Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate you taking the time to write one.

Sorry this is later than I promised but I had something turn up so I didn't get a chance to write for a couple of days. Then I started watching some animé. The best one by far was Kotoura-san which is an excellent animé that I think anyone who likes animé should watch. It's only 12 episodes at about twenty minutes per episode but it is very good. You can find this as well as many other animé on anilinkz . com

Okay enough excuses let's get to the chapter.

Here's chapter 24 I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can get the gist of what his Pokémon are saying due to his close bond with them.

"- Human speech

' - Thoughts'

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Once the ride ended Ash and Salem got out of the pod and wandered down the high street. The lights looked even more incredible up close as they could really appreciate the time it must have taken for the lights to be set up in such a precise manor. After getting something to eat they decided to call it a night and walked back to the Pokémon Centre. To their relief the door was still open which considering it was nigh on midnight was surprising. They walked past the main desk and slowly went up the stairs. When they got to the top of the stairs Salem pulled Ash into a hug which he returned. He then looked down into her silvery eyes and pressed his lips to hers again making both trainers blush when they pulled apart.

"See you in the morning." Ash whispered.

"Good night." Salem replied.

The couple shared one more quick kiss and went back to their rooms. Salem opened the door and found Misty and Chu sat on her bed seemingly waiting for her to return. Misty and Chu heard the door opened and looked at Salem and were happy to see the bright smile on her face. They smiled back at Salem and although Misty was sad that Ash had chosen another girl she was still happy for him and Salem and wanted to hear about the date which if Salem's smile was anything to go by must have gone incredibly well.

Ash's entrance to his room was slightly different as he found Meowth, Ralts, Eevee and Brock were fast asleep, the former three were curled up on Ash's bed and the latter was snoring loudly, draped over his own bed. Rai on the other hand was sat at the foot of Ash's bed wide awake. He smiled seeing the happy look on Ash's face.

'So how was your date?' Rai asked.

"It was an incredible day and at end of it I confessed and we kissed."

Rai smiled, happy that his best friend had gotten together with Salem.

'Now I can focus on what I'm gonna do about Chu.'

'Ash I'm happy for you but there is just one tiny problem.' Rai said.

"There is? What's the problem buddy?" Ash asked confusedly.

'Meganium.' Rai said before falling to sleep.

Ash's eyes widened as he realised how right Rai was. He'd known of Meganium crush on him ever since she was a Chikorita but he had never really known how to approach the subject.

'I should have talked to her about how she felt earlier. How the hell am I gonna tell her without breaking her heart?'

Ash was now regretting never thinking about this before confessing to Salem. For the past few days all he had been thinking about was Salem but and now he had to think of how to tell Meganium. He was up for a couple of hours trying to come up with some plan of how to tell Meganium but he just couldn't think of a solution that wouldn't involve hurting her. As the early hours of the morning rolled by eventually Ash's eyes started drooping. He had one thought before he finally fell to sleep.

'I am so screwed.'

The next morning Ash woke up feeling groggy, he looked at the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was nine o'clock. Although that was a late start by Ash's standards he didn't want to get up but the tournament was today so he forced himself out of bed. He looked around the room and saw that he was on his own. Assuming that everyone had gone to breakfast Ash quickly got washed and dressed then headed to the cafeteria. When he entered the room he spotted Misty, Brock, Salem, Ralts, Eevee, Rai, Chu, Meowth and Togepi sat at one of the tables. He picked a few things from the shelves and walked over to them quickly taking a seat next to Salem.

"Morning guys." Ash said.

"Good morning Ash." they all replied.

"So what time doe the tournament start?" Salem asked,

"It starts at exactly midday. So we'd better be in the stadium by eleven." Brock answered.

"Well that gives us plenty of time to finish breakfast and get there." Ash said.

The others nodded and went back to their food. Once the group had finished their breakfast they left the cafeteria and headed towards the front doors of the Pokémon Centre. However before they could exit the building Nurse Joy stopped them.

"Wait Mr Ketchum you have a call." Nurse Joy said.

Ash turned around and had a look of confusion on his face.

"A call? From who?" Ash asked.

Nurse Joy simply directed him to a phone, Ash shrugged and picked it up. After a couple of moments Professor Oak's face appeared on the screen.

"Hello Ash."

"Hi Professor why did you want to talk to me?"

"Well yesterday afternoon someone arrived here and I think he wants to reunite with you. I tried to contact you several times yesterday but you never picked up. I called Nurse Joy and she said that you went out and she had no clue when you'd return."

Ash had a quick glance at Salem who met his glance making both trainers smile.

"Sorry Professor I was busy."

Professor Oak saw the look exchanged between the two young trainers and was pretty sure he knew what was going on.

"I see."

Ash looked back to the screen and saw Professor Oak now looking to his left.

"So who wants to see me?"

Suddenly a Pokémon flew into view knocking Professor Oak out of the way. A huge grin appeared on Ash's face showing how overjoyed he was to see the first Pokémon he had caught.

"Butterfree, is that you?"

Butterfree nodded. Professor Oak then groaned and appeared on the screen rubbing his head.

"What is it with your Pokémon and knocking me down?"

"Sorry Professor I guess Butterfree is just excited to see me. Butterfree nodded again and looked guiltily at Professor Oak.

"Don't worry about it Butterfree. I've been getting tackled by Meganium for ages now so you knocking me over is nothing."

Butterfree smiled and landed on the old man's shoulder. Professor Oak smiled back at Butterfree and stroked his head.

"So Ash I assume you will be wanting me to send Butterfree to you."

"Yeah thanks. Did you keep Butterfree's Pokéball like I asked?"

"Yes I did. I'll go get it and send Butterfree to you."

Professor Oak walked off-screen, a couple of minutes later he returned with a poke ball and recalled Butterfree. He then placed the Pokéball into the transfer machine and pressed a couple of buttons. Moments later the Pokéball materialised in the machine next to Ash.

"Thanks Professor."

"No problem Ash, farewell."

"See ya Professor."

Both Ash and Professor Oak hung up. Ash then took Butterfree's Pokéball out of the transfer machine and threw it revealing Butterfree who flew to Ash and hugged him. Ash smiled happy to have the first Pokémon he caught back and returned the hug. Everyone looked happily at Ash and Butterfree as they all knew how much losing Butterfree had hurt Ash. After a few minutes Ash and Butterfree broke the hug and one question came to Ash's mind.

"It's great to see you again Butterfree. But I don't understand why you are her. I mean Shouldn't you be with your mate?"

The happy look on Butterfree's face faded and was replaced with a look of pure anger and hatred. Ash was shocked to see such a look on Butterfree's face as apart from Bulbasaur he had been Ash's calmest Pokémon. Butterfree then started saying his name very angrily, his voice getting louder and louder until he finally let out an angry cry. Ash, Salem, Misty and Brock looked from Butterfree to their Pokémon and saw that Rai, Chu and Meowth were wearing sad expressions while the younger ones were just looking around confusedly. The humans were now wondering what Butterfree could have said to get that response from Rai, Chu and Meowth.

"Hey Meowth what did Butterfree say?" Ash asked,

"Well I'll give you the clean version. So what happened was Butterfree went out to gather food for him and his mate who had claimed she was pregnant. Once he'd gathered as much as he could he returned to their den and he found his now former mate doing um..." Meowth paused thinking how to say this while the young ones were around.

Brock realised what Meowth was about to say and why he didn't say it.

"Hey Rai, Chu why don't you take Togepi, Eevee and Ralts outside?" Brock said.

The pair of Raichu's nodded and led the younger ones outside. Meowth looked relieved as now that they're gone he could say what happened without worrying about them hearing.

"So Butterfree's former mate was mating with one of the other Butterfree. He went and beat the hell out of the Butterfree forcing him to flee. He then went to his former mate and told her he was leaving and going back to his trainer. She chased after him apologising but he ignored her and just sped up easily getting away from her. He thought that his best hope of finding you would be to go back to Pallet Town and arrived there a couple of days ago."

Ash, Salem, Misty and Brock were saddened by this imagining how horrible that must have been for Butterfree to witness his mates betrayal.

"Sorry to hear that buddy. Is there anything I can do?" Ash asked.

Ash looked at Meowth as Butterfree started talking again.

"He says he wants to battle something today."

Ash grinned happy that Butterfree still had his desire to battle.

"Well don't worry about that we've got a tournament to win today. So let's see what moves you know now."

Ash pulled out his Pokédex and scanned Butterfree.

'This Butterfree has learned the following moves since it was last scanned: Bug Buzz, Signal Beam, Energy Ball and Giga Drain."

"Wow that is incredible." Ash said.

Butterfree looked away feeling embarrassed at the praise. Ash put his Pokédex back on his belt and he looked at the time. His eyes widened as he saw that they had to get going now or they'd be later.

"Come on guys we gotta go or we'll be late." Ash said frantically.

Ash quickly returned Butterfree and headed outside, he then placed Ralts and Eevee on his shoulders and started running towards the stadium. Misty, Brock and Salem looked at Ash and were confused at the frantic way Ash had spoken and at his sudden departure. They all looked at their own watches and when they saw the time they completely understood why Ash had reacted that way. They then ran after Ash only stopping briefly so that Misty could pick up Togepi and they were quickly followed by Rai and Chu.

They got to the Colosseum just in time to get inside before the gates were closed. They made their way through the crowd until they were near the front and watched as a man approached the microphone. Ash quickly looked around at all of the other competitors to see if he recognised anyone but he didn't see anyone he knew. This was a bit of a disappointment to Ash as he was hoping that Thalion and Vanya would have turned up and given him and Salem a good match. Ash turned their attention back to the stage when he heard the man clear his throat to get the crowd to quiet down.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This years Togepi tournament promises to be even better than previous. We have record sixty four teams which is double what we had last year so we will hopefully have double the intensity we had last year. Now I'm sure you're all wondering what the prize for winning the tournament is. Sadly that cannot be revealed now as it will be discussed in private between the winners of the tournament and the King and Queen."

Several of the trainers groaned, annoyed that they wouldn't find out until they won.

"Our first round match up is between the team of Ash Ketchum and Salem Ashni against Tom Baines and Jess Davies."

Ash and Salem took their place on the battlefield and felt sorry for their opponents who looked terrified. They decided to end it quick as drawing it out would just be cruel to them. The first match was even shorter than they expected as Butterfree and Chu easily took care of their opponents. The beginner trainers looked absolutely crushed so Ash and Salem walked over to them and after a short conversation both of the new trainers were smiling.

Afterwards Ash and Salem went to the stands and watched a couple of matches hoping to see someone other teams that could be a threat. But to their disappointment it seemed that only Brock and Misty would be a challenge. Ash and Salem were joined in the stands by Misty and Brock who had beaten their opponents just as easily as Ash and Salem had. The final competitors went to the battlefield and Ash smirked as he saw his oldest rival Gary Oak. The grandson of Samuel Oak alongside Leaf took down their opponents with relative ease and walked off of the battlefield.

With the end of the first round Ash and Brock left the stands and walked up to the tournament board trying to find their opponents for the next round. After a little bit of searching they found their names but didn't recognise their opponents. A confident look appeared on Ash's face and he looked at Brock who seemed just as confident. They then shrugged and started walking away.

"Hello Ashy-boy."

Ash stopped and growled angrily. He hated that nickname and knew only one person who would call him it.

"Shut up Gare-bear." Ash snapped back.

This time it was Gary who was fuming, Ash turned around and the trainers from Pallet Town glared at each other. After a brief stare down Ash turned around and started walking away as he had no intent of having an argument with Gary as he had many more important things to do than argue with Gary like watching paint dry. Brock quickly caught up to Ash and they were about halfway back to the crowd when Ash felt a hand grab his shoulder. Ash looked back and saw that Gary was smirking. Ash shrugged Gary's hand off and started walking away again.

"Y'know Ashy-boy that partner of yours is pretty hot. Once I knock you out of the tournament I'll take her out and let her spend some time with a real trainer."

Ash went back to Gary and stood in front of him face to face. Gary was feeling quite worried at the raging glare Ash was giving him.

"Leave her alone you scum bag." Ash said in a dark voice that neither Brock or Gary had heard from Ash.

Gary was momentarily taken back by the tone Ash had used as it was so unlike him. However he quickly regained his composure and smirked at Ash.

"Well, well, well Ashy-boy you're very protective of her."

Ash was barely keeping his cool, all he wanted to do was make Gary shut up. Ash was tempted to punch Gary but he kept his composure and maintained his glare but Gary just stood there with the same irritating smirk on his face.

"Then again now that I think about it if she's spending time with a loser like you she's probably pretty trashy."

That was the final straw for Ash. He was about to launch himself at Gary and beat the hell out of him but he was stopped by a hand pulling him back. Ash looked at the person who had stopped him and saw Brock shake his head. Ash nodded and spent a few moment calming himself down as he knew that Brock was right. Once Ash was calm he walked away with Brock who threw a final glare at Gary who was shocked that Ash had reacted that way.

As he walked alongside Ash, Brock was in complete shock. He had known Ash for nigh on five years and he had never in all of that time seen him get so angry. He was just glad that he had stopped Ash before he did attack Gary because he knew that would be something that he'd regret.

"I'm sorry Brock, it's just when he spoke about Salem that way I just snapped." Ash said.

"It's okay Ash I'd have done the same in your place if he'd been talking about my Joy."

"Thanks for stopping me Brock, do you think we could not tell Salem about this?"

"Tell her about what?"

Ash smiled.

"Thanks Brock I owe you one."

Brock clapped Ash on the back.

"Don't worry about it Ash."

They walked back into the stands and sat back down with Salem and Misty and told them about their next match.

When their match finally came round Ash and Salem walked to their side of the battlefield and looked across at their opponents who appeared to be more experienced than the beginners they had fought in the first match. Seeing both teams ready to battle the referee took his place at the sidelines.

"This second round match is between the team of Ash Ketchum and Salem Ashni against James Jenkins and Clare Mitchell."

All for trainers took a Pokéball off their belt and threw them.

"Butterfree to the battlefield."

"Galvantula charge into battle."

"Slugma I choose you."

"Numel I choose you."

Ash chuckled as he remembered when he used to say the exact same thing when he was their age and now he was thinking how childish it sounds making him wonder why nobody had said something about that before. As the quartet appeared on the battlefield Butterfree looked at his fellow bug and they both smirked at their opponents who looked terrified at the prospect of fighting them. Meanwhile Ash was looking at Galvantula confusedly as to his knowledge Salem had sent her back to Professor Juniper.

"When did you get Galvantula back?"

"This morning. While you were sleeping I swapped Mareep for Galvantula."

Ash simply nodded in response and watched as their opponents looked worriedly at Butterfree. Although considering what he'd done in the first battle it wasn't really surprising. Ash and Salem decided to wait for their opponents to make the first move. It was obvious that they'd go for fire moves assuming that type advantage would be all they'd need to beat Butterfree and Galvantula. Well they'd prove them wrong.

"Slugma use Ember."

"Numel do the same."

"Butterfree fly over and use Poison Powder."

"Galvantula Counter Shield."

Salem hadn't had a chance to uses the Counter Shield technique in a proper battle yet so this would provide the perfect opportunity to test it. Slugma and Numel shot bolts of fire from their mouths at the bugs. Butterfree quickly dodged by flying high into the sky and he started preparing to release a cloud of toxic dust on Numel and Slugma. Meanwhile Galvantula flipped on to her back and started spinning while firing a Thunderbolt which created an electrical shield around her. The flames hit the electrical shield which sent the flames shooting off in various directions, one of the bolts of fire was deflected straight at Butterfree who had would have been hit by the flames if he hadn't managed to dodge at the last second. As she looked at Butterfree Salem looked down guiltily, she hadn't taken into account what might have happened once the Counter Shield had blocked the attack. Ash looked at Salem and saw her head down, he placed his hand on her shoulder making her look up at him.

"Don't worry Salem, Butterfree is fine. Now let's forget about that and beat these guys."

She looked back to the battlefield and saw Butterfree nod at her.

"Bug Buzz!" Ash and Salem called out

Butterfree's wings and the blue tufts on Galvantula's back turned red and they started to vibrate which made red sound waves be released from them. The red sound waves created a painful siren-like sound, Numel and Slugma cried out at the excruciatingly painful sound and collapsed to the ground trying to shield their ears. After a couple of minutes Butterfree and Galvantula cut the attack letting their opponents get back to their feet. Numel and Slugma looked back at their trainers and saw them moving their mouths but they couldn't hear a thing. They tried shaking their heads to clear the ringing in their ears but it still didn't help. Ash and Salem looked at the temporarily deaf Pokémon and felt bad for them so they decided to put them out of their misery.

"Energy Ball." Ash and Salem both said.

Butterfree and Galvantula formed a green orb in front of themselves, they quickly fired the orbs at Numel and Slugma who had finally regained their hearing and were looking to their trainers for instructions but then they heard something behind them. They turned back just in time for the Energy Balls to slam straight into their faces, due to the power of the attacks Numel and Slugma were sent flying and they slammed into the arena wall unconscious.

"Numel and Slugma are unable to battle choose your final Pokémon."

James and Clare returned their Pokémon and took a new Pokéball off their belts and threw them.

"Vigoroth I choose you."

"Mawile I choose you."

Both Pokémon appeared on the battlefield and Vigoroth roared hoping to intimidate the opponents but to his surprise Galvantula and Butterfree were unphased. Ash formulated a plan in his head as he looked at Vigoroth and smirked.

"Butterfree Tackle Vigoroth."

Salem glanced at Ash wondering what he was thinking, as there was no way Butterfree could overpower a Vigoroth in a battle of physical strength. Ash saw Salem looking at him and leaned close to her.

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing you just deal with Mawile." he whispered.

"Ok Ash, Galvantula use Wild Charge on Mawile."

"Charge at Butterfree with Take Down."

"Stop Galvantula with Iron Head."

Galvantula became surround in electricity and she charged at Mawile whose head had turned metallic, the Pokémon clashed and due to Galvantula's strength and her resistance to Steel type moves Mawile was sent crashing back to its trainer. Meanwhile Butterfree flew full speed at the charging Vigoroth, they were only feet away when Ash smirked again.

"Fly up and use Giga Drain."

Seconds before the Pokémon would have clashed Butterfree flew straight up dodging Vigoroth who stumbled forward struggling to stay on his feet. Butterfree's body then glowed green, and matching energy beams extended from him. The beams wrapped around Vigoroth and began draining its energy, once the ended the attack the beams receded back into Butterfree's body. The amount of energy that had been drained from Vigoroth made him drop to one knee as he tried to recover some of his strength.

"Electro Web."

"Send Vigoroth to the ground with Tackle."

Galvantula fired a net of electricity at Mawile who tried to dodge but he was too slow so he was trapped in the net and was repeatedly shocked. While this was happening Vigoroth who had struggled back to his feet looked up just in time for Butterfree to slam into his gut and send him crashing into Mawile. Both Pokémon were on the ground but were still conscious, Ash and Salem gave the trainers a moment to return them but when they didn't they decided to finish it.

"Butterfree Signal Beam."

"Galvantula Thunderbolt."

A white orb formed in front of Butterfree, he then fired a rainbow coloured beam out of the orb at Vigoroth who had amazingly got back to to his feet. At the same time Galvantula fired a bolt of electricity that hit Butterfree's Signal Beam, the attacks combined and the rainbow coloured beam was now crackling with electricity. The combination attack hit Vigoroth who was sent crashing into Mawile knocking out both Pokémon and they were sent skidding across the ground finally stopping in front of their trainers.

"Vigoroth and Mawile are unable to battle. Ash Ketchum and Salem Ashni advance to the next round."

Ash and Salem returned their Pokémon and walked back up to the stands to watch Brock and Misty's battle. After watching Misty and Brock easily brushed aside their opponents Ash and Salem went to the tournament board to see who they were against next, Ash scanned through the list and he smirked as he saw who they were facing.

"Well who are we battling Ash?" Salem asked

"Next round we're against Gary Oak and Leaf Green."

Notes

I know I made Gary a bit of a dick but he won't be like that forever. Please don't flame me and say 'You hate Gary.' or things like that because I don't hate Gary.

I always liked Butterfree and I just had to bring him back.

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.

If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them.

Ash:

Kanto - Raichu, Meowth, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros(x24), Snorlax, Sandshrew, Butterfree & Eevee (Shiny)

Johto - Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Tyrogue & Sneasel

Hoenn - Marshtomp, Nincada, Treecko, Zangoose, Sableye & Ralts

Sinnoh - Monferno

Kalos - Meowstic

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Meowstic, Heracross, Kingler, Sableye, Tyrogue, Butterfree, Ralts & Eevee

Salem:

Kanto - Raichu & Jolteon

Johto - Chinchou & Mareep

Hoenn - Plusle & Minun

Sinnoh - Luxray

Unova - Zebstrika & Galvantula

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Galvantula, Jolteon, Luxray, Plusle & Minun