On the battlefield the 16 trainers were looking at the projector to see who they would be facing off against. "Looks like the battle bracket has decided. Ash and Alex will go first. The winner between them will face off against the victor of the battle between Gary and Riku. After they all battle then Auria and Akio will be next. The winner of that match will face off against the winner between Gabriel and Blake. Everyone else will battle after them. Anyone who wants to place bets now please do." Sam said.

"You guys actually place bets on the battles!?" Gary asked in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, but nothing serious. It's usually like 10 pushups or something like that." Ash said.

"15 pushups and a box of pizza that Ash and Auria will face off in the finals." Jake said while Sam typed it on the laptop. The bet appeared on screen next to Jake's photo on the side. A few more members placed bets and they appeared beside their photo. Most were going to be sore tomorrow if a few of them won. Lance, Riley, Ash, Auria, and Gary were the only ones who did not place bets. 15 minutes later, Ash and Alex stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. Lance serving as the referee.

"This is a one-on-one battle between Ash and Alex. Release your pokemon!" Lance said. Alex sent out his partner Umbreon. Evolution of Eevee appeared and let out a low growl. Ash smirked and grabbed a pokeball off of his belt.

"Vivi, lend me your aura!" Ash said as he threw a pokeball. Out of the pokeball came an Eevee with a silver coat instead of its' usual tan coat. The female evolution pokemon landed gracefully on the rough dirt and stood in a battle-ready position. Gary scanned the two pokemon from the sidelines with his pokedex.

'Eevee the Evolution Pokemon, a Normal Type. It has the ability to alter the composition of its body to suit its surrounding environment. Thanks to its unstable genetic makeup, this special pokemon conceals many different possible evolutions; one for every type.'.

'Umbreon the Moonlight Pokemon, a Dark Type and the evolved form of Eevee. On the night of a full moon, or when it gets excited, the ring patterns on its body glow yellow. When this pokemon becomes angry, its pores secrete a poisonous sweat, which it sprays at its opponent's eyes.' the pokedex said. Gary was confused. Why would Ash use a pokemon against its evolution? Auria saw how confused he was and walked over to him.

"Vivi isn't like any other Eevee. She's special in her own way." Auria said leaving an even more confused Gary. What made her special? he wondered.

"Umbreon use Quick Attack!" Alex said. Like lighting, Umbreon took off towards the unusual Eevee.

"Vivi, form Sigma and then Iron Tail to counter!" Ash yelled. As soon as Ash finished speaking, Vivi changed into a shiny Sylveon. She charged towards Umbreon with a steel-like tail. The two collided and were now on opposite sides of the field than their trainer.

"Fairy Wind on the ground!" Ash said with a small smirk. Vivi knew what he was planning and sent a pink wind towards the ground. The wind caused smoke to arise from where the attack struck.

"Wait for the smoke to clear and then use Bite!" Alex said slight panicked. Umbreon stayed there waiting for the Sylveon to strike. Out of the smoke came a Moonblast that struck Umbreon with the super effective move. He collapsed after it hit with swirls in its eyes. Vi cleared the smoke with a grin plastered on her face. She changed back into her original form.

"Umbreon is unable to battle which means the winner is Ash and Vivi!" Lance said while the crowd cheered. Alex congratulated Ash with a smile on his face. The two cleared the battlefield so that their friends could battle. This time Riley decided to be the referee for fun.

"This battle is a one-on-one battle between Gary and Riku. Will both sides please release your pokemon!" Riku released his Magmar. The fire type spit out a small flame out of its snout.

"Wartortle, I choose you!" Gary said as he threw a pokeball in the air. The turtle got in a battle-ready position.

"Use Flamethrower!" Riku said. Magmar spit out a stream of flames towards Wartortle.

"Use Water Gun to counter. Then use Rapid Spin!" Gary commanded calmly. The water and fire caused a thick steam to make a wall between them.

"Wait for the steam to clear. If they strike, dodge." Riku said taking a defensive stance in the battle. A fast-spinning shell came out of the thick steam and struck Magmar.

"Catch it and use Fire Punch!" Riku commanded. Magmar caught the spinning shell and hit with a fiery punch. This sent Wartortle out of Magmar's grip.

"Now Hydro Pump!" Gary said with a grin. Wartortle flipped over and sent a large amount of water towards Magmar. The water hit and caused Magmar to faint.

"Magmar is unable to battle which means Gary is the winner!" Riley announced. The two returned their pokemon and shook hands. They walked off the field and Riku gave a complicated handshake to Auria as he walked off the field. Akio walked on from the other side. This time Alex decided to referee.

"You both know the rules. Release the Kraken!" Alex joked. Auria giggled and most of the member chuckled at this remark. Akio released his Cinderace.

"Violet, let my aura guide you!" Auria said as she threw her pokeball. Out of it came her Kirlia.

On the sidelines, Gary scanned these unusual pokemon. He had never seen them.

'Cinderace, the Striker Pokemon, a Fire Type. It juggles a pebble with its feet, turning it into a burning soccer ball. Its shots strike opponents hard leaving them scorched.'.

'Kirlia, the Emotion Pokemon, a Psychic-Fairy Type. It has a psychic power that enables it to distort the space around it and see into the future. If its Trainer becomes happy, it overflows with energy, dancing joyously while spinning about.' the voice activated device said.

"Let's start out with Quick Attack!" Akio said with a grin on his face.

'Teleport. Let's do plan Zeta.' Auria said through her Aura. A smirked spread across her face.

'You are so mean you know that right?' Kirlia said back by telepathy as she teleported away from the Cinderace who did not stopped running. Cinderace skidded to halt and turned around.

"Use Pyro Ball!" Akio commanded. The rabbit turned a pebble into a flaming soccer ball and kicked it towards the emotion pokemon.

"Use Psychic stop it and use Psycho Sphere!" Auria said leaving a dumbfounded look on Gary's face. Kirlia stopped the flaming soccer ball with its psychic abilities and covered it with a Psybeam leaving a glowing pink soccer ball with an orange core. She sent it towards Cinderace knocking it out in one hit.

"Cinderace is unable to battle, so the winner is Auria." Alex said. Auria gave Violet a high five and they walked off to Ash and Pikachu who gave them fist bumps.

The rest of the battles went somewhat well. Everyone was having a blast whether they won or lost. Everyone was cheered for, and no one boasted about their win. Gary was genuinely having fun and truly smiled which made Professor Oak happy seeing him having the time of his life. Delia was smiling as a single tear slid down her cheek. Seeing her son so happy and laughing after every he had been through made her wish that her husband was here with her. She remembered that Aaron had sacrificed himself for their survival.

Soon the last battle of the prelims had ended. Lance and his opponent Andrew walked off of the field and the bracket soon changed.

Ash vs Gary

Mack vs Riley

Auria vs Blake

Morgan vs Lance

"This is going to be tough" Morgan said while she looked at the scoreboard. Morgan turned her head to see Ash and Gary looking at each other and grinning.

"Looks like we can finally finish our battle now." Gary said as he looked over to see Ash looked straight at him silently with a smirk on his face.

"Arceus, don't do that to him Ash. You can't give all your secrets out yet." Auria said while looking at him seriously.

"I'm not going to do anything serious. Just nonverbal commands. The silent treatment is just to get him confused and freaked out." Ash said through aura.

"Fine, just don't go hard on him. A most give him half of your power." Auria replied through her aura.

The two boys walked onto the field. Morgan walked up to the referee box this time.

"This match is a 2 on 2. Release your pokemon!" Morgan said.

"Nidorina, I choose you!" Gary said as he threw his pokeball. The evolved form of the female Nidoran came out of the pokeball.

"Silver, lend me your aura." Ash said only where Silver could hear. The silver Riolu came out of its pokeball. Gary was surprised to see Ash's Riolu silver and not blue like he had originally saw it.

"Ash, why is your Riolu Silver?" Gary asked. Ash didn't respond to the question which confused Gary even more.

"Looks like Ash is giving Gary the silent treatment." Alex said to Auria.

"Don't worry, I told Ash not to let his full strength out yet." Auria said with a serious look on her face. She knew what he was doing, and she hoped he wouldn't go all out. Ever since the two had joined, Ash had some hidden pokemon of his that were his strongest. They lied to Riley and the rest of the G-men about only having 2 pokeballs left. His actual team is in the bottom of his backpack away from everyone's view. Though Ash and Auria let them out away from everyone, they wanted to be out more, but they understood why it was necessary. The Kyodai only used them if it was an emergency. Riolu nodded his head at Ash and talked to him using sign language. Ash nodded back and responded in sign language.

"Why does your Riolu use sign language?" Gary asked. Ash still didn't respond. By this point Ash had already gave the silent command for aura sphere. The light blue ball of aura rocketed toward the poison-ground type, striking it which caused the Nidorina to fall backwards.

"So, you're going to give silent commands, then Nidorina use Body Slam!" Gary said, still questioning his mysterious friend. Nidorina charged towards the golden Riolu. The aura pokemon stepped to the side and watched as Nidorina ran past him. With his lightning-fast reflexes, Riolu charged forward with Force Palm which struck Nidorina in the chest. The Nidorina flew to the feet of Gary who was stunned.

"Nidorina is unable to battle! Release your next pokemon!" Morgan said.

"Fearow, I choose you!" Gary yelled as he threw his next pokeball. Out came an orange bird with large wings and a razor-sharp beak. The large bird let out a shriek. Ash returned Silver and released Vivi. The shiny Eevee came out with a grin on her face and battle ready. Ash nodded as Vivi transformed into a green Jolteon. The electric eeveelution launched at Fearow with Wild Charge. Before the Fearow could recover, Jolteon finished it off with a Thunderbolt. The giant bird fell down with swirls in his eyes.

"Fearow is unable to battle! Release your final pokemon!" Morgan said as Gary returned the Fearow with thanks.

"Wartortle, I choose you!" Gary said as he released his final pokemon. The turtle pokemon came out as Ash returned Vivi with a silent thanks. Ash nodded to Pikachu as he jumped off his shoulder. Electricity sparked from Pikachu's cheeks as he got into a battle stance.

"Use Rapid Spin!" Gary said before Ash could strike. Pikachu effortlessly dodged and used Thunderbolt. Wartortle fell down fainted in on hit.

"Wartortle is unable to battle! The winner is Ash" Morgan said as the spectators cheered.

"Ok Ash! You can stop the silent treatment!" Auria yelled from the sidelines. Ash grinned and walked to the middle of the field.

"Thanks for the battle, Gary." Ash said. Gary nodded and stuck his hand out. Ash shook his hand.

"I didn't think you would beat me that bad, much less use telepathy." Gary said. The two walked off the field.

The rest of the battles went well. Auria battled another member of the G-Men named Gabriel. Morgan barely lost to Lance. Riley easily defeated Mack. The semi finals were a sight to see. Ash and Riley went into hand-to-hand combat, using aura to command Silver and Lucario. Auria and Lance fought in a traditional pokemon battle. Auria came out as the victor of that battle. Ash got the upper hand against Riley and defeated him.

Now there were the finals. Ash and Auria walked to opposite sides of the field. Ash walked up there with a wooden staff in hand. Auria two hollow sticks that reached her elbows. Their Riolus walked by their sides with aura spheres in hand. Riley stepped into the referees box.

"You four know the drill. No cheap shots or headshots. Remember you are leaving tomorrow so keep that in mind as you spar. You have one minute for last preparations. Both teenagers nodded. Ash took his jacket and shirt off and started stretching. Auria took her jacket off showing her blue bodysuit. Once the minute was up, they stepped out of the trainer's box and onto the field. Both got into a battle position along with their Riolus. When Riley swiped his arm down, the two charged at each other in a blur. No one could see what was happening. Eventually the Riolus broke apart looking fatigued. All everyone could see was a blur of black and blue. Occasionally a piece of wood would come into view. After a while the two broke apart panting heavily. They both took a knee not long afterwards.

"It's a tie! Both trainers have fallen." Riley said. The four got up and walked off the field to celebrate with dinner in the cafeteria. That night the two plus Gary walked into the Kyodai's room. Gary was sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. The two both fell asleep with the same thought.

It had been a good day. And tomorrow they started their journey of chaos.