Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ... I am too darn Poor :'(

A/N: Rewritten on June 14, 2017

Chapter One: A fierce Rivalry

"Electivire, Electro punch.. give it all you got" It was one of the rare times when the purple haired trainer actually showed some annoyance behind his voice. As he stayed stoic for the most of the time.

"'Electa…'" Electivire begins to dash forward with his fist sparkling golden yellow with electricity.

"Alright Infernape, lets show them your real strength, flare blitz! " This time it was the Raven haired trainer. Who like always, was totally involved in the battle. To his regret, he couldn't fight alongside his Pokemon. Because if he did he was certain that he would be disqualified immediately. And it was moments like these that made it incredibly hard for him not to just throw the caution out of the window.

The fire monkey Pokemon quickly jumped into the sky and begin to close in towards Electivire, now engulfed in blazing flames ; Infernape met with electivire's electro punch head on.

As the attacks collided, creating a small cloud of dust due to the force they were generating, both the pokemon struggled neither of them willing to give in an inch, fighting to get the upper hand.

"There is no way you're gonna lose to that weakling, show them their place." Paul said coldly but his eyes seemed to betray his disinterest that his voice displayed. One could clearly see some uncertainty in them.

Hearing his trainer's command Electivire reached out to the final wave of his energy reserves and focused it all into that punch, willing to give it all it would take for him to win this; even if it means that he won't to able to even stand after that.

"Infernape!" Ash exclaimed startled, watching as the electric type now overpowering his opponent as the fire type monkey started to tremble under the pressure, the punch was generating. It was at that moment that Ash saw a fleeting look of resignation on the face of his partner. It was as if like he had accepted that he couldn't quite deliver the cut. It was the same look of doubt that he once carried. It was that moment that the gravity of situation hit him. He then realized what it would mean for Infernape to lose this one. He wouldn't just lose the fight, but he would lose the self esteem that he had worked so hard to develop.

'We couldn't lose. I will not let him lose. Not to him. Not after everything we've been through.' Ash's brain was now working at a mile per minute. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't think of anything he could do for his partner. There was no way out of this one. Realizing that he was starting to panic, he closed his eyes and took a deep sigh of resignation. He would just have to do what it helped him to reach up to this point.

'No I have to believe in him'. He would let his Pokemon know that he had and always will have faith in them.

"Infernape I believe in you buddy, you are not a weakling and it's about time we prove that to the world, now, at this very moment. Just remember, you're not alone in this! ; infact you're never alone ! I am always with you." Ash yelled with so much determination that if anybody would've looked into his eyes at that moment, then they would see that they were shining as if they were aflame.

(…) Those word echoed in the stadium. The message was loud and clear. Except for the cackling of the electricity Electivire was producing, not a single voice could be heard. It was as if the whole stadium had frozen, the temperature itself seemed to have dropped a few degrees. And then it came, a mighty roar from Infernape. Infernape's eyeballs contracted suddenly, something inside of him snapped at hearing those words.

"'In…feeer…naaapee'" He roared and the flames engulfing him rose to a level that nobody has ever seen. It was as if they had been multiplied ten times to what was the initial.

Up In the stand, people were cheering for both the pokemon and among them could be seen our rest of the heroes, Dawn with her Piplup, Brock and Barry rooting for Ash with all they had got. The roar had been so devastating and frightening that Piplup had jumped into Dawn's lap from the railing, cuddling himself closer to his trainer.

"Brock what's going on there? How come the flames surrounding Infernape just got bigger?"

Dawn asked shielding her face from the wave of heat radiating from the arena. It could be felt all the way into the stands, the crazy amount of power the fire type was generating. Brock held a stupefied look on his face, he himself couldn't believe what he was feeling right now. Shielding his face not unlike Dawn he started, "I have never seen anything like this before myself, the power that Infernape's eyes are radiating is incredible as well as frightening at the same time." He paused for a moment and then continued, "maybe it's just because of everything he's been through. He just want to prove to Paul that he did not deserved to be released. And probably he does not want to let Ash down after everything he's done for him." While he had said that, on the inside, he himself was trying to grasp what he had just witnessed. 'How can mere words lead to something like this.'

Dawn just nodded slowly, still flinching because of the heat 'it all made sense' she thought before averting her eyes again towards the battle field. Seeing the determined look that he held, she clasped her hands as if she was praying while looking at "him" with concern in her eyes. She has had a crush over him, from the very first day they had met. And the one thing which she admired the most was his passion; towards the battles that he fought and his Pokemon and she knew how much this particular match up meant to his Infernape, thus him. She knew that it wasn't about the league anymore. Both the trainers were now fighting for what they stood for. They were fighting to prove their believes, their way of Pokemon.

'Oh please Arceus… Let Ash win this please. He needs to win this more than anything'

"Ash…." She mumbled under her breath. It wasn't more than just a whisper but even with all the commotion, Brock seemed to notice the emotions behind it.

"MMMmmmmmm you can do it infernape! Finally failing to retrain her emotions, she yelled the hardest she could to make sure that he had heard her.
"Pi-PipluP!' Piplup too cheered for his friends to do their best while he still kept to his place in his trainer's lap.

(BOOM) There was a deafening explosion, following which a thick blanket of smoke covered the whole arena. Making it impossible for anyone to see beyond and the conclusion of the battle. As it was obvious to all that standing after a explosion like that won't be possible. But they all wondered if it would end up in a draw and soon, murmurings could be heard about the possible outcome.

"Infernape" Ash yelled fearing the worst while trying to see through the smoke but couldn't get even a glimpse. After waiting for about a minute with baited breath, his eyes caught something. It wasn't clear but he could see flames shining brightly and he was relieved to see that his Pokemon was alright.

As the smoke died, there could be heard a sound mixed with 'awe's' and gasps from the whole stadium. There was only a crater left for what had been the arena and on both the sides of the crater stood both the Pokemon. Panting harshly... but still standing.

"Infernape hang in there buddy! " Ash yelled as he saw Infernape dropping to one knee. It was pretty obvious to him that he won't be able to fight after this. Infernape's body was shaking with the amount of power it was taking to just to stand and he himself was aware of the fact that he was working on the fumes only.

While on the other side of the arena, stood Paul jaw dropped, with literal disbelief in his eyes. He couldn't believe Infernape could be that strong. The same Infernape that he had branded weak and useless, the same Infernape that he had left alone so that he won't bother him.

While Paul was busy contemplating about what he had just witnessed, Ash looked in concern 'awe man what I'm going to do now, we gave everything we had to that shot' There was no way that Infernape could continue now so there was only one way to go. Thinking about losing after all this, a grim look appeared on his face.
Seemingly breaking out of his stupor, Paul noticed the look on Ash's face but after taking one look at his Pokemon, he closed his eyes and muttered "It's over". And the next moment Electivire was on the ground, down and out.

There was pin drop silence among the audience, as they couldn't get over the fact that the match was finally over. Until... "Electivire is unable to battle, the winner of the battle is Infernape and thus the match goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town" declared the referee lifting the flag.

There was a moment of silence in the crowd after the official announcement and then all hell broke in. The whole stadium erupted, cheering for Ash and his Infernape. Showing exactly just what they thought of the match. Among all those sounds our heroes could also be seen cheering for their friends.
"He did it!" exclaimed Dawn, Brock and Barry in unison. Now standing on their seats and applauding for the raven haired trainer.

"And there it is folks; after a hard fought battle Electivire gave in to Infernape and with this Ash Ketchum now moves on to the semi-final round of the tournament." The announcer announced, not even trying to hide the excitement from his voice.

In the arena Infernape released the breath that he wasn't even aware that he was holding. He had done it. He had proved to his old master that he wasn't some bother and he did it in front of the whole world. As the adrenaline left his body, he realized just how exhausted he actually was. He couldn't take it any more and was about to fall face first into the ground before he was grabbed by two arms. He lifted his head to see the beaming face of his trainer. "We did it" was all his trainer said before his trainer embraced him in a tight hug.
'"Infernape!'" He affirmed tiredly before both of them were tackled to the ground by a very enthused Pikachu.
"'Pi Pikachu!'"
Ash was laughing now laughing whole heartedly, "WE DID IT guys we actually beat defeated Paul!" Receiving two simultaneous affirmations from the two Pokemon.
Finally getting over the excitement, Ash looked across the arena to see that Paul had recalled Electivire and had already started to leave.

Up in the VIP box, a small smile could be seen on the face of a certain blonde woman, the Champion of The Sinnoh Region, Cynthia Shirona. Her grey eyes contained a shine as she watched the raven haired trainer embracing his Pokemon, all the while laughing joyously.

"I knew you would win" she admitted with just above a whisper.

The next hour went in a blur as it all happened quite quickly. After relishing the feeling for a few minutes, Ash finally made his way out of the arena to meet up with his friends and they all had congratulated him for his victory. Much to his surprise and confusion, he even got an excited quick hug from Dawn, but he concluded that it was just because she was very excited for his victory.

After that Ash had quickly made his way towards the medics so that he could heal his Pokemon. As they waited at the Pokemon Centre for Ash to recover his Pokeballs, they heard an announcement.
"So after a hard fought victory over Paul, Ash Ketchum reaches to the semi-finals of the tournament, where he will be up against the mysterious trainer Tobias. Will he be able to bring up a decent challenge to the guy who seems to be unbeatable or maybe even defeat him?"

Suddenly the small smile Ash had been wearing turned into frown. That Tobias guy had a Darkrai with him and had literally destroyed all his previous opponents just using his Darkrai. People don't even know about his other Pokemon, as he hadn't simply required their help. Not even once. Just how was he supposed to defeat a guy like that.

At the dining table everyone was excited for Ash's victory and wouldn't stop praising him. But on the other hand Ash didn't say anything for the whole time, not even asking for the seconds! Everyone seemed to notice but they couldn't place any reason for him being down. Dawn decided to ask him later what was all that about.

After having the dinner, they all went to their rooms for some much needed rest after the tiring day... exciting... but tiring.
But Ash couldn't rest let alone sleep. He couldn't help but wonder what was he going to do tomorrow. Lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he tried to think of some strategy that would help him defeat the legendary trainer. He kept thinking and thinking but nothing came to him. Getting frustrated after a while, he thought that he might as well take a troll to clear his head. He got up his bed carefully, not to wake anybody up and went over to the balcony.

He looked up into the sky to watch the stars. He considered stars to be really beautiful as well as a great source of encouragement. According to him stars gives a man an Idea about the heights that he could achieve. For the better part of his life, whenever he felt depressed or shaken he used to just stare at them, (that was one of the reasons of why is liked to camp outside so much). But tonight it wasn't really helping.

Pikachu realised that Ash wasn't in his bed and tried to look for him and then he saw him standing in the balcony and rushed to him and jumped onto his right shoulder and started nuzzling him. Ash smiled at the affectionate display and petted Pikachu behind his ears earning himself a squeal of 'Chaaaa' as appreciation towards his action already making him feel better.

"You did great out there today, buddy.., now you should go to sleep" he said smiling softly at him and laid him into his bed. Pikachu stretched trying to make himself comfortable before looking at his trainer expectantly to join him. But when he realized that he wasn't joining him, in fact he was heading towards the door, Pikachu got off the bed and followed him.

"I want to be alone for a while Pikachu" he said placing his cap over his messy locks while his cap doing a pretty good job at covering his eyes as he took a step towards the door.

'Pikaaa' his ears dropped as he asked in a voice full of concern.

"Hey no need to worry Pikachu, I just want some fresh air" he said and when Pikachu tried to follow him he gave him a cold glare and motioned over to bed. Pikachu was now worried, he had never seen his best friend behaving like this. But obliged his command fearing to be yelled at. After convincing or rather ordering Pikachu to leave him alone Ash started making his way towards the exit of the Centre.

Ash got out of the pokemon centre where he got an odd stare from Nurse Joy, seemingly wondering what was he doing outside at that time of the day. But he gave her a slight reassuring smile which she returned. After roaming across the garden that was just in front of the Centre for a while, he finally sat on a bench under a tree. His head still down as he just stared his shoes and his cap still covering most of his face.

"Mind if I join you?"

Author's review: So this is it folks... there goes my first chapter. I thought there could not be a better beginning than Ash vs Paul. I apologize for finishing of with a cliff hanger :P but i promise it is going to be worth it. Next chapter will contain shipping... so cheer up shippers I got something for you xD And yeah its my first story so suggestions are appreciated. Next chapter would be out by friday hopefully.