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The next morning
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Dena woke up to something small jumping up and down on her head. When she opened her eyes she saw that Torchic had decided it would be her alarm clock that morning.

"Ugh. No it's too early to get up go back to sleep" She whined to her Pokémon before snuggling deeper into her blankets.

Torchic made a pouty face and jumped off her bed. It then walked to the windows and pulled away the drapes to reveal that it was much later than Dena had thought.

"Torchic!" Her Pokémon said with authority.

Knowing that Torchic was right and that she had to get up, Dena reluctantly climbed out of bed. When she glanced at her clock she realized she had over slept and needed to hurry. She had to get to the airport by 9:45 and it was already 9:15. As she began to frantically gather her things she noticed that there was a note slipped under her door. She walked over and began to read it while gathering her remaining supplies.

"Hey Dena, I went to go get us some grub if I'm not back by 9 feel free to head airport to without me. My doors unlocked and I left the package on my dresser along with a sign I made earlier this morning, feel free to borrow else anything you need. I'll try and meet you at the main gate but if I'm not there I'll be in the food district. See you soon, Cal.

Dena smiled after reading the note, knowing that his appetite would cause her to go looking for him later. She then went to get what she needed from his room and  began jogging towards the airport with Torchic close behind.

Dena managed to make it just as the passengers were disembarking the plane. She held up her sign and waited for someone to approach her. As she was scanning the crowd a familiar face caught her eye. This person was wearing a red fedora that was covering short honey blonde hair and rested above her sapphire blue eyes. She had with her a pink backpack that matched her pink dress and red vest, there was a bright blue ribbon tied to her dress that added a nice contrast to her other clothes. Dena now fairly certain she knew who this girl was cupped her hands around her mouth and called out.

"SERENA!"
The young girl turned towards the sound of her name, her face breaking in a huge smile as she sees Dena.

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A few hours ago with Ash
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The sound of the ships docking horn caused Ash to fall out of bed and land face first on his cabin's floors. The morning sun shone brightly through his window warming up the small cabin. After picking himself off the Ash stretched and got dressed; he was wearing an outfit similar to the one he wore during his time in Kalos, but tailored for his increased height. He then grabbed his bag and let Pikachu climb on his shoulder before joining the flow of passengers leaving the ship. Once he made it ashore he wasn't sure where to go first until his stomach decided for him by letting out a rather audible growl.

"Oh man I'm starving; what do you say we get a bite to eat buddy?"

Pikachu let out a happy cry before steering Ash towards the direction of the city that was emitting a variety of mouth watering smells. As they entered the food district Ash spotted a shop with a flier advertising a tag battle competition it was hosting. According flier the winners got their meals half off and a 400₽ reward.

"Awe man, I really wanted to battle." Ash said with mild disappointment since he had no one to team up with.

"Would you mind teaming up with me?" A young male voice asked him.

Ash turned around to see a boy around his age with navy blue hair and green eyes smiling at him. Ash returned the smile and they introduced themselves.

"Sure that would be great. My names Ash and this is my partner Pikachu." Ash said while scratching the electric mouse under his chin.

"Nice to meet you Ash. My names Callow but most people just call me Cal."

Once they finished introducing themselves they went inside to sign up. Once they had registered they made their way to a nearby battlefield where a small crowd of spectators had gathered for the competition. They then walked over to where the competitors were and checked the roster while waiting for the contest to start. Within a few minutes an announcer came out and started the contest.

"Thank you for your patience everyone all of the teams have finished signing up and we will begin shortly," the announcer began before explaining the rules, "Each team will be permitted the use of two Pokémon. The match will be over when all Pokémon on either team are unable to battle. Good luck to all our competitors and have fun!"

The crowd politely clapped and waited for the first competitors to take their places. The first round was rather evenly matched and resulted with in a close finish. Ash and Cal had enjoyed the entire battle and they began taking over strategies. After watching two more battles Ash and Cal were up to fight, they took up their places and faced their opponents. After the referee had taken his position both sides called out their Pokémon.

"Go, Lombre!", "Makuhita I need you!" Shouted their opponents as they called out their Pokémon.

"Let's go, Treecko!","Pikachu I choose you!" Ash and Cal shout.

"Lombre use bubble beam! Makuhita use brick break!" Their trainers command.

"Pikachu counter with iron tail! Treeko use quick attack to dodge!"

Lombre shoots a jet of bubbles towards Pikachu while Makuhita's fists glow as it charges at Treeko. Pikachu bats away the water type attack while Treeko increases its speed and dances around the onslaught of punches headed its way.

"Pikachu help Treeko out and use electro ball!"

"Treeko jump back and fire off a bullet seed!"

Pikachu forms an electric sphere on the end of its tail before firing it at the opposing fighting type Pokémon. Treeko backs away but not before sending a few dozen high velocity seeds at its opponent. Both attacks collide with the fighting type launching it back towards its trainer, after a moment it began to get up and position itself to keep fighting.

"Alright Makuhita use revenge!","Lombre use Water pulse!"

Makuhita let out a roar before slamming into Treeko knocking the wood gecko back several feet. Before it could get back up Lombre had launched a blue sphere that was closing in on it.

"Pikachu Iron tail and follow through with electro ball!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu jumped in front of Treeko and incased its tail in Iron and knocked the blue sphere back. He then formed a yellow sphere and launched it right at the water pulse. The two moves joined together and were barreling straight towards the enemy Pokémon; they had no time to dodge and were both hit dead on causing a minor explosion. When the smoke cleared it revealed the two Pokémon looking the worse for wear, but were still standing.

"Thanks for the assist Ash, now what do you say we end this." Cal said with a cocky grin on his face.

Ash returned the grin and then stood back to back with Cal, both of them pointed at their opponents and gave their orders.

"Pikachu thunderbolt!", "Treeko Energy ball!"

Treeko formed a green ball of energy between its hands and threw it forwards, Pikachu let loose a strong electric charge. The two moves collided with the wounded Pokémon and sapped them of their remaining strength.

"Lombre and Makuhita are unable to battle, that means the team of Ash and Cal will proceed to the next round!" The ref announced.

After recalling their Pokémon both teams went and thanked each other for the battle. Ash and Cal then went back to join the remaining competitors both eager for their next match. They managed to win two more battles and were getting their Pokémon healed up before heading to the finals.

"Thanks for agreeing to battle alongside me," Cal began, "I've never been in a battle before today and I'm having a great time. Even if we don't win I can still walk away happy to have made a new friend."

"Same here." Ash replied while offering Cal his hand as a gesture of friendship. Without hesitation Cal took it and the two boys smiled at their newly founded friendship.

How do Serena and Dena know one another, and will Ash and Cal be able to claim victory in their upcoming battle? You'll have to stay tuned to find out, as the journey continues!

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I hope you all are liking the story so far, I'd appreciate some feedback what you think of my story. I'll try to get the next chapter out by Sunday until then don't forget  to vote and comment on your favorite chapters and thanks for reading. 😁