The next day: Red vs Nemona

The final battle for Red Satoshi was coming. Now, Ash was set to battle against the Paldean trainer Nemona, who helped discover the Terastallize project.

"Competitors", the referee said, "this will be a three-on-three battle. The first who will render the other's Pokemon unable to battle will be declared the winner. Additionally, in this battle, you will be allowed to use one of the following: Mega Evolution, Z-Move and Dynamax."

No matter what happened, Ash knew that this was the final battle as Red. As he promised everyone to reveal himself in the semi-final round.

"I'm coming, Paul. Just you wait."

Paul and Jira won their battles earlier, both facing trainers from the Unova region.

"Wooohooo! You have a Latios?" Goh jumped.

"Yeah, Goh." Jira said. "I've watched Ash's matches together with Latios and Weavile. Hop apparently cannot come today."

"Well Jira," Goh said, "You're no longer lonely."

"Battle start!"

"Dragonite, battle stance!"

"Flutter Mane, let's go!"

"Flutter Mane… what is this?"

"Hey Nemona, cool Pokemon out there. Looks like a Misdreavus."

"Yes, Red. This is a… Paradox Pokemon. It's related to Misdreavus, in fact. And it's a much, much stronger variant."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Flutter Mane! Moonblast!"

"Huh? Wait, this thing is a fairy-type?"

"Dragonite, dodge it!"

Dragonite barely managed to dodge such a powerful attack. It felt almost as strong as the one from Mega Diancie in the previous round. Ash saw Jira struggle against it, so he decided to take action quickly.

"Dragonite, return."

"Flutter Mane, return as well." Nemona said.

"Dracovish, battle stance!"

"Palafin, let's go!"

"Hmm, I'm curious. She is clearly reading me well. I guess I have to resort to brute force."

"Palafin! Use Wave Crash!"

"Dracovish, charge towards it! Dragon Rush!"

The two water-type Pokemon charged at each other as Palafin was riding on a strong wave. But Dracovish actually outsped it and hit it straight in the face. It was clearly an effective attack.

"Ugh… Palafin, return!"

"Again?"

"Oh no…" Jira thought. "Is she going to activate…?"

"Flutter Mane, I call on you once again!"

"Dracovish, we've got to power through these weird Pokemon. Wait for its movements."

"Flutter Mane! Use Shadow Ball!"

"Water Gun!"

The two attacks collided, as Nemona ordered a Mystical Fire next. But this attack was repelled pretty easily as well, by the same attack. Flutter Mane then proceeded to strike with a flurry of Shadow Balls at Dracovish, which seemed to finally do the trick, hurting the fossil.

"Uh. I can't let it finish me off now."

"Dracovish, run towards it!"

"Moonblast!"

As Flutter Mane was ready to hit Dracovish with the powerful fairy-type attack, Ash suddenly ordered a Fishious Rend. It was a monstrous attack, almost eating Flutter Mane alive. With its last strength, however, Flutter Mane managed to shoot its Moonblast inside Dracovish's body, causing a massive explosion.

And the dust settled.

"Dracovish!"

"Flutter Mane… nooo!"

"Dracovish and Flutter Mane are both unable to battle!"

Those attacks hit the two battlers at point blank. It was clear that they would both need some time inside the Pokemon Center.

"Lucario, I choose you now! Battle stance!"

"Palafin, I need your help again!"

As the two Pokemon came out… "Wait, what the?"

"Yep…" Jira thought.

"Your Palafin has a new form now."

"Yes, Red." Nemona thought. "I'm gonna win with its new form. Palafin is a hero now… it will never, ever be a zero."

"Give it your best, Nemona. We're going to win." Red smiled.

"Lucario, let's reward them." he said, as he prepared his Key Stone.

"The bond between us… Mega Evolve!"

"That phrase…" Goh said. "He said it exactly like back then. I remember his battles against Cynthia and Leon. Lucario was an important piece."

"Palafin! Wave Crash!"

"Double Team, Lucario!"

This new and improved Palafin's attacks seemed to charge faster. And much more importantly, they were covering almost the entire arena. The attack found Lucario in no time and seemed to deal a large amount of damage.

"Urgh…" Red said.

"Oh hey look, Palafin seems to be affected as well. That must be recoil damage."

"Lucario, let's counterattack. Use Bullet Punch!"

Mega Lucario found its opponent quickly and struck with a flurry of powerful punches, but…

"Wait, they seem to be less effective. Did that form improve its defenses again?"

"One more Wave Crash!" Nemona shouted.

"Lucario, jump!" Red said. "Fire an Aura Sphere!"

Lucario managed to hit its opponent in the face as it was riding the waves again. That seemed to do the trick, after all.

"Then how about this, Red?!" Nemona smirked. "Let's do a melee. Close Combat!"

"We'll answer it with pride. Bullet Punch!"

Mega Lucario and Palafin were starting to duke it out. This fierce exchange reminded Red of his battle against Cynthia, when Lucario and the almighty Garchomp, and her Garchomp, to be more precise, brawled in the semi-final round of the Masters Eight.

"Lucario, stay strong! Let's finish this!"

"Palafin! Jet Punch!"

"Bullet Punch!"

"Woah…" Goh said. "Paldea has such Pokemon. Interesting… I should maybe travel to that region one day."

"Both Palafin and Lucario are unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Trainers, send out your last Pokemon!"

"It's come down to this…" Nemona smirked. "Let's win."

"Dragonite, battle stance again!"

"Meowscarada! I choose you!"

"Let's do this." Nemona said. An orb activated above Meowscarada's head.

"Dragonite, let's wait for now."

"Seems to be a light blue-ish one… oh wait, does that mean…?"

"Meowscarada, use Tera Blast!"

"Dragon Pulse!"

The two attacks cancelled each other. Ash quickly noticed that Meowscarada was now an Ice-type Pokemon. It was going to be an uphill battle.

"Dragonite, fly up high!"

"Don't let them! Use Flower Trick!"

Meowscarada's attack literally homed towards Dragonite. It seemed as though the poor girl dragon had no way to run from Flower Trick.

"Dragonite, grab Meowscarada!"

"Wait, what? Tera Blast!"

But Dragonite recovered immediately after the Flower Trick, flew with incredible speed towards the grass-type big cat, and grabbed it before the Tera Blast took effect.

"Use Kairyu-Draco Meteor!"

Dragonite flew with Meowscarada and tossed it from mid-air. When the dust settled…

"Tera Blast!"

"Oh no!"

Dragonite was hit at point blank with the ice-type attack. It was extremely effective. Dragonite was both a dragon- and a flying-type Pokemon, and it seemed as though it could barely stand up.

"I'm surprised it didn't faint in one hit." Nemona spoke. "That must be Multiscale or something."

"Meowscarada, let's finish this. Flower Trick!"

"Dragonite, Dragon Pulse!"

"Fly towards it! Extreme Speed!"

Dragonite flew towards Meowscarada with the same monstrous speed and hit it straight in the face, causing it to roll straight into the wall.

"Yeah." he thought.

"Meowscarada is unable to battle! Dragonite wins! Therefore, the winner is Red Satoshi from Viridian City!"

"Whew. I've… I've done it. The era of Red Satoshi ends in style."

"Great battle out there, Nemona. Good game."

"Good game to you as well, Red. Best of luck."