Chapter 10

Ash landed in front of the pokemon center and returned Salamence with a silent thanks. He walked in and stopped in front of Nurse Joy. She looked at his and smiled, "Congratulations on your victory Ash. It was my favorite battle of the four."

Ash nodded as he handed over his pokeballs, "Thanks Joy." She took the balls and turned to walk to the treatment room, "I have a meal for you sitting in your room. I figured you would be hungry. Chansey will bring your pokemon to you when they are healed."

Ash nodded in thanks before he turned and went to his room. While he was taking the challenge, Nurse Joy had become his closest confident and was very kind towards him. Over the past two months she had gone out of her way to ensure that the media and fans would not bother the rising star. This had led to her threatening several reporters when they tried to climb in through a window.

Ash arrived in his room and quickly went to take a shower to free himself from the stress of battle. As the water washed over him, he thought about the inevitable reunion with his family and friends. No doubt his mother would be hysterical and he was sure that his cheek would get a slap from Leaf. He chuckled at the thought but figured it was unavoidable. Once he was clean, Ash grabbed his tray of food and started eating only to stop when Chansey walked in with his pokemon. He thanked the normal type before he continued on with his meal. Once that was done he slipped into his bed and closed his eyes for a nap.

*PTCW*

Two hours later, Ash woke up to the sound of his room's phone ringing. He groaned and rubbed his eyes before getting dressed and putting his pokeballs back onto his belt he walked down the hall to the main entrance of the center. Upon arriving he found a medium sized crowd of people standing rigid as Nurse Joy gave them a stern talking to. "I don't care who you are…I will not break my promise to Ash and wake him up. He is very tired and should have the luxury of sleep."

Ash rolled his eyes as a arrogant voice spoke up, "Listen lady Ashy-boy has been gone for two years the least you can do is let us see him." With the confirmation that Gary was in the group and that this was going to carry on without Ash ending it, he cleared his throat which caused the group to turn. "Thanks Joy but I have it from here."

*PTCW*

The first thing that happened was silence but this was short lived as a brunette bullet slammed into him and pushed him off his feet. Before he could respond, a pair of moist and soft lips found his and his eyes rolled into his head from the passion and strength of the kiss. Hand started to roam his body and when he felt them start to slide under his shirt he forced himself to pull away and looked at the figure above him. Beautiful blue eyes twinkled with love, happiness, and a hint of lust as Ash and Leaf looked at each other for the first time in years.

Ash pulled them up and wrapped his arms around her and inhaled her scent, "I missed you so much."

Leaf giggled into his shoulder and tried to pull him even closer. His strong arms held her tightly as if she was going to disappear into thin air and she loved it. It let her know that she still meant the world to him even after all this time. What made this even better was when she heard three whispered words from him, "I love you."

Leaf had to fight back tears but one slipped down and she smiled, "I love you so much Ash. Please don't ever go away again."

Her best friend hugged her tighter and shook his head in her hair, "Never again."

A throat being cleared caused the newly reunited couple to split apart and look at the group of people standing before them. The one that Ash first saw was the one person he longed to see just as much as Leaf, his mother.

Delia ran forth from the group and hugged her son for dear life, "My little boy is back."

Ash wrapped his mother in a hug and kissed the top of her head, "I missed you too mom."

Delia refused to let go of Ash so he simply looked over her head to the others.

Professor Oak nodded to Ash, "I'd offer my hand Ash but it seems you have your hands full right now."

Ash chuckled lightly, "It's good to be back, but I still have one final task to attend to."

Gary pushed his way forward, "That's right, you and me having a battle to finally show these people what a loser you are!"

Ash sneered, "I see you still have the I.Q. of a rock. From what I recall in the Silver Conference, Leaf defeated you in a fair match…I'm stronger than Leaf, what hopes do you have to win against me?"

Gary chuckled, "Please, like I told your little girlfriend earlier, I let her win so she would feel better. She was moping around so much because you were gone that she wasn't even fun anymore."

Ash used his psychic powers to keep his emotions in check but Leaf caught the shift in the air around him. "I just defeated Lance in a battle, how would your precious team last against the pokemon that defeated him?"

Gary seemed to think for a moment before chuckling, "Easy, they are ten times better than your team of dragons and will trump you in no time flat."

Ash cracked his neck and glared at Gary, "You know what…fine. I'm sick and tired of your little attitude so I might as well take it down a few notches."

Gary smiled widely, "About time." Ash looked to Joy as Gary ran off with his Grandpa to get ready, "Can we use the practice field out back?" When the nurse nodded, Ash turned and started walking out back with Leaf's hand firmly in his.

*PTCW*

The brunette teen looked at her man and smiled lightly, "A little on edge dear?"

Ash smiled faintly at the pet name, "Just a little. I had some plans that involved you and me in a dark secluded room with a do not disturb sign on it."

Leaf blushed lightly but gave a very seductive smile, "Why Mr. Ketchum are you planning to take advantage of me?"

Ash growled deep in his throat and put his face in the crook of her neck before he gently nipped at the pulse point. Leaf's breathing hitched and her legs went weak, "You better believe it."

He kissed her and started to walk towards the field. Leaf was stationary until Dawn and May caught up with wide eyes. "Leaf?"

Their friend had a glazed look on her face and quickly shook her head when Dawn pinched her, "Ouch, what was that for Dawn?"

May giggled, "You were lost in the land of Ash Ketchum from the looks of it. What did he do to you?"

Leaf groaned, "Nothing yet." She squeaked and blushed a deep shade of red to which Dawn and May started laughing. The three girls ran to the field to find Ash standing in front of the field as he began to release his team.

Haxorus, Arbok, Charizard, Milotic, Dragonite, and Salamence all appeared on the field around their master. Ash then pulled out several more balls and chose them. From the first was a large green lizard like pokemon with a pine tree shaped tail and blades coming from its arms. The pokemon pulled a twig from seemingly nowhere and put it in its mouth.

The next pokemon appeared next to Sceptile and was massive compared to him. It had dark green armor with a patch of dark purple on its stomach. Powerful limbs held the body up high and it had spikes running down its back and tail. The pokemon roared and shook the field. This pokemon was a Tyranitar and she was different because not only was her armor darker than normal but she had a large diagonal scar running along her stomach and chest.

Next to her came a smaller pokemon with green skin. It had a single horn upon its head and little stubby legs and arms. The pokemon yawned with a squeak and jumped into the Tyranitar's arms. This was Ash's Larvitar and the child of Tyranitar.

The next pokemon was Ash's Flygon who called out and flew around the field once before landing next to the group.

The next pokemon was a serpent with dark coloring and two prominent fangs. May recognized the pokemon as a Seviper from her home region of Sinnoh.

The final ball to open was a medium sized pokemon with bluish skin. It had the striking resemblance to a shark and had a bulkier form. Dawn smiled at the sight of the Gabite and giggled as it bit Ash on the head before joining the team.

Leaf noticed that Ash had more pokeballs in his bag but left them in it. Looking at the team of dragons before them, the girls couldn't help but be in awe over the power they presented.

Leaf smiled, "Ash they all look so powerful. I can't believe you have this many rare pokemon!"

Her boyfriend chuckled, "I don't see them as rare…I see them as teammates that will help us rise to the top of the mountain. His dragon team roared their agreement which caused the four humans to smile.

Ash turned to see Gary and the rest of the people walking over and they all stopped upon seeing Ash's dragons. Professor Oak had to stop himself from running up and begin to take notes while Gary was trying to find some flaw in their overall look. The Elite Four members and Charles Goodshow looked at the team with respect and knew that this was a good man to take on Red Ketchum.

Gary shook his head, "Let's get this over with Ashy Boy, I have plans later."

Ash was about to select his first pokemon but Gary spoke up, "Hold on Ash, seeing as I challenged you I am making one stipulation, you have to use you pokemon that you had before your dragon team." The girls started to protest but Ash held up his hand, "Are you that scared?"

When Gary didn't answer Ash looked at Leaf, "You have them with you?"

His girlfriend nodded and put her bag down and pulled out nine pokeballs. Ash retrieved one of the pokeballs from his bag for a grand total of ten pokemon. "Three on three Ash and you can have the first move."

Ash nodded and selected a ball, "Electabuzz end this!" From the ball appeared a much larger version of his electric type. Instead of one tail he now had two and his body was much more muscular.

Ash smiled at the sight of his new Electivire and looked at Leaf who was blushing, "I kept training them while you were gone and they wanted to surprise you."

Electivire looked at Leaf and gave her a thumbs up in thanks before grinning like a mad man at Ash, "It's great to see you too buddy now let's win this." His pokemon roared as sparks of electricity coursed over his body.

Gary shrugged, "So your pokemon evolved, my pokemon will make short work of it…Nidoking let's go!" A massive purple dinosaur like pokemon appeared with a powerful thud on the ground. Nidoking opened his eyes and flexed his arms before roaring with a display of power.

"Nidoking let's end this battle with earthquake!"

Ash shook his head, "To predictable…protect." Electivire crossed his arms in front of him and a massive green shield appeared around him as the ground started to shake from Nidoking's attack.

"Counter with fire and ice punch!" The electric type dispersed the shield before rushing forwards with both fists charging energy.

Gary moved, "Dodge the attack and use horn attack!" The poison type moved but when he went to stab at Electivire he found that his opponent wasn't where he was a second before. His position was shown when two fists slammed into the side of Gary's pokemon and sent him flying.

"Nidoking get up and use hyper beam!" His pokemon pushed himself up and roared as a massive beam of energy fired and slammed into Electivire.

Ash looked on in concern but was relieved when his pokemon got up. "I'm glad to see your stamina is better let's see about overall strength. Electivire my friend show him a real earthquake!" The electric type smiled coldly and slammed his legs into the ground, causing a massive shockwave to rush around the field. Nidoking cried out in pain from the super effective attack and went flying back.

"Finish him with Giga Impact!" Electivire rushed forwards, wrapping himself in a sphere of purple and gold energy. The energy swirled around him and exploded upon impact with Gary's pokemon. Ash's electric type jumped back and landed in front of his trainer leaving an unconscious Nidoking on the ground.

Gary growled and returned his pokemon before quickly throwing another ball, "Nidoqueen go!" The female version of the Nidoran family appeared with a massive thud.

Ash smiled and whistled to Electivire and the pokemon walked to the sidelines. Calling upon his psychic powers, Ash sensed for a certain ball and threw it, "Alakazam end this!" His psychic pokemon appeared with an explosion of psychic energy and smiled at being reunited with his master. Their minds quickly connected again and both greeted each other.

Gary sneered, "Not man enough to fight without the advantage are you? Nidoqueen use ice beam!"

Ash spoke to his pokemon, "Stop it." Alakazam's eyes flared blue and sent out powerful energy to the incoming ice beam. The attack stopped in the air and hung there for a split second before bending and flying back into Gary's Nidoqueen.

Gary growled in his throat, "Get up and use earthquake!" His pokemon pushed herself off the ground and stomped her feet on the ground.

"Levitate above the ground just long enough for the attack to subside." Alakazam nodded and let his mental powers release upon himself and floated a few inches above the ground. The ground type attack ripped apart the field but left the floating pokemon harmless.

"Psybeam!" Putting his silver spoons together, Alakazam shot a powerful beam into his opponent.

"Finish him with psychic."

Before Gary could respond, his pokemon was engulfed in a blue aura and slammed onto the ground several times before going on conscious. Ash looked at the fainted pokemon and shook his head, "Great job my friend. Go by Electivire."

Gary returned his fainted pokemon and glared at Ash, "I will not lose to a second rate loser like yourself. I am the grandson of Professor Oak…I can't lose….BLASTOISE GO!" Gary's starter landed with a powerful thud and roared out his name.

Ash thought for a moment before selecting the ball he had picked up from his bag, "I have prepared this pokemon for the last year and depending on how she does today will help determine if she is ready for full time use….Suicune end this!" The moment the words left his mouth the crowd watching went silent with shock and awe. From the ball appeared the legendary Aurora Pokemon. She dipped her head and then threw it back in a long echoing howl that filled everyone present with peace, fear, and awe.

Gary's eyes widened in fear, "How…how did you get that?"

Ash's smile turned feral and his eyes flashed blue with his psychic powers, "By being the better trainer…Suicune use calm mind and then scald."

The legendary pokemon called out and flashed a light purple and pink energy before opening her mouth and firing a stream boiling hot water. Blastoise roared in pain before aiming his cannons at the legend.

"Blastoise use hydro pump!" Two torrents of high pressurized water fired from each cannon and raced towards the legend.

"Protect." The ultimate defensive move snapped into place and easily withstood the attack, "Show him a real Hydro Pump." Suicune roared and launched a much larger attack that slammed into Blastoise and caused him to grunt in pain.

Gary's continue to growl, "Blastoise us rapid spin to get in close and then use skull bash!" The giant water type withdrew into his shell and charged forward in a rapid spinning motion. Just as he was about to hit, the Kanto water starter revealed his head and rocketed at Suicune.

Ash smirked, "Stop him."

Suicune's eyes flashed blue and a similar aura appeared around Gary's Blastoise.

Gary gaped at this, "What is going on Ketchum? Suicune isn't a psychic type!"

Ash nodded slowly, "This is true, but it can learn a powerful psychic move. Ever heard of extrasensory? If not then let me fill you in. The simplest way to put it is that the move is a weaker version of psychic and with enough practice can hold off the most savage of opponents. Suicune finish this with a hyper beam."

Ash's legendary pokemon filtered the energy from the psychic attack into her jaws before firing a condensed and powerful beam that was white in color. Blastoise braced for impact but knew it wouldn't be getting up in this battle. As soon as the explosion happened, Gary fell to his knees in shock at the power behind the attack, "How?"

The smoke for the explosion quickly disappeared to reveal Ash slowly walking towards Gary with his psychic power in full effect. The aura around him licked the air like flames and his eyes were bright blue in color.

"How did I beat you? You are really going to ask that after seeing the differences between us?"

Ash shook his head, "Gary…you spent so much time gloating and picking on anyone who was weaker than you that you didn't spend time training. I spend time training at month long intervals before even attempting to go forward. I plan ahead, I fight for what I want, and I don't expect the world to bend over for me." The last part Ash said caused his aura to flare even more. His pokemon wore expressions similar to their trainer's tone, disgust. The older members like Salamence, Charizard, and Dragonite had been around long enough to know about Gary's treatment of Ash and others around Pallet. The newer ones like Haxorus, Flygon, and even little Larvitar knew that this human was one that, in their world, would be cast from the pack.

Ash turned and observed the group that was watching before looking at Leaf. She was smiling at him with tears in her eyes but the sparkle that was present made any worries of her being sad fade away.

Taking a deep breath, Ash canceled his psychic powers and walked over to her as his pokemon followed. Wrapping her in his arms, Ash pulled her tightly to his chest and simply held her for all she was worth. Her body perfectly formed to his and her scent filled his nose. His chest was tight and his heart was beating faster than it had in years.

He finally looked down at her and found that Leaf was smiling up at him, "Hey you."

Leaf giggled at the way he use to greet her, "Hey you."

She simply moaned in happiness and buried her face in his chest again. They remained like that for several more minutes before someone cleared their throat. The young couple turned to see Ash's mom, Leaf's parents, and Leaf's friends standing there with smiles on.

John smiled and walked over, "It's great to have you home Ash." The two men clasped hands and gave a very manly hug though if one would look they would see that John Green was holding back a couple of tears. Violet was next and engulfed Ash in her signature hug much to his embarrassment, although this time she spared him the misfortune of suffocating in her ample bosom.

Leaf giggled at this and waited as Ash again hugged his mother before turning to Leaf's two friends. "Forgive me for not remembering your names but I haven't had a ton of contact with Leaf in the past two years."

May and Dawn both blushed a deep shade of red and babbled several phrases that didn't make sense…although May's sounded like yummy.

Leaf shook her head, "Ash, these are May and Dawn and my closest friends during my travels. Both of them are trying to become Pokemon Coordinators."

May playfully glared at her friend, "What do you mean trying to? I happen to be referred to as the Hoenn Princess."

Dawn puffed out her cheeks, "And I happen to be the Sinnoh Queen."

Ash thought for a moment, "I thought that was Cynthia."

Dawn fell over anime style while May simple giggled. Professor Oak smiled widely and walked over, "Ash my boy it is great to see you again and I'm glad that you and Leaf are…ahem…together again."

The teen couple blushed at this, "But I would love to sit down and talk about your team…especially that fascinating creature you just used."

Ash smiled lightly, "Not a problem."

*PTCW*

Several hours later, Ash and his friends were in the back of the pokemon center with Ash's complete team out so Professor Oak could study them. In addition to Electivire evolving, several of Ash's other members had changed as well. His original team line up went like this…Salamence as the head and starter, followed by Scizor, Alakazam, Electivire, Dragonite, Rhyperior, Gengar, Charizard, Snorlax, Kabutops, Armaldo, and finally Honchkrow. The newest additions from his journey consisted of Haxorus, Arbok, Milotic, Sceptile, Seviper, Flygon, Tyranitar, Larvitar, Gabite, and Suicune.

The Pallet Town native couldn't help but smile at his pokemon that had evolved during his absence, although he felt a little sad at not being the driving force behind Armaldo's evolution. He rewarded his girlfriend with a passionate kiss that left her dazed and in a stunned silence much to the amusement of everyone else. Professor Oak was like a kid in a candy store being able to observe and study so many rare pokemon…especially Suicune.

Ash recounted the story of the first time they battled and that since then, Suicune had been following him for a chance at a rematch. The battle came one year into Ash's dragon journey and Salamence had defeated the legend once again. This time, Suicune let Ash capture her and for the last year they have been training as a team.

"Ash, you do realize that you just set yourself that much higher than most trainers. Heck, even Elite Four members haven't been able to tackle a legendary and yet you have defeated one twice."

Ash shrugged at this, "I don't see it as a status. I see Suicune as a very powerful member of my team and I am very honored that she deemed me worthy of her power."

Dawn spoke up from where she was petting Ash's Milotic, "I'm not very familiar with the rules of the challenge. But aren't you restricted from using her?"

Ash nodded stiffly, "Just until I defeat the champion. Once he is defeated my type restriction will be lifted. The reason the type clause was put into effect was to test trainers who wanted to rise to that level. Upon defeated an Elite Four member, you can take their place in the ranking and so you have to have a type selection."

May put a finger on her chin, "So that means if you wanted, you could take Lance's position and be the head of the Elite Four?"

Ash nodded, "As appealing as it sounds I have a much higher target in my sights. If I become Champion I will finally defeat that fool of a man and be able to separate Kanto and Johto for the first time in years."

Oak spoke up, "That is a big challenge Ash. You would have to assemble your own Elite Four."

Ash nodded again and looked to Paul who was casually leaning against his Torterra, "I have a few people in mind. Paul has already agreed to head up my Elite Four by specializing in pokemon with dual typing. I have a trainer who is considering my offer since he also needs to select a type but I'm sure he will go with Normal type pokemon."

Ash went silent for a moment which caused Leaf to look at him, "Who else Ash?"

He smiled lightly, "You."

Leaf's eyes widened, "What?"

Her boyfriend nodded, "I want you to consider being an Elite Four member Leaf."

The brunette's eyes remained wide as she processed the information. Her heart was thumping a mile a minute and her mind was clouded over with a layer of fuzz.

Dawn squealed, "Oh my Arceus that would be so cute. You could be the Kanto Region power couple…powerful in pokemon and love." Dawn's eyes became little hearts as she imagined this future."

Leaf blushed deeply, "What type would I use?"

Ash smiled, "That is entirely up to you. Most people would use the type that they are closest to…or what their starter is."

Leaf thought for a moment, "So grass?"

Ash nodded, "Or poison, remember that the type restriction is only for while you compete in Elite Four matches. Outside you can use your normal team."

The dark trainer watched his girlfriend think before she started listing off names, "Let's see, I have Venasaur as my starter, Meganium, Roserade, Snover, Leafeon and my Cacturne."

Ash felt his jaw drop, "When did you get all those grass types?"

Leaf giggled, "It has been a while since we saw each other Ashy…I have captured pokemon while you were away."

Ash shook his head, "No kidding…while that is a nice base…I would suggest that you consider doing like I did and taking a trip to capture more grass type pokemon. The training aspect can come after I defeat my father."

Leaf was silent for another moment as she thought about it, "Does this mean I won't be able to continue my normal travels?"

Ash shook his head, "No, you can still go to other regions but you won't be able to use your Elite Four team unless it is a Champion level competition. Your normal team can still be used and you can still collect badges. But if you should have a challenge then you need to take care of that."

The brunette looked to her two friends who both were smiling at her. She looked at Ash and saw nothing but love and care for her which caused the girl to smile, "I'll do it."

And there we go. The long awaited chapter 10 of Conflict within.

I'm sorry for the wait my friends but I am a full time Executive Chef in Green Bay so my time for writing is little.

But fear not…updates will continue and this story will be completed.

If you haven't already, go check out my other two pokemon stories and give some feedback….one of them happens to be the reboot of Facing the Past.

As always, send in ideas and reviews.

KingFatMan25