Hey, so remember when I said this ash never went on his adventure until Black White? Scratch that. I'm going to be including those. Ash and Goh are both 13 in this story, as are many of Ash's old friends. There, I did it. I made ash older. Something neither Nintendo nor Gamefreak have had the balls to do.

Arron hated the battle festival already.

First of all, there were too many people here. He had never really noticed before, but he hated crowded places. He needed his personal space: without it he became agitated. He felt so exposed here, as if everyone knew where he was and what he was doing, and he didn't like that at all.

Some people even tried to push their luck a little too far. A young girl with a Spearow on her shoulder had tried to pet her, only for him to growl dangerously at her encroachment, much to Goh's chagrin. After that, Goh made sure to keep people away from him, but gave him dirty looks the entire morning, as if Arron was making his life harder somehow. Arron wanted to spit curses at the spoiled brat, but the language gap would render that pointless, so he decided to save his breath.

So all and all, the day was off to a fabulous start.

Raboot trailed behind him, glancing at the many contestants and guests as they passed by. She wasn't too eager to talk to him, since their relationship had strained over the past day, but Arron was too busy defending his personal bubble to make small talk anyway. God, he wanted this to be over so they could.move onto the next pointless task, maybe that one would at least allow him privacy.

Arron's last thought stopped his mind dead in its tracks. Was that what he had been reduced to? A pet? He realized he wanted nothing to do with Goh or Ash or any of their pokemon, especially not Professor Cerise. All he wanted was… well, he really didn't know what he wanted. But he didn't want this, that was for sure. This was too much.

But what else was there? To live in the wild and scrounge for food like some raccoon and live an unfulfilled life? At least with Goh, he had some sense of purpose, even if it was unpleasant at times.

His relationship with Goh was not one out of mutual love or understanding but out of convenience and dare he say necessity. Arron needed a purpose: he craved one, or else his mind would consume him and he'd degrade. Without his sister, he felt lost, not because they were relatively close during their time in Hueco Mundo, but because she could serve as a focal point for his cathartic needs. He used her as an excuse to commit unspeakable horrors, and to eventually retain some semblance of humanity in the process. He'd lost count of how many hollows he had slaughtered and consumed just to become strong enough to protect her.

Was it worth it? Was living this empty life worth it?

He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, not wanting to travel down that dark path any farther. Whatever his reasons were, whatever his motivations were, they happened, and there was nothing else he could do about it. All he had was Goh, this insolent, naive and admittedly sometimes therapeutic child. Arron hadn't noticed before, but Goh had started to take the place of his sister… in function at least. The rest of this circus was collateral.

Goh seemed to notice that Arron had become especially moody, as he had led them to an unoccupied bench outside of what looked like a large stadium. Then he picked Arron up and placed him on his lap, stroking his armored plates in a concerned fashion. "What's wrong with you, huh? You're usually angry, but I know something's up when you're moody."

Arron remained silent while Goh continued to gently prod him for answers, as if he could understand Arron even if he said anything. Raboot gave him a sideways glance, obviously mildly concerned, but she had become somewhat used to his moody moments, so she just ignored him.

After a while, Goh gave up. "You know what? Be like that. We're battling today, and I want you ready for anything. That's the only thing you're good at anyway."

Arron's tail twitched in annoyance. "Stupid child." He grumbled, seething at Goh's retort. Raboot just smiled under her scarf, enjoying Arron's annoyance.

Goh stood up, dropping Arron off of his lap in the process and cracking his neck to wake up fully. "I don't know who we'll be battling first, but there should be a lot of people. That's a lot of trainers and pokemon to whittle down."

"Yeah, it is."

Behind them, Ash was standing, Pikachu on his shoulder. Riolu was beside him, glaring daggers at him. Ash was quiet, far quieter than he usually was, with his arms crossed and his hair more ruffled than usual, as if he'd just woken up. Goh glared back, the tension between them still palpable.

"You're still mad, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I was going to let it go, but you had to rub salt in the wound last night. Well, I'm gonna beat you Goh, and I'm gonna show you who's the better trainer."

Unlike his usual self, Goh puffed his chest in an almost comically preteen-ish act of defiance, trying to intimidate Ash. "You don't scare me, Ash. I can beat you, Pikachu and Riolu are weaker than Arron."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Stronger than Riolu? Probably. Stronger than Pikachu? That's debatable. But it isn't those two you have to worry about."

Ash was right, of course. Out of all his pokemon, the mysterious 'dragonite' had the most infamy. While Arron had never seen her at all, much less in action, Ash's lack of desire to use her for any battle he'd seen between him and a trainer before made it seem like she was out of their league. Arron knew this psychological tactic very well: Aizen had chosen to keep Ulquiorra's true power a secret, and let his infamy speak for itself. What followed was a collective nightmare between the soul reapers, who realized that if Ulquiorra was only ranked number 4, then numbers 3 to 1 had to be far more powerful.

Too bad it was all based on a lie. His sister might have lived otherwise.

"Well beat Dragonite. I'm going to beat you, Ash."

Ash didn't respond for a moment, trying to get Goh to back down before shrugging.

"Fine, I won't stop you from thinking that, but you're going to be very disappointed when you lose."

Ash then gestured for Riolu to follow him and they made their way to the stadium. Goh sighed and picked Arron up one more time. "C'mon Arron, get it together. We've got to be ready for anything. You can beat him!"

While Arron was still annoyed by Goh's previous comments, he had to admit he kinda liked his newfound bravado. Beforehand, it didn't feel like Goh had a spine, but ever since his confrontation with his parents, he'd gotten braver. Arron decided he'd play along. He squirmed out of his arms and landed on the ground, standing tall. Goh's grin grew and pumped his arms. "That's the spirit, Arron! Let's go turn some chumps into popsicles!"

Raboot jumped off the bench along with them, pumping her little arms as well. Then she stopped when they heard the soft grind of roller skates on concrete. Korrina was casually skating towards them, twirling at random intervals. Behind her, Lucario walked at a brisk pace to keep up, eyeing the group vehemently, as if he wanted nothing to do with them. Korrina either didn't notice Lucario's attitude or didn't care, because she ignored him as she skated up to Goh, a bright smile on her face. "I'm glad you showed up. Are you ready for the tournament?"

"But I thought this was a battle festival?"

Korrina giggled. "It is, but the tournament is the star of the show. All the best trainers from nearby are competing, along with a bunch of normal people. Grandad wanted a show, so I guess he'll get one "

"Wait, all of them? How many people will be here?"

Korrina gave him an odd look. "Didn't you research before signing up? God, you're as bad as Ash. There are a hundred and twenty eight people who qualified, most are rookies who got lucky, but there'll be a few diamonds in the rough out there. Then there are the middle of the road trainers like you and ash." She looked at his team one last time. "By the way, you need three pokemon to compete, you know that?"

Goh nodded. "Yeah, I've got my Scyther. But Arron here is the star of my show, and he won't disappoint."

Korrina glanced down at Arron again, seeing the willfulness in his eyes. "He's strong all right, but don't let it get to his head, or you two will be in for some serious trouble."

"Well, I know that he's a bit… defiant, but it's not a big deal."

"It isn't? Are you sure this is just a phase and not a part of who he is? Me and Lucario, we were like you guys once. But it nearly cost me my life when we tried to learn Mega Evolution."

Goh was silent for a moment, contemplating what she said. But Korrina was impatient today. "Follow me, Goh. The tournament is about to start anyway."

He picked up his things and walked beside the skating Korrina, talking to her along the increasingly empty sidewalk. Lucario followed closely behind like a bodyguard. Arron was next to Goh, watching people pass by and the bird pokemon huddled into the trees as the heat of summer began to make shade a valuable commodity.

"When I wanted Lucario to Mega Evolve, I wasn't thinking about how strong our bond is, or how well we worked together, just how strong it would make him, how strong it would make me. I was a bit selfish back then, but we're closer now, and stronger for it, but before we used to be separate actors on the battlefield: he did what he wanted and I essentially boosted his ego and his confidence. I thought that was enough. Until I met Ash."

Goh gave Korrina an incredulous look and she simply giggled at his surprise. "Oh, I know what you're thinking, what did Ash of all people do to strengthen that bond? Well, he didn't do anything besides setting a few events into motion. And he helped save my life of course."

"What does any of this have to do with Arron?"

Korrina scoffed. "You're so impatient, I swear. Just let me finish my story. Anyway, I realized after watching Ash and Pikachu, as well as my Grandfather and his Lucario, that my bond with Lucario was a joke. We had no connection other than our friendship, but we needed something more to prosper, so we began working together. I began taking control, and eventually we began to think as one. I can nearly understand what he says when he speaks, something very few trainers achieve."

Now Goh was interested. "How do you do that?"

Korrina shrugged. "It's different for everyone, I suppose. There's no tried and true method, it's just a gut feeling. But I can tell you right now that you and Arron aren't anywhere near as close as Lucario and I. So be careful what habits you two build; they might come back to haunt you in the future."

They reached one of the doors of the stadium, and they could hear fans cheering from the other side as the sound of combat rattled the concrete jungle of Shalour's inner city. Goh began to panic because of their tardiness, but Korrina just placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine: I checked the board before distracting you: you're match forty two and this is only match eleven. And it's a kid with a Duwott, so I'm sure you'll win."

Korrina waved for Lucario, who was leaning on one of the square pillars of the Arena, to follow. He did so, and Korrina winked at Goh. "This might have been a warning, but I have faith in you two. Ash said a lot of good things about you guys, so make sure you beat him: he takes challenges very seriously."

"Yeah, I will."

"And be careful. You're an interesting guy: I'd hate for something bad to happen to you and Arron."

Goh nodded, and Korrina skated off, preparing for her match. Goh looked back down at Arron, who was glaring at the fading form of Korrina willfully. Goh leaned down and patted him on the head. "Alright, Arron, let's win this."

The sound inside the stadium was thundering. Arron watched as two massive pokemon battled in the center stage at the bottom, a mess of rough terrain akin to the ground after a cataclysmic earthquake. Short spires of rock jutted out of the cracked ground, laced with wild vines and ivy. A blast of vines erupted from the ground in front of the first pokemon, a massive fox-like creature with nine separate trails. It countered with a blast of flame that engulfed the vines and their caster, a large snake covered in a green, leafy skin that made it seem more like a plant than an animal. It deftly dodged the flames, sprouting more vines from its body that slammed into the enemy, creating a cloud of dust and an outburst of cheers from the audience.

On either edge of the Arena, two trainers stood, shouting commands to their pokemon. One was a tall young man with curly blonde hair, light blue casual dress shirt and blue jeans, while the other was a slightly younger girl in shorts and a spaghetti top. The young man was commanding the snake, although what he was saying was drowned out by the thunderous cheers and the announcer.

In a flash, the massive grass snake slashed the multi-tailed fox with its tail like a whip, slamming it into the ground and sending it tumbling. The snake sneered as the fox rose to its feet again, and attempted to engulf it in fire to no avail. The fox pokemon dodged another swarm of vines that erupted from the ground before lunging at the serpent, only to bite at thin air.

As the crowd cheered, the announcer pumped his arms in seemingly exaggerated excitement "Incredible! Serperior is untouchable! How will Ninetails and Sienna counter this intense speed?"

Goh watched in awe as the two veteran pokemon sparred for dominance, mixing deft feints and vicious attacks with ranged moves to try and trip up one another and open a hole in their defenses, turning the battle into a deadly dance. But to Arron it was clear who the victor would be: the Ninetails reeked.of exhaustion from all the panting and it's weak stance, and for all it's determination and dare he say desperation, the Ninetails couldn't match the lightning-quick reflexes of the Serperior, something it seemed to know all too well. The massive serpent gracefully bobbed and weaved out of harm's way, tiring the Ninetails with every attack before wrapping it in vines and crushing it until it was unconscious, all to the despair of the young girl, presumably it's trainer. The young girl sank to her knees as a drone from the sky descended to the limp body of the ninetails. "Ninetails is unable to battle, which means the winner is Xavier!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, Serperior obviously being the crowd favorite, and the young man commanding it bowed flamboyantly, as if he had been the one to fight the ninetails. The trainer of the Ninetails ran up to her pokemon, cradling it's head in her lap as she stroked it's fur, attempting to comfort it. It was a pathetic showcase, why reward failure with comfort?

Goh nudged Arron with his foot. "C'mon Arron, let's get down to the locker rooms so we can prepare for our first battle."

Arron obliged and followed Arron down the stairs, eyeing the spectators as he descended. While most ignored him, many watched him curiously, as if they'd never seen anything like him before. He glared back at them, getting dirty looks from the crowd. Goh nudged him again to get him to stop glaring, giving Arron a stink eye to convince him. He did so just as they reached the bottom of the steps and onto the dirt ground, where they turned and entered the stairwell to the locker rooms.

"Who do you think Goh will choose to fight first?" Raboot asked, trying to make small talk.

Arron just shrugged as best he could with four legs. "Not a clue. I don't know what a Duwott is."

"I'm pretty sure it's a water type, although it's not native to Shalour."

Arron couldn't have given a shit less where it was native too. "If it's a water type, that means he'll probably choose me since you're weak to water."

"Yeah, probably."

As they made their way down the stairwell, they passed several trainers and their pokemon preparing for the next match, including a mountain of a young man with an oil stained t-shirt and ripped jeans. His heavy boots thumped on the ground, and his belt was lined with four pokeballs. A rosary hung on his neck, swinging side to side as he walked, and at the end it held a small shining pearl… a mega-evolution stone. The man caught him staring, and chuckled. "Yeah, it's a bit mesmerizing the first time you see it. The name's Chuck, how 'bout you, kid"

Goh broke out of his trance and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, it's just that it isn't every day you see a Mega-Evolution stone. Whose it for?"

Chuck snickered. "I'd let him out so you two could meet face to face, but he'd probably bring the building down with his size. He's my Steelix, and he's mean as snot too."

"Woah, I didn't know Steelix could Mega-Evolve! Where do you get stones like that anyway?"

"You can get them at Rustboro in Hoenn, and in a few places in Kalos, but for some pokemon like my Steelix you have to mine them yourself. It took a while, but boy was it worth it."

Goh was practically starstruck, but Chuck cracked his neck and shrugged. "Sorry kid, I have to go win this battle, but hey, maybe we'll get to battle face to face, if that girl in the red bandana doesn't get to you first."

"Girl in the red bandana? What do you mean by her getting to me first?"

Chuck scratched his head. "Well, she's got a Mega-Evolution stone, too. We're the only two here who do, I think, so you better be careful if you want to take the win kid.

Chuck hurried down the hall and out into the entrance, where the crowd once again cheered for someone who seemed to be a crowd favorite. Goh walked the other way, into the sprawling locker rooms, where many open doors showed the different lockers, as well as a large center hall with chairs and a few tables semi-circled around a projector screen that trainers of all shapes and sizes were watching intently, waiting for the next battle to start. One of them looked like the trainer that Chuck mentioned, a girl with brown hair and a red bandana. She was wearing a red and white blouse with short sleeves, white cargo shorts and, true to Chuck's word, a mega-evolution stone was embedded in a bangle bracelet on her forearm. She turned to greet the newcomer, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey there, I was wondering when you'd show up."

Goh was a little surprised that she had any idea who he was, but she just chuckled at his flabbergasted expression. "Oh, it's no big deal, we were just missing a person from the roster, so we've been waiting to see if you'd show up. You are a bit new, after all."

"New?"

"Oh, Korrina didn't tell you? This is a tournament for experienced trainers, although I say 'experienced' loosely. But we figured since you were a bit… new to this that you'd back out and my little brother Max here would win by a technicality, since he wouldn't win any other way."

The boy she gestured to, apparently Max, was short and scruffy, with a mop of messy black hair and a pair of glasses on his face. His green button up shirt was dusty and ruffled, as if he'd been training before he'd gotten to the Arena. He glared at May, insulted.

"I can win, and you know that!"

She chuckled. "'Can' doesn't equate to 'will', Max. You have a very slim chance to win, but I wouldn't bet my money on you, especially since you only caught your last two pokemon a month ago.

Max crossed his arms and pouted in his seat, and May giggled. "Stop being such a big baby, Max."

Goh looked around, trying to spot Ash to no avail. "Has Ash showed up yet? I figured he'd be around here somewhere."

May shrugged. "He hasn't shown his face, but I know he'll be here. Ash would rather die before missing a battle. Wait… how do you know Ash?"

Goh stuttered. "Oh, yeah, we've been traveling together for the past two months or so. We both signed up for the tournament together."

May's eyes darkened a little. "So you're his new traveling partner. I had been wondering what he was doing recently, but I guess he's still traveling, forgetting about us," she said, bitterly. "I have a feeling he's going to keep doing that forever."

"I didn't know he'd been traveling that long," Goh replied. "I thought this was the first time."

May blew a raspberry. "No, not at all. He's been traveling since we were ten. I met him right before he turned eleven. I had just gotten my starter, and he had just come from Johto to try and win the Johto league. He didn't win, of course, a few rookie mistakes here and there, but he placed top eight which is no joke.

Goh was both amazed and a little pale. So that's why Ash got so offended when Goh said he didn't know what he was doing: Ash had experience under his belt, and a lot of it. Goh suddenly felt smaller.

Apparently, May picked up on his sour mood, because she popped the question. "What's eating at you? You don't look too hot."

Goh scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I said something I shouldn't have to Ash and now we aren't on the best of terms."

May snorted. "Oh, I know all about that. Don't worry, he takes things personally but he'll get over it soon: je has the attention span of a munchlax."

Max laughed at May's insult, but it provided Goh with no comfort. May's smile died as she saw how concerned Goh was. "It's not a big deal, he'll come around eventually. He just needs to get over it. And besides, the fact that you're remorseful about it shows you aren't a bad guy: it couldn't have been that bad of an insult… right?"

"He kept telling me I was in over my head and I told him he only won his battles because of luck."

Max winced, but May's face remained unchanged. "That's… definitely something he'd take seriously. But like I said, it'll pass. Just give him some time."

Before Goh could respond, the television flickered back on, and the entire crowd of competitors turned to it to watch the following battle. The cameras recording the battle focused on Chuck, who was waving to the crowd before he pulled out a pokeball from his belt and palmed it, gripping it tightly.

-And for our next two contestants, Chuck, a skilled and ambitious trainer from Rustboro, and Alice, an up-and-coming powerhouse from Unova!-

The camera quickly panned to Chuck's opponent, a young woman no older than sixteen with a light pink outdoor dress and a sunhat. She winked at the camera before taking off her hat and setting her small bag over it to keep it from flying. Then she waved to the crowd as well, who went crazy over the perceived crowd favorite.

May rolled her eyes at Goh's alarmed expression. "Don't worry, Goh, the first few rounds won't be too hard. Starting positions are sorted by skill and age, and since you started your journey a little later than most, you'll be starting in the latter ranks, once all the veterans and experienced trainers battle. It gives everyone a fair shot at winning the championship since all the new trainers fight each other and all the experienced trainers fight each other."

"But doesn't that mean all the newcomers get knocked out once the experienced trainers take all the top spots?"

"Well, yeah!"

Goh turned around to see Korrina enter the room. She gave him a small wave before giving May a hug and ruffling Max's hair, much to his chagrin. Goh glared daggers at her, unhappy at her perceived lie. "I thought you said there would be 'a few' experienced trainers here, Korrina: Not a bunch of experts with Evolution Stones!"

Korrina snorted. "Just because you have an evolution stone doesn't mean you're an expert," she glanced at May, "no offense."

May shrugged. "None taken."

"Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah! Don't worry, Goh, there are some experienced trainers out there for sure, but an algorithm doesn't quantify talent. I have a feeling both you and Ash will shine out there. So will you, May."

"Thanks for the compliment." May said. "And have you seen Ash? I haven't seen him in a long time, and isn't it going to be his match soon?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs talking to my Grandfather. He'll be down here to fight his match and then he'll go home. And he's match eighteen: his name carries more weight, and he's got a dragonite, so he goes sooner."

May's brow scrunched in irritation. "I swear, the nerve of that knucklehead. It's the first time he gets to see me in two years and he bails?"

Korrina shrugged. "I told him that you'd be here. He was in a bad mood and decided to win and go home."

Goh turned to May. "When's your match, May?"

May chuckled. "Korrina and I already went. I won, and she won as well. We're just waiting for these rounds to be over so we can go and grab something to eat."

Korrina shushed both of them. "Quiet, the match is starting."

-the contestants are preparing to choose their pokemon, but we all know who these two will choose. The crowd is going wild over this long awaited battle between these two young juggernauts. Chuck is going first, we'll see if our predictions are correct-

The camera panned to Chuck again, who tossed out his pokemon, revealing his massive steelix. It roared with vigor, the crowd cheering to the sound of the earth-shattering howl as it unfurled and sneered at its foe. It's entire body was a chain of metallic body links that curled and loosened like muscles. The young woman was unfazed, however, tossing a pokeball in her hand smugly before releasing her own beast: a massive three headed dragon with scales as dark as night. It hissed and spit, acidic saliva dripping from it's jaw as it did so. Six massive wings stuck out from it's back, stretching independently from each other as it prepared to battle.

-It's a battle between two crowd favorites today, Chuck's Steelix and Alice's infamous Hydreigon! Today's the day we see the long awaited kingslayer match: instant death rules apply! Let the battle BEGIN!-

With a vicious grin, Alice extended her arm and silently commanded Hydreigon to attack, sending it into a frenzy. It slammed into Steelix with a vengeance, sinking it's venomous maw into it's ferrous flesh, causing it to smoke. Steelix roared and slammed itself into the ground, burying Hydreigon underneath it's massive body. May let out a small, quiet gasp while Korrina watched grimly.

-Incredible! Even Steelix's hard body can't resist Hydreigon's corrosive bite. But how will Hydreigon retaliate against being crushed under Steelix's body?-

Alice didn't seem to mind that Hydreigon was pinned, merely extending her arm again. Hydreigon charged massive beams of energy in it's three massive man's, releasing a devastating blast of energy into Steelix, forcing it to yield. It slithered away, curling into a coil and hissing viciously at Hydreigon before striking with its tail, using it like a whip. Hydreigon dodged the first two attacks, but succumbed to the third strike and fumbled in the air.

-Steelix's defense seems impregnable, how will Hydreigon shatter it?-

Hydreigon regained its composure before releasing three more massive blasts, which Steelix countered with a beam of Its own, a surge of red-hot energy that intercepted Hydreigon's, creating a cloud of acrid black smoke that covered the stadium before dissipating, revealing both Hydreigon and Steelix clashing. Steelox used it's massive body to throw its weight around and trap Hydreigon, only for it to just barely escape, firing beams of energy into Steelix's metallic body. But as the battle continued, Steelix began to tire, unable to keep up with Hydreigon's seemingly boundless energy. Chuck's face was grim, and Alice grinned like a mad woman, using her hand to direct Hydreigon's strikes tactfully.

-Steelix seems to be slowing down, and Hydreigon is preparing to finish the fight! Can Steelix retaliate or will this match be over?-

Chuck, preparing to take the nuclear option, lifted his rosary beads off of his neck and lifted them up into the sky almost ritualistically. While the words weren't heard, the announcers knew what was going on.

-Chuck is doing it! He's taking this battle to the next level! Hydreigon was barely winning as it is: now it's in for a real fight!-

Arron watched the screen, mesmerized as Steelix was engulfed in a rainbow light. It's form shifted and changed, increasing in size and power until the light burst away, revealing a changed Steelix. It's body was impeded with enchanting geodes glowing and pulsing with power. Four massive crystals had sprouted from two abnormally large segments at the top and bottom of its body, as well as a massive crystalline tail tip. It's head had doubled in size, a massive semicircular ring around it's head made from steel. Large floating debris circled around Steelix, which used them like projectiles to crush Hydreigon. Hydreigon blasted several.of them into particles, only for them to reform and be flung towards it again until it was buried under a pile of metal and rock, struggling and howling like a spawn of Satan. Steelix glared animalistically before swinging its tail down onto the pile, crushing Hydreigon with a grunt. Alice stared grimly at the pile, while Chuck was grinning at his perceived victory.

-it seems that Hydreigon is- wait… how is that possible! Hydreigon is not down, he is up! And with a vengeance too! That's one of the largest dragon rage blasts I've ever seen!-

Everyone in the locker room was at the edge of their seat, watching Hydreigon retaliate with a massive beam of energy that Steelix countered with a beam of its own, causing a clash of energy comparable to two powerful Ceros. Even Arron was slightly impressed.

But Hydreigon's resurgence was short lived, as more boulders tripped him up and sent him flying as he was engulfed by Steelix's massive blast of energy.

-it seems that the vengeance was short lived, however. Hydreigon is unable to battle, which means Chuck is the victor!-

The crowd cheered and howled as Alice returned Hydreigon to his ball with disappointed expression while Chuck ran up to congratulate Steelix, who had dropped his mega-evolution form and curled affectionately around it's trainer.

-Well, you saw it folks, the winning streak of the lilac princess has been broken today, and in a spectacular way! Definitely a brilliant battle. It's amazing how some of the best trainers of this generation seem to be getting younger and younger by the year!-

"You know, I'm not surprised Chuck won, but you have to admit that Hydreigon was impressive," Said Korrina, "How'd Alice evolve it so quickly?"

"Apparently she's had it since she was eight, and it was a gift from her father," replied May, "She had a head start AND a powerful dragon type on her side. Definitely a beginning most trainers would kill for."

Korrina shrugged. "I'd agree with you, but I can't judge: I've had Lucario since I was five."

"True, but you've worked for everything you have. Can Alice say that?"

Korrina held up her hands in defense. "Hey, I'm not charging anyone with anything, all I'm saying is that Hydreigon is a really hard pokemon to train, and Alice's ability to evolve and train one without biting her head off is pretty incredible."

"Well, they're supposed to be pretty loyal, and apparently she raised it, so there's that."

The conversation continued on like that, with Goh listening to the banter on the two opposing trainers. But something was wrong: Goh could feel it. He looked back to see Arron pacing back and forth, obviously deep in thought, or as deep in thought as a pokemon could be. Raboot had hopped off of Goh's shoulder to confront him and see what's wrong, so Goh decided she was better qualified than him: after all, she could understand Arron better than Goh could, right?

Raboot approached the brooding Arron, sensing irritation from the weasel pokemon. His eyebrows were scrunched and his jaw was clenched, revealing his wickedly sharp teeth. She sat down next to him in a non-confrontational way, waiting for him to speak up, but he didn't.

"Something on your mind?" She asked, curious. "You seem… tense."

"Just thinking."

"About what."

Arron sighed. "I know this is going to sound stupid, but when I saw that pokemon do… that, I felt something. That transformation resonated with me somehow." Arron knew the truth, however, that it didn't just resonate with him, but rather it reminded him of a Resurrection. It reminded him of his dormant power. And it stung to have lost it.

Raboot raised an eyebrow. "It's called Mega-Evolution, and maybe it resonated with you because you might be able to do it one day."

Arron gave her a startled look. "I could… do that one day?"

Raboot nodded. "Consider yourself lucky: you might be able to. My fate's set in stone, since only some pokemon can mega-evolve."

"That seems… unfair."

"Maybe, but I don't dwell on it much. I still have a long way to go before I could even do it anyway, hypothetically speaking."

"Well, you get tougher, you're really strong already."

If one looked very carefully at Raboot, they could see a faint blush on her cheeks, something she'd adamantly deny. It was pretty cute, seeing her flustered. She was pretty cute whenever she was flustered, and whenever she showed the more open side of her personality, none of that reserved aloofness.

"So, are you excited?"

"For what?"

"For the battle, dummy."

Arron remembered he was going to be battling as well. "Not really, the kid is supposed to be weak."

"So?"

"I don't like fighting weak opponents. It's demeaning."

Raboot snorted. "Then win some battles so you can fight stronger opponents."

"Sounds like a plan."

They were silent for a moment before Raboot leaned on him, this time in full view of everyone. A few days ago, this would have made him recoil in anger and mild disgust, but now it felt natural… comforting even. She was the only one he'd let do that, though. She was his… friend. God, it hurt to even say that word, but he could say it with a little effort for someone who was worth it.

"I think you can win this. You know that, right?"

Arron eyed her curiously. "This is a team effort."

Raboot gave him an annoyed look. "First of all, you're the last person I'd bet on saying that. Secondly, on paper it is, but you're Goh's favorite."

"I'm no such thing."

"For someone who looks down on others for being 'unintelligent', you really are short-sighted sometimes. Goh wants to use you: to him, you're the best on his team and I'm inclined to agree. You can do things most pokemon could never dream of."

"You don't know half of it."

Raboot's eyebrows rose in curiosity. "Oh, yeah? Enlighten me."

"I can't: it would ruin the surprise."

Raboot punched him playfully on the shoulder. "You're an idiot."

Arron chuckled. "Maybe."

Raboot was smiling under her scarf, but the smile died when she saw his vacant expression staring off in the distance. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just thinking again, about Goh."

"What about Goh?"

Arron sighed. "Is what you said true? About me being his favorite? I thought you were? I'm… difficult."

"He's… really invested in you, in your health and wellbeing. He wants to see you heal, from whatever happened to you. And I do too. Whatever happened to you because of this Aizen figure, just know that it's over and you're here now, with us. Everything's going to get better, just trust me."

Arron looked at her, seeing her eyes mist up. He leaned against her for the rest of their time in the locker room, watching the matches fly by.