Chapter 3 – The Morning of the Opening Ceremony

"Ash get up!" Pikachu shouted as he used a strong thunderbolt attack on Ash to wake him the sleeping Pokémon Trainer up. Due to this happening almost every morning since Ash had received Pikachu from Professor Oak 15 years ago, the thunderbolt attack was more like an electric shock to Ash, just enough to wake him up.

"Ok, Ok," the drowse Pokémon Trainer said, "I'm up." Ash got up and started to get ready, as he changing he looked at himself, seven years of hard training had made Ash look like an athlete, he guessed that was what happened when you spared with a Lucario and an Infernape every day.

Ash got dressed into his Aura Guardian outfit (what he wore at the start of 'Lucario and the Mystery of Mew') that he received from Lady Ilene five years ago after he was made an Aura Guardian, he also wore a hood that covered most of his face like an assassin so he could hide his Identity.

Upon leaving his room with Pikachu on his shoulder and Lucario at his side, he saw James and Jessie walk pass, they wore similar outfits to what they wore when they worked for Team Rocket, the difference was that there was a red 'T' for Trainer instead of the red 'R' for Rocket. Ash stopped outside of Brocks room and waited as he had done every day for the last six and a half years since they built their home.

"Are you sure that you are ready to face the traitors in battle Master?" Lucario asked.

"Two things Lucario," Ash said, "One, yes I am, two, stop calling me Master."

"As you wish," Lucario said, before grinning and saying, "Master." At these words Ash fell over anime style and Lucario and Pikachu (who had jumped off Ash's shoulder expecting him to fall over) laughed at him. It was at this point that Brock, who was wearing clothes that were similar to what Ash had met him in and a refashioned Rocky Helmet that covered his whole head but left his eyes uncovered, there was a detachable part that allowed him to eat without taking the whole thing off, you can hear his voice clearly, but in makes his voice sound deeper. This was to show that he was a Rock type specialist and to keep his Identity a secret.

"Something will never change, Red." Brock said.

"They certainly won't Rocky." Brock had overheard everything because he like everyone else in this new Elite Four could understand Poké Speech. "Ready to go?" Ash asked, "Scott did say that he wanted all of the Champions and Elite Four members to have breakfast at a convention sort of thing so he could let them get to know us."

"Well, I'm ready when you are." Brock replied. Ash and Brock made their way to the lounge area that was made so the six trainers could hang out when they were not busy. Everyone else was there waiting for them. They all made their way from their home that overlooked the whole complex down to the Stadiums convention centre, it was there that the 'meet and greet' was to be held.

As they all walked in, they saw that everyone else was already there, Ash was able to identify everyone. Scott and Mr Goodshow were the only people that noticed the arrival of the new Mt Silver Elite Four, they made their way over to them.

"Ash and Brock," Scott said, "It's good to see your doing well."

"For me to say that I'm surprised that the two of you were able to do this would be a lie." Mr Goodshow added.

"It's great to see you again as well," Ash said, "This is the other members of the Elite Four, Jessie and James count as one, they are Poison and Grass type specialists respectively, they are a double battle team. Next is Paul, he specialises in Heavy Pokémon. Lastly we have Steffan who you should know Mr Goodshow, he is a water type specialist. Just remember, I am Red and Brock is Rocky, no one is allowed to know of our true identity unless we tell them."

"Of course Red." Scott said.

"We will not say a thing," Mr Goodshow said, "Now go and have something to eat before we explain everything." With that, the group disbanded and went to eat.

In one corner of the room, where there were desert type foods, the Kanto and Johto Elite Four were standing and eating, or in Bruno's case, consuming, this guy had cleared half of the all you can eat buffet, the other Elite Four members just sweat dropped Anime style at Bruno's eating habits.

"Bruno," Lance said, "Slow down or you will get indigestion."

"No I won't," Bruno said with a smile, then he saw that the chefs had brought out more pancakes and waffles, 'Score' Bruno thought to himself, but as he reached out, Jessie and James grabbed both trays and all the sauces and went to eat them over on an empty table. "Hey are you going to share those!" Bruno shouted.

"Not at all." Jessie said with her mouth full.

"From what we heard, you've eaten enough as it is." James added.

"Yeah leave some for everyone else." Meowth continued, next thing you know, Wobbaffet's PokéBall opens and all we hear is a muffled "Wobbaffet because Wobbaffet has his mouth full. (A/N Do any of you understand how that happens, he jumps out of his PokéBall and suddenly has something in his mouth?)

"Wait a minute," Koga said, "It's Team Rocket." At that moment, all of the Elite Four members from Kanto and Johto started pulling out PokéBall's ready to fight.

"Wait, wait," Jessie started "We're are not Team Rocket."

"Yeah, just look at our shirts and we can prove it." James finished. At this point the Elite Four members looked at their shirts, realising that it was a red 'T' instead of the old red 'R', they placed the PokéBall's back on their belts. None of the hands left the belts though.

"Alright explain." Lance said, as Jessie and James explained what had happened, with Meowth and Wobbaffet adding extra details along the way (Meowth translating), the hands of the Elite Four left their PokéBalls and returned to their sides. Once the story had finished, the Elite Four members were marvelling at how, two people and a Pokémon that they had got so used to fighting were currently a part of the new Elite Four. "So what types are the two of you then?" Lance asked.

"I'm a Poison type." "And I'm a Grass type." Jessie and James said respectively.

"What positions are you two then." Bruno asked, not interested in the food due to the story.

"We're both first." James said.

"How are you both first?" Agatha asked.

"We are the first Elite Double battle team," Jessie replied, "If you want to know more, grab a spare table, chairs and some food, then we will tell you more."

At the same time, Paul was being asked (to him it was an interrogation) about himself and the Mt Silver Elite Four by the Unova Elite Four.

"So what is your speciality then?" Marshall asked.

"Heavy." Paul said.

"What position are you?" Grimsley questioned.

"Second."

"Where are you from?" Catlin asked sleepily.

"Sinnoh."

"Do you ever say anything more than one word?" Shantel asked.

"Yes."

"Then can you say a sentence with more than one word please." Alder said.

"Good bye." And with that, Paul walked off leaving the Unova Elite Four puzzled by the one sided conversation.

Steffan on the other hand was happily talking to the Hoenn Elite Four, Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia, Drake and Steven were all there talking to him, asking him about how the new Elite Four came to be.

"Well it is all thanks to Champion Red and Elite Leader Rocky." Steffan said.

"How come?" Sidney asked.

"They both decided to leave their old lives behind and came here to train, as they became stronger Red invited Paul over for a battle, he lost pretty bad, and this was just after he had won the Lilly of the Valley Conference after entering it a second time," Steffan said, "Jessie, James and Meowth defected from Team Rocket and Red and Rocky helped them, I happened to lose in the Finals on the Johto League, after coming here to train, I found this place when it was half done, but I battled Red as well, I lost even worse than Paul did, but I was asked to stay and this is the outcome."

"So what type do you specialise in?" Drake asked.

"Water types."

"Do you do anything in your spare time?" Glacia asked.

"I'm a competitive swimmer," Steffan replied, "I swim against my Pokémon to train and I enter some race meetings when I feel like it."

"So you are one with your Pokémon then?" Steven asked in a serious tone, he was the only one that noticed the small stone that was on a band around his left wrist.

"I guess you could say that." Steffan said as his right had covered the band, this confirmed Stevens suspicions, Steffan knew about Mega Evolution.

"Well I got to go, bye." Steffan said as he walked off, as he did, he cast a quick glance at Phoebe, who in return, went a little red in the cheeks. Steven was the only one who noticed this again.

"If you like him, then you are going to have to show him how much you like him." Steven whispered to Phoebe.

"I do not." She whispered back without taking her eyes off of Steffan.

In the centre of the room by the food, Rocky was reaching for a breakfast bar as the Sinnoh Elite Four descended upon him, he turned around to see Aaron, Bertha, Flint and Lucian standing there.

"So what's your name Rocky Helmet guy?" Flint asked.

"You just said it Flint." Brock said.

"What guy?" Aaron said.

"No Rocky." Brock replied.

"So I guess that you are a Rock type user." Bertha said.

"Yep."

"Why do you wear a helmet?" Lucian asked.

"That's personal, the same will go for Red."

"The Champion of Mt Silver?" Flint asked.

"Yes, now I will answer your questions, unless they are personal to any of us." Brock said, and with that Brock's Breakfast bar was forgotten.

Lastly, sitting in the corner of the room, Ash was sitting alone with his Lucario meditating and Pikachu hiding in Ash's hood so he was not see. But someone still came over to him and that was…

"Hi, may I sit here?" Ash looked up to see that the Sinnoh Champion was standing in front of him with two plates of food, she was looking down at Ash with that one silver eye that her long golden blonde hair did not cover, she was, as always, dressed in her usual black outfit.

"Go ahead." Ash said, glad of the fact that his hood hid his face, he did not need Cynthia to know who he was and that he was going red, years ago on top of Spear Pillar, Ash had finally figured out his feelings for Cynthia, but he was fifteen years old, he did not know what to do, so he kept them hidden.

"Here have this." Cynthia said as she handed him one of the plates of food.

"Why?"

"A peace offering." She replied. Ash laughed at this.

"Thanks, you truly are as friendly as he said." Ash said.

"Who said?" Cynthia asked, intrigued by his statement.

"Ash Ketchum." Ash replied.

Cynthia dropped the fork she was holding, 'This man had met Ash,' she thought, 'perhaps he could help me find him.

FLASHBACK 7 years ago

Cynthia was in Pallet town, after watching Ash in the Unova League she decided that it was time to confess her feelings to him, how she held herself back from telling him when they were in Undella Town she did not know. As she got to Ash's house all she heard was.

"Why on Earth are you all going to tell him that?" The shouting had come from Ash's house, it sounded like it was coming from a middle aged woman, the next thing she knew, the front door was opened and out came a load of people, and she recognised some of them from when she had seen Ash on his journeys. They were all friends or rivals to Ash. A Mr Mime came out after then and started hitting them with a broom stick. The next thing she knew, Ash's mother came out of the house, and she looked angry.

"Leave Pallet Town, all of you!" Delia Ketchum screamed, "And don't ever come back." At these words, Mr Mime used Psychic on the group of youngsters and they went flying off screaming.

"Now we know what Team Rocket feels like!"

Delia Ketchum then set her gaze on Cynthia, if looks could kill, Cynthia would have been completely destroyed. "Are you one of Ash's so called friends who wants him to give up on everything he has worked for?"

"No, Ash is a very special person to me, I needed to tell him something important." Cynthia said.

"Well there is no point looking for him here." Delia said with tears in her eyes.

"Why?" Cynthia said with hurt in her voice, hoping that Delia didn't say what she thought she was going to say.

"He called me," Delia said whilst crying, "He told me that he was leaving Pallet town for good, he said that his 'friends' wanted him to give up on his dream, so he is leaving everyone just so he can get better and prove that he can be the best."

Cynthia felt like she had just hit the ground after falling from a great height. Whilst Delia didn't say what Cynthia had thought that she was going to say, what was said was worse by far. The two women went back into the house and cried together with their Pokémon looking after them.

FLASHBACK END

"Cynthia?" Ash asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She lied. "When did you see Ash?"

"Seven years ago." Ash lied, "He was running from those that did betrayed him."

"You haven't seen him since?"

"No, but I will give you something from Ash for you and one other person, if you tell me what he was to you." Ash proposed.

"He was the person that understood me," Cynthia began, "He was the person that showed me love, and he was the person that I can truly say that I love, I will never stop searching for him, even if I am old and frail."

"Meet me under the big tree in the Poké Park after the Opening Ceremony and I shall give you and Delia Ketchum what he left the two of you."

"Thank you." Was all Cynthia could say.

At that point Scott and Mr Goodshow called everyone over so they could go through the rules.

"There are 4096 trainers competing in total2 Mr Goodshow began.

"So we will start off with two rounds of Double Battles." Scott finished.

"We have paired all of you up together which works because the Champion of Johto and Kanto is the same person." Mr Goodshow explained.

"And there is two people in one Elite Member slot for Mt Silver, so these are the pairs, Rocky and Bertha, Paul and Karen, Steffan and Phoebe (the two of them blushed a bit at this), Jessie and James, Red and Cynthia, (A/N I'm not listing all the pairs so use your imagination)." Scott said whilst reading the names of a list.

"Then, with 256 people left, we will continue with single battles." Mr Goodshow said.

"So if everyone can meet up in the Stadium for the opening Ceremony later where we will be presenting the new Elite Four and Champion to everyone." Scott Finished.

"So, we will see you around." Mr Goodshow said as he and Scott left the room. Everyone started finding their partners and talking strategies. But Ash left because he needed to get his mother here so he could give her his gift.

A/N First thanks to DragonEmperor999, TravelingMan93, espeon44, Cutesaralisa, NightTheWatcher, Frankestrike, True Master and Jdog998 for following and/or favourite the story, reviews are welcome, this is the start of two relationships AshxCynthia and PhoebexOC(Steffan), if you want me to do others, just say who with who and I will consider it. So until next time, RhysZ99 is out a here.