Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of 'The Parallel Challenger'! I'm really excited as always with this new chapter. Last time, I broke the normal battle pattern by making Red explore Infernape's mind with the help of Espeon. After discovering the darkness within him, Ash was able to calm down his Pokémon before it was able to do more damage to anyone like he did with Snorlax earlier in the chapter.

Thanks to beastmode953, Omegaxis1, ampplaca1, Imperishable Soul, DrakenSword0z, JJWalker, Trainer Theta, DracoBlitzen, Starlighz, Golfer2012, VitorioColeogne, Bellatrix Katrina Riddle, aloasa, Midnightmoon602, Elite Luther, Halos94 and ChloboShoka.

Oh, and if you want to read another Pokémon fic about Ash and Red, read my friend Trainer Theta's Clash with a titan. It certainly gives another perspective of Ash meeting the Kanto Champion, with the latter being completely silent. It's really interesting and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Ash-meeting-Red fics with a dark theme in the plot.

Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger

Chapter 11: Equals

"Ok. Let's continue with this." Brock said as the referee. "This battle will be between Ash's Infernape and Red's Espeon. Are both contestants, ready?"

"Yeah!/Sure." Both counterparts replied.

"Ok. BEGIN!"

"Infernape is still weak because of that mental breakdown he had. Better start with something not so harsh." Ash thought as he started with his orders. "Infernape, Flamethrower!"

"Shadow Ball..." The young Champion ordered his Pokémon.

Both attacks collided, forming a big explosion.

"Where is he?"

As Infernape and Ash looked for the opponent, Espeon came out of the dust as if it was nothing, confronting the Fire-ape really close.

"Shadow Ball."

The attack hit directly Infernape in the chest, sending him flying and crashing with a tree nearby, damaging him greatly. Espeon landed with grace as he waited for his opponent to make his move.

"Infernape are you ok?"

"Infer..." The Pokémon got up with difficulty and nodded to his trainer.

"Ugh. Try another Flamethrower!"

"Dodge." Red barely ordered his Pokémon.

Infernape unleashed the flames once again, heading where the Psychic Eeveelution was, but he just dodge it with ease and landed, looking Infernape directly in the eyes. While Infernape didn't get angry at Espeon for that, he was more like worried about how would he able to continue battling that way.

"It's bad enough that Infernape can't move properly, but it's worse when this Espeon has an amazing speed and a great offensive." Sweat started falling from Ash's hair.

Red saw Ash's insecurity once again, and tried to pressure him to see his reaction...

"Maybe it was a bad idea to make him continue the battle." The young Champion said to his counterpart. "Maybe you should return him to his Pokéball."

"Red's right. Maybe I should..."

"Infernape!"

Ash turned to see his Fire ape Pokémon smiling at him, while using his fist to show that he wasn't going to leave the battlefield until he had given everything. Ash smiled back at his Pokémon and then turned to see Red.

"Don't worry about it, Red! Infernape still has lots of energy to take Espeon on! You'll see!"

"One thing is listening to yourself, and one thing is listening to your Pokémon. The one who can truly understand his Pokémon's feelings, hides a potential beyond anything." The Kanto Champion smiled softly. "Very well then..."

Meanwhile, with to the group...

"While Infernape's power is amazing, the mental breakdown he just had a couple of minutes ago may have drained all his energy. I'm surprised that he is still standing." Prof. Oak remarked.

"Well, Ashy-boy certainly has to play his cards well. He may be with more Pokémon, but one wrong move and Red can overpower him completely." Gary replied.

"Why Infernape is continue fighting so hard? He is going to be hurt badly!" Dawn said with a worried tone.

"It's his pride." The Pokémon watcher replied to the Sinnoh coordinator. "There are stubborn Pokémon who won't back off until they give everything they got to show everyone else who's got enough power to win."

"Kind of showing his trainer's nature, right?" The youngest of the group, Max, said while grabbing his glasses.

"But Ash must be very careful. Psychics are really powerful against Fighting types, and for Ash's bad luck, Infernape is part Fighting type." Misty said to herself.

"The battle could go either way...but I know Ash will pull through this...he always does...but..." The brunette coordinator thought as she looked at Ash's opponent. "Red..."

Returning to the battle...

"Infenape, we can't afford to lose! Let's continue!"

"Infernape!" The Pokémon nodded to his trainer.

"Now, approach to Espeon as near as you can!" Ash ordered to his Pokémon.

"...!" Red was confused by his counterpart's reasoning, yet he couldn't doubt of his judgenment. "Espeon...get ready."

The fire ape started running as fast as he could to where the Eeveelution was. Espeon took a battle stance as he watched carefully the moves of his opponent. Every single step was analyzed by Espeon to see what would be the change of pattern within Infernape's movements.

And he got it.

"Psychic."

The Psychic Pokémon was engulfed by a purple aura, as his eyes became white and looked directly at the Fire ape.

"Infernape, now!"

Before the contact could be made between Espeon and Infernape, the latter, with great speed and ability, used a Mach Punch directly on the ground, cracking part of it, creating a bid fissure in the process. The fissure was going to reach Espeon, so he evaded it and lost concentration on the Psychic attack.

"...!"

"Now's our chance! Mach Punch!"

The Fire ape roared as his hand was engulfed within a white light, and managed to land a hit directly on the Psychic type's face. Espeon was sent flying because of the impact, but managed to land normally. Even though it wasn't that effective on him, Espeon still felt the massive power that Infernape possessed, and was now glaring at the Fire ape for doing so.

"Good job, Infernape!" Ash gave the thumbs up for his Pokémon.

"Infernape!"

"Hmph. Nice...it was a good way to counter the Psychic connection between both Pokémon..." Red smiled to his loyal Psychic type and then looked at Ash. "It won't work again, though."

"Heh. Thanks." Ash replied as he rubbed his nose.

"Let's continue. Espeon...Shadow Ball." The young Champion ordered.

"Peon!"

The Psychic type started forming a dark energy ball outside of his mouth really fast. However, everyone except Espeon's trainer was surprised to see that the energy ball was getting bigger and bigger, reaching the point that it was even bigger than Espeon itself.

"What the...?"

"Unleash."

From the gigantic dark energy, Shadow Balls emerged, taking different directions, but all heading where Infernape was. The Pokémon took a battle stance and waited for orders.

"Infernape, you know what to do!"

The Fire ape nodded as he unleashed a powerful Flamethrower as he jumped and started to rotate with a great skill. The flames that he emanated started to engulf him, eventually being completely surrounded by powerful blazes. The dark balls started hitting Infernape's flames, as he continue rotating producing more flames that hit the Shadow Balls, destroying them before colliding and making damage to Infernape.

"What an interesting defensive strategy..."

"That's Counter Shield for you." Ash smiled. "A move I come up with during my journey in the Sinnoh region!"

"Interesting." Red grabbed the brim of his cap. "However, you let yourself wide open."

"What?"

As the clash stopped, Infernape stopped rotating and landed in the floor. However, when he opened his eyes, Espeon was just a few inches from him. The Pokémon backed off, surprised of the sudden appearance of the Psychic type, but it was too, late. Espeon was engulfed by a purple aura that also engulfed Infernape, trapping it in the power of Psychic.

"Infernape, no!"

"Espeon, send him flying really high." The young Champion ordered.

The Psychic type nodded, and Infernape starting floating far and far away from the floor, so far away that everyone only saw him as a tiny dot in the sky.

"What are you going to do?" Ash asked worried.

"Finish this match. Espeon, bring him down." Red looked in a different way.

The Psychic type nodded, as he used his abilities to bring Infernape down, making him collide with the ground really hard, cracking it in the process. When it became visible for the others, Infernape was lying on the ground, almost unable to move. He tried to get up slowly, but he wasn't obtaining any good results.

"Infernape, you can do it!"

"Infer...nape!"

The Pokémon got up with difficulites, roared as the flames in his head starting growing, creating a flame as big as the Fire ape. The Pokémon's eyes turned slighty red, as he unleashed a powerful Flamethrower in the direction of Espeon. The Psychic type dodged it easily, but Infernape didn't want that attack to land in the first place.

"Blaze once again, huh?" Red thought.

"Infernape, are you going to be ok?" Ash asked to his Pokémon.

"Infernape!" Even with his power-up, the Pokémon turned to face his trainer, smiling and showing him he was going to put everything in this last moment. Ash realized that and smiled to his Pokémon

"Heh. Let's do it then. Infernape! Use FLARE BLITZ!"

"INFERNAAAAAAPE!"

The Pokémon started running really fast where Espeon was, charging at him as he was engulfed by powerful blazing blue flames. His face showed that he was going to give his all in this final attack.

"Hyper Beam."

The young Champion gave his order, and his loyal Espeon stared accumulating a big amount of energy outside his mouth, finally unleashing it as a big and destructive energy beam that headed directly to collide with the Fire ape.

"AAAAAAAAAAAPE!"

The Pokémon roared as he charged even faster, not backing off and completely sure without doubts that he was going to collide with the destructive and brutal attack.

Both attacks collided, resulting on a big explosion that made a lot of dust cover the battle field. When it became visible, Infernape was lying on the ground, with swirls on his eyes. He was fainted, meaning that the battle was over for him.

"Infernape can no longer battle! The winner is Espeon from Red's side!" Brock took his role as the referee once again.

"Infernape, you did a great job..." Ash said as he approached to his Pokémon, grabbing his Pokéball to return him.

"Infer..." The Pokémon tried to avoid eye contact with his trainer, feeling ashamed of his loss.

"You did what you could, Infernape. You were really hurt, and yet you continued fighting all the way." Ash gave his Pokémon a warm smile. "I'm really proud of you."

The Pokémon started emanating tears from his eyes and smiling, as he was returned to his Pokéball. Ash returned then to his side of the field.

"So things are equal for the moment." Ash said while looking to his counterpart. "Even though this is a serious battle, I can't help but get excited with all of this."

"Hmph." Red smiled. "Indeed. Anyway, let's continue. Select your next Pokémon."

"Alright." Ash had already made his choice. "Krookodile, it's your turn."

"Krooko!"

The Pokémon headed to his battle position, glaring at Red, probably still with his pride hurt from his last battle. Especially since his beloved sunglasses were burned by Charizard's Blast Burn.

"Oh, Krookodile. I forgot to give you something." He took out an object and threw it to his Pokémon.

"Krooko?" The Pokémon looked at it, and he noticed they were a pair of big new sunglasses, almost identical to the ones he had before the first battle with Red.

"You wouldn't be able to fight without those, aren't you? I know they aren't the ones who you originally had, but..."

Ash was interrupted by his Pokémon, who approached his trainer once again and patted his back while smiling, in sense of gratitude.

"Krookodile!" The Pokémon put on his new sunglasses as he looked with a confident look at the Psychic type.

"Very well, the match will continue. The next battle will be between Ash's Krookodile and Red's Espeon. Are both contestants ready?"

"Yeah!/Of course." Both counterparts replied.

"Ok, then. BEGIN!"

"During our last battle, your Krookodile was defeated by Charizard in a couple of minutes." Red remarked, but without any intention to be cocky or arrogant. "I believe that now that you're unleashing your full potential, his power will be WAY stronger than before."

"You can bet on it. Thanks to Brock and Prof. Oak's Max Revive, Krookodile is back with full power! Let's go, Krookodile!"

"Krooko!"

"Alright, use Dig!"

The Pokémon obeyed and made his way to the underground, leaving the Psychic type unable to see him.

"Espeon, track him."

"Peon!" The Pokémon nodded as he was surrounded by a purple aura and closed his eyes, like if he was feeling the whole environment. However, Espeon opened his eyes really quickly and backed off, as the ground collapsed under him.

"Too late! Krookodile, Dragon Claw!"

The Pokémon emerged from the underground, and with a great force, slashed the Psychic type, who groaned in pain as he flew to his side of the field, injured by the attack of the crocodile Pokémon, as the latter returned to his side of the field.

"Peon..." The Pokémon had a hurt expression on his face. Apparently, Krookodile's attack injured him more than expected.

"He's lost certain amount of energy in the previous match. But that's not all." Red looked at his opponent. "The other me's Pokémon certainly has more power than before. Also, Espeon couldn't track him. That means he's half Dark-type. Psychic won't work on him."

"Krookodile, nice job!" Ash said to his Pokémon.

"Krookodile!"

"You won't get an easy victory. Espeon..." Red said. "Shadow Ball."

"Peon!"

"Krookodile counter with Rock Slide!"

Krookodile charged his energy as rocks appeared, surrounding him and then unleashed them right at Espeon, who used the dark energy ball. However, Ash didn't know that he had made a terrible mistake.

"Now. Psychic." Espeon was surrounded by a purple aura by using one of his signature attacks.

"But Dark-types aren't affected by Psychic moves!" Ash said, confused with Red's counter.

"Correct. But your Rock-type move can be affected."

Using the power of Psychic, Espeon stopped the counter from Krookodile's side before they collided with the Shadow Ball, and made both the rocks and the Shadow Ball to head where the crocodile Pokémon was.

"Krookodile, dodge!"

The Dark-type reacted instantly, starting to dodge his own move with great skills, even using his sharp claws to destroy a few of them. When the Shadow Ball almost hit, Krookodile made a risky move, evading it with ease, but at the same time, he let himself wide open for a direct hit.

"Hyper Beam."

Since he had no way to defend himself, Krookodile received the whole attack coming from the Psychic-type, as he flew away and crashed with a rock nearby really hard.

"Krookodile!"

However, this only angered the crocodile Pokémon. No one saw the move coming, but Krookodile appeared from the wreckage of the crashing place, using his powerful Giga Impact attack and headed where Espeon was. The Eeveelution tried to stop it with his Psychic, but he was tired from firing that powerful Hyper Beam, and received the whole attack, crashing with Krookodile.

"...!" Was Red's reaction.

As the dust dissipated, Krookodile appeared, giving a V-sign with his fingers pointing at his trainer, and Espeon, who was near the Dark-type, lying on the ground, fainted.

"Espeon can no longer battle! The winner is Krookodile from Ash's side!" Brock announced.

"Krookodile, you did it!" Ash ran and hugged his Pokémon.

"Krooko!"

However, after Ash broke the hug, Krookodile showed a hurt expression, as he touched his belly. The Hyper Beam was tougher than he thought, and he had received a serious injury in there. He could continue fighting, but not as fast as before.

"Krookodile, are you ok?" Ash was worried about his Pokémon.

"Krooko...dile!" The Pokémon nodded, still with the hurt expression but he knew that he could still handle the next battle.

"Nice comeback." Red said to his counterpart. "Your Pokémon is certainly well-trained. Now you know that you didn't completely use your strength in our last battle."

"..." It was Ash's turn to stay in silence and hear what his counterpart had to say.

"I'm really impressed." Red smiled. "You have defeated four of my Pokémon, when in our last battle you barely made damage. You are definitely something else, other me."

"Well, I should thank you for that." Ash remarked.

"The battle should continue." Red said as he returned Espeon to his Pokéball. "Take a rest. You've done well."

"Krookodile, you should take a rest, too. I think Charizard is well rested now, and you will have your opportunity to rest." Ash said as he pulled out Krookodile's Pokeball.

"Krooko!" He refused to be returned as he turned to face Red.

"What? You don't want to be returned?"

"You already know what Pokémon I have left, other me." The young Kanto Champion said as he took out a Pokéball. "Therefore, you know which Pokémon is coming next."

As Red finished saying that, his Pokéball opened, the energy released took form of the orange flying lizard, Charizard, as he took flight and released a powerful amount of flames to the sky. Then he landed on the battle field, as he faced Krookodile.

"Krooko..." He glared at Charizard. He had obviously found a rival on him.

"Rawrrrr..." Charizard grinned. He expected to be released to battle Ash's Charizard, but he was also curious how strong was Krookodile now that his master had pushed his counterpart to unleash his real abilities.

Meanwhile with the others...

"Infernape managed to tire Espeon, so Krookodile would strike later." Max remarked. "Only two Pokémon to go."

"But now is Red's Charizard we're talking about. He can control his inner ability, Blaze!" Dawn said.

"Now the real battle starts. Krookodile will have to use all his strength left to make his way through the battle." Gary said.

"The final battle is coming near. Ash, I know you can do it." May thought as she put her hand near her chest, in sense of worrying for his crush.

In the next chapter...

Red: Your Pokémon was really hurt after our first battle.

Ash: Red is pushing me with everything he has. Krookodile...

Red: You haven't seen the whole power of my Charizard...

May: There's a power beyond Blaze?!

Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger

Chapter 12: Pride

Ash: Krookodile!

Red: Blaze, the next step...

So that was Chapter 11! Hope you liked it =D As every chapter, I put a really good effort on this, so please, let me know what you think about the chapter through a review. I would really appreciate it.

Anyway, I've calculated the plot so far in chapters, and I think that the story will end in Chapter 16, so we have 5 more chapters to go! Sorry for everyone who was expecting more chapters, but that is as far as this fic can go. Like every time, thanks for your reading my fic, and hope you like how is developing so far. Well, better work on the next chapter! See ya! Hollow, out!