Chapter 1

" Okay, Pikachu, finish it off with Volt Tackle! Give it 110!"

"Sceptile, you know what to do, Double Leaf Blade!"'

"Pikaaaa!"

Pikachu started charging towards it's opponent, supercharging itself as it went.

"Sceptiiiii!" Sceptile reverted its arms into giant green, razor-sharp blades, as it plowed towards it's opponent.

"Chuuuuu!"

"IIIllleee!"

The battlers met in a great explosion as their ultimate attacks clashed head-on. Then, as the smoke cleared, the crowd of millions fell silent as all of Orre awaited the outcome of the Pokemon Championships.

Sceptile groaned as it pitched over backwards, fainted with the exhaustion of its hour long battle.

"Sceptile is unable to battle! The winner of the match is Pikachu! Thus, the title of Pokemon Master and head of the Elite Four is now awarded to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" the announcer roared, and the crowd went wild.

Ash stood there, dumbfounded. His brain was frozen. He did it? He really did it!

"Ash, I'm so proud of you!" Ash turned to be drawn into a passionate kiss laid upon him by his girlfriend, Misty Waterflower. "I can't believe you finally accomplished your dream, after all these years!"

"Yeah, champ, you did a great job!"

"Thanks, Brocko, you guys are the best!" Ash exclaimed, still bewildered that it was over. He, a 16-yearold from Pallet Town, Pokemon Master?

"Hey Ash, you did a great job, we're all proud of you!" May cried as she was running across the field. "But now I have to go consulate the runner-up!" May ran across the battle ring, trying to catch up to her brother. "Max, wait! I need to talk to you"

"Leave me alone May!"

"No, you're acting like a child"

"I am not!" came the response.

"So then come out here and unlock the door!"

The locker room door creaked open to reveal the tear-stained face of max Birch, 12 year-old runner up of the Orre Pokemon League.

"Max, you can't take this to hard, Ash is your friend. Remember, he lost the last 3 leagues to finally get to here. You won't deny him his happiness, would you?" May cooed. Sometimes her little brother still acted like the pest he was 3 years ago in Hoenn.

"I suppose not… No, I won't!" He shouted defiantly as the door was flung open. "I'm gonna go out there and congratulate him on a great battle! Thanks May, you're the best!" Max shouted over his shoulder as he ran down the hall.

"And don't you forget it!" She shouted after him. As she watched him go off, the 13 year-old girl reminisced on his many changes over the last three years. "Well, at least he lost the glasses!" She giggled to herself. After the Battle frontier in Kanto, Ash decided to give the League one more shot. It just so happened that Max had come of age as Ash set out, so he grabbed a Treeko from the Professor and set out on the 2-year journey through Orre.

"Ah well" sighed May. "At least we can leave this wasteland."

Later that night, at the Pokemon center…

"Well guys, tomorrow, I am off to Johto." said Max.

"I'm coming to, don't forget" Brock cut in. "The national breeder convention is there in a few months."

"And I'm off to the Indigo Plateau, that's where I will live and battle till next years league" Ash said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I am also now the head of the gym leaders Association, which protects the country from schemes like Team Aqua's and Magma's" he added.

There was a silence as that all sunk in. They contemplated on how they were all going to be separated soon, torn over duty and friendship.

Then Brock realized something.

"Hey, May, where are you going after this is finished?" he inquired of the girl." You could come with us to Johto."

"Oh, I don't know, I guess I'll head back to Vermillion City to shop before I head for the next region with that has contests." "Maybe I'll just wing it…"

"You know May" Misty spoke up. "I'll be going on your ferry tomorrow too, so maybe we'll finally find you a boyfriend."

"Yeah, sure…" May said sullenly.

The rest of the gang sweat-dropped at May's lack of enthusiasm.

"May, you know there are more important things than Contests. I thought you learned that after you left Drew to come to Orre. The poor gut was broken hearted." Max said.

"Yeah, but I was too young then, I was 10 years old." May shot back.

"Well, I still think it was a mistake." Max muttered.

"Well, we better get to bed, the ferry leaves early tomorrow." Ash said, breaking the silence.

" Yeah, good idea." The others agreed.

Ash and Misty left for their room, as May and Max did too. Poor Brock bunked on the couch.

And with that, the darkness of night brought sleep to the four teens.