Ash vs Thorton
"Branch Poke!"
"Grook!" Grookey lashed out and struck the opposing side's Prinplup with his stick, jabbing the penguin Pokemon's stomach!
"P-Prinplup..." The water type gasped out before dropping to the floor in defeat as swirls formed within his eyes.
"Bzzzt, Prinplup is unable to battle which means that Challenger Ash Ketchum takes the win! Congratulations Ash Ketchum, your updated ranking currently sits at 47,998!" It hadn't changed by much since his opponent had a significantly low ranking but it wasn't as if Ash could choose all his opponents, some chose to fight him and not all of them were incredibly strong trainers like Grimsley and Bea.
"Alright Grookey!"
"Pika pi!" Ash and Pikachu cheered on their partner.
"Grook, Grookey!" Grookey leaped for joy as the rivaling trainer lowered his head and sighed out in defeat. "Grook, Grookey grook grook!" A bright blue light engulfed Grookey's body as the grass monkey began changing form, his green fur shed from his body and was replaced by a lime green colored pelt. The monkey doubled in height while green leaves began growing atop his head and appeared to be held down by a pair of sticks, the stick he formerly held within his hand had now disappeared. The newly evolved Pokemon let out an eager shout as he reached up to retrieve his sticks resulting in his leafy hair sticking upwards in the shape of a mohawk as he eagerly lashed out at the air in front of him!
"Thwackey, thwack wack!"
"Whoa, you evolved! I've never seen that Pokemon before..."
"Pika..."
"Thwackey the Beat Pokemon, when it's drumming out rapid beats in battle it gets so caught up in the rhythm that it won't even notice that it's already knocked out its opponent!"
"Heh, sounds like we've got to keep an eye on you!" Ash offered his newly evolved Pokemon a light smirk.
"Thwack!" Thwackey flashed his trainer a warm smile as he excitedly leaped about!
It was the day following Marnie and Dawn's captures of Darkrai and Cresselia and rather than eagerly race to face the Frontier Brain, Ash decided to give the guy enough time to recover from the long nightmare that the Pokemon poachers had given the city.
"You know I completed a Battle Factory back in Kanto," Ash explained to the others as the group made their way back to the Battle Factory. "I wonder if the rules are the same as they were there, the Frontier Brain allowed me to choose a single Pokemon of his to face off against and I chose to fight against his buddy, an Articuno. I wonder if this guy has any Legendary Pokemon!"
"Darach had an Entei, I'd wager that most the Frontier Brains own Legendary Pokemon. They're supposed to be exceptionally strong trainers and it takes exceptional individuals to raise a Legendary Pokemon, like you and your Latias." Zach spoke up.
"He's right, Brandon owned three of the four known Regi Pokemon so it's quite possible that this guy's got something powerful as well." Dawn added on.
"Well that'll just make things more exciting," Ash clenched his fists as stars filled his eyes. "It feels like it's been awhile since I battled a Legendary Pokemon!"
"Months? It's been two weeks since we beat Darach and Caitlin..." Marnie sweated.
"Yeah well it feels like it's been that amount of time for me!" Ash stated with an eager grin as he pushed through the front doors of the Battle Factory. "So let's get my challenge underway!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Ash, welcome to the Sinnoh region's Battle Factory!" Scott greeted Ash as he stepped inside, a warm expression on the man's face as he made his greeting. "Now I must give you a fair warning on how things work here, you may remember how Noland gave you a choice as to what Pokemon you'd fight against am I right? Well here at the Battle Factory, Thorton is quite unique as he owns just as massive an array of Pokemon as yourself and Noland but rather than either of you using a prepared team you'll each be assigned three Pokemon from Thorton's personal collection completely at random! Not even Thorton himself will know what his machine will pick for either of you, it takes an exceptional Pokemon trainer to pull off a victory when he's left in the dark and an equally exceptional individual to work with Pokemon they're unfamiliar with! So Ash, are you ready to face off against Factory Brain Thorton?"
"You bet I'm ready, this just makes things even more exciting!" Ash clenched his fists before looking towards Pikachu with an apologetic expression. "Sorry Pikachu, maybe next time."
"Pika." Pikachu waved it off before flicking his tail as he was curious as to what Pokemon Ash would be assigned with for the day!
Scott led the way towards the battlefield where Thorton could be standing alongside a robotic duplicate of himself, it appeared that he had to be at least Clemont level of intelligent as the robot showed no signs of hostility or breaking down.
"Greetings challenger, I am Thorton-bot and this is my master, Thorton head of the Battle Factory! The rules are simple, it'll be a three on three battle and both sides are allowed to switch out Pokemon however only one switch is allowed per round! One you switch out you may not do so again until either side has lost the round, your opponent will still have the ability to swap however if they hadn't done so yet making the match quite unpredictable!"
"So you're the Ash Ketchum I've heard so much about," Thorton eyed Ash over before shaking his head lightly. "Don't look that impressive to me but looks can be deceiving! Let's have a great battle shall we?"
"You know it, I'll give it my all no matter what Pokemon I'm using!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
Thorton smirked before nodding at his robotic counterpart. "Go grab the Pokeballs will you?"
"Right away Thorton," The robot walked into the backroom and returned shortly with a box full of Pokeballs. "I shuffled these around just this morning, after Master Thorton fed them all. So it'll be completely random as to what you get! Pick three if you will."
Ash grabbed three Pokeballs at random causing Thorton-bot to walk over and offer the box to Thorton who grabbed three balls at random before offering Ash another smirk. "On the count of three we'll release our first Pokemon! One, two, three-GO!"
Ash and Thorton threw a Pokeball forward causing two bursts of light to appear on the field as a Lucario stood in front of Ash while a Hydreigon appeared before Thorton!
"Car..." Zach's Lucario blinked at the sight of another. He didn't seem nearly as excited as he'd been around Cynthia's so that was a good indication that this Lucario was a male one.
"A Lucario, well this shouldn't be too hard." Ash was already pretty familiar with the species as apart from one of his best friends owning one, he'd battled quite a handful during his adventures! "Use Aura Sphere!"
"Car." The Lucario clamped his paws together as a sphere of aura began charging between them, he kept his gaze focused upon his opponent before firing off a large sphere of aura though it wasn't anywhere near as big as Korrina and Zach's since the state of the aura depended on one's bond with the Pokemon! The attack exploded against Hydreigon causing the Dragon to let out an enraged roar as he set his eyes upon Lucario.
"Flamethrower!"
"Hydre!" The three heads all began firing off streams of fire at Lucario making it quite difficult to maneuver away from the attack as it came from three different directions!
"Extreme Speed!" Lucario whizzed across the field in a white blur but had the misfortune of racing directly into one of the streams of fire! The brief moment of pause as the heat met his body was all that was needed for the other heads to aim at him, giving him a dose of triple Flamethrower! The jackal let out a cry before collapsing to his side as swirls filled his eyes.
"Well that was anticlimactic." Marnie sweated.
"Lucario return, I choose you whoever you are!" Ash threw forward a ball only to leap back in surprise as a Suicune came bursting out onto the field!
"Cune!" The Water Legendary cried out as she gazed up towards Hydreigon.
"Return," Thorton returned Hydreigon and reached for a different ball. "Go!"
A burst of light shined on the battlefield shortly before a light blue colored Sceptile appeared! "Sceptile!"
"Leaf Blade!" The leaves on Sceptile's arms glowed a bright green color as the Grass type raced across the field, pulling back his arm as he prepared to lash out and strike his opponent!
"Use Ice Beam on the field in front of you!" Suicune fired a beam of ice upon the battlefield, freezing it solid as the battlefield now resembled an ice rink! Sceptile's feet weren't exactly made for cold weather so the Grass type began slipping before landing face first in the ice, sliding towards Suicune before coming to a halt directly in front of her. "Hyper Beam!"
A bright yellow-orange beam fired from Suicune's mouth, blasting Sceptile and sending the Grass type flying back to his trainer! Sceptile landed on his side before slowly standing with a determined gaze.
"Sunny Day!"
"Sceptile!" Bright sunlight began shining down upon the battlefield, melting the ice and muddying up the ground.
"Now use Thunder Punch!"
"Sceptile!"
"Let's dodge it with Extreme Speed then strike from behind with Ice Beam!" Suicune raced across the field at a blinding speed, disappearing right as Sceptile lashed out with an electrically charged punch before reappearing behind him as she fired off a beam of ice! A block of ice formed around Sceptile's body as he became frozen in ice, swirls filling the Grass type's eyes as Thorton uttered out a sigh before returning him to his ball.
"Go!" Thorton chose to send out the remaining Pokemon other than send Hydreigon back out.
A large burst of light appeared before a rather large and familiar looking bird Pokemon emerged.
"Zap!" Zapdos looked his eyes on Suicune as the two shared a brief glare.
"Ice Beam!" Suicune opened her mouth and fired off another beam of ice, Zapdos shivered as a cold sensation flowed through his body.
"Rain Dance!" Thorton cried out.
Ash clenched his fists. "Looks like we no longer have a choice, Sheer Cold!" A cold wind suddenly filled the arena however luck wasn't on his side as it didn't effect Zapdos! Zapdos began sparking off electricity as he uttered out a fierce cry before a large blast of electricity shot down from the sky, blasting Suicune as her body surged with electricity!
"Cune!" Suicune gritted her teeth but was still standing after the attack although she did look significantly weaker than she had been before.
Ash clenched his fists before shouting out. "Sheer Cold one more time!" Surely it wouldn't fail twice in a row? A cold breeze filled the battlefield and Zapdos began to shiver as his feathers turned bright blue while ice formed over his body. The Electric type shivered before dropping from the sky, a thud could be heard as his body struck against the ground!
Thorton smirked and appeared to be slightly impressed as he returned Zapdos to his Pokeball. "Alright, Hydreigon let's finish Suicune with Hyper Beam!"
Much like before with the Flamethrower attack, all three heads fired off orange-yellow blasts of energy!
"Suicune use Extreme Speed, race around the edges of the battlefield and not directly through it, once you're past Hydreigon I want you to use Ice Beam!"
"Cune!" Suicune shot off across the field in a bright white blur, lifting her gaze up at Hydreigon as she moved beneath him before she'd open her mouth and blast the Dragon with a beam of ice!
"H-Hydre!" Hydreigon shivered as a cold sensation flowed through his body.
"Outrage!" Hydreigon's eyes glowed bright red as a red aura surrounded his body, the dragon quickly lashed out and slammed his tail against Suicune's body before striking out a second time as a fierce cry came from the Dragon's mouth!
"S-Suicune..." The Legendary Beast dropped to her side as swirls filled her eyes.
"She sure lasted a long time," Marnie stated. "She worked quite well with Ash too despite them just meeting..." She scratched her chin as she couldn't help but think that meant something!
"Suicune return, I choose you whoever you are!"
"Raichu rai rai!" A Kantonian Raichu emerged, pumping his fists at the air before flashing Pikachu a cocky smirk as he took notice of the rat. "Rai rai!" Raichu thumbed at himself as if to say 'leave it to me!'. Pikachu angrily flicked his tail as he couldn't help but wonder why almost every Kantonian Raichu he met were complete jerks!
Hydreigon swooped towards Raichu as he prepared to lash out with another Outrage!
"Meet him head on with Volt Tackle!"
"Raichu!" A bright electrical glow surrounded Raichu's body as he raced across the battlefield. "Rai rai rai! Raichu!" He slammed his electrically charged body directly against Hydreigon's swinging tail causing Hydreigon to utter out a loud cry as electricity surged through his body! Raichu landed back on his feet as Ash clenched his fists and smirked.
"Alright! Now finish with Dynamic Punch!" Raichu's fist became enveloped in a bright blue aura as he leaped up and nailed Hydreigon directly in the chest! The Dragon roared loudly before dropping to the ground, landing with a hard thud as dust flew up and temporarily blinded them from seeing the results of the match! Within a few seconds the dust disappeared, showcasing the defeated Hydreigon with swirls formed within his eyes.
"Alright way to go Raichu!"
"Rai rai!" Raichu smirked.
"Pika..." Pikachu flattened his ears and crossed his arms as he didn't like that a Raichu had won the final round.
"Congratulations Ash, that was quite an impressive feat!"
"Thank you sir, here's your Pokeballs back!" Ash grinned as he handed the balls back to Thorton. Thorton nodded towards Thorton-bot who grabbed the Pokeballs and safely returned Raichu before making his way into the backroom to heal them all up.
"And here's the Luck Symbol!" Thorton smirked as he handed Ash another Frontier Symbol. "A sign of your victory here today! Good luck on beating the next Frontier Brain, I believe Scott has your directions ready?"
"Indeed I do!" Scott handed Ash a slip of paper. "Your next opponent will be Battle Hall Matron Argenta, the Battle Hall is located in Jubilife City so you actually don't have to walk quite so far this time!"
"Actually my friends and I are going to head back to Galar first but we'll be back before long and then I'll challenge Argenta to a battle!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"I look forward to that," Scott smirked lightly.
"I guess this is where we part ways then?" Zach questioned as he turned towards Dawn. She agreed to travel with them throughout their stay in the region, they never discussed her traveling with them to other regions or full time.
Dawn thought for a moment before offering him a warm smile as she edged closer to him. "Of course not, I'd love to see your home region and nobody's a better tour guide than somebody that grew up there! Besides I'd love to capture a Galar Pokemon of my own, I bet there's all sorts of cute Pokemon there!" While it was true she was interested in seeing the region, she kept her actual reasoning a secret from him as she really wanted to meet this Chloe girl and learn rather or not if she was a potential rival for his heart.
Marnie cast Zach a brief glance before turning her gaze towards the ground. If Zach earned another badge while they were there then he'd be one step closer towards battling against her brother, she wasn't worried about Zach as she was sure Piers and him would get along fine, no her concern leaned towards Ash. She wasn't certain how the two would react to one another, especially if her and Ash got together! She'd never dated anyone before but Piers always seemed protective of her, even forbidding the Team Yell crew from dating her despite her lack of interest. They could have crushes but whenever one tried making a move on her, Piers promptly grabbed the fanboy or fangirl by the ear before dragging them off and she never saw them again! She had no idea what Piers did to them.
"Marnie you okay?"
"Hm?" Marnie snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see Ash looking at her with a concerned expression. "Y-Yeah I'm fine, j-just wondering if there are any prehistoric Dark types!"
Ash gave her a look as he had a feeling that she wasn't exactly being truthful. "As far as I know, there aren't."
Marnie uttered out a quick sigh of relief as Ash appeared to have bought her excuse. She wouldn't be able to keep Ash away from Piers forever though, eventually the two of them would come across each other!
I didn't really have ideas for Thorton so I kept the former version of the story's battle intact and just changed the rest of the chapter around to fit it into place.
"Ash should get a Legendary" He did a few chapters ago, Articuno. He's going to get a few others but I'm trying to keep his 'special' captures spaced apart so it actually feels special when I do give him one.
Anyways I hoped you all enjoyed it, next up is the return to Galar but they'll be back in Sinnoh before long as Hisui comes into play :)