Chapter Text
It was a sunny morning in Pallet town. The light began to illuminate the inside of the Ketchum house, where in a room upstairs, was Ash Ketchum. On a dresser nearby were a few glass cases each containing his previous Gym Badges and Frontier Symbols as well as a series of mementos, such as a golden trophy of a pokeball with white wings, a wooden Teddyursa carving, half of a contest ribbon, a silver bell with some tassels on it, and his Z-Power Ring with an Pikashuium Z equipped. There was also a small metal case with several other Z-crystals in it.
Sleeping at the foot of a twin-sized bed was a Pikachu, who had a red hat with a green shape of the letter C covering part of its face. The Pikachu slept soundly until the silence was broken by the chirping of an alarm clock on the nightstand beside the bed. The Pikachu awoke with a weary expression as it moved to turn it off, when it was silenced by a still sleeping Ash who threw it at the wall, breaking it........again.
With the alarm clock broken, Pikachu groaned as he resorts to zapping Ash to get him up, but this also fails. Pikachu was getting ready to give up when the door clicked open, and in came Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother who sighed. "Ash, don't you remember you need to get off to the airport with Professor Oak?"
Brown eyes snapped open as Ash Ketchum awoke in a state of panic. "Mom, why didn't you wake me up?!"
"Because you insisted you could get up on your own!"
A moment later, Ash was ready to rush out of the door as he slapped his hat on, with Pikachu following close behind. He carried the egg in an incubator, an egg he found in Alola or more like Lycanroc found it. It was as if it was a gift by the Alola region before he left them. Ash stared at his wallet for a while as he looked at the pictures of his friends and families he formed bonds with, throughout the Journey. Putting the egg along with the incubator comfortably in his backpack, Ash rushed out of the door.
With Professor Oak,
"Professor Oak!!" Ash's voice rang out across the lot, loud as usual, and the Professor turned towards it, grinning as his pupil jogged towards him.
"Ash! I was starting to think you wouldn't make it," He teased, voice graveled with age. Ash laughed, playfully glaring at the older man even as his Pikachu hopped up onto the Professor's shoulder.
"I would never miss a battle! I've been wanting to meet him ever since you told me about him and this is the perfect chance!" Bumping a fist to his chest, he puffed it out slightly and Pikachu used Oak as a jumping post to hop to his trainer's shoulder, crying out in agreement and bumping a tiny paw to his tiny chest as well. Oak laughed, eyes fondly rolling at the teen and Pokémon's antics.
"Well, don't just stand there!" Oak grinned. "It's going to be a long flight, y'know!"
Later,
In the flight,
As soon their plane enters Galarian airspace, the lights inside the plane suddenly go out. As a stewardess tries to keep the passengers calm, Ash noticed Pikachu's tail sparking. "Hey, buddy, what's wrong?"
Pikachu didn't respond, instead pressing his face into the window as if it sensed something coming closer. Ash followed his partner's glance and saw something flying past the plane, its form obscured by the clouds. In response, Pikachu's tail sparks a little.
As the Pokémon flies away and its silhouette disappears from view, the lights turn back on. "What was that about, I wonder?" Oak mused.
"I don't know, but it must have been some unknown Pokemon! I can't wait to find out what!"
“You never cease to amaze me with the love you have for all pokemon.” Professor Oak chuckled. “Is it still your goal to be a Pokémon master Ash?"
"You bet, Professor!"
_________________________
"It's huge!" Ash exclaimed as he hopped off the bus, looking upwards at the stadium before turning to his partner. "It must be bigger than the stadium in Lumiose, don't you think Pikachu?"
"Accordingly, the stadiums in Galar are built to accommodate a unique battle method called Dynamaxing." Professor Oak explained, reading from a guidebook. "Trainers apparent are able to make their Pokemon gigantic and use moves unlike no other."
"Really? That's so cool!" Ash exclaimed. "Are you ready, Pikachu?"
An excited 'Pi-ka!' was his response and he chuckled, rushing up the stairs with his partner in tow. As they got closer to the building, Ash was only even more in awe with it, the size and sight of it stunning.
He was caught off guard when the sound of barking came from in front of him and he nearly missed a step before he looked down. He made eye contact with a small, yellow and white dog Pokémon that continued to yap away at him even when he acknowledged it, fur raised on end and little bolt tail moving a hundred miles per minute. Excitement bubbled to the surface at the sight of a Pokémon he'd never seen before and he found himself crouching fairly fast, reaching out a hand to pick it up. "Well look at you! You're a Pokémon I've never seen before!"
His hand almost made contact when Pikachu hopped down from his shoulder, catching the little dog Pokémon's attention and bringing it to a halt. Ash could only watch in awe as it approached Pikachu and the two began sniffing one another before sparks quite literally began flying between the two. A fond smile curled his lips upwards as he watched his partner begin playing with this strange Pokémon, hands raising to support his head, elbows resting on his knees.
The sound of footsteps rising from behind him wasn't enough to make him look up, though he did begin to speak.
"Professor, look at-" He cut himself off when he saw someone who was very much so not the professor appeared in his peripheral vision, his gaze rising to see a young woman with orange hair done in a side ponytail at his side. The dog Pokémon looked up when it noticed her arrival and excited barking left it, the Pokémon immediately running towards her and circling her legs. Laughter bubbled from the girl's chest and she smiled down at it, eyes fond even though she didn't try to touch it.
"There you are, Yamper!" The Pokémon - Yamper, Ash made a note to remember - barked happily and looked towards Pikachu once more. It was if when it did that, that was what made the woman finally notice Ash's presence and her form bristled. It was like she shut down, expression unsure, and he found himself smiling slightly, standing and moving to the side to allow her past. He could see the grateful gleam in her eyes as she quickly shuffled past, leaving the building he'd been approaching.
It wasn't until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder that Ash was snapped out of his thoughts, instinctively flinching away for a brief moment, only for him to relax when he saw it was Oak touching him and not some stranger.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, I forget sometimes." The professor pulled his hand back, offering the teen an apologetic smile, before looking towards the building. "We should hurry up or we'll be late for the match."
Ash smiled, shaking his head slightly at the apology and following his gaze, voice loud and excited, "Right! Let's go!"
At the stadium,
"Welcome! Welcome, all to Wyndon Stadium!" A brown-skinned man with a grey suit emerged riding on a cube-like elephant Pokemon, followed by a yellow drone that resembled a Rotom that broadcasted his face onto the big screens around. "My name is Rose, and it’s a pleasure to be here. It’s time for Champion Leon’s exhibition match!”
Suddenly, small explosions erupted from the center of the pitch and out came the Champion of Galar, a grinning violet-haired man in sporting attire, white leggings, a cap, and what looked like a cape with sponsors emblazoned on the back. Leon waved at the crowd before suddenly spinning around, flinging his cape in the air as he struck a pose. The crowd erupted in cheers as they followed suit. Opposite to him, was a dark skinned trainer, a slender, fit young girl with tan skin, gray eyes, and gray hair styled as a bobcut, a skintight black bodysuit and a uniform that slightly resembled a modified karate gi. It consisted of a cut-off white shirt with a black collar and some designs on it. Not to mention, the girl didn't wore any footwear.
"And now!" Rose disembarked from his mount and stepped onto the side of the field. "In the name of Their Royalties, this exhibition match between the challenger, Gym Leader Bea of Stow-on-Side, and the defender, Champion Leon of Postwick, will now commence! Each combatant may use only one Pokémon; the match will start when both Trainers send out their Pokemon, and end when either one is unable to continue!"
“Exhibition or not, Leon, your pristine record is about to end - when I finally beat you here today!” She declared, posing like a karate master as she took out her pokeball.
"You know I don't lose battles, Bea!" Leon simply grinned in response before tossing his Pokeball. "Let's have a champion time!"
Announcer : Gym Leader Bea brings out her trusty Machamp.
A four-armed humanoid Pokémon landed from Bea's side, while opposite it was a familiar sight of an orange draconic Pokémon.
Announcer : And Champion Leon has chosen his undisputed ace, Charizard!
Upon Rose's signal, the match began. And Ash knew no more as he was engrossed in the fantastic battle between Leon and Bea.
________________________
"Did you see that Machamp! And that Charizard?" Ash gushed as he ran out of the stadium, jumping around energetically with his Pikachu. "Those moves. Hey I wonder if my Charizard can also G-Max? What about you Pikachu? Think you could do it as well?"
Pikachu cheered, energy pumping throughout his body. The battle was one of the greatest battles they ever saw. Those humongous Pokémons, those moves and that big shield that was applied all over the stadium. No wonder the stadium was so huge. It was as if it could fit 2 Wailords. The energy- they could feel it sizzling throughout his veins. The hot electric-like power, the determination of the trainers and the raw power that was being exposed by the 2 pokemon. Like wham! And bam! And pow!
"Well my boy, you look fairly excited." The old man chuckled. "It warms my heart to see that the flames of your passion has not yet ran out."
"So this is what you wanted me to see?"
"Exactly." Professor Oak had a faraway look in his eyes. "One of my dear friends, Prof. Magnolia, is the regional professor here. She invited me to observe and take notes on the Gigantamax phenomenon so that we could compare our observations. She's the leading researcher on this topic. I've been studying this phenomenon from quite a long time. She thus invited me to Galar. I wanted to bring Gary as well but you know, he was busy with some sort of research."
"Meh!" Ash scoffed. "Gary didn't knew what he missed here. So what now Professor?"
Prof. Oak gave a crooked smile. "Now we take a taxi. A special taxi." Ash made an expression which was somewhere between confused and excited.
Sometime later,
"Woah!" Ash marvelled at the huge avian Pokemon resembling a raven. What a cool pokemon! He and Pikachu hugged it. "It's so warm and soft."
"Chaa~" Pikachu cooed. Warm and squishy.
The pokemon looked pleased. "What's this Pokemon Professor?"
"This boy, is a Corviknight. My trusted Partner." An old man said, rubbing the beak of the purple raven. The bird melted into his touch. "In Galar, we've this system of a Flying Taxi. This bird could help you reach anywhere in Galar."
"Now that's cool!" Ash and Prof. Oak quickly sat in the taxi as it was about to take off before a man called out.
"Hey! Wait for me." The man looked hella suspicious in a long black beard, purple hair and black hat wearing huge black sunglasses. The man panted as he quickly reached the taxi. "Hey!" He panted. "I want to go to the Wild Area. Think you could take me?" The taxi driver, to his credit looked a little apologetic while at the same time, recognition flashed in his eyes.
"I'm sorry sir. But these two booked the taxi first."
The man waved off his concern. "Doesn't matter. I'm not in a hurry. You can take them to their destination and then take me to the Wild Area." He joined his hands together. "For now, please, I just want to get away from here." Ash and Professor Oak looked at each other in confusion as they shrugged at each other.
"Sure!" They both said.
"Phew!" The man quickly sat in the taxi, and the taxi had a lift off. Pikachu's face was pressed against the window panel and so was Ash's face. They were devouring in the sights offered by the Galar Region as they were talking to each other. The man sighed.
"So what about you, young man? Why were you in such a hurry?" The man grinned sheepishly for a moment before he removed his beard, his sunglasses and the big black cap. It was in actuality -
"LEON!!!" The man in question, grinned like a happy child. "Sorry about that. Sometimes my fans overwhelm me. So I always keep disguises with me." The taxi driver merely grinned, knowing about Leon and his habits. Leon always had the habit like this. He was quite used to his antics by this point.
"Man, I watched your battle Leon. It was so awesome." Leon smiled. "Thanks. It's nice to know I've so many fans." With that Leon turned towards the Professor who was quietly listening on the conversation between the 2 Champions. Now that he took a good look at them -
"It doesn't seem that you both are from Galar." Like, he could deduce that much from their tones, dialects and their faces. Prof. Oak smiled. "You're right." Ash said excitedly.
"I'm Ash, and this is my buddy Pikachu!"
"Pika!" Hey!
"And I'm Prof. Oak. We came from the Kanto region."
Leon's face immediately brightened. "Prof. Oak! That's why I thought you looked so familiar. It's so nice to meet you. I'm Leon." He smiled. Prof. Oak waited for something more. After few seconds ticked by, he realised he wasn't getting any more introduction. He expected something along the lines of - I'm the Monarch of Galar or I'm the Champion of Galar, etc. Based on how much Leon and the region of Galar showed off Pokemon battles and advertised plus sponsored the sport, he expected Leon to be quite an extravagant man.
"Your Charizard was awesome. That flaming bird went whoosh and then bam and then boom!" Ash rambled on and on as Leon looked at the teen with a soft expression. He was so much like his younger brother.
"So, are you a new trainer in Galar?"
"Yeah, I am." Ash declared. Leon chuckled. "Let me warn you, Galar is no pushover. Most of the new trainers don't start their Journeys from here as Pokemon Battling is taken quite competitively here. Only the best trainers reach the Galar League."
"That's true my boy." Prof. Oak added his two cents. "Compared to other regions, even the Gyms in Galar are a cut above the rest. Not only they are strong, but they are also experienced. They have different assortment of Pokemons that are conditioned to battle quite different sort of trainers. They cater to the needs to individual trainers and according to their performance, they use different pokemons to help them grow."
"Not only that, but you cannot just waltz in and fight any Gyms here. You've to pass through a small tournament where the Gym Leaders rate and review your performance and based on your skill level, they bring out their pokemon. The better is your performance, the more developed pokemon they use." Leon explained as Ash had stars twinkling in his eyes. "All of them are strong enough to give a good challenge to any Elite Four members from different regions if they become serious. Due to that, we don't have any definite E4."
Ash processed this for a moment before he flashed a quick smile. That means, the gym leaders could very well rival a champion if they use their best team. Man, I'm so pumped up. "Awesome! Hey, I also want to take part in the Galar League. How do I register?"
Leon coughed a little. "Unfortunately, not everyone could participate in these Leagues." Ash immediately deflated.
"What? Why?"
Leon looked a little apologetic. "Since the competition is so high in Galar, we only allow trainers who are endorsed by someone in the Pokemon League circuit. Endorsing someone is a great responsibility as well as the endorsed participant reflects the decision making skills of the person who endorsed them."
Ash immediately turned towards Prof. Oak who laughed at Ash's blatant attempt to convince him into endorsing the young trainer. Boy, he doesn't even realise that he could endorse himself if he wants. He's the Alola's Champion after all. Not just Alola's Champion but Alola's FIRST Champion. He contemplated, acting like it was a really hard decision. Ash actually looked nervous.
He smiled. "How about this? You battle Leon and on the basis of your performance, I'll endorse you." Leon looked a little unsure but Ash quickly agreed.
"Awesome! Let's do this Leon!" Leon grinned in return. Boy, oh boy! His energy is contagious.
"Hey old man!" Leon said to the taxi driver. "Land the taxi at the next field. That would give us a great place to battle." After all, he never backed down from a battle. The taxi driver grinned. "As you say, boss!"
In an open field,
"You ready!"
"You bet I am."
"Here, take this." Leon tossed Ash a blue and red wristband. He grinned. "It's called a Dynamax Band. We're on a power spot. We can Dynamax to make the battles more fun."
Ash blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"...Dynamax?" Professor talked to him about Gigantamax. What was Dynamax?
"Here in Galar, our culture is built on Dynamaxing. When a Pokémon Dynamaxes, the names of its moves also change. For example, Normal-type moves become Max Strike, Steel-Type moves become Max Steelspike, and Electric-type moves become Max Lightning, though if your pokemon can Gigantamax, they have a special G-Max move instead and their appearances change."
"Like your Charizard? And that Machamp!"
"Exactly." Leon threw out his pokeball as a Charizard came out from the ball, roaring loudly.
"You're using your Charizard?"
"Why? Are you scared?"
"No, I mean didn't it just battle Machamp before? Won't it be tired?" Ash sounded concerned. Plus his Pikachu was no pushover. It was able to defeat Tapu Koko. It was the same as if Leon was throwing the match.
Leon grinned. "You'll find that my Charizard is different from the rest."
Prof. Oak came between them. "Begin!" He quickly ran off.
"All right Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
"Pika!" All right. Pikachu was surrounded in a white glow as it quickly jumped from one spot to another, and vanished to normal untrained eyes, as if it never existed. Pikachu jumped from one lane to another, showing off his impressive speed. Meanwhile, Leon's Charizard was easily tracing the yellow mouse and its movements. Leon grinned. That was some impressive speed. As soon as Pikachu was about to collide with Charizard, Charizard slammed his tail on the yellow mouse.
Pikachu was thrown off his momentum as he went skidding back. "Pikachu! Are you okay?"
"Pika!" I am.
That was impressive. That Charizard could easily follow Pikachu's speed. So time to take this up a notch. "Use Thunderbolt!"
"Pika~ chuuuuu!" Take this.
"Tank that." Charizard just buffed up his chest as it tanked the lightning bolt. After a few moments, he shrugged it off.
"What?!" Ash called out in disbelief. He was pretty sure that his Pikachu and his electric attacks were strong enough to rattle any pokemon, even if it's a legendary. Just what sort of Pokemon was that Charizard?
On the sidelines,
"My my, it seems like there's a reason why Leon is speculated to be the strongest Champion by a wide margin." The taxi driver beside him laughed.
"That's Leon, for 'ya! That man is crazy."
Back at the battlefield,
"Is that all you got Ash?"
"Nope! All right then, use Quick Attack once more."
"Use Ancient Power!" Several rocks covered in purple glow started to levitate as they launched at Pikachu like missiles. That wasn't just normal Ancient Power. It was as if the move was on steroids. There were huge boom sounds as several rocks were launched, breaking the sound barrier easily. Pikachu, also showing off his impressive speed dodged them all.
This was Leon's Charizard who was already tired from the battle against Bea. Ash wanted to know, just how strong was this man when he was at his full power.
Suddenly when Pikachu was about to close in on Charizard, the land beneath Pikachu levitated throwing off Pikachu again. Several huge chunk of rocks crashed on the electric pokemon when it was off-balance, creating a huge cloud of dust. Leon smirked. "Looks like the battle is over."
Ash smirked in response. "Are you sure about that?" Leon frowned. Suddenly, there was a huge blast of lightning destroying the huge chunks of rock that buried the little rat. The lightning was so strong that the rocks were shattered to mere pieces. Or more like little particles.
"Impressive." Leon whispered. His Pikachu easily tanked the whole attack when his Charizard was using only 56% of his strength and was already tired from the Bea fight. Yet nonetheless, that was a super-effective move. He wasn't going to go all out on a rookie but he actually never thought that a rookie could withstand that attack that actually made his Charizard use more than 50% of his strength.
He wanted to see his potential. More. And more.
"Are you okay, buddy?"
"Chuuuu- brrr!" Yeah. That was a little disorienting.
"All right then, quick attack again."
"You should know better Ash. Use Ancient Power."
"Now, Electroweb. Bind them all." Pikachu threw a spider like web made of electricity towards the rocks coming at them as the web caught all of them and slammed straight right back into Charizard. Leon was shocked for a moment as there was a huge cloud of dust. Nonetheless he grinned as his Charizard stood behind the cloud of dust roaring to the skies, his roar sending shockwaves throughout the arena. Ash had to hold on to his cap so that it didn't blew off.
In his bag, the egg in the incubator was glowing occasionally sending out pulse of life-force.
"Now Iron Tail." In all seriousness, Pikachu was nowhere on the battlefield. It vanished?! Leon looked around as the rays of sun were reflected directly in his eyes. He saw Pikachu who was spinning in mid-air, his Iron Tail sending out pulse of shockwave & energy as Pikachu spinning like cartwheel, along with gravity on his side slammed straight right on Charizard's chest. Charizard who again tanked the attack, simply shrugged it off.
"Use Dragon Pulse!" Charizard launched a huge colossal purple draconian energy from his mouth. The huge purple dragon swallowed Pikachu whole and before Pikachu could defend itself, the dragon exploded. Pikachu didn't even had the time to react. There was a huge orange yellow explosion.
Leon finally set his cap firmly on his head. Finally it was over.
To his utter bafflement, that Pikachu was still standing looking no worse for wear, ready for more. This time it was Leon's turn to gawk. That was some impressive durability. Can this boy withstand more? Leon's eyes twinkled with curiosity. Time to use 75% of his power. "All right Charizard, use Fire Blast!" Charizard quickly rushed at Pikachu, who fired several lightning bolts at him. Charizard quickly dodged them all, spinning gracefully in the air.
"Use Thunderbolt!"
"Now, Fire Blast!" The Fire Blast quickly absorbed the electric attacks as it rushed at Pikachu once more. There was a huge explosion, even greater than before. There was a huge black smoke cloud. Ash clenched his fist. Leon copied his strategy. Just like how he used Electroweb to send back Ancient Power back at Charizard, Leon did the same with Fire Blast.
"Pikachu! Are you okay?"
Pikachu was on the ground. Slowly and painfully, he got up. "P-pika.... Pi!" It hurts. He glared at the orange lizard. Leon was amazed. This was no ordinary Pikachu and that boy was no ordinary trainer. More. He wanted to see their full potential. He wanted to see how far can they be pushed.
At the sidelines,
"Leon has completely outclassed Ash. That trainer is simply unbelievable." Prof. Oak said in amazement. Like, Ash was a champion for goodness sake. And Oak would bet everything that Ash could very well give a fine challenge to any other champion and even defeat them.
Just how strong was this guy?
In the battlefield,
Pikachu nodded to Ash who nodded back. Time to switch up some moves. "All right Pikachu! Use Electroweb on the ground." Leon surprised at Ash's move, wanted to see what the trainer from Kanto was actually trying to do. Pikachu put several Electroweb on the arena. One of the Electroweb, was struck to the crater made by the explosions.
"Use Quick Attack. Run on the webs!"
"Pika!"
Pikachu covered in a white glow started running over the electric webs. The white glow of Pikachu was soon covered in yellow sparks. Pikachu became more and more faster. There was nothing more than a streak of yellow flash in the arena. Even his Charizard couldn't follow the movements of the fast pokemon.
Pikachu suddenly shot out a strong Electroweb trapping his Charizard. Leon suddenly sounded a little bit panicked.
"Quick, Thunderbolt!"
"Use Fire Blast, full power!"
Charizard retaliated with a stream red fire with expanding fiery rings which, after a moment of clashing between the two, starts pushing the Thunderbolt back, leaving Pikachu with only a struggling barrier of electricity to protect him from the flames.
"Come on, Pikachu! Don't give up!" Fueled by Ash's determination, Pikachu started applying more power into his attack, slowly pushing back the flames. Responding to this, Ash's Dynamax Band started to glow and sent Dynamax energy into Pikachu, causing him to start growing again. As the Gigantamax process takes effect, Thunderbolt is transformed into G-Max Volt Crash, overpowering the Fire Blast and knocked Charizard to the ground, with sparks of electricity showered around its body. "Wow! We achieved Gigantamax without a Pokeball!"
The egg in his bag was being affected by the Galar Particles and the energy that surged throughout the battlefield. The glow of the pokemon egg turned pink for a moment before the glow abruptly stopped.
"Amazing." Leon responded as he recalled his Charizard.
"That young man never ceases to surprise me." Prof. Oak commented.
"But you're forgetting Ash, so can we!" With one hand, he hurled Charizard's Pokeball. "This is what I call, a real champion time!"
Ash felt his heart race as Gigantamax Charizard remerged. "Alright Pikachu, use Max Strike!"
"Charizard, dodge with Max Airstream." Gigantamax Charizard jumped back from the column of yellow energy bursting from the ground before unleashing a powerful swirling blast of wind that had Pikachu skidding back to the wall, nearly trampling Ash. Ash called for a Max Steelspike, which Charizard sheared off using Max Wyrmwind.
"It's time! G-Max Volt Crash!"
"Now let's enjoy the climax! Charizard, use G-Max Wildfire!"
Both G-Max moves connected with their target, but while Charizard manages to endure the Electric attack, G-Max Wildfire's secondary effect of continuous damage proved to be too much for Pikachu to handle, and he shrinks back down, defeated.
"Pikachu, you were awesome out there." Ash comforted his partner who gave a weak 'pika'. "Thanks for going all out on me."
"Battles aren't fun unless both Trainers and Pokemon take them seriously." Leon came over, reverting his Charizard to its normal size and form. "Though I hope you can have some more entertainment value for the audience's sake, y'know?"
"I guess you're right." Ash nodded, and handed out his Dynamax Band. "Thanks for letting me use this."
"You hold on to that." Leon dismissed to Ash's surprise. "I like Trainers with rough edges like you, but if you really want to satisfy me, I want to 'break out'!"
"Break out?"
“Do your best, push your limits, cause you have the potential alright.” Leon explained as he walked over ruffling Ash's hair as he returned his cap to him that was blown off due to the shockwave from the last clash. “Actually, given that battle, I'd say you might even be a challenge for me - and they say I could be a Champion somewhere else if I wanted." Prof. Oak snorted. They said that Leon could easily dethrone any champion if he wanted. Heck he could take on 3 champions at once and easily beat them without breaking a sweat. That was the power of the Galar Champion. It rivalled the power of Legends.
"You're certainly someone whom I would wholeheartedly welcome in the Galar League." Leon grinned at Ash. Ash smiled back as he cradled Pikachu in his arms. Leon quickly backtracked as he patted his Charizard, paid the money to taxi driver and sat on top of his partner. He was about to take off before Ash called out. “Leon! Let me have a battle with you in the future, okay!?”
Leon stopped for a moment, turning back and tipped his hat with a grin. “The next time we’ll battle, it'll be in a tournament Ash!” And his Charizard took off like a rocket. It was as if he watching an orange missile tearing through the clouds, soaring across the heavens. It was as if it never took any damage. So that was Leon. The strongest trainer of Galar. There was a huge difference between his Pikachu and his Charizard. He was better in every single way. Attack, Defense, Durability, Endurance, Speed, Reaction Speed...... Everything. He was so ahead of him that it wasn't even funny. He actually thought that he became strong, but no. That was the real strength. Leon's strength seemed like as if it was out of this world. And that also his Charizard was already tired from battling.
Ash clenched his fist. "What should I do?"
"That should be my question Ash." Ash looked a little lost as Prof. Oak walked towards him. "Your mother told me how you wanted to go around and explore the region after your little vacation in Alola. So how about it?" He gave a cheeky grin.
Ash let out a cry of excitement, “I’ve decided! I’m going to battle Leon again, no matter what! And I’m going to win it too!” Ash jumped out in excitement, turning back to look at the spot in sky one more time, imagining himself facing Leon in front of a huge, cheering crowd. “That’ll be my next step into becoming a Pokémon Master!” A small birdlike Pokémon, primarily dark blue, including its wings, tail, back and part of its head was staring at the boy from the Pallet Town. Its red iris gazed at the trainer for a moment long before it flew away.
The pokemon egg in Ash's bag twitched for a moment before becoming still again.