The Tag Tournament

**"The Tag Tournament, Parts I & II"** (**"Parts I, II and III"** in Archive of Our Own and Royal Road) is the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth (and twenty-sixth in the aforementioned sites) chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* Paired up with Red, Ash prepares to give his all to win the tournament to enter the Safari Zone, with Misty and Iris forming another team, and his rivals Paul and Gary forming another. During the tournament they will encounter familiar and new faces, but when Red discovers that Ash has a Bloodliner power and he doesn't want to use it, the two end up at odds with each other, especially when Ash finds out Red has one of his own and used it to win his matches in the Battle Dome.

Due to the length of these chapters, the plot section will be split in three parts, following the AO3 and RR numbering.

## Plot

### Part I

Gary and Paul stand on the stadium, ready for their first match in the Fuchsia Tag Tournament. Their opponents, a nerd with goofy glasses paired up with a musclebound idiot send out a Voltorb and a Machoke respectively. Gary sends out his Growlithe while Paul sends out his Hypno. The battle doesn't last long as Paul's Hypno quickly takes out their foes' Pokémon before Gary's Growlithe can even do much, winning the match for them. Gary is impressed that Paul's Pokémon are so powerful when he only has four badges, which Paul replies that he mistakes quantity for quality, having earned his badges in strong and prestigious gyms to push his Pokémon beyond their limits. As he leaves, Gary feels dismayed at not having done much during the match, before recalling his chat with Casey Snagem a few days prior about the meaning of being a Pokémon Master, and his Pokédex complaining that its data gathering was interrupted due to the match ending so early.

In Saffron City, Dan and his Pokémon continue to fight for their lives, the trainer having only his Typhlosion running on Blaze and his Mega Evolved Ampharos to try and fight back against the (still many) ones that Sabrina has on her side. He recalls his experiences since he was a rookie trainer, how he met several of his Pokémon, and not being able to break his Top 16 streaks in the Silver Conference, the last time losing to a rookie trainer named Cleff, who lost himself in the semifinals to the eventual winner. He's prepared to embrace death as he falls into unconsciousness, albeit not before hearing Sabrina saying that he's proved his worth and will live.

Back in Fuchsia City, Ash and Red await the beginning of their first match, against a couple of trainers names Al and Sasha. Red notices that being around Ash causes his Victory Sight to glitch and not give him any numbers, while also noticing that Ash looks contemplative since he saw Gary and Paul's match, assuming that perhaps he knows them and recognizes Paul as a potential threat. He'd also done some digging about Lilo and Alola, finding out that the ring he saw her wearing before was different to the one he got in the Battle Dome, not being a Key Stone for Mega Evolution, just guessing that it might be a different secret weapon of sorts. Recalling Yellow's words of them being "the greatest team ever", Red admits they're a strong team, but is unsure as to how he'll battle without relying on his Victory Sight as he'd done so far.

The battle goes underway. Their opponents bring out a Rhydon and a Bellossom, while Ash sends his Yanma and Red sends his Poliwrath. As Red tries to attack the Rhydon, he notices that Ash sends Yanma to attack without calling any moves, throwing their opponents (and himself) for a loop when Yanma pins Bellossom against the ground. Before the Rhydon trainer can attack them, Red orders his Poliwrath to defend Yanma. Ash continues his plan, by ordering Yanma to "toss" Bellossom, much to Red's shock as he knows Yanma is unable to learn any moves with "toss" in their name. Their opponents start arguing with each other, giving Red the opening to blast Rhydon with a Water Pulse and knock it out, while Ash's Yanma flies down and throws the Bellossom against the ground, leaving it weakened. Before its trainer can call a move, Ash orders Yanma to use Quick Attack, ending the match with a victory for them. Red acknowledges that Ash has improved since the last time they met, and for all his oddities, his tactics work well.

In the Saffron Gym, Sabrina floats over the unconscious Dan, wondering why the challengers always assume that defeat means death, but she's satisfied with the boy's performance and decides she will spare his life. Suddenly, the Bloodliner King's Emissary teleports in, feeling disappointed that she spared another human that isn't even on their list. Sabrina replies that she couldn't care less about it, while also mentioning that she knows that the Emissary's brother, the Executioner, was the one who spirited the Sensational Sisters away. The Emissary replies that the King's offer for her to become the Bloodliner Queen is still open, but Sabrina isn't interested in marrying him, either for power or for pleasure of any kind, nor does she have any desire to have children. The Emissary then tells him that a certain candidate's skills seem to be called in question and she's been requested to test him again. Sabrina, knowing that he refers to Ash Ketchum, counters that even if he was a normal human she'd consider him worthy of living, and he seems on his way to meet the requirements the King wants in Dual Bloodliners, barring the part about killing. Sabrina also mentions that the King must be disappointed that most of his candidates are willing to kill each other as he expects, even mentioning that Belladonna quickly recanted from wanting to kill Ash as soon as she found out they were related. The Emissary isn't pleased with Sabrina's defiance, but she replies that she doesn't care for his approval, and that if he wants to change the world, he should do it himself. After the Emissary teleports away, Sabrina is left wondering about Ash's thoughts, as he's associating her with a doll, and wants to look more in depth that night. She then decides to drop off Dan somewhere to use him as bait for more challengers, knowing that it might attract weaker ones if they know there's a chance for survival.

Back in the tournament, Ash is now on the spectators' seats, watching Lilo as she battles alone with her Lurantis (her partner having been taken out of the fight) against two opponents her recognizes from The Old Timeline: Assunta and Melissa, who use a Venomoth and Hitmonlee respectively. Yellow explains that Lilo is a trainer from far away and she has very rare Pokémon, like her Exegguttor. Ash himself is surprised to learn that Lurantis is actually a Grass-type despite its bug-like appearance. Lurantis then uses Solar Blade to finish off both the opposing Pokémon, giving the victory to Lilo's team. Red mentions that Lilo wasn't even using her full strength and she might be the strongest opponent they have in the tournament, and Ash takes his word for it, although he has some doubts after seeing Paul in his match with Gary. Anabel chimes in telepathically, noting that she overpowers her battling partner considerably, and having Pokémon that none of them knows will also give her an edge, which Ash agrees to.

Meanwhile, Misty and Iris prepare for their first match, fighting against a duo of trainers named Hugo and Rachael. Hugo sends out a Nidoqueen, while Misty in turns sends Staryu, wishing she could have used Gyarados but he's resting at Oak's lab due to having participated in a race a few days ago, after they got roped into a festival and Ash helped a Ponyta rider when she got injured. Rachael sends a Pinsir, causing Misty to cringe, while Iris sends out Excadrill. The two prove themselves a rather effective team, despite this being their second battle together, managing to cover for each other's weaknesses and outdo their opponents over and over. In the stands, Red takes notice how both girls have grown stronger, which Ash replies that traveling together with friends helps a lot, and they can support one another despite having different goals. Yellow suggests they could have dinner together tonight, and they all agree to do so.

Later at the Pokémart, Red wonders if he jumped too soon about the dinner idea. Yellow doesn't think so, but she does say they need topics to talk about. Red only has in mind battle combinations for the upcoming matches, much to Yellow's chagrin, and tries to suggest that she asks Ash things about himself. Knowing that he comes from Pallet Town, Red wonders if asking about the place he's from would be enough, and Yellow agrees. Red suddenly notices a brown-haired woman with a red bag sitting on a bench, before heading back for the Pokémon Center.

At five, Anabel finds herself rather comfortable being able to talk to people her age, even though she has less than a week since she met Ash and the others. Unfortunately, now she's forced to keep quiet due to being with Red and Yellow. The conversation goes from Pallet Town to Ash and Red's respective starter Pokémon, which Yellow finds odd that Ash would have Pikachu as his starter as she would have expected Bulbasaur or Charmander, which Ash mentions ended up in the hands of a couple of twins, Elwood and Aideen, and as it turns out Red also met them before, having fought them in a Battle Club some time ago. As Ash and Red continue to talk, Anabel distracts herself with overhearing nearby conversations, some of which are even about Ash and Red, until she's snapped out of her thoughts when Red reveals his surname and picks up Ash's Pokédex from the table, which the machine seems to find displeasing. Anabel recounts what Ash told her about his encounter with Belladonna and then takes notice how Ash and Red do have some physical resemblances, but there are also notable differences not only in appearance, but also in personality: while Ash is cheerful and seems to enjoy life (barring times of immediate danger like Gringy City) and likes to help people just for helping them, Red seems more subdued and seems to act like the world isn't a nice place, and she hopes he can learn to be happier. Red then mentions that Ash's Pokédex mentioned that Yanma seem more oriented to special attacks, while Ash's Yanma only used physical attacks during their match. Ash replies that Yanma enjoys fighting like that and he didn't seem to do well with special moves, so he focused on that. Red argues that Yanma also evolves learning a special move (Ancient Power), but Ash says that he's training Yanma to work on what he does well and suits him, and he won't force him to evolve unless he chooses to. The answer leaves Red rather puzzled, but Ash continues by stating that he believes in working with a Pokémon's strong points as individuals, not as representative of their species. Suddenly, Anabel picks up a memory of Ash having a conversation with Paul (about them arguing about how to train Chimchar in The Old Timeline) but she doesn't recognize their voices, and wonders where it came from. She doesn't have any time to ponder more on it, as right then Red suggest they talk about battle combinations, making Yellow facepalm.

In HopHopHop Town, Belladonna has gone with Vedia to a bookshop to get a book for Aurora, feeling annoyed at having to do it "the normal way" but complying only because Aurora prefers it that way, having noticed she's been rather upset since the power plant incident, but not wanting to force her to talk about it. Meanwhile, she's annoyed at having to wait while there's a nearby smoker, and she fights off the urge to kill him (she despises smoking) before the cigarette falls into the sewer, much to her relief. Vedia then finds the book they're looking for, explaining that she took too long to find it because it was sorted by publisher name and not by author name. After they pay and leave the place, they suddenly spot a woman crossing the street with a girl and a boy she calls Arnold, who she quickly notices looks like a younger version of Ash, and thus could possibly be another brother of hers. They also recall that they've been watching the Fuchsia Tag Tournament on TV at the penthouse they raided to stay at for the time being, and seeing him along with Red helped her reinforce her suspicions that her father had most likely sired many more children. Vedia however suggests that Belladonna stay put for now, and decides to follow them instead to avoid being noticed.

That night, Ash and Pikachu have another strange dream, finding themselves in a room full of frozen Pokémon. Pikachu points out like they smell sick and one of them even smells like blood. Suddenly, MissingNo's voice speak up, and they see him sitting on a ice block, this time in the form of a version of Ash wearing a blue and white striped shirt, black shorts and no gloves. MissingNo mockingly says this is payback for him getting away the last time, and then the room's door opens. A robot-like figure with blue and yellow metal plates enters, projecting light from its shoulders, and Ash notices a stamp that reads CG-82 on the left breast plate. Then it scans the room with some sort of red light, and after it talks, Ash recognizes the voice as belonging to Clemont, which MissingNo confirms that it's him in that suit, Clemont from "a" future that used to be "the" future until about a week or two before. Three more figures then join him, with Ash only recognizing one: Latoya Parker looking older and wearing a Gligirl suit that looks more heavily armored than he remembered, a largely muscled dark-skinned woman who Ash compares to a female Lt. Surge and is wearing a ring similar to Lilo, and a boy in a blue longcoat with gray hair. The group start talking about several things that Ash doesn't understand, such as Ultra Beasts, Nihilego and Aether Foundation, making Ash wonder what's going on. After the conversation mentions a pair of twins named Frax and Velvet Lono, MissingNo pops them into existence for Ash to see. They all take notice of their physical resemblance, but MissingNo immediately pops them back out, having taken them while they were asleep themselves. The group continues to talk about how a Bloodliner War broke out, and somehow Ash, Red, Belladonna, and many others were involved, somehow spelling the "end of the world". MissingNo then begins drawing a picture of Ash looking older with several of his Pokémon, then adding Misty, Iris and Anabel with their Pokémon as well. The drawing continues to add others, like Red and Yellow, Belladonna's group, Ritchie and many others he doesn't know but look a lot like himself, and a girl who eerily looks like Dawn but Ash can tell it's not her, among others like A.J. and Jeanette Fisher and the Team Rocket Trio. Then MissingNo begins drawing on the other side, showing a lot of more of figures standing in opposition to the others, all loomed by a shadowy figure with a large crown and red eyes, whose hands are crumpling May's ribbon and Serena's hat, much to Ash's horror. The picture is completed with drawings of several Pokémon, including Groudon and Kyogre in Primal Forms, a shadowy Lugia and a Pokémon Ash does not recognize. As the group continues to talk, they mention that the members of the Aether Foundation all died before the frozen Pokémon could be properly examined, mentioning that perhaps Lusamine froze them because that seemed like the only way to keep them alive to get past her delusions, but they're back to square one. Ash and Pikachu then wake up, while in Alola the Lono Twins do the same, having passed out in the middle of class and then waking up in the infirmary.

After waking up, Ash tries to look up with the Pokédex the Pokémon he saw in his dream, but unable to provide a name, the device only gives guesses based on the description, all of which end up being wrong. The Pokédex suggests that perhaps had hallucinations due to eating too much, so it suggests that Ash brushes his teeth and have breakfast for his next battle.

At the battlefield, Ash is surprised to see that their opponents are none other than the twins Elwood and Aideen, and they also recognize him. Aideen calls out a Nidorina, and Ash calls Ambipom. In turn, Elwood brings out a Hitmonlee, leaving Red to ponder on his own choice before deciding to go for his Victreebel. The battle goes underway, and once more Ash takes everyone off guard when he orders Ambipom to use the Counter-Shield strategy to cancel a Poison Sting from Nidorina. Elwood's Hitmonlee engages in close-quarters with Ambipom and seems to gain the upper hand after he headbutts Ambipom before Victreebel intervenes with a Leaf Storm to blow them both away. Nidorina manages to sink her claws on the ground to hold on, but Hitmonlee isn't as lucky and crashes against the wall, defeated. Despite being now alone, Aideen is determined to avenge her brother and orders Nidorina to attack with Horn Drill. Red tries to order Victreebel to use Sweet Scent, but the drill effect of Nidorina's attack disperses it. Ash has Ambipom throw Victreebel up into the air, dodging the Horn Drill and leaving Nidorina for them to defeat her with a Vine Whip/Power-Up Punch combo, winning the match and advancing to the next round.

In the Saffron Gym, Sabrina stares at a doll she's prepared with a message "Thank you for the future", before tossing it away, thinking it too creepy and that it would perhaps attract the boy from the future's attention. She then turns around to see Dario, whom she captured, to tell him that it's people like him who need to disappear: people who decide to bring down those who remarkably and talented to their level because they can't compete fairly, using less than scrupulous means such as cheating and sabotage like he tried to do with Lara Laramie, trying to make themselves look better than they really are by making others look bad. She mocks him for failing to do even that in both timelines, before silencing him and telling him he's going to test her new way to dispose of unworthy trainers, snapping his neck with her psychic powers. Sabrina then reaches out to Ash's mind, reading his memories of the past timeline and finding many other "unworthy" souls that need to be put down, deciding to start with Melvin the magician.

### Part II

In Vaniville Town, Serena sees Pidgeot off with a letter for Ash, lamenting that she won't be able to make it in time to help him in his current tournament. She's very happy for Ash having a clear goal and already making progress to achieve it, while she herself still wonders what to do with her life. As Pidgeot takes off, she drops a feather which Serena catches and examines, hoping that Ash writes back and answers her questions about him and Red, whom she's assumed is Ash's cousin due to their physical resemblance, a thought her mother agreed with. She then decides to go back into the house, though not before walking into a wall due to being distracted about dreaming with Ash.

Back in Fuchsia City, Paul comments that Red seems to be a pretty good trainer, while also commenting to Gary his physical resemblance to Ash and assuming, like Serena, that they're probably cousins. Gary, who hadn't taken notice of it before, admits that it's true the two look alike, but he dismisses the possibility of them being related, since he knows Ash doesn't have siblings or cousins. Their battle goes underway, with their opponents being Giselle and a guy named Septimus, the latter of which sends out a Gyarados named Haku. Paul sends out a Raichu, who cringes in fear at the Gyarados before Paul yells at her that she has the advantage, though Gary can tell it's not out of encouragement. Giselle sends out her Cubone and Gary sends out his Exeggcute, and the battle goes underway. Septimus orders Haku to use Hyper Beam. Paul orders Raichu to counter with Thunderbolt, but the attack is dragged and neutralized by Cubone's Lightning Rod ability, forcing Gary to step in and order Exeggcute to use Sleep Powder. The attack hits Haku cancelling the Hyper Beam and causing the Gyarados to collapse on the ground, which Septimus tries to pass off as using Slam. Exeggcute dodges by splitting in parts while Raichu goes underground using Dig. Giselle orders Cubone to use Stomping Tantrum, managing to hit three parts of Exeggcute before they regroup, but sending them towards Haku for minimal damage, which Septimus protests. As Raichu emerges from underground to attack, Giselle orders Cubone to play whack-a-mole with her, and hits her with Stomping Tantrum sending her against the wall. Gary notices that Paul seems angry, but not at Giselle or her Pokémon but to Raichu, but decides to counterattack ordering Exeggcute to use Energy Ball and Dream Eater. The ball hits Cubone in the head while Exeggcute begins to drain Haku's energy, and then Raichu and Cubone engage in a Brick Break duel. Haku then is startled awake interrupting the Dream Eater, and allowing Septimus to order a Waterfall attack, causing Exeggcute's parts to roll away. Raichu tries to use Quick Attack, which Giselle counters ordering Cubone to use Bide as two of Exeggcute's heads roll into him, charging up energy to send a powerful counter attack. Paul has Raichu dodge the blast using Dig, Taking advantage of Exeggcute's split parts, Gary orders Sleep Powder once more to cover both enemy Pokémon, and before Giselle can counter it, Raichu emerges from underground and hits Cubone, knocking him up in the air. After getting a whiff of the Sleep Powder, Cubone falls asleep and breaks an arm upon hitting the ground, much to Gary's shock and Giselle's horror. As Cubone is declared unable to battle, the Pallet trainer tries to apologize for that, but Paul capitalizes and uses Raichu's Thunderbolt to finish off the Gyarados and win the match. Gary berates him for his lack of courtesy, but Paul replies it's a waste of time while the opponent is distracted, and leaves Gary in a huff, who's left wondering just what kind of partner he got for the tournament.

Later, Ash and Red are watching Lilo's match, this time she's using her Crabrawler, which Yellow comments Red already fought. Among the chatter, they reveal the other Pokémon Lilo used in her unfinished match against Red, including the Alolan Exeggutor and the Mudsdale, which Ash and Red look up in the Pokédex to learn what they can do and prepare. Both Ash and Anabel seem intrigued by the changes in an Alolan Exegguttor compared to the ones they know. Red mentions that he didn't get the chance to fight Mudsdale so he borrows the Pokédex to look up as much data as possible, while Lilo wins her match once more.

Elsewhere, Gary is arguing with Paul about doing some practice together, to which Paul retorts that it would just slow down his own training. Gary reminds him that for the next round they could be fighting either Ash or Lilo and they need a plan, but Paul replies that the only plan they need is that Gary stays put and does little to help while Paul carries them to victory, while berating Gary for having more badges yet being nowhere near his level. Gary goes to eat by himself, but after choosing the place, he finds himself with a rather lengthy waiting line. A blond youth playing a guitar nearby tells him the place is packed, and when Gary asks why, he replies that he has no idea, but since it's Monday it's either this place or the barbecue shacks. The blond asks if he has a request for a song while waiting, so Gary asks for the blues.

That night in HopHopHop Town, Anna checks the fridge to see what she needs to buy the following day. After sending Arnold and Laila (who's still ongoing a legal adoption process), she was left thinking about the the two boys they saw in the Fuchsia Tag Tournament, whom they previously saw in the Battle Dome, noticing more the uncanny resemblance to her son and wondering if they could have the same father. After she closes the fridge, she runs into Belladonna. Anna sees her and notices that she too has some physical resemblance to Arnold and the boys they saw before, especially the same red eyes as Arnold's father. Belladonna begins asking questions about Arnold. As she reveals herself as a Bloodliner, and partly out of concern for her son, Anna decides to play along and tell her what she wants. She's surprised when Belladonna calls Arnold her "brother", as she assumed her to be much older due to her height and physique. Once she's done, Belladonna seems satisfied and prepares to leave. Anna however feels bad for saying some lies to keep her away from her son, but taking pity on her and seeing that she actually meant no harm, offers to tell her a bit about Arnold's father. She recalls he was rather good-looking and they only had a one-night stand, but while he was the most physically pleasurable lover he had, he lacked something that she had with later lovers. She also tells him that he seemed to speak with an Orrean accent, cluing Belladonna that he might hail from there. Belladonna thanks her and leaves, much to Anna's relief.

During the early morning in Fuchsia, Ash's Pokédex informs him that he's learned a glitch after hacking into Verich Shipping Companies database, that allows the infinite replication of all kinds of Poké Balls and he can implement it through Ash's H.O.P.E. Glove (while also trying to give it to Gary's Pokédex, who seems to refuse to change personalities). While Ash questions if such thing is legal, the Pokédex says that it is as long as he doesn't sell them for money, and he can use to replicate the balls he got in the S.S. Anne. He also reports from John Archer's Pokémon about a possible half-sibling named Cleff Matsuoka, who ranked Top 8 in the last Silver Conference and used his earnings to buy himself a few acres of land and materials to build his own house. The report includes that he was seen living with three different girls, of which at least one seems to be a Bloodliner, and has romantic behavior with all of them, much like Belladonna and her group. Ash gets the chills at this, wondering if this will keep happening, but the Pokédex does not understand the question.

Later that day, Ash and Red prepare to battle their two next opponents, Tim Mortis and Mike. The latter, who looks like a mafia gangster from old movies, sends out a Ninetales whose Drought ability immediately activates sunlight on the field. Ash decides to send out Charizard to capitalize on this, while Tim sends out a Misdreavus. Red wishes he could have used his Haunter, but her ball is currently inactive, so he chooses to use his Persian. The battle starts with both Fire-types launching Flamethrowers at each other, canceling one another and causing a smoke explosion. Misdreavus fires a Shadow Ball, which Red's Persian counters with Bite. When Ninetales fires a Solar Beam, powered up by the sunlight, Charizard steps in to use Dragon Tail and block it. Red is left pondering as to why Ash hasn't used the power he senses in him with (in his opinion) good reasons. The battle continues as Misdreavus uses Spite to disable Persian's Bite, and their foes then attempt a Hypnosis/Psybeam combo. Red proposes that Persian uses Taunt to stop the Hypnosis while Charizard takes out Misdreavus, but Ash goes ahead and orders Charizard to attack and shield himself from Hypnosis using Flame Charge, while telling Red to stop Misdreavus from using Spite. The plan works, but Misdreavus sends out a Shockwave at Charizard for super effective damage. Ash suggests they switch opponents and Red complies, with Charizard using Metal Claw against Misdreavus and Persian using Slash at Ninetales. The latter recovers faster and tries a Solar Beam, striking Persian, and then Misdreavus fires a Shadow Ball at Charizard, who counters with Flamethrower as Ninetales fires its own at Persian. Red orders her to use Dig and go underground to dodge, before emerging back up and hitting Ninetales, while Charizard overpowers Misdreavus. With both enemy Pokémon defeated, they win their match. Ash and his Pokémon celebrate their victory, while Red notices that his Pikachu seems to think he could have won in half the time it took them.

Later that day, Ash ponders on what Pokémon he will use for the following rounds. Unlike the Battle Dome Tournament, he can switch or keep Pokémon as he sees fit, but he already decided he'll use different ones per round to play smart, and he's currently training with Servine and Muk. However, Misty, Iris and Anabel come up to tell him that they got a call from Lara and Hex, saying that Dario has gone missing, and the only trace they found of him was his Dodrio, with also smell trails of Psychic-types, but nothing else. Ash is left wondering what could have happened to him, but then Yellow appears to tell him that Red needs to talk to him. Red quickly follows, looking rather serious, and before saying a word he ignites his hand with a Fire Punch, then reveals that he knows Ash is a Bloodliner himself. Anabel then realizes that she can talk to them using her telepathy, surprising Yellow but not Red. Red then makes his eyes glow, and tells Ash that he knows he too has a power like his but has been holding back on using it. After he explains how his Victory Sight works, he demands to know how Ash's does, and Anabel explains it for him. Ash however replies that he doesn't use it often and it usually activates on its own, but they've won their battles without it. Red however doesn't seem pleased at this, and Ash says that he doesn't use it because he views it as an unfair advantage and considers it cheating. Red tells him that it's not cheating, they all were born with those abilities and have both the right and the duty to use them in competitions to give their all, and tells him that he could have used his power to win back at the Battle Dome, just like Red used his. Upon learning this, Ash becomes shocked and angry, thinking that Red cheated to win against Misty and Iris. Red defends himself by saying that battling against or alongside Ash screws with his Victory Sight and he hasn't been able to use it for the whole tournament, and tells Ash to stop "holding back". Ash refuses to budge, telling him that he relies on his own abilities instead of using shortcuts. Red replies that he does too, but doesn't feel like "trying to run with one leg", before leaving.

That night, Ash recalls that Misty, Iris and Anabel got into an argument of their own about the whole matter, with Misty taking Ash's side, Iris agreeing with Red to an extent, and Anabel feeling conflicted without picking either side. Ash himself feels angry with Red, having lost a lot of the respect he had after they fought in the Battle Dome, considering that he's won his battles so far through cheating. Both Pikachu and the Pokédex seem to think Ash is going overboard in trying to defend his principles, with Pikachu even arguing that he's fine with Ash not using his powers in Gym or League matches, but in this tournament they have something at stake: the entry to the Safari Zone and the retrieval of Ash's Tauros, and in this case, what Ash considers "cheating" might be a better alternative to breaking the law, in the scenario that they lose the tournament.

In Pallet Town, Professor Oak and Delia are watching on TV a Unova League match, right when Black Gaiman defeats Betty Snyder and advances to the Top 4. After some infomercials, the news report about the ongoing Fuchsia Tag Tournament, even talking about Ash and Red. However, when the camera cuts to them as they're about to begin their next match, both Oak and Delia notice something seems off with them. They seem tense and avoid looking at each other, making them suspect they could have an argument or something. Sure enough, on the battlefield in Fuchsia they're about to go against Lilo and her unnamed partner, whom they've noticed has done little to fight in their matches, only doing support tactics to cover Lilo. As Ash and Red send out Pikachu and Haunter respectively, Lilo sends out her Mudsdale, while her partner uses a Pidgeotto who uses Tailwind, much to Oak and Delia's horror as they realize what's about to happen.

### Part III

As soon as the battle begins, Pikachu's Thunderbolt hits the other trainer's Pidgeotto leaving it out of the fight, but not before it could use Tailwind. Haunter's Shadow Ball then collides with Mudsdale's Stone Edge, cancelling each other out. Lilo calls for a Heavy Slam, and when Pikachu tries to dodge, Mudsdale moves at an impressive speed, catching them off-guard. Red is quick to explain the Tailwind's effect to Ash while snarking at him, much to Ash's annoyance. Red then orders Haunter to use Night Shade, striking Mudsdale on the chest, but then an aura appears around Lilo's Pokémon. When Ash orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack to counter another incoming Heavy Slam, the mouse gets knocked back, commenting that he felt like hitting a Steelix, while the same aura appears on Mudsdale again. The Pokédex then explains that Mudsdale has the ability Stamina, that powers up defenses after getting hit by an attack. Red has Haunter try another Night Shade, while Ash orders Pikachu to use Iron Tail, hoping that the additional effect of lowering the opponent's defense will counter Mudsdale's ability. When he tries to repeat it over and over, Lilo counters with Double Kick to keep Pikachu away. Red orders Haunter to use Toxic, which Lilo and Mudsdale counter with Mud Sport, covering Haunter and leaving her unable to attack. As Mudsdale prepares to use High Horsepower against Haunter, Ash orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt aiming for Mudsdale's hooves. The move does work to break off Mudsdale's attack, but Haunter gets caught in the Thunderbolt's range and ends up paralyzed, causing Red to glare at him, and making Ash realize that, if he wasn't open to talk before, he won't be any more now.

In the stands, Yellow and Ash's companions are worried about this development, as Ash and Red aren't working together. Anabel comments that the only difference between this fight and a Battle Royal is that neither Ash nor Red are trying to attack each other intentionally. Misty tries to assure them that it won't get that bad, though inside she feels worried that Ash might have another of those episodes of anger hampering his performance even more.

The Tailwind's effect peters out, and Lilo prepares to use her ultimate weapon: her Z-Move Tectonic Rage. Ash orders Pikachu to get out of there, which the mouse quickly catches on that he means "just like in the Orange League". Red tries to do the same with Haunter, but the paralysis flares up and leaves the Ghost-type helpless to take the full brunt of the Z-Move's power. The resulting explosion of light and dirt leaves Ash blind as to what happened, but fortunately the Pokédex detects that Pikachu managed to get through unscathed, and he also sees that Mudsdale looks exhausted after using it. Ash tries to wipe the sweat off his forehead, before noticing he has a grainy brown substance in his hand for some reason, like dirt. Lilo for her part is shocked that Pikachu managed to dodge the Z-Move, and when she asks how he did it, Pikachu demonstrates that he can use his tail as a spring to jump high into the air. However, before they can resume the battle, the referee declares that Haunter is unable to continue. As Red recalls his Pokémon, he asks Lilo if this was her ace in the hole from the last time, which Lilo confirms, and Red realizes that, had that battle gone on uninterrupted, she'd have won. Red then admits defeat, but Ash berates him for behaving as if Pikachu has already lost as well, and tells him he intends to win this, much to Red's shock. The battle resumes, and when Mudsdale uses Stone Edge, Pikachu sends it back with a Counter Shield, ready to begin their counterattack.

In Alola, Kahuna Hala is watching the match along with Tapu Koko and seems impressed with Ash and Pikachu holding their own against Lilo even with a type disadvantage and not having moves to counter Mudsdale effectively, and comparing it to Frax's own female Pikachu. Tapu Koko however seems convinced that Ash can win, and Hala decides to wager a whole year of root bear for it. The guardian deity then flies off and brings back a Z-Ring, which Hala takes it to mean that, should Ash win, Hala will send it to Ash as a prize. The Kahuna agrees to the deal, although he's a bit puzzled that he's sending it without a crystal.

Back in Fuchsia City, the battle continues, with Mudsdale using a Focus Blast while Pikachu counters it with Thunderbolt. He manages to win out, but the electric attack does nothing at Mudsdale itself. The Pokédex explains that Mudsdale isn't well-suited for ranged maneuvers, but Pikachu's attacks won't damage Mudsdale either, and trying to get close seems to be asking to get hit by High Horsepower and Heavy Slam. As Lilo orders Mud Sport to keep Pikachu from getting close, Ash has his partner roll under the attack, and tries to taunt Mudsdale into attacking to make it trip, but it doesn't work, leaving them both at a stalemate. Ash tries to come up with something, and spots his companions, Gary, and Paul. Suddenly, an idea strikes him: he orders Pikachu to gather as much electricity as he can in his tail, much to everyone's surprise as they wonder what he's up to. Then, he orders Pikachu to slam his tail on the ground straight at Mudsdale. The attack sends out a rain of rock and dirt chunks over Mudsdale, and also out of the field towards Lilo, though fortunately the field has Psychic-type Pokémon on guard to stop the debris to protect trainers and spectators. In the stands, Misty comments that she didn't see this coming, while Iris adds that she doubts anybody would have.

All over Kanto, the reactions are similar: the Celadon City Gym referee, Krista, is watching the match eating popcorn with her girlfriend; aboard the S.S. Anne, Burgundy comments that she might have underscored Ash and his Pokémon's compatibility; Betty Snyder watches the match while her boyfriend is cooking nearby, and wonders if there are Pikachu in Alola for her to catch, while also noticing Ash's facial marks being similar to her own and to a certain Ranger jerk she ran into not long ago; Fuchsia Gym Leader Janine arrives to the airport and seeing the match, realizes that she'll be fighting Ash very soon; Belladonna cheers loudly while the rest of her girlfriends (barring Evanna who fell asleep) continue to watch on intently; in Pewter City, Pike Queen Lucy comments to Brock that she might be facing Ash in a near future; Casey Snagem comments that this year has gotten interesting; Sabrina is at the café run by the sisters Rhoda and Rhonda, who are also impressed with Ash's performance but unaware of the gym leader's identity, who decided to spare them after Ritchie helped them clean up their act (while also musing that it's now getting hard to remove the people from Ash's memories, having also convinced Keith to straighten his path); in Vermilion City, Lt. Surge shouts in excitement many unintelligible things, having learned from his Granny Surge, the current undefeated champion of arm-wrestling in Agate Village; in Frodomar City, Ritchie's mother Regina tries to stop Silver from having weird ideas, lest that he adds more to his tournament bans, while both also take notice of Ash and Red's resemblance to their son; Vermell watches the match via internet connection at his cabin atop the Kalos' mountains; Hala is forced to concede that he lost the bet and prepares to send the Z-Ring to Ash via express mail, wondering if he could bring Tapu Koko to get a discount; Alex Davis watches the match while relaying the details to blind trainer Kaia, who is also impressed; Dan wakes up in the Saffron Pokémon Center, with no memories of his experience in the gym, and hoping that he won't face Ash in the Top 16 at the Indigo Conference; in Poni Island, Nanu gets his "riot senses" alerting him that Team Skull is up to no good again, and then watches the match when one of his Persian tells him that Ash looks like an old criminal named Balaur whom he arrested but escaped from jail some years ago, but he ignores it for the time being; Giovanni also watches the match and seems rather pleased to see Ash's progress.

Back in the stadium, Ash's unexpected maneuver has turned the tide around, heavily damaging Mudsdale. Ash orders Pikachu to use one last Iron Tail boosted by a Quick Attack, while Mudsdale tries to defend with High Horse power, but Pikachu strikes first and lands behind Mudsdale, who collapses after a few seconds, winning the match for them. As the stadium explodes in cheers, Paul watches on, grudgingly admitting that Ash handled the battle much better than he would have expected, but this match has revealed both his and Red's weaknesses: Ash can be overwhelmed by opponents who have great sheer power, while Red doesn't take too well to adapt to unexpected situations, and decides that he will use Torterra for the finals and let Gary's Pokémon take the damage as cannon fodder, but also wondering if he should bother with keeping Raichu around.

Later, Yellow tries to bring Red to eat with them before Misty and Iris' battle, but Red doesn't feel like going, even lying that he's not actually hungry. He recalls his mother's lessons about always giving your all as a sign of respect to your opponents, which is only compounded by the fact that, when he gave up on the fight, Ash picked up the slack and won it for both of them, and without using his Bloodliner powers. That bothers Red to no end, feeling that Ash refuses to use his abilities because he considers his opponents "unworthy" of them, considering him arrogant for it.

As the second semifinal battle is about to start, Gary tries to avoid looking at Paul, focusing on Misty and Iris instead. At this point, he's already aware of them traveling with Ash, and wondering if there's something else going on between them (and secretly relieved that Ash no longer has his sights on his older sister). The battle begins and Paul sends out Raichu, much to Gary's shock not only because he's repeating from the last match when they're allowed to switch, but also because she doesn't seem recovered. Iris naturally replies with her Excadrill, while Gary sends out a Porygon, hoping that it can counter both the Ground-type and Misty's Water-types. Misty sends out her Poliwrath and the battle gets underway. Iris delivers the first strike ordering Excadrill to use Metal Claw on Porygon. Gary counters with Conversion, and his Porygon shifts type to resist the incoming attack. Meanwhile, Raichu uses a surprise Dig attack getting behind Excadrill, catching Gary off-guard as he never heard him giving the command. However, the sneak attack is stopped by Poliwrath, who grabs Raichu into a Seismic Toss. Gary has Porygon fire a Charge Beam at Poliwrath, which Excadrill intercepts. Poliwrath and Raichu then collide with one another using Dynamic Punch and Brick Break, while Excadrill launches at Porygon with Drill Run, hitting before Gary can use Conversion once more. Once they recover, Gary orders Porygon to use Shadow Ball, which Excadrill shreds with Metal Claw. Paul orders Raichu to use her Thunderbolt, and when Excadrill gets ready to intercept, Gary decides to (reluctantly) do something and orders Porygon to launch another Shadow Ball to get him out of the way. Misty then orders Poliwrath to counter with Mud Shot and Bubblebeam, first cancelling the electric blast and then hitting Raichu but missing Porygon who floats out of the way. Paul orders Raichu to get close with Quick Attack and then use Thunderbolt at point-blank, but Excadrill grabs her by the tail and tosses her away. Gary orders Tri-Attack, hitting Excadrill and slamming him along with Raichu, who gets knocked out. Excadrill gets back up, until a burn status inflicted from the last attack knocks him out as well, leaving only Porygon and Poliwrath in the game.

As Iris and Paul return their Pokémon, Gary takes notice that Iris, despite being upset at losing, is nonetheless proud of Excadrill, while Paul mutters "Well, I guess that's it" making him wonder what he's thinking. The battle resumes with Porygon using Charge Beam and Poliwrath using Bubblebeam. The latter wins out in the resulting clash, forcing Porygon to dodge. Misty then orders a Mud Shot to counter Porygon's Shadow Ball, making Gary wonder if she's being cautious at them using Conversion. As it turns out, however, that was just a cover to get close and use Dynamic Punch. Gary desperately orders Conversion, and when it seems they're about to lose, Poliwrath's punch phases through Porygon, having turned into Ghost-type. Gary's Pokédex informs that Porygon's Conversion has turned into Conversion 2. Gary takes advantage of this and orders Porygon to use a Charge Beam barrage at Poliwrath, knocking him out and winning the match for him and Paul. In the middle of the crowd's cheers, he goes to give Porygon a hug for the victory.

After the battle, Ash starts making his plans for the tournament's finals, trying to decide who'd be the best choice. He suspects that Gary and Paul might use their starters, Blastoise and Torterra respectively, but Pikachu tries to remind him that Red will still fight alongside him and he doesn't have to do it alone. Suddenly, the Pokédex detects a nearby Pokémon. It turns out to be Raichu, whose wounds from the previous battle haven't fully healed, and the Pokédex detects that she seems to have been released recently. Red comes up and also recognizes her, and then inquires as to why he would release her. Ash explains that Paul has a habit of releasing the Pokémon that don't match his expectations, either because they don't have the attacks he wants or don't perform well enough for him. Red states that he understands not catching a Pokémon in the first place, or either trading or giving it away to someone who'd want it, instead of discarding it that way. Pikachu explains that Raichu didn't want to fight, but Paul forced her to do it. The Pokédex suggests that Ash uses the Poké Ball duplication glitch with a Heal Ball to catch Raichu, since trying to take her to the Pokémon Center in this state could potentially worsen her wounds. Ash explains that he can send her to Professor Oak's ranch where she'll be safe and won't have to battle if she doesn't want to. She agrees and lets herself be captured and teleported. Red then decides that they have to win tomorrow's match, asking Ash to tell him as much as he can about Paul so they can plan together. They might have disagreements, but Paul crossed a serious line and Red won't stand for it. Ash agrees and begins to tell him as much as he can.

The following day, Ash notices how uneasy Gary looks next to Paul, suspecting that the latter's attitude might have to do with it. Meanwhile, amongst his own issues with Red, Ash wonders whether he should be telling him about what he learned from his encounter with Belladonna, but decides to put it away for the time being. Just as Ash predicted, Paul brings out Torterra, and Red sends out his Charmeleon. Gary sends out his Blastoise, and Ash quickly takes notice that the two seem to know each other from fighting before. Ash sends out Servine, and the battle gets underway. Torterra begins shooting Seed Bomb at them, which Servine dodges by ducking under and countering with Aerial Ace. Blastoise tries to fire Ice Beam at her, which Charmeleon neutralizes with Flame Burst, allowing Servine to strike Torterra. The latter remains unfazed, having used Curse to endure the hit without Paul calling it. Ash then tries to order her to use Attract, thinking that Paul shouldn't have a defense against it, until he calls for a Stealth Rock "Formation 4" to block it. Servine suggests that they take Blastoise out first so they can double-team on Torterra later, and Ash agrees to it, so he orders her to use Leaf Storm. The attack hits Blastoise, but Gary cheekily assumes he wasted it and it will power down from now, before ordering an Ice Beam. Ash orders another Leaf Storm which Red supports with a Flame Burst, and much to Gary's shock the Grass-type attack is stronger instead of weaker, catching Gary off-guard. Paul berates him for not knowing about Servine's Contrary, while he saw it in the Battle Dome and quickly deduced it, which Gary defends himself saying that he can't be watching Ash's movements all day long.

Meanwhile, Red thinks back of all the times he and Gary fought each other. He thinks Gary is a good trainer, having the knowledge and range in Pokémon to fight any opponent, but there's something he lacks, and Paul has just pointed it out: power. He notices also that Ash has a similar yet different issue, but now it's not the time to point it out, as they have a battle to win, while also realizing that Ash is trying to take Blastoise out so they can fight Torterra two-on-one. When Blastoise attacks Charmeleon with Scald, Ash has Servine counter with a Leaf Blade to slice the stream of hot water, giving Charmeleon the opening to strike Blastoise with Dragon Claw. Gary tries to counter using Earthquake, which knocks down Charmeleon but Servine escapes by jumping, and as the attack approaches Torterra, Paul orders him to block it, so Torterra uses his own Earthquake, which dangerously approaches Charmeleon. Ash however orders Snivy to "break the shockwave", which she does slamming into it with Leaf Blade from above, stopping the attack from damaging both Charmeleon and Blastoise. Deciding to finally put Blastoise out of the fight, Red orders Charmeleon to use Flame Burst, while Ash adds another Leaf Storm. Paul has Torterra counter with Seed Bomb while Gary desperately tries to call for a Focus Blast, but Blastoise doesn't react fast enough and takes the full brunt, ending up defeated. Paul looks dismayed, but nonetheless calls for another Curse to get Torterra powering up. Red tries another Flame Burst, which Paul counters with Seed Bomb, managing to overpower the Fire-type attack and hit Charmeleon in the chest, while Ash calls for another Leaf Storm, powering up Servine's attack once more. At this point, they seem to have everything covered, with Torterra having used all of his moves. Much to their shock, however, Paul then reveals that Torterra broke off the four-move limit by using Stone Edge.

Ash ponders on the fact that, for all his faults, Paul is still good when it comes to strength. As he tries ordering Servine another Attract and hoping that Red picks up on what he's trying to do, Red orders Charmeleon to use Flame Burst while Torterra is distracted trying to block Attract. The attack hits some of the stones on the field and the fire shrapnel hits Torterra, who counters with an Earthquake, forcing them to jump to avoid the shockwave once more. Torterra fires a Seed Bomb, hitting Servine in midair, while Charmeleon tries a Rock Tomb that Torterra easily shatters with Stone Edge. Everything seems covered, and after one last Leaf Storm attack, Ash tells Red that he has a plan, but for it to work they need Charmeleon to evolve. Red and everyone end up in shock at Ash's declaration, but Ash insists that, having his own Charizard, he knows that Red's Charmeleon is on the verge of evolving, having the power to do so and only needing the will to let it flow. Red sighs, but ultimately decides to try giving Charmeleon a speech to encourage him. Not a very good one, and Paul, fed up with waiting, decides to resume his attack. Surprisingly, though, Red's speech gets through to Charmeleon, and triggers his evolution to Charizard. As Paul attempts a Stone Edge to bring him down, Ash counters with another Leaf Storm, before ordering another Attract to force Torterra to set up his defense. When Red orders Flame Burst, however, he uses instead a new move: Heat Wave, covering up the whole field. Servine manages to get out of the firing range, but Torterra isn't so lucky, and soon enough, he falls under the heat. The tournament ends with a victory for Ash and Red.

Later, Ash feels somewhat bitter after the tournament, after managing to slip away from the mobs of admirers and back to their hotel. The girls still maintain their stances in the argument: Misty agrees with Ash's choice of not using his powers and considers that Red is cheating by using his, while Iris points out that there's nothing in the rules that actually forbids their use. Ash himself wants to believe in his Pokémon's strength and their ability to win with their own efforts. Anabel for her part, thinks that both Ash and Red have points in their arguments and neither of them should judge the other so harshly, pointing out that she can sense that Red is bottling a lot of pain inside and perhaps only does what he feels necessary to survive, but also how some people manage to get strong despite handicaps, or even intentionally do so as a form of training. Ash states that he doesn't expect Red to understand him, but he won't force his beliefs on him either, and he'll keep doing things his own way.

Gary is preparing to leave for Celadon for his next gym badge, and runs into the blond musician he met at the restaurant's line a few days prior, who's now riding his motorcycle with a sidecar full of stuff. Upon learning his destination, he makes some space and offers him a ride there in exchange for keeping Beedrill swarms away, which Gary accepts.

Meanwhile, a certain girl who's been watching the tournament and transmitting it via phone to somebody else mentions the Bloodliner King, while making calculations to estimate that Ash and Red are just two of many more "candidates", all of them being Bloodliner children who bear the Dominion Bloodline. The girl then changes appearance to that of a brunette teenager with a white blouse, black vest, denim shorts and red and black boots, which she mentions to be her favorite look.

## Continuity

* The Fuchsia Tag Tournament begins in Part I, ending in Part II/III (depending on the version).
* Gary briefly flashbacks to his conversation with Casey Snagem as shown in the *Gary Interlude*.
* Belladonna sees Anna, Arnold and Laila for the first time.
* Misty and Sabrina reference the events that led Ash to ride Lara Laramie's Ponyta/Rapidash to win the Big P Pokémon Race and Dario's capture by Sabrina, which are detailed further in the *Big P Pokémon Race Interlude*.
* Sabrina becomes the first person in the new timeline to learn of Ash's secret.
* Anna references having watched Ash and Red on TV before, as shown at the end of the *Arnold Interlude*.
* Ash references some of his previous uses of his Dominion Bloodline, the Cerulean Gym battle, and having fallen from Hunter J's ship in the sky.
* Betty Snyder previously recalls her encounter with Zilant, as told in the *Wicke & Nephew Interlude*.
* Paul releases his Raichu and she's shortly after caught by Ash.
* Red's Charmeleon evolves to Charizard, and his Flame Burst attack turns into Heat Wave.

## Trivia

* The Tag Tournament Arc was originally split in two parts in Fanfiction.net. However, for the Archive of Our Own and Royal Road versions, the second part was split in two due to its length, as well as a way to match with the chapter numbering in Fanfiction.net (due to having two chapters of "story reflections").
* The musician that Gary meets is based on a sketch from concept art of Link of *The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild**.*

## Links

1. ↑ https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/Link
2. ↑ https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/The\_Legend\_of\_Zelda:\_Breath\_of\_the\_Wild