Through a grueling battle amid thick fog and snowflakes, Pikachu narrowly defeated Froslass, and Ash then continued with Gliscor, whose condition was worrying, to defeat Drapion at the last moment.
At this point, Paul had only one Pokémon left that had yet to appear. Ash, meanwhile, still had three Pokémon, but virtually all of them were injured to varying degrees, and whether they could keep battling had become a serious concern.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Paul's final Pokémon finally appeared.
It was his Electivire.
This came as no surprise.
This was arguably Paul's most trusted Pokémon, as well as his strongest, so it was entirely predictable that he would save him for last.
It was also the only Pokémon Paul had brought out in this battle that Ash had dealt with before.
Seemingly backed into a corner, Paul quickly struck back with his strongest Pokémon, first defeating the badly battered but fiercely determined Gliscor, then defeating Pikachu, who was still in decent condition.
Now both sides had only one Pokémon left, and victory or defeat... would come down to this!
The spectators grew tense at that moment, too. After all, everyone knew this was the final battle between these two contestants. Whoever won would defeat the other and successfully advance to the top four.
And compared with every battle that had taken place at this Lily of the Valley Conference so far, what these two contestants had shown everyone was the most spectacular, most brutal, and most nerve-racking battle of all!
After carrying the unconscious Pikachu back, Ash adjusted his cap, then sent out his last spark of hope-Infernape.
With a flash of blue light, Infernape appeared before Electivire, its body covered in wounds.
The instant it appeared, it roared, then looked at Electivire with eyes full of fighting spirit.