Well we have some training and Ash's first gym battle again this one plays out very similar to cannon but please just bear with me after these first few chapters it branches out. I just honestly like how the first few main events of the show happened.

As always I hope you enjoy :)

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON

Chapter 5: NOT SO PICTURE PERFECT

Kenji and Ash both raced through breakfast the next morning eager to get some training in before their gym battles.

"So, what kind of pokemon does Viola use?" asked Ash. This surprised Kenji, he had never mentioned the gym leader's name to him, it seemed that somehow Ash knew her.

"How did you know her name?" Kenji asked.

"Oh, I met her sister Alexa in the Unova region, and we traveled together briefly," Ash explained. "It was actually Alexa that got me to come to the Kalos region in the first place,"

Kenji searched his memory, and then he remembered the woman who first greeted him at the gym. "Oh, you mean the girl who had the helioptile?" Kenji questioned.

"Yeah, that's her," Ash said. "Oh, I see, so she traveled with you for a while?" Bonnie added.

"Yeah, she was doing a report in the Unova region, and we happened to cross paths, and eventually I found out that her sister was a gym leader of a region that I hadn't been to yet, so I just had to come check it out," said Ash grinning.

"Oh, I get it now," said Kenji. Well, she uses bug type pokemon and..." Kenji started but was interrupted by Ash.

"Don't tell me anymore, that's all I needed to know," Ash said waving his hands in front of his face. Kenji had a look of confusion on his face as did Clemont and Bonnie.

"Why not?" asked Clemont, "don't you want to know what you're up against?"

"Yeah, but that takes away the fun of it," said Ash standing up from the makeshift tree Stump table they were using.

"Part of becoming a great trainer is how you adapt to different situations as they happen," he said putting on his hat and jacket. "Going in knowing everything just makes it a little boring for me." He said rubbing the back of his head giving a chuckle.

"Well, I guess that's one way of doing it," said Kenji quietly. He didn't really like big surprises during a battle, especially if it was something that he could've easily taken care of if he simply knew ahead of time.

"Well Kenji, you ready to get some training in?" said Ash.

"Yeah, you bet," Kenji responded as he got up and the two went over to a more open area, Clemont acted as a referee and Bonnie sat and watched. Kenji and Ash stood opposite each other in the field.

"Alright Froakie, let's go!" Ash shouted throwing froakie's pokeball.

"Let's do it Scyther!" Kenji tossed out Scyther's pokeball and both pokemon appeared in a flash. Froakie looked determined and ready. Scyther gave its usual stare down, but then turned away from Froakie.

"What's up Scyther?" Kenji asked as he looked at Scyther as it wouldn't even look at froakie as if it wasn't worthy to waste any of its time on it.

Froakie shouted in protest, Pikachu did as well. Hearing Pikachu, Scyther locked eyes with Pikachu and faced it pointing one of its blades at it. Pikachu was a little nervous and caught off guard but wasn't intimidated by it.

"Sorry Ash, it seems that Scyther doesn't really want to battle Froakie," Kenji said shrugging.

"Awe man, sorry Froakie," Ash responded. "Why don't you let Pikachu take this one," he said returning it. Froakie gave a bit of an eye roll at this.

"What happened, why doesn't Scyther want to battle Froakie?" asked Bonnie.

"Well, it seems at the moment, Scyther only wants to battle opponents it sees as strong, and Pikachu is an electric type, meaning it has an advantage against Scyther," said Clemont.

"But Froakie is super strong" protested Bonnie.

"Yeah, but it seems Scyther doesn't see it that way," said Clemont Sweat dropping.

"Alright Pikachu get in there!" Ash said as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and took a ready stance, Scyther seeing this, took its position as well.

"Remember Scyther, this is just a training match, no need to go all out," Kenji said to the large bug pokemon. Scyther rolled its eyes at the comment, it didn't like the idea of going easy on an opponent, it was going to be all or nothing.

"Alright, battle begin!" shouted Clemont.

"Alright Pikachu use thunderbolt!" shouted Ash.

"Use agility to dodge it," yelled Kenji.

Pikachu charged up and let loose a bolt of electricity with scyther flying quickly out of the way, it was a very fast flyer for how big it was.

"Knock it down with iron tail!" said Ash. Pikachu's tail glowed white and struck Scyther back down to the ground but it landed on its feet.

"Use iron tail again!" shouted Ash.

"Use Fury cutter!" Yelled back Kenji.

Scyther and Pikachu began to trade blows neither giving an inch.

"Use agility once more!" shouted Kenji. Scyther started to fly around even faster now, appearing only as a green blur.

"Use electro ball!" Commanded Ash. Pikachu began charging a ball of electricity at the tip of its tail and launched it, managing to strike the speedy bug making a direct hit. Scyther fell to the ground and was slow to get up.

"Scyther, You okay?" Kenji asked. Scyther gave a low hiss as it stared Pikachu down, then looking at Kenji giving the sandy haired boy a nod.

"Alright, get in close and use slash," Kenji said. As Scyther started to move. Its body hesitated as electricity started to crackle around it. "Oh no," Kenji thought, that last move must have left it paralyzed.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Ash Yelled. Scyther tried to shake off the paralysis, but it was no use and was struck by the super effective attack. Scyther dropped to the ground and looked barely able to stand.

"Wow, that was a powerful hit," Clemont thought amazed that Scyther was still conscious. The number of super effective attacks it was taking was starting to add up.

"Alright Scyther, I think that's enough for today, we don't wanna overdo it right before our gym battle." Kenji said, starting to walk over to it.

But for Scyther, it wasn't over, it slowly got up and let out a battle cry and waved its blades around letting everyone know it could still fight. Scyther began to wildly swing its arms towards Pikachu in an attempt to strike it, not wanting to give up without someone being declared a winner.

"Scyther, this is just training, not a real battle!" yelled Kenji trying to get its attention. Pikachu was dodging Scyther's advances even though the bug was slow from taking all that damage. Kenji Then ran in front of Scyther and spread his arms out, the bug stopped and stared at Kenji.

"Look Scyther, I know you want to finish the battle, but for now it's over, you don't need to keep pushing yourself. The Scyther roared in Kenji's face in protest, but Kenji didn't budge. He could see right through Scyther, this big scary looking bug was just desperate to prove himself.

After seeing that Kenji was not going to move, Scyther took a step back, usually anybody dumb enough to stand in its way usually responded in fear and an immediate retreat, but not this kid, what was his deal? These thoughts were running through Scythers mind when Kenji reached up and gave Scyther a pat on the side of its head.

"I know you're strong Scyther, just don't overexert yourself, besides there will be other times to face Pikachu in a full battle," Kenji said smiling. Scyther said nothing for a few seconds then rolled its eyes and limped over to where Clemont and Bonnie were and sat under a tree.

"Wow Scyther sure is strong," said Ash walking over to Kenji.

"Yeah, it is," Kenji said looking over at it. It was allowing Bonnie to treat its wounds, it was sort of comical to see the little girl walking right up to the scary looking bug and treating it like a big puppy.

"let's continue," said Kenji, getting a look of determination as he stepped back on to his side. "Alright Marill, let's go!" Kenji shouted throwing out a pokeball. The little round blue water type appeared with a happy cry.

"Alright Fletchling, come on out," Ash said calling out his newest catch.

"Battle, begin!" Shouted Clemont.

"Alright Fletchling use peck," called out Ash.

"Dodge it and use slam," yelled Kenji. Fletchling flew up and dove back down but Marill jumped up out of the way and slammed its body on top of fletchling.

"Quick Fletchling shake it off!" said Ash. The Fletchling spun around wildly trying to shake off Marill.

"Now jump off of it Marill," Kenji yelled out. Marill kicked off of the fletchling sending it down to the ground landing hard. "Oh no Fletchling!"

"Now use rollout while falling!" shouted Kenji. Marill then started to spin doing summersaults in the air, picking up speed as it fell out of the sky towards Fletchling.

"Quick, dodge it!" Yelled Ash. Fletchling managed to roll out of the way just in time for Marill to come crashing down into the ground creating a small crater.

"That was a close one Kenji, but it's not gonna be that easy," Ash said grinning. "Use razor wind!" He yelled. Fletchling shot blades of air at Marill who was recovering from hitting the ground hard and was struck by the attack.

"Use aqua ring," said Kenji. Marill seemed to relax and glow a bit seeming to look a little healthier. Aqua ring was definitely helpful, but it didn't bring marill back up to full health just in little bits over time.

"Now use peck!" shouted Ash.

"Jump up and use aqua tail! Yelled Kenji.

"Use double team!" Ash responded. Fletchling began to make copies of itself and Marill began swinging its tail around trying to find the real one. Eventually the real fletchling was able to strike Marill and bring it back down. Marill was slow to get up, but still had some fight left.

"Jump up and us slam!" shouted Kenji. Marill leaped up at the fletchling, but then its fist began to glow a bit and struck fletchling hard sending it back to the ground.

"Wow what was that" wondered Kenji.

"I think that was the move superpower," said Clemont.

"That's great Marill!" Kenji said grinning, "use superpower once more!" he yelled. Marill charged up its fist ready to strike, but then its fist stopped glowing and nothing happened. Hmm maybe it hasn't quite gotten the hang of that move yet, wondered Kenji. "I think this is a good time to call it Ash," Kenji yelled out.

"You got it, great job," he said running over to fletchling. Both trainers congratulated their pokemon and returned them.

"Alright, last one," said Ash sending out Froakie.

"Let's make it count," Charmander, Kenji yelled sending out Charmander. Kenji felt a little weird having to go up against Froakie, his former partner facing his new partner, he wondered if Froakie was feeling the same. It wasn't long before Kenji made the first move.

"Go, Charmander use metal claw," called out Kenji.

"Dodge it and use pound," Ash responded.

Charmander went in and swiped at Froakie, but it jumped out of the way and came back down with a solid hit sending it back. "Use ember!" yelled out Kenji. Charmander shot loads of hot embers at froakie who attempted to dodge them but was hit by a few. It didn't seem to do much damage though since it wasn't very effective, it wasn't going to get them very far in this battle.

"Use water pulse!" shouted Ash. Froakie then launched an orb of water at Charmander who was able to dodge it at the last second. "Bubble beam, go!" shouted Ash.

Charmander was quick to dodge another super effective hit, it ran around in random patterns to keep Froakie guessing its next move. What should I do Kenji thought, none of Charmander's moves were really all that helpful in this case.

As he was thinking Ash called out his next attack. "Use your frubbles and hold it still!" Froakie then jumped up and threw handfuls of its frubbles, Charmander kept on running around, but one handful of frubbles hit its foot stopping it.

"Oh, no," thought Kenji. Charmander was now wide open for an attack.

"That should hold you," said Ash grinning, "now finish this with water pulse!"

Charmander looked up and saw his trainer's former partner getting ready to shoot off the super effective attack, it tried to break free, but the sticky substance wouldn't let it budge.

In a desperate attempt Kenji yelled out, "use ember!". Charmander's eyes widened at the launched attack that was now headed straight for it.

It took a deep breath and blew out as hard as it could. Something collided with the water pulse stopping it midair, but it wasn't an ember attack, but a purple-colored flame that had shot out of Charmander's mouth instead.

"Wow that was dragon breath," said Clemont off to the side.

"Wow Charmander that's awesome," Kenji said in amazement. Charmander looked back and Kenji giving a big grin.

"Alright, let's call this match," said Ash.

"Yeah, good call," said Kenji going over to Charmander almost tripping in the crater that Marill had made earlier.

"I think we're gonna be ready for our gym battle," said Kenji as he and Charmander walked over to Ash.

"Yeah, you're a pretty decent battler," said Ash giving the boy a smile.

"Really, you think?" said Kenji rubbing the back of his head smiling.

"No, I'm serious," said Ash, "you employed some good strategies, and seemed to be in pretty good sync with your pokemon."

"I have to agree with Ash," said Clemont walking over, "you definitely won't have the same outcome as your last gym battle attempt."

"You think so?" Kenji said turning a bit red not really good at accepting all this praise at once.

"Yeah, my brother would know, cause he's a super strong gym..."

"SHUUUUSH BONNIE!" Clemont said covering her mouth. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"What was that?" Questioned Ash.

"Oh, it was nothing," said Clemont, "how about we tear down camp and get going," he said changing the subject.

The group spent the rest of the morning cleaning up and then headed off towards the city, they were set to arrive the next day.

Kenji woke up early that morning, he had trouble sleeping, he was so anxious about his upcoming battle it was hard to get any sleep. Ash had the same problem but for different reasons, he was simply too excited.

The group once again raced through breakfast and made their way to the city that they could see off in the distance.

The group had finally arrived in Santalune City at last. Kenji somewhat knew his way around the city, it had only been a few months since he was here last.

"So, are you registered for the Kalos League?" asked Clemont.

It then hit Kenji, he never registered for the Kalos League, he hung his head in defeat. "I never did register," he said grabbing his head in shock, "how could I have not done this," he thought. Surely, he wasn't this absent minded when he last came through here. "I gotta go to the pokemon center and register real quick, I'll meet you guys at the gym. he said as he and Charmander raced off into the city.

"Well, come on guys," said Ash, "I got a gym battle to win," he proclaimed as he started to run off.

"Wait, do you even know where the gym is?" asked Clemont.

"No idea," responded Ash. Clemont and Bonnie. Fell over with disbelief. "But that's ok, I think things best in the moment as they happen, that's how we roll right buddy," he said giving Pikachu a scratch on its chin smiling, Pikachu cooed in delight.

Something Caught Ash's attention, a blonde woman was snapping a few shots of them with her camera, as he and Pikachu were smiling at each other. She seemed to be about 19 or so and was wearing a white top and green pants and had a camera pointed at the duo.

"Sorry," she said, "you two made for such a great pic and I couldn't pass it up," she said coming over to them.

"Oh, it's fine," said Ash.

"FYI, if you're looking for the Santalune Gym it's over that way," she said pointing.

"Oh great, thanks for the heads up," said Ash, "see Clemont, we found our way there after all," he said grinning as he started to run off.

"Why does he always run," Clemont said panting after him.

"Hurry up Clemont, Ash and Kenji's gym matches are gonna be over before you get there," said Bonnie and she ran after Ash.

"Kenji? Could it be?" Thought the blonde girl.

Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie rounded a corner and found the gym, rounding the opposite corner was Kenji.

"Oh, good you guys found the gym, sorry I ran off before I remembered that you haven't been here before," Kenji said sheepishly.

"It's okay, we ran into a photographer who pointed us in the right direction," said Clemont panting.

"Well, I'm ready to challenge the gym, so let's go!" shouted Ash as he started to make his way into the doors when they suddenly burst open and a helioptile landed on his face knocking him down greeting him with a smile.

"Hey helioptile," said Ash grinning as he knew who this pokemon belonged to. This shocked Kenji, the last time he was here the little lizard would barely keep eye contact with him cowering behind the desk.

"Well, I'm surprised it took you this long to get here," a woman's voice said. The woman came out of the building revealing herself to be Alexa. "I thought you just couldn't wait to have a gym battle," she said grinning.

"Haha, sorry we took the long way," said Ash getting up.

"Oh Kenji, I see you're back as well," said Alexa smiling.

"Yeah, I am, and this time I came prepared," Kenji said with determination.

"Glad to hear it," Alexa said smiling. "Are these your new friends?" she said looking at Clemont and Bonnie.

"Yeah, we met them in Lumiose City," said Ash. Clemont and Bonnie introduced themselves. "So is your sister here?" questioned Ash.

"Yeah, she is," started Alexa, "but I haven't seen her all morning."

"AAAAAWE MAN, NOT AGAIN!," shouted Ash, this was the third time he was going to be denied a gym battle and it was starting to feel like he'd never have one.

"Relax, I'm right here," a familiar voice said from behind them.

The group turned around and all, but Kenji and Alexa gasped when they saw the photographer girl from earlier.

"Wait you're Viola? Questioned Ash in shock.

"Nice to see you again," she said giving Ash a smile.

"Oh, did you two already meet?" asked Kenji.

"Yeah, she photographed me and Pikachu," said Ash.

"Oh Kenji, you're back too, I hoped I'd see you again," she said smiling.

"Y yeah," Kenji stammered out still a little nervous, the last time he saw her she was berating him for his lack of prep in their last battle.

"I look forward to our rematch," she said as she walked by them. "Let's go on in and we can get started," Viola said.

Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie were in awe of the inside of the building, Kenji had already seen it before, but it was still great work.

"Did you take all of these pictures yourself Viola?" asked Ash as he and the others marveled at all the different photos on the wall.

"Yeah, these are just a small handful of them," she responded.

"Yeah, she's got a real knack for photographing bug type pokemon," chimed in Alexa, always one to brag about her younger sister.

"I can tell," said Clemont, "you really know how to bring out the best in your subjects," he said eyeing the photos.

"Well, that settles it," said Bonnie, "Viola, you're a keeper!" she shouted running over to her getting on one knee as if to propose.

"A keeper?" asked a stunned Viola, not sure how to react to the situation.

"BONNIE, I TOLD YOU TO STOP THIS A MILLION TIMES!" Clemont yelled, turning beet red with embarrassment.

"You know you need someone to take care of you, and since you won't go out and find yourself a wife, I'm taking it upon myself to find you one," Bonnie said with a huff, "and I think Viola would make a great wife for you," she said giving a big smile.

"A wife?" the group said still stunned.

"UGH, SO EMBARRASSING," Clemont said clicking a few buttons on his backpack straps activating the mechanical arm from the back and dragging Bonnie away. "Would you please mind your own business," Clemont said still beet red.

"I hope you'll think about it Viola," she said waving as she was dragged away.

The group stood there stunned, Alexa was the one to break the silence. "Such a unique little girl."

"So, you two, which one of you will I be facing first?" asked Viola.

Kenji and Ash both thought for a second. "Ash can go first, he seems like he's gonna burst if he doesn't have a gym battle soon," Kenji said giving Ash a chuckling smile. The two had bonded pretty well these last few days and it seemed Ash was filling in a sort of big brother role to Kenji, at least enough to where they could joke around a bit with each other.

But in this case, Kenji really wanted to see what it would take to actually beat Viola. He and Ash had had training matches a few times and he battled a passing trainer here and there, but he had never seen Ash in a serious battle and was curious to see what would happen.

"Thanks Kenji," Ash said then looking at Pikachu, "you ready buddy?"

"Pika!" the little rodent responded with determination.

Kenji, Alexa, Clemont, and Bonnie stood in the spectating area off to the side. After Ash put his backpack down, he and Viola faced each other on the battlefield. Viola sent out her surskit.

"Woah a surskit," said Ash checking his pokedex. After hearing what it said he sent out Pikachu.

"A great choice to send out Pikachu first," said Clemont it has great type advantage.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that said Kenji, he knew full well what Ash was about to face, he really wished Ash would've let him warn him about Viola's battle strategy. The referee stepped forward.

"This will be an official Santalune City gym battle for a bug badge," the referee stated, "each trainer will use two pokemon each, the challenger may make substitutions, the gym leader will not, now, there will be no time limit. Battle begin!"

"Pikachu, use quick attack!" Ash said, Pikachu darted forward at the little blue bug.

"Use protect!" commanded Viola. Pikachu proceeded to bounce off the wall of light surskit had conjured up. "Wow just like with my battle," Kenji thought as he watched the battle unfold very similar to his, he watched as Pikachu and Surskit traded blows back and forth, but then, it happened.

"Surskit, use ice beam on the battlefield!" Everyone gasped except for Kenji and Alexa, they knew exactly what was about to happen.

The field was quickly covered with a sheet of ice, Pikachu started to lose its footing and started to slip. Surskit was now skating around quickly just like it had with Kenji, making Pikachu slip trying to get its footing.

"Hang in there Pikachu, and use iron tail!" Pikachu was able to strike the oncoming surskit, but it seemed to absorb the hit and spun around skating backwards doing very little damage.

"Use ice beam surskit!" shouted Viola.

"Use thunderbolt!" said Ash. Pikachu struggled to find its footing but managed to launch a bolt of electricity at the oncoming attack where they collided with an explosion, knocking Pikachu back.

"Now Surskit, use signal beam!" shouted Viola. The little surskit jumped up and unleashed its attack striking Pikachu who just couldn't find its footing to make it out of the way in time making a big impact explosion. As the dust cleared Pikachu could be seen on the ground unconcious.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" called out the referee.

Ash ran over to Pikachu and gently picked it up. "You okay buddy?" he asked.

"Pika..." it weakly replied.

"You were great out there," he said as he then walked over to Kenji with Pikachu. "Here, will you watch him while I battle?"

"Yeah of course," Kenji said taking Pikachu in his arms. He could tell that Ash was feeling this defeat and really had to step it up.

"Pikachu is trained well, but I'm afraid beating me isn't going to be easy Viola said grinning.

"Oh, I'll beat you, with this pokemon here," Ash shouted sending out his next pokemon, Fletchling.

"Wow another good choice," said Clemont. Since Fletchling is a flying type, it won't have to worry about the ice on the field." Kenji took note of this since he did have Scyther who could fly, maybe it was the key to helping Kenji with his match.

The gym doors opened, and a honey blonde haired girl stepped through.

"Wow, there he!" is serena thought as she caught a glimpse of Ash, even though she was looking at him from behind, she could tell it was him. She started to run over to him when someone stopped her.

"Can I help you?" asked Alexa politely from the sidelines.

Serena stopped, she clearly wasn't thinking straight, he was in the middle of a gym battle of course she wasn't going to stop it just so she could say hi to him. "Oh, I was wondering if I could watch the gym battle?" she asked.

"Yeah of course," Alexa responded.

"Yeah, come sit with us, it's just getting good," said Bonnie happily waving her over. Serena smiled and took a seat next to Bonnie.

"Alright Fletchling, use peck!" shouted Ash. Fletchling flew up high and dove back down towards Surskit narrowly missing it, surskit had skated out of the way just in time, its speed on the sheet of ice was truly something else.

"Use ice beam!" Viola shouted. Surskit fired off several attacks not one was able to connect, Fletchling was simply too fast for it.

"Now use sticky web!" said Viola. Surskit shot off several gooey blobs at fletchling. "Fletchling, use double team!" Ash said in response. The Feltchling made several copies of itself successfully dodging all the sticky web attacks, the sticky web shots were now all over the walls of the battlefield.

"Now Fletchling, use razer wind!" Yelled out Ash. Fletchling shot several blades of air at surskit who was still in the process of shooting off sticky web when the attacks connected, sending surskit flying back unconcious.

"Surskit is unable to battle," called out the referee.

"Way to go Fletchling!" Shouted Ash. "Alright!" The group said upon seeing that Ash had finally taken down Viola's first pokemon. Kenji felt relieved, but then remembered that Viola had one more pokemon and he didn't even know what it was.

"Let's do this Vivillon!" Viola said sending out her next pokemon. It resembled a very large butterfly and had a grey body, black eyes and antenna, with big pink wings with colorful patterns in them. "Wow what's that said Kenji pulling out his pokedex scanning it, Ash doing the same.

"Vivillon, the Scale Pokémon. Vivillon are skillfully able to find a source of water. It has been said that you'll find a spring if you follow a Vivillon." I wonder what tricks this pokemon has up its sleeves Kenji wondered, surskit was bad enough, not only was it small and deceptively quick, but strong too.

"Alright Fletchling, use peck!" said Ash. Fletchling flew up and dove back down towards Vivllion.

"Use psychic!" Viola said grinning. Vivllion's eyes began to glow blue, and a blue light began to appear around Fletchling as well. Fletchling then immediately halted midair seemingly frozen and was slammed down on to the ground making a small crater.

"Woah It can learn psychic attacks!?" said Kenji shocked and nervous that this was something that he was going to have to deal with as well.

"You okay Fletchling?" asked Ash. Fletchling was slow to get up, but it did, and hovered midair clearly exhausted from the previous attack.

"Now Vivllion, use gust," shouted Viola. Vivllion began to flap its large wings creating a strong gust of wind throughout the building, the strong wind knocked Fletchling back and into one of the globs of sticky web from Surskit.

Kenji's eyes went wide, she was never aiming for Fletchling when she shot off those sticky webs, they were set up for this exact moment now. When she realized that Surskit was outmatched, she set herself up for a great combo with that move. Yet another thing he had to worry about. Fletchling struggled in the sticky web but couldn't get itself free.

"Now finish this with solar beam!" said Viola. Vivllion began to charge up and envelop itself in light and shot a beam straight for Fletchling who was struggling to get free, unable to escape, Feletchling was hit directly with the attack and fell to the ground. Everyone on the sidelines gasped as it hit the ground.

"Fletchling is unable to battle! Making the winner the gym leader Viola!" said the referee.

"Fletchling!" Ash shouted running up to it, "are you okay?" Fletchling chirped softly. Kenji, Clemont and Bonnie ran over to Ash.

"We need to get them to the pokemon center, quick," Clemont said solemnly.

Ash looked down at his pokemon who were in rough shape. Viola had seriously caught him off guard with her strategies, he had faced tough opponents in the past, but to use a strategy like this was new to him.

Ash gritted his teeth and looked up at Viola. "Look, I know I lost, but I'll come back stronger, and when I do will you have a rematch with me?"

"Of course, I look forward to it," Viola said smiling. She was used to this response from trainers, her strategy usually threw people off, especially new trainers, she was a tough hurdle to get over for sure.

The group then ran out of the gym headed towards the pokemon center. Serena didn't know what to do, she had finally met back up with Ash after all this time, and it seemed like the worst time to try and talk to him, how would she even strike up the conversation? She then noticed out of the corner of her eye his backpack sitting by the battlefield.

Viola was going through her photos from earlier that morning and got to the one she took of Ash and Pikachu.

"That's a good one," Alexa said walking up next to her.

"Yeah, you can really see how close those two are," said Viola, "although, they didn't really battle that well today."

"Just you wait," started Alexa, the next time he challenges you will probably be very different." She had seen how Ash gets when he's determined to win after a loss. "Kenji seems pretty different too," she added.

"You think so?" said Viola looking back at the photo.

"Well, I'm gonna go out for a while," said Alexa starting to walk out.

"Where are you going?" asked Viola looking up from her camera.

"Don't you worry about it, you get to disappear all you want now it's my turn," said Alexa with a grin as she walked out of the room. Viola gave her older sister a bit of an eye roll.

"How could this have happened," thought Ash as he sat on a bench outside of the pokemon center next to the practice field. "Kenji was right, Viola was really strong and there was nothing I could do," Ash muttered to himself. As his thoughts ran wild in his head, they were interrupted by someone.

"Umm excuse me," said a quiet voice, making him look up. "I think this is yours," she said handing Ash his backpack. He looked up to see a slender honey blonde girl holding his backpack out to him.

"Oh, sorry, I must have left it at the gym, were you watching me?" he asked in embarrassment, taking his bag from her.

"Yeah, I was," the honey blonde girl responded.

"Sorry I was so busy battling I didn't see you, my name is Ash."

"I know, my name is Serena," she responded. "Do you remember..." she started but was interrupted by the pokemon center speaker.

"Ash Ketchum, your pokemon are ready,"

"Oh, that's me," he said they then started to walk off. "So, are you going to battle the gym too," asked Ash as they made their way inside the pokemon center?

"Oh no," Serena said smiling I've only got one pokemon with me at the moment." They met with the others inside who were giving Ash some space, they figured he needed some time to process the loss.

"Oh, it's you!" Bonnie said happily seeing Serena. Nurse Joy handed over Ash's pokemon who looked much better.

"Nurse Joy, can you look at my pokemon as well Serena said sending out her Fenniken.

"Oh, wow so cute!" Squealed Bonnie getting starry eyes at the little fox pokemon.

"Of course, I'll give it a thorough exam," Nurse Joy said taking Fenniken back.

"Hey Ash," said Alexa walking into the pokemon center, "it looks like your pokemon are feeling better, let me guess you're gonna start training?" she said coming over to the group.

"Yeah, you bet, you wanna help us out?" Ash said.

"I'd be happy to," said Alexa. She had heard some of Ash's stories from journeys past and was eager to help him. The group headed outside on to the practice field.

"What kind of training are you thinking of?" asked Kenji.

"Well since one of the biggest problems was Vivllion's gust, so let's start with that," said ash. "Alexa do you still have Noivern?" asked Ash."

"Yup, I sure do," Alexa said throwing a pokeball into the air, releasing a large bat like pokemon with big round ears.

"Noivern, the Sound Wave Pokémon. The ultrasonic waves Noivern releases from its ears are powerful enough to crush a boulder," said Kenji's pokedex, "Wow a dragon and flying type thought Kenji.

"Wow it's good to see you again Noivern," Ash said putting his hand up to the large dragon type. The Noivern suddenly tried to bite at Ash's hand as he pulled it back instantly. Serena panicked a bit seeing the large pokemon try and bite at him. "Haha, oh right I forgot," said Ash laughing a bit. He seemed to forget how snippy Noivern could be when it hadn't had a spelon berry in a while.

"Yeah, Noivern hasn't really changed," said Alexa, handing it a red berry from her pack. The pokemon promptly ate the berry seeming to calm its nerves.

"Can we train with Noivern and have it use its gust against us?" asked Ash heading over to one side of the field along with Fletchling and Pikachu.

"I figured that's what you were going to ask," said Alexa, taking her position opposite Ash. The others stood by and watched.

"Alright Noivern, use gust!" shouted Alexa. Noivern then flapped its wings hard creating a strong gust of wind. Fletchling and Pikachu struggled to keep themselves stable against the strong wind and were blown back slamming into Ash knocking him down.

Ash gritted his teeth, as he sat on the ground covered in the dirt of the practice field, this was so frustrating, how was he supposed to be able to get past Vivllion's gust, not to mention her Surskit and that ice beam battlefield, his thoughts were starting to overwhelm him when he heard Serena's voice.

"Ash?" she said standing next to him, "use this," she said smiling handing him a towel to wipe off all the dirt from his face.

"Huh? Oh thanks," he said taking the cloth from her and cleaning off his face.

Serena stood back up and prepared herself, she had finally met back up with Ash after all these years, she felt a big knot in her stomach, after a quick second she turned back towards him.

"Ash, do you remember me?"

Well there was Ash's first gym battle and Serena has finally caught up with him

next chapter will be Kenji's rematch

thanks for the read!