chapter 32

The sun was shining brightly as the family of five walked the short distance from the Pallet Town Port to their destination, the family home of the oldest member of the group. Even though they were a long way from home everyone was able to pack surprisingly light. The two heads of the family had years of experience beforehand of traveling and knowing what they needed and didn't need, while their twins had just finished a journey of their own and didn't have to do much to get ready for their newest one. Even still they were both so excited about following their father's original path they had everything ready weeks before leaving.

Accompanying the humans were several creatures walking alongside them. One, a large yellow mouse with a long lightning bolt tipped tail, walked next to his long time friend and trainer who was currently carrying the smallest member of their family. His wife had two Pokémon flaking her as she walked along, a golden-hewed fox on one side and a pink feline with a forked tail and a red gem on her forehead on the other. Even though she was the fox's rightful trainer the playful Pokémon seemed to enjoy the company of the man who actually caught her to almost anyone else. The final two that were following them were brother and sister, one a smaller version of her mother, along with her gem being a slightly lighter shade of red, while her brother was completely different from anyone else in the family. He was a little larger than his sister, in both bulk and height, but was completely black with only a few yellow rings around his body.

"Daddy how much longer til' we reach Grandma's house?" The youngest asked from her perch on her father's shoulders.

"Not too much longer Sarah, but before we get there I wanted to make a small stop at an old friend's house. I have something that I needed to drop off, and to talk for a little while as well," Ash told his daughter with a smile.

"Who's that Dad?" Alex jumped in, looking up at the two of them.

"Gary and Dawn Oak," he responded.

"Oak? As in Professor Oak?" Knowing that the name sounded familiar it took a couple seconds for the young girl to figure out from where. "Wait a minute, wasn't he the person who gave you Raichu?"

"Close, it was actually Gary's grandfather that gave me Pikachu. I know I've told you that story enough times but I have to say that it was the best day of my life."

"The best day?" His wife coyly asked.

"To that point," he carefully corrected. "But no matter what it is still one of the best. Isn't that right buddy?"

"Rai rai," the large mouse agreed.

"Guess that I can live with that, as long as our wedding isn't too far down on the list," May said to her husband, feigning a bit of annoyance.

"Nah, just second from last," Ash joked as May quietly laughed at the comment.

"It better not be second from last," she shot back with a smile. "But then again I guess I also don't consider it the number one day in my life."

"Really? So what was?" Considering how serious she sounded it easily peaked Ash's curiosity. Not as if he was worried about it or anything but he had always thought that nothing compared to that day, considering that May was the one who basically planned the entire thing from dawn to dusk, and of course she spared no expense in its execution. Even on things that he personally found completely useless.

"That one's easy, it was the day I met you." Leaning over for a kiss all three of the kids gagged in disgust of the sight. But as Ash leaned down to meet May he could feel Sarah's grip of the item sitting on top of his head start to slip slightly. Grabbing for the item she was holding Sarah nearly fell off of his shoulders, and she rightfully would have if Ash wouldn't have caught his balance right away.

"Daddy! Be more careful!" She cried out bringing the piece back into her careful grasp.

"Sorry dear, I know how much that means to you. You really have been taking good care of that haven't you?"

"Yep!" She replied with a quick nod.

The item that she was holding was nothing more than a glass dome with a metal bottom, but it was what was inside of the glass that she was treasuring so much. Situated inside was a white egg with brown spots of various sizes spread around its surface. It was a Pokémon egg, and was an early birthday gift from her parents. Like its two older siblings, Espeon and Umbreon, this egg was from Sarah's mom and dad's Espeon and Raichu respectively.

It was becoming tradition now for Ash and May to give their children one of Espeon's eggs a couple years before they turned ten and got their trainer's license. While watching over them it allowed the kids to learn what they needed for their journeys in terms of taking care of their Pokémon so by the time that they got their "starter" it wasn't as alien of an experience for them. Not to mention that it also gave them a sense of responsibility that May was hoping for.

"So Dad, Gary was one of your original rivals right?" Jake asked as the gears started to turn in his head.

"Yep. Although we didn't have a good start when we began our own journeys, after we battled in the Silver Conference everything seemed to fall back into place and we became friends again. Even if he had an odd way of showing it at times," Ash laughed remembering all of the times that he faced Gary after the conference battle.

"I think I remember him. He was the one who got Squirtle before you and it was his Blastoise who lost to Charizard in that battle right?"

"Yeah that would be correct," his father said somewhat carefully, wondering what was going to come out of this. "So you actually were paying attention while I told that story. And here I thought that you were fast asleep through every single one of them."

Ash and May's two twins were always in competition with each other, not only with Pokémon but virtually everything that came up. While Jake was undoubtedly the stronger of the two when it came to battling, Alex was smarter than him when it came to Pokémon tactics and strategies for virtually any Pokémon that one could think of, and she was, to his even further resentment, still noticeably taller than him. So if there was anything that he could one-up her in what she was known for he couldn't resist.

"Of course," he gloated while sticking his tongue out at an annoyed looking Alex. "There are always reasons to make sure that I listen."

"Alright then, if you remember that story so well; who did I lose to in the Silver League Championship?"

Jake's smirk quickly fell and his face paled slightly. "It was, umm…Paul?"

"Try again."

"It was Harrison and his Blaziken," Sarah proudly stated.

"And it was from that battle that Dad decided to travel to Hoenn afterwards. Of course it was because of this that Mom and Dad met for the first time in Littleroot Town when Mom went to get her first Pokémon," Alex continued while giving a smug look to her brother.

Jake was completely speechless while his parents grinned to each other as they knew what was coming next. "How can you remember stuff like that? The only reason that I remembered who Gary Oak was because last night I looked back at Dad's old…" Jake closed his mouth immediately as he knew what just came out. "Whoops."

Alex saw her opening and grabbed it. "Whoops is right. That's another point for me dear brother," she said with the same smug smile on her face. "And the reason that we remember that is because like I said, it was the first time that Mom and Dad met. Out of all the stories to forget I can't believe that you don't remember that one. It was one of the stories that Dad told the most. Not to mention it was the start of how they fell in love, how could you not remember the start of a brand new romance?"

"Well sorry for forgetting…"

"Sleeping," Alex happily corrected.

"Whatever," Jake waved off with a slight glare. "Either way, why would I remember a story focused on romance? Yuck, who needs it?"

While the entire family laughed it was only his parents who noticed that the tone he used was different compared to what he would have said a few months ago.

Blushing at everyone laughing at him Jake looked up and quickly changed the subject. "Hey isn't that the Oak Laboratory?"

"Yep, that would be it," Ash confirmed for his son.

"Alright then, if I can't beat you that way I can still at least beat you there!"

Taking off like a shot Jake ran straight to the complex.

"Hey!" Alex called out as she chased after her brother. "You always do that to get a head start!"

Looking at each other, their two Pokémon sighed before following their trainers. Although by this point they were quite used to the stop and go pace of their travels and unlike their trainers they got along without any of the rivalry that they had witnessed every day of their life.

Shaking his head at the predictability of his children Ash looked at his wife and made sure that she was okay before continuing up to the nostalgic building. Unlike her siblings Sarah was content with just sitting on her father's shoulders, watching over her egg, and enjoying the scenery of Kanto.

"Here May," Ash offered his hand as they started up the stairs to the Oak Laboratory's main building.

"How many times do I have to remind you Ash; I'm pregnant, not crippled," she told him with an exasperated smile. "I've been through this twice before and I don't need you watching over my every step."

"And as I've said before, I'll stop when our newest child is sleeping peacefully in my arms," he replied with his own usual trademark smile, once again offering her his hand. "So until then I just have to make sure that I take extra good care of their mother."

"How did I ever wind up marrying a goof like you?"

"Just lucky I guess."

"Um, Alex and Jake are already at the top."

Looking up both Ash and May had almost forgotten about Sarah during their discussion. The couple began laughing, much to Sarah's confusion, and headed up the stairs with Ash leading his wife the whole way.

"I told you, I won!"

"What are you talking about? I won!"

"No you didn't, I did!"

Reaching the top the three other Kechums found a sight that didn't surprise them in the least. Alex and Jake were standing there with their Pokémon, bickering about who beat who to the top of the stairs. Watching over them was a blue haired woman with a small child, no older than five, hiding behind her. She barely came up to the woman's hips while her pale blue eyes and her shoulder length brown hair was reminiscent from her parents, but both features were somewhat hidden behind a large Buneary doll that she was holding up in front of her. The woman currently sported a rather annoyed look on her face as her eyes moved back and forth between the two pre-teens.

Loudly clearing his throat, the two children stopped immediately as their father approached with May and their Pokémon right behind him.

"Hey Dawn. Hopefully my kids haven't disturbed you or Gary," Ash said to the woman while pulling the twins aside. "As for you two, how many times do I have to tell you to stop fighting? Now you better apologize to Mrs. Oak for causing such a racket right outside her door."

The look in his eyes told the two that there was no room for discussion. Turning back to the blunette the twins bowed to the older woman before speaking.

"We're sorry for disturbing you Mrs. Oak," they said in a nearly simultaneous voice.

"Well I can't say that I would approve of my first impression after all this time but it's okay Alex, Jake. I haven't seen you two in years, you've grown since the last time I've seen you. You're looking more and more like your parents."

The twins quickly looked back up at the now smiling hostess. Neither ever remembered seeing her before in person, even though they have heard about her in several of their father's stories. But there was something nagging Alex that there was more to her than just an old friend of their parents.

"It's been a while hasn't it Dawn?" Ash asked as he turned his attention away from his kids. The blunette had aged graciously over the years since Ash was last traveling with her. She still wore her hair long but the white beanie was long gone, and in place of the outfit that she wore throughout Sinnoh she was currently adorned with a long white summer dress.

"Yes it has Ash. I believe that it was our wedding, about ten years ago, wasn't it?" Looking over at May, Dawn walked over and hugged the woman. "How are you May? I've heard that you are expecting yet another heavenly gift, any ideas on names?"

"Contrary to what my husband might believe I'm doing just fine," May responded with a smile as she returned the hug. "Everything is going as scheduled and there are no complications as of yet. As for the name, we think that we'll wait a few more months."

"Would you like to say hello to Mrs. Oak, Sarah?" Ash asked as she and his wife stopped talking.

Taking a moment the youngest Ketchum put a courteous smile on her face before bowing her head slightly. "Pleased to meet you ma'am, my name is Sarah Anne Ketchum. Daughter of Ash and May Ketchum."

"I don't think that you needed to keep the last part in there dear," May told her.

"My, what a polite daughter you two have." Bowing in return Dawn couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the apparently mature girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Dawn Oak, an old friend of your parents and godmother of your brother and sister. Now I have to ask, where did you learn to talk like that?"

"Mommy and Daddy sometimes meet with very important people so they said that that should be the way I introduce myself."

"Well that's a good skill to have but you don't have to be that formal around here."

"Kay!"

The young girl hiding behind Dawn's legs looked shyly at the new guests as the woman greeted them. Noticing her for the first time Sarah looked down at the child and instantly had a big smile on her face.

"Hi! What's your name?"

Hunching down to bring both him and Sarah closer to her level, Ash put on a friendly grin as well. "And who would this pretty young girl be?"

"This would be our youngest daughter, Caitlyn. Say hi to the Ketchum family dear, they are old friends of Mommy and Daddy's." Without moving the girl just pulled her mother's dress over her head. "She's just a little shy. Now why don't we all just step inside and I'll grab something to snack on. Gary and Anna should be around here somewhere; I think that they'll be happy to see you."

Moving into the living room as Dawn headed off to the kitchen, it wasn't long before a thumping sound was heard and a blunette girl came running into the room. Making a beeline straight for May the girl stopped as soon as she got close to her. Taking a quick look over of May she quickly turned her head and yelled back out of the room.

"Mom! I thought you said she was pregnant!"

Slightly uncomfortable by the sudden appearance of the girl it was Dawn who came to May's rescue. "Now Anna don't be rude to Mrs. Ketchum."

Walking into the room with a tray of cheese and crackers along with a pitcher of lemonade Dawn set them on the table.

"It's alright," looking down at the young girl May couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "I'm only a little over thirteen weeks into having the baby, or what is known as the second trimester. At this point the baby isn't moving all that much and you can't really tell how big it is just by looking."

"Aww, I wanted to see her big belly."

"Anna!"

Laughing slightly as she sat down, May just waved it off. Huffing a bit Anna quickly turned around and walked towards the kitchen.

"Guess we're now even," Dawn said with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry about that everyone, she's usually better behaved but she got all worked up after I told her that you were pregnant May. But that would be our oldest daughter, Anna. Her tenth birthday will be coming up here in a couple months and she can't stop asking either Gary or myself about Pokémon or babies. And seeing as how Gary and I have no real plans to have another baby, her interest in the topic has only grown even further. "

"I know the feeling; Alex went through the exact same phase. If it wasn't for Espeon having her own two born around that time Alex might have been asking even more questions than she did. But as for who will be our newest addition to the family, neither of us were planning on having another child. It was nothing more than an accident that turned into a blessing," May said without hesitation, much to Ash's discomfort.

"And with that I'm outta here," Jake gagged slightly while getting up and starting to walk out.

"For once I have to agree with you," Alex added following her brother.

"Oh come on, you two barely even know what we're talking about," the brunette teased her kids as Dawn started to serve the lemonade.

"We know enough to be disgusted by it," the two said almost simultaneously again. "We'll be outside."

It wasn't just the humans that were keeping watch over what was going on. Groaning slightly after just finding a comfortable spot, the twins' Pokémon grudgingly got up to follow their trainers. But the two of them had been following their trainers every place they went ever since they were born, so it was almost as much instinct as loyalty at this point and it was nothing more than a passing thought at staying where they were. The others just simply laid their heads back down, relaxing after the long journey.

After hearing the front door close and thanking Dawn for the refreshments, May handed a glass of the lemonade to Sarah and her husband before taking one for herself. "So where is Gary right now?"

"He's probably in the lab finishing up some research, but I think he could take himself away from it for a little while to see some old friends. Caitlyn, think you could go ask Daddy to come out and meet our guests?" Dawn asked her daughter who was still clinging onto her.

Nodding the young brunette got up, grabbed her Buneary doll, and headed further into the house.

"So what brings you all back to Pallet? Last I knew you two were living outside of Lilycove City am I right?"

"Yep, just about a half day's walk to be exact. But as for our main reason for being here it's to see Jake and Alex off as they each start their next league here in Kanto, it just seems like a natural choice that while being back home to visit friends and family," Ash responded as he started to run his fingers through Sarah's hair as she cuddled into him while still holding her egg. "That and Professor Birch wanted us to drop off some results that he wanted Gary to look over."

"Brandon is still trying to get used to taking over his father's position instead of just being his assistant," May continued for Ash. "I believe that he wants to get Gary's opinion on a few of his theories and thesis's before diving into any of them."

"Gary has been getting pretty famous with some of his ideas so this isn't all that uncommon to see others looking up to him and he has been starting to turn down some of them so that he can actually work on his own projects. But I doubt that he'll turn down anything that you bring Ash."

"Yeah I think that was Brandon's mindset as well," Ash stated somewhat flatly. "As soon as he heard that I was heading for Kanto he nearly forced me to take these here for him. Not that I really mind doing it, it just kinda feels like I'm being used."

"Oh well, either way in the end it's always who you know that helps the most." Smiling Dawn turned back toward May, hoping to change the subject to something a bit happier. "If I remember correctly you said that you were just entering your second trimester right?"

"Yep, according to the doctor I'm thirteen weeks along as of last Monday."

"And it's about time," Ash muttered somewhat unconsciously, still apparently down from the last comment.

"What was that dear?"

Ash quickly recognized that sickeningly sweet tone. "Nothing May."

Even if Ash tried to catch himself Dawn caught it without much problem, "bad mood swings or something?"

"I had a few odd tendencies here and there, but who doesn't?" May tried to defend herself.

"Right, I'll admit that those are completely normal and I never had a problem with trying to find something you wanted to eat at all hours of the night. In fact I dare say that I enjoyed some of it knowing what the reason was. What I did have problems with were some of your more extreme mood swings."

"Example," May stated firmly.

"Okay then, how about the time that, for apparently no reason, you began to chase me around the house with one of your cooking knives? And then a few minutes later dropped to your knees crying about how I wouldn't come near you anymore now that you were pregnant. I would say that is a bit on the extreme side."

"Oh don't be so dramatic Ash, it only happened twice."

"Yeah and you almost caught me the second time."

"But none of this happened lately right?" Dawn asked nervously, wondering if she asked the wrong question and opened up a bad can of worms.

"Not yet at least," Ash quickly spoke first, noticing May's increasing anger at his comments. Realizing that it there could be some bad repercussions if he let it continue as is, Ash tried to at least remedy portions of it. "And even if I have some bad memories of those moments I have to admit that for some reason I still wouldn't want to change them."

"And why is that?" May asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Because to change that would mean that I would be asking to change you," he said with a small smile as he continued to run his hand through his daughter's hair. "And no matter how much you annoy or even scare me at times, I would never want to change who you are. I'm proud beyond what words can describe to say that you are the woman that I married, and I have never even once doubted my choice."

Looking back up at his wife, what little bit of animosity that she had for his original comments were replaced by teary eyes and a smile of her own. As he saw this the trainer gave a small sigh of relief and silently thanked the fact that the mood swings worked both ways.

"How the heck can you be that clueless little boy that I met all those years ago? No matter the situation you always know how to make me smile," she stated while giving him a playful smack on the back of the head.

"What can I say? I have plenty of experience in that area and know exactly how to push your buttons."

"Both the good and bad buttons," he told himself as an afterthought.

The two of them looked up at the sound of soft laughter coming from across the coffee table. Dawn was trying to stop but she just couldn't help herself.

"You two really are made for each other," she finally said. "And to think that I had a hand in finally getting you both to finally say something."

Ash and May looked at each other with a slightly self-conscious smile.

"Yeah that was an awkward day," May commented. "Awkward but definitely an eye opener."

Even in her half-sleep state Sarah was able to catch something in her parent's demeanor as May said that. "Mommy, how was that day awkward?"

So this is the famous Oak lab. I can't believe the amount of Pokémon that they have."

"No kidding, and here I thought that Dad had too many of them."

The two Ketchum twins were sitting outside of the main building of the Oak laboratory watching the nearly countless Pokémon of virtually every single type roam about the ranch.

"Do you even remember the last time that we visited Grandma here in Kanto?" Alex asked her brother. "Or even Kanto period?"

"Nope, every time that we see her she always comes to see us. Mom and Dad said we've been here before, but that was back when we were really little. If I remember correctly it was for that lady's wedding," Jake replied lazily while petting his Umbreon who was dozing softly right next to him. The afternoon sun was just starting to get to him and neither he nor his sister could really think of anything better to do than sit in the shade with their starting Pokémon.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing that you also caught that apparently that lady is our godmother right?"

"Yep, but then again I never really gave much of a thought of who our godparents are."

"Who would have thought that one of them was the famous Professor Oak?"

"Not me that's for sure." Sighing a bit Jake lay back on the grass looking up toward the sky. "So Sis, what do you think Kanto will be like? Is it going to just be like Hoenn or is it going to be something completely different? I mean we've been away from Mom and Dad for almost a year but they were still never really more than a day or two away as the Tailow flies. But here, we're in a completely different nation with unknown Pokémon and unknown trainers, with even less people to rely on. I hate to admit it but I'm even more nervous now than a year ago when we left Lilycove."

"Actually I've been thinking the same thing, but I just keep telling myself that Dad traveled through this place several times before, and while he wasn't always successful he made it through. Don't worry we can get through this just like before. And if worse comes to worse, Dad has plenty of friends around Kanto that we could probably ask for help from."

"Hey, you two! This is private property, what are you doing here?"

The sound of the voice made both the kids' heads shoot up while their Pokémon were quickly on their feet, putting themselves between their trainers and the stranger now approaching. He was a tall man wearing a long white lab coat sporting short spiky brown hair. He seemed completely unphased by the two Pokémon who were starting to utter low growls as he came closer. Stopping just short of them, the man had a stern look on his face as he continued to talk.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked them again. "This place is dangerous with all of the Pokémon around, you could get…wait you two look familiar. What are your names?"

"Why should we tell you?" Jake defensively asked as he and his sister got to their feet.

"My name is Alex Ketchum and this is my brother Jake," Alex stated, holding a hand in front of her brother to stop him, yet still apprehensive of the stranger herself. "We're sorry for trespassing but our parents are inside and we figured that just sitting here wasn't a problem."

Not entirely catching the last part of what Alex said, there was another piece that caught his interest. "Did you just say that your last name was Ketchum?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

The stranger's entire body posture changed as Alex confirmed his question, from a tense authoritative one to a more relaxed one, and started to laugh to himself.

"Well that explains a few things; Jake you take after your father almost too much, always jumping into a confrontation without even thinking about the consequences. Make sure that you keep him in line Alex; that single trait got Ash into more trouble than you could imagine."

"Um, do we know you?" Jake finally spoke up again, feeling somewhat insulted at what this man was saying.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Professor Gary Oak, head researcher and owner of Oak Labs and Ranch. Not to mention an old friend of your parents."

"Wait a minute, you're Professor Oak?" Jake blurted out. "I would have thought that you would have looked a lot older."

Moments later Jake let out a cry of pain as his sister smacked him across the head.

"Think before you speak," she told him in an annoyed tone. Turning back to the professor she bowed down politely. "I'm sorry for my brother and for trespassing on your property."

"Don't worry about it," Gary waved it off. "Seeing as how you're Ash's kids it doesn't surprise me that you would be too interested in the Pokémon to think twice about anything else, even if that probably wasn't the case here. I was only worried that you would be hurt by some of them, not every Pokémon here belongs to a trainer."

"We're not amateurs," Jake said still rubbing the back of his head. "I got top eight in the Hoenn League just a few weeks ago so it'll take more than a few wild Pokémon to keep me down."

"Yeah but while he only got top eight I got top four in the Hoenn Grand Festival," Alex nonchalantly mentioned, much to her brother's annoyance.

"Hey, the league is far tougher than some Grand Festival!"

"It is not and you know it. You're just trying to make up for your own mistakes."

"I am not! Take that back!"

"Make me."

"Yep they're definitely his kids," Gary muttered as he watched the two bicker back and forth.

"Daddy!"

Looking away from the two siblings Gary found his youngest child running up to him, her Buneary doll still securely within her grasp.

"Well, well what brings you out here?" He asked as he scooped Caitlyn up into his arms.

"Mommy wants you to go inside to meet some people."

"Don't worry honey; I think I know who she's talking about. Besides I'm a bit more worried about those two right now."

Almost as if on cue the two twins quickly turned away from each other, arms crossed, with an infuriating "humph" directed at the other. Thinking quickly as to how to try and keep them from fighting again, a simple, yet hopefully effective, idea popped into his head.

"So are you two done or am I just going to have to give myself a tour of the ranch?"

Four eyes quickly converged on the young professor before looking back at each other. No matter how much the other infuriated them at times, the chance of getting a personal tour of the Oak Ranch was too much of an opportunity to pass up.

"Well I'm not sure about her but if it isn't too much trouble I would love to get a tour," Jake calmly said.

"If you would please," was his sister's straightforward response.

"Do you want to come with us Caitlyn?" The professor asked his daughter. "You'll get to see all of the Pokémon."

Looking at him she then turned and stared over toward Jake and Alex while stepping closer to her father.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Uh-uh," she responded while shaking her head before looking back at him. But before he could even turn around Gary could feel her tug on his shorts slightly. "Daddy, up," the young brunette said while holding her arms up in the air.

Chuckling a bit, Gary helped Caitlyn up onto his shoulders before starting to walk off across the landscape, the two trainers and their Pokémon in tow. He liked to be able to take a break from the time schedule of his lab work, and showing off the wonders of his grandfather's lab was something that he loved to do. Especially to kids.

"The Oak Ranch is the largest privately owned Pokémon Preserve in Kanto and all of the trainers who call Pallet their home had Pokémon stored here at some point in time, including your father and I as well as your mother."

"So this was where Dad kept the Pokémon he wasn't using while he was traveling?" Jake asked as they passed a large lake containing several species of Pokémon. "Even Mom left some here, even though she wasn't from Pallet?"

"That would be correct," Gary confirmed as he watched a Seel swim lazily past. "Where do you send your extra Pokémon? Is it to Professor Birch's lab or somewhere else?"

"We haven't caught all that many yet," Alex said in a slightly embarrassed tone while still taking in the beauty around her. "But the few that we can't take with us are with our parent's Pokémon near the Hoenn Battle Frontier's main stadium."

"Stadium?"

"Yeah, it's where Dad faces his challengers as the 'Arena Master' and head of the Hoenn Battle Frontier. He has a few assistants to help make sure that all of the family's Pokémon are well taken care of, seeing as how virtually all of his and Mom's Pokémon are there when they aren't at home."

"Well not all of them. See that heard of Tauros in the distance?"

Looking out over the plains to where the professor was pointing, the twins could barely see a cloud of dust billowing up on the far end closer to the forest.

"Those are actually all your father's, but he only uses one of them in battle and that's the one that he took with him to Hoenn, so he left the rest of them here with us. Technically he gave them to the lab, but in our books they will always be here if he wants them." Smiling as the awed faces of his two spectators Gary turned off and started walking down a small dirt path which led into a large forest. "Now keep up, you still have a lot to learn before you can set off on your own out here."

"So where did those two kids of ours wander off to?" May wondered out loud as she looked out across the ranch.

"Add to that my husband and daughter as well," Dawn joked from right next to her.

It was a couple hours after the family had arrived, and after losing track of time finally decided to find the ones missing from their group. As the adults scanned the horizon for their companions, Sarah and Anna stayed under the shade of one of the large trees. Anna looked over at her younger counterpart with a slight tinge of jealousy as the young girl gently rubbed her Pokémon egg with a warm towel while quietly humming a soft tune. As always, Raichu was laying right next to her with nothing more than an occasional yawn betraying his wakeful state. May's Espeon was curled up next to her mate, already asleep from the warmth of midday sun. Even after her last pregnancy ended, she was content with just spending the rest of her days relaxing with her mate and trainer, with a Grand Festival or training thrown in there for fun. The only one not present with them was Ninetales, who was sitting loyally next to her trainers, partially due to the fact of being the only Pokémon there unaffected by the warm day.

"I think I see them," Ash pointed out as several figures appeared down one of the paths. "Yep, that's them," he confirmed after hearing a couple shouts being fired back and forth at each other.

A couple minutes later the four of them reached the house, with Gary looking quite tired as the twins continued to fight.

"Ash I have no clue how the heck you survived living with these two," he finally said, letting Caitlyn down to the ground. "The small amount of time that they weren't actually listening to what I was saying it was nothing more than consistent arguing. At least I know that they are genuinely interested in Pokémon, much like their parents."

"Well as hard as it may seem they are actually quieter when they are at home. It's good to see you again Professor Oak," Ash jokingly mocked while holding out his hand.

"It really is Arena Master Ketchum," Gary replied in the same tone while taking a hold of his old friend's hand and giving it a hardy shake. The two quickly burst out laughing before calming down a bit. "And how are you May? Ash still putting the Pokémon first?"

"I'm doing just fine Gary," May responded. "And don't worry; we solved that little problem long ago."

"Hey I wasn't that bad." There was a complete silence that fell over the adults present and Ash looked from one to the other and to the last one. "You know there are times that I really hate you people, you do know that right?"

"And that is why we are called your friends Ash," Dawn said with a small laugh.

Sighing Ash looked back at his two oldest who were nearly oblivious that the tour was over. "So what is it this time?"

"I think it is currently back to whether being a trainer or coordinator is harder," Gary responded following Ash's gaze.

"That again?"

"Do they do this often?" Dawn asked as all four adults' attentions were turned to the two kids.

"Too often," May told her.

"Then why is it that Dad always tells us to make sure to keep coordinating ideals in mind when we're battling?" Alex yelled at her brother. "Because it is the harder of the two to keep in practice!"

"Oh please he only says that to keep you satisfied. Dad is a trainer, like me, through and through," Jake shot back without hesitation. "And being who he is, he would only be aiming for the hardest path to achieve his goals. Not some easy beauty pageant."

"Through and through huh? Have you already forgotten that not only has Dad placed first in all of the regional tournaments but he also has two Grand Festival cups?"

Jake opened his mouth to respond but couldn't think of an appropriate come-back, so he quickly shut it just in time to see Alex grinning with much confidence.

"That's right you have won a couple coordinating titles haven't you?" Gary rhetorically asked, stifling his laughter. "The great Ash Ketchum being precise and dainty with his moves. I can see it now."

"I only did it to expand my repertoire of skills," the trainer retorted, a small blush forming on his face. "That and I had a bet with May to see if I could even coordinate at an advanced level. My first few contests were a complete disaster and caused me a few embarrassing moments, but I eventually got the hang of it. Although I will say right now that the specifics of the bet itself will not be mentioned, for various reasons. Some of which couldn't be mentioned anyways due to some of the…well they'll learn eventually but not today at least."

Nearly losing his control, a stern look from his wife made Gary quiet down instantly. "Of course I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with coordinating."

"Of course," Dawn flatly stated. "So what are we going to do about them?" She asked, motioning back to the twins.

"Many times it ends by itself or they just get tired of arguing and a minute later you would never guess that they were like this," May said while shaking her head. "Though usually it ends…"

"Well I bet that I can beat you in a Pokémon battle!"

"… like that."

"Oh please, my Pokémon would be able to beat you even if I wasn't the one giving the orders," Alex boasted to a more and more annoyed looking Jake. "Anyone in our family would be more than enough to win."

"Well if you had Mom or Dad do it of course they would do better! Even I'm not stupid enough to think that I can go up against some of their strategies yet."

"Oh I'm not thinking about Mom or Dad," Alex told her brother with a sly grin.

Jake's eyes widened as he finally caught wind of who his sister was thinking of. "Oh no, I'm not embarrassing myself like that yet again. It may have taken me quite a few losses but I know the results. She's a little demon when it comes to battling and even you know that you have just as a hard of a time against her."

"You called?"

Jake jumped a bit at the sound of his younger sister's voice. Sarah was standing right behind him looking quite innocent with a big smile on her face and her hands behind her back.

"Wait, is he talking about Sarah?" Dawn inquisitively asked. "I thought that she was only seven, how can she already battle?"

"Ash has been teaching the kids through mock battles using his Pokémon for quite a while now," May told her. "While she technically isn't a trainer yet, she probably has more experience than most trainers have after they win their first few badges."

"Hey I want to battle too!"

Looking over at the one who just spoke up Anna rushed down to where the three Ketchum siblings were talking.

"Your dad isn't the only one who taught his kids how to battle. If she gets to battle I want to as well. Besides I want to be ready for when I leave in a few months, and who better to face than someone who's already been to a tournament."

"Well then how about we have Anna and Sarah battle," Gary suggested much to everyone's surprise. "It's not exactly what she wanted, but Anna can use one of my Pokémon and Sarah can use one of Ash's; that way it can be fair fight and both of the girls will get a bit of experience out of it. What do you say Ash?"

"I don't see any problem with that, at least as long as your Pokémon will listen to Anna."

"Don't worry, I've been preparing her as well and a few of my Pokémon should take orders from her just fine."

"Alright then what do you two girls think?"

"Of course!" Anna cheered enthusiastically.

"Yay! I finally get to battle someone besides Daddy or Jake," Sarah called out, giddy with excitement as well.

"Well come and pick which one of my Pokémon you want to use Sarah," Ash told her.

"Kay!"

The two girls eagerly ran up to their fathers to choose their Pokémon.

"I think that I'll choose him," Anna stated simply to dad, holding one of her hands out.

"And why doesn't that surprise me?" Gary sighed as he handed her one of the Pokéballs from his belt. "Just remember that he can be kind of temperamental."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides she's two years younger than me."

"Just don't underestimate Sarah," he whispered into his daughter's ear. "She may be younger than you but if I know her father, she'll be a tough opponent."

The grin already present on Anna's face only grew larger. "I know what I'm doing Dad, you don't have to worry about that."

Looking back towards the Ketchum family the two could see Sarah asking May something, but couldn't completely make out what she was saying. Nodding once the mother smiled and told her daughter to look in one of the blue bags that they brought.

"Thanks Mommy!" Sarah happily hugged her mother before running back to where she was sitting just a moment ago. Grabbing the item she left there, the young girl quickly shoved the glass domed incubator into the hands of her father. "Don't drop it Daddy!" And with that she was already darting off for the house.

"Hey, I thought that we were going to battle!" Anna yelled out, wondering what the heck was going on.

"I'll be right back," Sarah answered her, barely even stopping to turn around. "I'm just wanna grab something first."

Rather annoyed at the sudden departure of her opponent, the young Oak decided to release the Pokémon she was borrowing from her father.

Appearing in a small flash of light the Pokémon stretched a bit before squinting to allow his eyes to adjust to the outdoor light. He was a fine specimen of his species and showed the care that his trainer gave to all of his Pokémon. Though he wasn't an unfamiliar sight in one sense; his black fur, yellow rings, thick tail, and feline movements were very similar to many of the other Pokémon present. And with the exception of size exactly similar to one other there. He was Gary's Umbreon, an old companion and well known by the professor's fans.

"Would you mind battling with me one more time?" Anna asked the slightly stoic looking Pokémon.

An old feeling began to run though his body as he heard those words. It was so long since the last time he battled outside of a practice match. It bought him back to the old days when his trainer was traveling in search of a challenge to push not only his own but his Pokémon's skills as well.

"Umbre," he quickly agreed.

"Great! Now we just have to wait for our opponent to come back, from whatever it is that she decided to do."

Not interested in just standing there and waiting, Umbreon began to take a look at the other Pokémon and humans there. While he recognized a few of the humans from long ago it was their Pokémon that caught his attention. The first one he laid eyes on was one of his own kind, an Espeon; she was quite a bit younger than himself but then again who really cares about that? But of course it was then that he noticed the smaller Umbreon laying next to her. Thinking that she was already taken he thought nothing of it and continued looking. A Ninetales and Raichu were next; neither was all that interesting though he thought that the Raichu seemed familiar somehow as he slept on the one side of the older female human, while the Ninetales didn't even seem to notice the Moonlight Pokémon at all as she snuggled up against her trainer. There was one last Pokémon that was there, and to his luck it was another Espeon. Slightly larger and older than the other one, she was laying near her own trainer relaxing like most of the others there. Deciding to make his introduction before the battle, the confident Dark-Type strode up to the Sun Pokémon.

Much to his surprise as he neared Espeon, the Raichu, who he thought was asleep, appeared to be watching him very closely, his tail twitching slightly as the lightning bolt tip swept across the grass. Glaring right back, he ignored the mouse and continued up to his objective.

She was obviously well taken care of as her coat seemed to shimmer in the midday sun. As he neared her, the Espeon slowly opened her eyes and seemed to nod, as if to acknowledge his presence, before closing them again and moving closer to her trainer.

Not the least bit deterred by her actions Umbreon continued to move in closer, but before he could get too close a quick movement from off to his side caused him to jump back in reflex. Sticking into the ground right in front of where he had been was the end of the Raichu's tail, glowing a soft metallic silver. The Electric-Type hadn't moved an inch but the reach on his tail was impressive. As he pulled it back several of the humans began laughing.

"Looks like Raichu won't take those advances lying down," May giggled as she saw the confused look on Umbreon's face. "I think you may want to find another more available mate next time Umbreon."

The realization hit him quick as he looked at the Raichu who was glaring straight at him. After failing to be impressed by any of his trainer's mate's Pokémon, the Moonlight Pokémon was content in waiting for someone to come around. It just turned out that the one he found was already taken, but there was something about that Raichu that got his anticipation up. Though those thoughts were quickly interrupted by a small girl calling out as she ran back towards the group.

Sarah ran back and stood by her mother for a few moments while attempting to catch her breath. At first it looked as though she didn't bring anything back with her but the one thing that was different was that her hair, which was normally unhindered, was pulled back into a single ponytail with a hair band

"I figured that's what you were going for," Ash said to his daughter as she took one last deep breath. "So am I to assume that you're using your favorite?"

"Yep!" She stated quite eagerly. "He's always fun to battle with, and I know his moves almost as well as you do."

"We'll just have to see won't we? You ready partner?" He asked, looking over towards his wife.

Getting to his feet Raichu gladly walked over to his younger master, tail arched high over his back. Even if Umbreon appeared to not completely remember, these two had a slight history together and Raichu wanted to pay him back for the loss he received all those years ago. That and the fact that he had to at least keep Umbreon from trying to steal his mate.

he gave her the z ring and said do you remember what to do with this she said yes

"Your Raichu?" Dawn asked questionably as the Electric-Type began rubbing up against Sarah's leg while she scratched his ears. "Isn't he a little too powerful for Sarah to control?"

"Oh you don't have to worry about that one," Ash told her. "Raichu listens to her just as well as he does me. At times, maybe even more than me," he added with a chuckle.

Stepping up next to Ash, Gary watched as their two daughters walked a little further out with the two Pokémon in tow, the latter of which were glaring daggers at each other the whole way.

"So I guess we get to see this prodigy of yours in action," Gary quietly said to his old friend with a smirk.

"If you remember correctly I never once called her a prodigy," Ash corrected him. "I've just said that she has a lot of potential, even for someone as young as herself, and I can only wonder where that'll take her in the years to come."

"Say what you want, you may beat around the bush and haven't truly said it but I know what you are thinking, and it'll take more than just a bit of instinct to beat Anna."

"Who needs instinct when you can rely on luck and skill? She isn't like her older siblings; Sarah isn't locked into a specific way of thinking. She has a large perspective of things and it'll take her far."

"So you're saying that she is your favorite to follow in your steps?"

"We'll talk about this later," Ash finally said. "At the moment let's just enjoy the battle."

"This is going to be an interesting match-up."

Alex quickly glanced over at her brother, who just seemed to be mumbling to himself as the combatants walked over to a make-shift battlefield not too far from where they were sitting.

"Of course it's going to be interesting. Umbreon was one of Gary's strongest and Raichu is one of Dad's strongest," she told him in a rather informative tone.

"That's not what I meant," he shot back. "Raichu likes to use his speed to get an advantage and then strike with several quick, but not very powerful, attacks. Yet that won't work well against this Umbreon, his trainer has focused quite heavily on defense and it will take more than those small attacks to bring it down. Although I have to say that looks as though it prefers its left side."

Alex fidgeted slightly after hearing her brother's explanation. "They haven't even started battling yet, how the heck can you tell that?" The annoyance of his rather correct sounding statement hit her hard.

"You mean you can't tell?" He asked the brunette with a quizzical look on his face. "Just look at the way it walks and the size of some of its muscles. They don't scream 'speed demon' that's for sure. It's too solid, too balanced."

Looking back at the Pokémon in question, Alex could see that it was kinda bigger than Jake's Umbreon but just threw it out as it being older and more experienced. As for the way it walked she couldn't see anything different, at least not anything like he had just said.

"Now that you mention it you're right, it's almost too obvious. I don't know why I didn't see it in the first place," Alex lied right though her teeth. "But if anyone other than Dad could utilize Raichu's training to win it would be Sarah."

"Yeah, never could remember all of those stupid numbers and how they were all that different. She had us both beat to that one."

After seeing him turn his attention back to the upcoming battle Alex couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. She knew better than anyone, while he may have looked like a complete idiot, Jake's talent wasn't in textbook knowledge or complex strategies. His advantage came from being able to read the Pokémon. After watching them for only a small amount of time he could assume, with surprising accuracy at times, different details about his opponent. Usually it was how they were trained and what was emphasized for their battling, yet at one point she heard her father talking about how Jake might even be able to use that talent to predict a Pokémon's next move.

Sure, she knew that she was far superior in terms of strategy and being able to overcome most of her Pokémon's weaknesses but there were times that their dad told them that they needed to try and be several steps ahead of their opponents. And with the way that she had developed her training style it was primarily reacting to the opponent, rather than the other way around.

Of course she would never tell this to Jake, her pride wouldn't allow it. But taking a quick, yet deep, breath she looked back to see that her sister and Anna had just gotten to their spots.

I'm kinda disappointed; nobody mentioned anything about Sarah running back to the house. Oh well, I guess nobody thought that it was important enough. And I should probably mention that this battle is a bit more fast paced than it sounds at first. There is a portion of text between the attacks but it would probably be too boring just to hear the names of the attacks being called out now wouldn't it? Well here's chapter three and I thank everyone for reading and/or reviewing my last chapter.

The two girls stopped in their respective spots to start the battle, their fathers' Pokémon standing right next to their legs eagerly awaiting the coming battle.

"Just to let you know I'm not going to take it easy on you just because you're younger than me," Anna called out to her opponent.

"Kay, cause I didn't want to take it easy on you either," Sarah smiled back.

Feeling rather offset about this girl's calm attitude, Anna decided to get things started.

"Fine then, for my Pokémon, as you can tell, I'll be using Umbreon."

"Yep! And of course I'll be using Raichu," the youngest Ketchum said while giving the Electric-Type a big hug.

After whispering a few things into his ear and receiving a nod in return, she released the Pokémon and the two combatants walked towards their own respective spots near the center of the field, both having confident smirks on their faces as they stared down their opponent. Yet the one thing that Umbreon kept his eyes on was Raichu's tail, the speed of which he got attacked earlier caught him off guard and he wanted to make sure that it didn't happen again.

"So are you ready?"

"Yep," Sarah confirmed with a nod.

"Then I'll let you call the first move."

"Kay."

With that one word Sarah's demeanor seemed to change slightly as she began to focus solely on the battle. "Raichu lets start this off with a simple light stance, number one please. Ready and use Charge."

Nodding the Mouse Pokémon closed its eyes for a moment. With a deep breath Raichu almost seemed to relax his body completely and within moments sparks started to fly out from his cheeks, arcing off of his body the electricity seared portions of the grass around him as his ears slowly began to perk up.

Hearing that attack Alex began to panic.

"Oh no, I completely forgot."

"Forgot wha… ah I see," Jake said as a sly grin grew across his face. "Come on Raichu let's see those sparks fly!" He quickly called back out across the battlefield.

Only momentarily shooting a look that could kill at her brother, the brunette began running over to her mom, who by this time had put her hair into a ponytail just like Sarah.

"Mom did Sarah…"

But before she could finish a loud cry from the Electric-Type rang out as the light around them grew bright. Moments after, several annoyed yells from the girls rang out, along with Jake's hysteric laughter.

Raichu's ears were now standing on straight up as the energy pulsed across his body, but they weren't the only ones that were doing so. With the massive surge of electricity from the Charge, static electricity quickly filled the air and every member there currently had their hair standing on end. Or at least it would have been but with Ash, Gary, and Jake keeping their hair short there was really no visible affect for them. While for Sarah and May, who had pulled back and secured their hair, the effects were minimal with just a few strands waving every which way in the wind. For the others there, there was not a single strand of hair that stayed in its normal place. And the reason for Jake's laughter was that all the hair on the sides and back of Alex's head were pretty much sticking straight out. It was easy to tell that the top was also trying to as well, but even with this amount of electricity it was only enough to completely poof up out of its normal style.

"Sorry dear, you were just a tad too late," May told her daughter while stifling a laugh of her own and handing her the third hair-band that Sarah brought back.

Mumbling about 'How she knew that she hated when this happened' Alex quickly took the accessory and tried to get her hair looking like her other family members. But the damage was done, and no matter how much she tried Alex just couldn't get it back to a point where she was satisfied. Huffing she made her way back next to her still laughing brother and their Pokémon, before sitting back down in the grass.

"Keep laughing and I'll make sure that you regret it later," she threatened Jake after a few moments in a tone that virtually dripped malice. "I don't have to tell you my rule do I?"

Starting to calm down, as he knew that was no mere bluff; Jake decided to get one last shot in before the end. "Yeah, yeah; I don't need your 'a girl's hair is her life' speech again. But remember, I had nothing to do with this. There are only two people at fault here, you and her," he finished off, pointing to Alex and Sarah respectively.

Only grumbling in response Alex tied to turn her attention back to the battle, once again finding herself wishing that she was minus one brother.

Seeing her frustration Jake wanted to at least get her completely focused back on the battle, if only to take even more of it off of him. "Although knowing Sarah she'll use any of Raichu's attacks to pull off a win, even if she has to use Rain Dance," he nonchalantly stated while looking back at his younger sister.

Alex instantly stiffened as she heard that.

"Mom! Did we bring any umbrellas?!"

Back on the field the lightning that was arcing around Raichu was becoming larger by the second. Before long Raichu's eyes began glowing white as a fierce snarl started to cross his lips. It was then that streaks of lightning began to appear out of thin air around the battlefield, formed from nothing but the large amount of latent electricity that was now in the atmosphere. Starting from virtually nowhere and arcing down to the ground, the stray electrons continued to char the area around the combatants. The crackling of the lightning and the small booming it was making as it arced was getting so prominent that it sounded as if a large storm was quickly approaching. Standing on his hind legs with his tail arched high over his head, Raichu was looking quite confident as he glared at his opponent.

Anna couldn't help but take a half-step back at seeing the Electric-Type in front of her. This was her first real battle outside of the practice ones that she did with her dad, and the thought that Sarah would be just like him was the only thing that she considered. But she never expected the cute looking Raichu to look like that, and to say the least it was a bit surprising if not outright frightening. The fact that her hair wasn't even in its normal position didn't seem to cross her mind, even if she did take after her mom in hair care.

"Daddy am I doing the intimidating thing correctly?"

"Huh?"

Part of the crowd couldn't hold back their laughter; having Sarah ask that question after the display that Raichu put on was too much for them.

"Sarah you're not supposed to ask that," Ash told her while barely holding back his own laughter. "You should be able to tell by yourself if you're going to use it. And besides, you probably shouldn't use it in friendly battles like this."

"Kay!" She called out, turning back to the battle. "Daddy just told me about this thing called intimidation a few days ago. He said it had something to do with making people scared of Raichu to get an advantage. I don't know how anyone can be scared of Raichu, he's always so huggable! But if Daddy says that it works then I thought I could try it."

"Right…" Anna stated with a bit of nervous laughter. At that moment the Electric-Type was anything but 'cute' or 'huggable'.

Unlike his temporary trainer, Umbreon wasn't even fazed in the least. Lowering his head toward the ground and raising his tail high into the air, the Dark-Type's eyes began to glow white as well. Slightly startling Anna, Umbreon continued his own efforts as the air around him began to ripple and darken. Umbreon was creating a much darker effect to his own image, in stark contrast to the flashy display that Raichu was putting on.

"You know how to use the intimidation as well!" Sarah happily stated as she watched Umbreon, much to the Dark-Type's chagrin. "So that that mean that your daddy also taught you that?"

"Um, yeah, sure," Anna didn't know how to react to her opponent's statement. Not only had she never seen Umbreon act like that before, but she had never seen a battle start like this before either. But then again the only real battles that she had seen, besides the ones with her dad, were some in the Indigo League last year and nothing higher. She knew that Sarah's dad dealt with much more powerful trainers than those of the regional leagues, but she had no clue as to how powerful or even how anyone battles such Pokémon.

"I'm not sure what it really going on here but I think that is Umbreon's Calm Mind attack," Anna told herself. Her dad had always told her to think ahead, and if she was thinking about that then she could push the images of Raichu to the back of her mind. "And if that is Calm Mind then that means…let's just hope that she doesn't know that. Not to mention if this works then I can also get back at her for messing up my hair."

"Umbreon use Shadow Ball!"

Opening his mouth the darkness around the Moonlight Pokémon began to collect in front of him in a small dark ball. As quickly as it formed the ball was shot, making a quick beeline straight for his opponent. Yet throughout this entire process Sarah was watching intently from start to finish, and as soon as the attack left the Dark-Type she was ready with her own command.

"Raichu dodge right, Quick Attack to get in close!"

As the black streak closed in, the lightning that was surrounding Raichu from his earlier attack quickly dissipated as his eyes returned to normal and his expression turned to an expressionless stare. With a swift dodge the Electric-Type easily avoided the attack and sped straight for Umbreon.

"Umbreon you use Quick Attack as well, we'll show them who the stronger one is."

Crouching slightly Umbreon took off right at the oncoming Raichu. While he may not truly trust all of the moves that his trainer's daughter calls out this one he can agree with. His opponent looked quick and that speed would also mean a slightly weaker defense. And he was confident that he could take the impact without much of a problem at all.

"Wait for it," Sarah whispered to herself as the two Pokémon got closer to one another. "Now! Raichu, ThunderPunch!"

"What? Umbreon dodge it!"

In mid-attack, electricity began to build up in the Mouse Pokémon's right fist and continuing with his sprint, aimed straight at the oncoming opponent. But the attack never connected. Even though Sarah called the attack right before the two hit, Umbreon had barely dodged by moving off to his left, skidding to a stop just a few meters from where Raichu ended up.

Yet Raichu wasn't caught off balance in the least. When the attack was clearly going to miss, the electricity faded from his hand and using all four feet as well as his tail Raichu skidded to a stop as well, turning in the process to keep his back away from his opponent.

"Wow your Daddy's Umbreon is pretty fast," Sarah commented with her nearly ever-present smile. "When my daddy uses that move it usually hits. But I think I know something that you don't know," she finished in a slight sing-song voice. "Raichu use the Quick Attack/ThunderPunch combo again!"

"My dad's Umbreon won't be hit by something as simple as that, dodge it!"

Taking off like a rocket once again, Raichu began focusing electricity into his right hand again. Yet both Umbreon and Anna knew what that meant. As he neared the Dark-Type, Umbreon easily dodged right with a slight grin on his face as the ThunderPunch harmlessly hit the ground in front of him causing a small cloud of dust to waft up.

"Left!"

The Moonlight Pokémon's eyes widened as right after the first punch hit the earth, another came swinging around from Raichu's left paw.

"Umbreon dodge it!" Anna called out, slightly caught off guard by the attack as well.

Not needing a second opinion, Umbreon unconsciously dodged left as the second attack just barely missed him.

"Sweep!"

Not truly understanding the order it didn't take long for him to figure out what it meant. From the corner of his eye Umbreon saw a fast moving metallic grey object moving across the top of the grass. With the attacks from Raichu's fists he completely took his attention off of the other end, his tail. Without even waiting for orders from his slightly stunned 'trainer', the Dark-Type jumped off the ground as high as he could in order to avoid the surprise Iron Tail attack.

"Left again!"

Before his opponent even landed, the momentum of Raichu's last attack brought his left paw back in front and aimed right at the Moonlight Pokémon once again. Barely even hearing the next dodge command, Umbreon was able to twist his body just enough to avoid another barrage of attacks.

"Tail!"

"Umbreon dodge it again!"

Without even thinking, as soon as he hit ground he jumped to the left; just barely missing the club-like blow from the second Iron Tail come straight down from above him.

"Come on Umbreon! Push them back with another Shadow Ball!"

"Deflect with ThunderPunch!"

Quickly finding his footing, Umbreon wasted no time in forming his counter-attack. Letting it lose just as Raichu turned to face him, the left ThunderPunch deftly smashed the attack into the ground causing minimal damage to its intended target.

"You okay Umbreon?" Anna asked the heavily breathing Pokémon.

Receiving an "Umbre" and a nod in return, the young girl gave a sigh of relief. In those few seconds she could barely even process what was happening and call out her counters. Though the 'sweep' attack completely confused her and she was glad that Umbreon knew what to do, cause by the time that she knew what to do it would have been too late.

Looking back over she could see the Raichu was panting slightly as well, but after a few deep breaths was back to normal, just moments after her own Pokémon did the same. Taking a few steps to get back into his original position, Raichu looked onto the two of them with Sarah right behind him, who was still smiling but not taking her eyes off of Umbreon.

"Yep! Just like I thought," she finally called out after a couple seconds. "Your daddy's Umbreon really is quick. And strong too. Most trainers get hit at least once or twice, but we missed everyone! But I was kinda hoping that we would miss anyways."

"Wait, you were hoping to miss?"

At this point Anna had accepted that her opponent was better than she had originally assumed but to hear a trainer say that they were hoping that their attacks would miss was something entirely new to her.

"Yep, but I wanna change things up. Raichu Heavy Stance four please."

With a quick nod of his head the Electric-Type closed his eyes for a moment before a light current flowed over his body. As the wave of energy passed it almost looked as if his muscles grew slightly as their tone grew more apparent. Opening his eyes again Raichu planted his feet down to the ground and kept his tail arch slightly over his shoulder.

"Umm, heavy what?" Not getting a response from the girl Anna shrugged it off, there was no use talking in the middle of a battle anyways. "Alright Umbreon, use Shadow Ball again. Let's try to keep them at a distance."

Powering up the attack again, Umbreon fired off the condensed ball of darkness at his opponent. But even as the attack approached Raichu didn't move from his spot.

"Deflect!"

Even though he didn't move as the attack neared, the Mouse Pokémon began to pump electricity into both of his hands causing them to glow slightly. Right before the attack hit he punched it harmlessly away and into the ground.

While this wasn't exactly what Anna was expecting it wasn't much of a surprise. Raichu used this method before after his earlier barrage of attacks so using it again wasn't unlikely.

"In that case, fire off several more of them Umbreon! He can't stop them all!"

Following his trainer's commands Umbreon charged at let fly several more Shadow Balls, but every one was deflected like the first into the earth. The precision that was put into each punch was getting better and better with each one he deflected. As it continued the attacks weren't just being deflected towards the ground. While they still hit the earth with virtually no effect, Raichu was slowly aiming them back towards his opponent.

Umbreon was even starting to think that continuing this would not only be a waste of time and energy but could soon start to back-fire as well. The attacks seemed to have no real affect so why not try something else?

"Umbreon Hyper Beam!"

Now that was a command. Stopping his own assault, a quick gathering of energy was all he needed before letting lose a powerful orange beam from his mouth.

"Raichu dodge it!"

From his current footing it wasn't easy for the Lightning-Type to move too fast; but with as much warning as he had that the attack was coming, the beam passed harmlessly past him. Missing him by just a hair.

"Aww, I was hoping that you wouldn't do that," Sarah pouted. "I wanted to see some more of your Umbreon's attacks. Oh well, I think I have enough to start Daddy's next strategy. Umm, which ones were they again? Oh yeah; Raichu, Light Stance four. Make adjustments to A35 and C16. Quick Attack."

Nodding with a big grin on his face, the Mouse Pokémon's body once again experienced a light wave of electricity flow over it as his body became less tense and more relaxed. After one last deep breath he took off like a shot right at his opponent.

"Light stance? Adjust what now?" Anna was slightly confused at what she just heard. But even if she didn't understand it Raichu apparently did. Trying to put what she just heard behind her, the young Oak focused on what was going on in front of her. "Umbreon just dodge it and get ready to use Psychic!"

Jumping back to increase the distance between them, the Dark-Type started to focus on using one of his favorite attacks. Just as Umbreon's eyes started to glow a light blue and the attack was beginning to take effect, he was caught off guard as the mouse seemed to be moving faster compared to his earlier attacks and before he was able to complete the attack Raichu was already too close. But as the Electric-Type got close he suddenly spun his body around revealing a glowing tail aimed right at his opponent. Unable to get his Psychic attack focused enough to stop the Electric-Type's tail; Umbreon abandoned the attack in favor of a quick defense. By concentrating right where the attack would hit on his body he was able to make an impromptu shield just powerful enough to withstand the hit. Though in the process the force of the strike pushed him back nearly a meter as Raichu stopped right on the spot on all fours. Tail once again arched high over his body and a grin back on his face.

"Okay Raichu let's get the fun started!" Sarah cheered after successfully countering the Psychic attack. "ThunderPunch!"

"Not this again," Anna sighed. "Umbreon dodge it!"

Taking off once again with his right paw sparking, Raichu took aim and swung at his opponent. As like the barrage of attacks before, Umbreon dodged it without much effort. Watching the hands and tail of the Mouse Pokémon he prepared for the next strike.

"Tail!"

With the rotation from his punch still guiding him a sweeping body-level Iron Tail came across. Not even waiting for his trainer's command Umbreon dodged that as well.

"Straight right and then left!"

"Watch out for those ThunderPunches Umbreon!"

Finishing off the rotation, the next attack was a quick jab from the right paw; just as Umbreon and Anna were expecting. Getting more and more confident in dodging all of Raichu's close range attacks, Umbreon moved just out of the way of the right paw and then the left that came directly after.

"Tail!"

"Dodge again!"

Carefully watching his opponent the Moonlight Pokémon felt as though he was getting used to the attacks. Limited primarily to either a sweeping motion from spinning or straight up and down it was getting easier to figure out where to dodge. Watching Raichu turn his body slightly, the Iron Tail came from directly overhead. Moving backwards, the attack harmlessly hit the ground, putting some space between the two Pokémon.

"Kick!"

Wondering how any punch or kick could be made with the distance that he put between them Umbreon was caught slightly off guard as to what he saw. Staring wide-eyed, the Dark-Type watched as Raichu kicked up from where he was standing, and while balancing on his tail took a roundhouse kick right at Umbreon. Barely dodging off to his left, Raichu continued with his momentum and gracefully landed just over a meter away from his opponent.

"Tail!"

Tuning out his trainer's simple "dodge" commands, he felt as though he didn't completely need the other opinion and he didn't need to be concentrating elsewhere at the speed of these attacks. His real trainer had trained him to be slightly independent anyways so this was nothing new to him. Guessing as to how the attack would come, it was no surprise to see Raichu continue spinning to bring his tail back into the fray.

"Now! Left!"

Almost sighing as to how predictable the mouse was becoming Umbreon focused back on when the left paw was going to hit, but that wasn't what was coming. Twisting his flexible body, it wasn't a ThunderPunch on its way but another Iron Tail from above. Nearly catching the Dark-Type off guard he barely dodged it just as it came down, but before it even hit the ground Raichu began rotating again and it was then that the left ThunderPunch was aimed at his opponent. Not able to even think Umbreon instinctively dodged left, but that attack almost seemed slightly slower than usual. His answer quickly came as a faster right jab was aimed right where he dodged to.

This time he was completely caught off guard, and wasn't able to completely dodge the attack as it skimmed his left shoulder. Wincing in pain it was just enough of a distraction to miss the final Iron Tail coming from his side. The attack was strong enough to toss him back and tumble across the ground for some ways.

"Umbreon!"

"Raichu close in again, just a bit more!" Sarah called out to her Pokémon.

Thinking fast Anna remembered a combination she saw her dad use once. And considering what Raichu's reaction to something like this was before, it might just work. "Umbreon use Shadow Ball then you know what to do!"

Nearly smiling at hearing those words he did know what to do. Tossing another shadowy ball at Raichu he tried to put as much power into it as he could manage in the short charge time. Sure enough without thinking the advancing Electric-Type punched it down to the ground like the rest of them. But with all the extra energy that Umbreon put into it, when the attack hit the ground a small explosion caused a large dust cloud to billow up. Stopping his attack, Raichu jumped back a bit in an effort to protect his eyes from the dust and debris.

Just as the sediment was clearing and their opponent came into sight, countless numbers of bright white orbs began shooting off from around Umbreon's body. But what was odd about this was that the orbs shot off from all directions, not just towards Raichu. It wasn't until they started to curve that the real intention of the attack was made. Curling around from every which way, the orbs began to close in on their target from virtually every side.

Sarah was watching the attack closely from when it shot out of the cloud of dust, but it wasn't until they began to turn that her eyes widened.

"Raichu Heavy Stance seven! Release the Charge!" She hastily shouted.

Just as the young Ketchum began saying that, massive amounts of electricity began to course over the Mouse Pokémon's body as it once again gained a very clear muscle tone. Concentrating all of that power into one fist and with a loud cry Raichu struck the ground in front of him causing an explosion of rock and electricity to rocket skywards, completely surrounding him in the powerful attack.

All the spectators had to cover their eyes and look away as the light from Raichu's attack became unbearable. But if one was able to look directly at it, the white orbs that were once dangerously close to the Electric-Type were detonating before they reached their target as they came in contact with either the shattered rock or powerful wall of energy.

As fast as the defense was put up, it was gone. The dust from the attack billowed outwards obscuring sight for almost everyone there. After a few moments it started to clear from Anna and Umbreon's side and to the girl's relief her Pokémon was completely unhurt, just winded from using the attack. It was the other side that she now wondered about. The dust was still quite thick though a light breeze was clearing it rather quickly. The sound of small rocks hitting the ground was all that could be heard until a voice pierced the battlefield.

"Thunderbolt!"

Shooting out of the cloud, a line of electricity hit the ground near Umbreon. It was close enough that he had to take a small jump away but even if he didn't it wasn't accurate enough to cause too much damage. But for firing completely blind the aim was rather impressive.

The Dark-Type let out a soft growl as he knew neither attack had finished off his opponent. As the last of the dust disappeared his assumptions were confirmed. Yet Raichu appeared to not have come out of it unscathed. He was panting heavily trying to catch his breath and countless small vertical scratches and cuts were present across his body. But with all of those wounds he didn't even seem to notice any of them to the extent that one might think by just looking at him. In fact all of the cuts were not nearly as bad as they first appeared, almost as if his body was becoming accustomed to them.

As his breathing slowed, pulses of electricity flared around him as his body readjusted to the considerably less voltage it now stored. Within a few moments he was breathing normally again staring right at his opponent with a grin back on his face.

"Wow I didn't realize that your daddy's Umbreon could use Hidden Power like that," Sarah said, dusting off her dress from some of the remaining debris. "Kay! If you're going all out then we need to speed up as well!" Flashing her innocent smile for only a moment, she brought her finger up to her lips as if apparently deep in thought. "Now which number was that one again?" She asked herself unconsciously. "Oh I remember now. Raichu Light Stance 19, make adjustments to A52 and B23. Ready on my mark."

Like before, a light wave of energy flowed across Raichu's body as his muscle tone disappeared. The large mouse then began to calmly jump up and down on his hind legs, contorting his body in ways that only a mouse could. Flexing his back and muscles as if to stretch them out a bit until he finally found a slow but steady rhythm and just simply hopped up and down, eagerly awaiting his next command