"So Ash, what is your team?" Brock asked Ash. The duo was on the practice battlefield of the pokemon center. Brock had shown off his Steelix and Swampert, pokemon that Ash found fascinating. Other than Pikachu on his shoulder, Brock knew of no other pokemon Ash had caught.

"Alright here they are!" Ash exclaimed as he grabbed the five pokeballs in his belt. He then threw the pokeballs up into the air and they flashed a white light that reached the ground. The white light then morphed into the shape of all of Ash's pokemon. When the coloring of the pokemon came, Ash introduced them, "Hey guys, this is Brock, I knew him back when I lived in Kanto!"

"Tile Sceptile!"

"Gruaw"

"Goo goo goodra!"

"Noivern vern!"

"Froga!"

Brock stood there amazed at Ash's roster, "Ash you truly have some amazing pokemon. They are all well trained by the looks of it!"

Ash just sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Oh thank you Brock!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu exclaimed while mimicking Ash's movements. Brock found amazing how the pair was so alike and strong. No only that, the fact that the pokemon were all very fast and capable really surprised Brock.

"Shall we get going to Snowbelle?" Brock asked Ash.

"Yea!" Ash exclaimed as he threw a fist into the sky. "Eight badge here we come!" Ash returned his pokemon to his pokeball and then the duo began to go to the dirt road that was the route to Snowbelle City… Little did they know, they would run into travel ahead.

A/N: So last time we left off, Diantha met Ash. How is this significant and what about our real Kalos Queen. Why was Serena deprived of her win as Kalos Queen?

Let's see how the story takes us. Also, I want to mention that this arc is preparation for the climax and ultimately, the mastery of something huge for Ash.

Also, I want to tell you guys about something special during this chapter: When I have italics in between quotation marks it is an echo effect. For example: If something comes out as "Ash! How are you?" it should be thought of sounding like this: "ASH! Ash! ash. HOW ARE YOU?! You?! you?" only it is read at a lot faster pace. This effect is needed for this chapter by the way.

Anyways I hope you enjoy this other short chapter! (I promise they will get longer xD!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Chapter 18- Team Flare Conflicts

Disclaimer: The first part of the chapter includes major violence and could throughout. You HAVE been warned!

With Serena:

"Popplio use water gun!" Serena shouted. Popplio shot a beam of water straight from her mouth in order to take down a large opponent that was in Serena's way.

"Girl, your little water seal is no match for my Sawk," a man in orange shouted. "Team Flare shall take that little runt from you!"

"Never!" Serena shouted at the team Flare grunt taunting her. "I know that I can do this with the help of my pokemon, you won't take Popplio away from me!"

"Pop...PLIO!"

The man sighed and looked at Serena dead on in the eyes, "That Popplio knows a Z Move, something that interests my boss so hand it over!"

"Never!"

"Sawk use close combat!"

"Popplio!" Serena shouted with terror as the bipedal, blue, muscular pokemon approached Popplio. Serena knew Popplio would not take it so she jumped into the attack instead. Serena put Popplio and hugged the small pokemon in her chest as she received punches and kicks to her back. "URGH!" Serena shouted with pain. The pain was like needles penetrating her skin at supersonic speeds. Blood started staining the back of Serena's top as the punches kept causing damage to her skin.

"Popplio!" Popplio shouted at Serena in terror watching her trainer become hit by the pokemon and wincing in pain. Popplio saw her trainer's heroic actions and shouted, "POPPLIOOOOOOOOOO!" Suddenly, Serena got enveloped in a white light. A light that was coming from Popplio as she looked completely crystal in her color. Then, Popplio began to grow in shape and developed more features that seemed to make her more elegant. Finally, the new pokemon stopped glowing and used a strong hydro pump that hit Sawk and knocked him up against a tree along with the Team Flare grunt as soon as Serena was out of the way.

Serena looked at the newly evolved pokemon, it had a dress like appearance in the torso and still maintained the blue color. There was some white antennae on top of her head and it was ferocious. "BRIONNE!" the pokemon known as Brionne shouted.

"Brionne?" Serena asked in awe as she saw the elegant water type.

Brionne turned around and smiled, "Brionne!"

Serena then found herself moving, not like normal though, she was making wave like motions with her hands as if she was being infected with a teeter dance. Suddenly, Serena exclaimed something she did before, "Special Z MOVE!" Serena then stared down her nearly defeated opponent with fire in her eyes. "HYDRO VORTEX!"

"Bri...ONNEEEEE!" Brionne shouted as she made a giant water vortex towards the Sawk and the grunt. The grunt could not dodge or get out of way so he had the only choice of enduring the hit. Finally, the revolving water engulfed the man and his pokemon sending them into the sky.

Serena fell to her knees since her back hurt so much, but Brionne smiled and walked over to her. Brionne then made her fin glow white and pressed it upon Serena's back. "Heal Pulse…" Serena muttered.

Brionne looked back at Serena and smiled, "Brionne!"

"Thanks Brionne," Serena smiled as her pain eased off and the blood stains slowly disappeared.

A few hours later still advancing in the route:

Ash and Brock had found a place to relax and take a break from the travelling. Brock prepared some of his best food and as soon as Ash tasted it, he got deja vu from when they last saw each other. "Brock your food is as good as ever!"

Brock smiled at the raven haired trainer and said, "You're welcome. I have been improving my cooking since we last saw each other in Kanto." To this Ash smiled. Ash saw Brock as an older brother to him as Brock was there in Kanto with Ash since they were little. "I still remember the day that I got my first pokemon."

"Yea, I remember when I first met Pikachu as well, he officially became my pokemon just before I set off on my journey here in Kalos!" Ash replied while scratching Pikachu behind the ears.

Pikachu cooed to this happily, "Chaaaaaaa!"

Ash and Brock smiled at each other as they decided to take the road once again. As they walked the sun began to tint red across the land making Ash seem skeptical, "Brock… why is everything a little red?"

Brock looked and noticed what Ash was talking about and grew worried as well. Brock took out a pokeball and said, "Swampert I need you out here!"

The pokeball flashed white and out came the large Hoenn starter in all fours, "Swamp!"

Ash noticed this and took out two pokeballs, he figured making himself stealthy was a good choice but at the same time using a powerhouse would be beneficial, "Frogadier, Goodra you too!"

"Dra…"

"Froga!"

The pokemon and their trainers were alert as they walked through the dark area. Ash looked around noticing not much of the ordinary. The dirt road was being covered by forest on both sides and it did not look like the clearing was dangerous.

That is when Ash saw him again, the big fat man with red glasses and an orange suit along with men dressed in orange. He was there experimenting on the same green blob that Ash and Calem had saved days prior. The Zygarde core was in a glass cage and Xerosic had some machines hooked up to the cage… 'Had they actually gotten to it this fast?' Ash thought as he signaled for everyone to hide behind a tree. Goodra though, he was large and got spotted.

The man known as Xerosic turned around and noticed Goodra. Silently, he took out a pokeball that contained a large squid. "Malamar," it cried and Ash recoiled as he once had an encounter with this monstrosity before.

Battle Music Begin:

Xerosic then smirked at the badly hidden intruders as he raised his hand to command his pokemon to attack. The Malamar understood and fired a dark pulse right at the tree, something that Goodra noticed really quickly. Without command, Goodra enveloped himself in lightning and fired off the crackling bolt against the dark pulse closing the gap between both moves. When the moves collided, a bunch of smoke covered the area which gave Ash his chance. "Frogadier quick use double team!"

"Froga...Froga…" Frogadier split into many copies of itself as it jumped out from behind the tree. Ash, Pikachu, Brock, and Swampert followed the same action.

"Great, Pikachu use quick attack right through the copies before the smoke fades!" Ash exclaimed while pumping his fist. Pikachu ran into the smoke that was clearing as it was portrayed to be a lot of copies of Frogadier. Pikachu then slammed into the Malamar completely causing the squid to recoil and fall back. Xerosic was surprised, but he did not give up. With a snap of a finger, three grunts surrounded our heroes. They all had Houndoom which is something Ash knew he would need help with.

"Houndoom use flamethrower!" the three grunts shouted in unison. The flame streams destroyed all the copies of Frogadier and threatened to engulf our heroes.

"Hydro pump!" Brock shouted.

"SWAMPERT!" Swampert shot a jet of water through his mouth that interacted with good strength on the flamethrowers. The explosion caused a lot of steam so Ash took the opportunity to make his move.

"Pikachu use thunderbolt! Goodra use thunder! Frogadier water pulse!" Ash shouted while pumping his fist out against the grunts. The three attacks went into the smoke with great power towards the grunts. The attacks collided and caused a large explosion making Ash and Brock look at each other with smiles thinking they had won… But they were wrong.

"Malamar use dark pulse!" Xerosic shouted.

"Houndoom fire blast!"

Ash and Brock went wide eyed. No once could dodge there had to be another way… And there was. Ash then put out a fist and exclaimed, "Goodra use BIDE!" Goodra put himself in the way of the large jet of three combined flames and the one spiraly dark beam and had a blood red aura start to surround him. Ash then went to Frogadier and asked for something very essential. "Frogadier save the core! Be careful when you do it though!"

Frogadier looked at Ash and nodded his response, "Froga...Dier dier Frogadier!" Frogadier then jumped into the trees in order to get the Zygarde out of his cage.

Ash then noticed he needed to get rid of the machinery so he signaled to Brock, "Brock the machines… Pikachu use iron tail on the machine!"

Brock then signaled for his Swampert, "Use stone edge on the machine!"

The bolt of electricity and the barrage of rocks starting going towards the machine and when they reached the machine the machine exploded into a million pieces. When Xerosic looked back at the damage he looked back at our heroes with a face that can kill. Meanwhile, Frogadier used cut on the cage and cleanly freed the Zygarde core from its prison.

The green core then ran towards the wild and instantly disappeared into thin air. Pikachu, Frogadier and Swampert now stood next to me and Brock watching Goodra battle the grunts. Then, the fire blast and dark pulse stopped and Goodra had a strong dark red aura surrounding him. Something Ash knew he had to get rid of, "Goodra, let them have it!" Ash shouted while punching the air in front of him.

Goodra aimed at the grunts and shouted, "GOOOOOOOOOODDDDRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!"

A large white beam that could possibly power through any hyper beam went directly to the grunts and the Houndoom and caused a huge explosion that made Brock cover his face, but Ash not flinch as his scarf waved in the blast. When the smoke cleared, not much was left but grunts with ripped clothes recalling their defeated Houndoom and running off.

Xerosic then smirked, "Confuse ray!"

The Malamar shot a beam that was headed right for Goodra, but before Goodra could even be touched, Frogadier jumped in the way of the confuse ray and started getting confused.

Ash POV:

I saw Frogadier jump in and start to suffer from the beam of energy, but then I started feeling lightheaded and off balance. My vision grew blurry and I started to sink to my knees. I then tried to look around and I saw that everything around me was spinning. What was going on?

"Pikapi!"

"Ash! Frogadier!"

"Swampert!"

"Goodra!"

Those voices… I know them… Who are they?

Suddenly something snapped in my head making me arch back and after that, I saw the blurry ground approach my face and my vision instantly went black.

Brock POV:

"Ash! Frogadier!" I shout with no avail. I quickly look at the two unconscious figures and then turn back to the man. Rage filling through me I command Swampert to attack, "Swampert use hydro pump now!"

"Swamp...ERRTTTTTT!" Swampert shouts as he shoots out a giant torrent of water headed for the Malamar and the large man.

I look over to the side and:

"Gooo….DRAAAAAA!" Goodra launches a thunder that combined with Swamperts stream of water that collided with the Malamar and caused a huge explosion. When I look over the smoke that cleared, I see the Malamar and man smirking at the pokemon completely untouched… How? I look over at Pikachu with shock as I see the yellow rodent looking like he has had it with the man.

"Pika pika pika pika pika pika…" Pikachu started to glow in electricity and I stood back as did the man and his Malamar. Goodra also started taking small steps back in surprise as to what was happening. Suddenly, I feel it, a drop of water fall from forming clouds in the sky… "PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA!" the hair around my body stands up as lightning starts striking around us. The man got hit with lightning and the Malamar got completely frozen in place due to paralysis from the lightning. "PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA!"

I see the man quickly take something out of his pocket as Pikachu jumps into the air completely in an aura of electricity which made me get down near Ash to make sure that I could not be in harm's way. Swampert and Goodra also follow me to where Ash and Frogadier lie. The man the struck the ground with some sort of smoke grenade causing a lot of smoke. "PIKA…. CHUUUUUUUUUU!" Pikachu engraved his fist onto the ground and through the thunderstorm I saw a barrage of electric rocks storming out of the ground in front of Pikachu rushing straight into the smoke.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM! (RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!)" Suddenly, an explosion that sent an ear ringing blast through my ears and caused me to get pushed back a couple feet. I could barely hear anything as I looked at the giant yellow ball of explosion that came from the explosion area dissipate. I could have sworn that was the biggest electric move I have ever seen. When the smoke cleared… There was no sign of the man and his Malamar…

DAMN IT! They got away!

The clouds and lightning slowly fade away and I look back at the pokemon and Ash, "Goodra, carry Ash while I carry Frogadier, we have to take him to a pokemon center quick!"

"Dra...GOODRA!" Goodra announced with pride as he grabbed the raven haired trainer from the ground. I then grab the bipedal water frog and put him on my arms. Pikachu climbs on Goodra's shoulder as we walk to the pokemon center… it should not be far at this rate.

With Serena:

"Brionne, after the Kalos League is over, should I go to Alola and travel there?" Serena asked her newly evolved pokemon.

The siren turned to Serena and smiled, "Brionne!"

Serena smiled back. Maybe she would go to Alola and see what other pokemon she could catch to aid her in performing. Serena then came across a clearing that caught her attention.

Closely inspecting the grass, Serena found what looked like battle markings left from a previous battle and one of them included some water… A water type move. Serena then looked at Brionne and asked her, "Can you tell me what pokemon that water can come from?"

Brionne looks at the moisture in the grass and feels it with her fin. After that, she goes to Serena and grabs her pokedex. Something Serena did not mind since she wanted to know why she felt like someone she knew battled here. Then Serena looked at the pokemon Brionne had brought up in the pokedex… Frogadier…

"Frogadier? Could it be?" Serena asked herself. She then looked at Brionne and said, "Thanks!"

"Brionne!" Brionne smiled while adorably standing in her back fins to make herself seem proud. Serena admired that about Brionne's personality.

Ash POV:

"Where am I?" I ask as I look around me and see myself in some sort of giant stadium. Suddenly, I see a bunch of people cheering for something. I look in front of me and see a bipedal pokemon crossing his arms. He has a blue coloring and resembles a larger Frogadier, only that it has a stronger build… more like a… Ninja?

The pokemon has a large shuriken on his back, something that I had never seen in a pokemon before. Along with the fins that resemble me to even the red fin on the top of his head that resembled my hat. Finally, he had a large tongue that was… BLUE? Like my scarf? What is this?

He turns to look at me and I see some strong determined dark red eyes, "NINJA!" It yells at me. A ninja? No way I guessed correctly.

My opponent then makes a move, I look closer and see my opponent is none other than Calem. He has Gallade, but this Gallade is a lot bigger than usual, he has a cape and a pair of strong blades along with a white coloring. "Gallade use leaf blade!" The Gallade charged the pokemon in front of me with green blades that seemed to go around the enhanced disks for arms.

Without consent my body moves and I out out my fist in front of me, "Aqua Blade!" Aqua Blade? A new move? Then I see through the eyes of whatever this bipedal pokemon is as I see a blue kunai like the one Frogadier has, but the same shade of dark watery blue that I sometimes see.

Just as my blades were about to collide with Calem's green one's my vision became white and the sound of cheers began replaced with:

"Ash wake up!"

"Pikapi!"

The Pokemon Center room no one's POV:

"Huh?" Ash's eyes shot open. "Where is Frogadier?"

Brock looked perplexed and pointed next to Ash to the bed next to him, "He is right there."

Ash looked to the bed on his right which Brock pointer at and then sighed in relief and looked down. 'What is going on?' Ash thought to himself. Ash then looked at Frogadier who was lying asleep with his chest rising and falling slightly from the breathing. Ash then looked at Pikachu and Goodra who were in the room and smiled, "Sorry for making you guys worry."

Goodra lowered his head to his trainer and hugged him, "Goo goodra!" Goodra was very kind for being an intimidating pokemon which is something Ash liked.

Pikachu also embraced his trainer with love, "Pika!" Ash then petted Pikachu's tail and Pikachu cooed with pleasure, "Chaaaaaa!"

"I have to thank Serena for teaching me that spot," Ash said with a smile while looking down at the electric rodent.

The name Serena caught Brock's attention though, "Ash, is Serena the same Serena from the master class that almost beat the Kalos Queen?" Ash looked at Brock and nodded. "She was amazing, I was sure she could have won! I also feel like she must have had the best masterclass! I watched it on television and she really reminded me of you Ash, no wonder she had it well, especially when you got her past the first round!"

At that last statement, Ash looked down with guilt, "Brock, her masterclass was a nightmare, well, it was until after." Brock looked at Ash surprised and Ash continued, "Be confidential about this, but she had to deal with performing with a nearly broken arm and let's not mention that I… Well let's say she had to perform with a broken heart throughout the first part... The second part though she was more confident, but crippled."

Brock looked down with sadness understanding how the Tripokalon was actually hell for Serena, something not many could see just by watching the television or being in the stands, "It's ok Ash, I am sure that Serena girl is proud of herself for making it that far."

Ash then smiled, "I am too, but I also wished she would have won." Little did Ash know, Serena did win.

With Calem in Lumiose City:

The battlefield was large and on it were six pokemon, "Alright guys, this is it… We gotta get training so that we can have an amazing pokemon league performance!"

"Gallade!"

"Chesnaught naught!"

"Manectric!"

"Talon talonflame!"

"Salamence!"

"Toxic toxicroak!"

Calem smiled at his roster, "We will work our hardest and do our best! Who is with me!"

All the pokemon give out a battle cry.

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed, next episode will focus more on our heroes and a little less on Ash. For that reason I introduced Calem and his roster. Seems like a good team IMO! (I kind of wanted Calem's team to be sort of like Ash's team, but in different ways!)

As for Xerosic… I needed Ash to experience danger with Frogadier to an extensive point.

I hope you enjoyed and remember to R & R and I will see you guys next time!

Responding to some reviews:

AmourshippingFan: Glad you enjoyed adding Brock to the story! I kind of wanted him to be there to add someone that Ash knew from the past into Ash's story. This is really my first step in adding more traveling companions… (Next chapter we go on more with this)

Guest 1: Now now, let me not spoil it all, I have already written up to chapter 39 at the time I am posting this chapter. If I do have something I can tell you is: The chapters will begin to exceed 10k words at some point in the near future.

Guest 2: Glad you liked it! I am going to keep going at it!

NinjaFang1331: Not the best battle I have written in my opinion… Wait for the Kalos League! That is all I can say xD! Anyways, glad you enjoyed!

HybridAshGreninja: Well, not in a long time… Let's see, we are on chapter 18…. Give or take… Give it around a couple more chapters. I wanted it to be at the perfect time, and if you did not already see the spoiler about it… I would recommend you reread at Ash's dream in the last chapter ;)!