The battle continued. After all, they didn't get time to stop and think, so Ash quickly called out, "[Dragon Dance]!"
Flygon began glowing purple as purple energy swelled around him.
But Tyson quickly called out, "[Fake Out]!"
Meowth ran up as fast as he could, jumping up. Then, when he reached Flygon, he clapped his hands loudly, causing Flygon to stop the dance.
"Now, [Slash]!" Tyson commanded immediately after.
Meowth, while still in midair, slashed down, hitting Flygon across the chest, but with his new armor, he brushed it off. Meanwhile, Meowth landed on the ground but started running to climb a nearby rock to go after him again.
"[Dragon Claw]!" Ash called.
Flygon's claws grew out, and he flew toward Meowth as the cat jumped up. They clashed their claws against each other before Meowth had to flip and land back on the ground, catching his hat and putting it back on.
But as Flygon was above him, Ash smirked and snapped his fingers, "Flygon, [Earth Power]!"
Flygon flew upward before slamming his claws toward the ground. The battlefield beneath Meowth started shaking as waves of energy erupted from below.
Tyson reacted quickly, "Meowth, move!"
Meowth jumped from spot to spot as pillars of earth erupted around him, avoiding each one after the other.
But it was too late now.
"[Dragon Rush]!"
Flygon flew down into the new pillars and started rushing through them one after another, and with the stone pillars surrounding him, Meowth couldn't get out of the way.
"Meowth!" Tyson shouted, "[Iron Tail]!"
At the last second, Meowth crossed his arms and braced himself as his tail glowed silver. He swung it upward, striking Flygon's incoming attack. The impact caused a shockwave to explode outward, sending both Pokémon flying away from each other.
Flygon recovered first, spreading his wings and stopping himself in the air before flying right back toward Meowth. Meowth, however, landed roughly and slid backward across the battlefield. He quickly pushed himself up, adjusting his hat once again before looking back at Flygon.
Tyson quickly pointed forward, "Meowth, [Iron Tail]!"
Meowth rushed forward, his tail glowing brighter than before.
"[Dragon Claw]!" Ash commanded.
Flygon flew down to meet him, his claws glowing with dragon energy, and they clashed against each other, but Flygon was beginning to push Meowth back.
"Now!" Ash called out as he snapped his fingers one more time, "[Dragon Rush]!"
Flygon broke through the clash, surrounding himself in blue energy as he flew forward. Meowth tried to jump, but Flygon flew after him, crashing directly into him. They shot high into the air before plummeting right back down.
Flygon slammed Meowth into the ground so hard that the new stone pillars broke into chunks and fell apart. Meowth's hat got knocked off his head, and as it slowly fluttered back down, Flygon stood up while Meowth lay there with spirals in his eyes. The hat slowly settled over his face.
The referee raised his flag.
"Meowth is unable to battle! Flygon wins!"
The stadium erupted.
Ash smiled as Flygon landed beside him, then fell back into his base form. Flygon immediately started nuzzling against him.
Tyson returned Meowth with a smile, looking proud rather than disappointed, "You were amazing, buddy."
He looked up and saw Ash rubbing Flygon's head, and he smiled, walking up to him.
"Ash, that was a great battle," he said, holding his hand out, "Let's do it again sometime."
Ash smiled and took it, "Alright, but I'll just win then too~" Ash said with a grin.
Tyson laughed and smiled, "You can say that, but I'll be ready for you."
A while later, Ash walked out of the coliseum to find where he could meet up with May and the gang. After all, that was it for today for him anyway, but the other battles were happening around the same time in the other stadiums.
The League was really trying to push this as fast as they could. The sooner the top four were announced, the more people would get excited, and it would also help with the reconstruction of Hoenn's towns since this was technically a fundraiser sponsored by Goodshow.
As he walked down the hall, his eyes were caught by two people he recognized: Flannery and Roxanne. They hadn't noticed him yet, seemingly lost in their conversation.
As Ash considered going over to talk to them, suddenly a muscular arm wrapped around his shoulder from behind.
"Yooo, bro! It's been a while since I got to talk to ya! How ya been? And that battle was gnarly!" It was Brawly.
At the sound of Brawly's voice, Flannery and Roxanne looked behind them and saw Ash too. Roxanne kept her composed posture, but Flannery wasn't like that. She immediately smiled and ran over.
"Hey, Ash, it's been a while! Oh, we got to watch your battle. It was super hot!" Flannery said, pumping her fists.
"That's one way to put it," Roxanne said, clearing her throat, "But it's good to see you again, Ash."
Ash, while still caught in Brawly's headlock, smirked, seeing that Roxanne was still trying a little too hard to keep her composed expression.
"Really? I'm surprised after the last time we talked. Remember how that turned out, Roxy~"
Roxanne spluttered, "Why would you bring that back up? And Roxy?!"
Flannery snorted, "Pfff, Roxy? Oh, I'm definitely gonna use that."
"Don't use Roxy. That is not my name," Roxanne said, now completely dropping her "professional attitude."
"Okay, Sensei~" Ash said with a smirk.
"Don't call me that either!" Roxanne blurted out, her face turning red.
Brawly lifted Ash up slightly and whispered, "Yo, bro, how did you do that? Roxanne never loses her temper. Me and Flannery have been trying."
Flannery somehow appeared beside them and joined in, "I know! I was trying to get her to enjoy the League, but she's so obtuse about it."
"I don't even know what that means," Brawly added.
Meanwhile, Roxanne calmed down.
"Ugh, I swear, why can't you be normal? I remember before I met you in person, I thought you were a professional."
"You say that, and yet ya can't hate me~" Ash stuck his tongue out.
Roxanne stared at him for a moment, completely silent. Then she sighed, "That confidence of yours is exactly why I can't tell if you're being serious or just trying to annoy me."
Ash grinned, "A little bit of both. It's been months since I got to bully you."
"Why is that what you do?" Roxanne asked, but she was ignored.
Brawly laughed loudly, still keeping his arm around Ash's shoulders, "Man, I missed this! You're still the same Ash I remember."
Ash looked up at him, "Same goes for you, Brawly. Still training all the time?"
"Of course! Gotta keep getting stronger, right?" Brawly said, flexing his arm, "Although after seeing that Flygon, I might need to train twice as hard."
"Wha?!" Roxanne said, exasperated that she got ignored, "Are you really ignoring me? Why can't you be like the other Leagues said you were?"
Roxanne sighed.
Flannery covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, "This is amazing."
Roxanne crossed her arms, "I don't understand why you find this amusing."
"Because normally you're so serious," Flannery said, "It's nice seeing you act like an actual person."
Roxanne looked offended, "I am an actual person."
"Sure, Sensei."
Roxanne immediately looked at Ash.
"Did you teach her that?"
Ash raised his hands, "Hey, I didn't do anything."
"You absolutely did."
Ash laughed, but before he could say something, he heard footsteps behind him. He looked back and saw Brendan and Wally looking around. When they spotted him, they quickly went to join him.
"Hey, Ash! Oh, Brawly, Roxanne, and Flannery too! This is awesome!" Brendan said, walking up and clasping hands with Brawly, "Haha, this is great!"
Wally nodded and walked up, giving a polite bow to them, "It's good to see you all again."
Roxanne immediately calmed down, seeing Wally being so polite.
"Well, at least one of you can be normal," she muttered under her breath. Then she spoke up, "Wally, it's good to see you, and I see you're looking far healthier."
"Yeah, no kidding. Last time I saw you, you looked like you were gonna collapse," Flannery said. Then she gave a thumbs up, "Nice glow-up!"
Wally scratched the back of his head, "Ah, thank you. It's still a bit hard to believe myself, but I'm glad I can be here normally."
Ash smiled, "Oh, by the way, since you're both here, does that mean you won?" Ash asked.
"Yep," Brendan said proudly, "I already beat mine, and I won it before you did, Ash. Hm." Brendan said with a smirk.
Wally nodded, "Yeah, I got a really good battle too."
Ash wasn't surprised by how fast they managed to win. After all, both of them were strong, and Ash absolutely had the hardest battle between them. Tyson was way stronger than either of the two they were battling, so it was no surprise.
"It was a fun battle and all, don't get me wrong, but I'm still looking forward to battling you," Brendan said with a smirk, looking at Ash and Wally.
"Well, we have to see. By the way, where is Solidad?" Ash asked.
"Oh, her match was just starting. That is actually why we came to look for you, so we could find a seat where we could all watch together," Brendan explained, making Ash nod.
"Oh, wait! If you wanna get a place to sit, why don't you come with us to the VIP section?" Flannery offered.
"Really?"
Flannery nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! Since me, Roxanne, and Brawly are Gym Leaders, we already have access. And since you're friends with us, you can come too."
Brawly grinned, finally letting go of Ash's shoulder, "Plus, come on, bro. After that battle, you deserve the good seats."
Ash rubbed his shoulder, laughing, "You know, I forgot how strong your hugs are."
"That's not even a hug, that's just how I say hello!" Brawly laughed.
"That somehow makes it worse," Roxanne muttered.
Flannery looked over, "Come on, Roxanne, you know you enjoyed it."
Roxanne adjusted her glasses, "I did not."
Everyone looked at her.
She paused, "...I tolerated it."
Ash immediately grinned, "There it is."
Roxanne narrowed her eyes, "Don't."
"You're getting better at admitting things."
"I am not."
"Sure, Sensei."
Roxanne's eye twitched, "Again with that name."
Flannery covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, "Okay, I officially understand why you do this now."
Ash smiled proudly, "See? It's fun."
"No, it's annoying," Roxanne corrected.
"But you're smiling."
Roxanne immediately covered her mouth, "I am not."
Ash snorted, but he clapped his hands, "Well, okay, let's go quickly before the match ends. Lead the way."
–
The battle between Solidad and Katie continued until they were down to their last Pokémon: Pidgeot versus Golduck.
Katie pointed forward, "Golduck, don't let up! Use [Psychic]!"
Golduck's eyes glowed blue as psychic energy spread around its body. The air itself seemed to bend as the attack rushed toward Pidgeot.
"Fly up!" Solidad commanded.
Pidgeot shot upward, narrowly avoiding the attack as the psychic energy passed beneath it.
Katie didn't stop, however, "Now! [Water Pulse]!"
Golduck fired a sphere of swirling water energy into the sky.
But Solidad had already anticipated it, "Keep moving. Don't give it a target."
Pidgeot continued flying through the sky. Then, when Solidad saw an opening, she took it.
"Now, [Aerial Ace]!"
Pidgeot vanished in a blur.
"Golduck, dodge!"
Golduck tried moving, but it was no use. Pidgeot flew down and sliced the duck with its wings before flying behind it.
She continued, "Turn around and use [Steel Wing]!"
Pidgeot immediately spun around, its wings glowing silver as it struck Golduck before it could recover.
Katie gritted her teeth, "Golduck, get up!"
Golduck pushed itself back onto its feet, shaking off the damage.
"Good," Katie said, "Now use [Ice Beam]!"
A beam of freezing energy shot toward Pidgeot.
"Counter with [Twister]!"
Pidgeot flapped its wings violently, creating a powerful tornado that collided with the Ice Beam, scattering the attack into the air.
Then she pointed forward, "Now, Pidgeot, [Brave Bird]!"
Blue energy surrounded Pidgeot as it shot forward at incredible speed.
Katie's eyes widened, "Golduck, [Protect]!"
A green barrier appeared around Golduck just before impact.
The stadium shook as Pidgeot crashed into the barrier, sending Golduck sliding back, but it managed to stop the attack.
But Solidad smiled like that was exactly what she wanted her to do.
"Now, [Quick Attack]!"
Before Golduck could recover, Pidgeot disappeared again, striking it multiple times before flying back into the air.
Katie quickly called out, "Golduck, use [Psychic]!"
Golduck's eyes glowed as it attempted to catch Pidgeot.
But it was useless. Pidgeot was much faster.
Solidad called out, "[Aerial Ace]!"
It became a streak of white as it flew straight through Golduck's attack and struck directly, sending the duck flying backward and crashing against the wall before falling back to the ground, knocked out.
The referee raised his flag.
"Golduck is unable to battle! Pidgeot wins!"
–
Once Solidad and Katie left the stage together, the referee walked back up with excitement.
"Ladies and gentlemen! With that battle complete, the semifinalists of the Ever Grande Conference have officially been decided! Now let's see what our matches are!"
A large holographic bracket appeared above the battlefield and started randomizing. Then it finally stopped, showing the two matches:
Brendan vs. Solidad
Ash vs. Wally
"And those are our matches! Tomorrow will be the FINAL day of the Ever Grande Conference!" The referee raised a hand into the sky, "The semifinals will take place first thing tomorrow morning! The winners shall advance to the Championship Match later that very same day!"
–
Later that day, when the sun was going down, Ash, Wally, and Brendan rejoined the others. Since Norman was a Gym Leader, May, Max, Caroline, and Brock were allowed up there too, so they were all chilling together.
As for the Gym Leaders that were there, there was obviously Roxanne, Brawly, Flannery, Tate, and Liza. The others, like Wattson, Juan, or even Winona, were busy with the reconstruction efforts or helping Wallace since this whole incident had messed up a lot around Hoenn. But hey, everyone was rebuilding.
Since they had some time to chill, May, being the foodie she was, immediately pulled out a pamphlet and showed everyone that there was a dessert bar. Everyone immediately looked excited and practically dragged Roxanne along before she could try to bail out. (Even though she probably would have agreed if they asked.)
But now everyone sat at the dessert bar, enjoying probably way too much sugar.
Max had already found the dessert table and looked at the stacks of cake, "...How are there this many kinds of cake?" he muttered in complete disbelief.
May laughed, "You've been standing there for like five minutes."
"I'm conducting important research."
Brock looked over, "...On cake?"
"It's scientific." Max crossed his arms, still staring at the dessert display like it was some kind of puzzle, "...There are twelve different cheesecakes."
May blinked, "You counted?"
"I had to."
"There are seventeen," Brock corrected after a glance.
Max slowly looked at him, "You counted too?"
Brock shrugged with a smirk, grabbed one, put it in Max's hand, and pushed him to go sit down and enjoy it.
Meanwhile, Ash walked over carrying a plate with what looked like a completely random assortment of desserts, while Pikachu and Vee were sharing a strawberry shortcake on the bar.
"Why do you have pudding next to chocolate cake?" May asked.
"Because they're both good."
"That's your reason?"
"Yep."
Roxanne sighed as she looked at Ash's plate, "I don't believe there was a strategy involved whatsoever."
"You're talking a lot about strategy, Sensei. Do I need to remind you how I taught Pikachu electromagnetism, or are you gonna grab that chocolate parfait?" Ash said with a smirk.
Pikachu got the message and looked over his shoulder, smirking as his two little fingers flickered with electricity.
Roxanne immediately stopped. She did not want that headache again. Even if it was true or not, hearing it from someone she thought was much more serious than Ash actually was would still give her a headache.
"I'll take the parfait..." she muttered, sitting down on her chair, not even correcting the Sensei part this time.
Brawly immediately noticed what happened and leaned toward Flannery, whispering loudly enough that everyone could hear.
"Did Roxanne just give up?"
Flannery watched Roxanne take a bite of her parfait, completely ignoring the comment.
"She did," Flannery said in disbelief, "She actually gave up."
Roxanne slowly looked up, "I can hear both of you."
"Yeah, but you're not arguing," Brawly pointed out.
Roxanne opened her mouth to respond, then stopped. She looked at them, then looked back at Ash, deciding this wasn't worth it, and shoved a spoonful into her mouth, muttering something.
"...I'm surrounded by idiots."
"Friends," Flannery corrected.
"...Friends who are idiots."
"There we go!" Tate gave a thumbs up from where he was sitting with Liza.
Meanwhile, Wally carefully sat down with a single slice of strawberry shortcake and a cup of tea.
May looked at him, "That's it?"
Wally smiled sheepishly, "I wanted to actually finish what I picked."
Ash looked at his own plate, "That is a foreign concept."
"It really is," Brendan agreed as he took a bite out of a chocolate éclair.
Norman chuckled from nearby, "You three haven't changed."
Caroline smiled warmly, "It's nice seeing everyone relaxed for once."
"Well, it's better than whatever the heck happened last time we were all together. Yeah, no thank you. I never want to do that again," May sighed.
"Easy for you to say. You got to control the you-know-who," Liza said, although she didn't say Kyogre's name since they were in public.
"Yeah, man, I wish I could have. It would have been so cool," Tate added.
"Take it from me, they are jerks half the time and insufferable the other half," Ash chuckled, since he knew his fair share of dealing with Legendaries.
May laughed, "That's still the weirdest sentence I've ever heard you say."
Ash shrugged as he took another bite of chocolate cake, "I'm just telling the truth."
"You've actually met enough 'you-know-what' to rank their personalities," Roxanne muttered.
"I could make a list."
"You have a list?" Brendan asked.
"I absolutely have a list."
Pikachu immediately nodded, and Vee did too.
"...Why are they agreeing?" Max asked.
"Because they've helped make the list," Ash answered matter-of-factly.
Norman chuckled, "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or concerned."
"Both," Tate answered immediately.
Liza nodded, "Definitely both."
Meanwhile, Roxanne ordered five more slices of cake, just hoping the sugar would help. Before Roxanne could continue arguing, a familiar voice came from behind them, "Excuse me..."
Everyone turned, Solidad had just walked into the dessert lounge, still dressed in her coat, though she'd loosened the ribbon around her neck after finishing her match.
She smiled politely upon seeing everyone.
"Oh, I didn't realize everyone was here."
"Solidad!" May waved enthusiastically.
"You won!" Brendan called.
Ash gave her a thumbs up.
"Thank you," Solidad replied with a small smile, "Katie was wonderful to battle against."
Then she slowly turned over to see where Brock was. She had a complicated look on her face, since of course she knew about Lucy. After she and Brock had made up, they started texting, and he had told her about her.
And sure, she was happy for Brock. It didn't make things any easier considering their past, but to her, it seemed like Brock was over it, so she put on a smile.
But when she was about to say she was going to get her own seat on the other side of the bar, Flannery scooted over on the couch.
"Come sit with us!"
"Ah, is that okay?" Solidad said slowly.
"Of course it is. Besides, you're a finalist too, so come on, let's celebrate together!"
Solidad chuckled before walking over.
"I only came because I heard this place had excellent desserts."
"You heard correctly," May said seriously.
"Well, I suppose I'll take your word for it, Ms. Top Coordinator," Solidad said with a small smile, making May scratch her cheek sheepishly.
As Solidad sat with them and got a piece of cake, they suddenly heard a noise.
Clink...Clink...Clink...
The unmistakable sound of porcelain plates being stacked echoed from the opposite side of the dessert bar.
Even Roxanne looked curious, "Who is—"
Ash stopped mid-sentence, "Huh?"
Standing at the far end of the buffet was Tyson. Apparently, he'd been in the dessert lounge the entire time. He was balancing an absurd stack of empty dessert plates in one arm while calmly reaching for another slice of cake with the other.
Max quickly started counting the plates, and his jaw slowly dropped, "...Twenty-three plates?"
Tyson finally noticed everyone staring, "Oh!"
He smiled sheepishly, "Hey, guys!"
Ash blinked, "Were you here this whole time?"
"Pretty much."
Brendan smiled and waved him over, "Well, why are you sitting on your own? We're having a party, get over here!"
No one really had any reason to refuse, so Tyson grabbed another plate and walked over, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Not at all," Caroline said warmly, "There's plenty of room."
"Besides," Brawly laughed, "anyone who can eat that much dessert deserves a seat."
Tyson blinked, "...Was it really that much?"
Everyone slowly looked toward the towering stack of empty plates he had been carrying,
"..." Tyson scratched the back of his head, "Maybe I went a little overboard."
They laughed and kept going, and it continued like this for a few hours. Sometime during it, Brendan challenged Brawly to an arm-wrestling contest. You can guess how that turned out.
Then, when everyone was already getting sick of sugar, Brock looked toward the large windows overlooking Ever Grande City, "So tomorrow is the end of it, huh?"
Brendan immediately leaned forward, unable to hide the grin spreading across his face, "Finally."
May laughed, "You've been waiting all day to say that."
"I have!" He looked across the table toward Solidad, "I've wanted to have a battle with you since the brackets went up."
Solidad smiled gracefully, "I'm looking forward to it as well."
Brendan crossed his arms confidently, "I won't lie, I'm gonna win, but I'm still looking forward to it!" he said with a grin, "Battles are just fun!"
Solidad chuckled, "I would expect nothing less, but I won't make it easy for you. I've been training hard since I battled May."
Brendan threw his hands into the air, "Then I'm ready! I can't wait for tomorrow to come!"
Everyone chuckled slightly, but then Ash looked over at Wally as he scratched his arm and took a breath.
"I used to dream about just getting to a Pokémon League. When I first met you..." He smiled to himself, "...I wasn't even sure I could travel."
He smiled slightly, putting his hand on his neck, "I'm cured, and I got to have so much fun with everyone, and all my Pokémon, and..."
He looked up at Ash, "...And a lot of that happened because of you."
"Ash, thank you for being my friend," Wally smiled, "You believed I could do it before I believed it myself." He said it while remembering that fateful day back when they were little, when Wally asked Ash one simple question.
"So..." He stood up from his chair, "...Tomorrow, we're opponents."
"I don't know if I can beat you, but..." Wally smiled, looking up at Ash, "I'm going to give you everything I've got to win." He held out his hand toward Ash, "So you'd better do the same."
Ash looked at Wally for a long moment before standing as well, and a grin slowly spread across his face, "Wouldn't have it any other way." He clasped Wally's hand firmly.
"I'll be giving you my best. After all, I haven't been bullying you enough, and as everyone here can say..." He pointed behind him to where May was.
May rolled her eyes and smiled, "Ash only bullies the people he likes."
Ash grinned and winked, "And you've had it too good for too long, so get ready. I'm not holding anything back tomorrow."