The Battle Frontier is no walk in the park for ordinary individuals. It is a gauntlet of several trainers that dedicate themselves at fighting the way they do best. They test trainers by showing the style and art they fight with and seeing how these challengers can adapt to it. Being invite only, it is a way for people to truely delve into themselves and find out their own style while fighting through the gauntlet of Frontier Brains, who are determined to put them through difficult trials to see if they have what it takes to complete the challenge.

And on that trek to the sixth battle facility, we find a blonde teenager with her hair in a ponytail wearing white clothing with her pink backpack. She sported emerald eyes and a determined look on her face as she came closer to a place that appeared to be a large castle at the base of a mountain. Her pale skin glowed in the bright sun as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead she gained after walking for so long.

She looked at it with an uneasy glance. "Well, Scott did tell me the right place, but why in the middle of nowhere? No extra buildings around except for the nearby town." She muttered. "Such an odd place."

She took a deep breath as she gathered the courage to walk up to the castle. Sure enough, there was the trademark Battle Frontier symbol on the front of it, marking it as the Battle Castle. She walked up to a post that had a button on it. She hit it, and waited for a brief moment. Soon after, the gate opened and out stepped a figure in a black and blue cloak, as the shape also make the person appear as a man. The person was followed by a girl in a purple jacket wearing skinny jeans with lavender eyes and lilac hair tied into a ponytail behind her back.

The cloaked man spoke first. "You must be the challenger that Scott spoke of. I heard much about you from Spencer. Just know that this challenge will not be like the one against him."

The pale girl held a determined look, not easily swayed by the ominous air that this figure exuded. "I won't lose easily. Even after the battle with Spencer, I have been training hard for this challenge with my Pokemon. We've changed some since we fought Spencer."

The cloaked figure nodded. "Then come forth and face me with the fires of passion that I was warned about. I, the Castle Guardian, accept your challenge."

As they walked inside, the lilac girl spoke to the cloaked individual while the pale teen was out of earshot. "Now that time, you nailed it."

The cloaked man groaned. "Scott and his stupid marketing ideas. But at least he was right; the speech actually sounds kind of cool if you can say it the right way."

"I still mess up on my speech. Not to mention I hate the way it sounds. So I just wing it from now on."

The cloaked figure nodded. "I'm ok with my speech. I'm actually glad that I got it right this time though."

The girl rose an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"She's one of my friends from Alola." He told her.

"Hmm... well you told me that none of your Alolan friends sided with them, so then I guess she's fine. Are you going to tell her?"

"Probably. She has a right to know, but I'll decide at the end of the battle." He answered.

"I understand. Need me to ref or is Mike here this week."

"No, Mike's gone right now. If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it." He requested.

They walked through a large blue great hall with two rows of pillars with a blue carpet in between. It had two staircases and a set of double doors on the other side. They all walked to the double doors and opened them to reveal a large battlefield.

Both the Castle Guardian and the challenger took opposite ends of the field while the lilac girl took the spot as ref. She rose her hands up and began to gesture to both of them.

"Could you state your name miss?" She asked.

"I'm Lillie Aether."

"Alright then. This is a Frontier Battle between the Castle Guardian and the challenger Lillie Aether. There are only three Pokemon allowed per user, and only the challenger may use substitutions. Now since this is the Battle Castle, an extra rule is in play."

This caught Lillie's attention, as Scott never warned her about something like this happenening. "What is this rule?"

The cloaked person nodded. "The Battle Castle is special. We host a variety of battlefields to make each experience different in each battle depending on preference. The rule is you decide the type of battlefield for the match to take place on between 4 specific types: Ice, Forest, Rocky, or Water. The choice is up to you."

Lillie widened her eyes. "It's completely my choice?"

"Yes it is."

Lillie smirked, knowing that this would likely put her at an advantage. "Then I choose Forest."

As if voice activated, the field began changing by itself, the average battlefield sinking and being replaced with one of many trees. The forest was thick, but you could still see within it from the battlers position. A decent clearing was also noticeable in the center of the field.

"Now that the field is decided, send out your Pokémon!"

"Alright. Scizor, let's get started!" The cloaked person released his first Pokémon into the center of the field

Lillie eyed the opposing Pokemon. "A Steel and Bug type, huh?" She muttered while pulling out a Poke Ball from her belt. "Flareon, come on out."

The Flame Pokemon took the stage as the ref rose her hands up again and threw them down. "Flareon versus Scizor. Begin!"

"The first move is ours. Flareon, Flame Charge." Lillie commanded with a grin, noticing the clear advantage that she had.

"Your overconfidence shall be your downfall." The cloaked man nodded to his Scizor discretely.

The Pincer Pokémon waited until Flareon was close and dodged, lodging a steel coated pincer into Flareon's side, pushing the Fire type away while leaving it in pain at the same time. Flareon cried out as it skidded and then hit a tree.

"Flareon, are you ok?" Lillie called out. Flareon stood up, shook the dirt off it's fur and nodded.

Lillie glanced at the cloaked man. "How did you do that? I didn't hear a word."

"You aren't the first person to try a simple direct attack on the first move. Simple counters like this one don't need a vocal response from me. My Pokemon already know what I plan to command with in those moments."

Lillie widened her eyes. "But that shouldn't be possible."

The girl in purple spoke up. "His bond with his Pokemon makes it possible."

Lillie looked over at her while she continued. "He shares a bond with his Pokemon that is unlike anything the world has ever seen. With that bond comes trust and knowing what the other is thinking."

Lillie glanced back at the Castle Guardian, who nodded. "Passion for battles draws on the most strength from the bonds between me and my Pokémon. I sure hope you're prepared to face this, because it only get's harder. Scizor, Agility."

Multiple afterimages of Scizor appeared as his speed began to increase quickly.

"Now use the trees as cover and get in close."

Scizor disappeared as it began moving from tree to tree quickly, leaving Flareon looking around wildly while wondering where Scizor is going to come from. However, Lillie had a plan for this.

"Flareon, close your eyes and try to sense where Scizor will be coming in from."

Flareon nodded as it closed its eyes and began to listen. Lillie also began looking around wherever she heard sounds. However, that also made her less aware of her opponent's movements.

Flareon's eyes snapped open. "Now use Flamethrower."

Scizor appeared just to the right of Flareon and was charging in quickly. Flareon, quick on the draw, fired the Flamethrower, landing a direct hit onto Scizor, pushing it back.

"Nice hit Flareon!"

But as Scizor was being sent back, suddenly it vanished out of existence.

Lillie widened her eyes. "A substitute!?"

The Castle Guardian didn't miss a beat. "Metal Claw into Air Slash."

This time, Scizor was on the right, inches away from Flareon, hitting the Pokemon as it was off guard, and sending it towards a tree while firing an Air Slash that hit it mid air, forcing it through one of the trees and into another, where it finally came crashing down.

"Flareon!" Lillie cried out.

The Castle Guardian shook his head. "Unfortunate that you didn't notice."

Lillie turned her head to him. "How could he recover so quickly? That would've defeated him."

"You didn't notice me issuing a command cause you were focused on looking for Scizor. While your attention was diverted, I spoke silently and issued a Substitute." He informed her.

Lillie looked at her Flareon as it struggled to stand up. "A-Are you o-okay?" She studdered.

Flareon nodded slowly as it was wincing from the pain. Lillie was having trouble watching, as she hated seeing her Pokemon struggle like that. She wasn't sure if there was anything she could do to beat this man. She finally decided to issue a command as Flareon finally stood up.

"Flareon, use..." Lillie started, but struggled to come up with a command. 'Ugh! What do I do?!' She questioned herself while gritting her teeth in agitation.

"You're hesitating. Scizor, end this with Air Slash."

"Dodge it with Quick Attack! Bounce from tree to tree!" She commanded, jumping out of her hesitation, determined to not give it up.

Flareon gathered his strength and formed some energy to make him move at a rapid pace, just dodging the Air Slash attack in time. The Flame Pokémon bounced from tree trunk to tree trunk, trying to use it's fast movements to confuse Scizor.

"Now use Fire Blast!" She commanded.

Flareon stopped on a tree branch just to Scizor's left and fired a heavy blast of fire type energy straight towards Scizor.

However, the Castle Guardian was not surprised. "Agility into Bullet Punch."

Scizor disappeared in another display of afterimages as his blur appeared all across the battlefield, once again confusing both Lillie and Flareon. However, just a moment later, Flareon was struck unexpectedly with a strike of Scizor's metal enhanced claw, firing Flareon down off of the tree and making it skid a few feet before slowing down. Scizor dropped down from the tree branch and stood a few feet away from a defeated Flareon, who was laying there with swirls it its eyes. "Flareon is unable to battle. Scizor wins. Send out your next Pokémon."

Lillie's mind froze as the call was made. She never thought that her Flareon would be beaten so efficiently, and by a Scizor nonetheless. With all of her past counterattacks left unsuccessful, she was left at a standstill as to what she could do in this situation. This was the only Pokémon she had that could deal with Scizor the best. And even with her other Pokémon, she wasn't sure she wanted to see them get hurt.

She finally settled on her next Pokémon and pulled out another Poke Ball. "Noctowl, come on out!"

The brown bird Pokémon appeared from the Poke Ball with a light flash, letting out a cry of determination as it flapped it's wings. Lillie took another deep breath and formed another focused expression. "If we can't keep up with it's speed then maybe keeping it at a farther distance would help us react better." She mumbled to herself.

The Castle Guardian looked at the Noctowl with a simple expression. 'I'm not sure what you're planning, but don't expect it to work so easily, Lillie.' He thought to himself.

"Noctowl vs Scizor. Battle begin!"

Lillie threw her hand forward. "Noctowl, soar to the sky and use Calm Mind." She called out.

As Noctowl flew up and began to close it's eyes in focus, the Castle Guardian's eyes shifted. 'You're trying to build power and put distance between us. But...' He stole one more glance at Lillie and swore he saw her twitch under his gaze. "I see." He muttered, which made Lillie wince slightly at the tone.

"Scizor, use Swords Dance, then use Double Team all over the forest."

Lillie's eyes widened and the referee's weight shifted from her stand in anticipation of the strategy.

Suddenly, Scizor's claws started glowing and sharpening, showing its power rise even more as the red bug type disappeared into the forest before tons of Scizor began to appear around the forest. Some in trees, some on the ground and some hidden by the treetops that Lillie still couldn't see.

"Now charge Noctowl with Metal Claw!"

All the copies of Scizor started to dash from the trees and fly upwards towards the flying type Pokémon. Lillie was surprised at the sheer number, but she reacted accordingly. "Use Detect to dodge and blast them all away with Extrasensory and Heat Wave!"

And thus, it became a dance between Noctowl and all the copies that Scizor had launched at the bird. Noctowl dodged gracefully as he just managed to find a hole in each attack pattern that the Scizor army launched. With each dodge, Noctowl managed to fire off a Heat Wave to destroy a small group or use Extrasensory to blast the surrounding copies away. However, each attack that Noctowl launched seem to only destroy another copy.

It finally grew to the point where the copies died down and Noctowl was floating in the air, clearly tired from the use of it's powers in succession. Lillie, however, was unsure where the real Scizor was.

"Now Bullet Punch to the sky!"

In a complete blur that caught everyone off guard besides the Castle Guardian, Scizor flew straight into the sky and landed an uppercut on Noctowl. In a moment, Noctowl was slowly losing altitude as it tried to recover.

"Noctowl!" Lillie called out in worry.

"Now Dual Wingbeat, and end this. Softly though."

Scizor fired a flap of it's small wings, shooting two blasts of air to make Noctowl lose it's balance and fall to the ground, dust kicking up as a result. When the dust settled, Noctowl was out cold.

"Noctowl is unable to battle. Scizor wins. Challenger, please send out your last Pokémon."

After returning her Noctowl, she decided to continue on after what felt like an eternity. She took one more deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this. Clefable, come on out!"

The lilac girl rose her hands and threw them down again. "Clefable versus Scizor. Battle begin."

"Clefable use..." Lillie began before she hesitated again. Not only had her direct and distance approaches failed, but she had still been unsuccessful in landing a complete hit on the Scizor.

'Agh! What do I do!?' She yelled in her mind.

"Enough of this!"

. . . . . . .

Lillie looked up at the cloaked man as he shouted. "Where is the passion for battling that I was expecting? Where is the fire Spencer warned me about? Your Flareon lost to Scizor and I, so what? If Scott picked you, you should know by now that type advantage means nothing in a battle!" He yelled. "How do you think your Pokémon are feeling as a result of your lack of confidence?"

"My... Pokémon?" Lillie looked down at Clefable, who was appearing to have a sad look as it stared at Lillie.

"Clef..." The fairy type Pokémon looked at her trainer with a worried expression. As Lillie stared at her Pokémon and looked towards the Scizor that opposed her, Lillie finally noticed that her body language was giving it all away. She looked at her hands and realized het whole body was shaking under everyone's gaze. She gasped.

"You see it now, don't you?" He barked. "You're not releasing your passion; you're exuding pure fear and anxiety because you're lacking a surefire plan. The bonds between us and our Pokémon run so much deeper than people realize. It's to the point where we can feel each other's emotions without even saying anything." He explained.

"I need to be strong for my Pokémon. Just like they are for me." She muttered while taking a look at that Scizor again while also glancing at the Castle Guardian, who's fiery red auburn eyes stared back at her passively, but also with focus and energy that had yet to be released. "They're so powerful... so relentless... but he looks like he's disappointed as well. It really is kind of scary."

Her mind shifted back to the past as she remembered one boy who shared a similar stare from before she began her journey outside the region of Alola. "But it's so much like his... I shouldn't be scared of something like this. He's just full of passion and I'm not delivering my own." She realized. "This isn't a match, this is a slaughter. No wonder he's not having fun!"

She looked up, the fire in her eyes restored. "It's time I stop acting like a child. Look out, cause the real battle starts now!"

The Castle Guardian smiled underneath his cloak. 'Atta girl. Just like I taught you.' He thought to himself.

This action, however, did not go unnoticed by a certain someone on the side.

The Castle Guardian took one more look at his Scizor, who was panting. 'The last two battles have left him exhausted. He might not make it out of this one the same way. We gotta go for broke.'

"Use Calm Mind!" Lillie yelled out.

Clefable closed her eyes as it began to channel energy.

"Don't let it. Use Bullet Punch."

"Dodge under then use Flamethrower!"

As Scizor was coming in with a metallic claw, Clefable opened it's eyes and watched the bug come in. With grace not native to it's species, it dodged under and directed a Flamethrower directly onto Scizor's chest.

"What!?"

Scizor was sent back towards the cloaked man. "Can you continue?"

Scizor gave a small nod, though he clearly felt that one. "Alright, now into the trees, then use Double Team into Air Slash!"

"Dodge them all and try to sense the real one." Lillie commanded.

As Scizor entered the treeline, it separated into multiple images, each preparing an Air Slash to fire. As they fired, Clefable jumped from it's spot and locked eyes with one particular copy. "Use Flamethrower."

Clefable wasted no time as it launched a Flamethrower, meeting Scizor head on, knocking it out as it got sent back into a tree.

"Scizor is unable to battle. The winner is Clefable." The girl inferred.

The cloaked man returned Scizor, looking at it's Poke Ball. "You did great bud. I guess we still need more endurance training. For now, take a long rest. You earned it." He told his Scizor before turning back to Lillie. "Impressive agility. I see you've trained at the Fighting Dojo."

Lillie widened her eyes. "How did you know?"

"Cause no other place in the world teaches that fighting style. I do commend you for teaching it to a Fairy type though. But the battle is far from over."

Lillie smiled, her eyes lit with an unseen flame that the Castle Guardian recognized. "I'm ready for you!"

He smirked as he pulled out an extra Poke Ball. "Pidgeot, I choose you!"

The Flying type let out a large cry as it landed from being released from it's Poke Ball. Determination originated from the sound of the birds voice. Lillie was in awe of the Pokémon for a second before realizing this was still a battle.

"Pidgeot versus Clefable. Battle Begin."

"Use Moonblast and try to finish this quickly." Lillie commanded.

"Dodge and use Hurricane."

Pidgeot swiftly dodged the Fairy type move while forming energy into it's wings and flapping them downward. A twister formed around Clefable, damaging the Fairy type quickly while also knocking away most of the surrounding trees. A cry of pain was heard through the battlefield.

"Clefable, break through with Brick Break."

Clefable channeled energy into it's hand and swung on the side of the twister, forcing it to dissipate.

"Now fire an Ice Beam."

"Double Team around Clefable."

"Spin around!"

Pidgeot used Double Team to encircle Clefable, hoping to dodge the incoming attack, but was greeted with a surprise when Clefable started to spin, attacking all the copies and still managing to land the hit.

'She took a page from my book.' The cloaked man thought to himself as Pidgeot shook off the attack.

"Thunderbolt."

"Hurricane and contain it!"

Pidgeot formed another Hurricane, absorbing the Thunderbolt into it and somehow using it to charge the attack with the electricity. Lillie looked at the attack in awe. "No way!"

"Now fire it!"

Pidgeot launched the Hurricane at Clefable, who tried to dodge it with it's nimble agility, but was unfortunately caught in the end. The attack dealt a lot of damage before it dispersed, dust still stirred up. After the dust was gone, it was revealed that Clefable was still standing, though the force of the attack made a few tree branches break across the field.

"Impressive. But unfortunately, the battle ends here!" The Castle Guardian called out.

Lillie looked at Clefable, who nodded back at her trainer, confirming that she was ok. "We're not done yet! Clefable, spin around and use Thunderbolt again!"

The fairy type began to spin around on it's feet and fire blasts of electricity all around the arena, which Pidgeot barely dodged.

"Time to go for broke Pidgeot! Use Brave Bird and end this battle!" He commanded.

Pidgeot dove down, dodging the Thunderbolt, and started glowing blue. As it leveled out, it started to take on a fiery look as it charged head on to Clefable, who had stopped spinning with Thunderbolt and was staring at the approaching bird.

"Meet it head on with a Thunder Punch!" Lillie yelled out.

Electricity cracked as Clefable's hand was covered with energy. It rushed through the broken woods towards Pidgeot, meeting the impact with a large explosion, sending a shockwave that could knock someone over. The power caused a lot of the trees to shift and break many of the tree branches, knocking much of them all around the field.

When the smoke cleared, both Pokémon, with swirls in their eyes, were laying down on the ground. The girl made the call.

"The match is a tie. As it is a tie, due to having one Pokémon left, Castle Guardian Ash wins the battle." She exclaimed.

Lillie sighed, clearly missing the name and walked up to Clefable, who was on the floor and clearly tired after such a long match. "You fought so well. I'm sorry I lost my confidence in that match."

The Castle Guardian returned his Pidgeot. "You fought bravely Pidgeot. Take a good long rest."

The Salon Maiden walked off of the ref post and towards the Castle Guardian. "Well done with the strategies. It seemed like you had a proper counter to each of her strategies and you backed her into a corner in a lot of situations."

"Yes, but a lot of that was based on fear. If she had displayed all of her passion much more early in the match, the outcome would have been different."

"Fair enough. Why did you hold back on the last move?" Anabel added.

Ash Ketchum shrugged. "Well, it wasn't that I stopped myself. Her passion and determination was just so great that it pushed Clefable to make the stalemate. I could've asked Pidgeot for more power or even pulled my trump card, but with that display, it might not have made a big difference."

"You sure about that?" Anabel inquired snidely.

"Well, no... but she did great at the end, regardless of losing. I don't regret helping her wake up." He turned towards Lillie, ignoring the light giggle coming from the Salon Maiden. "And I know you saw it too."

Anabel smiled as Lillie and her Clefable laughed. "Yeah. She really reminds me of you. She even took a few pages out of your playbook."

"I taught her a few things back in Alola. I'm surprised she still knows them, but she is still a ways away from mastering her own unique battling style." Ash stated.

"Do you think she'll get there?"

"Someday. After all, it's taken me years to get this far. Even if she lost, there is still so much growing left that she has to do."

"Good eye. Looks like you have your observations down pat. So do you plan to tell her since she completely missed it?" Anabel asked.

Ash sighed. "I guess so, I planned to save that for the Arc Tournament, but not now."

They walked up to Lillie, who was returning Clefable and directing her attention towards the pair. "You fought well. Your passion burned so bright that if the match had gone on any longer, I would not have won like I did. I am proud to see the bond you share with your Pokémon."

"Thank you so much. I plan to rematch you in the future, cause I'm not done with the challenge yet. There is still so much I have left to learn." Lillie stated while looking at the Castle Guardian. "By the way, I never learned your name from Spencer or Scott. What is it?"

Ash tossed a look at the Salon Maiden, and she nodded. "Well, it may come as a shock, but..."

"Pikaa!"

They all turned to see in the stands, there was a Pikachu sitting with an Espeon. And he was waving right at Lillie.

"A Pikachu! I haven't seen one in a while!" She exclaimed with a smile. But then she suddenly frowned as her eyes squinted while looking at the Pikachu. "Wait a second. Why does he act like he knows me? And why is he so familiar?" She wondered.

"It's because he is."

Lillie turned to see the Castle Guardian toss off his cloak to reveal a red Poke Ball hat, white long sleeve shirt and blue vest, blue jeans, and black shoes. Raven hair was seeable under the hat, and the burning auburn eyes and tan skin were all too familar to the pale Aether girl.

"Nice to see you again, Lillie." He tipped his cap with his right hand. "I'm Castle Guardian Ash. The 6th Frontier Brain of the Pokémon Battle Frontier."

This battle lacked detail from the first write in. Plus I felt the battle was a little short and lacked a bit of action, so that was most of what I revised in this part. Also don't ask for me to revise any other stories please. I'm more stuck on revising this one than I am the others. I hope you enjoyed the revisions.

-Bi0t0rch