(Ash POV)
I woke up in a cave with Charizard next to a fire. Two figures were there talking, and I could barely understand them as my head was still spinning...
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay with Team Delia? I thi..." Said one of them while the other person seemed to pause him. "I rather be with Team Red since the man is cold. But whatever, I'll stick with Ash. That way I know when this is over I can rematch him." Said the other person with his hands in his pocket. As I was trying to get up, they both looked at me. "Well well Well, look whose finally awake." Said one of them sarcastically. Finally, I could get one good look at them to realize who they were.
"Paul!? Sawyer!? Wha...what are you guys doing here!?!" I said while sounding like a weak child. It was pathetic how I said that. "What I'm doing here is saving your butt. Your welcome. That Lapras Shot down your Charizard directly in the wing, just barely missing his tail. The person was from Team Delia." Paul explained with a REALLY low voice. I looked at Sawyer who was giving Charizard some berries to help him heal. "Paul your the one that told the person to shoot down Ash in the first place!" Sawyer said while Paul glared at him. "Because I thought he was a threat. And he is. So I had the right call." Paul said while walking out the cave slowly to check outside. "Speaking of which... Isnt Paul supposed to be on Team Delia since he lives in Sinnoh?" I questioned them. Sawyer instantly responded with, "He's not gonna serve them. He just said screw the rules, like everyone else."
I looked over at Paul again. "Yeah. Everyone is breaking buildings and rioting outside. Looting a ton of Pokeballs and medic stuff. Not to mention, N hasn't said a word in a while, so there ain't no judgement." I could hear Paul grab a Pokeball from his belt. He released it and out came Torterra. "Stone Edge" he softly said, and soon a Lycanroc was slammed against the cave wall. "Also, people have been hunting you. I've already sent Team Rocket Grunts flying to the other side of the Battlefield." Sawyer started as I saw Charizard wake up. His tail burning brightly and wildly. "There we go! He should be back at proper health again." Sawyer said while putting away some medical stuff. That's when we see Torterra get sent against the wall of the cave. "I'mma need some backup guys. Some edgelord has arrived with an Umbreon." Paul said slightly panicking. I finally got up and realized I had bandages on my leg. Despite that I kept walking up and indeed I did see an Umbreon. It's trainer was behind the tree wearing a black hoodie. "Your in the way." Said the trainer. "Says you edgy punk." Paul responded. Soon the Umbreon fired a Dark Pulse at Torterra.
Sawyer finally sent out his Sceptile. "Use Leaf Storm and send the Umbreon into the air!" Sawyer commanded. Sceptile leaped into the air with the tail pointed at Umbreon. It fired the storm which directly hit Umbreon, dealing huge damage. That's when a flamethrower passed all of us hitting the Umbreon. I looked at Charizard who walked next to me and roared loudly at us. "Never told me you had a Charizard, Ash. Maybe if you used it, you would've won the Alolan League. Or any other league for that matter." The person joked. I might've taken that offensively. "Who even are you to joke about that!?!" I yelled. We all returned our Pokémon. The person walked out the shadows. "Can't even recognize me after your defeat huh. How sad." It was Gladion, and soon memories began to flood my head...

Flashback... Alola League. Semi-Finals.
Ash: "LYCANROC! USE STONE EDGE!" The rocks went all over the field, and Silvally began breaking the ones that approached it with Crush Claw.
Gladion: "Swords Dance. Up your attack so we can end this now." Silvally instantly responded and now it's attack was maxed out. Gladion had been using that since he lost Lucario which... Was only 3 turns ago. My Lycanroc was barely able to beat that.
Ash: "Use Rock Throw!" I was so scared when I told Lycanroc to do that attack. It was an all or nothing move I did. Silvally attacked the nearby rocks, but Lycanroc was running within them to use bite on Silvally. The rocks were only a distraction. As Lycanroc was about to bite Silvally's Leg, Silvally glared down at him with his dark blue eyes.
Gladion: "Finish it off with Multi-Attack." Silvally raised its claws in the air, and swung down. It was a water type too, doing super effective damage.
I could hear the announcer now...
"Lycanroc is Unable to Battle, so the winner of the Semi-Finals is Gladion and Silvally!"
I held down my hat and softly cried underneath it. I didn't even get to shake Gladion's hand as he just left. I returned Lycanroc and just... Left... Didn't even see my friends. I just went to a dock over looking the sunset, and burst into tears. Another league lost. Not to mention, did worse than Kalos. Pikachu tried to comfort me to no luck. I didn't even talk to my friends for the rest of the day. When it turned midnight, I just walked the empty streets, trying to let loose my emotions... my feelings. I let them down. Everyone was watching me. All of my friends, the professors, some of my rivals... My mother... Who came to watch me live... Heck, in the back of my mind I could hear what sounded like Greninja say something like, "Lost another league huh... And your crying over it." I'm not sure if it even was Greninja, but it was correct. I could begin to feel my heart ache. It was burning with pain. Back then, all I could feel was...

Pain...Embarrassment...Sadness...Pain...Emptiness... And the biggest one... FAILURE.

That was 2 months before I would return back home to Kanto. After all, I did want to see who would win in the finals still. Gladion Vs. Moon. Moon seemed so confident, yet he was shy still. Then when the match cane Moon DESTROYED Gladion. Then I stayed hidden from everyone for the next month to help me think and focus. And I kept hearing more messages in my head. Whether it be from Greninja or my brain. Then, I said goodbye and left. There was no mention of war or anything. How I miss those days so much...
End of FlashBack.

Paul was snapping his fingers in front of my face and was like "Earth to Ash. EARTH TO HIM!". I looked to see Gladion eating a chocolate bar or something. Then I saw his premier ball on his belt. Gave me chills. "Anyways, seems he's back to normal now. Whatever." Gladion said. "Gladion? Why are you here?" I asked. He gave me his usual glare, and spoke,
"Simple. I'm doing the same thing as Paul. Leaving Team Delia. I hate her. She annoys me. Her plans are dumb. She wants a peaceful war when Team Red is pushing her constantly. I'm also joining you because I wanna beat up Moon. Not to mention anybody I know on Team Red. Does it mean I'll follow your orders, depends on what they're about." Sawyer was writing down everything he said. "It's still rude to say my mother is annoying. Besides, your own mother-" Gladion paused me as I was about to speak about his mother. "Don't you speak her name. I get your point, now will you shut up." Gladion walked back to a tree in which he leaned against. Honestly, everyone was switching teams which was getting confusing. You could easily betray a team if you wanted to.
"Hey Gladion, What about Lillie?" I asked him. Paul was training in the background training, and Sawyer was checking out my Pokémon. "My sister is staying with Team Delia. To Lillie, Delia is the Mother she had always dreamed about. Although my mother is supporting Delia's team, but that's besides the point." Gladion's Voice kept getting deeper the more he talked. After a few minutes, Gladion just left. Like I blinked and he was gone. So strange. I'm sure that wasn't gonna be the last time we saw him.
At noon, me, Paul, and Sawyer began heading back to the Main Battlefield. Paul had begun explaining to me that my rivals were mainly being used for information about me. Not to mention that they've grown more... strong. Apparently Alain was slowly becoming a spare General for Team Delia. And that Trip was getting yelled at by Red. Yet Kiawe was soon gonna replace Brock in terms of power. However, Paul did tell me something I laughed hard at.

"Red is Kinda scared of General Misty. To an extent."
I unwillingly burst out laughing. The fact my father was somewhat scared of her just seemed wrong. Heck even Sawyer was chuckling. "I've seen General Misty, and she has some cool techniques and skills. Not to mention she carries this cool hammer now." Now, why the heck would Misty carry around a hammer? Was she trying to scare people? "Oh. And I forgot about dumb old Richie. He's with Team Red I think. Well whatever the case he ain't important." Paul sounded so tired. When we arrived back on the main battlefield, immediately we got attacked. Yet one Pokémon stood out among the rest. A Mega Charizard X. It flew high above and sent its blue flames towards the Earth, defeating every Pokémon in sight. And when it saw us, it sent a blast burn our way. Immediately Charizard picked me up while Sawyer rode on his AegiSlash and Paul on his Honchcrow he quickly summoned. The Charizard kept glaring at me, as if it knew me. I could hear Sawyer yell, "Is that Alain's Charizard!?!?" Once again memories flooded my head before hearing my Charizard struggle to hold back the Mega Charizard. And soon we were propelled through the air and hit hard on the ground. Pikachu fired an electro ball at the Mega Charizard, but it launched the electro ball towards Paul using Thunder Punch.
All 3 of us were on the ground looking at the Mega flying over us, showing that is conquered us with ease. I could feel one Pokeball shake violently on my belt. That's when we get attacked by a Moonblast. And a Sylveon had appeared. I see Alain by his Charizard, and he's glaring at me. "I've located the traitors. I repeat, Paul has been found." Alain talked through his holo caster. "Pst, says the man that worked for Lysandre and almost made the world die." And soon Paul got burned by that Flamethrower. His Honchcrow was knocked out, and Paul was FULL of burns. "It wasn't like I was trying to destroy the world! I was deceived, baited. You joined knowing that you wouldn't be deceived!" Alain tried to come back. Paul could barely move, and Sawyer went by his side.
"Alain, why and what are you doing here?!" I asked him, with barely any fear in my voice. Yet I was terrified on the inside.
"I was ordered to take down the traitors who left Team Delia, and bring them back to her. We tracked them down to the main battlefield, and Ive been attacking every single enemy on this field... And You'll be the next one." Suddenly a Shadow ball was fired right into my Charizard. Again, it was that Sylveon. My Charizard was now on half hp. "And when the heck did you get a Sylveon!?!?" I questioned him confused by his choice.
"That ain't mine. That's my Partner's Pokémon, because she came along to help me."
Then, Serena walked up from behind Alain, wearing some fancy clothes! She look WAY different, and her hair was still the same as the last time I saw her. Not to mention, she had a cool looking badge on her right shoulder. As she looked at me, she slightly turned red. Her Sylveon wrapped its ribbon on her arm and glared at Pikachu. Serena finally spoke,
"Le...Leader Ash. Your Mother requested that you cooperate, and try not to fight back." I couldn't tell if that was true or false, but I replied, "Fight Back? In the war or against you? If it's the war, I will have to disobey her. At. All. Costs." Serena tighten her fist. "Alright, I see... As the General then... I must eliminate you!" I could see a tear fall down her face as her evolved Delphox came out using Psychic and throwing me up into the sky and towards a tree, and I could see Charizard charging a Flamethrower.

I was in the worst position. And how do I get out of it...

End of Chapter 24.
Word Count: 2186 words.