With the end of the Elimination rounds, the real event of the Clubsplosion was finally in place, as thirty-two trainers had been able to defeat their opponents and made it, this far, into the tournament. The speed and sheer effectiveness with which the entire deck had been literally rearranged overnight left Austin gaping in wonder. The four podiums were gone, and in their place, was a single, large, elevated platform, with two separate podiums for the trainers to stand on either end of the large platform, which would be used as the battleground from now on. Even the outer periphery had been modified, now enlarged to incorporate space for a larger audience, now that the number of participants was merely thirty-two, and it would grow lesser by the hour.

"So, Ash, ready for the main deal?" Brock slapped his back jovially, underestimating his own strength as Austin nearly fell down face-first.

"Yeah, I was, until that fatal attack on my backbone." Austin scowled, rubbing his back absently, much to Brock's snorting.

The two were gazing at the list of participants for the Top-32 battles. Austin was going to face a certain Casey, a girl from Johto, who, in appeared was obsessed with striped pokémon. Casey had an Electabuzz, a Chikorita, and a Beedrill. It says that her Electabuzz was able to defeat most of her opponents single-handedly."

A boy beside them whistled

"Must be one hell of an Electabuzz."

Austin looked up to see it was Harrison as Brock exclaimed "Electabuzz are fairly powerful pokémon, you know. Their evolutions are almost the pinnacle of electric-type."

" Pika , Pi !"

Brock tried to calm the furious Pikachu.

Of course they would be. Austin scowled inwardly, as his eyes scanned down the list of names for Harrison, "you are… fighting Ethan, from Ecruteak City. He has a… Gastly, a Kadabra and a Growlithe? That's a rather solid team."

Harrison smiled and said ," Harrison !"

"Well, not everyone gets to battle weaklings." Harrison mocked in what Austin recognized as Paul's mannerisms. "Some of us have to battle real opponents out there."

"Of course." Austin drawled.

Brock said , "Though if you are fighting Kadabra, I suggest you something that has an adverse effect on the senses. Kadabra are especially vulnerable to anything of that sort."

"You are awfully knowledgeable about psychic pokémon, you know that?" Harrison replied bleakly as he gazed at Brock who sheepishly rubbed his head and said ," Well I have to be knowledgeable if I want to be a successful breeder."

Harrison raised an eyebrow before nodding as Yellow , Kris and Gold came towards the trio.

" Your match is going to start soon right Ash ." Kris said to which Austin nodded .

Gold exclaimed ," Don't lose out there I have a lot of money riding on you ."

Kris turned to Gold with a death glare who immediately hid behind Yellow .

" What did I tell you ? "

Gold smiled before saying ," Come on , Kris I have a feeling that I am going to strike gold this time ."

Kris just sighed as Yellow said ," Don't worry , Ash is going to win ."

Austin just chuckled as Misty and Rudy walked towards the group.

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"The next match is between Ash and Casey." The commentator briefed everyone. Now that the main battles were taking place, the rules had been altered to a considerable extent. For one, the matches were all going to be a three-on-three instead of a two-on-two match. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town of Kanto vs Casey from Cherrygrove city of Johto."

The battle platform in front of them was a rock-type, littered with rock fragments and fallen stones all around, a perfect ground for a rock-type to battle on.

"This is going to be a three-on-three pokémon battle. Rotations are allowed." The referee declared, before raising the red flag. "Red trainer, release your pokémon."

Austin , who was standing on the Red podium, plucked out his first choice for the match, and yelled, "I choose you, Scyther ! "

"And Ash Ketchum has chosen Scyther. So far in the tournament, Ash Ketchum hasn't used this Pokémon . How will Casey deal with Fearow's abilities?" The commentary went on.

"Go, Beedril." Casey, who was wearing a yellow shirt with black stripes, and a similar-patterned hat, and holding a whip in her hand, yelled.

"And Casey has chosen Beedril, the poison bee pokémon." The commentator went on. "Is Casey going to show us that without any advantage, she can win this ."

" Swords Dance ." Austin called out as a red aura formed around Scyther as he began to perform a dance.

"Beedrill, use fury attack and twineedle."

The classic attack. Austin thought demurely.

" Razor Wind ." Scytherraised his scythes and launched razor wind.

Just as expected, Beedril's stingers slammed against the attack, both trying to drill into the other.

"Now, bullet punch." Austin commanded.

"Beedrill, get out of-"

It was too late. Using its appendages on either side, Scyther slammed powerful punches into Beedrill's gut, both punches occurring within the span of two seconds, making the bee pokémon screech in pain.

"Aerial punch , full power!"

Scyther roared as its right appendage glowing, as it slammed its scythe into Beedrill's abdomen once again, making the bug-type slam into the ground, disoriented as the combo attack of bullet punch and aerial ace was too much for Beedrill to handle.

"Beedrill is unable to battle. The winner is Scyther ." The referee announced.

Meanwhile Austin smiled as he saw the look of absolute joy in Scyther's eyes .

This win was a boost of confidence for the bug Pokemon.

" Scyther has shown us quite the display of power , But will it go on against Casey's next pokémon?" The commentary ran.

"Beedril, return." Casey scowled. "You won't be able to defeat my next pokémon. Go, Electabuzz."

The pokémon in front of Austin was a bipedal feline, though it stood on its powerful hind limbs, and its entire body was striped with black shades on its yellow fur. The two protruding horns on its head were discharging electricity . Unlike Surge's electvirie , this Electabuzz wasn't as powerful but it was younger and healthy .

" I have to finish this quickly , Let's end it here ."

Casey raised an eyebrow at her opponent's casual display of arrogance. "Electabuzz, let's show him what you are capable of. Use thunderbolt."

" Aerial Punch"

Just as Austin commanded, Scyther who had been boosted by Swords Dance launched itself at Electabuzz who couldn't execute his Thunderbolt in time.

" Use Zap Cannon." Casey retaliated with conviction as she would show her opponent what looking down on her would get you .

Electabuzz roared as its two hands glowed brightly, before creating a powerful ball of light, and projecting it towards the Scyther .

The thunderbolt directly hit causing Casey to look at her opponent only to be met with a calm Austin who could see that his strategy of ticking off his opponent by acting arrogantly had paid off as her opponent was more prone to using reckless moves.

The smoke cleared revealing nothing but a clear battlefield.

Suddenly from the shadow behind Electabuzz , Scyther emerged using pursuit to escape the Zap Cannon.

"No ! Electabuzz look out." Casey yelled out as Electabuzz turned only to be met with a slash attack.

Electabuzz gritted his teeth and released a discharge attack that caught Scyther off guard as a result Scyther was on its last leg while Electabuzz had been knocked out.

" Electabuzz is unable to battle. Scyther is the winner."

Cynthia meanwhile in the stands couldn't help but be impressed as she could see that Ash was improving as a trainer at a rapid pace throughout this tournament as he had used his experience with the previous battles to improve his current style and in Cynthia's eyes Ash had figured it out. That there was more to Pokemon battles than what meets the eye , there was also the psychological battle between trainers which can greatly influence the tide of battle. There was a term used by the Champions of the Sinnoh Region " A trainer without his confidence is a trainer that will always lose irrespective of how strong his Pokémon are ." Austin had experienced this first hand from many battles ranging from the battle with AJ where his confidence with some of his Pokémon like Clefairy was weakened when Machoke used Toxic , with Paul his confidence was broken as Paul's commentary on his skills and knowledge put a seed of doubt in his heart that led to failure and with Amelia ,her battle style caused Austin's anger to rise as he found all the moves that he had practiced with his partners to so easily copied but that confidence remained firm as his combo moves weren't something anyone could just copy. Only from the battle with Amelia had Austin finally been aware of the psychological aspect of a Pokémon battle.