Day 3 is the first of two break chapters I'm providing, because these battles do get a bit exhausting to write when you're juggling twelve different Pokémon and up to 36 different matchups per battle.

Hope you enjoy!


"Chu, pikapi?" Pikachu tapped Ash's face. Upon getting a snore in response, Pikachu looked on the dresser at the digital clock, which indicated that it was 8:15 in the morning. Rolling his eyes, Pikachu shook his Trainer's shoulders, still getting nothing from Ash. As he began to tap his foot on the bed impatiently, he was struck by an idea, and ran to the closet which housed all of Ash's Poké Balls. Riffing through the pile of capsules, Pikachu found the one he needed, and clicked the button, releasing Buizel in a flash of light.

The Sea Weasel Pokémon landed on the floor and asked, "What's the problem, Pikachu?"

"I need Ash to wake up and get ready so we can go out with his friends, but the alternative methods for waking him up aren't exactly... ideal at this time of morning. You think you can just spray him with some water?"

Snickering, Buizel said, "Sure," and walked over to where Ash was facing. Winding up as if he were about to use Hydro Pump, Buizel simply spat a medium-strength spout of water from his mouth towards Ash's face, startling the eighteen-year-old and causing him to fall off the bed.

"Ow..." Ash moaned as he sat back up. Buizel helped him up to his feet with an apologetic smile, and Ash asked, "Did Pikachu put you up to this, Buizel?" Suppressing a snicker, Buizel nodded, and Ash looked towards the bed, upon which Pikachu simply gave a wide smile and a thumbs-up. Looking in the closet, Ash noticed that there was one other open Poké Ball besides Buizel's and he walked over to take a look, making sure not to accidentally release another one of his Pokémon. Taking a look at the second open Poké Ball, Ash exclaimed, "This is Greninja's! But... where is he?" looking out his open window.

"Ja." Ash turned to his right to find Greninja hanging onto a lamppost while upside-down.

Laughing, Ash said, "Hey to you too, Greninja," while Buizel and Pikachu waved in the Ninja Pokémon's direction. "What are you doing up so early?" Greninja looked towards a practice training field, where Alain, Mairin, and Alain's Charizard were staring up at him.

"Hey, Alain!" Ash called out from his window, waving towards the Kalosian Trainer.

A small smile came up on Alain's face as Mairin happily waved towards Ash, and he said, "Hey Ash, what're you doing up so early?"

"I'm meeting with my friends today, what about you?"

"The round robin schedule just got an update, you and I have a match on the last day, fifth match of day five it looks like," Alain answered, sparing a glance at his Rotom Phone to be absolutely sure. "We're lifetime 1-1 in terms of completed battles, and I'd like a chance to settle the score," Alain continued. Looking up at Greninja, who had brought himself upright on the lamppost, he said, "Charizard's been waiting two years for this rematch, Greninja, you ready?" The Ninja Pokémon gave a slight nod.

Charizard himself took flight and met Greninja at eye-level. "I hope you've been keeping sharp, because Alain and I have been on the grind ever since this WCS season started."

Calmly smiling, Greninja replied, "You won't have to worry about this being an easy fight, I promise you."

"It better not be!" Charizard finished with a smile, fist-bumping Greninja before flying back down to Alain and Mairin on the ground.

"Your match against Iris yesterday was awesome, Alain, that... what was it, Kingambit?" After Alain nodded, Ash continued, "That Kingambit of yours was really strong!"

"Thanks, Ash," Alain chuckled. Looking back down at his wristwatch, Alain said, "Oh, it's 8:30 AM now, I should probably go get some breakfast before the crowd comes. Come on, Mairin." Looking up at Ash, Alain called out, "Enjoy your day!" as he and Mairin walked towards the nearest restaurant.

"Bye Ash, good luck!" Mairin called out as she followed Alain and Charizard.

Ash continued waving until the three were out of sight, and then went back into his hotel room to pick out a set of casual clothes before heading to the bathroom. Greninja jumped back into the hotel room and clicked the button on his Poké Ball, returning himself in a flash of red light. As Buizel picked up his Poké Ball and began to return himself, Pikachu said, "Wait, I have an idea!"

Buizel looked towards the Mouse Pokémon, asking, "Yeah?"

"Why don't you tag along with us today in case some Trainers want to battle Ash?"

After thinking about it for a second, Buizel nodded. "Sure! I haven't really gotten a chance to battle since Ash reached the upper half of the Ultra Class, so it'll be nice to have some action again," punching his fists outward for emphasis.

"Alright, I'll ask Ash once he's out of the bathroom."

As if right on cue, Ash came out of the bathroom, toothbrush lodged in his mouth as he put on his vest. "Oh hey Pikathu, what thup?" Realizing that he still had his toothbrush in his mouth, Ash quickly ran back into the bathroom and spit out his toothpaste before rinsing his mouth. Upon coming back out, Ash repeated, "What's up, Pikachu?" Pikachu pointed to Buizel and his Poké Ball before miming a series of punches. Ash immediately got the message and nodded. "Alright Buizel, you can tag along."

Buizel enthusiastically pumped his fist before returning himself to his Poké Ball, which Ash clipped onto his belt. "Alright Pikachu, it's 8:45, let's go!" he said, and Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder as they ran out of their hotel room.


May and Max made their way to the hotel Ash was staying at, the former munching on a bag of chips as her brother adjusted his pendant. "Y'know sis, it's a good thing you took up exercise with how much you eat," Max chuckled.

May took her brother's teasing remark in stride as she swallowed a mouthful of chips, and replied, "I wouldn't really consider it 'exercise,' it's more like Contest practice, if I'm being honest. If you want to see actual exercise, you should see the things Serena does to prepare for her Contest routines." May tossed the empty bag into the nearest trash can as she muttered, "Where she gets the energy for those kinds of routines, I'll never know..."

"Considering who she traveled with before coming to Hoenn, I have a guess," Max shrugged.

"You're probably right," May chuckled. Spotting Serena and Dawn a little bit off to the side, she grabbed her brother by the hand and dragged him over to the two, Max letting out a small noise of protest. Coming to a stop, May excitedly said, "Hey guys!"

"May, hey!" Dawn and Serena both said as they gave May a hug. Piplup hopped out of Dawn's arms and waved at Max from down on the ground, and he waved back in response.

"What's the plan for today?" May asked once she broke off the hug.

"Well, I don't really have a plan in mind, to be honest. We probably might just go around Wyndon and do whatever while catching up with Ash," Dawn shrugged. "Something we absolutely should do though, is visit the Galar Hurricane."

Clapping her hands together, Serena said, "That sounds wonderful! The only problem I can see with that is since the Galar Hurricane is a really popular tourist destination, we might be stuck in line for a while if we want to go on it."

"No need to worry, Serena, I'm sure we'll be fine!" Placing her hands on the Maple siblings' shoulders, Dawn continued, "Do you mind if I borrow them for a second?" before pulling them away. Once Serena was out of their hearing range, Dawn whispered, "Okay, so how do we get the two of them alone together without making it too obvious?"

"We could just say that the three of us want to call Brock and tell him about the round robin after a few hours, and then let Ash and Serena have the rest of the day for themselves until he needs to prepare for his next match," May said.

"I'm fine with that, but can I at least battle Ash? He did promise me one before you left for Johto all those years ago."

"Yeah, I'm sure Ash will be fine with that, actually!" Giving an amused smile, Dawn said, "He's not one to turn down a battle under normal circumstances." Looking at the Maple siblings again, Dawn continued, "Okay, so the plan for today is: get breakfast, let Max have a battle, roam around Wyndon for a little bit, and then the three of us go ahead and call Brock and let Ash and Serena have the rest of the day together. Does that sound good?" May and Max both nodded, and Dawn said, "Alright, back to Serena-"

The three of them stopped upon seeing Ash and Serena engaged in conversation, the Pokémon Performer giggling as she scratched Pikachu's ears.

"I think this might be easier than we thought," May remarked, Dawn and Max nodding in agreement.

Turning towards May, Max, and Dawn, Ash waved in their direction, calling out, "Hey guys!" As the three waved back, Ash asked, "How have you guys been liking the tournament so far?"

"Pretty cool, actually!" Dawn replied. "Iris put up a pretty decent effort against Leon yesterday..."

"That Dragapult of his was a serious problem," Max mused. Looking up at Ash, he asked, "Ash, have you thought of a way to stop that Pokémon?"

"I might have an idea on how, but it's not foolproof..." Ash chuckled, rubbing his nape. At that moment, his stomach let out a loud growl, causing everyone to laugh as his face flushed with embarrassment.

May laughed before putting a hand on Ash's shoulder, consoling him. "Don't worry, I'm sure mine would've done the same... anyways, there's a-"

"May, you're my older sister and I love you, but if your next words are 'ramen shop' I am going to scream," Max interrupted. Behind him, Serena stifled a few giggles.

Pouting, May said, "Fine, there's a nice little Unovan-style diner a few blocks away from this hotel, how about that?"

"Sure, sounds good!" Taking out his wallet, Ash continued, "I'll-"

"No, you are not paying for the entire meal, Ash," everyone said in response.

"Tell you what, how about we just split the bill once we're done eating?" Serena proposed. "One of us should keep watch over Ash so that he doesn't run off and pay the bill himself," she snickered, ignoring Ash's playfully indignant exclamation next to her.

"Sounds like a good idea, Serena," Dawn chuckled. "Last one there's a Slowpoke!" she taunted, and Ash and Serena took off after her, the two of them laughing as they ran.

"Wouldn't want you to be a Slowbro, Max!" May laughed as she gave chase.

"Very funny, sis!"


"Ash," Max began after swallowing a pancake, "you promised me a battle for when I finally became a Pokémon Trainer, do you want to do one after we finish eating?" Looking to his left, he saw that Ash and Serena were nowhere to be seen. Glancing towards Dawn and his sister with an expression of confusion, Max watched as they pointed towards the cashier at the front. Turning his attention there, Max watched as Serena dragged Ash away from the cash register by the wrist in a huff.

Serena sat back down in their booth alongside Ash, folding her arms and slightly pouting as she looked towards the Kantonian Trainer, who sheepishly put his card and wallet away. Across from them, May and Dawn exchanged knowing glances before smugly saying, "Busted..."

Max cleared his throat, causing Ash and Serena to look towards him. Once he was sure that Ash had his attention on him and not his meal, Max repeated his question.

"That sounds like a good idea, Max! Pikachu gave me the idea to bring a Pokémon who I'm not using for the Masters Eight today just in case someone asked for a battle."

"Makes sense, which of your Pokémon are you using?"

"Buizel," Ash answered as he swallowed his food, noticing Dawn's smile of approval. "What about you?"

"Breloom."

Ash nodded at Max's choice before turning to Serena, asking, "What are you, May, and Dawn gonna do while we have our battle?"

"We'll stick around and watch," Serena answered, Dawn and May nodding their assent across from her.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," May said happily. Playfully pinching her brother's cheek, she continued, "You grew so much as a Trainer in the last year, I'm so proud of you." Max gave an embarrassed smile as Dawn squeed over the scene.

Once everyone was done with their food, Serena said, "Alright everyone, give me your cash cards- not you, Max, you don't have a lot of money on that from what May told me." As Max put his card away, and Ash, Dawn, and May handed her theirs, Serena took her own card out and finished, "I'll tell the cashier to split the bill between the four of us," as she got up from the booth.

With Serena not at the table, May and Dawn both looked at Ash and asked, "Does she know that you like her too?"

Ash shook his head, and Dawn continued, "So are you gonna tell her soon?"

"You should tell her whenever you can, Ash. I know she still likes you, but that may not last forever," May added on.

"Yeah okay, Ms. 'I-Like-Drew-But-Won't-Do-Anything-About-It,'" Max snarked.

Dawn and Ash both chuckled at May's flustered reaction while Max scooted away from his sister. Looking at Ash, Dawn's expression became serious once again as she finished, "But we're being for real when we say this, Ash, you need to tell her sooner rather than later, otherwise you may regret it for the rest of your life."

"You know I'm not good with these things..." Ash mumbled.

May picked up from where Dawn had left off, saying, "It's not about whether or not you're good at romance, Ash. Just say what comes from the heart."

Just as Ash was about to respond back to that, Serena came back to the table with their cards, saying, "Here you go!" Upon noticing Ash's somewhat distant expression, Serena turned to the other three in the booth and asked, "Did I miss any...?"

"He's just a little nervous about the rest of the Masters Eight, no need to worry," Dawn quickly lied.

Ash tensed up as Serena put a comforting hand on his shoulder. As he turned to face her, his cheeks dusted with red, the Pokémon Performer sweetly said, "Don't worry too much about it, Ash, you know we'll always be there to cheer you on. Just do your best." Serena grabbed her handbag before continuing, "Let's go find a training field!"

Everyone proceeded to leave the restaurant, Dawn and May exchanging somewhat concerned glances with each other.


Later, on a simple training field, Dawn stood at the middle, her Piplup imitating her as she began acting as referee. Having put a referee shirt and black leggings on along with her usual dress, courtesy of a brief shopping trip in a sports store, Dawn began, "Alright, this will be a one-on-one battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Max Maple of Petalburg City! There will be no substitutions, and the match will end once one of the two Pokémon on the field is unable to battle!" Looking towards Max and then Ash, Dawn finished, "Challengers, send out your Pokémon!" before she and Piplup hurried over to a small set of bleachers upon which May and Serena sat with Pikachu and Kirlia.

Ash looked towards Max and smiled. "Ready?"

"You bet!" Taking one of his four unopened Poké Balls, Max threw it onto the field, calling out, "Ready up, Breloom!"

"Buizel, I choose you!"

Breloom materialized onto the field first, punching his arms outward as he hopped around like a Spoink. Across from him, Buizel emerged from his Poké Ball and simply folded his arms, staring straight at Breloom.

From the stands, Dawn yelled out, "Battle begin!"

"Alright Breloom, use S-"

"Taunt!"

Buizel turned tail and slapped his rear while sticking his tongue out at Breloom, infuriating the Mushroom Pokémon and causing his eyes to glow red. Instead of going for the move Max had intended for him to use, Breloom used Seed Bomb, stomping on the floor and causing the seed pod to erupt from the ground. Using one of his arms, he punched it towards Buizel, who rolled to the side and used Aqua Jet, while behind him, Breloom's Seed Bomb hit the ground and exploded.

However, instead of tackling Breloom while shrouded in the water, Buizel simply flew towards and around him, the stream surrounding him releasing several high-velocity jets of water that peppered the Grass/Fighting-type. As Breloom flinched, Buizel deactivated his Aqua Jet and turned towards Breloom, whose body suddenly crackled with purple lightning.

Instead of flinching from the poison, however, Breloom stood stalwart as his body glowed a gentle green. Max grinned as he commanded Breloom to use Iron Tail, revealing the Toxic Orb hidden within Breloom's tail spores. "I had to spend a decent chunk of my winnings on that Toxic Orb, but it's been worth it!"

Iron Tail was intercepted by a Brick Break from Buizel, and after a moment where neither party refused to yield, Buizel's other hand glowed a pale blue as he sucker punched Breloom with Ice Punch, pushing the Mushroom Pokémon back thanks to the super effective hit. As he attempted to follow through with an Iron Tail of his own, however, Breloom erected a Protect barrier, Buizel's Taunt from earlier having worn off.

As Buizel's attack clashed with Breloom's Protect, the Mushroom Pokémon's right fist began to glow, and once the Protect barrier went down, Breloom's fist sprung outwards, sending Buizel flying with Focus Punch.

Taking advantage of the situation, Max said, "Bullet Seed!" as Breloom faintly glowed green again. Leaping forward, Breloom opened his mouth and fired a stream of seeds towards Buizel, who rolled out of the way once again and slapped Breloom across the face with Iron Tail. As Buizel's fists began to glow blue once more, the Sea Weasel Pokémon surrounded himself in a funnel of water. However, Buizel didn't charge forward with Aqua Jet like before, instead throwing a series of Ice Punches while surrounded by the water. From where Buizel stood, several supercooled pulses of water shot out of his water funnel and towards Breloom, who blocked some, but not all of them with Poison Jab.

Once the funnel of water dissipated, Buizel jumped forward with Ice Punch, but Breloom ran towards him with a surprising burst of speed and used Mach Punch, socking the Water-type in the gut and causing him to double over.

Confidently snapping his fingers, Max said, "Alright Breloom, let's finish this! Use Spore!"

"Rain Dance, Buizel!"

Breloom shook his head, scattering a cluster of green spores before blowing them towards Buizel. The Sea Weasel Pokémon staggered to his feet and performed a series of cartwheels along the ground with some effort, his body glowing blue as he did so. Above the battlefield, a small raincloud formed above the field, and the downpour began not long after.

Though the rain dispelled some of Breloom's Spore, most of it actually ended up increasing in concentration, and Buizel, thanks to the speed increase he had received from Swift Swim, dashed away from the Spore cloud. Said cloud floated over towards Ash, who covered his nose with his shirt to prevent himself from falling asleep. When Breloom's Spore was completely gone, Ash called out, "Alright Buizel, start using the speed boost to your advantage!"

Buizel began battering Breloom with a mix of Iron Tail, Brick Break, and Ice Punch, and while Breloom managed to block some of the attacks with Protect, he wasn't able to keep up with Buizel's speed. Buizel landed a particularly forceful Ice Punch on Breloom's gut, and the Mushroom Pokémon blanched before falling to one knee. Punching the ground, Buizel used Rock Tomb, trapping Breloom in a circle of rocks.

"Buizel, let's show Max that new move you learned!" Pointing a hand outward, Ash continued, "Wave Crash, let's go!"

Letting out a yell, Buizel summoned a massive torrent of water which promptly shrouded itself around him. Jumping up into the air, he began to dive down towards Breloom, the rain lending even more force to his attack.

"Seed Bomb, Breloom!"

Breloom generated the explosive seed pod in his hands and held it out towards the incoming Buizel... who brute forced his way past Seed Bomb and flattened Breloom with Wave Crash, throwing up a small geyser.

The rain dissipated as Buizel stood in the middle of the soaked battlefield, wincing as his body crackled with blue lightning from Wave Crash's recoil effect. Across from him, Breloom lay in a heap, surrounded by the pulverized remains of Buizel's Rock Tomb.

"Breloom is unable to battle, Buizel wins! Which means the victor is Ash!" Dawn called out.

Buizel breathed a sigh of relief as Ash ran up to hug him, saying, "That was awesome, Buizel!"

Max smiled with a sigh as he walked onto the battlefield and helped his Pokémon up to his feet, asking, "Are you okay, Breloom?" The Mushroom Pokémon nodded, and Max continued, "That's good," looking towards Ash as he and Buizel walked toward him.

Extending a hand outward, Ash said, "That was a great battle, Max."

As Max accepted the handshake, he asked, "How? You had me beat at every turn..."

Shaking his head, Ash began, "You set the tempo of the match when you showed that your Breloom had Poison Heal as his Ability, which basically forced me into having to use Rain Dance. Without Swift Swim, I would've probably just been doing nothing against you while Breloom could heal up and retaliate whenever he was healthy enough, which would've been bad since Buizel is... not what I'd call defensive, to put it lightly," Buizel nodding in agreement to Ash's last point. Chuckling, Ash finished, "I guess the point I'm trying to make is that from what I can see, you're good at forcing situations in a battle. You just need to learn to adapt and be flexible whenever someone figures out a way around your strategy."

Max nodded and said, "Thanks Ash," as he gave him a hug. Ash gave the Hoennian Trainer a reassuring pat on the back as next to them, Buizel shook a tired Breloom's hand.

On the stands, Pikachu and Kirlia watched as the girls discussed the match among themselves before turning back to the battlefield, seeing Max and Ash discuss battling strategies.

"Max is pretty good," Pikachu said as he nodded with approval. Turning to Kirlia, he asked, "How far along the Hoenn League challenge is he?"

"We just beat Flannery, which means our next Gym battle when we go back is Max's dad."

"Ooh... that's a tough one, yeah. Are you planning on evolving into Gardevoir or Gallade?"

"Gallade. Only problem is, we can't seem to find a Dawn Stone anywhere..." Kirlia mused, placing his head on his hands.

"Well, if you plan on doing the Gym after evolving, you should probably take some time to train and get used to what you can do as a Gallade before you actually take on Norman." Kirlia nodded as he took Pikachu's suggestion into account.

Max and Ash returned Breloom and Buizel respectively and walked to the bleachers, where Pikachu hopped back onto Ash's shoulder and raised a paw for a high-five, while Kirlia excitedly grabbed onto Max's hands as he told him what he had thought about the battle.


Dawn, Ash, and Serena stood in the middle of an aisle in a shop in the Wyndon Mall, the two girls having asked Ash to help them hold their bags while they went shopping. Dawn walked over to the book section to see if she could find any gifts for Barry, leaving just Ash and Serena in the aisle.

Serena hummed the Pokémon Center's lobby music as she picked out a small winter beanie, remarking, "This would be great on Froslass," before turning to Ash, who seemed to be struggling with the four bags of items they had given him. "Ash, I'll take one of those, sorry that we dumped it all on you earlier," Serena said, taking a bag from Ash's arm and placing the beanie inside.

Watching as Serena moved over to another aisle to look for more Contest accessories, Ash asked, "You must've been really busy around Hoenn for the last two years, huh?"

"Yeah..." Chuckling, Serena continued, "I put in a lot of work to become notable because it's tough building up a reputation from nothing, from what you told me in Kalos. May also told me the same thing when we first met in Petalburg City."

"But wouldn't you have had your Showcases as a stepping point coming into Hoenn?"

"Truth be told, I was already known when I first came to Hoenn, but it wasn't because of my Showcase performances. It was..." Serena gave a slightly uncomfortable glance to the side as she finished, "the Kalos Crisis, because of us being on the news during the attack and the aftermath." Ash gave a mute nod his eyes somewhat unfocused, and Serena sidled up to him, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze with her free hand as she whispered, "I know it's not easy, Ash, I still have nightmares about it too..."

Ash quickly shook his head as he said, "I'm sorry Serena, I don't know what came over me-"

"Don't be sorry, Ash," Serena interrupted as she set the bag on the floor to give him a quick hug. Once she broke off the hug, she noticed that Ash's face was crimson, and that her own face was heating up as well. Hoping to get the conversation back on track, she looked around for a moment, but ended up asking another question:

"Where did Dawn go? And weren't you holding three bags after I took one just now?"

Ash looked down at his arms and saw that he was holding just one bag, answering, "That is weird, yeah, where is she?"


Dawn had hurried out of the store with her bags and Piplup after getting past the checkout, and upon reaching May and Max, who were sitting on a bench eating Casteliacones, she said, "Alright, let's leave the rest of the day to them and go call Brock!"

"Before we do, we should probably send a text to them," Max said.

"Right!" May and Dawn both said as they pulled out their Rotom Phones to text Serena and Ash respectively.

Once they were done, the three Trainers made their way to Wyndon's Pokémon Center courtesy of Galar's taxi service. Upon entering the building, the three dialed up Brock on the video phone, and after a few rings, the Pokémon Doctor-in-training appeared on the screen, greeting the trio with an excited, "Hey guys, long time no see! How's the Masters Eight been?"

"It's been awesome!" Max answered, Dawn and May giggling at his enthusiasm while Brock chuckled.

Brock looked offscreen as Nurse Joy said something, and he answered, "Alright, I'll be over in an hour!" Turning back to his friends, Brock said, "I won't be around for too long, we're due for a pretty busy midnight shift here at Lake Acuity."

"What are you doing all the way out in Sinnoh, Brock?" Dawn asked.

"The Nurse Joy here asked for my help specifically, and I was teleported here from Pewter City." Watching as Max opened his mouth, Brock preemptively answered, "And no, Croagunk has not had to come out of his Poké Ball at all so far." Max promptly closed his mouth. "Anyways, how's Ash been doing in the Masters Eight?" Looking towards them again, Brock continued, "And speaking of Ash... where is he?"

Dawn began, "He beat Iris on the first day..."

May continued, "But lost to Diantha yesterday."

Max finished, "And as for Ash, he's at the Wyndon Mall with Serena."

Brock nodded in understanding, a grin flashing across his face as he said, "I had a feeling after the Lumiose Conference."


Ash and Serena looked down at their phones, having received a text from Dawn and May respectively.

Blitz 'n' Berlitz/Miss May-ple: Hey Ash/Serena, Brock asked if he could talk with us for a little bit, so we'll take Max along and leave the rest of the day to you two! Enjoy! ;)

Ash and Serena exchanged somewhat confused glances, and after Serena furrowed her brow, giving May a quick text, she asked Ash, "So... would you like to go on the Galar Hurricane and then get dinner later?"

Ash nervously scratched at his cheek as he said, "I'd like that a lot, Serena," and the two of them began walking towards the cashier to check out all the stuff Serena bought.


Phew, that was a pretty difficult chapter to write, if I'm being honest. Slice-of-life is really not my thing...

I had to sneak a battle in here, both as a way to showcase Max and get my action fix in.

Other than that, there were plenty of call-backs abound as well as a cameo from Brock, and I found those fun to do.

Hope you guys enjoyed this, and stay tuned.

Reviews are always appreciated.

-Krosshair