"Umbreon, shadow ball!" Gary shouted, panting for breath having been shouting too much, battling with his Pokemon to try and beat Cilan, who shared the same expression and energy level. 

Umbreon prepared the shadow ball at its mouth, firing the ball of dark energy at Pansage.

"Pansage, dodge it!" Cilan responded, Pansage instantly jumping up, the shadow ball slamming into the arena side, missing Cilan by inches. "Now, bullet seed!" Pansage jumped up and shot the seeds out of his mouth, as fast as bullets. They sprayed all over Umbreon, hitting his body and sending him back a few feet.

"Hang in there buddy" Gary said to Umbreon, who glanced him a look and then steadied his stance. "Ok, quick attack!" 

Cilan noticed Gary's grin and knew he had a trick up his sleeve. 

"Pansage, charge up and use solar beam!" Cilan countered once more, just as Gary confirmed his suspicions.

"Stop and use flash!" Gary called out to Umbreon, who stopped infront of Pansage and the yellow pattern on his head turned into a bright light. But, it didn't really effect Pansage, who was taking in light from the sun. Instead, the light added to his charge and then the orb of light energy appeared in Pansage's hands. 

Umbreon tried to move back, but the beam of light had already shot like a cannon into him, a critical hit from such a close range, driving Umbreon back to Gary. 

"Come on Umbreon, get up!" Gary glanced to the screen, knowing that he had two Pokemon and Cilan only had Pansage. 

"Umbreon is unable to battle!" The referee shouted, causing Gary to frown. 

"Ok, its up to you, Blastoise" Gary threw out his pokeball and Blastoise came out, towering over Pansage. 

"Pansage, don't waste time and use bullet seed!" Cilan rushed straight in, but Gary was confident now.

"Blastoise, rapid spin" 

Blastoise immediately went into his shell and began spinning rapidly, on the spot. The bullet seed was deflected like it was nothing and Blastoise jumped back onto his feet. 

"Now, water gun" Gary set up a counter attack, the cannons on Blastoise shooting out jets of water at Pansage, who couldn't dodge and was hit as a result.

"That must have done lots of damage" Ash said to himself, much to his friends interest.

"Why?" Serena asked Ash.

"Well, Blastoise is REALLY tough and, it is super effective" He explained, never taking his eyes off of the match.

Pansage opened one eye and slowly got onto his feet, shaking with every movement. Pansage was on his last leg, a poke could have fainted him here and now. But Cilan and Pansage didn't give up. 

"Pansage, rock tomb!" Cilan shouted and Pansage slowly raised his arms.

"Blastoise, use rapid spin!" Gary went back to the defensive move, just as Pansage conjured up a huge rock and planted it on Blastoise. The rock stopped Blastoise's movements, making everyone tense up. 

But, the rock smashed and Blastoise came out of his shell, injured by the rock tomb. 

"Now, solar beam" Cilan put everything into his shout and Pansage understood, their bond stronger then ever. 

Pansage didn't need much time to charge up, but Gary wasn't about to just take the hit this time. He was going to end the fight once and for all.

"Blastoise, hydro cannon!" Gary said it like it was the finishing move.

"I thought Cilan might have won this battle" Ash scratched his chin, understanding it was over. 

"But, he hasn't lost yet?" Miette wondered, confused as to why Ash had given up on him.

Ash didn't say anything, he didn't have to.

Pansage fired the solar beam just as Blastoise sent out two huge jets of powerful water into Pansage. The speed was incredible, ripping apart Pansage's solar beam effort and smashing straight into the grass type Pokemon. Even the referee knew it was over.

"Pansage is unable to battle...the winner is Gary!" He declared.

Gary returned Blastoise and walked to the middle to meet Cilan.

"That was a great fight" Gary grinned, holding out his hand.

"Next time you won't be so lucky" Cilan brought down his hand and they shook, still looking at eachother, waiting for the moment, understanding a rematch was going to happen in the not so distant future.

"Well, that concludes our matches for today, so far we have 8 of our 32 competitors going through, join us tomorrow for some more action packed Pokemon battles!" The announce ended the day, shouting through her microphone. 

Everyone filed out of the arena, meeting Dawn and Misty at the entrance to the main one. They both have confused expressions on their faces. 

"What's up?" Gary asked, still feeling good after his win.

"It's May..." Dawn turned her shoulder to May, who was sat on a bench. Everyone could see she looked completely devastated, but Dawn knew there was something else. "She...didn't take her loss all to well"

Ash moved around Dawn and headed to May, sitting next to her. "You feeling ok?"

She finally looked up and smiled. "I am fine, how was Gary and Cilan's match?"

"Gary was the victor, this time" Ash answered her question, then asking. "What about your match?"

"Well, it was kind of strange" May replied, looking confused rather than upset. 

"How so?" Cilan came walking up, everyone else gathering behind on the other benches and around them. 

"Let me tell you the whole story, then maybe you can understand" May started to tell the story. not missing out any details of her battle. The battle of darkness vs light, Elizabeth vs May. Everyone could tell that something was wrong from the start of the story, but they never imagined something would happen like it did.

Somewhere, not too far away, Elizabeth strode into the Team Shadow base, with a look of pure satisfaction on her face.

"You know, I didn't need help there Parker" She joked, digging him in the arm.

"It was all part of the plan" He replied seriously, before hopping off of the rock he sat on. "Lets make preparations for our next move" 

"Did you guys see the look on that stupid girls face when I beat her?" Elizabeth jumped up excitedly and squealed like a little girl. "She was so upset and it made me feel so much better"

"Are you a sadist?" Jeremy wondered, cocking his head to one side questioningly. 

"Wha-NO!" Elizabeth walked over and got right into his face. "I will let you know that I just thought it funny" She folded her arms and turned away, 'hmphing' at Jeremy, who just smiled.

"Yeah yeah, you sadist" He grinned, just as Tristan and Jake walked in.

"Took your time, how was your match?" Parker asked Tristan.

"Easy, we just stopped for some food on the way back" He explained, sitting down on a rock. 

"I want food!" Elizabeth groaned.

"Is there anything you don't want?" Jake asked, a smirk forming on his lips at the corner of his mouth.

"Wha- SHUT UP!" Elizabeth stomped, making everyone break out into laughter. "I swear you're all bullies!"

"Now, now, Elizabeth" A voice from the dark said, making everyone quiet. "We have made great steps so far and preparations are not over...no..." He paused, the now eerie silence making everyone tense. 

"We must keep on moving, less fighting and more planning" His voice ended with a stern tone, making everyone nod. Once the figure faded, Parker became serious.

"You heard the boss, lets get to work" He folded his arms and everyone nodded. Then, he looked out into the darkening sky and smiled. "The Kanto region won't be ready for us. They will rue the day that they didn't see the shadows, that they didn't take notice of them. Because even in the shadows, the greatest of enemies lurk" 

Over on the other side of Kanto, Ash too looked up. He could, for some reason, sense a really bad feeling. He tensed up, making Pikachu look up and feel just as worried. 

A storm was brewing.