"Pikapi!"

Basing off his best friend's cry, Ash turned around and noticed the Guzzlord picking up a table like it was nothing and throwing it straight at him. He quickly leapt out of the way but unfortunately dropped his Rotom phone in the process, which shattered instantly upon impact with the table.

"Fantastic…" the trainer sighed. Today really just wasn't his day. He briefly looked at the remains of the mall which had quickly become a total wreck due to the sheer destruction the Ultra Beast had caused. He saw his Dragonite in the air currently struggling to push back the monster with a Hurricane, to his right, Gengar was visibly struggling firing as many Shadow Balls as he could whilst trying to dodge whatever the pincers were throwing at him, same as Lucario to his left firing Aura Spheres instead. Finally, Pikachu kept trying to get in close with a combination of Quick Attacks and Iron Tails but with very little success. He took a look at the remains of the mall and for one of the first times in his career, he didn't know what to do. No matter what they tried, the Ultra Beast was just too strong.

"What am I even supposed to do at this point…"

Pikachu, seeing his trainer lost in what actions to take, did what he knew he had to do. He turned his back to the Guzzlord and fired off a Thunderbolt straight at his trainer, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"Pi Pika Pikachu!" Seemingly screamed the little mouse.

"What?..."

"Ruff! Ruff!

"Gen Gengar!"

"Raww!"

The Pallet Town native saw his three pokemon looking at him. He didn't know how, but simply looking at his partners, who were giving everything they could against this monstrosity, was enough for him to come back to his senses. He smiled under his cap, before turning it quickly around, like he has done multiple times before.

"Thanks you guys… Alright! Let's show this thing what we can do!"

He took the time to properly scan the makeshift battlefield once again. It was completely full of debris, but maybe he could use that to his advantage? There were still remains of things like stairs and it didn't take too long before Ash had a plan.

"Alright! Pikachu start running with Quick Attack! Dragonite power up with a Dragon Dance!" The electric type grinned and soon dashed off at amazing speeds and started running around the Guzzlord at the same time Dragonite raised it's speed and attack.

"Now Gengar, use Psychic to lift up some debris! Dragonite support him with a Hurricane!" After giving a mischievous laugh, Gengar started picking up whatever was remaining of the mall, from tables to broken counters. Dragonite in the meantime, thanks to the added speed and attack of Dragon Dance, built up a Hurricane with a lot more power whilst Gengar threw some of the debris into it, forming some sort of tornado enveloping the Ultra Beast, who was currently busy with trying to keep up with Pikachu.

"Lucario attract the attention by using a Double Team and try to deal some damage with Aura Sphere! Pikachu don't stop running!" With a mighty cry, the aura pokemon formed multiple copies of itself and started firing off some Aura Spheres, which seemed to do a little bit more damage thanks to Dragonite's Hurricane."

'Wait for it…' He was watching the madness unfold, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. After he saw the Junkivore Pokémon become totally focused on his Lucario, he knew now was the time.

"Alright! Pikachu, jump into the tornado and use the debris as platforms! Dragonite, charge up a Draco Meteor!" Pikachu didn't even hesitate and jumped straight into the spinning tornado, occasionally changing his position with the debris. It didn't take Dragonite too long to finish sending the flying meteors from the sky, but Ash wasn't done just yet.

"Pikachu, catch the meteors with an Electro Web!" He did what he was told and attached a huge Electro Web to some debris which caught every single meteor at the very top of the tornado which were now dangling over the beast.

"Alright, time to end this! Pikachu, jump up as high as you can above the tornado. Lucario you do the same by propelling yourself with a force palm, Dragonite and Gengar you two fly up there too!" It didn't take long until the four Pokemon were all above the tornado, ready to finish this beast.

"Gengar, Shadow Ball! Dragonite, Hyper Beam! Lucario, Aura Sphere! Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Let's go!"

They all fired their most powerful attacks at the same time into the tornado, causing every meteor caught in the Electro Web to burst, creating a massive explosion right in the middle of the mall, knocking Ash to the ground, and making him lose his cap in the process. They all soon landed on the ground exhausted as they watched the dust settle for a bit until they saw the Guzzlord not moving, tilted on its side.

"D-Did we do it?" Asked the trainer.

A few more seconds passed, but unfortunately for Ash, the beast stood back up, and looked a lot more angry than before, something that the Pallet Town native didn't know was even possible. The beast soon charged up a Fire Blast, aiming straight for Ash and his pokemon. His partners were still recovering and not able to do anything, so he closed his eyes and let the inevitable come…

All of sudden, another explosion happened right in front of him, intercepting the Fire Blast. Ash reopened his eyes only to find his Alolan team consisting of Lycanroc, Incineroar, Melmetal and Rowlet standing right in front of him, but also a Braviary, another Incineroar, another Lucario and finally a Snorlax, each one of them exclaiming a cry of their own.

"You guys?! Wait, that means…"

"Woo! Just in time!" Screamed Professor Kukui to Ash's left, joined by his wife Professor Burnet with her baby in her arms who said: "Need some help there Ash?"

"Kukui! Burnet! And Lei?" Ash said wondering if bringing a baby to a fight like this was the smartest idea but didn't question it further.

"Hey don't forget about us!" Suddenly exclaimed his research partner Goh to his right.

"Goh!" Ash exclaimed, happy to see his friend come to his aid once more.

"Here, you dropped this." Said Chloe who was now right next to Ash, giving him his hat back with a smile and slight blush on her face.

"Chloe…" Ash said whilst looking at her for a while, making her blush intensify.

"We saw that huge tornado outside, surprised that thing's still standing." Professor Burnet said honestly whilst also accidentally making Ash and Chloe refocus their attention onto the Ultra Beast.

"Yeah, this one is a lot stronger than the ones I fought before that's for sure."

"Guess we'll just have to be that much stronger!" Exclaimed Goh with a lot more confidence than he had previously.

"So what's the plan kiddo?" Asked Kukui.

Ash thought for a second, and then put his hat that Chloe gave her on his head. He then looked through his backpack for something and once he found it, threw it at Goh, who upon catching it, looked at it confusingly. It resembled a pokeball but was colored very differently, having a light and dark blue contrast for most of the ball with four yellow lines all connecting to the center of the round object

"Is this some sort of pokeball?" Asked innocently the Vermillion city trainer.

"It's called a beast ball, and yes it is. Ready to fill up your pokedex a bit more?"

A huge grin formed on Goh's face before replying: "You bet I am!"

"Alright!" He first looked at his alolan family along with his current team and said: "Ok, you guys focus on dealing as much damage to that thing as possible, Lucario, Dragonite and Gengar, you help them out as much as you can. Chloe, you use Eevee to lend a hand by using Copycat on as many moves as possible. Goh you just focus on hanging onto the beast ball and wait for me to give you the signal."

"Got it Ash!" Exclaimed the entirety of the group.

"Let's show this thing what it means to deal with us! Alright Lycanroc, start this off with a Stone Edge, Inceneroar you go for a Fire Blast!"

"Braviary hit him with a Rock Slide, Incineroar you use Blast Burn!"

"Snorlax, time to shine with a Hyper Beam!"

They all fired their moves at the same time, with Ash's Lucario, Dragonite and Gengar adding moves of their own whilst Chloe's Eevee let out a mighty cry and copied Gengar's Shadow Ball. The combined force of all these pokemon was immensely stronger than the damage Ash was dealing earlier, mainly due to the added team members. The Guzzlord was seemingly prepared though, blocking some damage with a Wide Guard, and letting loose a Dragon Tail.

"Dodge it!" Yelled all the trainer's commanding a Pokemon at the same time. Unfortunately some of them got hit, and due to being so exhausted due to an earlier effort, Ash's Dragonite fainted, which Ash quickly returned whilst thanking it for it's help. The beast then set its sights on the two young Vermillion City trainers, this time firing a Hyper Beam.

"Gengar, give Goh and Chloe some stairs with Psychic!" The ghost type Pokemon did what he was told and Goh and Chloe along with their pokemon soon jumped onto some debris carrying them to another floor of the mall.

"Braviary, get in close with a Brave Bird! Kukui's flying type rushed off alongside Ash's Rowlet using the same move and started flying around the beast, occasionally attacking it's pincers. Burnet's Snorlax also ran to the Guzzlord with Ash's Melmetal, using Giga Impact and Double Iron Bash respectively. Meanwhile, the two Lucario's kept their distance and combined their aura power forming way bigger Aura Spheres than usual, firing them straight at the rampaging Pokemon. The Ultra Beast seemed to not be backing down though, using another dragon tail whilst spinning, taking down Ash's Gengar who was currently trying to fire another Shadow Ball and Kukui's Braviary in one spin. It then looked towards Goh and fired a Hyper Beam, which he barely managed to dodge but still unfortunately hit his Grookey in the process.

"Grookey!" Exclaimed Goh but to no avail, his pokemon was down for the count.

"Gah! Ash, we are losing pokemon fast!" Screamed Professor Burnet.

"We're doing damage, just kept at it! It can't last for much longer!"

Or at least that's what he thought. Over the next few minutes, the group's pokemon slowly fainted one by one. No matter what they tried, this beast just wouldn't let up. By the end of the next 5 minutes, the only pokemon still standing were Chloe's Eevee, Ash's Pikachu, Lycanroc and Incineroar and Kukui's Incineroar. Chloe was now back on the main floor of the mall whilst Goh was still constantly on the run on the second floor, being thrown whatever the monster could find every few moments whilst Burnet hid the best she could whilst protecting her baby.

"Just how many hits can this thing take!" Cried Chloe whilst hiding behind a counter, narrowly dodging a chair being thrown at her.

"We're gonna have to make something happen, and fast! Lycanroc, Accelerock and Bite anything Guzzlord throws at you on the way! Incineroar, give him another Fire Blast! Pikachu, you use Iron Tail!"

"You attack too, partner!" Kukui exclaimed towards his ace pokemon. "Give him a taste of your Darkest Lariat!"

"Eevee copycat the Fire Blast!"

They all rushed towards the beast and all their moves hit and the Ultra Beast was finally starting to get tired. They didn't have time to celebrate just yet though, as the Guzzlord prepared to aim a Dragon Tail right at the two Incineroars and Pikachu. It was about to strike when Ash suddenly called:

"Lycanroc, block it with a Counter!" The wolf pokemon jumped in front of the other three Pokemon successfully blocking the Dragon Tail, creating sparks due to the sheer power being exerted, but didn't have enough power to return the damage. The canine pokemon tried it's very hardest to keep pushing back the Dragon Tail but it was slowly being pushed back itself, it's paws digging into the ground. It seemed like Lycanroc was gonna stop pushing until...

"Eevee copycat the Counter!" Out of nowhere, Chloe commanded her normal type buddy to imitate the Rock type's move, pushing alongside it and giving enough power to make the Ultra Beast stop the attack. The Guzzlord soon responded though by throwing even more debris which unfortunately hit the two Inceneroars along with Lycanroc, making them faint after the impact.

"Crap! Ash, this really isn't looking too great..." Admitted the masked royal after returning his partner back into his pokeball.

"We should retreat for now, at this rate we'll just end up getting hurt…" Added Professor Burnet, not really wanting to have anyone get badly injured, especially her baby that she was still holding in her arms.

"Yeah Ash, we're fighting a losing battle…" Goh chimed in, now also back on the main floor after the Guzzlord accidentally made him a path. He didn't want to leave this battle unfinished, but he knew they had no chance.

Chloe looked at her Eevee and noticed she wasn't doing too great either. Her Pokemon desperately wanted to continue battling but with the power that beast had, she didn't know if there was much of a point in doing that. She looked up at Ash who was looking down at the floor, his black hair now covering his eyes and she noticed he started trembling. She didn't know how, but his Pikachu seemed to have the exact same expression on his face, one of not accepting to lose against this Ultra Beast. She felt bad for him, he knew he was trying his best but he just couldn't win in this situation.

"They are right Ash," She said whilst approaching him slowly "We will avoid more problems if we just escape right no—"

Ash held out his hand in front of her. "No, I'm not just gonna stand here and let this monster rampage in this city, this is my second home and I have so many great memories here on this very Island, so I am absolutely not running away! I want to protect this place, with every single little thing that I have within me!"

Chloe started to get a bit teary after hearing just how much this place meant to him, but she had to keep it real for him. "I know that Ash, but you gotta realize we no longer have the amount of Pokemon capable of defeating this thing."

"That isn't true! Pikachu is still fighting! And as long as he is still ready to give it his all, then I'll be right beside him battling till the very end!"

"Pi Pika Pi!" Affirming his best friend's statement

Ash knew what he was missing from the last two times he battled a Guzzlord, an item that helped him defeat it twice before. Unfortunately, he left it at his house after returning from Alola but if Kukui had his, there maybe was a chance. "Professor, do you still have your Z-Ring?"

Burnet, Kukui, Goh and even Chloe were all surprised by Ash hinting towards a Z-Move, Kukui and Burnet because they weren't expecting the question so suddenly and Chloe and Goh because it was something that they had barely seen any of before. Goh obviously faced a Z-Move against Kiawe last time they went to Alola so he knew how it worked but still had only seen it once and Chloe's knowledge about the battle mechanic was limited to what Goh told her in the past and what she learned about it in school. The professor quickly recomposed himself and said: "Well yeah, but I don't have any crystals that Pikachu can use so I don't know how that's going to help."

"It's our only shot at possibly defeating this thing and I'm planning on taking it," Ash then looked straight at his father figure and in a dead serious tone, and finished by saying: "so please Professor, just let me try…"

Kukui hesitated for a bit, but eventually complied and handed his Z-Ring over to Ash with a small smile on his face. "Give it your best shot champ!". Ash simply gave him a toothy grin in reply.

"Wait a second," Suddenly interrupted Chloe. "Don't you need both a Z-Ring and a Z-Crystal to pull off a Z-Move?"

"Yeah they're supposed to be required to gain Z-Power right? So how on earth is this ever going to work?" Added Goh, also suspicious of the legitimacy of Ash's plan.

"Well, if there's one person who could make it work, the champion of the region in which Z-Power originated from would definitely be it!"

"Well, I guess yeah— Wait what!?" Exclaimed simultaneously two now very confused Vermillion City trainers.

"Alright! Pikachu, let's show this thing our full power!" Exclaimed Ash throwing his hat at his loyal partner who caught it and put it on his head. Pikachu then fist bumped and high fived his trainer and then proceeded to do a series of poses first consisting of Ash crossing his arms which, to everyone's absolute surprise, made Kukui's Z-Ring glow with yellow particles surrounding it and then spectacularly created a yellow Z-Crystal in the shape of a lighting bolt. The two Professor's plus Goh and Chloe simply watched in disbelief, as the Pallet Town native created and absorbed Z-Power out of thin air. Ash and Pikachu continued their series of poses by seemingly punching the air in sync as Ash exclaimed:

"Much bigger than a Thunderbolt, 1 000 000 Volt Thunderbolt! No, much, much bigger!" Pikachu kept building up even more Z-Power and eventually formed multiple storm clouds in the sky. "Pikachu! 10 000 000 Volt Thunderbolt! Let's go!" Pikachu leapt into the air with a mighty cry and, in a luminent bright yellow flash, fired off multiple rainbow colored beams of electricity straight at the Ultra Beast and then landed on Ash's shoulder as they both watched the explosion of yellow light in the place the Ultra Beast was standing, creating a huge gust of wind in the process, making everyone in the vicinity have to hold onto to something to keep their balance. The rest of the group were left silent as the gusts of wind kept ravaging on them, having no idea how Ash actually pulled off a Z-Move without originally having a Z-Crystal. After the dust finally settled, the Junkivore pokemon could be seen with swirls in it's eyes finally defeated. At the same time, Ash's Z-Crystal he created out of nowhere shattered into pieces, leaving behind only a cluster of yellow particles. Goh was the first one to act as he remembered what he had to do.

"Pokeball go!" Despite not being given the signal by his friend, Goh threw the ball Ash gave him towards the monster, which then enveloped it in a red beam of light. The beast ball landed on the floor and everyone turned to look at it expectantly. It shook once, shook twice, until it shook for the third time and a certain chime was heard, followed by Goh's Rotom Dex saying: "Guzzlord's data has been added to your pokedex!"

Everybody screamed in joy, happy that this beast was finally defeated and captured. Kukui and Burnet shared a family hug with Lei with pure smiles on their faces, Goh was jumping for joy with Ash's Alola team, both for the fact that the beast stopped rampaging but also because Goh caught his first Ultra Beast, and finally, Chloe was hugging tightly her Eevee when she noticed Ash and Pikachu still hadn't move from their spot after firing their Z-Move. Chloe approached him happily and exclaimed:

"You were absolutely awesome Ash! You truly are something else!" The Hyper Class trainer didn't even react a little bit to the praise Professor Cerise's daughter was giving him, so she worriedly asked: "Ash? You okay?"

In response, Ash and Pikachu at the same time both collapsed to the ground with a sound that for Chloe felt louder than what the now defeated Ultra Beast was making earlier. With their eyes closed, Ash and Pikachu stayed immobile on the floor of the mall.

"ASH! ASH!"