Once in Pastoria, they went to the Pokémon Centre and then right from there to the Gym.

Crasher Wake sprang up from a chair as the door opened. "Ah, a challenger!" he said.

Then his face fell.

"Oh no, not you again!" he protested. "I don't have a new championship belt!"

"Seriously, what do we need to do to get that kind of reputation?" Pikachu asked. "I've electrocuted Ground-types and Latias can teleport!"

Cynthia's Milotic flirted her tail.

"I'm not here to challenge you," Cynthia told him, and Crasher Wake breathed an enormous sigh of relief.

Then he laughed. "So, who is, then?" he asked. "Crasher Wake is always up for a challenge, so long as it's not Cynthia!"

"I am," Ash answered, taking a step forwards. "What is your gym challenge like?"

"Now, you I recognize!" Crasher Wake said, heartily. "It would be hard not to! Ash Ketchum, yes?"

"That's me!" Ash agreed. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!"

"Then I'm going to use… hmm… yes, I know who to use!" Crasher Wake replied. "And it's going to be three Pokémon on a side!"

Ash looked to his right, thinking about the Pokéballs in his saddlebag, then nodded firmly.

"I know who to use too, then," he announced.

"All right!" Crasher Wake declared. "Then let's get started!"

He picked out his first Pokéball, throwing off a blanket so he was just wearing his wrestling outfit, then hurried over to the far side of the big pool that dominated his gym.

"Send out your first Pokémon!" he declared, and sent out a Gyarados.

Ash had already sent out Miraidon, and the Electric-type glanced back at Ash to check. "Should I use my full power mode?"

"I guess… maybe not," Ash replied.

"What?" Gyarados asked. "You've got a full power mode and you're not going to use it? What kind of Pokémon are you?"

"Electric and Dragon," Miraidon answered, tilting their head. "Why?"

"...I'm still angry!" Gyarados insisted. "Don't treat me like I'm a weakling!"

"Uh," Ash said. "Mr… Wake?"

"Crasher Wake!" Crasher Wake insisted. "We're in a battle and my mask is on, which means I'm Crasher Wake!"

"Crasher Wake," Ash amended. "Your Gyarados is insisting that Miraidon use their full power mode."

"Then let's see what happens!" Wake said. "You might be surprised by how tough Gyarados is!"

Taking that for assent, Miraidon switched to their hovering battle form, and their jets began whining as they matched jet power against electrorepulsion.

"Go Miraidon!" their sister called from the sidelines.

"Yay," Zorua agreed, wagging his tail.

"Three, two, one, begin!" the referee called, swiping his hand down.

"Electro Drift!" Ash called.

Miraidon released their hold on Electric Terrain, and flashed forwards in a high speed charge – then jinked to the side at the last instant, sending the barrage of electricity sleeting forwards without them and hitting Gyarados.

The Water-type roared, sliding visibly backwards, and came out of the water far enough to reveal a glowing crystal on a band attached to his tail.

Crasher Wake revealed a Mega Ring, as well, and Gyarados Mega-Evolved to Mega Gyarados.

Then, very slowly, fell over.

"Is he all right?" Miraidon asked, concerned.

"Hmm," Crasher Wake said, studying the unconscious, floating Mega Gyarados as he reverted back to being just a Gyarados. "Perhaps I should have Mega Evolved him before he could be hit by that first attack. He is tough, you know, just… apparently not tough enough."

He chuckled. "Well! I'm sure that's taught him an important lesson, but now we'll move on to my second Pokémon!"

Holding up two Pokéballs, Crasher Wake recalled Gyarados and switched to a Quagsire.

"All right, now this is going to be a proper battle," Quagsire said.

"Miraidon, remember, Electric attacks won't work on Quagsire," Ash told them. "You've still got options, though, so let's do this!"

True to what Ash had said, Quagsire caused Miraidon much bigger problems than Gyarados had done – though it would have been hard to cause Miraidon smaller problems than Gyarados had done.

Rather than being trained for raw power and resiliency, Quagsire had a bag of tricks, combining Mud Shot with a quick swimming speed with hearing that was good enough to detect Miraidon's position even when they were trying to speed around behind her.

"Mud Shot!" Crasher Wake called, and Miraidon's jets whirred as they jinked to the side – avoiding most of the attack, but still taking a glancing hit down their flank. "Now, Water Pulse!"

"Discharge!" Ash retorted. "Blast it out of the way!"

Miraidon's Discharge attack exploded outwards, blowing up the Water Pulse, and Crasher Wake looked interested.

"I wonder why you did that," he said, sounding crafty. "Maybe it's because you realize I had a reason for it?"

"Of course you had a reason for it!" Ash replied. "But Miraidon had a way to stop it, that's the important bit! Dragon Pulse!"

"Duck underwater!" Crasher Wake called, and the Dragon Pulse attack just blew water all over the place.

"Try and hover higher, Miraidon," Ash said, frowning. "And – and look down so you can see where she is in the water!"

Miraidon did both, tilting forwards a little as they balanced on their jets and electrostatics combined. "Should I-"

"Yeah, start charging it!" Ash agreed.

"Sorry I can't help!" Koraidon called.

"That is okay," Miraidon replied, eyes flashing into a frown for a moment as they began to charge up with solar energy. "I will manage."

"That's a Solarbeam!" Crasher Wake realized. "It's still charging – up here! Ice Beam!"

Quagsire emerged from the water with a splash, and fired out an Ice Beam directly at Miraidon.

"Dodge out of the way!" Ash called, as Miraidon yelped and nearly lost their Solarbeam charge. "Keep moving so she can't hit you – wait, I know!"

He struck a hoof on the ground. "Go into the pool!"

Miraidon's eyes showed a quick blink, then they cut their jets and electrostatic repulsion at the same time. The sudden change resulted in them dropping into the water with a big splash, and the water rocked back and forth with some of it splashing out onto the poolside.

"Go under!" Ash added. "All her attacks will be weaker – it'll help you out!"

Miraidon stayed in their battle-oriented form instead of their swimming form, and fountains of spray erupted into the air as they began using their jets to push them into the pool.

"Mud Bomb!" Crasher Wake said. "Then – Ice Beam, cool down the whole pool!"

"Miraidon, can you use your electricity to create heat?" Ash asked, then shook his head. "Focus on Dragon Pulse!"

Several minutes later, Miraidon's paws went clang on the side of the pool.

The rest of Miraidon followed, and Koraidon hurried forwards to help her sibling out of the pool. Then Miraidon shook themselves, sending water spattering everywhere, and opened their mouth to let a bit of water drain out.

"I think I need an attack that works better underwater if I am going to do that again," they decided, eyes displaying a pattern of bubbles.

"Yeah, I'll try and think of something," Ash agreed. "Great work, Miraidon… I guess you're out of the fight, though?"

"I feel like a low battery warning," Miraidon agreed.

Quagsire looked almost exhausted herself, but insisted she wanted to stay in, so Ash sent out the second Pokémon he'd picked.

"Oh, yeah!" Totodile cheered, dancing on the side of the pool for a moment. "This is going to be fun!"

He waved. "Hi!"

"Hello," Quagsire said, sounding guarded.

The referee called for them to begin, and Ash responded immediately.

"Aqua Jet!" he said. "Close in!"

"Mud Shot!" Wake retorted.

Totodile got hit head-on, obscuring his vision as he got closer, but Ash hadn't wanted a direct hit with Aqua Jet – just for Totodile to get close enough.

"Ice Fang!" he called, and Totodile bit down on Quagsire's tail.

"Ow!" the dual-type Pokémon yelped, waving her tail. "I hate irony!"

"What does irony taste like?" Totodile mumbled.

With Quagsire quickly knocked out, Totodile then ended up facing off against Wake's third Pokémon – a Floatzel, a lot bigger than Zoey's Buizel and looking tougher as well.

Totodile still waved a cheerful hello, climbing up on one of the floating platforms as Floatzel stood on another one.

Then the referee told them to begin, and Floatzel whipped a Razor Wind at Totodile. Ash's Water-type dodged without needing to be told, doing a left-right swish of his tail then jumping over the second attack, and glanced at Ash for advice.

"Headbutt!" Ash said, and Totodile jumped from his platform to Floatzel's one. Floatzel immediately turned, puffing up his flotation sac and making Totodile bounce off, then whipped around to use Aqua Tail and knock Totodile into the water.

"Whirlpool!" Crasher Wake said. "Get that Totodile turned around!"

"Stay focused, Totodile!" Ash replied, frowning. "Think of it like you're doing a pirouette, I guess!"

Totodile spread out his arms as the Whirlpool attack whirled him around and around, Floatzel orbiting him to keep the Whirlpool going, then after almost a minute Floatzel slowed down and stopped.

The Whirlpool was still spinning, and Floatzel splashed back onto his platform to point at his trainer.

"Any ideas?" he asked. "I've basically done a whole wash cycle on the little guy at this point."

"Hmm!" Crasher Wake said, thinking. "Bulk Up!"

"Totodile, now!" Ash said, and Totodile broke out of the whirlpool. "Are you okay?"

"Yep!" Totodile agreed. "That was the longest pirouette I've ever done!"

"Great!" Ash replied. "Now – jump up next to Floatzel!"

"Aqua Tail," Crasher Wake ordered.

Floatzel whipped both tails around again, faster this time, and Totodile jumped right over them.

"Keep it up!" Ash said. "He's great at defending, but so are you!"

Totodile dodged, jumped, and ducked away from several of Floatzel's attacks, then matched a Water Gun from Floatzel with one of his own, and both Pokémon stopped their sprays of water at the same time.

"Okay, he's tired!" Ash said. "Slash!"

Totodile stepped forwards, using Slash, and Wake's Floatzel blocked with his fin.

"Again!" Ash said. "Bite! Now, Aqua Jet!"

Floatzel parried one attack with Aqua Tail, then blocked the next, but the upwards jump from Aqua Jet had still sent Totodile somersaulting over Floatzel.

"Slash as you land!" Ash called, and Totodile swiped at Floatzel. His opponent puffed up his sac again – and Ash struck his hoof sharply on the floor.

"Superpower!" he said. "Throw Floatzel into the air!"

"What?" Floatzel demanded, then Totodile picked Floatzel up and threw him into the air.

Ash waited as Floatzel rose up to the ceiling, turning slowly over, then pounced.

"Now!" he said. "Totodile, Aqua Jet straight up!"

Floatzel might have had several ways to defend himself, but none of them worked when the Sea Weasel Pokémon was facing down an attack from directly ahead. Totodile and Floatzel went crash into one another as they headbutted at significant speed, then Totodile went splash into the water a second or so before Floatzel joined him with a spa-loosh.

"...nine… ten… and he's out!" Crasher Wake decided. "Good battle! That Totodile of yours is a real powerhouse, and dramatic too… ever considered asking if he'd be into wrestling?"

"What do you think, Totodile?" Ash asked, as Totodile clambered up onto one of the floating platforms and shook himself out.

"I think Snorlax would be better at wrestling," Totodile replied. "I'd rather dance!"

AN:

This Gyarados canonically took a Thunderbolt from Pikachu and kept going.