WaterShuriken
"I..I..Iron Tail, Pikachu."
I wonder if he has all Hoenn Pokémon or if he has a Kalos Pokémon. That ORAS promotion will be going on for a while I bet.
Makes me wonder if this would make him Ash's fan.
Shota looks like a scrub and apparently battles like one too. No relevant gym badges and a probable loss to Valerie. I'll be surprised if Ash loses.
I think if anyone loses it would probably be Pikachu because we all know Ash likes to underestimate his rivals in the beginning.
I also suspect that to be the case, but I might need to check the available Hoenn Pokémon to come up with something. Pelipper and Delcatty both sound decent, but I want to what hasn't made an appearance yet.
I wonder why Shota wants to battle Ash
Because they are both pokemon trainers and other reasons I'm sure but the first I listed should answer why anyone wants to battle anyone in the pokemon world.
assuming Shota only has Hoenn pokemon, I would kinda dig seeing Swalot again, since that pokemon is severely underrated IMO.
Likely, it could be in relation to the Gym battle though. If Ash loses maybe Shota offers to practice with him, if Ash wins, maybe Shota wants a chance to beat him.
If this is a practice battle only to help Ash against Valerie later, I could handle that if Ash gains a new strategy from this experience.
For me, an actual 3v3 where Shota's Treecko proves that not only Ash can train a small Pokemon to a high level would suffice..
I think that Shota watches Ash's gym battle vs Valerie, Ash wins and Shota admires Ash and makes him his rival, thus battling him.