Chapter 16: 2,3
"Oh, huh," Tracey said, checking the news. "That's not changed… Prima's going to give a lecture, right here on Mandarin Island South."
"Who?" Ash blinked. "I… isn't that the person who does all those strategy guides?"
He scratched his head. "Did we meet her last time? I vaguely remember that, but I thought we actually met Lorelei."
"Same person," Tracey told him. "Prima is her pen name, she uses it to stay separate from the Elite Four side of her life. It's sort of an open secret, but that still means it's not widely known."
"Well, she's an Ice-type Pokémon specialist with plenty of Water Pokémon as well, so that sounds nice," Misty said. "We can go and see the lecture, right? I want to see if it's changed this time, and how much of last time's one I remember."
"Let's see…" Tracey said. "...yep, this afternoon."
"That's short notice," Ash muttered.
"Well, she's a busy woman," Tracey pointed out. "And this is the largest of the Orange Islands, so there should be enough of a local audience."
That might be part of it, but it does not seem to be the whole thing, Dexter said. Prima has given lectures here a minimum of six times a year for the last ten.
"Are you sure?" Tracey asked, surprised. "That's, what, sixty lectures? More?"
He frowned. "She must be repeating herself by now."
Dexter's projector lit. I believe this will explain it. She was born here. There are newspaper articles about her from the appropriate time.
"Oh, that makes sense," Tracey said, relieved. "But if this is her home island, then how does she avoid being recognized?"
Misty shrugged. "Would she bother? Besides, last time around in Dark City I said I was called Ann Chovy and I don't think anyone recognized-"
Pikachu started giggling. "What?!"
"Ann Chovy," Misty repeated. "Nobody recognized me, despite how I was a Gym Leader. Ash called himself Tom Ato, and Brock was Caesar Salad – and Brock was the most recognizable of all of us."
"I must have missed this," Pikachu said.
"Yeah, that was when you first encountered ketchup," Ash provided. "You were distracted."
"Oh, right…"
"Does anyone need any healing?" Ash asked, in the Pokémon Centre an hour or so later.
They'd decided to attend the lecture, but it wasn't for a few more hours, and it felt like showing up several hours in advance would be a bit… keen.
"Nobody's coming out, so… probably not," Riolu guessed.
"Ash Ketchum – can I have a moment of your time?" someone asked.
Ash turned, and saw none other than 'Prima' had just got his attention.
"Oh, sure," he replied. "Is something up?"
"Well, I do have a lecture coming up," the Elite Four member said. "As you might know. But since you're in the area, I was wondering if you'd be available to help me with the demonstration aspect."
"Sure!" Ash agreed. "What kind of help?"
"I normally do specific topics, complete with examples," 'Prima' said. "The topic this time is going to be Type Advantage, and it would be helpful if you could bring a highly varied team to let me do a full work-up on the topic."
"A highly varied team," Ash repeated. "So… actually I don't think I can do a team that isn't highly varied, at the moment. I could do five Tauros and Dexter, but… yeah, I can bring a highly varied one all right."
"Should be fun," Pikachu said. "At least this won't be quite as high powered as the battle we had with her after the League."
"Why not?" Ash asked.
"There's a living audience," Pikachu deadpanned.
"Excellent," Prima nodded. "Come around to backstage in two hours, please – I'll make sure they know you're on the way."
Two hours and a few minutes later, the Elite Four member beckoned Ash on stage.
"Now," she said. "I am primarily a user of Ice-type Pokémon. This is often considered to be the best Type for offensive use, and the worst defensive Type."
She indicated Ash. "Ash Ketchum has agreed to be my assistant for this demonstration. If you would send out a Pokémon weak to the Ice type?"
Ash nodded, unclipping a Pokéball. "Pidgeot, go!"
Pidgeot flared her wings, landing on the stage, and nodded cordially.
"Now," Prima continued. "If the opposing Pokémon has a weakness to one of the types that your Pokémon has, then obviously you should exploit it."
She sent out one of her own Pokémon. "Swinub, Ice Beam!"
Pidgeot shot upwards, not waiting for a command, and the Ice Beam splashed over the stage backing instead.
"This is an excellent demonstration of a key point," Prima pointed out. "Type effectiveness, type advantage, these things mean nothing if an attack does not even connect… an especially important thing to remember when facing down more mobile opponents."
She adjusted her glasses. "Which is why one move that Ice-types know is so useful. Hail!"
Ash looked up into the sudden snowstorm, which was… weird to see on a subtropical island like Mandarin Island South, though not as weird as it would have been without the recent trip up to the top of Navel Mountain.
Pidgeot seemed fine, though…
A Vacuum Wave shot out of the cloud, but accumulated snow on the way down and landed with a wet splat as a slushball.
"A Fighting-type move," Prima noted. "One thing to remember is to never assume your opponent can not have a move of any type. Even if the Pokémon does not normally learn a move of a given type, there are always exceptions, and there is also the technique called Hidden Power."
She looked up at Pidgeot. "Then, of course, there are other tricks. Smack Down!"
Pidgeot pulled up, almost turning upside down while still moving forwards. The Smack Down missed, then Pidgeot rotated back to her normal flight angle and flapped her wings hard to avoid the second rock that Swinub sent her way.
"Your Pidgeot is a truly remarkable specimen," Prima told Ash, her microphone off now. "I didn't know that was possible."
"I don't really understand how she does it myself," Ash admitted.
It is known as a Cobra, Dexter put in quietly. It's a trick used by some advanced fighter aircraft, for example.
The battle took several minutes, with Swinub repeatedly using Dig to stay out of the area where Pidgeot could attack, and eventually the cold slowed Ash's Pokémon down enough that Swinub connected with an Aurora Beam.
"A marvellous demonstration," Prima announced, as Ash recalled his Flying-type. "The advantages and disadvantages from fighting with an offensive type disparity were well shown… now, if you could send out a Pokémon who has a move advantage against Ice?"
Ash nodded. "Uh…"
It was actually a tricky question. A lot of his Pokémon were either weak to Ice or had a type advantage over it, which meant their move advantage was their type advantage…
Oh, who was he kidding.
"Pikachu!"
"I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about me," Pikachu grumbled good-naturedly, dropping down off Ash's shoulder and advancing onto the main section of the stage.
"Let me see," Prima frowned. "...Glalie, I think."
Another Pokéball flashed, and produced the Face Pokémon.
Ash felt a stab of nostalgia, remembering his own Glalie. It was still a while before they could meet up…
Pikachu's paws skidded on the floor, then steadied as he produced a pair of Aura pads on his hindpaws. Spikes on the underside let them make a higher-pressure contact with the surface of the stage, through the frozen residue the Hail had left, and Prima frowned.
"Interesting…" she said, watching intently.
Pikachu's forepaw glowed blue, and he crouched for a moment before launching himself straight up at Glalie.
Light Screens formed, and promptly shattered as Pikachu rammed the shield-breaker Aura move through them. The other paw flashed with electric energy, then the yellow part of the glow blazed into the ground and left behind a clear, shining blue light.
Pikachu promptly used it to slam a Force Palm straight into Glalie.
Prima's head turned to watch as her Pokémon flew over the retaining wall and out of sight, and she shook her head. "Well, so much for dynamic examples."
She took a breath. "Okay. When fighting a Pokémon with a neutral type, then the main issue is going to depend on the type of your own Pokémon. Obviously, a move which has the advantage against the opponent will be preferable in most cases, but with Glalie – for example – his Ice type moves may well be preferable, since an Ice-type's Ice moves are more potent than what little Ground type moves he has."
Prima nodded. "Were it not for that Pikachu apparently being a Riolu in disguise-"
"Hey!" Pikachu protested, hands on hips. Riolu stuck his tongue out, and Ash facepalmed.
"-then I would expect him to follow the same approach. That can be affected one way or another by Reflect and Light Screen barriers… and, when a Pokémon has a double weakness, like a Weavile to Fighting or a Snover to Fire, that is generally the superior option."
"So…" Ash began, wanting to show he was following along. "With a Grass and Bug Pokémon like a Paras, then if you had a choice between Ice and Fire moves for some reason, it would depend how good the moves were?"
"Quite," Prima agreed.
She paused. "Now, even though I might regret this…"
The audience laughed.
"...please send out a Pokémon with a type advantage against Ice."
Ash already knew who to use. "Charizard, your turn!"
"Hell yeah!" Charizard roared, wings flaring dramatically. "Time to rock! Only, more like, time to fire."
Prima sent out a Dewgong.
"Hey, no fair!" Charizard yelped, taking to the air just ahead of a blast of water.
"If you know what types your opponent could use to be strong against your type, try to have a counter to the counter," Lorelei said calmly. "In the case of Ice, for example, there are several options – Jynx or Froslass against Fighting, Ground against Steel, and the commonly paired Water type is a useful general addition… as are the Water moves many Ice-type Pokémon can learn."
Charizard ascended as Bubblebeam attacks criss-crossed the stadium, then enveloped himself in a Fire Spin as hail began to fall again.
"Ah, this is interesting," Prima said, indicating Charizard. "This is a form of shield technique, which is often useful in reducing or even negating the effects of an attack. It can – depending on the situation – be a useful way to mitigate or prevent a type disadvantage."
She shrugged. "Though, of course, a water shield would have to be fairly unusual to negate an Electric attack, say."
The flames were keeping Charizard warm, and they also meant that the Bubblebeam attacks were bursting before they could reach Charizard.
"When using double-typed Pokémon to cover for a weakness, a major factor must be that no double-typing will be perfect. Some work better than others, but in almost all cases, a Fire-typed move will still do normal damage to an Ice-type."
Charizard used Fire Blast, which speared down out of the sky, and Prima withdrew Dewgong just before the explosion.
"My thanks, Ash Ketchum, on an excellent set of demonstrations," she concluded. "Are there any questions from the audience?"
"Okay," Ash said, pointing to Meowth once the question section was over. "What are you up to?"
Meowth waved a guide. "I wanna get an autograph, 'cause Prima's work saved me a whole load of trouble. What's it ta you?"
"I… guess that's fair," Ash admitted, shrugging. "Sorry to bother you."
"Oh, right, this…" Ash said, partway across the same island.
He put his head in his hands. "Two trainers who hate one another, and their Pokémon are in love. How did we sort this one out again? I forgot."
"Just leave it to me!" Misty said. "This needs a delicate touch!"
"Actually, that sounds like a bad plan," Tracey said, then flinched as Misty rounded on him. "No, no, really! Remember what happened last time?"
"Well… no," Misty admitted. "But how hard can it be?"
"Don't say that!" Ash demanded. "Things always go wrong when someone says it!"
A few hours later, Tracey shook his head.
"Okay, I'll bite. How?"
"Easy!" Misty said, pointing at the two Nidoran. "I taught them both Helping Hand and pointed out how popular Double Battles are getting these days to the trainers."
"The fact that that worked is…" Tracey began, then tailed off.
"Far too lucky?" Riolu suggested.
"Nope, didn't get that," Tracey apologized.
Misty shrugged. "Well… all's well that ends well."
Ash dove for cover.
Nothing happened.
When nothing continued to happen, he poked his head back up warily.
Tracy, Misty and the Pokémon shrugged and walked off. After a moment, Ash followed, still looking around for the random Legendary or airship crash or something.
In Trovitopolis, on the Mandarin Island South coast not far from Trovita Island, the friends had barely arrived in town when the local Jenny waved them down.
"Hey, I recognize you!" she said. "Aren't you that kid who won the Indigo League? If you are, I'm asking for help with something."
"Uh… sure, I guess?" Ash replied. "How bad is it?"
"There's something in the sewer," Jenny began. "I don't have the team to deal with it myself, but the Mayor's talking about sending in a SWAT team."
Ash remembered what that must be, and also remembered that he shouldn't mention remembering it.
"We'll help out!" he said. "Any idea where in the sewers?"
Jenny pulled out a municipal map. "Well… there's hundreds of miles of sewer under this city."
"...how much?" Misty demanded, looking incredulous.
Jenny shrugged awkwardly. "What can I say… the city planners loved sewers, and this is the largest settlement on the island?"
"Which gives it a population of not-enough-to-need-this," Misty said, then sighed. "Well… I always wanted to spend ages in a sewer."
Please wait, Dexter requested.
He formed, settled to the ground, and made a faint rumbling noise.
"What's that?" Jenny asked. "Isn't that one of the Pokémon you used in the League?"
Inverting, Dexter announced. Ah, there it is. Follow me, please.
"We so should have had you last time we did this," Pikachu said.
They hadn't been where Dexter indicated for more than a few minutes when something happened – a splash, and a tentacle lashed out of the water aiming for the group.
Ash grimaced, double-checked that he was wearing rubber gloves over Sir Aaron's ones, and dodged to the side before grabbing the tentacle as it went past. His boots flared, anchoring him to the floor, and he yanked.
In a splash of awful-smelling water, a huge Bulbasaur came flying into the air and landed with a splat on the walkway.
"...huh," Riolu said, frowning. "Didn't know they got that big."
"Usually they don't," Tracey replied. "This is a Giant one, which is… wait, who asked that question?"
Riolu held up his paw.
"Nice work, Tracey!" Ash praised.
"Thanks, I guess now I just need to keep it up… anyway, uh… giant Pokémon are unusual, but not unknown. It's not known if it's genetic, environmental, or a mixture."
"Like Gary's Krabby, right," Ash agreed, then sent out his Ivysaur. "Do you think you can talk to Bulbasaur? They might listen to you."
"I can talk, the question is getting an answer," Ivysaur replied, using Sunny Day for illumination before closing up his fronds to keep them from getting splashed.
Eventually, they got an answer, and took it to Officer Jenny.
"So!" she said, scowling. "The Mayor abandoned a Pokémon in the sewers, and tried to make us do his dirty work for him, and cover up a crime, and just before an election! Well, so much for that Mayor."
"Probably," Tracey agreed. "Nobody's going to win an election after that."
Ash raised his hand. "So, uh… what is a SWAT team? You mentioned one before, but I've only heard of one once or twice."
"Sandslash, Wartortle, Alakazam, Tangela," Jenny counted off. "It… used to stand for something else, but someone got confused somewhere."
"Huh!" Ash said, nodding to himself. "I always wondered about that…"
On Trovita Island, Ash spread his arms. "Finally! Trovita Gym!"
"Which one was this?" Tracey asked. "I know there's only four gyms, but it was a long time ago…"
"I remember this one," Misty scowled. "Jerk."
"Hey!" Tracey said.
"Not you," Misty corrected. "The gym leader. He was too busy getting an eyeful of me to pay attention to his job."
She shook her head. "I don't like that, even if it is the main reason Ash won."
Ash tried his best not to react.
"So!" Gym Leader Rudy said, once Ash had actually gone to the gym itself. "You have to hit all the floating targets if you want to challenge me!"
For some reason, he wasn't quite focusing on Ash as he spoke, and his attention kept wandering over to where Misty was.
"Right," Ash said, reaching for a Pokéball, then paused. "...hey, can I check something?"
"Of course," Rudy said.
"You just need all the targets to be hit, right? It doesn't matter how?" Ash waved a hand for something like emphasis. "Because Cissy said it had to be either Water Gun or a Water-type, can't remember which."
"No, no type chauvinism here," Rudy said. "That's actually why the later challenge is the way it is – you get your choice of Pokémon, but it's a type-matched battle. Anyway, if your Pokémon doesn't have the range to hit the targets from the shore, you can just ask and I'll take you out in my speedboat.
"Cool!" Ash said, taking a Pokéball from his belt. "Snorlax, Body Slam!"
"Wait, what?" Rudy asked.
Then he, and everyone else on the waterfront, got wet.
"I think that went well!" Ash said brightly, as Charizard blew hot air to dry them all off.
Rudy just grumbled something about tidal waves.
"So, the main battle?" Ash asked, inspecting his hat to make sure it wasn't too damp.
"Right, of course." The Gym Leader pushed himself up. "Okay, I actually do have a normal Pokémon battle section."
"For this archipelago, that's kind of daring…" Tracey commented.
"I know. I've got letters asking why it isn't a skydiving contest or something." Rudy tapped his foot. "Anyway. Pick three of your Pokémon, and I'll match their type. Best two of three same-type matches wins."
"That's interesting," Misty said, then smirked. "I certainly got Ash the same way back in Cerulean."
"You mean you sent out a Chinchou and absorbed basically everything Pikachu had," Ash remembered. "Still, at least honour was restored."
Misty blanked for a moment, then tried to strangle Ash. He dodged her lunge and fled with a laugh.
Rudy pointed after them. "Does this…?"
"All the time," Tracey shrugged. "You get used to it. I'd say it'll be twenty-three minutes before you can start your battle."
Twenty-three minutes and fifty-two seconds later, Rudy held up a microphone.
"Round one!" he said, and the crowd roared.
Or, purred. There weren't that many of them.
Ash sent out his first Pokémon. "Pidgeot!"
"Oh," Rudy said, sending out his own first Pokémon. "When you said Flying-type…"
"Huh." Ash looked skywards at the two almost-identical Pokémon. "You too, huh?"
"They're very good Pokémon," Rudy shrugged.
"I know," Ash confirmed. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "You get 'em, girl!"
"On it!" Pidgeot replied with a coo, then shot skywards with mighty beats of her air-augmented wings.
The other Pidgeot looked up, apparently at something of a loss.
"...I knew I should have trained him for dogfighting," Rudy sighed, then rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a tape recorder. "Let's see…"
Clipping it into one of the microphone attachments, he pressed play.
"What's that music?" Misty asked. "I don't recognize it at all…"
Identifying, Dexter said. Identification complete.
"You can do that?" Tracey asked, impressed.
Yes. What? I'm a Pokémon, not a dishwasher.
Tracey shrugged helplessly. "So… what is it, then?"
Fighter's Honor.
Ash's Pidgeot slashed out of the sky, moving at her attack speed more than twice that of sound, and cloaked in dynamically unstable air to aid her terminal attack.
The other Pidgeot did an aileron roll and slid away from her, so she converted the speed of the attack into a lightning-fast partial roll of her own and circled to get behind him.
Air Cutter attacks rolled off her Tailwind and stuttered forwards, spraying a cone in front of her which was where she could aim best, but he evaded her with a dodge of his own and tried for an Aerial Ace.
"Not gonna lie, this is pretty cool," Pikachu said, watching the contrails cross and spar across the sky.
"Yeah…" Ash agreed, squinting up. "Problem is, I've completely lost track of which is which."
"Aura sight?"
"…oh, right." Ash closed one eye. "Yeah, that's better. Whoa!"
"What?" Pikachu extended his electrical sense. "I missed it."
"She just pulled a super-fast backflip. He nearly hit her and she shed a lot of speed, but it means she's behind him again. But he just did that pull-up cobra thing, and… I can't talk fast enough!"
Then the sky erupted with light as a Sky Attack hit… something.
Ash's hand snapped out. "Charizard, catch them!"
Charizard beat his wings strongly, heading out over the water towards the twin specks plummeting out of the sky.
He was sure he could catch one. Two, on the other hand, might be a little more tricky.
Then one of the two Pokémon pulled out of its dive. The resultant flight path was wobbly, but serviceable.
Charizard wasn't going to lie, that made things a lot simpler.
The Fire type matched speed with the falling bird, and caught it gently in both arms.
"So…" Ash said, looking the Pidgeot up and down. "Which one are you?"
It promptly stole his hat.
"Okay, I was joking!" Ash protested, laughing.
The hat fell to the floor, and Ash retrieved it hastily. Then he patted her on the wing-base. "Good work, girl. Get some rest."
"Which of the types you told me are you going to pick next?" Rudy asked.
"Let's go with…" Ash began, frowning.
Bug or Fighting?
"...Bug! Butterfree!"
"Venomoth," Rudy countered.
The Poison Moth Pokémon didn't waste any time, firing a Supersonic and a Disable. Butterfree tried to resist them, but wasn't strong enough to handle both and was temporarily immobilized.
He shook it off in only a couple of seconds, but by then Venomoth had delivered a dusting of shed scales with a Toxic wrapped up in them.
"Dammit!" Butterfree shook his wings, trying to dislodge the spores, but could already feel the effects starting to bite.
He flared his wings, light spreading over them. "Well, if I'm going down, I'm not going alone. Confusion!"
Venomoth flinched back as the Psychic attack washed over him – Bug-types may have been effective against Psychics, but they were no better at defending against them.
"Aerial Ace!"
Butterfree slashed in, the tempo of his attacks increasing. The poison was weakening him by now, accelerating as the reactive poison of the Toxic adapted to his defences and intensified with every moment…
But he was good. And he was annoyed.
Venomoth tried to catch him with a Venoshock, and Butterfree snap-rolled out of the way before darting in behind his opponent. Then again, as Venomoth used Sludge Bomb and missed.
A final, risky wingover slammed into Venomoth, and the other Bug type went flying – clearly out of it, possibly fainted, but either way heading for a disqualifying crash.
Butterfree floated above the arena, holding his wings steady despite the burning poison, until his opponent finally hit the arena floor.
Then, and only then, did he let himself go down.
"All right!" Ash said, as he gathered up the falling Butterfree and sprayed some Antidote on. "Great work, Butterfree… so, what now?"
Rudy rummaged in his pocket and passed something over. "Now you get the Spike Shell badge."
Ash blinked. "Pardon?"
"Two wins. I can't make that good, so you win the whole gym challenge."
"Hold on a second!" Ash realized, face falling. "You mean you don't do a third match in this situation?"
"Well, I don't…" Rudy shrugged. "Sorry."
"Awww…" Riolu muttered.
"Well, that went well!" Misty said brightly, as Lapras sailed away from Trovita.
"Speak for yourself…" Ash replied, sulking.
"Come on, Ash!" Tracey said. "So you only had two battles. Isn't that still okay?"
"I can't believe you would even ask that question," Ash tutted, and turned away from Tracey with a hmf.
"What's that place?" Ash said, pointing over the port bow. "It looks kind of…"
That is Fairchild Island. Known for lush and verdant forests, the remnants of a volcanic plug, and giant Pidgeot and Rhydon.
"Oh, that place." Pikachu looked around. "Hope I don't get tied to Meowth… again…"
One of Ash's Pokéballs erupted in light.
"I fancy having a look over there, actually," Pidgeot informed Ash casually. "I want to see if they have anything to teach me."
"Oh! Well, sure," Ash said. "Just, come back soon, okay?"
"Sure thing, Ash."
With a wash of air, Pidgeot took flight.
"See you soon!" Lapras called.
"Hmmm…" Tracey said, consulting a nautical chart. "According to this, there's a strong current in the area. I wonder what that could mean for the local Pokémon…"
"It's making it very hard going!" Lapras interjected. "I don't mind all that much, but…"
"Not much else we can do…" Ash said. "Though, if Charizard and Pidgeot don't mind, we could use their help for a bit once Pidgeot gets back. Or get you a tow from Misty's Gyarados or something?"
"No, I'm fine," Lapras shrugged, bending his head down to lean against the current. "Don't mind me."
"If you say so," Ash decided. "Speaking of Pidgeot… I wonder how long she's going to be?"
"Let's be honest, she could be a hundred miles behind us and she'd catch up in two minutes," Pikachu pointed out.
Then there was an explosion to the southwest.
"Whoa!" Ash gasped, looking off in that direction. "What happened?"
Specks of colour danced against the blue sky, and flashes of heat lightning or momentary clouds flashed for almost a full minute. Accompanying it, at a delay of about ten seconds, was a series of rumbling booms.
Eventually, it died away. A few seconds later, a familiar shape came skipping over the sea.
Pidgeot flared her wings, beat them once to cancel most of her momentum, and settled into a low orbit around Lapras. "Ruffians!"
"I… take it that it didn't go well?" Misty guessed.
"I don't want to talk about it."
After most of the afternoon fighting with the current, Lapras finally announced that he was clear, and Tracey scanned the area with his binoculars.
"Land ahoy!" he said, pointing.
"Where?" Ash asked, shading his eyes. "Which direction is it?"
"Northeast, I… think," Tracey said, then glanced up at the sun. "No, hold on, that's not quite right."
"It's not?" Ash asked. "Are we lost?"
"We might be," Tracey said. "The sun's in the wrong place. Pikachu, which direction is that?"
Pikachu felt for the magnetic field of the earth. "...that's east," he said.
"East," Ash relayed.
"Then we must be off course," Tracey decided.
"The current," Misty guessed. "If it wasn't going quite the way we thought-"
"Sorry," Lapras agreed. "I think I assumed the current was just going in one direction, I didn't notice it curving around."
Dexter rose into the air. Analyzing… that is not the deserted Berna Island to our east. However, we are no longer lost as the island has a positive identification… we are just west of Shamouti.
"Oh, great," Misty said.
"Well, here goes," Ash sighed. "Lapras, do you think you can make it there?"
Lapras coasted into Shamouti bay, which was fairly empty of boats. Only a few ferries were docked, mostly riding high on the moorings, and the streets were nearly empty.
"What's going on?" Misty asked, looking around. "Wasn't it really busy last time?"
The Shamouti Festival is a popular tourist event, but we are one day early for it, Dexter told them. It begins tomorrow evening. I suggest getting a good rest.
"Yeah," Ash agreed, as Lapras arrived at the beach. "That sounds like a plan… thanks, Lapras."
"I'm still sorry about the current," the Water-type said.
Ash hugged his neck. "Don't be, okay? You did great – you should get some rest for the next leg."
"Okay. Just… be careful, okay, Ash?" Lapras asked.
He checked to make sure everyone was off his back, then nodded to Ash, and Ash returned him.
"Ohhh, that was good…" Tracey groaned, lying back on his bed in the hotel. "This place has such nice food…"
"It is a tourist centre," Ash replied. "I've never seen so many elaborate and vaguely silly bird costumes… I'm not really sure what they're representing, either."
"Hey, don't knock it," Riolu warned from the window. "I love this kind of thing."
Ash nodded. "I know… and it's fun to watch and take part, but that doesn't stop me making fun of it." He rummaged in his pouch, and pulled out Sir Aaron's complete wardrobe. "These tomorrow, I think."
"Good idea." Pikachu rubbed his paws together, then brought out his Light Ball to check before reabsorbing it. "We'll need all the help we can get."
Riolu turned from the window and sat on the dresser, crossing his legs and settling into a meditative posture. "I've only heard what you told me about this, but – well, I agree."
At ten minutes past midnight, four silvery shapes dropped through a cloud layer and sped south and west. Something flashed pale blue behind them, and orbs of light dropped through the cloud layer in a steady stream.
Shapes and orbs alike were headed on an arrow-straight path to Fire Island, most south-easterly of the three sacred islands.
"I still don't see why we couldn't do this yesterday," Hunter J scowled, staring out the window. "As it is, we're taking far too long."
"The Beast of the Sea must be tamed on the day of the festival," Lawrence said calmly. "The festival begins today; so must the taming begin. And why so anxious, sister?"
J strode over to one of the display screens. Tapping on the controls with quick, sure strokes, she brought up a recon image of Shamouti Island. "This is going to be densely populated on the day of the festival – it draws people from all over the Orange Islands to see it. We might be found out."
"Dear me, sister!" Lawrence said, with mock surprise. "Is this you I hear worried about being found out? Aren't you the one who dares the police to do what they can?"
"That was when I had a battleship," she admitted, though she'd never breathe it to someone who wasn't family. "And you know as well as I that the new one is still months from completion."
"That's as may be," Lawrence shrugged. "But we do have a battleship. A great citadel of the skies!"
An attention signal chimed.
"Ah, the Titan of Fire has emerged from the volcano."
Lawrence spun his chair to the controls, and began entering commands. The ice cannon shifted, targeting the blazing streak of fire in the night, and opened fire.
"Using ice weapons is foolish," J muttered. "Moltres is Fire type, and Fire is strong against Ice."
"As Flying is weak," Lawrence countered. "Each of the Titans requires a different approach, of course. Besides, to capture a Pokémon one must weaken it before using the Pokéball."
More ice shots slammed into the Legendary, and after a further moment laser fire danced out from the four pinnaces on remote-control. Moltres snarled, turning to face them and destroying one with a single Fire Blast, and took a laserbolt square on the back from another pinnace.
"...now, I think."
Lawrence stabbed a key.
Four metallic circles dropped free, homing on the Legendary Pokémon as it smashed the last of the pinnaces. Moltres didn't even notice them until two flashed past either side of him, blasting the Fire-type with lightning, and he screeched before whirling to fight them instead.
He endured a few more blasts from the circles, and even hit one with a Fire Blast which blew it to smithereens, but eventually the attacks overcame it and it was captured in a forcefield by two of the circles.
The next attack made the forcefield crackle, but it was contained entirely successfully.
J looked at the camera feeds, as the newly created containment orb rose into the ship. "You should paralyze it. Maybe even lock it into stasis."
"No."
The denial was flat, and Lawrence spun to face his sister. "The Titans must be brought together, but their powers must be combined to tame Lugia. I cannot do that if they are unable to use those powers."
Hunter J stared at him, then nodded grudgingly. "Fine. If any of this is going to work the way you want it to, then we have to follow the instructions…"
"My thoughts exactly." Lawrence brought up a map. "Now, perturbing the balance of the Titans by removing the Titan of Fire should lead to a reaction from one of the others. Let us see which it is…"
3
"This place is so crowded!" Misty said, looking around with a grin.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "There must be thousands of people here!"
"And from all over the Orange Islands!" Tracey contributed. "Boats have been arriving all day. Wonder if any of them are from Kanto or Hoenn?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Misty said. "This festival is amazing!"
She paused. "Though, actually, I'd never heard of it until we came here..."
"It is a long way," Pikachu mused. "Perhaps that's why."
Tracey shrugged. "I had. I think it's just something that tends to be interesting to people who are, maybe, a bit older than we are..."
"What, dressing up in costumes?" Ash looked decidedly skeptical.
"Actually, I can see that."
The others looked at Riolu, and he shrugged. "From what I remember of my, er... other life? Most of the young Pokémon who came to events in the village were brought along by their parents. If the same is true for humans-"
"Probably more true," Tracey said with a nod.
"Right. Then anyone who gets brought along by their parents would be younger than you guys, while any trainers who came would tend to be older, because they wouldn't have the head start you guys have." Riolu shrugged. "Or something."
Ash blinked. "Wait, did you just make all that up on the fly?"
"I'm guessing." Riolu raised his paws. "Made sense, though, didn't it?"
"I have to admit, it kind of did..."
"Excuse me?"
The group turned, seeing a man wearing a jacket and shorts, and with a big bundle of cloth in his hands. "I was wondering... you're all Pokémon trainers, right?"
"Yep!" Ash grinned. "What gave it away?"
"That would be the Pokémon," Tracey deadpanned.
"Sounds about right." Ash shrugged. "Yeah, we're Pokémon trainers. Why?"
"Well..." The man rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "You wouldn't believe how rare it is for Pokémon trainers to come here. Especially of the right age... anyway. We're looking for a visitor to play the part of the Chosen One."
An electric thrill danced down Ash's spine. "Sure!"
"Really?" The man blinked. "That was quick."
"Be an awesome hero-type character?" Ash spread his arms. "Sign me up!"
"Yeah, that's Ash alright..." Pikachu chuckled.
"Hey, can I provide my own costume?" Ash rummaged in his bag. "I've got a great one right here, I was going to-"
"No, sorry," the man denied, hiding a smile and shaking his head. "Part of the point is to show how anyone can be a hero, so your normal clothes are actually preferred."
Ash actually felt a bit put out by that. "Oh... can I at least put on a cape?"
"Just put it on once the ceremony's over, Ash!" Misty said, shaking her head.
"Uh... sure." Ash nodded. "Works for me. Maybe then I can put on the hat as well."
He glanced down at his boots – which were, as usual, Sir Aaron's boots, to go with the gloves he also wore all the time now.
The man shrugged. "Well, it's your choice what you wear during the trial. Come with me, I'll let the organizers know – then I'll have to go change."
"Oh, you're performing?" Tracey looked interested. "What as?"
"Moltres," the man answered, then looked into the sky with a frown. "Though I can't say it's great weather for it..."
There was an ominous rumble.
"Come on, we'd better hurry. Don't suppose you have a Pokémon with Sunny Day?"
"I have at least two," Ash contributed.
Ivysaur was duly released. He took a look around, raised his petals, glowed briefly, and shot an orb of yellow light into the sky.
It reached the cloud layer, and vanished from view. Then the clouds began to churn faster.
"Well?" Ash asked, a note of concern in his voice.
"This is much, much harder than normal," Ivysaur grunted. "Maybe it's just Shamouti... this is kind of an important place."
"I'm not so sure..." Ash mused. "Okay, if you can't you can't. Thanks for trying."
He looked up at the man and shrugged. "Sorry. No luck."
"Hmmm..." the man frowned. "Now I'm worried."
"Well, it's probably just a bad storm, right?" Misty said, smiling brightly. "Where do we need to go? We may as well try to get indoors."
The ceremony itself felt... really strange.
Sure, the free meal was nice, but...
Ash couldn't help but have a feeling of... well, it was hard to pin down. Like he was watching a film, but for the second time. And this time, they'd replaced the main character with him.
It felt almost wrong that everything went almost without incident. Apart from the ominous rumblings of a summer thunderstorm outside, that is. But, apart from that occasional interruption, it was just a slightly cheesy town festival.
After the first ritual had been done – the bit which told Ash that he had to find the three treasures of the titans – someone approached him as everyone else went back to their meal.
"Good afternoon, Chosen One."
Ash looked up at the woman who'd brought them here. "Hi, Maren."
Maren looked very confused. "Have we met?"
...last time. She'd brought them to the island last time.
Ash blushed, and winced. "Sorry! I overheard your name somewhere..."
"Must have been my friend Carol – or her sister..." Maren's lips pursed for a moment. "She's the festival maiden – Melody."
Ash nodded. "Right. Yeah, that's probably it."
Maren smiled quickly, then blinked. "Sorry, we got a bit off topic. I was going to offer to you that I take you to the islands – Fire island, Ice island and Lightning island. You need to pick up the treasures, as part of the ritual – normally it'd be fine for you to pick them up tomorrow, but I don't think we've got all that long before the weather closes in."
"Okay, sure!" Ash stood. "Shall we get going now?"
The woman was quick to agree. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back. I've got supplies on my boat, though, just in case we do end up stranded on one of the islands."
Ash chuckled as they headed out of the temple-turned-dining-area. "I've got a Pidgeot, so we'd probably be fine."
"Also, you can walk on water," Riolu pointed out, holding out a paw. Pikachu did likewise, and Ash swept them up onto both shoulders.
"Well, yeah, that too."
Ash clung to the rail as Maren's boat rocked in the swell. "Is it usually this bad?"
"Not usually, no!" Maren called back. "I think we might be more glad of those supplies than I thought!"
"Pidgeot can fly in worse weather than this," Ash told her loyally – then went a bit green. "Urp... I though I had my sea legs by now..."
The sky rumbled again, flashes visible through the black clouds covering the sky.
Pikachu hopped up onto the mast. "I wonder if we're the tallest thing around..."
"We better not be," Ash mumbled. "I don't fancy being struck by lightning in a boat."
"Walk it off," Riolu quipped. "You know. Because you can walk on water."
"Yeah, I got the joke," Ash replied. "I just didn't laugh..."
Ash jogged up the mountain stairway, pacing himself. Riolu ran at his side, and Pikachu was two paces ahead – keeping his electro-sensitivity at maximum to try and preempt any incoming bolts of lightning.
"This is kind of strange..." Riolu said. "I mean, I'm the only one who hasn't done this before, out of the three of us."
"Yeah, true," Ash said, as they rounded another shallow bend. "It was several years ago for me, though, so I'm not all that sure I remember how everything went."
Checking a half-step, he winced. "Case in point – I forgot until now that Zapdos is about to show up."
"Is that why there's all this storm, do you think?" Pikachu asked.
"Now I think of it, it probably is," Ash shrugged, getting back into the rhythm. "Well, I'm fairly sure we can take him."
Pikachu and Riolu gave him looks.
"Okay, with help," he allowed. "Look, guys, I did alright against Mewtwo, right?"
"That would be some new definition of alright, where you die." Pikachu's tone was deeply skeptical. "Don't put me through that again, Ash."
Ash nodded, touched. "Sorry, Pikachu. But I was being serious. I really do think we – you two, me, and a couple of the others – could at least fend off Zapdos."
"If we have to," Riolu clarified.
"Yeah, if we have to. And I hope we don't."
It took them a couple more minutes to reach the summit of Fire Island's mountain, and look down into the bowl.
"There's the shrine," Ash said, unnecessarily.
"Huh," Riolu said, looking down at it. "Interesting."
Or maybe not quite so unnecessarily.
"Where was the orb again?" Pikachu asked.
"About..." Ash frowned. "Not sure, actually, I remember it was obvious, though."
He closed his eyes, and took a quick look around. "No nearby Legendaries... and I'm a bit disappointed. The orb doesn't show up."
"Maybe it needs to be filled with Aura before it does," Riolu suggested.
"That sounds likely." Ash opened his eyes again, and checked cloak and gloves were on securely. Then, just in case, he pulled Sir Aaron's staff out of the pouch and slung it across his back ready to hand. "Right, let's go."
Warily, they stepped down into the centre of what seemed to be an extinct volcano.
But, then again, of course it was an extinct volcano. It was an ocean island in the middle of the Pacific, it wasn't like there were many other ways for it to get there, even notwithstanding that it was Fire Island.
"Hmmm..." Ash said, walking around the shrine. "No sign of it on this side... or..."
"Uh oh..." Pikachu voiced, for all of them.
"Where the heck is it?" Ash asked. "It was right – wait."
Looking closer, he saw a set of four tiny squarish blocks in a square pattern, set into a small recess. "I think this must be where it was."
"So..." Riolu began. "If it's not here, then who took it?"
"And what do we do now?" Ash added.
"Wait a sec."
They looked around at Pikachu.
"If it's not here-here, maybe you could see it with Aura Sight," Pikachu suggested, wiggling an ear. "So that might be a quicker way to look."
"Good idea." Ash rummaged around, and got out a Pokéball. "Well, by now the idea of doing the ceremony the usual way is completely impossible... Pidgeot!"
The Flying-type materialized. "I heard. I assume you'd like a lift?"
"Please," Ash nodded. "Head down to the beach first, I should let Maren know we won't need her any more."
Pidgeot chirped assent, turning and crouching down a little. "Climb on. And Pikachu – make sure I don't get struck by lightning, please!"
Maren hummed to herself, boiling some water for a cup of coffee.
No matter the weather, a good drink always helped her feel better.
As she filled the percolator, there was a whoosh of wings outside.
"Maren!" came the voice of the boy – Ash. "We got up there, and the treasure was missing!"
"Missing?" Maren hurried out onto the deck, coffee forgotten. "Who would do such a thing?"
"I don't know," Ash told her, face set in determination. "But I'll make sure they don't get far."
Despite herself, Maren believed him. The young boy who sat there, astride a Pidgeot and with some kind of staff-head poking out above his shoulder, sounded... confident.
"Okay," she said, nodding. "Good luck. I'll head back to Shamouti, since you clearly don't need me..."
"Actually, could you let my friends know?" Ash asked. "They might be worried."
"Of course."
With that, Ash reached up to a bandana, pulled it over one eye (for no reason Maren could discern), and his Pidgeot began to climb precipitously before circling the island.
Maren watched him go for a minute, until his Flying-type was just a moving speck and she lost sight of it.
Then she went back into the wheelhouse to start up the engine – and, of course, have that coffee. She needed it.
"This is concerning..." Professor Oak commented, looking from screen to screen. "Do we have this from a satellite?"
Yes, we do. Damos threw up an image on the big screen. Himawari-2 has already turned every sensor it has on the area.
"Curious." Oak rubbed his chin. "Last time, when this happened, the disturbances were larger at this point."
Larger?
"The weather was affected as far as here by now, last time. And it was... different." Oak searched for the words. "It was... yes, I think about now was the time it switched from being a cold thunderstorm to pure blizzard."
That is indeed anomalous. Damos brought up weather reports. The temperature dropped somewhat over the course of the day, but is now returning to mean in the area – and the thunderstorm is intensifying.
Oak nodded, tapping his foot. "Well, I don't think there's much we can do to help from here. About the best we can do is to monitor the situation – I doubt flying over in a helicopter would help much."
Right. Damos paused for a moment. Professor, I believe I have noticed something interesting.
Up came the satellite image again. This time, it dropped into false-colour, and rotated to be a flat plane representing the horizontal. Green lines traced themselves onto the plot.
"Really?" Oak asked, surprised. "An ellipse?"
Yes, though a tenuous one. Focus one is over Shamouti itself. Focus two is here – the former site of Kabuto Island.
"Most unusual," Oak said, then nodded. "Please continue to monitor the situation, Damos."
Of course.
Oak looked off into the distance, towards the Orange archipelago. "I do hope you know what you're doing, Ash..."
"No way!" Misty declared. "I know, I want to help Ash – but there's no way we can go out in that storm!"
"But I want to help!" Togekiss insisted, and Scizor and Psyduck nodded.
"It's not a matter of wanting," Tracey agreed, with a grimace. "I do too. But most of our Pokémon can't fly, and that's a full-fledged lightning storm out there." A jagged blue arc hit one of the mountains ringing the ancient caldera, and he winced. "And of those who can... well..."
Misty sighed. "We don't want to risk you. There are Legendary Pokémon out there, and a machine that fights them and wins."
"Ash is out there, though!" Togekiss pressed.
"He's an exception," Misty replied promptly. "Seriously, Ash's Pokémon are crazy strong and so is he."
Togekiss subsided, looking mutinous.
Another bolt arced through the heavens, blowing a chunk of rock off the side of a cliff face.
"I hate not knowing what's going on," Misty commented.
Then she blinked. "Wait – where's a phone?"
"Huh?" Tracey asked.
"I just realized – we do know some people who can help!" Misty looked between Tracey and their Pokémon, rummaging in her pocket.
After a few seconds, she held up a slip of paper. "Aha! Now, who's got Gary's phone number?"
Seeing Tracey's further confusion, she flourished the paper. "Who do we know who's got some unreasonably powerful Pokémon?"
"Ah, gotcha." Tracey nodded. "Still getting used to being friends with them..."
"No sign of it on my end!" Ash called into the slipstream. "You guys?"
"No luck," Riolu agreed. "Not a speck of Aura on the whole island."
Pikachu shook his head.
"Hope that doesn't mean we were wrong about being able to spot it," Ash fretted, then yelped. "Whoa!"
The largest lightning bolt yet speared down out of the sky, and blew shrapnel out of the cone of Fire Island. A screech ripped through the air.
"That was Zapdos!" Ash observed.
"Yeah, I noticed," Pikachu snarked. "What now?"
Pidgeot answered for them, weaving a tailwind out of the air and riding it forwards.
They closed up to Zapdos, following about half a mile behind, and watched the fireworks.
Bolt after bolt scored the crater rim. Zapdos cawed out challenge, daring the Fire type legendary to come out and fight him.
Ash listened closely. It was harder than usual to understand what the Titan of Lightning was saying, but that could just be the wind…
"Did I hear that right?" he asked, glancing back at Pikachu. "He asked if Moltres was a coward – like Articuno."
"That's what I heard, too," Pikachu agreed. "If that means he's already done this at Ice Island..."
"Then Articuno must be missing too," Riolu completed the thought.
"We should go check it out," Ash declared, and tapped Pidgeot on the side. "Okay, girl, we've seen enough. Ice island, on the double!"
"Double the speed of sound? That I can do," Pidgeot boasted. The tailwind halted for a moment, letting them drop further behind Zapdos, and Pidgeot flared her wings up into a climb which shed all her momentum.
Below her, the wind she'd left behind coiled in on itself.
She rolled, so her back was where her belly had been. She pitched forward in a half flip, facing downwards where she'd been facing up.
Then she dove back into the tailwind, which had reversed direction entirely, and shot off west towards Ice island.
A muffled boom went almost unheard in the cacophony of the thunderstorm.
"You want me to what?" Gary asked, blinking.
"Yep!" Misty said brightly. "The sooner the better."
"Misty, I'm..." Gary glanced up for a moment. "Probably more than six thousand miles away. I can't possibly get there in time to help, nothing I have knows Teleport."
"Don't you have an Alakazam?"
"Yes," Gary confirmed. "And he doesn't know Teleport."
"Well... that sucks," Misty said eventually. "How quick could you be here if you set off right now?"
"Days," Gary replied. "If I got an airliner and flew the great circle route, then I'd take eleven hours – if there was an airliner going that way right now. Fearow would take longer, even without the need to eat on the way."
Misty nodded. "Yeah, okay. By the sound of things, you couldn't get here in time to help."
Gary shrugged. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine, you weren't to know."
The line closed with a click.
I told you coming to Lumiose City was a bad idea, Dee said.
"I didn't expect the apocalypse, okay?" Gary replied. "And I say that way too often."
He glanced up at Prism Tower through the hotel window. "Well, even with jet lag I'm not getting back to sleep after that. We may as well go for a walk."
The sides of Ice Island's central cone bore the same long, jagged lightning-scars as Fire Island had.
"No way Articuno was still here when that happened," Ash said. "They're all pretty territorial."
"What does that mean, then?" Pikachu asked. "Is that flying machine still here?"
"Must be," Ash agreed, but frowned. "But I... I don't know. Why would... he, right? Why would he attack in a different order?"
The butterfly effect, perhaps? Dexter suggested. The idea is that small changes balloon out into large ones, and that you can't tell which small ones will become which large ones.
"What does Butterfree have to do with it?" Ash asked.
No, Butter fly . Any Bug type Pokémon which has large wings and a diurnal lifestyle after emerging from a coccoon. Like Beautifly.
"Butterfree-Beautifly effect. Right," Ash said, nodding.
I give up.
"Wait," Riolu said, pointing off further west. "Look."
The others turned, one hand/paw each on Pidgeot's feathered back to keep their balance.
"I forgot how big that thing was," Ash breathed. "It's the size of a city."
"And it's heading for Fire Island," Pikachu noted. "Probably going after Zapdos."
"That must mean it's already got the other two legendaries," Ash agreed, as Pidgeot banked around to follow. "Wonder if he's the one who took the treasures?"
"We'll have to assume he did." Riolu took a deep breath. "Okay. Where's the best way to get on board that thing?"
"Don't know..." Ash admitted. "Pidgeot? Any ideas?"
He glanced back at his backpack. "Dexter?"
Scanning.
Several seconds ticked by.
I believe I have something. Dexter's projector glowed, and an image appeared in front of Ash's eyes for a moment. Here.
"Did you get that, Pidgeot?" he asked, squinting at the moving fortress.
"I didn't, no-" Pidgeot began, then interrupted herself. "Oh, now I do. Thanks."
Her wings flashed, and she sped onwards towards one of the outer engine pods.
"Three treasures, three birds," Lawrence said softly. "Bring together all three, and tame the beast of the sea."
"If you say so," J said, looking dubiously at the trio of orbs in their special holder. "They just look like clear Pokéballs to me."
"Often artefacts of great power seem minor to the uninitiated," Lawrence assured her. "After all, our first discovery seemed nothing but a simple rectangle of thin metal, but look what it made possible!"
His grand gesture took in the whole stateroom of the vast flying machine, and also the storm outside.
The computer spoke up. Zapdos approaching.
"Destiny calls," Lawrence said lightly, sitting on his chair. "Do you want a lift?"
J shook her head. With a nod, her brother pressed a button on his control panel and his chair rose with a smooth hum into the ceiling.
Mildly interested in what was about to happen, J stepped over to the east side of the stateroom to watch.
The floor vibrated slightly as the cannons deployed, and began to fire.
"Thanks, girl," Ash said, giving Pidgeot a rub. "Okay, have a rest for now."
He held out her Pokéball, and she returned with a red flash.
"Found it," Riolu announced, lifting a grate. "This must be the service hatch."
Ash nodded, clambering over the superstructure of the nacelle. "Can I fit?"
"Looks like," Riolu judged, and Pikachu hopped down before nodding a confirmation.
"Okay, here we go." Ash crouched down, and began to crawl through the accessway.
In her office on Mandarin Island, an air traffic control officer looked over at her radar screen.
"Good afternoon, Tango Romeo four two three. Be advised, your current flight plan intersects an area in which there is a severe weather warning, stand by for a rerouting. Over."
Next to her, her Spearow gave an approving chirp.
"No thank you, ATC," the pilot of Tango Romeo 423 replied. "We are aware of the severe weather warning, and do not require a re-route."
"We're not the sort to heed warnings, anyway," another voice said in the background.
"Hey, I'm doing the talking," the pilot hissed. "Over."
The officer shared a look with her Flying type. "Say again, Tango Romeo four two three? You do not, repeat not require a redirect? Over."
"Affirmative, ATC," the voice confirmed. "No redirect. Please wait, I am switching my transponder to mode two for clarification. Over."
"Mode two?" the officer repeated. "What's-"
The data codes duly changed.
"...okay, wow," the officer said after a moment, and shared another look with her Spearow. This one was more astonished than dubious. "Uh, affirmative, Tango Romeo four two three. I suppose I should say good luck. Over."
"Much appreciated, ATC. You may lose contact, we're going to mode five now. Out."
And with that, the code on her radar vanished completely.
"...huh. Wasn't expecting that," she said faintly.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone