Serena's POV:

The second Ash turned around, I ran towards him and pressed my lips to his, and I'm pretty sure I felt his cheeks heat up.

"You were amazing", I whispered in his ear and he shivered, but tightened his grip around my waist, and I could almost hear that satisfied smile adorning his face.

Unfortunately, our private moment was disrupted by his cousins who literally ripped me off our embrace, and shared my spot.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!! We have to see who battles next", he told them though he himself wasn't willing to let go of them.

"I just hope that I'm the one who gets to battle", Drew told us sighing and we gave him a confused look.

"Being a coordinator, I have a MICROSCOPIC chance of defeating my opponent, considering that I nearly beat Gary once in a battle", he told us and Ash shook his head.

"What do you mean? I mean, it won't make much of a difference, Drew. Even Serena has battled May and Dawn in battles. As long as the one who must battle gives the opponent a good battle, it's fine", Ash told him.

"I know that. But compared to Serena, I'm the better battler. No offense, Serena", he told me but I shook my head. It was the truth, he was better in fighting, as I couldn't take the pressure of battling very well and ALL of my defeats came up due to my poor battling skills.

"Plus, if I get paired against Palermo, I have a greater chance of beating her, considering that I've been around her for the past 4 years", I added and Drew nodded his head.

"Just hope it adds up to your expectations", Ash told me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind.

"ALRIGHT!!! LET'S SEE IF THE DEFENDERS CAN BOUNCE BACK!! THE NEXT BATTLE IS BETWEEN GARY AND TYSON!!", the MC roared causing most of us to shield our ears or at least wince.

"Go get him, babe!", Dawn told him grabbing him by his chest and brought his lips to hers. Then, she stood on the tips of her toes and whispered something in his ear causing him to chuckle and give her a flirtatious wink before leaving to battle.

"It would be a good battle", Ash told us and May sat on the bench rubbing her arms.

"It's kinda cold, right?", she asked us nervously.

"Yes it is....Articuno", Ash told us sighing looking at the confident expression on Tyson's face.

"You mean that....Ice and Flying legendary?", Dawn asked Ash and he nodded his head taking a seat. Dawn gulped and took a seat near May, and the two of them shared nervous giggles.

"Arceus! They are CLONES of their mothers", Ash whispered in my ear causing me to giggle, and I hugged his arm.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the hand-me-down of researchers, the one and only Gary Oak!", Tyson mocked and I could literally feel the heat radiating from Dawn's body.

"At least, I made it up to the finals of the Hoenn League without having to bank on a legendary Pokemon", Gary snorted and Tyson's expression hardened.

"Do I need to remind of the way you got your a** handed to you the last time we met?", Tyson asked Gary.

"You're exaggerating, Tyson. It was a 3-2 victory for you, and I intend to even the battlefield this time", Gary countered.

"So, I guess it's a 3 on 3 battle?", Tyson asked him in a cocky manner and Gary smirked nodding his head.

"Enough talk! Articuno, let's go!!"

"I meant it when I talked about evening the battlefield. Registeel, shift the odds to our favour!"

"Gary Gary, he's number ONE! He's a hottie and he's FUN!", a few girls yelled from the side.

"BUZZ OFF!! And that didn't make sense either! Get lost before I tear you eyes out!!", Dawn yelled at the girls and May barely managed to restrain her by grabbing her by her armpits.

"Let me go, May!", Dawn yelled glaring at the girls, and drew a line across her throat mouthing some profanities at the girls who scooted towards the audience in a jiffy.

"Articuno, use Freeze Dry!!"

"Hinder its aim with Flash Cannon!!"

Articuno's aim faltered just like Gary had expected and the Freeze Dry went off somewhere else, and Articuno began to go haywire.

"Iron Head!!"

Registeel jumped as high as it could and smashed into Articuno within the blink of an eye.

"Unbalance it with Gust!!"

Articuno recovered quickly and sent Registeel flying away, and it crashed into a nearby wall.

"Still the same loser, huh, Oak?", Tyson asked Gary mockingly.

"Double Team and Flash Cannon!!"

I was impressed! Using a stunning, and a damage dealing move, and copying to protect itself, Registeel carried out Gary's plan with perfection.

"COME ON, GARY! SHOW THAT PUNK HIS PLACE!!", Dawn yelled steaming.

Articuno began to go haywire again, and crashed into a nearby wall falling down heavily.

"We're not THAT easy to beat! Use Frost Breath and Aerial Ace!!"

"Iron Defense!!"

Registeel was strong, but not strong enough to withstand the dual combination of Articuno and it's dot pattern began to blink slowly signifying that it was growing weak, due to the sheer power of the legendary.

"Neither are we! Metal Claw!! Use Hyper Beam to proper yourself upwards!! And at a point blank range, use Iron Head!!"

"Use Gust to keep it down! When it is down, finish that weakling off with Giga Impact!!"

Articuno was very strong, but the Gust wasn't good enough to counter the momentum achieved from the Hyper Beam, and Registeel crashed into it, and carried it's moves. What was not so good for Gary was that Registeel was on top of Articuno so when it began to fall down, Registeel followed suit, and a huge gaping hole had formed.

From the hole, the camera zoomed in to see Registeel victoriously standing near a downed Articuno.

"Articuno is unable to continue! Registeel wins!!", the referee announced.

"NO! IMPOSSIBLE!!", Tyson yelled and Gary just gave him a wink which pissed him off even more.

"He's a fine tactician", Ash said and I looked up to see his face.

"I know right! The way he controlled Registeel was amazing", I told him and he chuckled shaking his head.

"I wasn't talking about that", he told me and I frowned unable to understand the hidden meaning.

"He got into Tyson's head. That's more important in a battle. When you get into someone's head, he or she won't be able to concentrate anymore. That's what I did with Tobias. Do it too much, and they'll begin to ignore you. Gary has done it in the right amount", he told me tightening his grip around me, and I understood the difficulty that was hidden in battling. It was hard enough to remember all the damage dealing moves along with the match-ups, but this was INSANE. Then I noticed that Tyson had returned Articuno mumbling a thanks to its Pokeball.

"Sceptile, bring it down to its knees"

"Bulldoze!!"

"Leaf Blade!!"

Registeel was hit HARD by the rapid attack, and was sent crashing through the ground.

"Don't let it rest! Use Bullet Seed!!"

"Iron Defense!!"

"Use Leaf Blade again!!"

"When the blades begin to glow, use Metal Claw!!"

Registeel attacked with perfection, and though the patterns on its face were still blinking quickly, it dealt a large amount of damage through its attacks.

"Frenzy Plant!!"

Registeel was too slow to jump out and was trapped in the roots.

"Finish it off with Energy Ball!!"

Registeel couldn't take more and collapsed from the attack. Gary wasn't worried however.

"You were awesome, Registeel! Take a well deserved rest. Blastoise, come out!!"

"Don't give it time to settle! Use Bullet Seed!!"

"Hydro Pump!!"

The attack had a double advantage, as Hydro Pump sent the Bullet Seed back to Sceptile along with the torrent of water it normally gave out. Sceptile was sent skidding down the floor.

"Don't give it time to rest! Skull Bash!!"

Sceptile's tail was trapped in some rubble and took the attack head on, collapsing on the spot.

"Sceptile is unable to continue! Blastoise is the winner!!", the referee announced. Blastoise just stretched his muscles and shot jets of water from his cannons as a taunt towards Tyson.

"You're not getting away with this, Oak! Meowth, let's go!!"

"Meowth, use Scratch!!"

The small size of Meowth was of a huge advantage for Tyson, as it was able to get on top of Blastoise and lash out at his face as quickly as possible.

"Blastoise, Water Gun!!"

Tyson didn't expect this sudden move from Blastoise, and Meowth was sent flying above, but to my surprise, it stuck to the ceiling, not willing to come down, and made faces at Blastoise who was easily angered by the nimble Pokemon.

"Fury Swipes!! Don't let that Blastoise TOUCH you, Meowth!"

"Blastoise, aim for its feet! Use Hydro Pump to propel yourself upwards, and hit it's feet!!"

"Crawl forward!!"

Blastoise was exceptional at maneuvering in the air, and moved towards Meowth even though it kept moving around and it's thick shell smashed into Meowth's feet and it fell down completely losing balance.

Meowth had an ounce of energy remaining and barely managed to stand up.

"Finish it off with Scald!!"

"Dodge it! PLEASE!!"

But Meowth had already taken too much of a beating and just stood up to prevent the defeat from being too humiliating.

"Meowth is unable to continue! Blastoise is the winner! Since Tyson has no Pokemon remaining, Gary is the winner!! This means that the Challengers have taken a solid 3-1 lead over the Defenders!!", the MC announced and Tyson sunk to his knees, returning Meowth for his efforts.

"THE NEXT ONE WOULD BE A BATTLE BETWEEN DREW AND VIRGIL!!! CAN THE COORDINATOR STAND UP TO THE 1 TIME WINNER OF THE UNOVA LEAGUE?", the MC added and Drew just smirked.

"GARY, THAT WAS AMAZING!!", Dawn yelled pulling him into her embrace, and Gary just chuckled and kissed her. Then he whispered something in her ear and Dawn nodded her head giggling hysterically.

Ash smiled looking at his best friend, but I noticed that the smile didn't meet his eyes.

"What's wrong, Ash?", I asked him suspiciously and he shook his head slowly staring into the audience.

"You're a horrible liar!", I accused him folding my arms across my chest, and he sighed.

"When Gary won, Ashlyn just smiled at them giving a nod and a wink. She did the same when I won, and the same when Dawn won", he told me but it made no sense.

"It could be a small coincidence, Ash", I told him cupping his cheeks but he just shook his head holding my arms by my wrists.

"What if she is forcing them to lose to us, so that we might bring our guards down? What if they have something else stored?", he asked me gulping.

"If this was the plan, I'm pretty sure that Tobias wouldn't have been willing to die, would he?", I countered and he didn't have a reply. I scooted closer to him and kissed him lightly.

"You're acting paranoid, Ash. It's up to me and Drew now. We won't let you down", I told him giving him a smile and that seemed to ease the pressure off him.

I had given him the confidence, but can I deliver?

To be continued...