A/N: Time for the conclusion of Misaki and Ryota's battle. It's finally time to see who won. I apologize these chapters are taking so long to update, but I am busy with college and other fanfics I am working on. Please continue to comment and give suggestions. The ones I am already getting from you guys are great. I will do my best to incorporate them in.

DeoxysSpeed: Thanks. Glad to see you're liking the story.

shockman294: I personally don't see Ryota as an Ash-like character, but I do agree that he does put a lot of effort into getting stronger.

The smoke from the impact slowly began to clear. The crowd gazed at the battlefield in suspense. Finally, one of the two pokemon fell down in defeat and returned to its trainer's pokeball.

"That's it everyone!" the announcer cried out. "This insane, suspenseful, action packed battle has come to an end. The winner is… Ryota!"

The crowd roared with excitement at the victor. Ryota returned his Torterra to its pokeball and nonchalantly walked away, as if he knew this outcome would happen from the very beginning. Misaki bowed her head down in defeat and walked away. I got out of my seat to go meet up with the female trainer in the lobby. Clair followed closely behind me.

As we entered the lobby, we found Misaki sitting down on a bench. I walked over and took a seat next to the female trainer.

"I was so close" she said in a quiet tone.

"Misaki…"

As I was trying to figure out the words to say, Misaki began chuckling to herself. "All that training… all that focus… just to lose to that guy in the end." She looked back at me. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I may have lost to Ryota, but I know you can beat him"

"Misaki are you sure you-"

"I said I'm fine" Misaki said with a smile. "I did my best and got Ryota to acknowledge my strength, even if it was just a little. Now make sure you beat him"

"I still have one more match before I can fight him in the finals" I reminded her.

"Oh please" Misaki grinned. "You'll get through the semis no problem"

I could tell Misaki wasn't lying. She truly felt that I could beat anyone. That confidence she had in me made me feel a lot more relieved for the upcoming match. "Well, let's head back to the hotel. I'm pooped from today"

Misaki nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Me too" The three of us left the lobby and exited the stadium. As we walked outside, I found Ryota waiting for us, or most likely me. The black haired trainer gave a confident smirk and simply said "See you in the finals" before walking away. Even Ryota felt that he and I would be the last two trainers in the tournament. The brown haired trainer was filled with anticipation for when Ryota and I could have our match.

As we entered the hotel's lobby that functioned as the pokemon center, I felt the eyes of everyone there turn towards me. It wasn't surprising. I was one of the final four after all. It was only natural that people would look at me differently, with a sense of awe. Admitably though, it was getting a little weird. I did his best to ignore the endless stares from players as Misaki, Clair, and I walked over to the rooms.

I opened the door to my hotel room and immediately laid down on the bed, exhausted from today. My battle against Riley had been amazing, and watching the match between Misaki and Ryota had drained away all my energy just from watching it. Not having the strength to do anything else, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright trainers!" the NPC announcer yelled to the crowd. "It's time for the first round of the semi-finals! Are you ready?!" In response, the crowd of players let out a deafening roar of agreement. "Then let's introduce the first trainer! He showed us a lot of excitement in his last two battles! Give it up for Ren!"

I walked out to the battlefield with the crowd cheering for me. I had gotten this far, and I wasn't going to lose now. My chance to battle Ryota was riding on this match.

"And now for his opponent!" the announcer continued. "The skilled trainer who won with style, Reginald!" The crowd once again cheered, excited for the match to begin. However, something was wrong. No one was coming out from the other side of the stadium. "Reginald?" the announcer said. "You can come out now." Still, no player exited from the opening.

'What's going on? Is he running late for some reason?'

"If Reginald does not show up within the next sixty seconds, I'm going to have to call it a forfeit." The announcer declared. A large clock appeared on the monitor, counting down from sixty seconds. The crowd began to get anxious.

"Where is he?"

"Did he chicken out?"

"He must have realized he had no chance to begin with."

The players in the crowd began to keep muttering about what was going on. A few felt he was just running away, but I knew that couldn't be the case. Any player that had made it this far would never run from a fight this important. But that just raised a bigger question, where was he?

The timer finally hit zero and a loud buzzer was heard. "Reginald has not shown up in time. Therefore, the winner is Ren!"

The crowd began booing and hissing, annoyed that they hadn't gotten to see a match like they were supposed to. While I wanted to fight Ryota badly, I didn't feel satisfied winning my semi-final match like this either.

"Hold on folks, I'm getting a message from the other stadium where Ryota and Felix are battling" the announcer said. "Apparently, Felix hasn't shown up for his match either and Ryota has been declared the winner. Therefore, your two finalists will be Ren and Ryota!"

The crowd had mixed feelings about the announcements. Everyone had a strong feeling that Ryota and I would be the finalists. At the same time however, skipping a full round like this had killed all the excitement buzzing about for today. That wasn't what was bothering me however. Two players had suddenly disappeared right before they were supposed to fight me and Ryota. There was no way that could be a coincidence. In that case, just what exactly was going on?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ryota POV:

Walking out of the stadium had such a boring feeling to it this time. Granted, there was no way I would have lost regardless of whether my opponent had shown up or not. However, it still had a bitter taste to not even have to battle to get through the semis.

I entered my room, annoyed from the letdown today. Something was definitely going on though. There's no way two trainers would just quit and run like that after making it to the semi-finals. Well, at least I would be able to finally fight Ren.

"Just you wait Ren" I said. "I'm going to make sure I defeat you."

"That's the spirit, Ryota"

I suddenly turned around, as a figure began to manifest into the room. It was the game creator, my father.

"What are you doing here?" I glared.

"Is that any way to talk to the man who just gave you a valuable gift?"

"Gift?" I questioned "What are you… no way"

"It took you long enough to piece it together" the masked man said. "You didn't really think those two trainers had just run away, did you?"

"What did you do?"

"Oh I just had them take a little trip" he chuckled. "It's such a shame. You never know what could happen in this game. Accidental deaths happen all the time"

"You bastard!" I growled. "How dare you interfere like that!"

My father let out a heavy sigh. "You just don't get it, do you Ryota? I'm doing this for you. Once Ren dies in your match tomorrow, you can stand at my side and rule this world with me"

"Once Ren dies?" I asked. "What are you planning? Trainers can't die in an official match!"

"If the safety net is disabled they can. I have full control over this game. Now just kill him tomorrow and you will have proven yourself as the strongest there is."

"Shut the hell up!" I yelled. "I will not kill Ren! I am going to defeat him tomorrow fair and square, and then I'm coming after you!"

"I see you need some persuading" my masked father sighed. "I'll just have to help you a little it seems." He reached out his hand and I suddenly found myself paralyzed.

"What are you going to do?" I glared.

"Just make you see things from a different perspective" he said. "You'll feel much better afterwards, trust me."

"No... Stop it… Auuuugggghhhh!"

"Now listen to me. You must kill Ren tomorrow. Do you understand?" my father asked.

"I… I will… I must… kill Ren"

A/N: Alright, the time has finally come. The battle between Ren and Ryota is right around the corner. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am.