Ash stared down his opponent - the poor lad was practically trembling in his boots. Ash wanted to laugh - everyone thought he was going to use only legendaries in the tournament, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Ash refocused on the battlefield after the referee called for Sinon to release his Pokemon first.

"Nidorina, I choose you!" Sinon yelled, thrusting his hand forward and releasing the Pokeball. With a flash, a Nidorina leapt out of the ball while it was still midair and hit the ground with a menacing growl.

Or, at least it would have been menacing if Ash was just another trainer.

But he wasn't, so the growl had no effect on him. And now, seeing as it was his turn, he pulled his Pokeball from his belt and threw it into the battlefield.

"Ninjask, I choose you!"

...

...

"And Ash Ketchum chooses not to battle with one of his legendaries! Is this a strategy, or just an act of pity?" The announcer yelled.

Ash scoffed. 'Pity? Yeah right.' he thought.

Seeing as Sinon was making no indication that he was going to begin, Ash decided to start.

"Agility into an Aerial Ace," Ash calmly intoned. Ninjask complied, body glowing in a pinkish light before he shot at Nidorina at blinding speeds. This seemed to snap Sinon out of his stupor and the boy frantically yelled for Nidorina to dodge.

It didn't dodge.

And with one attack, Nidorina was launched into the wall surrounding the battlefield and was knocked out.

The stadium was silent for a few moments before Gary Oak stood up from where he was sitting and started clapping slowly, the noise echoing throughout the arena for about a minute before the rest of the crowd caught on and erupted into cheers.

"Well folks, it looks like Ash did not have pity in mind when he released Ninjask." The announcer quipped after he regained his composure.

With a sigh, Sinon recalled his Nidorina and switched to his next Pokeball - his second of the three that he would be using today.

"Raticate, I choose you!" He called, chucking the Pokeball into the field.

"Super Fang!" Sinon yelled, and his Raticate ran forwards at where Ninjask lazily floated.

"Dodge left then use Night Slash!" Ash yelled, getting into the battle.

Ninjask waited until Raticate had jumped at him before dodging so fast it looked like a Teleport and slamming into Raticate's right flank with a Night Slash.

Sinon grimaced, but realized that Raticate still had just enough left in him to fight. He pointed at the sky before yelling "Sunny Day!"

Raticate nodded and sent a fiery orb into the sky where it exploded into an artificial sun. Immediately afterwards, the stadium put on the sunglasses provided to them by the League for situations like this and kept watching.

"Now! Flame Whee-" Sinon started, but was cut off by Ninjask slamming into Raticate with a Giga Impact. "Return..." Said a visibly less happy exited Sinon.

"Wartortle, I choose you," Sinon said, unenthusiastically throwing his last Pokeball into the field. Ash could see that Sinon had given up on the battle, something that made him upset, and so he decided to end it.

"Solar Beam," Ash said, just loud enough for Ninjask to hear it.

Wartortle was out before it even hit the wall.

"Hey man, don't sweat it," Ash began. He was in the middle of the field after shaking hands with a visibly sad Sinon and he felt bad for the rookie.

Sinon frowned. "That's easy for you to say!" He spat, not looking into Ash's eyes. "You didn't lose in the first round!" Ash grabbed his shoulder.

"Sinon, how many years have you been training?" Ash asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, one, but..."

Ash cut him off.

"But nothing. This is my eighth year. I have had seven more years than you to train my Pokemon, but you know what?"

Sinon looked up, heat gone from his eyes.

"I lost my first conference because my Charizard refused to listen to me."

"Yeah, bu-"

"I lost my second conference to a trainer with Pokemon that I had never seen before in my life."

"So?-"

"I lost my third conference to a Meowth." Well, probably the most well-trained Meowth in the world, but he didn't need to know that.

"That doesn't-"

"My fourth conference some guy came in and swept the entire League with a Darkrai. Somehow, I managed to take it out after losing four Pokemon and then he sent out a Latios, which knocked out my other two, though the second one managed to take it out with it.

"My fifth conference was by far my worst. I lost to a rookie that didn't even bring six Pokemon to a six-on-six match!"

"We-"

"It wasn't until my sixth conference in that many regions that I finally had success. But my point is, don't let losing get you down. I've been there before, and it sucks when you let it get to you. Besides," Ash said, a smirk growing on his features, "You can say that it took the champion of the most powerful - though unofficial- League to take you down.. You can say that it took the man that has captured every legendary in the world-" Okay, so that was a fib, he hadn't captured every legendary.

Yet.

"-to take you down. And you can say that it took the man who brought Lance and Cynthia down with one Pokemon to take you down." At this point Ash's smirk grew.

"But don't mention that second one to anybody just yet. I want it to be a surprise."

Both trainers left the arena in a good mood.

Ash's next opponent was a familiar face. Standing across the Water Field, just like all those years ago, was eccentric Mandi, cheering squad and all. And judging by his face, he remembered Ash.

It was a guilty pleasure that Ash felt when he realized that the arrogant Mandi was looking upon him in fear.

"Red side, you have been chosen to go first. Please release your Pokemon," the referee called into his mic while pointing to Ash.

Fine by me.

"Medicham, it's your turn!"

With not even the slightest sound, Medicham burst out from her ball and assumed a fighting stance on Ash's side of the field.

Mandi regained some of his composure - or at least tried to- before he released his Crobat.

"Supersonic!" Mandi screeched, trying to take Ash by surprise.

It didn't work.

"Medicham, Thunderpunch!" Ash countered.

Medicham gave no indication that she heard, but a moment later she sprang into action, crossing the field so fast that it looked like teleportation before slamming her thunder-coated fist into Crobat's main body, slamming the bat pokemon into the ground. Without any order, she followed up with an Ice Punch, finishing Crobat off.

"And Ash Ketchum releases another unbelievably strong Pokemon!" The commentator bellowed into the mic. "Can he be stopped?"

No.

Not now, not ever.

After recalling his Crobat, Mandi reached into his pocket, and with a flourish, released his next Pokemon.

"Exeggutor, Hyper Beam!" Mandy shouted, again trying to get an attack in early. This time, however, it almost worked due to Medicham's proximity to the grass/psychic-type. Ash watched the devastating attack near Medicham for a fraction of a second before he yelled.

"Medicham! Jump into a Zen Headbutt!"

This time, Medicham's reaction was instantaneous - Medicham leapt into the air before crashing into the Coconut Pokemon with a psychic-energy coated head, slamming the Exeggutor through the platform that it was levitating on and knocking it into the water below.

Finally, Mandi released his Kingdra.

"Dragon Pulse!" He yelled, again trying to get an early advantage, or, at this point, trying to hit Medicham at least once.

"Thunder Punch the water," Ash shouted, and Medicham slammed her fist into the water, electrocuting it and the Kingdra inside. However, that wasn't enough to take the Kingdra out, and the water/dragon-type levitated out of the water and above a platform before spewing out an enraged Draco Meteor at Medicham.

The attack devastated the platform that Medicham had been occupying a split second prior, but Kingdra was too slow to see - let alone dodge the follow-up Focus Blast that Medicham sent its way not a second afterwards.

"Mr. Ketchum! Mr. Ketchum!" Another reporter yelled. Ash internally groaned. He had been answering questions for the last five minutes and already the barrage of queries was getting to him.

"Yes?" Ash addressed the reporter in question.

"Will you please tell me, and all of KTV, how you managed to acquire at least four legendaries in the span of less than a year?"

Ash smirked.

Well that would be because of a challenge presented to me by Arceus and Hoopa, but you'd never believe that.

Ash pretended to think for a second before answering.

"Well, I guess I just got really lucky. I captured most of my Pokemon on the islands that I've been training on." Ash said.

The reporter absently wrote that all down while nodding and Ash turned to another reporter who had her hand up.

"Mr. Ketchum, would you mind sharing with us here at HTV just where you have been training this last year? Our sources say that you just dropped off the map after competing in the Kalos League and now you're suddenly back with not only legendaries, but insanely powerful regular Pokemon as well!"

Perfect!

Ash didn't miss a beat before he responded.

"Well, the where is simple: I've been on a set of nineteen islands that have been shielded from human discovery by a certain legendary." That's not too far from the truth... "The how, though, well... That's a bit more complicated, and incredibly hard to believe."

Well, here it goes. It's time to take the plunge.

Ash took a deep breath before continuing.

"You see, I captured those legendaries on the islands that I mentioned. However, I got to those islands because of Arceus himself. He, along with Hoopa, appeared before me and presented me with a challenge, and I took it. That's where I've been."

Ash didn't give them any time to ask questions before he continued.

"I know, it sounds really, really hard to believe, but it's true-" Ash was cut off by a particularly annoying reporter from Jhoto.

"I'm sorry, sir," He said, pouring a lot of sarcasm into the word, "But just how do you expect us to believe that?"

In response, Ash grabbed one of the Master Balls on a chain around his neck, unshrunk it, and tossed it onto the stage next to him.

With a flash, Palkia appeared.

"Every thing Ash has said is completely true."

The reporters went ballistic.

In Ash's next battle, Magmortar absolutely decimated Holly Ghemis' Jolteon, Furret, and Blastoise.

The next day, Vaporeon crushed Martin Rock's surprisingly balanced team of Feraligatr, Meganium, and Typhlosion, advancing Ash yet again to the finals.

...I'm facing TRIP?! Why is he even here?!

I'm facing KETCHUM?! Oh shit!

Before that, though, he had two days of rest. Normally, Ash would use those to either select his next team, research the remaining trainers, or relax, but this league was different.

No, Ash was going to go back and complete another island while taking his mom, Gary, and Professor Oak with him. However, that would leave the camp unguarded so Ash decided to leave a few Pokemon behind along with a lot of food, water, and Poffins (his way of saying thank you to whoever volunteered) to guard his tent camp. With that in mind he released his Pokemon ten at a time, asking around to see if anyone wanted to stay behind.

About an hour later, he had eight Pokemon that were looking forward to the relaxation that two days without training would probably bring. The eight were Forretress, Ampharos, Golurk, Ludicolo, Carracosta, Druddigon, Sableye and Togekiss. His Braviary had wanted to as well, but quite frankly Ash didn't want the enthusiastic but lovable bird roaming around without him there.

So, with that settled, Ash thanked the eight another time, gathered the other humans in his camp, and called for Hoopa.

One portal later and the quartet was off.

As it turned out, Ash had forgotten about one minor detail - portal travel was extremely unpleasant for anyone who wasn't him.

As such, he had to stand around while his mom, rival, and mentor puked their guts out onto his training field.

After about ten seconds, an idea finally came to him and he released his Meganium, Blissey, and Vaporeon.

"Hey guys, we have an issue..." Ash started, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Long story short, Hoopa's portals are unpleasant, so Meganium, use Aromatherapy, Blissey, do your healing combo, and Vaporeon..." Ash said, sheepishly shrugging, "Um, just wash the puke away."

"Well, this hall is my bedroom and five guest bedrooms. Feel free to take whichever ones you want - we'll be staying here tonight. I'm fairly certain that each bedroom has a balcony; the ones on the left side look over the ocean and some of the other islands - I'll get to those in a second," Ash added, seeing Professor Oak's inquisitive glance at him.

"...And the ones on the right overlook the training field and pond - I call it a lake so don't be confused. Down there," Ash pointed in the general direction of the courtyard, "Is the courtyard. I use it for a training field, and all of those Pokemon are mine, so there's no need to a) try to capture them or b) be wary of them. Uh, other than that, the kitchen is that way," Ash pointed, "Bathrooms are in each room, and you can ask any of my water-types if you want to go to any of the islands."

Ash thought for a few moments about anything he might've missed before he suddenly perked up.

"Oh!" Ash said, "A couple more things. Here are some rebreathers," He handed one each to the others before elaborating, "The islands are connected by way of underwater tunnels. So if you want to visit any, that's how it'll be done. Oh!" Ash said, "Actually, you could take a flying-type too, if you wanted to. Anywho, on each island there is one trainer. I'll let them suprise you, though if you know me, the trainers really shouldn't. So! That's all, if you have any questions, feel free to ask one of the residential trainers, and if there's a huge emergency, shout for Arceus or Hoopa. Well, see ya! I'm off to Normal Island."

Gary held up one hand and smirked.

"Well, I guess that I'm heading there too then. After all, my Pokemon could use a decent challenge."

Normal Island was essentially one giant meadow. Trees were scattered in random formations and there was a moderately-sized red house in the off in the distance, but other then that the island was pretty, well, normal.

"This is it?" Gary asked. "I was expecting something more... spectacular"

Ash shrugged. "Usually they are! Heck, Flame Island was a giant volcano. They're usually a bit more interesting."

"Hey, I resent that. I think this island island is perfect," A new voice cut in from behind the duo.

Gary and Ash whipped around (Well, Gary did. Ash just kinda turned.) in shock, only to find a smirking Norman and his Slaking standing a few meters behind them.

"Hey Norman!" Ash called, holding a hand up in greeting. "What're you up to?"

The former gym leader shrugged, replying, "Well, I was just out on a stroll looking for some more Pokemon when I saw you two. Can I join you?"

Ash nodded enthusiastically before remembering Gary, who had not been introduced to the normal-type specialist.

"Oh! Norman, this is Gary Oak, my first rival and grandson of Professor Oak." Recgonizing his cue, Gary stuck his hand out and Norman promptly shook it, replying,

"Nice to meet you! I'm Norman Maple, former gym leader of Petalburg City and a normal-type enthusiast," He said, smiling at the spiky-haired brunette.

After the trio became aquainted with one another, they started walking and chatting while searching for any local Pokemon to add to their teams.

After about a minute, the trio came across a Smeargle, who promptly grabbed its tail and pointed it at them menacingly. Ash held his hands up to placate the painter before turning to the other two.

"Norman, it's your island. Do you wanna have a shot?" Ash politely asked, but the former gym leader shook his head. "No, I've already got a Smeargle. Thanks for offering though!"

Ash smiled and nodded before turning to Gary and offering him the same thing, but his rival shot him down too, smirking,

"No, I think I'd like to see how handle this, Ashy-Boy," Gary joked.

Ash gave a friendly growl at the name but nonetheless complied and reached into his bag to grab a Pokeball. After a few seconds of rummaging, he found the one he was looking for and pulled it out triumphantly.

"Okay then! Gallade, I choose you!"

Gallade emerged from his Pokeball before swinging his swords around in a challenging manner.

Suddenly, though, the tip of Smeargle's tail turned dark purple and it vanished into a pool of shadows.

Gary's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit Ash, are all Pokemon this insane on these islands?" He asked his rival, but it was Norman that responded.

"No," Norman shook his head, "I've never seen a Smeargle on this island that knows Shadow Force."

"Oh," Gary replied. "Well, I guess that I'll just chalk this one up to Ash's luck and move on then."

"Good idea," Norman agreed.

Finally, Smeargle reappeared, appearing right behind Gallade and slamming into him with a ghostly aura.

And and Gallade were quick to respond though, and Ash called for a Brick Break that Gallade happily delivered to Smeargle's face. Smeargle immediately shot back with a Diamond Storm, though, which had the side-effect of dropping the two bystander's jaws again before Gallade jumped over the pink, jagged diamonds of Diancie's signature attack and launched a Focus Blast into Smeargle.

Then Smeargle used Techno Blast, and the battle devolved into chaos from there.

In the next hour and a half Ash captured a Persian, Blissey, Kangaskhan, Ditto (sneaky motherfucker, that one was), Porygon-Z, Ursaring, Zangoose, and a Stoutland. Now though, Ash, Gary (who had decided after Ash caught Smeargle that he might not be strong enough to challenge any of the residential Pokemon, a revelation that was quickly proven true when Ash challenged a Ditto that had instantly morphed itself into a cannon and started launching Hydro Cannons), and Norman stood looking at Regigigas.

"It's huge!" Gary breathed, looking vertically up, trying to catch a glimpse of the top of the Collosal Pokemon.

"I'm just trying to figure out how I never noticed this," Norman added.

The two turned to Ash, who had been silent for the last few minutes, to find him rummaging through his pack. A few moments later he pulled out a Master Ball and with no preface threw it into the air.

It snapped open a few seconds later to reveal his Zygarde (Not his shiny one, but neither of his companions knew that he had two). Zygarde took one look at Regigigas, who still hadn't moved an inch and promptly erupted into a bright, tricolored beacon of light that shone red, blue, and green. The beacon started expanding rapidly towards Ash and co, so the three sprinted away from it for a number of yards before coming to a halt and turning around to watch.

Finally, the light seemed to shatter like glass, revealing Perfect Zygarde in all of his glory.

And that was when Regigigas' Slow Start wore off and the battle began.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is this two chapters within a decent amount of time of each other?!

lol yeah right.

Anyways, a number of tidbits about this chapter.

1) Ash doesn't do pity. He just isn't capable of unleashing a Pokemon that is anywhere close to a reasonable level of power. Every battle he's in is like releasing Cynthia's MEGA Garchomp, Lance's Dragonite, Steven's Metagross, Wallace's Milotic, Drake's Mega Salamence, Alder's Volcanora, and Diantha's Mega Gardevoir, along with a slew of other Pokemon against a Metapod.

2) Now that I've had to type some of the ways that Ash lost his leagues (I know I did it in the Prologue but that was different), I realized just how retarded some of his losses were. Seriously Ketchum, a Meowth? You lost to PUSS IN BOOTS?!

Don't even get me started on Unova.

3) Finally, we see some of the other characters from the mainland! I really, really wanted to make Gary an islander but I didn't know what he would've specialized in. Dark? Electric?

...Actually, had I thought of Dark (his Umbreon) before I wrote that chapter I probably would've used him...

4) Portal's are pretty unpleasant for anyone who isn't Ash.

5) Zygarde, kicking some ass.

6) A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES STEEL ISLAND! ;)

REVIEWS!

Butterflypuss: Thanks!
Kasp7755: You really think that? That means a lot to me. But yeah, updating quickly has never been one of my strong suits, and it probably won't become one any time soon. My muse has a tendency to wander about...
The Creator: Two is a good number ;)
1) HUMOR! But who knows what Ash was thinking. ...I might do that some more.
2) "...yo mamma took the ugly ones and put them into one nerd."
4) Why'd you skip three? And yes, yes it would've been :D
5) Really? I love Hoenn!
7) A: you have a really weird numbering system, man. B: Oh shit, they are!
8) I think that a redo of Kanto would've been way, way, WAY better than Unova was.
9) Bleach, man. I bleached my eyes.

Anywho, I've kept you guys for long enough. So long!