Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter twenty-seven: A heated clash of opposing souls, concluded (rewritten)

The others who were watching the Lake Acuity battle between Ash and Paul couldn't believe it. Dawn herself was especially shocked, given that Ash's sixth Pokémon he was using in the battle against Paul turned out to be his Charizard. Dawn remembered, from the anime in her and Kenny's previous life, that Charizard at this point is arguably Ash's overall strongest Pokémon that he owned. Dawn felt that even the Swampert that Ash had caught back in Canalave City while helping that Wailmer out of the sewer would be hard pressed to keep up with and against Charizard, despite having a type advantage against him.

And now Ash was using that very powerful Pokémon of his against Paul, who went wide eyed with surprised shock upon seeing Ash's Charizard come out. "You have a Charizard?!" Paul very nearly exclaimed, "Since when did you have a Pokémon like that?!"

"Ever since very near the start of when I had first become a Pokémon trainer," Ash said evenly, "He's one of my very best battlers." To show how much he agreed with his trainer, Charizard loosed a Flamethrower into the air.

Paul grimaced, very clearly not having expected a Pokémon like Charizard out of Ash. Dawn wasn't expecting it either, despite how she knew, thanks to her knowledge from her previous life, that Ash had a Charizard. The reborn trainer leaned forward slightly in anticipation of how the battle would go, given the development that she and the others had just seen take place. Ash here must really want to beat Paul if he went so far as to get Charizard.

Pointing forward, Paul called out, "Magmortar, use Rock Tomb!"

"Charizard, whack it away with Dragon Tail!" Ash called out. Magmortar aimed its arm cannons at Charizard and fired the Rock Tomb attack, with Paul clearly hoping to take advantage of the times four weakness Charizard has towards rock attacks to do some heavy damage to who's arguably the strongest Pokémon Ash has at this point. But Charizard, his tail glowing a bright greenish color with draconic power, smacked all of the Rock Tomb boulders away.

Seeing that Charizard was still spinning after using Dragon Tail, Ash called out, "Charizard, spin into Magmortar using Slash!" Spinning like a top, Charizard rushed right into Magmortar, surprising it, before slashing right at it, going from its right shoulder to its left side. Magmortar cried out in great pain, a clear indicator that Charizard's Slash had scored a critical hit.

Throwing a hand out, Paul barked, "Magmortar, use Rock Tomb!"

"Charizard, use Seismic Toss!" Ash ordered.

Magmortar tried to raise its arms up again to take aim to fire Rock Tomb, but Charizard grabbed it in a bear hug that pinned its arms to its sides, flew up, then flew around quickly in a circle, before throwing Magmortar to the ground with a devastating slam, kicking up a huge cloud of dust in the process. When all of the dust had settled, everyone saw that Magmortar was laying there, clearly having been knocked out.

Holding up a hand, Oliver announced, "Magmortar is unable to battle! The winner is Charizard!"

Ash's Charizard roared proudly in victory as he was announced the winner of the brawl between him and Paul's Magmortar. As Charizard roared, the disguised Team Rocket looked on in wonder as well as mild apprehension. "...The twerp's Charizard," Meowth whispered quietly to Jessie and James, "He's saying that Magmortar was less of a challenge than the Magmar back on Cinnabar Island."

"Charizard is dissing the serious twerp's Pokémon," Jessie whispered back, barely able to keep a lid on her amusement, "That is hilarious!"

Down on the battlefield, Paul recalled his fainted Magmortar. "Couldn't even land Rock Tomb properly," Paul scowled as he looked at Magmortar's pokéball, "How pitiful."

"You're the pitiful one!" Ash snapped, drawing Paul's attention, "Always scolding your Pokémon like that when they lose! Maybe if you showed them the care and attention that they need to be at their best, they wouldn't be doing so bad! Pokémon need more than to just be physically strong! Being emotionally strong is just as important, and that starts with feeling that their trainer cares about their emotional well being! Name one thing that you do to show your Pokémon that you care about their emotional well being!"

"I want them to be strong!" Paul snarled, "That's all they ought to need!" Tossing up another pokéball, Paul said, "Electabuzz, standby for battle!" Paul's next Pokémon he sent out was his Electabuzz which, although it did have a type advantage over Charizard, was still winded and clearly looked like it would go down to one more solid hit. Pointing forward, Paul barked, "Electabuzz, use Thunder!"

"Charizard, dodge and use Dragon Tail!" Ash commanded.

Electabuzz aimed its hands forward at Charizard and loosed a Thunder attack. However, Charizard easily flew out of the way and then got in close to Electabuzz. Charizard, with his tail glowing a bright greenish color with draconic power, swung around and slammed his tail right into Electabuzz, making it cough up some spittle as it was sent flying. It hit the ground and skidded for a bit before coming to a stop, where it clearly laid defeated.

Holding up a hand, Oliver announced, "Electabuzz is unable to battle! The winner is Charizard!"

As Paul recalled his fainted Electabuzz, scolding it as he did so, Dawn who was watching with the others couldn't believe it. Paul was actually losing, badly, to Ash at the Lake Acuity battle here. Paul sent out his last Pokémon which turned out to be Weavile, confirming to Dawn that Paul was using the exact same team against Ash that he did in the anime Lake Acuity battle. Said team was set up by Paul with the intent to counter Ash's Sinnoh team up to that point.

But while said team setup won Paul the Lake Acuity battle in the anime, the Lake Acuity battle here, where Ash was using a radically different team where only his Pikachu remained a constant, Paul's setting up his team the way that he did was backfiring on him badly, as it was proving ill equipped to deal with Ash's lineup here, which consisted of some of the very best Pokémon that the boy from Pallet Town, Kanto had to offer up to this point.

Thinking about it, Dawn thought that even if Charizard somehow went down to Weavile, Ash could send in Swampert who's very tanky and knows Brick Break, or Gardevoir who's plumpness has shown to help her tank ice attacks and she knows Moonblast. But seeing as how Charizard was looking untouched by all of his fighting he's done thus far in the battle, Dawn very much doubt that Weavile would be able to do enough damage to Charizard before going down.

Dawn was going to call it right there and then; Ash was going to actually win against Paul in the Lake Acuity battle here.

Gesturing forward, Paul yelled, "Weavile, use Ice Beam!"

"Charizard, counter with Flamethrower!" Ash called out.

Both Pokémon fired their attacks at one another, and the two attacks met before Charizard's Flamethrower instantly won out against Weavile's Ice Beam, pile driving through it and going on to strike Weavile, who was able to tank it mainly due to the Light Screen that was still up. But it was at that moment that Light Screen wore off, leaving Paul's last Pokémon in the battle without any sort of defense against Charizard's fire.

"Weavile, use Blizzard!" Paul barked angrily.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower again!" Ash commanded.

Once more, both Pokémon fired their attacks at one another, with Flamethrower going on to pierce right through the Blizzard which, due to being pierced like that, ended up floundering and failing to hit Charizard at all. Weavile took the Flamethrower point blank and cried out in great pain, going down to one knee as it gritted its teeth, trying to push through despite how badly it had been hurt by the attacks it had taken up to this point, even with the first one hampered by Light Screen.

Pointing forward, Ash called out, "Charizard, use Slash!" Charizard flew quickly towards the kneeling Weavile, his claws grown long and sharp by his Slash attack in preparation to strike Weavile down.

"Weavile, get out of there!" Paul exclaimed. The winded and hurt Weavile tried to get out of there, but its pain that it was in wouldn't let it act fast enough; Charizard closed the distance and slashed at Weavile with its claws, going from Weavile's right shoulder to its left side. Weavile was slammed into the ground by the force of that attack, and when Charizard flew back to give some space for everyone to see, they all saw it that Weavile had very clearly been knocked out.

Raising a hand, Oliver announced, "Weavile is unable to battle! The winner is Charizard!" Gesturing to Ash, Oliver declared, "Victory of this full battle goes to Ash!"

There was much rejoicing for Ash's victory against Paul there at Lake Acuity. Brock, Kenny, the disguised Team Rocket, Pikachu where he was sitting in Dawn's lap, and even Charizard were all cheering. Reggie, although there was a part of him that was sad to see Paul lose, also had a part of him that was glad Ash had won, as he hoped it would lead to Paul having a change of heart and make up for his poor attitude and begin to mend his ways as a person.

As the balloon that Oliver and the disguised Team Rocket were in landed and Ash had recalled his Charizard, Dawn looked on with worried anticipation as Paul, looking more stunned than anything, recalled his fainted Weavile. He didn't even scold Weavile for losing, which took Dawn by surprise and told her that things might go south if they don't tread carefully. The cruel trainer must have been that shocked that he had lost.

As Paul stood there, he looked up as he sensed someone walk up to him. It was Ash, the look on his face neutral. "...Not bad, Paul," Ash said, "You put up a good fight."

The cruel trainer looked at Ash, an honestly bewildered look on his face. "...How..." Paul began, looking lost trying to find the words, "...How can you say that about someone who you had beaten in a full battle so thoroughly?"

"Well for starters, there's no denying that you're a strong trainer," Ash began, "Sure, you've suffered a few losses here and there-"

"My first try at Roark," Paul started up, interrupting Ash in the process, "My challenge to Cynthia, the Hearthome City Tag Battle competition, my first try at Maylene, the battle against Brandon, and just now the battle against you." Paul grimaced, shook his head. "...How can I be a strong trainer if I lose battles so often?"

"...No one can win every battle," Ash pointed out, "I lost the first battle that I had against you, if you'll recall correctly. Additionally, I have an equal share of the loss in the Hearthome City Tag Battle competition." The Kanto region native gently shook his head. "You can't win all the time, so there's no sense beating yourself up over it." Ash glared intently at Paul. "...It's also no excuse to beat your Pokémon up over it."

Paul looked aghast at Ash. "I... but what... I do not beat my Pokémon up! I've never physically struck any of them!"

"That's not what I meant," Ash began to clarify, "You are way too harsh on your Pokémon, scolding them for failing in any way. You also really need to rethink how to take losing." Folding his arms over his chest, Ash went on, "In your rematch against Roark, you had beaten his Rampardos so badly that Roark had to bench it until it healed from its leg injury. In your rematch against Maylene, you had beaten her Lucario so badly it was beaten in a coma, from which it still hasn't woken up."

Paul looked shocked by the fact that his actions in rematches were so bad, especially since he had beaten a Pokémon into a coma that it still hasn't woken up from. Ash saw the look of shock on his rival's face, merely shook his head.

"...Just what happened to you, Paul?" Ash asked, "You seemed like the kind of guy who had his head on straight back when I had first met you. But your actions against Roark and Maylene? You getting disqualified from the Pokéringer competition for harshly scolding your Honchkrow for nearly losing even though it didn't actually lose? Your explosion at Brandon when he defeated you in a battle that you challenged him to?"

Paul looked down at his feet, struggling to come to terms with his actions. "...I..." Paul briskly shook his head. He turned his head quickly to look up at Ash. "...I just don't want to be weak!" Paul cried out, "I don't want to be the kind of person who gives up after a single loss!" Over where he sat with the rest of the very small audience, Reggie cringed mildly. "I want to go on! I want to become strong enough to prove that I can stand with the best of them!" Paul cried out, tears threatening to pool in the corners of his eyes, "But how can I do that if I lose so much?!"

"Losing is actually more a teacher than a punishment."

Everyone turned to look at where Dawn sat, given that she had spoken up. "...When a loss is dealt to someone, they think about it, go over why they lost. That way, the next time that person gets into a battle, they can better avoid the reason they lost last time, therefore increasing the odds that they'll win this time around." Dawn folded her arms over her chest. "...Can you think of all the reasons why you had lost the battle here to Ash?"

Paul looked down, gave the matter a lot of thought. "...Well for starters, I had expected him to use Pokémon that I knew prior to the battle that he had. Pikachu, Staraptor, Grotle, Gliscor, Buizel, Buneary, and... and Monferno." Paul lingered on the last Pokémon, knowing full well it was the very Chimchar that he had released after it had performed poorly on his first go at the Oreburgh City gym. "I strongly suspected that he'd use six of those seven," Paul admitted, "So I set my team up to perfectly counter anything that Ash could throw at me with that selection."

"Well that assumption leads to multiple problems," Ash began, "One, my Buizel, Buneary, and Monferno had evolved since you last saw them, giving me Floatzel, Lopunny, and Infernape. The evolution of them would probably throw a wrench in your calculations."

Paul's eyes widened out of surprise. "...Yes. Big time, actually."

"Two, I've caught other Pokémon in Sinnoh than what you know about," Ash went on, "For example, both Swampert and Gardevoir. I've also caught a Phione, but that's not important right now." Listing off of his fingertips now, Ash continued, "Three, I same as you have traveled through other regions before Sinnoh, and caught and raised Pokémon from those regions. Pikachu is the first Pokémon I ever got when I started my journey as a Pokémon trainer in Kanto, where I also caught Charizard as a Charmander. In Hoenn, I caught Sceptile as a Treecko and Glalie as a Snorunt."

"...I have severely underestimated you," Paul realized and said, "I figured that I had you worked out to a 'T', and would be able to dance circles around you because of it. Now I realize that there is simply no predicting you." The cruel trainer, his cruelness slowly starting to melt, closed his eyes for a brief before opening them again. There was a hint of apology in Paul's eyes as he looked at Ash. "That'd go a long way to explain why you're so strong."

Ash gently shook his head. "...I'm not as strong as I am because I'm unpredictable. I'm as strong as I am because of the first point not directly related to the other three I've brought up, although this point is very important for all trainers to keep in mind."

Paul arched a wry eyebrow. "...I guess it's that you make sure your Pokémon know that you care about and love them," Paul said, "That you not just say it, but show it as well."

The Kanto region native nodded in the affirmative. "You'd be surprised by what making sure that your Pokémon know you care about them can do. My Lopunny evolved from Buneary because of that. Brock has a Crobat who evolved from Golbat because of that."

"My Lucario Leni evolved from Riolu because of that," Dawn spoke up.

Ash nodded in agreement with what Dawn said. "Paul, you aren't weak as a trainer," Ash said, "Far from it. I bet you'd totally rock it when you reach the Sinnoh League conference." Ash frowned a bit before he added, "But you've let your emotions get the better of you because you lost more often than what you were expecting. You're still a great guy, but you do need to fix a few things."

Paul cast his gaze to the ground again, his face showing that he was deep in thought. "...Would making an effort to apologize to those I have wronged since coming back to Sinnoh be a decent way to start?" Paul asked.

Ash smiled at that question. It wasn't a big smile, but it was a warm, sincere smile. "One of the best ways to start, actually," Ash replied, "Just be understanding if some are not immediately receptive to you right off the ba-"

The Kanto region native was cut off when Paul held a hand out to him, offering a handshake. "...I'll keep that in mind, Ash," Paul said, "But first, let me begin by saying sorry to you. If you're willing to accept it, that is."

It took Ash a moment because of how surprised he was, but he soon got over it. Smiling a bit wider, Ash took Paul's hand and accepted the handshake. "My friends and I will make some calls to some of the people we know about that you've wronged, put in a good word for you. Just... just don't make us regret it by slipping back into your bad bits, alright?"

Paul offered Ash a mildly amused smirk. "...Slipping like that is a trait that only weak people have. And you said it yourself, Ash." Jerking a thumb at himself, Paul added, "I'm not weak."

Ash couldn't help but chuckle; Paul, in his own way, was giving his assurance that he'd fly straight from this point moving forward. Everyone else looked relieved that Paul was starting to fix how he had been a screw up for the most part. Reggie looked especially proud, given that his little brother was working to become a better person. Reggie, turning to look at Ash, looked thankful to him, as it was thanks to him that Paul was now starting to shape up.

The others also looked relieved, Dawn especially. She had worried Paul might have blown up, but instead he humbly accepted that he needed to do better instead, and recognized that Ash was the better of the two of them.

All way ahead of schedule.

Paul said that he'd head straight to the Pokémon Center in Snowpoint City, as the cafe adjacent served a drink he liked. Reggie, who was going along with Paul, promised the heroes that he'd keep an eye on Paul to make sure he does as he said he'd do, eliciting a mildly embarrassed look out of Paul. This left the heroes free to use the Lake Acuity Pokémon Center, where Ash had his Pokémon treated, Pikachu and Glalie especially so since they went down in the battle against Paul.

"I've also already contacted the Snowpoint City gym leader, Candice," Oliver said, "Told her about how Paul took the loss and how he's cleaning up his act. I heard she was a bit hesitant about taking a challenge from him due to how he blew up at Pyramid King Brandon, but after I had explained everything to her, she seemed more at ease, saying she'll be willing to see for herself in a gym battle if he challenges her."

The heroes looked relieved. "So Paul will have an easier time trying to get his last badge he needs," Ash said, "That's good. I hope to battle him again sometime."

Dawn was in agreement. Although she still had some doubts given that Paul couldn't be fully trusted yet because he was literally just starting to clean his act up, she was willing to see things through here, give Paul the benefit of the doubt. The reborn trainer stretched her arms into the air. "Well I for one am tired after all of that business," Dawn said, "Things got really heated and tense, so I think were all due to unwind."

The boys all nodded in agreement with Dawn. "Oh yeah, we can totally use a chance to unwind," Ash said in agreement, "Got any ideas for that?"

"I think there's that festival that's happening in Twinleaf Town soon," Kenny said, "We can hit it up and have some fun there." Turning to look at Dawn, Kenny added, "Plus, it'd give us a chance to be back in our hometown for a bit, Dawn."

Kenny had a good point, Dawn realized; it's been ages since she had been in Twinleaf Town, so the idea of getting to go back home for a bit was an exciting concept for her. Plus, Dawn wondered how her mom Johanna would react upon seeing what kind of Pokémon she had gotten a hold of over the course of her journey as a Pokémon trainer thus far. At a minimum, Dawn was suspecting that her owning a Garchomp would surprise her mom a good deal.

Dawn also remembered that the Twinleaf Town festival had a number of points that, due to how things here had gone down, will either end up differently here or not happen altogether. The reborn trainer hoped that things will still be manageable. The heroes waited for a bit, given that all of Ash's Pokémon were still being treated, but as soon as they were all cleared, they'd be able to get going on the road to Twinleaf Town for the festival.

They were all looking forward to it.

END, CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Author's notes;

Yeah, after seeing all of the comments, both anonymous and signed, disagreeing with how Paul had ultimately gone down here, I decided to edit things so that, instead of Paul suffering a severe fall from grace, he is instead humbled and proceeds to clean up his act. I'll try to fix him up over the course of the following chapters, although given how spotty his possible appearances will be, it may take a while before he fully redeems himself. But he WILL try to make up for all of his cruelty and overall bad stuff.

Anyway, the next chapter will see the heroes deal with Team Galactic at Mt. Coronet on the way to Twinleaf Town for the festival. After that will be the festival which will take up at least a chapter and a half, most likely two chapters' worth of content. And then the story's first climatic event will go down, changing the course of things in Sinnoh. Take care.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Leni (female Lucario), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Akiza (female Roserade), Germany (male Garchomp), Boss (male Honchkrow)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Goofy (male Houndoom), Juan (male Pikachu), Slick (male Snorlax)

Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Glalie (male), Gardevoir (female; obese), Swampert (female), Sceptile (male), Charizard (male)