A/N:

WOW! Thanks for all of the support. You guys are the best. As for updates, I'll try my best, but I work a lot. I won't promise anything

XYZ Ash in JN POV:

Ash and Goh walked out into the kitchen after their earlier discussion. Professor Cerise was already in the lab, sipping on his morning coffee.

"Goodmorning," Goh said as he walked into the room, feigning being tired.

"Morning Professor," Ash followed Goh, pretending as if he already knew his way around the lab.

"Goodmorning boys," Professor Cerise said as he sipped his coffee while reading something on his phone.

Pikachu walked in behind the boys, looking around the lab curiously.

"I heard you two boys are off to Galar tomorrow," Professor Cerise said while continuing to sip on his coffee.

Goh nodded, "Yep! Ash is battling Bea again," he said while opening cabinets searching for food.

Cerise looked up from his phone, "Actually, I have an idea. I'm sure Goh will be fine with it but I just wanted to check with you, Ash."

"Check what?" Ash said puzzled

"My daughter Chloe has a school project on travel, and she needs to write an essay about another region. I think visiting Galar with you guys would be a great experience for her. Ash, I know you two don't spend much time together, but I know you guys are friendly enough," Cerise said

"That's fine! The more the merrier," Ash said with a smile

Just then, Chloe walked into the kitchen in the lab

"Morning Dad, Morning Goh," she paused and looked at Ash for a short second, "Goodmorning Ash."

Ash smiled at her and she looked away, a tint of red coloring her cheeks.

Ash almost introduced himself to the Professor and to Chloe, before remembering that he was almost a year in the future. He'd have to be careful to make sure too many people didn't find out. He remembered seeing a movie a few years ago where the main character was a careless time traveler and he hurt a lot of people from his mistakes. But that was a movie, right? Ugh, where was Clemont when Ash needed him? He'd know for sure. But to play it safe, he'd be cautious for now.

The Professor spoke to his daughter, "Chloe, I figured you needed some inspiration for that essay you've been working on about travel. I think you should travel to Galar to watch Ash battle,"

Chloe shrugged, "Sure, sounds fun."

Cerise smiled, "Then it's settled, you are all going to Galar."

Ash pumped his fist, "Awesome! At this rate, I'll have the whole crowd going for me,"

Silence filled the room and Goh started laughing

"Ash, you're really funny! You know for a fact those Galarian stadiums are nothing but local fans," Goh said

"Oh, I mean you guys know what I mean. Having supporters like you guys means a lot," Ash said with a smile

The professor stood up, "Well, I have some work to do today. And I better get to it, you kids behave yourselves!"

Goh sat on the table and grinned at Ash and Chloe, "So! What's the plan today,"

"I gotta train," Ash said quickly.

He did need to talk to the rest of his Kalos team, aside from Greninja and Pikachu, no other pokemon knew about his time issues.

"Uhhh you can go train Ash, I'll talk with Chloe about the trip," Goh said with a wink

—-

"Alright, everyone! Come on out!" Ash threw his Poke Balls and summoned his entire Kalos team. Ash was alone in a nearby forest, devoid of any people or pokemon.

Greninja stood next to Hawlucha, who was next to Noivern. Talonflame landed and Ash cursed under his breath

"Sh!t, I forgot that Goodra was gone.

Ash thought to himself, "I'm gonna need a replacement and fast. I should consult Goh, maybe I have a new team in the future. Or maybe I could go back to Oak's lab and get a teammate from there."

Ash spoke to his very confused team, "Hey guys, I'm sure you're confused about what's going on so I'm gonna keep it simple. We're in the future, not sure how but we are. And we have some battles to win. So I just want to make sure we're all on the same page."

Pikachu rolled his eyes and went into great detail, "Pika Pika Pika Pi Pika Pi Pi Pika Pi…..,"

"Greninja Gre!" Greninja cried out

Ash's team gave a cry and he took that as an affirmation to what he said. "Awesome guys! Glad to hear we're all on the same page. Let's climb these ranks!"

—-

Goh was in the aisle seat, fast asleep. Chloe claimed the window seat, and Ash was smack dab in the middle.

Chloe looked at Ash and tried to start a conversation, "So….ready for your big battle?"

"I guess, I mean I'm just more nervous than usual," Ash said

"How so?" Chloe asked with some concern in her voice, "You're usually so inspired and determined. What happened?"

"Do you ever feel like you just wake up and everything is different? You don't recognize anyone, and it's just all…. new,?" Ash said while looking up at the ceiling of the plane

"Ummmm, Ash, are you ok?" Chloe asked with real concern in her voice, "I'm always here if you need a friend to talk with,"

Ash shook his head, "No no no! Not like that! I was just thinking dumb thoughts out loud. I need to drain these bad thoughts and show Bea who's the boss!"

Chloe giggled, "Now that's the Ash I know,"

—

later…

Ash walked into the tunnel leading into the stadium, listening to the roar of the crowd above him.

The last time he battled in front of a crowd this large was in Unova, and that's where the Cameron incident happened. He shook his head, trying to forget about his whole Unova experience. The people were nice, and his team was cool. However, he made so many stupid errors. But this was no place for nostalgia! This was a battle with the 30th strongest trainer in the world and he was ready for action.

He needed to remember three things for the battle, based on footage of Bea he watched yesterday and a conversation with Goh.

The first thing is to keep the speed high. Slow attacks will result in a lot of pain.

The second thing is to rely on mainly special attacks and avoid using physical ones. She is a fighting type user and thus, her attacks will be up close and personal.

The final thing is to beware of what Goh called dynamaxing. Supposedly from the power of a band she owns, Bea can make her pokemon grow in size and power temporarily. But Ash also had an ace up his sleeve.

The announcer introduced him to the crowd, and the Rotom drone flew in the arena, "This will be a three-on-three battle. Substitutions will be allowed. Good luck, trainers!"

Bea smirked at Ash, "Always figured you'd be back for more. Can't wait to win again, now let's do this, Hawlucha!" She sent out the Luchador pokemon, and Ash could think of no better pokemon to face a Hawlucha other than his Noivern.

"Alright, Noivern I choose you" Ash's Noivern emerged and landed in front of Hawlucha. Hawlucha did a flip and motioned for Noivern to approach him. Noivern took flight, and so did Hawlucha.

Bea threw a fist and pointed at Noivern, "Hawlucha, strike him as fast as you can with a wing attack!"

Hawlucha flew up and tried to strike Noivern, but his wing attack was met with a much more powerful dragon claw, sending the luchador pokemon crashing down to the ground.

Ash smiled and gave another order, "Alright, Noivern, use boomburst!" Noivern's ears began to pulsate, and brutal sound waves came out. Ash covered his ears from the ringing, and he watched Hawlucha get tossed around by the force of the sound waves.

Bea looked frustrated, and she barked out another order, "Hawlucha, stand up! Now use sky attack, make your move when you feel best."

Noivern watched as Hawlucha overtook him in altitude and flew in circles.

Ash groaned and pointed at Hawlucha, "Fine, use acrobatics and match his sky attack!"

Noivern gave a cry and flew towards Hawlucha, who decided, and the two flying-type attacks met in a massive explosion. The dust quickly cleared, and Ash saw Hawlucha latched onto Noivern.

Hawlucha hugged Noivern and dragged the dragon to the ground with him. Just before they slammed into the ground, Noivern blasted Hawlucha with a boomburst and regained control of his flight. Noivern boombursted Hawlucha again and sent it straight into the stadium walls. Hawlucha's form fell on the ground, and Noivern landed. He was satisfied with his victory against the species of his adopted father.

Bea recalled Hawlucha, clearly impressed. "Didn't know you had a Noivern! I'm impressed, but I think you'll be impressed even more with my next pokemon. He's improved from our last battle. Let's go Grapplocot,"

An octopus-like pokemon emerged and gave a shout, getting into battle position.

Ash smirked, "We'll see. Now let's keep up the pressure, Noivern!"

Bea pointed at Noivern, "Grapplocot, strike him as hard as you can with liquidation!"

Ash ordered his Noivern to fly up, "Noivern, get some altitude and attack with boomburst,"

Noivern obeyed his trainers' order faithfully and fired off a boomburst which sent Grapplocot to his knees, clearly not enjoying the attack.

Ash pointed at Grapplocot, "Okay Noivern, keep up the attack!"

Bea pointed at Noivern, "Grapplocot, dodge and fling yourself at Noivern!"

Grapplocot dodged the second boomburst, and sprung up towards Noivern. Ash tried to yell out to dodge, but it was too late. One of Grapplocot's tentacles wrapped around Noivern and he fell down to earth, bringing Noivern with him.

Ash yelled out, "Noivern, escape like you did before!"

Bea countered with a shout, "Grapplocot, use octolock!"

Grapplocot's tentacles hugged Noivern even tighter, and Ash could only watch in terror as his pokemon fell to the ground

Ash yelled out one last desperate command, "Supersonic!"

Noivern unleashed a final supersonic attack, before crashing into the ground and fainting from the impact.

Bea smiled, "We're even now,"

Ash nodded and recalled Noivern, "Great work Noivern, you did absolutely amazing out there!"

Ash smiled looking at Grapplocot's form, looking around confused and dizzy, it seemed like Noivern's last attack helped.

Ash materialized a poke ball and threw it, releasing his Talonflame.

Ash grinned at Bea, "I'm ready when you are!"

"Grapplocot, use liquidation!" Bea shouted out

Grapplocot just punched itself and ran around in circles from being confused by Noivern

Ash pointed towards the sky and Talonflame got the memo and started to gain altitude. He flew well above the stadium, far above where he could hear Ash's words. But he already knew what Ash would want from him. Talonflame circled to where he was just above the sun, causing Grapplocot to be blinded by looking up at him.

Ash suddenly put his fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. Just above the stadium, Talonflame heard a faint whistle, he knew it was time, the bird prepared his strongest brave bird attack and flew down at an angle with the sun directly behind him.

"Grapplocot watch out!" Bea yelled upon seeing an angry Talonflame descending from the sky

Grapplocot tried to move out of the way but was struck with the brave bird attack.

Grapplocot was slammed into the ground, clearly fainted from the attack. Bea growled in anger and recalled her pokemon.

"Alright then, let's finish this fight Machamp let's go!"

A four-armed grievous pokemon gave a roar and looked straight at Talonflame and began cracking all four of its knuckles.

Ash didn't want to waste any time, "Talonflame, use flame charge!"

Talonflame coated itself in fire and slammed into Machamp who didn't even flinch.

Bea suddenly recalled Machamp, and her glowing band on her wrist began to increase her Machamp in size. She threw out the poke ball, and Machamp emerged, as large as a medium-sized building.

Ash looked at the towering pokemon in awe. He had read about the Dynamax phenomenon before but seeing it in person was something else entirely.

Machamp gave a roar, and Bea threw a fist and gave an order,

"Machamp, use G Max Rockfall!"

A massive boulder emerged from thin air and began to fall down on Talonflame. Ash pointed at Machamp and screamed out, "Talonflame, brave bird!"

Talonflame slammed into the boulder and cracked it slightly, but was stopped emphatically and fell down to the ground. And then the rock hit the ground, creating a huge dust cloud. Ash knew that Talonflame would be down, not much could withstand a 4x strong attack that large.

And sure enough, Talonflame was down for the count. Ash recalled his bird and smiled, "Great work Talonflame," he picked up another poke ball and threw it as hard as he could, "Greninja, let's go!"

Greninja saw the massive Machamp standing before him and got into a fighting position. His expression seemed to say "this was certainly a worthy foe if there ever was one,"

Ash was smiling at Greninja's determination when Bea yelled out, "Ash, I'm quite disappointed. You don't have a dynamax band, no mega ring, nothing. And here I thought that you'd have an ace up your sleeve," Bea said with a smirk.

Ash's expression hardened, "I have something better, Greninja; show them our bond and let our hearts connect as one!"

A torrent of water surrounded Greninja, and Ash smiled. He hadn't used the transformation since he lost to Sawyer a few days ago. Or almost a year?

Greninja stepped out of the water in his Ash-Greninja form, and Ash felt a rush of adrenaline. He was ready for this battle.

Bea looked stunned but quickly composed herself. "Whatever that was, it can still go down! Now, Machamp, use G Max Chi Strike and end this!"

Ash yelled out, "Greninja, dodge it!"

Greninja vanished and Machamp's attack struck empty space.

Greninja materialized behind Machamp and struck the giant pokemon with a cut attack. Machamp faltered slightly and turned around. Greninja looked horrified, he had accidentally cornered himself in the corner of the arena.

Ash gave his command and turned his hat backward, "Greninja, she's gonna attack again and you can't dodge. So go with an ALL OUT WATER SHURIKEN!"

Bea kicked and yelled out, "One more G Max Chi Strike! End this!"

Ash-Greninja summoned his massive donut water shuriken and Machamp launched his G Max Chi Strike.

Both trainers yelled out at the same time, "DO IT!"

There was a massive explosion and a large dust cloud obstructed the view of the audience and the trainers. After a few moments, Ash felt his heart rate relax, and as the dust cloud cleared, Greninja stood on top of Machamp.

He had won.

Ash looked into the crowd and saw Chloe and Goh staring at him, their jaws hanging out like an Exploud. Goh knew about it, but he looked like a kid who just had "the swellow and the beedrill" talk.

He'd have some explaining to do to his new friends.