So Ash beat Malva. He actually beat her. Ash is better than an Elite Four trainer. Sawyer couldn't stop thinking about this, as he watched the following battles, while waiting for his own. As each trainer advanced to the quarterfinals, he could only think of how tough it was going to be, if there were to be even one or two more trainers at Ash's level. The task was so daunting. Could he really compete in this tournament? Could he really match up against his idol?

"Hey Sawyer, what's up? You've been pretty quiet today." Sawyer jumped at the question, having let his surroundings drift out of his thoughts. He looked to his left, where Ash was sitting. Even though the other trainer had asked Sawyer a question, his eyes were still on the battlefield below, where Alain was currently rolling right through his third round match.

"I...I'm fine," Sawyer muttered, unconvincingly. "Just...um...nervous about my next match." He looked back at the field, avoiding eye contact as Ash suddenly looked back at him.

"You're joking, right? You don't need to be nervous. Sure, Tierno's strong, but that's what will make the battle fun. I thought you liked a good battle." Ash sounded so genuinely confused, as if he had never been nervous before. Sawyer doubted that, though. As confident as Ash was, there was no way he hadn't been at least a little nervous before battling Malva.

Sawyer turned to Ash, deciding to confront him with that thought. "Are you saying battling Malva didn't make you nervous?"

Ash nodded, as though agreeing that was a good point. "Yeah, well I guess I do get nervous sometimes." He took a quick look over to Serena, who was talking to Dawn and then looked back at Sawyer. "I think nervousness gets me more battle hungry, though. Get what I mean?"

Sawyer laughed a little at that, although not fully getting that feeling. Obviously Ash didn't realize what he was actually nervous about. The idea of not being able to keep up with him. Sawyer remembered his own battle with Malva. It had been close. In fact, they'd had a draw. However, seeing Ash so calm and being able to really take control as he battled...it was intimidating. Sawyer had been so sure he was finally at Ash's level once the tournament had started...now he wasn't so sure. "I think you and I get nervous in different ways, Ash."

"Just have fun," Ash said seriously. "There's no more Malva drama to deal with. There's no more Team Flare stuff to go through. It's just the Kalos League now. We can all just finish the tournament and enjoy it."

"Easy for you to say," Sawyer joked. "You're the one who got rid of those obstacles. You've already proven yourself to be one of the best trainers here. Probably the best. It's pretty intimidating."

Ash stared down at the battle below for a few moments. It was kind of odd, but he seemed to have little interest, despite his friend being involved. Sawyer supposed that with Alain winning so easily, there wasn't really much point in the crowd being emotionally invested, especially after Ash's dramatic match.

Finally, Ash spoke again. "Sawyer, you made me a bit nervous when we ran into you on the way to Vaniville Town."

"Really?" Sawyer asked, barely able to believe what he was hearing. "How?"

"When I found out you had the eight badges before me, I was sure I'd fallen behind," Ash explained, his eyes looking at something that wasn't there, perhaps just seeing the memory in front of him. "When we had that battle, and I just kept beating your Pokemon..." he looked up at Sawyer, a guilty expression on his face. Sawyer realized Ash seemed to think he was accidentally taunting.

"Go on," Sawyer encouraged, more interested in what Ash had to say than any unintended insults.

"Well, when I was winning, I knew that I wasn't facing you at your best. It was frustrating, because I knew I'd be facing a much stronger opponent once the Kalos League came up." He was silent another couple of moments and then continued. "And then you still won against Greninja, even with Sceptile kind of going out of control. You showed that even when you weren't at your best, you had enough power to beat one of my best, when I was fighting with a clear head."

Sawyer couldn't help but feel a little proud of that. He'd made Ash worried about his strength? That was the ultimate compliment in his opinion. "I've trained really hard, just so I can beat you, Ash. Because of you, I came to this tournament, really thinking I could win. I think when we battled last time, I let my excitement overwhelm me and it really messed up how I worked with my Pokemon."

"Is your head clear, now?" Ash asked, his gaze moving over to where Tierno was talking to Trevor.

Sawyer nodded, realizing that his nervousness had become excitement, just like Ash had described. And it wasn't the overwhelming excitement Sawyer has described. It was the battle hungry excitement that Ash had described. And his excitement was telling him it was time to get rid of the obstacle that was Tierno.

"This has been quite the battle, folks," the announcer called out, as Tierno recalled his fainted Raichu. "Tierno is now down to his last Pokemon, while Sawyer still holds four. However, it hasn't been easy. Tierno's dancing has given young Sawyer a hard time."

Ash didn't know if he could fully agree with that. Tierno had, indeed, started well, but Sawyer had adjusted quite quickly, as he'd adapted his own battling style to counter Tierno's movements. Really, Sawyer was in top form, because it was obvious that this was Tierno's best performance as well, at least from what Ash had seen.

"Oh...I hope Blastoise can do this," Shauna said quietly, from her spot a couple seats down from Ash. Blastoise had just been called out by Tierno.

"Blastoise is Tierno's best," Trevor assured his friend. "He won't go down easy."

"It looks like it'll be Blastoise against Slurpuff!" the announcer shouted excitedly. "Let's see if Tierno's last Pokemon can get him back in the game."

The referee signalled for the match to resume, and instantly, Blastoise and Tierno started doing dances and spins, trying to confuse Sawyer and Slurpuff with their movements. Ash barely stopped himself from laughing when Sawyer ignored it and ordered his attack. "Slurpuff, Energy Ball!"

Tierno was quick to counter, though. "Rapid Spin!"

As Slurpuff formed the green sphere of energy in its hands, Blastoise withdrew into its shell and quickly started spinning. While Slurpuff's Energy Ball expanded in front of it, Blastoise shot forward in a zigzag, both distracting Slurpuff and making the water type a difficult target. Finally, Slurpuff fired its attack and it shot towards a straight spinning Blastoise. Unfortunately, though, Blastoise flipped onto its side at the last second, and seemed to catch the Energy Ball, emerging from its shell.

"Hydro Pump!" Tierno ordered quickly. Blastoise quickly threw out the caught Energy Ball, and then fired off two jets of water which picked up the sphere and rapidlt carried it to a stunned Slurpuff. The two attacks crashed into the fairy type and launched it back, crashing into a rock near Sawyer. "Rapid Spin again!" Tierno ordered, quick to get his Blastoise moving again, which Ash could tell was making things difficult for Sawyer's Slurpuff.

Sawyer wasn't panicking, though. He seemed to be planning something. "Slurpuff, aim another Energy Ball!"

"Get ready to catch it and keep moving!" Tierno shouted in response.

Blastoise continued to zigzag around the field, creating a nearly impossible target for Slurpuff to focus on. Ash knew, however, that like last time, Tierno was going to draw in the attack with a straight charge at some point. Slurpuff seemed to realize this too, Ash realized. It seemed to be focusing more on creating the powerful Energy Ball than aiming. Finally, Blastoise did turn its spin into a straight charge, and Ash saw Slurpuff aim its shot.

Just as Slurpuff let go, though, Sawyer made another quick order. "Fairy Wind!" Ash could instantly see what Sawyer was planning. The Energy Ball was shot forward, and Ash saw Blastoise already slowing in preparation to catch it. However, at the last second, the pink wind grabbed ahold of the green sphere and increased its speed. As Blastoise slowed to catch the Energy Ball, it went in with too much speed and it exploded against the water turtle's side, throwing it back.

"Now use Draining Kiss!" Sawyer ordered quickly, obviously hoping to take advantage of striking while Blastoise was winded by the other attack.

"Not a good idea, Sawyer," Ash whispered to himself. He noticed Serena give him a quizzical look, but decided to just let her see things play out to figure out why he'd said it.

As Slurpuff ran towards Blastoise, who was falling back, a bit dazed by the attack, Tierno was quick to start dancing, inspiring his Blastoise to turn and use the fall to help itself. As it fell back, it withdrew into its shell once more and again started to rapidly spin. "Now, Hydro Pump while spinning!" Tierno ordered.

It was too late for Slurpuff, who was now caught between the safety of distance and a failed attack. It just stood and watched as Blastoise spun faster and faster, until finally the blasts of water came forth. They struck Slurpuff like bullets. One jet knocked the fairy type back a few steps, the next knocked it off balance and then the third took ahold of it and whipped it back towards a rock.

"Finish with another Rapid Spin!" Tierno ordered. As Slurpuff tried to get up and manoeuvre itself to dodge, Blastoise just spun around in a confusing set of movements once again. Finally it lunged forward and the spinning shell struck Slurpuff and fired it back again, and this time it didn't get up.

"Slurpuff is unable to battle. Blastoise is the winner!" the referee announced.

"Oh I get it," Serena said quickly and Ash looked to see her looking quite pleased with what she'd figured out. "You could see that Blastoise was going to be able to recover from the Energy Ball too quickly. So Sawyer trying the close range attack wasn't going to work."

Ash nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I guess I've turned you into a battle expert, haven't I?"

"Maybe," Serena said, shrugging. "I can't pick up on that stuff as quick as you, though."

"At least you can pick up on stuff outside of battles," Ash joked. "That's when I get lost."

"Enough chatting, lovebirds," Dawn scolded them." Sawyer's sending out his next Pokemon.

Ash looked back at the field and saw Sawyer with his next pokeball in his hand. He threw it out and there was a flash of light before his loyal Sceptile emerged. Ash didn't say anything, but he got the feeling this battle was over already. Sawyer's Sceptile wasn't going to lose to Blastoise, no matter how well it moved. Ash could just sense it.

Tierno seemed to have sensed something as well, because when the referee signalled for the battle to resume, he ordered an attack rather than have Blastoise dance right away. "Blastoise, use Ice Beam!" he shouted.

"Leaf Storm!" Sawyer countered.

The attacks blasted forth at the exact same time. The icy energy met the wildly swirling leaves in the middle of the battlefield and exploded outward, breaking a few rocks in the shock wave. It was even, but Ash knew that if an ice type move couldn't beat a grass type move, things weren't looking good for Tierno.

"Rapid Spin! Dance around quick!" Tierno shouted, reverting back to his battling comfort zone, after the failed attack. Blastoise quickly did as commanded and withdrew into its shell and quickly started to spin.

Sawyer seemed to watch Blastoise a few moments, Sceptile also heavily focusing, and then made his order. "Sceptile, Frenzy Plant! You know what to do."

Ash squinted in confusion at that order and then slowly smiled, realizing what it meant. Sceptile and Sawyer were close enough that Sceptile could tell, without words, what Sawyer wanted. The plan also became visible as Ash watched Blastoise' next move. The water turtle spun around in an attempt to be a more difficult target, but when Sceptile didn't act, Tierno and his Pokemon decided to move and Blastoise suddenly rushed forward towards Sceptile. It was a crucial point in the battle, that proved Sawyer as the better trainer. Sceptile didn't need any signal and immediately attacked, screeching and raising his arms and causing a large branch to shoot up from the ground and shoot Blastoise into the air, before grabbing onto it and throwing it to the ground.

"An incredible strike by Sawyer and Sceptile!" the announcer shouted. "Blastoise will feel that in the morning."

As Sceptile crouched low, panting from the exhaustion of performing such a powerful attack, Blastoise was clearly in no condition to make a quick counterattack. Ash had to admire the move on Sawyer's part for that reason alone. Moves that forced your Pokemon to rest were pretty risky, but if executed right, the opposing Pokemon might never have the opportunity to take advantage anyways.

Finally, Blastoise managed to right itself and stood up straight, staring down its opponent. Sceptile also seemed to have recovered, and looked ready to finish the battle once and for all. Both Pokemon crouched, preparing for their trainers' next orders.

"Hydro Pump!" Tierno ordered.

"Leaf Blade!" Sawyer shouted. "Right through it!"

Again, Sceptile seemed to wait for Blastoise to move first. Ash could tell Sawyer had trained it to spot mistakes, even the littlest ones, in an opponent's moves, that could be used to their advantage. With an uneasy feeling, Ash realized his young rival likely studied all his moves and had been picking them apart the whole tournament.

Eventually, Blastoise began its attack. It crouched low again, and then carefully aimed its cannons. Finally, with a loud roar, it launched forth its powerful jets of water and they rushed towards Sceptile. The reptilian grass type was extremely quick to react. It held up both arms and the leaves on them both extended out and glowed bright green. Then, he bolted forward and engaged his enemy's attack.

Ash supposed Sceptile probably felt like he was just taking a shower. The reptilian grass type rushed into the water without a second thought and the green glow of the Leaf Blade was seen quickly pushing through it. Eventually, the green light was only a few feet away from Blastoise and the water type dropped its stance and panted, unable to keep the attack going. It just stared at Sceptile as the speedy grass type rushed forward and slashed out with the super effective attack back to back. Blastoise was thrown back like a rag doll.

"Leaf Storm!" Sawyer ordered quickly, and Ash realized the young trainer was ready to finish this match now. Sceptile turned so his back was facing towards the panting Blastoise and then he raised his leafy tail and leaves started to swirl outwards towards Blastoise. The spiralling leaves seemed to pick up the water turtle and suddenly, the opposing Pokemon was stuck in the vortex of leaves. Sceptile then raised his tail high, and the storm of leaves mimicked the movement.

"Blastoise try to use Ice Beam!" Tierno called out and Ash could hear it in the dancing trainer's voice that he didn't think it would work.

And Ash knew it wouldn't as well. As did Sawyer. With a nod to Sceptile, Sawyer signalled for the match to end. The reptilian grass type slammed his tail to the ground and the momentary dust cloud that came up, revealed a very still Blastoise.

"Blastoise is unable to battle. Sceptile is the winner!" the referee announced with the usual flag wave to the winning side. "This means the winner of the match is Sawyer and he moves on to the quarterfinal round!"

As the group ate dinner that night, it was obvious where the trainers who remained in the tournament had their minds. Serena could see that Ash, Alain and Sawyer were all continuously looking towards the Pokemon centre, eagerly awaiting the announcements of the quarterfinal matchups.

Serena couldn't believe she had to say it, but the words became necessary when Ash again ignored his food and stared blankly at the Pokemon centre. "Ash, just eat your food. They'll announce the battles soon enough." The idea that she'd actually just had to tell Ash Ketchum to eat was more bizarre than the idea of Bonnie never hugging a Pokemon again. It was actually a bit creepy.

"Yeah...yeah sorry," a distracted Ash muttered in reply. However, he continued to barely eat and stare at the Pokemon centre.

Serena decided there was no more point in trying to keep him from staring anymore, so she chose to discuss the league instead. "I guess there's a pretty good chance you'll go up against someone else you know for the next match."

"Yeah," Ash agreed, the beginning of the conversation actually managing to get him to start eating again. "Alain, Sawyer and Calem are all in, so likelihood is, two of us will go against each other."

"Sawyer looked like he really knew what he was doing, today," Clemont pointed out, glancing over at the green-haired trainer at another table. "Tierno managed to trick him a couple of times with the dancing, but Sawyer was very good at adjusting."

Serena nodded and looked at Ash to see if he was going to say something, but instead found that her boyfriend was just nodding to himself, smiling a little. "Something up?" she asked him.

The question wasn't answered, as excited yells were now coming from the Pokemon centre. Naturally, Ash bolted from his seat at the noise. Obviously, the daily recap was on the TV now, and the next round's matchups would soon be revealed.

Serena, Bonnie and Clemont quickly made their way to the Pokemon centre, keeping an eye out for Ash, and managed to find him standing next to Sawyer and Alain, staring at the TV. Serena managed to get herself over to Ash's side, just before President Goodshow came on the screen, seated in between Diantha and Professor Sycamore.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen," the League President said, waving a little to the camera. "Now, as you all know, today was the first round of the Kalos League: Lumiose Conference in the grand stadium. And, luckily enough, the matchups did not disappoint." After he said that, some clips started playing, from Ash's match with Malva. There was Pikachu running at Torkoal, Heracross hitting Magmortar, Bayleef skating with her vines and Houndoom's final Dark Pulse. "Obviously, we had quite the match to start things off," Goodshow said, as the screen went back to him with the Champion and Professor.

"Oh yes," Diantha agreed, smiling. "Ash and Malva had quite the heated battle. I must say, though, Ash didn't surprise me one bit. I knew he had it in him to pull this one off. Not to mention, he showed the heart of a true trainer, in forgiving Malva and helping her realize her faults."

A few people were turning and glancing at Ash, who nervously avoided eye contact and was noticeably blushing. Serena felt pretty proud of him in that moment. It was nice to see him acknowledged for more than his battling skill. To her, there was so much more to him than battling, so she was glad that the crazed fans could see him that way.

"Ash definitely proved, once again, why he is a favourite for this tournament," Sycamore said, looking like he was still amazed with the performance Ash had put on. "It was amazing to see how well he used Houndoom despite it still obviously having a deep connection with Malva."

Diantha nodded in agreement. "And amazingly enough, I think we've only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg with what Ash is capable of. He's only briefly used his strongest Pokemon in Pikachu and Greninja and I think we can expect much more from both of them and Ash's other Pokemon."

"Yes," Goodshow agreed, "Ash will definitely be intriguing to watch, as always." He paused, waiting to see if the others were going to continue, and then moved on. "Now, the battle between Sawyer and Tierno was quite interesting, don't you think?"

"Ah...definitely," Sycamore said, nodding. "Sawyer is quite a good strategist, but it was still a difficult task to find a way around Tierno's dancing technique."

"I agree, it was a good match, Diantha said. "I do think Sawyer is only getting stronger as this tournament moves along, though. He's adjusted to each of his opponents techniques and has adapted his own style to be much more difficult to battle against as he's progressed. His next opponent is in for a rough match."

They continued discussing the various other matches, emphasizing the particular strong traits of each of the advancing trainers. Serena could tell from the way they talked, though, that really, the four trainers she knew were definitely considered the favourites. At least, her biased ears heard it that way.

Finally, the part that everyone was excited about came. Goodshow wrapped up the conversation about the last battle, and then looked at the camera once again. "I believe it is time to find out what our quarterfinal matchups will be. There will be four of them tomorrow, and that will take us to the best of the best in the semifinals.

Serena squinted so she could focus better as the eight pictures of the remaining trainers appeared on screen. As before, the cards flipped over to reveal the pokeball logos and then they started shuffling up rapidly. Serena immediately lost sight of Ash's card and could only watch in anticipation as the cards whipped around. Finally, the cards flipped around and the white lines connected the opponents.

Serena gasped, seeing Ash's next matchup, and turned to look at him, smiling up at the TV. Next to him, Sawyer was also smiling, despite a little nervousness showing on his face. As Ash had mentioned before, there was a pretty good chance two friends would be battling each other. And, he was proven right. His next opponent would be Sawyer.

Serena woke up in the middle of the night, sensing movement. She didn't know why she could sense it, but perhaps it was all the time on the road and being wary of wild Pokemon and, of course, Team Rocket and the chances of them sneaking up on the camp the group would set up. She sat up in her bed and just barely noticed the door to the room closing, very quietly. A quick check of the other beds in the room showed that it was, of course, Ash who had left.

Why doesn't he ever stay still? Serena asked herself, shaking her head exasperatedly as she got out of bed, deciding she'd go and see what her boyfriend was up to. She didn't bother getting changed out of her pyjamas and just grabbed her shoes and quietly exited the room. She pulled out a pokeball and sent out Sylveon and Delphox, hoping they'd be able to help track Ash, who she knew had Pikachu with him, and likely Greninja as well.

Her two loyal Pokemon quickly set to work, carefully looking around and straining their ears and even sniffed the air a few times. Eventually, Delphox finally seemed to sense something and signalled for Serena and Sylveon to follow. The fox-like Pokemon lead her trainer down a path and Serena couldn't help but sigh in exasperation, realizing where this path lead to.

In a few minutes, she saw him. He did, of course, have Pikachu and Greninja out with him, along with Talonflame, Hawlucha, Noivern and Goodra. His entire Kalos team. And naturally, they were training. Hawlucha was sparring with Noivern. Talonflame with Goodra. And the aces Pikachu and Greninja. It wasn't intense training, but more like a way to loosen up for the coming battle.

"Ash, what are you doing up at this time?" Serena asked, walking up to the group, causing all the Pokemon to stop what they were doing.

Ash jumped a little at the sudden appearance of his girlfriend. He looked around nervously, almost like he was seeing if there was a way to escape. He finally looked back at her, an embarrassed smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. "Uh...hi Serena," he said quietly. "I...just thought we'd get a bit of training done before the battle."

"It's the middle of the night," Serena pointed out, even though it didn't really need to be said. "Don't you want to make sure you're rested."

"I woke up and couldn't sleep. Pikachu was the same and these guys are all too excited as well." He looked at his team of Pokemon, who were all nodding in agreement. "Sawyer's gonna be a tough opponent, so we all want to make sure we're loose for the big match."

Serena was going to argue, but then she looked at Ash, who was happily looking at his Pokemon, and she decided there was no point. "Fine," she said, exchanging a look with Sylveon and Delphox. "So, you're using all of your Kalos Pokemon?"

"Yeah," Ash answered, turning his gaze back to her. "I needed to switch it up from the last time I battled Sawyer, and I think these are the right Pokemon to do it."

Serena nodded, having to agree. It was definitely a tough looking group. Even the always happy Goodra was going to be an intimidating sight for Sawyer. Ash was certainly set up well for this battle, no matter what Sawyer threw at him.

"You can go back to bed," Ash said suddenly. "I don't want to keep you up. You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

Serena shook her head, suddenly feeling wide awake and knowing she'd never get back to sleep. "No, I think I'll stay here with you. I'm not tired. I can help you train."

"Uh..." Ash looked at her a moment, apparently wondering if she was joking, but then smiled and laughed. "Alright. Well, let's get to it, then."