Ash reached the battlefield to see that John Smith was already standing opposite him in his trainer box, wearing a suit that Ash was getting hot just looking at. When Ash was in his trainer box John asked, "Would you like to go first?"

Ash shrugged and said, "It doesn't really matter to me who goes first as long as you aren't anything like the last one I went up against."

"I see. Well then, in that case…Charizard, soar and claim victory!"

Ash thought, 'Huh, maybe I should come up with some catch phrase of my own. In any case, this is just great,' looking at Riolu at his side. 'I'm going to have to face down a Charizard, a fire and flying type with Riolu, a fighting type. Just peachy." He grinned at Riolu and said, "Okay girl, let's do this."

Riolu jumped forward with a "Ri! buoyed by her trainers determination to continue, even if he was lacking in confidence.

The announcer said, "Whenever you're ready," having returned to his desk after calling out their names.

John said, "Charizard, use Inferno!" as soon as the announcer stopped speaking.

Ash said, "Use Detect!" knowing from john's last battle that he wouldn't have time to do much more than call an attack before thetre wouldn't be enough time for Riolu to do anything before it hit. Riolu ran to the left of the blue stream of flames and kept on going, just out of reach until it had almost reached the edge of the field, at which point it backflipped over it, missing the flames by mere centimetres. When it landed, Ash said, "Now, use Feint to get close and use Force Palm!" Riolu disappeared from the sight of john, Ash and Charizard, reappearing a second before Charizard was blasted by a beam of energy from close range.

Charizard got knocked back and into the air, but quickly recovered to reveal that the attack hadn't done much more than make it angry. Charizard roared its rage and flew up higher, furious that a shortstack pokémon like Riolu thought that it was its equal.

Riolu disrespectfully said, "Rio, ri, riol Riolu ri Riolu ri riolu ri riol!" which Ash took to mean 'come 'n' get me if you're all that!'

Charizard roared as its wings glowed white, not waiting for an order from john. When Charizard flapped its wings at Riolu, a massive crescent blade of wind shot forth at Riolu. john called, "What're you doing Charizard? I didn't give you an order!"

Ash thought, 'If Charizard is ignoring its trainer over something as petty as Riolu challenging it, then maybe…' Ash said, "Riolu, charge Blaze Kick and jump on that blade!"

Riolu grinned and said, "Riol!" as both of its feet caught fire and it jumped in the air, using the wind blade as a stepping stone to jump up to Charizard.

On the upper level Adelia said to Celia, I like the kid's spunk."

Celia said, "Yeah," grinning as she leaned on the rail.

When Riolu was close enough to Charizard, she grabbed its tail and pulled n it, tugging herself around to the back and climbed up it as Charizard flew up as quickly as it could, trying to get it off, flicking it out to wither side in an attempt to loosen Riolu's grip. It didn't work. Eventually Riolu got on Charizard's back. When it did, Charizard started to barrel roll as it tried to grab Riolu. Riolu grabbed onto where Charizard's wings attached to its body and held on to it like its life depended on it; and it did because at the speed that they were rolling through the air, it would have been thrown who knows how far off the ship.

John called out, "Charizard! Calm down!"

Charizard misheard and, instead of calming down, flew straight down. As fast as it could. As Ash saw the two pokémon rushing at the ground at high speed he thought, 'Oh no! What the hell's going on? That thing's out of control!' he called out, "Riolu, use force palm on its wing!" Even as he gave the command he thought, 'I'm sorry.'

Riolu let go of Charizard's wing with her left hand and aimed it at Charizard's left wing and blasted it, breaking the wing, causing it to flare out, making their fall uncontrolled, but slower, if only jut. Just before they crashed into the battlefield, Riolu launched itself away from Charizard and rolled a bit before springing from the ground. It put its hand on the ground, sliding to a stop in front of Ash. Charizard pushed itself off the ground and stood up, shaking its head, his injury knocking him out of his rage. It winced and grabbed at its wing trying to brace it against the pain, but it was unable to reach it. John saw what his Charizard was doing and thought, 'Did that Force Palm break its wing? If so, should I end this?'Just then he saw Charizard look back at him with fire in its eyes. He thought, 'Okay, I guess quitting it out. So then what do I do now?" a Charizard without both wings practically has its power cut in hal…wait…' "Charizard, use Steel Wing and keep it going."

Charizard let out a sound of agreement. Its wings metallized and the stabbing pain turned into a dull throb. John asked, "Are you good to go on?" Charizard nodded, extending its right arm to the side, its thumb pointing at the sky.

Ash's shoulders slumped. He commented, "I would've thought that that wing would have caused it to give up."

John said, "We've never given up before, and we won't be giving up now! Rather than us, you should be worried about Riolu. That fall can't be good for its health."

Ash looked at Riolu, not saying anything. Riolu, concerned, looked back at her trainer and saw him looking at the ground. Then, as she was about to tell him that she was good to go, she saw his mouth twitch. It widened into a full-blown grin and he said, "We'll be fine. We can handle anything that you can throw at us and then some."

Riolu felt something warm rush over her from the top of her head down to her toes, then something powerful within her swelled up and burst forth, filling her completely. To the surprise of every viewer, including Ash himself, Riolu was covered by a bright blue light and the form swelled and grew. When the light died down, Lucario let out a cry, announcing itself to the world. Ash said, "Lu…cario?" and pointed his pokédex at it.

The pokédex scanned Lucario and said, 'Lucario. The aura pokémon and the evolved form of Riolu. by sensing the aura of its opponents Lucario can read their thoughts and movements. It is said that no foe can remain invisible to Lucario since it can detect auras, even foes that it could not otherwise see.'

While he was listening ot the rundown on Lucario, Ash scanned Lucario's moveset. When the pokédex was done, Ash said, "Okay Lucario, let's do this."

Lucario nodded as she said, "Luca!"

John said, "This changes nothing! All that's happened is that it's changed one weakness for another. Charizard, use Fire Spin!"

Charizard didn't move, not entirely comfortable with the thought of injuring its wing more. It breathed a stream of spiralling flames at Lucario.

As it came at Lucario, Ash said, "Lucario, spin a Bone Rush to the left!" Lucario brought her hands together and spread them apart, creating a light blue bone of energy she then spun it counter-directional to Charizard's Fire Spin.

On the top deck, Adelia laughingly said, "This kid's nuts. Riolu can't have been with him for very long and it's already evolved."

Celia said, "He must have caught it with a Friend Ball. But even so, they showed some impressive loyalty to each other. It's rare to see that in many long-time trainers, let alone in ones that have only just started. You'll have to keep an eye out for him Adelia."

"Me? Are you sure that you aren't the one that should be keeping an eye out?"

"There's no doubt that that kid's tactics are flashy enough to be in a contest, but the way he battles is a dead giveaway."

Adelia sighed and said, "Well you're going to have to explain that to me. You've always been the one that cares about that stuff, so I've no idea what you're talking about."

"It's rather simple really. That girl that he's with, Jessie I think it was, fights like a coordinator."

"I still don't get it," Adelia sighed.

"Okay. The way we coordinators fight is to take advantage of our opponents' pokémon, and their attacks, and turn them to our advantage. Just like the girl did with Sunflora's Petal Blizzard attack."

"Okay, I guess that I can see that."

"Good. Now remember how the first thing that the kid did after Charizard flew up in the air was to get it back down again so that they could fight the battle their way. That is why trainer battles are more intense than coordinator battles."

Adelia thought over all of her League Battles and compared them to her sisters' and saw that there was some truth to what she was saying. That was when Lucario brought its bone into contact with the side of Charizard's head, knocking it out. She said, "Oh!" and grinned cheekily. She continued, "Looks like your boyfriend's up Celia."

"How many times Adelia? Jeb isn't my boyfriend! He's just someone that I regularly meet up with at a lot of contests!" Celia exclaimed, halfway between embarrassed and exasperated with her twin's continued insistence of a non-existent relationship between herself and her greatest rival.

Adelia giggled as she said, "If you say so Celia."

About a minute later Jeb's Rhydon was lying down on the battlefield, unconscious. The battle had been a complete mismatch. It only took one Close Combat and one Leaf Blade for Avery's Gallade to take him down. When it was over the announcer said, "Well, that was...I don't have the words."

"Well I sure do, the ship's captain said, grabbing the microphone. "It was completely one sided. It was likely because Jeb hadn't trained his pokémon correctly for this format. In any case, Avery is moving on to the third round. Next up is Celia Adler and Jessie…Veldhuizen?"

"That's right!" Jessie exclaimed from where she was standing, surprised that someone could actually say her last name right without her having to tell them how to say it. "How'd you know how to say it?"

"You're not the only one with a difficult name," the captain said, not elaborating further as Jessie took her place in the closest trainer box. When Celia was standing opposite, she called out, "Blaze on, Charmander!" tossing her pokéball out over the field, this time without the ball capsule.

Once Charmander was on the field, Celia said, "Take control, Gallade!" tossing her pokéball over the field. The pokéball exploded into a bright pink light that had purple undertones and Gallade burst from it, landing dramatically in front of the light. When the light had died down, Celia said, "Oh? You didn't use your Ball Capsule this time?"

"No," Jessie said. "It's pointless to do the same thing twice."

Celia grinned and said, "If you know that already, then I'll need to watch out for you on the Hoenn Circuit."

"You think?"

Celia smiled and said, "Yeah, but we've still gotta find out who wins this first."

"I couldn't agree more," Jessie said. "Charmander, use Ember!"

Charmander shot ten small balls of fire at Gallade. Celia said, "Gallade, use Shadow Sneak." Gallade collapsed into its shadow on the ground and it rushed along the ground straight at Charmander, just as Ember would have hit. Gallade burst from the shadow, uppercutting Charmander into the air. While Charmander was in the air, Celia said, "Gallade, use Psyshock!" Gallade brought its hands in front of it and generated an orb of pink psychic energy and threw it at Charmander from close range. It blasted into Charmander, knocking it from the ring unconscious.

Jessie ran and caught Charmander before it fell to the ground, preventing it from taking any more damage than it already had. She asked, "Are you alright Charmander?" looking at it, worry written all over her face. Charmander let out a weak 'chaarr', patting her cheek reassuringly. Jessie grinned at I and said, "You did great," and returned it to its pokéball.

Celia walked over to Jessie and said, "Hey, is Charmander alright? Even I can admit that that was pretty brutal."

"It'll be fine. It just needs to rest for a bit."

Celia sighed and said, "That's a relief."

"Yeah. I know. Wait. Why's it a relief for you?"

"Well…" Celia hesitantly said, scratching her head as she looked to the side and said, "Gallade is my strongest pokémon and my sister keeps on telling me that whenever I use it in a battle, I tend to get a bit…"

Adelia called out, "Computerish!"

A sweatdrop appeared on Celia and Jessie's foreheads as they looked up at the source. Celia looked at Jessie and said, "Yeah, that." The two girls walked up the stairs, Celia explaining exactly what 'computerish' meant. Jessie got off on the second deck while Celia kept on going.

As the two girls abandoned the field, the announcer grabbed the microphone back from the ship's captain and said, "Would Theodore Tell and Fred Forsythe please come down to the field."

While the next two trainers came down to the field, Jessie said to Ash, "Well, that was a letdown," blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Well…to be fair, you were up against an experienced psychic type that also has attributes of a fighting type pokémon."

"True, but even so, I wish that I could've put up more of a fight." Ash shrugged, not knowing what to say.

That was when Theodore and Fred reached the field and Fred said, "Theo," nodding to greet his cousin, not knowing that he had been on the boat. "I didn't know that you were on this boat too."

"Yeah, well it was a last minute thing."

"So, you coming to my place?"

"Well, I wasn't. But I suppose I could make a stop off on my way to Sinnoh."

"You're going to Sinnoh? Why? I thought that you had already gone through that region."

"Yeah, but I've been thinking that I want to try a change of pace for a while, so I'll be entering the contests there."

"You're giving coordinating a shot? I never thought I'd see the day."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't my idea."

"Really? Who's was it then?"

"Who do you think?" Theo sarcastically said.

Fred shrugged and said, "Well, I guess that there was never really any doubt."

"True enough. In any case, who's first?"

"Well…why don't we leave it to the officials?"

"Good idea," Theo said, looking at the people at the desk at the same time as his cousin.

The announcer shrugged and said, "Well, alright," digging in his pocket for a coin. He said, "Heads, it's Fred, tails it's Theodore. Sound good?"

"That's fine by me. Fred?"

'Sure," Fred agreed.

With that, the announcer flipped the coin, caught it and forced it on the table, covered by his palm. He moved his hand away and showed the result to his fellow adjudicators. He looked at them and they nodded, telling him that they had registered it. The announcer said, "It's tails. So Theodore, you'll be going first."

"Right!" Theodore said. "Ride the wave of victory, Golduck!"

Fred almost burst out laughing. In the end he said, "'Ride the wave of victory'? Theo, you're really going to have to come up with something else. That's a bit too obnoxious, even amongst coordinators."

Theodore scratched the back of his head and said, "Yeah, well it's a work in progress, alright?"

"It better be, unless you want to be laughed out of every contest hall you enter."

"How would you know? You're a trainer, just like me!"

"Yeah, but I've gone to many contests if I've been in a town when they were on."

"Oh? Maybe I should stay with your family for a while, while I practice, then."

"Sure. My mum always misses you for some reason."

"Well, to be fair, when we were younger we did spend most of our free time together."

"I suppose that there is some truth in that. In any case, that has nothing to do with what we're doing now."

"No. it doesn't."

Fred said, "So I'll be going with Toxicroak," pointing Toxicroak's pokéball towards the field. A red beam shot from the pokéball and formed into the shape of the Toxic Mouth Pokémon. The red light shone bright before disappearing, leaving Toxicroak standing there in all of its aqua glory.

Seeing its upcoming opponent, he cocked his head, seeing his trainer's cousin standing in the opposing trainer box. He looked at his trainer and said, "Crooo-aaakk?!" Fred nodded. Toxicroak turned back to face down Golduck and called out, "Cro-aaakkk!"

"Okay. Ready Fred?" When Fred nodded, Theodore said, "Golduck, use Scald!" prompting Golduck to shoot a stream of steaming water at Toxicroak.

Fred said, "Toxicroak, use Brick Break." Toxicroak's arm was surrounded by a mass of light blue energy as the hot water rushed at him. When it was close enough Toxicroak brought its arm down on the stream of water, splitting the stream in two, shooting either side of its body.

Theodore said, "As tricky as ever, Fred," as the stream died down.

"I suppose that I should probably take that as a compliment, coming from you Theo."

"Golduck, use Aqua Jet!" Golduck was surrounded by water as it rushed at Toxicroak, a stream of water in its wake.

As Golduck closed on Toxicroak Fred thought, 'Okay, this'll let us test out that move that I had that old guy reteach Toxicroak.' He said, "Toxicroak, take it and use Revenge!"

"Oh no! Golduck!" Theodore exclaimed as Golduck slammed into Toxicroak and forced it backwards. While it was being forced backwards Toxicroak started to glow red and it raised its arm over its head and grabbed it with his other one before the glow focused on his hands and he brought them down on Golduck's neck, knocking it to the ground, and out.

Once Theodore and Fred had returned their Pokémon and were on their way back to the second deck, this time together, the announcer said, "Next up is James Jamison and he'll be going up against James Smith, the son of John, who was up earlier." There was a round of cheers, the viewers hoping to see a match to equal the first.

When both James' were on the field, the announcer said, "James Jamison would you please release your Pokémon first?"

"Sure," James said, and flipped his pokéball in the air, releasing Koffing before catching it again in the same hand. Once it was free, Koffing came to levitate just to the left of James, letting the trainer keep an eye on what the opponent did.

James Smith said, "Rage on, Charizard!" flinging his pokéball over the field, catching it upon its return.

When Charizard came out of its pokéball and roared, ready for battle. James' mouth started to twitch as he started to say, "He he hehe he…uhh…I forfeit," possessing no desire to put his Koffing through any sort of an encounter with the roaring mass of firepower.

The same thing happened in the next battle, when a coordinator named Buzz Quirke, sent out his Mothim against James Smith's mother, Jane, who also had a Charizard. The announcer said, "Allright," cracking his neck to both sides as the trainers returned their Pokémon. He was getting somewhat annoyed by the lack of enjoyable battles, having expected a lot more by small the number of trainers that had entered their tournament. "Next up is Jill Smith versus Blake Breakspear."

Once Jill and Blake were on the field, Blake said, "Would you like to go first Jill?"

"Sure," Jill shrugged. "Soar to victory, Charizard!"

Blake exclaimed, "Another Charizard!" and went over the other appearances of them in the tournament thus far. When he was done, he thought, 'Okay, every single one of those blasted things knew fire type moves. So, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance of Jill's being the same. In that case...' Blake said, "I'm not interested in getting my Bisharp barbequed by that blazing behemoth. I'm forfeiting too."

The announcer said, "Fine, get back to your places. The next match is between Natalia Gineuva and Adelia Adler. I will not be accepting forfeitures this time. Is that understood?"

Adelia grinned as she walked onto the battlefield, saying, "Heh, you've no worries about that with me. It's not in me to just give up and run."

"Nor me," Natalia said as she joined her opponent on the field.

"Good," The announcer said, well and truly fed up at the rate of forfeitures.

Natalia said, "I'll go first, if that's alright?"

"Sure," Adelia said, "go right ahead."

"Very well," Natalia nodded gracefully. "Go Gardevoir," pointing her pokéball at the field. From it, a shiny Gardevoir took form.

Adelia said, "Oh? A Gardevoir huh?"

"Yes. She's been with me for quite some time now, so I figured that she would be the perfect one to choose for this tournament."

"I see," Adelia grinned. "So she could be considered your 'Ace' then?"

"I suppose, though even she has to admit that 'he' is stronger."

"Oh? Well, I don't know if I should be glad or annoyed."

"I find that if you are caught between two emotions, choosing either the lighter one is usually more rewarding. However, if you are unable to do so, I suggest going for a mixture of the two."

"Uhh…It was rhetorical," Adelia said, not quite sure what to make of her opponent. "In any case, I choose you, Hitmonchan!" throwing her pokéball onto the field with gusto.

"You're going with a Hitmonchan?" Natalia said, "If you still had the option, then I would have suggested that you forfeit now."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"To save yourself the embarrassment."

Adelia grinned tightly as she said, "Embarrassment? Me? Well, I think that you should do the same. Because, after I beat you, you'll be the laughing stock of the ship."

Natalia scowled, thinking, 'For that, I can't just beat her without humiliating her first.' She growled out, "You bitch!"

"Your go," Adelia lightly said.

Up in the stands, Celia sighed as she shook her head, thinking, 'Adelia, you're still getting excited too easily.'

One level down, Jessie said to Ash, "This isn't going to be good."

"I don't know about that," Ash said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, remember you went up against Celia Adler and remember what Pokémon she used?"

"She used a…wait…you think that…well, it wouldn't be surprising really. Which means that this battle will be up in the air after all."

"Well, either that or a complete cakewalk."

On the battlefield, Natalia said, "Gardevoir, use Psychic."

As a blue aura began to surround Hitmonchan, Adelia said, "Hitmonchan, use Substitute!" Hitmonchan's eyes turned white and seemed to expand as it was surrounded by a red aura, which was quickly supplanted by the blue one. But it wasn't quick enough, as, even as Gardevoir threw the Hitmonchan that it had trapped from the ring, Adelia said, "Now, use Mach Punch!"

Natalia said, "What are you…" and then her eyes widened as she saw a Hitmonchan run straight for Gardevoir. She exclaimed, "What? How is that possib…" then Hitmonchan hammered its fist straight into Gardevoir, dealing increased damage due to Iron Fist. "…le?" as her Gardevoir slid to a stop, just before the edge of the field.

Adelia grinned and said, "I wonder?" having zero intentions of revealing how she had managed to come up with the strategy, mainly because it had a lot to do with luck, and annoyance at her sister's constant attitude. Coincidently, it is also why she continued to tease her about her and Jeb. "Now Hitmonchan, don't give her time to recover and keep going with Mach Punch!"

As Hitmonchan raced to belt Gardevoir from the field, Natalia thought, quickly, 'Okay, Psychic is out, so that means that I have my performance moves left, along with…that might work.' She said, "Use teleport," just as Hitmonchan hit top speed. Gardevoir teleported from where it was to the middle of the field.

Unfortunately for Adelia, Hitmonchan was moving too quickly to stop in time and ran out of the battle area, disqualifying itself from the battle. Adelia covered her eyes with her right hand as the announcer grumpily said, "Hitmonchan is out of the field of battle, therefore, due to tournament rules, it cannot continue to battle. Thereby, the winner by disqualification, is Natalia." Adelia joined her sister on the top deck, muttering about, 'stupid area limits', much to her sister's amusement.