Semifinals showdown

The crowd cheered as Shuichi advanced to the next round, there were more and more people coming to see the event and soon the audience number ballooned to 600 people.

Nurse Joy inwardly was happy to host such an event but she was also a little worried about the crowd being a little too much, that was until she received word that some veteran police officers were on the scene should things go wrong.

"Your son is no slouch Enki however, with another 3 trainers being equally as spectacular, it was no wonder he didn't feel confident about winning the tournament." An inconspicuous middle aged man told the man next to him.

'Enki' on the other hand looked at the other man sternly "Don't use my name! We're currently undercover, this distraction could be the most optimal time for them to try something."

Enki was currently using Ditto to change his face to someone pretty basic and bland, the other man was of course Looker who used the more old fashioned way of using make-up.

While his father couldn't fool Shuichi while disguised, Looker absolutely could. Due to not using a Ditto and using just tools, Looker could disguise himself to make him look natural.

"Probably not, the latest rumour we've obtained was that they were waiting for Professor Rowan to show up for an interview and presentation on some data he collected." Looker didn't think Team Galactic would show themselves now.

Enki nodded and spoke his mind "Those are the rumours indeed, however rumours are just rumours and nothing is set in stone."

Looker looked at Enki and smiled knowingly "Just acknowledge you wanted to watch your son and this was just a convenient excuse."

Enki coughed a few times and said with a serious look "Nonsense! As if I wanted to see how my own son would do in his first tournament." Looker just smiled and shook his head.

Inwardly however Enki was indeed here for his son and analysed the tournament from point of view. ('If one were to count Shuichi then it's quite possible to see the top 4 proceed all the way to the Lily of the Valley conference, Shuichi was right to not be overconfident')

This tournament was stacked with talented trainers and it showed from the audience and the still incoming people who all wanted to see it. Soon vendors who could smell the profit from a mile away started to advertise their goods and it turned into a small festive event.

Shuichi was unaware his father had come to cheer him on in his own way as he told him he couldn't make it due to police work, he was already happy his father didn't come like one of those sporting dad's he's seen in his past life.

Barry was currently in a battle against his opponent, he had also revealed his next Pokémon as a Staravia of his own. It was currently battling against Bibarel which was the evolved form of Bidoof and was much bigger than Bidoof was while still being beaver-like.

Bibarel currently tried to keep Staravia away with Water Gun as Staravia was ducking and dodging in the air.

Barry's opponent was trying to keep Barry from gaining momentum by keeping Staravia far away from Bibarel, however Bibarel was shooting out jets of water that were tiring it out endlessly.

('Bibarel is starting to panic and feel tired') Shuichi could tell when Bibarel would get tired due to being able to sense its panic.

Contrary to popular belief Barry could be patient as he kept telling Staravia to dodge, once Bibarel's shots were going wide did Barry tell Staravia to go on the offence.

The match spiralled out of control after that mistake, Staravia kept endlessly attacking Bibarel and soon it was recalled. Staravia's next opponent was a Roselia that Staravia made quick work of.

('The opponent once again panicked under Barry's rapid fire tactics, though I expected to see Barry be my semi finals opponent') Shuichi shook his head as Barry went to the sidelines, this time he wasn't going over to Shuichi or Paul and was just on his own.

Shuichi was a little peeved at not seeing Barry's third teammate however inwardly he knew it would be one of the starters. Barry would be his next opponent and he would be showing Combusken.

Nando was next up and was matched up against a fisherman, fishermen were people who mainly used water-types or Pokémon that could be caught with a fishing rod. These types of people were often called specialists.

Gym Leaders were specialists due to specialising in one type and even some of the strongest trainers in Sinnoh focused only on one type. There were upsides and downsides to this method.

The upside was that one could train their respective type easier the more Pokémon they had and train them up faster due to the Pokémon explaining and tutoring them along the way.

The downside was of course having an overarching weakness to the team, but on the flipside was that the trainer would be responsible for fixing this massive weakness.

Nando had sent out his own Roselia that was brimming with confidence and happiness, on the other side the fisherman sent out a yellow duck-like pokemon; Psyduck.

Psyduck were officially a pure water-type however they had a special talent for psychic attacks, Shuichi however frowned a little seeing the Pokémon.

It was because of its emotions, there was confidence that you would expect for a battle ready Pokémon but underneath that confidence was a hint of fear. Shuichi couldn't tell where this fear was directed at though.

('Its afraid of something? It doesn't look abused so it shouldn't be the trainer.') Shuichi looked at the fisherman who had a slightly desperate look on his face. There was something fishy about this.

With none the wiser about something fishy going on the match started, Nando started out with a Sunny Day to weaken the water type attack as Psyduck went for a confusion to deal some initial damage.

Confusion was basically a weak psychic wave slamming into the opponent, Pokémon could also try to telekinetically move their opponent to slam them into the ground.

"Mega Drain, please" Nando said as he wanted to recover some energy before going for another move, Roselia nodded and the green blob that was Mega Drain connected and sucked the Psyduck dry.

"Bullet Seed, please" Having recovered enough energy Nando planned to go for the finish. It seemed like the fisherman had given up because he didn't say anything and just gritted his teeth.

"Psyduck is unable to battle! Trainer Adam, please send out your next Pokémon!" Nurse Joy refereed however Adam was clearly hesitant to throw out his Pokéball.

"Trainer Adam! This is your last warning, send out your next Pokémon!" Nurse Joy was starting to get impatient and she wasn't the only one as even the crowd started to get rowdy.

"Please, I beg of you, just listen this one time." Adam spoke to his Pokéball, it was faint but Nurse Joy heard it causing her to be on high alert.

Before she could interrupt the Pokéball was thrown and out came a huge dragon-like Pokémon that is serpentine in shape and covered in blue and yellow scales. It has white fins on top of its body and it has a tan underbelly. It was a Gyarados.

Gyarados were infamous for being extremely difficult to control due to a change in brain structure upon evolution from Magikarp, there were cases of evolution changing a Pokémon's personality however Gyarados took that up to 11.

The moment Gyarados hit the field it roared madly, the entire crowd now erupted into panic as their history spoke for themselves. Gyarados were anger and destruction incarnate, some even dubbed them natural disasters.

('Now Psyduck's fear makes sense, it was afraid of its own team member!') Shuichi was inwardly shocked to see such a Pokémon here and made the connection.

Shuichi could also feel the Gyarados's anger spiralling out of control, however underneath that anger was a hint of confusion. Clearly it wasn't thinking straight.

('There is hope for it, however the trainer has to find that hope and focus on bringing it under control. And looking at Adam it clearly wasn't on his mind') Shuichi commented and looked at the panicking Adam.

Seeing all the people run away and scream only made Gyarados more volatile and soon it was flailing madly on the ground trying to actively hit people.

The situation got out of hand quickly and Nurse Joy was about to cancel the match and have Adam recall the Gyarados when a white beam suddenly struck the Gyarados hard.

Everyone looked over at where the beam came from and it was revealed to be Nando who had fired off a Solar Beam with Roselia, Gyarados now was focused on Roselia and went in for a Bite.

"Dodge, then another Solar Beam please," Nando was still as calm as ever and instructed Roselia to dodge, the huge sea serpent missed and was trying to turn back to Roselia when it had already charged a new beam due to the sun still being up.

Another white beam struck the Gyarados head on and this one was enough for it to be knocked out. Everyone was stunned before Nurse Joy took this opportunity to announce the match.

"Gyarados is unable to battle! The winner is Nando!" It took a second for the crowd to register the call yet when it did the entire ground shook with excitement.

"You almost had to step in there, a wild Gyarados, We're lucky this one just evolved from the looks of it." Looker said to Enki who nodded.

Everyone had suddenly elated all their panic into cheers as Shuichi had to cover his ears from being blown out by the screaming. He tried to see what happened to Adam as he was currently surrounded by police.

Throwing out an out of control Gyarados was a big crime, it was likely that Gyarados and his other Pokémon would be taken from him and released back in the wild with Adam himself being landed in jail for a long time.

It was a huge punishment, however if Nando hadn't stopped it, people could've and would've died. Such was the danger of training a Gyarados.

Even with the ability to sense the emotions of Pokémon Shuichi did not dare to try and catch a Gyarados for himself, some Pokémon were too risky for even him.

With order restored and even more attention attracted to this place did Nurse Joy try to continue the tournament, Well she would've liked to but the League committee stepped in due to the scale of the event getting too big for Nurse Joy.

An official referee was soon placed and even more police were sent to be on standby, Machoke were called to the scene to place even bigger bleachers capable of holding 2,000 people.

For a 'beginner' local tournament this sort of treatment was unheard of, Nurse Joy usually hosted these events and even then the audience didn't exceed past 400 in the previous years. 

With renovations now in place the tournament could continue, Shuichi was getting a little nervous from all the people yet Paul who was up next was as cool as could be.

"Trainers get ready to send out your Pokémon!" The new referee was officially trained and spoke seriously. He was also dressed in an official uniform that was a blue shirt with a Pokéball on his chest along with black shorts and two flags in his hands.

It added a sense of seriousness to the air, however all of this boiled down to a measly ₽450 beginner tournament. One would wonder what the League was thinking for something this small.

"Chimchar standby for battle!" Paul said as he sent out his Chimchar, Chimchar hit the field and its emotions looked to be a bit more stable. ('It's still there but a little bit less, maybe it won a battle recently') Shuichi noted its emotional spectrum.

Paul's opponent sent out a black-coloured, butterfly-like Pokémon. It has the black slanted point extended on its head and a greyish face with a black proboscis; it was a Beautifly.

Beautifly were the evolved form of a Wurmple which was as the name implies a worm-like Pokémon, the interesting thing about them was that they evolved at random in either Beautifly or another Pokémon.

"Ember!" Paul commanded and Chimchar replied with fiery shots, "Air Cutter" Paul's opponent calmly responded with his own attack and white wind blades were shot forwards.

Both attacks collided in the air and were cancelled out, Air Cutter was a stronger move however Paul's Chimchar was well trained making them cancelled out.

"Dig!" Paul commanded and Chimchar went underground, Beautifly didn't know where Chimchar would jump up from.

Chimchar suddenly erupted from the ground behind Beautifly "Behind you!" Paul's opponent called out but it was too late "Ember!" Paul fired off a point blank Ember and it was enough for the knockout with a critical hit.

"Beautifly is unable to battle! Trainer Mark, please send out your next Pokémon!" The referee said seriously as the crowd cheered from seeing a rare critical hit. 

('It was unlucky but I don't see a counter offence even if Beautifly could take one hit normally') Shuichi inwardly commented.

Mark sent out his next Pokémon which was a Luxio, Paul however responded by recalling and forfeiting Chimchar and throwing out his Elekid next.

('It seems like Paul has no intention of hiding his team for the semifinals') Shuichi thought upon seeing the final Pokémon.

What followed was a repeat of Paul's first battle with Ash with Elekid taking a Thundershock from Luxio and using it to charge up a powerful Thunder.

Paul followed it up with a Thunder Punch causing Luxio to go unconscious, seeing Paul win so dominantly was electrifying the crowd as they roared with glee.

"Luxio is unable to battle! Trainer Paul is the winner!" The referee held up his flags and signalled the end of the match.

With the match having ended the semifinals would begin, "Trainer Shuichi and Trainer Barry, please come forward for the semifinals match!" The referee called and the crowd began to grow excited.

Two amazing trainers were going head to head in a two-on-two matchup, Shuichi and Barry each went to one side of the field and stared at each other.

Shuichi could feel the electricity in the air as the crowd was anticipating the Pokémon that would be shown. The referee gave the signal and Shuichi and Barry threw their Pokémon.

"Get ready, Combusken!" "You're up Heracross!" Shuichi sent out Combusken while Barry threw out Heracross, Barry was surprised to see Shuichi's third Pokémon. 

Shuichi on the other hand had a small smile, he had accurately predicted Barry would try to counter Eevee and Clamperl with Heracross and sent out Combusken as a counter.

"No matter! Heracross use Horn Attack!" Barry didn't mind the prediction as Heracross raced across the battlefield with a glowing horn.

Shuichi was ready with a counterattack "Counter with Double Kick!" Combusken's legs glowed as she to ran in and kicked Heracross's horn, sparks flew off just like with Ditto during their fight. 

"What!" Barry didn't even think of something like this as the second kick came and hit Heracross straight in the face, "Ember then back off!" Shuichi called for the same tactic used against his father.

Combusken shot out fiery shots that directly connected with Heracross which cried out in pain. "Heracross no!" Barry cried out, Combusken quickly reset and back off again.

('Barry's strategy had multiple holes, stopping the barrage before it could get going was the best strategy. The best way to do that is to surprise Barry.') Shuichi concluded before the battle.

Barry grit his teeth "Heracross use Aerial Ace!" this wasn't what Shuichi was hoping to see, Heracross gained white streaks across its body as it sped right at Combusken.

"Flame Charge!" Shuichi decided to break out Combusken's new move, Combusken was covered with red-yellow flames and also ran directly at Heracross.

Both Pokémon collided in the middle and a small explosion erupted causing the crowd to be silent. Once the dust settled they could see Combusken standing while Heracross was unconscious. 

"Heracross is unable to battle! Trainer Barry send out your next Pokémon!" The referee declared and cheers erupted from the crowd. Barry recalled Heracross and spoke some words to the Pokéball.

Barry grabbed his other Pokéball and threw it to the field. "You're up last Prinplup!" out came a bigger penguin-like Pokémon than what Dawn had.

Prinplup was the evolved form of Piplup with the biggest difference being Prinplup's head, a yellow crown laid above the eyes connecting to its beak. 

Once Prinplup hit the field another surprise came from Combusken, a red glow appeared on Combusken. Blaze had kicked in and Shuichi could feel Combusken wanted to fight till the end.

"Prinplup BubbleBeam!" Barry wasn't going to play the close range game with a Combusken so he decided to attack it from afar.

Shuichi wasn't going to play the long game however "Dodge and get closer!" Combusken sprinted across the field even faster than before due to Flame Charge's effect of increasing the user's speed.

Combusken dodged all the bubbles as Prinplup had trouble keeping up, once Combusken was close enough did Shuichi give the order. "Double Kick!"

Combusken jumped in with both legs shining white, "Metal Claw strike back!" Barry wasn't going to go easy on Shuichi as Prinplups own fin-like arms shone with a metallic sheen.

Both Pokémon exchanged blows, Combusken was the better of the two due to her fighting-type and compatibility with close range not to mention the speed difference.

Seeing the exchange wasn't going in his favour Barry decided to switch it up. "BubbleBeam!" The order was abrupt and Shuichi had no time to say anything as bubbles exploded in Combusken's face knocking her unconscious.

"Combusken is unable to battle! Trainer Shuichi sent out your next Pokémon!" The referee held up a flag in Barry's direction as he declared the knockout.

('Prinplup had taken some damage and it was now Eevee's turn to clean up, Eevee had been featured in all the battles so far but Clamperl can't take on Prinplup.') Shuichi decided.

"Get ready Eevee!" Eevee appeared once more on the battlefield, Barry wasted no time and went for an attack. "BubbleBeam Prinplup!" Prinplup shot out bubbles from its mouth

"Swift Eevee!" Shuichi countered with a swift, stars and bubbles collided and both moves seemed to be evenly matched.

Seeing long range not working out Barry decided to go for close range "Metal Claw Prinplup!" Prinplup ran straight at Eevee and was about to strike with its metallic fins when Shuichi decided to spring the final trap.

"Protect!" Finally calling out the Protect a green shield popped up blocking the barrage dead in its tracks. "What! It had Protect?!" Barry was stunned and Shuichi took advantage of the opening.

"Now Eevee Tackle!" Eevee tackled Prinplup's stomach, sending it reeling back, "Swift!" Doubling down on offence was another barrage of stars. The stars crashed into Prinplup.

Once the dust settled it was clear Prinplup was trying to stand up as it stood on one leg, Eevee was also pretty tired from the fights.

Just when it looked like Prinplup would get up again it's leg gave out and fell facedown knocked out into the ground. "Prinplup!" Barry was devastated to have lost this one.

"Prinplup is unable to battle! Trainer Shuichi is the winner and moves on to the finals!" The referee declared and Shuichi released a breath he didn't even knew he held in.

Even with the information war being won on Shuichi's side, it was still a difficult battle to win. Barry recalled Prinplup and smiled at it, Shuichi also recalled Eevee and both went to Nurse Joy.

"Man! That was quite the battle! You completely had me fooled with that last Protect!" Barry was still as active as ever and by now Shuichi knew how to deal with Barry, just smile and nod.

Shuichi now was guaranteed at least ₽1,800 which was a fair amount of money, with this amount of money he could probably reach Oreburgh City and challenge the gym.

However Shuichi was here to win and not to be second place, although his opponent was still to be decided. It was either Nando or Paul and if Shuichi was frank he didn't know who it would be.

Paul was analytical with his matches and would aggressively counter the opponents own strategy, Nando on the other hand started off with status moves that involved sound and draining moves.

('Though if I had to really pick one, then Paul would have the advantage.') Shuichi gave Paul the advantage in his mind however it was a slim one and Nando could still win.

Paul and Nando went up for the match, Paul stood on one side and Nando stood on the other. The crowd clearly had a favourite as they mainly cheered for Nando.

It wasn't surprising Nando stopped a rampaging Gyarados single handedly, plus his good looks already made him a favourite among the female crowds.

The referee got ready and issued them both to release their Pokémon, the crowd was waiting with anticipation.

"Chimchar, standby for battle!" "Sunflora please," Paul released his Chimchar and Nando released Sunflora, Paul's choice was logical since all Nando had shown so far were grass-types.

"Grass Whistle please," Nando went for the first move of his tried and tested Grass Whistle start.

"Dig!" Paul quickly countered by letting Chimchar dig a hole underground, this move confused some of the audience however Shuichi knew what he was doing.

('Sound from above has trouble travelling undergrounds.') Shuichi concluded, Paul countered the sounds by just going underground.

Chimchar was busy tunnelling underground while Nando and Sunflora were both calm and collected, Nando had that calming effect on his Pokémon due to always being calm himself.

What felt like an eternity was only a few seconds as Chimchar suddenly popped up behind Sunflora, "Ember!" Paul was ready with the order as fire started to collect in Chimchar's mouth.

"Razor Leaf please," Nando was also quick with the counter and Sunflora was also ready, Paul used this exact strategy against Beautifly in the last round so he expected it.

Sunflora threw out razor sharp leaves while Chimchar breathed out fiery shots, the attacks met in the middle which caused the leaves to turn black and wilt leaving small fiery embers in the sky.

Sunflora wasn't undamaged, however the damage was minimal due to the interference. "Dig again!" Paul was content with whittling down Sunflora and Chimchar dug down again.

Nando however was going to plan something, "Sunflora, get ready." Sunflora nodded and seemed to brace itself for something.

Paul didn't know what was going to happen however he doubted it would matter much, Chimchar soon shot up again behind Sunflora however before Paul could say anything Nando already beat him to it.

"Now! Leech Seed behind you!" Nando told Sunflora who suddenly shot a brown seed out of its neck directly at Chimchar, constricting it in vines.

"What!" Paul was surprised, he didn't think Sunflora would shoot in the dark. The vines started to glow red which indicated the draining effect and Chimchar yelled out.

"Flame Wheel!" Paul quickly countered and Chimchar was engulfed in flames and quickly burned the vines apart and was now rolling towards Sunflora. 

Nando and Sunflora didn't expect the Flame Wheel so Sunflora was stricken directly, Chimchar stopped rolling and stood on the ground as Sunflora slowly stood up.

('It was a good counter however Paul had the correct answer for Leech Seed') Shuichi commented inside, Leech Seed worked slightly differently in that it could be broken by the opponent.

"Flame Wheel again!" Paul decided to end it with another Flame Wheel, Nando on the other hand wasn't going down without a fight. "Use Cut!" Sunflora's arms glowed white and became much sharper.

The two Pokémon met when Chimchar rammed into Sunflora and Sunflora countered with a sharp blade, an explosion rang out covering the field in smoke.

When the smoke cleared Chimchar was standing with some scratches and Sunflora was knocked out. "Sunflora is unable to battle! Trainer Nando, please send out your next Pokémon!"

The referee gave the word and the crowd seemed to have mixed emotions, from excitement of the fight to sadness that Nando lost.

('Nando knew Sunflora wasn't going to make it so he made a suicidal play to damage Chimchar as much as possible.') Shuichi spotted Chimchar's damage and Nando's strategy.

Paul however decided to add fuel to the fire with his speech play "Just some two bit musician trying to be a battler, just go back to music."

Nando however only smiled "My, such harsh words, I suppose it's just what I expected from someone like you."

Paul frowned and was about to ask what he meant when Nando threw out his Pokémon "Roselia, please." Nando added as he threw out Roselia.

Roselia appeared in a flash and the crowd cheered when they saw Roselia, last time they saw Roselia it managed to take down a Gyarados single handedly.

"Ember!" Paul decided to lead with Ember once more and Nando also went with a ranged attack. "Magical Leaf, please." Roselia spun around quickly and released glowing light green leaves from its body at the opponent.

The attacks met in the middle again and this time they were equally matched, the leaves were burned and embers were once more in the air but Roselia spun around with its flowers in the air making it seem like it was dancing in flames.

('Seems like Roselia has indeed become more powerful since its battle with Ash.') Shuichi noted the use of Magical Leaf.

Chimchar was getting tired but Paul didn't seem to care "Flame Wheel!" he ordered and Chimchar went again.

Rosalia only seemed to stand still with its roses to the sky, Shuichi frowned a little not knowing what Nando was up to when.

('Wait!') Shuichi suddenly looked up and saw the sky was clear of clouds and the sun had shone directly above Roselia, it was charging up a Solar Beam!

Roselia took the Flame Wheel head on but kept focus on the Solar Beam, Chimchar was too close and couldn't dodge the incoming beam of light. Chimchar was sent flying and was knocked out on the ground.

"Chimchar is unable to battle! Trainer Paul, please send out your next Pokémon!" Chimchar was knocked out and Paul recalled it and spoke some harsh words to it.

('Seems like Paul really didn't take my advice to heart') Shuichi sighed, people could only change if they truly wanted to change.

"Elekid, get ready for battle!" Paul sent out his Elekid next, one had to wonder why he didn't send out Ninjask and win with its overwhelming speed.

('Magical Leaf tracks the opponent, Ninjask would get taken apart from afar.') Shuichi realised the reason for Elekid.

"Brick Break!" Paul had Elekid run in and use Brick Break to make sure Roselia couldn't use Solar Beam anymore.

"Sunny Day, please" Nando took the chance to set up the sun and have a quicker Solar Beam ready for use. The light in the sky got brighter however Roselia was hammered by a powerful Brick Break making it barely stand

"Thunder Punch!" Paul decided to step it up a notch and went for a powerful Thunder Punch to end it.

"Bullet Seed!" Nando suddenly fired off a quick Bullet Seed that caught Elekid and Paul off guard, it knocked Elekid back a few steps which gave Nando a chance.

"Now! Solar Beam!" Nando completely in the battle had a rare moment of excitement as he thought he had won.

Paul on the other hand smiled a little "Protect!" A green barrier surrounded Elekid as the beam was blocked, Nando and Roselia didn't think Elekid was also hiding that move.

"Thunder Punch!" Paul took advantage of the opening and Elekid struck Roselia with an electrical fist, knocking out the flower Pokémon.

"Roselia is unable to battle! Trainer Paul is the winner and moves on to the finals!" The referee declared and the crowd went wild with excitement.

('Seems like it's Paul after all, I wonder if he's managed to counter my own strategy') Shuichi thought as Nurse Joy took to the middle of the field.