The training tournament was now in the final stage. After a long day, it had come down to the final battle. Serena vs Miette. Everyone was having dinner before the battle and Miette called Serena over for a talk.

"Today has been rough, huh?" Miette said, as soon as Serena followed her outside.

"Skip the small talk" Serena replied bluntly. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, about Ash" Miette admitted, making Serena jump back nervously.

"Wh-why?" Serena mumbled, slightly puzzled yet embarrassed. 

"Well, because, you like him don't you?" Miette looked at Serena out of the corner of her eye. "You still haven't told him, have you?"

"Why are you asking me this? You know I haven't. Do you like him?" Serena wondered, knowing that Miette was her competition.

"Not really" Miette suddenly admitted. "I always used to say just to get under your skin" 

"What for?" Serena pressed on.

"Simply put, I was trying to get you to tell Ash how you feel, but it looks like you never got the chance" Miette smiled a little and Serena's opinion of her started to change. It was as if her evil intentions were just her acting.

"Oh, I see" Serena looked down, not really knowing what to say. "Let's go back inside, they will probably be waiting for us"

Serena was right. They were all waiting for Serena and Miette to step into the arena.

"This is the final match. We decided the winner will get something of their choice from someone in the room, but it can not be a Pokemon" Clemont announced. "With that, let the match begin!"

"Ok Slurpuff, it's your time to shine!" Miette announced her Pokemon, throwing the poke ball into the air. Slurpuff came out and awaited its opponent.

"Braixen, lets do this one more time!" Serena said with confidence, sending out Braixen.

"Hey Clemont, hasn't she used Braixen every time?" Ash asked, leaning over his seat. 

"She has, which is strange. I would've thought Pancham or Eevee might get some chances" Clemont studied Serena and Braixen, who seemed fine for the moment.

"Now Serena, it doesn't matter who loses, because we still have our other competition" Miette teased, with a wink at Serena. 

Serena began blushing like crazy, but remembered what Miette said, so she forced a wink back. "Right back at ya!"

"Slurpuff use psychic on Braixen!"

"Braixen, use fire blast to shield yourself from Slurpuff!" Serena instantly ordered. It was clear she was ready for anything and it was also clear that Braixen and her had been training hard. Braixen span her stick around and a huge fire ball grew in the middle. Then, the fire ball shot out six different flames in either direction and they joined together to make a shield, before exploding.

"I see" Clemont pushed his glasses up as everyone looked at him for an explanation "Fire blast usually encases itself around the target, but because Serena asked for a shield, Braixen caused an explosion so Slurpuff couldn't use psychic" 

The smoke from the explosion cleared out and Slurpuff had to take a few steps back.

"Now, use flamethrower!" Serena threw her hand into the air and Braixen threw her stick into the air. The fire in her stick became a large fiery ball at the end. Braixen threw the stick down and the flame shot out, just like a flamethrower. The flames shot at Slurpuff at such a high speed, it connected before Slurpuff could even react at all. The flamethrower sent Slurpuff back a step, but she recovered well. 

"I have noticed the cohesion between Braixen and Serena, a tremendous mix of flavours in their battle plan!" Cilan said, with eyes full of surprise.

"I also noticed something about this battle. Slurpuff is a fairy type and fairy type moves are resisted by fire type Pokemon, but in return, fire types don't do much damage to fairy types" Brock commented, after studying the battle.

"So, what you're saying is, this could be a stalemate?" May asked Brock, who seemed to nod in reply. 

"Urgh, I need to get back to the hotel soon" Dawn complained, leaning back in her chair.

"My Mom is probably wondering where I am, now that I am back home for awhile," Ash said, with a slight yawn. "And Pikachu and I are tired"

"Ka..Pi.," Pikachu replied lazily, his eyes half shut.

"Well, lets just see what happens next" Misty was sitting in a casual position, she wasn't worried about when it would end at all, she was feeling pretty peaceful. Everyone's heads turned back to the battle, just as Slurpuff recovered.

"Slurpuff, energy ball!" Miette was feeling a little frustrated with Braixen's speed and power, but she had to carry on. Slurpuff raised its arms up and a ball of energy former in a spherical shape. Slurpuff threw the ball at Braixen, who was preparing to move.

"Braixen, use hidden power!" Serena said in reply to Miette's attack. Braixen lifted up her stick and three small green spheres former around the stick, before shooting into the air. Two of them hit the energy ball head on and caused a large explosion in the middle of the field. Slurpuff didn't see the last one, which had a sudden direct hit against Slurpuff's side, knocking it down onto the floor.

"Slurpuff!" Miette clenched her fist in frustration. "Come on, you can do it!"

"Braixen, fire blast. Finish it off!" Serena said to Braixen who nodded and span her stick around once more. Before the smoke cleared, a fiery cage shot out through the smoke and engulfed itself around Slurpuff.

"Slurpuff, don't back down, use psychic on yourself!" Miette shouted this out in desperation, not wanting to lose. Slurpuff suddenly began to float in the air, just as the fire blast exploded in on itself. Sweat formed beneath Miette's brow as she though of a possible way to win the match. "Use energy ball one more time!"

"Braixen use the hidden power again, don't let up!" Serena countered Miette's attack, the same thing happening again. But, this time, Slurpuff was still in the air from the psychic and had a clear shot on Braixen, who had just used hidden power and was moving her stick back in position.

"Now, psychic one last time!" Miette timed it to perfection, trapping Braixen in a psychic. Braixen began floating in the air, at a slow speed. "Now let it rip!" Slurpuff started to spin Braixen around, slam Braixen into the ground and walls, dealing as much damage as possible. 

"Braixen!" Serena shouted, worrying about her partner, who had no escape from the psychic move. "Use fire blast on yourself!" Braixen listened to Serena's crazy words, but before the fire blast could connect, Slurpuff moved Braixen right into her face.

"Now use energy ball to finish the job!" Miette said to Slurpuff with a wink.

"At such a close range, this may call the match" Cilan commented as the others watched with widened eyes, wondering what might happen next. The energy ball formed in Slurpuffs hands, who then slammed it down onto Braixen. The energy ball exploded, sending Braixen flying from the close range impact. Braixen struggled to stand up.

"You can do it Braixen, come on!" Serena tried to keep her Pokemon going, but it was no use. Braixen fell to one side and then fainted.

"Braixen is unable to battle and that means, Slurpuff and Miette win the tournament!" Clemont announced at the end of the battle. Miette jumped up in happiness and hugged Slurpuff.

"You did great, well done!" Miette praised her Pokemon and then took out a poke puff. "You deserve this!" She said, throwing it into Slurpuff's mouth. 

"Slurpuff" Slurpuff purred quietly, enjoying the pokepuff. 

"You was great Braixen, please take a nice rest" Serena said sadly, returning Braixen. She was sure about winning, but the psychic and energy ball decoy distracted her, causing the loss. Serena knew she couldn't blame herself or her Pokemon and that she had to stay positive.

"Well done guys," May said as everyone sat down. It was getting late and even the Hoothoot's were out and hooting into the night sky.

"So, what are you choosing as your prize?" Dawn asked Miette. "I would ask for a dress, or maybe a tiara" 

"You're not the one who won Dawn" Iris placed her hands on her hips and frowned. Dawn laughed nervously and backed off from the slightly crept out Miette.

"I decided along time ago with what I wanted," Miette said, intriguing everyone.

"And that is...?" Iris wondered.

"It's simple really...All I want is a day out with Ash" Miette announced, making Serena's heart skip a beat.

"What?!" each girl shouted in unison, shocked by her proposal. Serena was the most shocked. Was Miette still teasing her, trying to push her towards telling Ash her feelings, or was she lying during their conversation?

Meanwhile, in a deep dark cave in the Kanto Region

"So it's four days, 12 hours and 36 minutes until the tournament begins?" Jake asked Jeremy, who confirmed this with a nod.

"My countdown clock tells me so anyway" Jeremy studied the clock on his wrist with admiration, but Elizabeth frowned.

"Your names lack originality and creativity, you really are brain dead in that sense"

"Well, what would you call it?" Jeremy asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know, a clock?" she replied, shrugging. She looked away, clearly not caring for his creations.

"Ignore her, she came last in our tournament remember?" Tristan teased, making Elizabeth feel angry.

"Will you just be quiet already?!" Elizabeth snapped at Tristan, who took one step back.

"Jeez, alright" he sweatdropped, taking one more step back.

Parker, who was leaning against the wall at the entrance, looked up at the sky. "I think it might rain tonight..." he analysed the clouds and sniffed the air. "I can smell it in the air"

"Well, you sure have a really good sense of smell" Jake nodded and the others agreed.

"It will be perfect to train our water type Pokemon, especially if I get Murkrow to use rain dance," Tristan said with excitement. 

"Then I can test out my Gyarados, oh what fun! I love a good battle!" Jake jumped up impatiently. "Come on rain!"

"Calm down and sit down. The boss will be back soon so we have to stay focused. He might want us to catch some Kanto Pokemon while we are here" Parker ordered the others, who instantly felt a little nervous.

"Yes, Parker. Of course, I apologize" Jake sat down, his excitement dying down.

"In any case, we are always in the shadows, so I doubt anyone knows of us. We will only announce our names to those who are worthy until we win the tournament of course" 

"Yeah, we got this tournament in the bag!" Tristan and Jake said in unison, pumping their fists in excitement.

"You two both act like children, you know that?" Elizabeth folded her arms and remained seated, showing her disapproval of the twin's behaviour. 

"I can't wait to fight an opponent worthy of my Pokemon. It's been awhile since we have been in the outside world" Jeremy scratched his chin in thought. "Maybe I should make something that could automatically boost my Pokemon's stats, hmm no.."

"Gah, you're all fools!" Elizabeth moaned. Parker was suddenly stood next to her within a second and his appearance made Elizabeth jump. He had just done 10 metres, but it was as if he had never moved. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed that Parker was gone he moved so quick. He knelt down and gave Elizabeth a light hearted smile, causing her to blush.

"You needn't be so rude, Liz" Parker said. Although he used the name Liz, Elizabeth didn't seem to mind it at all. "Lets just wait for the boss-"

There was a few footsteps and the boss appeared outside, his mouth visible. It broke into a grin, just as lightning struck around the area. "It's time" he said, causing the others to nod with determination. 

Something was about to go down and they didn't know it, but Ash and his friends would be caught in the midst of trouble one more time.