Author's Notes:
Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, whichever works for you. Welcome to the latest addition to Alpha and Omega. Before I let you enjoy this chapter I need to have a few words with you all.

I must admit to you all that my motivation to write is hitting a low point. Now this isn't me telling you this book is going to go on hold, that I'm quitting, or that I'm changing the update schedule. I'm still going to work on this book and maintain the schedule, I might just have to kick my own ass to do it. Honestly I'm loosing motivation to do just about everything right now, except eat. This kind of thing happened a few times while writing Secret Prince, so I know it will pass.

But until then I need a little help. I have Ash's next gym battle planned out, and bomb after it. Right now what I need is inspiration for the next three gym leaders, and perhaps some battles. For the gym leaders I would like a name, a little about them, their Pokémon, and the name and description of the badge. Remember, all of these gyms are multi type, but they can have a theme. Example, Ash's second gym battle, all the Pokémon could fly, but also had other typings. If I choose you I will let you know, and give you the chance to write the battle if you'd like, and I'll give you a shoutout and credit for bailing me out. I know some people have suggested gym leaders before, but my brain has become mush, and I can't find or remember anything, so if you would still like me to use it please send it again. Only rules, no more Aura guardians or Psychics, and no legendaries.

Thank you very much for listening to me, and thank you in advance for your help and support. Now for the part you've all been waiting for.

If you like my story please vote, feel free to comment, and please share this story with your friends. I now present to you Chapter 39, enjoy.

"BLAZIKEN, MEGA EVOLVE!" Damion yelled at the top of his lungs.

For a split second, everyone thought he was crazy, but then they saw the bands of light come from the stones and connect as Blaziken was engulfed in a white light. In a matter of seconds, a Mega Blaziken stood ready for battle.

Everyone had questioning and astonished looks on their faces, as they had just witnessed something everyone thought to be impossible. Ash and Pikachu were among them, but they had no time to ponder how this happened, as they were brought back to reality.

"Blaziken, flamethrower!"

Blaziken's mouth opened, and a red-orange stream of fire was released right for Pikachu.

"Pikachu, dodge with agility!"

Pikachu quickly disappears, and then reappears just outside of the blast area.

"Blaziken, use agility as well, and use blaze kick on that rat!"

Blaziken disappeared, then reappeared several times as it closed in on Pikachu. Then when close enough, it appeared with its right leg engulfed in flames.

"Pikachu, counter with electro ball, then follow with electro web!"

Pikachu quickly forms the ball of electricity on his tail, and with a flip, slams it into Blaziken's leg. The blast from the two attacks sends both of them flying apart. While Pikachu is in the air, he forms an orange-yellow ball on his tail. Blaziken crashes into the ground, due to having its balance thrown off by being on one leg before the attack, while Pikachu landed on all fours and skidded back before running forward and jumping into the air.

"Get up and use flare blitz!" Damion yelled.

Pikachu did a flip and launched the ball, which opened up into a circular web of electricity. Meanwhile Blaziken's body became covered in a light red flame. He then jumped into the air towards Pikachu as orange streaks of fire spiraled around him. Blaziken broke through the electro web, enduring the electric shock, and slammed into Pikachu mid air. Blaziken landed back in front of Damion, as Pikachu flew up higher into the air, before crashing into the ground.

Pikachu struggled back up to his feet, but stood on all fours, ready to continue the battle. Pikachu was breathing heavily, but he refused to let Ash down. He was determined to win.

"Blaziken, fire spin!"

Blaziken opened its mouth and fired a stream of fire the circled around Pikachu like a tornado of fire.

"Like I told you, his funeral." Damion said confidently.

Ash didn't pay him any attention, as this battle wasn't over yet.

"Pikachu, treat this like the twister when we battled Misty. Then follow with volt tackle!" Ash yelled.

"Blaziken, blast..." Damion started, then stopped as he saw Pikachu flying out of the top of the fiery tornado.

Pikachu then fired himself off like a rocket towards Blaziken, as his body becomes covered in golden electricity.

"Fire blast!"

Blaziken creates a ball of fire from the flames on its arms and fires it at Pikachu. Pikachu continues through, using the electricity as a shield as he goes through the flames and slams into Blaziken.

There is a large explosion, as a dust cloud covers half the field. Pikachu flew out of the cloud and retook a position on his side of the field. As the dust settled, Blaziken could be seen on one knee. He then stood up, breathing heavily, with electrical burns all over its body, but still looked like it had some good fight left in it.

"Giga volt havoc!" Ash called out.

Ash and Pikachu started performing the synchronized moves.

"Blast burn!"

Blaziken opens its mouth and releases a massive stream of fire towards Pikachu, as Pikachu punches the ball of electricity that formed in front of him. The ball of electricity collided with the fire, but didn't detonate. Instead it continued towards Blaziken, as the blast burn continued to Pikachu. The two attacks hit their intended targets and created a massive explosion.

The blast caused several trainers to be knocked off their feet, as smoke and dust engulfed the whole area. Several trainers released flying types to blow away the dust. In about a minute, the results of the battle were made clear.

"Pikachu and Blaziken are unable to battle!" Brendan announced.

Ash walked onto the battle field, scooped Pikachu up in his arms and thanked him. Then carried him back, and laid him down on his jacket with the rest of his Pokémon.

Damion meanwhile returned Blaziken to his Pokéball and said, "disgraceful," then dropped Blaziken's Pokéball on the ground. He then grabbed his next from the case.

"Swampert, Go!" Damion said as he threw another custom Pokéball.

Ash looked back at his Pokémon remaining, but really only had two that he would dare send up against this trainer. With Eevee and Larvesta not being very strong yet, that left his two remaining power houses, Greninja and Lucario. It really wasn't a difficult decision between the two, based on typing and the fact that Swampert also had a mega stone attached to its arm. There was really only one best option.

"Greninja, I choose you!"

"Battle resume!" Brendan called out.

And instantly Damion touched his key stone, and mega evolved Swampert. The other people watching were shocked, and very curious as to how he could mega evolve three Pokémon in one battle. Ash on the other hand, wasn't surprised. This trainer was managing to do something never done already, so he expected this. Ash stared at his opponent without expression. He was curious as to how he was doing it, but that would have to wait.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Damion asked with a smirk, as he saw Ash's expression.

Ash smirked, "Alright Greninja, LETZ GO!"

A pillar of water shot up from Greninja as he took on his Ash-Greninja form. Everyone watched with amazed expressions, except for Serena. They didn't know what was happening, but this gave them hope that Ash was going to finally win.

"What was that?" Damion asked as the transformation was completed.

"Greninja's ability, battle bond. It's like mega evolution, but no stones required," Ash replied. Then he refocused on the battle, "Greninja, night slash."

Greninja slapped the X's on his legs and created two purple blades of water, then took off running.

"Mud bomb!" Damion commanded.

Swampert opened its mouth and fired several globs of mud at Greninja.

"Dodge!" Ash yelled.

Greninja weaved around the balls, and continued moving forward.

"Block it!" Damion yelled.

Greninja held the blades across his chest in an X pattern. Then right before he was close enough to strike, Greninja jumped over Swampert as he did a spin. As Greninja started to come down, he struck Swampert in the back in an X pattern. Then he brought his arms back in, striking Swampert again.

"Greninja, get away!" Ash yelled.

As Greninja moved he narrowly dodged Swampert, swinging one of his arms as he turned around.

"Aerial Ace," Ash yelled.

Greninja's arms and legs glowed white as he unleashed a series of powerful punches and kicks.

"Superpower, now!" Damion yelled.

"Greninja, get away!"

Swampert flexed his muscles and tried to grab Greninja in a bear hug. Greninja quickly backed away, but Swampert managed to grab one of his legs.

"Swampert, smash!" Damion said with a sadistic smirk.

Swampert began swinging Greninja side to side repeatedly as he smashed him into the ground. Every hit Ash felt, his teeth were clenched as he winced with every hit, enduring the pain.

"Now, up in the air!" Damion ordered.

Swampert then threw Greninja high up into the air.

"You know I heard of that battle bond," Damion said getting Ash's attention. "I heard you feel your Pokémon's pain too, and from what I just saw, that's true. It's an annoying ability for people like me. So I'm going to beat you so bad that not only you'll never want to use it again, but no one else will ever want to even consider it."

Upon hearing this, the people watching looked on in fear for Ash, but none more than Serena. As everyone could tell, Damion's plan was to make Ash suffer through Greninja.

"Greninja, since your up there, how about a Z move!" Ash said with a smirk, as he pulled the flyinium Z from inside his jacket.

Through their bond, Greninja knew what Z move Ash was planning, and the two started making the synchronized poses.

"Swampert, hammer arm!"

Seampert's right arm began glowing white, as Greninja was covered in a blue aura and began to dive bomb towards Swampert. The distance closed quickly. Swampert swung his arm into Greninja just as they collided. Then there was a large explosion. The ground under Swampert's feet gave way leaving him in a crater, as Greninja flew away from the attack, making a very hard landing on the battle field. Greninja was lying on the ground, trying to get back up to his feet, while both he and Ash were breathing heavily. Neither of them felt this sore since their loss to Alain in the Kalos League. Swampert was pulling himself out of the crater, as Greninja was finally able to stand.

"Alright Swampert, lets wrap this up. Finish it just like how we finish all speedy Pokémon," Damion said with a cold expression.

Over a dozen white orbs formed over Swampert's head and turned into rocks. They then started flying towards Greninja.

"Greninja, dodge!"

Greninja started dodging the rocks. He was tired and in pain, but he refused to just concede defeat. As Greninja dodged, Swampert created more rocks that started flying towards him as well. Eventually, Greninja's luck ran out and he was hit by one of the rocks, knocking him to the ground. Then several more hit him, effectively pinning him down. Then Swampert started walking towards him, a taunting smile plastered across his face. He looked down and saw Greninja's left leg was stuck between two of the rocks. Swampert grabbed the leg and moved it to the left violently. A snap was heard by everyone, as Swampert broke Greninja's leg. The next sound that was heard was of Ash and Greninja crying out in pain. Ash fell to the ground grabbing his left leg, but then stopped and was only breathing heavily, as Greninja severed the bond so Ash wouldn't suffer.

"Greninja is unable to battle. Swampert is the winner!" Brendan announced in horror and disgust.

"No. I told you, the battle isn't over until the opponent is unconscious. Those screams Greninja is making is proof he is still conscious," Damion replied, then looked to Swampert. "Hyper beam."

Everyone heard this, and even more horrified looks were plastered across their faces. Ash reached for Greninja's Pokéball, but realized he was blocked by the rocks. Ash then took off running to Greninja, Lucario right behind him.

Meanwhile Swampert creates a ball of purple and black energy with a white core in front of his mouth.

Ash and Lucario arrive at Greninja and begin quickly removing the rocks, once they have access Ash returns Greninja to his Pokéball. However now it was too late to run, as Swampert began to fire his hyper beam. Lucario jumped in front of Ash and tried to create an aura barrier to protect them both, but he couldn't complete it in time and only diminished the attack.

The resulting explosion sent Ash and Lucario flying back towards a concrete wall. Everyone knew Lucario could survive the impact, but Ash couldn't. Meloetta, who was watching from a tree used psychic to slow them down, as Larvesta, who now understood why Ash's Pokémon were so loyal to him, used string shot to quickly make a net to slow them down. Ash and Lucario were surrounded by a pink aura and began to slow down, and then hit the net. The net stretched quite a bit, and together with psychic, stopped the two before they hit the wall.

"Swampert, return," Damion said casually, then placed the Pokéball back in the case.

Everyone was looking at Damion with disgust and anger, while he didn't seem to even care. Serena saw this and was determined to make him care. Serena marched into the battlefield towards Damion, her hands balled into fists.

"You!" Serena yelled as she approached him. "What is your problem?! The match was called, you won! That hyper beam was uncalled for! And then you could have called it off once Ash was in the way!"

Damion stopped and turned to face Serena without an expression on his face, and didn't reply.

"Aren't you going to say something?! What are you, some kind of soulless monster?!" Serena screamed.

At this, Damion slapped Serena across the face.

"A woman is an accessory. You're not supposed to have an opinion. As for my challenger, the risk was his to take. He knew what he was doing," Damion replied casually.

Serena's pupils started to glow red, but quickly faded back to normal as she felt someone pull her back, and speak with an all to familiar voice.

"Hey, let's all calm down here. Didn't your father ever teach you not to hit a woman?" Calem stated as he got between Damion and Serena.

"What are you? Her boyfriend?" Damion asked.

"No, you wish. That's her boyfriend," Calem replied with a smirk as he pointed towards Ash.

Damion looked just in time to see Ash spear him. Damion was knocked off his feet and crashed onto the ground. Ash then knelt over his as he began punching his face. Right now this wasn't just Damion, this was Tierno, as Ash unleashed all his pent up rage. Ash got about five good punches in before he felt someone pulling him off. He looked back and saw it was the man in the suit that was with Damion. The man didn't keep ahold of Ash for long, as he was then put into a head lock by Brendan.

Once released Ash resumed is assault, but now Damion had his arms up to protect his face. He only got a few more punches in before someone else was pulling him off, someone from his side.

"Ash, calm down!" Calem yelled as he pulled Ash way, then threw him back. "Serena, calm him down before things get out of hand!" Calem instructed. Then gestured for Brendan to release the other man, which he did.

Serena trusted Calem. He was very smart about things like laws and human nature. So she trusted Calem had Ash's best interests in mind. She quickly ran to Ash and wrapped her arms around him. And as soon as he saw it was Serena holding him, began to calm down.

"Enjoy your freedom while you can. You'll be in prison orange before the end of the day," Damion said, then spit out some blood.

With these words, they were Calem's que to use his silver tongue.

"You'll look pretty sexy in them too," Calem said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about? He attacked me!" Damion yelled.

"Take a moment and think, and look around us. Do you see all those phones out? People were recording the Pokémon battle, and I'm sure there are plenty that caught the match being called, and you continuing the attack and almost killing Ash. Not to mention you slapping Serena," Calem said confidently.

"She got in my face screaming at me!" Damion replied.

"Yes, but she didn't touch you. You see, to justify you hitting her, she needed to lay a finger on you, or threaten your life. She did none of those, rich boy," Calem said confidently.

Damion looked at Calem curiously, as he wondered if Calem knew who he was. Calem read his expression and knew what he was thinking.

"Don't worry, I don't know exactly who you are yet, but I can tell, I've dated you rich types before. Now I don't care how rich your family is, you can't make all this go away. There are too many witnesses, and I'M SURE SOMEONE IS AREADY POSTING THIS ONLINE," Calem said, saying that he last part extra loud.

"So here's what's going to happen. You're going to leave here now and not press charges against Ash. If you do, we'll press attempted murder and assault charges on you. And I'm willing to bet that your family won't want that kind of embarrassment, so if you don't agree to drop the charges, they will," Calem said confidently.

Damion clenched his teeth in frustration, then started to get up. The man in the suit helped him, and then the two left the Pokémon Center.

"Why did you interfere Calem?" Ash asked sounding annoyed.

"Because if you went much longer, it could have been a lot harder to keep you out of jail. You are Serena's boyfriend, and she loves you very much. By this you are my friend, and I always look out for my friends," Calem explained.

"I'm sorry. Thank you," Ash said in a much kinder tone.

They then headed inside to get Greninja healed as the crowd dispersed. Brendan put his hand on Calem's shoulder and had a curious look on his face.

"You really dated a rich guy?" Brendan asked.

"Years ago. I was out with the closest, he wanted out, but his family wanted him to stay in. They felt it would be embarrassing to have a gay son. They told him if he came out he would lose his inheritance. He of course, chose the money and tries to see me in secret. Well I wasn't going to be some dirty little secret, and I wasn't going to play this game. So I left him," Calem explained.

"Do you ever regret it?" Brendan asked.

"No, not really, because if I stayed I wouldn't have met you," Calem replied.

The two kissed, and joined Ash and Serena inside.

————————————————————————

Ash and Serena were sitting in a couch. They had already turned in Ash's Pokémon, and were now waiting to hear how bad they were. Ash sat there worried about his Pokémon. Serena was worried about Ash and his Pokémon, but Calem and Brendan were both wondering how Damion was able to mega evolve three Pokémon in a single battle.

"Ash, Serena, have either of you ever heard of anyone who could mega evolve multiple Pokémon in a single battle?" Brendan asked.

"No," Serena replied as Ash just shook his head.

"How is he doing this?" Brendan asked.

"I don't know, but I do know the person to ask, Professor Sycamore in the Kalos region. He's the foremost expert on mega evolution. If anyone could have an idea, he could," Calem chimed in.

"Ash Ketchum, your Pokémon are ready," Nurse Joy said over the intercom.

They all rushed to the counter where Nurse Joy was standing.

"How bad is it, Nurse Joy?" Ash asked urgently.

"Let's start with the good news. Your Lucario is just fine, and Pikachu just needs a day's rest to build his electricity back up," Nurse Joy explained as Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder. "As for your Fearow and Greninja, Fearow's leg was dislocated. We put it back in place, but he needs to stay off it for a few days and take two of these pills a day for the pain. He should be better by the time the pills run out," Nurse Joy said handing Ash a pill bottle. "As for Greninja, his leg was badly broken. We managed to set it, but it's going to take at least a month before the cast can come off."

"Thank you Nurse Joy," Ash said sadly.

He then took his Pokéballs and went to sit back down, but before he could, Lucario emerged from his Pokéball.

"Master, I heard everything. I may have an idea to speed up Greninja's recovery," Lucario stated in Pokémon speech.

"How?" Ash asked in a shocked tone.

"As you know, aura can be used to heal. Even though a broken bone is more severe than a cut or bruise, I believe if we work together every day until it's healed, we may be able to cut Greninja's recovery time in half," Lucario explained.

"That's great!" Ash replied excitedly.

"We can begin in the morning so my aura can finish recovering," Lucario instructed.

"Sounds great," Ash replies, then looked to the others, "Did you all hear that?!"

Everyone gave Ash a clueless expression.

"No Ash, we didn't, we don't speak Pokémon," Brendan replied for the others.

Ash translated what Lucario told him, withholding the part about him helping, and everyone was happy for the good news.

"How about now we talk to Professor Sycamore. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want some answers," Brendan said after everyone expressed their joy.

The gang went to one of the Pokémon Center video phones, so there was enough room that they could all take part in the conversation. Serena then dialed the number, and in a few rings, Professor Sycamore was on the screen.

"Why hello Serena, oh and Ash, and Calem, and who might you be?" Professor Sycamore asked when he came to Brendan.

"My name is Brendan, I'm Calem's boyfriend," Brendan replied.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Brendan. So what can I do for you?" Professor Sycamore replied.

Everyone looked to Ash, he then took a deep breath and began. "Professor, a little while ago I battled a trainer, who was able to mega evolve three Pokémon in the battle. I thought that was impossible, and that only one Pokémon could be mega evolved within a battle."

Professor Sycamore's face became dark as he started typing away on his computer.

"Is this the trainer you battled?" Professor Sycamore asked, as Damion's picture came up.

"That's him!" Ash stated.

"I see. His name is Damion Silph, son of the new president of the Silph company," Professor Sycamore replied.

"Ok, so how does he mega evolve so many Pokémon?" Brendan asked.

"I don't know the details of how, but I'll tell you what I know. But first you must promise me that you will not repeat anything that I am about to tell you," Professor Sycamore said with a serious tone.

The four trainers nodded nervously, uncertain about what was going to be said that couldn't be repeated.

"I'll explain everything from the beginning. After the Kalos crisis, I was able to get ahold of Team Flare's research on mega evolution. Most of it was about the energy, but it did start me on the path of digging deeper into studying the key stones and the part they play. That's how I learned why only one Pokémon can be mega evolved during a battle. You see a key stone absorbs a small amount of energy from the trainer, so small that it goes unnoticed. It acts as a catalyst when activated, and sends the power to the mega stone to trigger mega evolution. The reason you can only mega evolve once during a battle is that the key stone needs time to recharge, roughly an hour. And since even a six on six battle doesn't usually last that long, it can only be done once. I published a paper on this a few months after the Kalos Crisis. That's when I was contacted by the Silph company. They wanted my help with some project they were working on regarding mega evolution. It was a tempting offer, but they refused to explain what the project was, so I refused. A few months ago, they called me again and invited me to visit their lab, saying that they wanted to show me their success on the project. Damion was the one who called this time. I could tell the man just wanted to gloat that they did it without me, but I agreed anyway out of curiosity. They showed me a special band that allowed them to force multiple mega evolutions in a row. I found it truly amazing, one scientist explained that the band absorbs energy from the trainer and stores it. Then after the key stone's energy is depleted, it forces more energy into it so it can mega evolve another Pokémon in a minute or two," Sycamore explained.

"Wouldn't forcing the energy into the key stone risk breaking it?" Brendan asked.

"Yes, however they have small lasers in the band that repair the damage as quickly as it happens. This way the key stone can be recharged hundreds, maybe even thousands of times, and never will it break," Sycamore replied.

"That's amazing. Where can I get one of those?" Calem asked.

"You don't want to help that company. One of the scientists slipped up and said something about Damion that I wasn't supposed to hear," said Sycamore.

"What?" Ash asked.

"He also proved that a strong bond isn't necessary for mega evolution, just the Pokémon to want to mega evolve. He achieved this with the most despicable of means," Sycamore stated.

"What did he do?" Serena asked.

"I had to sneak off and get on a computer to discover this. There are several rooms in the building, in a section called The Pit. This is first how he selected his Pokémon. One part is a massive arena where he placed dozens of Pokémon of the same species, then forced them to battle until only one remained. If he was satisfied, then the Pokémon was let out. If not more Pokémon were added and the battles began again. I saw many Pokémon were killed before he made his selection for each of his Pokémon. Then if they lose a battle, they go to another part called the labyrinth. It is a large maze that they have to survive to get out. He uses it as a punishment for losing. Weapons are fired at them that are designed to simulate their weaknesses. I saw a video of a Gyarados that was put in there after losing a battle. It was hit with thousands of bolts of electricity, and in the end died before it could get out," Sycamore said darkly.

"How could you keep your mouth shut about this! They need to be stopped!" Calem practically yelled.

"Because I was discovered before I could gather proof. Without evidence it's slander, and I'll be discredited as a researcher. This Pit is further below the building than the public blueprints show, so officially The Pit can't even exist. If police search the building, they won't find this place, then it looks like I lied because they made some discoveries that disproved my finding. If that happens, I will lose my position as a researcher, and then the whole region starts to suffer," Sycamore said.

"How does the whole region suffer?" Ash asked.

"I give dozens of new trainers their starters every year. If I lose my position, then new trainers won't be able to get starters, and it will take years before someone new can take over because of all the strict standards. Breeders will have no where to send the new starter Pokémon, so they lose money. No new trainers means gyms and the league get less challengers. The regions depends so much on trainers financially, that if one area fails, the whole system crumbles, taking a whole region down with it," Sycamore explained.

Everyone was in shock by this, as it made Damion look invincible. He can mega evolve a whole team of Pokémon, giving him the ultimate advantage. And this horrible truth that that company buried, that no one can prove.

"I'm sorry you had to face him Ash. All of his Pokémon are titans. And based on their fear, they will fight harder not to lose. You can't beat them all. They are too much. Just hope he doesn't enter the Torrent League," Sycamore said to Ash.

"I'm afraid he is," Calem said, getting everyone's attention.

"When we met him he said he already had all eight badges, and these battles are just for training. You're going to face him again, Ash," Brendan added.

Everyone had sad eyes as they looked at Ash.

"Good, I want to face him again," Ash stated.

"What?!" They all said in shock as they looked at Ash.

Ash's face was serious, and full of determination, "I won't be intimidated. He is using fear to get his Pokémon to battle, and to scare trainers away. He's nothing more than a terrorist. I've beaten mega evolution and legendaries before with non mega evolved Pokémon, I'll do it again. My Pokémon and I will beat him!"