Journey Towards Greatness

Flint's Infernape is stronger, faster and more agile than Ash's Infernape, this was an even worst match up than before, Flint's Infernape knew how to bring down its own kind, Ash's Infernape didn't last for five minutes in the battlefield.

After a Mach Punch right on its stomach, Ash's Infernape got knocked out as it was sent flying and crashing against the wall.

Another of Ash's pokemon was down, this was a three on three battle and Ash is on a tough spot.

Julian 'He should have not sent his Infernape to battle a more experienced one, too bad he is still very impulsive'

He thought and continued watching.

Ash's didn't expect his Infernape to go down so easily, Infernape is one of his strongest pokemon with the most firepower but it was taken down very easily.

Volkner who was watching this got fed up and decided to leave, this battle didn't mean anything too him.

Volkner "This is a waste of time, you didn't have to do this, I am leaving"

Saying so he got up and started walking, but he was stopped by Flint.

Flint "Wait, this battle is still not over, as a friend I am asking you to stay"

He said and stared at Volkner, both of them stared at each other, one trying to tell the other that this all is useless and the other wanting to prove that there is still more to this than the other party thinks.

Volkner sighs and walks back to his and on his way, he notices the man in black who has his face covered, he raised his brows and questioned himself to who this person is.

He sat down and looked at the battlefield again, Ash sent his Infernape back to its Pokeball, he didn't know what to do next but he cannot give up, it was his nature.

A very stubborn nature to never give up, he turned around and looked at Pikachu who is standing behind him.

Ash "Pikachu let's do this"

Pikachu "Pika, Pikachuuuuuu"

He said and hyped up Ash and ran into the battlefield to face the powerful Infernape, seeing how motivated Ash and Pikachu were, even Volkner who was not paying attention to this battle before got a little intrigued, the battlefield suddenly got filled with a very different spirit.

Volkner felt something was different about this round, the old man who is beside his smiled as well as he saw the current situation.

This old man was a pokemon poacher in the past and not he works for Volkner.

When Volkner was a young kid just like Ash, he was the same, his heart was filled with dedication to become a great pokemon trainer and Flint was his rival and best friend, both of them always came across the old man as he tried to steal their pokemon.

He was just like the team rocket in Volkner and Flint's past life and now he works for, after suffering several defeats he decided to change his life and start anew, now he is a proprietor and works as a server in Sunyshore cafe which is right next to the gym

Seeing Ash the old man was reminded of the young Volkner and Flint, the old man thought of his past and sighed, he realized that so much time has passed, in his past, he was a very powerful pokemon poacher and now he is one of the most respected men in Sunyshore community and many people come to him for some advice.

Proprietor "That young man, he reminds me of you, the same stubborn, never give up attitude"

He said and looked at Volkner, Volkner ignored what the proprietor said and continued watching the battle, even though it seems that he doesn't care about what the proprietor said but he was interested in seeing what Ash will do now.

The battle started and Pikachu charged at Infernape with blinding speed, his speed has increased a lot, even Julian was surprised, with Ash's command Pikachu launched a barrage of Quick Attacks on Infernape.

Even Flint's Infernape was not able to keep up with Pikachu's speed and got hit by several Quick Attacks, but that didn't mean the battle was over. Since he cannot pinpoint Pikachu's direction of attack Flint decided to use an area attack.

Flint "Heat Wave"

Infernape roared and slammed its arms on the ground and released waves of heat from its body, the Heat Waves hit Pikachu and sent him flying back at very high speed, seeing Pikachu was in danger, Ash suddenly ran towards him calling his name in panic.

Infernape overdid his attack, that Heat Wave was enough to take down an elite pokemon, even though Pikachu is fast, his defense is still lacking.

Ash dived and caught Pikachu in mid-air, he looked at Pikachu in his arm and noticed that no serious damage has been done to him, he sighed in a release.

Ash "Pikachu, you fine?"

He asked so Pikachu nodded his head and jumped out of his arm and stared at Infernape as electricity sparkled over his cheeks.

When Volkner saw this, he felt something again, seeing Ash trying to protect Pikachu without thinking about anything really inspired him, he realized that he was also the same, passionate about pokemon battle with his partner.

Chasing after his dream of becoming the strongest gym leader and finally achieving it, he was really happy, but soon things started to pale off, the desire to battle burned away as no opponent he battled excited him anymore, he was over it.

The same old thing happened, again and again, trainers came and challenged him but everyone failed to defeat him, some came again after learning something but most of them were once again defeated, only few could defeat him in their second try, most of them succeeded on their third try.

Volkner was bored, not able to experience the battles he dreamt for, the trainers that challenged him were all disappointing.

But now he felt something different when he saw Ash.

Volkner 'Maybe, he is something special'

He thought and continued watching, the battle continued and several blows were exchanged, with Pikachu's speed and power behind his Iron Tail, the exchange started to grow stronger between Infernape and Pikachu.

Infernape used a barrage of Mach Punch which were countered by Pikachu using Iron Tail, this battle could be said at the level of elite four as well, the battlefield is a complete wreak, cracks everywhere, burn marks left by Pikachu's Electricity and Infernape's flames.

Even Flint and Ash forgot about why they are battling, they were just focused on their battle, same could be said for Julian as well, this kind of battle was hard to come by, even Crystal who was sleeping popped its head out to watch the battle with excitement in its eyes.

It was time to end the battle so Ash and Flint made their final move, Pikachu used Volt Tackle and Infernape sued Flare Blitz, both clashed and caused the whole room to go white before a loud bang was heard, shockwaves of wind blew out of the surrounding, small stones and dust were sent flying covering the whole battlefield.

Once the light faded, everyone is on the edge of their seats to know the result, as the dust cleared by they saw Infernape still standing but it is paralyzed, sparks of electricity were crackling around its body causing it to feel numb all over its body.

On the other hand, Pikachu is on the ground knocked out, Pikachu lost, seeing the result everyone is still silent, this last match was something different.

Julian 'That Volt Tackle, was really special'

He thought and smiled, he didn't expect Ash and Pikachu to grow this much, to render a pokemon trained under an Elite Four to feel completely numb all over its body is no easy task but Ash and Pikachu stilled pulled it off.