Author's Notes:
Good morning readers, and welcome to the latest installment of Alpha and Omega. Today Ash will be earning his seventh gym badge, so I hope you all enjoy the battle, which was written by RahulKalosChamp , so please tag him with any comments about the battle, and thank him for his hard work.

That's about all I have to say, I was hoping to announce several mile stones, but it doesn't look like we made it yet, hopefully for the next update.

With that 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 55, enjoy.

Ash and Serena were sitting in the Pokémon Center cafetaria eating their breakfast while drinking water like they just emerged from the desert after two days of no water. Reason being they were both nursing hangovers, but because of their powers they were able to suppress most of the symptoms so they could function.

Last night, or early morning depending on your perspective, the gang returned from a significant amount of drinking. It was fine at the time, as they all felt a bit loopy but happy. Serena had intended to give Ash his reward, her in the sexy lingerie she gave him the mental picture of. However Ash had other plans.

Lemon warning!

Serena couldn't even get out of her dress before Ash threw her on their bed and started making out with her. Making out turned into him sucking lightly on Serena's neck and gently biting her shoulders. Serena managed to get her dress pulled down to her waist and removed her bra, giving Ash full access to her chest. He sucked on one breast while massaging the other, then switched. He then started kissing down Serena's stomach, pulling her dress down as he went, then removing it and her panties as he reached lower. Then Ash spread her legs, but much to Serena's surprise, Ash started kissing her inner thighs. Ash really caught Serena by surprise when he started kissing and licking her lower entrance. Serena had touched herself in the past, so she knew being touched there felt good. But the sensation of Ash's tongue brought it to a whole new level. Serena started massaging one of her own breasts with one hand, and running the other through Ash's hair as she pushed his head more so into her womanhood. Ash continued pleasuring her, up until the point where she was pushed over the edge by the pleasure. After Serena recovered, she returned the favor for Ash, followed by several more rounds of love making.

Clear

But that was before they slept. When they woke up they both felt like vomiting as they also had splitting headaches. It was a struggle for both of them just to get out of bed. They both had heard about the negative effects drinking too much has on the next day. However the words didn't do the feeling justice, leaving them both agreeing to never drink like that again.

They both knew their powers did come with the ability of healing, but it wasn't working, leading them to release Kirlia and Lucario to ask for help. Both Pokémon shook their heads at the sight of their trainers, then explained that a hangover was something that couldn't be healed. Instead they explained how they could suppress the symptoms for a period of time, allowing them to function and take proper measures to help relieve the issue.

This left them now eating a very large breakfast, even Serena who generally would eat a light breakfast. They were eating quietly with their Pokémon when they saw Trevor walking in with Shauna on his back. Her head was hung over his shoulder and her hair was down, showing this wasn't them being playful, but that Shauna really needed to be carried. Trevor saw them and made his way over. He then took a knee when he arrived at the table, allowing Shauna to climb off and take a seat across from Serena. Serena could barely see Shauna's face as her hair covered it, but she was fairly confident she saw Shauna wearing sunglasses before she laid her head down on the table.

"Shauna, are you ok?" Ash asked with his normal voice.

"Shh. Whispers only for right now. Shauna is very hungover," Trevor whispered.

Shauna raised her head slightly, just enough to see Ash and Serena and how normal they were looking. "I hate you both," Shauna stated before putting her head back down.

"What did we do?" Serena asked, to which Shauna just groaned.

"I think she's upset that you two aren't hungover too. I just have a splitting headache, but you two look completely normal, like last night didn't even happen," Trevor replied quietly.

"Well, we are a little hungover too," Ash replied as he remembered how he woke up.

"Yeah, we had some pretty bad headaches too, like Trevor," Serena lied. "We just took some painkillers when we woke up and have been drinking tons of water."

Shauna raised her head enough to see several glasses of water in front of Ash and Serena. She had heard that drinking lots of water can either prevent or diminish a hangover if taken before or during drinking, so it made sense to her that it would help after as well, so she decided to believe them.

"But don't forget, you drank more than any of us," Serena reminded Shauna.

Shauna just groaned again.

"I'll get you some breakfast and water," Trevor announced.

"Coffee," Shauna groaned without lifting her head.

"Ok, and a cup of coffee," Trevor replied then walked off.

"Ash, why don't you give Trevor a hand," Serena suggested.

Ash shrugged then got up and followed Trevor.

Serena slid a cup of water over to Shauna. "Drink. It'll help," Serena instructed as she felt bad for her friend.

Shauna reached out and grabbed the cup without raising her head and pulled it closer. She then forced her head up, and was thankful when she saw a straw, and began to slowly slip the water.

"Thank you," Shauna forced out as she stopped to take a breath.

"You're welcome. That hangover must be making you feel horrible for Trevor to have to carry you in here," Serena replied with a sympathetic tone.

"Right, the hangover," Shauna commented quietly as she remembered the events in her room last night. Even though Shauna was feeling completely miserable, it wasn't so much that she couldn't walk. She woke up that morning feeling as if she was going to vomit, and tried to get out of bed quickly. However that proved to be a problem as her legs gave out from under her, causing her to crash to the floor. Thankfully for her, there was a trash can within reach and she was able to grab that quickly enough to vomit inside there. She didn't think much about her legs, and just thought it was the alcohol and that she just tripped over her own feet. She laid on the floor as she caught her breath, and saw that she hadn't been asleep for very long. She eventually tried to get up again, but found her legs were just jelly and couldn't support her. This time after she fell down she managed to land on her butt, which showed her the problem. As she landed on her ass she felt a great deal of discomfort, which caused her to fall onto her side. As she laid on the floor again, she pondered her situation, and quickly realized the cause of her problem. Despite Trevor's lack of experience and sexual endurance in the beginning, his recovery time was remarkable as his endurance improved. This resulted in a great deal of sex between the two that night. At the time Shauna loved it, his size more than made up for the short secessions. Even the anal sex wasn't bad for her at the time. But the result of so much sex had left her lower half unable to function correctly. She wanted to be angry at Trevor for leaving her like this, but knew he wouldn't have done it so much if he knew it was going to leave her in this condition. Eventually, Shauna managed to pull herself back onto the bed, and cuddled up with her love, who despite being asleep, subconsciously wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"Shauna? What's going on?" Serena asked, snapping Shauna from her thoughts.

"Nothing, just remembering last night. Well, what I can remember anyway," Shauna replied, sounding a little sheepish at the end.

"Yeah it was fun. Although the guys that were trying to drug us weren't," Serena commented.

"They were trying to drug us?!" Shauna replied in shock. Then put her hand over her mouth as she suddenly felt like she was going to vomit.

"Yeah. It was a fight just to keep you from drinking the drink they gave, on top of keeping one of them from sticking his tongue down my throat," Serena stated.

"Sorry about that. I guess I went a little overboard on my drinking last night. Even my memory of the incident is pretty messed up. I could have sworn I saw a couple of guys bowing down to you," Shauna replied with a little chuckle.

Serena chuckled nervously as she realized Shauna saw her using her psychic powers.

"Well some good news came from last night," Shauna stated with the best smile she could, which was pretty weak due to the hangover. "Trevor and I did it when we got back in the room."

"Well congratulations. But the question now is, how much do you remember? And does Trevor remember?" Serena replied.

"Oh he remembers, or at least knows we did it. I mean waking up together naked tends to only lead to one conclusion. As for me, I could never forget that monstrous cock he's kept hidden in his pants. Which leaves me wondering, how big is Ash? I'm just wondering which of us has the better equipped boyfriend?" Shauna asked with a smirk, knowing Serena was going to be left completely flustered by the question.

"Well um um um. I've never really measured him. And it's not like it's any of your business, but even though I don't know how long, I just feel like every time we do it that it's like a perfect fit. Like it was intended only for me," Serena replied with a blush.

"What's intended for you?" Ash asked as he and Trevor arrived at the table.

"Nothing!" Serena replied quickly, completely embarrassed and not wanting to have that talk with Ash.

Ash just shrugged and sat down beside Serena as he put a plate of food down for Trevor, as Trevor placed a tray of food, water, and coffee, down in front of Shauna.

"I know the last thing you want to do right now is eat, but you need to. I got you plenty of berries, as well as some toast with strawberry jam, and this is all food that should be easy on your stomach," Trevor explained to Shauna.

Shauna gave a weak smile then picked up a piece of toast and took a bite. As she chewed she made the mistake of looking at Ash's food, which was a breakfast bake consisting of beans, tomatoes, feta cheese, an onion, and eggs. Shauna saw Ash just as he scooped some up on his fork, the yoke from the eggs oozing out as he brought it to his mouth.

Shauna dropped her toast as she clasped her right hand over her mouth and tried to run from the table. However in her rush she fell to the ground. Ash and Trevor rushed over to help her up, and as they did Shauna snatched Ash's hat and vomited into it. Ash and Serena looked on in horror as the hat filled with the alcohol scented fluid coming from Shauna's mouth. When Shauna was finally done she looked up at Ash, her face looking as if the life was sucked from it.

"I'm sorry Ash," Shauna strained out with a weak voice. "I'll clean it and get it back to you today."

"Umm, that's ok. You keep it," Ash replied as he saw his traditional momento from his journeys ruined.

"Don't worry Ash, I'm sure we can find you a new one," Serena replied with a sympathetic tone as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Ash and Serena finished eating well before Shauna and Trevor, and decided to head to the gym so Ash could earn his seventh gym badge. Trevor stated that he and Shauna were going to stay there so Shauna could recover. He also offered to buy Ash a new hat, as well as gave him directions to the gym. Ash wasn't petty, so he wasn't going to make Trevor buy him a new hat, or hold it against Shauna. So he declined the offer.

Ash and Serena left for the gym, stopping by a mall to find Ash a new hat. They managed to find an identical one, though Ash was a little disappointed as the old one was well broken in.

They arrived at the gym to see a massive building that looked like it could be used to hold tournaments.

There were many people going in and out of the building freely. Above many of the entrances were signs that said spectators, and one that said challengers. As they arrived at the challenger entrance they noticed another sign. It was digital screen with the picture of a man with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a white jersey with the bug type symbol on one arm, and the electric type on the other, with a symbol on the front that resembled a gold and silver three legged bug with lightning bolt legs on the front.

Above the image was the name Rahul, and off to the side was the number 20. Then on the opposite side of the screen was the word challengers with a big 0 underneath it.

"Do you think that's his record for today?" Serena asked.

"No way. That means he would have to have beaten twenty trainers in a row. It's got to be over the last couple of days," Ash replied.

"Well it looks like we'll have to split up from here. I'll be cheering for you," Serena said as she gave Ash a deep good luck kiss.

The two then split up as Ash walked into the challenger entrance. Luckily it was easy to find his way, as there were arrows painted on the floor to show the way. As Ash reached the exit he was amazed to see a line of three challengers ahead of him.

"Excuse me," Ash said, getting the second challenger's attention. "Are you all in line to challenge the gym leader?"

"That's right," she replied without looking back. "I don't know why, but this guy's really popular and people line up to battle him. But even after so many challengers he's still hasn't been beaten today."

"So that twenty wins was from today?" Ash asked astonished.

"Oh yeah," the girl replied as she turned to face Ash, and revealed that she was none other than Amber, the girl Ash battled at the Tauros battle tournament last month. "Ash?!"

"Hey Amber, how are you?" Ash replied as he gave a toothy grin.

"I'm great. Good to see you again, and how are you?" Amber replied as she gave Ash a friendly hug.

"Not bad. Looking to earn badge number seven today," Ash replied.

He and Amber continued to talk for a little bit as they watched the gym leader's other battles, until it was Amber's turn. It was a three on three battle with her using her Infernape, Roserade, and Luxray.

The gym leader used his Armaldo, Escavalier, and Vikavolt.

In the end, Amber lost to the gym leader's Vilavolt as she stayed behind by one Pokémon the entire battle. As she left, Ash gave her some reencouragement, and complementing her on the hard fought battle as the next challenger walked out onto the field.

As the last trainer left the trainer box, his head hung low in defeat. Ash started for the challenger box, giving the boy a pat on the back and saying, "That was a great battle," as he passed.

"How was that a great battle? He crushed me!" The boy replied in an angry confusion.

Ash turned back and smiled. "You never gave up till the end, and you never stopped believing in your Pokémon. That makes it a great battle in my book," Ash replied, then turned around and continued the the challenger box. The boy had a taken back look on his face from Ash's words, but then smiled and continued to leave with renewed determination.

"My name is..." Ash started as he arrived at the trainer box, before being interrupted.

"Yeah, just hold that thought. All these challengers have been too easy so far today, so I'm kind of bored. Im going to go take a little power nap and see if I feel better after," the gym leader Rahul told Ash. He then turned around and began to walk away.

"What?! No! My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and one day I'll become a Pokémon Master! Your gym states your supposed to be taking challengers now, and now that's what you're going to do!" Ash yelled angrily with venom in his words.

Rahul stopped and turned around, a half smirk and an eyebrow raised with a look of interest in his eyes. "Did you say Ash Ketchum?"

The other challengers as well as the spectators present looked at each other as they wondered who Ash was, and why it made a difference to the gym leader. "That's right," Ash replied curiously. To be honest, Ash didn't even know why his name mattered so much, but considering how to several of the gym leaders it did, he wasn't too surprised.

Rahul turned completely to face Ash as he walked over to his rack of Pokéballs, and pulled two from the very top. "So you are Ash Ketchum. I've heard a lot about you from the other gym leaders you've beaten, and I have to say you've left me curious." Rahul then took his spot in his trainer box with an excited look on his face. "My name is Rahul, the Barcelona gym leader, and I accept your challenge. Let's see if the stories are true and that you really are worth my time. The rules will be simple. This is going to be a double battle, with the last trainer with a standing Pokémon being the victor."

"Sounds good to me," Ash replied, determined to beat Rahul.

"Good. The twins told me about your double battle with them, so I expect you'll at least battle at a level that will make it worth sending out my two strongest. Galvantula, Heracross, time to play!" Rahul called out as he tossed two Pokéballs.

"Galvantula and a Heracross," Ash thought to himself as he thought of his options. "Both weak against fire types. So since I've got Arcanine with me, she's my first choice." Ashes right hand moved across his Pokéballs until it reached Arcanine's and detached it. While doing so, another Pokéball fell as well. Ash picked it up as he checked where it was on his belt so he could know who it was. As he realized who it was, a smile formed on his face. "You haven't battled much for me yet. Maybe today's the day." Ash looked to Pikachu for his thoughts. Pikachu looked hesitant for a moment as he thought about it as well, then nodded in agreement and giving his blessings. "Alright, Arcanine, Eevee, I choose you!" Ash called out loudly as threw the two Pokéballs in the air.

Back in the stands, Sylveon and Serena's Eevee emerged from their Pokéballs upon learning that the male Eevee was going to be battling. To say Sylveon was worried was an understatement. She knew he was going to have to battle eventually, and she was grateful that Pikachu and Ash had been working with him so much, but it didn't make it any easier for her to see her baby have to battle. As for Pikachu, he wasn't as worried, but it was his son's first battle, and a gym battle none the less, so he was a little nervous. It did help both of them calm down a little, as Eevee was battling beside Arcanine, who was a clear power house.

"Ash, since I'm curious about you, I'll give you the first move. I'd like a taste of that power I've heard so much about," Rahul said confidently.

"You'll regret that later," Ash replied.

"Both trainers ready?" The referee called out.

Ash and Rahul both nodded.

"Battle begin!"

"Eevee, use quick attack on Galvantula, Arcanine flamethrower on Heracross!" Ash called out.

Eevee was enveloped in a white aura as he dashed towards the bug/electric Pokémon. Meanwhile Arcanine took a deep breath and then released a barrage of flames that traveled across the battlefield towards Heracross.

"Using a standard speed and power combination?" Rahul then sighed. "I expected more from you. Galvantula, use agility to dodge. Heracross, stone edge to counter."

Galvantula nodded and swiftly moved away just as Eevee was about to reach him. Meanwhile Heracross raised his horn and slammed it into the battlefield. Huge masses of stones surrounded by a sparkly white aura sped towards the incoming flamethrower. The two powerful attacks collided as an explosion took place, stirring up a dust cloud.

"Galvantula, use signal beam on Arcanine!" Rahul called out, trying to take advantage of the situation.

Galvantula stood firmly as a purple beam quickly emerged from it as it sped towards Arcanine.

"Eevee, use reflect to evade and protect Arcanine!" Ash yelled out, also thinking quick on his feet.

Eevee, due to his incredible speed and agility, moved in front of Arcanine in a defensive posture. A round barrier of light forms around Eevee as the signal beam collided, then bounced back.

"Quick Heracross! Use mega horn on Eevee!" Rahuls voice boomed over the entire battlefield.

Heracross quickly flew towards Eevee as his horn glowed white in color. He hit the reflect sphere hard and the sheer impact knocked the Eevee back as the reflect sphere broke away. Eevee was pushed back as he skid across the field.

"Eevee, are you ok?" Ash called out.

"Ee-vee," Eevee replied to signal he was ok, as he stood ready to continue.

"Galvantula, use thunder on Arcanine."

"Oh no you don't. Arcanine, use extreme speed to dodge and attack!"

Galvantula released a huge bolt of lightning that sped towards Arcanine, who was covered with white stripes of aura as she dashed away from the powerful bolt of lightning. Arcanine then took an about turn and then in the blink of an eye, she landed a critical blow on the bug Pokémon.

"Galvantula, you alright?"

Ash immediately sensed the worry from Rahul, and saw it as an opening to attack. "Eevee use shadow ball on Heracross!"

"Oh no you don't! Heracross, use focus blast to counter it!"

Eevee jumped up as a huge ball of dark energy developed near his mouth. With a flip, the shadow ball sped towards the bug Pokémon. Heracross quickly created a huge ball of energy by concentrating and sent it right back towards the shadow ball. The two attacks collided creating a dust cloud.

"Galvantula, electroball on Arcanine!"

Galvantula summoned a huge ball of electricity and threw it right at Arcanine, who had a remarkable hind leg system as she leapt up high and gracefully dodged the attack. But this was the exact mistake Rahul wanted Ash to make, and quickly took advantage.

"Heracross, fly up and use close combat!"

Before Arcanine could even fathom it, Heracross flew towards her quickly and released a barrage of punches and kicks on the legendary Pokémon. The cries of agony from Arcanine shook the entire stadium and Ash couldn't bare that. Arcanine was injured badly and fell to the ground with a thud. As Ash watched Arcanine try to stand up, Rahul took another chance.

"Galvantula, use energy ball on Eevee!"

"No, I won't fall for that trick twice. Eevee use swift to counter it."

Galvantula immediately summoned a huge ball of glowing green energy and shot it towards Eevee who gracefully jumped and swung his tail through which five stars emerged and collided with the incoming attack.

The momentum pushed both the Pokémon away, who were slightly panting after their display of power.

"Arcanine, use sunny day!" Ash called out, interrupting the eerie silence.

Arcanine whistled loudly as an artificial ball of light came to the roof like a model sun signaling an increase in fire type moves.

"Increasing firepower, eh? Too bad it doesn't matter. Heracross, use mega horn!"

"No can do Rahul! Eevee, jump in front of Arcanine and use reflect!"

"What a drag. You think that reflect will hold off?"

Heracross quickly sped towards Arcanine as his horn glowed white. Just as he was about to strike, Eevee quickly came between and summoned a reflect shield, which broke due to the sheer power of mega horn.

"Now Arcanine, flamethrower!" Ash called out as he saw the opening he was waiting for.

Eevee quickly got out of the way and when Heracross looked in that direction, all he could see was enormous flames about to envelop him. He quickly closed his eyes and shielded his body. The sheer power of the attack left numerous burn marks.

"That's a clever Heracross. Just before the attack landed, it used its horn as a frontline defense to minimize the damage to his body. You are an exceptional gym leader Rahul. If another bug Pokémon was here, it would have fainted."

"Why thank you Ash, but this battle is far from over, not by a long shot. Galvantula, use thunder on Eevee."

"Eeve,e use quick attack to dodge!"

Galvantula, as if on cue, released a huge bolt of lightning towards Eevee who swiftly dodged by quick attack, but what happened next took Ash by surprise. Galvantula's eyes glowed blue as the bolt followed Eevee and scored a direct hit. Eevee was now fully shaking and Ash could see it too.

"So the ability compound eyes proved itself useful after all. Nevertheless, Eevee, use dig." Eevee nodded and swiftly dug a hole and went underground.

"Galvantula, keep using agility. Heracross, fly a bit above the battlefield," Rahul instructed quickly.

Galvantula became surrounded by a white aura as it began racing across the battlefield, while Heracross was flying slightly above the ground scouting for Eevee. Just as Heracross was about to land, "Eevee, iron tail!"

Eevee burst out of the ground behind Heracross with his tail glowing silver, then brought it down on Heracross landing a critical blow on the fighting type.

"Never let your guard down, Rahul. Now Arcanine, flare blitz on Heracross!"

Arcanine sped towards Heracross at blinding speed as her body was entirely covered by blue flames. Just as she was about to hit Heracross, he flew up, leaving Arcanine open to attack.

Galvantula released a signal beam which scored a direct hit on Arcanine, but it did more than just damage. Arcanine was confused.

"Arcanine, snap out of it, please!" Ash pleaded. However his pleas were ignored by Arcanine as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Galvantula, electroball on Eevee," Rahul commanded, being quick to pounce.

"Oh no, Eevee is too tired to dodge," Ash thought to himself. Pikachu and Sylveon could see this too as they worried for their son.

"Eevee, use dig!"

Galvantula summoned a huge sphere of electricity and threw it at the evolution Pokémon, who just went underground in the nick of time. However, Rahul had expected this and was already prepared. "Now Heracross, use focus blast on the hole!"

Heracross quickly summoned a ball of energy and threw it at the hole. After a few seconds, an explosion was heard and Eevee was blown out of the hole, and landed unconscious.

"Eevee is unable to battle. The challenger Ash Ketchum has only one Pokémon remaining," the referee announced.

Ash returned Eevee and reattached the Pokéball to his belt as he thanked him. Pikachu and Sylveon felt bad for their son, and hoped that his battling spirit was going to be ok. Ash also worried for Eevee's mental state, but had to put that to the back of his mind as the battle wasn't over yet. "Arcanine, please recognize the sound of my voice and snap out of it," Ash pleaded to his last Pokémon.

Ash knew if another attack connected, the battle was over. So in an act of desperation, he reached out to Arcanine with his aura. Ash knew it was allowed, he just didn't like using his aura against opponents that weren't psychic or an aura user.

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Ash found himself inside Arcanine's mind. It was dark and covered in a thick fog. "Arcanine!" Ash yelled. Almost instantly, he heard Arcanine howl back, then started running in that direction. "Arcanine!" Ash yelled again. This time Arcanine howled back from a different direction. Ash once again started running frustrated. The cycle repeated several times with the same results. Ash knew time was different inside the mind, but time was still passing outside, and any second now he was going to run out of time. Then he heard it...

"I'll end this right now, Ash. Heracross, use close combat."

"No," Ash breathed as he came to a stop. He was out of time. He couldn't look for Arcanine anymore. He needed to get rid of this fog if he was going to find Arcanine. Ash began with using his aura to coat his body, and made the fog around him disappear. "ARCANINE!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs both inside Arcanine's mind and out as he spiked his aura, clearing the fog.

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Back on the battlefield, Heracross was closing in on Arcanine, ready to finish this he battle. Suddenly, Arcanine howled as a spinning pillar of fire erupted from underneath her, causing Heracross to break off his attack to avoid the flames. Everyone watched with baited breath as they wait to see what would happen next. Then suddenly with a howl, the base of the flames exploded outward as the upper portion dissipated. The Pokémon that stood now reassembled Arcanine, but was clearly different as now she was a Mega Arcanine.

Two of her teeth grew and extended out of her mouth as the cream colored fur grew longer all over her body, with two black streaks on both sides of her head and at the tips of her tail. Her fur turned black around her eyes and connected to her ears, which were now also black, resembling a mask. Her front paws also turned black as more cream colored fur came from the top of her paw and moved up the back of her legs up to her body. She then adjusted her footing and she lowered her head as she prepared to continue the battle.

Many peoples mouths were agape as they looked in wonder of the first recorded mega evolution of an Arcanine. Ash's however wasn't, as a smile formed on his face. He had been training for weeks with a variety of his fully evolved Pokémon, trying to trigger the same mega evolution as what happened with Infernape, but with no luck. He had tried to recreate the same circumstances time and time again, and now he succeeded. He wasn't sure how he did it this time, but now he knew mastering this new ability of his was achievable.

Ash looked over at Rahul to see a look of excitement that burned inside Rahul's soul. The same fire that burned inside Ash's, that comes from the thrill of battling a strong opponent.

"Alright Arcanine, lets see your new power. Flamethrower on Heracross!" Ash called out in excitement.

"Heracross, use megahorn and go right through it!" Rahul called out as he refocused on the battle.

Arcanine took a deep breath and a wave of heat energy exploded from her mouth and sped towards Heracross, who was going face to face against it with megahorn. The megahorn collided with flamethrower for a moment as shockwaves stirred up dust.

For a moment, both Pokémon ceased movement and it seemed impossible to decide the victor, but suddenly the massive flamethrower completely engulfed Heracross. A few seconds later, Arcanine ceased her attack, allowing everyone to see a charred and unconscious Heracross laying on the ground.

"Heracross is unable to battle. Both trainers are down to their last Pokémon," the referee announced.

"Great job Arcanine. Now only one more to go," Ash praised Arcanine as they both focused their eyes on Galvantula.

"I'll admit your mega Arcanine is strong, but she suffered a lot of damage before she mega evolved. Despite the power boost, Galvantula and I are going to finish this with our next move. Galvantula, use agility to get in close and use Toxic," Rahul announced confidently.

Ash's eyes widened in surprise for a moment but resumed his instructions. "Arcanine, extreme speed into flare blitz!"

Galvantula was enveloped in a white aura for the last time as it sped towards Arcanine while its legs glowed purple due to toxic. Arcanine dashed towards Galvantula at lightning speed as its body was enveloped sparkling white aura. Just when they were both about to collide, Arcanine jumped up and dashed towards Galvantula while being enveloped in blue flames, but Galvantula was too slow to notice. The two Pokémon collided resulting in the outcome to be hidden in a large dust cloud. As the dust cleared, Arcanine was seen first. She was wobbling but still standing, but wouldn't be for long. Finally Galvantula was seen on the ground with swirly eyes.

"Galvantula is unable to battle. The Gym Leader Rahul is out of Pokémon, making the challenger Ash Ketchum the winner!" The referee announced.

Upon hearing this, Arcanine let out a victory howl before collapsing to the ground from exhaustion, then reverting to her normal form. Ash then returned and thanked her as Rahul did the same with Galvantula, then started walking towards Ash.

"Congratulations Ash. You're my first loss of the day," Rahul said as he extended his hand.

Ash took his hand and shook it.

"And as proof of your victory, I present to you the Static Bug badge," Rahul said as he turned the hand shake, putting his hand on top, then released it showing the silver and gold badge in Ash's hand.

"Thank you," Ash said gratefully.

"You're welcome. Now don't lose that after the league. It's so rare and awesome, it's pretty much a collectors item," Rahul boasted proudly. Ash just chuckled awkwardly from this statement. "But in all seriousness, you should be proud of yourself. You're only the second trainer to beat me on the first shot this month."

"Really? Who was the other?" Ash asked.

"Hmm, Daniel? David? Darrel?" Rahul said as he tried to remember the trainer.

"Damion?" Ash asked, hoping he was wrong.

"Yeah that's it, Damion. That was a close match, since he was bringing mega evolution to every round. He would have lost if it wasn't for that," Rahul stated, trying to diminish the significance of his loss.

But Ash stopped listening after he heard Rahul confirm Damion's name. Ash's expression darkened as he remembered their last encounter, and wanted to face him again.