AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to the latest chapter for Alpha and Omega. Today another reader created OC will be making their appearance, this one was the first submitted, and is the creation of bowtrapta . To the rest of you who created OCs for me and I haven't used them yet, please be patient I will use OCs as they fit. I honestly look at all of your creations before I start a chapter to see is anyone can fit into my plan, or if I get inspired to make changes to the plan. I promise I am trying to add as many of your OCs as I can.

With that all said, if you like my work please vote, feel free to comment, and please share this story with your friends. I now present to you chapter 23, enjoy.

It's another fine morning in Seville in the Torrent region, and currently Ash is going through some last minute training with his Tauros.

Last night might have been the beginning of the fiesta, but celebrating Isla's victory was what was happening. William brought them all to a restaurant with some very good food to celebrate. Then afterwards back to his hotel room, so he could break the law a little bit by allowing his daughter a glass of wine to celebrate. William normally strictly obeyed the laws, especially when it came to underage drinking. However this was a special occasion, and his wife wasn't there, so he just required Isla to stay in the hotel room for the rest of the night, to Isla it was worth it. By this point it was getting late, and Ash and Serena decided to call it a night.

While Ash is working on his usual training regiment with his Pokémon, Serena is resting now. Since she and her Pokémon just had a performance yesterday, now it was time for brainstorming for the next routine. However, just because they weren't practicing didn't mean they were slacking off. The morning started with a one-mile run, then working on some basic movements like jumps and flips, as well as target practice. Now with that all done it's time to rest, as Ash's training tends to last longer. As Ash and his Pokémon train, Serena decides to go back inside the hotel for a drink.

"Alright that was a great training session, especially for you Tauros. Those other trainers won't know what hit them," Ash praised.

The three Tauros mooed loudly, proud of the praise they received. And it was well earned as they, as well as three others, each learned some new moves. As Ash was praising his Pokémon Serena walked up with a clear cup with a dome lid and a straw, drinking a frozen beverage.

"It sounds like your training went well," Serena commented as she walked up.

"You bet. We've got a few tricks up our sleeve now to catch those other trainers off their guard. I'm a little embarrassed I didn't do this sooner. My Tauros are all so strong and can learn a pretty good variety of moves, but I never really trained them as much as I should have, and even when I did use them I only really used the herd leader," Ash commented.

"Well you do have a lot of Pokémon, with nearly half of them being Tauros. It kind of makes sense you would have trouble training all of them," Serena replied.

"True, but one day I'll become a Pokémon master, and I'll have even more Pokémon. I'm going to need to make time to train them all," Ash states with a determined tone.

Ash then notices Serena's drink.

"What do you have there?" Ash asked.

"Oh, it's called a caramel frappuccino. Would you like to try it?" Serena asked.

"Sure why not," Ash replied.

Serena handed him the cup and he sucked some up the straw.

"That's pretty good," Ash commented.

"Really? You know there's coffee in that?" Serena asked.

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed. It's really good," Ash replied and drank some more.

"I figured you could like coffee. You probably just need it a little sweeter than I do," Serena replied.

"Well that makes sense. I mean, I do like sweet things. That must be why I love you so much," Ash flirted, then gave Serena a quick peck on the lips.

This caused Serena to blush. However then she noticed he was still drinking her drink.

"Can I have my drink back?" Serena asked.

Ash just smiled and drank some more. Serena reached for it but Ash turned around blocking her.

"Come on Ash give it back," Serena said as she tried to reach again.

Ash turned again, and replied back in an almost childlike tone, "No."

Serena then jumped onto his back as she started laughing, knowing Ash was just playing with her. Ash took one last sip then handed it off to Greninja, who then took a step back. Serena climbed off of Ash and tried to get her drink from Greninja, but Ash wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up. He then planted his lips on her neck, which had become quite cold from the frozen beverage.

"Ahhh, your lips are so cold," Serena laughed.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Ash asked.

Serena smiled and turned around and locked lips with Ash. As they did this Serena motioned to Greninja to give her the drink, which he did. Serena then wrapped her arms around Ash at his waist, then quickly lifted his shirt and pushed the cold beverage against his lower back.

"Cold cold cold cold," Ash said in shock of the sudden chill.

"That's what you get," Serena giggled.

Ash was about to go after Serena but stopped when he heard someone clearing their throat. Ash looked and saw it was a tall man with short slicked back hair and a thin mustache, wearing a black suit and white button up shirt, with the the top buttons undone.

"Excuse me, but if your not training your Pokémon, can you please leave so I can use the field," the man asked.

"Oh yeah I'm done, sorry," Ash replied sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

The man walked up to the field as Ash returned his Pokémon and grabbed his things. As they were leaving they saw him release a large shiny Tauros.

After a little more flirting, washing up, getting changed, and gathering their things, Ash and Serena left the hotel for the Pokémon Center. Reason being, they needed to get their Pokémon checked out, and they couldn't stay in the hotel for another night. Despite Palermo reserving them a hotel room for Serena's performance, she only would reserve it till the day after Serena's performances. This hadn't been an issue in the past, as they were usually leaving the next day anyway. But since the gym was closed till after the fiesta, they were going to be there for a few more days.

Ash and Serena checked into the Pokémon Center, and dropped their stuff in their room while the Pokémon were being checked out. As they were waiting in the lobby they could hear the usual noises, conversations between trainers about different battle strategies, trainers wanting to trade Pokémon, exchanging information about rare Pokémon. All at normal conversation levels and not getting much attention until someone spoke up getting everyone's attention.

"YOU BITCH!" A male voice yelled.

Everyone looked in the direction to see a guy with short spiky green hair running off with one hand on his left cheek. Then from the direction he came from was a girl about eighteen years old, with bright blue hair in a paperboy style haircut, emerald green eyes, brown skin with freckles on her face and arms. She was wearing an orange tee shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Her fists were balled and she was clearly furious, which clearly showed the reason the guy ran off was because she punched him.

She walked over into the lobby, got a soda from a drink machine, then sat down across from Ash and Serena. Neither one wanted to say a word, they looked at the girl who was still clearly angry. She quickly drank the soda then her eyes looked straight at Ash and Serena.

"Some people are such jerks! I swear that guy deserved a lot more than just one punch. Grrr, now I'm just angry," the girl stated angrily.

"Umm, if a Pokémon battle would help you calm down, I'm game," Ash said nervously.

The girls eyes narrowed on Ash as they still held the same amount of anger.

"Yes thank you," for he girl said firmly.

She then stood up and walked out to the battlefield. Luckily for Ash, Nurse Joy just called his name as his Pokémon were ready. He then made a quick swap of his Pokémon.

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Ash was on one side of the battlefield while the girl was on the other.

"Considering the time and I'm participating in the Tauros battling tournament, can this just be a one on one battle?" Ash asked.

The girl looked at her cellphone and her eyes got wide as she realized they were both going to have to leave soon to have time to register.

"I'm participating too so yes. Oh and by the way, my name is Amber Amaya Fia, and I'm from the Sinnoh region," The girl now known as Amber stated.

"Nice to meet you Amber. My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm from the Kanto region," Ash introduced.

Amber grabbed a pokeball from her belt then let it fly.

"Luxio, time to battle!"

The spark Pokémon took a battle stance while facing Ash as it awaited his Pokémon.

"Growlithe I chose you!"

Growlithe took the battlefield with a howl.

"I'll let you have the first move," Ash said to Amber.

"Luxio thunderbolt!"

Luxio fired a yellow beam of electricity at Growlithe.

"Counter with flamethrower, then follow with fire fang!"

Growlithe opened her mouth and a red-orange flame fired out, hitting the thunderbolt and exploding as it created a cloud of smoke between them. Growlithe burst through the cloud at Luxio with her flaming mouth wide open.

"Luxio dodge then spark!"

Luxio dodged the fire fang at the last second, then sparked with light blue electricity as it covered its body, then slammed into Growlithe. Growlithe cried out in pain from the attack.

"Growlithe are you ok?" Ash asked.

"Growl," Growlithe barked back as she nodded.

"Great. Now dig underground and use flare blitz."

Growlithe quickly digs underground with her front paws. A few seconds later smoke begins coming from the battlefield, then flames started to erupt from underground.

"Luxio keep moving around don't give those flames a chance to hit you!"

Luxio tried to avoid the flames but it was no use, the flames were popping up everywhere and where there wasn't a flame the ground was extremely hot. Eventually a flame burst out of the ground and hit Luxio sending it flying.

"Growlithe finish with fire fang!"

Growlithe burst out of the ground with her mouth on fire.

"Luxio discharge!" Amber yelled as Luxio was still in the air.

Luxio then fired multiple bolts of electricity towards Growlithe. Growlithe used fire fang to withstand one of the blasts, but then was hit by two more, sending her crashing into the ground. Luxio hit the ground hard, but managed to get up, as did Growlithe. Both Pokémon were breathing heavily, making it clear that both were almost completely spent.

"Luxio wild charge!"

"Growlithe flame charge!"

The two Pokémon took off running towards each other. Luxio's body became covered in yellow electricity, as Growlithe became covered in red flames. The two Pokémon collided creating an explosion and hiding them in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared both Pokémon were seen unconscious. Ash and Amber rushed over to their Pokémon and thanked them before returning them to their pokeballs. There eyes then locked, and a smile formed on Ambers face.

"That was a great battle, thanks. I really needed that," Amber said in a much happier tone.

"No problem. I get it, sometimes I need to battle to get my mind off things too," Ash replied.

They then took their Pokémon to Nurse Joy to have them healed. They then sat together to wait.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did that guy do to make you so mad?" Serena asked.

"He was being a sexist jerk. He believed that since I'm a girl I shouldn't be participating in the Tauros tournament. Saying my place is in those showcases," Amber replies with a tone of anger in her voice.

"That's ridiculous. I've battled plenty of strong trainers that are girls," Ash replied.

"And just being in the showcases doesn't mean your a weak battler. The Kalos Queen Aria is even a strong battler," Serena commented.

"Well thank you. Right now my only hope is that he doesn't win the tournament," Amber replied.

"So he's competing too?" Ash asked.

"Yup. As much as I'd like to beat him I'll be happy as long as he doesn't win. He said I had two things going against me, one I'm a girl, two I'm not from Torrent," said Amber.

"What does not being from Torrent have to do with anything?" Asked Serena.

"It's a Torrent pride thing. He's one of those people who believe the only good Tauros battlers come from Torrent, and it doesn't help that his father was the current champions predecessor. Apparently there has never been a trainer to beat a Tauros Champion in fifty years that wasn't from Torrent," Amber replied.

After a few minutes their Pokémon were ready and they began to make there way to the arena, the same arena Serena was performing at the day before. Ash and Amber weren't wearing their matador outfits, but instead were carrying them in garment bags. As they walked they learned that Amber was from Twinleaf town like Dawn, and apparently were even friends. Ash also learned that Amber was also competing in the Torrent League, and already had four badges, earning her forth before the gym in Seville closed for the fiesta. And that she was one of the Pokedex beta testers from Sinnoh.

"Ash, Serena over here," Isla called out from in front of the arena.

Ash, Serena, and Amber walked over upon seeing Isla.

"Hey there Ash and Serena," William said as they arrived. He then noticed Amber, "and hello to you too miss. My name is William and this is my daughter Isla." William said as he extended his hand.

"Hello, my name is Amber, and I know who you are, your a member of the Elite Four. I saw you on TV battling a member of the Johto Elite Four just a few days ago, you were amazing," Amber said as she shook his hand.

"Well thank you," William replied.

"Are you going to be competing today?" Amber asked.

"I wish, but no. Isla and I are here to cheer on Ash," William replied as he hit Ash on the back.

"Well we better get going so we can get changed," Ash stated.

Ash then gave Serena a quick kiss goodbye, and she gave him a more passionate kiss for luck. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and into Serena's arms. Serena then left for their seats with William and Isla, while Ash left with Amber for the participants entrance where there was a table where they signed up.

Inside they walked down a hall to a large room for the participants. Inside were the participants, many of which were already dressed in their matador clothes. Along the sides were small changing rooms with curtains. As they observed this Amber noticed a problem.

"I don't see any other girls," Amber commented.

"That's because this is a mans competition," said a voice from behind.

Ash and Amber looked to see it was the same green haired guy from before, with a nice bruise forming on his left cheek.

"Keep talking like that and I'll make sure your right cheek matches your left," Amber hissed.

"Hmph, I'd like to see you try," the guy taunted.

Amber balled her fist and started to move forward again, but was stopped by Ash stepping in front of her.

"Woah, stop right there and think. He's clearly baiting you. Just calm down, he wants you kicked out, don't give him the satisfaction," Ash said.

"You're no fun. Tell your girlfriend to stay out of my way, and you do the same. Foreigners might be allowed to participate, but you won't be able to win. This is our region, our event, you're just here for fun. Some of us train our Tauros for years just for this event. I bet you train your Tauros about as much as any other Pokémon you have, but that won't be enough," the green haired guy said in a condescending tone.

"I've won a Tauros exclusive tournament before. My Tauros can hold their own just fine," Ash replied.

The green haired guy just walked past them, intentionally bumping Ash's shoulder as he walked by.

"I can see why you hit him. I have to admit I'm tempted to do the same," Ash said to Amber.

"I know. Hey, thanks for keeping be back," said Amber.

"No problem," Ash replied with a toothy grin.

"Well anyway, we better get changed. Umm, since there doesn't appear to be a girls changing area, could you please stand guard for me?" Amber asked.

"Sure, but what makes you think you can trust me not to look? Not that I would," Ash replied.

"Seeing you and Serena. After that kiss, it was clear to me you two are really serious. And you don't seem like the kind of guy who would want to risk losing her over something as stupid as spying on a girl while she's getting changed," Amber replied.

"The only thing you aren't completely right on is that I wouldn't do anything period to risk losing Serena," said Ash.

Amber then walked into the changing station and changed into her purple and gold matador outfit as Ash stood guard. Once she was done she stepped out so Ash could change and offered to stand guard for him, which he accepted.

"Oh but unlike you, I might steal a peak," Amber teased.

Ash froze and immediately looked uncomfortable by the comment, resulting in Amber busting out laughing.

"Hahaha, don't worry I'm just kidding. I won't look," Amber replied as she got he laughing under control.

"Right," Ash replies skeptically.

Ash quickly changed into his matador outfit, and Amber kept her word and didn't peak. Although she did end up helping Ash with his tie, as it looked like he was trying to hang himself with it. Upon finishing getting ready, Ash and Amber waited in the room with the other competitors.

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Back with William and the girls, they were sitting in the stands as they waited for everything to begin. As they waited William felt someone taping on his shoulder, he looked to see it was one of the security guards.

"Excuse me, can you all please come with me. The Champion has offered an invitation for you all to join him in his private seating area," the guard said.

William and the girls stood up and followed the guard into a secured area, then through a set of double doors. Inside they see the same man Ash and Serena saw at the hotel battlefield.

"William, good to see you again," The man said as he stood up and walked towards them.

"Good to see you again too Victor," William replied.

When Victor arrived the two shook hands. Then Victor looked past William to see Serena and Isla.

"And who do we have here? I thought you only had one child?" Victor asked.

"I do. This is my daughter Isla," William said as he gestured to his daughter. "And this is Serena. Her boyfriend is the son of an old friend and is going to be competing in the tournament," William said as he gestured to Serena.

"Hello." "Hola." Serena and Isla said.

"Hola," Victor replied, then took each of the girls hands and kissed them.

"Now please take a seat with me as my guests. I'll see to it that the young man makes it up here after his battle," Victor said as he gestured for them all to take a seat.

"Thank you," they all said to Victor.

"So, what is this young mans name?" Victor Asked.

"Ash Ketchum," Serena replied.

"Ash Ketchum, well let's see what he can do," Victor commented.

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"Welcome one and all to this years Tauros Battle Tournament!" Said the announcer causing the audience to cheer.

"This year we have thirty-two trainers competing. So let's find out the matchups and get these battles underway!" The announcer said.

There were two large screens on opposite ends of the arena, which showed the faces of all the trainers. The faces then got mixed up then moved into a bracket format.

"Today's first matchup will be between John Garcia and Ash Ketchum.

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Back in the competitors waiting area Ash stared down John, who happened to be the spiky green haired trainer from earlier. John was wearing a white and gold matador outfit, and was looking back at Ash with an arrogant look on his face.

"Lucky, I wanted to battle him," Amber huffed.

"Sorry, just how the draw worked out," Ash replied.

"It's ok, just kick his ass for me," said Amber.

"Will do," Ash replied.

Both Ash and John walked out of the waiting area where there where two officials were waiting for them.

"Well I guess it's time for me to take out the trash. But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to be a tourist afterwards," John said in a condescending tone.

Ash didn't say anything. He knew this guy was an asshole, and he needed to teach him a lesson. The two officials then escorted them in opposite directions to the battlefield.