"It looks like you are fighting a losing battle, friend of Ash" Parker was just a step behind the twins, his Umbreon obediently standing by his side.

"As long as I fight to the end and never give up I can be happy. That's what Ash would do" Cilan replied, with a shout.

"Oh yes, that poor Ash. He tried to do just that but we beat him pretty easily. He is much stronger than you so this shouldn't take long" Parker nonchalantly retorted. He sat down on the floor and put a hand on his chin, resting his arm on his knee and extended it upwards to his chin. "Now, entertain me"

"Now, Absol, use hyper beam on Pansage's trainer!" Jake suddenly blurted out, completely shocking Cilan. His eyes widened as the words echoed through his ears. Cilan felt like he was falling into a black hole, completely frozen and helpless. 

He is aiming for me? But why? I can't seem to move... Cilan thought, staring as the Absol before him charged up its hyper beam and prepared to fire. Pansage too was frozen to the spot, but there was one person still here that could help. Cilan felt a shoulder ram into his stomach as he was speared to the ground. He looked up, seeing Gary holding onto him as they rolled away from the hyper beam. The beam exploded onto the ground and caused an even bigger explosion, still hitting Gary and Cilan somewhat. Pansage looked at the smoke with worry, due to the fact that his trainer wasn't in view.

"Pan?" Pansage tilted his head slightly, waiting for the smoke to clear. As it did, Gary was just getting up and Cilan followed suit. They was both covered in scrapes and scratches and Gary had a big cut across his head, blood seeping out of the wound. 

Cilan tried to open his mouth to speak, but he couldn't. He brushed of his clothes and looked at the hurt Gary, who smirked at him. "Give em' hell, for me and for Ash" 

Cilan's face turned into one full of confidence and he nodded. "Will do. You better get Umbreon to the Pokemon Center, fast"

"Goodluck!" Gary said, returning his Umbreon. He rushed off in the opposite direction, heading for the Pokemon Center.

"Now, lets do this Pansage" Cilan stepped back up to face the two Absols, one still being mega evolved. 

"Pan!" Pansage clenched his fists and got ready to fight.

"Ok, bullet seed across the ground!" Cilan instantly started the battle and Pansage executed his command with amazing speed, faster than he had ever done it before. Pansage was just a blur as he jumped into the air, no one could even see him preparing the bullet seed, it just escaped from his mouth like a machine gun, tearing up the field and creating alot of smoke. "Good, this will buy us a little time"

Pansage and Cilan stood and watched as the smoke slowly began to clear. As soon as it did, there was no one in sight. 

"You think a little bit of smoke can help you?" Parker's voice rang out around the field. Cilan turned around constantly, not seeing anyone. 

"Absol use giga impact!" Tristan and Jake were suddenly behind Cilan, like they was always meant to be there. Mega Absol stomped on the ground with force and everything went silent for a moment. Then, an explosive boom echoed through the field as a beam shot down from the sky, smashing into Pansage and Cilan. The explosion was really strong, but Cilan held his ground.

I must not give up. Aslong as I am standing, this isn't over! He kept on telling himself, searching for Pansage. Pansage had the same attitude, he was still standing tall, taking the hit head on.

"Oh, so your Pansage is strong, huh?" Tristan folded his arms, slightly impressed. "This is going to make for a fun battle"

"Well, looks like we are going to have to cut it short, Umbreon, hypnosis!" Parker was now on the other side of Cilan, surrounding him. But, Cilan was prepared. He span around and gestured to Pansage.

"Pansage, grass whistle on Umbreon!" Cilan made Parker feel like an idiot. As Pansage began to play his song, it completely blocked out the hypnosis. But, as Pansage was disposing of the grass he used..

"Umbreon, hypnosis again" Parker repeated himself and Umbreon used hypnosis. Just as this happened and Pansage was dozing off, words echoed into Cilan's head.

"Well, in Ash's second gym battle in Kalos, he had Pikachu thunderbolt himself just before the sleeping powder had any effect, which kept him awake"  

I need to do something, fast. Cilan immediately understood what he had to do. "Pansage, use bullet seed on yourself!"

Pansage was feeling too tired to even question Cilan's motives. He looked up into the air and shot out seeds from his mouth. They was quite slow and very weak, but as each one hit his head, it managed to keep him awake. Pansage shook his head and opened his eyes fully.

"Pan! Pansage!" Pansage turned to Cilan with a smile.

"Great. Now then..." Cilan clicked his fingers. "It's evaluating time!"

The members of Team Shadow froze on the spot, giving Cilan a 'what are you on about?' look.

"You and your Umbreon are very close friends, but a repetitive move is a recipe for disaster. Umbreon does not seem to have any quality ingredients mixed into his obedient attitude. I would say you and your Umbreon need to work on your teamwork"

"How dare yo-" Parker began, but Cilan turned around, ignoring him.

"As for you and your Absols, they are perfect partners. The right blend of capable moves, topped off with a mega evolution as the secret ingredient. A recipe for cohesive teamwork and ultimate power!"

"Is this meant to be some sort of joke?" Jake looked at Tristan, his face dropping into a frown. Tristan just shrugged, looking over Cilan's shoulder. Parker looked like he was about to erupt into a huge rage.

"UMBREON!" Parker shouted out, getting Cilan and Pansage's attention in the process. "Lets bury this prick into the ground!"

"Umbreon!" Umbreon snarled, preparing for battle.

"I don't think I have really heard Parker so angry" Tristan and Jake backed off slightly, letting Parker take the battle.

"He never swears or uses language like that, I am worried for the green haired guy and his Pansage now" Jake gulped, watching the battle commence.

"Umbreon! Feint attack!" Parker was still enraged, shouting out the moves. Umbreon suddenly disappeared to the side, using a great amount of speed. Feint attack was a guaranteed hit and Umbreon charged from behind, striking Pansage down. Pansage instantly rolled back onto his feet and face Umbreon. "Now, shadow ball" 

"Quick Pansage, jump up and use rock tomb!" Cilan watched as Pansage dodged the dark spherical shadow ball and jumped into the air. He then put his hands a few inches apart and a large rock started to form inbetween Pansage's hands. It began to rapidly increase in size, Pansage following it with his hands to keep it in place above his head. The huge boulder was then thrown at Umbreon, smashing down onto Umbreon's body and breaking into tiny pieces. Umbreon dropped onto two paws, almost losing its balance. "Pansage, bullet seed, don't let up!" 

"Umbreon, dodge and use moonlight!" Parker's Umbreon moved away from the rapid bullet seed with ease, and then cast a big orb in the shape of a moon infront of himself. The moonlight was absorbed by Umbreon, giving him energy and healing his wounds. 

Cilan gritted his teeth, wondering what he could do next. He had no idea how to fight back, especially against three people. 

"I can see it in your eyes, you know you are fighting a losing battle. We don't even need your tags, we just want to see you suffer. We have your friend Ash Ketchu-"

"Did someone say my name?" Ash came walking out of the forest, with all of his friends trailing behind him, their Pokemon fully healed and ready. 

Parker was still angry and now shocked. "Ho-how?!" He was exasperated. He didn't know what was going on for once, he wasn't in control. 

"I think you might find that your plan has been foiled, Team Shadow" Ash folded his arms and smiled. Cilan sighed, feeling glad that Ash was ok and everyone was here to help. 

"This is just the beginning Ash Ketchum, don't think that we are out of this tournament yet!" Parker said, making it clear that they had all gathered enough points for themselves anyway. Then, they all disappeared into the dark forest, like they was never there in the first place. 

The alarm sounded, concluding the tournament and asking all participants to return.

"I..I didn't get enough points" Cilan dropped to his knees, feeling defeated. All of his friends were going to the next round and he wasn't. He felt like his fighting was all for nothing. He felt tired and weak, having used his energy shouting. The scrapes and scratches all over his face and arms, his sleeves ripped and ruined, was it all for nothing? Cilan looked up, seeing Ash holding his hand out. In Ash's extended palm, was enough tags for 100 points.

"Team Shadow used me to collect as many tags as possible, so I have plenty of spare points. You didn't fight them for nothing Cilan" Cilan took Ash's hand and Ash lifted him up, leaving the tags with Cilan. 

"Well, I hate to ruin the moment, but we need to go" Iris frowned, waiting impatiently to leave. "We only have a few minutes so lets run!" 

Everyone began to run off, with big smiles on their faces, shouts of 'wait for me!' and 'slow down!' from Clemont as everyone raced off to the Pokemon Center. 

In the Pokemon Center, it was busy and thriving with many people still. 

"Ok! We have counted up the remaining participants and we still have 216 people left in the qualifying rounds. We need to break this down to 64 people by the end of the month, so hold onto your horses for the next round, scheduled in two days time!" The announcer put her microphone down and walked away after giving every the news. Excitement buzzed around the Pokemon Center, like it was exploding from a bomb and cascading down on everyone like debris from the destroyed buildings surrounding the explosion. Everyone was super excited, except for one group in the corner. 

Team Shadow.

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What do we think of the story so far? I am enjoying writing this much more than my last fanfic, but I haven't had any overall opinions. I would love some feedback and also any criticism, even if it is the smallest amount.

Also, I love how most people just want amourshipping and by using titles that hint at amour, I get more reads on that chapter xD just read the god damn story first :3