Going forward and beyond {Path of the Aura Ranger: Book I}

V Reggie's P.O.V

Everyone was still excited about yesterday's battle. Electivire and Flygon's match was... legendary to say the least. It ended in a draw, the Hyper Beam being matched in power and both of them fainting soon afterward in exhaustion. The poor referee had to take a few minutes to be able to stand up again and call the match. Ash still won the battle as he had three pokemon left. But Paul had become the closest one to have won against Ash, being the only one to have defeated three of his pokemon.

All the excitement did not deter those in charge of the event to scold various managing staff for not stopping the match earlier. As soon as the protective shield was down, they should have called for a pause. Everyone was lucky that the Draco Meteor only landed inside the battlefield-marked arena, otherwise, that day would have ended much differently.

They did end up calling for an hour-long break afterward, the arena was unrecognizable. It took a long amount of time to rebuild it and they had to put up the shield from scratch too. Luckily, no one broke it again. But the managing staff were dreading today's match.

While the managing staff was dreading it, the crowd was even more excited.

If a battle between a 'somewhat' normal trainer against The Saint was so exciting, what will a match between the mysterious Tobias and Ace Ranger Katchum turn up like?

I, myself, teleported to the Lily of the Valley Island, to congratulate my brother. He did so well! I was so proud of him!

Tears still gather in my eyes recalling the huge smile on Paul's face as he battled Ash. I will forever be indebted to Ash for teaching my little brother to have fun battling once again. We also thanked him for paying for us to extend our stay in the resort for the next couple of days, so we could observe the fulfillment of the Pokemon League.

"Did Ash tell you what he is planning against Darkrai?" Paul asked Ash's traveling friends, as the two of us took our seats in the crowd.

"No idea!" Dawn smiled, not caring a little bit about it. "But I am sure it's gonna be awesome!"

"It might be... but knowing Ash it will be crazy as Distortion World," Gary commented with a bemused smile. "But I am interested in knowing how he is planning on dealing with Darkrai's Dark Void."

"That move combined with Dream Eater finished all of Tobias' opponents," Riley murmured.

"He did break various records because of that," I recalled.

"Don't be so gloom and doom!" Dawn berated us with a glare. "Ash will win this! Believe in him! I do!"

"Dawn is right," Gary smiled at the younger girl. "Ash has this!"

With that the group's gloomy atmosphere changed into a more relaxed one, just in time for the Legendary Battle between Titans to begin... or at least, that's what the media is calling it.

As was expected Tobias called out his infamous Darkrai to the battlefield. Ash's option... was shocking, to say the least.

Many in the crowd gasped at who Ash had chosen. Not his Charizard, or his Pikachu, or his Sceptile, Ash chose his Heracross of all pokemon.

I understand that Heracross possesses a double-type advantage on Darkrai, but I still can't see another reason why Ash would have chosen him. He does not allow type-advantage to dictate his method of fighting.

However, to Gary, who was sitting next to me, it seemed to make all the sense in the world. His eyes widened in realization and he exclaimed in glee: "So that's what he is planning!"

"What?!" Dawn turned to Gary in excitement.

"I thought I would be facing your Charizard," Tobias commented, not making a command to attack yet.