Even though Tobias still had two Pokémon left, what Ash had done was already shocking enough.
Defeating four of Tobias's Pokémon—four Legendary Pokémon, no less—was far more impressive than simply revealing that they existed.
Because of Ash, the entire audience had gotten to see much more of Tobias's team than anyone had expected.
Gary had originally thought Ash would be able to force out three Pokémon, maybe four at most. He hadn't expected him to push Tobias all the way to a fifth.
The comntator was still caught up in the excitent.
"I really want to know what kind of Pokémon Tobias will send out next!"
After the initial shock faded, curiosity quickly returned. Tobias's first four Pokémon had all been Legendaries. If nothing unexpected happened, the fifth should be one too.
On the field, Tobias recalled the defeated Latios, then reached into his inner pocket and took out another Poké Ball.
"I really didn't expect to be pushed this far by a League Conference challenger," he said. "But this is where it ends."
Then he threw the Poké Ball.
A burst of white light fell onto the field. When it cleared, a large, tiger-like Pokémon with golden fur and black stripes appeared.
[Lv. 65 Raikou / Quasi-Legendary]
"Raikou!" the comntator shouted. "Tobias's fifth Pokémon is Raikou!"
Gary looked at the field and made a quiet guess.
"If he has Suicune and Raikou, then the last one is probably Entei."
Tobias actually had the three legendary beasts under his command. That alone was enough to make Gary curious. Strength aside, getting all three of them to willingly follow him was no simple matter.
He really didn't know how Tobias had done it.
Ash looked at Raikou, then at Charizard.
Charizard had taken heavy damage in its fight with Latios. Blaze had activated, which ant its stamina was already near its limit. On top of that, Raikou had a clear type advantage.
Charizard had almost no chance of winning this.
Unless, Gary thought, Ash could sohow ga Evolve Charizard into X form. But the League Conference didn't allow ga Evolution, so there was no point thinking about it.
Ash had already done enough.
You did well, Gary thought. Leave the rest to .
The battle resud.
Charizard was still fired up, but it was no longer a match for Raikou.
Tobias gave the command without hesitation. Rain Dance first, then Thunder.
Under the rain-boosted accuracy, Raikou's attack landed cleanly and dropped Charizard for good.
"Charizard is unable to battle!"
The referee imdiately raised the flag.
"All of Ash's Pokémon have lost the ability to battle. The winner of this match is Tobias!"
With that, the second semifinal ended.
Ash had lost, but nobody felt disappointed by the battle itself. If anything, it had been far better than expected.
The audience had witnessed Darkrai, Latios, Heatran, Suicune, and now Raikou. And with Gary waiting in the final, they were already looking ahead to the next match.
Ash had forced Tobias this far.
Gary, who was even stronger, might force out everything.
Tobias looked at Ash and gave him a rare bit of recognition.
"You're very strong. Since entering the Lily of the Valley Conference, you're the strongest Trainer I've faced."
Ash was slightly surprised, but he answered quickly.
"Then beat Gary for ."
"Gary?" Tobias asked. "Is he strong?"
He clearly respected Ash now. And if soone Ash acknowledged was worth ntioning, then that Trainer couldn't be ordinary.
Tobias had heard Gary's na before, of course, but he had never paid much attention to it. In his eyes, no one in this tournant had been worth worrying about.
Ash looked at him seriously.
"If what you showed today is your full strength, then you'll lose badly against Gary."
Tobias was silent for a mont.
He clearly hadn't expected that kind of answer.
So this Gary was even stronger than Ash had just shown?
Then Tobias smiled faintly.
"Interesting. But I'll still beat him."
With that, he turned and left the field.
Ash also headed back.
Inside his room in the competitor village, Gary watched the recording of Tobias and Ash's battle.
Looking at the whole match, it was easy to tell that Tobias wasn't especially remarkable as a Trainer in terms of command skill. He mostly relied on the overwhelming levels and quality of his Pokémon to crush his opponents.
Of course, Gary wasn't much different in that sense.
When your Pokémon's level was high enough, there wasn't always much need for complicated tactics.
By 2:30 in the afternoon, the final match of the Lily of the Valley Conference was about to begin.
Because it was the championship match, the schedule had been adjusted slightly. Instead of starting at two o'clock, the final had been pushed back by half an hour so the arena could be fully repaired and both finalists could prepare.
The announcer's voice rang through the packed stadium.
"After many days of intense competition, we have finally arrived at the final! Both Gary and Tobias have overco every challenge to reach this stage. Very soon, they will bring us the last battle of the Lily of the Valley Conference!"
In the stands, Barry was already full of energy.
"This is great. The final is between two total monsters. I really want to see how this ends."
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. I can finally see Gary's full strength."
But when she looked beside her, she noticed that Ash and Brock were both unusually quiet.
"Ash? Brock? Why do you two look so serious?"
Ash kept his eyes on the field.
"I'm just wondering whether Tobias can force Gary to use all his strength."
Barry turned in disbelief.
"What? You think Tobias still can't force Gary to go all out?"
Brock reminded him calmly, "That's not so surprising. You've seen Gary battle your father before. If Gary gets serious, do you really think Tobias can handle it?"
Barry froze.
That reminder brought everything back at once.
Gary had beaten his father before. And Barry still rembered how absurd Gary's Zapdos had been.
If he really thought about it, Tobias might not be enough.
After a mont, Barry scratched his head.
"Still... I don't think Gary will use his strongest Pokémon right away."
"Hard to say," Ash replied. "I don't think he'll start with anything too strong. But he definitely has a real trump card. The question is whether Tobias can force it out."
Dawn looked at Ash with surprise.
Ash usually acted rash and spoke without much thought, but ever since entering this League Conference, he had seed noticeably calr.
It felt strange hearing him speak so seriously.
Then, above the stadium—
Bang!!
Fireworks exploded in the sky.
"The ti has co!" the comntator shouted. "The final of the Lily of the Valley Conference is about to begin! Let's hand things over to the referee!"
On the battlefield, both finalists had already taken their places.
The referee stepped forward and announced in a clear voice:
"The full battle between Gary and Tobias will now begin. The match will continue until all Pokémon on one side have lost the ability to battle. There will be no intermission. Now, both Trainers, please release your first Pokémon!"
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