Chapter 141: The Masters Eight Begins

Goh stepped off the boat at Slateport City, taking in the sea air. But he wasn't here to relax. No, this was just the starting point of an even greater journey.

"Just you wait, Mew. I'm coming for you!"

"Goh!"

Just then, his fellow chasers Green and Horace approached him.

"Hey, guys! Are you ready?"

"You know it!" Green said confidently.

"I was so excited, I barely slept at all last night!"

"Well, that won't do us any good."

Their last chaser, Gary, came up to them, his trademark smirk on his face.

"After all, a tired chaser will slow us down!"

"Gary," Green said flatly, making the older teen chuckle.

"Although, I guess I can't blame Horace. I'm pretty stoked myself."

He then turned to Goh.

"It's just too bad about the timing. The Masters Eight starts today, doesn't it?"

Goh nodded.

"Yeah, but Ash knows how important this is to me. He has his goals, and I have mine, but no matter the distance we always support each other!"

With that, the four made their way to the outskirts of the city, where Professor Willow, Danika, and Quillon were waiting for them. As he boarded the airship, Goh's thoughts drifted to Ash one more time.

"Good luck, Ash."


Meanwhile in the Galar region, Ash was standing outside Wyndon Stadium, keeping an eye out for two people in particular.

"I don't see them, do you buddy?"

"Chu."

"ASH!"

His worry immediately vanished when he saw the people he was looking for come running up to him. He held his arms open wide, allowing Lillie to run into them as he pulled her into a kiss.

"Did you miss me?"

"Of course I did! But now that you're here, I don't have to anymore!"

Chloe huffed playfully.

"What am I, chopped liver?"

Ash chuckled, and gave Chloe a hug too.

"Thanks for coming, Chloe."

"Of course, how could I miss it? It's just too bad that Goh had to miss it, though."

But Ash just waved off her concern.

"I know he wanted to be here, but he's with me in spirit!"

Attention, all Masters Eight competitors please make your way to the locker room. Again, all Masters Eight competitors please make your way to the locker room.

"Guess that's my cue! See you guys in the stands!"

Ash was just about to turn around and head in, but Lillie stopped him to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good luck."

Ash blushed, but nodded before running into the stadium, making Chloe and Lillie giggle.

"Boys."


Ash ran down the halls, looking for the locker room. He wasn't alone for long, though, because Iris soon joined him.

"Cutting a little close, aren't you Ash?"

"No way, I'm almost there!"

"Too bad I'm going to win!"

"Dream on!"

At last, they burst into the locker room, cheering as they hit the ground at the same time.

"I win!"

"Ahem."

When they opened their eyes, they found the other members of The Masters Eight all staring at them. Sheepishly, the two settled down.

"Uh, hi?"

The others chuckled, amused by their antics. Alain stepped forward and shook Ash's hand.

"It's been a while, Ash. Good to see you."

"Right back at ya! Just don't get your hopes up too high on winning, because I'm taking this!"

"We'll see."

Leon chuckled.
"Ah, young rivalry."

Just then, a league employee poked their head in.

"The opening ceremonies are going to start in 10 minutes. We need all of you at the staging platform in 5."

"Looks like its showtime," Cynthia commented.

"Alright then," Leon said with a smirk. "Let's go out there and show them a champion time!"


Up in the stands, Chloe and Lillie had to squeeze into the jam packed seats. Luckily, Ash had been able to get them front row seats, but even there it was hard to move.

"Man, it sure is crowded."

"What'd you expect? This is the biggest event of the year!"

"Excuse me, do you guys mind if I join you?"

The two turned to see hop coming towards them, his Wooloo in his arms.

"Sure! Hop, this is Chloe, our friend from Vermillion City. Chloe, this is Hop."

"Nice to meet you, Chloe."

"Same. You're Leon's brother, right?"

Hop chuckled, and nodded.

"Yep! And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but he's going to win! Ash doesn't stand a chance."

"I guess we'll see, won't we?"

The lights began to dim, signaling that it was time to start.

"Ladies and gentleman, the moment you have waited for is finally here! It is time for The Masters Eight! Please give a big welcome to the chairman of the Pokemon League Committee, Charles Goodshow!"

The crowd cheered as a spotlight hit the stage, revealing the man in question.

"Thank you, Cecil! For years, our regions have had their own Pokemon Leagues and Champions, but one question has always been on everyone's mind: who is the strongest of them all? The best of the best? For years we didn't have an answer for that, until now! Three years ago, the head of Macro Cosmos approached me with an idea: a worldwide league where trainers from all over can compete to settle once and for all who is the strongest. And thus the Pokemon World Coronation Series was born!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as Chairman Rose rose up from beneath the stage.

"And now, to share his own thoughts on the matter, the man himself!"

"Thank you, Charles. Like many, I wanted this question answered for many years. Then one day, I had an idea. You see, in Galar our Gym Leaders are celebrities, with their matches being broadcast all over the region like you would a League battle. Why don't we do that, but on a wider scale? I immediately called Goodshow, and he agreed immediately. And now, here we stand again!"

The crowd went wild once more, the men having to wait a good five minutes before the noise had died down enough for them to speak once more.

"But enough of our blabbing, let's get to the people you're really here for!"

"Well said, Rose!"

The two hopped off the stage, allowing the announcer to begin introducing the competitors.

"Ranked number 8th in the world rankings, an aspiring Dragon Master and the champion of Unova, it's Iris!"

Iris rose up onto the stage, waving to her fans as they cheered for her.

"Hi, everyone! I promise to make you all proud!"

"Ranked 7th, he's the champion of Alola, the runner up in Kalos, and the first person to conquer Kanto's Battle Frontier, Ash Ketchum!"

"Go, Ash!" Lillie screamed as loud as she could.

"Vul!"

"You can do it!" Chloe joined in.

"Evoi!"

"Ranked 6th, the winner of the last Kalos League conference, and an up and coming researcher on Mega Evolution, Alain!"

Alain silently nodded to the audience as they cheered, before exchanging a look with Ash.

"Ranked 5th, the current champion of Kalos, and voted top model of the year 10 years running, Diantha!"

The actress smiled, and bowed to the audience as she rose up.

"Ranked 4th, the champion of both Kanto AND Johto, heir to the Blackthorn clan and leader of the G-Men, Lance!"

The Dragon Master tossed his cape over his shoulder, striking a pose as the audience cheered.

"Ranked 3rd, champion of Hoenn and heir to the Devon Corporation, its Steven Stone!"

The champion of Hoenn waved to the audience, before dabbing the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Ranked 2nd, the champion of Sinnoh and the undisputed expert on all things Fossil, it's Cynthia!"

Cynthia, like many of the others, simply waved to the audience, but got massive cheers for it anyway.

"And now, the man of the hour! The undefeated champion of Galar, sponsored by Chairman Rose himself, give it up for the Monarch LEON!"

Leon tossed his cape aside, striking his signature pose as the crowd went crazy.

"These eight are the top of the world ranking, and over the next few weeks will battle it out in a Double Elimination tournament to decide who has earned the right to be called Number 1!"


"Double elimination?" Lillie pondered.

"It means you won't get knocked out of the tournament the first time you lose," Hop explained.

"That's good," Chloe said. "Even if they lose, they can still manage to fight their way back in."

"Maybe, but it also makes it harder to win," Hop said. "One thing's for sure, this will be a tournament to remember."


"Each match will be decided by random selection before they begin!" Charles explained. "No one will know who or when they'll battle before it's their turn."

"So you could be called to the battlefield at any moment?" Diantha mused.

"That's quite a twist," Steven added. "That won't give much time to prepare."

"Unless you're selected to go last," Cynthia nodded. But Lance wasn't worried.

"As trainers, it's our job to face any challenge head on. This just makes things a bit more interesting."

With that out of the way, the screen above them began spinning to select the first competitor. All of the faces spun round and round several times before landing on…

"What luck! It seems our Monarch himself will be in the opening match!"

Leon chuckled, and stepped forward.

"I plan on showing my opponent a true champion's time!"

"And his competitor shall be…Alain!"

Alain was surprised, but quickly composed himself.

"Bring it."

"Both competitors will have 10 minutes to prepare themselves! Don't go anywhere folks, the fun has yet to begin!"


Chairman Rose darted his eyes around, making sure no one was around to see him. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he took out his Rotomphone and made a call.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes, sir. The machine is all set to collect the energy from the battles and send it into The Darkest Day."

"Excellent. Inform me immediately if anything changes."

"Yes, sir!"

With that he hung up, before leaning against the wall and sighing deeply.

"No matter what, I will save Galar. I won't let that happen again…"


A/N: Here we are folks, the climax of the story! But don't think it's even close to being over, we've still got plenty of action left! I'm well aware of how divisive the tournament was in canon, and I'll be doing my best to fix it.

That being said, I should warn you all that updates will become a lot more infrequent going forward. I'll be writing every single battle out, and all of them will be full battles, so as you can imagine that'll be taking a lot of energy. That, combined with having to keep up with my other stories, and I think you can see why things will take a little longer now. Right now I hope to get a battle out per month, but I can't promise anything. You've all been super patient with me before, and I ask you to continue to do so. Until next time, my friends!