Ash woke up from his sleep and found himself in a cozy room. Gary had kindly let him spend the night there. As he stretched and yawned, he got up from his bed, careful not to disturb Raichu who was sleeping in the corner of the room. He walked over to the window and looked outside. The sun was just starting to rise, casting a beautiful orange glow over everything. He saw some Pidgeys flying in the sky.
Ash arrived at the lab office, dressed in his usual attire, and was warmly greeted by Gary. As they walked towards the ranch, Ash couldn't help but feel nostalgic. This was where he used to keep his Pokemon when he was younger. Gary noticed Ash's expression and asked him how he was feeling.
"I'm feeling good," Ash replied, "but this place brings back a lot of memories."
Gary nodded in understanding and began performing his daily checks on some of the Pokemon. As he worked, he explained to Ash about the changes in the league system. "The minimum age for starting a journey is now fifteen, not ten," he said, "and you need to graduate from the Pokemon Training Academy to get a trainer license. Catching a Pokemon in the wild is now illegal, and trainers can only catch Pokemon in designated catching zones. Pokemon battles in the open are also illegal. You can only battle in a Pokemon gym or dome."
Ash was taken aback by the new regulations. "I can't believe they would impose such tight restrictions on trainers," he said.
Gary nodded. "It's all for safety and to ensure fair play," he replied.
Ash disagreed, "I don't think Mr. Goodshow would ever impose rules like that."
Gary looked at Ash with a sad expression, "Mr. Goodshow retired a long time ago, Ash."
Ash was shocked. "Who is the new chairman then?" he asked.
"Tobias," Gary replied, "he's also the current champion of the World Coronation Series."
Ash's jaw dropped. "Tobias? The trainer who used legendary Pokémon in battle and defeated me in the Sinnoh league?"
Gary nodded, "Yes, that's the one."
It was a lot to take in. Ash couldn't believe that things had changed so much in ten years. The world of Pokémon had evolved a lot since he was a young trainer, but it felt like a lot of adventure had been taken out of the journey.
Gary finished his work and turned towards Ash with a determined look on his face. "Hey, Ash, how about a battle? A full six-on-six battle to see how much you've improved."
Ash grinned and said, "I was hoping you'd say that, Gary. Let's do it!"
After lunch, Ash, Gary, and Leaf went to the Battle Dome. Inside, they found four battlefields, with many trainers already engaged in battles. Ash and Gary decided to take one of the fields, while Leaf acted as the referee.
"This will be a full six on six Pokemon battle between Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. Are both trainers ready?" Ash and Gary nod their heads. As Leaf announces their names, the other trainers nearby take notice of Ash's name. From Ash's side, Raichu jumps into the battlefield and Gary sends out his Umbreon.
"Start."
"Raichu is not as fast as Pikachu, so let's take advantage of that," Gary thinks. "Umbreon starts with Quick Attack."
Umbreon lunges forward at a speed that makes it almost invisible and leaves behind a blur of white light.
"Raichu, dodge and counter with Thunderbolt." Raichu fires a bolt of thunder at Umbreon.
"Umbreon, Double Team," Umbreon uses Double Team to create several illusions of itself. Thunderbolt hits one of the illusions.
"Now use Confuse Ray to disorient Raichu," Each of Umbreon's illusions prepares to fire Confuse Ray. It is impossible to tell which of them is real.
"Not so fast, Gary, Raichu uses multiple Thunderbolt," Raichu fires multiple bolts of thunder, and each of these bolts hits every one of Umbreon's illusions along with the real one.
"Umbreon!" Gary yells in concern. Umbreon manages to stay up even though its body crackles with static. Seeing Umbreon's determination to stay in the fight, Gary issues his next command.
"Umbreon, use Psychic to throw Raichu off balance." Umbreon's eyes glow blue with psychic energy, which also surrounds Raichu's body.
"Shake it off with Volt Tackle," Raichu's body starts to be surrounded by electrical energy, which overpowers Umbreon's psychic hold and breaks it off, then charges towards Umbreon.
"Umbreon, dodge," Umbreon manages to dodge by jumping in the air.
"Shadow Ball now," Umbreon fires a Shadow Ball while airborne.
"Extreme speed to dodge and then Thunder Punch," Ash says calmly.
Before Shadow Ball can hit Raichu, he disappears and reappears beside Umbreon, then lands a powerful Thunder Punch on him, sending it to the ground and knocking it out.
"Umbreon is unable to battle. Raichu wins!" Leaf announces.
Gary recalled his fallen Pokemon with a quick nod of thanks. "A powerful Thunder Punch with the speed of Extreme Speed. I'm impressed, Ash," Gary said as he looked across the field. Ash stood there with a calm expression on his face, waiting for Gary to bring out his next Pokemon.
"Let's see how you handle this," Gary said as he sent out his Arcanine for the second battle.
"Start!"
"Flamethrower!"
"Thunderbolt!"
Both attacks collided with a loud explosion.
"Arcanine, use Agility to boost your speed and then attack with Fire Fang," Gary commanded. Arcanine's body shimmered as it became even faster, then leaped out of the smoke from the explosion and charged towards Raichu with its jaw glowing with flames.
"Raichu, use Iron Tail to block Fire Fang," Ash instructed. Raichu swung his glowing tail, but Arcanine caught it with its flaming teeth. "Now Thunder," Raichu released a huge stream of electricity, which traveled through Iron Tail and shocked Arcanine.
The dome lights flickered due to the static. Raichu stopped his thunder attack. Arcanine had burn marks, smoke coming out from his body, his eyes were dizzy, his legs were trembling. He could fall down any minute.
"Raichu, use Thunder Punch," Ash said, intending to finish this round. Raichu's arm crackled with electricity.
"Arcanine, use Extreme Speed," Gary shouted. Hearing his trainer's voice, Arcanine's dizzy eyes shot wide open. Before Raichu's punch could connect, he disappeared and reappeared behind Raichu with a burst of speed.
"Two can play the game, Gary. Raichu, use Extreme Speed too," Raichu also disappeared and reappeared with a speed burst.
"Arcanine, turn around and use Flare Blitz," Arcanine turned quickly and charged towards Raichu with flames engulfing its body.
"Volt Tackle," Ash countered, and Raichu charged towards Arcanine with a trail of electricity behind it. Both Pokémon collided with each other with an explosion, sending shockwaves throughout the field. Ash, Gary, and the audience waited quietly for the dust to clear.
When the dust settled, Arcanine was lying on the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"Arcanine is unable to battle. Raichu wins!" Leaf announced.
"That Thunder attack was more powerful than I thought," Gary thought as he sent out his third Pokémon, Electivire. Ash stuck with Raichu, which puzzled others watching the match as Raichu was clearly ineffective against Electivire.
"Start!"
"Start with Thunderbolt," Gary commanded. Ash didn't issue any command to counter it. Thunderbolt hit Raichu and pushed him back a little bit but it was unaffected by it.
"How?" Gary was confused, as Raichu didn't have any kind of electricity-absorbing ability.
"Raichu normally didn't have absorbing abilities, so we made one for ourselves. It doesn't just absorb the attack, it can send it back with double the power. Raichu, use multiple Thunderbolt," Ash said. Raichu fired multiple bolts of thunder more powerful than before at Electivire but they were not aimed at him, they were aimed at the ground around him. Bolts struck the ground, creating multiple explosions. Shockwaves from those explosions hit Electivire and damaged him severely.
"Electivire! Are you okay?" Gary asked. Electivire was kneeling on the ground with one leg, and some debris from the explosion had also damaged its eyes. It pushed itself up to stand on its two legs.
"Iron Tail with Extreme Speed," Ash commanded. Raichu appeared in front of Electivire with Iron Tail charged up. Gary was quick to act.
"Giga Impact!" Electivire slammed its fists together, and a purple orb with orange-yellow spiraling around it appeared on its body, then it swung its one fist but Raichu disappeared with Extreme Speed, and the attack missed. Raichu appeared behind Electivire and attacked it with the Iron Tail, and Electivire was thrown to the ground.
"What should I do? I can't use electric attacks, and Electivire is having trouble with Raichu's physical attacks because of its speed," Gary thought. Electivire kept trying to hit Raichu with Iron Tail and Brick Break, but Raichu dodged everything with Extreme Speed and then attacked with Iron Tail. After a few more exchanges, Electivire was knocked out.
"Electivire is unable to battle. Raichu wins!"
Everyone was amazed at how Raichu was able to win by using just two moves repeatedly. Gary recalled Electivire with a quick thanks and threw his next pokeball.
"Tyranitar..!" Tyranitar roared its name.
"Start!" Raichu and Tyranitar stared at each other, ready to show off their skills.
"Raichu, start with Electro Ball," Ash commanded as Raichu unleashed a ball of electricity towards Tyranitar.
"Tyranitar, use Stone Edge," Gary responded as Tyranitar slammed its hands onto the ground, causing light blue rock pillars to appear out of the ground, canceling out Electro Ball and rushing towards Raichu. However, Raichu was able to dodge the attack with its quick reflexes.
"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled. Raichu sent a bolt of lightning arcing towards Tyranitar.
"Tyranitar, use Dark Pulse!" Gary commanded. Tyranitar fired a beam of black and purple rings of energy from its mouth. Both attacks met each other at the center of the field, battling for dominance. Thunderbolt overpowered Dark Pulse and hit Tyranitar, but it was able to endure the attack with its thick hide.
"Earthquake, now," Tyranitar stomped its legs on the ground, creating an earthquake.
"Iron Tail on the ground," Ash instructed as Raichu used Iron Tail to propel itself high off the ground.
Seeing his chance, "Tyranitar, Hyper Beam," Gary said as Tyranitar charged up a powerful beam of energy and released it towards Raichu.
"Raichu, Volt Drill," Ash said calmly.
"An improvised move again," Gary thought. Raichu activated the Volt Tackle and started rotating like a drill, diving towards the Hyper Beam. Raichu drilled into the middle of the Hyper Beam, split it into two, and then slammed into Tyranitar. A dust cloud surrounded them. Everybody watched with anticipation. When the dust cloud cleared, Tyranitar was laying on the ground with swirls in his eyes while Raichu stood on top of him, victorious.
"Tyranitar is unable to battle. Raichu wins!" Everyone cheered as it was rare to see a small pokemon such as Raichu defeat a pseudo-legendary pokemon this easily.
Gary sighed in defeat as he recalled Tyranitar back to his Pokeball. "Your Raichu is truly a powerful Pokemon, Ash. But don't think it's over yet. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," he said.
"I expect nothing else from you, Gary," Ash replied.
Gary sent out his next Pokemon, Hatterene, to the battlefield. Hatterene was a small humanoid Pokemon with a thin, white body.
"Start!"
"Hatterene, use Swift," Gary commanded. Hatterene shot star-shaped rays at Raichu.
"Raichu counters it with Thunderbolt," Ash said as Raichu fired his Thunderbolt, cancelling out both attacks. "Iron Tail with Extreme Speed," he continued. Raichu appeared in front of Hatterene with his tail glowing white.
"Hatterene, counter with Dazzling Gleam," Hatterene's body became surrounded in a field of rainbow-colored energy, which expanded outwards and hit Raichu. Raichu tried to defend himself with Iron Tail but was thrown into the air.
"Nice, Hatterene. Now attack with Psycho Cut," Gary said as Hatterene's tentacle glowed pink, releasing a pink crescent-like blade of energy at Raichu.
"Raichu counters it with Electro Ball," Raichu formed an electric orb and threw it towards the incoming Psycho Cut, cancelling it out. Raichu landed on the ground without harm.
"Disarming Voice, Hatterene," Gary said as Hatterene let out a beautiful yet eerie voice that shook Raichu to the core. Disarming Voice brought down Raichu's defenses, leaving him vulnerable to attacks.
"Now use Psybeam," Hatterene emitted a beam of mysterious light in Raichu's direction. Raichu was still shaken by the Disarming Voice.
"Raichu, activate Volt Tackle," Ash said. Just as Psybeam was about to hit Raichu, he activated Volt Tackle, and Psybeam hit Raichu. But Raichu was fine other than a few marks on his body. Most of the Psybeam energy got cancelled out by Volt Tackle aura, leaving only a minuscule amount of Psybeam with Raichu.
"Using Volt Tackle as a defensive move, that's impressive," Gary thought.
"Get close in with Extreme Speed," Ash instructed as Raichu disappeared.
"Not going to fall for it again, Ash," Gary said. "Dazzling Gleam!" Hatterene created an expanding field of rainbow-colored energy to stop Raichu.
"Break it through with Volt Tackle." Volt Tackle slammed into Dazzling Gleam, and with a little bit of struggle, Volt Tackle was able to break through it, hit Hatterene hard, and sent her flying.
"Now finish it with a Thunder Punch," Ash yelled.
Raichu charged up its fists with electricity and, with a powerful punch, sent Hatterene crashing to the ground.
"Hatterene is unable to battle. Raichu wins!" Leaf announced.
It was five to zero, and Ash was able to defeat all of Gary's pokemon without losing a single one. Gary had expected Ash to be good, given that he had won the world series ten years ago, but Ash was surpassing his expectations. Ash had full control of the battle, and he had every counter to Gary's attacks, always two moves ahead of him. Ash's Raichu was remarkably powerful, with off-the-charts stamina, power, and speed.
"This is my final card," Gary announced, sending out his starter pokemon, Blastoise, who was wearing a Blastoisinite around its head. Even though Blastoise was at a disadvantage, Gary hoped to use Mega Blastoise's explosive power to quickly finish the battle.
"Easier said than done," Gary thought.
"Start," Gary commanded.
Gary brought out his keystone and said, "Blastoise, Mega Evolve," as a connection formed between the keystone and Mega Stone. Blastoise began to glow with white light. When the light faded, Mega Blastoise stood there with a large cannon on its back.
"Raichu, let's start with Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded as Raichu unleashed a bolt of lightning towards Blastoise.
"Iron Defense, then use Hydro Pump," Gary countered. Blastoise used Iron Defense to minimize the damage, and then countered with a powerful Hydro Pump.
"Raichu, dodge with Extreme Speed and counter with Iron Tail!" Ash ordered as Raichu dodged the incoming attack using his speed, then got close to strike Blastoise with a powerful Iron Tail attack. The attack made Blastoise skid on the ground, but it quickly recovered.
"Whirlpool," Blastoise launched a Whirlpool, trapping Raichu in a vortex of water. "Now hit him with Water Pulse attacks," Gary continued.
"Counter Shield," Ash said. Raichu started spinning while firing Thunderbolt. Water Pulse hit Thunderbolt and exploded, rendering Gary's strategy useless.
"Raichu, use Extreme Speed to break free!" Ash commanded as Raichu charged forward with incredible speed, breaking out of the Whirlpool.
"Blastoise, Hydro Cannon," Blastoise fired a ball of compressed water from its large cannon. Raichu tried to dodge, but the blast hit him, sending him flying backwards.
"Raichu!" Ash yelled in concern. It was the first time in the whole battle that he had been concerned about Raichu.
"Get up, Raichu!" Ash yelled, determined to continue the fight. "Use Volt Tackle!" Raichu recovered quickly and charged towards Blastoise with lightning speed.
"Stop him with Skull Bash," Gary countered. Blastoise slammed its head onto Raichu and stopped him in his tracks.
"Use Thunder," While using Volt Tackle, Raichu released the lightning attack, which was weaker than normal but enough to stun Blastoise and leave it open for another attack.
"Finish it off with Electro Ball!" Ash commanded as Raichu launched a powerful ball of electricity, twice as large as normal, towards Blastoise. Electro Ball hit Blastoise, knocking it to the ground. It reverted back to its normal form.
"Blastoise is unable to battle. Raichu wins, and the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum," Leaf announced.
Trainers around the field were in awe. Everybody knew that Gary Oak used to be a trainer before becoming a researcher, and he was not weak - he was quite a formidable trainer. Yet, Ash defeated him like it was nothing. They were finally able to see the rumored Ash Ketchum, the youngest trainer to win the world series, in action. It was quite an experience, but one thing was clear: Ash Ketchum was back and more powerful than ever before.