"Ash?"

I snapped out of my thoughts to see Misty standing in front of me, waving her hand in front of my face. She had a slightly worried expression on her face.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Your battle's about to start."

"Oh, thanks for the heads up."

With that, I stood to make my way to the battlefield. I clenched my fists ignoring the looks I was sure Barry and Clemont were throwing my way.

I got to my side, took a deep breath, and reached for one of the Pokeballs on my belt. I held it front of me smiling. It'd been a while since I felt this way; adrenaline was pumping crazily through my veins, and little by little, I started feeling more and more like a kid again.

I watched as my opponent, Sawyer, happily made his way to the battlefield. He had long dark green hair, and wore some pretty formal clothes. He had on large brown shorts, a two tone brown vest, along with a white short sleeve shirt and a red bow-tie. He reached into one of the pockets on his vest and pulled out a small notebook that matched it in color. He seemed to flip through it for a bit before grabbing his pokeball of choice.

"Hey, Sawyer! Let's make this a great battle!" I shouted, tightening my grip on my Pokeball.

"Yeah!"

With that, we tossed our Pokballs into the air. "I choose you!"

A flash of blue light burst forth from our pokeballs. It dissipated, revealing our choices. Sawyer had gone with Slurpuff. I had chosen Infernape. 

The ref walked up to the side of the battlefield. "Ready? Battle Begin!" he declared with a wave of his checkered flag.

And with that, our brawl began.

"Infernape use Mach Punch!" I cried, throwing out my hand.

Without missing a beat, Infernape dashed for its target.

"Slurpuff use Energy Ball!" Sawyer's smile didn't waver as he cheerfully gave the commanded the, gripping his notebook tighter.

"Keep pushing! Don't give an inch!" I declare. Infernape continues to push forward dodging the oncoming Energy Balls before closing in on Slurpuff and repeatedly pounding on it with Mach Punch.

"SLURFUFF!" Sawyer shouted. I could see the panic in his eyes. His stance changed, as he took a step back and frantically reached for his notebook.

"Now Infernape, go into Flame Wheel!" Infernape swung at Slurpuff once more, turning his punch into a spin as he engulfed himself in flames. He rammed into Slurpuff, sending it flying back. Sawyer's eyes widened as he watched his partner hit one of the gym's walls.

"You can't hesitate," I explained. Sawyer turned from his partner to face me; his pained expression contorted into one of confusion.

"You can't doubt yourself or your commands in the midst of battle," I continued, closing my eyes. "Your Pokemon won't know what to do. On top of that, they'll start to feel your panic."

I opened my eyes looked past Sawyer to where Slurpuff had collided with the wall. Sawyer frantically turned to see his partner lying on the ground with a dazed expression.

"Slurpuff is unable to battle, so the winner is Ash," Chuck declared.

Everyone in the room went silent. The only sound that could be heard were Sawyers feet as he rushed to his collapsed partners side. Suddenly the bell rang, and people began making their way out of the class, after Chuck had dismissed us.

I sighed. I could feel the weight that silence carried and knew my reputation was about to be impacted even more.

~With Serena~

I walked out of class and made my way down the hallway, grinning from ear to ear. I had a class with Ash, and I couldn't be happier. Ash had that kind of affect on me. Actually, Ash had that kind of affect on everyone. Well, he used to. Ever since I saw him this morning, he seemed to carry a tired countenance. Not just from sleep, but something else. Something was nagging at him. The radiant, lively playful Ash was gone. No. Not gone, just not here. But I'd bring him back. He'd kept my spirits up so much in life. It's about time I do the same for him.

"Hey Serena." I turn and look behind me to see Gary offering me a small wave.

"Hey Gary," I say, as he walks up to me. "What's up?"

"Did you hear what Ash did last hour," Gary said with a smirk.

Hearing Ash's name got me immediately had me worried. Though he was an generally an admirable person, he always found new way to get himself into trouble. 

Gary apparently noticed my reaction. "Oh, it's nothing that bad," he tried reassuring me.

"Not that bad," I repeated, emphasizing the "that".

"It really isn't bad. He just crushed the competition in his Battle Class; won his battle with only two moves. He also predicted the outcome of every battle within the first few minutes of each," Gary replied casually.

My eyes widened. I knew Ash was a go-getter and I knew he'd have become a pretty good battler by now, but I didn't expect him to be THIS good!

"How can you say that and be so..."

"Calm?" Gary guessed.

I nodded.

"Well I've known Ash for a while, and we were rivals for most of our separate journeys. We've watched each other grow. Heck, we grew from watching each other grow each other. Whenever one of us achieved something, that pushed the other to keep moving. Every league we were in together, he always managed to surpass me. Even after I decided to become a researcher, he would still always ask for a battle with me when we crossed paths. He made it to the semi-finals in the last two leagues he was in, so I'm not that surprised he did so well today."

"Wow." I breathed.

"Hey Ashy-Boy," Gary suddenly called out. 

I looked up to see Ash leaning against a set of lockers close to our next class. He had his red cap pulled down nearly covering his tired eyes. His arms were folded across his chest. He adjusted his hat and looked over to address us, quickly putting on a smile. 

"Hey Gare-Bear. Serena" he said, nodding to each of us in recognition.

"When are you gonna stop using that name?" Gary whined.

Ash just smirked in response. "It's only fair if you're gonna to keep using mine."

"You know it almost makes me feel left out. Both of you have nicknames..." I started.

"So we'll give you one too!" Ash decided beaming.

I felt my cheeks flush red a little but Ash didn't seem to notice as he closed his eyes and began to think. He tapped his index finger on his chin. 

"How 'bout Sere?" he finally suggested.

I smiled. "I like it."

"Then Sere it is," he decided, getting up from leaning against the lockers. He stood in front of me and took off my hat to ruffle my hair. I puffed out one of my cheeks in frustration. I hated when he treated me like a child, and he knew it. I could tell from the smirk on his face.

"When are you gonna stop treating me like I'm still a kid?" I said moving his hand away from my head.

"Grow a few inches and maybe I'll think about it," He replied with a chuckle, putting my hat back on my head.

I crossed my arms and scowled at him. Apparently I wasn't very intimidating since Ash just laughed it off. In the distance I noticed Gary walking off smirking at the two of us together. I felt my cheek flush red once again

"Come on Sere. Let's get to class."

"R-right behind you Ash!"

Finally DONE. Well, with this chapter anyway. REALLY SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATES. LIKE REALLY SORRY. I'm still not really feeling myself but I'm still gonna try and get stuff out when I can. Thank you to my loyal readers for sticking with me through this rough spot.

Special thanks to....

buddy227

Jjtomson123

and SylveonKwami

You've all been a huge help. Thanks for the support online and offline.

Okay QUESTION OF THE DAY!!!

Which Pokemon do you think deserves more love from the fandom and why?

My pick is Infernape. It seems like Greninja gets more attention even though almost every aspect of its character and abilities came from Infernape. Also I just REALLY love Gen 4.

Welp, that's it! Thanks for reading and I'll see you next read. BYE!!!!