As battle in Wyndon Stadium in the Galar region rages on, Ash and Darren's allies look on. "It's been a long road for those two," Misty says as she and her friends view the battle on the sidelines. Brock smiles as he watches the two boys out on the battlefield, put their hearts and souls out in the full battle. The crowd erupts with excitement and awe, as the attacks from both Ash's Dragonite and Darren's Pidgeot, Fujin, connect in mid-air. Darren grimaces as the Dragon Claw from his opponent. "Dragonite maybe a hugger, but it's shown that he's a fighter," Darren thinks as he plots another strategy. But as Darren's Fujin comes in for a kill shot Brave Bird, she's stopped in her tracks by a vicious Hyper Beam. "FUJIN!," Darren cries out, as his Pokémon falls from the sky. She tries to get up, yet, it's too much fatigue that settles in and just like that, the bird collapses. "Fujin, you battled your hardest," Darren says to his Pokemon as he takes out a Pokeball, "Please come back and get some rest." The score is now 5-5, each trainer scoring an elimination on their opponent. Ash keeps Dragonite on the field as Darren thinks of a new strategy, "Ok, Ash has got a Dragonite on the field... who on my team can put a stop to it?" Darren then lights up as he thinks of something good for him. He tosses out a Pokéball and out comes Braixen, who has a fierce look on her face. Dragonite and Ash are both nervous and confident at the battle that's about to come.
The third battle was fierce and the hits just keep coming. As Braixen comes in for a Dazzling Gleam, Ash has his Dragonite use a Dragon Dance to protect and buff him up. The Dazzling Gleam does cut through, but only a few times, and only doing normal damage. "This is not looking good...," Darren says to himself, before looking at Braixen, "We need to make sure that the Dragonite is slain and you remain." Braixen looked at her friend for confidence, then looked at Dragonite, who stopped spinning. "You're very good, Ash," Darren announcing to his rival, "But not good enough! Braixen, use your twig and combine powers!" As everyone is confused by Darren's request, Braixen lights her twig and the end catches fire. Just after that, fairy-like sparkles come from the fire as well. Ash then realizes what was going on, but it's too late. Despite him calling out for Dragonite to use Hurricane, the combo attack comes into Dragonite like a pro wrestler using a tackle into the gut. The crowd all exclaim at the sudden impact. Ash has a panicked expression on his face, worried about his Dragonite. "Please, Dragonite... Get up!!," Ash calls out with worry. Dragonite grimaces as he pushes up, the fatigue not getting to him. "But... How?," Braixen says, believing that the combo would've done him in. "Guess that Dragonite is more of a powerhouse than we thought...",Darren says to himself, almost doubting himself for a sec. "Dragonite, can you still keep on fighting?," Ash asks his very tired out buddy. The dragon grunts in agreement, as the effects of the attack are shown. The gut has been bruised, the arms have been scraped, and the legs have been cut so many times. Braixen looks shocked, almost as shocked as Darren is. The hits though, they just keep on coming, as Ash's Dragonite comes in for a last-ditch effort. That effort comes in the form of a brutal Hyper Beam. At the last second, Darren tries to switch out Braixen with a sudden U-Turn. As the explosion that followed disappears, everyone is in utter shock. The exchange came at a very terrible price. With the extra damage dealt, Dragonite did fall. But the Hyper Beam was also too close for Braixen and both Pokémon fainted. The referee made the call soon after and both trainers rushed to their Pokémon after that sudden blow.
"Who should I bring out?," Ash thinks to himself, looking at his options. Darren looks at Ash, and looking back at Raiden. "Raiden, you wanted to battle one of Ash's Pokémon? Here's your chance, my dear friend." Raiden gets giddy before heading to the battlefield in attack mode, but he's met a startling sight. Ash's choice for the battle against Raiden is Dracovish. Dracovish has qualities of a Water-Type, but it also has aspects of a Dragon-Type. It consists of the head of a fish and the back legs and tail of a dinosaur. The tail region ends abruptly at a circular cutoff. Dracovish's legs are mostly green with two pink stripes. The feet have three red claws. The neck is also mostly green but has a red stripe going up the middle. The stripe is lined with three curved spikes on both sides. Dracovish's head is roughly circular with a rounded triangular plate on the top. On the plate is a red and white region that extends between the eyes. Its mouth has three sharp teeth in the middle. Its eyes are round and have black rectangular pupils and its two fins protrude from the bottom of the jaw. Both Raiden and Darren are unnerved at the sudden appearance. "I've caught an Aerodactyl,I've seen other fossil Pokémon be brought back to life, but this?," Darren says in his mind, very shocked by the appearance of Ash's choice. Ash does smile at Dracovish who gives a smile back, "Looks like my friend never saw this kind of Pokémon here..." Ash grins with confidence before calling out, "Ready, Dracovish?" As Dracovish snarls at Raiden, the fear disappeared from both the electric mouse and Darren. "We'll take this like any other opponent, Raiden," Darren says to his faithful friend, "Let's start the clash with an Iron Tail!" As Raiden runs up to Dracovish, its tail then glows a bright silver. Dracovish then used Dragon Breath, but Ash wanted it straight at Raiden's eyes. The move made Darren want to scratch his head, but it was effective in a way. As the attack connected, the damage was there, but it was reduced as the intended target(the head)wasn't there. "Now, Dracovish, get Raiden by using Ancient Power!", Ash says to his fossil friend as glowing fossils come straight at Raiden. "Quickly, Raiden!," Darren calling out, "Dodge with backflips and make sure that Dracovish's attack doesn't get a grip!" Raiden does a series of flips that even would make a gymnast jealous. Ash and his Pikachu are impressed by the flexibility of his rival's own Pikachu. Their friends in the stands are impressed by the dodging too. "Unbelievable...," Leon says to himself before turning to face the Kantoians, "Darren must've trained Raiden for a long time, wouldn't you say?" They all agree by nodding in approval, while still looking at the battlefield.
Darren looks at Raiden, who is pretty tired after the flips, "Want to stop, Raiden? You look weak, buddy." Raiden shakes his head, "Yeah... could use some rest," the electric mouse then heads back to Darren's left leg. Ash is a little surprised when Darren returns his Pikachu, but then sees him toss out a new Pokeball, "Cmon, Wartortle, let's have a Water Type Vs Water Type showdown!" Wartortle then appears from the ball and spins like a breakdancer before going into a fighters' stance. Dracovish then laughs before suddenly doing his own flipping and doing a Dragon Breath at Wartortle. Ash is surprised by the move, before smiling at his Pokémon friend, "That was interesting... but I'm not complaining. Let's keep on going, Dracovish!" Darren does a quick facepalm, "Once a Showman, Always a Showman... Cmon dude, make me proud too!" As Wartortle looks and smiles back at Darren, he responds to a Hydro Pump command. The Hydro Pump that Wartortle does, makes him related to a sprinkler shooting out water on a hot summer day. Dracovish tries to dodge, but he's suddenly hit and does take some damage. "Nice one, Wartortle," Darren complimenting his showman-like moves, "Let's see if Ash can deal with... an AURA SPHERE?!" The crowd is in confusion, but that was short-lived as Wartortle's energy is compressed into a ball, and shot at Dracovish with unnatural speed. The force slams into Dracovish's head, like a SWAT team slamming through a door on a mission. Ash's expression turned from uncertain to horror in that moment. "That's gotta hurt...," Hop says to his older brother, who grimaces at the sudden move. "I agree, plus, who would've thought that a Water Type could make that kind of move?" The Kanto guys and gals are concerned for Ash though, as another of Ash's Pokémon is on the verge of elimination. Ash is looking at his fossil Pokémon friend, trying to get him to get up. Dracovish looks at Ash, with blurry vision, before trying to get up. "(Cmon, dude, get up for us... Please!)", Ash's Pikachu says to the fossil Pokémon. Despite using his strength to get up, the previous move is too much for him to handle. "Dracovish is unable to battle," the referee calls out to the crowd, "Ash has three Pokémon left, Darren has four Pokémon left." Ash has Dracovish go back to its Pokéball, before looking at Darren. "Darren, you've made some good moves," Ash says to his rival before turning his hat back, "But the best has yet to come!" Darren smiles at the announcement, "Ash, you've been my hero and rival since I've first met you." Darren then dusts off his shoulders as he catches his breath, "You better bring out your best, cause I.. won't.. hold.. anything.. BACK!" The crowd roars with excitement as they all anticipate the 2nd half of this amazing battle.