Time passed quickly, and five days later, the semifinals of the World Championship began.
The Indigo Plateau was still packed, and the passionate voice of the Sunglasses Host echoed throughout the Indigo Plateau Arena.
"Welcome everyone to the Indigo Plateau Arena! Today we will be holding the semifinals of the World Championship Eight Masters Tournament!"
"Now, let's give a warm welcome to the four strongest Trainers in the world!"
Thunderous applause instantly erupted across the venue.
Four lifting platforms activated, and Mammon, Giovanni, Selene, and Akari slowly ascended.
"Champion Giovanni!! Lead us to victory one more time!"
"Ahhhhhh! Mammon! Mammon is invincible!"
"Selene, the hope of our Alola! You must make it to the end!"
"Akari! Akari is the strongest!"
The countless cheers across the stadium were deafening, only gradually subsiding after a long while.
"These four people are truly not surprising at all."
In the audience, Hilda looked at the family of four and couldn't help but speak.
Indeed, the final four being these four people was completely expected.
"Anyway, the final Champion will definitely be Mammon. I just wonder who will face Mammon in the finals."
Rosa rested her cheek in her hand; in her view, Mammon was certainly the Champion.
"I heard that little Arceus is the Creation Deity, ah, truly worthy of being my man, hehe~"
Rosa's gauze fell upon the small white-gold Arceus beside Mammon's feet. The little Arceus was currently looking around curiously.
It seemed quite interested in the venue and the atmosphere.
Rosa knew that Mammon had been taking this little Arceus everywhere for the past few days, but after learning the reason, she wasn't surprised anymore.
She heard that Hoopa, who fears nothing, walks around the little Arceus, deceiving of being pestered by it.
Well, according to Hoopa, it wasn't afraid of the little Arceus; it was worried about making the little Arceus cry.
"Mhm, Mammon is truly amazing."
Hilda agreed, strongly endorsing Rosa's words.
Among the family of four, Mammon was the inevitable Champion, but the final four stage didn't mean there was no suspense.
Giovanni, Selene, and Akari—none of the three were weak, and they all genuinely had a chance to reach the endings; it just depended on the matchups.
As the Sunglasses Host finished his opening speech, the matching system on the big screen started working, and four avatars spun continuously.
Everyone's eyes were drawn to it, including the four—Mammon, Selene, and Akari. Finally... Selene vs. Akari!
Mammon vs. Giovanni!
Upon seeing the match results, Selene slowly grinned. For her, this matchup was excellent!
Compared to Mammon, she preferred battling Giovanni and Akari, because... she couldn't beat her own man.
But Giovanni and Akari were different; Selene's fighting spirit was burning!
"Second Mom."
Akari was also very satisfied with the match results, and a smile appeared on her pure and delicate face.
Second Mom is the strongest Trainer in the world besides Dad. When she was little, Second Mom taught her a lot of Trainer knowledge.
Speaking of which, ever since participating in the World Championship, she had always wanted to have a proper match against Second Mom.
And here it is!
"Mammon, hehe~"
Giovanni's lips curled slightly as he looked toward Mammon.
Mammon happened to be looking at Giovanni as well, and the father and son exchanged smiles.
Undoubtedly, at least for now, all four were quite satisfied with the match results.
"Alright! Now, let's welcome the two Trainers for the first match of the semifinals to the arena!"
The loud voice of the Sunglasses Host was extremely resonant.
"Selene!"
"Akari!"
Woo—!!
The fervent cheers from the crowd soared into the sky.
Mammon and Giovanni left the field at the appropriate time, leaving the stage to Selene and Akari.
"Akari, ah."
Selene walked to her designated Trainer position, her sharp yet excited eyes fixed on the blue-haired girl across the field.
From her appearance, she truly resembled Platinum too much.
But Selene knew very well that Akari's strength was far greater than Platinum's.
After all, Akari had easily defeated Platinum in the Quarterfinals match.
Honestly, judging purely by that result, Akari's performance was truly astonishing.
Selene was very confident in defeating Platinum; even if they fought ten times, she could win ten times, a one hundred percent win rate.
But unless she directly used Koraidon and Solgaleo, achieving the same result as Akari would not be easy for Selene.
Therefore, Selene was highly anticipating this battle.
The referee entered and announced the battle rules. On the big screen, the pointer for who goes first had stopped, giving Selene the first move.
"Nah~ Akari, now let me properly witness your skill level! Don't disappoint me, okay?"
Selene took out a Poké Ball and gave Akari a big grin. Her attitude wasn't overly aggressive.
After all, Selene knew that Akari was Platinum's daughter who had traveled through time. In a sense, she was her future niece?
Hmm, perhaps goddaughter would be a more suitable term.
As an elder, it was naturally impossible to speak harshly to a junior.
"Don't worry, Big Sister Selene, you need to be careful! I'm actually very strong!" Akari's eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled.
"Ha~ Then I'll be waiting."
Selene put her hands on her hips, full of confidence.
"Incineroar! Go!"
And Selene's lead Pokémon was, naturally, the eternally consistent Incineroar.
"Typhlosion!"
Akari's lead Pokémon was Hisuian Typhlosion, not the Arcanine she had been using previously.
Of course, this was mainly because Incineroar's 'Triple' was too annoying, and the lead Pokémon would actually need to be switched out anyway.
Otherwise, fighting while bearing the debuff would be too painful.
"Mammon, who do you think will win, Akari or Selene?"
In the competitor's passage, Giovanni asked Mammon.
The two of them were not in a hurry to leave, as the viewing angle from the competitor's passage was also excellent.
"Hard to say." Mammon shook his head.
"Is it hard to say, or do you just not want to say?" Giovanni glanced at Mammon, amused.
Without exaggeration, Giovanni felt that no matter which one of Selene or Akari he was matched against, his chances of winning were not high.
Akari was an absolute prodigy, not even worth mentioning.
But Selene was actually a complete prodigy herself, just not quite as monstrous as Akari.
Especially the current Selene; even though she had Primal Groudon as her ace, Giovanni didn't have much confidence in being able to defeat her.
After all, Selene's team power was currently quite exaggerated.
Therefore, Giovanni was truly curious about the final result of the battle between the two prodigies, Selene and Akari.
However, Giovanni could accept whoever won in the end, as one was his daughter-in-law and the other was his Granddaughter.
On the field, the battle continued.
The match between Selene and Akari was undoubtedly extremely exciting, and neither held anything back.
After having Incineroar perform the 'Triple,' Selene rotated it out, and Melmetal entered the battle.
Akari recalled Hisuian Typhlosion and sent out Hisuian Arcanine, immediately Terastallizing it into the Normal type.
Hisuian Arcanine vs. Melmetal—naturally, Hisuian Arcanine had the advantage, as Melmetal was too slow and its type was inherently disadvantaged.
However, Selene remained calm and rational, relying on Melmetal's formidable defense to fight steadily.
Yet, Akari finally seized an opportunity. Risking injury, Hisuian Arcanine's Great Indignation struck Melmetal, followed by a close-range Fire Blast.
Amidst the surging flames, Melmetal collapsed.
Selene's third Pokémon was Okidogi, one of the Loyal Three, which she had redeemed using her Team Rockets merits.
Although Hisuian Arcanine possessed Extreme Speed, Okidogi had the move Revenge, which naturally countered priority moves.
Having suffered a setback, Akari resumed a normal battle strategy. After a fierce struggle, Hisuian Arcanine and Okidogi successfully knocked each other out.
"Truly strong."
Selene couldn't help but lick her somewhat dry lips, her eyes growing brighter and hotter.
It took two main Pokémon just to take down one Hisuian Arcanine. Honestly, she had only experienced this kind of pressure during her early growth stages.
The battle continued. Incineroar once again entered first to apply the debuff, and Selene rotated to Tapu Koko.
Akari allowed Hisuian Typhlosion to take the debuff, then switched to Ursaluna.
Type-wise, Ursaluna's Ground typing made it immune to Tapu Koko's Electric type, giving it an advantage.
However, Ursaluna was too slow, and Tapu Koko found an opening to use the Z-Move, Alola Guardian, heavily damaging Ursaluna while Tapu Koko only sustained minor injuries.
Akari understood that this Tapu Koko was very strong. She switched out the heavily damaged Ursaluna again, bringing in the Bug/Rock-type Kleavor to face it.
After an intense battle, Kleavor and Tapu Koko both sustained heavy damage, but Kleavor managed to defeat Tapu Koko.
At this point, three of Selene's Pokémon were unable to battle.
Selene sent out Incineroar, which defeated the heavily damaged Kleavor, evening the score slightly.
Akari once again sent out Ursaluna, heavily injuring Incineroar, which Selene promptly recalled.
Selene then sent out her fifth Pokémon, the 'Beast that Devours the Sun' from Alolan mythology: Solgaleo.
Solgaleo defeated Ursaluna, and then Akari sent out Hisuian Typhlosion and used Gigantamax.
Selene also decisively used Gigantamax. Gigantamax Solgaleo defeated Akari's Gigantamax Hisuian Typhlosion, but Solgaleo itself was heavily injured.
Akari's fifth Pokémon was Hisuian Samurott. It defeated the heavily injured Solgaleo and then went on to defeat the subsequently appearing Incineroar.
Selene was pushed to the brink.
Selene's sixth Pokémon was Koraidon, the legendary Guardian Dragon of Paradise.
Selene Terastallized. The Terastal Fighting-type Koraidon forcefully defeated the heavily injured Hisuian Samurott.
Akari was also pushed to the brink. Akari's final Pokémon was Dialga from Sinnoh mythology and legend, and it was in its Origin Forme!
Koraidon and Origin Forme Dialga fought fiercely, but Koraidon ultimately fell beneath Origin Forme Dialga's Roar of Time.
In the first match of the semifinals, Akari defeated Selene and advanced!