"There's that spin technique I taught him!" Dawn exclaimed. "It always comes in handy whenever the situation calls for it."

"It most certainly does," Angela said while turning to Serena, who has a bright smile across her face. "Are you enjoying the match so far, Serena?"

"Yeah, Angela," Serena responded. "I am. It's been the most enjoyable battle I have ever seen Ash take place in for a long time."

"It helps when there's nothing at stake here." Angela joked.

"However," Serena said calmly. "I know the battle has just started and it's going to be a long one. I do hope Ash doesn't get overconfident with the victories he's been getting lately."

Dawn joins in on the conversation. "No need to worry, Serena! With five years of intense training under his belt, I'm sure Ash won't let overconfidence get the best of him here."

"Yeah," Serena said, agreeing with her coordinator friend. "You're right. Thanks, Dawn."

"Glad to help settle your nerves, Serena," Dawn said as the three women looked back at the field below to resume watching the battle.

----

The Kalos Champion returns her defeated Pokemon back to its Pokeball. She then praises the Despot Pokemon for doing the best it could do against Ash's Charizard. As she grabs for another Pokeball, Diantha stares back at a smiling Ash with determination burning in her eyes.

"I'm very impressed with the way you used that spin technique to land a direct blow to my Tyrantrum. You must be very proud of yourself." Diantha said while praising Ash for his use of the spin technique.

"Geez, thanks," Ash responded, before adding on to his statement. "But I learned that technique from my good friend, Dawn, who showed me that technique when she was traveling with me and Brock back in Sinnoh."

"Well," Diantha said as she unclicks one of her Pokeballs. "It appears you haven't forgotten the lessons you have learned from your traveling companions in the five years you've been away from training."

"Are you kidding?" Ash responded as he turned to look at the elite suite with all of his friends watching him battle. "There's no way I would ever forget any important lesson I have learned from all my friends. After all, their lessons made me stronger in more ways than one."

His words made his friends cheer even louder for him as he praises them on how they have helped him out throughout his travels. He turns to face the Kalos Champion who is ready to reveal her next Pokemon.

"And I will use their teachings to win this battle today!" Ash proclaims as he's ready to get back into the battle.

"We'll see how friendship can handle this fighter! Come on, Hawlucha!" Diantha exclaims as she releases her second Pokemon.

From the light of Pokeball, out came a bipedal bird-like Pokémon with colorful plumage. Its head curves into a beak-shape in the front, but its mouth is located in a white patch under the beak's curve. It has a blue-green mask-like marking across its face, an orange blaze running from its forehead to the back of its neck, an orange ring around each eye, and a small, red patch at the tip of its beak. There is black space around its eyes, which are yellow with paler yellow sclerae. On the back of its head are two rectangular, tassel-like feathers. Its red, cape-like wings have blue-green undersides and are connected to its feathery tail. Near the tip of each wing is a three-clawed hand. Its front is white with a line of red along its neck and the top of its chest. It has small, yellow feet with three toes each.

The Wrestling Pokemon gets into its fighting stance. Ash studies the Pokemon carefully, before kneeling down to his faithful starter Pokemon. Pikachu stares at Ash with determination burning in his eyes. Ash could tell that the Mouse Pokemon really wants to battle now. Ash nods and stands back up.

"Okay, Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash shouted as Pikachu rushed onto the battlefield with sparks flying off its cheeks.

Diantha smiles upon seeing the Electric-type. She remembers having a short battle with Ash's Pikachu when he was traveling in the Kalos Region over 5 years ago. Despite their battle being interrupted by Team Rocket stealing her Gardevoir, Pikachu still put up a good fight against them. Even so, Diantha knows she'll have to be careful when battling against this Pokemon.

"Ah, Pikachu," The Kalos Champion said. "It's good to be battling you, once again."

The Mouse Pokemon nods in agreement with the champion, before getting back into its battle stance.

"Well then," Diantha said before getting serious in her words. "Let's see how you fare against my Hawlucha!"

The referee signals the battle to begin. Once again, Ash makes the first move.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" commanded Ash.

Pikachu starts running towards the Wrestling Pokemon while his body is surrounded by a white outline.

"Detect! Hawlucha!" Diantha counters the speedy attack.

Hawlucha's eyes suddenly shine light blue, and then, it dodges the Mouse Pokemon's attack.

"Time to get up close and personal with multiple Iron Tails!" Ash orders Pikachu to use the Steel-type move repeatedly.

"Block them all using Brick Break!" The Kalos Champion commanded.

Pikachu's tail glows white, while Hawlucha's fists glow white as well. Pikachu's tail lands directly on the Wrestling Pokemon's glowing arms; however, the fighting type Pokemon pushes the tail back, preventing Hawlucha from taking damage. Pikachu does the same attack a couple of times. Each time, Hawlucha blocks the tail with Brick Break. Eventually, Hawlucha grabs Pikachu and holds the Mouse Pokemon very tightly.

"Pikachu! Get out of there!" shouted Ash.

"Submission! Now!" Diantha quickly calls out her next attack.

Hawlucha starts flipping over, while holding onto Pikachu with its arms and legs, and rolls around, holding them in a full-body hold. Just before Hawlucha could throw the Mouse Pokemon, Ash immediately calls out Pikachu's famous move.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt to get out of there now!" Ash shouted to his trapped Pokemon.

Pikachu hears Ash's orders and then proceeds to release a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body directly at Hawlucha, who is still holding the Electric-type. The bolt of electricity is inflicting a great deal of pain to the Fighting and Flying-type Pokemon. So much pain, in fact, that it causes Hawlucha to release Pikachu before it could attempt to throw the Mouse Pokemon.

"Not bad..." A frustrated Diantha stated while watching her Hawlucha slowly recover from the electric attack it had endured.

"Alright, try dodging this!" Diantha proclaims before calling out her next attack. "Flying Press! Let's go!"

Hawlucha starts flying above the opponent. It then becomes outlined in white energy and begins diving into the defenseless Mouse Pokemon. Ash smiles as he thinks of a great idea to finish off Hawlucha.

Just before Hawlucha could land a blow to Pikachu, Ash calls out his counterattack. "Pikachu! Use Electroweb on the ground below you!"

"What?!" Diantha responded with a tone of shock in her voice.

Pikachu creates an orange-yellow orb of electricity on its tail. It then flings the orb onto the ground underneath him, which then transforms into a circular yellow electrical net. Pikachu jumps out of Hawlucha's way. The Wrestling Pokemon lands on the net which begins to zap it with small doses of electricity contained within the net. Hawlucha cries out in pain as the zaps are inflicting pain upon it endlessly.

"Why you..." An angered Diantha said as she watched helplessly at her trapped Pokemon. There was nothing she could do to save Hawlucha from that electric net.

"Now, Pikachu!" Ash exclaims before giving Pikachu his next attack. "Finish this with Thunderbolt!"

Following Ash's orders, the Mouse Pokemon releases a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body and then fires it towards the imprisoned Wrestling Pokemon. Hawlucha lets out a huge cry of pain, before collapsing to the ground, just as the electric net disappears.

"Alright! Great work, Pikachu!" Ash congratulates his best friend, while a smiling Pikachu shows off his muscles to the cheering crowd within the stadium.

The Kalos Champion returns her fallen Pokemon back to its Pokeball. She then praises the Wrestling Pokemon for doing its best out there today. She clips the ball back onto her belt, before unclipping another one. As she unclicks her Pokeball, Diantha stares back at a smirking Ash Ketchum, who is waiting for her to call out her next Pokemon.

"So who's next?" Ash said with a smile on his face. "I'm waiting."

Diantha chuckles at his remark. "It seems you didn't win the Pokemon Masters Tournament just on pure luck. You won because of the amount of care, training, and love you have put into each of your Pokemon. But sadly, I'm afraid I won't let you win three matches in a row here!"

"Oh," Ash responded with a calm tone in his voice. "We shall see about that."

"Alright! Come on, my Queen of the Ice! Aurorus!" The Kalo Champion exclaims as she threw her Pokeball up into the air.

When the light faded away, her Ice and Rock-type Pokemon appeared. Aurorus is a quadruped, dinosaurian Pokémon that resembles a sauropod. It is primarily blue with a light blue underside. It has bright blue eyes, a long neck, and a long, tapering tail with a teardrop-shaped tip. On its head is a V-shaped white marking with a single, light blue crystal in the center. Two large, flowing sails extend from the top of its head and run down the length of its neck. The sails are pale whitish-yellow at the base and fade into a pale bluish-purple at the edges. Running the length of its body on either side is a line of small ice crystals. There are three clawed toes on its hind legs, but one large nail and a single claw on its forelegs.

"Aurorus..." Ash said while examining their new opponent. He quickly turned to Pikachu and said, "Pikachu, take a good rest right now. You earn it."

Pikachu quickly rushes back to his trainer. Ash then turns to the Aura Pokemon standing next to him. He could tell that Lucario was anxious to get in there and start battling. Ash smiles upon his battle-ready Pokemon.

"You ready?" Ash asked the Aura Pokemon.

"Do you even have to ask?" Lucario responded with a grin on his face.

"No, but it's nice to ask, you know," Ash said with a chuckle.

Lucario gives a small chuckle before going out into the battlefield. He gets into his battle stance as he prepares to battle the Tundra Pokemon.

"So this is the Lucario that famously defeated the unbeatable Mewtwo during the Pokemon Masters Tournament," Diantha said while being impressed with Lucario's resume.

"Yep," Ash responded with confidence. "This is him."

"Well then," Diantha stated before continuing. "I'm sure I can give him a battle worthy of the one he had against Trevor's Mewtwo."

"I like to see you try," Ash said as he and Lucario motion the Kalos Champion to make the first attack.

"Alright then!" Diantha proclaims as she gives her Pokemon its first move. "Use Thunder!"

"Lucario, use Bone Rush, but slam it into the ground and hold on to it!" Ash orders his Pokemon.

"Huh?" Diantha said, confused upon hearing Ash's instruction to his Pokemon.

Aurorus's whole body becomes surrounded by yellow electricity and it fires a blast of it from its body at Lucario, who is holding onto his bone club that is dug deep into the ground. When the electricity hit the Aura Pokemon, it didn't seem to be affecting him that much at all. Both Diantha and her Pokemon were surprised by this revelation.

"How's that possible?!" A puzzled Diantha yelled.

"Since Bone Rush is a Ground-type attack, we knew the best way to defend against Electric-type move would be to make sure we are close enough to the ground where it won't damage us that much," Ash explains to the Kalos Champion what just happened.

"I see," Diantha said, amazed with Ash's strategy. "Well, nice work."

Ash nodded with a smile before giving Lucario an attack order. "Lucario, use Aura Sphere!"

"Aurorus! Light Screen!" Diantha countered.

Lucario puts its hands together and creates a blue ball of energy in between them. Lucario then fires the ball at his opponent. However, a pink curved force field appears around Aurorus, which protects it from the Aura Sphere attack.

"Now, Blizzard!" Diantha calls out her next attack.

"Use Metal Sound to protect yourself from it!" Ash counters.

The Tundra Pokemon releases a powerful blizzard from its mouth at Lucario. The Aura Pokemon counters the Blizzard attack by putting the spikes on its paws together, causing white sound waves accompanied by a high pitched ringing to emit from the tips and spread across the field, calming down the blizzard. When it reached Aurorus, the Tundra Pokemon was screaming in pain as it couldn't cover its ears from the sound waves, accompanied by Lucario's growling.

"Aurorus! You have to calm down!" Diantha told her screaming Pokemon, but it couldn't hear her.

Ash and Lucario knew it was the perfect opportunity to end this battle right now.

"Time to end this!" Ash stated before providing Lucario with a set of instructions. "Lucario, use Extreme Speed to get close to Aurorus, and then finish it off with Close Combat!"

Lucario's body becomes surrounded in a green aura and it charges towards the screaming opponent at a high speed. When the Aura Pokemon got close enough to the Tundra Pokemon, the fighting type Pokemon proceeded to repeatedly punch and kick the opponent at a fast speed. With one more punch and kick to its side, Aurorus fell to the ground as it was losing consciousness. Lucario let out a triumphant roar before running back to Ash, who was very impressed by the quick work his Pokemon did with Aurorus.

"Awesome job, Lucario!" Ash praises Lucario while rubbing its head. "Now, we're winning! 3-0!"

"Pika pika! Pikachu!" The Mouse Pokemon said, also praising his comrade's victory.

"Thank you both, for your kind words," Lucario responded as he took in the praises from.

The Kalos Champion returns her Pokemon back to her Pokeball. After praising its hard work, the referee informs them both that since 3 Pokemon have been knocked out, they will take a short 15-minute break to clean up the field. As each trainer exited the arena to head to their break rooms, their thoughts were rushing in their heads.

Ash has greatly improved his skills as a trainer since I last battled him. This makes me want to beat him even more.

Just 3 more victories, then I will become the champion of Kalos. I'm so happy that all my friends and family came here to support me, especially Serena.

---

"Wow," A stunned Bonnie said, after watching Lucario battle. "Lucario defeated Diantha's Aurorus so quickly that it didn't seem to get one scratch on itself."

"Well, Ash's Lucario is pretty strong, Bonnie," Trevor explained. "I mean, after all, it is the Pokemon that took down Gregor. So you kinda expect it to not be a pushover, especially during a Champion's match."

"Yeah, I hear you, Trevor. I still can't believe how strong Lucario really is." Bonnie responded.

"Believe me, Bonnie," Clemont joins in on the conversation. "Most of us don't exactly know how much stronger Ash's Pokemon have gotten in the five years they've been training."

"Speaking of which..." Trevor said as he leaves Bonnie and Clemont and walks over to Gary who has been quiet throughout the battle.

"Hey, Gary," Trevor said, which got Gary's attention.

"Oh, Trevor," Gary responded. "Did you need something?"

"Actually, no," Trevor answered. "I was wondering why you haven't said much about Ash throughout his battle against Diantha so far."

"I'll be honest with you, Trevor," Gary explained his quietness to his puzzled friend. "I was thinking about what Pokemon and strategies to use against Ash when he and I eventually have that battle he'd promised me."

"You mean he still hasn't given you that battle, yet?" Trevor asked while knowing Ash would battle Gary at any time and any place.

He was shocked to see that Ash has yet to give Gary the battle he'd promised his childhood rival once the whole Pokemon Master Tournament crisis was done for.

"To be fair with Ash, he's been making up for lost time with most of his friends, especially Serena. After all, she missed him the most." Gary explained, as he and Trevor both turned to look at Serena, who was busy playing with Ashley and her Pokemon.

They can both see in her eyes that she's been more happy and cheerful in the months following the Pokemon Masters Tournament. With Ash back by her side, all the sadness, despair, and grief that once consumed her hollow heart have been replaced with the light of love, happiness, and joy. The two friends couldn't be happier for her, now she has found peace within herself once again.

"Yeah, you're right. She did miss him the most." Trevor said, before turning back to face Gary. "So do you think Ash will challenge you once he wins the Kalos Championship?"

"Maybe," Gary answered, while still uncertain for himself.

"And if he doesn't?" Trevor questioned Ash's childhood rival.

"Then, I know the perfect time to challenge him," Gary responded with a grin on his face.

"Really? When?" asked a curious Trevor.

Gary chuckles before answering, "You'll have to wait and see."

"Okay..." Trevor said, just as the referee announced that the intermission was over.

Everyone got back to their seats and waited for the competing trainers to return and resume the battling.