For the semi-finals of Master Eight, the first two competitors arrived on both sides of the stadium.

"The Champion of Kalos: Diantha!"

"The Undefeated Champion Leon!"

"Competitor Diantha and Leon have arrived on the field. Which one will be moving on to the finals?"

Diantha and Leon waved to the crowd.

"Trainers of Kalos. Shoulder the hopes of dreams, not just of the trainers of Kalos, but all those who've fought in the World Coronation Series. Leon, I will show you the power of my Pokemon's performance."

Leon threw off his cape. "Wise words. Diantha, bring out the dazzle in your Pokemon. Now, it's Champion Time!"

"The regulations today: you may each use all six Pokemon for the semi finals. There is no limit on match length or switching out Pokemon. Whoever makes all six of their opponent's Pokemon unable to battle will be the winner! Additionally, you are allowed a single use of only one of the following: Gigantamax, a Z-Move, or Mega Evolution!"

"Now then both battles, send out your first Pokemon to your heart's content!"

Diantha and Leon smiled, throwing their own first Pokemon.

"Hawlucha!"

"Rhyperior!"

The Wrestling Pokemon and the Drill Pokemon flew down with grace and stomped down with power in the battle.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Go, Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon charged at the multiple color luchador. "Megahorn!"

It's horn grew as it flew at Hawlucha. Per Diantha's instructions, she called out for htem to X-Scissor. They slashed their arms in the shape of a cross, getting pushed back by the mighty ground and steel, holding it down. However it struggled to pull them away.

"Rhyperior, throw him up," and they used their body to force Hawlucha up in the sky.

"Let's warm up the crowd! Heat Crash!" Rhyperior jumped up, covering itself in a ball of fire at Hawlucha.

"Recover and use Flying Press!"

Hawlucha spun in mid air, crashing straight down at the drill Pokemon. The collision blasted the two back to opposite edges of the stadium. Hawlucha dusted off their wounds, nodding to their trainer while Rhyperior smirked.

"Not bad, but the show's just getting started! Stone Edge!"

Rhyperior slammed its legs on the ground and light blue rock pillars rose out the ground and rushed towards the bird. They twirled around for it only for Rhyperior to rush at them.

"Heat Crash!"

Rhyperior wrapped into a ball of fire and slammed into his own pillars, body checking them and smashing them apart. Hawlucha tried to dodge but most of the debris fell right in front of their path. The drill Pokemon left the bird widening their eyes as they got slammed down into the ground in a burning arm tackle of fiery rage.

And Rhyperior was standing right above them, pinning Hawlucha to the floor from getting up.

"Let's end this! Rhyperior, Earthquake!"

The huge body jumped down, about to crash seismic waves down on Hawlucha.

"Our performance isn't over yet. A true stunt fighter never stops! Hawlucha! Low Sweep!"

Hawlucha spun around, legs glowing white and sprung a mighty kick pushing Rhyperior back for super effective damage.

Diantha snapped her fingers. When Hawlucha turned to her, her eyes and nod gave enough. They were the actor, and she was the performer. They ran straight at Rhyperior, and Leon yelled for Stone Edge. However, Hawlucha spun left, usign Low Sweep to kick down one of the pillars, and then breaking them in two with the X-Scissor.

"Whoa," Ash said.

"What is she doing," Goh asked.

"Bro, watch out," said Hop.

Hawlucha took up the pieces of the Stone Edge and Hawlucha glided up, commanding them to use Low Sweep. Leon called for Rhyperior to use Megahorn, but Hawlucha drifted away from the impact, kicking the drill Pokemon in the face and twirled to the ground type's back, striking them with a barrage of strikes with the edges.

"Now, Sword Dance!"

Hawlucha bulked up, growing red and continued the combo that Rhyperior was too slow to dodge. Leon's commands got it to rely on it's defense until Diantha's direction resulted in them chucking the edges at Rhyperior, smashing them with an X-Scissor, and Hawlucha grinding the edges against Megahorn.

"Low Sweep!"

"Heat Crash!"

Rhyperior charged up one more time, but Hawlucha swung other, targeting Rhyperior's legs and tripping him to the floor.

"Finale! Hawlucha, Flying Press!"

Hawlucha spun and dove down in red and white glowing energy.

"Stone Edge!"

The pillars raced up, about to smash into Hawlucha, when Diantha called for a last resort, sliding around the closest pillar and leaping off, finishing the Flying Press and slamming into Rhyperior's body in a massive explosion.

When the dust settled, Hawlucha flipped backwards to Diantha, and the referee flew down to see Rhyperior fainting.

"Rhyperior is unable to battle. Hawlucha is the winner!"

Diantha and Hawlucha waved to the crowd, curtseying and bowing down respectively.

Leon returned his first Pokemon to his Poke Ball. "We lost a Pokemon early. That Diantha really knows how to put on a show," affectionately looking at Rhyperior. "Thank you my friend."

"Great job Diantha," Ash cheered.

"Pika Pika!"

Goh looked down in awe. "So this is another battle between champions. Wow."

Cynthia nodded. "Good luck Diantha. This is just the beginning."

Leon's Dragapult defeats Diantha's Hawlucha (D1-L1)

Leon threw out his next Pokeball.

"Come out and continue the Champion Time, Dragapult!"

The stealth Pokemon spun around in the air, fitting as a Ghost Dragon.

"Now, Dragon Darts!"

"X-Scissor!"

They fired the two Dreepy from the holes on its horns at the opponent ala missiles that Hawlucha struck away.

"Swords Dance!" Hawlucha powered up again while the dragons returned to Dragapult, flying like jet missiles straight at him.

"Dragon Rush!"

"Hawlucha, hurry and strike back with Flying Press!"

Hawlucha spun and dove down to counter the massive beast in a blue draconic aura bombarding straight at them. Hawlucha fell but Dragapult swarmed down to finish him off.

"Flamethrower!"

"X-Scissor!" Hawlucha struck the flames, dispersing it into embers.

"Strike down the star of the opening act, Thunderbolt! "

The dragon shot down Hawlucha with tree thunderbolts. The wrestler slid from one, and rolled away from the other, but the third was unavoidable, stunning the wrestler Pokemon, closing their left eye to deal with the pain.

"Hawlucha, Low Sweep!"

"Dragon Darts!"

Hawlucha flipped and flew up to Dragapult's face and struck him with a mighty kick but Dragapult's Dreepy's missiles dragged him to the stadium floor, exploding. The dust cleared, and Hawlucha stood up, fainting.

"Hawlucha is unable to continue!"

Diantha returned them, thanking her friend for her help.

"Tryantrum, spotlight!"

The Despot Pokemon crashed down into the field, roaring as ferocious as a dinosaur. The brownish red creature with scaly patterns throughout his body.

Goh was hesitant "It doesn't look that fast. Can she get them in close enough?"

Hop grew excited. "No way big bro's going down after a champion time."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Diantha, Leon, go for it!"

"Now, Dragapult, Dragon Rush!" The creature wrapped itself in the blue draconic aura with pure intent to finish the fight.

"Tyrantrum, Head Smash!"

Both Pokemon charged right into the other, determined to overpower the other. The speed of the dragon and the power of the dinosaur fought over dominance. However, Diantha calmed her mind, and Tyrantrum lifted up their head, swinging it down and smacking Dragapult into the ground, leaving a crater.

"Dragapult, Dragon Darts!"

"Remove the supporting cast, Dragon Claw!"

Tyrantrum's arms glowed green around them, and slashed away the Dreppy missiles, leaving the creature wide open when the ghostly dragon tried to get up.

"Now, Crunch!"

The dinosaur chewed Dragapult up while energy shaped fangs grew around the victim, chomping it down with both of them and engulfing Leon's powerful dragon in smoke from the super effective damage, forcing the creature rolling away, barely able to float free.

"Flamethrower," Leon yelled, allowing Dragapult to blast an intense stream of fire.

"Tyrantrum, dazzle them with Dragon Tail!"

The dinosaur gripped its foot on the ground, pivoting around on one leg while storing energy in their tail and slammed the flames into nothing but ashes.

"Not bad," Leon nodded, giving her credit. "Let's respond in kind. Using Thunderbolt on the ground!"

Dragapult's thunderbolt ripped through the crater and shot up the rubble from the crater into Tyrantrum's mouth, blocking it up.

"My My, Tyrantrum's unable to use it's super effective move," the announcer roared, leaving the audience in awe.

"What's she going go to do?"

Diantha closed her eyes and took a breath, syncing her thoughts for victory.

"Dragapult," having it's Dreepy missiles now returned to them, "Dragon Rush!"

The ghost dragon roared and rained down from above in its blue dragon energy cloak.

"Tyrantrum, show the crowd your true potential. Dragon Tail on the ground!"

The dinosaur dragon jumped and smacked it's tail down in the ground to help leap up into the sky over the Dragon Rush, leaving Dragapult under it's shadow.

Leon had it turn around. "Give it your all! Dragon Darts!"

The two missiles launched themselves at the dragon. Diantha directed her Pokemon to open their mouth and swing at the right time, allowing her opponent to destroy the rocks in Tyrantrum's mouth.

Caught off guard, Diantha asked her partner to fall from above.

"Deliver the coup de grace, Crunch!"

With no room to escape, Tyrantrum slammed onto Dragapult's body, chomping on the neck of the deadly ghost dragon as the two crashed into the ground. Diantha's Pokemon got up, while the referee inspected Leon's, declaring it unable to battle.

Tyrantrum walked back to it's trainer, caressing her face with her own.

"You performed spectacularly. Ahh, we should ask the studio to make a movie out of this. The ancient dragon formed to stop an army of evil Dragapult from rising up from beyond the grave!"

The Pokemon cheered on the idea while Leon returned his Pokemon to the grave.

"Her performances are making this interesting. But, it's not enough," thinking back to Eternatus. "I don't even know if I've reached my peak, or if I'm ready for Eternatus now. Let's try then," thanking Dragapult before releasing his next Pokemon.

The bipedal gorilla modeled Pokemon of brown-black skin, leaf-esque hair, leaf collars, and whipped out its signature drum from their back.

"Rillaboom, let's show them what we're made of!"

Diantha was cautious. This Pokemon was strong enough to force someone of her region who won the Lumiose Conference to use two Pokemon to defeat.

"A ground type move, flying type move, grass type, and skilled at agility. If I switch, only Gardevoir would have the speed to handle them, but I'll need her for Charizard. Then we'll set up the storyline for his defeat," keeping that in the back of her mind.

"Tyrantrum, prepare for the next scene!"

"Allow me to start it then. Rillaboom, Acrobatics!"

The green-black gorilla's body surrounded itself in white, leaping around the dinosaur. Diantha commanded it to use Dragon Tail, but it dodged the tail swing, and the ensuing command for Dragon Claw only slightly pushed Rillaboom away.

"Don't let him dictate the action scene, Dragon Claw!"

"Play the rhythm, Drum Beating!" Rillaboom's music playing sprouted several vines that created a knot causing the dinosaur to trip over itself. "Now, High Horsepower," changing into a brown aura imbued with the ground typing, running at Tyrantrum.

"Head Smash!" Their head glowed white-blue, viciously headbutting against Rillaboom's shoulder tackle. Though they received a massive headache from the recoil and the ground typing, Rillaboom's shoulder seemed to be hurt enough.

"Don't let the scene drag out for too long, Crunch!" It's fangs glowed heading straight for the gorilla.

"Knock Off!" Tyrantrum's jaws grazed Rillaboom's arm but got smacked aside by the Galar's starter's fist.

"Dragon Tail," dragging its tail into Rillaboom's body and blowing it back away. Yet Diantha could see Leon's passionate state with Rillaboom. It may have not been the Pokemon he started out his journey with, but she could tell how much they meant to each other.

"The bond between my pokemon and I is just as dazzling. Rip the ground with your," stopping as the recoil damage left blue sparks riding along Tyratrum's body. "The Head Smash! No matter, rush in with Dragon Claw, then axle with Dragon Tail!"

Tyrantrum followed the direction, eager to end this.

"Change the tune, Drum Beat!"

Rillaboom played it drum, and this time the pair of roots tied to its music controlled the roots. The roots shifted directions when Tyratrnum was about to carve them, rising above the dinosaur's back and pinned him down to the ground, where there was no escape.

"The hero of Galar will slay the draconic dinosaur! High Horsepower!"

With a clear target in sight, Rillaboom flipped while running, building up enough momentum, switching arms and fiercely slammed its fist into Tyrantrum so hard it broke the Beat Drum restraints and rolled over.

The referee entered the stadium, spotting Tyrantrum fainting. "Tyrantrum is unable to battle!"

Leon and his partner nodded, while Diantha's focus was even more dedicated into figuring out how to beat the unbeatable.