Chapter 63: Psychic vs Aura: The Ultimate Showdown

After another day of training, it was time for the dojo's tournament. The four finalists stood at the ready as Mustard explained the rules.

"Alright, here's how this will work. Each of you will be paired off and compete in 2-on-2 battles. The winners will move on to a 1-on-1 battle, with the winner receiving the Island's secret armor. Any questions?"

The four shook their heads no.

"Excellent. Now, by random selection, the two pairs will be Ash vs Avery, and Goh vs Klara. Ash, Avery, you each have an hour to prepare."

Before they were dismissed, Avery stepped forward.

"Sir, I humbly request that my match with Ash be allowed to be broadcast as a World Coronation Series match. I wish to demonstrate to the world the strength of your teachings."

Mustard nodded in approval.

"Very well, you have my blessing."

With that, Mustard made his way to the battle court, leaving the four to prepare. Ash offered his hand to Avery out of sportsmanship.

"Good luck, Avery. May the best trainer win."

Avery scoffed, walking away to prepare.

"Don't worry, I will."

Ash just rolled his eyes, and made his own preparations.

An hour later, Ash made his way to the Battle Court through the mountainous passage. As he neared the battlefield, he found Mustard waiting for him.

"Are you ready, Ash?"

"You bet! My Pokemon and I are going to win, right buddy?"

"Pika Pikachu!"

Mustard laughed, and patted Pikachu on the head.

"I love the determination! You know, as the dojo master it's my role to be fair and impartial, but between you and me I really hope you win."

This got Ash's attention.

"Really? What about Avery?"

Mustard shook his head sadly.

"Avery's a strong trainer, yes, but he's too arrogant. Before you came along, none of the other students at the dojo could beat him, and he began slacking off on his training. He sees you as a threat, which is why he wants to beat you on the world stage. I only agreed in the hopes that this will teach him some humility."

Ash nodded in understanding.

"I'll certainly try my best."

"I know you will."
"Oi, get over here! I want to beat you already!"

Ash rolled his eyes, but joined Avery on the battle court, with Mustard right behind him. All of the other members of the dojo were on the sidelines, waiting for the battle to start. Once both Ash and Avery hit the confirmation buttons on their phones, a Drone Rotom flew down to give his intro spiel.

"Attention, attention, a World Coronation Series battle is about to begin! This battle will be between Ash Ketchum, currently ranked 146, and Avery, ranked 200! Each challenger will use 2 Pokemon, and can switch out as often as they like! Challengers, are you ready? 3…2…1…GO!"

"Go, Rillaboom!"

"Kadabra, showtime! Use Psybeam!"

"Dodge with Acrobatics, then use Drum Beating!"

RIllaboom expertly flipped over the wave of Psychic energy, before beating Kadabra over the head, making the Psychic type cry out in pain.

"Don't let up, Rillaboom!"

"Don't just sit there and take that! Knock him off with Zen Heabutt!"

Frantically, Kadabra rammed his head into Rillaboom's, throwing the gorilla Pokemon off of him.

"Wood Hammer, Rillaboom!"

"Psybeam!"

Rillaboom roared and charged once more, managing to tank the Psybeam before smashing his manifested hammer and smashing Kadabra into the ground with it. Once the dust settled, Kadabra was out cold.

"Kadabra is unable to battle! Rillaboom wins!"

"Great job, Rillaboom!"

Rillaboom roared proudly, beating his chest in triumph. Avery scowled, returning his Kadabra without even a word of praise.

"Self Righteous upstart! I'll teach you not to mess with me! Go, Slowbro! Use Acid!"

"High Horsepower, Rillaboom!"

Rillaboom took out his tree stump drum and began beating on it, creating vibrations under Slowbro that shook and dealt great damage to it. In the meantime, Slowbro had released a shot of acid from its arm cannon, nearly knocking Rillaboom off his feet when it hit him.

"Why won't you stay down? Guess I'll have to teach you this lesson the hard way."

With that, Avery returned Slowbro to its Pokeball before enlarging it, tossing it into the air to reveal his Dynamaxed Slowbro. Not one to be outdone, Ash did the same to Rillaboom.

"Two can play that game! Time to test out your new power, buddy!"

Ash did the same, showing off Rillaboom's new GIgantamax form, the Grass type beating his massive drum wildly.

"Humph, so what? Max Ooze, Slowbro!"

"Rillaboom, use Max Quake!"

From beneath Rillaboom, a geyser of poison rushed up beneath Rillaboom, dealing him super effective damage. But the drummer didn't even seem fazed, instead using the vibrations from his drums to create an earthquake under Slowbro, dealing lots of damage to it.

"Max Ooze, again!"

"Max Airstream, Rillaboom!"

This time, Slowbro released a glob of poison from the shell on his arm, but that was easily propelled by a miniature cyclone created from Rillaboom's drum set. Some of it did still get on him though, making the ape cringe in pain.

"Max Ooze, full power!"

"G-Max Drum Solo!"

Slowbro roared, creating a poison geyser even greater than the last one. Despite the pain he was in, Rillaboom let out an equally impressive roar, drumming wildly to summon massive vines to whip Slowbro about. Finally, the Dynamax wore out, leaving both Pokemon smaller and weaker. But in the end, it was Rillaboom who fell first, the damage from Slowbro's poison type moves proving to be too much for him.

"Rillaboom is unable to battle! Slowbro wins!"

Avery smirked cockily, pushing his glasses up in triumph.

"Had enough yet? Or do you feel the need to embarrass yourself even more?"

Ash groaned, returning Rillaboom to his Pokeball.

"Good job, buddy. Get some rest."

Ash thought for a moment, taking into consideration all of his options. He was about to send out Dragonite when he felt a pulse coming from a certain Pokeball. As if the Pokemon were…calling to him.

"Are you sure?"

The Pokeball wiggled, confirming that he was.

"Alright, if you insist. Go, Riolu!"

Avery guffawed when he saw his next opponent.

"You must be kidding!"

"If this is what Riolu wants, then who am I to refuse?"

Even his friends were questioning Ash's choice.

"Why Riolu? He's at a severe type disadvantage."

"I don't know, but he said Riolu wanted it."

Lillie, however, still believed in Ash.

"You can do it, Ash!"

Avery shrugged, figuring it'd be an easy win.

"You're funeral. Slowbro, use Psybeam!"

"Use Vacuum Wave, Riolu!"

Riolu barely managed to dodge the attack, the energy beam grazing him as he ran forward, shooting at Slowbro with his own Aura attacks.

"Now use Brick Break!"

Once he got in close enough, RIolu began punching at Slowbro's legs, nearly toppling the Psychic type. Avery began to get impatient.

"Slowbro, hurry up and finish this mongrel! Use Psychic!"

Slowbro effortlessly lifted Riolu up into the air, despite the little fighting type's efforts to resist, and was flung backwards before being smashed into the ground. Then, to add insult to injury, he did so repeatedly, making Riolu cry in pain.

"Riolu!"

Slowly, Riolu forced himself to his feet, only to nearly fall over in pain from the effort. Knowing it was time to quit, Ash raised Riolu's Pokeball.

"Enough is enough, I can't let you do this to yourself! No victory is worth putting you through that."

Riolu was shocked that Ash cared so much about him. The idea made him shed a tear of joy, and then he started to glow and grow, much to Ash's joy.

"Riolu, you're evolving!"

Indeed, when the glowing had stopped, a proud Lucario now stood in his place.

"Lucario!"

"Lucario, can you keep fighting?"

Lucario turned to Ash and flashed him the thumbs up.

"Alright, let's do this!"

Avery mentally cursed at this. Now that Riolu had evolved, he resisted Slowbro's Psychic type attacks, and was immune to his Poison type ones, leaving him with limited options. Still, he was too stubborn to admit defeat.

"Psybeam, Slowbro!"

"Double Team, then use Aura Sphere!"

Lucario charged towards his opponent with renewed strength, creating clones of himself. Slowbro tried to blast them back with energy from his arm cannon, but all he managed to do was destroy some of the clones. Before he could recharge and continue firing, Lucario was already on top of him and the remaining clones let loose their Aura Spheres all at once, forcing Slowbro back.

"Now, Close Combat!"

Before Slowbro could regain composure, Lucario was on him again, kicking and punching him so hard at such close range that he couldn't put up a proper defense. Now Avery was getting desperate.

"Zen Headbutt, now!"

"Aura Sphere!"

Slowbro tried to go in for a headbutt, only to be met by an Aura Sphere right in the face. For a moment, the two stood still without making a move…

Before Slowbro felt over unconscious, ending the battle.

"Slowbro is unable to battle! Lucario wins, meaning the battle goes to Ash Ketchum!"

Ash was so excited that he jumped onto the battlefield and gave Lucario a big hug, Pikachu running up not too far behind.

"You did it, buddy! I just knew you could do it!"

Lucario was shocked momentarily, but happily returned the affection. Avery, on the other hand, was in complete shock.

"Unbelievable…after all my efforts, I still lost?"

"Hey."

To Avery's shock, Ash had approached him, offering a handshake. After a moment of uncertainty, Avery smiled and accepted it.

"You may have won this time, Ketchum, but next time it'll be a different story!"

"I look forward to it, Avery."

Avery turned and ran away, a renewed sense of excitement in him as he brushed past Mustard. The old master chuckled, and shook his head before addressing the other three competitors.

"Congratulations, Ash. Goh, Klara, you each may have 10 minutes to prepare for your match."

The two students bowed, first to their master, and then to their opponent before leaving to prepare.

Ash made his way to where his companions sat, Lillie being rather quick to run up and give him a victory kiss.

"Congrats, Ash! You managed to beat him."

"Yeah, and from the way he was acting I'd say it was long overdue."

"Yep! And that's not all!"

Ash held out his Rotomphone, where the number 99 was proudly displayed.

"That win brought me into the Ultra Class!"

"That's great! You've almost made it to the Master Class!"

"Yep! Look out Leon, because I'm coming for you!"