Chapter 16

"You got yourself a challenge right after you landed there? Talk about an entrance," Lance laughed.

"I didn't plan any of this Lance," said Ash with a sigh.

After coming from the beach, Ash decided to give Lance a call. They were talking in a video conference.

"So did you feel any better seeing all of your friends again?" asked Lance.

"Much better actually. It felt good to be near them once again," Ash said smiling.

"That's good to hear. Anyway we haven't spotted any suspicious activity in Kalos so you can relax for the time being."

'That's a relief,' Ash thought.

"Ok then I will talk to you later Lance," with a nod Ash cut the call.

It was late in the afternoon. Ash was thinking about what to do until he heard a knock. He got up to open the door only to reveal a familiar.

"Scott!"

"Hey Ash. Just wanted to check on you. Everything good?" said the frontier manager.

"Oh I'm doing great actually thanks for asking," said Ash gratefully.

"No worries. Anyways would you mind to come outside for a bit? I wanted you to meet someone," said Scott glancing sideways.

"Ok?" Ash said before coming out of his dorm. Only then he noticed there was another person standing a few feet away from Scott. The amethyst haired girl tensed up seeing Ash again but maintained her composure. Her eye color matched with her hair. She was wearing purple pants with a white coat over a violet top.

"Umm hey Ash," said Anabel shyly.

Ash just stared at her with a poker face. He couldn't believe how much the Salon Maiden has changed as well. Her short hair has grown into a long beautiful one. Her body has matured as well with her age.

Anabel looked a bit disappointed thinking Ash didn't recognise her. But who could blame him?

"I think you might have forgotten her," Scott said with a nervous laugh. "She is-"

"Anabel?" Ash said surprising them. The girl looked happy.

"Sorry, I was just- well, surprised at how much you've changed," Ash said sheepishly.

"Can't blame you. You've changed a lot too," said Anabel glancing at Ash's muscular physique with a tint of red.

Scott smiled and thought about giving them some time alone.

"I'll take my leave now. See you two later," he disappeared before anyone could say anything.

There was silence until Ash broke it.

"I am kinda hungry so want to go to the cafe for dinner? We can catch up as well," he suggested.

"Sure I would love too," Anabel said with a sweet smile closing her eyes.

Ash stared at her, rather intently before shaking his head to clear some weird thoughts that's coming to him every so often.

They walked to the cafe which was inside the academy. It was pretty fancy and good as well. Ash told her about pretty much everything he told everyone else. Anabel

talked to Ash about how she has been progressing as a Frontier Brain in these years.

"Hey where's Pikachu?" asked Anabel.

"He's back in my room," replied Ash. "Oh yeah I forgot. You can understand pokemon speech right?" asked Ash.

"Yes. I have made lots of new friends as well."

"That's great," Ash said as they entered the cafe.

Almost immediately a tsunami of challenges crashed upon Ash. Trainers started nagging him for a battle even if they know they will get crushed. Anabel sweatdropped as she watched Ash trying get out of the crowd.

"Alright move it people," a voice said.

"Cut him some slack already," said another voice.

Ash turned to see his rivals Stephan and Cameron pushing the crowd away. It took some but they managed to disperse them.

"Sup Ash," both said as they gave him a fist bump.

"It's nice to see you guys again," said Ash smiling.

"Dude its not cool that you come here and not meet up with us," Cameron said as Stephan nodded.

"Sorry about that. There was so much going on-"

"It's fine man." Cameron said and then noticed the girl behind Ash.

"Who is she Ash?" he asked.

Stephan looked and smirked at Ash, "Already hitting on pretty girls eh?"

"I-it's not like that," Ash said quickly as Anabel blushed a little.

"Hey Ash over here," a voice said as he looked towards a table where his friends were sitting. Goh was calling him.

"I will see you guys later," Ash said receiving nods as he and Anabel went towads the table.

Ash greeted everyone as he took a seat and Anabel took one beside him. The gang looked at the girl.

"Oh hi Anabel," said Max recognising the Brain.

"Hi Max it's good to see you again."

"It's fancy seeing you here. Looks like you met Ash," said Brock.

"Yeah we met just a while ago," she said smiling looking at Ash.

This ticked off three certain girls in the group.

'Who is she anyway?' thought Serena.

'She seems close to Ash,' thought Dawn.

'Looks like she has a thing for him too,' thought May.

After meeting Ash again, the girls seemed to have found new feelings for the raven haired boy. Serena always had a crush on him, while May and Dawn just thought of him as a friend. But people change, as well as their feelings. Each one of them knew that all of them have fallen for the same boy. They decided to let Ash choose, but still didn't want to back down from the competition. And now there was another girl.

Ash was introducing Anabel to some of his friends. Max was talking about during his time challenging the battle frontier just like Ash, but lost to Anabel at the end.

"Hey Ash? What do you say we have that battle tomorrow?" asked Max. "I don't think I can win, but I will show you how much I have grown as a trainer," said Max with a fiery determination.

Ash looked into his friend's determined eyes, just like his. He smiled before accepting the challenge.

"I accept Max," said Ash grabbing some attention as well.

"Is it okay if I come as well?" a voice said a little far from the table.

"Sawyer!" exclaimed Ash, happy to see his rival.

"Hey Ash," they shook hands. "Remember Ash, I want a rematch as well," said Sawyer.

Before Ash could say anything another voice interrupted, "You have to wait. I have a score to settle with him." said the dark edge lord Gladion.

"Sup Gladion," said Ash with a smirk before shaking hands with his Alolan rival, who had a similar smirk.

"Hey I didn't get a chance to battle him as well," complained Kiawe.

"Speak for yourself," another voice said as Trip joined the party of rivals as well.

The gang sweatdropped at the intensity of challenges between the long time rivals. Ash couldn't help but feel nostalgic. His adrenaline rushing just at the sight of seeing all of his rivals at one place.

"Umm, we are still having that battle right Ash?" asked Max a bit nervously.

***

Next morning, Ash proceeded towards battlefield 17. This academy had 5 stadiums and 30 battlefields in total. There were 25 studios for the performers and coordinators. No one here was a rookie, so the professors didn't need to take classes to teach them. Instead they gave more emphasis on practical education. Students could compare their skills with others and grow as a trainer like that. That's why this academy was more popular than the others.

Ash reached the battlefield in time to see some sort of distortion.

"I told you kid, not until he comes here," an adult voice said.

"Ugghhh this is so-"

"What's wrong Max?" Ash said with a stern voice as he stood there with glaring eyes towards the person who was acting rough with Max. The guy gulped and stepped back a little.

"Thank goodness you're here," Sawyer said.

"This guy and his gang didn't want to empty the battlefield. After hearing that Max was battling you, he thought he was bluffing until you came." Ash listened carefully. The crowd around them nodded with agreement.

Ash looked at the guy. He was strong and had a muscular body with a short blond haircut. Sort of like the typical bullies in the American movies.

Ash gave a cold and menacing look at them that can even scare Giratina. Yes, Ash can do that as he had dealt with criminals before who was hiding any sort of information.

"Well?" Ash said in a sheer cold voice. The guy jumped back, obviously frightened. Even Max and Sawyer flinched as they looked at their idol with a look of disbelief.

"I-I-I-...."

The guy was stammering and the crowd was clearly enjoying the sight. He finally maintained his composure as he spoke, still stammering.

" I-I am sorry man he-he, I th-thought the kid was bluffing a-and---"

Ash exhaled a breath switching off his cold mode. "Okay then if you excuse us, we have a battle to start," Ash said calmly and gently all of a sudden.

The big bad bully decided to leave. He saw his two friends before an idea came to his head. A stupid idea.

"Hey champ," he said grabbing Ash's attention and the crowd.

"Since you are here, let's have a battle. A 3 vs 1. Us three versus you. What do ya say?"

The crowd gasped. Some even laughed thinking who would agree to such a stupid term. Pikachu gave out a yawn.

Ash thought for a moment. The guy smirked.

"Of course if you are scared then---"

"I accept." Ash said as the crowd gasped.

"Wait what?!" Max asked in shock.

The guy smirked before going to one side of the battlefield with his side kicks.

The number of spectators were increasing, interested about what's going on.

"Ash? I know you're strong but still even for you thats---," Sawyer started.

"Don't worry. This will be over even before you know it," Ash said reassuringly.

Max and Sawyer looked at each other before letting out a sigh.

"Alright but be quick, I want to have our battle as soon as possible," said Max.

Ash smirked. "Gladly."

Clemont seemed to have noticed the crowd at Battlefield 17. He went there and happened to saw everything. He then thought about being the referee of this match.

Ash went to his side. He was thinking about which pokemon to use until Pikachu jumped from his shoulder on the battlefield with cheeks sparking.

'Someone is interested for a battle,' Ash thought with a smile, permitting his partner the honour.

The three whispered something among themselves after seeing Pikachu. Ash knew were this was going. The three had a smirk while throwing their respective pokeballs.

A Rhyperior, a Diggersby and a Nidoking came out with a cry.

'Of course all of them had to be ground types,' both Ash and Pikachu thought the same thing shaking their heads.

The crowd was criticizing to how the battle was totally unfair, but couldn't say much because Ash accepted the challenge himself.

May just finished a rehearsal for a contest as the brunette was searching for the battlefield Max and her Ash were supposed to be battling. She found it but spotted a huge audience. 'Maybe because of Ash,' she thought before going there. She saw Ash with his Pikachu on one side. She smiled before she was surprised to see the condition of the other side. She searched through the crowd before spotting Max and Sawyer at the front row. She went there and asked Max about what's going on. Max explained the situation to her as a look of worry spread across her face.

'Oh Ash please be okay.'

***

"This is an unofficial battle between Champion Ash and--?" Clemont started but didn't know the name of the side characters.

"Rex," the guy with the Rhyperior and the same one who challenged Ash said.

"Cross," the guy with the Nidoking said

"Jason," said the guy with the Diggersby.

"This is 3 on 1 battle," Clemont flinched before continuing ,"The battle will be over when either side pokemon are unable to battle. Now. Battle Begin."

"Alright Rhyperior let's start things with rock wrecker."

"Nidoking use sludge bomb."

"Diggersby mud shot."

The three pokemon aimed their attacks at the mouse pokemon who just effortlessly dodged them without a command from Ash.

The trio again whispered a plan. Ash just sighed, giving them all the time they want. As if they had a chance anyway.

"Use Earthquake," the three of them yelled at the same time. The ground type pokemons gave a cry and used the powerful move. The three earthquakes together created a huge impact shaking the area around the battlefield as people tired to stand their ground. Clemont literally fell down on his butt. The trio was smirking thinking it worked.

The crowd looked towards the battlefield. What they saw just left them stunned and flabbergasted.

The mouse was simply floating above the field with electricity sparking around it. The move didn't even touch it. The trainers mouth were hanging with shock.

"That's Magnet Rise," Clemont said as the crowd started to cheer loudly. The mouse came down to its position.

Rex felt a bit humiliated as well as the other two. So they thought of a plan without whispering for the first time.

"Diggersby use dig," Jason said as it went underground.

"Keep Pikachu distracted with Rock Wrecker." said Rex.

Pikachu kept dodging the attack like before. Suddenly the ground erupted bellow it and Diggersby came out. Before Pikachu could dodge, the digging pokemon grabbed it tight with its two strong ears.

Cross smirked. "Now Nidoking use Venoshock," the drill pokemon shot the powerful poison type move. Their plan was to poison the rat, weaken it before taking it down. However Pikachu had other plans.

He didn't like being poisoned so Pikachu used Reflect to block the move. Clemont was impressed Pikachu could use that move.

Jason was frustrated and the constant cheering of the crowd didn't make him feel any better.

"Throw that rat to the air and slam it down with hammer arm," he commanded without thinking.

Diggersby threw Pikachu in the air and smash him to the ground with the fighting type move.

Rex saw this as a chance. "Use Rock Tomb," he commended as Rhyperior threw boulders at the place where Pikachu was. A small explosion occurred and most of the crowd screamed.

Pikachu was a cute pokemon and seeing it get beaten like that wasn't something the crowd appreciated. They started throwing curses towards the trio who were high fiving each other for the victory. Clemont hunged his head low. Max and Sawyer were shocked and May just looked away, not wanting to see anymore.

Ash was worried. Not for Pikachu, but for his opponents pokemon's fate.

Suddenly an angry growl could be heard as Pikachu jumped from the crater back to the field with a yellow aura sparking around it that radiated anger. The crowd was relieved nevertheless. The ground type trio backed up a little with a gulp.

It was at this moment, they knew that they fucked up.

Suddenly Pikachu disappeared from his spot with a yellow blur and appeared right in front of Rhyperior. Before anyone could react, the mouse smashed its glowing tail made of steel on the drill pokemon's head crushing it to the ground forming a crater.

With another blur, Pikachu appeared in front of Diggersby who was holding him before, slammed it to the ground as well with a Brickbreak.

Nidoking looked helpless as the mouse pokemon slammed it as well with an electro ball-iron tail combination right after appearing in front of it.

Pikachu went back to its previous position with a huff.

Everyone was shocked and stunned at what they saw before their eyes. Who could blame them? Not everyday you see a Pikachu beating up three powerful ground type pokemon so brutally. That speed and sheer power? Incredible!

The trainers looked like they were paralysed. They still couldn't process what was happening right now.

The three pokemon looked injured but they still stood up for the fight. Ash felt like it was the time to end this as he gave his very first and most probably the last command in this battle.

"Thunder."

As soon as he said that, black clouds started gathering in the sky as the air crackled up with electricity. People started backing up due to the sudden change in atmosphere. A huge powerful bolt of lightning shot down from the sky towards the pokemons who didn't even tried to dodge it. The aftershock of the attack sent a huge shockwave around the battlefield as people tried to stand their ground. A huge explosion occurred as the dust started to settle down slowly, but surely.

Everyone looked in time to see a triumphant mouse standing over three fainted ground types.

"Rhyperior, Diggersby and Nidoking are unable to battle. Therefore the victory goes to Ash," Clemont declared as the crowd started cheering.

"I guess they really pissed you off huh buddy?" Ash asked to his faithful partner with a chuckle who just huffed in response.

The three shameless dudes just returned their pokemon before going to the pokemon center.

Suddenly, without any warning, someone hugged Ash tightly as the raven haired boy blushed from the embrace.