The semi finals are in just a few minutes and the audience can't wait for it to begin.
Booth walks up to the court with his team and faces the field. It's the same court that he has used for the past day and half, but now, it couldn't be more different. It wasn't like this during the quarter finals.
In every other match so far, Booth felt like the court belonged to him. What makes him uncomfortable is the trainer, Reed. And Booth isn't alone in this feeling. His whole team shares similar thoughts.
Damon calls everyone and gets them focused. The team has already discussed their strategy, so Damon just gives them encouragement.
"Earlier I said we could make it to the final day, and we made it. Now I'm thinking we could win the whole competition. So let's go for it."
"Alright!" Ben says enthusiastically.
"Yes!" Booth adds, in a brighter mood.
'I have to agree with Damon. Our team has made rapid progress throughout the tournament, and we work pretty well together. I'm sure Reed's team will be difficult to beat, but it wouldn't be fun if there wasn't a challenge.'
The two teams stand ready at each end of the court. The battle judge starts his countdown.
"3, 2, 1, Start!"
Booth and Ben release their pokemon. The pokeballs open with a flash and reveal both Pansear and Buizel. The trainer's integrators switch on with a click and the battle begins.
On the opponent's side of the field, the trainers send out Poliwhirl and Sneasel. Booth reacts as soon as he spots the two pokemon.
'So Reed is going first. I need to get as much damage on him as I can if we are going to win.'
Booth commands his Pansear to move towards the center. The opposing Sneasel does the same, but stops a couple yards away from Pansear. From here the Sneasel takes every step slowly and calmly. Booth stops and moves back to a comfortable distance.
'For someone whose battle style has been so aggressive, it's weird to see him being so patient. In any case, I don't want to take any hits for free. From what I've seen he can turn things around very quickly.'
Booth makes up his mind and gives Pansear commands to attack. He tells Pansear how to approach and what move they'll be using. Booth begins charging his first move. He creates an Incinerate and looks for an opportunity.
Sneasel gets closer and swings its hand at Pansear. Booth doesn't think much of the attack and fires Incinerate.
The heat from the fireball comes out partially, but is cut short by Sneasel's attack. Sneasel strikes Pansear with a Throat Chop. The move disables Booth's ability to use his moves temporarily. Booth loses the power for his first fireball and Pansear coughs painfully.
Reed tries to press his advantage as Sneasel strikes again with its claws. Booth forces out the second Incinerate on his own. An unstable fireball quickly explodes in the face of both Sneasel and Pansear. The two pokemon are blown back a bit by the blast.
Booth manages to use the second Incinerate thanks to him charging the move himself, but the move was immensely painful to perform. The damage Pansear accumulated will make it hard to launch another one for a while.
Reed takes note of the situation and has his Sneasel dash in to continue the pressure. His Sneasel runs at Pansear and starts to grow a frosty air around it's legs. The ground leaves marks of its freezing footsteps as Sneasel passes over it.
Booth sees this and commands his Pansear to retreat.
'Watch out! It's going to use Triple Axel!'
Booth is familiar with the move from seeing it earlier in the tournament. Each kick of the move becomes slower and more powerful than the last. Ordinarily the move would be easy to avoid, but the icy kicks slow the target making it easier for the pokemon to connect its hits.
Sneasel catches up and begins its assault. Booth blocks the first kick, finding it faster than he thought. The second kick strikes and has Pansear falling back a few steps. The frost that builds up on Pansear slows it down significantly.
Booth uses Pansear's power to heat up Pansear's body and dashes in. The third kick connects, but loses some power when Pansear moves into it before it could finish.
Booth takes a look at the results of the charge. The damage he took was surely reduced, but the third kick's freezing effect is still there.
Sneasel regains its footing and starts barraging him with its claws. Pansear fends off some of them, but the freezing effect makes it difficult. Pansear's speed makes a gradual recovery, but the claws take a toll on its stamina.
Meanwhile, Sneasel also receives many hits from Pansear. Booth has no intention of escaping this situation and continues to trade hits. For Booth, taking trades is the situation he's looking for. When Reed realizes Booth isn't retreating, he backs off a bit to plan a different approach.
Booth lets the Sneasel escape and has his Pansear restore its power. The Sneasel retreats and gains enough distance to start using Hone Claws. Sneasel sharpens its claws and raises its attack.
'That's a bit troublesome. I guess I'm going to have to make my move now. I won't get another chance, so I need to make it count.'
Booth gets busy and prepares his most powerful move. Once he finishes, Pansear runs in. Reed is forced to react and uses his own moves.
Sneasel steps forwards and swings its arm for a Throat Chop. Booth puts up a guard and catches the first attack. Pansear looks like it's going to release its move, but Sneasel puts a stop to it with an Ice Shard. Pansear hangs on, but the smoke from its mouth is gone. Booth winces in pain as he shares some of Pansear's senses.
Even after the Sneasel's attack, the power that Booth prepared has not disappeared. Reed notices something is wrong, and retreats. Suddenly a fireball comes from Pansear's palm. A Flame Burst surges with power and grows quickly. The fireball finishes forming, and Pansear flings it at Sneasel. The accuracy isn't perfect, but it still finds its target.
Sneasel shields itself with its arms. The fireball crashes into Sneasel's guard and explodes. The air crackles and many bright flashes come from the blast. Projectiles spring from the main fireball and torch the ground and Sneasel.
Booth put in as much power as he could into his attack, and the attack was a success. He tells Pansear to follow up on the Sneasel, but Pansear can't act.
He takes a closer look and Pansear is in terrible shape. Pansear has been struck in the neck by Throat Chop once, and forcing the Incinerate out earlier only made it worse. Pansear can hardly breath normally, much less fight.
Booth is even more surprised when Sneasel starts coming towards his Pansear. The Sneasel walks steadily and calmly, despite its injuries.
Sneasel's claws turn silver and become hard as steel. Even in its weak state, Pansear puts up a guard to defend itself. Sneasel's claws melt through Pansear's defenses. Pansear doesn't stand a chance against the attack and faints. Booth reacts to knockout only when the Integrator beeps and snaps him out of his daze.
Booth returns his Pansear and lets Tyler switch in. He takes a step back to let out his breath and relax. Once Booth calms himself, he stops feeling the residual pain from his Pansear senses.
'That hurt more than normal, but it seems I completed my goal. Tyler is already putting the pressure on. Ben seems to be doing fine as well.'
Ben is taking his time fighting Poliwhirl. Buizel jets around the field, slowly knocking down the Poliwhirl's health. With Sneasel almost secured, Ben takes a risk and attacks the Poliwhirl.
Buizel tucks in its head and Aqua Jets. Ben combines the attack with Headbutt and rams the Poliwhirl in the stomach. The Poliwhirl takes a few steps back from the collision. It shivers a bit and falls to the ground as it faints.
The trainer recalls his pokemon and makes a switch to their Galarian Ponyta. Ponyta is strong, fast, and great at chasing down opponents. As soon as it touches the field it dashes after the Buizel.
Buizel has a decent head start, but the Galarian Ponyta catches up to him quickly. Ben plays defensively against the Ponyta while he waits for Tyler.
A problem soon appears when Tyler can't get the knockout on Sneasel. Reed quickly realizes Ben and Tyler's general plan, and stalls in front of the Sandshrew. Without Tyler's support, Ben's Buizel will likely be beaten by the opponent's Ponyta first.
'This is tricky. Ponyta isn't easy to beat one on one. But in a two on one, Ponyta's mobility simply can't compare to Buizels or Sandshrews. But the Sneasel isn't letting us get a knockout so quickly. Ben will just have to hold … unless?'
"Ben, Tyler, battling the Sneasel and Ponyta one on one isn't working. Do you think you could turn this into a two on two instead."
Tyler hears Booth, and thinks about it before answering. "Alright, I think I know what you mean."
Ben just nods before focusing back on the battle.
'The idea for the two on two is that we can take advantage of the Ponyta's poor mobility. If it works well we may be able to take back our team's momentum.'
Tyler gradually approaches the Ponyta, while trying to not alert the other team. Sandshrew's shell suddenly grows stiff and Sandshrew starts a rollout. He bumps against the ground and flings itself into the Ponyta.
Getting hit from the side startles the Ponyta, but it quickly looks for the Buizel expecting a combination attack. The Buizel is ready to deliver with a blast from its Water Gun. The Ponyta takes the attack and waits for the Sneasel's backup.
Sneasel sneaks in and deals damage to Buizel with a Metal Claw. The trainers go back and forth covering and punishing the opponents for attacking their teammates.
'It's looking rough, in the first place this was a desperate play. It looks like whoever gets the knockout first will have the advantage.'
Tyler pushes in with Ben and attacks Sneasel. Ben goes first and launches his Aqua Jet. Instead of defending, Sneasel uses its Throat Chop. A dark fist smashes into Buizel's throat from below. The water tackle hits the Sneasel, but with much of its power reduced. After Buizel finishes its attack, it falls over and faints from the damage.
Sandshrew uses its Metal Claw and slices into the Sneasel. Sneasel doesn't last this encounter and faints.
Ponyta clicks its hooves from behind, and unleashes its Stomp. A powerful Stomp makes a crunching sound as it connects with Sandshrew's shell. Sandshrew is knocked over and is stunned by the attack. The Ponyta continues its attack with its remaining power and shoots a Psybeam from its horn. A purple beam surges through the Sandshrew, getting yet another knockout.
Damon doesn't get discouraged and lets out his Morgrem. With the Ponyta at its weakest, Damon's best chance is to act quickly.
The opponents send out Oricorio and use Helping Hand to assist the Ponyta. Ponyta kicks Morgrem and pushes him back.
The Ponyta gets away, and Damon is left facing off with the Oricorio. Morgrem fights hard, but is slowly backed into a corner. Ponyta comes back when its power is restored and finishes Morgrem off with a heavy stomp.
"Beep, Beep!"
Damon returns his pokemon and the semi-final match ends.
Cheers rise from the crowd with people praising both teams. The judge officially calls the end of the match, and the opponents celebrate their win.
'Well, losing sucks, but I'm not too mad about it. I guess it's because my opponents were really good. It would be hard not to respect their skill.'
Booth goes with the rest of his team and congratulates the other team.