Poker king....

To say that they were surprised was an understatement. When Ash told them that he was treating them to a restaurant, they thought that it was just an ordinary restaurant that a normal family could afford, they did not expect Ash to fly them all the way to Lily of the Valley Island in a very fast jet, and treat them to Sinnoh's most expensive restaurant, The Crown of Twilight.

"Okay, I'm this region's champion but even I can't get a reservation at this restaurant." Cynthia muttered as she gazed in wonder at the Greek-style restaurant.

"If you have the right friends, and the right amount of cash, you can practically get anything." Ash said with a smirk. "That and the owner of this restaurant happened to be a friend of mine, good cook, short temper, and a very lousy poker player." Ash commented with a chuckle while those who had seen Ash play poker shook their heads.

"Ash, I don't want to burst your bubble but everyone sucks at playing poker when they play with you." Elena told him with a smile. "If my memories serves me right, your entire fortune is build off of poker and blackjack."

"True," Ash said with a soft chuckle.

Gary cannot help but smile at this. "Ash always had the affinity for business." Gary whispered as Brock and Sarah look at him curiously.

"Seriously," Sarah asked silently.

Gary nodded as he remembered their childhood days in Pallet town. "Ash used to drag me all around Pallet town to buy some of those abandoned storage units, Pallet has a lot of them and they are cheap. Ash buys abandoned storage units, he finds something valuable, and he sells it." Gary laughed softly at remembering some of Ash's most interesting bargains.

"Now that you mention it, Ash has been responsible for our group's resources since the day I started travelling with him." Brock mused, remembering the times when Ash handed him a large wad of money and practically ordered him to budget it. "I always did wonder where he got the money, I mean, a trainer's salary is not that big." Brock added as Gary nodded before chuckling.

"The most basic thing about Ash is that he loves to gamble, he especially loves poker." Gary told them. "You don't want to see him in a poker table that is how good he is. I wonder how many casinos Ash looted to build his company." Gary wondered loudly.

"The young master has looted fifty casinos to accumulate 75 billion in cash. The young master used 50 billion for the capital of APWA that is the reason why we have such a good start." Ricardo informed them as Gary and Brock jump back in surprise.

Sarah on the other hand was now beside Elena. "Hello Elena, we need to talk." Sarah said in a sickly sweet tone.

Elena knew that this was coming, so she merely sighed grimly. "I'm dead, am I?"

"No not yet at least." Jane answered as she walks beside Elena, her eyes calculating.

Elena met her older sister's eyes before giving Ash a look. Ash, understanding that look, nodded. "Ricardo, Via, let's go have a talk with our old friend." Ash told them as he motions them to the kitchen. "Elena, please show our guests to our table, our table is over there on the balcony." Ash said as he pointed at the balcony over a couple of diners.

Elena nodded but before she could lead the group, Ash planted a kiss squarely on her forehead before heading straight to the kitchen. Before Via could make a scene, Ricardo clasped her mouth and drag her to the kitchen. Elena tried her best to ignore the jealous look that Cynthia and her sisters were giving her. "What do you guys expect, we are partners." Elena said to them before adding something in her thoughts while tracing her lips with her fingers. 'In more ways than one.'

Elena led them out to the balcony, where a large, well made and well furnish round table was waiting for them. "Take your seats everyone." Elena said as she took the sit near the door. "The moon is beautiful tonight." Elena couldn't help but comment as she glanced at the full moon.

The group did as they were told and took their seats. Most of them still don't know why they are there but they just decided to enjoy the free dinner courtesy of Ash and his company. "Now that girl that you hate so much is not here, we can finally have a decent talk." Jane said before taking a deep breath. "How did you become the co-owner of APWA?" Jane asked curiously.

"You started with an easy one," Elena said with a humorless chuckle. "I was the one who gave Ash the idea of starting the company." Elena answered bluntly.

The group looked at her strangely at that revelation, not believing her words. "Elena, we're serious here." Cynthia said exasperatedly.

"I'm serious as well; the reason why I'm the co-owner of APWA is because I gave Ash the idea of starting the company. Ash took care of the capital, the entrepreneurship, and the man power, but the idea came from me. Apparently, for Ash, that's enough for me to own 45% of the stock." Elena explained with a shrug.

"You know what, that explains a lot." Gary commented with a laugh. "Ash is good in negotiation and gambling, but without a cause, he won't do a thing." Gary said with full confidence.

Elena frowned at that as she narrowed her eyes at Gary, making said person flinch. "You don't know him well, so keep quiet please." Elena said sharply as Gary winced at her terrifying glare.

"Yes ma'am," Gary answered, fearing her wrath as well as the wrath of her overpowered boyfriend.

"Where did Ash get the capital?" Lance asked carefully.

"Poker and Blackjack," Elena answered while fighting back a laugh. "You see, Ash is an exceptional gambler, and he looted every casino in Kanto and Johto, and most casinos in Hoenn and Sinnoh, the reason why is because he travels with a large group and they need a lot of resources." Elena then glanced at Brock sharply.

Brock, misinterpreting the glance, nodded. "That's true; Ash has been the breadwinner of the group since I joined him. He provides the money; I managed and bought our resources." Brock verified what Elena said.

Elena shook her head. "More like you people can't do anything right without Ash." Elena muttered cynically.

"So Ash earned his fortune in gambling?" Lance asked as Elena merely nodded in confirmation.

"So, let me get this straight," Sarah said with a smile. "Ash had accumulated a fortune in his five years of journey because he gambles for his travelling group's resources, and you co-own his company because you gave him the idea of starting said company, am I right?" Sarah inquired rather excitedly.

"That is about right." Elena answered with a careful tone; her sister has that dangerous glint in her eyes again meaning it's time to head for cover.

"So that means you have billions worth of resources under your belt, right?" Sarah asked again, her voice becoming sweeter by the word.

"Unfortunately so," Elena answered softly as she found her sister suddenly besides her.

"Ok now," Sarah said excitedly as she clapped her hands, her eyes gleaming in a terrifying manner. "Now sis, I have several researches and projects that require proper funding." At the word funding, those who knew her glanced at Elena frantically and began shaking their heads into a negative, Lance even went so far as to putting his hands together in praying fashion and begged Elena to not give her any amount of money.

"Sorry sis, I can't." Elena told her as she push Sarah away.

"Why not?" Sarah demanded with a cute puppy dog eyes that she always used whenever she wanted something badly.

Elena on the other hand was not affected by her sister's antics, and so was Jane who decided to remind her of a certain memory. "Hey idiot, did you forget what happened to your last project?" Jane drawled with a smirked. "You sank an island, and angered a Lugia, remember?"

Sarah was about to retort when Elena wacked her over the head. "You did what?" Elena asked in surprised, realization suddenly hitting her.

Sarah smiled sheepishly at that. "Well, I was researching Pokémon attacks and the maximum power each attack can reach….." Sarah trailed off a bit as Cynthia shook her head.

"In other words, she went overboard and used every one of her pokemon to attack an inhabited island, suffice to say, the Island sank after an hour." Cynthia then gave her old rival a disapproving look. "After she sank the island, a Lugia appeared and attacked her."

"And for everyone's information, I won that battle by merely using my Dragonite." Sarah told them proudly while Elena tried to suppress the urged to hit her sister over the head.

'So that's why a Lugia tried to kill me during one of my dates with Ash, I should have known.' Elena thought grimly at the thought of that event. She had never seen him so angry at one of his familiars and he actually had to block several attacks before knocking out the poor Pokémon with a tower of lightning, hell, Ash would have killed his familiar if she did not interfere. 'You are not getting any funding from me, and I better warn Ash.' Elena thought to herself as she felt a familiar presence coming near here.