Ash was concentrating on trying not to burn his food when his phone started to ring.
"Hello?"
"Greetings Ash it's me, Geeta"
"Oh hey, Geeta what do you need?"
"Well you see there have been some… disturbances around The Great Creator and mysterious Pokémon have been spotted in the area"
Ash lights up intrigued at the prospect of these mysterious Pokémon.
"I was wondering if you would be willing to help some of our elite 4 members in tracking them down"
"Of course!" Ash said a bit too enthusiastically.
"Great I'll be there as quickly as possible"
"That's what I thought just to let you know a few other teachers agreed to come with you"
Ash hung up the phone and quickly got changed into his outdoor gear.
He stepped outside and was rushed by Dendra.
"Ash I knew you would say yes see Raifort I told you he would come"
"Indeed" Raifort replied cooly.
"All right then" Dendra clapped her hands "let's get going"
…
The vehicle they took arrived at the entrance to The Great Crater.
Well, the entrance was barred, and he could make out a thick mist of fog blocking out the view of what was inside.
It was so tantalizing for Ash to get such a small glimpse of Paldeas most mysterious location.
If only he could get a lock inside.
"Yo Dendra Raifort how's it going?"
Not right now he had something to complete.
"Ah, I see you brought Ash along" A girl with long green hair shook his hand.
"I'm Rika a member of Pladeas Elite Four, it's a pleasure to meet you"
"The feeling is mutual"
"The names Hassel" an older man with blond introduced himself.
"Didn't I see you at the academy?"
Hassle chuckled "Yes you did I'm also the art teacher at the academy"
"Well, now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way what are we looking for?" Raifort stats.
"Trail cameras around the perimeter captured this," Rika said, handing them a photo of a strange creature wandering the gloom at night.
It was hard to determine exactly what it was, but it looked like a large bug.
The second photo appeared to be the top of some Mushroom Pokémon running through the foliage.
"Alright me, Dendra, and Raifort go left that was where the strange insect was seen Ash Rika you take the right and look for the strange mushroom"
"Talonflame scout out the area" Ash sent out the Scorching Pokémon to scout above ground where they couldn't see.
Rika sent out her Donphan to sniff out the area Ash sent out Lycanroc to do the same.
Well, the pair searched out the area Ash couldn't help but notice Rika barred a resemblance to someone he had met before.
"Hey this might seem like a weird question but do you know someone named Rinto by chance?"
Rika's head perked up "Rinto, my brother you've met him before"
"So he's your brother I knew you looked familiar"
"Ya he's actually in his second year at the academy let me know if you see him"
"Talon!" Talonflame screeched above directing them to a break in the tree line.
"Yeesh looks like whatever Pokémon were here got into some pretty intense fighting," Rika remarked at the state of the area around them. Trees had been broken in half and the ground was pulverised.
"I don't think those two Mushroom Pokémon could do this"
Donphan and Lycanroc picked up a scent and raced down a hill.
Ash and Rika followed them. The path of destruction led them to the jagged rocky edge of the Great Crater.
"There!" Ash saw a large gap in the rock face that he could walk through without crouching.
"No Ash come back we can't go in there!" Rika shouted.
"Aren't you just a little bit curious about what's in there?"
"Of course I am but Geeta told us not to go in there for a reason we should stay out of there"
Ash, never being one to back down from a challenge kept pushing through the tunnel until he into a dense fog.
His vision was mostly obscured from the dense mist so he had to rely on his ears to guide him through the terrain.
The fog echoed with the cries of Pokémon. He could occasionally see the flutter of a wing or the scurrying of something in the bushes.
Lycanroc sniffed around the area curiously sometimes barking at something Ash couldn't see.
Talonflame flew low and circled around Ash, weary of flying in the dense fog. Her cries alerted Ash that there was a sheer drop in front of him.
Ash followed her to the cliff's edge where a waterfall cascaded off the edge.
Over the sound of rushing water Ash could hear strange cries coming from the crater's lower levels.
He wasn't an expert on Pokémon cries but these sounded like nothing he had ever heard before.
"I got to get down there" Ash grunted frustrated carefully climbing down the stones.
His foot lost traction on a wet stone and he rolled the rest of the way down the cliff.
"You okay Pikachu"
"Pika! Pe!" Pikachu groaned annoyed but ultimately okay.
"Drrrrannnn!" An earth-shaking cry got Ash to his feet.
Pikachu cowered behind Ash as a giant shadow loomed over him.
Down here the fog had lifted and the faint glow of crystals illuminated what would be a dark cavern.
And in front of him was one of the oddest things he had ever seen.
The beast resembled a Donphan but it was covered in spikes running down its back ending in a long tail, two immense inward curving tusks erupting from its head.
But more importantly, it was absolutely enormous towering over him.
The beast let out another mighty trumpet and its body began glowing brown.
It then charged forward, and Ash and Pikachu avoided the Headlong Rush by mere seconds as the strange Donphan barreled into the cliff face completely demolishing it.
The strange Donphan turned enraged but before it could do anything Talonflame and Lycanroc attacked it with Brave Bird and Accelerock giving Ash enough time to get his barrings.
With the cliff destroyed the only way up to the surface was being blocked by the strange Donphan.
Ash and his team stared down the strange Donphan as it charged up another Headlong Rush.
They weren't getting out of this without a fight.
End Credit Song-Fire on Up-Paper Kings
I was busy with my university courses so stuff might still take a while.
I've had a few people mention that Ash is feeling a bit too much like a background character and I definitely agree. Now that I have his story planned out it should alleviate the problem.
Also, anime sizes and in-game sizes can be kind of wonky and I've always thought of Great Tusk as the size of an African Elephant if that gives you an idea for size.