It's been a month since the Grand Festival, and right now Ash, Wally, and Brendan were walking into Ever Grande City together.
May, Max, Norman, and Caroline said they would come later after getting some things ready. And yes, Norman and Caroline said they were coming too to cheer for them. And yes, May was embarrassed.
As for Brock, after the Festival he said he was going back home to get some things ready, but he would be here. And hey, he had a Lunatone.
Oh right, one thing. During the time since the Grand Festival ended, Ash went back to Pallet for the graduation, and he took May with him. So they were there watching the Sinnoh students, including Dawn and Barry, move on. Well, most of them chose to continue studying, but Dawn and Barry chose to head out.
And here's the thing: since May and Dawn had known each other ever since they were kids, they were already best friends. So when May showed Dawn that she had won the Grand Festival, Dawn was ecstatic for her.
Ash smiled as he watched them and let them catch up while he went to hang out with people back home. It had been a while, after all.
While he was there, he learned that Chase, Trace, and Elaine were getting ready to participate in the Indigo League. Yeah, all three of them made it.
Ash was happy for them and decided to give them a little gift. Since he had something like fifteen Key Stones, and would probably find more because he had sent Deoxys out to search for more of the fragments that had fallen from the meteorite, he gave each of them a Key Stone along with a Mega Stone for one of their Pokémon.
Unsurprisingly, since they already liked Ash, all three of them clung to him like Komala, begging him to come watch them at the Indigo League. And since, as has been established before, Ash was actually kind of weak when people sincerely begged him for something, he sighed and agreed.
Besides, the way the Leagues worked was that they weren't all held at the same time. Currently, if you looked at the Kanto, Hoenn, and Johto Leagues, the order was Kanto first, Hoenn second, and Johto last. Different Leagues happened at different times. It made sense since Goodshow had to personally attend all of them; otherwise, it would just be favoritism toward his favorites.
On the day of the League, Ash put on a mask so he wouldn't be recognized. But of course, the moment Goodshow caught even a glimpse of him, he recognized Ash immediately. Still, he simply smiled and didn't say anything.
Anyway, the Indigo League was interesting. For one, Ash knew Pink and Violet had participated the previous year and lost, while Brown had simply given up halfway through. But, funnily enough, Orange made it this year and was trying to hype himself up to win.
Other than them, there really weren't that many interesting people in the tournament, at least none Ash recognized. It was nothing like back when he had competed.
Although now that he thought about it, he really should go check on Dark City one of these days to see how his friends were doing running the Gym.
But anyway, the battles themselves weren't anything special. The main highlights were the Top 4 matches: Chase versus Trace, and Elaine versus Orange.
Ash wasn't really surprised. Chase and Elaine were protagonists, and Ash had helped train them a bit. The same went for Trace, since he was the rival. As for Orange...Ash had nothing to say about him.
In the end, Chase defeated Trace, and Elaine defeated Orange, much to Orange's dismay. That meant the finals of the Indigo League would be Chase versus Elaine.
Now that was actually a pretty interesting matchup. Since they were both protagonists, they were both equally favored.
But in the end, Elaine actually won.
It made sense. We know Elaine is the one who canonically appears in Pokémon Evolutions to encounter Mewtwo, meaning that, no matter how little, she did have just a tiny bit more plot armor.
Ash smiled beneath his mask as he watched Elaine receive her trophy while Chase accepted his silver medal.
By the time Ash brought everyone back to Pallet for the celebration, Elaine immediately grinned and challenged Ash to a Pokémon battle, saying that if she won, Ash had to do one thing for her.
Ash shook his head with a chuckle, letting Pikachu handle it.
Vee stayed hidden inside his Poké Ball. He didn't know whether Elaine's Eevee was a girl, and he didn't want to risk it. (Spoiler: she was.)
Anyway, Ash decided to teach them that he had taught them everything they knew, not everything he knew.
Needless to say, the battle didn't last very long. Ash had to admit Elaine was really good, but he just had far more experience.
Another thing Ash could tell was that Pikachu was already at Elite Four level, while Elaine would barely even be considered low Gym Leader level.
In fact, since Ash now had three Pokémon at Elite Four level, Ash himself was technically considered an Elite Four-level trainer.
If he wanted to, he could go challenge one of the Elite Four for their spot. But he didn't, he had no interest in doing that.
Anyway, back to this.
After Elaine lost, she wasn't demoralized. She had expected it, and she confidently announced that she'd train harder and challenge him again. Chase and Trace joined in, saying they'd beat Ash the next time they met him.
Ash laughed and rubbed all three of their heads, telling them they'd better try their best. Because he was unbeatable.
—
But that's enough about the past.
Back to the present. The trio walked into Ever Grande City pretty casually.
I mean, can you blame them? Since they had all earned eight Gym Badges, they got to skip straight to the Top 8 because the Gyms had been closed during the Groudon and Kyogre incident.
And from Juan they had heard that only one other person had also earned all eight Badges this year.
So all they had to do was wait for the Trainers with seven Gym Badges to battle each other and narrow themselves down to four challengers.
Those four would become their opponents in the quarterfinals.
The trio stepped into town and walked over to registration, handing over their IDs and Gym Badges.
Once they were officially qualified, they headed off to wait for the tournament to begin and for the rest of their group to arrive.
As Ash walked around with his arms behind his head, he glanced over at Brendan and Wally.
"Nervous?" Ash asked.
Brendan stretched his arms behind his head, "Nah." He immediately lied.
Ash raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"
"...Okay, maybe a little."
Wally chuckled, "I think everyone is."
Brendan sighed, "I mean...this is the Pokémon League." He looked up toward the massive stadium towering over the city, "I've dreamed about this since I was a kid."
Wally nodded, "So have I."
Ash smiled, "Then enjoy it."
The two of them looked over at him.
"You only get to experience your first League once. Sure, you can enter a hundred more if you want, but your first one will always be the most special."
That made both of them pause.
"Yeah," Wally said softly.
Brendan grinned, "Guess you're right."
As they continued walking, Pikachu suddenly perked up, "Pika?"
He pointed toward one of the nearby food stalls.
Ash looked over, "Already?"
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded.
"Dude, we literally ate breakfast an hour ago," Ash said.
Pikachu puffed out his cheeks and pushed Ash's bag, pulling out Vee to get his support. Vee looked groggy since he had just been napping, but he yawned and nodded.
"Vee...[Yeah sure, whatever. Can I go back to sleep now?]"
Ash looked at Vee, then back at Pikachu, "You know that doesn't count, right?"
Pikachu crossed his arms, "Pika Pika."
"...Still not a defense."
Brendan laughed, "I dunno, he seems really convincing, Ash."
"Don't encourage him," Ash sighed before walking over anyway, "Fine. One snack."
Pikachu immediately threw both paws into the air.
"Pikachuuuu!"
"You planned this, didn't you?"
"Pika."
"...I don't believe you," Ash said as he bought a Poké Puff skewer and gave it to Pikachu. But while he was getting it, he noticed someone else also buying one for his Meowth. It was a very special Meowth too; he had boots and a hat.
Ash looked up at the person and recognized him as Tyson immediately. Meanwhile, Tyson looked at Ash, and while he didn't recognize him, Tyson could tell that Ash was strong.
He gave a nod, "Hello there. I'm Tyson, nice to meet you. May I have your name?"
Ash nodded back and smiled, "Hi, I'm Ash. That's a neat Meowth you've got there," Ash said, pointing over to the Meowth that was leaning against the stall.
"Heh, thanks. You know, there's an interesting story behind that actually. You see—"
Tyson tried to start, but then he got interrupted.
"Yo Ash, who's this guy?" Brendan said, walking up next to him and holding his hand out, "Nice to meet ya, name's Brendan!"
Tyson blinked but smiled anyway, shaking Brendan's hand, "Tyson. Nice to meet you."
"Hi, are you participating in the Grand Conference too?" Wally asked, "Oh, and I'm Wally, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, and yeah, I am actually. I already qualified for the Top 8. How about you guys? I haven't seen you battle in any of the stadiums."
"Oh no, we got to skip that. We're in the Top 8 already," Brendan revealed immediately, not keeping anything a secret. To be fair, there wasn't really a reason to.
"Wow, really? Huh, you guys must be really strong!" Tyson said, pumping his fist, "I can't wait to battle you guys!"
"Well, this really is looking interesting, isn't it?" they heard a female voice from behind them.
They looked back, and there they saw Solidad walking up to them.
"I happened to also just qualify for the Top 8."
"Wow, Solidad, you're here too? I thought you only did Contests?" Wally said.
Solidad shrugged and smiled, "Just because I specialize in one doesn't mean I can't do the other. Besides, I had to make my Pokémon strong anyway, so I might as well."
"Wow, Solidad," Brendan said, putting his hands on his waist, "You're really cool. First you lost to May back in the Festival, now you're gonna lose to me!" he said completely without shame and with a smile that was just a little too big.
"B-Brendan!" Wally said, "I-I'm sorry, he just—"
But Solidad waved it off, "It's no big deal. Besides, words are just that. All that really matters is your strength and skill. If he's really confident, then he should be able to beat me, right?"
"Totally!" Brendan pumped his fists. It wasn't him being arrogant; he actually did genuinely want to battle Solidad.
"Then I look forward to it," Solidad said with a smile.
"Ha, this is exciting and all, but how about we all get ready? After this, I think we're gonna get called up to commence the start," Tyson said, pointing with both his fingers behind him.
"Sure, let's go!" Ash said. Then he looked over to Solidad, "Wanna come too?"
Solidad smiled and nodded, "Sure, I'd like that."
—
A few hours later, the Top 8 was announced, and they didn't waste any time moving into the quarterfinals. It seemed like the League was trying to get as much morale as possible after the disasters.
So today they would settle the Top 4, then tomorrow the final would be decided. But as for this, Ash and Tyson got paired with each other immediately. Meanwhile, Brendan, Wally, and Solidad got the other three, whose names were Morrison, Katie, and Clark.
They had their battles after Ash, but he and Tyson would be going first. So while they waited to get called out while the announcer hyped them up, Tyson looked over at Ash and smiled.
"Hey, no matter what happens, no hard feelings, right?" he said, holding his hand out.
Ash smiled and took it, "Of course. This is all for fun after all," he said with a smile.
Then they heard their names getting called to walk out. They nodded and walked out. Although Ash still had Pikachu and Vee since he couldn't run into May or Brock to give them to them, he just let them chill in his bag since they preferred staying out with him over in their Balls if they could help it.
And hey, as he walked out, Ash looked up and saw in the stands May, Max, Caroline, Norman, and Brock all together, with Norman and Caroline both holding a small sign that said "Go Ash," much to May's embarrassment.
And since Norman was a Gym Leader, they were all taken up to the VIP section where all the Gym Leaders were, and that's when he saw that all of them were up there and watching him too.
Ash gave a small smile as he waved. Although you need to remember, Ash is canonically good-looking, so as he did that, the crowd cheered, with people fighting over who they thought Ash smiled for.
Ash and Tyson stood on opposite sides getting ready as the referee stepped into the center.
"This is a 3-on-3 Pokémon battle between Ash and Tyson. Both Trainers are allowed to switch out their Pokémon. When one Trainer is out of usable Pokémon, the other will be declared the winner! Trainers, send out your first Pokémon!"
Ash and Tyson grabbed their first Poké Balls and threw them out immediately.
"Sceptile!" Tyson yelled as the Ball hit the ground and his Sceptile jumped out.
"Swellow!" Ash yelled out as his big bird jumped out and stretched his wings.
Tyson immediately made the first move.
"Sceptile, [Bullet Seed]!"
Sceptile snapped its arm forward, firing dozens of glowing green seeds into the sky.
"Dodge with [Aerial Ace]!" Ash called.
Swellow tucked its wings and became a blue blur, weaving between the seeds one after another as they narrowly missed, exploding behind it.
Tyson smiled, "I was hoping you'd do that." He shot his hand forward, "Sceptile, [Leaf Blade]!"
Without warning, Sceptile leaped nearly twenty feet into the air. Green energy formed around both forearms as Sceptile met Swellow head-on, and the [Leaf Blade] connected cleanly, making Swellow cry out as it was knocked backward across the battlefield.
Ash whistled, "Not bad."
Tyson grinned, "I told you I wanted a good battle."
Swellow recovered in midair, beating its wings hard before climbing higher again.
"I said not bad, but not good enough." Ash pointed forward, "Now [Quick Attack]!"
Swellow slammed shoulder-first into Sceptile's chest, sending the Grass-type skidding several feet backward before it dug its blades into the ground to stop itself as Swellow flew back up and started turning to do it again.
Tyson was surprised by how fast Swellow was, so he quickly called, "Use [Detect]!"
As Swellow came down, Sceptile closed its eyes, taking a breath and trying to think. Then, at the last second, it dodged to the left, and Swellow flew straight through where Sceptile had been.
"There!" Tyson pointed, "[Leaf Blade]!"
Sceptile opened its eyes and spun around, both glowing blades slicing toward Swellow's back.
But this time Ash was already expecting it.
"[Steel Wing]!"
Swellow spun around in the air, making its feathers glow silver. It brought them up and blocked the attack as the Leaf Blade collided against the hardened feathers, sparks exploding across the battlefield.
They were pushed away from each other, and the instant Swellow regained its balance, it shot upward.
"[Aerial Ace]!" Ash called out.
Swellow became a streak of blue, circling high before diving again.
"Intercept it with [Bullet Seed]!"
Sceptile planted its feet and unleashed another barrage of glowing seeds. Swellow twisted between them, but a handful clipped its wings, causing it to falter just enough for Sceptile to spring upward.
"Now [Leaf Blade]!"
The glowing blade caught Swellow across the side, sending it tumbling through the air.
Swellow quickly beat its wings, catching itself only a few feet above the ground before climbing once more and coming back down with another [Quick Attack].
The hit knocked Sceptile sliding back, but it immediately leaped after it. Both of them clashed with another [Leaf Blade] and [Steel Wing] clash.
Swellow suddenly broke the clash, beating its wings hard.
"Now [Wing Attack]!" Ash commanded.
Tyson heard and immediately called out, "[Detect] again!"
Swellow flew in, but Sceptile dodged it. But that was what Ash wanted because now Swellow could make distance and fly as high as he wanted.
Tyson realized what Ash was doing as his eyes widened, "Quick! Shoot Swellow out of the sky with more [Bullet Seed]!"
Sceptile obeyed and immediately started firing seed after seed, trying to shoot Swellow down. But this time it dodged each of them one after another, getting high enough for Ash to get what he wanted.
"[Brave Bird]," Ash said calmly.
Blue flames erupted around Swellow's body as it plummeted like a meteor. Sceptile barely had time to cross its arms before the attack crashed into it.
When they collided, a shockwave rippled across the battlefield. Dust exploded everywhere.
For several moments, neither Pokémon could be seen. Then, as the dust slowly settled, Swellow emerged first, breathing heavily as it climbed back into the air.
Below, Sceptile remained kneeling, trying to push itself back up, but it failed and fell on its face with spirals in its eyes.
The referee raised a flag, "Sceptile is unable to battle! Swellow wins!"
Tyson recalled Sceptile with a smile, "You did great." He reached for his next Poké Ball, "Then let's see how you handle this."
The heavy ball spun through the air, "Go, Metagross!"
The massive Steel/Psychic Pokémon slammed onto the battlefield with a tremendous crash, its four legs digging into the ground as its crimson eyes locked onto Swellow.
Ash looked it over calmly, then looked over at Swellow, "Can you keep going?"
Swellow screeched and looked at Ash like he was offended Ash would even ask that, making Ash smile.
"Figured. Let's go down fighting, then."
Metagross lowered its body, already preparing to attack.
"[Meteor Mash]!" Tyson called out.
Its body exploded forward with shocking speed, one massive steel arm glowing bright white.
"Meet it head-on with [Steel Wing]!" Ash commanded.
They both flew at each other and crashed together, causing sparks to fly off of them. Neither of them wanted to give way for the other. Swellow was stronger, but it was already hurt, while Metagross was completely healthy, so Metagross had the slight advantage here.
Swellow's silver wings trembled under the pressure before the massive Steel-type forced it backward, sending the bird skidding across the dirt.
Ash didn't hesitate, "Don't give it room! [Quick Attack]!"
Swellow snapped back into motion before Metagross could fully recover, becoming a white blur as it slammed into the Steel-type's side.
Metagross shifted only an inch.
Tyson smiled, "Not enough. [Zen Headbutt]!"
Metagross' eyes glowed bright blue. Psychic energy surrounded its body as it lunged forward.
"Up!" Ash quickly commanded.
Swellow beat its wings just in time, the glowing head passing inches beneath it, "Now [Wing Attack]!"
Swellow folded its wings and chopped downward, striking Metagross squarely across the head. It let out a loud ding, but other than that, there was no visible damage.
But then Tyson smiled, "Grab it!"
Before Swellow could fly back, Metagross shot one of its arms up and grabbed Swellow by the wing, then slammed it into the ground. Using its other three arms, it started punching Swellow over and over again.
Swellow put up a good fight, but in the end Ash had to return it. It was a bit too much.
But Ash wasn't worried. In fact, he was having fun, so next he threw out his next Poké Ball, "Go, Swampert!"
Swampert stretched his back, looking around. Then he saw Metagross and gave a short salute, but this was still a battle.
Tyson wasted no time, "Metagross, [Zen Headbutt]!"
Psychic energy flared around Metagross as it shot across the battlefield directly toward Swampert, its head glowing.
Ash pointed forward, "[Protect]."
Swampert crossed his arms, and a shimmering green barrier instantly appeared around him. Metagross slammed into it with a thunderous boom, but it was no use against Swampert's barrier.
"Now!" Ash called out, "[Ice Punch]!"
Swampert dropped the Protect, then his fist glowed icy blue as he punched Metagross squarely in the face, making a loud clanging sound like someone had struck a bell.
The impact sent the Steel-type sliding several meters before its claws dug into the battlefield.
Tyson smiled and thrust his arm forward, "Use [Meteor Mash]!"
Metagross launched itself forward once more, one foreleg glowing brilliant white.
"[Hammer Arm]!" Ash called.
Swampert met the attack head-on, and the two attacks collided. A small shockwave burst across the battlefield as dust blasted outward while both Pokémon remained locked together, neither giving an inch.
Tyson narrowed his eyes, "Metagross, now!"
Metagross' eyes flashed. Psychic power suddenly wrapped around Swampert's arm.
Tyson got excited and quickly continued, "Now [Psychic] into [Meteor Mash]!"
Using the brief opening, Metagross twisted, and its glowing fist slammed into Swampert's side. Swampert was knocked backward several yards before digging his feet into the ground.
Ash took a quick breath, "Let's speed things up." He grinned, "[Muddy Water]!"
Swampert slammed both hands into the ground. A massive spray of mud exploded toward Metagross.
Tyson immediately reacted, "Fly over it!"
Metagross floated upward using its Psychic powers.
But Ash smiled, "Got you."
Tyson blinked, "What?"
Ash snapped his fingers, "[Hydro Pump]!"
The instant Metagross cleared the mud, Swampert fired a massive torrent of water straight into the air, hitting Metagross completely since it couldn't dodge.
Metagross started falling to the ground, and Swampert ran toward it.
As Metagross finally opened its eyes, it saw Swampert right in front of it raising his arm.
Then Ash snapped one last time, "[Hammer Arm]!"
Swampert's arm came down like a gavel and struck Metagross on the head so hard that it was driven into the ground, leaving a crater as the sound of a bell rang throughout the entire stadium.
When Swampert pulled back his arm, the referee went to check and confirmed that Metagross was unconscious.
"Metagross is unable to battle! Tyson, please send out your final Pokémon!"
Tyson slowly returned Metagross while the crowd cheered as loudly as they could. Some started chanting Ash's name, while others believed Tyson would make a comeback.
Meanwhile, Ash looked at Swampert. He was good to go, but he was actually noticeably hurt, and hey, he might as well let more of his Pokémon get a chance to shine.
So Ash quickly returned Swampert to his Ball, "You're pretty good, Tyson, but I'm sorry you had to run into me," Ash said, already grabbing his last Poké Ball.
"Are you kidding? This is the best!" Tyson said with a smile, "And it isn't over yet. I have one last Pokémon, and he's my strongest!"
Ash smiled and held up his last Poké Ball, "Oh really? Then I'll give you the best battle you've ever had. Flygon, you're up!"
Ash opened the Ball, and out came his Flygon, wearing a little necklace.
Tyson took a breath and grabbed his last Poké Ball, "Okay, it's your turn! Go, Meowth!"
He threw out his Ball, out came that cool Meowth with boots and a hat, posing as he looked up at Flygon with no fear.
Ash smiled and clapped for them, "I can see both of you trust each other a lot, and I love to see that. So as a reward, I'll show you another level."
Tyson looked confused, and so did some of the people watching.
But all of that was cleared up as soon as Ash pulled out his Key Stone. He smirked as he pressed it, and it ignited with light. Then Flygon's necklace ignited as well.
Do you remember that stone Flygon found? At the time, Ash had too much to deal with to try and figure out what it was for, but once he had time to sit down, he figured it out, and it was really quite simple.
After all, Mega Stones attract their Pokémon, so that meant this stone was for Flygon. This wasn't the first time Ash had done it, but it was the first time he had used it in public.
Flygon grew larger, his wings became sharper, and it looked like he had gained armor.
Then, as the light vanished, flying before them was Mega-Flygon. Now it was time to show everyone what he could do.
---
Hey guys BTW, i am going on a road trip this weekend, so i'm sorry no extra chapters but i'll be back on Monday like ushual