An Explosive End

Alec's POV

Ethan and Pixie stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. "Iron Tail!" Alec shouted. Ethan sprinted across the field toward Pixie.

"Use Swift!" Liz shouted. Pixie sent the stars toward Ethan and Iron Tail cut through them. Ethan then slammed his tail on Pixie's head. "Dazzling Gleam!"

"Send them back with Psychic!" Alec shouted. Ethan's eyes glowed blue and he forced Pixie's attack back at her.

"Use Dig!" Liz shouted. Pixie managed to slip underground to avoid Ethan's counter-attack. Pixie then came up from beneath the moonlight Pokémon and slammed her paw into his face. "Now Moonblast!" Liz shouted. The pink orb flew from Pixie's mouth and scored a direct hit.

"You okay Ethan?" Alec asked.

[I'm good,] Ethan answered.

"Use Dark Pulse!" Alec shouted.

"Dodge with Dig!" Liz shouted. Pixie dove underground just as Ethan's attack was about to hit.

"Ethan, Iron Tail on the ground!" Alec shouted. Ethan jumped into the air and slammed his tail on the ground, breaking it apart and forcing Pixie out of the hole. "Dark Pulse!" Alec shouted. The rings slammed into Pixie and sent her back towards Liz.

"Pixie, use Moonblast!" Liz shouted. Pixie fired and this time, Alec got an idea.

"Springboard!" Alec shouted. Ethan jumped into the air and slammed Iron Tail onto the Moonblast sending him high into the air.

"What in the world?!" Liz asked in shock as Ethan came down and slammed Iron Tail on her head.

"Finish with one more Iron Tail!" Alec shouted. Ethan ran up to Pixie as she was still trying to recover and the steel type move hit her in the face. Pixie didn't get back up.

"Pixie is unable to battle. The winner is Ethan!" Clemont declared.

"Nice trick at the end, pretty clever," Liz commented.

"It would be better if I came up with it, but it's a good tactic," Alec stated.

"Well then. Let's see how you deal with Sino!" Liz shouted. Her Greninja appeared wearing the red bandana that he liked so much.

"Well then. Ethan, Dark Pulse!" Alec shouted.

"Cut it with Night Slash!" Liz shouted. Sino cut Ethan's attack at a precise point that caused the entire move to fall apart. "Now Ice Beam!" Sino fired the ice from his mouth and froze Ethan's feet.

"Break yourself out with Iron Tail!" Alec shouted. Before Ethan could get started, Sino used Water Shuriken and hit Ethan in such a way that it didn't break the ice. Ethan managed to break free only after taking the hits before he was back in the fight.

"Now Night Slash!" Liz shouted.

"Night Shade as a shield!" Alec shouted. Ethan fired Night Shade from his rings, stopping the Greninja. "Iron Tail!" Ethan jumped into the air and slammed the move on Sino's head.

"Water Shuriken!" Liz shouted. Sino threw two water throwing stars and hit Ethan hard.

"Ethan is unable to battle. The winner is Sino!" Clemont declared. Alec stepped onto the field and picked up his partner and set him down over by his friends.

"Can you keep an eye on him?" Alec asked.

"Sure thing," Serena answered as she took Ethan. Alec went back to his side and took out his next Pokémon.

"Arco, let's go!" Alec shouted.

[Let's do this,] Arco said.

"Use Ice Punch!" Alec shouted. Arco ran to Sino with his icy fist raised and slammed into his opponent before he could react.

"Sino, Extrasensory!" Liz shouted. Sino sent the psychic waves towards Arco.

"Counter with Earthquake!" Alec shouted. The ground ripped apart and the resulting tremor forced the wave over Arco's head. Sino also took the full brunt of the attack. "Aura Sphere!"

"Water Shuriken!" Liz shouted. The two moves collided and a massive explosion was made.

"Ice Punch!" Alec shouted. Arco ran out of the smoke to strike.

"Night Slash!" Liz shouted. Sino's blade and Arco's fist met and they tried to strike the other with the other hand.

"Flash Cannon!" Alec shouted. Arco fired the move from his mouth at the immobilized Greninja and sent him flying.

"Use Extrasensory!" Liz shouted. The psychic wave slammed into Arco sending him flying. "Ice Beam!"

"Aura Sphere!" Alec shouted. Arco managed to right himself and form the blue orb when Sino's attack hit Arco's move and froze it solid. "Send to them!" Alec shouted, not expecting that but he would make it work. Arco nodded and threw the ice ball at Sino.

"Night Slash!" Liz shouted. Sino cut the ice ball in half and Arco appeared in front of him.

"Aura Sphere!" Alec shouted. Arco threw the orb point-blank and sent Sino flying. He fell back to the ground with a crash.

"Sino is unable to battle. The winner is Arco!" Clemont declared.

"Lucario, you're up!" Liz shouted as her own Lucario appeared. "Use Bone Rush!" Liz shouted. Lucario formed two bones in his hands and charged at Arco and hit him multiple times.

"Arco, Flash Cannon!" Alec shouted. Arco fired and managed to hit Lucario.

"Dragon Pulse!" Liz shouted.

"Flash Cannon!" Alec commanded. The two moves clashed and exploded. Shadow Ball then flew out of the smoke and hit Arco hard.

"Now, Aura Sphere!" Liz shouted. Lucario fired the attack and Arco was sent flying. He slammed back into the earth and managed to stand up.

"Aura Sphere!" Alec shouted. Arco fired the orb at Lucario but he jumped right over it.

"Bone Rush!" Liz shouted. Lucario hit Arco multiple times with his bone and sent Arco back towards Alec.

"Arco is unable to battle. The winner is Lucario!" Clemont declared.

"Arco, return. You did good," Alec told Arco as he put his Poké Ball away. Alec looked at Liz and Lucario and saw them smiling confidently. Alec took his last Poké Ball from his belt. "Let's win this," Alec said to it. "Let's go Flame!" Alec shouted. Flame appeared with a metal collar where his neck met his chest and on it was a purple stone.

"Oh, you're taking us that seriously?" Liz asked.

"The collar got damaged earlier, so I had to get Professor Sycamore to fix it. And now it's back and I plan to win!" Alec shouted.

"That's a shame because I'm going to win!" Liz countered.

"Flamethrower!" Alec shouted.

"Dragon Pulse!" Liz shouted. The two moves met and both Pokémon charged into the smoke. "Bone Rush!"

"Dragon Claw!" Alec commanded. The moves clashed and both Pokémon jumped back.

"You two have really gotten stronger. But so have we. Lucario, Mega Evolve!" Liz shouted. Her keystone triggered the Lucarionite and Mega Lucario was ready.

"If you're going all out, so are we! Let's do this Flame!" Alec shouted as he triggered his own keystone. When the transformation was finished, Flame stood ready. Wings longer with the inner part blade-like. He had shoulder spikes that formed a 'u' from the sides and with extensions on his lower arms with a similar blade on the wing. Flame also grew two smaller horns behind the ones there and a long on in between them. He was also black with a blue underbelly and fire that now come out of his mouth. Mega Charizard Fusion was ready for battle. Flame let loose a roar that shook the ground as it turned into a Flamethrower.

"What is that?!" Ash asked in surprise as everyone but Liz, Mega Lucario, and Ethan shared faces of shock at what they saw.

"Let's do this Flame! Together!" Alec told him.

[Together!] Flame shouted with Alec.

"Flamethrower!" Alec shouted.

"Dragon Pulse!" Liz commanded. The two moves clashed once more creating an explosion that knocked both trainers off their feet.

"Dragon Claw!" Alec called out.

"Bone Rush!" Liz commanded. The moves clashed as well, but Flame overpowered Mega Lucario.

"Focus Punch!" Alec shouted. Flame slammed his fist into Mega Lucario's stomach and sent the aura Pokémon flying.

"Dragon Pulse!" Liz commanded. The move slammed into Flame hard.

"Flamethrower!" Alec shouted. Flame fired through the smoke left by the Dragon Pulse engulfing Mega Lucario in fire.

"Aura Sphere, then Bone Rush!" Liz shouted. Mega Lucario fired the blue orb then ran in behind it with two bones.

"Dragon Claw!" Alec shouted. Flame sliced through the Aura Sphere but Mega Lucario took advantage of Flame's position and slammed his bones into Flame multiple times.

"Dragon Pulse!" Liz shouted. Lucario jumped back and fired the move and Flame was hit once more. When the smoke cleared, Flame was on the ground.

"We aren't losing here! We can win this Flame! Get up! I know you can still stand!" Alec called out as he threw off his jacket. Looking at Mega Lucario, Alec could see that he was tiring as well. Flame started to move and pulled himself up. He looked at Mega Lucario and stood back to his full height. That's when the fire on Flame's tail and mouth suddenly ignited. Flame let out a roar with the flames seemingly doubling in size. Alec recognized Flame's Final Blaze Ability. Unlike a normal Blaze which increased the power by a third, Final Blaze doubled the power of Flame's fire type moves.

"Looks like this will be the final attack, so give it all you got Lucario! Aura Sphere!" Liz shouted.

"Blast…" Alec stated.

[BURN!] Flame finished as his body was surrounded by fire and he slammed his fist into the ground. The ground split open around Mega Lucario and fire erupted from the hole. At the same time, Aura Sphere slammed into Flame. The double explosion sent everyone back at the sheer size of them.

Everyone was itching with anticipation, wondering who won this battle. The smoke cleared slowly and both Pokémon were still standing. As they waited to see who would fall, as both Pokémon looked like they didn't have enough in them, they smiled at each other in respect. One then fell, and reverted to their normal form. "Lucario is unable to battle. Which means Flame is the winner! All of Liz's Pokémon are unable to continue, so the match goes to Alec!" Clemont declared.

Alec stood in place for a few moments trying to process what Clemont said. As it set in, Alec smiled and threw his fist into the air. "We won!" he shouted. "We did it Flame!" he continued as he ran to Flame. The flame Pokémon collapsed to the ground reverting to his normal form as well as Alec reached him. "You were amazing Flame," Alec told him as he petted Flame's head.

[That was intense,] Flame said between pants.

[That was awesome!] Ethan shouted as he ran up with Alec's jacket floating from his Psychic.

"Thanks Ethan. You were amazing too," Alec told his partner as he put his jacket back on and petted Ethan's head as well.

"That was an insane battle," Liz said as she and Lucario came up, the latter being supported by the former.

"Wow! That battle was so amazing! I could hardly contain myself!" Ash shouted excitedly.

"You aren't kidding, we had to hold him back," Serena stated.

"We'd best head over to the Pokémon Center. Your teams are pretty beat up," Clemont pointed out.

"You're right. Flame, return," Alec said.

"Lucario, you return as well," Liz said. Alec carried Ethan in his arms as they headed back to the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy looked surprised to see back so soon but agreed to help their Pokémon. A little while later, she came back and told Alec and Liz that their Pokémon would be alright, but they would have to stay the night. They got rooms upstairs and got in bed, considering how late it was. Alec felt restless as he was so used to sleeping with Ethan close by that it was weird to not be with him. He was tempted to go down to find him but decided against it. Ethan needed his rest after what he gave today. He went outside and stood out in the cool air, thinking about the battle. "Can't sleep?" he heard and he turned to see Liz.

"Not really," Alec answered.

"You're always like that before and after an intense moment," Liz commented.

"Yep. It doesn't help that Ethan's recovering," Alec added.

"Well, he'll be back in your arms tomorrow and he'll find some snarky comment to make," Liz said.

Alec burst out laughing. "Yeah. That's definitely Ethan," Alec said.

The two sat in silence watching the sky 'till Liz broke it. "I heard you beat the Elite Four recently. You going for Champion?" Liz asked.

"What? Jealous that you aren't," Alec teased.

"You know that being the strongest isn't what I strive for anymore," Liz said seriously.

"Well, I'm leaning towards yes. Maybe then I can prove my father wrong," Alec answered seriously.

"Why are you trying so hard to please someone we both know will never be pleased with you?" Liz asked.

"Well at least you have one that cares about your accomplishments," Alec said, stronger then he intended. "Sorry, I…"

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have brought that up," Liz pointed out. "Still, when are you going to do something for yourself?"

"I'm not important. My team matters more than I do," Alec said.

"You matter more than you think you do," Liz stated.

Alec paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. He then let out an elongated sigh. "What did I do to have you as a friend?" Alec asked.

"I'm one of the few who knows how special you are," Liz answered as she punched Alec's arm.

"Thanks Liz," Alec said.

Liz then turned to leave. "Oh, and Alec," Liz started and Alec turned to look at her. "Good luck against Diantha," Liz said. She then headed back to her room as Alec stood outside a bit more, thinking about what Liz said about doing something for himself.

And that wraps up this two-parter. Once again, a huge thanks to MasterClass60 for helping to make this happen. To the rest of the readers, I hope you enjoyed it.