𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗔𝗟

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 13

Ash and Serena woke up the next morning to find their real identities revealed in the newspaper. Though they had decided to keep it a secret until the end of the tournament, the confrontation with the traitors led to the unmasking of the champion couple. It was about damn time. Mr. Goodshow had accepted that he had complete knowledge of the couple's identity and whereabouts. Organiser Scott had reported that the achievements of Red and Yellow were officially rectified to Ash and Serena Ketchum. Some people had commented on how it was great to have the young trainer back.

Ash and Serena went to have breakfast with their new friends as usual and were greeted by many of their old acquaintances. They caught up with their old rivals who were happy to see their long-lost friends again. The traitors though avoided the new group of champions. People passed hate comments to them as the truth was revealed the previous night. They were determined to beat Ash, as they did not want to believe still that the naïve, reckless trainer from Pallet Town could become the Champion of six regions. They had sworn to show the 'pathetic, incompetent fool' that he did not deserve to be the champion. 'He must have cheated along the way,' they thought.

The champions were sitting and talking when the television flashed to show the fixtures of the next round.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, after eight days of excitement and gruelling battles, we finally have our top 128 trainers from around the globe in the quest to become the Pokemon Master. The rules of the battles are the same as the round-robin stage but for the next two knockout rounds, each match will be a four on four battle instead of three Pokemon per side. On your screen are the fixtures of the Round of 128. The trainers are required to reach their respective battle arena at the specified time. The winners will proceed to the next Round of 64. On behalf of the Pokemon League and the Masters Victory Tournament, Reporter Alexa wishes all the trainers their very best."

The fixtures were shown on the screen. Ash and Serena saw the names of the traitors, their old acquaintances, and their new friends. Many were pitted against each other like Bonnie vs Bianca, Cynthia vs Sawyer, Lance vs Stephan, Clemont vs Shauna, and so on. Coincidentally, Ash and Serena had their battles against two of the traitors. Ash was up against Paul and Serena against Dawn, which meant the couple from Sinnoh was next to bite the dust. Ash's match was on 11th whereas Serena had her match the next day on 12th. The groups A, C, E, and G had matches on 11th, and classes B, D, F, and H had matches on the 12th.

The day went on. The couple went to the forest to practice with their Pokemon. They had their lunch with the Pokemon there like the old times and had another session before dusk. That was when Ash got a call on his phone. He ended the practice session and returned with Serena for her surprise.

"Why can't you just tell me, Ash? What is it?"

"If I told you, then that would not be a surprise."

"Whatever I just don't like being kept in the dark."

"You will see soon honey."

They reached the Pokemon center and climbed the stairs to their floor. Instead of going to their room, Ash dragged her to another room and knocked. Serena looked at Ash unable to comprehend who it could be. When the door opened, Serena stood there dumbfounded as Ash hugged the person.

"Aren't you going to give your mother a hug Serena?" Grace asked her mockingly.

"Mom!"