The Arcane Tournament

Superb Semifinal Showdown

Quagsire faced down Empoleon and put his fists together. "Use Surf!" Quagsire tossed a sphere made of water onto the field that erupted into a wave.

"Cut through it with Drill Peck!" Empoleon lunged through the air and managed to spin right through Quagsire's attack.

Empoleon continued forward and Gold formulated a counterattack. "Block it with Ice Punch!" Quagsire put his arms up and coated them in ice. Empoleon's beak drilled into the ice but Quagsire his held ground and pushed it back. "Now use Earthquake!"

As Empoleon was thrown back, Quagsire slammed his fist onto the ground and sent a shockwave into the penguin. "Now it's time to finish this! Use Ice Punch!"

"Counter it with Metal Claw!" Wally's Pokémon once again quickly rebounded from the damage and knocked away Quagsire's fist with its flipper and then struck Quagsire with the other one. "Flash Canon!" Empoleon followed up with a mighty metallic blast that tossed Quagsire into the forest.

Wally made a fist with his hand and Gold noticed how tired both Pokémon were starting to look. Wally wanted to finish things off. "Liquidation! Go!"

Quagsire was in no condition to take the beastly Pokémon head on as water swirled around it but Gold suddenly gasped as he noticed a detail in the environment. "Use Iron Tail on one of the fallen logs and toss it at Empoleon's legs!"

As the Empoleon approached, Quagsire jumped back and slammed its tail into a wooden log that rolled across the ground and into the legs of the approaching metal beast.

Wally's Pokémon tumbled over and was knocked out of its attack. Gold grinned and Quagsire started to move in. "Let's wrap this up! Use Iron Tail!" His Pokémon's tail started to glow and it jumped up.

"Get up! Counter with Metal Claw!" Quagsire brought its tail down on his opponent while Empoleon shot up and blocked the tail with its claws.

Sparks flew at the two steel attacks collided but Empoleon suddenly faltered and Quagsire pushed through its defensive stance, striking his foe with his tail one last time. Empoleon collapsed and fell over, ending the match.

Both trainers returned their Pokémon and walked off the battlefield for their break. "After an insane start, Gold finishes the first round with an early lead! Let's see how this match goes as we get into the second half of battles!"

Wally spent the break thinking of ways to handle Gold's Pokémon while Gold chatted with Silver about his plans. "I have an answer for almost all of his Pokémon. It's just Gallade I can't beat... so I have to try and lose as few Pokémon as possible so I can overwhelm it and win." He explained.

Silver chuckled at his friend. "That's a pretty solid plan. I imagine Empoleon wasn't supposed to be such a threat?"

Gold nodded. "Heracross was supposed to overpower it, but I guess Wally's stronger than I thought. We'll have to see though."

The break came to an end and the next battlefield rose from the ground. It was a barren stone field with a purple river cutting through the middle. "Introducing... the poison river battlefield! Get ready folks because this'll be a rather interesting threat for the trainers to play around!"

Wally called out his Banette so Gold brought out Magcargo. "Start off strong with Flamethrower!"

Magcargo launched flames across the field at the Banette. "Grim, counter it with Dark Pulse and then use Phantom Force!" His Pokémon unleashed a black beam that stopped the flamethrower in its tracks and then vanished.

Gold grinned. This is why I brought in Magcargo! "Rollout! Deflect it!" Magcargo started to spin in his shell. Banette emerged from the shadows and tried to strike from behind but was knocked away. "Rock Slide!" Stones fell from above and entombed Wally's ghost.