"Attention passengers, we are now getting close to Lillycove airport. Please return to your seats if you have started moving around. Thank you for flying Rhydon Airlines. Have a nice day,". Ash woke up from his nap. "Are we there already?" he asked. "Pika!" said Pikachu who was lying in his lap. Riolu was also lying in his lap but was still asleep. "Come on Riolu, we are almost there," Ash said nudging Riolu. Riolu stirred in his sleep but did not wake up. Ash decided that it would be best to return him to his Pokeball for now.
After returning Riolu to his Pokeball, Ash waited for the plane to land. An announcement came over the loudspeakers. "Attention passengers, we seem to be getting reports that there is a thunderstorm a few miles away. We recommend that you stay at the airport until it passes through,". 'A thunderstorm?' Ash thought to himself. 'Well, the contest does not start for a couple of hours, maybe it will pass through before then,'. As the plane landed at the airport. Ash and the rest of the passengers got off the plane. Ash decided to find a place to eat at the airport, since he had not had anything to eat since a couple of hours ago on the plane. As he was walking to a café, he heard a voice behind him. "Hey you! Kantonian!" a rude voice yelled at him. "Huh?". Ash turned around to see a tall boy standing behind him. He had sort of a roughneck attitude look. Judging by his accent, he was a Hoenn native. "You got some nerve coming back here after what you people did!" he yelled at Ash. "What?" Ash asked, not knowing what the boy was talking about. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Oh, so you don't know what you did. Maybe I should still teach you a lesson for coming here, because I am still pissed about it,". "Are you talking about a Pokémon battle?" Ash asked the trainer. "Yes," he responded. "Well then by all means, I accept," Ash said. "Um, excuse me?" a voice asked from behind them. "Yes?" Ash responded. "If you are going to have a Pokémon Battle, could you please use the arena we have for this purpose? We don't want anyone to get hurt,". The voice came from one of the airport workers who was standing behind them. "Of course," Ash responded. "…Very well," the other trainer responded. The employee led them to the battlefield that was in a separate area. "We have our own referee, so he will oversee the battle," she explained. "Ash and the Hoenn trainer nodded.
"The battle between Ash Ketchum and…sorry, I did not get your name," the referee began. The trainer smirked. "It's Nishi," he said. "Right, then let me start over," the referee said sheepishly. "Ahem, the battle between Ash Ketchum and Nishi will be a 3-on-3 battle. The battle will end when all of a trainer's Pokémon faint. There will be no switching during this battle. Trainers, are you ready to start?". Ash and Nishi nodded. "Good, battle begin!" The referee announced.
"Are your ready Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner. "Pika!" Pikachu agreed as he jumped off of Ash's shoulder and onto the battlefield. "Beldum, show this weakling what we are made of," Nishi said tossing a pokeball revealing a Beldum. "Dum!" Beldum said. "Use Take Down!" Nishi ordered. Beldum rushed towards Pikachu very quickly. "Pikachu! Use Iron Tail to block it!" Ash commanded. Pikachu's tail began to turn into metal and attempted to block the Take Down. Beldum was flung backwards. "Can you still fight?' Nishi asked it. "Dum!" Beldum responded. "Good, now use Zen Headbutt!". Beldum's head glowed blue, and it rushed towards Pikachu, slamming into it. "Pika!" Pikachu cried as it was flung backwards. "You OK buddy?" Ash asked it. "Pi!" Pikachu responded. "Then use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. Pikachu let lose his Thunderbolt right at the Beldum, shocking it. "Dum!" it cried as it fell down to the floor. It's single eye then became swirly. "Beldum is unable to fight. Round one goes to Pikachu!" the referee said. Nishi grumbled as he returned Beldum. "Grumpig, show this weakling what we are REALLY made of," he said as he tossed another pokeball onto the field, revealing the purple psychic Pokémon. "You move first," he told Ash. "Uh…thanks?" Ash said. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" he commanded Pikachu. Pikachu let loose a bolt of electricity towards Grumpig. Grumpig yelled in pain. "Come on Grumpig shake it off!" Nishi told it. "Pig..Pigu!" it said as it shook off the electricity. "Now then…time for some Payback!" he ordered. Grumpig's gems glowed as it shot out several black beams of energy, hitting Pikachu directly. "Pika!" he yelled in pain as he was blown across the room. "Pikachu, are you all right?" Ash asked. "Pi…" Pikachu said weakly. "You should take a rest buddy," he told it. Pikachu nodded. "Right…the round goes to Nishi then," the referee said. Ash then sent out his next Pokémon. "Farfetch'd! I choose you!" he yelled as he threw his pokeball. The ball revealed his Galarian Farfetch'd. "Kamon!" it said as it used it's wing (the one not holding it's oversized leek) to make a "come on" motion towards Grumpig. "Heh, from what I read about Galarian Farfetch'd, they are pure fighting type. You chose unwisely," Nishi said. "But still, your move first,". Ash nodded. "Brutal Swing!" he yelled. Farfetch'd swung his leek, which was glowing black, right at Grumpig. "Pigu!" it yelled as it fell over, the move knocking it out. "H-how?!" Nishi said. "My Farfetch'd knows a dark-type move," Ash responded, "perfect for dealing with psychic-types,". Nishi growled. "Then how about this!" he yelled releasing his final Pokémon, a Metang. "We're ending this! Now! Metal Claw!" he yelled. Metang's fists grew long claws. It flew at Farfetch'd and slashed at it. Farfetch'd was pushed back but did not seem to bothered. "Are you OK?" Ash asked it. Farfetch'd nodded. "Night Slash!" he yelled. Farfetch'd slashed at Metang using his leek, which was glowing black (again). Metang stumbled but did not seem like it was down yet. "Use Psychic!" Nishi yelled. "Metang's eyes glowed blue as it sent a wave of energy at Farfetch'd, throwing him across the battlefield. He hit a wall and immediately fainted. "Hey now," the referee tried to say, but Nishi was having none of it. "This battle is not OVER!" he yelled. Ash recalled Farfetch'd and sent out Riolu. "HAH! That thing?! You expect me to believe that a baby Pokémon can beat me?!" Nishi said. "I would not underestimate him," Ash said. "Riolu is a tough one,". "HAH! We will see about that," Nishi said, "Use Confusion!" he ordered Metang. "Metang's eyes glowed blue once again and used psychic power to lift Riolu off the ground and slam him back into the ground. "Are you OK?!" Ash yelled from his side of the field. Riolu slowly got up. "Ri!" he said. "Good," Ash responded. "Use Reversal!" Riolu nodded and lunged towards Metang, his fist glowing orange. Riolu's fist slammed into Metang causing it to be blown backwards. Metang slumped to the ground, having fainted. "The winner is Ash Ketchum!" the referee announced. "Yeah! We did it!" Ash pumped his fist in the air. He walked over to Nishi and held out his hand. "You where a good battler out there," he told him. Nishi slapped Ash's hand away, shocking Ash. "This is not over!" he yelled. He then took a pokeball from his belt and threw it revealing a Mettagross. "Mettagross! Hyper Beam!". Mettagross hesitated, but then charged up it's Hyper Beam anyway. "What are you doing?!" Ash shouted. "Doing something that should have been done before! Eliminating you Kantonian!" Nishi yelled. Mettagross then released the Hyper Beam right at Ash. "Pika!" Pikachu cried out for Ash, but he was too weak to do anything. Ash, shocked by what Nishi was doing braced himself for the impact of the attack.