Back to the battle

Drapion and Sirfetch'd were facing each other. Ash's Sirfetch'd was by now one of his most helpful Pokemon up until the semi-final round, delaying his reveal until now.

"Drapion! Cross Poison!"

"Sirfetch'd! Breaking Swipe!"

Both attacks cancelled each other out, before Ash ordered a Fury Cutter as Paul responded with Pin Missile. Sirfetch'd seemed to push forward, and was getting closer to Drapion. But Paul began to smirk.

"Catch it!"

Drapion caught Sirfetch'd in its claws. This put the fighting duck in a difficult position, separating it from its shield and constricting it in an attempt to render it a liability.

"Sirfetch'd! Get out of there!"

"Poison Fang!"

The poor duck was hit at point blank with the powerful Poison-type attack and was left badly poisoned. It was now living on borrowed time, Ash felt.

"We have to end this quick." he thought.

"Sirfetch'd! Meteor Assault!"

"Pin Missile!"

Sirfetch'd was suffering, but it bravely made its way through the Pin Missile attack despite taking hits left and right, and hit Drapion heads-on. That's gotta hurt. The two Pokemon created a huge explosion.

When the dust settled, Drapion began tumbling, but it ultimately was the only one left standing. Sirfetch'd was fainting at its legs, with its sword and shield scattered.

"Sirfetch'd is unable to battle! Drapion wins!"

"Return, Sirfetch'd. Thank you." Ash said.

"Man, it's gonna be tough with that Drapion around. It's even more dangerous than Garchomp. This thing can actually catch you."

"Return, Drapion. Have… a good rest." Paul suddenly spoke, in a move that somewhat surprised Ash.

"I have to continue the battle with Drapion in mind. That reminds me of the whole Sinnoh League thing. This fucker defeated half of my team back then."

Meanwhile, in Johto

"Hey, while we're at it… shall we turn on the TV? Let's watch that battle." Serena spoke.

Dawn turned the TV on and began to hastily press buttons on the remote.

"Ummm… let me check. It says Galar 2 here…" Dawn said.

"Ahh! Here it is! It's Ash!" the girls all said tearfully.

"And Paul has made it 2-2! What an intense exchange of blows! Neither trainer seems to be backing off!"

"Ash!" Misty spoke. "I hope you know… that we're watching you!"

Back to the battle

"I can't afford to use my Z-move." Ash thought. "That thing is probably gonna cause as much damage as it can for Electivire to clean up. Last time I checked, that Electivire was immune to Thunderbolts and all that."

"I think I'll use this."

"Lucario, I choose you!"

"Metagross, battle standby!"

"A steel-type vs steel-type showdown! Stronger than the combined power of two Corkscrew Crashes! Let's see what they have to offer!"

"He is going to…" Goh thought.

"I haven't seen that." Brock said. "Now that I think about it, he's never shown me these Pokemon. I missed a lot, looks like."

"Lucario! Let's not waste any time!" Ash shouted, as he readied his Key Stone as Paul's eyes widened a little.

"The bond between us… Mega Evolve!"

As Lucario absorbed the powers of the Key Stone, Metagross was processing this info inside its supercomputer, looking for the best alghoritms to defeat Mega Lucario in an efficient manner.

"Ash." Paul spoke. "Even though you Mega Evolved… I'll have you know, my Metagross, just like Garchomp, trained with Steven's Metagross."

"I don't think that'll stop us." Ash smiled.

"Battle start!" the referee shouted.

"Metagross! Psychic!"

"Lucario, use Double Team! Charge towards Metagross!"

As Metagross attempted to control the psychokinesis around the battlefield, it ended up catching many of Lucario's clones. But what mattered was the real one, and Mega Lucario was a little too fast for Metagross' processing power.

"Bullet Punch!" Ash shouted.

"Thunder Punch!" Paul responded. Metagross and Lucario were ready to get into a close combat, as Thunder Punch and Bullet Punch kept colliding. Lucario's Bullet Punch ultimately proved superior and hit Metagross straight in its core with a few hits. Metagross, however, did not seem very fazed. It was after all a Steel-type Pokemon.

"Lucario! Charge up an Aura Sphere!" Ash shouted.

"Metagross, use Meteor Mash!" Paul commanded, as the computer charged towards Lucario.

"Stay focused, Lucario." Ash thought.

Metagross was coming close.

"Now! Hit it!"

Lucario hit Metagross with its improved Aura Sphere, as Metagross was about two meters far away from it or so. Metagross took it at full force, and was close to being defeated. Its CPU however still did not decide to fatally crash.

"Metagross! Use Agility!" Paul shouted.

"I'm not geing fooled by this again." Ash thought as he smiled.

"Lucario, wait there. Listen for Metagross's movements."

As Metagross sharply increased its speed, Mega Lucario closed its eyes and tried to make sense of Metagross's whereabouts. The supercomputer was getting blazingly fast, so even Mega Lucario started to feel a lot of trouble tapping inside of its aura.

"Lucario, we're cool. He's not going to beat us with this."

"Metagross! Now, charge towards! Meteor Mash!" Paul shouted.

"Catch it!" Ash suddenly spoke.

"Woah… huh?" Paul thought.

Lucario put its arms forward and managed to catch Metagross pretty easily, making use of its huge weight.

"Lucario! Sit on Metagross! Hit an Aura Sphere in the air and wait for it to come down!"

"Metaaa…"

"Metagross, no! Get out of there!" Paul shouted. But it was useless, as Mega Lucario's aura powers were strong enough to hold it down there, below its butt. Lucario waited there as Metagross's CPU was resetting itself in pain, as Aura Sphere was coming back down.

Finally, two seconds before the attack struck the earth, Lucario rushed out of there, as Metagross was hit at point blank. The dust settled.

"Metagross is unable to battle! Lucario wins!"

"Return, Metagross." Paul said.

"Thank you, Lucario! Let's keep it going!" Ash smiled.

"Gastrodon! Battle standby!"

"Lucario, let's keep it going!" Ash shouted. "Bullet Punch!"

"Use Ice Beam!"

Meanwhile, in the stands

"Mega Lucario. Hm." Brock smiled.

"Aceee!"

"Cinderace?" Goh said. "Ah, I see, you're here to cheer for Lucario."

"Ace."

"Lucario! Follow up with Aura Sphere!"

"Gastrodon, counter with Water Pulse!"

"Oh, I see quite a few Pokemon here." Brock smiled. "Latios, Thwackey, Weavile, Cinderace…"

"Yes." Jira smiled. "Latios and Weavile were the Pokemon who found Ash… back then. He was hurt by a swarm of Beedrill. I was walking with them in search for a good place to host a picnic with Leon and Hop. And they found this guy in a cloak, visibly shaken. He felt like he was about to give up the ghost, so we gave him a quick Hyper Potion-based treatment."

"He later told me his real name by accident, before covering up and saying his pseudonym, Red Satoshi. We promised to keep this a secret. Since then, it looks like he was comfortable with sharing his real struggles with Goh."

"I'm so glad…" Brock said as he teared up, "…that you took care of him. I feel like I should say sorry to Ash. I haven't done enough to try to catch up."

"Lucario! One more Aura Sphere!"

"Hit back with an Earth Power!"

"No, Brock." Goh said. "You've done more than enough. You've literally put your Pokemon Doctor career aside to find your friend. It was obvious that at one point you had to put yourself first. But deep inside, you're so happy he is still alive."

"I'm wondering about Paul", Hop said, "as it seems like this guy is a rival from his past. I've heard something about meeting up after the match."

Back to the battle

"Gastrodon is unable to battle! Lucario wins!" the referee announced.

"Unbelievable! Ash leads Paul 4-2 by now! But Lucario seems to be really tired by now…"

Indeed, Mega Lucario has given its best to defeat two of Paul's powerful Pokemon. Gastrodon weakened Lucario quite a bit and took advantage of its weakness to Ground-type moves. Ultimately, however, Lucario prevailed, but was visibly huffing and puffing.

"Lucario, return." Ash smiled. "Have a good rest for now."

"I'm in a quite dire situation…" Paul thought. "What do I do now?"

"It seems like your strategies are better than ever, Ash." Paul said. "I'm sure that two-year break was enough to get that head of yours perked up. I have to admit that."

"But it's still not over." Paul smiled. "Drapion, battle standby!"

"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash said to his buddy, as the electric mouse went back on the battlefield.

"Drapion! Cross Poison!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Go, Pikachu! Go, go!" Dawn shouted from Johto. She missed Pikachu so much, as well. Buneary and May's Glaceon immediately popped up from their PokeBalls, followed by Serena's Sylveon and Misty's Psyduck. Together with Piplup, they all made some noise, feeling that even in front of the TV they could show their support for their lost friend.

"Now Pikachu, follow up with a Quick Attack!"

"Catch it." Paul smirked.

"You won't be able to." Ash smirked harder.

Pikachu's lightning speed attack was fast enough to barely dodge Drapion's claws. But it felt like Drapion did not take much damage.

"Pikachu, use one more Thunderbolt!"

"X-Scissor!" Paul shouted, as Drapion was able to succesfully block Pikachu's electric-type attack this time around.

"I'm still trying to get close…" Ash thought.

"Drapion! Pin Missile!"

"Counter with Electroweb!"

"Man, how do I deal with this fucker? It does seem to be immobile though… I mean, it doesn't really move from its place. Maybe I could try this…"

"Drapion! Let's use our secret weapon!"

"Huh?"

"Toxic Spikes!"

"You're not getting away with that." Ash smiled. "Pikachu, don't worry. It will not affect us." Pikachu agreed in a short moment of distraction, which was enough for Paul.

"Catch it!" Paul shouted as Pikachu got trapped inside its claws…

"Use a full-power Thunderbolt!"

"Poison Fang!"

"Piiiikaaaa…" Pikachu was starting to charge up its powerful attack, as the Poison Fang was closing in.

"Now!" Ash shouted.

A huge explosion was caused, blinding the crowd of 5,500 people, Ash's friends in the stands, and even the TV cameras, causing the transmission to go off for a short period of time as the four girls were getting a little worried.

"Drapion and Pikachu are both unable to battle!"

"We are sorry for the disconnection!" Galar 2 TV announced. "And the return of Ash Ketchum is clearly paying off in spades here! With only one Pokemon remaining, Paul is now facing an uphill battle against one of Ash's Pokemon that hasn't even battled yet, as well as a mostly healthy Gengar and a heavily weakened, yet still strong-willed Mega Lucario!" the announcer said. "Paul is getting close to elimination! Will he be able to turn this around?!"

"Oh Arceus! He looks like he got Paul's number!" Dawn said excitedly.

"That's the Ash we all know!" May and Serena said as well, with Misty nodding in agreement.

"Ash", Paul said, "just like then… you have pushed me this far. You have three Pokemon left. That's impressive."

"Watching your battles as Red Satoshi," Paul continued, "taught me to never underestimate anyone. Even if that happens to be you. This is yet another proof…"

"But Electivire has gotten a lot stronger since then. That's… all I will say." Paul smirked.

"How about you just send it out?" Ash smiled. "You're not the type of guy to have such a speech."

"Both trainers, send out your Pokemon!" the referee said.

"I'm not wasting any time now. I'll send out Mega Lucario. Let's finish it off quickly." Ash thought.

"Lucario, I choose you!"

"Electivire! Battle standby!"