AN: Hey everybody Dragon is here with another installment to this story. I must say that I love you guys; I did not expect my story to pick up the way it is. For that I would like to say Thank You! I would also like to apologize for how long this took. I have been to work and school to family events that just keep stopping me. I type in my tidbits when I can but just kept being stopped. Well enough with my excuses let's get to what you're here for, the story! Enjoy! The harem is as follows:

Cynthia

Annabel

Korrina

Serena

Ursula

Elesa

Roxie

Dawn

Hilda

Sabrina

As you guys can see Dawn was the winner if the poll and is now part of the harem. Don't worry though it's going to take a lot for her to be even remotely forgiven let alone loved by Ash. I also added Hilda and Sabrina to it as well. I'm thinking one more but that has remained to be seen, I think I'm fine where I'm at we will see.

Pokémon- Attack

"Pokémon"- Pokémon speaking (people won't understand unless told otherwise)

"Pokémon"- Human Speech

'Pokémon'- Thinking

"Pokémon"- Pokédex Entry

Chapter 5:

First Rounds Begin! Mystery

The whole crowd continued to roar in approval for the amazing battle that they had just witnessed. Even some of the biggest fans of Lance couldn't help but to cheer for Ash and Sceptile.

Ash grinned at his opponents and began to walk towards them. Sceptile, knowing what Ash was planning to do, began to walk alongside his trainer.

…To the Champions…

Shock and awe were the best words to use to describe how they felt about what they had just witnessed. They expected Ash to be able to hold his own against Lance's Aerodactyl at the least but to be able to actually beat it was unexpected.

"Man hahahaha, Ash has really grown into a fine trainer," Alder boasted laughing. "I mean did you see that battle, incredible!"

"Yes we did Alder, we ARE watching the same battle," Steven responded, astonished. Unlike the other Champions, he didn't meet Ash a whole lot but still Ash was nowhere near this skill level the last time they crossed paths. He smirked, 'Ash you really are something else.' He couldn't wait to talk training methods with him.

Silver was honestly impressed and excited. This guy was really strong! He has battled Aerodactyl on numerous occasions and barely won 3 out of the 5 times they clashed. He also really wanted to test the speed of his Shiftry against that Sceptile. And the most important out of all of this…

HE WAS NO LONGER THE YOUNGEST OF THE CHAMPIONS!

Cynthia had a look of awe and admiration on her beautiful face. 'Ash you have gotten so much stronger! I can't wait to have you by my side in battle; also I want my turn to battle against you as well.' She began to gain a slight pink on her cheeks when she saw his smirk on his already handsome face.

…With the traitors…

They were all in absolute shock at the battle that they have all seen. Max, Misty, Iris, Cilan, and Gary had their jaws drop at Ash's victory. They couldn't believe how strong Ash seems to have gotten over the years.

May and Dawn on the other, were blushing brightly when they saw his warm smile. That smile, on that body, made their faces as hot as a Flamethrower. Even at the few moments of seriousness that they have seen from him, WAS HOT!

Prof. Oak, Brock, and Delia couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in Ash becoming such a powerful trainer. That was, until they realized that they had no right to feel any pride. They tried to make him quit his dream, something he has worked so hard to achieve. They felt even more ashamed of themselves and hoped he would forgive them when they spoke.

…Back to the Field…

Ash stood in front of Lance, who was still kneed next to his Aerodactyl, while Sceptile stood in front of Aerodactyl. They stared at their previous opponents with a serious face, before they smiled warmly and held out their hands.

Lance and Aerodactyl were more than happy to return the favor.

As they shook hands, or in Aerodactyl's case 'wing', Lance gave Ash a huge smile. "That was some battle Ash. You have gotten so much stronger since the last time we met. This whole battle was so exciting!"

Ash scratched the back of his head in embarrassment at the praise. "Thanks Lance. You and Aerodactyl were great too."

"That was fun Aerodactyl. I hope to battle you again sometime," Sceptile said nodding his head to the Fossil Pokémon. Aerodactyl chuckled a bit.

"I agree, it was an amazing battle. Just don't expect the same results the next time we clash in battle," Aerodactyl replied to Sceptile.

"What a battle! What a show of true sportsmanship between these amazing warriors, and this only just the beginning of it all! This is the Pokémon Masters Tournament!" the announcer yelled out getting a roar of approvement from the crowd.

Lance and Ash returned their Pokémon and made their way back to the other Champions, while laughing at how easy it is to excite the crowd.

When they arrived, all the Champions smiled and nodded at them. It was a silent agreement that now was not the time for chitchat. They had to be professional in front of the whole world after all.

Mr. Goodshow walks up on the podium. "Now that was a truly splendid battle but it's time we begin. You all were told who and which stadium you will battle. So please go out there and give us a show to remember!" This caused a final set of cheers before the trainers left to go to their respective battle stations. Mr. Goodshow looks to his Champions "I know you all have questions for young Ash here but you should go through your battles first."

All the Champions nodded in agreement though Cynthia did it reluctantly.

Each of the Champions left to their separate stadiums. "This is going to get really interesting," Mr. Goodshow said to himself.

…To Ash…

"So buddy it looks like things are finally picking up," Ash said to his faithful Pikachu as he entered the waiting section for trainers.

"I'd be shocked and bored if it didn't Ash," Pikachu responded. "Who are battling against anyway?"

"We are against some guy named Ryan a little from now," Ash replied. "It looks like the first battle is about to begin buddy."

They both looked to the battlefield to see an Ampharos battling a very strong looking Mienshao, owner of said Pokémon was a teen by the name of Ezekiel.

The whole battle lasted eight minutes in total with Ezekiel winning with only his Mienshao. 'Ezekiel, I should keep an eye on him, I can tell he was holding back,' Ash thought to himself. After about 3 battles that Ash wasn't really all that impressed by, it was finally his turn.

The crowd roared in excitement as the announcer did his job. "Next up we have Ryan Richard from Salem Town of Hoenn vs Ash Ketchum the Champion of Kalos! Trainers send put your Pokémon!"

"Let's take him down Politoad." Ryan released the really happy toad Pokémon. Ash looked really closely before shaking his head; this won't take very long sadly.

"Hitmonlee I need you" Ash announced sending out the Fighting type Pokémon. Hitmonlee burst out, immediately entering a fighting stance.

"Now that two trainers are ready, Begin!" and with that the crowd cheered ready to see the outcome of the battle.

"Politoad use Water Pulse" Ryan commanded his Pokémon. Politoad released a condensed ball of water at its opponent.

"Hitmonlee use Blaze Kick to stop it," Ash countered. Hitmonlee's right foot caught on fire before launching it forward, destroying the water attack. "Now go hit him with your Double Kick," and with a moment to waste Hitmonlee raced at its opponent with high speed.

"Politoad use Protect, then hit him with an Ice Beam," Ryan commanded. His Politoad spread its arms forward as it created a bubble of protective energy.

Hitmonlee's foot made contact with the bubble doing nothing to it. "Hitmonlee quickly dodge that attack, and then hit him with your Mega Kick!"

Politoad released its Ice Beam though it missed, barely, due to Hitmonlee moving to the left quickly. This gave Hitmonlee the chance to kick Politoad in the stomach with its glowing left foot, causing Politoad to get thrown back.

"Now Hitmonlee launch your Focus Blast!" Ash commanded quickly. Concentrating its fighting energy, it unleashed the orb of power towards the struggling Politoad. Ryan began to panic seeing the attack race towards his Toad Pokémon.

"Politoad quickly use your Protect, please," Politoad tried to get up to obey, but it couldn't even move due to the pain it was feeling. Politoad's eyes widened before the attack made contact causing an explosion which kicked up a dust cloud. As the dust cleared up, everyone saw Politoad down with swirls in its eyes signifying its defeat.

"Politoad is unable to battle, please send out your last Pokémon," the referee announced.

"Let's do this Tyrantrum," Ryan tossed up the Pokéball. Bursting out, the Rock/ Dragon Type roaring with power.

Ash and Hitmonlee smirked at the power they felt coming from the Kalos fossil Pokémon. "Hitmonlee get in there with Blaze Kick, and then knock him down with Double Kick." Hitmonlee took off and appeared above Tyrantrum with its left leg on fire.

"Counter him with your Dragon Claw then take him it down with Crunch!" Tyrantrum's claws crackled with energy and swung, meeting Hitmonlee's blazing foot in a vicious clash. Then Tyrantrum moved its head forward to capture the Kicking Pokémon in its powerful jaws.

"Use Detect, then continue into your Double Kick," Ash commanded. Hitmonlee's eyes seemed to focus more as it twisted its body, dodging the snapping jaws of Tyrantrum. Then it snapped its body back into position swinging its left and hitting Tyrantrum, causing it to roar in pain. Then it lashed out with its right and knocked Tyrantrum onto the ground.

The crowd cheered at the quick kicks that all Hitmonlee's were known for.

"Come on Tyrantrum, get up and use Earthquake," Ryan commanded. He knew Ash would be powerful after seeing him go against Lance but this was something else entirely! 'It's like he has a counter for every little thing I come up with!'

Tyrantrum forced itself up and slammed its legs onto the ground causing it to shake violently.

"Hitmonlee dodge then use High Jump Kick." Hitmonlee jumped high into the air dodging the shaking earth and launched down with its foot out towards Tyrantrum.

"Tyrantrum use Hyper Beam to send it packing." Tyrantrum began charging the familiar ball of energy into its mouth before, with a mighty roar, launched the beam of destruction at its opponent.

"Hitmonlee use Detect then use Close Combat," Ash commanded smoothly. Just like before Hitmonlee's eyes seem to focus a bit before its body twisted, dodging the Normal type attack. As it landed on its feet, Hitmonlee immediately took off towards the Dragon Pokémon.

"Tyrantrum get out of there!" Ryan yelled worried or is Pokémon. Tyrantrum tried to move but due to it being so tire, did not get out of the way fast enough before the speedy Hitmonlee was upon it.

With a show of speed and grace, Hitmonlee unleashed a blinding flurry of punches and kicks upon its opponent. "Now use Focus Blast!" Ash yelled out. Hitmonlee focused its energy in between its palms and released it point blank range.

An explosion picked up before out of the resulting smoke, Tyrantrum was launched out who skidded on the ground before finally coming to a stop. Hitmonlee jumped out of the smoke and landed in front of its trainer. It was obviously tired due to using such high level attacks in succession, one after another.

As the smoke cleared, everyone can see Tyrantrum on the ground unconscious. The referee checked on the Dragon/ Rock type before he made his decision.

"Tyrantrum is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ash Ketchum!" The crowd cheered loudly for the amazing battle that they saw. Hitmonlee gave an eye- smile for its victory as Ash cheered for his Pokémon.

Ash returned his partner and walked up to his opponent, who was kneeling and consoling his Pokémon. Sticking out his hand, he smiled kindly at his opponent "thank you for an amazing battle. Your Pokémon were really strong."

Ryan smiled, despite his loss, as he got up and shook hands with Ash. "Thanks. I knew you would be tough from watching you battle Lance. I hope you win it all Ash."

"Don't worry about that" Ash replied. "I already plan to," and with that Ash left the stadium as the next two trainers were called up to battle. He would have stayed to watch the next few battles but none of these trainers, besides the first few, caught his interest.

"So Ash, where are we heading now?" Pikachu asked his partner. Ash shrugged his shoulders.

"I was going to check out the battles in the other stadiums, maybe find an interesting opponent, besides the Champions of course." Pikachu nodded, also hoping for more strong trainers. Ryan was definitely good but not at a very high skill level.

As Ash neared the exit, he noticed someone leaning on the wall by the door. The figure was a bit taller than he was. He couldn't see his face due to him wearing a long red cloak and hood. The cloak was a blood red color along with the only other noticeable piece of clothing, which were red sneakers. Ash walked past the figure and his looked into the darkness of the hood.

When Ash got past him a bit he heard the figure speak in a strangely familiar tone, "You've gotten strong young Ash but in the end, you are still not ready for what's to come."

Ash turned around to address the cloaked individual… only to find that the man was no longer there. He looked around trying to find the man before extending his aura to sense him… only to feel nothing again.

'Who the hell was that guys?' Ash asked mentally. That sounded eerily similar to the man from his nightmare last night.

"Ash let's just go," Pikachu said nudging his head against Ash's. "We can rack our brains all we want but it will get us nowhere." Ash looked to Pikachu before nodding and walking away.

"Let's go to Block A since it's the closest stadium to us," Ash said to the electric mouse who nodded his head. After agreeing they headed off to their agreed destination, all the while Ash thought to himself, 'who was that guy?'

After walking about 15 minutes, they saw the stadium used for Block A. The roar of the crowd was practically deafening. Deciding not to go into the stadium and watch the video screen, he finally took notice of the two trainers. The trainer on the left was a young man that looked about 24 years old, with short blue hair. He was battling with a Pidgeot. The problem for Ash though was who he was battling against. It was someone he knew all too well.

It was his mother, Delia Ketchum battling with a strong looking Rapidash.

…To the battle…

The Pidgeot charged forward with the amazing speed that its specific species were known for, only for Rapidash to dodge with a Bounce attack.

The man, whose name was Tristan, called out to the Big Bird Pokémon, "Pidgeot turn around and hit him with your Wing Attack."

Delia wasn't deterred in the least though, "Rapidash cover yourself with a Flame Wheel, and then use your Flamethrower." Rapidash responded by sending the hot flames around its body and completely stopped the Wing Attack. Before Pidgeot could recover and get away, it was hit by a jet of flames, courtesy of Rapidash, and was sent crashing into the ground.

The Flying type slammed into the ground and too exhausted to get up again, let the darkness overtake it. The referee, seeing this, made his announcement "Pidgeot is unable to battle, victory goes to Rapidash," which caused another round applause from the audience.

After returning Pidgeot, Tristan made his next choice "Kingdra lets battle together," he tossed out the ball and released the dual Dragon/ Water type. Kingdra burst from the Pokéball, glaring at its opponent. "Kingdra use your Smokescreen NOW!"

Kingdra roared out before releasing a thick cloud of black smoke from its mouth, blinding Rapidash.

"Rapidash use your Earthquake attack," Delia said, hoping to be able to still hit Kingdra. Rapidash raised its legs high in the air, before stomping hard on the ground causing the ground to shake and rumble.

"Kingdra dodge then use Hydro Pump," countered Tristan. Kingdra jumped high into the air, narrowly escaping the rumbling earth, It the released an extremely powerful jet of water that shot through the smoke.

Everyone knew the attack had made contact due to the painful yell coming from Rapidash. Everyone waited with baited breaths as the smoke cleared. When it finally disappeared, it showed Rapidash unconscious.

"Rapidash is unable to battle, victory goes to Kingdra," the referee announced. The crowd cheered for Kingdra's victory as Delia returned her Pokémon.

"You did great Rapidash take a good rest," Delia whispered to the horse's Pokéball before taking out another one and tossing it up. "Come on out, Jynx!"

Tristan smirked "Kingdra make quick work of it. Use your Dragonbreath."Kingdra shot a burst of the dragon type attack at Jynx, who glared at the incoming attack.

"Jynx dear, use Icy Wind to counter it. Then fire an Ice shard," Delia commanded sweetly. Jynx opened her mouth and released her frozen breath at her opponents attack.

The two attacks collided against each other. They each fought for dominance but in the end the two attacks canceled each other out in a small explosion.

"Kingdra use Take Down," Tristan commanded. Kingdra took off trying to ram into Jynx, who dodged to the left just in time. Thinking quickly Delia shouted out her next command.

"Quickly Jynx use Blizzard on Kingdra!" Jynx sent a huge breath of frozen wind and snow at Kingdra, who did not have time to dodge. The attack hit hard, doing extra damage due to Kingdra being a Dragon type. "Now follow it up with Shadow Ball."

Jynx launched the purple ball of energy towards Kingdra who was nailed hard and was sent flying back.

Kingdra caught himself in the air. "Kingdra conceal yourself using Smokescreen at full blast," Tristan yelled out. Kingdra took a deep breath before, like he did earlier, released a huge cloud of black smoke. This time instead of covering it opponent, Kingdra was the one hidden.

'Oh no not again, what am I going to do?" Delia mentally panicked. 'Kingdra has hidden itself in that smoke and its way too risky to go in there and I'll be wasting energy by just attacking.'

"Use Hydro Pump Kingdra" Tristan commanded. Soon a huge jet of water shot from the smoke and raced towards Jynx.

"Jynx block it with Protect," Jynx was instantly surrounded by the protective bubble and was unharmed. "Good job not let's get Kingdra out of hiding, use Blizzard!" Delia yelled out.

Jynx acted instantly and shot the powerful attack towards the huge smoke cloud. It quickly blew away the smoke and revealed Kingdra who was in a lot of pain due to being hit by the Ice type attack again.

"Come Kingdra, hang in there and use Hyper Beam." Tristan was getting desperate to end this soon.

"Jynx use Protect, then fire off your own Hyper Beam." Jynx, just like it was before, was protected by the light bubble which completely blocked Kingdra's attack. Then without hesitating, Jynx fired a quick and powerful Hyper Beam at its foe. When the attack hit Kingdra it caused an explosion that picked up a bit of dust.

Not being able to handle being hit with so many powerful attacks, Kingdra fainted and fell. Seeing this, the referee announced Delia and Jynx as the victors.

Delia jumped for joy and ran to Jynx, hugging the Ice/ Psychic type while thanking it for its hard work.

…Back to Ash…

Ash was honestly mildly impressed by his mother's battling prowess and strategies.

Pikachu looked to his oldest friend, "It seems Delia has definitely gotten strong over the years." Ash nodded to his partner. His eyes soften when he gazed at his mother's smile before it vanished and was replaced by a cold uncaring one.

Ash still loves his mother, don't get him wrong, at least that's what he keeps reminding himself. This was the woman that gave him life that allowed him to actually have a dream, though just because he still loves his mother, that doesn't mean he is going to forgive her. He had trusted her more than anyone in the world and for her to say he should quit his dream because he won't succeed, no that was crossing the line! Mostly because it didn't just insult his skills as a trainer, it also insulted all the hard work of each of his Pokemon, his family and THAT infuriates him!

Sensing Ash's anger Pikachu rubs his cheek against Ash's in an attempt to calm him down. Like a switch was flipped, Ash instantly calms down and pets the Electric type's head. He turns towards the forest and walks towards his training field. Right now he has too much on his mind to answer the thousand different questions his fellow Champions were bound to ask him. Besides he needs help from a certain friend of his to figure out some of the answers that he will need.

…Back to Delia…

Delia ran into the old group and was being congradulated for her victory against such a strong opponent. Even though she was smiling and thanking them while congradulating them on their victories, her mind was completely elsewhere. Her son was back, her son was so close and yet so far out of her reach. Her heart felt so happy and yet it felt so shattered, she didn't know if she should be joyful or cry her eyes out! Also with all these questions flowing through her mind it was not making it any easier. Did he win his battle, was it a tough match? Did he get to see her battle, would he even care about it at all? These were just some of the many different questions flowing through her mind at the moment. There were two questions though that really struck her with fear when it came to finding out the answers.

Did her son love her anymore? Will he ever forgive her for her foolish mistake?

Even though she was absolutely terrified of the answer, she wasn't going to let her fear stop her! She will do whatever it is that is necessary to get her dear baby to forgive her! He was her son, the boy that she gave life to and she will never give up on him so easily. She desperately wanted to hold her baby boy close to her heart again, no matter what he will know that she loves him. Snapping out her thoughts, she couldn't help but to smile at the caring and worried glances that everyone was giving her.

Since the start of Ash's disappearance they have not only been a great help in finding her missing son but her pillars that kept her from falling in depression since then. She really needed to thank them at one point when she got the chance, but for now she had only one thing on her mind that was first on her list.

"Everyone lets go find my son and bring him back," this caused them all to agree and cheer. 'I'm coming my son, mommy is coming to make us a family again.'

AN: And that's a wrap! Man that took way longer than I would have liked everyone and I really do apologize for it. Work and family have really kept me from getting to this, not to mention school. So much work but things are finally starting to calm down (thank goodness). I hope this chapter was worth it. Also as I have stated before I might add one more to the Harem, I am not sure yet. On another note, I hope the battle sequence was to everyone's liking, if not let me know what I did wrong so I can work on it, just please no flamers. Well I said my piece so as always please leave your reviews and favorite my story. Peace out everybody.

Dragon Soul94 is out!