Traveler

by The Straight Elf

Ash Ketchum has been determined to become the best since he was a toddler. He has his eyes set on a charmander, but a twist of fate led him to the humble Nidoran. Note: Mix between anime and the games.

29. Chapter 29: The Final

AN: Hey! I'd just like to thank everybody that favorite, followed, or reviewed last chapter for the support! I always enjoy getting everyone's feedback.

But there is one thing I'd like to address: please don't leave reviews just telling me to update. I know I took a little longer than I said and I really do appreciate the intent behind those messages, but just trust that I'm working on getting the chapters out as fast as I can. I enjoy writing Traveler as much as all of you (presumably if you've gotten 650,000 words in) enjoy reading it.

Anyways, enjoy!

Ash kept a keen eye on the battlefield as he slid next to Jonathan. The boy didn't even register his appearance with anything other than a short grunt. Jonathan was obviously absolutely enraptured by the battle between Michael and Neesha.

Judging from the devastated appearance of the battlefield the match was almost over. Ash felt himself become slightly disappointed at that. He'd rushed to the Pokemon Center as fast as he could but it seemed he hadn't been quick enough to get back and see what Michael was capable of.

"How far into it are —" Ash was cut off as Arcanine leapt high into the air at Wigglytuff, whose scowling visage almost managed to look intimidating. That was no mean for the Balloon Pokemon.

He watched carefully as Arcanine spat an unending stream of fire and smoke at Wigglytuff, which the normal-type easily blocked with Protect before it retaliated with an incredibly condensed Hyper Beam that managed to brush the fire-type's side.

"That's Michael's third and the chick's fifth." Jonathan said. He never took his eyes off the battle. "I never thought a Wigglytuff could be badass, but that one's changing my mind. It took down a freakin' Gyarados!"

Ash just snorted and turned back to the battle. Arcanine looked bad. Wigglytuff was obviously under immense strain from the prolonged battle but looked like it could keep going for a bit longer.

Michael's face was expressionless as he watched the battle. Ash had no idea what the teen was thinking about the injury inflicted onto Arcanine.

"Finish it. Get close." The redhead said just loud enough to be heard over the crowd, which watched with quiet anticipation as Arcanine yipped and rushed forward. It didn't slip into Extreme Speed, however. It must have been worse off than Ash had thought.

Arcanine blurred around Wigglytuff's Hyper Beams and blasts of ice and electricity with contemptuous ease and closed the distance between the two in a matter of seconds. It rushed forward as its maw was consumed in flames and prepared to bathe the normal-type in fire until Neesha finally gave Wigglytuff a clear command.

"Gravity."

Wigglytuff's ears twitched as its psychic abilities set to work and greatly increased the gravity working against the canine. Arcanine yipped helplessly as it was suddenly crushed to the ground, even its powerful muscles useless against the magnified force locking it into place.

It seemed that it wasn't very adept at fighting against psychics. He'd have to remember that.

Michael had a look of grudging respect on his face as Wigglytuff finished off Arcanine with a quick Hyper Beam. He recalled the massive fire-type but had a small smile on his face as he raised up a dull, scratched pokeball.

Ash's eyes widened as the familiar form of a Dragonite emerged in a flash of scarlet light. This Dragonite wasn't an ordinary specimen of its kind. While it was obviously much weaker than Lance's Dragonite trio given its relative size and smaller scales it held a ferociousness that he'd never seen on one of its kind.

Even Oak's old Dragonite at its most territorial did not compare to the raw fury that echoed in its eyes. The creature practically reeked aggressiveness. Not quite bloodlust, but it wasn't much better. Dragonite's large eyes were fierce and dark with a single-minded devotion to attacking Wigglytuff.

He frowned at the creature as it took to the sky at the referee's command. It was incredibly fast but didn't even compare to Lance's Dragonite. Even Dov, the slowest of the trio, was much faster. Plume should be able to catch it without too much trouble.

Still, he was more concerned with the rage it held than any tactical concerns. Dragonite were naturally predisposed toward a kind, helpful nature. They were peaceful creatures that lacked the bloodlust or predatory inclinations of Tyranitar or Salamence. For the Dragonite to be so aggressive something must have affected it terribly in the past.

Perhaps he could work the uncharacteristic aggressiveness to his advantage. The Dragonite listened to Michael's commands but it seemed that it shied away from anything that involved its own defense. It had no care for the damage it took. All it wanted to do was attack.

That attitude would be a huge liability for Michael. Dragonite were incredibly tough and resilient and more than capable of taking incredibly powerful attacks head-on while being little worse for wear, but their greatest defensive asset was their speed and maneuverability.

As fast as this Dragonite was it would have quite a bit of difficulty fighting Plume if it relied on its offensive capabilities. Plume was faster and more maneuverable. She'd be able to harass it and leave some damage, although he wasn't sure how much the Pidgeot could actually hurt it without judicious use of Hyper Beam.

He shrugged it off. Ash had three days before facing Michael. He'd have time to plot and strategize while Oz trained under Surge. While he'd be sure to be involved in the training since the chance to learn under a vaunted electric-type specialist was rare, he would have some free time. It wasn't as if he'd be letting the rest of his team train — not this close to the Final.

Ash silently went over the team he planned on using as Dragonite launched itself at Wigglytuff, who reflexively responded with a powerful Ice Beam that the aggressive creature took head-on. It snorted and slowed but that wasn't enough to keep it from slamming into Wigglytuff to send the lightweight creature flying.

The team was relatively set in stone: Nidoking, Plume, Torrent, Dazed, Infernus, and Tangrowth.

They were his strongest fighters and he could take no risks in the Final. There was no longer a reason to hide his friends' skills and strategies. Most had been laid bare to the world but there were still a few he'd managed to keep hidden. Air Lens, for example. It was by far the most potent defense he had against Michael's incredibly powerful Jolteon other than Nidoking's naturally resistant hide.

While he would like to include Bruiser and Oz since they had stood by his side for so long and worked as hard as any of the others to get where they were he couldn't. Bruiser would be helpless against both Salamence and Dragonite as well as Jolteon's electrical abilities. Rampage would be an equalizer against every other opponent but it was too risky. The technique was meant to be used as his last resort, not his first reaction.

His face twisted. Bruiser just wasn't ready for a single battle against a trainer of Michael's caliber. He was handicapped by his evolutionary state. It wouldn't be until he was a Machamp or had mastered Rampage to a further degree that he could truly be an equal in combat to the most powerful members of his team. At the moment he still had the most raw strength but he wasn't fast enough to take advantage of it.

Ash knew he would have to work extensively with Bruiser to mould him into the force he knew he could be. Bruiser had finally come into his own as a fighter. It was time for Ash to hone him into a warrior.

Rock Tomb would be a very useful ability for him to have. Ash couldn't forget how Bruno's Machamp had masterfully mixed the skill into his own fighting style to skillfully raise walls and shift the earth to defend against and subvert his opponents.

Oz had similar problems. Her control over her great power was absolutely incredible but it wasn't enough. She lacked the power of Infernus and was still catching up to the rest of the team, even if that gap had shrunk enormously since Lance's training. Lightning Bolt would be like Rampage — an equalizer, not something to depend on. Until she was older or an Electivire she couldn't even begin to tap into her true potential.

Ash grit his teeth at that and made a note to focus on their training. Bruiser had to be close to evolution given his strength and the power he wielded. He just had to help his friend with that one last push before he would unlock the reservoir of power within himself and become a true titan on the battlefield.

Oz was more complicated, unfortunately. There were several ways for her to evolve, each one difficult in its own way.

She could find herself in a lightning storm and absorb an entire bolt of electricity. Given that she was old and strong enough to have the capacity for it the bolt would trigger the process of evolution.

Another option would be to get her an Electrizer. The rare device would release an immense discharge of electricity into her system, just powerful enough to fool her body into thinking the signal for evolution had been given. Surge would probably have access to one but he'd have to get the giant's opinion on Oz's evolution. He didn't want to do it before she was ready.

The worst option by far — and, by proxy, the least likely — was to be insane and suicidal enough to seek out the Titan of Lightning once more and hope that the aloof Zapdos wouldn't leave him and his team spots of ash on the ground for their arrogance.

In essence the first and third options came to be the same thing, although the latter required an infinitely larger capacity for stupidity.

He shook himself out of his thoughts when he noticed that Neesha had released her last pokemon, the large Vileplume he vaguely remembered from New Island. It set itself and defiantly glared up at Dragonite, who glared down at the grass-type and bared its fangs.

That was a bad matchup, which became evident the moment the match began. Even as Vileplume spewed huge clouds of Stun Spore into the air Dragonite simply launched itself around them, spat a gout of fire that led to the combustion of the cloud, and smashed into Vileplume with its thick, muscular tail.

Ash winced as Vileplume flew through the air before it settled painfully on the ground. The creature struggled to stand up but another furious gout of flame from Dragonite finished it off.

He just frowned. Michael's Salamence and Snorlax had been troublesome enough on their own. The Dragonite simply complicated things further. He'd have to come up with a dozen different strategies for a dozen different potential situations if he wanted to beat Michael. Two dragons in such an experienced trainer's hands meant trouble even if they weren't of Lance's caliber.

Not that any dragons outside of a scarce few trainers' could meet Lance's standards. He was the Dragon Master of Indigo for a reason. He was quite possibly the strongest trainer to have ever been produced by Indigo — and, when Bagon and Gible matured to a Salamence and Garchomp, respectively, Ash had no doubt that he could quite possibly be the strongest trainer in all of history.

He sighed and stood up to leave. Ash didn't want to get caught in the crowd. There was far too much to do to waste any time here.

XX

"Runt." Surge acknowledged with a feral grin as Ash stepped into the training ground reserved for gym leaders and other League personnel. Raichu waved one of her brown paws at him and sparked slightly in excitement, ready to begin the training.

"Surge." He dipped his head in respect to his temporary teacher. Ash glanced around the rather dull training ground. It was created to regulation standards. There was absolutely nothing interesting about the small arena. The training area was composed solely of flat, dry earth that expanded around two hundred meters out in every direction.

The giant eyed him for a moment. "Release that Electabuzz of yours!" He barked even as he released his Electivire. The hulking creature that was only slightly smaller than Infernus leered at him and let its cordlike tails whip around menacingly. "He'll be teaching your Electabuzz Lightning Bolt. I'll only be explaining the basics."

Ash did as he commanded but had to raise an eyebrow in response. "What'll we be doing the rest of the time?"

"I'm going to teach you something a lot more valuable than Lightning Bolt, brat." Surge flashed him a dangerous grin. "I think it's about time that you learn more about Electabuzz and the physics behind electricity."

He nodded. Ash could see how both of those would be useful and Surge was the most qualified person he could have possibly found to explain the two subjects. Surge was regarded as an expert of the Electivire line to the same degree that Blaine was of the Magmortar family, although he was more renowned for his absolute knowledge of a Raichu's abilities.

"You." Surge pointed at Oz, who bared her fangs at the man. Raichu hissed and whipped her tail around threateningly. The motion created a spray of sparks and arcs of electricity danced down to Surge's body, although the man didn't even seem to notice it as he lightly pinched Raichu's cheek and stopped her with a stern look. "Cut it out. Electivire'll whip her into shape."

Raichu dropped her annoyed demeanor and almost seemed to glow with amusement. She just hissed at Oz one last time before the electric-type contentedly hugged Surge's shoulder and coiled her long tail around his neck until the jagged organ reminiscent of a lightning bolt laid in front of his throat.

"Alright…" Surge glanced over to Ash questioningly, aware of his penchant for giving names to his team.

"Oz." He filled in.

"…Oz." The gym leader boomed. "Today you are going to learn Lightning Bolt or knock yourself out trying! Is that understood?"

The Electabuzz growled and nodded, her thick tail twitching somewhat as she held onto Surge's every word. He was someone that commanded respect from everything around him.

"Now, the first thing you'll need to do is —" Surge suddenly turned to Ash with an odd expression. "Go scamper off and strategize or something. I'll give you the rundown when I'm done here."

Ash sighed and didn't bother arguing. All of his mentors were ridiculously stubborn and Surge was no exception. He had his reasons, no doubt. It sounded like he'd teach him the principles behind Lightning Bolt anyway. That meant he'd be able to replicate it and teach the technique again if he ever picked up an electric-type. With Oz's assistance, anyway.

He supposed he should be grateful to Surge for this break. As long as Oz didn't accidentally misfire an attempted Lightning Bolt and hit him everything would turn out fantastically.

As Surge's loud voice echoed throughout the training ground Ash found himself a seat far from the action and took a seat. Ash pulled out the poked and went to the pokemon he had saved for further analysis — Michael's team.

Ash had an encyclopedic knowledge of Kanto and Johto pokemon by this point from an entire year of perusing the database almost nightly and since Professor Oak had upgraded his pokedex to have access to the national archives he'd gained a working knowledge of the pokemon native to Hoenn and SInnoh as well.

But he needed to know the pokemon at Michael's command intimately. He had a plethora of exceptionally powerful fighters at his disposal and could potentially counter every member of Ash's smaller team. While his friends had become incredibly powerful over their year with him he just didn't have the sheer variety to counter everything his last opponent could throw at him.

So he'd have to be as efficient as possible and do his best to guess which pokemon Michael would use.

He suspected that Jolteon would be a given. It was his starter, after all. Arcanine had consistently put up an incredible performance and its mastery of Extreme Speed would give it an edge against each of his friends, so he expected that it would make an appearance as well.

Ash flashed back to the powerful team Michael had told him about as he took him, Jonathan, and Amelia to Jessica's house so long ago. He didn't remember each member, but he'd seen enough to remind him in the Conference: Steelix, Gyarados, and Alakazam. He thought he remembered him having a Machamp as well but it hadn't fought yet.

That team had been phased out over the course of the Conference with the exception of Jolteon and Arcanine. It was probably just a team he was currently training up to par with the rest of his pokemon.

Jolteon was almost always used to finish the opponent. It was nigh untouchable, a blur of yellow and white fur protected and enhanced by a crackling aura of electricity. As impressive as Jolteon had been in that recording of Michael he'd seen from several years ago it was many, many times more powerful now.

A small smile came to his face. At least he had a way to neutralize that threat. So far Infernus hadn't really shown off his skill. Almost every action he'd taken in the battle against Grey had been to simply teleport on top of his pokemon. While certainly an effective — and lazy — way to win a battle he felt that Michael would have precautions against that after seeing it in action.

Besides, it wouldn't be nearly as effective against something that could resist it or move fast enough to avoid Infernus after he teleported like Dragonite or Salamence. Jolteon might have been fast enough to avoid it but he felt that Infernus could handle the electric-type easily, despite its absolutely astounding abilities.

The Snorlax he had seen was almost a certainty as well. Snorlax were incredibly rare but they were almost unstoppable once they woke up. Their thick fat let them ignore just about everything short of a Hyper Beam — and even that, in some cases. Even the most powerful fighting-types shied away from taking them on thanks to the protection their fat afforded them and raw physical power.

Other than that he really didn't have a clue. There were so many other options that Michael could use that it wasn't feasible to guess. There were multiple counters for each of his friends that his opponent could pull out.

Still, Michael would presumably be using Jolteon, Salamence, Dragonite, and Snorlax. That was an extremely formidable team by itself. Even if Michael chose weak pokemon to round out his team he would still give Ash a challenge.

He sighed and began to examine the profile for each pokemon unfamiliar to him. Ash needed to at least be aware of their were a lot of options and he couldn't afford to waste any time.

XX

He glanced up when a huge shadow fell over him, the effect only amplified by the occasional flash of electricity from where Oz was training with Electivire. She seemed to be doing well considering the overpowering odor of ozone and the innumerable craters and scorch marks that marked the area.

"Don't bother getting up, Runt." Surge grinned as he sat down. The giant was still taller than he would be standing up by several heads. "This might take a while."

Ash nodded and stowed away his pokedex. The hour or so he'd had to plan had given him at least some idea of how to fight Michael. It would be difficult but he believed he could emerge victorious.

"Let's get started with Oz." The giant grunted as he settled into his spot opposite Ash. "She's got a ton of potential. I can tell Lance worked your ass off — her power is formidable for an Electabuzz, but it's her control that makes her worth my time. She has a knack for it that rivals Raichu. Not something to take lightly, that."

"So what can she do with that control?" He asked quietly. Surge was obviously going somewhere with this. Perhaps the older man had some grand plan ready for him.

"I was getting to that." Surge groused and glared at him. "If you want to help her meet her potential you'd better shut up and listen. We don't have a lot of time here, Runt. One day isn't nearly enough to pound perfection into your head, but I'm gonna get as close to it as I can."

He nodded and stayed silent. It wasn't as if he minded being quiet. Ash preferred it, honestly, and it was an easy price to pay for Surge's expertise.

"Lightning Bolt's going to be a cakewalk for her." Surge grunted. "It's really not much of a challenge for anything with enough juice to fuel it and enough control to keep it from blowing up in their face. The challenge is that most electric-types are weaklings that don't have the discipline to pull it off."

"Anyways, she should be done with it before the end of the day. Electivire knows what he's doing." The electric-type specialist said proudly. "If she finishes early I'll get you started on some of my other techniques. I think Oz'll be able to handle them as long as Electivire or Raichu don't smack her down beforehand."

Ash nodded, interested. He could easily recall the harsh battle he'd had with Surge's true team during his second circuit of Kanto's gym leaders. It was one that certainly would have ended in his defeat had Surge not called it off as a draw. The man's personal techniques were absolutely devastating when used correctly.

Lightning Bolt was the most powerful of Surge's techniques but Ash could see that the others were just as useful. He'd long forgotten their names, but he distinctly remembered Raichu's shell of arcing electricity that was capable of leaving almost every attack from Tangrowth nothing but a blackened mess. Not to mention Jolteon's specialized anti-psychic tactics or Electivire's insanely powerful and complicated techniques.

"She's got damn good battle instincts too." Surge noted as Oz and Electivire, who seemed to have entered into a spar of some sort, traded blows. Electivire was obviously holding back but it was obviously having to exert some amount of effort. "Lance really did do his job well. It could have taken a year or more to get her to that level of experience otherwise."

Ash nodded and finally asked the most important question. "Is she ready to evolve?"

Surge scowled. "That's a hard question. I'd say she's about four or five years old at this point, considering that she was pretty high up in the pack when we fought her and that her fangs are mostly developed. Most trainer-raised Electabuzz evolve around six or seven, when they're fully mature for the Electabuzz stage."

He frowned at that. Ash didn't want to rush Oz's development but he didn't want her to lag behind the rest of the team either. She'd never catch up to Infernus if she had to wait a year or two until evolution.

"I said most, Runt." Surge smirked and eyed Oz speculatively. "She's a good bit stronger than the average Electabuzz. I'd say that she needs some more time to develop her power, but not a full year. Give her a few months and train her hard. The payoff'll be worth it."

"So let's make a deal." The giant continued. Ash listened raptly. "You work that Electabuzz to the bone, alright? If I gave you an Electrizer now she'd never reach her full potential. She'll be a monster on the battlefield eventually — you've just got to be patient."

"I'll evaluate her in six months — we can go a little more or a little less if you have a chance to drop by Vermillion." Surge grinned. "If she's up to snuff I'll get you an Electrizer and show you a few more of my personal techniques. You just saw the flashy stuff in our last battle. Anyways, deal?"

"Deal." Ash smiled and shook Surge's giant, calloused hand. It was easily twice the size of his own. He wasn't sure where he'd be in six months, but he'd find a way to return to Vermillion by that time. Interregional travel would be inconvenient but Surge's expertise and the prospect of Oz's evolution would be more than worth it.

"Good." Surge growled. "Let's get your education started, Runt. If you don't understand at least the basics of the physics behind electricity that Electabuzz is never going to amount to anything else than a living light show. If you're going to create or improve on techniques or use her to her full potential you'd better pay attention."

"Understood." He replied. Ash had a half-way decent understanding of electricity already from his research into the physiology and abilities of Electabuzz. Surge would just be giving him an even deeper explanation.

Surge's demeanor grew ever more serious as he shifted to a more comfortable position and began. "Alright, the first thing we need to cover is what electricity is. From there we'll move onto currents and how they work — that's most of what you'll be concerned with for battling. So keep focused. I don't want to have to explain it twice."

The giant sat still and thoughtful for a few moments before he continued. "The simplest way I can explain it is that electricity is the result of the presence and flow of an electrical charge. Not very detailed or entirely correct, but even someone like you should be able to understand that. Anyway…"

Ash listened intently to the man as Surge began to delve into more and more complex issues just simple enough for him to understand but difficult and numerous enough to let him know that he would have a slight headache later on.

XX

Ash's slight fatigue from several thirty minute sessions of Surge's teaching over the past three hours was washed away the moment Oz whirred furiously at Electivire, released the charge within her body, and fired an immensely powerful bolt of electricity that momentarily blinded him as it smashed into the larger electric-type.

"Yes!" He cheered for his friend, who sagged with exhaustion even as her eyes flashed with glee at her success. Ash and Surge had watched for nearly after his lesson as she struggled and failed to release Lightning Bolt. "Great job, Oz!"

"Like I said, Lightning Bolt's not too hard." Surge boomed. He still had a decidedly pleased expression on his tanned face, however. "I'd be disappointed if she hadn't gotten it by now. You need to keep honing that control, Runt. It's her greatest strength."

"I will." He promised as the grin finally slid off his face. Oz was absolutely exhausted. Although this was the first Lightning Bolt she'd managed to release, the process of learning to gather that power, releasing it, and controlling it to the point that it simply didn't explode was a draining process. "When you next see her even you'll be impressed."

Surge just snorted and flashed Ash another of his manic smiles. "I'll believe it when I see it, Runt. I'm thinking you'll have to prove it at our next meeting. I can't just let an unqualified trainer have access to an Electrizer, you know."

The giant frowned suddenly and glanced over at Oz. "You might as well take her and get out of here. She's wiped out and you're useless right now. Rest up and meet me here again tomorrow. I might as well get you started on some of my other techniques."

Ash nodded tiredly and accepted Surge's judgment. He thought he could probably go through another of Surge's lectures and still pay a reasonable amount of attention but it wouldn't be very enjoyable. Right now he had the dull, throbbing ache of someone who had been mentally focused for far too long.

With that in mind he went ahead and recalled Oz. She seemed grateful for the rest and Ash couldn't blame her. Every now and then Raichu and Electivire would engage her in a brief spar if she wasn't progressing fast enough on Lightning Bolt. The spars never ended in her favor, although she always engaged training with renewed fervor after the impromptu beatdowns.

Judging from the smug looks Raichu and Electivire shared that was their intention. Oz no doubt wanted nothing more than to blast the two of them with Lightning Bolts until she couldn't continue or they were lying on the ground in a smoking heap.

While Raichu and Electivire were strong and experienced enough to casually absorb or redirect the electricity so as to render it harmless, the heat and kinetic force carried by the attack were more than enough to leave the two in quite a bit of pain.

"Go on, get out of here." Surge waved him away. Ash finally left with Oz's pokeball in hand.

"Good job, Oz. Keep that up and you'll catch Infernus in no time." He murmured to the red-and-white orb as he placed it on his belt. It thrummed with a small pulse of energy before it left his hand.

Ash squeezed his eyes shut as he stepped out of the relatively unscathed training ground and into the massive League building used to house the practice areas for the competitors and official personnel. His headache had renewed itself with vigor. He definitely wouldn't be strategizing until later tonight.

That was fine with him, however. He'd planned on meeting with his mother and Professor Oak sometime today anyway. It had been a few days since he stopped by, given that he had obsessively prepared for Grey since he had realized that he'd be facing the Unovan in the Semifinals.

Perhaps Gary would be there. He seemed to have begun to reach out to his grandfather more often.

Ash smiled slightly at the thought.

XX

"So, what's your strategy?" Gary asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced across the small table stacked with food with crossed arms. "I might not have talked to you for a while, but I know better than to think you're going in blind. Even you aren't that stupid."

"I appreciate your faith in me." Ash smiled drily as he lightly bit off another piece of bread. He tossed the last bit of it to Sneasel, who greedily inhaled the food with the ravenousness only possessed by predators that had to fight for every scrap. The dark-type's attitude certainly didn't match with his reality. "But I think I'd like to keep it a surprise. I've not quite finished developing them yet."

Gary snorted. "You might wanna get on that, Ashy-boy. You've got what, two days left?"

"Yes." He sighed at the reminder. "And don't worry. I'm making good progress. He just has a lot of variety for me to account for."

"Bah!" Gary waved his statement away and set down his plate, although he had to pause and sneer at Sneasel to keep the dark-type from picking at his scraps. "You'll be fine. If you lose to some bum from Orre I'm not sure if my pride will allow me to speak to you again. So keep that in mind, will ya?"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Now you're just trying to give me motivation to lose. I didn't know you were that bitter over your loss."

He couldn't hold back a smirk as Gary sighed and admitted defeat. It seemed that he'd finally run out of witty comments.

"Now, now, Gary." The Professor finally spoke up reprovingly. "I thought I taught you better than to judge someone off of their birthplace."

"Meh." Gary said disinterestedly. "If he came from anywhere else I'd agree with you. But it's Orre. If he's a good guy it's because he got out of there early."

Oak frowned but didn't press the issue as Ash's mother walked into the room with some more drinks that she passed out to the other inhabitant and visitors to the Oak House.

Ash smiled at his mother as he took the drink. He'd already spent a good amount of time talking to her as they prepared everything for the meal but he'd definitely try and come back tomorrow.

"Are you worried at all?" She asked curiously as she took a seat. "I can't imagine how it must feel to get up in front of all those people."

He shrugged. Ash was looking forward to this battle. This was his last chance to show just what he'd become over the last year of training and hardship. He wouldn't lose — he couldn't.

"Not really. I've done the best I can. The better trainer will win. Whatever happens, happens. There's nothing else I can do to improve other than prepare." He said quietly.

"Don't be such an optimist." Gary flicked him on the shoulder and ignored Sneasel's protective hiss. Ash lightly scratched around the dark-type's feather to calm Sneasel to the point that he sheathed his claws. "But seriously, Ashy-boy. Don't sound so grim. I'm sure Johnny, Amelia, and all those other scrubs from Pallet Town are cheering you on."

"And you?" Ash raised an eyebrow.

Gary smirked. "I don't think you need to be cheered on."

"I'm touched." Ash smiled. He had to admit that he'd missed these conversations with Gary, even if they were quite different thanks to their newfound maturity and a slightly larger vocabulary. From the pleased looks on both his mother and Oak's faces they'd missed it — or, rather, what their quips represented — as much or more than he and Gary had.

There was a slight pause in the conversation, but the Professor started it back up as he set his own plate down. "So, Ash, I must say that I'm impressed with Magmortar. He's become rather formidable."

"Yes, he has." Ash agreed with a light grin. "He's instrumental in my strategies. Michael has a Dragonite and Salamence, not to mention a Snorlax. I think I can take his Jolteon and Arcanine alright, but those three will be tricky."

"Ya know," Gary chimed in, "tricky isn't really what comes to mind when most people think of those three pokemon – awful is more like it. But I suppose I can't blame you. You've never been too bright. Personally, I'm more interested in how some thug from Orre got his hands on those powerhouses. For some reason I don't see it happening through legal channels."

Ash almost responded given that he had a very good idea from that video he watched, but the old Professor reacted before he could say anything.

"I assure you that those pokemon are rightfully his." Oak sighed. He looked rather old at that moment. "And please don't speak of him that way. Honestly, you have no respect."

"Eh, are we talking Orre legal or civilized world legal?" Gary asked flippantly, ignoring the Professor's criticism. "'Cause those are two very different things."

"He's a good trainer." Ash defended. "I met him on my way to Viridian. Michael helped us out when we were chased by that aggressive flock of Spearow."

Gary just sighed and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Ya know, you really need to stay mute. I mean, a Spearow flock? Really? I'm just going to guess that the two scrubs screwed up somehow so that I don't lose all respect for you as a trainer."

Ash rolled his eyes at Gary's dramatics. "Don't pretend that you would have handled it any better than we did. It was our third day."

"But Spearow!" Gary grinned nastily. "Man, I'm gonna have to hold onto this one."

"Anyways," Oak interjected in an attempt to bring the conversation back on track, "you impressed quite a few people with your victory in the Semifinals. I can't claim to know anything about the Unovan trainer, but he was certainly formidable."

He just nodded and flashes of the difficult battle flitted through his head. Ash was just glad that none of his friends had been hurt like they had in the battle against Gary. Grey was much stronger than Gary but their battle lacked the brutality of his and Gary's match.

The lack of broken bones and stripped flesh was proof enough of that. On his side, anyway. Infernus had done far more damage to Grey's team than the Unovan had done to Ash's.

They lingered in comfortable silence again until Oak suddenly grinned and looked toward his mother. "Ah, I'd almost forgotten. I got that call you were waiting on."

His mother's face lit up and she smiled like she was still a girl. "Really?!"

Oak just kept up his pleased look. "Should I —"

"Not yet." His mother hurriedly cut him off. She sent a quick glance over to Ash, who frowned curiously at the two. "We'll be right back. Samuel and I have some things to discuss."

Ash just shrugged and nodded. It was clearly important. HIs mother would tell him what it was about eventually.

With that the adults left. Gary and Ash didn't say anything for a while, content in the room that was utterly silent except for Sneasel munching on some of the food Ash had given him.

"So I'm going to Johto for sure." Gary spoke up nonchalantly. "Got my plans ready last night."

"Is that right?" Ash smiled and turned toward his friend. "Have fun."

"Have fun?" Gary snorted. "Please. I'm gonna be bored if I don't find something interesting to do besides training. After getting my team ready this year the Silver Conference is gonna be a freakin' cakewalk. Now that I've had a real battle against you I have a milestone to surpass."

"I'm glad you hold me in such high regard." He said lightly and smirked as Gary rolled his eyes. "Have you decided what you'll do after the Silver Conference?"

Gary lazily waved his question away. "Meh. After I become the Silver Conference Champion I'll probably start studying. Gramps wants me to follow in his footsteps and I can't say it's a bad idea. Daisy's already certified and does some research when she's not doing those stupid Contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh. I can't be the only one in the family to be an uneducated moron, ya know."

Ash rolled his eyes at the relatively subtle insult. "Yes, that would be a shame."

"And what about you? Anything new come up?" Gary demanded.

"Just an offer to join the Elite Four as a trainee." Ash said casually and handed Sneasel yet another scrap of bread. "Nothing spectacular."

Gary stared at him agape. "What."

"I know you heard me." Ash smiled.

"No. Freaking. Way." Gary breathed and stared at Ash with something akin to awe. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I just did." He pointed out. Ash couldn't hold back another smile when Gary's eye twitched. "But, no. You're actually the first person I've told. I'm going to talk to my mom and your grandfather about it, but it's not something I want spread around."

Gary caught the hint and groaned before he glanced up at Ash with a nasty grin. "I don't know, I'm sure your fans would simply love to hear about that. I might even be able to get some good money for that little secret."

He knew that Gary was just teasing so he didn't bother dignifying that statement with a remark.

"You're going to take it, right?" Gary said seriously, playfulness thrown aside for once. "I mean, being in the Elite Four after one year would make you a legend, man. You've already got obsessed admirers proclaiming you as the next Lance. If they heard about this…"

"They won't." Ash said firmly. "Not until after I've made my decision."

"What decision?" Gary threw his arms up in the air exasperatedly. "You've got the chance to join the Elite Four before you're even twelve! If you don't take it then you're a dumbass. Lance is the youngest Champion ever and he didn't make it until he was sixteen. If you get to train with the Elite Four you might even be able to beat his record!"

Ash blinked, a bit surprised at just how vehement Gary was. He'd rarely seen his former rival so passionate about anything, let alone Ash's future.

Gary stopped and relaxed, having realized just how loud he'd been. He fell back into the cocky posture that came second nature to him and sent Ash an arrogant smirk.

"C'mon, man. You're my rival — or at least used to be. If you don't do something spectacular then it's gonna reflect pretty badly on me." Gary smirked. Ash just inwardly sighed. It seemed that Gary had decided to redirect the conversation to his favorite thing: himself.

"Our rivalry as trainers might be over, but I'm still going to surpass you one day. Maybe not in battle, but I'll find a way to leave a mark on this world bigger than anything you've ever dreamed of, Ashy-boy. I'm just trying to get you to take a head start." Gary flashed him another arrogant smirk. "You're gonna need it."

Ash smiled and nodded and didn't bother to say that the only reason Gary still had a world to mark was because of him.

The door suddenly opened and Oak and his mother walked in. Ash looked at his mother carefully. She looked like she was about to scream in joy — it had been a long time since he'd seen her like this. His mother was always cheerful, but he knew that didn't equate to happiness.

"So…" Gary trailed off. "Anyone gonna tell us what all that was about?"

"Not yet!" His mother chirped. "There are just a few more things to get ready before I can say anything!"

Ash raised an eyebrow, his curiosity raised even higher. He honestly couldn't think of anything that would make his mother act like this.

His former rival shrugged it off and laid back against the couch carelessly, not particularly interested in saying anything now that he'd spoken with Ash.

"Ah, yes. Gary, Daisy found what she was looking for in Mt. Coronet." Oak said happily. "She obtained an additional Feebas for you as well, if you want it."

"Seriously?" Gary's eyes lit up and his ever-present smirk slipped into a genuine smile. "Yeah, I'll take it. Maybe we can start breeding them or something. They're worth enough to go to the trouble."

Oak shook his head. "Neither Feebas nor Milotic breed well in captivity at the moment. Daisy said that she was going to try and get around that issue, but it will be a long time coming."

"Whatever." The younger Oak sighed. "Is she coming home now?"

The Professor shrugged. "I'm afraid she didn't mention that. Give her time."

Gary scowled and leaned back further against the couch. "I think she's had enough time."

Oak frowned reproachfully at Gary but didn't say anything. Ash just watched the conversation interestedly. Since his friendship with Gary had twisted into their rivalry he hadn't been privy to the Oak family's relations. He barely remembered Daisy — she'd left Pallet to travel several years ago and only been back for short amounts of time since.

He kept an ear on the conversation as he lightly picked up Sneasel and focused on scratching around his feather. Ash grimaced when he felt the slimy texture of Sneasel's thick black fur. It seemed that the dark-type had been grooming not too long ago.

Ash wiped his hand off on a napkin as he focused on keeping Sneasel happy and content. He'd rather not have to return his friend to his pokeball if he started becoming unruly.

He winced slightly when Sneasel contentedly unsheathed his claws and let them dig into the trainer's leg slightly. That was somewhat painful, although there wasn't enough force behind it to draw blood.

"How are Jonathan and Amelia doing?" His mother suddenly spoke up. Ash got the feeling it was to distract him from the conversation between the Professor and Gary.

Ash inwardly sighed. This might take a while. "Well…"

XX

Around an hour later he stood by the door of the Oak House with his mother. The Professor had pulled Gary up to his office to discuss something privately. He assumed it was something to do with the Oak family. It seemed like there was a lot going on between the three.

Ash needed to leave. He was tired and needed to be ready for tomorrow. Aside from the last bit of his training with Surge he would have to prepare further for Michael. He couldn't underestimate the older trainer or consider him as anything other than an incredible threat.

"I haven't gotten a chance to say it yet, but I'm so proud of you." His mother said quietly and embraced him in a warm hug. It wasn't one of her ordinary bone breakers either. It was just comfortable and he was able to return it without worrying about oxygen deprivation. "That won't change if you lose, just know that."

"…Thank you." He said gratefully, not really having expected it. His mother was always open with her praise, but it was different this time. He could practically feel the emotion in her voice. "Don't worry, though. I'm going to win."

"I know." His mother smiled tearfully. "Don't worry about me doubting you. I'd never do that — you've gotten so strong. When you came running into the house with that little Nidoran…well, I knew you would go far. But this —"

"I know." Ash mimicked when it seemed that his mother wasn't able to force the words out. "You don't have to say anything."

"I don't have to, but I want to." She said quietly before she stood up and pulled out of the hug. Her eyes were wet, just as they had been when he'd left Pallet Town for the first time. "I know I haven't always approved of some of the things you've gotten up to as a trainer, but I am so, so proud of you for doing them. You've grown up so fast."

Ash wasn't sure what to say, so he just nodded. It was hard for him to force any words out of his mind in situations like these. He didn't feel like there was anything to say.

"Just try not to grow up too much more. I don't know what I'll do when my boy doesn't need me anymore" His mother smiled and patted him on the cheek.

He nodded again, a lump in his throat. His mother didn't seem to need any sort of verbal response, however. She just pulled him into another quick hug.

"Go to your house and get a good night's rest." She told him after she let him go. "I know you still have another day before you'll battle, but…"

"I will." He replied and turned to leave. "Bye."

"I love you, Ashy!" She called out cheerfully, to which he replied in kind. "Oh, and don't forget to change your —"

He was gone.

XX

"Good luck, Ash!" Jonathan grinned at him as he and Amelia left to go get lunch right before the Final. "I like Michael, but kick his ass for me, will ya?"

Ash rolled his eyes but didn't bother holding back his smile at the two. "I'll be sure to do that. Thanks, you two."

"Bye, Ash." Amelia said quietly as she followed Jonathan to the door. "We're rooting for you!"

He just nodded again and looked at his own lunch silently. It was almost an hour old and he'd barely eaten any of it. Ash knew he needed to eat to keep his mind focused but his stomach was turning slightly as the realization of just what he was about to do hit him.

He, Ash Ketchum, rookie trainer from Pallet Town, was about to go and battle in the Indigo Conference Final.

It was surreal and left him with a heavy weight on him. He'd never really felt nervous before a Conference match but the feeling hit him full force right now.

Nidoking just grunted and laid his great head onto the couch cushion beside Ash to comfort him. Ash smiled as he carefully scratched around Nidoking's sensitive ears, deftly avoiding the poisonous spines as though it were second-nature.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" He asked his friend, who opened one narrow black eye in response as he snorted gently. Ash smiled as the warm air danced across his arm and pulled his hand away. "You want any more food?"

The poison-type shook his head and closed his eyes again, seemingly unaffected by any kind of stress. He was calm and serene — everything Ash wanted to be at this moment.

"Woah! What are you doing here?" He heard as the door opened. Ash slightly turned his head and saw a shock of dark red hair standing above Jonathan with a light grin. Apparently the figure said something, because Jonathan stammered out, "Oh, yeah. He's in there, on the couch. Well…see ya!"

With that Jonathan and Amelia practically scurried out as Michael stepped in and met Ash's questioning stare with a bright smile.

"Hey there, Ash!" The trainer from Orre said cheerfully. It looked like he was as affected by the coming battle as much as Nidoking.

"Hello, Michael." He said, a questioning look on his face. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

Michael plopped down in one of the chairs that was pulled up in front of the couch and shrugged. "I just figured I'd drop by, see how you were doing. All that stuff. It's been a while since we've met and I wanted to make sure you were handling things alright."

"I'm fine." Ash said tersely.

"Doesn't seem like it." Michael said and nodded at the uneaten plate of food. "You should probably eat that."

"I know."

"Look, I just want to talk." Michael smiled. "I don't know about you, but I was pretty surprised when I realized the kid I met a few days into the League was going to be my opponent in the Finals. Funny how these things happen, right?"

"Yes."

"I just wanted to tell you to not treat this as any other battle or you're going to get sick from worrying." Michael warned. "Just come at me with everything you've got and I'll return the favor. I don't care which of us wins or loses as long as this is a great battle."

Ash looked up, surprised at that. He'd thought Michael would be a bit more serious about this match.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'd love to win and I plan on doing so." Michael said when he correctly interpreted Ash's surprise. "But aside from a fancy title this is the same as any other match. Throw aside any concerns you have and put everything you have into it. You've come a long way. Getting locked up in fear and nervousness is no way to finish this journey."

"Thanks." Ash said finally, some of his worries assuaged. He could still feel the pit of nervousness nestled in his gut but Michael's words had calmed it a bit. "I hope you're ready."

"I am." His opponent smiled. "I've had a lot of pretty important battles in my career but the public hasn't seen too many of them. Let's make this one for the world to remember us by, alright?"

Ash nodded back, fiery determination crackling in his eyes. "Agreed."

He frowned and glanced to the pokeballs on Michael's belt. "When I was researching you I found a video of you in Orre. You were fighting some sort of criminal."

"Did you?" Michael stiffened. "And?"

"And you caught one of his pokemon." Ash said stonily. "How?"

"A nifty little gadget that will hopefully never see the light of day again." Michael sighed. "Look, it's a complicated story but I just want you to know that everything I did was legal in the eyes of Orre and the League — approved, even. It was something that had to be done and I was the only one in place to do it."

Ash hummed. He didn't look at Michael suspiciously or with anything resembling hostility. While Ash wasn't entirely sure about Michael's actions, especially since he hadn't explained the circumstances behind them, he knew that Lance wouldn't have let Michael into the Conference if he wasn't telling the truth.

"But I think I should let you know that the things I did led to my moniker of 'The Champion of Orre' and that I will come at you with everything that title implies." Michael grinned. "I might not even be an annoyance to someone like your Champion Lance, but I am pretty powerful in my own right."

"Don't get too cocky." Ash warned with a small smile. He'd faced a true Champion and, while Michael was correct in saying that he was very powerful, Ash saw nothing that he could not defeat. Lance was a force of nature in battle, overwhelmed only by manifestations of nature itself. Michael was just a trainer, albeit a strong one.

Michael grinned. "Hey, just make sure that my arrogance isn't deserved. I would love for you to beat me, but don't expect me to help you in that regard."

"Never." He snorted. "What kind of show would that be for the crowd?"

"Exactly." Michael agreed. His eyes flitted over to the living room clock. "We've got two hours before the battle starts. I actually do have something to take care of myself beforehand, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm looking forward to facing you. This'll be one for the books."

Ash inclined his head to the older trainer as Michael stood up and prepared to leave, casually throwing a pokeball up and down in his hand.

"Don't forget to eat!" The Champion of Orre called out before he left in a flash of red hair.

He just stared at the door as it slammed shut for a few moments before.

Once he'd finally yanked himself from his daze he looked at the food, ignored the queasiness in his stomach, and picked at the meal.

If Michael was right about one thing, it was that he needed his energy. Ash didn't want to go into the Final at anything less than his absolute best.

XX

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to welcome you to the Indigo Conference Final! Our favorite rookie, Green Trainer Ash Ketchum, will face the powerful Red Trainer Michael Braeden, who has proven his ability many times over in this Conference!"

Ash let a smile flit across his face as he heard the crowd erupt into cheers, many chanting his name or Michael's. It appeared that he had amassed quite a few followers throughout the Conference. More than he had expected, at any rate.

"The Red Trainer Michael Braeden will release first in this battle!" The announcer crowed. "Everyone, get ready for an amazing battle!"

Michael had all the focus truly great trainers possessed revealed on his face as he released Dragonite, which snarled and tensed on the ground as its great wings unfurled in a rush of wind. The dragon stared at Ash unflinchingly as he released Plume.

"It looks like this'll be a battle of speed, folks!" The announcer cried. "I don't even know if we'll be able to follow this matchup!"

That comment brought a smirk to Ash's face. With any luck he could bring this Dragonite down before the match truly began. Plume was fast enough to dance around the Dragonite that couldn't even compare to Lance's.

"Begin!"

The word had just left the referee's mouth when both Dragonite and Plume shot into the air as blurs. It was evident that both trainers had coached their teammates on this matchup.

Dragonite was somewhat easier to follow than Plume, who had yet to slip into Super Speed. It chased his friend as a massive golden blur, arcs of lightning splaying around it as the dragon ceaselessly attempted to entrap and crush the Pidgeot.

He was glad to see that Plume dodged every burst of lightning with contemptuous ease, the Pidgeot's brutal training against Lance's Dragonite trio paying off in spades. She'd encountered every trick a Dragonite could throw at her and knew how they flew better than most Dragonite did.

"Twister!" Michael barked. Dragonite, who was barely able to keep up with Plume as she led him on a chase through the sky, snarled and spat a huge vortex of swirling wind that engulfed a good portion of the direction he aimed in.

A second later Plume came around and smashed into it with a Steel Wing that sent the creature straight into the earth, although the dragon was barely stunned by the attack. It was enough for Plume to fire off several Air Slashes at it, although the Dragonite merely growled and summoned a sphere of glowing green energy to absorb the blades of air.

Ash frowned at the use of Protect. It appeared that Michael had managed to hammer in the use of defensive techniques.

Michael suddenly grinned as the blur he could perceive as Plume circled back for another attack. "Extreme Speed!"

His eyes widened in surprise at the use of the technique — so far as Lance had told him only Dragonite descended from the Wataru line could use the Extreme Speed technique — but adapted quickly.

"Super Speed!" He commanded, although Plume had already slipped into her most powerful technique by the time the words had left his mouth. She was faster than Dragonite in their base states, but Extreme Speed would easily give it the edge to catch her. Even Super Speed might not have been fast enough.

He scowled when Dragonite still managed to keep up, if only just. It couldn't actually catch Plume but it had her on the run and the absurd amount of electricity it was blasting everywhere would hit her eventually.

Plume had to do her assigned job quickly. Dragonite would get lucky eventually and Plume was the only one that could actually cripple it at those speeds.

"Razor Wing!" Ash called out as he struggled to keep up with the two blurs that were almost indistinguishable from one another aside from the eruptions of electricity that arced from Dragonite's horn.

"Hurricane!"

Ash clutched the bars of the trainer box as Dragonite flapped its massive wings and created a huge tornado of wind that carried dust and water in an endless vortex as it ripped through the air. The Hurricane was centered around Dragonite, the effects enough to hurl any lesser flying-type into the psychic barriers if they approached.

Fortunately, Plume wasn't subject to that weakness. Her speed carried her through the flurry of whipping winds with a minimum of trouble and her Steel Wing smashed into Dragonite with a loud cracking sound that echoed throughout the stadium as the dragon was hurled once more to the earth.

"Finish this!" Michael shouted as Dragonite wearily pulled itself up and barely managed to use Protect in time to block another flurry of Air Slashes that were stopped dead on the incredibly powerful barrier. Those that missed carved foot-deep gouges into the packed earth. "Dragon Dance-Extreme Speed!"

Ash frowned as Dragonite's body was suddenly suffused by the dark green glow of draconic energy. Dragon Dance was essentially focusing the power it could have ordinarily used for attacks like Dragon Pulse or Draco Meteor and pouring it into the body, strengthening it to a far greater extent than it could ordinarily withstand. It limited the dragon's ranged abilities in regards to the reliable Dragon Pulse or similar attacks but performed a similar function as Superpower in releasing the limits on the body, although it was much less stressful to maintain than Superpower thanks to the draconic energy that engulfed the body.

Normally Dragon Dance was a somewhat risky move for Dragonite and similar dragons. The tremendous physical power it granted was offset by an inability to use any but the weakest of dragon-type techniques. But on top of Extreme Speed it would stress Dragonite's body terribly. It couldn't maintain it for more than a minute or so.

Michael obviously expected this to be over quickly, so he had to hurry. If the Champion of Orre was that confident then it was something to be feared.

"Cripple it!" He said quietly. Judging by how the blur that was Plume instantly dived at the Dragonite she heard it.

Dragonite barely managed to push itself off the ground when Plume's talons slashed into the sensitive membrane of its wings and tore deep gouges into the thin flesh that heralded a scream of pain from Dragonite and the green glow of murder in its eyes as it struggled to stay aloft.

A small, steady stream of blood bled from Dragonite as it managed to launch itself forward, albeit at a slower pace than it would have normally. It was obviously in a great deal of pain and relied heavily on its other wing, which reduced its maneuverability greatly.

More blasts of electricity arced from Dragonite's horn but Plume was agile enough to deftly avoid all of them as she circled around for another attack. Dragonite roared furiously as she sped at it once more, wings outstretched and glowing with power that would slash into even the hide of a Dragonite with ease.

Ash's grin faded to a wince when it somehow managed to erect yet another barrier of green energy thanks to the increased reflexes granted to it by Dragon Dance. He had one moment of horror before Plume, who had been too close to pull away, slammed into the barrier with a sickening crunch.

He had a brief moment of pride as the Protect shattered with enough force left over to send Dragonite flying to the ground once more with its bleeding wing and bruised body.

That gleeful flash ended as Plume struggled to recover, only to be met with a precise Thunderbolt from Dragonite as she fell that left her in a helpless spiral to the earth. She couldn't maintain Super Speed in such a dazed state, the focus required for Agility and Tailwind shattered. Ash froze as he watched her land at an awkward angle that surely broke one of her wings.

Dragonite, who was still relatively unharmed thanks to its armored hide and legendary endurance, slowly pulled itself up and launched itself into the air until it was right above Plume. The dragon grimaced in pain as it landed heavily onto the downed Pidgeot and crushed her to the ground so that she couldn't use her remaining wing to blow it off. A current of electricity ran down its horn as it prepared to finish Plume.

Just as Ash fumbled with his pokeball to return the badly injured Pidgeot he was distracted by an enormous flash of light as Plume, in great pain but still conscious, opened her beak and managed to fire a Hyper Beam straight into Dragonite's other wing.

It roared in fury, a deafening sound even from behind the psychic barriers of the Indigo Stadium, and moved to gore her with its small, electrified horn in revenge for its singed wing. Plume was too inexperienced with Hyper Beam to do any real damage to something like Dragonite and was too blinded by pain to legitimately cripple it, but she had accomplished her final act of defiance and allowed her body to slacken in weakness.

Dragonite struck air as dozens of small, intense bolts of electricity erupted and fizzled uselessly into the ground. It snarled and stamped the ground petulantly, an act that left a slight indentation in the rent earth.

Ash scowled as he returned his friend, angry at the pain she had just suffered. He had to admit that Michael and Dragonite had outplayed him, though. He'd never considered that Protect could be used as a weapon of any sorts — the technique consumed an enormous amount of energy to erect a barrier that could absorb truly immense blasts of force and energy. It could only be maintained for a split-second at the most, but Michael seemed to have trained Dragonite well in its timing, although it never would have worked without the enhanced reflexes granted by the layered Extreme Speed and Dragon Dance.

Still, Plume had met her main objective. While she was undoubtedly superior to Dragonite in the air she couldn't match the sheer variety of elemental attacks and other techniques it could learn to give it an advantage. Not to mention even the weakest Dragonite could shrug off Hyper Beams from almost any pokemon. That would have been her main method of ranged attack against anything without the speed and maneuverability of a Dragonite.

He'd told her to cripple it and she had. It was the only way she'd be able to get a Dragonite out of a stalemate. Speed was a Dragonite's greatest defensive asset and removing that would give her an incredible advantage, although she hadn't been able to capitalize it before Michael somehow managed to weaponize Protect of all things.

Judging from the amount of blood it had lost in one wing and the subtle trauma Plume had inflicted on it the Dragonite could only fly at a fraction of its true speed, which cut it down to a manageable level for any of his other pokemon to take down at their leisure.

There was only one option of course, and the crowd seemed to like Torrent if their deafening roar was anything to go by.

Ash smiled as Torrent looked around with the regal air he had possessed since his evolution at the lake all those months ago. His scarlet eyes were utterly unimpressed as he took in the burned and bloodied Dragonite, who snarled at him with rage-filled eyes.

The Kingdra turned to look at Ash as if he couldn't believe his talents were being wasted on such an opponent. Ash supposed that after seeing Lance's legendary Dragonite in action this one paled in comparison.

For his part he simply shrugged. Torrent deigned to look at the Dragonite once more as the referee finally ordered the battle to begin.

"Thunder Wave!" Michael snapped, obviously wanting to get as much out of Dragonite as he could before it inevitably fell unconscious. It was already weak from its wounds. "Then Dragon Rush!"

Torrent casually shot a series of weak Dragon Pulses at Dragonite as the flyer took off, although it didn't actually strike the other dragon. It did absorb the Thunder Wave, however, and ruined Michael's initial distraction.

Dragonite took off at a speed faster than Ash would have expected given its torn wing, but it wasn't much of a problem. It was barely going fast enough to avoid the barrage of Ice Beams that Torrent fired off with his ordinary precision. The dragon was nowhere near secure enough in its speed to actually attack Torrent and soon it would have to slow down due to the pain and blood loss.

For now, however, that led to a very boring interplay between the two mighty dragons. Dragonite was constantly on the run, barely fast enough to avoid Torrent's relentless attacks as it slowed more and more, and definitely nowhere near able to fire off a few attacks itself.

But Ash was patient. He just had to wait a bit longer — and there. Dragonite had just been struck by an overpowered Ice Beam, which stunned it and left it reeling in the sky. Torrent was quick to take advantage of his foe's distraction and struck the Dragonite with a second Ice Beam, although the flyer managed to weave to the side so that it only clipped its bloodied wing.

Dragonite couldn't run anymore. It's time was coming to an end.

"Dragon Dance!" Michael shouted. It appeared that he'd come to the same realization as Ash. He was just going to make sure that Dragonite could at the least damage the formidable Kingdra. "Hit it with Draco Burst!"

The Dragonite was consumed in an aura of green power almost instantly as draconic energy flooded every cell. It snarled and launched forward with renewed vigor, flapping its torn wing despite the thin layer of frost that coated it and irritated the wounds left by Plume's razor talons.

"Ice Storm!" He ordered. Dragonite was going in for a sacrificial attack that would likely leave Torrent injured and exhausted at best and unconscious at worst. Torrent needed something that could alter the Dragonite's course and keep it at bay.

Torrent was instantly surrounded in raging winds that were soon cooled to below freezing temperatures and filled with innumerable shards of sharp ice as he spewed immense amounts of frost from his regal snout. As Ice Storm came to completion he was nothing more than a dim, dark figure amongst a raging pale blue storm that kicked up dirt as it swirled with winds strong enough to tear apart lesser pokemon.

Dragonite snarled as it shot straight into the Ice Storm and instantly suffered dozens of minor cuts and bruises as chunks and blades of ice slashed into its thick hide and shredded both of its wings this time. The winds were strong enough to send the powerful flyer hurtling through the air as it struggled to adjust its course

Ash grinned as Torrent's most powerful technique worked perfectly. Dragonite had been moving too fast to actually swerve away from the Ice Storm and had paid the price. It was a trap that Torrent commonly used against Lance's Dragonite, one that turned their own incredible speed against them as they darted through the air.

"Now!" Michael yelled to the Dragonite as it was trapped in the vortex, barely staying above the ground as it was hurled ceaselessly throughout the air.

Dragonite's body glowed a light, soft green the instant before it slammed into the ground that had been torn apart by Torrent's raging storm. Torrent just barely had time to levitate a bit farther away before the other dragon-type released an absolutely devastating amount of power on par with a Hyper Beam that sent Torrent flying away and broke the Ice Storm along with the Kingdra's focus, although the regal dragon easily recovered.

"Hyper Beam!" Michael shouted. Dragonite, who laid bloody and beaten in the frozen earth, struggled to raise its head and do one last service for its trainer. A sphere of molten gold materialized in front of its maw and —

A single Dragon Pulse to the head cut Dragonite's attack short. The barely formed Hyper Beam exploded as well, although the release of power barely singed its tough hide.

Ash smiled at Torrent as Michael recalled Dragonite. He'd finished that cleanly and efficiently. It also seemed that he was well aware of how dangerous Michael was. Torrent had already begun to move closer to the large pool of water in the corner, where his powers would be at their strongest.

Michael was silent as he released Jolteon. The electric-type eyed Torrent speculatively and bared its fangs as its golden coat of fur surged with lightning and stood on end. Electricity danced away from its body and onto the packed earth around it as the Jolteon prepared to go to battle, its muscles ready to launch into action at any moment.

He frowned. Jolteon was sure to be one of his strongest given just how long he'd been training the electric-type. Normally he wouldn't doubt Torrent's ability to cleanly shut down a Jolteon, but he felt that he had a right to be wary if Michael trusted the electric-type to face the mighty dragon.

In the moments before the referee called for action Ash analyzed Jolteon and what Torrent could do to fight it.

Ice Storm would be ineffective. He doubted Jolteon would get anywhere near Torrent, let alone within Ice Storm's limited radius. Torrent could easily expand the technique, but it would be weaker and consume more energy as a result. Besides, Jolteon could easily maneuver out of the Ice Storm's way.

None of Torrent's other techniques would be effective at long range either. Precision attacks would be useless against something as quick and agile as a Jolteon, so Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, and Dragon Pulse were out of the question. Blizzard wouldn't hit at that range — Jolteon could dash out of its radius.

Draco Meteor was a possibility if Torrent was able to use it to trap Jolteon into a small area, but a trick like that working against such an experienced opponent was unlikely, to say the least. Jolteon was probably fast enough to escape, regardless.

Smokescreen would normally be useful to obscure a long-distance fighter's view, but he had no doubt that Jolteon would be able to get around it with Shock Wave or dash around to attack from another angle while the smoke dispersed. Not to mention that it would obscure Torrent's sight as well, which would cripple his attempts to attack Jolteon and give the electric-type time to prepare.

Lastly, the choice of Jolteon meant that Torrent couldn't retreat into the water. While electric attacks didn't do too much damage to Torrent thanks to his thick plates of armor, going into the water would just make him a sitting target. Jolteon wouldn't even have to aim to attack him.

He grit his teeth. This was a terrible matchup for Torrent. The Kingdra's weakness to fast, agile opponents was something he'd have to correct in the future. It wasn't a problem usually, but in the Conference there were enough high-level foes to make it a major inconvenience.

Torrent had gotten much better at tracking and anticipating fast foes but there was a limit to what he could do. Even Dragonite had to be slowed down before he could reliably hit them. While not quite as fast, the smaller target Jolteon gave was just as difficult to hit.

This would not be fun.

"Begin!"

"Shut it in." Ash ordered to Torrent, who had ceased moving toward the water once he saw Jolteon. The Kingdra rumbled and instantly fired a quick barrage of Ice Beams that were meant to box Jolteon in so that he could attempt to strike it with a Dragon Pulse or similarly quick attack.

Jolteon didn't bother letting such a thing happen. The creature was impossibly fast as it shot away in a golden blur, its position only given away by the bright lightning that shot out from its body with every step. It looked like a shooting star as it playfully dashed past another series of attacks from Torrent.

"Finish this quickly. That Kingdra is too dangerous to toy with." Michael called out sternly. Jolteon seemed to take its trainer's words to heart and instantly shot several bolts of electricity at Torrent to test the dragon. When Torrent barely recoiled from the blasts Jolteon immediately retreated slightly and slowed as it stared at the Kingdra speculatively.

Its ears flattened to its skull as it easily leapt away from yet another Dragon Pulse from Torrent, far too experienced to let the resulting explosion shatter its focus. Jolteon's fur seemed to surge with electricity yet again and it blurred into motion for a second time, even faster now.

Ash watched it warily as it dashed around like a landlocked comet. He couldn't think of a way to actually hit it. Jolteon was even faster than he'd feared — the electric-type put Jessica's incredibly quick Persian to shame. It was barely visible at this point as anything other than the arcs of electricity that flared behind it.

Still, his eyes were used to following impossibly fast pokemon. He had trouble tracking Jolteon but he did see the small arcs of electricity that suddenly jumped off of its crackling fur and slammed into Torrent's armor where they unleashed the electricity held within.

He frowned when he saw that it wasn't electricity at all, but small locks of Jolteon's fur that had been shot off like needles. They weren't sharp enough to actually penetrate Torrent's defense but they could be a dangerous weapon against some of his other friends. It was something to keep in mind.

"Thunder-5!" Michael commanded once it was evident that Jolteon's electric needles bore no effect against Torrent. "Finish it."

Ash frowned and didn't need to tell Torrent to fire an overpowered Dragon Pulse in response when Jolteon's body absolutely exploded with harnessed electricity that instantly leapt at Torrent's stationary body in the form of a jagged bolt of lightning.

He actually had to cover his eyes for a moment as the grossly overpowered Thunder carved through Torrent's Dragon Pulse as though it weren't even there and slammed into Torrent and consumed his friend in a supernova of light and heat.

By the time his eyes had recovered Torrent was defenseless. His proud scarlet eyes struggled to remain open and his body lurched in midair as the levitation imparted by his draconic abilities began to fail.

Jolteon didn't draw closer, however. It stayed far back and fired off another blast of electricity, although it was far smaller than the last. Torrent barely had time to fire off a Draco Meteor in response and his body fell to the earth as the last of his strength left him.

He scowled when Jolteon blurred out of the way, although it was slower than before as the spheres of golden draconic power, bereft of any kind of aim thanks to Torrent's unconsciousness, aimlessly collapsed to the earth and left small craters in their wake.

That was unexpected. He'd known that Jolteon was powerful but he'd sorely underestimated it. He'd expected Torrent to struggle against Jolteon, but he hadn't thought his friend could possibly be brought so low by a single attack. It was mindboggling.

Ash returned Torrent quickly and thanked his friend as he stared at Jolteon, who had come to a stop and was currently happily staring up at the hundreds of thousands of spectators. The electric-type was truly powerful, certainly stronger than Surge's Electivire and much faster. That overpowered Thunder it had used was a good bit more dangerous than Oz's Lightning Bolt. He inwardly shuddered at the thought of the canine gaining the ability to use Surge's ultimate technique.

Fortunately enough he had the perfect counter for Jolteon. It would probably take him two or three of his friends to defeat it otherwise, but Infernus shouldn't have too much trouble considering that Air Lens rendered him practically immune to Jolteon's attacks.

Nidoking would be just as effective at negating Jolteon's electrical attacks and his ground-type abilities would certainly come in handy, but he wanted to save Nidoking's versatility for later. Not to mention Infernus' ability to teleport would let him put Jolteon on the run if he could slow the electric-type down.

Michael seemed to realize this as well considering the frown on his face when Infernus appeared on the battlefield. It seemed that he knew of Air Lens, although Ash doubted that he was aware of Infernus' knowledge of the technique.

Infernus grinned savagely and stamped one of his feet heavily into the earth as he regarded Jolteon. Flames billowed around him like a cloak as he steadily fed them his seemingly limitless power. The Magmortar looked invincible in that moment, ready to do what he loved best.

The audience became silent as they looked at Infernus. Ash was sure that they remembered his friend's raw power and brutality rather well considering that he had very nearly killed one of his opponents.

"Thunderbolt." Michael frowned, eyes rapt as Jolteon launched the arcs of electricity that fizzled uselessly as Infernus gleefully raised a cannon slightly and neutralized the Thunderbolt without any sort of noticeable strain.

Michael blanched as the realization that Infernus actually possessed Air Lens dawned on him. He frowned slightly. "Thunder-5."

Infernus' mouth twisted into a smirk as Jolteon's body exploded with electricity once more, although his eyes actually widened in surprise as the jagged bolts of lightning actually managed to make their way through Air Lens even if it barely held enough power to annoy Infernus at that point.

Ash smiled at that. He was honestly impressed with Jolteon's power and satisfied at the fact that the electric-type's immense strength was useless against his friend.

He mentally thanked Blaine before he began to give his own orders.

"It's too fast for teleport." Ash instructed. Infernus snorted at that, obviously unwilling to believe that anything could escape one of his favorite abilities. "Earthquake, high power. You need to slow it down first."

Infernus snorted but prepared himself. The flames that raged around him heightened in intensity, burning with traces of blue in the red and orange. One of his cannons shifted into a clawed hand and electric sparked across the sharp blades out of habit.

Jolteon just flared with electricity once again, ready and willing to fight an impossible battle.

"Begin!"

The electric-type instantly flickered away from Infernus. It did so just in time to avoid the wave of force that rippled throughout the ground and tore vicious fissures into the earth that left Infernus in the center of ravaged land.

Infernus sneered and teleported in front of Jolteon as the electric-type raced throughout the battle field, firing off little needles of its fur in Infernus' general direction in an attempt to strike the Magmortar while he was still stationary.

Jolteon growled and barely jumped out of the way as Infernus liberally bathed the battlefield in flame, although it couldn't move quickly enough to avoid an Earthquake that ripped the earth out from under it and sent Jolteon sprawling.

Before it could recover and dash away in a bolt of electricity, Infernus snarled and teleported right on top of it to pin Jolteon to the ground with his shackled foot. Jolteon squirmed and writhed as Infernus' heat seared past its fur, but it wasn't nearly enough to get away from the Magmortar.

Infernus' mouth was curled up into another savage smirk as he placed his cannon right above Jolteon. Just as it glowed with light and prepared to blast Jolteon with flames the electric-type vanished in a flash of scarlet.

Michael bit his lip as he pulled another pokeball off of his belt and raised it high. Ash scowled when Salamence erupted out of the sphere and appeared on an unscathed part of the battlefield.

This was the first time he'd ever seen one in person and also the first time he could truly understand why Lance wanted a Salamence so badly. It was everything a Dragon Master could want in a pokemon.

Salamence was raw power embodied. Its huge body was around fifteen feet from head to tail and its blood-red wings stretched out that same length in either direction. The beast's claws were five inches long and gouged deeply into the earth without any real effort, ready to rip and tear into its opponent's flesh. The dragon's fangs were nearly four inches long and two inches thickaround , sharp and durable enough to tear into the dense muscle of a Tauros without difficulty.

It was the apex predator of the Hoenn region, the ruler of the skies for untold millennia. It was the scourge of humanity, worshipped and feared for the raw destruction in left in its wake as it killed and burned for sport.

Every bit of its intelligence and cunning was reflected in its sharp black eyes that took in everything around it with the single-minded focus that only a true predator possessed. It met Infernus' gleeful expression with the same dignity as Torrent. Salamence's pride was that possessed only amongst dragons, the masters of sky and sea.

Both flared with power as they gazed upon their formidable foe. Infernus cloaked himself in blue flames and allowed his power to flow unchecked, the heat intense enough to sear the rocky hide of a Golem. Salamence flared its bloody wings and snarled, eyes locked onto Infernus' fiery form without fear.

"Begin!"

"Earth Burn!" Ash snapped, just a slight note of hesitance audible in his voice as he commanded Infernus to use his most destructive technique. Earth Burn was legal only when it posed no risk of actually killing the pokemon. Only other Magmar and Magmortar, Onix, and Steelix could survive the attack on the ground without suffering horrific injuries, but Salamence's ability to fly meant that it was permissable.

The world watched with bated breath as Infernus leered at Salamence, who instantly took off to the skies. Infernus didn't care and leapt several feet into the air before he landed and released the truly astounding amount of energy he'd amassed into the earth, which carved vast fissures and winding cracks throughout the entire battlefield. Stone spires toppled and the pool of water trembled as his power wrecked its way through the scorched wasteland, but that was only a small signal of the devastation to come.

Infernus' cloak of flames flared to twice its usual height, dissuading any attacks from Salamence as the powerful dragon watched warily. It couldn't get close with his fires raging as they were and most elemental attacks would be drastically weakened by the time they pierced the cloak. Hyper Beam would be too dangerous at this point to Salamence.

Ash could barely make out a wild grin on the Magmortar's face as his body burned with the power he harnessed, the heat intense enough to warp the air around him to the point that only a dim shadow could be seen within his flames.

Infernus roared with delight as he stamped his foot once more and allowed the power he had conjured to enact itself on the world.

For a moment there was nothing but thick, billowing smoke that leaked from the crevasses. The world was still as the crowd looked on with interest and, in some cases, worry.

Then the world burned.

Magma leapt out of the fissures in massive plumes that left the air filled with nothing but ash and heat, pooling and rushing to fill every available surface. Huge amounts slid sluggishly into the pool, which filled the sky with boiling steam that blinded Salamence and forced the dragon to greater and greater heights to avoid the extreme heat. The center of the battlefield was covered in a thin layer of the magma in no time, glowing brightly as the molten stone smoldered and oozed.

The psychic barriers around the battlefield flashed brightly, the amount of power they consumed having increased exponentially as terrible heat rushed to disperse out into the crowd. Droplets of magma landed heavily and did their best to burn through, but they were eventually repelled and seared uselessly at the outermost edges of the arena.

For his part, Ash had a manic grin as he saw the raw destructive power Infernus wielded so casually. As powerful as Infernus had been back when he'd first used the technique in the shadow of Mt. Ember it paled against his terrible strength now. Evolution had elevated him past even what the presence of Moltres could accomplish.

Infernus sagged for just a moment until he regained his strength. The Magmortar bore a fierce mockery of a grin as he stared up at Salamence, whose black shadow was just barely visible through the billowing clouds of steam and smoke.

Salamence was utterly unharmed by Earth Burn despite the incredibly destructive power behind the attack. But that was fine. Infernus had done what he wanted. Salamence couldn't hope to land on such dangerous terrain and Infernus now had complete control of the battlefield.

Michael had a frustrated look on his face as he took in the raw destruction Infernus had wreaked. The older trainer sighed before he began to call commands up to Salamence, although they were impossible for Ash to make out over the hissing of the magma.

He scowled when he saw a massive sphere of molten gold form in Salamence's toothy maw as the dragon flapped its wings to blow away the roiling smoke and steam, which opened the battlefield to its gaze once more.

"Haze!" Ash snapped as the Hyper Beam was released. The blast carved several feet into the magma-covered ground before it stopped. It hadn't even come close to Infernus thanks to his camouflage and the distorted air, but the power behind it proved that Salamence was just as powerful as Ash had expected.

"Hydro Pump!" Michael ordered just as Infernus blasted flames everywhere from both of his cannons and his mouth, covering the battlefield in fires that refused to die. He vanished into the flames effortlessly and didn't even bother to teleport in order to evade the Hydro Pump that only managed to temporarily douse a small portion of the fires before Infernus effortlessly restored them.

Ash sighed as he realized that the battle had just reached a stalemate. Salamence fired off attack after attack — Hydro Pumps that extinguished flames for a few seconds, massive streams of blue draconic fires that blended with Infernus' mundane flames until they vanished into nothingness, and a Twister that did nothing but fan the flames — but none of them managed to scratch Infernus thanks to his natural camouflage and the fact that he could easily teleport out of the way since Salamence was so high in the air.

Infernus faced the same problem with Salamence. It was too fast for his massive blasts of flame to strike thanks to the distance between them and even if he did hit it they wouldn't be enough to burn past its hide. Salamence's skin was about as thick as a Dragonite's, although thinner in a number of places to accommodate Salamence's different body structure. Its bony underside was practically immune to damage.

This called for a desperate measure.

As Salamence flew slightly lower than usual to fire a less concentrated Hydro Pump that would cover most of the battlefield, he saw his chance.

"Teleport!"

Salamence roared in surprise and pain as Infernus, having gotten the gist of Ash's command, teleported right in front of Salamence as it shot above him at a hundred feet high and smashed his burning claws into its neck. Thin dribbles of blood bubbled from the shallow slashes on Salamence's blue neck, but the real value of the attack was in the surprise and slowed flight as it struggled to comprehend the Magmortar that had just teleported into its high domain.

Infernus grinned and teleported once more as he fell to the inferno beneath him and instantly appeared in front of Salamence again. The dragon was ready for it this time and swerved out of the way as it spat a Dragon Breath at Infernus, but the Magmortar teleported again before the blue-green flames could touch him, this time appearing just above Salamence.

The dragon roared in fury and disbelief as Infernus' weight settled onto the massive creature's back, the heat powerful enough to sear through Salamence's hide.

Ash had a grin of pure amazement on his face as Infernus raised his claws and stabbed them into Salamence's side, which elicited a pained roar and a second burst of draconic fire from its maw as Infernus hooked into its side and delivered hundreds of volts into its body thanks to the current that continuously ran down his claws.

Even the normally vocal audience was silent as they watched Infernus ride Salamence as the massive dragon bucked frantically in an attempt to throw the Magmortar off. Salamence tried to throw its head back and snap at Infernus with its powerful jaws, but that just got it a face full of fire from one of Infernus' cannons as he channeled a steady stream of electricity into the dragon's resilient body.

Michael shouted constantly but Ash couldn't make any of it out. He just watched Infernus brutalize Salamence, although the creature's natural toughness and instinctual pride enabled it to hold on far longer than any other opponent could. It was constantly snapping and snarling and doing its best to hurl the Magmortar off through any means necessary, even blasting its own body with dragon fire to let it fly freely.

Infernus just grinned and looked like he was having the best time of his life as he barely managed to hang on with his claws that had hooked into Salamence's thick hide and liberally bathed the dragon's body with blue fire from his free cannon. Even his flames barely managed to hurt Salamence, but they were more of a distraction than anything as he pumped the proud dragon full of electricity.

It finally ended when Infernus was nearly thrown off into the empty embrace of the sky, although he just barely managed to hang on by shifting his other cannon into a second set of claws and digging into Salamence's other, relatively unharmed side. With a second source of electricity Salamence twitched and spun frantically, but nothing could be done.

The Magmortar finally showed a bit of discomfort as Salamence performed aerial acrobatics that would leave Plume in awe simply opened his mouth and a sphere of molten gold energy slowly formed.

He smiled when Infernus fired the Hyper Beam directly into the back of Salamence's head, disorienting it and finally dazing the creature enough to get it to stop flying.

Unfortunately, Salamence was still conscious enough to fly toward the ground as fast as it could in the hopes of injuring Infernus in the process. The increased spin and the sudden corkscrews that Salamence pulled finally managed to throw Infernus off of his mount. His claws ripped out of Salamence's flesh with a small splash of blood and torn skin along with an agonized roar from his victim.

Before Infernus could teleport, Salamence formed a Dragon Pulse in its maw and managed to fire it directly into the Magmortar as they spun towards the earth. Infernus was sent flying backward, although he just barely managed to teleport to the earth in a way that minimized the force of impact. It left him bruised and in worse condition than any of his other battles since his evolution, but he was still conscious and more than ready to finish the fight.

Infernus roared when he stood up amidst the cooling magma. It had lost most of its heat from the constant blasts of water Salamence had shot at it and was barely hot enough to hurt most pokemon, but Infernus picked up some of it and slathered it over the wounds he'd taken from his fall.

The magma quickly returned to a more viscous state thanks to the fires that once again consumed his body and melted into his flesh, the superheated stone already incorporated in order to heal the cuts and bruises.

It wouldn't heal the damage incurred from the Dragon Pulse by the time this battle would be over, but at the very least the magma would heal the minor injuries that distracted him.

With his wounds tended to, Infernus glared over at Salamence. The dragon had landed awkwardly on its side and was just beginning to rise. It had managed to tuck its wings in before it impacted the hardening magma so it hadn't suffered a broken wing.

That said, Salamence was quite nearly finished. Its sides bled steadily and the rest of its hide was obviously burnt, although not to a dangerous extent. It twitched almost imperceptibly as a result of the electricity that had wracked its nerves and small spasms ran down its body every few seconds.

The dragon roared furiously at Infernus as it locked eyes with him, but it lacked the deafening quality it had possessed earlier in the fight. Now it was much weaker, almost dull.

Infernus just smirked and teleported once more. He appeared by Salamence's side in an explosion of flame as he smashed his claws into the creature's thick hide and blasted it constantly with his blue fire.

Salamence was ready this time. It lunged at Infernus immediately and ignored the flames that bathed its face. Infernus roared in pain and let his cloak of fire grow in intensity as Salamence's fearsome jaws closed around his midsection and blasted him with its Dragon Breath.

He struggled for a few moments and frantically beat Salamence's head with his frenzied cannon and claws, but suddenly teleported to Salamence's other side. The powerful dragon instantly detected his presence and lashed at him for a second time, but a quick Hyper Beam from one of Infernus' cannons cut it off.

Infernus sneered at Salamence as the first foe to have truly harmed him in the Conference collapsed to the ground. He allowed his cloak to dampen to almost nothing as he stalked over to Ash's box, a dangerous grin on his face that perfectly matched that of his trainer.

"Fantastic!" Ash congratulated him, although he kept one eye on Michael as the Champion of Orre recalled Salamence and considered Infernus with a frown. He glanced over his friend as well. Infernus hadn't emerged from that battle unscathed, despite his exemplary performance.

Aside from the obvious injuries from Salamence's Dragon Pulse his side oozed a steady stream of blood from the dragon's wickedly sharp fangs and he probably had some damaged bones from the force behind the bite. It didn't seem to affect him too much but in real combat he'd suffer from it.

He also noted that Infernus was almost tired, something he'd only seen a few times from the Magmortar. It seemed that teleporting so frequently had taken a lot out of him. While he'd practiced constantly with the psychic technique, it was still draining for him to perform.

But he had faith that his friend could take down at least one more of Michael's team. He'd fought through much worse injuries than these before.

That opinion died when Michael released the titanic Snorlax he'd noted previously onto one of the sections of cooled magma. The huge creature yawned and slowly pulled itself to its feet before it patted its massive belly hungrily. Even that small effort on Snorlax's part made the earth around it tremble slightly.

He'd never actually fought a Snorlax. They were fantastically rare, as elusive as the scarce dragons. But he, like all trainers in Indigo and Sinnoh, knew to fear them.

Snorlax were lazy, bad-tempered when hungry or tired, and the personification of gluttony. They could be gentle and friendly, but their moods were unpredictable and if they decided that something looked tasty they would do their best to sample it.

Their personality flaws meant that they were dangerous in the wild if not perfectly content, but they also made them into some of the most fearsome opponents one could face outside of the most powerful of dragons.

They were juggernauts. Snorlax hit hard, barely felt anything but the most powerful of attacks, and could move at speeds such huge creatures had no right to reach.

If they got up close the battle was finished.

If they were sent into a rampage the battle had already ended.

Snorlax were feared for a reason, and he felt that one trained by a trainer of Michael's caliber would exemplify that.

He grit his teeth. Even Infernus' heat would take several minutes of constant exposure before Snorlax would actually be injured thanks to its huge fat reserves that blocked heat, cold, and every other sort of attack imaginable. Flamethrowers would just wash off and Infernus' electrified claws might tickle Snorlax.

It wasn't often that he faced a foe Infernus couldn't defeat with a bare minimum effort, but it seemed that Michael had risen to that challenge. With Infernus drained as he was the battle would be a hard one.

"Begin!"

"Earthquake!" Michael shouted. Snorlax pondered the command for a moment before its chubby face pulled up into a smile and it stamped one of its feet.

Infernus growled as he teleported just a few inches above the ground he was standing on as the immense force released by Snorlax tore through the new layer of cooled magma and sent the remaining fissures crumbling.

The strain was evident, although Infernus did his best not to show it by firing massive blasts of flame from his cannons. Snorlax frowned when the fires bathed him and smacked at them angrily as if that would extinguish the flames.

"Your flames won't hurt it." Ash said calmly to Infernus. "You're going to need to do something drastic — you know what. No holding back."

Infernus nodded and teleported just as Snorlax finally decided to fire a Hyper Beam at him. The blast of energy shot right through the spot Infernus had been moments ago and carved a long fissure across the battlefield that caused the crevasses from Earth Burn to collapse in on themselves and create a trench near Ash's box.

Snorlax frowned again and had just a second to look around confusedly before it felt a heavy weight drop onto its shoulders. The massive normal-type shrugged at the uncomfortable heat, but actually growled and twisted to try and throw Infernus off when he began to slowly increase the intensity of his own body temperature.

"Now!" He ordered at the same time Michael yelled, "Rollout!"

Infernus used his powerful legs to jump off of Snorlax's back, which was mostly untouched from his fiery body. But that soon changed when he raised both of his cannons and opened his manically grinning mouth as wide as he could.

Time seemed to slow as three massive spheres of bright orange-gold energy formed, two in the core of both of his cannons and one in front of his mouth. There was a flash as the Hyper Beams that held all of Infernus' remaining strength fired and shot directly into the back of Snorlax's fat neck with enough force to send the behemoth to the ground.

Infernus crumpled to the ground an instant later, exhausted from his triple Hyper Beam that had only compounded the fatigue incurred during his earlier battle against Salamence. Snorlax roared in fury as the back of its neck exploded and its eyes finally opened from the pain and rage it felt.

By the time Infernus had pulled himself to his feet Snorlax was on him. The furious creature charged at the Magmortar and slammed into him, the force behind the blow enough to send Infernus sprawling nearly twenty feet away. He exhibited the incredible stamina and endurance he was known for, however, and pulled himself up once again only to be hit by another absurdly powerful blow.

This time he didn't get up. Ash quickly recalled his friend before Snorlax could try to attack him again. The rampaging creature wasn't exactly in control of itself.

He frowned at the Snorlax. It had been ages since Infernus had been so soundly beaten. He'd just defeated a Salamence in single combat, to be fair, but Ash had gotten so used to Infernus' incredible combat ability that it was actually disturbing to see his friend smacked around as though he were just a helpless Magby.

"Thank you." He said to Infernus' pokeball. The Feather soldered to his chest sent a pulse of heat through his blood that wiped away the slight distraction. Ash had to focus if he wanted to win this. He owed that to Infernus and the rest of his family.

Snorlax's eyes closed to slits once more as the lazy creature sat down. It was still around eight feet tall in a sitting position, although that wasn't comparable to its height of around seventeen feet when it stood up. The creature's bulk still left it a very intimidating figure, however.

He grit his teeth. There was no way to cleanly defeat a Snorlax. It would require sweat and blood. The giant normal-type was just too powerful to take down easily via conventional means. Throwing attacks at it would be useless — it was clear that Infernus' triple Hyper Beams had hurt the Snorlax, but he didn't know how much.

Ash had to weaken it. While Snorlax were so massive that only the most potent of toxins could affect them even in large doses, it was the one way that he could try to wear it down. Flames barely singed the creature and he didn't trust Nidoking's Ice Beam to do anything other than slow it down for a few seconds.

Nidoking was the only choice. His horn was long enough to penetrate into Snorlax's thick layer of fat and his venom was strong enough to badly hurt the normal-type. Normally Snorlax's huge body, massive amount of fat, and hardy constitution were enough to weather any amount of toxins but Nidoking's venom was different.

While Nidoking were generally not as dangerous with their venom as a Nidoran since they had the experience to control the amount of toxins they injected into their foe their venom was no less potent.

It would probably take all of Nidoking's venom — enough to kill most pokemon many, many times over — to have a serious effect on Snorlax in anything less than an hour, but it was his only shot. At the very least he could try and damage it in some other way or trap it in one of the gaping trenches.

Nidoking grunted softly as he appeared on the battlefield. He lowered his horn fiercely when he saw Snorlax and tapped his huge foot lightly against the ground. The earth around him melded together and solidified somewhat, although there were still noticeable cracks in it.

"Get close and get as much poison into it as you can. Approach from the ground but be careful; it can use Earthquake." He said shortly. Nidoking nodded and rumbled determinately as he prepared for battle.

"Begin!"

"Stay at range and hit it with Hyper Beam." Michael shouted to Snorlax. The behemoth frowned and nodded. Its gaping mouth opened wide before a Hyper Beam shot out, the vibrant energy enough to hurt Ash's eyes as it shot at Nidoking.

Nidoking just stamped his foot to the ground, twisted it, and fell into the chasm he'd created. Ash couldn't see him anymore but he knew what his friend was doing. He was controlling the earth and moving it out of the way as he made his way to Snorlax, who looked dumbly at the spot Nidoking had vacated and scratched its head.

"Earthquake!" Michael ordered. "It's underground so keep them up!"

Ash winced as Snorlax nodded and stamped its huge foot into the ground. Force raged out from it and tore apart earth and sent entire sections of the arena crumbling to the ground — everywhere but a single portion of the battlefield had been affected.

Snorlax frowned and squeezed its eyes shut as it jumped up and down, sending a stronger wave of force outward as it infused its power into the earth.

This time Ash caught how Nidoking protected himself. An imperceptible wave surged throughout the ground around the area he had tunneled into, which rushed into Snorlax's Earthquake and neutralized it by Snorlax's feet, which tore the earth underneath the massive normal-type asunder and caused that entire section of the battlefield to collapse in on itself.

Even if he could have seen into the chasm created by the meeting of the two Earthquakes it would have been useless as dust exploded upward and swirled around the arena in the form of a billowing cloud that dimmed the humans' vision.

He frowned and adjusted his hat as he waited for the battle to commence. Snorlax would only be stunned for a few seconds at best from that fall. Ash hoped that Nidoking would be able to make those brief moments of confusion count.

Ash got his answer moments later when he heard a terrible, rage-filled howl reverberate throughout air. Several seconds later Nidoking was hurled out of the fifteen-foot deep chasm and sailed through the air until he landed with a heavy thud several feet away from the edge, although he was able to get up relatively quickly thanks to his shock-absorbing hide.

That wouldn't be enough to save him, however, as Snorlax scrambled out of the chasm with open, bloodshot eyes. Its huge teeth were exposed as it roared again and smashed its claws into the spot Nidoking had just charged away from and got a quick Thunderbolt to the face for its troubles.

His perceptive eyes quickly caught the source of Snorlax's rage: a thick hole right under the center of its stomach. It oozed a small trickle of scarlet blood, but it seemed that Snorlax hadn't been too badly affected by the wound. Blood loss wasn't a way to take it down, regardless.

No, what mattered was that Nidoking had managed to draw blood. It meant that his horn had penetrated past the layer of fat into the massive muscles and thick tissues concealed beneath Snorlax's chubby exterior. Nidoking's potent venom was already at work.

"Hyper Beam!" Michael ordered without reservation. He seemed to want to keep Snorlax as far from Nidoking as possible, something that Ash appreciated. Even Nidoking wouldn't fare well against an enraged Snorlax. It probably didn't hurt that Snorlax could fire off Hyper Beams at a pace few other pokemon could handle thanks to its immense endurance.

Snorlax's furious eyes seemed to glow a deadly red as an absolutely massive sphere of power appeared in front of its gaping maw. The source of the Hyper Beam expanded to dangerous levels as the normal-type poured more and more energy into it.

Nidoking frantically did his best to shatter the earth underneath Snorlax with Earth Power in order to ruin the creature's focus and footing, but Snorlax just stepped forward while charging the Hyper Beam until an enormous blast of white energy rushed out of its mouth and consumed an area of around fifteen feet around Nidoking, which caused even more of the ravaged battlefield to crumble underneath the injured poison-type.

That wasn't enough for Snorlax, however, and as Nidoking barely managed to pull himself to safety from the collapsed earth the behemoth rushed forward with surprising speed and smashed its hand straight into Nidoking's back.

He winced as his friend flew through the air until he smashed into the psychic barrier nearly thirty feet away. That had to have hurt both of them. Nidoking was obviously unconscious now. Not even he could withstand that kind of abuse.

But Snorlax's hand was a bloody mess. Nidoking's spines had shredded it as the appendage had smashed into his back, an action that had also left the behemoth with even more venom inside of its body.

Ash quickly returned his friend before he could be further injured by the fall. Nidoking had accomplished everything he'd needed to. Snorlax was going to fall now. Now was just the matter of putting it down for good while the poison sapped its strength.

He paused for a moment as he considered his options. Dazed would be able to easily avoid most of Snorlax's attacks with teleportation but her attacks were based around waves of force and beams of psychic energy. Those wouldn't even annoy Snorlax, especially in its enraged state.

Dazed also didn't have the endurance to teleport for several minutes with little rest, even without actually attacking. Doing so would leave her too drained for another fight after Snorlax succumbed to Nidoking's parting gift.

Tangrowth was the only option. He could control the battlefield with the precision to stun and confuse Snorlax and could get away by utilizing his vines if necessary. Besides, even Snorlax would suffer some injuries and waste time if Tangrowth used Ancient Power to tear the unstable battlefield out from under it.

He smiled as Tangrowth appeared and bounced cheerfully up and down on his red feet as he looked at Snorlax. His vines twitched and snaked out to run over Snorlax's huge body curiously, although they hadn't quite made it over when the referee announced, "Begin!"

Snorlax seemed to have calmed somewhat and simply batted the seeking vines away with one of its hands. Tangrowth pulled them back at that, obviously disappointed.

"You're in a battle, Tangrowth." He reminded his friend, who suddenly extended several dozen of his vines to array around his body and give him the ability to control everything around him. "Don't face it head-on. Open up some chasms with Ancient Power and block Hyper Beam with anything you've got."

Tangrowth gurgled loudly and finally ceased his bouncing. The grass-type snaked several of his vines past Snorlax, who had just begun to charge at Tangrowth across the wrecked battlefield of crumbled earth and cooled magma, and hurled several orbs of Ancient Power at some of the rock spires that were still intact.

Meanwhile, his other vines lashed at Snorlax, who barely noticed the appendages as they wrapped around its arms and legs in an effort to drain its energy and restrict the behemoth's mobility. The normal-type just kept on moving as an unstoppable force.

That stopped when Tangrowth followed Ash's suggestion and opened up a gigantic chasm between him and Snorlax with judicious use of Ancient Power in order to control the fragmented stone that Snorlax and Nidoking had wrecked with their Earthquakes.

Snorlax had built up too much momentum to stop, however, and charged directly into the trench without a second thought. The earth shuddered as it landed heavily, although all was quiet for a few moments until an enormous Hyper Beam carved through the earth near Tangrowth, powerful enough to have burned through nearly thirty feet of dirt and solidifying stone in order to reach its target.

Tangrowth gurgled in concern and used some of his vines to carry him to a safer location. That turned out to be a good decision as Snorlax suddenly erupted out of the ground in an explosion of earth and stone. Dust settled around the arena as the unstoppable creature looked around confusedly for its target.

Four spears of crumbling stone to its back alerted the slowing Snorlax to Tangrowth's location, although it took several moments to get back up and turn around after it stumbled and nearly fell to its knees. It seemed that Nidoking's venom was finally taking effect.

Snorlax frowned and charged at Tangrowth, although it somehow gathered enough strength to leap across the second small chasm the grass-type had just created with Ancient Power. It landed heavily and stumbled, obviously weaker now.

Tangrowth didn't give the hulking normal-type a chance to recover. All of his vines held a small orb of Ancient Power, barely enough to scratch Snorlax on their lonesome. With nearly a hundred, however, they were a force to be reckoned with.

The normal-type had just looked up when all one hundred of the Ancient Powers smashed into him in an explosion of silvery energy that sent even more cracks threading around the area. Ash doubted there would be a battlefield left at this rate.

Snorlax stumbled backward, not particularly hurt by the barrage, and fell into the chasm. Tangrowth gurgled happily and bounced up on its feet as his saucer-like eyes watched the normal-type disappear.

He wasn't done, however. Tangrowth's giant eyes shut as groups of his vines — up to ten — worked together and formed huge orbs of silvery power between them. The grass-type hurled the orbs at the scarce few areas of the battlefield that hadn't been torn to pieces by the fierce battle and lifted up several boulders that weighed around a thousand pounds each.

Tangrowth carefully pulled them over to the chasm and unceremoniously hurled them down onto the stunned Snorlax, who went silent as it was buried underneath thousands of pounds of stone and earth.

His friend sagged slightly and pulled all but five of his vines back to himself. Tangrowth blinked several times before he went back to staring at the chasm with his curious eyes.

Ash smiled and shouted out a congratulations to his friend when Michael raised a pokeball, but paused when a deep rumbling shook the earth. He had only a few seconds to stare at the dusty tomb in disbelief before Snorlax erupted out of it, bruised, bleeding, and obviously near unconsciousness but with the will to smash Tangrowth into the ground behind it.

Its huge head snarled at Tangrowth as it slowly climbed out of the chasm on trembling limbs and a Hyper Beam formed in its mouth, but a single flash of white energy later the Snorlax collapsed back into its tomb.

Tangrowth gurgled cheerfully and ran a few vines over Snorlax's unconscious form after his impromptu Solar Beam had done its work. He only had a few moments to inspect the strange creature he had just defeated before Michael recalled it with a strange look in his eyes.

His foe was silent as he released the massive Arcanine that Ash had watched several times throughout the Conference. It yipped happily and stared at Tangrowth as if he were a new toy as its coat rippled from its sudden movement.

"Begin!"

"Comet." Michael called out to Arcanine. The canine was instantly consumed in flames that spewed from its mouth as it suddenly slipped into Extreme Speed, even faster than Jolteon. It was only identifiable as a blur of flames as it danced its way over to Tangrowth, easily leaping across the ravaged battlefield with the grace of a Persian.

Tangrowth just barely had time to erect walls of stone to protect himself from Arcanine's fires before the canine was upon him. Arcanine slammed into the barrier with explosive force that shattered the walls as thought they were made of glass and exposed Tangrowth to the intense flames that billowed around it.

The grass-type gurgled in pain as Arcanine blasted him with a Flamethrower that almost instantaneously crippled Tangrowth by burning his vines beyond use, although it wasn't enough to keep Tangrowth from jumping up and releasing an Earthquake as he landed.

Arcanine stumbled and momentarily let up on the Flamethrower that had very nearly ended Tangrowth, which was just enough time for Tangrowth to create an orb of Ancient Power on the tip of one of his arms and slam it into Arcanine.

Tangrowth tried to attack once more against the injured Arcanine that now leaned heavily on its right side thanks to the bruised ribs Tangrowth had just given it, but Arcanine slipped into Extreme Speed and slammed into Tangrowth in a burst of flame.

As his friend struggled to pull himself to his feet without the aid of his shriveled vines Arcanine appeared behind him and blasted him with a stream of fire that left Tangrowth unconscious in mere moments.

Ash frowned at Arcanine as he recalled his friend. He didn't have Infernus to ambush it with teleport this time, but Dazed would do the job.

His eyes widened as he realized that Dazed was the last of his friends left. Michael was the first to have brought him this low since Lance himself. Even Grey hadn't pushed him to this point.

That pit of anxiety returned, but he did his best to ignore it. He had to keep a calm mind. Things weren't looking fantastic, but he was confident in Dazed's abilities. If he lost composure then this battle was as good as over.

"Dazed, you're the last one left." He called out to her as she appeared. Dazed tensed up for a moment as she heard that, but simply polished her gem-like pendulum as she glanced at Arcanine silently. She did take in the sight of the utterly destroyed battlefield with an air of boredom, but Ash knew her well enough to see that she was actually impressed.

One last time into the fray, Friend-Trainer Ash.

Ash smiled and nodded as her mind brushed against his, the smooth voice serene in the face of danger. It was dim since she had to slip through the psychic barrier in order to speak with him, but it was enough.

He calmed and felt the Feather's powerful heat pulse through his blood, burning away the last of his worry and soothing his trembling hands. "There's only one left after Arcanine. Its left side and front-left leg is injured and it has trouble entering Extreme Speed."

Silence for a few moments.

I will not fail.

Ash nodded and the Feather, which had been calm until just now, pulsed once more. "I never considered it."

He felt a brief hint of amusement from Dazed at his quiet words before she pulled away from his mind. Perhaps his sight would have given her an advantage, but he knew that communicating past the psychic barrier would split her focus — something she couldn't afford.

"Begin!"

Arcanine didn't need a command from Michael to shoot into action. Although it was noticeably slower in Extreme Speed thanks to the single blow Tangrowth had managed to land, it was still much too fast for Dazed to hit with her standard attacks. She'd have to get close for any of her abilities to be effective.

Dazed simply stood silently. Her eyes traced Arcanine's movements with some degree of difficulty as the fire-type raced around the field in order to confuse her, although the simple trick didn't affect Dazed's keen focus.

It wasn't until the Arcanine dashed close to spew an endless torrent of flames at her that she acted. Dazed allowed Arcanine to get close and erected a shield just barely strong enough to protect against the intense flames and the heat that would sear her flesh.

As Arcanine strafed to her side, Dazed's eyes flashed. A wave of psychic power erupted from her body and blasted out in every direction for about twenty feet, when it dispersed into nothingness. Arcanine deftly avoided the blow, but in mid jump, when Arcanine was at its slowest and least maneuverable, Dazed teleported just slightly ahead of its position and seamlessly hurled a Focus Blast into the air before she disappeared several feet to the right.

Arcanine yipped helplessly as it landed heavily on its feet, although it stumbled slightly thanks to the bruised bone the Focus Blast had hit. The fire-type moved quickly, however, and leapt at Dazed with a mouthful of flames that crackled and roared their way to her, strong enough to force her to teleport away rather than erect a psychic shield.

Dazed quickly shot Arcanine's injured side with a Psybeam, the result of which was a furious Arcanine that blurred over to her position and snapped its powerful jaws right where her shoulder would have been.

As she appeared beside Arcanine, who stumbled again thanks to its hurt leg, her eyes flashed and she caught the fire-type in a Disable. The massively powerful canine struggled and even managed to move slightly while under the influence of the psychic prison, but Dazed's eyes burned brighter and more and more force was impressed upon Arcanine until it was locked into place.

She shuffled over to its front and slowly rocked her pendulum back and forth in front of Arcanine's eyes. The fire-type unwillingly followed the entrancing motion and psychic power released by Dazed quickly lulled the Arcanine to sleep.

Dazed's eyes turned up in the expression that Ash easily read as satisfaction as she outstretched her free hand toward Arcanine until she almost touched the sleeping creature. Red power flared up around the appendage and shot over to Arcanine and extended all over the canine's body. Both Dazed and her victim were consumed in the scarlet energy, although as the technique ran its course Dazed's red aura grew larger and more vivid while Arcanine's slowly whittled down to nothing.

Finally, when the energy around Arcanine vanished, Dazed freed it from Disable and allowed the fire-type to collapse to the earth like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. She idly polished her pendulum as Michael sighed and recalled the powerful fire-type.

Ash was just glad that Tangrowth had managed to hit it in its side and leg. If it were able to remain in Extreme Speed constantly there was no way that Dazed could have shut it down like she had. He'd seen Arcanine's power firsthand and had no desire for any of his other friends to experience its strength like Tangrowth had.

Michael just had a smile on his face as he raised his pokeball and released his last fighter.

The reason was clear when he released a strange shadowy pokemon that Ash vaguely remembered seeing under Agatha's command when the Elite Four attempted to arrest Giovanni.

It was a strange creature, even for a ghost. The creature appeared to be far more solid than a Gengar in some ways, but its head and limbs were practically nonexistent. They were corporeal shadows given form and substance by the power from another universe, living shadow that filled a dark cloak with a golden design that resembled a scowling face.

The eeriest part of the creature, however, was its single eye. It was a scarlet flame that burned silently within its mask-like head. It was terribly alien yet somehow very familiar, as if it called instinctually to all those who saw it.

Dusknoir, the Reaper.

Guardians of ancient monuments and tombs that crumbled from the ravages of time. Renowned collectors of the dead that appeared in times of great strife and ruin to take corpses far from the place they fell, gathering them within their shadowy cloak to never be seen again.

They were feared and respected beyond measure, practically sacred in Sinnoh and Johto where they were most prevalent. As much terror as they inspired, for death was what they followed and left in their wake, they never harmed those who had not earned it or attacked them first. They were benevolent specters that took their tithe in the form of the dead.

He frowned as the scarlet eye locked onto Dazed and burned brighter. It was interested.

"Begin!"

"Dusknoir, finish this quickly." Michael said quietly. Dusknoir's eye burned and its shadowed form shuddered in response. The scowling face on its robes animated itself and gnashed its teeth, the golden markings revealing an empty abyss as they opened wide. Ash felt a shiver run down his spine just looking at it. "Killing Field."

"Psybeam." He commanded. As far as he knew Dusknoir couldn't teleport, although they could jump through shadows.

Dazed silently focused. Her eyes burned blue as her power flooded through her body and channeled itself through her pendulum, the energy focused into a rainbow-hued beam that shot at Dusknoir's unmoving form.

Ash frowned as he realized Dusknoir hadn't even made an attempt to dodge. It just raised its shadowy hands and began to summon gusts of purple-tinged wind that revealed the attack's true nature of being infused with ghostly power. He recognized the Ominous Wind technique when he saw it.

His frown shifted into a full scowl when the Psybeam reached Dusknoir only for the golden mouth on its body to open up and reveal the abyss within that the rainbow-hued blast was instantly sucked into. It didn't appear that Dusknoir had even felt the attack.

"What?" Ash muttered to himself. He'd researched Dusknoir extensively just as he had all of Michael's available pokemon. There was very little information available on the mysterious ghost-type other than assorted myths and legends, but he felt that an ability like that should have been mentioned. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

Dazed cocked her head and tried again, this time with a stronger Psybeam. She met with the same result.

Meanwhile, Dusknoir had finally gathered a sufficient amount of the purple wind. It swirled around him like a miniature tornado, although it was tightly bound by the ghost's strange power.

Dusknoir's eye flashed as it finally lowered its shadowed hands and allowed the Ominous Wind to saturate the arena. The ghostly air settled into every conceivable nook and cranny and left a purple miasma that slowly crept its way across the battlefield.

"Don't!" He barked out as he recognized Dazed's preparations. She froze and was obviously confused, although that didn't stop her from blasting the purple wind away with blasts of psychic force. When it began to encroach upon her from every direction Dazed erected a shield that, although it flared constantly from the act of repelling the ghostly energy, managed to hold the Ominous Wind back.

His scowl grew uglier. Michael had obviously been wary of Dazed. Dusknoir had just made the field impossible for Dazed to safely teleport in with that Ominous Wind. It wasn't a particularly powerful technique in of itself, but in spreading so much of it around Dusknoir had saturated the battlefield with its power and Ash had been too confused by its ability to absorb Dazed's Psybeam to consider a way to stop it.

Not that there was a way to stop it. Dazed's psychic force didn't react well with the ghostly winds considering that they essentially neutralized each other. The ghostly energy naturally disrupted psychic power. They couldn't coexist.

Now that the entire battlefield had been filled with the miasma Dazed was practically helpless. Any long-distance attacks like a Psybeam would fizzle out by the time they reached Dusknoir and if she waited until it was closer the ghostly figure would be able to grab her and finish her off.

He'd been outplayed. Dazed was trapped. She had to maintain a psychic shield just to avoid her strength being sapped by the Ominous Wind.

Ash's mind ran through dozens of potential strategies as Dusknoir finally began to move through the miasma, its burning eye the only clue to the Reaper's deathly presence as it stalked its prey.

It was in its home. The mists were an extension of itself, the Reaper's essence released outside its body. Ash wouldn't doubt that it could simply appear anywhere in the miasma, considering how intimately it was linked to the Ominous Wind.

"Teleport into the crevasse." He finally called out. It was unlikely, but Dusknoir might not have had its mist travel into the trenches that dotted the battlefield. As far as the specter knew she had no ability to teleport. Ash hadn't seen Michael giving it any commands since the first few seconds of the battle, either, so he couldn't have told it.

Ash knew that Dazed would have to pull off a miracle here. Dusknoir ruled the battlefield and could somehow absorb psychic attacks like they were nothing. It was obvious that a frontal assault would do nothing. Dazed needed to somehow hit it from the back or the sides if she wanted to finish the creature.

She'd also need to do it with a Shadow Ball. Dusknoir weren't immune to psychic attacks, but their formidable physical and mental powers rendered them somewhat resistant. Their corporeal forms were notably tougher than most other ghosts.

A Shadow Ball wouldn't attack its physical body. The addition of the alien energy held within a Shadow Ball would be added to the ghost's own energy, destabilizing their ability to hold onto and manifest a physical form. It would take a particularly strong ghost-type technique to actually destabilize the Dusknoir to the point that it would be rendered catatonic as it attempted to sift through and regain control of its power and body, but if she could ruin its focus and cause it to lose control over the Ominous Wind then she would have a chance.

He watched with concern as Dazed teleported. The air imbued with ghostly power rushed to fill in the void left by the absence of her shield and Dusknoir appeared where she had been seconds ago, its dark hands alit with ghostly power as it prepared to grapple her.

Dusknoir's unblinking eye swiveled over to the trench Dazed had just teleported to, obviously aware of her presence. The Reaper stalked her through the miasma. It was supremely confident in its invincibility.

It vanished into the mist.

Ash felt his hands tremble nervously as the Reaper disappeared. The end of the battle was here. Dazed couldn't keep fighting under the conditions Dusknoir had created. She had to either finish it now or be finished herself.

The seconds ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace. Ash's fingers tapped erratically against the railing and even with the Feather's comforting warmth, only amplified by the proximity of the Flame of Moltres, did nothing to heal the stress that weighed down on him like a heavy weight.

He watched and waited.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

A flash of dim grey energy emanated from the crevasse but Ash had no idea who it belonged to. The mist had already begun to fill into the trench a few seconds before so it could have been either of the fighters.

Ash grit his teeth as a shadow rushed out of the pit with Dazed held firmly between its ghostly hands. The shadow wrapped over Dazed and sucked out her power even as she furiously blasted it with psychic powers that had already begun to fail. He saw her begin to draw upon the power necessary for a Shadow Ball, but the Reaper's red eye caught it as well and flooded her defenseless body with its energy.

The Reaper dropped Dazed's drained body in the mist and coalesced into the form of Dusknoir. It was silent and slowly recalled the ghostly miasma back into its body. In just a few seconds the field appeared as it had before the Dusknoir had been released.

Dazed laid there unmoving except for the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Her eyes were shut. She had fallen into the closest thing to sleep that she could ever experience.

Ash recalled her with a bitter taste in his mouth and considered the small red and white orb for a few moments.

"Thank you, Dazed. I'm proud of you." He murmured before he placed her back onto his belt. Ash gently ran the pads of his fingers across each of his other pokeballs, which warmed and twitched slightly at his touch. "The same goes for all of you. I couldn't have made it nearly this far without all of your help."

He looked up finally and met Michael's eyes. The Champion of Orre gave him a smile and respectful nod that Ash returned. Ash tipped his cap to him and tried to ignore the ashen taste in his mouth as it finally hit him that he'd lost.

Ash squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment and just breathed.

"AND AFTER A STUNNINGLY INTENSE MATCH, MICHAEL BRAEDEN WINS THE CONFERENCE!" The announcer screamed to the audience, who happily roared back in return. Ash glanced around at the hundreds of thousands of faces around him. Quite a few were watching him, as though they expected something.

He just smiled wearily and dipped his head to the crowd, who roared again.

"THIS IS A MATCH THAT NO ONE'S GOING TO FORGET FOR YEARS TO COME!" The announcer shouted again, utterly ecstatic. As he turned to head out of the trainer's box he silently wondered how the man's vocal cords had held up this long. "EVERYONE SAY GOODBYE TO OUR FAVORITE ROOKIE, ASH KETCHUM, AND THE INDIGO CONFERENCE CHAMPION, MICHAEL BRAEDEN AND THANK THEM FOR A GREAT MATCH!"

The crowd roared again, but this time Ash ignored them and the announcer as the man continued to ramble. He seemed more excited about this than Michael did.

Ash sighed when he saw the legions of reporters waiting for him. If there was a downside to competing in the Conference, this was it.

Still, he adopted a smile on his face even as he wiped the realization of his defeat away.

He might not have won, but he had come far. Farther than any other rookie had gone before or likely go again. He'd made history, even if his true goal had been left unmet.

Despite his loss, the legend of Ash Ketchum had been forged this day.

In the Indigo Stadium he had fought a renowned trainer with many years of experience on him to a standstill.

In the Indigo Stadium his team's blood had mixed with the battlefield that had seen Champions and Masters rise and fall.

He had been given the honor to compete with the best of the best and he had held his own.

He had made his mother, Professor Oak, and Lance proud.

So he smiled.

Besides, that was a fantastic battle.

A/N: Well, there it is! I know some of you won't be happy with my decision but I do hope that you understand why I chose this outcome. If you want to discuss it with me further, leave it in your review or shoot me a PM. I'll be happy to talk.

Anyways, I really hope everybody enjoyed this chapter! It felt indescribably good to write something that I've planned since the story began, but I'm also glad to be moving on. I'd like to get back to what I enjoy about Traveler and now that the Conference is over I can finally do it.

There'll be one more chapter to wrap things up in Kanto. I've written part of it already, so it should be out quickly. I'll address where I'm taking the story in the next chapter and its AN.

Thanks for reading and make sure to review!