The next day

"Morning, Jira."

"Hey Ash, what's up?"

"I just woke up… honestly, I feel so easy now. I have to thank Goh for that one. Jira, are you ready for today's battle?"

"How can I not be? The more I think about it, the more I feel like our match in the finals was destined to happen."

"Now, now, Jira", Ash giggled, "don't think about that for now. You have to defeat your semi-final opponent. I'll be there to cheer for you."

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu cheered as he went down the stairs.

"I'm wondering how will the girls' Pokemon react now that Pikachu is here…" Ash thought.

"Croag."

"Ah, Brock. Morning."

Brock entered Ash and Jira's place at 8:30 AM in the morning as he was ready to once again take upon his Pokemon Doctor duties at the tournament as it was aproaching its climax. He was with Croagunk outside of his Poke Ball, who saw Pikachu and gret it with a powerful handshake. They felt like two brothers who haven't seen each other in a long time.

"Hey Ash, what's up? Have you slept well?" Brock smiled.

"Yeah… I just told Jira, I feel easy now. I'm waiting to face Jira in the finals. He must pass that Stephen guy… I've heard that he is a friend of Clair's." Ash said. "He might use a lot of dragon-type Pokemon."

"Ash," Brock said, "I've battled Jira once. He beat me 3-2… that Latios of his reminded me of Forrest losing to that cute Nurse Joy and her Latias…"

Latios smiled as he started to remember the fight. In that battle, Latios took out Crobat, Steelix and Blissey all by himself, while fainting in the process in the final battle against Blissey. Latios thus avenged Jira's own Crobat, who was defeated in a 1v1 air battle.

"You didn't even need to use Weavile?" Ash asked.

"Yes, if I remember correctly."

"Man, which one of these is ultimately your main Pokemon?" Brock asked.

"Ummm…" This was a very difficult question for Jira to answer, as he didn't want to eat a Draco Meteor or a Night Slash to the face.

"Eh, it doesn't matter. They're both out of their Poke Balls their entire time."

"I do return them to their Poke Balls when it's time to go to sleep. But sometimes they do want to remain outside if they feel stressed, especially Weavile."

"Latios, on the other hand, has this weird sense where he always gets out of his Poke Ball whenever I wake up. And Weavile notices this and gets out too."

"Pikachu… now I'm really curious how did the girls' Pokemon not notice him yet…"

But Ash kind of knew what his buddy was about to go through. Soon after, the four girls woke up and greeted the guys.

"Morning, everyone!" Ash noticed that the four girls gave him each a morning hug, before seeing Pikachu. At that point, Glaceon, Sylveon and Buneary went out of their poke balls and walked towards Pikachu and cuddled up with him. They decided to be soft and gentle, but at the same time they were all crying.

"Hey guys, can… can you please go outside? You're a little loud." Ash said to the four lovebirds, as they went outside and cuddled up there.

"So Jira…" May asked. "We're… we're sorry we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is May Maple, and I'm from the Hoenn region. I'm a Pokemon Coordinator who wants to meet all the Pokemon in the world."

"This is Misty Waterflower… the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. She is a powerful Water-type trainer and she wants to become a Water-type master, so to speak."

"And these two… they are Dawn Berlitz and Serena Yvonne, they are Pokemon Coordinators just like me, Dawn is from Sinnoh, Serena is from Kalos."

"Ah, nice to meet you." Jira smiled. "You… I know you are very enthusiastic. You've slept well, right?"

"You literally have no idea." Dawn beamed. "We are all so happy that he is here." she smiled as she hugged her lost friend again.

"Jira, by the way," Misty said, "I just have a quick question… how come you have a Latios of all things?"

"That's a Legendary Pokemon, isn't it?" Serena asked.

"Yes." Jira responded. "Latios… he was very lonely. He was roaming around the world for years now. He lost his sister…"

"Latias?"

"Yes. Latias was his sister and his best friend at the same time. She disappeared years ago and Latios couldn't find her at all."

"Do you mean that Nurse Joy's Latias who fought Forrest?" Ash asked.

"No, that's a different Latias," Brock responded. "From what I understand, that Latias was obtained in a trade. I'm not sure for what Pokemon, however."

"So one day, I was on a middle school trip to Faraway Island, and I suddenly heard some strange sounds coming from the forest. I quickly ran with Weavile towards the source and found Latios. It didn't feel like he was playing games or that he wanted to dissappear as soon as he saw me. I asked Latios at point-blank if he wants to join my team, and he immediately accepted… on one condition, that I keep his item, the Soul Dew, safe."

"So I immediately allowed Latios to just hold the Soul Dew… it not only allows him to perform better in battles, but it also always reminds him of his lost one."

"I faced it a few times." Ash said. "To be honest, I've never been able to properly defeat Latios. I could once beat the number one trainer in Galar, Leon. Maybe it really shows that I've lost my way."

"Ash," Dawn spoke, "we've actually watched your game against Paul. You were amazing!" she beamed.

"What… do you mean?"

"At one point you were still 3-1 up, and Paul's certainly gotten a lot stronger since your battle in Sinnoh."

"That Electivire of his," Ash said, "could honestly put up a fair fight against Latios. Maybe even win, who knows…"

Later

"Jira, I'm ready to see you out there. This time I'll be watching you from the stands, as Ash Ketchum once again." Ash smiled. "Goh? Hop? Are you ready?"

"Yes!" The three fist pumped for Jira.

"We're coming with you." Serena suddenly spoke.

"What?"

"Ash, we really missed you and to be honest, would like to be close to you. And we're really curious about this Jira and his battling skills."

"What about you, Brock?"

"Sorry, but I'm unable to do it today… these guys have called me up for work…"

Second semi-final: Jira vs Stephen

"After the exciting news that Ash Ketchum has returned, today it is time to focus on his semi-final round opponent! Will it be Jira or Stephen?!" the announcer said.

"Competitors", the referee said, "this will be a six-on-six, full 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."

"Battle start!"

"Kingdra, come on out!" Stephen said.

"Latios! Let's get them!"

"Latios?!" Ash spoke. "He's bringing out the big guns early."