Hi everyone. This being the final chapter and all... I'd like to say thanks for reading this story. I really did enjoy writing every word of it. You all made this possible! It's kinda weird to be finishing this story since... well, this story's been around for almost as long as I've been writing on this site, and it's the first story of mine that I started and actually finished properly. You all rock!

As for the results of the poll... well, you guys voted, and here are the results!

Winner: Pokemon: The Fellowship of the Aura - 37 votes

Runner-Up: Pokemon: Everlasting - 32 votes

Bronze Medal: Pokemon: The Incapables - 18 votes

Certificate of Participation: Pokemon: Ketchum's Bizzare Adventure - 13 votes

And those are the results!

Q&A

TheNightstriker

will ash be publishing the other pokemon games considering he made red and blue will he make the others?

Answer: Yes.

Okay, enjoy the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Yeah, whatever. Don't own it.

Finale: Part 2

Rematches

The Sun's golden rays shone upon two sleeping lovers, giving them both the most gentle of glows. In nothing but a pink negligee, the honey-blonde beauty's arms were loosely wrapped around her husband's clothed chest, showing that the previous night was not one of adult activity but one of innocent cuddling and embracing. It was truly a beautiful scene, one that made it quite obvious that these two beings had a love between eachother like no other.

The honey blonde's cerulean eyes slowly opened, and much to her pleasure, she found her husband's light brown ones staring right back. She smiled; she loved him oh so much. He had let his facial hair grow out recently, giving him a black stubble that made her love his visage even more. She then peeked over his shoulder, briefly focusing her eyes on the clock.

It was 11:53am.

"RED, GET UP!" screamed Serena, action-rolling out of their hotel bed, skillfully landing on her feet.

Red sat up, greatly disappointed with the abrupt end to the moment the two were having. He watched as Serena began to pillage and ransack the room, searching for an object that, evidently, was hidden quite well.

"Where is it where is it where is it?" she cried, frantically opening random drawers and moving random tables. Red had done absolutely nothing yet, but the two had been together for so long that Serena could practically read his mind. So she turned to him, eyes wide in what Red perceived as aggravation. "What do you mean 'what am I looking for?! I'm looking for the TV remote! Coverage of Ash's battle starts in 7 minutes! What the hell, Red?! You said you set our alarm to wake us up at 10 o'clock!"

Red looked at his phone, which lay on the nightstand near his side of the bed. He grabbed it and checked the alarm, and it did say 10:00... but it was the wrong 10:00. Red turned to Serena and grinned sheepishly.

"You set it to 10:00pm?! AGAIN?!" roared Serena, her anger at the point that she wanted to throw something at him. "This is like, the 5th time! Learn how to set an alarm you freaking goal-scoring wife-impregnating simpleton!"

With that, Serena returned to tearing the room apart in search of the remote. Red simply watched, and when he had seen enough unnecessary panic, he grabbed the TV remote, which was right by his pillow the entire time. He turned on the TV, causing Serena to pause everything and stare at the screen. She then looked at Red, who waved the remote in the air rather politely.

"You... you had it the whole time?" said Serena, in a tone that made it sound more like a statement than a question. Red nodded. Serena's eyes narrowed. "If there was time, I'd give you the speech of the century as to why you shouldn't put your 2-months pregnant wife through such a frenzy when you have what she's looking for right next to you. But the battle's about to start, so shut up and watch."

Red rolled his eyes at the words 'shut up'. He spoke so often. Catching the eye roll, Serena flicked his forehead.

"You know what I meant." she growled, looking at the TV.

Red really didn't know what she meant, but decided to just let it slide and watch the battle. It was 12:00, and right on time, video feed of an enormous stadium appeared on the screen.

...

"Goooood morning ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Triple C; the Celadon City Colosseum! I'm Reggie McGoobersplatt, and this is my partner, Athos the Rhyming Commentator! Today we have a special treat for you all! Tell 'em, Athos!"

"Come one, come all," sang Athos. "to what will surely be the grandest of pokemon brawls! Two young champions shall test their might today, in battle that will surely end in a spectacular way!"

"Yes Athos, it'll be quite the rip-snorting ho-down hoot'nanny of a battle indeed! Ash Ketchum, conqueror of the Johto League, will take on Trip Shooty, Champion of Unova! This is a battle between two of the top trainers in the world, and it's no secret that we're all going to be in for the snaggazooing of our lives! Athos, how many people do you think are in this stadium?"

"With what my 20/20 vision can see, I'm guessing sixty-thousand-ninety-three!"

"Close, but it's actually even more! A slarpadarping 70,000 people are in this stadium to watch this battle, and that's not even taking into account the people that are still on their way! And of course we can't forget our lovely, gorgeous, 100% attractive viewers watching the Battle of the Decade from home! The gooby-doobies back at HQ don't have the exact numbers yet, but I suspect this may be one of the most watched pokemon battles in history!"

"What a beautiful day, full of splendor and children screaming 'hurray!'. If only I could be half as good a trainer as these two battling men, I'd probably never take up this stupid commentating job again! Both trainers battle with such skill, such precision, choosing who will win is most definitely the hardest of decisions!"

"You got that right, Athos. If I were a gambling man, I'd have a hard time picking who to bet my spelumpkins on! We all know how powerful Trip Shooty is; we've seen countless battles from him. But Ash Ketchum is such a derpaclurp! He's only been seen in a handful of battles, but from what the world has seen, he's a force to be reckoned with! But the question all his supporters want answered is... has he been practicing? He's a busy man, Athos. Pokemon training is only a hobby of his, it's not his main pooperski-"

"Reggie, silence yourself for a minute or five, because it seems Trip Shooty has just arrived! Like a golden lion leading his pride, he's entering the building with a crap-load groupies and security guards by his side!"

...

Serena and Red watched as the camera changed to a view of Trip exiting his all-black limo with glow in the dark (even though it was sunny outside) rims. Beside him were two freakishly tall and muscular men in black suits, their arms alone seeming to have the thickness of a Christmas ham. Following him were at least 6 super models, all of them in the skimpiest of bathing suits. But to Red and Serena, Trip seemed to be the most ridiculous of them all.

He wore a shiny belt that had the words 'Champion of Unova' engraved in it.

He wore a sash that read 'Champion of Unova' in an elegant cursive font.

He wore a coat that had 'Unova Champ' emblazoned across his back.

He wore a crown that had the words 'Unova Champion' spread across the rim.

And to top it all off, he had a little sticker on his chest. The words "Hello, my name is:" were already printed on the sticker. But written in the blank space under those words was actual handwriting. But it didn't say "Champion of Unova" or any variant of such; instead, it said "You should already know my name".

Before she could spot any other garments that reminded her of Trip's status, Serena grabbed her cell phone and dialed May's cell phone number. It took unusually long for someone to pick up, since May was usually one to pick up quickly.

"Err... Hello?" answered a voice, one that clearly wasn't May's.

"Who is this? Why do you have May's phone? Where's May?" asked Serena in a merciless onslaught of questions.

"Um, this is Clemont. I'm one of the lead programmers for the Pokemon Franchise, as well as a close friend of Ash's. May is... busy right now."

"Busy? I'm her sister. There's no type of 'busy' in the world that can keep me from talking to her. But, for the sake of peace, I guess I'll let it slide... Put Ash on the phone instead."

"I'm afraid I can't do that either... Ash isn't here."

Serena's face scrunched up in confusion for a second, but then returned to its normal state. "Oh, is he on his way to the stadium?"

"Umm... we don't... we don't know exactly where he is."

"Come again?" asked Serena monotonously.

"Y'know, I think Tracey is more equipped to handle this." said Clemont hurriedly.

A few shuffles were heard over the phone, along with what sounded like angry yelling. Serena couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on. She had a never-ending stream of questions to ask, and as soon as Tracey picked up the phone, she'd unleash them.

"Hel-"

"Tracey!" shouted Serena. "Where are you guys? You should be entering or at least on your way to the stadium by now! Where's Ash?! He should be with you guys! Who's that yelling in the background? Is that May?! What's going on?! Where's Max?! How come he's not calming our sister down?! The next time I visit home he's gonna get it-"

"Serena, I can only answer so many questions at once." said Tracey calmly.

"Then start answering!" she roared.

Red simply watched as Serena spoke at unnecessarily loud volumes, her voice far louder than the TV. Ever since she had found out she was pregnant (for real this time) she had been experiencing mood swings and moments of extremely uncalled-for aggravation. Red, of course, was completely used to it, since that was what was supposed to happen during pregnancy (at least from what he knew). But to those who didn't know of her state, (Tracey and Cilan) it more than likely came off as crazy.

Red waited to hear Tracey answer Serena's command, but it took him a while.

"...Well, to start things off, we are on our way to the Triple C. We'll be there in a little over 5 minutes. We don't have a clue where Ash is. According to May, he just got up and flew away on his Charizard after she tried to 'talk about things' with him. And yes, that is May yelling in the background. She's really angry right now. Max can't cheer her up, because Max is driving right now and he's trying to focus on the road. Any other questions?"

"Listen Tracey, I don't need your sass." spat Serena.

"Why are you even calling anyway?" asked Tracey, with even more sass.

"I was gonna tell Ash to kick Trip's smug Unova Chump ass, but I can't do that if he's not there. But what I can do is calm May down. Give her the phone."

Serena waited for Tracey to hand May the phone. Of course she couldn't see what was going on inside their car, but she could tell the phone was getting closer to May simply by the sound of May's voice getting louder and louder.

"WHAT?!" barked May, nearly blowing out Serena's eardrum.

"Good morning to you too." greeted Serena sarcastically.

"1) IT'S THE AFTERNOON! 2) SHUT UP!" shouted the brunette. "IF YOU'RE CALLING TO CALM ME DOWN, YOU MIGHT AS WELL HANG UP NOW BECAUSE I AM PISSED! THERE IS GOING TO BE TROUBLE IF ASH DOESN'T APOLOGIZE! FUCK THE BATTLE, IF I FIND HIM AFTERWARDS AND THE FIRST THING HE SAYS ISN'T AN APOLOGY... HE WILL FACE THE WRATH OF A THOUSAND HITMONCHANS CONCENTRATED INTO MY BACKHAND BITCH-SLAP! HE WILL KNOW FEAR, HE WILL EXPERIENCE HORRORS OF THE MOST UNFATHOMABLE NATUR-"

"May calm down." ordered Serena, holding the phone a few inches away from her ear to avoid any further damage. "Now I want you to take a deep breath and tell me what happened. Please stop yelling, there's really no need to raise your voice."

"The irony..." muttered Tracey in the background.

"Okay." said May, taking a deep breath. "Long story short, I tried talking to Ash about a really important topic, and he hopped on his Charizard and flew off. We were talking about something really important, and he decided to leave to go think about his battle!"

"Did he say he was going to go think about his battle?"

"No, he said he was going to think about a couple things regarding today. Besides his battle, what else is today?"

"...Nothing, I guess." lied Serena, beginning to realize what was truly going on. "I guess I'm angry at him too. What a schmuck."

"A super schmuck! After I kick his ass, which will be after he kicks Trip's ass, I want you to call him and verbally kick his ass!"

"Will do, May." said Serena with a chuckle. "Will do."

"Okay, we're arriving at the Triple C now, I have to get off the phone. I'll call you tonight."

"Alright. Try not to assault Ash too much, you never know what he's got planned. He doesn't seem like the type of guy to walk out of an important conversation without a reason."

"I guess..." grumbled May. "Bye."

"Bye." Serena hung up the phone, turning to Red. "She has no idea he's going to propose after the battle. She said they were talking about something important... they were definitely talking about marriage. Why else would Ash leave? And what would he be 'thinking' about when he left? Certainly not the battle, since proposing is what he considers the main event of today."

Red tilted his head.

"Yeah, I know." continued Serena. "Winning the battle is part of his proposing plan. So where the heck is he? The battle starts soon..."

The couple returned their attention to the TV, where, coincidentally, the commentators were thinking the same exact thing...

...

"So with Trip Shooty making his absolutely clurfognarlic entrance into the stadium, we all have no choice but to wonder; where is his opponent? The poppercoons at HQ have just notified us that Ash Ketchum's dear friends and associates have just entered the stadium, but he's not among them! Quite the skiddlemagoo! What could be the meaning of this, Athos?"

"The greatest of mysteries; if left unanswered, it will leave a mark on history... Where the fuck could he be? Not even one with gifted eyes like me could see. For the sake of a distraction, I suppose I should point out that Trip Shooty appears to be ready for action!"

"Smaggadowow! You're right, Athos! Ladies and gentlemen, Trip Shooty has entered the battlefield! Wow Athos, you can just hear the crowd's screams and cheers intensifying!"

As he walked to his side of the battlefield, Trip waved at countless people, even winking at some girls. Once he made it to his station, he looked around, the proudest of smirks on his face. Once he had spent enough time bathing in cheers, he cast took off all his Unova Champion gear, revealing his outfit. He wore a pair of designer black jeans, an orange sweater, and dark green fingerless gloves. His shoes were the newest pair of Air Magikarp sneakers, the Air Magikarp 13s. Attached to his belt were 6 ultra-balls, each of them shining in the Sun's light.

At the removal of his extra garments, the crowd erupted into even more cheers.

"Well, it is officially time for the battle to begin folks!" roared Reggie McGoobersplatt. According to the the rules, Ash Ketchum has 5 minutes to arrive or it's an automatic forfeit! Let's hope it doesn't come to that, because that'd be a flaggadociously bad turn of events!"

...

"Oh gosh, if Ash doesn't show up, who knows how this'll affect our sales..." murmured Clemont, twiddling his thumbs nervously. Everyone had already found their seats. Of course, since they were Ash's closest friends, they were given front row seats. Clemont was on the far left, and next to him was Cilan, and then Tracey, and then Max, and finally May on the right end. Clemont looked at everyone else, and saw that their faces were relatively neutral and in no way worried (except May, who's face was stuck in a perpetual scowl). "You guys aren't worried?"

"Calm down, Clemont." ordered Tracey with a sigh. "He'll come."

"Yeah, it's not like Ash to walk away from a pokemon battle." concurred Max.

"But it's not like him to disappear either!" cried Clemont. "If he doesn't show, we have no idea how this will affect the Pokemon franchise. The possibilities are endless!"

"You're telling me how it'll affect sales?" asked Tracey with a snort. "Dude, you're a programmer. It's literally my job to spend most of my day making sure the game looks good and that we're adding features that'll make the game sell. I really don't think Ash missing a battle will lower the franchise's profit. You're overreacting to the extreme."

"What he said." agreed Cilan.

Clemont was still unconvinced. "Bu-"

"Clemont, put it to rest." ordered May. "He'll come. He did disappear for the sole purpose of thinking about the battle. Ash doesn't chicken out when it comes to things like this. You may have worked with him for over 10 years now, but I've been dating him for 9, and I've lived with him for 3. You don't know him better than I do."

"...What she said." agreed Cilan.

"How much time does he have left?" asked Max.

"According to the large timer conveniently hanging in the center of the stadium, 2 minutes left." answered Tracey, looking at the large timer conveniently hanging in the center of the stadium. "C'mon Ash... hurry up..."

1 and a half minutes later...

"Well Athos, according to the incredibly convenient Clock-O-Tron-O-Matic 4000 in the center of the stadium, Ash Ketchum only has 30 seconds left to arrive! Do you think he'll make it?" asked Reggie McGoobersplatt.

"Reggie, I'm freaking the fuck out. Last night I bet 10,000 pokedollars on Ketchum because I thought he'd win without a doubt. The validity of my fear... is becoming crystal fucking clear. He's not gonna come, and a large blow to my bank account will be done!"

"Woah, take it down a notch, he's still got 30 seconds Athos! Anything can happen!"

"Look at fuckin' Trip Shooty, flashing his smug-ass grin... but then again, he should be grinning; by default, he's gonna win! Fan-fucking-tastic, only 15 seconds to go! Whether I'll ever recover from the loss of 10,000 dollars, I'll never know!"

"Athos, quit your clergdurpin' for a second!" shouted Reggie as he looked upwards, his eyes widening in astonishment. He pointed towards an object fast approaching on the horizon, mouth agape and finger trembling in excitement. "With just 10 seconds left, something appears in the sky! Is it a bird? No way! Is it a plane?! Hell naw! It's... it's... A HELICOPTER!"

And so it was. The helicopter flew across the stadium.

"Just thought I should point that out. I like helicopters." said Reggie calmly. "And, would you look at that, Ash Ketchum's here."

Everyone (even the camera-men) had been so busy looking at the helicopter that Reggie had pointed out that not a single person in the stadium or watching at home saw Ash Ketchum appear on his side of the field, Pikachu on shoulder. His face was completely straight, not a single emotion present on it. Unlike Trip, Ash did not arrive decked out in superfluous gear and add-ons. He was wearing a pair of khaki-colored cargo shorts, a sky blue short-sleeved button-up shirt, and a pair of basic white sneakers. He eyed Trip from across the battlefield, waiting for him to notice his presence.

Being one of the first people to look down at Ash, May's eyes widened.

"What the- He's here... but those aren't the clothes he left in! And he didn't leave with Pikachu! Did he come back home AFTER I left?! How in the world... dammit, curse him and his mysterious behavior as of late!" she thought, clenching her fists. She then looked around and noticed that quite a few people were still watching the helicopter fly off into the distance, seeming to be absolutely dazzled by the beauty of modern air-travel. May rolled her eyes. "How's the battle gonna start if everyone's looking at that damn helicopter?!"

Fortunately, the helicopter didn't occupy everyone's attention forever. Trip finally looked down from the helicopter, and the first thing he saw was Ash standing on the opposite side of the battlefield, looking right at him. His mouth cracked open, a startled look in his eyes.

"How the hell did you get there! You just... appeared!" he exclaimed, pointing to Ash.

"Not really..." answered Ash, raising an eyebrow. "I just walked in like any normal person would. Everyone seemed to be looking up at the sky when I did though."

The shock immediately left Trip's face, being replaced with a competitive half-smile. He changed the center of his attention from his opponent to the yellow rodent sitting on it's shoulder.

"I see you brought your Pikachu. Good. I wouldn't be satisfied if I won without you using him."

"Good for you." answered Ash, his tone a bored one. "Can we start now?"

"Impatient, are we? Well, I hope you're ready then." replied Trip, grabbing an ultra-ball from his belt. "I'm gonna win this, but you better make it tough. Crushing opponents is fun, but a close battle is even better."

"You keep saying that you're gonna win..." sighed Ash, pokeball in hand. "I'm no psychologist, but I'm guessing that must be your way of coming to terms with the fact that you can't win. I hate to disappoint, but this is gonna end the same way it did all those years ago... the only difference is the number of people watching."

"I'm not the same trainer I was back then, Ketchum." said Trip seriously, clutching his ultra-ball a little harder. "I've grown. I've seen the world. I've battled battles you couldn't even picture in your wildest dreams, fought fights that even the most hardened Metapods couldn't withstand. I've rode the powerful Rapidash known as fate, and not only did I ride it, I've taken it by the reins and used my spurs of destiny to lead my life down the most fruitful path! No Ketchum, I'm not the same trainer I was back then... I'm stronger, faster, better! I've become the man I've always dreamed being, and the final step in my life-long odyssey has finally come. I will beat you here and now, completing my very existence! For nearly a decade this has been written in our destinies, the prophetic clash between two transcendent trainers! The day is here! I will win!"

"Cool."

A referee walked onto the field, two flags in hand.

"This will be a 6-on-6 battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, and Trip Shooty of Pallet Town. There will be no substitutions! The first person to lose all 6 pokemon is the loser. Are both combatants ready?" Both trainers nodded. The referee waved his flags downward. "Then begin!"

"Vanilluxe, let's do this!" called Trip, tossing the yellow, black, and white ball into the air. In a flash of white light, Vanilluxe appeared, ready for battle.

"An ultra-ball for that thing..." mumbled Ash, throwing his own pokeball onto the field. "*sigh* whatever. Snorlax, I choose you."

In a flash of light, a large Snorlax appeared. Aware of Ash's battle against Trip, it looked around, expecting a worthy opponent. The Sleep Pokemon was sorely disappointed when all it saw was a smiling double scoop of ice-cream floating in mid-air.

"Snorlaaaaaaxxx..." groaned Snorlax, looking at Ash with clear disappointment.

"Don't worry, if you beat Ben & Jerry over there, I'm sure you'll get to fight some of Trip's tougher-looking pokemon." assured Ash. Then he paused. "Assuming that he has any."

"You talk a lot of shit for someone who's not paying attention!" called Trip from the other side of the battlefield. "Vanilluxe, freeze him with an Ice Beam!"

"It's called multi-tasking, Trip." replied Ash. "Snorlax, Protect!"

With a mighty cry, Vanilluxe shot a large beam of ice straight towards Snorlax, who seemed to bracing himself. The beam was tearing towards Snorlax quite fast, but there seemed to be no sense of urgency visible in the Sleep Pokemon. With his feet planted firmly in the ground, Snorlax put his two paws in front of him, generating a green barrier. The Ice Beam bounced harmlessly off the Protect, ceasing to exist soon after.

"Good job, Snorlax. Now, hit him with a Hyper Beam." ordered Ash.

"A Hyper Beam? Are you kidding?!" asked Trip incredulously.

"A Hyper Beam?!" shrieked Serena. "Is he serious?!"

Red shrugged.

"A Hyper Beam?! Why would he order Snorlax to do an attack like that?" cried Clemont.

Max, Cilan, and Tracey all asked similar questions to themselves.

"Shmowzow! Athos, what do you think possessed Ash Ketchum to order his pokemon to do an attack like that?!" asked Reggie McGoobersplatt, slamming both hands on his table in excitement.

"I too am at a loss Reggie," replied Athos the Rhyming Commentator, watching as yellow-orange energy began to build up in Snorlax's eyes. "Every pokemon has to take a break after an attack that heavy. It seems Ketchum made that choice with not much wit, because after that Hyper Beam, his Snorlax will be wide open to be hit!"

Snorlax fired the Hyper Beam from his eyes, sending dual beams of pain barreling straight towards Vanilluxe, one beam for each scoop of ice-cream.

"Vanilluxe, dodge and counter with Icicle Spear!" barked Trip.

Vanilluxe narrowly dodged the Hyper Beam, and wasted no time in shooting a barrage of icy projectiles at Ash's Snorlax. The icicle spears looked extremely sharp, and they seemed like they'd do plenty of damage. Winded from the Hyper Beam, Snorlax could do nothing but watch as the spears of ice raced towards him.

"I can't believe you used a Hyper Beam when your opponent's Pokemon is at full strength! You left your Snorlax completely open! A novice mistake, Ketchum. Now you'll pay the price!" jeered Trip just as the icicles were about to make contact with Snorlax.

The attack connected, creating a cloud of dust around Snorlax. Ash was also consumed in the dust cloud, hiding his facial expression from everyone.

"And it seems like first blood goes to Trip Shooty!" observed Reggie. "There was no way those icy spears of death missed their target!"

The cloud of dust began to clear, slowly but surely revealing both the pokemon and trainer that had been concealed in it. The crowd fell into silence as everyone focused their attention on Snorlax. The dust around Ash cleared up first, allowing everyone to see how unimpressed he was. Right after, the dust around Snorlax dissipated, and what the spectators saw shocked them. Instead of a pokemon attempting to recover from a direct attack, they saw one that looked like it hadn't been attacked at all. In fact, one of the icicles that had been so dangerously shot at the pokemon was hanging out of its mouth, as if it were candy.

"What?! That was a direct attack! You can't tell me that thing took it and isn't hurt at all!" bellowed Trip, losing what little cool he had to begin with.

"One of a Snorlax's most notable traits is its high defense. Any champion should know that." said Ash, flashing his first smirk of the day. "It'll take a lot more than a couple ice shards to do some real damage. Now, Snorlax, use Mega Punch!"

"Vanilluxe, Icicle Spear again! Full power! Show him your true icy potential!"

Both pokemon shouted their names in compliance. Snorlax began a mad dash across the field, it's fist building up a dazzling white glow as the large pokemon rushed towards its opponent. Vanilluxe put on its game face(s) and charged even more icy daggers, launching them towards Snorlax with twice as much speed as before. Like a young child running through harmless snowflakes, Snorlax rushed through the Icicle Spears, each one shattering on contact.

"Shit," swore Trip, watching as Snorlax grew closer and closer to Vanilluxe, Mega Punch fully charged. But just then, an absolutely brilliant idea appeared in his mind. "Oh! Vanilluxe! Quick, use-"

It was too late. Snorlax's fist clashed with one of Vanilluxe's faces, causing the pokemon to enter an uncontrollable spin.

"Swipe it a couple times to make it spin faster." ordered Ash.

Snorlax did just that, only stopping when Vanilluxe was no more than a light blue blur. Trip glared at Ash with gritted teeth.

"Come on, Vanilluxe! He's making a fool out of you! Snap out of it and get him with a Blizzard attack!" yelled Trip.

"Proooobably not gonna happen." answered Ash in Vanilluxe's stead. "Snorlax, wrap up Round 1 with another Hyper Beam."

Snorlax glared down at the still spinning Vanilluxe, eyes once again building up with yellow-orange energy. With a triumphant roar, Snorlax released the energy, hitting its target with impeccable accuracy. The resulting blast sent Vanilluxe rolling across the battlefield, the living ice-cream skidding to a halt right by Trip's feet.

"Vanilluxe is unable to battle! The first match goes to Ash Ketchum!" announced the referee.

"Dammit Vanilluxe... you were my strongest pokemon..." said Trip, returning Vanilluxe into the pokeball.

"You... you're kidding, right?" asked Ash. "How did you beat the Unova League if that was your strongest pokemo-"

"Of course I was kidding, Ketchum. Vanilluxe is nothing compared to the rest of my team. I just used him to gauge how strong you are." said Trip, crossing his arms. "I now know that you're still just as good as you used to be... maybe even better."

"Thanks, but that's a load of bullshit." observed Ash dryly. "I'm pretty sure you already knew I'd be a worthy opponent. I've done enough research on my spare time to tell you what really happened just now. From your battles that I've seen, you only use that double-scoop of dairy when it has a type advantage over your opponent. Doing that is great and all, but relying on a type advantage for so long eventually leads to a misunderstanding. You think your pokemon is strong because it wins all the battles, but really, it's only its natural advantage over its opponent that's giving it all the wins. I hope you haven't trained all your pokemon like Vanilla Ice over there, because if you did, you won't be winning any time soon; My pokemon are specially trained to deal with type disadvantages."

"Hmph. My pokemon are trained in secret battle strategies that you'll never understand, Ketchum." replied Trip haughtily, grabbing his next pokemon from his belt. "Talk all you want. Talk is cheap. You may think you know all there is to know in pokemon battling, but you have a lot to learn, and I'm gonna teach you a lesson or two! Now, prepare to meet the demise of your Snorlax! Go, Conkeldurr!"

"Conkeldurr..." muttered Tracey, narrowing his eyes as a brown ogre-like creature with a big red nose materialized from Trip's ultra-ball. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a Fighting Type pokemon?"

"Yes." answered Cilan with a nod.

"Normal Type pokemon like Snorlax take double damage from Fighting Types like Conkeldurr, right?" continued Tracey, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes." answered Cilan with a nod.

"So he's doing exactly what Ash was just talking about?" asked Tracey, shoulders slumping in disbelief.

"Yes." answered Cilan with a nod.

Tracey glared at Cilan. "Can you do anything other than answer yes with a nod-"

"I think what Trip is trying to do is prove that he doesn't care about what Ash is saying." observed Clemont. The blonde's sudden entrance into the conversation caught both Tracey and Cilan off guard, giving him their full attention. "From what I remember in high school, Trip is a pretty stubborn guy. My guess is that Ash hit the nail right on the head when he described Trip's battle style. In response to that, Trip's going to try to make Ash look like the fool by beating his Snorlax, which, as Ash said, is specially trained to deal with a type disadvantage."

"Hm, interesting." replied Max, adjusting his glasses. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel like there was a little truth to Trip's words earlier. He is a champion..."

"What are you trying to say?" asked May, breaking her silence. She hadn't spoken since they got into their seats, opting to keep to her own thoughts. In her silence Clemont, Tracey, Max, and Cilan nearly forgot about her. The tone of her voice seemed to cast a wave of slight discomfort and anxiety over the 4 young men, causing each of them to shift around uncomfortably.

Being the one that May was talking to, Max had no choice but to speak up.

"I- um, I was just trying to say that I don't think the rest of Trip's pokemon are going to be as easy to defeat as Vanilluxe was. I mean, yeah he probably relies too much on type advantages, but his pokemon still need to be pretty strong to get him to..." Max began to trail off as he realized that May was slowly leaning towards him in a threatening manner, her eyes growing more and more narrow with each word. With a nervous gulp, he continued. "But y'know Ash has totally got this in the bag so there's no need to worry about anything hahahahahah."

May slowly gravitated back to her seat, giving Max the same "you got lucky this time, punk" look a Pyroar gives its prey when they manage to escape. Max sighed in relief, proceeding to glare at May out of the corner of his eye.

"She's mad at Ash... but she still wants him to win... *sigh* why aren't they married yet?" he thought, returning his attention to the battle between Snorlax and Conkeldurr.

...

"Wow, what an intense battle, Athos! Trip Shooty's Conkeldurr seems to be quite the match for Ash Ketchum's Snorlax! These two powerhouses are knocking the glepurpyderps out of each other!"

"Like the mightiest of beasts, they battle like drunk men at a king-sized feast! A ferocious fight indeed, their blows are becoming quite hard to read!"

"Trip Shooty really seems to be barking out those orders..." observed Reggie, watching as Trip shouted a string of attacks for Conkeldurr to perform. "His Conkeldurr is going toe to toe with Ketchum's Snorlax. It all seems evenly matched, but there's one thing that tells me otherwise!"

"1, 2, 3, what might that be?"

"Ketchum is silent!"

"I noticed that." agreed Serena. Red raised an eyebrow, prompting Serena to explain. She pointed to a spot on the screen. "Look at Ash."

Red scooted a focused on the area Serena was pointing to, which was Ash. He was simply standing there. He seemed to be staring straight ahead, but even on the TV it was clear he wasn't paying much attention to the fight. He seemed to have zoned out, entering a world of thought.

"Since the fight with Conkeldurr began, Ash hasn't said a single thing. Snorlax is fighting on its own. Why isn't Ash ordering Snorlax?" asked Serena.

"This is taking forever..." thought Ash exasperatedly. "Why can't Trip just forfeit or something? I've been saying all these cool one-liners and disses in hopes that he'd lose his spirit and give up... The courage I worked so hard to build up all night is slowly slipping away... I need to propose to May before it's all gone..."

Ash looked around, his eyes widening immediately. It seemed Snorlax was in a battle with another one of Trip's pokemon.

"Shit, didn't know Snorlax was already fighting that Bob the Builder pokemon. I should probably give him some commands... nah, he seems to be doing pretty well on his own. I should trust him to handle it himsel-"

"Snorlax is unable to battle!" announced the referee, staring at the unconscious Sleep Pokemon.

"Dammit. I guess the rest of Trip's pokemon aren't as frail as Vanilla Deluxe." thought Ash, pulling Snorlax's pokeball out of his pocket. Once the pokemon was safely returned, Ash sighed and looked down at the ball. "Good job Snorlax, you were amazing out there."

"Looks like you have a little too much faith in your pokemon!" laughed Trip, crossing his arms triumphantly. "Did you really think your Snorlax could beat my Conkeldurr without any of your commands?! HAH! Another novice mistake on your part, Ketchum!"

"Don't get cocky now." warned Ash. He then did something that made Trip pause his laughter. It was a simple action, but all who'd seen Ash Ketchum battle before knew what it meant: shit of the utmost ass-whooping-ness was about to commence. Ash Ketchum had just turned his hat backwards. Slowly. Realizing this was not a good sign, Trip put on his game face. Ash smirked. "I'm just getting started. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, Trip."

"Oh please, try that on someone else." said Trip, unafraid. "I'm well aware of what happens when the hat is put on backwards. That transformation of yours may have helped you win battles in the past, but this is where it ends! Call out your next pokemon!"

"Meganium, I choose you!" yelled Ash, throwing a pokeball into the air. "Okay, for now, I need to stop thinking about proposing and focus on winning. Can't propose if I don't win. Let's just hope I can end this quickly..."

...

2 hours later

...

"Unfezant is unable to battle!"

Trip grabbed an ultra-ball from his belt and returned his unconscious pokemon, glaring at Ash menacingly as he did. The battle was long and stressful, but so far, Ash was dominating. The same things kept happening from the minute Ash turned his hat backwards: Ash's pokemon would beat Trip's, putting Ash in the lead. Then Trip would beat Ash's pokemon, tying the match. And then Ash's pokemon would beat Trip's again, putting Ash back in the lead.

"It's just a fucking hat! How can it affect his battling this much?!" thought the dirt-blonde champion with gritted teeth.

"You're looking kind of angry Trip. Nothing like what I thought you'd be like in a losing situation. When I looked up your stats on the day you sent me that e-mail, the search engine said you battle systematically and have a calm demeanor. You've been anything but those things today. Could it be because you know you're going to lose?"

"Mock me while you can Ketchum, because it's time to unleash my strongest pokemon! Serperior! Show him your serperiority!"

"Serperiority? I think you meant superiority, Tri-"

"It was on purpose, you snarky dick." growled Trip, tossing Serperior's ultra-ball into the sky.

In a flash of light, a familiar green snake appeared. As soon as the creature was visible, Pikachu, who had been watching the entire battle from Ash's shoulder, tensed up. Sparks began to fly from the rodent's electrical cheeks as it stared down its old serpentine adversary.

"Chuuu..."

"There, there, Pikachu." cooed Ash. "You'll get your turn. Feraligatr doesn't have much left in him anyway, plus, Serperior has a type advantage over him. He'll probably go down in one hit. After that, Serperior is allll yours."

"I see your Pikachu is eager; to lose that is!" laughed Trip. "Don't worry, Serperior will dispose of your Feraligatr in the blink of an eye, and then we'll get to the real battle; my Serperior against your Pikachu! Now, Serperior, take down that croc! Razor Leaf, let's go!"

"Seeerrrrperior!"

"Feraligatr, dodge!" ordered Ash as multiple green arcs of plant flew towards the blue bipedal crocodile.

Feraligatr, exhausted from its previous battle with Trip's Unfezant, did its best to comply. Unfortunately, not only was the attack too fast, Feraligatr was simply too slow. Serperior's attack hit its target, knocking it out. The referee stepped forward, making sure that Feraligatr was unconscious.

"Feraligatr is unable to batt-"

"Yeah whatever," snapped Ash. "let's do this, Pikachu!"

"Here it is, folks, the battle the began this knee-slappin' rivalry in the first place!" shouted Reggie McGoobersplatt as Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder, landing in a battle stance. "Word on the grapevine is that one day, in the yard of a high school, Trip Shooty was wrecking shop on a special day reserved for students battling one another. But, right as Trip had defeated a certain girl's Wartortle, a certain trainer emerged from the shadows, defeating Trip and his Serperior. That certain girl was May Maple, present-day girlfriend of that certain trainer, and that certain trainer was none other than ASH KETCHUM! HOT DIGGITY DOG!"

"Truly no better way to end the great battle we've been watching today." agreed Athos the Rhyming Commentator. "But as previously stated, I placed an obscene amount of cash on Ketchum's victory, so let's hope history repeats itself."

"Athos, I'm not trying to mess up your credibility or anything, but that second sentence didn't rhyme!"

"Oh, uh, I have no idea what you mean, uh, I'd never abandon my rhyme scheme, er... y'know what, fuck it. I'm done with the whole rhyming shtick. You know how hard it is to come up with this shit on the fly? It's hella hard, Reggie. My name's not even Athos, it's Matt. Fuck Athos the Rhyming Commentator, I'm now Matt, the Average Commentator. Look, the battle's starting. Everybody shut up and watch it."

Matt the Average Commentator was right, the battle was beginning. Both Trip and Ash stared each other down, waiting to see who'd make the first move...

It was Trip.

"Serperior, Vine Whip!" ordered Trip.

"Pikachu, dodge and use Quick attack!" countered Ash, taking this battle against Trip's Serperior more seriously than all the other battles.

From the stands, May gasped. Her gasp was loud enough to catch the attention of Max, Tracey, Cilan, and Clemont. Noticing the boys' eyes on her, May glared right back, silently telling them to back off.

"That's exactly how their battle 9 years ago started..." thought May, watching as Pikachu dodged Serperior's vines and followed through with the Quick Attack.

"Serperior, pull yourself together and use Slam!" ordered Trip, further freaking May out.

"That's what Trip told Serperior to do back then too!"

"Pikachu, meet that Slam attack with an Iron Tail!" commanded Ash.

"Holy guacamole, are they doing this on purpose?!" thought May, eyes wide and mouth open. "I guess I have been wanting history to repeat itself and all, but not to the extent of them doing the same exact moves..."

Coincidentally, as May thought of the similarities between the original battle and this new one, things began to differ. Instead of Pikachu's Iron Tail being a critical hit, the strength of Serperior's Slam seemed to match that of the Iron Tail, blowing both pokemon away from each other. Ash's eyes narrowed at this, while Trip's mouth curved upwards in a proud smirk.

"That's right, narrow those eyes, Ketchum. It ended differently that time. But does this mean my Serperior has gotten stronger, or has your Pikachu just gotten weaker?! Serperior, hit him with a Leaf Tornado so we can find out!"

Serperior jumped and began to spin on its head, the Regal Pokemon's tail straight up in the air. A green tornado began to grow on the tip of the tail, glowing leaves beginning to materialize. The tornado grew larger and larger, becoming more of a maelstrom. The people in the crowd began to feel the winds move their hairs, a testament to the power of Serperior's attack.

The intense winds made it all too clear to Ash that a move like that would probably do lots of damage.

"Double Team would be useless... the real Pikachu would probably get hit by that thing no matter what... so how can I dodge...?"

Serperior launched the attack, sending the torrent of leaves and wind straight towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Dig!" barked Ash, the idea coming to him in the nick of time.

Pikachu quickly dug a hole deep enough to protect himself from the Leaf Tornado. But of course, Ash was still in the attack's path. Thinking fast, Ash lunged out of the way, narrowly escaping what could've been a trip to the hospital. He landed in a forward roll, standing up immediately after.

"Pikachu, when you're ready, come up and use Iron Tail!"

"Brace yourself, Serperior. When he comes up, be ready to defend with Vine Whip."

And so the waiting game began. Serperior waited, Vine Whips already poised to strike. Both Ash and Trip also watched, waiting for Pikachu to decide to come out. Ash hadn't given Pikachu a certain area to come out from, making the entire battlefield a danger zone for Trip and Serperior.

"Come on bud... the best place to come up is behind Serperior... come on..."

"Heh," chuckled Trip, his eyes still looking for any indications of Pikachu. "Looks like your Pikachu's too scared to come ou-"

Just then, a yellow blur emerged from a patch of dirt right behind Serperior. Serperior turned around, the first thing the Regal Pokemon saw being Pikachu in the air with his tail already the color of iron. Pikachu swung his tail downwards, but the attack was halted by Serperior's vines. Unfazed, Pikachu swung his tail again, and Serperior blocked again.

"Piiii..." growled Pikachu, lifting his tail again. "KA! KA! PIKA! KACHU! KA!"

Pikachu began a merciless assault of repeated Iron Tails, all of them being blocked with Serperior's Vine Whips, which seemed to be of equal strength. But after a barrage of 11 strikes, Serperior's defenses began to weaken. The vines were becoming harder to control, while Pikachu's tail only seemed to get faster and faster with each swing. Finally, Pikachu reached a breakthrough; he swung downwards, and this time, there were no vines to stop the Iron Tail from smashing right into Serperior's head.

"And a direct hit!" shouted Reggie, beginning to sweat from the sheer excitement of the battle. "Oh skiddlydoo, that was amazing, eh Athos- I mean, Matt?"

"Yeah. Totally cool." answered Matt in a totally run-of-the-mill manner.

"Serperior, don't let him embarrass us again!" shouted Trip. "Use Swords Dance!"

While Pikachu returned to Ash's side of the field, Serperior closed its eyes and slithered around. Several green energy swords began to materialize around the snake, and when the dance was done, the energy that composed the swords channeled itself into Serperior, raising its attack power.

"Good, now use Leaf Storm!"

"Pikachu," said Ash warily. "Dodge, but be careful. Leaf Storm is already a strong move, but with that Swords Dance, it'll definitely pack a punch. Try to dodge with a Quick Attack."

Pikachu nodded, right as Serperior fired a small hurricane of leaves at him. Pikachu's Quick Attack was fast, but the Leaf Storm was simply faster. Unable to get his full body out of the way in time, Pikachu's hind legs were forced to endure Trip's attack.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash, watching as his yellow mouse was sent rolling across the field. "You okay bud?"

Pikachu slowly stood back up, hurt, but still conscious. The electric mouse turned to its trainer, nodding in assurance.

"Good to see." said Ash, relieved. "Okay, get 'em with a Thunderbolt!"

"Serperior, quick, use Double Team so he won't know who to hit!"

Before Pikachu could execute the Thunderbolt attack, countless Serperiors materialized around the field, each one looking just as real as the last. Deciding to aim for the one closest to Trip, Pikachu released the built up electricity. Unfortunately, it was just one of the many decoys of the Double Team.

"How're you gonna find the REAL Serperior, Ketchum? It seems like both our Pokemon don't have that much left in them! Your Pikachu can't afford to keep shooting Thunderbolts til he hits the right one!"

"Oh please, I know how to deal with a Double Team." declared Ash. "Pikachu, use your biggest Thunder Wave!"

"Thunder Wave?" asked Trip, with a snort. "What'll that do? You still don't know which Serperior is the real one!"

"But it's how I'll find out." answered Ash with a smirk.

"What...?" mumbled Trip as he looked at Pikachu.

The rodent was radiating random arcs of electricity, the golden energy ribbons spreading across the field in every direction. One by one, Serperior clones began to disappear, causing Ash to smirk even more and Trip to gasp.

"How?!"

"It's simple," said Ash, crossing his arms. "a powerful Thunder Wave's 100% accuracy makes it a perfect tool to get rid of pesky Double Teams. And since its not a damage dealing move, it doesn't take that much energy out of Pikachu. Each of the Double Team clones are being paralyzed by the Thunder Wave, causing them to disappear. When all of them are gone, there'll only be one left: the real one!"

"Dammit!" swore Trip, watching as Serperior's Double Team was destroyed. Just one Serperior was left, and it was on the far right of the battlefield. "Serperior, use Leech Seed!"

"Serrr..." growled the serpentine pokemon, building up a large amount of seeds in its mouth.

But halfway through the buildup, the paralysis from Pikachu's Thunder Wave surged, causing half the intended amount of seeds to shoot from its mouth. Unfortunately for Pikachu, half seemed to be enough. Vines grew from the seeds, ensnaring the yellow rodent before it could escape. Seeing that Pikachu was trapped in the leeching vines, Serperior let the paralysis overtake its body.

"It looks like I have this battle won, Ketchum." said Trip. "Both our Pokemon are unable to move. But my Serperior's only paralyzed while your Pikachu is in a much worse condition. Those leeching vines are going to continue chipping away of what energy Pikachu has left, slowly but surely rejuvenating Serperior. By the time your paralysis wears off, Serperior will be near full strength again, and your Pikachu will be on the ropes!"

Trip waited for Ash to say something like along the lines of 'oh no!' or 'darn', but those words were never said. Instead Ash did the exact opposite of what Trip wanted; he began to chuckle.

"What's so funny? I wouldn't be laughing if I were you."

"You think it's over," said Ash, looking at Trip. "But the binding capabilities of your Leech Seed don't count Pikachu out just yet. It only stops Pikachu from doing any attacks that involve moving his body, like Tackle, Iron Tail or Thunderbolt. But what if I were to command Pikachu to do a move that he could still execute in his bound state?"

"What move would that be? All Pikachu's electrical moves require some sort of movement! There's not a move in your arsenal that can save you right now."

"Oh yes there is. It's obvious you've never trained an electric-type pokemon, and that you lack a good-memory for that matter. There's one move Pikachu can use, the most powerful electric attack of all! And it's the very same move that I beat you with last time, Trip."

Trip's eyes widened as he remembered the raw electricity Pikachu brought down on Serperior 9 years ago.

"Thunder!" said Trip. "But the electricity from that move came from Pikachu back then! Are you saying that Pikachu's gonna use a move like that when he's held still by my Leech Seeds?"

"Yes." said Ash boldly. "In my years with Pikachu, we've learned a couple things. We learned that Thunder can be executed by using nature's electricity itself, causing a bolt to come from the sky instead of Pikachu! Don't believe me? Let us demonstrate! Pikachu, Thunder!"

From the tight grip of the leeching vines, Pikachu simply inhaled deeply, and then exhaled with a mighty battle cry. A thunder cloud began to form above the battlefield, and to Trip's utter shock (no pun intended) a colossal bolt struck the ground just a few feet from Serperior. Trip's jaw dropped; if it had been aimed correctly, there was no way Serperior would have been able to dodge, considering its paralysis.

"That's the problem." said Ash. "It's very hard for Pikachu to aim, and it takes lots of his energy. He can only fire 4 of those. That means he's still got three more chances to it your Serperior."

"That's if the Leech Seed vines don't drain his energy before he can launch all three." countered Trip.

"Oh they won't. Pikachu will hold out long enough for all three, and when he finally hits, no amount of leeched energy will save your Serperior from fainting."

"Oh man, this is too intense..." sighed Serena, backing up from the screen. "Ash is really gambling here. If Pikachu misses all three of those Thunder attacks, the little he'll have left will be absorbed by Serperior... I don't know if I can watch..."

Red put his hand on Serena's shoulder. Interpreting this as his way of comforting her, Serena giggled.

"Oh Red, I'm not that worried, you don't need to try to comfort m-"

Red's head slowly leaned back, his eyes squinting. He then sneezed, letting go of Serena's shoulder immediately afterwards.

"It's all chance now, huh?" asked Tracey.

"Yes." answered Cilan with a nod.

"I hope Pikachu can pull this off..." said Clemont, clearly nervous. "Who knew Trip's Serperior would give Ash's Pikachu this much trouble?"

"Yeah, I expected Ash to beat Serperior with relative ease like the rest of Trip's pokemon... but no, this battle seems to be perfectly even." analyzed Max, adjusting his glasses. "Both of their pokemon have gotten a few good hits in, and it seems like these next few seconds are going to decide it all... both sides have the other worried. Ash has the fact that Serperior's paralyzed and that Pikachu can still attack. That's what he's got going for him. Trip is counting on the fact that he's draining Pikachu's energy, and Pikachu's attack has low accuracy. It's really interesting... they both should be terrified right now."

May simply watched Pikachu, every cell in her body hoping to Arceus that Pikachu manages to land a blow.

"Goopapoop, Matt, I don't know if my old heart can handle this type of stress!" exclaimed Reggie, dabbing the sweat off his head with a napkin. "Who would've thought the last moments of this epic battle would be spent in a game of chance?"

"Nobody, I'm sure." answered Matt. "Now, much suspense our hearts shall endure... Shit, that rhymed didn't it? I mean, um, yeah Reggie, this is really intense."

"Just look at the two trainers stare each other down!"

Ash and Trip were indeed staring at each other. The only thing left for Ash to do was order Pikachu.

"Pikachu." said Ash, still staring at Trip. "Thunder."

"Pika..." inhaled Pikachu, another storm cloud appearing over the battlefield. "Chuuuuuu!"

The bolt came down, missing yet again. It was the same distance away from its target as the first attempt.

"Just two more chances, Ketchum." said Trip, trying to hide the relief in his voice. "Can your Pikachu do it?"

"Pikachu." said Ash, eyes narrow. 'Thunder."

Pikachu winced as he formed yet another black cloud over the arena. Once again, the mighty Thunder came crashing down, only to miss Serperior by an even larger margin than that of the first two tries.

"Hm, just one more try, Pikachu." jeered Trip. "But how can you do it when you're missing each time? You weren't even close on that third one."

"Pikachu, I know you can do it." assured Ash. "We're not going to let them beat us. You're not letting Serperior take your victory! I believe in you, so Thunder, let's go!"

The fourth thunder cloud of the day appeared, preparing a nasty bolt to unleash. Trip looked at the cloud. Serperior looked at the cloud. Ash looked at the cloud. Everyone in the crowd looked at the cloud. The only one not looking at the cloud was Pikachu, and that's because his eyes were shut in pure concentration. This was it. This was what would decide it all.

"KAAAAAAAA!" cried Pikachu, letting the bolt loose.

The magnificent yellow crackle of energy zipped down from the storm cloud, landing so close to Serperior that the entire crowd gasped in unison. The resulting puff of dust hid the results of the attack from everyone, forcing them to wait for it to clear up. And when it did, they all were amazed to see the result.

Trip grinned; it missed.

But even more surprising, Ash grinned as well.

"Pikachu, do it!" ordered the raven-haired C.E.O.

"Do what?!" roared Trip, tired of Ash's tricks. "What can he do?! He's out of energy!"

"You thought he was!" cackled Ash proudly, confusing just about every person in the stadium. "When I told you about Thunder, I left out a couple things. Like the fact that with each miss, Pikachu's accuracy gets higher and higher!"

"What nonsense are you saying?! Your Pikachu used all 4 of his Thunders, he's done. It doesn't matter if his accuracy had gotten higher! He can't attack anymore!"

"That four Thunder thing... It was just a bluff Trip." revealed Ash, crossing his arms triumphantly. "The most Thunder attacks Pikachu can deliver from the sky is not four... but five! And now he's got the perfect aim to take down Serperior!"

"NO! BULLSHIT! NO!" bellowed Trip, growing red in the face.

"Yes, no shit, yes." replied Ash, pointing to Serperior. "Pikachu, THUNDER!"

The largest storm cloud yet materialized above, thunder claps booming from it. Trip stared up at the cloud. It was over. The bolt came rushing down, and this time, it hit Serperior head-on. Like the previous Thunder strike, a cloud of dirt rose into the air, hiding Serperior's status. But Trip, Ash, the crowd, and the referee already knew what it was going to be. The cloud cleared up, revealing Serperior, who was still conscious, though heavily damaged.

"Serperior...?" asked Trip, a small glimmer of hope in his voice.

Serperior's eyes began to narrow more and more until they were fully closed. The regal grass serpent then collapsed, defeated.

"Serperior is unable to battle!" announced the referee. "The winner is Pikachu! Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town is our victor!"

"YEAH! THERE YOU GO, ASH!" hollered Serena, jumping out of the bed. Unfortunately, the rather abrupt movement caused a small wave of morning sickness to kick in. The nausea caused by this sat her right back down, leaving her to regret ever standing up. "Ughhhhh..."

Red sighed and put himself next to Serena, allowed her to lean on him. But instead of being flattered by his kindness, Serena glared at him.

"You did this to me!" she growled. "It's because of YOU that I'm like this!"

Completely unprepared for this, Red could only stare at Serena as she blamed him for her suffering. Sure, he expected her to say something like that eventually, but not two months in. If she was already snapping at him over the stresses of being pregnant, what would she do by the 8th or 9th month? The thought terrified Red, it terrified him to no end.

"How come you agreed with me when I said we should have a baby?!" yelled Serena, still quite flustered. "Why didn't you say no?! No, wait, I know why! Because you don't have to carry the kid for 9 months! All you have to do is have a good ol' time with me one night and then just watch for the next 9 months as ANOTHER HUMAN BEING grows inside of me! But wait, it get's better! While I'll be giving birth to your child, you'll just awkwardly be sitting there, twiddling your thumbs! UGHHHHH!"

While Serena had been on her rant, Red had thought of the perfect way to calm her down... or at least trigger a mood swing that would switch her from livid to happy. He'd done it thousands of times over the years they'd been together, and it always worked. He put him arm around her and held her close.

"Don't you dare pull me close in a... warm... inviting... embrace..." said Serena, slowly losing the anger. By the time she was fully leaned against Red, she was fine again. "Oh man, if I'm all moody like this... I wonder how psycho May will be when she starts experiencing the 'Miracles of Life'... She's already batty enough as is."

Red smiled, realizing that Ash was most definitely going to have it much much worse when it came to having the first child. But he knew Ash would be able to handle it. He seemed to have a certain patience when it came to May, a patience that was rarely lost.

"I hope Ash goes through with it..." said Serena. "If all goes as planned, he should be asking her any minute now."

The Leech Seed vines around Pikachu withered away, freeing the mouse. Completely exhausted, Pikachu waited for Ash to come pick him up, which the latter did fairly soon after.

"Good job, bud." said Ash, scratching behind Pikachu's ears. "Okay, now all we have to do is shake Trip's hand, say it was a good match, find May, and... yeah."

With Pikachu retrieved, Ash walked to Trip, who was kneeling beside Serperior. He seemed to say a few words to the pokemon before returning it to its ball. By the time the red light had absorbed the grass serpent, Ash stood before the Unova Champion, his hand outstretched.

"Thanks." said Trip, grabbing Ash's hand.

"That was a great battle Trip." said Ash honestly. "Serperior sure has gotten strong."

"Yeah..." said Trip. "Don't get cocky now, Ketchum. We're gonna have a re-rematch one day, and I'll-"

"Yeah cool whatever, k thanks bye." said Ash, walking away.

"What?! Hey! Let me finish!"

"No time!"

May, Cilan, Clemont, Tracey and Max watched as Ash left the battlefield.

"Well, I guess its over." said Tracey, standing up. "I guess we should go find Ash."

"No." said May, standing up. "Everyone else go to the car... I'll find him."

"Are you su-"

May slowly turned to the four young men, and with one look, they each realized the car would probably be the safest place to go. All four of them left their seats in a single file line, none of them daring to look back at the brunette they left behind.

"Ash is sooooo dead." said Max.

"Yes." answered Cilan with a nod.

"Okay, this is it. I find her, apologize for leaving her like that last night, and end the apology by getting down on one knee and popping the big question. Easy enough, right?" thought Ash, rushing his way through countless people. "Only problem is, I can't find her!"

Finding May had already proven to be a difficult task, but it was made even worse by the multiple people that were stopping him so they could ask questions. Some were journalists, some were fans, and others were stalkers.

"Mr. Ketchum, now that you've claimed victory and crushed Trip Shooty's hopes and aspirations, what's next?"

"Can you autograph my collarbone with this super-permanent marker?!"

"Will the next Pokemon games feature crossovers with other popular games and creatures like Duel Monsters and Digimon?"

"What brand of toothpaste do you use?!"

"I AM NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW!" yelled the raven-haired C.E.O. "WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE ASK TRIP STUFF?!"

"Because he lost and nobody cares about him!" replied a news reporter.

"While that is an extremely valid point, I'm still not answerin-" Suddenly, Ash someone behind him grab the collar of his shirt, pulling him backwards. "Gahhh!"

Ash tried to wriggle free, but whoever this person was, their grip seemed to be unbreakable. The person dragged Ash away from the crowd, something that Ash didn't really have a problem with. What he had a problem with was the fact that he was being dragged away by someone. Right as he was about to ask the person who they were and tell them that he was going to get a restraining order if they ever touch him again, the person let go of Ash's collar, tossing him against the wall. The back of Ash's head hit the wall.

"Oww..." he groaned, slowly opening his eyes. Surprised brown ones met angry blue ones; it was May. Ash, making what was probably the worst decision of his life, grinned. "May, I found you! Well really, you found me, but whatev-"

May slapped Ash's face.

"Ow." said Ash, rubbing his face.

"Apologize!" commanded May.

"I was going t-"

May slapped him again.

"Ow!"

"Apologize!"

"If you'd just let me finish, th-"

The back of May's hand collided with Ash's face once more.

"APOLOGIZE!"

"I'm sorry!" apologized Ash. "Please, no more slappin-"

Deciding to give Ash a break, May slapped the left side of his face instead instead of the right.

"WHAT WAS THAT ONE FOR?!" asked Ash incredulously.

"Tell me why you're sorry!" ordered May.

"I'm sorry because I left you last night! That was totally the wrong thing to do! You were really upset and it was something you really wanted to discuss and I left because I'm such an idiot and blah blah bliggity blah! Okay? I'm sorry, May. I really am."

May raised her hand to slap again... but realized if she did again, she probably be crossing the fine line between justice and abuse. Instead, she decided to give Ash a hug. Ash hugged her back, running a hand through the brunette's hair.

"Never do that to me again." said May quietly. "I felt so abandoned last night... you just left me..."

"I can promise you now... I will never leave you again." assured Ash. "May, I have something I want to say to you... But... let's go to a more private area. I don't want anyone to interrupt this."

"Okay..." said May, pulling away from Ash's embrace. "Where to?"

"I think I know a good spot."

...

"May, do you remember my first battle with Trip?" asked Ash, looking around.

He had led May back into the battlefield, which was completely empty. Trip had left, and there was no one in any of the stadium's seats. Right on the edge of the battlefield was a small table, where Reggie McGoobersplatt and Matt the Average Commentator had sat. Of course the two men were no longer there, which meant their seats were open. Ash sat in one, and May sat in the other.

"Of course I remember your first battle. That's... that's when we became real friends because then we got ice-cream afterwards and then everyone became friends... and then Halloween came around and Kenny sent his Machoke after us."

"Oh yeah, Kenny..." said Ash. "I almost forgot about how he almost killed me. I wonder how he's been..."

"Well, after he got arrested and all he was sent to a mental home... I remember hearing a few things a couple years ago about him getting out of there relatively sane and becoming a productive member of society... so I guess he's fine now."

"Well he hasn't tried to kill me again, so I guess it's true." joked Ash. The two laughed for a while, but eventually Ash stopped, remembering what he brought May back into the stadium for. "Damn... that was so long ago."

"It really was. So much has happened since then... we went to college... Pokemon Blue became a legitimate thing... Red became a professional soccer player... I went to coordinating school... *sigh* time flies, huh? And to think... who knows how much of this would've happened if you didn't bump into Serena and I on that first day of Junior year?"

"All I know is that things would be pretty different than they are now. I also know," said Ash, reaching into his pocket. "That I might not have had the greatest girl any guy could ask for by my side the whole time."

Ash's hand clutched the box in his pocket.

'This is it..."

"Oh Ash..." said May, smiling. "You're so-... What are you doing?"

Ash was no longer sitting next to May. Instead, he was down on one knee. May's eyes widened.

"Oh, y'know, just something I should've done a while ago." said Ash, pulling the box out of his pocket with shaky hands. "May Maple... I love you. I love you more than you could ever imagine, and there's no other woman on this planet that I could ever fathom spending the rest of my life with. Through everything, through thick and thin... it's always been you and only you that I can go to for the right motivation. You're the only woman I'd ever ask these next two questions. Could you make my life complete by giving me the honor of being your husband? Will you marry me?"

It seemed like time stopped as Ash waited for May to answer.

"Ye- y-ye yyyyeeee..." stammered May as she began to stutter and babble, her mind and soul far too happy to formulate words. It was such an overload that a mandatory time out was needed, so instead of giving Ash an answer, May fainted.

...

May's eyes slowly opened.

"Huh?" she asked, looking around groggily. "What happened? Did I faint?"

"Yeah." chuckled Ash.

"Why?"

"Because I proposed." answered Ash.

May fainted again.

...

May's eyes slowly opened.

"Don't faint again." said Ash.

"I... I wont." said May, rubbing her eyes. "Okay, let's continue where we left off. Yes Ash, I will marry you."

Ash sighed in relief. It was finally done. He reached for May's hand, and took the ring out of the box. It had a silver band, an emerald in the center, with smaller rubies and sapphires surrounding it.

"Oh Ash... it's beautiful..." said May, absolutely adoring the ring.

"Not as beautiful as you are." said Ash, well aware of how cliche the line was.

"Ohh... this is amazing. I love you Ash. I almost feel like fainting again..." sighed May, leaning on Ash's shoulder. "Speaking of that... how long was I out?"

"About half an hour the first time, and then 20 minutes the second time." said Ash, putting his arm around not his girlfriend, but his fiance.

"Uh oh..." said May, leaning away from Ash to open her purse. It didn't take long for her to pull out a car key. "Heheheh... crap."

"What?"

Four young adults stood in the parking lot, baking in the hot sun.

"Why? Why did I hand May the car keys when we found our seats...?" muttered Max, wiping the sweat off his head. "I'm so dumb..."

"Yes." answered Cilan, nodding his head. Max, Tracey, and Clemont all glared at Cilan.

"SHUT UP!"

*sigh* and that's the end of Pokemon: Brotherhood. I thank you all for reading, and I thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Every one of them puts a smile on my face, and without you all, I wouldn't be the writer I am today!

And um, oh yeah... THIS IS A DOUBLE UPDATE EVERYONE! The first chapter of "Pokemon: The Fellowship of the Aura" is up now, so go check that out if you're interested! I know there's people that actively avoid Aura stories... but come on, you guys know me. It won't be the average run-of-the-mill Aura story, I can promise that!

Have a nice life and thanks for reading,

~DarkSlash9