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

Congratulations Stallion6 of Deviantart, nWoreviewer, Xtreme Gamer and Survival Prodigy who all got the reference made in chapter 25. The first 3 are all fellow writers so please go and check their work out.

Here's chapter 26 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.

After looking at the board Ash and Brock found that due to Ash and Salem eliminating Gary and Leaf there wasn't really anyone that could give them a challenge. This meant that Ash, Salem, Misty and Brock breezed through their opponent's until it was Ash and Salem vs Brock and Misty in the final. As he looked at two of his best friends Ash started to get excited and he had to admit that he was really looking forward to this more than almost any other battle he'd ever fought the only exception being his match against Drake. He had been hearing from various trainers in the tournament how tough they had found the Pewter and Cerulean gyms and most of them had either skipped them until the very end or in some cases decide to challenge a different region.

As they took their places on the battlefield all four trainers shared a excited and respectful look. They then saw the referee take his place at the sidelines and readied a Pokéball.

"This is the final of this years Togepi tournament. The battle is between the team of Ash Ketchum and Salem Ashni against the Kanto gym leaders Brock Slate and Misty Waterflower. Trainers choose your first Pokémon."

"Luxray charge into battle."

"Butterfree to the battlefield."

"Misty calls Starmie."

"Go Steelix."

Butterfree and Luxray appeared on the battlefield and looked raring for a battle. They looked at their opponents and watched as Starmie and Steelix appeared on the battlefield. As the teams stared each other down Steelix let out a loud roar that would intimidate most opponents but to the steel types surprise Butterfree and Luxray stood there unfazed.

"Starmie rapid fire Water Pulse."

"Steelix Mud Shot."

"Butterfree block the Water Pulse's with Energy Ball."

"Luxray dodge the mud and hit Steelix with Fire Fang."

Starmie formed a blue orb in front of it's jewel and fired it at Butterfree who had formed a green orb in front of him and launched it at Starmie's Water Pulse, the attacks collided and cancelled each other out. Both Pokémon continued to form the attacks and fire them, but they had very little effect as their attacks cancelled each other out. While Butterfree and Starmie exchanged attacks Steelix opened his mouth and started firing several balls of mud at Luxray who was easily dodging the attacks. When he got in range of Steelix Luxray leapt and landed on Steelix's tail, his fangs then became engulfed in flames and he bite down on Steelix's metallic tail making the iron snake roar in pain as the flames seared him.

"Shake him off."

Steelix started flailing his tail violently in an attempt to send Luxray flying. But to Steelix's annoyance Luxray kept a firm grip on Steelix's tail, Steelix continued to roar in pain due to Luxray's fangs still being on fire which was causing the steel type an immense amount of pain. As Steelix and Luxray battled on Energy Balls and Water Pulses were still cancelling each other out, seeing that they were getting nowhere fast Ash and Misty both decided to change tactics.

"Starmie Ice Beam."

"Butterfree Signal Beam."

A frozen orb formed in front of Starmie who then fired several light blue beams from the orb at Butterfree. The bug type responded by forming a white orb in front of him and then firing a rainbow coloured beam from it. Butterfree's Signal Beam clashed with Starmie's Ice Beam and a battle for supremacy began however neither of them could gain an advantage. Meanwhile with a final sweep of his tail Steelix threw Luxray off of his tail which sent the electric type crashing into the arena wall temporarily stunning him. Brock turned his attention from Luxray to the beam struggle between Starmie and Butterfree.

"Steelix Iron Tail."

"Stop your attack and dodge." Ash instructed.

Butterfree immediately stopped firing the Signal Beam and strafed to the right dodging the Iron Tail but he was clipped by the Ice Beam which froze part of his left wing. The ice encasing some of his wing crippled his flying abilities and he began plummeting to the ground. Butterfree tried to keep airborne but he couldn't without the use of his left wing. He braced himself for the pain that would be coming his way but to his surprise the pain never came. He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on Luxray's back, he felt incredibly lucky that Luxray had gotten in the right place to stop him from slamming into the battlefield. Luxray eased Butterfree off of his back and his teeth sharpened, the electric type then crunched the ice on Butterfree's wing. The strength behind the Crunch shattered the ice freeing Butterfree's wing which allowed him to get back into the air.

"Thanks." Ash said.

"No problem Ash. Now Luxray use Fire Fang again"

"Grab hold of Luxray with Bind."

"Butterfree get on Starmie's back and use Giga Drain."

"Don't let him get close, use Hydro Pump."

Luxray once again shot towards Steelix with his fangs on fire however this time Steelix was ready for him and when Luxray leapt to attack Steelix the iron snake moved slightly and wrapped his metallic body around Luxray. The electric type tried to struggle free but when Steelix tightened his grip on him he was forced to grit his teeth in an attempt to not cry out in pain. Salem looked on knowing that there was nothing she could do for Luxray now that he was trapped. As she was about to forfeit Luxray she saw his body become outlined in blue and his muscles appeared to bulk up. She watched as he gradually broke free from Steelix's crushing grip and got away from Steelix. Salem looked at Luxray and saw that his muscles had returned to their normal size and she realised that he must have finally managed to use Superpower which they had worked on for so long.

"Way to go Luxray you finally unlocked Superpower."

Salem's celebrations were cut short when she saw the state Luxray was in. What made it worse was that after using Superpower Luxray would now be physically weaker. As she pondered her next move Steelix came back on the attack and Luxray only just managed to dodge an Iron Tail that would have flattened him.

As the battle between Steelix and Luxray continued Butterfree shot towards Starmie dodging several powerful blasts of water and grabbed on to Starmie's back. Once he had latched himself on to Starmie Butterfree's body then glowed green and matching energy beams extended from him. The beams wrapped around Starmie and began draining its energy making Starmie stagger forward but remain standing. Misty seeing Starmie in such bad shape decided to bring out her trump card.

"Thunderbolt."

Starmie's body started crackling and suddenly discharged electricity into Butterfree who cried out in agony as the electricity coursed through him but he managed to keep up his attack. Everyone watched as both Pokémon stubbornly refused to give up but eventually both attacks ended and Butterfree and Starmie fell to the ground unconscious.

"Starmie and Butterfree are unable to battle. Choose your next Pokémon."

The distraction of both Pokémon falling had given Luxray a few moments to recover as Steelix had focussed on them just like everyone else in the stadium. Salem wasn't gonna let a chance like this be wasted and quickly got Luxray off the field so he could have a proper rest in case he was needed later. Luxray didn't look pleased but listened to his trainer and stood by her side again.

"Galvantula charge into battle."

"Misty calls Politoed."

"Heracross to the battlefield."

Heracross and Galvantula appeared on the battlefield and showed the same focus that Butterfree and Luxray had. Politoad on the other hand started happily dancing while clapping his hands. Ash, Misty, Brock and Salem chuckled at Politoad's dancing, when he stopped he put his best impression of a focussed face and looked at Heracross and Galvantula.

"Use Close Combat on Steelix."

"Politoed stop Heracross with Ice Beam."

"Earthquake."

"Galvantula Bug Buzz.

Politoed put its hands together in front of himself and formed a light blue orb that was encased in ice in between them. He fired several beams of ice from the orb at Heracross who started flying towards Steelix, as he flew towards the steel type Heracross showed off some incredible flying ability by dodging some of the beams however some of them were clipping him. Politoed was about to launch another series of Ice Beams and Steelix was about to slam his tail down on the ground to create the Earthquake when they heard an insanely loud siren sound ringing in their ears causing both of them to lose focus and cancel their attacks.

They looked up trying to see where the sound was coming from and saw that the tufts on Galvantula's back were glowing bright red and were vibrating which was creating the sound waves. Without anything to stop him Heracross landed on Steelix's body and started pummelling him with a barrage of punches of kicks making the iron snake cry out in pain. Eventually the assault drained the last of Steelix's strength and he crashed to the ground making the entire stadium shake.

"Steelix is unable to battle. Choose you next Pokémon."

"Go Forretress."

The bug type took his place in front of Brock and got ready to battle.

"Hit Heracross with Gyro Ball." Brock instructed.

"Stop him, then throw him and use Close Combat."

"Hit Politoed with a Thunderbolt."

"Counter with Focus Blast."

Forretress pulled his horns into his body and closed up his shell. He then started spinning and a blue ring appeared around him as he shot towards Heracross. As he watched Forretress approached him Heracross landed on the ground and extended his arms in front of him while digging his feet into the ground. Moments later Forretress met Heracross' extended arms, the force behind Forretress' attack pushed Heracross back creating trenches where Hercross' feet had dug into the ground. The beetle was only a few feet away from slamming into the arena wall when he managed to stop Forretress. He then threw Forretress high into the air, he then flew after Forretress and hit him with a barrage of punches and kicks.

Meanwhile Politoed put his hands together in front of himself again and formed a light blue orb of energy in between them. He then fired the orb at Galvantula who in response shot a bolt of electricity at him. The attacks clashed and instantly cancelled each other out but Galvantula was then hit by a stream of bubbles as Misty had quickly called out a Bubblebeam.

"Try another Thunderbolt."

Galvantula tried to focus on charging another Thunderbolt however she was still being bombarded by Politoad's Bubblebeam making it impossible for her to concentrate on charging the electricity needed to fire the attack. Suddenly Forretress came crashing to the ground after Heracross slammed his fist down on Forretress' head and he landed on Politoed making both Pokémon fall to the ground. Now that Galvantula was free of the Bubblebeam she was able to charge a Thunderbolt and she shot it straight at Politoed who had just pushed himself to his feet but was facing away from Galvantula. The water type then turned around just in time for the electricity to shock him. He cried out in pain and once the attack ended he staggered forward but managed to stay on his feet.

"Freeze Galvantula with Icy Wind."

"Stop the attack with Electro Web."

"Focus Punch on Forretress."

Politoed opened his mouth and shot a freezing wind that sparkled with blue snow at Galvantula who created a net out of electricity and fired it at the frozen wind. The attacks cut through each other and both Pokémon cried in pain as the attacks hit them making them collapse to the ground to many of the audience's surprise both Pokémon struggled back to their feet. As Politoed and Galvantula got up Heracross was getting closer to Forretress who was still lying on the battlefield as his fist glowed white. Ash looked confusedly at Brock wondering why he hadn't given Forretress any instructions. His confusion only increased when a smile appeared on Brock's face.

"Flash Cannon then use Heavy Slam."

"Dodge it Heracross!"

Forretress suddenly got back into the air and formed a silver ball in front of himself. He then fired a silver beam from it at Heracross who quickly strafed to the left however the attack still clipped him, this gave him no chance to avoid Forretress' follow up attack and he was sent crashing into the ground when Forretress slammed into him. Heracross quickly got back to his feet although the at attack had taken a lot out of him. All four Pokémon fell back to their trainers breathing heavily clearly exhausted. Seeing their Pokémon looking so tired they all knew that it was time to go all in.

"Thunder!" Salem instructed.

"Hydro Pump!" Misty commanded.

"Hyper Beam!" Ash and Brock called.

Politoed opened his mouth and shot an incredibly powerful blast of water, Galvantula charged an immense amount of electricity in her body and shot it towards Politoed and both Heracross and Forretress formed an orange orb in front of them and fired an immensely powerful orange beam from them. All four attacks clashed in the middle of the battlefield and caused a massive explosion that shrouded the battlefield in smoke. Ash, Misty, Brock and Salem were all blown off their feet by the power of the attacks but quickly got up and looked back to the battlefield worried for their Pokémon. Eventually the smoke cleared showing that all four Pokémon were now unconscious.

"Galvantula, Heracross, Forretress and Politoed are all unable to battle. Brock and Misty are out of Pokémon so Ash and Salem are the Champions of this years Togepi Tournament."

They all returned their Pokémon and walked to the centre of the battlefield exchanged hugs and handshakes.

"Great battles guys I can see why people are struggling to beat you." Ash said.

"Thanks Ash. You've improved a heck of a lot since we last met. It seems that you aren't the boy I fished out of the river anymore." Misty replied.

"Misty's right Ash you really have gotten a lot better and Salem was impressive to." Brock added.

Both Ash and Salem blushed at the praise.

"Thanks." Ash and Salem said.

They then heard their names called and were told to go to the main stage where the King, Queen and the Princess were sat waiting for them. They all stood in front of the Royal Family wondering what their prizes would be. The Princess got up and hand Misty an item for her Togepi that would enhanced her abilities when she finally evolved. The Queen then gave Brock some grooming equipment as they had heard of his impressive skills as a Pokémon Breeder.

Ash and Salem looked at the King expecting him to give them something but were confused when he told them that they would be escorted out of the stadium with him, the Queen and the Princess by the Royal Guard who had several Pokémon out as a safety precaution. They made a quick stop at the Pokémon Centre so that Ash and Salem's Pokémon could be healed and then continued the journey to the castle.

Once they were inside the castle Ash and Salem were led to a door which appeared to lead out on to some kind of garden. The King and Queen walked into the garden followed by Ash and Salem while the Princess returned to her room. Ash and Salem looked back and saw that the guards had remained inside the castle. They were both wondering why they stayed inside when they had accompanied them all this way. The King and Queen noticed that Ash and Salem had stopped and saw the confusion on the trainers faces.

"They are not permitted in here." the King said.

"The only people allowed in this garden are either members of the Royal Family or esteemed guests such as yourselves. Now follow us and we shall explain your prize" the Queen added.

Ash and Salem nodded and quickly followed the King and Queen who led the young trainers through the garden finally ending up in an area filled with Togepi. The young trainers looked around the area in awe but were still wondering what this has to do with their prize. They were about to ask when the King cut them off.

"Your prize for winning the tournament is right in front of you. You both shall receive a Togepi."

"Which ones do we get?" Ash asked.

"That is for you to find out. What you must do is walk through the field and you will feel a connection to one. When you find them your chosen Togepi it will evolve." the Queen replied.

"Your majesty may I ask a question?" Salem said.

"Of course Salem." the King responded.

"How old are these Togepi?"

"They hatched exactly a year ago. There is a room inside the castle where several Togepi are hatching as we speak in preparation for next years tournament.

"What happens to all of the other Togepi?" Ash asked.

"Well they are either paired with new members of the guard, given to family members or they remain here and tend to the young ones." the Queen answered,

"Now if you'll excuse us we have other business to attend to. When you find your partners please come back inside and find us and we shall tell you about the bond you will share with your Togetic." the King said.

Ash and Salem nodded and watched the King and Queen walk back inside leaving them alone in a field of Togepi. They turned around and began walking through the field trying to find some kind of connection to any of them but they weren't finding anything. They searched for what felt like hours and were on the verge of stopping for the time being when suddenly Ash and Salem both felt something. They walked to the area where they felt the pull and saw a pair of Togepi sat next to each other. Ash and Salem walked over to them and lifted them up, the Togepi instantly shone bright white which when it died down revealed a pair of Togetic. Before they had a chance to do anything else a massive explosion shook the ground and knocked them both to the ground.

"What the hell caused that?" Salem said.

"I don't know but whatever it was it came from inside the castle so we'd better check it out."

Ash and Salem quickly ran back inside the castle with their Togetic by their sides all of them were worried for everyone who had been in the castle.

As they ran through the halls Ash and Salem saw several of the royal guards and their Pokémon unconscious. They had decided that the best course of action would be to go to the throne room and find the King and Queen who would hopefully be able to tell them what's going on. Ash and Salem stopped running when they suddenly heard a scream in one of the rooms nearby.

"I'll check out that room and find out who screamed. You check the other rooms and see if anyone else needs help." Ash said.

Salem nodded and they split up. Ash quietly approached the room that the scream came from and after placing Ralts and Eevee on the ground he looked through the small gap in the door spotting an unconscious Togetic lying in front of the Princess who was cowering in the corner of the room. A man, an Exploud and a Swalot then appeared and were moving towards the Princess. The man then yanked the Princess to her feet by her long red hair making her scream in pain as tears streamed down her face.

"Rai, Meowth use Thunderbolt!"

Ash, Rai and Meowth then burst through the door, the latter two both launched a bolt of electricity at Swalot and Exploud making them both cry out in pain. The shocked Pokémon quickly recovered from the initial attack and charged at Rai and Meowth. Meanwhile Ash charged into the man making him drop the Princess who crawled as far away from the fighting as possible. The momentum from Ash's tackle sent him and the man crashing though the bedside table. They both got to their feet and Ash was forced to duck under a punch, he responded by launching his fist into the man's stomach. Ash smirked when he heard the man grunt and then hit him with an uppercut that made the man stagger back. The smirk on Ash's face vanished when the man sprang forward and smashed his fist into Ash's face knocking him to the ground. Ash groaned and saw the man aiming kick at him so he braced himself however the kick never came. Ash opened his eyes and saw Meowth and Rai standing on the man's back as their tails turned from metallic to their normal appearance.

"Thanks guys." Ash said gratefully.

'No problem Ash.' Rai replied.

Ash pushed himself back to his feet and rubbed his cheek which was still hurting, he spotted the Princess and was by her side in an instant. She was still crying which wasn't at all surprising considering the circumstances so he pulled her into a hug which she returned and tried to calm her down. After a few minutes her cries died down and she wiped a hand across her eyes to dry her tears. She looked at her saviour and smiled brightly.

"Thank you Ash for saving me and comforting me. I needed that." the Princess said.

"It's no problem Princess."

"Um Elizabeth." she mumbled.

"What?"

"My name, it's Elizabeth. You don't have to call me Princess."

"Okay Elizabeth." Ash said with a smile.

She immediately looked down as a blush came to her face hoping that Ash wouldn't see her burning cheeks. Ash was about to ask why she had lowered her head when Salem walked into the room. He broke the hug with Elizabeth and stood up.

"So did you find anyone?" Ash asked.

"Only more unconscious guards." Salem replied.

"I guess we're gonna have to keep looking then." Ash said.

"W-wait you can't leave me here alone. I'm scared." Elizabeth said.

Ash knew that she was right but it was far too dangerous to have her come with them. That meant that the only option was leaving a couple of Pokémon with her while they investigate what's happening. He thought through which Pokémon to leave and eventually decided on two.

"Meowstic and Butterfree come on out."

He had considered leaving Kingler or Heracross but Ash wasn't sure whether Elizabeth would be frightened of them. He looked at Meowstic and Butterfree who were both wondering why Ash had sent them out.

"Hey you two I want you both to stay here and keep the Princess safe. Is that okay?"

Meowstic and Butterfree turned their gaze from Ash to who they assumed to be the Princess and could see the fear in her eyes so they nodded vowing to protect the girl. Eevee and Ralts then got back on to Ash's shoulders however he took them off and placed them on the bed.

"Eevee, Ralts I want you both to stay here too."

They both whined not liking the idea of being separated from their dad.

"I'm sorry but you're still not strong enough for battle yet and I want you to stay safe. Also you guys can play with Elizabeth and keep her mind off of what's happening."

Eevee and Ralts reluctantly nodded in agreement as they knew their dad was right as usual. They jumped off of the bed and walked to Elizabeth taking a seat in her lap. Elizabeth smiled while she gently stroked the young Pokémon which made them both let out a content sigh. Seeing that Elizabeth appeared to be comfortable around the Pokémon Ash and Salem left her bedroom and headed towards the throne room. Both of them were just hoping that they'll find out who did this and stop them before something terrible happens.

Notes

So who's attacked the castle? Why have them done it? And what will Ash and Salem find when they get to the throne room? Find out next chapter.

I had initially planned on adding the throne room scene to this chapter but it would have made it way too long so this is another shorter chapter.

Hopefully I'll have the next chapter done soon so you won't have long to wait.

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 & 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 + Togetic who hadn't been officially caught.

Salem:

Kanto - Raichu & Jolteon

Johto - Chinchou & Mareep

Hoenn - Plusle & Minun

Sinnoh - Luxray

Unova - Zebstrika & Galvantula

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Galvantula, Jolteon, Luxray, Plusle & Minun + Togetic who hadn't been officially caught.