Chapter 75: 36,37
"So, who won?" Ash asked, as the door opened.
Then he blinked, grinned, and hurried over. "Oh, wow – you evolved!"
"I sure did," Goodra agreed, inspecting himself before returning his gaze to Ash. "It's nice to see you again."
"He beat me really easily!" Mawile added. "He's super strong!"
Goodra sniggered, and Mawile began to giggle too.
Smiling – not because he got the joke, but because they were having fun – Ash waved Goodra into the lab. "Come on – we'll have to make sure you see all the Pokémon that turned up since you evolved into Sliggoo..."
"I look forward to it," Goodra said.
"Oh, you'll have to show him Miss Absol's Mega-Evolution, too!" Mawile reminded him. "She has wings!"
A gasp. "Wait – I just realized! Now you can see, we can practice flying!"
Goodra looked a bit nervous – then they entered the main room of the building, and he waved to the others. "Um… hi!"
"He certainly grew!" May said, chuckling. "He must be three times as tall as he was when he went outside!"
"Yeah," Max agreed. "Does that happen a lot with dragons?"
"Not sure," Ash admitted. "I think Shelgon doesn't grow that much into Salamence, though… and I think Dragonair gets shorter. I guess it depends."
"Uh..." Bart coughed. "Sorry, I'm sure it's a fascinating evolution, but can he stop dripping on the floor?"
Goodra looked down, and blushed. "Uh… sorry, I'll try and stop."
"Mister scientist?" Mawile asked, clearing her throat. "I have some ob-ser-vation-al da-ta for you."
Bart looked blank.
Ash relayed her words. "What's that, then, Mawile?"
"Well… I looked it up with Dexter," Mawile explained. "And it said that Sliggoo evolved in rain, but it said they didn't think it could evolve in ar-ti-ficial rain."
"Oh, I see!" Brock realized. "So because that was rain made by the weather machine, you know that Sliggoo can evolve in weather machine weather."
"Ah!" Bart said, nodding in realization. "Yes – that's very interesting! Thank you – that might mean that the rain is more natural than rain generated by Rain Dance. I'll have to do some more tests – do you know if there's a supply of more Sliggoo somewhere?"
Ash blinked. "The… closest place I know is somewhere in Kalos..."
"Oh." Bart deflated a bit, then thought about it and brightened. "Well, I suppose a little sabbatical in Kalos couldn't hurt..."
He looked over at Castform. "What's the forecast for the next ten minutes?"
Castform switched to Sunny Form, and stayed that way.
"It sounds like the weather's stabilizing a bit," he told them. "Hmmm… are you planning on staying long? Because if not it might be hard to get a weather window when you won't be rained on, snowed on or hit by a hurricane."
"I could probably get Ivysaur or Meganium and have them keep it sunny," Ash said, thinking. "Or maybe we should just get the raincoats on and let Goodra have it rain for a bit."
"That'd be nice," Goodra admitted.
"Not yet, though!" Mawile said. "Can we try flying practice first? Just for a bit?"
The newly evolved Dragon-type thought, then nodded. "I guess we could do it for a couple of minutes."
"What news be there?" Shelly asked the scout of her strike team.
"There be sev'ral scurvy trainers at the institute," the scout reported, saluting. "Yarr," he added, for good measure.
"Who they be?" Shelly pressed.
"They be a man with a squint, a boy with a cap, a Pikachu, a Lucario an' a Goodra, an' a young lad an' lass," her scout summarized.
She nodded sharply. "They be Ash Ketchum an' his friends! We be needin' to use Plan Kidd."
Grabbing a radio, Shelly hit transmit. "Plan Kidd!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" came back down the link, and there was the sound of an engine starting before the transmission cut out.
"Now," Shelly added. "Crawdaunt, Seel, Walrein, be ready for this! We be strikin' fast, an' runnin' hard!"
The two other strike team members nodded, as did their Pokémon.
"Now..." she drew the syllable out, then signalled sharply. "Go!"
Goodra hit the ground with a whud, and Mawile bounced around crazily for a moment before Goodra's antennae managed to damp the motion.
"I don't think this is going to work," he said, regretfully. "You're too heavy, Mawile."
Mawile pouted, then shook her head. "But strawberry taffy is so tasty!"
She looked down, then jumped off Goodra's back and nodded. "Okay, Goodra. Maybe later?"
"If I can manage it, and I end up confident in it – then yes," Goodra confirmed. "But right now I'm not even sure if I can do it on my own."
"That's a good way to learn," Ash told them. "I mean – you know. If you've got the time."
Goodra nodded his understanding, then walked a few paces away from them to a relatively sturdy patch of grass.
He inhaled, seething light building in his mouth for a moment, and then fired a Dragon Pulse almost directly down.
The attack blasted a star-shaped divot out of the ground, and Goodra went flying with the recoil – flying up, and back, and spinning slightly as he went.
"Go Goodra!" Mawile cheered. "Now – twist so you can see where you're going!"
Goodra tried to do that.
His success was mixed, partly because he hadn't stopped using Dragon Pulse yet, and he went wham into the ground side-first.
Everyone winced. "Ouch..."
The Dragon-type dug himself out of the small crater, shaking grass and dirt off himself, and scrubbed the rest off with his forearms. "I think it went better that time!"
"Well, he's certainly become more durable," Lucario commented. "Hmmm… here's something that might work."
Goodra looked up, interested.
"What you need to do – for now – is to prepare yourself to do something before you take off. You're not used to reacting on the fly quickly enough for this to work, you see..."
A nod. "Yeah, I guess. So I should… hm..."
Moving to another undamaged patch of grass, Goodra began making small motions as he rehearsed in his mind. "So I fire, then stop, then twist myself around..."
There was a boom, and the wall of the weather research institute blew out.
"What was that?" Bart asked.
A few seconds later, four Aqua agents came running out with some large pieces of computer equipment – accompanied by half a dozen Pokémon or so.
"Pikachu, stop them!" Ash ordered, and his Electric-type didn't need telling twice.
A huge, crackling thunderbolt speared out from Pikachu's cheeks, aiming for the Aqua group – and flowed directly into a Goldeen one of the Aqua agents was using, to no effect.
"That's cheating!" Pikachu said, highly indignant. "Foul!"
"Don't you have-" Mawile began to ask.
"That's different!"
Lucario and Blaziken began to sprint forwards, Blaziken quickly accelerating past his fellow Fighting-type, but a torrent of water smacked into Blaziken from three of the Pokémon working together.
Lucario was ready for the blast when it turned on him, and raised two blue-glowing palms to split the Hydro Pumps into separate streams that flowed either side of him.
A Swampert met him coming the other way with an almighty punch, one which produced a vicious crack of impact, and Lucario retaliated by bringing out his Sacred Sword and closing for a second attack.
"What's that sound?" Max asked. "It sounds like a helicopter..."
"Yeah, I can hear it too!" Brock agreed, and within another few seconds it was loud enough to drown out conversation.
A Seaking helicopter bored past overhead, barely above the treeline, and weighted ladders swung down from both sides of the cargo compartment.
All four Aqua agents jumped aboard, two to a side, and the helicopter climbed slightly before heading into the distance.
"Latias, can you stop them?" Ash asked.
"You too, Flygon!" Brock added.
Beams of red light shot out from the Seaking, drawing in Lucario's opponent along with all the Pokémon left on the ground.
"But… I don't understand," Bart said, weakly. "All my research… but how did they get in?"
There was a squeak of surprise, and Latias phased into visibility before crashing to the ground.
"Latias!" Ash called, shocked, and a moment later Flygon followed her.
May blinked. "I… guess they started really pulling all the stops out..."
"Come on, let's try and see what happened to Latias and Flygon!" Ash said, already running.
"Well?" Shelley asked. "Be they gone?"
"Aye," the operative replied, hitting the door close and backing away as it whirred into place. "Both their fliers be grounded."
"Good work," she complimented. "How far be it to the truck?"
"A quarter-glass, no more," the pirate pilot called back. "Then we be settin' off westerly."
"Did we get it?" asked one of the other Aqua operatives.
The rest of the team gave him a look, and he blushed. "Um, arr?"
"That be good enough," Shelley pronounced. "And aye, we got their hard drives, so we did."
The helicopter swayed as it hit an air pocket, and everyone grabbed onto seats or stanchions to stay standing.
"Do we have to be goin' so fast?" someone muttered. "This be a heavy, uh, sky."
Shelley snorted. "An' do you want to be close to Mister Ketchum when the Entrain be wearin' off on his Legendary Pokémon?"
"...no, skip," the girl admitted. "I be forgettin'."
"That be the whole point of Plan Kidd!" Shelley went on. "Why d' you think we dug under the walls of their scurvy buildin' in the first place?"
She glanced over. "Speakin' of the whole point of the plan, how be Goldeen?"
"Well, I be glad we gave 'im a Wacan Berry," the Goldeen's trainer said, looking up from a small bucket. "That be one powerful Electric attack."
"I be seein' the clearin'!" the pilot told them, and the rotors took on a new tone as the big Seaking began to descend. "Five minutes an' we be down!"
"Aye!" Shelley nodded sharply. "You hear that, me hearties? Out of the helicopter as soon as it be on the ground! An' you, the pilot – park it somewhere an' be settin' the charge, then make your own way to the base!"
A firm nod from the pilot.
"Good man," she said, clasping his shoulder. "For Kyogre!"
"What the heck happened to them?" Ash asked, giving Latias a look over. "Are you hurt?"
The Dragon-type shook her head, inhaled, and then let out a long sigh. "I feel… really full," she admitted. "Almost bloated. Like I've spent all day eating everything in sight."
"Me too," Flygon said, a little further on in the field. He'd been shot down second, but Latias had been in front of him and so they'd landed almost on top of one another.
"Full?" Brock repeated, looking up from Flygon and thinking. "I was wondering if it was Gravity or Smack Down, but those don't cause you to feel full… that's very strange."
"Dexter?" Ash asked, getting the Pokédex out. "Any ideas?"
Scanning… hm, I believe I have it.
He materialized, then focused on Latias. Trace.
His polygonal form split apart a little at the seams, becoming awkwardly composed of curved planes straining at their connection points and with space visible between them.
"Shouldn't you just be levitating?" Latias asked, shifting slightly.
Not at the moment. Your Ability is currently Thick Fat.
Brock worked it out first, and sighed. "This must be Entrainment, then," he said, and Dexter let out an affirmative beep.
"I guess that's a good reason you might need to learn Magic Coat," Ash frowned. "Any idea how long it lasts, Brock?"
"Not really," Brock admitted, with a shrug. "It's partly to do with both the target and the user."
"I hope it wears off soon," Latias said a little tightly. "I'm too used to flying – this makes me really uncomfortable. It gets my teeth on edge."
"Don't worry, Latias," Ash told her. "Do you want to go into your Pokéball until it wears off?"
The Dragon considered it, frowning. "I… I'm not sure," she said, and took a deep breath. "I think I'll be okay, but… thanks for the offer."
Pikachu jumped down to the grass. "I could try Magnet Rise? I'm not sure I can affect you too, you might be a bit big, but..."
Latias twitched, then hovered up into the air. "Phew!" she said, relief plain in her voice, and she did a couple of rolls-in-place to reassure herself she was flying again. "Sorry, I just… it reminded me a bit of being trapped in the DMA."
"I didn't realize-" Ash cut himself off.
"It's fine now," Latias told them. "And thank you for trying to work out a solution."
Flygon buzzed into the air too, and glanced back at his wings. "How did it work on me? I use wings..."
"Maybe it was just making you too heavy to fly," Brock suggested. "But yeah, with how Abilities work it would still have been enough to knock you out of the sky if the ability had been… Flash Fire or something."
"Pokémon are strange," Flygon agreed. "Almost as strange as you people who don't come from eggs."
"You get used to them," Pikachu chuckled.
"Should we get back to the lab?" Brock asked. "I know they're not going to be in danger with Lucario and Blaziken watching over them, but..."
"Yeah, it's probably a good idea," Ash agreed. "Want to walk, Pikachu?"
"I suppose I should once in a while," Pikachu said, flicking his tail dismissively. "But what else are trainers for?"
"Can't imagine what," Ash shrugged.
Mawile raised her hand.
"No thanks," Pikachu shook his head. "I'd rather not go with Goodra until he's comfortable flying on his own."
"...you don't know that's what I was going to ask," Mawile pouted, lowering her hand.
"Are they okay?" Max asked, looking out of the hole in the lab wall.
"Yeah, it was Entrainment," Ash summarized. "Latias says she's fine, and Flygon seemed okay."
"I'm used to not flying, but not recently," Flygon told everyone who could understand him.
"Okay, I wondered," Max frowned. "I guess that's something to watch out for in future."
"I'll certainly be looking out for it," Latias muttered. "That crash stung."
"How'd they get in?" Brock asked. "I can see how they got out..."
"They dug in," Max told them. "There's a great big hole in the floor."
"Health warning: do not fall down it," Lucario advised gravely.
"This is going to be a complete pain," Bart sighed, lifting one of the cables and then putting it down again. "The computer's basically useless now."
"What happened?" Brock asked. "I guess they took something?"
"They took the hard drive," Bart explained, and got a wince from the Gym Leader. "Fortunately, they just took the hard drive."
"Is that good?" May asked, a little uncertainly.
"Well, it's not terrible," Bart shrugged. "It means that the data's all still there – they didn't get the boot disk, so I can use the computer, and the backups are in a separate room – but it's going to take a while to get everything hooked up again."
"Can we help?" Ash asked.
"The others, maybe," Pikachu judged. "You, no."
"Why not?" Ash asked, hurt. "I can-"
"...destroy buildings?" May completed, sweetly.
"Okay, fine," Ash said, with a sigh.
Bart went over to the weather machine, and tapped out a few commands.
The screen lit up, flashing a dull red – no data.
"Thought so, this is disconnected as well," he sighed. "Castform, you'll have to handle the weather for a while."
"Understood," Castform said. "Just ask me if you need anything."
"Really, I'm just glad we use redundant array drives," Bart admitted, sitting down at his chair in front of the desk. "But I'm going to need to order a new one, now..."
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in, the wall's open!" the scientist shouted.
A man with a toolbox and a Magnemite peered around the hole. "Oh – uh, okay..."
Stepping over the collapsed wall base, he cleared his throat. "Ahem. Hi, I'm the technician."
"Technician?" Bart repeated.
"The technician," the man said. "To connect up the backups and use them as the main disk, and get your computer system working again."
That brought a sigh of relief. "Oh, wonderful! Thank you for getting here so fast – it's a huge relief, I was worried I'd lose work for days!"
"All part of the service," the tech assured him. He opened the toolbox, and took out a flash-light headband. "Now, where's the main computer?"
"Over here," Bart pointed. "Sorry, can you make him a path?"
Brock and May moved aside, letting the technician through.
"Ooh..." he said, whistling through his teeth. "This is quite a job. What happened here, then?"
"Some pirates made off with the main drive," Max summarized. "They came in through the floor and went out through the wall."
"Right… Magnemite, number two screwdriver."
Magnemite let out a buzz, and used one magnet to pick up a screwdriver and hand it to the technician.
"Okay, there we go… and it looks like that should be an easy replacement. Cable."
The Steel-type went to get a cable.
Something is wrong here, Dexter said, quietly.
"There is?" Ash asked, with a frown. "What is it? He seems helpful."
I am not sure. Just… something off. That is all.
"What's the drive encryption password?" the tech asked, bringing the backup disk through the door into the main room.
Bart looked up. "Castformforever, with the for replaced by a number 4."
"Right..." the tech said. "Good..."
Why does he need the password? Dexter asked, now very confused. He is just plugging in a data drive, he does not need to actually decrypt it himself.
"I don't understand much about technical matters," Pikachu admitted. "But you're right, that does sound strange."
Magnemite let out a buzz.
As the tech was about to put the drive in place, he whirled on one heel and threw a grey ball directly at Latias.
She squeaked in surprise as the ball hit, bursting and producing a cloud of grey smoke which left her and several of the people and Pokémon in the room coughing.
"What-" Brock wheezed.
"The tech guy!" Max said. "Arc, stop him!"
Arc let out a deep, slamming bark, and gathered himself for a lunge – and got hit by another Smoke Ball, making him flinch backwards and nearly fall over.
"Ditto, Transform!" the man shouted, and jumped into the air.
He landed astride a white-and-pink Latias, which shot out into the open air far too fast to follow.
"What just happened?" Bart asked plaintively, as the Pokémon and trainers waved away smoke.
"Can you get after him, Latias?" Ash asked.
"I can barely see!" Latias replied, bending her neck so she could scrub at her eyes with her forearms. "So – no."
"Wait," Brock said, between coughs. "Crobat – Defog!"
Crobat emerged, and his four wings swept the smoke and ash out through the open wall.
Now that they could breathe again – though Latias was still dabbing at streaming eyes – the friends could try to take stock.
"Was that Brodie?" Ash asked, suddenly remembering the self-proclaimed master of disguise. "And does that mean Team Magma has the backup?"
"It might," May agreed. "Great…"
"Team Magma has the other copy of my data?" Bart repeated, still startled. "What could they do with a hundred and ten years of weather data and thousands of simulations?"
You had over a century of- Dexter asked, then stopped. No, of course you did, you need it so the weather control machine can model how it needs to change the weather.
"Right," Bart confirmed. "But what could they need it for?"
"They worship Groudon, right?" Brock asked, getting out a water bottle and helping wash out Latias' eyes. "Maybe if they could just find somewhere that seemed to be sunny way too often? That could be why Aqua wanted the first copy as well, to do the same."
"That… might work," Bart said. "Might. But… oh, this is terrible!"
"Thanks, Brock," Latias said, blinking rapidly. "I think I might need goggles if this kind of thing is going to keep happening again..."
"You could try keeping your eyes closed," Lucario suggested. "Perhaps a blindfold?"
Blaziken came back into the building through the hole, which surprised everyone because they hadn't seen him leave.
"He lost me in a blind alley," the Fire-type reported. "Sorry, everyone."
"I'm surprised you could catch up at all!" May admitted. "Good work, Blaziken – don't feel you have to do the impossible."
Max sniffed. "Hey… did Blaziken set something on fire on the way out?"
"Not on the way out," Pikachu said. He looked out of the hole. "But there is a trail of flame leading off into the distance..."
"Goodra?" Ash asked, sending the Dragon-type out. "Can you use Rain Dance quickly – outside," he added for clarity. "I think there's a fire to put out."
"Oh, what a day..." Bart sighed, some hours later.
The friends – specifically, Brock's Geodude – had helped him by sealing off the holes with rock walls, but they'd had to leave on their own journey.
Which left him with an enormous pile of hardcopy notes, a broken weather machine, and most of a computer.
"Caaast," Castform said, tapping him on the shoulder and smiling.
"I know," Bart nodded. "I shouldn't be so gloomy..."
There was a knock at the door.
"Hello, doctor?" called his grad student, Millie. "Why is there a big lump of granite on the wall?"
"Ah, Millie!" Bart said, hurrying to the door and opening it. "It's so good to see you. The institute got attacked!"
"Attacked?" Millie repeated. "But… what were they after?"
"The database," Bart summarized. "One group of criminals took the database, and another stole the backup. We're down to hardcopy."
"What are we going to do, then?" Millie asked, seeing the damage.
Bart handed her a sheaf of notes and unfolded a small laptop. "Time to get typing, I think..."
The next morning dawned bright and clear.
"Thank goodness the weather's settled down," Brock said, brushing ice off his tent.
"I know," May agreed. She turned her bag upside down and shook it, sending sand cascading out. "Did anyone else get woken up by the rainstorm?"
"I don't think any of us could have missed it," Ash replied. He pressed experimentally on the ground, which went squish. "Okay, I think this is good to walk on… not sure, though."
He reached down to his belt, and selected a Pokéball without looking. "Can you help us across?"
Quilava looked down at the wet, muddy ground. "...just for clarity, how exactly were you expecting me to help?"
Ash did a double take. "Uh, actually I was expecting to get Goodra..."
He looked down, double-checking his Pokéballs, then blushed. "Whoops… put the belt on upside down."
Unbuckling it and switching it around so it was the other way up, he took one of the Pokéballs from the other side – red side up, this time. "Want to go back in and I'll send Goodra out?"
"Actually, I think I could help anyway," Quilava mused.
Her flames blazed up, and she fired a blast of Flamethrower – starting almost at her feet, keeping it up for several seconds, and then extending it out towards the high ground of the road.
The water hissed and steamed as she hit it, producing some baked clay and loam which cooled to form a solid – if uneven – path.
"There," she said, letting the flamethrower peter out. "Fire-types don't just destroy things."
"That's cool," Mawile told her.
"No, it's warm," Quilava replied, earning a giggle.
"Is Max up?" May checked. "Max?"
There was a yap and a yelp from Max's tent.
"Max?"
"Sorry!" Max called, and there was a red flash of light. "I was kind of cold during the bit it was snowing, so Arc basically sat on my sleeping bag to warm me up last night, and I didn't hear my alarm."
"...wait, Arc sat on you?" May blinked. "Didn't that hurt?"
"Not really, he didn't have his weight on me… mostly," Max explained. "I guess it did a bit. But it was really warm – he's got loads of fur!"
"That does sound warm," Brock agreed. "Bet it was surprising to need extra warmth in Hoenn, though..."
"Hey, Quilava?" Mawile asked, tilting her head. "I was wondering… you know that flamethrower move? What was it?"
"That was Flamethrower," Quilava replied, blandly. "It's a move that throws flame."
"Oh, I guess that must be why it's called that!" Mawile said earnestly. "Do you think I could learn it?"
Quilava stopped walking, and gave her fellow Pokémon a look. "What?"
"Well, it's a move, right?" Mawile reasoned. "And because it's a move, it's a move I could learn – or maybe I can't, but can I try? Please?"
"You know there's no guarantee it'll work," Quilava cautioned. "But yes, we can certainly try."
"Great!" Mawile smiled.
"What's that you're doing?" Ash asked, looking over halfway through lunch.
"I'm learning Flamethrower!" Mawile said proudly.
"We're starting with Fire Fang," Quilava told him. "Just to get her used to the Fire type."
Mawile nodded, and then her jaws slammed together with a crack and a cloud of sparks.
"Looks like you're nearly there," Ash smiled. "Those aren't electric sparks, I mean – they look much more Fire-y."
"Great!" Mawile nodded, and tried again. The cloud of sparks was larger this time, and she was about to try a third time when a very small localized rainstorm hit her.
"Hi Goodra!" she said, unfazed. "What is it?"
"The grass was catching fire," Goodra told her. "I didn't want you to get hurt before you noticed."
"Wouldn't that be a bit like if you hurt yourself with your own Dragon Pulse?" Mawile asked, as the rainstorm ended.
"Yes, a bit," Quilava cut in. "But Goodra absolutely could hurt himself with his own attack, and so could you. You need to be a bit careful when using a type you're weak to."
"Oh, okay," Mawile nodded, understanding that. "I get it. So… can we try actually throwing the flame now?"
"Just give me one more Fire Fang so I can see if you've got it," Quilava asked.
Mawile nodded, and took a deep breath. Her face scrunched up a bit in concentration, and she opened her jaws before slamming them closed.
There was a whoosh of flame.
"There we go," Quilava nodded. "That's not good enough for an attack, yet, but it is enough that you've got the fire. Now, your next step is focusing on making enough of that for it to last a while."
"Hey, Ash?" Max asked, looking up from Kris' screen. "Who do you think I should use for battling Winona?"
Ash frowned. "Well… you know she uses Flying-types, of course… one of the important things to remember about Flying-types is that they're never just Flying-type. They're always other types, too – except Tornadus. And I hope she doesn't have Tornadus..."
"It took me a moment to remember how unlikely that is," Max admitted.
He shrugged. "But the most important one is that the Pokémon's going to need to be able to get up to where the Flying-type is. The battlefield's overhead, and that means either long range attacks or a Pokémon that can fly."
"Who are you going to use, Ash?" Max asked. "I know you've got a lot of choice..."
"Well, I'd like Absol to get a battle – I mean Mega Absol, if possible," Ash clarified. "And Squirtle's going to keep pestering me until I give in – but apart from that I'm not sure."
He nodded at Max. "But you've got less choice. So – who do you think you should use?"
"Delta first," Max replied. "He's my Flying-type, and so he can fight in the air – like you say, that's important."
"Right," Ash confirmed. "And next?"
"I think Arc," Max decided, after a moment of thought. "I know he can't fly, but his Electric attacks mean he should be able to fight at long range anyway… and then third I'm not sure. I don't think it's safe to send Guy out."
"Well, she might just give you a two on two match," Ash reminded him. "But it's up to you – your first two choices seem good."
"Thanks, Ash," Max smiled. "I feel better now I've checked."
He looked back down at Kris. "...actually, you can hover, right?"
That is correct.
"Maybe I should use Kris, then," Max mused. "I mean, you do have a good Electric attack..."
"Well, that was definitely Flamethrower," Quilava said, a little dubiously.
Mawile stood back up, a smile on her face. "Great! Can we keep practicing?"
"That's the thing," Quilava sighed. "I'm not sure this attack is a safe one for you to learn."
"Awww..." the Fairy-type pouted. "How come?"
"Well, you're firing it from your jaws," Quilava pointed out. "And they're way above the rest of your body, so when you do all it means is that you just go over onto your face."
"But it is Flamethrower!" Mawile insisted. "And that's what I wanted!"
She flexed her false-jaw, bringing it down to lie more alongside her. "Besides, I can make it do this instead!"
"Wait-" Quilava began, a bit too late.
The jet of flame was tight and focused – Mawile had paid attention to Quilava's lessons on that aspect of the move – and as such it didn't hit her side or damage her directly.
Instead, the abrupt pulse of thrust from her right hand side only sent her spinning crazily into the air, doing a loop, and then Latias caught her just before she hit the ground.
"Whoops!" the Dragon-type said, smiling. "Better be careful with that, okay?"
Mawile nodded, looking a little green as she was placed back on the floor. "Okay… I guess maybe that wasn't such a good idea..."
"Not really, no," Quilava summarized. "You've only got one point of thrust, so it has to be on your centreline if you want to fly."
Her pupil pouted. "That's not very fair… I mean, Goodra does it fine!"
"Goodra's much bigger and heavier than you are," Latias explained. "So it doesn't matter quite as much to him."
Mawile frowned. "I'll keep trying, though," she said, firmly. "Just… not as hard."
"Hey, guys!" Ash called from up ahead. "We're nearly at the Feather Carnival!"
"Great!" Mawile said, her scare already mostly forgotten. "What is it? Do they do sweets?"
"It's a kind of celebration of Flying Pokémon," Ash told her. "Not just Flying-types, anything that can fly… actually, that gives me an idea..."
"You're not going to buzz the festival with Legendaries, are you?" May asked, warily.
"...not straight away," Ash replied slowly.
"...so, what do you think?" Cosplay Pikachu asked, doing a twirl.
Weezing looked her over.
"It seems… warm?" he ventured.
Pikachu's tail fell slightly. "That's all you got?"
"I'm not very good with fashion," he apologized. "Dustox? Any help here? You seem to know about this kind of thing."
Dustox flapped her wings, becoming airborne for a moment, and did a circuit of Cosplay Pikachu to look at her costume.
"I'm afraid I don't recognize it either," she admitted. "I know whether something looks good, and it looks good – but what's with the fleece? That must be very warm."
"That's the point," Cosplay-chu replied. "It's supposed to be warm because the air gets colder at altitude."
Weezing gave her another look. "I thought mountain climbers had picks."
"It's not a mountain climber outfit!" Cosplay-chu said, a little forcefully. She exhaled, holding up a paw. "Sorry, I'm just… I'd really like to know if this looks good, that's all."
"I'll ask Abra over," Dustox decided. "He might know."
As she flew off, Cosplay-chu adjusted her outfit – making sure it all fit well.
The thick fleece jacket, with a waterproofed outer layer – sure to keep her warm and dry even in bad weather.
The long scarf – yellow with black ends – to seal the top of the jacket, and trail out behind her.
And then there was the helmet and the big pair of goggles.
All told, it was far too warm to be sitting here in the sun of the Feather Carnival – but that wasn't what it was for.
Abra materialized, gave her three seconds of scrutiny, and nodded. Jolly good Aviatrix outfit.
Then he fell asleep.
Cosplay Pikachu blinked, then beamed. "Great! Someone got what I was going for!"
"What's an aviatrix?" Weezing asked.
"It's the female version of an Aviator," the costumed Pikachu told him. "Now, let's see if this works..."
Dustox flew back over. "I got him – aaand he's already asleep," she sighed. "Did you get your answer?"
"Yes," Cosplay Pikachu replied.
"What move does that outfit give you, then?"
The Electric-type rubbed her paws together, then touched her cheeks – lightning crackling over her, spreading to her whole body.
"Fly," she replied, and took off in a stream of sparks.
Weezing and Dustox stared after her for a moment.
"Huh," Weezing said eventually. "How about that..."
"This is so cool!" shouted one of the children on Skarmory's back.
The other one giggled, holding out a hand as they scudded against the clouds.
Winona smiled, enjoying their own pleasure at flying. Her giant Skarmory wasn't normally the best choice for Gym battles – she was a little too clumsy by comparison to most of her Flying-types – but she was able to carry far more aloft than most Flying-types, and that was enough of a gift.
"We'll be heading back down in a moment," she called, warning them. "Not long now."
"Okay," the first passenger said, sounding content. "This is great – I'm going to get a Flying-type when I'm older!"
"I suggest a Staraptor or a Pidgeot, they're both big enough to fly like this," Winona told him. "There's others, too, but those are the easiest to get hold of."
"Hey, look," the second said – she thought they were brother and sister. "A flying Pikachu!"
"Oh?" Winona asked, cuing Skarmory to circle with her knees. "Has someone tied balloons to one again?"
Then a Pikachu wearing an aviator's outfit went past in a shower of sparks.
"...no, then," she said, blinking. "Okay. I suppose that makes as much sense as anything..."
Skarmory's wings flared, shedding altitude without gaining speed too fast, and she landed with finicky precision just behind where she'd taken off.
The children got off without complaint, and she smiled.
"Hi!"
Winona looked up. "Hello, who – ah, Mr. Ketchum."
"You recognize me?" Ash asked, sounding surprised.
"You demonstrated a Mega-Evolved Flying-type in the League," she reminded him. "And two Flying-type Legendaries. I try to notice such things."
"Yeah, it's kind of about that," Ash admitted.
Behind them, one of Winona's aides helped get two more passengers strapped onto Skarmory's back.
"What is it?" Winona inquired. "I'm afraid I can't do a gym challenge today."
"No, I know you're busy," Ash agreed. "I just wonder how many Flying Pokémon I can bring to the festival."
Winona was about to assure him that he could bring as many as he liked, but then she remembered who it was she was talking to.
"...I don't think that will be a problem," she said, after several seconds of thought. "If they're who I think they are, then maybe you should do a flypast."
"Sounds great!" Ash agreed.
"By the way," she added, as Skarmory shifted – ready for another takeoff. "Do you have any idea where the flying Pikachu came from?"
Her potential challenger blinked. "The what?"
"Oh, good, it's not one of yours," Winona chuckled. "I did wonder… well, see you later, Mr. Ketchum."
She shook Skarmory's reins, and the Flying-type jumped eagerly back into the sky.
"I don't get it," James said, scratching his head. "Why'd you buy it, Jessie?"
"It's all part of a cunning plan!" Jessie replied, pulling the Chimecho outfit off a gasping Feebas and getting out a bowl. "Gyarados – Water Pulse!"
Water Pulse slapped out, hitting the bowl and going everywhere.
Jessie blinked, rubbed water out of her eyes, and then put Feebas into the now-full bowl.
Meowth wrung his tail out. "Well, ain't dat a wake up call… ya know cats don't like water, right?"
"Here's the plan!" Jessie said, as Feebas stopped gasping and began looking a bit more healthy. "Feebas are hard to catch, but if you treat them properly they evolve into Milotic! So – like with you, Gyarados-"
Gyarados waved a flipper.
"-we're going to rescue this Feebas, and make sure it evolves. Then, Boss has something to give his mom for her birthday!"
Feebas swam around in a half-circle, and looked up at Gyarados. "You got saved from one of those jerk fish sellers too?"
"I think it was the same one..." Gyarados muttered.
"Then… I guess I'm glad I got away," Feebas decided. "It was bad enough when he wanted to paint me shiny and sell me like that, but when he saw you looking for a Chimecho..."
"So he rung up a sale?" Wobbuffet asked.
Gyarados gave Wobbuffet a tail slap, sending him shaking back and forth.
"What was that for?" Feebas blinked.
"Wobbuffet has a terrible habit of telling puns," Cubone told him, looking up from her work. "You will get used to it… eventually."
"But water long time it'll take," Wobbuffet said cheerfully.
This time, it was Cubone who hit him – throwing a Bonemerang which bounced off his side, and catching it again before getting back to work.
"Actually, now I tink of it," Meowth said, frowning. "Weren't it about here ya met Chimecho, James?"
"It was, yes," James agreed. "But for that we're going to need Ash's help. I wonder where he is..."
Cubone glanced around, then rapped her Thick Club on the floor to get their attention – and pointed up.
As they watched, a Mega Latias flew past overhead, with a Swellow and a Noctowl trailing behind to left and right and a Flygon directly behind her.
Behind that came a familiar Pidgeot, with the huge shapes of the Storm's End and the Great Guardian to her left and right escort positions.
"Yeah, dat looks about right," Meowth agreed, as a Pikachu shot through the formation propelled by trails of smoke from a boxing glove.
James frowned for a moment, then took one of his Pokéballs. "Can you make sure Ash knows we want to talk?" he asked, and sent Moltres out to carry the message.
Winona shook her head, sighing.
They were never going to be able to outdo that next year.
"Are you sure this is okay?" James asked. "When we do this kind of thing, it tends to… backfire."
It'll be okay, Jirachi replied. Just be really specific, okay?
James nodded, swallowing, and cleared his throat.
"I wish I knew where the Chimecho I met last time was."
Jirachi's tags flashed, processing the wish, and then the Steel-type rose an inch or two into the air.
Then there was a bright flash, and a Chimecho materialized in a pulse of white light.
"Chimecho!" it said, brightly.
"...pardon?" Ash blinked.
"Chimecho!" Chimecho repeated.
"Yeah," Meowth said, with a shrug. "He ain't da brightest."
Ash reached out, touching the Psychic-type's tassel, and there was a flicker of blue.
"Chimecho!" Chimecho said happily, glomping James.
"I guess that's a good sign," Jessie mused.
High overhead, wings churning the air, Lugia contemplated his fellow flying legends.
"So, Ho-Oh," he said, with a chuckle. "Do you feel that our trainer has begun using you with a little more care?"
"A little more enthusiasm, you mean," Ho-Oh replied, shrugging his head. "Well, I'm not exactly demanding, and being called upon once was a great boost. What of yourself?"
"I have my family, so I'm glad to be called upon only in times of great need," Lugia replied.
He turned to smile at the younger two. "And yourself, Latias?"
"I'd kind of like to see Altomare again, soon," Latias admitted – trying not to notice the camera flashes from below as they hovered. "And I'm pretty sure Latios would appreciate having a turn out, too."
"Then raise it with Ash," Lugia advised.
"Got it."
There was a short pause. Then Moltres cleared her throat.
"Look, I know what you're going to say," she began. "Sure, I guess in one way I'm kind of running with a bad crowd. Yeah, I know their organization as a whole is not always very pleasant-"
"Actually," Ho-Oh interrupted, "I was going to say your plumage is clearly very well cared for."
"...oh," the Fire-type said, wincing. "Right. Sorry..."
Cosplay-chu flew past. "Hey, Moltres! We're kind of leaving soon – just letting you know!"
"Thank you," Moltres said – grateful for the interruption.
"How are you doing that?" Ho-Oh asked, tilting his head in surprise.
"It's an aviator's outfit," Cosplaychu said, as if that explained everything.
"...right."
37
"There's so many kinds of Flying-types," Mawile said, softly.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "And lots of Pokémon which can fly even though they're not Flying-types, too – look, a Dragonair!"
"I'm not nearly that graceful," Goodra sighed, and adjusted his grip on Mawile's ankles.
The Fairy-type shook her head. "Maybe you're not – but that doesn't matter!"
There was a whoosh as an Archeops swooped low over the crowd, and Mawile ducked. "Wow! That's a cool Pokémon!"
"They're Archeops," Ash told her. "Fossil Pokémon – I guess someone here has a revived one."
"Cool," Mawile decided. "Like Kabutops! Hey, let's go see!"
She pointed. "I think it went that way!"
Goodra checked his grip, and followed Ash through the crowds.
"Seriously?" Pikachu asked. "It's really the costume?"
"Yeah, but I don't know if it works for all Pikachu," Cosplaychu replied. "Hey, maybe you should try – here, have this one!"
She held up an outfit next to her.
"No," Pikachu said, shaking his head. "Not going to happen."
"But you'd make a great Belle!"
"It went just over there!" Mawile said, craning her neck to see. "Hey, that guy looks familiar!"
Goodra examined him.
"I don't see it."
"That's because you're much taller than last time we met him, silly!" Mawile giggled.
"You're a lot higher up," Goodra replied, taking one hand off her ankles and giving her a poke in the side.
More giggling, and Mawile shook her head. "That's different!"
"Hold on," Ash said, with a frown. "Is that Steven?"
On hearing his name, the Rock collector looked up. "Who is – ah, Ash! Good to see you!"
"It's great to see you, too," Ash replied, shaking his hand. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, I'm showing Archeops around," the Champion replied, as the Rock/Flying-Type came down for another landing. "He wanted a look at how many more Flying-types there are these days – there's actually a theory that all Bird Flying-types are descended from Archen and Archeops."
"Wow," Ash said, impressed. "Is it right?"
"No," Steven told him bluntly. "But it's an interesting kind of wrong, which is nearly as useful."
"I like that kind of thinking," Mawile pronounced.
She waved at Archeops as he took off again, then frowned thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah – you're someone who knows about rocks, right, Mr. Steven?"
Ash relayed the question, and Steven chuckled. "It's Mr. Stone – or Steven. And yes, never ask a Stone a question about rocks unless you're willing to be talked at for half an hour."
"Great! Then you can tell me what my bracelet is," Mawile decided. "Do you know where it is, Ash?"
Ash rummaged in his bag.
Steven blinked as Ash's arm went in up to mid-bicep. "That's… new."
"It's one of Sir Aaron's artefacts," Ash explained. "I tried to work out how to do another one, but my head hurt… it's bigger on the inside. Aha!"
He took the bracelet out, and Steven's eyes went wide.
"Ash – do you know what this is?"
"...no," Ash admitted. "Why? What is it?"
"It looks like..." Steven's voice trailed off, and he reached for his belt. "Hold on a moment, I'll test it. Can I borrow it?"
Ash glanced at Mawile to check, and she nodded.
At her nod, Steven took the bracelet and passed Ash something from his lapel. He then frowned, thinking for a moment, and sent out a Scizor.
"Okay, let's see if this works..." he said, and took a deep breath.
The bracelet began to shine, and a moment later so did the band around Scizor's head.
"Is that a Mega Stone?" Ash asked, holding up his hand against the light, and then looked with surprise at the change. "Wow… Mega Scizor looks cool."
The Mega-Evolved Pokémon gave him a nod, keeping both enormous pincers carefully closed.
A moment later, the transformation reversed itself.
"Remarkable," Steven said, taking the Mega Stickpin back. "This, Ash, is a bracelet of a style which is clearly hundreds – if not thousands – of years old. It dates back before the concept of Samurai, to give you some idea… but it has a Key Stone in it."
"Whoa," Ash said, blinking. "That's pretty cool."
He glanced at Mawile. "Hey, maybe it's the partner of that Mega Stone Mew found when we were looking for Spoink's pearl?"
"I guess so!" Mawile agreed. "That makes sense!"
"Remarkable," Steven pronounced, and handed the bracelet back. "I'd really like to study it, truth be told – but it's yours, so I won't just take it."
Mawile nodded her thanks. "That's nice of you," she said seriously.
"But now I'm wondering how I could pay for it," he added, frowning. "Hmmm… are you here in Fortree for a while?"
"At least until tomorrow," Ash told him. "We've got a Pokémon battle with Winona."
"In that case..." Steven considered. "I believe that I have an idea what I can trade you for the bracelet, miss Mawile."
Mawile brightened. "You do?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid I don't have it on me at the moment," Steven apologized. "Or – well, I do, but it's something that really belongs to a member of my team."
He sent out another of his Pokémon, who stepped forwards a pace to stand next to Scizor.
"Hi," Mawile said, waving, but not nearly as enthusiastically as she normally greeted new Pokémon.
"Good afternoon," the other Mawile replied. "And hello to you all."
"...you're not going to say Goodra's all slimy and gross, are you?" Ash's Mawile asked suspiciously.
"No, I'm not," Steven's one told her with dignity. "I don't especially like slime… it's rather a mess... but I know others don't mind – which is their choice."
"You're nicer than a lot of other Mawile I've met," Ash's Mawile complimented.
"All three of them," Goodra chuckled.
"They were all mean!"
While they talked, Steven's Mawile reached up to his topknot and undid a small bow.
"Is this what you were thinking of?" he asked his trainer, who got the gist and nodded.
"Mawile?" Steven said, clearing his throat. "I'd like to ask whether you'd be willing to swap your bracelet for a Mawilite."
Mawile blinked, surprised.
"Remember, I don't have one to spare yet," Steven added. "And yes, you can try it tonight – I'd love to watch, Mega-Evolution is always something special and I'd like to see how you handle it."
Mawile was about to reply when Ash glanced up and yelped. "Look out!"
He caught one Pikachu in one hand, the other in the other, and then Scizor picked both Pichu out of the air with ease.
"Ow," the slightly larger Pichu said. "I guess that costume didn't work..."
"I think it worked too well," the smaller one moaned.
"Pikachu?" Ash asked, then saw the smoking remnants of an outfit and the heart-tip tail on the other one. "And – you're Jessie's Pikachu, right?"
"Right," Cosplaychu agreed, and Ash let her down. She flipped, landed on her feet, and brushed the last of the costume off. "Don't ask."
"What-"
"I said don't ask," she said firmly, and Ash's Pikachu nodded his agreement.
"It didn't make a lot of sense at the time, and it makes little more now," he confirmed.
"Do you know where my trainers are?" Cosplaychu asked, as Steven stared at the whole tableau.
Ash closed his eyes, and glanced around. "Uh… looks like Dustox is over there – does that help?"
"It'll do," Cosplaychu agreed, and hopped up onto a low rooftop.
She turned to point at the Pichu Brothers. "And that was a terrible idea! I'm not going to try doing Superman again!"
With that, she was gone.
Pichu Big glanced at Pichu Little.
"...she didn't say anything about any other superheroes," Little pointed out.
"You two are going to blow yourselves up some day," Pikachu sighed. "You know. More than already."
"What just happened?" Steven asked, curiously.
"I'm not quite sure myself..."
"This has been a pleasant evening," Arbok said, craning his neck to watch the latest formation of Pokémon going overhead. "It's really quite nice to be able to relax."
"Well, I'm more used to Contests than you, I suppose," Seviper replied, slithering around alongside him. "But yes, I take your point. It's not as though we have to be Team Rocket all the time."
"When a felon's not engaged in his employment, or maturing his felonious little plans," Arbok ventured to state.
"Of course," Seviper agreed. "And how have you been finding your capacity for innocent enjoyment?"
"Just as great as any honest mon's," Arbok replied. "Especially when I enjoy the song of birds in ivied towers."
"And has it been challenging?"
"It's certainly been interesting," Arbok agreed. "I've never done any Contest training before."
"What, never?" Seviper asked.
"No, never," Arbok confirmed.
His fellow snake hissed. "What, never?"
"Well, hardly ever…"
"I'm sure I can help you learn more," Seviper informed him, waving a tail. "After all, I am the lord high serpent performer."
"I'll have to content myself with being the lord high everything else, I see," Arbok agreed amicably. "Were you taken from the county jail?"
"By a set of curious chances," Seviper nodded.
"Oh, joy, oh rapture unforseen-" Arbok ventured.
"That's stretching it a bit," the Hoenn serpent interrupted.
"Yes, sorry." Jessie's elder Pokémon thought for a moment, then brightened. "I suppose my eyes are fully open to my awful situation."
"Will you go at once to Jessie and make her an oration?"
Arbok shook his head. "I think I'll just go after the ones on my little list."
"Ah, you've got them on the list," Seviper nodded sagely. "The ones who'd none of them be missed."
"But don't neglect battle training, either, gallant soldier brave and true," Arbok mused, tail scratching his hood as Moltres did a final crowd-pleasing pass over the town.
"Of course!" Seviper agreed. "We fight the foe together."
"The enemy of one, the enemy of all is," Arbok told him seriously. "And thus-"
"What on earth are you two talking about?" Cosplaychu asked, dropping down from a roof.
"Culture," Arbok told her loftily. "I'm sure you wouldn't understand it all."
"Okay, let's see if this works..." Ash said.
He looked around at the Pokémon around them. "Everyone ready?"
Pikachu nodded, speaking for all of them. "We're ready," he confirmed.
"This kind of makes me nervous..." Mawile admitted. "I'm afraid of if this goes wrong..."
"It's okay to be afraid," Ash assured her. "Just don't let it be the only thing you can think of. It almost always goes fine, remember – Absol was the first Pokémon we know it went wrong for, and Steven's Mawile's had no problems."
"Thanks for the advice!" Mawile smiled, much happier now. "Hey, little brother – ready to watch?"
Tyranitar nodded.
"...how is it that she's your-" Steven's Scizor began.
"Don't ask," Tyranitar advised.
Ash smiled at the interplay, then unlimbered his staff and concentrated.
Mawile.
Mawile was a Pokémon he'd only met after coming back in time… which made her the first Pokémon he'd helped Mega Evolve of whom that was true.
But she was one of the closer Pokémon, in a way. He hadn't hatched many Pokémon, and she was the first since he'd become able to understand Pokémon… in a very real sense, she'd grown up being able to talk to humans and have them understand her, and that gave her a unique perspective.
And a sweet one, too.
It wouldn't be accurate to call her a daughter, but she was a little like one…
His staff lit with white-and-gold from the two feathers attached to the headpiece, which then merged into a shimmering orange incandescence and flashed across to Mawile.
"Wowwww..." Mawile said, softly, and then the light of Mega Evolution washed over her.
When it receded, parts of her had barely changed. Her hair was a little longer, and there was a purple colour added to her dress, but for the most part she looked the same.
The exception, however, was her horn. It had become larger, longer, more spiked… and bifurcated into two separate maws which rested symmetrically either side of her back.
"Cool," Goodra said, the first to break the silence.
"I am?" Mega Mawile asked eagerly. "What do I look like? Oh – do I have wings?"
"Not really," Tyranitar told her, a little apologetically. "You've got two jaws instead of one, though."
"Oh," Mawile said, both interested and disappointed. "I kind of wished it was like Mega Absol is – you know, with the wings..."
"I suspect this means she's not going to go on a rampage," Lucario said quietly.
"Looks like," Sceptile agreed. "Good to know."
"She looks the same as my Mega Mawile does," Steven said, taking a note on that. "Interesting. Does she fight the same?"
There was a pause.
"I'll give her a battle," Goodra volunteered.
"Great!" Mega Mawile said. "Thanks – it'll be fun, I bet!"
"I think so too," Goodra agreed. He frowned for a moment. "Just don't do anything too powerful without giving me a warning, please?"
"Okay!" Mega Mawile nodded. "I'll try!"
She took a stance, wobbling slightly as she adjusted for the weight of her jaws, and Goodra prepared himself as well.
"Watch out," Steven's Mawile said quietly. "Mega Mawile are quite strong."
"Oh, okay," Mega Mawile replied. "I understand!"
Goodra inhaled, and she jumped forwards before he could attack. "Tag!"
The impact of her palm, much to the surprise of everyone except Steven's Mawile, knocked her friend backwards into a wall.
"Oh no!" she said, hands going to her mouth. "How did that happen?"
"I said we were strong," the other Mawile reminded her.
"Yeah, but I thought you meant strong, not… um… super strong?" Mega Mawile said, shaking her head.
She ran forwards and pulled the slightly dazed Goodra back to his feet. "Sorry! Sorry – I didn't know that would happen, really I didn't!"
"It's fine," Goodra said, wobbling slightly. "I guess we know how you fight best now..."
"Yeah, you're right," Mega Mawile agreed. She thought for a moment, then skipped over to Tyranitar and pulled herself up onto his back. "I know!"
Tyranitar looked back at her. "What do you know?"
"Walk closer and I'll get them for you!" Mega Mawile told him seriously.
"You know," Lucario said, idly. "It occurs to me that you've now got two places for Flamethrower to come from, not one."
Mega Mawile's eyes went very wide.
She got off Tyranitar's back hurriedly, then glanced back over her shoulder to adjust the position of her jaws.
"What are you doing?" Steven's Mawile asked, as she determined they were satisfactorily placed and crouched down slightly.
"Liftoff!" she said, and used Flamethrower.
They watched as Mega Mawile soared crazily skywards on twin plumes of smoke and flame.
Then they watched as she hit a nearby bell tower, producing a ringing BONG.
"What now?" Winona asked, faintly audible even at a distance.
Bright and early the next morning, Ash and Max stood at the bottom of a very tall pole.
"What's the rules again?" Max asked.
"Something about how we have to get to the top without using our Pokémon," Ash replied. "She said it was so we had a better appreciation of how much effort it is to fly."
"Right," Max nodded, looking over first at the equally tall pole supporting Winona's battle balcony, and then the hundreds of rungs on the ladder. "Uh… mind giving me some help?"
"Sure," Ash agreed. "Okay, hold on tight."
He crouched down, letting Max get on his back, then stood up again and took a contemplative look at the tower.
"Okay, this should be just a couple of minutes," he told his friend.
I'll make sure you don't hurt yourself if you fall! Jirachi informed Max. Ash – make sure he doesn't fall in the first place, okay?
"Sure!" Ash agreed. He checked that Max was on securely, then headed up the tower.
Winona shook her head at the sight of Ash walking up the wall. "I can see it's going to be one of those battles..."
"There we go," Ash said, crouching down again to let Max get off. "How was that?"
"I think I'd have preferred the ladder," Max admitted. "That just felt so bizarre..."
"Yeah, I'm kind of getting used to it by now..." Ash admitted. "Should I go first?"
"Please," Max said, sitting down quite firmly.
Lucario joined them at the top of the tower, bearing Pikachu. "Here."
"Thanks, Lucario," Ash said, as Pikachu took his customary place. "Okay, let's see… hey, how do I speak to Winona?"
"There's an open channel," Winona told him. "I heard you're going first – now, I've been warned about you by Falkner."
"Huh," Ash said, wincing. "How bad was it?"
"He advised me to pull out all the stops," the Flying-type gym leader said.
Ash looked across the gap to her balcony, and was a little surprised to see that she was actually perched on the box rim. "Uh… is that safe?"
"Of course it is," Winona replied. "Now, I'm prepared to permit Mega Evolutions – I've managed to source two myself – but I must ask no actual Legendary Pokémon since I know you could otherwise just send out Lugia and Ho-Oh."
"Any other rules?" Ash checked.
"Only that at least one Pokémon should be able to fly," Winona shrugged. "It's not so much a rule, as… well, this battle doesn't have a roof, so I will have my Pokémon fly out of range if need be."
"Ouch," Max said. "How often has that rule made someone lose?"
"Fairly often," the Gym leader replied with a shrug. "It's not as though it's hard for someone to just get a Taillow or Pidgey, though."
She looked up. "So, Ash Ketchum. Send out your first Pokémon!"
Ash took one of the Pokéballs from his belt. "Okay!"
He paused before throwing it. "Uh… I have to ask, though. Does this place have good drainage?"
Winona gave him a confused look. "It's my gym arena, and it's open to the sky. And yes, it rains here on occasion."
"Right," Ash said, satisfied. "Squirtle!"
From her perch, Winona watched as the Squirtle posed and gestured flamboyantly with his pair of spiked sunglasses.
"Starting with a non-Flying type," she noted. "Daring."
"Okay, Squirtle!" Ash said. "Here we go!"
There was a flicker of orange light, and Winona blinked.
That wasn't…
She put down the 'ball she'd been about to throw, and switched for another.
She had a feeling she'd need it.
The burst of orange light died down, revealing Mega Squirtle standing on the rim of Ash's balcony.
He pointed towards the Pinsir that Winona sent out, and cleared his throat. "Okay, ya big bug! Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once!"
The pair of cannons on his back swivelled, pointing downwards. "I may be only a Squirtle, but not only am I the most badass of a very badass kind of Pokémon but I'm the ultra-awesome leader of the Squirtle Squad! And, just to put a real shine to my cool nature, I'm also Mega Evolved! So you may as well just give up now, because… Mega… evolution..."
Mega Pinsir spread his wings and buzzed into the air, hovering in front of Winona's box.
"...he Mega Evolved while I wasn't looking, didn't he?" he asked.
"Pretty much," Pikachu agreed. "I didn't want to say anything."
"All right, then!" Mega Squirtle rallied. "Your Mega Evolution's a good start, but it's not nearly as awesome as mine! All you got were some pointy bits and a pair of wings, whereas I have drills and cannons and all kinds of awesome!"
"Is your Squirtle finished?" Winona asked Ash.
Ash listened to some of Mega Squirtle's rant, then shrugged. "Pretty close."
"Okay, then… get ready, Mega Pinsir."
"...so I'm going to show you just why I'm their leader!" Mega Squirtle finished, and stepped forwards – off the side of the balcony.
Mega Pinsir looked down, surprised, and then there was a sound like an enormous waterfall.
Mega Squirtle rose back into the air on twin jets of high-pressure water, water which misted into spray and traced a rainbow of light across half the battlefield below him, and crossed his arms.
"Let's do this," he said, with a grin.
"Mega Pinsir, use Double Hit!" Winona said.
Mega Pinsir tilted forwards, then shook his horns – which spawned a whole host of cascading blades of air, numbering in the dozens, and sent them scything towards Mega Squirtle.
The Water-typed Mega replied by rolling onto his back, intensifying the blasts of water holding him up and curving away from the initial flurry of wind-blades, then launched a water-trailing drill cone of ice right back at his Bug-type opponent.
Mega Pinsir did a backflip, easily evading the attack, and climbed up to follow Mega Squirtle.
As the noise began to fade slightly, Winona cleared her throat. "Now I understand a lot of what people were saying about that Squirtle," she admitted.
Mega Squirtle levelled out about half a mile up, and looked back to confirm where Mega Pinsir was before firing a jet of water at him.
Halfway from his position to Mega Pinsir, the jet stopped as though it had hit a wall. It sprayed out, detonating into a broad flat plane of water, and then increased in size to form a great Water Pulse which headed towards Mega Pinsir.
Mega Pinsir did a pair of flips, sending scythe-like blades of air towards the Water Pulse, and flew through it as it fell into four separate quarter-spheres before heading towards the ground.
As it fell, it broke up and began to become a brief shower of artificial rain.
Neither Mega Squirtle nor his opponent were paying attention to the fate of the water globe. Instead, Mega Squirtle wove up and down as his opponent fired a barrage of compressed-air pockets which tried to slap him out of the air, then reversed course abruptly and spun into a head-on charge with backpack-jets and arm-drills combining to push him towards his opponent.
Mega Pinsir accepted the challenge, and met the Skull Bash with a wind-streaming Quick Attack. The impact sent a spherical blast wave outwards into the air, rattling the windows below, and both Pokémon took a few seconds to recover and soar back skywards again.
The bombastic Water-type pointed at his opponent. "Okay, you're good – I'll admit that! That's great, because overcoming a challenge is far more badass than not overcoming one!"
"Can we just fight?" Mega Pinsir asked. "I mean, it's kind of why I'm… you know. Here."
Mega Squirtle looked scandalized. "Just fight? Just fight!? What's a fight without the meaning that true Pokémon give it? Without the clash of wits as strong and as important as the clash of attacks?"
Mega Pinsir pointed at him. "Smack Down."
Mega Squirtle's eyes widened. He avoided that attack by the simple expedient of turning his jets off, falling out of the initial attack basket, and then reactivated them and swooped down-around-and-up to come at Mega Pinsir from underneath.
Mega Pinsir shot skywards, weaving about and shooting off projectiles of air from Double Hit and Fury Attack which scattered before boring back in on his pursuing foe. They came streaming in in waves, a dozen or more at a time, and detonated in blasts of air which made the view through them ripple.
Jets working furiously, Mega Squirtle powered through the barrage. He dodged so close to one that it skipped off his shell and detonated, sending him wobbling, then recovered and used Water Gun to burst a few before they even reached him.
That was supplemented first by a Water Pulse and then another Water Gun, and Mega Squirtle inhaled before firing out a great cloud of Bubblebeam which absorbed the blasts before they reached him.
Emerging from the storm with a few scratches on his shell, he aimed a fist-drill at Mega Pinsir and steadied it on target. "Fire!"
A thin drill shape of ice cracked forwards, and Mega Pinsir avoided it by weaving down at a shallow angle. He was somewhat surprised, however, when it turned around to attack him from ahead.
"Super ice shard converging attack!" Mega Squirtle announced, putting on a burst of speed and extending his other arm. "There's nowhere to run from someone who can-"
Mega Pinsir used Protect, throwing up a swirling wall of wind which knocked both drill and Pokémon scattering away in the resultant instant tornado.
"He looks like he's quite used to flying," Winona said, watching as the falling Mega Squirtle pulled out of his spin before stabilizing himself and blasting back into the sky. "How often do you train like this?"
"Never," Ash replied. "But he's been able to fly with Hydro Pump for a while, and he's watched a lot of giant robot anime."
"I… see," Winona said, with a frown. "I think."
Water pattered down in a very short-lived shower, moving across from one side of the arena to the opposite corner.
"I also start to understand why you asked about drainage," she added. "It's probably a good thing that it is well drained..."
"This isn't really why, yet," Ash corrected absently. "Huh, that's new..."
Mega Squirtle let the windstorm of his foe's Hyper Beam dissipate, then smashed his way out of the enormous ice-drill he'd used as a shield. "That windy might is unmistakeable!" he enthused. "That's the kind of fight that does credit to any foe of the badass leader of the Squirtle Squad!"
That earned him a look of exasperation.
"Okay, you know what?" Mega Pinsir said, a moment later. "I'm done with this. Giga Impact."
He leaned forwards, and then charged with a shocking suddenness.
Mega Squirtle dodged out of the way with a backflip, then turned to get out of the way as Mega Pinsir turned sharply and came back towards him – pincers clacking and sending out tiny bursts of wind which followed Mega Squirtle at a faster speed than that of the Bug/Flying Type himself.
Mega Squirtle weaved around a few of those, then turned and charged with a watery drill forming around his arm. "One clash is the ultimate expression of victory!" he called. "This Giga Drill Impact will solve our entire fight in one almighty blow!"
"Guillotine," Mega Pinsir said abruptly.
Mega Squirtle had nowhere near enough time to dodge, and the thin plane of high-density air slapped his drill in half and knocked him out with a WHAM.
Then Mega Pinsir hit him too, sending him flipping through the air.
"Huh, you beat Squirtle," Ash said, blinking. "That's… yeah, wasn't expecting that."
He looked up, watching carefully, and then sent out Swellow. "Catch him, quick!"
"On it!" Swellow said, wings blurring as she flew off.
"That's a sleek Swellow you have there," Winona said, with the eye of a connoisseur. "She looks fast and skilful. Are you going to use her?"
"Probably not," Ash said, with a wince. "Sorry."
"Pity..."
Swellow flew back down, Squirtle in both claws and a ball of blue stone in her beak. "Got him!"
She examined the stone. "Is this his Mega Stone?"
"Yeah," Ash agreed, looking at it. He blinked, then threw it off the tower.
A second or two later, the pulses of light reached a crescendo and the stone exploded.
"I guess he hasn't stabilized it yet," Pikachu said.
"What the-" Winona cut off her exclamation. "What just happened?"
"Squirtle's home-made Squirtilite is kind of unstable," Ash explained. "Sorry about all the water..."
"I can see why you wanted good drainage," Winona agreed, as Mega Pinsir landed next to her with a buzz of wings. "I'll withdraw Pinsir for now – pick your next Pokémon."
Weekly Power Status
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stone