Of course, Lillie was correct. The week was incredibly long, but the amount of learning that took place for both her and her Pokémon was surprising.
She had finally managed to grab the concepts of fighting close with her Pokémon, and with their limited time frame, Ash and Anabel had taught her some fighting concepts and exercises so she could actually do this type of personal training with her own Pokémon as well. Not to mention that much of this personal work helped her gain confidence in herself as a trainer.
And now, for her own reasons, she switched from her current dress that she had changed into back in Alola, and decided to wear a light blue t-shirt, and a white hooded fleece over it with a pair of jeans and her current boots she has been wearing. Ash asked her why earlier, but she only said it's to show the amount of change she has undergone since Alola.
Now on the day that the tournament is supposed to begin, the group of three, one, a trainer, two, high ranking Frontier Brains, are prepared to leave and fight in the Arc Tournament. They don't know what challenges lie ahead, but they are completely sure that they prepared for this tournament to the best of their abilities and that is all that they can hope.
After gathering their Pokémon, Ash did a final check on the castle and locked up the place, not wanting anyone sneaking in while he was gone. He turned around to Lillie and Anabel, who were preparing their flying Pokémon for the travel to Indigo Plateau.
"Alright, you all set?" Ash asked the pair.
Lillie picked up her bag and nodded, putting it over her shoulders. "Yeah, I am ready."
"Same here." Anabel said as she put her bag on also.
Ash nodded and flashed up his watch. "Noivern, time to fly."
"Togekiss, let's go." Anabel declared.
"Altaria, come on out!" Lillie tossed up a Poke Ball.
Ash and Pikachu hopped onto Noivern, Lillie hopped onto her Altaria and Anabel climbed onto her Togekiss as they took off for the tournament. Lillie sighed as she looked back at the Battle Castle and turned her head back forward, prepared and even more determined to face whatever was in their way no matter how hard.
. . . . . . . .
The Indigo Plateau is one of the most important places in competitive battling history. When Kanto first established their Pokémon gym circuit, they needed an end goal for beating all of the gyms. Not just anybody should be able to fight the Elite Four and Champion after collecting all eight badges after all. The strength gap between Elite Four and Gym Leaders is as large as a chasm, not to mention the Champion that resides above them all.
So in the end, Charles Goodshow came up with the solution. He decided to make a League Conference to test trainers that had managed to complete the gym circuit, and the winner would be able to earn the right to challenge the Elite Four and Champion of the Kanto Region. At first, people were not sure that this would be received well, but in the end, the higher ups decided to give Goodshow's idea a shot and announced the first Indigo League Conference.
Not only was the conference so well received by the public, but it also gave Elite Four members much more time besides sitting at their battle arenas and waiting for the next challenger to come and face them, only to find out that those challengers severely underestimated them. Charles would later earn a promotion from this idea and soon rise to the top of the Pokémon League Association, becoming the director and holding that position for many years.
And that was what resulted in the Arc Tournament. Goodshow knows he can't live forever, so sooner or later he will have to retire. But before he decided to give up the position, he decided that he wanted to gather the greatest trainers from all over the world and have them fight it out in a tournament of the masses to find out who the greatest trainer of them all happens to be.
And what better place to have it take place than on the location of where he first created one of the major staples of the gym challenge.
Upon arriving at the Plateau, Ash and the others quickly looked around for a proper place to land. The crowd around the plateau was huge, which did not give them a lot of leeway for landing zones. However, after some time, they finally located a spot just by the Pokémon Center.
As they got close to the landing zone, Ash quickly noticed Scott and the others out by the front of the Pokémon Center, clearly waiting patiently. He looked at Anabel. "Told you they would be waiting on us."
Anabel frowned. "I told Scott to go ahead and rent out the rooms early, but he never does."
Lillie looked at all the figures down there. "Are they all Frontier Brains?"
Ash nodded. "Yeah, those are the current members of the Sinnoh and Kanto branches. You'll know most of them, but the Sinnoh Brains, you probably won't and Brandon will probably scare you."
Lillie rose an eyebrow. "Scare me?"
Pikachu, on Ash's shoulder, snickered knowingly while Ash just shrugged. "You'll see."
As they landed in a good spot, all three of them jumped off of their flying Pokémon, thanking them for the ride as they stepped off of them. The other Brains noticed the group and approached them, letting Scott speak first. "Hey you two. Late as ever, huh?"
Ash rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I broke that habit a year after I joined." He groaned.
Everyone else laughed while the Pyramid King looked off towards a blonde teen standing with the pair. "And she is?"
Scott took it. "Oh, this is Lillie, Ash's latest challenger. How did that go by the way?"
"I won. Though it should have been closer."
Scott accepted that answer. "And the report?"
Ash pulled the papers out of his bag and handed them to Scott, who skimmed them over. "Wow, now I wish I was there. Why are your battles with challengers so interesting?"
Ash shrugged. "Can't really tell you. But I knew this battle would be one of my more interesting battles."
Scott rose an eyebrow, to which Ash answered. "She is an old friend from Alola. She has definitely improved since I last saw her."
Scott agreed with him. "Yeah, she knew what she was doing in the conferences. For only her first two conferences and to place so high, she was one to invite for the challenge."
Brandon stepped closer and looked said girl over, then looked over at her Altaria. "You share a strong bond with your Pokémon."
Lillie smiled. "Thank you. I-"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"AAAAHHHH!"
Lillie jumped out of her skin at the loud and sudden declaration from the Pyramid King. She looked at Brandon like he was crazy. The man had shifted from neutral to a stern expression after his yell.
"There is no need to tell me about your bond. Show me by making it to the Battle Pyramid and facing me!" He almost demanded.
Lillie nodded quickly, not wanting him to shout again. "I will."
Pikachu cracked up on Ash's shoulder while Ash went to speak with the other Brains, Anabel following close behind. They first stepped up to the Pyramid King, wanting to get into a conversation with the normally stern Ruins Expert. Lillie was about to follow along when Scott stopped her.
"Don't you have other friends you were expecting?" Scott asked while gesturing behind him.
Lillie looked through the window of the Pokémon Center, not sure what to expect. But as she did, she was shocked to see all her Alolan friends in there lined up to register for the Arc Tournament.
She started turning to Scott. "How did you..."
Suddenly, he was busy talking to Ash and Brandon. Lillie frowned in confusion. 'Is everyone in the Frontier crazy?'
As she walked away from them, Ash, Anabel and Brandon talked to each other somewhat. "I'm guessing you took time to take her under your wing, am I correct?"
Ash nodded in response. "Sharp as ever. She was having confidence issues in herself as a trainer, so Anabel and I helped to try and make her gain some more confidence."
Brandon nodded in approval. "Her bond between her and that Altaria looks quite powerful. And I can sense how sure of herself she is. Both of you did your jobs well."
The pair smiled. "Thanks Brandon." They said as the Pyramid King went over to speak with Spenser.
Scott smiled at his top three brains. There was a reason these three are his best after all. He decided to walk away from the pair as well, taking the opportunity to question Greta about her latest challenger.
Ash and Anabel, meanwhile, were just standing there, deciding who they should catch up with. "So which one? We haven't talked with them in a little bit." Ash told her.
Anabel hummed. "Maybe Lucy?"
"I guess. Alright then. Let's-"
"Master, I'm telling you. You didn't have to come see us off."
"Yeah. We appreciate the thought, but aren't you missing out on training the other dojo students?"
Ash tilted his head towards the voiced he heard. "Wait a second..."
The pair turned around to find three individuals fairly close to them. One of them was old and had a white goatee. He had on a green jacket with a black and green hat to match and wore white sweatpants underneath. The other was a blonde guy with short hair who wore black pants with a familiar red jacket. The last one was a brunette girl who had her hair in a bun with the front of it left undone along with the sideburns. Her outfit consisted of a yellow dojo jacket with a black emblem on the left side and a white sash around the waist, black shorts, white shoes and gloves.
"It is them!" Ash exclaimed.
The old man chuckled. "How could I not come and see off two of my students as they compete in the tournament of the century?" He exclaimed. "I see no major problem with it. Besides, my wife is keeping the other students on their toes."
"If you say so." The brunette stated.
"We really appreciate your time in helping us prepare for the Arc Tournament, master." The blonde one stated. "We promise to make you proud."
The old man shook his head with a smile. "You already have." He mumbled. "The others and I will be watching you both. So good luck and do your best. Keep your bonds firm and don't give in until the end."
Both teens took a respectful bow with their right fist pressed into their left palm. "We promise. Thank you, master."
The master bowed with them. "You're very welcome. We'll see you both soon." The old man then stood up and walked away from them both, leaving the pair behind to look at each other with smiles.
"Gloria! Callum!"
Both individuals turned their heads towards the source of the voice, which just so happened to be Ash alongside Anabel. The two brains walked up to the duo with smiles on their faces. "It's been so long!"
The brunette, also known as Gloria, smiled. "About a year now, hasn't it?" She mused. "It's great to see you both again."
"Yeah, no kidding. Some friendly faces would definitely do us some good in this tournament." Callum exclaimed.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu lunged from Ash's shoulder and landed in Gloria's arms, which made the Galarian trainer giggle lightly.
"We didn't forget about you, Pikachu." She promised and started to pet the Electric type, making him coo in delight.
Gloria Heartstone and Callum Bale. Two trainers from the faraway Galar region. Both 16 and 17 respectively, the duo have been students of the dojo in the Isle of Armor for a little over a year and a half. This happened right after Gloria lost the champion battle against Leon, the Galar champion. Callum, meanwhile, had been forced to move to Unova three years before Gloria lost to Leon, and had managed to go all the way to Alder in the Unova champion challenge at 13, where he lost and decided to become a Pokémon Ranger while also stay as a trainer at the same time, where he would go on to become the Miracle Maker for his skills at healing Pokémon.
The duo are two of the youngest battlers to push the champions to the great lengths that they did. However, even though they are young and powerful all at the same time, many people have forgotten what they have accomplished. Leon got all the limelight at the end of the battle and Gloria was left forgotten as she tended to her Pokémon alone and Callum had gotten so wrapped up in Ranger work that people just forgot about his battle with Alder.
So in the end, the two trainers, who have known each other since they were children, decided to focus on getting stronger away from the spotlight since they were no longer in it to begin with. They went to the Isle of Armor and stayed there, training under the guidance of Master Mustard, a former Galar champion. Nobody close to Gloria knew that she went with Callum besides Gloria's mother, who promised to keep silent on the matter for her daughter's sake.
And that would be where Ash and Anabel met them. During Ash's time training, Anabel decided to take him to Galar so he could see what the region was like and maybe catch some new Pokémon. They ended up going to the Isle of Armor and learned to do personal practice with their Pokémon thanks to the Galarian duo and their teacher.
And that meeting was what sparked a strong friendship and fierce rivalry between the four of them.
"How have you two been?" Ash asked them with Pikachu climbing back up on Ash's shoulder.
"We're doing great." Gloria stated joyfully. But then her expression turned sour. "But whether it stays that way remains to be seen."
Anabel frowned for a second before she rose an eyebrow. "Leon and his brother. They got invited, didn't they?"
Callum sighed. "Them and the gym leaders of Galar were all invited." He muttered. "That lot still puts a bad taste in my mouth for ignoring Gloria like that. Especially Leon and Hop."
Ash glowered at that. "Yeah. I understand how you feel."
Callum rose an eyebrow. "Them too?"
"A few of them are gym leaders." Anabel informed them.
Both Galar trainers gave wry smiles. "Guess we all have our work cut out for us, don't we?"
Ash lightly chuckled at that. "Guess so."
"Hey Ash! Anabel!" The Frontier Brains turned around and saw Scott calling out at them. "We're going to register. Come on!"
The two looked back at the Galarian duo who shook their heads. "We already registered. The two of us are going to take some alone time before the ceremony." Gloria told them.
"You two go have fun. We'll catch up with you after the prelims are over." Callum added.
Ash and Anabel nodded at the pair with smiles on their faces and waved them off as Callum and Gloria disappeared into the crowd.
Meanwhile with Lillie, the Alola native walked inside the Pokémon Center quickly, but decided to test her friends and see if they would be able to tell it was her. She pulled the hoodie up just to make things interesting and walked up behind Hau and the others.
"Alright. Everything is set now, so you all have your rooms. Here are your room keys and good luck in the tournament."
"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Hau said with his usual enthusiasm.
He turned around and began to walk away, but Lillie deliberately made it seem like he ran into her and Lillie fell backwards.
Hau was rubbing his head. "Oww. Sorry about that miss. I wasn't careful enough."
Lillie almost laughed, but held it together and rose her pitch in her voice. 'He hasn't noticed yet?' "It's ok sir, I was in my own head. It's not your fault." She told him lightly.
She saw Hau raise an eyebrow. "Wait, do I know you?"
Lillie shrugged as she stood up. "I don't know, do you?"
She stole a glance at the others and saw that only a couple of them had put it together. One of which happened to be her brother, who was smirking to himself while watching Hau. Mallow also seemed to realize it was her and was silently giggling to herself off to the side. The others were simply clueless to the interaction.
Hau didn't notice anything either. Instead, he was trying to recognize where he heard that voice from. "I think we met before. In Alola."
Lillie played it off. "I haven't been there recently. I've been traveling Kanto and Johto these last few years."
Hau gave up thinking. "Well if you say so."
He almost walked off, but Gladion and Mallow bursted out laughing at the display. Hau, lost as ever, had no clue what was happening. Instead, he looked at his elites and frowned. "What did I do?"
"Don't look at me." Acerola mumbled. "I don't know either." Olivia shrugged as well while Hala simply frowned.
"Alright, fine. I'll stop."
All of them turned and saw Lillie pull her hood down. Immediately as he saw her face, he facepalmed in humiliation. "I'm so stupid." He groaned. "How did I not realize it?" The others in the back were thinking the same thing to themselves.
Mallow jumped at her best friend and engulfed her in a tight hug that Lillie had a hard time breathing in. "It's been so long!"
"Mallow, I can't breathe!" Lillie wheezed.
The green haired girl let go of Lillie after hearing that, and Lillie finally started gasping to regain the air in her lungs. "That was close." She panted.
The others laughed again while Lillie managed to straighten herself out and look at the others again with a bright smile on her face. "It's been a while, everyone. How are all of you?"
Everyone said their share of "Good's" and "Great's" while Lillie made sure to catch up with them all. Unbeknownst to the rest of them, the Frontier crew was walking in towards the front desk, preparing to register. And luckily for Ash, he had noticed the Alolans were there and stayed within the large mass of the group to stay hidden.
"Hey Nurse Joy. I came to register my Frontier Brains for the Tournament and get the rooms straightened out if that's alright." Scott stated.
Nurse Joy nodded. "I'll have them entered in a moment. So what will the room arrangements be?"
Scott eyed his group of Frontier Brains and placed a hand on his chin. "Brandon and Palmer can go together, Caitlin wanted her and her battler Darach share a room, so I won't stop them, Lucy and Greta can room, Noland and Thorton should be fine, Dahlia and Argenta said they would be alright. Spencer, are you and Tucker ok with rooming with each other?"
The Palace Maven and Dome Ace nodded. "Alright, so I guess that leaves Ash and Anabel. Wasn't my original plan, but it works."
Nurse Joy entered the info and pulled out a few room keys. "Here are your room keys. All of you are staying on the reserved floor for Brains on floor 16 of the hotel. We hope you enjoy your stay and good luck."
Scott handed everyone their room keys. "Alright, the ceremony is starting at seven. All Brains, Gym Leaders, Kahunas, Elites, and Champions get by's on the first round, so you just enjoy yourselves or do some extra training for two days, but make sure to show at the ceremony."
Everyone nodded and took off to their own places. Ash and Anabel, after sending Pikachu and Espeon out with the room key, simply decided to grab some lunch and then go spend some time shopping. Normally Ash, like most guys, would not want to go shopping with Anabel, but Anabel is, compared to the other girls he's met, not really shopper. Ash is ok with helping Anabel shop since she never goes overboard and usually doesn't like having Ash carry all of the bags by himself.
But besides the point, they were hungry. After waiting to see if the restaurant would let them in, they sat down at a booth and ordered from the menu. Ash took Chicken Alfredo with a side of soup, and Anabel took a Caesar Salad.
Once the waiter left, Ash started talking. "So if we are going shopping, then what shop were you planning on hitting first."
"Well, they have a Mega Stone shop out in the center. Normally they would be expensive, but they are having a sale, so I want to see if we can grab an Alakazite if they have one."
Ash nodded. "Alright, I might take a look for a Lucarionite as well as a few extra stones. They could come in handy in the later rounds."
Once their food arrived, they quickly ate and left the restaurant for the shopping outlet. But once again, the Alolans were still near the exit. Ash and Anabel made for the doors quickly, but another groups voices made them move out of the way.
"Bonnie, come on. We have to sign up."
"Alright, but slow down. You're going too fast."
The two younger trainers ran through the door quickly and ran straight for the front desk. Following along would be the infamous group Ash and Anabel never wanted to run into. Luckily, it seemed as though the pair hadn't been made yet, so as soon as they were sure everyone was out of the way, they booked it through the door quickly and walked the rest of the way to the outlet.
After walking through the outlet mall for a few minutes., they found the Mega Stone shop in a hurry and began to search around. In a few moments, they were leaving the store with their prizes.
"That was surprisingly easy."
Ash agreed. "Yeah, but it is only one of 2 shops in the world."
"And where is the other one?" Anabel asked.
Ash pulled up the bag where the company logo was on there. Anabel read the tag out loud. "Kalos, huh? It figures."
"Well anyways, what do you want to do now?" Ash asked.
Anabel shrugged. "Let's just go relax. Except for last week, we really didn't just sit down and relax for a while."
Ash agreed, so the pair quickly took for the forest just off to the side of the Plateau. Nature tends to be one of the more relaxing places for them. After having traveled for so long, Ash still loves hanging out in the woods to relax and enjoy himself. Anabel caught on to the habit after being around Ash for as long as she has.
After arriving in the forest, Ash sat up against a tree and laid back onto it. Anabel sat down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder and scooted in close to him. Ash simply let her do as she pleased, not wanting to be rude.
"How long do we have until the ceremony?" Ash asked.
Anabel looked at her watch. "Close to four hours."
Ash sighed and attempted to unwind. "Well, time to relax then."
Both of them sat in the forest for a long time, dozing off together until they heard voices off in the distance approaching fast. Anabel heard them and realized who they were. In a matter of seconds, she pulled a sun hat out of her bag that blocked her face some. Ash simply pulled his cap down his face further.
"-but if we are going to win, then we need practice for tomorrow." Max exclaimed.
"Max, the first round is tomorrow, and I went all in on training yesterday. My Pokémon should be allowed to rest some." Bonnie argued.
Brock looked over at the two younger kids and sighed inwardly at Max's antics. "She's right. You push your Pokémon too hard, then they won't be able to battle tomorrow."
"I know that, but I want to at least have a battle with someone. I want to fight so bad right now." Max stated.
Paul looked over at the tree Ash and Anabel were sitting under. "Well try one of those two. Surely they can help you not go crazy. If I have to deal with your complaining all day, I'll knock you out before the tournament even starts."
Max nodded somewhat fearfully and ran down to Ash and Anabel. "Hey, can I have a battle with one of you?"
Ash didn't move, but he spoke. "Sorry kid. We're trying to relax before the tournament. Don't want to make me or my Pokémon tired. And you, dear?"
Anabel almost blushed, but saw the 'roll with it' look in Ash's eyes and realized what he was getting at. "No thanks hon. My Pokémon would rather sleep also."
Max fumed at this. Why were people so insistent on not battling? "Chicken much?!"
"No, more like smart. I would not want to make my Pokémon do something that would potentially hurt them before the tournament." Ash scoffed.
"Oh please! I know you're just afraid to lose to me. After all, I was the favorite to win the Ever Grande Conference."
Ash brushed it off. "Kid, the only ones I'm scared to lose to are the champions, elites, and Frontier Brains. You should watch who you brag to. Especially since Tobias was the favorite instead of you."
Max glared. "Don't you dare mention that name!"
Anabel chimed in. "And if I remember correctly, he beat you with only his Darkrai, just like everyone else. Am I right, honey?"
"Yes you are." Ash added.
Max snapped. "That's it! Nobody talks down to me like that!" He pulled out a Poke Ball and prepared to throw it until he heard a voice behind him.
Bonnie came up to the group, wondering what was up with Max's yelling. "What's wrong?"
"They refuse to battle me cause they're scared. Now they think that bringing up Tobias is an excuse not to fight me." Max stated.
Anabel put on as much of a polite voice as she could despite the circumstances. "Are you his friend? We told him we want to rest before the tournament starts, yet he is constantly trying to nag us into battling him."
"Max, let's just go. They aren't worth it." She tried to rationalize with him.
"They refuse to believe that I was the favorite for the Ever Grande Conference!" He yelled in in anger.
"You weren't. I remember reading the headline on that. The favorite was Tobias, and look what happened." Ash stated.
Bonnie sighed. "He has a bad temper. I'm sorry. If you could just fight him so he will stop, then that would be great."
Anabel looked at Ash, who nodded. "Alright, he'll do it. But you have to leave us alone afterwards. Understand?"
"Yeah whatever, let's just do it so I can kick your butt already!" Max demanded.
Ash stepped into one side of the clearing while Max took the other.
"1 on 1 battle, no substitutions, and no switch forcing moves. You good with that?"
Max nodded, to which Ash responded. "Alright. Dear, could you come ref?"
"Sure."
Anabel took the midway point in between Ash and Max. "Alright you two, send out your Pokémon."
Ash sent out his Blastoise while Max released his Mightyena. "Ok, Blastoise versus Mightyena. Let the battle begin."
Max smirked. "Use Dark Pulse!" He commanded with a cocky tone.
Ash yawned visibly. "Use Aura Sphere." He said lazily. He knew this battle wouldn't last long.
Both Pokémon let loose blasts of energy straight down the center at each other. The Dark and Fighting type blasts collided, but as types go, the fighting type move overpowered the Dark type move. Aura Sphere blasted straight through Dark Pulse and struck Mightyena hard. The Dark type was launched back a few feet onto his side.
Max widened his eyes. "What!?"
Ash crossed his arms. "You got too antsy kid. You thought you would win in one shot, but this tournament is full of the best of the best. Overconfidence will toss you out of the first round in a heartbeat."
"Shut up! Mightyena, strafe around and use Thunder Fang!" Mightyena stood up and started changing movement patterns while charging electric energy into it's teeth.
"That old trick? Blastoise, use Rapid Spin, then fire a blast of Ice Beam."
Blastoise retracted and started spinning around on it's shell, which made the Thunder Fang fly right off, thus bouncing Mightyena all the way back. Blastoise got up and, while Mightyena was in the air, fired a quick Ice Beam at the Dark type, freezing its legs and part of its body.
When Mightyena fell to the ground hard, Max widened his eyes in shock. "Mightyena!"
"If you have any sympathy for your Pokémon, you will stop the battle now." Ash responded. "I don't want to hurt Mightyena anymore than I have to."
Max grit his teeth in frustration, but his stubbornness won out in the end. "No way!" He yelled. "Mightyena, burn through the ice with Fire Fang!"
Mightyena's mouth caught flames as he attempted to bite at the ice that was inhibiting his movements. It was melting, but not fast enough for Ash to not react.
"I warned you. Finish it with Hydro Cannon." Ash commanded.
Blastoise fired a quick blast of water from the cannon on his back. It struck Mightyena incredibly hard and shot him back towards a tree, knocking him out on impact.
Anabel rose a hand at Mightyena. "Mightyena is unable to battle. Blastoise wins."
Max ran towards Mightyena and started cradling it's head in his arms. "You ok buddy?"
Ash returned his Blastoise. "Guess that's that. Thanks Blastoise."
Ash walked over to Max and Bonnie, who was consoling Max to control his temper next time. Ash sighed inwardly. He honestly expected better from Max with him being related to Norman, but it looks like the battling genes of the family skipped a generation. Max went for straight basics and reckless options, and Ash beat him in 4 moves.
"Hope you learned what I was teaching you."
Max was about to burst, but Bonnie asked nicely. "What would that be?"
Ash smiled wryly. At least Bonnie still had a sense of politeness. "Coming into a battle with a large ego and a fuming temper only leads to disaster if left unchecked. People from around the world are coming here to compete, so if you want to win, then you need to be focused, not cocky."
Max scoffed. "Like I need to take the advice of a cheater!"
"Just like you claimed against Tobias, correct? And didn't you lose that match too?" He poked.
Max scowled at Ash. "Screw you! You're far weaker than me! I know a cheater when I see one!"
Ash fumed at Max's stupidity, and went with a much fiercer tone. "That attitude is the one thing that will knock you out in the first round!" Max jumped at the tone. "If you want any chance at winning here, or anywhere in the battling circuit, I suggest you fix yourself now or just give it up. If you can't break past your own selfish ego and take notice of what is happening around you, then you won't get anywhere."
Max returned his Mightyena and ran off. "You just got LUCKY!"
After he was out of sight, Bonnie sighed. "He's been like this for years now. Yet I felt like the only one who seemed to know that this will ruin him."
"Unfortunate that such a battler has to behave this way." Anabel stated with a light sigh.
She turned up to Ash and Anabel. "Well, maybe this will teach him to get over himself, but I won't hold my breath. Thanks for shutting him down."
Ash nodded at her. "Any time."
Then her expression turned into a smile as she gazed straight at Ash. The look in her eyes and smile on her face seemed surprisingly happy and content, which somewhat confused the pair. Surely beating up Max like that hadn't made her that happy. Right?
"Umm... what are you doing." Ash asked.
"Oh, sorry." Bonnie quickly realized she was staring and shook herself out of it before taking a deep breath. "I'm just admiring how much you've changed... Ash."
This revision marks the point where the story starts making major turning points. In the pre-revised chapters in this story, I had one of the original characters show up further along, but I'm changing that up. So if you get confused while reading this before I get my revisions done, then that's why.
Also this addition is meant to evoke another side plot that I can use for downtime between certain events and just have a bit of extra fun with while I still give you guys content. Hope you enjoy.
-Bl0t0rch