Upon entering a dimly lit chamber the first thing I noticed was all the greenery around me, with the room being filled with plant life. A young man emerged from the tree's and introduced himself as Aaron, the first of four Elites...

I responded to his kind words by sending out Chatot. With a sigh, Aaron muttered about a lack of respect before sending out his Dustox. The battle was fast and wild, with both pokemon using their flight and ability to hide within the tree's to their advantage but Chatot ultimately came out on top with a critical hit wing attack.

I decided to keep Chatot in while he sent out his second Pokemon, a nasty looking Drapion! It... also lost to Chatot. And so did the rest of his team... I suppose he wasn't expecting to go up against pokemon that causally sparred with legendaries.

Bertha and her ground types posed a bit more of challenge, with her managing to take out both Lucario and Medicham, but luckily Floatzel saved the day by sweeping the rest of her team.

Flint, the fire type enthusiast, proved to be no match to Torterra and Rotom, who took turns decimating his team.

The user of psychics, Lucian, was... He gave me quite the battle, with my second to last pokemon, Umbreon, just barely managing to take out his Alakazam. Real fun guy...

After healing up my team I gave them all one last pep talk, and, after deciding on which six I'd bring in, I walked into the final chamber... I was beyond nervous, since I had actually never done something like this before in either world. Challenging a champion? Are you kidding me? I wanted her help, not her job! But, at that point, it would've been a bigger embarrassment to the entire league if I decided to quit now. For both the champion and my own sake, I had to see this through... besides, having entire league back me up against Cyrus would help.

When I entered she didn't notice me at first, since she busy playing a piano but I got to her to notice me by clearing my throat. She hardly said anything to me before beginning our battle but, I do remember what few words she said...

"Ash Ketchum... So your the one that has been giving my league such a headache... I can't wait to see why that is, exactly."

And with that, the battle began. As she chose her Roserade I led with Lucario. It was a battle of aura and deception, with both pokemon knocking the other out with a aura sphere and leaf storm, respectively. Her next choice was Spiritomb while mine was Rotom, since I wanted to witness a full ghost vs ghost battle. I wasn't disappointed.

Both pokemon kept to the shadows and struck only when necessary, causing the battle to drag on for waaay to long. Anyways, all that matters is Rotom fainted but Floatzel managed to defeat Spiritomb relatively quickly so... The battle was even!

Her next choice was Togekiss, who helped keep the battle fair. Even if Floatzel knew ice type attacks he'd actually have to hit her which was easier said then done... but we did what we always do. Improvise. Using hydro pump, Floatzel propelled himself into the air and struck Togekiss with a nasty ice punch, instantly bringing her down towards the ground.

It was a bit disturbing watching Floatzel brutalize the barely breathing flying type but... it is a battle. Though that's not to say I didn't see Togepi in that pokémon's eyes as it merely accepted it's defeat...

I made the right call in recalling Floatzel after that, instantly forfeiting him. Something that definitely caught Ms. Shirona's attention... She nodded her head in both respect and thanks before forfeiting her own pokemon and sending out her next pokemon; Milotic. Apart of me instinctively grabbed Torterra's ball but before I could react my voice had already called for Umbreon.

The two battles it out, both not holding back any punches. I found myself looking away from the battle for some reason. I... I don't know. I guess I was just losing my nerve... watching Umbreon and Milotic beat each other senseless... it felt more disturbing then any battle ever had. But as for the battle..? Umbreon just barely won, but her next opponent...

Cynthia sent out Garchomp.

Umbreon didn't stand a chance, and neither did cresselia really. That monster just ripped and teared through them but Cresselia, bless her soul, landed perish song. She gave us a chance to win! With a clock set Cynthia did her best to demolish Torterra but, somehow, my partner stayed standing. He was very hurt, and could hardly move but he was still willing to fight. With a wild look in her eye the champion sent out a Lucario as her last Pokemon.

We won. By some miracle, we did it. I... I had somehow become champion of a foreign land from a foreign world. Pikachu would've been proud of me, because only I could somehow manage to do something like that...

But as Cynthia patted me on the back and congratulated me a notification on my poketch stole my attention. Something that actually caught me by surprise! What I'd been waiting three years for had finally happened.

Cyrus had finally struck. Mt Coronet was in Team Galactic's hands.

900 words