Chapter 72: 32,33
"This all seems..."
Venusaur groped for the words.
"Unbelievable?" Meganium suggested. "That usually does me pretty well."
"Yes, that," the slightly larger Grass-type agreed. "Astonishing could fit, as well..."
She waved a vine. "I mean – quite apart from the time travel, look at what's happened to everyone... Max has Pokémon, which I admit I was expecting to see some time soon but..."
"Really, it's something you get used to quite quickly," Sceptile said.
"I doubt you're a good example for that," Venusaur replied. "Weren't you the one who reacted to your trainer being possessed by just shrugging and going along with it?"
Sceptile's cheeks heated slightly. "In fairness-"
"Hey, leave him alone!" Meganium scowled. "I know it's a bit confusing, but don't take it out on him..."
Venusaur blinked. "Sorry... I wasn't really..."
She shook her head. "You're right, I should have been-"
The Grass/Poison type stopped, and stared.
"What the heck?"
"Oh, that's Jirachi," Ivysaur said, speaking up for the first time. "He decided to come with Max after Mewtwo fixed his problem."
Venusaur let out a long sigh. "It's going to be nothing but this for days, isn't it?"
"You're getting it all in one go," Meganium said, with a smile. "Honestly, after things like Altomare and Forina and... everything I've heard about from the others... I was somewhat prepared for it even before Ash asked for our help catching Suicune."
Venusaur had been nodding along, but froze at that last. "What?"
Ivysaur and Sceptile exchanged glances.
"Okay, Venusaur," Ivysaur said, with a chuckle. "Tell you what. I'll let you know all the Pokémon Ash has at the moment, so you won't be surprised any more."
"After seeing you'd evolved – you, mister 'I don't want to evolve, I'm happy as a Bulbasaur' – then I thought I was ready for anything..."
"Yeah, trust me, we've barely started," Ivysaur replied. "Okay, May now has a Porygon – he's called Ethan – and a Swablu. Max has Arc, who's a Manectric – that's his starter, by the way-"
"Really? Huh," Venusaur said, shrugging. "Always thought he'd get a Treecko."
She looked up for a moment, and her vines manipulated a knife to cut another small slice of Brock's checkerboard-cake.
Putting the knife and plate back on her upper back, just in front of her tree, she moved the cake to her mouth and ate it in one bite. "That is so lovely... sorry, where were we?"
"Max's Pokémon," Meganium said. "We can do the names later, but he's got a Mantine – and a Breloom, a Mightyena, another Porygon... and you saw Jirachi, of course."
"Of course," Venusaur echoed. "How could I forget..."
They began to climb a hill, heading out of the Grass-type reserve, and Venusaur smiled. "I think I remember when I'd just joined May, climbing this hill," she said. "The whole Pokéball thing was so new to me, I wanted to be outside all the time... I grew out of it, though."
"Pretty quickly, if I remember," Ivysaur agreed. "And some Pokémon never grow out of it."
"Better hope Pikachu didn't hear that," Meganium giggled.
They climbed in silence for a bit, until the party reached a ridge-line and began to descend – heading for their next adventure.
"So," Venusaur said, when they were on the downslope. "What about Brock?"
"Oh, Brock's got a few new ones," Ivysaur replied. "You never met Vulpix – she's a Ninetales now – and he's also got Stantler, and Flygon's new too."
"A Flygon? Like Drew?" Venusaur asked, interested.
She paused. "He's not the same one, right?"
"No, not as far as we know," Ivysaur replied. "It'd be quite a coincidence, but then..." he looked over at Glaceon, padding alongside her trainer. "Coincidences do seem to follow us around."
That earned a smile. "And... okay, I've put it off long enough. What about Ash?"
Venusaur sighed. "I'm expecting the worst..."
"Right," Sceptile said, adjusting his twig. "He's got a Porygon too. He's got a Lucario, and I don't think you ever met Pidgeot or Butterfree – or Primeape – but they were from last time."
"You didn't meet them last time either," Meganium pointed out, and he shot her a glance.
"As I was saying," he went on. "Lapras is another we never met last time. He's got Houndoom, Mawile, Tyranitar-"
"Aren't you missing a few?" Ivysaur asked.
"No, I'm not," Sceptile replied firmly. "When-"
"Sorry, a Tyranitar?" Venusaur asked, sounding overwhelmed. "A fully-grown... Tyranitar?"
"Yeah, but he's still kind of young," Ivysaur clarified. "He's nice – you'll like him."
When no reply came, he looked over. "Are you okay?"
"I probably will be, once I've had time to assimilate all this," Venusaur said. "I need to stop thinking in terms of contest circuits for a bit and think more... Cameran Castle, or LaRousse City..."
"Yeah, that's a good start," Ivysaur agreed.
"Where'd we got to?" Meganium asked, ducking under an overhanging branch. "Someone needs to trim this path..."
Sceptile spun on his heel, arm-blades lighting up a bright, blazing blue, and cut the branch in two places with long-range Sacred Swords.
"Overdoing it much?" Meganium blinked, as the ex-branch hit the ground.
"Did... what was that?" Venusaur gaped. "I know you're good, but... what?"
"I'll explain later," Sceptile said, with the faintest hint of a smirk. "Anyway – Absol and Sliggoo make up the rest of the list, apart from..."
Venusaur blinked. "Are you trying to get most of Drew's Pokémon before he can?"
After a moment, she sighed. "And I know you're trying to make me ask, so... what's the apart from?"
Meganium giggled.
Sceptile took a deep breath. "Ash has caught, or holds Pokéballs for... Ho-Oh, Mewtwo, Lugia, Latios, Latias, Suicune, Entei, Raikou and Keldeo."
Venusaur tripped.
"What!?" she asked, heaving herself back to her feet. "That was... what, nine Legendaries?"
"Yep!" Latias agreed, shimmering into view.
"You really like doing that, don't you..." Ivysaur mused, as Venusaur stared.
A giggle was his answer, and Latias performed a roll before flashing blue and vanishing again.
"You get used to her," Ivysaur said with a smile.
"I suppose I'll have to," Venusaur agreed. "Well... thank you, then. Anything else I should know?"
The three other Grass-types frowned.
"I don't think..." Ivysaur began, then paused. "Wait – did we tell her about Fairy-types and Mega-evolution?"
"No," Venusaur said. "You didn't."
Both Sceptile and Meganium started to laugh – it was obvious they were trying not to, but also obvious they were failing.
"Okay, so the Fairy-type... I was taught about it by my mother, but only in this timeline – oh, this is so hard to follow!" Venusaur said, slamming a vine down on the ground.
Ivysaur caught the plate of cake before it fell on the floor. "Whoops!"
"Thanks," Venusaur said, taking it. "But I've never even heard of Mega-evolution."
"Well, there's about five Pokémon between Ash, Brock and Max who can do it, and several more who probably could if they had a Mega Stone," Ivysaur clarified for her.
"But what is it?" the Grass-type asked. "It sounds like-"
She rounded on Sceptile and Meganium. "Stop laughing! Get a room if you have to!"
Both pure-Grass types exchanged a startled look, then turned back to her.
"We're not-"
"What makes you-"
"How would you even-"
"What's the-"
"Why-"
"Nice one," Ivysaur said, very quietly.
"See anything?" Brock asked, holding out his arm.
Crobat landed on it, all four wings cupping the air to slow down. "Well, there's a lake ahead... and someone wearing a pretty silly outfit."
"Given what Ash wears I'm not sure we can comment on things like that," Brock muttered. "Okay, I guess we should find out what's going on. Which way was it?"
"This path, about another ten minutes."
"Hear that?" Brock asked, looking back.
"Hear what?" Max replied, turning his attention away from Arc earnestly instructing Cinder on the difference between Thunder Fang and Thundershock.
"...never mind," Brock decided. "Crobat says there's someone up ahead, so don't do anything too ridiculous."
He paused. "You know. More so than normal..."
"Greetings!" called a grey-haired man in a big purple cloak. "I am Sullivan – the fishing god!"
He swept his cloak around. "I can capture any Pokémon that you catch with a fishing rod!"
"You can?" Max asked. "But... what would happen if you brought up Kyogre or something?"
"I don't think there's a Kyogre in the lake!" Sullivan chuckled. "No, the biggest thing in here is Nero – my nemesis, my age-old foe!"
There was a moment of silence.
"Is no-one going to ask what Nero is?" he asked, lowering his arms with a sigh.
"I would have," May said. "Eventually."
"Well, Nero is a mighty Whiscash, over three times the size of a normal one!" Sullivan told them. "I have tried countless times to capture that cunning Whiscash, but always failed!"
"Why?" Max asked.
"...what do you mean, why?" Sullivan replied, frowning. "I didn't catch him. That's what that usually means."
"No, I mean – why didn't you catch him?" Max pressed. "I mean, if you're a fishing god, then I guess you must have managed to fish him up?"
"Several times," Sullivan agreed. "Once I managed to haul him out of the water entirely – though it took all my strength – but he simply escaped again."
"And didn't you attack him with a Pokémon?" Max pressed. "I mean, just using a Grass-type would have done wonders."
"I... don't have a Grass-type," Sullivan admitted.
"What do you have, then?" Max frowned. "What Grass attacks do they know?"
Sullivan replied by taking a Pokéball from his belt and releasing a Flaffy.
"Hi," she waved.
"...please tell me she knows Energy Ball or something," Max begged.
"No – but she knows Iron Tail and Dynamic Punch," Sullivan said.
Max glanced at his sister. "Why's this guy a god again?"
Sullivan slumped.
"I'm sure he's... quite good?" May suggested weakly.
"We'll help!" Ash volunteered. "How many fishing rods do you have?"
"Aha!" Sullivan brightened immediately. "I've got several fishing rods – I'll show you how to fish!"
"Actually, I already know," Max said. "I caught Delta that way."
"Why don't you show me?" Brock asked. "I'm glad to learn."
"But you know-" Max began to protest.
"Of course!" Sullivan said loudly, enthusiastic again. "Now, let's get going!"
"The most important thing for a fisher is patience," Sullivan said. "Also a very strong back, an ideal cast, and a good boat. And luck. And a good Pokémon. And a durable rod."
"I guess you're speaking from experience?" Brock asked.
"I've been trying to catch Nero for decades!" Sullivan told him. "I think it's called trial and error."
"Emphasis on the error..." Max muttered. "How's it looking, Delta?"
"The water's great!" Delta replied, wheeling and diving in again with a splash.
Emerging in a wash of spray, fins beating to get him airborne, he rolled over the boat and splashed everyone.
"Hey!" Brock laughed. "Watch it!"
"I'm glad he's having fun," May smiled. "Hey, Ash, can you use your crazy Aura vision to spot that Whiscash?"
"Sort of," Ash replied. "I can see a few big Water-types, and I guess there's a couple which must be Whiscash – wait, there!"
He grabbed the rod resting by his side and cast it, sending the float flying out into the water.
"Great cast!" Sullivan said, as it came to rest. "Now, it's going to be a long wait before-"
The float bobbed, then went hard down into the lake.
"Or maybe not," he added.
There was a flash, and Sullivan blinked as Lucario dug his paws into the water of the lake to use as leverage. Together, he and Ash hauled back, pulling Nero up hard enough to make him broach.
"Now!" Max called, and Delta plipped into the water.
A moment later, he came up underneath the big Whiscash and knocked him further out of the water – and a big Surf propelled him towards the shore, with Ash and Lucario running along the water to help tow their catch.
Sullivan pointed. "That's a new one on me."
"Yeah, they do that," May admitted. "Come on, let's get to shore!"
"Right – Hannah, use Dynamic Punch!" Sullivan ordered.
"Okay!" Hannah nodded, and punched Nero.
The Ground-type barely seemed to notice. He frowned down at the Flaafy, and hit her with a blast of muddy water which propelled her backwards across the beach.
"Are you okay, Hannah?" Sullivan called, concern on his face.
"I'm fine!" Hannah waved back, slicking mud off her wool.
"This isn't working," the legendary fisherman said. "I'll need to use a super-effective move!"
"Wait," Max said, frowning. "I thought he said Hannah didn't know any-"
"Thundershock!" Sullivan ordered.
Hannah tilted her head. "Are... you sure?"
"What are you waiting for?" Sullivan asked.
Nodding, Hannah used Thundershock.
The electrical attack sizzled onto Nero's skin, and did nothing.
"How long did you say you'd been trying to catch him again?" Brock asked.
"Fifty years!" Sullivan replied.
"And..."
Brock shook his head, a little lost for words.
"Okay, that's-" Sullivan began, reaching into a pocket.
"That's it!" Pikachu said, launching himself off Ash's shoulder and hopping forwards. "Hey, Nero?"
The Whiscash frowned, looking up at Pikachu. Then he yawned.
Sullivan stopped, hand still in his pocket, and watched with some confusion. "What's going on?"
"I think Pikachu's negotiating," Brock said.
"Look, I've got to ask you something," Pikachu said. "Do you mind?"
"Who wants to know?" Nero asked, yawning again. "Is this going to take long?"
"Nero – or, if you'd rather, Whiscash – that trainer's been after you for fifty years," Pikachu pointed out. "I'm pretty sure that, if you didn't want this, then you could have either scared him off or moved to another lake."
The Whiscash shrugged. "Not like moving's easy."
"But it's less trouble than fifty years of capture attempts, that's my point," said Pikachu, getting a bit exasperated now. "Is it possible for you to give me a straight answer? If you don't mind, then that's fine – but if you do then my trainer can get him to stop."
"I don't see why I should tell you," Nero said, sticking his tongue out.
Pikachu's cheeks sparked, but he controlled himself with a sigh. "Okay, put it this way. Either you don't want to be caught, and I'll get Sullivan to leave. Or you do, and I'll sort this out – but this fifty years of constant messing about is kind of annoying."
"It's no business of yours," Nero said, and sprayed him with muddy water.
Sullivan looked around. "Why are you all running away?"
"Okay, that is it," Pikachu said, rubbing mud out of his eyes. "That. Is. It."
His cheeks crackled, an electrical nimbus spreading to the tips of his ears and tail.
Nero yawned.
Then Pikachu unleashed a full-bore Electroball amplified by a follow-through Thunderbolt all the way to target, and Nero rather abruptly discovered that an immunity wasn't everything.
Pikachu jumped, grabbed an empty Pokéball from Sullivan's belt, and threw it at the stunned catfish.
There was a flash of white light, then a series of slow rocks, and the Pokéball clicked.
"There!" Pikachu said, dusting his paws off. "Problem. Solved."
After a moment he nudged Sullivan in the ankle. "Well?"
Slowly, walking with small steps – and with his Flaafy by his side – Sullivan stepped forwards and picked up the Pokéball.
"This... is it," he said, looking at the 'ball. "After fifty years, I've caught you, Nero."
He chuckled, patting a pocket. "And I didn't even need my Master Ball..."
"He had a Master Ball?" Max asked. "Why didn't he just..."
"Actually, I can kind of relate," Ash said, scooping Pikachu up. "You know... using Pokéballs instead of Ultra Balls, that kind of thing."
While they spoke, Sullivan had been looking out at the lake.
"I guess it's kind of the end of an era," he said, patting Hannah on the head. "No more coming down here, every day, and trying my hardest to coax you to the surface. No more battles of wits, no more close shaves..."
He sighed.
"I almost wish..."
After another few seconds, he opened the Pokéball, sending Nero out.
Nero gave Pikachu the evil eye, then looked up at his new trainer.
And Sullivan broke the Pokéball at the hinge.
Dropping the bits on the floor, he waved at Nero. "Go on, off you go. I'll be back tomorrow, and we can do this all again – I think I enjoy the trying more than actually having caught you!"
"He didn't..." May said, blinking.
"He did," Max confirmed.
Pikachu's eye twitched. "Oh, come on!"
Polite applause filled the Contest hall.
"And that's a wonderful Appeal from miss Nonaka and her Braixen," the announcer said, as both Coordinator and Pokémon bowed.
Braixen's twig flashed, and she twirled it to make a little flash of flame – the circle spreading out and consuming itself, before dissipating and leaving a faint scent of wood-smoke in the air.
"Up next!" the announcer went on. "It's Jesselina and her Meowth!"
Fully dressed up, 'Jesselina' walked out on stage.
"Dat's right!" Meowth agreed, jumping out after her. "It's Meowth and his Jesselina!"
There were a few gasps.
"That Meowth can talk!" someone said.
"Yeah, we know," said the person sitting next to her. "We saw Jesselina two weeks ago – he's normally in the audience..."
"Oh," the girl said, frowning. "Okay. I must have missed hearing about that..."
While they talked, Jesselina rounded on Meowth and put her hands on her hips. "That's Jesselina and her Meowth!" she insisted. "We know how this works – I'm the Coordinator, you're the Pokémon."
"If you're the coordinator, how comes I can speak?" Meowth asked. "Sure you ain't the Pokémon?"
"It doesn't work like that!" Jesselina insisted.
She cleared her throat. "Ahem. My Meowth is a talented acrobat – he's going to perform for you all!"
"How comes I have to do the work?" Meowth asked, crossing his arms. "I always do all da work..."
"This isn't a topic for discussion, Meowth!" Jesselina insisted. "Now get out there and do your thing!"
"Nope," Meowth said.
"Nope?" Jesselina repeated. "Nope?"
She grabbed for him, and he jumped into the air with a supple backflip and bounced off her shoulders to gain more height.
Executing a perfect two-and-a-half forward roll, he landed on his feet and picked at his teeth. "Nope."
"You're embarassing me in front of all these people!" Jesselina protested.
Meowth looked her up and down. "Wait, you're worried about bein' embarrassed?"
He frowned. "Then why are you wearin' a dress so like a Tamato?"
A few giggles chased through the crowd, who were starting to realize that this wasn't just a radically disobedient Pokémon.
"Why, you-" Jesselina began, biting off the sentence before she finished. "I'll show you what..."
She made another grab for the Normal-type, who evaded her this time by taking two quick steps to the side and kicking off – performing a cartwheel over her head, and landing neatly in the middle of the floor.
"Okay, that's it!" Jesselina snarled, and rounded on her misbehaving Pokémon. "Come here!"
Meowth snapped his claws together, and Substitutes formed in a series of smoky poofs.
They quickly formed a Meowth pyramid, and the original clambered up it to reach the lowest of the stage ropes – dismissing the whole pile as Jesselina was about to grab one of the scratch cats.
"Get down here!" Jesselina raged, and picked up a broom.
She thrust it up at Meowth, and got back a pole.
Meowth did his nails with the broom-head, to laughter, and threw it aside. "I ain't seein' why I should be comin' down, here..."
He ran lightly along the ropes to a light, and turned it directly on Jesselina.
"Agh!" the Coordinator yelped, throwing up a hand in front of her eyes.
Not at all coincidentally, the broom handle was in the hand she threw up. It turned a lazy mid-air circle and went thwack as it landed on her forehead.
Giving an overexaggerated stagger, she took the handle again as it started to fall and waved it. "If you don't get down here right now-"
Meowth landed on the far end of the handle. "Done!"
The weight pulled Jesselina forwards unexpectedly, nearly making her fall, and as she recovered Meowth ran up the broom handle and stood on her head.
"My hair!" the coordinator wailed, grabbing at the evasive Meowth to no avail. "It's got Meowth fur in it now!"
"Hey, you're the one who spent five hours in da hair salon," Meowth retorted. "I coulda cut it in two minutes!"
He jumped off her hairdo again, and held up a hairclip. "By da way, is dis important?"
Jesselina's whole hairdo collapsed down in front of her eyes.
"I'll turn you into a rug for this!" she shouted, and brushed the hair out of her eyes.
When she had, Meowth was gone entirely.
"Huh?" she asked, looking around. "Where'd you go?"
With every turn, the laughter swelled – as Meowth put one claw to his lips, using the other three limbs to cling to the back of Jesselina's dress.
"That was... exhausting," Jessie sighed, some time later. She rubbed the bruise on her forehead. "The things we do for a good Appeal..."
"Yeah," Meowth agreed, inspecting his claws. "I hope I don't got a hangnail..."
"That was very impressive."
Both human and Pokémon looked up to see who'd spoken – and Jessie gasped.
"Are you... Wallace?"
"Sssh," said the Water-type trainer – clad in a long, white cloak, with his turquoise hair showing through under his distinctive round hat. "I'm incognito."
"Nice ta meet you, mister Cognito," Meowth said.
Wallace chuckled. "I must say, I was impressed with your performance – very innovative."
"I'm glad you think so," Jessie said, a little startled. "What was it?"
"Well, mainly that you decided to poke a little fun at yourself," Wallace explained. "It's easy to become egotistical as a Coordinator – and it's healthy to avoid it."
Reaching into his cloak, he placed something in Jessie's hand and turned. "I'll keep an eye out for you, Jesselina."
Jessie blinked. "Uh... okay..."
"What happened?" James asked, coming over with three ice creams. "Who was that?"
"It was Wallace – you know, da former Champion," Meowth said.
He frowned. "Wait, did he just give you a Pokéball?"
"I... guess he did," Jessie agreed, looking at it. "And it's... full?"
There was a flash, and a Pokémon emerged.
"Hi!" the Pokémon in question said, adjusting her outfit. "It's nice to meet you!"
There was silence for a few seconds, during which her ears drooped slightly.
"Huh," Meowth managed. "So dat's how ya get a Pikachu..."
"It seems easier than we thought," James agreed.
"It's the costume, isn't it?" the Pikachu sighed. "I've got others?"
"Others?" Meowth asked. "What kind of other costumes?"
"Well, I've got a Luchador one – Wallace said it was Luchadorable, but I think that's a joke – and I put together a neat Samurai one a couple of weeks ago..."
"It's a long way to Fortree, isn't it?" Ash asked, as they climbed slowly up the side of a mountain.
"Yeah," Brock agreed, looking at the map. "It's... yeah, the trip across the water to Mossdeep or Sootopolis is longer, but that's by sea..."
"Well, I guess it's just good training time!"
"And walking time," Pikachu noted.
"Yeah, but you're sitting on my shoulder," Ash pointed out. "You're not getting any exercise from it."
"I'm just getting you into shape," Pikachu replied promptly. "Now, mush!"
Ash laughed. "Okay, okay..."
"Hey," Max said, looking ahead a bit. "It looks like it's getting foggy ahead. Who knows Defog?"
"Crobat does, but he can't do that much space," Brock volunteered. "What about you, Ash?"
"Pidgeot knows it, but she's busy," Ash shrugged. "Something about endurance training."
"So... what are our options?" May asked. "Can Crobat do the path, or...?"
"Maybe we could clear it some other way," Ash said. "Wait – I know!"
He sent out Sliggoo.
"Ash, you better not be about to-" May began.
"Rain Dance!" Ash said.
"Um... are you sure?" Sliggoo asked. "I heard May saying it wasn't a good idea..."
Ash stopped and thought about it. "...oh, right. Yeah, I can see it wouldn't be much of an improvement..."
"Ash..." May sighed. "You don't think that maybe Sunny Day might be better?"
"...oh, right," Ash agreed. "Sorry, Sliggoo..."
As he reached for Ivysaur's Pokéball, Sliggoo frowned. "Which way's the fog?"
"It's up the mountain," Ash said.
Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and tapped Sliggoo on the paw. "That way," he said, lifting the paw to indicate a direction.
"Okay, thanks," Sliggoo said. "Let's see if this works..."
His horns glowed, faintly, and rain began to fall.
But not on the group. Ahead of them.
"Oh, right," May said, realizing, as the fog rose and rained itself out. "So you're making it so just the bit that's already foggy is raining. Clever!"
"Thanks," Sliggoo said, pleased that he'd managed to solve the problem.
"Let's just sit down to wait until it runs out," Ash suggested. "It will run out quickly, right?"
Sliggoo nodded. "Right – at least, I'm almost sure it will."
"Good enough for me," Brock agreed.
After about ten or fifteen minutes, Sliggoo's rainstorm ended, and they proceeded up the path.
"It's a nice smell, this," Max said, sniffing the air. "The smell you get after rain... it's different in different places, but there's always something nice about it."
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "Like everything's been washed clean."
"It means it's kind of muddy, though," May said, wincing. "It's going to be a pain to clean these..."
"Delta can help!" Max offered.
"I'd rather wait for the mud to dry and brush it off," May decided. "You know, rather than have my shoes blasted off a cliff by a torrent of water."
"...yeah, I guess," Max agreed. "But you don't know we'll be stopping by a cliff for the night, do you?"
May pointedly looked out at the mountainous landscape. "I think it's kind of likely."
"Okay, okay, I get it," Max sighed.
"Hey! Hello up there?"
"Is that who I think it is?" Ash asked, looking down the cliff. "Cool – I'll be right down!"
To the surprise of his friends, Ash jumped off the cliff.
"Did he just-" Brock asked, then watched as Ash used both feet and one hand to skid down the steep cliff-side – flickers of blue Aura showing as he braked his fall to a sensible speed.
Sensible for sliding directly down a mountainside, anyway.
"Oh, hey, it's Ritchie," Brock realized, spotting who Ash was headed for. "Couldn't he have just come up to us?"
"How should we get down?" May asked, glancing at her older friend. "I don't think we can do what Ash just did..."
"Flygon?" Brock asked, sending him out. "Mind helping with that?"
"Not at all," Flygon agreed, as Lucario skidded down after Ash. "I should be able to take all three of you at once, if you just want a soft landing."
"What brings you to Hoenn?" Ash asked, shaking Ritchie's hand.
"Oh, you know, the usual," Ritchie shrugged. "Gym stuff."
"Oh, yeah, you said you'd be doing the Hoenn gym challenge," Ash agreed. "How's Sparky finding it?"
"Great fun!" the Electric-type said, tail waving. "Winona's got a great team – lots of surprises!"
"We're fighting her next, so I'll look out for them," Ash decided. "Any Mega evolutions?"
"Well, we only saw one," Ritchie replied. "A Mega Pinsir – really, really powerful Flying-type attacks, and they've got big orange-blue wings."
"I'll keep an eye out," Ash decided.
"Are you going to use me?" Pikachu asked.
"You're not my first choice," his trainer replied, diplomatically.
Lucario reached the base of the cliff in a shower of gravel, and a moment later Flygon's wings flared as he brought the others down as well.
"Oh, yeah, I should mention," Ritchie went on. "Watch your step around here – there's some kind of time machine."
"That's right, now I remember," Ash said. "The Baltoy, right?"
Ritchie gave him an odd look. "Yeah... but how'd you know that?"
Ash winced. "Oh... sorry, I wasn't really..."
He sighed. "Well, I guess I really should have told you a while ago – you're a good friend, and you're kind of mixed up in stuff like this too."
"What kind of stuff?" Ritchie asked.
Ash glanced up, just in case Celebi was about to materialize and tell him off, then got started. "Okay, so... first off, not only have I time travelled before but I'm actually in the middle of one right now..."
By the time Ash finished the short version, Ritchie was nodding along.
"Okay," he said. "Not surprised, somehow – better you than me."
"You're perhaps the first person who hasn't either panicked or had to have a long sit down," Brock said. "Or at least spent a long time coming to terms with it."
Ritchie shrugged. "Yeah, but I've gone back in time twice since coming to Hoenn, so I'm kind of ready for this by now."
"I guess that makes sense," Ash agreed.
He looked over at where Lucario and Cid were enjoying themselves – which, to the untrained observer, would look like they were trying to see which could hit the other hard enough to cause concussion. "At least they're having fun."
Ritchie shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good sign – oh, yeah, almost forgot. Have you done any of Mauville, Petalburg or Rustboro yet? They're my next choices."
"All of them – twice," Ash said, glad for the change of subject. "Norman's actually the toughest, I think – he's really good at using some of the cool things Normal types can do."
Ritchie nodded. "I guess that makes sense... I mean, Arceus is a Normal-type."
"I'm really glad he didn't use Arceus in my gym match," Ash agreed. "Not that he could, but... still."
Pikachu looked contemplative.
"No, you can't challenge him to a fight," Ash said.
"What?" Pikachu asked, as his evolved counterpart chuckled. "I wasn't even thinking about it. Much..."
He shook his head. "More seriously, I'm pretty sure he'd just meteorite me."
"Thank goodness, some realism," Ash sighed.
Ritchie held up his hand to hide a snigger.
"Are you sure this won't mess up your schedule?" Brock asked. "I mean, you've still got more gyms to go than us..."
"It'll be fine," Ritchie replied, with a wave of his hand. "I've got Zippo to make sure I can finish the region on time."
"I guess that works," May admitted. "How does he feel about the whole thing?"
"Mostly okay," Ritchie said. "I mean, he grumbles, but I think that's what Charizard just do."
"No argument here," Ash agreed. "Mine is kind of snippy sometimes... hey, let him fight Flannery by himself or something, that might calm him down."
"I'll remember that," Ritchie agreed. "So, what have you caught recently?"
Ash counted under his breath. "...it might take a while. When was the last time you heard what I had?"
"I saw your League challenge," Ritchie told him.
"Okay, so just the Hoenn Pokémon... well, there's Sceptile, for a start. And I also got a Goomy traded across from Kalos – he's a Sliggoo now."
"Oh, I've heard of them," Ritchie agreed. "Don't they evolve in rain?"
"I don't know," Ash admitted.
"Well, maybe you should have had him training about an hour ago, there was a sudden rainstorm..."
Ash laughed, a bit nervously. "Uh, yeah... about that..."
"Oh, right," Ritchie realized, smiling. "Don't worry, I didn't get that wet. And it did get rid of the fog, I nearly fell off the path earlier!"
"Why do so few people teach their Pokémon Defog?" Brock asked.
"Brock?" May asked sweetly. "Does Flygon have it?"
"...ask me again next week," Brock said hurriedly.
"Does this town have a gym?" Ritchie asked, glancing up as they entered. "I mean, if it does, maybe I'll give it a go..."
"I don't think it does," Max replied. "It looks kind of small. It does have a contest, though."
"How'd you know?" Ritchie asked.
Max pointed out the giant poster. "I worked it out."
Ritchie blinked. "Huh, I had completely missed that..."
"It says you need a ribbon to take part," May told them, indicating the 'R1' on the poster. "I guess they don't want anyone who's just not experienced."
"Seems a bit unfair," Ritchie said. "I mean, gyms don't do that."
"Dad did," Max shrugged. "Well, kind of."
"You mean he scheduled his renovation to be when you could challenge him first-time," May corrected. "That was mostly to keep Ash out of the building."
"Hey, I didn't break it," Ash protested.
"Yeah, you didn't – but you did kind of destroy that poor playground."
"Lucario helped fix it," Ash said weakly.
Any further retaliation from May was drowned out by a gasp of surprise.
"Look!" someone said. "It's them!"
"Uh-" Ritchie began, and then half-a-dozen women swarmed the group.
"It's so nice to meet you!" said one, shaking the hand of a startled May.
"And you as well, Max Maple!" another told Max.
"Uh... who are you?" Ritchie asked, blinking.
"We're the Mothers For Pokémon!" said the apparent leader. "We absolutely love talented, promising, handsome young trainers!"
Ash blinked. "Uh..."
"So, tell us about your father," said the one who'd accosted May.
As both Max and May were bombarded with questions about Norman, Ritchie glanced over at his friend. "How come they're not going after you, Ash?"
"Ash isn't promising, he's insane," the group leader told them tartly. "We're staying out of the blast radius."
"A wise choice," Absol noted.
Ash glanced down. "Not you as well..."
"I consider it important to remind you not to break anything," she said. "There are so many breakable things around. Rocks, trees... Mauville..."
Before her trainer could reply, she went on. "How many times have you encountered an enormous flying machine that wasn't shot down or wrecked by the time you left?"
Ash drew a blank.
"...so I was thinking perhaps something with a nautical theme," came a voice from behind them.
May looked up. "Wait, did Pikachu run off somewhere?"
"Nope!" Pikachu said, waving from Ash's shoulder. "But – actually, who is that?"
He glanced at Sparky, who shrugged.
"But you gotta ask," said a much more familiar voice. "How's dat gonna work ta be recognizable? Are ya gonna dress as a sailor?"
"I was thinking more pirate... pirates are fun."
"Is that Meowth?" Brock asked.
A few seconds later, both Meowth and the Pokémon he was talking to walked around the corner – followed by James, who was carrying an armful of costumes.
"Meowth?" Ash asked. "Who's... wait, you've not gone back to going after Pikachu again, have you?"
"That's what I'll do!" the Pikachu said, waving her heart-tipped tail. "A thief! Complete with big swag-bag!"
She blinked, shaking her head. "Wait, do you know these people?"
"Yeah, ya could say dat," Meowth agreed. "Dis is Ash, an' his friends. Guys, dis is our new friend Pikachu."
"I can see this getting confusing," Pikachu opined.
Sparky chuckled.
"It's nice to meet you both," the female Pikachu said, nodding to Ash's Pikachu and to Sparky. "It's been a while since I've met another 'chu."
"Pleased to meet you, then," Pikachu said. "How'd you meet Team Rocket?"
"Oh, that's simple!" the cosplaying Pikachu told them. "You see, Wallace trained me for a bit, and then he decided that an up-and-coming Contest goer should take over training me! And he picked Jessie, after her performance a couple of days ago – and it's been great so far! James has so many costumes!"
"Yeah, we've seen some of them," Pikachu agreed. "You know he once disguised himself as my trainer? Successfully..."
Sparky blinked. "But... your trainer's much shorter. And doesn't have long blue hair."
"They're kind of good at disguises," Pikachu summarized.
"I know!" the female one said. "Oh – have you heard about when he disguised himself as Moltres? She said it saved her from being captured – it was really impressive, I've seen the costume..."
She shook her head. "Anyway! Well, I was trying to decide what I should wear for tomorrow's contest, and I've got a few ideas. Do you think I should go with the pirate outfit, the thief one – or perhaps..."
Pikachu frowned. "What is it?"
She leaned closer, putting her paw to her mouth for a moment, and rubbed at his cheeks.
"Hey!" Ash's Pikachu complained, pushing her away with his tail. "That's not-"
"They're not makeup!" she said, unfazed. "Wow... okay, I know what I'm going to do tomorrow!"
Turning on her heel, she called out. "Hey, Meowth! We need to get some blue fabric – and paint – and a paste jewel, about the size of my paw – oh, yeah, and a wooden rod as well, about two thirds of my height!"
Pikachu and Sparky exchanged glances as she hurried off.
"Well, at least she's enthusiastic," Pikachu said with a sigh.
33
"What's the best seats?" Ritchie asked, looking along the row. "I'm not actually sure..."
"They're all pretty good," Brock told him. "Basically, anywhere there's four seats together will do."
Blaziken coughed.
"Sorry. Five seats," Brock corrected. "See any like that?"
"Not... really," Ritchie admitted. "Well, there's four there, then a person..."
The person in question looked up. "Oh, should I move?"
"I don't want to inconvenience you," Ritchie said.
"It's not a problem at all," the woman said, shuffling along one seat to leave a block of five free. "Just ask."
"Thanks," the trainer said, gratefully, and he picked his way along the row with Ash, Blaziken, Max and Brock behind.
"Thanks!" Max said as they went past.
"No trouble at all," the woman repeated, then smiled at Brock as he sat down next to her. "So – what brings you here?"
"Oh, our friend is competing," Brock explained. "She's... Max, do you have the programme?"
Max passed it over.
"Okay..." Brock ruffled through it. "Right, here we are. She's fourth."
The deception-type specialist closed it and passed it back to Max. "But the one who's on sixth is a friend as well, so I'm interested to see how she does."
The woman checked her own programme. "Jesselina? You know her?"
"Yeah – well, we used to run into one another a lot," Brock explained. "Not quite so much now, but we still talk when we get the chance."
"Is she... a close friend?" the woman asked.
"Well, kind of..." Brock shrugged.
She looked a little disappointed, but rallied. "Right... so, are you going to be here all day? Or do you have some time after the Contest?"
"Well," Brock said, frowning. "I guess this show does end in the middle of the afternoon, and I'm not sure where we'll be going after that."
"So you're free?" the woman pressed.
There was a flash, and Brock's Ludicolo materialized on his lap.
"Hey!" someone called in the row behind.
"Amigo, I will be gone in a moment," he said, waving his hand. Adjusting his sombrero, he looked Brock in the eye.
"My friend, she is attempting to indicate her amore for you."
Brock blinked. "She is?"
"Si."
With that, Ludicolo vanished again.
"Thank you," the guy from the row behind said, with exaggerated patience.
"What just happened?" the woman asked.
"Miss..." Brock said, with a shake of his head. "I'm flattered – but I have a girlfriend, so no thank you. Let's just watch the Contest, okay?"
"...sorry," the woman blushed. "That was... yeah, I feel kind of..."
She shook her head. "I didn't realize you..."
A pause. "I'm just going to watch the show now, and... try to get my foot out of my mouth."
Max noticed his jaw was open, and closed it.
"First up!" the announcer called. "Is – wait, are we cleared for this?"
"Just go ahead!" one of the judges called.
"Okay, sir," the announcer nodded. "Um... it's Dray and his Hydreigon!"
"...maybe we should make sure our Fighting types are ready," Ash suggested. "Just in case."
Blaziken did a thumbs-up.
"Ready for this?" May asked, as they heard the applause from the successful third appeal.
Glaceon nodded, and gave her hand a frost-cool lick with her pink tongue.
May suppressed a giggle, and smiled. "Okay, Glaceon – just like old times."
The vulpine yipped her agreement.
"You're up," said one of the stage hands.
"Right," May said, taking a breath to quell the Butterfree which she'd probably always have before a performance.
She returned Glaceon into her Pokéball, and strode out onto the stage.
"Nice dress," Ritchie noted. "I guess she's using Glaceon?"
"With that dress, I think so too," Max agreed – looking at the light blues and glittering glass 'gems' scattered over it. "It does look pretty frosty."
A moment later, May sent out her Glaceon, who emerged in a flash of white smoke punctuated by flaring blue stars in bursts.
Doing a forwards flip, Glaceon landed daintily on her forefeet before jumping in a long, flat trajectory.
Ice flashed out from an Ice Beam as she flew, forming an ice rink out of the stage and letting Glaceon skate around in a half circle as she moved.
May stepped inside her curve, using little spots of floor which Glaceon had left un-frozen, making it look like she was walking on the ice, and pointed up. "Ice Shard!"
Glaceon dove forwards, curling up and spinning on her back, and fired a barrage of Ice Shards towards the roof. They flew up, about twenty of them all told, then reached their apex and came back down again.
"Another Ice Shard!" May said, and Glaceon's paws pushed her into a faster spin. Firing a stream of icy projectiles outwards, she intercepted every one of her original attacks and smashed all forty lumps of ice into twinkling shards of frost which hung in the air.
Not done yet, she fired a third, smaller salvo into the air, before pushing off with her tail and coming back to her feet.
She did another half-circuit around May, coming back to her original position, and then reared back her head and shot a bright Ice Beam at the oncoming lumps of ice.
"They're going to hit Glaceon," Ritchie said, watching the now-much-larger icy fragments fall. "What's she going to do?"
"Mirror Coat and Shadow Ball!" May called.
Glaceon's cool, stiff fur shone a shimmering silver-blue just as the ice crashed down – and shot off in all directions, reflected away by her fur.
Then the Ice-type fired a Shadow Ball at her own tail – still coated in Mirror Coat – which smashed it into a dozen pieces and destroyed all twelve augmented Ice Shards.
May took one more step, Glaceon pushed off from the ice, and then the Coordinator caught her Pokémon squarely in her arms.
The crowd went wild.
"That was great!" Ritchie said, smiling as he clapped. "I guess I can see why people like this!"
"Yeah, it's not quite as fun as a battle, but it's not bad!" Ash agreed. "May keeps pestering me to do one, and I guess I might give it a go!"
"Who'd you use?" Max asked, curious.
Ash shrugged. "Not sure, depends who'd want to."
Ritchie suddenly sniggered.
"What is it?" Ash asked.
"I just thought of a terrible pun," Ritchie replied, as May left the stage. "That was... cool."
Someone threw a bit of popcorn at him.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Jessie asked, looking down at Cosplay-Chu.
"Sure!" the Pikachu agreed, which Meowth relayed. She reached down and checked her bag, everything packed neatly into it, then waved her heart-tip tail and gave a thumbs-up. "All set!"
"Well... good," Jessie decided.
Pikachu passed her the bag, and she took it by the strap – then recalled the Pikachu back into her 'ball.
"Okay," the Rocket agent said. "Here goes."
She glanced at Meowth. "Going to watch?"
"What, a cat watchin' a mouse?" Meowth asked. "Could catch on..."
"And please give a warm welcome," the announcer announced, and Jessie stepped forwards.
"That's who you mentioned, right?" Ritchie asked. "Jesselina?"
"That's her," Ash confirmed. "It took us years to work out who she really was..."
Ritchie glanced sideways at Ash. "Somehow I'm not surprised."
"Hey!" Ash protested.
There was a flash, as Jesselina sent out her Pikachu – currently bereft of any outfit.
"Okay, Pikachu!" Jessie said, sticking to the script. "Prepare for trouble!"
She slung the bag at her Pokémon, who jumped into the air and caught it mid-flight.
Spinning halfway around with momentum, Cosplaychu unzipped it with one paw and pulled out the long blue rod within.
"All right!" she said, her cheeks sparking, and the circuit inside the rod made a bulb at one end light up – throwing multicoloured light across the room from the faceted glass around it.
Landing on both paws, she swung it around once. "I pledge myself to fight evil – wherever it may be!"
Her cheeks sparked again, and then a bolt of lightning blazed up into the building. It crawled along one of the lighting rails, then bounced back down and struck the staff – making it flash a brilliant white which dazzled onlookers.
When it faded, the Pikachu was now wearing a pair of slim, blue-black gloves on her paws.
Another sparkling flash, accompanied by a twirl, and she was in boots. Again, and a blue-grey outfit covered most of her body.
Up in the stands, Max squinted. "How's she doing that?"
Ash was more concerned about something else. "Wait – is she dressing up as me?"
Ritchie was about to reply, but then a final almighty Flash filled the arena.
When it faded, the female Pikachu's outfit was complete. The cape flapped loosely as she spun to a stop, and the hat which was a remarkably good copy of Ash's one from Cameron Castle – especially given she'd only had about an hour to work on it – rested atop her head.
The Pikachu did one more spin of her ersatz staff, then – in a move which shocked just about everyone – threw a glowing orb of blue light into the air and detonated it with a precise Thunderbolt.
Motes of blue light rained down around the arena as she posed.
"How did she-" Ash's Pikachu began.
"That was Aura Sphere!" Ash agreed. "When did she learn that?"
Blaziken shrugged, joining in with the applause.
"I guess it must be a really good costume," Ritchie suggested, chuckling at how perplexed his friends were.
"Yeah, but..." Ash shook his head, as the judges judged the Appeal and Jessie picked up the now-empty costume bag. "That just felt... bizarre."
"I know what you mean," Pikachu agreed. He glanced up at his trainer, and shook his head. "I'm not ready to think of you as a girl."
"Actually-" Brock began, ready to remind Pikachu of several incidents.
"Never happened!" Ash insisted.
"Hydreigon, use your Dragon Pulses!" Dray called.
The three-headed dragon threw back both side heads, light gathering in their maws – different colours, blue for the right head and orange for the left.
The moment they were ready, Hydreigon's heads swept back down again, and the central head reared back from where it had been keeping Cosplay-chu in play.
Both outer heads roared, and bolts of light shot forwards.
The perky Pikachu had ditched the staff that formed part of her costume in order to continue the battle, but the rest of her outfit was unchanged – and the hat barely avoided an explosion as she skidded low to get underneath the first attack, before spinning on one toe to sweep the cape away from the second one.
"Agility!" her trainer called.
Doing another half-spin, she dove underneath the floating Hydreigon's belly and emerged behind him.
Leaping into the air, cape trailing behind her, Cosplay-chu kicked off a thrashing tail and somersaulted once as her opponent began to turn to face her.
"Now, Thunderbolt! Left and right!" Jessie went on, thoroughly familiar with how a Pikachu fought best... for good reason.
The Cosplay Pikachu fired two crackling Thunderbolts, one then the other from her waving tail, and they hit both side heads to interrupt their attacks.
Growling and roaring, the main head readied a Dark Pulse to swat her out of the air.
"Yah!" shouted the Electric-type, and fired an Aura Sphere from both paws which punched through the gathering Dark energy.
The recoil pushed her back slightly, and she did a backflip before landing and striking a pose.
Blowing the smoke out of his face, Hydreigon roared and struck-
"Time's up!" the judges called.
Hydreigon's lunge turned into a desperate attempt to not flatten Pikachu, and he stumbled before floating a little way into the air.
Pikachu smirked just slightly.
Unlike some Pokémon, she'd been watching the clock.
"We are in agreement!" said Raoul Contesta, after a few seconds of conferring. "While Jesselina's Pikachu was quite skilled, she did not do much damage to her opponent. However! Dray's Hydreigon was quite unable to land a hit due to Pikachu's superior dodging! As such, Miss Jesselina and her Pikachu will advance to the final round – where they will face our other finalist, May Maple, and her Glaceon!"
"Well... that sucks," Hydreigon sighed. "How'd you beat me?"
Pikachu shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? Heroes beat Dragons."
She adjusted her hat, then took it off and inspected it. "Hmmm... this really needs to be a bit darker..."
After a glance up at the stands, she replaced the hat.
"What's with your cheeks, anyway?" Hydreigon went on.
"It's the other part of the costume – I'm doing fusion cosplay," his opponent explained.
"...I wish I understood that..."
"And let's hope that this is a great show!" said Contesta. "How do you think it'll go, Mr. Sukizo?"
"Marvellous!" Sukizo said.
"...somehow I was expecting something else..." the judge said. He shook his head. "All right – let's get started!"
"Okay, Glaceon!" May said, as the clock ticked down to the start time. "Start with..."
The timer clicked and started.
"-ice shard!" May called.
Glaceon's tail flicked, sending a shower of ice towards her opponent, and she pushed off with her rear legs – her forepaws glowing faintly and producing a thin ice layer on the battlefield below them.
Using that instant skate-path for mobility, Glaceon ducked under a Thundershock and pirouetted to face her opponent more directly.
Cosplaychu's cape whipped as she dodged through the icy shards, taking a single glancing hit to the tail, and fired back with a larger Thunderbolt.
"Beam!" May said quickly.
Glaceon's mouth lit with blue light and she fired an Ice Beam, which collided with the Thunderbolt and sent both attacks passing through one another in a shower of secondary element shards.
"Excellent from both Pokémon!" Joy said, smiling, as the two continued firing streams of their elements back and forth and the scattershot grew in intensity. "They're aiming to hit, but they're also aiming to make a great deal of flash!"
After about five seconds, Glaceon was the first to break off the clash. She dug her claws into the ice below her, and used the leverage for a leap-and-dive to Dig into the stage.
"It's a good thing this stage is built for that kind of move," Contesta said. "But that Dig was-"
"Remarkable!" Mr Sukizo said.
"Exactly what I was going to say!"
Cosplaychu frowned, cheeks sparking, and took her staff off her back to hold in both paws.
Electricity flowed through it, lighting it up again, and she swung it before striking it on the floor.
Then she jumped into the air, and threw it – and Glaceon burst out of the ground beneath her, taking a hit on the nose from the staff and yelping.
"Great prediction work there!" one of the judges said, as Glaceon shook her head and refocused.
"Aura Sphere!" Jessie called, recognizing a good moment to attack, and her Pikachu agreed – a blue orb growing in her palm before she threw it directly at Glaceon.
"Mirror Coat!" May replied, alerting Glaceon of her danger, and a shimmering light spread over Glaceon's coat just before the attack hit.
The force of the Aura-infused blow knocked her skating backwards – intentionally, her cryokinesis turning the arena below her to shivering ice and enhancing the backwards-propulsion effect of the blow.
Glaceon held her counterattack in for a second, as blue light flowed over her silvery Mirror Coat – then focused it back together, aiming directly for Cosplay Pikachu, and fired.
Letting the recoil push her further back, she enhanced it with an Ice Beam, and Pikachu had to block with her ersatz staff to avoid taking her own attack straight to the chest.
Blue-painted splinters from what had been the staff fountained up, each one coated in frost, and Cosplay Pikachu did a double backflip before landing quite firmly on her feet.
"Shock wave this time!" Jessie instructed.
Lightning crackled again, and speared out from Cosplay-chu's cheeks.
Glaceon's reply was a dainty dodge, then a shower of ice shards as the attack curved to follow her.
Diamond-dust filled the air from the ablative impact, floating slowly down and swirling in the wind from the ongoing exchange of attacks.
"Shadow Ball!" May called, and Glaceon skidded out in a turn before firing her Ghost-type attack.
It curved in towards Pikachu, who blasted it with a Thunderbolt, and the diffusing cloud of negative energy made her wince before she fired right back with a Shock Wave.
Glaceon's tail whipped across, shimmering with iron, and deflected the attack sparking into the floor. She winced as some of the charge made it through to her anyway, but rallied and fired a one-two-one pattern of ice shards at Pikachu as she got moving again.
"Great!" May called, one eye on the clock.
There wasn't much time left, and the score was going back-and-forth with every move. Both Glaceon and her opponent were using combination after combination of attacks, but they were also managing to avoid taking attacks too heavily and so their scores were both dropping slowly.
"Let's try a big finish, Glaceon!" she said, and Glaceon's ears perked up.
She pushed backwards, skating out of the way of one attack and blocking another with a shower of Ice Shards, and looked back at her trainer with a grin.
"Blizzard wave," May decided, and Glaceon's vulpine grin increased.
Her claws dug in again and she pulled herself forwards again, her bangs glowing faintly, and used Blizzard.
It began as a wind from behind her, which intensified and picked up snow – and pushed her forwards on the icy ground she was making around her paws.
As she moved faster, the Blizzard intensified – and built up, piling in on itself, until the whole fury of the attack was a single thin wall of snow ready to crash down on Pikachu.
"Great!" May said.
"Do something!" Jessie said. "Aura Sphere?"
Cosplay Pikachu did not use Aura Sphere.
Instead, she struck a pose. "True heroes have more than one trick up their sleeves!" she announced. "And an expert cosplayer can mix their costumes so they're representing more than one character at once!"
Her cheeks sparked.
Her orange cheeks, carefully made-up during her 'transformation sequence' earlier.
Paws glowing, she swept them around in a half-circle which left a glowing trail – and which joined up into a complete yellow band of electrical energy.
Another move, and a second band joined up – and a forward flip made a third.
"That's not fair!" Ash's Pikachu said, up in the crowd. "Why does everyone keep copying me!"
As Glaceon's attack swept down, Cosplay Pikachu spun her three crackling rings of electricity.
She had time for about four turns, not as much as the attack could normally do but enough to store up a substantial quality of electricity.
Then she lined them up-
"Glaceon, ice shield!" May shouted.
-and fired.
An earsplitting BANG echoed through the contest hall, accompanied by a bright blaze of yellow light.
Glaceon's blizzard wave was shattered, blown apart by the concussion of Cosplaychu's copied Volt Crash, and fine powder snow filled the air.
The attack continued on, until it was nearly to Glaceon – and there it ran into the Ice Shield Glaceon had hurriedly established in the last moment before the attack reached her.
It wasn't a solid wall – instead, it formed a series of angled, layered facets arrayed like an icy pine tree to deflect and channel an attack.
Some of the panes of ice were nearly flat horizontal, trying to make the attack skip off, while others were rough and opaque and intended to be smashed and absorb the energy of the attack.
They couldn't stop it. The Volt Crash was too powerful – but they did make it weaker, so it reached Glaceon with perhaps half the energy it had had to start with.
Glaceon was knocked backwards all the way to the opposite wall of the stage by the blast, and nearly fell off entirely.
Then she looked up, electrical light glowing on her mirror-bright coat.
A second blast of energy, every bit as powerful as the one which had been fired at her, shot back across the battlefield. It hit the remnants of the ice shield, blowing it to powder, and continued on to hit Cosplay Pikachu and send her flying backwards as well.
"And that's time!" Raoul Contesta announced.
Both Glaceon – legs trembling with fatigue – and Pikachu – her outfit scorched as she came back to her feet – gave him an astonished look.
"...well, it is timed," he said defensively.
May and Jessie looked up at the scoreboard.
The bars were so close together it was impossible to tell which was larger.
"Oh, not another draw..." May sighed.
"No, actually," Raoul said. "There's three points in it."
He paused for a long moment, both Coordinators on tenterhooks.
"And the winner is... May Maple!"
May let out an explosive breath in relief.
"All right, May!" Max called, getting to his feet and applauding.
Brock and Ash joined in, then Ritchie, and the whole arena was just a few moments behind.
"Thanks for that, guys," Ritchie said, with a grin. "I guess I can see why people like contests – are they all like that?"
"They're all different," Brock told him. "That last battle was one of the faster-paced ones, but you never get a boring Contest battle – that's kind of the point, really."
"Right," Ritchie agreed.
He reached his hand down, and Sparky used it as a ladder to get back to his customary shoulder perch before twining his long black tail around Ritchie's upper arm.
"Well, I guess I'd better be going," he smiled. "Guess I'll see you guys at Ever Grande!"
"Bet we beat you there!" Ash replied promptly.
"Okay, now it's a race!" Ritchie laughed. He reached for his belt, and Zippo materialized with a flash. "Just don't run into too many more legendaries, okay?"
Ash winced. "Uh... how many is too many? Because... I'm pretty sure I've met at least one of all the Legendaries I've been within three hundred miles of."
Ritchie chuckled, swinging aboard his Charizard. "If you have to ask, it's too many. Okay, Zippo, let's go!"
"Right!" Zippo agreed, wings flaring, and he took off in a storm of wind which raised dust and grit in a low cloud.
By the time it faded, they were an orange speck winging away towards Mauville.
"He was nice," Max said. "What did you say you two were?"
"Lucario – Riolu then – said we were destiny entangled," Ash supplied. "But he said it broke a while ago. I guess he's just being picked by Celebi to handle time stuff because... I don't know, maybe she got mixed up?"
"Actually, he's just quite good at it," Celebi said.
May jumped six inches in the air, turning to look at the Psychic-type Legendary hovering by her left ear. "How long have you been there?"
"I'm a time traveller, do you think the answer even makes sense?" Celebi asked. "Now, what was I – oh, right!"
Her cheeks pinked slightly. "I guess I need to sort out that Corphish – see you earlier."
A fingersnap and she was gone.
"That was... somehow strangely worrying," Brock said, in the air of someone saying something that had to be said.
Max, May and Pikachu all nodded agreement.
"That went pretty well," James said.
Jessie nodded, a little ruefully. "I guess that kind of loss is the next best thing to winning..."
"Well, yeah, of course!" Meowth agreed. "And dang, but dat was one heck of a move! I bet you could really sweep da Contest stakes if you just kept practicin' dat!"
Cosplaychu – now bereft of her blue outfit, and rubbing orange makeup off her cheeks – looked up. "Eh?"
"Ya know. Just keep doin' dat move," Meowth explained.
"But I don't know it any more," she replied, as the last of the makeup came off and she put the cloth in for washing. "That's not how it works."
"Come again?" Meowth asked.
"What did she-" Jessie began.
"She's sayin' dat she don't know how to do Volt Crash no more!" Meowth said, a little forcefully. "How does that work?"
Pikachu shrugged. "I honestly think it's more important that I learn moves than that I forget them again," she said. "Now – do you think I should try ninja next?"
"Go for it," Arbok agreed. "Do you mean realistic ninja, or black-suit wearing ninja?"
"Hey!" Meowth protested, stung. "Dat is realistic!"
"It's from Noh plays and you know it," Arbok shot back.
He noticed a few of the others staring at him.
"What?" he asked. "I have culture."
Ash looked up at the sun as they walked.
"Looks like it's about time," he said. "What do you guys think?"
"Yeah, seems to be," Brock agreed. "I'll start dinner."
"I think I need to give Arc another trim," Max sighed. "So I guess that'll take an hour or so..."
Arc licked Max on the cheek. "Sorry..." he said, with a whine. "I've got so much fur..."
"It's not your fault," Max replied, weaving his fingers into the stiff, tingly fur. "I mean, it's great – it's just kind of a lot of work when it is time to cut it."
"What about you, Ash?" May asked, already looking for somewhere to practice Venusaur's latest routine.
"I've got something Gary asked me to try out," he explained. "I'll be over there."
"Right," Brock nodded. "I'll shout when it's ready – I'm doing teriyaki style tonight!"
"How do you fit all those ingredients in your bag?" May asked, blinking.
"Ash carries everything else," Brock replied, getting out the base for the sauce. "And I mean everything."
"Yeah, I do," Ash confirmed. "Okay, where's that..."
He went off, rummaging in his pouch. As he walked, the others watched him stick his arm in up to the elbow, then Pikachu waved him out of the way and jumped in with a string around his waist for retrieval.
Max shrugged, and got to work with the clippers.
"Okay, here we go," Ash said, sitting down.
"Indeed," Absol agreed.
She looked up at Heracross, and then across to where Lucario stood. "I'm glad to have such experienced helpers, as well."
"I've only done it once," Lucario said, just to make sure she had the picture right. "Latias has done it more often than I have."
A nod was his answer, the red-white dragon phasing out of invisibility for a moment to confirm his statement.
"Okay," Absol said, rolling her neck. "I... well, nothing urgent seems to be on my senses."
She stepped closer to Ash, and watched intently as he picked up the slim metal brooch.
It had a small hole in the back, and Ash threaded some of her fur through it before tightening the screw and cinching it in place.
He gave a quick tug, to make sure it wasn't going to come off, then took his hands away. "Does that work?"
"It's fine," Absol confirmed.
"Right," Ash said, and reached back to get his staff.
Taking it in both hands, he concentrated.
Absol was a new Pokémon. One of his newest.
But, at the same time, he'd known her for a long time. They'd first met back on Ash's first Hoenn journey, and though she didn't remember it they'd discussed the events in careful detail.
Absol was... dependable. Reliable. Well grounded simply because she could literally feel how important something was, but not to the point of becoming stuffy.
And, fundamentally, a good Pokémon – and a good friend.
The brooch began to shine, a spherical-cut blue-and-white stone at the core lighting up to match Ash's glowing staff.
Then the light stole over Absol's form, and the changes began.
Fur grew, an inch or two at least, and spiked up at the back of her mane into two broad white shapes – one either side.
Her clawed spikes – on her heels and elbows – grew larger, longer, and the fur around those grew into tufts which half-hid the longer claws. No such camouflage added itself to her tail, which took on a new shape with more points and a little more length.
Finally, the horn on her head became larger, with a small new horn poking out from the white fur on the left side of her face.
As the light faded, she took in a deep breath – and hissed it out, claws clenching.
"Absol!" Ash said, worry in his voice. "What's wrong?"
"Not... sure," Mega Absol managed, through gritted teeth. "But-"
Red energy crackled over her fur.
"Absol, listen to me," Lucario said, in measured tones. "Can you control this?"
Mega Absol hesitated, then her expression clouded and she let out a howl – before lunging at her teammate.
Despite his surprise, Lucario acted quickly. He got his forearms up in time to block the first attack, more of a swipe than anything deliberate and powerful, but the impact alone knocked him backwards a step.
"Absol!" he called, trying to get through to her. "What's going on? I know you're not like this!"
"Look out!" Pikachu called, cheeks sparking. "I can't get her when you're that close!"
"Don't hurt her!" Ash said forcefully, half his attention on Heracross as the Bug-type's own Mega Stone began to activate. "It's not her – it can't be her fault!"
"Whatever it is, she can't control it!" Pikachu replied. "And I'm not going to hurt her!"
Lucario's paws dug into the ground, and he pushed – as hard as he could, forcing Mega Absol back before retreating with alacrity.
For a moment, Mega Absol was on her own, and at that moment Pikachu used his attack.
"Thunder wave!"
Streams of crackling, pulsing energy cascaded out from his cheeks, and slammed directly into Mega Absol's flank.
She snarled, and her furry 'wings' pulled in with a twitch – then spread out again, forcing the electricity back, and Pikachu yelped with shock as the Thunder Wave rebounded on him.
"What the-"
"Magic Bounce!" Lucario said, having worked it out. As Mega Absol gathered herself to spring, he launched himself back into the fray and body-checked her to the floor. "We're going to have to do this the hard way!"
Mega Absol gathered herself, coiling slightly, then pushed Lucario backwards with a fangs-bared shout.
She flicked her horn, sending a dark scythe of energy blazing skywards, and Latias yelped as she took a Night Slash to the side.
Then Mega Heracross arrived.
Mega Absol twisted with preternatural skill, avoiding his punch, and her eyes blazed red as she spun to face him.
"Calm down," Mega Heracross said, and fired a barrage of Pin Missiles at her.
Mega Absol may have been in pain, but there was clearly nothing at all wrong with her precognitive talents. She dodged through the storm of needles, taking only a few minor hits to the thickest parts of her fur, and swiped at Mega Heracross with both forepaws.
Lucario re-joined the battle, coming in from behind her, and Mega Absol kicked him unerringly in the shin without taking her attention off the Mega in front of her.
"Just keep her still!" Ash called. "And be ready to follow me in!"
He charged forwards, palms glowing, and both his Fighting-types combined their efforts to give Mega Absol no reasonable escape.
Ash's hand touched Mega Absol's side, he began the familiar work of Aura Purge-
-and there was an explosion of blue light.
Mega Absol howled, an ululating sound which scraped at the ears, and Ash landed sprawled on the grass some feet away.
"What happened?" Mega Heracross asked, glancing back for just a moment.
"I don't know!" Ash replied, shaking his head and getting to his feet. "I guess Magic Bounce must have stopped it!"
"That leaves us without other options," Lucario said, regretfully. "We're going to have to hit her until she snaps out of it."
"What was that sound?" May asked, looking up. "That sounded like… I don't know what."
"That was Absol, I think," Max frowned. "But why would she be in pain?"
Another keening howl reached them, still loud despite the distance. Then there was what sounded a lot like an impact.
"That can't be good," May said, starting to get up. "Blaziken, can-"
There was a whoosh.
Brock managed to catch the pan before it hit the ground. "Oh. Uh… Ninetales, can you take over the heating? I guess Blaziken went."
Mega Heracross' chunky forearms spun, and he braced himself.
As Mega Absol lashed out, eyes narrowed, he reached out in turn to grab at the wrists just behind her forepaws.
Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan. Mega Absol twisted with startling agility, her wrists moving out of the way of where Mega Heracross had expected them to be, and both her paws came down instead on his chest and bowled him over.
Her claws left scratches in his armour, and he twisted his short legs up to push the Dark-type Mega off him – uselessly, as she jumped back the moment he was in position and before he could actually deliver the push.
Mega Heracross saw her horn start to glow – preparation for an attack – but she then had to abort it as Lucario swung a kick at her side.
Lucario's full-force kick swiped past her flank, missing by the thickness of a hair, and Mega Absol's teeth snapped at Lucario's own side – then she pulled her head back, just avoiding a Bone Rush staff Lucario had conjured.
"What do we..." Ash began, glancing at Pikachu. "How can we help her?"
"I don't know," Pikachu admitted. "I don't want to hurt her, I can't just blast her… I don't even know if she's Flying type now, I wouldn't know how hard to hit her, and..."
Another crackle of yellow lightning flowed over Pikachu's side, and he winced. "And that."
Blaziken shot across the clearing in a blur of brown and red, and Mega Absol jumped skywards – rising twenty feet into the air – to avoid his first blow, before landing back down on the grassy field and lashing out at the nearest Pokémon.
The impact of her paw with Lucario's chest produced a clang, but not the flinch that might have been expected – his metal spike had slid smoothly between her second and third claw on that foot, and she'd completely avoided hitting it.
Mega Heracross tried to get her again, swiping his horn across from left to right, and the Dark-type rolled underneath his sharp-tipped horn with barely a millimetre to spare.
Rolling back upright, she tripped Lucario with a blow to the ankle and whirled to knock Blaziken aside – only failing to floor him as well because the Fire-type managed a double backflip and stuck a one-handed landing that he turned into a Blaze Kick.
Mega Absol's left wing lowered as the Blaze Kick approached, and she snarled at the feel of the near-miss before feinting and diving at Mega Heracross' legs.
She hit him, bowling him over, but Lucario threatened her side and she had to abort instead of following up.
"She's… wait," Ash said, frowning. "She's doing the only thing she can to avoid being overwhelmed."
Pikachu looked up at him, wincing. "Pardon?"
"Look," Ash said, pointing as Mega Absol backed up two and a half steps and knocked an attack by Lucario just wide enough to miss. "If she'd done anything else, one of them would have hit her."
The Electric-type watched again, looking closer.
Now that Ash mentioned it, it was kind of… there.
"So… what does that mean?" he asked, looking at his trainer.
"It means they need my help," Ash said, adjusting his gloves. "If I'm there as well, then Mega Heracross – or Lucario, or Blaziken – can grab her and stop her moving. And then we can actually think about what to do next."
"Ash..." Pikachu said, concerned.
"I'll be okay," Ash replied. He pushed Aura into his boots, shifting their polarity from 'training' to 'battle', and sprinted forwards.
Mega Absol's world was pain.
It wasn't a blanket agony, but shifted – playing on her nerves as though it was trying to find all-new ways of reducing her to a whimpering mess, every moment bringing a new blast of information so dense it felt like it was trying to saw her skull open.
One of her foes shifted, his toes getting a better grip on the muddy grass, and a million possibilities flowed through her mind – shifting probabilities, driving her to act and try to make it so they would just stop.
Her incoherent mind was able to work out that it was stronger for those nearby – so if she could knock out everyone close enough for her senses to be on overdrive, maybe the pain would stop enough for her to think.
She snarled, white-hot needles of pain lancing through her mind, and lashed out with a paw to cuff the Steel-type in the side.
Something about this felt wrong – like she shouldn't be fighting him – but the momentary contemplation was driven from Mega Absol's attention by a further spike of intense pain as another joined the fray.
Instinctively riding the currents of fate, she turned and slapped aside a Sky Uppercut from the Fire-type. That got her an opening, and she reached forwards-
-and, very suddenly, the pain vanished.
Mega Absol felt like the world was moving suddenly very slowly, as her precognitive senses shifted from their cacophonous chaos to complete, stark agreement.
Finish that attack and everything goes horribly wrong.
She wrenched her paw back, aborting the swipe, and a foot took her in the side as she lost her dance-between-the-raindrops.
But that didn't matter.
The painful chaos of the fight wanted to intrude, but now she had her level she could push it back – forcing her senses away from their discord and towards a single critical question.
Had she just nearly hit Ash?
Yes.
Then her trainer was there, hands reaching for her – gently, despite what she'd nearly done – and the Fighting-types were stepping back, and Mega Absol became aware she was panting like she'd just run for a week.
"Ssh, calm down, it's okay, I'm fine..." Ash said, voice low and soothing, and Mega Absol gingerly pressed her chin into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ash," she said, softly. "I didn't know what was going on, and..."
"It's okay," Ash repeated. "You're fine now, right?"
A pause, as Mega Absol considered the question. Then she gave a mute shake of her head.
"I… I don't feel safe to be around," she admitted.
Ash shrugged, making her head move up-and-down. "It's fine. We'll work out what happened. Both of us."
Mega Absol could feel hot, salty tears rolling down her cheeks.
She was a tough, hardy Pokémon. One who lived in the wilderness, and meditated on the future, and tried to save the world.
But right now, she didn't care about that.
"Are you feeling better?" Ash asked.
Mega Absol swallowed her Teriyaki, and managed a weak smile. "I think I'm getting a little better," she said. "It still hurts, but..."
She shrugged. "I think I'll be able to tell if it's about to get overwhelming again."
"Right," Ash said.
"What happened to her?" May asked. "You went off to do something – which I guess was the Mega Evolution thing – and the next we know we can hear Absol – Mega Absol – howling in pain!"
"I think-" Mega Absol winced, but waved off Ash as he made to rise. "No, I'm okay… I think what was happening was that my disaster senses got supercharged. I was sensing so much that it hurt, and I couldn't think straight past just wanting the pain to stop."
Dexter silently relayed what she'd said, projecting a hologram for the two Maples, and they sat in silence for a moment.
"Is it going to happen again?" Max asked. "Is this something that could happen with any Mega Evolution? Is it something that could hurt Arc – or Latias?"
"I don't know," Ash admitted. "I don't know the answers to any of those."
"Maybe we should give the Absolite back to Gary," Mega Absol suggested, looking down. "If it's going to mean something like this happens-"
"No, we're not," Ash interrupted. "We can decide to not use it, if you don't want to. And if Gary wants it back because of that, then we can give it to him. But I don't want to give that up just yet – we can beat this."
Mega Absol smiled at the words, looking down for a moment, then shook herself.
"I… think you are right," she said. "I would like to be able to use this – to use my Mega Evolution – in the way it is intended. The way we hoped to be able to use it… but I still worry."
"Gary knows that guy in Kalos… Gurrkin, right?" Brock asked. "Can we ask him if this has happened before? Or if there's any records of something like it happening?"
"I guess we could," Ash agreed. "I just wish there was some way to-"
"ASH!" Max shouted.
"...to… never mind," Ash winced. "Sorry, Max. Sorry, Jirachi!"
Jirachi looked up from his plate. Pardon? Sorry, this is great!
He swallowed, and blushed. Uh… wait, sorry, that wasn't very polite of me.
Mega Absol managed a smile. "I'm kind of glad you're able to enjoy your meal, though, Jirachi. I'd hate to ruin everyone's day because of my problem."
"It's our problem," Ash said forcefully. "I won't leave you to face it on your own, Absol."
The Dark-type turned to Ash, with a smile. Then she looked down again. "Thank you, but… I still don't know where we're even going to start… perhaps asking your friend is the best option."
"...actually, now I think about it," Brock said. "I think another of our friends had a similar problem. Remember Psyduck?"
"That really should have occurred to one of us sooner," Pikachu admitted, as Ash dove into his bag. "Maybe it would have helped before..."
"What is it?" Mega Absol asked. "What did Psyduck have as a problem, and what was the solution?"
"His psychic powers were so strong they caused him immense pain, and only with immense pain could he use them," Lucario summarized. "So, basically, Ash used a Calm Mind TM on him. It worked quite well."
"A TM?" Mega Absol repeated. "I've never actually seen one before, but… aren't they quite fragile?"
She smiled, a little ruefully. "I imagine trying to apply such a device while I was enraged would just have smashed it."
"Got it!" Ash reported, pulling his entire arm back out of the pouch. "Okay, Absol, this might feel a bit strange..."
The Mega watched a little warily as Ash approached. "How do you use that? Does my horn go through the middle, or..."
"No, it just goes on your forehead," Ash replied. "Ready?"
Mega Absol looked a little uncertain.
"We don't have to if you feel uncomfortable," Ash assured her.
That seemed to decide her. "I – yes, best try it."
Ash waited a moment longer, then placed it on the little black triangle which poked out of her white fur between her horns.
There was a shimmer, and Mega Absol blinked – then gasped, and took a step back.
"Are you okay?" Lucario checked, watching as she shook her head with some force.
"Yes, I – yes," she said, in tones of wonder. "It's as though my head's been wrapped in cotton wool, dampening the worst of the noise… it's there, but I have to pay attention, and from now I'll be ready for it."
Her furry wings came down to lie flush along her side, and she nodded – almost a bow of fealty. "My great, heartfelt thanks – all of you – for helping me through this, and for ensuring I can use the power of this form with a clear conscience."
Smiles and sighs of relief ran around the group.
"So," Lucario said, raising a paw. "What's for dessert?"
May groaned. "That was really beautiful right up until you said that."
"What?" Lucario asked, with a shrug. "I'm kind of hungry."
"Actually, I did prepare something," Brock told them. "Waffles – and since I knew Ash had picked up Heracross, I've got a lot of maple syrup!"
"That sounds great," Pikachu agreed. "Can we have ice cream, too?"
"Glaceon?" May asked, looking over at her Ice-type.
"Sure, I can help with that," Glaceon agreed.
"What flavour would you like, Absol?" Ash asked.
"I think I'll just have whatever you think is best," Mega Absol replied. "I'm not really very familiar with the choices – but I'm sure you'll pick something good."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone