It had been four hours since they had left Cinnabar Island, and now Ash was in a real bind. What pokemon would he use? Sure, Pikachu had agreed (after being bribed with ketchup) to return to the luxury ball that Arceus had provided him with, but Brock would definitely recognize like, half his pokemon. Which meant that Ash would need to use the pokemon he had met in either Unova or Kalos. His Alola and Galar teams were out of the question; they were both pretty famous in and of themselves. That left a few options, but still, Ash could come out on top either way.
"This will be a six on six pokemon battle between the gym leader Brock and the challenger, as per the challenger's request. Only the challenger will be allowed to make substitutions. The battle will be decided when either trainer's pokemon are unable to battle. Are both trainers ready?" boomed the voice of the judge. Of course, they were back in the Pewter City gym. It's rocky terrain was both comforting and nostalgic to Ash, and memories of his very first gym battle fluttered briefly before his eyes before he composed himself. Brock had surely grown a lot stronger, and whether he knew it or not, Brock would be familiar with many of his strategies. This would not be an easy fight.
"Ready when you are, challenger!" Declared Brock, grinning. "But you never told me your name, now that I think about it." Ash grimaced; he knew this would happen eventually. "I'll tell you my name after the battle, regardless of the outcome." He stated. Brock merely shrugged. "Ok then. Lets get this battle started. Toxicroak, lets go!" he shouted, throwing up a pokeball. There was a red flash, and then a bipedal, purple and black pokemon appeared. "toxiCROAK" it cried. Ash grinned discreetly, pleased to see that croagunk had evolved. This was going to be a fun battle. "Seismitoad, I choose you!" Ash declared, summoning his pokemon.
Seismitoad, huh? It certainly has the advantage, so we'll just have to bring it down quickly thought Brock. "Toxicroak, get in close and use fake out!" he shouted. Nodding, Toxicroak dashed forward, arms held out and protrusions pointed forward. Seismitoad merely waited with it's eyes closed. Then, just as Toxicroak came barreling down on it, Seismitoad stepped back. "Now Seismitoad, bulldoze!" Ash shouted. Seismitoad almost grinned as it raised it's leg, and with a single stomp sent the nearby terrain vibrating. Toxicroak, stunned from it's near miss, had no time to react. Soon it was shaking too, and being a poison type, it felt every oscillation. "Toxicroak use sludge bomb! Aim for it's eyes!" Brock cried frantically. Toxicroak obeyed, shooting viscous black muk from it's mouth, aiming for it's opponent's eyes. Ash called to Seismitoad, saying "Counter with hydro pump; send it back!" Seismitoad complied, launching a funnel of water at the sludge and sending it flying toward toxicroak. Toxicroak merely took it head on, however. "That was a mistake, I'm afraid. My Toxicroak's ability is dry skin, so water moves actually restore it's health. Now Toxicroak, brick break!" Toxicroak cried out, rushing forward with it's hand glowing. "Stop it and use drain punch!" Ash called. Toxicroak roared towards Seismitoad, fully expecting to land a hit, only to be surprised when Seismitoad reached out and grabbed Toxicroak by the arms, preventing it from striking him. Roaring, Seismitoad heaved it's opponent backward, and Toxicroak landed on it's butt. Moving forward far faster than a pokemon of it's stature should have been capable of, Seismitoad struck Toxicroak right in the chest. Toxicroak cried out, feeling it's health points slipping away.
On the other side of the court, Brock grimaced. We need to end this quickly or Toxicroak may not be able to keep up. Meanwhile, Ash pondered their next move carefully. Seismitoad may be able to keep it off it's feet, but all Toxicroak really needs is a few good hits before it's lights out. We need to find a way to keep it off it's feet more often and through a greater variety of means. He grinned as an idea came to mind. "Seismitoad, pull back!" Seismitoad was confused, but then it remembered the techniques he and his trainer had been working on for this last year or so. Grinning, Seismitoad disengaged and stepped back to stand just a few meters in front of Ash. Toxicroak grew enraged, rushing directly at Seismitoad. "Hit it with sludge bomb one more time" Brock called. Once again Toxicroak let loose a barrage of purplish black sludge, and once again Seismitoad counter. This time, however, Seismitoad used mud shot, sending a stream of mud directly into Toxicroak's face. "Croak?" it sputtered, blinded by the attack. "Now Seismitoad! Use grass knot!" Ash called, a grin on his face as well as his pokemon's. Pop! A root grew from the soil right in front of Toxicroak, causing it to stumble in Seismitoad's direction. "Now finish it with mega punch!" BAM! Toxicroak went flying, this time in the other direction, before landing at the gym leader's feet, eyes swirling.
"Toxicroak is unable to battle! Seismitoad wins!" The judge cried. Brock frowned, returning his pokemon. "You take a good rest, Toxicroak." he muttered. Something was bugging him. Some half baked thought was tugging at his subconscious, but he couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. The Challenger's battle style was certainly dynamic, but it was something more than that. He shrugged. The only thing he could do was continue the battle. He grabbed his next pokeball. "Alright Sudowoodo, you're up!" As with before, there was a flash, and before him stood a brown bipedal pokemon with green bulb-like hands. "Sudoooo!" it cried, before taking a stance for battle. "Let's start things off right, Sudowoodo! Rock slide!" Sudowoodo cried out, and soon a dozen rocks ranging in size from a pebble to a boulder took form about five meters from the ground. Seismitoad and Ash barely had time to look up, much less to react in time. The rocks fell directly on top of Seismitoad. Some of them bounced off to be sure, but many of them broke on contact, sending up a light dust cloud. And all of them hurt. "Seismitoad, get out of there!" Ash cried out, but it was too late. Quicker than most rock pokemon could, Sudowoodo moved, rushing forward to close this distance. Across the way, Ash saw Brock grin. "Sudowoodo, use wood hammer!" he called, as Sudowoodo rushed forward. BAM.
"Seismitoad is unable to battle! The winner in Sudowoodo!" called the judge. Damn, Ash thought. Sudowoodo has gotten fast. Who should I use? I could use Greninja, but I want to save him for Steelix. I need to save Krookodile as well. Gigalith? No, he's not fast enough, and wood hammer could do some real damage. Maybe I could- "Challenger! Please choose your next pokemon" cried a voice, breaking Ash from his thoughts. Ash merely grinned. Prefect. "Lets go, Emboar!"
Just a quick post word to answer everyone's questions. Yes, Zoey is the Zorua that Ash met in the Zoroark movie. I will be giving Ash new pokemon in this story. These will be pokemon that Ash encountered throughout his journeys, such as the shiny trevenant from the first chapter. That trevenant was the shiny phantump that Ash and his friends helped against Team Rocket in the XY episode Making Friends and Influencing Villains! Besides Trevenant and Zoey, Ash will have three new pokemon that he did not canonically catch. Why? Because these were all good pokemon and he should have at least tried to get them to come with him and I'm still salty about it. Now aside from those five, Ash will also have most of the pokemon that he had left behind with him, such as Greninja. Also, nearly every pokemon that Ash has caught will have evolved by now in the story with the exception of Pikachu. This can be seen with Decidueye and Garchomp.
Also, please don't be afraid to leave a comment if my writing style throws you off, or you like the premise but not my execution so far. This story is still pretty new, but I plan to take this through every region, so by the time it's finished it will have dozens of chapters at the minimum. Let me know what you think. Support is always appreciated. Flames will be ignored.