"They are really good, aren't they?" said Chloe as she sipped from her juice.

"Well they are one of the best students, so I am not surprised," Nate said.

Currently, Ash's group was sitting in a far corner of the gym while watching the Round B quiz battle as it neared its end. Drew and Leaf were completely dominating the competition with their team. From Brock's group, two guys named Cilan and Clemont were evenly matching up with them, though being a few steps behind.

Chloe had become kind of a celebrity after the last Round. Even some of the professors congratulated her.

"Seriously, it's like they completely forgot this was a teamwork. I didn't even do half the work," she said tiredly. Ash chuckled. "It's fine. You worked the hardest out of us all, so I think you deserve it"

"Ash is right. You should be glad a boring girl like you is getting attention for once," Barry mocked her as she glared at him fiercely. The others laughed at this.

"Oh it's already the last question," Nate pointed. The contestants were looking nervous because of the last round

"You think they'll give another ridiculous mystery riddle?"

"I don't think they'll use the same tactic twice."

Ash's guess wasn't entirely right. Because the last question was a riddle yes, but it was math riddle than a mystery one, and its difficulty was certainly high.

Drew's group managed to crack the answer first as they hogged the 15 points for themselves. Round B came to an end.

"Now, the results of Round A and Round B will be conjoined. Please wait," Professor Rowan instructed.

Everyone paid attention to the screen. After a few seconds of waiting, the names of the groups on the top spots were revealed along with their members.

#1. Drew and Leaf - 70 points

#2. Chloe and Barry- 65 points

#3. Cilan and Clemont- 55 points

The rest of the groups ranking also were revealed as the list descended.

The noise from the students increased as they saw the list.

"Ah shit. I was actually hoping we would get first place," said Barry, disappointed.

Chloe sighed. "Well we did do our best. So I am not sad or anything."

"Cheer up you two. Second place is no easy feat. And if Ash and I manage to dominate the battles tomorrow, we could still get the top spot," Nate said. Barry and Chloe looked excited all of a sudden.

"Oh yeah. Tomorrow's your turn. Best of luck both of you," Chloe said, smiling.

"Yeah man. Don't you dare hold back," Barry said glaring at them.

"No worries. We will be fine," Nate assured them.

"Hey, how about we go to the cafeteria. It's almost lunch time," Barry suggested.

Everyone agreed to that as they started heading out of the gym. Ash followed suit, but sensed a pair of eyes watching him. He turned around to look, and saw Drew watching their group from a far. He looked mad, probably upset over the fact the difference between him and Class D was only about five points.

'What should I call him? A sore winner?' thought Ash as he ignored him and walked out of the gym.

***

Ash didn't stay for lunch because he wanted to rest inside his dorm for the rest of the day. He parceled some food for both lunch and dinner, so he wouldn't have to come again.

He entered his dorm room with Pikachu. The room was locked for a few hours so it had become quite suffocating. He opened the door to the balcony, and spread an air freshener around the room. The weather was quite nice today, as warm sunlight poured inside through the curtains.

He sat on his bed with Pikachu curled up beside him, as he fiddled with his phone. The web page of the academy had already posted the results. He started scrolling through the comments. Ash's group was praised by many students for coming in second place. No one seemed to talk about Drew, who had come in first place.

This was quite a common psychology. If you already expect outstanding results from someone and they meet your expectations, no one would bother to say anything except 'Oh, it was expected of them anyway.' But if an unrecognized individual achieves the same feat, they would get double the praise and attention, more if the said individual had lower expectations. The expected individual would even get criticised in some cases.

Ash thought about Drew and smirked unknowingly.

'This must be pissing him off. Good.'

He switched off his phone and decided to eat the food he brought. Pikachu must be hungry too. That's when a knock was heard on the door.

"Yes?" asked Ash, and immediately the door flew open as May came from her room. She threw herself on his bed and let out a huge sigh.

"I am sooo exhausted. And hungry too~" she said, stretching her arms, completely dropping her persona without a care. Ash was quite shocked seeing this side of hers.

"I... brought some lunch with me. Do you-?"

"YES!"

May yelled and looked at him with sparkling eyes. Seems like she really liked food. Ash stared at her actions as May huffed.

"W-what? You expected me to be some elegant cold princess? I am a human being too you know," she said with a pout. She was clearly embarrassed but was trying to hide it.

Ash slightly laughed and started unpacking the parcel. Hearing no response, May warily asked him.

"Y-you think it's weird of me to act like this?" she asked.

Ash kept focusing on serving the food.

"Of course not. In fact, I think it's pretty cute," he said without thinking anything. Those were his genuine thoughts.

He didn't hear any response from the brunette, so he proceeded to open his mini fridge for some drinks.

Meanwhile May:

'No No No No! How can he say something like that with such a straight face! Baka Baka Baka!' she thought blushing red, as she shook her head sideways.

"By the way, isn't the student council helping to reorganize the gym for tomorrow's battle?" asked Ash. May quickly regained her composure.

"Well, the school staff is handling that stuff. They wanted to give us a break I guess. The third year senpais are there so there is no need for us," she said. She suddenly remembered something

"I almost forgot! Great job on getting second place. I have to watch out for your team from now on after the stunt you pulled today."

"It's nothing really," said Ash, but May wasn't convinced.

"You don't have to be so modest. You should've seen Professor Nomura's face after your group cracked the riddle. It was hilarious," she said laughing.

'I am guessing he was the one who made the riddle,' thought Ash.

May stood up and walked closer to Ash. She leaned on the counter and looked at him with a gleeful look on her face. Ash noticed it as he pu down the glass and looked back at her.

He never thought about it seriously before.

But May is really cute.

Unbeknownst to him, his heart skipped a beat.

"W-what?"

"You were the one who came up with the poison theory, weren't you?" she asked, her guess precisely on point. But Ash didn't look fazed.

"It was more or less a group decision," he answered vaguely.

May pouted again. "Hmph, fine. Don't tell me then."

"I am interested in one thing though," he said as the girl looked at him. "Yeah?"

"I had a hunch that either you and Leaf or you and Drew would've participated in tomorrow's battle. But seeing as how Drew and Leaf did the quiz today, I can't help but wonder. Who's your fourth member?" asked Ash. It has been on his mind for quite sometime, so he got the opportunity to finally ask.

"Oh right. Now that you mention it, she should have arrived by now," May mumbled to herself.

"Uh who?"

"Our fourth group member. She had to go to a audition in Mauville City, so she took a leave for today. She'll be battling with me tomorrow," she explained.

"So, is she a coordinator too?" asked Ash.

"Yes, she-"

*Ring*Ring*

May's phone rang as she was talking. Seeing the caller, she immediately looked excited and picked up.

"Hey Dawn, where are you? Outside? Kayy~wait a sec," she said in a sweet tone and headed towards Ash's main door after cutting the call.

After hearing the caller's name, Ash froze on the spot.

'Dawn? No...she can't be...it can't be the same person, can it?' he thought frantically. Pikachu who was awake now, was also looking at him curiously, as if he was thinking the same.

May opened the door and saw a blue haired pretty girl standing in front of the next door.

"Hey!" May exclaimed seeing one of her close friend and rival. The girl in question looked at her and smiled, but with a slight confusion.

"Hi May! But...isn't this supposed to be your room? Or did you change it?" Dawn greeted and asked. She hasn't been to May's room for over a month, so she thought about that possibility.

"No no, I didn't. It's still the same. I was just hanging out with my roommate. Come in," May said as she went inside. Dawn quickly followed.

"Roommate? Is she a transfer?" Dawn asked, curiously.

"Yes, but it's a 'he'. You would love to meet him," May corrected. Dawn looked even more intrigued by her words, because May was showing interest in a guy she barely knew.

"Hey As- huh?" May looked around in confusion looking for the boy, who was just here a minute ago. Her eyes wondered behind the counter where their lunch was set, and saw a glimpse of black hair. She frowned and gave a Naruto run towards the counter.

"Ash, why are you hiding?!" she questioned while pulling the boy by his hair with force.

"Ow ow ow! I wasn't hiding, I just dropped something," he said and stood up abruptly. His eyes met with Dawn's instantly. Ash immediately turned nervous.

'Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't -'

"Ash?!" the blunette exclaimed after staring at him for a few seconds. Ash sighed in defeat.

***

Currently, May and Dawn sat on Ash's bed comfortably, as they ate his... lunch. Meanwhile, the trainer just sat on the floor miserably as he countered the onslaught of questions.

"So you two have met before?" asked May, curiously looking between the two of them.

"We have actually. I am even surprised to see you here," said Dawn looking at Ash.

"Likewise..." Ash muttered while avoiding her gaze. Dawn stared at him for a while before she giggled and poked his cheeks with her fingers.

"You are still so socially awkward. It's cute as ever."

Ash felt annoyed.

"Stop that. I wasn't expecting to see you here at Hoenn. What, did they exile you from Sinnoh or something?" asked Ash, half-jokingly. May was a bit surprised from his behaviour, which was a bit less formal from his usual self.

"Nope. I got an invitation and some of my friends were also attending, so I thought why not?"

Ash first met Dawn when he went to the Sinnoh region. He just turned 14 that time. She was practically his guide in that unknown region. They became friends very quickly.

"Enough about me, what about you two? You must be dating seeing as how you are spending time together alone in a room," Dawn teased them with a sly face.

"Don't get weird ideas. Its nothing like that," Ash quickly dismissed her thoughts. He was all too familiar with her personality. If you didn't nip it in the bud, she would start a whole circus.

"So blunt. I feel sorry for you honey, guy's dense as a rock," Dawn whispered to May with a sigh. The brunette blushed and waved her hands.

"P-please, can we just drop this topic," she said frantically. 'Why does anyone who see us together always jump to that conclusion?' she thought.

"Oh yeah! I saw the results, congrats May," Dawn said happily, referring to today's quiz. "Sorry I wasn't there."

"Don't be. Though you did miss out on the fun," said May.

"Yeah. I heard there was an extremely difficult riddle in the last question, and the team that came in second place solved it flawlessly. Everyone's been talking about it," Dawn said.

"You have no idea. And what's more, Ash was also in that team," said May excitedly. Dawn looked shocked for a moment but then smiled expectantly.

"Well, I guess now it makes more sense. Dense as he is, he is actually quite smart," she said.

"No, it wasn't-

"-anything special. That's what you were about to say, right? Humble as always," Dawn said, interrupting him.

Ash closed his eyes and silently gritted his teeth.

'She is gonna ruin my whole career!'

"I knew it, that you were smarter than you actually let on," May said with a huff. 'This confirms my suspicion that he placed himself in Class D on purpose. But why though?'

Dawn opened a bottle as she drank from it after finishing the food.

"Well, what's our plan for tomorrow May? Same as always?" she asked.

May who was picking up the dishes, looked at her.

"We should discuss it later. Remember, that Ash is still our opponent until the exam is over."

Dawn looked a bit taken aback. She looked at Ash who was at the counter, cleaning the mess the girls made. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

"Wait a second. Ash didn't participate in today's quiz?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"No. My teammates did," he simply replied.

'And still got second place? Impressive. So that means he will be participating in tomorrow's battles. This could turn out to be a problem for us,' Dawn thought as she frowned.

"What's the matter?" May asked.

"Nothing. Well, I'll get going. I need to rest for tomorrow. Thanks for the treat Ash, I owe you one," Dawn said smiling as she prepared to leave.

"Yes. Thanks a lot for the food Ash. And sorry for all the trouble. I'll get going too," May said as she started leaving too.

"Your welcome and don't worry about it," said Ash with a small smile.

After they left, he slouched himself on the couch, feeling more tired than before.

"Didn't expect to run into Dawn here. Although she knows that I am above average, I doubt it'll cause problems for me," Ash wondered aloud. His stomach growled.

"And of course, I am hungry. But I am more surprised at the fact how much May can eat. I have to drag myself to the cafeteria all over again," he grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Pika pi Pikachu."

"Blackmailing Gary to bring food... huh? Not a bad idea buddy. I'll do that," he said as he took out his phone.

***

The Student Council room which was hectic for the past few hours, finally started to calm down in the afternoon.

"Hey Drew, did you get my message?" asked a dark green haired boy as he entered the room. The vice president, who sitting on a chair doing the remaining paperwork, looked at him.

"Ah Sawyer. Yes, I have and good work today," he praised.

"Sure don't worry about it. Also, where is the president? I wanted to ask her for a small favour," asked Sawyer.

"May is on a leave for today and she left everything to my capable hands. You can ask me for anything and I'll help you," he offered confidently.

"Well, it's about Gladio-"

"Oh look at the time. I really need to finish the paperwork or I'll be late," Drew blatantly ignored him and resumed his work. Sawyer sighed, knowing he would act like that.

"Gladion senpai was supposed to give us a report on the BloodHill Forest ever since we heard about the strange incidents. But-"

Drew sighed in annoyance and interrupted Sawyer.

"Look, that man is a menace. I can't get a read on him at all. He thinks he is strong so he can do anything he wants."

"He is strong. In fact, one of the strongest in our Academy with a champion rank-"

"Not the point Sawyer!" Drew said in irritation.

"Oh hehe sorry. But in any case, President asked me to find some clues regarding the recent incidents in that forest, but I can't do it without Gladion senpai's help," Sawyer explained.

"I see. I would suggest you put the matter aside for the time being. He maybe unruly, but he still gets the job done," reassured Drew.

"Alright then. Guess I'll just wait for the-"

"Yoo how's it going?"

An energetic boy entered the chat. He wore a red jacket and a plain t-shirt underneath. His navy blue cap was turned backwards.

Drew looked tired.

"Great. Another troublemaker," he muttered.

"Hello Ethan. What brings you here?" Sawyer asked politely with a smile.

"Nothin' much. I was just wandering around since I was bored," he said nonchalantly.

"Well, unlike you, we have work to do here. So kindly step outside-" Drew was saying when Ethan grinned.

"Oh hey Princess Charming! Didn't see you there," Ethan said while waving at him. Sawyer tried his best not to laugh while Drew looked extremely ticked off.

"Say that one more time and I will kill you," he said with malice, dropping on formalities.

"Jeez vice-chan, chill out. That tone doesn't suit you," Ethan said, mocking him even further. Sawyer didn't even try to hide his laugh this time. Drew took a deep breath, trying his best not to strangle the trainer in front of him.

"So Ethan, are you battling tomorrow?" Sawyer asked, quickly dismissing the tension.

"Heck yeah I am. Can't wait to kick some butts," he replied, punching his fists with a grin.

"Don't get cocky. If you underestimate your opponents, you will see yourself on the losing side," said Drew.

"Ohoho, you are one to talk. Considering how those Class D students almost snatched the first place from you today," Ethan said, adding fuel to the fire. Drew just stayed silent.

"Don't worry Rose boy. I never look down on anyone. I am the type who is always looking for a good fight regardless of who my opponent is. See ya later," he said and walked out of the room.

'He is really something. I fought him once and lost too. He is currently in the Master rank, the same as Drew,' Sawyer thought.

"I think I'll call it a day," he said, looking at Drew.

"Alright. Good luck for tomorrow," he replied. After Sawyer left, Drew thought to himself

'I could careless about the other classes. That guy in Class D....Ash, was it? I need to assess his strength tomorrow. If he turns out weak despite his tough appearance, I'll crush and humiliate him. And I don't like the fact how May always leaves early for her dorm nowadays. No, that's just a coincidence. She must be tired and stressed. Its not like she is going just to see him...right? Just thinking about it is making me mad.'

And with that, the eventful day finally came to an end.

***

The Next Day

It was a fine morning with a fine weather, and Ash was sleeping peacefully in his room. At least he thought he was.

Since today was suppose to be the battles, he had to get up early. He picked up a sweet and pleasant smell in his room. Still in his sleep, he subconsciously went towards the smell and wrapped his arm around something.

It felt soft, warm and was the source of that sweet smell. With a groan, he roughly pulled it towards him.

"Kyaaa~ hehe, what are you doing pervert!"

Ash's eyes shot open at the strangely familiar voice. He saw a blue hair and the cute face of his friend Dawn leaning over him. Both of them were on his bed and Ash had his arms strongly wrapped around her waist. She looked a bit embarrassed and blushing profusely.

"Mornin' sleepy head," she said.

Ash immediately backed away from her and took up his blanket to cover himself, defensively.

"Hey, it's just me... Dawn."

"That's why I am even more concerned! What are you doing in my room!" he half yelled at her. "No, screw that. How did you even get in here?!"

Dawn just giggled at his reaction and pointed towards May's door, which was half opened.

"I came to her room an hour ago, to get ready before the competition. She is taking a bath right now, so I thought I would wake you up," she explained.

Ash sighed and started scratching his head. "How generous of you."

"You could drop the sarcasm. Or would you rather get shocked by Pikachu?"

"Nah. He has gotten lazier than before," Ash replied looking at Pikachu, who was sleeping near his feet.

"I see. Guess he got that habit from you huh," Dawn said, with a sad smile.

"Yeah yeah. Thanks for waking me up. I need to go and fresh up too," he said attempting to get up when Dawn stopped him, by leaning on his body.

"Hey hey, what's the rush. It's only seven o'clock. And May's busy too. So~"

"So?"

Dawn smiled mischievously and ran her finger around his hair.

"It's been so long Ash. Don't you want to catch up with me?" she said, in a slight seductive tone.

The smell coming from her was intoxicating to Ash. Her hair, which was still wet, was falling on his face. The shampoo she used smelled nice too. Dawn also noticed how well built he had become over the past few years. His lean yet muscular figure was visible under his white t-shirt.

Dawn was intially trying to tease him like she always did, but now it was starting to become a bit awkward for both of them, not knowing what to do next. Ash averted his eyes, thinking of something to say when the door from May's room started to move.

"Hey Dawn, are you here? I am finished."

Immediately the blunette pushed him on the bed and stood away from his him.

"Y-yeah. I was just waking him up," Dawn replied.

"Morning May," Ash groggily said as he stood up.

"Good morning Ash," she said with a bright cheerful smile. Ash felt kinda bad for greeting her so halfheartedly.

"You look quite flushed Dawn. Everything alright?" May asked.

"H-huh? Yeah, everything's fine. C'mon, let's get dressed up. We need to go to the Council office too," Dawn urged quickly.

"Oh right. I sometimes forget that I am the president hehe. Later Ash," May said quickly as she headed for her room with her friend. Dawn took a quick glance at Ash before they both disappeared behind the door.

"I should get ready too." Ash looked towards the bed to now see an awake Pikachu sitting and giving him a smug look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Pikachu just shook its head and went towards the kitchen.

***

"Woah! The gym looks even bigger than it was yesterday."

"It's the same gym Barry," said Chloe, bursting his enthusiasm.

He wasn't wrong. The place looked sophisticated and ideal for a pokemon battle competition. Unlike yesterday, there were two platforms instead of a single and were placed on two sides of the gym. The battles will be conducted separately on them. A sea of students were continuously pouring inside the place. It was basically the event of the month.

"Let's take a seat while we still have the chance," Chloe suggested. They agreed and went to a section of the audience. Ash sat down between Nate and Chloe while Barry sat on the other side of Nate.

Before Ash could get a chance to take a good look around, someone poked on his head from behind. He turned around and saw the samw girl who gave him a hard time this morning. She was grinning and waving at him. Ash ignored her and turned around as if he didn't see anything. It was a bad call on his part. Soon enough, someone bashed his skull from behind and he knew it was coming.

"Hey don't ignore me!"

Dawn's outburst attracted attention as Ash's friends looked at them.

"Hey, isn't that Dawn?" Barry questioned.

"Ouch, that hurt you know," Ash complained, rubbing his head. Dawn just pouted and looked away from him.

"Before you guys ask, yeah... we know each other," Ash quickly said, clearing the confusion.

"You don't sound happy about it.." Dawn grumbled, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You are imagining it," Ash replied, nonchalantly.

"You two really are close," Chloe wondered aloud.

"Of course! We have dated before too-"

"Again, that's just her imagination," Ash said, with a bored look in his eyes.

"Aw~ you are no fun Ash," said Dawn.

"Damn. Lucky guy," Barry muttered.

"Hey guys!"

"Sup Ash!"

Leaf, Brock and Gary has entered the chat as they sat around them, taking tje empty seats.

It soon became a lively bunch as they started talking about the tournament.

"I will be looking forward to our battle Ash. Let's see how strong you've become," Dawn said competitively.

She had witnessed his strength firsthand at Sinnoh. They used to battle a lot, most of them a being contest practices for Dawn. They were at stalemate a few times. That was before Ash challenged the Johto league. After claiming victory in Johto, he challenged the Kanto Elite Four and became the Champion. She still didn't know about it, only Gary and Brock did.

"Same goes for me. I will be finally get a chance to battle you after all these years," said Gary, joining in as well.

"You sure have a lot of competitions. Childhood rivalry is really the best," Nate spoke, as if he had a similar experience.

"Where's May? She is your partner, right?" asked Ash.

"Yeah, she's busy right now," she replied. The others then started bombarding her with questions about May. Ash internally smirked, since he intentionally mentioned about the partner thing to put Dawn on the spot. The blunette made a mental note to get back at him for this.

After a while, it was mostly Leaf and Dawn talking with Ash while the others conversed with each other.

"Hmph. You sure are popular," Chloe muttered, while slightly pouting. Ash looked at her.

"Sorry what?"

"It's nothing."

Nate and Barry noticed and laughed among themselves, seeing Chloe's tsundere attitude.

"Attention please."

A male voice echoed around the gym from the mic. It was a signal of the start of the battle, as everyone who were standing immediately took their respective seats. Ash's friends stopped chatting as they looked forward.

Two people were standing at a place high enough for them to see everything. Professor Oak and Professor Nomura will be the hosts for today's competition.

"The exam will begin shortly. Before that, we will explain the rules," Oak said as the huge projector lit up. The students paid attention.

"Similar to the previous exam, the groups will be divided into two groups: Round A and Round B. Winner from the respective rounds will face each other in a final battle, and the winner will be determined."

"Gramps make it sound so easy," Gary commented.

"Yeah, but it isn't," said Leaf.

"Now onto the rules of each round. This is the important part. There will be 15 groups- composed of 5 groups from each classes. Each group will battle at least three other groups. The top three groups will face off in a three way pokemon battle, which will ultimately determine the Round winner."

The crowd became noisy after that.

"Three way battle with a tag team? Are the Professors on weed or something?" asked Gary, incredulously.

"Don't be rude Gary," scolded Leaf.

"Yeah this just makes it more interesting," Dawn said, enthusiastically.

'I feel like they aren't telling us everything. Professor Oak's evil smirk and Professor Nomura's shining eyes are just increasing my suspicions,' thought Ash with a deadpanned look.

"Now then. Let us shuffle the groups. Prepare yourselves for the worst students... kukuku," Professor Nomura spoke dramatically.

The screen showed a lot of slots rotating and dividing themselves in between the two rounds. One by one, the slots opened showing the name of each student with their partner and groups. Gasps of shock and excitement could be heard among the crowd, as they saw their positions. Ash heard Nate clicking his tongue with a bit frustation.

"Holy crap we are screwed," Barry muttered, looking at the screen. Nate also looked tensed. Before Ash could ask about it, Gary called.

"Best of luck Ashy-Boy. We are in the same round," he said with a smirk. Ash nodded at him.

"Oh dang! I am not in the same round as Ash," Dawn said sadly.

"Same here," Brock said.

Ash looked at Nate who was lost in his thought.

"So, who should we look out for?" he asked, since didn't know who were the formidable trainers around here.

"Your friend Gary-"

"Pfft. He's not a threat. I can easily manage him," said Ash, dismissively.

"No, not him. I am talking about his partner, Ethan. He is the trouble here," Nate said grimly.

"And the other threat is the team of Sawyer and Hugh. Both of them are from Class S and have very strong tactical instinct in a battlefield. And also, I personally know Hugh. We are both from the Unova Region," Nate explained.

Ash fell silent as he quickly memorized their names and started to predict what kind of predicament they would have to face against them.

"Now the teams, please come to the stands below. Once your turn comes, you will come to the battlefield. It is going to take a while so, we have also arranged for food and drinks in the gym," said Oak.

"Round A and Round B will go and start their matches in the two separate platforms. Professor Nomura and I will spectate each match. The referees will announce the winners."

After wishing each other good luck, Ash, Nate and Gary stood and went over to the platform of Round A, where they will be given the matchups.

"One more thing. Their will be a time limit of 15 minutes. If one side has lost one pokemon when the time is over, that side will claim victory. But if both side don't lose a single pokemon during this time limit, then the side whose pokemon has the most health bar will win," Oak added.

"Health bar? Are you kidding me?! This isn't a video game. I bet it's that freakshow Nomura's idea," Gary grumbled.

"Things just got more interesting with this, wouldn't you say?" asked Ash.

"Yes. They intentionally revealed this rule at the last moment, so that we couldn't come with any strategies beforehand, rather form them on the spot," Nate analysed.

"Yo Gary, I've been looking for ya," a voice called out.

"Hey Ethan. I was just talking with my friend," Gary replied. Nate nudged Ash as he silently nodded.

'So this is him. Never thought I would meet the former Elite Four of Johto out here. He is gonna be a problem,' he thought.

"These are my friends Nate and Ash," Gary introduced.

"Yo." Ethan cheerfully greeted.

"Nice to meet you," said Nate.

"Hope you guys will be a good challenge. Good luck out there," he said and walked away with Gary behind him.

Ash heard about him from some gym leaders during his time in the Johto region. He had won the league a year before he arrived and challenged the Elite Four, but lost to Champion Lance. An extremely strong trainer if he had managed to go that far. But still a level below Ash, since he had defeated Lance himself and became the Kanto Champion.

Nate sighed, as the nervousness was finally getting to him.

"I'll say the same thing to you what I said to Chloe: Just have fun out there. It's not everyday we get to fight strong trainers like this," Ash said. Just that one line alone was enough to calm Nate down. He grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

"You're right. Let's give it our best out there."

"First match will be starting with Round A and here is the match-up."

Everyone looked at the screen. It was Gary and Ethan's team vs a team from Class A. Everyone clapped while some cheered seeing Ethan's name.

"Let's assess their battles," Ash suggested.

"Right."

The trainers were on the battlefield and had already took out there pokeballs. The trainers were instructed to throw their pokeballs at the same time, to avoid unfair advantage.

"Typhlosion, let's go."

"I choose you Arcanine."

Both Ethan and Gary chose a fire type pokemon, while their opponent chose a rock type and a water type. Truly unfortunate, that both had a advantage over fire types, but Ethan and Gary didn't look fazed a bit. Instead they smirked and called upon the first attack.

Timeskip

A completely one-sided battle. Gary's Arcanine went on the offensive while Typhlosion controlled both defense and offence. With a perfect teamwork, their team earned victory. Ethan didn't even had to go all out, despite with a disadvantage.

"Not surprised. We will be in trouble if we had to face them," Nate said.

"Don't let it get to you. They are using this as a perfect opportunity to lower confidence of the other trainers like us. And the chance of fighting them is a 1 out of 13," said Ash.

'If we end up battling them, I will have to take it seriously.'

One after another, the battles started to occur as the clash of moves and cheering from the crowds every second. Round A and Round B were having their battles one by one. When Round A battles, Round B watches and vice versa.

Ash saw how the deadly pair of May and Dawn snatched their victory in the first match. I doubt any normal person would've any confidence left in them after seeing a performance like that. Their teamwork was on a whole different league.

"Now fourth match of Round A."

"Finally, our turn," Nate said anxiously, as he was itching to show off his skills.

Ash and Nate went to the battlefield as their opponents came as well. They were S Class students, but not someone they knew. It was Ash's first time in a while in a stage like this and he too, was excited just as Nate.

"Release your pokemons," the referee called.

"Pikachu."

"Lucario."

Ash and Nate respectively called their partner pokemon on the battlefield. Their opponent was an Altaria and a Jolteon.

"Ready? Battle Begin."

"Use Dragon Pulse."

Altaria opened its mouth and fired a powerful beam at Pikachu and Lucario, as they both reflexively dodged the attacks. Their opponents kept pushing the battle, not wasting a moment.

"Jolteon, use Double Team."

"Altaria, Ice Beam."

Altaria fired an Ice Beam towards the battlefield and freezing it completely. Dozens of Jolteon were now running around charging up a Shadow Ball.

'Not a bad strategy. But it can be easily broke through,' thought Ash as he gave his command.

"Use Iron Tail on the battlefield."

Pikachu smirked, knowing Ash would say that. It's tail gathered energy, as it jumped and smashed it onto the battlefield. The entire ice field broke into pieces from that single attack, as Jolteon immediately lost balance.

"Nate!"

"Got it! Lucario, Aura Sphere."

Seeing the opportunity, Nate commanded his Lucario as it fired two Aura spheres at their opponent. Their health bar dropped by a considerable amount after that, while Pikachu and Lucario's were still full.

The audience started to cheer for them.

"That got through out of that one," Barry said with a sigh.

"Yeah."

"Hey Chloe," a voice said and Chloe immediately cringed.

"Goh...hi," she said with an irritated look.

Goh laughed as he sat beside her.

"Don't look so down. I am an audience too you know," he said.

"Yeah...just don't bother me."

"I won't. Besides I wanna see Round A's battle for a while. That's your team, isn't it?" he asked. Chloe nodded in response.

'Is that the guy Chloe's infatuated with? I have to look out for him,' he thought with a tensed look.

"Nee~ Dawn. I wanna ask. How good is Ash?" Leaf asked as she watched their battle from a far.

"I feel like your question has a double meaning," Dawn doubted, narrowing her eyes. "Anyways, yeah he is pretty good. You can say he always manages to pull out a win even from the toughest predicament," she said. Leaf looked intrigued by her words.

"Is that so? He is more interesting than I thought," Leaf muttered with a unreadable look on her face.

Back to the Battle

"Time for counterattack. Lucario, Extreme Speed."

"Pikachu, follow him using Quick Attack."

Lucario dangerously approached their opponents, shortly followed by Pikachu who was catching upto them.

"Jolteon, use Discharge on Lucario."

Before the attack hit him, Pikachu stood on the ground implanting its tail, absorbing the entire attack in a second.

Gasps were heard from the crowd.

"Woah, what was that?" Nate asked.

"Its just a small countermeasure against Electric type moves. I don't even need to command Pikachu for it. Kind of a reflex you could say," he explained.

"That's dope Ash."

"Save the praises," he said with a smirk and gave his next command.

"Use Electroweb."

Pikachu threw a huge net made out of electricity, one at Jolteon and another Altaria, trapping them completely. He did it so fast, that none of the trainers were able to react to it.

Lucario quickly followed through, and fired two Aura Spheres at point blank range. After taking the hit, both pokemon's health bar dropped below half. While Pikachu and Lucario just had a few scratches.

"Shit. This is bad."

"They are too fast."

The opponent trainers realized their situation. Only three minutes were left.

"Let's finish this Ash. That strategy we discussed," Nate implied, as Ash immediately understood.

"Pikachu, use IronTail on the battlefield. As hard as you can."

The mouse pokemon jumped and accumulated the steel type move in its tail, before slamming in the middle of the battlefield but with more power than before. The impact shook the ground as the battlefield was destroyed and pieces of rocks flew in the air.

"Dammit Ash! This isn't an anime. We need money to fix that shit!" Professor Oak yelled in the mic.

'Did he really just said?!' thought Gary, with a dumbfounded look.

"Alright Lucario. Use Bone Rush," Nate commanded.

The Aura Pokemon performed its last move, as it drew a long, rigid bone from its paws and started to strike the rocks that were still in midair. The chaos distracted their opponents long enough for them to notice that it was too late.

"Altaria/Jolteon!"

The rocks directly hit them followed by a Thunderbolt from Pikachu.

A huge explosion occured and after the dust settled down, Altaria and Jolteon were lying on the ground, their health bar now zero.

"The winner of this match is Team Ash and Nate."

The crowd started to applaud loudly by the amazement of the match.

"Oh yeahhh they did it!" Barry yelled. Chloe and the others were clapping too.

"I must say, their teamwork has by far, been the best," Goh praised.

"You are praising?! That's rare," said Chloe.

"H-hey, even I know when to acknowledge someone. Besides," he said and trailed off, gazing at the battlefield.

"That Pikachu is something else. I am not sure if anyone else have noticed it, but the speed, intelligence and battle prowess it showed was not of an ordinary pokemon," he said, thoughtfully.

"Well, Pikachu is Ash's first pokemon. I guess they have a lot of experience together in battle," said Chloe. Even though she said that, she couldn't help but notice the things Goh pointed out. Was the bond merely enough reason for that level of strength?

"Nice job Ash," Nate said, high-fiving him.

"You too Nate. Let's win the others too," he said smiling as both of them got back to the stands.

"Looks like we'll have to watch out for these two," someone commented as they passed by.

"Good battle out there," said Gary. Ash nodded at him. He noticed that Ethan was looking at him.

"It's just the first one. Hope we will be able to maintain this in the next two as well," said Nate, hopefully.

"Don't think we will just standby and let you through," a new voice spoke from behind them. They turned and saw a guy with dark blue hair. His eyes were sharp and his white trainer jacket was zipped upto the top, covering neck. Nate approached him and fist bumped him with a grin.

"Looks we meet again Hugh," Nate said. The said person just smiled and nodded. "Indeed."

Another boy, a bit shorter than Hugh came from behind him. He had dark green hair and similar eyes.

"How's it going Sawyer?" Ethan greeted after noticing him. He smiled in return.

"Great! It feels really exciting when all strong trainers are gathered in one spot," he said.

"He is the guy I was talking about. Ash, meet Hugh," Nate introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Ash said with a nod.

"Yes. Likewise. You two have excellent teamwork," Hugh complimented. Though, Ash couldn't help but notice the bitterness in his voice. Nate put an arm on his shoulder.

"Don't get sad buddy. We still are partners and best friends you know."

"W-what? I don't know what are you talking about," Hugh said curtly, clearly embarrassed that Nate saw through him. Ash smiled at them. He noticed their relation was just like him and Gary.

The group of trainers quickly got acquainted started chatting among themselves. Ash was surprised at just how quickly people of the same interests and hobby could get along so easily. Gary, Ethan, Hugh and Sawyer were from S Class while he and Nate were from D. Ash wondered if they would stuck out as sore thumb, but that didn't seem to be the case. Everyone here was a strong trainer and that's all that mattered at the moment. Maybe if Nate was a bit more attentive in his studies, he could have made to at least Class A. But he didn't seem to mind his position at the moment. Ash felt the same way. He was glad he decided to place himself in Class D.

The battles continued. Ash and the others looked admiringly at the battles of Round B. May and Dawn were dominating the battles with their respective eeveelutions. Despite being coordinators, they were extremely strong trainers. Dawn had gotten much stronger than back when Ash met her. Her battle instincts were impressive.

Now that Ash noticed, it seems that their Round had the most strongest trainers. Since it was decided with a shuffle, there is not much to be done. But the power difference was pretty obvious. That's why, May and Dawn had no problem sweeping their opponents.

The next two battles went smoothly for Ash and Nate. They used the same pokemon and claimed victories in all three battles. Their opponents this time were considerably less stronger.

Now, it was the time for the Round finals, which is the three way battle.

"Who would've thought," said Ethan, laughing in amusement.

"That we would end up together," said Sawyer.

"Phrasing Sawyer. That sounds gay," Gary pointed.

The three groups that were qualified were Ash/Nate, Ethan/Gary and Sawyer/Hugh. And they will be facing each other in this next battle, which will determine the Round Winner of this competition.