"This time... I'll fight with you"

"Salamence, Dragon Rush!"

"Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!"

"No..."

"Now Salamence! Finish this with Hyper Beam!"

"FIRE NOW!"

"No!"

"ASH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"ANA-" *BONK!*

"OWWWWWWW..." Ash and Anabel rub their heads in pain.

"Anabel?" Ash looks surprised at the girl on his bed.

"You were tossing and turning in your sleep," Anabel tells him. "I was getting worried."

"Hmm..." Ash looks down.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"No..." Ash answers softly. "A memory."

"About me, isn't it? About last night," Anabel crawls closer to Ash.

"Yeah," Ash keeps his head low, he doesn't want to look at Anabel.

"Ash..." Anabel places a hand on his cheek and lifts his face to see into his tearful eyes.

"Anabel I-"

"Shhh..." Anabel floats her head closer to Ash.

"I'm sorry I couldn't-"

"Shhh..." Anabel drifts closer to him...

"I... I..."

"Shut up Ash," Anabel presses her lips onto his once again.

Ash quietly takes the kiss.

Anabel slowly pulls away and smiles, "I warned you."

Just as Anabel was leaving, Ash grabs her hand, "Please... stay with me..."

The girl looks into his eyes, he had the eyes of a boy that's afraid to lose something, something very dear to him... Anabel quietly smiles and nods to him before climbing back in.


Flint knocks on the door, "Ash! Anabel! We've something important to tell you about the tournament!" Flint knocks on it again. "Ash? Anabel?" Flint reaches for the knob and slowly opens the door. "What the-?" Flint sees Ash and Anabel on the same bed covered by a blanket except for their heads. Both of their clothes were scattered all around the floor...

Flint then gets a mischievous idea, "OH LAAAAAAAdiiiiieeeeesssss!"

Dawn, May, Lyra, Melody, Bianca and Lati hear his call and follow his voice.

"What's going on Flint?" Dawn asks.

"Take a look for yourself," Flint points into Ash and Anabel's room. All the girls walk to the doorway to take a look.

"W-W-W-W-W-WHAAAAT!?" Dawn, May, Lyra and Bianca all screamed.

"Wow," Melody pulls her sunglasses down a bit. "I guess Anabel was really telling us the truth last night."

"MMmm..." Anabel starts to wiggle a bit.

Marley quickly grabs the doorknob and slams the door as fast as she could. He leans against it and breathes hard, "Haa... ha... We didn't just see that."

"Agreed," Dawn, May, Lyra and Bianca agrees.

Melody and Flint just chuckle.

Anabel smiles wryly, "I can't believe they fell for it."

"Aaaahhhh!" Ash gets up. "That was a good sleep."

"It's not over yet," Anabel chuckles.

"Huh?"

"Espeon, can you use Hypnosis for me?"

"Hypno... siiiiis?" Ash falls back to sleep.

"Okay, Espeon and Pikachu, find our spare clothes and scatter them around."

Flint knocks on the door, "Ash! Anabel! We've something important to tell you about the tournament!"

"Hurry!" Anabel whispers to her Pokemon as she pulls the cover over herself.

Flint knocks on it again. "Ash? Anabel?" Flint reaches for the knob and slowly opens the door.

"Okay Ash," Anabel nudges the sleeping trainer a little. "You can wake up now."

"Mmmm... May, your boobs are sooo soft..."

Anabel takes out a Pokeball, "Meteor Mash!"

"WAAAAAAAAH!"


"So what do we do now Brendan?" Lucas walks slowly.

"We stay and watch Flint and Volkner fight of course!" Brendan's eyes glittered. "I'm sure we can learn something from the two of them."

"Besides how to get totally beat up by them?"

"No, how to WIN!" Brendan yells. "Hey, what's that?"

Brendan and Lucas look at the sky, something was flying towards them.

"It's a Flygon!" Lucas observes.

"A Flygon?" Brendan asks. "What's a Flygon doing here?"

"Don't look at me," Lucas tells him. "I wonder if it belongs to someone."

Flygon spots the two of them and flies towards them.

"Hey wha-?" Brendan starts to panic but Flygon just stops short of them. The dragon tries desperately to tell them something, pointing in a direction.

"I think it wants us to follow it," Lucas tells Brendan.

"Is it urgent?" Brendan asks, the Flygon nods. "Alright! Lead the way!"


"Good morning you two!" Volkner greets Anabel and Ash. "Ash? What happened to you? It looks like a Metagross stomped on your face."

"Now that's just silly," Anabel laughs.

"Oh right," Volkner is reminded of something. "We have to tell you guys about what's going on with the tournament."

"Really?" Ash asks. "What's happening?"

"They're delaying the tournament for a few hours to allow repairs and enhancements," Volkner begins. "Your battle yesterday really did some damage to the stadium, so they're just fixing it now and making it stronger. You two can use this time to do whatever you want. I overheard Brock and Conway planning something against Dawn and Lucian, most of everyone else is around the city having fun. I need to meet up with Flint soon, so see you later!"

"Well Ash," Anabel turns to her partner, who was still rubbing his face. "What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking of training some more with your Pokemon," Ash begins.

"That won't be necessary," Anabel smiles. "This time... I'll fight with you."

"Huh?" Ash looks at her puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine," the girl replies happily. "I have you with me after all."

"Um..." Ash scratches his head a little. "Well, why don't we train a little? I'm sure you'll get your battling experience back."

"I was hoping you'd say that," they smile as they head off into the training field.


"Well Brock," Conway starts. "What Pokemon do you have?"

"Just Happiny, Sudowoodo and Croagunk."

"Well, that's going to be a problem," Conway thinks. "Sudowoodo is probably the best choice, type wise, but your Croagunk is your best battler isn't it?"

"It is," Brock starts. "But it's definitely no match Lucian's powerful Psychic types."

"Hmm..." Conway starts to strategize. "I bet I could get my Slowking or Aggron to slow him down, long enough for you to battle and defeat Dawn, no matter who your Pokemon is."

"Are you sure you can do that?"

"If I focus more on defending myself than actually fighting him, I'll be able to figure something out."

"Yeah, Lucian's all about Psychic types. But figuring out who Dawn will choose is tricky." Brock begins to think. "With Sudowoodo, she has Piplup, Mamoswine and I guess Buneary. With Croagunk, she has Mamoswine."

"Sounds like Mamoswine might be the logical choice for her, especially since a Pokemon like that is best suited for battle. Rock types are also good against Ice types, including Mamoswine, so Sudowoodo will probably be your best choice if that happens."

"Even if it isn't, I specialize in Rock types anyway."


"Man!" Barry paces. "Where is that guy? How are we supposed to prepare for a Gym Leader and an Elite Four?"

"Simple," Wally Ace appears out of nowhere. "We just have to fight our best."

"Where in the world were you! I should fine you!"

"I had some business to finish."

"Lance, Cynthia. Have you two found anything yet?"

"Nothing," Lance tells him. "For all we know, it could just be those two that Riley mentioned."

"I didn't even get a look at their faces," Riley tells them. "And not even Anabel's Espeon could see them in the darkness. I feel sorry for overworking Yellow like this, she's been so tired she's sleeping a lot."

"That's true," Cynthia smiles. "Which reminds me, I need to stock up on ice cream. Because SOMEONE keeps giving them away..." Cynthia glares at Riley.

"How was I supposed to know she could eat a whole bucket in one day just to stay awake?"

"All we can do now," Lance starts. "Is to watch closely and wait."

"Do you really believe that they're still here?" Riley asks.

"They have pride, ego and a reputation to feed," Lance informs. "I'm sure they'll be here. Thankfully, we have a man on ground zero."

"It's a shame though," Wally Ace begins. "To participate in a tournament so full of potential when I can just as happily watch it all from the sidelines."

"Heehee," Cynthia giggles. "You may be just as strong as both me and Lance but don't underestimate Sinnoh's own Elite Four and Gym Leaders."

Wally smiles, "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, have you decided on which Pokemon you'll use?"

"My Milotic of course," Wally answers him.

"WHAT?" Barry jumps. "That thing's weak to Electricity!"
"True, but it's also my strongest Pokemon. However, the stronger of the two we're about to face is a Fire type user."

"That's riiight, I forgot about him."

"Even I can't take them both, I'll need your help more than ever."

"What do you mean you needed MY help! I'm the one that's been needing YOUR help!"

"Haha, very well. Let's help each other then!"


"Man this disguise itches. I can barely fit in it."

"Just get used to it."

"Do you really think we'll fool anyone?"

"Of course, I did some research on that small disturbance you had back before you had to make an escape. You'd be surprised how much those three can get away with just putting on a pair of glasses."

"You're joking, right?"

"Remember, this all about restoring our organization's reputation. We have to humiliate them as much as we can."

"That won't be a problem, we already know they're no match for us."


"Well?" Jessie sulks. "What are we going to do now?"

"We got back into the fanfic but we didn't get very many lines anyway." James joins her.

"Hey don't feel bad," Meowth tries to comfort them. "I'm sure we can find something to do."

"Like what?" Jessie asks. "Sell hot dogs?"

"Exactly! We need more dough to make more robots anyway. Our last few plots were made of paper mache."

"He does have a point," James agrees.

"And even if we don't spend it on robots we can always use the money to buy some food."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Jessie is somehow suddenly dressed in a vendor's clothes. "Let's sell some hot dogs!"


"What do you think of these Seals?" Lyra asks Ritchie. "Think they'll go well with my Meganium?"

"Electric Seals?" Ritchie ponders. "I don't think so, they're more suited for the Electric types. Don't you think the Flora Seals would fit better?"

"I saw Ash using Electric Seals on his Buizel during the Wallace Cup," Lyra tells him. "I thought I'd try some Seals for myself."

"Ash? In a Pokemon Contest?" Ritchie tilts his head. "That's the first time I've heard of that."

"You should've seen him!" Lyra gets excited just by talking. "He was sooo cool! And that moved he used, I think it was called Ice Aqua Jet."

"Ice Aqua Jet?"

"Yeah! His opponent tried to use Ice Beam but Ash's Buizel used Aqua Jet right into it!"

"That sounds crazy!"

"I know it does! But listen! When Ice Beam froze Aqua Jet, Buizel was able to completely control it!"

"Wow..." Ritchie was speechless. "That's so crazy, that sounds like Ash!"

"Hahaha!"


"Hmm?" Lucian walks out of the bookstore to see Brendan and Lucas following a Flygon.

Brendan spots Lucian and waves, "Heeey! Lucian! We think something bad just happened! Can you come with us just in case?"

"Something bad?" Lucian takes a closer look at the Flygon. "Flygon aren't normally found in the wild, and they're definitely not found in this area. So something happened to its trainer, I hope it isn't them." Lucian rushes over to meet with the two boys.


"Waaa! Oof!" Bugsy falls off a tree.

"Are you okay little bro?" Winona runs over to him.
"I'm fine sis!" Bugsy scratches his head. "I almost had that Burmy."

"I'm sure you'll get one soon enough," Winona smiles.

"What about you?" Bugsy asks. "Have you caught anything today?"

"I found a Chatot," Winona begins. "But when it started talking I ended up playing with it instead."

"Playing, playing. We were playing." A parrot Pokemon lands on Winona's shoulder.

"Wow," Bugsy awes. "I guess it likes you."

"May be," Winona smiles. "What do you say Chatot? Want to come back with me to Hoenn?"

"No Hoenn, no Hoenn." Chatot flies away.

"Oh," Winona looks disappointed.

"Hey a Combee!" Bugsy runs off. "I'll get you you Bug type!" Bugsy swings his net wildly.

"Starly." A bird chirps. "Starly, starly."

Winona hears this and perks up, following the chirping.


"What about these clothes?" Dawn picks out some clothes.

"Hmm..." May observes. "Too flashy."

"Too bright," Marley comments.

"These?" Dawn pulls out another one.

"Too humble," May thumbs down.

"Too much color."

"How about this?" Dawn takes out some black clothes.

"Too dark."

"Just right."

Dawn and May stare at Marley.

"Marley," May starts. "Is the only color you like Black?"

"What makes you say that?"

Dawn and May just stare at her some more.


"So Red," Yellow starts, the two of them were at a park bench eating ice cream. "What are we going to do against Jasmine and Janine?"

"Well," Red starts thinking. "Jasmine uses Steel types. But Janine is trickier. Her Pokemon seem to revolve around status effects but they seem to be mostly Poison."

"So we need to find a way to break through Jasmine's defences while avoiding Janine's status effects."

"That's right," Red begins to ponder while Yellow licks some more of her ice cream. "I think... yeah, your Kitty is pretty fast right? If we use Kitty and Aero, we can fly around Jasmine's Steel types and avoid Janine's Poison types at the same time."

"But my Kitty isn't very strong," Yellow tells him. "But it does know Safeguard, I can use that to protect us from Janine's status effects."

"That's a great idea! As long as you keep it up we can win!"

"Yeah, I guess so." Yellow begins eating her ice cream cone.

"Still," Red looks up and leans back, Yellow leans over and gulps down his ice cream. "Jasmine is a Gym Leader while Janine is training to be one. Something tells me it won't go that easy."

"Don't worry Red," Yellow begins, licking off the ice cream on her fingers. "As long as we work together, I'm sure we can beat them."

"Right," Red sits up again. "We've been together a long time. This won't stop us." Red was about to take a lick of his ice cream when he notices it all gone except for the cone. "Yellow!"


"Janine," Jasmine and Janine take a walk in the park. "You're training to become a Gym Leader correct?"

"Yes," the ninja answers. "I feel as though I must continue getting stronger no matter what."

"There's more to being a Gym Leader then being strong," Jasmine tells her. "Let me ask this, our opponents today are Red and Yellow, what do you think of them?"

"I think that they are good trainers and that we'll have a great battle."

"Is that so?" Jasmine asks. "What I see are a couple of trainers with a lot of potential. My job as a Gym Leader is to bring out that potential and prepare them to battle the best trainers at the Pokemon League."

"Their potential?"

"That's right, every Gym Leader has different ways to bring out a trainer's potential. And every Gym Leader has different ideas about doing it as well. I'm just telling you what I think a Gym Leader is. And, my way of strengthening the trainers is to see if they can break through my strong Steel defence. If I'm not mistaken, your father's way is to see how trainers can adapt to the various status effects his Pokemon inflicts on his trainers."

"I see...," Janine starts to think. "I never knew about that. I guess I was just too focused on impressing my father, when I should be focusing more on my duties as a Gym Leader."

"I made that mistake too, with my uncle." Jasmine begins. "His specialty was defence, and his whole battle style is based on just that, defence. Just before I went to take a Gym Leader exam, I showed him my style of battle. Even though I won, he bonked me with his shovel. 'Jasmine, you have some great defences but... you're still lacking in what it means to be a Gym Leader. Look at your cousin, I can tell he has what it takes to become a good Gym Leader.' After that, I failed my first Gym Leader exam. But after I thought hard about what my uncle said, I came back and became a full fledged Gym Leader."

"Your uncle is a Gym Leader too?"

"Both my uncle and my cousin," Jasmine smiles. "You know, I think I'll go visit them after this is all over. They live here in Sinnoh after all."


"Hey partner," Flint calls Volkner. "So, what do you think about Wally Ace?"

"He's a tough one that's for sure," Volkner begins pondering. "But all he's ever used so far was a Milotic."

"Yeah," Flint agrees. "With any luck he won't use it against us because of your specialty."

"Somehow I doubt that," Volkner tells him. "Still, we better be careful." Volkner takes out a Poke Ball, spins it on his finger and catches it. "Whatever he sends out, my Electivire can handle it."


"This is such a beautiful place," Bianca admires the view on top of a park hill alongside Lati and Melody. A soft, gentle breeze blows by them.

"It is," Melody agrees. "You should paint it. We'll be leaving for Sunyshore after the tournament anyway so it's better to capture now before we leave."

"Haha, yeah." Biance begins to set up her stuff. "Latias? Do you want to be in the painting?"

Lati nods and removes her camouflage, and starts playing around on the hill.

"Hahaha," Melody laughs. "Hey Latias! Can I join in? I'm sure we'll make a wonderful picture together."


"What is this place?" Brendan asks as the Flygon leads them to a small garage in an alley.

Flygon flies over and points towards the door.

"Hello?" Lucian calls out.

"Huh? Is someone out there?" A voice from inside replies. "Please! Let us out of here!"

"You can't get out?" Lucas yells.

"We searched everywhere!" Another voice calls. "We haven't found a switch and the door is strong enough to stop our Pokemon's attacks!"

"Alright!" Lucian yells. "Call out your Pokemon and get ready at my signal! We'll attack the door from both sides!"

"Okay!"

"Lucas, Brendan! Send out your strongest Pokemon!"

"Go! Rhyperior!"

"Come out, Torterra!"

"Bronzong! I need you!"

"Let's go! Togekiss!"

"Lucario, help us!"

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

"3-2-1 NOW! Flash Cannon!"

"Rock Wrecker!"

"Leaf Storm!"

"Sky Attack!"

"Aura Sphere!"

The five Pokemon unleash their attacks at the reinforced door. The door shatters from the combined force of all the attacks.

"Finally!" one of the trainers rejoiced and stretched.

"Thank you," another one bowed to them.

"Wait," Lucian realizes something. "You're... Leo and Gaia! What are you doing here?"

"After the tournament yesterday these two strange guys walked up to us and knocked us out," the first one, Leo explains. "When we woke up, we found ourselves here."

"The only way we could've called for help was a crack in the wall," Gaia tells them. "It was just big enough to let me release my Flygon through."

"I see," Lucian ponders. "Were you able to hear anything?"

"No," Gaia answers.

"I did," Leo interrupts. "They were talking about... payback? That's a Pokemon attack right?"

"Payback?" Brendan asks. "Why would they knock you out just for Payback?"

"No, I don't think they mean the Pokemon attack," Lucas tells him. "I think they're going to get back at someone."

"I think I know who..." Lucian quickly takes out his cell phone and makes a call. "Hello Cythina. It's me, Lucian. We've got a problem. I found Leo and Gaia locked up somewhere, they said they were knocked out by a couple of strange people. Yeah, I think it's them too. Lance is there? Then we should go and arrest them as soon as the tournament starts."

"Excuse me," Lucas pokes Lucian. "Can I say something?" Lucas points at the cell phone.

"I'm sorry, but this is important."

"I know, that's why you should hear me out."

"... alright. Listen, Cynthia, there's a trainer here that wants to talk, he says it's important."

"Hello?"

"Hello," the champion answers. "Who am I talking to?"

"My name is Lucas," Lucas introduces himself formally. "I was one of the competitors in the tournament until me and my partner lost to Flint and Volkner."

"I remember now. Okay Lucas, tell me what's on your mind."

"I was wondering," Lucas begins. "That incident that Ash was involved in, are those two that attacked Leo and Gaia the ones that caused it?"

"... You're a very smart boy. Yes, we think it's highly possible that it's them."

"Then please, let Ash battle them."

"What?" Cynthia and Lucian question in unison.

"From watching Ash's last battle, I get the feeling that he hasn't put whatever happened behind him yet. He probably never will, unless he confronts them himself."

Everyone became quiet.

"What I'm saying is, in order for Ash to completely let go his feelings of regret and remorse, he has to finish this himself."

...

"Please give the phone back to Lucian," is all that Cynthia says.

"Lucian," Lucas hands over the cell phone.

"Cynthia?"

"What do you think Lucian?" Cynthia asks. "Ash was hit the hardest emotionally, we all saw that. But it was your sister that was the victim."

"In truth, I agree with Lucas." Lucian says. "But what about Leo and Gaia's battle?"

"Don't worry about us," Leo tells him. "We're fellow trainers too! We can just battle them outside the tournament sometime."

"Lance?" Cynthia turns to Lance.

"Alright," Lance starts. "We'll let Ash battle them. I'll inform the police so they can seal all doors once they start. But win or lose, we'll catch them here. However, Leo and Gaia will have a proper battle against Ash and Anabel sometime afterwards. Is that agreeable?"

Lucian relays the message.

"I have no problem with it," Gaia states.

"Same here."

"Okay," Lucian tells Cynthia. "They're up for it."

"Lance says to bring them here so that we can discuss it further."


"Buizel, return!"

"You too Metagross."

Ash and Anabel return their respective Pokemon to their Poke Balls.

"How was that Ash?" Anabel asks the boy.

"That was great Anabel!" Ash answers. "But... you haven't used your telepathy to call out your attacks yet."

"I'm not worried about that," Anabel replies. "I just wanted to get my battling spirit back so I can fight with you today."

"Hahaha," Ash laughs.

"But..." Anabel starts. "Have I gotten it all back yet?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Do you think I'm almost as strong now as I was before I lost my memories?"

"Well..."

"Please be truthful."

"Not quite," Ash tells her. "But I think the reason you were tougher to beat back then was because I couldn't hear what commands you were giving your Pokemon, so I couldn't react to them until your Pokemon actually did them."

"That does give me an advantage," Anabel thinks.

"Still," Ash continues. "You've gotten a lot better since yesterday."

"Thank you Ash." Anabel smiles. "It's almost time, I think we should get ready."

"You're right, we'll win the next round for sure!"


Author: The next round begins!

Brock/Conway vs Dawn/Lucian

Flint/Volkner vs Barry/Wally Ace

'Leo'/'Gaia' vs Ash/Anabel

Red/Yellow vs Jasmine/Janine