The Battle of Bonds

Chapter 24: Contradicting Foes?

(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...