Jhoto

There was an hour long lunch break when the Extreme Race event would take place and Ash and Gou decided to participate. Casey was more interested in the betting this time instead of racing as her current Pokemon were for battling not speed racing. Ash had a feeling she was more interested in the drama of the betting instead of the race. Either way Tyrantrum was excited and wanted to try his best at running.

A few days ago Gary had mentioned finding more about the Tyrantrum line and how they moved from one place to another. Apparently they were very good runners and could easily move from one region to another, provided the regions were not separated by water. It had started a very interesting debate in the research community about how the land may have been shaped in the past. They had found Tyrunt and Tyrantrum fossils in Galar, Kalos, Unova and now Kanto.

Ash oat Tyrantrum's scales, "Excited?"

Tyrantrum nodded, "Rrrrrrn, rrrrrn."

Tyrantrum made a face, he had heard from Charizard how he had manipulated his dragon aura to connect with Ash's aura. That small connection had helped Charizard speak in human language just like Lucario could but the young dragon was finding it hard. Ash scratched Tyrantrum's chin getting a rumbling purr from the Earth dragon making him forget his frustration. Lucario eyed their young charge well one of them, Tyrantrum had approached him about the dragon aura once.

Lucario had been surprised by the request but agreed to help the young Dragon Lord out with his predicament. Tyrantrum adored Ash and wanted to get closer to him and be able to directly talk with him. It was part of his Dragon pride that was making it hard for him to just stay quiet when Charizard who was essentially a fire type managed to control his Dragon Aura to learn to talk. Tyrantrum as someone who used Dragon Aura directly could not let that be and wanted more.

Lucario had suggested to take part in the race to help their aura bonds grow. In order to manipulate aura to be able to do other things them battle, they needed to focus the aura into other activities. Ash and Charmender them later Charmeleon did exactly that when they took part in therapy exercises and activities which were not Pokemon battles but simply spending time together. Lucario figured if it worked then it worked and the little Dragon should try it out before doing anything else.

Lucario, 'It also included meditation now that I remember. We should try it soon.'

Ash, "Ready?"

Tyrantrum roared, "RRRRRUN!"

Gou laughed, "Someone is excited."

Gou's Rapidash snorted as he eyed Tyrantrum who was acting like a month old foal towards his trainer. The proud fire horse huffed as he decided to ignore the pair, and focused on his trainer who was watching the other dark haired teen. Rapidash snorted amused at that, they all knew about his infatuation although no one had dared to do anything yet. One reason, their object of infatuation's lack of interest, two their own focus on their careers and three reluctance to ruin future chances once the careers are established.

Announcer, "Welcome to the hundred and twenty forth Extreme Race! This race has been held every seven months ever since Mahagony town was established. Participants please stand by the starting line. Clear the track, we are not liable to accidents that will happen if you don't listen to warnings. If you get hurt because you failed to listen you will be liable for getting arrested because you broke the rules."

Ash's mouth twitched, 'They are not pulling their punches.'

Announcer, "The warnings are being given loud and clear event on the board as well as the slips you signed earlier. Please heed them, there will be consequences for those who don't."

Gou mused, "After what happened five years ago they are not taking any chances for another lawsuit."

Ash, "Yes, it was a good thing they caught the scammer back then."

Announcer, "Ready! Set! Go!"

The race started and the Pokemon ran across the race track, Rapidash and Tyrantrum keeping a steady pace while the others rushed before them or were slow. The ancient Pokemon was following his instinct as he ran through the track covering a dirt road which gave way to grassy terrain, then through a forest and finally a rocky road where the finish line was. The terrains changed every seven months depending on the season they would end up in, it kept things exciting and very interesting.

Ash, "The dirt road is ending."

Gou, "Yeah, time for grassy terrain. Want to speed up?"

Ash, "Sure but we better slow down after the forest to avoid accidents."

Gou, "It's a plan."

The two of them along with their Pokemon started to take over the other racers after reaching the forest prompting the others to move faster. The hurry to catch up caused the others to loose sight of surroundings and get hit by branches or trip. Ash and Gou kept a steady pace which slowed down as they reached the rocky terrain which they had to navigate. The racers who had been speeding up ended up in minor mishaps or running into other racers, nothing too dangerous. They corrected themselves and rejoined the race after them.

Ash eyed the area, "Hmm.. Okay Tyrantrum, you are a Rock Dragon. What do you think?"

Tyrantrum gave a grin before he charged in full speed through the terrain. This terrain was his domain and he soon took over the other racers who were ahead of them. Gou's mouth gave a twitch and he became determined to win as well and raced after them. Tyrantrum roared as he reached the finish line first while Gou was competing with another trainer with an Arbok. Ash and Tyrantrum cheered Gou on to win and Gou feeling invigorated urged Rapidash to move faster. Rapidash gave a determined snort and booked it for the finish line leaving others in the dust.

Ash, "That was awesome Gou, Rapidash."

Gou was grinning, "That was fun."

Casey, "I won, pay up."

Max was cheering from the mess area where he was having lunch with his now newly evolved and checked Kirlia. Brock did forbade Kirlia from battling because his control was now shot and would require training. On the other hand Beedrill was up for a challenge, he had heard of tales from his senior Beedrills and how much fun battling was, plus how they were respected by everyone. Beedrill wanted that too, he wanted to make his own name be known out there and make Max proud.

Max, "Ready for our battle Beedrill? After the awards ceremony is over it'll be our turn to battle."

Beedrill nodded, "Bzzz, bzzz."

Max watched the award ceremony start, and Ash received a poke egg, Pokeball trophy and the price money. Gou received the second runners price money and a box with evolution stones which were a Dawn stone and an Everstone. The third winner was a girl from Sinnoh, she received the third runners up prize money. After a few minutes the junior tournament started again and Max saw Ash and the others in the audience holding lunch trays.

Announcer, "Welcome back participants to the junior tournament. Hope you all enjoyed your lunch break and the fun race. Let's get the semi finals started."

The crowd cheered excited to the announcement and the screen showed the top four participants. Max was the third one in the list and he was surprised to see Ursula in the top four but didn't let it bother him. He did however hoped she was not as rude as the last time he met her. Welp, not his problem, the other two trainers were from Jhoto and Unova, interesting.

Max grinned, "Let's do this."

Announcer, "The first semi final round will be between Max from Hoenn and Xeno from Unova."

Referee, "Choose your Pokemon."

Xeno, "Let's go Simipour."

Max, "Go Beedrill."

Xeno, "That's one terrifying looking Beedrill you got there."

Max, "Thanks, my training paid off then."

Referee, "Begin."

Max, "Agility."

Xeno, "Aqua tail."

Beedrill however was fast and trying to hit him was a little difficult though Beedrill didn't attack yet. Simipour tried to follow Beedrill's trail as he flew around her, she would have to aim properly to hit him. Max gave a shout and Beedrill attacked Simipour from the left hitting her with his needles in a poison jab.

Xeno, "You okay Simipour?"

Simipour nodded, "Pour!"

Xeno, "Rain dance, make it wet."

Max, "Fury cutter, don't let him."

Beedrill used fury cutter to attack Simipour as she dodged and danced to create the rain in order to level up. But Beedrill got a few hits in with his poison needles making Simipour feel dizzy and there were dark clouds in the sky.

Xeno, "Almost there Simipour. You'll feel better soon."

Max, "Power up sunny day, we cannot let them have all the fun."

Beedrill buzzed in agreement and used sunny day in retaliation to rain dance. Soon rain started to fall despite the sun shining brightly on them creating a rainbow.

Max, "Aerial ace full power."

Xeno, "Hydro pump, full power."

Beedrill did a flip and raced towards Simipour who shot her strongest hydro pump towards the bug Pokemon only for Beedrill to disappear from sight. Simipour gritted her teeth at that, only to give a surprised shriek as Beedrill appeared in front of her and attacked her. Simipour went down hard from the direct hit fainting on the spot.

Referee, "Simipour is unable to battle, Beedrill wins the match. Max will be going to the final round."

Max, "We won? We won! Beedrill we won."

Beedrill flew circling Max, "Bzzz bzzzz bzzz bzzz."

Xeno, "Great job girl. Admittedly not the best match up but we'll get better."

Simipour nodded, "Urrrrr."

Max, "That was a fun battle. I think you are the strongest water type trainer I have battled so far."

Xeno smirked, "Not a water type trainer specifically but I'll take the compliment. Let's battle again and next time I'll win."

Max grinned, "Yeah, looking forward to it."

Max and Xeno left the arena, Max sat in the resting room while Xeno left for the Pokemon center to take care of his Simipour. The next match was between Ursula and another guy from Sinnoh called Roche and it seemed they knew each other too. Roche rolled his eyes at whatever Ursula was saying and they started to embarrassingly enough quarrel in front of the camera.

Max, "Ooo boy! I am glad I'm not the one up there."

Beedrill, "Bzzz."

Roche was no slouch with his Throh going toe to toe with Ursula's Poliwrath. Roche had been using Throh for all his rounds now which means if he won, he would use his second Pokemon in the finals. Ursula had used Scyther the first two rounds and was now using Poliwrath who was doing really well against the fighting type. Actually the while battle was a fight between two fighting type Pokemon, Max wondered if they were actually comical rivals. Throh had at that moment landed a fatal hit on Poliwrath knocking him out.

Referee, "Poliwrath is unable to battle. Roche and Throh won the match. Team Green will be heading to the final match. Both participants please come on stage."

Roche greeted him, "Nice to meet you Max Maple. Let's have a fun battle."

Max smiled, "Nice to meet you too Roche Dunbar. Yeah, it'll be awesome."

Referee, "Choose your Pokemon."

Max, "Let's go Beedrill."

Roche, "Let's go Masquerain."

Max, 'I knew it.'

Referee, "Begin."

Roche, "Whirlwind!"

Max, "Evade with agility."

Roche mumbled watching Beedrill go with the flow of the wind getting faster, "Your speed will be a headache for us."

Max, "Aerial ace!"

Beedrill had a dark glint in his eyes as he used his speed to attack his opponent and hit him on his wing. Masquerain was smart enough to keep moving to avoid a direct knock out hit from him.

Roche, "Air slash!"

Beedrill dodged the air slash attack but got hit on his left, he had used Aerial ace twice in a row with speed to add to the power. He was starting to feel the recoil of using powerful attacks now and it seems Max noticed too.

Max, "Giga Drain."

Roche, "Don't let him close to you Masquerain."

Masquerain dodged as Beedrill used giga drain and managed to get a bit of energy to stop feeling lethargic. That was enough for Beedrill to snap back to attention.

Roche, "Use take down, bring him down before he recovers."

Max, "Poison jab."

Beedrill didn't move and instead prepared his poison jab to it's strongest level. Masquerain came in contact with Beedrill to use take down only to feel a pin like stab. Masquerain moved back at once looking at the calm Beedrill suspiciously before he started to feel woozy and started to go down.

Max, "Giga drain again."

Roche, "Not again, Masquerain moved quick."

Masquerain was too out of it thanks to the poison to move anywhere. Soon he started to feel tired as Giga Drain took effect and soon Masquerain was knocked out.

Referee, "Masquerain is unable to battle, this year's winner is Max and his Beedrill."

[A. N.: What are your plans for Easter next month?

I'm planning a picnic with friends. The same friends who wanted me to write this book. XD]