Author's Note:

I'm sorry...it took forever to get this out. What has it been? 2 weeks. I'm sure the next one won't take that long. Anyways, I'll say more at the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 23: Much Much Stronger

Charizard refuses to battle! Pikachu is the winner!

Charizard is unable to battle! And Blaziken wins!

Pikachu is unable to battle! Meowth's the winner!

Torkoal's unable to battle and Registeel wins!

Monferno is unable to battle and the winner is Electabuzz!

Pikachu and Latios are both unable to battle! All six of Ash's Pokemon have been eliminated!

Pikachu's unable to battle! Lucario's the winner!

Greninja is unable to battle! Sceptile wins!

Greninja is unable to battle! Avalugg is the winner!

Greninja's unable to battle! Charizard wins! Alain is the Champion!

Ash winced, hearing, and seeing, each and every call for so many of his major losses. He could hear the sounds of his Pokemon falling, the clear voice of the referees, the triumphant calls of his opponents, the cheers of the crowds and the disappointment of his friends. He could see the pain and disappointment on his Pokemon's faces, the referees waving their arms, the triumphant looks of his opponents, the people in the crowds clapping and cheering and the downcast looks of his friends.

But now, suddenly, he could see nothing. Everything was black, but Ash knew that his eyes were open. Was he blind? Was it just dark wherever he was? And speaking of that, where was he? His heart began to beat rapidly as fear gripped him. Ash could barely remember anything. All he could see was a red shape attacking him with massive...pincers?

Where am I? Hello? he called out, looking around, and blinking, hoping he'd be able to see something. He blinked a few more times, continuously looking around, still just seeing nothing but darkness. Ash was just starting to think he had actually gone blind after a few more minutes of wandering aimlessly and still seeing nothing but darkness in around him, but then finally, something flashed briefly up ahead.

For a moment, Ash paused, staring ahead at where he was sure he'd seen the flash of light. It was so brief, that he wondered if he'd imagined it. It had just been a small, white flash of light, almost like a light flickering on and off very briefly. Hello? he called out again, taking a cautious step forward, nervous that he might trip over something at any time. Is someone there? Can you put that light on again?

Ritchie is the winner!

Harrison is the winner!

Tyson is the winner!

Pyramid King Brandon is the winner!

Paul is the winner!

Tobias is the winner!

Cameron is the winner!

Alain is the Champion!

Ash winced, hearing the calls of victory for many of his major losses once again. What was going on? Why couldn't he see anything? Why couldn't he get any of these losses out of his head? The last thing he could remember was...

Greninja!

Ash, it's okay. Greninja's okay. He's sleeping right here. He's right next to you, along with Pikachu. Ash narrowed his eyes, looking all around him, despite not being able to see a thing. Who had said that? Where were they? Where was he?

Ash felt his heart beating furiously again as he started to panic. He was scared. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know why he couldn't see, he didn't know who was talking to him, he didn't know where his Pokemon were, and overall, he just didn't know what was happening right now. He wanted to run away somehow, but he had no idea how to do it. He had no idea where to go, and even if he did, he couldn't hear anything and he had nobody with him.

Suddenly, he felt a warmth in his hand and a moment later, a light pressure. Ash jumped in fear at the sudden feeling of something holding his hand, but a moment later, he relaxed, somehow knowing that whatever it was, wasn't going to hurt him. He took a deep breath and then blinked a few times, before looking down towards his hand. His eyes widened suddenly as he noticed a light. It was similar to the one before, but this time, it came from his hand.

It's okay, Ash. We're all here for you. Greninja's okay. You're okay.

It was that voice again. Ash glanced up, smiling as he noticed the darkness around him slipping away somewhat. It was still somewhat difficult to see, but he could make out a few shapes. It looked like there were trees around him. Maybe he was in a forest? He felt another light pressure in his hand that filled him with warmth, and Ash glanced down, noticing the light growing a little brighter.

Don't worry, Ash, everything is okay, the voice said, bringing a smile to Ash's face. He took a deep breath, looking around once more. He was seeing more and more as everything seemed to be lighting up. It was still slightly dark, but he was starting to see the Sun poking out over the trees in the distance, and a few Pokemon scurrying through the bushes and flying around.

The light coming from Ash's hand grew brighter for a moment, and he glanced down, still feeling the warmth coming from the pressure that he felt there. He watched the light in his hand flash brightly, and then it suddenly flew out of his hand. However, Ash didn't feel upset by it. He still felt the warm pressure in his hand that comforted him, and the light only hovered a few feet in front of him. It was quite bright, lighting up the path in front of him, but it was still only the size of his hand. It seemed to jump up and down in front of him, almost like it was telling him to follow him.

Ash, all of your friends are here. Everything is okay, that voice said again, and this time, it seemed to be coming from the small light. Ash smiled, nodding at the light, hoping that it could understand the small signal that he understood. He took a few steps forward, feeling lighter, warmer and overall, just happier as he followed the light a few steps.

There's no need to worry, Ash.

Keep on movin' and groovin'.

The future is now thanks to science!

I got some awesome pictures of you and Greninja! I can't wait to show you!

You were great out there, Ash!

Marvellous!

Pikapi!

Ash smiled wider, feeling stronger as he continued to walk forward, his surroundings becoming clearer and clearer as he followed the light and the voices coming from it. He glanced down once more at his hand, feeling that pressure once again. He could feel his heart beating a little faster, and he had a feeling it had something to do with that pressure, but he ignored it, liking this feeling much more than the one he'd had when he was in the dark.

Ash took another few steps forward, seeing the light in front of him grow a little more, as he heard a few more words of encouragement coming from it. He felt confident as he saw the light come to a stop a few feet in front of him. He stopped as well, wondering for a moment what was happening. The light seemed to still be encouraging him to follow, though, as it seemed to bob up and down, hovering in front of him, with the voices still encouraging Ash to move forward.

As he was about to take a step forward, though, Ash heard something behind him. He tried to ignore it, somehow knowing that it wasn't a good idea to listen to it, but he couldn't resist. Ash turned around, taking his eyes off of the light in front of him, and faced the direction of the noise that he'd heard behind him.

Ash's eyes widened as he looked at what was in front of him. It was a shadowy figure, but Ash could recognize a few features. He could see the bandana around the person's neck, and the area around their eyes was even darker with the sunglasses over them. Ash immediately knew who it was, and took a nervous step back. He took a quick glance over his shoulder, seeing the light drifting a littler further away, and feeling the warmth leave him. There was still that pressure in his hand, but it didn't seem to have the same effect. Ash's heart beat faster, and he could see things around him growing darker once more.

You lost, Ketchum, the shadowy figure said. I told you that you would lose. I told you that you've been wasting your time. Our battle was a waste of time.

Ash bit his lip, looking around nervously, wondering where he was again and trying to remember what had happened before he'd ended up here. He took another glance back at the light that had been guiding him away, and noticed that it was even further away now, and things were growing very dark once more. He took a shaky breath, and then glanced at the shadowy figure again, jumping in surprise as he noticed it changing shape.

Now, the person was taller and wearing some kind of scarf around their neck. They had their hand out in front of them, and Ash could see what he knew to be a Mega Ring, around the person's wrist, with the Key Stone poking up at the top. Seeing the Key Stone made Ash feel even more nervous, and he glanced around again, looking for a way to escape, but feeling his feet frozen in place.

You're growing soft, Ash. I thought Greninja's power rivalled my Charizard's, but you can't even beat a Scizor. There's no point in a rematch.

Ash's jaw dropped at that, and he clenched his fists, feeling frustrated as he looked at the shadowy figure in front of him. An image suddenly came to his mind, with Greninja and Scizor lashing out at one another, in the midst of a heated battle. He shook his head, feeling the pressure in his hand again, as whatever seemed to be taking hold of it tightened their grip. Another image came to his mind, with Greninja falling in front of a Charizard, his form reverting back to normal.

And suddenly, Ash was back in a stadium, watching as his Charizard refused to battle, causing Ash to lose to his rvial, Ritchie, in the Indigo League. Next, was Charizard fighting valiantly, but then falling to Harrison's Blaziken at the Silver Conference. Then it was Pikachu at the Ever Grande Conference, Torkoal against Brandon and Registeel, Pikachu against Latios, and then Lucario. Then, it was Greninja, falling to Sceptile, Avalugg, Charizard, and then, finally, unable to keep up and failing to unleash their final attack, Ash could see him and Greninja collapsing as the glowing Water Shuriken dissolved in midair.

The scenes seemed to play over and over in front of Ash, and he couldn't seem to move, or look away. And suddenly, it was more than just his biggest losses, it was all of them. He could see Pikachu losing to Brock's Onix in Pewter City. Then there was Pikachu losing to Raichu, Charizard losing to Poliwrath, Pikachu losing to Eevee, Treecko losing to Hariyama, Turtwig and Pikachu losing to Roark's Onix, all of his losses to Paul, all of his losses to Trip, his losses to Alain...

Ash suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, and he fell to his knees, shutting his eyes tight and grabbing at his head. Why did he keep losing like this? Every region, every new challenge...it always ended the same way. He lost because of inexperience, he lost because he was just a little bit weaker, he lost because he underestimated his opponent, he lost because he just didn't train enough.

The image of Anton appeared in his mind once again, with his newest rival holding his Key Stone up in front of him, while Scizor stood to his left, holding his pincer wide open, showing off the Scizorite inside. Don't waste my time, Ketchum. You're letting yourself get weaker and weaker, when you should be much, much stronger.

Much, much stronger, Ash thought to himself. Much...much... "stronger." He then opened his eyes, and saw Serena looking back at him.

"Ash!" Serena said excitedly, smiling as she saw him open his eyes. She saw him wince suddenly, and felt his hand twitch within hers, and she quickly let go, having forgotten that she'd been holding it and must've been squeezing it pretty tightly. "Sorry," she muttered, blushing and sliding her chair back a couple of inches.

Ash didn't say anything, and just looked around the hospital room, seemingly studying all of the people that were in there. Serena frowned, looking curiously at him as his eyes went to Dawn, then Clemont, then Shauna, Tierno, Trevor, Marie, Sycamore, Pikachu, and finally, to Greninja, who was sitting on a bed next to Ash's, having been brought to the hospital by Nurse Joy a few hours earlier.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked his Pokemon, who was staring back at him curiously, seemingly noticing what Serena was noticing, with Ash seeming very tense.

"Gren," Greninja answered, nodding and doing a little fist pump, obviously trying to get some kind of happier response from Ash. His trainer just nodded, though, before he looked at Pikachu.

"How about you, buddy?" he asked, his voice very low and almost emotionless. Serena glanced at Dawn, who looked back with raised eyebrows. What's wrong with him? she mouthed. Serena just shrugged, feeling a pit in her stomach as she looked at Pikachu, who was staring back at Ash, confusion, and a bit of fear, in his eyes.

"Pikapi...pika..." Pikachu finally said, nodding as he slowly moved forward, sitting just in front of Ash's hand, which was resting on his chest.

Ash blinked as he seemed to notice Pikachu's sad and nervous eyes. He glanced down at the bed he was lying on, noticing that he had a hospital gown on. He gave his head a little shake, and looked around the room again, his gaze softening as he noticed the nervous glances of his friends. He even seemed to smile a little as Serena, and then Pikachu each gave him an encouraging smile of their own.

"Thanks for watching over me, Pikachu," Ash finally said, giving the electric mouse a weak smile, before raising his hand up and rubbing behind his ears. The raven-haired trainer then glanced around the room. "Thanks to all of you," he added, taking a deep breath and finally resting his gaze on Serena. "So I guess I passed out during my battle?"

"Yeah," Serena said, giving him a sympathetic smile and nodding. "Nobody is upset with you, though. Most people seem to know that your connection with Greninja is really hard to maintain, and Anton's Scizor was really strong."

Another dark look passed over Ash's face. It was brief, but Serena, and she noticed Pikachu and Greninja as well, noticed it. "Yeah, I know that," Ash muttered, looking out the window that was behind Serena. They were on the second floor of the hospital, so they could see street lights lighting up the buildings along the road, the Sun just beginning to set, casting an orange glow on the clouds in the distance. "Well that was a pretty bad start to this whole IPL thing," Ash added, keeping his eyes aimed straight at the window, although Serena suspected he wasn't really looking at anything in particular.

"It definitely wasn't the best," Dawn admitted, laughing a little nervously. Everyone looked at her with their own nervous looks, all of them seemingly having picked up on Ash's dark mood. "Well...it wasn't. I'm not saying it won't be different next time, but that definitely wasn't a good start. I think it's my fault...I'm the Captain, and I should've done a better job at helping everyone get ready. I think we underestimated them."

"We needed to train more," Ash said quietly, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment. Serena could see that he was still very tired, despite having been completely out of it for the past few hours. She couldn't believe how much that connection with Greninja drained him. "Anton and the others were way more prepared than us. We needed to be ready, and we weren't even close. Like Dawn said, as the Captain, I should've made sure the Battle Team was ready. I wasn't nearly as strong as I should've been."

"Ash, it was just one match," Clemont pointed out, scratching the back of his head as he looked nervously towards his friend. "I'm disappointed too, but it wasn't too bad, was it? They're a strong team, and we underestimated them, and we weren't as prepared as we could've been. That doesn't mean we're bad trainers."

"Yeah, Clemont's right," Trevor said, nodding in agreement as he fiddled with his camera. "I'm frustrated with how things went as well, but...we're here for a reason, right? We made it to the advanced classes, and then we all did really well in the tryouts. We made these teams because we were the best at our school."

"I thought it was an excellent learning experience for all of you," Professor Sycamore added, shocking Serena a bit, as she'd forgotten that he was there. She noticed the Mega Evolution expert looking at Ash, but could see that Ash either didn't care or hadn't noticed, as he was once again looking towards the window, not making eye contact with anyone. "I can't imagine how frustrating these past couple of days have been for all of you. I was frustrated as well, but I know that with being involved, it must've been a very difficult couple of days. However, you must remember that you still have time to get back on track. You can bounce back from this, and I think all of you can use this to improve yourselves."

At this, Ash glanced up, looking directly at Sycamore, his expression quite serious. "I'll definitely use this to get better. There's no way I'm going to lose again." He narrowed his eyes, and a confident smile came to his face as he looked at Pikachu, and then Greninja. "We'll get much, much stronger, right guys?"

"Pika!"

"Gren!"

Serena noticed her friends smiling and looking happily at Ash as he made this vow to his Pokemon, but she couldn't help but feel he seemed different somehow. That smile wasn't the same, and neither was that confidence. She could see Pikachu smiling at his trainer, but she had a feeling that Ash's loyal partner had noticed something was different as well, as his eyes looked a little worried.

"Hoo! Hoo!" Serena jumped a little as she heard the hoots of excitement from behind her, and she turned around to see a brown and green shape shoot up out of Ash's backpack which was on the ground near the window. Serena blinked as the shape shot past her, and then looked towards Ash's bed, and saw Rowlet landing awkwardly on the spot next to Pikachu, careful not to land on his trainer in case of any injuries he might have. "Hoo!" Rowlet added, as he looked excitedly at Ash, clearly happy to see his trainer was up. Serena found this a little amusing, considering Rowlet was almost always asleep.

"Hey Rowlet!" Ash said, smiling as he looked towards the Grass Quill Pokemon. "Good to see that you're up. I bet you want to get stronger as well, don't you? We're all going to work extra hard at it, all right? Nobody is going to be able to beat us!"

Serena finally decided to speak up, wanting to make sure that Ash wasn't going to be spending all of his time training from now until the next IPL match. "Ash, you are going to remember to take it easy from time to time as well, right? You don't want to work too hard."

For a moment, as Ash looked towards her, Serena couldn't help but think that more training was exactly what she needed to do. The thought of Gabby completely controlling the flow of their Performance Battle and outshining her in the Freestyle Performance made her think of the words Gabby had shared with her a couple nights before. It all seemed like a game to you...It's silly to think you can make people happy, when you can't truly be happy yourself. What did Gabby mean by that? Maybe Serena had been looking at performances the wrong way. Maybe that was why Palermo had sent her here.

"I have to train harder, Serena. I can't keep falling behind," Ash suddenly said, taking Serena away from her thoughts. She frowned at his words, knowing in her heart that it wasn't the true Ash Ketchum speaking, but then, part of her could see why he was saying it. The part of her that wanted to train that way herself. Maybe they had been taking it too easy. Maybe they just weren't..."professional" enough.

"I don't think you should overwork yourself, Ash," Professor Sycamore said, looking a little concerned as he watched the exchange between Ash and Serena. "Don't forget what has taken you so far in the first place. Remember what I said to you the other day. You have been very successful, and you can't forget what has caused you to achieve so much. And," he added, looking at Serena, and then the others around the room, "don't forget what has been helping you regain your confidence."

"I don't feel too confident after such a bad loss," Ash said bitterly, once again getting that dark expression on his face, as he avoided eye contact with everyone in the room again. "I wasn't nearly as strong as I should have been. Greninja and I should have been able to win that battle if we'd worked harder. Everyone should've been more prepared than we were, and I need to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Serena sighed, starting to let her doubt, the doubt she'd felt as she'd frozen up against Gabby, the doubt she'd felt as she'd walked off of that stage, away from Ash, and even the doubt she'd felt as Fennekin had fallen at her feet in her very first Performance. Way back then, Serena had changed her outlook on life, and how she would approach her goal, and maybe it was time to do that once more. Maybe Ash was right, and training more would help her grow stronger and more confident. And maybe Gabby was right, and she wasn't focusing enough on her actual Performances. Was the idea to have fun, or was it to win? Serena definitely felt a lot better when she won her Performances. And Performances like her last one, where she was completely outclassed, definitely didn't make her feel very good about herself.

"I think I'm going to go take a walk," Serena said, after a few moments of silence. "Will you be okay, Ash?" she asked, looking at him, feeling somewhat nervous as she did so, although she wasn't exactly sure why.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'd like to go for a walk, too, but I might pass out if I did," he answered, laughing weakly as he took a shaky breath, leaning his head back into the pillows under his head. Serena could see the exhaustion in his eyes, and knew he needed some more rest.

"Maybe we'll all give you some more time to rest," Professor Sycamore said, looking between Ash and Greninja. "The two of you are probably going to need to take it easy for a couple of days, even though you want to get to your extra training. That battle definitely took a lot out of both of you."

Ash nodded, although Serena wasn't sure he heard. Or maybe he was just brushing off Sycamore's words, and perhaps silently vowing to train regardless. Serena sighed as she followed the others out of the room. She had no idea whether she should be worried about Ash, or if she should be embracing his ideas. What kind of Performer did she want to be? Did it involve winning, or having fun? Was there a way to have both?

"All right, everyone, the bus is here! It's time to go!" Valerie's voice called out from the entrance to the Pokemon Centre.

Anton watched quietly as his fellow Laverre students got up from their seats and began to make their way towards the door. He wasn't surprised, however, when one student stayed back, eyeing him suspiciously, her long pink hair lit up by the light of the setting Sun through the window. "Are you enjoying Lumiose City so much that you want to stay here?" Gabby asked, as she smirked at Anton.

The purple-haired trainer narrowed his eyes as he looked at his sister. "Maybe I'm just not in that big a rush to follow orders from a Fashion Designer Gym Leader." He sighed as he noticed Gabby look nervously towards Valerie, who seemed to be watching them. "She's not my coach."

"You can really be a downer sometimes, brother. Why are you always so negative?" Gabby asked, looking seriously at Anton. He, as usual, had his sunglasses on, but the way his sister looked at him, he had a strange feeling she was seeing right through them, and into his eyes.

"I'm the way I need to be in order to get where I want to be," Anton said simply, looking away, watching a few Lumiose University students watching him and his sister. They didn't look too happy, so he, of course, wasn't impressed with their ability to take a loss. Grow up, he thought, as he met their gaze. They might not have been able to see his eyes through his sunglasses, but when he turned his head towards them, they looked away fairly quickly.

Gabby was silent for a few moments, and then glanced back towards Valerie, who was waiting patiently at the entrance. "Yes, you're a great influence with your 'all business' attitude. We got the wins, though, so maybe you can lighten up and get on the bus and enjoy the victory with your teammates."

Even Anton had to raise an eyebrow at that comment. While he wasn't exactly the most excitable of people, it wasn't like he was on a team full of happy-go-lucky people. His sister and Casey were the only ones that ever seemed to crack a smile. Besides, he had no reason, and neither did the rest of them, to be proud of their victory. The Luxrays were a joke. They'd been completely unprepared. Right from the start, with Lisa easily manipulating the Pokemon Quiz against that Performer, Shauna, Anton had known that the weekend would be a complete waste of their time.

"You can't seriously be proud of winning this can you?" Anton asked his sister, leaning back in his seat, and making a point of not looking towards Valerie. "From what you told me, that Serena girl was supposed to be the best up and coming Performer in all of Kalos, and that her friend Shauna wasn't that far off. Well, it didn't seem like they were very good at all. In fact, that had to be the easiest match Lisa has ever had, and it didn't look like it was much of a struggle for you, either."

"Everyone has a bad day once in a while," Gabby pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if they came back stronger than ever in our next match. And hey, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. Ketchum had you on the ropes there. If his Greninja had managed to complete that Water Shuriken..."

Anton tensed up at that, clenching his fists as he rested them on the table in front of him. "Ketchum wasn't nearly as prepared as he should've been. I'll admit, he might've been able to give me a challenge if he had trained his Greninja better, but he's still not as strong as he needs to be if he's ever going to compete with me."

"Scizor was exhausted after that battle. Nurse Joy only finished up with him an hour ago. Don't you think that means something?" Gabby smirked, shaking her head as she looked at Anton. "Ketchum caught you by surprise. You have to admit that. There's no way you expected that kind of power from his Greninja."

Anton was silent for a few moments as he looked back at his sister, thinking about his match from earlier in the day. After another glance towards Valerie, he decided to finally get up, and he and Gabby finally made their way over to the door, with Gabby giving Valerie an apologetic look, while Anton didn't even look at her.

As they made their way towards the bus, Anton couldn't help but think about the final moments of his battle with Ash, and watching as his Greninja, in that special form of his, had formed such a powerful looking Water Shuriken. As the attack had formed, expanding, spinning and glowing in front of them, Anton had to admit, he'd become slightly nervous. It had been somewhat impressive; he had to admit that.

When he finally sat down in his seat, Gabby sitting down next to him, Anton glanced over to her, shrugging a little. "I suppose Ketchum was fairly strong. Considering I needed Scizor to mega evolve, he put up quite a fight. I wonder what that special form was, though. They didn't use a Key Stone and a Mega Stone, but that was definitely a different form."

Gabby smiled a little, apparently happy that Anton was able to admit to his opponent being strong. She then pursed her lips as she seemed to think about what Anton was talking about, her hand going to the bow in her hair as she fiddled with it. "I've never heard about a Greninja being able to do something like that before," she said, looking out the window as the bus began to move. "Maybe it has something to do with the ability Torrent? There was that water that rushed all around him as he changed form, and he'd taken a couple of hard hits from Scizor. Maybe his endurance was low enough?"

"Did that look like an ability as simple as Torrent?" Anton asked, finally deciding to remove his sunglasses and give his sister a sceptical look. "Torrent increases a Pokemon's power, sure, but I've never seen nor heard about it doing anything like that. Greninja completely changed form. He even looked a little bit like Ketchum."

Gabby nodded, fiddling with her bow once again as she thought for a few moments. "Is it possible for a Pokemon to mega evolve without a Key Stone and a Mega Stone?" she asked, glancing at the bandana around Anton's neck, before looking up at her bow and continuing to fiddle with it.

"I don't think so," Anton said simply, shaking his head as he looked out the window, watching the last few buildings slip past as the bus approached the exit to the city. "Mega Evolution is complicated enough even with the Key Stone and Mega Stone. You know how long it took me to make it work with Scizor. Even if it was somehow possible, I don't think Ketchum would be able to do it. I don't think even a Champion, like Diantha, would be able to do it."

Gabby rolled her eyes at that and gave Anton a somewhat disapproving look. "And why is it that Ketchum wouldn't be able to do it? Whatever that is with Greninja, it's definitely not something either of us has ever seen before. He did nearly win the Kalos League with that Greninja, you know."

This time, it was Anton's turn to roll his eyes. "You know what I think of Pokemon Leagues. Whether Ketchum did well in that or not doesn't change what I think. Perhaps some good trainers compete there, but I don't think going after Gym badges is the way to train. I think I proved that when I battled against the Lumiose Gym Leader.

"Clemont gave Dean a good battle, don't you think?" Gabby argued, looking back at their teammate, who seemed to be sleeping as Sasha read a book next to him. "A Bunnelby giving a Diggersby a challenge is pretty impressive."

"It should never have been his Bunnelby that battled in the first place," Anton pointed out, shrugging. "His Luxray was clearly his strongest Pokemon when he battled me. In a competition where you're battling with just one Pokemon, you should definitely go with your best, or the Pokemon that has the type advantage."

"Well if he'd gone with Luxray, you would've said that he wasn't smart, because he used a Pokemon that had a bad type matchup," Gabby said, laughing a little as she looked at her brother. "These Gym Leaders just can't win with you, can they?"

For a moment, Anton nearly smiled as he looked back at his amused sister, but he forced himself to resist the urge, and frowned, looking away and back out the window. "I guess it's just easy to criticize them when they make so many mistakes and fail at their job of improving the trainers they compete against."

Gabby sighed, and Anton knew she was giving him a disapproving look, even though he couldn't see her as he looked out the window. "You should be careful, Anton. You say those Lumiose University trainers were unprepared for their performances and battles, but if you refuse to acknowledge that they're good trainers, it'll be you who's unprepared the next time."

"I'm always prepared. It doesn't matter who I'm battling," Anton pointed out, turning back from the window and looking his sister in the eyes. "I know they might be talented, and they might have capable Pokemon, but if they fail to prepare properly, they aren't good trainers. A good trainer is always prepared. There are no excuses for not being prepared."

Gabby shrugged, and Anton knew that she wasn't going to argue with that. She was definitely very careful about making sure she was always prepared for her performances, so he knew she agreed with his thoughts on that. "They don't seem like the kind of people to be unprepared, though," she pointed out. "And it wasn't like they all performed or battled poorly. If I hadn't been able to trick Serena into thinking I was attacking her, she might've been able to get the judges' attention and win the match."

"She shouldn't have fallen for a trick as simple as that," Anton argued, shaking his head as he thought of that moment, having thought himself at the time that it was obvious. "From what we were told, Lumiose University was supposed to be our toughest competition. After this weekend, I don't even think they should be involved in the IPL at all."

"Maybe another close match against Ash will change your mind," Gabby said with a smirk, watching Anton closely, knowing he was interested in testing out Scizor's skills against that Greninja once more after only getting a sample of its power.

"I would like to battle him once more," Anton admitted, narrowing his eyes and looking out the window again. He looked over top of the trees that were flying by next to the bus as they drove along, and he could see the tip of Prism Tower poking out above them, lighting up the darkening sky. He couldn't help but let a smile come to his face as he looked at the city that was quickly leaving his sight. He hadn't been able to get much of a read on Ash Ketchum and his Greninja, and perhaps that was because Ash hadn't been as prepared as he should've been, but Anton did know that Ash and Greninja had to be capable of incredible power. Maybe it was nothing, or maybe it was a potentially great challenge for him. What he did know, is that he didn't want to wait too long for their next battle. I'll battle you again, Ketchum. Sooner than you think. You'd better be prepared next time.

When Shauna woke up the next morning, she could already hear Serena shuffling around in her room, clearly already awake and ready to get on with the day. It was still kind of early, but Shauna couldn't really blame her friend, with how things had gone that weekend. Wanting to move on with the week was probably normal. She supposed the others were probably doing the same thing. In fact, she wouldn't have been surprised if Ash was out of the hospital and already training, and if some of the others had gone to join him. She was tempted to go as well, but decided she was going to at least get ready for the day first.

She managed to get out of bed, and get dressed. As peppy as Shauna could be, mornings weren't her preferred time of day, and she was fairly slow and sluggish as she got herself ready. She heard a few tired mumbles from Serena in the other room, and assumed she was moving fairly slowly as well. Finally, though, Shauna was changed, and she'd packed her things for her classes into her bag and had collected her and Clemont's egg off of her desk, and she was ready to go.

When Shauna finally stepped out of her room, she came face to face with Serena, who must've just finished up with her own morning routine and was stepping out of her own room, her and Ash's egg held in her arms. Shauna was a little concerned as she looked at Serena, noticing bags under her eyes and slow, awkward movements as she turned to close her door. The egg even slipped a little in her arms, and Shauna thought she was going to have to jump forward and catch it.

"Good morning," Serena finally said tiredly as she managed to finally close the door and turned back to face Shauna, readjusting the position of the egg in her arms. "Sleep well?"

Shauna shrugged as the two made their way to the front hall and out towards the door. If she was being honest, she hadn't slept very well, as she couldn't get the losses out of her head, along with the image of Ash completely passed out. It had been quite a concerning moment. However, looking at Serena, Shauna knew that she'd probably slept like a baby in comparison. "I had an okay sleep," she answered simply, as they made their way out into the hallway, Serena closing the door behind them before they set off towards the elevators. "I guess you had a bit of a rough night?" Shauna asked, hoping she wasn't insulting Serena with the question.

"I couldn't really sleep at all," Serena admitted, looking sadly at the ground as they walked. "I can't stop thinking about...well...everything. That weekend really couldn't have gone worse, could it? We were really embarrassed."

Shauna nodded, not saying anything as they walked the rest of the way to the elevator. Once it arrived and they stepped in, she looked at her very tired and frustrated looking friend. "I really thought we were going to win when we were going into this. I guess I just got too nervous and I didn't prepare enough."

Serena was silent for a few moments as the elevator took them down, finally opening up to the lobby where the two girls stepped out. A few other students were heading to the dining hall, but it seemed fairly quiet with it still being fairly early. As Shauna and Serena made their way into the dining hall to go and get breakfast, Serena spoke up. "Why did you start performing, Shauna? Was it because of Pokevision, Aria or just something else?"

As the two of them began to get their breakfast, Shauna thought carefully about the question. She hadn't really considered what had truly made her want to become a Performer for a while. In a way, it had kind of just happened, and she'd just been naturally drawn to it. It had been something exciting for her to do, and fit her excitable personality fairly well. Her Pokemon had seemed to enjoy it as well, and that had definitely been a plus. "I'm not sure, really," she answered slowly, as the two of them made their way to a table after getting their breakfast, and sat down. "I was a big fan of Pokevision before, and saw Aria and a few others showing off their Pokemon in really amazing ways, with dances and fashion designs and all kinds of things like that. Then, when I saw some of Aria's performances, I was amazed with how she was able to show off their beauty. It looked like so much fun, and my Pokemon and I really enjoyed trying it out."

Serena frowned at that, looking thoughtful as she quietly at her food. She didn't say anything for a few moments, but then finally looked back at Shauna, curiosity in her eyes. "So, you started performing for the fun of it, right?"

Shauna paused for a moment, not quite sure what Serena was getting at with her questions. She seemed so confused, but also somewhat hopeful as she asked the last question. "I guess so. It's a lot of fun for me and my Pokemon. It's like that for you, isn't it?"

"Well...yeah, but..." Serena trailed off, looking down at her food as she began to think. "Is there more to it than that? You were sad when you didn't win the Masterclass, right? A lot of the performers there were really disappointed."

Shauna nodded, remembering how sad and disappointed she'd been after losing. Even though she'd lost to Serena, it hadn't been easy to get so far in her dream, and then lose when she was so close to getting a chance at performing against Aria. It was still her dream to do that one day. Just like Serena, she wanted to be Kalos Queen. Maybe there was a little more to it than just taking it easy and having fun while performing with her Pokemon. But as Shauna looked at Serena's tired eyes, she could see the doubt there, and knew Serena was wondering what she'd done wrong against Gabby in her Performance. "Performances are hard work, sure, but Serena, they're meant to be fun. Not just for you, but your Pokemon as well. Don't you always say that you like to perform to make people smile?"

Serena shrugged, poking at her food a bit. "I just feel like I'm not doing it right. Palermo said I wasn't ready to beat Aria after the Masterclass, and then she suggested I go to this school. Maybe she wants me to learn how to treat it more like a career than anything else. Just like Gabby seems to do."

Shauna looked away, narrowing her eyes in frustration at the thought of Gabby telling Serena to not enjoy performing. When she looked back at Serena, Shauna could see the doubt and confusion in her friend's tired eyes. "Don't listen to Gabby," Shauna said seriously lightly hitting her fist on the table. "And if Palermo wants you to be like that, don't listen to her, either. You were a great Performer before coming here, and you just need to keep doing what you were doing to get better."

Serena smiled a little at Shauna's words, but lightly shook her head after a few moments. "Maybe I haven't been improving, though. What I've been doing hasn't been enough. Maybe I just did well at the Masterclass because of beginner's luck."

"You know as well as I do that it wasn't just beginner's luck," Shauna argued, staring at Serena in shock. She hadn't seen Serena looking so down since her very first Showcase loss, when Fennekin had tripped during the Fashion Show. "Serena, you do work hard, but you can't forget about just having fun. Remember what Professor Sycamore said to Ash? Don't forget what got you here."

Serena didn't seem to accept that, though, instead just taking a few more bites of her food. After a few moments, she looked away, watching as a few students entered the dining hall. "Palermo is the one who got me here. If she wants me to change how I perform, maybe that's what I need to do."

Shauna wanted to argue, but she didn't really know what else she could say. Serena seemed convinced that she wasn't doing things the way she should be, and that she needed to change her approach. Shauna didn't even really know if she was completely wrong. She obviously believed that performing should be fun, but with her embarrassing loss the other day, part of her wanted to take a different approach to her training as well.

The two of them ate in silence for a few minutes after that, and then Shauna noticed Serena look up, and she followed her friend's gaze to see Clemont entering the dining hall. They waved to him, catching his attention so he knew where they were sitting. He quickly got himself a plate of food and then made his way over, sitting next to Shauna at the table and taking a quick look at the egg that was between the two of them.

"It looks like the egg is in good shape," he noted, peering at it through his glasses, and giving the glass case a couple of knocks with his fist. Shauna didn't know what the point of that was, and just decided to assume it was one of Clemont's "sciencey" things.

"Like I've told you, I'm not irresponsible when it comes to taking care of Pokemon," Shauna muttered, folding her arms and glaring at Clemont.

"I wasn't saying you were!" Clemont said, in a somewhat panicky voice, waving his hands in front of his face. "I'm just saying it looks like it's in good shape." Shauna narrowed her eyes at that, but didn't say anything else, as Clemont turned to face Serena. "How's your egg doing, Serena? I bet Ash will like to know when I see him later. He probably won't be making it to your Pokemon Healthcare class."

"I think it's doing well," Serena said, glancing at the egg on the table in front of her. "It doesn't seem like it's going to be hatching anytime soon, but I guess it's still healthy."

Clemont leaned forward, peering at the egg through his glasses, just as he'd done with his and Shauna's egg. Shauna thought he looked a little ridiculous as he did it, but didn't say anything as he sat back, smiling. "It looks like it's in good condition. You and Ash are clearly doing a good job in taking care of it."

Serena gave Clemont a sceptical look at that. "Well...there's not too much involved in taking care of it, you know."

"Maybe it's because you and Ash had dinner with it," Shauna said jokingly, even getting Clemont to laugh along at that.

Serena was quiet for a moment, shaking her head in exasperation, but Shauna was glad to see her friend crack a smile. "Maybe it will hatch if we win our next IPL match."

"I think they're supposed to hatch before that," Clemont pointed out, taking another look at his and Shauna's egg. "Reggie said it would only take a few weeks. I've heard that some people have already noticed their eggs moving a little."

"Well, we definitely need to make sure we're ready for when it hatches, because we'll have a lot of work to do when it does," Shauna pointed out, thinking of what Reggie had mentioned about training the baby Pokemon to do a battle or Performance by the end of the semester.

"Right," Serena said quietly, "we've got a lot to get ready for."

Clemont nodded at that, as he began to eat his breakfast, but Shauna frowned, watching Serena as the honey-blonde Performer busied herself with studying her egg. While she was right, that they had a lot to get ready for, Serena's words still worried Shauna a bit. She just hoped Serena, and the rest of her friends, weren't going to let their disappointing weekend change them for the worse.

Author's Note:

Well that was kind of depressing, wasn't it? Will the Lumiose crew get things back on track? The next few chapters will give us the answer.

Now, to address the losing thing one more time. First, the losing was necessary, so...if you're upset they lost, I'm sorry, but that's a big part of the story. It's not the sign of a reset, it's just some losses. Did it need to go 3 chapters? Maybe not, but I did decide that it was important to show all of the characters losing, as they're going to cope with their losses differently. When the story is done, 3 chapters won't seem like that much. And while it did make things somewhat predictable, that was partly the point. Everything was falling apart for the main cast, and now we'll see how they rebound.

On a happier note, does anyone know what yesterday was? Waiting...waiting...THAT'S RIGHT! March 8th was the one year anniversary of Gotta Catch That One's first chapter. I can't believe it's been a full year since I started writing fanfics. And what a fun year it's been. So I'd like to thank all of you for such a fun year, and for making GCTO such a successful story. Hopefully we'll make Lumiose University just as fun of a journey.

Thanks again, and I'll see you next time.