"Excellent! Now, let's begin the very first match of the Kalos League Lumiose Conference! Contestants: Trevor versus Alain!"
The first battle of the grand tournament was set—Alain against Trevor.
Trevor was rather unlucky. He was that boy who loved carrying his camera everywhere, snapping photos at every chance. And yet, his very first opponent happened to be none other than Alain.
Both Trainers stepped onto the battlefield.
Alain cast a quick glance toward the audience stands, his eyes pausing briefly on a particular spot.
"Mairin, wait for me. Ash, wait for me as well. I'll defeat everyone in my path… and in the end, I'll challenge you once again!"
"Charizard, let's go!"
Without hesitation, Alain sent out his most powerful partner right from the start. His Charizard.
For months now, Alain and his Charizard had been pushing themselves to the absolute limit—if they weren't battling Gym Leaders, then they were training, training, and more training. Relentless, grueling, unyielding training.
At this point, Alain's Charizard had nearly broken through the barrier between Elite Four level and true Champion strength!
"ROAR!"
"Go, Charizard!"
Trevor responded immediately. Two Charizard appeared on the battlefield at once, drawing gasps of excitement from the crowd.
The referee, commentators, and audience were instantly hooked—no one had expected the very first match to feature a Charizard-versus-Charizard showdown.
"This was supposed to be my secret weapon… but after hearing Ash talk about how strong you are, I have no choice but to reveal it early. Charizard—Mega Evolve!"
Trevor pressed his lips together in determination as he raised his Key Stone. The Mega Stone on his Charizard's neck gleamed, connecting with Trevor's Key Stone in a burst of radiant energy.
"ROOAAAR!!"
Trevor's Charizard transformed into Mega Charizard Y!
"Flamethrower!"
Without hesitation, Trevor commanded the first strike. Flames roared across the battlefield.
Alain, however, only raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. He hadn't expected his Charizard's very first opponent in this League to be none other than the alternate Mega form of Charizard itself.
"Use your tail to whip up the water from the pool! Block that Flamethrower!"
The battlefield terrain consisted of water and rocky surfaces. Alain's Charizard slammed its tail into the poolside, sending up a surge of water. The wave rose like a wall, perfectly intercepting the Flamethrower and snuffing it out.
"So that's how you're going to counter me, huh? Very well—Charizard, use Blast Burn!"
"Let's end this quickly! Charizard—Mega Evolve!"
Alain's voice thundered. His Charizard roared, cloaked in brilliant blue light, and transformed into Mega Charizard X!
"Use Dragon Claw—block that attack!"
BOOM!
Dragon Claw clashed against Blast Burn in a violent explosion of energy. The impact shook the field.
Trevor, swept up in the adrenaline of the battle, pushed with all his might. But no matter how hard he tried, the sheer difference between Alain's Charizard and his own was overwhelming.
One by one, Trevor's Pokémon were taken down.
When even his third Pokémon fell in a single blow to Alain's Mega Charizard X, the photography-loving boy lowered his head in disappointment.
"My Kalos League… ended just like that. I only got to play one match…"
From the audience stands, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Tierno, and Shauna all watched with heavy hearts. They truly felt bad for Trevor, but at the same time, there was nothing anyone could do.
"That means the next match… is Ash's!"
Tierno's voice rang out loud and clear. Sitting not too far away, Delia—Ash's mother—thought she heard Tierno call Ash's name.
"…Was that my imagination?"
She dismissed it with a shake of her head. If she hadn't misheard, then perhaps those kids were Ash's friends.
Ash now strode onto the field with Pikachu at his side.
His opponent was a boy named Titus.
Titus looked to be around Alain's age.
Standing there in the arena, Ash glanced around at the cheering crowd before looking down at Pikachu.
"Pika!"
Pikachu nuzzled Ash's cheek affectionately before hopping down to the field, ready to fight.
"It's Ash! Ash is finally here! He's brought back several of his old Pokémon—who will he choose to send out first?"
In the audience, Delia was busy sharing stories about Ash's past adventures with Misty, May, Anabel, and Sabrina. Even though the girls had already heard many of these tales, they were still just as fascinated every single time.
"Eh? Did I just hear someone else talking about Ash too?"
Sitting not too far away, Dawn had taken a seat among the crowd as well. She had planned to surprise Ash by showing up at the Conference.
Her seat wasn't far from Delia's group. She looked around casually but didn't spot them, so she decided not to worry about it.
Elsewhere, Brock and Lucy had chosen to watch from the hallway balcony, standing instead of sitting. It wasn't that seats weren't available—they just preferred the view from here.
Standing beside them was a silver-haired man—Steven Stone.
Steven had come to investigate matters related to Mega Evolution. Since he already knew Brock, they watched the match together.
Titus's first Pokémon was Altaria.
"In that case, let's bring out an old friend! Wartortle, I choose you!"
Ivysaur, Wartortle, and Noctowl—those were the three Pokémon Ash had chosen for his opening match lineup.
"You think you can beat my Altaria with just a Wartortle? Impossible! Altaria, use Dragon Pulse!"
Seeing his opponent's Wartortle, Titus actually felt some relief. After witnessing Alain's terrifying strength in the earlier match, Titus had been nervous beyond words. If he had to face Alain, he would have been crushed instantly.
He had no idea that the Trainer standing across from him was the very same person Alain himself was determined to surpass…
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T/N:
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