Ash was ready for this and he knew Greninja was as well. He could already feel their emotions syncing up. He could sense the excitement from everyone. This was going to be a heated battle between two extremely competitive and powerful Pokemon. The first five battles meant nothing to either Greninja or Sceptile. Winning or losing this was winning or losing the entire thing.

Ash looked at Sawyer. "Ready to get this going?"

"Sceptile, mega evolve!" Sawyer yelled in answer. There was a blinding, white light that enveloped Sceptile and Sawyer. Everyone covered their eyes, to shield from the brightness. Finally, Ash looked up and his jaw dropped, seeing Mega Sceptile for the first time. He was much larger and much more intimidating. His claws were accentuated with two razor sharp leaves on each side of his wrist. He also had a four-edged plumage of leaves covering his chest and shoulders. His tail, which was spiked on the end with a red tip and also red stripes circling it, also was accentuated with a bush of leaves. He also had a line of red down his back. Down the red stripe on his back, were multiple pairs of yellow, red and orange seeds.

Ash stared at Sawyer and his Pokemon in shock for a moment and then smiled. "Greninja, how about we show them how it's done." Greninja glared at Sceptile for a moment and then turned to Ash and nodded. He was enveloped in a sphere of water and glowed in a faint white light. The water sphere exploded and sprayed around him. He stood there in his own special form that so resembled Ash's appearance. His skin was a brighter blue, much like Ash's jacket. He had two outer black fins, much like Ash's hair, and a red middle fin, similar to Ash's hat. The four-edged fin on his back, that resembled a ninja star, glowed light blue on his back.

Clemont signalled for the battle to continue and Sawyer called out the first attack. "Sceptile, dragon pulse!"

"Double team!" Ash countered.

Sceptile launched the blast of energy that took the form of a dragon and it sped towards Greninja. The frog-ninja Pokemon was too fast, however, and quickly multiplied, making about thirty copies of himself that surrounded Sceptile.

"Leaf storm!" Sawyer ordered. Sceptile raised his tail and a tornado of leaves swirled around him and enveloped the copies of Greninja. Sceptile curled his tail and the storm of leaves lifted up above him and Ash could see it was empty.

"Great job, Greninja. Aerial ace!" Ash yelled. From what seemed like out of nowhere, Greninja leaped down from the air towards Sceptile, who turned in shock. Greninja was now covered in his water veil and he had two blades of white energy crossed out in front of him.

"Leaf blade!" Sawyer quickly yelled. Sceptile's arms quickly glowed in a green light and he held one up to counter Greninja's strike. The frog-ninja Pokemon swung down with one blade and it slammed against Sceptile's leaf blade. Their power was even and they struggled against each other for a moment before both strikes swung back. Then, at the same time, they swung forward again, with their other arms. Greninja's blade was a little faster and was barely blocked in time by Sceptile's leaf blade. Again, they struggled against each other, but neither could gain leverage and they were both blown back from each other.

"This is a great battle." Ash said happily.

Sawyer nodded. "But don't think you can win this time. With even power, the type advantage gives Sceptile the edge."

Ash shook his head. "Greninja doesn't care about that and neither do I." Greninja looked back at him and nodded confidently. Ash nodded back and then Greninja turned back to face Sceptile. Suddenly, a feeling of pure desire to win filled Ash. It filled him with determination and new energy. He thrust out his arm and Greninja did the same, his water veil growing around him and vibrating rapidly. "Use cut!" Ash yelled and he heard Greninja yell at the same moment.

Sawyer's eyes widened in fear, as if seeing something completely unexpected. He quickly recovered though and ordered his attack. "Leaf blade!" He yelled.

Something had clearly come over Greninja, though and he was on Sceptile with incredible speed. He pulled back his arm and whipped it up, unleashing his blade of energy for his cut attack. However, this time it wasn't in a white light, but in a purple light. He swung it forward and easily hit aside Sceptile's leaf blade. Ash didn't need to order a second strike, but instead swung his own arm up, as if doing it himself. Greninja's movements completely mirrored Ash's and his blade of purple energy swung up and slammed into Sceptile's jaw and launched him up into the air. "Aerial ace!" Ash yelled. Greninja didn't hesitate, already knowing what he had to do. He was above Sceptile in an instant, almost as if he'd been waiting for him there. He then launched down and swung his purple energy sword downwards and struck Sceptile in the chest.

Sceptile slammed into the ground and a massive cloud of dust covered the battlefield. Wind whipped the faces of Ash, Sawyer and everyone watching. Greninja quickly leaped over to stand in front of Ash and waited for the dust to settle. Finally, it did settle and Sceptile was revealed to be on his feet, facing Greninja. He was clearly struggling, but obviously had no intention to give up.

"Giga impact!" Sawyer called out.

Ash didn't call his order out loud, but instead willed Greninja to use double team. As Sceptile braced himself and than launched forward with incredible speed, Ash waited till the last possible moment and then had Greninja multiply. Sceptile blasted through one of the copies and then stood still, panting and glancing around for Greninja. The copies disappeared and then Ash again ordered a mental attack. Greninja again seemed to appear out of nowhere and launched at Sceptile from behind with his purple blade of energy in his hand. Sceptile turned and Sawyer ordered him to counter with a leaf blade, but using giga impact had tired him out and he still hadn't recharged so was moving too slow. Greninja tossed his purple blade in the air above Sceptile and then leaped up and grabbed it. Then, he swung it down and smashed it, shattering the blade, onto Sceptile's head. Sceptile slumped to the ground, but Ash could see his eyes still open and glaring at Greninja with determination.

"Ok, Sceptile, now's our chance. Dragon pulse, quick." Greninja was still landing from his last attack and had no opportunity to dodge. Sceptile opened his mouth and blasted the blue energy from close range and it struck Greninja hard. The frog-ninja went flying away and landed hard on the ground in front of the river.

XXXXX

Serena couldn't believe the power of these two Pokemon. She knew Greninja was strong, but for some reason he seemed to be at a whole other level today. If he'd fought like this against Alain's Charizard, Serena knew he wouldn't have lost as quickly as he did. Perhaps more surprising was Sceptile's power. She supposed that maybe his other Pokemon were so easily defeated, because he'd focused so much on Sceptile.

When Greninja was thrown towards the river by the dragon pulse, Serena heard Delphox whimper next to her. She turned to her Pokemon and saw her staring with wide, nervous eyes. "Don't worry, Delphox, Greninja can handle this." Delphox nodded and Serena turned her attention back to the battle.

Greninja was now getting to his feet. The water around him was swirling around even more wildly, as if in a tornado. Serena could see his eyes were glowing red. She glanced at Ash. His eyes might not have been glowing, but the way he looked, she could tell his connection with Greninja was at a whole new level.

Greninja suddenly started running towards Sceptile with incredible speed, a watery ninja star in one hand, and a blade of purple energy in the other hand. He threw out the water shuriken and it whipped forward. Sawyer ordered Sceptile to deflect it with leaf blade, but suddenly Greninja was following the water shuriken closely, running right behind it. He lashed out with his purple sword and the watery ninja star doubled in speed. Sceptile caught in with his leaf blade, but the momentum of the attack still knocked him back. Then, Greninja leaped up in the air and swung down with his blade of purple energy.

"Quick, leaf storm!" Sawyer yelled out in panic. Sceptile's tail lifted up with unexpected speed and the storm of leaves quickly surrounded Greninja. Sceptile started spinning his tail and the wind picked up in the leaf storm and Greninja started spinning rapidly. Finally, Sceptile swung his tail and Greninja was tossed away and he landed with a massive splash in the river.

Serena looked over to Ash and saw him wincing in pain. She immediately started panicking, thinking that what happened at her showcase was going to happen again. Then, Greninja jumped out of the river and glared at Sceptile. He was panting, as was Sceptile, and it was clear that both Pokemon had expelled a tremendous amount of energy so far. Serena glanced again at Ash and to her surprise, saw him looking at her. He smiled and then looked back at the battle. She looked over to Greninja, and saw him look at Delphox, before he also turned back to the battle.

"Del-delphox." Delphox said, looking at Serena.

Serena understood. It wasn't as easy for Serena to understand Pokemon as it was for Ash, but her connection with Delphox was strong enough that she could understand. "You're right." She nodded. "Just like at the hospital."

Mairin looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Serena kept her eyes on the battlefield. Greninja and Sceptile seemed to be taking a break, taking the moment to just glare at each other. "When Ash got hurt during the battle at my showcase, he and Greninja...I don't really know how to explain it."

Clemont turned around. "Well, I think that when they do this mega evolution, they need something to kind of keep them from losing themselves. Their love for you and Delphox seems to be able to keep them focused."

Serena blushed while Bonnie and Mairin giggled. She turned her attention back to the battle and noticed that Greninja and Sceptile seemed to be getting ready to fight again. Sawyer seemed to think so too, because he decided to order an attack. "Sceptile, use leaf blade!"

"Night slash!" Ash yelled, apparently now deciding on voicing his orders. Serena realized that Greninja's new purple sword must be night slash instead of cut.

Sceptile charged forward, his arm glowing in a bright, green light, while Greninja leaped up, pulling out his purple sword. When Sceptile got closer to Greninja, he jumped up and swung his leaf blade towards the frog-ninja Pokemon. Greninja countered by swinging down his purple blade of energy. The attacks crashed together and again, neither side was able to overpower the other. However, after another moment of struggling against each other, Sceptile swung his tail forward and struck Greninja in the side. Greninja lost control in his struggle with Sceptile's leaf blade and the latter was able to bring up his glowing green arm and slam it into Greninja's chest, knocking him back. Then, the reptilian grass type swung his arm forward again and slammed Greninja to the ground.

Serena tensed, seeing Greninja go down like that, not knowing if he'd be able to get up from that. It had looked like a perfect strike. She could hear Delphox holding her breath next to her. Sylveon and Pancham also seemed pretty worried.

"What's up with Ash?" Mairin asked.

Serena looked at her in confusion and the younger girl pointed to Ash. When Serena looked at him, her eyes widened. He was on his knees and was holding his chest. She glanced at Greninja and saw him in the same position. But, that wasn't the strangest part. Ash looked like he was glowing. There was a faint blue light around him. It almost seemed like the water veil that was around Greninja, but almost as if it was a projected image of it. She realized that it seemed to be moving in the same exact way that Greninja's was.

Ash and Greninja both got to their feet. "Water shuriken!" Ash ordered. Greninja moved so quickly, no one seemed to be able to register it. One second, he was standing up from the leaf blade attack and the next, he was behind Sceptile and throwing his watery ninja stars he threw three quick ones and each slammed into Sceptile with incredible force. The reptilian grass type fell to his knees from the first one, was knocked down further by the second and then hit with a third one. He didn't move.

Clemont stepped forward, slowly raising his arm. "Sceptile is unable-"

He was interrupted by Sceptile jumping up and spinning around. Without Sawyer's order he swung around and struck Greninja with a leaf blade attack. Serena wondered for a moment if Sawyer was doing the mental orders like Ash, but he seemed just as surprised as everyone else. Then, she looked at Sceptile and noticed a familiar sight. His eyes were wild. They reminded her exactly of Korrina's Lucario when it had mega evolved the first few times.

"Sceptile?" Sawyer called out, sounding nervous.

Sceptile's head whipped towards Sawyer. He glared at his trainer with his wild eyes. There was no recognition there. All he saw was someone interrupting his battle. Then, he suddenly charged at Sawyer, his arms glowing green in preparation for a leaf blade strike.

"Greninja, stop him. Surround him with double team!" Ash yelled.

Grenina sped towards Sceptile and started multiplying rapidly and surrounded Sceptile. Sceptile stopped immediately. He glared around with his crazed eyes, attempting to pinpoint his enemy. All of a sudden, his eyes locked onto something and he jumped forward and struck out, landing a leaf blade on what turned out to be the real Greninja. The frog-ninja Pokemon went flying backwards.

Serena heard Ash gasp in pain. She turned to look at him and saw him holding his chest with wide eyes. Greninja landed hard in front of him and also held his chest in pain. Both struggled to their feet. Greninja glared at Sceptile, who now had attention on him again, deciding to ignore a now panicked Sawyer.

Greninja then shouted at the sky and the water around him exploded outwards, showering the field around him. But Serena noticed Ash was still down, holding his chest. Greninja ran forward, no longer in his water veil. He pulled out his purple sword of energy and swung it out at Sceptile, who countered with leaf blade. The two continued to exchange blows. Sometimes their strikes clashed against each other, sometimes they hit their mark. Regardless, it was fierce battling, and neither Pokemon seemed to care about their trainers at the moment.

Serena watched Greninja closely and realized he too had the wild look in his eyes. She looked at Ash who was trying to stand, now watching Sceptile and Greninja exchange blow after blow with each other. He looked like he could barely stand.

"Ash!" Serena ran towards him. She got there just in time. He started to fall, but she was just able to grab him and hold him up before he did. "Is it happening again?" She asked.

He shook his head. "It's different from last time." He watched the fight ahead of them. "I can feel his anger. He's out of control."

"Delphox!" Serena looked over and saw Delphox had run forward and was yelling at Greninja, panic in her eyes. Immediately, Sceptile turned his head and started moving towards her.

Suddenly Greninja swiped down with his sword and struck Sceptile along the chest and launched him back hard. The reptilian grass type went flying back and slammed into a tree. He slid down and then struggled to his feet and started running back towards Greninja. However, Greninja suddenly stumbled. He looked back to where Serena and Ash were. Serena could see his eyes were no longer wild and crazy. Then, he looked towards Delphox and motioned for her to move away, but she refused. She ran next to Greninja and tried to hold him up. He was clearly losing his energy. Serena realized it must be because Ash was losing energy.

Sceptile held up both his arms and they glowed in a green light. Serena's eyes widened, seeing that Greninja wouldn't be able to counter and knowing that Delphox definitely wasn't strong enough. She saw the frog-ninja Pokemon and her fox-like Pokemon brace themselves, but then something ran out in front of them and slammed his fists to the ground, causing blue stones to pile up in front of him.

"Pancham!" She screamed. It wasn't a scream of relief, but of fear. She knew her little panda-Pokemon wouldn't be able to handle Sceptile. Sure enough, Sceptile smashed through the stones like they were nothing. He blasted through the last one, looked at Pancham, and then slammed his leaf blade into the little Pokemon. Pancham went flying back and landed hard against a tree and didn't move. Clemont, Bonnie and Mairin all ran over to him to check on him.

Sceptile stood for a moment and glared at Greninja and Delphox. Greninja was trying his best, but couldn't seem to get the energy to stand. He glanced back at Ash and almost seemed to glare at his trainer.

Just when it looked like Sceptile was about to attack, he was hit by a gust of pink wind. Quickly following that, was a barrage of golden stars. They didn't do much damage, but they caused Sceptile to stagger back. He glared at the one attacking him and Serena followed the gaze and saw Sylveon, looking furious. Clearly she was angry with what had happened to Pancham.

"Sceptile!" Sceptile shouted, glaring at Sylveon. He ran at the fairy Pokemon and swung down with his leaf blade attack.

"Syl!" Sylveon shouted back, just barely managing to duck under Sceptile's legs and dodge his strike. She then unleashed another barrage of stars with a swift attack and caused Sceptile to stagger forward after missing his attack.

"Sylveon, don't." Serena shouted. "Come back!" She pleaded.

Serena's eyes widened as Sceptile launched forward. He swung down towards Sylveon. Serena knew that if it hit, Sylveon would be badly hurt, but her fairy Pokemon was quick. She put up a blue barrier that caught the attack. Sceptile's eyes flashed angrily and he struggled against the shield in front of him.

"It's not enough." Ash said weakly. "It's breaking."

Serena could see he was right. She could see cracks forming in the blue shield. And finally, it did break and the blue shield exploded around Sylveon. She stood, panting and looking at Sceptile in fear, knowing that he last hope of defending herself and her friends was gone.

"Pikachu!" Serena's eyes widened, not having noticed Pikachu had disappeared from her and Ash's side. The electric mouse slammed into Sceptile with his quick attack. Not many Pokemon could stand up to a mega evolved one when they themselves weren't mega evolved, but Pikachu showed it wasn't an obstacle for him. His strike was perfect and Sceptile fell back. Pikachu struck again, hitting Sceptile with a perfect iron tail and knocking him back further. Pikachu landed perfectly in front of Sylveon and stood ready in his battle position.

Sceptile looked furious and faced Pikachu with his wild eyes somehow looking even more crazed. He lunged forward and swung out his tail. Serena saw Pikachu look back at Sylveon quickly and then he jumped back and tackled her away. Serena was a little angry seeing that, but then realized why he'd done it immediately after. Pikachu was plucked off the ground and was suddenly trapped in the wild storm of leaves that Sceptile was creating from his tail. Serena could see his little body flailing around in the tornado-like attack of leaves. Sceptile then slammed his tail to the ground. The leaves disappeared and Pikachu was revealed to be lying, motionless on the ground.

Sceptile started running towards Pikachu, preparing a leaf blade attack, but then he was surrounded. Sylveon had used double team and her doubles were now around Sceptile. Serena could see the reptilian grass type focusing and pinpointing where the real one was, just as he'd done with Greninja before. However, before he could do so, he was slammed into by Pikachu once again. The yellow mouse had managed to get up. Sceptile fell back and then Sylveon was quick to fire her attack. She launched her fairy wind and hit struck Sceptile who was already off balance from Pikachu and it rolled him over and caused him to slam hard into the ground.

Pikachu and Sylveon then stood side by side and unleashed their final attack. Electricity and pink wind swirled around each other and rocketed towards Sceptile. The reptilian grass type, who had been struggling to his feet, could only watch as the attack approached him and then hit him. He was knocked back and he slammed into a tree and didn't move again, reverting back to his original form.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, waiting to see if Sceptile would stand again, but ultimately he remained still. Sawyer hesitantly approached his Pokemon and then knelt down next to it. Sceptile moved and Serena felt Ash tense, but she saw Sceptile's eyes and realized he was back to normal. She couldn't hear, but she saw Sawyer saying something to Sceptile and then he recalled it to its pokeball.

Sawyer walked over to Ash and looked apologetically at him. "I'm sorry, Ash. I didn't know that would happen. I didn't know mega evolution could cause a Pokemon to do that."

Ash smiled back, obviously not wanting to hurt Sawyer's feelings. "It's ok, Sawyer. You just need to train more. Korrina, the Shalour City gym leader, had the same thing happen to her Lucario. You'll figure it out."

Sawyer nodded. "And then we'll battle again."

Ash didn't answer, which surprised Serena. Ash always liked to plan a future battle with his opponents. Something seemed to be worrying him though. She saw him glancing at Greninja. Serena looked at Greninja as well and what she saw made her stomach lurch. Greninja looked furious. He looked furious...with Ash.