"Congrats, Ash, that match was amazing!"
Similar phrases washed over her once she had made it back to Samuel's estate after a trip to the Pokemon Center. She'd had to dodge an unbelievable amount of reporters, all of them wanting to interview the 'rookie' that had made it to the Top Four and was still not done, but she had finally gotten to safety. Pikachu was still asleep in her arms, and she gently pushed her way through the crowd of her friends and family to set him on a couch cushion.
Once he was settled, she accepted the hugs and gave an extra tight one to Gary. Getting matched up with a more experienced trainer just happened sometimes, it was only natural in the higher levels of the competition, but he'd still done extremely well in getting into the Top Eight. He was still a little put out that he'd lost, though. Gary took it in stride, and turned the attention back to her.
"Alright, so we all know you're probably on a bit of a winner's high at the moment, but you've been out of it for at least half of the League, so spill," he demanded once everyone was settled in the living room.
Sighing, Ash went over the issues that had already been sorted, the ones she refused to talk about, and the one she could spin as the real big deal. "I told you guys about me learning to use aura, right? It's my aura senses, with so many people here its overwhelming. I can sort of dampen it, but once you've learned how to sense auras you can't exactly turn it off."
"Oh dear, I never considered that," Samuel fretted. "Yes, I can see how that would be a constant distraction… Is there anything we can do?"
"Nah, I'll be fine," she shrugged. "I'll just have to take a few weeks off of training once the Conference is over, go somewhere quiet to relax a bit." Come to think of it, Zapdos had suggested she go to Rota, which would definitely qualify. Plus she could ask about the texts for Aura Guardians. "I was thinking of going to Rota. I hear they have a really neat festival coming up soon, maybe we could go check it out, Mom."
"I think that would be lovely," Delia smiled softly.
That mostly handled, and Gary satisfied as to why she was 'acting weird', Ash sat down next to Titania, who was fussing over her kits. Stroking the Sylveon's back, Ash's considered how she was going to approach the next battle. She was up against another conference veteran, one with nearly two decades of training experience. Her team was fully on the records, so she technically had no aces of her sleeves except for the more elaborate maneuvers that required extensive control.
Control that her Pokemon had.
If she wanted to win, she would have to go all out, at full power, from the very beginning. Hit hard, hit fast, and keep hitting. She couldn't let her opponent control the flow of battle.
"Hey Ash?"
Blinking, drawn from her half-developed plans, Ash glanced up at Serena, who was surrounded by her own team. Out of all of them, Kofurai seemed the most excited, practically vibrating while the Pokemon waited for Serena to ask whatever it was she was trying to.
"I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how to train my Pokemon. I've done a bit, like having them practice their moves, but I don't actually know what else I should do…" Serena chewed on her lip, giving her Pokemon a smile when they chattered encouragingly at her.
"Sure," Ash agreed, though she had to dig deep in her memories to recall how she'd first started training her Pokemon. Serena's Pokemon weren't weak, per se, but they weren't near the level of current strength of any of her own Pokemon, so she'd have to dial the intensity down accordingly. "Well, first let's go over their diets, what you feed them and such, that will affect their training. Hold on, Brock? Can you help me explain how Pokemon food is involved with training Pokemon?"
It didn't take long for everyone in the room to join in, with May and Max listening intently for the sake of their Eevee, the adults and more experienced trainers pooling the things they'd learned over the years about training and ensuring their Pokemon were healthy. It was a good distraction for Ash, who was still slightly on edge from everything hanging over her shoulders.
Her strange power of knowing, her meetings with Legendaries, what those Legendaries had said, her confusion about how her view on Lance was changing, and also the one thing she'd kept in the back of her mind… Mewtwo. He'd yet to contact her, though maybe that was just because she was constantly either in the company of friends and family, or competing in front of huge crowds. Something in her knew that Mewtwo would rather meet up privately, but she was growing a little worried from how long it had been.
Regardless, she was trying to make the most of it, and helping Serena, May, and Max was a worthy past time. Hopefully things would sort themselves out.
XxXxX
"Charmander char. Chaarmander. Char char chaaarmander!"
Ash groaned, peeling her face off her pillow. Squinting at her little reptilian friend, then the clock, she let out a soft whine. It was three in the morning, the day of her next battle.
"What, buddy?"
Charmander pointed at the computer wordlessly, and it was then that Ash remembered that she hadn't researched her opponent properly yet. With a soft swear she shoved the covers away and stumbled upright, yawning, and gave the little Fire type a few pats on the head.
"Thanks, Coach, that would have been bad if you hadn't reminded me." While Charmander beamed at that, Ash blearily turned on the nearby lamp and powered up the computer. Her opponent's name was… Matt Davis, she was pretty sure.
With a jaw-cracking yawn, she logged in to the system and checked the match ups, clicking on Davis' trainer profile. It took her a few minutes to scroll through his page; he had nearly thirty Pokemon, half of them heavy hitters with high defensive capabilities and the firepower to turn pretty much any attack into a finishing move, and the rest status-specialists and what were undoubtedly Pokemon meant for countering specific opponents. Skimming his public battle records, she bit her lip.
This guy was good.
Every single one of his Pokemon had obviously been trained exceptionally well, with pre-prepared counters and responses to any and what looked like all situations. He was a six time Conference Champion, though this was his first go at the Indigo regions, and it seemed like he was a career trainer－his main income from big tournaments.
Absently picking up Charmander, she tried to think up a strategy to win, factoring in as many combinations he might throw at her that she could think of. It… didn't look good. But that was no reason to just give up, not when she'd come so far. But this… fighting Chris had been difficult, but after her research she'd felt like she had a chance. Looking at Matt's profile, she felt the heavy lead weight of doubt on her, having trouble believing she could win this one.
She'd just have to give it her all, and if she lost at least she'd have given a good show. She'd come too far to chicken out at the last stretch. Decided, she turned off the computer and fumbled with her PokeNav, setting multiple alarms to ensure she'd wake up on time. It would be really embarrassing if she was disqualified for oversleeping.
Somehow she managed to get back to sleep and wake up feeling somewhat refreshed, going over her strategy one last time as she gathered up her team and walked them through the plan.
"Pikachu, we'll be going all-out from the start," she said firmly, ignoring the way he cackled darkly at her words, "and everyone else, we're throwing everything we've got. All our special moves, the things we developed on our own? We're using everything."
She just hoped it would be enough.
Meeting up with everyone just seemed to whittle away at her nerves; they kept wishing her good luck, telling her to do her best… she'd already been planning on it, so the constant reminders were more irritating than reassuring. Not that she'd ever tell anyone that, it would be rude. At least Lance didn't go that route, instead opting to message her a simple 'Looking forward to your battle', while Surge just messaged something about a betting pool and that she'd better show off Pikachu's special technique.
The morning passed in a bit of a blur. Breakfast was a big event with Delia and Brock cooking for everyone, and then Ash had to go run over to register her team (pointless in her opinion, since she only had the six battlers and was using them the whole tournament), then run back at Professor Sycamore's request because he wanted to check some last minute thing about Greninja. By the time he finished she had to book it to the stadium, Pikachu clinging to her shirt and digging his claws straight through the fabric to leave tiny scratches on her collarbone and shoulder blades.
It really didn't help that Lance had finally sent a message about the results of Alakazam's scan of her mother's health, though he hadn't given any details, only that he had them and she could get them whenever she was free. She wished he'd waited till after this match to send it to her… The distractions were beginning to pile up, but she had to clear her mind to be ready for this fight. As she waited in the hall to be called onto the field, Ash closed her eyes, focusing solely of the comforting weight of Pikachu on her shoulder, breathing deeply.
She could do this. Her team could do this. They had trained so hard, so they were going to give it everything they had.
Hearing the announcements, she opened her eyes and squared her shoulders. Pikachu nuzzled her cheek, bouncing slightly, eager to use their special training finally. Taking another calming breath, she took one step, then another.
She stepped out into the bright doorway.
Sunlight washed over the stadium, beating down harshly as the announcer did their best to hype up the crowd even farther. Somewhere in the stands, her family and friends were watching her in the second most important battle of this tournament－the one that would decide if she moved forwards to fight for the title of Conference Champion.
"Go, Typhlosion!"
"Oh my Mew I want one," Ash whispered even as she threw out Greninja's Pokemon, eyeing the opposing Fire type's gleaming fur. Even from this distance, it looked soft. Raising her voice a bit, she said, "Careful, it might know Thunder Punch!"
Her friend nodded, webbed hands flexing as he readied himself for battle. In the seconds before the referee declared the start of the battle, Ash looked over her opponent. Matt grinned at her, teeth bright against his ebony skin, visible from across the field. Grinning back, she tensed.
This battle was going to be a good one.
XxXxX
"DARK CLOAK!"
Lance's eyes widened as black flames billowed around the massive Houndoom, the canine's eyes practically glowing in contrast. It was the definition of hell hound, breathtaking in its sheer terrifying appearance, beautiful but no doubt powerful. Houndoom roared, the black flames spreading across the field in a mist-like motion.
"Holy shit," Surge cackled, shaking a wide-eyed Bugsy by the shoulders who was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to him.
Ashka's Greninja had been defeated by Matt's Dusknoir after taking out his Typhlosion, those two battles alone taking nearly twenty minutes each. And now Houndoom was tearing into Dusknoir, releasing Flamethrowers, Shadow Balls, Solar Beams－when was he even getting the time to charge them?!－and a stunning number of other moves.
Dusknoir was struggling to dodge, even its ability to switch dimensions not doing much to counter the hellflame its opponent was covering the battlefield in. Quite frankly it looked like something straight out of a nightmare, but it was also so freaking cool looking.
"To think she's trained Houndoom this well," Karen breathed, her Umbreon pressed up against the glass of the League box and looking absolutely in love. "It took me six years to get Honchkrow to that level!"
"Disable!" Matt tried to counter, but Houndoom disappeared into the inky, twisting field, leaving Dusknoir with no way to land the attack. The older trainer looked appropriately horrified when something lunged out of the dark flames and dragged his Pokemon down into them, disappearing for a full twenty seconds before the black fire dispersed in a menacing cloud of vapor.
Houndoom bared his teeth as he stood in front of an unconscious Ghost.
"Dusknoir is unable to battle! Green trainer, send in your next Pokemon!"
Lance leaned forwards in his seat as a Salamence materialized on the field. His experienced eyes took in its appearance, how it was clearly in its prime and well cared for. While he was privately rooting for Ashka, he certainly admired Matt's dedication to training his Pokemon, particularly his Dragon types.
Salamence roared loud enough for the audience to feel it in their bones. Houndoom howled back, snarling and drawing himself up to his full and impressive height of over six feet. He was taller than the Salamence, and once again Lance wondered just what on earth Ashka fed her Pokemon.
He wasn't given much time for any other thoughts, as the battle resumed, this time a up close and personal fight with fangs, claws, and point blank attacks being fired off in what looked like a wrestling match more than anything. But those dark flames were back, surrounding Houndoom like a living shield, though they weren't doing as much damage to Salamence as they could have due to the dragon's thick scales.
He could practically feel the wincing going on in the crowd every time a hit landed－they were really going at it. He had to admit he was impressed; it wasn't often anything other than a dragon or something of similar build could go up against a dragon in a full-out physical fight, but Houndoom was doing it.
He cringed as Houndoom managed to pull off a flawless sacrifice throw, which made Salamence crash face-first into the hard-packed earth, and it looked painful. This was getting more violent than most Pokemon battles.
With a furious screech, Salamence grabbed Houndoom's horns with its powerful jaws and threw, sending the Dark type flying straight into the arena wall. Houndoom slumped to the ground, and Ash returned him－but he'd given just as good as he got, his opponent's stamina drained and struggling to manage several serious injuries.
When Titania was sent out, it was game over for Salamence.
You did well, Lance silently praised the dragon before going back to rooting for Ash.