20demayo Chapter 528 Before the Semifinals, Ash and Shinji
Chapter 528 Before the Semifinals, Ash and Shinji
Thus, with the defeat of Empoleon, the highly anticipated match between Ash and Ash came to an end with Ash's victory.
Although Ash only defeated one Pokémon in the end, the audience still felt a sense of satisfaction.
Because both sides had sent out all their Pokémon, each Pokémon faced different opponents and adopted different tactics in each battle, and Ash and Ash, as the parties involved, also felt satisfied.
After their match, Darko and Shinji will face their respective trainers.
Darkrai still managed to complete the harvest using only Darkrai.
As for Shinji, he surprisingly used a combination of poison spikes, pitfall traps, and roar against his opponent in this match, clearly inspired by Kouhei's match.
This tactic did indeed frustrate the opponent greatly. Trainers who fought against Shinji didn't even have a chance to fight back before Shinji directly defeated all their Pokémon.
After all the matches concluded today, the highly anticipated draw ceremony began.
Of the remaining four, three are dark horses who will win the championship, which means that in the semifinals, two of Ash, Shinji, and Darkrai will definitely meet.
As for who the two people who will meet before the final will be, the draw system on the big screen has already given the answer.
Ash vs. Shinji.
Dacto vs. Kapping.
......
The soft light of dusk bathed the Lily of the Valley Arena in a warm golden glow. The deafening cheers and shouts of the day gradually faded away, and the air was filled with the tranquility that followed the dissipation of the smoke, yet an even more turbulent undercurrent was lurking beneath the surface.
The semi-final draw results were like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples, especially the match between Ash and Shinji, which was the highlight of this year's Lily of the Valley Conference.
At this moment, the Pokémon registration area located on one side of the arena has also shed its daytime hustle and bustle.
Only a few staff members remained on site, organizing documents and waiting for the semi-finalists to arrive and register their Pokémon.
"Da, da, da..."
The sound of regular footsteps grew louder as Ash and Pikachu appeared at the entrance to the registration area.
Ash only finished thinking about it at dusk, deciding which Pokémon to send out for the crucial battle against Shinji the next day.
At this moment, Pikachu, standing on Ash's shoulder, was in surprisingly good spirits.
The exhilarating battle with Ash seems to have significantly boosted Pikachu's strength.
Even though Pikachu had already used up a lot of power in that battle, it was now fully charged again thanks to the Electric Ball.
Although it no longer emitted arcs of electricity as it had yesterday, the electric sacs on both sides of its cheeks still faintly flickered with a barely perceptible, shimmering light, like fragments of gold, under the setting sun.
Ash doesn't know how many more battles it will take for the Electric Ball and Pikachu to fully fuse.
But that's only a matter of time; the complete integration will definitely be finished before the Lily of the Valley Conference ends.
As soon as he reached the registration desk, Xiao Zhi's gaze was drawn to a familiar figure not far away.
Shinji appeared to have just finished the registration process and was walking out of the temporary tent set up at the registration office.
"Yo, Shinji." Ash greeted Shinji with his usual smile, and Pikachu waved back in a friendly gesture.
"Why are you only arriving now? Is this a Pokémon that just finished its special training and is now registering?"
Shinji stopped and, after hearing Ash's question, simply nodded casually in response.
Although Shinji had undergone two days of special training with Ash and the others, and should have become quite familiar with them, Shinji's personality remained the same, and he did not become more cheerful as a result.
However, the cheerful Shinji...
Even Xiao Zhi himself found it hard to believe.
A brief silence fell between them, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
In the end, it was Shinji who broke the silence first.
His voice was as deep as ever, but his tone carried an unprecedented seriousness: "I've been looking forward to tomorrow's match for a long time."
He paused, then looked directly at Ash again.
The look in his eyes seemed to hold more than just the simple desire to compete with Ash; it held a more complex emotion.
Shinji calmly added, "Although I had prepared a plan to fight Darkor long ago, perhaps the most fitting ending for our long journey from the very first battle to the present is to have another six-on-six all-out battle with you in the semifinals of the Suzuran Tournament."
Shinji himself did not expect that he would change so much simply during his Sinnoh trip.
It was quite rare for him to talk about such a topic with such strong emotional overtones.
Upon hearing this, Ash was taken aback at first, but then he understood what Shinji was thinking.
"Of course, that's what I think too. After all, it and I have been waiting for this day for a long time. This battle contains not only the promise between you and me, but also the promise between it and me. It would be such a pity if we couldn't fulfill the promise at the Lily of the Valley Tournament."
As he spoke, Ash took out a Poké Ball and gently stroked it.
Shinji recognized it as Infernape's Poké Ball. He also clearly remembered the faint scratches on the ball, as it had been with him for a long time.
No further words are needed to argue.
Past battles and ideological clashes seem to have quietly receded into the background at this moment.
Instead, there was a unique tacit understanding between the two of them, incomprehensible to others, and the purest and most fervent anticipation for the upcoming fateful showdown.
Shinji gave Ash a deep look, then said nothing more and strode away from the registration desk.
However, just as Shinji and Ash brushed past each other, he paused slightly, turned his head, and fixed his gaze on Ash one last time, saying in a resolute tone:
"Tomorrow I will use my six strongest Pokémon, without holding back." He said seriously, "You should understand what I mean. Show your true strength and fight with all your might."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shinji's figure disappeared at the entrance of the registration office, leaving behind only a proud and resolute silhouette.
"Of course."
Ash turned his gaze away from the direction Shinji had left.
"I always give it my all..."
After muttering to himself for a while, Ash stopped hesitating and turned to step into the temporary tent used to register Pokémon.
The twilight light stretched his shadow long.
.......