A few days after Ash defeated Sophocles, on their way to the next trial on Ula Ula island Ash and the gang find themselves walking through a small town that is unusually busy. As they walk through the crowded streets Mallow raises an eyebrow and says "It's not meant to be this busy at this part of the region." Lillie tilts her head and says "They must be here for something."
"Or someone," Kiawe says while gesturing towards Ash.
Ash puts his hat down of his eyes in an attempt to hide his face. Lille looks visibly confused and questions "I don't get who they could be looking for." Mallow chuckles at the young girl and replies with a small smirk "Think about it Lillie." The youngest of the group thinks about it for a few seconds before her face lights up as she shouts loud enough for the whole world to hear "Oh that's right, they might be looking for Ash because he's the hero of kalos!!"
Ash facepalms as everyone in the city look in their direction and start to murmur. With in a few seconds, Ash is surrounded by a bunch of news reporters and fans alike. Ash is instantly panicked as it seems as though the reporters from the start of his journey in Alola have caught up with him. His usual peace away from the media that he likes to travel with is under serious jeopardy. They surround him and asks him various questions as they hold microphones and cameras to his face.
"Ash how is the island challenge going, are you going to enter the Alola league?"
"Are you here for a secret mission?"
"Ash can we get a quote on the Kalos incidents?"
"Ash what was that big portal in the sky in Melemele island?"
"Ash what are your thoughts on Alain becoming Kalos champion?"
"Ash answer the question all the ladies want to know, are you still single?"
"Ash why did you release your Greninja?"
"Is it true your no longer challenging pokemon leagues?"
Ash sighs and says "No coment now please excuse me, I don't have time for this." Ash tries to get through the crowd but the towns people soon ambush him asking for picture autographs and general conversation. Ash, not trying to come off as rude, signs a few things but it is clear he is not yet comfortable with the fame he has acquired across his journey. He tries to find his friends and get out of the crowd but the mass of people completely swallows him up.
Suddenly a flash blinds everyone in the crowd forcing them to cover their eyes. Ash raises his arm to cover his own eyes but is stopped when he feels two arms wrap around him and start to drag him away. Ash tries to fight back but whoever is grabbing him is strong and their grip is unbreakable. He fights for few minutes before the man stops and takes his hands off Ash's eyes. Ash turns and sees he is stood in a small alley way with a well built guy with a wrestling mask stood in front of him.
"Your welcome," the masked man says in a monotone voice. Ash sighs "Thanks for getting me out of there. Although next time can you not grip me so hard. Also who are you." The man replies "I'm the masked royal , it's nice to meet you hero." Ash says "It's nice to meet you to, so why did you drag me out of there." The masked royal stands tall and points at Ash "I wanted to challenge you to a battle tonight in the battle royal arena."
Ash scratches his head nervously and says "Sorry, I don't know what a battle royal is." The masked royal tells Ash all about how battle royals work. After the explanation, Ash pumps his fist and says "That sounds awesome, I can't wait for it. I accept your challenge."
The masked royal smiles and says "Excellent, I look forward to seeing you in the ring." The masked man walks away out of the alley leaving Ash a little dumbfounded. He scratches his head and says to himself. "I don't know what it is about that guy but he certainly seems familiar." He ponders it for a few seconds and a small smirk appears on his face. He whispers "If you wanted a battle then you could have just asked." He smiles while looking at the floor and says quietly "I guess I should find the others first and tell them what happened." He makes his way out of the alley and back into the city.
Ash makes his way back into the city and finds his travelling companions as well as Pikachu desperately trying to find him Ash smiles and shouts "Hey guys over here." Pikachu and his travelling companions here Ash's voice and come running over. Pikachu gets there first and leaps into his trainers arms. Ash smiles warmly and says "Hey buddy did you miss me." Pikachu nuzzles Ash's cheek and happily exclaims "Pika, Pika." The other 3 come rushing over as Lillie shouts "Where have you been Ash?"
Ash sweat drops and says "Sorry I got dragged out of the crowd by some guy called the masked royal." The group all look Ash with wide eyes as they all stand in shock. Ash scratches his head and says "So I'm guessing you guys know who he is." Mallow shouts excitedly "Are you kidding me of course we know who he is, the masked royal is the most famous battler in Alola." Ash raises his eyebrow and replies "Is he really?"
Kiawe nods and says "That's right, the masked royale is the best battle royale battler of all time. He's undefeated with a record of 77 wins and 0 loses." Ash pumps his fist and says "Well then it looks like his 0 is about to go." Lillie tilts her head slightly and says "What do you mean by that Ash." Ash scratches his head and says "Well I'm taking him on in a battle royal tonight and I don't plan on losing."
The groups jaws drop as Mallow whispers "Are you serious." Ash smiles and says "Have I ever lied to you all before." Kiawe catches his jaw and says with a sigh "Some people get all the luck." Lillie excitedly says "What are we waiting for, the battle royal is meant to start soon. We should go now." The group nod and begin to make their way towards the battle royal arena.
Ash and his friends arrive at the arena and make their way to the reception. Ash signs up for the battle and is asked to make his way backstage to the dressing room. He says goodbye to his friends and makes his way to his dressing room while they head up into the stands. After a brief moment to reflect and get ready for the battle. Ash is called by a producer to make his way to the entrance way. Ash nods and leaves his dressing room.
Ash walks down the corridors towards the ring as the crowd brews with anticipation. Clearly the news that Ash is competing has spread and Alola's population have come out to watch. As Ash reaches the curtain he peels it back slightly to see two trainers out of four already in the ring with an Alolan Raticate and a Gumshoose respectively. The lights in the arena dim as the crowd goes completely silent.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to welcome one of the top up and coming trainers in the world. The boy known as the hero of Kalos. Please welcome Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!!" Ash strides through the curtain and makes his way to the ring surround by loud cheers from the Alolan crowd. Ash takes his time getting to ring taking in the atmosphere. It's been a long time since he's had the opportunity to enter in front of a crowd like this. The reaction of the crowd makes that 6 month depression seem like yesterdays news. That period may have been one of the hardest of his life but it's moments like this that make him remember why he loves competing so much.
Ash looks up at Pikachu who has a similar look of awe on his face. "Feels good, doesn't it buddy," Ash asks to his first Pokémon. Pikachu nods and exclaims "Pika, Pika, Pikachu." Ash gets in the ring looks around at the cheering crows with a smile. He raises his fist in the air leading to huge applause from the crowd. Ash takes a pokeball out of his pocket and throws it forward as he exclaims "Litten, I choose you." Litten comes out of his pokeball and glares at his opponents through fiery eyes.
In the crowd Mallow says "Ash certainly is popular huh." Lillie smiles and says "We know better than anyone that he's someone that people naturally look up to." Kiawe smiles at the battlefield and says "This almost feels like a league battle with this type of atmosphere, I can't wait for this one."
Ash stands in the ring and says "Litten, it's our first time competing in a battle royal so no pressure. Let's just give it our all and see what we can do." Litten looks back at his trainer and gives him a small nod of agreement. Suddenly the light in the arena shine on the entrance way again as the announcer says "Now please welcome, the king of the ring, the undefeated battle royal champion. The masked royal." Masked royal steps out of the curtain and makes his way into the ring playing up to the crowd. The crowd are just as loud if not louder welcoming their king of the ring than they were with Ash.
The masked royal enters the ring and locks eyes with Ash as the two share a competitive grin. He says to himself "Finally, I'll get to face Ash in a battle. I look forward to seeing him in action up close." He then takes out a pokeball and throws it in the air as he shouts "Incineroar, it's time to battle." A giant tiger looking Pokémon exits his pokeball and roars loudly causing the crowd to increase in noise. Ash scans Incineroar with his Pokédex and finds out it it's Litten's final evolved form . He looks down at his pokemon and says "Don't be intimidated by the size Litten, the bigger they are the harder they'll fall." Litten nods back to its trainer before glaring at his evolution. The announcer explains the rules to everyone and finally announces "Let the battle royal commence."
The two other trainers involved in the battle decide that if they have any chance of winning this they need to take the two favourites asap as they make the first moves. The first trainer orders their gumshoos to "Use takedown on Litten." The other trainer orders his Alolan Raticate to use "Takedown on Incineroar." Both normal types surround themselves in a faint blue aura and charge towards their opponents. Ash and masked royal both call to out "Dodge it."
Both Pokémon leap up into the air and dodge the incoming attacks and end up above their opponents. Both trainers pump their fist and shout "Use flamethrower." Both fire type Pokémon shoot out strong fiery flamethrowers towards the two Pokémon combining their strength together. Both normal types open their eyes wide as the attacks smash into them causing a massive explosion. Once the explosion clears the two are laid out with swirls in their eyes. The announcer cuts in "Raticate and Gumshoos are both unable to battle."
Ash looks at the masked man with a smirk as the two trainers return their fallen Pokémon and exit the ring. "Nice move," Ash says with a smirk. The masked royal just replies with a simple "Agreed, now we can start the real battle. Show me your full power." Ash pumps his fist and says "Yeah we're all fired up and ready to take way your 0, Litten use flamethrower." Litten nods and inhales before exhaling a strong beam of flames towards his evolved form. Masked royal says with a hint of enthusiasm in his voice "You too Incineroar." Incineroar bucks his hips and fires off a strong beam of fire from his belt. The flamethrowers collide and clash together evenly matched, creating a a massive explosion.
Ash smirks feeling the heat of the battle and shouts "Use fire fang." Litten leaps forward towards his fully evolved form with fangs glowing with bright orange fire. Masked royal stands his ground and yells "Counter with darkest lariat."Incineroar smirks and spins around while extending his arms out. Litten nears his target ready to strike but is instead caught by a clothesline from Incineroar. Litten gets swat out the air like a fly but manages to land on all fours while shaking off the damage.
Ash looks intense and shouts "Litten, keep up the pressure and charge at Incineroar." Litten puts his full trust in his trainer and charges forward towards the much larger pokemon. Maked royal thinks to himself "What's Ash planning now." He shakes off his thoughts and says aloud "Counter with darkest lariat again." Incineroar nods and spins around as he gets ready to strike Litten again. Ash smiles as the masked man calls for the exact attack he thought he would. "Now jump Litten," Ash exclaims while pumping his fist forward.
Litten leaps up into the air and lands on Incineroar's head before flipping behind him avoiding the incoming darkest lariat. Ash pumps his fist and says "Now use bite." Litten extends his fangs and bites down on Incineroar's back causing the much larger Pokémon to stagger back slightly. "Impressive," masked royal remarks with a small smirk. "But it takes more than that to beat us," he finishes as Incineroar glares at the smaller cat.
Ash smirks feeling fulfilled by the intense battle replies "I wouldn't expect anything less. But me and Litten still have plenty more in the tank. Use scratch." Litten lungs forwards and swings his claws at Incineroar. The small cat swipes Incineroar a few times but only barely makes a dent. Seeing the attack is not going anywhere Litten steps back and begins to breathe heavy. Litten is clearly feeling the effects of going toe to toe with his fully evolved form. The Maked royal calls out "Incineroar use flamethrower." Incineroar nods and unleashes a strong beam if flames.
Ash grits his teeth and shot "Use flamethrower too." Litten exhales a strong flamethrower as the two clash against each other. Unfortunately for Ash Litten's flamethrower is weaker due to fatigue and gets pushed back slowly by Incineroar's. Before long Litten is engulfed in flames and gets pushed back skidding towards his trainer as the crowd cheers louder and louder. Masked royal says in a dramatic tone playing up the crowd "Finish this with flare blitz."
Incineroar encases himself in a jet of flames and charges towards his opponent. Ash desperately shouts "Dodge it," but unfortunately for him and Litten it's too late. Litten's eyes widen as it takes the attack head on. Incineroar makes contact and sends Litten crashing backwards, slamming off the ropes before landing in the ring head first. Litten is knocked down and is exhausted as he tries to get up.
Ash calls to Litten in a concerned tone "Can you still battle Litten." Litten is in pain, completely exhausted but has a fire burning inside telling him not to quit. He claws at the floor and raises his head and looks to the sky. Amongst the cloudy night sky of the open top arena, he sees a silhouette of his old friend in the sky. Stoutland looks down from the clouds in the sky and nods to the pokemon he once saw as his son.
Ash follows Litten's gaze and sees it too. No more words needed to be said as Litten roars and struggles back to his feet before letting out another large roar. Suddenly he begins to glow and cries "LITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!" His body begins to change and grow as the crowd roars even louder. Suddenly the glow disappears as a larger cat now stands on all fours as he completes his evolution into Torracat.
Torracat stands up and looks back at Ash with fire burning through his eyes. Ash says quietly with bewildered look on his face "Stouland really was watching." He smiles at his nearly evolved pokemon and says loudly "Torracat, let's make him proud." Toracat nods back as Ash shouts "Use flamethrower." Torracat nods and exhales a flamethrower much stronger than before. "Incineroar you too," the masked royal calls. however this time the attacks are even as both flamethrowers clash together causing a small explosion.
Ash calls out "Use bite," Torracat kicks off towards his opponent with his fangs extended. The masked royal tells Incineroar to "dodge," however Torracat is much faster than before and manages to connect sinking his fangs into his opponent. Ash smirks and shouts "Now show everyone your new move leech life." Torracat grins as his fangs suddenly turn from clear to green as he sucks some of the life out of Incineroar as the evolved pokemon cries out in pain.
Incineroar eventually throws off Torracat leaving both Pokémon stood across from each other panting heavily. The masked royal feeling the excitement of the battle pumps his fist and shouts "Use flare blitz," Incineroar nods and coats himself in a jet of flames before slamming towards Torracat. Ash shouts with a small smile "Meet him head on and use fire fang." Torracat charges forward towards Incineroar with his fangs glowing with fire. Both attacks clash with both pokemon determined to win not giving each other an inch. This leads to a massive explosion that fills up the whole arena as everyone watches on with intense faces.
Once the dust clears both pokemon are on their feet as they pant heavily staring at each other with determined looks. However after a few seconds Torracat slowly falls and face plants the floor with swirls in his eyes as the crowd goes wild. "Toracat is unable to battle, Incineroar is the winner. the match goes to the king of the ring, the undefeated masked royal!!!"
In the crowd Lillie frowns and says "I can't believe Ash actually lost." Mallow looks down and says "I know, it's the first time we've seen him lose since we started journeying with him." Kiawe puts a positive thing on things and remarks with a small smile. "That just shows how much of a good trainer Ash actually is that we're surprised he lost to a pokemon who is a stage above his in the evolution line. They gave it their all so in truth they have nothing to be ashamed about."
Ash rushes to Torracat's side who looks devestated that it lost the battle. Ash picks him up and says " Torracat, don't be sad. Your strong and I know next time we will beat Incineroar."Toracat perks up a little and smiles at Ash. The raven haired trainer smiles back and says in a calm tone "I know I'm proud of you Torracat and I know Stoutland is too."
The masked royal approaches them both and says in an impressed voice "That was some battle young man, you and Torracat are strong. I look forward to battling you again." Incineroar steps forward and as a sign of respect him and Torracat give each other a handshake.
Ash smirks and says in a smug tone "Thanks maked royal or should I say professor." Kukui is shocked and says in a panicked tone "How did you figure it out?" Ash laughs and says "I knew from the very start, don't worry your secret is safe with me but you have to promise me that we can have a rematch at some point." The masked Professor smiles and says "You bet can bet on it. It would be my pleasure to battle you again Ash."Ash and kukui raise their hands and wave to the crowd as the both leave through the curtain as the crowd cheers in appreciation for both trainers.
After an hour or so of avoiding the media as best he could. Ash meets back up with his friends just outside the arena with Pikachu on his shoulders and Torracat by his side. Lillie frowns upon seeing Ash and says "I'm really sorry that you guys lost." Mallow adds "It must be a tough one to take." Ash shakes his head and smiles. "No we're not upset, that lose just gives me another goal to work towards. We're gonna get stronger and beat Incineroar, right Torracat." Torracat nods its head and exclaims "Torra, Torracat." Ash pumps his fist and shouts "Next stop Acerola's trial." Ash runs off with Pikachu and Torracat close behind. Kiawe chuckles "Told you he'd be okay," and runs off after Ash. The girls shrug and run off after the two boys as they continue to make their way through Ula Ula island.
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And that's a warp.
This chapter was a pretty fun one to write and I think it turned out quite well.
It might be controversial having Ash actually lose a battle but when it's done for the right reasons I think it's fine.
Anyway next chapter will be another trial with a few more twists. We're getting really really close to the next big story event and the grand festival which equals more amour so stay tuned.
Also a quick thank you message for 5k reads. We're halfway to my yearly goal already which is pretty insane.
If there is any thing you guys would like me to do for 5k then let me know.
I was gonna do another q and a but I'll probably save that for 10k if we get there.
That being said if you got questions please ask and I'll try my best to answer.
Anyway as always comment and vote down below and I'll see you guys soon.