Pokemon Journeys: Masters 8 Tournament

Chapter 31 - Apes Together Strong!

*** Previously on the Masters 8 Tournament...

Ash defeated Raihan and became a member of the Masters Class. The first 3v3 quarterfinals match had Iris defeating Lance's G-max Gyarados with her Mega Garchomp, proving her worth as the Dragon Master. The second match was the fated Ash vs Alain rematch, with Aura Ash-Greninja battling Battle Mode Mega Charizard X to the very end, destroying most of Galar. Cynthia and Leon got their respective wins against Diantha and Steven and advanced into the 6v6 semi-finals.

Leon turned out to be victorious against his cousin Iris in a long 6v6 semi-final battle. Both trainers showed off their Gigantimax gimmicks, with G-max Lapras vs G-max Rapid Strike Urshifu being one of the highlights.

Serena summoned the courage and confessed to Ash. The couple had been staying in Ash's house in Pallet Town to get more training done. But it seemed that Ash had been over-preparing for his match against Cynthia and having "nightmares", so Serena offered to bring Ash to the nearby beach for a day to relax, and also to do some...interesting stuff at night.

Goh was unable to enter Project Mew on the first try after failing the final trial mission. But after doing some dirty errands for Professor Amaranth and Sir PsychicMagic, they gave Goh another chance to be a chaser of Project Mew. Gary had some concerns about the way Goh became a chaser, and Goh knew about this. Will Goh have any plans for Gary?

After the victory against Alain in the quarterfinals, Ash is now battling Cynthia at the Wyndon Stadium in the semi-finals. Whoever wins will face Leon in the finals, or face Iris for third place if loses. Having only 1 pokemon left to fight against Cynthia's healthy Togekiss and Garchomp, Ash had already Gigantimaxed his Pikachu and Gengar earlier, and his remaining unrevealed pokemon was not trained in Gigantimax before. Cynthia, on the other hand, had used a Z-move on her Kommo-o to knock out G-max Gengar. She switched into another Z-crystal and recharged her Z-ring thanks to Pikachu's Thunderbolt hitting the ring. Things were looking very grim for Ash, until he received a note from his father...

Now, back to the story... ***

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Ash smiled confidently, "I feel like I can do anything now! Miss Cynthia, your game ends here!"

Cynthia looked at Ash and studied him. His determination, confidence, and grit were much stronger than before. That frustration and panic disappeared from him, and became a kind of...energy...

Aura...that's the word! Cynthia was never able to fully understand her Lucario, which even though she knew long ago that it was communicating and sensing people through its Aura, she never knew how exactly it functioned, let alone talking to it through Aura.

Ash gave a similar vibe. The aura he emitted was invisible to humans, but Cynthia could feel the Champion charisma and energy from his small frame of body. Is he really a pokemon?

How ridiculous this thought is! A note from his dad could be this powerful! Cynthia cleared her mind and announced to Ash, "Alright then, what have you got for my Togekiss and Garchomp?"

Ash took a deep breath and readied a Pokeball in his left hand, "This buddy over here has been longing for a fight with you since forever. He has treated you as his role model and aims to surpass your Garchomp someday. He got a rough start from his previous trainer until I brought him in and unleashed his potential..."

Both Cynthia and Paul's eyes widened. They both knew this guy was gonna come out right now, but to hear Ash bring him up like that would still require some mental preparations.

Paul half-smiled and thought to himself: You really kept your promise to use him for the Tournament.

Having a full idea of who was going to appear, Cynthia smiled and commanded with confidence, "Let's do our best, Togekiss! You will be fighting a beast!"