What If Ash was in Pokemon Horizons?

Liko vs. Rika! Towards the Battle's End

Ash and Grusha send out Pikachu and Cetitan respectively. While Larry sends out Staraptor and Flamigo. "Got lots of respect for ya, Monarch. So don't expect me to go easy on you."

"I'm fine with that!" Ash smirked, "Go all out!"

The battle begins, Ash remembers his own Staraptor and has Pikachu trap it in an Electroweb, while Grusha has Cetitan use Ice Shard on Flamigo, Larry counters by freeing Staraptor with Brave Bird and Flamigo hitting Cetitan with a Close Combat, doing big damage, Cetitan fires back with Ice Spinner, but Flamigo dodges. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt and it hits Staraptor, making it weak. Flamigo then gets close to Pikachu and tries a Throat Chop, but Cetitan fires a Liquidation to knock Flamigo back, spilling water everywhere. Ash gets an idea, habing Piakchu use Thunderbolt on the water to knock out both Flamigo and Cetitan. Larry Terastallizes Staraptor into a pure Flying Type. As Ash smirks with determination and Terastallizes Pikachu for the first time, Pikachu emerges donning the balloons on his heads, the same as Staraptors.

"Pikachu," Ash blinked, "Your Tera-Type is Flying?!"

Ash thinks for a second and has Pikachu use Quick Attack, Staraptor charges in with Brave Bird, suddenly the Quick Attack becomes stronger, blasting Staraptor back before it could even touch Pikachu, knocking it out and winning Ash the battle.

Ash and Larry shook hands, "Gotta give it to ya, that was impressive, pretty sure your Pikachu learned Tera Blast."

"Tera Blast?" Ash asked.

"Any Pokemon can learn it." Larry explained, "It changes type based on what Tera-Type the Pokemon is."

Ash, Grusha and Larry head back into the stands. Liko, Katy and Rika take their place. As Ash reunites with Roy, Ann and Nemona, Dot notices Terapagos wandering off and runs after it.

"Terapagos, get back here!" Dot whispered as she ran.

Ash notices Dot and Terapagos running off and gives chase, "Hey Dot, wait up! I can help!"

Ash and Dot follow Terapagos to the academy's lobby. Following the little Pokemon to the top floor, where they see a girl with red and blue hair holding it.

"Uh," Dot paled, "Do you mind giving that back?"

"And if you could, can you not tell anyone about this?" Ash added.

"Ash and Dot right?" The girl asked, "I'm Penny, and can you keep a secret?"

"How'd you know my name?" Dot asked, "I get how you knew Ash, but me?"

"I do maintenance for the Terastal Training course registration system" Penny explained, "I'm an engineer for the Pokémon League too."

"Oh, I work with tech too-" Dot began to explain before Penny shushed her. Handing Terapagos back and seating her and Ash at a nearby table and pointing to a girl with long brown hair reading a book. "You see that girl? She appeared in the academy database out of nowhere. She says she's just another teacher, but I'm not sure if she's telling the truth."

"Why don't we just go up and ask her?" Ash asked.

"No way, that's too awkward." Dot replied.

"Quaxly!" Quaxly suddenly cried out, pointing that Terapagos had wandered down to the ground level near the teacher they were talking about. Dot and Ash immediately rush downstairs and grab Terapagos and hide it away, though the suspicious teacher now notices them.

"What do you think about Occulture?" Dot impulsively asked.

"I think that the ideas presented in the magazine are absurd." The suspicious teacher replied.

"Well, even rumors have a tiny bit of truth in them." Dot reasoned.

"Some truths are better left undiscovered." The suspicious teacher said before putting the book she was reading back on the shelf and leaving.

"She looks pretty familar." Dot murmured.

"You think so?" Ash asked, "I've never seen someone who looks like that."

Dot picks up the book the suspicious teacher was reading, "The Scarlet Book?" she skims through the pages, Terapagos getting interested in a select few pages.

"Pretty good find." Penny approached them, "We should keep in touch, Dot."

Dot and Penny exhcange numbers and Dot checks out the Scarlet Book before the three trainers leave the library. Not noticing two adults with a Meowth and Wobbuffet eveasdropping on them.

"It seems the twerps have a mysterious book!" James observed.

"And that book may be related to that mystery Pokemon!" Jessie added.

"And dat Pokemon could be a great gift for da boss!" Meowth exclaimed.

"We could get promoted!" James said wishfully.

"Yes, but we better be careful." Jessie explained. "The original Twerp is still isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but his new Twerp friends are sharper than him! If the one with no eyes most of the time can recognize that Explorer girl! We're gonna be exposed if any of them see us!"

"Gee, since when did you be the serious one?" Meowth remarked.

"Wobbuffet!"

Ash and Dot reunite with their friends and watch the battle, Katy had been taken out of the battle and only Clodsire stood standing against Floragato. Floragato struggles to maintain its energy as it endures a Mud Shot. Despite this, Liko seemed to smile.

"Why do you take part in battles?" Rika asked, testing Liko. "You don't seem like a frequent battler."

"So I can be one with my Pokemon!" Liko answered with confidence.

Rika smirked, "Then let's take this to the next level!"

"Yeah!" Liko exclaimed.

Both trainers take out their Tera Orb and Terastallize their Pokemon into a pure-Grass type and a pure-Ground type respectively. Floragato attacks with a Terastallized-boosted Magical Leaf, which Clodsire counters with a Terastallized-boosted Earth Power, overpowering the Grass-type move and defeating Floragato. After recalling her partner, Liko suddenly finds herself shedding tears. Katy gives her a comforting hug, "My dear, you did so well. You were so passionate and took the battle so seriously."

Ash watches from the stands, deciding to step onto the battlefield and kneeling beside Liko and giving her a hug, "Hey Liko, can I tell you a story? It might make you feel better." Liko nods as Ash began talking, "During my first Pokemon League, I was in the top 16 match, Team Rocket had kidnapped me and tried to steal Pikachu, making me late for the match. My Pokemon were super tired and when I only had one Pokemon left. I foolishly chose my Chrizard, who didn't like me then and didn't listen to what I'd say. Charizard took out one Pokemon and then took a nap, making me lose the match. I felt crushed, but I got back up, and I went on to win The Orange League! And then I used any failures as motivation! Even though I lost in Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos. I only noticed how much higher I ranked league after league! Top 16, Top 8, Top 4, Runner Up and then I won the Alola League, and then I went on the become the strongest trainer in the world! I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for all thoses times I lost. You did amazing today, take this loss and only use it to motivate you for a rematch, this isn't over for you, not by a long shot!"

Liko sobs more and Katie and Ash tighten their hug while Grusha watches on, interested in Liko's potential. Later, at the academy lobby, Liko is approached by Grusha, "Hey, you're the person who battled with Ash."

"And you're Liko, right?" Grusha asked and Liko nodded. "If what you just experienced was enough to raise your spirits, you must be pretty frigid."

"Huh?" Liko asked.

Grusha simply walks off as Ash, Roy and Dot appraoch her. "There you are, Liko." Dot said, "I wanted to show you something I found in this Scarlet Book."

Dot flips to a page conatining a drawing that bears a resemblance to Terapagos. Liko blinked, "Woah, I think we're about to go on a new adventure."