Jason, Michelle, Nikki, Trevor, and myself were currently walking around the Indigo Plateau.

"Wait! Wait!"

Turning, we saw Brittany running towards us with an ice cream cone with an extra scoop on it.

"Hey, Brittany. It's great to see you again." Michelle said.

"Hi, Brittany!" Nikki cried.

Both of them hadn't seen Brittany since the Grand Festival.

"After aunt Dawn got me some snacks, I asked if I could go and be with Adam and everyone else. She said that I could so I hurried to find you guys."

Brittany really had lost her nervousness when being around people. She was really open, social, and friendly now.

We started walking again as Brittany continued talking.

"Oh, and guess what? I've decided to be a coordinator when I get old enough to travel. Aunt Dawn really inspired me to become one." Brittany said, looking at Michelle and Nikki.

"That's great, Brittany. I look forward to challenging you in the future." Nikki said.

"Yeah, likewise, Brittany. You'll do great and I can't wait to see what you've got." Michelle said.

"So Nikki, what did your family say to you about your performance in the Grand Festival when you went home?" Michelle asked.

"They were happy that I made it as far as I did. To make it into the top four in my first-ever Grand Festival is amazing in their eyes and mine and I'm so glad that I competed. How did your mom react?" Nikki said.

"My mom was glad that I had fun. She was very proud that I made it into the finals and came in second. Like your parents, my mom also said that for my first Grand Festival, where I placed was amazing." Michelle replied.

We walked past the giant Indigo Stadium where the final battles would be taking place. I was shocked by the size. Seeing it on TV, it didn't look as big as it actually was.

"Wow...it's huge." Brittany said in awe.

Nikki and Michelle nodded their heads, amazed by the size.

"I've never battled in front of this many people before." Jason said, looking at the rows and rows of empty seats.

"Neither have I. It'll be a first." I said.

Trevor had been silent and was looking at the stadium.

"You know, Adam, you have never beaten me in a battle before." he said.

"Well, that's true, but my dad had the same thing happen to him once. When he was traveling in Sinnoh, he had a rival named Paul. In the Sinnoh League, he had to face Paul and every battle that they had had before, he had lost. But in the Sinnoh League, he won. You never know, maybe I'll finally beat you here." I said.

"If we go against one another, give it your all."

"I will and you do the same."

Dawn's POV

I woke up and glanced at the clock. It was the middle of the night. What had woken me? I was about to go back to sleep when I heard what had woken me. It was faint, but there was soft crying coming from Brittany's bed.

I got up out of the bed, waking Ash as I did so, and walked over to Brittany's bed. I sat on the side of her bed and turned her head to look at me. She was indeed crying because tears were running down her face and soft sobs were coming from her.

Brittany's eyes saw me and she hugged me, crying into my shirt. I held her and smoothed her hair down, gently rocking her as I did so. Ash always did this when I was sad and my mom had done it to me when I was little. It helped to calm me down and comfort me.

"I'm sorry for waking you." Brittany said softly, her voice muffled.

"It's okay, sweetie. We're here for you." I said softly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm thinking about my daddy. I haven't seen him in months and although I'm happy to be with you all...I miss my daddy and I'm worried for him." she said.

Ash walked over and stood beside the bed. "Brittany, I've talked to your dad several times over the months. He always asks how you are and I tell him how you're doing. I'm doing everything that I can to get your dad released so that he can be with you again." he said.

Brittany was quiet for a few moments. "But daddy has done really bad things. He captured and killed people and Pokemon. What if the police never let him go? What if they decide that his crimes are too bad and he stays in prison forever? I'll never see him again. Or...what if they kill my daddy for what he's done?"

"He's a changed man now and the police can see it. Have hope, Brittany." I said. Although I hadn't mentioned it to anyone, I wanted to see him, too. Darien was my long-lost brother and I had never seen him before.

"Your father also made up for his wrongdoings by choosing to help get me freed and stop Team Rocket. Your father helped to save the world. I promise you, Brittany, I'm doing everything that I can to get him set free. If the possibility that you can't see him again does happen, we'll raise you. So no matter what happens, you'll be with your family. You will always be with your family." Ash said.

I wiped the stray tears from Brittany's face and a small smile came over her face. She was calming down. I kissed her head and smoothed her hair down.

"Thank you...for everything." she said softly. "I love you."

"We love you too, Brittany." I said gently.

Ash said goodnight once more and walked back over to the bed. I went to move, but Brittany was still holding onto my waist.

"Can you sleep here tonight? It would make me feel better." she asked, looking at me.

I smiled at her. "Sure," I said, climbing under the covers.

Brittany snuggled down next to me and before I knew it, she was fast asleep.

Ash's POV

It was finally time. Today was the first day of the tournament. All of the trainers who were competing, over a hundred of them, were standing in the stadium, looking up. The Elite Four and myself stood at the top of the stadium beside the torch. I took the torch from Lance and lit the giant torch, signaling that the Pokemon League had begun. The crowd cheered as the fire engulfed the bowl.

A cry from the sky caused me to glance up. A Flying Pokemon was heading towards the top of the stadium. Looking closely, I saw someone on the Pokemon. It landed on the top of the stadium right by me and the figure got off.

When the figure turned, my eyes widened slightly. It was Paul! The cheering had stopped and the stadium was silent, everyone was watching.

"I challenge you, Ash, to a one-on-one battle! The winner will be named the new Pokemon Master!" he cried.

The crowd gasped upon hearing the news.

"I had been training relentlessly during the months that you were missing, hoping to win the tournament that was going to be held to name a new Pokemon Master. But then you returned and the tournament was canceled. I won't let all of my hard work be for nothing! I won't be denied my rightful place as Pokemon Master!"

"You can't challenge Ash at-"

"No," I said, stopping Lance from further refusal.

"Why are you so confident that you can win?" I asked, looking at Paul.

He smirked and removed a Pokeball and released the Pokemon.

"Latias!" I cried, shocked upon seeing the Pokemon.

"This is the Pokemon that I'll be using. As good as you are, Ash, you'll never be able to beat a Legendary Pokemon!" Paul cried.

Upon looking at Latias, I realized that this was the Latias from Altomare that I had befriended. Adam had told me that Paul had captured her. Latias looked at me sadly. I sensed that she didn't want to battle me. As I looked at Latias, I frowned. She didn't deserve to be in the hands of a trainer like Paul.

I really didn't want to battle Latias, I didn't want to hurt her. And I especially didn't want to risk losing my title of Pokemon Master. But I had no choice, I couldn't let Latias be controlled by Paul.

I looked up at Paul. "I accept your challenge, Paul. But if I win, you have to release Latias forever." I said.

"Fine. If a Legendary Pokemon can't beat you, then it's useless and not worth my time, anyway." Paul said.

The crowd was now roaring with excitement. As the trainers left the field and we made our way onto the field, I was thinking of who I could use to defeat Latias.

I stood on my side of the field, thinking of who I could use when I felt a pain in my hand. I pulled back my black fingerless glove and saw that the mark on my hand was glowing.

"Of course!" I muttered to myself as I remembered how I got that mark. "I have power over all of the Legendary Pokemon. In order to defeat a Legendary Pokemon, I need one, too."

Focusing my Aura into the symbol, I cried out, "I choose you, Mewtwo!" Mewtwo appeared out of thin air and descended onto the battlefield.

I looked at Paul and he was in shock and everyone else was murmuring in shock. His shock then turned into rage. His confidence of being able to win had just disappeared. I looked to the referee and nodded my head.

"The battle between Pokemon Master, Ash Ketchum, and the challenger, Paul, will now begin! The winner will be named the new Pokemon Master! Battle begin!"

Since Mewtwo was a Legendary and had battled without a trainer before, I didn't call any commands out to him. I was going to let him battle how he pleased.

"Just hit Latias once to finish the battle. Don't hurt her."

I saw Mewtwo look at me and faintly nod understanding that he understood.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Paul yelled. A blue ball of energy formed between Latias's hands and then it headed towards Mewtwo.

Mewtwo threw a Shadow Ball to stop the attack.

"Use Psychic to move it and make it hit!" Paul cried. The attack hit Mewtwo, but hardly did any damage.

"Mist Ball!"

He deflected the Mist Ball away.

"Dragon Pulse again!"

Each attack Paul called out was deflected by Mewtwo and his powerful Psychic abilities.

"Psychic!"

Mewtwo used his own Psychic and canceled the attack.

"Zen Headbutt!"

Latias sped headfirst towards Mewtwo. But Mewtwo created a blue energy bubble around him and Latias's attack did no damage.

Paul was getting frustrated. None of his attacks were working and he couldn't believe that a Pokemon could battle on its own without commands from it's trainer and actually be able to win.

"Mewtwo, end this." I said.

Mewtwo nodded and charged a powerful Hyper Beam. Mewtwo let the attack go and Paul yelled for Latias to dodge. But Latias defiantly remained still, ignoring Paul, and let the attack hit her. She wanted me to win this battle.

Latias cried out and landed on the field and didn't get up.

"Latias is unable to battle! Mewtwo wins! Ash Ketchum remains the Pokemon Master!"

The crowd was excited at seeing a battle of Legendaries and cheered for me for still being Pokemon Master.

Paul shook his head and returned Latias and tossed the Pokeball. Latias appeared surrounded by a blue light. She was free from Paul.

"Pathetic." Paul said and left the stadium with a furious and defeated look on his face.

"Don't hesitate to call on me again if you ever need my help." Mewtwo said and disappeared.

Latias flew over and happily rubbed her head against me, thanking me for freeing her.

"You're welcome and it's great to see you again. You're free now, go on home to Altomare. Don't worry, you won't be bothered again. Go and protect Altomare, like you and Latios did." I said, rubbing her head.

"And I'll call on you if I ever need your help, just like I did with Mewtwo." I added, putting my glove back on.

Latias cried out once more and then flew away, disappearing quickly, heading home for Altomare.

Now that this battle was over, the Pokemon League could finally start.

Normal POV

As Paul walked through the dark hallways of the stadium after his loss at the hands of his most hated rival, a man's voice from the shadows spoke to him, causing him to stop.

"Even with a Legendary Pokemon you still can't defeat Ash Ketchum?" said the man.

"I thought that with that much power on my side, I would finally triumph. I had no idea that he too could use Legendary Pokemon in battle." Paul said in disgust.

"How many times have you lost to him now?"

"What do you care?"

"You'll find out why in a minute. Answer my question."

"I've lost too many times. I haven't been able to defeat him since I battled him in the Sinnoh League so many years ago. I've trained my Pokemon to be much stronger than his. I've trained them longer and harder but it's never enough. And to make it even worse, he now has Legendary Pokemon at his disposal."

"And how do you feel about him?"

"I hate him! Everything that I've worked towards for my entire life is always all for nothing!"

"Then we have something in common. I hate Ash just as much as you do. Both of us have been denied something that we deserve because of him. We share a common foe."

"What are you talking about? What did Ash do to you?"

"You lost your rightful place as Pokemon Master because of him. I lost the woman that I love and deserve to be with because of him."

"You mean his wife? What do you care about her?"

The man stepped out of the shadows and showed his face. Paul immediately recognized him.

"I see," said Paul. "Now I know why you're interested in them."

"You tried to take advantage of Ash's disappearance to become Pokemon Master. I tried to take advantage of it to win back the heart of the woman that I love. But we both failed when he returned. So we both want Ash Ketchum out of the way for different reasons. What would you do if I told you that I have a plan to satisfy both of our goals?"

"You know how we can get rid of him?"

"Yes, but we can't do it alone. Luckily, I know the people who can get it done for us. I don't know where they are but I know someone who does."

"What makes you think that these people will agree to help us?"

"Oh, they will. They also have a deep hatred for the Pokemon Master that's even stronger than our own. If we tell them our plan, they will gladly help us. So tell me, Paul, are you interested? Do you want Ash Ketchum gone...forever?"

"Yeah..." Paul said, holding out his hand and the man shook it.

"Good. Here's what we do."

Author's Note: As the Pokemon League begins, Ash defeats his old rival-turned-enemy, Paul, and retains his title of Pokemon Master. He also tries out his new power that he acquired at the Temple of Legends and uses Mewtwo to win Latias's freedom.

But behind the scenes, a sinister plot is being hatched as Paul and an unknown man, who both have a score to settle with Ash, are plotting to get rid of him forever!

Who is this man? What is his plan? Who are they planning to get to help them? What will happen to Ash? What will unfold in the Pokemon League?

Find out in the continuing chapters of Pokemon NG!