Pokemon Journeys: Masters 8 Tournament

Chapter 28 - The Queen's Aura

On the Stadium screen, we could see the following: (Bold = Currently battling; Italic = Resting; Underlined = Knocked out or Disqualified; Pokeball = Unrevealed; Numbers behind each other = their respective kill count)

Ash (0): Dracovish (0), Dragonite (0), Pokeball (0), Pokeball (0), Pokeball (0), Pokeball (0)

Cynthia (0): Spiritomb (0), Garchomp (0), Pokeball (0), Pokeball (0), Pokeball (0), Pokeball (0)

Ash knew he was at a disadvantage. His Dragonite was sleeping, and his Dracovish was hurt. He was still planning on a way to turn things around. He took a deep breath and stretched his limbs. He was excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because he was battling against someone he idolized a lot. Cynthia was so powerful and charismatic at the same time. Almost everyone in Sinnoh would simp for her. But because she was so powerful, he was nervous: one major mistake in his command would cost him the battle.

Cynthia, on the other hand, was super composed. She knew Ash was strong, especially his Pikachu, Infernape, and Greninja. Two of them she personally knew, and Greninja she learned because of the quarterfinal match. She planned to conserve her pokemon's strength so that she could handle them directly. But with the new tournament rules, she knew she had the upside.

Ash knew there was no use standing there and panicking. He pointed at Spiritomb, "Attack is the best defense. Let's start things off with your new move! Dracovish, use Hydro Pump!"

"Sucker Punch!" Cynthia commanded with confidence. This was a pokemon she hadn't seen before, and she had only heard the rumors that it was related to ancient fossils. Just for the urban myth alone, the archaeological side of her would love to observe how it battles in the first place. If she took it out so easily with the Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo, she would lose valuable data about this pokemon.

Just as Dracovish was charging a beam of water in its mouth, Spiritomb's cloudy part extended to the front and hit Dracovish in its stomach. The dragon bore the damage and took a few steps back, but still managed to shoot the strong pulse of water to Spiritomb, aiming at the immobile stone of Spiritomb. The water pulse hit Spiritomb's stone, which was an easy hit because the rock in Spiritomb wasn't moving whatsoever.

Paul nodded when he saw Dracovish using Hydro Pump like that. It was accurate and powerful considering how many days Ash had been training it on. This dumb kid really listened to his comments and advice.

Serena remembered Ash training his pokemon for the matchup in the past few days. Dracovish was able to refine the power and accuracy of Hydro Pump, Dragonite was working on her Dragonite Meteor, Pikachu was trying to manipulate his electricity's directions, Gengar was working on its countershield, Sirfetch'd had a new move too. Though with a few tricks and improvements in Ash's sleeves, he already had to present one of them right away. It was a concerning moment for Serena.

Spiritomb took the damage like a champ, and started laughing at Dracovish, as if to say Dracovish's Hydro Pump was not that effective on it. Dracovish was pissed by its tease, and started to awkwardly run toward Spiritomb. Its fangs turned blue and it started biting. The biting animation was unsettling to say the least.

Ash didn't want Dracovish to rush out like that, but since it had done that, he might just follow the momentum, "Yes! Keep charging with Fisheous Rend!"

"Spiritomb, return," Cynthia took out her Pokeball and returned Spiritomb. She noticed that Dracovish was not a good runner, but for Dracovish to charge in and bite Spiritomb, her Spiritomb would be in danger. She had another Pokeball in her other hand and she soon threw it out into the battlefield, "Garchomp, maintain distance and use Dragon Tail on its legs."