Road to Master

Road to Master Ch36- A Burden of Two Hearts!

With Ash:

Ash was about to head out of his room... But something stopped him.

"Pikachu, look at this," The raven haired trainer said as he reached from the remote and sat in his bed. He heard some slight mentions of his own name, so Ash decided to turn up the volume. Just as Ash and Pikachu engaged in front of the television with decent volume, Ash saw as the broadcast room put its attention on the screen behind the three talking members to see that there was going to be an announced match.

"Pika!" Pikachu said in excitement as he saw himself appear on the screen while taking on the Florges and the Aggron.

"Ash has just proven that his team, especially his little friend Pikachu has power, but he must now face a strong challenge," the narrator said in a very dark and intense tone that got Ash's attention just as he saw Charizard once again slam Trevor's Charizard down into the top of the mountain to cause a large cloud of dust to form from the intensity of the move used.

Suddenly, the screen shifted to show a green haired trainer with a black top and a tanned skin commanding a large tiger like pokemon that Ash did not know too much about. The boy that Ash talked to earlier that day, which was Hau, was causing the Incineroar to make his claws glow a dark black color before rushing the opponent. "Hau will be fighting in this battle against Ash in an attempt to make it to the battles of 6 on 6 as well."

The screen then portrayed Ash with his team on the left while Hau was portrayed on the right with his Incineroar. Ash looked at the screen carefully to then see the "VS" symbol appear between him and Hau which made the raven haired trainer go a little wide eyed. He did not expect to be going up against such a strong opponent this early in the league, so it was surprising.

"The two trainers along with the other 30 trainers in the fourth round will be battling this battle for the 200k Kaleuros that gets awarded as prize money for being able to reach this far into the conference. The winners of round of top 32 will be the ones that will pass on to the last four 6 on 6 battles, we wish Ash and Hau the best of luck as well as the other trainers that we have just announced for the matchup," the narrator concluded as Ash was brought back to consciousness on the money that could be won.

Ash shut off the television as he sighed and looked down.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked with some distress as he noticed his trainer acting so privately to himself.

Ash turned to Pikachu and petted the electric mouse behind the ears to which the electric mouse cooed, "Pikachu, it is really just the fact that... Here we are..."

"Pika?"

"You see," Ash said through clenched fists. "I can't believe that not too long ago, we were in the streets of this city stealing to survive... and now..." Ash took a deep breath as he said the next part, "If we win the next round against Hau we might never have to live that way ever again for the rest of our lives."

"Pika Pikachu," Pikachu cooed as he rubbed his cheek against Ash's.

Ash smiled at this and petted his electric mouse back, "Pikachu, let's go with the others and prepare for the next battle... I think I have an idea of who I want to battle in this matchup."

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted with glee and excitement as he jumped from Ash's lap, out of the bed and towards the door. Ash chuckled a little as he jumped out of the bed himself and ran after the rodent he called his best friend.

A/N: Uh oh... Things just got a little... Or should I say... EXTREMELY complicated.

Ash may not know this, but the fate of someone's life relies on the outcome of this battle...