This was far sooner than Ash or Serena could have thought. It meant that Red couldn't have sorted out what he was going to do. So Ash decided that he just had to stay calm. "Why?" He asked neither of the men in particular.

The one on the left responded. "We've had reports of you both initiating violence with other competitors. Which the Kalos League has a zero tolerance policy for."

Ash and Serena looked at each other, May had manaaged to convince someone within the league that the two of them had hatched some sort of plan to beat her up. A lie in which she was the unarguable victim. "Can we go fetch our bags from our room?" Serena asked.

The man on the right looked at the man on the left. It was the first signal that had been given that one of them was in charge. The man on the left nodded then responded. "Okay, you have five minutes."

"Thank you." Serena said then the two of them rushed upstairs. While Ash and Serena were packing she turned to him. "Ash, what you told me was the truth, wasn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way things happened between you and May. It happened the way you described didn't it?"

Ash sighed, he then walked over to Serena and placed his hands on her shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said. "Yes, this is what she wants. May wants you to doubt me. She wants to create a rift between the two of us."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't believe me why should they?"

"I guess your right. Done?"

Ash nodded and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Serena then did the same and the two of them walked out of the room. The found the two men walking into the corridor. The shorter one said. "Ready? You've had five minutes."

Ash nodded and the shorter man led Ash and Serena outside with the taller one following behind. When they were outside the pokemon centre Ash quickened his pace so that he was alongside the man infront, he then asked him. "Am I out of the competition?"

"That's up to Diantha." The four of them walked for about fifteen minutes untill they came to a medium sized, inconspicuous, dull grey building. When they entered Ash and Serena were led to a glass walled office in the centre of the building. The two of them sat down in the chairs by the desk. The smaller man told them. "She'll be with you in a minute." With that he walked off.

Ash shuffled his chair so that he was a foot away from Serena he placed his arm on the rest of her chair. She placed her hand in his and looked at him. "Who do you think he meant by'she'."

"Diantha."

"You really think the champion is going to investigate a petty fight between a few competitors?"

"I don't know, maybe." The two then sat in silence, waiting for whoever was to speak with them. They heard the door open and they simultaneiously turned their heads. At first Ash didn't recognise her. She wore a slick black tank top and a dark grey skirt. She had a stern expresion on her face. So different to what was seen of her on television. However her hair gave it away, she still had the short hazel hair that she always had. Once Ash got past the drastic change in appearance he could see that it was, as he had suspected , Diantha.

She walked over to her desk, placed a small file down on it then sat down in the big leather chair that occupied most of the space behind the desk. She looked up at them. "Good afternoon. I am the Kalos league champion Diantha. My colleagues brought you here because someone has made allegations against both of you and I want to get all my facts straight before making a decision. Understand?" She spoke in a fast yet calm and controlled tone.

Serena and Ash both nodded.

"Good. This person had made allegations that.."

"May." Ash interrupted.

"I'm sorry, what?" Diantha asked

"We all know that May is the one accusing me...accusing us of this."

Diantha sighed. "Okay, yes. She is the one who is accusing you both. Now she is accusing the two of you of assaulting her in the courtyard." She was quiet for a second then Serena asked.

"Do you believe her?"

Diantha looked at the two teenagers in front of her. She then got up and closed the door to her office. When she sat down she spoke in a calm tone. "Yes, and no." Seeing the look on their faces she then elaborated. "I believe that there was some sort of a fight. However I do not believe that the two of you assaulted May." Ash and Serena thought about what the champion had just said.

Ash then turned to his fiance and asked. "Serena could you give us a minute?" Serena looked at Ash, he gave her a reasurring nod.

"I'll be outside." Diantha got up and openned the door for Serena.

"Parker." A short dark skinned chubby man in his fifties turned round. "Could you get miss Yvonne a drink." He nodded walked over to Serena and led her to away from the office. She turned round to see Diantha back at her desk, she pressed a button on it and the glass walls that encased her office became frosted.

"Why the privacy Ash? Something you don't want Serena to know?" Diantha looked at him.

"No. It's just that this is very stressful and I don't want her to overdo it."

"She's stronger than you think." Diantha had a good sense of personalities.

"I know. But it's not her I'm worried about." The expression on Diantha's face told Ash to elaborate. "Serena's pregnant." Ash had no idea why he so easily disclosed the information.

"I see. Please tell me the way you remember things happening."

Ash went on to tell Diantha his version of events.

"Can I get you anything Miss Yvonne?" Parker asked her.

"A water would be nice." Parker led her into a break room and got a glass from the cupboard and held it under the tap. Once it was full he handed it to her. "Thank you." After she took a sip she had to ask him. "Are we going to be thrown out?"

"Straight to the point. I like that." His response made Serena smile. "Unfortunatley I can't say."

Serena let out a sigh, then another question popped into her mind. "Why is Diantha investigating this herself?"

"That's a very common question. Most people think that the status of champion is a title and nothing more than the occasional glorified fight against a strong trainer. However it's a lot more than that, the champion is responsible for everything that happens at the Plateau. They are the one who will be held responsible if something goes wrong. They also are the ones to ensure that any 'issues' are resolved properly."

"I never knew. How does she do that and be an actress?"

"There's not that much to do between competitions. When they are on she takes time off, the studios know that when she signs on. Diantha is very good at separating her two jobs." Serena noticed that Parker spoke very highly of Diantha and it was obvious that he admired her greatly.

"But what about the elite four, do they help out too?"

"Yes and no. They spend most of their time roaming the region in search for unkown strong trainers. However if the champion feels he or she needs some help, they can ask the elite four for their advice and help and they are expected to do so without argument."

Serena thought about what she had been told. She had never thought about the way that a league was organised. Parker's attention was then attracted by something behind Serena. She turned to see that Diantha had un-clouded her office walls and was waving for Parker to come over. As they were leaving the break room Serena spotted a bowl of fruit and realised that she had't eaten so she wuickly grabbed a pair of apples and followed Parker. He led Serena back to the office where Ash was still sitting in the chair. Diantha met the two of them by the door.

"Serena do you mind if I speak to you for a few minutes?"

"Of course not." Serena walked into the office and sat down beside Ash.

"Ash I was hoping to do it in private." Seeing the look on Ash's face she then added. "It will only be fore a few minutes."

Ash nodded then got up. Parker then led Ash away. Diantha sat back down and pressed the button that made the windows cloudy.

"Neat trick." Serena said trying to lighten the mood.

"Thank you. I find that people don't always tell the truth when they think everyone's looking at them. Now why did you punch May?"

Serena noticed that Diantha got straight to the point and that was something that Parker had liked about her. The people here were so busy they probably had little time to waste. Serena was thinking about this and almost forgot about the question. "I punched her because she kissed my fiance and then tried to blackmail him with it."

Diantha sat there thinking about what Serena had said. "May admitts to kissing Ash but she said nothing about blackmail."

"Well she's lying. She told Ash that if he didn't lose if they met in the second round she would tell me that Ash seduced her."

This got Diantha's intrest she leant forward as she asked. "Are you accusing May of attempting to fix my competition. Because I take that very seriously." This was the first time that Diantha had refered to the league as hers.

"Yes. Yes I am."

Diantha rested her chin on her hands. She was deep in thought. She pressed the button and cleared the walls. She waved Ash and Parker over. When they came to the door Diantha thanked Parker and ushered Ash into the office. When they had sat down Diantha told them. "Sorry for having to separate you while I spoke to Serena."

"It's okay." Ash told her, he held Serena's hand as he spoke.

"First of all I want to tell you that what happened between the two of you and May was nothing more than a simple argument that got heated. On those grounds Ash you will be allowed to compete in the competition."

Ash let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Secondly, in what both of you have told me you accused May of trying to force Ash to throw a battle that might happen if the two got to the second round. As champion I want to entertain the fans that come to the event. I also want a fair competition for all participents. I will therefore be launching an investigation into alleged battle fixing. Do either of you know anyone who can back up these allegations?"

"Max." Ash answerd quickly. "May's brother. He came and told me that he had found out what May had done and that he was disgusted by it."

Diantha noted down the name and then asked. "Anyone else?"

Ash and Serena then looked at each other with puzzled expressions. "No sorry." Serena finally told her.

"No problem, you have been very co-operative and the league offers its thanks. You are free to go."

Ash and Serena then got up and the two of them walked out of the building, the both said goodbye to Parker on their way out. While they were walking back to the pokemon centre Serena saw Red walking towards them. Before either Ash or Serena could say anything Red asked. "What happened?"

Serena looked at Ash she thought it would be better if he told the story"We were asked some questions. Diantha realised that it was just a heat of the moment thing and so neither of us is going to be thrown out."

"Good."

"She said that she belived that May was attempting to throw the competition and so will be launching a full investigation into it."

Red then chuckled to himself. "Ha." He then looked very serious "I'll make sure she gets what she deserves." With that Red kept walking towards the building where Diantha was.

Serena looked at Ash then had to ask. "What did he mean by that?"

Ash thought about this for a second. "I'm not sure. I think that means that he's going to get May thrown out."

"Can he do that?"

"I don't know. I guess his word might carry some weight with the champions." Serena remembered that Red had been offered the position of champion but turned it down. She then thought about whether that decision would be respected by the champions of other regions, or if they would have been offended.

The two of them walked back into the pokemon centre. All around them they could hear the people muttering to each other, gossiping. Serena was about to whisper to Ash when he pre-empted her. "Ignore them. May's probably spread her lies and so people are talking. That's what people do when their own lives aren't interesting enough."

"When did you become so critical of the people?"

Ash simply shrugged, he had no idea where these strong ideals had come from. But he knew that he believed in them. Ash had always hated gossip, the idea that someone was getting from pleasure from someone else's bad news and misgivings. The couple went back to their room, Ash fell onto the bed and Serena soon joined him. The two of them let out a long simutaneous sigh. Then looked at each other and smiled. Ash suddenly sat bolt up-right. "Shit!"

"What is it?" Serena asked concerned.

"It starts tomorrow." Ash had less than twenty four hours untill his first round match. He started going over different stratergies, the pokemon he would use, the different ways he would fight when suddenly Serena snapped her fingers infront of his eyes.

"Ash, relax." She shuffled so that she was sitting behing him. She started to massage his shoulders. Ash attempted to get up but Serena stopped him. "No, we have both had a stressful day. Your match won't be untill tomorrow afternoon and so you can relax now and get a good nights rest tonight."
Ash realised that Serena was right he had to make sure that he had his head tomorrow. So the two of them spent the day in their room, relaxing.

That evening they heard Diantha's voice over the loudspeaker. "Attention. There has been a withdrawl from the competiton and as such there is an opening for anyone who wishes to enter. The space will go to the first person to register."

Serena turned to Ash. "You don't think?"

"I do." Then there was a knock at the door. Ash walked over and opened it to find May standing there. Ash attempted to close the door but May wedged her foot.

"Ash I just wanna talk."

"Well, I don't."

Ash could hear May audiby sighing then admitting. "I'm sorry." May withdrew her foot. However Ash didn't slam the door as he thought he would. He opened it and walked out and had to ask.

"Why May? Why did you do it?"

"I wanted to win." She then hung her head and told him. "I wanted to win so bad, and I knew that, no matter how strong I've gotten, I could never beat you." With that she walked away.

Ash walked back into his room and sat down in silence. He wanted to hate May, he wanted to hate what she had done to him and Serena. But he couldn't, he still remembered what it had been like those years ago. The things that they had done together. Somehow his memories were stopping him from hating her.

"Who was it?" Serena asked him.

"No-one." He lied. Ash knew that Serena would always hate May, she had not seen the side of May that Ash had seen and therefore did not know what she had been like. However Ash kept his feelings to himself, he didn't want to argue with Serena. The two of them spent the evening resting in the room, relaxing.

The next morning Ash was woken up by Serena running to the toilet, he followed her and offered her a bottle of water.

"Sorry." She told him accepting the bottle.

"Don't apologise." It suddenly dawned on Ash that this was the day. This was the start of his challenge for the Kalos league title.

Ash spent the next half hour with Serena comforting her before going to find her breakfast. He came back and once the two of them had eaten Ash went to train with Red outside.

"Are you an idiot?" Red asked bluntly.

"Um, what?"

"You want to train the same day as the fight, are you an idiot?" He stared at Ash with a look of disbelief.

"I guess not." Ash felt stupid that he thought of training like this.

"It's fine, you're still young, you don't no everything. Are you going to plan or watch the exibition match?" Red asked trying tp change the subject feeling he may have been a little too harsh.

"What exhibition match?"

"You don't know, the match between Diantha and Cynthia to warm up the crowd."

"Wow I didn't know, I'll watch the match."

"Good."

The two of them spent the next few hours talking over stratergies. At eleven O'clock the two of them went to the Arena to watch the match. Diantha vs Cynthia. Ash saw that the referee was Clemont. He could not believe that his friend wa refereing a match between two champions. He was incredibly jeleous.

His friend spoke over the arena speakers "Welcome to the exhibition match to kick off this years Kalos league. This will be a one v one and will be over when one sides pokemon is no longer able to battle." He looked at Diantha. "Ready?" She nodded. He then looked at her opponent. "Ready?" She gave the same response. "Let the battle begin."

Diantha announced. "Gardevoir prepare to battle."

At the same time Cynthia shouted. "Garchomp stand by."

The two pokemon appeared, Garchomp roared at the top of its voice and Gardevoir just stood there staring at her opponent. The battle was long seeing as both trainers were not trying their hardest to win and were instead trying to give the crowd something to admire. In the end though using a powerful moonblast Diantha's Gardevoir came out on top. After shaking hands with her opponent she then spoke to the crowd.

"Thank you Cynthia for competing in this warm up match with me." She then glanced at the clock on the big sceen. "There is now less than an hour untill the first round matches begin. I wish every competitor the best of luck." She walked out of the Arena to applause. The crowd then dispersed and Ash went with them, his match was one of the first. He walked back to the pokemon centre and on his way he could feel the pre-championship nerves start to kick in. Competing in a league wasn't like challenging for a gym badge. There was always a crowd watching your every move, everyone was a strong trainer, he didn't want to have done all the work he had spent the last eighteen months doing for nothing. Ash had found once he had got his first victory that they usually calmed down. Ash walked into the room to find it empty, he checked the bathroom incase Serena was feeling nauscious but she wasn't there. Ash was sad at first he wanted Serena to calm him down. However he used this time to sit on the end of the bed and empty his mind, he tried his best to put the competition out of his mind. He thought about whatever he could to keep himself calm. He thought about Serena, he thought about his journey, about the wedding. While he was thinking about the wedding his bride to be walked in the room. Serena had watched the exhibition with Bonnie. She could immediately see that something was troubling Ash.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He lied, hoping that if he said it somehow it would become true.

"Ash, I can see it on your face. Is it the competition?" Ash couldn't admit it so he simply nodded. He loved that about Serena the way she could tell what was wrong with him. No matter what it was. The two of them sat there in silence. However it was soon broken by Red letting himself in.

"Time to go!" He barked at Ash.

"Red! I thought I'd told you to knock."

"Oh, sorry, do you want to miss the start of your first match?" He said sarcastically whilst he showed his watch to Ash.

"Ash realised that he had spent more time in the room than he thought and he had to go. The three of them walked to a battlefield near the rear of the grounds that had a small area for spectators. Ash recognised from his photo on the championship tree. He was a short stocky mad in his thirties, he had neon orange hair. When he saw Ash he walked over and introduced himself. "I'm Damien."

"Ash." Ash shook hands with his opponent. The small talk was interupted by a man in black trousers and a white shirt.

"Let's begin." He led them to the battlefield. Two opponents walked to opposite ends of the field. He looked to Damien. "Are you ready to begin?"

"I'm ready." Damien responded.

The referee then looked to Ash. "Ready?"

Ash's palms started to sweat, Ash found it hard to breathe. However he managed to force a nod.

So then the referee annonced. "Well then. Let this year's Kalos league begin."

Ash then managed to forget all his worries. He let his instincts take over and he threw his first pokeball. His league challenge had begun.