Everyone was still excited about yesterday's battle. Electivire and Flygon's match was... legendary to say the least. It ended in a draw, the Hyper Beam being matched in power and both of them fainting soon afterward in exhaustion. The poor referee had to take a few minutes to be able to stand up again and call the match. Ash still won the battle as he had three pokemon left. But Paul had become the closest one to have won against Ash, being the only one to have defeated three of his pokemon.

All the excitement did not deter those in charge of the event to scold various managing staff for not stopping the match earlier. As soon as the protective shield was down, they should have called for a pause. Everyone was lucky that the Draco Meteor only landed inside the battlefield-marked arena, otherwise, that day would have ended much differently.

They did end up calling for an hour-long break afterward, the arena was unrecognizable. It took a long amount of time to rebuild it and they had to put up the shield from scratch too. Luckily, no one broke it again. But the managing staff were dreading today's match.

While the managing staff was dreading it, the crowd was even more excited.

If a battle between a 'somewhat' normal trainer against The Saint was so exciting, what will a match between the mysterious Tobias and Ace Ranger Katchum turn up like?

I, myself, teleported to the Lily of the Valley Island, to congratulate my brother. He did so well! I was so proud of him!

Tears still gather in my eyes recalling the huge smile on Paul's face as he battled Ash. I will forever be indebted to Ash for teaching my little brother to have fun battling once again. We also thanked him for paying for us to extend our stay in the resort for the next couple of days, so we could observe the fulfillment of the Pokemon League.

"Did Ash tell you what he is planning against Darkrai?" Paul asked Ash's traveling friends, as the two of us took our seats in the crowd.

"No idea!" Dawn smiled, not caring a little bit about it. "But I am sure it's gonna be awesome!"

"It might be... but knowing Ash it will be crazy as Distortion World," Gary commented with a bemused smile. "But I am interested in knowing how he is planning on dealing with Darkrai's Dark Void."

"That move combined with Dream Eater finished all of Tobias' opponents," Riley murmured.

"He did break various records because of that," I recalled.

"Don't be so gloom and doom!" Dawn berated us with a glare. "Ash will win this! Believe in him! I do!"

"Dawn is right," Gary smiled at the younger girl. "Ash has this!"

With that the group's gloomy atmosphere changed into a more relaxed one, just in time for the Legendary Battle between Titans to begin... or at least, that's what the media is calling it.

As was expected Tobias called out his infamous Darkrai to the battlefield. Ash's option... was shocking, to say the least.

Many in the crowd gasped at who Ash had chosen. Not his Charizard, or his Pikachu, or his Sceptile, Ash chose his Heracross of all pokemon.

I understand that Heracross possesses a double-type advantage on Darkrai, but I still can't see another reason why Ash would have chosen him. He does not allow type-advantage to dictate his method of fighting.

However, to Gary, who was sitting next to me, it seemed to make all the sense in the world. His eyes widened in realization and he exclaimed in glee: "So that's what he is planning!"

"What?!" Dawn turned to Gary in excitement.

"I thought I would be facing your Charizard," Tobias commented, not making a command to attack yet.

"Everyone thinks so," Ash chuckled. "But Heracross is the most suited to face you," he promised Tobias. Ash's right hand moved to his neck to pull out from inside his t-shirt a chain, the camera made a zoom on the pendant at the bottom of his chain and I gasped, ee all gasped. Being held possessively by a golden dragon claw was a Key Stone! "Heracross!" Ash boldly announced with a smirk, as the crowd's anticipation thickened in the air. "Let's Mega Evolve!"

A bright glow overtook the battlefield below us and left behind Mega Heracross, standing proudly before his trainer and glaring challengingly towards Darkrai.

I must say I am impressed, I thought. A normal pokemon would be shaking fearfully before Darkrai... then again, he is not a normal pokemon. He is Ash's pokemon.

"Well, even Mega Evolved he won't be able to stop this! Darkrai, Dark Void!" Tobias ordered and... it hit? Mega Heracross went to sleep with one move and Ash did nothing to stop it. The crowd groaned in disappointment, and I could even hear some malicious people talking about how they were expecting it as this is a Legendary pokemon and they did not expect a mere ranger to handle it. The use of 'it' for a pokemon made the blood in my veins boil in rage. "Wh-what? Why are you smiling?"

I turned my attention back to the arena in confusion, Tobias was right. Ash was smiling widely and uncaringly, and so was Pikachu for the matter. Next to me, Garry murmured two words in amusement: "Sleep Talk."

That's... that's genius! I exclaimed in my head. Insane, but genius! But... is he gonna fight the whole battle asleep?

"Two words," a sly smile slowly spread through Ash's face. "Sleep Talk."

I could feel the astonishment of the crowd, without needing to see their faces, as Mega Heracross slowly, as if he were possessed, rose to his feet with his horn glowing bright white, faint red, and multiple shades of yellow. Then with a speed, no one was expecting from someone asleep, Mega Heracross rushed forward and rammed Darkrai with his horn.

I winced in sympathy, Megahorn is one of the strongest Bug-type moves, and being stuck by it from a Mega Evolved pokemon... that must have hurt like a bitch!

"Darkrai!" Tobias' eyes widened as he observed his previously untouchable pokemon flinch back in pain. "Quick! Use Dream Eater!"

Darkrai's eyes flashed eery red, sending shivers down my spine. I will never get used to that, no matter how many times I watch him do it, I complained to myself. Darkrai then created a shadow-like version of himself. The shadow then tried to go through the sleeping Mega Heracross and suck up his energy.

Try being the keyword.

"Sleep Talk!" Ash called out, and as the shadow version of Darkrai tried to go through Mega Heracross, the sleeping pokemon Throat Punched him back into his real body. "Sleep Talk again!" Luckily, Darkrai was still disorientated from the failed Dream Eater and close to Mega Heracross, thanks to that Close Combat could be utilized to its maximum.

"Darkrai, snap out of it! Fade!" Tobias called out and his pokemon faded back into the shadows in time to evade the last punch and kick of Mega Heracross' Close Combat. But it was still a good start for Ash and Mega Heracross! "Now, Will-O-Wisp!"

"Shit! Ash won't be able to command Heracross to dodge that!" Gary cursed.

"Sleep Talk!" Ash shouted, and Mega Heracross answered with a Slash, which Darkrai dodged easily and managed to land the attack on Mega Heracross.

Is he... yes, Mega Heracross was badly damaged by that move. I sighed in my head. Now it's a race against the clock.

"Great! Let's try Dream Eater again!" Tobias cheered.

"We are far from over!" Ash warned him. "Sleep Talk! Sleep Talk! Sleep Talk! Sleep Talk! Sleep Talk!"

"Did he just... order the same move five times?" Paul asked slowly, in pure disbelief.

This was not the smart and careful, but still insane strategy Paul, was used to from Ash.

Gary, on the other hand, was laughing full-heartedly as if he was having the best of times. "I did not know how much I've missed watching Ash battle like this until now! This is Ashy in his most chaotic insane behavior! This is gonna be good!"

The first Sleep Talk ended up being a lucky Substitute, which saved Mega Heracross from the Dream Easter. The second Sleep Talk was Pin Missle, which sent green glowing spikes towards Darkrai five times in a row. Mostly, thanks to the ability Skill Link Heracross gained after Mega Evolving. Darkrai tried to dodge the first attack, but he was not fast enough and by the time he recuperated to intercept the second wave with Dark Pulse, it was only at the last minute which left not enough time to charge again against the third wave. So it was a hit, miss, hit, hit, and hit, for Mega Heracross. Good score if you ask me.

The third Sleep Talk was Work Up, which gave Darkrai time to recover and snap back into battle mode.

"Darkrai, Payback!" Tobias commanded.

I bit my lip worriedly because after all the damage Mega Heracross inflicted on Darkrai and the burned state of Mega Heracross... it will be the end for Ash.

The fourth Sleep Talk then entered into action... Protect.

"Ha ha ha!" Gary was laughing like a mad man beside me.

The fifth Sleep Talk was what killed me.

It was Revenge!

The crowd was dead silent as we all observed the fainted Darkrai on the battlefield. Not that Dawn cared, she jumped on her feet and cheered loudly for Ash. Just like that, the spell broke and the whole arena stood on their feet clapping for what must have been the weirdest battle they've seen in the Sinnoh League so far.

"Mega Heracross was on his last leg because of Will-O-Wisp, and just in time Revenge happened," Lucario shook his head in amusement. "He was quite lucky."

"It was not luck, out of everyone in his team Snorlax and Heracross are the two pokemon with the best domine of Sleep Talk," Gary corrected him. "Ashy discovered that a pokemon can have a certain degree of control over Sleep Talk by meditation and training. He discovered it through my grand-uncle's research on Komala while we were in Alola. Snorlax has been doing so since the beginning, how do you think that a lazy pokemon like his specie know exactly where you are and how to attack you if you disrupt his sleep? No one can be that aware of their surrounding after only just waking up and then going back to sleep in a second?"

"They are using Sleep Talk?!" I asked him stunned.

"Yeah, and with an affinity that stunned us beyond words," Gary chuckled. "They can easily fall into this state of peace, between sleep and awareness that allows them to control their sleeping bodies to a certain degree. Meditation aids those pokemon species that do not have it as easily as Komala and Snorlax. My gramps, grand-uncle, Ashy, and I will be publishing our research in a couple of months. We still need to finish some of our experiments."

"That's... so this was not... I..." my poor little brother was floored. His eyes widened as we watched Ash return his fainted Heracross, speechless that such chaotic battling had a strategy behind it. Not that I blamed him, I reacted the same way as he did.

"I never thought that I would have Darkrai being defeated like that..." Tobias finally spoke, after a couple of minutes of opening and closing his mouth in complete disbelief.

"In a few months, you'll realize that this had a strategy behind it," Ash chuckled.

"A strategy? How in Arceus's name does this work as a strategy?!" Tobias exclaimed in an uncharacteristically burst. "It doesn't matter, good luck defeating my next pokemon."

Tobias threw his Poke Ball into the air and the pokemon that came out was...

"Is that a..."

"Arceus!"

"Shit!"

"Is this guy real?!"

"What in the Distortion World?!"

"This has to be a fucking joke!" Ash exclaimed, glaring pointedly at the Latios floating on Tobias' side of the arena. Ash looked exasperated and simply done with the whole battle. He shook his head with a deep sigh and took out a Poke Ball. "You wanted Charizard?" He asked slowly, and I could hear the excited murmurs from the crowd. They wanted Charizard. "You are getting Charizard!" Then the most powerful Charizard I've ever seen in person appeared on the battlefield. His roar shook the bleachers we were sitting on with the power that was released. It sent shivers down my spine and made me straighten up in reflex. Charizard paused for a second, realizing who he was facing, before slowly turning around to face his trainer. I almost laughed at the raised eyebrow and disbelieving expression the Fire-type was giving Ash. Like trainer, like pokemon, I thought. "Don't look at me, I know. Take it up with mister ridiculous on the other side of the battlefield!"

And he did!

Charizard turned back and crossed his arms across his chest, eyebrow still arched as he stared down Tobias. Even Latios hunched over under that look.

"Arceus..." Garry muttered stunned. "That's Auntie Delia's mom look. When did Charizard learn that?!" Gary exclaimed worriedly. "I thought only Ash had gotten infected? Is it spreading?!"

Ok... I am going to ignore that for now...

"What?!" Tobias defended himself in reflex, but I could tell he was sweating under Charizard's look. "Let's better go back to our battle!"

"Stop." Ash raised one finger and told him firmly, before turning towards the referee. "Sir, the rules say that we are only allowed one Mega Evolution, but he is using two Legendary pokemon. May I be allowed the use of another Mega Evolution?"

"I... I will need to check that," the referee stuttered, not knowing what to do.

I don't think that any of us really knew what to do under these circumstances.

But then Champion Cynthia's voice sounded through the speakers: "The Sinnoh League and Charles Goodshow agree to allow it."

"Well, then," Ash's smile returned. This one however was bloodthirsty and it was matched by his Charizard. It was honestly a frightening scene to watch. "Buddy, let's Mega Evolve!"

If I thought Ash's Charizard looked majestic and powerful, the Mega Charizard X left me breathless... not to mention, that the heat was pumped up to Distortion World.

Latios went for a Psychic straight out the bat, as soon as the referee re-announced the beginning of the second round. Mega Charizard X answered her challenge by torching the psychic waves with an overpowered Overheat.

T-Those flames were freaking blue! I exclaimed in my head. And they are melting the rocks on the battlefield.

"Dragon Pulse!" Tobias and Ash ordered at the same time.

The Mega Evolved pokemon and Legendary charged forwards and clashed in the middle of the arena. The power of the impact shattered the shield that surrounded the battlefield. That must have been a record. But before anyone could pause the match, both dragons rushed up clashing Dragon Tail against Dragon Claw, fading into the sky as two falling stars... just that they were going the opposite way.

"Did our pokemon ditch us?" Tobias inquired stunned.

"I think so..." Ash replied. "Not the first time it happened to me, especially with Charizard." Pikachu patted Ash's head in comfort. "I just hope they don't break anything."

"Me too," Tobias agreed with a sigh.

"Only with Ash," Riley commented shaking his head in amusement.

"Everyone this is Champion Cynthia, I am on my Garchomp following the battle... and making sure they don't break anything," Champion Cynthia announced over the speakers of the stadium.

"Thank you!" Both trainers shouted in chorus.

"Mega Charizard X just used Mystical Fire but was blocked by Latios' Mist Ball," Champion Cynthia continued announcing. "In retaliation, Latios used Psycho Cut... what is this?!" Champion Cynthia exclaimed in surprise.

"What?!" The crowd screamed, demanding answers.

"Mega Charizard X did not try to dodge it, he flew straight right to the attack, using Steel Wing to bat away the crescent-like blades!" Champion Cynthya answered... even though, there was no way she could hear us from how high she was. "Now that he is face to face with Latios, he has attacked him with Inferno! Latios received the attack to the face and is badly wounded!"

"Nicely done Charizard!" Ash shouted, pumping his fist into the air.

"It doesn't matter, Latios just healed himself with Heal Pulse and landed a Dragon Breath on Mega Charizard X!" Champion Cynthia informed us.

"That's my boy!" Tobias cheered.

"Mega Charizard X is angry! He flew faster than I thought a Charizard could achieve and appeared behind Latios. He now has his back locked to his chest, by sinking Dragon Claw into his wings and a Fire Fang into his neck! However, Latios keeps on healing himself. Who will get tired first?" Champion Cynthia announced to a pumped-up and cheering crowd. "It seems like Mega Charizard X got fed up with their game and has used Heat Wave to stop him!"

"That's my boy!" Ash cheered, in answer to Tobias' previous cheer.

"Is that... be careful downstairs! Mega Charizard X is using Seismic Toss!" Champion Cynthia shouted.

"Wait... what?! From that height?!" Tobias exclaimed worriedly.

"Charizard stop! You'll break the stadium!" Ash shouted.

However, Mega Charizard X did not hear his trainer... most likely, he could not from how far away he was. Luckily, Mega Charizard X was containing himself and Ash broke the Mega Evolution just in time for the collision.

The stadium did not break... the battlefield, it was done for.

All that was left was a big crater and barely awake Latios.

"Wow, Legendaries are tough cookies," Ash commented impressed that there was a pokemon that could survive such a fall. Then grimaced when Charizard hit her with an Iron Tail over the head and knocked him out. The Fire-type then roared his victory to the sky, prompting the crowd to jump on their feet and cheer for him. Ash shook his head in bemusement and smiled at his pokemon, knocking foreheads together when Charizard flew in front of Ash. "You are in so much trouble, buddy," Ash tried to sound serious but he could not contain his chuckle. "We'll talk about this later, trust me. But for now... YOU DEFEATED A LATIAS!" Ash roared alongside his pokemon and the whole crowd.

"Now that was some battle," I commented.

"But we didn't see a thing," Dawn turned to us confused.

"We might have not seen anything, but we felt every move. The impact and clash between Latias and Mega Charizard X... the crater... not to mention, that the second round only lasted a couple of minutes, and yet they were able to have such a dynamic exchange of attacks." Paul explained, still shocked about the power exchange we just observed. "I am impressed that Champion Cynthia's human eyes could keep up at all."

"I don't think many here realize what we just observed," Riley said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"I don't think they do," I agreed, as I watched Tobias return his Latias with wide-open eyes.

"I am beyond words," Tobias shook his head as if trying to shake away his shock.

"Any more Legendaries?" Ash joked, but his smile turned into a grimace when Tobias didn't answer. "I was joking, please tell me you don't have another one!"

"I don't," Tobias laughed, taking his third Poke Ball and releasing a Salamence.

"You don't have any other Legendaries, you just have a Pseudo-Legendary," Ash nodded his head, before losing his cool and shouting. "What is your team?!"

"Says the guy whose Heracross defeated my Darkrai, and whose Charizard defeated my Latios!" Tobias screamed in return.

I could not hold it anymore and just broke into laughter. The whole situation was so ridiculous that it was hilarious! Soon the rest of the crowd followed me, even the referee looked as if he was trying hard to hold it back. Charizard chuckled spitting some fire and crossing his arms over his chest in amusement. Tobias and Ash looked around in surprise, turned to each other, and cracked. It took the whole stadium ten minutes before we could get our control back.

During that time the Psychic Team of the event got to work and built back the shields around the arena.

"You know I am with half a desire to just keep Charizard out," Ash informed Tobias. "But the last time I sent Charizard after a Salamence he almost ripped his wings out." I could see Salamence flinching back from Charizard's bloodthirsty smirk and the crowd cheered at the reminder of Hunter J's fate. This was their Saint after all. "So, I am going to return him. He has done enough damage for one day. Ah, no pouting! You know I'm right!" It was hilarious to watch a Charizard that just took down Latias and obliterated a whole battlefield, hunch down as he was being scolded by a fifteen-yeard old boy. "Now, return," Ash recalled Charizard with one last well done and called out his third pokemon: a beautiful Altaria. "Misty Terrain!"

Tobias was only coming a few seconds after Ash, ordering Salamence to use Draco Meteor. Not that it bothered Altaria, she evaded the meteors by dancing in the air with elegance and batting away the meteors that got close enough with a Steel Wing. It went along for some minutes until Salamence finally got exhausted and had to stop. Of course, Altaria took that advantage of the situation and attacked. With Ash's command of "Finish it!", the cotton pokemon that danced in the sky with grace and elegance was gone, now left on the battlefield was a ferocious pokemon.

The Moonblast was expected, after the Misty Terrain, and all that time she had to charge for the move... what surprised me was Tobias not noticing it.

I would have expected more from someone of Tobias' caliber, I thought as both trainers changed the pokemon they had on the battlefield.

"He's falling apart," Garry commented. "He lost Darkrai and Latias and he has no idea what he is supposed to be doing."

"He relied on them too much," Riley agreed with a grimace, as we watched Ash's Primeape finish Tobias' Slaking with a Cross Chop.

"I hope he gets his senses back soon," Paul sighed. "His team is good and strong, he is the one failing them here." I turned to my little brother surprised by his comment, but then felt both ashamed and proud. He has grown up so much... it is time I start treating him as such. Tobias returned his Slaking and released a Metagross. "I can't believe I am saying this, but I agree with Ash. What is his team? This is starting to be ridiculous."

"It's as if he is the final boss of a video game or something," Dawn agreed in disbelief at what she was observing. "I also believe that my views of Professional Battling have been messed up really bad... please tell me this level of battling is not normal."

"It's not," I assured her with a chuckle. "You normally need to be watching Elite Four and Champions battling each other, or upper-tier Gym Leaders."

"You know what? I am done." Ash threw up his hands. "You want a pseudo-legendary fight? I am giving you a pseudo-legendary fight!"

I barely had time to cover my ears with my hand before the whole stadium screamed.

"That's The Saint's Larvitar!"

"The power of love will beat all!"

"So cute!"

"Cute? That's a Tyranitar it's so cool!"

"A Pseudo-Lengendary versus Pseudo-Lengendary battle, lucky!"

"What's up with this match? Shouldn't this be the final?"

"Fangirls are raving mad," I've never seen Paul more scared before.

"Tell me about it," Gary scoffed.

"Hey," Lucario caught our attention. "What's scarier, that Tobias' team is stacked up to an impossible level? Or that Ash is defeating them and has only gotten one pokemon fainted to the moment?"

We all paused and turned to the slyly grinning pokemon in horror.

"You are a sick son of a..."

"No need to insult my mother," Lucario stopped Garry. "I am just saying."

"I did not know you were this daring partner," Riley commented.

"It seems that we were both infected by Ash," Lucario replied.

"It seems we have," Riley agreed.

I then decided to ignore them and focus back on the battle below us, where Metagross' Flash Cannon and Tyranitar's Dark Pulse were clashing in the middle of the arena. However, that was just a smoke screen for what Tobias was truly planning. He used the smoke created by the collision of both attacks and then hid in it. Metagross used Agility to get face to face with Tyranitar and land a double Ice Punch, followed by a Giga Impact. That took down Tyranitar and broke the hearts of various young girls in the crowd. Of course, the one that Ash chose to face Tobias' Metagross was Charizard. The poor Steel-type was toasted under Charizard's overpowered Flare Blitz.

At least, now Tobias got his groove back and took down another one of Ash's pokemon. If things stay like that, Paul would be the one who had defeated the most pokemon in Ash's roster... yes, he does have the finals, but whoever he'll face won't be as good as Paul or Tobias.

"So, you are gonna use Pikachu now?" Tobias asked as both trainers returned their pokemon and the crowd leaned forward in anticipation of the final battle between Ash and Tobias. "I thought so," he continued when Pikachu jumped on the battlefield... or what was left of it. "Which is why I have a strategy against him," he threw his Poke Ball and a Gyarados appeared. The choice shocked us, especially after he said he had a strategy against Pikachu.

"Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

"Block it with Hydro Pump!" Tobias countered perfectly. "Now, Hurricane!"

"You are not the only one with a Key Stone!" He announced bringing out a wristband and proceeding to Mega Evolve his Gyarados. "Rain Dance and Waterfall!" Tobias commanded, rapidly filling the crater (which was barely deep enough) and turning it into a swimming pool. Pikachu had to rapidly jump on one of the few rocks big enough to maintain him above the water, and not have him being swept away by the current. "Now, Hydro Pump!" The attack, shockingly, hit Pikachu which sent him flying into the water below it. "Swim after him, Crunch!"

Thankfully, Pikachu managed to get back onto a solid surface in time and avoided the attack. "Use Iron Tail!" Ash orders Pikachu.

At first, he had some issues. But he soon jumped onto Gyarados' back and climbed to his face, where he landed the attack, sending the sea dragon underwater.

With the rainstorm still going on, Gyarados created a huge hurricane still underwater, which became a cyclone of water that surrounded Pikachu, trapping him inside.

"Pikachu, Thunder!" Ash ordered and to everyone's surprise, it did nothing.

"Using Hurricane in the rain to shut down the electric attacks is brilliant," I commented, observing the electricity still circling on the hurricane's sides.

"What will be brilliant is watching Ash turn this strategy upside-down!" Dawn replied with a beaming smile.

Turn it upside-down he did.

"If breaking through stuff like this is what makes battles fun for me," Ash commented with a challengingly smile. "If it cannot be broken, then we will climb it! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"What?" I gasped in shock, as I observed Pikachu bounce from the electricity still in the Hurricane and free himself.

"Of course! Electric platforms!" Gary exclaimed next to me, laughing full-heartedly.

"Let's do this Pikachu!" Ash announced, showing off his Z-Ring and the Electrium-Z in it. "Gigavolt Havoc!"

The electric Z-move looked bigger and stronger than any of the other ones I've seen Ash use. It must have been a lot of practice, or it is simply the fact that it is Ash and Pikachu we are speaking about.

But I did not focus on that for long because... Gyarados was down and ASH WON!