Ash's POV:

"Wish me luck", Drew breathed and walked towards his side of the arena. Virgil came towards his side and just gave Drew a small smirk.

"YOU'VE GOT IT, DREW!!", May yelled from the side, but we just gave him half hearted smiles.

"Do you think you stand a chance against me, green head?", Virgil asked Drew confidently, and Drew sighed.

"True! You have the advantage over me being a complete battler. But I'm not going down without a fight. I'm gonna give you the time of your life in battling!", Drew told him defensively and Virgil just chuckled shaking his head.

"I don't think you'd last a 6 on 6 battle, Drew. We'll do a 3 on 3 battle, alright?", Virgil asked Drew and he nodded his head squeezing a Pokeball in anger.

"A 3 on 3 it is! Absol, grace us with your presence!!", Drew yelled and Absol came out with her jaw-dropping grace.

"Zebstrika, come out!"

"Use your speed! Psycho Cut!!"

"Dodge it and use Discharge!!"

Absol was really fast and managed to graze Zebstrika with her horn, but Zebstrika was unfazed, and used his attack without a second thought and hit Absol with all of his might. But, Zebstrika had attacked at the cost of his defense, and collapsed onto the ground.

"Don't give it time! Use Brutal Swing!!"

"Dodge!!", Virgil yelled but Zebstrika was hopeless.

"Now, show him your strength with Psycho Cut!!"

"Gotcha! Use Shock Wave!!"

"Ground your horn into the ground!!"

The quick grounding reduced the damage Absol had taken, but she was still wobbling from the after effects of the shocks.

"Use Dark Pulse!! Hit it from a distance!!"

"Hit them away with your tail, and use Thunder!!"

"Ground all of your paws! We have to reduce the damage you take, or we'll lose you!"

Zebstrika was giving his 200 percent, but even that wasn't enough, and he was wobbling seemingly on his last ounce of energy.

"Don't give up, Zebstrika! Use Thunderbolt!!"

"Show him that you're not a weakling! Use Brutal Swing!!"

The two attacks collided, and at the point of contact, a huge smoke mushroom erupted creating a suspense about the result of the first battle.

When the smoke cleared, I saw that both of the Pokemon were lying on the ground with swirls in their eyes, and I heard Drew groan in despair.

"Both Pokemon are unable to continue! This match is a draw!!", the referee announced.

"Return, Absol! You were amazing as always, girl. Take a well deserved rest. Roserade, grace us with your presence!!"

"Espeon, come out!!"

"Roserade, use Poison Sting!!"

"Psychic!! Stop it right there!!"

Roserade was lifted off the ground and violently thrown to the nearby wall, and was immediately hurt.

"Wave it off, girl! Use Synthesis!!

"Throw her towards the wall again and again with Psychic!!!", Virgil yelled at Espeon.

"ESSSSPEONNN!!"

But it was a useless move as the Synthesis had already brought Virgil to square one.

"Now use Giga Drain!!"

The healing effect of the move was rubbing salt on Virgil's wounds. Espeon took heavy damage from the attack, and Roserade also gained half of the damage she dealt as energy.

"Psybeam!!"

"Hit it behind you!!"

"Don't give up hope! Use Future Sight followed by Dream Eater!!"

I had to give it to Virgil. It was a really good move. Roserade began to shiver and look around in fear.

"Roserade, come on, girl! Get your head into the battle! Please!!", Drew pleaded her but Roserade was too busy in a mental battle to recognise her trainer's voice.

"Finish that plant off with Psybeam!!"

"NO!!"

Roserade tool the attack head on and crashed into Drew, but he held onto her sliding behind dangerously close to toppling off the edge of the stadium.

"I got you, Roserade. I got you", he told her stroking her head and she seemingly calmed down.

"Get back there", he told her with a smile and she got there glaring menacingly at Espeon who simply looked away huffing.

"Don't lift up her hopes, Drew. You are still losing. It's a miracle that you pulled that single win over me. It will be a 3-1 victory", Virgil told Drew chuckling but Drew didn't say anything.

"Espeon, clean it up with another Dream Eater!!"

"Not this time! Use Synthesis!!"

Espeon began to wobble, unable to penetrate the sunlight shield on Roserade and the smirk on Virgil's face vanished suddenly.

"Our turn! Use Stun Spore!!"

The spores hit Espeon in a flash and he began to look around unable to concentrate, but I noticed that Roserade was running out of juice, though she had repeatedly used Synthesis.

"Finish it off with Petal Blizzard!!"

"Confusion!!"

Confusion had made its contact with Roserade and her attacks began to go haywire, but she managed to land a few powerful blows on Espeon effectively knocking him out, but some of her attacks ricocheted back to her and she too, collapsed leading to a CONSECUTIVE double knockout.

"Both Pokemon are unable to continue! This match is a draw!", the referee announced and Drew groaned running his hand over his hair in dismay.

"Return, Roserade. You were as beautiful as the flower you've been closely named to. Take a well deserved rest", Drew told her and returned Roserade to her Pokeball.

"Looks like you've proved me wrong, coordinator. You do pack a punch! But that's not gonna get you past me this time. Flareon, let's go!!"

"Flygon, ensure our victory!!"

"It won't help you, Drew! Start off with Flare Blitz!!"

"Fly higher! Get out of its range!"

"Jump as high as you can, and hit it!"

Flareon was HIGHLY trained, and managed to hit Flygon even though he was flying at the edge of the terrace.

"What? H....How?", Drew asked Virgil in shock and Virgil just chuckled.

"I'm also a Pokemon Ranger, Drew! A fire type Pokemon is of utmost importance to guys like me. That's why he was able to hit your Flygon", Virgil explained.

"No time to waste! Fire Spin!!"

"Earthquake!!"

Drew got the upper hand this time as the Fire Spin went haywire due to the slipping of Flareon.

"Dragon Tail!!"

"Stay where you are! When you've got the right timing, Fire Fang!!"

"Use your wings to keep yourself steady! Stay away from Flareon!!"

Flygon was unable to maneuver himself quickly and took the attack. But at the same time, he smacked Flareon away with Dragon Tail. It was a strong move, but unluckily for Flareon, the Fire Fang had heated up Flygon's tail and this had also burned him to along with the Dragon Tail.

Both of them had given their hearts out battling for their trainers, but they were on their final legs, fighting for the respect of their trainers.

"Inferno!!"

"Earth Power!!"

The collision of the attacks created another smoke mushroom MUCH to our dissatisfaction, and Serena's hands began to turn ice cold. I felt her shiver from my side.

When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Flygon had fainted while Flareon was barely standing.

"Flygon is unable to continue! Flareon is the winner! Since Drew and no Pokemon remaining, this match goes to Virgil!", the referee announced and Drew sank to his knees sighing.

Virgil meanwhile was whirling Flareon around petting him, and the Eevelution was waving its tail around in joy, happy about its victory.

"WHAT A MATCH! WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THAT A COORDINATOR WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MATCH UP TO A HARDENED BATTLER?", the MC roared and the audience whistled loudly.

"THIS MEANS THE DEFENDERS ARE UP TO 2-3 AND ANOTHER VICTORY MEANS THAT IT WOULD BE A TIE! IF IT'S A TIE, THEN IT WOULD BE UPTO THE DEFENDERS TO DECIDE THE TIEBREAKER!!", the MC added and we groaned.

Drew walked back to our side with his head hanging low, and shoulders slumped in defeat and shame.

"Hey, Drew! Wait up!!", Virgil yelled from the other side and ran towards him, causing Drew to look at him in a confused manner.

"It...was a....good...match! You....fought brilliantly", Virgil panted, placing his hands on his knees, and gave Drew a smile.

"Thank you, Virgil", Drew thanked him with a smile and the audience clapped looking at the show of sportsmanship between the two of them.

"You were amazing, Drew", May told him wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection, and he just gave her a half-hearted smile with a nod of thanks.

"I did better than I expected to do so. I thought that it would be a whitewash. But 3-2, huh?", he told us chuckling and we followed suit.

We were busy congratulating Drew for his stellar attempt at a platinum grade battler, but I didn't notice the person next to me who was fidgeting like my Feraligatr forced to stay a whole day without dancing.

"Hey, what's wrong?", I asked Serena taking a seat right next to her and she nervously shook her head and gulped looking at Palermo.

"I've not seen you this nervous even before you were facing Aria in front of the entire population of Kalos!", I told her and placed my arm around her waist making her to snuggle closer into my embrace.

"There was always a next time when I contested against Aria. But....today, if I lose....what happens?", she asked me and looked at me expectantly.

"EVEN if you lose, it would be a draw between the two teams. PLUS, you have been around Palermo for almost half a decade. You'll have a small advantage, won't you?", I asked her and she sighed nodding her head, and tied her hair in a ponytail. Then, she sighed and turned around to see me.

"May I have a kiss for good luck?", she asked me slyly and I rolled my eyes. Suddenly, she pulled me by my collar and pressed her lips to mine. After a minute or so, which seemed like hours,  we separated and she brought her lips to my left ear.

"Thank you", she whispered seductively and walked towards the centre of the arena facing Palermo.

"Are you ready to fight your teacher?", Palermo asked her with a smirk on her face and Serena shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know about that but I'm ready to defeat her", Serena told her with a confident grin.

I didn't know if she'd win, but I did know this. It was gonna be a HELL of a contest.

To be continued....