Chapter 7

Semi-Final Shocker

Cynthia smirked as she tossed out her leads, a Lucario, and her Gastrodon. Wes responded with a powerhouse start of his Entei and a Heracross.

The announcer wasted no time with "3...2...1 BEGIN!"

"Lucario! Aura sphere, Gastrodon muddy water," Cynthia ordered calmly.

Wes was equally calm as he ordered, "Heracross, swords dance, Mons, protect!"

Glowing swords of energy appeared around Heracross while a barrier of green energy blocked both of the attacks heading for Entei. Wes had predicted that Cynthia would focus on taking out his Entei first.

"Heracross, Close Combat," Wes ordered, causing the bug type to rush forward.

Cynthia's eyes narrowed as the Heracross charged, Wes had given no order to Entei, so there was something afoot, but she couldn't get a read on what he was planning.

Lucario dodged, leaving Heracross wide open for a blast of water from Gastrodon.

Heracross skidded back, the bug type's frail defenses already weakening.

Cynthia dismissed her suspicion and ordered, "Lucario, aura sphere."

Lucario fired the ball of energy, but Wes shotted, "Endure NOW!"

There was a cloud of smoke as the attack landed; when it cleared, Heracross was standing there covered in red light, having been put on the knife-edge of defeat.

Cynthia went wide-eyed as she realized what about to happen.

"Heracross, Reversal, Mons, Fire Blast," Wes ordered in a monotone voice.

Heracross's fist glowed as it hit Gastrodon, sending the water type flying through the air, one shoting it from its overcharged attack. Lucario was hopeless against the legendary beast's speed and was knocked out.

As Cynthia returned her leading pair, the audience was in shock, Cynthia was known for being the best of the best, but he was down two pokemon already.

Cynthia chuckled and said, "I didn't see that coming, but we're not done quite yet."

The Sinnoh champion sent out her signature Garhomp and a Togekiss. Before Wes could give another order, she said, "Garchomp, Earthquake, Togekiss air-slash."

In the blink of an eye, Garchomp punched the ground, causing it to break open underneath Entei and Heracross, the force finishing off Heracross and making Entei too weak to withstand the air slash. Cynthia had evened up the match in one fell swoop.

Up in the stands, everyone was in shock, except for Lance, who shook his head and said, "never count Cynthia out; her Garchomp is the single most impressive dragon type I've ever seen. I wonder what Wes will do now..."

Rui chuckled and said, "he's got some surprises left."

Wes reached into his trenchcoat but hesitated. There were at least 4 more Pokeballs in there, but he was carefully evaluating his options, not just for this match, but what he would save for the finals. If he showed his full hand here, then Michael would have a significant advantage even if he won here and now.

"Aurora, Skarmory, stand by for battle!" Wes shouted as his Suicune and Skarmory appeared from the Pokeballs.

Cynthia wasted no time with "Garchomp Dragon rush, Togekiss use shockwave."

Wes shook his head and said, "Aurora, Mirror coat, Skarmoy steel wing."

The Suicune took the electric attack rather easily and fired it back at the Togekiss, before the flying type could recover from the redirected power; it was hit by skarmory.

The dual super effective moves clearly pushed the Togekiss to its limit, but it remained aloft as Garchomp slammed into Suicune; however, the water type held firm and blasted it away with a hydro pump.

Cynthia evaluated what to do next, but then Wes's sudden smirk caused chills to go down her spine; she realized all too late, Wes had been waiting for an opportune time to reveal a new trick, and now was that time.

"Skarmory tailwind, Aurora, Blizzard!" Wes shouted.

The Skarmoy whipped up the air behind them, supercharging the howling blizzard that consumed both of Cynthia's pokemon in a tornado of ice.

When it cleared, both of her pokemon had fainted; against all expectations, Wes had defeated the Sinnoh champion. The referee confirmed it with "Garchomp and Togekiss are unable to battle, Wes, wins 2-0!"

Cynthia returned her pokemon and smiled, saying, "that was the best battle I've had in years, congratulations Wes."

Wes smirked and returned his pokemon before walking up to Cynthia and shaking her hand, saying, "Don't make too big of a deal about it; you're the only champion I've lost to, so we're even now."

The announcer was as enthusiastic as ever with "and that concludes the semi-finals; we'll see you all tomorrow for the final round of the Pokemon World Tournament, Wes vs. Michael Anderson."

Ein was watching the match as it unfolded; his scowl grew larger and larger. With Wes's victory, his worse fears had come true. Now, no matter who won, the candidate for Project Genesis was a liability.

He pressed a few buttons on his computer to record his voice and said, "April 15th, Wes and Michael Anderson are the two finalists for the tournament. Despite my repeated protests, my superior, Alvis Faba, has insisted that Michael is the perfect candidate for phase 3 of project Genesis; if and when this goes wrong, this is to document my repeated attempts to avoid catastrophe. Unlike his last failure, I will not allow Faba to pin this on me."

Just then, an alarm went off; Ein stopped the recording and rushed to the teleporter room to see an incredible sight; there was a cross of energy hovering in the air, two straight lines that opened up into a black void.

Ein's Watchen appeared in a puff of smoke to defend their master, but Ein said, "At ease, we have an honored guest," causing them to relax slightly as a figure emerged from the cut in reality. Only one person in the entire multiverse made portals like that. Out of the portal came a Mega Lucario with green fur, wearing a black robe and holding a metal cylinder the size of a thermos. In his other hand was a sheathed sword.

"Lupin, is that what I think it is?" Ein questioned as he looked at the energy cell in his paw.

Lupin chuckled and replied, "yes, yes it is, more than enough white matter to power the phase 3 device!"

Author's note-with the tournament concluding, we have a little more plot, including a character cameo from RWBY Distortion and Outriders.

1. Much like a certain other character, Lupin is the connective tissue between stories to establish; he's the easiest villain to drag and drop.

2. Lupin's portals are inspired by Virgil's from DMC 5; look up a picture if you can't visualize it

3. Wonder how Lupin got that energy cell filled... I guess you'll have to wait till the finale of RWBY Distortion Volume 5...hehe

4. Leave a Review; the next chapter will actually take a break from the tournament aside from the intro to the final battle.