Before the match officially began, Professor Birch personally called to encourage Zhang Feng, offering words of support to Tetsuya and Tyson as well.
After all, all of them had received their starter Pokémon from Professor Birch.
In other words, including Aiden Flint, Tyson, Tetsuya, and Masamune, they could all be considered half-disciples of Professor Birch.
As for the yet-to-be-fully-documented Sylveon, Professor Birch was extremely interested. In response, Aiden directly told him the method of Sylveon's evolution.
If he truly wanted to research it, he could simply evolve one himself.
That would save him from studying Aiden's own Sylveon.
Though Aiden was grateful to Professor Birch, he had no intention of allowing anyone to conduct research or experiments on his Pokémon.
After obtaining the evolution method for Sylveon, Professor Birch happily began raising an Eevee of his own.
When the semifinals officially began, the morning match was between Ash and Tetsuya.
Previously, during the tournament in the Scientist Town, Aiden had faced Gary in the finals, and Tetsuya had once lost to him as well.
As for Tyson, the two had never truly had a proper battle.
Coming from the same hometown, if the protagonist of Pokémon hadn't been Ash, then the original protagonist of the Hoenn region should have been Tyson.
A trainer whose ace Blaziken could defeat Ash's Charizard—his strength was beyond doubt.
Since Aiden's match was scheduled for the afternoon, he took a seat in the spectator stands that morning. He wanted to confirm who his final opponent would be.
Would it be Ash, who had awakened and grown stronger than ever—nearly rivaling his Sinnoh Lily of the Valley Conference peak—or Tetsuya, the original champion of the Hoenn Ever Grande Conference?
When the battle began, Ash sent out Pikachu, while Tetsuya chose his Meowth in boots.
After a fierce exchange, both Pikachu and Meowth lost the ability to battle simultaneously.
Next, Ash sent out Swellow. With sheer perseverance and a type advantage, it defeated Tetsuya's Shiftry.
However, once Tetsuya's Metagross entered the field, both Swellow and Torkoal were defeated in succession.
In the first half, Ash was at a disadvantage.
Then came the second half.
Ash sent out Sceptile.
With overwhelming strength, Sceptile defeated both Metagross and Donphan back-to-back, only to be taken down by Hariyama in the end.
At that point, both sides were left with two Pokémon each.
Seeing this, Masamune, May, Brock, and Max all began cheering loudly for Ash.
Facing Hariyama, Ash unleashed his famed "reverse-type mastery" and sent out the Snorlax he had caught in Kanto. With absolute dominance, Snorlax defeated Hariyama.
Now Tetsuya had only one Pokémon remaining—his starter, Sceptile.
With immense power and weather-based tactics, Sceptile easily defeated Snorlax.
Faced with a powerful enemy, Ash's final trump card appeared—
Charizard.
Under the advantage of type suppression, Charizard unleashed its might. With a final Seismic Toss, it defeated Sceptile and secured a ticket to the finals.
"Sceptile is unable to battle! Charizard wins! As all six of Tetsuya's Pokémon have lost the ability to battle, the victory goes to Ash!"
He had won.
Advancing to the finals—guaranteed at least second place—Ash and Charizard immediately embraced.
Years of effort had finally paid off. Without the invisible hand of fate holding him back, Ash had finally displayed his true strength.
After the morning battle ended, Tetsuya was somewhat dejected, yet he stayed to watch the afternoon match alongside Ash.
Because regardless of whether Aiden Flint or Tyson won, they would ultimately face Ash—or Tetsuya—in the battle for the championship and third place.
…
As thunderous cheers erupted across the stadium, Aiden and Tyson entered the arena simultaneously.
Tyson was a renowned trainer in Hoenn. Though Aiden had countless supporters, Tyson had no shortage of fans either.
"Aiden! Aiden! We love you!"
"Tyson! Let's go!"
Hearing the roaring cheers, both of them felt their blood surge with excitement.
"Aiden, I've been looking forward to battling you for a long time. Today, that moment has finally come!"
"Don't worry. I'll give it my all. You won't be disappointed."
As the two exchanged words, the referee immediately gave the order.
"The second semifinal match of the Hoenn Ever Grande Conference's fourth round will now begin! The battling trainers are Aiden Flint from Littleroot Town and Tyson from Littleroot Town!"
"Each side may use six Pokémon. In the first half, Aiden Flint will move first. The battlefield is the Rock Field!"
The commentator couldn't help but exclaim:
"What a surprise! Both Aiden and Tyson hail from the same hometown—Littleroot Town! For a small town to produce two outstanding trainers at the same time is truly remarkable!"
"Who will emerge victorious and advance to face Ash in the finals?"
Ignoring the noise from outside the field, a Luxury Ball appeared in Aiden's hand.
"Then for the first battle… it's you—Aerodactyl!"
A red flash burst from the Luxury Ball.
A ferocious Aerodactyl soared into the sky, glaring at Tyson as it let out a thunder-shaking roar.
Seeing that Aiden had sent out a Pokémon completely different in level from before, Tyson's expression turned serious.
"Aerodactyl, huh? Then I'm counting on you—Weavile!"
Pokémon: Weavile
Level: 59
Ability: Pressure
Type: Dark / Ice
Talent: Purple
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Agility, Ice Shard, Metal Claw, Icy Wind, Hone Claws, Dark Pulse…
Weavile stood at the peak of the quasi-Elite tier.
Among League competitors—even Gym Leaders—such strength was already exceptional.
But against Aiden… it was still far from enough.
"Weavile, use Icy Wind!"
At Tyson's command, Weavile moved instantly, gathering dense Ice-type energy in its mouth.
In the next moment, countless freezing gales surged toward Aerodactyl.
Flying-type Pokémon naturally possessed an unavoidable weakness to Ice.
"Aerodactyl, Flamethrower!"
Even in the face of extreme cold, Aerodactyl opened its jaws and unleashed a blazing torrent of fire.
The Icy Wind melted instantly under the searing flames.
And the Flamethrower continued forward, striking Weavile directly.
With a single devastating blow, Weavile let out a pained cry.
Immediately afterward, Aerodactyl followed up with Dragon Breath—
Tyson's first Pokémon, Weavile, collapsed completely.
Ding! Aerodactyl defeated Weavile. Gained 1,437 experience points. Level unchanged. Current level: Lv.64.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL