Chapter 18

Next morning, Ash got up a little late than usual.

He woke up Pikachu and went to take a shower. Yesterday was really tiring for our Champion, resulting the late morning. He put on a red and white T-shirt, blue jeans and his jacket. Before going out to have breakfast. He took a glance at a picture which was placed beside his bed. It was a family photo of him and his mom. He smiled sadly at the picture.

'Wake up soon mom.'

With that he went outside with Pikachu on his shoulder.

The Academy was lively as usual, with all the students engaged in many activities. He went to the cafe and found it half filled. No one among the gang was there. He thought because he was late, that's the reason.

He took his plate full of food and began to stuff himself, not forgetting to ask for a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu, which the staff found oddly weird. Ash sweatdropped. He couldn't blame them for that.

After finishing, he went to the field. It was full of students as usual. Ash kept walking and glancing at each battlefield. Seeing the battles, he felt like he was forgetting something. Something he was supposed to do or be doing, like...

"Pika Pikapi Pikachu!" the rodent scolded its trainer and that's when it clicked inside his head.

"Ah dammit. I totally forgot I was supposed to battle Calem," Ash remembered as he started running around aimlessly. He stopped.

"Which battlefield was it again? 6? 7? Tch, I will just look back from the previous chapter," Ash said to himself. Pikachu sweatdropped at his trainer's condition and shook his head seeing how irresponsible Ash can be sometimes.

'So 6 it is,' Ash thought while walking towards the battlefield. Many trainers challenged him on the way, but he politely declined. He reached there. There was a considerable crowd and some of his friends were there as well.

"What the hell?! Where is he? Did he just ditch -?" a voice was yelling when another interrupted.

"Look there he is!" the feminine voice said as she ran towards Ash.

Ash barely reached there when a blonde girl hugged him out of the blue. Ash got startled.

"Hey Ash! What took you so long?" the Kalos Queen pouted at her crush.

Ash, however, didn't reply as he was lost in Serena's beautiful sapphire eyes. Until, of course, someone interrupted.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't show up," Calem said, a little irritatedly.

"Oh--yeah, sorry, I umm.. overslept," Ash said sheepishly as everyone sweatdropped.

"Same ol' Ashy boy," another voice said as Ash was surprised.

"Gary? You are here too?" Ash asked surprised.

Gary was confused. "Dude, you blind or something? Almost everyone is here."

Ash looked around and saw that the gang was in the stands.

"Yeah Calem invited us," a short blue haired girl said, "The fact that you guys were having an unusual battle, interested a lot of us," Miette explained, not before giving a wink at Ash.

Serena glared at her friend. Miette always enjoyed pestering her. Though Ash didn't seem to notice that.

"C'mon Ketchum we don't have any time to waste, let's start," Calem said and left to position hinself.

"Good luck Ash," Serena whispered into his ear.

Ash smiled. "Thanks." He went to the battlefield as well.

Serena kept staring at him, a blush visible on her face. Miette noticed it and smirked.

"If you keep daydreaming, the battle will be over before you know it," she said teasingly causing Serena to blush in embarrassment.

She went to the stands. But to her surprise she didn't see two particular girls.

"Hey where is Dawn and May?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Dawn said she had a shooting session with her Buneary, so she couldn't come," replied Miette.

"May is supposed to attend a contest that is being held in Santalune City, so she couldn't come either." said Max, who looked excited for the battle.

'I should exploit this chance,' thought Serena. Miette seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Perfect opportunity right dear?" she said knowingly causing Serena to go red again.

"MIETTE WILL YOU SHUT UP?!!" she shouted attracting some attention. Miette just kept giggling.

"What is it Serena?" asked Mallow who just came to watch the battle with Lillie and Lana.

"Oh umm..i-it's nothing hehe." the blonde replied trying to drop it.

"Look its about to start," said Misty who came to watch it as well. Brock wanted to come too, but he suddenly got a call from Nurse Joy, and the rest is history.

Cilan and Iris came as well.

The two trainers were about to start when someone interrupted them.

"Mind if I be the referee?" a voice said as they looked around to see a certain mega evolution researcher.

"Professor Sycamore?" the trainers exclaimed seeing him.

"Of course, it would be great professor thank you," Calem said and Sycamore nodded with a smile.

"So what is the format?" he asked. The trainers looked at each other before Ash replied, "4 on 2."

Professor was surprised at first but thought it would be very interesting to see such an unusual match. He started, "It's a 4 vs 2 battle between Elite Four Calem and Champion Ash. The battle will be over when either side pokemon are unable to battle. Substitution are allowed. Trainers, Ready?"

They nodded. Some of the spectators cheered.

"Alright, Battle Begin," he said as Calem decided to start the match.

He threw a pokeball which revealed a Kalos native bird pokemon. It was magnificent with red and grey feathers and sharp talons. The pokemon gave a cry.

'A talonflame huh?' Ash thought before taking out a pokeball. He hadn't used her in a while and thought she would like to have a challenge. He threw the pokeball.

A long green snake like pokemon appeared on the field. It had green coat and paste green like body with yellow scales. Its red eyes were glaring at its opponent with fierce determination and confidence.

"Wait a SERPERIOR?!!" Iris yelled.

Cilan was silent for a moment before coming to a conclusion, "Looks like that's our Snivy." He said with a smile.

People started commenting how cool and graceful Serperior looked. The snake had a flattered smile.

"Why in the world would you choose a grass type against a fire type?" Calem asked genuinely confused.

"Duh. Cause its Ash," Iris said casually earning a laughter from others. Ash always had a knack to do the impossible and being reckless at times, and everyone knew about that.

"My Serperior is not only strong, but also very smart when it comes to battling. I would suggest you to be on your guard," Ash said and Serperior nodded confidently with her trainer.

"Whatever....." Calem muttered before commanding.

"Talonflame use Flame Charge."

The scorching pokemon dived towards the snake, cloaking itself with fire.

'Fool,' Ash thought. "You know what to do," Ash said in response to which Serperior smirked.

Before flame charge could hit, Serperior disappeared from its spot with a blur and appeared right above Talonflame. Before Calem could say anything, Serperior slammed Talonflame to the ground with its glowing blue tail. Talonflame seemed to take damage and flew back to the air with a grunt.

"That's Aqua Tail and It's super effective, "Sycamore said as Calem clenched his fists.

"You ok?" he asked. The bird pokemon nodded.

"Alright use Aerial Ace."

The bird started to attack the snske in a streak of white. It hit Serperior a couple of times before Calem changed the command,

"Use Fire Blast while you are close," he said and Talonflame used the powerful move on the green snake causing a small explosion.

Calem smirked thinking it worked, but the smoke soon revealed a green shield protecting the regal pokemon.

"It used Protect so quickly? Incredible," said Lillie.

"Serperior sure has gotten stronger and smarter no doubt about it," said Cilan.

"We can do this Talonflame, use Steel Wing," Calem said as the bird soared at a fast speed towards Serperior.

"Grab it," Ash said quietly as Serperior used Vine Whip to stop Talonflame in its tracks. After that, Serperior brutally slammed the bird on the ground.

"Talonflame!" Calem yelled worriedly. The scorching bird got up after a few attempts.

'I got one shot at this,' Calem thought.

"Alright use everything you got into this one Brave Bird."

Talonflame mustered all of its power in its body and surrounded itself with the powerful flying type move before attacking its opponent.

"Leaf Tornado," Ash commanded as the snake nodded and unleashed one of the powerful grass type move which collided with the bird.

The bird struggled against it, but failed and got engulfed by the attack and was thrown to the ground. The dust settled and revealed a knocked out Talonflame.

"Talonflame is unable too battle, Serperior wins and the first round goes to Ash."

The crowd cheered and whistled. Calem returned his pokemon. "Its fine. You did your best. Take a good rest," he said with a sigh.

"Great job. Why don't you take some rest before the next battle?" Ash asked Serperior.

"Ser Serpi Serperior," she said smugly to which Ash chuckled.

"Of course you can. But lets give the others a chance as well," he said and the regal pokemon nodded, before it was returned to its pokeball.

"Who do you think has the upper hand?" asked Iris.

"Of course Ash is going to win no doubt," Max said. Serena nodded in agreement as well.

"Hey kid, don't decide the outcome just from the first batt-"

"What do you expect Iris? Ash is his idol," Misty said to which Iris considered a bit.

"I can tell the rest of the battles will be just as spicy as the first one," Cilan said with his usual connoisseurish accent.

"You're good Ash," said Calem, "But let's see how will you counter this one," with that Calem threw a pokeball that revealed a gigantic dinosaur like pokemon. It had tough scales on its body and a powerful jaw that looked like it could bite through anything to pieces. Tyrantrum gave an intimidating roar shaking the arena. The crowd got even more excited than being afraid, can't wait to see how the Champion will counter that.

"Wow. A dragon type. I hope Ash uses a dragon type too," Iris said hopefully.

"I hope I am not late," a young voice said panting heavily. The gang looked as Bonnie came and took a seat, a Dedenne in her bag. She just came from a performance session and when she heard about the battle, immediately came here.

"What did I miss?" she asked.

"Not much Bonnie," Serena said giving her a handkerchief.

"Ash won the first battle and now the second one is going to start," Lillie explained briefly. Bonnie just nodded and turned her attention to the battle.

Ash was still deciding which pokemon to use as his second one.

"Pika chu pika?" the mouse suggested. Ash looked shocked.

"You're kidding right? You want me to use him? We don't want to destroy this place Pikachu," Ash said to which Pikachu gave a 'suit yourself' gesture before curling into a ball on the ground to take a nap.

Ash thought about Dragonite. But there was another pokemon in his team who was itching for a battle. Ash sighed as he unclipped a pokeball and threw it.

A large blue bipedal figure appeared. It had a tough scale, red spiky fins on its head that ran through its back before ending at its tail. It had a tough jaw just like its opponent.

The big jaw pokemon glared silently at its opponent who glared back. Calem gulped, thinking what kind of powerhouse he has to deal with this time.

Suddenly Feraligatr broke into large grin, as it gave a cry and started dancing around its spot.

That gesture left everyone dumfounded. Ash just gave a nervous laugh while Pikachu was laughing on the ground. Even Tyrantrum had his jaw dropped.

Slowly everyone started laughing, taking pictures and gave cute comments to the final evolved form of the Johto starter.

Misty was laughing the hardest.

"I can't believe Totodile is still the same even after evolving," she said between laughs.

"What do you mean Misty?" Lana asked, curious about the water type.

"Well, when it was a small Totodile, it was always happy and dancing around like it is now. But it also won many battles for Ash as well. It must be even stronger now I'm assuming," Misty said and Lana nodded, before looking attentively to the battlefield. Her Vaporeon on her lap seemed interested as well.

"It's so ----," Bonnie started.

"Cute? Yeah I hear you," Max said bluntly just to receive a playful punch from Bonnie.

'They will make a cute couple' thought Mallow with a giggle.

"Weird," Calem muttered with a laugh. He frowned,'But then again, it might be a distraction, I should be on my guard,' he thought.

"Alright Tyrantrum, start things of with an Earthquake."

The despot pokemon gave a roar and shook the arena with the powerful ground type attack. After the shockwave subsided, Feraligatr still appeared to be... dancing?

Some people looked shocked while some just laughed. Calem and his pokemon had a look of disbelief.

'What in the actual?' Calem thought.

"Alright let's stop that dancing. Use Dragon Claw." Calem commanded again.

Tyrantrum ran with an intimidating speed forming two green claws. The big jaw pokemon still didn't stop as the dino slashed his claws at it. But not a single attack hit it because of the constant dancing and dodging from Feraligatr. Suddenly, the alligator jumped and formed two green claws of its own, and slashed them at Tyrantrum. The direct hit caused a lot of damage as Tyrantrum was pushed back.

"Because of its dancing, Tyrantrum didn't manage to land a hit, but was hit with a Dragon Claw instead," Gary analysed quickly.

"It's kinda like Tierno's technique, right?" asked Bonnie.

"You can say that," said Serena thoughtfully.

"Lets keep our distance Tyran, use Dragon Breath," Calem commanded as the pokemon shot the dragon type move.

Feraligatr countered it with a Hydro Pump which caused a small explosion.

"Now, get close and use Thunder Fang," Calem said quickly as Tyrantrum's teeth crackled with electricity as it rushed towards the alligator.

Feraligatr was confused on how to counter that before Ash commanded, "Dodge and use Ice Fang."

It grinned before easily dodging the electric type move and bit Tyrantrum's neck with the super effective ice type move. It cried and staggered back, looking hurt and tired.

Calem was tensed, but didn't waste any second as he commanded the only move that can help him in this situation.

"Use Draco Meteor," he said as Tyrantrum shot a sphere in the sky which exploded into many meteors coming towards the arena.

But according to Ash, the battle was already over when Calem called out that move.

"Use Dragon Tail and send the meteors towards Tyrantrum."

Calem's eyes widened in horror when he heard the command. Feraligatr's tail turned green as it started sending the meteors one by one towards the source of it. The despot pokemon just stood at its spot, as it watched its own attack hit him directly.

After the dust was settled, Tyrantrum was fainted and Feraligatr was...guess what? Dancing.

Professor was so into the battle he forgot that he was the referee.

He cleared his throat before saying,

"Tyrantrum is unable. Feraligatr wins the round. Calem send out your next pokemon."

"Ash never fails to impress us, does he? asked Mallow with a sigh.

"Remind me to never use Draco Meteor against him," Iris said, still shocked.

Calem speechlessly returned it. He knew Ash was strong but this? He was outclassed so easily. He totally forgot that he was having this battle to impress a girl. But now he was having this battle to win.

He noticed even though Feraligatr didn't take a single hit, it was panting from all the dancing and dodging. Ash wanted to go with him for this round as well.

"You're a strong opponent Ash," Calem said, "But I'm not giving up just yet," he threw another pokeball. Ash just nodded with a smile.

"Alright Chesnaught let's win this," his starter roared in agreement.

"Let's keep going Feraligatr," Ash said to which the pokemon gave a roar of its own.

"Use Brickbreak."

"Ice Punch."

Both pokemon clashed each other with their respective moves. Chesnaught managed to land a hit before getting pushed back with the super effective Ice punch.

"Vine Whip."

"Crunch."

Chesnaught shot two vines at its opponent. Feraligatr simply used its jaws too tear them apart. Calem still refused to back down.

"Use Pin Missile," commanded Calem.

The spiny armor pokemon launched several missiles at Feraligatr. The bug type move connected and the big jaw pokemon grunted, taking damage.

"Use Leech Seed," Calem took the chance as roots caught Feraligatr from the ground and drained some of its energy. On the other hand, it recovered Chesnaught.

'He's good. Looks like he's serious about this battle,' Ash thought.

"Now, Needle Arm," Calem said as Chesnaught rushed towards the weak Feraligatr, swinging its powerful arms.

Before they could connect with it, Ash commanded,"Use Flamethrower."

Calem's eyes widened when he heard the command. Feraligatr roared and let out a huge blast of flames at point blank range towards Chesnaught, who screamed in pain. It dealt a huge damage and left a burn on the spiny armor pokemon.

"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?" Sycamore yelled in shock. A water type pokemon using Flamethrower was just as impossible as evolving Ash's Pikachu to a Raichu.

"No way," Misty and Lana said in unison, stunned as well.

"How the heck did Ash manage to taught it that?!" yelled Max.

"Damn it Ashy boy, what else are you hiding from us?" Gary muttered under his breath.

Everyone was talking and chanting excitedly about the stunt they witnessed just now.

'Maybe I should've gone with a simple Ice Beam,' Ash thought, sweatdropping.

He then remembered the battle he was in as he quickly commanded.

"Finish this with Aqua Jet."

The alligator surrounded itself with a veil of water and rushed towards Chesnaught, who was too weak and slow to dodge. It hit it directly and there was an explosion.

"Chesnaught is unable to battle. Feraligatr is the winner. Calem send out your last pokemon."

The crowd, which increased much more in number than before, cheered.

Calem just returned his pokemon with a sigh. "You did well, take a good rest," he muttered.

Ash noticed Feraligatr was already on his knee and was panting heavily. He didn't faint, but still was in no condition to fight anymore. Ash smiled.

"You fought well my friend. Take a good rest," he returned it after receiving a small grin.

"Alright Serperior it's upto you now," Ash send out the regal pokemon once more in the field.

Calem smirked. "Not done yet," he yelled and threw a pokeball. It revealed a dark blue bipedal cat like pokemon. It had white fur on its head, ears and tail. Its eyes were greenish-blue.

"Meowstic vs Serperior. Battle Begin."

"Use Psychic," Calem didn't waste any second as Meowstic raised the snake to the air with its Psychic powers and slammed it to the ground. Dust conjured up.

'She is not going to like that,' Ash thought.

The dust settled and Serperior wasn't there anymore.

Calem knew what would happen next.

"Meowstic LOOK OU--"

Before Calem could warn, Serperior appeared in front of the constraint pokemon and used a point blank Solar Beam to its face, slamming it against the wall.

Calem was shocked for the hundredth time, just like the crowd.

"What...just happened?" asked Mallow, flabbergasted.

Lillie tried to analyse, but Gary was quicker.

"Serperior charged a solar beam when the dust was settling. Then it used Extreme Speed to get close and fired it at point blank range increasing the damage ," the Simp explained.

Everyone was impressed at how well planned that was and Ash didn't even need to tell it anything.

"Use Calm Mind," Calem said after Meowstic stood back. It used the move to calm itself before Calem gave out his next command.

"Now, use Trick Room."

The cat started to create a vault around the field trapping Serperior with it. Ash flinched. He really hated the move in which your pokemon moves become slower inside the Trick Room making the opponent faster.

"Use Psybeam," Calem said with a smirk as the attack hit the snake confusing it, making things worse.

Ash sighed. "Stay calm," he said calmly as Serperior obliged.

"Keep using Shadow Ball," Calem said as Meowstic kept using the ghost type move.

"Use Protect as long as you can," Ash said.

He knew trick room will collapse anytime soon. He just needed to buy her some time.

Meowstic used Shadow Ball and Psyshock over and over. Serperior managed to avoid some while getting hit as well. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as they kept watching, not taking their eyes off the battlefield.

It felt like a decade to Ash, when finally, the room started collapsing. Meowstic looked tired too from using all those attacks. Ash wasted no second.

"Use Attract."

Serperior winked at the male Meowstic sending flying pink hearts towards it. It was soon confused and started swaying in its spot. Calem knew it was over.

"Use Frenzy Plant."

Serperior glowed with a cry and inserted its tail into the ground, summoning the grass ultimate attack. The strong and powerful looking roots went straight for the defenseless pokemon and slammed into it, knocking it out for good.

"Meowstic is unable to battle, Serperior wins. That means the winner of this match is Ash," Sycamore concluded as the crowd exploded into cheers. The intense battle really got to their nerves.

"That was so amazing," cheered Max.

"Ditto," agreed Bonnie.

Calem returned his pokemon sadly, but praised it as well for its efforts.

He looked upto see a hand reaching down to him.

"You were outstanding in this match. Let's have a battle again sometimes," Ash said with a grin.

Calem looked at him. Just yesterday he felt a lot of hatred towards this guy, but now, it wasn't there anymore. He gave out a chuckle as he grabbed Ash's hand and shook it.

"Sure. But don't expect the outcome to be the same as today."

Ash smiled. Suddenly he was in the middle of a huge crowd of people as people started praising and cheering him for the battle.

Serena hugged him tightly"Congratulations Ash." The boy smiled and hugged her back. Calem glanced at them and gave out a sad sigh.'Looks like she isn't in your luck Calem,' he said to himself as he turned to leave. No one seemed to have noticed him at all until someone tapped on his shoulder. Calem turned around to see a familiar blue haired girl.

"You were great today!" Miette said with a smile.

Calem looked at her for a moment before replying, "Hehe thanks, I guess."

He thought about something before saying,

"Hey, I think I am going to hangout for the rest of the day, wanna join me?"

Miette was surprised from the proposal, but happy as well. "Sure I would love to," she replied with a smile as both of them went out of the arena together.