Working Sinnoh With Skill(old) - Chapter 16

They arrived in Eterna City the very next day. Ash had made sure that both he and Dawn were awake extra early to go through their training routine's.

Dawn had commented – read complained – about the injustice of it all. Waking her up at such an ungodly hour, only to be thrown right into Training her Pokemon and then straight after forced to travel quickly towards their destination in Eterna City.

Ash hadn't been deterred in the least though. Instead he laughed her complaints off and actually forced her to pick up the pace by powering on ahead at a quick gait himself.

The journey took them another good few hours, and it passed noon and went straight into the early afternoon by the time they arrived in Eterna City and headed straight for the resident Pokemon center to book a room for the week very least.

They had quite the few events to attend to in their arrival to this City. Dawn had a contest to compete in, and Ash... well Ash had three main objectives in the city; obtain his second badge, compete in the tournament to win himself those Meganite Stones, and then finally he wanted to challenge Cynthia to a battle.

It was time to see how he stacked up against the very best. Someone said to have been just as good a battler as Lance Wataru – the master of all Dragon-type Pokemon – was, and then now better because of the new Mega Evolution Forms of her original two strongest Pokemon.

They had obtained a room easily enough, and had no need to have their Pokemon checked up. Ash had made sure they were in tip-top shape before they left their camp after the morning training had been called to a halt for the day.

Now inside the spacious double-sized single bedroom, Ash set his bag down at the side of the bed and then turned towards, Dawn who had sat down at the room's provided computer, already scrolling and reading through any recent news on the Pokemon Contect Circuit.

"I'm gonna head on out Dawn, I've got a couple errands to run." Ash said to her, holding out his arm and allowing Pikachu to seamlessly leap form his place on the bed onto Ash's shoulder.

Dawn snorted and turned around to face him from her previous direction of looking at the computer screen, "You mean you're off to register for that tournament, right?" She stated, more than asked flatly.

Ash gave the blue haired girl a grin, "You saw right through me then eh?" He asked with a chuckle, "Well when we were walking here through the city I heard some guys

talking about the Meganite Tournament beginning tonight so I need to go get registered." The amber eyed teen supplied.

"Hmm.." Dawn hummed thoughtfully, "That shouldn't take too long though, and you said a couple of errands so what else do you need to do?" She questioned her boyfriend.

Ash allowed his grin to stretch a bit, scratching the back of his neck as he replied, "I'm going to transfer over a couple of my Pokemon, stock up on our supplies and.." He trailed off slightly for a moment, "Then I'm gonna go get my second Gym Badge." Ash finished.

Dawn blinked, "Really, just like that?" She questioned, "You're just gonna go off and take a Gym Battle without any preparation at all?" The blue haired girl pressed further.

Ash's grin faded, his face overtaken by a serious look, his amber eyes almost blazing in intensity. "I already know this Gym Leader specializes in Grass-type Pokemon, and I don't want to have it on my mind and throw me off my game later during the tournament so I'm going to go win the Gym Badge and get it out of the way." Were his answers towards her questions.

Usually, he would use a Gym Battle to allow some of his newer and weaker Pokemon to fight against the Gym Leaders to get a feeling for high level battling.

But today wasn't like that. Today, for this tournament only. He was transferring out all of his Pokemon besides Pikachu and Mewtwo. This tournament had such a rare, extravagant and expensive prize that there were bound to be tons of Elite level trainers crawling around itching to get their hands on those Meganite Stones.

He needed to call in all the fire power he could to win.

Dawn seemed unsure of his reasoning, but she shook it off. "Well then, good luck I suppose." The pink skirt wearing girl replied.

Ash smiled, allowing his intensely serious look to fade, "Thanks." He walked over to her and leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss against her soft pink lips, before pulling back and looking her in the eyes, "Meet me at the arena where they're holding the tournament tonight around half seven, the first round begins at eight on the dot." He told her.

Dawn nodded, "Okay, I'll see you then." She said in return.

Ash nodded, and then pressed one last kiss on her lips before standing up and departing from the room.

When he shut the door behind him, Dawn slumped backwards in her chair, "Jeez, he's really serious about this tournament, he must want those Meganite Stones a lot." She muttered to herself.

Still, forceful Ash was just as hot as she imagined, the blue haired girl mused to herself with a giggle.

He traversed the Pokemon Center quickly, heading towards the video phones and Pokemon Transporter machine's.

Sure, he could have just as easily – and no doubt faster – used his Pokedex to transfer his Pokemon between himself and the Oak Ranch. But, he was due a call home anytime now. It had been weeks since he'd last called the residents back in Pallet Town after all.

He had his Xtranceiver of course, but he preferred to make his calls home on the big screen video phones.

Still, he'd only be calling Professor Oak for now. He'd intended to talk to his mother for quite a while, but he didn't have the time for it now.

Although, Arceus above man. He still hadn't told anybody back home about him having a girlfriend! It wasn't like his mother would be against it. He was sure she would be thrilled at the idea, she had been hinting for a while now as to him possibly dating a few different girls. Misty and May being two of them.

But then there was Leaf Green as well, his mother knew all about the crush he'd held once upon a time on the older girl who used to babysit him and Gary and regale them with stories of her travels as a Trainer and the Pokemon she had run into or captured along her journey.

And finally, Serena. She was a close childhood friend of his who'd moved to the Kalos Region a year or so before he started his journey as a Pokemon Trainer.

He'd heard from his mother that she called every so often to check up on him, but all the times she had called so far, he'd been out on his journey.

She had a crush on him when they were children apparently. He'd been dumbstruck when Gary had revealed that to him during their talk out on the beach after their battle, and consecutive ending of their childhood rivalry at the Silver Conference.

He hoped she'd moved on, because he was a one girl kinda guy... Despite only having experience in dating the one girl so far, he mused in amusement.

He shook those thoughts off as he finally arrived at the video phones and Pokemon transporters. Picking up the phone, he punched in the numbers for Professor Oak's lab number and waited patiently – for the moment – as it began to ring.

Thankfully, someone must have been in the lab at that moment because it was picked up after only two successful rings and the blank screen lit up to show the lab of Professor Oak, as untidy as he remembered and the Professor himself on the other end.

"Ash!" He cried in genuinely surprised happiness. "It's good to see you my boy, how are you?" The older male asked conversationally.

Ash smiled at him, "Hey Professor, I'm doing pretty good." He replied, "I've arrived in Eterna City and want to transfer all of my Pokemon besides Pikachu and get a specific batch of my Pokemon sent over here to me." The amber eyed Pokemon Ranger continued.

Professor Oak raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" He said, "Why didn't you just transfer them with your Pokedex like you have been doing lately?" Oak questioned.

Ash allowed a smirk to crack, "It's been a while since we've spoken, so I just wanted to call you guys up and tell you how things have been going." The black haired teen replied.

Professor Oak smiled at that, "So then, how are things going in Eterna City?" He asked.

"Pretty good." The younger of two replied, "But get this Professor Oak, there's a tournament being held here that's starting tonight and the prize for the winner is three Meganite Stones."

The Professor slipped a bit, banging his elbow on the table he was sitting at with a loud thump, "I'm sorry Ash but did you just say Meganite Stones, as in the stones that allow a very select few of fully evolved Pokemon to evolve even further!?" The older man asked rapidly, in disbelief.

Ash nodded in an affirmative, "That's right Professor, I did say Meganite Stones." He replied, almost allowing a smirk to spread across his face at the older males reaction. He was sure his expression had been just as shocked and amusing to see.

Probably lost a couple of cool points with his girlfriend after that though. Ouch.

Professor Oak regained his proper seating, "Wow, Meganite stones eh?" He said, "Arceus, even just one of those things are worth a fortune because of how rare they are." The old Professor continued, "I can't tell you just how flummoxed I was when Gary turned up about a month ago with one that allowed his Blastoise to undergo

Mega Evolution and now you'll quite possibly be able to attain the same thing." He breathed out, sighing in the exhilaration of an excited research prospect for his intended field.

He was the top-most expert on Pokemon Evolution in the world, after all.

Ash was about to open his mouth to continue, when what the older resident of Pallet Town said finally registered to him, "Gary's Blastoise can Mega Evolve!?" He blurted in shock, "When! How!? And what the hell was it like? That Blastoise was already a monster of a Pokemon?!" He rapidly fired one question after another.

That was crazy! There was a reason Gary was his childhood rival, and despite over-taking him as a battler these days. Gary was still registered as an Elite Level trainer just like he was. And for good reason, all of his Pokemon were powerful and well trained. That Blastoise most of all, it was a monster in battle. Back during the Silver Conference it had taken down his Bayleef, Heracross, Snorlax and Muk with ease! Four of his Pokemon that were already extremely powerful by then, and that Blastoise felled each and everyone of them easily. It had taken Charizard all he had to defeat that monster of a Blastoise.

And now it could Mega Evolve? Crazy!

Professor Oak reeled from the rapid firing of questions, but he answered admirably anyway, "Oh he found a Meganite Stone when he was studying a group of Tyrunt Pokemon that had been dug up and revived from a local mine in the Kalos Region." The elderly researcher answered, " And to say in two words, that Pokemon is Extremely Powerful. It's body changed drastically in that the two cannon's in it's shell fused together to form one gargantuan sized cannon and then it also gained two smaller cannon under it's wrists. The water attacks that Pokemon unleashes are devastating."

Wow, just wow. The Hydro Pump from that Blastoise was already power enough to pulverize a massive boulder with ease. Now it had some form of super cannon to fire that attack from? If Gary wasn't careful that Mega Blastoise could quite possibly turn someone into a bloody smear by mistake, without meaning to.

Enough basking in the awe of his once rival though, he had things to do today! And sitting around in awe that Gary had already obtained a Meganite Stone would not get them done.

Besides, by the end of this tournament he would have three of them. Because he refused to lose.

"Anyway Professor." Ash moved on, "I want to transfer over my Drapion, Monferno, Haunter, Turtwig and Staravia." The amber eyed teen stated. He'd keep Riolu with

him for now, they trained extensively together with their aura. And his own aura training would go faster with him around.

Professor Oak whistled, "That's quite a batch of Pokemon to be transferring over." He replied, "Just what Pokemon do you want me to send you over then in return?" Oak questioned.

Ash didn't even need to think. He'd planned out the strongest and most well balanced team he could use for now, "I want Sceptile, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pupitar."

Oak nodded at each and every name, but he paused a moment later and gave a sheepish laugh, "Funny you should mention Squirtle, it seems you don't have one any longer." He replied.

Ash's eyes snapped towards the Proffesor with a glare, "What? What happened to Squirtle, is he okay?" The teen questioned in worry. Why the hell was he laughing if something had happened to his Squirtle?! Couldn't he see this was no time for laughter!?

Professor Oak seemed to notice his worry and desperation because he waved his hand frantically, "No no, nothing bad happened it just seems that after meeting Gary's Blastoise in Mega Form your Squirtle felt inferior at the time, and so forced himself to evolve into a Wartortle to make up for Gary's Blastoise gaining another stage in it's evolution." The Kanto Regional Professor rushed to explain.

Ash sighed in relief. He'd almost had a minor panic attack there from sheer worry for his little buddy Squirtle – or well, not so much little buddy anymore seeing as the average Wartortle was nearly four feet tall. Going to be strange to no longer need to look down – as much anyway – at his first water pokemon.

"Anyway." Professor Oak pushed on, "That is quite the selection of Pokemon, those four are some of your most powerful." He stated, "But that would leave you with only five Pokemon, what about a sixth?" He questioned.

Ash rolled his eyes mentally, actually he would still have six but Professor Oak just didn't know anything about Mewtwo at all. "Actually Professor, I'm calling Liza right after you to get my other old buddy sent over to me." He replied to the older man's confusion.

"Ah!" Professor Oak stated in realization, then he nodded in an almost sagely manner, "I can see you want to take no chances with this tournament if you're willing to bring over that Pokemon out of all of the others you have." He stated.

Ash cracked a smirk, "Yeah, I'm going fast and hard here Professor, aiming to win all the way." He replied.

Professor Oak chuckled, "Definitely not, I can see that my boy." He said back to Ash. "Now just give me a few minutes to get all of the Pokemon ready for transport, and while I'm away you begin sending over the Pokemon you wish to transfer." The grey haired man continued. And with that said, he got up from his seat and made his way away from the video phone screen and out of the laboratory.

Ash did just that. He quickly unclipped the Pokeballs from his belt and one by one he placed them in the transporter and transferred them over to the transporter in the Oak Ranch.

It took a few minutes to transfer them all over safely, but by the time he had finished Professor Oak was already back at the screen of the video phone, "That's them all arrived safely, now stay there, I'll send on over the Pokemon you want in return." He told Ash.

"Okay Professor." Ash replied, standing ready to receive his Pokemon.

It took another couple of minutes as they repeated Ash's previous actions, but in reverse. But still, each one arrived one after the all in a flash of bright white light. All four safe and accounted for.

Picking them up, Ash clipped all of them to his silver belt before turning his attention to the Professor, "Thanks Professor Oak." He said.

Oak waved him off though, "No problem my boy, now I assume that's all you wanted?" He replied with a question.

Ash nodded, "Yeah that's all, except I'm hoping you can tell my Mom I'll call her in a few days." The Pokemon Ranger said in reply.

The elderly Professor of Pallet nodded, "Will do Ash, now take care, goodbye!" He said with a wave, before the screen went black.

Ash wasn't done yet though, he hung the phone up to get rid of the dial tone and then picked it up again to begin punching another number in on the number pad, "One more Pokemon left." He said to himself.

The phone ran for a few moments before it was picked up, and he met the familiar face of the beautiful green haired girl that was Liza, "Hey!" She greeted with a big smile.

Ash smiled right back at her, "Hey, have you got him ready?" He questioned.

She giggled, "Oh yeah, you wouldn't believe just how excited he was when you called and asked for him." The green haired girl replied, "He's been getting really bored over here, none of the Charizard around here can keep up with him at all

anymore, and the only amusement he's been getting as of late is putting the newbie and arrogant Charizard in their place when they try to act tough." She continued to say, giggling all the more.

Ash chuckled himself, it sounded quite amusing to him. But she was wrong about the not believing just how excited his Charizard was, because he and Charizard were very similar and that's why they got along so well. He guessed he was just as excited, if not more so than Charizard to meet up with him again.

"Alright then, I'm sending him over now. Standby for transport." Liza told him. She disappeared from the screen for a few moments, and then beside him at the transporter in a flash of brilliant white light. The Pokeball of his Charizard appeared.

He grabbed it quickly with his hand and held the Pokeball up to the screen to show Liza, "Transferred safely Liza." He told her with a grin.

Liza grinned happily right back at him. They held each others gazes for a few moments before she tossed him a wave, "Don't be a stranger now Ashy, bye!" She big him goodbye. And with that her screen, like Professor Oak's, went black.

Ash grinned, he was quite fond of Liza, and she of him. They bonded as friends over the budding relationship their Charizard's. But Charizard, in the end, terminated his relationship with Charla. It seemed she had been wanting to settle down and have eggs, but Charizard couldn't to it. He didn't want to give up going out with Ash to battle strong opponents around the world.

Charizard, like Ash himself, was in love with battling. They practically lived for the rush, and adrenaline running through their veins from a tough battle, as well as their mutual desire to become the best. Ash to become a Pokemon Master, and Charizard to not only become the strongest Charizard in history, but the strongest Pokemon of all. A legend among legends.

Until then, Charizard could not settle down in a relationship with Charla and have a litter of Charmander with her. One day possibly, but not any time soon at least.

Having received all of the Pokemon he needed, Ash smiled to himself and began making his way out of the Pokemon Center to go and sign up for the Meganite Tournament.

As he went though, he connected his aura to the beings inside the Pokeballs he'd just received and felt a rush of happiness as a very familiar set of warm signatures flared up in the back of his mind.

He turned his head to the Pokemon on his shoulder, "There's no way we can lose!" He declared.

Pikachu smirked back at him, pumping a small yellow fist and allowing his red cheeks to sparkle slightly with a powerful yellow electricity, "Pi, Pikapi!" He cried right with him.

With the team of six he'd assembled for this tournament, there was no way they could lose! It would take the hardest efforts of the Elite Four themselves to stand in their way.

Ash had to admit. He was damn impressed with the arena they would be battling in. It was contained within a massive semi-circular stadium that looked like it could contain at least a good few thousand people with ease.

The battlefield itself was made up of three segments. On the far end of the battlefield, there was a lush grassy greenery area that was filled with quite a few tree's, and then further up in the middle of the battlefield there was a desolate rocky area and finally cutting off the stadium from becoming a full circle was a large and beautiful deep blue lake.

It was a battlefield designed to let almost all Pokemon fight to the best of their abilities. And the good news, was that he had a team of Pokemon that was designed to make full use of these areas.

Bulbasaur and Sceptile would easily be able to use the grass area to their advantage, Wartortle would be right at home in the lake, Pupitar would hold the advantage in a rocky terrain, Charizard would dominate the sky and Pikachu could battle on almost any terrain. He had trained Pikachu to use his full speed in almost any area.

He moved on though, he could gawk at the arena later tonight when he came back for his battle. For now he still had a ton of things to do.

He walked away from the battlefield and headed inside the arena, straight out towards the front desk.

Ash reached the front desk within a few minutes of walking, the place was busy and full of people huddling around. Thankfully, the front desk was unoccupied.

As he made his way over towards the desk, he was surprised to find quite a few people muttering angrily or the like.

He wondered what had their panties in a bunch?

Whatever, it wasn't his problem. He had a tournament to register for. He smiled at the brown haired receptionist behind the desk, she was rather pretty to look at and was wearing some form of green uniform.

She returned his smile with one of her own, showing off rows of white teeth, "Hello, how can I help you?" She questioned politely.

"I'm here to register for the Meganite Tournament." He replied.

She nodded at that, looking him over from head to toe. "Are you sure you meet the requirements to compete?" She asked dubiously. Eyeing him up and down with a frown.

Ash frowned to himself, "Requirements?" He questioned.

He hadn't heard about any requirements needed for this tournament. He thought it was a tournament open to all.

"Yes." The receptionist replied, "Well, there's really only one requirement and that is that all applicants for this tournament be qualified as Elite Level trainers." The brunnete revealed to him.

When those words washed through Ash's ears, he grinned. So that was why so many of these people were angry. They couldn't enter. He laughed internally, few Trainers a year managed to become an Elite level Trainer.

It took skills built up by years of experience and extremely powerful and well trained Pokemon.

"Well, that's fine then." Ash replied to her revelation. He reached into his back pocket and pulled his Pokedex out, flipping it open as he did so and pressing a blue button located up beside the screen. The screen flared from a blank black screen into a forest green color, and the robotic voice of the Pokedex began speaking, "Hello, I am Dexert a Pokedex programmed by Professor Samuel J. Oak of Pallet Town – Kanto to act as identification and an information guide for Elite Pokemon Trainer; Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town – Kanto."

He turned it off and put it back away in his pocket. He shot his grin towards the receptionist, "That proof enough?" He inquired.

She smiled back at him, "Yes, that will do. Just allow me to register you now." She replied, and began typing away at the computer sitting to her side. It took her a few moments, but finally she returned her attention to him and her smile stretched a bit, "That is all your information entered, you are applicant number #29." The brown haired receptionist told him.

Ash whistled, "How many people are going to be competing?" He questioned.

"32 in total." She answered, "We will close down registration for the tournament after three more Elite Level Trainers have signed up to compete." She continued.

Ash had to hold back another whistle. Damn, he was applicant number 29. That meant he was shaving it a bit close here. If he had been even another hour late he probably wouldn't have even been allowed to compete.

Damn, that would have put all of his plans down the crapper.

He smiled internally to himself though. Thank Arceus he'd made him and Dawn get up extra early this morning or else there was no way in hell they would have made it in time for him to register in the Meganite Tournament to whoop some ass, take some names and walk off with those Meganite stones.

He flashed another smile to the receptionist, "Thank you." He began her, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm quite busy at the moment, I've got a few errands I have to run before the tournament starts later." The amber eyed teen continued, "Goodbye."

The older woman behind the desk nodded, flashing him another polite smile in return for his own, "It was no problem." She replied, "Good luck with the tournament!"

He nodded in reply, "Thank you." He thanked her, and with that and a wave tossed over his shoulder he was on his way again making his way out of the building.

Now all he had to do was go defeat the Eterna City Gym Leader – Gardenia if he remembered right – and then pick up the supplies he needed for the extensive training program he had devised for his Pokemon and he was good to go, ready to compete in the tournament without any distractions to get in his way.

As he made his way out of the building, he turned the corner of the building and was about to walk around it when his aura senses blared to life.

With them guiding them on instinct, he just barely managed to step out of the way of a tall woman before he bumped straight into her. As it was, he stumbled a bit on his foot.

With all the aura – life – signatures around him, it was murder on his mind to pinpoint any specific one of them besides those he was familiar with.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that." He said to the woman, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. It was a habit he picked up from somewhere, he just wasn't sure where.

The woman chuckled in reply, her voice light and dare he say it? Almost seductive sounding. It was a throaty sound, one that sent a shiver down his spine, "No harm done, just watch out in case you hurt yourself next time." She said in return.

Ash chuckled at that. Looking up, a reply was on the tip of his lips when he caught sight of just who he was talking to. She was tall, easily a good six feet and towered

over even him who was quite tall for his age. She had a beautiful face, framed by a mane of long glossy blonde hair that shone slightly in the sun and had a set of two black accessories on each side.

She wore a pair of black heels, slightly covered by a pair of long grey trousers that didn't hide at all just how long her legs looked, and finally over her torso was a variation of a black waist coat, except this had long sleeves that ended in a puffy and black soft fur like fabric and the bottom tail of the coat didn't end until slightly below her knee's, the top of it left open slightly to show the deep cleavage of a rather large and round pair of breasts.

Ash felt his mouth go dry. It took him a good few moments to regain his composure, "You're...You're Cynthia Shirona!" He finally managed to blurt out.

The woman, Cynthia chuckled in reply, "That I am." She replied, "But, since you know my name it's only polite that you tell me yours." The blonde haired woman continued.

Ash shook his head. He so would not fanboy out on this woman. Sure she was the Champion Master of an entire Region, but he had met three before her already! He'd already met Lance, Steven, Wallace and even Alder once when he had paid Professor Oak a visit.

"I'm Ash Ketchum." He replied. He pushed on though, determined to not lose any face in front of a woman that he would definitely one day, without fail, defeat in a battle, "I'd heard you were in Eterna City Cynthia, but I had no idea why exactly." He said. Phrasing the question in a way that, hopefully would not sound as if he was being some nosy fanboy that was poking into her business.

"Oh, I'm actually here to study the ancient statues of the Legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia." She replied. Ash nodded, seemingly accepting the answer. But in truth, thanks to Aaron he had already knew this.

He stopped nodding though, when she continued, "And to also compete in the Meganite Tournament being hosted here."

He couldn't help it. He winced. He so was not expecting that, and now his chances of winning had dropped dramatically.

Still though, he soldiered on admirably. This was the kind of challenge he was looking for.

Aaron was still a stupid moron though. He could have informed him of Cynthia competing as well. And here he thought he wasn't a grass headed twat like Drew.

"Really?" Ash questioned. There was another few questions niggling at the back of his head that he wanted answered. He was damn curios.

When she nodded, he pushed forward to ask the other question on his mind, "But why would you want to compete? You're one of the most powerful Trainers in the world, why would you need the Meganite Stones?" The amber eyed teen inquired.

Cynthia shook her head, "You would think so." She replied, her voice turning wistful, "But, it is my duty as the Champion Master of Sinnoh to continue to surpass my and my Pokemon's limit, if I didn't I wouldn't last long as the Champion Master and would be surpassed one day soon." She continued.

"To hold on to my title, I must continue to improve and strive to be the very best I can be." Cynthia finished, her grey eyes burning with an inner fire that was all too familiar to Ash.

It was a look that he saw every time he looked at himself in a mirror.

He smirked, "You can keep ascending your limits all you want, it's not gonna stop me." The raven haired teen replied, "In fact, I relish the thought of it so that when I beat you and the rest of the Regional Champions around the regions, not one person can contest to me being the very best Pokemon Trainer in the world."

He would be a Pokemon Master, but not just any Pokemon Master. He would be thee Pokemon Master, a master amongst masters!

Cynthia chuckled, "I look forward to you challenging me then, Ash." She promptly returned the challenge behind the words.

Ash couldn't help the adrenaline flooding his veins. But sadly, as much as he would love to get into it right now with Cynthia and take her on, he still had his errands to run.

"Then I'll see you in the finals of the Meganite Tournament, just make sure not to lose." He all but taunted.

"I won't, don't worry about that." The blonde haired woman replied, "Just make sure you hold on to your end of the bargain then."

Ash snorted, giving her a wave and continuing on his way. Nobody was going to stop him and his Pokemon from reaching those finals.

Cynthia watched the young teen walk away towards whatever destination he intended on going to. So that was Ash Ketchum huh? There were quite a few rumours about

that boy floating around. In fact, besides the Elite Four of the Region, he was pretty much the golden boy of Kanto.

A supposed prodigy in all things Pokemon. A young Trainer so skilled with Pokemon so powerful that he'd taken on and defeated multiple Legendary Pokemon.

And the fact that the jacket he was wearing completely answered for her if the rumour about him being the youngest Pokemon Ranger in history was true.

"What an interesting boy." She mused to herself.

She couldn't wait to battle the teen. He would surely give her an intense challenge one day.

The interior of the gym reminded him quite a bit of the Bug-type Gym ran by Bugsy over at Azaela Town in the Johto Region.

It was one big wide open space filled to the brim with plant life. The flooring was covered entirely by freshly cut green grass, and all around the inside garden like area were a multitude of large and healthy tree's.

He was led straight through the tree's and out into an open space in the very center of the room. His guide, a black haired woman in a blue tracksuit, proceeded to walk over to a woman he caught sight of lounging in the middle of the clearing.

"Gardenia, you have a challenger." His guide stated aloud.

At once, the lounging woman jumped straight up her feet, a beaming smile upon her face. She had a mushroom shaped style of hair, held up slightly by a black headband. She was wearing a green poncho with a short and tight black shirt underneath that bared her midriff to him, covering from her hips to just above her knees was a pair of brown cargo shorts and then she had a pair of dark green boots covering her feet.

"Great!" The now revealed to be Gardenia chirped happily, "I was getting seriously bored with nothing to do today, a battle is just what I need." She stated, once again quite happily.

She met Ash's eyes with her own, "So kid, hows a two on two sounds to ya'?" She questioned.

"That's fine." The amber eyed teen answered with a nod.

Gardenia nodded back before she turned towards his guide, "Amelia can you referee?" She asked the black haired woman.

Said woman nodded, "Of course, it's my job after all." Amelia replied.

She walked off to the side and stood upon some kind of white stand that Ash just at that moment noticed.

Amelia raised her arm into the air, "This will be a two on two battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and the Eterna City Gym leader Gardenia, furthermore only the challenger will be allowed to switch out their Pokemon for another." She called out.

Gardenia grinned over towards him, pulling a Pokeball out of her pocket. "Okay Ash, I'll start things off." She stated. She threw the Pokeball into the air and released the Pokemon inside in a burst of silvery white light.

In front of her, appearing as she caught the Pokeball once again was a Turtwig. That was fine with Ash, he already knew the only Pokemon he would need for this battle.

"Alright then." He said, turning his head towards the Pokemon perched atop his shoulder, "You're up Pikachu." He told the small eletric rodent Pokemon.

Pikachu nodded in response, leaping into a flip and landing nimbly infront of his trainer.

Gardenia frowned at him, 'Doesn't he know how much a disadvantage an Electric-type Pokemon like Pikachu is at against a Grass-type Pokemon like my Turtwig?'

No matter, that was his problem.

"Tackle!" She ordered promptly.

Her Turtwig short forth like a rocket. Her Turtwig was different from the average one, instead of training it to utilize it's defensive properties like most others, Gardenia had gone a completely different route and worked on speed.

There was no Turtwig as fast as hers in the world. And even as fast as it was, the little guy was a defensive powerhouse as well because of how old and experienced he was compared to the average Turtwig.

That was why she couldn't help but gape in disbelief at what happened next.

Ash had to admit, he was impressed by the speed of this Turtwig, even his own Turtwig couldn't keep up with this one.

Impressive, but it still couldn't come close to Pikachu.

So when it was within five feet of Pikachu, and closing in rapidly. He issued a simple, two worded order.

"Iron Tail."

By the time Turtwig came within striking distance, it was already far too late. Faster than even Ash's aura enhanced eye-sight could track. Pikachu's tail erupted with a bright silvery white energy and he batted the rushing Turtwig back to where it came from, with a little extra added on.

Turtwig's charge halted like a bike ramming into a concrete wall. And then, the small Grass-type shot backwards like a rocket, a blur to the human eye.

It shot right past Gardenia and crashed harshly into a tree. The tree cracked in half from the force of the impact and toppled over, and then Turtwig promptly fell to the grassy floor completely unconscious and unable to battle any longer

The entire gym was silent, both woman of the Eterna City Gym in a completely stupefied silence and Ash himself just allowing them to do so.

Amelia shakily raised an arm, "T-the first round goes t-to the challenger and P-Pikachu..." She managed to stutter out, her voice flat and letting everyone else know just how baffled she was by this turn of events.

Gardenia herself was in a completely different kind of shocked.

She hadn't even seen it happen. All she saw was a blur, one second Turtwig was upon Pikachu intending to plough right into it with a powerful head on charge, and the next her Pokemon was behind her and completely unable out cold.

She instinctively lifted her Pokeball and recalled her Turtwig. Just what the hell happened right there?!

Shaking her head, Gardenia lifted her next Pokeball up, "Okay then!" she shouted, "Let's see you try that again, Let's go Roserade!" And with that, she released her next Pokemon. Roserade, the fully evolved form of Budew and the next stage upwards from Roselia.

Roserade was a bipedal Pokémon with an appearance that incorporated features of roses and what looked like the decorative dress of a masquerade. It had hair made of white rose petals and a leafy green cape with a yellow collar-like bangle on its neck. The cape pattern reached toward the back of its head in spiky, sepal-like extensions on the hair. It had a dark-green mask over its red, yellow-lidded eyes. The lower portion of its face was light green and it held a bouquet in each hand, a red one in its right hand and blue in its left. Its limbs and underside were light green color and its feet ended with yellow colored tips.

"Roserade, use Magical Leaf!" The Grass-type Gym Leader commanded quickly.

She would not make the same mistake as she did before. She would attack from a distance so that Pikachu's speed wouldn-

She was cut off before she could even finish her thought process on her strategy to defeat Ash's Pikachu.

After Roserade thrust both arms and fired off a barrage of leaf shaped disks of green energy at Pikachu. The small rodent Pokemon had responded in kind and fired off a massive yellow card of electricity to meet the attack head on.

The arc of electricity met the leaf shaped disks of energy head on, and ripped straight through the attack as if it were paper.

The attack continued on, and in the blink of an eye, before Roserade could even think to dodge, the powerful wave of electricity washed over it's form and sent it falling backwards onto the grassy ground below it.

The fully evolved form of Budew was charred black in some places when the arc of electrical power died down to reveal the Pokemon. Not to mention with so much electricity inside of its body, the Roserade, even unconscious, could not stop itself from twitching and spasming every moment or so.

Silence once again rang throughout the clearing within the indoor garden – gym – the two female occupants of the Eterna City gym could once again no longer even comprehend just what the hell happened. Twice she'd lost to that Pikachu, both of her very strongest Pokemon taken down in the blink of an eye and with one attack each.

It was a mind fu-boggling experience, and she couldn't form words to even describe just what she felt in regards to that battle.

Most likely, she mused distantly, that she would feel ashamed for having lost so easily. But for now, she was still too stupefied to care.

Ash though was growing annoyed with all the silence, "Oi, can I get my Gym Badge now? I've got errands I need to run." He barked.

He rolled his eyes as neither responded. He should have expected something like this. After all, it wasn't everyday that a Trainer as powerful as a Gym Leader got defeated so thoroughly.

But what else could he have done? He had errands to run!

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Just realised I hadn't finished uploading the rest of this here, oops?