Viridian City: Chateau, Morning…

Today, Serena would be taking on Rui for the title of Grand Duchess of Kanto. Considering the possibility of Rui potentially running a pokemon with a move that could force her to switch pokemon, she made certain to only have the three pokemon she intended to use on hand.

He three pokemon to take on Rui were: Sylveon, Machamp, and Blastoise. Blastoise and Machamp have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were her strongest while Sylveon was a hard worker, had a unique dodging style, and a potent typing.

"This is it." Serena muttered.

Serena found what she wore her first chateau challenge and decided it would be her outfit for the last of them. The Pallet native took a deep breath and left the changing room to see her boyfriend and friend before the time of her battle was at hand.

"There you are Serena." Ash declared as she approached and immediately noticed how worried she looked. "Hey, don't let anything get to you." He smiled. "Win or lose, I know you'll do great."

"I must agree." James nodded. "You worked hard to arrive at this point, so don't worry."

Serena smiled as it certainly felt nice to hear these words from the two of them to the point she pulled the pair into a hug. "Thanks, you two."

"If you're handing out hugs, how about one for me?" Grace's voice rang out.

"Mom!?" Serena turned around in surprise and saw her mother before immediately hugging her. "You're here!"

"Of course, I am sweetie." Grace hugged her daughter back. "I couldn't make it out to the Orange Archipelago to see you compete against those other challengers, so I had to be here now." They parted with her smiling. "I figured I could make this a nice surprise."

"It really is one." Serena stated genuinely. "I'm glad you're here."

"Hey, I think it's about to begin." James pointed out.

Hennessy came down a long set of stairs before unrolling an old-style scroll he'd been carrying. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are not gathered for your average chateau tournament. Today, Duchess Serena has issued a writ of challenge to Grand Duchess Rui with said title on the line."

A light suddenly appeared on Serena as the crowd looked towards her. The Pallet native blushed considering she still wasn't a natural at being the center of attention like her boyfriend. Regardless of this, she did have to admit that it felt nice having all these people cheer for her.

"Now, it is my honor to present Kanto's current Grand Duchess, Rui Orre." Hennessy soon declared as the cheering for Serena died down.

The lights went off completely and several spot lights appeared at the top of the stairs before Rui herself came walking down. Rather than her normal attire, she wore a light blue, purple accented dress with matching heels.

As she walked, the crowd was cheering, and it was much louder than it had been for Serena. Though, that was only to be expected considering she was the current Grand Duchess. Eventually, Rui reached the center of the room where she stood.

"May the challenger please step forward." Hennessy requested.

Another spot light hit Serena, and she hesitantly stepped forward before stopping in front of Rui. Despite knowing her, it was hard to find the words to say in this instance. Since she couldn't speak right now, Serena merely curtsied.

Rui just gave a genuine smile. "I believe we're supposed to curtsy before the battle."

"Sorry." Serena whispered while blushing out of embarrassment.

"Don't be." Rui whispered back. "Back when I was in your shoes, I was rather intimidated. Just remember, win or lose, let's have fun." Serena smiled at that as Rui then spoke up to be heard by everyone. "Now, tell me, do you know the history of this fine establishment?"

"I know the chateaus began in the Kalos region and has slowly become accepted as a form of trainer institution in the other regions. It's currently in Kanto and Sinnoh as well now while there have been talks with the right people in Paldea to add it there as well."

"You are correct, but there is more than recent history." Rui declared. "The first battle chateau was created as a celebration of Kalos' history. A way to recreate the duels of old utilizing the spirit of pokemon battles. On that note, are you ready for our duel?"

Serena nodded. "I am."

"Very good." Hennessy stepped forward. "You both may now follow me while any guests may make their way to the seating area."

Hennessy started walking towards the battle room with Rui following him, and Serena following her. Before Ash, James, and Grace could leave to find their own seats, a maid approached them as there were special seats specifically for them.

Battle Room

Ash, James, and Grace were given front row seats while the rest filled in around and behind them. Soon, Rui and Serna took their places in their respective trainer boxes.

"With the title Grand Duchess on the line, Rui Orre will be ranked down to Duchess, per tradition." Hennessy began. "This makes it an official chateau battle between Duchesses Rui and Serena with the title of Grand Duchess on the line. Now, may both exchange formalities?" Rui and Serena curtsied to one another.

"This shall be a three-on-three pokemon battle. Substitutions are not permitted for either side unless your pokemon has been knocked out. One side loses when all their pokemon have fainted. Understood?" Rui and Serena nodded in response. "As Rui was the Grand Duchess, she shall reveal her pokemon first."

"Battle stance, Yanmega!" Rui declared as she threw forth her first pokemon.

Serena pulled out her pokedex to scan this new pokemon:

Yanmega, the Ogre Darner Pokémon. When it flutters its wings, it creates a shock wave that can cause internal damage to its opponents.

As she investigated what other information there was, Serena noticed this pokemon was a bug/flying type. While the way Ash battles helped her overcome type advantages before, she'd rather play this battle a little safer than going all in on a disadvantage out the gate.

This left her two choices in Sylveon or Blastoise. While the water type could certainly tank hits and attack back, Sylveon was light on her feet which would potentially help her keep up with the flying pokemon. Ultimately, there was only one pokemon she could start with.

"Battle dance, Sylveon!" Serena shouted as she released her starter.

"Now, let the battle...Begin." Hennessy declared.

Duchess Serena VS Duchess Rui (P. I)

"Sylveon, use sunny day." Serena commanded.

Rui waited until the moment it'd be too late for Serena to call off that move before speaking up.

"Yanmega, use flash before getting right in Sylveon's face." Rui instructed.

Sylveon projected the sphere of fire energy above before immediately being blinded by a brilliant white light Yanmega projected. The bug/flying type then flew in until he was hovered mere inches from the fairy type. This left Serena confused about what Rui was planning.

"Now, point blank solar beam." Rui ordered.

Serena went wide eyed. "Sylveon, dodge!"

It was too late. The sun Serena set up to aid her was instead utilized by her opponent. Yanmega immediately collected enough energy before firing and nailing Sylveon. Since it was fired at point-blank range, the move was a devastating critical hit.

"VEON!" Sylveon cried as she was blasted back.

"Sylveon!" Serena yelled.

As the fairy type hit the ground with swirls in her eyes, Serena couldn't help but compare this very moment to what happened back when she started down this path. Just as Calem's Chespin knocked out her Eevee, Rui knocked out Sylveon.

Battle Room

"Sylveon is unable to battle." Hennessy declared. "Duchess Serena now must return her pokemon and send out her next."

"Oh dear." Grace couldn't help but cover her mouth because her little girl seemed devastated. "Serena…"

As much as she wanted to say something, Grace found she didn't know the right words. She'd heard what happened in the beginning of her daughter's journey but seeing it in person was a whole other story. It didn't help that she started with Rhyhorn Racing and only did that.

"SERENA!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs resulting in everyone, including Serena, looking at him as he stood atop his seat. "This isn't like back then. Sylveon didn't lose because you were unprepared. She lost because Rui out thought you, and her pokemon was strong.

In battle, it's impossible to know everything your opponent is capable of, but it is possible to keep going despite that. Win or lose, giving up now means you'll never know how far you could have gone. Remember, it's never over until the very end."

Serena smiled. "Oh Ash…"

"I believe in your Serna." Ash cheered. "Keep battling."

"He's right sweetie." Grace stood up. "You've grown so much since leaving Pallet Town to the point you aren't the type to fall apart like this. Battle your heart out."

"We're all behind you Serena." James stood up. "From the first moment I joined your guy's group, neither you nor Ash struck me as the type to give up. Don't go shattering that now. Fight on."

With those three speaking so passionately, the rest of the crowd was stirred to action as they echoed the last things each of them said.

"Keep battling!" "Battle you heart out!" "Fight on!"

It was a chorus of cheering from a crowd that didn't want to see this battle end in such a disappointing way. Ash, Grace, and James did most of the work in strengthening Serena's resolve, but everyone else only reinforced it until she couldn't deny it.

"They're right." Serena took a deep breath as she let go of this loss that had momentarily devastated her. "I can't let it all end here. Not after all the work I put in. Not after all the work my pokemon put in!" She turned back around to face Rui. "I've come to far to simply give up."

"Your spirit wavered, but it was put back on track." Rui smiled. "Since you're not giving up, let's continue."

"Right." Serena nodded as she took out a pokeball and pointed it at Sylveon. "I'm sorry I faltered and didn't recall you until now. The truth is, we were completely outplayed, but I'll do my best to keep fighting until the very end."

As things stood, Serena recognized this was still a bad situation. Yanmega was clearly strong, he'd received no damage in that last battle, and the sun she set was still up. That meant this pokemon could use solar beam again and water moves wouldn't be all that effective.

This made the choice between her remaining two pokemon an easy one. "Battle dance, Machamp."

Rui immediately took note of everything Machamp was wearing. While she would certainly admit this fighting type had style, the attire left her one huge opening she could exploit. One Serena didn't seem to notice herself.

"Let the battle...Begin." Hennessy declared.

Duchess Serena VS Duchess Rui (P. II)

"Yanmega, use flash and get right in Machamp's face." Rui commanded.

"Just what I was hoping for." Serena thought.

Even without an order, Machamp was on the same wavelength as his trainer in this instance, so when Yanmega used flash, he pretended to reel from the bright, white light. Yanmega then flew in stopping mere inches from the fighting type's face.

"Now Machamp!" Serena exclaimed suddenly. "Use stone edge."

"Sorry Serena, but even if you've found your resolve, I still must do everything within my power to beat you." Rui declared. "Yanmega, use detect and follow it up with an air slash."

As stones came up from the ground, intending to land a devastating blow, Yanmega's eyes suddenly shined with fighting energy. He deftly, quickly moved right over Machamp's head in an aerial front flip ending up behind him.

From there, the ogre darner pokemon landed another critical blow with air slash turning an already super effective blow into a devastatingly powerful one. This time, Machamp wasn't going down to one blow even if it also had stab working for it.

"Machamp, use seismic toss." Serena commanded.

This time, Rui was caught off guard since she didn't expect one of Serena's pokemon to survive such a blow considering what happened with Sylveon. She even went with stab and a super effective move this time just to make sure.

As a result, Machamp was able to wrap his arms around the bug/flying type before leaping into the air while spinning. The fighting type then threw that opposing pokemon with all his might. While a highly resisted move, dishing out damage wasn't the point of using it here.

"Fire punch." Serena ordered.

"Yanmega, use air slash again." Rui tried.

The purpose of seismic toss, which it achieved, was for Machamp to buy a little time. As such, upon his landing, the fighting type pulled back his fist while cloaking it in fire. Yanmega, conversely, was just now rising, so he was nailed straight on sending him back to the ground.

"Now Machamp, use stone edge." Serena commanded.

Yanmega just managed to get airborne again before suddenly being struck by pointed rocks which brought him down. This time, the ogre darner pokemon was not getting back up because he fainted.

Battle Room

"Yanmega is unable to battle." Hennessy declared. "Duchess Rui now must return her pokemon and send out her next."

Because she had been unable to find the right words earlier, until Ash spoke up first, Grace decided she'd be the first one to cheer on her daughter now. "You and Machamp were great sweetie! Keep it up!"

"Serena still has a lot of ground to make up at this point." James muttered drawing the mother's attention. "While it might look even, Machamp took a great deal of damage to pull off the win. If Serena isn't careful, she won't beat Rui's remaining pokemon."

"You are probably right, but Serena still managed to pull this match back from disaster." Ash smiled. "Now, she has a chance."

"Togepi!" Togepi cheered.

The little fairy type wasn't merely cheering simply because everyone else was happy. The little fairy type was cheering because that last battle made him excited.

"You really liked that one, huh Togepi?" James smiled at his little guy. "You know, you could be in battles like this one day if you wanted to start training."

Recently, Togepi has been eating normal pokefood, has been more engrossed in battles than ever before, and seemed to take a general interest in training. At this point, starting to train his little fairy type might be the next step.

Regardless of this being the next step, Togepi did seem to understand given how for the idea he seemed. "Toge!"

To James, this seemed to indicate that maybe they should start with some light training, but it'd likely begin after all this excitement died down. After all, Ash was going to need help training up his pokemon, so they might just take their first steps into training after the Indigo League.

"Battle stance, Mismagius." Rui called out throwing her ghost type into the battle.

Serena scanned this new pokemon:

Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon. Mismagius chants incantations, and while some cause misery, some give happiness as well.

From one unfavorable match to another, Serena recognized her opponent wasn't letting her off easy after beating Yanmega. If anything, this just got much harder since ghost types couldn't be hit by normal or fighting type attacks making a lot of Machamp's arsenal useless.

Still, she couldn't switch. "We'll just have to do the best with what we can use."

"Let the battle...Begin." Hennessy declared.

Duchess Serena vs Duchess Rui (P. III)

"Machamp, use knock off." Serena ordered.

"Mismagius, use phantom force." Rui commanded.

The ghost type became transparent resulting in Machamp's following dark energy covered slap phasing right through her. She then moved underneath Machamp before springing up through him. This brought about a ghostly energy that dealt a serious blow to the fighting type.

"Machamp, use payback." Serena instructed.

Machamp immediately lunged forward striking with a fist coated in immense dark energy as its strength was doubled due to just being attacked.

"Mismagius, end this with dazzling gleam." Rui ordered.

Mismagius was quick to recover and flashed a fairy energy out nailing Machamp. That damage was just too much for him to bear. The superpower pokemon collapsed on his back with swirls in his eyes.

Battle Room

"Machamp is unable to battle." Hennessy declared. "Duchess Serena now must return her pokemon and send out her last."

"Return Machamp." Serena smiled. "You came out and pulled off one heck of a win to get us back in this. Thank you."

"Serena, you've done fairly well recovering from that first round." Rui praised genuinely. "That Machamp of yours is one heck of a fighter."

"Don't I know it." Serena gave a smile of determination. "Even though he couldn't weather much after that battle with your Yanmega, even though I'm basically down two to one, I'll keep battling until the absolute end."

"Then, let's go." Rui nodded. "Bring out your last pokemon."

"Battle dance, Blastoise!" Serena shouted as she released her final pokemon.

"Let the battle begin." Hennessy declared.

Duchess Serena VS Duchess Rui (P. IV)

"Aqua jet." Serena ordered.

Blastoise blasted across the field, cloaked in water, and slammed into Mismagius hard.

"Now, dark pulse." Serena ordered.

"Thunder." Rui ordered.

"That pokemon learns electric type attacks?" Serena thought shocked.

Serena knew many pokemon learned multiple different moves, but to think electric type attacks could be learned by a pokemon like this. Speaking of attacks, Blastoise fired off dark pulse at the same time Mismagius fired off her electricity resulting in both pokemon taking powerful blows.

"Blastoise, use dragon pulse." Serena ordered.

"Mismagius, use magical leaf slightly to the right of the oncoming move." Rui ordered.

Blastoise fired off a blast of dragon energy just moments before Mismagius would launch rainbow-colored leaves at the opposing pokemon. Both attacks skirted by one another nailing their respective targets with magical leaf doing by far the most damage.

Aside from it being a super effective move, it also managed to result in Blastoise collapsing. He wasn't unconscious, but the prior two moves were a lot to take on. Mismagius was a strong pokemon in comparison to him.

"Blastoise, it can't end like this!" Serena shouted. "Come on, you're one of my strongest pokemon that's come through for me countless times before when I've needed you. Please don't let this be the end!"

In that moment, time seemed to slow as Blastoise had a moment just like Charizard did back on New Island. Despite it not being as dire a situation, that didn't matter to the water starter. His trainer was calling on him, so he'd rise to the occasion.

He remembered learning she had saved him from those Team Rocket grunts. Defeating Verity's Prinplup and evolving. Fending off Petral and later helping to capture him. Attempting to fight off Kanzaki and evolving again. Finally, every other thing in between.

Blastoise refused to give up at this point and slowly rose to his feet as a blue aura overcame him. His water attacks were at an all-time high; however, he would not be able to take much more damage. A powerful, immense amount of water began building up in his canons.

"This move lacks the intense heat, but it almost looks like this is something on par with Blast Burn." Serena suddenly remembered what Verity said her Empoleon didn't know in response to learning what Ash's Charizard did. "Is this hydro canon?"

"How about that." Rui smiled.

Rui could use destiny bond right now to end this battle; however, she recognized that this was truly a feat worthy of at least getting to see the last pokemon she had picked for this battle. As such, she decided on a different course of action.

"Mismagius, use memento." Rui declared.

Mismagius was glowing with a dark aura, but this move seemed to do nothing as Blastoise fired one heck of a hydro canon. It sent Mismagius straight into the area below the stands with more than enough power to tear a hole through them.

When the move cleared, Mismagius was revealed to have fainted and was lying out atop rubble. This kicked off the true effect of memento as Mismagius' black glow overtook Blastoise. It didn't hurt the water starter, but both his attacks decreased by two stages a piece.

Viridian Gym

"Mismagius is unable to battle…" Hennessy began.

He stopped as Blastoise suddenly fell to the ground with swirls in his eyes. This revealed the truth of what really happened back on New Island. Mewtwo's cloned Charizard never touched Ash's. Ash's Charizard fainted from the toll of using such a powerful move for the first time.

"Blastoise has also fainted; however, Duchess Rui still has one pokemon left." Hennessy declared. "This means she has effectively reclaimed her title of Grand Duchess once again."

The crowd cheered for such a hard-fought battle.

Serena sighed before giving a small smile. "Blastoise, you gave everything to close the gap." She returned her water type. "Take a well-deserved rest."

Rui approached Serena. "You and your pokemon gave one valiant battle, Serena."

Serena looked at the older trainer. "Thanks Rui."

"The rules of the chateau say no Duchess can challenge me for my tittle until at least one full year has passed from their prior attempt, but I'd certainly like to battle you again then." Rui stated.

"I'd like that, but I don't know if we'll be in Kanto at that time." Serena nodded. "Even though the Indigo League isn't over yet, Ash has been talking about continuing our journey. Given we've already been all over Kanto, we've indulged talks of going to another region."

"That is certainly forward thinking, and I recommend it myself." Rui giggled. "The world is vast with regions of pokemon and various challenges. Of course, you could certainly go to a region with a chateau, but I have a different recommendation if you'd like to hear it."

"Considering how strong you are, I'd love to hear what you think." Serena responded genuinely.

"I didn't start out wanting to be a Grand Duchess." Rui informed. "I tried quite a few different trainer careers, and I'm glad I did since they gave me ample experience to eventually reach this point. I get the feeling you'd benefit from the same."

"Well, I could never decide what I wanted to do before starting this journey, so maybe trying a bunch of different paths is my answer." Serena stated. "Do you have any recommendations?"

"Well, I started my journey in Johto with Pokeathlons, and it was a blast." Rui stated.

"Pokeathlon…" Serena certainly remembered the one back in Fula City, and even though she didn't make it to the battle round, it was still fun. "I'll certainly keep that in mind." She smiled and extended her hand. "For now, thank you for this battle."

Rui shook the offered hand. "It was my pleasure."

Viridian Battle Chateau

At the closing ceremony, Serena was back in her normal attire and stood with everyone else while Rui was on stage, with Hennessy, still dressed in her formal attire.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my proud honor to return Rui Orre's tittle of Grand Duchess." Hennessy declared.

The crowd cheered, with the gang and Grace being the most vocal. The butler then passed a trophy over to the girl, but it was simply the same one she'd first received back when she became Grand Duchess.

After the award ceremony, there was a party where everyone had a great time. Ash, James, and Grace all congratulated Serena on such a hard-fought battle. Even though she didn't win, the three of them most certainly made her feel that way.


Nightshadegirl: Yeah, the story is drawing to a closer quicker than even I thought it would. Heck, next chapter is just describing the training before the gang hits the road and reunites with a certain someone who promised to come see Ash compete. I felt the guards and music were a nice touch for Blue.

Vital Info: The way I see it is that while Drake does hold the title of champion, he never really sought out greater challengers. Now, his battle with Ash has changed that perspective, but as of right now his strength is equal to the strongest gym leader's gym rematch team of any region. This would be your Arcana, Blue, Whitney, and so on. By proxy of the battle being as close as it was, Ash's Kanto team is on par with these gym rematch pokemon, but he still came dangerously close to losing to at least Blue.

Do keep in mind that gym rematch says nothing of the personal power each gym leader possess. Arcana's personal team tangoed with Sabrina's personal team, and he managed to get the win. Blue has a personal team that is champion level. No gym leader is allowed to simply use these pokemon at any point in a gym challenger. Considering I already had Ash simply lose to Arcana earlier in the story, having it repeat after everything he's been through wouldn't be right.

As for the gimmicks, they can be rather difficult to implement in other regions due to restrictions. Dynamx can't be used outside of Galar (If it could, a gym would then need to be able to accommodate that). Z-Moves require you to take trials located in Alola. Terasalization is in Paldea. and I get the sense they don't really have many if any people from other regions quite yet meaning boarder need to be open. Mega Evelution, I see this as being at the discretion of the region.

In Kalos, I see them embracing it. After you have two badges, gym leaders will mega evolve pokemon, and every gym leader will always have a pokemon on their team that can mega evolve regardless of badge. In other regions, I only see it being something for personal teams. The only people you might fight who'd use it on the first time you battle them would would be your Elite Four members, Grand Duchess, Champion, and so on.