pokemon Fighting Dreamers

Interpol Headquarters, foot of Mt. Coronet.

"So, what do we know about this Lord Radeus?" Danika asked while Quillon and her interviewed Cyrus.

"According to what Faba told me, Radeus was the first of the Lightbane, no one knows where he came from, but the rest of the Lightbane gained their evolution after being showered by his light." Cyrus answered. "Much like other Necrozma, Radeus can absorb the 'light' or life energy from other beings, doing this as a way to maintain his own energy and he... posseses a bizarre sense of humor, Stinger may lead the armies, but Radeus reigns supreme over their whole dimension."

"Now, the important question, how do we beat Radeus?" Quillon asked.

"That's the neat part... you can't." Cyrus said.

"Nothing in this universe is unkillabe." Quillon insisted.

"Yes, but Radeus isn't from this universe." Cyrus said. "And Faba said that it's almost sure that they'll come back for a second round, after all, this was the first defeat that the Lightbane suffered in Millenia, I doubt they'll leave it like this."

"If they ever come back we'll be ready." Quillon said.

"That's why we left you in the same cell as Faba, to learn as much as we could from the Lightbane." Danika answered.

"Well, to continue explanations, by Radeus' side there's also a Lunala and a Solgaleo that work as his seconds-in-command, the three of them are immensely powerful though they barely fight, they leave that to the lower classes."

"So they're rusty, we'll simply beat them before they can warm up, our Urshifus will be of help."

"Oh... right." Danika laughed nervously. "Our Urshifus..."

"What's wrong?" Quillon asked.

"Yeah, uh, I kinda forgot to mention this to you, but... I may have lost my Urshifu totem."

"You did what?!" Quillon shouted.

"D-Domino took it when she knocked me out." Danika explained with a sigh. "And then Millis teleported her away before I could retrieve it."

"Great, because between the deal with the Lightbane and whatever Dawn's going to do we don't have enough problems already, do we?"

"Don't worry, I'll take it back somehow." Danika said. "And I doubt they'll even know what the totem is to begin with."

"Whatever." Quillon sighed. "Cyrus, thanks for the information, we'll send you back to the same cell, try to get Faba to tell you more if you can."

"I'll see what can I do." Cyrus answered and another agent entered the room they were in and took Cyrus away.

"We still don't have a clue of where Dawn is, right?" Danika asked.

"Nothing at all." Quillon answered. "I hate to admit it, but that girl seems to know what she's doing."

"I told you, we can't let our guard down with her." Danika replied. "But she better doesn't think that we'll go down easily."

Meanwhile in Solaceon.

"Who's ready to throw down the system?!" Angie shouted entering the living room wearing a black snow jacket, black jeans and boots.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Ursula asked.

"It's my ass-kicking outfit, girl!" Angie answered.

"Ok, but why?" Dawn asked.

"Wait, hold on a second." Angie said. "Are you guys seriously telling me that you were going to do this mission in your normal clothes?"

"I mean, what's wrong with my clothes?" Regina asked.

"If those people see us and recognize us we'll be screwed!" Angie said. "Sure, they're expecting Dawn to show up, but they don't know us, we'll have to protect our identities."

"I guess that's a good point." Dawn replied.

"Cool, I've got jackets, jeans and boots for all of us." Angie answered. "And I brought 4 different snow masks to make sure we don't confuse with each other, I will wear a green mask, Regina's will be white, Ursula's red and Dawn's blue, all ok?"

"Understood." Regina said. "You're quite smarter thank you look."

"Even with all that I'll still look better than all of you." Ursula said.

"Very well, we'll go to the Headquarters tonight." Dawn said. "Get whatever you need and remember we only have one shot with this, if anything goes wrong... you're all free to leave."

"I'm not going to abandon you, Dawn." Angie said.

"I'm not abandoning Miss Johanna." Ursula added.

"I'm sure we'll be fine as long as we stick together." Regina said.

"Great... I'm trusting you all." Dawn said.

Back with Ash.

Last time, our heroes were sucked into the Distortion World along many others, where they were invited by Marshadow and Giratina to participate in the Ghost Type Strongest Battle, now the trainers are ready and it's time for the tournament to finally begin.

"Now let's begin." Giratina said. "The first battle will be Cynthia Shirona against Agatha Zutto, remember, your choice to fight must be a Ghost-Type Pokemon or a Pokemon with a Ghost-Type move, it's a 1 against 1, no second chances and no law of Tsuhima."

"Law of Tsuhima?" Sina asked.

"Something about changing opponents before the fight." Phoebe said.

"Come forth, Spiritomb!" Cynthia released her ghost who came out with a grim laugh.

"An Spiritomb..." Ash trailed off remembering his encounter with said species.

"If that's the case, let's go, Crobat!" Agatha shouted calling upon the bat.

"The most famous Ghost trainer in the world won't use a Ghost Type?" Elesa asked.

"That's the thing about Agatha." Phoebe said. "Her only actual Ghost-Type is her Gengar, her team varies a lot actually, it's mostly Pokemon with other types that can use certain ghost techniques.

"Begin!" Sina's Froslass gave the order.

"Infestation!" Cynthia ordered and many of the green orbs around Spiritomb fired themselves towards Crobat.

"Wing Attack!" Agatha answered and her Crobat slashed through the orbs with her wings to then fly towards Spiritomb and smack him with them.

"Night Shade!" Cynthia shouted again and Spiritomb fired two dark rays from his eyes pushing Crobat back again.

"Shadow Ball!" Crobat opened his mouth and prepared the attack.

"Sucker Punch!" Spiritomb quickly extended its gaseous body and slammed himself onto Crobat, but the bat fired up the Shadow Ball before being hit and this later fell onto Spiritomb's stone and damaged him. "Use Rock Tomb!" Spiritomb laughed again and many rocks fell from the sky.

"Dodge and Heat Wave!" Agatha shouted and the Crobat dashed in zigzag to avoid the rocks and then strongly flapped his wings creating a burning wind that pushed away the rocks and used them to damage Spiritomb.

"Night Shade!"

"Cross Poison!"

Spiritomb fired the rays from his eyes again, but Crobat flapped his four wings together and created a giant purple X that broke through the Night Shade and landed another hit onto Spiritomb.

"Infestation again! All of them!" Spiritomb spun around faster and more and more of the spheres came out of his body and surrounded Crobat.

"That's a 108 of those things." Millis said.

"You just counted all of that?" Domino asked.

"Perk of being a thief, I guess." Millis answered.

"Try dodging this." Cynthia said.

"Don't mind if I do." Agatha smiled. "Flow of failed phantoms!

"What?" Cynthia asked as Crobat flapped his four wings together but in different directions as he used Heat Wave, spinning around and creating a fiery tornado that absorbed all of the green orbs and then sent them back at Spiritomb with high speed, knocking out the ghost with a fiery explosion to then make hide inside his stone.

"Spiritomb is defeated!" Sina's Froslass said. "The victory is for Agatha and Crobat!"

"Wow, I think I've never seen one of Cynthia's Pokemon go down so fast." Elesa said.

"Good message to not underestimate Miss Agatha." Ash replied.

"Something troubles you, dear." Agatha said as she walked to Cynthia. "From what I've heard of your mother you're far more strategic, but here you just used mere brute force, you're distracted, may I know why?"

"...It's nothing." Cynthia sighed while returning her Spiritomb and shortly glancing at Ash.

"That was a great opening battle." Mr. Marsh said. "Now, something we usually do in the tournament is that the loser tells the winner what was going to be his wish."

"I think I'll keep that to myself." Cynthia answered as Giratina rose from behind her and observed her

"Is something wrong, lord Giratina?" Cynthia asked.

"Oh no, it's nothing, you just remind me of someone." Giratina chuckled.

"Very well, time for the second match." Mr. Marsh continued. "Ash Ketchum vs Tina Moore."

"Give it you all, Tina!" Flannery cheered on.

"Uh, sure, I... I'm so so dead." Tina whispered.

"Like I told you, don't worry too much about it." Ash said. "Let's just have fun, it's not like this a battle to death or anything."

"S-Sure, sorry again." Tina replied.

"It's fine, but since we're at it, why don't you tell me about you, Tina?"

"Y-You want to know about me?" She stuttered.

"Yeah, I mean, out of all the people here you're literally the only one I don't know." Ash said. "So, tell me something."

"Uh, yeah, Guess I am." Tina said. "Well, to begin my original name was Tina Sazanka, but I got changed to Moore after Malva and Drasna adopted me."

"Right, Flannery mentioned you're adopted, and even then you two are kinda alike."

"Hehe, guess we are, now, like I was saying, Drasna and Malva adopted me some weeks ago, before that, I was living in an orphanage in Kalos, I had some friends though, Scottie, Bettie and Paulo; though I've been in many orphanages, my favorite was the one where I met with a girl named Kerry, we used to spend days together until she escaped, she was kind of a big sister to me, I'd like to know where she is right now."

"This girl..." Domino trailed off looking at Tina.

"What? Do you know her?" Millis asked.

'Hmm..." Domino simply shook her head.

"But it's alright, cause Flannery will be my sister-cousin and now I know it's gonna be great, and well, I've seen some of your battles in TV." Tina continued with Ash. "This is quite the honor."

"Please, no need to be formal, we're just two trainers about to have a battle." Ash said. "Let's see what you can do."

"Come along, Flareon!" Tina exclaimed calling her ace.

"Decidueye, I choose you!"

"Begin!" Froslass said again.

"Superpower!" Tina shouted first, her Flareon ran towards Decidueye surrounded in bright red energy, but the impact didn't even faze Decidueye.

"Uh, Decidueye is a Ghost-Type." Ash said.

"Worth the shot, Shadow Ball!" Tina ordered and Flareon shot the move from his mouth.

"Leaf Blade!" Decidueye's wings illuminated with green light and he used to cut through the Shadow Ball, he then flew towards Flareon and landed another cut on him pushing him back.

"Flame Charge!" Flareon quickly got up and ran towards Decidueye surrounded in flames and slammed himself onto the owl's chest. "Now Zap Cannon!" While Decidueye was recovering from the hit, Flareon opened his mouth and his fur got spiky as he charged energy to then fire a huge electric blast that knocked down Decidueye. "Great! Flame Charge again!"

"Spirit Shackle!" Decidueye quickly shot an arrow at Flareon's shadow and made him stop his run, Flareon then tried to bite the arrow in order to set himself free, but once he pulled the arrow out of his shadow this self-destructed, exploding right onto Flareon's face. "Brave Bird!" Decidueye charged the move and transferred the energy to an arrow and fired it.

"Zap Cannon!" Flareon attacked with the electric beam again and this overcame the arrow, hitting onto Decidueye again. "Flame Charge!"

"Low Sweep!" Decidueye jumped forward and stopped Flareon's run with his two claws to then kick him away.

"Keep using Flame Charge!

"Counter with Leaf Blade!"

Flareon began to attack from different directions and Decidueye blocked each hit with his wings taking little damage, but every time Flareon attacked he boosted his speed and became faster, eventually fast enough to break through Decidueye's defense and land a clean hit on his face, but Decidueye slashed him away right afterwards.

"Go up and use Spirit Shackle!"

"Shadow Ball!"

Decidueye took flight and fired off some arrows, Flareon then tried to counter with Shadow Ball, but the Spirit Shackle pierced right through his attack and exploded onto Flareon despite his efforts to avoid it.

"Now Brave Bird!"

"Flame charge!"

This time Decidueye used the move in the classic way and dove down towards Flareon surrounded in yellow energy while Flareon charged towards him as well, the two attacks met with each other and after a short power struggle Decidueye emerged victorious and knocked out Flareon with his Brave Bird.

"Flareon is defeated! The victory goes to Ash and Decidueye!"

"Cant expect less from a champion." Tina sighed.

"Well, I think you two did great." Ash said. "That was intense, I can tell Flareon and you have done lots of things together."

"We sure did, I raised him since an egg after all." Tina answered. "Heh, I also guess I didn't have a particular wish, I just wanted to see where all this led to."

"Let's continue, shall we?" Marshadow asked. "Next up is Erika Applebaum vs Elesa Gatton."

"Let's make a show out of it, Rotom!" Elesa exclaimed calling the plasma Pokemon.

"Then I'll be using Gourgeist." Erika answered with the pumpkin by her side.

"Begin!"

"Power Whip!" Erika shouted and her Gourgeist began to use her arms to try and smack Rotom, the small Pokemon avoided most of the hits, but Gourgeist eventually managed to land a strong whip and knock Rotom to the floor.

"I cannot afford to lose this." Elesa said taking a deep breath. "Time to get serious... Motor Change! Heat!" She shouted pressed a button in her headphones, after she did so a fire symbol appeared in front of Rotom and was then absorbed by his body changing him into Microwave form.

"Would you look at that." Erika said.

"When you're a Rotom, it's always complicated to have the appliances around." Elesa explained. "That's why I designed this with the help of some friends, a set of microchips that allow Rotom to change between forms with a command without needing to get inside the actual object. Now Overheat!" She ordered and the Microwave opened its door to then fire a massive stream of fire.

"You know what to do!" Erika smiled and her Gourgeist laughed to then absorb the fire inside the mouth of her belly.

"The heck?!" Elesa exclaimed.

"We ain't afraid of no flames!" Erika laughed. "I mean, she's a jack-o-lantern after all, Fire Blast!" A laugh came out of the mouth in Gourgeist's stomach being followed by a stream of fire that damaged Rotom and returned him to his usual form.

"Are you out of puns, dear?" Erika asked.

"Don't you worry, the joke will be on you." Elesa answered.

"Fire Blast again!"

"Motor Change! Wash!" Elesa repeated the process and a water symbol appeared in front of Rotom before changing him to a Washing Machine. "Hydro Pump!" Wash Rotom pointed his pipe at the fire and blasted a powerful stream of fire that put it down and then hit Gourgeist. "Now Shadow Ball!" Elesa continued and Rotom opened his door and fired the move from inside there, hitting cleanly on Gourgeist again.

"Power Whip!" Gourgeist quickly approached Rotom and smacked both his arms against him, forcing him out of Washing Machine form.

"Motor Change! Fan!" A wind symbol appeared next and Rotom changed to his form again. "Guess you can say he's a bit of an electric fan." Elesa said to then laugh out loud.

"There's the joke." Ash said.

"Air Slash!" The blades on the fan started to spin faster and this expelled numerous wind blades towards Gourgeist, while the pumpkin tried to protect herself with her arms.

"Shadow Ball!" Erika ordered and Gourgeist formed the move between her hands to then toss it at Rotom, breaking through the Air Slashes and hitting him, forcing him back to his base form again.

"Thunderbolt!" Rotom laughed and used the move still in his base form.

"Shadow Ball!" Gourgeist responded and both moves cancelled each other.

"Motor Change! Mow!" Elesa continued and Rotom changed to a Lawnmower. "Leaf Storm!" Rotom opened his mouth and fired off green glowing leaves damaging Gourgeist.

"Fire Blast!" Gourgeist expelled the move from his belly again and overcame the leaves, but Now Rotom avoided the hit and flew towards Gourgeist, he then tried to bite her, but Gourgeist smacked him away again making him return to base Rotom.

"None of this is working..." Elesa trailed off. "Motor Change! Frost!" She shouted and Rotom changed to a refrigerator. "Blizzard!" Rotom opened his doors and an intense cold wind came out of his inside, quickly freezing Gourgeist solid. "Now Shadow Ball!" Rotom briefly closed his doors only to open them up again and attack with several Shadow Balls that broke Gourgeist out of the ice while damaging her. "Blizzard again!"

"Psychic!" Before she could be frozen again Gourgeist extended her arms and used her psychic power to guide some of the rocks that were floating around in the Distortion World and guided them to Rotom destroying his refrigerator form and forcing him out to this base Rotom form again. "Now Power Whip!" Gourgeist broke the ice around her and spun around while approaching Rotom, smacking him several times and finally defeating him.

"Rotom is defeated! The victory is for Erika and Gourgeist!"

"Yes, yes." Erika said with a smug grin.

"Even with all those changes I couldn't take you off-guard, you have my respect." Elesa told her. "As for my wish... I just wanted to help Emmet." Elesa sighed and then looked at him. "I'm really sorry."

"Please don't be, you did your best." Emmet answered. "You can leave it to me now."

"Moving on, is Bea vs Allister Tanagemi." Marshadow continued.

"Very well, Gallade, I know you probably want to impress Mr. Marsh, so I'll let you fight the entire tournament, but if you get tired just tell me and someone else will finish the job, got it?"

"Lade!" He answered with a nod.

"Great, all or at least most of our opponents wil be Ghost-types, so we'll have to change your Aura Sphere with a TR, but don't worry, I'll give it back to you once we're done, now let me see..." Bea opened her TR Case and started looking. "Night Slash sounds perfect, let's do this." She gave Gallade the TR and went to the battlefield, meeting with Allister and his Runerigus.

"Begin!"

"I'm happy to get to fight you, Bea." Alister said. "Now, we learned something with our battle against Ash. you may, my friend." He said and Runerigus started to dig burying himself inside the ground, a roar was then heard and the painting on Runerigus' slab came out of the ground floating now possessed by the spirit of the Ghost-Type.

"I see..." Ash trailed off.

"What's going on?" Tina asked.

"Allister used that technique when I battled against him." Ash started to explain. "Runerigus's spirit moved from the stone to the painting, my Pokemon couldn't touch him while he was in that form, but the stone that it left behind became a weak spot, now that they hid it underground Bea could have a harder time dealing with it.

"Shadow Sneak!" Bea shouted and Gallade changed into his shadow form. He then extended his arm and wrapped it around Runerigus who tried to force his way out without success.

"Uh, or maybe not." Ash said.

"So we can touch him." Bea smiled.

"Looks like we got ourselves a game of shadows." Allister said. "Dragon Pulse."

"Take him down!" Bea ordered and Gallade pulled down his extended arms before Runerigus could charge his move, he then tried to crash him into the battlefield, but the painting simply smacked without much impact and then began floating again.

"We'll have to get personal, Night Slash!" Still in his Shadow form, Gallade's arms extended into two long blades and he rushed towards Runerigus and slashed him several times, and every slash seemed to make damage, unlike what happened during the battle with Ash.

"That Gallade is quite unusual." Allister said. "Brutal Swing." Runerigus wrapped his tail around one of Gallade's arms and tossed him away, making him return to his usual form once he fell onto the battlefield.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Gallade crossed his arms while he gathered energy in the horn of his back and then opened his arms again to fire a huge pink ray from the horn on his chest, the ray evaporated the painting and made it disappear in thin air, the slab then rose from the earth again and the painting to returned to where it was, only for Runerigus to fall knocked out.

"Runerigus is defeated! The victory is for Bea and Gallade!"

"My, My, that didn't quite work." Allister sighed. "My congratulations."

"Great work, Gallade!" Bea cheered on and Gallade smiled.

"Gallade really is into this, wow." Ash said. "But well, it makes sense, since Mr. Marsh is his teacher he must be trying to prove himself.

"Say, Allister, what were you going to wish for?" Bea asked.

"I'd like to be less timid." Allister sighed again. "But it's fine, I'll just have to put more effort into it, I'm a work in progress."

"You're an adorable work in progress." Bea patted his head and Allister blushed embarrassed under his mask, while Ash simply stared at them.

"The next battle is Emmet Awdry vs Gladion Aether!"

"I'm trusting you, Chandelure." Emmet said and his brother's Pokemon prepared himself.

"Fine then." Gladion took a deep breath and tossed a Poke Ball revealing his Silvally. "No... We're not hiding this time." He said and Silvally smirked as his illusion wore off to show off as a Zoroark.

"Begin!"

"Night Daze!" Zoroark brought down his two arms to the ground with force creating a dome of crimson aura that expanded around the battlefield and damaged Chandelure upon contact. "Now Sludge Bomb!" Zoroark then opened his mouth and fired off a blob of poison towards Chandelure.

"Mystical Fire!" Chandelure quickly lowered his head and the flame on top of it extended itself, passing through the sludge causing it to explode and then continuing to Zoroark and damaging him. "Skitter Smack!" Chandelure flew towards Zoroark and uncurled his arms to use them as whips and hit Zoroark several times on his face.

"Shadow Claw!" Zoroark's arms were both surrounded in shadows and he used them to counter the whips, both Pokemon landed hit after hit, but Zoroark managed to land a huge slash and toss Chandelire to the floor, but the fox was shortly afterwards hit a burn.

"Flame Body." Emmet smiled.

"No!" Gladion shouted.

"Use Hex!" A purple eye appeared in front of Chandelure and this fired off a dark beam that exploded onto Zoroark and heavily damaged him. "Skitter Smack!" Chandelure once again started to whip down Zoroark meanwhile he kept taking damage from the burn.

"Extrasensory!" Zoroark fired off two rainbow beams from his eyes, but Chandelure dodged it despite the close distance and followed this with a Mystical Fire, making Zoroark fall down to this knees due to the damage.

"Hex again!" Chandelure charged the move and Zoroark avoided by just a bit.

"Shadow Claw!" Zoroark ran towards Chandelure with the move ready, but instead of slashing him Zoroark simply placed the claw softly on Chandelure's forehead, both Pokemon's eyes illuminated and Zoroark then jumped away and started to laugh.

"What did you…" Chandelure wondered. "No... no, you wouldn't."

"What? Do this?" Zoroark laughed before using his Illusion ability again and turning into a copy of Ingo.

"T-That's…" Elesa stuttered and found herself out of words.

"Zoroark must have scanned Chandelure's memories." Phoebe said.

"Ingo…" Emmet trailed off.

"Gladion, cut that off!" Ash shouted.

"Zoroark, that's enough!" Gladion shouted.

"You wanted me to win this, didn't you?" Zoroark asked. "I'll do… whatever it takes to find Mohn." Seeing how both Chandelure and Emmet were frozen in place, Zoroark, still in Ingo's form, charged a Night Daze, but before he could burst out the move, another burn hit him, making him return to his Zoroark form and fall unable to battle.

"Zoroark is defeated! The victory is for Emmet and Chandelure!"

"Zoroark..." Gladion called him with a broken voice. "Please, get up." He told him to no avail and then sighed and he returned him, Chandelure then floated back to Emmet and two simply stared at Gladion.

"I'm sorry." Gladion said. "I'm not sure who that was, but I know Zoroark took things too far... we just wanted to wish to bring back my father, he's been lost for 10 years now."

"That was my brother, he's been missing for a few weeks now, Im also trying to bring him back." Emmet answered "I'm sorry too, for standing in you way."

"That must have been really hard for Emmet." Bea said.

"And I don't think that watching Ingo burn helped with the situation." Elesa said worried. "I really hope Emmet can win this so he can get that wish."

"Our next battle is Flannery Moore vs Phoebe U'hane." Mr. Marsh said.

"Let's burn the sky, Lampet!" Flannery shouted.

"Your turn, Dusknoir!" Phoebe answered.

"Begin!"

"Inferno!" Flannery shouted and her Lampet started to spin surrounded in blue flames.

"Dark Pulse!" Dusknoir opened the mouth of his abdomen and fired off the move directly, managing to break through the flames and knock Lampet to the floor.

"S-Shadow Ball!" Flannery stuttered.

"Shadow Punch!" Dusknoir's fists became surrounded in shadows and then fired off from his arms and slammed onto Lampet before he could even charge the Shadow Ball.

"Inferno again!"

"Sucker Punch!" Dusknoir dashed forward and with a dark-covered fist he landed a strong punch through the flames taking down Lampet with that hit and leaving him defeated.

"Lampet is defeated! The victory is for Phoebe and Dusknoir!"

"Dude! I know Elite Fours are strong, but that was just savage." Flannery said.

"Dusknoir is Phoebe's ace after all." Acerola said. "Of course it is really strong."

"She seems a bit too motivated though." Korrina said.

"Here, a little consolation prize." Emmet offered Flannery a purple rock. "This a Dusk Stone, it'll make your Lampet evolve in a Chandelure, I actually wanted to give it to you before the battle, but I think it would have counted as some kind of dopping."

"Wow! Thanks a lot." Flannery said taking the rock and then returning Lampet. "But I think I'll save this for later."

"Let's keep moving, Acerola Ketchum vs Whitney Miruku."

"So you're Whitney." Shauna said.

"The one and only! Are you a fan?" Whitney asked.

"N-No, I mean-"

"We know you were in Ash's house!" Erika said.

"You were?" Ash asked. "Wait, how do you you know that, Erika?"

"Eh, details, details." Erika coughed.

"I just wanted to pay you a visit, my love." Whitney told Ash. "Didn't know you weren't there, but I'm so happy to finally meet you, that's why I'm making sure to win this one!" She exclaimed before kissing Ash on his lips again.

"Nobody kisses my boyfriend except for me." Acerola said under her breath. "…And the other girls of the harem…and some ocasional honorary member… and I didn't exactly mind the rest of the girls here but that's not the main issue."

"Okay, but why did you steal Ash's Plain Badge?" Erika asked.

"And how do you know I did that?" Whitney asked.

"We saw it missing in his case!" Erika exclaimed.

"M-Miss Erika!" Shauna shouted.

"And where is his case, huh?"

"Wait, you were all inside my room?" Ash asked.

"N-No! I mean, Misty told us!" Shauna shouted.

"Oh, well your badge is here, Ash-dear." Whitney said showing it to him. "I just happened to pass by at the same moment as Misty and since she was watering the plants she offered me to come in... I'll give this back to you, of course, but only after you and I get... a little bit closer."

"Aww, great. The crazy one likes you." Bea said.

"Are you going to fight or not?" Giratina asked.

"Go, go, Miltank!" Whitney exclaimed calling her ace and they both went to the battlefield.

"Let's do it, Palossand!" Acerola answered releasing the sand castle.

"Begin!"

"Use Body Slam!" Miltank jumped forward and crashed onto Palossand, breaking through his sand, Palossand screamed in pain for a brief moment, but then quickly regenerated himself. "Miltank's ability is Scrappy, some Ghosts aren't stopping us!"

"You want to use abilities? Fine. Brine!" Palossand fired a stream of salty water to the skies, letting it rain over him afterwards and activate his Water Compaction ability to boost his defenses.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Miltank formed the attack in her tail and then swung it around tossing the ball at Palossand and creating an explosion.

"Shore up!" The shovel on Palossand's head started to spin faster and several pillars of sand rose from the earth and acted as tentacles smacking Miltank around.

"Roll out!" Miltank jumped again and curled herself into a ball, breaking through the sand and then slamming herself onto Palossand, but this managed to withstood the hit thanks to his boosted defenses.

"Brine again!" Palossand shot the stream from his mouth again and pushed Miltank back. "We got you." Acerola smiled and Palossand's shovel began spinning again and the sand scattered around moved with water turned into quicksand that began to pull down Miltank, the cow tried to make her way out, but the sand kept pulling her down.

"Blizzard!" With only her head above the sand, Miltank took a deep breath and then blew a cold wind that froze solid the sand that was trapping and left her unable to move. "…Not my brightest idea." Whitney whispered.

"Shore Up!" Palossand summoned more sand tentacles and kept smacking them onto Miltank as a whac-a-mole, Palossand then joined the pillars into a giant sand hammer and brought them together destroying the ice and knocking out Miltank.

"Miltank is defeated! The victory is for Acerola and Palossand!"

"Yes, it is!" Acerola smiled.

"NOT FAIR!" Whitney shouted. "I demand a rematch, you meanie!"

"Sorry, but she won fair and square." Froslass said. "Besides, there's no second chances in this tournament, so what was your wish going to be?"

"AAAAAAAAARGH!" Whitney kept shouting.

"Fine, you don't have to tell us." Froslass said.

"Moving on, let's start the last battle of the first round, Korrina Rou Leau vs Millis Lupaix Steel." Marshadow said.

"Alright then." Korrina released both her Machoke and shiny Golett. "Listen, Machoke, I'll need to hand over your Eviolite to Golett for a moment, is that okay?" She asked and Machoke nodded handling Golett a bracelet with a pink stone on it. "This will boost your defense, it'll give you a good push." Korrina explained and Golett nodded to then place the bracelet in his left arm.

"Let's do this fast, Aegislash." Millis said as the Kalos Pokemon floated to the battlefield in shield form.

"Begin!"

"Brutal Swing!" Aegislash took his shield into one of his arms and then tossed it to Golett as a frisbee, the shield smacked Golett on the head, knocking him down, and then bounced back to Aegislash's arm.

"Shock Wave!" Golett gathered energy and then fired off a spiral electric beam from the symbol of his chest.

"King's Shield!" Aegislash swirled around before changing back to shield form, with many silver hexagons forming a dome around him and blocking Golett's attack. "Brutal Swing!" Aegislash went back to sword form and tossed his shield again, Golett jumped away to avoid it, but the shield redirected itself and hit Golett on his chest to then bounce back to Aegislash.

"That thing doesn't obey the laws of physics at all!" Korrina complained.

"Cry me a river." Millis smiled. "Flash Cannon!" Aegislash changed into his shield form again, the circles in the shield then started to shine and these fired off three straight beams, knocking back Golett again.

"Phantom Force!" Golett's whole body became surrounded in shadows and he pulled back his arms, legs and head to curl into a ball and roll towards Aegislash at high speed, hitting Aegislash directly and making him drop the shield, which was then taken by Golett

"Shadow Claw!" Both of Aegislash's arms were surrounded in shadows and he tried to slash Golett with them, but he used the shield to block them, Aegislash then wrapped one of his arms around Golett and prepared a slash with the other, but Golett tossed the shield aiming at Aegislash's eye, but the sword Pokemon stopped it before it hit him and then bashed Golett away.

"Shock Wave!"

"Flash Cannon!"

Both Pokemon fired their rays and the Flash Cannon quickly overcame and knocked back Golett.

"Shadow Claw!" Aegislash's sword elongated and he swung himself around and slashed him several times, while Golett tried to block and eventually caught the blade between his palms, but Aegislash wrapped his arms around Golett's and pulled them down to prepare a swing.

"Off with his head!" Millis shouted.

"Earth Power!" Korrina ordered again and Golett stomped the ground right beneath them creating an explosion that sent them both flying up, the two Ghost-Types then fell roughly back to the ground, with Golett standing up with difficulty, while Aegislash still laid down in the floor. "Phantom Force!"

"King's shield!" Aegislash tried to reach for his shield, but before he could Golett rolled towards him and tackled him at high speed making him fall again, Golett then took the shield himself and tossed it again, this time succesfully hitting Aegislash in his eye and finally defeating him.

"Aegislash is defeated! The victory is for Korrina and Golett!"

"That was great, Golett!" Korrina cheered on. "Too bad Hexy just missed it."

"Argh, whatever." Millis scoffed while returning Aegislash.

"And with that the first round is over." Froslass said.

"Very well. Cynthia, Tina, Elesa, Allister, Gladion, Flannery, Whitney and Millis have been eliminated." Marshadow said. "So Agatha, Ash, Erika, Bea, Emmet, Phoebe, Acerola and Korrina will pass to the second round, those who lost the first round are free to go right now or you can stay and watch til the end."

"Then I'll take my leave." Allister said. "This was fun and all, but I must return to Galar."

"Very well." Marshadow nodded and a portal opened for Allister. "Anyone else?"

"Well, we lost our only chance so there's no reason to stay here." Millis walked to another portal that Marshadow opened and Domino followed her.

"I'm afraid I'll have to stop you." Cynthia walked to them and looked at Domino. "Don't think I've forgotten what you did."

"Oh, please, don't act like that was the first time that a building falls over your head." Domino answered.

"You two know each other?" Ash asked.

"Unfortunately." Cynthia answered. "Diantha and I were answering a denounce regarding an old Team Flare lab, but it was a trap set by Domino to steal a device called the King's Credential which was in Diantha's care and had lots of information about Team Flare's experiments, Domino then trapped us in the building and brought it down, luckily your Greninja had also showed up and he helped us escape safely."

"And I don't have that device anymore so leave me alone." Domino replied.

"Even so, that's not all." Cynthia continued looking at Ash. "Domino also said that she was after you, the reason why I came to Alola in the first place was to tell you about that, but I guess I kinda forgot it with all that happened, and I was too late to warn you anyway."

"Enough explanations, we haven't forgotten what she did either." Bea said. "I'll take you to jail without breaking you, which is more than you deserve."

"Not so fast." Millis stood in front of Domino and prepared her teleporting watch.

"To think you'd be working for Team Rocket now." Ash said.

"Don't tell me I disappointed you, handsome?" Millis asked.

"Millis… we talked with your father." Korrina told her. "We told her you joined Team Rocket and he's really worried about you, he's blaming himself, he wants you to get back to Shalour with him."

"...Heh." Millis simply forced out a smile. "Since when do you get into other people's life?"

"Millis, come on, I know you, you're better than this." Korrina insisted.

"Maybe once upon a time I was." Millis said. "La vie-"

"Hold on, Lupaix." Domino interrupted her, she then walked to Ash and offered Danika's Urshifu totem to him. "I… I got this from the Wild Kratt, take it."

"...Danika mentioned that you stole this from her." Ash said taking the totem. "But why are you giving it back?"

"D-Don't misunderstand me, I just couldn't get it to work so I have no use for it." Domino replied. "Just tell her that you got it back from me by force or something."

"Domino… it's never too late to take a look at yourself and make a change." Ash told her with a small smile. "And this is a good start."

"…Don't be exaggerated." Domino told him, she walked back to Millis, but Ash grabbed Domino's wrist and stopped her, Domino got scared again, but Ash then pulled out one of his Poke Balls and released Flabebe.

"Can you?" Ash pointed at Domino's broken arm and Flabebe covered it with her golden pollen.

"W-What are you doing?" Domino asked.

"That's going to heal your arm." Ash said.

"…I feel obliged to ask the same thing." Domino said.

"Even after what you did, I feel… somewhat guilty seeing that I injured you." Ash said.

"S-So what?! You expect to feel sorry about what I did too?!" Domino stuttered. "Not a chance, I'm the villain, Ketchum! Did you forget already?! You're the hero! Hurting me is pretty much your job!" She said walking back to Millis, Domino then pressed her left arm and noticed it wasn't broken anymore. "You... Thank you." She whispered surprising anyone. "But this doesn't change anything, I see what you're trying to do and it won't work, you better think twice before trying to get attached to me, Ash."

"...You called me Ash?" He asked.

"...Take us out of here." Domino whispered to Millis.

"Yup, enough sentimentalism." Millis sighed and glared at Korrina for a moment. "Tell my father that I have no plans of going back… La vie sur le voi rapide." She whispered to her watch and the two thieves teleported away.

"You think she was being sincere?" Acerola asked Ash.

"I honestly don't feel like there's a way to know for sure." Ash said looking at totem.

"Wait, the portal you made for them is still open." Cynthia said. "Would this take to the Team Rocket headquarters?"

"I'm afraid not." Marshadow said. "The portal would only take you to where you were brought from, so it would have only send them to the Team Rocket Hedquarters, that's it if they were there when we brought them to being with."

"Why are Legendaries so unnecessary complicated all the time?" Cynthia asked.

"Very well, if the rest of you are staying then we'll start the preparations for the second round." Froslass said. "Lord Giratina, would you mind giving us the next matches?"

"Hmm… Ash Ketchum vs Acerola Ketchum." He started.

"Oh, my destiny is so cruel." Acerola pouted. "Forced to fight my beloved prince."

"Bea vs Emmet Awdry."

"Alright then." Bea said and Emmet simply looked away.

"Agatha Zutto vs Erika Applebaum."

"It'll also be an honor for me to face you too, Miss Agatha."

"I'm warning you now, I don't like flowers." Agatha said.

"And finally, Korrina Rou Leau vs Phoebe U'hane."

"Avenge me, Korrina!" Flannery shouted.

"We'll cheer on you!" Tina said.

"I-I'll do my best." Korrina smiled and Phoebe sighed.

"Then it's all set, we'll restart in ten minutes." Froslass said. "Use this time to prepare strategies or heal your Pokemon."

"Alright, Ash, while you're getting ready for the second round, I feel like we need an explanation." Flannery said. "So this girl Acerola is your girlfriend?"

"Well, yes, but... guess I'll have to do the explaining again."

Somewhere in Kanto.

After making their way out the Distortion World, Domino and Millis safely teleported back to Team Rocket's Headquarters, being once again in the medical area of the building.

"And we're back." Millis said. "Did he seriously heal you arm?"

"Apparently." Domino answered taking off the cast and stretching out her arm. "Yeah, seems like I'm fine."

"Quite unexpected... but what were you talking about, huh?" Millis asked. "About what was Ketchum trying to do?"

"Didn't you hear how he was talking?" Domino asked. "He grabs my wrist gently, he heals my arm, he smiles at me, that stupid smile! Argh! He's trying to bring me to his side!"

"You... like him?" Millis grinned.

"Not in a thousand years!" Domino shouted. "On contrary, he terrifies me!"

"Pfft, this is so great." Millis laughed.

"I don't like him!" Domino continued shouting and started to blush. "It rather looks like you like him if you keep calling him handsome!"

"I'm just messing with him, like I'm messing with you." Millis said. "I still don't understand why you gave back that thing though."

"I told you, I had no use for it." Domino sighed.

"Finally, here you are." Charon said walking into the room. "I've been looking for you two."

"What's the deal now, Mr. Not-a-planet?" Millis asked.

"To cut it short, Giovanni wants you both to go in a mission." He started to explain. "You have to go to Virbank, Unova, and bring back with you CLRS-1."

"I'm sorry. Uh..." Domino raised a hand. "For those of us who don't speak sad nerd, what is CLRS-1?

"The only person that matters in the city." Charon answered. " A brilliant scientist and possibly the last step to Giovanni's plan."

"What'cha say, partner?" Millis asked.

"Let's get going, I need to clear my head." Domino answered. "How are we going to recognize the guy?"

"He's going to be singing about how bad he is." Charon answered.

"Like that narrows it down." Millis said.

Back in the Distortion World.

"And that's what happened." Ash ended his explanations, while Cynthia, Serena, Miette, Shauna, Erika, Flannery, Korrina, Whitney and Sina all processed what he told them, with the rest of the people around hearing out of curiosity.

"Eight girlfriends..." Erika said.

"Ash, I, uhm, I'm impressed to say at least." Shauna said.

"Have you guys had orgies already?" Miette asked.

"Uh, no, Miette, we haven't."

"Still, to think eight girls agreed to share you." Serena said.

"I think you mean nine." Sina said hugging Ash's left arm. "Say hello to Ash's ninth girlfriend!"

"...Who were you again?" Ash asked.

"My name is Sina Hautbois, I'm Lana's friend." She said. "She really never told you about me?"

"No, she didn't."

"Well, I'm also Professor Sycamore's right hand, he most have told you something about me."

"He didn't tell me anything either." Ash said.

"No? Well, nevermind, just ask way and I'll join." Sina said.

"Wait, It's not like I just grab any girl I happen to meet." Ash said.

"Sure..." Bea rolled her eyes watching the scene.

"I mean, I don't know you, Sina."

"But you just said that you let Skyla join and you met her for like three days!" Sina complained, and Whitney suddenly hugged Ash's free arm.

"Get away from him." Whitney said. "All. Of. You."

"Or else what?" Sina asked.

"Calm down you two, listen, this a delicate situation and fighting isn't gonna get us anywhere." Cynthia said.

"Speaking of that, Korrina, you mentioned something about getting an arrangement with Flannery regarding Ash." Serena said. "Were you going to share him with her anyway?"

"W-Well, Flannery and I have become really good friends; and I know she's also close to Ash so I wouldn't want her to get her heart broken." Korrina answered with a massive blush. "So, I guess that's a yes."

"Awww, you're so great, Korrina." Flannery laughed. "I mean, I guess I'd be fine with sharing him with you, even with Bea, May, Jasmine and Dawn too, but that alone is a lot; and of course I had no idea of the magnitude this truly had, if just Korrina and me join that'd make 10 girls, not to mention all the rest around here and the ones that are out there... Ash, are you sure you can handle all that?"

"I truly hope so." Ash answered slightly nervous. "I'll admit it can be tiring, but it's also rewarding in a way... still, this is a really big choice and it'll change your lives forever, so before anything, you all have to think this through."

"I already thought about it, I'm joining!" Sina smiled.

"Again, I don't know who you are." Ash insisted.

"But you do know the rest of us." Flannery said. "So, if we all decided to join, you'd take us all in?"

"I..." Ash stared at them for a moment and then smiled. "Yes, of course I would." He answered getting them all to blush.

"E-Even me?" Erika asked. "I mean, I suppose you've had your moments with all of those girls, but we met so long ago and it was barely the other day that we finally talked again."

"Yes, even you, Erika." Ash answered taking her hand. "It's because of that that I'd like to get to know you more."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Sina shouted, Whitney finally pulled Ash away from her and she took him close to her to give him another lip kiss.

"Ash... my dear Ash." She whispered. "You're confused, I can tell it... don't worry, when I become your girlfriend I'll be sure to take care of everything."

"What do you-"

"Hey, Glados! I'm out of here!" Whitney shouted at Froslass.

"If that's what you prefer." Froslass answered and a portal opened next to Whitney, she gave Ash another lip kiss and started to walk away, but right before crossing she looked back at Ash and the rest of the girls winking and sticking out her tongue to then get inside the portal and disappear.

"A harem... how funny." Whitney laughed out loud. "That wish was the perfect opportunity, but I wasted my chance so I'll need to find another exit, Ash will have to understand that I'm the only girl he needs... one way or another."

"Alright, Whitney, get out of my house or I'm calling the police." Morty told her.

"Without further ado, let's being the second round!" Marshadow said. "We'll start with Acerola Ketchum vs Ash Ketchum."

"Very well, Drakloak, I choose you!"

"You're up, Mimikins!" Acerola called her shiny Mimikyu.

"Begin!" Froslass ordered.

"Use Steel Wing!" Drakloak flew at high speed and slashed Mimikins with the wings on his head, Mimikins didn't receive any damage thanks to her ability, but the Disguise wore off right after that.

"Aaaaand we surrender!" Acerola said.

"...What?" Ash asked.

"I'm just saving some points for my girlfriend cartridge." Acerola said. "Besides, there's no way I'd get in the way of my prince."

"What's a girlfriend cartridge?" Korrina asked.

"I'll explain it to you later." Flannery replied.

"You guys accept a surrender, right?" Acerola asked at Marshadow and Giratina.

"Sure, I suppose." Marshadow said. "Let's just move onto the next one then, Bea against Emmet Awdry."

"So, what were you going to wish for, Acerola?" Ash asked.

"Please, you know exactly what I was going to wish for." She gave him a sly smile. "But I won't push you, we'll get to that eventually."

"Let's keep going, Chandelure." Emmet said.

"We ain't backing down, Gallade!" Bea answered.

"Begin!"

"Mystical Fire!"

"Pyscho Cut!" Gallade swung his arms around tossing several pink blades that broke through the fire and landed some clean hits on Chandelure. "Now Shadow Sneak!"Gallade changed into his shadow form and jumped towards Chandelure to then kick him down to the battlefield. "Night Slash!"

"Use Hex!" Still on the floor, Chandelure tried to counter, but Gallade countered the rays of Hex with his Night Slash and dove down to strike down Chandelure several times, eventually pushing him away with another Shadow Sneak, but Gallade was quickly hit by the Burn of Chandelure's Flame Body.

"Hex!" Chandelure fired his ray and this landed a critical hit on Gallade, leaving him dropped in the ground as he was affected by another burn.

"We can't waste anymore time! Chandelure, Final Flicker!"

"Final what?" Acerola asked.

"Final Flicker is a move that only a few Chandelure can use." Phoebe explained. "It's crazy powerful and pretty much a certain K.O. if the target is burned, but it also takes too much of Chandelure's own power."

Once Phoebe ended her explanation, Chandelure had already charged the move and his eyes illuminated, while Gallade still laid down on the ground, the fire on Chandelure's head turned off, Chandelure then started to spin summoning a spiral of purple flames that surrounded Gallade, all of the wisps then then attacked Gallade at the same time and caused a huge explosion, but once the dust settled Gallade had his arms crossed, being surrounded in an orb of water.

"What in the-"

"Life Dew!" Bea shouted and Gallade pushed the water orb to Chandelure, washing him out and leaving him out of combat.

"Chandelure is defeated! The victory is for Bea and Gallade!"

"No!" Emmet shouted as he ran to aid the Pokemon.

"Phew, I can't believe that worked." Bea smiled while Gallade sighed relieved.

"Using that Final Flicker left Chandelure too weak to continue further." Agatha said.

"Thank you for trying, this was my fault..." Emmet talked to Chandelure while he returned him and then looked at Bea. "I hope you get your wish, Bea."

"I-I'm really sorry, Mr. Emmet."

"No please don't be, this is a competition after all." Emmet said. "Keep doing your best, I'll stay to watch the end of all this, I sincerely hope you win."

"Emmet, are you sure we shouldn't just leave?" Elesa asked him.

"It's fine." He answered. "We'll find another way."

"Our next battle is Erika Applebaum vs Agatha Zutto."

"Fine then, Arbok!" Agatha called upon the cobra.

"Then I'll be using my Leafeon." Erika said.

"Begin!"

"Leafeon, Sunny Day!" Erika gave the first order and Leafeon growled to the skies as a small sun formed on top of the battlefield, filling the distortion world with light; and once the sun was up, Leafeon's body started to shine.

"Chlorophyll, huh?" Ash asked.

"Doubled speed could help against a Pokemon like Arbok." Shauna said.

"We'll see about that, Poison Sting!" Arbok opened his mouth and fired to the skies many poisoned darts that later fell around the battlefield, while Leafeon jumped around to avoid them.

"Leaf Blade!" Leafon ran at high speed towards Arbok and jumped landing a huge slash with her tail.

"Iron Tail!" Arbok's tail illuminated in silver and he tried to smack Leafeon with it, but she moved way too fast to land a hit.

"Now Shadow Ball!" Erika ordered and Leafeon fired the move from her mouth.

"Poison Sting!" Arbok fired the move forward and this collided with the Shadow Ball, but some of the darts kept going and landed on Leafeon, both damaging her and poisoning her.

"Now's our chance, Facade!" Leafeon ran towards Arbok surrounded in yellow energy and slammed herself onto the snake, causing a good amount of damage, thanks to the poisoning.

"Iron Tail!" Arbok swung his tail again, but Leafeon once again dodged, albeit being hit by another streak of the poison damage.

"Yes, you're fast..." Agatha smiled. "But there are some thing you can't run away from... use Curse." The eyes on Arbok's hood seemed to blink for a moment and afterwards a black haze surrounded Leafeon and caused her a surge of intense pain, while Arbok was surrounded by an aura that boosted his defense and attack.

"What... what's going on?" Erika asked.

"You know how Curse works, right?" Agatha asked. "If a Ghost uses it, it sacrifice its own HP to damage the opponent, meanwhile if a non-ghost uses it, it simply raises Attack and Defense while lowering speed, but as a Ghost expert I gave my Pokemon some special training, taking the best of both worlds, Arbok's curse damages the opponent and raises his stats, no sacrifice at all."

"Well, that sounds pretty unfair." Erika said and Leafeon was hit by the surging pain again. "S-Shadow Ball!"

"Iron Tail!" Arbok smacked the move away and then jumped to Leafeon, she tried avoid but the poison and the curse hit her at the same time and she was unable to dodge the Iron Tail.

"Facade!" Leafeon slammed herself onto Arbok again, but this time Arbok withstood the hit and pushed Leafeon back again to then wrap his tail around her and strangle her.

"Poison Sting!" Still choking Leafeon with his tail, Arbok shot the move and created an explosion that surrounded both of them, the dust quickly settled and Arbok let go off of Leafeon, but she was still willing to keep fighting.

"Leaf Blade!" Leafeon jumped and landed an horizontal slash that cut Arbok in two halves that fell to the floor

"I feel like I've seen this before." Ash said, but the halves of Arbok then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A Substitute?!" Erika shouted.

"Fire Fang!" The real Arbok suddenly appeared behind Leafeon, with his mouth covered in flames that were powered by the Sunny Day, Arbok then bit down Leafeon and created a small explosion that quickly faded away to show the defeated Grass-Type in Arbok's mouth.

"Leafeon is defeated! The victory is for Agatha and Arbok!"

"That's the power of an Elite Four, mind you." Erika said while returning Leafeon. "Thanks for the oppotunity Miss Agatha."

"Eh, you did great." Agatha said.

"Now for the last battle of the second round, Korrina Rou Leau vs Phoebe U'hane."

"Let's do it, Banette!" Phoebe exclaimed releasing the ragdoll, which happened to have a pink ribbon on top of his head.

"Hey there, Scrump!" Acerola waved at the ghost who smiled at her.

"Our turn! Lucario!" Korrina called upon her ace, who looked around and recognized Ash, smiling at him.

"Well, since we're at it." Ash released his Lucario as well and the two Pokemon saluted each ohter.

"We finally meet face to face." Korrina said looking at Ash's Lucario. "Well, better show your new friend what we can do, Lucario! Here we go! Unlock the power within!" Korrina did her usual movements to then press the Key Stone in her glove. "Mega-evolve!" She shouted as her partner accessed his powered-up form with a roar.

"We're going all-out as well." Phoebe whispered and pressed the ankle bracelet in her left leg revealing a Key Stone. "Let's dance through the danger!" She shouted activated her Key Stone which illuminated alongside the Mega Stone in Banette's ribbon, causing him to Mega-evolve as well.

"So we'll have Mega vs Mega." Cynthia said.

"Begin!"

"Will-o-Wisp!" Banette opened the zipper of his mouth and released a huge stream of fire towards Lucario.

"Bone Rush!" Lucario formed a bone staff in each hand and spun them around in front of him to disperse the fire, once the attack was over, Lucario tossed both bones as spears and the two hit Banette directly, but it wasn't enough to knock him down. "Flash Cannon!" Lucario put both paws in front of him and fired off two silver beams towards Banette.

"Phantom Force!" Phoebe shouted and Banette disappeared in one of his zipper portals before the move could reach him.

"Eyes open! He's coming from somewhere!" Korrina shouted and his Lucario braced himself with two bone staffs on his paws to prepare when Banette would emerge again. A zipper portal sudenly appeared beneath and Lucario jumped up to avoid it, but Banette from another portal behind him and tackled Lucario down.

"Shadow Claw!" Lucario quickly recovered himself and the spikes on his paws turned into two long purple blades that he used to slash Banette several times.

"Mud Slap!" Banette opened his mouth zipper again, tossing several mud balls at Lucario, who tried to cut them away, but the balls were eventually too many and landed onto Lucario's face and chest blocking his vision.

"Shadow Claw!" Phoebe ordered and Banette extended his claws, using them as whips to slash Lucario. "Now Phantom Force." Banette disappeared with another zipper portal after Lucario finally got the mud out of his eyes.

"Come on, we have to sense him, don't let him fool you again." Korrina told him and both Lucario and her closed their eyes to focus his aura. "He's... above!" She exclaimed and Lucario prepared himself with a Shadow Claw, a zipper portal opened right above him, but what came from it was giant rock that fell over Lucario, while Banette emerged afterwards form the portal with a laugh.

"Oh, come on!" Korrina complained while her Lucario crawled from under the rock.

"Will-O-Wisp!" Banette shot out the stream of fire again and this Lucario was unable to block it and recieved the burn.

"Shadow Claw!" The two trainers shouted at the same time, but Banette managed to overcome with his whips, breaking Lucario's blades, slashing him away, slamming him against the rock.

"Flash Cannon!" Lucario cupped his paws and concentrated his energy into a single point between them to then thrust his hands forward and shoot a huge silver beam towards Banette.

"Phantom Force!" Banette laughed and formed the zipper portal in front of him, letting the Flash Cannon go inside it, another portal then appeared above Lucario and the Flash Cannon followed the course and exploded onto him, being followed by Banette tackling him down with Phantom Force and defeating Lucario as it went back to his base form.

"Lucario is defeated! The victory is for Phoebe and Banette!"

"And with that we finish the second round." Marshadow said. "Acerola, Emmet, Erika and Korrina have been eliminated, while Ash, Bea, Agatha and Phoebe pass to the third round."

"Sorry, Flannery, guess I couldn't get that revenge." Korrina said.

"Don't worry, that was wild." Flannery said.

"The semi-finals battles will be Ash Ketchum vs Agatha Zutto and Bea vs Phoebe U'hane." Giratina said.

"Very well, once again we'll give you ten minutes to prepare for the semi-finals." Marshadow said. "Anyone wants to return to the human world?"

"You already lost, so I guess we're leaving, right?" Shauna asked Erika.

"I suppose so, but-"

"Don't worry, I'll take you back." Sabrina said suddenly appearing next to the two.

"ARGH! Stop doing that!" Erika shouted after the scare.

"Heh, sorry for being late to the party." Sabrina said. "Gengar and I were also 'invited' by one of those portals, but I teleported us out, it's not fair to pull someone into a portal without consent, you know?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that." Froslass said.

"Don't worry, I had no intent to join either way, had I joined I would have most certainly been eliminated in the first round." Sabrina said.

"Oh, right, miss Erika mentioned you can see the future." Shauna said. "Must be really convenient."

"No one can see the future." Sabrina giggled. "I can see options and trajectories. Time is like a river that splits into creeks, or pools into lakes, or careens down waterfalls. I have the map, and I steer the ship."

"I see..." Shauna trailed off dumbfounded.

"And speaking of that." Sabrina looked at Ash and smiled. "Seems like one of my predictions was right, Mr. Harem King"

"You knew this would happen?" Ash asked.

"Like I said, it was a possibility." Sabrina said. "Do you remember that forehead kiss I gave you?" She asked placing a finger on the same spot. "I kinda gave you a free trial of the trajectories."

"You're saying Ash started his harem because of you?" Erika asked.

"Not exactly, let's say I simply passed my powers for a few mere seconds in order to give Ash a 'free trial', I transfered to his mind some of the visions of possible futures I had." Sabrina explained. "It was still Ash's decision, but I guess you can say that it influenced his decision more or less."

"I should thank you then." Acerola smiled. "Are you going to join as well?

"The possibility is there." Sabrina said. "I've seen two futures where I become Ash's girlfriend and one where I don't, so I guess best way to find out is simply go with the flow, I wouldn't want to push Ash into accepting me. You get that?"

"Of course I do." Ash answered and then looked around at the rest of the girls. "Just going with the flow, that's pretty much what I've been doing since this all started." He answered with a laugh.

"Very well, you girls want to go?" Sabrina asked. "I know how this tournament is going to end, but I don't wanna spoil it."

"Guess we'll go with you." Erika said to then look at Ash. "Take care, Ashley." She winked at him and Ash simply blushed.

"Good luck to you all, a-and thanks for the kiss, Ash!" Shauna smiled while she blushed. "I-I'll give this a thought like you said. sorry again, Serena, bye!" She exclaimed before Sabrina teleported them away.

"...Bye, Shauna." She sighed.

"I'll find out what's that whole deal with Ashley one day." Bea said.

"It's not necessary." Ash coughed.

"Bea, I think I should warn you, Phoebe is really strong." Acerola said. "Do you think you can beat her?"

"I actually have an idea." Bea said. "Hey, Korrina, right?" She asked looking at the skater.

"Yup, and you're Bea, Flannery told me lots of things about you." Korrina answered. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Ash has also told me about you." Bea said. "Listen, since you already got eliminated I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I'm gonna need that glove of yours." Bea said pulling out her Galladite.