"You ready Ash." Goh said, as they stood in front of the doors to the arena.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Ash replied.
Both trainers had taken a bit to rearrange their teams for this battle, while Goh's goals weren't in line with winning, he also didn't want to just give Ash the win.
"Understand that this battle will go on until one side is unable to battle, or the islands armor has chosen one of you." Mustard explained.
"So winning the battle doesn't necessarily mean success?" Goh asked.
"Precisely." Mustard said, as both trainers walked to the opposite sides of the field. "Trainers at your ready. Battle begin!"
"Lopunny, come on out!"
"Incineroar I choose you!"
"Lopunny use Return!"
"Incineroar use Fire Fang!"
Inciniroar and Lopunny collided, pushing against each other.
"Incineroar use Darkest Lariat!"
"Lopunny use High Jump Kick!"
As Lopunny launched out of the way, its foot was grazed by Incineroar sending the jump off coarse, and into a wall.
"Lopunny are you okay!" Goh called out, as Lopunny re-emerged from the rubble, bouncing back into the battle. "Okay, use Bounce!"
"Incineroar use Flame Charge!"
Incineroar sped around the arena as Lopunny launched into the air to regain an upper hand.
"Now strike him down!" Goh called out.
"Use Flame Charge!" Ash called.
Incineroar got a running start, leaping into Lopunny, sending her crashing into the wall again, this time defeated.
Above the arena
"So you are the disturbance I've felt." A slightly different colored version of the mysterious Pokémon said.
"I mean to cause no harm, I simply wish to become stronger. The striped one's human seems promising." The mysterious Pokémon said.
"Ah but their opponent has gathered many allies in the short time they've been here, they also show promise." The different colored one said.
"Quagsire, I choose you!" Goh called out. "Use Hydro Pump!"
"Incineroar use Revenge!"
Incineroar charged through the stream of water, giving Quagsire an uppercut. The Pokémon jiggling from the impact.
"That Pink one in particular is quite resilient. I've fought a few on the island, but none that color." The off colored mysterious Pokémon said.
"Maybe so but I've met with several other of the first humans allies, and they were strong as well." The mysterious Pokémon said.
"Quagsire use Body Slam!"
"Incineroar use Flame Charge!"
Incineroar sped out of the way of the falling Quagsire, before making a quick 180, running into it from behind.
"Quagsire use Mud Bomb!"
"Incineroar use Revenge!"
Incineroar rushed through the attack, slamming into Quagsire again, pushing it to the ground.
"Quagsire use Hydro Pump!"
"Incineroar use Darkest Lariat!"
Incineroar spun the water away from him, taking minimal damage in the process.
"Now use Flame Charge one more time!"
"Quagsire return! Golurk come out and use Hyper Beam!"
"Incineroar dodge it!"
Incineroar ran like crazy, only to get blasted by the unrelenting attack.
"Use Darkest Lariat!" Ash shouted.
Incineroar leapt upwards, spinning towards Golurk.
"Golurk counter it with Shadow Punch!" Goh called out.
The two Pokémon collided, toppling even Golurk to the ground. Incineroar however had been knocked out from all the previous damage.
"You did a great job Incineroar, return." Ash said.
"That one is too reckless, the striped one could have been seriously hurt." The second mysterious Pokemon said.
"The striped one took out two of the other human's allies, and dealt a hard blow to the large one." The first mysterious Pokémon pointed out. "It's training like that that I need."
"You wanna go big Goh, then try this on for size. Dunsparce, I choose you!" Ash called out.
The two largest Pokémon on their teams face to face against each other.
"Golurk use Heavy Slam!"
"Dunsparce use Ancient Power!"
Dunsparce launched rocks outwards at Golurk, who rocketed downwards.
"Dunsparce use Dragon Rush!"
Golurk's rockets were at full blast, with no progress being made, Dunsparce on the other end pushing its hardest to keep from being made into a pancake.
"Master, look at these two, one lost two Pokémon against a single opponent, and the other sent a normal type out against a ghost!" Klara argued.
"While you have attacked one without reason, left one on a cliff, and tried poisoning a third." Mustard said calmly.
"Master I assure whatever they've told you is untrue." Avery stammered.
"Do you know why you two are the most senior students at this dojo. It's because you don't learn, you try to take the quick or easy way out. Meanwhile each of our four guests on their own have shown more control than you two have combined. No one told me about the incidents, I figured it out myself." Mustard said calmly. "Now pay attention to this battle, you may learn a few things."
"Dunsparce use Drill Run!" Ash shouted.
"Golurk don't let them get away! Use Hyper Beam!"
Dunsparce quickly moved away from Golurk as it crashed into the ground, unable to get off Goh's command.
"Now use Dragon Rush one more time!"
Dunsparce flung itself at the recovering Golurk, knocking out yet another of Goh's Pokemon.
"Golurk return. Inteleon, let's show them your new strength!" Goh called.
"Great idea. Dunsparce return! Melmetal, you're up!" Ash copied.
"It's time to Dynamax!" Both shouted in unison, throwing out the enlargened pokeballs.
"Woah, they're…". Klara said in shock.
"Gigantamaxed thanks to your soup." Honey said to Serena.
"Maybe we do have something to learn." Avery said.
"Inteleon use G-Max HydroSnipe!"
"Melmetal use G-Max Meltdown!"
The attacks launched at each other as students and teachers alike watched in awe.
"Melmetal use Max Thunder!"
"Inteleon use G-Max HydroSnipe!"
As the attacks finished, a tap was heard.
"Enough, the armor has chosen its trainer." Mustard declared.
As the smoke cleared, two nearly identical Pokémon were standing in front of Ash and Goh. The only difference being the one in front of Ash having a red mouth, while the one in front of Goh had a yellow mouth.
"It's you! From earlier." Ash said to the Pokémon.
"Amazing, never before has it been recorded that two Kubfu appeared at once." Honey said in astonishment.
"Our plans will have to be altered, but you must prepare as well. I need to know, if you were to protect this island from a threat, how would you do that?" Mustard asked.
"Singular threat, I'd prep a single plan that would be sure to take it out quickly." Goh said.
"No, you plan multiple strategies, what would happen if your one plan fails." Ash responded.
"If it's a good enough plan, you only need one." Goh pointed out.
"And if the plan is ineffective it doesn't do you any good." Ash responded.
"No need for fighting you two. This is perfectly natural, but in order to proceed, you both need to find an ally. Goh you must find someone who knows the true fear of darkness. And Ash, you need to find someone who understands how powerful the flowing tides are." Mustard said. "Until then, spend time with your Kubfu, show them how you approach a challenge."