*Quick note: for those keeping track, this is one year after Ash's journey in Kalos*

"thoughts"

"Regular Speech"

Attack

"telepathic speech"

Andrew (16)

(The Silver Conference Finals)

"This is it, I can win this" thought Andrew as he sat silently in the locker rooms waiting for his turn to come out. "It's been quite the journey hasn't it buddy?" asked Andrew, turning to the nearby Pokemon, his ever faithful Torterra. "Terra tor" said the massive tortoise, nodding as he spoke. Andrew knew the battle ahead would not be easy, he was going up against Tobias after all, the man who bulldozed his way through the Sinnoh League with his legendaries, something that irritated the young trainer to absolutely no end. "It's a damn miracle Cynthia was able to beat him" thought Andrew. Andrew was nervous, but he had faith in his crew, something he had learned from his friend Ash, trust in one's Pokemon could overcome the most powerful of legendaries.

"Would the Green Trainer please make their way to the battlefield" said a voice over the intercom. "Torterra return" said Andrew; as he said that, a red and yellow ball of fur crawled out of Andrew's backpack, "Flare?" asked the little ball. "Yes Flareon, it's time" responded Andrew, and the little Pokemon crawled onto his master's right shoulder, something Andrew had only seen Ash's Pikachu do. The young trainer smiled and ruffled Flareon's head affectionately and walked out onto the battlefield, amidst a roaring and cheering crowd. Andrew looked over to his right and saw his friends. The one that caught his eye was Dawn, who, funnily enough, Andrew realized, was in her signature cheerleader outfit, something she had done for Andrew throughout his battles in Hoenn, but she had also done it for Ash in Sinnoh so he didn't think much of it, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Barry and Lucas were by far the loudest, whooping and cheering for their best friend in his finest hour.

Andrew turned his gaze to straight ahead of him, towards his opponent, Tobias. Flareon let out a growl, baring his teeth. "Easy buddy, we'll beat him" Andrew assured. "So, I finally get to battle you, hope you put up a better show than that weakling Ketchum" stated Tobias arrogantly. "Lucky for you, you have a front row seat to what I can do" spat Andrew, infuriated by Tobias' comment about the trainer Andrew saw as a mentor and an older brother. "This will be a full six-on-six battle with no substitutions, are both sides ready?" asked the referee, to which both Andrew and Tobias nodded. "Battle begin!" yelled the ref. "Darkrai crush this idiot" said Tobias. "Big fucking surprise there, I wonder who is after this guy" thought Andrew with a hint of sarcasm. "Hitmonchan, sting like a Beedrill" said Andrew as a humanoid Pokemon appeared, although instead of a regular Hitmonchan, this one was light green and had blue gloves, indicating it was a shiny variant.

"Darkrai use Dark Void" Tobias said. "Dodge with Agility!" barked Andrew, as Hitmonchan performed some acrobatic moves, dodging the black sphere completely. "Don't think I wasn't paying attention when you fought Ash in the Sinnoh League, I know all your tricks" smirked Andrew. "Hitmonchan, let's kick this off with Focus Punch" said the younger trainer. With the speed boost from Agility, the Punching Pokemon launched forward, slamming his right fist directly into the legendary's face, sending him flying back. "Keep up the pressure! Follow it up with Ice Punch!" yelled Andrew. "Thunderbolt!" Tobias yelled. The bolt of lightning struck Hitmonchan, who cried out as he was paralyzed. "Come on buddy get up! I know you're tougher than that!" yelled Andrew. Hitmonchan slowly got up just as Tobias ordered an Ice Beam. "Dodge!" yelled Andrew, the sense of urgency evident in his voice. Hitmonchan barely managed to dodge the blue beam and Andrew saw his opening. "Close Combat!" roared the blonde trainer, as Hitmonchan hurtled towards Darkrai and began whaling on the legendary with all his might, ending it with a solid punch to the face, knocking Darkrai unconscious.

"Darkrai is unable to battle, Hitmonchan wins." said the referee as the crowd roared with approval. When it came to Tobias a substantial amount of people shared Andrew's sentiments, so to see one of the older trainer's Pokemon so thoroughly walloped was a very welcome sight. Of the cheering audience, none were as loud as the group of five consisting of Lucas, Barry, Dawn, Rosa, and Leaf.

"Latios, you're up" a still stunned Tobias said. "Alright Brock, I called it, hand me the money or I'll fine you even more" said Barry, to which the breeder begrudgingly handed over a $50 bill to the hyperactive trainer. Rosa looked at them confused, and Barry explained that the two had made a bet on whether or not Latios would follow Darkrai. The brunette sweatdropped and turned her attention back to the battle.

"Latios versus Hitmonchan, begin!" yelled the referee. "Hitmonchan use Ice Punch stat!" barked Andrew. "Counter with Luster Purge!" yelled Tobias. Hitmonchan took the attack head on and when the smoke cleared, was revealed unconscious. "Hitmonchan is unable to battle Latios wins." "Great job buddy, I'm proud of you, now get some rest." said Andrew as he returned the fighting type. Pulling out another Pokeball, Andrew threw it up "Deathclaw! Rip and Tear!" he roared. And out of this little ball came a massive blue dragon with red wings, a Salamence. The crowd roared with approval at the entrance of this draconic powerhouse; ever since her debut in the Hoenn League, Deathclaw had proven time and time again to be an absolute wrecking ball of a Pokemon; Max's eyes widened at the sight of the massive beast, it looked like it could give even Ash's Charizard a run for its money, while Lucas gave an impressed whistle, thinking what everyone else was thinking at the same time, Tobias was in for a hell of a fight.

"Deathclaw use Dragon Breath!" Andrew ordered as the faithful dragon ejected bright green flames towards her opponent, who screeched in pain at the super effective attack. "Latios, counter with Ice Beam" ordered Tobias. Andrew had taken precautions however, knowing that Deathclaw was doubly weak to Ice type moves, had taken time to train her speed to an impressive level, even for a fast Pokemon like Salamence; as such, she easily dodged the attack. "Dragon Rush now!" barked Andrew, and the big blue dragon streaked towards Latios, wreathed in purple draconic energy. She slammed into the smaller Pokemon, who was sent careening into the wall, knocking it out cold. "Latios is unable to battle, Salamence wins!"

"Suicune, show this overgrown lizard the door!" said a now visibly angry Tobias. He was supposed to still be on Darkrai, but he was now dead even with this stupid kid. Looking at his opponent, he saw something in his eyes, past the confident face of the younger trainer, lay a glimmer of fear, of anxiety. Andrew was right to be worried, he had no idea what to expect past Latios and Darkrai, and now that Suicune had shown up, it was still anyone's battle. "Aurora Beam!" barked Tobias, which Deathclaw dodged, albeit barely. The massive dragon landed on the battlefield, fatigued; she had put a lot of power behind that Dragon Rush and she was starting to wear out. "Deathclaw use Thunder Fang!" said Andrew, as the blue dragon hurtled towards her opponent and bit down, her massive fangs crackling with electricity, the super effective move causing the legendary to emit a cry of pain. "Suicune use Hyper Beam" yelled Tobias; "Deathclaw get out of there!" yelled Andrew frantically. The legendary fired an orange beam point blank at Deathclaw, hitting her in the chest and knocking her out of the fight. "Salamence is unable to battle, Suicune wins." stated the referee. Andrew was surprised, he had hoped to get a little more out of Deathclaw but he did not fault his dragon, praising her as he returned the massive dragon. "Roserade, let's dance!" said Andrew as the Bouquet Pokemon gracefully materialized onto the battlefield. Roserade was one of Andrew's most veteran battlers, so he still packed a punch, despite his small size. "Suicune vs. Roserade begin!" "Roserade, kick this off with Bullet Seed". The small Pokemon nodded and dutifully pointed his two bouquets towards the legendary and unleashed a torrent of rock-hard seeds the size of gumballs. "Suicune dodge" said Tobias, but as the legendary moved, he suddenly stopped, electricity arcing off his body, and he was hit full force by the barrage from Roserade. "It appears that Thunder Fang did more than I thought, excellent work Deathclaw", thought Andrew; "Roserade let's push our advantage and use Poison Jab", Roserade nodded and charged the legendary, swinging his right bouquet, now coated in purple energy, in an arc, smacking Suicune across the face, sending him sprawling. "Roserade, finish this with Petal Blizzard!" Roserade grinned and summoned a swarm of red and blue petals, hurling them at the crippled legendary. With a final howl of pain, Suicune collapsed. "Suicune is unable to battle, Roserade wins, Red Trainer send out your next Pokemon".

Tobias was getting pissed, he was sick of the back and forth between him and this weakling; Andrew on the other hand couldn't believe it, "I might actually win this thing. I just need to focus and keep my cool" thought the young trainer. "Heatran end this" Tobias roared. "You have got to be fucking kidding me" thought Andrew as another legendary took the field. Roserade gulped, not only would his grass attacks be less effective, but his poison attacks would be literally useless with Heatran being part Steel. "Have faith my friend, we can do this" said Andrew, himself half-believing his own words. "Heatran use Magma Storm" Tobias ordered as the legendary spewed a jet of scorching hot magma, something that Roserade fortunately managed to dodge. "Roserade us Shadow Punch just like we practiced!" yelled Andrew. Everyone looked confused, Roserade couldn't learn Shadow Punch. But Roserade formed a Shadow Ball in his hand, but instead of releasing it, charged the legendary and slammed the ball of ghostly energy into its face, landing a critical hit. "Heatran use Fire Blast" ordered Tobias. Heatran obeyed and launched the attack at his opponent, who tried to dodge but was hit when he was slowed by a burn he had unknowingly received when he hit Heatran with the Shadow Punch. The small Pokemon was hurled into the wall and landed knocked out. "Roserade is unable to battle, Heatran wins, Green Trainer send out your next battler."

Back in the stands, Andrew's friends were getting concerned, five of them more than the others. "Come on you crazy bastard you can do this" thought Lucas and Barry; the three boys were like brothers to each other. "We believe in you can do this Andrew" thought Dawn, Rosa, and Leaf. "This ain't good" thought Andrew, "but I'm not about to give up and I know for damn sure my Pokemon wouldn't want me to either". A determined look graced his face, he was going to see this through, one way or another. "Gallade, battle calls!" yelled the blonde trainer as a shiny Gallade gracefully landed on the field. Lucas and Dawn both lit up upon seeing this member of Andrew's team, both of them knew of this Pokemon's rough past. "Gallade, start with Bulldoze", Gallade slammed his right foot on the ground, causing the ground to shake and a large rock to jut upwards, hitting Heatran in the chin and sending him skyward from the doubly effective move. "Flash Cannon quick!" yelled Tobias, he was in trouble, none of his moves would be very effective against Gallade,who flawlessly dodged the attack from Heatran. "Close Combat now!" yelled Andrew. Gallade hurtled towards the legendary and began whaling on him, finishing by hurling Heatran into the sky, surprising everyone. "Bring him down with Brick Break" ordered Andrew. Gallade nodded and jumped above Heatran, slamming his right hand as hard as he could onto the legendaries head, sending him hurtling into the earth. When the smoke cleared, Heatran was down for the count. "Heatran is unable to battle, Gallade wins". Up in the stands, people were really starting to get into the battle. It appeared that Andrew Townsend might actually win a league after all this time, many felt he deserved it, especially when compared to Tobias. "Electivire, crush this insolent weakling!" yelled Tobias. Memories of his match against Paul in the Sinnoh League began running through his mind. Shaking his head, he refocused on the battle in front of him. "Electivire, Double Team and use Hammer Arm". "Gallade, sense which one he is and use Focus Punch". Gallade closed his eyes, found which of the hulking electric types was the real one, and lunged forward, his fist glowing white. "Grab it" Tobias said coolly, much to everyone's shock. ELectivire did as told and grabbed the Psychic/Fighting type as he was inches from slugging Electivire in the face. "Thunderbolt then throw him into the ground" Tobias said. Gallade yelled in agony as the volts coursed through his body, something that hurt Andrew to see, he didn't like it when his Pokemon were hurt like that. Electivire then slammed Gallade into the ground, creating a small crater, "Hammer Arm" said Tobias, and the Electric type slammed his fist into the stricken Pokemon. Andrew didn't need a referee to know Gallade was done. "You did well buddy, your parents would be proud, now get some rest" said Andrew quietly.

"Aggron, time to throw down" the blonde trainer said, throwing out the Steel/Rock type. Aggron looked at his opponent and grinned, this one looked powerful, and he was always down for a good scrap. "Aggron, start with a Dragon Pulse". The steel beast complied and fired a green beam straight at the electric type, which responded with a Brick Break, sending the Steel/Rock type sprawling. "Aggron you gotta get up PLEASE!" said a worried Andrew. Hearing the concern in his master, Aggron slowly rose up and loudly roared in defiance, he would not go down so easily. With pride in his voice, Andrew told Aggron "We gotta finish this now buddy, use Flamethrower then Heavy Slam full power!" Aggron nodded and directed his murderous gaze towards Electivire and shot a searing jet of flame at the electric type. "Electivire use Focus Blast!" ordered Tobias frantically. Electivire opened its mouth and a streak of white energy slammed into Aggron, but the determined Pokemon did not yield and rammed into the electric type with the force of a freight train. When the dust settled, the results were surprising; "Both Pokemon are unable to battle, will both Trainers send out their last Pokemon"

Andrew's heart was hammering in excitement, he could actually pull this off. "This is it, it all comes down to this" he thought. "I must say Andrew, you've certainly put up a better fight than I anticipated, but it is time for you to fall" mocked Tobias. "Says the person using legendaries" snapped Andrew, "I'm about to show you I don't need legendaries to kick your ass." A chorus of "oooohhhhhhs" could be heard throughout the stadium, much to Andrew's amusement. Andrew's friends were cheering like never before, the stadium was in a frenzy. "But enough chit chat, lets finish this Tobias" snorted Andrew, as he took out a Pokeball with the letters "P.V." etched into it, "Torterra, let's finish what we started all those years ago!" roared Andrew with all his might, as his faithful starter landed with a resounding thud, ready to face whatever came his way. As Tobias unleased his final Pokemon, Andrew and Torterra couldn't help but gulp.

In front of them floated a Regice, a Pokemon that Torterra was doubly weak to. But Andrew and his starter quickly shook their heads, if the other members of Andrew's crew could beat legendaries, then so could Torterra, Andrew's most veteran battler. A look of determination could be seen on the two, they were not going down without a fight. "Regice versus Torterra, battle begin". "Regice use Aurora Beam", Regice complied, but Andrew swore he saw a moment of hesitation in the Ice-type legendary. "Torterra dodge and use Stone Edge". Torterra managed to jump out of the way and slammed his front legs onto the ground, causing a large stone to slam into the Ice type. "Regice use Signal Beam". Regice regained his footing and launched the Bug-type attack at Torterra, who could not dodge this time. "Follow with Ice Beam" which nailed Torterra, who roared in pain. Andrew's brain had stopped, "What the hell do I do" he thought. "Come on Andrew, you can do this!" yelled Lucas, his friends cheering in agreement. This snapped the young trainer out of his stupor and he quickly ordered a counterattack, "Torterra use Superpower now!" ordered Andrew. Several green tendrils shot out of the mountains on Torterra's back and grabbed a large boulder and proceeded to fling the rock at Regice, landing a direct hit with the super effective move. "Regice, end this with Ice Punch" "You heard the guy Torterra, lets finish this. Iron Head full steam ahead!" Andrew roared as he pointed at Regice. Torterra bounded towards the legendary with surprising speed, his head glowing a bright silver, while Regice shot towards Torterra, his hand glowing blue. A massive dust cloud billowed up when the two made contact, and when the smoke cleared, both Pokemon were struggling to stand up, but something had to give, and that something was Torterra. The massive green tortoise collapsed to the ground swirls in his eyes. "Torterra is unable to battle; since the Green Trainer is out of Pokemon, the match goes to the Red Trainer, Tobias."

For a few seconds, all was quiet. Then, the stadium erupted into cheers. Andrew fell to his knees, stunned. "I lost, and I was so close too" he thought sadly. He pushed his way through the formalities and retreated to the locker room after returning his starter.

Lucas, Barry, Dawn, Leaf, and Rosa looked on sadly as the blonde-haired trainer shuffled off the field and quickly went to cheer him up. However, some remained. Andrew was like Ash in some ways, mainly in terms of personality and battle style, but some felt he was similar in another way, that he couldn't win an official league to save his life it seemed. In another part of the stadium sat some of the people Andrew had less than friendly relationships with. They sought to put an end to the trainer's career and, for some of them, show his friends, especially the female ones, how weak he was. They told their plans to those Andrew was on good terms with, and some agreed, with Lucas, Barry, Dawn, Rosa, and Leaf being stared down hard from the others until they relented.

"You'll get 'em next time man" said Lucas reassuringly, "Yeah, this was the closest you've ever gotten, you should be proud" added Leaf. "Thanks guys, I'll see you later", Andrew said, smiling weakly and trudged towards the harbor. His plan was to head to Kanto, spend the night at Ash's house since Delia said she had a surprise for him, and take the ferry from Viridian back to Sinnoh. Delia was like a second mother to Andrew and he was honestly excited to find out what she had in store for him. "C'mon guys, lets catch our flight to Kanto, we need to set things up" said Brock, to which everyone nodded.

As Andrew boarded the boat to Kanto, he couldn't shake the feeling deep down in his gut that something big was going to happen and it was going to happen soon.

Aaaaannnnnnddddd, done with the first chapter. Didn't realize it would take this long. Bonus points to anyone who correctly guesses the reference for the nickname for Andrew's Salamence

As for things like lemons, I might be able to do them, but I might need some help, I dunno. I'll figure it out.