A/N: Just so you know and maybe in case forgotten when I said last, Tobias doesn't have his Darkrai here since that Pokémon is in the post-game I want to use.
For the sake of Ash getting a full recovery, the finals were postponed for tomorrow so that there was no chance his health was at risk. So it was finally the time. High noon in the battle coliseum. The crowds were cheering, preliminary fireworks exploded in the sky, and the anticipation was limitless. Dawn and Barry sat next to each other in the front lines with the female researcher holding Zappy in her arms as the announcer began to speak.
"And now, the moment we've all been waiting for! The Sinnoh Pokémon League Finals!" This got the crowd to erupt in a roar of cheers. "In the red corner, a trainer that is rumored to have taken down all the gym leaders with only one Pokémon of his six total, and has participated in the Pokémon League Conferences in the three other regions! What we have here is another veteran, and his name is Tobias Neuman! And... oh who am I kidding? We all know each of the heroes of Sinnoh, and the finalist in question is Ash Ketchum!" They cheered even louder than anything Tobias had received in the same minute. "The field generator has determined that this field will be grass! Now, let's see who makes the first move!" Once it was loud enough where the two trainers could talk, Tobias spoke first.
"Ash, it is an honor. Despite my roster through the years, and even defeating each of the other region's Elite Four, I was somehow never able to beat a champion. Lance, Red, Ethan, Brendan, Steven Stone, but that's because I still had Pokémon of normal strength. But now, all six are of legendary power. Not even Cynthia will be able to overcome my current level strength.
"Let me guess, all six are legendary, aren't they?" Ash asked with a serious poker face. Tobias smiled darkly.
"Yes. You have my sympathy, because there is no role more fitting than champion for a hero of Sinnoh, but this is where you're journey ends, because even if you participate next year, You'll have to face me as champion, and I'll be even stronger than now."
"Actions speak louder than words. The battle will decide who wins." Ash said, not willing his words to instill doubt into him. Tobias smirked as he took an Ultra Ball and threw it.
"Regirock, go!" Onto the field came a large golem made of grey and brown rock with long club like hands and jutting shoulders. It had a face that looked like braille in the form of an H.
"Torterra, I choose you!" For the first time in forever, his grass starter appeared first.
"Torterra!" He yelled, bravely staring down the golem.
"Use Stealth Rock!" Making noise that oddly sounded like dubstep, it formed several glowing rocks around itself, it launched them onto Ash's side of field.
"Wow, Ash just doesn't have that much good luck, does he?!" The announcer cried out. "But unlike Toxic Spikes, it's Stealth Rock, so he won't be poisoned, and he won't be in too much trouble unless his substitutes are weak to rock!
"Seed Bomb!" Ash ordered. Torterra opened his mouth and fired off rounds of explosive seeds at the golem, dealing super effective damage and causing small rocks to chip off of it.
"Counter with Dig!" Once the seeds stopped, Regirock jumped into the air to spin super fast around and burrowed underneath the grassy field.
"Use Synthesis Bomb!" Starting up with Synthesis, Torterra started to absorb the energy of the sun via his tree even when he wasn't being healed due to no injuries. Ash knelt down and put his hand on the ground, trying to sense the incoming attack himself. Since Torterra couldn't move all that well, the best he could do was stand on his hind legs just as Regirock burst from the ground, only grazing the underside of the Continent Pokémon. "Fire!" Opening his mouth as he fell onto the golem, a seed that was much brighter and more intense in luminosity than a regular seed bomb shot forth into the rock type's torso, creating a much larger explosion than normal.
"Oh my goodness! Did we just see him use Synthesis to super charge Seed Bomb?! Ash Ketchum is truly the creative trainer, isn't he?!" Everybody else agreed with applause.
"Way to go Ash! That's the way you do it!" Dawn cheered.
"Pika Pika!" Zappy added with a smile.
"Now that's what I call an offense!" Barry remarked as he scratched his head in excitement.
"Hammer Arm." Tobias said. A glow appeared in the dust until it moved swiftly and pushed it all away from the two Pokémon as Regirock's arm was jabbed into the Continent Pokémon's undershell. Torerra was unable to even make an expression of anything other than pained shock as he was thrown onto his back with no sympathy from the legendary rock type.
"Torterra... is unable to battle. The winner is... Regirock." The referee uttered. Ash was taken aback. His starter was never taken down in one hit, not even against ice attacks. He was even built up to withstand hits like that. Tobias wasn't kidding around.
"Torterra... return." Ash said. After, that, he witness Regirock taking chunks of the ground and mashing it against its body, repairing itself.
"No way. That move wasn't even super effective! And yet one punch was all it took?!" Barry cried out in outrage.
"It is a legendary Pokémon after all. What made it even worse was that it struck at the weak part of his shell." Dawn told her friend, sweating from what she just witnessed.
"Pika."
"I only hope he can recover from this."
"Staraptor, I choose you!" The flying type screeched in the air, only for Stealth Rock to send rocks to crash into him, dealing damage. He cried out in pain.
"Stone Edge." Tobias said. Regirock formed glowing rocks around itself and fired. Ash pumped his fists back and forth giving a silent command. The predator Pokémon weaved through the rocks and got in the legendary's face and battered against it wing and feet. Regirock tried shielding itself with its big arms but even with the patchwork repairs, it was flimsy against the fighting move and promptly fell apart into pieces.
"Regirock is unable to battle! The winner is Staraptor!"
"Return." Tobias said calmly. "Regice, go!" With one golem down came another, but this time it was made of the cold crystal of ice in the shape of a prism with prism arms, fingers and legs as it floated in the air, like it was magic.
"Regice." It said with a really high voice, the Braile face in the form of a plus. "Ice Beam."
"Regice, Reegiiiiice!" It screamed as it fired a beam of cackling ice energy. Ash again punched the air, giving the signal. Staraptor easily dodged the attack and swooped down to give the ice golem a good beating, even making a few cracks. However, it took the super effective attack like a champ, shocking the Predator Pokémon.
"Again." Unable to get away quickly enough, Staraptor was hit by the chilling attack, not able to cry out as he was frozen before falling to the ground and the ice shattering, leaving the bird defeated.
"Staraptor is unable to battle! The winner is Regice!"
"Augh, he should've used Mamoswine! She wouldn't have fell as easily!" Barry complained.
"Would it?" Dawn asked him. "Paul used moves they don't naturally learn. Most likely TMs. The same could be said for Tobias."
"Floatzel, I choose you!" Now on the field was was his Sea Weasel. Stealth Rock also hurt him, but not as much as Staraptor. "Use Rain Dance!" Forming a water ball in his hands, Floatzel through it into the air where it created clouds that started to rain.
"Use Charge Beam." Cackling with electrical energy this time, it shot off a blast that thanks to the rain, it reached Floatzel before he could instinctively dodge it, hissing from the shocking move.
"Use Waterfall against the cracks!"
"Counter with Charge Beam!" Tobias demanded, but due to being slow, it was no match against the speed enhanced Sea Weasel as he zoomed forth and smashed himself encased with raging water into the weakened areas of Regice, shattering the legendary Pokémon with a critical blow.
"Regi. Regi. Regi." The ice golem said on repeat as it was defeated, trying to self heal from its predicament. But...
"Regice is unable to battle! The winner is Floatzel!"
"Alright, Floatzel! You sure showed that popsicle!" Barry cheered on for his rival, but Dawn thought it was too early to celebrate. Sure, Floatzel defeated it with just one attack, but if it weren't for Staraptor earlier...
"Return. Registeel, go!" The last of the legendary titans was the steel type golem, a round body colored grey with a black stripe going down its face with the Braille being a dot surrounded by a hexagon circle. It had short legs and stretchy black arms with white stubs for fingers. Like Regirock, it spoke with what sounded like dubstep, but with techno style warbling. "Good luck breaking this one. It can't even be scratched."
"Hmm." Ash thought. He could switch to Luxray or Dusknoir, but he didn't want to risk losing one of his more versatile Pokémon yet if this proved to be just as dangerous as the previous Regi. Than an idea came to him. "Floatzel, use Dig but don't attack immediately! Just keep digging around!" Floatzel nodded as he dug into the ground, confusing Tobias by that specific instruction. But if the water type was just going to act like the weasel it literally is, then it won't go unpunished.
"Use Toxic and shoot it into that hole." Forming a ball of purple liquid, Registeel shot it into the hole in hopes of poisoning the Sea Weasel. After about a minute, Floatzel burst out of the ground, gasping for air as purple smoke left the hole with him.
"Flash Cannon." Turning to the water type, it started to charge up silver colored energy.
"Dig again!" Despite the poison, Floatzel burrowed underground again just as the Flash Cannon fired, exploding the two holes where they were. About another minute and a half went by before the water type dug out, only it was too weak to continue, and passed out.
"Floatzel is unable to battle! The winner is Registeel!"
"I wonder what Ash was doing with all that digging?" Barry questioned, confused.
"You'll see. Dawn responded, catching onto his plan already with a visible smile.
"Pika?" Zappy wondered as he looked up at her. Cynthia up in the announcer box also smiled from this clever strategy.
"Floatzel, return. Thanks buddy for your hard work. Dusknoir, I choose you!" With confidence, he sent out his ghost type. Stealth Rock did its thing, but the Gripper Pokémon wasn't too bothered by the field hazard.
"I don't think so. Registeel, return." Withdrawing his last titan, he threw out his next legendary. "Zapdos, go!" Flying in was the yellow and black Kanto lightning bird, Zapdos.
"What?! This is unbelievable! It's one of the three legendary Pokémon of Kanto, Zapdos! To think he not only has all three of the legendary titans, but even one of the birds?! Just what kind of trainer is he?!" The announcer was going ballistic with what he's been seeing the past few minutes. Cynthia herself was also intrigued. She still certainly wanted to battle Ash more, but this Tobias is certainly packing heat nobody else has.
"Just how many legendary Pokemon is he carrying?! Is this even legal?! I'm fining somebody for this!" Barry complained while waving his arms sporadically. Dawn couldn't say anything as she marveled watching the flying legend in front of her.
"Use Trick Room." Ash said. Forming a checkered room around the field, this made Tobias grunt from frustration.
"Attack using Discharge!" Surrounding itself with blue lightning, Zapdos screeched with its long beak as it fired electricity all over the place. Even as Dusknoir maneuvered around the attacks with swapped speed, he still got hit by their unpredictable movements, getting hurt and moaning.
"Fire Punch!" Appearing behind Zapdos, he punched the electric type Pokémon in the back.
"Counter with Discharge!" At point blank, Dusknoir was electrocuted by the powerful electric move, forcing him back. The ghost type floated down to the ground, paralyzed from the two shocks. Zapdos turned toward it, and was about to make another screech when it burst into flames for a second.
"Whoa-ho! Despite enduring two powerful attacks from Zapdos and being paralyzed as a result, Dusknoir inflicted burn onto it! No attack goes unpunished indeed." The announcer commented.
"And with paralysis, Dusknoir is even faster thanks to Trick Room.
"Discharge. One more time." Tobias said, wanting to end this round quickly.
"Ice Punch!" Ash ordered. Even before Zapdos could generate the necessary electricity for the attack, the Gripper Pokémon appeared in front of Zapdos and punched it in the face with a chilling attack. As it was recovering, Zapdos was again hurt by the burn.
"Zapdos, return." Tobias quickly said, not wanting to lose him just yet. "I have to admit, you are quite skilled. Maybe its because I'm always fighting type specialists, despite their skill in said type, they're limited. But you... not only are you very versatile with your skill, your Pokémon are significantly stronger than any trainer I've fought in tournaments."
"Unlike most trainers, I had someone to train with everyday. I've had help, and that help is what made me this strong."
"Well then. You not only have my sympathy, but also my respect. But, I'm not going to let you win. Suicune, go!" Now on the enemy field was a slim, quadruped blue mammal with white diamond patterns adorning its fur. Its mouth and underside were white, and had a think purple main that flowed like the aurora borealis and two white long streamers floating around it. The most interesting feature on its face was a long hexagonal blue crest that stood tall from its forehead. It made a noise that was very deep and raspy.
"What?! Along with Zapdos, he has one of the legendary beasts of Johto?!" The announcer yelled out.
"Augh! This is so frustrating! Stop being so mysterious and use something normal!" Barry screamed at Tobias.
"Use Shadow Punch." Ash ordered. He tried to make his powerful attack, but the paralysis prevented him for just a moment, which was all that Tobias needed.
"Suicune, use Hydro Pump!" Opening its mouth, the Aurora Pokémon sprayed a powerful jet of water that connected right on Dusknoir's chest. He moaned strongly as he was pushed through the grass making a trench until the attack stopped at Ash's feet.
"Dusknoir is unable to battle! The winner is Suicune!"
"Dusknoir, return. You did a great job. Luxray, I choose you!" Summoned onto the field was his own electric type.
"Calm Mind, then use Hydro Pump." Tobias instructed. Suicune obeyed as it closed its eyes and started to glow brightly as it became stronger. Opening its eyes, the water beast started its attack, but Trick Room was still in effect.
"Counter with Thunder Claw!" With faster than usual reflexes, he created a claw of electricity that slashed apart the torrent of water. But it wasn't just that; the electric attack traveled through the water and zapped the legendary Pokémon, paralyzing it. Ash groaned.
"Nice try, but it seems like your trick backfired. Hydro Pump!" Suicune was charging up another blast of water, and shot it faster than Luxray could dodge. He was sprayed past Ash and crashed into the wall behind the teen, falling to the ground unconscious.
"Luxray is unable to battle! The winner is Suicune!"
"Nooooo! Ash now only has Mamoswine and Tobias has four Pokémon! It's a lost cause! I'm fining Ash $1 billion for this!" Barry cried out in anguish. Dawn still didn't say anything. She believed Ash would win this. Ash has only lost twice, and one of those times involved a team made especially made to defeat him. Even Tobias with his legendary Pokémon wouldn't beat him.
"Return." Ash said, withdrawing his electric lion.
"Well look at this. A hero with one Pokémon vs a veteran with four remaining. Even with Zapdos heavily weakened and burnt, I have a steel type legendary and one you still don't know, which happens to be my ace." Tobias boasted, rubbing in his supposed inevitable success.
"True, I may have one Pokémon left, and the odds seem to be against me. However..." Ash grinned as he took out an Ultra Ball "...I have an appointment with the champion, and I'd sure hate to disappoint her. "Mamoswine, I choose you!" Last up to bat, the ice/ground type roared with power before being hurt by Stealth Rock. The Trick Room around them shattered apart as well. "Now then, let's start tipping things into my favor. "Hail!" Mamoswine roared as her body glowed bright blue and clouds covered the sky above them, raining golf ball sized hail.
"You should've used that move to attack. Use Hydro Pump!" Despite the paralysis, Suicune was able to fire a jet of water towards the ice/ground type Pokémon. But, thanks to the hail, she was able to easily dodge the attack, surprising Tobias.
"How is it able to move so fast?"
"Training. Stone Edge!" Forming glowing rocks around herself, the Twin Tusk Pokémon shot them at the slim beast, getting hurt by a few lucky critical hits, but still survived.
"You won't be lucky this time! Hydro Pump!" However, the paralysis overcame Suicune, keeping it in place.
"I don't rely on luck. Giga Impact!" With a shout, Mamoswine charged surrounded by a purple orb and orange streaks. Suicune could only gape in feat as it appeared that a mammoth shaped truck was storming towards it, and cried out as it was rammed by the much larger Pokémon. It crashed into the ground near Tobias, knocked out.
"Suicune is unable to battle! The winner is Mamoswine!" The referee declared.
"Alright, so Suicune's status ailment got you a free hit. But now I'll use Zapdos and Registeel to win this. "Zapdos, go!" Even though it was weak, the electric bird still screeched in fury, even when inflicted by its burn. "Steel Wing!" It's yellow and black wings glowed a metallic sheen as it tried to ram its wings into the Twin Tusk Pokémon, but Mamoswine swiftly used the hail on the ground to slide and dodge the physical attack. Before it could try to double back, the burn and hail did enough residual damage to make it faint.
"Zapdos is unable to battle! The winner is Mamoswine!"
"Yeah, Ash! Make that comeback! I never lost faith in you!" Barry cheered having rebounded from his bout of defeatism. Dawn and Zappy looked at him unimpressed.
"Hmm, so luck's smiled upon you. But not even that can make a dent against Registeel! Go!" Returning onto the field was the last legendary titan. "Flash Cannon!"
"Stomp the ground!" Mamoswine reared up onto her hind legs and stomped with enough force to stumble Ash, Tobias, and the referee. As Registeel charged its attack, the ground below its feet caved in, causing the steel type to fall onto its back, misfiring the attack into the sky while also pushing its body into the ground, resulting in Tobias's side of the field to collapse about 15 feet.
"What?!" Tobias yelled out, having forgotten about the trap Floatzel dug out before.
"Whoa! So that's what Ash has planned awhile ago! All that digging weakened the arena, and Registeel is stuck in a 15 foot hole on its back!" The announcer screamed.
"Heh, looks like that worked all along! Mamoswine, use Ice Fang!" Ash commanded. Going to the edge in a direction the titan wasn't aiming at, the Twin Tusk Pokémon fired icy energy at the steel type, freezing it over to the rubble below it.
"No!" Tobais screamed as Mamoswine fired round after round of Stone Edge at Registeel, hurting it more and more over time. Given that the legendary Pokémon couldn't be broken, and there was no clear indication that a sign of fainting was going to happen, the referee blew his whistle, stopping Mamoswine from further attacking.
"Registeel is unable to battle! The winner is Mamoswine!"
"Alright! Way to go Ash!" Dawn finally cheered, delighted that her boyfriend was so close to winning.
"Pika Pikachu!" Zappy followed with his own encouragement.
"Hahaha! He's going to win for sure!" Barry celebrated.
"Return." Tobais said angrily, getting frustrated with his opponent's stupid amount of luck. "I didn't think I'd ever be down to my ace. Only with Cynthia. I considered bringing Latios for the extra firepower, but now I see that I need all the defense I can get. "Latias, go!" With her appearance revealed, Latias looked like a red and white bird modeled after an airplane. She floated in the air with no legs and had a long neck extending from her squat body along with short three fingered arms. "Use Reflect!" Latias's eyes glowed blue as a blue barrier surrounded herself.
"Use Ice Fang!" Ash ordered. Even with the effect of Reflect, Latias cried out in shrill pain from the powerful ice type move.
"Use Psychic!" Her eyes glowing blue, Mamoswine glowed with a blue outline before the Twin Tusk Pokémon was thrown down at the ground hard, cracking the ground with her immense weight. Despite being thrown around, the ice/ground type managed to get up and huffed to tough out the pain.
"Good job hanging in there, Mamoswine! Double up on Hail to hide!" She roared as the clouds above them doubled down and twice as many hail pieces fell down, obstructing the view of each other and making it much easier to hide.
"Wow, as if regular hail wasn't enough, Ash doubled down on hail to make everything hard to see! How will Tobias react?!" The announcer inquired, interested how this will all end.
"Enough! Use Psychic to get rid of all this hail!" Tobias demanded, greatly irritated from the sound of his voice. Latias was thankful, because all this hail was chipping away at her ability to fly effectively. She used her power to forcibly move the clouds out of the coliseum in general, removing the weather. However, Mamoswine was not in sight. "What? How can a 700 lbs. mammoth disappear? It's not a ghost." Tobias complained, having trouble trouble finding the target. Latias was also confused.
"How rude. For the record, she's 641.5 lbs. Ice Fang!" From the hole, blue zigzags made contact with the legendary red Pokémon, as Mamoswine was just under Tobias's viewpoint by the hole's wall nearest to him. She screamed as she fell to the ground covered in frost, and fainted from all the ice.
"The winner is Mamoswine, and the victor of this battle goes to Ash Ketchum of Twinleaf Town!" The announcer declared. The entire coliseum went ballistic from the awesome display they saw.
"YEAH!" Barry and Dawn hugged each other while jumping up in down, overjoyed at their friend's victory.
"Pikachu Pika!" Zappy celebrated with them.
"Amazing! Despite facing a trainer with a full team of legendary Pokémon, Ash Ketchum has won the Sinnoh League Finals! He's going on to face the Elite Four and maybe even perhaps the champion! That's what you would expect of one of the three heroes!" The announcer screamed into the mic, banging his fists against the table. Tobias looked disappointed, but still had a small smile on his face as he returned his Latias. Each trainer walked around the field since Tobias's side was destroyed, and shook their hands once they were in range.
"I have never met a trainer as strong and skilled as a champion without being one. I thought the power of legends were enough to win easily, but if you can beat me, then I guess power isn't all there is. I now see why I lost all those times even with my legendary team."
"You were really tough regardless. Nobody has beaten my team as efficiently as you have." Ash complimented Neuman. He closed his eyes and turned around.
"Humble as you are strong. You have what it takes to be champion. Reach for the stars, kid." With that, he took his leave. Ash couldn't believe it, at least partially; he's earned the opportunity to face the Elite Four now. Cynthia always felt so far away, but now there was only four trainers left in front of him. He closed his eyes and basked in the cheers of his name as they roared and yelled, until the mic started thumping, prompting the people to quiet down, seeing Cynthia standing up in the announcer box and addressing the audience.
"Congratulations, Ash. You have proven your worth to battle the Elite Four, and potentially face me. However, there is one more battle I want to see. Don't worry, for whoever wins doesn't matter, and either result will still allow you to face us. Consider this a bonus round just for fun. We've seen you face against trainers of all kinds, and even your rival. But now, here's a challenge I bet you weren't expecting. Ash Ketchum... I want you to battle your fellow hero, Dawn Berlitz!"
A/N: Man, I was rushing to get this in as soon as possible. We lost a favorite and a follow here while I was writing this. Maybe it's because of Tobias probably. Well, what did you think of the battle? And what do you think of Ash facing against Dawn in a for real battle for the first time? Let me know in reviews who you think is going to win, because I'm not giving Ash a guarantee to win unlike most of the battles shown. Also, someone complained about Ash using the same team, even though none of his other stand by Pokémon are as strong as the ones on hand since he trained what he carried exclusively, so we're going to skip the Elite Four and have Ash fight Cynthia two chapters from here. Elite Four members are just gym leaders without gyms. Anyway, just to recap, review what you think of this chapter, vote on who you think will win next chapter, and what you think about Ash's team.