"Go, Pokeball!" Trace threw a Pokeball at a Galar variant of a Pokemon. In this case, a black and white Zigzagoon, which made it look like a racoon dog with the color pallet of a zebra. Upon getting hit by the sphere, it got absorbed into it and wiggled around, before it clicked. "Alright, I caught the Zigzagoon!"
"Congrats Trace." Ash told his best friend. "That makes it two catches in a row."
"Now you have the most Pokemon of us all currently." Elaine added. "Eevee, Beedrill, Nidoran, Rookidee and Zigzagoon."
"And we only just left Motostoke City!" Ash cheered. "There's so much Pokemon! With this route and an upcoming mine, we could catch a collective dozen or two!"
"Today's going to be the best so far!" Trace agreed wholeheartedly. "Let's continue on until we meet Milo!" However, someone decided to ruin the fun time they were having.
"You three participating in the WCS? I'd advise against it." They turned to see a teen with platinum blonde hair and a purple coat. "Any trainer with a wishing star is in for a beating from me and my Pokemon!"
"Who are you?" Ash asked him.
"The name's Bede Winckler. From what I can tell, you're a bunch of jokes. I'm endorsed by the chairman of the World Coronation Series, Barron Rose, so that makes me more important and amazing than all of you."
"What?!" Elaine became furious from the insult and clenched her fist. "I'll show you!" Bede sneered.
"I suppose I should prove beyond doubt just how pathetic you are. Go, Solosis!"
"Clefairy, let's show him what we've got!" Elaine told her partner.
"Clefairy!" She agreed as she ran up to face the challenge.
"Start this off with Sing!" Clefairy began to sing, which promptly started to put the Cell Pokemon to sleep.
"Hey, how dare you fall asleep?!" Bede yelled at his Pokemon. "Wake up!"
"Use Pound!" The Fairy Pokemon went on the offense as she punched the psychic type, feeling the discomfort but remaining asleep.
"Come on, wake up for crying out loud!" Bede complained.
"Double Slap!" With no means of missing, Clefairy slapped the hell against Solosis, whom reacted poorly to the continuous hits as it eventually fell to the ground, unconscious from the repeated impacts rather than Sing. "How's that for pathetic?!" Elaine boasted towards the irritated Bede.
"Hmph! I'm just giving your Pokemon a little chance to shine. That's all. Go, Gothita!" Sending out a black and white goth baby with a pink head, he ordered, "Use Double Slap!"
"Same for you Clefairy! Double Slap!" Both Pokemon got into a bout where both Pokemon were slapping each other like a couple of little kids would on the playground. But Clefairy was bigger and physically stronger, so she was able to land the more blows and thus dealing more damage.
"Get out of there!" Bede told his Pokemon, but Gothita was too overwhelmed by the Fairy Pokemon to provide much resistance. Eventually, she was slapped out cold.
"You're doing great Elaine!" Ash praised her.
"Yeah, you're sure showing him who's boss!" Trace added with his own compliment.
"Thanks guys!" The girl smiled.
"Hmph, return." Bede recalled his Pokemon and crossed his arms, shaking his head meanwhile.
"Oh dear, what have I been doing? Well, whatever. Let's just get this over with. Go, Hatenna!" A small Pokémon with a round pink body appeared with a pair of small feet. Most of its body is covered by a blue wig-like feature with a pink, hat-like protrusion on top. This protrusion is decorated with a white spot and has a blue bulbous growth on its tip. The flaps on the side of its head appear to be able to function like limbs. Noticing how tired her Clefairy was getting, Elaine called her back.
"Clefairy, come back to rest."
"Cle." The Fairy Pokemon said before running back to her partner's side. "Marill, let's go!" Sending her Aqua Rabbit Pokemon out, she requested, "Use Bubble Beam!"
"Counter with Disarming Voice!" The Calm Pokemon sent out a heart shaped shockwave by singing a note, which managed to create an efficient shield against the water type attack.
"If that won't work, we'll just use a different means." Elaine decided. "Marill, use Defense Curl!"
"Confusion!" Bede commanded. Hatenna's body glowed blue, which caused Marill to glow blue as she rolled into a ball, and managed to withstand being picked up and thrown across the field, rolling along the grass with grunts of discomfort.
"Is that really all you can do?" Bede smugly asked her, to which Elaine grinned.
"Nope. Marill, use Rollout!" Using her rolling body with the already big amount of momentum she was experiencing, she used a near by curving cliff to come right back with a vengeance, bashing into Hatenna.
"How can this be?!" Bede gasped.
"Again!" Elaine encouraged. Bouncing off a rock, Marill came back twice as hard before the psychic/fairy type could defend itself.
"Hatenna, use Disarming Voice!"
"Keep up with Rollout!" Marill complied with Elaine's order, bouncing off another rock to once again hit the Calm Pokemon again even harder. This time, the attack was too strong as she crashed into a wall, knocked out.
"Yes! We won Marill!" Elaine cheered, along with her friends and Pokemon.
"Marill!" She was filled with so much pride and joy. Bede returned his Pokemon, trying to be composed, but was visibly seething and trembling with anger.
"I see... well, that's fine. I wasn't really trying all that hard anyway." He then used his left hand to swipe his hair back. "It's unexpected, but I suppose you're more able than I thought. Naturally, I'll remember your battle style and strategies now. I'm sure to easily defeat you if and when we face each other in an official match."
"Anytime, anywhere dude." Elaine accepted the challenge. "I'll always kick your arrogant butt." Bede simply looked away, uninterested.
"I'm not going to waste any more time with you." And with that, he departed.
"Whew, looks like you've got yourself a personal rival now." Trace said as he came up behind her.
"He seems to specialize in Psychic types." Ash noted. "He'll be tough to beat down the line."
"It's okay guys. Me and Marill will-" She was cut off when Marill started to glow white, shocking everyone. The round blue and white ball grew taller into an oval and her ears elongated. Once her transformation was done, her Pokemon cried out,
"Azumarill!"
"Wow, my Pokemon evolved!" Elaine gasped as she checked with her Pokedex.
"Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokemon: These Pokémon create air-filled bubbles. When Azurill play in rivers, Azumarill will cover them with these bubbles."
"Awesome. I'm going to have to ask the professors to send us some vitamins and TMs plus TRs."
"To make your Pokemon stronger than normal and have more powerful moves it can use?" Ash inquired.
"Yep. I may even evolve Clefairy into Clefable so that we have an easier time. What do you think Clefairy?"
"Clefairy!" She agreed to the plan since she loved it.
"Alright! Then let's catch some Pokemon so that we can be as strong as we can!" Ash proposed with encouragement.
"Yeah!" His friends agreed. Catching all the rest of the Pokemon on Route 3 and the Galar Mine, Ash and Trace got more Pokemon indeed as Trace captured a Ferroseed and Ash caught a Cutiefly on Route 4. By the time they got to Turffield Town, a loud yet gentle voice called out to something.
"Wooloo, where do you think you're going?!"
"Huh?" Ash turned around only to be pushed down onto his front by a rolling Wooloo, basically a Pokemon sheep. He and Pikachu cried out as they fell onto the dirt road. Wooloo meanwhile didn't appear to be hurt at all.
"Oh my, are you okay?" The person asked them.
"I'm okay. How about you Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.
"Ash, are you okay?!" Elaine gasped as she knealt down to help him.
"Pikapi." She replied.
"You sure took that Tackle real good to have nothing but scratches for it." The man chuckled nervously.
"Hey, you're the one we've been looking for." Trace recognized him, for he didn't know anyone else that was a green themed buff farmer. "Milo Floros."
"Ah, you must be challengers, right? That's right, I'm Galar's grass type specialist. Tell you what, how about you come over by my stadium, and we can have a battle as an apology."
"That sounds great, thank you." Taking Milo's hand, Ash was helped up before he followed Milo towards the coliseum of the town. In the empty stadium, it was just Ash and Milo on the field, with Trace and Elaine on the sides.
"Man, this field is huge." Ash remarked.
"No kidding." Elaine agreed. "Most battle fields are about the size of basketball courts, but this is a freaking soccer field!"
"Just goes to show what we're about to see." Trace told her. Ash looked down at his new band, which was a newly gifted Dynamax band from Milo.
"It fits snuggly, doesn't it?" Milo asked Ash. "It's a good thing I had a spare."
"Yeah, it certainly fits well. I have to say, it feels a bit weird battling in a stadium." The gym leader laughed.
"Appreciate the silence of an empty one while you can. If you get to Ultra Class, the top 100 of all the trainers, they're going to be packed." Ash nodded to that. Backing up, a Rotom Drone appeared.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome! You have been approved for an official Pokemon World Coronation Series Normal Class battle! The challengers here are Milo Floros from the Turffield Stadium vs Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town! For today's battle, you can choose two Pokemon! When a Pokemon on either side are unable to battle, that side loses! Both challengers bring out your Pokemon!"
"Glossifleur, let's go!" A small, plantlike Pokémon with a large, yellow flower on its head was sent onto the field. Its flower covers most of its cream-colored head, which has a green stripe down its forehead and two yellow eyes with black sclerae. It has red, hair-like growths surrounding the back of its head and a green stem-like body.
"Staravia, I choose you!" Ash sent out his flying type. "Use Wing Attack!"
"Staravia!" Going on the offense first, the Starling Pokemon flew with great speed and glowing power, ramming into the grass type before it could react, crying out from the super effective move.
"Whoa, that's one fast flying type you have there! Gossifleur, use Rapid Spin!" Leaping up while spinning, the Flowering Pokemon tried to return the favor, but it was so slow that Staravia didn't even need to be told to dodge. He just flapped his wings to ascend higher, dodging its trajectory.
"Wing Attack!" With only two super effective attacks, Gossifleur was already defeated as it was slammed into the ground, knocked out.
"Ha, guess with his speed there was no chance he'd win, but we're not going to be done in that easily! We're as tough as weeds! Eldegoss, let's go!" Milo sent out Gossifleur's evolved form, which went from being similar of a flower to a dandelion with a huge ball of cotton growing behind it. "Come on, then! It's Dynamax time! You're about to be uprooted!" Returning his Pokemon, he let his Dynamax Band fill his Pokemon filled sphere with pink energy, which enlarged it. Throwing the Pokeball behind him, it unleashed a Pokemon that was previously only a little a foot and a half to a 120 foot tall behemoth! Our trio gawked at seeing this phenomena in person with just how big it looks.
"Staravia, return!" His friends were confused about this choice especially when he asked his electric type, "What do you say Pikachu, want to try out this Dynamax?"
"But Ash, you don't know if you can win against his Pokemon with Pikachu!" Elaine tried to warn him.
"If I'm going to try out Dynamaxing for the first time, I want my first partner to do it first." Ash told her. "It's your chance buddy!"
"Pikachu!" She accepted his trust as she ran to the field.
"Alright, time to Dynamax!" But before he could return her, his band started to glow and it seeped towards Pikachu, and she felt the power surround her. Quickly running towards behind Ash, she grew larger and larger until she was as tall as Eldegoss. But she appeared to be different. She was much more thick compared to her slim form, and her tail more resembled an actual, electrical lightning bolt.
"It gigantimaxed!" Trace gasped.
"So cool! Pikachu, time to use... uh..." He realized he didn't know what moves to say. He knew they were different compared to regular moves, but he didn't know what they were called.
"Ash, tell it to use G-Max Volt Crash!" Elaine told him. He grinned.
"Alright! Pikachu, G-Max Volt Crash!" Jumping into the air before crashing down on her but and bouncing onto her legs, she shot a massive amount of electricity into the air, which started to generate dark thunder clouds. After a few seconds, multiple bolts of lightning struck the Cotton Bloom Pokemon. It appeared the attack was at least uncomfortable since it flinched, but it appeared no worse for wear.
"Alright, you had your fun, but now its our turn for our Dynamax move! Eldegoss, use Max Overgrowth!" With a powerful cry, multiple mushrooms the size of trees sprouted around the Mose Pokemon. She was confused by their presence, before they started to glow and then exploded. Ash and company braced against the wind of said explosion, and Pikachu groaned loudly from how much that hurt.
"Pikachu, are you okay?!" He asked his partner. She looked down at him and smiled. He returned it the best he could. Grassy Terrain took effect, which soothed the grass type Eldegoss.
"Now use Max Strike!" Elaine told him.
"Max Strike!" Jumping once more, her mass struck the ground, this time sending cracks glowing with energy across the ground. Once they were underneath the grass type opponent, the cracks glowed even brighter until they exploded. Eldegoss yelped from the somewhat stronger attack, but it was little more than scuffled.
"Max Overgrowth!" The same mushrooms appeared, and exploded, and this was too much for Pikachu as she returned down to size.
"Pikachu!" He ran to his partner Pokemon, picking her up. "Wow, that was amazing. You did a great job." She smiled weakly. Returning his gaze to Milo and his Dynamaxed Cotton Bloom Pokemon. Setting Pikachu down, he got another Pokeball.
"Staravia, I choose you!" Sending his normal/flying type out, he quickly saw the giant Pokemon and freaked out with some panicked wing flapping and squawks.
"Sta-Sta-Staravia?!"
"Eldegoss, once more, use Max Overgrowth!" However, electricity sparked around the grass type, preventing it from moving. "What?! Paralysis?!"
"That must be G-Max Volt Crash's secondary ability." Trace deduced.
"It causes paralysis just like your average electric type move." Elaine added.
"Staravia, now's our chance! Wing Attack!" Ash told his Pokemon. Shaking off his shock, the Starling Pokemon went on the offense, his wings glowing white as he collided against the grass type, dealing the most damage so far as Eldegoss painfully winced. It even began to glow as the Dynamax effect wore off and it returned to normal size. But it was still paralyzed. "One more time! Wing Attack!" Staravia came in fast and true as he struck a critical blow against the Cotton Bloom Pokemon, sending it flying back, skidding across the grass until it stopped, totally defeated.
"We won!" Ash cheered, along with Staravia. Milo returned his Pokemon, and sighed with a smile.
"The power of grass has wilted. What an incredible match!"
"As a result of today's battle, there has been a change in the WCS rankings effective immediately!" The Rotom Drone announced.
"Ash!" The boy in question turned to who called his voice, only to be hugged strongly by Elaine. "Congratulations! That was the most amazing battle I've seen yet!" Ash was blushing from getting a hug from his crush. But being reminded of his victory gave him enough joy to hug her back.
"Thanks so much!" Watching his two friends hug it out, Trace grinned as he looked down at his Eevee.
"When we fight in a Galar stadium, let's see if you can Gigantimax."
"Eevee!" She really liked that idea.
A/N: Alright, so here's the thing. Yes, it is quite a string that quite a few gyms so far have been the first ones one typically comes across in their Pokemon journey. But if you remember from my previous stories adapting the games, especially Platinum, these cities are only the first from our perspective. Other trainers start their journeys in other cities like Veilstone City for Mia in my Platinum story as mentioned, with the gym leaders being as strong as they are based on how many badges a trainer has like in Origins. As for why I've been using the gym leaders I have done so far, I have taken a look at YouTuber's MysticUmbreon's ranking of each gym leader from each region weakest to strongest, while also cross referencing his rankings of each type weakest to strongest. It's even triple cross layered that I also made my list of gym leaders and Elite Four based on where they ranked. Like these gym leaders so far were all the weakest of their respective regions, which I'll eventually follow up with the line of second worst. Now, this isn't exactly an exact one-to-one. I'm not going to have them face Norma and Brycen since they've retired. And I'm debating on where Blue should go at all in the rankings of anywhere between the positions of 100th to 9th best. Now, I encourage that you don't try to guess where all the gym leaders and Elite Four are. I'd like each chapter to be a surprise. But if you'd like to give me a suggestion on where to place Blue, if by just saying in either the 90s or the 20s, go ahead. Let me know what you think of what I just said in this A/N and how I did on this chapter of Ash experiencing gigantimaxing. Reviews are appreciated.