Author's Note: Embarrassing admission time, I've had to do a total re-write of every chapter from Chapter 68 to this Chapter, since I stuffed up the Group Stage matchups. So PLEASE re-read the previous chapters to keep up with the action. Thanks.
After Group 10 finishes, Drayden stepped up again, and said "And that concludes Group 10. With the start of the third round of battles for trainers of Group 11, which includes Clerk Brooke and Policeman Bobmosa" and the crowd cheered appreciatively.
The first battle of Group 11 Round 3 was between Pilot Larry and Clerk Brooke in a Triple Battle. And after a pretty close battle, Clerk Brooke's Eelektross and Sigilyph defeated Pilot Larry's Scrafty and Umbreon, keeping Clerk Brooke at the top of Group 11.
The second battle of Group 11 Round 3 was between Worker Kaden and Ace Trainer Yareli in a Rotation Battle. And it wasn't that close, as Worker Kaden's Weavile, Vespiquen and Metagross defeated Ace Trainer Yareli's Drapion, Ditto and Garbodor, keeping Ace Trainer Yareli at the bottom of Group 11.
The final battle of Group 11 Round 3 was between Policeman Bobmosa and Baker Liz in a Rotation Battle. And in a bit of a blowout, Bobmosa's Arcanine, Sawk and Pinsir thrashed Liz's Sigilyph, Scolipede and Altaria.
At the end of Group 11, Drayden stepped back up to the arena, and said "And with that, Group 11 is complete. Now we move on to the third round of battles for trainers of Group 12, good luck trainers" and the crowd cheered appreciatively.
The first battle of Round 12 Round 3 began, between Youngster Franco took on Lass Jocelyn in a triple battle. And after a close battle, Lass Jocelyn's Bisharp, Whimsicott and Garbodor, defeated Youngster Franco's Mienshao, Zoroark and Electivire, keeping Lass Jocelyn at the top of Group 1.
The second battle of Group 12 Round 3 was between Beauty Karlie and Guitarist Nokko in a Rotation Battle. And after a close battle, Guitarist Nokko's Lopunny, Magnezone and Whimsicott defeated Beauty Karlie's Gothitelle, Gliscor and Camerupt, securing victory for Guitarist Nokko.
The third battle of Round 12 Round 3 was between Black Belt Minory and Pokéfan Tristan in a Double Battle. And after a big battle, Pokéfan Tristan's Gliscor and Audino defeated Black Belt Minory's Krookodile and Tangrowth, securing victory for Pokéfan Tristan.
At the end of Group 12, Ash stood up and said "Alright, time for my Group's third round of battles", to which everyone said "Good Luck" and, after hugs from Delia and Hilda, he departed.
At the end of Group 12, Drayden stepped up and said "And now, for the third round of battles for the trainers of Group 13 And this one includes the other favourite for the tournament crown, Kanto native Ash Ketchum, as well as Type Expert trainer Veteran Vito, and Driftveil City trainer Roughneck Rylan" and the crowd cheered appreciatively, though an enormous cheer was once again given for Ash, due to his favourite status for the Tournament, equal with Maximus.
The first battle of Group 13 Round 3 was between Veteran Vito and Guitarist Ren in a Triple Battle. And despite the mixed type matchups, Veteran Vito's Galvantula, Ninjask and Heracross defeated Guitarist Ren's Metagross, Pelipper and Delibrid, showing Vito's skill as a Type Expert Trainer.
Ash stepped up to one side of the arena, and Roughneck Rylan stepped up to the other side. The Referee stepped between them and said "The battle between Ash of Pallet Town and Roughneck Rylan of Floccesy Town will now begin. The format clock will now spin, and determine the format" and the format clock spun and landed on Rotation Battle.
"Cofagrigus, Reuniclus and Musharna, let's go" Rylan called, and Cofagrigus, Reuniclus and Musharna materialised.
"Ferrothorn, Jellicent, Haxorus, I choose you" Ash called, and Ferrothorn, Jellicent and Haxorus materialised.
Battle: Ferrothorn, Jellicent and Haxorus VS Cofagrigus, Reuniclus and Musharna
"Jellicent, use Shadow Ball" Ash called, and Jellicent shot a ball of spectral energy at Musharna, inflicting Considerable damage.
"Musharna, use Trick Room" Rylan called, and Musharna's eyes glowed, and a psionic room appeared around them, reversing Speed tiers.
Rylan then rotates to Cofagrigus, and called "Cofagrigus, use Shadow Ball" and Cofagrigus shot its' own ball of Spectral energy at Jellicent, inflicting Moderate damage.
"Jellicent, use Shadow Ball yourself" Ash called, and Jellicent shot a ball of spectral energy at Cofagrigus, inflicting Considerable damage.
"Cofagrigus, another Shadow Ball" Rylan called, and Cofagrigus shot another ball of Spectral energy at Jellicent, inflicting Moderate damage.
"Jellicent, respond with another Shadow Ball" Ash called, and Jellicent shot a ball of spectral energy at Cofagrigus, inflicting Considerable damage.
"Cofargigus, use Shadow Ball" Rylan called, and Cofagrigus shot a ball of spectral energy at Jellicent, inflicting Moderate damage.
"End this Jellicent, use Shadow Ball" Ash called, and Jellicent shot a ball of spectral energy at Cofagrigus, KO'ing it.
Rylan then rotated back to Musharna, as the Trick Room fell.
Ash followed up by rotating to Ferrothorn.
"Ferrothorn use Power Whip" Ash called, and Ferrothorn's appendage glowed with natural energy, and struck Musharna with it, inflicting Moderate damage.
"Musharna, use Trick Room" Rylan called, and Musharna's eyes glowed, and a psionic room appeared around them, reversing Speed tiers.
"Ferrothorn, use Power Whip again" Ash called, and once again Ferrothorn cloaked its appendage with natural energy, and struck Musharna, inflicting about a quarter of Musharna's health in damage.
"Musharna, use Signal Beam" Rylan called, and Musharna shot a beam of teal and red at Ferrothorn, inflicting Minor damage.
"Ferrothorn, end this with Iron Head" Ash called, and Ferrothorn cloaked itself with silver energy
and struck Musharna, KO'ing it.
Rylan then rotated to Reuniclus, while Ash rotated to Haxorus,
"Reuniclus, use Psychic" Rylan called, and Reuniclus unleashed a burst of psionic energy at Haxorus, inflicting Considerable damage.,
"Haxorus, respond with Night Slash" Ash called, and Haxorus' claws were cloaked with Anti-Positive energy, and slashed Reuniclus, inflicting Considerable damage.
"Another Psychic Reuniclus" Rylan called, and Reuniclus unleashed a burst of psionic energy at Haxorus, inflicting Considerable damage.
"Haxorus, another Night Slash" Ash called, and Haxorus' claws were cloaked in anti-positive energy, and slashed Reuniclus, inflicting Considerable damage. The Trick Room then fell.
"And this ends it. Haxorus, use Night Slash" Ash called, and Haxorus again cloaked its claws with anti-positive energy and slashed Reuniclus, KO'ing it.
"Reuniclus, Cofagrigus and Musharna are unable to battle, Ferrothorn, Haxorus and Jellicent win. The victor is Ash of Pallet Town" the Referee said, and Ash celebrated with his Pokémon.
Conclusion: Ferrothorn, Haxorus and Jellicent.
The final battle of Group 13 Round 3 was between Backpacker Berke and Lass Indy in a Triple Battle. And in a close battle, Lass Indy's Bouffalant, Flygon and Roserade defeated Backpacker Berke's Zangoose, Cryogonal and Sawsbuck, anchoring Backpacker Berke to the bottom of Group 13.
At the end of Group 13, Ash returns to the arena, and said "That was an interesting battle", to which Hilda replied "You're doing really well"
"Thanks" Ash replied.
At the end of Group 13, Drayden stepped up and said "And now for the final Group, the third round of battles for the trainers of Group 14, which includes Type Expert Tournament trainer Veteran Impera, and Driftveil Tournament Trainer Veteran Theodora" and the crowd clapped appreciatively.
The first battle of Group 14 Round 3 was between Beauty Hannah and Roughneck Gavin in a Triple Battle. And in a close battle, Beauty Hannah's Flygon and Leafeon defeated Roughneck Gavin's Archeops and Liepard, anchoring Roughneck Gavin to the bottom of Group 14.
The second battle of Group 14 Round 3 was between Veteran Theodora and Ace Trainer Seamus in a Triple Battle. And after a fierce battle, Theodora showed her Driftveil City power, her Lilligant, Vanilluxe and Unfezant defeated Seamus' Sawk, Flygon and Swanna.
The third battle of Group 14 Round 3 Backpacker Butch and Veteran Impera in a Rotation Battle. And after a close battle, and despite massive negative type matchups, Veteran Impera's Spiritomb, Krookodile and Scrafty defeated Butch's Scolipede, Mienshao and Flygon, showing off her power as a Type Expert Tournament trainer.
And with that, Drayden stepped back up and said "And with that, Round 3 is complete. We thank you for attending this, and we hope to see you tomorrow for Round 4 of the Group stage", and the crowd cheered appreciatively as Ash and the others stand up and head back to the trainer's quarters.
When Ash and Hilda reach the trainer's quarters, Hilda said "Just two rounds left. The Group stage is nearly over"
"Yeah. I wonder what happens to the trainers who are eliminated, do they all just go home?" Ash asked, but Drayden, having overheard them, said "Any trainers who want to stay and watch the battles, even after they have been eliminated from the Tournament"
"Cool, good to know" Ash and Hilda both replied. Ash then said "Well, I'm thinking dinner, bonding time with our Pokémon, then head to bed"
"Sounds good" Hilda replied, and they all brought out their Pokémon, and headed for dinner.
Hilda took it in turns with her Pokémon. She started with her recently evolved Mienshao, getting out a brush to start brushing him.
"How is this?" Hilda asked, to which Mienshao called happily, enjoying the affection. After a few minutes, she turned to her starter, Samurott.
"OK, how should we clear your seamitars?" Hilda asked, to which her Samurott gets an idea. Looking at a picture of a beach, he points to
the sand.
"Should we go and get some sand for your seamitars?" Hilda asked, to which Samurott nodded. They then headed out.
Quickly finding Drayden, Hilda asked "Hey, do you know where some sand is? Samurott wants to use it to clean his seamitars" to which Drayden replied "Sure, follow me" and he headed for a nearby area, where he finds a bucket of sand, which he gives to Hilda, and said "Your Samurott can use this to clean his seamitars"
"Thanks, Drayden" Hilda replied, and she took the sand bucket and, both her and her Samurott headed back to their room, where Samurott can clean his seamitars. After patting her Samurott, she moves on to her Simisear.
Once again, she gets out a special brush to brush down her Simisear's hair and tail.
"How does this feel Simisear?" Hilda asked, to which Simisear replied by cheering happily.
"Heh, that's good to hear" Hilda replied as she continues to brush Simisear, and pat him. After she finishes, her Simisear gives her a hug, which she returns.
Then she turns to her Stoutland. And does similar, though combines that with lots of patting, which Stoutland enjoyed. She gets out a special brush and uses it to brush any sand and dirt outside of his fur.
After it was done, and some more patting, Stoutland joins the rest of her team in sleep. Hilda then turns to her Reuniclus.
And her Reuniclus immediately hugs her, which she returns, patting her Reuniclus in the process. That seemed to be all Reuniclus needed, as soon afterwards Eelektross headed to bed as well.
Finally, Hilda turned to Eelektross. And she gave him pats as well, which he enjoyed. After a bit, Eelektross heads to bed too, and Hilda follows her Pokémon into the dream world.
Meanwhile with Ash
Ash actually goes to Drayden first and asks "Hey, I need a few different types of brushes for my Pokémon"
"What do you need?" Drayden asked, to which Ash replied "A metal one for Ferrothorn, a soft one for Jellicent, a fire-proof one for Emboar, one you use on your Haxorus for mine, and one for Braviary. I have brushes for Donphan and Pikachu already"
"Sure, here you go" Drayden replied, and he gave four different brushes to Ash for him to use.
"Thanks, Drayden" Ash said, and he headed back with his Pokémon.
When he arrives, he starts with the first brush on his Emboar, and after a few high fives with his Emboar, who also enjoyed the attention.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you Emboar," Ash said, to which Emboar nodded and called to confirm. After a while, Emboar headed off to sleep.
Ash then turned to Braviary and started carefully brushing his feathers, and Braviary enjoys the affection.
"You've put yourself out there so much Braviary, I can see why you're called the Valiant Pokémon," Ash said, to which Bravairy replied by calling. Once he was done, and after a quick pat on the beak, Braviary also found a place to rest for the night.
"Oh boy, next up, Ferrothorn," Ash said, and he got the special brush for Ferrothorn, and started very gently and carefully brushing him, determined to avoid all the spikes on his body.
"Heh, are you enjoying this Ferrothorn?" Ash asked, to which Ferrothorn responded happily. After some more brushing, Ferrothorn settled for bed as well.
"And now, Jellicent," Ash said, and he turned to his Jellicent and got the special brush and glove to pat him. Jellicent enjoyed the affection, and Ash liked that he could touch Jellicent, thanks to the glove and brush. Kyle didn't need to say "Do you enjoy this?" because his Jellicent was showing its enjoyment. After Ash finished, Jellicent gave him a hug, as best as a Jellicent can do, before going to sleep itself.
"Your turn Donphan" Ash said, and Donphan approached. He once again patted the Armor Pokémon, who's enjoying the patting.
"You've shown your Abilities out there Donphan, I chose well by choosing you as #6 on my team," Ash said, to which Donphan tooted in happiness. After a bit more, Donphan followed the other Pokémon into sleep.
"Alright buddy, your turn," Ash said to Pikachu as she took a seat on his bed. Pikachu jumped up next to him, and he started scratching Pikachu's head patting him, and showing all sorts of affection towards Pikachu, who's laughing and thoroughly enjoying the affection.
"Hehe, you're loving this, aren't you Pikachu," Ash said, and Pikachu agreed happily. Out of his team, Ash focused on Pikachu the longest, but eventually, Pikachu and Ash both headed off to sleep.
The following morning, Ash and Hilda met up.
"So how did the bonding go last night?" Ash asked, to which Hilda replied "It went well. Simisear even hugged me"
"Heh, cool" Ash replied, to which Hilda nodded. Hilda then said "Should we grab some breakfast before we head to the arena?", to which Ash replied "Sure".
After breakfast, Ash and Hilda head for the arena for day 4 of the Group stage battles. They're once again joined by Hannah, Hugh, Nate, Hilbert and Professor Juniper.
Drayden then stepped up, and said "Welcome back to the Unova League Tournament for Round 4 of the Group stage. The first group will soon start on battles, good luck everyone" and the crowd cheered appreciatively.
The first battle of Round 4 Group 1 was between Waiter Andrew and Lass Kelly in a Double Battle. And it was a blowout, as Waiter Andrew's Zoroark and Stunfisk thrashed Lass Kelly's Arcanine and Shuckle, keeping Kelly near the bottom of her Group.
The second battle of Round 4 Group 1 was between Pokéfan Anupa and Clerk Naomi in a Single Battle. And after a close battle, Anupa's Pupitar defeated Naomi's Lickilicky, keeping Anupa in touch with the top two of his Group.
The final battle of Round 4 Group 1 was between Backpacker Mashasi and Youngster Charlie in a Triple Battle. And in another blowout, Youngster Charlie's Ninetales, Magnezone and Simisage defeated Backpacker Mashasi's Haxorus, Ampharos and Sigilyph, keeping Charlie at the top of his Group.
At the end of Group 1, Drayden stepped back up to the stage, and said "And that concludes Group 1. Now we continue with the fourth round of trainer battles for Group 2, which includes the Nacrene City hotshot, Trip, and the Type Expert Tournament trainer Bonnie" and the crowd cheered appreciatively.
The first battle of Round 4 Group 2 was between Doctor Maxie and Pokéfan Makayla in a Triple Battle. And after a pretty easy battle, Doctor Maxie's Haxorus, Vanilluxe and Tropius defeated Makayla's Golduck, Whimsicott and Zangoose, keeping Maxie in the running to qualify for the Knockout stage.
Trip was in the next battle, against Hiker Euro. As Trip approached, Hiker Euro approached from the other side. Then, the Referee stepped up and said: "The battle between Trip of Nuvema Town and Hiker Euro of Driftveil City will now begin. The format clock will spin, and determine the format" and the format clock spun and landed on Double Battle.
"Liepard, Sawk, let's do this" Hiker Euro called, and Liepard and Sawk materialised. Trip nodded, then called "Serperior, Unfezant, let's go" and Serperior and Unfezant materialise.
Battle: Serperior and Unfezant VS Liepard and Sawk
"Liepard, use Fake Out on Serperior" Euro called, and Liepard cloaked its paws with white energy and charged at Serperior, clapping, inflicting Slight damage and causing Serperior to Flinch.
"Unfezant, use Aerial Ace on Sawk" Trip called, and Unfezant was cloaked in sky blue energy, and slashed Sawk, inflicting Considerable damage.
"Retaliate Sawk, use Counter" Euro called, and Sawk charged energy, and slammed into Unfezant, almost KO'ing it.
"Bloody hell. Unfezant, Protect yourself. Then Serperior, wipe that Sawk out with Leaf Storm" Trip called, and Serperior unleashed a storm of glowing green leaves at Sawk, KO'ing it.
"Avenge Sawk Liepard, use Aerial Ace on Serperior" and Liepard was cloaked in sky blue energy, and slashed Serperior, inflicting Minor damage.
"Serperior, use Wring Out" Trip called, and Serperior cloaked itself with white energy, wrapped around Liepard and squeezed with the white energy, inflicting Minor damage.
"Let's finish that Unfezant, Liepard, use Night Slash" Euro called, and Liepard cloaked its paw with anti-positive energy and slashed at Unfezant, but Trip called "Intercept that Night Slash Serperior, then Unfezant, use Return" and Serperior blocked the Night Slash, taking Minor damage, then Unfezant cloaked itself with white energy, and charged int Liepard, inflicting Significant damage.
"Now end this Serperior, use Dragon Pulse" Trip called, and Serperior shot a pulse of draconic energy at Liepard, KO'ing it.
"Liepard and Sawk are unable to battle, Unfezant and Serperior win. The victor is Trip of Nuvema Town" the referee called, and Trip celebrated with Serperior and Unfezant.
Conclusion: Serperior and Unfezant wins
The final battle of Round 4 Group 2 was between Socialite Wilia and Ace Trainer Bonnie in a Triple Battle. And again, it wasn't close, as Ace Trainer Bonnie's Bisharp and Drapion easily defeated Socialite Wilia's Stoutland and Roserade, keeping Ace Trainer Bonnie tied with Doctor Maxie for 2nd.