A gigantic pokemon materialised. It was a dragon species, with a long head in the middle and two additional heads coming from its sides. Its wings were divided to six parts similar to Giratina in its origin form, which helped it to fly.
The brutal pokemon, Hydreigon gave out a loud and ferocious cry releasing a dark aura scaring the living day out of everyone. Everyone knew Paul was serious about this if he was using that pokemon.
Ash was unfazed and not surprised to see a Pseudo Legend on Paul's team. That guy still had a knack for powerhouses. Ash just closed his eyes and smiled much to everyone's surprise.
"And Paul has sent out his ferocious dragon type but Ash doesn't seem to appear worry about it. Which pokemon is he planning to use?" said the announcer.
Pikachu got of his shoulder. Everyone thought he was using Pikachu. Paul smirked at his foolishness but soon stopped when the mouse got into a sitting position on the ground next to its trainer and let out a cute yawn. The gesture earned some chuckles and awws from the audience. Paul was slightly mad at that 'don't care' attitude of the mouse.
Ash thought for a moment and took out a pokeball.
"It would only be fair if I used a dragon type as well," with that he threw the pokeball in the air.
A dark violet bipedal creature appeared. It had huge claws and a powerful physique. It glared at its opponent with yellow fear striking eyes before leaping into the air and gave out a loud, terrifying roar that sent a huge shockwave to the stadium.
Both people and pokemon leaped back of their seats in fear, while some were shaking due to the presence of the two powerful dragon types.
' Looks like Charizard taught him about first impressions resulting the roar just now.' Ash thought.
Hydreigon was excited to fight sensing a worthy opponent.
"Smart choice," Ethan said still eating tacos.
"That thing sure looks strong, strong as Cynthia's," said Flint.
"Oh please," said Aaron scoffing, "Lots of trainer has a Garchomp that doesn't mean everyone can come close to Cynthia's. I bet that roar was just a show-off."
Flint sighed before looking back to the battle.
"SINCE WHEN ASH HAS A GARCHOMP?" Iris yelled with excitement and shock, being the dragon type fanatic.
'A garchomp,' Dawn thought before it hit her as her eyes widened in shock.
"Wait is that-?"
"Ash's Gible?" Brock finished her thought with the same expression.
Dawn nodded as she looked towards the powerful mach pokemon. Piplup in her arms looked terrified as well.
"Wait wait. You mean that pokemon over there is the same trigger happy Gible who used to bite the fence off at Gramps lab?" asked Gary remembering suddenly.
"Apparently yes," Brock said chuckling. "He also liked to bite Ash's head off if I remember correctly." Some of them looked surprised at how casually he said that.
"Yeah that was before he caught it," added Dawn with a giggle.
"Looks like Ashy boy wasn't kidding when he said he went on a training journey," said Gary thoughtfully.
That grabbed their attention.
"Wait that reminds me. When and how did you meet him?" asked May.
"An hour ago." Gary replied. "Apparently gramps and Scott knew about him all along."
"Wait Scott?" asked Max.
Gary nodded. "Ash said he only told a few people about it. He claims he never noticed how busy he was in training that three years passed by," he finished with a laugh.
"That's just ridiculous," said a fuming Misty.
"Agreed. How can you just wander off like that without telling anyone?" Dawn said seemingly mad.
"You think he's hiding something from us?" asked Kiawe suspiciously.
"Possible," nodded Lana.
Brock didn't say anything as he was planning to interrogate Ash himself.
"Looks like he wanted to pursue his dream along," said Goh. "Kind of gives me the feeling.....
He didn't finished.
"What?" asked Gary.
"We were holding him back or something?" he said in a whisper but everyone heard it. They had sad expression thinking about it before Brock spoke, "I don't believe that's true." Everyone looked at him. "Ash would never think like that. There might be another reason. Besides, wasn't he the one who always encouraged us to follow our dreams?"
This was something most of them could relate to. They seemed happy again as Goh said, "Yeah you're right. I shouldn't have thought like that," he apologised.
"It's alright Goh," said Brock, smiling reassuringly.
"Ok alright! If that's out of the way can we focus on the battle already? The viewers are getting impatient too," Iris said irritatedly.
They gave her a weird look before focusing on the battle again.
Ash and Paul were glaring at each other, neither breaking the eye contact.
The referee was still shakened but manage to say the two key words.
"Ba-battle b-begin."
"Use DRAGON PULSE!!" Both trainers yelled at the same time right after the call. The two powerful dragon type attacks collided causing a huge explosion.
"Amazing, looks like both of them are even at power," the announcer yelled.
As the dust was settling, Paul was about to give a command when suddenly, Garchomp appeared out of nowhere and with one of its claws glowing white, smashed Hyderigon to the ground. Paul was stunned. He didn't even heard Ash commanding it. Garchomp flew back to its previous position after the execution.
"My my folks, it looks like Garchomp used Brickbreak on Hydreigon dealing a super effective damage. But the interesting part, it did it without a command from its trainer, this is amazing."
The crowd exploded into cheers.
"Without giving command eh?" asked Grant, smiling.
"Looks kind of similar right Diantha?" asked Malva knowingly.
The champion quickly nodded and looked back at the battlefield with much more interest.
"Garchomp is so strong and cute," exclaimed Bonnie.
"It really is powerful and cu- Wait, cute??! asked a dumbfounded Max.
"That's the first time I saw Ash using a strategy like that," said Sawyer as he kept scribbling on his notebook.
"Paul should know he isn't up against the same Ash as before," said Dawn as she looked at Ash.
"You ok Hydreigon?" asked Paul, a bit worriedly.
Ash noticed and smiled approvingly seeing that Paul wasn't cold towards his pokemon like he was towards people. He has changed for the better.
The brutal pokemon got up and roared, ready to fight more than ever.
"Alright then, use Dragon Rush."
Hydreigon rushed towards its opponent engulfed in blue draconic energy. Garchomp looked at Ash who just nodded. The land shark pokemon nodded back and waited on its spot. When Hydreigon got close, Garchomp jumped at the last second and used Ice Beam at point blank range. The dark/dragon type screamed in pain as it retreated back hastily, conspicuously hurt.
"Two super effective moves in a row how much can Hydreigon take?" exclaimed the announcer.
Paul was getting tensed. There was no way he can make another mistake. His pokemon was ready to fight but got injured as well. He thought of a strategy.
"Alright, use Nasty Plot."
Hydreigon raised its special attack.
"Now use extreme speed and move around the battlefield," commanded Paul.
Hydreigon started moving around the arena with a fast pace until it became a blur. Garchomp looked alarmed but didn't move.
"USE TRI ATTACK NOW!!"
Hydreigon suddenly appeared behind Garchomp and fired its signature move as it slamed the mach pokemon to the ground.
"Grab it," Paul smirked.
Before Garchomp could get up and recover, Hydreigon pinned him to the ground grabbing his arms with two of its head.
"Now Dragon Pulse!!! " Paul commanded victoriously, seeing his plan worked like it should have.
Ash just stood there calmly as the middle head of Hydreigon started charging up the powerful move.
Paul was surprised yet again to see Ash so calm as well as Garchomp whose eyes were closed as if they knew what was going to happen next.
"Use Outrage." Ash said finally in a calm voice as Paul's eyes widened.
Garchomp's eyes shot blood red as it let out a terrifying growl which caused its holder to flinch and lose its grip.
The dual type slamed a brickbreak into Hydreigon's stomach, sending it upwards with horrendous power. While in the air, Garchomp appeared beside it and gave a multiple barrage of Dragon Claw attack before slaming the brutal pokemon to the ground. Its rampage came to an end as it went back to its position turning to normal.
Everyone was shocked and stunned at the sight of the sheer brutality of the Pseudo Legendary pokemon.
"Incredible," Oak murmured.
"You were saying?" asked Flint mockingly towards Aaron who criticized Garchomp just a while ago. He was stunned as well. Even Cynthia's Garchomp wasn't so merciless.
"You still think that's cute?" asked Max to a now shocked Bonnie.
Ash thought the battle was over but he was surprised to see Hydreigon still standing, not willing to give up. Garchomp showed respect to his opponents determination.
"We are still in this battle Ash," said Paul before exchanging a nod with his pokemon.
"Then show me your power," said Ash.
"Gladly. Now Hydreigon, use Draco Meteor."
The dragon roared and shot a sphere in the sky which spilted into many meteors coming towards the battlefield. Ash didnt say anything as the attack smashed to the ground causing quite a damage.
"Wow, Ash let Garchomp take the powerful attack just like that? What is he thinking? " said announcer. Paul was confused and looked to the battlefield. There was no sign of the ground/dragon type anywhere.
Suddenly the ground cracked and Garchomp came from underneath it leaving a stunned crowd.
"Using dig to dodge Draco Meteor like that? Its like it knew what to do without Ash telling it to. Very impressive." said Clemont analysing.
"How come I never thought of it before?" asked Max.
"Because your brain is too big shorty," said Gary earning a laughter from others.
"Who are you calling--?" started Max.
"Geez shut it kid. The battle isn't over yet," said Iris. They looked back at the battlefield.
"I have to say Paul, I'm impressed," said Ash surprising the purple haired trainer. "Both you and Hydreigon, I couldn't have ask for a better opponent." Paul said nothing. He, to everyone's surprise, smiled in response.
"But lets see if you can handle this," said Ash as his opponent frowned alarmingly.
"GARCHOMP, DRACO METEOR!!"
The mach pokemon executed the similar attack by shooting a orange sphere upto the sky, but anyone could tell it was a much more powerful than a normal Draco Meteor.
The sphere stopped at a high altitude and exploded into millions and millions of comets as all of it.plummeted towards the ground.
"Do-dodge it!!!" Paul panicked as Hydreigon tried to dodge by flying around, but failed as it got hit by the fearsome attack. The rest of the comets hit the ground one by one causing an earthquake in the stadium. After the smoke cleared, Hydreigon could be seen knocked out in the ground.
"Hydreigon is unable to battle. Garchomp wins and the first round goes to Ash," the referee announced, gesturing a hand towards Ash.
The crowd exploded into cheers as they praised the battlers for an outstanding first battle.
"I-I-I've never seen a Draco Meteor that powerful, " said Iris shocked and impressed.
"He surely lives up to his title," said Sophocles as the others nodded.
Paul returned and muttered a thanks to his pokemon which didn't go unnotice by Ash.
"Garchomp, you did great buddy take a good---huh?" As soon as Ash was about to return it, Garchomp wasn't there. He looked around for it when a low growl could be heard from behind him. He realized what was happening before it was too late.
"Oh no Garchomp, not now---"
Garchomp crashed on top of Ash and started biting his head playfully.
The crowd screamed and gasped thinking it was attacking its own trainer, but soon realized what was going on, as they broke into a laugh and awed at the scene.
"Damn," Gary said, laughing.
"Looks to me there is still some gible left in him," said Dawn, giggling.
"His pokemon sure have some peculiar ways of showing affection,' said Brock nodding.
"You can say that again Brock," agreed Misty, as she laughed and recalled similar moments like that.
"You mean like, how his Charizard shows affection by burning his face?" asked Iris laughing to which they nodded.
"Wait, Ash has a CHARIZARD?!" asked Goh, Kiawe and Trevor in unison.
"I never knew as well," said Serena.
"Looks like he never told you," said Gary. "He was one of Ash's oldest pokemon and a powerhouse as well. I can't imagine what beast it has become after seeing that Garchomp," Gary said feeling goosebumps as the others were listening with awe.
"Looks like he has a lot more to explain than we thought," said Lana as the others nodded.
After some tough attempts, Ash was able to return his beloved dragon type as he cleaned the dust from his clothes. Pikachu was laughing and rolling on the ground.
"It seems even a terrifying pokemon like Garchomp has a soft side as well," the announcer said, laughing with audience.
Paul had a poker face and arms crossed as he then thought with a smirk,'Typical.'
"This battle is still far from over Ash," Paul reminded him. "Magmortar stand by for battle."
The pokemon materialised on the field with a battle cry.
'So its Magmortar huh?' Ash thought as he unclipped a pokeball.
"In that case, I choose you."