Round of 32: Torrent
"And now, it's time to reunite for the first ever Galarian Summit Tournament, held right here in the most beautiful stadium of Galar! It's a special week for Wyndon Stadium, where thousands of fans from all over the region are here to celebrate a great spectacle of Pokemon battling!" said the excited announcer.
"Here are the trainer cards!"
Ash and Jira looked on the screen, and it turned out Ash was registered for now as Red Satoshi. Hop and Paul were also there.
"It's time to once again… become Red Satoshi. For… what could be the last time." Ash thought, as he put on his cloak, which was enough to cover his face and make him look a little like an Arabian prince.
"And here are the first matches! For the first battle, ladies and gentlemen… Red Satoshi vs Hop!"
"You're lucky number one, Ash." Jira said.
"Heh heh."
"Ash, I have a suggestion for you. Don't use Pikachu until the semifinals."
"Why? Why, Jira? Can't I make my own strat-"
"Listen to me. I know what I'm talking about."
Red vs Hop
"Hey, Hop." Ash said.
"Ash. Let's do our best out there."
"Hop, you too. But please, for the love of Arceus…"
"What is it, Ash?"
"Call me Red on the battlefield. I'm… I'm not ready to come out." he said, trembling.
"O… okay."
Later
"And now, ladies and gentlemen," the announcer said, "get ready for your first battle! It's Hop from Postwick Town against As- um, Red Satoshi of Viridian City!"
"Viridian City?" Ash thought. "No… way…"
"Hey, Latios, Weavile," Jira said in the stands. "Let's watch this battle together, shall we?"
"I'd be happy for either of them. But… I kind of want Ash to go further. He deserves it."
"Red! Let's do our best!" Hop announced.
"Yeah!"
"Both trainers, send out your Pokemon!" the referee said.
"Dubwool, go ahead!"
"Sirfetch'd, let's go!"
"Ah, so your Wooloo has evolved…" Ash thought.
"Go, Sirfetch'd! Use Breaking Swipe!"
"Dubwool, Cotton Guard!"
Sirfetch'd charged a swipe against Dubwool's body, but it could barely deal any damage. It faced such a fluffy opponent, and with its defense being raised by a whopping three stages, Sirfetch'd found itself under pressure quickly.
But he would solve quickly.
"Sirfetch'd, the legs."
"Dubwool! Charge towards Sirfetch'd with Body Press!"
As Dubwool began to run towards its opponent with a hardened cotton body, Sirfetch'd began to charge something.
"Fury Cutter!"
The fighting-type Pokemon waited, expecting Dubwool to jump. And indeed, that's what happened. Sirfetch'd caught Dubwool from below and hit it with a flurry of Fury Cutter attacks. This broke Dubwool's momentum and it felt flat.
"Let's finish this! Star Assault!"
Sirfetch'd listened quickly, and launched itself towards Dubwool in a matter of moments, striking its belly.
"Dubwool is unable to battle! Sirfetch'd wins!"
"Return, Dubwool. You did a great job out there."
"Red! This still isn't over! Face my next Pokemon!"
"I'll be waiting for it, Hop."
"Let's go, Inteleon!"
"Ahhh, there it is," Jira thought. "I wonder how much you've grown, Inteleon. That one time when you beat my Weavile… I'll remember you for it, you jerk."
"Inteleon, Hydro Pump!"
"Sirfetch'd, Detect!"
Inteleon fired an extraordinarily powerful jet of water, only for Sirfetch'd to dodge just in time. A few inches and Sirfetch'd would have been wet.
"Charge towards it! Star Assault!"
"Inteleon, slow it down! Use Ice Beam!"
As Sirfetch'd ran towards Inteleon, the water-type starter managed to use Ice Beam against the duck. It clearly managed to slow down its movement.
"Sirfetch'd, don't worry! Go forward!"
"Keep at it, Inteleon!"
Sirfetch'd ultimately broke through the Ice Beam and hit Inteleon. The water-type Pokemon started twisting, before it ultimately regained control of itself, being obviously weakened.
"Ah! Sirfetch'd is immobilized! Finish it off, let's use Hydro Pump!"
"...Inteleon?"
Inteleon shouted, with a massive blue aura around, and shot an even stronger Hydro Pump. The dust cleared and Sirfetch'd was defeated.
"Sirfetch'd is unable to battle. Inteleon wins!"
"Oh no. This can't be good…" Ash thought. "I'd better finish him off quickly before…"
"Dracovish, battle stance! Let's go!"
"What if… actually, no. Goh knows them, and he knows who I am. But… what if…?"
"Dracovish, you have a powerful opponent out there. That must be Torrent, right Hop?"
"Yes. That's right!"
"It reminds me of Sceptile and Overgrow… back then..."
"What do you mean?"
"Eh, nothing much."
"Shit, have I said too much? No, I'd better keep myself composed."
Meanwhile, somewhere in Hoenn
"Sceptile and Overgrow? What's this guy talking about?"
Back to the battle
"Dracovish, let's go. Dragon Rush!"
"Inteleon! Snipe Shot!"
Torrent Inteleon aimed with massive speed towards its opponent and hit it straight in the face. But Dracovish persisted. He's endured such attacks before, and his Dragon Rush hit Inteleon in the stomach. It was going to be closer than you'd think, maybe.
"Let's finish it!" both shouted.
"Fishious Rend!"
"One more Snipe Shot!"
Two minutes later, after the dust settled
"Inteleon is unable to battle! Dracovish wins! Therefore, the winner is Red Satoshi!"
"Whew…" Ash thought. He escaped for now.
"Good job out there, Inteleon. Thank you." Hop said.
"Red, you've beat me fair and square."
"You've done a good job out there, Hop. Your Inteleon was so strong."
"That was a cool match", Jira thought as he applauded them both, "I'm happy for Ash, though. He can still be Red for a tiny little bit."
Later
"Magmortar is unable to battle. Weavile wins! And the winner is Jira of Postwick Town!"
Red was happy for Jira, and he was sitting in the stands by himself. He instructed Pikachu to get some ketchup from the locker room and watch on the TV.
"You were great out there. Weavile had the type disadvantage, after all."
"Yes, Red. I've done my best to train Weavile well." Jira said, while they were in the hall.
"Let's do a small celebration, shall we?" Ash asked.
"I don't think we have the time for that. The tournament has just started, Ash." as he ended the conversation quietly.
"Hey, let's go to this cafe then, just for a quick chat."
"Uhh, fine, let's go."
Later
"Here are your Pokemon. They're all healed up!"
"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Jira and Ash said.
Ash took Pikachu and went with Jira to get a drink for both. Suffice to say, it was non-alcoholic – they weren't in the mood for that. Especially since it has just started. And for Red Satoshi, who was living on borrowed time.
"Hey look at the TV, that must be Paul!" Ash said.
"Scizor, Bullet Punch!"
"Electivire, Cross Chop!"
"He's matured a lot when I saw him last time", Ash said. "He was quite a douchebag when I traveled in Sinnoh. He had this Chimchar who didn't live up to his standards and he released it. So I caught it and taught him a lesson about friendship."
"Ash, you really shouldn't talk about friendship at this point." Jira confronted him. "Very, very soon, you're going to have to apologize to a lot of people. Maybe starting with Paul."
"Hm." Ash went.
"I hope you'll be ready for this. What Paul has done to that Chimchar, you have done to everyone in a way or another. I'm not talking about your mother doing the deeds with Giovanni, but rather you not giving any sign and not having the balls to catch up to your friends", Jira said.
"Jira…"
"But at the same time, Ash…" Jira went.
"Scizor is unable to battle! Electivire wins! Therefore, the winner is Paul of Veilstone City!" Paul gave his opponent a short handshake, returned Electivire, and walked off.
"…"
"Hmm… I'd really like that to be the case, Jira. I kind of needed such words."
Later, that night
"Hey Pikachu… come here." Ash told the electric mouse.
"Pika.
"You can sleep on my back. What do you say?"
"Pikapi… pika."
"So I passed the first round. Wonder what will wait for me in the round of 16. Two matches left… at most. Only two matches before I have to… do it. If I could, I would like to face Paul in the semi-final battle. That would be the ideal place where I could take my cloak and throw it in the bin. But let's say this happens... after the match against Paul… it doesn't matter if I win or lose… what comes next? Sure, only Jira is here, but…" Ash thought.