AAML: Diamond and Pearl version

by EchidnaPower

Follow me as I remake the DP episodes in order and in sequence, all so I can add the biggest star besides Ash himself. Misty! Watch her and Ash's love grow as they go on their journey. A Pokeshipping series. Also includes Penguinshipping, Handymanshipping, slight mentions of Contestshipping, and a Brock shipping to be named later. Oh yeah, there's PikachuXBuneary here too.

53. The Snowpoint Saga

Wow it's been a long time, and I don't make any excuses for it being this long. I hope that the size of this chapter makes up for the lack of frequent updates, but between the Dash Adventure, the SATDD vid-comic, and various other projects on both the internet and real life, I've been swamped and I just haven't had a lot of time to just sit down and bring this thing to life. But I'm here now! So, anonymous review reply time.

darky: Interesting concept, maybe I'll use something similar one day.

PokeContestIkariOldrivalship p: Sorry, I've committed to Penguinshipping.

Miyako: I have done so! Here it is!

Guest: Well here it is!

Anna: We'll see what I do

Ixnaitze Anaya: Thanks for the compliments! Glad you enjoyed it so far!

Guest2: That was the point!

And so without further ado, here we go! I own nothing but the story
_

Chapter 53

Misty's POV

Yesterday had yet another exciting string of events. I entered the Pokémon Ping-Pong competition with Azurill, and wound up quitting a little later on. It wasn't because of my own lack of skill of course, but the way that my opponent Wilkinson treated my Pokémon really ticked me off. He seemed very pleased that Azurill had been smacked in the face, and even before I got to face him, his Farfetch'd had gone ahead and smacked Ash in the face during their match. It was clear that Wilkinson was ruthless in his Ping-Pong game, but to an extreme level. But the real surprise during the competition was Ambipom's incredible skill as a Ping-Pong player! I had never seen such raw talent from a Pokémon in any sort of activity. Ambipom had literally JUST STARTED playing, and she already moved like a pro.

Ash and Kenny hadn't been fortunate enough to get past round one, while Dawn and Barry were able to make it all the way to round three. Dawn was able to take down Wilkinson, who stormed out of the stadium and earned boos from everyone in the stands because of his lack of sportsmanship. It really is sad when a person throws a temper tantrum when they lose…I know, I know, I get upset all the time when I lose to Ash at something, but it's not the same thing! I get upset because I lost, but I don't hold it against him. At any rate, Barry lost to O in round three, which meant that it was Dawn versus O in the semi-finals. All of a sudden Dawn and Ambipom lost their momentum, and O and his Shiftry got one point away from taking Dawn down.

Just when Dawn looked like she was ready to give up and break down crying, Kenny took the initiative and shouted out words of encouragement. I was really impressed that Kenny had built up the courage to keep Dawn going like that, his encouragement seemed unique, like it wouldn't have meant much if anyone else besides him had said it. And it really worked, because as soon as Dawn heard that, she got back up and looked up at the stands, and thanked Kenny for the heartening words with her eyes. But just when Dawn had gained her energy back, Shiftry broke her paddle with a super powerful smash hit! It seemed all over, until Ambipom stepped up once more and actually managed to not only cover for Dawn, but compensate for their previous shortcomings by making her way back up to a tie!

Dawn finally got a replacement paddle, but unfortunately it was too late, as O was able to take down Dawn and Ambipom and secure his spot in the finals. Later at the Pokémon Center, O confronted Dawn and asked if she would be willing to give Ambipom to him so that he could train the highly talented Ambipom to become a powerful Pokémon Ping-Pong player, which left Dawn unsure of what to do. Luckily, Kenny had found her, and did his best to offer her comfort. But then Dawn came bursting through our room door later on, saying that Ambipom was missing. We went to look for her, and we found her playing Ping-Pong with herself by bouncing a ball off the wall. It was then that Ash gave her the sad but unfortunately true advice, that what mattered in Dawn's decision was Ambipom's happiness, even if that meant saying goodbye to Ambipom.

The next morning, we all found O outside just before he was going to leave, and Dawn had Ambipom choose what she wanted to do. Ambipom chose Pokémon Ping-Pong, as everyone expected, and decided to go with O to Vermilion City in the Kanto Region. Before they left however, Ash and Dawn gave Ambipom gifts to remember them by, and that apparently had an influence on Ambipom, as she was beginning to miss us almost as soon as she left. Just before we were ready to leave the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy found us and told us that Dawn had a phone call from O. It turned out that O wanted to share Ambipom, that way both he and Dawn would be able to train Ambipom and make sure she was happy.

Needless to say, Dawn was more than happy to accept the offer, and with the peace of mind that Ambipom was not gone for good, we continued on. I honestly don't know what got O to offer Dawn the co-trainer job, I'd LIKE to think that Kenny had something to do with it, but there's no way for me to know for sure. Either way, we kept on walking towards Snowpoint City, and eventually we noticed that the air was getting colder. Then we headed through a tunnel, and just when we were about to get all the way through, we were rather rudely greeted by a freezing wind. After we took a second to recover, we headed into the light at the end of the tunnel, and we saw an incredible sight, it was like a winter wonderland. There was snow everywhere, like someone had sprinkled sugar all over the earth. Brock identified our location to be Shelter Town, which was right before Snowpoint City.

I thought the name was fitting to say the least, Shelter Town would provide…well…shelter for us, since we were in no condition to continue on, since we hadn't gotten anything warm to wear. We headed into the Pokémon Center, and Dawn walked over to Nurse Joy, asking if she had gotten a package from her mom. I suddenly began to panic, as I remembered something that I had tried to tell Dawn a while back but I had forgotten because of the excitement. Dawn had told her mom to get some clothes that would be fit for cold weather, that worried me greatly.

I love Dawn to bits, she's like the little sister I never had, but her taste in clothes, or at least her mother's, just makes me uncomfortable altogether. If you've ever heard that song that says "She wears short skirts and I wear t-shirts", you would know that song fits me and Dawn perfectly. I am a romantic at heart, but my style in everyday clothes IS more of a tomboyish look. I'll admit I like what Ash's mom got me, and it IS much more feminine than my old shirt and suspenders, but one thing in my wardrobe has almost never changed except in a special occasion…I wear SHORTS, or pants, whatever, but skirts are SO NOT my thing unless I'm wearing a dress or something for, like I said, a SPECIAL occasion.

Call me old-fashioned but I'm not all that fond of the idea of wearing a skirt that's even REMOTELY as short as Dawn's, and I DESPISE the idea that I might have perverted creeps trying to look up my skirt, I swear if I EVER caught anyone trying to do that I would do everything I could to that guy short of literally murdering them. I trust Ash and Brock of course, they're the friends I knew even before I was a teenager, but still…if Dawn's mom gets me something with a skirt…we might be down one party member when we get to Snowpoint City.

As it turned out, Dawn hadn't gotten a package yet, so we were stuck in the Pokémon Center for a while since it was too cold to go outside. Dawn suggested a good breakfast, and called out Buneary to give her a hand. All of a sudden this girl squealed loudly and gave us a scare. She picked up Buneary and started squeezing her, exclaiming just how cute Buneary was, much to Buneary's displeasure. Of course when Pikachu heard Buneary groaning as the girl cuddled her much too harshly, his instinctive reaction was to zap her, and that's just what he did. The fur on Pikachu's back stood up on end and he started growling at this girl who was hurting his Buneary. Finally he went through with it, and he ran up to the girl and delivered a 'Thundershock' to the girl's feet, which made her immediately drop Buneary, and the small rabbit hopped behind Pikachu who now had his cheeks sparking to threaten the girl to not try and touch Buneary again.

But instead of being angry after the shock, when she saw Pikachu protecting Buneary, she squealed even louder and started saying how adorable it was that Pikachu was being so valiant towards Buneary, but then she changed what she was saying and said that since Buneary was so cute, she could do so much better than Pikachu. Naturally Ash didn't like that, and he reacted rather indignantly to her. She didn't really care though, she just kept going on and on about Buneary. Needless to say I thought she was a total loon, since that was how she was acting.

Finally she stopped raving and realized she hadn't even introduced herself yet. She did so, and said her name was Marilyn. She explained that she thought that Pokémon that were cute were the best kind of all, and that was why she spazzed out over Buneary. Ash of course, got angry and asked what made her think Pikachu wasn't cute. I honestly don't know why Ash even cared; this girl obviously wasn't playing with a full deck.

She explained her criteria for cute Pokémon, they had to be less than two feet tall, and they couldn't have evolved. It made sense I suppose, since Pikachu evolved from Pichu a long time ago, not that we were ever around to witness that event, everyone knows Ash got Pikachu as…well…a Pikachu. Of course, this just riled Ash up even more. Then Dawn presented Piplup to Marilyn, much to my disapproval, I didn't even know why they were playing along with this girl. At any rate, Piplup DID fit her actual specifications for a cute Pokémon, but somehow she had still found reasons to say Piplup still WASN'T cute. She said Piplup's head was shaped like a bowling ball, the beak was "annoying" which I don't even get, how can a beak be annoying? And she said his eyes looked like mud pies.

Now Dawn was also furious at Marilyn, and Piplup was just plain paralyzed from shock. Brock and I tried to explain to Marilyn that cuteness wasn't everything, but she refused to hear it. And when Dawn tried to defend Piplup, Marilyn randomly decided to rename Dawn, saying that starting today her name was "Dawny", much to Dawn's dismay.

Marilyn then asked to battle Dawn and Buneary, which Dawn, in her state of anger and confusion, simply reacted with a gleam in her eye, saying she'd LOVE to battle her. Although instead of sounding determined, Marilyn literally twirled away, singing happily as she headed to the battlefield. Once she was out of earshot, Dawn practically ignited into flames from her anger, saying that dipsy Marilyn annoyed her to no end. I could definitely relate. Dawn declared she would surely gain vengeance for Piplup, who was STILL paralyzed.

We headed over to the battlefield, and Brock went straight to the middle of the field to be referee, he too was bothered by Marilyn's point of view about Pokémon, but he didn't show it as much as me, Ash, or Dawn. That's just Brock, always calm, cool, and collected unless there's a pretty girl nearby. I had to admit, I've met a lot of interesting personalities on my journey through Sinnoh. I wouldn't go as far to say that Marilyn was the worst, Paul had that spot hands-down, but Marilyn was quite clearly the oddest I've met so far. Brock called for a one-on-one, and Dawn made her move and sent out Buneary, who of course was no longer wearing her vest as she never wore it in battle.

But when it was Marilyn's turn to call out a Pokémon, she instead began dancing all over the battlefield mindlessly with hearts in her eyes, exclaiming that Buneary was so cute. Again, this girl was driving me buggy, she had a one track mind and I was starting to feel queasy from all the "cute" talk. Seriously, I like a cute Pokémon as much as the next girl but…I can only take so much! Brock broke Marilyn out of her trance and reminded her to pick a Pokémon, and she called out a Cherubi…and her call out told Cherubi to come out cutely…that had done it, I officially wanted to barf.

And once again, instead of battling, Marilyn just gazed at her Cherubi with sparkles in her eyes. Brock once again exercised his authority as referee and reminded Marilyn that the battle had begun. Now this I did NOT expect, Marilyn totally disregarded the fact that the battle was on, and instead chose to continue admiring her Cherubi, and told Dawn to go ahead and attack. Dawn, in her irritated state of mind, was more than happy to oblige. Dawn had Buneary use 'Dizzy Punch', and the rabbit Pokémon easily hammered the grass-type with a barrage of punches.

Cherubi stepped back after the assault, whining a little before falling over. It hadn't fainted however…it almost seemed like it was acting…Marilyn backed up the idea that it was fake by saying that it was the cutest fall she had ever seen. This so-called battle was ridiculous, and in my opinion, an insult to anyone who's worked hard to be a real Pokémon Trainer. Dawn decided to just ignore Marilyn and keep it going; she had Buneary use 'Ice Beam', and this time Marilyn actually reacted by having Cherubi counter with 'Protect'.

Cherubi got back up, its agonized facial expression never changing, and got off a completely successful 'Protect' that negated the effects of 'Ice Beam'…but Cherubi was for some reason STILL crying out in pain, despite the fact that 'Protect' had completely blocked the 'Ice Beam'. When Marilyn started exclaiming about how "valiant" Cherubi was being, it was clear to everyone that Marilyn didn't really care about the outcome of the battle. After Buneary finished firing, Brock intervened, even he couldn't stand to watch this battle anymore, it was totally inappropriate and unethical, this wasn't a battle, it was a soap opera.

Brock gave Marilyn an ultimatum, either she started battling for real, or the battle would end. Marilyn suddenly got angry, saying the battle was just getting good, and that Brock needed to stay out of it. She had the GALL to say that this was the most valiant battle in all of history. She explained that when she saw a Pokémon take an attack, it moved her, and that there was nothing more valiant than watching a Pokémon take a hit and still battle…I WOULD'VE agreed, except that the battle was still not a real battle. If Marilyn had actually been battling, she MIGHT have had a point, but just watching Cherubi pretend to be hurt was nothing more than a sham.

Brock looked back at me and Ash, and we all had the same thought. Brock had to start being tough or we wouldn't get anywhere. Brock growled and got up in Marilyn's face, saying she was being inappropriate. Marilyn aptly responded by leaning over backwards dramatically and whining. Brock re-explained the rules of a basic Pokémon Battle, and Marilyn made a fish-lips face and called Brock "Brocky" and an old geezer. Brock couldn't believe it. He once again issued the ultimatum, either battle back, or be disqualified. After that he grumbled to himself and headed back to the sidelines.

Well evidently Marilyn decided to FINALLY comply, and got ready to battle. After she said that, Cherubi, unsurprisingly, got back up without issue and cheered happily. Apparently Cherubi DID like battling for real, it seemed absolutely ecstatic about being able to fight back. Marilyn ordered 'Magical Leaf', and Buneary tried to dodge it as best she could, but she eventually got hit with a barrage of glowing leaves. After taking the hit, Buneary wobbled and fell to her knees, but unlike Cherubi, this was real. Both Ash and I were in shock. How could a trainer like Marilyn have made Cherubi so strong considering the way she battled?

Marilyn had Cherubi follow up with 'Tackle', and Buneary took the hit and tumbled backwards before getting back up and growling at the grass-type. Dawn had Buneary use 'Dizzy Punch' again, and this time Marilyn had Cherubi dodge it, although Cherubi was still faking some sort of fear or agony, as its face had not an ounce of actual determination. After dodging all the attacks, Marilyn yelled out 'Solarbeam', and Cherubi fired the powerful attack. Buneary probably would've gone down, but Pikachu cried out from the bench and provoked Buneary to counter on her own and fire 'Ice Beam' to block the attack.

Marilyn once again began spazzing out about the valiance of the battle after seeing Pikachu cheer Buneary on, and Dawn took that opportunity to have Buneary fire 'Ice Beam' again, and this time it hit dead-on, and this time, Cherubi fainted for real, giving Dawn the win. Marilyn got upset…but not because she lost…but because she wouldn't get to anymore valiant battling. Something awakened in Brock after seeing the battle end, he seemed offended by how Marilyn treated Pokémon Battles, and I could tell just by looking at him that he had something in mind. If I had MY way, I would get to help.

After Marilyn headed out for a bit to get something to eat, we got together in the lobby and discussed what had just happened. Dawn couldn't figure Marilyn out, and I didn't blame her. Neither did Ash. Finally Brock spoke up, and said that he was gonna battle her next. He understood that a Pokémon's cuteness could be one of its strong points, but Marilyn's point of view on battling didn't sit right with him. And it didn't sit right with any of us either. Brock was determined to make Marilyn understand that the most important thing about Pokémon was to build a relationship with it, and by doing that, ANY Pokémon could shine bright.

We supported the idea of Brock setting Marilyn straight, the only problem was that Marilyn wouldn't battle any Pokémon that wasn't on her cute list, and with all due respect to Brock and his Pokémon, his two battlers, Sudowoodo and Croagunk, weren't exactly very high on the good looks scale. Nevertheless, Brock was willing to give it a shot. We found Marilyn again, and Brock issued his challenge; he sent out Croagunk and Sudowoodo and told Marilyn to choose who she'd battle. We all thought he was pushing it a bit, the cuteness factor on his Pokémon weren't exactly a strong point, Dawn was just the only one who mentioned that fact. But Brock said that HE thought they were cute, and that was all that mattered. We couldn't argue with that.

Unfortunately, Marilyn COULD. She refused to battle either of them, but she did ask Brock if he had any more. Brock DID have one more, and I knew that Happiny would qualify for the cute label, but like Brock tried to tell Marilyn, Happiny had never battled in a real battle before, and unlike my Azurill, Happiny really was a baby Pokémon, since it had only been born a few months ago. But Marilyn pressed, and insisted Brock show her the unknown Pokémon. Brock obliged, and sure enough, the moment Happiny popped out, Marilyn spazzed out and started hugging Happiny, but unlike Buneary, Happiny was happy to receive the affection…too naïve I supposed.

Brock asked Happiny if it was willing to battle Marilyn, and it said yes, much to Marilyn's pleasure. But then Brock threw Marilyn a curveball, saying he wanted to have a three-on-three so that Sudowoodo and Croagunk could do some battling as well. Since she wanted so badly to battle Happiny, Marilyn agreed to Brock's terms. I was about to volunteer to be referee, when suddenly a man in an official referee outfit came up to us and said he'd like to officiate the battle. It seemed legitimate at the time, so we accepted.

We headed back to the battlefield, and Marilyn sent out Cherubi again, while Brock unleashed Sudowoodo. The battle began and Brock ordered for Sudowoodo to use 'Double Edge'. Sudowoodo tackled Cherubi hard, and managed to avoid the recoil damage thanks to its 'Rock Head' ability, while Cherubi spun around and fell to the floor in fake agony, causing Marilyn to once again begin to admire the "valiance" of the battle. Brock got mad again, and told Marilyn to stop getting excited about her Pokémon taking damage. He explained that a battle is meant to connect the hearts of a trainer and Pokémon. In response, Marilyn called Brock a geezer again.

Brock had had it; he knew his words would fall on deaf ears, so he decided to show Marilyn instead. He had Sudowoodo use 'Mimic', which didn't make sense to us at the time since Cherubi had yet to do anything, but then it clicked, as Sudowoodo mimicked Cherubi's prat fall, and then Brock added to the effect by having Sudowoodo use 'Fake Tears' as well. We looked at Marilyn, and she was in awe…did that mean Brock was starting to get through to her? Brock got her to admit that Sudowoodo was very valiant, but she still refused to give Sudowoodo any credit for cuteness. Ash remarked that she got part of it, but she was still missing the whole point.

Dawn told the referee to do something about this match since it wasn't going anywhere, and the ref declared the match a draw. Brock and Marilyn returned their Pokémon, and this time Brock sent out Croagunk, while Marilyn sent out a new Pokémon, a Chingling. Brock wasted no time getting the battle going, and had Croagunk use 'Poison Jab' on the cute psychic-type, and Chingling went flying as it took the hit. Marilyn gasped, but it didn't sound like an excited one…more like…worry? Croagunk followed up with 'Poison Sting', and while Chingling flailed in genuine pain, Marilyn started biting down on her own personal handkerchief while at the same time exclaiming it was valiant, it looked like she was having an internal struggle with herself, maybe Brock was finally getting somewhere with her.

Finally Croagunk hammered Chingling with 'Brick Break', and Chingling started moaning in pain. And then Marilyn reverted back to her old self, which just ticked me off so badly, I yelled at her, telling her to snap out of it and battle before Chingling got seriously hurt. Marilyn huffed, but at least she refrained from calling me some weird name. Marilyn had Chingling use 'Growl', and the sound waves from that move caused us all to cover our ears in pain. Then Marilyn called for 'Confusion', and Croagunk was forced down onto the floor by the psychic-type attack. The referee was about to announce Chingling the winner, when Brock started shouting for Croagunk to get back up. The frog slowly started getting back up, leaving Marilyn in total awe once again.

When Croagunk got back up and roared out a battle-cry, it seemed that Marilyn had finally gotten the message. Brock explained once again that when a Pokémon and its trainer's unite, any Pokémon regardless of their outward appearance was valiant. Marilyn gasped in shock at what she had heard, was she finally getting it? The referee resumed the match, and Croagunk hammered Chingling with another 'Brick Break', and this time Chingling fainted for real, and this time Marilyn made no comments about Chingling's valiance, and simply returned her psychic-type. Brock did the same with Croagunk.

Brock told Marilyn once again, that the most important thing was the connection between a trainer and his or her Pokémon. Marilyn called Brock a geezer again…but admitted that Brock was right. It looked like Marilyn's attitude had finally morphed into the right one. The referee announced the final round, and Marilyn looked at her final Pokéball for a moment before calling timeout and running to her bag to get something. We were obviously confused by her action, but at the same time we were curious. Marilyn eventually returned to her end of the field, explaining that the Pokémon she was about to use had never been in a real battle before, but now was the perfect time. Brock asked what she meant by that, and suddenly the overly-perky Marilyn got really quiet and shy, as she explained why she was so obsessed with cute Pokémon.

The Pokéball she was currently holding contained the Pokémon she always thought was the cutest ever, but all her friends had made fun of her because of her opinion. So ever since then, she had only caught Pokémon that EVERYONE would agree was cute. Now I felt sorry for being so disapproving of Marilyn…she didn't ask to be the way she was, she just wanted to stop being made fun of. But Marilyn explained that Brock taught her that it didn't matter what people thought. And with that, Marilyn sent out her third Pokémon, her supposed cutest Pokémon of all…a Shellder.

Marilyn thought it was the cutest Pokémon ever, and I was the only one of our group who even partly agreed, and that was only because Shellder was part water-type. Ash wasn't sure Marilyn had gotten the message or not, but after all we'd been through, we were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Brock sent out Happiny, and we were all surprised when Marilyn cheered Shellder determinedly instead of freaking out over Happiny. Just when it seemed like the battle was gonna get for real, two ropes fell in from the ceiling, and down came Jessie and Meowth, and they told Marilyn directly that she was nuts for thinking that Shellder was cute. Steam started coming out of Marilyn's ears at that crack, and she demanded to know exactly who they were.

Dawn told her that they were part of Team Rocket, and they were obviously here to steal Marilyn's Pokémon. And I had a sneaking suspicion that if they were here, then the referee was really James. I ran to him and ripped off his hat and glasses, and sure enough, it WAS James. He shrieked in fear and ran for Marilyn's bag and grabbed her Pokéballs, and together the trio ran for it. Marilyn refused to let them take her Pokémon, and had Shellder use 'Brine' to propel itself and knock Team Rocket down. When Shellder collided with them, they dropped the Pokéballs and Marilyn easily caught them. Then Marilyn ordered Shellder to use 'Ice Beam' and freeze Team Rocket solid. After that was accomplished, Brock had Happiny use 'Pound' and sent Team Rocket flying away.

After all that, we watched Marilyn cuddle with her Shellder, it was clear that we had finally gotten through to her, she did love her Shellder, and Shellder, in my opinion, looked as happy as it could be to be loved by Marilyn again. Finally, the sun began to set, and Dawn was notified by Nurse Joy that her package had arrived…Dawn opened it…and my worst fears were realized.

Normal POV

"Awesome! Mom really came through this time!" Dawn exclaimed, as she held up her new winter outfit: a red, wool parka jacket that hugged her figure, and it had four pink balls of cotton in the front. And she had also received a fluffy white scarf, and a pair of white socks that reached her knees to replace her black ones, "I'm gonna go try it on right now!" Dawn ran off to the nearest restroom to go change.

"Let's see what else we have here." Brock rummaged through the box and found two male jackets, "Hey, now these are nice! Here Ash, this one's yours." Brock tossed Ash his jacket, and the black-haired trainer caught it with his face, which brought giggles from Misty. "Nice catch big guy." Brock chuckled.

"Very funny." Ash mumbled through the jacket. He took the jacket off his face and put it on and looked in a nearby mirror. It was a blue jacket with a black collar, and black stripes that went around the elbows. He decided to leave it open, which made him look cooler in his opinion. "What do you think Mist?" he asked, turning at different angles to give his girlfriend a better look.

"Very handsome Mr. Ketchum, that color works on you." Misty said sincerely, despite her current hesitance towards her own outfit.

"Well what about me then?" Brock asked, doing the same as Ash did. His jacket was the same as Ash's, with the only difference being the actual size of the jacket. But Brock closed his jacket, and in doing so, revealed that another large, vertical black stripe came down from the collar all the way to the bottom of the jacket, "You don't have anything to say about ol' Brock?" he asked, feigning hurt.

"Of course, you look muy macho Brock, very manly." Misty said teasingly, "Now if only I could wear mine." Misty sighed, as she held up her own outfit. It was a dark purple parka jacket with a ring of fuzz near the bottom, and it too came with a pair of long white socks and a scarf, but just like Dawn's, it was very short, and that made the fashionably modest water-trainer uncomfortable.

Ash looked Misty's outfit over and then looked at Misty, confused as to what the problem was. "I don't get it Mist, what's the problem with it? It looks just like Dawn's." he said, as he took off his jacket and placed it in his backpack.

Misty stammered incoherently for a moment, as she tried to decide what words she could use to explain to Ash exactly why she didn't like the parka. Finally she just gave up, narrowed her eyes at him and snapped, "It's none of your business!" Misty hurried off to the restroom, and ran into Dawn on the way, "Dawn, I gotta talk to you!" Misty said, sticking her finger up into Dawn's face with anger.

Dawn merely moved Misty's finger with a sweet smile, "Ok sure, but first, how do I look?" she asked as she did a little twirl, the end of her scarf softly grazing the back of her neck when she finished the turn.

Misty face-palmed, and followed up by sliding her hand all the way down her face with frustration, "You look like you Dawn, which is fine for YOU." she grumbled.

"What's eating you?" Dawn asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'll tell you what's eating me! Remember in Canalave City when I was trying to talk to you?" Misty asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, what about it?" Dawn replied, an eyebrow now raised at the irate redhead.

"I was trying to tell you that…well that…" Misty growled, she was trying to control her temper, but she couldn't keep it controlled. She held up the parka and shook it angrily in her fist, "I can't wear this Dawn! With all due respect to you, your mom, and both of your senses of fashion, I absolutely HATE short skirts!"

"Is that all that's bothering you? REALLY?" Dawn asked incredulously, "Come on Misty, all you had to do was just tell me and I'd talk to my mom, we're not leaving until tomorrow, that's plenty of time for my mom to find you something else."

Misty sighed and ran her free hand through her orange hair, "Sorry Dawn…I'm just really bothered by the thought of…look, never mind…I'll call my sisters, and I'll get them to send me some cold weather pants or something."

"There you go! See, you CAN wear it! Just make a few changes here and there." Dawn replied.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Dawn…I just didn't like the idea of guys we could compare to Conway being disgusting towards me." Misty said.

"Ohhh, now I understand." Dawn smirked, "I get you Misty, but I guess it never really bothered ME is all. Although in hindsight I guess it SHOULD. Ah well, to each her own right?"

Misty smirked back at her coordinator friend, "Yeah, I guess so." Misty looked back at the boys who were talking, "Just be careful you don't run into Marilyn with that on, she might freak out on you."

Dawn made a disgusted face at the thought of that, "Like I want HER opinion."

The two girls laughed, and Dawn went over to get the boys' opinions. Misty on the other hand, headed over to the videophones and contacted the gym, "Come on Daisy, pick up already." She grumbled as she waited for her oldest sister to pick up the phone. Finally the phone picked up, and there was Daisy in her usual attire, "Hey Daisy!"

"Misty! Like, how's it going out there?" Daisy asked.

"Pretty good...we're here in Snowpoint City now, which actually partly explains why I'm calling." Misty replied.

"Wait wait wait, like, before you say anything, I HAVE to know, how's it going between you and your little boyfriend?" Daisy asked teasingly, her lips upturned into a small smirk.

"Well since you just HAVE to know," Misty said sarcastically, "Ash and I actually got into a fight the other day…" she said seriously; her heart started to hurt as she remembered that awful day.

"Like, that happens little sis, believe me…is everything ok NOW though?" Daisy asked, somewhat concerned for her little sister's well-being.

"Yeah, we made up…" Misty got cutoff by Daisy.

"And made out right?" Daisy teased, giggling a little when she saw Misty's flustered expression.

"You just HAD to go there didn't you?" Misty huffed incredulously, looking around the Center so as not to lay eyes on her sister.

"I can't help it! It's like, just so great that my little sister has someone to love her." Daisy giggled sweetly.

"Speaking of which, how's it going with you and Tracey?" Misty asked with a smirk, hoping to turn the tables on her sister. But Misty frowned when she saw Daisy's expression turn sour, "Daisy, what happened?"

"Tracey and I aren't talking right now." Daisy said simply, turning her gaze away from her younger sister.

"Daisy why? What did Tracey do that made you so mad?" Misty asked with concern.

"Yesterday I got all dressed up to go on a dinner date, Tracey had like, promised to take me on the best date he could offer me…and just five minutes before he was like, due, he called to tell me that something had like, come up…I had a good feeling what that SOMETHING was, I mean, he never even like, gave me an explanation, he just told me something was up and that he like, couldn't say what. Well, I got all mad, and I basically told him to like, go meet with that 'person' he couldn't tell me about and I hung up, I haven't spoken to him since." Daisy finished her story and crossed her arms.

Misty studied her sister's expression; this was very unlike Daisy to be upset over a date being called off. All the previous guys she had gone out with, she didn't really care if they blew her off since they weren't anything special to her…but this, this was new. It was clear to Misty that Daisy, her older sister, the eldest Sensational Sister of Cerulean City, was really, sincerely, in love, "Daisy, take it from someone who travelled with him, Tracey is NOT the cheater type, in fact, he's the most honest guy you'll ever meet, heh, I'd even go as far to say he's more trustworthy than my Ash is."

"That's what I thought too." Daisy huffed, reiterating the turn of her head, her long blonde hair swishing as she did so.

"Daisy, I've known Tracey to do this sort of thing before, and I know EXACTLY why he does it." Misty said.

This got Daisy's attention, "Really? Why?" she asked, looking back towards her little sister.

"Tracey tends to get involved in a lot of situations back at Prof. Oak's lab…sometimes dangerous situations…I remember once he almost got killed when one of Ash's Tauros got sick and went on a feverish rampage…I'm gonna take a wild guess and say he didn't want you to worry." Misty explained.

Daisy's hands made their way over to her heart, and her mouth was now slightly ajar when she heard Misty's explanation…she felt so guilty now, she had yelled at the Pokémon watcher for reasons that had all been made up in her head, she could only imagine how badly she had devastated the gentle young man she had titled her boyfriend, "Misty…I did a bad thing." she whimpered, her lip quivering slightly.

"No Daisy, you just overreacted, that's all…it was a mistake…you're a Sensational Sister, a celebrity throughout Kanto, but you're still human, entitled to making human mistakes. And I guarantee you it's not irreversible either sis, all you gotta do is call Tracey at the lab and talk to him!" Misty exclaimed.

Daisy's eyes suddenly widened, "No." she said.

"Wha – no? Whaddya mean no?" Misty asked in shock.

"I can't JUST call him Misty, I gotta like, fix this in person! Thanks for talking to me little sis, you may have just saved my whole social life!" Daisy got up to leave.

When she saw her sister take off, Misty remembered exactly why she had called to begin with, "Daisy wait!" she cried out.

Daisy poked her head back into the camera's view, "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't wanna keep you away from Tracey, so could you get Lily or Violet? I gotta get something from over there." Misty replied, sighing with relief that her sister had heard her.

"I can't get them, they're like, at the spa…I'm manning the gym on my own…heh…now I know how YOU felt when we took off on that cruise…almost makes me feel guilty for leaving…" Daisy chuckled dryly.

"I already forgave you guys sis, besides, I had Tracey to help me, just like you do." Misty replied with a comforting smile.

Daisy smiled, "I really am lucky to have a sister like you, I wish I had realized it a lot sooner."

"You realize it now, that's all that matters." Misty smiled.

"Yeah…so, what did you need?" Daisy asked.

"Well like I said at the beginning of this conversation…we're in Snowpoint City, and it's ridiculously cold here…Dawn's mom got us all cold-weather clothes but…I don't like it." Misty held up the parka and let her sister look it over.

"I don't see the problem with it, like, what's wrong with it? I think it'd look really like, cute on you. The color works if nothing else." Daisy said, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

"I like the look Daisy, and I'd be more than glad to wear it, but the problem is it's way too short! I've run into a few…creeps out here, and I don't wanna give them any sort of reason to eyeball me." Misty said, trying to choose her words carefully.

"Ohh, I get it." Daisy smirked, "That like, comes with the Sensational Sister genetics Misty, when you like, finally reach your peak, you're gonna give me, Lily, and Violet a run for our money."

Misty blushed furiously, it was pretty obvious to her where Daisy was going with that, "Honestly Daisy, you're embarrassing." she hissed.

Daisy giggled, "Oh get over it Misty, accept the fact that you're gonna like, be a smokin' hot woman when you grow up, might as well like, get used to it." Daisy replied with a wink, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I think I'll have to sign up for a martial arts class then." Misty deadpanned, "Well whatever, can you guys send me something I can wear along with this?"

"Yeah, hang on." Daisy got up and came with a pair of black leggings, "Here, black goes with anything, so you'll be warm, modest, and STILL fashionable!" Daisy said with a smile, as she sent the piece of clothing to her little sister.

Misty received it and folded it up since her sister had sent it over all sloppily, "Thanks big sis, now get going! If I know Tracey, the poor guy is all bummed out." Misty said, smiling sadly.

"I know, I like, feel SOOO guilty, but I'm gonna fix everything now! Thanks little sis!" Daisy hung up, and left Misty by herself.

"Well, another job well done, AND I got something to go with this parka." Misty went to go change at last; she looked herself over in the mirror, and smiled at the sight…she had to admit, Daisy was right, she looked good in her current attire, the parka did accentuate her curves quite nicely, and the black leggings assured that her modesty was maintained despite how short the parka reached. "Ash is gonna flip when he sees me!" the thought of Ash seeing her in her winter outfit for the first time made her giggle almost involuntarily; she just couldn't wait to reveal herself!

"So what was up with Misty anyway?" Ash asked, scratching his head curiously.

"I'm sure she'll tell you, IF she wants you to know." Dawn replied with a smirk, "So you REALLY think I look good in this?" she asked the two boys.

"Yes Dawn, you look great…" Ash replied apathetically. Ash meant no offense to Dawn, but he wasn't at all interested in how she looked, he was interested in how his Misty would look, and for some reason unknown to him, Misty was refusing to wear the parka Dawn's mom had sent. But then he turned around and saw Misty coming out of the restroom, and he felt his heartbeat accelerate immediately.

"So, how do I look?" Misty asked, doing a little twirl to give the others a full view, despite the fact that the only opinion she actually cared about was Ash's, "And please don't go all silent on me again." she added teasingly.

Ash blushed and smiled, "I'm not gonna be silent, you're looking good Misty, I really like it." Ash replied sheepishly. Ash figured that the more things Misty put on, the more used to it he'd get, and it'd be easier for him to react in a way that would actually get his feelings across without making him look dumbfounded.

"Where'd you get the leggings Misty?" Dawn asked.

"Daisy pulled 'em out for me, they're warm, they're fashionable, according to her that is, and they'll keep my modesty intact." Misty said, putting emphasis on her final point.

"That's great Mist, I dunno about you, but I don't want every guy we go by to be giving you the onceover. I'm glad you decided to wear something under that." Ash said.

Brock and Dawn looked at Ash in shock, where on earth did that comment come from? "I actually thought you'd be disappointed." Dawn said, trying to get a reaction from the raven-haired trainer.

"Huh? Why?" Ash's eyes suddenly widened, "Dawn! I'm not that kind of guy!" he yelled in horror.

"Took you a second to get it huh?" Dawn laughed.

"I don't care about that stuff Dawn, what I DO care about is making sure that Misty is safe from guys who might try to take advantage of her!" Ash replied, his fists clenched in anger at the mere thought.

"Appreciated Ash, but like I told your mom the day we told her we were together, do I look like the kind of girl who's gonna let some guy take advantage of me? Or do I need to remind you of all the beatings I gave you when we were younger?" Misty commented.

"Hey, I was ten, you were a head taller than I was at the time, and you were still scrawny then so no guy WANTED to take advantage of you." Ash replied matter-of-factly.

Misty slowly reeled back, shocked that Ash had gone there, but when she saw that Ash now had his hands over his mouth in horror, she smirked. She knew he hadn't meant to say that, but she figured she could have some fun with him now, "Oh no, you did NOT just call me scrawny AGAIN." she said, as she started taking steps towards her terrified boyfriend.

Ash started backing up with his hands up defensively, "Wai-wai-wai-wai-wai-wait! Wait! Wait a sec! Lemme be clear! I said BACK THEN you were scrawny, I mean no offense Mist but…you weren't the uh…uh…" Ash blushed; the language he'd have to use to reverse his "scrawny" comment was not something he felt comfortable using.

"Yes? Go ahead, I'm waiting." Misty said with mock patience. She knew Ash wouldn't have the guts to use those kinds of terms; he was all too pure and clean-hearted. He had been well raised, she had to give Delia props for that, he knew very well what was respectable and what wasn't, and he knew EVEN BETTER evidently that certain parts of a woman were none of his business, he had only used scrawny because that was a habitual term leftover from their constant argument days, but there was no way he would make any sort of reference to her curves OR the lack thereof when they were younger. As long as Ash was gonna try though, Misty would have fun watching him squirm while he tried to think of a way out of this mess he had put himself into.

After much thinking of words and then tossing them out because they sounded bad, Ash dropped his hands and his head and sighed in defeat, "I give up, just beat the snot out of me and let's move on."

The whole group laughed at Ash's response, and instead of beating him up, Misty walked up and kissed Ash on the cheek, "I love you Ash, thank you for trying to protect me, I appreciate it." she giggled, as she hugged his arm.

Ash looked up and then down at Misty – albeit he didn't have to look TOO FAR down – and blushed as he looked down at the redhead hugging his arm, he also had to take a silent sigh of relief that since becoming his girlfriend, Misty's temper and hostility towards him had dropped dramatically, because the Misty he had grown up with, would've knocked him to the ground without a second thought.

"You should consider yourself lucky Misty, there aren't a lot of guys out there like Ash, let's not forget Conway and Kendall who gave ME the creeps during the academy." Dawn said, shivering at the remembrance.

"It's people like Conway, Kendall, and guys like Wilkinson yesterday, that make me wanna wear modest clothing, it's ridiculous how many players we've run into here in Sinnoh." Misty replied.

"And that's why I wanna make sure my girlfriend is safe, and I'll make sure she's safe either with my fists, or with Pikachu's 'Thunderbolt'! Right Pikachu?" Ash looked around and noticed that Pikachu was nowhere to be found, "Hey, what happened to Pikachu?"

"I've got a pretty good idea." Misty walked over to Dawn's backpack and started rummaging through it.

"What are you looking for Misty?" Dawn asked curiously.

Misty found what she was looking for and pulled it out, "Here, whose is this?" Misty tossed the object over to Dawn, who fumbled with it for a moment as she was caught off guard.

When she finally got a good grip on it, she examined it, "It's Buneary's Pokéball." Then she realized where Misty was coming from, "Ohh, I get it." Dawn smirked, "Looks like Pikachu went to get some private time with Buneary." Dawn opened the Pokéball and was not shocked to find it was indeed empty.

"Ok, then where's Piplup?" Brock asked, noting that Dawn's Pokémon partner was also missing.

The group looked around and didn't find any sign of the penguin, and then Dawn looked down into the box that held Ash and brock's jackets, and saw Piplup taking a snooze inside. "I think Piplup's all worn out." Dawn giggled, gently taking the penguin out of the box and holding him tenderly in her arms.

"It has been a long day." Brock commented.

"Yeah, and we've got ANOTHER long day tomorrow. I think we should get some sleep." Dawn suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Ash replied, stretching out with a yawn.

"You guys go on ahead, Dawn and I are gonna get changed." Misty said.

Ash and Brock nodded and headed towards the rooms, and when they walked into their designated room, they found Pikachu and Buneary snoozing together on Dawn's bed, content smiles plastered on their faces as they quietly slept. "Boy, Pikachu really likes Buneary huh?" Ash commented quietly so as not to wake the two sleeping Pokémon.

"Looks like it. And to think he never would've found that sort of happiness if you hadn't fallen in love with Misty as hard as you did." Brock replied, as he pulled his pajama clothes out of his backpack, "Just like you, Pikachu's not a little kid anymore, you both have matured and grown throughout your journey, and with that comes new benefits and new responsibilities."

"Yeah, I guess we're both pretty lucky to have awesome girls in our lives." Ash went over and scratched Pikachu behind the ears, which made the yellow mouse gently regain consciousness. Pikachu looked up at his master with some confusion as to why he had woken him, "You and Buneary make an awesome team buddy, just like Misty and I make an awesome team. I'm really glad we've both been able to find someone special." Ash whispered, so as not to wake the still sleeping rabbit. Pikachu smiled back at his human partner, and then went back to sleeping with his new Pokémon partner, who had not even been disturbed by the short exchange of words.

By now the girls had returned, and Ash went over to Misty and randomly gave her a tight embrace, "What's this for Ash?" Misty giggled, as she was unsure of why her boyfriend had suddenly decided to give her a hug, not that she was complaining or anything.

"Oh, nothing really…it's just…you and I make a great team." Ash replied, as he softly pressed his lips against her forehead.

Misty couldn't help but blush at the sudden shower of affection Ash was giving her, "You just have this thing with spontaneously getting romantic at random times don't you?" she giggled.

"Love makes me do random things sometimes Mist, what can I say?" he laughed, as he held her tightly in his arms.

Dawn and Brock were watching the whole time, and they just rolled their eyes and went about their business. As for the Pokémon couple, they had awoken to see Ash and Misty sharing a tender moment together, and that got them to smile at each other the same way Ash and Misty were, and after a silent exchange of feelings, the two Pokémon happily fell back into a warm and cozy slumber.

Just then, the phone in the room began to ring. "I'll get it." Dawn went over and picked up the phone and held it to her ear, "Hello?"

"Is that you Dawn?" It was Nurse Joy, calling from the front desk in the lobby, "I'm very sorry to bother you, but you have a videophone call from a girl named Zoey."

"Oh yeah! I should've known Zoey would call, since we're so close to her hometown! Thanks Nurse Joy, I'll be right down!" Dawn hung up and opened the front door, "I'll be right back guys, don't wait up!" Dawn closed the door behind her, leaving the trio to themselves.

"I wonder what Zoey wants." Ash said, having since released Misty and gotten his pajamas to go change.

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say she wants to meet us in Snowpoint City tomorrow, you heard what Dawn said, it's her hometown." Misty replied, pulling out her own pajamas out of her backpack.

"Perfect, then me and my map can take a day off; Zoey can just show us around." Brock commented, as he turned off the desk lamp he just got finished using.

"Don't put your map away just yet, knowing Ash he'll probably wanna ditch the group and head straight to the gym." Misty smirked at her boyfriend just before he opened the door to the bathroom.

"Aww come on Mist, you don't have ANY faith in me?" Ash asked, as he opened the bathroom door, "I can take a day off and just relax; it'll be nice to chill after all the work we've been putting in."

"You're gonna chill alright Ash, but not necessarily by relaxing. Remember where we're heading." Misty joked.

Ash groaned playfully, "That's awful Mist, that just made me cringe." Ash closed the door and finally got himself changed, and Misty and Brock soon followed suit as they got ready for bed.

"Hey guys!" Dawn opened the door and closed it; her eyes were closed from the excitement. When she opened her eyes however, she found herself in total darkness. She blinked a couple of times to make sure it wasn't just her, and she figured, it wasn't. "Hey! When I said don't wait up I didn't think you guys would take it to heart!" she whined loudly.

The light was then turned on by Buneary, who had hopped up and pressed the button after her master had rudely awakened her. The other teens had just been woken up too, and they all winced as their eyes began to adjust to the light, "What's the matter Dawn?" Brock asked.

"Nothing, I just needed to tell you that Zoey wants to meet us tomorrow in Snowpoint City!" Dawn exclaimed cheerfully, as she too went over to get ready for bed.

"I had a feeling that was what was up." Misty commented, as she laid herself back down and stared at the ceiling, "So what time are we meeting her?"

"See that's the thing, she wants us to check something out, so we have to be in Snowpoint City by nine." Dawn replied, as she placed her hat into her backpack and pulled out her pink pajamas.

The trio suddenly sat up straight and shouted in shock, "As in A.M.?"

"Of course A.M.! It wouldn't make sense if she wanted to meet us at night! Now you all get some rest, we gotta get going bright and early!" Dawn skipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, leaving the trio to just gape at each other.

"Why is it every time Dawn goes to the videophone we have to wake up early the next day?" Ash groaned, flopping back onto the mattress and covering his face with his pillow.

"From now on, I'm going with her whenever she has to talk." The trio just turned off the light again, if Dawn wanted to find her way, she'd have to feel her way to her bed, in their eyes, it served her right.

The next morning, Dawn was awake at six in the morning, "Oh no, not again!" the trio woke up when they heard Dawn's horrified shriek from the bathroom, "Misty! Help me!"

"Oooaaahh…" Misty groaned and flopped onto the mattress, "She's having a bad hair day again."

"Go on Mist, you're the only one who can help her." Ash mumbled through his pillow.

"Right…I feel SOOO special." Misty stretched and reluctantly threw the covers off her, and in the process did the same to Ash, not that she really cared at the moment. Misty opened the door and didn't even bother to examine the situation, "Gimme the brush and sit down." She grumbled.

"Thank you Misty, I'm SO sorry!" Dawn sat down on the toilet cover, which happened to be the only thing that could be sat down on in that particular bathroom, "At least it's not as bad as when Haunter did something to it."

"When did Haunter do something to your hair?" Misty asked, as she messed with a tangle of blue hair.

"Oh please, remember the first day at the Summer Academy? It had to be Haunter pulling something, I told you it NEVER got as bad as it did that day." Dawn replied.

"Whatever Dawn, maybe I'll care AFTER I stop sleep-brushing." Misty grumbled.

"Again, sorry about this." Dawn said sheepishly.

Finally, after much struggling, the group was able to get underway, and after about an hour of walking, they reached Snowpoint City, and surely enough, they ran into their other redheaded friend, "ZOEY!" Dawn called out.

Upon hearing the perpetually cheery voice, Zoey laughed and turned to find her four friends waving at her, "Hi guys! You're right on time!" Zoey exclaimed, pointing at her Pokétch that now read 9:00 A.M. right on the dot.

"Well of course, right on time!" Dawn said matter-of-factly, "After all, my mom says to always keep your appointments and be punctual!" she said proudly.

"Of course the one thing you didn't mention was that if I hadn't helped you with that stupid bedhead of yours again we would've been like three hours late." Misty replied, her eyes narrowed at the blue-haired coordinator.

Dawn sweat-dropped and laughed nervously, which brought giggles from the other redhead, "Anyway, it's been a long time hasn't it?" Zoey asked, trying to bail her friend out.

"It has! The last time must've been when you and Ash battled against Fantina." Brock replied.

"You're right Brock." Zoey then turned her attention to Ash, "Ash, I know you lost your exhibition battle against Fantina, but what about your official gym battle?"

A gleam appeared in Ash's eye as he pulled his badge case out of his backpack, and opened it up for Zoey to see his badges, "Just check it out, I won that one big time!"

"Alright, that's awesome!" Zoey replied.

"Hey, I just noticed something." Misty said, eyeing Zoey, "You're not wearing anything different, aren't you cold?"

"Are you kidding? I grew up here remember? Anywhere else I go I'm sweating like crazy…this…this is home; this is the weather I live for." Zoey replied, her arms spread out as she admired her snowy hometown.

"I can't wait for you to show us around, to think this is the place where you were born." Dawn said.

"Yeah," Zoey replied, reminiscing on her younger days, "Sparkling white with snow…welcome to Snowpoint City!"

The group made their way down the hill that led to Snowpoint City, and before long they found themselves walking through the winter wonderland Zoey called home. "Being back here must be like a homecoming for you, huh Zoey?" Misty said, as she looked around at the sights.

"Yeah. One of the things I always liked about Snowpoint City was the peace and quiet; even the people here are peaceful and quiet. It's really a great place to recharge the old batteries." Zoey replied.

The group looked around in awe, Zoey was right; the place really was quite peaceful. That is until a huge green and white figure burst out of a nearby tree, holding a large chunk of ice over its head. "Everybody get back, quick!" Zoey exclaimed, "Quick Glameow, go!" Zoey sent her Pokémon partner to break up the attack, and with a swift swish of its corkscrewed tail, Glameow broke up the attack and landed gracefully on its feet.

"So what's this all about?" Ash said, his fist clenched as his blood got going.

"Lemme see what that is." Dawn pulled out her pink Pokédex and scanned the creature Glameow was currently facing off against.

"Abomasnow, the Frost Tree Pokémon, and the evolved form of Snover. Abomasnow appear when snow flowers bloom, and return to places unknown when the petals fall." the Pokédex chirped.

"Abomasnow COULD be a wild Pokémon." Brock suggested.

In response, a voice made a buzzer sound, "Guess again!" the voice exclaimed. The group looked up and saw a girl who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old sitting in the tree, "Zo-Zo and Glameow. Welcome back!"

Zoey cupped her hands like a megaphone and called back up to the girl in the tree, "It's ALWAYS a wild welcome from you, eh Ms. Senior?" Zoey replied cheekily.

Suddenly stars appeared in the eyes of the girl who Zoey had called Ms. Senior, and she squealed excitedly as she jumped out of the tree and got up close to Misty and Dawn, her eyes sparkling as she slowly got closer and closer to the two uneasy teens, "That is SO cute! You've got to tell me where did you get it?" The other members of the group, Pokémon included, sweat-dropped as the girl continued to ramble about Misty and Dawn's outfits.

"Um, actually my mom sent them to us…" Dawn replied, smiling nervously.

"If your mother sent them they must be handmade! You two are so lucky!" the girl squealed.

Finally Zoey had enough and got in-between her friend and Misty and Zoey, "Ms. Senior, AT LEAST introduce yourself!" she exclaimed, snapping the girl out of her trance.

"Oh…" the sparkles disappeared from the girl's eyes as she backed away from the now relieved Misty and Dawn. The girl then ran back over to her Abomasnow and struck a pose, "Hi! The name is Candice and I'm the Gym Leader of the Snowpoint Gym!"

Upon hearing this information, the group gasped in shock, all except for Zoey of course. "Gym Leader?" Ash ran up to Candice and stared her in the eye, "I'm Ash from Pallet Town, and I'm here because I wanna challenge the Snowpoint Gym!"

Upon hearing that, Candice clasped her hands in happiness and started hopping around like a little girl, "Yippee! We haven't had a challenger in so long!"

"Zoey, how old is Candice?" Misty asked.

"I know what you're thinking. The truth is she's seventeen years old, but she acts like she's ten." Zoey replied with a sweat-drop.

"How come you haven't had a challenger in so long?" Ash asked curiously.

"I'll answer your questions in a sec, in the meantime, why don't you let me and Zo-Zo show you around?" Candice suggested.

"I was actually doing that BEFORE you freaked out on us Ms. Senior." Zoey replied.

"Oops, sorry, it's just that things have been a little on the slow side at my gym these days." Candice explained, as the group followed her through the city.

"Slow huh? Wow, that's too bad." Ash replied.

"When you live in a town that's this far north and this cold with not much to do here, challengers don't come around all that much." Candice laughed a bit, "But it's cool, I wouldn't trade my home for all the challengers in the world."

"Boy, I know what it feels like to have a gym without a whole lot of challengers around." Brock said.

"I WISH I knew how that felt, when I took over the gym it felt like getting a day off was impossible." Misty added.

"What are you two talking about?" Candice asked curiously.

"See Ms. Senior, Brock used to be the Gym Leader at the Pewter Gym over in the Kanto Region, and Misty was the Gym Leader at the Cerulean City Gym." Zoey explained.

"Really? Wow! So that means we've got the same job then! So are you guys on vacation?" Candice asked.

"Uh, you might say that." Misty giggled and quickened her pace for a moment so that she was side-by-side with her boyfriend, and she quickly made a move for his hand, and needless to say Ash had no trouble grabbing on. Not to mention the fact that Misty's hand felt warm and his were freezing.

"Oooh, I see what you mean." Candice giggled, "And what about you Brock? Did you find true love here in Sinnoh too? Are you and Zo-Zo hooked up?" Candice got the reaction she was looking for.

"Ms. Senior!" Zoey blushed, purely out of embarrassment of course; there was nothing she had to hide. Zoey thought Brock was a great friend, but she was definitely not romantically interested.

"Should I take that as a yes?" Candice kept pushing, hoping to get Zoey to react further.

"No, we're not together." Brock came to Zoey's rescue with that comment, "See, what I'm REALLY doing here in Sinnoh, besides making sure Ash stays alive…" he got cut off.

"Hey, I heard that!" Ash exclaimed angrily.

Brock laughed before continuing, "Actually my family's running the gym now, so now I'm out and about, doing some training to become a Pokémon Breeder."

"Awesome." Candice turned her head forward again, and she then pointed towards a building, "Look, up ahead! See that? That's the Pokémon Trainer School!"

"And that's where we went to school." Zoey added.

"Oh, so THAT'S why you call her Ms. Senior." Dawn said.

"Her Senior to your Junior, right Zoey?" Misty added.

"So you figured it out then huh?" Zoey replied.

"But with so much free time on my hands, I've actually become a teacher at the school now." Candice explained.

"Wow, so you're a Gym Leader AND a teacher." Ash said.

"Must be nice to have free time." Misty joked.

"Too much free time can be a bad thing," Candice then turned her attention to Ash, "So Ash, how many gym badges do you have?"

"I've got six." Ash replied.

"Wow, that's great!" Suddenly Candice got an idea, "Hey, I wonder if I can show you off as an example to my students at training school!"

"You mean battling?" Ash asked, his excitement already starting to build up.

"No," that deflated Ash a bit, "I'd really like you to help me teach a class. I think it would be a great experience for all of them." Candice said, as she rubbed Pikachu's head gently as they walked, "Could we have our gym battle a little later?"

"I'd be happy to do anything I can." Ash replied, "What do you think Pikachu?" he asked. Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

"Anything YOU can do Ash, amounts to a big, fat, ZERO." Misty said, "It's clear to me that you don't know Ash very well Candice. Ash is a wiz on the battlefield, but he's a complete DUNCE in the classroom."

"Hey! It's a Pokémon training school! How hard can it be? I've been training for over four years now!" Ash replied.

"I know, I was there for most of the time. And let's not forget who it was that got you on the right track every time you screwed up." Misty heckled.

"That would be Brock." Ash replied snidely.

"Hey, leave me out of this." Brock said, raising his hands up in self-defense.

"You're gonna get like this on me NOW? You had no problem giving me due credit a while back." Misty said.

"That was BEFORE you called me a dunce." Ash replied, "You've got yourself an example trainer Candice. I'll show Misty what I can do."

"Uh, great…I guess…" Candice had been taken aback by the couple's sudden change of attitude towards each other. What was even MORE shocking to her however, was that despite their argument, they were STILL holding hands.

"All you'll prove is what I said. You and classrooms DO NOT MIX." Misty replied, looking in the opposite direction of Ash.

"We'll see." Ash did the same as Misty.

Candice turned back to her old friend Zoey, "Does this happen often?"

Brock answered for her, "Not as often as it used to." he said with a sweat-drop.

"He would know." Zoey added.

"Speaking of knowing…" Candice turned around and winked as she pointed at Zoey, "Zoey, I know you need to get your kiai on too!"

"Yeah…I hear you." Zoey replied with a sweat-drop.

That reaction caught Dawn off guard, "Is something wrong?" she asked.

Zoey hung her head a moment and sighed, "Take a look." Zoey pulled out her ribbon case and showed its contents to everyone, "I just can't seem to earn my fifth ribbon."

Dawn chuckled a little, "Yeah, same here. One more to go."

Candice walked up and leaned up against Zoey, who sweat-dropped at the slightly order girl, "Zo-Zo, you already managed to get four ribbons, but when it comes to number five you fall just a LITTLE BIT short. So this is your Ms. Senior with a BIG news flash! Put kiai into it!"

The rest of the group just stared at Candice, what in the world was "kiai" anyway? Dawn decided to ask, "The thing is…what in the world is kiai?"

"I think Ms. Senior's telling me I need to battle." Zoey explained with a sigh.

Candice snapped her fingers, "Bingo!" she exclaimed, "But before we do that, I want Zo-Zo to see how good all my students are, how hard they all work, and remember your roots!"

"Alright Ms. Senior, I hear ya." Zoey chuckled.

"Good! Then let's go!" Candice led the group to the front of the building, where all sorts of different trainers and Pokémon were going in to attend their classes.

"The Pokémon Trainer School…the place where you study the basic handling of Pokémon up until the age of ten. Boy this brings back memories." Zoey said, as she admired her old schoolhouse.

"Maybe if Ash had attended a school like this, he wouldn't have been so clueless as to use Pikachu against Brock's rock-types when he started out on his journey." Misty snickered.

"You just WON'T let that go, will you?" Ash replied exasperatedly, shaking his head.

"How many times did I offer to let you use one of my water-types? Like a dozen? Water beats rock, BASIC. Your failure to comprehend that just drove me crazy back then." Misty said.

"Apparently it STILL drives you crazy." Ash grumbled.

"Your past mistakes drive me crazy, YOU do not, at least not nearly as often as you used to." Misty replied.

"Will you two just knock it off?" Dawn exclaimed, annoyed by the constant bickering, "Maybe the cold is affecting you two, but you've been griping ever since we got here!"

"Yeah, just relax. We're here, so why don't you enjoy the exclusive tour?" Zoey added.

"Fine." the two replied.

"Anyway…although the main reason for the school's existence is for younger children, there IS another course that older students can take as well." Zoey explained.

"Yeah? What's that?" Ash asked.

Zoey shushed Ash as Candice's students began to file in, "It's a special course indeed," she whispered, "Everyone here got their first Pokémon, but for one reason or another all these people had to interrupt their Pokémon journeys…you see, unlike most schools, THIS school has a practical side."

Finally, Candice walked up to the front of the classroom and greeted her students, who greeted her back. People of all ages, both men and women, had filed in for Candice's class. And since coming inside, Candice had taken off her sweater and wrapped it around her waist, "Today I've got a special treat for you! We're lucky enough to have a very special guest. He's come all the way from Kanto's Pallet Town to challenge me here at the Snowpoint Gym, and his name is Ash. Ash, come on up!"

Ash chuckled and put his hand behind his head as he walked up to join Candice at the front of the classroom, "Hey everyone, thanks for having me." he laughed a bit.

"Look at him eat up the attention." Misty scoffed, her arms crossed with disgust.

"Ash has earned an INCREDIBLE six badges," Candice said, which made her class gasp in awe, "Would you like to show everyone Ash?" she asked.

"Sure!" Ash pulled out his badge case and laughed, as he showed off his achievements.

One of the adults shouted in shock, "Wow! You're the real thing!" he said.

"Land sakes, and he's still so young!" a woman added, her hand over her mouth in awe.

"Oh please, betcha he forgot how he wound up getting them." Misty grumbled.

"Misty, come on already! What's your problem huh?" Brock asked, his irritation towards the water-trainer increasing.

"Nothing!" Misty threw up her hands in surrender and then crossed them again. Why did Ash get to have all this attention? He wasn't that book smart. And she was willing to bet anything that he wouldn't share any of the credit for his success.

"Ash, would you mind giving everyone here a motto on how to win a gym battle?" Candice asked.

"A motto huh? Lemme see…" Ash thought about it for a moment, and then came up with an answer, "My advice is that the best defense is a good OFFENSE!" he exclaimed determinedly. While the students gasped and started taking notes, he caught a glimpse of Misty, who was obviously growing more disgusted as he continued on…he wasn't liking the fact that he had been fighting with Misty ever since Candice had asked him to be an example of what a good trainer was…and as he pondered this…he realized that the answer he had just given Candice's students, wasn't REALLY the key to his success. "But…" he said, getting the students' attention once more, and even Candice had been caught off guard. "If you REALLY wanna succeed as a trainer…it's all about relationships…" Ash looked over again, and noticed that he had caught Misty's attention too, and she seemed more shocked than angry now, "I always say that the most important thing, whether you're a gym battler, a coordinator, or if you haven't decided yet…the single most important thing, is to be one with your Pokémon, to be friends with them, have faith in them, and to build an unbreakable bond between you and them…and when you get that relationship established, there'll be no limit to what you can accomplish together." he looked once more, Misty was actually smiling. "I've been really lucky to have Pikachu as my partner," he pet Pikachu for a moment, "And once we became friends, we became an awesome team…and not only have I been lucky with amazing Pokémon, I have amazing HUMAN friends who've been there since I first started out on my journey, and since then I've made a lot of new friends too. They've shown me how I can improve, they've strengthened me when I needed it most, they helped me turn into the trainer that I am today…and to be completely honest, if it weren't for them…Brock, Dawn, Zoey…Misty…I NEVER would've made it as far as I have."

The class had nothing to say, but they DID applaud Ash for giving them such a heartfelt speech. Ash looked over to where his friends were, and they too were clapping. Even Misty seemed to approve, as she winked at him as she continued to clap with everyone else. "Looks like that's it for the arguing. Thank goodness." Ash sighed inwardly; relieved that Misty's temper had been quelled.

"Thank you Ash, I one-hundred percent agree with everything you just said…except the part about offense being the best defense, that's debatable." Candice said. Ash face-faulted at that, earning chuckles from everyone in the room. "Now class, our assignment today will be to do some studying right along with Ash."

"Right!" the class exclaimed in unison.

"And Misty, Dawn, you two are welcome to join us if you like." Candice offered.

"Alright! Whaddya say Piplup?" Dawn asked. Piplup chirped excitedly in response.

"This could be fun, why not?" Misty added.

The two girls found seats, leaving Brock and Zoey to themselves, "She may be a teacher here at the school, but she's also a Gym Leader as well, she could be testing Ash while hiding it by asking him questions." Brock theorized.

"Hmm…maybe." Zoey pondered this for a moment, it DID make sense the more she thought about it.

Ash had sat himself down next to a man named Jeremiah and his Skuntank, while Misty and Dawn sat on either side of a light-blue haired man who evidently wanted nothing to do with them. "What's his problem?" they both thought.

"So now it's time for Candice class!" Candice exclaimed, "I call this the 'Quick Kiai Quiz', press the button on your desk before you answer."

"A quiz?" Ash gasped in horror.

Jeremiah calmly placed his hand on the button and turned towards Ash, "It's good practice for winning a Pokémon Battle you know." he said.

"A Pokémon Battle…" Ash then decided to give it a shot, "Right!" he placed his hand on the button with determination, as he focused in and readied himself for the quiz.

"I love this kind of quiz, great! Piplup, you watch!" Dawn was obviously quite excited for the quiz, as she placed her hand on the button and readied herself.

"Alright then…oh?" Candice was about to start when she noticed something, "Misty, where's your Pokémon? If you're gonna participate, you need to have a Pokémon with you."

"Oh, uh, ok." Misty had been caught off guard by being singled out, but she quickly recovered and reached for a Pokéball, "Alright Azurill, let's…" Misty was cutoff when a white light emerged and Psyduck popped up next to her, "Why now?" she asked hitting her head on the desk in exasperation.

"What a cute little Psyduck you have there Misty!" Candice exclaimed.

"Yeah, he tries to be cute a lot." Misty grumbled under her breath, her eyes narrowed at the clumsy water-type as she rested her chin on her desk.

"Alright…Question One!" Candice exclaimed, "Pikachu is…" Candice was cutoff.

"Ok, I got it!" Ash exclaimed, hitting the button almost immediately. Ash's reaction time earned gasps from the regular students.

"Nice speed Ash!" Candice exclaimed, "Now I hope you're ready with your answer! You're on!"

Ash made a determined fist, "If it's about Pikachu, then I know it! The answer is, an electric-type!"

Candice suddenly made a buzzer sound, shocking Ash to no end, "Wrong!"

"Wha?" Ash exclaimed. As he looked around the room, he noticed that the entire class was staring at him with disgust. "Boy…tough crowd…"

"Overconfidence can lead to some serious mistakes," Jeremiah said, "True in quizzes AND in battles as well."

"If I may add one thing," the man sitting in-between Misty and Dawn stood up, "In a quiz like this, speed is vital…but…with a series of twists and turns you need to predict the end of the questions correctly!" he exclaimed, as he made dramatic poses.

"Good point from one of our newer students!" Candice said, impressed with this newcomer.

The student chuckled, "I may not look it but when I was a mere lad, they used to call me the prince of quizzes back in my hometown!"

Candice clapped softly in order to regain order in the classroom, "Alright, let me finish the question…Pikachu is a Mouse Pokémon, so then…" once again Candice was cut off, this time by the same student who had just finished gloating about his quizzing prowess.

"Tiny Mouse Pokémon!" he exclaimed with certainty.

Candice made another buzzer sound and smirked, "Sorry, wrong again."

The student then stood up with his hands on the desk, "Starting with the fact that Pikachu is a Mouse Pokémon would lead one to Pichu would it not?" he asked, outraged that he had been declared incorrect.

"Nope, not this time." Candice replied, "Listen closely…Pikachu is a Mouse Pokémon…what kind of Pokémon is Cyndaquil?" All the students quickly smashed down their buttons, but one student stood out, "Mr. Jeremiah was first!" Candice exclaimed, "Your answer please?"

"Fire Mouse Pokémon." Jeremiah answered.

"That's correct!" Candice exclaimed cheerfully.

"Drat! So the connection was through Mouse Pokémon!" the light blue haired student growled, his fists clenched in frustration.

"Man, this is tough." Ash said under his breath.

"Misty, everyone's so fast…" Dawn said, looking past the grumbling man next to her.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm out of my league here…if all of Candice's questions are like that one, we don't stand a chance." Misty replied.

"Now next question…" Candice said, as a swirl shape appeared on the screen behind her, "This shape is…" Candice was cut off once again, "Wow Misty, you know the answer?" Candice asked.

"I recognize that shape ANYWHERE, my instincts about water-Pokémon are never wrong, that's the signature swirl of the Poliwag evolutionary line!" Misty exclaimed with certainty.

Candice once again faked a buzzer sound and smirked, "Sorry Misty, but your instincts are wrong this time!"

"That's impossible! What else could that swirl be?" Misty exclaimed furiously.

"You'll see, listen carefully…" Candice resumed the question, "This shape is what appears in the eyes of Pokémon once they've fainted…what Pokémon ALWAYS has this shape in their eyes?" Once again the entire class buzzed in, "Mr. Jeremiah again!" Candice exclaimed.

"Spinda, Ma'am." he answered.

"Right again! Well done Mr. Jeremiah!" Candice exclaimed, "You've definitely done your homework!"

"I cannot believe this…" Misty put her head on the table in frustration, grabbing fistfuls of her hair in the process.

"Wow, even Misty got tricked…we're gonna have to be really careful Pikachu…" Ash said.

"Pika chu." (No kidding.) Pikachu frowned at his master, also shocked at just how difficult this quiz was turning out to be.

"Now, next question…Abra is…" Candice got cut off, and the entire class, included Ash, Misty, and Dawn, gasped in shock as it turned out to be Jeremiah who had hit the buzzer.

"He knows already?" Ash said under his breath, gaping at Jeremiah in shock.

"Mr. Jeremiah, your answer please?" Candice said.

"That's twenty-four hours." Jeremiah replied.

"Excellent! Right again!" Candice exclaimed.

The entire class gasped in shock once again, "An Abra is twenty-hours? What does that mean?" Dawn asked, obviously confused by the supposedly random solution to the question.

"I think it goes like this," Jeremiah proceeded to finish the question on his own, "An Abra will sleep for eighteen hours every day…ok, now how long does the smell by a Stunky last?"

"That's exactly right Mr. Jeremiah!" Candice exclaimed.

The class started applauding the man, it was clear that he was the top student there. "Whoa…talk about an awesome prediction…" Ash mumbled.

"So Ash, what did you think?" Jeremiah asked.

Ash just growled with frustration and placed his hand back on the buzzer, it was killing him that he wasn't getting a single question right, and needless to say he was getting humiliated by this man who used to sell Pokétches in Jubilife City.

"This quiz is so hard…" Dawn whispered to herself.

"He's gotta be cheating, unless he's part psychic-type, there's NO WAY anyone could come up with that connection without help." Misty grumbled.

"That guy's incredible." Brock said, awed by Jeremiah's ability to predict.

"He must study REALLY hard." Zoey added, also shocked by the knowhow of this particular student.

"Ok, next question…Meowth…what powerful move can only be learned by Meowth?" Candice asked.

The entire class waited to see if Candice was gonna pull another fast one, but she remained quiet. "This isn't a trick question!" Ash bashed his button down, but he wasn't the only one.

"Wow! Mr. Jeremiah, Ash, Misty, you all hit the button almost at the same time…but the one who hit it first was…Ash!" Candice exclaimed.

Ash exhaled with relief, "That was close."

"So, what's your answer?" Candice asked.

Ash flinched, he had forgotten about actually answering the question, he was content with just beating Jeremiah to the punch, "Uh…wait a sec, I know this!" he stammered.

"Five seconds Ash!" Candice exclaimed.

"Come on Ash, you know this! Don't let this guy beat you AGAIN!" Misty thought nervously.

"Um…it's…I got it!" Ash exclaimed suddenly, "Payday'! The answer is 'Payday'!" Ash did a fist pump in triumph, as he knew for sure that he had gotten it, and sure enough, he was right.

"That's correct! Great job Ash!" Candice exclaimed.

Ash sat back and slumped in his chair, a content smile on his face. "I didn't think I was gonna get ANY of 'em." he whispered to himself.

"Looks like Ash managed to redeem himself in everyone's eyes." Brock commented. Zoey nodded in agreement.

"Uh, excuse me?" a man in a leather jacket raised his hand up in the air, his Diglett by his side as well.

"Yes, what is it?" Candice asked.

"This quiz is supposed to have something to do with battles right?" the man asked, "I came to learn about battling."

"Alright then." Candice turned her attention to the entire class, "Is there anybody else here who was wondering the same thing?" Candice waited a few moments, and was not at all shocked to see that just about everyone had raised their hands. "I thought so. You see class; my quick quiz is designed to help tune your reflexes to be razor sharp. In a quiz, or a battle, if you can learn to read a situation accurately, it will work to your advantage." she explained, "When in a battle, your Pokémon actually does the battling, leaving all decisions to the trainer. What we're doing here is classroom exercises that will help you become a trainer your Pokémon can believe in."

"I should know as an ex-Gym Leader, she's definitely telling it straight." Brock said.

Zoey smiled and gave a thumbs-up, "That's my Ms. Senior."

"And with that, we will now break for recess! So go on outside and get busy with your Pokémon!" Candice exclaimed. The whole class headed out the door to interact with their Pokémon, "Zo-Zo, Dawn, why don't you come with me a second?" Candice requested. The two other girls shrugged and followed the Gym Leader out, while Ash, Misty, and Brock just headed outside, where Ash proceeded to fall onto his back on some grass and groan.

"This stinks. I looked like a complete IDIOT in there!" Ash growled, his eyes tightly shut in order to avoid seeing anyone.

"Relax, you simply show off your true power when you're in battle, see?" Brock consoled, kneeling down in front of the boy.

"There's no reason to feel bad about how you did in the quiz, that opening speech you made…that is, once you actually started talking about your REAL key to success," Misty added, as she sat down with her legs crossed next to her boyfriend, "That was what defined you during that class, you let them know what was TRULY important about being a trainer. If you ask me, Candice's quiz was bogus, battle instincts can't be taught."

"That's the long version of what I wanted to say," Brock laughed, "You're awesome on the battlefield. Behind a desk? Not so much."

"Gee thanks Brock, makes me feel SO much better." Ash replied sarcastically.

"You know, I've been wondering about your desk skills." A voice said.

Ash immediately recognized that voice. He opened his eyes and sat up straight, "Jeremiah!" he exclaimed.

"For a trainer with six gym badges, you don't seem to know that much. To be honest I'm surprised." Jeremiah replied.

Ash didn't really appreciate that comment, but he decided to shrug it off in order to avoid an argument, "Hey, don't worry, I'll do better next time."

"I would hope so." Jeremiah waved and walked away, a somewhat smug impression on his face.

"Looks like he's letting his quizzing skills get to his head." Misty commented, her arms crossed with frustration towards the man who had just walked away.

"I told you I looked like an idiot." Ash fell back onto his back and hid his face in his hands.

"Don't worry about it Ash, whether or not you did well on a quiz doesn't change the fact that you're a genius at gym battles." Brock reassured.

"Yeah, remember how far you've come ever since your first day of travelling. You're not the same Ash Ketchum who challenged Brock's Onix with Pikachu all those years ago; you've become someone who any trainer should look up to." Misty added.

"Yeah…maybe…" Ash sighed.

"There's no 'maybe', you ARE an awesome trainer. Don't you ever forget that." Misty planted a kiss on the discouraged trainer's cheek, and eventually a small smile emerged on Ash's face as the sweet feeling of Misty's love melted away any doubts he might've had about his skill, "That's more like it." she giggled, as Ash apparently felt better about himself now.

"Thanks Mist," he replied gratefully, "I needed that." Ash then turned his head for a moment when he realized something, "Hey, where'd Candice take Dawn and Zoey?"

"Oh yeah, she pulled them aside for something, let's look around." Misty got up and held out her hand for Ash to grab on to so she could help him up.

Ash smiled and took her hand. On his way up, he got close to her ear and whispered, "Love ya Misty."

Misty giggled and whispered back, "Love you too Ash."

Brock and Pikachu were watching the whole exchange take place, and to say that they both thought that watching the couple interact was getting old would've been an understatement, "You know what?" Brock finally said, as he placed the electric mouse on his shoulder, "Pikachu and I will go on ahead." Brock walked away in search of Dawn and the others while Ash and Misty remained blissfully unaware of Brock and Pikachu's absence.

Meanwhile, Dawn, Zoey, and Candice had all gathered in a small toolshed. There happened to be a small cat door in the wall, and Piplup was enjoying himself running back and forth through it. Zoey looked around the room and spotted what she was looking for. "Wow, it's still here!" Zoey exclaimed, referring to an old pillow that was on the floor.

"What exactly is this place?" Dawn asked, wondering why there would be a pillow and a cat door inside of a toolshed of all places.

"What do you think it is?" Candice replied; as she bent down to snuggle with Glameow, "This is where it all started for Zo-Zo and me."

"Started?" Dawn inquired curiously.

"Right Dawn. Started! This is where Zo-Zo and I raised Glameow together." Candice replied, as Glameow purred in her arms.

"Really?" she asked.

Just then, Brock came walking in with Pikachu, "What's going on here guys?" he asked, as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder to watch Piplup run back and forth through the door.

"Pika pika chu?" (What are you doing?) the electric mouse asked, an eyebrow raised at the penguin's actions.

"Pip pip piplup!" (This is so fun!) the penguin replied, not even taking a moment to stop so he could answer the question.

"You're here with Pikachu, should I assume that Ash and Misty took a detour?" Dawn asked, her arms crossed, as she was already sure of what the answer would be.

"Not really, they're just going a lot slower than I did, they'll be along in a second." Brock replied.

Just as he said that, the couple came walking in as well, hand-in-hand. "What's going on in here guys?" Ash asked.

"Ok, you know how stubborn Zo-Zo is." Candice said, catching the others off guard.

"Ms. Senior!" Zoey hissed with embarrassment.

"Well it wasn't without good reason!" Candice nuzzled Glameow's furry face, "You know exactly what I'm talking about don't you Glameow?" Glameow mewled to acknowledge.

Zoey sighed and decided to start the story, "I first met Glameow one super cold morning when I was on my way to school. She was hidden in an alley, inside a cardboard box that just a little bit of fluff on the bottom. The way I figured it, someone must've put Glameow up for someone to take her in…I just couldn't leave Glameow to freeze to death…so…I brought her back home…" Zoey explained, "But my parents told me that I couldn't have a Pokémon until I was ten years old and an official Pokémon trainer. They told me that I should take Glameow to the Pokémon Center…but I just couldn't give Glameow up, so I decided to secretly raise Glameow right here. I made a promise to myself that when I became a trainer, I would make Glameow my partner."

"Wow, that's such an amazing story Zoey!" Dawn said, touched by the emotion that the story held.

"She tried to keep it quiet but Mr. Honcho found out right away!" Candice added.

"I refused to give Glameow up, and that's when Ms. Senior stepped in and stood up for me!" Zoey explained.

"Eventually Mr. Honcho gave in, but only on the condition that both Zo-Zo and I would be raising our dear Glameow together." Candice added.

"Of course! That explains why Glameow is Zoey's number one partner!" Brock realized.

"Now don't tell me Zo-Zo didn't give you an earful about not approving of trainers who wanna compete in both Contests AND Gym Battles right?" Candice asked, smirking at her old friend as she did so.

"I remember something about that." Ash also smirked.

"Yeah, at the Jubilife Contest where we first met!" Dawn added.

"But as you can see, it's not ALWAYS a bad thing to have a bit of a stubborn streak." Candice remarked.

"Ms. Senior decided to put all of her efforts into battling, while I decided to enter contests and aim to become Top Coordinator," Zoey said, as Glameow came over from Candice and rubbed up against Zoey's leg, purring affectionately, "You see, in order to reach the very top, we promised each other that we'd concentrate on pursuing only one career path. Trainers that try to do both look like they're not taking it seriously…not to mention Ms. Senior gets SO mad, 'cause it's doing WAY too much stuff."

"Too much is MORE than enough you know." Candice said, as she got up and placed an arm around Zoey's shoulders, "Tell me Dawn, you've got four ribbons now don't you?"

"That's right. Although I DID just try to win my fifth ribbon, and I wound up losing to Kenny…but you know…for some reason, I feel relieved!" Dawn replied.

"Relieved?" Candice asked.

"Uh oh…" Zoey knew Candice well enough to know that if Dawn said something Candice didn't like, she might blow.

"Well since Zoey has four ribbons like me, it's almost like we're feeling exactly the same inside." Dawn explained.

"Well…not EXACTLY the same." Misty said, smirking at her coordinator friend.

"You know what I mean." Dawn replied, her eyes narrowed at the water-trainer, "The point is, if Zoey and I are in the same boat, it makes me feel that I'm not alone."

"SAME BOAT?" Candice shouted with fury, "Look, you two are rivals now aren't you? You think you're gonna win with an attitude like THAT? Where's your KIAI?" she screeched.

Everybody jumped back at Candice's outburst. "Yikes…geez Mist, she can yell louder than YOU can." Ash whispered to his girlfriend.

"One thing's for sure; she's passionate about all of this." Misty replied.

"I suspected it during the quick quiz too," Brock chimed in on the whispering conversation, "How intense she gets during a win or lose situation…I'll bet she REALLY brings it in a battle."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Ash replied. Just then, an alarm went off in the main building, bringing gasps from the whole group, "What's going on?" Ash exclaimed.

"That's the school alarm! Something must be going on!" Candice took off to see what was going on, and the others followed her as well. They hurried into the school building, where they saw smoke coming out of a slightly open door, and a man crawling out gasping desperately for breath, "Mr. Honcho sir!" the group ran up to the choking man to check on him, "Are you alright?"

"Something's happened," Mr. Honcho coughed, "Something terrible! Two of the students just ran off with all of the school's Pokémon!"

"What?" Candice shouted in horror, "Why would anyone do such a thing?"

"Wait a minute…" Dawn scratched her chin as she thought about something.

"What is it Dawn?" Zoey asked.

"Misty, did the guy sitting in-between us look familiar somehow?" Dawn said.

Misty also tried to recall that man's face, also his voice and mannerisms…then it hit her, "You're right Dawn! That was James!"

"Then the other two behind him must've been Jessie and Meowth!" Brock added.

"Guys, look!" Zoey pointed out the window to what was going on outside.

The group looked, and was shocked at what they saw, "It's Jeremiah!" Ash exclaimed. What they saw was Jeremiah facing off against a trio of what appeared to be students. But when James pulled out Carnivine and had it use 'Vine Whip', immobilizing Skuntank, Jeremiah suddenly looked lost as Skuntank was completely unable to follow through on any attacks, "Jeremiah and Skuntank are in trouble, I'm going out there! C'mon Pikachu!" Ash rushed outside, and the others quickly followed their determined friend.

"Oh no, but I don't understand…this is so much different than the quiz…" Jeremiah said nervously.

"You're a champ at quizzing but you're a chump at battling, we'll just take care of you now and continue with our Pokémon poaching. Seviper, take care of this!" Jessie ordered. Seviper moved in to give out the finishing blow on Skuntank.

"Uh oh, Pikachu, stop Seviper with 'Quick Attack', go!" Ash ordered. Pikachu leaped off of Ash's shoulder and ran at full speed, smashing into Seviper's side with a hard tackle, and knocking the snake out as well. Then Pikachu turned to the three antagonists and growled at them, cheeks sparking furiously.

"No chumps there…" Jessie mumbled, caught off guard by the fact that Pikachu had seemingly come out of nowhere.

Now the rest of the group had caught up with Ash, and needless to say, Candice was furious with what she was seeing, "Why you…what are you doing?" she snarled at the trio.

The trio decided to completely reveal themselves, as they threw off their disguises. Jessie snickered evilly and turned her head ever so slightly so she could see the irate Gym Leader, "We're graduates from the school of awesome disguising."

James followed suit, "With a master's degree in Pokéball thievery."

"So dig dis," Meowth added, his claws extended for 'Fury Swipes', "Any closer and da Skuntank gets skunked!"

"Did that Meowth just TALK?" Candice shouted in shock, "That's impossible!"

Jessie: "When it comes to impossible, you teacher types are tough."

James: "We sprint through life while you eggheads walk."

Jessie: "Through the snow!"

James: "And the sleet!"

Meowth: "'Round da clock!"

Jessie: "Bringing chaos at a frosty pace!"

James: "Dashing through the snow with glee on my face!"

Jessie: "Catching bad colds and taking Vitamin C."

James: "When everything's worse nothing feels good to me."

Jessie: "Jessie!"

James: "And James!"

Meowth: "Meowth's da name!"

Jessie: "Putting teachers and students in their place!"

James: "We're Team Rocket!"

Team Rocket: "And we're in your face!"

Candice grabbed a Pokéball off her belt and snarled at the trio, "This is no joke! I will NOT allow evil, thieving criminals into Snowpoint City!"

"Me neither!" Zoey added, "I won't sit by while you bad people destroy my school!"

"And that goes for the rest of us too!" Dawn shouted.

"Abomasnow, come on out!" Candice threw out a Pokéball, and her powerful ice/grass-type emerged ready for battle, "Abomasnow and I will get those Pokéballs back, you take care of Skuntank Ash!"

"Right!" Ash replied determinedly, "Buizel, I choose you!" Ash launched his own Pokéball, and his rough and tumble water-type emerged, growling at the trio of crooks.

Meowth cackled at the situation, "Leave it ta kiddies ta wanna fight!"

James made a face at the group and just laughed, "Battle all you want, we won't bite."

"Instead we'll use 'Haze' and do it right!" Jessie had Seviper use 'Haze', and once the smoke came out of the snake's mouth, they proceeded to make their escape.

"Oh no you don't!" Candice shouted, "Abomasnow, 'Blizzard'!" Abomasnow complied and unleashed a freezing wind that blew away the smoke from 'Haze', and exposed Team Rocket and left them scared and covered in snow.

"Alright Buizel, it's cold out here, so we're gonna use 'Aqua Jet' and get Skuntank out of there!" Ash ordered. Buizel complied and enveloped itself in a veil of water, and just as Ash planned, while Buizel charged for Carnivine, the water froze and their improvised move kicked in.

"What is that?" Jeremiah exclaimed in shock.

"I…can't believe it!" Candice also added, extremely surprised by what she was seeing.

"Wow! They're using 'Ice Aqua Jet'!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It's so cold out here that the water froze over all on its own!" Misty added.

"They've really perfected that move!" Zoey also commented.

Buizel finally made contact, and Carnivine and Skuntank went flying as a result. "Skuntank!" Jeremiah hurried to catch his Pokémon, and he managed to catch his friend safely in his arms, "You ok?" he asked. Skuntank sighed with relief in response.

"Alright, it's my turn!" Zoey shouted, "Glameow, 'Shadow Claw'!" Glameow complied, and with two powerful swipes, Glameow sent Team Rocket blasting off into the stratosphere, and all the Pokéballs to plummet to the ground.

"Oh no, the Pokéballs!" Jeremiah exclaimed.

"Alright Dawn, this one's yours!" Misty exclaimed.

"You got it!" Dawn replied, "Piplup, 'Whirlpool' now!" Piplup leaped off of Dawn's head and created an enormous whirlpool over his head that all the Pokéballs landed safely into and simply swirled around inside the water.

"You caught every single one!" Candice exclaimed in awe.

"Alright, let them down gently Piplup." Dawn said. Piplup complied, and slowly lowered the whirlpool onto the ground before making the water disappear, "Nice job."

Once the crisis was over, all the students that had run inside for safety came outside to surround Ash, some even hoping to ask him questions. "Buizel, awesome job!" Ash said, as he gave his water-type a playful noogie. Buizel just smirked at the trainer in response.

"Wow Ash, what a surprise!" Candice exclaimed, "That 'Ice Aqua Jet' of yours is simply AWESOME!"

"Gee, thanks Candice!" Ash replied.

"One of Ash's battle strengths is surprise. How are you gonna deal with that?" Brock asked the Snowpoint Gym Leader.

Candice just winked, "You'll find out in the gym battle." Candice then turned to her ice/grass-type, "Alright, got your kiai on?" she asked determinedly. Abomasnow roared a battle-cry in response.

"I owe you a big thanks for saving Skuntank," Jeremiah said, "And I also owe you an apology for some of the rude things I said before."

"Nah, it's cool, don't worry about it." Ash replied with a smile.

"No I mean it! After seeing your 'Ice Aqua Jet', it made the Quick Quiz results seem like nothing!" Jeremiah explained, "I'm going to put my kiai into it so that someday I can battle just like you Ash. Thanks to you, today's class was the best one I've ever had!"

The entire crowd began to applaud Ash, and the Pokémon trainer put his hand behind his head and laughed bashfully at the applause, "Hey, I appreciate it everyone, but like I said before, I owe it all to my friends and Pokémon. Work hard, build a bond with them, and there'll be no stopping any of you!"

"I'm glad you haven't forgotten the little people in your life Mr. Future Pokémon Master." Misty joked.

"Little people?" Ash replied, "Mist, you and Brock, Dawn, Tracey, May, and all my other friends, you guys are the keys to my success. It's as simple as that."

Misty smiled and leaped into her boyfriend's arms and hugged him tightly, nuzzling him like a purring kitten, "I love you Ash." she whispered.

Ash smiled and hugged her back, earning "awws" from the whole crowd. "I love you too Mist." he whispered back.

"And with that, our work here is done!" Candice exclaimed, "But Ash, TOMORROW is our gym battle, so put your kiai into it!"

"You got it!" Ash replied determinedly.

"Alright, class dismissed!" Candice loudly clapped once, signaling the end of class. And after the students each got a chance to speak briefly with Ash, they all went their separate ways.

"You know what I just realized?" Misty said after everyone had left.

"What's that Misty?" Dawn asked.

"I'm FREEZING!" Misty exclaimed, shaking violently as she hugged herself tightly, "I forgot my jacket inside the classroom!"

"Oh yeah…now that you mention it…" Dawn also started shivering, and so did Ash and Brock.

"Well what are you standing around here for?" Candice asked, "Get inside and stop freezing to death! I don't want a boring gym battle with a sick challenger! Even I have to admit, when you're sick, it's REALLY hard to put kiai into ANYTHING."

The group hurried inside and put on their jackets, and afterwards, they parted ways with Candice and headed to the Snowpoint City Pokémon Center. Once they got inside, Brock went over to the front desk and consulted Nurse Joy for a room for the night, while Ash, Misty, Dawn, and Zoey stood in the middle of the lobby to talk. "So Zoey, since Candice got her own little scouting report during her quiz, you wouldn't happen to have any tips for Ash on how he should confront Candice do you?" Misty asked.

"All I can really tell you is that she's a highly competitive battler, and she'll never let herself give anything less than one-hundred and ten percent." Zoey replied, "Oh, but I will say this, I don't think all of her Pokémon are ice-types, even though it's an ice-type gym."

"Oh man, that doesn't help much." Ash groaned.

"That's all I got for you Ash, sorry." Zoey shrugged, "Alright guys, I'm gonna head on home, I dunno about you, but I really like being able to sleep in my own bed."

"Yeah, I hear ya," Dawn replied, "There's just something about being in your own bed that gives you a real sense of peace."

"Yeah." Zoey breathed, eager to head on home and take a nice rest, "Seeya!" Zoey waved and walked out of the Pokémon Center, leaving the others to themselves.

"So…do you wanna do some training Ash? There's still some time before it gets dark." Misty said.

"Of course I wanna train! The only question is who I'm using…" Ash replied.

"Well the two obvious choices would be Chimchar and Charizard right?" Dawn said, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

"Well yeah," Ash replied hesitantly, "But the thing is…Zoey said not all of Candice's Pokémon are ice-types, what if one of her Pokémon is a rock-type or something? Charizard and Chimchar will be taking serious damage."

"You know what I think Ash? I think you should just go with it." Misty replied, "Remember that stupid quiz and what it did to you? If you start thinking too much you'll lose your rhythm, you're an instinctive, intangibles battler. Don't overthink it."

"Yeah…good idea Mist!" Ash exclaimed, "And you know what? Now I know just the team!" Ash and Misty spent the rest of their time preparing for the gym battle the next day, and once night fell, the group turned in for a good night's rest. Needless to say, Ash was excited to take on Candice.

The next morning, the group got up bright and early, and Ash immediately got dressed and ran outside. The trainer took a deep breath of cold and fresh air, as he got his body ready for the challenge that awaited him. "Finally, it's time!" Ash's friends then came out of the center as well.

"Best of luck today Ash!" Dawn said.

"Thanks Dawn, it's gonna be an awesome battle, I can feel it!" Ash replied.

"There's only one way to find out." Brock said.

"You said it!" Ash took off for the gym, and his friends followed closely behind. When they got there, they found Zoey there waiting for them, "Hey Zoey!" Ash exclaimed.

"Hey guys!" Zoey replied, "I honestly thought you'd be here a lot earlier."

"I would've been…but these days I've been sleeping in more." Ash blushed a bit, as did Misty.

"Hmm…" Zoey narrowed her eyes at them, but eventually let it go, "Well at any rate, Ms. Senior's raring and ready to go!"

"And so am I!" Ash hurried past Zoey, and the others followed him in.

"Wow! The whole field is made of ice!" Dawn exclaimed.

"That's Ms. Senior's battlefield of choice, the slippery ice will definitely keep opposing Pokémon on their toes." Zoey explained.

Suddenly Candice seemingly appeared out of nowhere, startling the group. "You're here! Finally! Let's hurry!" Candice grabbed Ash's wrist and would've dragged him to his side of the field, but Misty grabbed Ash's other wrist and held him back a second.

"Not so fast Candice," Misty said, yanking Ash away from the hyper Gym Leader, "Ash needs to get his kiai on, you go on to your side and he'll be ready in a sec."

"Can't argue with kiai!" Candice replied, "But hurry ok? I'm totally excited for this battle!" Candice rushed over to her side.

"Go on to the stands guys, I'll be right there." Misty said. The other nodded and sat down in the stands, leaving Ash and Misty to themselves a moment. "Ok Ash, remember your game plan, be on your toes, and above all, DO NOT let Candice make you think too much."

"Right. Thanks Mist." Ash replied.

Misty gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips, "Good luck." she whispered. And with that, Misty headed over to the stands.

Ash allowed the electricity Misty's kiss gave off to pulse through his body and energize him, "Candice, you're going down!" he headed to his side of the field and stood tall.

"May I have your attention?" Mr. Honcho shouted, as he took his place as the referee of the battle, "The Snowpoint Gym Battle between Ash the challenger versus Gym Leader Candice will now begin!" Mr. Honcho then explained the rules, "There will be four Pokémon for each side. This challenge will be completed when all four of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle. Furthermore, only the challenger will be able to substitute Pokémon."

Once the explanations were over, Candice slapped her face as if to give herself a jolt, then she pulled her jacket up and over her head, took it off and wrapped it around her waist, tugging hard on the sleeves making it really tight. "Let's go! Yeah!" it was very clear that Candice was feeling totally energized.

"Wow! I've never seen Ms. Senior so pumped!" Zoey exclaimed.

"So the rule with THIS gym is four-on-four…this battle could end up a long one." Brock commented.

"Ash and I only trained for three Pokémon, one of Ash's Pokémon is gonna have to come out unprepared, I hope this doesn't throw him off." Misty added.

Candice finally made the first move, as she grabbed a Pokéball off her belt, "Let's show him some real kiai…Sneasel!" Candice tossed out the Pokéball, and her ice/dark-type emerged and got into battle ready stance.

"Looks like she's starting off with an ice-type…aww man I wasn't ready for a four-on-four battle…guess I'll just go with the game plan like Misty said…now Grotle, I choose you!" Ash tossed out a Pokéball, and Grotle emerged ready for battle.

"What?" Dawn exclaimed in shock, "Why is he using Grotle?"

"Yeah! Grass-type Pokémon are supposed to be at a disadvantage against ice-types!" Zoey added.

"You'll see, wait until he gets started." Misty replied.

"Hey! You like unpredictability don't you?" Candice exclaimed, "I have no idea what your strategy is, but it sure is a lot of fun!"

"Ok Grotle, it's time! 'Energy Ball' now!" Ash ordered. Grotle fired a ball of energy at his opponent.

"Sneasel, dodge it quick!" Candice shouted. Sneasel dodged by skating across the icy field, which showed off Sneasel's amazing speed.

"Whoa, that Sneasel's fast…" Ash said to himself.

"Now use 'Icy Wind'!" Candice ordered. As Sneasel skated around Grotle, she fired blasts of freezing wind out of her mouth, which forced Grotle to brace himself as he continued to take hits.

"This can't be good…" Dawn groaned.

"Sneasel's already known to be really fast, but here she's using the ice to move faster still." Brock said, "And on top of that, 'Icy Wind' is FAR more effective at close range."

"Hang in there just a little longer Grotle." Ash said determinedly. Grotle groaned a little as Sneasel continued to circle him and fire blasts of wind, but the Grove Pokémon stood strong.

"Why won't Grotle make a move?" Dawn wondered.

"It can't endure that attack much longer, that's for sure." Zoey added.

"Just wait for it." Misty replied.

Suddenly something clicked in Brock's mind, "Wait! I know!"

"Alright Sneasel, use 'Fury Swipes'!" Candice ordered. Sneasel charged towards Grotle to finish the job.

"Now Grotle, 'Razor Leaf' quick!" Ash countered. Grotle reacted immediately, and jerked his body forward, firing a barrage of sharp leaves at the ice/dark-type, who had been caught off guard by the attack and had no choice but to take a direct hit. After taking a few hits, Sneasel leaped up and landed on a chunk of ice to try and take a quick rest. "That was great Grotle; now use 'Rock Climb'!" Ash ordered. Grotle's claws extended outwards thanks to 'Rock Climb's' influence, and the giant turtle roared out a battle cry, as it ran across the ice at a relatively high speed to attack Sneasel.

"Quick Sneasel, 'Icy Wind' let's go!" Candice countered. Sneasel fired again, but this time the turtle ignored the effects and climbed up the chunk of ice and took Sneasel down with a hard tackle. "No Sneasel!" Candice shouted. Sneasel had been sent flying by Grotle's attack, and when the ice/dark-type landed, she was sitting in a crater with swirls in her eyes.

"Sneasel is unable to battle, the winner is Ash!" Mr. Honcho declared.

"They won!" Dawn squealed.

"They did." Zoey added in awe.

"That was what we worked on with Grotle yesterday, we figured that Candice would get too comfortable having the type advantage, and sure enough it worked out." Misty explained.

"Looks like Ash really took the advice Paul's Torterra gave and made its strategy his own." Brock added.

"Grotle, that was great work! Now take a nice rest!" Ash returned the grass-type to his Pokéball, and waited to see what Candice's next move would be.

"Wow Ash, your kiai's strong! This is the kind of battle I like!" Candice took hold of her second Pokéball, "Now Medicham, show us YOUR kiai!" Candice threw the Pokéball onto the field, and her next Pokémon emerged from it.

"That's a Medicham isn't it?" Dawn pulled out her Pokédex to scan the Pokémon.

"Medicham, the Meditate Pokémon. And the evolved form of Meditite. Through a combination of food deprivation and meditation, Medicham gains the ability to see its opponent's aura." the Pokédex chirped.

"Whoa, like Riolu can?" Dawn asked.

"Well Medicham looks well-fed; I doubt it can see auras that way." Brock replied.

"I guess Medicham is the curveball that Candice throws at her opponents, Medicham isn't an ice-type, so no one expects it to appear." Misty said.

"Medicham huh? Wasn't ready for that…" Ash said to himself, "But since Medicham is part fighting-type, I've got a good idea who I'm gonna need." Ash grabbed a Pokéball off his belt, "Ok Staraptor, I choose you!" Ash threw the Pokéball into the air, and Staraptor emerged and flew through the air for a moment before hovering low to the ground on her end of the field.

"Good choice. Ash is using his main flying-type against Candice's fighting-type Pokémon. They'll attack from the sky." Brock said.

"Don't count Ms. Senior out just yet." Zoey replied.

"Oh I see, a bit more predictable this time." Candice said.

"Just watch this!" Ash replied, "Staraptor, use 'Quick Attack' now!" Staraptor swooped down towards the Meditate Pokémon with a trail of light following her.

"Medicham, use 'Confusion'!" Candice countered. Medicham bobbed its head back and forth as its eyes glowed purple, and Staraptor was stopped in her tracks. Then Staraptor was sent hurtling down towards the ground, as the power of the psychic move took control of her movements and made her crash down.

"Staraptor!" Ash cried.

"That's right…I forgot that Medicham was a psychic-type too." Dawn said.

"Yeah, even if Staraptor attacks from the air, Medicham's psychic-type moves make it hard." Brock added.

"You can do it Staraptor," Ash encouraged, as his powerful bird struggled to get herself airborne again, "Use 'Aerial Ace'!" Staraptor finally pushed herself back up and flew into the air, and did a midair loop before swooping downwards again.

"Stop it Medicham!" Candice countered. Medicham held out its hands, and actually caught Staraptor just before she could finish her attack.

Ash's friends gasped at what they saw, but Ash was ready to make his move, "Close Combat' quick!" Staraptor broke free of Medicham's grip, and started beating on the Meditate Pokémon with her wings, beak, and talons.

"Medicham, 'Fire Punch', let's go!" Candice countered. Medicham stepped back to avoid further assault, and then its left fist ignited into flame as it went in for the punch. But just as Medicham made contact with Staraptor, it got hit in the face hard by her wing, and both Pokémon were knocked back simultaneously.

"Alright, we're going for it all! Staraptor, use 'Brave Bird'!" Ash ordered. Staraptor folded in her wings and began burning in flames, and as she got closer, the flames turned blue and she hit Medicham dead-on with the super-effective move. Staraptor flew through the smoke crackling from the recoil damage, but flying proudly over her victory, as Medicham was left fainted in a crater.

"Medicham is unable to battle, Staraptor is the winner!" Mr. Honcho exclaimed.

"That was awesome Staraptor, take a good rest!" Ash returned the Predator Pokémon to her Pokéball for a well-deserved rest.

"Wow! That's two straight wins for Ash!" Dawn cheered.

"It looked bad for a while there but 'Close Combat' turned it around for him." Brock added.

"We hadn't prepared for a Medicham, I'm just glad Ash was able to think on his feet." Misty also commented.

"How's it going Candice? You know, I'm just getting warmed up." Ash said cockily.

"That was pretty impressive, but from here on out you're not gonna have such an easy time of it." Candice grabbed her third Pokéball, "Show us your kiai! Now Snover!" Candice threw out her Pokéball, and out emerged her devolved ice/grass-type.

"It's a Snover…wonder why Candice has an evolution set in her repertoire." Brock wondered.

"Yeah, I would think that using the devolved form of her Abomasnow would be like a warm up for the opponent, since they're the exact same type." Misty added.

"You don't know Ms. Senior that well, just wait and see." Zoey replied.

"Alright, Grotle, come back out!" Ash tossed out a Pokéball, and Grotle emerged once more.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Candice shouted, "Snover, use 'Razor Leaf'!" she ordered. Snover extended its arm and fired a barrage of razor sharp leaves.

"Grotle, counter with YOUR 'Razor Leaf'!" Ash countered. Grotle launched his own attack, and the two attacks wound up in stalemate as they negated each other, "Alright, now let's use 'Rock Climb'!" Ash ordered. Grotle's claws extended, and the turtle ran across the ice and tackled Snover hard, "Now use 'Bite'!" Ash ordered. Grotle followed up by biting onto Snover's arm, making the ice/grass-type groan in pain.

"Hey, not bad!" Candice exclaimed, "But the easy road ends here! Alright Snover, use 'Ice Beam'!" she ordered. Snover fired the freezing attack, and this time Grotle had a tougher time taking the hit, "One more time Snover!" Candice shouted. Snover fired, and this time Grotle could do nothing but faint.

"Grotle is unable to battle, Snover's the winner!" Mr. Honcho announced.

"Oh no…" Dawn said worriedly.

"Quick thinking and precise commands…she's not a Gym Leader for nothing." Brock commented, impressed by Candice's battling skills.

"And now it's two to one!" Dawn added.

"Ms. Senior isn't messing around anymore, that's for sure." Zoey said.

"Yeah? Well neither is Ash." Misty replied determinedly.

"Grotle, you battled really well!" Ash returned the large turtle to his Pokéball for a well-deserved rest, "Ok, now it's time to get serious! Chimchar, I choose you!" Ash threw out his third Pokéball, and the determined fire monkey emerged and chattered determinedly.

"Looks like Ash is gonna use the first of his two secret weapons." Brock said.

"Yeah, with Chimchar being a fire-type, it has the advantage over an ice-type like Snover." Dawn replied.

"Actually Chimchar has a DOUBLE advantage because Snover is also a grass-type on top of being an ice-type, so Snover is doubly weak to fire-type attacks." Misty mentioned.

"Maybe, but like I said before, Ms. Senior isn't messing around anymore." Zoey replied.

"So you're finally going to use your fire-type." Candice said confidently, her arms crossed proudly over her chest.

"Don't get too comfortable until you know what Chimchar's made of!" Ash replied, "Alright Chimchar, let's get it on!" he yelled determinedly. Chimchar began leaping from ice chunk to ice chunk as he advanced towards Snover.

"Now Snover, time for 'Ice Beam'!" Candice ordered. Snover fired a freezing beam at the small fire-type, but Ash was ready for it.

"Dodge it Chimchar!" Ash countered. Chimchar jumped out of the way, and got ready to counterattack. "Alright, 'Flamethrower' now!" Chimchar fired a blazing flame at the dual type Pokémon.

"And now Snover, 'Icy Wind' let's go!" Candice countered. Snover unleashed a freezing wind to counter the 'Flamethrower', and when the attacks collided, steam covered the entire field, enveloping the two battling Pokémon and causing Chimchar to get a little nervous, "Keep cool Chimchar!"

"I can't see a thing on the battlefield!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Candice blocked Chimchar's vision by countering 'Flamethrower' with 'Icy Wind', creating a huge amount of steam!" Brock added.

"Ms. Senior's specializes in ice-types, so she knows exactly what to do against a type that has the advantage." Zoey replied.

"Maybe, but don't forget that ASH specializes in turning bad situations into good ones." Misty said determinedly.

The steam had yet to rise on the battlefield, and Snover was quietly moving around the field, trying to catch the wary fire-type off guard. "Stay calm Chimchar! Snover will definitely make the first move; use 'Flamethrower' as soon as you sense where it is!" Ash yelled. Although Ash couldn't see, Chimchar had heard every word loud and clear. Chimchar closed his eyes and began to try and feel where Snover was coming from. Suddenly Chimchar felt a change in the wind, and the fire-monkey waited for Snover to get in close, before unleashing a mighty flame that sent Snover careening towards an ice chunk, and ultimately fainting it, which was revealed once the steam cleared, "Yeah Chimchar!"

"Snover is unable to battle, Chimchar's the winner!" Mr. Honcho announced.

"Chimchar was great!" Dawn squealed.

"Yeah, and what was really impressive was that even though they couldn't see each other, their teamwork was picture perfect!" Zoey added.

"What'd I tell you? My Ash knows how to turn things around." Misty replied happily.

Candice returned the fainted ice/grass-type to its Pokéball, "You showed spunk. Snover thanks so much." Candice then turned her attention to Ash, "You've got real kiai Ash!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, thanks Candice!" Ash replied.

"But this is where it all ends!" Candice held up her final Pokéball, "Show us your kiai now! Abomasnow!" Candice threw out the Pokéball, and her evolved dual type emerged and stood tall with its arms crossed boldly over its chest, as it stared down the tiny fire-type.

"She's using Abomasnow finally!" Zoey exclaimed excitedly, "The team of Ms. Senior and Abomasnow's invincible!"

"I can tell this is going to be a tough battle." Brock said sullenly.

"Chimchar, let's do this!" Ash exclaimed determinedly, "Use 'Flamethrower'!" Chimchar fired, and the dual type Pokémon merely glared fiercely.

"Abomasnow, 'Blizzard'!" Candice countered. Without so much as uncrossing its arms, Abomasnow calmly opened its mouth and easily overpowered Chimchar's 'Flamethrower', blowing the fire monkey into a huge ice chunk, and leaving him groaning in pain.

"No, Chimchar!" Ash cried.

The group in the stands gasped in awe, even Zoey wasn't expecting Chimchar to be overpowered so easily. "Wow, even I didn't expect that."

"Incredible power!" Dawn said nervously.

"Yeah…FAR more powerful than Snover." Brock added.

"Ash is gonna have to think of something else, and fast." Misty also remarked.

"Chimchar, return!" Ash returned the groaning monkey to his Pokéball, "I may need you later, rest up." he whispered.

On the other end of the field, Candice and Abomasnow were chuckling with confidence, they could already see that Ash was grasping at straws, "A wise move returning Chimchar…so, who's next?" the Gym Leader asked coolly, her arms also crossed proudly.

Ash's wheels were now spinning inside his head, "Abomasnow doesn't look like it's very fast, Staraptor's 'Aerial Ace' should be able to cause a lot of damage in one swoop!" Satisfied with his chosen strategy, Ash made his choice, "Ok Staraptor, I choose you!" Ash tossed the Pokéball, and Staraptor emerged refreshed and ready for battle once more. "Aerial Ace', go!" Ash ordered. Staraptor swooped down at incredible speed towards the giant ice/grass-type.

"Hah! So THAT'S Ash's strategy?" Candice scoffed, "Abomasnow, use 'Ice Punch'." she said calmly. Abomasnow waited for the opportune moment, and nailed Staraptor with an absolutely crushing blow that sent her flying helplessly through the air, finally to land with a thud on the ground, fainted.

"No, Staraptor!" Ash cried.

"Staraptor is unable to battle, Abomasnow is the winner!" Mr. Honcho announced.

"ALRIGHT!" Candice cheered, her confidence obviously skyrocketing as it was clear to her that Ash seemed to have no answer for her Abomasnow.

Once again, the group in the stands gasped in shock. "No way!" Dawn gulped.

"They took Staraptor down with just one move!" Brock added.

"Staraptor, return and take a good rest!" Ash fired the red beam at the fainted bird, and returned Staraptor to her Pokéball to recover.

"So…what are you going to do next?" Candice asked, her cockiness shining through her speech.

Ash growled for a moment before pulling out the only Pokéball he thought could help him beat Abomasnow…if the Pokémon inside couldn't do it…no one could. "I'm going all out is what I'm gonna do next!" Ash roared, "Get ready for this Candice! Charizard, I choose you!" Ash practically launched the Pokéball out of his hand, and his most powerful friend emerged and roared fiercely.

"Whoa! Now THIS is a battle I wanna see!" Zoey exclaimed excitedly.

"Ash and Charizard versus Candice and Abomasnow…type wise the advantage obviously goes to Ash…but after seeing Abomasnow in action, there's no way we can make a solid prediction." Brock said, trying to analyze the matchup.

"All we know for sure is that Charizard is Ash's best bet to overpower Abomasnow. If anyone can do it, it's Charizard." Misty replied.

"Alright Charizard, this Abomasnow is really powerful, so we're gonna have to give it our all, you ready?" Ash yelled. Charizard roared and glared coldly at the ice/grass-type.

"Wow Ash! I can practically FEEL the kiai coming out of that Charizard of yours!" Candice exclaimed, "Make your move!"

"I will!" Ash replied, "Charizard, let's show Abomasnow your 'Flamethrower'!" he roared. Charizard acknowledged and launched an absolutely devastatingly powerful flame that the group in the stands could feel even from where they were.

"Abomasnow, counter with 'Blizzard' again!" Candice shouted. Abomasnow fired back in the same manner it did with Chimchar, but when Charizard began gaining ground, Abomasnow was forced to uncross its arms and really focus on firing its counterattack. Finally the attacks negated each other, and the two Pokémon awaited further orders. "That's one strong Charizard, I'm impressed Ash!" Candice exclaimed.

"You've only seen a small sample of what Charizard can do!" Ash replied, "Alright, take off and then use 'Steel Wing'!" he ordered. Charizard opened his majestic wings and took off into the air, forcing Abomasnow to shield its eyes as Charizard flew into the light that was shining through the window. Charizard then swooped down at an incredible speed to nail the ice/grass-type with a crushing blow.

"Quick Abomasnow, use 'Blizzard' and knock it out of the sky!" Candice countered.

Abomasnow actually put a lot of effort into this attack, and the icy blast headed straight for Charizard.

"Charizard, spin and use 'Flamethrower', quick!" Ash yelled. Charizard began spinning and fired a flame to counter the 'Blizzard'. The two attacks collided and resulted in a smoky explosion, and just as Ash expected, only the 'Flamethrower' hit, and Charizard was free to hammer Abomasnow with the super-effective attack. Abomasnow was sent backwards, and the ice/grass-type put its hand on the ice to try and gain some friction, just as Charizard landed back on his end of the battlefield. "Yeah, just like that Charizard! We got this!" Ash exclaimed.

"That's Charizard for you." Misty smirked, her arms crossed with pride for her boyfriend and his powerful Pokémon.

"What an incredible move!" Zoey exclaimed in awe.

"Yeah, but Ash was taking chances with it." Brock replied sullenly.

That comment caught the attention of the others, "What do you mean Brock?" Dawn asked.

"Ash generally uses 'Overheat' with that particular move, while it WAS smart of him to use 'Flamethrower' to conserve Charizard's special attack power for later in the battle, it was risky because if Abomasnow managed to overpower Charizard's flame, Charizard would be the one trying to recover right now, not to mention that using a trick move like that so early in the battle allows Candice to make adjustments quickly." Brock replied.

"So what do you think Candice? Not so easy now that the power's balanced out huh?" Ash said cockily.

"I must admit that Charizard of yours has a lot of power, but you'd be surprised just how powerful my Abomasnow is!" Candice replied, "Alright Abomasnow, let's try 'Ice Shard'!" Candice ordered. Abomasnow launched a speedy chunk of ice at the fire dragon, who merely crossed his arms and awaited the counter orders.

"Use 'Heat Wave', now!" Ash countered. Charizard opened his mouth and spewed waves of pure heat that melted the shard of ice away, "Now use 'Flamethrower'!" Ash shouted. Charizard fired, and Abomasnow took the hit with a fair amount of difficulty.

"Alright, no more fooling around! Time to show some real kiai! Abomasnow, 'Ice Punch'!" Candice ordered. Abomasnow began rumbling towards the dragon with its hand glowing with the power of ice.

"Stop Abomasnow with 'Heat Wave'!" Ash countered. Charizard opened his mouth and spewed the waves of heat, but this time Candice was ready.

"Quick Abomasnow, use 'Blizzard'!" Candice ordered. As Abomasnow stomped its way over to Charizard, it opened its mouth and fired a freezing attack that caused steam to once again rise all over the field, "Now Abomasnow!" Abomasnow leaped up and hammered Charizard's head with a powerful 'Ice Punch', causing the dragon to roar in agony.

"No, Charizard!" Ash yelled. When the steam cleared, Charizard was groaning, with the ice/grass-type chuckling over it. "Come on Charizard, get up! Don't let Abomasnow take you down!" Ash encouraged. Charizard slowly made his way back to his feet, but the blow had severely weakened the fire dragon. It was now clear to both Ash and Charizard that Abomasnow had AMAZING power. "Man, Candice took my move and made it her own after seeing it only ONCE! I'm gonna have to think of another approach…" Ash said to himself.

"Wow…just ONE 'Ice Punch' did THAT to Charizard?" Dawn said in total shock.

"Even I didn't expect Abomasnow to be able to do THAT MUCH damage to Ash's Charizard in one hit…Ms. Senior and Abomasnow must be stronger than even I realized!" Zoey replied.

"If Charizard takes another hit like that, Ash is gonna be in SERIOUS trouble." Brock added.

"We won't give up!" Ash roared, "Charizard, take off and attack from the sky!" Charizard opened his wings once again and took off into the air, and began flying around in circles around Abomasnow, "Ok, launch an 'Overheat'!" Charizard circled and fired a devastatingly powerful 'Overheat' from right above Abomasnow, and the giant ice/grass-type was unable to move fast enough to dodge it. "We're ending this NOW! Charizard, 'Seismic Toss'!" Charizard swooped down and grabbed Abomasnow, and started the three flips that would've ended the battle.

"No you don't! Abomasnow, use 'Ice Shard' quick!" Candice countered. Abomasnow turned its head just enough that it could face Charizard, and it fired at point blank range, freezing Charizard's face solid and also parts of his wings, causing Charizard to careen towards the ground. "Finish it Abomasnow! Put all your kiai into it and smash Charizard into the ground with 'Wood Hammer'!" Candice ordered. Abomasnow broke free of Charizard's grip and crushed him with the mighty 'Wood Hammer', inadvertently shattering the ice burning his skin. The ground rumbled and ice shattered everywhere when Charizard made impact after having his descent accelerated by the power of Abomasnow's 'Wood Hammer', and the mighty dragon was left fainted in a hole in the ice that was four feet deep, just as Abomasnow landed and bellowed in victory.

"No! Charizard!" Ash hurried over to the hole and kneeled on the cracked ice next to Charizard's hole, and groaned when he saw what shape Charizard had been left in, "Aww man…Charizard…"

"Charizard is unable to battle, Abomasnow's the winner!" Mr. Honcho announced.

"EEEYYYEEESSS!" Candice squealed, her fists clenched with pride over her victory.

"I…I can't believe it…" Dawn gasped, her mouth hanging open in sheer horror at both the battle results and how hard Charizard had been hit.

"Abomasnow hits hard, I actually feel sorry for Charizard, I could almost feel that last 'Wood Hammer' from here." Zoey replied.

"And if I know Ash…he's feeling exactly what Charizard's feeling now…" Misty said sorrowfully, her heart aching for the boy on the battlefield.

Back on the battlefield, Ash was indeed feeling horrible at the sight of Charizard almost destroyed by the intensity of Abomasnow's strikes. "Charizard…" he croaked, trying his hardest to suppress his emotions, "You were amazing Charizard…take a nice long rest." Ash returned the unconscious dragon to his Pokéball, and he started to involuntarily tremble, as he began to feel smaller and smaller in front of Candice and Abomasnow…he had the biggest advantage he could possibly have, he had the perfect matchup…and STILL he lost, Charizard had gone down, what was he supposed to do now? "Those two…they're strong…" he gulped, wishing he could run out of the building and go hide.

"Ash looks intimidated…" Dawn said worriedly.

"He SHOULD be. Ms. Senior is no joke." Zoey replied.

"He still has a chance, if he can get his act together, Chimchar could still get him the win." Brock commented.

"But look at Ash, he looks terrified!" Dawn exclaimed, pointing out that Ash was fighting to keep his composure.

Misty's heart began to ache, just watching how broken Ash had become, his confidence had all but evaporated into thin air, he was quaking in fear, if even CHARIZARD couldn't take Abomasnow down, it was no wonder Ash was scared. She couldn't let this continue, "Hey Ash!" she screamed from the stands.

Ash suddenly looked up into the stands when his name was called, "Misty?"

"You still have a chance! Remember Chimchar's raring and ready to go, and that little guy's got more power than anyone would expect! Don't you give up, because this battle isn't over!" Misty shouted.

Ash soaked in Misty's words and felt something spark inside of him, she was right, Chimchar was still ready to battle, and Chimchar had so much determination and heart that he wouldn't give up until he was knocked out. Ash smiled and gave Misty a thumbs-up, and then looked back at Candice and Abomasnow, who thanks to Misty, didn't look so big anymore. He took his final Pokéball off his belt and looked at it for a moment, "Ok…I know I'm gonna win this for sure!" Ash launched the Pokéball, "Chimchar, one more time!" Chimchar emerged and growled at Abomasnow.

"Think you can win just because you still have the advantage huh?" Candice scoffed, "There's more to battling than just Pokémon types you know."

Ash didn't bother to respond and just barked out an order, "Chimchar, 'Flamethrower'!" he yelled. Chimchar opened his mouth and spewed a burning blast of fire.

"Abomasnow, 'Blizzard'!" Candice countered. Abomasnow had gone back to the laid back stance, its arms crossed proudly over its chest, and it blasted an incredibly powerful blast of freezing wind without so much as uncrossing its arms, and easily countered the 'Flamethrower' just as before, forcing Chimchar to leap out of the way so he didn't get hit. At this point, Candice could smell blood, so she kept barking out orders, "Use 'Ice Shard'!" Abomasnow fired, and Chimchar dove to escape the attack. But just as he was getting his footing, Abomasnow lumbered over and tried to punch Chimchar out of the battle, Chimchar scampered away in fear just before Abomasnow punched, leaving cracks in the ice.

Chimchar put space between him and Abomasnow, and waited for Ash to give an order. "Oh man…Chimchar…" Ash groaned, "There's no way we can win by force, we'll have to do it with speed…but even STARAPTOR'S speed wasn't NEARLY enough…that Abomasnow HAS to have a weakness…I just gotta find it."

But while Ash was trying to think of a strategy, Candice was still on the attack, "Abomasnow, use 'Blizzard'!" Abomasnow fired again, and for the moment all Chimchar could do was instinctively dodge attacks, as Abomasnow followed up that 'Blizzard' with 'Ice Shard' and then 'Wood Hammer'. Abomasnow then lumbered forward, laughing sinisterly as it prepared to finish the battle then and there. But then Abomasnow stepped on an ice chunk and shattered it, and Ash suddenly realized something.

"Wait a sec…" he said to himself, as he remembered how Sneasel maneuvered around the ice. "That's it!" he exclaimed, "Quick Chimchar, jump on top of the ice boulders!" Chimchar looked at Ash curiously for a second, but eventually obeyed and began leaping across the ice boulders, and managed to zip past Abomasnow. Abomasnow hurried over to the ice boulder Chimchar was standing on and gave it a hard side chop, which knocked off the tip of the ice boulder, but Chimchar had escaped again before taking damage. "Yeah! Now Chimchar, land on that shard of ice!" Ash ordered. Chimchar acknowledged, and landed on a large shard of ice; he had to try and regain his balance for a few moments as he slid across the ice on the shard, but after a few moments, Chimchar got control and started riding the shard of ice like a snowboard. "Keep it up Chimchar!" Ash exclaimed. Chimchar went in circles around the Frost Tree Pokémon, who was beginning to get frustrated. "Now use 'Flamethrower'!" Ash ordered. Chimchar fired, and hit Abomasnow several times from behind, effectively setting its behind on fire.

"That's amazing!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Look at those moves! I feel like I'm watching a contest battle! What a show!" Zoey added.

"Guess all Ash needed was a little boost." Brock also commented.

"That's what I do best." Misty gloated.

"Come on Abomasnow; don't let that little trick stop you!" Candice shouted. Abomasnow tried with all its might to nail Chimchar with an attack, but the fire monkey was able to dodge every attack by using the shard of ice to increase his mobility on the slippery ice. Finally Chimchar decided to ditch the ice chunk and flipped up and over Abomasnow, who slowly stomped over to Chimchar, panting with exhaustion after all the running around trying to chase Chimchar down.

"We've got 'em now! Chimchar, let's finish this with 'Flame Wheel'!" Ash ordered. Chimchar smirked and rammed right into Abomasnow's midsection, the momentum of the attack's power sliding Abomasnow across the field.

"They're gonna win!" Misty cheered.

Zoey just gasped in total shock, was Ms. Senior REALLY about to lose? "Is this really happening?"

If Candice had anything to say about it, no it wouldn't. "Do it Abomasnow! 'Blizzard'!" Abomasnow growled and fought to stop the momentum, and then grabbed Chimchar while he was still ignited, burning its hands, and fired a 'Blizzard' attack at point blank range to extinguish the flames, and also raising steam all over the field.

"So who won?" Dawn exclaimed nervously.

The entire group waited to see the outcome, and once some of the steam cleared, both Pokémon were still standing…but Abomasnow had swirls in its eyes, and it took a moment for the Frost Tree Pokémon to finally fall over. "Abomasnow is unable to battle, Chimchar is the winner, and the victory goes to the challenger Ash!"

"We did it Chimchar!" Ash cheered, giving a thumbs-up to the still shocked fire monkey. When it dawned on him that he had won, Chimchar also began to cheer.

"They won!" Dawn exclaimed happily.

"Now that was some battle!" Brock added.

"One of the most amazing I've ever seen!" Zoey also exclaimed.

Ash walked onto the field where Candice was helping Abomasnow get up, and the Gym Leader greeted him cordially, "Wow Ash, my hat's off to you."

"Thanks Candice." Ash replied, his hand behind his head.

"That was fun, don't you think?" Candice added with a wink.

Ash nodded in response, "Yeah, it sure was."

"AAAASH!" Misty had run down from the stands and was running towards her boyfriend for their usual post-battle embrace.

"Aww Misty!" Ash laughed as he embraced his girlfriend and spun around with her in his arms, her laughing as well, "Thanks for the pep-talk Mist, I really needed it." he said sincerely.

"That's what I'm here for Ash, you and Chimchar were awesome!" Misty replied, giving Ash a quick kiss on the lips.

"Ohhh, now I see where you get your kiai from!" Candice said cheekily.

Ash and Misty couldn't help but blush at that remark, "What can I say? She keeps me going." Ash chuckled, looking back into Misty's eyes.

Then the rest of Ash's friends came down to congratulate him, "That was totally awesome Ash!" Dawn exclaimed.

"You really showed what you're made of this time." Brock added.

"Hey, thanks guys." Ash replied bashfully.

"Well," Candice said, getting everyone's attention, "I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to. If you would all follow me please." Candice put her jacket back on and headed outside, and the rest of the group did the same. When they finally made it outside, they saw that the sun was setting, showing the battle had indeed been a long one. "Ash, you showed real kiai even in a seemingly no-win situation and you managed to defeat all four of my Pokémon in a battle I won't soon forget, here's your proof of having won at the Snowpoint Gym!" Candice pulled her gym's badge out of her pocket, "Here is the Icicle Badge!"

Ash took it and admired it for a moment, "Thanks a lot Candice." he said gratefully.

"Don't THANK me! It was that strong determination of yours that got the best of me," Candice laughed, her hand behind her head with a bit of embarrassment, "I gotta say I never faced a challenger before with your type of strategies."

Ash laughed as well, and then a gleam appeared in his eye, "Alright! Badge number seven, I got the Icicle Badge!" he exclaimed, raising his hand with badge in hand up into the air with pride. Ash's Pokémon also joined in, with the exception of Charizard who was indeed happy for the victory, but didn't really enjoy the celebrations much.

"Now you've only got one more before you can enter the Sinnoh League!" Brock exclaimed.

Ash looked at the badge again, "Yeah, I kinda can't even believe it…it's been one heck of a journey."

"I'll say, I've learned so much from all of you guys, it feels like we've known each other forever!" Dawn added.

"Yeah." Ash suddenly started shivering, "Uh…I forgot my jacket in the gym." he said as he hugged himself to try and conserve warmth.

"That's what you have me for Ash," Misty had grabbed Ash's jacket for him before walking out, and handed it to her boyfriend who immediately put it on and zipped it up.

"Thanks Mist, I appreciate it." Ash said gratefully.

Misty giggled and winked at him, "No problem." But then Misty suddenly got apprehensive and tense, even angry when she turned her head to the nearby path.

"What's the matter Misty?" Ash asked.

"Take a good look." Misty snarled in response, as she glared at whatever was coming.

The group looked, and they immediately realized why Misty had become so upset all of a sudden, "Paul?" Ash said, surprised to see his antagonistic rival appear.

Paul ignored Ash's statement and immediately turned his attention to Candice, "So you must be Candice the Gym Leader?" he assumed.

"Y-Yes?" Candice replied, caught off-guard by the suddenly tense atmosphere.

"I challenge you to a gym battle!" he said determinedly, his frown showcasing his quiet intensity.

"I-I'm sure you must've come a long way for this, but I just finished a battle with Ash," Candice said, "And I'd really like to give the gang a rest…how about tomorrow then?"

"Alright…" Paul grumbled, "Tomorrow it is." Paul turned to walk away, when something stopped him.

"It should interest you to know that Ash just got his seventh badge, and Chimchar really stepped up and showed awesome power." Misty said.

"Why should that interest me in any way?" Paul replied without even turning around.

"Well how many badges do YOU have then?" Ash asked.

"That's none of your business!" Paul grunted and once again began to walk away.

"What's the matter Paul? Can't take the fact that Ash got here first?" Misty shouted out. Paul didn't bother to respond and just kept walking, "Disgusting lowlife." Misty hissed.

"Who was that guy?" Zoey asked.

"His name is Paul, he's really Ash's biggest rival." Dawn replied.

"But Dawn…you and Zo-Zo are rivals too…" Candice replied, "And you two don't act like THAT with each other."

"There are special circumstances when it comes to Ash and Paul." Brock replied.

"Special circumstances?" Zoey and Candice asked.

"It's a long story." Dawn replied.

"Well I have to go to the Pokémon Center and get my team checked out by Nurse Joy, you guys can tell us along the way." Candice replied. The group nodded and headed over to the Pokémon Center, with Misty, Dawn, and Brock all taking turns explaining the story of Ash and Paul's rivalry. Ash however, had remained quiet the whole time, and upon reaching the Pokémon Center, he handed Nurse Joy his Pokéballs and wandered off, while the others sat in the Pokémon Center lobby.

"And so that's the story. Paul doesn't treat his Pokémon the way that he should, and his training methods are the total opposite of Ash's, that's why they butt heads each and every time they see each other." Misty concluded.

"Wow, I gotta admit, I'm surprised that Paul was Chimchar's original trainer, and from what little I've seen and with what you told us, Ash and Paul couldn't be more different if they tried." Zoey replied.

"And that's exactly why they couldn't IGNORE each other if they tried." Brock said.

"It's just awful!" Candice exclaimed sadly, "The way that sweet little Chimchar was treated before Ash came along and rescued it, it makes me sick!"

"We honestly don't know why Paul is the way he is, but regardless of the reason; every time he shows up he manages to make life miserable for all of us, especially Ash." Misty replied.

"Speaking of Ash, where did he go?" Dawn wondered, looking around the room. The others did the same and noted that Ash was nowhere to be found.

"His jacket's gone, maybe he went outside?" Misty suggested.

"Let's go look for him, I don't wanna wind up dragging Ash out of a fistfight with Paul." Brock replied.

"Right." The group put their jackets back on and headed out to look for Ash.

Meanwhile, Ash was indeed outside, and he had found Paul training on the battlefield with his Magmar and Electabuzz, "Alright Pikachu, let's hope we can keep this conversation semi-pleasant long enough for me to get what we're going for here."

"Pika chu." (Here's hoping.) the electric mouse replied.

Ash ran out from behind the bush and got Paul's attention, "Hey Paul!"

"What do YOU want?" Paul grunted.

Ash huffed silently for a moment before pasting on what he hoped looked like a sincere smile, "Man, you should've seen how totally awesome Grotle was against Candice today," by this time, the rest of the group had opened the door that led to the battlefield, and saw Ash talking to Paul, "So if it's alright with you I'd really like to thank Torterra again for the help."

Paul didn't respond and simply returned Magmar to its Pokéball before starting to walk back inside, and Ash was already getting the feeling that Paul wasn't going to listen, but he tried again anyway, "That battling style Torterra showed us a while back worked out really well, so please let me thank it."

On his way past Ash, Paul replied with his Electabuzz trailing behind him, "You said you were serious about wanting to win in Snowpoint City, so why do you still need Torterra to hold your hand?"

Ash turned around and growled at Paul, both his fists and his teeth clenched in anger, as well as Pikachu's, "So the answer's no then."

"Duh." he responded simply, "Using a grass-type in an ice-type gym? I guess you chalk that up to blind faith." Paul was about to walk inside, when he got confronted.

"Stop right there!" Zoey snarled, "Just who do you think you are?" Zoey pointed an accusing finger at the ruthless trainer, who after seeing the exchange of words between him and Ash, was nothing short of boiling mad.

"Zoey, stop!" Dawn pulled Zoey out of Paul's way.

"He has no right to talk like that!" Zoey hissed, "The fact that Ash actually BEAT Ms. Senior with Grotle proves that it took more than what he calls 'blind faith'!"

"I agree one-hundred percent!" Candice added.

Paul scoffed when Candice spoke up, "ANOTHER clueless Gym Leader, you're probably worse than the Veilstone City Gym Leader."

That set Candice over the edge, "No…oh no no no, you did NOT do something nasty to Maylene did you?" she hissed furiously.

"Wait, you know Maylene?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah! We're friends! When we get the chance we train together so I can work on beating fighting-types that come to the gym!" Candice replied.

"Well you won't learn much from her, I swept her without much effort, she shouldn't even be in a position to be Gym Leader." Paul started to walk away, but turned slightly just before taking his leave, "I'll be at the gym tomorrow to pick up my badge."

Once Paul was out of earshot, Zoey spoke up again, "Ms. Senior…tomorrow at the gym battle, wipe the floor with that jerk." she said, her fists clenched in anger.

"Abomasnow and I will be ready, you can count on that." Candice replied, also sickened by the attitude Paul displayed, "If he thinks he's getting an easy badge from ME, he's crazy."

"That's Paul for you." Misty hissed.

"I can't BELIEVE he was nasty to Maylene, he's gonna pay for that, that's for sure." Candice replied.

"Yeah, he told Maylene that she was the weakest Gym Leader he had ever faced, he DEVASTATED her! If it weren't for Ash, Misty and me, she might've resigned for all we know." Dawn explained.

"Well when I'M through with him, HE'LL wanna resign as a trainer." Candice replied.

"I can't WAIT to see that battle Ms. Senior." Zoey said.

"Alright, we're getting too wound up," Brock said, "Tomorrow's a new day, if you want we can watch Paul's battle with Candice tomorrow, but for now let's try and relax a little."

"Yeah, I dunno about you, but I'm all worn out after battling Candice all day." Ash agreed, and then went over to Misty and placed his arm around her shoulders, "Come on Mist, aren't you tired? I'd sure like to take a little time to relax."

Misty giggled, "Yeah, I guess I AM pretty tired, dealing with Paul can sure sap a lot of energy."

"Then it's settled, we get a good night's rest, and then we watch Ms. Senior beat the snot out of Paul in the morning!" Zoey exclaimed.

"You got it!" Candice replied, "Well, I'm gonna grab my Pokémon and head on home, you with me Zo-Zo?"

"Yeah, I can't wait until tomorrow though!" Zoey walked away with Candice, waving to her friends as they headed out.

"As for us, I think we need to do something to help us get our minds off of Paul." Dawn suggested.

"Good idea," Misty replied, "Why were you even out there anyway Ash?"

"I thought you heard why." Ash replied.

"I heard SOME of it, but not enough to get a good idea of what was going on." Misty explained, "So, enlighten us if you please."

Ash began walking towards the rooms, and his friends followed, on the way he explained, "Well, all I wanted was to tell him about how well Grotle did against Candice, and that I was still looking to thank his Torterra for helping Grotle learn the new battling style."

"I see, so basically what you did was go back for more abuse," Misty shook her head in disapproval, "Ash, why are you such a glutton for punishment?"

"Torterra isn't like Paul, I wanted to make sure Torterra knew I was grateful, I had to take a chance, although to be honest, I really didn't expect anything less." Ash replied with a shrug.

"Here we are." Brock placed the cardkey into the door, and as soon as the lock blinked green, they opened the door and got ready for a good night's rest.

Early the next morning, the group got a rather sudden awakening when Ash got up with a startled shout. "What's going on?" Dawn exclaimed nervously.

Ash took a minute to regain his bearings, and then he looked forward to see Riolu sitting on his stomach, whining like a little child, "What's the matter Riolu?" he asked. Riolu whined again and rubbed his stomach. As it made a rather loud grumbling noise, "Ohh, you're hungry." Ash sighed with relief, "And I thought something was REALLY wrong. Ok Riolu, we'll get something to eat, just sit tight." Ash plucked Riolu off of his stomach and handed him to Misty, who had also been woken up by Ash's outburst.

"You really ARE connected to Ash's aura aren't you?" Misty giggled, as she tickled the baby Pokémon's belly, causing him to laugh gleefully, "Only Ash would be hungry so early in the morning."

"Well…now that you mention it…" Ash chuckled sheepishly, as his stomach also began to grumble.

Misty shook her head with amusement, "You're unbelievable." she sighed, "But that's why I love you." Misty leaned over and kissed Ash's cheek, and she suddenly felt Riolu stop squirming in her arms. She looked down and noticed that Riolu's eyes were closed with a content smile on his face, "Oh man, aura again?"

"No, I don't think so." Brock replied.

"Wha?" Ash responded, "Then why does Riolu look like that?"

"My guess would be that Riolu feels the love in your little family." Brock suggested with a smirk.

"You're a good mommy Misty." Dawn giggled.

Misty blushed and smiled down at Riolu, who had since opened his eyes and was once again smiling at her, "Hopefully I'll be this good when I have HUMAN kids one day." she giggled sweetly.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. The way you've raised Togetic, Azurill, and now helping Ash raise Riolu, you've already proven yourself to be a great mother." Brock replied.

"Well I know one way I can be a better one, let's get this little guy something to eat!" Misty got up from the bed with Riolu tucked safely in her arms, but the Emanation Pokémon began squirming as his energy levels were too high for him to stay still for too long, as he jumped out of Misty's arms and ran over to Ash and began jumping on the bed, "Well, like we keep saying, he IS Ash's Pokémon." she giggled, "Which reminds me, I think it's time for MY little sweetheart to make an appearance." Misty went over to her bag and tossed out Azurill's Pokéball, and the baby Pokémon immediately started playing with Riolu, "Come on Azurill, as soon as I get dressed we're gonna go and get some breakfast!"

Eventually the whole group did get dressed, and they went downstairs to the cafeteria to get their helping of hard boiled eggs and bagels. "You like that, don't ya Riolu?" Ash laughed, as the little Pokémon got cream cheese all over his face from eating his bagel. But all of a sudden, Riolu stopped eating, dropped his bagel onto the floor and grabbed onto Ash as if he was afraid, "What's the matter Riolu?" Ash asked. Riolu pointed over to what was scaring him, and the group realized exactly what was wrong. "Paul." Ash grumbled quietly.

Paul turned to walk out, but then he noticed Ash with a Riolu clutching onto him in fear. Slightly curious, he walked over to see what was going on. As he got closer, he noted that Riolu was holding onto Ash tighter and tighter, and his eyes closed so he didn't have to look. Ash wrapped his arms around the Emanation Pokémon to try and comfort him, but something was really bothering him, as Paul approached. "When did you get a Riolu?" he asked.

"Not too long ago." Ash replied simply, still trying to soothe the trembling Pokémon in his arms.

"There's something wrong with it." Paul pointed out.

"SOMETHING'S wrong alright, but not with Riolu." Dawn spat, her arms crossed and her head turned away from the purple haired trainer indignantly.

Paul looked at Dawn, and then back to Ash and Riolu, and he smirked smugly as he realized what was REALLY wrong with Riolu, "I see. My aura's too powerful for it to handle."

"Not quite." Misty replied, "Riolu's just never sensed something so disgusting before." Misty replied, getting up from the table to confront Paul.

Paul glared at Misty for a moment, and Misty glared back, but eventually Paul got tired of the whole thing and turned to walk away, "This is a waste of time. If you're smart you'll stop coddling that Riolu and focus on training it for battle." Paul walked out of the Pokémon Center and started on his way to the Snowpoint Gym, confident that the battle wouldn't last long at all. Once he got out however, he ran into Zoey and Glameow, who conveniently bumped into him on her way in.

"Oops, my bad." Zoey smirked at Paul and walked in, somehow satisfied with what she had done.

"You feeling better now Riolu?" Dawn asked. Riolu opened one eye and noticed that both Paul and the awful feeling were gone, and he sighed with relief. "Poor little guy." Dawn said sympathetically.

Then the group decided that they had lost their appetites, and they walked over to the couch in front of a television that was showing a weather report. Ash set Riolu down to play with Pikachu and Azurill, who immediately decided they needed to say something comforting to their youngest friend. "I sure am glad Riolu has friends like Pikachu and Azurill who'll have his back." Ash commented.

Then Zoey found her friends and sat down on the couch next to them, "Paul trouble?"

"How'd you guess?" Dawn sighed. Dawn looked out the window, and gasped when she recognized who was outside, "Wow! Hey, look who's out there guys!"

The group looked out the window as well, and they all laughed in delight at who they saw, with the exception of Zoey who had no idea who they were talking about, "Who's that guy?" she asked.

"That's Paul's big brother Reggie," Dawn replied, "He's a breeder down in Veilstone City!"

"Well since you guys seem happy to see him; I'll assume he's a nice guy." Zoey figured.

"He is! He's NOTHING like Paul," Misty said, "Come on guys! Let's go say hi!" Misty grabbed Azurill and hurried outside.

Pikachu and Riolu hopped onto Ash's shoulders, and together they went outside to greet the Pokémon Breeder, "Reggie!" Ash exclaimed.

"Well would you look at that," Reggie chuckled, "Wow, it's been a long time."

"Yeah, it really has." Dawn replied cheerily.

"And who's this little guy?" Reggie asked, bending over slightly to get closer to Riolu, who was slightly apprehensive because he was close to Paul, but Reggie's light and friendly aura made the Emanation Pokémon feel slightly better.

"That's my Riolu! He only hatched a few weeks ago!" Ash exclaimed.

"Wow! Have you noticed how he feeds off your aura yet?" Reggie asked.

"It's kinda hard not to notice." Misty replied for Ash, slightly embarrassed.

Reggie's mouth formed into an "o" as he was unsure of what Misty meant by that, but he quickly shook it off and offered the Pokémon Trainer some sage advice, "Well keep in mind, Riolu get very attached to their trainers when they're very young, so make sure you give it lots of love and lots of training, and you'll have an awesome Lucario in no time!"

"Gee thanks Reggie!" Ash replied gratefully, "So what are you doing here in Snowpoint City?"

"I just finished bringing a Pokémon I was watching back to its trainer," Reggie explained, "You here to challenge the Snowpoint Gym too?"

"Yeah! I battled Candice yesterday and won the badge!" Ash replied proudly.

"Really? Awesome!" Reggie turned to his younger brother and smiled down at him, "You hear that Paul, that's great huh?" Reggie wasn't exactly surprised when all Paul did was "hmmph" in frustration, "Mind if I come watch your battle?" he asked.

"Whatever you want." Paul replied dismissively, not bothering to even open his eyes or raise his head to look at his older brother.

"Man, Paul may be the exact opposite of Ash, but he's absolutely nothing like his brother either!" Zoey said quietly.

"For sure." Dawn replied.

Suddenly the ground started to rumble, shocking the group, "What's that?" Ash exclaimed. They then saw a large shadow fly over them, and when Ash saw what had made that shadow, he got really excited, "It's the Battle Pyramid!"

"Wow, you guys know about that thing?" Reggie asked.

Ash turned back to Reggie and smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I finally beat it but it took me a whole bunch of tries." he laughed.

That got Paul's attention, "What? You beat it?" he exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, but it sure wasn't easy." Ash replied, "Hey, let's go in and give Brandon a call! Maybe I can have another battle with him!" Ash hurried inside, which provoked his friends to follow him in.

"Wow, that Ash sure is something huh Paul?" Reggie said, obviously impressed with Ash. Reggie didn't notice, but Paul was now seething with anger and resentment for an unknown cause. After a few minutes, the group came back out, their cold weather outfits now on their bodies.

"Reggie, Brandon's landing now! Could you drive us over there?" Ash asked hopefully.

"He can." Paul caught everyone off guard with his reply, but he didn't bother to open his eyes to see their faces, and merely got in the front passenger seat and waited for Reggie to get in.

"Looks like my van just turned into a bus, hop in everyone!" Reggie got into the front seat, and waited for everyone to squeeze in before driving off.

"Ash, what was it you called that thing? The Battle Pyramid?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, it was the final facility Ash challenged back in the Kanto Battle Frontier." Brock explained for the black haired trainer.

"Wish I could've seen some of those battles, darn Gym Leader title." Misty huffed, somewhat annoyed over her past. Ash placed his arm around her to remove her annoyed feeling. It worked. "At least I get to see him battle NOW." she giggled.

"The Battle Frontier…you mentioned that once I think…that's…um…" Dawn struggled to remember, but Brock bailed her out and reminded her.

"It's a group of facilities, somewhat like a Gym, but more intense, where you challenge and battle against an amazing group of powerful trainers called Frontier Brains. Brandon's the most powerful Kanto Frontier Brain, and everyone calls him the Pyramid King." Brock explained. Dawn was honestly in awe…until Brock spoke up again, "And Lucy is the most beautiful Kanto Frontier Brain…oh how I miss her!"

"You harassed a Frontier Brain Brock? Have you no shame?" Misty huffed, giving Brock a sharp tug on the ear for emphasis.

"Not so fast Mist." Ash replied, removing Misty's hands from Brock's ear, "Sorry Brocko, I know how you feel."

Brock sighed and stared out the window, remembering the lovely Pike Queen he had been forced to leave behind. "Lucy…now and forever in my heart…"

"Am I missing something?" Misty asked, suddenly regretting what she had done.

"Having you as my girlfriend Mist…taught me a lot of things…and looking back, Lucy didn't react to Brock like most of the girls he hits on did…I think she REALLY liked him." Ash explained.

"Oh Brock, I'm so sorry." Misty said sympathetically.

Brock looked back and smiled slightly, "It's alright Misty, you couldn't have known." Brock decided it was time to change the subject, "Hey Reggie, didn't you challenge him too? I remember seeing the Frontier Symbols on display in your house."

"Yeah, but I never got the Brave Symbol," Reggie replied, "Which of course is proof of winning at the Battle Pyramid." No one noticed, but Paul scoffed silently at that.

"That's right, Brock told us about that. So why'd you stop battling?" Ash asked.

"Because I learned one thing." Reggie replied.

"And what's that?" Misty asked curiously.

"That I have a LOT more to learn." Reggie chuckled. After a few minutes more, the group reached the area the Battle Pyramid and touched down. "Ok, everyone out!"

The group all got out, and saw Brandon standing there with his arms crossed and a smile on his face, "Reggie, what a nice surprise."

"It's been too long Brandon." Reggie replied.

"So nice to see so many familiar faces, and a couple of unfamiliar ones. I'm sure you'll introduce me later." Brandon would've asked right away, but Paul had walked to the front of the group and was glaring right into the Pyramid King's eyes, "If I recall, you're Reggie's younger brother right?"

"So you DO remember me." Paul said, a kind of resentment slipping through his voice, "I'd like to challenge you to a Pokémon Battle, right here and now!"

"Oh?" Brandon was surprised by Paul's sudden declaration.

"Battle?" Ash looked over at Paul who seemed to have only one thing on his mind, but then out of the corner of his eye he saw someone riding over to them on a Dodrio, "Hey, it's Candice."

"Wow! It's the real Battle Pyramid!" Candice hopped off her Dodrio and looked up in awe and admiration at the structure, gasping as she did so, "And it's…so huge!"

"Sorry to cause such a fuss, but I'm Brandon, the Pyramid King of the Kanto Battle Frontier." Brandon said to the young girl.

"I'm honored to meet you!" Candice folded her hands in front of her waist, "I'm Candice, the Snowpoint Gym Leader."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Brandon replied with a nod. Just then, yet another vehicle came driving up, this one a silver jeep. When it stopped, a young woman with short black hair and a white headdress. "Oh, it's you Maria." Brandon said.

"We've been waiting for you, Pyramid King." Maria bowed in greeting to the Frontier Brain.

"I'd like to introduce you all. Everyone, please say hello to Temple Maiden Maria." Brandon said.

"It's an honor." Maria bowed in greeting to everyone else as well, but she never would've guessed what would happen next.

Brock shouted in happiness and leaped about twenty feet in the air, and landed on one knee right in front of the Temple Maiden, a blush on the Breeder in training's face, "With a beautiful maiden like you, I must make a pilgrimage to the Snowpoint Temple right away!" he exclaimed passionately. But before Maria even got a chance to react, Croagunk appeared and jabbed his master, rendering him temporarily incapacitated as the frog dragged him away, "No fair, I haven't even left yet!" he strained.

With that distraction out of the way, Dawn asked Zoey a question, "Zoey, there's a temple here?"

"Oh yeah! The Snowpoint Temple." Zoey replied, "It's a bit far from here, but it's an ancient temple with a rich history."

"Wow, that's awesome!" Dawn exclaimed.

"That must be why Brandon's here, to check out that temple." Ash figured.

"You're exactly right Ash. You see my purpose here in Sinnoh is to investigate the Snowpoint Temple." Brandon replied.

Brock had since recovered and offered his two cents, "Of course! You do research on MANY ancient civilizations right?"

"But I never would've imagined that you were going to travel here in your amazing Battle Pyramid!" Maria said.

"I have to agree with Maria," Misty said, "It's not exactly the most inconspicuous way to travel."

Upon hearing Misty speak up, Brandon's curiosity was piqued. "It appears we've caused a bit of a scene." he said. Then the Frontier Brain turned his attention to Ash, "Now Ash, I think you've kept me in the dark long enough."

Ash was confused by that statement. "Huh? In the dark? Whaddya mean?"

"You still haven't introduced these other two young ladies that are here with you, a true gentleman would never leave them out." Brandon said.

"Who ever said Ash was a gentleman?" Misty said with a playful smirk.

"Hey!" Ash shouted, which provoked the water-type trainer to giggle. "I'm sorry Brandon. These are my friends Misty and Zoey."

"It's a pleasure to meet you two, are you both Snowpoint residents?" Brandon asked.

"I am, I grew up here in Snowpoint City and now I'm on a journey to become a Top Coordinator, I just kinda run into Ash and the others every once in a while." Zoey explained.

"As for me, I used to be the Gym Leader back in my hometown of Cerulean City, but that was before I came to travel with Ash again." Misty added.

Brandon's face suddenly lit up, "NOW I know why you seemed so familiar, you're a Kanto Gym Leader. The Cerulean Gym became one of the most challenging gyms in the whole region once you took control of it. It certainly has been a long time since that one time I saw you and your gym on the Kanto News Network. My how flowers blossom."

Misty couldn't help but blush at the Frontier Brain's compliment, "Please, you're embarrassing me." she giggled bashfully.

"Although this does bring a question to mind, why would you leave a thriving gym behind?" Brandon asked.

"Let's just say I found a higher calling." Misty replied, clutching onto Ash's arm.

"Ahh, I see." Brandon smiled, "One of my fellow Frontier Brains is considering leaving her facility to search for the same thing you've already found."

"Who?" Brock suddenly asked excitedly.

Before Brandon could reply, Paul growled and shouted, "Enough!" his outburst got everyone's attention. "I challenged you to a battle! Will you accept it or are you too cowardly to battle me?"

"Paul, don't be disrespectful!" Reggie scolded. Paul merely turned his head slightly so he couldn't see Reggie, but he didn't dare avert his gaze from the Frontier Brain who was staring him down.

Finally, Brandon spoke up. "Sam…" he said, referring to his assistant.

"Sir!" Sam stood at attention.

"Please go on ahead with Maria to the temple." Brandon instructed.

"Huh? What about you?" Sam asked.

Brandon turned back to Paul, "Take a look," he said, "Look into his eyes, how can I refuse the battle this young man requests?"

"Sounded more like a demand to me." Candice whispered. The group nodded in agreement.

"Go on, I'll catch up with you soon." Brandon said.

"Thank you sir." Maria bowed once more and got into the jeep along with Sam.

"But Paul, why now?" Reggie asked.

"Because I have to do what YOU couldn't." Paul glared at his older brother, "And that's that."

"Sounds kinda resentful." Misty whispered.

"Yeah…" Ash walked up to Brandon as well, "Hey Brandon, it would be really great if you'd let us watch your battle."

Brandon nodded in agreement, and then turned to Paul for his approval, "Young man?"

Paul huffed, "I don't care."

"Very well then. Everyone inside." Brandon said.

The group followed the Frontier Brain into the Battle Pyramid, although Ash's group stayed a little further back to talk about the situation. "But I thought today was MY day to battle Paul." Candice said.

"I get the feeling there's more on the line here than just a badge or a symbol." Brock said.

"Yeah Ms. Senior, this whole time Paul's been hell-bent on battling Brandon. Ever since we first saw the Battle Pyramid fly over the Pokémon Center, and Ash told Reggie how he had beaten it a while back, he's been obsessed with getting this battle." Zoey explained.

"So it's a rivalry thing then." Candice figured.

"No." Misty's response caught the others off guard, with the exception of Ash and Brock, who had also noticed why Paul's demeanor was the way it was, "No, it's not because of Ash, although he doesn't help the situation any."

"Then what is it?" Dawn asked.

"Paul is looking to do what Reggie couldn't pull off a long time ago. What I CAN'T figure out is why he seems so resentful, it almost seems like Paul is looking for revenge." Brock said.

"So you think that could be it?" Ash asked, "Paul's looking to get revenge on Brandon for beating his older brother?"

"Seems too noble to me." Zoey commented.

"There's no way to know for sure until we see the battle unfold." Brock said. Finally the group made it to the arena, where Ash and Brock both chuckled in remembrance, "Good times, huh big guy?" the breeder in training said.

"You said it Brock." Ash replied.

"This place looks even bigger on the inside!" Candice said in awe.

"And to think he FLEW here in this." Zoey added.

The group made their way to the stands, with the exception of Brock who went to the side of the field, "Brandon, I could referee!" he offered to the Frontier Brain on one end of the field.

"Stay out of this, there's no need for that!" Paul's outburst had once again caught the Frontier Brain off guard. Paul clutched a Pokéball tightly in his hand; if he were a full grown adult he might've crushed it in his hand, "It's a full six-on-six battle. Pokémon exchanges are allowed. The battle will be over when all six of one side's Pokémon are unable to continue."

Brandon frowned, he sensed something was wrong about Paul's attitude, "Very well." the Frontier Brain replied.

"Magmar, stand by for battle!" Paul threw out his first Pokéball, and his fire-type emerged ready for battle.

"Regirock, I need your assistance!" Brandon threw out his first choice, and the legendary rock-type appeared and stared down the fire-type opposing him.

"Wow! A Regirock!" Candice exclaimed.

Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the creature opposing Paul's Magmar, "Regirock, the Rock Peak Pokémon. Regirock's body is made of rock and if something chips off in battle it attaches rocks to repair itself." the Pokédex chirped.

"So Brandon's starting off with Regirock…just like he did with my brother." Paul whispered bitterly to himself.

"I remember Paul was watching, of course that was back when my Pokémon and I were defeated by Brandon." Reggie said, "Paul was a new trainer and had just gotten his Turtwig he had gone to Kanto during his Sinnoh journey so he could watch my battle. I had already gone from league to league, and I felt ready to challenge Kanto's Battle Frontier. So to become a Frontier Brain, I had one more challenge I needed to face, and that was the battle against Brandon…but…we lost without defeating a single Pokémon…and Paul saw it all…"

"You could've become a Frontier Brain, then that means Ash was offered the same title!" Misty said in awe.

"Yeah…but I wanted to keep travelling. But now I get exactly why Paul's so obsessed with power." Ash replied.

"Yes…in a way…I'm responsible for the way he is right now." Reggie sighed.

"You can't blame yourself," Candice said, "Paul didn't have to react the way he did."

"Alright! I can handle anything you bring, because that's my battling style!" Brandon roared.

"Magmar, return." Paul responded to Brandon's determination by returning his fire-type to its Pokéball.

"Return?" Brandon was shocked by Paul's action.

"What's with Paul? They haven't even started yet!" Zoey asked.

"From personal experience, I can tell you that Paul prefers to have the type-advantage over his opponents and then overpower them, so he's probably switching out to get a better matchup." Ash explained, "But one thing that Paul may not realize, is that you CAN'T just overpower Brandon, believe me, I know."

"Hariyama, stand by for battle!" Paul threw out another Pokéball, and this time his fighting-type emerged for battle.

Dawn pulled out her Pokédex again, "Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokémon, Hariyama can send a truck flying with its powerful Arm Thrusts." the Pokédex chirped.

"A fighting-type, that's a good choice." Zoey noted.

"I've seen better. Primarily from Maylene." Candice added somewhat bitterly.

Brandon crossed his arms, "Let's begin!" he roared, "Stone Edge' now!" Regirock acknowledged, and a storm of small pointed stones began to circle the Rock Peak Pokémon, and then it fired them at Hariyama.

"Block it!" Paul countered. Hariyama held out its hands and blocked the rock-type move with some effort, "You know rock-type moves won't have much effect on Hariyama! Is this a test?" Paul spat.

"You'll have to wait and see!" Brandon replied.

Paul growled to himself and barked out another order, "Arm Thrust'!" Hariyama acknowledged and started pounding on the Rock Peak Pokémon's body with powerful thrusts with its huge hands.

While Hariyama was attacking, Brandon called out his counter, "Hold it down!" Regirock suddenly stopped Hariyama's assault by grabbing the Arm Thrust Pokémon and holding it tightly in its rocky arms, effectively immobilizing it.

"Oh no!" Paul shouted in horror.

"Now 'Shock Wave'!" Brandon ordered. As impossible as it seemed, the rock-type Pokémon unleashed a furious electric-type attack on Hariyama, who could do absolutely nothing except take the hit.

"Even after damage from the 'Arm Thrust', Regirock has that much power! Incredible!" Brock exclaimed.

When the attack finished, Regirock released Hariyama, and the Arm Thrust Pokémon staggered backwards and fell to one knee, supporting itself with its right arm. "Snap out of it! Use 'Force Palm'!" Paul ordered.

Immediately after Paul ordered his attack, Brandon ordered his, "Use 'Focus Punch'!" Regirock watched as Hariyama tried to get to it, but when its palm glowed with energy, Regirock stepped out of the way of Hariyama's thrust, and used its right arm to crush Hariyama and knock it to the ground, where it revealed itself to be unable to battle.

"It's unable to battle…" Candice said in shock.

"Like I said…there's no overpowering Brandon." Ash replied. The group watched as Paul returned Hariyama to its Pokéball and growled as he pondered his next choice, "That Regirock of his sure is tough." Ash said. While the battle was raging, Riolu had been watching in awe, periodically sending aura messages to Ash. "Yeah, I know Riolu. But there are those kinds of trainers out there who just seem too powerful to beat. But no one is ever unbeatable, remember that."

"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" Paul launched out his electric-type, and smirked at the Frontier Brain when he saw his slightly surprised expression.

"Why would Paul choose an electric-type?" Candice wondered.

"It makes perfect sense." Ash replied. Ash's statement caught everyone off guard.

"Ash, you do remember that electric-types aren't a great matchup versus rock-types right? Or do I have to remind you of your battle with Brock again?" Misty said.

"Just watch." Ash replied simply.

"Brick Break'! Paul ordered. Electabuzz acknowledged, and with a hand that was sparking with electric power, Electabuzz karate chopped Regirock's chest, slightly electrocuting the rock-type as Electabuzz's natural electricity added extra power.

"I knew he was gonna use 'Brick Break'." Ash said.

"I take it back; you know your rival well." Misty added.

"Brandon's Regirock is a high level Pokémon and Paul knows it. So of course he's got to use an attack that would be a powerful match." Reggie explained.

"But even after that Regirock barely looks tired." Dawn said.

"Stone Edge', go!" Brandon ordered. Regirock fired the chunks of rock once again, but this time Paul knew he couldn't simply order Electabuzz to block it with its hands.

"Protect'!" Electabuzz crossed its arms and formed a green shield around itself, but the rock-type move was so powerful that it barely lasted more than two seconds before the barrier broke and Electabuzz was sent tumbling backwards.

"Even 'Protect' wasn't strong enough!" Candice said in awe.

"The fact that a move that's supposed to negate any attack was broken so easily, it shows just how powerful Brandon and his Pokémon really are." Brock added.

"Now 'Hyper Beam'!" Brandon ordered. Regirock put its arms together, and the ultra-powerful beam formed in between the ends of its arms and made a direct hit on the electric-type, who was left fainted on the ground.

"I can't believe how easily he took out Paul's Electabuzz." Dawn said.

"I can. After battling Brandon a bunch of times, I know how tough it is to battle him." Ash replied.

Paul returned the fainted electric-type to its ball, but then Brandon also did the same with his Regirock, "Good, Regirock, return!"

"After using 'Hyper Beam', a Pokémon can't act right away, so it's good that he's making an exchange now." Brock said.

Brandon grabbed his next Pokéball and held it tightly in his hand, "Registeel, I need your assistance!" with a bright flash of light, Brandon's legendary steel-type emerged to take its turn on the battlefield.

"Registeel, the Iron Pokémon. Because Registeel's body has been tempered by underground pressure for thousands of years, its body cannot be scratched." Dawn's Pokédex chirped.

"A Registeel!" Paul knew exactly who to call for now, "Magmar, stand by for battle!" Paul's fire-type emerged ready for battle again, "I beat the Veilstone Gym Leader's Lucario with this Pokémon, beating YOUR steel-type shouldn't be that much more difficult!"

"You think so do you?" Brandon replied.

"If he says ONE MORE thing about Maylene, I. Am going. To lose it!" Candice snarled.

"You have to admit though; a fire-type is a good choice against a steel-type like Registeel." Zoey replied.

"Use 'Flamethrower'!" Paul ordered. Magmar fired, and made a direct hit on the Iron Pokémon. But instead of taking loads of damage, the Iron Pokémon threw the flames off of it and stood tall, "But how?" Paul said in horror.

"It must've had an effect…but it's hanging in." Reggie said in awe.

"That's Brandon's Registeel for you." Ash replied.

"Use 'Iron Head'!" Brandon ordered. Registeel charged forward like a locomotive, its body glowing in a bright white aura.

"Block it and use 'Will-O-Wisp'!" Paul countered. Magmar crossed its arms and braced itself for impact.

"Is he out of his mind?" Misty asked.

"There's NO WAY Magmar can just block Registeel's attack!" Zoey added.

Registeel crashed into Magmar, and the fire-type was knocked backwards and slid across the dirt, holding up its hands to try and block its face, "Magmar's scared?" Paul said in disbelief.

"Where's the 'Will-O-Wisp'?" Dawn asked in shock.

"Iron Head' may cause opponents to flinch, and then it prevents them from attacking." Brock explained.

Paul decided to just return Magmar to its Pokéball, "You're gonna come back out later and fight like you mean it." Paul reached for another Pokéball, "Now Nidoking, stand by for battle!" Paul launched another one, and this time his poison/ground-type emerged for battle.

"Boy, my Pokédex is sure getting a workout today." Dawn laughed.

"Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon, and the evolved form of Nidorino. One swing of its mighty tail can snap a telephone pole as if it were nothing but a matchstick." Dawn's Pokédex chirped.

"Wait a sec, Nidoking is a poison-type; I thought poison-type moves don't work on steel-types." Dawn said.

"True, but Nidoking is also a ground-type Pokémon, and those kinds of moves ARE effective on steel-types. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what move he calls." Zoey replied.

"Use 'Flash Cannon'!" Brandon ordered. Registeel formed a ball of shimmering energy in its hands and launched the blast at Nidoking, who took the hit in the face and tried its hardest to stay grounded.

"Earth Power', now!" Paul ordered. Nidoking glowed in a yellow light for a moment, and then punched the ground as the same yellow energy cracked the ground open and made its way over to Registeel, who seemed to finally feel some pain from the attack.

"Well, that's some impressive strength." Brandon said to himself.

After seeing Registeel take a significant amount of damage from the 'Earth Power', Paul decided it was time to go for broke. "Use 'Double Kick'!" Nidoking leaped up with its feet glowing white, and it pounded the Iron Pokémon with two crushing kicks. Registeel got close to falling over backwards, but it stayed strong and steadied itself.

"Whoa, even after a hit like that, Registeel's still up!" Misty said in awe.

"I keep saying it. Brandon's Pokémon mean business." Ash replied.

Paul growled as it seemed Registeel just refused to go down, "Use 'Thunderbolt'!" Nidoking's horn glowed with electricity and it fired towards Registeel.

"Iron Head' go!" Brandon countered. Registeel surged forward in a white aura, bounced off the electric-type attack and sent Nidoking flying. When the poison/ground-type hit the ground, it fainted.

"Nidoking's unable to battle too! It WAS a good attack though…" Zoey said in awe.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Brandon asked expectantly, "And here I thought you wanted to BEAT the man who defeated your brother."

Paul returned Nidoking to its ball, "The truth is, it's only because you defeated Reggie that my victory over you will have meaning! The challenge you always present to trainers to find their own strength was something my brother wasn't able to do! But I'm NOT like my brother! My WILL gives me strength! And now, you'll see it firsthand!" Paul ranted, his anger growing as he went on.

"NO!" Brandon barked, "All wrapped up in the past, but why then do you walk the Pokémon path in the first place? Tell me why do you battle?"

Paul growled furiously and grabbed a Pokéball off his belt, "Rrrah! Now Torterra, stand by for battle!" Paul sent out his starter Pokémon, and the Continent Pokémon emerged and made the ground rumble upon landing.

"Whoa, it's Torterra!" Ash exclaimed.

"If anyone can get Paul a win, it's Torterra." Misty added.

"Registeel, return!" Brandon returned his somewhat fatigued steel-type and sent out his third Pokémon, "Regice, I need your assistance!" Brandon's legendary ice-type emerged and faced off against Torterra.

"Regice, the Iceberg Pokémon. Formed in the Ice Age, its body stays at a temperature of -328 degrees and cannot be melted, even by fire." Dawn's Pokédex chirped.

"This is just an AWFUL matchup, Torterra is a dual grass/ground-type, ice-type moves will be doubly effective on Torterra." Candice noted.

"Paul's running out of options. At this point he can't be too choosy; he'll just have to go with his strongest Pokémon." Reggie replied.

"Use 'Stone Edge'!" Paul ordered.

"Stone Edge'?" Ash exclaimed in shock.

Torterra summoned hundreds of sharp rocks that swirled around it, and sent them flying towards the Iceberg Pokémon. "Use 'Blizzard'!" Regice summoned a huge snowstorm and ordered it to go in the direction of Torterra and its attack. The 'Stone Edge' was lost in the wind and Torterra was forced to endure a super-effective hit from one of the most powerful Pokémon it could face.

"Torterra's enduring the hit…" Ash said in awe.

"When Torterra taught Grotle how to battle, it definitely knew what it was talking about." Brock replied.

"Don't give up Torterra, 'Frenzy Plant', let's go!" Paul ordered. Torterra opened one of its eyes and summoned vines that shot out of the ground and picked up Regice who was caught off guard by the attack and lost focus on the 'Blizzard'. "Now use 'Giga Drain'!" Torterra used the vines to bring Regice in close and started absorbing its power.

"Hmm, there's something different about the way this young man uses his Torterra…" Brandon said to himself, "Use 'Ice Beam'!" Regice looked down and formed a beam of icy energy and fired it at point-blank range, and when the beam stopped, Torterra was frozen solid and the vines were withdrawing into the ground since Torterra could no longer control them.

"Torterra, no!" Paul shouted.

"That's the same thing that happened when Paul battled with Gary!" Dawn said.

"Use 'Zap Cannon'!" Brandon ordered. Regice formed a ball of electricity and threw it at the frozen Continent Pokémon, and upon impact, the blast shattered the ice Torterra was encased in and left the grass/ground-type severely drained. "Finish it with 'Hyper Beam'!" Regice obeyed and blasted the super-powerful laser attack, and Torterra finally was unable to continue after that barrage of attacks.

"I thought Torterra was part ground-type, how did the 'Zap Cannon' have any effect on it?" Dawn asked.

"That just goes to show how powerful Brandon's Regice is, he shatters the mold of Pokémon battling." Reggie replied.

"But it sure was amazing how Torterra took all those hits." Zoey added.

Paul growled and returned Torterra to its ball, staring at it for a second before placing it back on his belt. "Ursaring, stand by for battle!" Paul's powerful normal-type roared and readied itself for its turn to face Brandon, "Use 'Hammer Arm'!"

"Focus Punch' go!" Brandon countered. The two Pokémon charged forward with their respective fighting-type moves making their arms glow with power, and the collision caused a shockwave to go across the arena that nearly blew the hat off of Ash and blew everyone else's hair into a sloppy mess.

Ursaring was knocked backwards and groaned a bit after the hit, "Now 'Focus Blast'!" Paul ordered. Once Paul ordered the move, Ursaring grunted and started trying to form a ball of energy in its hands, but the fatigue and stress of the battle was slowing the process down.

"Zap Cannon'!" Brandon countered. Regice easily formed the ball of electricity and fired, and Ursaring stared at the attack coming towards it as it tried to finish forming the 'Focus Blast', but it couldn't pull it off in time and the paralysis inducing attack hit it in the gut and went all the way up its body and hit in the jaw after that. After being hit by that, Ursaring bent over and put its claws on its knees, as the paralysis made it almost unable to move.

"Whoa, what happened?" Dawn asked.

"Zap Cannon' ALWAYS paralyses its target if it hits." Brock replied. But then the group gasped as down on the field, Ursaring roared out a battle cry, "Is that what I think it is?"

"That's Ursaring's special ability 'Guts' alright. When a Pokémon with that ability gets burned, poisoned, or paralyzed like Ursaring is now, its attack power goes up!" Reggie explained.

"Well, that was unexpected." Brandon said to himself.

"Now Ursaring, 'Hammer Arm'!" Paul ordered. With the power of 'Guts' willing it forward, Ursaring slowly made its way over to Regice to try and finally secure one victory.

"Ice Beam'!" Brandon countered. Regice fired and stopped the bear in its tracks, and it growled and snarled as it tried to stay up and endure the hit, and eventually Ursaring was able to stay up, but even with 'Guts' it was clear Ursaring had nothing left.

"So why isn't Paul switching out?" Zoey asked.

"I know why." Ash growled.

"Now, Regice return!" Brandon returned his somewhat fatigued ice-type and reached for a Pokéball, "Regirock, I need your assistance!" Brandon's rock-type appeared on the battlefield once more.

"Regirock AGAIN?" Paul roared.

"Use 'Stone Edge'!" Brandon ordered. Regirock unleashed one more barrage of pointed stones, these seeming much bigger than previous ones, and the bear was sent flying by the power of the stones as each one hit its body and caused more and more agony. Once the bear hit the ground, it fainted without question.

Paul growled, "Ursaring, return!"

"Paul had already given up on Ursaring; he just stopped giving it commands." Reggie sighed.

Ash growled at that, and when Ash growled, Riolu growled as well, feeding off his aura. One thing had been learned by the little Emanation Pokémon from watching this battle. Paul wasn't someone to fear, if anything, he was someone to pity. "You just won't learn, will you Paul?" Ash thought to himself.

"Now Magmar, stand by for battle!" Paul threw out his final Pokéball, and his fire-type appeared for the third time.

"Paul's last Pokémon." Dawn said.

"It's ironic that it's the same matchup Paul tried to avoid when this battle first got started." Misty added.

"Not only is it a mad matchup, Regirock's just too powerful…it's almost over." Candice said.

"I almost feel sorry for Paul." Zoey added.

"Now 'Flamethrower'!" Paul ordered. Magmar fired, and Regirock crossed its arms and easily deflected the flames.

"I won't cause unnecessary pain to this poor Pokémon; I'll use a less damaging move. I should have a talk with this young man once this is over." Brandon thought to himself, "Shock Wave', let's go now!" Regirock formed a blast of blue electricity and launched it, and the fire-type took the hit and groaned in agony.

Paul watched his fire-type take the attack, and once it was over, it hunched forward and panted for air, and after a moment, it fell over backwards fainted. Paul gasped in horror and disbelief…not only had he not defeated Brandon, he had failed to defeat a single one of his Pokémon…just like his brother.

"Paul lost…and after all that…I wonder if he'll ever figure it out." Ash sighed.

Paul sucked up his emotions and tried to put on a stone-face, but the utter humiliation he was feeling in his seemingly cold heart was eating away at him. He returned Magmar to its Pokéball, and that was when Brandon spoke up.

"Young man!" Brandon yelled across the field, "This battle of yours…was that your TRUE battle? You've done an excellent job training your Pokémon for battle, but the way I've seen you treat them seems suspect to me. And not only that, you allow your emotions to betray you on the battlefield!" Paul opened his eyes and looked up at Brandon, bringing a small smile to the Frontier Brain's face, "We WILL battle again someday when you've learned to control them, and when you've learned to see your Pokémon in a different light. Consider my words."

Paul could do nothing except bow in humility; the Pyramid King had put him back in his place. Paul then walked out of the arena, with the others following close by. Paul stopped in his tracks once he was a couple of yards away from the entrance to the pyramid, "You can expect to see me later at the Snowpoint Gym." he said, refusing to meet the Gym Leader's gaze.

Candice smiled with sympathy, somehow, even as nasty as Candice knew Paul really was, seeing the trainer so broken forced her to act nicely towards him, "Great Paul, I'll be looking forward to it."

Once he got his answer, Paul turned and began the long trek back to the Pokémon Center, hoping to avoid making eye contact with anyone in the area. Unfortunately, Reggie wasn't going to allow that. "Hey Paul," Reggie said, "Do you think there's any chance that you and Ash could treat us to a full battle at some point?" Paul opened his eyes in shock and turned around to face the group when Reggie said that.

"Me and Paul?" Ash asked suddenly, caught off guard by Reggie's request.

"You two!" the group turned and saw Brandon standing there, a smile on his face at the notion of a six-on-six between the two rivals. "Interesting idea! Let's set the time and place and agree to meet again, that's bound to be a battle guaranteed to raise the level of BOTH of you. Of that there can be no doubt."

"Yeah! Sounds great, I'm in!" Ash exclaimed determinedly.

Paul growled and stared his rival in the eye, "Great, I'm in too!"

"Reggie, what about the time and place?" Brock asked.

"Exactly ten days from now, at the Pokémon Center near Lake Acuity." Reggie declared.

"Fine, we'll be there!" Ash replied.

"And so will I." Paul said.

"Brandon, you're gonna come and watch too?" Misty asked.

"Perhaps if I'm still in Sinnoh by then, but even if I'm not I would still like to be informed of the results." Brandon said.

"It's official then!" Reggie said, "But right now, Paul has a battle at the Snowpoint Gym to prepare for. Come on little brother, lemme drive you to the Pokémon Center." Reggie looked at Paul and shrugged, and eventually his little brother silently accepted the offer and got into the passenger seat of Reggie's truck, "Guess that's Paul's way of saying yes." Reggie chuckled, "Ash, I can guarantee you Paul will prepare himself for his battle against you, I suggest you do the same, maybe throw a few new Pokémon his way." the breeder suggested.

"Yeah, maybe I will." Ash replied.

"Alright, we'll see you in ten days!" Reggie got into his jeep and drove away, leaving the rest of the group amongst themselves.

"Well Zo-Zo, while I wait for Paul, I think it's time you and me had a kiai battle!" Candice exclaimed.

"You got it Ms. Senior!" Zoey replied.

Candice tossed out a Pokéball and summoned her Dodrio. And was about to hop on, when suddenly the jeep that Sam and Maria drove up, "Hey, what's going on?" Candice wondered.

The jeep screeched to a halt and the two passengers came out, worried expressions on their faces, "Brandon!" Sam cried out.

"Something terrible has happened at the temple!" Maria explained.

"Oh no!" Brandon shouted with concern.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

"It seems a mysterious group of people has sealed off the temple!" Sam explained.

"A mysterious group of people?" Dawn exclaimed.

"Why would they do something like that?" Brock wondered.

"Could it be Team Galactic again?" Misty suggested.

"Who knows?" Ash replied.

"Regardless, let's board the Battle Pyramid and head there right away!" Brandon ordered.

"I'm going with you! As the Snowpoint City Gym Leader it's my duty to protect that temple from harm!" Candice exclaimed.

"Yeah, please Brandon, you've gotta let the rest of us go with you!" Ash pleaded.

"Alright kids, then let's get going!" Brandon replied. The group nodded and hurried in, and a few minutes later the Battle Pyramid was once again airborne, its destination the Snowpoint Temple.

Back inside, the group was discussing what could be going on, "I wonder what it is they're after." Ash said.

"Whoever 'they' are." Misty added.

"Young man," Brandon said, "You don't happen to know the legend of the Snowpoint Temple do you?"

"No, I've never heard of it," Ash replied, "But I'd sure like to."

"Alright then." Maria began her story, "It happened a long time ago…once, after a volcano violently erupted, the Snowpoint Forest, rich in natural resources and beauty, was transformed into a sea of flowing lava. Then, out of a bright blue light, Regigigas appeared."

"Regigigas?" the group exclaimed in shock.

"Correct. Along with Regice, Regirock, and Registeel, together the four of them halted the volcano's eruption, thus saving Snowpoint City from destruction…later; Regigigas transformed itself into a stone of light and fell into a deep sleep. In order to protect Regigigas, the legend says that Regice, Regirock, and Registeel were transformed into three guardian pillars, made of amazing elements, ice, rock, and steel." Maria explained.

"And their location is the Snowpoint Temple." Brandon added.

"Wow, that's amazing, do you think that Regigigas is the one that helped save Sonzonia City?" Dawn asked.

"Who knows? There are more than one of several legendary Pokémon in this world." Misty replied.

"So what do you think those people are trying to do at the temple?" Ash asked.

"They're most likely after Regigigas." Brandon replied.

"I'll put up a view of the temple entrance on the main monitor!" Sam pressed a few keys and a view of the temple came onto the screen above them.

"Ash…that's not Team Galactic…" Misty said.

Once they got a closer look at the people at the temple, they gasped, "You're right Mist, it's Pokémon Hunter J!" Ash growled.

"Who's Pokémon Hunter J?" Maria asked.

"She's part of a group that steals Pokémon and sells them on the black market." Brandon replied.

"That's awful!" Candice exclaimed.

"You guys have run into her before I'm assuming?" Zoey said.

"Once or twice." Misty hissed.

"But Brandon," Dawn said, changing the subject slightly, "I thought you just told us that the sleeping Regigigas was just a legend right?"

"Not so." Brandon replied, "There has been sufficient evidence uncovered that shows it's NOT just a legend. THAT'S why I came here."

"Right, and that means they'll do whatever it takes to catch Regigigas, so we gotta do something first!" Ash exclaimed.

"I agree." Brandon replied with a nod.

"We better get our Pokémon ready to go, Ash, I think you should return Riolu to his Pokéball, we don't want J seeing him as potential black market fodder." Misty suggested.

"Right." Ash nodded and picked up the little Emanation Pokémon off his shoulder, "I'm gonna put you in your Pokéball Riolu, I want you safe ok?" he said. Riolu hesitated, but then nodded as he read Ash's aura was indeed sincere. "Riolu, return." Ash shot the red light at Riolu, and the little Pokémon disappeared into the Pokéball.

Misty returned Azurill for the same reason, and called out Surskit just in case something happened, "Can't hurt to be prepared." she shrugged. Just then, a bunch of dots appeared in the distance, "Uh…what are those?"

"Sensors indicate several Pokémon coming right at us!" Sam exclaimed.

"It must be J's henchmen, they know we're coming!" Brock shouted.

"Brace yourselves everyone!" Brandon roared.

All of the Pokémon got close enough for them to be seen, "It's a whole army of Metang and Skarmory!" Zoey exclaimed nervously.

Then the Pokémon started firing upon the Battle Pyramid, the Skarmory unleashed a barrage of 'Flash Cannon's', while the Metang all fired a bunch of 'Sludge Bomb's'. "J's not messing around this time!" Ash yelled.

"When does she ever?" Brock replied.

Suddenly an explosion was heard, and the entire pyramid rumbled, and the group fell to the ground and shouted in fear, "Sir, one of the rotors is no longer functioning!" Sam shouted.

"Hang on everyone! Emergency landing!" Brandon gave it all to keep the Battle Pyramid level as it plummeted to the ground, and thanks to his excellent piloting skills, he was able to do just that, as the pyramid landed upright and slid through the forest, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, but the temple can't wait!" Ash exclaimed determinedly.

"You're right Ash; we'll use the mini-craft to get to the temple while Sam stays behind and repairs the motor!" Brandon said.

"Sir!" Sam stood at attention and nodded to comply.

The group ran towards the mini-craft, which had a quite fitting name as not everyone was able to fit. "Uh oh, too small." Misty said.

"There's no way we'll all fit!" Zoey added.

"No problem!" Ash threw a Pokéball to the ground, and Charizard emerged from it, already prepared for his rematch with Hunter J's Salamence. "Come on Misty, we'll just ride Charizard there, his 'Flamethrower' and 'Heat Wave' attacks will really be useful against all those Metang and Skarmory!"

"Well well, it's quite a pleasure to see that Charizard again," Brandon said, "I have fond memories of our battle. But now's not the time to reminisce, let's hurry!" Brandon helped everyone into the mini-craft and started it up, and a hatch door opened and allowed the group to take off flying.

"Pikachu, heads up!" Ash tossed another Pokéball, and Staraptor emerged from it with a shrill cry, "You know what to do!"

"Pika!" (You bet!) Pikachu leaped onto Staraptor's back with his cheeks sparking, as he readied for the tough battle against Hunter J's goons' Pokémon army.

"Good idea Ash!" Dawn tossed out a Pokéball as well, and Buneary emerged from it and hopped onto one of the wings of the mini-craft, "Piplup, you follow Buneary's lead and get on the other wing!" Piplup nodded and hopped onto the opposite wing.

"Just one more for good measure!" Misty took Surskit off of her head, "I'm gonna use Surskit like D. Shad uses his gauntlet! Surskit, I want you to get on my wrist and grab on tight! And I want you to fire 'Bubblebeam' at whatever I aim at!" Surskit nodded and gripped onto Misty's wrist, its face showing sheer determination.

"Here they come!" Brandon roared over the cry of all the incoming Pokémon, as the seemingly endless army of steel-types closed in on them.

"Alright Pikachu, use 'Thunderbolt', and Charizard, 'Heat Wave'!"

"Piplup, use 'Bubblebeam', and Buneary, you use 'Ice Beam'!"

"Fire away Surskit, 'Bubblebeam' now!"

All the Pokémon blasted away, and the army of steel-types were stopped in their tracks by the barrage, "Alright, now let's go!" Brandon shouted. Thanks to all the falling Pokémon, Brandon was able to land the mini-craft without any henchmen going after them, and they quickly got out of the craft.

Once on land again, Candice called out Abomasnow and Medicham, while Zoey decided to follow suit and call out Glameow to flank them, "Zo-Zo and I will cover you guys and keep these losers at bay, hurry and make sure Hunter J doesn't do anything to the temple!" Candice exclaimed.

"Right, good luck you two!" Brandon left the Gym Leader and her childhood friend to hold off J's henchmen and rushed into the temple to stop Hunter J, with the group not far behind. Suddenly they heard crashing noises coming from the room ahead of them, "Oh no, we're too late!" Brandon picked up the pace and saw J destroying the pillars that guarded the legendary Regigigas, she was about to destroy the final one, the steel pillar, when Brandon roared in fury, "Stop! Stop this at once!"

"Hmmph…so…you got past all my men." Hunter J scoffed, unimpressed.

"You've got to understand that you mustn't awake Regigigas, the result would be disastrous!" Maria exclaimed.

"Hmmph." J huffed, "Now Salamence!" she ordered.

Salamence reeled back and charged one last 'Hyper Beam', "No don't!" Ash yelled, "Charizard! Go!" Charizard leaped into action and attacked Salamence with a powerful 'Steel Wing', knocking the dragon off balance, "We're NOT gonna let you do this J!"

"I suggest you stay out of this you little brat, there's no David to rescue you from me this time." J snarled, "Salamence, take care of that distraction and finish the job, now!" Salamence heard the words of J and blasted Charizard down to the ground with a powerful 'Dragon Pulse', and fallen rubble then came crashing onto Charizard, trapping it, then Salamence turned around and destroyed the final pillar with a 'Hyper Beam'.

Ash growled in anger and sneered at the bounty hunter, "J, do you know what you just did?" he snarled. Suddenly, the sphere that had been in the middle of the three now fallen pillars began to pulse with a glow, "Uh oh!"

"Could Salamence's attacking be waking up Regigigas?" Maria said nervously.

J walked up to the pulsating sphere and smirked, "I would certainly hope so."

"I will NOT allow you to go through with this!" Brandon roared determinedly.

"All you can do now is stand and watch." J shot back coolly. But J's smirk began to disappear when the sphere did nothing more than continue to pulse with the light, "What? Why won't it wake up?" she hissed, "Quick, use 'Flamethrower'!"

"Don't do it!" Brandon yelled.

It was no use, J wasn't going to hold back, and her Salamence unleashed a burning flame that hit the sphere and bounced off of it, shooting the flame in three different directions…suddenly the triangle it had been sitting in began to glow in an angry red light, and the light created a barrier that shot up into the ceiling, and J did a backflip onto Salamence as she prepared to make her capture. When the light dissipated, Regigigas revealed itself.

"Oh no, it's Regigigas!" Brandon exclaimed worriedly.

Dawn pulled out her Pokédex to scan this legendary Pokémon, "Regigigas, the Colossal Pokémon, according to legend, Regigigas has towed continents using ropes." her Pokédex chirped.

"After what we saw in Sonzonia City, that doesn't surprise me." Misty gulped. Suddenly Regigigas held up its hands and fired two 'Hyper Beams' at the temple, causing rubble to fly off from every direction, "What's it doing?"

"Regigigas, you gotta stop!" Ash yelled, as the Colossal Pokémon continued to blast in every direction, "Stop! Stop it!"

"It's no use! Intense rage is making Regigigas go berserk!" Maria exclaimed.

"Well, you should thank me then." J said as she locked and loaded her arm cannon to make the capture.

"You mean like we should've thanked you for 'sparing' that Riolu from the fire that YOU started?" Misty spat, her fists clenched in anger.

"Exactly. And now I shall preserve the rage that dwells deep inside of Regigigas forever!" J aimed her cannon, but then Regigigas in its blind rage aimed 'Hyper Beam' at her and Salamence, and she quickly pulled her arm back, "Salamence, 'Dragon Pulse'!" Salamence acknowledged J's order and fired a green sphere of energy to try and counter the power of Regigigas's 'Hyper Beam', but the power was just too great and the shock wave from the explosion knocked Salamence off balance.

Regigigas then fired into the ceiling, and rocks began raining down on everyone below, Ash dove to avoid being crushed by one huge boulder, but he was by no means safe yet, "That was way too close!" he gulped.

"If these attacks keep up there's no doubt the temple will collapse!" Brandon shouted over the noise.

"Retreat, now!" J ordered. Salamence acknowledged and flew out of the temple with J on its back.

"We gotta get out of here!" Ash yelled. Then the trapped fire/flying-type roared his own rage as a surge of power allowed him to break free of his tomb of rocks, and he flew over to cringing group of humans, "Way to go Charizard! Think you can carry everyone out of here?" Charizard gave a thumbs up, and Ash, Misty, and Dawn hopped onto the powerful dragon's back.

But then, Regigigas fired right above them, and rocks began raining down on them, "Let's go!" Brandon threw out three Pokéballs, and his trio of legends emerged to protect the group from harm, "Regirock, 'Focus Punch', Registeel, 'Flash Cannon, and Regice, 'Zap Cannon'!" The three legends shattered the falling rocks and protected the group, allowing the group to run off, not caring about a ride on Charizard's back; they'd go on foot if necessary, as long as they were leaving. Brandon hung back a moment until his three Pokémon landed in front of him again, "Regirock, Regice, Registeel, I need your protection until we get out!" The three Pokémon nodded and ran off with their master.

Outside, Candice and Zoey were making quick work of all the henchmen with Abomasnow's 'Blizzard' and Glameow's 'Shock Wave', but they had heard the commotion inside the temple and were worried just the same, "I hope they're ok!" then Hunter J and Salamence flew out of the temple, and Candice immediately switched targets, "That must be Hunter J! Quick Abomasnow, use 'Blizzard'!" Abomasnow turned and fired the freezing snowstorm at the dragon and her master, who cringed as the attack overtook them.

"Nothing but distractions at every turn." J hissed, "Salamence, use 'Flamethrower', now!" Salamence regained its balance and fired at Candice, and upon seeing its master in danger, Abomasnow rumbled forward and took the hit itself, roaring in agony as the super effective attack made contact.

"No, Abomasnow!" Abomasnow fell to its hands and knees and panted in exhaustion, and the Gym Leader rushed over to tend to her aching battle partner, "Are you alright?"

"I don't have time for this, so I'll spare you." J then turned her attention to her henchmen, "Move to Point C and standby, I'm going to check on our target once again." She ordered. Her henchmen obeyed and hurried off to their next checkpoint.

"Stop her Zo-Zo!" Candice shouted.

"Glameow, 'Shock Wave', now!" Zoey ordered. Glameow acknowledged and fired the electric-type move, but Salamence was once again able to dodge, "Man she's tough!"

"I don't have time for this!" J snarled, "Salamence, use 'Hyper Beam' in front of them!" Salamence obeyed and fired right in front of Zoey and Glameow, causing smoke to rise where the attack had just hit, then unnoticed to Zoey and Candice, J got out of their sight and waited to make her next move.

"Where'd she go?" Zoey said in shock. Deciding that it was a waste of time to look around aimlessly, Zoey ran over to Candice to check on her and Abomasnow, "You alright Ms. Senior?"

"I'm fine, and I think Abomasnow is too, but that was one powerful 'Flamethrower'." Candice replied.

"What kind of people are we dealing with here?" Zoey commented, horrified by what she had seen from these people so far.

Back inside, the group was running out of the temple as fast as they could, with Regigigas right on their heels, firing 'Hyper Beams' in every which direction. Finally the Colossal Pokémon aimed right at them, and the glowing light caught Ash's attention, "Look out!"

The glowing light was then spotted by Zoey, who gasped in horror, "Ms. Senior, out of the way!" Zoey dove and tackled Candice just before the blast surged out of the temple entrance, just barely missing them and their Pokémon. When the dust settled, she saw that Ash and the others had been nailed by that attack, but Regirock, Regice, and Registeel had protected them from the majority of its power, "Hey, you guys alright?"

"Yeah…we're ok…" Ash groaned. But then Ash gasped and looked back at the temple, and saw that the entrance had been blocked off, "Where's Regigigas?"

"Buried under the rubble." Brandon replied.

"Not even Regigigas could break free of that." Brock figured.

But then the Colossal Pokémon proved everyone wrong and blasted out of the rubble like it was nothing, roaring with rage, "You were saying Brock?" Misty gulped.

"It's Regigigas, I don't believe it!" Candice squeaked.

Once it was free, Regigigas continued to fire 'Hyper Beam' in every direction, destroying the canyon walls with its blasts, "Regigigas, stop it!" Ash yelled.

"I'm afraid no one is able to stop Regigigas now." Maria said sullenly.

"There has to be SOMETHING we can do!" Zoey exclaimed.

"There is!" Brandon turned towards his three Pokémon, "Regice, Regirock, and Registeel." Understanding what Brandon wanted, the three legendary Pokémon jumped into action.

"Whoa, Brandon, what are you doing?" Ash asked.

"I'm going to calm down that rage by catching it!" Brandon replied, Unleash 'Hyper Beam' together!" The trio leaped up and fired 'Hyper Beam' simultaneously, and Regigigas countered with its own, causing a huge explosion in midair. "Now, get up close and unleash your 'Focus Punch'!" The three legends dove down towards Regigigas to attack, but Regigigas simply put its hands together and used a different attack, crushing the trio with a downwards blow.

"That was 'Mega Punch'!" Brock exclaimed.

"And it stopped all three of them with just one hit!" Dawn added.

"This leaves me no choice! Regirock, Registeel, hurry and hold down Regigigas!" Brandon ordered. The trio of Pokémon burst out of the rubble, and the rock and steel-type Pokémon both charged towards their much larger opponent, and grabbed onto its arms, holding the Colossal Pokémon down if only for a moment, "Regice, use 'Ice Beam'!" Regice fired, and the beam froze Regigigas solid, along with Regirock and Registeel who were still gripping its arms.

"You did it Brandon!" Ash cheered.

"Amazing how you froze Regigigas with along with both Regirock and Registeel too." Brock added.

"It was a last ditch strategy, but it worked." Dawn also commented.

"But what do we do NOW? We can't just leave your Pokémon frozen like that." Misty said.

But suddenly, Regigigas broke free of the ice, sending shattered pieces of the frozen water in all directions, but it could still barely move since Regirock and Registeel were determined to keep it from doing any more damage, "Regice, 'Zap Cannon'!" Brandon ordered. Regice acknowledged and fired the ball of electricity at the Colossal Pokémon, and its body began crackling once the attack detonated.

"It HAD to feel that." Brock groaned.

"Now Registeel, use 'Iron Head', and Regirock, 'Stone Edge'!" Brandon ordered. The two remaining Pokémon unleashed their most powerful moves on their much larger counterpart, and their attacks left Regigigas nearly exhausted as it fell to its knees, "Now to get you in this Pokéball!" Brandon was about to make his move, when suddenly the entire group found themselves covered in sticky webbing. "What is this?"

The group then saw an Ariados growling at them, and an all too familiar figure riding a Salamence coming down from the sky, returning the spider to its Pokéball, "It's J!" Ash spat.

"Nice work," J chuckled, as she moved in on the now exhausted Regigigas, "I'll be taking Regigigas." J aimed her cannon once again in order to make her capture.

"No way!" Ash barked.

Regigigas had had enough of this situation, and decided to try a different approach. Its body began glowing in a dark pink aura, and J growled as she knew what was happening. Brandon on the other hand, was horrified, "Oh no, that's 'Confuse Ray'!" Regirock, Regice, and Registeel suddenly turned towards the group of humans, their backs faced to Regigigas as if blocking it from any more harm.

"NOW what are they all doing?" Ash gulped nervously. Ash got his answer when Regirock and Regice fired 'Zap Cannon' at them, while Registeel unleashed 'Flash Cannon'.

"What the?" J and Salamence got hit by all three attacks, leaving Salamence severely depleted.

"Oh whoa, look at that!" Dawn exclaimed, as Brandon's three legendary Pokémon marched forward with Regigigas walking right behind them.

"It's just like the legend…" Maria explained, "Regirock, Regice, and Registeel have become the three pillars that will protect Regigigas."

J had Salamence hover weakly over the marching Pokémon as she examined the situation, "Let's go to Point C so we can reconfigure our plan." she finally said. Salamence growled weakly and flew off, leaving the group to watch as Regigigas walked off with Brandon's three Pokémon.

Then, Regigigas began firing 'Hyper Beams' again, and in their hypnotized state, Brandon's legendary Pokémon followed suit and fired their own 'Hyper Beams'. "I've got to do something!" Brandon ran in front of the marching Pokémon, struggling to reach for Regirock, Regice, and Registeel's Pokéballs. Once he finally got his hands on them, he made his move, "Return, all of you!" Brandon fired, but the three beams for some reason bounced off of the three Pokémon, and then Regice switched attacks momentarily to fire 'Zap Cannon' at Brandon. Brandon gasped and dove out of the way, just before the attack hit the ground.

"Oh no, Brandon!" the group rushed over to the Pyramid King to see if he was alright, and it seemed that he was.

"Regirock, Regice, Registeel, come back!" Brandon called out. In his mind however, Brandon knew that it was a waste to just call for his Pokémon, Regigigas's 'Confuse Ray' had left them completely oblivious to what they were doing.

"Oh no, they're heading right for Snowpoint City!" Candice exclaimed worriedly.

"We gotta find a way to stop them or a lot of people are gonna get hurt!" Zoey added.

"First we have to break free of this webbing somehow!" Brandon said.

"Right!" Dawn knelt down onto the ground, "Piplup, try and pull it off with your beak!" Piplup acknowledged and tried to yank the sticky substance off of Dawn with his beak, but it was holding strong and wouldn't break. "It's no good!"

"No! We gotta break free!" Ash started straining himself as he tried to rip apart the webbing with brute strength, "We've gotta stop Regigigas!"

"There's gotta be a way to break free of this stuff!" Misty said, "Brock, any ideas?"

"No…but still…if I must be tied up it's great to be tied up with you Maria!" Brock exclaimed, looking over his shoulder at the Temple Maiden with hearts in his eyes.

"Brock, for crying out loud!" Misty exclaimed exasperatedly.

"He may be a genius but his timing can be the pits." Dawn groaned in annoyance.

"Just hear me out sweet Maria, the web of love that intertwines our romantic fate will stay tight and taut and never be undone!" Brock said passionately. But then, the webbing DID come undone, as Croagunk appeared and broke through it with 'Poison Jab', which of course crippled Brock in the process and sent him to the ground, "Not…without…a little…coaxing…which Croagunk's so good at…"

"Brilliant ploy!" Brandon complimented.

"Yeah that's our Brock alright; he's brilliant at looking stupid." Misty replied. Dawn couldn't but giggle at that comment.

"Alright Brocko, pull yourself together and get us out of here!" Ash exclaimed.

Brock eventually recovered from the jab, and managed to pull apart the webbing and free the others, "Alright, let's go after them!"

The group ran back to the temple and got into the mini-craft, with the exception of Ash and Misty who got back onto Charizard's back. Brandon started up the mini-craft and contacted Sam, "Sam, what's the Battle Pyramid status?"

"I'll need a little more time to get it fully repaired!" Sam replied over the crackly radio.

"We're going to catch up to Regigigas by air; meanwhile you contact Officer Jenny and advise her to be on the alert!" Brandon ordered.

"Yes sir!" with that, Sam signed off.

"We gotta hurry, who knows what J will do if we don't get there soon?" Brock said.

"Can't this thing go any faster Brandon?" Candice asked.

"Hold on, I'm giving it all it's got!" Brandon jammed down the gas pedal, and the mini-craft accelerated towards a canyon that led into Snowpoint City.

"Let's go Charizard!" Ash shouted. Charizard roared and sped up as well, and before they knew it they spotted Hunter J on her Salamence, evading multiple 'Hyper Beams' from Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. "Uh oh, J's aiming her cannon!"

J fired at Regigigas, but then Regirock stepped in front of the blast and was turned into a statue by the beam, "Regirock, no!" Brandon cried.

"Get out of my way!" J fired again, but this time Registeel leaped up and took the hit, and it too turned into a statue and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"Look what's happened to Registeel!" Dawn exclaimed.

"That's enough J, stop it!" Ash barked.

"I don't think so!" J went to a different angle and fired again, but Regice leaped up and took the hit for Regigigas, and also fell to the ground, petrified by J's cannon.

"And now Regice…" Dawn said in horror.

"Whoa…they did what they did so they could save Regigigas." Ash added.

Brandon growled with rage, seeing his three Pokémon petrified by J was something that was eating away at him, "She'll pay for this…" he said to himself.

"Look at Regigigas now!" Dawn exclaimed.

The group looked down and noticed that the dots on Regigigas were pulsating red, "Regigigas is getting less angry!" Maria explained.

Brandon gasped in realization, "So…your true intentions are clear to me now…Regirock…Regice…Registeel…"

"I'm afraid it's all over." J aimed her cannon once more, convinced that with Brandon's Pokémon out of the way, there was no one who could stop her.

But Brandon refused to let J win, as he stepped out of the mini-craft, "Alright young man, take the controls!" Brandon leaped out of the mini-craft, roaring what could be taken as a battle-cry, as he followed his Pokémon's lead, took the hit for Regigigas, and turned into a statue, just like Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. Regigigas had caught Brandon in its hand, and stared down at the human who had sacrificed himself on its behalf.

"No, Brandon!" Ash shouted.

After a moment, the dots on Regigigas's body blinked blue, and it seemed to come to its senses after seeing FOUR different people and Pokémon sacrifice themselves for it. "Regigigas!" Maria cried.

J got right in front of Regigigas and aimed right in between where Regigigas's eyes would be, "Meddlesome fools! But it's over now!" J got ready to fire.

"No way! Let's go Charizard!" Ash yelled in anger. Charizard roared and flew towards J and Salamence, "Use 'Flamethrower'!"

J growled and had Salamence back off, "Salamence, 'Dragon Pulse'!" Salamence fired its counter attack, and the attacks collided and made an explosion in the air, and a thick cloud of smoke formed as a result.

"Now Charizard, through the smoke and use 'Steel Wing'!" Ash ordered. Charizard started his route through the smoke, but then he came flying back out of the smoke as a 'Dragon Pulse' knocked him back, which in the process bucked Misty off of Charizard and sent her flying, "Oh no, Brock catch her!"

Brock piloted the mini-craft and flew over to where Misty was going to land, and the group made a team effort to catch the water-type trainer and they sat her safely in the craft, "Ash, look out!" Misty cried suddenly, getting back up from her seat.

Ash looked back up and saw Salamence unleashing another 'Dragon Pulse' "I've had enough of you; it's time for you to vanish forever!" J snarled. Salamence fired, and Ash awaited the impact as Charizard was still off-balance and was unable to retaliate. But suddenly, Regigigas broke free of the liquid adhesive J had trapped it in, and stepped in front of the incoming 'Dragon Pulse', and crossed its arms into an X, and bounced the 'Dragon Pulse' back at J and Salamence who were so shocked that they didn't react in time and took the hit. And in the process, a stray shard of 'Dragon Pulse' energy hit J's cannon and destroyed it, "No!"

"Regigigas must be back to normal!" Dawn cheered.

"Yeah, Brandon's feelings must've gotten through somehow!" Ash added.

"That means Snowpoint City is safe!" Candice also exclaimed.

"I wouldn't count on that just yet!" J hissed, "Onto the next phase men, prepare to attack!" she shouted at her henchmen below.

"Master J! The clients have been scared off by all the commotion and have retracted their request!" one of the henchmen shouted.

"What?" J growled, her visor coming up off her face, "Those spineless fools! Retreat!" she shouted. J's henchmen drove off, but J stayed back a moment.

"You lose again J!" Ash bark-laughed.

"Now get out of Snowpoint City! As Gym Leader I will no longer tolerate your actions here!" Candice added.

"This is FAR from over; if nothing else I WILL have my revenge on ALL of you!" J and Salamence flew off, furious at the whole group for ruining her assignment once again. "David, you'll pay for sending your worthless friends after me, that I promise." she snarled to herself, as hate filled thoughts of D. Shad flooded her mind. One thing was for sure, she'd find a way to make them all pay.

Once things calmed down, Brock landed the mini-craft and Ash had Charizard fly down to the ground, and the full weight of the situation came down on them, "Oh man…Brandon…" Ash sighed.

"They gave their lives for Regigigas…" Zoey said in awe.

"Brock, isn't there any way we can return them back to normal?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know." Brock replied sullenly.

Maria gasped and turned around, running up to the Colossal Pokémon who had been quietly watching the humans, "Regigigas, forgive us please, I'm so sorry we weren't able to protect your slumber! But please, they all did their best to save you, so save them! They honestly couldn't have tried any harder to help you, I swear it! Please help Regigigas…please help…" After a moment of silence, Regigigas responded with a few blue bleeps and beeps of the dots on its body. "Thank you Regigigas!" Maria exclaimed, "Quick everyone, please stand back!"

"Right!" the group ran to the side of the canyon and allowed Regigigas to walk up to Brandon and his Pokémon.

Regigigas began glowing in a light blue aura, and in doing so, the glow covered Brandon and his Pokémon, "Regigigas is using 'Hidden Power'…" Brock said.

After a moment, Brandon and his Pokémon were returned to normal, and the Frontier Brain got up holding his head and groaning, and he suddenly gasped, "Where's Regigigas?"

"Relax Brandon, it's all over." Ash said with a smile.

Brandon walked up to Regigigas, "Regigigas, thank goodness you're alright."

"Thanks to you and the kind assistance of all your Pokémon, Regigigas has returned to its gentle and normal self." Maria explained.

"Great." Brandon sighed in relief, "And thank YOU Regigigas." Regigigas nodded and suddenly turned back into the sphere that it was in the temple. Brandon knelt over the sphere, "Regigigas, I'm asking one thing…that you'll entrust your future to me." The sphere stopped glowing and went completely idle once more, and Brandon picked up the sphere that was Regigigas, "Let's go back to the temple and set things right." By the time they made it back to the temple, the sun was already beginning to set. Brandon walked into the middle of the triangle and placed Regigigas back on its pedestal, "I'm going to rebuild this temple so that Regigigas's slumber will NEVER be disturbed again. And until it's completely rebuilt, I will honor the legend and have Regirock, Regice, and Registeel become the three guardian pillars that will protect Regigigas."

"Thank you Brandon." Maria said.

"Maria, would you work together with me to rebuild this temple and protect Regigigas's slumber?" Brandon asked, extending a hand to the Temple Maiden.

"Yes, I'd be honored to." Maria accepted the gesture and shook the Pyramid King's hand, making their agreement official.

"I'm happy for you Regigigas." Ash said to the sphere.

"Yeah, thanks for all your help." Misty added.

"You sleep soundly from now on." Dawn also said.

"And don't you worry," Candice said, speaking up, "As Gym Leader of Snowpoint City, I'm gonna do MY part to keep you safe from here on out."

"As for all of you," Brandon said, turning his attention to the group of teens, "You have all done well in helping stop Hunter J and saving Regigigas, I would like to thank you all for doing so."

"No problem Brandon, glad we could help." Ash replied with a thumbs-up.

"Now I suggest you all go and get a good rest, we've had a long day, and you Ash, have a battle ahead of you." Brandon said.

"Yeah, that's right! Will you come and watch Brandon?" Ash asked.

"Unfortunately no," Brandon replied, much to Ash's dismay, "However I would still like to know the outcome, so perhaps you could contact me afterwards."

"Sure thing Brandon, you got it!" Ash exclaimed.

"Good. Candice, can I count on you if I ever need some extra help in rebuilding the temple?" Brandon asked.

"Sure thing! It'll be good to have something to do when there aren't any challengers around!" Candice replied.

"Excellent. Now go on, we'll take care of everything here." Brandon said.

"Alright, seeya Brandon." the group began to walk out, but then Brock turned around and grabbed Maria's hand again.

"My dear Maria, parting is such sweet…" Brock was quickly jabbed by Croagunk, "And sour…sorrow…" Brock was dragged away by the poison/fighting-type, groaning all the way out of the temple.

"Ah love." Brandon chuckled, "I certainly hope my fellow Frontier Brain finds what she's looking for."

Back at the Pokémon Center, Candice and Zoey were about to say goodnight to their friends, "Well gang, it's certainly been an eventful few days." Candice said.

"You can say that again Ms. Senior." Zoey replied.

"Alright I will!" Candice joked, bringing laughter from everyone, "Now Ash, remember what Paul's older brother said, Paul's gonna get ready for you, so I want you to put some serious kiai into your battle with him!"

"Don't worry Candice; I'll be ready for whatever Paul throws at me!" Ash replied determinedly.

"And I'LL make sure of that." Misty added, punching Ash playfully in the arm.

"Well, keep in touch everyone!" Candice got on her Dodrio and headed home.

"Bye Candice!" the group shouted out, waving farewell to the ice-type Gym Leader.

"And what about you Zoey?" Dawn asked.

"Well, I figure I'll spend one more night at home with my family before heading out again." Zoey replied, "I tell ya, when it comes to recharging your batteries, there is NOTHING like being at your home sweet home."

"I hear ya." Dawn giggled.

"Well, I'll see you guys around!" Zoey began the short trek home, leaving the others on their own.

The group headed to their room and got ready for bed, but Misty had a short chat with Ash first, "Ash, you're going up against Paul in ten days for the ultimate six-on-six battle, I think you should get Professor Oak to send you some of your powerhouses before then, like Snorlax maybe."

"I have a plan Mist, don't worry. We'll be ready for Paul, I guarantee it." Ash kissed Misty on her forehead, which got her to blush slightly, "We can talk about it more tomorrow, right now, I am FRIED."

"Alright Ketchum, I'll let you off the hook for tonight, but TOMORROW, we are going to have a looooong discussion about your battle plan." Misty smirked.

"Deal." Ash nodded with a smile. And so the group settled down after the long day, and the next day they would once again be on their way, this time to Lake Acuity for the ultimate battle between Ash and Paul.
_

A/N: What a chapter...and because I've seen so far a lot of complaints about Charizard losing...lemme just say this...he can only learn so much in the Charicific Valley, and Ash hasn't spent much time training with him during his Sinnoh Tenure. Ash relied on Charizard when he was practically a rookie trainer to bail him out. Now he's an expert, and he still has to give it his all to win in Sinnoh...Charizard doesn't equal easy win anymore guys, but actual Pokemon reasons aside, lemme speak as an author. I can't have Ash use Charizard every five minutes to win every gym battle, that'd make for a lousy story. Chimchar needs his time in the sunshine, so I tried to make it seem that Candice and Abomasnow were super strong...my apologies Charizard fans, I didn't like doing it either, but it was necessary. Now, a small note about my writing style, after much criticism about how I put emphasis on words, the next chapter will have a new approach. Just thought I'd mention that. I hope I get the next one out faster gang! I know I'M looking forward to it! (Like I said, new approach in the NEXT chapter. =P)