AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Welcome back to Justice. I hope you all have been enjoying this book, however this is the second to last chapter. Meaning only one more chapter after this one. I know some on you wish this could last longer, but I just don't feel making this story longer is right for this book. As I feel making it much longer would just make this book feel dragged out, and in my opinion, ruin the quality.

Now that I have nothing else to say, if you like my work please vote, feel free to leave your comments, and please share this story with your friends. I now present to you chapter 10, enjoy.

Ash walked off of the battlefield and into the tunnel on his way to the elevator to head up to the league suite. On his way he ran into none other than Gary, who was on his way to his match.

"Saw your match Ashy-boy. Nice work on teaching her a lesson," Gary said as they closed in.

"Thanks, hope it gave the others something to think about. By the way, who's your opponent?" Ash replied as he stopped.

"Diantha, the Kalos League Champion," Gary replies with a serious expression. "Lillie and I spent hours watching Diantha's battles online. That Gardevoir is going to be the only problem, I'm pretty confident I can handle any other Pokémon she might use."

"Well best of luck," Ash said as the two shook hands then parted ways.

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Once back in the league suite Ash received a few congratulations as he looked for Serena, but not many as he was expected to win. As he searched he ran into someone who wasn't happy to see Ash, Lance.

"Hey Lance, why are you looking so pissed?" Ash asked as he saw Lance glaring at him.

"You owe me a rematch," Lance said with his teeth clenched.

"I do? Why do you think that?" Ash asked.

"That Z-move. You held back in our match, you didn't use any of those Z-crystals," Lance replies as he continues to glare at Ash without blinking.

Ash now understood the problem, he hurt Lance's pride. Everyone understands keeping an ace up your sleeve to throw your opponent off their game, even Lance. But the issue was that their match was close, very close, and Ash didn't pull out his ace. Normally a trainer would do that only if they felt it would be overkill or that their opponent wouldn't be able to handle it. Neither applied to Lance, hence his problem.

"True I didn't. It's nothing against you and your strength as a trainer. I just try can keep a few surprises for when I'm backed in a corner," Ash replied as he put his hands up in a defensive manner.

"But you weren't in a corner in that match just now, you were in complete control," Lance argued.

"Also true, but that was personal. Iris was a friend who stabbed me in the back. She needed to be crushed. Pikachu would have won that match, but it would have been a lot closer due to the type disadvantage," Ash explained.

"Fine, I get it. That was a payback, but I still want a rematch. No holding back, do I make myself clear?" Lance replied in a calmer manner.

"Crystal. Anytime after the tournament, just pick a time and place, and I'll be there," Ash said as he extended his hand.

"Deal," Lance said as he took his hand and shook it. "By the way, how many Z-crystals do you have?"

Ash then opened the left side of his sleeveless jacket to show all thirty-five Z-crystals attached to the inside. Lance's eyes got wide as he saw them all. Ash then closed his jacket and continued his search for Serena.

Lance just stood there in silence as a single thought ran through his head, "what did I just get myself into."

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Upon leaving Lance, Ash found Clemont sitting in a chair hunched over as Korrina was rubbing his back in a comforting manner.

"Clemont, are you ok?" Ash questioned.

"All I wanted was one chance, just one for a little payback for all those years of embarrassment. Then poof, my chance was gone as quickly as it came," Clemont replies sadly.

"He'll be fine, he just needs a little time," Korrina adds as she continues to rub Clemonts back.

"If you say so. Have you seen Serena?" Ash asks Korrina.

"She's that way with your mom, Bonnie, Max, and Red, sitting at a table by the window. By the way, what's the deal with your mom and Red? Are they dating?" Korrina replied as she pointed in the direction of Serena.

"I'll explain later. Thanks," Ash replied, then walked off.

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Not even a minute later Ash sees everyone sitting at a table. Ash carefully walks up behind Serena, sneaks in on her left, and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello gorgeous," Ash says sweetly as he sits down beside her.

Serena smiles brightly and gives his a quick peck on the lips.

"Hello to you too handsome. You did great out there," Serena praised.

"Thank you my queen," Ash replies, causing Serena to blush.

"Hey Ash, that move you did at the end. Was that because of one of those Z-crystals I've heard about?" Asked Max.

"Sure was. That was with a steel type Z-crystal. Nice to see at least you looked into it. Apparently Iris couldn't be bothered to look into the Alola region," Ash replied.

"I read all about the Alola region Pokémon and Z-crystals on the boat ride over. I tried to tell the others about them but they didn't really seem to care," Max replied.

"Well that's their loss. They'll just be unprepared when they're up against them," Ash commented.

"Hey Ash, how do I get Z-crystals," Max asked.

"Two ways. Either defeat a totem Pokémon, or an Island Kahuna. But you might have to defeat a totem Pokémon to prove yourself worthy to the Island Kahuna, you'll just have to see what they say when you challenge them. Either way I'll get you a Z-ring after you get your first Z-crystal," Ash explained.

"Really! Thank you so much!" Max replied full of excitement.

"Blastoise is unable to battle, making the Kalos League Champion Diantha the winner," announced the referee.

Ash and the others looked down to see Gary returning his Blastoise, as mega Gardevior returned to her normal form and went down to one knee from being exhausted from her match.

"Well Gary lost," commented Bonnie.

"Poor Gary," added Max.

"Don't worry about Gary. I talked to Lillie earlier, she told me her plans to put him in a better mood if he lost," said Serena.

"Since we're on the topic of people losing, I can't wait to see you beat those other back stabbers," Max commented excitedly.

"Well that's only if I'm matched up against them," Ash replied.

"What? I thought you rigged it so you would be up against Iris?" Asked Max.

"Nope, that was just the luck of the draw," Ash replied.

Red just smirked as he took a sip of water, for he knew the truth. As far as Ash was concerned it was the luck of the draw, but the truth was that Red was his luck in that case. Red heard about the betrayal from Blue, and immediately looked into the traitors so he knew who the enemy was.

Then when he heard about the problems Delia was going through he tried to reach out to her, but by that point she disappeared to Viridian City. When that happened there wasn't much he could do, so he waited. Once Ash became the Alola League Champion, he explained the situation to Mr. Goodshow.

The thing about the Pokémon League is that they are very protective of their champions and their families. So when the Pokémon League board learned about the attack on Delia, it was like a declaration of war to them. No expenses were spared on their end as they hunted the cyber terrorist responsible. It took two years and cost millions of dollars just to capture him, but to them it was worth it as they made an example out of him, as they made no deals. With the cooperation of the police they had their top I.T. specialist working to crack into every hard drive he had to get every piece of information they could get on all of his clients.

By the time they got to the traitors parents who were involved with him, the announcement of Reds retirement was made. By Ash's request, they waited to capture them until after the opening ceremony of the tournament so he could witness the capture himself and they would be all together.

As for the match ups, Red actually asked Goodshow to arrange for Ash to battle all of them. Goodshow however refused, stating that if it was discovered the scandal would not only destroy the credibility of the Pokémon League, but also hurt Ash's reputation as a trainer. Upon hearing that Ash could be hurt he conceded, however Goodshow decided to make a compromise. He agreed to set up only Ash's first match, giving him an opportunity to get some payback on one of the traitors, as it would be less likely noticed. To make it more easily hidden, they hid a second randomizer into the program that would only match Ash up with one of the traitors. This way made it so nobody knew who Ash was going to be up against until it was public and it was still random. And if it was found, it would merely look like a last minute patch to fix the program.

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The rest of the matches for the day were exciting to say the least. Ash and his friends truly enjoyed watching Paul's match against Cilan, where Paul just decimated Cilan's team with just his Ninjask.

Brock was the only one to make it to the second round, only to be beaten by Diantha, who later had him arrested for harassment after he professed his love for her. Officer Jenny then changed it to sexual harassment after he professed his love to her. Max managed to make it to the quarter finals, only to lose to Cynthia, who said she was impressed by his battling.

Over the time of the tournament everyone was treated to many exciting battles. All the way through the semi-finals, where Cynthia defeated Paul, and Ash defeated Steven Stone, making tomorrow's final match the most exciting match yet.

The stadium was clearing out as people left to go home or to their hotels. Max and Bonnie were already off on a date, while Delia and Red also disappeared somewhere.

Red stopped going to his hotel and just stayed at Delia's house. Ash overheard Adler saying he spotted Red making out with a brunette wearing a floral sundress, and instantly knew it was his mom. He was quick to inform Adler to keep quiet about this and not to spread it further. When Adler questioned why, Ash only had to remind him that it was Red that he saw, and that he might not appreciate people gossiping about him. Adler remained quiet for the rest of the tournament. Ash didn't really want to know where his parents were. They had been acting like him and Serena while they were traveling through the Alola region, and he didn't want to think about his parents like that.

Currently Ash and Serena were walking to their jeep, to head home after the long day. Once at the jeep Ash opened the door and helped Serena inside. As he was doing this, Pikachu's ears perked and he jumped off of Ash's shoulder and took a defensive position behind him as he sparked his cheeks, Sylveon did the same beside her mate. Ash closed Serena's door and turned around as he stood in a defensive manner.

"Who's there," Ash called out.

Then out from the shadows, came the traitors.

"What do you guys want," Ash spat.

"We came to apologize. We were wrong," said Dawn.

"Great now go away," Ash responded coldly.

"Hey, we're apologizing here. You don't have to be so cold towards us," Misty shouted back.

In this moment Something inside Ash snapped.

"True, but at the same time it's not uncalled for. You all tried to ruin my life, and when you realized you couldn't you went after my mom because she was strong enough to refuse to help you," Ash spat back.

May looked as if she was about to say something but Ash shot her a look that scared her, causing her to keep silent.

Ash then continued, "Shall we go over how you were all wrong about me? Let's see, you guys said I was dangerous for going after those criminal organizations. With the help of the other Champions and the G-men, they are all gone now. Serena even charged into these fights with me to bring them down. I think I already proved Iris and Cilan's thoughts about my Pokémon wrong. Then finally my track record with the Pokémon Leagues, in case you missed it, I'm a league champion now, and have beaten two champions in this tournament. You say your wrong, you were so wrong it's not even funny. Now go away, I never want to see any of you ever again."

Ash turned around and began to walk back around his jeep to climb into the drivers seat. Ash made it in front of the jeep when Pikachu got his attention.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled as he fired a small bolt of electricity.

Ash looked back at the traitors to see Caroline Maple had moved closer and there was a burn spot on the ground by her feet from Pikachu's warning shot.

"I advise that you don't move any closer. Next time Pikachu's attack won't be a warning," Ash said, then turned back around.

"Please I need your help," Caroline pleaded.

"You want my help," Ash scoffed as he turned back around to face her.

"Please, I've been calling Max several times a day, but he just ignores my calls," Caroline explained.

"That tends to happen when lose someone's trust. Good luck with that," Ash replied coldly.

"Please, he'll listen to you. I just want to talk with him. Congratulate him on how well he did," Caroline pleaded.

"It's more than that isn't it," Ash said as his eyes narrowed.

"Norman supported the family with the gym, but with him being arrested we need someone to run it or else it'll be shut down," Caroline explained.

"Should have thought about that before you guys went after my mother. He broke the law, there are consequences for that. I won't give you a chance to guilt Max into staying home and abandoning his dream, just to take care of you guys because you screwed up. Luckily for you, you have two kids, May can just take over," Ash replies.

"What?!" May shouted," I'm a coordinator, not a gym leader. I have no idea how to run a gym!"

"Don't you yell at me, you put yourselves in this situation. Besides, wasn't your dad originally grooming you to take his place? I'm sure if you thought about it you can figure it out, besides I'm sure there is also a rule book somewhere. So read up, and remember it's a book not a sandwich, don't eat it," Ash replied to May.

Everyone stood there in stunned silence as Ash climbed into his jeep and cranked the engine. Pikachu and Sylveon also jumped into the back of the jeep. He sat there for a moment, then looked over to Caroline.

"I'll pass your congratulations on to Max, that's it. If he chooses to talk to you that's his choice," Ash replied, then drove off.

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Meanwhile, Red and Delia are taking a romantic moon lit walk along the beach.

"Delia, thank you," Red said suddenly.

"For what? Letting you stay with me?" Delia asked.

"Well yes, but also for giving me a chance and spending this time with me," Red replied.

"You don't need to thank me, I'm just happy you finally came back into mine and Ash's lives," Delia said as she leaned her head on Red's shoulder.

"I feel like I do. I was young and dumb when I left. I shouldn't have left, or thought up some different plan that didn't keep me away for so long. When I became the World Champion it felt so hollow. When I looked out into the crowd after I became the World Champion, and every time after, it just didn't feel right not having you and Ash there. Every win just felt empty. I should have atleast kept trying, I could have been there for you both. I could have been the husband and father you both deserved, instead of just watching from pictures," Red said sadly.

Delia stopped and moved in-front of him, while putting her hands on his cheeks.

"There's no point in regretting things now. What's important is that your here now, and we forgive you," Delia said kindly, then got up on her toes and kissed Red gently on the lips.

"I know I can't change the past, but I can do right moving forward," Red said, looking slightly nervous.

Delia was confused at first as to why he was nervous, but then understood as he got down on one knee.

"Delia, over twenty years ago I promised you forever and I failed. But in that time my love for you had never died or even gotten weaker in the slightest. All this time it remained strong as I hoped for the time we could be together, and now I think it's here. Delia, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" Red proposed.

A smiled curled up on Delia's face.

"I have waited most of my life to hear those words. So yes, yes I will marry you!" Delia said, much to Red's relief.

Red slipped the ring onto Delia's left ring finger. Then he stood up, picking Deli up in the process, and spun her around as she kissed him passionately. Upon breaking the kiss Red placed Delia back on the ground. She then looked up at Red with a devious look in her eyes. Red was confused for a second before he remembered what happened after that look. Delia then took Red by the hand and the two then ran back to their house.