Author's Notes:
Good morning everyone and welcome you another chapter of Alpha and Omega. I don't have much to say except sorry. Today's update in definitely the shortest chapter in the book so far, with a word count less than 3000, before my these notes. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you with the next chapter.

Also, today Ash's opponent will be none other than Trick_Sterling . His OC is debuting today, and I plan on using him again in the future.

With that all said and done....

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 42, enjoy.

"Charizard is unable to battle! Ash Ketchum is the winner, and will be moving on to the third round," the referee announced as the spectators cheered.

"You did great Emboar, return," Ash said as he returned his third victorious fire type to its Pokéball.

Ash then walked off the field, leaving a very angry trainer glaring at him from behind. Not only did Pignite evolve mid battle, but Ash still had to use his fightinium Z to defeat his opponent's mega Charizard X. Even though Z crystals were allowed, many trainers weren't happy Ash had them and they didn't. But Ash just brushed it off and didn't worry about it, since it wasn't like they couldn't go to Alola and take part in the island trials. In his eyes, it was no different than trainers that used mega evolution against trainers that didn't have it. Nobody was preventing anyone from going out looking for these advantages, so they had no business crying about it.

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Ash returned to the stands and sat right next to Serena.

"Congratulations," Serena said after she gave him a kiss.

"Thanks," Ash replied as he looked blissfully into Serena's sapphire eyes.

"Excuse me," Paul said as he tried to leave, breaking Ash from his daydream about Serena.

Ash and Serena moved, allowing Paul to get by.

"Good luck," Miette called out to Paul, then blew him a kiss. Paul merely nodded and continued walking for his match.

The three of them watched the remaining two matches as they awaited Paul's battle.

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Upon the conclusion of Paul's match, they all headed to the Pokémon Center so Ash and Paul could get their Pokémon healed.

"So what are you guys going to do today?" Miette asked Ash and Serena.

"No doubt he'll be training," Paul commented.

"Actually no," Ash said, resulting in shocked looks for Paul and Miette. "I might have trained for the last two days after my match. But today I'm giving my Pokémon the rest of the day off."

"You're kidding, right? We're in the middle of a tournament," Paul stated.

"I know. But there's more to life than just Pokémon battles. We're in the middle of a week long festival, and we should experience it. If we don't take some time after our matches, we'll never have time to enjoy it. Serena and I were going to go check out the festivities. You and Miette should join us," said Ash.

"No thanks. I've got to train Magmortar some more," Paul replied.

Ash and Serena looked over and saw a disappointed look on Miette's face. Serena knew Miette wanted to go with Paul, as she said so herself while the two girls were having some girls time while the guys trained their Pokémon the other day. Ash came up with this compromise himself, train his Pokémon for the first two days and spend remaining afternoons with Serena. Serena felt sad for Miette that Paul wouldn't go, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Come on Miette. You can come with Ash and I. Maybe we'll run into Carlos again," Serena said as she grabbed Miette's arm and started pulling her as they left.

Miette and Ash both had a confused look on their faces, as they both didn't know who Carlos was. Paul on the other hand, had a much more serious look than normal.

"Who is Carlos?" Paul asked in a stern tone.

Serena smirked and turned around to face Paul, "Oh he's just this really nice guy we ran into yesterday. He's a little older than us, muscular, handsome, and was really enjoying talking with Miette."

Miette realized what Serena was doing and smiled, but refused to face Paul. She just stood there waiting to see what happened. Paul looked deep in thought, with an almost concerned look on his face.

"I guess taking one afternoon off of training wouldn't hurt. Besides I'm feeling a little hungry. I'm sure the food in the city will be better than here," Paul said then walked up to join them, putting his arm around Miette as he arrived.

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The four of them left the Pokémon center and started enjoying all that the festival had to offer. Many of the streets in the city were closed making traveling easier, although Paul was moving a little slow as he appeared to be looking around at every guy in the area.

Thanks to Ash, they stopped at nearly every corner where traditional pasties were being sold. But this was ok with everyone else as this usually provided everyone else a chance to look at the enormous ninots.

Ninots are large doll like statues, in this case made of paper mache, cardboard, wood, or plaster. The city is filled with over seven hundred ninots that usually require cranes to put them into place. The ninots are very lifelike and depict humorous scenes or current events.

At one particular scene, Miette noticed Paul was closely examining all of the ninots as the rest of them were starting to walk away.

"Hey Paul, is everything ok?" Miette asked.

"Yes, I'm just admiring the work. A lot of time and effort was clearly put into these. The craftsmanship is amazing. I'm also trying to understand the scene being displayed," Paul replied.

"You know there's a sign over here explaining it," Miette replied.

"I know. But I would rather try and understand it myself first," said Paul.

"You know, I wouldn't have expected this from you. You know, admiring art, and trying to understand what the artist is trying to show," Miette said as she hooked her left arm through his right.

"Just because I spend most of my time training doesn't mean I don't appreciate art, or the time and effort they put into it. I look at this and I see the artist's blood, sweat, and tears that were put into this, hours a day of dedication and hard work," Paul replied.

"Wow! This is a side of you I've never seen before," Miette said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"My mother didn't care much for television. Her idea of entertainment was going to museums and looking at paintings and sculptures. While my brother and father were traveling, having their Pokémon journeys while I was still too young, my mother would take me to art exhibits. We would look at works and try and guess what the artist was trying to convey," Paul explained.

Miette was taken back by Paul's words. Paul rarely talked about his life before he became a trainer, and he never spoke of his family. Miette smiled, as she felt that her relationship with Paul had reached a new level.

Soon after Paul turned around and read the title of the piece, but also saw something about voting.

"So the one with the most votes wins a prize," Paul commented.

"More like the one with the most votes gets spared," Miette replied.

"What do you mean spared?" Paul asked.

"After this festival the one with the most votes is put into a museum with past winners, and the others are all burned," Miette replied.

"Why destroy them?" Paul asked.

Miette shrugged, "How am I supposed to know? I can't be expected to understand everything." Miette then took a picture of Paul and the Ninot with her phone for social media. That was when she noticed the time. "Uh oh, we need to hurry," Miette said, grabbing Paul's hand and starting to pull him.

"Why? Where are we going?" Paul asked.

"To the town square for the mascletada," Miette replied.

"What's a mascletada?" Paul asked.

"You'll see when it starts," Miette replied as she continued to pull him.

Soon they arrived at the town square, which was crowded with people. However despite the crowd, they quickly found Ash and Serena as they were sharing a bunyols de carabassa and a cup of chocolate.

"So what are we doing here?" Paul asked as he and Miette arrived.

"It's called a mascletada. It's some kind of fireworks show," Serena replied.

"But it's day time. Wouldn't fireworks be best as night?" Paul questioned.

"We were told it's more of an auditory experience," Miette answered.

Before anyone could say anything else, the event began. At first it just sounded like loud noise and explosions. But as it progressed, a rhythm could be heard that almost sounded like music.

(Mascletada 2019, recommended turning the volume down, its pretty loud)

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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The next day, after enjoying the festival, it was time for the tournament again.

"Both trainers send out your Pokémon," announced the referee.

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash called out as he threw his Pokéball.

Once out he blew a flame at Ash's head, covering his face in soot. People sweatdropped as it made Charizard look undisciplined, but Ash just smiled and chuckled as he whipped the soot off.

"Emboar!Go!" Called our Ash's fourth opponent.

Ash's fourth opponent was a trainer from the Unova region named Patrick, but went by Trick. He was about eighteen years old, about Ash's height, and a little more muscular. He had semi curly light brown hair and gray eyes, and looked about as excited for this battle as Ash. Trick had a key stone arm band on his left bicep, a new Pokédex on his left wrist, and a Z ring on his right wrist. Considering that Emboar wasn't known to mega evolve, Ash wasn't too worried about that. But the Z ring did bring some concern. Until now Ash was the only one using Z crystals, so he had no idea what Z moves Emboar could do.

"Both trainers ready?"

Ash and Trick nodded.

"Battle Begin."

"Emboar, brick break!"

"Charizard, counter with slash!"

Emboar's left arm glowed white as both of Charizard's claws glowed white. The two Pokémon charged towards each other. Emboar brought his left arm down to attack, but was blocked by Charizard's slash.

"Emboar, thunder punch!" Trick yelled right as the brick break was blocked.

Emboars right arm became covered in electricity and collided with Charizard's other slash. Despite the attack being blocked, Charizard winced as he was still hit by the electricity.

"Now focus punch before he recovers!"

Emboar's right arm begins to glow light blue and he begins to swing at Charizard.

"Quick Charizard! Back away!"

Charizard jumps up as he begins to flap his wings, moving him away. Charizard still takes a hit to the stomach, but it's diminished due to the increased distance. Charizard grabs his stomach, but endured the hit and continues to fly back.

"Now use air slash!" Ash yelled.

Charizard's wings began glowing light blue as he flapped his wings, sending several light blue saw like discs at Emboar.

"Stone edge to block!"

Emboar punched the ground, and a stone pillar shot up in front of him.

"Steel wing to slice that pillar, followed by slash and dragon tail!"

The stone pillar took the discs. But as the last one hit a white wing cut right through it and slammed into Emboar's stomach. Emboar was knocked back by the sheer force of the not very effective attack, but then was hit by both of Charizard's claws as they moved in a downward motion, which turned into a flip as Charizard's tail glowed green, and hit Emboar on the head. Emboar was knocked face down from the attack, then felt Charizard land on his back before pushing off as he flew away. Emboar pushed himself back up to his feet as Charizard landed back in front of Ash.

"Emboar, are you alright?" Trick asked.

"Boar," Emboar replied as he gave his trainer a thumbs up.

"In that case, let's see how they like our Z move!" Trick called out.

The two began making the synchronized poses, catching Ash's attention.

"Charizard, devastating drake!"

Ash and Charizard began making the synchronized moves.

A large fire ball began forming in front of Emboar, as a purple ball of energy formed in front of Charizard.

"Inferno overdrive!" Trick yelled as Emboar punched the fire ball, sending it towards Charizard.

At the same time Charizard punched the purple ball, which changed into the shape of a dragon as it flew towards Emboar. The two Z moves collided creating a large explosion as they canceled each other out, and leaving the entire battlefield hidden in a dust cloud.

"Charizard, seismic toss."

Despite not being able to see Charizard took off flying in the direction Emboar was last seen.

"Emboar, hammer arm!"

Charizard emerged from the dust cloud to see Emboar right where he was before with his right arm glowing white.

"Charizard dodge and use thunder punch, then continue as planned!"

Just as Emboar's attack was about to hit, Charizard quickly ducked down, narrowly avoiding the attack. Charizard then hit Emboar in his ribs on his right side with thunder punch, then came around from behind and grabbed Emboar, locking his arms at his side, before pushing off and rapidly flying up into the air.

"Emboar, thunder punch with both fists!"

Emboar's fists became covered with electricity. Even though they couldn't move, they were being held down by Charizard's arms, so he felt the electricity flowing through him. Despite the pain, Charizard endured, flew high enough up into the air, did three flips, then began to dive bomb back into the ground. Emboar continued the electric attack until Charizard finally released him, as he threw him at the ground. Once free Charizard flew off, but made a crash landing due to the pain of the electricity taking its toll.

Charizard was on the ground breathing heavily as he tried to push himself back up, while Emboar was lying in a crater with swirly eyes. Despite Emboar clearly being unconscious the referee didn't call the match, as he waited to see if Charizard was also going to be considered unable to battle, resulting in a tie. Charizard had one foot flat on the ground, and both fists pushing him up. Then with one mighty push and a loud roar, Charizard pushed himself back up onto both feet.

"Emboar is unable to battle, making Charizard the winner! Ash Ketchum will be moving on to the final round!" Announced the referee.

Charizard made one final roar as he blew a powerful flame up into the air. Ash and Trick returned their Pokémon then walked towards each other, meeting in the center.

"Good match," Trick said as he extended a hand.

"You too," Ash replied as he shook Tricks hand. "I thought I was the only one who could do Z moves here. You really caught me off guard there."

Trick smiled, "I went to Alola years ago on vacation with my parents before I was a trainer. While we were there, a hurricane hit, and I saved a group of Pokémon and brought them into the hotel. People weren't too happy about it, but the Island Kahuna was impressed and gave me these as a reward. He said my heart showed him I was deserving and to come back some time after I was a trainer and he would give me a chance to earn another."

"Well now that they have a league in Alola, you should definitely go back," Ash replied.

"I intend on it. But in the mean time, I've got to worry about the Torrent League," Trick said.

"In that case, I'll battle you again at the League," Ash replied.

The two then separated and headed off the battlefield, both looking forward to their next meeting.

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A few minutes later, it was time for the next and final battle of the day, Paul's battle. Miette were eagerly awaiting Paul's match to begin, while Serena waited for Ash.

"For the match of the day, our first contender is Carlos!" William announced.

Miette and Serena took notice of the name and looked at the screen to see Carlos' image. He looked a little older than them, was muscular, and handsome.

"Oh shit, this isn't good," Serena stated as she saw this Carlos appeared to match the general description of the fictional man she made up the other day.

"Relax, Paul is very level headed. I'm sure he understands this might not be the same guy," Miette replied.

"And please welcome his opponent, Paul!" William announced.

Miette and Serena looked at the screen to see Paul's face. He did not look calm or level headed, he looked angry, while his eyes looked filled with murderous intent.

"Oh, this will not end well," Serena stated as she sounded scared.

"Well that's what he gets for flirting with Miette," Ash replied as he sat down beside Serena.

"But he didn't!" Serena practically shouted.

"What?" Ash replied.

"I just made up the story to get Paul to just come out and spend time with Miette," Serena explained.

"Oh shit. I hope he stops at beating his Pokémon," Ash replied.

"I'm not worried. Paul is probably just going to crush him and that's that. Honestly I like seeing this side of him," said Miette.

"What?!" Both Ash and Serena said, very confused as to why.

"Seeing his jealous side just shows how much he loves me," Miette said as she looked on with hearts in her eyes.

Ash and Serena just looked back at the field, knowing Carlos was about to get his ass kicked so fast he won't know what hit him.