Chapter 76: Showdown at the Battle Dome pt 2

"Human Speech"

"Pokemon Speech"

The battle between Charizard and Dusknoir started to heat up as both knew the importance of this battle for their trainers. Damien, unlike Ash, has seen all of Ash's battles, namely in the Kanto and Johto Leagues- Sinnoh. Damien has something up his sleeve and will not be backing down.

"I can't just let this lead against Damien go off-hand, but I can't let myself get ahead of myself," Ash thought as he looked at Damien and Dusknoir. "I've faced many trainers in the past and recently who have different styles of raising and how they see Pokemon. And while Paul was bad, at least he has never gone as far as Damien has," Ash thought and calmed down. "Time to take this up a notch. Used Dragon Pulse," Ash commanded Charizard, who fired the attack at Dusknoir.

"Use Shadow and Thunder Punch Dusknoir," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who used the two moves on the Dragon Pulse as it caught the attack and sent most of the Thunder Punch right at Charizard, hitting him.

"Shadow Claw Charizard," Ash commanded him, who slammed his claw right into Dusknoir, sending it back to the wall of the Trick Room, which was losing effect by this point. Damien growled at this and returned his Pokemon to its Pokeball as if he had had enough with Dusknoir. Damien pulled out his Pokeball.

"Kingdra, come on out," Damien sent out his Pokemon again, who was still exhausted from the previous battle. "Hydro Pump," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack at Charizard.

"Dragon Pulse now, Charizard," Ash commanded Charizard, who fired the attack faster than the Hydro Pump as it overpowered the attack and hit Kingdra, knocking it out.

"Kingdra is unable to battle Charizard win," the ref announced as Damien was even madder than ever that Ash was getting a more significant lead on him and how fast Charizard has gotten with or without the Trick Room no longer in effect. Charizard turned to Ash and nodded, telling Ash he would take a break until further notice Ash nodded and returned him to his ball.

"Charizard, come on out," Damien sent out his fifth Pokemon. Ash was glad that he returned his Charizard before Damien sent out his own, as Ash knew that Charizard wouldn't be happy knowing that Damien replaced him like that.

"Snorlax, come on out," Ash sent out his Snorlax from before, who was still tired from the battle against Kingdra. As the Charizard smirks, knowing that this might be an easy win for it.

"Flamethrower Charizard," Damien commanded his Pokemon as it was heading towards Snorlax.

"Hyper Beam now, Snorlax counter it," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who fired the Hyper beam right at the Flamethrower just before it reached Snorlax. Minus Snorlax's exhaustion, it managed to push the Flamethrower back at Charizard.

"Not going to happen. Use Focus Blast Charizard," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack during the struggle of the two attacks right at Snorlax, hitting him before it could react, just as the hyper beam managed to hit Charizard anyway. "What the?" Damien said as he noticed that Snorlax managed to hit Charizard still and survived that attack. "How is Snorlax, a fat and slow Pokemon, capable of still managing to do all that?"

"And here I thought you knew about my league battles," Ash said to Damien, who growled at Ash. "There's a reason why this is one of my well-known mon's? He's capable of handling Pokemon like that and taking Fighting-type moves well," Ash said. "Now use Thunder Punch," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who slammed his fist right into Charizard, who was still recovering from the Hyper Beam, sending it to the ground hard as Charizard struggled to get up as Snorlax was also tiring out.

"Use Dragon Rush," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who charged at Snorlax quickly.

"Now, use Hyper Beam," Ash commanded his Pokemon, the two Pokemon fired the attack at the Dragon Rush, and the two Pokemon attacks clashed to the point that it caused a massive explosion that hadn't settled down in a while. When the smoke cleared, both Pokemon were knocked out.

"Snorlax and Charizard both cannot battle," the ref announced as both trainers returned their Pokemon. "The score is Ash with 3 Pokemon and Damien with 2 Pokemon left." Ash sighed, knowing that this battle was far from over, as Damien sent out his Dusknoir again.

"Damien isn't going to make this easy I can see why Lance wants him gone from being a trainer and all," Ash thought and glared. "Well, buddy, let's get this battle over with, shall we?" Ash said to Pikachu, who nodded and ran out to the battlefield. Damien smirked and knew that he would be able to take out Ash's best Pokemon. "Pikachu Thunderbolt," Ash commanded his partner Pokemon who fired the electric attack at Dusknoir.

"Trick Room and then use Shadow and Ice Punch," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who was hit by the attack before using the Trick Room and then vanished to use the two punch attacks towards Pikachu.

"Iron tail now, Pikachu," Ash commanded as Pikachu, while the Trick room was out, barely jumped out of the Ice Punch and landed the Iron tail on the Shadow Punch, canceling it. "Now, Thunderbolt Pikachu."

"Fire Punch, now Dusknoir," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack at the Thunderbolt, causing an explosion and sending Dusknoir to the wall of the Trick Room, exhausted from all these attacks.

"End this Volt Tackle now, Pikachu," Ash commanded Pikachu, who was charging towards Duskoir while a massive amount of Electricity was around Pikachu. He picked up speed that even Trick Room couldn't slow down, and Damien was surprised it wasn't affecting Pikachu.

"Will-o-wisp now," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack at Pikachu mid-attack, who was affected. Still, the Volt Tackle landed on Dusknoir, shattering the Trick Room and knocking the ghost-Pokemon out to a very exhausted and burnt Pikachu from the two attacks' side effects.

"Dusknoir is unable to battle Pikachu wins," the ref announced as Damien returned his Pokemon. He was furious and about to bolt but knew he should beat Ash with his last Pokemon to hammer home. His ways are the best.

"Ash, you've been a pain in my side this entire match," Damien yelled at Ash, who stood his ground. "Ever since you took Charizard from me and humiliated me by turning him against me, but you have no idea what powerhouse I have left on my team," Damien pulled out his last Pokeball.

"The difference between you and me is that I've seen all of the Pokemon you have battled in the league, but you aren't aware of this last one. Let me show you," Damien tossed out his last Pokemon as a three-headed dragon showed in its place, which Ash was surprised as well as everyone.

Ash tried to look it up, and the Pokedex couldn't read what the Pokemon was. Damien laughed, and the sight of the three-headed Pokemon didn't phase Pikachu.

"The Pokemon is called Hydreigon. It's from the Unova region and the most ruthless member of my team. Not one of your Pokemon on your team is strong enough to beat this Dark/Dragon type," Damien gloated.

"And I thought I had some connections to Unova," Ash said as Damien's mid laughter caught his attention of what Ash said. "If you think that will scare me, I have to disappoint you, I've faced worst, and we won't fall to someone who thinks that scaring others and hurting Pokemon like you," Ash said. Damien growled at Ash as Hydreigon made a massive roar at Ash and Pikachu. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack," Ash commanded Pikachu, who was charging at Hydreigon.

"Surf now, Hydreigon," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the waves of water towards Pikachu, who was hit by the water-type move, sending him back as the burn effects were still triggering on Pikachu, who was panting even heavier. "Now Draco Meteor," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who launched the attack in the air as the meteors approached Pikachu.

"Ugh, no choice. Use Volt Tackle and then Iron Tail," Ash commanded Pikachu, knowing that the side effects might end the match for Pikachu Pikachu knew that, but it was the risk as Pikachu used the two attacks and charged at Hydreigon. Just as Pikachu was about to strike the duel-type Pokemon, only one of its heads grabbed Pikachu. "Pikachu Thunderbolt," Ash commanded his partner Pokemon who was struggling to get out of the move trying to use the attack.

"Use Dragon Pulse," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who blasted Pikachu close-range, sending Pikachu to the ground and knocking him out. Damien smirked as Ash ran to Pikachu.

"Pikachu is unable to battle Hydreigon wins," the ref announced as Damien laughed at this as many of the crowd were surprised. Lance knew Ash wasn't out for the count and could make a comeback. Ash arrived back at the trainer's box and knew this was personal.

"I know that he has Surf as one of its move pull, but you've survived many battles, time to end this Charizard. Come on out," Ash sent out his Pokemon, who saw the Pokemon in front of him and growled and glared at the Pokemon.

"Careful, it knows Surf, but we should be able to handle it," Ash said as Charizard nodded as he had taken water-type moves in the past and was ready. "Dragon's breath go, Charizard," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack at Hydreigon as it was too fast to react and hit the duel type and paralyze it.

"Ugh, Surf now," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the water-type attack at Charizard.

"Fly out of there now, Charizard and then use Overheat," Ash commanded Charizard, who barely jumped out of the water-type move and launched the fire attack at Hydreigon.

"Dragon pulse and then use Draco Meteor, knock it out of the sky," Damien commanded his Pokemon, who fired the Dragon pulse attack at the Overheat, only for the fire-type move to overpower it and hit the three-headed dragon.

"And here, I thought that you were smart here," Ash said to Damien, who glared as his Pokemon rose. "Like Overheat Draco Meteor has the same side-effects you launched too early," Ash said. "Now use Steal Wing," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who charged at the Pokemon at an angle, slamming right into it and knocking it back as Charizard grabbed Hydreigon's two heads. "End this Seismic Toss Charizard," Ash commanded his Pokemon.

"Not without a fight; you won't use Crunch," Damien commanded his Pokemon, whose main head chomps down on Charizard's neck. He winched in pain but pushed through as Charizard started to get into motion and slammed the three-headed Pokemon into the ground.

"Over Heat now," Ash said, hoping to land the finishing blow as Charizard blasted a massive fireball at the ground. Causing the battlefield to engulfed in flames, Ash and Damien placed their hands in front of their faces, hoping to see what would happen next as the three-headed dragon was knocked out, and Damien and Ash were surprised.

"Hydreigon cannot battle Charizard wins with a 2-0 win. Ash wins," the ref announced as Ash sighed and ran over to Charizard, who was letting out a flamethrower in celebration and glared at Damien.

"So, who's the weak one now, huh? Damien?" Charizard told Damien, who was steaming mad that his Pokemon was defeated by the one he released, which he left for dead.

"HOW DARE YOU?" Damien yelled at Ash and Charizard, which caught the attention of everyone. "THIS BATTLE DOESN'T COUNT UNLESS I WIN. A WEAKLING LIKE YOU WILL NEVER CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE? A PATHETIC TRAINER WHO TOOK HIS POKEMON AND TURNED HIM AGAINST HIS TRAINER," Damien ranted as Charizard let out a Flamethrower at Damien, which was exactly how it was before when he left Charizard as a Charmander as Damien fell to the ground as the police arrived to arrest Damien and send him to jail for a long time along with getting rid of his trainer's license.

End Flashback.

"Wow," Everyone said, surprised that even after all that, Damien was still a big bully and a wimp for his loss.

"Yeah, Damien was sent to jail for a while. As we speak, he's still there to this date. Many of the Pokemon he had abandoned either didn't survive the injuries or have scars that haven't healed," Ash explained.

"So I taken why you were here was by Lance's orders?" Zorua asked Ash, who nodded, and she now understood why the league asked him to be here in Unova.

"Well, one of the reasons I found out about more trainers like Damien in the form of Amelia and Shamus were still around. This was a few days after I was planning on leaving for Unova. It was then, and that battle, when I knew that I couldn't be rash and go into things head-on or jump to conclusions like in the past," Ash said, which explains why he told Misty that Damien's battle was the catalyst that would change Ash entirely.

"I know that there are more trainers out, but right now, they're outside where I am region-wise, and I feel like after the battle against those three was the worst of them," Ash said, looking down as the group nodded in understanding.

"To think that Damien also had a Pokemon from here in Unova? Has he been here before, or has he had it for a long time?" Cynthia said to Ash, who shrugged his shoulders. "I taken that wasn't explained to you even now?" Cynthia questioned Ash, who nodded.

"Yeah, I thought Hydreigon looked familiar during my two battles against one?" Ash said. "And now I own a member of that evolutionary line in Zweilous, but unlike Damien, I won't raise him to be like that but know that it won't be easy either," Ash said.

"Knowing you, Ash, you will?" Cynthia said, getting up and heading out the door. "Train hard, and you'll get there right now. You are on the right track as a trainer. I look forward to seeing how well your team has grown in the PWT. And wish you the best of luck against Tobias and Paul, as they've grown stronger since the last time you faced them. However, rumor has it this might be the last league official tournament Paul might participate in?" Cynthia said, which surprised Ash.

"Rumor has it, Paul was asked to be a gym leader in Sinnoh, but he has yet to confirm nor deny it; as for Tobias, he has made it to facing the Elite Four in Sinnoh, and soon after this tournament, soon to be against me. So these may be the last times you will see them, so prepare for that," Cynthia said before taking her leave. Everyone else turned their attention to Ash as he wasn't expecting to hear this.

"Tobias, I can understand, but Paul must've been up to a lot since his battle in the Sinnoh league. I'm not surprised though his team is gym leader material, even Elite Four levels of strong," Ash said smiling. "I'm looking forward to seeing how far he has come, as well as Tobias," Ash said. This made everyone smile at Ash's enthusiasm as well as laugh. "Uh, what's so funny?" Ash asked.

"So much for a changed Ash. That sounds like the same one we know," Brock said. Ash was embarrassed but joined in the laughter.

Something invisible that wasn't Latias was watching and was curious about this group and could tell that they could help her out as well as a lively bunch.

With all the questions about Ash's past since the Sinnoh league Ash and why Ash has changed. The group's spirits were lifted as they were ready to take some time off and prepare for the PWT tournament. What is in store for our heroes? As the Journey continues.

Stay Tuned.

Done and done. This was a pain to write. Ash still had one more Pokemon; I won't lie. It's been a while since I wrote this, and I am trying to remember what I would use for Ash's 6th Pokemon. I still had planned on Charizard being the last one to be used for the knocked Pokemon. Special thanks to DraconicFireLord for the help of Damien's team and the suggestion of Hydreigon for his last Pokemon. It wasn't a stretch to have it used. It fits Damien. Next chapter, we have a return of one of Ash's released Pokemon, problems with Pikachu's relationship, and, if you may have noticed, a certain mythical showing her face at the end of the chapter making her debut appearance. See you next time, as we have three more chapters before the PWT. Also, I know the anime is over for Ash (for now), but these stories will continue. And I did get rid of the whole Pokespeech/human speech thing hope you'll enjoy it. See you next time.