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Chapter Text

May Maple's first day as a Pokémon trainer was not going quite as well as she had hoped.

Firstly, there was that she didn't actually have a Pokémon yet.

Secondly, there was that Professor Birch – the Pokémon Professor who was supposed to be giving her her Starter Pokémon – had somehow ended up stuck in a tree, menaced by a pack of Poochyena.

And now he was asking her to get one of the Pokéballs from his bag and help him out.

"Uh… this one?" May asked, picking up a Pokéball, and opened it.

A Mudkip came out, and looked at her expectantly.

"Use… an attack?" she tried.

Mudkip's expression became considerably less expectant.

"Mudkip knows Water Gun!" Professor Birch called.

"Then use Water Gun!" she said, and Mudkip used Water Gun.

Really, May had thought you wouldn't have to specify that you wanted a Pokémon to attack the enemy Pokémon. Instead of your own face.

Before the situation could continue, though, a spiky Pokémon flew overhead. All the Poochyena jumped, staring up at it as it circled once, and then ran for it.

The yellow-and-black Pokémon landed with finicky precision in the clearing, just next to the tree Professor Birch was in, and a trainer got off its back.

"Uh… do either of you know where Professor Birch lives?" he asked. "I tried following Professor Oak's directions, but we were just going around in circles."

"Gyaau," the Flying-type added.

"Hey, I'm bad enough with directions on the ground," the trainer pointed out, and his Pokémon just shrugged its wings.

"Well, I'm assuming you're Ash Ketchum," Professor Birch said, clambering back down the tree. "And I'm Professor Birch. It's nice to meet you at last, Professor Oak has said a lot about you. That's a magnificent Zapdos you've got there, very sharply defined plumage."

The Zapdos looked quite pleased with itself.

"She flew us all the way from Pallet Town since yesterday morning," Ash said. "Oh, uh… I think I need to get my trainer card registered with you? Is that something to do at your lab?"

"That's probably for the best," Professor Birch decided. "Oh – this is May Maple, she's a brand new trainer."

"Nice to meet you, May!" Ash said. "So you just got your starter Pokémon?"

"Not yet, actually," May replied, a bit embarrassed. "How did you know which one to pick?"

A second Pokémon, this one on his shoulder, said something. "Chuuu…"

"I… actually got there too late," Ash admitted. "Pikachu was the only one left… still, we got on pretty well after a bit of an argument to start with, and now I wouldn't have wanted anyone else."

The Pikachu on his shoulder cooed something, leaning into a scratch, and Ash started taking a harness off Zapdos before folding it up and putting it in his backpack. That done, he returned the Flying-type, and brushed his hands together. "So, uh… which way should we be going?"

"It's this way," Professor Birch told him, collecting up the Mudkip and the other two Pokémon from his bag.

"...so I don't know as much about the other two," Ash explained, as they walked. "But I battled someone who had a Blaziken recently. He even Mega Evolved it into a Mega Blaziken, which are really fast and strong, but Pikachu had it handled."

"I'd picked up the electricity from two Freeze Shocks, so I was all set," Pikachu agreed.

"Actually, maybe Ibid has something to say," Ash mused, and rummaged in his pocket. "Let's see…"

He flicked the switch to expand his Pokédex out into full size, then examined him for a moment. "Uh… search?"

"Please enter your search terms," Ibid requested.

"Torchic, Mudkip, Treecko and their evolutions?" Ash tried, and Ibid changed shape smoothly into each Pokémon in turn – Torchic, Combusken, Blaziken and Mega Blaziken, then the Treecko line and the Mudkip line.

"That's pretty cool," May admitted, as the Swampert did a pose and explained how it could detect approaching storms. "Professor, can all Pokédexes do that?"

"That one seems quite advanced, but they're all loaded with information," Professor Birch told her. "Ah, here we are – Littleroot Town. Let's get you both sorted out."

To May's distinct surprise, Ash was able to give her a bit of help with picking a starter Pokémon… not by talking about what each Pokémon was capable of as a species, but by talking to all three specific Pokémon and asking them how they thought it would be to have a trainer.

Mudkip was a lost cause already, and May couldn't really bring herself to be upset about that – apparently he was kind of rude about her, as Ash reported it – but the Treecko and the Torchic were both sort of interested for different reasons.

It sounded like Treecko was after a laid-back sort of trainer who did the normal sort of Pokémon journey, the kind where you went around for a few months, challenged a few gyms, and picked up a team of three or four Pokémon who would be with you the rest of your life. And Torchic was a bit more uncertain, but said that he was more ambitious about it all.

He wanted a trainer who would make help him become a better Pokémon.

May had never really thought about the extent to which Pokémon had different personalities before that day, but once she'd heard Ash's summary she had to think a lot about her own goals.

Which of those two versions of her did she want to be?

"That's a normal Pokémon journey?" Pikachu pondered. "I suppose it kind of has to be… it's not like everyone gets to the finals of the League. There's not enough people in the finals."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Ash agreed.

He was about to say more, but May nodded to herself.

"I think… I'd rather try and be what Torchic wants," she said. "I don't know if it'll work out like that, but… that's how I think."

"No worries," Treecko declared, shrugging.

Torchic just nodded firmly, then waved to May. "Then you're my trainer!"

"I'll just get that sorted out," Professor Birch told them both. "I've already got you registered for Hoenn, Ash, though I've kept your overflow Pokémon location as Professor Oak's ranch – it's got better facilities."

"That's great, thanks," Ash told him. "Then I guess it's to, uh, wherever the nearest gym is?"

He glanced at May. "Do you have any idea?"

"I can show you," May decided. "I'm heading back that way anyway."

May had a bike, and Ash had Zapdos.

Combining the two, however, did not work out. May could cycle as hard as she could, and Zapdos could fly just above her stall speed, and the combination meant that they'd still gradually drift apart.

"Maybe that's for the best?" Ash said, pondering, after the third attempt. "I know a bike is a faster way of getting around, but going by foot means you have more time to get to know your Pokémon… actually, that reminds me."

May watched with some confusion – as did her new Torchic – as Ash swung his bag down off his shoulder. He pulled out a little squishy green thing that looked like another Pokémon, set it on the ground, then stood back.

"Okay, Zygarde, I think we're done with flying for now," he said.

Zygarde flared up, going from Core Forme to 10-Percent Forme, and stretched first its front legs and then its back legs in a very canine manner.

"That is agreeable," the Ground-type declared. "The weather here is good."

"Glad to hear it," Ash said. "And, uh… so a Pokémon can hold an item, and it stays with them in their Pokéball… Zapdos, want to see if you can take May's bike with you until we get to where she lives?"

On the way from Littleroot to Oldale, Ash taught May a few more things about being a Pokémon trainer.

"So… if you want to focus on pure battling, then you can do the Pokémon League challenge," he said. "But then if you want to do something with Pokémon performing, you can do Contests instead – that's what my friend Brock did. And my other friend Misty was mostly focused on getting a big Water type team and getting stronger, because she's a Water type specialist, though she did get a pretty cute Togetic as well."

"Well, I don't think I'm likely to specialize…" May said, thinking about that. "I have seen a few Contests though. How did your friend do at them?"

"His Pokémon were pretty good, I think," Ash answered. "It's kind of… partly about coming up with routines, partly about training to battle, and partly about making sure your Pokémon is comfortable with their moves, I guess? So… Eevee has a trick she can use to block attacks, but it's making it so that looks good too."

"At which she was successful," Zygarde stated, then shook their head. "Apologies. Forgot there is no Vulpix."

"Yeah, I know…" Ash sighed. "I wonder how Brock and Misty are getting on?"

"...I said I only had three badges!" the challenger protested.

"Yes?" Misty replied, slightly confused, and next to her Gyarados tilted his head in similar confusion. "It's not like I Mega Evolved him or anything."

Togetic giggled.

A little further down the road from Littleroot to Oldale, May gasped.

"Look at that!" she said, pointing. "That's such a cute Pokémon – what is it?"

Ash held up Ibid, and the Pokédex transformed.

"Azurill," he announced. "A Normal and Fairy-type baby Pokémon that evolves into the Water and Fairy-type Marill."

May got out a Pokéball, but Ash looked at her oddly. "Wait, hold on… you don't know if that Pokémon wants to join you yet. It's just a baby Pokémon, remember, you can't just guess that it must want a trainer because you can see it by the side of a path."

That made May blink a few times. "I… huh, I actually didn't think of that. Is that the sort of thing most Pokémon trainers think about?"

She blinked. "It never seems to get mentioned."

"Well, I think most people kind of have to guess," Ash said. "And the fact trainers tend to weaken a Pokémon before they can catch them in a Pokéball kind of gives the Pokémon the chance to run away. But you can always just ask?"

"Most humans would not understand the answer," Zygarde pointed out.

"Yeah, I know most people don't understand Pokémon language, but if you ask and the Pokémon runs away then you've kind of got your answer anyway," Ash pointed out. "Pikachu, mind going over to ask?"

"Sure," Pikachu agreed, jumping down from Ash's shoulder.

"So… now we've got three missions at once," Jessie said, going through the folder. "The boss must really trust us to give us this much to do."

"No kiddin'," Meowth agreed. "Might be nice if we had a few more guys to help us out, though."

"Observation: I have an enormous flying fortress," Porygon declared. "Smug addition: to which I recently finished adding an after market cloaking generator. Inquiry: how is this not sufficient resources?"

"It ain't about resources, it's about guys," Meowth said. "An' it's also about resources."

He flicked his claws out and began counting. "We gotta still keep an eye on the Twerp, one way or another, so we can tell the boss when he's likely to come back home ta Kanto. An' we gotta watch out for these Team Aqua an' Team Magma guys, so that's two."

"I thought that was three," James protested. "You mean we have another job?"

"Yeah, make sure that Team Rocket got a presence here!" Meowth insisted. "So recruitin' and stuff."

"Logical conclusion: recruitment would solve our numbers problem," Porygon observed.

"I think having friends would be good," Muk said, placidly. "Poison types especially. The only things that can fight when Poison types get going are Poison types, Steel types, and some specific Pokémon… and those don't mind it when I hug them."

Arbok and Weezing exchanged glances.

"He's got a point, you know," Weezing muttered.

"Do we actually have a plan, then?" Jessie said. "Or something approaching one?"

Porygon let out an electronic sigh, then flashed up a message on all his screens.

STEP ONE. RECRUITMENT.

"...it's got a step one," Meowth said. "Dat's better than a lot of plans, right there."

"Your Cranidos seemed kind of excited about the Oldale ruins," May said, the following evening.

"Yeah, she's like that sometimes," Ash agreed. "I think she'd been there before, she's been around for ages."

May accepted that, then sent out her Torchic and Azurill.

"I think we're staying here for the night," she told them. "I'll leave it up to you whether you rest outside or in your Pokéballs."

"I've never been this far from home before," Azurill said, looking up and doing a spin with her spring waving around. "I'll stay out."

For his part, Ash had started fumbling his way through putting up a tent.

"Brock is way better at this," he admitted, then shook his head. "I'm just going to use a sleeping bag and put the tent up as a rainshield… think your Torchic can start a fire if I get some sticks together for it?"

He got some food out of his bag, and began sorting it. "That can be heated… that probably shouldn't be… the last time I tried toasting dango Zapdos zapped me for wasting good mochi… okay, I think food's sorted out. Want to try some training until dinner?"

"Like what?" May asked. "I… don't really know where to start."

Ash frowned for a moment. "So… for Torchic, for example, I know he knows Ember, but just being able to use an attack is the start. You can work on making it longer ranged, or making it stronger, or so that it hits an exact point. And for Azurill, when she evolves she'll be a Water type so you could work on that, or you could go for teaching her how to move… actually, that's probably a good start anyway."

"How to move?" May repeated.

Ash nodded. "Want to show them, uh… Croconaw, you and Pikachu!"

"Sure!" Croconaw agreed, emerging from his Lure Ball.

May blinked, but Croconaw just bowed to her – sweeping his arm out to the side – then began thumping his tail on the ground. "A one, two, three!"

As May – and both her Pokémon – watched, Croconaw began dancing around and jumping from side to side to avoid each Thundershock that came his way.

"Croconaw's really good at this," Ash explained. "He's dodging, but he's not just dodging – he's always ready to move in a different direction if he needs to, or to attack, or something like that."

"Oooh," Torchic said, impressed.

The next day, they reached Petalburg.

"Wow, May, that took you way longer than I was expecting!" Max said, greeting her in the usual way of a younger brother. "Did you get lost?"

"No, I met this other trainer who's been helping me out," May replied. "He was just staying back to talk to one of the people at the Pokémon Centre, he'll be along in a minute."

"He?" Max repeated, grinning. "You mean you met a boy?"

"It's not like that," May replied, crossly. "He's just been helpful."

Max sniggered. "Sure he has. It's not like he's…"

He trailed off, staring.

"...is that Ash Ketchum?"

"Yeah, that's his name," May agreed. "How did you-"

Max transferred his stare to his sister.

"You've spent the last couple of days travelling with Ash Ketchum? The one who won the Silver Conference and has so many Legendary Pokémon people aren't sure how many he has?"

"He didn't have any of those when I met him," May said. "So far I've seen his Pikachu, Cranidos, Croconaw, Zapdos and Zorua."

Max blinked.

"…how are you the one who's allowed Pokémon?" he asked. "You didn't know Zapdos was a Legendary Pokémon?"

"She mostly just eats dango," May defended herself, then turned around and waved. "Hey, Ash – this is my brother Max!"

Max was amazed to be meeting Ash.

"You've got Pokémon I hadn't even heard of until I saw them on TV!" he said. "And I thought I knew what an Articuno looked like, until I saw yours, but then I found out that there are Articuno that look different to the ones I'm used to… do you have any that haven't been shown on TV yet?"

"Well, uh…" Ash began, frowning. "Hold on… have they shown the Elite Four battles yet? I know they were going to edit that together, but Lance didn't say how long it was going to take..."

"Elite Four?" May said, interested. "They sound tough."

"They're the strongest trainers in – how have you not heard of the Elite Four?" Max demanded of his sister. "We had one where we used to live! We have one here in Hoenn! Dad had to speak to them to-"

"Ssh!" May protested. "I don't want to sound like I'm boasting!"

"...yeah, you don't get what a big deal Ash is as a trainer," Max decided. "And they're going to put your Elite Four challenge on TV? That's going to be amazing… but no, they've only shown the main Silver Conference battles so far."

"In that case…" Ash said, and began counting. "Uh, hold on… Ibid, can you show me a list of my Pokémon?"

A list duly appeared, and Ash began ticking them off. "He was against Harrison, right… and they were against Vincent…"

"Woof, by the way," Zygarde volunteered.

May crouched down to give the canine Ground-type a scratch. "Oh, this is Zygarde, Max. They're not actually one of Ash's Pokémon, they're just tagging along with him."

"I didn't even know that was an option," Max admitted.

"I think there's only two you wouldn't have seen, if you saw my full Silver Conference run," Ash decided. "That's Zacian and Ho-Oh."

Max fell over, and Zygarde darted around to catch the kid before he hurt himself on the ground.

"Ibid, can you check if they're available?" Ash requested.

"Checking," Ibid replied, turning into an hourglass, then reforming into the normal shape. "Zacian is available. Ho-Oh is currently having lunch."

"I guess it'd be rude to interrupt him," Ash decided. "Can you teleport Zacian here, then?"

"Please wait."

Ibid vanished in a flash of light.

"You forgot one, Ash," Pikachu said. "If it's counting registered Pokémon, anyway. Absol."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Ash realized. "Absol is another one, but it's kind of a technically weird case."

Ibid reappeared with a Repeat ball. "Transfer complete."

"Thanks," Ash told the Pokédex, then sent Zacian out. "This is Zacian, she's my second Fairy-type, and my first Steel-type when she's in Crowned Sword Form. Which she isn't at the moment."

The Heroine of Many Battles bowed, elegantly, then tilted her head slightly. "Why is a small child passed out on the floor?"

"Ash mentioned he was your trainer, I think?" Pikachu said. "It could have been Ho-Oh though."

"Anyway, uh, doesn't Petalburg have a gym?" Ash asked. "Once your brother's okay, I should go there."

"You don't need to-" May began, but Ibid was already speaking.

"Correct," he said. "The Gym Leader in Petalburg is Norman Maple."

"Oh, huh, so he's your… uncle? Dad?" Ash asked. "Older brother? That's kind of neat whichever one it is."

Chapter Text

"So Zacian is a Fairy type, which means she can ignore Dragon type attacks…" May said, slowly, as they walked through Petalburg towards the Gym. "But it means she's weak to Steel and Poison attacks. And that's the kind of thing you have to think about?"

"Yeah, though it's more of a guideline than a rule, generally," Ash replied. "There's ways for a Ghost to get hit by Fighting and Normal attacks, and for a Ground type to get hit by Electric attacks… I wouldn't be surprised if there was a way for a Fairy type to get hit by Dragon attacks out there somewhere, I've just not seen it yet."

He shrugged. "I don't think any Pokémon trainer could ever see everything that's out there… but when your Pokémon are battling you need to keep their Type in mind mostly because it kind of defines what's going to hurt them."

"Indeed," Zacian confirmed. "It's why Zygarde here feels the cold."

"So what else do you need to think about?" Max asked, clearly torn between exasperation and interest. "If the type is only really important defensively."

"Well…" Ash counted off. "What moves the Pokémon knows, and what other skills they have, and you kind of put that all together into what works best for them as a style. So, say, Zacian can fly."

Between one footstep and the next, Zacian gently pushed off the ground. A swirl of sparkles surrounded her paws, and she floated along for several metres before landing back down again.

"And that means she's much more mobile," Ash went on. "But on the other hand some of her good moves need a sword, so we got her a little one she can use if she needs it… actually, where is that?"

"Alas, it got left at Pallet," Zacian said.

"That's okay, I guess Ibid can go and get it later," Ash decided. "If we need it."

"What about Torchic?" May asked, reaching down to her Pokéballs. "And Azurill."

Ash frowned. "So, for Torchic… it's a bit early to work out, I think, but I guess it might help out if he can fly, too."

"Torchic can't learn Fly," Max told them.

"I should think that they wouldn't with that attitude," Zacian sniffed.

"Yeah, I've never understood why people say Pokémon can't learn moves," Ash said. "It makes way more sense to say usually don't, because you just need to show one who can and it disproves it. But Torchic's got wings, right, so he should be able to fly…"

Gym Leader Norman met them just outside the Petalburg Gym, and looked Ash up and down for a moment before offering his hand.

"I suppose you need no introduction," he said, as Ash shook it. "Welcome to Hoenn. Should I be worried?"

"I don't think so," Ash replied, giving the question serious thought. "We talked about it after the thing in Altomare, and I think it's that usually when Pokémon are in trouble I'm nearby rather than my being nearby causing Pokémon to be in trouble."

He grinned. "Anyway, I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle!"

"Well, the first thing I'd normally ask is whether you have three Pokémon with you," Norman said. "But… I can see you do."

"Technically I am not registered," Zygarde voiced.

"Yeah, Zygarde isn't actually mine," Ash agreed. "But I've got a team with me, though… I'm kind of planning on picking who I use based on what your gym challenge is?"

Norman considered. "That's a good approach," he decided. "At the Petalburg Gym, I give out the Balance Badge – what I like to see is that a trainer's Pokémon are well balanced and strong, rather than relying on a single Pokémon and neglecting the rest of the team. Accordingly, in your case it will be a double battle with three Pokémon involved."

"Three Pokémon…" Ash repeated, thinking. "Okay, I think I know who to use… I guess you're not supposed to have a clue ahead of time, though, so I'll sort that out in a second."

While Ash was working that out, Max approached his father.

"I really want to go on the same journey as May, if she's following Ash around Hoenn," he said. "Is that something that's even possible? I know I don't have any Pokémon, but-"

Norman held up his hand.

"If that's what you want, Max, I don't think there's a reason to say no," he replied. "But remember, on a journey you might run into Pokémon who you really want to join you, and that won't be possible yet. Are you ready for that?"

Max looked down, thinking.

"I think I am?" he said. "But if I didn't go on a journey yet I'd never meet them anyway, right, so… it's not actually anything I'm losing."

He frowned. "And… if the Pokémon really wants to join me, too, couldn't May catch them?"

"Only if you're really nice to me," May teased.

"Hey!" Max protested. "I'll… do my best?"

"You'd better," May told him. "And I'm making no promises about teaching them to do Contest things."

Norman looked interested. "Contests, then?"

"Ash mentioned them, and… I'm not sure yet, but it sounds interesting," May replied. "I'll see what happens, I guess?"

Ash came back in, then. "Okay, I'm ready for this!"

"Two Pokémon at a time," Norman reiterated. "You can't switch out, but once the first Pokémon is defeated you can switch your third one in. Are you ready?"

"You bet!" Ash agreed.

"In that case…" Norman paused for a moment. "Begin!"

The first Pokémon he sent out was a Slaking, a massive simian Pokémon which yawned before sitting down. In comparison, the second – a Diggersby – was almost lost next to it.

Shaymintwo and Cyndaquil emerged on Ash's side of the field, and Shaymintwo gave his teammate a glance.

"Heh," he said. "Think you can keep up?"

"Let's find out!" Cyndaquil declared.

"Diggersby, Gastro Acid!" Norman began. "Slaking, Mega Punch!"

"Agility!" Ash told both Pokémon. "Dodge!"

Both Shaymintwo and Cyndaquil balled up immediately, and just in time – as Ash had realized, Diggersby's Gastro Acid wasn't meant for either of them.

It was for Slaking.

Slaking completely shook off the habitual lethargy of his species and lashed out with a Mega Punch, barely missing Cyndaquil as the Fire-type zipped out of the way, then Shaymintwo pinged around to hit Slaking with a Flame Charge from one side as Cyndaquil did it from the other side.

"Don't neglect Diggersby!" Ash called. "Shaymintwo, Poisonpowder!"

"Both of you go for the cloud!" Norman instructed.

"He's trying something – absorb it quick!" Ash called. "Cyndaquil, Lava Plume!"

Cyndaquil detonated with a whoom, but all three other Pokémon – not just Shaymintwo – got to the poison cloud at once.

"Protect!" Ash called.

Zygarde tapped on one of Ash's Pokéballs.

"Shield please," he requested, as Silver formed, and the little Lugia took in the situation for just a moment before throwing up a Safeguard around all of them.

Then Slaking and Diggersby – who was, of course, a Huge Power Diggersby – began using Facade, just as Shaymintwo switched to teleporting around to try and line up a Seed Flare and Cyndaquil began bouncing off the walls.

Protect might prevent him from taking any of the actual impact from Facade, but it didn't do much about momentum.

"Isn't this kind of bad for the building?" Max asked, then winced as Cyndaquil hit the wall with a crash. "I mean, I know Dad battles in here a lot, but this seems… intense."

"Hammer Arm!" Norman ordered.

"Rock Smash!" Ash retaliated. "Shaymintwo, Bullet Seed!"

Shaymintwo skidded along the ground and sprayed a barrage of projectiles at Diggersby. They hit home, knocking the Pokémon off course slightly, and Shaymintwo snorted something.

Then he used Teleport to appear just above Diggersby, a greenish light glowing between his paws, and fired a spear of green light down that hammered into Diggersby and knocked him right through the floorboards.

Then Slaking swiped at Shaymintwo with an Ice Punch, but Cyndaquil blurred in the way with a flash of flame so that the punch hit him instead of his teammate.

"I think Diggersby's out," Norman decided, and recalled the lapine Pokémon. "Which means I'm going to switch in my Linoone."

"We can handle a Linoone," Shaymintwo said, in the brief lull as Slaking stopped attacking.

The Linoone waved, then pulled a purplish orb out of her fur and broke it over her head.

"Uh…" Cyndaquil began, raising his paw. "Is she… starting to vibrate?"

"Extreme Speed!" Norman ordered.

Fortunately for the building, only Linoone knew Extreme Speed, but the blow still came in an almost invisibly fast blur and knocked Shaymintwo into the wall with a crash. Linoone kicked off from there and hit Cyndaquil instead, then back at Shaymintwo, and by then Slaking was back to attacking and Cyndaquil got sandwiched between Linoone and Slaking's fist.

There was a tremendous bang, and when it faded Cyndaquil had turned into a Quilava.

He was, nevertheless, out cold.

"I guess that makes my third choice a good one!" Ash decided, recalling Quilava. "If you're still ready for this, Larvitar?"

Larvitar emerged from his Pokéball, and gave a nod. "I'm ready."

"Then Sandstorm!" Ash called.

"Extreme Speed!" Norman ordered. "Slaking, Hammer Arm!"

"Keep Larvitar covered, Shaymintwo!" Ash said, though by then Larvitar had already used Sandstorm and raised his sand shield. It made a soft shuff noise as Linoone bounced off it, and then when Slaking hit the shield it went wham but Larvitar simply had too much mass to be moved around as easily as the other two.

Shaymintwo blurred in while the two Normal-types were focused on his teammate, and pulled a large tube out of nowhere anyone could readily discern. He shrugged it around so it was resting on his back, and took aim so that it pointed towards the melee.

"You're going down! Zap Cannon!" he announced, and fired an orb of fizzing energy that knocked both Linoone and Slaking backwards.

"Thanks," Larvitar said, folding his arms, and sand hissed around him with a surrush before rising up at his gesture. "Scorching Sands."

"Slaking, support," Norman ordered. "Linoone – Belly Drum!"

Eventually, the noise seemed to have died down.

There were several holes all over the Petalburg Gym's walls, floor and ceiling – mostly Linoone-shaped, though there were a couple that were Shaymin-shaped and one particularly large one was obviously made by Slaking.

Some of it was on fire, largely from Shaymintwo's last few Flame Charges, and Silver examined the smouldering sections before turning to Ash.

"You remember that fire training thing?" he asked. "Because I'm not sure if this is one of those situations they talked about where the weight of the water might make a building collapse."

"It's probably okay so long as you just use a bit," Ash said. "I'm not an architect though… is it likely this place is going to fall over?"

"Not really," Norman waved off. "Usually when it gets damaged I just borrow Brawly's Timburr clan. They do good work, I'll have to call him later."

Larvitar's sand moved aside slightly. "The battle is over, right, Ash?"

"That's right, Larvitar," Ash agreed. "Well done – you're the last Pokémon standing, actually."

"Oh, good," Larvitar said, and stepped down off the sand platform he'd been using to avoid being hit by a Bulldoze.

The floorboards creaked ominously, and he stepped back onto the sand platform more quickly than he'd left it.

"Definitely need to call Brawly," Norman mused, then turned his attention to Ash. "Well done, Ash – you've clearly got a balanced team."

"I'm not sure that that word has the same meaning that I'm used to from video games!" Silver said. "But you're the expert, it is the name of your badge."

Norman rummaged in his pocket, and got out a case. "Here – in case you didn't already have one, I've got a Hoenn badge case to give you if you want it."

"They do those?" Ash asked, surprised. "I just pin mine to the inside of my jacket."

"Well, allow me to introduce you to them," Norman said. "This one's already got the Basic Badge inside it."

He shook Ash's hand. "Don't forget to beat the other gyms in Hoenn as well. And Max, May?"

Norman's two children looked attentive, and tried to ignore the distinctly unstable state of the gym they happened to be standing in.

"Good luck," he told them. "Have a good time on your journey with Ash, and don't forget to call home occasionally."

"I know so far the only type I've met two Gym Leaders of is Normal," Ash said, that evening. "But so far they've both been really nice. And I've learned a lot from both of them."

"Who was the other one?" May asked, watching as Ash's Cranidos talked with her Torchic. "You went to… Johto first, right?"

"Kanto first, then the Orange Islands, then Johto," Ash corrected. "I'm not sure how the Orange Islands count, though, they didn't really have type Gyms."

He took out Ibid. "What's the next Gym if we keep going this way?"

Ibid turned into a small scale map of Hoenn. "Next gym is Rustboro Gym, which is Rock type."

"Huh, so that's like Brock, then," Ash decided. "Actually, I should see if Brock's planning on joining us…"

"What's going on over there?" Max interrupted.

Ash looked up, and saw that Cranidos was making a flapping motion with her arms.

Torchic copied, and slowly rose into the air.

"Looks like Torchic's getting the hang of Fly," Ash said. "Still kind of slow, but that's what practice helps with I guess."

"But…" Max began, then shook his head. "Okay. Okay, I just need to recognize that it's happened, so clearly it can happen."

May smiled. "I think it's kind of cute," she said, holding out her arm, and Torchic puffed up slightly before increasing the speed of his flapping and slowly moving over to perch on May's arm. "That's going to help in a Contest, right?"

"Yeah, though… actually, I know who might have a couple of suggestions," Ash added. "Ibid, can you grab Ho-Oh if he's around? I want to know if those flames are part of Recover or something that can be learned separately…"

Chapter Text

Since it was a long way from Petalburg to Rustboro, it wasn't really feasible for the friends to carry enough food for the whole journey.

Fortunately, they didn't need to, for several reasons. One of them was that there were Pokémon Centres and small towns scattered along the route, but when that wasn't enough they found another alternative – like when they found themselves in need of lunch one day, and Zapdos simply volunteered to go and fetch some food.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Max asked, not for the first time, as May and her Azurill played catch with the GS ball. "I know you can understand Pokémon, but… I know you wrote out the order too, but it just seems weird."

"We did it a few times in Johto, mostly for Ho-Oh though," Ash replied, with a shrug. "I trust Zapdos to come back and get help if she has trouble, too."

Max considered that. "I guess that makes sense… it still seems weird, though. You'd expect to do it with a Pidgey or something, but…"

"Why's that?" Ash asked. "Is it because they're rarer?"

The younger boy just looked at him in complete bafflement. "...what?"

"I have a suggestion," Zygarde said, getting up from where he was resting on a rock and padding over to May and Azurill. "What about if you try hitting the ball as far as you can, Azurill, and I will go and retrieve it so you can try again."

"That sounds like pretty good training," Ash said, as Max tried to work out how to get his point across. "That way you can practice power, too."

"What's that?" May asked. "Oh, uh… looks like we might need to try after lunch, I think that's Zapdos on the way back."

"Ah, this is going to be good," Zapdos said, a few minutes later, once everything had been unpacked and laid out. "A good flight of a few miles to work up an appetite…"

Then a Taillow came flying in, and picked up a sushi roll before flying off.

"Hey, that's not very polite," the Electric-type objected.

Another Taillow came flying in as well, and snatched some of the yaki soba. Then a third went for a Pokeblock, and Zapdos waved her wings ineffectually at them. "Stop it, please."

"Yeah, it's kind of rude to take food without asking," Ash protested.

Then one of the Taillow took a dango ball.

Zapdos' wings lit up. "You did not just do that."

"Get down!" Pikachu advised.

Max and May couldn't understand him, but the intent was clear.

"THUNDER!" Zapdos announced, and for a few seconds it rained Taillow.

Then, with bolts still snapping around the clearing, Zapdos turned up her beak. "That's better," she said.

"Really?" asked a Taillow.

Zapdos looked down.

One of the Taillow had sparks fizzing over their tailtips, so had clearly been caught in the wide-area blast, but still seemed perfectly hale.

"Ooh!" Cranidos said. "That's neat! So if you and Pikachu can do attacks which break the Earth-type immunity, and Zygarde has those moves that break the Flying-type immunity, maybe this Taillow can do something that breaks the Flying-type weakness!"

She raised a claw to her muzzle, and hummed. "Maybe it's an Ability? It could be called Delectric, or Type Mismatch, or…"

"Okay," Pikachu mused, flicking his tail and drawing in most of the residual charge so it wouldn't get in anyone else's way. "Congratulations, random Taillow. You have interested me."

"Us," Zapdos corrected.

"Yeah, us," Pikachu agreed. "So-"

"What about this?" Ash asked. "Taillow, is there anything that would make you interested in joining my team?"

"Wow, that's a lot of interest because I dealt with a weak Electric attack," Taillow said, jumping into the air and hovering there. "What about this – what makes you think I'd be interested in joining your team at all?"

"I'm pretty sure we can teach you Electrify," Ash suggested. "That way your cool ability to shrug off electric attacks applies to any attack!"

Taillow thought about that.

"You have my attention."

"...somehow I feel like I should be taking notes," Max whispered. "To everyone else Ash must just vanish into the woods for a week and come back with a Pokémon that completely ignores everything we know about… well, Pokémon…"

"Okay, Azurill, let's see if we can get it to Max without Zygarde being able to catch it," May said. "Ready?"

"Zuu-my best," Azurill replied.

May blinked. "...what?"

"...I said I'd do my best?" Azurill replied, a bit confused. "Is something wrong?"

"Ash!" May called, turning. "I just understood what Azurill said!"

"Oh, wow, that's great!" Ash replied. "You got the hang of it really quick!"

"Got the hang of what?" Eevee said.

Ash looked down, then held out his arms, and Eevee jumped up into them.

"I've missed you!" Eevee told him. "Crobat said you were over here so I ran ahead, Vulpix is just behind!"

"Oh, so that's what's going on," Ash realized. "Max, May, you remember I mentioned my friend Brock? I guess he's turned up in Hoenn after all! And that's why you understood what Azurill said, May, it's Vulpix's Hypnosis, she learned it a couple of months ago."

May didn't know what to think about that, at first, but then decided that being disappointed she couldn't understand Azurill by herself yet would be really hugely unfair to Vulpix, and would mean being upset when she could still have a talk with Azurill… and Torchic, and all the other Pokémon in the group as well.

"Hey, that's a good point," Taillow said, interrupting her training with Pikachu and Cranidos. "Don't most humans normally not understand Pokémon? What's up with you being able to do it?"

"Good luck getting a good answer," said a young man who was probably Ash's much-mentioned friend Brock. "It's so obvious to Ash that I don't think he ever really thinks about it. How have you found Hoenn, Ash?"

"Well, it's been pretty good," Ash answered, letting Eevee back down and nodding a hello to Crobat as well. "I met a couple of new friends, and I won my first badge!"

"I think he means literally," Vulpix suggested, sticking her tongue out.

At about the same time, several miles to the south, a hard man slammed the door on his latest captures.

"And you won't make trouble if you know what's good for you," he said. "Fearow, Pupitar, if any of them try to escape – make an example of them."

Rico stood back a few steps, contemplating the truckload of Ekans and Koffing, then got into the driver's cab.

As he was about to turn the key, though, a voice interrupted him.

Two voices, specifically.

"Prepare for trouble, for we're in the right!" the first announced.

"And make it double, you're going to get a fright," the second agreed.

With a hiss, two trainers landed in front of the truck – both wearing uniforms and equipped with jetpacks.

"What. The hell," Rico asked, as the two trainers continued through a complete spiel about truth and love and preparing to fight, and then a weird talking Meowth landed between them with a snarky comment.

"Those Ekans and Koffing are prospective Team Rocket recruits," James said. "As of now."

"Which means that if you mess with them, you mess with Team Rocket," Jessie added. "And you don't want to mess with Team Rocket."

"...what a complete load of nonsense," Rico snorted. "Fearow! Get them!"

James threw a Pokéball into the air – well into the air, so high it was an obvious failure – and Rico's Fearow flew forwards to punish him.

Then a Muk landed entirely on top of Fearow, flattening him completely.

"That's it," Rico declared. "Pupitar!"

Pupitar moved forwards, glowed, and evolved into Tyranitar. The big Armor Pokémon roared, and Jessie and James drew a bit closer together.

"It's a good thing our motto has a known length," Jessie said.

"An' dat Porygon's good at doin' trajectory calculations an' stuff," Meowth added.

Rico was about to ask what on earth that could possibly mean when a Wobbuffet smacked into the ground at terminal velocity about ten feet away.

"Wobb-baaa!" it bellowed, and a massive surge of Counter energy blasted Tyranitar off his feet.

"TaaAAAR!" the Rock-type snarled, pushing itself upright, but then blasts of some weird ice attack came down out of the clear blue sky and froze Tyranitar to the floor.

"Arbok, go and free those Ekans and Koffing," Jessie called.

"Weezing, Toxic!" James added. "Meowth, tell Porygon to keep it up!"

"It ain't like he can't listen to da radio, ya know!" Meowth griped. "An' keep an eye out in case dis guy's got some kind'a trump card! You know, a tough Pokémon!"

Rico actually felt slightly insulted by that.

His Pupitar – Tyranitar, now – was a tough Pokémon.

Wasn't he?

"With a gym leader, it's partly a question of philosophy," Brock was explaining, as they made their way towards Rustboro.

Probably towards Rustboro.

"Rock types are tough Pokémon, especially physically, as a rule," he said. "But at the same time they've got an unusual amount of weaknesses. So my gym battles were usually about making sure that a new trainer knew how weaknesses worked and giving experienced trainers a challenge about covering their weaknesses."

"And then Ash came along?" Max asked.

"I'm not saying you're wrong…" Brock admitted. "But a big part of my passion has always been in how you raise Pokémon to make them better at something, and Ash is the best example of that I've yet seen."

Max couldn't really argue with that.

Then Crobat flew down to hover next to Brock.

"There's a giant Zigzagoon up ahead," he reported. "I think. It could also be a themed villain with a collection of normal Zigzagoon."

"A… themed villain?" Max repeated. "That sounds like something you've run into before."

"I should tell you about Gligarman some time!" Brock replied. "He wasn't the villain, but same basic thing."

Fortunately, it was neither a giant Zigzagoon nor a themed villain.

Instead, the boy (who introduced himself as Nicholai the Knickerbocker) was someone who tried to empathize with wild Zigzagoon by dressing up like one.

"I… kind of think that if you do that then Zigzagoon are just going to be confused," Ash said. "If you want to battle with them then you could just ask, right?"

"Well…" Nicholai began. "...that wouldn't work, right?"

"If you ask me, it's better than battling and capturing an awful ruffian of a wild Pokémon who doesn't even want to be there," Vulpix sniffed.

"Though I guess it might help a bit if it helps you get into the right mindset," Ash frowned. "And once you've got understanding Zigzagoon right, then you'd just be able to use that as a basis for understanding other Pokémon!"

He considered. "Though… if you're just trying to catch a Pokémon because you want a Pokémon, or even a Zigzagoon, their personality might not work great with what you want them to do. What do you want to do with your Zigzagoon?"

Ash had to repeat the question, because Nicholai was still staring at Vulpix, but then the boy shook his head. "Oh – right! I'm going to challenge Norman of Petalburg Gym!"

Max sniggered. "Good luck, unless dad goes easy on you. He nearly beat Ash."

"He nearly beat you? You can't be all that tough, then!" Nicholai declared.

Ho-Oh emerged from his Timer Ball in a flare of light.

"Excuse me," he said, in a brassy voice. "The Zigzagoon over there. Yes, you. I was wondering if you'd be interested in having a trainer… you seem the adventurous sort."

He turned his attention to Ash. "This is my first time doing this. Is that okay?"

"I think so!" Ash replied. "Nice and polite! That way the other Pokémon isn't nervous!"

With that good deed behind them, the friends continued on through Petalburg Woods.

Azurill was making steady progress on Iron Tail, trying to learn how to use it to make her tail lighter or heavier as she moved – which meant she'd be able to change how she was moving in mid-air, as Cranidos enthusiastically explained – while Torchic was working on Fly, and Taillow was going through the first stage of learning Electrify.

Which turned out to involve being electrocuted a lot.

"Yeah, I'm trying to feel the electricity," Taillow said, shaking her wings out. "But mostly I'm feeling the electricity bounce off. Is there something I'm missing?"

"Oh, maybe…" Cranidos mused. "I'll give it some thought…"

Between one step and the next, though, Zygarde froze.

"Data update," they said. "There is an ecosystem anomaly in this forest."

"That's bad, right?" Ash asked. "How nearby is it? Is it a big problem?"

"Problem is local," Zygarde informed him. "I recommend a closer look."

"Sure!" Ash decided. "If we can help out, then that's just what we should do!"

Zygarde led them to a tree, then sniffed at it, while a large collection of Treecko looked down at them with varying degrees of hope and suspicion.

"What is the word for having lots of Treecko, actually?" May said. "I don't think I know that one… Max?"

"I don't think there is one," Max admitted. "Except for the basic ones, like a grove of Grass-types, that kind of thing."

"Analysis complete," Zygarde reported. "Solution determined."

A flicker of green light came flashing over from elsewhere in the forest, depositing a Zygarde Cell in front of the canine Pokémon, and they inspected it before tapping it with their green paw.

The Cell vanished off in a direction that was vaguely westwards, moving in a blur of green light.

"I have contacted the required Pokémon for the solution on my cell," Zygarde declared. "There will be a delay. Please wait."

The humans looked around, a trifle awkwardly, then sat down.

"...hey, Bulbasaur?" Ash asked, after a bit. "How different is this to that place with the Ivysaur and Venusaur you visited back in Kanto?"

"Better behaved, for a start," Bulbasaur decided. "They don't seem to try and pressure anyone into evolving."

"I like the idea of evolving," Azurill piped up. "It'll mean I'm a Water type!"

One of the Treecko jumped down in front of them. "I still don't trust you."

"I didn't know you didn't trust us at all," Ash said. "Why not?"

"You're just here to catch us," the Treecko insisted. "This is all a trick, though I don't know how."

A golden ring appeared in mid-air, and Xerneas stepped out.

"So this is where you've been," the cervine Legendary said, nodding to Zygarde. "Enjoying yourself?"

"It has been most agreeable," Zygarde replied.

Xerneas turned her gaze to Ash, who also got a nod.

"Thanks again for your help last time," Ash told her. "Think you can help with this tree?"

"Let us find out," Xerneas said, her antlers glittering faintly.

She knelt, and a flow of Fairy-type energy spread out across the ground.

"Ah," she declared. "Tell me, are you attached to this specific tree, or just a tree here in general? Because I can do either, but this specific tree would be a lot more work."

"Ecosystem disruption minimal in either case," Zygarde said.

"...I don't understand the question," the Treecko nearest Ash admitted. "What do you mean about that specific tree? Who are you?"

"I," Xerneas said, her antlers lighting up. "I am the Life. I am the Seven Coloured Tree. I am the Restorer, and the Spring, and the Harvest."

Zygarde coughed.

"I am also a little drowsy, because it's about two hours before dawn by my own clock," Xerneas added. "Since I would rather not go to sleep for a thousand years just to fix that, though, I will assume that you'd be happy with a replacement. Please stand back."

Pushing at the ground with a hoof, Xerneas made a small hole, then bent down and kissed it. When she lifted her head, there was a tiny seed there which she covered over with the same hoof.

Rising back upright, she took half-a-dozen steps back.

"Geomancy," she added, and within less than a second the tiny seed grew into a mature tree – fast enough that it forced the old one out of the way with a crack sound.

"Wow," May said. "Pokémon can do some amazing things!"

"Thank you," Xerneas told May. "Now, I'm going to go and get back to bed."

"Okay, so… you know Bullet Seed, and Pound," Ash said, some minutes later. "And you're kind of fast, that's good… I guess you might have trouble taking hits, though… hey, Cranidos, isn't there some move that means the Pokémon doesn't actually take the hit?"

"Oh, yeah!" Cranidos agreed. "It's called Substitute! It's kind of finicky, but… eh, I'm pretty sure I can make it work out for you."

Treecko chewed meditatively.

"So I use this move when I'm hit, and it's like I wasn't?" he asked.

"...actually, yeah, that's better, let's do that!" Cranidos said.

He giggled. "That's going to work out really well, actually!"

"So, let me see if I have this correct," Lokoko said, in Rinshin Town two days later.

She nodded towards the old Green Lodge. "That is an abandoned building which belonged to your grandfather."

"That's right," Alex confirmed. "I used to play there, but… you know how it is. It's going to be demolished to make room for new development."

"Alas, I do not know how it is," Lokoko said. "I once spent many a decade in an old mansion, abandoned by everyone but myself, and I could not leave. I would have been quite happy for someone to visit, but it did not appear that anyone was willing to do so."

She sighed. "Perhaps my life would have been quite different had my trainer built his home closer to a town, but…"

Ash crouched down next to her. "Are you okay, Lokoko?"

"I am fine, Ash," she replied, rubbing against him, and deliberately trailing one of her tails through his hand. "Simply a thought about the road I could not take, but it is all in the past. I am happy with my life as it is now."

Alex had looked a bit uncomfortable during the obviously personal moment, but rallied. "That is… the town council doesn't want the place to be unoccupied, and I can't really justify living there myself. It's too big, I wouldn't be able to keep it up."

"But what about the Shroomish there?" Max protested. "They're used to living here!"

"I was going to get to that," Lokoko said. "Alex, is the only option really that the building be demolished and used as a building site?"

She hummed to herself. "Or, perhaps, could it instead be used as some kind of park? That would remove what the council is worried about, without causing other problems."

"And I've got a great idea about how to demolish the building in a hurry, if that's an option!" Brock added. "Ash could spend ten minutes training there."

"Hey!" Ash protested. "Most of the damage to Petalburg Gym was Norman, not me…"

Alex had been thinking. "I… well, I guess if there are Pokémon staying there then making it into a park would be a good idea, but if there aren't then not building there just means building somewhere else."

Eevee raised a paw. "Um, Mr. Alex, does that mean that if we do show there are Shroomish in there then you'll do the park thing?"

"Oh, you can talk as well?" Alex asked, confused. "I thought it was a Ninetales thing."

"Actually it's a Vulpix thing, too," Vulpix called. "You're welcome~!"

Alex blinked a few times, thought again, then nodded. "All right," he said. "If you can show there are still Shroomish in the mansion then… that kind of proves it."

"Great!" Max declared. "Hey, Shroomish! Come on out, and bring your friends!"

A whole troop of Shroomish marched out of the door at once.

The one with a handkerchief tied to the top ran over to Max and jumped up and down. "Here's my friends!"

"...my word," Alex said, his hand at his mouth. "That's… are you all the ones I used to play with as a child?"

"No, some of us are new," one of the Shroomish told him. "I remember you though! We always wondered how you could move on that swing without someone pushing you!"

"By the way…" asked the Shroomish Max had met. "...you're a trainer, right?"

Max winced. "Not yet," he admitted. "My sister is, though, and… uh… May? I know we talked about this…"

May considered.

About a day later, the phone rang in the Maple household.

"I'll get it," Norman called, and picked it up. "Hello, Maple residence… May!"

He listened.

"Oh, of course, we wouldn't mind at all. Yes, it's very understandable – it's your journey. But I think it's very nice of you to let Max have one of your team slots… a Mightyena and a Shroomish? And you've got Torchic and Azurill?"

He laughed. "You'd better watch out, or you'll have more of his Pokémon than your Pokémon! But yes, I'd be glad to take care of any who don't fit into your on-hand team – both your ones for you and your ones for Max. How are your Pokémon doing, by the way?"

Norman listened carefully.

"Sorry, your Torchic knows Fly?" he asked. "...yes, I suppose he is a bird. I don't know why I was confused, now you put it that way."

At about the same time, in Pallet Town, Professor Oak put his head in his hands.

"Why am I only now finding out that Ash Mega Evolved?" he asked Tracey. "He'll discover an entirely new kind of evolution next…"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Tracey replied, shuffling through some notes and sketches. "Oh, by the way, apparently Ho-Oh wants to try a new kind of curry where you leave out the rice and the tofu and the vegetables and just put raw curry paste in the pan… something about either having a nice meal or discovering a new way to breathe fire."

Samuel Oak shook his head. "If I'd told my younger self that the time I met a Celebi and got rescued by a trainer with more than one Legendary Pokémon was the quiet bit…"

Chapter Text

"This feels weird," Max said.

What's weird about it? Silver asked. It's helping out that nice family with their Lotad, right?

He flapped his wings slightly, swimming closer. Can you do that pipe there?

"Well, sure," Max agreed. "Uh… Shroomish, can you get the wrench – thanks."

He took the tool from the Grass-type, and used it to tug on one of the bolts. "It's just that, you know… all of us doing this underwater seems weird."

That's half the point of the move Dive, though! Silver pointed out. It lets you go underwater safely!

"Right, and I get that too," Max agreed. "It's just…"

He finished undoing the pipe, and looked out through the lake water.

Silver made sense to be making a bubble of air underwater, because he was a Psychic type, and Lugia lived deep in the sea anyway. And honestly it was kind of cool.

And Ash's Latias – who was giving May her air bubble – was kind of sensible too, for the same sort of reason. Eon Pokémon didn't live deep in the sea, maybe, but he'd gathered that Latias spent a lot of her time living near canals, and she was a Psychic type anyway.

It was Cranidos – supplying the bubble for Brock – which started to get a bit weird.

Sure, Cranidos wasn't swimming for Brock, that was being done by a Lotad that had taken a shine to him, but it still seemed a bit strange for the cheerful Rock-type to be clinging to Brock's back while… somehow… keeping a bubble of air going that let Brock move about freely underwater.

And then there was Ash.

Max had watched Ash's League semi-final, sure he had, and he even remembered something like this happening… vaguely, if you squinted… but it just seemed fundamentally wrong for a Charizard to be bobbing about ten feet underwater, his wings and paws swimming him along outside the air bubble while his trainer, teammate and flaming tail all sat inside the bubble.

"It just raises questions about oxygen, really…" Max muttered to himself.

"Miiish?" Shroomish asked.

"Not you, Shroomish, sorry," Max said, patting the Grass-type on the head. "Just thinking about Ash's Charizard."

"Shr-iish," she replied, sounding happier.

"I guess I should move on to the next pipe now…" Max said.

A day or so later, May caught herself a Wurmple.

This involved significant confusion, because Jessie had caught herself a Wurmple at the same time during an Ekans training session, and telling which Wurmple was which was not rendered simpler by Zorua getting involved.

While all that was going on, though, many miles away – in Vermillion – a boy just in his early teens compared a map and a newspaper article.

"So… that might be a clue," he said, and wrote it down. "Another sighting."

"Pii?" his companion asked.

"I don't know, Pidgey," Goh replied. "There's only a little data to go on, and it's all so confusing…"

He rubbed his temples. "There's plenty of circumstantial evidence that Ash Ketchum has a Mew, but it's all circumstantial, and even if it's confirmed then that's just the start… all it means is that I know for sure that there are still Mew around today, and I know that at least one of them let itself be caught… and I couldn't have that Mew as a starter anyway."

He leaned back in his chair, spinning it around with a kick, then looked at Pidgey again.

The little Flying-type had been around for years, now, pretty much constantly either in his room or flapping around when he was outdoors, and for a while he'd wondered if he was disappointing the Tiny Bird by not catching him as a formal starter.

But every time Goh brought up the subject, either directly or by talking about his wish to have Mew as a starter Pokémon, Pidgey had listened attentively and then just kept hanging around. And when Goh asked if Pidgey was interested in being his first non-starter capture then Pidgey had shown every sign of interest.

"You know that just because I rescued you from under that truck doesn't mean you owe me anything, right?" he said. "It's because you were in trouble, not because I wanted anything from you."

Pidgey chirped.

Somehow that made Goh feel embarrassed… the good kind, though, where a friend had gently told you to stop being silly.

"Maybe I'll notice something if I watch that League challenge again," he mused. "I swear there's something I'm missing..."

When they reached Rustboro, Ibid informed them that the local Gym Leader also worked as a teacher at the Rustboro City Pokémon Trainers' School. She was busy there, instead of at the gym, and May suggested that they go and visit.

Which went well.

"Ah, it's always a delight when Pokémon Trainers from out of town visit," the principal said. "I'd be quite happy to allow the three of you to sit in on the lessons and let Roxanne know that there's a challenger waiting."

He fixed his attention on Ash. "However, you're not allowed in the building. And nor are your Pokémon – including that Phanpy."

"...huh?" Ash asked, confused, as Pikachu jumped down to tell Phanpy she wasn't to go rolling through the door. "Why not?"

"There are a number of things I would rather not see, Mr. Ketchum," the principal replied. "A Wurmple using String Shot to cover the entire west building. Sophie's borrowed Taillow making the merry-go-round in the playground spin so fast it melts the axle. The missing link between Cranidos and Aron being unearthed in the basement."

He folded his arms. "Can you honestly say that those things won't happen?"

"...well…" Ash began. "Why would a Wurmple want to do that? Unless it was trying to make a trampoline, or see if it could make a really big cocoon and evolve into a giant Beautifly or Dustox… oh, or maybe if it was trying to work out the difference between the different kinds of silk…"

"And now you see why," the principal told him.

"Hey, there isn't a missing link between Cranidos and Aron!" Cranidos protested. "...or so I am told, it's not like I was there when there would have been one. Which there wasn't."

"Seems kind of an over-reaction, though," May mused. "What's wrong with some of Ash's really young Pokémon getting involved? Like Phanpy?"

"Ash! Ash!" Phanpy called. "I found another of those shiny stones! This one's different though."

Ash took it from the little Ground-type as she rolled up, and inspected it.

"That kind of looks more like my Key Stone than a Mega Stone," he said. "That's pretty neat. Well done, Phanpy, I'll let Professor Oak know and see if he's got any suggestions."

"I don't want some kind of ancient superweapon to be discovered under the school," the principal concluded.

"Well… I guess I'll just use the time for training, then!" Ash decided.

"Who do you think you wish to use, for this next battle?" Zacian asked, flicking her tail. "I could always give it a go."

"I'm kind of thinking it'd be better to give Taillow and Treecko a go," Ash replied, pondering. "See how good they are now. I know where everyone who was in the League is, or was then…"

"Speaking of which, what gyms are there here?" the Fairy-type asked.

"Uh… I looked it up, but I can't remember them all," Ash admitted. "I know there's an Electric one, a Fire one and a Flying one."

"Perhaps Raikou and I should schedule to battle the Flying gym, assuming there's no Dragon or Fairy gym…" Zacian pondered.

"That's assuming a lot about whether I'm doing the Flying gym!" Taillow said. "What makes you think I'm not?"

"Honestly?" Pikachu replied. "Ash as a trainer is kind of focused on having his Pokémon take on unusual type combinations, half the time. For example, I'm pretty sure I'm not facing the Flying gym, but I might get the Electric one."

"That is pretty much accurate," Ash admitted. "So, uh… I think we've pretty much got Treecko's new defensive move ready, but he needs to work on attacking. Can you help out with that, Zacian?"

"I'm sure I can," Zacian agreed.

"Right, so, the idea is," Ash began. "Treecko, when I tell you to dodge, you'll need to just avoid the attack as quickly as possible – the quicker you work the better. And when you've finished dodging, I'll call out one of the Pokémon illusions Zacian makes – and you need to target that as soon as possible as well. Right?"

Treecko pushed himself up from the root he'd been resting against, and flicked the twig in his mouth. "I think I get it."

"Yeah, if you can re-orient yourself really quickly after dodging then you can do it whenever!" Ash agreed. "Then once that's working we can move on to Zacian's favourite topic."

"...what, dinner?" Zacian asked.

"I was actually thinking about measure," Ash corrected. "But having dinner is important too!"

"Miss!" someone gasped, standing up to look out the window. "There's a Flygon outside!"

Roxanne paused her talk about Abilities. "If there's a Flygon outside then it's probably just a wild one passing through," she said.

"No, no, it's fighting something – wait, it disappeared!" the boy said. "It just… popped! Like a balloon! And now there's a Salamence!"

"What do you know," Max shook his head. "Ash isn't even here and he's disrupting class…"

Ash's actual gym challenge at Rustboro came around the next morning, and Roxanne brought her whole class along.

"Normally, I do this so that they can observe a gym battle," she told Ash. "And learn about appropriate strategies, as well as picking up a few tips on what not to do… but this time it's a bit more like watching a fireworks display."

"I guess that's all right," Ash decided, after thinking about it for a moment. "How many Pokémon is it?"

"Three Pokémon on a side," Roxanne declared. "However, the winner must switch their Pokémon unless it is no longer possible."

Ash frowned. "So… is that about how you have the different types of rock, like, sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic? And how they keep changing from one to another?"

"...that's surprisingly well informed on geology, but no," Roxanne told him. "I just think it's a good idea."

"I've been travelling with a Rock type gym leader for two regions!" Ash said, by way of explanation. "I guess some of it must have sunk in… anyway, I know what Pokémon I'm using!"

Someone raised a hand, and Roxanne called on him. "Billy?"

"Are any of the Pokémon you've chosen Legendaries, Mr. Champion Ketchum?" Billy asked.

"Not this time," Ash replied. "But it's important to make sure all your Pokémon get a good share of time battling and training… not necessarily an equal share, because sometimes some Pokémon need more work than others or just don't like training as much. But it depends on your Pokémon."

There were several nods, then Roxanne's hand brushed over the set of Pokéballs she had ready before selecting one. "I won't quite go as high as I can get, I think, but I'm going to start with Graveler!"

"Taillow, go!" Ash countered.

Taillow emerged in a flash of light, and hovered there before doing a spontaneous aileron roll. "Okay, this is going to be fun."

"Hmm," Roxanne mused. "A Flying type, so weak to Rock moves… and it can have Guts, which would make it stronger if it was poisoned, burned or paralyzed. Graveler, stick to Rock type moves."

She clapped her hands. "Begin! Graveler, Rock Throw!"

"Electrify!" Ash called.

Roxanne blinked. "Pardon?"

Little sparks crackled off Taillow's wings, and she clapped them together sharply as the rock approached – and the rock dissolved into an electrical current, which surged forwards to hit Taillow, only to bounce off her feathers with absolutely no purchase.

"I…" the Gym Leader began, then blinked a few times. "Okay, that breaks at least two independent rules of normal Pokémon battling…"

"Great, it's working!" Ash said. "Steel Wing!"

Taillow let out a war-cry, and dove in to hit Graveler with Steel Wing.

"Flamethrower!" Roxanne ordered, and Graveler raised an arm to block the Steel Wing – which struck home with a tchak – before shooting out a mass of flames at Taillow. The Flying-type clapped her wings together again, this time turning the flames into electricity, and shed them from her wings as easily as the Electric Rock Throw had gone before flipping around to attack again.

"Stay on the move!" Ash called. "Keep that speed up!"

"...wait, that's it," Roxanne realized. "Graveler, forget using moves, just try to swat that Taillow!"

"Agility!" Ash retorted. "In and out too fast for him to react!"

Taillow flew a complicated, looping course, clapping her wings together every few seconds to convert any move Graveler was preparing into a burst of electricity instead, and Roxanne watched before raising her voice.

"Class?" she said. "Tomorrow, we'll be discussing how this should be impossible. Take notes."

"All right, Taillow!" Ash announced, once the battle was over. "Great work!"

He held up a Pokéball. "You need to switch out, now, but you can have a rest or watch the rest of the battle."

"I'm going to watch," Taillow declared, flitting up to sit on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Pikachu.

"Fine by me," Ash decided.

"My next Pokémon is my Nosepass," Roxanne said, sending the Rock-type out, and Ash sent out Treecko in response.

Nosepass rocked back and forth slightly, then turned to their trainer.

"I understand that there's a rare opportunity for me to be fully understood," he said. "So, just for the sake of clarity during this rare chance… I prefer sweet foods, even with how they make me sneeze."

Roxanne nodded, taking out a small notebook and writing that down.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Not really."

"To be fair, if I were in a situation where I was being translated for the first time in my life, I'd correct any errors in food preferences," Vulpix mused.

"Anyway," Roxanne said. "Begin – Gravity!"

The air around Nosepass trembled slightly as he altered gravity, making it so that he was the focus of a localized gravity well, and Treecko stumbled and nearly fell towards the Rock-type.

"Treat the floor like a wall!" Ash called. "Stick on!"

"Rock Throw," Roxanne ordered.

"Substitute!" Ash replied.

Just as the fired rock hit, Treecko used Substitute. There was a puff of smoke, and when it faded there was a broken bundle of twigs where the Grass-type had been.

"Great!" Ash called, as Treecko reappeared several feet away. "Don't let him pin you down – now, Bullet Seed!"

"That's going to-" Roxanne realized, but by the time she had Treecko was already using Bullet Seed.

They weren't the normal round seeds of a Bullet Seed attack. Instead they were big and sharp, like oversized sunflower seeds, and Treecko threw them out in a fan that curved to strike Nosepass.

"Invert the gravity," Roxanne ordered. "He's using it to boost his attacks!"

She frowned, thinking, as Treecko sprang into the air again and threw another barrage of Bullet Seeds. This time they curved away, instead, but one of them had been thrown straight enough that it still connected, and she considered before nodding.

"Switch to electric attacks," she said. "Thunder Wave!"

"Substitute!" Ash replied.

Treecko vanished in a puff of smoke again, evading the attack and leaving a bundle of twigs behind, then reappeared and hurled more Bullet Seeds.

"Hmm," Roxanne said. "Nosepass – Rock Blast!"

This time the Rock-type hurled a barrage of exploding rocks, not just one. Treecko evaded the first with a Substitute, but the attacks came too quickly for him to cope with just yet – the second one exploded just next to him, and he avoided the third, but the fourth hit him squarely and knocked him back with a thump.

"You okay, Treecko?" Ash asked.

Treecko gave him a thumbs-up.

"I guess we need to work on that," Ash decided. "In fact… get in closer! Climb up the floor to get in close!"

"Earthquake while he's on the ground," Roxanne said.

"Aha!" Ash replied. "Mimic!"

"Mimic?" Roxanne repeated.

Treecko got slammed into the air by the shaking ground, then vanished in a puff of smoke as he used Substitute.

A moment later the Grass-type appeared again, doing a forward flip down from the gym ceiling, and slammed his tail into the ground.

And used Earthquake.

Nosepass suffered more heavily than Treecko would have done, and Ash pointed. "Now – close range Bullet Seed!"

It was a tough fight, especially because both Roxanne and Nosepass had noticed that Treecko couldn't put his Substitute dodges too close together, but eventually Treecko managed to hammer Nosepass with enough Bullet Seeds to clench the win.

"I'm… sort of nervous about this third battle," Roxanne admitted, recalling Nosepass. "You could use Taillow here again, after all."

"I know who I'm using instead," Ash said. "Taillow's really tough, but I know she's tired, so I'm not going to overwork her."

Taillow chirruped something which could be taken as charitable, if you squinted.

"In that case," Roxanne said, and sent out an Omanyte. "Let's see who you're using."

Ash replied with Phanpy.

"Oh," Roxanne said. "Well, I do know how this is going… if you'll oblige me for a moment?"

She turned to her class. "Who can tell me what's likely to happen?"

"Omanyte's got a type advantage!" someone said.

"No, they both have," another student corrected him.

"Ash's Phanpy is really fast," a third student said. "And she can use an electrical attack?"

"That's what I was thinking of," Roxanne agreed. "I don't know if Phanpy actually has a Ground attack, but I do know she has an Electric one because she used it during the Pokémon League. Which means I have to be careful with my Pokemon's Water type moves."

"Ready, Phanpy?" Ash asked, once the quick discussion was over. "Rollout!"

"Rock Polish!" Roxanne countered. "Mud Shot!"

"Mud Shot, huh?" Ash repeated, thinking, as Phanpy avoided the attack and she and Omanyte began chasing one another around the room. "Phanpy, you're up to speed – use Thunderbolt!"

"Now, Surf!" Roxanne ordered.

Ash frowned for a second, because quite apart from anything else they'd just been talking about this, then realized what was going on as the attack reached Phanpy – knocking her aside, and making her yelp, but not sending a blast of electricity flashing over to hit Omanyte. "Oh, I see – the water's all muddy because of the Mud Shot! In that case… Phanpy, no Thunderbolts, go for a direct hit with Rollout!"

Omanyte moved out of the way at speed, and Phanpy chased the Rock-type around the room – dodging left and right at Ash's command to avoid the Water Gun attacks launched at her.

"Hey, come back!" she complained.

"Phanpy, Stone Edge!" Ash called. "Put down some obstacles!"

Rocks came sliding out of the arena floor, forcing both Omanyte and Phanpy to weave crazily around them, and Ash counted under his breath.

"...and now!" he said. "Bounce!"

"Bounce?" Roxanne repeated. "That's not a good move against…?"

She stopped as Phanpy started bouncing between the obstacles, still using Rollout. Her speed was still increasing, but more to the point she couldn't tell where Phanpy was going to bounce to next and nor could Omanyte.

Less than three seconds later, the inevitable happened and Phanpy collided with Omanyte. There was a tchack sound as they bounced off one another, and Ash grinned. "All right – now, start using Thunderbolt again! And keep bouncing!"

"Dodge!" Roxanne ordered.

"How?" Omanyte demanded. "Dodging implies having some idea where to dodge to or from!"

Then Omanyte got hit by Thunderbolt.

Also Phanpy.

Also the ground.

In many ways, it was a team effort.

Roxanne gave Ash the Stone Badge, and told him that she had no idea what he was doing to raise his Pokémon but it was clearly working.

Then they spent most of the rest of the day helping Roxanne and her class speak to their Pokémon, and after that was done the friends faced an important question.

Which way next?

"So… I guess the awkward one is Dewford, right?" Ash asked, looking at the map. "I know it wouldn't take us long to visit the gym there, not really, but it still feels like it would be an awkward detour."

"I know what you mean," Pikachu agreed. "And, by the way, Ash, would you feel happy or annoyed if I praised you for reading a map correctly?"

"You realize it was us getting lost, not me getting lost, right?" Ash said, sticking his tongue out. "Anyway, uh… I kind of think we should go to Dewford next, but if anyone's got any other ideas that would be great. We could go up to, uh… Fallarbor, or via Verdanturf… I… think?"

"I'd kind of like to visit everywhere in Hoenn," May suggested. "But I think you're right, Ash, we could either go around Mount Chimney this way or that way, and going to Dewford kind of makes more sense to me."

Brock didn't point out anything the two of them had missed, and Ash grinned. "Right! Then I guess I need to sort out how we're getting there… uh, anyone have a problem with flying? Max?"

He looked up. "Where did Max go?"

"I think he was going for a walk with Mightyena," May frowned. "It's not like the two of them can get in trouble, though…"

"He's been around you at least a week, Ash, I think we should go check on him," Pikachu suggested.

"Ooh!" Cranidos announced, once they'd found Max. "This is full of cool technology stuff!"

"How do you know about technology?" Max asked. "You're literally a fossil."

"I read!" Cranidos huffed, crossing her arms. "It's called re-skilling. You should try it."

Max blinked a couple of times. "I… think I'm still skilling, really…"

The man who Max had met laughed. "You seem like a bright boy already," he said. "And I have to say, I'm glad to see that there are fossils out there who are up to date on the modern world… even if I didn't expect any to have learned the language."

"That's my work," Vulpix said proudly.

"So, what did bring you here?" May asked.

"Oh, that's right!" Max said, then deflated slightly. "I… actually forgot, when I met Mr. Stone, but there was someone Mightyena and I saw who was sneaking into the building! I tried following him, but… it got kind of complicated…"

"I can help!" Cranidos said, and hurried over to a computer. "Let's see…"

She stood back slightly, then bashed her head repeatedly into the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Stone asked, sounding more fascinated than concerned. "I'm fairly sure that should have broken the keyboard."

"I'm hacking, of course!" Cranidos answered, still head-banging, as camera footage came up on the screen. "Look! There he is, going into the building, and there he is putting on a lab coat… and he's stealing something!"

"Oh, good," Mr. Stone declared. "I thought it was something serious. That's our Creation Fluid that's used for reviving fossils… which is a grandiose name we put on tap water."

"...oh, I get it!" Ash declared. "So that way, if someone breaks in like that guy just did, they take it because they think it's important… and it sounds cool, too. That's important."

Pikachu raised his paw, thought, and lowered it again. "Given that one of my attacks is called Thunder That Breaks The Earth, I literally have no possible justification to object."

Chapter Text

"Just think, back when we were in the Orange Islands the best way we had of getting around was by blimp or Lapras," Ash said.

"I wasn't in the Orange Islands," Zacian pointed out, drifting slightly to the left to keep formation on the other Pokémon carrying the friends.

"Nor was I, for the first half of it," Silver added. "I was for the second half, though, and that was fun!"

"I wasn't with you for most of the Orange Islands, Ash," Brock reminded him gently, from where Articuno was carrying him. "And Articuno joined at the start of Johto."

"Oh, yeah, right," Ash said, then blinked. "...wait, is Pikachu the only person here who was with me in the Orange Islands? Huh…"

"Yes," Cranidos said straight-away.

He wasn't riding with Ash or Brock, or with Max – who was being carried by Silver, as the youngest Legendary in the formation.

He wasn't even travelling with May, who was riding Latias south.

Instead, Cranidos was serenely floating alongside the rest of them.

"How are you doing that, anyway?" Max asked.

"Fly," Cranidos replied. "I'm a bird hipped dinosaur. That counts."

He vaguely waved his tail a bit. "See? Propulsion!"

"It's more work than I have to do to fly," Latias squeaked. "Makes sense to me."

Max took off his glasses with one hand, rubbed his temples with the other, then put them back on.

Dewford was a seaside town, in a very literal sense. The town was so close to the water that it was built almost right up to the sea wall, and the beach was only a couple of minutes walk from the Pokémon Centre.

The Gym was even closer to the shore, sitting snugly on a cliff edge… and, unfortunately, currently did not contain a Gym Leader.

"This is the second time that's happened here in Hoenn," Ash said. "Kind of reminds me of Kanto."

"Hey," Brock protested. "I'm a Kanto Gym Leader."

"Yes, I can see you're in your gym right now," Pikachu pointed out.

Brock winced. "Okay, that was super effective… so, what should we do now?"

"Well, what about training?" Ash asked. "There's probably a Contest hall here, right? What about if we make it a goal to have May do her first Contest here before I do my Gym Battle?"

May blinked. "...that's kind of a lot of pressure…" she admitted.

Ash frowned a little, thinking about that. "I guess, but… the way I'm thinking about it, you don't have to win a Contest. I just think it'd be neat if you gave one a go, really, so you see what they're like."

He tapped his foot. "Plus, we could explore Dewford while we do it. I've never been here before, after all!"

May had to give it a bit of thought, and so they spent the next day relaxing on the beach.

Zygarde pronounced themselves fully approving of the sunny climate, spending most of the day lounging in the sun and the rest splashing around in the surf with Mightyena, Eevee and Suicune, while May ended up swimming out with Azurill in the middle of the afternoon to try a bit of body-boarding.

It did help her willingness to take part that Ash's Dragonite was hovering placidly overhead, wearing a large T-shirt announcing him to be a Lifeguard By Royal Appointment, but it wasn't the sort of thing that would have been dangerous anyway.

Max, for his part, built a sandcastle with the help of Shroomish, Zorua and Cranidos, and occasionally Marshadow.

"How come you aren't with Ash, anyway?" Max asked, as the Ghost-type passed him another bucket. "Isn't that your job?"

Marshadow replied by writing in the sand with the end of a stick.

I am intended to guide the Rainbow Hero. Not, necessarily, fall off a surfboard with him.

"I guess that makes sense," Max agreed, glancing over to where Brock and Vulpix were – apparently, Bulbasaur was preventing his trainer from another attempt at flirting, and Vulpix was giggling to herself, and they were a little too far away for proper translation.

"Hey, I had an idea," Zorua said. "Once we finish this, let's destroy it! Only, um, only Tackle attacks or other ones like that."

"That could be kind of fun," Max said, thinking about it.

"Ooh, that looks fun!" Zorua added, pointing out to sea. "Look!"

Max looked, and saw that Ash was managing to stand up – albeit in a slightly wobbly way – only to fall off his board with a crash, and Suicune went loping across the top of the water to check on her trainer.

He bobbed back to the surface a few seconds later, but then Pikachu came into view.

Pikachu's surfboard was smaller than Ash's was, certainly, but the little Electric-type was handling it much better than Ash had been. He slid back and forth along the top of the wave, did a kick-flip that spun the board around before he landed on it again, and when the wave broke Pikachu rode it all the way in to shore.

"I guess Pikachu's discovered a natural talent!" Zorua grinned.

"How are you doing, Azurill?" May asked, about mid-morning the next day.

"Getting kind of tired," the Fairy-type admitted. "My cheeks are aching a bit."

"Then let's give you a rest," May decided. "You're getting better at making the water sparkle, though! That's great!"

She turned to Torchic. "Think you're rested?"

Torchic nodded, his expression determined. "Let's try and get this working."

He hopped onto May's arm, and Quilava perked up from where he'd been snoozing.

"Okay, so here's the refresher," he said. "Firstly, the flames from an Ember are a bit heavy, so they move according to gravity, but you can control a lot of where they end up based on your momentum and how hard you shoot them out."

He shifted a bit. "And, secondly, remember that when you spin you come back to where you started every so often – it's more often the faster you spin."

"Got that, Torchic?" May asked.

Torchic took a deep breath, nodded, and May tossed him into the air. He used Fly, flapping his little wings hard, then dove down and shot a flame before landing with a roll.

The roll didn't go quite where he'd intended it, which had a detrimental impact on how good it looked.

"The forward roll is good, but you were a bit off to the right I think?" May volunteered. "Good start for this session, though!"

She looked up at Brock. "Do you think it's better to work on a routine starting at the start, or build the bits and then connect them up?"

"Usually I think the second one," Brock said. "But if one part needs setup, then you can need to keep that in mind… when Eevee is making her doubles dance, obviously she needs them to have been made first!"

"Hmm…" Ash said, thinking. "Maybe, uh, hydrokinesis somehow? Extrasensory can cover that, right? Then you could be walking on water, it's just that the water is floating?"

"It could work, I have to admit," Suicune replied. "Though it would also be fiddly, and I might not be able to keep it up for a long time."

"That's okay, for long term stuff running is fine," Ash told her. "Or I think so, anyway…"

Someone interrupted them. "Are you Ash Ketchum?"

Ash looked around, and saw a young man approaching with a smile on his face.

"Steven Stone," he introduced himself. "I think you've met my father… I'm glad I ran into you, though, because I've heard a lot about your Phanpy. Do you have her available?"

"She's at Oak Ranch today, but I can get her," Ash replied.

Steven smiled. "That would be wonderful… I've heard a lot about her talents in finding Mega Stones. You could say I'm a fan, I suppose."

He waved his hand. "Oh, and also you won the Silver Conference and nearly beat Lance, but that's sort of secondary."

"...they look really shiny, I guess?" Phanpy said, shrugging her ears, as they walked along the path towards Granite Cave. "There's a lot more around than people seem to think, I think… I just notice them."

"Fascinating," Steven said, writing that down in a notebook. "Did you find the Dragoniteite that Lance used?"

Ash winced. "Uh… Lance said he didn't think the name Dragoniteite was very sensible? It makes sense to me but he didn't like it."

"That's Lance's problem," Steven shrugged. "We have naming conventions for a reason, it wouldn't be right to just say that a Meganium using a Meganiumite wasn't a Mega Meganium just because it means the word Mega is in there twice. Otherwise we'd have to come up with a different naming convention, and once we've done that it might end up having results people don't like either. Like a Giga Gigalith, or for that matter Meganiumnium."

Brock laughed, tickling Vulpix under the chin as they rounded a bend. "Meganium's a tricky name to work with, then?"

"I tend to think so," Steven replied.

Phanpy had been waiting patiently during the conversational diversion, then spoke up again. "Yeah, I found it back at Professor Oak's ranch! It was all shiny, and I gave it to the Parliament because it looked a lot like one of the beads on Dragonair's tail!"

"If we do enough research, we might actually find out where Mega stones come from," Steven told her. "So thank you, any information is useful."

"I actually think I know who that is," Ash frowned. "I kind of need to check, though."

He held up his Safari Ball and opened it, and it turned out to still be Suicune. "Uh… so I kind of got the idea from Mew that Mega Stones come from Diancie, because they're gemstones?"

"That is correct," Suicune agreed, stepping to the side slightly to allow her trainer and his friends through before walking beside them on the path. "Diancie is capable of Mega Evolution herself, but in addition she is directly associated with gemstones – diamonds, especially."

"That is fascinating," Steven said, taking more notes. "So Mega Stones are like diamonds?"

"They are Adamant," Suicune answered, half-correction and half-confirmation. "Like diamonds, but not actually diamonds. Their formation involves the condensation and compression of ambient energy, and their attunement to a particular Pokémon is something I am afraid that I do not understand myself."

Steven held up a hand as they crossed a river, and Suicune splashed across the water itself – her paws turning the river a sparkling clear blue. "This is all extremely helpful, Suicune, don't apologize for not providing more."

"Ahem!"

They all looked around, to see a Corphish standing by the side of the river.

"Rude," the Water-type declared. "You don't see me coming to your home and making it messy, so don't come to mine and clean up! Some people…"

Suicune looked down at her paws, as the muttering Corphish returned to the river.

"...perhaps I should have used the bridge."

The next few days, in the heart of the island, were mostly peaceful ones.

Outwardly peaceful, at least, which didn't include the disruption caused by training… though that, at least, was going well.

Torchic's aim with his airborne Ember was improving, and he began kicking it up on landing as well – relying on his own Fire typing to protect him from the flames as he brushed it around or even wore it, which looked neat. And – at Max's suggestion – Azurill had started training up against Mightyena, the big Dark-type chasing Azurill around as she laughed and practised dancing out of the way under May's orders.

Wurmple was mostly just working on accuracy, because it'd be a big help when he evolved no matter what he evolved into.

Also, Brock caught a Mudkip… or, more accurately, Bulbasaur recruited a Mudkip.

"Look at it this way," the Poison-type said. "Maybe if we douse him with enough cold showers, he'll get the message… you know, like a spray bottle thing."

"That's cold, man," Geodude said.

"Yes, that's the point," Bulbasaur agreed, as Brock tried to quietly lament about his future of getting repeatedly soaked.

Chapter Text

"Hmm…" Professor Birch said, inspecting the nests. "So… the Wingull tend to nest lower down than the Pelipper… and the Pelipper tend to have a larger clutch. That might mean…"

He wobbled a little, then caught himself. "Whoops…"

"Professor Birch?" a familiar voice asked. "Is that you?"

"May, good afternoon!" the Pokémon Professor replied, looking down from the tree he was balanced in. "How is your Torchic doing?"

"Great!" May replied. "He's really good at Fly now, and we're working on what looks like it's going to be Flame Wheel!"

That made Birch blink. "Sorry, you said Fly? I… actually didn't think Torchic could learn that move. That's fascinating!"

He rummaged in his pocket, then took out a Pokéball. "Tropius, can you help me get down? The Wingull are still going to be here tomorrow, I think."

Birch's Tropius appeared in a flash, and flapped his wings to support Birch's weight as he climbed down from the tree.

"Thank you," he told the Grass-type.

"You're welcome," Tropius replied.

Birch did a double-take. "Pardon?"

"I… said you're welcome?" Tropius repeated, a little more confused now. "I thought it was polite. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, this is just the first time the Professor's been around me," a Vulpix explained. "It's Hypnosis. Good, isn't it?"

"She's very proud of that trick," Brock contributed.

"My word," Birch muttered. "I… suppose I should make the most of this opportunity… but first, May, how is your journey going so far?"

"Well, I've got Torchic, you know about him," May said. "And an Azurill and a Silcoon, too."

She sent out Torchic first, who waved hello to Professor Birch, then Azurill and Beautifly.

"...I thought you said you had a Silcoon?" Professor Birch asked.

"Don't look at me," Beautifly replied. "I was one when I got in the Pokéball fifteen minutes ago."

He did a flip. "Still, I'm glad to be able to fly!"

"Hey, watch out, you might hit a tree," May told him.

"Just for the record, Mr. Birch?" Max said. "He evolved into a Silcoon during lunch. It was less than half an hour ago."

Ash scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, that was probably something to do with me…"

Not far away, in an underground base, three groups squared off against one another.

"All right, let's get ready for this," Shelley said. "On my word!"

"You're not going to stop us," Courtney replied. "Nor are these interlopers!"

"Interlopers!" Jessie huffed, adjusting her grip on a large sack. "Say that again when we show you a trick the Silver Conference Champion taught us!"

"By bitter experience," James added.

Jessie huffed. "Yes, all right, but we still learned it, didn't we?"

"Can't argue with that," James admitted.

"Hey, uh… I got a question?" Meowth said, raising his paw. "So, uh… why exactly are we fightin' in here? 'cause it's some kid's Secret Base, right?"

Jessie, James, Courtney and Shelley exchanged glances.

"I… actually don't know?" Shelley admitted. "It sort of escalated."

"Tch," Courtney snorted. "Then I'm not going to fight it out if there's no point."

She left, with her goons, and a few seconds later so did Shelley with her entourage.

"...I'm actually kind of disappointed," Jessie admitted. "I was kind of hoping to see what happened when they found out every Ekans in the bag knows Seed Bomb…"

One of the Ekans in question hissed, and Jessie put down the bag before letting them all out.

"I know, you wanted to ruin their whole day, didn't you?" she asked. "And Meowth ruined your fun!"

"Hey, don't pin dis on me!" Meowth protested.

When they returned to Dewford, May vacillated a bit before asking Torchic if he wanted a go at a Contest.

The Fire-type gave an enthusiastic yes, which May couldn't really argue with, so she got herself signed up and ready. Then things sort of seemed to pick up their own momentum, and she found herself stepping out in front of the gathered audience in a bit of a daze.

The MC announced her, and she threw Torchic's Pokéball – letting him emerge in a flare of light, ready for the Appeal round.

"Okay, Torchic, show them what you can do!" she said, with a flourish. "Fly!"

"That's a lot better than he was even a few days ago," Vulpix noted, watching as Torchic shot Embers into the air – sending them out in bursts of three, then flitting around to catch each one and balance them on his beak and wings before firing up the next shot. "He's got the trick, I think."

"Right," Brock agreed. "He's not trying to get it the same every time… he's trying to get it similar and then trusting in his ability to make up for the slight differences."

"I'm interested in seeing the big finish," Pineco told them all. "Does this version have one?"

"That's up to May, but I think it does," Ash said.

Max, meanwhile, was just watching his sister and her Pokémon perform.

He'd been watching Torchic train for just this routine for days, but seeing it all come together… it was pretty amazing.

"Now, swoop down and make a Flame Wheel!" May called.

Torchic did a loop, all the Embers he was carrying flickering off around him and sending a cascade of fire raining down in front of May, and then curved around in a wide sweep that got lower as it moved.

He timed it just about right, arriving as the Embers were raining down, and fired a few extra Embers to add to them – then landed with a skid, whipping up the puddle of flame on the floor with his feet, and doing two complete cartwheels before coming to a stop and posing.

"Not bad," Vulpix judged, magnanimously. "I'd say she's probably through."

"Well, you are the expert," Brock grinned.

"Exactly," the Fox Pokémon said, tossing her head. "Of course, the judges might get it wrong…"

"That looked great!" Max said, when they met up with May after the Contest. "It kind of sucks that you had to meet a guy with a Politoed right after the Appeal, though… you were kind of working uphill there."

"Yeah," May agreed. "We worked so hard on the Appeal we weren't properly ready for the Battle… at least, not against someone who we couldn't deal with just using Ember."

She patted Torchic. "Still, that was really exciting – right, Torchic?"

"Yep!" Torchic agreed, chirping happily. "I already know a few things where we can work on them… I guess there's a lot of improvement to do, though, to get to the point where we can work them all into the flying dance."

"I'm looking forward to it, Torchic," May smiled. "And – Ash, you were right. This is something I've enjoyed."

"Great!" Ash grinned. "And that means I can challenge the Dewford Gym!"

"And it means I have to worry about you teaching Shroomish and Mightyena to dance battle in secret," Max added. "...actually, that was a joke but it sounds vaguely plausible."

May stuck her tongue out. "They're technically my Pokémon, so I could do that… I won't, though."

She winked. "Or would I?"

Brock shook his head, chuckling.

"If you'd like, May, I can go through your options with Torchic," he said. "And I've been watching the training Azurill and Beautifly have been doing, as well, so I might be able to help with that… I know Eevee's eager to help too…"

Not far south of Viridian, Paul checked his map.

Pallet Town was down this way, and he was interested in visiting to pick up a Starter Pokémon before his Kanto challenge. It would probably be worthwhile.

"Hm," he said, then looked up.

And watched as a Raikou went flying past, beating a pair of shimmering wings.

Paul watched until the Raikou had gone out of sight, then turned around and walked back to Viridian City.

That kind of sight was usually a warning sign of too many Weezing in the area.

"Okay, kid, here's how this is going to work!" Brawly said. "Three Pokémon! Three battles! Impress me, and you win the badge!"

Ash waited for a moment.

"...any other rules?"

"Nah, not really," Brawly shrugged. "I guess we could add a surfing competition?"

"I think Pikachu would be willing to take you up on that," Ash said. "Hey, have you been to the Orange Islands? They have stuff like that in some Gym Battles."

"Yeah, neat place," Brawly agreed. "Anyway, got your Pokémon picked?"

"You bet I have!" Ash confirmed. "Though, uh, it's okay if I send out the Pokémon I've not picked so they can watch? I had a couple of other Pokémon who were interested."

Brawly shrugged. "It's a free beach, man, I'm not going to stop you."

Ash sent out Silver and Zacian, and the Flying-type folded his wings under him for support while Zacian just sat down on her haunches next to Zygarde.

"Afternoon," she said. "Should be an interesting battle."

Brawly had his first Pokéball ready. "Okay, Sirfetch'd, you first!"

"Heracross!" Ash replied. "And – huh, Sirfetch'd is a pretty cool Pokémon!"

"My lady," Sirfetch'd said, bowing towards Zacian, then straightened up with his shield ready and his spear raised.

While Heracross was trying very hard indeed to punch Sirfetch'd, the leader of Team Magma examined his subordinates.

"Report," he invited.

"While investigating a report of some mysterious orbs on Dewford, we ran into Team Aqua," Courtney said. "In addition, we met representatives of Team Rocket."

"I assume you were victorious," Maxie stated. "Were the orbs what we were after?"

"No, sir," Courtney replied. "Just rumours, no sign of the Red Orb. And there was no battle, largely because there was nothing significant to fight over."

"Still, it confirms that Team Aqua are after the Orbs as well," Maxie mused. "Very good, Tabitha. Now, Courtney-"

"I'm Courtney, sir," the Magma Admin said. "He's Tabitha."

Maxie frowned, then looked at the two of them. "Really? I could swear it was the other way around."

"What, because I'm a man?" Tabitha said.

Courtney rubbed her temples. "Oh, now you've got him going again."

"Look, I can be trans and still like my birth name, okay?" Tabitha insisted. "And boss, it's kind of contributing to a hostile work environment that you got that confused. It's not like I'm not loyal, is it?"

Courtney waved her hand. "Don't say it. Do not. Say. It."

"I'm a Team Magma die-hard!" Tabitha said. "I identify as Trans-Continental."

His fellow admin sighed.

"...this is why nobody else wants to team up with you, you know," she said.

"Anyway," Maxie said. "Tabitha. Your report?"

"I got hold of the Blue Orb," Tabitha reported. "I know we wanted both, but the museum was moving them from one place to another and they weren't in the same place."

"Unfortunate, but still potentially useful," Maxie declared. "Good work. We'll simply need to find out where the Red Orb is now."

"Based on comments made by Shelley during our confrontation, I think Team Aqua has it," Courtney said.

"Hmm," Maxie pondered. "Depending on how we play our cards, that might be to our advantage."

He adjusted his glasses. "Oh, and… get some name tags."

"Hah!" Sirfetch'd declared, flicking out with his lance, and Heracross skipped aside before retaliating with an Ice Punch. He lashed backwards, making it into an arm block as much as anything, then hopped into the air and opened his wings.

"Hmm…" Ash frowned, then glanced at Zacian. "I think…"

"You're right," Zacian told him. "Why don't you tell him? See how well you understand it?"

"Sure," Ash agreed. "Heracross! Keep an eye on your measure – you're fighting at a range Sirfetch'd wants to fight at!"

"Oh, right!" Heracross realized. "So what you're saying is-"

"Close in!" Ash agreed. "Knock that lance aside and get close, then don't let him get away again!"

"Slam!" Brawly countered. "Do what he says not to let you do!"

"Of course, sirrah," Sirfetch'd agreed, using a shield-bash to knock Heracross away, then jumped back himself with the same impact and jabbed forth again. "Take that!"

"Knock Off!" Ash replied.

"How does that one go again?" Heracross said.

"You knock away what the other Pokémon is holding," Zacian clarified. "Just a guess, mind you…"

"No, that makes sense," Heracross said, and knocked away Sirfetch'd's leek.

"...ah," Sirfetch'd said, shifting to hold his shield in both wings. "This is awkward."

Once that battle was over – Heracross had gone to the trouble of retrieving Sirfetch'd's lance for him, which was presumably appreciated – Ash switched out Heracross for Bayleef, and Brawly sent out a Medicham.

"That's kind of graceful for a Fighting-type," May said, impressed. "Isn't that one of the Pokémon that has Mega Stones?"

"I've seen a Mega Medicham, but I've not got a Mega Stone for one myself," Brawly replied. "It's kind of on the list, but Medicham only evolved a few days ago so we've not had the time."

"Well, I'm sending out Bayleef!" Ash declared.

Bayleef set herself, shifting her hooves slightly in the soft sand of the beach. "It's nice to meet you. I am a Solarmancer by Royal Appointment. Might I ask who you are?"

"...honestly, mostly I just hit things and surf," Medicham admitted.

"A fine goal," Bayleef said.

"Let's do this!" Brawly said. "Fire Punch!"

Medicham's fist hammered into Bayleef, Pure Power knocking her out to sea, but her vines coiled around Medicham's wrist even as she went flying backwards. They yanked, hard, pulling Medicham off his feet and staggering forwards, and Bayleef reversed direction entirely before hitting Medicham with an impactful wham that sent the Fighting-type staggering away.

Also, Bayleef was on fire.

"Sunny Day!" Ash ordered, and the sun blazed brighter overhead.

Bayleef stopped being on fire.

"...the sad thing is, that's actually what Leaf Guard does," Max admitted. "But it still makes no sense that making the sun brighter stops a Grass-type from being on fire."

"Fire Punch again!" Brawly called.

"Jump!" Ash called. "Then an orbit!"

Bayleef jumped into the air, launching herself with a burst of sunlight and steely energy, and her left vine wrapped around Medicham's midsection. She pulled, making both Pokémon swing around, then when she was below Medicham her right vine snagged the ground and pulled that way instead.

Both Pokémon hit the ground, but Medicham had been moving in a larger circle and so hit the ground harder, only to spin around and spring to his feet before charging back in on the attack.

"Weather Ball!" Ash called, and Bayleef hit Medicham with a fireball just before Medicham hit Bayleef with a Fire Punch. "Now, Morning Sun!"

Bayleef glowed with golden light as she healed herself, and Brawly punched the palm of one hand with the other fist.

"She's healing, too! Well, looks like you'll have to overwhelm her – Bulk Up!"

"Bind!" Ash called. "Then a close-range Solarbeam, and keep it up!"

"I wonder if I can ask Dragonite to make me something by royal appointment," Silver mused. "Or maybe dad? I haven't thought about what to get him for his birthday this year."

"Do you normally get birthday presents?" Pikachu asked.

"Not really, but it seems polite," Silver said. "Hmm…"

"All right!" Ash called, as this time Medicham didn't seem inclined to get out of the latest Medicham-shaped crater. "That's two! Now, time for my last Pokémon!"

He held out a Pokéball. "Zapdos!"

"Oh, huh," Brawly mused, looking at the Pokémon standing in front of him. "I heard you had a Zapdos, but I thought it was the other type."

Ash shrugged. "I do call all my Pokémon by their name, which is usually their species name, except with Silver and Lokoko because they had names before then!"

Brawly nodded, considering, and recalled Medicham before sending out Hariyama. "Okay, Hariyama, let's do this!"

"Thunderous Kick!" Ash ordered.

Zapdos dodged left, right, then left, and finally hit Hariyama with a kick that went wham and sent out a visible pressure wave.

"Hm," Brawly said. "Hariyama – Whirlwind!"

Hariyama punched forwards with both palms, producing a whirling gust of wind, and Zapdos was knocked away easily – much more easily than the Fighting-type should have been.

"Thought so," Brawly added. "It's that Noctowl. The kick didn't look right."

Noctowl's disguise dissolved, and he used Extrasensory instead – an attack which Hariyama blocked by kicking up a cloud of sand – then Ash pointed.

"Freezing Glare!" he said.

Hariyama waited, one palm back and glowing faintly blue while the other was forward and ready to block, then the moment the attack was about to trigger he kicked up another puff of sand and the Freezing Glare wasted itself on the sand.

Swapping places with his palms, Hariyama threw a Brine attack, and Noctowl took a glancing hit that left him sputtering.

"Okay, I see how it is," he said.

"Noctowl!" Ash called. "Up a bit higher – get a Psycho Cut ready to block – now, start inhaling! Prepare an Aeroblast!"

"Be ready to block, Hariyama!" Brawly said. "An attack like that will give you only one chance!"

The Aeroblast began to build up, then Ash clapped his hands. "Cancel it!"

Not quite enough focused air had gathered in Noctowl's beak for the full Aeroblast, but what was already there didn't go without a fight – instead a wave of pressure blasted out, sending Noctowl tumlbing backwards from recoil.

More importantly, though, the wave was entirely different to the other attacks which Hariyama had successfully blocked. It hit the sand he kicked up, overwhelmed it, and the pressure simply slammed Hariyama hard enough to knock him out to sea with a splash.

"Wow, that's really cool!" Silver said, jumping upright and hovering into the air. "I know I did that once in Olivine, but now it's not just a weird thing, it's an official Move! What do you think it should be called?"

"Whatever it's called, you've done a great job," Brawly said, as Brock sent out his Mudkip to tow Hariyama back in to shore. "And that means you've won the Knuckle Badge!"

Chapter Text

"How do you decide which of your Pokémon to use, Ash?" May asked, as they flew towards Slateport.

"Pardon?" Ash replied.

Raikou carried him a bit closer to Latios, and May raised her voice.

"I asked how you decide which of your Pokémon to use!" May replied. "I know you have a lot, but I've got three and it's already kind of tricky to decide!"

"Oh, well, I guess it's partly just on feel," Ash replied. "But it's also to do with personal growth… so Treecko and Taillow are new, so they're likely to get a lot of time battling. And if one of my Pokémon is trying to work on a new trick and it seems like it's almost there, sometimes a battle is just the thing to make it work!"

He shrugged. "But… apart from that, I think it's kind of a good reason why I should do pre-League training somewhere where I can visit everyone. And why I should keep track of who might be feeling a bit under-appreciated… it's why this time Raikou and Latios are helping us fly, instead of Zacian and Latias. Next time it might be Zapdos, or I might bring the Dragonairs down."

"It's very nice of you," Raikou said. "And I know you're helping my sister work on flying as well."

"Yeah, that's another part of it," Ash said. "It kind of depends on whether the Pokémon is working on something that they need my help with… so helping Suicune with flying, that's something that needs personal attention for some of the bits. But for now she's working on hydrokinesis, and that's something she can work on for a while."

May nodded to herself. "So… with me, it's going to be more about my next routines?"

"Not just that, but… really, I don't think there's any one rule about it," Ash shrugged. "Just remember to check in with your Pokémon so you know none of them are feeling neglected, I think? And apart from that it's what makes sense for you… it's probably good for you to talk to Max about it, too."

He pointed. "Oh, look! There's, uh, is it Slateport?"

"Slateport indeed," Raikou confirmed. "It looks different from up here."

"I think that's the Pokémon Centre, it's… a bit to the left of the middle," Ash said. "Let's go down and land there, then we can get a rest!"

"Okay, Azurill, one more time!" May called. "Think you can manage that, or do you want a rest?"

"I do kind of want a rest, but after this!" Azurill replied. "It's really close!"

She bounced on her tail a few times, inhaling, then spat out a Water Gun that glistened with internal sparkles.

The glob of water rose higher, then burst, and a shower of glittery light flew out with it.

"That's great!" Brock said. "It looks like that's working!"

"Great!" May enthused. "Good job, Azurill!"

She picked the little Normal-type up and gave her a hug. "Well done. You've definitely earned that rest… want to stay out, or go back in?"

"I'll stay out," Azurill replied. "Can I have a drink?"

May got out some water, and gave it to Azurill. "There you go. I'll be training Beautifly for now, but I'll be right here, okay?"

Azurill nodded.

There was a loud yip from over where Ash was training, and she looked around. "What was that?"

"Sounded like Zorua to me," Vulpix said, knowledgeably. "Zorua's best off if he can pretend to be all the other Pokémon, but he still needs to work on not crashing into a tree when he's being one of the Beasts."

May tried not to giggle.

"Okay, Beautifly," she said, picking up a softball, and threw it. "Attack!"

Beautifly's attack hit the softball… and it went flying off into the distance, where it nearly hit a man in a Cacturne outfit.

He didn't take it well.

The next day, someone called Drew asked the friends for help about what to do with a beached Wailord.

Ash thought about the problem for a few seconds, and asked why they didn't just carry the Wailord back into the sea.

"...it's a Wailord," Drew replied. "It's really, really big and heavy."

"Yeah, but I mean, with the help of a couple of Pokémon," Ash explained. "So… Dragonite, and Articuno, and Suicune could help too by making a big wave… hey, Brock, do you think Onix can help?"

Then he shook his head. "No, wait, I've got a better idea! Let's see this stuck Wailord!"

Drew led them over a rise, and Ash reached for a Moon Ball on his belt. "Clefairy!"

"Finalement," Clefairy said, emerging from her Pokéball. "Et… voila!"

She touched her fingers together, and the Wailord let out a sigh as their weight suddenly dropped massively.

Ash walked over and picked Wailord up.

"...what," Drew asked.

"Clefairy's cancelling out almost all of the gravity!" Ash explained. "Not all of it, because then the whole beach would go flying and stuff and I wouldn't be able to walk on the ground, but pretty close, it only weighs a bit more than Larvitar now! So, uh… right, the sea's that way…"

A day before Beautifly was ready for his Contest, a council of Pokémon gathered in Slateport Market to discuss an important topic.

"We need to get our food back," Pichu Big insisted. "We can't let that Manectric get away with stealing it like that!"

"Yeah!" Pichu Little agreed. "That'll teach him a lesson! You'll all help, right?"

Zorua bounced back and forth on his paws. "Yeah! I don't like seeing Pokémon doing stuff like that when it's cruel, after all!"

"I guess I'm not doing anything else today," Mudkip shrugged.

Treecko glanced sideways at Pikachu. "You're the expert here."

"I'm not the expert, this has just happened to me more than the others," Pikachu corrected. "Speaking of which…"

He pointed to the Victini hovering next to Pichu Big. "Are you the same one who got involved in all those races with a Darkrai?"

Victini crossed his arms. "You can't prove that."

"So here's my plan!" Pichu Little announced. "We need to get to the other side of the market, but we don't want Manectric to find out we're coming, so we'll have to go along the roofs and under the stalls to make sure humans don't notice!"

"Sounds reasonable to me," Entei rumbled.

Pikachu looked over at him. "Really? You're actually going along with this?"

"I have a disguise," Entei said, reaching into his fur with a paw and pulling it out. "See?"

They looked at it.

"That's just a paper mask with the words 'Johtoian Espeon' on it," Pikachu said.

"Well, it is a disguise," Entei answered. "I mean, if it said Johtoian Flareon they might know it was me."

Mudkip raised a paw. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this, this is going to be glorious chaos and I'm totally on board now. Let's go!"

"I think I'm kind of getting the idea about why you're able to help May with Contests, even though you don't do them," Max said, as they watched the Appeals round – specifically, a Milotic whose Twister attack swirled around like a whip, forming coils and patterns in the air. "It's all about controlling an attack really well, right?"

He shifted a little so the Shroomish in his lap could get a better view. "Shroomish can use Bullet Seed, and she's getting good with it, but Treecko can do much weirder things with it and that's the kind of thing a Contest is about."

"It kind of is," Pikachu said, thinking. "Because just using an attack isn't necessarily going to get you points, you have to do it in a way that looks good and shows creativity or skill… and that helps in battle too."

He looked over at the other Pokémon watching. "Right?"

"Yeah, makes sense," Taillow agreed, flaring her wings in a shrug.

Croconaw looked like he was barely restraining the urge to break into a song, and Lotad bounced up and down in agreement.

"You haven't even done a Contest yet," Vulpix pointed out. "So there."

"Hey, I've still been learning," Lotad protested. "And battling, too!"

For his part, Dratini was too busy staring at the Contest in awe.

"Ah, here we go," Brock said. "Here comes May."

May bowed, then sent out her Beautifly with a flash.

"Attack!" she said, and Beautifly's wings flapped before hammering forwards in a gust of wind. A sparkling cloud came with the gust, initially just glittering scales in the lighting before taking on a definite shape, and there was a sort of rustle as people leaned forward to see what was going on.

There were dozens of miniature Beautifly dancing in the lights, made up of shimmering half-transparent reflective material like the scales on Beautifly's wings.

"Now, Defend!" May added, and a second gust rippled out as the first curved around. The second gust's mini-Beautifly took shape more quickly, flittering around for a moment before joining up into a dome made of tesselating Beautifly shapes, and the first gust slammed into them in a shower of sparks – sending sparkles in all directions as the first gust's Beautifly shattered on impact, and leaving a rain-shower of motes of light that rained down on both May and her Pokémon.

"Huh," Max said, applauding. "You'd never know she wrecked three dresses getting that right…"

"Wow…" Dratini breathed.

"Petal Dance!" Drew called.

"Defend, Beautifly!" May replied, and her Bug-type formed a shield of miniature copies. It formed just in time, deflecting the surge of petals, and May sighed in relief – then spotted something else going on.

A shower of coloured leaves sweeping wide, around Beautifly's shield.

"Make it wider!" she called, but Beautifly didn't have time to adjust his Defend Order. The leaves struck home, leaving several scratches, and May frowned for a moment.

"Heal!" she said. "And form an all around defence!"

Beautifly's wings beat steadily, forming more and more miniature copies, and they tesselated together to form a spherical shield without any gaps. The leftovers fluttered around his injuries, attaching themselves to form little glowing stickers, and Drew considered.

May looked over at the points. They were going down for both of them… her shielding wasn't very aggressive, which was losing points, but Drew wasn't getting through the shield either.

"Charge up for a Solarbeam!" Drew called.

"Convert the shield!" May countered. "Attack Order!"

"What?" Drew asked. "You can convert them?"

The entire shield broke up into hundreds of copies, and they swirled for a moment before crashing down on Drew's Roselia.

"Remarkable!" someone said.

After the Contest – May had reached the finals, but that Milotic's Twister had shredded the Attack Order and Beautifly hadn't had a good response – Drew sought out May.

"You know that those aren't moves that Beautifly can learn, right?" he asked. "Just… wanted to make sure that was clear."

"I mean… I kind of thought they were?" May replied, shrugging. "You can argue with Beautifly if you want, though."

Drew sniggered. "I… guess I had that coming," he said. "Still… I hope next time you stick to moves that Pokémon can normally use."

"No promises," May replied.

That evening, as they were about to leave Slateport, one of Ash's Pokemon had a question for him.

"How does trading Pokémon work?" Dratini asked. "I mean, um, I know how it normally works, which is that trainers swap Pokémon for Pokémon they'd like better. But how does it work for you?"

"I think it's mostly… will a Pokémon work better with someone else," Ash said, thinking. "And if they want to, too."

"Because… I kind of like the idea of doing Contests?" Dratini explained. "They look really amazing. And – well, and I wondered how long it would take, and if you'd be okay with that, and…"

Ash picked the Dragon-type up and gave him a hug. "Don't worry, okay?"

Dratini nodded slightly.

"If you want to go with May, and May is okay with that, then that's what you can do," Ash added. "It's not really about making it a formal trade, but we will get it registered at the Pokémon Centre just to be sure… uh… hey, Brock? Do trading machines swap registrations of Pokémon, normally?"

"That's kind of the whole point, Ash!" Brock called back.

"Well, there you go," Ash said.

May thought about it for approximately two and a half seconds.

"If that's what he wants, then that's great!" she said. "I'd be happy to have him on my team!"

Then she frowned. "I… actually don't know how that works, though. Do I need to catch a Pokémon to trade with you, or…?"

"Funny, I asked the same questions!" Dratini said, trying not to giggle.

Chapter Text

"Do you ever get the feeling that our trainers aren't quite the most diligent about completing their journey on time?" Pikachu asked.

"Ssh," Latias chided him. "I like watching the magic show, don't interrupt!"

"Sorry," Pikachu said.

"I get what you mean, though," Torchic agreed, more quietly. "But even if the point of a journey is to get stronger, that doesn't mean you have to spend the whole time racing to complete it."

Then the magician's assistant brought out a funny looking crystal, and Max frowned.

"Did someone say something?" he asked. "I heard a voice…"

"Jirachi," Marshadow said immediately, before eating another handful of popcorn. "That crystal is Jirachi in Sleep Mode."

"Pardon?" Torchic said. "Isn't Jirachi a-"

Latias sighed. "Can we discuss this later?"

When later arrived, the friends got the full story from Marshadow – then got it again from the magician Butler and his assistant Diane.

The crystal was, indeed, Jirachi's cocoon, and the Psychic-type was a particularly powerful example even of the Wish Pokémon who was tied to the Millennium Comet – so named because it came around only once every one thousand years.

Jirachi was destined to awaken that very night, when the Comet appeared in the sky overhead, and when he was in the presence of a best friend (also chosen by destiny).

"...that doesn't sound very fair," Ash said, thinking about it. "Only seven days with a best friend?"

"Jirachi is a deeply mysterious Pokémon," Butler replied. "Though, admittedly, I've never actually met anyone with any Legendary or Mythical Pokémon before."

"And then Jirachi sleeps for a thousand years again," Ash went on, turning the idea over in his head. "I wonder if that's because of the comet, or it's just a thing that Jirachi do and the comet's kind of a coincidence?"

Butler frowned. "I think it's because of the comet, because otherwise I don't think it would line up quite so well."

Brock counted under his breath. "But it can only really have happened one or two times in the past that anyone could keep track of…"

"Do you know anything more, Marshadow?" Ash asked, looking at the Ghost-type. "Or Zygarde, is this anything you know about?"

"Best information is that Jirachi wake according to celestial cycles," Zygarde replied. "Records indicate that some Jirachi sightings fit a one thousand year sequence. Other sightings fit other sequences, with one observed sequence at 248 year periodicity; this sequence indicates a planetary alignment."

Ash was frowning, thinking about that, but then the crystal twitched.

Twitched again.

And, with a flash, turned into Jirachi.

"Wow…" Max said, seriously impressed.

Jirachi yawned.

"That's so cute," May smiled. "Hey there, Jirachi."

Hi! Jirachi announced, telepathically. What's your name?

"That's my sister, May," Max announced. "And I'm Max, and these are our friends Ash and Brock."

Oh, your mind feels familiar! Jirachi announced. I sort of felt you earlier!

"Ooh, this is where the fun bit starts!" Cranidos announced. "I met a Jirachi once, ages ago… their wish powers take the easiest or funniest approach! It's hilarious!"

"The easiest approach?" Max repeated. "So… what would happen if I wished I could understand what a Pokémon is saying without help?"

Let's find out! Jirachi said. I wish Max could understand what a Pokémon is saying without help!

Ash turned into an Absol, and his backpack went thump onto the floor. Pikachu nearly followed it, but managed to swing himself into a graceful landing.

Max stared. "...what the heck?"

"Oh, this again," Ash said. "Well, I guess I do count as a Pokémon like this, so you can understand me?"

"...what on earth do you mean, again?" Butler asked. "Has this happened to you before?"

"...so it's kind of rude to use your wish powers for some things," Max said. "It's fine sometimes, but because they're kind of weird about it you need to be careful."

Jirachi nodded.

Does this mean we get to keep the candy?

"Only the stuff we actually pay for," Max replied. "Which is a bit of a pain, but it's only fair… and no, I don't think it's a good idea to wish for more money, it'd just take it from people's pockets or something."

Aww… you don't even know that's what I was thinking of, anyway, Jirachi pouted.

"I mostly just guessed," Max said.

He looked around. "Once we've got the candy sorted out, though, do you want to go on one of the rides? There's dodgems, Mightyena loves those."

What's a dodgem?

"Yeah, I think it'd take longer to explain than it'd take to just show you," Max decided. "Mightyena, I think we're going on the dodgems again!"

"Sounds good to me!" the Dark-type said, wagging his tail.

"I can't believe you're not even using your Illusion ability," Brock said, shaking his head as they watched Max on the dodgems.

"Yeah, but how often do I get the chance to look at things from down here?" Ash replied. "It's great to get a reminder."

"Ash, you've done this three times in less than a year," Brock pointed out. "The answer is more often than usual."

Ash nodded, seriously. "Right, but it's still good to think about – like how because Treecko isn't as tall as I am, he's got a much flatter view across a battlefield. So I need to think about that because he won't have the same view as me… same for Dratini, and Pikachu, and just about anyone who can't fly!"

"Never change, Ash," Pikachu said.

Then paused. "I mean, never change who you are on a fundamental level. At some point I'd like you to go back to having human-altitude shoulders."

"I wonder if I can get some help from Zacian, some time," Ash pondered. "I'd sort of like to get Swords Dance right… or that thing she does where she fires Sacred Swords, that's really cool… but that'll have to wait until we've got Jirachi sorted out!"

He jumped up onto a roof. "I wonder whether-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Ash jumped again, this time in surprise, and fell off the roof. He rolled upright as he landed, one paw going to the Pokéball belt slung around his middle, and he looked up as the yell finally faded. "Latias? What was that?"

"I don't know," Latias replied, shimmering into visibility. "I can look around?"

"Good idea," Ash agreed. "Wait – take Zorua, he can talk to people for you. And let May know where we are."

Latias nodded firmly.

"Ash, look!" Brock said. "There's another Absol!"

Mudkip sidled over to Vulpix. "Should I be finding this unutterably hilarious?"

"You don't have to," Vulpix judged. "But it helps."

"I have never seen another Absol who actually fit the stereotype of bringing chaos and disaster," the new Absol declared, flanks heaving slightly.

"Ash is actually human," Pikachu supplied. "He just got turned into an Absol for… I think it's the third time, unless I lost count."

Absol stared for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm… not sure how to react to that."

She took a deep breath, muttered something about how she'd really have appreciated it if Ash happened to be female, then shook her head. "Well, it's… extremely hard to concentrate, right now, but there's danger. Jirachi is in danger."

"He is?" Max said, worried. "How? From who?"

"It's Butler, isn't it?" Diane asked.

She stepped out from behind a tent. "He was part of Team Magma, once… we took Jirachi's crystal from Forina. I'd hoped it was just to fulfil the prophecy, but it seems likely that he's the cause of the danger."

Absol frowned, concentrating hard. "I… think so. It's hard to be sure, but I think you're right. And we should… no, I can't tell."

"If Jirachi was taken from Forina, then we need to go back there, right?" Ash guessed. "And even if we don't, then we can think about what to do there as easily as we can here… hey, I just realized!"

He nodded to Absol. "This is a great chance for me to learn how disaster sensing works!"

"I simultaneously think that's a good idea and wish you hadn't said that," Absol sighed.

"Hmm…" Ash said, the next evening, looking at Jirachi playing with Max and Shroomish – flicking a frisbee around, with Bullet Seed in Shroomish's case.

They were a lot closer to Forina than they'd been the previous day, but they could only go so far in one day, and it wasn't long until they'd have to go to bed.

He got Ibid out of his bag. "What moves does Jirachi know?"

The Pokédex transformed into a miniature Jirachi, which waved.

"Jirachi knows Teleport, Wish, and Doom Desire," Ibid said.

Ash thumped his paw on the ground. "That won't work, then."

"Something I should know?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm trying to work out how Jirachi can stay awake, or wake up," Ash explained. "I had the idea of teaching him Sleep Talk and Aromatherapy, but Jirachi knows Doom Desire too and that's a really powerful move. So doing Sleep Talk randomly until he gets Aromatherapy probably isn't a great idea…"

He tapped Ibid. "You can change back now."

"Understood," Ibid said.

"Oh, and… can you get Zacian for me?" Ash added. "I'd like to get in some Sacred Sword practice."

"Fetching," Ibid informed him, and vanished in a Teleport.

He reappeared fifteen seconds later with Zacian's Repeat Ball, and the Heroine of Many Battles emerged.

"Training, is it?" she asked, and reached into her mane to draw her sword. It was only a normal sword, this time, not the Rusted Sword that changed her form, and she held it with an easy confidence. "Very well, let us begin with the high guard."

Ash shifted his stance a little.

"That's quite good, given how long it's been since you had the chance to practice," Zacian informed him. "Bring in your left forepaw a little… good. Now, deal with this strike from the high guard."

She swiped her blade across low, and Ash skipped back two steps.

"Good," she said. "Never be afraid to open measure if it is the best solution… next, a parry."

It took two days to reach Forina, in total, and – because it was what he considered entertainment, job and relaxation all at once – Ash spent almost the whole time training one way or another.

It wasn't always the more conventional type of training, though.

"Okay, so… this is how my parents taught me," Absol said, and took a deep breath. "Just need to not focus on the fact you feel like a walking Trick Room… so I'm going to be putting you in different and quickly changing amounts of personal risk. That should be something that alerts you to your disaster senses. Ready?"

"Of course!" Ash agreed, readily. "That's what this training's for!"

"I had to ask," Absol said. "Okay. So I know four blade moves… Psycho Cut, which is completely ineffective, Night Slash, which you resist, Slash, which is neutral, and X-Scissor which is super effective. Your job is to tell me which one I'm switching to with your eyes closed."

"Right!" Ash nodded, duly closing his eyes. "I'm ready!"

Absol lit her horn with X-Scissor, then flicked from that to Psycho Cut and back to X-Scissor.

Back and forth.

"I think I feel… something?" Ash said. "It's coming and going though."

"Good," Absol said. "The difference should get stronger now… Swords Dance."

Her horn lit up brighter. "Tell me when the feeling comes and goes."

"It's there, now," Ash said. "Kind of an itch? ...now it's gone."

"That's good," Absol told him again. "That itch is your danger sense. As you continue to work on it it will get more detailed, and stronger… though I'm not sure if you'll have it when you're not an Absol."

She snorted. "I'm not sure why you have Illusion as an ability at all, though admittedly after meeting some of your team I can't think of what else you'd have."

They were camping for the night, and Forina was visible on the horizon, when Absol padded up to where Zacian was lying a little way from the fire.

"Excuse me," she began, brushing her paw against the ground. "And, don't take this the wrong way, but… might I inquire as to your preference in partners?"

Zacian turned her head, and gave the Dark-type a long but not unkind regard.

"I am afraid that, if your preference includes me, mine is not the same as yours," she said. "Though I do not begrudge you the question."

Absol took that in, and nodded.

"Thank you for the simple answer," she said. "I am afraid that as a Pokémon normally associated with disasters, it is… not as easy to socialize as it could be."

Zacian chuckled.

"Then, rest assured, I can and will count you as friend," she said. "If I were my brother I'd mention the word shieldmaiden here…"

Eventually, and with Ash still mulling over the Jirachi question, they reached the beautiful landscape of Forina itself.

"Observation," Zygarde said, as they reached an overlook and a cliff-top path that provided a lovely view of the valley interior. "Thousands of years of enhanced energy has sunk into the soil here. This area is more fertile than it would be otherwise owing to the presence of Jirachi and Jirachi Sleep Mode."

Jirachi drooped. You mean… I have to stay here or this place would dry up?

"Correct determination," Zygarde said. "I estimate that without you being here, the climate would begin to deterioriate in only a century."

Max stopped mid-stride, and May bumped into the back of him.

"Did you translate that right, Vulpix?" he said. "Only a century?"

"That's what I heard too," Vulpix huffed. "Don't blame me."

"A century is a long time, by human standards," Ash said. "I guess it's different for an ecosystem?"

"Correct," Zygarde told him.

"Then I guess it's not going to be a problem if we do work out a way to keep Jirachi awake," Ash said. "And, uh, at worst Max could just move here or something? Or Jirachi could visit Max, or… there's loads of options?"

"It's a lot better than having no options!" Latias squeaked.

"Right!" Ash agreed. "So we just need to work out a good way to keep Jirachi awake… I've got a few ideas, but I guess either we need a really foolproof one or a good idea which can't be beaten."

He frowned. "Hey, I feel kind of itchy…"

Then Butler appeared in a flash of light as his Kirlia used Teleport, shouted that he wished for Groudon, and everything got complicated.

"This… isn't what I wanted," Butler said, staring up at the enormous monster he'd created. "That's not Groudon!"

"Yeah, that's really really not good!" Cranidos yelped. "How is that the easiest option?"

Zygarde howled, and green flashes lit up all over Forina.

"Alert!" they barked. "The construct is draining energy from the area! It has been created without sufficient energy to sustain it!"

"Ohh, that's how!" the Fossil said, pleased to have that answered at least, then darted out of the way as a pseudopod of energy crashed down in front of them.

Ash activated his Illusion, and scrambled around in his bag.

"This should keep it busy!" he said, and threw something into the pseudopod as it came in again.

The entire Meta Groudon flashed brilliant white, then vanished.

Everyone stared at the result.

"...Ash?" May said, eventually. "Why did you just throw a Heavy Ball at that fake Groudon?"

"I thought it was the GS Ball," Ash replied. "I don't even know why there was a Heavy Ball in my bag… I thought trying to drain from an invincible Pokéball might keep it busy."

"That was probably there because Mew was fiddling with it," Cranidos guessed.

Ash walked over, and picked up the Heavy Ball before sending the contents out again.

The enormous Groudon roared, extending pseudopods to try and drain the landscape again, and then Ho-Oh burst out of his Timer Ball.

"Stand back!" he declared. "This pseudo-Pokémon is ill, and I am the next step up from a doctor!"

"Well, at least I've got them off being stuck on cat," Ho-Oh said, proudly. "You've got to admit that that's an achievement."

Ash patted the two-foot Shiny Rayquaza now cuddled around his torso, who didn't seem inclined to shift any time soon. "I guess so! So that's sorted out one problem, anyway!"

Butler was just staring at them both.

"So, I guess… oh, hey, I just had an idea!" Ash said. "So… the way Jirachi work is that they're tied to an astronomical cycle, and they have to sleep until the astronomical cycle comes around again. And they're only awake for seven days around the middle of it… so can't we just wish that Jirachi was directly linked to the full moon?"

He shrugged. "It might make Jirachi's wishes less powerful, but he'd be around a lot more of the time, and that's better, right?"

"I… actually can't think of a reason that wouldn't work," Cranidos admitted. "At worst you'd need to get a Cresselia to help out or something, but that's about it, and they've got Lunar Dance anyway."

Ho-Oh examined Ash.

"How do you even do this?" he asked. "It took you more than a year to get around to challenging me, and I had to seek you out personally to do it… and it took you less than a percent of the time to solve Jirachi's problem."

"I think that would have gone faster if Ash had known he was meant to be challenging you and where," Brock said. "Though we might have got lost on the way."

A day later, Norman picked up the phone. "Maple residence."

He smiled. "May! It's good to hear from you. How are you doing?"

Pause.

"That sounds like quite a scare. I hope you're all safe?"

Another pause, and Norman nodded. "That's good. And how is your new Dratini doing?"

He smiled. "That's lovely. And let the others know I haven't forgotten them… a seventh Pokémon? So one of them will be coming back here, I suppose. Is that one yours or Max's, really?"

Caroline leaned around the door, and Norman nodded to her while holding up his hand.

Then paused.

"...Jirachi?" he repeated. "And he'll be… asleep for three weeks in the month. Oh, very asleep for three weeks. Like you before school?"

Caroline held in a snort of laughter.

"I'm just teasing, May," Norman told his daughter. "And yes, that won't be a problem. We'll probably put him in Max's room, but for the others it depends what they are… oh, and you are going to catch a Normal type at some point, right? One of you at least?"

He laughed. "I suppose Azurill does count, at least until she evolves. Well, take care – shall I pass you over to you mother?"

At about the same time, Giovanni – and, miles to the south, Professor Oak – both stared at differently framed but otherwise very similar photographs of the same tiny Pokémon.

Neither the crime boss nor the Pokémon Professor knew it, but they were both almost exactly united in how much they wanted a drink at that moment.

Chapter Text

"How are you doing, today?" Ash asked, as the friends walked towards Mauville. "Feeling a bit better?"

"Less scared," Rayquaza admitted.

She peered out of Ash's jacket, head swinging back and forth, then ducked back inside. "It's all kind of… there's so much."

"Yeah, the world is like that," Ash agreed. "Just let me know if you're uncomfortable about anything, okay? You can go back in your Pokéball, or back to the ranch – I know Dragonite and the others would love to meet you – but it's what you feel okay with that matters."

Rayquaza reacted to that by curling a little tighter around Ash's waist, and he patted her on the head.

"You're doing great," he told her.

"I guess that's another Flying type for your list," Brock said. "Ever thought about taking Lance's offer? You've got even more Flying types than when he made it."

"Nobody would ever get to Lance again," Pikachu sniggered. "Even when I'm not allowed to take part…"

"Sometimes!" Ash replied. "But… yeah, it's not for me."

"Hey!" someone called out. "It's you!"

"It's me?" Max replied.

"No, not you!" the speaker said.

He came out onto the path, revealing himself to be a young boy with a Plusle and a Minun by his side. "Sis, look! It's him!"

"Thatcher!" a girl said, hurrying out after him. "I'm sorry about this… my name's Alyssa, and my brother's an idiot sometimes."

"Hey!" Thatcher protested.

"I know the feeling," May said.

"Hey!" Max complained.

May winked. "You've got to admit, it was an obvious joke…"

"Yeah, that's why I'm not more annoyed," Max griped.

Ash raised a hand. "So, uh, who's this him you mean?"

"It's you!" Thatcher said. "The legendary hero!"

Ash exchanged glances with Pikachu.

"I guess that vaguely makes sense, in a way," Pikachu admitted, thinking about it. "Honestly when I heard it was you they meant my first thought was 'Silver Conference winner'."

Thatcher stared. "Whoa… your Pokémon even talks!"

"Now that's amazing!" Plusle gasped.

"And Plusle talks?" Thatcher said. "Can all Pokémon talk now?"

Vulpix smirked.

"That's her doing," Max said, picking up the Fire-type. "But what do you mean, legendary hero?"

"It's an old story," Alyssa explained. "See, it's usually foggy around Misty Village, and we've got a lighthouse to help people find their way through the fog. And that lighthouse has a Light Stone, which was supposedly brought to the village by a legendary hero dressed in blue and accompanied by an Electric Pokémon."

She frowned. "Actually, it should be foggy around here right now, I'm not sure why it isn't. We'd normally be helping run the lighthouse."

"It should be foggy?" Rayquaza repeated. "Sorry about that… I think I can turn off Air Lock if that helps?"

"I guess the fog sounds like it's normally more of a nuisance than anything," Ash told her. "So you don't need to worry about it."

Alyssa did a double-take.

"Okay, now I'm starting to believe the story…" she admitted. "I guess having a Legendary Pokémon would count for being a Legendary Hero?"

Zygarde scratched his ear.

"What about having thirteen to fifteen, depending on definition?" Zapdos asked, emerging from her Pokéball in a flash. "I don't want anyone to be making assumptions based on incomplete information here."

Somewhat awed, Alyssa and Thatcher showed them to the lighthouse, and the Light Stone.

"It glows when it's charged up by Electric Pokémon," Alyssa said. "It throws a wonderful bright light… obviously that's kind of unneeded at the moment, though."

"It looks pretty cool!" Ash said, inspecting it closely, then touched it.

And it turned into a Reshiram.

The Dragon-type inspected Ash, hummed to themselves, then thumped their tail on the floor.

"Nope, I'd get a headache."

They turned to Thatcher and Alyssa. "Any chance I can stay on as the lighthouse Pokémon? Is that a thing?"

"There's one in Olivine in Johto," Ash supplied.

"Ah, good," Reshiram said, and sat back down inside the mirrors. "I… assume I just light my turbine? Is that how it works?"

"I think you need to use Flash?" Max asked. "I assume you can learn it… I'm starting to assume any Pokémon can learn anything around Ash."

They reached Mauville the next day, after helping Reshiram get Flash right, and Ash went straight to the gym.

"That's a really big building," May said, as they approached it. "Is that normal?"

"You normally have space for the main battle room, and space for your rooms and for the Pokémon to stay and train," Brock replied. "Then if the Gym does anything else as well, you have a room for that. But even by the standards of the largest gyms I've seen, that one is… big."

"There was that one built into a volcano," Ash pointed out. "That was bigger."

He knocked on the door, and it wobbled before falling to the ground.

"...wow, Ash, you broke the gym," May sniggered.

Ash took a step forwards, onto the door. "Uh, there still isn't anything in here, do you – whoa!"

The door zipped forwards, nearly knocking Ash off his feet, and Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder. "Careful, Ash, this could be a Team Rocket trap!"

"You're right," Ash agreed.

"Team Rocket?" Rayquaza repeated, nervous, and her head slipped out from inside Ash's jacket to watch. "Those Pokémon thieves you mentioned? I hope it's not them."

The door-platform kept going for several long seconds, then slid to a halt, and a Raikou sprang up and roared at them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ash demanded.

Pikachu's nose twitched. "Ash, I think this is-"

Rayquaza sneezed.

This resulted in her using Dragon Ascent, and she hit the Raikou hard enough that it went flying the whole length of the hallway they were in and came apart into a shower of mechanical parts.

"...oh, so it was a robot," Ash realized, then caught Rayquaza with both hands as she sank back to the floor. "And I didn't know you could do that! That was impressive!"

"I feel dizzy now," Rayquaza announced.

"That's okay, you can have a rest," Ash told her.

"Well!" a man laughed, as an electric door slid aside. "I can't say I expected that! But perhaps I should have – welcome to my gym, Ash Ketchum!"

He frowned. "Didn't you have friends?"

"I guess they must still be at the front door," Ash mused.

By the time the platform had been sent back and had retrieved Brock, Max and May, plus their Pokémon, Wattson had already offered Ash the Dynamo Badge for Special Services to the Electric Type.

Ash refused, insisting that there had to be a battle or he'd get a firm telling-off from his Taillow, and after some thought Wattson declared that they'd be having a battle with three Pokémon a side.

"But don't expect me to go easy on you!" he added. "Pick your Pokémon!"

Ash's first Pokémon was Taillow, while Wattson's first Pokémon was an Ampharos, and the Electric-type glanced back at his trainer.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Hmm, maybe better not to go all out straight away," Wattson agreed. "Discharge!"

A blast of lightning flashed out, covering most of the room, and Taillow spread her wings and just drank it in.

"Not bad," she judged. "I'd give it a five out of ten, with a bonus point for presentation."

Ampharos blinked.

"What."

"Yes?" asked Wattson's assistant, Watt. "Sorry, did you want me for something?"

"Agility!" Ash ordered. "Then hit him with Quick Attack!"

Ampharos raised his arm to block as Taillow blurred in, wincing as her attack hit his arm, and Wattson stroked his chin. "Let's try… Power Gem!"

"Electrify!" Ash countered.

The gem dissolved into electricity as Taillow clapped her wings together, which meant that Taillow just ignored that attack too like she'd ignored everything else.

"I have to admit, I've never had to come up with a counter strategy for Electrify," Wattson admitted. "And usually the only Pokémon who can use it merely end up with the moves being less effective, not completely irrelevant!"

He nodded sharply. "Okay, Ampharos! It looks like we will be going all out!"

With a flourish, he pulled a watch out of his pocket, and threw an armband to Ampharos. "Let's go!"

Ampharos took another hit from Taillow's Quick Attack, then lit up with orange light as he Mega Evolved, and when the light faded Ash got his first in-person look at a Mega Ampharos.

"Shock Wave!" Wattson ordered.

A surge of electricity blasted out, passed over Taillow, and she paused before hovering in the air.

"That actually vaguely stung," she reported. "Huh."

"Mega Ampharos has Mold Breaker," Ash said. "So… that must mean that it's a bit an Ability, but mostly just… you."

Cranidos snagged Ibid out of Ash's pocket, flicked the transforming Pokédex into a book shape, and took some notes.

"Ampharos!" Wattson called. "Dragon Pulse!"

Mega Ampharos exhaled a jet of multicoloured light, and Taillow Electrified it before it reached her.

"Twister!" Ash ordered. "But be ready to Electrify!"

"Keep up those Dragon Pulses!" Wattson replied. "She's got to miss one of them sometime!"

Rayquaza watched the attacks go back and forth, Taillow dancing through the air of the gym as Mega Ampharos tried to make something (1) hit Taillow and (2) actually do anything, then looked over at Pikachu.

"This looks like fun," she said.

"It is," Pikachu agreed. "Probably best to work your way up to a gym battle, though. We can help you practice."

After a long, frantic battle in which Taillow had a ninety-five percent success rate at either dodging or converting Mega Ampharos, and Mega Ampharos had a much lower success rate at not being hit by Taillow's Twisters, Wattson held up his hand.

"All right!" he said. "I can see Ampharos is getting exhausted, so I'm going to call the battle here! You've got a remarkable Taillow there, Ash!"

Taillow hovered in the air for a moment, preening, then landed on Ash's shoulder and panted a bit.

"I wouldn't mind a rest," she admitted.

"Yeah, I'm switching to someone else," Ash confirmed. "Ready?"

"Of course!" Wattson agreed, and sent out a Magneton.

Ash's reply was his Clefairy.

"Sacre bleu," Clefairy muttered. "Tu n'aurais pas pu m'envoyer contre le dragon?"

She huffed, and Wattson chuckled.

"Begin!" Watt called.

"Flash Cannon!" Wattson decided.

Clefairy flicked herself into the air with a Gravity, wings glowing as she steered rather than stay on a predictable trajectory, and Magneton began throwing Electric attacks at her under orders as well.

"Gravity him!" Ash called. "Then use Metronome!"

Magneton went wham into the floor, and Clefairy twitched her fingers as she used a random move.

A little ball of light flashed upwards, and she took a glancing hit from a Flash Cannon before blocking it as best she could with a Meteor Beam from one hand and a Moonblast from the other.

Then the ball of light burst, turning orange.

Cranidos stared at it for a moment as it hung in the sky, then yelped. "Everyone get down!"

Seven streamers of orange energy, each as thick as a wrist, came slamming down in succession. Six of them formed a cage shape around Magneton, and the seventh slammed straight down the middle.

When the light faded, Magneton was two feet into the foundations, which was quite an achievement since the gym had a basement.

They were also no longer fit to battle.

"What was that, exactly?" Max said. "I've never even heard of a move like that before."

"Yeah, that's because you haven't personally annoyed Arceus," Cranidos replied, then shook her head. "Or… so I'm told."

"I think we might need to have you pick up a good coverage move against Steel, Clefairy," Ash said. "That was cool, but we can't rely on it every time… what about Meteor Assault?"

"Plutôt astronomique," Clefairy judged.

"Your turn, Cranidos!" Ash added.

"Well, I'll finish up by sending out Electrode!" Wattson said. "Okay, Electrode, let's show Ash that they're not the only ones with unusual tricks!"

"You know what to do, Cranidos!" Ash called.

Cranidos lowered her head. "Of course! Head Smash!"

"Teleport and Foul Play!" Wattson replied.

Electrode teleported out of the way of the attack, and bounced on Cranidos' head. That drove Cranidos to slam into the floor, hard enough to leave extra cracks on top of the ones that were already there, and Ash winced.

"Are you okay?" he checked.

"Yeah!" Cranidos agreed, pushing herself upright. "Let's try this, wise guy! Precipice Blades!"

Rocks punched up from the ground, knocking Electrode high in the air, and the Electric-type spun around several times as it flew into the air.

"Electrode, stay airborne!" Wattson called, and Electrode retaliated with a Thunder attack – then teleported back into the air before it would hit the ground.

Each teleport resulted in more speed, but meant it was no longer at ground level, and Cranidos considered.

Then began to glow.

"Get ready for another Foul Play!" Wattson ordered. "Rampardos are even more vulnerable to that!"

The glowing light intensified until it was almost blinding, then faded, and revealed that Cranidos had evolved into Aggron.

"...what," Watt said.

"That's what I was thinking!" Max agreed.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure fossils evolve into what you think of as modern Pokémon," Aggron replied.

"Not all at once!" Max protested.

"Hmph," Aggron said, and used Smack Down. It hit the flying Electrode hard enough to knock it to the floor, and she folded her arms. "See if I provide you with any more insights into prehistoric life!"

"Sorry about breaking the robot," Ash said, as Wattson gave him the Dynamo Badge. "It's a bit different to the real Raikou, though."

He rummaged in his pocket, and took out Ibid. "Can you show Wattson what Raikou looks like?"

"Of course," Ibid said, and transformed into a miniature Raikou.

"Excellent!" Wattson declared. "Watt! A camera – I'm going to work from photos this time!"

"Ready, you two?" May asked, a day's walk north of Mauville, and got two nods back. "Three, two, one… Twister, Dratini!"

Dratini flicked his tail around twice, building up momentum, then whirled the Twister off towards Azurill. It approached her, but instead of hitting her it did a coiling loop that surrounded the Fairy-type without quite touching her.

"Now, Bounce!" May added. "Keep that shape going, Dratini!"

The coils of Dragon-infused wind twisted and flexed, aiming to miss the bouncing Azurill instead of hitting her, and Dratini focused carefully on drawing an intricate shape that kept all the previous loops as the new ones were added. He managed it for five loops, then six, but after that he slipped and one of them got Azurill.

"Whoops, sorry," he said.

"Don't worry, silly!" Azurill giggled, bouncing back out of the Twister none the worse for wear. "That's why we're practicing with me! And it's fun, too!"

"I guess you're right," Dratini agreed, dissipating his Twister, and got ready to try again.

Something over where Ash was training caught his eye, and he frowned.

"Is that how Surf normally works?" he asked.

"Not sure, good question," Azurill replied, as Pikachu ran past in hot pursuit of a laughing Croconaw.

Pikachu was brandishing a large, shimmery, translucent-blue surfboard made entirely out of water.

"Come back here so I can see if my attack's working!" Pikachu demanded.

Chapter Text

"Anything interesting ahead?" Ash asked. "We agreed we were going to Fallarbor first, I know that…"

"Depends what you think is interesting," Brock replied. "We need to go past the turn off to Verdanturf, so we'll be going the long route first, but there are a couple of interesting spots on the way-"

"AAAAAAAAAA!"

Brock's explanation was interrupted by a howl that echoed off the hills.

"Huh, that sounds familiar," Ash said, shading his eyes as the long, spine-chilling howl finally faded, then saw what he was looking for and waved. "Absol! Nice to see you again!"

"I do wish I could say the same thing," Absol replied, shuddering, then loped over to them. "I really thought I'd be able to cope with that better the second time…"

"Is there something wrong, then?" Max said. "If you've shown up again, I mean…"

"After what happened in Forina, I decided to go out into the world to seek out other potential disasters and do my best to avert them," Absol told them. "So far I've stopped a small avalanche, rescued a young child from falling in a well in the first place, and now my disaster sense has led me right back to you… though it's not something imminent, not yet."

Brock frowned, thinking.

"Is it about Jirachi?" he suggested. "Jirachi's still asleep back at the Maples' house, if I've got his schedule right."

"No, it's not to do with Jirachi," Absol answered. "It's all something to do with close people and Pokémon, but not in-this-clearing close. I think."

She shook her head. "So, ah, how is Rayquaza doing?"

"I introduced her to Dragonite earlier!" Ash replied. "She likes him, but says he's a bit overwhelming sometimes… she's having a rest now."

He indicated his bag. "She can look out the top without anyone seeing, so it lets her choose."

"Giving someone choice is a wonderful thing," Absol said, quite firmly.

Then a Togetic flew over.

"Hi!" she said, brightly. "Ash, Brock, it's great to see you again! I'll just go and let Misty know where you are, she'll be along in a minute!"

"Oh, I didn't know Misty was in Hoenn!" Ash brightened. "I wonder who's taking over the gym for her?"

At around the same time, in Cerulean, Daisy was facing a challenger.

"So… you've got six badges," she said. "Right?"

"That's me, all right," her opponent said. "Why are you checking a clipboard?"

Daisy tsked. "Our sister left us a list of what to do," she explained. "She kind of insists on it. Okay, uh… six badges and up… right. Go, Psyduck!"

Psyduck emerged onto the poolside, and the challenger sent out his own Pokémon – a Servine.

"That's neat," Daisy said. "So, uh… Psyduck, Hypnosis!"

Psyduck fell asleep.

"Um…" the challenger frowned. "Are you sure that's what's meant to happen?"

Daisy turned over the page. "Step three. Tell Psyduck to use Sleep Talk… step four, exit building at speed?"

Psyduck began to vibrate, rising into the air and emitting multicoloured light, then used V-Create.

Daisy decided to follow step four. So did her opponent.

"We got it working, really properly working, last month!" Togetic explained, happily. "So now Misty can understand what I say, and we're working on it for the others too!"

"That's great news!" Ash said. "Well done, Togetic!"

The Happiness Pokémon smiled, then flew over to say hello to Max and May. As she did, Brock checked the map again, then looked down at Absol.

"Is it something to do with the Togepi Kingdom?" he asked.

"I… think so?" Absol answered. "Sort of? I'm trying to answer your questions but half the time the answer is 'headache'."

"That's fine," Brock assured her. "Anything is helpful… but I think we need to turn off about… here."

As it transpired, the problem was indeed in the Togepi Kingdom. One of the kingdom officials, Colonel Hansen, was trying to mount a coup and overthrow the royal family, and he'd got several soldiers and their Pokémon to help him out.

"Well, we'll just have to stop you!" Ash declared. "Come on out, everyone! Let's stop this guy!"

"Shedinja!" Hansen retaliated. "Ninjask! Guards! Stop them!"

Pikachu immediately hit a Magmar over the head with his surfboard, then total mayhem erupted, and Absol looked back and forth before nudging Ash's leg.

"I need help," she said. "It's… something, it's urgent!"

"Dragonite!" Ash called, and the big Dragon-type punched a Swellow very hard indeed before flying down to Ash's level. "Take Absol where she needs to go, okay?"

"Is it okay if I come?" May's Dratini asked, from where he'd been acting as Dragonite's tail gun. "May?"

"Go ahead!" May called back.

Absol jumped into Dragonite's arms, and he rose into the air. "Which way?"

"That way!" Absol replied, pointing with a paw.

"My Shedinja is unstoppable!" Colonel Hansen declared, down below. "Nothing can beat a Shedinja with Sturdy!"

"That's what you think!" Misty replied. "Gyarados!"

Misty's red Gyarados erupted in a flare of golden light as he Mega Evolved, then his Hydro Pump flattened Shedinja without perceptibly slowing down and went on to hit a Gengar so hard it flew off the castle entirely.

"You won't get away with this," Princess Sara said. "Colonel Hansen isn't the ruler of the Kingdom, and he never will be."

One of the soldiers guarding her snorted. "Seems like he's the ruler if he says he is and nobody argues, right? And if you make too much noise, we'll just have to teach you to shut up."

The Princess folded her arms. "My mother and father won't give in to such threats, and neither will I!"

"Then we'll just have to hurt the Togepi, won't we?" the soldier said.

Sara gasped.

"You wouldn't," she said.

"We would," the soldier replied, glancing over at the square where a dozen frightened Togepi were guarded by two snarling Mightyena, an aloof Houndoom and a Swalot. "So keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for them."

He turned his attention back to Sara, but the Princess was still watching the Togepi… which meant she saw it when two brilliant jets of yellow-purple fire swept over the entire square.

Swalot and one of the Mightyena went flying, the other collapsed as he took a direct hit, and the Houndoom vanished entirely – as did the Togepi – and Sara gasped, but when the flames faded, every single Togepi was completely unharmed.

Houndoom wasn't.

Then, as Sara stared, an Absol landed in front of her.

"Soool," the Absol said, horn glowing faintly, and turned at bay to keep the soldiers away.

"I don't know how we can thank you enough, travellers," the King said. "Without your help, I don't know what the traitorous Hansen would have done to the Kingdom and to the Togepi."

"It's what any good trainer would have done!" Ash replied. "You know, helping out!"

The King chuckled. "I wish so many were so noble… you have our sincerest thanks and our great gratitude."

"Yeah," Togetic said, a little sadly.

"What's wrong, Togetic?" Misty asked.

"I was thinking," Togetic explained. "The Togepi Kingdom needs to be safe, and…"

She shook her head. "I don't like it, but – maybe the reason the Togepi are in danger is that there isn't a Togetic here. I… I might need to stay here."

"Togetic…" Misty said, swallowing against a lump in her throat.

Sara picked up one of the Togepi, and it promptly evolved.

So did two of the others.

"...oh," Togetic said, and giggled at the sudden release of tension. "Never mind then! Thanks Ash!"

"You're welcome?" Ash replied, a little confused. "Thanks for what?"

Misty started giggling too.

"Hmm…" Dragonite said, putting a paw to his chin. "I think I have a proposal to put to Parliament when I get home. But first I should ask..."

He checked where Vulpix was, then flew down to the Queen of the Togepi Kingdom. "I wish to suggest to the Parliament of the Ryuunited Kingdom that we establish an embassy here. If they agree, would you be interested in hosting one?"

The Queen laughed. "That sounds like an excellent idea!"

Dragonite gave her a diplomatic hug, which meant he didn't actually squeeze as hard as he could.

"Hello there, little one," a Dragonair said, that evening, as Rayquaza emerged from her Heavy Ball. "We heard you were coming back here for the first time. Would you like me to show you around?"

"That sounds nice," Rayquaza agreed. "This is the first time I haven't been around Ash and Pikachu, so I'm a bit… not sure what to think, really."

"Tell you what, then," Dragonair decided, and flicked the Heavy Ball into the air with one of his coils before catching it. "I'll carry this around, and any time you want you can just go back inside and none of us will judge you. Okay?"

Rayquaza nodded shyly.

"Now, let's introduce you to Lokoko to start with," Dragonair added. "She likes helping with the cooking at Ash's house."

"So… you're not sticking around?" Max asked Absol.

"No, but given what you people get involved with I strongly suspect we'll meet again," Absol replied. "Probably more than once. Seriously, you have no idea what it's like looking at Ash, it's astonishing. Imagine being the only one who can perceive light and looking into the sun."

"Well, any time you want to visit, just turn up!" Ash told her. "Or, uh, if you want to say hi to the Pokémon of mine who aren't right here… I guess Hyperspace Hole would probably work, so you could contact Hoopa somehow?

Absol blinked a few times.

"I am still not ready for this," she declared. "Very much still not ready for this."

With that, she loped off into the gathering night.

"I guess you're heading back to Cerulean Gym too, right?" May said. "That's a shame. It was nice to meet you, Misty."

"Yeah, kind of wish I could keep travelling with you guys," Misty agreed. "But I don't really think my sisters can keep it up for all that long… honestly by this point the swimming pool might be on fire. And I do enjoy doing the Gym Leader stuff too, so it's one thing or the other."

Togetic cooed, then put her hands together and bowed to the others. "It was lovely meeting you! I hope we see you again!"

"Take care," Brock said.

Then Togetic clenched a fist, and with a grinding roar her Ancientpower summoned a slab of rock out of the ground. Misty stepped onto it with a casual ease, and pointed back in the direction of Slateport. "Okay, Togetic, use Fly!"

They watched her leave.

"...I sort of hoped she was the normal one of your friends," Max said.

Ash blinked. "Huh? What's not normal about Misty?"

Max grumbled something under his breath.

Far away, in the Dragon Paradise near Blackthorn, a council of Dragon-types examined the Dragonair hovering before them.

"You have to realize, it's not exactly normal that the Ryuunited Kingdom's first proposed embassy is to a Fairy-associated Kingdom," the Garchomp said. "We're not offering criticism, it's just weird."

"Oh, well, King Dragonite would have had one set up in Altomare before now, but there's only one Dragonite and that's him," Dragonair replied. "We're going to rectify that once there's a supply of extra Dragonites. It's a pageantry thing I think."

"Altomare?" the Altaria trilled. "Oh, of course, Latias and Latios."

"Right!" Dragonair agreed brightly. "Though, come to think of it, we should probably do… um, what are those other ones… Rota and the Lucario Kingdom, too. But, again, not enough Dragonites."

"Honestly, I think it's a good thing it's going this slowly," the Dragapult mused. "Would you want Ash Ketchum to have such an enormous supply of Dragonites… already, anyway?"

She patted one of her Dreepy. "Goodness knows it's going to happen eventually."

"We've got a sweepstakes running on who evolves next!" Dragonair told her.

Chapter Text

Not far from Fallarbor, a Skitty ran through the trees.

"Hey, come back!" a voice called from behind her, and she shook her head before skidding into a camp full of humans and Pokémon.

"Help!" she called. "I did something and now those humans and Pokémon want to kidnap me! They say it's recruiting but I didn't want to go!"

"That's terrible!" one of the humans said. "Who are they?"

The ones who'd been chasing Skitty came into the clearing a moment later, and stopped.

"Okay, how come you didn't mention dey were in the area?" the Meowth demanded of a Pokénav.

"Reply: You told me to 'shut up' two hours ago," the Pokénav said.

Skitty blinked. "Wait, did you just understand me?" she asked, more focused on that than on her pursuers.

A Vulpix also in the camp looked smug.

"I guess Team Rocket's up to their old tricks," one of the other humans said. "Latias, Zorua, let's get ready for this!"

"He said Zorua!" the blue-haired Rocket noticed. "That must mean it's not actually Zorua."

"Or it could be that the Latias isn't actually Latias," the red-haired one replied. "Or both."

"But what if the Zorua's really Zorua and the Latias is really Latias, but the Pikachu's actually a Ditto and the real Pikachu's already creeping into position to shock us?" the blue-haired one wondered.

"Whichever the answer is, we've got a solution!" the redhead said. "Ekans barrage!"

"An' we got loads'a Koffing, too!" the Meowth announced.

The next few minutes were surprisingly loud, but at the end of it a Forretress who'd been a Pineco at the start of the fight used Explosion eight times in a row and the Rockets went flying.

"There we go," May said. "You're safe now, probably."

Skitty peered out from behind May's bag, then let out a sigh of relief.

"Now that's a matter of opinion," Max sniggered.

"Why were they trying to catch you, anyway?" May added. "You don't have to answer."

"I guess I made the mistake of showing off that I could use Normalize?" Skitty said. "It's a fairly rare talent."

"What's Normalize, again?" Ash asked.

Ibid turned into a tiny Skitty.

"Normalize is one of the Abilities possessed by Skitty," he explained. "It converts moves that are not Normal type to Normal type."

Skitty nodded along with it, then tilted her head slightly. "Huh. Any idea why that didn't keep going?"

"Keep going?" Max repeated. "You mean, that wasn't the whole explanation or something?"

"Well, duh," Skitty said, flicking her tail. "It's a simple application of the principle of transitive magic. Normalize converts moves into Normal type moves when it acts one way, and when you turn off Normalize then the moves remain as they usually are, so ipso facto if you turn Normalize off more you get to the reverse; that is, converting Normal moves into moves that aren't Normal."

She noticed Max was staring at her. "Did I stutter?"

"...oh goodness, this one has barely even met Ash," Max groaned.

"Hey, I'll demonstrate," Skitty said. "Firstly, this is Water Pulse."

She flicked her tail, and a splash of water hit a nearby tree.

"And this is Normalized Water Pulse," she went on, doing the same thing again. This time, what hit the tree was a little hard to define.

"That's not the normal result of that move," Brock said. "Or… it is the Normal result of… you know what I mean."

"But if I pulse Normalize on, off and then reverse it just right," Skitty went on, and used it a third time. This time, what hit the tree was a splat of honey, and it sizzled for a moment before the tree fell over with a crash.

"Bug," the Kitten Pokémon concluded, then spotted something. "Ooh, you're doing dinner? Any chance I can have some?"

Jirachi yawned, blinking several times, then took a deep breath and sighed it out.

Then smiled.

"Oh, good!" he said, then yawned a second time. "I'm awake again!"

Rolling over, he fell off a bedside table.

"Ow," he said, indistinctly.

"Jirachi!" Shroomish gasped. "Are you okay?"

"I think I'm okay," Jirachi answered. "But I'm not sure. How long have I been asleep?"

"About three weeks, I think," Shroomish said. "Um… yeah, I think it's about that."

"Good," Jirachi decided, after some careful and somewhat drowsy thought. "Not a thousand years, then. I wondered."

He rubbed his eyes, then floated into the air. "Which way's downstairs?"

Morning, Jirachi said, floating into the kitchen. It is morning, right?

"I certainly hope so," Norman replied. "How was your sleep?"

As short as I hoped, the Psychic-type told him. I feel kind of sleepy though…

Norman chuckled. "I can see that," he said, as Jirachi bounced off a cupboard door. "Hold on, let me get you some cereal."

Thank you, you are the best friend's dad I've met in over a thousand years, Jirachi declared. Did anything happen while I was asleep?

"Max, May and their friends saved a small kingdom," Norman told him. "And won a lifetime's supply of Pokeblocks… and May caught a Normal type that's going to stay a Normal type. I'm so proud of her for that last one."

Jirachi giggled, then saw the cereal packet. Ooh, chocolate!

"Good luck, sis," Max called, as May stepped out onto the appeal floor.

May smiled up at him, then focused, and sent Azurill out.

"Water Gun!" she called.

Azurill used Water Gun, twirling, and her tail flicked up and down as she spun. Her jet of water took on a shimmer as well, waving up and down in time with her tail, and May began tapping her foot in time – using it to keep Azurill focused, giving her a beat to work with and make sure she was weaving the right sort of pattern.

"Fairy Wind!" May added. "And Iron Tail!"

The shimmer in Azurill's Water Gun became more pronounced, until it was like a trail of sparkling pink-and-blue light, and Azurill's Iron Tail flicked on-off-on-off in time with the up-down-up-down bounce of her tail. Then the Fairy Wind began to break through the Water Gun entirely, becoming a tracery of light like a spinning firework, and at almost the same moment Iron Tail reached the point that the mass of the tail going down and making Azurill recoil up was boosting her upwards more than gravity was pushing her downwards.

Softly, without any suggestion of effort, Azurill rose into the air.

"And six and five and four and three…" May chanted under her breath, judging Azurill's rise, then clapped her hands sharply. Azurill flicked so her tail was somewhere she could reach to kick off, and did a backflip… and May cupped her hands behind her… and the Fairy-type flipped smoothly over her trainer's head to land in her outstretched hands.

"So… how many moves was that at once, do you think?" Contesta asked, looking over at Joy. "I know she ordered three moves, and not all at the same time, but it looked to me like there were all three at once and possibly one more she didn't even mention. Like Bounce?"

"Could be," Joy agreed. "Well, I don't think it'd be right to stop that one going through! It was pretty and skillful at the same time, and that's what an Appeal is meant to be!"

"Medicham!" Grace instructed. "Confusion!"

May pointed. "Do a twirl, Azurill!"

Azurill spun around as ordered, her tail flashing over to Iron Tail for a moment, and swung out of the way. It didn't let her completely avoid the hit, but it got her out of the way of most of the attack, and May frowned for a moment.

"Fairy Wind!" she instructed.

Azurill used Fairy Wind, still spinning, then bounced into the air.

"Confusion!" Grace called, and Medicham held the Fairy Wind in place before launching it right back at Azurill – knocking her back with an oof.

"New idea!" May called. "Azurill, Bounce, and use Water Gun – upwards, aim just this side of the roof!"

Azurill bounced into the air, away from an Ice Punch from Medicham, and used Water Gun just as May had ordered. It rose into the air, shimmering with an inner light from the Fairy Wind Azurill had automatically added into it, then it began to fall, and May waited for a second before speaking just as Azurill was about to land.

"Iron Tail!" she called. "And spin with Fairy Wind!"

Azurill landed on her tail, which glowed, and she Bounced towards Grace's Psychic-type. She used Fairy Wind as she went, spinning around so her tail would hit Medicham, and the other Pokémon used Confusion to deflect the attack and stop Azurill in place.

"Look out!" Grace called, and the flying Water Gun exploded into a shower of Fairy-infused water droplets. Sparks flashed all over Medicham, disrupting the Psychic-type's concentration, and Azurill poinged forwards while her opponent was distracted.

She backflipped off her own tail, using it as a pivot by varying its weight with Iron Tail, and hit Medicham with an audible clonk that also sent her high into the air.

Grace's points hit zero while May's Pokémon was still in the air, but May's eyes were only on her Pokémon – she squinted against the light to make sure she was in the right place, then caught Marill with an oof.

"Great work, Marill!" she said.

Marill blinked up at her, looking confused, then flicked her tail around to look at it.

Poked it a bit.

"Marill?" she asked.

"Talk about a dramatically timed evolution!" May laughed.

Then the announcer said she'd won, and she actually noticed the scoreboard.

"...and I guess it won us a ribbon!" she said. "Great work, Marill!"

"It's weird having a tail smaller than the rest of me," Marill said. "And being Water type! It's a whole new set of weaknesses and resistances to think about."

She gasped. "I need to watch out for Ghosts now!"

"I dare say Ghosts need to watch out for you," Zacian chuckled. "Though if you want practice, I am sure Marshadow might if you asked."

"What do you think, Marshadow?" Ash asked, looking at his own shadow. "Interested in showing Marill what it's like?"

Marshadow nodded.

"I wonder if I could work out what percentage of the Ash effect is from all the legendary Pokémon to train against?" Max pondered. "And what percentage is just the general weird probability?"

"That sounds like the kind of research project that would either make someone a Pokémon Professor or make them go a bit mad," Brock said.

Ash shaded his eyes, then waved. "Hey, Zapdos!"

Zapdos came circling down to land next to them, and cleared her throat.

"So… you know you asked me to see if I could find a good route up Mount Chimney for people who can't fly?" she began. "There's some weirdos in weird outfits fighting over a rock up near the crater… we should probably stop them, if you want my guess."

"Team Rocket?" Ash asked.

"No, not them, two other groups," Zapdos clarified.

Zygarde paused, all four paws on the path, then barked loudly.

"I cannot believe I am saying this," they said. "But someone is trying to make the volcano erupt. I do not have any idea why."

"Then we need to get to the top of the volcano, and fast!" Max said. "Jirachi, I think we need your help!"

"Keep going!" Shelly called. "We need to get to the top and stop Team Magma!"

Her Walrein used Water Gun, hitting a Magma Grunt's Numel, and she looked sideways. "And keep that water bubble coming! We can't use half our Water types unless that's close enough!"

"It's a bit hard, sir!" one of her underlings replied. "They've got a Mightyena which keeps using Dark Pulse, it's disrupting the bubble!"

Shelly looked back at the river of water flowing down the side of Mt. Chimney, then sighed. "Just get that Slowking close enough we can take them on… Carvanha! HydroPump!"

One of the Mightyena barked something.

"Huh?" another Aqua grunt asked. "That's funny, I don't recognize you…"

Mightyena barked again, and a big blue canine Pokémon came out from behind a nearby rock. She flicked her neck, drawing a long sword from where it had been holstered in her mane, and two more shimmering swords appeared hovering by her side.

Then they shot forwards, one hitting the Aqua Mightyena and the other the Magma Mightyena, and the Mightyena who'd been barking loped over to join her.

"...this is getting entirely too complicated," Shelley sighed.

"Ah!" Marill yelped. "Fairy Wind!"

She blasted the Poochyena approaching her, and it went flying with a yip of annoyance. Then a Golbat hissed and swooped down towards her, jaws gaping – until Torchic Blaze Kicked it in the side and Dratini followed up with a Thunderpunch.

"Don't worry, Marill!" Torchic added, landing in front of her with both feet still burning. "We'll deal with the Poison types – can you get that Numel for me?"

"Oh, right – sure!" Marill agreed. "Water Gun!"

"You're doing great, guys!" May said. "Watch out over there, that guy's got a Koffing!"

I'm good at dealing with Poison types! Jirachi announced. I assume. Umm… any advice, Max?

"If you don't have a Psychic move, just tackle him!" Max suggested. "You're immune to poison!"

Can do! Jirachi agreed.

"It's kind of a pity we didn't all land in the same place," Brock admitted. "Crobat, anything useful?"

Crobat flew overhead, clicking, then pointed with a wing, and Brock looked that way. There was a man in a white coat being guarded by one of the Magma grunts and his Pokémon, and Brock nodded.

"Onix, Mudkip!" he called, sending both Pokémon out. "Onix, Rock Polish – Mudkip, accelerated Rock Throw!"

Crobat flew over as well, folding his wings before sending out a barrage of Zubat-shaped Razor Leaf attacks, and the grunt yelped as Zubat pinned his arms to his sides.

"Ash is over there!" Vulpix called, dashing over from where she'd landed, then flicked a tail and used Gust. The Golbat sneaking up on Brock was abruptly sent flying, and Brock waved his thanks before going over to see what was up with the white coated man.

"You can't stop us, boy," Maxie said, quite concisely. "It's already begun. Mount Chimney's volcanic activity will intensify… the lava will pour down, towards the sea, and make new land for Pokémon to live."

Ash blinked a few times.

"...why don't you just ask Groudon directly?" he said.

For some reason that seemed to annoy Maxie.

"You think we haven't been trying?" he said, then shook his head. "Whatever. Camerupt, deal with him."

Maxie's Camerupt rumbled, smoke pouring out of the vents on his back, and Pikachu's cheeks sparked.

"Zapdos!" he called.

Zapdos hit Pikachu with a Thunder, charging him up with a sizzling pop, and Pikachu took advantage tohit the Ground-type with a Thunder That Breaks The Earth.

"Weezing, Crobat," Maxie called, and Maxie's Crobat blew Ash off the walkway into the volcano's crater with a gust of wind. Then Weezing used Smokescreen, covering the whole area in fog, and Pikachu coughed.

"Ash!" he called.

Zapdos flew down, beating her wings to try and clear the haze.

Maxie spent the time running for the nearby helicopter, which was already taking off.

"I'm okay!" Ash called, several seconds later as the air began to clear. Then coughed, as he inhaled a bit of the Smokescreen.

"Ash!" Pikachu said, relieved. "What happened?"

"Rayquaza did great!" Ash replied, stepping back onto the platform. "She can fly, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Pikachu brightened. "I bet he didn't expect that! Thanks, Rayquaza!"

Rayquaza's head snaked out of Ash's jacket for long enough to look faintly embarrassed at the praise, then she ducked back inside.

A moment later, the ground shook, and there was an ominous rumble from the volcano as fountains of fire surged up from the lava lake.

"That might be a problem," Ash admitted. "How do you stop an erupting volcano?"

Entei loped up. "I have an idea," he said, then cleared his throat. ".foow"

Everyone blinked, and the fire fountains stopped.

"...how did you even pronounce that?" Ash asked. "Was that the opposite of a bark?"

Entei nodded. "It was a simple enough process," he began.

The ground began to shake again.

"And did explaining that simple process involve barking?" Pikachu asked.

"I'll handle this," Suicune told them. "Extremespeed!"

She blurred out into the middle of the crater, then used Hydro Pump. A massive spherical explosion of water rained down, and Suicune with it, and when the fire fountain came up it was a waterspout instead.

A flash of red light made its way back into the Safari Ball on Ash's waist, then Suicune came out again. "There."

The ground began to shake a third time.

"But I wasn't even barking!" Entei protested.

Skitty went past at a run. "Allow me!" she said, as the crater bubbled and roiled. "Me First!"

This time, the eruption came out as a blast of sparkly pink mist.

"Fairy," Skitty said, proudly. "Easy enough."

The ground started to shake again, then stopped as Marshadow kicked the machine Maxie had been standing next to.

"In hindsight, we should have started with that," Entei admitted.

Chapter Text

"So, I just want to check," Ash said. "There aren't any long term problems from what was happening there, right?"

"There should not be," Zygarde replied, hopping from one rock to another along the path. "The magma level in Mount Chimney is lower than it would otherwise be, but my observations indicate that no major consequences will result. Any effects will be transient and minor."

On Route 113, Max – the other Max, not Max Maple – stared around at the landscape.

"...everything's glittery," he said. "What."

"What would have happened if we hadn't stopped it, though?" Pikachu said. "That would have been bad, I'm guessing."

"Volcanic eruptions are usually bad for an ecosystem," Zygarde confirmed. "In the short term at least. In the longer term then they can have beneficial effects, but in this case no such benefit could have resulted; Mount Chimney is at a level of ashfall generation which produces near optimum fertilizer for minor harmful impact."

"That's good, then," Ash decided, then stopped. "I wonder if there's a Heatran back there managing it?"

"No, you can't go back and check," Pikachu said, accurately guessing Ash's reason for stopping. "There's a gym battle to get to, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, the Lavaridge Gym," Ash mused. "Fire type… I think I know who I'm going to use for that one!"

The Gym Leader in Lavaridge Town, as Max confidently explained, was Mr. Moore. A Fire-type expert and a veteran battler, he'd been a member of the Elite Four in the past before stepping down to run the Lavaridge Gym.

Which was why it was a bit surprising when a young woman opened the door.

"Hi!" she said, then snapped her fingers. "Uh, I mean, tremble, challenger! You're in the presence of the red-hot Lavaridge Gym Leader, Flannery!"

"...how long have you been a gym leader?" Brock asked.

Flannery slumped slightly. "Is it that obvious?"

"I know what it's like to take over a gym, believe you me," Brock chuckled. "So does Ash."

"Thank goodness," Flannery said. "Gramps left three days ago. I said I was ready, but… now he's gone, I'm not really so sure."

Ash frowned.

"I think what matters is offering a good challenge, right?" he said. "Everything else is kind of secondary to that. It doesn't matter how you present yourself so long as you offer a good challenge and you're not a bully!"

Flannery nodded, thinking about that. "That makes sense," she said. "Wait, you took over a gym?"

"Just for a bit," Ash confirmed. "It was while Jasmine was taking her Ampharos for medical treatment. It was interesting!"

He frowned. "So, uh, can we have that battle now?"

"Of course!" Flannery agreed. "I've got to make sure I give a good challenge, right… actually, I'd kind of appreciate some idea of how well I'm doing. I don't really think I can go up to League Champion level, but… anyway, it's going to be three Pokémon on a side! And I've got a flying Pokémon, too, so one of those can be an airborne battle!"

"Got it!" Ash agreed. "Let's go!"

The first Pokémon Ash sent out was Croconaw, who bowed with a flourish before rising back to his normal stance.

Flannery sent out a Magcargo, and clapped her hands. "Okay, Mag, let's show him what we can do!"

"You nicknamed your Pokémon?" Max asked. "I thought about doing that but… I couldn't think of any good names."

Mightyena wagged his tail. "The way you say Mightyena is different for me, that's enough for me."

"Thanks," Max said, giving the Dark-type a scratch on the chin. "It's good to know that."

"Begin!" Brock called, deciding to referee.

"Sunny Day, Mag!" Flannery ordered immediately.

"Wait, wait, time out," Ash asked. "Hey, Rayquaza? Mind turning Air Lock off?"

Rayquaza nodded, and Ash waited a moment. "Okay, it should work now."

"Thanks!" Flannery said, giving him a thumbs-up. "Where was I… right, Sunny Day!"

This time, it was easy to tell that it had worked. The sun blazed brighter overhead, and Brock slashed his arm down. "Begin properly!"

"Mag, Solarbeam!" Flannery ordered.

"Petal Dance, Croconaw!" Ash countered.

Croconaw flicked his paws, and a pair of fans made entirely of long, splayed flower petals in a riot of different colours waved around as he began a whirling dance. Flower petals appeared around him as well, completely hiding him for several seconds, and the Solarbeam splashed off them without properly gaining purchase.

"Huh," Flannery said. "Heat Wave, Mag!"

The blast of flame burned away Croconaw's petal shield, and he span away to avoid the impact of the attack itself.

"Rock Slide!" Flannery said.

"Swords Dance!" Ash replied.

Croconaw bowed, then did a twirl at blistering speed, and there was a shwing sound as he Swords Danced. Mag's rocky projectiles were cut in half as they came in, and when Croconaw slowed to a halt he had a pair of blades out – one in each paw.

"That's neat!" Flannery observed. "I didn't know Swords Dance could do that!"

"Usually it can't," Max supplied.

"Yawn!" Flannery ordered, then. "And Reflect!"

Croconaw threw both swords at Mag, one hitting the Reflect – which made both the Reflect screen and the sword itself shatter – and the other hitting Mag.

The blow hit Mag hard enough to send him sliding back across the arena, leaving a trail of melted ground, and Ash pointed. "Hydro Pump!"

Croconaw managed a single burst of water before falling asleep, which hit Mag and knocked him over.

"Solarbeam!" Flannery called.

Nothing happened.

"Huh, guess he's out too," Flannery decided. "Do I mean out too? How does sleep work again?"

"I guess it's up to the referee and the trainer of the sleeping Pokémon?" Ash said, thinking about it. "Some Pokémon can keep battling when they're asleep, and obviously a Pokémon might wake up, but letting a sleeping Pokémon get badly beaten up in case they might wake up isn't very nice. So… yeah, it depends? But Croconaw couldn't take a Solarbeam for long, not without being able to dance his way out of trouble…"

After getting advice from Brock on the matter – essentially that a sleeping Pokémon could be considered out if it was not able to battle in that state and the opposing Pokémon was capable of knocking it out in good time, simply to avoid unnecessary attacks – Ash called back Croconaw, and switched to his second Pokémon.

Flannery did as well, sending out a Houndour, and Ash's Treecko inspected his opponent.

"Hmm," he said, then dodged out of the way as Houndour used Flamethrower. "Bullet Seed!"

"Heat Wave!" Flannery countered. "Burn them up!"

The seeds burst into flame, and Houndour's attack went on to hit Treecko as well, but the Grass-type vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared several feet away.

"Keep up those Fire attacks!" Flannery said.

"Stay back and wait for an opening," Ash replied. "And… actually, uh… Treecko, this would be a good time to get that move we were talking about working!"

"I was getting the elemental conversion about right," Treecko replied, backflipping away from a Flamethrower. He threw another brace of Bullet Seeds, but Houndour incinerated them and then evolved to Houndoom.

"...sorry," Ash added, as now there was a Houndoom throwing Fire attacks around – one of them an Inferno which Treecko only just managed to Substitute-dodge in time, followed by a Fire Spin that lashed out in all directions."Anyway, if you've got the elemental conversion, you need to shape it!"

"The whole point is that it's an attack that always hits the target," Pikachu contributed. "You need to make sure there's only one place the charge can go and that's towards your opponent!"

"Right!" Ash agreed. "But don't forget to compress it, too, that's how you do damage!"

Treecko threw out one arm to the side, which fizzed with electricity as he tried to combine all the bits of advice he'd heard and make it into a move.

"Flamethrower, before he does whatever it is he's doing!" Flannery said. "Hey, your Treecko is male, right? I'm sort of assuming."

"Yeah, he's male," Ash confirmed.

The Flamethrower engulfed Treecko, then faded to reveal a crude stick figure decoy. The actual Treecko threw a salvo of Bullet Seeds at Houndoom, then threw a second salvo off to the side – not to hit anything, but to boost himself sideways with recoil and avoid Houndoom's Flame Burst.

The Grass-type landed and rolled, sliding across the arena. "Not bad."

"Focus it really tight!" Ash called. "Otherwise it's just going to be a static shock – right, Pikachu?"

"Yeah, it needs to be focused!" Pikachu agreed. "And you want to direct it, too!"

Treecko got three Bullet Seeds ready, this time, then used Substitute. The decoy vanished, and the real Treecko appeared – running in at a sprint with electricity crackling around his left arm.

"Yah!" the Grass-type shouted, slamming home what probably counted as a Thunder Punch, and Houndoom went oof.

"Lava Plume!" Flannery called.

Treecko hit Houndoom with a second Thunder Punch, this time from above, and the Dark-type whimpered as paralysis crackled over him.

"Keep fighting close in!" Ash called.

Treecko used Close Combat, which was apparently as much of a surprise for him as for Ash, because he promptly tripped over his own tail. Houndoom was in worse shape, though, and Flannery held up a hand.

"Okay, I think Houndoom's done," she said, walking out to the Dark-type and rummaging in her pocket. "Thanks for evolving him, by the way – I sort of assume that was you, because you apologized for it."

"I'm just guessing myself," Ash said. "Good work, though, Treecko."

"It's a lot harder when they don't use moves I can mimic," Treecko said ruefully.

Flannery sprayed Houndoom with a Paralysis Heal, then almost fell over as Houndoom jumped up at her. "Easy!" she said, laughing. "Wait until I'm sitting down, you're bigger now!"

Flannery's third Pokémon was a Talonflame, a big Flying-type who soared up into the air and hovered there with wings beating and embers flickering out of his feathers.

Ash responded by sending out his first unambiguous Flying-type, which happened to be Zapdos.

"Begin!" Brock called.

"Acrobatics!" Flannery said, and Talonflame blurred forward with a crack of flame and displaced air. He came around in a slashing, curving dive and hit Zapdos on the wing, then zoomed away to avoid retaliation.

"Thunderbolt!" Zapdos replied, blasting electricity out, and Talonflame took a glancing blow to his own wing which fizzed down towards his tail.

"Flamethrower!" Flannery retorted. "And Hurricane!"

The Hurricane came in a flash just after Flannery's Pokémon had used Flamethrower, accelerating and amplifying the surge of heat, and Zapdos flared her wings to fend it off – ending up with a few scorched feathers, but nothing serious.

"Thunder!" Ash called.

"Roost!" Flannery replied.

Lightning fizzed and crackled around Zapdos' wings, but by the time she actually fired the attack Talonflame was already on the ground with his wings furled. The attack hit, but not as hard as it could have, and Talonflame cawed defiance before taking off again.

"Aerial Ace, use it to dodge!" Flannery said.

"Thundershock curtain!" Ash retaliated, and this time instead of a single blast of electricity Zapdos pulled together hundreds of smaller individual charges. They lashed out in a wave, forming a curtain which was too tight to allow Talonflame through without taking at least two hits, and after contemplating the approaching shocks Talonflame elected to dive through with Aerial Ace and blast Zapdos with Flamethrower.

"How is he so fast?" Ash wondered.

Ibid transformed into a miniature Talonflame. "Talonflame's ability is Gale Wings, which means the Pokémon can move at extremely high speed with Flying moves in particular."

"Oh, I get it," Ash realized. "And – oh, so he's Roosting really quick too!"

"Roost!" Flannery called again, and Talonflame zipped down to the ground for another healing rest.

"Zapdos, I've got a new plan!" Ash called. "Rain Dance!"

Zapdos flew higher, then spread her wings with a shout, and thunderclouds began to roll in.

"Watch out, that's going to mean another Thunder," Flannery said. "Stay on the ground!"

"Thunder!" Ash called. "But on yourself!"

"Okay, you're the boss!" Zapdos said, lightning chirping off her wings. She blasted herself with her own electric attack, and Ash watched carefully – shading his eyes against the rain with one hand and soothing Rayquaza with the other.

"Now, blast the clouds!" Ash called. "Get them really charged up!"

The air began to feel a bit greasy as Zapdos blasted lightning into the air. Sheet lightning rumbled and cracked between different cloud layers… then Ash pointed.

"Weather Ball now!" he said.

"Take off – no, wait-" Flannery called, suddenly unsure, and Zapdos used Weather Ball.

Ash had provoked a lightning storm, and so what came down was a ball of electrically charged water. Talonflame was in trouble whether he tried to dodge or not, and when the Weather Ball detonated it showered the Fire-type with water while also unleashing the caged thunderbolts inside.

"Okay, I think the battle's over now," Ash said, and Rayquaza released the hold on her Ability – clearing away the rain clouds and making it into a fluffy-clouded afternoon instead. "That was a great match! Talonflame's a really strong Pokémon!"

"Yeah, I guess so!" Flannery agreed. "Thanks, that's given me a lot to think about… and made me feel a lot more comfortable, too! You've earned the Heat Badge!"

Not far away, Mr. Moore lowered his binoculars.

"What the hell did I just watch?" he asked.

"Valley of Steel, huh?" Geodude asked, looking around. "Sure are a lot of Steel type Pokémon, but dang, their manners are not up to the standards I would expect."

"What manners do you expect?" Eevee asked, brightly. "Hmm… I wonder if there's a Steel type Eeveelution? If there is then I could be the first!"

She jumped up and down in excitement, her Everstone jingling. "I could be the first Magneteon!"

"I think that name might have some issues with copyright, little lady," Geodude chuckled. "But you dream, girl."

Brock smiled at them, then looked at the map.

"We're more than halfway through the Valley," he said. "Not much longer until we're on the main Verdanturf road."

"This isn't the main Verdanturf road?" Max asked.

"No, it's a short cut," Brock explained. "They don't usually put main roads through such dense concentrations of strong wild Pokémon, because most travellers won't have the kind of strong Pokémon we have… especially Ash."

Max absorbed that, then nodded. "That makes sense."

"Oi!" Articuno shouted, dodging aside from a Flash Cannon. "You've got something to say, come and say it to me!"

"Why don't you come down here and say that again?" a Probopass demanded.

Articuno rolled her eyes, then dove down and hovered right in front of the Steel-type.

"Okay, three questions," she said. "One, what is your problem? We're just passing through."

"You're trespassing," the Probopass declared. "You're not Steel types, and this is sacred ground for Steel types."

Articuno blinked. "Okay, I've got a new second question replacing my old second question. How do you expect anyone to know that?"

"...everyone around here knows it!" Probopass insisted. "Steelix made sure of it! So it must be obvious!"

Articuno tutted. "Third question: Freezing Glare. That's not a question but I asked it anyway."

She flew a bit higher. "Hey, Ash, apparently there's a Steelix around here who's kind of a bully?"

"You have no idea how much I'm tempted to ask my brother to come and help sort this out," Zacian said, eyeing the Skarmory who'd been bullying a Torkoal – and the Steelix who'd been encouraging him.

"Too weak to battle us without your brother's help?" Steelix asked.

Zacian shook her head. "Not at all. I just think he might want to actually see what some Pokémon can end up being like… for true nobility of purpose comes not from defeating the weak, but championing the weak against the strong."

She shrugged. "Of course, I'm not going to fight you at all… not unless my trainer actually wants it."

"I had a better idea!" Ash replied. "Why are you going after this Torkoal, anyway?"

"Because that's how we show we're strong!" Steelix said. "We beat strong opponents!"

"Opponents who don't even want to fight you?" Ash asked. "Instead of each other? Because that… sounds easier to sort out, to me."

Ash's Aggron popped out of her Pokéball.

"Hey, Torkoal?" she asked. "Mind a chat for a bit?"

"Okay, so…" Ash muttered under his breath, then nodded. "Right! So if Torkoal wins, you have to stop attacking him, and if he loses, you let him leave. So there's one battle, and then you stop harassing him… and either way, you stop just randomly attacking anyone else who comes through. Right?"

"Right," Steelix agreed. "You are a surprisingly capable negotiator."

"I guess I just like people to agree!" Ash shrugged. "Anyway – Torkoal!"

Torkoal nodded firmly. "I'm ready!"

The Steelix raised itself up, and Ash waved a hand. "Hold on… and… block!"

Torkoal lifted himself up onto his hind legs just as Steelix began to move. The Steel-type used Stone Edge, slamming down on Torkoal with a wham, but Torkoal was braced to handle it – driven a little way into the ground, but not knocked out in one blow.

"Counter with Counter!" Ash said.

Steelix had the time to look vaguely aggrieved as Torkoal flexed, throwing the Steel-type into the air.

"There, see?" Aggron asked, as Steelix went crash. "You've… presumably learned a lesson about… something? I kind of lost track of where we were going with that."

"Verdanturf," Brock supplied.

Chapter Text

"Okay, Suicune!" Ash called. "Ready? Let's see if we can get this working!"

"I'll certainly do my best," Suicune agreed. "So, let me see… Hydro Pump!"

The blast of water immediately soaked Ash, and he brushed the worst off with a laugh. "That should be enough! Now, the next step is Extrasensory!"

Suicune's eyes glowed, and some of the large puddle she'd left shimmered as well. It lit up with a faint glow, and Ash glanced at Articuno. "How's she doing?"

Articuno rubbed the base of her beak. "She's getting a good grasp of the field so far… this is where we were having problems before, though."

"That's okay, I had an idea!" Ash said. "Okay, Suicune, so you can walk on water, right?"

"Indeed I can," the Water-type agreed. "Which is why we're trying this in the first place."

"Right, but I was thinking," Ash explained. "So when you stand on water, it's not like the water is supporting your weight in a real way, right? If it was surface tension, and stuff, then you'd make the water sink like a boat would. So the weight… doesn't exist when you're standing on water, in a way."

Suicune's eyes crossed, which was quite unusual since they were still glowing faintly, and she repeated that to herself.

"I think I follow that," she said.

"So that means you don't have to take all that water with you," Ash explained. "Not the whole thing, anyway. You just need your paws to be wet, and that's what you're doing… kind of carrying shoes with you, so there's water to go around? Then whenever you put your weight down you're stepping on water, and the weight doesn't exist."

Suicune's head tilted to the side a little, and she drew up some of the water around her paws in a kind of close-fitting slipper. She raised a paw, then pushed it down, and it stopped several inches from the ground.

"There you go!" Ash said. "Now, let's work on moving around!"

"Is it okay if I have some hot chocolate with dinner today?" Rayquaza asked, looking at Pikachu. "I like hot chocolate, but people only seem to have it just before bed."

"That's just because they think the meals fit together like that, I think," Pikachu said, pondering. "I know I like ketchup a lot, but for some reason nobody else thinks it's a good drink with a meal."

The Dragon-type giggled.

"I don't think there'd be a problem with it," Pikachu added. "Brock's the expert, though, we can check with him."

Rayquaza uncoiled, ready to follow Pikachu over to Brock to ask, then the two of them watched as Ash and Suicune ran past.

The Water-type was running with her paws at about head height, and clearly enjoying herself.

"Oh, they got that working!" Pikachu said. "That's great!"

"Here we go, Torchic," May said softly, then walked out onto the Contest floor.

The announcer announced her, and she waved before sending out her Torchic.

"Five," she said. "Four. Three. Two. One. Ignition!"

Torchic began using Blaze Kick, lighting up both feet with flame, then added Smokescreen to the mix – producing a jet of smoke from his wings that splashed out from where he was standing, billowing out at speed before slowing down and becoming a turbulent roil.

"And liftoff!" May added, and Torchic slowly rose into the air – still using Smokescreen to produce a continual jet of smoke, and with his feet burning beneath him and sending out a fire-trail that reached to the floor.

At about the height of May's shoulders, he flapped his wings, and two Embers trailing smoke flew off in either direction. He kept rising, now tilting over to lie on his back, until finally the Smokescreen and the Blaze Kick died down and he was flying in neat circles around his trainer a little above head height.

May waited until he'd circled her twice, then whistled, and Torchic flipped around and used Blaze Kick for a moment. That changed his flight path, and he 'fell' towards May with a wisp of smoke before landing neatly on her head with another Blaze Kick flicker.

"Tor-chiiic!" he announced, proudly, and pulled out a hairpin May had concealed in her headband. There was a little bit of paper attached to it with a picture of Torchic on it, and he planted it like a flag.

"Well, that's quite a punchline!" Mr. Sukizo said. "We already knew her Torchic could fly, but seeing him with such remarkable control over his attacks…"

"I know," Raoul Contesta agreed. "She's not just resting on her laurels of, look at me, I've got a flying Torchic. They're really developing, and that Smokescreen was a beautiful move even by itself… did you see the booster separation?"

"I assume she's probably going through, then," Joy chuckled.

"Let's just say I think there's have to be some amazing performances to push her out of qualifying," Contesta said.

"Is it actually required that a Coordinator keep innovating?" Max asked. "I know we seem to keep seeing the same judges, but there must be dozens or hundreds of Contest Halls in Hoenn and they can't run all of them… so what's to stop someone doing the same routine every time?"

"There isn't really a rule about it," Brock replied. "Not even really a guideline, except that of course not many people become Coordinators to just do one routine over and over. May is perhaps being more innovative than usual, but that just means she's doing it right."

"Smokescreen barrage!" May called, down on the floor, and Torchic flourished his wings. More than a dozen smoky trails flashed out, too many for their opponent's Staravia to dodge entirely, and he flapped his wings to blow them away instead – which disrupted the attack, and stopped Staravia from losing many points, but May was already changing plan.

"Ember fountain!"

"It's probably something to do with Ash," Brock added.

"It's very easy to blame Ash," Bulbasaur said. "Especially when blaming him is usually right… in fact, I can't think of a time it wasn't."

"Hey," Ash protested. "What about the times when it's Team Rocket who does stuff?"

"I'm pretty sure they've been after you, most of the time," Bulbasaur answered. "Besides, I need a single explanation to make sense of it all and that qualifies as simple..."

"Do you think we'll all earn a Ribbon?" Dratini asked, that evening. "How many do you need for the, um, Coordinator League, anyway?"

"It's not called a Coordinator League, it's called a Grand Festival," May answered, carefully washing the last of the soot out of Torchic's feathers. "And it's five ribbons to enter… I'm definitely going to try and spread it out, but if I do end up with six or more Pokémon then someone's going to have to not win a ribbon just because that's how maths works."

"Does that mean I might not get another Contest?" Marill asked.

"Well, probably not an official one, for a ribbon," May replied. "Unless they do a thing where you can pass on your ribbon if you already have five."

She washed her hands again, then ran them through Torchic's wing. "I… think that's everything," she reported. "Anyway, now I think about it I probably should have known more about how that side of things worked before getting to the point I have two Ribbons. I wonder if they do beginner's guides somewhere?"

Marill giggled.

"Just so I can check, I can head off now, right?" Torchic asked.

"Just wait a minute or so for your feathers to dry properly," May requested. "Now, there's Dratini, Skitty and Beautifly yet to win a Ribbon… using Me First during the battle phase is going to set Skitty up pretty well, but we still need to finish that routine, and for Beautifly it's sort of the other way around because he's got a routine we've used once but the problem is in the Battle phase. Hmm…"

"And what about me?" Dratini requested.

"Honestly, you're pretty well set," May smiled. "You're getting really good at shaping Twister, after all, and when you add in Hydro Pump it can get beautiful."

Dratini looked quite pleased with himself.

"I wonder," May added, frowning. "Perhaps if Beautifly learned Thunderbolt, and especially Flamethrower? We should ask Lokoko or Vulpix for help with Flamethrower…"

On the way back down to Petalburg, mostly so that Max and May could spend some time at home before the friends went on towards Fortree City, they saw a whole flock of Swablu flying past.

At first that was all there seemed to be to it, until that evening there was a thunderstorm and a nearby tree was struck by lightning – and one of the Swablu tumbled out, hitting the ground with a soft peep of pain.

Bulbasaur more or less immediately took the little Flying-type under his figurative wing while they – especially Brock – helped heal Swablu's entirely real and strained wing, first with a potion spray and giving it time to set, then through the physical therapy needed to get the wing back up to strength.

"It kind of aches," Swablu said, swallowing, and Brock nodded.

"I know it does," he agreed. "That's because your left wing is used to what it's meant to do, but your right wing isn't. You remember being taught to fly, right?"

Swablu nodded.

"It's kind of like that, but you already know how," Brock explained. "So you're not learning at the same time as you're conditioning your muscles, and it feels like it's longer, and your muscles are complaining too. Normally that's so you don't hurt them, and we're not doing too much at a time here, but a bit of an ache is okay."

He turned his attention to Bulbasaur. "Okay, a bit more this time. You let me know if it starts to hurt more than you're comfortable with, Swablu?"

"I will," the Normal-type said, bravely, and Bulbasaur began gently moving Swablu's cloudy wing through range-of-motion exercises.

"I really don't like this," Swablu said, a few days later. "I feel like…"

He shook himself. "It's like I've let you down."

"Don't say that, my man," Geodude told him. "What could make you think that?"

"It's because you've all helped me out so much, in helping me get back to being able to fly," Swablu explained. "But I can't even manage to take off – I'm so scared, and I feel like…"

"Hey, now," Brock interrupted. "None of that, okay?"

He patted Swablu on the head. "Healing takes time. And getting past something like that is… you know how we had to re-train your muscles?"

Swablu nodded.

"This is about re-training your heart," he said. "And it's awkward and fiddly, and you need to go slowly so you don't hurt it worse. But if you want help, we'll be around for as long as it takes."

The Normal-type took that in.

"So, um, I'm not familiar with how the different types work," he said. "Do Nest Balls work better on Flying types, or…?"

Brock blinked. "...Vulpix, did you translate that wrong?"

"No, you got that," Vulpix told him. "Just to make sure, Swablu… are you saying you want to be part of the team?"

"I wouldn't mind!" Swablu said. "Lotad was saying it'd be nice to have someone else who can sing!"

"Hey, I can sing," Brock protested.

"Lotad didn't say he was the only one who can sing, my man," Geodude said. "He also said Eevee could sing. I think it has to be more than one song though, so you don't make the cut."

Brock sighed. "Most trainers don't have to deal with this much sass."

"You love us for it, though," Vulpix declared.

The next day, Aggron checked a list she'd written out.

"Hmm," she said. "So there's a lot of sound based moves… oh, I know what would help first! Heal Bell!"

Eevee ran past, then skidded to a halt, then retraced her steps backwards to stare at Aggron.

Who was slightly smaller than Eevee was.

"Um, so, can I check something?" she asked. "Am I larger than normal too?"

"No, no, I used Minimize," Aggron replied. "I wanted to make notes without needing a piece of paper the size of a fridge."

She blinked. "Wait, what do you mean, larger than normal too?"

"This is not even the first time this has happened!" Zacian declared, as they ran into town. "Do you actually give off Dynamax particles? Is that it?"

"Hey, I don't know!" Ash replied, keeping pace with the Heroine of Many Battles as she drew her sword. "We weren't even in town when the giant Gulpin appeared!"

"And the Alakazam and the Gengar?" Zacian inquired. "The Dragonite? Zorua?"

"To be fair, when Zorua does it he usually just gets a headache and falls over," Pikachu pointed out.

Zacian chuffed. "Well, fortunately I am a specialist at dealing with Dynamaxed Pokémon! Attention, enormous Gulpin! I challenge you to a duel!"

"You remember that isn't the sword that you can use for Behemoth Blade, right?" Ash checked. "And that you're not Steel type at the moment?"

"Yes, I do," Zacian said. "Though I do thank you for checking."

"Though…" Ash went on. "Actually, I don't think we need to fight the Gulpin, not unless it wants a fight itself. We just need to get it so it's not enormous any more, and then solve the original problem. Right?"

"You make an excellent point," Zacian admitted.

"Plus…" Pikachu added. "I kind of want to see if Torkoal can judo throw it."

Zacian looked conflicted, then sheathed her sword.

"I want to see that too, actually," she admitted. "Very well. Diplomacy first, Torkoal second, me third at the least."

Chapter Text

"Welcome home!" Norman said, embracing first his daughter and then his son. "How have you enjoyed your Pokémon Journey so far?"

"It's been like nothing I ever imagined," May replied, beaming. "I've made such good friends – I've seen so many things – it's been just… so good it's hard to describe!"

"That's what the very best journeys are like," Norman told her. "An adventure, and a discovery, and finding the Pokémon who will be with you for the rest of your life. That's exactly what it should be."

He stepped back a little. "And you, Max? How have you been getting on with your sister?"

"...I've learned a lot," Max said, after thinking about how to answer. "There's a lot of things out there that just don't match what I'd have learned in school, and it usually involves Ash… but not always…"

Norman chuckled. "Well, everyone come in, come in… Jirachi's still asleep, but I think Mightyena is going to be glad to see you, Max. And speaking of which, we haven't met your Beautifly, Dratini or Skitty yet, May… and we haven't seen Marill since she evolved, either! You'll have to introduce us all over again."

As they went inside, Max frowned, then chuckled.

"I just realized," he explained. "Now Mom and Dad can actually meet our Pokémon, because this time Vulpix is around. It's weird how quickly you get used to that."

"Used to what?" Norman asked.

"Vulpix can make it so people who aren't Ash can understand what Pokémon say," Brock explained. "It's a Hypnosis trick. Ash's Ninetales, Lokoko, can do it as well but he's got a bigger team to rotate through so it's usually Vulpix doing it."

"It's kind of weird to get reminded that not all humans understand Pokémon," Rayquaza mumbled.

"What's your plan for the rest of Hoenn?" Norman asked, spreading out a map on the table. "There's more Contest Halls than Gyms, of course…"

"I thought we'd go this way," Brock replied.

He drew out a line with his finger, going up towards Fortree City and then sweeping down to Lilycove. That done, the route went to Mossdeep for the seventh gym in Hoenn, then to Sootopolis before returning via Pacifidlog to Slateport.

"The Grand Festival comes before the League," Brock explained. "But this way we'll be ready for both by then, there's plenty of Contest Halls on the way and if we need to then we can fly around to catch up."

Norman chuckled. "If I'd had access to a Flying type who could fly me around Hoenn, I don't think I'd have been able to resist doing that on my own journey to save on walking… and it would have been a big shame, because that's how I met so much of my own team."

He smiled, remembering his own Gym Challenge, then snapped his fingers.

"Why don't we go over to the gym?" he asked. "It won't be a formal gym challenge, but we can get some sparring in – and I'd like to see how May's Pokémon are developing for skill, as well!"

Norman did not get to see how May's Pokémon were developing for skill.

"I'm sorry about that," Brock said, once they'd evacuated the building. "In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to teach Mudkip Strength."

He patted Onix. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Fortunately, I have very high physical defence, Takeshi," Onix replied, sounding a bit woozy. "Allow me to credit Senri on the excellent strength of the wall I went through."

"So this is another one of those shortcuts, right?" Ash asked. "Like the Valley of Steel?"

"A bit," Brock replied. "Though it's for different reasons… or, to be more precise, the Valley of Steel is clearly marked while this one isn't. The main routes just go around it, and it'd add an extra day or so to our journey to skip it."

"Weird," Ash said, shrugging. "I wonder if it's because of the Pokémon around here? It can't be the weather, this is great!"

"...actually, it could be the weather," Brock mused. "I didn't even think of that, but you've got Rayquaza with you. Her Air Lock could be preventing what would normally be rainstorms or something."

"I can turn it off if you think that would be better," Rayquaza suggested.

"No, I think we're fine," Ash told her. "'cause there are Pokémon who normally live in wet areas, right? We haven't seen any of those, and the ground doesn't seem all that muddy, so this is probably just a normal bit of land."

"Makes sense to me," Pikachu mused. "What do you think, Swablu?"

"I think it's probably not a good thing that the compass Brock's using keeps spinning around?" Swablu said, leaning forwards on Brock's shoulder. "I'm just guessing though."

"Huh?" Brock asked, taking a proper long look at it this time.

It slowly spun through a complete circle over the course of about a minute, and Brock groaned.

"Or that could be why," he said. "We might have ended up going in circles… thanks, Swablu."

"No problem!" Swablu piped.

A little way further back, May frowned.

"Huh, I wonder why we've stopped?" she said.

"I think I overheard something about a compass, if that helps," Dratini said. "Hold on… can you lift me up a bit?"

"Sure," May agreed, bracing herself slightly, and hoisted Dratini up so the Dragon-type was at arms' length. "Erf… how's that?"

"Thanks!" Dratini told her. "And I can see a fence up ahead… if we'd kept going we'd just have run into the fence! Maybe it's that?"

"That would still mean we were lost, though, right?" Max asked, as May let Dratini down again. "Unless that wall isn't on the map or something…"

Then, to the surprise of just about everyone concerned, a Skarmory swooped down and grabbed May by the shoulders.

"Hey!" May protested, as the Skarmory began to pick her up. "Dratini – Twister!"

Dratini's tail flicked around, and the Dragon-type used Twister. A swirling torrent of Dragon-energy-infused wind rippled up, coiling around in a complex circle, and hit Skarmory four times – face, torso, both wings – without touching his trainer at all.

"OW!" the Steel-type screeched, talons releasing, and May fell about three feet until an invisible shape in the air caught her.

"I've got you," Latios said.

"And I've got some words to have with you!" Torchic added, bursting out of his Pokéball and glaring at Skarmory. "What was that about!?"

Skarmory looked shifty. "Umm…"

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" a Bulbasaur gasped, from just inside the fence. "I didn't even know you could make an attack do that!"

As it turned out, the walled-off area was a Pokémon nature preserve, specifically one for Grass-type Pokémon.

The Bulbasaur was a local, technically one of the Pokémon who lived on the preserve, but quickly decided to join May – something which May was only too happy to agree to – and the thing that took the most time was simply working out who to ask about that.

Eventually, through Latios' help to fly her around, Bulbasaur asked her mother and that seemed to be good enough for everyone involved.

"This is the first time I've had to make this kind of decision," May admitted, looking at the Pokéball she had ready to capture Bulbasaur and then at the rest of her team. "I guess… is anyone looking for some time off? It wouldn't have to be long."

"Well… I could?" Marill suggested. "I've already got a Ribbon, after all… and I know what I'm going to be practicing, but your dad might have a Pokémon with a useful move I could pick up too?"

"If you're okay with that, that sounds like a good idea," May said, with a smile. "All right, then, let's get that sorted out with Ibid and then Bulbasaur can join the team!"

"So if you want a lot of versatility in the Vine Whip, you need to give it a bit less than full force at the start," Brock's Bulbasaur explained. "That means you can add to the force as well as reducing it. Make sense?"

"It does!" May's Bulbasaur agreed, nodding. "I wonder why my parents never mentioned that?"

"It's the kind of thing you pick up from experience," Brock's Bulbasaur replied. "In my case, lots and lots of times stopping Brock from doing something stupid."

"Hey, he's not all that bad," Lotad said. "Though, yeah, he has kind of a weird approach with the señoritas. And it is best if you stop him singing after the first song, because he runs out."

"Yeah, that is a bit of a pain," Brock's Bulbasaur agreed.

He thumped the ground. "Also, nobody forget to specify which Bulbasaur you're talking about from now on… anyway, there's a lot of tricks you learn over time. It's not a criticism of your parents that they might not have all of them."

May's Bulbasaur nodded. "Right! And then, um… what about good coverage moves?"

Brock's Bulbasaur looked over at the humans discussing what to have for lunch. "Probably best to speak to Ash about that one."

He paused, listening to Ash asking whether Clefariy's Meteor Beam could be used to give Rayquaza a snack. "...later, though."

"...so, since the next gym is Flying type, we could focus on dealing with flying targets," Ash suggested. "It's good to be able to anyway, right?"

Pikachu nodded his approval. "A lot of us are ready already, one way or another, even the newcomers… Taillow certainly is… but I think Phanpy and Torkoal in particular need to work on it. Apart from that… well, there's Croconaw as well."

"Hmm…" Ash said, thinking.

"I have a suggestion," Zygarde mooted. "Instead of battling flying targets, you could simply have Phanpy ensure they cannot fly. Thousand Arrows is capable of ensuring this."

"Oh, yeah, that would be pretty neat!" Ash agreed.

Just then, a Pokémon popped up on the path in front of them.

"There you are!" Celebi said. "I told you to be here tomorrow, you're early!"

"Oh, hi, Celebi!" Ash replied. "Are you the same one from the Lake of Life? Or do you know me in my future instead?"

"What are you talking about?" Celebi asked, zipping around behind Ash and starting to push him. "I've thrown you into five problems so far this year! And I don't think I pruned the bits where I explained this… seriously, Ritchie, you can be dense sometimes!"

"Point of order!" Pikachu interrupted. "Wrong trainer. This is Ash, not Ritchie."

Celebi stopped pushing, and flew back around to inspect Ash, then took a Pokéball off his belt and examined it.

"My mistake!" she decided, and vanished into a time warp.

So did the Pokéball.

"Hey!" Ash called. "You forgot to put that down!"

"...did that just happen?" Max asked, a little baffled.

"Oh, did you not hear the one about how Zacian joined Ash's team?" Eevee said. "That one involved lots of time travel too, I… think. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, and sort of miffed I didn't turn into a Chroneon!"

Celebi reappeared. "Sorry about that," she said, and dropped the Pokéball for Ash.

It opened, revealing a Dunsparce.

"So, uh, just to check?" Ash said. "Did you used to be Aggron?"

"That's me!" Dunsparce agreed, little wings flapping and raising him up to head height. "I got de-evolved by time flux, and this is what I ended up with when Celebi undid it! Kind of cute, huh?"

Celebi brushed dust off her hands. "There we go. Problem solved. Bye!"

"And… go!" May called, on the Contest floor in Rubello Town. "Defend Order!"

Beautifly's wings flapped hard as he came out of his Pokéball, sending forth a dense swirl of miniature Beautifly drones, and they swarmed around about halfway across the stage from Beautifly himself before coalescing into a shape – the shape of a flying Butterfree, around which other miniature drones whirled and circled.

"Now, launch a strike!" May added. "Attack Order!"

Beautifly sent out a second surge of drones, which whirled around him for a few seconds shaking out into a loose but intricate formation, and they went flying out towards the faux-Butterfree as Beautifly circled around.

The remaining drones around the Butterfree came flying out towards the strike and attacked it, some of them colliding with Attack Order drones and making both vanish in a flash, but the strike got through and plunged down on Beautifly's Butterfree creation. Some of the Attack Order drones hit the wings, others hit the torso, and the whole construct fragmented and fell towards the arena floor – only to dissolve into a cloud of drones where it would have crashed, and the drones flew back towards Beautifly to orbit him once more.

"...I'm so unfamiliar with how that move works that I'm not entirely sure how to judge that," Mr. Contest admitted. "Except that it looked very good."

"Well, normally the Defend Order involves a simple wall of Combee drones," his colleague Sukizo told him. "I trust you see why we're teleporting all around Hoenn to make sure we keep an eye on this remarkable young Coordinator?"

"Is that why you're judging with me?" Joy asked. "This morning I thought it was going to be Abby and Mr. Joyous from up the road…"

"You know, I think May might not have read the rules for this one properly," Brock said, consulting a pamphlet.

"Why's that?" Ash asked. "Did she break one of the rules or something?"

"No, it's just that she's using Beautifly again," Brock replied. "The rules for this Contest say you can use a different Pokémon in the battle round… they sometimes do, I think it's just chance that all of May's ones so far have been set-type."

Out on the floor, May called for Beautifly to use Defend Order. The now-familiar shield of interlocking Beautifly drones formed, and May's opponent – Savannah, a self-confessed fan of May's – ordered her Lairon to use Shock Wave.

The Shock Wave hit Beautifly's shield, punching a hole in it, but the charge didn't get any further and Beautifly rotated his shield to make sure there was no vulnerable path.

"Now, Attack Order!" May called, and Beautifly sent out the same swirling bombing-run assault from before. "And use Thunderbolt to counter that Shock Wave!"

Beautifly fired Thunderbolt from his left foreleg, twitching it each time he used it, and Lairon rumbled as her Shock Waves were countered.

"Ignore the drones!" Savannah called. "Send your Shock Wave through the hole in his shield – curve it!"

Max, who'd been watching May practice with Beautifly over the last week, put his hands over his ears.

"Flamethrower!" May ordered. "Bombing run!"

Beautifly's left hind leg kicked out, and a burst of flames flicked out. They hit his Defend Order shield and punched through, setting the whole thing on fire, and every one of the drones which had made it up plunged down on Lairon in a cascade of explosions.

"Didn't I say something about Pokémon only using moves they're meant to learn?" Drew asked, meeting up with May after the Contest. "Damn, girl, three ribbons now. You're really doing well."

"Well, Beautifly only really picked up a couple of moves since last time…" May replied, putting a finger to her lips. "And I'm sure Max told me about Butterfree using Flamethrower, so how is that not a move that butterfly Pokémon can learn?"

"...in retrospect that was the kind of request you were never going to be able to fulfil," Drew admitted. "I should have remembered you're travelling with the guy whose Noctowl pretends to be legendary Flying-types and it's hard to tell."

"Well, not just Flying-types," May said. "He's got Sacred Sword down now, so he can pretend to be Zacian as well!"

Drew laughed. "That's a terrifying thought."

Chapter Text

"Oh, huh, that's neat!" May said, as they entered Crossgate Town. "Ash, have you ever taken part in a PokéRinger contest before?"

"I… no, but I think I remember seeing them on TV?" Ash replied, frowning. "It's about scoring goals with a ring, right?"

"That's right," May replied. "There's more than one trainer per team, either two or four I think… I can't remember the exact rules, though."

Brock considered that, and sent out Crobat. "What do you think? Does that sound interesting?"

"It might be," Crobat said. "I wonder what they think of using attacks?"

"No, I remember that much," Ash told him. "Attacks are fine."

"I could have Torchic or Beautifly take part," May pondered. "We should see the organizers."

The committee running the PokéRinger tournament took one look at Ash, and exchanged meaningful glances.

"Mr. Ketchum," the head of the committee said. "Am I right in thinking that you took part in a balloon race in Johto?"

"Oh, yeah, that was pretty fun," Ash replied. "Why?"

"Because I would like to offer you and your friends a compromise," the committee head explained. "We actually did discuss this when we were setting up the tournament this year… you see, we're fairly sure that if you take part then there are going to be dozens of Legendary Pokémon involved. That's your own, plus the other Pokémon who turn up around you sometimes…"

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, that might happen, it's happened a few times, so I guess you're right!"

"And that's why we're offering a compromise," the man replied. "We'll run a separate tournament for your Pokémon and any legendaries who show up… that is, any other legendary Pokémon who show up."

Rayquaza looked up.

Her much bigger, non-Shiny counterpart looked down at her.

"I have only known you existed for five minutes," he said. "But in that time I have undergone a wholesale realignment of my priorities."

Ash's Rayquaza frowned slightly. "Um...I hope your priorities still include stopping meteorites? That is important, and I'm too little to do it yet."

"Come on, Dad!" Silver laughed. "You go high, I'll go low – we'll get past them together!"

Lugia beat his wings, hovering there as he looked at their opponents. "Are you sure? Those two seem fast…"

"That's half the fun!" Silver replied.

"You won't be laughing once I show you my true power," Shaymintwo said.

Zapdos coughed. "Ahem."

"Our true power," Shaymintwo corrected.

"Okay, Dad, start with a Twister!" Silver instructed. "Then I'll use Hydro Pump into it, and… and remember that we can talk psychically instead of telling them our plans out loud…"

"Fusion Bolt!" Zekrom insisted.

"Fusion FLARE!" Reshiram replied.

"Fusion BOLT!" Zekrom shouted.

"FUSION FLARE!" Reshiram escalated.

As the explosions echoed overhead, Kyurem cleared his throat and looked across the field at Articuno, Taillow and Swablu.

"Doing it as a three versus three okay?" he said. "Honestly I sort of expected this."

"Nah, I want to see what happens if I Electrify a Fusion Flare," Taillow replied. "Don't wait up for me!"

She darted skywards, there was an enormous blast of lightning, and she came back down again as a Swellow.

"Huh," she announced. "Now I want to do that again!"

"I'm more interested in getting to the actual PokéRinger game," Crobat replied. "Torchic and I worked something out..."

"Yah!" Dragonite said, rolling just left of a Mist Ball and sliding sideways through the air as he chased after Noctowl. "Come back here and have a hug!"

"I'd rather score a point," Noctowl replied, the ring glittering in his claws. "It's the point of the game, after all…"

He rolled away from Zacian, then ducked underneath Suicune, but Tornadus caught him in a whirlwind.

"Aha!" the Flying-type said. "Got you now!"

He tried to take the ring, and failed.

"Turns out that's not the real ring," Noctowl said, airily, and nodded.

Up above, Latias and Ho-Oh were flying escort for Rayquaza as she carefully hung the actual ring.

"Well done!" Dragonite called up at her. "Good work!"

And, a little way away, Cresselia shook her head.

"No," she said, firmly. "I know you think it would be neat, but no."

"But it would be so cunning!" Darkrai protested. "An extra team member snuck into the game!"

They were walking along the banks of a river, the next day, when Rayquaza made an announcement she'd clearly been thinking about.

"I don't think I want to get as big as that other Rayquaza yet," she said, with great solemnity. "I wouldn't be able to fit around Ash properly."

"I'm pretty sure I could teach you Minimize!" Dunsparce told her. "But staying small for as long as you want is absolutely an option and we'll all support you."

"Yeah!" Ash agreed, pressing one arm against his jacket where Rayquaza was and giving her a reassuring hug. "I'm not a hundred percent sure how that would work, but if Dunsparce says it's possible I'm not going to argue, because he's done more of that kind of thing than anyone else!"

Rayquaza let out a happy little sigh.

"Hey, I found something!" Phanpy called, from where she was leading the group along. "There's a big building, too! I don't know what it is but it looks important!"

"Ah, welcome to the Weather Institute," said a researcher. "My name is Bart. I'm afraid that things aren't really working properly here at the moment."

"Why's that?" Ash asked. "If you research weather, how can something not be working?"

"We don't research how weather works," Bart told him. "That's a misconception. We actually work on controlling the weather, but unfortunately the machine stopped working a couple of hours ago… it might look like a lovely day out there, and it is, but our machine is trying to make it snow."

"Oops," Rayquaza said, softly, and abruptly it began to absolutely pelt down with snow.

"Whoa!" Bart gasped, running for the machine and turning it down as his Castform shifted into Snowy Form. "What just happened?"

Ash coughed. "I think that was one of my Pokémon," he said. "Her ability is Air Lock, which stops weather happening, and she just turned it off…"

"Oh, that would do it," Bart agreed. "As soon as the ability turned off, then the weather machine would reassert itself with a vengeance!"

"Did that Pokémon change form when the weather changed?" Max asked, looking at Castform. "That's pretty cool. Does it do that for any kind of weather?"

"Well, so far Castform has been identified turning into a Water type when it's raining, an Ice type when it's snowing and a Fire type when it's brightly sunny," Bart told him. "Castform is a Pokémon designed to forecast the weather."

Skitty emerged from her Pokéball.

"Okay, so, tell me someone here has a weather control move!" she requested. "Because I have Me First, Normalize, and magic science to do!"

"Zapdos has Rain Dance," Ash volunteered.

"Perfect!" Skitty declared. "Let's go and see what we can do!"

Bart pointed at Skitty as she began chivying Castform along with her tail. "That Pokémon just talked."

"It's not her doing it, it's Vulpix," Max provided. "I think it's May's turn to give Vulpix a lift today?"

"Yep!" Vulpix agreed, from inside May's bag. "Accolades welcome!"

"So what's the plan, again?" Zapdos asked. "Just want to make sure this is all lined up properly."

"Well, you'll use Rain Dance," Ash said. "Then Skitty will use Me First and type-convert it to whatever we're trying to replicate. Then, if you can't turn off your Rain Dance before it activates it'll be Treecko's job to use Mimic and copy the altered Rain Dance, and then Treecko can use it again to finish the sequence."

"Exactly!" Skitty confirmed. "Fairly simple symbolic shuffling… really, to be properly scientific we should start with a Fire-type conversion of Rain Dance but I'm not really sure it's good manners to make it rain down fire and that is a possibility here. Anyway… ready?"

"I have no idea what is going on," Castform supplied, now back in his normal Form thanks to Air Lock and the weather machine being turned off.

"That's okay, we just need to take notes," Ash told him. "Okay, let's try… hmm. Bug type first? Or Dragon type?"

"I like Dragon type!" Skitty agreed. "Okay, Zapdos, three, two, one!"

"Rain Dan-!" Zapdos began.

"Me First!" Skitty interrupted, and Zapdos scrambled to cancel her Rain Dance as Skitty took it over. A ball of light formed on her tail and shot into the air, then burst, and the air filled with green sparkles which began to fizz off any exposed surface like Saint Elmo's Fire.

Castform transformed into a shape with a sleek body and long tapered wings, and blinked. "Huh. I didn't know I could do that… what is this weather called?"

"I made it, so I get to name it," Skitty declared. "Dracorocco!"

"So we've found out about eight new types of weather," Ash reported, later. "Plus, we made what seems like Sandstorm but it just confused Castform."

"We think that's because Sandstorm is both Ground and Rock," Bart said. "But that's just a guess at this point."

"Also, we finished up with a proper rain storm," Skitty added. "Because otherwise it was going to be a bit sticky out there, since the Bug type one made it rain honey and wax."

May winced. "Ouch… I can imagine walking along in that. Eesh…"

"Do you think it's been going long enough?" Rayquaza asked.

"Probably leave it another few minutes," Ash told her. "Then it should be fine."

Rayquaza nodded.

"What about the thing I found?" Phanpy asked. "You know, the shiny stone!"

"Let's see…" Ash said, taking it out of his pocket. "I think this is another Mega Stone… how do people tell what they are, again? They can't just pass it between hundreds of Pokémon, right?"

"Wouldn't it be something you could look up in a catalogue?" Max suggested. "You know, the colours and stuff."

"Maybe, but when it's a new one," Ash clarified. "You couldn't look up the first Aggronite in a book because it'd be the first Aggronite."

"You could ask Diancie?" Dunsparce suggested. "Hold on a sec!"

She vanished in a Teleport.

Bart looked at where the tsuchinko had been, then at the friends.

"This is just how it is for you, right?" he asked. "I can see that it's an opportunity for enormous discovery, but it's not for me…"

A glowing golden ring appeared in mid-air, showing a crystal-lined room lit only by glowing diamonds and the light coming through the portal, and Diancie clasped her hands together as she looked up. "Good… well, it is after midnight, so good morning I suppose."

"Hi!" Ash replied. "My Pokémon Phanpy found this Mega Stone, do you know which one it is?"

He held it out, and Diancie examined it. She picked up a clear round gemstone the size of a fist, and used it as a loupe to look more closely.

Then she looked up.

"That would be a Castformite," she said. "I believe only one was made, unless my memory tricks me, and-"

"A Castformite?" Bart repeated. "But Castform is artificial!"

"So is the Mega Stone," Diancie replied. "If you happen to use it, do let me know how well it works."

"Thanks, Diancie," Ash told her, as Dunsparce hovered back through the portal from Kalos. "Sorry for bothering you!"

Because Mega Evolution was unpredictable, they went outside again.

"So, ah… how does this work, again?" Bart said, holding Ash's Mega Ring. "I've never Mega Evolved a Pokémon before."

"It's easy!" Ash told him. "What you do is, you concentrate on the Pokémon and how much they mean to you, and… that's it, really."

Bart blinked. "Oh. People make it seem harder."

He closed his eyes, focusing, and golden light spread over Castform.

Then faded, leaving the Weather Pokémon exactly the same as before.

"That's odd," Brock said. "Usually the light show means the Mega Evolution has happened."

"Hmm…" Ash said, thinking. "Can you use Ice Beam!"

Castform rotated to face a nearby tree, and the moment he started to use Ice Beam it began to snow and he transformed into his Snowy Form.

"That must be it!" Ash said. "Oh, now try a different move!"

Castform used Energy Ball, and the weather changed again – this time to a breeze heavy with pollen and accompanied by cherry blossoms, and which made Castform change into a green shape with a pattern of roots underneath.

"Wow!" Phanpy trumpeted. "That's really cool! So you're Grass-type now?"

"I think we should stop the experiment here," Castform requested, quite carefully. "Because I also know Clear Smog and I'm not sure what that one would do…"

"They were nice," Bart said, waving goodbye to the friends. "We've got a lot more data now."

He shook his head. "It's just a bit of a pity that the new graduate student hasn't shown up yet. I think most of her second day is going to be going over those experiments."

Castform bobbed up and down.

In the woods nearby, a Team Aqua strike squad closed their umbrellas.

"They're gone, right?" Matt asked. "Ash Ketchum and those other ones? They are gone?"

"Surveillance says they're gone," one of the grunts agreed. "Two miles away."

Matt considered that.

"Let's wait a bit longer," he said, shaking pollen, honey, darkness and sand off his umbrella. "Team Aqua fears nothing… except them."

Chapter Text

"So," Winona began. "I knew you were coming. Norman warned me last week."

Max sniggered.

"Great!" Ash replied. "I knew I was coming here, so that's fair!"

Winona had to smile at that, then schooled her expression. "For your gym battle – and I am assuming you're here for one – you will need to use Pokémon capable of flight. Landing or crashing is not an automatic cause for disqualification, but your Pokémon must be able to fly."

She gave Ash a look. "Normally I wouldn't set a challenge like that, because battling from the ground to the sky is a challenge by itself, but… I heard a rumour that you've got a lot of Flying Pokémon. Falkner said something about Lance wanting to recruit you?"

"Yeah, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet," Ash replied. "Anyway, I know just what Pokémon I'm going to be using!"

"Is one of them me?" Rayquaza asked, peering out of Ash's jacket.

"...that's a Rayquaza," Winona breathed. "How?"

"Do you want to be on the team?" Ash checked. "Actually, Winona, how many Pokémon is it?"

"…I've got a team of three ready," Winona told him, after taking a few seconds to refocus. "Though I could increase that to four?"

"I don't think I'm ready yet," Rayquaza said. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," Ash told her, giving her a pat on the head. "It's up to you to decide."

He turned his attention to Winona. "And she started out as a fake Groudon but my Ho-Oh turned her into a real baby Rayquaza! So she's still really young."

Winona shook her head. "For the sake of actually getting to the gym battle, instead of spending the whole day discussing your insane team, I'm going to ignore that."

"...oh, yeah, do you use any weather moves in your team?" Ash added. "Rayquaza does need to know…"

A few minutes later, Winona stood on her trainer stand.

"Send out your first Pokémon!" she instructed.

She followed suit, sending out her Altaria, and on Ash's side of the field a Suicune emerged from a Safari Ball.

"...um…" Winona began, as Altaria trilled something in confusion, then the Gym Leader turned on the PA system. "Mr. Ketchum, I asked for a Pokémon that could fly."

"I know!" Ash called back. "Okay, Suicune!"

Suicune jumped into the air, firing a Water Pulse down at the ground, and it detonated with a wet splat. Landing on the mud puddle and purifying it into sparkling clean water, Suicune crouched for a moment, then began to lope forwards.

And up. Each bounding leap took Suicune's four paws four feet into the air, and they didn't come down again, and Suicune ran around in an ascending spiral which went through two complete turns until she was standing at about the same level as Altaria… in complete disregard for the fact the ground was far beneath her.

"I… did not know Suicune could do that," Winona admitted.

"Yeah, we worked it out fairly recently!" Ash called back.

Winona rubbed her temples.

"Are we going to get started now, or…?" Ash added, in blithe disregard of how incredibly intimidating his previous statement had been.

"Of course, of course," Winona admitted. "Begin! Altaria, Dragon Dance!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash countered. "Aqua Jet!"

Altaria went diving away from the water-bullet that was Suicune, who followed in a blur and smacked into the Dragon-type anyway, and Winona frowned before cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Pull up!" she called. "Gain height – Suicune can't climb as easily!"

"Crouch and jump!" Ash countered. "Go for altitude – keep going until I say stop!"

Mildly staggered, Winona watched as Suicune leaped into the air – instantly negating what she'd thought was a vulnerability in Suicune's flight method – and stopped in mid-air at least thirty feet above where she'd started, only to then gather herself and leap again and again.

It was like watching Suicune climb a series of rock shelves, but they weren't there in the first place.

Then Ash raised his voice. "Stop there and Hydro Pump!"

Suicune practically exploded with water, which rained down all around the arena. There was so much of it it was hard to dodge, and Ash and Winona both got wet as well as Altaria, but it was so spread out that it wasn't much of an attack… more of a rainstorm than anything.

"Now!" Ash added. "Altaria's wet – Aurora Beam!"

"Flamethrower!" Winona called.

Altaria's Flamethrower did as much as possible to blunt the attack, but it still hit home hard, and Winona pointed.

"Aerial Ace!"

"That was really good, Suicune," Ash said, as the Water-type sat on her haunches in front of him… in mid-air, of course. "You're really getting used to that fly trick."

He held up the Safari Ball, got a nod, and recalled her. Then switched to his second Pokémon – Zacian.

Winona had sent out her Skarmory, and she did a double-take.

"Another Pokémon that isn't Flying type?" she asked. "I know Zacian can fly, at least, that one I saw on television…"

Zacian's paws sparkled, and she bowed.

"I wonder if you are sword, or shield, or armour," she mused. "I could see cause to claim all three. Though I must admit I did not know Skarmory got so big under normal circumstances, and if this trend continues I might not even realize the Darkest Day had returned at all…"

"Something wrong, Max?" May asked, looking away from the battle for a bit. "You seem a bit quiet."

"I'm thinking," Max explained. "There's so much stuff that Ash does which doesn't make normal sense, but he can clearly do it… so I'm trying out a few ideas about how he can do it when they don't make normal sense."

"Like what?" May said.

A blur of movement drew her attention, and she watched as Zacian hurled a pair of Sacred Sword attacks at Skarmory – and as Skarmory flared her wings, knocking the swords away with a mighty klannnng as her wings shivered with impact.

The Flying-type went on to counter with a blurring high speed turn and a Steel Wing attack, striking Zacian in the side, and the Heroine of Many Battles countered with a lightning-fast swipe of the sword she kept in her mane – a swipe which crackled with literal lightning, as well, as Thunder Fang conducted up the blade to hit Skarmory before she could get clear.

"Ouch," Max winced. "And, uh – I don't mean things like that lightning sword thing. That was just conducting electricity. I mean things like how Suicune can fly, and so on… I think it's almost like as long as it makes sense to someone, then it works."

He took a Pokéball off May's belt, and sent out Shroomish.

"So Shroomish can have Poison Heal, right?" Max asked. "But does that mean that she could just outright ignore poison attacks? Because if poison heals them… shouldn't that apply to all poison?"

"That makes a lot of sense!" Shroomish replied. "We should try it!"

"Maybe later-" Max began.

"Iron Defence and Body Press!" Winona called.

Skarmory dove down on top of Zacian, and there was a wham which shook the arena.

When Skarmory took off again, Zacian was in a Zacian-sized crater in the ground.

"I am all right!" Zacian announced, flying into the air again. "I am also quite annoyed!"

"Flying Press!" Winona ordered, a few minutes later.

"Moonblast dazzle!" Ash replied.

Zacian lit up with a brilliant flare of pink-white light, and dodged to the side; Skarmory slammed into the ground rather than slamming Zacian into the ground, and the Fairy-type flipped around in mid-air to strike Skarmory with her Thunder-Fang-infused sword.

"Enough!" Winona decided, recalling Skarmory. "Well done – it's an impressive trainer who can work past a type disadvantage. But you'll have a hard time dealing with my third Pokémon."

Zacian loped to the side of the arena, and Winona held up a Nest Ball before sending out a Pidgeot in a flash of white light.

"You would be surprised how many people forget that you catch a Pokémon at the start of training them," Winona added. "I give you fair warning – don't underestimate my Pidgeot."

"I won't!" Ash replied, firmly. "You caught such a rare Pokémon and trained them really well!"

"...no, I caught him as a Pidgey," Winona replied.

"That's what I meant!" Ash confirmed.

Winona blinked a few times, then shook her head. "I don't have time. I don't have time to… anyway! Send out your Pokémon, challenger!"

Ash sent out a Dratini.

Winona sighed.

"Dragonair can fly, but Dratini can't," she said. "Normally. But while I know you must have a way of doing it… I am going to need to see it."

Ash grinned.

"Steel Wing!" he ordered, and a pair of shimmering-silver wings appeared on Dratini's flanks. They began to beat, and his Pokémon rose into the air, and Ash pointed. "There we go!"

"Of course," Winona decided, then adjusted her hat and revealed a Key Stone. "All right. Pidgeot! Here we go!"

Pidgeot lit up with a golden glow, quickly spreading out from a band around his ankle, and Mega Evolved into Mega Pidgeot.

"Don't worry, we can beat him!" Ash told Dratini, as Mega Pidgeot circled the arena – moving fast enough to leave a visible trail behind them.

"Begin!" Winona called. "Twister!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash countered, and Dratini zipped into the air with a blur of movement. "And use Thunderbolt!"

Dratini was well into the air by the time Mega Pidgeot's Twister actually touched down, but then Winona called another command and the Flying-type used Hurricane instead – sending out a slamming blast of wind which hit Dratini head-on and threw Ash's Pokémon to the side.

It also revealed that it hadn't been Dratini at all – it was Zorua – but the Dark-type was re-cloaking himself in another Illusion before he'd fallen more than a hundred feet. He banked around with a whoosh on Swellow's borrowed wings and spat a Thunderbolt at Mega Pidgeot, but Winona's Pokémon used a burst of Twister to dampen the impact and followed that up with another massive, slamming Hurricane that burst Zorua's illusion again.

"Keep pressuring him!" Winona called. "He's losing altitude when he switches – don't let him regain it! Hurricane!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash reminded Zorua.

"I know!" Zorua said, switching to Noctowl for a moment before the Hurricane hit him. He changed into a Talonflame as soon as the windstorm was over, and fired a Thunderbolt back up at Mega Pidgeot, then tried a Night Daze which got only halfway.

"No, I mean get in closer!" Ash called. "Wait – this next one, ride the wind and bank!"

Mega Pidgeot had already used Hurricane, and Zorua's Illusion made him into a Staravia this time. He spread his wings and went oof as the Hurricane hammered into them, nearly but not quite disrupting his illusion, then turned around as soon as the wind was over and powered upwards.

"And – Extremespeed now!" Ash added. "And go Aron!"

This time Zorua changed into an Aron just before the Hurricane hit, and it burst his illusion but for the moment of impact he'd been too dense for it to actually impact him much. Zorua's usual peculiar relationship with weight and size meant that he'd kept up his momentum, and Ash shaded his eyes as his Dark-type repeated the trick – gaining speed with wings, changing into an Aron or Shieldon to reduce the impact of the Hurricane, and continuing to climb.

"Hyper Beam!" Winona ordered.

Pidgeot's Hyper Beam smashed down towards Zorua, who yelped and used Steel Wing. Unlike all his disguises they were the result of an actual move effect, not Illusion, and they didn't simply dissolve the moment they were hit – instead they took the impact and dispersed it, sending little arcs of energy flying in all directions, and when the beam eventually faded away Zorua was still there.

"Extremespeed!" Ash called. "He's recharging!"

Zorua hammered his faux-wings as hard as he could, blurring up towards Mega Pidgeot, then snagged onto Mega Pidgeot's scarf before the Flying-type could dodge away.

"Get off!" Mega Pidgeot politely requested, flicking his head around to bring the trailing scarf into view, and Zorua shimmied his way up to avoid a wing-blasting Hurricane attack.

"Do you have any idea how much of a pain it was to climb up this far?" Zorua replied. "Hey, guess what move I don't know!"

That was enough to make Mega Pidgeot stop his attacks.

"...pardon?" he requested, distinctly confused.

"Gravity!" Zorua replied, rolling himself up in Mega Pidgeot's scarf. "Also Smack Down. But I've got a replacement for it. Ever heard of this neat Pokémon called Cosmoem?"

Since Mega Pidgeot didn't seem to, Zorua decided to demonstrate.

And promptly took the shape of perhaps the heaviest and densest Pokémon in existence.

The impact was visible from a considerable distance.

"I think I need to learn more ways to beat opponents without getting a headache," Zorua mumbled.

Winona walked over to the crater – Ash had got there first – and returned her knocked-out Pidgeot, then shook her head.

"I… don't really know what to say," she admitted. "I'm an expert on Flying-type Pokémon, and I didn't know half of that was even possible… but then again, that's because of how much of it didn't involve Flying types. I'd hoped to get a look at yours."

"Oh, right!" Ash said. "Yeah, I can sort that out… Ibid, can you get hold of all my Flying types?"

"Of course," Ibid agreed, before vanishing in a Teleport.

Five seconds later, Charizard appeared.

Ten seconds after that, Ibid had fetched Silver, Zapdos, Articuno, Noctowl, Ho-Oh, Swellow and Dragonite, and the last one on the list was giving Ash a hello-hug.

"Don't forget Shaymintwo!" Ash told Ibid. "Better get some Gracidea for him too, though."

Winona sighed. "And if you'd turned up yesterday then the Feather Carnival would have been spectacular..."

"Rayquaza?" Lokoko said, one evening, as they rested by the road down from Fortree towards Lilycove. "Allow me to express my heartfelt thanks for your presence. Not just because you are a member of the team, which you are, or because you are a friend – which you certainly are – but because of the simple fact that we haven't experienced a wet and miserable night once that you've been with us."

"Oh – thank you," Rayquaza replied, ducking her head a little. "It's not really something I have to work to do, though…"

"Nevertheless," Lokoko told her. "When I travelled with my trainer before, there are many times when I would have given much for a night merely clear or overcast, instead of one wet and cold. It is who you are, but I am grateful nevertheless."

"Yeah, she's got a point," May agreed. "Plus, it means we can do this training too."

"Of course," Lokoko said, returning her attention to May and Torchic. "Now, you asked me for a longer ranged fire attack with a bit more strength to it… I think there are a few options."

Her tails splayed out, and illusions appeared. "Flame Burst is a shot which detonates, while Fire Blast is similar but has a smaller explosion. Flamethrower is a classic single stream of fire, and Mystical Fire is whatever you wish it to be but is also the hardest to control."

"Don't you use Mystical Fire?" May asked.

"Indeed," Lokoko confirmed.

"Well… if I could get Mystical Fire working, that would be really good," Torchic said. "Maybe I need to work up to that one, though… what do you recommend, Lokoko?"

The Ninetales paced in a circle, thinking. "Hmm… for a Contest, a battle of spectacle… I agree Mystical Fire would be best, if you could control it. A project for later, perhaps. What do you think, Ash?"

"There's Fire Spin, don't forget that one," Ash pointed out. "It's a move which can build off Blaze Kick, and it's about controlling fire to reach out, so it's a starting place to turn into Mystical Fire?"

"True, I hadn't considered that one," Lokoko confessed. "Good thought… well, it depends if Torchic can manage to spin around enough with Blaze Kick?"

"Let's try that out," May decided. "This is going to be the first try, I suppose… Torchic, Blaze Kick and spin!"

Torchic's feet lit up, and he began twirling around faster and faster. Flames licked up around him, spreading wider and picking up speed, and they kept up for several seconds before dissipating.

"Hmm," he said, crossing his arms. "I couldn't work out how to make it go somewhere else."

He inspected his arms. "I did evolve, though. So that's a good omen!"

Chapter Text

"It's weird to think about where they pick to have gyms, sometimes…" Ash said, as they crossed the bridge to Larousse City. "This place is really high tech, and it's sort of flashy, but it doesn't have a gym. You'd think it would."

Max adjusted his glasses. "I wonder what Type it would be. Steel, maybe?"

He shrugged. "But it could just be that nobody's wanted to set up a gym here. LaRousse is famous for the Battle Tower, though."

"That's why we're here!" Ash agreed, then frowned. "It… is why we're here, right?"

"I hope it is!" Pikachu said. "Even if I don't get to take part – don't say anything, I know I have to take my turn with everyone else – it's still fun to watch!"

"Actually, I was thinking about having you and Torkoal battle," Ash told Pikachu. "I guess it depends what the Battle Tower's rules are, though."

Brock coughed.

"Yes, Ash, it's why we're here," he supplied. "Though don't forget that not all of us are as interested in the Battle Tower. You could spend all week there or until you run out of Dratini… which would probably take less time."

Rayquaza giggled.

"You know, I'm slightly surprised Ash ended up on the right floor to enter the Battle Tower," Max admitted.

"I know we joke about him a lot, but he's not that bad," Brock said. "Actually, the joke came about when we all got lost near Cerulean City."

Max sniggered. "It's still funny, though, right?"

"Of course," Brock agreed. "Oh, this should be him."

The screens lit up, showing Ash and his teammate – a girl called Rebecca – and their opponents, called Rafe and Brendan.

"Huh…" May said, leaning closer, then shook his head. "Sorry. That kid with the white hat seems vaguely familiar, but I don't know where from."

"I know what you mean," Max frowned. "Maybe he was in Petalburg once or something? I think I'd remember the hat, though."

Brendan sent out a Swampert, and Rafe a Blaziken. Against them, Rebecca used a Metagross, and Ash sent out Torkoal.

"Hmm," Rebecca said, checking her laptop. "Both of their Pokémon could be a problem for mine, but your Torkoal is most at risk from the Swampert. That's assuming I can treat your Torkoal as a Torkoal, anyway… I'll have to change my assumptions depending on what Torkoal can do."

"I like to think he's pretty strong!" Ash replied. "I'll-"

The buzzer went, and the battle opened.

"Metagross, Reflect!" Rebecca called, as Blaziken dashed forward to use Blaze Kick and Swampert slammed the ground for an Earthquake.

"Surging Strikes!" Ash ordered.

Steam hissed out of Torkoal's nostrils, and he moved forward at immense speed. He intercepted Blaziken just before the Fighting-type would have reached Metagross, kicked his opponent into the air, and hammered Blaziken with three successive blows to keep him airborne.

"Now, Storm Throw!" Ash went on, and Torkoal kicked out. He missed, but the strike had so much air pressure that it briefly formed the shape of a roaring Pyroar out of pure compressed air – and knocked Blaziken back across half the arena.

"...I'm just going to put all your Pokémon down as Smeargle," Rebecca said. "It'll save time."

"Oh, this should be good to watch," Brock said, as Ash switched to Pikachu and Brendan sent out a Flygon. "After how many times he's done this kind of thing to Geodude it's nice to see someone else have to deal with it…"

"Hey, um… May?" Max said. "I… need to go to the bathroom soon."

"Is that my problem?" May asked, then giggled at Max's expression. "I'm only teasing, Max. Take Mightyena with you, though, in case you get in trouble – I don't think you will, but…"

Max looked torn between several different ways of replying, then looked up at where Ash was trying to explain to Rebecca that it would be really convenient if Metagross Thunderpunched Pikachu.

"I'll be quick," he said, taking Mightyena's Pokéball, and headed off.

A few minutes later, and three floors up, a boy called Tory peered around a corner.

"...I hope they've gone," he said, under his breath.

"Oh, hi," Max waved. "This place is a bit of a maze, do-"

"Ssh," Tory interrupted. "There's a Plusle and a Minun out there who keep chasing me, and they won't take no for an answer!"

"Huh?" Max replied, quieter now. "Uh… is that a problem? Are they trying to attack you?"

"Well… no, but… I'm afraid of Pokémon," Tory explained. "I didn't used to be, and… they're fine at a distance, but these Pokémon don't want to stay at a distance, and they won't listen…"

Max listened, then nodded.

"So… I've got some friends," he said. "And a sister – do you have a sister?"

Tory shook his head.

"Good choice," Max told him.

That was enough to make Tory giggle.

"Anyway," Max went on. "One of my friends can understand Pokémon, and another of my friends has a Pokémon that makes it so that anyone can understand Pokémon who are talking nearby. And… I think that we could probably help you with your problem, but it is going to mean getting some Pokémon involved."

He reached into his pocket, and took out Mightyena's Pokéball. "This is a Mightyena," he told Tory. "He's mine, but my sister is the one who's registered as his trainer because I'm still too young for it. What I'd like to do is to send Mightyena with a message to get my friends, and we can help you out… does that sound good?"

Tory thought about it, then nodded.

"That makes sense," he told Max. "Thanks for telling me your idea first."

"I learned a lot from how my friend Ash deals with Pokémon like his Ninetales," Max explained.

Tory gasped. "One of your friends is Ash? You mean, Ash Ketchum?"

"That's him," Max agreed. "He's a bit of of a goof sometimes, but he's a really good trainer…"

The young not-a-trainer-yet-technically then winced. "Uh, and I just remembered the reason I came up to talk to you," he added. "While Mightyena is getting my friends, can you show me where the nearest bathroom is? It's easy to get lost around here… I'm glad Mightyena has Odor Sleuth or he'd never find his way back to May and the others."

Tory sniggered. "I can show you," he said, taking out his passport and touching it to a nearby reader. It went beep, and he chose a few options before pointing. "Just over there."

"Thanks," Max told him. "You go first, then I'll send Mightyena back."

"That was fun!" Ash declared, outside the main battle floor. "Right, Pikachu?"

"You bet!" Pikachu agreed. "It was great to get to stretch my tail out again!"

"Just so you know," Rebecca told him, propping her laptop open. "I've been putting in the data I got from your battle into my battle simulator to see if I can work out any better strategies… you might want to take a look."

She turned the screen around so he could see. "I've never seen it report back that something is error type chart undefined before…"

"Speaking of which, do you have any idea how to register an amendment to the type chart?" Pikachu asked.

Then Swablu came drifting down towards Ash.

"Max found someone who needs help with a Pokémon problem," he summarized.

"Got it!" Ash replied. "Where are you headed?"

"Five floors up, I think," Swablu said. "It's something about someone having a phobia towards Pokémon."

Ash winced. "Okay, uh… Pikachu, you should probably get in my bag, then. And Rayquaza, it might be quicker if you flew me up the tower, and I'll ask, but you might need to go back in your Heavy Ball once we're there."

"All right," Rayquaza agreed.

Rebecca had only understood half the conversation, did a double-take at the word Rayquaza, then stared as Ash lifted gently into the air without any visible means of support.

"This way!" Swablu said.

"So… I have a question," May began, as they walked through a greenhouse – Tory showing Max around, glad to let his new friends know about where he spent his time. "Exactly how many Pokémon are in Ash's bag at the moment?"

"Four or five, or maybe six," Ash replied, and began counting them off. "Pikachu, obviously. Vulpix, so that everyone can understand what the Pokémon say. Rayquaza, because Tory says he was okay with Pokémon being out of sight and Rayquaza prefers to spend her time out of her Pokéball when she can. Zygarde, because he doesn't have a Pokéball. And I'm not sure where Marshadow is at the moment, so he could be in the bag or in my shadow… and I'm not sure what Ibid is, so he could be a Pokémon or he could not count as one."

"Incidentally, if you try to fit any more Pokémon in here it will be too cramped," Vulpix said. "My fur's already such a state, I'm going to need a full brushing. Hint."

"You deserve it, Vulpix," Brock told her, trying not to laugh.

"And this is my friend," Tory said, up ahead. "It's… well, I don't know what it is. But it's nice."

The friends looked at Tory's friend – which was more of a green energy construct than anything – and Ash frowned slightly.

"That seems sort of familiar," he said. "I'm not sure where from, though… it's a pity I can't ask Mew or something."

He raised his voice a little. "Tory? Is it okay if I ask my Pokédex what your friend is?"

"I don't think it's a Pokémon," Tory replied, sounding a bit defensive.

"Right!" Ash agreed. "I'd like to check though, because there might be an answer… and if your friend is a Pokémon, that might be a clue about how to help with your phobia."

"My Swablu had a fear of flying, when he joined my team," Brock contributed. "Fear like that is really hard to beat, even when it's something you don't want. Especially when it's something you don't want, because it's not about being afraid because you don't understand. It's being afraid because of something in the heart."

Tory swallowed. "I… all right," he decided.

Ash got Ibid out of his bag, which meant Rayquaza and Vulpix had to shift their tails around a bit. Ash's bag was about sixty percent tail by volume, depending on how Rayquaza counted – it would have been higher but Zygarde had shifted to Core Form – but eventually the Pokédex was extracted and Ash held him up.

"Scanning," Ibid announced, then turned into a miniature Deoxys. "This is a psychic residue carrying the signature of Deoxys. Deoxys is a Pokémon from outer space. That is all I can tell you."

"It is?" Tory asked. "My friend's a Pokémon?"

A feeling of polite confusion washed over all of them.

"Was that you?" Tory said. "Do you not know what a Pokémon is?"

Another feeling, this time of agreement.

"Hoo boy, this one is going to take a bit of work," Vulpix said. "Pikachu, get your ear out of my ribs… right. Okay, everyone…"

A feeling of bemusement pulsed out, then suddenly turned into words.

…oh! Is this working. One. Two. Testing.

Each mental word had a bit of a high-pitched overtone to it.

"Who's good at this?" Vulpix asked. "I'm good at this. Taught a space alien how to speak in psychic Vulpix."

"I can understand you!" Tory gasped. "I mean – really properly understand you! That's amazing!"

You are a good friend, Deoxys said. But I must warn you. There is danger.

"Danger?" Max repeated. "That… doesn't sound good."

There is a big two legged non Pokémon food provider studying my core. He does not know that there were two of us. My counterpart will be coming to find me.

"Big two legged non Pokémon food provider?" Tory repeated.

"Sorry, that's me," Vulpix admitted, a bit embarrassed. "Just give me a moment to correct that one…"

Ah, Deoxys 'pathed. Yes. Human.

Ash looked up, spotting a shimmer of light in the air, then pointed. "Hey, look! That looks like Ibid's model picture of a Deoxys!"

My counterpart will be seeking me, Deoxys declared. My counterpart will be thinking that I am in danger. I am not. I am being studied. But I can understand why they would be concerned, and they will want to find me.

"Where are you being studied?" Ash said. "Because I have a Pokémon who can help with that… if that's okay, Tory?"

It is in the laboratory in this city, Deoxys said. Around ten light microseconds from this location.

"Whoops, forgot measurement units too," Vulpix confessed. "You've got to admit, it's still impressive though!"

Tory swallowed, clearly thinking hard, then nodded.

"If it's to help Deoxys," he agreed.

Ash sent out Unown.

"Can you help?" he said. "I'd ask Hoopa but we're going to need a Hyperspace Hole to the lab, and then from the lab to wherever Deoxys is, and Hoopa's portals have to go through Dahara."

"I can do that," Unown replied, and began spelling out. H, then Y, then P, each letter taking a bit more than a second.

"What is going on?" Professor Lund asked. "We've never seen this much activity in the crystal before!"

"Professor, something's appeared over the city," one of his assistants reported. "It could be connected – the time frames are close."

Then a golden ring appeared in the middle of his lab.

"Oh!" Tory said, looking through the ring – the other side of which appeared to be in the greenhouses. "Hi, Dad – uh – sorry, but we need to get Deoxys out of that machine, because another Deoxys has turned up and thinks you're keeping this Deoxys prisoner?"

An E-unown floated through the ring as well, followed by several Pokémon trainers, and the Unown changed into an H.

"Really?" Professor Lund asked, flabbergasted. "I don't – but – what's going on?"

Your son is being helpful, a telepathic voice said, somehow sounding like yapping foxes at the same time as being completely comprehensible. So are these humans and Pokémon. I will be happy to answer your questions later today now that I can answer them properly.

Professor Lund sat down hard, because it was easier than falling over.

"Good work, Unown," Ash said, as the Psychic-type bobbed up and down slightly.

There was now a second golden portal in the lab, with the other end in the sky over LaRousse, and Tory's friend was exchanging information with the other Deoxys.

"This is such an amazing scientific discovery," Professor Lund breathed. "And… by the sound of things, Tory, you're responsible for a lot of it. I should have known – I knew the crystal core was a part of a Pokémon, I knew it was regenerating, but I never thought about just… trying to be friends."

Tory hugged his father, embarrassed, then everyone looked over as a roar came echoing through the portal.

Both Deoxys turned to look up – towards a green shape descending towards them – and one shifted to their blocky and dense Defence Form.

The other shifted to Attack Form, and began gathering power until the Defence Form one held up an arm. Let Tory and their friends try a solution first.

Ash's Rayquaza slithered out of Ash's bag, apologizing hurriedly to Pikachu and Vulpix, then flew through the portal as well.

"Wait!" she called. "Don't attack!"

The green shape halted in mid-air about a mile away. Then, much more slowly and with his mouth firmly closed and held shut with a claw, the adult Rayquaza approached the far side of the portal.

"They are not meteorites!" Ash's Rayquaza insisted. "So… please don't try and fight them?"

The bigger Rayquaza looked at Deoxys and Deoxys, and slowly opened his mouth. "When they appeared before they were in a meteorite," he said, defensively.

Please clarify, Tory's friend asked. Why would you specifically want to fight a meteorite?

"Meteorites can do a lot of damage when they hit the ground," Ash's Rayquaza explained. "So the job of a Rayquaza is to shoot them down so they don't do as much damage. But I think you got in a fight because none of you knew all the things you needed to know."

She crossed her arms. "And if you do want to fight, then, um… please don't anyway?"

"You are literally too adorable for me to refuse," her older counterpart told her.

"That boy had a Rayquaza in his backpack," one of Professor Lund's lab assistants said. "A Rayquaza. In his backpack. And it's shiny. And tiny."

"Can we get out now?" Zygarde asked. "I would like to try some of the local food, as we did not have a chance before."

"I'm sure we can!" Ash agreed. "But I might need to check with Tory first in case it'd be better if you came out later… huh?"

A Taillow with a bag flew through the portal, did a right turn, and flew right up to Ash.

"You're Ash Ketchum, right?" he asked. "I've got a letter for you."

"That's me," Ash confirmed, and the Taillow alighted before opening his bag. There was a letter inside, and he passed it to Ash.

"Oh, uh, can you go over to the corner please?" Ash said. "The boy over there finds Pokémon hard to deal with… he's being chased around by a couple of Pokémon we're going to find later and ask not to do it, but really any Pokémon doesn't help."

The Flying-type took that with reasonably good grace, and Ash opened the letter.

"Oh!" he said. "It's from Absol. Uh… the disaster was solved before I even had time to show up this time, good work. And it says please turn over."

"What's on the other side?" May said.

Ash turned it over.

"It's just a lot of the letter A," he frowned. "Huh."

"I'm not sure," Pikachu said. "But I think that's meant to be screaming."

Chapter Text

"There it is!" May said. "Lilycove City!"

She shaded her eyes. "And the department store, of course… does anyone else have anything they want to pick up?"

"I was interested in a couple of things," Ash admitted. "Mostly presents… it might be a good idea to get a Moon Stone for Skitty and a Water Stone for Lotad, unless they're both sure they don't want to evolve into Delcatty and Ludicolo."

"In that order?" Max asked. "...actually, that was meant to be a joke but now I'm not so sure, given how you got your Dunsparce."

He glanced to the side. "Or how Combusken can somehow still fly even though he doesn't have any wings any more."

"I don't think Pokémon stop knowing moves just because they evolved, do they?" Ash frowned. "I've never heard of that before."

"I agree with Ash," Combusken said, leaning back as if the air were a cushion. "Clearly I can still use Fly."

"Though that does remind me," Ash added. "We're heading to Mossdeep after Lilycove, right? What's the best way to get there?"

Silver came out of his Dive Ball. "I can take you! Well, one of you anyway. And there's Zapdos too, and Dragonite… there's lots of options!"

"I know!" Ash agreed. "I'm just thinking about the best way to organize it. And whether Zygarde would want to have someone separate carry them."

"Your concern is appreciated!" Zygarde said, sitting down on the bluff. "But I will be fine with the usual approach."

"Meaning backpack," Pikachu agreed.

"I'm not much of a fan of the backpack now," Vulpix muttered. "It was cramped."

"Ooh!" Eevee said, jumping out of her own Pokéball. "What about if all those of us who can fly fly alongside? That way it can be like a parade!"

"...Eevee can fly?" Max asked. "Really?"

"Yep!" Eevee said, jumping into the air and staying there. "It's called Floaty Fall! It's a lot like Bouncy Bubble and Veevee Volley, and other moves like that!"

"Those are move names?" Max said. "...actually, hold on, now I'm curious. How are move names even chosen? Or do they just… happen?"

"You might want to ask Clefairy about that," Ash mused, then brightened. "Oh, yeah, who are you going to use in the Contest here, May? I… assume there's a Contest hall here, anyway."

"Maybe if May gets all her ribbons, then we can try Contests again!" Eevee suggested. "I bet Swablu would be great at it – we could do a duet!"

"...oh, I hadn't thought about double Contests before," May admitted. "There's a lot of interesting things we could do with those… especially if half the team was Skitty!"

Max raised a finger, then lowered it again.

"Okay, that is scary," he admitted. "What happens if she Me Firsts Doom Desire and converts it into, uh, Rock?"

They considered that.

"...let's not," May decided. "Or, at the very least, let's not somewhere people either live or like living."

At about the same time, miles over Mount Pyre, Meowth looked up from filing his claws.

"So… what do we got?" he asked.

"Concerned statement," Porygon began, appearing on the nearest screen. "You have not been reading the intelligence summaries?"

"Do I look like I read dat stuff?" Meowth demanded. "I learned ta talk human, dat's gotta be enough work for one cat, right?"

"Veiled rejoiner: clearly learning a language excuses you from applying yourself," Porygon said. "Smug addition. Which is why I am better than you as I have learned several."

"Then how come I always gotta translate what you say?" Meowth asked. "Didn't think'a that, did you?"

"Dramatic reveal," Porygon declared. "I have always been able to communicate with humans natively. Malicious addition: it just amuses me when you are required to repeat everything I say."

Meowth stared, then threw his file to the ground.

"Warn a cat before you tell him you've been takin' advantage of him like dat!" he snarled. "Why, I oughtta…"

"Serving suggestion," Porygon countered. "Have lunch. Addendum: Chimecho and Cacnea have finished in the kitchen."

"Dey have?" Meowth said. "Well, I guess you do lay out a good table, an' all. I guess I'll take dat as repayment."

Later that afternoon, Jessie and James looked at a map of Hoenn.

"Aqua was seen there," Jessie said, manipulating the controls, and a blue square appeared on the map. "Then there… then there… then over there… and there."

"But Magma was here," James replied, putting down a marker of his own. "And here. And there was that nonsense with the volcano… and the weather institute."

"I thought that was Aqua?" Jessie asked.

James frowned, stroking his chin. "No, I'm pretty sure it was both of them."

To compromise, he made the maker purple. "There!"

They stood back.

"...well, I'm stumped," James said, after a minute or so. "Did Meowth have anything useful to say?"

"It was mostly about cooking," Jessie sighed. "Though he did say it'd be helpful if we could get hold of a TM… something about seeing if they work on him?"

James considered that.

"I sort of want to see if he can learn some of those moves, but that's not really what we're after," he said, and fiddled with the controls again. "There must be an option somewhere on here…"

"Scanning," the computer system announced pleasantly.

Then a map appeared showing puzzle-pieces all over Hoenn, including a massive pile of them on top of one another in Lilycove.

"…isn't that that dog that follows the Twerps around?" Jessie asked. "That's strange."

May had just gone off to get ready, and the others were waiting for a chance to take their seats, when a familiar voice caught Ash's attention.

"Oh, this must be a musical," it said. "Wait… Ash? Is that you?"

"Keldeo?" Ash replied, turning around, and saw the Colt Pokémon trotting through the crowds on the street.

They seemed quite impressed.

"I didn't know you were in Unova!" he said. "What do you think of it? Caught any Unovan Pokémon yet?"

"But… we're not in Unova," Max protested. "We're in Hoenn."

Keldeo looked sceptical. "Are you sure?"

He trotted in a circle, looking around. "Because I'm fairly sure this is Undella Town."

"Did you get here by teleporting?" Brock asked.

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me!" Keldeo grinned. "I got my teleport to the point where I can take the other Swords of Justice along! Come on, guys, say hi – these are Ash and Brock! I've met them before!"

Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion picked their way through the crowds as well, seeming considerably more nervous about the whole thing than Keldeo.

"Please do not take photographs," Cobalion asked, then inspected Ash. "Hm. Keldeo speaks well of you, you know."

"He does?" Ash said, brightening. "That's great!"

"I heard something about a musical," Terrakion contributed. "Is that still on? Or have they sold out?"

"This is a queue for a Pokémon Contest," Brock told him. "We're in Lilycove City, in Hoenn."

Virizion started giggling.

"Oh, okay," Keldeo replied, accepting that. "Still, they're fun, right?"

"My sister's taking part," Max supplied. "She had two routines she was working on, I'm not sure which one this is going to be, but they're both great!"

"I can see I'm not going to be able to stop this happening," Cobalion decided.

"Professor Oak says that about me sometimes," Ash replied. "Usually just after something's happened that he says has never happened before again."

"And fourth is May Maple!" Joy said. "She's been full of surprises so far, I hear – let's see how her Appeal goes this time!"

May stepped out onto the floor, and Max nodded.

"I know which one she's doing now," he said.

"You do?" Terrakion asked. "How?"

"Ssh," someone told him. "I know you're a Legendary Pokémon, but ssh."

"Sorry," Terrakion said, considerably more quietly. "But how do you know?"

"It's the outfit," Max pointed – May was in a dress that was quite short and white, but also had a lot of fluff to it, and her hair was tied up tightly in a bun.

"Come on out!" she called, holding up a Safari Ball, and Dratini emerged in a flash.

May caught him before he hit the ground, then placed him gently down, and clasped her hands before bowing to the Dragon-type. He bowed back, then blew gently, and a Twister attack sizzled out of his mouth.

Rather than surging forwards, or coming back to wrap around him and launch him into the air, it went coiling lazily upwards – like smoke – as Dratini controlled and focused the move. It got longer and longer, adding more coils and rising like a charmed snake, then the coils fell over as if they were solid and several of them ended up just in front of May.

"I think that might have gone wrong…?" Mr. Contesta said, dubiously, but May was already taking a step forward. She picked up the Twister coil in her hands – not seeming to care about how it was an active Pokémon attack – and threw it over herself, before doing the same with a second one as her Dratini stared at her with ferocious concentration.

"...is that actually possible?" Cobalion checked. "I am no expert on Dragon types. I'm just checking…"

Now with three coils around her, May gestured upwards. Dratini flicked his tail in response, and the whole Twister animated again – rising up and becoming an ascending spiral, then flicking over and transitioning into a single wide whirlwind that hid May completely from view for about ten seconds.

Next Dratini pulled the Twister back, unpeeling it and surrounding himself with it instead, and it launched him into the air. As it did, though, everyone saw that May's appearance had changed while she was hidden.

Her tightly wrapped hair had sprung back out into a more customary shape, and the hidden folds of the dress she'd been wearing had unfolded – changing it from white to blue, and a blue festooned with glitter at that.

She held out her arms, then nearly fell over as Dragonair landed in them and he turned out to be heavier than she was anticipating.

"...well, now!" Mr. Sukizo said, laughing. "A remarkable Evolution motif, but one that's ended up more literal than we were expecting!"

"Oh, I believe I see," Virizion mused. "So the dress was made so it could be quickly changed while she was concealed. Clever."

"Yeah, Bulbasaur and Croconaw had a lot of fun working on that," Ash said. "Bulbasaur's pretty good with a needle, I think he's going to teach Bulbasaur too."

"...Ash, not everyone can recognize the differences in Pokémon names," Brock pointed out.

"I thought it was you!" May's opponent declared, taking off the hat that completed his Cacturne outfit and flourishing it at her. "I remember you from Slateport!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry again," May winced. "I-"

"Sorry?" the man repeated. "Sorry? You think apologizing will do anything?"

"I am sorry, you know," May told him. "But I don't really know what to do apart from that."

The man frowned, then spread his hands. "Well, you could lose!"

He sent out his Pokémon, a Banette, and May sent out her own Dragonair – who coiled a little and hung in mid-air.

"Good choice, Dragonair," May whispered.

"This should be interesting!" Joy said. "Harley is famous for grudge matches!"

May brightened slightly at the reminder of his name, because she'd actually forgotten, then the judges called for them to begin and Harley's Banette threw a ball of flame that hit Dragonair squarely on the nose.

"Excellent!" Harley said, with a flourish. "Hex!"

"Twister!" May countered, and her Dragonair whipped up a shaped whirl of Twister around himself. "Now, dodge while you're inside the Twister – remember you can fly, you don't have to go in the same direction the Twister is going!"

She looked at the scores, which had shown a big drop from the original Will-o-Wisp but which were now a bit more even. It looked like Dragonair's control of his Twister was still scoring them points, but the problem was actually hitting Banette because the Ghost-type was fast-moving and hard to pin down.

On the plus side, Harley's Ghost-type wasn't hitting much either, even though he was making a big performance out of each Hex and the crowd was gasping and applauding…

"Dragonair!" she said. "Change of plans – bring your Twister in closer and make it warp and weft! Wrap it up and layer it, around and around then up and down!"

"So… is this actually still Twister?" Cobalion asked.

"Now that I think of it, Dragonair was paying a lot of attention to the sewing when he was a Dratini," Brock said, thinking about it. "And so was May, mind you… I thought that was just because it was part of the routine."

Ash was leaning forwards a bit. "That's kind of like Thunder Curtain, too, right Pikachu?"

"Yeah!" Pikachu agreed.

"Because I think I just had a new idea," Ash went on. "It, uh, might take a couple of weeks to teach everyone though, because I think everyone could use it."

"Disable!" Harley called.

His Banette reached into one of his 'sleeves', drew out a shimmering thread, then slashed it with a claw.

Dragonair's Twister immediately began to hiss and seethe and unravel, not coming apart straight away but about to.

"Dive into it!" May called. "Then use Dragon Rage to focus it!"

Dragonair dove into the unravelling Twister, but did not use Dragon Rage to focus it.

Instead, Dragonite used Hurricane, his brand-new wings sweeping out and drawing all the dragon energy of the disintegrating Twister into waves around them.

"Clap them together!" May decided.

"That's not fair!" Harley protested, then Dragonite hit Banette from both sides with focused and coiled-up Twister.

"So… I'm not entirely familiar on their constitution," Pikachu said, as May extinguished Dragonite before going up to collect her ribbon. "Does that make him a prince?"

"I suspect there will be some sort of noble title in it for him," Zygarde replied. "Did you know that the Kingdom has adopted the title Dux as a gender neutral term for the holder of ducal rank?"

"That sounds so specific that I'm going to guess you are one," Brock decided.

"King Dragonite is quite persuasive."

Chapter Text

"Wow, but you're fast!" May laughed, as Dragonite zipped back and forth across the path the rest of the friends were taking. "Don't do that too much or I might start feeling ill!"

"Okay, I'll- nite – careful," Dragonite promised, slowing down a bit.

"And watch out," May added. "You got too far from Vulpix, I didn't get all of that – I can guess what you meant, though."

Dragonite giggled, then fell back into formation with the others.

"This must look so weird from down below," Max said. "I know I say something like that a lot, but… this must look so weird."

"People fly around on Pokémon, right?" Ash asked. "Or do you mean because Silver isn't your Pokémon and Articuno isn't Brock's?"

"No, I… never mind," Max decided.

"Still no luck explaining it to him?" Ho-Oh checked.

Pikachu flicked his ears. "At some point you just start going along with it, and once you do that you don't really stop."

Ho-Oh chuckled, then beat his wings again – carrying himself and Ash towards Mossdeep.

"Just think, if we had to take a ferry it'd take days to get to Mossdeep," Brock said. "And, sure, if we'd taken Keldeo's offer we'd have arrived in seconds, but we'd probably have arrived on Alola or something."

"And then it'd take longer to get back, I shouldn't wonder," Articuno agreed.

She banked a little to the left, making sure to keep Vulpix's translation area as close to both Max and May as possible, then frowned. "Blimey. Is… that a submarine?"

"It looks like it, yeah!" Ash called. "I've never seen one that big before! We should go down and have a look!"

They were halfway there when Groudon burst out of the side of the submarine, and then Kyogre smashed her way through the side of a nearby ship.

"You!" Kyogre boomed. "I should have known you'd be involved! This has your clawmarks all over it."

"I'm not going to take that kind of insult!" Groudon roared back, as water seethed up around Kyogre and lifted her up to Groudon's eye level. "I was taken prisoner as well! You take that back!"

"If it was nothing to do with you, then why am I so angry?" Kyogre bellowed, as Groudon set himself. "Because I'm really, really angry!"

She thrashed the sea with her tail. "And why are you not letting me make it rain!"

"I wouldn't let you make it rain anyway, but that's not actually me affecting it!" Groudoun snarled back. "Why else do you think it's not sunny right now?"

"I don't think I understand-"

"Stop!"

Both Legendaries looked up at the source of the shout, then stared.

Ash's Rayquaza held out her hands, one in each direction, and floated down between the angry Pokémon.

"I'm the one who's making it so there isn't any weather going on," she told them, her voice wavering slightly. "And – I know you're both upset, but don't take it out on each other! Or – or anyone!"

She crossed her arms. "If you want to battle, then battle somewhere you won't hurt anyone. If you want to hurt the other Pokémon, then you shouldn't be battling!"

Groudon and Kyogre looked at her, then at one another.

"...so, did you know Rayquaza had turned tiny and a different colour?" Groudon asked, curiously.

"News to me," Kyogre replied.

On the deck of Team Magma's base ship, Shelly threw off her disguise to reveal her true identity.

"Kyogre is free!" she announced. "And she'll destroy Groudon, and that'll show you Team Magma lackeys!"

Opposite her, the Magma grunt she was talking to put his head in his hands.

"I don't have time to tell you how stupid that statement is," he muttered. "I'm too busy trying to work out what I'm going to say to Ash."

That was an odd enough thing to say that Shelly blinked.

"What?" she asked. "Ash? As in, Ash Ketchum? Why would you be talking to him?"

She swallowed. "Is he here?"

The Magma grunt pointed.

"I was there when he caught that Ho-Oh," he replied. "And the Dragonite, baby Lugia and Articuno I already knew about, but the baby Rayquaza is new… it must be his. I wonder if there's an email about it waiting in my official account."

"Official account?" Tabitha asked, coming up on deck. "What are you talking about?"

The grunt shook his head. "This must be what Brock feels like all the time."

He swept his own uniform off in a single dramatic gesture, revealing a cape underneath. "My name is Lance, and you're all under arrest."

"Attention!" Big Rayquaza said, flying down out of a gap in the fluffy clouds overhead. "Groudon! Kyogre! I'm here to – oh, hello Rayquaza!"

Ash's Rayquaza waved.

"I suppose your trainer must be around – there he is," Big Rayquaza said. "Good afternoon. Anyway… Groudon? Kyogre? Were the two of you fighting?"

"She started it!" Groudon said.

"I did not!" Kyogre countered. "You did!"

"I don't care who started it," Big Rayquaza said. "I want you both to do just one thing."

He pointed. "Look at my tiny cousin. Isn't she adorable?"

The two Ancient Pokémon looked.

"...can I be an aunt?" Kyogre asked.

"I insist that Kyogre not be an aunt unless I can be an uncle," Groudon said.

"Groudon isn't fighting," Maxie said, clenching his fist. "He must not think he can win."

The leader of Team Magma adjusted his glasses. "Well. There's only one thing to do."

He reached for a Pokéball. "Lopunny! Pick up the Blue Orb and throw it at Groudon! That will let him unlock his true power!"

His Lopunny gave him a slightly confused look, ears twitching. "Lop?"

"I know what I said," Maxie replied. "Now, hurry before that infuriating Dragon Tamer gets around to checking the rest of the base!"

Lopunny shrugged, picked up the Blue Orb, and used Fling – sending a spark of blue light flying off towards Groudon and Kyogre.

At exactly the same time, a spark of red light came flying from the direction of Team Aqua's submarine.

"Those plagiarists!" Maxie scowled.

"So she used to be a copy of me," Groudon said. "See? That's bonus points for me!"

"I'm not sure how you count as bonus points when Ho-Oh made it so she wasn't a copy of you any more," Kyogre snarked.

Ash's Rayquaza was about to say something, then spotted the incoming orbs.

She flew down as fast as she could to just about where the two orbs were going to cross over, each en route for a different Pokémon, and caught them in mid-air with an oof.

"Are those the Orbs?" Big Rayquaza said. "I didn't know those were still anywhere except deep underground and at the bottom of the ocean."

"I'm pretty sure they've been on Mount Pyre for years," Brock volunteered. "Possibly decades? I know they were mentioned in a book I read as a kid."

"Hmm," Big Rayquaza rumbled.

"Umm…" Ash's Rayquaza began, getting their attention. "I feel funny."

Then she turned into a Shiny Primal Groudon.

Silver and Articuno's eyes lit up as they used Extrasensory, and the now-Primal now-Groudon still-Shiny still-tiny Pokémon halted before she'd fallen more than a couple of feet.

Then she turned into Shiny Primal Kyogre instead, then back to Shiny Rayquaza.

"What just happened?" she asked. "Now my hands are tingly."

"I think you should put those down," Big Rayquaza told her. "Does anyone have any idea what just happened?"

"...in my defence," Ho-Oh said, slowly. "Because I think I was probably involved in some way… she is still not a cat and that is a win."

Some minutes later, down on the shore of the island, Big Rayquaza nodded.

"Well, I think that's pretty much conclusive," he said. "Holding one of the Orbs makes you turn into the associated Legendary, but letting go makes you change back."

"It's a pretty neat effect," Ash pointed out. "But if you don't want to do it, you don't have to."

"I think I could get used to it, maybe," his Rayquaza decided. "But I'm not sure I'd ever have to… maybe I could do it for a battle?"

"Oh no," Brock said. "Isn't there a Water gym in Hoenn? You've already done the Fire gym, but…"

"Actually, that reminds me," Big Rayquaza said. "Do you know how to Mega Evolve?"

Ash's Rayquaza shook her head.

"Don't I need a Rayquazaite for that?" she asked. "Or… Rayquazite? Which is it?"

"It's neither," Big Rayquaza assured her. "I only need two things to Mega Evolve. I don't even need a trainer, actually. The first is that I need to know how to use Dragon Ascent. Do you know that move?"

This time Ash's Rayquaza nodded.

"Ash!" Lance called, as his Dragonite landed near them.

"Lance?" Ash replied, as Big Rayquaza started asking his Rayquaza if she'd been eating a diet rich in meteorite. "Oh, hi, I didn't know you were in Hoenn!"

"You weren't supposed to, I was undercover," Lance told him. "I had to spend months pretending to be a Team Magma Grunt, I arrested the whole organization… the police just arrived, so Dragapult and Aerodactyl are supervising."

He pointed. "And you've got a Shiny Rayquaza now. That is your Rayquaza, right?"

"That's right," Ash agreed. "She's still young, but Big Rayquaza's talking her through Mega Evolving!"

Lance's mouth opened and shut for a moment.

"Please become a Flying Elite Four member," he said. "I won't even insist on the type, just the ability to Fly."

"Do you have any idea how little that would narrow it down?" Max asked. "He and his Pokémon taught my sister's Torchic to fly, and now it's a Combusken it hasn't stopped. His Suicune can fly now."

"I think any Suicune could fly if they thought about it in the right way," Ash said, frowning. "And not just Suicune, either… can't Geodude hover? So why couldn't Onix?"

"This isn't making me not want you on the Elite Four, you know," Lance said, pointedly.

There was a sudden surge of wind as Ash's Rayquaza Mega Evolved.

"There you go!" Big Rayquaza said. "That wind is going to last until you turn it off, more or less, and it cancels Flying type weaknesses."

Lance blinked.

"...I am actually contemplating the possibility that your Pokémon team is too strong for the Elite Four," he admitted. "What is happening."

Some way away, in a very nice apartment in Viridian City, Giovanni finished reading a report.

"I think," he said, after due consideration, "that thoroughly divesting us of anything to do with Legendary Pokémon, Ash Ketchum, or both, was a very good idea… except for those particular agents, but they seem to have an odd respect I don't want to jeopardize."

Persian muttered something, rolling over on his bed.

Giovanni poured himself a small glass of wine, swirled it around, and tasted it.

"Acceptable," he decided, then put it down and got out the accounting paperwork.

These days, there was something very fulfilling about doing the accounting paperwork for a multiregional corporation.

"Congratulations!" King Dragonite said, hugging May's Dragonite firmly. "I didn't get a chance to do this just after you evolved, so you get an extra big one now!"

May's Dragonite hugged back, a bit more feebly, then pushed himself away. "Thanks… I swear that seems like a Dragon type attack sometimes, sire."

"Who doesn't like hugs?" King Dragonite asked. "But it's okay. I make sure to Hold Back at all times when hugging."

He turned to the parliament. "So… here's an important question. Duchy? Principality? Or do we use a different way of thinking about things? It's up to you!"

Several tails went up for attention.

"Yes?" the ChairDragon asked, indicating one particular Dratini.

"I have an idea," that Dratini said. "Am I right in thinking that our trainer is heading to Mossdeep City?"

"Last I heard!" May's Dragonite confirmed.

"Then I move that we adopt a plan based on something Dunsparce said last time he was rotated out," she went on. "First…"

"It's pretty heartening that there's a group of powerful trainers travelling around solving crimes," Brock said, as they left the island – waving goodbye to Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza as they went. "It makes you feel… well, hopeful, really?"

He chuckled. "And it means you feel more confident that really strong trainers actually have something to do besides train. I've wondered about that sometimes."

"In truth, a sword overtrained can become oversharp," Zacian said, as her paws left the ground and she carried Brock and Vulpix into the sky. "And thence brittle. It is good to do other things as well."

"Which is why it's great to swap in and out of Ash's team!" Latias added brightly. "Though I think Latios is stuck in trying to finish this new RPG we got. He's been taking notes on the plot. That's usually a bad sign, right?"

She looked left a bit. "Are you doing okay, Max?"

"Yeah, I've got a good grip, thanks," Max assured her. "The harness helps a lot, too."

"So, Mossdeep…" Zapdos said. "I'll be honest, I'm not very familiar with where that is. Suicune?"

"Fortunately, I do know the way from here," Suicune replied. "Follow me, everyone! And shout if I'm leaving you behind."

She broke into a loping run, and the other Legendaries fell into formation around her.

"Next stop, a gym!" Ash said. "I wonder what this one's going to be like?"

Chapter Text

As it turned out, the Mossdeep Gym was distinctly unusual.

Not in having two Gym Leaders… in having two Gym Leaders who challenged Ash at the same time.

"It's our focus as gym leaders!" Tate said. "It's about cooperation!"

"And about teamwork!" Liza agreed.

Max raised a hand, hesitantly. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"Well spotted," Tate smiled. "Now, Ash – our challenge for you is that the Pokémon you use must have a connection. We'll be using Pokémon from the same evolutionary family!"

Brock frowned. "That seems a bit restrictive."

"I don't know…" May mused. "I think it depends on how that's defined. There's a lot of possible connections it could be."

"Good!" Tate told her. "But it's up to Ash. What Pokémon will you use?"

"Well…" Ash began, frowning. "I can't use Latias and Latios, they have the same Pokéball. Same for Suicune, Entei and Raikou… but I guess I could use Dratini and Dragonair! That would work, right?"

Tate and Liza exchanged a grin.

"That sounds good to us!" they said, simultaneously.

"Hey, before this begins," Pikachu said, raising his paw. "Would sharing the same Type work? Or does it have to be a bit more involved than that."

"A type isn't really a theme, per se," Tate replied. "You'd have to make a good case for there to be a thematic connection."

"Also, thank you, Brock's Vulpix," Liza added. "Very smooth. We barely noticed."

"Ooh, appreciation!" Vulpix said, preening. "And I didn't even have to pointedly ask this time."

"Now, because it is a battle with Ash Ketchum, we're using the outdoors arena…" Liza said.

"Do you have to halt gym battles while rockets are being launched?" Shroomish asked, almost falling over as she leaned back to look up at the sky. "They must be really loud to get all the way up there!"

"They're loud, but they're a long way away," Tate told her. "So we usually don't have to… our father works there and we've done training in zero-gravity battling, though that's not going to happen today."

Liza held up a Pokéball, and her twin did the same.

"Go!" they announced in unison, sending out a Gardevoir and a Gallade.

"Let's do this, Gallade!" Liza added, fitting a Key Stone pin to her tie.

"You too, Gardevoir!" Tate said.

"Huh," Pikachu mused, glancing to his side at Marshadow – who was clambering out of Ash's shadow. "You'd sort of expect the girl to have the Gardevoir… um, what are you doing?"

Marshadow reached back inside Ash's shadow, and pulled out a bag of crisps.

"Want some?" he asked. "They're cheese and onion."

Pikachu thought about his possible responses to this situation.

"Sure," he said.

Marshadow tore open the top of the bag and held it out for Pikachu, and as he did Ash sent out Dratini and Dragonair.

"Okay, remember, Dragonair, you're the one who can fly!" Ash said. "And Dragon moves won't work on Gardevoir!"

"Let's go!" the twins called, and both their Pokémon mega-evolved at once.

"Aura Sphere!" Liza ordered.

"Hyper Voice!" Tate added.

"Twister shield!" Ash called, and both his Dragon-types whirled up a Twister at once. It blocked the Aura Sphere, fell apart against the Pixilated Hyper Voice, but there'd been a Hydro Pump underneath which dampened and absorbed most of the force from the Hyper Voice.

Then Mega Gallade teleported into the air and used Ice Punch, hitting Dratini hard enough to blast him into the ground with a crash despite Dragonair flicking the Twister shield around.

"I'm okay!" Dratini called, then sprang back out of cover from the shield with his glowing tail aimed at Mega Gardevoir. "Bullet Punch!"

Dragonair swirled the Twister shield at the same time, launching most of the tornado at Mega Gallade, and the Fighting-type used Psycho Cut twice to slice it into halves and then quarters. All four fragments fell back down, then – as Dratini was slammed back past Dragonair – the larger Dragon-type re-caught them in a Twister and hurled them at Mega Gardevoir instead.

The Twister might not have affected her, but the water still did.

"Refresh the shield!" Ash called, as Dratini used Twister to get himself up out of the crater he'd ended up in. The smaller Dragon used Hydro Pump as well, then Ice Punch, and this time the water was near-freezing and Mega Gardevoir's Dazzling Gleam made it freeze into solid ice.

"Extremespeed, Dragonair!" Ash said.

Dragonair turned and hit Mega Gallade, bouncing off to go after Mega Gardevoir, then both of them hit him with a Fairy Wind at once and he vanished in a sparkling explosion.

"Still okay?" Ash called, into the cloud, then a Whirlwind and Twister swept it away.

"I'm here!" Dragonair called, and Dratini came up beside him as they combined their efforts into a Twister.

Fifteen minutes later, both Mega Gardevoir and Mega Gallade were panting.

"Keep it up!" Tate implored Mega Gardevoir. "I know they keep taking your best hits and coming back for more, but they can't go on forever! Stored Power!"

The Fairy-type raised her arm and fired a blast of psychic energy, knocking Dratini into Dragonair, and a swirl of Twister rose up to hide them both.

"Now!" Liza added, and Mega Gallade charged in. His blade flared up as he ran in and lashed out with a Poison Jab, only for the Twister to burst aside and reveal not Dratini and Dragonair but Dragonite and Dragonite.

"All right!" Ash called. "Dragonite, use Hydro Pump! Dragonite, focus on Gardevoir with Bullet Punch!"

Brock shook his head. "The sad thing is, this isn't even a record for the amount of Pseudo Legendaries who-"

A Dratini appeared on the field.

"Aww…" she sighed. "Was I too late?"

The battling stopped.

"Dratini," Dragonite began.

"Ring ring, ring ring," Ibid announced, into the silence. "Phone call."

"Huh?" Ash asked, taking out his Pokédex. "What's up?"

Ibid changed into a miniature version of Professor Oak.

"Ash, there you are," he said. "Do you have any idea why there is a pile of two dozen unconscious Dragonite on my lawn?"

Dunsparce fell out of her Pokéball, started giggling, and didn't stop for several minutes.

"Okay, so… please let me make sure I've got this straight," Tate requested. "Your… Dunsparce? Or possibly your Mew?"

"I don't know which did it," Ash supplied. "Or if they're the same Pokémon, because once a Pokémon knows Transform you lose track pretty quickly and it seems rude to ask – Suicune taught me about how rude it can be to ask how someone started out, what matters is what they say they are… anyway, yeah. So one of them taught the whole Ryuunited Kingdom what might be Teleport or might be Ally Switch, or maybe Baton Pass?"

He waved at the embarrassed-looking Dragonites and Dratini standing (or lying) by the side of the battlefield. "And, uh… I guess they were kind of eager to evolve? All of them? So all of them except Dratini and King Dragonite cycled through the battle whenever you couldn't see someone."

Ash scratched the back of his neck. "I… think they were probably sandbagging a bit too, to make the fight go on longer. So I don't know what that means."

Liza touched her right temple with her forefinger and middle finger. "This has got to be something unique. Those sessions on competitive battling rules didn't even cover this."

"Am I going to get a chance to have a proper challenge battle?" Ash asked. "I'm willing to start again tomorrow if Gardevoir and Gallade need a rest…"

Ash didn't need to wait until tomorrow, because Tate and Liza had another pair of Pokémon that were ready for a challenge battle.

There was a bit of a delay as Ash shuffled Pokémon around so he had the right ones ready, but then the twin Mossdeep Gym Leaders were ready for another battle and so was Ash.

"All right, here we go again," Liza said. "Just two Pokémon this time, I hope?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure of that," Ash agreed. "This time it's two Pokémon I made friends with before I met my starter Pokémon!"

"That's a nice group," Liza told him.

Tate sent out a Solrock, and Liza sent out a Lunatone.

"Interesting," Max said. "Those Pokémon are associated but they're not part of an evolutionary group."

He looked at Brock. "Why are you sniggering?"

Ash sent out his Pokémon… Silver and Zapdos.

"I actually think Pikachu might have been the first non legendary Pokémon Ash ever met," Brock said.

Tate and Liza exchanged a glance that said a lot.

"...at least we've got type advantage," Liza said. "That's not nothing."

Tate shook his head.

"Begin!" he called. "Trick Room!"

"Water shield!" Ash called. "Spread it out, Silver!"

Silver used Hydro Pump and Extrasensory, catching the water he was firing and whipping it up into a wide, swirling shield. It wasn't a solid blob of water that would soak up attacks, but instead it had speed and momentum – it was as much attack as defence – and Solrock and Lunatone began using Calm Mind as they prepared to break through it.

The whole battle had an odd, unreal quality to it, as the two Legendary Pokémon moved significantly slower than Solrock and Lunatone did – looking like Silver and Zapdos were caught in glue, while the two Rock-types were zipping around at accelerated speed.

"Add in Cosmic Power!" Liza called. "Then… now! Lunatone, Gravity!"

"Earth Power!" Tate added.

"Attack with the shield!" Ash called. "Zapdos, Needle Arm!"

Zapdos' wings hammered the air as Lunatone's Gravity pulled her lower, and the shield vanished as Silver sent the whole thing at Lunatone – nearly knocking that Meteorite Pokémon out of the air. The other Meteorite Pokémon took a smack from Zapdos' wing with Needle Arm, cancelling the Earth Power just before Zapdos crashed into the ground.

"Replenish it!" Ash said. "Zapdos, Drill Run!"

Zapdos shook herself out after the crash, then jumped and dove into the ground with a grinding sound.

"That did not look like it should work," Liza complained, then paled. "Wait – Lunatone, cancel the Gravity-"

The Electric-type burst out of the ground again just as Lunatone cancelled their Gravity, but the impact was still enough to knock Solrock into the air.

"Electrify the shield!" Ash ordered. "Silver, Aeroburst!"

"Well, at least the second time went better than the first," May said. "And you've got your seventh badge, Ash!"

"Yeah, I'm glad they let me have a rematch," Ash admitted. "And I do understand that Dratini and Dragonair were feeling impatient to evolve… and they couldn't really have done that that way and have it be a legal Gym Battle… but it's still rude."

He glanced at Brock. "Do you think I was too hard on them, though?"

Brock shook his head. "No, I don't. I think it's good you understand why they felt like they did, but you weren't too hard on them."

Ash nodded, glad for the reassurance.

"So, we're heading to Sootopolis next, right?" Max checked, as they reached the docks. "Straight away, or…"

"We can probably take a few days to get there at least," Ash said. "I'd like to get some training in, and we've got plenty of time before the Conference… I assume?"

"Yeah, no rush," Brock confirmed. "I'm interested what the Sootopolis Gym will be like, though. You might enjoy it too, May – both the last two Gym Leaders are real Coordinator stars."

"That's right," someone said.

A grizzled-looking sea captain clambered down from the ship they were walking next to. "Wallace used to be the Champion of the Hoenn League," he told them. "Really good at his job. But then Steven came along and beat all of us, and decided to take the Champion spot."

"Oh, you're Drake!" Ash said. "It's nice to meet you… you're the Dragon type trainer for the Hoenn Elite Four, right?"

"That's me," Drake agreed. "And I've heard about you as well, Ash Ketchum."

He put his hands on his hips. "I've just got one question to ask you."

"Sure!" Ash replied.

"Have you found a Mega Stone for Flygon?" Drake said. "It feels like there should be one."

"Uh… no, actually," Ash said. "Not last time I checked what was in my collection. Diancie might be able to do you a custom job, though…"

He snapped his fingers. "I do have Latias and Rayquaza with me, though. I feel like I should mention Rayquaza because Lance was quite annoyed I didn't mention her to him."

"You caught Rayquaza?" Drake repeated. "Rayquaza's male, though."

"No, that's Big Rayquaza," Rayquaza said, nosing out of Ash's jacket. "I'm Little Rayquaza, or Shiny Rayquaza. Or Ash's Rayquaza."

She waved. "It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, isn't she lovely!" Drake beamed. "That's what I like in Dragon types… elegance and power at the same time. How many other Dragons do you have? Any more from Hoenn?"

"No, none from Hoenn," Ash replied. "I've got, um… Latias and Latios, and Charizard's sometimes a dragon, and Zygarde's Dragon-type but I'm mostly mentioning them for completeness because they're not actually one of my Pokémon."

"Woof," Zygarde said, offering a paw, and Drake shook it.

"And twenty-seven Dragonite and one Dratini," Ash finished. "But all of them except one Dragonite are in time-out at the moment."

Drake blinked a few times.

"Twenty-seven?" he asked. "I… actually think that might be a record for the trainer with the most pseudo-legendary Pokémon. They're supposed to be rare, lad, but I can't really find it in myself to be annoyed…"

"Hmm…" Misty said, pausing halfway through raising her Pokéball. "I just had a weird feeling…"

"What do you mean?" Paul said. "A feeling? We're supposed to be having a battle."

"No, just…" Misty waved her hand. "A feeling that a friend of mine said something about Pidgey being rare."

She shrugged. "Anyway. Where were we?"

"I was challenging you for the Cascade Badge," Paul reminded her. "You said it was three Pokémon each. I'm ready to begin."

"Right," Misty said, nodding. "Okay – send out your first Pokémon!"

Paul sent out a Parasect, and Misty opted to send out her Politoed.

There was a cracka-thoom, and it began to rain inside the gym.

Paul smirked slightly. "Predictable. You're only helping Parasect."

"Begin, already!" Daisy shouted.

"Giga Drain," Paul rapped out.

"Bounce!" Misty replied, sending Politoed bounding into the air. "Now – Ice Punch dive!"

"Cross Poison," Paul ordered.

Parasect's pincers swiped out, but didn't actually hit Politoed – instead, the Water-type had hit the pool with an Ice Punch, vanishing beneath it at the same moment, and the icy power of his punch turned the whole of the pool into a lid.

"Break the ice," Paul commanded. "Seed Bomb."

Misty clapped her hands three times. "Punch!" she called.

Politoed broke back out of the ice, slid along the surface, then hit Parasect with a Fire Punch.

Paul blinked as his Parasect fainted.

"...Politoed can't learn that move," he protested. "Can't they?"

"Clearly mine can," Misty answered. "Also, he used Belly Drum."

"But how can a Politoed know Fire Punch?" Paul frowned.

"Yeah, don't even try asking those questions!" Daisy shouted. "Misty either doesn't know what you're on about or she starts blaming some Ash kid."

In Pallet Town, Professor Oak looked up from his computer.

"How does this sound?" he asked. "Community behaviour in large Dratini-line populations, part seven. Section one, a study on how the Ryuunited Kingdom has read parts one to six in this sequence and are taking suggestions; section two, premeditated mass evolution; section three, a statistical analysis of the differences caused in Dragonite dietary preferences when twenty-six of them evolve on the same day. Section four, Dragonite photobomb album."

Tracey considered it.

"Bit wordy for a title, isn't it?" he asked.

"Most of that is the subtitle," Professor Oak corrected. "And after getting all that information about their food orders, I needed to do something with it…"

Chapter Text

"You again!" Harley declared, pointing at May. "You're following me around!"

"Well… not really?" May said. "Izabe Island is just on the route from Mossdeep to Sootopolis."

She smiled. "How are you doing, actually?"

Harley huffed. "I really don't understand why you think I'd be tricked by this pleasant attitude of yours."

"I…" May began, not really sure how respond to that. "Well, would it help if I wished you good luck in the Contest? I'd quite like to win, but you're a talented Coordinator too."

Harley scowled. "I'm sure you'd like me to think that."

May waited until he was out of sight.

"...did I handle that wrong?" she asked, looking at Brock. "I feel like there should be some way not to have him upset at me."

"With some people, you can't win," Brock said. "Except in Pokémon battling. You can win doing that."

"You know, it would probably have been a good idea to mention that I was available," Zacian mused. "To Keldeo, I mean, when he was in Hoenn. It's been a while since we've sparred, and I never did get the chance to battle his fellow Swords of Justice."

"You're right," Ash agreed. "Sorry about that."

He applauded as the latest Appeal ended – an impressive bit of work which had involved a Loudred juggling with half-a-dozen balls using Hyper Voice but with her voice focused so tightly that it seemed as though there was no sound at all involved. "I guess I'll just have to call you next time he shows up!"

"As I'm sure he will," Zacian decided. "Ah, there's May."

She paused. "How do illusions work with a Contest, exactly?"

Brock considered that.

"...I think we'd need to look at the rulebook?" he said. "Later, though."

"All right, Skitty, let's see what you can do!" May said. "Water Pulse!"

Skitty flicked her tail, then rolled onto her back, and shot a Water Pulse up into the air. It hung there for a moment, glittering in the lights, and she fired a second Water Pulse which hit it as it was coming down. They went splash as they collided, scattering droplets everywhere, and Skitty rolled back upright. "Skiitt-y!"

"Hmm," May said, adopting an exaggerated thinking pose. "I like it, but it could do with being more flashy!"

Skitty jumped forwards, this time, and rolled over halfway onto her back. She shot up a Water Pulse again, but this time what went up to meet it as it fell was a Fairy-typed version that detonated with a bright sparkly flash.

A few people in the crowd went oooh, because the Fairy Pulse had gone up faster than the Water Pulse was coming down at that point and it had looked a lot like a firework.

"Better," May judged. "But can you make it linger in the air?"

The Normal-type gave her trainer a look, crossed her forelegs, then shot a pulse of green flame into the air to hang there for a long second before coming down again.

It wasn't a normal Dragon Pulse, but it was a Dragon-type Water Pulse, and Skitty hit it with a Wind Pulse to keep it in the air instead of coming down. Then she fired a Fairy Pulse, which passed right through the Dragon Pulse and snuffed it out entirely, and used her tail to knock herself into a spin on the floor while using a larger-than-normal Water Pulse to trap the Fairy Pulse inside it.

"Ice!" May said, giving up her persona to direct the last few moves, and this time Skitty used Ice Pulse and froze the whole thing. It was still coming down towards her, and May pointed. "Wind!"

Skitty fired a long string of small staccato Flying Pulses to support the iceball, each one just enough to bounce it up for another half-second, before finally using Fighting Pulse to shatter her construct to pieces.

Glittery Fairy-infused diamonddust rained down around them both, collecting on the floor, and May bowed – reaching down to offer her hand to Skitty's tail, and let the Normal-type use it to clamber up onto her shoulders.

"...isn't there something in the guidelines about bonus points if you've got no idea how something was even possible?" Joy asked. "I swear I read something like that."

"Normally that applies to unusual combination moves," Contesta confided. "As in, there's bonus points if it's a mixture that's new to you. That was…"

"I'm not sure what moves they were, but they were quite beautiful," Mr. Sukizo said. "I've certainly never seen a move that shoots out a fist-shaped blast before, at least not one that doesn't require a fist to be involved somehow…"

Predictably, if not inevitably, May found herself up against Harley again.

"Good luck?" May tried. "And may the best Coordinator and Pokémon win."

"Oh, I see how it is," Harley replied. "You think I need luck, but you're assuming you're the best Coordinator and that you'll win anyway!"

He sniffed. "Such arrogance."

May blinked a few times. "...I don't even know what to say to that."

Then the hostess called for them to begin, and Harley unfolded a fan in one hand.

"Bullet Seed!" he ordered.

"Dark!" May said quickly.

"Me First!" Skitty agreed, and shot out a barrage of black bullets of her own. They came out at almost exactly the same time as Cacturne's, and the seeds collided in mid-air – each with a sprak sound and a fluff of leafy fragments.

"Needle Arm," Harley said. "Surround her!"

Cacturne used Needle Arm, sending a barrage of needles flying out of his arm. They spread out in all directions, then went through a series of turns to surround Skitty.

"Bug!" May said, just as the needles all turned to crash down on her Pokémon.

"Copycat!" Skitty said, and there was a burst of light. To the astonishment of most of the watchers, a swarm of miniature Beedrill came charging out from Skitty's position and knocked Cacturne's needles aside, most of them exploding and self-destructing as they shielded her but a few making it through to hit Cacturne.

"And May's Skitty shows a remarkable tendency to do what is probably turning her opponent's moves against them!" Mr. Sukizo said. "I certainly can't imagine how else this is happening."

"He's right, isn't he?" Harley said, and sniffed. "I should have known you'd rely on someone else's work. Did you get that Pokémon from your father?"

"...I thought you weren't allowed to attack the other Coordinator," Brock said.

"I want to attack him now," Max seethed.

"Don't get distracted," May said, as much for herself as for Skitty. "Fire Pulse!"

"Cotton Spore!" Harley replied, ordering his Cacturne to send out balls of cottony fluff. Skitty formed her Fire Pulse and bounced it a couple of times with her tail before throwing it, but Cacturne jumped into the air and kicked one of the Cotton Spores – and the Fire-aspected Water Pulse detonated on the cotton spore, rather than making it through to actually reach Cacturne.

"See?" Harley said, as a dense cloud of Cotton Spore surrounded his Cacturne to hide the Grass-type from sight. "You just don't train your Pokémon for varied situations… you should probably give up now."

He put his hands on his hips. "What do you say to that?"

"Fairy!" May replied.

Cacturne reappeared outside the cotton spore and kicked out at Skitty from behind, but a flicker of pink light pulsed around Skitty's tail before the entire Kitten Pokémon vanished.

"...what?" Harley asked. "Where did she go? There's nowhere she could have gone…"

"And… now!" May added. "Surprise cat attack!"

She pulled off her bandanna, and Skitty appeared out from underneath. Her Fairy-aspected Me-Firsted Copycatted Feint Attack let her catch Cacturne completely by surprise, and she added a Fairy Pulse just as she made contact – sending out a fireworks-blast of sparks which gave a special emphasis to the impact.

To May's surprise, Drew met her by the exit.

"Great work!" the other Coordinator said. "So you've only got one Ribbon to go, now, right?"

"No, I'm up to five," May corrected him. "You must have missed the one in Lilycove."

"...oh, right," Drew said, then chuckled. "Uh… I was going to tell you there's a Contest in Pacifidlog, near where the S.S. St. Flower is going, but I guess you don't need the hint now."

"What's the S.S. Flower?" May said, a little confused. "It's a ship, right?"

Drew brightened. "Oh, so I can help out! Yes, it's a luxury cruise ship that's open to Coordinators and their friends, it stops off at Slateport not long before the start of the Grand Festival. I've been on before, it's a real treat."

"Huh!" May nodded. "Thanks! Without that I probably would have just had Dragonite fly me there, but going to Pacifidlog to meet up with the cruise ship sounds like a plan!"

The other Coordinator held up a finger. "Did… did you say Dragonite?"

"Right!" Zacian declared. "That is it!"

She drew her sword from her mane, and flourished it. "I have had enough with this! Clearly someone around here is giving off Dynamax particles, and as soon as I find out who it is then I will be serving them with a Cease and Desist notice!"

"We do seem to run into an awful lot of giant Pokémon," Brock said. "The giant Claydol is new on me, I have to admit, but…"

"Hey, it just occurred to me to ask!" Ash addressed Zacian. "I know there's Dynamax, and some Pokémon can do Gigantamax instead, but do you or Zamazenta have Gigantamax forms?"

Zacian coughed.

"Actually, we cannot do either," she said. "Others may Dynamax, but I may not, and nor may Zamazenta; the power is not for us."

She shook herself out. "Still! That does not mean that other regions can take what is unique to Galar and make it theirs!"

Ho-Oh came out of his Pokéball, which made the woman they were with do a double-take.

"You've got a Legendary Pokémon?" she asked.

"...um, miss?" Max coughed. "Have you ever seen this program on TV… I think it's called the news?"

"That's rude," May told her brother. "Not everyone's into Pokémon battling the way you are."

"Ash has been using Legendary Pokémon in league battles for years," Max said. "I know I had to tell you his Zapdos was legendary, and Zacian is a Galarian Legendary so that's kind of different, but-"

"You're a Legendary Pokémon?" Sigourney said, turning her attention to Zacian.

"I actually came out for a reason, you know!" Ho-Oh announced in a voice like brass. "If I could tell you all?"

Silence fell, except for some muttered grumbling from Zacian about Galarian tradition which Ho-Oh pretended not to notice.

"Right," he said. "Now. I am not sure if I have mentioned PokéAtlantis to you before, Ash, but many centuries ago one of the first civilizations to come up with the idea of capturing Pokémon for battle also came up with a method of making their specially selected Pokémon larger, and more powerful, and compelling them to obey… or possibly they were making fake Pokémon, much like Rayquaza used to be, but better managed."

"...sorry, did you say Rayquaza?" Sigourney asked.

He could have said Jirachi too! Jirachi announced, from Ash's bag. I was involved… not with the PokéAtlantis thing, though. Never heard of them.

There was a metallic sound as Jirachi scratched his head. I wonder if I count as Rayquaza's dad? Or mom? Or maybe both?

"We are getting off topic," Ho-Oh said. "I believe the best solution for now would be to return the Claydol to their sealed stone Pokéball; they have been there for centuries and do not appear to be willing to listen to reason. I can organize a team of Legendary Pokémon to return later and see if we can solve Claydol's troubles."

"The Pokeball's broken, though," Ash pointed out.

"There's another one at the top of a nearby hill," Sigourney said. "If we could lure Claydol closer… the old texts say that Claydol either loves or hates eggplants, that might work?"

"I've got a better idea," Brock said.

"Mudkip, use Strength!" the Gym Leader said, some minutes later.

Mudkip picked up the giant stone Pokéball.

"Now, Rock Throw!"

The enormous Pokéball went sailing through the air, hit Claydol with a wham, and the giant Ground-type vanished inside it.

Everyone contemplated the result.

"...somehow it doesn't feel right that a giant Pokémon goes into a giant Pokéball," Zacian sighed. "Instead of coming out."

She stretched. "Still. At least I didn't have to pick up the Rusted Sword again."

About halfway across the rugged, beautiful Izabe Island, the friends came to a bridge.

"It's this way, right?" Ash asked.

"That's what the map says," Brock confirmed. "There's several bridges over this river, but this one's the one on the direct route."

He looked a bit closer. "The nearest town is Ridayo Town, we could stop off there, but it doesn't have a Pokémon Centre."

"Just so long as we're not behind schedule," Ash said. "We've only got about five weeks to fit in a Gym Badge before the Grand Festival!"

"Yeah!" Pikachu agreed. "I'm almost certainly not getting used for this one but I'm enthusiastic anyway! Plus I want to try out my version of the shield against a proper opponent!"

"You'll get your chance at the Pokémon League, I'm sure," Ash laughed, stepping out onto the bridge.

Which promptly collapsed beneath them, leaving Ash and Pikachu floating there.

"Thanks, Rayquaza!" Ash said, patting the Flying-type as she scooted them back to dry land. "Huh, that was weird."

"It's certainly not a sign of a well built bridge," Brock agreed. "Maybe we can use Onix to get over the river instead? The river looks a bit too strong to cross by swimming Pokémon."

"I know Surf, I'm sure I could do something with it," Pikachu declared.

"Holy flippin' Legendaries on toast!" a Pokémon yelped from the other side of the river. "Uh, that is – I can barely look at him what is – ahem – anyway – watch out, strangers! This is not a safe place for humans or Pokémon!"

The speaker, an Absol, jumped up onto a rock pile on the far side of where the bridge had been. "Please understand – you need to stay away! There's danger!"

"Another Absol!" May said, waving. "It's nice to meet you!"

Absol blinked. "Not the normal reaction," he said. "But it's kind of nice! Only, please stay away?"

"There it is!" someone announced. "It destroyed another bridge! I knew it was up to no good!"

A whole band of people came running up.

"Did any of you get hurt?" the leader asked.

"No, we're fine," Ash said. "But apparently there's danger?"

"Yes, that Absol's been up to no good," the leader informed them. "Destroying bridges! Haunting the town at night! It's been causing all sorts of problems!"

Ash frowned. "That's an Absol, though," he said, then snapped his fingers. "I know! I wish I knew more details about the danger!"

And promptly turned into an Absol – though he still had Rayquaza wrapped around his torso and Pikachu on his shoulder, plus his backpack, which left things crowded for a moment.

"...what just happened?" the local leader said.

"Wow, you're right!" Ash told the Absol on the other side of the river, as Rayquaza uncoiled from his torso and returned herself into her Heavy Ball. "It's kind of, um… yeah, there's definitely that danger itch, and it's… stronger that way?"

"Are you an Absol in disguise?" the Absol asked. "Is that why I can't look at you without feeling dizzy?"

"No, I think that's just me," Ash told him. "Anyway, I'm still a bit of an apprentice at working out what the cause of a disaster is… any clues?"

"I believe I can offer assistance," Zygarde announced. "There appears to be a minor geological anomaly in the area. Unusually high ground water pressure has been detected."

"Groundwater… that's what feeds rivers and streams!" Max gasped. "So if the rivers are high, that would destroy the bridges!"

"And it means the problem is going to be where those rivers are coming from!" Pikachu added, scampering over to the river. "Surf!"

He conjured a large surfboard made of glassy, shimmering water, then threw it down into the river. It hit with a splash, then bounced up to hover about a foot above the surface.

"Let's go!" he declared, jumping in. "I can make it bigger depending on who wants to come along, but I think Ash, Absol and Zygarde are needed at minimum!"

"...Absol isn't doing this?" the local leader said.

Chapter Text

A day later, and on towards evening at that, snow crunched under Ash's shoes as they walked.

"How are you doing, Zygarde?" he asked, looking halfway back over his shoulder.

"This is acceptable," Zygarde replied, from where they were sharing Ash's backpack with Dunsparce. "It is a pity there is not a move that prevents freezing. It would be preferable."

"I should think about that," Dunsparce mused. "There's moves that thaw a Pokémon out… hmm… thing is, they'd all mean you'd need to be on fire all the time and that's a bit tiring. Can I get back to you?"

"I am not likely to go anywhere."

"I'm not sure we're going much further, not today," May said. "Walking across Izabe Island made a lot more sense when we thought of it."

"It's been fun, though, right?" Ash asked, then looked slightly worried. "We are still going to be on time for getting the Rain Badge?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Pikachu assured him. "We've got time."

He shook himself. "But today, specifically, I'd like to find somewhere to rest! It may not be snowing – thanks, Rayquaza – but it's still too cold to spend a night in the open."

"Hmm…" Ash frowned. "Zorua, can you go and see if there's a good place to stop around here?"

Zorua came out of his Pokéball, nodded, and changed into a Wingull before taking off.

"You could have asked me," Swablu piped up. "I wouldn't mind."

"Zorua's not weak to Ice," Ash pointed out. "I actually think he's the only Pokémon we have available who can fly and isn't weak to Ice. So if it's snowing outside Rayquaza's Air Lock, he can deal with it better."

"Or we could have more than one Pokémon look?" Max suggested. "I'd say Jirachi would be a good idea, but he went back to sleep mode this morning."

"I'm not weak to Ice!" Dunsparce said, poking her head out of Ash's bag. "I know the wings make it seem like I'm Flying-type, but I'm not!"

The discussion about who they had who could fly, and how weak they were to ice really, took quite a long time.

They were at the point of discussing if Swellow could Electrify the weather around herself and ignore it that way when Zorua got back and sort of rendered the whole exercise superfluous by telling them there was a Pokémon Centre about a mile away.

"Yes, we don't have all that many visitors, but it's cozy," Nurse Joy said, smiling. "And we do important mountain rescue work too at times! I've got some Pokémon who aren't the usual Pokémon Centre Chansey around to help out with it."

Brock beamed. "Such a selfless task – and so humble to go with your great beauty!"

Bulbasaur and Mudkip both sent themselves out, but before they could deal with their trainer a blast of icy wind froze him in place.

"And then there's Snorunt," Nurse Joy added. "They're not one of my Pokémon, they just like playing tricks…"

"Okay!" Zorua announced, jumping off Ash's shoulder. "So, first thing, I like the playing tricks motif, of course I do, it's genetic, but that was actually a bit dangerous. Secondly-"

"What do you mean, it was dangerous?" Snorunt asked. "Actually, what do you mean, it's genetic? I didn't know Wingull were genetically tricky."

"Exactly my point," Zorua declared. "And it's dangerous because-"

"Actually, I think Snorunt has a point," Vulpix volunteered, as Brock defrosted. "Bulbasaur and Mudkip both hit Brock with something every so often. It's not dangerous so long as you know what to do."

"Fine!" Zorua said. "But furthermore, and anyway, as I was saying-"

"You're trying to come up with a new second point, aren't you?" Snorunt asked, crossing her arms and grinning. "This is actually pretty entertaining."

"I'm still not sure how that worked out to Snorunt joining your team," Max said, the next day. "I remember the game of tag, and when she stole your Badges, but then there was something about philosophy and apples and then Dunsparce talked to her? And I lost track at that point."

"I'm just glad to have her along!" Ash replied. "She's not sure what to evolve into yet, so we're going to start with Will O Wisp and Shadow Ball as well as some Ice moves. Freeze-Dry is a pretty neat move, so that might be on the list too…"

"...so there's this great idea I had," Ash told Snorunt, at lunch the next day. "You know how we were working on Will-o-Wisp?"

Snorunt nodded. "Right! I'm having a lot of trouble getting the heat working, though."

"Well, I asked May and Skitty about it, and I was able to get Skitty's help," Ash said. "What I was thinking is – so Mega Glalie have an ability called Refrigerate which turns Normal moves into Ice moves. So maybe you could learn Ice-ified versions of Fire moves, and then you could use that to learn a Fire version of an Ice move!"

The Ice-type visibly contemplated that.

"Seems legit!" she said. "So how does that work?"

Ash beckoned Skitty over, along with Lokoko. "Are you both ready for this?"

"Indeed I am," Lokoko agreed, with a quadrupedal bow, as Skitty nodded an affirmative.

The Fire-type blew a flicker of flame, purple and subtle, which Skitty watched before twitching her ears. "Copycat!"

Skitty's tail lit up with a flame as well, but this one was bright blue.

"Ooh," Snorunt said. "So that's an Ice type Will-o-Wisp?"

"Yep!" Skitty agreed. "You could touch it if you wanted, but you'd catch fire. I haven't because I haven't thrown the attack yet."

Snorunt coated both her arms in ice with a blast of Icy Wind, then reached out to it and watched as it didn't melt the ice on her hands… until it made contact, where the ice promptly lit up with bluish flame. "That's really weird."

"And I had this other idea," Skitty added, dispelling the Ice Will-o-Wisp for a moment. "Lokoko, I'm going to be hitting you with a Fire-type attack in a moment, okay?"

"By all means," the Fire-type agreed.

"Great!" Skitty told them. "Use Powder Snow, Snorunt!"

Snorunt complied.

"Copycat!" Skitty announced, converting the Powder Snow to Fire, and it hit Lokoko. Her fur lit up with faint traceries of orange and gold as her Flash Fire drank it in, then suddenly she stopped moving as she froze solid… for about two seconds, until the ice lit up blue and burned away again under the ongoing influence of the Powder Fire.

"Maaay!" Max called. "Your Pokemon's helping Ash invent Fire Ice and Ice Fire!"

"I do wonder what Kyurem would think of this," Lokoko said.

"Maybe we can show him next time we meet him," Ash mused. "What do you think, Snorunt? Want to learn some Glaciated or Deglaciated moves?"

"In all honesty it's going to make most sense for Snorunt to learn the individual moves, rather than the general theory," Skitty told him, flirting her tail. "The ontological conversion from Ice to another element is complex and chaotic, and she can't rely on her Ability to do the heavy lifting because she doesn't actually have it, just the potential for it. But I see no reason why she couldn't learn Ice Will-o-Wisp to start with, and move on from there one move at a time."

Ash took that in, nodding, then waved over at where Dunsparce was taking notes.

"Want to join in?" he asked.

"Don't mind me, continue what you're doing," the Land Snake said.

Then Max looked up. "Wait, who said that?"

"...you mean me?" Dunsparce asked.

"No, there was a voice!" Max replied. "Calling for help! Did none of you hear it?"

Dunsparce put down her notebook, sneezed, and turned into Mew.

Okay, now I hear it too! Mew announced. This way!

The cry for help turned out to be from a young Ralts, sick and weak from falling into a lake, and Brock listened carefully before nodding.

"They need to go to a Pokémon Centre," he announced. "Do you know what that means, Ralts?"

The Psychic-type took a breath, then coughed, and Max nodded.

"He's telling me he knows about Pokémon Centres," he explained. "He's hungry and confused… I think he's saying he was trying to reach his mom and his sister, but he can't right now. I don't know why it's only me."

I do, Mew told him. Ralts is connecting with you because you're really similar… psychically, I mean. It's like a key fitting a random lock – it doesn't mean you're psychic, but it means you can communicate really easily. It takes Ralts hardly any energy.

She pointed at Brock. Where's the nearest Pokémon centre? We should get there right away, if Ralts is this sick.

Brock unfolded the map, and as he did Pikachu tapped Mew on the shoulder.

"Weren't you pretending to be Cranidos, then Aggron, then Dunsparce for most of Hoenn so far?" he asked.

Yeah, but that was for fun, Mew replied. This is important.

It was a tense wait in the Pokémon Centre, but eventually Nurse Joy came out and announced that Ralts had made a full recovery.

"Thank you," Max told her. "Thank you so much! Ralts is – he feels so much better now!"

Yep, definitely attuned, Mew said, half his attention on paging through Ibid's catalogue of Pokémon. Hmm…

"But… what do we do now?" Max added. "Ralts says he doesn't want to say goodbye, but he says that his mom and his sister are going to be looking for him… I don't know what to do…"

"I don't want to say goodbye and then never see Max again," Ralts agreed, sounding like he was about to cry. "Or even not see him for months until I'm old enough!"

Oh! Mew said, brightening. Actually, here's an idea!

He put Ibid down, and floated over to Ralts.

Mm-hmm, he hummed psychically. Yep, already knows Teleport, bit short ranged though… okay! So Max, Ralts, hold still!

His tail lit up, and he pointed one paw at Ralts and one at Max before crossing them over and back again.

Heart Swap twice!

Light flicked back and forth between Max and Ralts, then swapped places a second time.

"...I feel weird," Max admitted. "It… felt like I was Ralts for a second?"

"I felt like I was you!" Ralts replied. "That was weird!"

That's Heart Swap for you! Mew said, floating sideways. There's all kinds of things that make psychic bonds stronger, stuff like use and proximity and that, but feeling like you're in the other one's body is a really big boost because it's all about empathy. Totally skipped to the end! Now you should be able to talk even if you're miles apart!

"Wow," Max blinked a few times. "I… that's amazing!"

Ralts did start crying then, hugging Max, and Max knelt down to give Ralts a hug too.

Now… Mew added, returning to Ibid. Do you have a shuffle setting?

"So… you met a human," Gardevoir said, that evening. "Who you could talk to just… automatically."

"Yep!" Ralts agreed. "He's really nice, and so are his friends… I can feel it! It's like when we use our telepathy, but… different? But not completely different… I don't know how to describe it."

Gardevoir smiled. "I never thought you'd end up with a friend like that… I'm perplexed, it's true, but it's nice that you're happy."

"Max says thanks!" Ralts added. "I'm not talking to him all the time, but this bit seemed important… he says that they're about to fly to Sootopolis now? I've never heard of Sootopolis."

"I haven't either," Kirlia said. "What's it like?"

"...umm, I think I might have to repeat what Max says about it?" Ralts tried.

And, back in Blackthorn after a successful mission, Lance sat down on his sofa with a sigh.

"It's nice to be home," he said, and his Jangmo-o bounded up onto the sofa with him.

"Jan!" she said.

Lance chuckled. "I know, I missed you too," he said. "I couldn't take everyone with me on an undercover mission, though."

He scratched the hatchling dragon under the chin, then picked up one of the magazines Clair had left for him and opened it.

Stopped.

"...twenty-seven Dragonite?"

Chapter Text

"Who's the Gym Leader here, again?" Ash asked, knocking on the door of Sootopolis Gym. "I did read it, it was just confusing."

"It used to be Juan," Max said. "Then he taught Wallace, who surpassed him as Gym Leader, but then Wallace became Champion so Juan took over the gym again. Then Steven became Champion and Wallace went back to become Gym Leader, except sometimes it's Juan, and I think they both do Contests so sometimes someone else entirely takes over?"

"So really it could be anyone," May's Dragonite said, as May helped take his long-distance flight harness off.

"Probably," Max agreed.

Then the door opened.

"Ah!" Wallace said. "Ash Ketchum and May Maple grace us with their presence!"

He stepped back, letting the trainers into the gym. "So, are you here for a gym battle, or some Contest advice? You don't have to give the same answers, of course."

"Well, I'm here for a gym battle," Ash said. "I think May's here because I'm here and we're travelling together. And these are Brock and Max – Brock's a Gym Leader from Kanto and Max is May's brother!"

He frowned. "...actually, your surname is a tree name. Does that mean one of you has to be a Professor?"

"I hope not," May said. "Even if Max does become a Professor I'd like it to be because he wants to, and I'm certainly not becoming one!"

Wallace chuckled, leading them through the gym's entrance hall. "It's nice to meet you, then, all four of you. Now, since Ash is here for a Gym Battle… Juan and I were arguing about what to do, and we came to a decision."

He threw open the doors, revealing the gym itself – a large pool in the middle, with some fighting room around the edges and rows of seats for spectators.

Also, Juan was there.

"We're both battling you," Wallace finished. "Juan's going first, because he won the toss, but we're both using two Pokémon… and mine is going to be a double battle."

"Great!" Ash declared. "I know who I'm going to use… it'll just take me a moment to get them sorted out. I think for three of them it's actually their first Gym Battles."

Brock started counting under his breath, then winced.

"This is going to be interesting!" May said, once they and their Pokémon were arrayed in the spectator's seats. "I watched some videos of Juan Coordinating over the past year or so, but I've not seen someone who's such a skilled Coordinator going all out in battle."

"What about a skilled battler go all out in Coordinating?" Brock said.

"I'm… not really sure," May replied, frowning. "How do you tell which is someone's focus?"

"All right!" Wallace called, getting their attention. "Juan's battle is first! The pool will be refilled after each bout, so please don't throw it all out just to try and set up a tactical advantage for the next battle."

"Seems fair!" Ash replied. "Okay, here we go!"

"Milotic!" Juan called, sending out a beautiful Milotic who plunged straight down into the swimming pool with a splash.

As against him, Ash sent out Lokoko (or presumably Lokoko) who spread her tails, nodding, then began to pace along the poolside.

"Dancing tails!" Ash called, and Lokoko broke into a loping run. As she did, Double Team doubles split off – some going faster, others slower, some turning around completely – and inside five seconds there were over a hundred Lokoko running in two overlapping chains around the pool and trailing fire from their tails.

"Even knowing only one is real, that's hard to follow," Max admitted. "What would you do, May?"

"Try to hit all of them, maybe?" May suggested. "So much of it depends on what the Pokémon can do, though."

"Psychic!" Ash said. "Sweep through the pool!"

The eyes of the running Lokoko duplicates glowed, and Juan pointed.

"Surf!" he ordered.

Milotic sprang out of the water, did a flip-turn in mid-air, and crashed back down at great speed. The impact sent a wave washing over the side of the pool in all directions, splashing into Lokoko and knocking her sideways, and many of the Double Team doubles dissolved from the impact.

"Mystical Fire!" Ash decided. "Then – Fireblast into the pool!"

"Spring out and attack!" Juan said. "Look to me!"

He pointed with a flourish, and Milotic sprang out of the pool again just before Lokoko's Fire Blast detonated. The Water-type followed his trainer's finger, turning to look towards Lokoko – splattered as he did by the surge of Fire Blast-driven water – and used Scald, firing a steaming hot surge of water directly at Lokoko.

Who turned out to be a duplicate.

"Will-o-Wisp!" Lokoko informed Milotic, as three purplish flames collided with him at once from different directions. "You must realize that doing an illusion of pawprints on the water is quite possible, surely?"

"Good work, Lokoko!" Ash said. "Now start using Hex!"

"Attract!" Juan ordered.

"Resist it, Lokoko!" Ash called.

Lokoko trembled a little as Milotic used Attract, then her tail went crack and all her duplicates dissolved.

"That's better," Milotic said, Refreshing and clearing away the burn as he swam closer. "It's just a battle, there's no need to actually hurt me. Right?"

"Oh, I agree," Lokoko replied. "It's just a battle… and, unfortunately, you're not the right sort for me. Psychic!"

Milotic tried to dive back into the water, but Lokoko hadn't targeted him with her burst of Psychic power. Instead she'd targeted the water, and Milotic bounced off the solid-seeming surface with a boing as Lokoko stepped down onto it.

Another illusion burst, and Lokoko's tails splayed out – all nine glowing a golden yellowish-white.

"Thank you for letting me charge my Solar Blades," she said. "What about a dance?"

Milotic did not have a good time.

"Allow me to say that I'm impressed with how well your Milotic can fence using Aqua Tail," Lokoko said, facing Juan. "You've clearly trained him well."

"I'm glad you approve," Juan chuckled. "It's rare a Pokémon I've battled gives a positive review."

"Want to watch the rest of the challenge?" Ash asked, and Lokoko considered before nodding.

"I'll go and join the spectators, I think," she said, crouching down slightly before jumping up off the pool and letting the surface reliquify as she did so.

She paced along to a likely-looking seat, next to Treecko, and nodded to him. "A fine evening, isn't it?"

"...so I sort of lost track in all the other stuff that was going on," Max said, as Ash looked for where he'd put his second Pokémon's Moon Ball. "But Ash has a Mew?"

"Yeah, Dragonite mentioned them a while ago," May replied. "...oh, right, you must not have heard that bit. I just assumed you'd overheard – this was back when Dragonite was a Dratini and he was talking about how he learned a lot of his moves. Mew's sort of… a move teacher for the Pokémon of Ash and his friends?"

"Mew's also one of the rarest Pokémon that's not, like… a one off foundation pillar of the universe!" Max replied, waving his hands. "You didn't know?"

"How many Rayquaza are there?" May said.

"...two," Max admitted. "Okay, fair point, Ash is just complete nonsense."

"Aha!" Ash called, and sent out his second Pokémon just as Juan did the same.

"Oh, this one I remember seeing at the Indigo League!" Wallace said, applauding. "Welcome to our gym, Latias! I could wish you were a Water type, but you already have two Types."

Latias waved. "It's going to be interesting doing this!" she said.

Juan stroked his chin, then got the attention of his Whiscash.

"Dragon tactics," he said.

Whiscash nodded.

"Begin!" Wallace instructed.

"Reflect!" Ash called, and Latias crossed her arms.

"Block!" she announced, which meant that Whiscash's opening Ice Beam attack splashed off a shield – freezing that instead of making it through to Latias – and the Dragon-type rolled left, away from the rest of the attack.

"Amnesia," Juan called.

Whiscash slapped her tail into the water, then fired Ice Beam again.

Latias crossed her arms for another Reflect, but the move didn't happen. Instead Latias took a direct hit from the Ice Beam, and yelped in surprise.

"What?" Ash asked, confused. "Uh – Dive!"

Latias splashed into the pool, moving at high speed underwater, and the sheer force of the current she created tore most of the ice away from her tiny feathers. The rest of it wasn't nearly as much of a problem, and Latias splashed back out of the water to see if Ash had any more advice.

"Shield with mist!" Ash said. "Dive again to set up!"

"Dragon Dance!" Juan ordered. "Then Thrash!"

The whole pool rocked wildly from side to side, water splashing out in waves, then a bright flash lit it up and about two thirds of the remaining water exited the pool in a vertical direction.

"There!" Latias announced, zipping up into the air with a mass of misty water orbiting her in a psychic grip. It was opaque enough that it wasn't quite possible to see where she was, and Ash gave a thumbs-up.

"All right!" he said. "Now, uh… wait, hold on… where did Whiscash go?"

After a moment of confusion, everyone looked up.

"I am not happy," Whiscash announced, wedged into the ceiling rafters, then slipped and fell. She went wham into the pool floor, fortunately not hard enough to damage it, then shook her head. "Right. Where were we?"

"Dragon Energy, Latias!" Ash ordered.

"So, what do you think?" Wallace asked.

Juan chuckled. "I think I'm glad we reinforced the pool back when you were learning…"

Wallace nodded, as the pool refilled now that Whiscash wasn't in it any more. "Well, let's see how he handles a double battle."

"Forgive me if I hope he uses a Legendary against you as well," Juan requested.

The two Water trainers shared a nod, then Wallace stepped up to the poolside.

"You have your Pokémon ready?" he asked.

"Yep!" Ash agreed.

Wallace sent out his team for the battle, a Milotic and a Walrein, and watched as Ash held up first a normal Pokéball and then a Heavy ball.

The Torkoal made him smile slightly, wondering about what the trick was going to be – with Ash Ketchum's Pokémon, it was clear, there was always a trick – then the second Pokémon came out and he stared.

"That is a tiny, shiny Rayquaza," he said. "Goodness me… and are they wearing a little backpack?"

"This is a water gym," Rayquaza said, rummaging in her backpack. "So that probably means… this one!"

She looked over at Torkoal. "That's alright, right?"

"My flames will burn through any hardship!" Torkoal assured her.

"Begin!" Juan called, and Rayquaza took the Blue Orb out of her backpack.

And, without any fuss, turned into Shiny Primal Kyogre.

The room shook with a crack of thunder as Primal Kyoge dropped a foot and a half into the pool, then an incredible rainstorm began from pitch-black clouds that appeared just below the ceiling.

"Whoa!" Max shouted, startled, and Lokoko and Latias collaborated to establish a psychic shield over the audience. Ash had no such luck, though.

Nor did Wallace.

"What on earth just happened!" he shouted, through the downpour soaking his clothes. "Did your Rayquaza just turn into Kyogre?"

"Yeah!" Ash hollered back. "Torkoal! Cross Chop that Walrein! Kyogre, Origin Pulse!"

Wallace tried to see what was going on in the battle, but it was hard to tell at all – the rain was so intense it was drowning out a lot of the sounds with a surf-roar, and Milotic was using Flash on her tail just to get a sense of where everything was. And there was what sounded like the crash of an ice move going off, countered by a bang which might be a Fighting attack, then Origin Pulse shone through the rainfall and knocked Milotic backwards.

Also, the water level was rising past his ankles.

"It's filling the pool!" he said. "It's actually filling the room faster than the emergency drains!"

There was a whud, and the rain cut off as suddenly as if someone had hit a switch. The clouds vanished, and Ash's Rayquaza scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment as she put something back in her backpack with the other arm.

"Sorry," Rayquaza said, as the water drained away. "I should have realized that wasn't the right choice… what about the other one?"

She took out the Red Orb instead, switched to a Shiny Primal Groudon, and a tiny artificial sun blazed up near the arena roof.

Primal Groudon hit the pool with a splash, but rather than floating or sinking she just dropped to the bottom of the pool in about three seconds and the pool's water level went with her. The room filled with vapour as every exposed surface steamed, then went bone-dry, and Torkoal flew down to land next to her.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" the Fire-type announced. "Let the fires of our youth explode!"

"Milotic, Walrein, Hydro Pump!" Wallace ordered.

Milotic and Walrein tried to use Hydro Pump.

It didn't work.

"Bulk up!" Torkoal said, snorting out a plume of steam, then charged. "Dynamic PUNCH!"

"You know… normally, when we say our gym is a Water Type gym, and that to win the badge you have to defeat the gym's challenge…" Wallace began.

"Yes?" Ash asked, looking up from checking Rayquaza over.

"Well, normally we don't mean you have to defeat the very concept of the Water type itself," Juan completed.

"I did that in the battle against Giovanni, in Viridian," Pikachu reminisced. "Fun times…"

"Was that okay?" Rayquaza asked, anxiously. "Sorry about the Primal Kyogre thing, I thought a Water gym would be able to cope with it."

"It was fine, don't worry," Ash told her. "And we learned some important lessons, too!"

Rayquaza nodded, accepting that answer.

"Well, what do you think of that?" Torkoal asked, sliding to a halt by the spectator seats. "My first Gym Battle! I think it was a fine display of the Fire-type's burning spirit, to overcome even a Type disadvantage!"

He waited.

"Treecko?" he asked.

"Huh?" Treecko said, looking up. "Sorry, did you say something?"

Torkoal sighed. "So cool…"

Chapter Text

"So… which way do we go now?" Latios asked, sliding a bit closer to where Articuno was carrying Brock. "I know we're headed for Pacifidlog, and it's roughly that way, but I've never seen the island before… any hints?"

"Let's see," Brock replied.

He checked the map, checked the guidebook, double checked the guidebook, and frowned.

"Huh."

"That doesn't sound like a good sort of huh," Articuno pointed out. "In fact, it sounds like a lost sort of huh. Are we, or are we not, lost?"

"I haven't seen a map like this before," Brock said. "There's about eight islands on it with question marks… the guide book says that they're sometimes there and sometimes they aren't."

"That's pretty cool!" Ash said. "I think we should go down and look at one… some of them are there, right?"

"That's what I'm trying to check," Brock told him. "There's dozens of islands… sorry, Articuno, can you hold still, I need to mark these off."

"Is something wrong?" May called, from her Dragonite's back.

"We're just checking on which island to go down and visit!" Ash replied.

"I think… that one there is one of the ones that appears and disappears," Brock said. "The one with the half a fringing reef on the right and some dots for a reef on the left."

"I see it!" Latios agreed, then began swooping down. May's Dragonite and King Dragonite followed, and Articuno waited long enough to be sure that Brock had his map equipment packed away before bringing up the rear.

"Is this island even real?" Max asked, hesitating before slipping down from King Dragonite's back. "If it sometimes appears and sometimes isn't there… might it be just an illusion, or something?"

Ash considered that.

"Let's find out!" he said, and jumped off Latios' back.

He went thump onto the ground, and Max sighed in relief.

"Why did you do that?" Latios asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"I've got Rayquaza to help," Ash replied. "She can carry me if I need it… plus, if it's an illusion and there isn't any island here then there isn't any ground here, and we're about a quarter of a mile in the air. Which is a good few seconds before hitting the sea."

"Unless it's a solid illusion," King Dragonite suggested. "The Royal Illusionist says that Zoroark can do that."

"It'd help to have Noctowl along right now," Ash said, as May and Brock stepped down as well. "He knows Foresight… maybe he'd like to join in next time we go flying? I'll have to ask him."

He looked around. "Hey! Are there any Pokémon here?"

There wasn't any sound for several seconds.

Then a golden portal opened in mid-air, and a strange-looking Pokémon fell through and bounced off Ash's head.

"Were you surprised?" Hoopa asked, giggling, as they leaned half-way through a second smaller portal. "Hoopa has heard of mysterious spots and soaring, but when you are on a Latios that is not a Mega Latios Hoopa cannot drop Pokémon in front of you! So Hoopa had to wait until you landed on an island!"

Pikachu snorted. "Nonsense."

"Of course it is!" Hoopa told him. "That is why Hoopa is enjoying it!"

The Mythical Pokémon nodded to themselves, closing the bigger portal, then waved to Max and May as well. "Hoopa gives special discount rates to friends of Ash Ketchum! You'll be surprised by the value!"

As the Hyperspace Hole closed, the Pokémon who'd landed on Ash's head picked herself up.

"Oh, uh… hi?" she said, waving. "Quick question… where am I?"

"We don't know the name of the island, but the region is Hoenn," Ash said, pulling Ibid out of his pocket. "Purrloin, huh?"

Ibid transformed into a miniature Purrloin. "Purrloin," the mini-Purrloin said. "The Devious Pokémon."

"That's rude," Purrloin huffed. "Humph!"

"You don't look much like Ibid's picture," Max said, comparing the purple-and-cream Ibid version with the slate-coated grey-faced Purrloin sitting in front of them… not to mention her green tail and red tailblade. "Are you a shiny Purrloin?"

"Viewing: Shiny Purrloin," Ibid repeated, and his duplicate changed colour.

"No, that's actually less like you," Ash frowned. "Huh… usually Ibid is pretty good with this kind of stuff."

"That must be because I'm one of a kind!" Purrloin said proudly, then flicked her blade-tail around and picked at her claws. "Hmm. Does it count as one of a kind if it's because a lot of Pokémon where you're from are one of a kind?"

"Ibid, what can you tell me about this Purrloin?" Ash requested. "If she's unique, then she's not going to be like other Purrloin."

"You could have said that in the first place," Ibid complained, then changed into a copy of the Purrloin they'd just met. "Abnormal Purrloin. Type: Ghost/Fairy. Ability: Illusion. Ability: Lightningrod."

"Lightningrod?" Pikachu repeated. "And Illusion? I think we might just have found someone who can fake being me better than Zorua can."

"You've got a Zorua?" Purrloin said, interested. "Neat!"

She purred. "Now I know you're not going to object to me asking to come along… any chance for a lift?"

A few miles away, the Hikokyu rose invisibly back into the clouds.

"Now, remember what we said, an' all!" Meowth declared, walking back and forth in front of a dozen Wynaut. "What do you do when you're fallin'?"

"Counter!" the Wynaut cheered.

"And if there's four of you?"

"Two Counter, two Mirror Coat!" they all chorused. "Aim for the other one using it, bounce it back and forth, then launch it at the target!"

"Dat's right!" Meowth said. "Huh. Funny how it's much easier ta recruit…"

For a moment, he felt like he was on the edge of some kind of epiphany… then shrugged it off.

They had a plan to steal Pikachu to write out!

"Do… you think you're overdoing that, slightly?" Max asked Ash.

"Huh?" Ash replied. "What's wrong?"

Pikachu adjusted his position on Ash's left shoulder. "Yeah, I don't see a problem."

Purrloin, who was currently using Illusion to appear as a (female) Pikachu, rode Ash's right shoulder as he sat down in the Pacifidlog Island Contest Hall. "It's because I'm less conspicuous as a Pikachu."

"And I'm because if I was a Zorua it'd make people think about illusions," Zorua agreed. He was riding Ash's bag, and also currently a Pikachu.

"Okay, fine, fine," Max said, then pointed up. "But that's overdoing it!"

"Is it?" Noctowl asked – currently pretending to be a Pikachu with balloons tied around his waist, next to Latias who was doing the same thing. "That's unfortunate."

"At least we're not in the way of anyone," Latias replied. "Oh, right. Pikachu."

"Should I put on a Pikachu headband?" Rayquaza suggested. "Otherwise I sort of spoil the theme."

"It's been a while since I was in the audience for one of these," May said. "It's going to be interesting watching what Brock can do."

When he came out, Brock was wearing a sombrero and poncho.

For no readily discernable reason.

"Swablu!" he called, holding up a Pokéball, and Swablu emerged in a flash of light. "Echoed Voice!"

Swablu spread his wings, peeped a couple of times, then raised his voice in song – making it a lilting tune which began with a single melody before rising into counterpoint with itself.

He took off, rising into the air, and the music rose with him – reaching higher as he flew towards the sky, and dipping lower again as he drifted back towards the floor.

"And, pause," Brock said. Swablu stopped singing, but the sound resonated in the hall for several more seconds. It didn't seem to be getting any quieter, despite the fact Swablu had stopped, and a few mutters went around the hall.

"Sparkling Aria!" Brock ordered.

Swablu sang again, this time a completely different tone, and a bubble of water formed in front of him. Pulses of visible pressure chased one another around inside it, and the music from before finally faded away… almost completely, at least.

It could still be heard, resonating out from inside the floating water bubble of the Sparkling Aria, and Swablu had chosen both his songs well – they formed a duet, weaving in and out of one another.

Brock took a maraca out of his poncho, shook it three times, and on the third shake the Sparkling Aria burst. The original song came back at the full volume it had originally had, saturating the hall, until Swablu alighted on Brock's arm and the whole of the sound vanished instantly.

"I'm not quite sure what the maracas were for, but that was quite a performance," Mr. Lively said. "I think that one gets a good score."

He looked over at his fellow judges. "What do you think?"

"I think I'd like to know how that Swablu knows Sparkling Aria," Nurse Joy replied. "I don't think they learn that one."

"Oh!" Mr. Hanamoto said. "You didn't read the latest judging packet, I see! Admittedly it mentions May Maple by name, not this young man, but I think the same rules must apply to both…"

"Houndoom!" Joshua called, during the Battle Round. "Swift – keep up that punishment!"

"Song of defence!" Brock replied.

Joshua's Houndoom flicked out a cloud of Swift stars from his tail, and Swablu sang a precise, resonant note. An interlocking pattern of musical notes formed a shield around him, one which the Swift stars bounced off with a spang, and Swablu's Protect vanished only a second later as he switched to offence with a ball of shimmering water.

"Burst that Aria!" Joshua said. "Get a Shadow Ball ready!"

Houndoom span up a Shadow Ball, then flicked his tail as well as Joshua called for Swift. The combined barrage of attacks broke the cohesion of the Sparkling Aria – only to reveal that Swablu had sung two songs, one of them a Disarming Voice, and a surge of Fairy-typed energy poured out to hit Houndoom and stagger him.

"Boomburst!" Brock called, and Swablu's voice peaked. He sang a single note which appeared as a visible music-note-shaped shockwave, and it hit all the water from his Sparkling Aria… carrying it into Houndoom, who slid backwards halfway across the stage before tripping over and rolling to a stop.

"An impressive combination there!" Joy commented. "I wondered whether Brock's Swablu had Boomburst and how he'd keep it in-theme, but there it is!"

"How do you like that?" James declared, two crowded minutes after Team Rocket had interrupted the final Battle Round. "If you're going to leave us with decoy Pikachu to choose between, we'll catch them all!"

"And this way we've definitely got your supercharged Pikachu," Jessie added. "Plus whatever these other Pokémon are."

"So don't go complainin' about it!" Meowth finished. "...actually, how come you ain't complainin' about it?"

A paw tapped him on the shoulder.

"This is very impressive!" a Glameow purred, flirting her tail. "Can it hold Ghost types?"

"Well, dat's a weirdly specific question for such a beautiful Pokémon," Meowth admitted. "But no, 'cause Ghost types can go through solid matter, an' you ain't able to make non-solid matter dat dat Pikachu can't break."

Pikachu demonstrated that even their best efforts were barely up to the task by using Thunder and making several dials on Meowth's control console light up alarmingly.

"So… this would be a bad idea for you, then?" Glameow asked, tapping the glass with her tail. It sliced through like the glass was made of cheese, leaving a visible gap, and Pikachu smirked.

"...looks like we're about to decamp," James sighed.

"It'd take industrial equipment to decamp you," Jessie retorted.

"Would an exploding console do?" Pikachu asked. "Hey, Noctowl, Zorua, boost me! I'm going for the distance record!"

The next day, with Brock one Ribbon richer, the friends found that the SS St. Flower was stopping off at Pacifidlog not then but in a few days.

"I guess we should do some training, then!" Ash suggested. "I want to make sure my newer Pokémon are ready for the League! Like Purrloin, and Snorunt, and Ho-Oh!"

"Ho-Oh?" Entei repeated, sniggering.

"Well, he hasn't had a Gym Battle yet!" Ash pointed out. "And I don't really think he's got the idea behind the shield trick yet, though I guess setting himself on fire and daring his opponent to try a physical attack is a bit similar…"

"I don't mean to be rude," someone said. "But if you're going to be doing training of that sort, please do it some distance away."

Ash thought about that.

"Let's go and see some of the scenic islands around here!" he suggested. "What do you think, guys?"

"That could be fun!" Max agreed. "Hey, do you think your Treecko could help Shroomish work on her Bullet Seed?"

"Okay…" May said, a few hours later. "And… Brock has Swablu… Vulpix… Bulbasaur… Onix… Lotad… and Mudkip. There we go."

She pressed a button on her Pokénav, confirming the order list, and a Kadabra materialized with a big sack.

"Thank you," she told the Kadabra, who bowed before vanishing again – leaving the sack.

"That's really convenient," Brock said. "I know most of the time I cook, but sometimes doing Pokémon food for everyone's team is a bit of a distraction."

"You don't have to apologize," May assured him. "But it's good to see that a lifetime supply of Pokéblocks really is a lifetime supply… even if you don't use it most of the time."

A Munchlax walked into the clearing.

"Did you say a lifetime supply of food?" he asked.

Marill giggled. "Are those the magic words?" she said. "At least he won't overstrain the food budget!"

Chapter Text

After a nice voyage on the S.S. St. Flower, with only a little bit of an interruption when someone tried using disguises to steal the Ribbon Cup and fundamentally failed to understand why that was a bad idea around a Zorua, the friends reached Slateport and the site of the Grand Festival.

Drew was there as well, saying he had no idea what May was going to pull out this time but that it was probably going to surprise him, while Harley noticed May from a distance and turned ostentatiously away.

Also, May's mother was there.

"Your father would have come as well, but he's got the gym," she said. "The good news is, I brought all the Pokémon, so they can be in the audience."

"That's great!" May smiled. "I'll do my best to make sure you didn't waste the trip."

"It wouldn't be a waste anyway, dear," Caroline assured her. "It's lovely to see you… and I hear you've got another Normal type now!"

She chuckled. "Your father was so proud when he told me that."

"Knowing Ash and May, that Munchlax isn't remaining normal for long," Max chuckled.

May waved her hand at her brother. "Well, I know he knows Metronome! I'm going to be careful with it, though… Ash's Clefairy has already told me a few stories about Metronomes going badly wrong."

She frowned. "At least, I think that's what the stories were about. She did draw diagrams, which helped."

There were over two hundred people taking part in the Hoenn Grand Festival, and they first had to pass two Appeal rounds – the first to cut them down to sixty-four entrants and the second to reduce them to thirty-two – before getting on to the Battle rounds, which would be Double Battles for an extra level of spectacle.

And difficulty.

Harley gave May some advice, telling her that he'd turned over a new leaf and that she should find something that worked and stick to it, but May told him with a smile that that wouldn't really be fair on her other Pokémon so she'd switch them around like Ash did.

She was still wondering about that advice when her first Appeal round came around, and she sent out Marill.

"Ah, and Miss Maple sends out her Marill – last seen as an Azurill, I believe," the announcer said. "Or just-evolved, at least… let's see what she's got."

"Bubble!" May ordered.

Marill blew out a cloud of bubbles, which hung floating in the air, each one a different size. She bounced around, blowing a whole cloud in a spiral, and May watched for a long moment before deciding it was enough.

"Now, Bounce high!" she called. "And Ice Beam!"

"Right!" Marill agreed, her tail-ball going boiing as she kicked off from the ground, and did a complete forward roll before touching her lips and activating Ice Beam.

Bubbles froze as she fired it down in little bursts – not freezing all the bubbles, just specific ones – and the ones she hadn't hit began to pop and disperse as she came right back down again.

"And… Rollout!" May said, giving her final order as Marill touched down.

The Water-type curled into a ball and began rolling, heading for the first frozen bubble. It was much more thickly encrusted with ice than it looked, and shattered with an audible chime as Marill bounced off towards the next… which burst with another chime, a little higher in pitch.

The remaining six bubbles burst on impact in succession, playing a musical scale that went mi-fa-so-la-ti-do, and Marill unballed before striking a pose.

"I wondered why she'd had Marill make so many bubbles and then only freeze so few of them," Mr. Contesta said. "Interesting!"

He marked down some points. "She must have needed that many just to be sure there would be the right set of sized bubbles, but it's impressive enough to train at spotting them like that."

After the first Appeals round came the second, and – true to her plan – May switched to Bulbasaur.

"Are you sure this is going to be okay?" Bulbasaur asked, a bit nervously, then blushed. "Oh, right… no Vulpix…"

May frowned slightly, then patted Bulbasaur on the head. "You'll do fine," she said. "Don't worry. Think of it like this – you've had plenty of time to practice, right?"

Bulbasaur nodded.

"There you go, then!" she told the Grass-type. "And I'll make sure to remind you, okay?"

She recalled her Pokémon, and walked out onto the grass.

"I think this is going to be Bulbasaur's Contest debut," Brock said. "Let's see how it goes… she's got a different style from my Bulbasaur."

"Well, not that different, since he taught her some of his moves," Vulpix pointed out. "But yes, their aesthetic is a bit different."

"Petal Blizzard!" May called, as she threw the Pokéball, and Bulbasaur emerged already using Petal Blizzard. A whirl of pink petals flashed out, forming a flat disc before spreading into a globe in less than a second, and the globe followed Bulbasaur down.

"And splash!" May added, and the petal swarm splashed like a giant droplet as it hit the ground. Bulbasaur was revealed again inside as the 'droplets' of petals rained down around her, and May pointed in front of them. "Petal promise!"

The petals swapped directions as Bulbasaur turned her swirl from clockwise to anticlockwise, mounting up like a waterspout and whirling off towards the other side of the grass before curling up to form a heart – using the same sort of technique Dragonite had for his precisely controlled Twister. Then the whirlwind unravelled, spreading out into a less well defined shape, and a small curl of still-controlled petals returned to Bulbasaur.

"Finish with flair!" May said.

Bulbasaur blew out a flicker of flame, which lit the petals on fire, and poured more in to nourish the fire as it grew in intensity. Then, all of a sudden, it became a Fire Pledge – which combined with the Grass Pledge – and the combination move detonated with a whoosh that set a quarter of the arena on fire and carried the scent of rose petals to the entire audience.

"Well?" Kirlia asked. "What's going on now?"

"Max doesn't tell me everything, sis," Ralts protested. "If he really really concentrates, I can see a picture, but it's kind of hard… he's only doing it for May's rounds, not the whole competition. She's made it to the battle round now but, uh, Max doesn't know what she's using."

"You're doing very well, dear," Gardevoir told him, with a smile.

"Thanks!" Ralts smiled. "Oh, um, it looks like this is going to be May's turn now. She's sending out her Munchlax, that's the new Pokémon, and…"

Ralts started giggling.

"What is it?" Kirlia said."What's funny?"

"Okay, Swalot, remember the special move we've got ready!" Anthony called. "And keep an eye on those Pokémon, they might have something special planned too!"

"Metronome!" May ordered. "And Copycat!"

"Sludge Bomb!" Anthony said.

Swalot fired out a Sludge Bomb, which burst with a bloosh shortly before reaching May's Pokémon. The wave of poisonous goop spread out, aiming for them, but Munchlax did a twirl with shimmering wings appearing around his shoulder for a moment – his Metronome giving him Steel Wing, letting him deflect the attack in style.

Then May's Skitty sprouted enormous wings of fire, which she beat once to charge past Swalot and catch him a flaming blow.

"Um… Spit Up!" Anthony ordered, and Swalot launched Pinsir at Munchlax. The sudden appearance of the Bug-type drew gasps from the crowd, and he pointed. "Fury Cutter!"

"Metronome!" May called out. "Skitty, Copycat that or Sludge Bomb!"

"Bullet Seed instead!" Anthony ordered in reply.

Swalot began firing Bullet Seed at where Munchlax was retreating and using Metronome, hitting Munchlax harder than Pinsir, but when Munchlax's Metronome triggered it was a Dazzling Gleam.

That, in itself, wasn't a big problem for Pinsir – he more or less ignored it. But what was a much bigger surprise was when Skitty came charging in, did something that Anthony couldn't remotely follow, and hit Pinsir with a bright flash of rock.

It was like the flash of light turned into a slamming impact of rock where it intersected with Pinsir, or… something?

"Munchlax, Mega Punch!" May said, then.

Munchlax crossed his arms. A spectral Snorlax appeared behind him, slid forwards, and punched Pinsir into the air with an uppercut that Pinsir tried to block – it turned out to be hard to block a fist when it could pass through solid rock – while Skitty yowled something and a Delcatty made of sand pounced out from behind her to knock Swalot sliding backwards.

"Sludge Bomb!" Anthony tried.

This time, Skitty copied Swalot's attack… before he'd even used it. A Me-Firsted Sludge Bomb turned into an electrical explosive hit Swalot in the moustache, and he went thump backwards.

"Battle Off!" the referee called. "May Maple is the winner!"

Between rounds, Ash went out to the lawn outside the Contest Arena for a talk.

"Snorunt, I wanted to talk about something," he began. "See… you're – I think – the first Pokémon I've had who has a branching evolution. And the first one who might lose the chance to be something because you accidentally ended up something else."

He rummaged in his bag.

"Phanpy found this earlier today," he said. "It's a Dawn Stone. You could use it to evolve into a Froslass any time… or I could get you an Everstone, and you could delay your decision. Or you could take neither, if what you want to be is a Glalie."

Snorunt tilted her head (which meant her entire body), thinking about it.

"What changes if I become a Froslass?" she asked. "I've only ever met Glalie, I think… I know Glalie can float."

"A Froslass is a Ghost type, as well as an Ice type," Ash said, getting Ibid out.

The unusual Pokédex recognized what he was after, and transformed into a miniature Froslass. "The Snow Land Pokémon. Legends in snowy regions say that a woman who was lost on an icy mountain was reborn as Froslass."

"I haven't heard that one before," Zorua said. "Think Ho-Oh did it?"

Ho-Oh came out of his Timer Ball.

"Before you ask me formally…" he began. "No. I did not. If anything I'd go for a Fire type."

"That's assuming a lot about how much control you have over the process!" Zorua laughed, then ducked out of the way as Ho-Oh flapped a wing at him irritably.

"So… pass through objects, and various other ghostly powers," Snorunt decided. "Versus flying. Hmm. Can I have an Everstone? I'd like to think about it a bit."

"I'm pretty sure that Froslass can fly as well," Pikachu said. "Or float, at least, like Glalie can."

"Oh, well, in that case…" Snorunt mused. "Wait. Can Froslass Mega-Evolve? I know Glalie can."

"Honestly, give Phanpy a week," Zorua told her. "She's taking requests now – look!"

He extracted a night-black stone with a red-and-aqua fleck from his tail fluff. "She's about fifty percent sure this is Zoroarkite. Maybe fifty-five… but that's pretty good odds!"

"Right, everyone ready for the test?" Bayleef asked. "Clefairy?"

"Oui," Clefairy declared, giving a thumbs-up.

"Croconaw? Quilava?"

Two more confirmations.

"Okay, then, Shaymintwo, take it away!" Bayleef said.

Shaymintwo reached into his fuzz and took out a Dragon Gem.

"I hope this one works!" Phanpy said, brightly. "I've only found six of those since yesterday!"

"I hope I end up not needing this crutch," Shaymintwo replied, "Tch."

The gem lit up, and he focused.

"Roar of Time!" he announced.

Energy pulsed outwards, and Shaymintwo blurred into motion.

He bounced between Quilava and Croconaw in an instant, then approached the frozen Clefairy – and she shook her head, once, before beaning him with a Moonblast.

Shaymintwo went flying backwards past Bayleef, though she caught him with her vines.

"I take it it didn't work properly?" she asked.

"Non, c'est une impulsion externe," Clefairy replied.

Bayleef nodded. "So you're slowing down the local timestream, not speeding up your own, which means Clefairy isn't affected much if at all… and it fell apart when you were hit by the Moonblast, I assume?"

"Hmph," Shaymintwo said, annoyed.

"Entei, any insights?" Bayleef added, as Entei padded over.

"Blep," Entei replied, sticking his tongue out.

Quilava sniggered.

"Obviously you need to turn it inside out," Entei added, bouncing on his paws a little. "But next time you try that, I'd like to try doing the catching. Someone shout fetch first!"

In Alola, Kukui stared at his TV.

"...how am I supposed to be an expert in Pokémon attacks when they keep changing the rules like that?" he asked. "Dang… this could Transform our understanding of what moves are, assuming we could work out what the heck that Skitty is even doing."

"So, was I right?" Burnet asked. "This was worth watching."

"I can Confide in you that you were right," Kukui nodded. "I won't Minimize it."

Burnet tried not to laugh.

And, in Goldenrod City, Whitney sat down with one of her newest Pokémon.

"So!" she said. "Don't hesitate to ask questions. We want to get this right. So, you know the Type chart?"

Chatot nodded. "Easy Peasy!"

"Well, when you come across someone with just one or two Badges, that's the main thing you need to check," she told him. "They need to know their Type chart, but not be too reliant on it – I use Miltank for that sometimes because of Scrappy, but obviously you'll need to use other options."

"Example?" Chatot said.

"Well…" Whitney began, pursing her lips into a moue, then snapped her fingers. "Right! So if someone uses a Fighting type to beat a Normal type, obviously that shows good use of type advantage. But then you might want to test them with a Flying type or a Psychic type, like Pidgeotto or Girafarig… and don't forget to put bows on Girafarig's horns and tail, or they'll feel like one head's getting the attention!"

She shrugged. "Or you could use Rapidash! He's a really good counter to Fighting types, and he's still cute after all!"

Chapter Text

"So these stop a Pokémon from evolving," Snorunt said, inspecting her Everstone. "I wonder if they work when someone's also touching an elemental stone?"

"I'm not actually sure about that one," Pikachu admitted. "That might be the only way I could find out what a Thunderstone feels like, because I do not plan on evolving… it is absolutely, one hundred percent, not for me."

"Preach it," Bulbasaur said, holding up a knotted-up vine for Pikachu to fist-bump.

Pikachu did not fist-bump it.

The Grass-type coughed. "...sometimes I forget that Geodude's influence doesn't really stretch beyond the bounds of my own team."

On the field, May sent out her first Pokémon for this round – Beautifly – and had him use Attack Order, then catch the second Pokéball and send out Combusken into the middle of the cloud.

Her opponent sent out a Grumpig and a Volbeat, but there was already a murmur spreading through the crowd.

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Pikachu realized. "I think this is the first time a lot of people have seen May's Combusken flying."

Then the battle round began, and Beautifly started generating a continuous stream of Order drones – half of them englobing him, the other half reaching out to surround Combusken – while Combusken got on with using Fire Spin.

"How do you even battle that?" Kelly asked, shading her eyes to watch.

Every time either Volbeat or Grumpig attacked one of her opponents, the drones swarming around them hardened into a shield which deflected the attack… usually being badly damaged in the process, but Beautifly kept replenishing the Defend Order drones fast enough that they couldn't get through.

Oh, her Pokémon were sending in beautiful attacks… Grumpig using a pulse of psychic energy which Volbeat wove into with an Air Cutter that gave the whole attack a shivering spiral shape, or Volbeat opening with a Water Pulse which Grumpig electrified using Shock Wave… but while it was earning them points for looking very pretty, they weren't getting any for actually doing damage.

"Attack Order!" May called. "Fire Spin!"

Both shields broke up at once, as every single one of Beautifly's drones charged towards Grumpig, and Combusken dropped to the ground before swiping with one arm. Flames came off his claws like trails of fire, wrapping up into spirals which lashed out at Volbeat – not actually hitting him, but forming a cage grid around the Bug-type to trap him in place.

Then the other arm set Beautifly's drones on fire.

"Oh, that's nice," Brock said, checking the schedule. "You remember Drew?"

Max nodded. "Since May's not here, I won't tease her by calling him her boyfriend… but I will mention it, and bring attention to the fact I'm not calling him that."

"Impressive," Vulpix told him. "Meta-commentary."

"I don't know him," Caroline pointed out. "Should I?"

"He'll probably congratulate or commiserate May afterwards, he does that," Brock replied. "And he knocked Harley out of the competition, so he's against May next."

Max muttered something unrepeatable about Harley.

"Max Maple!" Caroline said. "Who taught you those words?"

Vulpix held up a paw. "Probably my fault," she confessed. "Admittedly, the words were all just Vulpix Vulpix Vulpix when I said them."

"Still, at least that means May is battling Drew!" Ash said. "It's good to have a rival. It gives you a good idea how well you're doing…"

He frowned. "Wait, now I think of it, that's only really been the case with Gary and Ritchie, hasn't it? And I only battled them both in the Kanto league. Huh."

"I'm as surprised as you are," Pikachu admitted. "Do Team Rocket count as our rivals now?"

"Ash, your Johto rival was Lance," Brock pointed out, not without justification. "I'm not sure if anyone counts as your Hoenn rival, though."

He checked the time. "I think… it should be about ten minutes until May and Drew battle."

"Let's go!" Drew called, sending out his two Pokémon – first his Flygon, a secret weapon he'd been preparing especially for battling May, and then his Roselia who did a backflip upon emerging.

She landed on Flygon's back, and Drew looked up to see which Pokémon May had sent out – only to do a double-take, and sigh.

May had sent out her Dragonite and Bulbasaur, and Bulbasaur was using her vines to cling onto Dragonite's back.

"Nobody is going to believe we didn't plan this!" he shouted.

"They might if we pointed out we'd both look unoriginal!" May replied. "Okay, guys, just stick to the plan!"

"Begin!" the announcer called.

"Sandstorm!" Drew ordered, and Flygon's wings trembled as the Dragon-type set up a resonance with the ground. Sand rose into the air, and he did a backflip to sweep it towards Dragonite and Bulbasaur.

That meant that the two other Pokémon had to dodge, but Drew couldn't help but admit that they made it look good. Bulbasaur's Petal Blizzard spread out in a puff when Dragonite's wings beat, accentuating every move the other Dragon-type made, and sweeping along behind him like a floral contrail.

"Towards the tail!" Drew called, and Roselia daintily stepped back along Flygon's spine – using a very carefully moderated Ingrain to stay in place, even now that Flygon was dodging left and right to avoid a Petal Blizzard Hurricane… then a Twister, which was augmented moments later when Bulbasaur swung down on a Vine Whip and began using a spiralling Water attack to make things harder for Flygon.

"Dragon Tail!" Drew instructed.

Flygon flicked his tail, catapulting Roselia towards roughly where Dragonite was probably about to be, and Magical Leaves swirled around both her flowers.

A glittering pink light shone from inside the Magical Leaves, and Drew had only just seen it coming himself when May reacted.

"Reel in!" she called. "Let go and backflip!"

Roselia used Dazzling Gleam, but Bulbasaur was already there and in the way. Half the stadium lit up with side-scatter from the brilliant flash of Fairy-light, and the petals swirling everywhere outlined exactly where Roselia's attack had hit and where it hadn't – and Dragonite was safely inside a Bulbasaur-shaped cone of darkness.

"Fire and water!" May said. "Hurricane!"

Flygon had to zip in to catch Roselia, and was just pulling away again with a balletic multi-winged flip when May's Bulbasaur caught them both in a tornado of heated water and lit up a whole side of the arena with a rainbow.

Drew had to admit, it did look nice.

That was the annoying thing about being beaten by a good Coordinator. They made it look spectacular… not that his Pokémon were beaten yet, but he could see the way the points were going.

"Dragonbreath!" he called, as both his Pokémon broke out of the tornado. "And Magical Leaf!"

"Great work, everyone!" May said. "And I'm proud of you, Bulbasaur. That was a great intro to Contest battles."

"I'm glad to hear it was at least a bit difficult," Drew commented.

May looked up at him. "Are you always going to wait around after the two of us are in the same place?"

"Don't know," Drew replied, pushing away from the wall and shrugging. "It seems to be working out so far… got any more Pokémon I haven't seen yet? Knowing who you travel with I half expect you to have a Legendary Pokémon."

May frowned. "Technically I do, but he's really my brother's, because Max can't catch Pokémon yet."

Drew put his head in his hands. "Every time I try to exaggerate I just end up describing the literal situation with you…"

"Just a few battles to go," Mr. Sukizo said. "And I'm sure they'll be truly wonderful."

"So am I," Raoul Contesta agreed. "You have a remarkable eye for talent, old friend. And talent is what's on full display today."

The Slateport Joy had snorted at Contesta's use of the word remarkable, then arranged her hands on her desk. "Well, they can't get started until the next pair is announced… ah, I see it's May Maple and Janet Toyoguchi. I wonder who they'll be using?"

"Good afternoon," Janet said, giving May a respectful bow. "I'm very impressed by your Beautifly."

"Thank you," May replied, touched. "I'm quite proud of him… sorry I don't have much to say about your Pokémon, though."

"It's fine," Janet assured her. "May the best Coordinator win… which doesn't mean I'm necessarily saying that May is the best Coordinator, of course."

Both Coordinators had their Pokéballs ready, and then by a kind of unspoken mutual agreement May sent hers out first.

Dragonite returned to the arena, this time hovering upside down, and Marill came out of her Pokéball before landing daintily on the tip of Dragonite's tail. She blew a stream of bubbles, did a twirl for the audience, then jumped and Dragonite flipped around underneath her before catching her.

"That was nice," Caroline complimented. "Marill's such a well-mannered Pokémon. I wonder if May's been teaching her ballet?"

Then she blinked. "Oh! That's an interesting pair of Pokémon May will be battling."

One of Janet's Pokémon was a Mawile, who curtseyed before returning to a ready stance. The other was a Bronzor, but not simply blue like a normal Bronzor – instead, enamel paint appeared to have been used to depict a double-teardrop sigil over a rainbow background.

Then Mawile Mega-Evolved, and picked up Bronzor.

"Begin!" the announcer said, and Mega Mawile used Fling.

Dragonite ducked, barely avoiding being hit by the Gyro-Balling Bronzor, then May had to shout a warning as Mega Mawile used Attract and Bronzor reversed direction to fly straight back at the Fairy-type.

"Don't use Twister!" May said. "Not on Mawile – no, use Fling and Twister! Marill, Iron Tail!"

Marill went flying towards Mega Mawile at high speed, her tail glittering, and the Twister swirled around her without affecting her. It made it harder to tell where she was, but Mega Mawile did a complete spin before blocking the incoming Marill with Bronzor held up as a sturdy shield.

Iron Tail hit Steel-Type with a wham, and Mega Mawile did a backflip a moment later. She used Charge Beam, directing it into Bronzor, then threw the Psychic-type out a moment later on a curving pattern that just avoided Marill before zooming out towards Dragonite.

"Hurricane!" May said.

"Attract – now stop!" Janet replied, which pulled Bronzor off course so Dragonite's attack missed. "Now Solar Beam!"

"Fairy Wind to block!" May said.

The Solarbeam, when it came, bounced off Bronzor and hit Marill from the side. She noticed it the moment it happened and Bounced out of the way, avoiding the worst of it, but it was still a clever move which was good for points, and May glanced at the scoreboard.

Then she visibly decided not to look at the scoreboard, and focus on her Pokémon.

This time, it was Caroline who met May at the exit to the arena.

"I'm so proud of you, May," she said, gathering her daughter up in a hug.

"I didn't win, though," May protested. "So it feels a bit weird to be told that… is that okay?"

"Your feelings are okay, May," her mother told her. "And I would have been proud of your accomplishments if you'd won the Grand Festival. But you made it into the top four on your first time – that's an incredibly impressive achievement."

She finally released May from her embrace, and looked her in the eyes. "And, May… when you lost, you told your opponent they'd done a good job. You told your Pokémon they'd done a good job. I'm proud of you because losing a battle like this has to be a disappointment, and today you've shown me how you cope with that… which is just the way you should."

This time, May was the one to start the hug.

"Thanks, Mom," she whispered. "For putting that just the right way."

At Opelucid Academy, Gym Leader Drayden stood in front of a class.

"Today, you have a special assignment," he told his students. "Your task is to work out what particular properties make a trainer likely to become the trainer of a Legendary Pokémon."

There were a few sniggers in the class.

"I am completely serious," he informed them, seriously. "If you find out, please let us know."

Chapter Text

"Day four," Max said, writing in a notebook. "We have not seen another human being since ending up on this island. Strange noises echo and I'm not sure what's going on. Our food supplies are running out."

May tried valiantly not to laugh. "We flew here by Dragonite, Max! And what do you mean, our food supplies are running out?"

"I'm trying to make it sound as dramatic as possible without actually lying," Max replied. "Plus, we're going shopping tomorrow."

"Ooh, if there's shopping tomorrow can you get some peas?" Shroomish requested. "I like those."

"I'll write it down on the list," Max said. "Just… not next to the dramatic stuff, it wouldn't fit."

"Okay, I think that's working out pretty well," Pikachu said. "Great work, Croconaw!"

Croconaw beamed.

"Pikachu's right, that bit with the sweeping movement has really added to the control," Ash said.

Hey! Mew called. Do you have a moment?

He zipped over to Ash's bag. Don't worry, nothing urgent, I just need to borrow your mirror to teach Purrloin something.

"Oh, is it something involving Giratina?" Ash asked, as Pikachu looked back and forth between Purrloin and Mew and then tilted his head slightly. "Or just a mirror?"

About halfway between the two, really, Mew told him. Aha, here we are!

He plucked out the mirror, and tilted it a bit. No, don't worry, nothing urgent.

Giratina swam away from the other side, and Purrloin inspected it. "So that's the Reverse World?"

Yep! Mew agreed. So to do this one, you're going to want to travel there… hmm, actually we might need Giratina's help to give you some experience with that… anyway, you want to sort of dip into the dimensional boundary just a bit. Then you'll get ejected really really fast when it springs back, and that's how Shadow Force works! It's great for dodging attacks too… they can't hit you if you're not in the universe!

Purrloin giggled, tail flicking. "I bet that'd be a surprise! Especially if I was pretending to be Charizard at the time..."

"So I'm guessing it's my turn to work on the mysterious shield, then?" Snorunt said, a couple of days later – with three intensive training days to go before they left to go to the Ever Grande Conference. "I've heard a lot about it."

"Yep!" Ash agreed. "I wanted to make sure you'd got some options first, it is more advanced and you need to have a good handle on the basic move… but the idea is that you have a move that creates some kind of effect, like fire, water, ice, wind – it can be a lot of things – and you continuously manipulate it, so it forms a shield around you."

Snorunt exhaled a puff of Powder Snow, waved her hands at it, then tried Icy Wind. That had a bit more of a curve to it, but she huffed before using Powder Fire.

"You don't have to get it straight away," Ash assured her. "There's more to learn about how it's used, and then we can talk about what move to use as a basis."

"No, no, I want to work out what move to use by experimenting," Snorunt replied, and did a spin. This time she exhaled a cloud of shimmering mist, which hung in the air even after she stopped… and when she used Icy Wind, it set the mist moving.

"All right, that's great!" Ash told her. "It's sticking around and you're moving it, so we just need to work on directing it a bit more… and having it so you don't disturb it when you use Fire moves too, I guess. What move's that?"

"Sheer Cold," Snorunt replied. "I wondered about trying to turn it into Sheer Hot but that's probably something to only try when we're not near something flammable."

"Yeah, like this island," Pikachu agreed.

The setting of the Ever Grande Conference was a beautiful sight from overhead, and the friends circled once on their various flying Pokémon before coming down to land somewhere convenient.

"Does this particular Pokémon League have a sacred flame?" Ho-Oh asked, as Ash slid down off his back. "And if so, what Pokémon is it for? I know the Indigo League has Moltres, while the Silver Conference has good taste and the Orange Islands have a Dragonite…"

"The schedule mentioned a torch relay to open the event," Brock told him, getting down off Zapdos. "But I don't actually know."

"I was wondering if Entei wanted to be the patron of a Conference," Ho-Oh explained. "Hmm. I wonder if a Victini has lit the flame for any of the Pokémon Leagues…"

"Aha!" a voice called. "There you are!"

Steven waved. "I was wondering if you'd show up, Ash… I suppose I should have known you'd be here on time. Though I think a few other competitors were hoping you wouldn't be."

"You are the Grand Champion, correct?" Ho-Oh asked. "I'd like to see about a job for my son… do you currently have a patron for the torch flame?"

Steven shook his head. "I'm afraid we do, it's the flame of a Moltres."

"Moltres again," Ho-Oh grumped. "I'm made of flame as well, it's just normally shaped like feathers… and, you know, on a conceptual level rather than being visible all the time."

"Sinnoh doesn't have a patron, if that helps?" Steven suggested.

"It does," Ho-Oh told him. "Thank you. I shall have to ask someone in authority before Ash challenges that one."

Steven nodded, glad that that was sorted out, then turned to Ash. "I'm expecting to see you really impress!" he said. "And I heard about the Mega Castform. You've been doing a lot to advance Mega Evolution science."

He rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be a very interesting Pokémon League!"

"Are you… allowed to be biased like that?" May asked.

"That's a very good question," Steven said, frowning. "I should probably ask Wallace."

It was another day until the start of the Conference, and Ash didn't get his first battle until the afternoon.

With so many trainers taking part, the first part of the League was a preliminary round. That meant a one-on-one battle between trainers, each only allowed one Pokémon, and the loser was automatically eliminated while the winner could stay in the competition.

"All right," the referee said. "Pick your Pokémon, and send them out!"

Ash's opponent sent out a Manectric, and Ash retaliated with Swellow.

"Hah," Manectric snorted. "Easy pickings."

"Easy, Manectric," his trainer said. "That's Ash Ketchum. There's got to be something strange going on."

The referee swiped his hand down, giving the order to begin, and Manectric opened with Shock Wave as Swellow flew to the side.

Swellow lit up like a fireworks display… and kept lighting up, the electricity blasting over her wing but not actually doing her any harm.

"What's going on?" Manectric demanded.

"Try something stronger!" his trainer said. "Discharge!"

This time Manectric howled, electricity exploding out from him in all directions, and when he finished Swellow was…

...gone.

"...okay, I didn't hit them that hard," Manectric said.

"Look at Ash!" his trainer said. "He's not worried about it-"

Manectric was slugged into the air by a powerful blow that came from directly below.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Magnet Rise!" his trainer said. "Damp out the landing!"

The air turned greasy as Manectric used Magnet Rise, preventing the impact from being as bad as it could have been, but then all the electricity drained away towards his opponent and both Pokémon and trainer saw what they were actually fighting.

"Huh, I didn't think Purrloin looked like that," the trainer said. "And it didn't look like that before, that's really weird… wait, maybe it's the Zorua or something?"

Purrloin flicked her tail, now coated with the stolen lightning from three different electric moves.

"Dark Pulse!" Ash ordered, and Purrloin's tail swiped across like a blade. It came nowhere near Manectric, but a wave of Dark energy hit Manectric anyway, and Ash's opponent clenched his fist.

"Hyper Beam!" he ordered.

Manectric opened his mouth, charged up, and had just enough time to wonder why Purrloin wasn't even trying to dodge before opening fire.

The feline Pokémon ignored his attack, then used Moonblast.

"...so, Ash's opening move is a Pokémon where even after seeing it fight an entire battle we've no idea what it is or what type it is," Sidney summarized. "Seems about par for the course."

"Personally, I think it was a Ghost," Phoebe said. "I can't explain the electricity ignoring though, unless it was a Marowak or… hmm. Golett? Yamask?"

"Knowing Ash, it could have been his Noctowl," Steven suggested.

"What's it like running a double battle, sis?" Max asked. "You've done it a few times, I know."

May thought about that before replying.

"You need to think a lot more about interactions," she said. "Firstly because you can end up causing yourself trouble – like that kid we just saw, his Wailmer using Surf really didn't help his poor Slugma… but also because there's a lot you can do with combining moves and attacks. So… it's a lot more work?"

"And there are some moves that normally only work in double battles," Brock said. "Not that that's stopped Ash's Pokémon from using Ally Switch en masse."

"Did you hear the way he told those Dragonite off?" Vulpix asked. "It's been several months and I'm surprised any of their ears have stopped ringing…"

"There he is," Max said, pointing. "I wonder who he's using today?"

"Thanks for coming along, Larvitar!" Ash called, sending the Rock-type out with a flash, then added Snorunt to the mix a moment later.

"Morning," she said.

"It is a nice morning, isn't it?" Larvitar agreed.

Ash's opponent – Luke – sent out a Skarmory and a Camerupt, and Ash thought for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, Larvitar, you know what to do," Ash said. "Snorunt, listen out for reminders!"

"Begin!" the referee called, and Luke pointed.

"Skarmory, Fly!" he called. "Lava Plume!"

Camerupt's two cones detonated, sending a rain of flaming fragments all over the arena, and Larvitar used Sandstorm to form a sand shield around himself.

"Sheer Ice shield!" Ash called, and Snorunt did much the same – using Icy Wind to shape it and Sheer Cold to fuel it, meaning that when the first flaming rock crashed down it didn't knock Snorunt out for the count but instead just splattered some water everywhere with a hiss.

"Steel Wing!" Luke ordered. "Camerupt, Earthquake!"

"Jump!" Ash retaliated. "Fire Beam!"

"Sorry, what?" Luke said, looking at Larvitar to see what was about to happen.

He almost missed it when Snorunt swept aside her battered shield and launched a beam of orange light at Skarmory, who yelped in shock as he heated up cherry-red – then abruptly froze solid, as Snorunt cut out the beam and Skarmory went crash into the ground.

Most of the ice broke on impact, and Snorunt hadn't escaped unscathed – she hadn't timed the jump right and had taken a hit from the Earthquake – but Skarmory's wings were clogged up with ice and his take-off attempt failed.

"Ember your teammate!" Luke said.

"Now, Larvitar!" Ash called. "Stomping Tantrum!"

"What now?" Luke demanded, then saw what Larvitar had been doing with the sand he'd been producing.

A Tyranitar statue, made entirely out of sand, stamped a foot before charging towards Camerupt.

"Icethrower!" Ash commanded, and Snorunt made a pass with her hand.

This time, a stream of ice and snow came out, which made sense right up until it hit Skarmory for five seconds and at the end of it Skarmory was somehow on fire.

"...please don't have any of your Pokémon learn those moves, lass," Drake requested.

"No promises," Glacia replied, smirking. "Assuming I can figure out what on earth is even going on myself…"

The second match saw Ash's opponent – a trainer called Sarah – send out a Shiftry and a Wigglytuff, while Ash sent out Dragonite and Snorlax.

"Oh, you're kidding," she said. "A Dragonite?"

Sarah blinked. "Why is it wearing a crown… oh, that's a King's Rock."

Shiftry and Wigglytuff turned to her, and she clenched a fist. "Right! Wigglytuff, get ready with Ice Beam – focus on the Dragonite. Shiftry, Low Kick on Snorlax."

Both her Pokémon nodded.

"Begin!" the referee called.

"Agility!" Ash ordered, and Sarah did a double-take as suddenly Snorlax was standing where Wigglytuff had been a moment before.

Wigglytuff bounced off the arena wall with a squeak sound, then Dragonite beat his wings as Ash called for him to use Hurricane.

"Counter that Hurricane!" Sarah ordered.

Shiftry whirled up a Hurricane of his own and threw it at the approaching air disturbance, but much to his surprise the Hurricane hadn't been a slap of air aimed to blow him away. Instead it was an air current blowing from Shiftry to Dragonite, and Shiftry's addition had just made it all the stronger as it whirled the Grass-type into the air and yanked him towards Dragonite.

"Hello!" King Dragonite said brightly. "How are you enjoying the battle?"

"Let me go!" Shiftry demanded, flailing his leaves.

"That's not really how hugs work," Dragonite replied. "That's okay, though, I'm happy to give you a demonstration!"

"Bounce!" Sarah called. "Dazzling Gleam!"

"Steel Wing!" Ash replied.

Because he was a nice dragon, Dragonite used his Steel Wings to shield Shiftry from the attack as well as himself.

Then Snorlax slammed Wigglytuff into the ground hard enough to leave a crater, because he wasn't quite so nice.

"So, I've been taking notes," Phoebe said. "In case he ends up making it through and we have to battle him. How would you deal with a hyperspeed Snorlax?"

"Hmm…" Steven mused. "Trick Room? I assume you'd use a Ghost type, of course."

"Well… that's the thing," Phoebe admitted. "I don't know if that Snorlax has a way to damage Ghosts, but if it does it would be hard to stop with just one Pokémon…"

She considered. "Maybe Sableye would work?"

"Do you think we're allowed to sit up here?" Suicune said, peering down from the stadium roof. "It feels like if it were allowed there would be a lot more people up here."

Raikou blew upwards, ruffling the fur around her muzzle. "I think if they cared about that they'd have noticed by now."

"Perhaps," Suicune conceded. "I wonder if the rules are stricter in the main stadium, though…"

She shook her head. "In any case. It looks like Ash's third battle is about to begin, and his opponent is using… Sealeo and Exploud, while he's using Heracross and Bayleef."

Raikou gave her a look. "Are you doing audio description for the vision impaired?"

The Water-type blinked. "That is a very good question, to which I will have an answer once I think of one."

A minute or so later, in the Elite Four's viewing room, Glacia's jaw dropped.

"What," she said. "That Bayleef just turned a Blizzard attack into water!"

"It doesn't make any sense, it's true," Drake agreed. "But you seem to be taking it pretty hard."

"Of course I am!" Glacia replied. "I had tea with Lorelei three months ago! She said Ash used Bayleef against her! She didn't warn me!"

Chapter Text

"Welcome to the main stadium!" Mr. Goodshow said, the next morning. "You thirty-two Pokémon trainers are in the finals… and no matter who you are, I hope to see some excellent battling!"

There were cheers from the crowd, and Ash grinned.

He hoped that, too. It'd be nice to win, but the real fun of a Pokémon League tournament was everyone competing to really push the limits of what their Pokémon could do.

To show how much they'd grown, and what they were capable of.

Ash still wasn't really sure what being a Pokémon Master was. It could be a lot of things. But it felt like… it was like one of those things Zacian sometimes said, about mastering a skill in battle.

It wasn't about making it so you could tell your sword what to do, if you had a sword. It was about your sword being an extension of yourself, if you had a sword. So that it was as natural as picking something up without looking because you knew where it was, and you didn't have to watch your hand move, if you had a hand.

In retrospect Zacian's metaphor had been a little confused.

"It's a pity these don't update automatically," Max grumbled, writing in the next battle on his top-32 bracket – Ash against a trainer called Katie. "I don't know how you'd do that, but it'd be helpful."

"Kids these days," Bulbasaur said, knowingly.

"I think I actually qualify as a kids-these-days, don't I?" Bulbasaur replied, scratching her head. "Do you? What's the age cutoff for a kid?"

"I don't think it's an age thing," Brock said. "It's… possibly something to do with attitude? But I think both of you are younger than Max."

Bulbasaur considered that, then nodded his head. "Probably, yes," he concurred.

"Plus, if you consider age to be some kind of dividing line, you have to deal with the existence of Mew," Vulpix said, yawning. "And deal with is the right word…"

She shook herself. "Still too early in the morning…"

"Oh, hey, there's Unown," Max said. "And the battle's started! Um… does anyone have any binoculars? Unown is hard to see at this distance."

"I've got some, but whenever you borrow them you leave the focus wrong," May told him.

Max shaded his eyes, squinting. "Uh… V, I, C, R… I don't know any moves like that."

"I think that I was sideways," May replied. "It was a dash-"

Max put his hand over one eye, and a moment later Katie's Scizor was smashed into the ground by an enormous flaming explosion that half-filled the arena.

"Ouch," Brock said, shaking his head. "That made my eyes hurt!"

"How?" Bulbasaur said.

"I do have eyes, you know," Brock protested.

"Yes, you can tell they're hurt because he's squinting," Vulpix said, then ducked away from a swipe.

"Destiny bond," Phoebe said, some minutes later. "Well, it's a way to deal with a Legendary Pokémon."

"I feel sorry for Latias," Steven admitted. "Are you planning on using Destiny Bond if Ash makes it to you, Phoebe?"

Phoebe considered it.

"Probably not much," she decided, eventually. "Only if one of his Pokémon looks like sweeping right through my whole team… I've only got one who knows it anyway. It's a bit hard to train."

Drake snorted. "I can imagine. Not easy to get much practice without going into the Pokémon Centre so often they'd know your drinks order, and the Pokémon you were teaching wouldn't be happy either."

Meanwhile, in Kanto, the Elite Four – along with a few guests – lay back and watched as Ash's battle continued.

"It seems weird for someone to be sending out a Glalie against an Articuno," Lorelei said, chuckling. "Then you remember that that Articuno is Psychic type, not Ice, and it makes a lot more sense."

"A bit more sense," Koga corrected. "Ash's Pokémon are varied, but I think they all share the property that Type Advantage is not necessarily much help."

He frowned. "Actually, it occurs to me. Does anyone know if he's used Giratina recently?"

All the other gathered Elite Four and Prospective Elite Four turned to stare at him.

"Ash used Giratina's help to bypass my gym challenge," Koga explained. "It was odd… it just occurred to me to ask, that's all."

Will raised his hand, a little hesitantly. "And by gym challenge, you mean…"

"It's a maze," Koga said.

Bruno sniggered. "You can't have expected that!"

"It was a bit unexpected," Koga conceded.

"Aha, there we go," Lorelei said, drawing their attention back to the screen. "His Articuno just cut an ice beam in half with her wing… again."

"Are we actually sure this is Articuno?" Karen said, hesitantly. "And not, um… a disguised Seedot or something?"

Lance opened his mouth, raised his hand, then frowned. "That is surprisingly hard to refute," he admitted.

Then Articuno used Mystical Fire.

"At this point I'm starting to think we need a Ditto to tell what Ash's Pokémon are," Lance added.

"That's one down, and four to go!" Pikachu said. "Nice work, guys!"

Articuno rolled her head around on her neck. "That was a proper battle, that was."

She sighed. "That's it for me in the tournament, though, I assume?"

"I might want you back for the Elite Four battles, but I'm not certain," Ash admitted. "Glacia is going to have seen that, so she'll be ready for it now."

Articuno shrugged. "Worth it," she declared. "It's funny watching a trainer from somewhere where Articuno are Ice type handling it when one drops fire on them."

She flipped over, landing on Ash's outstretched arm, and furled her wings. "Who are you planning to use next? I'll let them know."

"Silver wanted a go, so probably him first," Ash decided. "After that… I think Entei's still in the Safari Ball, but I'm going to check that."

"I want to know where he got all these Legendary Pokémon," Will said, during Ash's next battle, as Silver rolled out of the way of a Dark Pulse before replying with a concussive blast of air pressure. "They're not just lying around in caves, are they?"

"Even if they were, most people have to battle to capture powerful Pokémon," Lance replied. "Or raise them. Ash has such an outrageous relationship with that kind of thing… you know he actually met that Lugia when he was about seven? Misty told me the story once."

Karen did a double-take. "Seven?"

"I'm just passing on what she said he said…" Lance defended himself.

"Well done, Silver!" Ash said, holding up the Lugia's Dive Ball. "Come on back!"

"Right!" Silver agreed, nodding, and returned himself with a flash of red light.

Ash's opponent – a trainer called Brendan who he remembered from LaRousse – nodded in recognition, then sent out his Swampert at the same time as Ash sent out Entei.

"We picked up a new trick since I last saw you!" Brendan announced. "Swampert!"

Swampert clashed his fists together, and Mega-Evolved in a flare of gold-and-orange light.

"That's cool!" Ash said, pleased. "Okay, Entei, time to use your new trick too!"

"Lava Plume!" Entei declared. "Woof."

His mane rippled, and a small volcanic eruption took place on his back. The plume rose up to about three feet, then spread out in a flat disc, and ash fall began raining down underneath it.

The miniature volcano intensified, producing more rock and ash fall in a kind of flowing torus shape that carried more and more air along with it – until Entei's paws left the ground, propelled up by the downwards-flowing current of heated rock and ash.

"I'm still not sure how this one works," Pikachu admitted.

"Well, Suicune can fly, and Raikou can fly, so clearly Entei can fly too," Ash said. "Makes sense to me."

Steven blinked. "...okay, on the one hand that's a very impressive bonsai Vesuvian eruption, but on the other hand how exactly is that allowing Entei to fly?"

"Beats me, boss," Sidney admitted.

Phoebe stated laughing.

"That's hilarious!" she said.

"What's hilarious?" Steven asked.

Swallowing, Phoebe stopped giggling long enough to answer. "I… hee… I think the idea is that… well, you know how when a helicopter is flying the blades look like a flat disc? I think that's where he started, anyway."

Steven looked again, then snapped his fingers. "Yes, I think you're right – and the rest is a jet of air, I think. That's good to know."

Several minutes and three Pokémon later, Brendan cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Earthquake, Aggron!" he called. "That Phanpy's still on the ground!"

Aggron used Earthquake, but as the attack happened Phanpy launched herself into the air with Flamethrower. The boost kicked her away from the range of Aggron's actual attack, and she bounced twice before peeling out in a wide turn.

"Phaan!" she announced.

"Fling!" Ash replied.

"Look out, Aggron!" Brendan called, then Phanpy skidded to a halt and threw something orange at Aggron. It hit with a crash, shattering, and Aggron caught fire.

"A Flame Orb?" Brendan said, blinking. "Where'd she get it from? She should be on fire by this point!"

He shook his head. "Aggron – Ice Beam yourself! Cool yourself down!"

Aggron raised his hands and used Ice Beam on them, sending a cooling wash of blue light through his form.

"Now turn it on her!" Brendan added.

"Flamethrower!" Ash retaliated, and Phanpy turned into a spinning flame-bladed projectile again. This time she rolled over onto her side, and began bouncing around the arena with a klang klang klang sound that collided with Aggron several times.

"Stone Edge!" Brendan said. "Form a defensive wall!"

Ash gave Phanpy a hug. "Nice work, Phanpy! You really got a lot of use out of that Fling."

"I don't know why more Pokémon don't use tactical Mega Evolution!" Phanpy replied brightly. "Mega Aggron's just a Steel Type, so it was easier to get Flamethrower to work!"

"Uh… question?" Brendan asked.

Ash looked up. "Huh? Is something wrong?"

Brendan held up the Aggronite. "Don't you want this back?"

"Oh, no," Ash shook his head. "That's the second Aggronite Phanpy's found. You can keep it."

Brendan blinked a few times, not sure what to say, then laughed. "I guess I'll just take that, then! Thanks!"

He grinned. "And at least I've got a great badge of honour now… being beaten by Ash Ketchum!"

"That's as it should be, honestly," Pikachu declared.

Steven's jaw was still hanging open.

"Wow, boss," Sidney said. "Never seen you like this before."

"He made his opponent Mega Evolve," Steven said. "He made his opponent. Mega Evolve. To make them easier to defeat."

He rubbed his temples. "I spent a day talking to that Phanpy about how she finds Mega Stones, and talking to Suicune about the Legendary Pokémon who makes Mega Stones, and… I think I can honestly say I've never thought of that one before. Mega Evolution is such a power boost that…"

Steven stopped, then began to laugh.

"Even if he doesn't reach me – even if he doesn't win the League – I want to challenge him anyway," he declared. "Ash has the kind of insights that almost never come along. I want to see more of them!"

"Dig!" Ash called, in his next battle – against a trainer called Morrison, currently using a Metang.

Quilava smashed at the ground with his forepaw, then slipped inside before Metang's Confusion attack could hit him, and Morrison frowned as he considered the situation.

"Make sure you stay in the air," he said. "That way Quilava can't use Dig on you… and get ready to hit him as soon as he comes out of the ground."

"Taaang," Metang confirmed, scanning the ground.

"Mr. Ketchum?" the referee said, after several tense seconds. "Your Pokémon cannot remain underground indefinitely, or you will forfeit the match."

"I know," Ash replied. "Quilava, get ready to come back – now!"

Quilava burst out of the ground on a plume of flame, shooting up higher than Metang had been hovering in the first place, and the Psychic-type shot a Confusion attack at Ash's Fire-type.

Twisting in the air, Quilava avoided the worst of it, then swooped down towards Metang and hit him with a Fire Punch.

"Counter with Meteor Mash!" Morrison said. "Match him punch for punch!"

Quilava used Fire Punch again, but this time Metang hit him hard enough to knock him to the ground. He slid along it for a second or so, then his hindpaw contacted a rock, and he compressed himself like a spring to launch himself right back at Metang again with a Flame Wheel.

"Iron Defence!" Morrison instructed. "And keep up that Meteor Mash!"

The crashing impacts kept happening, Quilava moving faster each time, but Metang was a tough Pokémon and its Iron Defence made it especially good at dealing with physical impacts. Each one only knocked the Iron Claw Pokémon sliding backwards an inch or two in the air, and the recoil from its punches didn't do much more, while Quilava kept pinging back and forth at a much greater speed.

"Now!" Ash said suddenly. "Rock Slide!"

Quilava pinged up, this time, and clapped his hands together. A ring of light appeared around him before suddenly turning into more than a dozen rocks, and he kicked off from three of them to make them fall much faster than gravity alone would allow.

The impact knocked Metang down, all the rocks coming in such quick succession that its normal ability to float was temporarily overloaded, and it hit the ground with a crash.

Which was the point at which the ground exploded underneath him.

"Wow!" Flannery said, as the flames died down. "What was that?"

"I think that was a Lava Plume," her grandfather replied. "Though I've no idea why it only went off then."

"It worked!" Ash cheered. "Nice one, Quilava!"

Quilava chuckled.

"That was…" Morrison began, then nodded. "I see! Your Quilava set a trap underground, and that's why he was down there so long!"

"Yeah, that one took a lot of time to work out!" Ash admitted. "Your Metang was tough, though – it seemed like the best option."

"Then I'll have to choose my next Pokémon carefully," Morrison said. "Growlithe! Watch out for falling rocks!"

Chapter Text

"Have you ever thought of evolving your Onix, Brock?" May asked, as Morrison sent out a Steelix and Ash switched from Croconaw to Raikou. "I know he wouldn't be a Rock type any more, but he'd still be a Ground type."

"It's a good question," Brock agreed, thinking. "It's something I've considered, in the past, but neither Onix nor I am sure about it."

Steelix Mega-Evolved with a flash of light, and May pointed. "Plus, you could do that. Onix adores you, so I think you'd find it easy."

"I'm fairly sure there are Megas for Venusaur and Swampert, too, so there's a few Pokémon Brock could Mega-Evolve if they evolved," Eevee contributed. "And maybe there's a Mega Eevee! Ooh, what if Mega Eevee is just Ditto?"

Max sniggered.

"Raikou!" Ash called, down on the field. "Electric Terrain!"

Raikou jumped over a tail sweep by Mega Steelix, Steel Wings shining on her back as she stayed in the air to avoid the follow-up Earthquake, then blasted the whole arena with electricity.

"Great!" Ash added. "Now back down!"

Landing with a thump of her paws, Raikou channelled all the electricity right back into her. Her storm-cloud fizzed with stray charge, and she raised a paw.

Mega Steelix rumbled towards her, using Bulldoze, and she blurred forwards to tap him on the nose.

"Boop," she said, and used Thunder That Breaks The Earth.

"Boop?" Pikachu repeated. "Boop? Now everyone's going to think the move is called boop."

"At least she got it right this time!" Ash replied. "Great work, Raikou!"

"Thank you!" Raikou said, loping back over. "Did I get it right?"

Pikachu turned his gaze to the electrocuted and offended-looking Steelix, then back to Raikou.

"Yes," he said. "Good work."

Ash gave Raikou a scratch, and she made a sound halfway between a woof and a purr.

"Just three battles to go," Steven said. "First we see whether it's Ash or Marcus making it to the finals against Tyson, then the third-fourth playoff, and then we find out who's challenging us this year."

"It's been a good year," Glacia mused. "Don't you think so?"

Sidney sniggered. "You mean Ash keeps doing nonsense on schedule."

He nodded into the arena. "Look. He's sent out his Noctowl."

Phoebe frowned. "I'm not sure that is his Noctowl. Given what we've seen so far, it could be any of his Pokémon with the ability to look like something else and fly. Or any of the Pokémon which haven't shown off the ability to do that yet. Or a Pokémon he hasn't been seen using yet."

"This stuff does your head in, eesh," Sidney grumbled. "At least a Ninjask is a good fast Pokémon."

Down below, Ash waited for the referee's signal – then raised his voice.

"Sky Attack!" he said.

"Toxic!" Marcus replied. "U-Turn!"

"Ooh," Phoebe whistled. "Risky."

Ninjask blurred in, hitting Noctowl, then flipped around and hit him again. The Bug-type moved fast enough to get in both hits before Noctowl's Sky Attack charge was ready, and when he went back into his Pokéball he was replaced by a Xatu who spread her wings in a flare of psychic energy.

Noctowl's Sky Attack formed a screeching Moltres shape which went diving down towards Xatu, but Ash swiped his hands out. "Don't use it!" he said. "Keep it ready – use Fiery Wrath!"

"Light Screen!" Marcus replied, and Xatu formed a screen of psychic energy to deflect herself from the incoming flames. They went straight through, however, turning out to be Dark type rather than properly Fire type, and Xatu shook her head in irritation.

Sidney snorted. "Tough Xatu," he observed.

"Psyshock!" Marcus said.

"Night Daze!" Ash retorted.

Phoebe snapped her fingers. "So it must be Zorua… right?"

That theory was disproved a moment later, when the Psyshock knocked Noctowl backwards a bit even as the Night Daze hit Xatu through her shield for a second time.

Steven stroked his chin. "Is it possible that that's just Noctowl?"

They considered it.

"Could work," Drake said.

"Left, Latios!" Ash called, towards the end of the battle. "Fly!"

The Psychic-type zipped up into the air, avoiding Marcus' Gardevoir's attacks, and Ash frowned as he thought about how to get at Gardevoir.

"Shadow Ball again!" Marcus instructed. "Spread them out high – try to bring him down!"

"Down!" Ash called, straight away. "Stealth and hit her with Fly!"

Latios shimmered as his feathers bent the light around him, turning him invisible, and Marcus waited a second or so before suddenly giving his next order.

"Dazzling Gleam!"

Gardevoir used Dazzling Gleam, and a brilliant pink flash lit up the whole area.

What it didn't do, though, was reveal Latios. He was still there – he hit Gardevoir less than a second later with Fly – but the Dazzling Gleam didn't have any effect.

"Thought so!" Ash said. "Latios, stay invisible – and use Steel Beam!"

Steven frowned. "Steel Beam?" he repeated. "That's a move which uses steel from the Pokemon's body…"

Latios clapped his hands together, nearly-but-not-quite invisible, and a silver glow shone between them. Instead of firing it out at Gardevoir, however, he pulled his hands apart and revealed an I-crossbeam structure which he flipped into one hand before throwing it at his startled opponent.

"...well, that's me told," he added. "It's not how the move works, but… I suppose it is a steel beam if you look at it that way?"

Marcus' Gardevoir gestured, forming a Reflect shield, and started moving it around so it was always pointing in the direction of the Steel Beam Latios had picked up again… he was still invisible, but that didn't mean the girder was invisible.

"Latios, Dragon Claw!" Ash said. "She's a Fairy but her shield isn't! So break it and then use Steel Beam!"

"What I don't get is why he doesn't just use Steel Wing," Drake grumbled. "It's good enough for other Dragon Tamers."

"Is Ash a Dragon Tamer?" Phoebe asked. "How many does he have?"

Drake muttered under his breath.

"At least thirty," he said.

Phoebe did a double take. "That's a bigger number than I was expecting."

"Every time I see that guy's Meowth, I keep wanting to check his hair colour," Brock admitted, as Ash's finals opponent entered the arena. "I actually wouldn't put it past Team Rocket to do an entire League Challenge and reach the final just so they could steal Ash's Pokémon."

"No, don't worry," Vulpix assured him. "He isn't either Jessie or James in disguise… I spotted them doing the catering over on the other side of the stadium yesterday."

"How?" Brock asked.

"I borrowed May's binoculars," Vulpix said. "Admittedly I'm not sure what they're up to, but they haven't disrupted things yet. Maybe they need the cash?"

The big screen flashed up that the two trainers were Ash and Tyson, and asked them to send out their first Pokémon.

Ash opened with Zapdos, whose feathers sparked with lightning, and Tyson began with a Sceptile who he immediately Mega-Evolved.

"Oh, that's going to be interesting!" Max said. "I've never seen a Mega Sceptile up close before – he's been keeping that secret this whole time!"

Tyson called for Swift, and Zapdos snap-rolled away from the attack before summoning an electrical Counter Shield around herself – only for Mega Sceptile to immediately jump directly into the shield, bathing himself in lightning which drained down into his tail and sent sparks fizzling all around himself.

"Careful about shielding, Zapdos!" Ash called, as Mega Sceptile resumed his Swift barrage. "Steel Wing instead!"

Zapdos duly used Steel Wing, sweeping her wings across to deflect the Swift stars, and Ash frowned.

"That's right, Mega Sceptile is Dragon type!" he realized. "Zapdos, Twister!"

"Razor Wind!" Tyson retaliated. "Blow that wind away – then…"

Mega Sceptile hit the Twister with his Razor Wind, resulting in a whoosh as the swirling winds cancelled out, and Tyson gave the second half of his command. "Leech Seed!"

"Instant Thunderblock!" Ash replied, and there was a fizzle-bang as Zapdos tried her best to block the Leech Seed without letting Mega Sceptile absorb any more energy. "Now Drill Peck!"

"Dragon Pulse!" Tyson countered.

A little later in the battle, Tyson frowned.

"There's something wrong with that Treecko," he said, as his bipedal Meowth pressed an attack and Treecko retaliated with a Bullet Seed. "Hmm… Meowth! Thunderbolt!"

Tyson's Meowth lashed out with a Thunderbolt attack, pointing his clawed forepaw to direct it, and Treecko staggered backwards as his Illusion broke – revealing him to actually be Zorua.

"Dig!" Ash called, prompting Zorua to drive underground.

"Earthquake!" Tyson retaliated.

Meowth bounded up in the air, twisted, and slammed down in a three-point landing which made the ground quiver and shake around him. Zorua didn't come popping straight back out, though… then, two or three seconds later, he blurred past Meowth in an attack that made Meowth jump and only barely missed.

"Aww," Zorua complained. "Right, new trick!"

He bit the air, and a small, thin sword appeared in his jaws – specifically, the slim shape of a ninjato. "Sacred Sword except it's being used by a ninja!"

"Copycat, Meowth!" Tyson ordered.

Meowth made another sword appear, this one more of a rapier, and the feline and canid exchanged stares before Zorua pounced forwards.

Halfway to Meowth, he shifted from his base-form into the shape of a Riolu. He flicked the sword into the air, caught it in his paw, and lashed out – Meowth blocked, then thrust back – the blow narrowly avoided Zorua's Riolu-chest and he flipped back away from the attack, sliding a little before charging right back in again.

"So… which one of them is more likely to draw a Z shape on their opponent?" Marill asked. "They could both do it, sort of, and have it make sense."

"Suddenly that old series makes a lot more sense," Brock mused. "The Legend of Zorua? Someone must have thought of that before now."

Back at the Oak Ranch, Zacian alternately nodded and frowned.

"Good measure," she said. "A little too close – good, he's opened the range again… stop blocking and start parrying instead… that's a move for when you're a quadruped…"

"Lesson notes?" Lokoko asked. "You might want to write them down."

"I'm planning on remembering them quite well, thank you," Zacian replied. "Though I wouldn't be entirely averse to taking physical notes as well. He's doing fairly well, considering that he's got about eight different styles to learn."

On the television, Zorua switched into being a Skarmory.

"Nine," Zacian corrected herself. "Still, it's a hobby…"

Then Zorua switched from being Skarmory into a Cosmoem for about a second, drastically changing his course, and switched back to base-form just in time to catch the Sacred Sword he'd dropped and knock Meowth's weapon out of his paw.

"And that is more like it," Zacian added. "Good disarm."

Towards the end of the battle, Tyson's Hariyama jumped into the air.

"Whirlwind!" his trainer called. "Knock Ho-Oh into the ground!"

"Not again," Ho-Oh managed, before Hariyama made a pushing gesture and created a whirlwind which hurled Ho-Oh bodily into the floor.

The Fire-type hit with a wham that sent a few sparks and embers flying away from the impact point, then shook himself out and exhaled a roaring blast of fire at Hariyama.

Hariyama clapped his hands together, producing a wave of air that dampened down the Fire Blast, and his Thick Fat helped reduce the damage further.

Grumbling something, Ho-Oh took off and lit himself on fire – burning away the damage and injuries of the battle, restoring him to a pristine state with Recover – and used Extrasensory instead, firing a burst of psionic force at Hariyama and making the Arm Thrust Pokémon wince.

"Seismic Toss!" Tyson said.

Ho-Oh knew exactly what that was going to mean, and cloaked himself in Sacred Fire. It helped a bit, in that Hariyama had to reach through the fire to grab hold of Ho-Oh's leg, but the Fighting-type still flung Ho-Oh against the ground anyway.

"I think I am glad I can regenerate," Ho-Oh mumbled, golden light forming around his wings… but not bursting into flame this time.

He sprang upright, and swept his right wing at Hariyama like a giant club."Sky Attack!"

"Brine!" Tyson ordered, as Hariyama slid back. "Keep up the pressure!"

"That's the best fight I've had this tournament," Ash told Tyson, shaking his hand. "Your team is really good."

"Thanks," Tyson said. "It means a lot to me that you said that… Champion."

He snorted. "I sort of wish I was the first person to call you that, even if it's not Grand Champion, but it's the first time for Hoenn I think! So, good luck against the Elite Four!"

"Yeah, this is the first time I've faced an Elite Four with a separate Regional Champion," Ash realized. "I fought Drake – uh, not this Drake, the other Drake, in the Orange Islands. And I battled Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha and Lance, but that's only four. It's going to be a new experience!"

"Good luck with it, then," Tyson said. "So, uh, I've not placed in a League before, where do we go now?"

Pikachu pointed. "I assume it involves the podium."

"Oh, yeah," Tyson realized, who couldn't understand Pikachu but could see his paw. "You first, then, Ash, you did beat me!"

Chapter Text

"All right, challenger," Sidney said, the next morning. "You know all this stuff. Tremble before the Hoenn Elite Four, I'm Sidney, Dark Types yada yada. You've fought an Elite Four before, it's pretty much the same, except that we've actually got a proper Elite Four plus a Champion. Any questions?"

Ash raised his hand.

"Eesh, just ask, there's nobody else who could be asking," Sidney snorted.

"Are there any limits on who I use?" Ash said. "I'm not planning to use anyone twice, I think, unless I missed someone, but is there a rule about that?"

"Nah, if you've got a strong team you've got a strong team," Sidney replied. "So! Let's get this started."

He sent out his first Pokémon, a Houndoom, and Ash replied with Shaymintwo.

"Tch," the theoretically-a-Gratitude Pokémon said, pawing at the ground slightly. "Now, witness my true power."

"Fun!" Sidney declared. "Okay, Houndoom, straight off!"

Houndoom howled, a Mega Stone lighting up, and Mega Evolved in an explosion of orange light.

"Roar of Time!" Ash called.

Sidney blinked. "Who to the what now?"

Shaymintwo used Power Gem, firing it at Mega Houndoom, and the glittering green gemstone went spang off the Fire-type's bone armour. Then Shaymintwo darted forwards, bouncing into the air, and caught the gemstone again.

"Roar of TIME!" he shouted.

What happened next was a bit hard to follow, and while to Shaymintwo it would have appeared like everything else was in slow motion to everyone else Shaymintwo simply sped up into a greenish blur. He used Rollout five times in less than a second, kicking Mega Houndoom all over the place, then skidded to a halt and pulled a blue-glowing sphere from his fur.

"Aura Sphere!" he declared, throwing it, and Mega Houndoom shook his head before blowing up the sphere with a Dark Pulse.

"Will-o-Wisp!" Sidney added, commanding Mega Houndoom to shoot out a wave of purple flame, and Shaymintwo dodged away before they landed.

"That's a feisty one!" the Elite Four trainer added. "Flame Burst!"

"I'm not very experienced with Shaymin," Phoebe admitted, as Ash recalled Shaymintwo. "But I get the sense that that's not their normal fighting style under any conventional circumstances."

Steven chuckled.

"Probably not," he decided. "They're normally considered fairly slow, I believe."

Sidney was switching out as well, recalling his no-longer-Mega and deeply dazed Houndoom and replacing him with an Absol to counter Ash's Ninetales.

The Absol promptly bolted for the side of the arena with a yelp of shock.

"Uh… sorry?" Ash called. "Absol kind of do that around me, I don't know why, I'm not that surrounded by disaster… I guess you can send in a different Pokémon instead, if Absol doesn't want to battle?"

Phoebe giggled.

"I'll go get his reserve Pokémon," she said, as Sidney sent out a different Pokémon entirely – a Scrafty.

"Hypnosis!" Ash called. "Dancing Flames!"

"What's he doing?" Glacia asked, as flames sprayed all over the place and Lokoko sent out illusions to hide their positions. "That Ninetales doesn't have Miracle Eye, does she?"

"Foul Play!" Sidney ordered.

The flames roiled, and then – abruptly, as he ran in to attack – Scrafty changed briefly into a Zoroark.

"I did wonder," Steven said, then leaned forwards a little as Zoroark began using illusions as well. Those ones were more solid, but Lokoko began using her flames like needles and spikes to punch through them and keep the space around her clear. Or it seemed to be what was going on, because there were more than a dozen Lokoko and hundreds of flames at any one time.

"...oh, I see what's going on," he said. "Clever."

Steven pointed. "I don't know if Ash could tell that Scrafty was really Zoroark, but either way he knew that those illusions won't be bothering a Dark type. But Sidney isn't a Dark type, and that means Zoroark isn't getting any benefit from Sidney's direction… while Lokoko can leave Ash out of the effect of her illusions."

"Solarbeam!" Ash called, and Lokoko stopped to begin to charge up. Flames swirled around more than half of the Ninetales on the field, hiding them, while the others simply stood out in the open.

"Go after her!" Sidney instructed.

Zoroark charged, presumably, towards one particular Ninetales and with a Night Slash fizzing on his claws… until Lokoko's tails flared up with light as she swept the fire aside, and nine separate Solar Blades blazed around the tips.

"Crap – Night Daze!" Sidney yelped, but Lokoko shielded herself with the same fire from before and then pounced.

"Do you think it's Ash's Legendary or non Legendary Pokémon who are more ridiculous?" Max asked.

"Under the standard I was used to before meeting Ash, a trainer just having a single Legendary Pokémon would be very strange," Brock replied. "But that's not the answer to your question… and I think it's the ones who aren't Legendary Pokémon."

"I concur with this assessment," Zygarde said. "Suicune purifying water is expected; it is part of her portfolio of abilities. Any Suicune can do it."

He pointed. "A Treecko teleporting out of danger is not."

"That's putting it lightly," Brock chuckled, as Treecko blurred in to hit Sidney's Greninja with a fizzing Thunderpunch – only for Greninja to counter with an Earth Power, which wasn't much effect against Treecko but did shift Greninja to Ground-type.

"Leaf Blade!" Ash called, immediately, and Treecko swiped out at Greninja. This time he hit, knocking Greninja back, and Sidney considered for a moment.

"Ice Beam," he said.

Treecko used Substitute again, and this time instead of a bundle of sticks an entire large log appeared out of nowhere.

Grovyle landed next to Greninja and used Close Combat, hammering the other shinobi into the air, and gestured to the side as he powered up his Thunderpunch in one hand and his Leaf Blade in the other.

"Uh-" Sidney began, trying to think what type to switch to, and Grovyle darted up before hitting Greninja with a second Close Combat attack.

Then he punched out, and an electric Boltund-shape darted off his fist to pounce on Greninja and explode.

"Nice," Pikachu declared. "I see you evolved, then."

"Of course," Grovyle replied. "And I got Lightning Dog working, as well. That's going to be helpful."

"Most Pokémon would just call it Shock Wave," Ash said. "I think that's what it is. Anyway… I guess it's Phoebe next? Ibid, I'd like to swap my team out."

"Teleporting," Ibid said, and vanished along with several Pokéballs and Grovyle.

"It's a bit weird that Ibid just teleports them to the stand," Pikachu chuckled. "Then again, it means they can watch, and if the others were already in the stand it'd give Phoebe a clue about who you want to use."

Ibid reappeared. "Teleports complete."

"Thanks!" Ash said, watching as Phoebe took her position.

Her first Pokémon was a Dusknoir, and Ash began with Swellow.

"Interesting," Steven said. "I wonder what that Swellow's trick is… they can have Scrappy, that must be it."

"Does there have to be a trick?" Glacia asked, then remembered who they were talking about. "Sorry, stupid question."

Phoebe called for Dusknoir to use Charge Beam, which splashed off Swellow's feathers, then the Normal-type called out and charged in closer to use Twister. The whirl of draconic energy hammered into Dusknoir, and Phoebe's Pokémon retaliated with a close-range Blizzard.

Which turned into a close-range electrical storm, which flowed over Swellow's feathers and discharged into the air without landing.

"How many Pokémon does he have that can ignore Ice attacks?" Glacia said. "That isn't even a type you can be immune to."

"I don't think that Swellow is immune to anything other than Electric attacks," Steven replied, watching closely as this time Dusknoir used Rock Tomb and Swellow burst through it as it turned into a cage of lightning. "I just think she's turning everything into an Electric attack…"

"You next, Mismagius!" Phoebe said. "Good luck!"

"Stay out if you want, Swellow!" Ash called, and Swellow let out a confident cry before swerving in on the attack.

"...Destiny Bond!" Phoebe added, just as Swellow got there and used Pursuit.

"Electrify!" Ash said.

Swellow's electrical immunity divided by zero, and the entire arena was filled with a mighty explosion of sparkling light.

"Whoa!" Ash yelped.

When the detonation had finally, reluctantly, faded away, there was a gigantic and unfamiliar Pokémon over on one side of the arena.

"Task complete," said Zygarde's voice, and then they dissolved into green blurs which left the familiar dog instead. "Woof."

Ash recalled Swellow, and considered who to send out next. "Uh..."

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen that Butterfree before," May said, as Phoebe's Chandelure launched enormous spikes of flame into the air and Butterfree's wings lit up in response.

A thousand shimmering beams of light crashed down as Butterfree used Origin Pulse, and Brock coughed.

"Ash doesn't have a Butterfree," he said. "And that's not Purrloin, or Noctowl, or Zorua, or any of the other Pokémon Ash has who can use illusions."

Brock paused.

"Including himself," he said. "No, that's the Butterfree he used to defeat my Onix at Pewter."

"Which… he doesn't have," May said, just to make sure that was clear.

"Which he doesn't have," Brock confirmed. "That's – almost certainly – Mew."

May watched as Chandelure used Fire Blast, and Butterfree countered with Rock Wrecker.

"Makes sense," Max admitted. "In that light, that's one tough Chandelure."

"I can see I'm going to need something special to deal with your Butterfree," Phoebe said, recalling her Chandelure. "Sableye!"

Her Sableye appeared on the field, first a pitch black mass before gaining definition, and Mega-Evolved a second later.

"Power Gem!" Phoebe called.

Mega Sableye threw his gem shield, which hit Butterfree with a whack, and she bounced upwards into the air before recovering enough to use Fairy Wind.

Mega Sableye phased into the ground, avoiding the attack, then emerged again and threw his gem shield at Butterfree for a second time.

"Brick Break!" Ash ordered.

Butterfree kicked the shield right back at Mega Sableye again, but the Ghost caught his shield and used it to block Butterfree's follow-up.

"Huh, that's going to be tricky," Ash admitted. "Try Doom Desire!"

"Ooh, good idea!" Butterfree said.

Then got beaned by Mega Sableye's shield again.

"Well, that's Phoebe out," Glacia said, standing up, as Ash's Torkoal finished demonstrating that his lack of Foresight could be compensated for by sufficient extremely fast Fire Punches and a battle aura shaped like a peacock.

Steven held up his fingers, counting down from three, then Drifblim's Aftermath triggered and slammed Torkoal into the ground.

"Kooooooal!" he bellowed.

"Now Phoebe is out," Steven corrected. "Who do you intend to use first?"

"I think… Abomasnow," Glacia decided. "Or Vanilluxe. I'll make my mind up on the way down."

"It is so strange for the two of us to be outside Altomare at the same time," Latias said, watching as Glacia sent out Vanilluxe and Ash countered with Bayleef.

It began to snow as Vanilluxe used Hail, and both psychic dragons wrapped themselves in psionic shields to keep the cold away – mostly focusing on the battle down below.

"I know," Latios said. "Altomare is almost certainly safe – Dad's almost certainly safe – I know that, there's four Dragonite in the Secret Garden right now. They're probably playing one of our video games, actually."

Latias giggled.

"But it's… a different thing, for us to be together and not be in Altomare," Latios added. "Thank you for suggesting it, sis."

"Signal Beam!" Glacia ordered.

Her Vanilluxe started firing beams of light out at Bayleef, and the Grass-type retaliated by using her vines to tug herself out of the way – lensing together what little sunlight she could spare from her sunshield into a focused cone.

As they watched, Bayleef used Sleep Powder as well, and blew it through the cone which formed a spark and turned the move into a wash of flaming air.

"Now that's Elite Four stuff, right there," Latias said. "If your opponent knows how to counter something, approach the problem in a different way!"

She glanced at her brother. "That makes sense, right?"

"I told you already, I wanted to beat that boss that way because of a challenge," Latios retorted. "I know about the better approach, you told me about the better approach, I was doing it that way because I wanted to do it that way."

He coughed. "That is. Yes. It does make sense, under most circumstances."

"Great work, Bayleef," Ash said, recalling her. "Now-"

"Wait," Glacia requested. "I'm recalling Beartic as well. Just be aware of that."

"Oh, okay," Ash decided. "Rayquaza!"

"Abomasnow – sorry, what?" Glacia asked, as the Dragon-type uncoiled from underneath Ash's jacket.

She looked closer. "That's… your Rayquaza. Is that a thing that can happen? Because even if you did somehow meet and capture Rayquaza, I thought he was green."

"It's a bit of a long story!" Ash said, as the snowing stopped. "She's a shiny Pokémon, though, plus she's a girl. Oh, uh… what are the rules on weather abilities in Elite Four battles? I know Abomasnow makes it snow."

Glacia put her fingers on her temples, then chuckled. "I suppose I should stop trying to work out what to expect. Yes, they are allowed."

"Great!" Ash said. "Okay, Rayquaza, I'll give you advice if you need it!"

Rayquaza Mega-Evolved.

It began to snow for about a quarter of a second as her Air Lock vanished, then the snow was ripped to shreds as strong winds began to blow around the battlefield.

"Ancient Power!" Mega Rayquaza said, throwing a big rock at Abomasnow.

"Every time I see Ash pull out another trick, I'm torn," Steven said. "I'm glad I'm not facing that trick, but worried about what I will end up facing."

He turned to Drake. "What do you think? New Mega? Legendary nobody's ever heard of? A Mega evolved Legendary?"

Drake considered the question, as out on the battlefield Mega Rayquaza tossed Abomasnow up in the air and hit him with an Air Slash.

"I'd be more worried if he sent out a Wingull," Drake decided.

Several minutes later, Glacia had recalled her long-suffering Abomasnow after the Grass-type had taken one too many Dragon Ascents – that being one Dragon Ascent, which was too many for him – and swapped him for a Glalie who she'd promptly Mega-Evolved.

"Hyper Beam!" she called, and a massive foot-wide blast of cold and frost slammed into Mega Rayquaza.

She dodged and weaved as best she could, avoiding being caught in the full beam for too long at once, and slid to a halt in the air next to Ash.

"What should I do?" she asked. "Ice attacks still hurt!"

"Change to something else," Ash suggested. "You've got options!"

"Right!" Mega Rayquaza realized, reverting with a flash. She reached into her backpack, tongue sticking out slightly in concentration, then changed into Primal Groudon.

Glalie used Refrigerated Hyper Beam again, but it just hit her magma-hot hide and evaporated off in a cloud of steam.

"That's better!" Primal Groudon declared. "Flamethrower!"

"I'm not much of an expert," Sidney said, back up in the Elite Four box. "But do we normally see people trying to beat Glacia by changing the entire global climate?"

"Not so's you'd notice," Steven said, as the tiny Primal Groudon used Precipice Blades to launch herself into the air and get a better angle for her Flamethrower. "I hope Ash is going to ask her to put the climate back when she's done."

He looked up. "Oh, or maybe this Pokémon will do it for her."

Drake stood up as well, watching as Rayquaza – the big Rayquaza, the one they thought of as Rayquaza – came gliding down from the sky in sinuous and unhurried motion.

He was carrying a large chunk of rock in one hand.

"RAAAAAYYY," he said, in a sound that wasn't a roar but certainly didn't avoid counting as a roar for reasons of volume.

"Oh, hi!" Primal Groudon said. "Sorry, I'm a bit busy at the moment!"

"No you're not," Glalie said, no longer Mega and embedded deeply enough in the ground that only the back of his head was visible. "You're not occupied at all. Please, don't wait around on my account."

"If you're sure!" Primal Groudon replied, then reverted to merely Rayquaza. She carefully put the Red Orb back into her backpack, using only her claws, and the extremely harsh sunlight faded away.

Taking off with a whoosh, she went up to hover about two feet over Ash and six below Big Rayquaza. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," Rayquaza told her. "Groudon and Kyogre have been surprisingly well behaved recently, it's been quite pleasant. There was a large meteorite coming to hit us, but I shot it down, and it turned out there was a Deoxys inside!"

Mini Rayquaza gasped.

"That doesn't sound very polite of it," Ash said. "What happened?"

"Well, fortunately I explained that this was an inhabited planet, and they were mostly all right with that," Big Rayquaza told them. "I directed them to LaRousse City, so hopefully that should have sorted things out… anyway!"

He brandished the chunk of meteorite. "I thought, since I had some meteorite anyway, I should bring you some for lunch. It is important for a growing Rayquaza to have plenty of space rock in their diet."

Big Rayquaza turned his attention to Ash. "I hope that's not a problem? You seem busy."

"I can spare Rayquaza!" Ash said.

"Thanks," Mini Rayquaza told him, then glanced up at Big Rayquaza. "This won't take too long, right?"

"Your trainer will have you back well before sundown," Big Rayquaza assured her. "In fact, we can probably just go over to that bit of the stands and have lunch there."

Mini Rayquaza nodded, then crossed her eyes and went Mega. Strong wings swirled around the arena again, and she followed Big Rayquaza over to have a picnic.

"Sorry about that," Ash said, turning back to Glacia. "Where were we?"

Glacia thought visibly about the answers she could give to that.

"Froslass," she decided, sending the Ghost-type out.

"Got it!" Ash replied. "Charizard!"

Charizard flared his wings as he emerged. "Right! Let's do this!"

Chapter Text

"And I think that's the mirror image of Mega Evolving your opponent," Steven said, watching as Charizard battled Froslass. "Ash has a Charizardite X, but he's not using it to Mega Evolve Charizard… which means there must be some advantage from it."

He looked to the side, at Drake. "I suspect you'll be needed soon."

"Was looking forward to it," Drake replied. "Sort of hope those winds will stop before then, though… I assume Glacia's run out of Pokémon who know Hail."

Steven counted up in his head, then nodded. "I think she probably has some left, but she's not using them," he determined. "They're not her strongest Pokémon and she needs them against Ash's Pokémon."

As they watched, Charizard smashed into the ground in what would have looked a lot like a crash had he not smoothly twisted into a spin and kept going.

"Like that," Steven added. "At least there isn't enough water around for a puddle."

After Glacia, the next and last Elite Four member was, indeed, Drake.

He had a whole suite of powerful Dragon-types, including two with Mega Stones, and Purrloin, then Latias, then Heracross all battled against him… right up until he sent out his Salamence and Mega Evolved it.

Which was the precise point when Zacian made a whining noise.

"Huh?" Ash asked, turning to her. "Is something wrong?"

Zacian adopted a begging posture, and pointed with one paw at the battle.

"Uh…" Ash began, confused. "You want to battle?"

Zacian lowered her paw, and sighed.

"You know, I don't understand why Raikou, Entei and Zygarde like doing that," she confessed, straightening with a quiet dignity that almost erased what she'd been doing a minute ago. "It is not for me, I think."

She let out a chuff. "But yes. I would like to battle Drake… I have learned a few new tricks since the Silver Conference, as well you know."

Ash frowned, thinking about which Pokémon he was planning on using, then nodded.

"Sure," he said. "You haven't had a turn yet, anyway."

"Your solicitousness is a great comfort to me," Zacian told him, then drew her Rusted Sword and stepped forwards as Ash recalled Heracross.

Between one pawstep and the next, she switched to Crowned Sword form.

"Good day," she said, bowing slightly.

Mega Salamence inclined his head in response.

"All right, all right, let's get on with it!" Drake called. "Swift! Fire Fang!"

Mega Salamence exhaled a wide blast of rippling air, one which spread out before converging back down again on a point about three metres to the left of where Zacian stood – revealing her actual position – and she countered with a sweep of her sword, forming a barrier of a dozen dancing Sacred Swords around her to block and parry the incoming attacks as she broke into a loping sprint across the floor.

Her opponent dropped down with his fangs blazing hot, and Zacian spun mid-sprint to bring her mighty blade to bear. It shone with bluish cold as she channelled an Ice Fang through it, then she used Behemoth Blade, and she hit Mega Salamence with it as though he were an oversized cricket ball.

Emphatically not baseball, though.

The Dragon flipped twice through the air, stabilized, and Drake grunted. "Hm."

He indicated a point on the ground. "Hyper Beam!"

A blast of pressurized air dug up a giant-sized Mud Slap, one that cannoned towards Zacian, and she enlarged her sword again as she swept it across in an arc from right to left. That cut the entire attack in half, saving her from most of it, and two Sacred Swords formed either side of her before shooting up at Mega Salamence.

Blue light shone around her muzzle, and the whole of her sword took on a numinous, ethereal light. She crouched, then threw her sword into the air, and howled. "Moonblast!"

Her sword aligned with Mega Salamence for a moment, and a pulse of Fairy light shot up the blade to hit Mega Salamence just as he blasted the Sacred Swords away.

"Now that's a sight to see, that is," Sidney declared, as Zacian whirled – her blade shining with frost – to fend off the attacks of Drake's Flygon. "Kid is one hell of a trainer."

"You're not wrong there," Steven said, smiling. "Trainers like him come along… I don't know how often, but it's very rare. But it's not about his strength, or… not wholly about his strength. Or his attitude. It's everything, all put together into a single overwhelming result."

Phoebe and Glacia were silent for a long moment, then Glacia spoke.

"I think I see," she said. "It's a combination of lots of things, because… Ash has an unusual relationship with probability, we know that much."

Zacian shouted something authoritative and punctuated by a very loud whung, and Flygon rose as high as the Elite Four box. She stabilized her flight path a little, fired a jet of fire back down, then had to dodge out of the way as Zacian used Behemoth Blade again.

"But that would just mean he met a lot of unusual Pokémon," she went on. "And he's befriended so many Legendary Pokémon because of who he is as a person… and then, on top of that, he's the kind of passionate, intuitive trainer who can bring out the best in his Pokémon. They can do things nobody else has ever seen a Pokémon do, because that's who Ash is as well."

"Exactly," Steven said. "It's why – and with all due respect to Drake – I'm really looking forward to our battle."

Flygon got hit with a very final sounding kerrash as Zacian demonstrated what a bicycle kick looked like if you used a sword instead of a foot, and Drake switched out to send out his Dragapult.

"...come to think of it, I should probably get ready," Steven added. "I need to make sure all the Mega Stones are ready."

Sidney started sniggering.

"You're using six Mega Evolutions, aren't you?" Phoebe asked.

Steven shook his head. "Three is enough," he replied. "Besides, the other three have tricks of their own."

Zacian let out a long breath with a sigh, then sheathed her sword.

"Good battle," she told Dragapult. "Thank you."

Dragapult mumbled something – he was embedded in the side of the arena – and Zacian listened carefully before deciding that it was probably a compliment.

"That was fun!" one of the Dreepy said. "Sometimes Pokémon don't realize we're an attack, not another Pokémon taking part. I'm glad you did!"

"I'm from Galar," Zacian told them. "There are Dragapult there, so I knew."

She loped over to Ash, intent on having Ibid send her Rusted Sword back to Galar… then have some hot food, probably.

There was a smell in the air from Brock's cooking, and you would have to look long and hard to find any of Ash's Pokémon willing to forego that.

"All right, Ash," Steven said, some minutes later. "I have to say, I've been looking forward to this for a while."

"I have too!" Ash agreed. "I kind of want to see what a Champion's like when they're not a Type Specialist as well… I know you have Rock, Ground and Steel, but that's much wider and more of a preference than anything."

Steven smiled. "Quite right, yes."

He raised his first Pokéball. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed, reaching for his belt.

Steven sent out his first Pokémon, an Armaldo, but instead of plucking a Pokéball from his belt Ash boosted Pikachu off his shoulder. The Electric-type landed with a roll, cheeks flaring, and faced Armaldo before cricking his neck.

"Not a Ground type, but they'll do," he said.

"Aerial Ace!" Steven called, and Armaldo's wing cases snapped open. The Bug-type charged, then swerved to the side before actually reaching Pikachu, and flew into the air.

"Bulldoze!" Steven added, and Armaldo dropped low enough to touch the ground. He avoided Pikachu's first blast of electricity with a sideways jink, slapped the ground with his tail, and a Bulldoze trace raced towards Pikachu.

"Surf!" Ash replied.

Pikachu clapped his paws together and summoned a bubble of water, which grew in less than a second into a shimmering surfboard bigger than he was. He jumped onto it as the Bulldoze approached, letting it pass beneath him, then flipped around and kicked it in Armaldo's general direction.

"Electro Ball!" he added, for completeness, and hurled a concentrated globe of electrical energy towards Armaldo. It detonated just close enough to score a glancing hit, and Pikachu darted forwards with Agility before leaping into the air and using Iron Tail.

"X-Scissor!" Steven called. "Block him!"

The crash of pincer-against-tail filled the air.

"Who do you think Ash is using next?" Zacian asked, taking a skewer in her muzzle and impaling two sausages on it. "Now, please, Hoopa."

"Hoopa is not a food delivery service," came the faint protest, but a golden Hyperspace Hole appeared in the air anyway. Zamazenta looked up from his morning drowse, startled, then realized what was going on and took the food from his sister.

"Is this thanks for getting you the sword at what felt like two-bloody-thirty in the morning?" he asked.

"No, just me being a thoughtful sister," Zacian told him. "Anyway, what do you think, Latios?"

"Well…" Latios began, thinking. "There's a few Pokémon he hasn't used yet, right?"

They looked up at the echoing bang as Pikachu attempted to discern just how conductive a Mega Aggron was, and Zacian considered before nodding.

"That's probably the best clue," she said.

"Does Hoopa need to keep the portals open?" Hoopa asked, leaning in from the space between the Hoenn-Dahara and Dahara-Galar rings.

"Just give me a moment to put the sword back through," Zacian requested. "Want some barbecue?"

"Hoopa is very intrigued by this suggestion!"

"Better now, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"A little sore, that's all," Pikachu said. "I have to admit that I didn't consider the downside of Sky Uppercutting a Pokémon who'd just used Lock On… and who knew Heavy Slam."

He shook himself out. "I know I can't keep battling, though."

"Well, neither can Aggron, so good work," Ash told him. "Okay, ready for the next Pokémon?"

"I am," Steven agreed. He held up a Heavy Ball, and Ash took Clefairy's Moon Ball off his belt to send her out.

Steven replied with a Claydol.

A very, very big Claydol.

"Oh, is that the one from Izabe?" Ash asked. "It's great to see they're doing well!"

Claydol blinked at him.

"Yep, that's them," Steven agreed. "Claydol! Hyper Beam!"

"Gravity dodge!" Ash ordered.

"Plus facile à dire qu'à faire," Clefairy retorted, fingers twitching, and slid out of the way of the first attack Claydol directed her way. More came, and she began altering gravity wildly – flinging herself in different directions to avoid the Hyper Beams and Ice Beams coming her way, then using her wings as well to add in a bit of extra randomness to the attacks. "Jetons les dés…"

A glow built up around her fingers, then went away again.

A few seconds later, Clefairy was just starting to get impatient when a beam of steely light blazed down out of the sky.

"Doom Desire again," Max said, surprised. "Jirachi knows that move and he's used it less than Ash's Pokémon at this point, I think."

"That's probably a good thing, in all honesty," May muttered.

Then paused, thinking seriously.

"You should probably practice it, eventually," she said. "Just… carefully."

"Good idea," Max agreed.

"Wait, I know!" Ash said, suddenly realizing something. "Clefairy – reverse gravity for Claydol! As strong as you can!"

"Turn over if you have to, Claydol," Steven instructed. "Watch out in case she puts gravity back to normal, but focus on hitting her with Hyper Beams."

Claydol buzzed, flipping over smoothly as Clefairy warped gravity around them, and continued attacking Clefairy.

"Un plan serait sympa!" she warned, then took a glancing hit which flung her into the ground – though she only hit lightly, the distorted gravity fields in the arena pulling her back into the air.

"Smack Down!" Ash called.

Clefairy's expression was beatific.

She pointed a finger at the Ground-type, and made a pchoo noise as she shot a small rock at them.

Claydol promptly exited the area upwards at speed.

Steven stared, then started laughing.

"I didn't think of that!" he admitted. "...wait, is Claydol coming back?"

A golden ring appeared next to him, growing larger than a house, and Claydol flew through to bounce off the ground.

There was a little sticky note attached to them, and Steven read it.

"Even Though This Pokemon Went Into Two Hoopa Rings, Hoopa Says It Was Ring Out," he read. "I think that's fair."

He recalled Claydol, and Ash waved to Clefairy.

"Come on back!" he called. "You need some rest to deal with those Hyper Beams."

After a moment's thought, Ash picked the Safari Ball off his belt. "Suicune!"

"Cradily!" Steven replied.

"That is a weird thing to watch," May said, leaning forwards as Suicune tried to get airborne and all the water flowed away from her paws. "What's going on?"

"Cradily can have an ability called Storm Drain," Brock told her. "There's one at Pewter Gym, actually. It pulls in Water attacks and neutralizes them entirely, plus makes the Pokémon stronger. It's like Lightningrod but for Water moves."

"Oh, I get it," May realized.

Brock glanced down at something, and May tried to see what it was. "Is something wrong?"

"I just started a stopwatch," Brock replied. "I'm kind of interested to see how long it takes for Ash to get around a trick like that."

"Hydro Pump!" Ash ordered. "Keep it up – keep making as much water as you can!"

"...I wonder what his plan is," Max said, leaning forward. "I don't want to miss it, and he must have a plan…"

Cradily used Energy Ball, which shimmered with light and force as it went in, and Suicune winced slightly.

"That hurt a lot more than the previous one," she said, running around in a circle and raising her voice so Ash could hear – both through the distance, and over the roar of hundreds of gallons of water draining down into Cradily's Storm Drain like an accretion disc. "What are you planning?"

"Now!" Ash said. "Jump onto the water and use Extremespeed!"

Suicune jumped onto the water, and used Extremespeed.

Something that only Ash had noticed, until that moment, was that the water had been getting faster and faster as it got closer to Cradily – and the process had been increasing in speed as Cradily's ability had been fed with more and more water.

Suicune was tugged along by the current at fantastic speed, went supersonic less than a third of the way through the process, and slammed into Cradily hard enough to knock the Grass-type bouncing off three arena walls before finally rolling to a halt.

Ash hadn't even flinched. "Now, Aurora Beam!"

The Water-type had to shake herself out slightly to recover her wits, but recovered faster than Cradily, and blasted her opponent with Ice until Steven held up his hand.

"I'm recalling her," he announced. "That was impressive, if strange. Now for a battle in the sky – Aerodactyl!"

"Can you stay out there, Suicune?" Ash checked, as Aerodactyl Mega-Evolved.

"Now that I can actually take to the sky again, I'm eager to stay out," Suicune declared, and looked up at her opponent. "Now, this time it should work as intended… Hydro Pump!"

The floor was sodden like a marsh by the time that battle was over, and Suicune walked down an invisible staircase before stumbling slightly as she reached ground level.

"Okay, now I'm ready to have some food," she admitted. "And, most likely, a nap."

"You did great, Suicune," Ash assured her. "Now for my secret weapon!"

"Wait a moment," Steven requested, and sent out his Metagross – a shiny Metagross, gold and silver, with a Mega Stone held neatly by a band around their right forelimb.

"I don't doubt that your secret weapon is something special," he said. "And I know you still have more than one Pokémon slot left in this challenge battle. It's been all I could hope for so far, Ash… the only thing that's missing is a battle of Mega Evolution against Mega Evolution. Is that something your secret weapon can do?"

"Yep!" Ash replied. "Okay, Pikachu, you know what to do!"

He passed Pikachu his Mega Ring, and Steven frowned.

"You found a Mega Stone for Pikachu?" he asked.

"Nope!" Ash replied, and dropped his Illusion.

Orange light spread over him in the same moment, and Mega Ashbsol emerged from the light with his wings held high.

Steven blinked.

"That, I will admit, is a new one on me," he said.

"Yeah, Mew went and got the potion this morning in case she was too unconscious to do it now," Ash replied. "I looked up the rules once, just to be sure, and it's okay to do official battles as a disguised Pokémon because, uh, something about how they couldn't tell without checking and it'd be rude to check and it didn't hurt anything anyway."

"Ash, I choose you!" Pikachu said. "Use Razor Wind!"

He sniggered. "Sorry. Always wanted to do that."

Steven Mega Evolved his Metagross, and Ash lit up his horn with a swirl of wind.

"This isn't quite what I expected, but it's quite enough," Steven declared. "Metagross! Mach Punch!"

Mega Ashbsol ducked under the opening punch, warned by a vague danger-itch, then jumped and let the Razor Wind carry him into the air.

"Sacred Sword!" he called, using Night Slash.

This seemed to both damage and offend Mega Metagross.

By the end of the battle, the arena was a complete mess.

There were so many punch craters that it looked like you could probably have got Mega Metagross' complete fingerprints from them, assuming that Mega Metagross had fingerprints. There were slash marks, scorch marks, craters from psychic blasts, Absol-shaped craters, and one place where the crater was shaped like Mega Metagross after Ash had figured out Foul Play.

Somewhere a pipe had burst, and there was water flowing into one of the deeper holes.

There was also a Metagross, upside down in the wreckage, and – tired but triumphant – a Mega Ashbsol.

"Congratulations," Steven said. "You've beaten us all, Ash – and done it with style. My title is yours, if you want it."

Ash tilted his head, then shook it.

"I'd rather keep travelling," he said. "And – I know it doesn't have to mean staying in one place, but I think you're a great Champion and your Elite Four are great at their jobs too, and…"

He restarted. "It's a great offer, but I don't think I can say yes."

Steven laughed. "It's not really an offer, Ash… or, most people wouldn't see it that way, but I can see why you'd be different. It's there if you want it, but none of us would force you if you didn't."

"Now, come on!" Pikachu added. "I think this deserves a celebration!"