"Oh my, this battle is getting insane here," Delia commented about the battle.

"It sure has," Serena agreed with Ash's mother.

"Those two are giving their all in this fight, aren't they?" Angela stated, while her daughter was sitting on her lap.

"Yeah! The excitement never ends!" Ashley shouted with a smile on her bright face, to which Delia nodded with a smile in response.

"By the way," Serena said, as she turned to Delia Ketchum with a curious expression in her eyes. "I have been meaning to ask you a question that has troubled me for some time now."

"Yes, dear, what is it?" Delia asked her son's girlfriend.

"Umm..." Serena struggled to find the right words to her question as it was quite a sensitive one.

Delia became concerned when she noticed a worrying expression on Serena's face. Angela noticed this and decided to take Ashley to get some Sea Salt Ice Cream, while also providing the two women some privacy in their conversation. Lucario, after sensing Serena's emotions through her aura, decides to meditate peacefully. Delia then puts her hand on Serena's shoulder to ease her anxiety.

"Ask me anything, dear," Delia stated, calming the performer's nerves. "I will answer to the best of my ability."

After a few seconds and the calming presence of Ash's mother, Serena asked her question to Delia.

"Could you tell me what happened to Ash's father?" Serena asked.

The question got Delia thinking for a few moments. She then turned to face Serena, who noticed Delia's face expressed sadness and grief. There were no tears in the eyes, but Serena could tell Delia was hurting inside.

"Well, Ash's father," Delia took a deep breath before continuing her answer to Serena's question. "He has been on a long journey ever since Ash was born. He hasn't come home since. You know, he competed in the Pokemon League and won. He also challenged the Elite Four and its Champion at the time. Despite those accomplishments, he insisted on continuing to travel the world."

"Wow," Serena said in response to Delia's answer to her question. "He sounds just like Ash alright. But why are you sad?"

"I'm sad because he hasn't once called the house to check on us. A good husband would do that when they leave their wife and only child alone at home, worrying constantly about his whereabouts, safety, and health! What if he's dead and we don't know about it?! Every day, I worried that the man I loved might be gone forever! It pains my heart to think of those thoughts...then when I thought Ash died, my heart sunk even deeper into that pitless abyss of darkness." Delia stated with tears starting to roll down her eyes.

Serena walked over to the grieving mother and hugged her tightly. What Delia is going through with her husband was what Serena went through when she thought she lost Ash six years ago. They both experienced the pain and grief of believing they had lost their loved ones forever. But when Serena discovered Ash was still alive, her heart washed away the despair and filled it with hope and happiness. At first, Serena got mad at Ash for not letting her know that he was still alive, but she was able to forgive him as him being alive was what kept her alive for all these years. Serena hugged Delia for a few moments until Serena broke the silence.

"You do not have to endure those pains anymore, Delia," Serena said, trying to comfort her boyfriend's mother. "Remember, you still have Ash. His presence just shows how much work you put into providing your child with love and care, despite raising him on your own."

The tears in Delia's eyes stopped as she smiled upon Serena, who smiled back at her.

"And even though the man you loved isn't here with you today, always remember, he'll always be with you, now and forever," Serena stated as she put her hand over her chest, showing where her heart is.

"T-Thanks, Serena," Delia said while wiping away the tears from her eyes and smiling at Serena. "My boy's so lucky to have someone like you in his life right now."

Serena blushed and smiled at her boyfriend's mother remark. "Thanks, Delia,"

"Please!" Delia interrupted the honey-blonde performer. "Call me mom. You've earned it."

"Geez, thanks Deli-" Serena said, before stopping herself. "Oops! I mean, thanks, mom. I'm glad he's in my life as well.

Delia smiles brightly just as Angela and Ashley came back from getting Sea Salt Ice Cream. Angela gives one to both Serena and Delia. Ashley gives one to Lucario, who just came out of mediation. The two start eating their ice creams, along with Angela, Ashley, and Lucario.

"It's salty but sweet," Serena commented on how the ice cream tasted.

"It tastes so good," Delia said about the ice cream.

Angela and Ashley smiled at Delia and Serena enjoying their ice cream. Lucario enjoyed the ice cream as well. As they all sat eating their ice cream and continued watching Ash and Gary's battle, one thought still troubles Delia's mind.

Where are you, ..., my love?

---

Ash and Gary grabbed their next choice's Pokeball from their belts. Gary was the first to throw his Pokeball into the air.

"Nidoqueen! Go!" Gary shouted.

When the light faded away, it revealed a large, bipedal blue Pokémon with distinct reptilian features. Her body is encased with extremely hard scales that serve as excellent protection from any attack and stand up when Nidoqueen is excited or provoked. She has a blunt snout, narrow brown eyes, and large ears with brown insides. There is a small horn on its forehead, a single spine on each ear, and a line of toxic spikes running down the length of its back. Each hand has three short claws and each foot has two claws. Her lower jaw, the front of its abdomen, and two plates on its chest are cream-colored. She also has a thick, powerful tail.

"Nidoqueen, huh?" Ash said, examining his opponent's choice while holding a Pokeball in his right hand. "Then, I choose you, Primeape!"

Ash tosses the Pokeball in the air. The light came out of the Pokeball and a bipedal, simian Pokémon with a round body covered in whitish, shaggy fur emerges from the light. There is a throbbing vein on the left side of its forehead, and it has triangular ears with pink insides, narrow eyes with tiny pupils, and a pink, snout-like nose. Its arms and legs are brown and have metal shackles on the wrists and ankles. The hands have no visible fingers, instead resembling mittens or boxing gloves, and the feet have two toes.

"Primeape?!" Gary said, surprised to see Ash's Primeape here. "I thought Primeape was training to become a P1 fighting champion."

"It was, but now, it is a P1 fighting champion!" Ash explained to his rival. "After it became the champion, Anthony returned Primeape to me, just a few days ago."

"Impressive," Gary said, as he smiles and gives a small chuckle. "Well, I can't wait to see how a P1 champion fights!"

"You do not have to wait any longer," Ash stated, with confidence ringing from his voice. "Show us what you got."

Primeape motions the Drill Pokemon to make the first move. Nidoqueen's face expressed seriousness as she's prepared to battle against the Pig Monkey Pokemon. Gary calls out the first attack.

"Nidoqueen, Rock Smash!" Gary shouted to his Pokemon.

The Drill Pokemon smashes her fist into the ground, making the ground crack and move towards the opponent. While the ground cracks, small rocks fly out of it and are about to hit the smirking Primeape.

"Primeape, defect the rocks by using your fists!" Ash countered.

The Pig Monkey Pokemon rapidly punches the rocks with both of his fists, while successfully defecting those rocks. After the attack, Primeape lets out a deep breath. Gary had a serious look on his face as he thought about the speed of Primeape.

His Primeape's movements are quite fast! I'll have to be careful with it. Gary thought as Ash gave a command to his Pokemon.

"Now, Primeape, get in close and use Power-Up Punch!" Ash ordered the Pig Monkey Pokemon.

One of Primape's fists becomes surrounded in a golden aura. It swiftly charges towards the Drill Pokemon and then punches her with it. Nidoqueen let out a small roar of pain as she's pushed back a bit by the Fighting-type attack. Afterward, an orange glow surrounds the Pig Monkey Pokemon, as it increases Primeape's Attack power.

"Use Power-Up Punch again!" Ash orders his Pokemon to launch the same attack once more.

Following his trainer's command, Primeape dashes towards the Drill Pokemon with the speed of a charging Tauros, with one of its fists being covered in the golden aura. Nidoqueen did not fully recover from the punch, but it was still able to hear her trainer's voice.

"Quick! Grab it!" Gary shouted to his Pokemon, as Nidoqueen quickly embraced the Fighting-type Pokemon when it was close enough to her.

"What?!" Ash responded to Nidoqueen grabbing his Primeape in a tight embrace.

"Now, Submission while using Thunderbolt!" Gary yelled out a set of commands to the Drill Pokemon.

Nidoqueen starts rolling around while holding Primeape. As she rolls, her horn sparks with yellow electricity and she releases a beam of yellow electricity from her body at the Primeape she's tightly holding onto. The Pig Monkey Pokemon is screaming endless as it endures the pain and jolts from the Electric-type attack. Ash groans out of frustration over his Pokemon's suffering.

"Now, throw it!" Gary shouted.

The Drill Pokemon does exactly what her trainer commanded her to do, as she throws the immobilized Pig Monkey Pokemon forward with great strength. Primeape falls to the ground with sparks of electricity covering its body. The Fighting-type Pokemon struggles to get up, even with words of encouragement from its trainer.

"Come on, Primeape! Get up, please! I know you could still fight!" Ash pleaded with his paralyzed Pokemon.

Eventually, Primeape was able to stand up and it punches the air, showing its opponent that it can still fight. Despite breathing a sigh of relief that his Pokemon can still battle, he becomes more concerned about Primeape's condition as he notices yellow sparks of electricity covering the Pig Monkey Pokemon's body.

That paralysis could be trouble for us. I gotta act quick! Ash thought as he called out his next move.

"Work Up!" Ash exclaimed, as Primeape's body momentarily became surrounded by a light red aura.

"Trying to end this quick, huh?" Gary said while smirking as he figured out Ash's strategy. "Won't do you any good! Hyper Beam!"

The Drill Pokemon starts charging an orange ball in front of her mouth. But before she could fire it, an idea popped into Ash's head. He decides to act upon it.

"Double Team!" Ash called out, as multiple copies of Primeape appeared and surrounded the Drill Pokemon in a big circle.

Not this again! Gary thought as he tried to determine which copy was the real McCoy.

Both Gary and Nidoqueen were struggling to locate the real Primeape. But then, their search was interrupted when they heard Ash's voice giving an attack command to the Pig Monkey Pokemon.

"Ice Punch! Go!" Ash exclaimed.

All of the Primeape copies' fists became surrounded with ice blue energy and then jumped high up before starting to dive towards the confused Drill Pokemon.

"Nidoqueen, use Hyper Beam on all of them!" Gary quickly shouted out.

Nidoqueen begins firing the beam of orange energy at the Primeape duplicates. As the beam hits them, the replicants disappear. Gary hopes to eventually hit the Pig Monkey Pokemon before it could get a chance to strike back. All of a sudden, something caught the attention of Gary's eye. On his left, he notices one of the Primeapes was covered with a red aura as it rushes towards the distracted Drill Pokemon at incredible speed, with both of its fists covered with ice blue energy. The young researcher's eyes were shot wide open upon this sight, as he quickly turned back to his Pokemon, who isn't expecting this sneak attack.

"On your left! Hurry, Nidoqueen!" Gary yells to his Pokemon at the top of his lungs.

However, just as Nidoqueen turns to its left, Primeape punches the Drill Pokemon at the center of her body with its ice-covered fists. Nidoqueen cries out in agony from the impact of that super-effective attack. Just when Primeape begins to feel the effects of its paralysis, the Drill Pokemon collapses to the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Nidoqueen is unable to battle! Primeape wins!" Trevor announces the results of that battle.

"Alright!" Ash shouted as he swung his arm in an uppercut movement. "Nice work, Primeape!"

The paralyzed Pig Monkey Pokemon smiles brightly at its trainer, while Gary silently returns his fallen Pokemon to her Pokeball.

"I can't believe that worked again!" Gary said, regarding Ash's Double Team strategy granting him the win twice in this battle.

"Well," Gary begins to say, as he grabs and activates the Pokeball of his next choice. "Ash's winning streak ends here. Go Electivire!"

Gary tosses the ball into the air. Light poured out of the Pokeball; and when it faded away, the Thunderbolt Pokémon was revealed to be Gary's next Pokemon. It silently stuck one of its hands out and gestured for the Pig Monkey Pokemon to challenge its strength.

"Electivire...hmmm," Ash said while remembering the last time he battled against Gary's Electivire.

After winning the Battle Frontier in Kanto, Ash challenged Gary to a battle. It was his Electrivie against Pikachu. Although he lost that battle, it taught him that even though he achieved an amazing accomplishment, he shouldn't take it for granted.

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by his Primeape who pressured his trainer to let it keep battling, despite being paralyzed. Ash nodded with the Pig Monkey Pokemon in agreement to allow the Fighting-type to remain out. Primeape gets into a battle stance as it gazes upon his opponent, who had a big smirk on its face.

"Let's do this, Primeape!" Ash exclaimed before calling out an attack command. "Use Ice Punch!"

Primeape dashes towards the Thunderbolt Pokemon with both its fists covered with ice blue energy. The Thunderbolt Pokemon only stood there, without a sign of worry upon its face.

"Giga Impact!" Gary called out an attack.

All of a sudden, Electivire slams its fists together in front of it and a purple orb with orange-yellow streaks spiraling around it appears around its body. It then puts one of its fists out and it slams into Primeape's ice-covered fists. The two were at a stalemate; until, yellow sparks of electricity forced Primeape to stop dead in its tracks, which gave his opponent's an opportunity for a win as the Pig Monkey Pokemon gets slammed by the powerful Normal-type attack. As a result, the Fighting-type Pokemon collapses to the ground, as swirls begin to appear on its eyes.

"Primeape is unable to battle! Electivire wins!" Trevor announces as Ash is shocked by how Primeape got knocked out so quickly.

"Primeape return!" Ash said as he recalls the unconscious Pig Monkey Pokemon back to its Pokeball. "You did awesome, Primeape. Now, take a nice long rest."

After Ash puts the Pokeball back onto his belt, he turns to look at the powerful Electric-type Pokemon, while he clenches his hand into the form of a fist, out of frustration over his Pokemon's loss to the Thunderbolt Pokemon.

"Ashy Boy," Gary said to get Ash's attention. "You should have known better than to let a paralyzed Pokemon continue battling. Once again, you're taking your previous big wins for granted. I thought you would learn that by now!"

"Trust me, Gary," Ash responded to his rival's comment, as he grabbed for Pidgeot's Pokeball. "I haven't been taking my accomplishments for granted. I haven't forgotten that lesson you taught me so long ago."

"I sure hope so," Gary said while waiting for Ash to call out his next Pokemon. "Now, bring out your next Pokemon!"

"I will!" Ash stated as he tossed the Pokeball into the air. "Pidgeot, I need your help once more!"

The bruised Bird Pokemon comes out of the Pokeball with a loud chirp of excitement. It then lands on the ground in front of its trainer. Upon seeing Pidgeot, the young researcher couldn't help, but to laugh at his rival's choice.

"What's so funny?' Ash asked his rival, annoyed with his laughing.

"I'm sorry," Gary replied, as he stopped laughing. "But you brought out a Flying-type against my Electric-type Electivire. Your Pokemon is at a huge disadvantage here!"

"Well, as I have kept saying for many years," Ash started to explain his reasoning for calling out Pidgeot to battle against Electivire. "A battle is not always determined by type advantages. You should know that by now."

"Hmm." Gary thought for a moment before replying. "On rare occasions, that's true. Let's see what you got for me, then?"

"Alright," Ash responded, before giving a set of commands to his Bird Pokemon. "Pidgeot, spin while using Heat Wave."

Following its trainer's orders, Pidgeot starts spinning endlessly, while flapping its wing, producing an orange gust of heat. However, as the Bird Pokemon continues to spin counter-clockwise, the gust of heat soon transforms into a tornado of heat. The tornado then started to move closer to the immobilized Thunderbolt Pokemon, and then it encased the Electric-type Pokemon inside of it. While inside the tornado of fire, Electivire begins to feel its scorning hear, as it closes its eyes and moans in pain. Gary's face turned from a confident expression to a look of surprise at the combination that Ash's Pidgeot pulled off. Since Electivire cannot move for a while, after using Giga Impact, all Gary could do is watch helplessly at his Pokemon suffering from the intense heat that the tornado is producing.

"Keep it up, Pidgeot! You're doing great!" Ash praised his Bird Pokemon's efforts to damage the Thunderbolt Pokemon as much as it can.

Eventually, Electivire opened its eyes, signaling to its trainer that it can now use its attacks. Gary grins at this sight, as he immediately calls out a counterattack to the tornado of heat.

"Thunder! Now!" Gary exclaimed, much to Ash's surprise that Electivire is now able to strike back against his Pokemon.

The balls on the ends of Electivire's antennae become surrounded by yellow electricity. Then, Electivire's whole body becomes surrounded by electricity and it fires a blast of it from its body straight above, where it struck the spinning Bird Pokemon, causing it to let out a loud cry of pain. With Pidgeot not spinning anymore, the tornado of fire quickly vanishes as the injured Pidgeot starts falling to the ground.

"Snap out of it, Pidgeot!" Ash pleads with his Pokemon to regain altitude; however, even he knows that Pidgeot hasn't fully recovered from its battle against Aerodactyl.

The Bird Pokemon could only moan in pain, as it continues to descend. Sadly, the Thunderbolt Pokemon wasn't going to let it off the hook so easily.

"End this with Fire Punch!" Gary orders the Thunderbolt Pokemon, as it jumps high to meet the descending Bird Pokemon, and then it repeatedly punches the defenseless Pokemon with its fire covered fists. With one last punch to its back, Pidgeot immediately crashes down to the ground.

"Pidgeot! No!" Ash shouted at the top of his lungs, as the dust cleared away, revealing his unconscious Bird Pokemon.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle! Electivire wins!" Trevor announces as Gary gives a satisfying smile at his Thunderbolt Pokemon.

"Nice work, Electivire!" Gary said, applauding his Pokemon's two back-to-back wins.

Electivire smiles upon hearing its trainer's praises while waiting for his next opponent to appear. Ash silently returns Pidgeot to its Pokeball, not before praising the Bird Pokemon's hard work.

"You were amazing, Pidgeot. Now, take a good long rest," said Ash, as he puts the Pokeball back onto his belt.

Ash then stares at Electivire with an intense look on his face. So far, the Thunderbolt Pokemon has taken out two of Ash's Pokemon. Even though Pidgeot damaged it a bit with its Heat Wave Tornado combination, Electivire is still raring to go as if it was not damaged one bit. Ash grins while his thoughts begin racing over how powerful Gary's Electivire is.

Aw man. Electivire is tough. Ash thought as he unclips a Pokeball from his belt, activates it, and then stares at it with a smile on his face. But so are we.

Ash turns and gazes at his opponent with an expression of resoluteness painted across his face, as he reveals his next Pokemon to Gary.

"Venusaur! I choose you!" Ash exclaimed as he tossed the Pokeball and out came his loyal and trusty Seed Pokemon.

The Grass and Poison-type Pokemon roared proudly as it got into a battle stance while gazing at its opponent across the battlefield. As he viewed the Seed Pokemon, Gary chuckled as he realized that there was something significant about Ash's team in this battle.

"Ash, is your team made up of the Pokemon you caught during your very first journey?" Gary questioned his rival.

"Yes, Gary, it is." A grinning Ash answered without hesitation. "Since you and I didn't face each other during the Indigo Plateau League, I figured it would be fun to use the Pokemon I've caught during my first journey as a trainer against you. Wouldn't you agree, Gary?"

Gary smiled at this thought, before replying. "Yeah, I guess you got a point there, Ash."

"Also," Ash continued his explanation. "I wanted to see how much stronger they have gotten since then."

"In that case," Gary said as he stuck his hand out towards his rival, motioning him to attack. "Show me that strength, Ashy Boy!"

"If you say so," Ash replied before making the first move. "Earthquake, Venusaur!"

The Seed Pokemon stands up, with its back legs supporting it, then brings its front legs down hard, causing the ground to shake violently. Electivire can feel the earth below its feet shake as it struggles to find its footing. It couldn't make any movement, leaving it wide open for Ash's next attack.

"Sludge Bomb!" Ash called out, as Venusaur fired multiple brown globs of sludge from its mouth at the immobilized Thunderbolt Pokemon.

Electivire groans in pain from the Poison-type attack. A frustrated Gary then notices purple bubbles appearing above his Pokemon's head, and then popping in the air. Gary clenches his hand into a fist, as he realizes what just happened.

Electivire has been poisoned! Damn it! Gary said in his thoughts, before giving his poisoned Pokemon an attack command.

"Electivire, Fire Punch! Now!" Gary shouted.

Both of Electivire's fists become surrounded by red-orange fire, as it dashes towards the Seed Pokemon.

"Venusaur! Use Petal Blizzard!" Ash commanded his loyal Grass and Poison-type Pokemon.

Suddenly, pink petals circle Venusaur's body, and then they're fired at the charging Electric-type Pokemon. Gary orders his Pokemon to knock them away. Electivire then repeatedly punches the pink petals, which burns them away. Ash grins at this opening for an attack.

"Sludge Bomb! Go!" Ash quickly said to his Pokemon, who proceeded to fire multiple brown globs of sludge from its mouth towards its charging opponent.

The globs of sludge hit the Thunderbolt Pokemon as it moans in pain from both the attack and poison it is suffering from. Gary groans out of exasperation over his Pokemon suffering from the poison status condition. Ash smirks at the nervous expression on his rival's face. Gary rubs off the expression of worrying from his face as he refocuses back to the battle.

"Let's finish this with Solar Beam!" Ash confidently announced his next attack.

The inside of the flower on Venusaur's back glows white as sunlight is gathered in it. Gary grins at this sight as it allows him to attack it while it prepares for the Solar Beam attack.

"Now's our chance! Fire Punch, Electivire!" Gary orders his poisoned Pokemon without missing a beat.

Electivire dashes towards the immobilized Seed Pokemon and kicks off its onslaught of Fire Punch strikes onto the Grass and Poison-type Pokemon. The punches of fire striking Venusaur endlessly are brutal. For every Fire Punch that Venusaur gets hit by, the groans of pain from the Seed Pokemon become louder, wishing for the onslaught to end. An anxious Ash could only stand there, watching helplessly his Pokemon suffer from the inferno blaze of those punches. All he could do is hope for the Solar Beam to be ready soon.

Stay strong, Venusaur. You've been through much worse, old friend. You can endure this! I know you can! Ash encouraged his loyal Grass Pokemon in his thoughts, as he started to sweat out of nervousness, waiting for the Solar Beam to be completely charged.

After several more Fire Punches, the whole flower on the burning Venusaur's back finally glows white. To the horror expressed on the faces of Gary and his Electivire, the Solar Beam was ready to go and they couldn't prevent it in time. With Electivire so close to Venusaur and is still suffering the poison status condition, there was no way the Thunderbolt Pokemon could survive this next attack.

"Fire the Solar Beam! Now!" Ash exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

The Seed Pokemon's flower finally opens and it unleashes a yellow beam from it at the Thunderbolt Pokemon that's directly in front of Venusaur. The beam strikes Electivire in the head, causing it to yell out in agony from the attack and its poisoned condition.

"Electivire! No!" Gary shouted as his Pokemon succumbed to the damages and poison it endured throughout its battles.

Trevor rushes over to the unconscious Thunderbolt Pokemon to check to see if it cannot continue. Upon checking the knocked out Pokemon, Trevor makes the call.

"Electivire is unable to battle! Venusaur wins!" Trevor announced as Ash breathes a sigh of relief over barely winning that fight.

Ash then immediately notices Venusaur is breathing heavily. It looked exhausted to the point of collapsing at any moment. Ash walks up to his loyal and dependable Grass and Poison-type Pokemon, and then he pats it on the back for a job well done.

"Thank you, Venusaur, for enduring all of those Fire Punches." Ash praised his hard-working Pokemon. "I knew you were strong enough to handle all that fire your opponent inflicted upon you. I'm very proud of you, Venusaur. Always am and always will be, my old friend."

The Seed Pokemon smiles upon its trainer as it starts licking Ash's face, causing a chuckle to come out of him, out of gratitude and love.

"Thanks, Venusaur," Ash responded to his Pokemon's display of affection towards him. "Do you still want to continue battling?"

Venusaur roared with excitement ringing from it. Despite having taken so much damage from the Fire Punches, the Seed Pokemon was still raring to go in this fight.

"That's the spirit! Let's win this!" Ash stated as he walked back to where Pikachu was standing while hearing his Venusaur's roar of encouragement and confidence.

Ash knew that Gary has only one Pokemon left, but it was his strongest. Not only is Gary's Blastoise the very first Pokemon he obtained when he started as a trainer, but it can also Mega Evolve. As Ash's eyes gaze upon his childhood rival, who returns his fallen Thunderbolt Pokemon to its Pokeball, they become intense and burning with passion and determination to win this battle right here and now. His thoughts were racing like an Arcanine using Extreme Speed.

This is it. One more victory, then I will have defeated Gary. Ash thought before a big grin appeared on his face. Let's just see how truly strong Gary's bond with his Blastoise is!