After intermission was over, Ash, once again, stood in his box eyeing the opponent that stood across from him. Although Ash was behind right now, he still didn't look fazed by his current situation. It didn't shock Trevor in the slightest.

They were the best trainers, of their generation, to come from Kanto and Ash respected Trevor as both a friend and rival. However, he was here to win, not revisiting the past.

"You ready for round two?" Ash questioned the trainer across from him.

"Yeah! Show me what you got!" Trevor responded back.

Ash turned to his loyal mouse Pokémon, who was standing by its trainer and then bends down, on one knee, to meet Pikachu's eye level.

"Ready, buddy?" Ash asked Pikachu, who nodded back in response.

Ash also nodded, as he lifted himself off from the ground, before sending Pikachu into battle.

"Pikachu, I choose you!"

Pikachu gave a chirp, before leaping onto the battlefield. He crouched low, while sparks were flying in anticipation, for the upcoming battle.

Trevor grinned while looking at the mouse Pokémon that Ash started his journey with.

Pikachu seems to really want that rematch against my Charizard. However, I am about to disappoint him. He thought as he unclipped a Pokéball from his belt.

"You're up, Empoleon!" Trevor called out as he threw his Pokéball into the air to reveal his fourth Pokémon.

When the light, from the Pokéball, vanished, a large, navy blue, penguin-like Pokémon was now standing before its trainer. It had a wide, yellow beak with three pointed horns that form a trident-shaped crest and small, blue eyes. There's a blue marking, resembling a crown, over its eyes and a white, lacy marking running down its chest. A blue, fin-like projection forms a collar, around its throat, and runs down the length of its chest and belly. On its back, there are two raised, gold bumps and a second blue fin that forms its tail. It was wide, flipper-like wings, rimmed with blue, along the tips, and three golden claws. Its yellow feet were webbed with three toes each. As soon as the emperor Pokémon appeared, it got into a battle stance.

Ash and Pikachu were surprised that they weren't facing off against his Charizard in this round.

"Huh? No Charizard?" Ash asked puzzled about why Trevor didn't send out Charizard, to continue battling.

"I'm saving Charizard, for later," Trevor responded to the masked trainer while motioning him to make the first attack.

"Alright then," Ash said, before calling out the first attack, to start the second half of the match. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Empoleon, use Steel Wing on the ground!" Trevor countered.

Both of Empoleon's wings glow white and one of them hit the ground, while the other was pointing upward to the sky. Pikachu released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity, from its body, and launched it towards the motionless water type. Despite a type advantage, Empoleon didn't seem to be taking damage from the electric attack.

Ash immediately knew why. He noticed the Steel Wing was acting as a lightning rod, similar to how Winona, Gym Leader of Fortree City's Gym, did it with her Pelipper when it went up against Pikachu during that gym battle.

"Pikachu, stop your attack! It isn't doing anything to Empoleon!" Ash commanded as the mouse Pokémon heard and immediately stopped its attack.

The emperor Pokémon, standing in front of Pikachu, smirked at the electric type, as it lifted its wing up from the ground. The mouse Pokémon didn't flinch at all towards the water and steel type.

"Good work, Empoleon!" Trevor complimented his water Pokémon, as he's about to call out the next attack. Now, Hydro Cannon!"

"Use Quick Attack to dodge!" Ash countered.

Pikachu began running at a fast speed, towards the emperor Pokémon, while a white trail is forming behind it.

Empoleon opened its beak and a blue flash of light appeared, in front of it. Then, a glowing light blue ball of water appeared, in front of Empoleon's beak, where the flash was, and then, Empoleon fired it towards the incoming mouse Pokémon. But only for it to be dodged by Pikachu, as it jumped over the blue ball of water through using the speed gathered in the Quick Attack, before continuing charging towards the defenseless water Pokémon.

"Alright, now Volt Tackle!" Ash yelled.

With that command, Pikachu continued running towards Empoleon, with the increased speed from the Quick Attack. Suddenly, the mouse Pokémon's body became surrounded by golden electricity, and it tackled the penguin Pokémon, causing it to let out a cry of pain, as it falls over and landed on its back.

"Empoleon! You alright? Can you still battle?" Trevor asked his fallen Pokémon, as it struggled to get back up.

Trevor grunted with frustration, while his thoughts began to race, as he gazed towards Pikachu. Ash's Pikachu has gotten a lot stronger than before.

Trevor then grinned, before continuing his thought. It should be interesting to see how it'll do against Charizard. For now, let's see if we could weaken him a bit.

Trevor escaped from his thoughts, as he noticed Empoleon getting up, but is breathing heavily.

One more attack and Empoleon would go down. Well, better make this next attack count then! He thought as he planned out his next attack.

"Empoleon, use Rock Tomb!" Trevor shouted out.

Empoleon followed through the command, as its body became outlined in white energy. As it raises its head, multiple gray rocks, outlined in white energy, then form around its head in the shape of a ring. The glow, around the emperor Pokémon, then fades, causing the rocks to fall down upon the mouse Pokémon, who calmly stood there.

Big mistake there, Trevor. Ash thought as he knew how to counter their Rock Tomb. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail to climb that Rock Tomb!"

"What?!" Trevor said as he was shocked by Ash's move.

He then witnessed Pikachu using its tail, as it glows white, to jump on and avoid being hit by the falling rock. This caused Trevor to suddenly remember that this countermove was the same one that Ash used in his Gym Battle against Grant, during his Kalos Journey. Empoleon was too stunned to notice Pikachu, up in the air, as Ash called out its next attack.

"Now, Pikachu! Thunder!"

Suddenly, from the sky, came a large bolt of thunder that struck down and hit the Sinnoh Pokémon. Empoleon cried out in pain, as the image of the emperor Pokémon vanished in the yellow lightning.

When the attack finally died down, the penguin Pokémon could be seen smoldering. Empoleon gave a groan, as it fell to its knees, and then, to its side. When it hit the ground, it was obvious that it wasn't getting up.

Trevor stood there, while looking at his knocked out Pokémon, shunned, yet amazed by the display of power within that Thunder attack.

"That power...I've never seen anything like it before." He stated, as he gazed towards the mouse Pokémon, who fired that electric attack that knocked out his Pokémon. He grinned at it, while he was deep in his thoughts. I should have expected 'Rock Tomb Climb'. I won't make that mistake again!

---

The group heard a whistle and turned to see Drake, smiling in his seat, with his arms crossing his chest. He laughed as he turned back to Wallace. "I told you that Aaron would put on a show for us. Didn't I?"

Wallace nodded his head, before turning to the leader of the Orange Crew. "That you did Drake. It doesn't even surprise me anymore. After seeing what Aaron did to Paul yesterday, that little performance, just now, didn't seem so shocking. Still, it's bewildering to see how much power that Pikachu has stored up in its body. I've never seen such a Thunder attack, like that, before."

"What do you think could possibly make Aaron flip a switch and finally show off his Pokémon's true abilities?" Brock asked. "It was clear that just by looking at his Pikachu and noticed how strong it was. It has a healthy shine to its fur and its pouches let out small sparks, every now and then, but why show it now in the Semifinals?"

"Because he wants to put Sakaki in his place," Cynthia responded.

"What do you mean by that?" Bonnie interjected.

"Why don't you ask him? He seems to know all the answers," Cynthia said while motioning to the smirking Lance. Lance was again standing in the back, of the elite suite, with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

He shrugged his shoulders while maintaining his smile. "If you're asking my opinion, then I think he's making a statement to his upcoming opponent, for the next round. Sakaki had clearly tried to intimidate him with his earlier performance against Tobias, and now, I think we're witnessing Aaron's response."

"Oh. Is that all?" Cynthia said, while still glaring at the Kanto and Johto champion, before sighing and turning back to the battlefield below.

The rest of the group, including the champions, shivered at the tension between the two powerful trainers. It was clear that they were both becoming aggravated with each other.

---

Trevor returned his unconscious Empoleon back to its Pokéball, before thanking it for doing the best it could in that battle against Ash's Pikachu. He then reached down to grab his fifth Pokémon, as he gazed at the smirking masked trainer, across from him, who was also staring at him, both expressing determination in their eyes.

"So who's up next? I'm waiting." Ash responded as Trevor grinned at his question.

"Your Pikachu is really strong." Trevor began as he complimented the electric type's performance during its battle. "However, it won't stand a chance against my Sceptile!"

With that, Trevor threw his Pokéball into the air, and out came the forest Pokémon. Sceptile got itself into a battle stance, as it motions for Pikachu to battle against it. Pikachu seemed to be ready to battle until Ash called back the Mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu, return!"

As soon as the electric type heard its trainer's command, it quickly ran back to where the masked trainer and his Lucario were standing. Pikachu's trainer scratched behind the mouse Pokémon's ears, earning a coo from it.

"Master, who will you choose next?" Lucario questioned, while standing next to Ash, as he reached down to grab his next Pokémon.

Ash smiled, as he unclipped his next choice. "I think I know a friend of ours that would really like to battle, right now. Come on out, Charizard!"

Ash tosses his Pokéball, into the air, to reveal his own Charizard. Ash smiled his Charizard let out a roar. The flame Pokémon then circled, in the air, before finally landing on the ground, in front of his opponent. It eyed the forest Pokémon, in its battle stance, before letting out another deafening roar, to show that it's ready for battle.

Trevor smiled at the appearance of Ash's strongest fire type, right in front of him and his Sceptile. His thoughts began racing. Finally, I knew you would show up in our battle. This just keeps getting more interesting by the minute. Trevor snapped out of his thoughts, as he waits for Ash to make the first move.

"Charizard, Flamethrower! Go!" Ash commanded.

"Sceptile, counter that with Dragon Pulse!" Trevor responded to Ash's attack.

The flame Pokémon released a red-orange stream of fire, from its mouth, towards the forest Pokémon, who reacted to the attack by firing a multicolored dragon-shaped beam of energy, from its mouth, towards the incoming fire type attack. The two attacks collided, resulting in an explosion, that caused smoke to cover the battlefield.

As the smoke faded away, Ash called out the next attack.

"Use Dragon Claw!" Ash commanded.

Ghostly green claws extended from his natural ones, as Charizard took flight towards the Hoenn Pokémon.

"Quick! Dodge it!" Trevor shouted.

Charizard attacked the forest Pokémon, who barely managed to avoid the initial strike. Charizard then gave a smirk, as he heard his master's voice.

"Dragon Tail! Now!"

Even though Sceptile dodged the first attack, he had left himself wide open to an attack from his opponent's tail, which was right next to him. Charizard's tail glowed green as he twisted his body and connected with the grass type's mid-section.

Trevor looked on in frustration, as his grass type companion was sent careening across the stadium floor. The forest Pokémon winced, as he got up to his feet. However, the grass type looked ready to continue on fighting in this battle.

Trevor nodded, before giving a command to the forest Pokémon.

"Fight back with Leaf Blade!"

"Intersect it with Dragon Claw!" Ash countered.

When the forest Pokémon's glowing green arms made contact with Charizard's ghostly green claws, they were at a stalemate, until Charizard, with another smirk across its face, heard his trainer's voice.

"Use Flamethrower!"

As soon as the flame Pokémon heard that command, Charizard threw his head forward and let out the fire type move. The flames struck the defenseless grass type, who was right in front of the flame Pokémon, at close range, causing a scream to come out of its mouth, as it's being sent flying towards the wall. When it hit against the wall, a cloud of dust covered the section of the wall, where Sceptile crashed into.

"Sceptile! Sceptile, can you hear me!?" Trevor yelled out, hoping for a response from his grass type.

He then heard a groan, coming from the cloud of dust. When the dust settled down, it revealed a still conscious Sceptile, but he was breathing heavily. Unfortunately for the grass type, he didn't have enough time to catch his breath, as Ash calls out Charizard's next attack.

"Finish it off, with another Flamethrower!"

Trevor quickly responded, "Sceptile, use Dig to dodge that Flamethrower!"

The forest Pokémon began to dig into the earth below, avoiding making contact with the fire type attack.

"Charizard, follow Sceptile, down there, with Dig! Then, finish it off with Seismic Toss!" Trevor looked at Ash, with a stunned expression on his face. Charizard roared, before diving into the ground below.

The stadium fell into an eerie silence, as those, watching the battle, awaited what would come out of the ground next. A roar shook the stadium floor before it was busted open, revealing Charizard flying through the air, with Sceptile in his clutches. Charizard ascended further, into the air, before doing loops. After a few loops were made, he dived to the floor below.

Trevor watched, knowing that his Sceptile wouldn't survive this attack, as the two Pokémon smashed into the battlefield, causing dust and rocks to fly everywhere.

The dust and debris quickly settled to reveal Charizard, standing over his unconscious opponent. He roared and let loose flames, into the air, again, as it looked for another challenge.

"What a show-off," Lucario muttered to Ash.

"Yeah, it was a bit much this time," Ash commented, as he returned the Kanto native to his Pokéball. "But you have to admit, he did well out there."

"Yeah, whatever." Lucario shrugged, as his trainer chuckled at the Aura Pokémon's response.

---

"Poor Sceptile," Ashley stated.

She felt bad for the forest Pokémon getting defeated by a Pokémon that her father also had.

"Don't worry, Ashley," Angela comforted her daughter. "The battle isn't over yet. I'm sure that daddy can pull off a win from this."

Ashley's expression, on her face, changed from sad to happy, as she, along with her Pichu, Eevee, and Charmander, who were standing in front of the little's girl feet, continued to cheer on her father below.

Angela chuckled, before hearing a response from Brock, who sat on the opposite side of the elite suite.

"Maybe," Brock began his response while thinking his words carefully. "After all, Trevor's last two Pokémon are his strongest. While Aaron still hasn't used Lucario yet, his other two Pokémon hadn't taken much damage from their previous battles. So it's tough to say who's got the upper hand, right now."

"Come on," Dawn said while looking at Serena, who sat in front of the Sinnoh coordinator. "It's clear that Aaron is winning right now, by one! So no need to worry, Serena, your boyfriend will be alright."

Serena gave a nervous chuckle to Dawn's remark. She knows that Trevor is no pushover. She remembered Trevor's battle against Ritchie and how his Mewtwo had easily beaten the rest of Ritchie's Pokémon, without a single scratch on the Genetic Pokémon. The memory of that battle made her shivered. She shrugged the feeling off, as her eyes gazed upon the masked trainer, who had just send out his Pikachu once again. Her thoughts began racing, as she had a concerned look in her eyes.

Ash, please, be very careful out there.

---

"Good work, Sceptile. Take a good rest." Trevor stated to his fallen grass type, as a red light hit the forest Pokémon and returned Sceptile back to his Pokéball.

Trevor then turned to look at his masked opponent, showing him that he wasn't afraid of him, with a smirk across his face.

"I'm really impressed, Aaron!" Trevor began to say to Ash. "And that's something I don't normally say to trainers, who challenged me to a battle."

"Thanks, Trevor!" Ash replied back, with a smile on his face, which his mask hid from his opponent's eyes. "That really means something, coming from a someone like you."

"I would hope because Aaron," Trevor responded while reaching down and unclipping a Pokéball, before turning back to the mouse Pokémon, who was now standing in front of the masked trainer, as sparks were flying off from its cheeks. Trevor smiled, before continuing his statement, "I thought it would be a good idea for our starters to battle against each other, right now!"

Ash chuckled, before answering back, "Sounds fun! Then, let's do this!"

"Pi-ka!" The mouse Pokémon shouted out with determination.

"Alright, Charizard! I choose you!" Trevor yelled, as he threw the Pokéball into the air and out came his longtime and strongest partner, who was standing in front of his trainer when the light, from the Pokéball, faded away.

When it appeared, the flame Pokémon let out a deafening roar, before turning to look at his next opponent. Charizard eyed his opponent before he came to a realization. His eyes danced from the mouse Pokémon in front of him, and then, back to Trevor.

Trevor smiled and nodded at his loyal Pokémon. Charizard smiled and turned back to let loose another deafening roar, before baring teeth at the mouse Pokémon. Like Pikachu, he also wanted to have this rematch for a very long time, and now, it was apparent that their trainers were giving them just what they asked for.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt," Ash called out the first attack.

"Counter that with Flamethrower!" Trevor shouted.

Pikachu released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity, from its body, and launched it towards the flame Pokémon, who responded by throwing his head forward and letting out the fire type attack to counter the incoming electric attack. The two attacks collided, resulting in an explosion at the center of the battlefield. A cloud of smoke engulfed the field.

"Quick Attack! Go!" Ash yelled out.

All of a sudden, as the smoke began fading away, Pikachu came out of the smoke, while running at a fast speed, and then, hits the flame Pokémon, pushing the fire type back a bit.

"Strike back with Thunder Punch!" Trevor commanded.

"Counter it with Iron Tail!" Ash countered Trevor's move.

Pikachu's tail glows white, while one of Charizard's fists became surrounded in a ball of electricity. As the flame Pokémon's fist collided with the electric type's tail, the collision caused sparks to be flying off from the center of it.

"Thunder Punch again!" Trevor shouted out

"Pikachu, fight back with Iron Tail!" Ash commanded.

The two starters were combating with their fists and tail with repetition flowing within the blow, as neither couldn't land a blow to the other. Their exchange of moves really shows how they're both equally strong, in their own right. Neither Pokémon didn't want to lose to the other in this fight.

---

"This match-up is very interesting, indeed," Wallace commented, as Brock turned and looked at the Hoenn Champion, with a confused expression on his face.

"What do you mean, Wallace?" Brock asked.

"Those two Pokémon," Wallace began his statement while pointing to the two Pokémon, out on the battlefield below. "seem to be equally matched."

"How so?" Max questioned, as he comes into the discussion.

"That Pikachu was the first Pokémon that our masked friend started his journey with, while Charizard was Trevor's first."

"Well, yeah," May said, as she also joined in on the conversation. "but what's does that have to do with this battle?"

"Simple," Angela answered. "it's a battle between their very first Pokémon."

"Exactly, Angela," Wallace responded to the young woman's response. "Since those two had traveled and battled by their trainers' sides the longest, their power and strength would be nearly equal to each other. That's why this match-up is interesting right now, because of the significance in it, for both those starter Pokémon. They're expressing their well-established bond with their trainers, as they exchange attacks against each other. It's truly remarkable to watch and enjoy these two battling it out to the finish."

"I'll say," Serena spoke up. "However, Aaron's Pikachu has the type advantage here."

"True," Angela replied to the performer's statement. "but Trevor's Charizard is unlike any other Charizard out there. It won't be taken down, so easily."

Serena turned at the young woman, next to her, before looking back to watch the ongoing battle below, with tensed eyes, as she witnesses the two starters Pokémon's attacks collided once more.

---

As Charizard fist's made contact with Pikachu's tail again, Trevor's thoughts were running wild. Alright, it's time to show our true firepower to Ash and his Pikachu!

He gazed towards his flame Pokémon, who's trying to block the mouse Pokémon's attack with his fist, as the fire type turned his head around, a bit, to view his trainer. Charizard noticed Trevor nodding and he noticed back, before turning back to the electric type with a smirk on his face.

Ash saw it and realized that Pikachu was in grave danger by being so close to his opponent, at this moment.

"GET OUT OF THERE NOW, PIKACHU!" Ash screamed out Pikachu's next move, at the top of his lungs.

The mouse Pokémon heard his trainer's command, as he broke off his attack that collided with the fire type's first and attempted to flee from the Kanto native; however, it was too late. Trevor started to call out Charizard's next attack.

"BLAST BURN! GO!"

All of a sudden, the flame Pokémon's body became engulfed in light blue flames. It then punched the ground, sending a wave of energy into the earth, which then moves underneath the still running Pikachu. The energy the suddenly bursts upwards in a giant explosion of red-orange flames, with the mouse Pokémon at the center of it, with no hopes of surviving that massive attack.

"PIKACHU!" Ash shouted out, as he watched, with fear and horror in his eyes, his loyal electric type gets toasted alive by the powerful fire type move.

The explosion sends Pikachu flying towards the wall, as a huge cloud of smoke covers the entire stadium. Both trainers were coughing and shielding their mouths and eyes from the smoke. While coughing, Ash tries to call out for his loyal Pokémon.

"Pikachu! Pikachu, can you hear me? Pikachu!"

As the smoke cleared away, the crowd gasped, in shock, at what they were seeing. The smoke revealed Pikachu, still conscious, yet struggling to remain awake. There's determination burning in his eyes and sparks flying off from his cheeks.

"Pika!" The electric type responded, as the expression, on his trainer's face, changed from horror to joy, at the sight of his loyal Pokémon, surviving that massive explosion.

"You're alright, buddy! I knew you would survive that blast!" Ash shouted out in delight, as the mouse Pokémon turned around and gave his trainer a thumbs up, before turning back to face his opponent.

"Impossible..." Trevor said, while in shock and awe towards Pikachu surviving Charizard's most powerful attack. "How could your Pikachu survive that?!"

"Well, Trevor," Ash responded back. "My Pikachu is unique! He can endure whatever attack you may throw our way!"

"Pi-ka!" The mouse Pokémon shouted, agreeing with his trainer's words.

"We'll just see about that!" Trevor replied as he's about to call out his next attack. "Charizard, use Flamethrower! End this!"

"Pikachu, dodge with Quick Attack!" Ash countered.

Pikachu ran at a fast speed, with a white trail of energy forming behind him, as the mouse Pokémon sidestepped the incoming fire attack while continuing charging towards the Flame Pokémon.

"Fly up, Charizard!" Trevor commanded his loyal partner, as the fire type flew up into the air, to avoid a speedy tackle from the electric type, who was now standing underneath the Flame Pokémon.

Gotcha! Ash thought, before giving Pikachu another command. "Now, Pikachu! Thunder! Go!"

Suddenly, from the sky, came a large bolt of thunder that hit the hovering flame Pokémon, causing a scream of pain to come out of the fire type's mouth, as it descended to the ground while breathing heavily. Standing in front of Charizard, there was the mouse Pokémon, who was also breathing heavily.

Both Pokémon were at the point of near exhaustion, as their trainers, after noticing this, gazed at their own loyal partners, while in deep thought.

Charizard's almost out of energy! We need to put everything we have into one final attack!

Pikachu's almost out of steam. I just hope that he could manage to survive long enough, for our next attack!

"I think it's time that we wrap this roundup!" Trevor shouted towards his opponent, who stood across from him, as his Charizard let out a roar, agreeing with his trainer.

"I think so too!" Ash answered back.

"Pi-ka!" The mouse Pokémon replied in agreement.

"Charizard, let's end this with Blast Burn!" Trevor commanded.

Perfect! Ash thought, as a smirk formed across his face, before giving Pikachu his next set of instructions.

"Pikachu, use Magnet Rise!"

The mouse Pokémon began to hover, as the ground beneath him began to burst upwards. This time, however, the electric type was able to avoid getting caught within the blast by hovering above the battlefield.

Trevor and his Charizard both gasped in shock and stared in disbelief at the mouse Pokémon hovering over them.

"Alright, now Volt Tackle full power!" Ash exclaimed.

Pikachu began running diagonally, while still hovering, towards the shunned flame Pokémon. Its body suddenly became surrounded by golden electricity, and tackled Charizard, right in the stomach, causing the flame Pokémon to cry out in pain. The attack sends the fire type flying across the field and crashing against the stadium wall while causing a cloud of dust to form around the area, where the Kanto starter crashed into.

When the dust faded away, it revealed an unconscious flame Pokémon. Pikachu had finally done it. He finally took down Trevor's loyal partner, who the mouse Pokémon had lost to before, in the past.

"You did it, buddy!"

Pikachu heard his trainer and ran towards him, before stopping him in front of him, so that he could receive his praises.

"You have defeated Trevor's Charizard. I'm so proud of you, buddy." Ash commented his loyal partner.

"Pi-Pikachu!" The mouse Pokémon chirped in delight and gave his trainer a thumb's up, before turning to the Aura Pokémon, who was standing next to Ash.

"Well done, Pikachu." Lucario congratulated his fellow colleague, before continuing to speak, in a serious tone. "However, this battle isn't over yet."

Both Pikachu and Lucario looked up and noticed Ash, as he gazed at Trevor, while the trainer returned his fallen partner back to its Pokéball, with cautious and tensed eyes. The masked trainer was in deep thought. Lucario's right. This battle isn't over yet. Although we're ahead now, Trevor's last Pokémon, Gregor, is no pushover. I need to be extra cautious from here on out.

Ash then looked down to his two loyal companions, before turning back to his opponent, across from him, while still deep in his thoughts.

This is it. If we lose here, then it's all over.