawlucha." Hawlucha said as he extended his arms and focused on the ball of ghost type power that was blasted at him.

As soon as he knew that it would work, Hawlucha leapt into the air as high as he could and extended his arms so that the Shadow Ball could pass harmlessly beneath him. He then tucked them in and rolled in the air, speeding his descent down to a startled Persian who wasn't expecting him to do that. That startling allowed Hawlucha to infuse fighting type power into his left hand then and then as he opened his wings he used the move to strike Persian in the side of the head with Karate Chop.

Persian howled and back up from the super effective fighting type attack as Hawlucha landed on the ground and ran forward to press his advantage. Ash naturally saw this and already had his next move ready to keep up the advantage that he currently had.

"X-Scissor." Ash said.

"Fury Swipes." Vivica countered as Hawlucha's talons glowed with bug type power.

Hawlucha was on Persian first and slashed his foe in the face with X-Scissor as soon as he could. This time Persian stood strong and pushed back, claws shooting out of its forepaws and flashing with normal type power as it did. Hawlucha was too close to dodge and took 3 slashes from Fury Swipes forcing him back and now it Vivica's turn to press an advantage.

"Water Pulse." Vivica ordered as the Fury Swipes ended.

"Karate Chop." Ash said to counter it as Persian opened its mouth.

Hawlucha knew that he'd get hit so he opted to be fast and infused his right-hand thing with the fighting type power that he then brough up sharply to catch Persian under the jaw with it. He just managed to make contact as the Water Pulse was shot out and slammed into his face driving him back to hit the ground and roll as Persia recoiled from the second super effective attack but showed its resilience by not going down and just snarling at Hawlucha who'd gotten control of his roll and flipped up to land on his feet and slide back a bit with one hand thing on the ground to steady himself.

"Aerial Ace." Ash said.

"No good, we can't take that." Vivica said realizing the situation she was in as Hawlucha ran at Persian with wings glowing with flying type power. "Dig. It won't affect Hawlucha because it's a flying type as well as a fighting type, but it is one of the few defenses against a move like Aerial Ace."

As Hawlucha ran he leapt to glide at Persian, but Persian leapt forward and dug into the ground, which had been designed to allow for such a move, and clear of the Aerial Ace in time so that Hawlucha soared through the spot that Persian had been thus recording a rare miss with Aerial Ace. It was a clever move, Ash had to give Vivica that, but it wouldn't save her, rather it had only ensure Persian's defeat.

"Hawlucha, glide up to land on the nearest lamppost." Ash said. "And then as soon as Persian appears use Flying Press."

"Hawlucha." Hawlucha said with a nod as he arched up and around, his move over, looking for the nearest lamppost to land on.

He quickly found it and landed in it as he scoured the ground for Persian who could pop up anywhere thanks to the Dig being used to evade not attack. Still, he was in the perfect position and watched the ground like a hawk looking for the slight movement of a Pokémon bursting from it.

Finally, he saw what he was looking for thanks to the broken street allowing for a lot of loose rubble, and he saw some of it moving unnaturally and leapt into the air and towards the rubble, wings spread and glowing with fighting type power. A second later Persian burst from the ground looking around for an attack at the exact same time as Hawlucha tucked his wings in and rolled in the air to speed his fall.

As such Persian wasn't looking up when he opened them and before Persian knew it he landed chest first on Persian's head and drove it into the ground with a crash. Hawlucha leapt up and hopped back to be clear of a quick counter but close enough to strike with Karate Chop or X-Scissor if need be. However, that wasn't necessary as when the dust settled Persian was lying on the ground, tongue out and swirls for eyes.

"Persian is unable to battle." The ref said from his position on top of one of the buildings that was clearly designed not to fall as he raised his hand to Ash's side while the image or Persian on the jumbotron went gray. "Hawlucha is the winner."

"Persian return." Vivica said recalling her Pokémon and as soon as she had Ash pulled out his own Poke Ball to do the same.

"Hawlucha, return." Ash said subbing out Hawlucha before Vivica could get a quick change off and as she had a new Poke Ball in her hand it wasn't a moment too soon. "Take a rest, I'll call you back if you're needed."

"Not bad, I had just the Pokémon to frustrate your Hawlucha but no matter, either of my remaining two for this battle will do." Vivica said as Ash put away Hawlucha's Poke Ball and pulled out his next Pokémon for this matchup, his own preferred lineup which was one that would surprise a few he knew it, as Vivica threw out her second Poke Ball. "Sableye, go."

"I see that my planning really has worked out in my favor." Ash said with a grin as Vivica tossed out her Poke Ball and the short, bipedal, purple dark and ghost type with gem-like eyes and a red gem in its chest appeared. "I'm sorry you had to face me but that's a type combo I'm familiar with and prepared for. Sigilyph, I choose you."

"Huh?" Vivica asked confused as Ash threw out his Poke Ball and his psychic and flying type, who he had planned on using regardless, burst out to hover before him. "But that's a psychic type, you're at a disadvantage against a dark and ghost type. Sableye is my sneaky ace, few can best it without using a lot of power or that new type that got revealed last year that's become a frustrating nuisance for us."

"I know but you see my girlfriend just so happens to be one of the two known trainers who has a Spiritomb." Ash said and that caused Vivica to blink a bit. "So I am more than ready to face a Sableye and you just happened to have the misfortune to face my best Pokémon for handling such a type combo."

"A what?" Vivica asked now more confused.

"A ghost and dark type that is extremely rare due to how it is formed, and which was first discovered in Sinnoh though hers is from Kanto." Ash said. "I trained against it and other of her Pokémon for this Conference and Sigilyph in particular was taught something to handle it, well dark type in general but it's the only thing that works well on a ghost and dark dual type."

"Damn, you know how to counter Sableye then." Vivica said now pissed. "Well, that doesn't mean jack in this, we still have the edge. Sableye, Feint Attack."

"Dazzling Gleam." Ash said as Sableye twitched and then rushed Sigilyph. "You know you will be hit but you can withstand it Sigilyph, I know you can."

Sigilyph let out a noise in agreement and then burst with light as Sableye neared him. He knew what was coming but Ash was right, he could handle it and would as the Darkness Pokémon moaned in pain from the super effective fairy type attack hitting it. However, Sableye pushed through it, leapt up, and struck Sigilyph sending him backwards as the light faded and he wailed in pain from also taking a super effective attack, but this worked to Ash's advantage.

"Air Cutter." Ash called out.

"Dodge and use Shadow Claw." Vivica said as Sigilyph hacked his upper wings the moment he was stabilized.

Unfortunately for Sableye, it was just a hair too close to Sigilyph to be of able to avoid the attack and the razor like wind slammed into its chest before it could leap up at Sigilyph. However, yet again Sableye showed its resilience by standing its ground before claws of ghost type power formed on its hands and it leapt at Sigilyph.

Again, what was beneficial to Sigilyph was also beneficial to Sableye and it reached Sigilyph before Ash could get an order off and slashed Sigilyph's body with the Shadow Claw before falling down to the ground. Sigilyph let out a wail, but Ash had used the hit to get ready and gave his next order, as did Vivica for when Sableye landed.

"Dazzling Gleam." Ash said.

"Feint Attack." Vivica ordered.

Sigilyph was in the better position as he was airborne and didn't need to land to counter, he just flashed with light that blinded everyone. Sableye didn't get a word out, the Dazzling Gleam was too much to handle, two of them plus Air Cutter pushed it over the edge and it showed how it wasn't as strong as a Spiritomb in that moment. All Sableye did was land on its feet after the Shadow Claw and crumble though no one saw this thanks to the flash of light.

They did see the aftermath when light returned to them and there was Sigilyph still in the air with Sableye on the ground before and in front of him. Sableye lay in a heap with swirls for eyes, so all knew the result of the battle.

"Sableye is unable to battle." The ref said as Vivica recalled and thanked it while Sableye's image on the jumbotron turned gray. "Sigilyph is the winner."

"Sigilyph, return." Ash said recalling his Pokémon though this time Vivica wasn't in a hurry to change Pokémon for some reason. "Take a rest my friend, you earned it after withstanding those hits. If I need you, you'll be back in this battle."

"You will, my last Pokémon is my strongest in terms of raw power, but I doubt a simple flying type can beat him." Vivica said as she pulled out her final Poke Ball. "It's thanks to him that I was able to win several minor tournaments in Unova last year though I opted not to compete in the Vertress Conference as I still wasn't ready to face gyms and wanted to come to Kalos first."

"Well, my Pokémon is no pushover." Ash said putting away Sigilyph's Poke Ball and pulling out his final Pokémon to send it out in a smooth motion. "Talonflame, I choose you."

"A third flying type, color me surprised and her I was expecting your Pikachu or that Lucario you used yesterday, not another flying type which is why I wasn't expecting Noivern." Vivica said showing that she'd done her research as Talonflame burst from his ball to hover before Ash with a slow wingbeat. "Still good for me as it could have also been a problematic Pokémon like that Conkeldurr but no, I've got this now. That last type advantage was a fluke that you annoyingly had a counter for but this time you're mine. Gigalith, go."

"Ah Boldore's evolved form." Ash said as the ball burst open and the large, quadrupedal, sentient rock with what red crystal-like protrusions all over it that was Gigalith appeared before Vivica. "This will be a good challenge. Talonflame, Steel Wing."

"So, you have a counter for your big weakness, I should have expected that but it's no problem because you won't get to me." Vivica said. "Gigalith, use Power Gem."

"Dodge it." Ash said as Talonflame tore at Gigalith, his wings turning to steel as he did.

Gigalith roared and sent out a ray of light that sparkled like gemstones at Talonflame as Talonflame flew towards him. Talonflame just moved his wings and avoided it with ease as he bore down on Gigalith with a caw before, spinning around the Power Gem before slamming his left wing into Gigalith's face as he flew past it.

The compressed Pokémon let out a roar of pain from the super effective steel type attack as Talonflame arched up and around to fly back to Ash's side for his next attack. As he did, Vivica gave her next order.

"Rock Slide." Vivica commanded.

"Dodge and counter with another Steel Wing." Ash said going for damage above all else, he could use range in a bit when the time came for the final blow, and he was certain that Gigalith's resistance to fire type attacks could be overwhelmed thanks to the other damage it had taken up to that point.

At least that was the plan as the rocks appeared in the air and began to fall down towards the ground, destroying all in their path. Talonflame easily flew around them as he looped to come back at Gigalith but as his wings turned to steel in preparation for his strafing run a rock slammed squarely into his back. With a caw of pain from the ultra-effective attack, Talonflame spiraled out of the sky and crashed to the ground, still in it but badly hurt. He was good but he could only survive one attack from a type both of his were weak to and Ash knew it.

"Overheat." Ash called out.

"Power Gem." Vivica said again grinning as she knew she had a victory at last and with Ash's other two Pokémon being flying types as well she was sure she could turn the tides with Gigalith even with Hawlucha also being a fighting type as well. "We win now."

"Ensure we win Talonflame." Ash said as Talonflame glowed bright red and the light formed in Gigalith's mouth.

Talonflame understood this. He had been downed and at this range he knew that he didn't have much of a chance to get up and clear of a Power Gem. Instead, he just focused on making his Overheat as strong as possible as the light burst from Gigalith's mouth. Talonflame opened his beak and blasted an intense gout of flames were shot out that tore across the battlefield to wash over Gigalith. At the same time a ray of sparkling light shot from Gigalith's mouth and cut through the flames to slam into Talonflame's chest blasting him back over the now rubble strewn battlefield.

Gigalith just grinned as the flames washed over him, he was resistant to this attack and as such was able to withstand Overheat even though it was at its maximum power as his resistance made it half as strong as it normally was. Talonflame could not claim the same as he skidded through the rubble caused by the Rock Slide before coming to a stop on his back, wings spread, beak open, and swirls for eyes.

"Talonflame is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Gigalith's side as Talonflame's image on the screen turned gray. "Gigalith is the winner."

"Talonflame return." Ash said knowing that Gigalith wasn't going anywhere as he was Vivica's last Pokémon and looked at the Poke Ball with a smile. "You were great my friend, really did well but as we know rock type attacks, especially from a fully evolved and battle-hardened rock type like that Gigalith, are your biggest weakness. We'll keep getting stronger though so that you can beat a rock type next time. Take a rest, it's time to win this."

"So, who will it be?" Vivica called out as Ash put the Poke Ball away. "Hawlucha or Sigilyph, I wonder?"

"The former, his fighting type negates his flying type's weakness to rock type attacks." Ash said simply as he pulled out Hawlucha's Poke Ball again and tossed it out. "Hawlucha, I choose you again."

The Poke Ball burst open and Hawlucha appeared before Ash ready to fight. Vivica knew that one of her attacks wouldn't work as it was a ground type attack, but she did have a steel type attack to use. It would work just as well as the rock type attacks as Ash was right about Hawlucha's fighting type negated its flying type's weakness to rock types, so she had plenty of choices to use to win this matchup as well.

That and she knew that this Hawlucha only had close, physical, attacks so she just had to keep it at a distance and wear it down with ranged attacks to beat it. Then be ready for that Sigilyph and she'd win. At least she thought that.

"Now Hawlucha, Karate Chop." Ash said. "And avoid anything sent at you."

"Flash Canon." Vivica said as Hawlucha began to run over the now ruined and cracked ground and annoyed that ground type attacks wouldn't work on a Pokémon that clearly spent most of its type on the damned ground. "Keep it back from you."

At that Gigalith gathered all of his light energy and then released it from his mouth at Hawlucha. However, Hawlucha saw it coming and rather than leap up like before, he dove forward, wings spread and glided just over the debris on the ground with some of the larger pieces actually brushing his chest as the Flash Canon shot over his head. Then, as soon as it was clear, he moved his wings down so that he could shift upwards and land on his feet, running to preserve his momentum as he closed the gap to Gigalith.

The moment he was there, he infused the fighting type move into hand thing and struck Gigalith in the center of his chest. Gigalith roared in pain from the super effective move and reared up and that was when Ash saw his big advantage in this matchup when Hawlucha was up close and personal to Gigalith, height.

"Stay on the ground Hawlucha and press with another Karate Chop." Ash said. "As long as you are close and near it will be tough to hit you."

"Hawlucha." Hawlucha said as he pressed forward understanding and Vivica realized what was happening.

"Back up as fast as you can and use Power Gem to send Hawlucha back." Vivica said. "And then finish it with Rock Slide as soon as it's been tossed away from you."

Gigalith tried to do that, he really did, but Hawlucha was smaller, faster, and much more nimbler than he was and pressed his own advantage with another Karate Chop to the same point as before. That was the final straw for Gigalith, three super effective attacks and a first time used in battle Overheat was too much for him and he let out a final groan before collapsing onto the base of his central body, his 4 legs splaying as he kinda sat there unmoving with swirls for eyes.

"Gigalith is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Ash's side as Gigalith's image went gray on the jumbotron showing that Vivica was now out of Pokémon. "The winner is Hawlucha. As Vivica is out of Pokémon the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"Folks there you have it; Ash keeps his impressive wins going with another win that saw him lose at most one Pokémon and he's now advanced to the final preliminary round tomorrow." The announcer said as Vivica recalled and thanked Gigalith and Hawlucha rose his hands in triumph while the crowd cheered for him and Ash. "That is the last battle of the morning session which means it is time for lunch. We will see you in an hour with our first battle of the afternoon session."

"Hawlucha return." Ash said recalling his Pokémon with a smile as Vivica just gave him a small nod before turning and leaving, upset at her loss and determined to go to a new region again and do better there while also resolving to find a Key and Mega Stone for her Sableye as she still needed them to boost its power in battle. "That was a great win working off what Talonflame left you. Take a rest, we'll get all of you healed tonight. Tomorrow's the last day of the prelims and I don't intend to lose them either."

With that Ash put Hawlucha's Poke Ball away, turned and left the stadium to meet the others for lunch. He could use a good meal after that battle and he couldn't wait to watch the rest of the matches, relax, and prepare for tomorrow. One more preliminary battle and then it was onto the final tournament, no matter who Ash faced he was ready to do so and win as he continued to progress deeper into the Lumiose Conference.

Lunch was right after Ash's third victory of the Conference, and he ravenously ate with the girls, Clemont, Max, Bonnie, and Owen who had all joined them for the lunch break as Max was also done for the day. Afterwards they were going to head to the North Stadium as both Tierno and Adam's matchups were scheduled to take place there during the afternoon session. Tierno was the first of the two to go and he was facing a Unovan trainer called Emmanuel that Ash was pretty sure had been in the Vertress Conference with him, so it was going to be good.

He wasn't wrong, Tierno had a strong match, the first after lunch in fact, where he won in a close, hard fought, battle and advanced to the round of 32. A few matches later Adam did the same against a trainer Ash didn't recognize at all so all of their little group plus Paul had advanced. So too would Remo, Titus, and Astrid over the course of the afternoon so everything was shaping up nicely.

Ash was now eager to see who he would face in the final preliminary round with the winners of these matches making it to the final battles, the full ones that would take place in the main stadium. He was pumped and hoped he got a good opponent to really test him in the coming match so that he could go into the full battles with a lot of momentum after he won.

Well, he'd soon learn as the final battles concluded and the winning 32 trainers and their friends gathered in the usual spot, got food if they wanted it, and milled around the now less crowded area chatting and waiting for the draw. They didn't have to wait long as they were all used to the routine by now.

"Once again congratulations." The announcer said as he took the stage. "All the trainers here have made it to the final preliminary round, the winners of which will advance to the full battles in three days' time. Just to remind you, there will be no draw tomorrow night as the break between the preliminaries and final tournament starts right after the last battles of the day. The last 16 will meet here for the draw the night before the full battles begin and then for the draws for the quarter and semifinals will occur in the main stadium right after the final battle of the day has ended. With that out of the way, let us begin the draw."

As with before, the images of the 32 remaining trainers, now larger and clearer than ever before, appeared before once again scattering like the previous days' draws had. They flew around for a few moments before arranging themselves in the four quadrants with the usual vs. and order markers there before flipping over.

It didn't take Ash long to find his image on the screen and it was the final one of the day in the West Stadium. One big difference from the other days, however, was that this time he did recognize the image of the trainer that he was facing though he hadn't expected to see it. Still, he certainly remembered it from his days in Unova.

The image showed the headshot of a girl around Ash's age with straight, deep violet hair that fell to just past her shoulders and a straight fringe with a parting in it above her left eye and warm, clear blue, eyes. It was definitely her, and Ash looked around to try and see where she was however as he did he heard it.

"So, I got drawn against you Ash, I had hoped that would be the case when I first saw that you were in the Lumiose Conference as well." A female voice said getting his attention and he and the others with him, mainly Clemont and the girls who were his cheer squad though thankfully no announcer had mentioned that yet, turned to the speaker. "I can't wait to face you. How's your Scraggy doing? Do you have him on you? I'm sure Gothitelle would love to see him again."

The speaker was the girl Ash had been drawn against who was walking up to their table still wearing the same three-quarter sleeve cream cardigan and simple light blue dress with pink sneakers she'd worn in Unova. Unlike the others who Ash had faced in the tournament that he'd crossed paths with, or at least seen, in the past, she was the first he remembered right away and the first to directly come up to speak to him before the battle.

"Hey Katharine." Ash said waving at her. "Good to see you again. No, Scraggy's back in Kanto so your Gothita can't see him, or should I say Gothitelle as she seems to have fully evolved, and I still won't trade him to you. I came to Kalos with only my Pikachu and Riolu, I like to start each region fresh with just Pikachu on me though Riolu was so new as he hatched after the Indigo Conference when Cynthia gave me his egg that I had to bring him as well as he needed the experience."

"That explains the Lucario you used the other day." Katharine said as she reached them. "And don't worry, Gothitelle got over that incident after I calmed her down following her loss to Snivy though I'm sure a flame for your Scraggy still burns within her. You may face her tomorrow, or you may not, time and the Pokémon you use will tell."

"Well don't expect me to reveal my Pokémon either." Ash said with a smile. "I didn't realize you were in Kalos though. You did quite well in Vertress if I recall."

"Yup same round as you in fact." Katharine said with a nod while the others just watched the exchange not really too phased by it at this point given how many people Ash had met over the years and none of the girls got the vibe from Katharine that she liked Ash like they did so she wasn't a concern there either. "Lost in the quarters to Dino, the guy who lost in the finals."

"Yeah I remember him, I think I faced him in a Battle Club event once." Ash said. "I won with my Palpitoad who's now a Seismitoad if I recall. So, you went somewhere else after Unova then before coming here?"

"Correct, bunch of the guys were talking about going to Kanto cos they knew you, but I figured it would be too crowded so headed out to Sinnoh instead." Katharine said. "It was a lot of fun, even tried a Contest or two to get experience though the dressing up was rather pretentious to me and they weren't really my thing as I prefer a good straight battle to the grace of a Contest Battle so never got the hang of them. I easily got the gym badges there and then went to the Lily of the Valley Conference they had, made it to the quarters again but lost to some loudmouth boy from Hoenn called Morrison."

"Oh, I know Morrison, we met in Hoenn when I had all 8 badges, and he was going for his 8th, so we forged a friendly rivalry back then." Ash said. "He was a great rival, we faced off in the last 16 there in a full battle that I won before I lost the next round to Tyson. How'd he do in Sinnoh?"

"He made the finals but lost to one of the other Unovans in the competition." Katharine said. "I think he's in Unova now, but I opted to come straight to Kalos after that and try my hand here. Even beat Clemont over there on my first day in Lumiose City. I knew that that was a sign that I was going to do well here so tried really hard this year, focused on training and battles, and here I am, ready to win against you this time."

"I didn't realize it was your first day." Clemont admitted. "That was a good battle though, if you're a two-time quarterfinalist then it makes sense that you'd win. I guess that makes you one of the dark horses along with Max and Titus that I've heard muttered about."

"And I'm looking to best that here." Katharine said. "Though to do so I have to go through the Indigo runner up in Ash which will be fun regardless."

"That it will be." Ash said as Dawn cleared her throat a little fed up with being ignored as the reminiscing and catching up was over. "Oh right, Katharine, this is my girlfriend Dawn and friends May, Serena, and Miette."

"I bet you three all wish for what the first one has." Katharine said with a grin at the others who either nodded, blushed, or smirked in the order they were introduced as they all shook hands and Ash completely missed the point, as did Clemont for that matter. "Don't worry, I'm no threat to any of you."

"How can you tell?" Serena asked through her blush.

"Please, just look at you." Katharine said gesturing to the matching but differently colored cheerleader outfits they were all wearing. "Plus, I remember how Gothita was back when she met Ash's Scraggy, so I know all the signs. He's clueless isn't he?"

"Redefines density." Miette said with a grin. "Both a good and bad thing I guess."

"It's good to meet you regardless." Dawn said shifting the topic as while Ash's density was legendary for how strong it was Iris had proven that it could be broken and too much chat like this might eventually do that. "I always enjoy meeting the many trainers that Ash has encountered in his travels."

"Oh, I already know who you are Dawn." Katharine said surprising Dawn. "Really, you're surprised? I was in Sinnoh last year, I know the face of the girl referred to as their Prodigy after all as you had a lot of support behind you to win it all in Kanto Grand Festival despite the final being against another Sinnoh trainer. I also know Serena's face from all the Kalos stuff she's done though the whole Showcase and Contests aren't my thing. I watched the Grand Festival for tips but that was it."

"Our achievements do precede us." Dawn said recovering from her shock. "As does Ash's."

"He revealed a new type, that's kinda hard to top I'd say." Katharine said. "But anyway, I'd best be off, see you in the match tomorrow Ash."

"Looking forward to it." Ash said as Katharine headed off with a wave and Ash realized that their group was the only one left in the area, all the other groups had left including Max's during their chat with Katharine. "Well, we'd better be going then, need to get a good rest for tomorrow."

The others nodded and they headed back to the gym, Miette had joined them there after she had to vacate the Pokémon Center following the Grand Festival as trainers in the Lumiose Conference now had priority there, to get some rest. There was one more day left, and Ash intended to win it and advance to the final battles of the Lumiose Conference, he knew it.

"Well folks, this is it, the final matchup of the preliminaries as all the others have ended due to some quick matches in the other stadiums." The announcer, again the main one, said as Ash and Katharine walked out onto the battlefield for what would be the final match of the day in the West Stadium. "And what a matchup it is. We have the Indigo finalist from last year who's also made the semifinals in Sinnoh and the quarterfinals in Unova, Hoenn, and Johto in the past, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town against a two-time quarterfinalist, those being last year in Sinnoh and the year before that in her native Unova the same year as Ash was in it in fact, Katharine going at it for the final spot in the last 16."

The crowd roared for this, but Ash paid no attention to it as he made his way to the battlefield, an icy plain with large ice mounds and a rock feature to one side, ready for battle against Katharine. The announcer was right, this was the last matchup of the day and he fully intended on winning it to join the others in the final battles.

The reason why it was the final one was because Remo, Astrid, and Paul had all won quickly in their matches. The first two just went with their Mega Pokémon, Garchomp and Absol respectively, to sweep their way to the final battles while Paul had gone with his Electivire against a Unovan trainer called Radley who surprised him with two ground types to finally defeat Electivire, at the cost of those two Pokémon, before his Bravery fell to Paul's Avalugg, the first Kalos and new Pokémon he'd shown all tournament long.

As for the others, they had all advanced as well though none did so without losing two Pokémon in their battles showing the level of competition left in the Lumiose Conference. Max had been the first, he was one of the first battles of the day, beating a fellow Hoennite in Gilbert to advance.

That was followed by Trevor beating a trainer that Ash didn't recognize or know the name of. After lunch Lyra beat a Unovan trainer called Russet while Tierno bested another Unovan called Mikael, both of whom Ash was sure he'd seen in the Vertress Conference. Lastly, Adam, like Trevor, had also didn't face any trainer Ash knew of, but he advanced as well joining Max and a trainer called Dominick who'd been in the Ever Grande Conference with Ash as the Hoenn trainers in the last 16.

The rest of the last 16 were made up of three Unovans who Ash was positive he had seen in the Vertress Conference called Ultimo, Kenton and Antonio, a second Johto trainer to join Lyra representing that region called Darren, and a second Sinnoh trainer to join Paul as Sinnoh trainers who'd made it to the full battles called Jeffery. That just left Ash as the only one left to join them, but Katharine wouldn't make it easy on him.

"I may have lost to you when we battled in Unova." Katharine called out to Ash as they reached their starting positions. "But I'm a lot stronger than back then."

"As am I." Ash said with a grin. "So, I can't wait to see how this goes."

"Then let's do it." Katharine said pulling out her Poke Ball smiling back at him. "No point in wasting time when we already know each other is there."

"No, none." Ash agreed taking out his own first Poke Ball as well. "Let's start this already."

"Folks this is the last match of the day, we have 15 of our last 16, it's time to round that out." The announcer said as the ref, who was atop the rock mountain on one side, signaled that the trainers were ready. "So let the last preliminary battle, begin!"

"Mandibuzz, go." Katharine said tossing out her Poke Ball.

"Goodra, I choose you." Ash said throwing out his Poke Ball. "Start us off with Ice Beam."

"Counter that with Air Slash." Katharine said as Pokémon burst forth from their Poke Balls and the final battle of the preliminaries began.

Goodra roared as he formed the ice in his mouth as he landed on the icy battlefield and looked at Mandibuzz who was in the air. Ice was strong against flying types but flying types had, for the most part, great maneuverability and so Goodra had to be careful with this attack.

Thankfully he'd spent a lot of time with flying types, Ash had 6 in Kalos with 4 in the active rotation and two back at the lab to help look over and guide them, so Goodra had a good sense for the type and how to battle them. That and that Gourgeist he bested in the Wallace Cup, while not a flying type, was at least airborne during the battle and he'd hit it as well.

Thus, Goodra unleashed his Ice Beam the moment he saw Mandibuzz pause to send out a blade of air with Air Slash. It was the brief moment that Mandibuzz wouldn't be flying around that Goodra had been looking for and he capitalized on it sending out his attack with pinpoint accuracy to slam into Mandibuzz's upper chest right after she got off the Air Slash. Mandibuzz let out a wail of pain as she was sent backwards by the super effective attack, but she knew that it would be worth it.

That was because Goodra had been so focused on landing his hit that it had come at a cost to him as well as he couldn't move out of the way in time as the slash of air hit him in the stomach doing average damage to him and causing him to grimace in pain from it. What was worse was that the potential side effect of Air Slash, flinching, had triggered and Goodra shivered from the affect. Something that Katharine didn't miss.

"Dark Pulse." Katharine said as Mandibuzz steadied herself.

"Brace, I know you can do it Goodra." Ash said. "Then use Sludge Bomb, you've got this."

"Goodra." Goodra said through gritted teeth as he focused on the toxins in his body and Mandibuzz opened her mouth to unleash her Dark Pulse.

All Goodra could do was stand there and take it thanks to that flinch from Air Slash, but he endured it, he wasn't weak or resistant to dark type attacks so he could manage it and kept his eyes on Mandibuzz throughout the entire ordeal. Then, as soon as he could, he opened his mouth and send out several balls of sludge at Mandibuzz.

Mandibuzz tried to fly evasively to avoid them, but Goodra had practiced hard with his poison type move to ensure that it landed, it was his only super effective move against fairy types that he knew and as he had that evil fairy to one day beat so he had to be good with it. With Ash's help now he had become strong enough to help his friends when he returned home, and part of that strength was his Sludge Bomb. He'd shown that a while back against a Spritzee in a gym battle and he showed that again now as the balls of sludge rained down on Mandibuzz.

She did a good job avoiding the first few balls but then one hit her in the wing sending her off balance and spinning so that the final one landed on top of her head and downed her with a crash. She wasn't resistant or weak to the type, so it hurt just the same but as she got up Ash saw the purple line under Mandibuzz's eyes and grinned. She was poisoned and unlike Goodra he was sure that she couldn't clear it on her own like he could have.

Katharine didn't see this as Mandibuzz's back was to her, but she did see the shudder that Mandibuzz had from a poisoning and knew she was in trouble. This wasn't going the way she'd hoped and with that ice type attack followed by the Sludge Bomb and a poisoning it looked like Mandibuzz didn't have much longer, especially not against this clearly strong Goodra. Therefore, it was time for drastic measures to ensure that Goodra was damaged for what came next, Katharine wasn't going to lose to Ash again.

"Brave Bird." Katharine called as Mandibuzz took to the air again. "No matter what, land it."

"Dragon Breath." Ash ordered as Mandibuzz suddenly shot at Goodra with a glowing blue aura of intense flying type power now all around her. "I know you can stop it."

"Goodra." Goodra roared as he opened his mouth and unleashed the dragon type breath attack.

The gust of Dragon Breath shot out in front of him and right at Mandibuzz. Ash had opted for this attack rather than Ice Beam that might actually put Mandibuzz down because he knew flying types well, he did have 12 with a 13th long released, so he knew how mobile they could be and a narrow attack like Ice Beam could be dodged. At least this way he could ensure that Mandibuzz was hit and that should be key in taking her down.

It was key as Mandibuzz shot through the Dragon Breath, taking it in the process but not slowing down before she slammed into Goodra's chest sending him skidding back over the ice for several feet as Goodra wailed in pain from the strong move. However, when he came to a stop he was still standing and able to fight.

The same couldn't be said for Mandibuzz who'd dropped to the ice right after hitting Goodra to lie in a heap on it with swirls for eyes. The Dragon Breath had been enough to ensure that between the two other hits, one being super effective, plus a bout of poisoning, the recoil of Brave Bird was enough to tip her over the edge and knock her out. However, it had served its purpose as Goodra had taken the full force of the blow and lost a lot of health from it which Katharine was about to exploit.

"Mandibuzz is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Ash's side as Katharine already pulled out her Poke Ball while the image of Mandibuzz on the jumbotron turned gray. "Goodra is the winner."

"Mandibuzz, return, we beat Goodra now." Katharine said as she recalled her Pokémon, put the ball away, and then produced and tossed her next one out with an order just as Ash expanded Goodra's Poke Ball to recall him. "Sawsbuck, Wild Charge."

"Oh, and what a smooth change, something we've seen a lot from Katharine up to this point in the Conference, and already she's capitalizing on the rules and recent hit in this match as well." The announcer said excitedly as her Sawsbuck in Summer Form burst from its Poke Ball at full sprint sparking with electricity. "That's how you avoid getting into a hole folks."

"Ice Beam." Ash said as he put away Goodra's Poke Ball. "It's a grass type so that will work and slow it down in the process."

Goodra roared as he formed the ice in his mouth but clearly Katharine's Sawsbuck, which had to be that Deerling Ash had seen her use back in Unova that had evolved since then, was well trained as it closed the distance before Goodra finished forming the ice and slammed its head into his gut. Goodra roared in pain as Sawsbuck backed off shaking his head from the recoil of Wild Charge but stayed wary of Goodra as Goodra moved backwards and the Ice Beam was aborted.

Sawsbuck needn't have worried however as between three average hits from strong attacks, with the Brave Bird being the one that did the most damage, the Wild Charge was just enough to push Goodra over the edge despite his resistance to electric type attacks. As such, Goodra continued to move back as he fell over and crashed to the ice to lie on his back, arms spread and swirls for eyes. Katharine's plan had worked perfectly, but Ash was about to use her tactics against her."

"Goodra is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Katharine's side as Goodra's image on the jumbotron turned gray to show that he was out of the battle. "Sawsbuck is the winner."

"Goodra return." Ash said quickly recalling his Pokémon as he pulled out his next Poke Ball and tossed it out the moment Goodra was back. "You did well so take a rest, we've got this. Dunsparce, Ice Beam."

Katharine hadn't recalled Sawsbuck however as she was clearly waiting for the next Pokémon, but she wasn't expecting Ash to replicate her speed and instant move change over so well. She should have, Ash was a master at battle tactics and adapting to what he saw, but she'd hesitated, and it was going to cost her in a moment as Ash had a second Pokémon with an ice type attack that burst forth from its Poke Ball already rearing to go.

Dunsparce had his mouth open as he came out of his Poke Ball and the Ice Beam forming as he did. He then shot it off as he landed on the ice so that it caught Sawsbuck in the chest with ease given how close it was to Ash after beating Goodra, causing it to rear up and bellow in pain from the super effective ice type attack. Ash's Dunsparce was trained to be an offensive powerhouse with moves that were able to deal with a majority of Pokémon types and that was shown there with the Ice Beam, but Katharine was ready to counter as the ferocious back and forth continued.

"Double Kick." Katharine said as Sawsbuck was hit.

"Dodge and use Air Slash." Ash said. "We've got this Dunsparce."

Unfortunately for Dunsparce he wasn't able to move in time as Sawsbuck used his rear to bring both his front hooves that were now glowing with fighting type power down onto Dunsparce with enough force to bounce him off the ice. The two blows of Double Kick, one for each hoof, caused Dunsparce to wail in pain as they were super effective on him because he was a normal type. However, Dunsparce knew his orders and while the two blows had hurt a lot he was just about still in the fight. As such he beat his little wings hard and fast as he was in the air.

The result was the blade of air that was Air Slash shooting out and hitting Sawsbuck in the face sending him sliding back several feet over the ice with a grunt of pain from a second super effective attack. However, he was a fully evolved Pokémon and thus able to withstand it though he was starting to run low on health after the recoil he'd taken from Wild Charge and two super effective attacks from Dunsparce.

Katharine saw this and kept up the pressure though with the slide back Sawsbuck was out of range for another Double Kick that would certainly end Ash's Dunsparce. Good thing he had a ranged attack to use.

"Energy Ball." Katharine ordered.

"Dodge with Gyro Ball and then use Ice Beam again." Ash said going for power against Sawsbuck to bring it down as it opened its mouth. "You can do it."

Dunsparce tried at least, he really did. As he fell be began to spin his body to use the momentum of Gyro Ball to slide to the side on the ice and to get clear before looping around to hit Sawsbuck in the flank with an Ice Beam as soon as he had the shot and thus win this battle. However, before he hit the ground the Energy Ball was blasted from Sawsbuck's mouth and reached Dunsparce just as he landed on the ice. As such he wasn't able to get clear but rather was driven into the ice with a boom that sent icy mist all around him.

When it cleared Dunsparce was in a small crater in the ice, tongue out and eyes swirls. The Energy Ball had pushed him over the edge thanks to taking the Double Kick first and the Energy Ball triggering a critical hit on him as well. Had he not been weak to fighting type attacks he may have survived but alas he was, and Ash was down to his final Pokémon for the first time all Conference. However, he didn't panic as he had just the Pokémon for a situation like this.

"Dunsparce is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Katharine's side as Dunsparce's image on the jumbotron turned gray. "Sawsbuck is the winner."

"Oh, and Ash is down to his final Pokémon for the first time all Conference." The announcer said. "Is this it for him?"

"Dunsparce return." Ash said not bothering to check and see if Katharine was going to swap out as he was going to beat both of her Pokémon with his last one so he just he smiled and looked at the Poke Ball in his hand. "Don't worry my friend, you did really well, and we've still got this. We are doing to win, I know it."

"I can't wait to see." Katharine said grinning now. "I've got this Ash and you know it."

"We will see." Ash said as he put away Dunsparce's Poke Ball and pulled out his final one for this battle. "There's one Pokémon I've yet to use this Conference as he's my strongest I'd say, and I had hoped to not reveal this until the full battles, but you've forced my hand Katharine, so you get all I have to offer. I won't lose in the Kalos League so now it's time to put all my cards on the table. Greninja, I choose you."

At that Ash threw out his Poke Ball and it burst open and Greninja croaked as he flipped and landed in front of Ash in his usual starting stance. He'd waited a long time for his Conference debut, but he knew the others needed experience and that he was the ace of the lineup just as Charizard had been in the finals the year before in Kanto and with that came certain responsibilities that Greninja took seriously.

If he was out now in the preliminary battles, battles that Ash hadn't intended to use him in, then it meant that it was time to carry the team and win it for Ash. That got his battle spirit pumping and already it was right there with Ash's as he appeared in the battle.

"A Greninja, interesting." Katharine said. "Sawsbuck, we win this now, Energy Ball."

"Greninja, dodge and let's get stronger and stronger." Ash said as Sawsbuck formed the ball of grass type power in its mouth. "We have to give it our all to get back into this battle and win it and I know we can do it."

"Greninja!" Greninja said as their hearts became one and their battle pulses synchronized just as the Energy Ball was blasted at him.

Suddenly a water vortex burst around Greninja causing the crowd to gasp and then it coalesced around Greninja who leapt up and over the Energy Ball with ease, his entire body covered in water in the process. As the attack missed and he closed in on Sawsbuck the water burst around him and flowed into a ball on his back before forming the 4-point star of water there as he took on Ash's features to become Ash-Greninja. It was the fasted change to date and didn't involve any golden helix like before but showed just how in synch they now were.

"Aerial Ace." Ash said as Ash-Greninja closed in on Sawsbuck.

"Greninja." Ash-Greninja said as he landed and dashed towards a shocked looking Sawsbuck his right forepaw glowing with flying type power.

The speed that Ash-Greninja now had was unreal to Katharine and Sawsbuck so before either could react, Ash-Greninja was on them and striking Sawsbuck across the face with his paw. Sawsbuck didn't make a sound, he was out the moment the third super effective attack he'd taken in this match hit him. His limp body was blasted back to hit the ice and slide towards Katharine until it stopped on its side just before her feet with swirls for eyes.

"Sawsbuck is unable to battle." The ref declared raising his hand to Ash's side of the battlefield while Sawsbuck image on the jumbotron turned gray. "Greninja is the winner."

"Folks that Greninja just changed." The announcer said clearly amazed at the sight. "I'm being told that this is a rare ability called Battle Bond that that Greninja has and is considered on the same level as Mega Evolution which explains that addendum to the rule on Mega Evolutions that I noted before the start of the Conference. For the Conference's sake, this counts as the Mega Evolution allowance for Ash and so if he wins and Greninja is registered as one of his 6 in a full battle it will be the Mega Pokémon for Ash and he cannot Mega Evolve any other Pokémon. This is mainly done due to the nature of this change being on par with Mega Evolution."

"So that's your strongest then, pretty good." Katharine admitted having recalled and thanked Sawsbuck during the announcer's explanation. "I haven't gotten a Mega Evolution Pokémon yet, but I don't need it to win. I'll defeat that Greninja now because I have a Pokémon that can beat him, I know it."

"Come at us." Ash said as Ash-Greninja backed up to stand in front of him. "We're ready for it."

"That Greninja does throw my plans a bit, but I have one Pokémon that isn't weak to what it can probably do while also having just the moves that I need." Katharine said as she pulled out her final Poke Ball and tossed it out. "Cinccino, go."

The ball burst open and a small but still fully evolve, gray bipedal mouse-like Pokémon with a white fur scarf around its neck and sprouting from its back in long, well groomed, tufts landed on the stage before Ash. This was one he wasn't expecting, he'd predicted Gothitelle or maybe the Darumaka that Ash had seen back in Unova, or likely it's evolved form, but this one was new to him.

Well, it wasn't new, Katharine had had it back in Unova though she'd evolved her after the Vertress Conference, but Ash hadn't seen it when they met the first time hence why it was new to him. It was also the only one that Katharine had on her that might stand a chance against whatever this Greninja had just become.

"Bring it." Ash said. "Greninja, Night Slash."

"Cinccino, Thunder." Katharine said as Ash-Greninja charged blades of dark type power forming in his hands which confirmed that it had a dark type move which would have been a problem for Gothitelle. "We got this my darling."

"Dodge that." Ash retorted as Cinccino sparked with electricity.

Ash-Greninja understood what he had to do and as he ran he watched the electricity spark and then shoot off Cinccino and at him. Had it been a Thunderbolt like what Pikachu loved to use then it may have hit him, but Thunder was slightly more inaccurate and erratic in the air, so Ash-Greninja was able to fall to his knees and lean back as he slid over the ice, the Thunder passing overhead and just missing him to hit and crack the ice behind him, before he popped up and as his slide was ending slash Night Slash across the surprised Cinccino's face while still on his knees.

Cinccino wailed as she was struck, the critical hit triggering thanks to the increased ratio and sending her bouncing back across the ice as Ash-Greninja leapt to his feet. However, she was still in it and Katharine knew it as she went for a move she'd taught Cinccino to counter her weakness to fighting types, but which would work nicely in this situation given that it was also strong against dark types.

"Dazzling Gleam." Katharine ordered as Cinccino came to a stop as Ash-Greninja continued forward to press his advantage.

"Push through it and hit it with Aerial Ace." Ash said glad for the training they'd had against Dawn and Mega Banette as it was the same move that they'd used against Ash-Greninja in that practice battle as Cinccino began to glow. "We've got this."

"Greninja." Ash-Greninja said as he closed his eyes, still running forward and infusing his right hand with flying type power as the Dazzling Gleam was emitted.

Ash and Ash-Greninja grunted in pain from the super effective fairy type attack, something that surprised and slightly worried Katharine as she didn't expect Ash to be in pain as well, but Ash-Greninja persevered through it to reach Cinccino. The Scarf Pokémon was still on her side on the ice when Ash-Greninja reached her and struck her with his growing forepaw.

The force of the blow bounced her off the ice like the earlier Double Kick from Sawsbuck had done to Dunsparce, but it wasn't enough to take her down and Katharine pressed that fact with another move that would be strong against Ash-Greninja. Seriously, Cinccino had a great move set against a Greninja but Ash's one was clearly strong as it was dominating this fight at the moment despite Katharine's best efforts.

"Bullet Seed." Katharine ordered. "Hit Greninja at all costs."

"Leap back and evade with Double Team." Ash said as Cinccino turned her head towards Ash-Greninja while still in the air. "Then end this with Water Shuriken."

"Greninja." Ash-Greninja said as he leapt up and back, easily high enough to be above Cinccino as several shadow clones of himself appeared all around him.

It wasn't a moment too soon as the rapid-fire seeds shot from Cinccino's mouth and at Ash-Greninja. However, because he now had Double Team active she missed him and destroyed the clone instead. Undeterred she swept her head despite now falling back to the ice determined to land the super effective hit on him as she kept firing her Bullet Seeds at the various Ash-Greninjas that she could see.

At the same time Ash-Greninja and his clones reached up to their shoulders, Ash mimicking it behind him, pulled off the water shuriken there and tossed it as hard and fast as possible at Cinccino. The real and shadow Water Shurikens converged on her as she swept away the Ash-Greninja clones but before she could hit the real one the real Water Shuriken struck her full force and drove her down and into the ice with a crash that kicked up a lot of ice debris and water vaper in the process.

Ash-Greninja, now just him as his Double Team ended, landed in a ready stance on the ice ready to continue the battle as the debris cleared. That wasn't necessary however as when it cleared it showed Cinccino on her back on the cracked ice with her mouth open and swirls for eyes.

"Cinccino is unable to battle." The ref announced as the crowd let out a cheer now that the battle was over and Cinccino's image on the jumbotron went gray showing that Katharine was now out of Pokémon. "Greninja is the winner. Katharine has lost all three of her Pokémon, therefore the battle goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"And there you have it folks, the final trainer to make the full battles has been determined and it is Ash Ketchum." The announcer said over the cheering crowds as the transformation dropped and Ash-Greninja returned to normal while Katharine recalled and thanked Cinccino for all she'd done to try and win that battle. "And what a way he did it in. We're going to be talking about this Greninja and all the other powerful Pokémon we expect to see in the final tournament for the next two days as we await the full battles. That is it for the preliminary battles, we will see you all in two days' time for the last 16 and the first full battles."

"Greninja return." Ash said recalling his Pokémon as the fans began to leave the stadium. "You were great out there, really carried us at the end to ensure that we advanced. Take a rest, you'll need it for the full battles to come."

"I look forward to watching you in them." Katharine said as Ash looked up at her. "And win this, I don't want to lose to another runner up again."

"I intend to." Ash said with a smile.

Katharine just smiled and nodded at that before she turned and left the stadium upset at the loss but determined to do better in her next region. Perhaps she'd check out Ash's home region of Kanto next year, see how that goes and try to win there instead. Regardless, she had time as she was going to stick around and watch the rest of the Conference to see how Ash did and then go on her next adventure.

For Ash's part he just turned and walked off the battlefield to go and meet up with the girls and the others in their little group. He'd won his 4th battle and advanced to the final tournament yet again and this time he was going to win it, he knew it. He had a little break now to recover and prepare and then it was time for the full battles of the Lumiose Conference, he couldn't wait.

The two days of break were coming to an end and the 16 remaining trainers in the Lumiose Conference gathered in the area where the draw had happened each day so far for the first draw of the final tournament. Only they were there for it, friends and family weren't to be present for this one as night fell and they all milled around waiting for it. The remaining two draws after this one would take place in the stadium after the last match of the day but this one was to be special as this was the first of the final battles.

Ash was with Max, Tierno, Trevor, Lyra, and Adam in their own little group waiting for the draw. He noted that Remo was off in his own section with Astrid and Titus while Paul was being the constant loner that he was and only there for the draw likely to see who he was facing. The three Unovans still in the Conference were in their own group while the other Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn trainers all stood on their own as they were clearly lone wolves just like Paul. They were all gathered and so the long wait was over.

"Trainers, first off I hope you had a good break and congratulations on making it this far in the Lumiose Conference." The announcer said as he took the stage alone and the screen behind him lit up with the pictures of the 16 trainers left. "As you know, from here on out all battles will be full battles on a simple, unadorned or themed, battlefield in the Lumiose Stadium. We will have four battles in the morning and four in the evening tomorrow before the draw immediately after the last battle is over. It is recommended, but not required, that the winners stay designated waiting room though those who have yet to go can watch from the stands as there will be a break between battles to repair the battlefields."

This was all pretty straightforward, and all of the remaining trainers bar Adam had been in at least one Conference before as far as Ash knew, so they understood how it worked. This was one of the deepest and most seasoned fields Ash had ever been in so he really couldn't wait to see who he was facing in tomorrow's last 16 and when his first full battle of the Lumiose Conference would be.

"Good, I expected you'd understand." The announcer said with a nod. "The same rules regarding substitutions and Mega Evolution apply in the full battles so there is nothing else to go over. Therefore, let the draw commence."

As with the other draws, the cards were blown as if by wind and moved around spinning and scattering over the screen for several moments before finally coming to a stop face down in two columns of 4 pairs with morning on the left and afternoon on the right, the top pair starting each session off. Ash and the others held their breaths as the cards flipped over to reveal their matchups.

It was very easy to find your face at this point and Ash instantly found his in the very first match and at last the run of facing those he knew well, or at least decently from his year in Kalos, came to an end at last. He was paired with Adam in the opening match of the last 16 and already the Hoenn boy looked both nervous and excited at the same time.

Ash opted not to mention anything to him and looked over the other matches instead. After his match Tierno was second up and he was facing Titus in an all Kalos battle that should be a good one. That was followed by Trevor against one of the Unovans, Antonio if Ash recalled correctly, and finally Max rounded out the morning against Astrid in what would be a good match that might feature an upset if Max battled well.

The afternoon slate began with Remo against Dominick in another Kalos v. Hoenn matchup that he was no doubt was looking forward to. It was followed by Jeffery verses Kenton and then Lyra was up against Darren in an all Johto matchup. Finally, Paul rounded out the day against Ultimo.

For the most part, once people found their pictures and identified their opponents they left the area to prepare, and Ash was no exception. From here on out they were all rivals, and he was more than ready to face Adam in a full battle, he needed to get back and prepare just as he knew the others would as well. Tomorrow, the full battles of the Lumiose Conference began, and the final stretch was upon them as the Kalos League entered the full battle phase of the tournament.

Well, here it is, the long, standard, Ash montage like advancing only with the matchups shown and how good Ash is to win almost all of them without losing more than one Pokémon and set himself up for the final battles of the Lumiose Conference. I know it's not the most interesting series of battles, but it still gives more depth to them than the anime did when Ash was in the Kalos League, something that felt a little rushed to me as they could have at least shown the entirety of his battle with Astrid and done a montage of him getting to that point rather than just Ash-Greninja being revealed against Titus and then suddenly he's beating Astrid's Mega Absol in the quarters. Thus, I have done a more fleshed out path for your enjoyment and the entire time I have used previous canon Conference rivals though I would have liked to use Katharine in a later round, but it didn't work so she got the round of 32 and a tough challenge to Ash instead. I will note that I prioritized known canon Pokémon for the previous trainers who faced Ash and prioritized those Pokémon's canon moves which in some cases like Mandi's Crobat cannot be learned anymore but at the time could be by either that Pokémon or an earlier form, in Crobat's case when it was a Golbat as this was back in Gen I when it could learn those moves. Therefore, as they were anime canon they take priority over any game canon that currently exists with a slight adjustment to allow for the example given due to sudden introduction of an evolved form. That is why the moves and Pokémon are like that though I did evolve those that could be evolved to add to the challenge. Lastly, the final Supplement to Winning is set to come out as soon as it is edited following the release of this chapter and is set during the 2-day break between the end of the preliminaries and the draw for the final battles so bear that in mind when you read it and that is why it is coming out in 4 days as in real time it would occur 4 days after the first battle in this Part. Anyway, that is all that I have for y'all here so I will leave this Part off here. As always please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time.

Stringdog