After gaining entrance to the Ultra Class from his battle with Iris Ash is one step closer to the Masters 8 to face Leon, although he still has a long way to go before facing him. His first Ultra Class opponent is the Gym Leader of Sunyshore City in the Sinnoh region, Volkner. Back when Ash was traveling throughout Sinnoh, he met this powerful Electric-type specialist at the Sunyshore City Gym. As Ash arrived at the gym he and Volkner were walking towards the battlefield where Volkner expressed how thrilled he was for their battle "I'm glad I get the chance to battle you again" and Ash replies "so am I Volkner". However, something caught Volkner's attention on Ash's wrist "Isn't that…a Z-Ring from the Alola region and isn't that an Electrium Z inside" he questioned and as Ash chuckles he explained what it really was "oh this, it used to be an Electrium Z but the island Guardian Tapu Koko into a Z-Crystal made just for Pikachu and me, only we can unlock its power". Volkner was surprised by this "just for Pikachu and you" he had heard of the power of Z-moves but never fought one like this could exist "It seems I have more to look forward to than I thought let's make it a good one" he confidently said and Ash agrees as they shake hands.
Inside the Sunyshore gym there was a crowd of people anxiously awaiting the battle to commence as they loudly cheer and applaud for it to start, the announcer then begins addressing the fans saying, "it's the Pokémon World Coronation Series, with a blazing-hot battle here in solar-powered Sunyshore City", he continues saying "and here are our two Trainers going head-to-head in this Ultra Class battle" both Volkner and Ash rise up from elevator platforms bringing them up to the battlefield both determined to win. The announcer then introduces them "Presently ranked 64th, the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh it's Volkner" the crowd begins to go nuts as they witness their resident Gymleader represent all of them, "and facing him is a newcomer to the Ultra Class, currently ranked 99th…It's Ash" Ash got a mild applaud at least for making it into the Ultra Class which he realises Volkner has the homefield advantage. Finally, the announcer then states the rules for the battle "today's Pokémon battle will be three on three", the Rotom Drone then arrives to officially start the battle "Now, will both challengers bring out your Pokémon Three, two, one… Go!".
At the same time, they both throw out their Pokémon as Ash exclaims "all right Torterra I'm choosing you", and Volkner exclaims "Luxray go". Both Luxray and Torterra roar as they exit their poke balls and become ready to fight, Volkner then recognises Torterra "I remember you, wanting a second chance are we" Torterra gets a fierce look in its eyes as Ash states "we're stronger this time just you watch". Luxray begins with Electric Terrain causing electricity to begins to electrify the ground, Ash and Torterra are confused by this since Torterra was a ground type only to realise Volkner was trying to set the battlefield to his advantage for his whole team and to help increase Luxray's power and stamina. Torterra takes the initiative and sends out a Leaf Storm attack and though it damages Luxray he uses the electricity to help reduce damage and then uses Iron Tail to begin deflecting the leaves and once it gets close enough he attacks Torterra which causes more damage. Luxray then rushes in using about to use Crunch however Torterra counters with Frenzy Plant so as its body emits a green aura and roots rise up out the ground Luxray struggles to run around all the plants going after him, but as he pounces into the air about to strike Torterra a root lands a hit slamming Luxray into the ground. As the dust clears Luxray is shown to be knocked out and unable to fight anymore so the drone comes in closer and announces "Luxray is unable to battle" as one of Volkner's slots on the scoreboard turns grey the announcer says, "it seems Ash taken the driver's seat but I don't think Volkner will go so easily".
Volkner returns Luxray into his poke ball and commends both Ash and Torterra "I'm proud to admit you've both grown stronger but like last time I won't go down so easily" Volkner then readies his second poke ball "alright this one's next", Volkner then sends out a Rotom this one was in its fan form. The announcer then explains "Volkner's second Pokémon is a Rotom in Fan form, called Fan Rotom which fun fact is a flying type meaning Torterra is at the disadvantage". Volkner then adds on "trainers that challenge my gym tend to use grass or ground types meaning I needed to be prepared for both", Ash knew he was in trouble considering flying type moves were super effective against grass and ground types however he wasn't going down easy, he replies saying "Torterra may be at the disadvantage but we aren't going down like that". Torterra runs in to use Tackle but Rotom uses Hex and creates dark purple energy whisps around himself and sends it to Torterra engulfing the large Pokémon in a purple energy and makes it suffer some damage. When the Hex stops Torterra shakes off the energy but he is in serious pain from that Hex which he attempts to use Leaf Storm but Rotom is ready for that and counters by using Air Slash which manages to slice throw all the powerful leaves and then cause some serious damage to Torterra making him fall. The drone comes in closer and sees Torterra is beat and announces "Torterra is unable to battle" as this time one of Ash's slots changes grey while the announcer says, "wow Air Slash may have been extremely effective on Torterra, but that Hex attack really sure did a number on him so how does Ash plan to counter this".
Ash then returns Torterra and plans to throw out his second poke ball "good work Torterra we'll take it from here, okay Palpitoad I choose you" Palpitoad is then summoned from his poke ball which the announcer comments "Ash's second Pokémon is Palpitoad although like Torterra Fan Rotom still has the advantage". Rotom once again uses Hex and as it creates its whisps and traps Palpitoad in the purple energy like Torterra Palpitoad suffers damage, however Palpitoad retaliates by using Sludge Wave and as the purple ooze hits Fan Rotom it manages to poison and weaken him. Palpitoad then uses Hydro Pumo which lands a direct hit onto Rotom which he follows up by using lick attack causing more damage, Palpitoad attempts to use this trick again however as he uses Hydro Pump Rotom counters this by using Electro Ball to at least stop it which actually manages to work. However, as the two moves collide it creates a steam cloud which makes it hard to see however as Palpitoad tries looking for Rotom he gets ambushed by him as Rotom attacks with Air slash which causes some major damage. Once the steam clears Palpitoad is still trying to recover but before he gets up Rotom once again to uses Hex and weakens Palpitoad even more. At this point Palpitoad is struggling to keep standing and Ash becomes worried and even calls out to him however hearing Ash's voice Palpitoad gets back up on its feet but then yells out and begins glowing blue and starts changing shape, everyone is surprised by this with Ash saying "could it be" and Volkner saying "its evolving" the crowd themselves were shocked by this and finally as it stopped glowing they had seen that Palpitoad had evolved into a Seismitoad as the Pokémon began bellowing out. The crowd went wild seeing this and even the announcer saying, "I don't belive it folks Palpitoad has evolved into Seismitoad but will this be enough to take down Fan Rotom". Even evolving Fan Rotom wasn't going to give in so it planned to Air Slash but Seismitoad use Lick Attack to counter and then began running up to Rotom while creating a green orb around its hand Ash questioned "wait what's it doing" and Volkner answered surprisingly "that's Drain Punch", Seismitoad then leapt up and landed a direct punch onto Fan Rotom forcing him into the ground which Seismitoad manages to recover some of its health from the move. The drone comes in closer and sees Fan Rotom is beat and announces "Fan Rotom is unable to battle" Ash is happy he got the win but was starting to get thrilled as the crowd began cheering for him "wow they're really starting to cheer for us buddy" Pikachu agrees. The Volkner's second slot turns grey on the scoreboard while the announcer says, "folks this battle is truly turning into an electrifying spectacular but Volkner only has one Pokémon left who will he choose".
Volkner returns Fan Rotom and prepares to throw out his last Pokémon so as he releases it from its poke ball he summons Electivire who sparks electricity around him, the announcer comments "And Volkner's last Pokémon is Electivire, but with Seismitoad being a ground type and at full strength will Electivire be able to able to defeat it". Ash doesn't quite understand why Volkner choose this Pokémon "I remember you but your completely at the disadvantage now" Ash states but Volkner smugly replies "like I said I have to be prepared to face grass and ground types". Though confused Ash doesn't underestimate so Seismitoad attacks with Mud Shot which Electivire manages to outrun however one lands on him making him stop, so Seismitoad attempts to use Drain Punch on him however before getting too close Electivire manages to use a double Iron Tail on Seismitoad knocking him off balance and dealing some damage. Seismitoad then uses Hydropump but Electivire then uses Wild Charge, despite it not having any effect he uses it to charge straight towards Seismitoad and attack with another double Iron Tail dealing some more damage. Seismitoad then attacks with Lick Attack which dose land a hit causing Electivire to sustain some damage but Electivire manages to catch Seismitoad's tongue and using its strength pull it towards him then strike with Ice Punch, Seismitoad is almost defeated but as soon as he gets up Electivire pounces and strikes with Ice Punch again knocking him out. The drone comes in closer and sees Seismitoad is defeated and announces "Seismitoad is unable to battle" Ash's second slot on the scoreboard turns grey and the crowd goes wild again while the announcer states "this is incredible despite the type disadvantage an Electric type manages to beat a ground type, what will both Volkner and Ash do now".
Ash returns Seismitoad back into its poke ball and appreciates its efforts "thanks Seismitoad you did more than I asked for", Ash takes a deep breath and takes a look at his Z-Ring and then Pikachu "alright buddy it's all up to you are you ready" Pikachu nods and jumps into the battlefield ready to fight and the announcer says, "And Ash's third Pokémon is Pikachu but will this be enough to take down Electivire, its anyone's win now". Pikachu uses Electroweb to trap Electivire but the bigger Pokémon manages to absorb it and quickly run up and use Thunder Punch on Pikachu knocking him down, Ash was surprised by this until Volkner explains "Electivire's special ability is called Motordrive where it can absorb electric type attacks and increase its speed from it too, as well as not take any damage from it either". Realising that Volkner well anticipated for something like this Ash then turned on his game face coming up with something new, so Pikachu attacks with Iron Tail but Electivire counters with Wild Charge knocking Pikachu away and despite the recoil damage Electivire remains calm. While still trying to get up Electivire uses its double Iron Tail which Pikachu also uses its Iron Tail to defend and manages to get a clean hot on top of Electivire's head forcing it into the ground but it quickly manages to get back onto its feet but not without taking damage, which Pikachu seizes this opportunity and uses Quick Attack and causes some damage onto Electivire but not before receiving some itself from Electivire's Ice Punch. Both Pokémon were exhausted and even Volkner had to admit "you two are something all right, what a team, your passion and your all-out style…battling you will make us stronger". Pikachu gestures to Ash's Z-Ring and Ash understands what he means so he throws his hat towards Pikachu who catch and wears ready for what comes next as Ash says "you wanna battle with Electric-type moves, huh", Ash's Z-Ring begins to glow and shine as he then crosses his arms ready to activate it which Ash and Pikachu then do their signature hand and tail slap. Seeing this Volkner and Electivire become excited to witness such power "a Z-Move, I've waited for that" he says. Ash and Pikachu then harness the power and begin the power poses "much bigger than a Thunderbolt, 10,000,000 VOLT THUNDERBOLT, yeah this is much much bigger AT SUPER FULL POWER, PIKACHU USE 10,000,000 VOLT THUNDER BOLT", harnessing the power Pikachu summons its rainbow lightning and casts it down to which Volkner is overwhelmed by such power but wasn't going to let up "so that's 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt…absorb it all using Motordrive" so Electivire activates it ability ready to take it on. So as the lightning casts down onto Electivire he attempts to absorb it all but begins to struggle as the announcer says "It's taking the 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt head on" however as Electivire attempts to absorb it all Pikachu pushes harder to cast more lightning which an explosion occurs, as the explosion cloud fades away both Pokémon are left standing however Electivire couldn't take anymore and faints to the ground. The drone comes in closer and sees Electivire is defeated and announces "Electivire is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner which means the victory goes to Ash" on the scoreboard Volkner's last slot turns grey and Ash is shown as the victor.
With the battle over the crowd goes wild cheering for Ash giving them an amazing battle and Ash happily exclaims "all right we did it Pikachu" and Pikachu happily jumps into Ash's arms and hugs him which Ash then holds him in the air in victory. The announcer then speaks again saying "and so the match is decided the winner of this closely fought battle is Ash" the drone then announces "as a result of today's battle there has been a change in the World Coronation Series Trainer rankings" which the scoreboard also shows Ash's rankings changing to 64th place. Volkner goes up to Electivire and gets under his ram helping him and thanks it for the battle "you fought an excellent battle Electivire" Electivire happily accepts Volkner's praise which they then walk up to Ash and Pikachu and congratulate them "what a 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt I was shocked it overwhelmed Electivire", Ash replies saying "when I heard you were gonna be my next opponent, I knew that we'd need to bring out our strongest move" as he shows his Z-Ring which Volkner responds "you might be the eye of the Ultra Class storm. I think your stormy winds might even shake things up in…the coveted Master Class". Ash then began surprised as he heard those words "the Master Class" he asked and Volkner explains "Yes. Cynthia, Sinnoh's Champion, is listed among their members", Ash is then surprised to hear that Cynthia is now one of strongest members now.
Our hero has just won his first Ultra Class battle but there are lots of strong opponents still waiting for him, so who will be next? The answer will come, as the journey continues.