Chapter 61: Duel of the Masters

The next day, Ash was rigorously training his Pokemon for the final trial. Goh had gone off to another part of the island to train his Pokemon, as they could potentially go up against each other in the tournament. Presently, Ash was training Thwackey and Riolu.

"Thwackey, use Razor Leaf! Riolu, use Vacuum Wave!"

Thwackey waved his stick, summoning a barrage of leaves that he sent Riolu's way. Riolu, on guard as always, blasted them away with a series of Vacuum Waves.

"Thwackey, Branch Poke! Riolu, block it with Force Palm!"

Thwackey moved in to hit Riolu with his stick, But Riolu countered with his glowing fists. The two battled back and forth like this for a bit before the battle before breaking apart to rest.

"Great job, you two! Take a breather, and we'll pick it up from here."

It was then when he heard clapping coming from behind him. Turning around, he found Mustard coming up from behind him.

"Brilliant battling, Ash!"

"Thanks, Mustard! Got to be in top shape for the tournament, after all."

"I agree! But if you have time for a break, I have something I thought you might enjoy."

Reaching into his back pocket, the dojo master pulled out four tickets.

"There's a Master Class battle going on at Wyndon Stadium later today. None of the other students wanted to go see it, so I thought I'd see if you and your friends would be interested."

Ash grinned, and happily took the tickets.

"Thanks! I'm sure my friends would love to see it."

Goh, Chloe, and Lillie were equally as excited to see a Masters Eight Battle, so they caught a flying taxi, followed by a train ride to Wyndon Stadium. They made their way to their seats just as the announcer was making his opening chatter.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman! Are you ready for an exciting battle between two of the strongest trainers in the world!"

A deafening cheer spread through the crowd.

"Allright, then I won't hold it off any longer! Our first competitor is not only our current regional champion, but the monarch of the World Coronation Series himself. Give it up for Leon!"

The crowd went wild as Leon rose up onto the field, striking his signature pose before the announcer resumed his introductions

"And now give it up for his opponent! Not only is he the strongest gym leader in the Galar Cup, but he's also ranked 7th in the official World Coronation Series's rankings! He's Leon's self-proclaimed rival, make some noise for Raihan!"

The crowd cheered as Raihan rose up onto the stage, but it was nowhere near as loud as they did for Leon. Once the two had met in the middle of the arena, Dan flew down on his Aegislash to explain the rules.

"This will be a 3-on-3 battle with no time restrictions. There will be no switching unless a Pokemon has been knocked out, and you'll each send out your first Pokemon at the same time. Once I have declared all Pokemon on either side unable to battle, the battle will be over. In addition, you are each allowed a single use of Mega Evolution, a Z-Move, or Dynamax per battle. Trainers, take your positions!"

Leon and Raihan separated, taking their positions on opposite sides of the arena.

"Battle…begin!"

"Go, Gigalith!"

"Inteleon, I choose you!"

Lillie was curious to see Leon's choice of Pokemon. Not recognizing it, she took out her Rotomphone to gain some information on it.

"Inteleon, the secret agent Pokemon, and the final evolved form of Sobble. Inteleon has many capabilities hidden all over its body. It can shoot water from its fingers and glide using the membrane on its back."

After reading that it was Sobble's final evolution, Lillie released her own Sobble to watch. Sobble was immediately enamored with Leon's Inteleon, and made sure to watch closely. Suddenly, a huge sandstorm began to blow across the arena, making it difficult for the audience to see, but luckily a Drone Rotom managed to relay the footage.

"Huh? Where'd this Sandstorm come from, no one's even made a move yet!"

"That must be the Sandstream ability. When a Pokemon with it is brought into a battle, they automatically summon a Sandstorm."

Leon was unfazed by this change of weather. In fact, he was thrilled by it.

"I thought you would pull that trick, which is why I brought my Inteleon with me. Inteleon, use Echolocation to locate Gigalith!"

Inteleon, calm and collected, clacked his head fin with his claw, sending out vibrations. Unbeknownst to him, his opponent was right behind him.

"Rock Blast, Gigalith!"

"Dodge, then use Snipe Shot!"

Inteleon, sensing the presence of his opponent behind him, ducked away from the huge boulder and fired a quick blast of water from his finger, striking Gigalith square in the head, Its success, however, as the ground around him turned into a sand pit, set up by Gigalith using Sand Tomb.

"Gigalith, hit him with Body Press!"

Inteleon, noticing a large shadow on top of him, looked up to see Gigalith about to crush him from above.

"Inteleon, use Hydro Pump to boost yourself out!"

Inteleon nodded, and pointed his hands at the ground. Then, with one powerful blast of water, he shot out from his prison to safety, even managing to get Gigalith on his way out before gliding to safety while the Rock monster hit the ground hard.

"Gigalith, get up!"

"Hit him with another Snipe Shot, Inteleon!"

Before Gigalith could get up, Inteleon blasted him back down with a burst of water, knocking him out.

"Gigalith is unable to battle, Inteleon wins!"

Raihan wordlessly returned his fallen Pokemon before taking out another Pokeball.

"Alright then, try this on for size! Go, Flygon! Use Dragon Claw!"

"Hit him first with Sucket Punch, Inteleon!"

Before Flygon could reach him, Inteleon dealt a quick uppercut to his chin, stopping Flygon in his tracks.

"Now hit him with Water Pulse!"

While Flygon tried to recover, Inteleon blasted him with a ring of water, sending him sprawling back to Raihan's side of the field. Worse still, that attack left Flygon confused.

"Shake it off, Flygon! Hit him with Dragon Breath!"

Despite his confused state, Flygon managed to get off a powerful Dragon Breath, headed straight towards Inteleon. Surprisingly, Leon issued no commands, allowing Inteleon to take the hit head on. Raihan grinned, feeling like he had it in the bag.

"Got them."

"Inteleon, use Aqua Jet!"

Suddenly, Inteleon emerged from the smoke cloud in a huge stream of water, ramming right into Flygon and sending him flying to the ground. When the Sandstorm had dissipated, Flygon was out for the count.

"Flygon is unable to battle, Inteleon wins!"

"Looks like Raihan's been backed into a corner, folks! Can he overcome Leon's overwhelming lead, or will this be a clean sweep for Inteleon?"

Raihan snarled, clutching his last Pokeball tightly.

"Can't believe I have to resort to this early."

And so, he began channeling Dynamax energy into the Pokeball, making it huge before chucking it, revealing his last Pokemon to be a Gigantamaxed Duraludon. Leon couldn't help but smirk.

"Have I backed you into a corner already?"

"Fat chance! Duraludon, use Max Rockfall!"

"Hydro Pump, Inteleon!"

Inteleon acted quickly, using the Hydro Pump to blast the rock slab into smaller boulders. However, even after this he still got hit by some of them, causing heavy damage.

"G-Max Depletion!"

Just as Inteleon was recovering, a huge cyclone of energy surrounded Inteleon, sapping him further of his strength.

"Max Steelspike!"

"Use Acrobatics to dodge, Inteleon!"

Having recovered enough to move, Inteleon used his amazing agility and flexibility to jump and weave around the massive iron spikes emerging from the ground. But Duraludon wouldn't let up, and the spikes kept getting bigger before one hit him hard, sending him spiraling to the ground unconscious.

"Inteleon is unable to battle, Duraludon wins!"

Up in the stands, Sobble teared up a little bit upon seeing his hero defeated like that, but Lillie was able to calm him down.

"Don't worry, Sobble, he fought really well. I'm sure he'll be back to 100% in no time!"

"Sobble!"

"Man, things aren't looking good for Raihan. He's down to his last Pokemon, while Leon still has 2."

"Not to mention he's already used Gigantamax, meaning if Leon does it too, Duraludon will run out of energy first."

"Man, Leon sure is strong! He definitely deserves to be number one."

Leon laughed happily, his blood pumping from the exhilaration.

"This is why I love battling! Now, since you were kind enough to show me your ace, allow me to show you mine!"

Taking out a Pokeball, he dynamaxed it before tossing it into the air, revealing it to be his Charizard.

"You think I'm afraid of that? Max Rockfall, Duraludon!"

"Use Max Overgrowth to absorb the damage!"

Duraludon was quick, but Charizard was quicker, creating giant mushrooms to absorb the attack. He still took some damage, but not as much as Raihan was expecting.

"G-Max Depletion!"

"Counter with Max Wyrmwind!"

Before the energy cyclone could surround Charizard, he broke it apart with a burst of draconic energy, hitting Duraludon dead on, dealing a lot of damage. And unfortunately for Raihan, it was at that very moment Duraludon's Gigantamax ran out, leaving him outmatched.

"Charizard, G-Max Wildfire!"

"We're not going down without a fight! Duraludon, use Stone Edge!"

Despite knowing he had no chance of winning, the Duraludon launched a series of stone pillars at Charizard, though all of them were blasted into nothing by the extreme heat from the attack before it connected with Duraludon, covering the whole arena with smoke. When it had settled, Duraludon was on the ground unconscious.

"Duraludon is unable to battle! Charizard wins, and the winner is the monarch Leon!"

The crowd went into an explosive cheer as the competitors shook hands and posed for a selfie on Raihan's Rotomphone before going their separate ways.

"Man, that was awesome!"

"You say that about every battle you see, Ash."

"That's because they all are!"

Suddenly, Sobble jumped out of Lillie's arms and started running down the street.

"Sobble, come back!"

Luckily, they found Sobble not too far away, staring up at awe at Leon's Inteleon. Leon chuckled, picking the younger water type and placing him on his shoulder.

"Hello there, little one. Where'd you come from?"

"Sobble! Thank goodness."

When Leon saw Ash and his friends coming towards him, he smiled.

"Hey guys, long time no see! And who might you be, miss?"

"I'm Chloe, its nice to meet you."

Leon gently picked Sobble off his shoulder and handed him to Lillie, much to her relief.

"I'm so sorry about this, Leon. Sobble was a huge fan of your Inteleon, and I guess he wanted to see his hero up close."

Leon laughed, and laughed it off.

"Don't worry about it, Lillie! Inteleon and I love meeting fans, isn't that right buddy?"

Inteleon smiled, and patted Sobble on the head, making Sobble happy.

"So, what brings you to Galar this time?"

Ash and Goh explained to Leon about their training on the Isle of Armor. Leon smiled happily.

"Ah, good to see my old master is still going strong!"

When Ash and Goh heard that, their jaws dropped.

"You trained under Mustard, too?"

"Sure did! Never could pass the last test, though."

Looking down at his watch, his eyes widened in shock.

"Crap! I forgot, I promised Hop I'd meet up with him for dinner after my match. Sorry guys, but I've got to go! Give Mustard my regards!"

With that, Leon ran off, leaving the four friends shocked.

"Wow…to think, Leon trained under the former champion," Chloe thought out loud.

"I know, and now Ash and I are training under him as well."

But Ash was not perturbed by this. In fact, if anything he was more excited than ever.

"That just makes me want to challenge him even more!"