It was evening at Pummelo Island.

The sun began to set over the ocean as a lot of tourists and residents went home to rest after a long day of fun.

For Ash, he was in the hotel room, looking at Drake's past matches as well as information about his Pokémon.

"Man…Drake sure has gotten stronger…" Ash remarked as he watched the previous battles.

"Pika." Pikachu agreed.

Both knew Drake would be stronger unlike the last time they battled, so they would need to come up with a team that can stack up against the Orange Island leader.

Ditto as it turns out was a lot faster and had better stamina than last time, being able to use its goopy body to stretch and avoid attacks. When it transformed, Drake made sure to focus on misdirection and tricks when transformed when he couldn't match them physically.

Onix had evolved into a Steelix and was a physical wall. He could tank hits easily and deliver hard strikes that could leave his opponents disoriented. According to the battles, he specialised in getting up close and personal. And add in the fact it can Mega Evolve made it tricky to deliver proper damage.

Gengar was a speed demon in the air, despite having Cursed Body for its ability. She could float around and bombard her opponents with quick and precise strikes from far away. It was clear she was the range specialist and the Mega Evolution she had made things hard.

Venusaur was a special wall, so any ranged attacks were absorbed via his thick skin. Much like Gengar, it was a ranged fighter and his Mega Evolution was a tricky addition.

Much like Onix, Electabuzz evolved into a Electivire and was his go to up close and personal fighter. Ice Punch was suitable for ground types while Flamethrower dealt with Grass-types. Add in Thunderbolt and PSychic, Electivire was the second most dangerous of Drake's team.

The deadliest was Dragonite. He remembered him. Hard hitting, fast flying, tough as nails Dragon. He had it all from the range to the up close attacks. Hard attacking power both physically and at range, being able to take all sorts of damage and a fierce willpower to never fall…there was a reason why Dragonite was the ace of Drake's team.

"And I'm pretty sure that Drake has a lot of tricks up his sleeve this time." Ash mused.

"Pika." Pikachu agreed. He barely managed to hold his own against Dragonite and got lucky with the final attack.

"The real question is…who should I use?"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, pointing at himself.

"Well, yeah I'm gonna use you buddy. It wouldn't be right without my main partner by my side." Ash said as he rubbed Pikachu's head.

"Hmmm…I think I will also use Snorlax. Never got to use him the first time round. Now's a chance to make up for it."

Then he frowned.

"But I have no idea on the last four!" Ash said with frustration as he scratched his head.

"Well maybe we can help."

Turning around, Ash saw three familiar faces.

"Misty! Tracey! Brock!" He said as he exchanged hi-fives with them.

"HEard you were gonna rematch Drake again." Brock said with a grin.

"Yeah, and I need help in deciding the team. So far, I only have two." Ash said with a groan.

"Who did you pick?" Misty asked.

"I obviously picked Pikachu' The three smirked at that. Wasn't much of a surprise. 'And Snorlax."

"Let me guess? Wanna use him because you didn't last time?" Misty asked with a raised brow.

"Yep. Not gonna let his nap time ruin it." Ash said with a grin.

"OK, so you need help with the other four?" Brock asked.

"Yeah.' He sighed. 'I looked at his team and previous battles and I'm kinda stuck. Help me, please?"

"Sure."

The three then gathered around the screens, looking at the six Pokémon Drake used.

"Got to say, Drake definitely trained his Pokémon up." Tracey remarked.

"Yep. And I'm stuck on picking four members. I have Pikachu and Snorlax but I'm not sure about the others.

"Well, maybe do it like you will pit them against certain members. Pikachu faced Ditto before, right?" Brock said, remembering the battle Ash told him before.

"Yeah, And Snorlax's Normal-typing will do well against Gengar." Ash realised.

"Yeah, maybe think of it like that to help build your team." Brock advised.

"That may work…" He muttered before looking at the four remaining members: Steelix, Venusaur, Electivire and Dragonite.

"I'll start with Venusaur." He said to himself. He decided to start with Venusaur, due to more options

"Unless you got a Pokémon that can deal with both of it's typing and Stomping Tantrum, It may not be easy." Misty remarked, seeing Venusaur poisoning and knocking out his opponents.

Ash's eyes widened.

"Actually…I do." He said as he then went to his own updated profile and clicked on a certain Armor Bird.

"When did you catch a Skarmory?" Tracey asked.

"When I was in Sinnoh a while back when I went on my little tour. Pretty skilled in the air and probably my go to for Venusaur."

"But you never used her, before." Misty said, unsure.

"I never used Kingler or Tauros either. They helped me out in major matches." Ash remarked.

Misty conceded to that.

"OK, that's three. Who's next?"

"I'll go for Electivire. I need to pock someone that can take his attacks." Ash said, going over his options.

"A ground-type will work." Tracey said.

"Nah, it knows Ice Punch. Any ground-type will be creamed if I picked a ground-type…' Suddenly his eyes widened. 'Except for one." He said as he clicked the image of a blue and black toad with a cream belly and no arms.

"Palpitoad. That may work. It's immune to Electric type moves and can take the Ice Punch." Brock realised.

"Yep. Now for Steelix."

"He's a bruiser. So you may need to go for someone that can hit hard and fast."

"Yeah, and can avoid Earthquake." BRock added.

"True. And I think I know who to call on." Ash said as he then clicked on a certain lucha bird.

"Small and quick, plus agile and he can hit like a raging Tauros." Ash said.

"Nice choice. But now we have one big problem." Tracey said and the others knew what he meant.

Dragonite.

"It was hard enough when you faced him the first time. Now he's new and improved, how will you take him?"

"I can't outspeed him, that's for sure. Recent matches show Dragonite being quick in the air and strong to hit." Ash said as he saw Dragonite blitz a Rapidash.

"Maybe you can out last him. Go for a Pokémon that can take a lot of punishment and have moves that can do super effective damage." Brock said.

Ash mulled his words over. Problem was, he only had a handful of tanky Pokémon. He needed to choose who was the toughest.

"Shame you can't blitz him like last time. Pikachu was the superior one in speed." Tracey remarked.

Ash then stood up.

"Say that again." Ash demanded.

"Pikachu was the superior one in speed?" Tracey said in an unsure tone.

"Superior…Superior…Maybe not in speed but in defence…And in terms of moves…well if I taught him new ones…that may work…" Ash muttered, looking over all of his Pokémon, before landing on the one he wanted.

"YES! I think I know who to go for!" Ash exclaimed.

"Who?" They all asked.

"Rhyperior.' Ash said as he clicked on the image. 'Solid Rock cuts super-effective damage in half, and can learn moves that can take care of Dragonite's weaknesses."

"Ice type moves, rock-type moves and a dragon type move…Where did you find this guy?" BRock asked.

"Greninja made friends with him in Kalos." Ash said.

With that sorted out, Ash made a call to Professor Oak to call on the chosen members.

Out on the field, Ash had the five PokéBalls in hand, enlarging them then throwing them into the air.

Hawlucha glided to the ground before getting into a pose, Snorlax yawned as he looked around, Skarmory hovered in the air, Palpitoad ribbeted with a smile and Rhyperior roared as he raised his arms.

"Alright guys, listen up! In a few days time, we have a battle against the Orange Island leader!"

All the Pokémon listened with anticipation.

"Now, the last time I was here, it was not an easy battle and things have changed a lot for Drake and us. I want us to be at the top of our games, so we will be training our butts off until the time comes!"

Everyone grinned in anticipation.

"Now, you guys ready to get stronger?!"

They all roared in approval, the battle frenzy flowing in their veins.

"Let's do this thing!"

They all cheered.

Pikachu let a savage grin show as he began to spark his cheeks, though Ash thought he saw some form of an electric aura surrounding his partner.

Hawlucha bounced on his feet, punching the air with a grin.

Snorlax roared, slamming his paws on his belly as it bounced.

Skarmory flexed her wings as she let a toothy grin show.

Palpitoad stomped on the ground, ribbeting as he got ready to rumble.

Rhyperior slammed his fists together as he growled with a savage grin on his face.

Ash smiled.

It was time to get started.

Yep. Decided this Interlude had to happen and here are the chosen members against Drake.

Pikachu is an obvious pick.
Snorlax is to make up for the fact he slept the last time around
Hawlucha is an agile fighter and can learn moves that can give a beatdown to Steelix
Skarmory is meant to counter Venusaur as it is immune to its Poison Attacks, resists the Grass attacks and can avoid Stomping Tantrum
Palpitoad is for Electivire as A: it needed more screen time and B: Out of the Ground types Ash has, it's the only one that can resist Electivire's moves. And also...there is a surprise in store regarding Palpitoad.
Finally Rhyperior is against Dragonite. Varied movepool, Solid Rock defence and the Battle Bond ability for the Dragon.

BUT! You never know how a battle will turn.

Also, I will release the battle sheet for the teams another time just to give you guys an understanding on the layout.

Be on the look out for that!

Fiction Realm! OUT!