Drake was younger than Ash had expected, a man in his twenties wearing a vest jacket, with the kind of build that came from making exercise a genuine priority rather than a side habit.
Becoming Head Trainer at that age said everything about the level of talent behind the title.
He arrived slightly winded from jogging over, recovered in a few seconds, and extended his hand.
"Are you Ash? I've heard a lot about you. I'm Drake, Head Trainer of the Orange Islands."
"You're too kind, I'm not that remarkable." Ash scratched the back of his head, then straightened up and met Drake's handshake firmly. "I'm Ash, from Pallet Town. Looking forward to the match."
Drake smiled. "I'll be honest, when I first heard you'd come to the Orange Islands, my immediate thought was that I wanted a battle with you. Technically, only Trainers who've collected all the Southern Cross Badges have standing to challenge me. But this situation is a bit different. You're not the challenger here. I am."
The guard standing nearby heard this and quietly tried to make sense of it. Drake had been Head Trainer for years without a single loss. Challengers came through who had completed the entire Southern Cross circuit and still couldn't force out his final Pokémon.
And now Drake was calling himself the challenger against a teenager who had shown up without a single Badge. Just who was this kid?
"Tomorrow morning at ten, then?" Drake asked. "Pummelo Stadium, right here."
"I'll be there," Ash said.
"I have some things to take care of before then. Feel free to explore the island in the meantime. Pummelo is the central island of the Orange Islands, more developed than most, though if you're coming from a big city it might not seem like anything unusual."
Misty waved from behind Ash's shoulder. "Not at all! Every island out here has its own character. It's been a great experience."
"Glad to hear it. See you all tomorrow." Drake gave a wave and headed back inside.
The news spread across Pummelo Island within hours. Drake was known to every local on the island. Ash was not, at least not here. Pummelo wasn't a major tourist destination, so his reputation in Kanto and the more visited parts of the Orange Islands hadn't reached this particular corner.
The initial read from most locals was that another Trainer who had completed the Southern Cross circuit had arrived to take their shot at the Head Trainer.
The expected outcome was the same as always. Drake would win. He had not lost a single match since taking the title, and beyond that, no challenger in recent memory had even managed to push him far enough to bring out his final Pokémon.
Everyone on the island knew that Drake's ace operated on a different level from everything else in his team. The fact that challengers kept falling before reaching it said less about the challengers and more about how far ahead of the competition Drake was sitting.
Then a different detail started circulating. The person named Ash wasn't actually the challenger. Drake had declared himself the challenger.
That changed things considerably.
By the time the island had finished looking into who Ash actually was, it was nearly midnight. What they found explained everything. Less than a year since his debut. Indigo Plateau Conference champion.
Multiple battles against Kanto Elite Four members with Champion-level strength. A narrow loss to Lorelei when she had used her second-string team, followed by a win against two of her main Pokémon in the rematch. And among the Pokémon he had fielded, Lugia, God of the Sea, the deity at the center of Orange Islands culture.
No wonder Drake had made himself the challenger.
The tickets for the next morning sold out before midnight. In previous years, seats for Drake's matches went quickly but there were always some left until shortly before the start.
This time the stadium was booked solid hours before anyone went to sleep. The island wanted to see this one, and more than that, they wanted to see if this was finally the match that pushed Drake to use his ace again.
The next morning, Ash and Drake walked out to the center of Pummelo Stadium. The format was a full six-on-six match, with a halftime break and field change after each side had lost three Pokémon.
Misty and Serena had been given seats in the dedicated contestant rest area behind Ash's position.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Pummelo Stadium! Our two contestants today are the Orange Islands Head Trainer Drake, and from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, Indigo Plateau Conference Champion, Ash!"
"This match was initiated by our Head Trainer himself. The man who normally stands as the one being challenged has stepped onto his own field as the challenger. That alone tells you something.
But when you look at who he's challenging, it starts to make sense. Ash has been active for less than a year and already holds a win over Johto Elite Four member Koga, a formal two-on-two victory against Kanto Elite Lorelei, and has been confirmed to have the Variant God of the Sea in his team.
What most Trainers couldn't accomplish in a lifetime, this young man has done in just over half a year. Today's match is going to be something special. Keep your eyes on the field!"
Announcer Amin's buildup had the crowd loud before the first Poké Ball was thrown. The referee gave the signal and both Trainers moved at the same time.
Ash's Pokémon materialized on the field in a flash of light: Lapras, newly caught during the Orange Islands journey.
Drake's choice was a pink, gelatinous Pokémon that settled onto the field with quiet confidence.
Ditto.
"Lapras makes her debut in contestant Ash's lineup! A rare Pokémon and a new face on his team. On the other side, Head Trainer Drake opens with his ever-present Ditto!
In Drake's last ten matches, nearly half of his challengers couldn't get past this single Pokémon. Those who did manage it were usually left so worn down that the rest of the match was already decided. How will Ash handle it?"
Ditto was one of the most unusual Pokémon in existence. Its Transformation allowed it to become a near-perfect copy of any Pokémon it faced, matching not just appearance but stats as well. The synchronization had limits.
It could bridge a gap of up to two tiers in level, and the higher the base level, the narrower that window became. A Ditto at Low Elite Four level could stretch to reach Champion Initial, but Champion Intermediate would already be beyond what the synchronization could fully cover.
Stamina didn't transfer. Whatever Ditto copied, it kept its own reserves, which meant fighting above its natural level burned through energy quickly.
An opponent could fire moves freely while Ditto risked running dry after just a handful of exchanges. On top of that, using Ditto effectively required knowing the moveset of whatever Pokémon it was facing.
Call a move the real Pokémon didn't know and Ditto would stall, creating an opening that a sharp opponent would immediately exploit.
Ditto was powerful in theory and genuinely difficult to use well. That Drake had built the record he had around this Pokémon said a great deal about his skill as a Trainer.
The moment Ditto landed on the field it began transforming. In under a second, a second Lapras stood on the field. From the stands, the two were nearly identical. From where Ash was standing, they were completely distinct.
Every Pokémon had its own Aura, and no transformation could replicate that. He could tell them apart without any effort.
His Lapras had come to him injured and small, barely at Mid level. The weeks since had changed that considerably. Daily journeys across open water, Ash's cooking, and Lapras's own stubborn drive to improve had pushed her to High level in under a month, crossing a full major tier and landing at a level comparable to the main Pokémon of an average Gym Leader. The talent was real.
Drake's Ditto, his Eye of Insight had already confirmed, was at Elite Peak. It outranked Lapras significantly under normal conditions. With Transformation active, that advantage compressed entirely. Its stats could only match Lapras's current level. The one remaining edge was stamina, Ditto's own reserves sitting higher than what the transformation could affect.
"Lapras, Ice Beam!"
"Use Ice Beam!"
Both commands came almost simultaneously. Two beams of ice-blue light crossed the field and collided in the center. The frost that flooded outward from the impact reached the pool at the center of the rock-and-water field and froze it solid in seconds.