Gold awoke bright and early and went off to the arena for the next round of battling after breakfast. His team was finalized and the young Champion steeled his nerves as he stepped back onto the battlefield. This would be the final round with standard battlefields so Gold would have to rely on pure battle strategy for the league.

Yellow started him down with a large grin as she sent out her first Pokémon, a hulking mass of blue vines known as Tangrowth. Gold wasted no time sending out his Heracross and the battle began. "Use Megahorn!"

Heracross sped across the battlefield and rammed its glowing horn into Tangrowth's body. The beast was shoved back by the powerful blow but Gold wasn't finished yet. "Brick Break!"

Heracross brought his arms down onto his opponent and Yellow shook her head. "Poison Jab!" Heracross was struck in the chest by Tangrowth's hand and launched away from its opponent. Here we go, Yellow. Let's see what you've got!

Selene's Naganadel faced down Drake's Greninja and the battle began. "Use Dragon Pulse!" Naganadel pointed its stinger at Drake's ace Pokémon and fired a giant purple beam at it.

Drake kept his gaze on Selene as he gave his Pokémon its commands. "Dodge it and use Night Slash!" Greninja jumped over the draconian beam and slammed its arms into Selene's Pokémon.

"X-Scissor! Now!" Naganadel shrugged off the blow and slammed its stinger into Greninja's chest. The Pokémon was sent flying by the powerful blow. "Sludge Bomb!"

The Ultra Beast pointed its stinger into the sky and fired off balls of poisonous sludge where Greninja now was.

Drake still didn't move his body as he directed his Pokémon "Water Shuriken and then use Night Slash again!" Greninja tossed out several water stars that obliterated the incoming attacks and began to descend with its arms held in front of it.

"You're just asking to get hit again! Naganadel use X-Scissor!" The stinger was already pointed upward which made it easy for Selene's Pokémon to meet the water-type head on. The two attacks collided but Greninja pushed through and managed to damage Naganadel.

Greninja landed on the ground and turned around. "Now use Hydro Pump." Greninja fired off a torrent of water in Naganadel's direction.

Selene's Pokémon was still recovering from the previous attack so she had to think fast. "Use Dragon Pulse and counter it! Quickly!" The attack nearly missed, but Naganadel was able to successfully fire off a beam and block Greninja's Hydro Pump.

"Water Shuriken!" Water stars cut through where the moves collided and slammed into Naganadel.

Selene grit her teeth but stayed determined. "Hang in there and use your Dragon Pulse again!" This time, Naganadel was able to take aim and quickly fired the attack into its opponent. Greninja was knocked back and Selene could tell that it was being worn down.

Drake still kept his eyes exclusively on Selene. She wasn't sure what kind of analysis he was trying to do but she couldn't even question it before his next attack command was given. "Night Slash!"

Greninja dashed across the battlefield and struck Naganadel with its arms. The damage was finally too much for Selene's Ultra Beast and it fainted.

The referee gave the call but Selene knew she could win with just a bit more. She called out Incineroar and noticed that Drake's demeanor had shifted slightly. He was a bit confused now.

The two trainers had battled like this once before, when Selene had been taken down to her final Pokémon. Greninja wiped Incineroar out, but this time Selene had a new plan.

Selene grinned and decided to make her move. "Incineroar use Darkest Lariat!" Her starter ran at its opponent while Greninja waited for its next command.

Drake leaped into action as Incineroar closed the gap. "Water Shuriken!" His Pokémon fired off a series of blue stars.

"Start spinning!" Incineroar held its arms out and spun around, knocking away the stars and striking Greninja. "Now finish this with Cross Chop!" Incineroar came to a stop and slammed its arms into the downed Pokémon. The damage was finally enough to defeat Greninja and Selene felt a wave of relief. Naganadel had put in enough work that they had done it.

Drake looked off to the side as he called back Greninja and sent in his Aegislash. "Use Sacred Sword!" The Pokémon pointed its blade at Incineroar and rushed forward.

Selene let Aegislash land the blow but grinned. "Now use Darkest Lariat!" Incineroar suddenly jumped into action and clotheslined Aegislash. "Flamethrower!"

The sword Pokémon was knocked away just as Incineroar fired off a spray of flames. "King's Shield!" Drake shouted and suddenly, Aegislash's shield grew in size and protected it from the fire. "Iron Head!"

Aegislash approached with its shield this time and slammed it into Incineroar's head. "Like that'll stop us- use Flamethrower!" Incineroar quickly recovered from the blow and fired even more flames into Aegislash.

It was too close to dodge the move this time and briefly consumed by the fire. "Finish this! Flare Blitz!" Before Aegislash could move again, Incineroar exploded into a fireball and crashed into it.

The powerful blow sent a wave of heat across the battlefield and Aegislash was done in. Now they were building momentum so Selene decided to swap over to Nihilego as Drake sent out his final Pokémon, a Pyroar.

The beast shook its red mane but Selene wasn't intimidated. "Pyroar, use Flamethrower!" The Kalos Champion's disinterested demeanor had now been thrown off as Selene had an answer for all of his moves.

The approaching fire was unfortunately no different. "Psychic and then follow up with Power Gem!" Nihilego easily stopped the fire in its tracks and dissipated it.

Drake couldn't even react before stones began swirling around the Ultra Beast and shot across the battlefield into his Pokémon. "Hang in there Pyroar! Use Hyper Voice!"

His Pokémon started to screech which left Nihilego stunned long enough for Pyroar to start running at it. "Thunder Fang!" The lion Pokémon lunged at Nihilego and bit down on its arm.

Selene's Pokémon partner wasn't as phased by this as Drake had hoped and Selene grinned. "Nihilego use Sludge Bomb!" A ball of poison appeared in another one of Nihilego's tentacles and the Ultra Beast slammed it into the Pyroar.

"Catch it with Psychic!" Drake's final Pokémon was thrown back but suddenly hoisted into the air. "Now Nihilego! Slam it down!" Pyroar shot into the ground and kicked up a sizable amount of dust.

Selene was relieved as the dust cleared and Pyroar had been defeated. Drake had been knocked out of the tournament. If Selene listened closely, she almost believed she could hear all of her friends cheering her on from home.

The battle Gold and Yellow had been having had so far been almost completely even. Tangrowth was beaten by Heracross only for Arbok to bring down Heracross with ease.

Now Quagsire was wrapping up its match against the serpent. "Use Earthquake!" Quagsire slammed its foot onto the ground and a shockwave surged across the battlefield and into Arbok. The force of the quake was enough to bring down Yellow's second Pokémon and she returned it.

"Alright Gold, this has been fun. But now I'm goin' to give it all I've got." Yellow told him and she called out Pikachu. "Use Brick Break!"

Pikachu rushed at Quagsire and jumped into the air, readying its fists to strike him. "I wouldn't have it any other way! Use Ice Punch and block it! Then use Iron Tail!" Quagsire coated its fists in ice and absorbed the punches.

Gold's Pokémon then swung around and slammed its tail into Pikachu. "Get into the air and use Fly!" Yellow's Pikachu got back up and produced balloons from seemingly nowhere. It started to float into the sky and out of range.

Gold waited to see what the Pokémon would do when Yellow suddenly sprang into action. "Now!" Pikachu suddenly destroyed the balloons and slammed into Quagsire. "Use Fly again!"

I see... she's trying to keep off of the ground so we can't use Earthquake. I'll need to destroy those balloons then. "Use Surf! Launch the sphere up!"

Yellow was caught off guard as Quagsire tossed the ball of water into the sky instead of throwing it onto the ground to create a wave. The ball slammed into Pikachu and popped the balloons. "Earthquake!"

Quagsire created another seismic shake just as Pikachu landed and dealt even more damage. Yellow's Pokémon got right back up despite the injuries it had sustained. "Pikachu finish this with Surf into Brick Break!"

Her Pikachu produced a surf board and created a giant wave of water. The Pokémon surfed the wave and suddenly jumped into the air. The wave crashed into Quagsire and then Pikachu slammed her arms into his head.

The blows were strong enough to bring down Gold's second Pokémon and now he had to resort to his final Pokémon. The trainer calmed himself down and sent out his Donphan.

"You sure were prepared for my Pikachu, eh?" Yellow remarked. "Shame I don't just rely on electric moves. Use Surf!"

Gold grinned as Pikachu created yet another wave and rode it towards his Pokémon. "Rollout! You know what to do!" Donphan was a newer addition to his team and had a few tricks Gold hadn't tried out previously.

One of those tricks was the extra tough Rollout it had been taught by training with Magcargo. He rolled into a ball and sped off, leaping high into the air and knocking Pikachu from the wave.

For extra oomph, Donphan even turned around and charged right through the wave of water. The elephant Pokémon sped into Pikachu again as it was recovering and Yellow put her hands on her hips.

"My, my, you're just full of surprises Gold." Donphan turned around again and started to approach her Pokemon. "Pikachu, use Brick Break on the battlefield!" Pikachu slammed its hands onto the ground and created a slant that launched Donphan into the air. "Fly!"

Yellow's ace Pokémon jumped up into the sky and followed Donphan, striking him as soon as she got close enough to.

Gold's final Pokémon crashed into the ground and struggled to get back up. A few more good blows like that and they would be done for. "Hang in there and use Sandstorm!"

Sand started to swirl around Donphan and quickly consumed the entire battlefield. The blinding sand left Pikachu completely disoriented which Gold took advantage of. "Earthquake!" Yellow's last Pokémon was knocked into the air and Gold decided it was all or nothing. "Rollout and Giga Impact! Let's finish this!"

"Brick Break!" Yellow shouted into the storm. Donphan began to glow as it rolled towards Pikachu, who met it head on. The two were locked in an intense conflict for a brief moment and Gold worried if Donphan would be able to win it for them.

His concerns were assuaged when Pikachu was overwhelmed and Donphan struck the electric mouse Pokemon, bringing the battle to a close and another victory to Gold.

Andy strode onto the battlefield and sent out his Blissey. The pink mass would make easy work of his opponent and he was assured of this when a Smoochum came out to face him. "Use Toxic!" A ball of poison was launched into the tiny Pokémon.

"Powder Snow." A tiny amount of snow lightly grazed Andy's defensive monster and he had to hold back his laughter.

The poison took effect and Andy made his next move. "Use Protect!" Blissey summoned a barrier around itself which forced the Smoochum to take even more poison damage. "Finish this with Body Slam!" Blissey slammed the full force of its body into the tiny target and the Pokemon collapsed.

You'll never guess what he did against the Elekid and Magby that the trainer sent out.

Rosa had managed to put up a decent fight against Silver but once Serperior was beaten by his Ninetales, Umbreon was basically doing cleanup work against her Scolipede.

"Use Dark Pulse!" Silver shouted the command and Umbreon sent a wave of darkness into its opponent. Scolipede was overwhelmed by the attack and passed out. Two down, one to go and Silver hadn't even lost a single Pokémon yet.

Rosa didn't seem too concerned, however, and nonchalantly sent out her final Pokémon. A massive white dragon that Silver recognized from Unovan legends. Reshiram.

"Uhm... Umbreon use your Dark Pulse. Keep your distance." Silver advised. His Pokémon cautiously fired a black beam at its opponent but the Legendary Pokémon shrugged off the blow.

Rose grinned and held up her arm. "Use Fusion Flare!" Reshiram's tail began to glow red and fire swirled around it. The Pokémon sped into Umbreon and the force of the blow launched Silver's Pokémon out of the battlefield entirely. Umbreon was certainly knocked out so Silver returned him.

No worries. We can definitely win this. Probably. Ninetales had taken a pretty rough beating but Silver sent her out anyways. They needed to deal some damage. "Use Hex!"

Ghostly energy appeared around Reshiram but the Pokémon seemed no worse for wear as the attack struck it. Rosa grinned. "That's what I'm talking about Reshiram! Now use Draco Meteor!"

The move was absolute overkill for the injured Ninetales and Silver had to sit and watch as a bright orange ball rose into the sky and exploded into dozens of meteors that rained down onto the battlefield.

Once the barrage subsided, Ninetales was thoroughly defeated and Silver had to send out his final Pokémon, a Porygon-Z. "Porygon-Z use Tri-Attack." Maybe we could get a status effect on it? Silver wondered as his Pokémon fired three different colored orbs into the Reshiram.

Silver groaned internally as nothing happened and Reshiram moved in to attack again. "Use Fusion Flare again!" More fire consumed the beast and it slammed into Porygon-Z with a hefty amount of force.

Porygon-Z struggled back up thanks to the Draco Meteor weakening Reshiram's attacks but Silver knew that without a miracle, they were done for. "Signal Beam! C'mon!" It had to confuse. It HAD to. Porygon-Z fired the square beam into the draconian beast's face and when the smoke cleared... nothing.

"Finish this with Blue Flare!" Reshiram opened its maw and fired a massive blue fireball into Porygon-Z. And like that, Silver had lost.