Ash's Story (Part 5: Modern Sinnoh)

Chapter 90: Eon Sky

The semifinal morning carried a different pressure from the battle with Paul. That battle had been personal enough to burn away everything around it, but Tobias stood on the other side of the bracket like a mountain no one had measured correctly.

He was Cynthia's husband, Verity and Emily's father, a former Champion, and one of Team Alpha's strongest battlers. The League audience knew him as the trainer whose Darkrai had swept through every opponent so far. I knew him as family, but that only made the pressure stranger.

Lillie's semifinal was scheduled after mine, and she had spent the morning pretending she was only worried about me. I knew better. Her hands kept brushing her League pass, and every time she looked toward the stadium, she saw two futures at once. If I won and she won, we would meet in the final.

Dawn noticed too, but she did not push. She stood with Piplup and Togekiss near the training rail, watching me check the six Poké Balls I had chosen. Lucario, Rotom, Rhyperior, Drapion, Sceptile, and Latias. This was not the same kind of answer I gave Paul. Paul needed to face the team he had once judged. Tobias needed to face the range of everything I had become.

Pikachu stayed on my shoulder even though he was not on the battle team. His meaning came warm and steady. "Not every battle needs my paws. I still stand with you."

I touched his head gently. "Always, buddy."

Lillie stepped closer before the stadium call. "Tobias will not only test power. He will test whether you can change plans after each legendary-level answer."

"I know," I said. "That is why I cannot build one plan around Darkrai."

Daniel nodded from behind her. "Correct. If Darkrai is not his opener, then building the entire structure around Darkrai gives Tobias the first advantage."

Tox folded his arms. "Also remember recovery. Your team has to survive the battle, not just win it."

That was Tox's way of worrying. I appreciated it more than he probably knew.

The night before, Tobias had passed me in the training corridor without saying anything about Darkrai. He only asked whether I had chosen a team that could lose pieces and still continue. At the time, I thought he meant ordinary battle pressure. Standing on the field now, I understood he meant something colder. Against him, a plan could not depend on every partner surviving the exact role I imagined.

That was why Latias waited as the final answer instead of the first surprise. It was why Sceptile was not being saved only for glory. It was why Rotom, Rhyperior, and Drapion had been chosen for flexibility instead of comfort. Tobias would not be beaten by one heroic moment unless the rest of the team had carved a path to that moment first.

Lillie had understood that when she looked at the lineup. She had not asked why Pikachu was sitting out. She knew I was not abandoning him. I was trusting him enough to let him stand beside me without needing him to carry every battle. Pikachu seemed to understand it too, which helped more than any strategy note could have.

When I stepped onto the battlefield, Tobias was already waiting across from me. He did not look cold the way Paul did. He looked calm, almost kind, and somehow that made him even more frightening.

"The time has come for us to battle each other, Ash," Tobias said.

"I know," I answered. "Since you are a former Champion, I need to be careful. I do not want you to hold back."

Tobias smiled faintly. "Then show me how you are different from every trainer who reached this field before you."

The referee raised both flags. "This will be a full six-on-six semifinal battle. Begin!"