Today in Journeys, the fourth and final match of Round 1 of the Masters Tournament, Ash vs. Steven!
It's Ash's Dracovish, Gengar, and Pikachu up against Steven's Aggron, Cradily, and (Mega) Metagross! They lead off the match with Metagross and Dracovish, respectively, and Dracovish briefly manages to use Fishious Rend to defend itself against Metagross's Psychic, and holds its ground, prompting Steven to switch out to Aggron, and they collide in a Dragon Rush+Heavy Slam clash, which Aggron wins. Gengar comes in, and it unleashes Will-O-Wisp which burns Aggron. Because of the burn, Aggron's attacks do less damage while Gengar withstands them and the burn slowly takes it toll on Aggron, until Gengar unleases a Dazzling Gleam to break free of Aggron's Rock Tomb and do damage to it before Aggron succumbs to the burn and falls. Steven sends out Cradily next, and despite Gengar's efforts, Cradily holds on by binding Gengar with Power Whip and using Ingrain to heal itself, while they clash in a Dazzling Gleam and Meteor Beam clash. Cradily beata Gengar by shrugging off Gengar's Shadow Ball and then using repeated Power Whips. Pikachu comes in and in a unique strategy, Ash uses Electroweb to restrain Cradily's barnacles and then goes for the KO with Iron Tail, which then leads to the final showdown: Pikachu vs. Mega Metagross! Mega Metagross manages to dodge many of Pikachu's attacks and hits it hard with Meteor Mash and Psychic...but then Ash pulls his Z-Move and unleashes 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt and both deflects Metagross's Flash Cannon and does serious damage to it, and then Pikachu goes for the KO with Iron Tail, winning Ash the match.
As such, Ash wins the final match of Round 1, making him advance to the semifinals, with his next opponent being Cynthia, thus making Ash vs. Cynthia the second match of the semifinals! Ash vs. one of the most popular Champions of all time will be a match many will want to see, so the semifinals will be something to look forward to, as the two matches of the semifinals are Leon vs. Diantha and Ash vs. Cynthia.
With that said, the tournament does not go straight for every round in one day, and with Round 1 over, the tournament disbands and the semifinals will be held some days after Round 1. Ash parts ways with Iris, Alain, and Steven as they wish him luck in his semifinals match.
As far as episodes, the fact that the tournament is taking a break for a few days in universe until semifinals means we will also have an interim in terms of episodes. Next week's episode, as well as the episode after that, will be about Chloe and Eevee, meaning the Masters Tournament is off session for the next two weeks, and it will be Chloe and Eevee's time to be in the spotlight.
