This a collaboration story between myself and LittleLitten PLEASE check out her 1 shot of armour shipping, and her other pokemon story called Everly After, it's still a work in progress, however it is already awesome! updates every other week! :D

Narrator-After finally earning all eight badges, Ash Ketchum has finally made it to the Kalos League Championship held in Victorelle City! And more than that, he's in the finals, against his old rival Sawyer. Cheering from the stands are Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie, faithful friends to the end. Will our hero prevail and earn the right to challenge the Elite Four and Champion Diantha?

"The battle between Ash from Pallet Town and Sawyer from Hoenn will now commence. Each side is allowed the use of 3 Pokemon and substitions are permitted. Battle, begin!"

"Clemont? Will Ash be able to beat Sawyer?" Bonnie asked her older, more experienced brother.

"Ash did lose last time, but that was when he wasnt able to use the power of Ash-Greninja. So there is no way to determine the turnout of such an amazing, evenly matched battle!"

"I know Ash can do it! I just know he can!" Serena shouted. Her friends(well, really only Clemont) were surprised, but not a lot. They knew that Serena, like them wanted Ash to win.

Realizing that she was loud enough for even Ash to hear her made her blush and sink down in her seat.

"Uh, who said that?" she said in a sarcastic voice, trying not to exist.

"I'm not going to lose this time!" Ash exclaimed, remembering his loss when he couldn't access Ash-Greninja's power.

"Well, neither am I!"Sawyer replied.

Ash chuckled.."I don't think you've met this pokemon yet!" he told his foe while turning his signature cap backwards.

"Goodra! I choose you!" he yelled as he threw the Poke Ball. In midair the spinning pokeball realeased Goodra, Ash's dragon type pokemon who had landed on his head while it was a goomy.

"A Goodra! In that case, I'll go with Salamence!" Sawyer tossed out his-now fully evolved-Pokemon. "Salamence, Dragon Claw!"

"Absorb it with Bide!" Ash called. Goodra's body began to grow red. As Salamence lunged forwards to slash with elongated, glowing claws, it appeared to do almost no damage.

"Now! Let it out AND use Dragon Breath!"

"Goo...draaa!" Sawyer or his Pokemon had no time to react before the purple and white beams struck.

"Impressive strategy..." Clemont pushed up his glasses, watching the battle. "And very effective on a Dragon-type like Salamence."

But though it had taken a lot of damage, Salamence wasn't out yet.

"Try a Headbutt!"

"Rain Dance and dodge!" A huge cloud of water began to form above the arena, pouring water down on the two battling Pokemon. It was just the distraction Goodra needed to get away from the opponent. "Our own Dragon Claw! Go!" Once again, Salamence was hit by a super effective Dragon-type move. And this time, it was knocked out.

"Salamence is unable to battle. Goodra is the winner!" "Well done, Ash. That Goodra is obviously trained very well." said Sawyer.

"And your Salamence is too." Ash responded. "Goodra, return." Ash said as he pressed the button on his Poke Ball. A bright red light shot out and surrounded Goodra, returning it to the ball.. Ash looked at the Pokeball containing his dragon friend. "You did an awesome job, Goodra." he told it.

"Ok Aegislash come on out!" Sawyer yelled as he threw his Royal sword pokemon out. There was one Pokemon who Ash knew could easily defeat Aegislash. "Greninja, I choose you!"

"Get ready, Aegislash! Go into Shield Form!" The Pokemon changed its body shape and took a defensive stance.

"Water Shuriken!" Ash ordered. He hoped to use the throwing stars to eventually force Aegislash back into Sword Form. Of course, the first one bounced off the shield.

"Keep your guard up, Aegislash!" Sawyer said, his voice shaking as Greninja fired more and more Water Shurikens. But the Pokemon couldn't hold on forever. It became a sword once more.

Sawyer sighed, going to his backup plan. "Night Slash!"

"Dodge!" Ash shouted. The agile Greninja easily jumped away.

"Finish it with Aerial Ace!" And just like that, Sawyer's second Pokemon fainted.

Ash decided to keep Greninja in. After all, he was one of the strongest Pokemon he had ever caught in any region. Plus, he had a feeling he knew Sawyer's final Pokemon... "I wasn't surprised that you were able to defeat two of my Pokemon. But can you handle my 3rd? Sceptile! Go!"

"Tile! Scep, scep tile!"

"Use Leaf Blade!" Sawyer started the battle.

"Counter with Aerial Ace!" The Grass-type and Water/Dark-type charged at eachother. Both moves were super effective on the opposing Pokemon, so both Pokemon took a good bit of damage.

"Leaf Storm!" Sceptile shot a whirlwind of small, sharp leaves at Greninja. If too many of those leaves hit, he was done for.

"Hydro Cannon!" Ash screamed, getting desperate. His Pokemon could feel that, and the special veil of water surrounded him. Ash-Greninja's powerful water attack was an effective solution- getting rid of many leaves before hitting Sawyer's Pokemon in the face, heavily damaging it.

"Finally. The real battle is about to begin! But not until...Sceptile! Mega Evolve!" Sawyer commanded. The Key Stone and Mega Stone produced a bright light. When it faded, Mega Sceptile cried out again-its form changed, its power increased.

"Wow..." Serena observed."Mega Sceptile and Ash-Greninja! I hope Ash is careful...he does take some of Greninja's damage when they use this form..."

"Bullet Seed, Mega Sceptile!" The Forest Pokemon spat out a whole trees worth of huge, exploding seeds.

"Dodge!" Many seeds came close to Greninja, but Pokemon and trainer were connected and easily avoided each one.

"Leaf Storm, now!" This time there were more, larger leaves.

"Water Shuriken!" Ash-Greninja used some of the water from the giant star on its back to create multiple throwing stars that sliced right through the leaves. Some, however, still managed to hit, leaving Ash with a stabbing pain in the side. He ignored it.

"Finish them off with Leaf Blade!" Mega Sceptile chased after its opponent and, due to its speed boost and the damage Greninja had taken from battling FIVE Pokemon, managed to catch up. The large leaf made a strong weapon, and Ash-Greninja fainted, returning to his original form. Ash himself fell to the ground, though still conscious and(for the most part) OK and ready to send in his next Pokemon. There was really only one option for Ash's third and final choice. His partner was the only one who could take down Sceptile now. "You ready?" he asked.

"Pika!" The electric mouse stepped forward into the battle area, cheeks sparking with electricity.

"All right. Pikachu, I choose you!" Pikachu ran onto the battlefield, sparks flying from his cheeks, he was ready. Only one Pokemon was left on either side. Pikachu and Ash against Mega Sceptile and Sawyer. "Electro Ball!" Ash started confidently.

"Bullet Seed!" Sawyer ordered.

"Interesting. Both are starting with somewhat ranged attacks." Clemont observed. Serena didn't hear him, though. Her eyes were glued to the battle.

The two attacks canceled each other out on impact. "Thunderbolt!" was Ash's next command, and Pikachu followed it perfectly.

"Dodge and use Leaf Blade!" Mega Sceptile moved away from the electricity with amazing speed and got his blade ready.

"Block with Iron Tail!" At the last second, Pikachu used his hardened tail to avoid geting slashed. But that was exactly what Sawyer wanted.

"Now! Leaf Storm!" There was no chance for a dodge-not right after using Iron Tail. Pikachu was hit with the full force of the flurry of leaves.

"Pika!" Yes, it did take a lot of damage, but it was still fine battling.

"Electro Ball!" This time, the glowing orb found its mark. And it had a useful extra effect-when the Mega Evolved Pokemon tried to move, a field of electricity stopped it. Paralysis!

"Thunderbolt!" Pikachu sent the long, jagged bolt of electricity at the weakened Mega Pokemon. Still, Sawyer remained calm. He and his pokemon had practiced another idea based on disrupting this strategy.

In one smooth movement, the Forest Pokemon broke free of the paralysis and charged at a surprised Pikachu with a Leaf Blade. Ash gasped. Serena gasped. Pikachu gasped. That damage plus the Leaf Storm...Ash's last Pokemon was hardly standing. He wasn't sure what to do. Iron Tail would be easily avoided, another Electro Ball would probably miss...The boy from Pallet Town was beginning to panic.

"Don't give up till it's over, Ash!" Serena cried out, putting all her emotion into those six words. He didn't realize who said it. But it did trigger a memory of a calm forest in a fun summer camp in easier times. That's right, he realized. I told a girl back then not to give up till it's over. And now it's time to follow my own advice!

"Pikachu! Iron Tail!" He was going to use Sawyers strategy against him!

The faithful Pokemon ran at the opponent with a now-metallic tail. Of course, Sawyer and Sceptile used a Leaf Blade to block it. Which put them in the perfect position. "Electro Ball!"

It struck with a bang, but Sceptile wasn't yet knocked out. "Iron Tail!" Pikachu leaped up and attacked. Just like that, the victory was his.

"Sceptile is unable to battle. So the winner is Ash from Pallet Town!" the refferee announced. Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie, plus thousands of other spectators, cheered the loudest they could. Ash should have been happy too. He should be jumping up and down and screaming. After all, this was the farthest he had ever gotten. He had won! But he barely heard Sawyer congratulate and thank him for the battle, and he could barely hold the trophy without wanting to collapse. Why did he feel so...empty? After the whole ordeal was over, Ash walked to Sawyer, who was talking to his Sceptile. "That really was a great battle, Ash!" Sawyer said when he saw that Ash had aproached. "You really don't give up till its over, just like your Pikachu!" Clemont, Bonnie and Serena rushed up to Ash, congratulating him. Serena grabbed and hugged him without even thinking about it, somehow weakening his empty feeling. He returned the hug without taking the time to think about it either.

"Are you two ok?" Bonnie asked with a wink. The two stopped hugging instantly. "So, Ash, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I guess I'm going to go tell my mom in person. Then I'm coming back to challenge the Elite Four!" His stomach growled. "But for now, I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry..." Bonnie pointed out. Everyone laughed. After they all ate, Sawyer came to say goodbye. "Ash," he said. "Next time, I'm going to beat you!"

"I won't go easy on you!" Ash said, tipping his hat.

"Wow," Serena said, out of earshot of the group because she was in the kitchen cleaning dishes while Nurse Joy was helping pokemon. "Ash is friends with even his rivals." She held onto the bright blue bow that he had given her.