Well, if nothing else, I hope you enjoy the ending for this battle!


Diantha stared in awe as Pikachu jumped up into the air and put on Ash's hat, beginning to glow with the same energy that came from Ash's Z-Ring. As the Mouse Pokémon fell to the ground, he and Ash exchanged cheeky grins as they fist-bumped, Ash high-fiving Pikachu's tail as he landed on the ground. Looking towards Aurorus, Diantha said, "Start charging a Meteor Beam." Aurorus did as she asked, her body beginning to glow with orange energy once again as Ash and Pikachu both struck a pose.


"A Z-Move...!" Steven exclaimed in awe, watching as Pikachu began to glow with Z-Power.

Cynthia smirked. "You guys are gonna love this," she said, carefully watching Diantha on the other side of the field.


"Much stronger than a Thunderbolt... Ten Million Volt-Thunderbolt!" A look of excitement came across Ash's face as he continued, "Yeah, this is much bigger, at maximum power!"

"Pika pika!"

Throwing a fist to the sky, Ash yelled, "Pikachu, use TEN MILLION VOLT-THUNDERBOLT!"

Pikachu jumped into the air, his body beginning to crackle with electricity as a great storm cloud formed over Wyndon Stadium. An orb of electricity formed over Pikachu, and with a resounding, "PIKA PIKA!" he fired seven bolts of lightning, each a different color of the rainbow.

As the lightning homed in on Aurorus, the Tundra Pokémon fired her Meteor Beam... which was overpowered by the seven streaks of lightning converging into one massive multicolored lightning bolt that pushed through Meteor Beam and crashed into Aurorus, causing a massive explosion.

When the dust parted, Pikachu stared up at Aurorus, who was heaving heavily as she struggled to stay on her feet. After a tense silence, the Tundra Pokémon collapsed onto her side and fainted, Pikachu taking Ash's hat off and wiping his forehead with a sigh of relief.

"Aurorus is unable to battle, Pikachu wins!"

Diantha recalled Aurorus and gently kissed her Poké Ball before putting it back on her belt. Taking out her final Poké Ball, she called out, "Gardevoir, the stage's yours!" as she threw it out onto the battlefield, the Embrace Pokémon emerging from her capsule and landing gracefully on the ground.

Looking back at Ash as he tossed his hat back to him, Pikachu pumped his fist and said, "Pikachu!"

In response, Ash said, "Alright buddy, you're the boss!" as he put his hat back on. Looking at Diantha, Ash said, "'Kay, we're ready to finish this!"

"As are we, Ash, bring it on!" Diantha said, an uncharacteristic edge present in her voice as she smirked.

Mega Gardevoir looked at Pikachu before telepathically asking, Shall we begin?

"I've been waiting the entire battle for this, let's just get on with it," Pikachu said, taking a moment to crack his knuckles again.

"As you wish," Gardevoir smiled. Using Psychic, she ripped chunks out of the floor and flung them at Pikachu, who smashed one of the projectiles with Brick Break before dodging through the rest with Quick Attack. As Pikachu forced his way through the veritable minefield of rocks, he used Electroweb, firing the ball of lightning towards Gardevoir. However, she was prepared, and flung a cluster of rocks in front of the Electroweb to bait it into activating early.

Sure enough, Electroweb sprung to life and encased itself around Gardevoir's distraction, falling to the ground. Taking the opportunity, Gardevoir charged an Aura Sphere in her hands before throwing it towards Pikachu.

Pikachu jumped to the side while in the middle of his Quick Attack, and then leapt forward, attempting to strike with Iron Tail. However, Gardevoir used Psychic, halting him in place just inches from her face. As she began charging Moonblast, though, Pikachu blasted her with Thunderbolt, breaking Gardevoir's hold over him. Landing on the ground, Pikachu watched as Gardevoir staggered, and he leapt up and smacked her in the face with Iron Tail, pushing her back.


"Ash might be in a bit of a bind here," Max said as he watched Gardevoir and Pikachu exchange Ice Punches and Brick Breaks in close range. Next to him, Kirlia, having been sent out by Max so that he could see Diantha's Gardevoir battle, nodded in agreement. As Chloe and May looked towards him, confused, he explained, "Ash had to use his Z-Move to beat Aurorus so he can't use that anymore against Diantha, which is bad because Gardevoir hasn't taken much damage and is still Mega Evolved until she gets knocked out." As Gardevoir struck Pikachu with Fire Punch, Max continued, "Not only that, his only remaining Pokémon aside from Pikachu is Hydreigon, who has a tremendous disadvantage against Fairy-types."

Dawn stared at the battlefield and said, "That's true... but I'm sure Ash can think of a way to win." Next to her, Serena nodded in agreement as Pikachu smashed another one of Gardevoir's screens with Brick Break.


Gardevoir erected another Reflect as Pikachu swung Iron Tail once more, and his attack harmlessly splashed off her barrier. Snapping her fingers, a Shadow Ball sparked to life, and she propelled it towards Pikachu with a Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice.

Pikachu was caught off kilter by the harsh noise, covering his ears as the soundwaves washed over him. However, that left him completely unguarded when Shadow Ball flew right into him, catapulting him across the field.

"Pikachu, come back!" As soon as he recovered, Pikachu hopped back to Ash's podium and sat down next to his Trainer to take a breath. Unclipping Hydreigon's Poké Ball, Ash threw it out, saying, "Hydreigon, I choose you!"

The Brutal Pokémon took to the skies, having remained relatively unscathed for most of the battle. Looking at her hand-heads for a moment and then down at Gardevoir, Hydreigon shrugged and said, "If I can let Pikachu rest up enough then I'll have done my job," before firing a Tri Attack towards the Embrace Pokémon. Gardevoir dispelled the beams of ice and fire with Psychic, erecting a Light Screen to deal with the lightning bolt.

Charging an Aura Sphere in her hands, Gardevoir flung it towards Hydreigon, who merely snorted and flew around it before retaliating with Fire Blast. The star-shaped flame smashed right into Gardevoir's Light Screen, causing several cracks to run along it. Pointing a hand-head towards Gardevoir, Hydreigon used Flash Cannon, firing an intense beam of Steel-type energy from said hand.

Gardevoir's Light Screen cracked even more, and Hydreigon followed up with Hydro Pump, the strong torrent of water smashing a hole in the screen. At that moment, Reflect wore off, and Hydreigon swooped in with a surprising burst of speed. Pushing her hands through Gardevoir's Light Screen, Hydreigon smugly snarled and shot Dark Pulses from both of her hand-heads, the attack hitting Gardevoir head-on. Though the Embrace Pokémon was stunned by the hit, Light Screen still remained standing, albeit in its heavily damaged state.

As Hydreigon prepared to fire Flash Cannon from all three of her heads in close range, Gardevoir punched one of her hand-heads with Ice Punch, icing its jaws shut and causing Flash Cannon to backfire, the explosion rattling the Brutal Pokémon. As the ice crumbled off her right hand-head, Hydreigon took a look at it and saw that said hand-head was limp and slack-jawed, its mouth smoking from the explosion. After attempting to fire an Earth Power from said hand and getting nothing, Hydreigon gritted her teeth and smacked Gardevoir in the face with her left hand-head before retreating.

As her Light Screen crumbled, Gardevoir called out to Hydreigon using Hyper Voice, the sound waves washing over Hydreigon and causing her to shriek. As the Dark/Dragon-type began to fall towards the ground, Gardevoir calmly walked over to Hydreigon, her right hand glowing with Ice-type energy. When she swung with Ice Punch, however, Hydreigon extended her other hand-head out, wincing as the Ice-type attack made contact. That left Gardevoir open to attack however, and even though it took some noticeable effort for her to use the move, Hydreigon fired Flash Cannon from her main head, scoring a direct hit on the Embrace Pokémon.

Out of the corner of her eye, Diantha noticed that Pikachu was slowly getting back up by Ash's side, and she looked Gardevoir dead in the eye and said, "Finish this with Hyper Voice and Moonblast." Gardevoir nodded and let out another shrill cry, Hydreigon getting overwhelmed by the Fairy-typed Hyper Voice. As the Brutal Pokémon fell to the ground, she followed up with Moonblast, blasting Hydreigon with a pale pink orb of Fairy-type energy.

The two highly effective attacks were far too much for Hydreigon to handle, and when the explosion caused by Moonblast was parted by Gardevoir's Psychic, it was revealed that she was limply lying facedown on the ground.

"Hydreigon is unable to battle, the winner is Gardevoir!"

Ash recalled Hydreigon, whispering to the Poké Ball, "You did amazing out there, Hydreigon, get some rest," as he looked down towards Pikachu, who seemed just a tad unsteady on his feet. Kneeling down to meet him, Ash asked, "'Kay buddy, are you ready to do this?"

Pikachu determinedly pumped a fist and said, "Pika!" before hopping back onto the field. Looking up at Gardevoir, he asked, "Ready?" his cheeks sparking in challenge as he took a few breaths.

"Absolutely," Gardevoir said as she opened the match with Psychic, flinging Pikachu into the air with Psychic-type energy. However, Pikachu just as quickly fired off a Thunderbolt which prevented her from getting a follow-up in.

Landing on the ground, Pikachu pulled himself up and instead used Surf, summoning a massive wave of water behind him. Scampering off to the side, he shot a hellacious Thunder at the Embrace Pokémon to keep her occupied, however, she redirected it towards Pikachu's Surf through using Psychic, the massive bolt of electricity evaporating most of the water once it made contact.


"Uh-oh."

Leon turned to Steven and asked, "What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?"

Steepling his hands, Steven leaned forward and said, "All that water from Pikachu's Surf got electrolyzed into a bunch of hydrogen just now."

"Meaning...?"

"If Gardevoir uses Fire Punch, there's going to be an explosion that'll make Steven's Metagross' own Explosion look like a firecracker in comparison," Cynthia finished, watching as Pikachu smashed yet another screen with Brick Break before beginning to roughhouse with Gardevoir using Play Rough, throwing up a big cloud that began to roll all over the arena floor.


Ash and Diantha both watched with perplexed expressions as the cloud thrown up by Play Rough moved into the center of the battlefield before dissipating, revealing that Pikachu and Gardevoir were both bruised and battered from their little brawl.

Keeping himself up on all fours, Pikachu's tail pointed upwards as it flashed silver. Jumping towards Gardevoir, he swung hard with Iron Tail, though the Embrace Pokémon managed to get a quick Reflect up at the last second to assuage the worst of the damage. However, the Reflect shattered once Pikachu hit it with Iron Tail, and Gardevoir threw another Shadow Ball at Pikachu, who ended up getting hit.

Rolling across the ground, Pikachu righted himself on all fours and said, "Pika!" as he faced Gardevoir, his cheeks sparking. Taking off in a sprint, he began chanting, "Pika pika pika pikapikapikapikapika-" his voice degenerating into an incoherent warped noise as his entire body became surrounded in electricity. Gardevoir attempted to create another Reflect barrier again, but Pikachu's Volt Tackle smashed right through the barrier, and with an emphatic, "Chu-PI!" he body-checked Gardevoir, almost pushing her out of the arena.

Landing on the ground, Pikachu winced as Volt Tackle's recoil effect kicked in, and he momentarily stumbled from exhaustion. Gardevoir appeared similarly battered as she made her way back to the center of the battlefield, and both Pokémon stared at each other, neither moving an inch.

Panting from exhaustion, Gardevoir, too tired to communicate telepathically, said, "Most impressive, Pikachu... I admit I underestimated you at first, but you're quite gutsy."

Similarly spent, Pikachu replied, "I get that a lot even now, you'd think that people would learn to stop doing that by this point considering that Ash is a three-time League Champion." His cheeks sparked one more time as he continued, "And we're winning this no matter what!" as his tail stood upright and he got down on all fours. In a flash of silver, Pikachu jumped up and attempted to bring Iron Tail down on Gardevoir one last time.

"I think not!" Gardevoir countered, as she wound up a Fire Punch that met Pikachu's Iron Tail in the middle.

A violent explosion suddenly occurred that caught Trainer and Pokémon alike off guard.


"Yep, told you," Cynthia said to Leon.


Ash picked up his hat, which had been blown off his head by the explosion, and waited until his ears stopped ringing before looking towards smoke that had been kicked up by the explosion to see what had happened.

Both Pikachu and Gardevoir were lying on the floor, seemingly out of it, though the Embrace Pokémon was still in her Mega Evolved state. Both Pokémon tried to get up, but Pikachu, upon making it onto all fours, collapsed onto the floor again, while Gardevoir managed to make it to one knee, panting heavily.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, Gardevoir wins! As a result, the winner of this round robin bout is Diantha Carnette!"

As the crowd began to cheer, Gardevoir transitioned back down to her regular state and walked towards Pikachu, helping the Mouse Pokémon stand. Watching as Ash walked onto the field, Gardevoir lifted Pikachu in her arms and handed him over to Ash, telepathically communicating, That was certainly a battle to remember, Ash.

"Thanks Gardevoir," Ash chuckled as he took Pikachu from her. Holding his starter in his arms, Ash whispered, "You were incredible out there, buddy, I'm proud of you," giving Pikachu a soft squeeze.

Diantha came up to the three of them, giving her Gardevoir a quick hug before turning to Ash and smiling. "Talk about a twist ending, right?"

"I guess you could say that, yeah," Ash replied, before asking, "Do you know what even caused that explosion?"

"Not a clue, unfortunately," Diantha said as she shook her head. Gardevoir said something to her, and Diantha continued, "Gardevoir says that if you're ever available for another battle like this in the future, make sure to bring Greninja along, she wants to properly finish that battle they had back in Kalos."

"I'll let you know when I can," Ash chuckled. Extending a hand, which Diantha took, he shook it, finishing with, "That was a great match, Diantha, good luck in the rest of the round robin."

"The sentiment is mutual, Ash. I must ask, though, do you want to come and watch the last few matches of the day with Cynthia and I?"


Serena watched as Ash and Diantha walked out of the arena before remarking, "That was a fun match."

"I have to wonder, how did that explosion even happen, though?" May pondered out loud. "The same thing happened way earlier in the match and there was no explosion."

"Well-"

"What's the explanation, Professor Maple?" Dawn asked Max with a teasing grin. The younger Maple sibling adjusted his pendant as he began to talk about the basics of electrolysis.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Wyndon Stadium, Angie looked up at the big screen, which was replaying highlights of the match, and she muttered, "Wow, that was a pretty close battle." Turning back to the Team Rocket trio, she asked, "So what did you guys thi-" her sentence dying in her throat as she caught a glimpse of the three.

Jessie was sulking in her seat while Meowth was trying her best to console her. James gave Jessie a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he walked up to Angie, saying, "Well, if the twerp has to lose somewhere, at least it's in the part of the tournament that doesn't have stakes." Sighing, he continued, "We watched him lose for years before he finally won in Kalos... but I think he would've taken it in Sinnoh if it wasn't for the guy with the Darkrai."

"You guys were at the Lily of the Valley Conference?"

Nodding, James said, "We usually work as vendors during the League to make some cash... but during the twerp's match against the grumpy twerp-"

"Paul?"

"Yeah, him," James answered. "Infernape's our favorite of the twerp's Pokémon besides Pikachu, and he had history with the grumpy twerp." Looking back at his two companions, James turned back to Angie and said, "By the way, thank you for buying food for us."

Shrugging, Angie replied, "It was the least I could do. I can't imagine being starved by one of your own Pokémon, that's just next-level cruel on their end, y'know?" munching on some chips as she finished her sentence.

"Yeah..." James absently trailed off as he stared at Morpeko's Poké Ball.


Diantha and Ash walked into the skybox, where they saw Steven getting up from his seat. Before he left, he shook both Diantha and Ash's hands, saying, "Good job out there, both of you," as he walked out the door.

Cynthia looked back and saw Ash and Diantha, saying, "Come here, you two!" Upon giving Ash and Diantha a hug each, she said, "That was a fun match, how did you two feel out there?"

Ash took a seat, saying, "That Aurorus was really difficult to fight, she took a lot of on-the-fly improvisation and some risky gambles to remove from the match." Rubbing his nape, Ash chuckled, "I guess using the Z-Move to take out Aurorus was what cost me the battle."

"I'm flattered, Ash, I really am," Diantha chuckled. Next to her, Gardevoir took a seat, levitating a bucket of popcorn from one of the food stalls in the stadium to her Trainer, before levitating some cash out of Diantha's handbag and towards said food stall. "Thank you, Gardevoir," Diantha snickered. Sitting with Ash and Cynthia, she offered the snack to them, asking, "Popcorn?"

Ash and Cynthia took a handful each as they watched Steven send out his Skarmory, while Lance opened up with his Aerodactyl.

As Aerodactyl used Taunt, enraging Skarmory and preventing it from getting a Stealth Rock up, Diantha looked at Cynthia and asked, "Cynthia dear, I must know... do you have any idea what caused that explosion at the end of our match?"

"Do you two want a science lesson while we're watching this battle?" Cynthia dryly replied.

"Touché," Diantha giggled as she turned her attention back to the match.

Swallowing some popcorn, Ash turned to Cynthia and asked, "Where are the others?"

"Iris and Alain are preparing for their match, which is the last one for today, and as for Leon... he said he was gonna go buy some snacks fifteen minutes ago." Looking back at the entrance to the skybox, she joked, "Maybe I should've gone with him..."


The Champion of Galar stood in a completely different wing of Wyndon Stadium, looking at the map with a confused expression. Turning to his starter, Leon sheepishly said, "We probably should've taken a left instead..."

Charizard facepalmed.


As Ash watched Lance's Gyarados utterly thrash Steven's Armaldo, his Rotom Phone buzzed, New message from Serena Yvonne!

Taking out his phone, Ash quickly read the text.

Serene Grace: Ash, since tomorrow's a break day, do you want to hang out with May, Dawn, Max, and I for a few hours?

Smiling, Ash typed back, Sure! I'll meet with you guys outside my hotel room at 9AM.

As Ash put his phone away, Diantha, having heard the notification, asked, "I always forget to ask the Volta siblings this during routine meetings with our Gym Leaders, but how is Serena doing?"

Blushing, Ash said, "I haven't really had the opportunity to talk to her since the end of my Kalos journey. I did see her in Lilycove City a month back, but only for like, a few seconds. She's watching the Masters Eight right now with Dawn, May, and Max."

"I had a feeling Dawn would be here," Cynthia chuckled. "She is your best friend, after all. I've also heard good things about the Maple siblings from her too. But who's this Serena? Is she another friend of yours?" Cynthia noticed that Ash's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson, Pikachu snickering at his reaction. Cynthia turned towards Diantha, who gestured for her to step off to the side for a bit.

The two Champions exited the skybox, and Diantha said, "You can tell he likes her, can't you?"

Cynthia nodded. "I've always known Ash to wear his heart on his sleeve, but this is the first time I've ever seen him like that." Suppressing a giggle, she admitted, "It's adorable, if I'm being honest."

"It's funny, whenever I ran into Ash and his friends in Kalos, it was clear as day that Serena was smitten with him... I haven't seen them together in years, but it's amusing to imagine the roles being reversed."

Cynthia chuckled, but her expression became serious soon after as she said, "Anyways, we should probably let him sort this out on his own, it's not our business to butt into his romantic affairs." Diantha nodded in agreement, and the two walked back in. As Cynthia and Diantha took their seats next to Ash, Cynthia took a handful of popcorn from the bucket and whispered to Ash, "Don't worry, we won't tell a soul." As one of her Poké Balls vibrated, she said, "Yes, that means you too, Spiritomb."

Diantha passed a handful of popcorn to Gardevoir as she said, "For the record, I do think that you and Serena would make a cute couple," taking another handful of popcorn for herself.

Though his face was still somewhat red, Ash smiled gratefully in their direction and said, "Thanks guys," as he turned his attention back to the stadium, where Steven's Sandslash sent Lance's Turtonator flying with a graceful Triple Axel.


As it happens, Ash hasn't been shown watching a round robin match at any point in this story, so I tried to amend that.

I think you can tell I had just a bit too much fun writing Diantha here.

Anyways, the next chapter or two will probably be a bit of a break from all the action, so stay tuned for that.

Reviews are always appreciated!

-Krosshair