"Hawlucha, you did it!" Ash yelled, jumping onto the field and sliding on the ice over to his proud looking Pokemon.

"Lucha!" Hawlucha answered happily, turning around, looking more delighted than ever. He jumped up and gave Ash a high five with his clawed hand.

Ash looked over to where Absol was lying, now being comforted by Astrid, who was stroking her Pokemon's white fur. She seemed to be murmuring some words of comfort and then she recalled Absol to his pokeball and she stood up and looked at Ash. She smiled and then walked over. "Congratulations, Ash. That was a great battle." She gave Hawlucha a little nod as well. "You've definitely improved, Hawlucha. You were so fast and strong."

"Haw-hawlucha!" Hawlucha said, which Ash assumed was some kind of thanks.

"You and your Pokemon were all really great as well, Astrid," Ash pointed out, thinking on how tough a battle it actually was, despite him sweeping the last half. He held out his hand. "We'll battle again, really soon, ok?"

Astrid nodded and shook his hand. "Of course. We each have a win. It'll be a tie breaker next time." She didn't sound too serious about that and was clearly joking, but Ash liked the sound of it, actually. He might have taken the more important victory, but he did see how one could see that they'd need a tie breaker one day.

"Hawlucha will win again next time," Ash assured Astrid. "So will my other Pokemon."

Before Astrid could answer, a familiar weight landed on Ash's shoulder, and he looked up to see Pikachu smiling back at him. Then, arms wrapped around his back and he noticed Serena hugging him tightly. Bonnie and Clemont were also there. The others seemed to be heading out, obviously not wanting to crowd the field.

"Congratulations!" Serena squeaked happily, quickly kissing Ash, which surprised him, since hundreds of people were watching. Serena seemed to realize that a moment later, as she blushed and glanced around, appearing a little embarrassed. She ended her hug and opted for holding Ash's hand instead. "Um...you were good as well, Astrid. That was a great battle."

"Thanks, Serena," Astrid said, ignoring Serena's embarrassment. "You know, I think I lost, because Ash is far more motivated than me. He's really on a mission, here."

Ash and Serena exchanged a knowing smile. They both knew what Astrid meant. "One third of the way there," Ash told his girlfriend. "Four more battles."

"They only get harder from here, Ash," Astrid warned, causing Ash to look at her again. "Obviously you know that, but just make sure to keep sharp. The final sixteen are going to be really tough."

"I'm ready for anything," Ash said, pumping his fist with his free hand. "Right Pikachu and Hawlucha?"

"Lucha!" Hawlucha yelled, posing proudly.

"Pika!" Pikachu said with his own fist pump.

Suddenly the announcer's voice rang out through the arena, and everyone looked up, wondering what was going on. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's just quickly congratulate Ash and Astrid on a terrific battle. Both of them fought their hardest and proved just how tough this league is, even for the most talented trainers and their powerful Pokemon." The crowd cheered in agreement, chanting out both Ash's and Astrid's names. When they settled down, the announcer continued. "With this battle over, all battles for the second round have now concluded and the final sixteen are now set to move on and do battle in our grand stadium up top."

This brought a huge cheer and Ash looked at Serena. "I hope Alain, Sawyer, Tierno and Calem made it. There's not many left now, are there?"

"I don't think we need to worry about Alain, Sawyer and Calem," Serena said with a light laugh. "Tierno might have had a bit of trouble, though."

Ash didn't know if Serena was saying that out of withheld irritation about Tierno's past flirting, or if she actually thought that. Personally, he thought Tierno's dance routine was going to make it hard on many of the more serious opponents here. It could really throw people off their game. Ash would know, considering the trouble he'd had in their first battle. It hadn't been a regular fight, but facing that dancing for the first time was tough.

Before Ash could say anything else about it, though, the announcer continued. "Now, in order to allow for the most entertaining battles in the next round, we are giving our sixteen remaining trainers a rest day, tomorrow. The round of sixteen will begin the next day." There was some disappointed muttering from the crowd, but Ash understood the reasoning, despite his own urge to fight his next battle that very moment. Besides, he could spend his off day with Serena, so that was fine with him.

"We understand your disappointment," the announcer called out to the crowd, causing them to stop their murmuring. "Please understand, though, that the competing trainers and their Pokemon need to be at their very best in these next few rounds. The battles will be much more entertaining if everyone is rested both physically and mentally." There was some murmuring of agreement and then the crowd went silent again. "Before we say farewell for the time being, however, we will announce the next round's matchups right now. Now, if you'll please direct your attention to the screen, where we will join President Goodshow, Champion Diantha and a special third guest, who will be joining in on commentary for the remainder of the tournament."

Ash looked at the screen and realized they were going to a live broadcast, similar to the one they'd had last night when they'd announced the matchups. There were three people this time, though. Goodshow and Diantha were there, of course, but the third was also familiar. "Professor Sycamore's doing commentary! Awesome!" Ash said happily.

The three of them were discussing some of the earlier matches of the day, and Ash strained his ears to see if he could catch anything about his friends' matches. Goodshow finally mentioned one. "Well, that Calem certainly had a good day, today. His Fearow, Blastoise and Chesnaught were unstoppable as he swept his match. A dominant performance, for sure."

Diantha nodded in agreement. "Yes, Calem was quite good, but I'd like to point out Alain's dominant performance as well. His duo of Charizard and Metagross once again gave him a decisive victory. And this time, he didn't have feisty young Trevor to take out his Metagross and he swept his match as well."

"Well, as you two know, I'm quite familiar with both of those trainers," Professor Sycamore said, smiling proudly, obviously pleased with the performances of Calem and Alain. "However, I'd like to point out that Tierno had quite a good day, today. Quite an underestimated trainer going into the tournament, but he's managed to shock his first two opponents with that unique battle style of his."

"Very true, Professor," Diantha agrees with a nod. "Tierno clearly knows how to make use of a unique style of training to throw his opponents off. A good way to deal with a strength disadvantage. Although perhaps I shouldn't say he's always at a strength disadvantage, as his Blastoise put in a dominant performance today, in defeating four of his opponent's Pokemon."

Goodshow nodded, his eyes staring up ad though he was remembering the battle. Then, he looked at Diantha again. "And how about young Sawyer. His Sceptile and Salamence put on quite the show as well."

"Absolutely," Diantha agreed. "Sceptile's speed and Salamence's brute strength make Sawyer a tough opponent, as he has a way to counter his opponents' strategies with just those two." She paused and them gave a small laugh. "He also has some other impressive Pokemon, as demonstrated in the first round. He might be able to upset one of the favourites of the tournament."

"Speaking of favourites," Goodshow started, smiling at the camera, giving Ash the odd feeling the Pokemon League President was looking at him, "how about Ash's victory which occurred only a few minutes ago?"

Sycamore answered this one. "Well, Ash has been unlucky, although I can guarantee he doesn't see it that way, to have been matched up against two of the strongest trainers to start the tournament." He paused, chuckling a little. "He's definitely used some unique strategies so far and that battle between Hawlucha and Absol showed just how quick Ash can think under pressure."

"I completely agree, Professor," Diantha said, nodding. "That Psycho Cut Climb, as Ash called it, was quite the unique strategy. I'd say it was the reason Hawlucha was able to pull out the win. It just shows that a good trainer is crucial to the performance of a powerful Pokemon."

"Mm, very much so," Goodshow agreed, stroking his beard. He mentioned a couple of other trainers and the trio discussed their battles as well. Finally, the President seemed to have arrived at the last trainer for discussion. "Lastly, I think we should discuss how that young lady, Mauve has competed. I believe she's the only trainer to have not lost a single battle yet, correct?"

Ash narrowed his eyes at the mention of Malva's alter ego. He could see Diantha's eye twitch, but she managed to keep herself composed. "Yes, that's correct. She's been quite impressive. Her fire types have been able to even defeat many water types. Her Talonflame controls the air, her Torkoal is good for defence, her Chandelure is quite intelligent and her Pyroar is well rounded. Her other two Pokemon-"

"I think that's enough information, Champion," Goodshow interrupted, looking embarrassed about doing so. "We don't need to give away the abilities of all of Mauve's Pokemon." Diantha nodded and gave a quick look to the camera. Ash realized that she'd been directing all that to him. He didn't have time to think about that, though, because Goodshow was talking again. "Well, now that we've discussed the events of today and gone into detail on some of the trainers, why don't we see the matchups for the next round?"

The screen then went to the assortment of trainer pictures. There were now only four rows of four. Suddenly, the pictures flipped, and then the cards began to rapidly shuffle. Ash thought he'd be able to follow his card this time, but again wasn't able to. Finally, the cards stopped moving and the pictures were revealed, white lines connecting those who would be battling each other. Ash immediately noticed Tierno's and Sawyer's pictures were lined up.

"Wow, so Sawyer versus Tierno," Ash said, forgetting to even look for his own matchup. "That'll be an interesting battle."

There was only silence for an answer Ash looked at his friends in confusion. Astrid didn't look bothered, but Serena, Bonnie and Clemont all looked like they were switching between different emotions all at the same time. They looked scared, then angry and then determined. Pikachu was even pretty tense on Ash's shoulder.

"What's up?" Ash asked, looking at a pale Serena. She just pointed to the screen. Ash looked, but the image of the matchups cut away in that moment and the three commentators were on screen again.

"Wow, it looks like quite the battle line up, doesn't it?" Goodshow asked his companions.

Diantha nodded, looking quite excited, actually. "Yes, it definitely does. I'm particularly excited about the first match." She looked at the camera, and this time, Ash knew he was the focus of her look and words, even if she couldn't see him. "Ash versus Mauve is going to be quite the battle to see."

Ash smiled instantly, ignoring the stares from his friends. He wanted this. He couldn't be happier about his next matchup.

"Malva," he whispered, narrowing his eyes. "Bring it on."

XXXXX

The next morning, Serena woke up and instinctively looked around the room to see if her friends were there. She noticed Bonnie and Clemont were sleeping and wasn't surprised, seeing that Ash was gone. He'd obviously decided to let everyone rest while he went to do some extra training. Once he'd found out he was going up against Malva, his motivation seemed to skyrocket.

Serena sat up, yawned and stretched and decided to get up. She decided she'd go and get something for breakfast and then join Ash at the training grounds. Whether it was a day off or not, he was going to need it for training. That was obvious enough to Serena.

In a few minutes, Serena had gotten dressed and was out the door and heading to the Pokemon centre to go and eat. On the way there, she heard a voice calling her name and noticed Dawn running up to her.

"Oh hi, Dawn," Serena greeted her with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," Dawn answered, slowing down to walk with Serena. "So you heading over to help Ash with training?"

"Well I thought I'd eat first," Serena said. "Do you want to join me?"

"Sure," Dawn nodded and gave an odd little smile. "You can tell me about your date the other night."

Serena narrowed her eyes, but couldn't keep herself from smiling a little. "Right," she muttered. "Yeah I guess I could tell you a little about it."

"It's only fair," Dawn said, tilting her chin up proudly.

"Why?" Serena asked, narrowing her eyes once more, in confusion.

"Uh...nothing," Dawn said quickly. "Just...girl talk right? That's what we're supposed to do."

"Oh...well I guess so," Serena agreed quietly. She'd really only ever had girl talk with Bonnie and Shauna. It was weird with Dawn, though, considering they didn't know each other very well.

Dawn seemed to read her thoughts. "Don't worry about it, Serena. You and I should already be best friends. We're a lot alike actually. Coordinators and performers do a lot of the same things. We probably have a lot of stories we could tell each other and we could probably help each other out as well. I bet May could help as well."

Serena smiled at that suggestion. Dawn was right. From what Ash had said, contests were definitely quite similar to performances. She and Dawn probably could be a big help to each other. And not just that. Dawn seemed to be a good friend to Ash. She'd been a big help to him during the whole Team Flare situation and that made her a friend to Serena right away. "Sounds good, Dawn."

Dawn clapped her hands happily at that and immediately launched into an explanation about contests. The two of them continued the conversation all the way to the Pokemon centre. Serena was quite interested in all the little details. It sounded kind of like something in between performing and regular battling. The appeals round was like the freestyle performances and then there was a battle round, which sounded like it could get pretty heated.

"Ash even tried contests a couple times," Dawn mentioned, as the two girls sat down with their food. "He wasn't too bad, either. Although in the battles part, he seemed to forget it wasn't a gym battle."

Serena laughed at that, imagining an audience expecting fancy and beautiful moves, but getting a more rugged battle style instead. However, to Serena, there was more to Ash's battles than that. "I think Ash's battles are beautiful in their own way," she told Dawn.

Dawn immediately nodded in agreement. "I totally agree. Like that Psycho Cut Climb Hawlucha used yesterday. I really want to teach my Pokemon to do that. Buneary could probably do it really well."

Serena hadn't even thought of that. Some of the moves Ash used could probably help her out as well. She'd done it with Pidgeot at the Masterclass, but there was a lot more she could learn. Well, Palermo had told her to learn from Ash. Being confident and learning leadership wasn't the only thing she had to learn.

After a few more minutes, the two girls finally finished eating, and then headed out of the Pokemon centre. A lot more people were out now. As disappointed as many were yesterday about the rest day today, they definitely seemed to be embracing it. Likely it was due to the amount of shopping and food that was available. A lot of people were buying fancy foods and various league paraphernalia. Serena smiled as she saw a group of kids buying Hawlucha action figures and mimicking the Psycho Cut Climb with them.

After another few minutes, Serena and Dawn finally reached the training fields and immediately noticed Ash. Serena wasn't surprised to see he had Houndoom with him. The fire dog was obviously going to be fully motivated to beat his former trainer. He looked it, too. He was in the middle of firing off a powerful Dark Pulse, which Pikachu was barely keeping at bay with his Thunderbolt. Serena had a chill go down her spine seeing the mock battle, thinking of the first time Pikachu and Houndoom had gone head to head.

When Ash noticed Serena and Dawn, he quickly had Pikachu and Houndoom stop and waved the girls over. As they approached, Serena had a look at Ash's other Pokemon, which were presumably part of the team going against Malva. Houndoom and Pikachu, were obviously there. Along with them was a blue feathered bird Pokemon which Serena remembered was a Swellow. There was also the dark blue beetle like Pokemon with the large horn in the middle of his head, which Serena remembered Ash telling her was his Heracross. Next to Heracross, was a four legged, long necked Pokemon with leaves coming out of its body; Ash's Bayleaf. Finishing the group, was an orange weasel-like Pokemon with a yellow sac around his neck. He looked pretty serious and was folding his arms as he stood.

Dawn saved Serena from having to ask what the last Pokemon was called. "Awesome, you're using Buizel against Malva."

Ash nodded, looking proudly at his team. "Yep. I think I've got a good group here. Houndoom and Pikachu are more motivated than ever and the other four are some of the most battle hungry Pokemon I've got."

"I think all of your Pokemon are that way, Ash," Dawn pointed out, laughing.

"Uh...yeah I guess you're right," Ash agreed, chuckling and scratching the back of his head. "Well, whatever, this is my team. I've got a good feeling about them."

"I would've thought you'd use Greninja for sure," Serena said, although she knew that Ash had his own way of dealing with things like this and it was better to just let him do that.

"Greninja needs to be ready the rest of the way," Ash explained seriously. "Besides, Buizel can handle the water type load, right Buizel?"

"Bui-bui!" Buizel agreed, with a nod and a fist pump.

"Well, looks like an easy win for me tomorrow, if this is what I'm going up against. Weak and pathetic." The voice that had just said those words, brought an icy chill through Serena's veins. She'd never been so tempted to attack someone. She turned and glared at Malva, who was in her Mauve disguise, although now easily recognizable to those who knew her.

"You need to spy on Ash's Pokemon to win?" Serena asked, noticing the fury in her voice. "If anything is weak and pathetic, it's you."

"Go ahead and see what I have,"

Malva said, pulling out a couple of pokeballs and preparing to throw them in the air. She stopped, however, when Ash interrupted.

"Don't bother, Malva. I know a few of your Pokemon, but I don't need the others spoiled." He sounded so calm and confident, making Serena feel kind of dumb for her minor freakout. "And go ahead and study my Pokemon. You should get to know the team that's gonna beat you."

Malva laughed, almost sounding like a cackling witch. "If you think this group can beat me, you're sorely mistaken. I already know Houndoom's weak, because he lost to your pathetic Pikachu. And other than that, you've got two Pokemon with type disadvantages to my fire types, a weak little bird and a pathetic water weasel."

"I know. They're great, aren't they?" Ash said, laughing a little.

"Are you actually underestimating Ash? Again?" A voice said from behind Malva. Serena was shocked to see Calem there. She was relieved to see that the mark from where Ash had punched him didn't look too bad.

"Who are you?" Malva asked, turning to him. "Hold on...you look familiar."

"We've met," Calem said, rolling his eyes. "I stopped you from torching Ash while he was protecting Houndoom from further abuse from you."

"Yes...I remember now. The Chesnaught..." She glanced back at Ash, who Serena realized was quite stunned about Calem's arrival, and then looked back at Calem. "I suppose I'll have to punish you for that later on."

"Unfortunately you won't have the time," Calem said with a laugh. "I'm not planning on committing any crimes and joining you in jail. And besides, you're not making it any farther in this league. You'll beat her, won't you, Ash?"

"Absolutely," Ash answered quickly.

Malva glanced quickly back and forth between the two, again, and then started walking away. She did turn back just before she was too far away, though. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ketchum." Then she left.

There was a bit of an awkward silence after that, and then Calen stepped forward. "You're actually going through with this? You're risking your spot in the league by fighting an Elite Four member?"

"Wouldn't you?" Ash asked, smirking.

Calem laughed an nodded. "Yeah...I guess I would."

Ash then looked down, guilt apparent on his face. "Um...sorry about-"

"Don't worry about it," Calem quickly interrupted. "It was a crazy start to the league and it all seemed focused on you. I might've snapped, too."

"What's this about?" Dawn suddenly whispered to Serena.

"I'll tell you later," Serena muttered quietly.

Calem glanced over at Ash's Pokemon and then looked at Ash again. "I'm surprised you're not going with the group you battled me with. I thought you said those were your best."

"I'm going with a gut feeling," Ash said, smiling over at his Pokemon. "I'll have a chance to use the others."

"Right..." Calem said quietly, seemingly lost in thought about something. "Well, I guess you should get back to it. I'll see you around." He gave Serena and Dawn a quick wave and then turned and left, going the opposite direction from where Malva had gone.

"Well that was awkward," Dawn said loudly, when nobody spoke for a few moments. "Come on, Ash, let's have a practice battle. Gimme a chance to battle Houndoom."

XXXXX

"Do you think you'll be alright tomorrow?" Serena asked, concern clear in her voice. "You know I believe in you, but I'm still worried. I don't want you to be too focused on revenge or anything."

Ash smiled and put his arm around Serena's waist. They were having another nighttime walk, and it was exactly what he needed to rest his mind before tomorrow's match. And for some reason, Serena's worrying for him made him more relaxed. It just showed how much she wanted him to win, and reinforced his own desire to win the league for her. "I'll be fine, as long as you're there."

Serena gave him a mini hug and laughed a little. "I'll always be there for you. You know that."

"Of course I do, but it's still nice to hear it out loud." Ash took a deep breath and thought about how much had changed since Serena's Masterclass. Those few days had set off a chain of events that were still connected to what was happening now. What had happened back then, ended up leading to one of the most dangerous battles Ash had ever been a part of, and that was saying something. And, he wouldn't change a thing about it, because it had involved him figuring out his feelings for Serena and her feelings towards him. It resulted in something he loved as much as, no even more than, battling.

"Remember our walk in Glorio City?" Serena asked. Apparently she'd been having similar thoughts.

"I'll never forget it," Ash said seriously.

"Did you know, then?" Serena asked quietly. "Did you know how you felt?"

Ash thought back to that night. It had definitely been weird for him. The entire day had been kind of weird. He'd been reunited with Pidgeot, flown all the way to Glorio City, saved Serena's life, watched the battle over him between her and Miette and...he'd felt feelings he 'd never felt before. It had been kind of frightening. "I don't think I knew exactly," he said honestly. "I think I felt...love, but I just didn't understand it. I definitely did some weird things after that walk, though."

"Yeah," Serena agreed, giggling a little. "Like being flustered about how I looked in my outfit for the fashion show."

"You can't blame me for that," Ash said quickly, feeling slightly embarrassed. "You looked...amazing. You always do."

Serena was quiet for a few moments after that and then spoke again, quite softly. "I knew it a long time ago."

"When?" Ash asked, almost a little too quickly. He really wanted to know, though, although he had a pretty good idea.

"Back at Professor Oak's camp," Serena said, not surprising Ash. "I know that seems crazy, because we were so young, but you were...I don't know how to say it exactly."

"Your knight in shining armour?" Ash joked.

"Well...kind of. I was pretty freaked out until you helped me." She sighed and pulled Ash closer to her. "Maybe I didn't quite understand, kind of like you at first, but it definitely started then. I guess seeing you saving Professor Sycamore's Garchomp was when I really figured it out. That's when I knew I had to find you."

"I'm really glad you did," Ash said seriously. "I love you, Serena."

"I love you too, Ash," she echoed. "Promise me one thing, though."

"Anything," Ash said quickly.

Serena stopped and turned to Ash and looked at him seriously. "Tomorrow, don't beat Malva for me. Don't think of it like that. Beat her for you and your Pokemon, especially Houndoom. This isn't just some normal league battle."

Ash smiled his usual confident smile. "Deal," he said, before leaning in and kissing his girlfriend.

XXXXX

Serena had to hold her hands up to her ears due to the insanely loud crowd that had completely packed the grand stadium. The smaller arenas underground had been big, but this one was at another level, and the crowd seemed to agree. It just oozed excitement.

Bonnie seemed to have no issue with the loud crowd, of course. She was staring around with wide eyes and giggling in a kind of psychotic way. "This is so fun!" she squeaked. "Right you three?" she peaked into her bag and Dedenne and the Zygarde duo all looked at her like the crazy child she was.

Serena took another look at the field down below. It was still an empty pit, but the platforms were out, with walkways behind them, in preparation for the arrival of Ash and Malva. The large video screen up top also had their pictures, Malva's in her Mauve disguise, up, with the pokeball symbols next to them and the empty slot for the picture of the Pokemon which would be in use.

Clemont suddenly pointed to something. "Look! The referee is going out." Serena's eyes locked in on the shape of the man holding two flags, who was making his way to the side, standing in front of a railing before the empty pit.

Then, the announcer's voice came on and the crowd instantly went quiet, excitement for the match making them want to hear the announcements. "Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready to begin the Round of Sixteen?" The crowd roared in approval, clapping and yelling loudly. "That's good, because I think our remaining trainers are excited as well. And folks, we have a good one to start this third round off. Ash versus Mauve. Folks, this is sure to be a good one."

"Is anyone going to figure out it's Malva?" Bonnie asked, clearly aiming her question to Clemont.

"I don't know," he said quietly, barely heard over the loud crowd. "Ash made sure Diantha wasn't going to say anything. I think he prefers it if she's disguised, anyways. That way, there's no excuse to arrest her and stop the match."

Before anyone could answer Clemont, the announcer came on again. "Now, how about we welcome our first two trainers. First, we have the fan favourite! Ash from Pallet Town!"

"Yay! Go Ash!" Bonnie yelled loudly, making Serena wince a bit as she clapped. That little girl could really make her voice heard.

Serena looked down below and smiled, seeing Ash confidently walking out, Pikachu on his shoulder. He didn't even seem to hear the crowd. He was on a mission and nothing was going to distract him from that. He came to a stop on his platform and looked out across at the other one, patiently waiting for his opponent.

"And next, we have the fiery Mauve!" the announcer yelled.

The crowd started with polite cheers, which were nowhere near as loud as the ones for Ash. However, it immediately stopped, as the person emerging from the hallway opposite Ash proved not to be someone named Mauve. The gasps and whispers were quick to follow. Serena couldn't believe it. Malva had come out, not bothering to hide herself. Serena noticed that Ash looked pretty tensed up, quite surprised by this as well.

There was predictable silence from the announcer, but then finally a voice came out through the arena. This time, however, it was Diantha's voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, I must apologize. As you can see, the woman standing opposite to Ash is not a woman named Mauve. In fact, Mauve does not exist. The woman going by that name this entire time, has been the disgraced former Elite Four member and Team Flare cooperator, Malva."

The crowd immediately started whispering and murmuring again. They were all wondering what this could mean. Serena heard people asking if the match would be cancelled. Some were asking if the police should arrest Malva right then and there. One person, who Serena would've loved to kick in the knee, muttered something about Diantha being a poor champion for letting Malva in if she knew about the disguise.

Diantha must've heard some of these concerns, because she addressed them. "I know it's not fair, that Malva has taken the place of a legitimate contestant in the tournament. However, what many do not know, is that she did, indeed, acquire her badges legitimately. Obviously she should have been in prison, but that's something to discuss later. I was aware of her being in the tournament, but a certain trainer asked me to allow her to participate. He wanted a chance to prove his initial victory was no fluke and to teach Malva about the true nature of the bond between trainer and Pokemon. I'm going to ask now, Ash, do you still want this?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," Ash shouted out, making Serena laugh a little. He definitely was ready.

Diantha laughed as well, as did much of the crowd. "Very well. Now, if the audience doesn't mind, could we let this battle continue?" The crowd suddenly erupted in massive cheers and applause, clearly approving this. They were now more excited than ever. They were going to see their fan favourite go up against an Elite Four member. What more could you ask for?

Something on the screen caught Serena's attention, and she was surprised to see the Mauve picture replaced with a clearer Malva picture. It likely wasn't hard for them to find one, as she was quite well known.

The announcer's voice then came on again, and despite sounding a bit shocked, he was loud and excited enough as he got to work on hyping up the crowd. "Alright everyone, are you ready for what could be one of the most exciting battles of the tournament?" he asked excitement building up in his voice more towards the end of the question. The crowd roared in approval. "Let's get going then. The battle between Ash and Malvs is set to begin." There was a brief pause as the battlefield rose up. It was the grass field with trees and tall grass and a small pond. "Trainers! Please select your first Pokemon."

Serena narrowed her eyes as Malva plucked a pokeball from her belt. This was it. The purple haired trainer threw out her pokeball and it spun threw the air. "Torkoal!" was all she shouted, as the fire tortoise Pokemon emerged.

It seemed like all eyes were on Ash, now. Nobody was speaking and Serena got the feeling nobody was breathing, either. Then, his voice rang out clearly, as he turned and held out his arm. "Pikachu, I choose you!" Like a yellow bullet, the electric mouse shot off Ash's shoulder, ran along his arm, and then leaped forward and landed on the field in front. Serena knew Pikachu was always ready for a battle, but this time, it seemed different. He'd been waiting on the sidelines for two battles, now. He was ripe for action.

Serena laughed a little. "Malva's in trouble."