fates collide // an ash xy love story

xxvii // lights

As the final Leaf Storm and Water Shuriken collide with each other, the first semifinal battle has ended with Sawyer's Mega Sceptile falling to the ground in defeat, his body unmoving and eyes losing conscious. It was obvious to everyone in the arena that Sawyer's last Pokémon could no longer move and fight, the referee calling out to the audience that Ash has won his way into the next round.

Ecstatic, Ash jumps for joy at the announcement, running up to hug his injured Pokémon gently. Ash and his Pokémon are able to move on to the next round of the battles.

Ash's friends in the stands are both relieved that Ash made it through, and sad that Sawyer didn't. But, the situation they are in is inevitable to escape. The league can only have one winner, each round as well, and this round it happens to be Ash.

Well, almost all of them were happy. The honey blonde girl is still annoyed about yesterday's events but pretends they didn't happen and puts on a fake smile, pretending that it didn't affect her.

Down in the waiting room, Hannah and Weavile look happy that Ash progresses. Hannah sighs in relief as Weavile cheers for Pikachu on her shoulder. Hannah hears the sound of the door open from the arena and sees a teary-eyed Sawyer walk through them, wiping his eyes on the backs of his hands. He walks quickly out of the room, head down and tears flowing. However, he doesn't exit the room without Hannah stopping him with her words.

"You battled well today," She states, still looking at the television when saying it. Sawyer looks up at Hannah with shocked eyes, never receiving a compliment from her before.

"Your Leaf Storm is exceptionally strong, didn't think I'd ever see that move executed so well," Hannah looks over to Sawyer and says with a slight smile on her face, "Good job. I see some potential within you."

Sawyer's eyes cleared from their tears and he bows his head in thanks to Hannah for the words of encouragement. He proceeds out of the room to his hotel room and grips Sceptile's Pokéball in his hands.

"We will get better and stronger. I will beat someone as powerful as Hannah one day," Sawyer mutters to his Pokémon as he glances back towards Hannah to see her and Weavile walking out onto the arena, "Mark my words."

As Hannah walks through the doors of the arena she stops in her tracks and breaths in slowly, preparing herself for the upcoming battle on her hands. She knew it was coming, but honestly thought she would battle him in the final, and not the semi-finals. But, she also didn't think the league would play out like this either, so many crazy things happening in such a short period of time.

Weavile pats Hannah's head in reassurance, letting out a cry of encouragement for her trainer. Hannah gives a small smile to Weavile, "I know I haven't used you very much this league, but do know I trust you and your judgement of situations. I will use you when it's necessary to show the bond we have."

Weavile nods, already knowing where her trainer is coming from when saying this. Hannah continues moving onto the field of the arena and hears the screams coming from all sides of her. Although Hannah is elated to hear the cheers of her name, she keeps her still face and shows no sign of excitement outside her body.

Hannah looks over to the other entrance of the arena and wonders what is taking Alain so long to walk through those damn doors. She cranes her neck to see through the entry door, a sight the cameras cannot capture and see Ash and Alain giving each other a staredown.

Hannah gets nervous that they might initiate a fight but after parting words from Alain, Ash is left there stunned as Alain proceeds onto the field and glares into Hannah's eyes with growing intensity.

Hannah maintains eye contact as he walks onto the platform, giving a slight laugh when doing so. The two give each other a death stare until the announcer begins his spiel.