Greninja took the field with all the grace of a ninja, quietly crouching in front of his trainer. Sabrina could instantly tell that Ash wasn't playing around anymore. She had heard about the species of pokemon known as Greninja. She knew that this was a dark type to be reckoned with. "We need to end this, Alakazam. Hit it with charge beam." she instructed. Alakazam clasped his frail hands together as his spoons glowed white hot. The spoons glowed hotter and hotter until they simultaneously sparked, arcs of electricity forcing their way into existence. The beams of energy crackled as they flew towards Greninja. Greninja leapt with a single graceful movement, flying horizontal to the ground for a brief moment, spinning as he evaded multiple beams. Greninja landed less than ten feet away from his opponent before sprinting swiftly in it's direction. "Greninja, use double team!" Ash called, which Greninja answered with a small nod. One, two, three, up to nearly twenty Greninja sprang to life, weaving amongst themselves as they evaded Alakazam's charge beam attack and swiftly closed the distance. "Now Greninja, use night slash!" At once the mass of Greninja drew blades of pure darkness in each hand, striking out at their floating foe in tandem. Alakazam leaned back, dodging left and right in rapid succession as the flood of enemies crowded him. Eventually one of the strikes landed, slashing Alakazam across the chest.

Alakazam reeled, flying back from th force of the blow. He eventually righted himself, glaring at Greninja with hate in his eyes. Far too fast. We need to finish this. Ash still has another pokemon if he chooses to use it. "Finish it now, Alakazam! Dazzling Gleam!"

"Get out of there, Greninja! Mask your escape with smoke screen!" Ash instructed. Greninja struck a pose with one hand held above his head and another held in front of his chest before striking the ground in front of him with the hand that had been raised, sending dark energy smoke in all directions. Smog permeated the air, and Greninja vanished. "Get out of there, Alakazam!" Sabrina shouted. Too late. Ash thought, grinning smugly. Mere seconds after if appeared the smog vanished, fading slowly into oblivion, leaving one very confused Alakazam looking around warily for hs opponent. Just as Alakazam began to settle down a form descended from the rafters, dropping the fourty or so feet from the ceiling all the way down to the arena floor. In a flash Greninja was on Alakazam. Before Greninja could strike, a dazzling violet light blared to life, obscuring Greninja from all eyes. But when the light died down and faded, there was nothing there. Sabrina began to open her mouth, and a black blade sprouted from Alakazam's shoulder, just next to his collarbone. For a moment no one moved. Sabrina, Alakazam, and the three in the stands all looked on with astonishment as Greninja materialized from the hand down just behind Alakazam. The dark blade dissipated, leaving no evident wound, as Alakazam slumped lifelessly to the floor. "Alakazam is unable to battle!" the announcer cried, seemingly just as shocked as the rest if the expression on her face was anything to go by. "Greninja is the victor, and so Ash Ketchum is the winner!" She finished, raising her left arm. Ash recalled Greninja, breaking the silence with a "Good job."

"How?" Sabrina asked. Deep inside, she was furious. Here was the opportunity they had trained day and night for for years, and it had all gone right down the drain. At this moment, though? The only thing she felt was a hollow sense of curiosity. Ash's grin melted as he realized how devastated Sabrina was. "Normally a strong psychic type like Alakazam would be able to tell exactly where it's opponent is at all times. The only types that a psychic type struggles with in that regard are ghost types and dark types, right?" He inquired. Sabrina nodded. "True. Ghost types are tricky, but even they can't completely hide from a well trained psychic." Ash pointed at her exaggeratedly. "Exactly! Dark types, on the other hand, are completely immune. The idea was to trick Alakazam, as well as you, Sabrina. Zoey was never going to be able to handle Alakazam on her own. We needed to lull you both into a state of complacency, then make you question what you are seeing. Something I've seen many psychic trainers and pokemon do over the years." Sabrina gapped in astonishment, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Then she stopped, shutting her mouth. "The smokescreen. You mean… from the start?" She said, crossing her arms and gazing off into the distance.

Ash nodded. "Yep. Last time we battled you wiped the floor with me, Sabrina. I've thought countless times about how I would beat you again, given the chance. This has been ten years in the making." he said, smiling once more. Sabrina blushed at the idea of Ash thinking about her for the past ten years. In the stands, Ash's friends were confused. Serena turned to Misty with a troubled look. "But how did Greninja get in the rafters? And how did he get behind Alakazam?" Misty shook her head in response. "I'm not sure."

Ash, having heard his friends' conversation, smiled more widely. "He was never there." he said. "What!?" Sabrina shouted. Ash shrugged, spreading his arms. "He used double team after smokescreen, sending his clone to hide above while he used camouflage. When you and Alakazam were focused on his clone, he moved in place. The timing had to be perfect, but it's something we rehearsed on the way here. We got the idea when we were training with- er, a friend of ours." Should I mention Kagetomo? He thought wryly, thinking back to the training he, Greninja, Lucario, and Sceptile had gone through.

Flashback:

Ash and six of his pokemon had been 'training' with Saizo for hours now, and it was getting dark. Their goal? To hunt down Saizo. In theory it should have been easy. Ash had Greninja, Sceptile, Infernape, Lucario, Floatzel, Brock's Toxicroak, and Noivern at his disposal, while Saizo only had his Barbaracle and Kagetomo's Scizor. The problem was that Saizo and the two pokemon at his disposal had just completely vanished. The forested area around Mount Moon was dense and uninviting, and Ash and his team were hesitant to split up. Ash was pretty sure that Saizo was hidden somewhere up ahead, but they were m aking slow progress through the woods. We need to find him soon. The sun'll be setting, and Infernape will give us away far too easily in the dark. Saizo will just find a new place to hid if he sees us coming…wait. No, that's perfect! "Guys, gather 'round!"he practically shouted. "I have a plan, but I'll need the cooperation of each and every one of you. Listen closely. We're going to split up in teams of two. Noivern, you and Lucario will scout ahead. Noivern, use your ears to quietly locate Saizo. Lucario, use your aura to do the same. Try to stay out of sight; if he sees us coming he'll up and move, and that's the last thing we need right now. Toxicroak" he said, turning to the poison type. "I need you and Infernape to run interference. Scizor and Barbaracle are going to try to stop us when we get close. I want you to deal with Barbaracle. Infernape, handle Scizor. The two of you will remain hidden until sunset, then move out. Remember, you two need to stand out." Ash said, looking both pokemon in the eyes as he explained, before turning to Greninja and Floatzel. "You two are going to help me set up a little trap. We're going to lure Saizo into an area and trap him there. Sceptile, you're going to flush him out once the others have found him. Everyone understand?" All seven pokemon nodded. "Then let's get to it."

Not an hour later the sun was finally, truly setting. And Ash was nervous. His was a good plan, if he did say so himself. But what if Saizo overheard him? He could have been nearby the whole time! Or what if Toxicroak and Infernape didn't intercept Scizor and Barbaracle? Both could be a problem. Ash had seen what Barbaracle could do. It was slow, but packed a punch. Kagetomo's Scizor, on the other hand… was the fastest he had ever seen. The general rule of thumb when steal types were concerned was that they were slow, but packed a punch. Apparently Scizor hadn't heard. It had been fast enough to give Greninja a run for his money, something that not many pokemon could do, period. Ash sighed, taking a shaky breathe. There was nothing he could do now but to trust his team. He rose to his feet, Floatzel following his lead. Greninja and Sceptile were in the treetops somewhere nearby. "Alright guys. Let's head out." Stretching quickly, Ash and Floatzel sprinted northwest, backtracking about a mile. It took them a few minutes, but eventually they found what they had been looking for. A small stretch of mud-like topsoil hidden by a fine layer of brush, pine needles, and leaves, nestled at the base of a hilly outcropping. It was obvious that a small stream had flowed here at one point, but that it had since dried out. In other words: It was perfect.

Ash grinned widely. "This is it. Let's get to work!" Within seconds, Greninja and Sceptile had removed the leaves and needles and dug up all the nearby foliage's roots, leaving the ground shifty and unsteady. Using water gun, Floatzel had softened the ground, leaving nothing but mud where there had once been hardened clay. Next, Greninja used mud shot, leaving the nearby areas slippery. Sceptile replaced the needles and foliage, completely hiding the work they had done. Ash turned to Floatzel. "Hook up with Lucario and Noivern. Use the nearby stream to help them search." Floatzel nodded, dashing off on all four legs with a cry. "Sceptile, you too. Flush Saizo out of hiding and into this very spot." He nodded and took off, cutting through the woods like they didn't exist. Ash bit his lip while stroking what just barely passed for a beard, before hiding in a nearby tree. This was going to be fun.