"Thanks Professor Oak. See you later." Ash said, waving goodbye, as the call ended. He picked up the five new pokeballs and looked up at Pikachu on his shoulder. "Alright, let's go say hello to these five."

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled out in excitement.

It was the morning after the fight with Team Rocket. Ash and the other Pokemon had camped out for the night and then had come to the Pokemon soon after waking up. Although, they did do a little bit of training before setting off. Everyone had been up for that. Ash was going to make sure to get training sessions with all the Pokemon he transferred over.

Ash and Pikachu arrived outside the Pokemon centre and called out all five Pokemon. Out came Boldore, Buizel, Staraptor, Gible and Scraggy. Although he expected it, Ash was barely able to prepare himself as they all leaped at him. Boldore and Gible caused the most pain, with Boldore's weight and Gible deciding it would be a good idea to bite Ash's head.

"Ow!" Ash said, although he didn't sound too convincing, because he was laughing. "Alright, everyone, please get off. I'd like to actually seeyou." His Pokemon complied and Ash was able to finally look at his next team.

Boldore was a blue rock-like Pokemon with red crystals on his body and rock-like pincers. Buizel was an orange weasel-like Pokemon with a yellow floatation sack around his neck. Staraptor was a bird-like Pokemon, similar in size to Talonflame, with brown feathers on most of its body, but white ones on its chest and a red tip on its head. Gible was a big-jawed Pokemon that kind of looked like a shark with two legs. And finally, Scraggy, the youngest of the group, was a lizard-like Pokemon with orange skin along his bottom that functioned almost like pants which he constantly pulled up.

"So how have you all been?" Ash asked. "Have you been training hard?"

Buizel stepped forward, folding his arms across his chest and nodding. "Bui-bui!" He announced proudly.

Ash laughed. Clearly Buizel hadn't changed a bit. He was very similar to Hawlucha in his personality, although Hawlucha probably showed off a little more. "Glad to hear it, Buizel. I know you've always been a pretty hard worker."

"Gible!" Gible yelled. He ran forward and opened his mouth, aiming at the sky.

Ash's eyes widened. "Whoa! Wait Gible!" Luckily, this stopped Gible and Ash and all the Pokemon sighed in relief. "Don't worry, Gible, you can show us draco meteor soon. Just...maybe not so close to a Pokemon centre, ok?"

"Gible." Gible said, nodding.

And then, in a few minutes, Ash and his Pokemon were on the road. Again, he kept his Pokemon out of their pokeballs. He hadn't been sure whether or not Boldore could keep up, but the rock-Pokemon was actually doing fairly well. Ash realized he was actually probably moving a lot faster with Boldore than he would be with Clemont.

As they walked, Ash wondered why Olympia had asked him to go to Shalour City. The obvious assumption would be to learn more about mega evolution and possibly about his bond with Greninja, but if that was the case, why not ask him to go to Lumiose City and work with Professor Sycamore. He wondered if Olympia was purposefully keeping him from Serena, but dismissed the idea quickly. It was better not to dwell on that. Although, if he saw another vision of Serena being attacked, he didn't think he'd be able to stop himself from getting his strongest Pokemon from Professor Oak and going straight to Lumiose City to pulverize anyone that went near her.

"Bui-bui?" Ash jumped and noticed Buizel walking along beside him. He realized he must have been walking with an angry expression or something, because all of his Pokemon were looking at him with concern.

"Um...sorry. Just lost in my thoughts." Ash muttered quickly. When they looked at him disbelievingly, he explained. "Alright...it's just that I'm worried about someone. Some bad stuff is coming to Kalos. That's part of why I need you guys. I just don't know how long I can handle not doing anything about it. I hate having to wait for it to happen."

"Gible!" Gible shouted. He suddenly opened his jaws and aimed into the sky. Orange fireballs came firing out of it and into the sky and then came crashing down.

"Ah! Gible, why'd you do that now!" Ash yelped, running around to dodge it, sort of forgetting that Gible had actually mastered draco meteor a long time ago. And then, he stopped, hearing something totally unexpected.

"Pip-piplup!"

Ash turned around, eyes widening in disbelief. He didn't see it, but that sound was way too familiar. He looked at Gible, who was smiling. "Gible." He said.

"Piplup!" A familiar voice shouted from the trees in concern. "Are you ok?"

"Piplup." The answer came. Ash was relieved it sounded like it was, in fact, ok.

The familiar voice spoke again. "There's only one draco meteor attack that can find you out of nowhere like that." There was a rustling in the trees and then a girl with a black shirt, short pink skirt, pink boots and a white cap over her navy blue hair walked out with a blue penguin-like Pokemon. She looked like she was trying to put on an angry face, but was ultimately unable to control a big smile. "Ash! I knew it was you."

Ash laughed, hardly believing it was true. "Dawn."

XXXXX

"I want you to visit Professor Sycamore today." Palermo said. "He'll be back from his trip to Anistar City. Now, I know you won't be able to stop yourself from asking about Ash, so I won't tell you not to. However, that is not why I want you to go."

Serena narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What could Professor Sycamore do to help me?"

Palermo thought for a moment and then shrugged. "That is something you will have to figure out yourself. I do think it would be valuable for you, though."

"Alright. I guess I'll go there then." Serena muttered. She kind of wanted to do what she did the day before...minus getting attacked. She'd been able to embrace wandering the streets of Lumiose City with her Pokemon.

So, after finishing their breakfast, both Palermo and Serena set off. It didn't take long to get to Sycamore's lab, so Serena was there in only a few minutes. She looked at her Pokemon and saw Delphox looking at the lab fondly.

"This is where we met, Delphox. Remember?" Serena asked with a smile.

"Del-delphox!" Delphox said happily.

They continued up the steps towards the lab. When Serena opened the door, what she saw made her eyes widen. She couldn't believe it. It didn't make any sense. How could he be here now, when he was in Anistar City only the day before? "Ash!" She yelled and she ran forward and hugged the person that was talking to Professor Sycamore.

"Huh?" The person turned around and Serena jumped back with a scream. "Sorry, do I know you?" He asked.

Serena blinked a few times. She was completely embarrassed, realizing that the guy she'd just hugged was definitely not Ash, despite the similar appearance. He had a similar blue coat. He had a red hat as well, but sunglasses were sitting on the top of it. He also had a black bag with one strap around his shoulder. And unlike Ash, who had brown eyes, this boy had blue eyes.

"Um...sorry...I thought you were someone else." Serena muttered.

Professor Sycamore coughed. "Why don't I introduce you two?" He gestured to the boy. "This is Calem. I understand why you had him confused with Ash. They are quite similar. He's been working on the Pokedex for me and also challenging the Kalos region gyms." He gestured to Serena next. "And Calem, this is Serena. She's a Pokemon performer. She came in first place at the Masterclass showcase before falling just short of Aria in the final battle."

Calem nodded, looking impressed. "Oh yeah. I recognize you. I watched that on TV. Ash is the guy you were performing with, right?"

"Yeah." Serena said. She couldn't keep the sadness out of her voice. She had been so sure he was Ash. "So...um...you're competing in the Kalos League then?"

"Yup. I've got my eight badges. I just came here to see Professor Sycamore before heading back home to Vaniville Town." Calem smiled. "Aren't you from Vaniville Town as well?"

Serena looked up at him, surprise in her eyes. She'd never heard of this guy before. She felt kind of bad. If he was from the same town as her, she felt like she should probably know him. "Yeah. Sorry, I didn't know you were from there as well."

"Oh don't worry. I wouldn't expect you to. I only moved there a little while ago." Calem laughed and then turned to Sycamore. "So...is this Ash guy good? His Greninja looked really strong in that showcase."

Sycamore nodded. "Very good. If you want to win the Kalos League, you'll probably have to go through him."

Serena felt a little irritated. Nobody would be getting through Ash. She didn't care how good Calem was at battling. Ash was better. "You can't beat Ash." She growled.

Calem looked at her in surprise. "You've never even seen me battle. How would you know?" He smirked. "Of course...maybe you could find out. Why don't we have a battle?"

Sycamore did a slight groan. "Uh...Serena's not a battler, Calem. Her Pokemon aren't trained for that kind of thing."

Calem looked at the professor like he was crazy. "She fought well in the showcase. She even lasted longer than Ash, who you say is really good. If she thinks I'm no good, I'd like to show her."

Sycamore was about to say more, but Serena interrupted. "Fine." She looked at her three Pokemon who all looked ready to go. "Three on three battle?"

Calem nodded. "Sounds good." He looked at Sycamore, who didn't look too pleased about the whole thing. "Professor, is it alright if we use your lab? You have an battlefield area where we can battle, don't you?"

Sycamore sighed and nodded. "Yes...I do. If you insist on this idea." And so, he lead the two trainers out back towards the outdoor section of the lab. They walked through a section of trees where a large group of bug type Pokemon were hanging around. A bright blue Vivillon swooped down to fly next to Calem.

"Hey, Vivillon. Enjoying the lab, I guess?" Calem said. Serena realized this Vivillon must be Calem's. She supposed, much like how Ash's Pokemon stayed with Professor Oak in Kanto, Calem's probably stayed here, at Sycamore's lab.

Sycamore finally lead them out of the trees and the battlefield came into view. He turned and looked at Serena as Calem took his place on one side of the field. He kept his voice quiet so only Serena could hear. "Serena, are you sure you want to do this? I don't think you realize...Calem is quite strong. I honestly don't even think Ash could beat him. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he wins the Kalos League."

Serena narrowed her eyes. For some reason, she felt she had to do this. "I don't care how strong he is. Like he said, I fought pretty well at the showcase. My Pokemon can do this." She looked at Pancham, Sylveon and Delphox. "Right?"

"Cham!" Pancham yelled, pumping his fist.

"Syl!" Sylveon said, holding Serena's hand with one of her feelers.

"Del-delphox!" Delphox finished, smiling confidently.

Sycamore couldn't help but smile. "Alright." He turned to face the field as Serena went to her battle position. "Ok, you two, I'll be the referee. This will be a three on three battle. The first trainer to lose all three Pokemon will lose the match." Serena and Calem nodded. "Let the battle begin."

XXXXX

"Brock told me you were here!" Dawn yelled, running up to Ash and giving him a quick hug. Piplup and Pikachu kind of mimicked their trainers with a similar hug. "You're challenging the Kalos gyms right?"

Ash smiled, thrilled to be seeing his Sinnoh friend. "Yeah." He pulled out his badge case to show her. "I've got seven badges." He sighed. "I lost at the eighth gym, though. I'm doing some...special training before I challenge the Snowbelle Gym again."

Dawn waved her hand as if to dismiss his disappointment. "Losing means nothing to you, Ash. You'll win soon enough." She looked at his Pokemon. "I thought you would have caught new Pokemon." She smiled at Buizel, Gible and Staraptor, clearly remembering them from their travelling in Sinnoh. "Although it is good to see these guys again." She looked at Pikachu. "And obviously Pikachu as well."

"I have caught a few Kalos Pokemon, but I...uh...well it's kind of important for me to train with all of my Pokemon right now. I need to have them all ready for the Kalos League." He was hesitant to tell Dawn the whole story.

He was relieved when Dawn seemed to accept that. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. I guess you should have done that when you brought your old Pokemon back for the Sinnoh League." When Ash gave her a dark stare she giggled. "I'm just kidding. Come on, Ash, you were basically second place there. You're the only one besides the Elite Four and Cynthia to beat even one of Tobias' Pokemon and you actually beat two."

Ash looked at her expectantly. "What? Did Tobias battle the Elite Four and Cynthia?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah. He beat the Elite Four, but Cynthia ended up beating him. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it. I guess it was only really shown in Sinnoh and obviously you've been busy. Cynthia's Garchomp wiped the floor with most of his team, but I think he did fairly well."

Ash could feel his face almost glowing with excitement and interest. "What were Tobias' other Pokemon? Were they all legendary Pokemon?"

Dawn shrugged. "I'm not sure. I didn't see the whole thing." She chuckled nervously. A contest was being shown at the same time...sorry. Anyways, I thought you might find it interesting you did almost as well as some Elite Four members."

"Wow..." Ash said quietly. "Cynthia's really strong to beat Tobias."

Dawn nodded. "But hey, you've been training hard, right? I'm sure you could beat Tobias now and probably give Cynthia a run for her money." She tilted her head. "How about we have a battle and I can see how strong you've gotten?"

Ash smirked and looked at Buizel, who looked interested in fighting his old trainer. "Sure. You ok with fighting Buizel?"

"That's fine." She pulled out a pokeball and released an unexpected Pokemon. It was a huge badger-like Pokemon with flames coming out of its back. "My Quilava evolved."

Ash smiled. "Wow, looks really strong."

He scanned it with his Pokedex. "Typhlosion, the volcano Pokemon. If its rage peaks, it becomes so hot that anything that touches it will instantly go up in flames."

In a few minutes, Ash and Dawn were facing each other in an open area, perfect for a battlefield. Buizel stood ready in front of Ash, while Typhlosion stood in front of Dawn. Ash knew that despite the type advantage, Dawn's Typhlosion would likely be a tough opponent for Buizel. It definitely looked strong.

"Ready when you are, Dawn." Ash said.

Dawn smirked. "I'm ready." She pointed. "Typhlosion, use flamethrower!"

"Sonic boom!" Ash yelled.

Typhlosion's flames on his back blasted out, making him look like he was engulfed in flames and he launched an extremely powerful flamethrower towards Buizel. However, the weasel-like Pokemon didn't flinch. He braced himself and then jumped up and swung his tail, now glowing white, towards the flame. Immediately, a blue blast of air whipped towards the flames. Ash saw Dawn's eyes widen as the sonic boom easily ripped through the flames and then blasted into Typhlosion's chest, knocking him down hard.

"How?" She asked. "Buizel hasn't even been training with you that much lately right?"

"Doesn't mean neither of us train." Ash said, smiling as Buizel landed and folded his arms proudly. "Alright, Buizel, we don't wanna let up. Aqua jet!"

"Flame charge!" Dawn ordered.

Both Pokemon engulfed themselves in their preferred element. Buizel was surrounded by water and Typhlosion was surrounded by flames. Then, they launched forward, heading straight towards each other. As water hit fire, there was a massive explosion and steam and smoke blasted in all directions.

Ash didn't wait to see the result. He had faith Buizel had fought through, unlike Dawn, who was nervously trying to see through the smoke. "Water pulse, go!" He yelled.

"Bui-bui!" Buizel yelled and the smoke was just starting to clear and although hard to see, Ash was able to watch as a sphere of water whipped towards Typhlosion, who didn't seem to know where it was coming from. Dawn tried to get him to dodge it but it was too late. It landed hard in Typhlosion's chest and he flew back.

"Finish with ice punch!" Ash yelled. He knew it wasn't a very effective attack, but had a feeling it would be just enough. Buizel jumped forward with great speed and was in front of Typhlosion, who was just starting to get up, in an instant. The water-weasel pulled back his fist and it became covered in ice, and then he whipped it forward, slamming it into Typhlosion's jaw. The large, fire-badger staggered back and then dropped to the ground in front of Dawn. The battle was over.

"Aww..." Dawn whined, sounding extremely disappointed. "I really thought we could win."

"I thought you said I was capable of beating Tobias. Are you saying you think you could beat him?" Ash laughed.

Dawn shrugged. "I guess you have a point." She walked forward and checked on Typhlosion, who was now starting to get up. "You did great, Typhlosion. Thanks." She recalled him to his pokeball and then got up. She looked at Buizel. "Wow, Buizel, you've gotten even stronger. Have you been training hard at Professor Oak's lab?" She narrowed her eyes in confusion as she continued to look at Buizel.

Ash didn't understand what she was looking at and looked at Buizel himself. Buizel seemed to be staring down at himself in amazement. He then looked at his paws, as though they were unfamiliar to him. "Buizel, you ok?" Ash asked.

Buizel turned towards Ash. He looked at his trainer with shocked eyes. "Bui..." He said quietly. He pointed to Ash with his paw and then at himself. "Bui-bui." He finished.

Ash gulped. He understood what Buizel was saying, but he didn't feel comfortable talking about it with Dawn there. "Um...yeah. Yeah we fought well together." Buizel looked like he was going to try and say more, but Ash looked at Dawn quickly to try to convey to him not to. He seemed to understand.

Dawn looked at Ash. "Wow, you two were in perfect sync."

"Uh...yeah." Ash said nervously. He thought back to the other Pokemon he'd brought back the day before. It had been the same with them. "My Pokemon have definitely worked hard."

Dawn then looked at Buizel again, who was still looking at himself with amazement. "Yeah...right." Ash gave her a questioning look. "Well...I'm sure they have, but...don't you deserve some credit?"

"Bui-bui!" Buizel shouted, nodding.

The other Pokemon crowded around Ash, nodding. Gible even jumped up and lightly bit Ash's head. Luckily it didn't hurt, so Ash just left him there. "Um...I guess..." Ash muttered.

Dawn leaned her head forward and peered at Ash. "You do seem different."

"How?" Ash asked, glancing away, as if eye contact revealed that he knew something seemed to be up with him and his Pokemon in the last couple of days.

"I don't know..." Dawn said quietly. She shook her head. "Whatever." She suddenly jumped up excitedly. "So where are you going now?"

"I'm on my way to Shalour City. I'm planning on doing some training with the gym leader there. I...uh..." He realized he didn't know the reason, since Olympia hadn't told him, so he made one up. "She's got a Lucario that can mega evolve so I thought it might be good training."

Dawn nodded, accepting that. "Ok, cool." She shuffled her feet nervously. "Um...well I'm going to Lumiose City. I was hoping to see Prism Tower while I was here. Maybe we can travel together until then. It's on the way to Shalour City, right?"

Ash hesitated. He'd been hoping to go around Lumiose City completely. He was worried that if he went too close, he'd be too tempted to find Serena. And then...he had no idea what would happen if he did that. But he looked at Dawn and saw she was really excited about the idea and nodded. "Sure." Old friends will be needed. Maybe not just Pokemon. He thought to himself.

XXXXX

"Pancham, you're up first." Serena said, and Pancham jumped forward. As much as he liked performing, he was probably Serena's most battle-hungry Pokemon. He definitely had a spirit that could match a lot of Ash's Pokemon.

Serena noticed Calem didn't look too impressed. "Blaziken, you're up." He tossed out a pokeball and a red and yellow two-legged chicken-like Pokemon with a mane of white hair emerged. It definitely looked strong. "Ready?" Calem asked with a smirk.

Serena clenched her fists. "Pancham, use stone edge!" She yelled. Pancham slammed his fists to the ground and blue stones started shooting up from the ground, heading in a line towards Blaziken.

Calem quickly ordered his own attack. "Blaze kick, right through it." Serena couldn't see what was happening through the line of stones in front of her and Pancham, but she heard what sounded like something breaking. Then, all of a sudden, the stone in front of Pancham exploded and Blaziken came through, his flaming leg out in front of him. He continued with the blaze kick and it slammed into Pancham and the little panda-Pokemon went flying back. He landed with a thud, but was somehow able to struggle to his feet. Calem then ordered his next attack. "Sky uppercut."

"Arm thrust, Pancham!" Serena squeaked, noticing the lack of confidence in her voice. She winced as Pancham jumped forward, throwing out his arm, but then Blaziken was on him too quickly, swinging up his fist and slamming it onto Pancham's jaw. Pancham flew up and then came down and landed hard at Blaziken's feet.

"Pancham is unable to battle. Blaziken wins." Sycamore said, giving Serena a sympathetic look.

Serena ran over to Pancham, while Calem recalled his Blaziken. "Pancham, are you ok?" She asked, picking him up and cradling him in her arms. He weakly groaned, but then opened his eyes. He gave her a weak smile and then closed his eyes again. She smiled and then recalled him into his pokeball. She stood up and took her place on the battlefield again. "Sylveon." She said and Sylveon stepped forward.

Calem smirked. "Well in that case..." He threw out a pokeball and Serena's eyes widened seeing another Sylveon appear in front of them. "Sylveon vs Sylveon." Calem said.

"Fine." Sylveon turned to Serena and nodded with a determined look. "Fairy wind!"

"You too, Sylveon." Calem said.

Both Pokemon blasted pink and white wind towards each other. The attacks slammed together and there seemed to be an explosion of pink wind. It seemed like the attacks were even in power, but then Serena's Sylveon let up a little, thinking that was it. However, Calem's, being trained for battles and not performances, continued the attack and the wind swept forward and launched Serena's Sylveon back.

"Moonblast!" Calem called. His Sylveon jumped up and an orb of light shined above it and then it came down and landed, the bright orb behind it. It took on a pink light and then launched towards Serena's Sylveon, who was only just starting to get up. The moonblast slammed into her and then she went flying back and rolled over in front of Serena.

"Serena's Sylveon is unable to battle. Calem's Sylveon wins." Sycamore said quietly.

Serena took a deep breath and then recalled her Sylveon, while Calem recalled his. She then turned to Delphox, who was glaring at Calem. "Ready?"

"Delphox!" Delphox shouted and with one jump, she was in front of Serena and ready to battle, her branch held out in front of her.

"Ok, you're going with your partner, I'll go with mine. Chesnaught!" Calem shouted, releasing his third Pokemon. It was mostly white with some green and looked mammalian, except for its big shell on its back that was spiked and kind of looked like a chestnut.

Serena scanned it with her Pokedex. "Chesnaught, the spiny armour Pokemon. When it takes a defensive posture with its fists guarding its face, it could withstand a bomb blast." She looked at the Pokemon and knew that it definitely wasn't going to be easy for Delphox, despite the type advantage. She hated how that always seemed to happen to her and her friends.

Serena made the first move. "Delphox, use scratch!" She decided she needed to get close so she could use the super effective fire moves at close range.

Calem smirked. "Spiky shield."

As Delphox ran forward, claws stretched out in front of her, Chesnaught folded up and entered his shell. Immediately, extra spikes emerged from the shell. Serena's eyes widened, seeing what was about to happen. Delphox swiped at the shell and made contact with the spikes and she jumped back, holding her paw in pain.

"I thought you'd do something like that." Calem said. He pointed. "Rollout!" Chesnaught stayed in his spiky shield and started rapidly rolling towards Delphox. There was no time for her to get out of the way and Chesnaught slammed hard into her with the super effective attack.

Delphox fell to the ground in front of Serena and tried to get up. It was clear that she couldn't do it, but she was looking at Serena with pure determination. She desperately didn't want to let her trainer down. She desperately wanted to win this.

Serena shook her head. "It's ok, Delphox. Don't hurt yourself." She knelt down and placed a hand on Delphox's shoulder. "Don't worry." She looked across at Calem and saw him watching with...sympathy in his eyes. "We give-"

"Um sorry, Serena." Calem said quickly, pulling out a pokeball and recalling his Chesnaught. "I've gotta go. We'll just call this a draw. Well done." He smiled and then turned away. "Bye Professor Sycamore." He said, as he walked pass the professor.

Sycamore smiled and then looked at Serena. "Well...congratulations on the draw."

Serena shook her head. "What was that about?" She asked. "Obviously I lost."

Sycamore sighed. "Um...well...I think Calem just saw how much you cared for your Pokemon and how much they wanted to win." He smiled. "Like I said, he's a lot like Ash."

Serena looked at Delphox, who was now passed out in front of her. She recalled her to her pokeball and stood up. "I guess he is." She stared at the ground for a moment, thinking. He was a lot like Ash. He... She shook her head to get rid of the thought. She looked up at Sycamore and saw him looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"I asked you if you heard about what Ash did in Anistar City." She nodded, still feeling distracted. Sycamore smiled. "Why don't we go inside and we can talk?"

"Sure." Serena said quickly and they went inside.