Ch 61:Rounds one and Two
A crowd of horrified citizens watches as 4 knights in full armor dragged a wounded Charizard through the streets of Cyllage city.
"Let him go!" A woman shouted.
"You can't do this!" A man shouted. Dozens of soldiers in chain mail armor kept the crowd back as the knights dragged the Charizard to a Guillotine on a set of gallows.
The knights locked the Charizard into the Guillotine as the crowd saw the pokemon's defeated and given up expression.
Another man wearing knight armor stepped up onto the gallows as the crowds continued to shout out in anger.
"People of Cyllage this Charizard was found attacking soldiers who were preparing the pokemon here for their slaughter. Further proof that these vile creatures are monsters and need to be exterminated" The man said.
"You're the monsters!" A young man shouted as he pushed through the soldiers and hurled a rock at the man on the gallows.
The rock hit the man in the face and he stumbled backwards. Soldiers quickly rushed over and grabbed the young man's arms before one punched him in the gut and dragged him away.
" He will be next" The man in knight armor said as he got back to where he was.
"I lord Fathin having been appointed lord of the city by our glorious ruler King Aorazok, now take the duty of restoring order and delivering just punishment on this abomination" Lord Fathin said as the crowd continued to shout out in anger.
A young man in his twenties quickly made his way through the crowd towards the gallows. He was wearing a white hooded robes with some light metal armor on the chest and shoulders. His hood was up as he approached the edge of the crowd.
"Back " One of two soldiers in front of him said. The young man raised his hands and thrusted them into the soldiers' chests. Moments later the two soldiers dropped to the ground.
"Now it is time for the monster to die!" Fathin said as he turned towards the Guillotine's lever.
"No!" Several shouted as others looked away. The man in the white robes brought through the open road in a dead sprint and quickly scaled the gallows before leaping up once he reached the top.
Lord Fathin turned just in time to see the man before he was plowed into the ground and impaled in the neck by a hidden blade.
"Ghaa!" Fathin grunted as he felt the blade enter his throat. He turned to the robed man's face and saw he had raven black hair and brown eyes under his hood with a growing black goatee.
"It is time for the monsters to die!" The Aura guardian said in a Kanto accent. When the Charizard saw the Aura guardian he looked closer and realized who it was.
"Grauu!" he roared. The aura guardian got up and turned towards the Charizard as a pair of soldiers drew their swords and ran at him. The guardian drew both his hidden blades and blocked their swords before kicking one of the soldiers in his calf and slashing his hidden blade across his throat as he reeled back.
He then forced the other soldier's sword back with one of his hidden blades as he thrusted his other into the man's stomach.
Two of the knights raised their halberts and rushed at the guardian. The Guardian turned his head towards them and gave a hint of a smile. He thrusted his leg forward and smashed one of the knight's Halberts in half as he rushed at him. As the knight tumbled backwards the guardian snatched the piece of the halbert with the axe on the end and hurled it into the other knight's helmet as he came from behind the guardian.
After the second knight fell to the ground the Guardian leapt onto the knight with the broken halbert and thrusted his right hidden blade into a gap in his armor.
The last two knights drew their swords and raised their shields as they ran at the Guardian. The aura guardian turned and waited until the first one got close and hurled his sword at him. Just before the sword could reach him the aura guardian hurled his forearm forward and knocked the man's sword arm away hen thrusted both his hidden blades forward and through the knights armor.
The other knight hurled his shield forward to try and bash the guardian, but the more agile guardian lurched back then came forward and kicked the knights calf. Despite the knight's armor he still cringed in pain as the Guardian leapt forward into him knocking the knight to the ground as he plunged his hidden blade into his throat.
In the streets below the crowd was cheering for the Aura guardian as he cut down the knights and soldiers.
"Archers to position!" A soldier on the streets shouted as 4 archers came below the gallows and raised their bows. The guardian turned to the archers as they unleashed a volley.
Just before the arrows could hit the guardian he thrusted his palm forward unleashed a burst of aura energy that knocked the arrows aside.
"What!?" The soldier said. When the guardian saw the archers preparing another volley he took a breath and unleashed an aura sphere that hurled the man away and onto the ground.
The aura guardian then turned to the Charizard and rushed to the Guillotine.
Dozens of soldiers lead by a knight captain surrounded the Gallows as the guardian freed his Charizard and handed him something.
"You, stop now!" The captain shouted as his archers got into position. The guardian turned to the captain as his Charizard did the same.
"Drop your weapons now!" The captain shouted.
"Never" The guardian said.
"Certainly you don't believe you can get out here alive" The captain said as a dozen archers got into position.
"We can and we will" The guardian said as he raised his left hidden blade holder on his wrist and touched a stone embedded into it.
Moments later a colorful sphere surrounded the Charizard as he was enveloped in light and started growing bigger.
"What's going on?" The captain said as the crowd looked on in excitement and the soldiers in terror. When the light was gone Charizard had doubled in size and was black with blue fire on his tail and mouth.
"Grauu!" he roared.
"We fight as one!" The guardian said as he leapt forward and onto he captain as he plunged his hidden blades into the man's throat. He then got up and blasted a line of archers with a burst of aura that knocked them off their feet.
Mega Charizard X unleashed a torrent of blue fire as he flew above the soldiers engulfing them in fire. Several archers managed to fire at him but he quickly deflected the arrows with his Steel wing.
After lighting up half the soldiers he landed on the ground behind his trainer and stood back to back with him as he unleashed dragon claw on the soldiers at the same time his trainer fought with his hidden blades.
Mere minutes later the crowd watched as the last of the soldiers fell.
An uproar of cheer came from the citizens as they saw the aura guardian and his Mega Charizard still standing. The Aura guardian looked at the fallen soldiers and saw one was still alive.
He turned to him as the young man tried to crawl backwards away from him.
"No please ! I'm just a soldier!" the young man said. The aura guardian came down and grabbed him before lifting him up.
"You listen to me and you listen good. You will ride to Lumoise city and deliver your king a message" The guardian said.
"Yes I will!" The young man said.
"You tell him that the aura guardians are not gone. You tell him that Vaeron Rathol is still alive and that he will personally be the one to dethrone the tyrant king Aorazok!" Vaeron shouted.
"I will ,I will" The soldier said before he was thrown to the ground. The young man got up and ran as fast as he could as the crowd shouted at him.
"Get out!" one woman shouted
"Run to your king!" A man shouted. As the crowd continued to chant and applaud. Vaeron walked over to the young man in the crowd who had thrown the rock. The young man had lemon blonde hair and light grey eyes. Vaeron could feel something in this young man, a similar feeling that he felt in himself.
"Young man what is your name?" Vaeron said.
"I am Andre" he said.
" They had more pokemon here scheduled for slaughter. Where are they being held?" Vaeron said.
"In the keep" The Andre said.
"Go to the keep" Vaeron said.
"Yes I want my Absol back!" Andre shouted as he and the crowd rushed over to the 15 minutes later the people of Cyllage city had stormed the now empty keep and freed all the pokemon inside.
Normally there would have been soldiers stationed there but all the soldiers in Cyllage had been wiped out by Vaeron and his Charizard. As the people of Cyllage rejoiced at the return of their pokemon Vaeron and his Charizard were sitting atop the keep watching.
Moments later Vaeron was knocked to the tower floor as his Charizard came over him licking his face.
"Alright Charizard, I get it. I love you too. I know it seemed like I was was lost forever after Aorazok killed my father and the others. But you are the only family I have left. I couldn't let you die" Vaeron said before he got up and looked back down at the crowd with his Charizard.
"This is only the beginning. You and I will rebuild the brotherhood and topple the murdering tyrant king!" Vaeron shouted. Charizard unleashed a powerful roar while also breathing a jet of fire.
"Pika , Pikachu" Ash heard. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Pikachu's face in front of him.
"Huh?" Ash said as he raised his head.
"Pika, Pika" Pikachu said.
"Ohh, was that a dream?" Ash said. What he saw in his sleep seemed so real, it wasn't like he was watching the aura guardian it was like he was the aura guardian. Like he was the one freeing the Charizard and fighting the soldiers. It all seemed so real.
It seemed like the same sensation and vision that he felt back at the castle and before he went to bed. It wasn't just that but the voice of the aura guardian from the dream was the same voice he heard from the aura guardian from the earlier vision.
"It all seemed so real, and that name. Vaeron , I've heard that name before" Ash said.
"Pika Pikachu" Pikachu said. He could feel Ash's sensation through their aura connection every time he had one.
"Vaeron, I know that name" Ash said. Elsewhere in Grand Chateau Castle Serena was awoken at 7:00 by her mom.
"Serena, come on time to get up".
"Huh" Serena said.
"Come on they're serving breakfast and you need to eat before your first round" Grace said.
"Right" Serena said before she let all her pokemon out and gave them each a bowl of food. After each one was fed Serena saw her father with his black dress service uniform on.
"Come on do you have to wear your uniform" Grace said.
"They said suits only in this place and it's the only one I had with me" Alex said.
"Alright" Grace said as they went down to one of the dinning halls with Diancie beside them. Moments after they left Merrick, Knight, and Joker woke up.
"Huh what?" Merrick said before he looked around and saw Diancie was gone.
" Diancie ! Oh no she's gone!" Merrick shouted.
"What!?" Knight shouted as he got up.
"Find her!" Joker said as the three rushed around the room looking. Fufrou and Zoroark watched as the 3 rushed around the room before Joker tripped and crashed into the other 2.
"Zor" Zoroark said as Fufrou nodded and walked over to them.
"Furfrou" He said.
"She went with the others! Come we must go!" Merrick said as they rushed out the door.
"Frou" Furfrou said sweat dropping before returning to his food.
Outside the Grand Chateau Castle Ash, Red, and Korrina were waiting with Delia, Alexa, and Felix.
"The Grand festival, once a year dozens of the finest trainers in Kalos come together to compete to prove who is the finest of them all. This will be the biggest story until the Kalos league" Alexa said.
"Geeze it's 7:35 the first round is going to start soon; where are Clemont and Bonnie" Ash said.
A minute later Bonnie came running over towards them.
"Hey guys! Sorry we're late" Bonnie said.
"Bonnie there you are, where's Clemont?" Red said.
"He's coming" Bonnie said when they saw Clemont coming in a new suit with his hair done looking very nervous.
"Clemont that's not the suit you normally wear to the battle chateau" Korrina said.
"Our dad gave it to him when he found out about Shauna!" Bonnie said.
"Shhh! Bonnie I told you not to do that" Clemont said.
"Who's Shauna?" Delia said.
"One of our friends we met through the battle Chateau" Ash said.
"And one who likes Clemont" Bonnie said.
"Stop saying that, we don't know if she likes me" Clemont said.
"Clemont she kissed you in Snowbelle city" Korrina said.
"That could mean anything!" Clemont said.
"Come on let's just get inside. We need to find Serena before he first match" Ash said.
"Right let's go" Delia said. They got to the front door where the guards asked for tickets.
"We have them" Alexa said taking out their tickets.
"Very good, you may enter" one of the guards said.
Elsewhere in Serena's room she had returned with her mother and father after breakfast so that Serena could get ready. In the bathroom Serena had put on her her pink dress and sat down as her mother did her hair.
"Alright almost done" Grace said. She could see the look of anxiety on Serena's face.
"Still nervous" Grace said.
"A little" Serena said.
"It's ok to be a little nervous. Just remember to stay confident and do your best" Grace said.
"Thanks mom".
"Alright done" Grace said. Diancie looked up and saw Serena all dressed up.
"Wow Serena you look beautiful" Diancie said.
"Thanks Diancie" Serena said as she got up and walked out of the bathroom where he father was waiting.
"There's my beautiful little girl. Go out there and show them what you can do" Alex said.
"Thanks dad" Serena said before she hugged him.
"Well we should get down there" Grace said. Elsewhere Ash and the others were walking through one of the lounges trying to find Serena.
"There are so many people here" Ash said.
"I know I don't know how I'm going to interview them all. Delia you stay in this lounge and interview as many trainers as you can. I'll head to another lounge" Alexa said.
"Sounds good" Delia said. After Alexa left Ash saw a pair of familiar faces.
"Look it's Lysandre" Ash said as Lysandre and Malva walked over to them.
"Ash my boy I was hoping to see you here" Lysandre said.
"Lysandre good to see you again" Felix said.
"Ah yes Felix, always good to see an aura guardian master" Lysandre said.
"What are you doing here?" Felix said.
"I'm here to see the beautiful pokemon and their abilities" Lysandre said.
"Wait Felix who is this?" Delia said.
"Delia this is Lysandre, he's a pokemon researcher- philosopher and also friend of the aura guardians. Lysandre this is my wife Delia".
"Pleasure to meet you Delia" Lysandre said as he shook her hand.
"So you're Malva of the elite four" Delia said.
"Yes I am" Malva said.
"Well I'm with the Kalos press, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" Delia said.
"Not at all" Malva said as the two walked off. Elsewhere Serena and Diancie were walking through the lounge with her parents.
" I hope we can find Ash before the first round starts" Serena said.
"We still have time sweetie" Grace said.
"So how do we find Ash?" Diancie said.
"Well we just need to keep looking and hopefully" Serena started before she bumped into someone.
"Oh I'm sorry" Serena said.
"It's alright I, wait Serena!". Serena turned and saw it was Shauna in front of her.
" Shauna!" Serena said.
"Oh it's so good to see you here Serena. I haven't met anyone I know here, except Sara" Shauna said.
"Shauna these are my parents. Mom, Dad this is my friend Shauna" Serena said.
"Pleasure to meet you" Shauna said.
"Nice to meet you Shauna" Grace said.
"So where are Ash and the others?" Shauna said.
"I don't know we're trying to find them" Alex said.
"Well we could look together" Shauna said. Elsewhere Ash and the others were still looking.
"It's 7:49 her match is in 11 minutes" Ash said sweat dropping.
"Uh why don't you use your aura vision" Red said. Ash face palmed before using his aura vision. As soon as he did he saw a maelstrom of aura's around them.
After a minute he found an all too familiar aura.
"Found her" Ash said. Moments later as Serena and Shauna were looking around.
"Wow there are a lot of trainers here" Shauna said. Moments later Serena felt someone tap her on the back.
She turned around to see Ash standing there.
"Ash there you are I was afraid we wouldn't find you in time" Serena said.
"Guys she's over here" Ash said as the others came over.
"There you guys are, Alex good to see you again" Felix said.
"You? How do you know these kids?" Alex said.
"Right I never cleared that up, I'm their father" Felix said.
"What? Oh forget it" Alex said.
"Clemont look who's with Serena" Red said as Clemont saw Shauna.
"She's here!" Bonnie said said before pushing Clemont over to her. Shauna turned and saw Clemont just as he regained his footing.
"Oh hey Shauna" Clemont said nervously.
"Clemont! I was hoping you'd be here too" Shuana said.
"Hoping he'd be here!" Bonnie said.
"Serena your first match will be starting in a few minutes we should get over there" Alex said.
"I'll come too" Shauna said.
"But what about your match?" Serena said.
"It's not for another 40 minutes I can wait" Shauna said. Several minutes later the group was in a smaller battle theater that still had hundreds of seats around the stage.
"This is so exciting!" Grace said.
"We finally get to see our daughter in a battle" Alex said. A man in the same uniform as the door guards stepped to the side of the stage.
"The first round battle between Duchess Serena and Duches Rachel is about to begin. Trainers choose your pokemon" The man said.
The girl across from Serena wearing a yellow dress with her hair done into a bun took out a pokeball and hurled it forward. A Vivillon came out and revealed his dark green wings with a brown bottom.
Serena took out one of her own pokeballs and held it to her face before hurling it forward. Serena's Corsola came out of her pokeball and held her spikes out in front of her.
"Begin" The ref said.
"Vivillon use Sleep powder". The Vivillon began flapping her wings forward and let out a thick green powder towards Corsola.
"Brine" Serena said. Corsola let out a thick burst of water up and above her that caught all the powder.
"Vivillon use Hurricane!" The Vivillon unleashed a thick wind that crashed against Corsola and forced her back.
"Corsola dig in!" Serena shouted as Corsola did her best to dig into the ground as the wind came at her.
"Spike Cannon!" Corsola tried to blast Vivillon , but the wind blew the spikes away moments after they were launched.
"Come on" Alex said.
"Hold on Corsola" Ash shouted.
"Vivillon use Psybeam , she can't move" Rachel said. The Vivillon unleashed a powerful beam of Psychic energy towards Corsola.
"Corsola use Power gem!". Corsola tried to unleash Power gem but the wind made it hard for her to get a good sight at Vivillon.
Just before Corsola could unleash power gem the Psybeam smashed into Corsola and knocked her back.
"Corsola dig in again!" Serena shouted. Corsola dug herself back into the ground as the wind continued to crash against her.
"Vivillon use Bug Buzz".
"Corsola use Ancient power!" Serena said. Corsola tried to unleash several boulders at Vivillon's sonic bug waves, but the Hurricane wind carried the boulders away from Vivillon.
"Corsola!" Serena shouted as Corsola was knocked back by the Bug buzz.
"This isn't good, that Hurricane has her pinned down" Alex said.
"She's gotten out of worse than this" Ash said.
"No strategy is flawless, and no situation is inescapable. I already know what she needs to do" Lysandre said.
"Vivillon use Psybeam". Serena desperately tried to think go a way out of her situation. But every time she tried to make a move the wind would carry it away.
"Wait that's it! Corsola let go of the ground!" Serena said.
"What?" Clemont said.
"Cor?" Corsola said confused.
"Trust me" Serena said. Corsola let go of the ground before she was carried away by the wind. The Psybeam continued on and hit the ground completely missing it's mark.
"What?" Rachel said.
"Brilliant!" Grace said.
"Bug Buzz!" Rachel shouted. Her Vivillon unleashed a powerful sonic wave , but Corsola continued to be carried around in the hurricane and was able to completely avoid the attack.
"She's got it!" Ash said.
"Dam it, Vivillon end that Hurricane!" Rachel said. Vivillon ended the hurricane just as Corsola came flying in his direction.
"Look out!" Rachel shouted . Vivillon tried to move but was too late, Corsola crashed into him and hurled the butterfly back.
"Power Gem!" Serena shouted.
"Cor sola!" Corsola shouted as she opened her mouth and unleashed a blast of red diamond energy at Vivillon. Vivillon's eyes widened as he saw the ray of energy energy come at him.
"Vion!" Vivillon shouted as he was enveloped and hurled into the ground.
"Vivillon!?" Rachel said.
"on" Vivillon said as his eyes became swirly.
"Vivillon is unable to battle, the winner is Corsola and Duchess Serena who will now advance to round 2"
"We did it! We made it to round 2!" Serena said.
"Corsola!".
"That's my little girl" Alex said.
"She's gonna go all the way" Ash said.
"Most impressive" Malva said. Rachel returned her Vivillon and gave Serena a respectful bow before Serena returned it. Several minutes later Serena had joined the others in the lounge hall from earlier.
"Serena you did it!" Shauna said.
"I'm so proud of you , that's one down nine to go" Grace said.
"You and Corsola were really good" Diancie said.
"You were awesome, that counterstrategy was genius" Ash said.
"Thanks" Serena said blushing a little.
"Most impressive Serena. You certainly have prepared yourself for this" Lysandre said.
"Thanks , but I can't take all the credit. Ash is the one that trained me" Serena said.
"Well either way you were quite impressive" Lysandre said.
"My match should be starting soon and and I need to get over to my battle theater" Shauna said.
"We'll come to" Clemont said.
"Right we want to see your match too" Serena said.
"Thanks guys" Shauna said. As the group followed Shauna Malva noticed that Diancie was the furthest back. She slowly reached her hand down toward her before it was swatted away by Lysandre.
"We'll meet you there, I forgot there's something we need to talk about" Lysandre said.
"Alright we'll see you there" Serena said. Lysandre waited until the others were gone before speaking.
"Malva I'm not going to tell you again, we don't make a move until I say so".
"But she's within reach and she's the final component to the plan" Malva said.
"And what if you had grabbed her. Then what would you have outrun 4 aura guardians , one begin a master. Even you can't be that arrogant" Lysandre said.
Malva sighed.
"What did you have in mind?".
"We are gaining their trust, which is exactly what we want. Doing so gives us insight. I've heard them talk about the pokemon league which clearly means it's their next destination. So after they leave Lumoise and leave the master the Steel mercenaries will hit them in the woods and we will come to their rescue, or so they think" Lysandre said.
"Oh I see" Malva said. Several minutes later the group was watching Shauna in her match against a duke.
"Leafeon Solarbeam!" Shauna shouted. Her Leafeon unleashed the Solarbeam she had been storing. The Solarbeam flew through the air and tore through the incoming Flamethrower launched by her opponents Kangaskhan.
The Kangaskhan's eyes widened as the Solarbeam came inches in front of her before impact was made.
"Kangaskhan!" the duke said. After the smoke cleared the Kangaskhan wobbled a bit before falling over unconscious.
"Kangaskhan is unable to battle. The winner is duchess Shauna who will now advance to round two".
"Alright we did it Leafeon!" Shauna said as her opponent returned his pokemon and gave Shauna a respectful bow before she gave him one.
"Shauna's doing well" Serena said.
"I know" Clemont said in a very admiring fashion. A few minutes later the group met Shauna in the lounge room.
"We both made it to round two!" Shauna said.
"I know this is so exciting" Serena said.
"I'm very proud of you two. You made it through the first round of the Grand Festival. You both proved yourselves exceptional trainers" Alex said.
"I've gotten plenty of good stories from the trainers here. What about you Delia?" Alexa said.
"I've gotten a few but I was wondering if you two would want to give us your input since you made it past round one" Delia said turning to Serena and Shauna.
"Really!?" Serena and Shauna said.
" Ha you two in the Kalos press , thats a laugh" An all too familiar voice said.
"Oh no" Serena said as she and Shauna slowly turned their heads to see Sara standing behind them.
"Sara" Serena said.
"Who is this girl?" Delia said.
"I believe she's the rival" Felix said.
"So did you make it through round one?" Serena said.
"Obviously, I'm going to win the Grand Festival and get the rank Grand Duchess".
"We have just as much a chance or winning as you" Shauna said.
"Ha , I saw your first round matches. Pretty pathetic, you're lucky you even made it this far" Sara said.
"I think I'm going to smack her" Grace said as she motioned towards her.
"Easy honey" Alex said as he grabbed her.
"So if either of you want to interview me, the soon to be winner of the Grand festival, I'm more than ready" Sara said.
"I don't think so" Delia said.
"Well in any case I know you'll come to your senses when I win" Sara said as she came closer to Ash and slid her finger under his chin.
"What is she doing?" Delia said as she almost went over to her. Serena grabbed Sara's arm and used a move Korrina taught her to force her hand against it's joint.
"Yahh!" Sara shouted as he fell to one knee.
"Touch him again and see what happens?" Serena said after she let go of Sara.
"Where did she learn to do that?" Grace said slightly freaked out.
"That's my girl" Alex said smiling. Sara backed away as Serena gave a satisfied smile.
"I'll see you when I eliminate you both from this tournament" Sara said before walking off.
"Wow that was awesome" Ash said blushing a little after seeing what Serena did. A few hours passed as the group got some lunch and fed their pokemon. In one of the dinning rooms Shauna and Red were having lunch alone.
Clemont was relieved that Bonnie had agreed to let him do it on his own. Unknown to him that she was watching him from a distance.
"Alright Clemont don't screw this up" Bonnie said.
"So what have you been doing since your last battle chateau?" Clemont said.
"I went back to my home town and told my parents. After that I spent most of my time practicing. So I've actually been wondering where and how did you guys find Diancie?" Shauna said.
"Well you see it's bit of a long story and you can't tell Serena's parents" Clemont said.
"Why?" Shauna said.
"She's afraid if they knew everything her father wouldn't let her stay with the group" Clemont said.
"How bad could it be?" Shauna said. Clemont went over the entire situation with Shauna as her eyes widened.
"Ok that's quite a story" Shauna said. Clemont took a deep breath and mustered up some courage before speaking again.
"So Shauna, I was hoping maybe we could talk about what happened in Snowbelle city" Clemont said.
"What do you mean?" Shauna said.
"Well it's just , we seemed to be well".
"Is this about me kissing you?" Shauna said.
"Well, that's certainly part of it" Clemont said sweat dropping.
"Clemont I think that you're an amazing person with an amazing personality and all you have to do is discovery it" Shauna said as she put her hand on his.
"Yes" Bonnie said.
Elsewhere Diancie, Ash, and Serena were in another dinning hall having lunch. Pikachu and the other pokemon were on the ground with their food dishes in front of them.
"Mmm, real food is much better than diamond energy" Diancie said as she ate another piece of food.
"Serena you were awesome out there" Ash said.
"Thanks Ash, all that training is finally paying off. I've made it to round two, only this time my opponent is going to be harder" Serena said.
"Don't worry Serena, just remember to stay focused and try to look at the battle from both your perspective and your pokemon's perspective" Ash said.
"I'll bet that's something you learned from Felix" Serena said.
"It's about half of what he stressed to us when it comes to battling" Ash said.
"Well I'll keep that in mind" Serena said. After Diancie finished her food she came back over to Serena.
" So Diancie if you've been alive for hundreds of years what have you been doing all these years?" Serena said.
"Well when you live as long as I do the time can go faster than you think. For the first 300 years I was alive I was just a little girl. I spent most of my time having fun and playing with young Carbink. Playing games like hide and go seek, tag. But when I turned 300 that's when my dad started grooming me to take over for him".
"What was that like?" Ash said.
" Well at first I didn't like it. The idea of having to lead an entire civilization. But my father was adamant on me learning everything I could. Still the pressure was great, so I started sneaking away and trying to have fun. I kept doing this for the next 100 years. That was until my father passed away" Diancie said as her tone turned sad.
" How did he die?" Ash said.
"We can live for a long time but not forever. My father was almost 1800 years old when he finally succumb to his age" Diancie said.
"I'm so sorry Diancie" Serena said.
"He died almost 200 years ago, I'm past mourning him. It's just he spend the last 100 years of his life trying to teach me to how to be a good ruler, and all that time I didn't take it seriously. Now I've spend the last 200 years trying to learn to be a good leader without him" Diancie said.
Serena, Ash, and Pikachu could see the look of sadness in Diancie's eyes as she stared down at the floor.
"Diancie everything is going to be alright. I know that you can be a great leader if you work hard enough" Serena said.
"But look where I am, I'm alone being hunted by a group of evil people. My people are in shambles, and I can't even do my main duty of creating a heart diamond big enough to power our civilization" Diancie said.
"Diancie if I've learned anything in my life is that you can accomplish more than you could possibly imagine after you put the right amount of work and determination into it. I know it seems like you're in over your head but you have to believe in yourself" Ash said.
"He's right Diancie, you need to be proud of who you are and know that you can accomplish everything you work hard enough for" Serena said.
Pikachu leapt down and patted Diancie on the back.
"Pika Pikachu".
"Thank you Ash and Serena, that makes be feel a little better" Diancie said. After finishing lunch Ash,Serena, Shauna, and Clemont went to check on the postings for round two.
The first matches of round two would begin at 4:00 and end at around 8:00. After reaching the front of the line Serena and Shauana saw their times and opponents for round two.
Serena's match was at 4:15 against a duke Luke Eutech. Shauna's match was at 4:20 against a duchess Tamera.
"Our matches are only 5 minutes apart, I guess we won't be able to watch each other" Serena said.
"It's ok, good luck Serena" Shauna said.
"Good luck to you too" Serena said. As Shauna started to walk to her battle theater Clemont nervously looked at her then back at Ash and Serena.
"Just go" Serena said.
"Thanks" Clemont said as he went after her.
"Pika" Pikachu said sweat dropping.
"You said it Pikachu" Ash said. Several minutes later Serena was in a battle theater standing on one end of a stage while her opponent a young man wearing a black suit with long blue hair and green eyes, and broad shoulders standing on the other.
Ash, Red, Korrina and the others except Shauna, Clemont, and Bonnie were sitting in the audience close to Serena.
"This match of round two is about to begin. Duchess Serena vs Duke Luke is about to begin" The ref said as Serena and Luke gave each other a respectful bow.
"Trainer's choose your pokemon".
Luke took out a pokeball and hurled it forward as an Aegislash came out in it's defensive form.
"What is that?" Serena said opening her pokedex.
"Aegislash the Royal Sword Pokemon:Generations of kings were attended by these pokemon , which used their spectral power to manipulate and control people and pokemon".
"Alright I choose you Delphox!" Serena said as her Delphox came out and took a battle stance.
"Let the battle begin" The ref said.
" Aegislash begin with Shadow sneak". The sword shaped pokemon unleashed a dark beam of ghost energy close to the ground towards Delphox.
"Delphox use Psychic around you!". Delphox's eyes glowed red as she unleashed a Psychic wave around her that kept the Ghost energy away.
"That was close, that ghost attack would have done a lot of damage" Red said.
"She's got plenty of experience" Ash said.
"Impressive, Aegislash use Swordsdance into Night Slash" The Aegislash took it's arms out of the shield on it's chest and removed the shield to his left arm. As soon as he did this he focused as 4 energy fields shaped like swords formed around him increasing his attack power.
Once his move was finished Aegislash rushed at Delphox with his right arm raised and dark energy surrounding it as he prepared to use Night Slash.
"Psychic into Flamethrower!".
Delphox's eyes glowed red as she unleashed a wave of Psychic energy. The wave wasn't particularly effective but it did knock Aegislash off his path enough for Delphox to slide across the ground just under his Night slash before quickly getting back up and raising her wand.
Just as Aegislash began to turn around Delphox unleashed a jet of fire at Aegislash.
"King's Shield!" Luke screamed. The Aegislash quickly put his shield back on his chest and began glowing grey just as the fire hit him.
"She got him!" Grace said.
"No she didn't" Lysandre said.
"What?" Grace said as she turned back. When the fire cleared Aegislash looked as if nothing happened.
"How?" Grace said.
"King's shield is a powerful defensive move, it works the same way as Protect" Felix said.
" Dam so close" Serena said.
"Aegislash use Autonomize". The sword pokemon turned red as he decreased his weight and increased his speed.
"Delphox use Fire Spin!" Delphox raised her wand and unleashed a spinning burst of fire towards Aegislash.
"Aegislash dodge and use Head Smash!" Aegislash quickly moved up and over the spinning fire before coming down at Delphox with his head.
"Delphox dodge and use Flamethrower!". Delphox quickly lurched back just in time before raising her want.
"Aegislash up and over into Night Slash!" As soon as fire started coming from Delphox's wand. Aegislash used his increased speed to move up and over her before slashing Delphox across the back with a super effective Night Slash.
"Delphox!" Serena shouted as Delphox turned around and backed up with a sharp pain in her back.
" Dam that was a direct hit" Alex said.
"Don't get discouraged Serena you're still in this!" Ash shouted.
"Ok think Serena" She said to herself.
"Delphox Fire spin!". Delphox raised her wand and unleashed a spinning burst of fire at Aegislash.
" Aegislash dodge and use Shadow sneak" Aegislash quickly avoided the incoming burst of fire as he came to the side and prepared to use Shadow sneak.
"Psychic!" Serena shouted. Delphox's eyes glowed red as she unleashed a wave of Psychic energy that knocked Aegislash off balance.
"Flamethrower!" Delphox raised her wand and unleashed a jet of fire that engulfed Aegislash.
"Yes we got him!" Serena said.
"That's it Serena!" Ash shouted.
"Pika!".
"I knew she'd find a way" Alex said. When the fire ended Aegislash raised his eye and got up in an aggressive stance with his shield on his arm.
"We're still in this Aegislash. Use Autonomize and Swordsdance" Aegislash quickly turned red as 4 energy swords formed around him increasing his attack and speed.
"Delphox Psychic!" Delphox's eyes turned red as she unleashed a wave of psychic energy at Aegislash.
"Shadow sneak around you" Aegislash quickly unleashed a wave of ghost energy that kept the Psychic energy back. Aegislash continued forward using his immense speed.
"Delphox use Flamethrower on the ground" Delphox swiped her wand across the ground as fire shot out from it.
"Aegislash over into Head smash!". Aegislash used his speed to go up and over the fire before coming down t Delphox with Head smash.
"Delphox back and kick him!".
"Kick him?" Malva said.
"What is she up to?" Grace said.
"I think I know" Ash said. As soon as Aegislash was close enough Delphox lurched back as he hit the ground in front of her. Not a moment later Delphox hurled her foot into Aegislash. After two Autonomizes Aegislash was so light that Delphox's kick hurled him back several feet.
"Fire Blast!" Delphox locked onto Aegislash with her wand and unleashed a massive blast of fire in the shape of a symbol.
"King's Shield!" Luke shouted. Aegislash hit the ground hard and tried to get up. Just before he could use King's shield the blast of fire hit and engulfed Aegislash.
"No!" Luke shouted. Serena and Delphox watched closely as the fire cleared. Aegislash was covered in soot and burn marks but slowly got up.
"He's still going!?" Alex said. The Aegislash wobbled a bit as he got back up but after another moment he fell over unconscious.
"Aegislash is unable to battle, the winner is duchess Serena who will advance to round 3" The ref said.
"We beat him! We're going to round three!" Serena said.
"Phox!" Delphox said as she ran back and lifted Serena up in a hug.
"Wow she won!" Diancie said.
"Alright Serena!" Ash said.
"That's my girl!" Grace said. After the group left the battle theater they met up with Shauna, Clemont, and Bonnie.
"Hey Serena how did your match go?" Shauna said.
"Great I won!".
"Awesome I won too" Shauna said.
"Awesome that mean's we're both going to round 3 tomorrow!" Serena said.
"I guess it does" Shauna said.
"Tomorrow?" Bonnie said.
"They only have two rounds per day. We won't be battling until tomorrow" Serena said.
"That means we should have our pokemon healed" Shauna said.
"Alright if we're going to the pokemon center we should" Delia said.
"No need, they have pokemon doctors here to look at your pokemon" Serena said.
Delia noticed Felix had a strange look as if he heard something.
"Felix are you ok?" Delia said.
"Huh, oh yeah I'm fine. Why don't you girls give me your pokemon and I'll get them to the doctor here while you all get some dinner" Felix said.
"Ok thanks Felix" Serena said as she and Shauna gave him their pokeballs.
"I'll meet you all later" Felix said as he walked off. Several minutes later he had scaled to the top of the castle where he found another aura guardian waiting for him.
"Good you got my message".
"Daniel I didn't know you were coming here, but according to Ash you performed here yesterday" Felix said.
"Well I am back and they invited me. I thought why not".
"You know what team Flare has stolen in these last few weeks and who they're trying to steal" Felix said.
"Yes".
"I have a feeling that something very bad is going about to happen" Felix said.
"So do I, we need to know what team Flare is up to and who is in charge. Felix I want you to keep a close eyes on Lysandre".
"What?".
"I there's something not right about him. I can feel it".
"Come now, he's a friend of the aura guardians. He helped us bring down team rocket in Kalos. He saved Diacncie from a group of mercenaries".
"He helped bring down team rocket which had driven team Flare to the brink of collapse. He then arrived just in time to make ann appearance to Diancie only to have the Mercenaries leave a moment later".
Hearing all this made Felix think.
"H'mm, you've got a point. I'll keep an eyes on him" Felix said.
Author's note:
Hey guys, this one took me longer because I didn't have internet for a few days and I didn't type much on christmas day. But anyway I hope you liked it.
This vision Ash had won't be the last.
But besides that there isn't much to say.
So until next time please review, comment, suggest, or ask