Ever Grande Conference

Today was an exciting day because the qualifying battles for the Ever Grande Conference were starting today. Tyson, Morrison and the gang were at the Pokemon Center waiting on instructions for the battles. Nurse Joy told the trainers the instructions; the rules for the qualifying rounds was that the 256 trainers had to battle in three matches, all double battles and only 32 trainers had to win all three to make it to the final round. If they lost just one battle they would be out of the tournament.

"Wow sounds like this will be hard, especially since you can't lose one battle if you want to get to the next round." May said.

"Yeah, but I'll beat all three of my opponents no matter what." Ash declared confidently.

"That goes double for me." Morrison said.

It wasn't long before the qualifying rounds started. These rounds were being held in the mini-stadiums that stood in the inner circle that surrounded the main stadium. Right now it was Morrison's turn in his first double battle and Tyson and the gang were watching him. Morrison sent out a Growlithe and Gligar and his opponent, Gavin, sent out a Marowak and Machamp. Max feared this may be trouble because Marowak had a type advantage over Growlithe.

Morrison started off by telling his Growlithe to use Take Down on Marowak, but Marowak dodged it and used Headbutt on Growlithe. Gligar went next trying to hit Machamp with Steel Wing, but Machamp counter-attacked with Karate Chop.

"Attack Marowak with Flamethrower Growlithe." Morrison said. "And Gligar use Guillotine on Machamp."

Growlithe blew a stream of fire at Marowak, but Marowak blocked it with Bone Club. Then Gligar tried to attack Machamp with Guillotine, but Machamp dodged that and struck Gligar with Dynamic Punch and Brick Break.

"This doesn't look good." May said.

"Yeah, especially since Growlithe has a big disadvantage with Marowak." Max added. "And that Machamp is showing no mercy either."

"Morrison can do it." Ash said.

Morrison commanded Gligar to use Guillotine again and this time it didn't miss. Since Guillotine was a one hit KO move, Machamp fainted immediately. Gavin's Marowak moved in and knocked Growlithe out with Bonemerang. So now it was one down to one Pokemon now for Morrison and Gavin. To Morrison's surprise Gavin's Marowak knew Ice Beam.

"If that Ice Beam hits Gligar it will be over for Morrison because Gligar is 4x weak to ice." Brock said.

Morrison told his Gligar to watch out for the Ice Beam attack and then commanded it to use Iron Tail. Gligar managed to avoid being hit by Marowak's Ice Beam and then struck Marowak hard with Iron Tail. Gavin ordered his Marowak to use Headbutt and Morrison ordered his Gligar to use Iron Tail again. This time the two Pokemon collided with each other using their attacks and then Marowak fainted while Gligar managed to remain standing. So Morrison won and was able to proceed to the next round.

Later that day it was Ash's turn to battle and he faced a trainer named Dominick. Morrison was watching this battle with the others. Dominick sent out a Swalot and a Tropius. Tropius was a brown and green grass/flying type Pokemon with four big leaves on it's back and yellow bananas on it's chin that resembled a dinosaur.

"Wow what a cool Pokemon." Max said.

May looked Tropius up on her Pokedex.

"Tropius, the Fruit Pokemon. The bunches of fruit around Tropius's neck are very popular with children. This Pokemon loves fruit, and eats it continuously. Apparently, it's love for fruit has resulted in it's own outgrowth of fruit."

Ash knew Swalot was a poison type and Tropius was a grass/flying type, so he released Grumpig and Torkoal.

Tropius started off by flying high into the air and using Razor Leaf.

"Psychic Grumpig." Ash said.

Grumpig's Psychic stopped Tropius's Razor Leaf in it's tracks and then sent the leaves back at Tropius, who was hit by the leaves.

"Hey that's the move Kelly did with her Grumpig at the Lilycove Contest." May said. She remembered that move.

"That's Ash for you; he always uses a move that he learned about before." Brock said.

"Okay my turn to attack." Ash said. "Use Heat Wave on Tropius, Torkoal."

Torkoal created a flaming wind which hit Tropius.

"Ash is giving Dominick a hard time out there." May said.

"Never a dull moment when it comes to Ash battling." Max agreed.

Morrison was impressed with Ash's battling style.

"Okay let's fight back." Dominick said. "Tropius use Gust on Torkoal and Swalot use Body Slam on Grumpig."

Tropius flapped it's wings hard to try and blow Torkoal away while Swalot jumped to body slam Grumpig.

"Torkoal stand your ground and use Flamethrower on Tropius and Grumpig use Protect." Ash said.

Torkoal didn't let himself get blown away by Gust and released a stream of fire which headed towards Tropius, which hit it. Grumpig created a protective shield just before Swalot could hit her.

"Phew thank goodness Grumpig knows Protect. Otherwise it would have been in trouble." Max said.

"Well to tell you the truth all of Ash's Pokemon know Protect." Tomo told the others.

Ash decided to fight back now; he ordered Torkoal to use Overheat on Swalot and he ordered Grumpig to use Power Gem on Tropius. Grumpig fired Power Gem and Torkoal fired Overheat. Tropius and Swalot were hit by the attacks. Tropius took a lot of damage from Power Gem and it fainted, so Dominick was down to only one Pokemon.

"Okay time to attack together." Ash said. "Torkoal Flamethrower and Grumpig Psybeam."

Grumpig and Torkoal attacked Swalot together and then it fainted. So Ash won the first double battle round.

It had been a long day for Ash, Morrison and Tyson with the qualifying rounds. Tyson also won his first double battle round. But they still had two more battles to go before they could battle in the final rounds.

The next morning...

Jessie, James and Meowth woke up and got ready for work again.

"My feet are still feeling tired from yesterday." James said. "I want to sleep more."

"We can't though." Meowth reminded him. "If we don't start getting ready for work our employer will get mad at us and you won't like that."

Jessie, James and Meowth's employer was a scary man who hated laziness and other things like that.

"At least he gives us brilliant meals when we're done." James said. "Last night's bento's were delicious."

"Yeah we do get fed well here." Meowth agreed.

"There's no point complaining about this." Jessie said. "I mean this Pokemon League isn't going to last for too long. Remember the leagues in Kanto and Johto didn't last long and neither will this one. So let's get on with it and earn more money for ourselves."

That day was filled with more double battles for the qualifying rounds. The 128 trainers including Ash, Morrison and Tyson, who made it past the qualifying rounds, were desperate to get to the final rounds. Ash, Morrison and Tyson defeated their opponents and made it to the third round. So by then there were only 64 trainers left.

The next day...

Ash was battling his last opponent, a trainer named Clark. The peculiar thing about Clark was that he conducted his Pokemon in battles like a symphony. Ash called out his Glalie and Grovyle to battle this time. Clark decided right away that he would win this battle because he called out Quilava and Charizard.

"Uh oh since Charizard and Quilava are fire types, Grovyle and Glalie are a disadvantage being a grass and ice type." May said.

"That's true." Brock admitted. "But I'm sure Ash will know what to does; he always finds a way around a disadvantage."

Ash started first by telling Grovyle to use Dragon Breath on Charizard and told his Glalie to use Ice Shard on Quilava. Clark had his Pokemon fight back by telling Charizard to use Flamethrower and his Quilava use Flame Wheel. Charizard's Flamethrower broke Grovyle's Dragon Breath apart and Quilava stopped Glalie's Ice Shard from hitting it with Flame Wheel and then it tackled Glalie.

"Fight back with Crunch Glalie." Ash said.

Glalie bit down on Quilava and caused it a lot of pain.

"Now follow up with Headbutt." Quilava took more damage after Glalie headbutted it. Clark noticed that Ash was a strong trainer.

"Okay Charizard, use Heat Wave and Quilava move in with Quick Attack." Clark said.

"Glalie counter Heat Wave with Blizzard and Grovyle counter Quilava's Quick Attack with your own." Ash said.

Grovyle and Quilava tackled each other with Quick Attack. Then Charizard and Glalie released Heat Wave and Blizzard. The two attacks collided and caused an explosion. While that distraction commenced, Ash ordered Grovyle to use Dragon Breath on Quilava. Grovyle's Dragon Breath hit Quilava and it fainted.

So Clark was down to only one Pokemon, but it didn't faze him. He ordered his Charizard to strike Grovyle with Wing Attack and Grovyle was hit by it then fainted. So now it was just down to Clark's Charizard vs Ash's Glalie.

"Charizard, attack with Flamethrower." Clark said.

"Use Protect Glalie." Ash said.

Glalie created a shield to protect himself from Flamethrower.

"Now use Water Pulse." Glalie fired three rings of water from it's mouth at Charizard which struck it.

Clark was surprised. He wasn't expecting Glalie to know Water Pulse.

"Ha since Glalie knows Water Pulse, Clark is in trouble." Max said.

He was right; Clark's Charizard was weakened by Water Pulse.

"Okay Glalie end this with Dark Pulse." Ash said.

Glalie fired Dark Pulse which struck Charizard. After this last attack, Charizard fainted giving Ash his third win and the right to advance to the final rounds.

That night Ash was glad to have something to eat and some rest. Brock explained that tomorrow there weren't any battles because the trainers were going to take a break before the final rounds. By now there were 32 trainers left in the tournament.

"At least I will have more time to think about the six Pokemon I should use for my first final battle." Ash said. "I've been through full six on six battles and I understand how difficult it is to choose what Pokemon to use."

"Well my Pokemon are going to be my Swampert, Steelix, Girafarig, Metang, Growlithe and Gligar." Morrison said.

"What about you Tyson?" May asked.

"My six Pokemon are Meowth, Sceptile, Donphan, Hariyama, Metagross and Shiftry." Tyson said.

"Well I'll just think all the way through my Hoenn Pokemon tomorrow to choose my six Pokemon." Ash decided.

So the majority of the next day was resting and planning for Tyson, Morrison and Ash before the start of the final battles.

As for Jessie, James and Meowth the next day was a lot of janitor work, mopping the seating area and cleaning the benches.

The day after their day off it was the start of the final battle rounds; it was now the Top 32. Ash was up first and he was up against a girl named Katie from Lilycove City, and Tyson and Morrison watched in the stands with the others. The final rounds were held in the main stadium and the trainers battled on four different stages. This meant that they would battle either on a water field, rock field, grass field or ice field and the fields would change after three of either trainer's Pokemon had been defeated first. Ash and Katie's battlefield had been chosen to be the rock field.

Katie sent out a Venomoth first and Ash sent out Combusken. As soon as the referee declared the match to begin, Katie started off by telling Venomoth to use Stun Spore to paralyze Combusken.

"Stop that Stun Spore with Flamethrower Combusken." Ash said.

Combusken's Flamethrower stopped the Stun Spore before it could cover him. Just then Katie returned her Venomoth; the trainers were allowed to substitute Pokemon during the battles in this league. Katie then sent her Golduck out to battle next. It was clear to Ash that Katie would probably keep switching out her Pokemon because of type disadvantage; this happened before at the Silver Conference. Ash returned Combusken and sent Absol out next.

"Why didn't Ash send Manectric out to battle Golduck?" May asked.

"He figured Katie would substitute Pokemon again if he did that." Brock said. "Ash has been through something like this before and you should always think clearly about what Pokemon to use."

"You're right about that Brock." Tyson said. "After all you can never tell what Pokemon your opponent will use until you see it yourself."

Katie ordered her Golduck to use Fury Swipes, but Ash ordered Absol to dodge and use Thunderbolt. Absol dodged Golduck's Fury Swipes and then it shocked him with Thunderbolt. Katie was surprised by that.

"I'll have you know Katie that my Absol knows a lot of moves." Ash said.

He was about to give Absol another order but then Katie returned Golduck and sent out Dugtrio.

*'I had a feeling she would switch out her Pokemon again.'* Ash thought.

Katie ordered her Dugtrio to use Dig.

"Watch out Absol." Ash said. "We don't know where it's going to emerge."

Suddenly Dugtrio burst out of the ground and tackled Absol.

"Okay Absol use Ice Beam." Ash said.

Absol did a lot of damage to Dugtrio with Ice Beam.

"Now use Razor Wind." Absol released a blade of energy from her scythe which was sent towards Dugtrio.

So Katie had five more Pokemon to use while Ash had six.

*'Hmm that Absol is strong.'* Katie thought. *'But I'm pretty sure it can't deal with this.'*

She sent Misdreavus out next.

"Why send out a ghost type?" Tomo asked. "Dark types are strong against ghost types."

"Katie must have a trick up her sleeve; she wouldn't send Misdreavus out if she didn't." Brock said.

"Absol, Sucker Punch." Ash said.

Absol leaped into the air and punched Misdreavus before it could do anything.

"Finish it off with Night Slash." Ash said.

"Destiny Bond Misdreavus." Katie said.

"Uh oh." Ash muttered.

He was aware that if a Pokemon used Destiny Bond, it's opponent would faint shortly after the user did. He tried to stop Absol but it was too late. Absol defeated Misdreavus with Night Slash and shortly after Misdreavus fainted it also fainted. So now Katie had four Pokemon while Ash had five.

Katie sent out Venomoth again while Ash sent out Manectric.

"Venomoth, Stun Spore." She ordered.

"Manectric, Protect." Ash said.

Manectric was safe from being paralyzed for now.

"Good thing Protect was used otherwise Manectric wouldn't be able to move." May said.

"Thunder Wave." Manectric paralyzed Venomoth.

"Oh no Venomoth, try to use Psybeam." Katie said.

It was to no avail as Venomoth couldn't move.

"Thunderbolt." Ash said.

Manectric struck Venomoth with a bolt of lightning and it fainted. So Ash defeated three of Katie's Pokemon first.

So now it was time for a field change and this time it was a water battlefield, and there was a brief break. After the break, Katie sent out her Golduck to battle once again and Ash sent out his Corphish.

"Golduck, use Fury Swipes on Corphish." Katie said.

"Corphish, counter with Crabhammer." Ash said.

Golduck scratched Corphish and Corphish punched Golduck with his pincer.

"All right Golduck use Confusion." Katie said.

Golduck used Confusion to lift Corphish into the air and then tossed him into the pool. Corphish was now confused. Ash could tell this was trouble, as you had no idea what a Pokemon would do while they're confused.

"Try to pull yourself together Corphish." Ash said.

It was no use. Corphish was so confused he couldn't really listen to Ash.

"Golduck, Hydro Pump." Katie ordered.

Golduck sent a huge blast of water at Corphish.

"Avoid it." Ash tried to have Corphish dodge the attack, but his words fell on deaf ears. Hydro Pump hit Corphish and caused it to fall into the water.

Suddenly there was a glow in the water. Corphish was evolving. Corphish came out of the water as a Crawdaunt. Ash was happy for his Pokemon's evolution.

"Crawdaunt, Night Slash." Ash ordered.

Crawdaunt, who was no longer confused slashed Golduck across the chest and then Golduck fainted. Crawdaunt followed suit as it was too exhausted to continue battling. So Katie was down to two Pokemon while Ash still had four.

Katie sent out Scizor and Ash sent out Swellow.

"Scizor is a bug/steel type, so Swellow will have a hard time defeating it." Tyson said.

"Don't underestimate Swellow." Tomo said. "He has a special move that can turn this battle around."

Tyson had no idea what he meant, so he decided to wait and see what Tomo was talking about.

"Scizor, Quick Attack." Katie ordered.

"Swellow, Aerial Ace." Ash ordered.

The two Pokemon tackled each other.

"Metal Claw, Scizor." Katie said.

Scizor advanced to slash Swellow.

"Double Team." Swellow made copies of himself to avoid being hit.

Katie had Scizor attack some more until the real Swellow was found.

"Swellow, Heat Wave." Swellow flapped his wings creating a orange gust of super-heated air that was sent towards Scizor.

Scizor couldn't stand the gust of super-heated air and fainted. Katie, the audience, Tyson and Morrison were shocked that Ash's Swellow knew Heat Wave.

"I'm guessing that's what you were talking about earlier?" Tyson asked Tomo,

"Yes. All of Ash's flying type Pokemon know Heat Wave." Tomo said.

"Tomo's right and Heat Wave helps out against ice and steel type Pokemon." Brock said.

Katie was now down to her last Pokemon, a Walrein. Ash knew Walrein was a water/ice type, but he kept Swellow out to use the others later.

"Swellow, Steel Wing." He said.

Swellow charged towards Walrein.

"Avalanche, Walrein." Katie said.

Walrein's body glowed light blue and white rings of energy appeared in the sky and then an avalanche of snow appeared out of the rings and Swellow was hit by the avalanche. Ash knew this was trouble because Avalanche was an ice type move.

"Now Walrein, Water Gun." Katie said.

Walrein squirted Swellow with water knocking it out.

"Wow, Katie's Walrein is stronger than we thought." Max said.

"Yes, Ash is in a run for his money." Tyson said.

Ash sent out Manectric because it was an electric type Pokemon.

"Thunderbolt." Ash said.

Manectric fired a bolt of lightning at Walrein, but Katie told her Walrein to use Mimic and Walrein also used Thunderbolt countering Manectric's Thunderbolt.

"Oh no, Mimic will be trouble because it continues copying Manectric's attacks." Brock said.

"Manectric, Agility." Ash ordered.

Manectric jumped from pool float to pool float very quickly and Walrein had no idea where it would strike next.

"Thunder."

"Use Blizzard, Walrein." Katie said.

Manectric released Thunder while Walrein released Blizzard. Walrein was fried by Thunder while Manectric felt chilly from Blizzard. Walrein then fainted. So Ash won the battle and could advance to the next round. Katie congratulated him.

"I was amazed your Pokemon know many different moves." She said.

"Different moves can be beneficial in battle." Ash said. "Especially when your Pokemon is facing a type disadvantage."

Katie agreed.

The next day...

It was down to the Top 16 and Ash and Morrison were facing each other. This field was an ice field. Ash wasn't using Manectric in this round. He stared at Morrison. Morrison was still not at his best because he was battling Ash.

*'Something tells me Morrison won't try his hardest in our battle.'* Ash thought. *'So I'll have to set him straight.'*

He sent out Sableye first and Morrison sent out Girafarig.

"Hey that Girafarig won't do anything because Sableye is immune to normal and psychic type Pokemon." Max pointed out.

"You're right." Tyson said.

Morrison ordered his Girafarig to use Light Screen. Ash ordered Sableye to use Brick Break and it smashed right through Light Screen.

"Now use Shadow Claw Sableye." Sableye scratched Girafarig with Shadow Claw.

"Use Tackle Girafarig." Morrison said.

That was a big mistake; because Sableye was a ghost/dark type, Tackle did nothing.

*'I knew it.'* Ash thought. *'Morrison isn't concentrating at all because of our battle.'*

"Sableye, Dark Pulse." He ordered.

This caused Girafarig to faint.

Just as Morrison returned Girafarig, Ash shouted out to him.

"Hey Morrison!" He shouted. "This wasn't the battle I was expecting us to have. If this continues, you might as well quit battling!"

Morrison was shocked by Ash's words and gritted his teeth.

"I'm not quitting!" He shouted. "And I'll show you a real battle."

He sent out Growlithe.

"Use Flamethrower." He ordered.

"This is more like it." Ash said. "Dodge it Sableye and use Power Gem."

Sableye dodged the stream of fire and fired a pale pink beam from the gemstone at Growlithe.

"Dodge it with Flame Wheel Growlithe." Morrison said.

Growlithe dodged the pale pink beam and then tackled Sableye.

"Now use Flamethrower again." Morrison said.

Growlithe fired a stream of red-orange flames from his mouth at Sableye. The attack caused Sableye to faint.

"This is the battle I was expecting from you Morrison." Ash said, happy that Morrison snapped out of his shock.

Ash returned Sableye and released Milotic. Morrison and the audience were surprised by Ash's shiny Milotic, even Tyson was impressed because he hadn't seen Milotic yet.

"This is going to be great." Morrison said.

He returned Growlithe and released his Marshtomp.

"Use Hydro Pump." Ash smirked.

"Mirror Coat." He told Milotic.

Marshtomp's Hydro Pump bounced off Milotic and hit Marshtomp. Morrison wasn't expecting that.

"Hammer Arm." He said.

"Attract, Milotic." Ash said.

Milotic winked and released pink hearts from her body that hit Marshtomp and Marshtomp became infatuated with Milotic. Marshtomp was unable to continue battling.

"Hah." Brock chuckled. "Marshtomp is male and Milotic is female, so it's too smitten to attack."

"You're right. I've seen Attract be used before." Tyson said.

"Now Milotic, Iron Tail." Ash said.

Milotic whacked Marshtomp with a metallic silver tail and Marshtomp was knocked out after striking the iceberg.

Morrison was surprised by Ash's Milotic and sent Growlithe out again.

"Why is Morrison using Growlithe against Milotic?" May asked. "Water beats fire."

"I'm guessing since Growlithe has already been in a battle Morrison decided to use it first, and then he'll use the others later." Brock said.

"That makes sense." Max stated.

"Flamethrower." Morrison told Growlithe.

"Milotic, Water Gun." Ash ordered.

Milotic's Water Gun passed through the Flamethrower and hit Growlithe head on. Growlithe wasn't able to handle any more and fainted. Ash still had five Pokemon while Morrison had three.

During the break Morrison apologized to Ash for his behavior.

"I understand the shock of facing me because we're friends." Ash said. "But I'm glad you realize we can still have a great battle."

Morrison agreed.

After the break, Ash and Morrison were ready to continue their battle.

The field changed to a grass field. Morrison sent out Steelix and Ash sent out Shiftry.

"Wouldn't Combusken be a better choice than Shiftry?" Max asked.

"It would, but Shiftry knows a few fighting type moves." Tomo answered.

"Use Dig." Morrison told Steelix.

"Be careful." Ash told Shiftry when it went underground.

Just then Steelix emerged and tackled Shiftry.

"Shiftry, Seed Bomb." Ash ordered.

Shiftry fired glowing seeds at Steelix.

"Now use Focus Blast." Ash said.

Steelix was hit by a ball of energy, but remained standing.

"Dragon Breath, Steelix." Morrison commanded.

Steelix fired a green beam from it's mouth at Shiftry.

"Shiftry, Leaf Storm."

Shiftry fired a tornado of leaves at the green beam.

Both Pokemon were hit by the attacks and fainted.

Morrison returned Steelix; he still had two more Pokemon while Ash still had four Pokemon. Ash sent out Manectric and Morrison sent out Gligar.

"Gligar is a ground/flying type, so Manectric's electric type attacks are useless against it." Max said.

"No they don't. But Manectric knows Ice Fang." Tomo reminded them.

May and Max forgot Manectric knew Ice Fang.

"Start off with Steel Wing." Morrison told Gligar.

"Swift, Manectric." Ash said.

White stars kept Gligar from getting close to him, while it was trying to fly towards him.

"Now move in with Ice Fang." Manectric bit down hard on Gligar with Ice Fang and ice began to form on Gligar.

It had trouble flying because of the ice.

"Try and break the ice Gligar." Morrison said.

"Finish it off with one more Ice Fang Manectric." Ash said.

Manectric bit down on Gligar again with Ice Fang and Gligar fainted after the attack.

Morrison was now down to his last Pokemon, Metang. Ash returned Manectric and sent Shiftry out again.

"Why isn't Ash using Combusken or Torkoal?" May asked. "Fire is strong against steel."

"Yes, but Metang is also a psychic type." Brock reminded her. "When you're facing a psychic type Pokemon or a Pokemon that uses psychic type moves, it's best to use a dark type Pokemon because psychic type moves don't affect dark type Pokemon."

"Oh I see." May said.

She still had a lot to learn about Pokemon types, even if she had been journeying for a while now. Morrison didn't know psychic type moves were useless on dark type Pokemon.

"Use Confusion on Shiftry." Morrison ordered.

Nothing happened though.

"Morrison, psychic type moves don't work on dark type Pokemon." Ash said.

Morrison face palmed himself in embarrassment for not knowing that.

"Use Dark Pulse, Shiftry." Ash said.

Shiftry fired rings of dark purple energy which hit Metang.

"Okay, let's try this then." Morrison said. "Use Bullet Punch."

Metang's arms glow red and it repeatedly punched Shiftry.

"Leaf Storm, Shiftry." Shiftry whipped up a tornado of leaves at Metang, and it was cut by the leaves.

This was too much for Metang to handle and it fainted. So Morrison lost the battle and was in the top 16 of the Ever Grande Conference.

When the top 16 rounds were over, everyone went to the Pokemon Center to heal their Pokemon. Ash picked up Pikachu's Poke Ball and he went inside.

"Good job for your win." Morrison congratulated Ash. "I'll make sure I never act the way I did during our battle today again."

Just then the results for the Top 8 rounds, which were taking place tomorrow, appeared. This time Ash was up against a man named Jones.

"I know that guy." Tyson said. "He is a ground type Pokemon trainer, so he only uses ground type Pokemon."

"Wow he must be a strong trainer if he could beat all eight gyms with only ground type Pokemon." Max said.

Ash was interested by that and he couldn't wait to battle Jones. So there were still some more battles for Ash to get through if he wanted to win the Ever Grande Conference.

The next day...

It was now the Top 8 of the battle rounds in the Ever Grande Conference. Ash put up a good fight against Jones and his ground type Pokemon; Jones had Flygon, Rhydon, Swampert, Camerupt, Claydol and now he was down to his last Pokemon, Sandslash. Ash used Salamance first, and it managed to defeat Flygon but was then knocked out by Rhydon and it's Rock Slide attack. Ash's Swampert defeated Rhydon but it was defeated along with Jones' Swampert. Ash's Milotic defeated Jones' Camerupt but lost to Claydol's Psychic attacks. Ash's Armaldo fell to Claydol too, but Ash's Grovyle defeated Claydol. Then Jones' Sandslash defeated Grovyle. Jones' Sandslash seemed to be very strong and it's Rollout and Crush Claw attacks were trouble. So now Ash was down to his last Pokemon Cradily and they were on a grass field. Jones tried to have his Sandslash do the same combination of Rollout and Crush Claw on Cradily, but Ash had a trick up his sleeve.

"Cradily, Grass Knot." He ordered.

It was a grass type move that made the opponent's Pokemon trip up. Thanks to Grass Knot, Sandslash couldn't get far with Rollout. Then Cradily used Solar Beam and thanks to it Sandslash and Jones were defeated.

So now it was time for the Top 4 battles, but to Ash's surprise his opponent was Tyson. Even though they were friends/rivals, Tyson and Ash promised to have a good battle with each other Of all the people who were excited about Ash and Tyson's battle, the only one more interested was Meowth. He still didn't like Tyson's Meowth but he was eager to see how it fared against Pikachu.

"Can you cover for me?" Meowth asked Jessie and James. "I want to watch the battle."

They weren't happy with Meowth wanting to skip work, but since he was their friend, they were willing to let him skip just this once. So Jessie and James told their boss that their friend was sick and their job today was remodeling a rundown shack.

Now it was time for Ash and Tyson's battle and they were on a grass field. Tyson sent out his Sceptile and Ash sent out Glalie.

"Glalie, Blizzard." Ash ordered.

"Counter with Solar Beam." Tyson ordered.

Blizzard and Solar Beam collided with each other and created an explosion.

The explosion caused both Glalie and Sceptile to faint.

"We've only started the battle and our Pokemon have already been defeated." Ash told himself.

Tyson returned Sceptile and sent Shiftry out and Ash returned Glalie sending out Beautifly.

"Beautifly, Silver Wind." He ordered.

Shiftry dodged it though.

"Use Shadow Ball, Shiftry." Tyson said.

"Counter that with Energy Ball, Beautifly." Ash said.

Shadow Ball and Energy Ball collided with each other and caused a bang.

"Quick use Stun Spore." Ash said.

Beautifly used Stun Spore from her wings and Shiftry was paralyzed by the move.

"Now use Silver Wind." Tyson tried to make his Shiftry dodge, but it was fully paralyzed.

Shiftry was hit by Silver Wind and then Beautifly ended the battle with Aerial Ace.

May was impressed with Ash's Beautifly; her Beautifly's strength didn't match his Beautifly yet. Tyson sent Hariyama out next.

"Beautifly, Air Cutter." Ash ordered.

"Dodge." Tyson told his Hariyama. "Then use Arm Thrust."

Hariyama dodged Beautifly's Air Cutter and hit it multiple times with Arm Thrust.

"Now use Close Combat." Tyson said.

Hariyama repeatedly punched and kicked Beautifly at high speed, and then it fainted.

"Man Tyson is definitely a strong trainer." Ash said out loud.

He returned Beautifly and sent Swellow out.

"It's good Ash is using Swellow against Hariyama." Brock said. "But what will Tyson's Hariyama do?"

"Hariyama use Brick Break." Tyson said.

"Dodge that with Quick Attack." Ash said.

Swellow's Quick Attack helped him escape before Hariyama could hit him with Brick Break.

"Swellow time to use Brave Bird." Ash said.

"Use Focus Punch Hariyama." Tyson said.

Hariyama and Swellow charged at each other with their attacks and there was an explosion sending the two Pokemon backwards. Swellow was still all right but Hariyama was unable to battle. So Tyson lost three Pokemon first and it was time for a field change.

Ash was talking with Morrison and the others during the break.

"Tyson is stronger than I thought." Ash said.

"I agree and his Pokemon are no pushovers either." Brock added.

The others agreed.

*Meanwhile...*

Jessie and James were working on remodelling the shack.

"I'm glad it's near the end of this competition." Jessie said, panting.

"Me too." James added, hammering away. "And I hope we're getting good money for this."

At that time Meowth had been watching the battle between Ash and Tyson. He was hoping to see Tyson's Meowth battle.

Now it was time for the second half of the battle between Ash and Tyson and this time they were on a rock field. Tyson called out his Donphan and Ash called out Crawdaunt.

"Use Rollout Donphan." Tyson said.

Donphan started to roll towards Crawdaunt.

"Use Surf, Crawdaunt." Ash said.

Crawdaunt created a wave of water and it hit Donphan while it was still rolling. The Surf attack not only soaked Donphan, it also stopped it from rolling.

"Now's our chance Crawdaunt, use Crabhammer." Ash said.

Crawdaunt whacked Donphan hard with Crabhammer and it fainted.

"Wow, Ash sure knows how to deal with Donphan's Rollout." Morrison said.

"Ash has dealt with Pokemon that use Rollout before." Tomo said.

Tyson's next Pokemon was Metagross. Morrison became excited after seeing a Metagross; after all his Metang would evolve into it.

"Use Dark Pulse." Ash ordered.

"Dodge that and use Bullet Punch." Tyson said.

Metagross dodged Dark Pulse and hit Crawdaunt with Bullet Punch.

"Now Hammer Arm." Tyson said.

This was bad news since Crawdaunt was a water/dark type. It was weak to fighting type moves. Metagross managed to hit Crawdaunt with Hammer Arm and it fainted.

"I should have known that Metagross can learn fighting type moves." Ash said.

He returned Crawdaunt and sent Combusken out.

Max pointed out that this could be trouble because Combusken was a fire/fighting type. But Tomo told him not to underestimate Combusken yet.

"Confusion." Tyson told his Metagross.

Combusken was sent into the air.

"Use Ember, Combusken." Ash said.

Even though Combusken was still controlled by Metagross, it fired Ember at Metagross which hit it.

"Sorry Tyson, but Combusken and I have practiced dealing with the move Confusion before." Ash said.

Combusken pumped up ready to fight some more.

Suddenly Combusken glowed and evolved into Blaziken. Ash was happy to have a Blaziken.

He looked Blaziken up on his Pokedex.

"Blaziken, the Blaze Pokemon and the evolved form of Combusken. In battle, Blaziken blows out intense flames from it's wrists and attacks the foe courageously. The stronger the foes, the more intensely this Pokemon's wrists burn."

Blaziken now knew the moves Blaze Kick, Brave Bird and Flare Blitz.

"Use Flare Blitz." Ash said.

Blaziken surrounded himself in reddish-orange flames and while he charged at Metagross the flames turned blue. Blaziken charged straight into Metagross and then Blaziken took recoil damage after using Flare Blitz. Metagross took a lot of damage from Flare Blitz and fainted.

Now Tyson was down to his last Pokemon, Meowth. Team Rocket's Meowth watched with interest to see what Tyson's Meowth can do.

"Blaziken, Flamethrower." Ash ordered.

Meowth dodged the stream of fire and slashed Blaziken with it's claws. Blaziken wasn't too happy and tried to slash Tyson's Meowth.

"Meowth, use Water Pulse." Tyson said.

Meowth fired three rings of water that struck Blaziken.

"Now let's use Thunderbolt." Blaziken was shocked by Thunderbolt as it was still soaked by Water Pulse.

Then Blaziken fainted.

"Woah, if Tyson's Meowth can take down a big Pokemon like Blaziken this is going to be a difficult battle." Ash said out loud.

Meowth was interested by this battle. Ash returned Blaziken and sent out Swellow.

"Swellow, use Aerial Ace." He said.

Before Tyson's Meowth could do anything, Swellow charged into it.

"Now Peck, Swellow." Meowth was pecked repeatedly.

"Use Pay Day on Swellow, Meowth." Tyson said.

Meowth fired gold coins at Swellow, which proceeded to strike him.

"Now use Thunderbolt and Iron Tail, Meowth." Tyson said.

First Swellow was struck by a thunderbolt and hit by a metallic silver tail before fainting.

"Oh man." Max groaned. He was surprised by the loss. "That Meowth sure is difficult to defeat."

"I agree." May said.

Brock and Tomo agreed too.