Chapter 81: 49,50
Suicune slowed to a walk, panting. "How are we doing?"
"Not great," Pikachu replied, cheeks barely giving off a spark. "We're hurting them, but that's about all we're doing."
Arc sneezed, shaking his fur, and pawed at a patch of wet ashy slurry which had landed on his muzzle. They were all dotted with the stuff by now, and Pikachu in particular looked a state with greyish streaks across the brown fur on his back.
"We should be careful," Entei said, shaking out his mane. "This kind of material is dangerous – there could be a lahar, and even if there is not then the paste will harden to something like cement if it's given time."
A shattering BANG caught their attention, as the volcano's eruption amplified. A new wave of rocks came soaring out, and they were only able to follow most of them for a moment before they vanished against the grey sky background.
Mega Absol landed next to them, her fur matted and scorched, and sighed.
"Mega Absol?" Pikachu asked. "Are you okay?"
"This is as un-smeared with this… stuff-"
"Tephra," Entei supplied.
"Thank you," Absol said. "This is as un-smeared as I can get. I've traded blows with Primal Kyogre a couple of times, but that attack of hers is a nightmare..."
The Dark-type glanced up, and sent a pulse of Sacred Sword directly skywards to smash a rock in half. The moment her blade's beam hit it, it exploded, and pumice shrapnel rained down on them.
"My wings have nearly stopped being able to hold me up," she explained. "And I don't think even Ho-Oh is doing much better."
"Where's Rayquaza?" Suicune asked. "I'm fairly sure this is his job..."
"He was supposed to be at LaRousse," Pikachu said, worried. "But he wasn't. So perhaps-"
Mega Absol turned to face the volcano. "Trouble!" she warned. "Look out!"
A moment later, the eruption column stuttered. With no force from below keeping it up for an instant, tons upon tons of eruption material came crashing down on the lip of the volcano and developed into a roaring, rolling landslide.
"Pyroclastic flow!" Entei summarized.
Suicune took a pace towards the mountain, and her wind stilled.
She took a deep, steadying breath.
"Absol?" she asked. "Is this a mistake?"
The Mega looked uncertain.
"...I don't think it is," she replied.
Suicune nodded, then looked back up at the eruption.
She crouched, and her wind returned – coiling around her, whipping up some of the drying volcanic ash and plant cinders. Faint blue light of Aura danced around her like witchfire, and her eyes blinked once, slowly.
Then she set off in a charge – and fired.
And kept exhaling, Hydro Pump flowing from her mouth in a continuous stream which built up and built up as she went.
She hit the Pyroclastic Flow about five hundred metres away from the rest of the group, accompanied by tons of water, and the instant wave slapped into the flow at about the same speed that it was going. Water and fragments of rock slapped skywards, and the force of the blow made the flow split cleanly in two so that half flowed either side of the other Pokémon.
The tonnes of water mostly evaporated with a hiss and rush of steam, cooling the temperature of the air-punch, and what washed over Pikachu and Arc was sticky, humid, steamy… but safe.
When Suicune walked back down to them, she was even dirtier than before. Ash and small fragments of gravel smeared her coat, and she was clearly exhausted – her breathing ragged, though it steadied as she regained her breath.
"That was very impressive, sister," Entei told her softly.
"I'm glad it wasn't a waste," she replied. "Though what we do when the next one comes I don't know..."
Mega Latias came flying down out of the sky. "Guys! You need to get out of here!"
"Why?" Entei asked. "What's… was the sea always so close?"
"Great, now there's a tsunami too," Pikachu sighed. He jumped onto the Dragon-type's back, and she reactivated her shield to prevent too much ash from reaching her.
Red beams caught Arc, Suicune and Entei, and Mega Latias rose into the sky.
"Can you zap Primal Kyogre?" she asked, looking back at Pikachu.
"Maybe," Pikachu said, frowning. "I'm not sure, though."
He held onto her neck with one paw, and looked out over the bay. With only Mega Latias and Lugia able to avoid being covered with ash and hit with rocks, the teams fighting Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre had thinned out drastically. Lance's Dragonite was carrying both Lucario and Sceptile back into the air, both looking exhausted, and with most of the distractions gone the Primal Legendaries were focusing more on one another.
Primal Groudon roared, and the ground shook – and the train-roar of the eruption intensified. Primal Kyogre's fins beat the water as she let out a bass rumble, and rain slapped into Mega Latias so hard her shield was impossible to see through for a moment.
Then, all at once, the clouds parted and the wind stilled. A green arrow came shooting down from overhead, with a keening roar seeming to come from well above the position of the arrow itself.
Lance steadied himself, watching the blazing green comet come down. "That must be Rayquaza!"
"Yeah, looks about right!" Ash agreed. "Better late than never!"
Green energy surged along Rayquaza's form as he smacked directly into Primal Groudon, hitting him hard enough to blow a crater into the ground from the transferred force, and the slap of impact reached them in the plane orbiting high above.
Then things went very wrong.
Primal Groudon's talons reached up, grabbing Rayquaza in two different places, and slammed the Dragon-type Legendary to the ground.
As Rayquaza struggled to rise, Primal Kyogre got in on the act with a splitting and resplitting stream of blue energy which hit Rayquaza at every point along his body.
Primal Groudon's clawed foot stamped down, making half-a-dozen Precipice Blades spike up from the scarred beach and hit the grounded Rayquaza, and then Primal Kyogre blasted him with Ice Beam.
"It's like they both decided to gang up on him..." May said, softly.
Rayquaza was as tough as they remembered from LaRousse, and rose somewhat shakily back into the air. He coiled, ready to spring skywards again, and then both Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre fired Hyper Beams at the same time.
Blazing red-gold and blue-gold light collided, pouring into Rayquaza for three seconds before a double-cored explosion, and Rayquaza came groaning and twisting out of the smoke to crash to the ground dozens of yards away.
"Wow," Brock said softly.
"Okay, we're doomed," Meowth said, voicing his opinion as the weather began to build again.
There was a slam as something big hit the plane, and the whole fuselage shook violently. Ash's grip slipped, and he missed grabbing at the door as he fell out of the plane.
"Ash!" Brock and May called at once.
"Togekiss, can you catch him?" Misty added, sending her Flying-type out.
"I'll try!" Togekiss said firmly, flying out of the door and turning to dive.
Rayquaza was not having a good day.
He'd spotted the familiar pattern of tortured weather that signified yet another argument between Groudon and Kyogre on the far horizon, and cursed at the realization that he'd let his guard down. Hastening there with all the speed he could muster, the Dragon-type had poised himself almost in space directly over the battle.
It had looked like an unusually big one even from that high up, rain and dust mingling in the troposphere below, and Rayquaza had decided that the best way to teach them a lesson would be to really hammer both Pokémon – Groudon straight away with Dragon Ascent, Kyogre with a pattern of Hyper Beams – so they'd think twice before doing this again.
Rayquaza felt this was a good plan when he began diving. He'd still considered it a good plan as he plunged like a meteorite into the thicker air, and had been feeling quite happy with it as he reached Air Lock range of the cloud layer.
Then things started going wrong.
First, the effect of his Ability had swept a far-too-small hole in the clouds – and left an ashy haze which was much less tractable to Air Lock.
That was when he noticed the erupting volcano.
A few seconds later, as he aligned on Groudon for his final plunge, Rayquaza noticed a dreadfully familiar golden light filling Groudon's veins.
After that things got indistinct and painful for a few moments. Rayquaza felt at least five attacks, all of them of the kind of power neither Groudon or Kyogre had used since the fall of Pokeatlantis, and staggered into the air before crashing to the ground.
A series of small, rhythmic tremors came through the ground.
Rayquaza looked up, using one arm to support himself, and saw Primal Groudon advancing on him.
Then – bizarrely – a human landed in front of him, with a flash of blue Aura to break his fall.
A Togekiss pulled out of a dive low enough that her wings stirred up great plumes of ash, and began to circle.
Rayquaza wondered when he was going to find out what was going on.
Ash winced, rubbing his leg. "Ow..."
He shook his head, and looked around. "Where – Rayquaza?"
The Dragon-type looked at him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ash," Ash introduced himself, then turned around at the sound of a roar.
Primal Groudon slammed his forefoot into the ground, making Ash stagger, and raised his hands in a gesture which brought up a giant boulder from the ground.
The boulder hung there for a moment, glowing a sullen red, and Ash realized what was about to happen. That was an Ancientpower attack – aimed at Rayquaza.
He didn't have time to plan, and acted on instinct. Reaching for the weapon he had closest at hand, Ash ran to one side to get between Rayquaza and the attack meant for him.
The boulder fired, coated in red-orange energy.
And Ash brought up his sword.
There was a great eruption of golden light which hurt the eyes, and Ash felt like he'd run for miles.
Panting, he looked up at Primal Groudon – who seemed startled, the first time Ash could remember the Primal Pokémon showing an emotion that wasn't rage or triumph.
He looked at the sword in his hands. It was certainly the same one he'd been given in the Togepi Kingdom, as ceremonial and non-functional as he remembered – but at the same time, it seemed… different. Lighter, perhaps.
And his backpack had fallen off, the straps cut as if with a knife.
"What just happened?" Rayquaza asked. "There's bits of rock everywhere."
Looking around, Ash realized – yes, there were. Pieces of brown and black rock, most of them smashed to bits and a few showing a mirror-like perfectly smooth cut on one surface. Tephra from the eruption was starting to fall to cover them, but there was only one place all those rocks could have come from.
"Did I..." Ash asked, still breathing heavily. "Was that me?"
"I do not-" Rayquaza began, then stopped. "Look out!"
Ash turned in time to see a wave rolling up the beach, as Primal Kyogre had her go at attacking the downed Legendary.
"Ash!" Keldeo cried, seeing from his airborne vantage point a horribly familiar combination of dark-haired Aura wielder and oncoming wave. "No!"
Fed by his determination, Ash's Aura spiked again. His grip shifted, and suddenly he knew what to do.
The presentation sword flashed in a shimmering, opalescent gold as it rekindled, and Ash drew it back almost to his shoulder before sweeping it around in a complete arc.
"Secret Sword!"
The pulse of energy built to eye-hurting brilliance, then detached from the blade. Ash stumbled, nearly falling as the pull left him horribly drained, and a bar of golden light smashed into the oncoming Surf.
There was an explosion-
And it rained seawater.
The sword clattered to the ground from nerveless fingers, and Ash fell to one knee. The water mingled with his sweat, and there was a strong aroma of burnt rose and saffron around him.
"What just happened?" May asked, squinting. "I can't see! Is Ash okay?"
"Good question," Brock admitted. "There was a bright flash – I can't see him very well."
"Hey, can you take us a bit lower?" Max called forwards.
"You want us to get closer to dat?" Meowth asked. "Dat ain't a good idea."
"Ash might be in trouble down there!" May insisted.
Rayquaza stared.
This young Aura adept – Ash – had just saved him. Twice.
First from an Ancientpower from Primal Groudon, and then from Primal Kyogre's massive Surf attack.
The Dragon had to admit, that was impressive. For a Pokémon, let alone for a human.
Then he heard… something. Faintly, singing in the shocked stillness – as if it was calling out to him.
Something rolled out of Ash's bag.
Rayquaza stared for a moment at what had to be one of the largest meteorites he'd ever seen on the ground. Normally anything that big was either stopped on the way down or exploded in the air.
Then he made the connection. This was exactly what he needed!
Reaching out an arm, the Dragon snatched it up and swallowed it in one gulp. The Infinity energy rushed through him, answered by Ash's staff pulsing with eye-watering brilliance, and then Rayquaza roared.
His body lengthened, symbols forming all down it as his fins expanded and spiked out. The long lines of yellow light running down his flanks lit blazing gold, pulling off to form separate streamers which undulated of their own accord, and a howling air current began to form.
Mega Rayquaza coiled, paused, picked up Ash because the Aura adept looked nearly unconscious with fatigue, and launched himself skywards just before two Hyper Beams hit the space he'd been.
"Huh," Jessie said, tilting her head. "I guess Rayquaza can Mega Evolve too."
"Ya think?" Meowth asked.
"I'd occasionally seen mention of this in rumors, and in the oldest lore of the Dragon Clan," Lance said softly. "But I didn't realize that he would be this… powerful."
He pointed. "Look. The weather's dissolving completely."
"Yeah," James agreed. "And-"
"Wait," Jessie interrupted. "Who's flying the plane?"
James and Meowth exchanged a glance, then both hurried back to the cockpit.
Mega Rayquaza transferred his new passenger to his back, rising into the air fast enough to produce rippling shock clouds, and checked that he was holding on before turning and facing the two Primals below.
"Right," he rumbled. "Let's get this sorted out..."
His weather control spread, banishing the falling rock and thick clouds, and quieting the blazing sun. In its place, there was a powerful turbulence which wrapped around his form in interlocking layers of air control – dozens of them.
Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre faced up, their quarrel forgotten, and both began to gather light in their maws.
Mega Rayquaza obliged them, light running up his streamers as he charged a Hyper Beam of his own. Then, just as they fired, he unleashed a lambent current of orange-golden light.
Mega Rayquaza's Hyper Beam crashed into both of the other Pokémon's Hyper Beams, throwing off streamers of gold-red-blue light as they fought for dominance.
For a moment, they were evenly matched. Then Mega Rayquaza began lashing his tail behind him in a rhythmic pattern, and with every movement the conflict point between their beams moved closer to the ground.
"Hah!" Mega Rayquaza bellowed, with one final tail-snap, and the golden Hyper Beam broke through. It hit the ground between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, burrowed deep into the soil, then exploded violently enough to make the ground heave up like a live thing and throw them both flying.
Mega Rayquaza was about to pick one of them to go after, when the same Togekiss from before came sweeping up next to him.
"I can help!" called a Pikachu, seated on her back.
Mega Rayquaza managed to avoid a double-take. "Really?" he said, a little dubiously.
"Yeah, he can!" Ash supplied, sounding as though he was none the worse for wear.
"I'll hit Primal Kyogre just before you do!" Pikachu said. "It can't hurt, right?"
"Fine," Mega Rayquaza decided. "But don't get in the way – you might not like it."
Accepting that, the Togekiss dove, and Mega Rayquaza circled once to build up momentum before following her down.
Mindful of his passenger, he took a slightly different angle to usual. Rather than hit head-on from a vertical trajectory – and probably end up hitting the ground – he aimed for a point about a hundred feet away from Primal Kyogre, so he could hit her on a horizontal trajectory.
Green light built around Mega Rayquaza's form as he used Dragon Ascent, and there was a faint tingle as Ash held on with Aura.
Then the Pikachu used his electrical attack. It was powerful enough that Mega Rayquaza had to admit he was impressed, a great crackling bar of energy which blazed directly into Primal Kyogre and let off a thunderclap loud enough to hear over the rushing of the wind.
His currents aided Togekiss as she pulled up and away, and then Mega Rayquaza twisted to skim bare feet above the ground.
Dragon Ascent hit Primal Kyogre with the force of a meteorite, producing an almighty BANG and dishing out the water around the impact point.
There was a bright blue flash, and when it faded Primal Kyogre was just Kyogre.
"I saw a blue orb fall off!" Ash called. "We should pick it up later!"
"Agreed," Mega Rayquaza confirmed, taking a moment to judge his own strength and deciding he still had plenty for handling Primal Groudon.
"Good work, Togekiss!" Misty said, smiling as the Fairy-type matched speed with the plane. "And you too, Pikachu – I bet Mega Rayquaza was glad of the help."
"Yeah, I hope he was," Pikachu agreed, crouching and making the jump into the plane. He stumbled, almost falling, and Max grabbed him before he left the aircraft.
"I guess I'm more tired than I thought..." Pikachu yawned, shaking his head. "Man, what a rush..."
"You saw Ash, right?" Brock checked.
"Yeah, he was on Mega Rayquaza's back," Togekiss supplied. "I think his backpack got incinerated, though."
"Well, I guess we'll need to go shopping when we reach Mossdeep," May decided.
"It looks like Mega Rayquaza is going after Primal Groudon now," Lance informed them, and they all turned to watch.
"Hey, wait!" Ash said, turning to look at something. "It's Keldeo – Rayquaza, uh, Mega Rayquaza, can you fly a bit slower so Keldeo can catch up?"
Mega Rayquaza rumbled, slowing in his twisting flight through the air. The winds around him slowed a bit, shedding layers seamlessly as he moved to orbit, and a layer spun off to help support Keldeo and make his flight easier.
"Ash!" Keldeo called across the gap. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Ash said, then frowned. "Well, I feel really, really tired, but that's okay."
"I thought you were about to die," Keldeo said, blinking. "I saw you, and the wave, and I thought-"
He shook his head. "Uh, anyway – Mega Rayquaza, I think I can help with Primal Groudon like Pikachu did with Primal Kyogre."
"Go on," Mega Rayquaza invited.
"Well – I can do a pretty good Aqua Jet," Keldeo explained. "And I can sort of stack it up, by doing more force from my forehooves than my rear hooves – so I can use that to distract him."
"Sounds like a good plan," Ash volunteered. "Don't forget to cool down the water as well with Ice Beam, so it's harder to evaporate."
"Great idea!" Keldeo agreed.
"Very well," Mega Rayquaza nodded. "I will attack as soon as yours goes in."
Keldeo flashed a grin, then dove – cutting off his jets so he dropped like a rock, then twisting and reactivating them.
His rear hooves thundered away at full power, but his front hooves were kept at a lower force – resulting in a pile-up of water as Keldeo continually caught up with his own water spray.
Once it had grown large enough, he inhaled and added an Ice Beam, making the whole mass of water become – not quite frozen, but chilled and slightly slushy.
Keldeo decided he'd added enough water.
The globe had flattened out with wind shear into a kind of disc, which fell with the flat end towards Primal Groudon, and it was getting thick enough it was hard to see. So he cut off his rear jets, letting his Hydro Pump from the front two flip him once over backwards and propel him away from his creation.
Switching to all four hooves down to lift himself above his attack plane, Keldeo blinked – then lit his horn with a shining Sacred Sword.
Primal Groudon was hiding, a wall of Precipice Blades between him and the oncoming attack. They might or might not stop Keldeo's huge water attack, but they'd certainly attenuate it.
So Keldeo swung his horn in two sharp movements. "Sacred Sword!"
The x-shaped pair of Sacred Swords shot forwards, overtaking the water, and bit deeply into the Precipice Blades. They shook, then one great slab of rock crashed to the ground.
When the water hit Primal Groudon, there was an explosion of steam visible as a white cloud of pressure. Then, before it had properly faded away, Mega Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent slammed home through the same gap.
The impact sent a spherical pulse through the steamcloud, momentarily compressing some of the water vapour hard enough to turn it into droplets. It rained around Primal Groudon for an instant, then as the rain faded so did the glowing golden lava.
Groudon slumped to the floor, the Red Orb hitting the ground next to him with a clack.
Keldeo landed hard, his hooves stinging, and let out a relieved sigh.
"That was… ow," he summarized.
Flakes of ash swirled up as the Rockets' aircraft slowly came down to a landing.
"Thanks for the lift," May said, sitting on the door rim and then jumping out – landing with a soft crunch on the ground below.
"Eh, it ain't a problem," Meowth shrugged, waving it off.
"Yes, my thanks as well," Lance said, brushing some of the grey dust off his clothes. "Do we know if the volcano is going to erupt again?"
"It started slowing down the moment Rayquaza mega evolved," Brock supplied. "And it seems to have gone completely quiet now, so… we're probably okay for now."
"Right," Lance agreed. He took a few steps, grimacing at the effect it had on his boots, then shook his head. "I think we're going to need some help to find the Orbs – they shouldn't be in the wrong hands."
"I'll handle that," May said, sending out Swablu and Beautifly. "Guys, can you try to find the Red and Blue Orbs? They should be… uh, not far from Groudon and Kyogre."
"Maybe it's best if I look for the Blue Orb," Misty decided. "I've got a rebreather somewhere… and I can have Milotic and Seaking look."
"Yeah, I was meaning to ask..." Brock said. "Where'd the Milotic come from?"
Misty sent out Milotic and scratched her under the fin. "Well, I thought it'd be good to have a Pokémon which no-one had seen me with," she explained, as Milotic let out a pleased purr. "And this lovely lady was just who I needed."
"So… you infiltrated Team Aqua?" Max asked. "For how long?"
"Actually, I joined a few days after the Togepi Kingdom thing," Misty shrugged. "I was kind of hoping that Lance and I could find good times and places to get the whole leadership, but the only time they were all together was usually on their ships..."
"Ash..." Keldeo said, walking over with his hooves going splat on the muddy ground. "What happened there?"
"I don't know, not really," Ash replied. He touched the hilt of the presentation sword, now just as it had been. "After all the practice we'd been doing – that's me and Lucario, and Sceptile and Absol too – it was just… the weapon that it felt natural to take. And… I guess it was Secret Sword, but I don't know how I'd do it again."
"Secret Sword?" Keldeo repeated. "That would explain why it's so bright gold, but I don't know why… well, I could have cut that boulder in half, I think, but I wouldn't have made it explode like that. Into thousands of pieces."
He shook his head. "This is so hard to – I mean, most of what I know about this is just guesswork."
"I guess so," Ash agreed, hand coming back off the hilt.
Keldeo sniffed. "And… uh, how come you smell like that?"
Ash frowned, sniffing as well, and noticed the aroma. "Oh, yeah – I hadn't actually noticed that… uh, it's kind of familiar…"
He rummaged for a moment in his pouch, and took out a Pokéball. "Ho-Oh?"
The firebird appeared in a flash of light. "This is about the smell you're discussing-"
He stopped, blinking.
"Can you get the Sacred Ash bag out, please?"
"I'll help," Pikachu volunteered, hurrying over from the landed plane. He jumped into Ash's pouch, rummaged for a bit, and came squirming back out with a small drawstring bag.
Ash opened it, and blinked. "Huh. This is… what, half empty?"
"A little more than that," Ho-Oh judged. "But yes, that was enough effort to kill you under normal circumstances. Since it was simple depletion of energy, my ash paid the excess and kept you from total depletion."
Pikachu absorbed that along with the rest of them, then slapped Ash with his tail.
"Be more careful next time!" he admonished. "I don't want to-"
His voice broke. "Damnit, Ash, don't do this to me."
Ash reached up and squeezed Pikachu, wordlessly assuring him that his trainer was still okay.
"Can you get more?" Keldeo asked, looking up at Ho-Oh.
"Not for a while," the Fire-type replied. "It's my Burning ash, and that's something that happens only once in a human lifetime."
"Huh."
There was a long pause.
"I agree with Pikachu," Lucario said, making them all jump.
"Lucario!" Ash complained. "That was rude!"
"I don't see how." The Fighting-type shrugged. "But – you survived. That means your next goal is to make it easier to survive again – I know that Sacred Sword, when used normally, is not much more expensive than an Aura Sphere… so we should train until you can use it at will."
"I guess so," Ash agreed.
"Also, you need a new backpack."
"Here we go!" Misty said, walking over. "One Blue Orb."
"That's both of them, then," Brock nodded, holding the Red Orb in a spare t-shirt. "What are we going to do with them? Uh – Lance, I guess you're the one in charge."
"It's a good question," Lance admitted. "They probably belong in a museum, but given their known qualities then they'd be safest inside a lead lined box."
"And even then, they're still..." Misty began, then stopped talking.
There was blue light coming from inside the bag.
She put it down and stepped away, and the Blue Orb burst out of the bag. The one Brock was carrying ripped itself out of his arms, rising as well, and the two circled one another as they ascended to thirty feet into the air.
Then they rammed into one another and disintegrated in a flash of golden light.
"...or they could do that," Lance sighed.
Just so we're clear, Mewtwo said, floating next to the now-reverted Rayquaza. This does not necessarily mean that I am no longer the World's Most Powerful Pokémon.
Rayquaza turned, coiling around like the thread of a screw. "Why not? You didn't seem especially able to beat them."
It's your speciality, Mewtwo replied loftily. You are the Legendary who keeps these two under control; thus, you should be better at it. It is simple logic.
The Dragon-type snorted.
So, what's going to happen to those two? Mewtwo added, with a frown.
After a moment of thought, the green Legendary shrugged. "They are going to get such a talking-to, for a start..."
Just a talking to? Mewtwo asked.
"And I'm going to make them say sorry to one another," Rayquaza elaborated. "Sincerely."
"Thanks for the help," Ash said, shaking James' hand and then Jessie's. "It's great to have you guys' help."
"Thanks," James said, nodding.
Behind him, Moltres lowered Wobbuffet to the ground – looking no worse for wear from his experience.
"Yeah!" Meowth nodded. "And imagine how da boss is gonna react when we mention dat Lance owes us one!"
"That's a good point..." Jessie admitted. "And knowing that the Orbs are gone is going to help too."
Ash snapped his fingers suddenly. "Oh, yeah – that reminds me!"
He rummaged in his pouch for a bit, reaching in up to about his elbow, then pulled out a Mega Stone. "I guess you guys have more use for this than we do – it's an Audinite!"
Meowth blinked. "How long have you had dat?"
"Since… uh, before Fallarbor, I think," Ash frowned. "Mew found it."
"This is a pretty impressive gift, Ash," James said, though that didn't stop him taking it. "We'll have to come up with something to pay you back."
"It's fine," Ash waved off.
"No it's not!" Jessie countered. "You're supposed to be the one who owes us!"
"About two hours ago," Lance said, speaking clearly, "the criminal organizations Team Aqua and Team Magma lost control of some ancient artefacts they had acquired. The result was a significant incident, but fortunately myself, Elite Four member Misty Waterflower and Champion Ash Ketchum were in the vicinity and the incident was contained."
"Can you comment on the volcanic eruption?" asked one of the reporters.
"Not at this time," Lance replied, shaking his head. "Next question."
"How bad was it?"
Lance replied by holding up a Ketchum Incident slip, then turning a page to reveal a second one stapled to it. "There were fourteen known legendaries present."
There was an audible intake of breath.
Gary's eye twitched.
"Oh, come on! Not again!"
50
"So," Giovanni said, looking calmly at Jessie and James. "That's your complete report?"
"Yes, boss," James confirmed.
"Right."
The Boss of Team Rocket nodded to himself, checking one of the pages of notes.
"I have a few questions," he went on. "Just to make sure I understand fully."
"Ask away, boss!" Meowth said promptly. "We ain't got no problems with dat!"
Giovanni's free hand reached down to run his fingers through Persian's silky fur, and he listened to the deep purr for a few seconds.
"So," he went on. "You said there was some kind of enhancement to Groudon and Kyogre?"
"Right," Jessie agreed. "We heard something about orbs and…" she frowned. "They said it was called 'Primal Reversion'."
"How inconvenient," Giovanni summarized. "That sounds a lot like it was a case of Cosmic Power. You mentioned Team Aqua and Team Magma?"
"Right," Meowth agreed. "Dey were each after dere Legendary, but got the other one."
"And then they got the right orbs, and-" James made a whoosh gesture. "Boom."
"Indeed," Giovanni agreed dryly. "And you saw Ash Ketchum using what Pokémon?"
"Well, uh – Lance and Misty Waterflower were there too," James hedged. "And I think one of them was Max Maple's Pokémon as well..."
"...but there were all the Legendaries Ash Ketchum's been confirmed to have," Jessie took up the list. "All nine – as well as several of his strongest Pokémon."
Giovanni checked the list again. "And you say that even Mewtwo, coupled with all these other Pokémon, were just enough to keep these… Primal Pokémon… occupied?"
"Yeah," James agreed.
"An' dat's when the volcano erupted, too," Meowth continued. "So-"
"I get the point," Giovanni interrupted. "So you evacuated them?"
"Yes," Jessie nodded. "Including Misty and Lance."
"Hm..." Giovanni said, smiling thinly. "It might be useful to have the Grand Champion owe me a favour… anyway, you mentioned something about Rayquaza?"
"...you did what?" Gary said, sitting down quite heavily. "Ash – are you telling me you blocked attacks by both Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre? After they'd just shot down Rayquaza?"
"Well, yeah," Ash agreed. "I know it sounds kind of strange..."
"It sounds outrageous," Gary told him frankly. "I know why it didn't kill you, and I'm still surprised it didn't kill you."
"Wow, thanks..."
"In fairness," Brock said, "he did save Rayquaza doing it."
"Right!" Ash agreed. "And then – uh, I was a bit out of it, but I'm pretty sure that Rayquaza ate my meteorite and Mega Evolved."
Gary blinked.
"He… ate your meteorite."
"Yeah," Max confirmed. "Keldeo saw it happen, he told us."
"And then Mega Evolved? Was it just something that tasted really nice, or..."
Gary stopped, and shook his head. "Okay, we don't know enough to do more than speculate. So let's do that."
"That sounds like fun,"Umbreon volunteered from her seat, sipping an iced juice.
"Right," Gary agreed. "So – were you thinking about Rayquaza at the time, Ash?"
"Mostly I was thinking about how tired I was," Ash told him. "And trying not to drop the sword – and trying not to pass out, too."
Pikachu nuzzled his cheek, and he stroked the Electric-type for a moment. "So – not really, no."
"I'm pretty sure I saw your staff glow, though," Pikachu added. "So that might mean something."
"And – right, so if Rayquaza Mega Evolved without anyone helping him out, that might..." Gary began, then stopped. "Okay, we don't know enough to help there. But we do know he ate the meteorite first… and I guess he'd probably have done it before if he'd been able to before. Maybe meteorites are good for Rayquaza?"
Ash shrugged. "I don't know. The meteorite was in this bizarre machine when I grabbed it, though, does that count?"
"It might," Gary admitted. He rubbed his temples. "Right… maybe the meteorite helped him Mega Evolve. And if he did it without you or anyone else, Ash, perhaps that means he didn't need a Key Stone?"
Or a Mega Stone, Kris spoke up.
Gary blinked. "Pardon?"
I scanned him after he reverted, Kris supplied. Trying to make sure we hadn't forgotten a Mega Stone on the ground, and – no stone for him.
"Maybe you need to interview him," May suggested. "That might answer a few questions."
"Yeah, right, I'll just interview the… most powerful..."
Brock chuckled, as the young scientist took a reminder. "Yeah, it's actually kind of plausible, isn't it?"
Gary nodded. "It is… right, is that everything?"
"Well, except for mentioning that Mega Rayquaza was able to just blast the weather control away," Ash shrugged. "And – oh, yeah, I gave that Audinite to Jessie and James."
"...since when have you had an Audinite?"
"We don't any more, keep up!" Lucario advised.
Umbreon got the giggles.
"An Audinite..." Giovanni said, holding it up. "Very interesting. So this is something you plan to use with your medic?"
"Well, yeah," Meowth agreed. "If we get a Key Stone, dat is."
"Approved," Giovanni told them promptly. "I'm interested to see the results. Very well, I believe that is all."
"Right, boss!" James said.
"We'll tell you exactly what happens!" Jessie added, taking the Audinite back. "And… boss?"
Giovanni indicated she could continue.
"Where do we get a Key Stone?" James asked.
"The main armoury has them," Giovanni said. "I'm sure agents of your… resourceful nature... can find one easily."
Persian chose that moment to yawn, displaying a great deal of teeth.
"If that's all?"
Jessie, James and Meowth did not quite flee the room.
Gary lowered Dee's screen to the table as she went blank. "Well… that happened."
"Do you think you could have helped?" Umbreon asked, curious.
"I've got two Mega Evolutions," Gary pointed out. "I'm pretty sure at least one of Blastoise and Sableye have to be useful somehow."
"True," Umbreon agreed.
She stretched, tail lashing, then jumped down off her chair. "So, what now?"
"Now… I probably start drafting an article on Insights into Mega Evolution and related phenomena in Legendary Pokémon," Gary decided. "I can get stuff about Latios and Latias from Ash, which is a good start, and the rest of it… we can call it personal conversation with Ash, that's good enough for most people."
"It probably is," Umbreon agreed.
You could contact Keldeo as well, to compare-and-contrast with his Resolute Form, Dee suggested.
"Good idea, Dee," Gary said. "Now… where did Alakazam go?"
"I think I saw him going to get another ice cream," Umbreon mused.
Charla looked up at the sound of steady wingbeats, gradually rising over the background noise.
"Aha!" she said, snorting smoke out of her nostrils, and leaping into the air before taking her weight on two scaly wings.
Her mate noticed her, and waved – doing a roll, and blowing out a ball of fire which burst with a red-cored snap. Flying through it, he descended slightly and swung around to come alongside her.
"So, mister," Charla went on, the beginnings of a smirk on her face. "What's the excuse this time?"
"Excuse?" Charizard repeated, sounding interested. "I don't know what you mean."
"You vanished halfway through clearing out the lair!" Charla clarified. "So you'd better have a good reason for it!"
"Well, I always thought we should have set that bed on fire and made a new one-" Charizard mused, then got punched in the side. "All right, I know," he added, unfazed. "So, it was a wish."
"A wish?" Charla said, blinking. "Oh – of course, that Jirachi."
"Yes," Charizard confirmed. "It wasn't just me, either, Keldeo got pulled all the way from Unova."
"What would be that important?" his mate asked, as they passed over the boundary into the valley itself. "I mean – if you can't handle it, who can?"
"Well, I did have a bit of trouble with Primal Groudon," Charizard mused.
Charla looked blank. "With… what?"
"Mega Groudon, except more," the male Fire-type summarized. "He made a volcano erupt."
He snapped his tail, making a loud bang sound which startled Charla out of her shock.
"You… fought something that's like a Mega Legendary, except it was Groudon, and… more Legendary," Charla said, getting it straight in her head. She trimmed her wings, beginning a spiral towards the main area of the valley, and he followed her lead. "What was it like?"
"Well, I was lucky," Charizard admitted. "Basically, we all kept both him and Primal Kyogre too busy to focus on one of us – mostly. When we didn't manage that, then usually one of us got knocked unconscious."
They backwinged down to land, and a few of the other Charizard looked up.
"Hey, is that Ash's Charizard?" asked a Charmander, tugging on his mother's wing. "Mom, is that him?"
"I think it is," his mother agreed. "Do you want to see if he'll talk to you?"
"Here we go again," Charizard sighed.
Charla punched him in the shoulder again. "You deliberately landed right next to him, I saw you..."
"Foiled again," the male chuckled, then crouched down a little. "Hello, young one. I've not met you before."
"Hi..." the Charmander said, waving shyly.
As her mate began boasting – in a restrained way, of course – Charla smiled.
She noticed that quite a lot of the older, fully-evolved dragons were listening in too…
"No sign of him?" Terrakion asked.
"No, I fear not," Cobalion admitted. "Not since last night."
"Nor I," Virizion supplied. "I'd hoped to spot a hoofprint, or some other sign he'd been around, but… nothing."
"What do you think?" Cobalion asked. "You're closest to him, Virizion – you understand him a little better. Would he have gone off like this without letting us know?"
"I think it depends," the female Sword of Justice said, tossing her head. "If he were in a situation where Pokémon or humans would be in trouble if he dallied? He would absolutely gallop off as fast as his hooves could carry him."
"True," Cobalion admitted. "And none of us have trouble thinking of something that could call upon him with such urgency."
"Maybe he had to help save Meloetta!" Terrakion suggested.
"Like that, yes," Cobalion agreed. "So-"
"Hey, guys!" Keldeo called.
"Keldeo!" Virizion smiled, turning. "What called you away so early?"
"Uh…" Keldeo's gait slowed as he got closer. "A wish, superpowered Groudon and Kyogre, two submarines, two evil teams, and a volcano."
He frowned. "I think there was a tsunami, too, but I kind of lost track at some point..."
"That would do it, yes," Cobalion agreed. "How did events transpire?"
"We managed to stop Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre from hurting too many Pokémon," Keldeo said. "I helped Mega Rayquaza beat Primal Groudon!"
"An impressive feat indeed," Virizion said, with a nod.
"And I hope he felt it!" Terrakion contributed.
"Oh, yeah… Ash got Secret Sword working, too," Keldeo went on. "He had to use a metal sword to make it work, which I think is a lot like how we use our horns."
"Secret sword… interesting," Cobalion mused. "Thank you for informing us, Keldeo, and I'm sure we'll want to hear the full details as soon as you can tell us."
"Actually, I think it might help to go and watch the news," Keldeo said, frowning. "There was a speech that Lance -that's the Grand Champion of Kanto and Johto – gave, and I think there's probably some interviews of some sort too. Where's that Pokémon centre we saw a few days ago, there's probably a public computer there..."
Terrakion straightened. "I know where it is! Follow me, guys!"
He broke into a canter, and the other Swords of Justice followed.
"...wait," Cobalion said after a moment. "Mega Rayquaza?"
"Long story!" Keldeo called back. "It involved a meteorite!"
"This I've gotta hear," Terrakion chuckled. "What, did he eat it?"
"Yeah," Keldeo agreed. "After Ash blocked a giant wave and an Ancient Power aimed at him, so I guess maybe Ash helped catalyze the Mega Evolution too..."
Cobalion and Virizon exchanged glances.
"Does that mean that your trainer now also has Rayquaza?" Virizon ventured.
"Huh?" Keldeo shook his head, still cantering. "No, I don't think so. Maybe it'd be too crowded..."
"So," Ivysaur said, nodding to Sceptile and Meganium. "Another big Legendary battle?"
"Pretty much," Meganium agreed.
"I'm guessing you helped out healing?"
"Yep," the Grass-type confirmed.
"And did your boyfriend do well?"
"I'm not her-" Sceptile protested.
"How could you-" Meganium spluttered.
"It's not like-"
Ivysaur concealed a smirk.
A faint bang sounded, making the citizens of Altomare look up.
"What was that?" someone asked, looking around. "Someone have a Pokémon use Fire Blast or something?"
Shrugs answered him.
"Ah well," he said, returning to his meal.
"You get used to it," his date said, taking a sip of her drink. "Every few months there's a bang like that – never worked out what causes it..."
Overhead, invisible, a dragon flew past.
Latias flew into a side canal with no windows, looked around to make sure no-one was watching, and dropped near-soundlessly into the water.
A quick swim, and she emerged in the Secret Garden.
"Latias?" Bianca asked, at the sound of the splash. "Is that you?"
"Bianca!" Latias squeaked back, flying over and decloaking. "Sorry – I just had to go really quickly!"
"Where did you go off to all of a sudden?" Bianca asked. "Did Latios need you again?"
Latias nodded, as Bianca spread out the picnic blanket again and opened the hamper.
"I'm afraid it's all a bit wilted," she apologized, putting the fruit out again. "I didn't even notice you turn invisible, and I thought you were hiding – so I didn't put it back for too long."
"That's okay," Latias shrugged, taking some berry slices anyway and eating them with two bites each. "Latios – and Ash – needed – my help," she mumbled, between bites.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Bianca chided, chuckling at the muffled squeak sounds.
"Bianca?" Lorenzo called. "Is she back?"
Latias waved.
"You gave us quite a scare, young lady," he said, shaking his head as he walked over from the door. "Bianca had me checking all the roofs – we even had Quagsire spray around in case you were hiding somewhere."
The Dragon-type waved her arms. "But there was a really good reason! There was a powerful Legendary – actually two – and it wasn't just me, everyone got called in!"
"...you really need to learn that thing Latios can do," Bianca smiled.
"And I hope you didn't fly too fast on the way there or back," Lorenzo added. "If it was Latios in trouble, he's all the way in Hoenn..."
Latias frowned, then concentrated and produced a wide-area illusion which showed the moment Ash's wish had Jirachi pull them all in.
"Huh, teleporting?" Bianca asked. "That's pretty-"
"What on earth is that?" Lorenzo interrupted, pointing. "That can't be what Kyogre's really like, can it?"
Latias tapped her Mega Stone and pointed to Kyogre, then dropped the illusion.
"Mega Kyogre?" Lorenzo said, and nodded slowly as Latias waved her clawed hand in a 'sorta' gesture. "Well, that does sound important. Sorry for doubting you, Latias."
Skimming a little closer, Latias gave him a quick hug. "It's okay!"
Lorenzo chuckled, patting her on the back. "I don't think that needs translation!"
He waited until she let go, then sat down. "Come on, Latias – you must be hungry. Let's have some breadsticks."
"Great!" Latias smiled.
Misty opened the door. "I'm home!"
And what time do you call this? Golduck asked, tapping one foot on the floor.
"Time for a swim?" Misty asked. "I've been infiltrating Team Aqua for months, give me a break..."
"Why would we ever do that?" Corsola chuckled, lying in the shallow end of the pool.
"Dunno," Misty admitted. "Golduck – any post I should know about?"
As she spoke, she took off the Aqua outfit she'd worn throughout the day's events and switched it for a swimsuit. "Because I really feel in the mood for relaxing."
Well, Golduck said, jumping up onto a stool and adjusting a pair of glasses. There's a few bills, but I paid them – you know, because I'm a duck and we do that kind of thing.
"You don't really have a bill any more, though," Misty said, frowning at the fit of the swimsuit. "I think I've put on a bit of weight..."
"She's got a point!" Seaking agreed, jumping out of her Pokéball and into the water with a splash.
Misty sent out Milotic, then followed her into the pool – diving underwater, staying down for several seconds, and coming back up in the living room.
"What's this?" she asked Chinchou.
"Some program about ancient civilizations," Chinchou shrugged, watching the TV. "Long story short, they're all Deoxys."
I wasn't finished, Golduck said, waddling through the door and adjusting his glasses. There's also a formal ball in a few days – I was about to send back a response that you're busy.
"I'll have a look," Misty shrugged. Milotic nosed up next to her, and she gave the sinuous Water-type a rub – then blinked, and looked at Golduck. "Wait, what's with the glasses?"
They give me an air of dignity, Golduck replied loftily. Besides, it's funny.
Misty gave him a strange look, then shrugged it off. "Oh – I should show Milotic the sun room, we've been down in Hoenn and it's warmer there."
"Hey, Misty?" asked Politoed, looking up from his book. "How'd you end up getting back here?"
"I borrowed Lance's Salamence," she replied. "He was going to talk to the police for a bit – and I think Steven Stone as well – but Salamence wanted to get home quicker, so I just flew him up."
Sculling over to the side of the pool, Misty pulled herself out. "I guess we should get something to eat before I spend too long in the pool," she said reluctantly. "You did get groceries, right?"
Of course I did, Golduck replied. The local shops recognize me.
Kabutops tapped the remote with a blade.
"Hey, I was watching that," Chinchou complained, as the Rock-type paged from channel to channel.
"You know how it ends," Kabutops replied. "Aha, here we are."
"That's… actually not that bad a reconstruction," Misty admitted, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around herself as she watched a virtual Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre having a slap-fight. "I guess they must have a Porygon."
That or they just reused footage from the trailers for that Fossil Park film, Golduck shrugged.
"Hiyah!" Staryu volunteered.
Golduck shrugged.
"Oh, yeah, I should let Karen know we're back," Misty realized. "And I really should get a picture of Mega Absol from Ash or something, she'd love that..."
Lugia's wings beat against the water, propelling him along above a surface that had never seen daylight.
He felt the water as it moved around him, judging it with all his experience, and decided that the currents of the seas were largely undamaged by Groudon and Kyogre's rampages.
A mental clock prodded at him, and the Psychic-type reached out with his mind to confirm his position. Two cool, singing points of reference that he knew as well as he knew himself sounded from above, and he smiled before gathering himself.
His wings beat once, twice, and then he focused into a swirling underwater tornado of froth and bubbles. His speed jumped, and he surged upwards towards the air far above.
Haunting, high-pitched song resounded across the slopes of Shamouti.
"Dad's back!" Silver announced, smiling. He crouched, ready for takeoff, then glanced back at Slowking. "Uh – is it okay if I leave?"
Slowking nodded. "That's fine," he replied.
As Silver launched himself into the air, then swept down towards the beach with wings held stiff to glide, Slowking nodded to himself.
"He's a good kid," he pronounced, to no-one in particular, and picked up the board. He'd already memorized all the positions in case they wanted to start again, so he just poured all the tiles back into place and separated out the cards into their decks to go back in the box.
Games like this were a great way to teach young Psychic types. They got to practice both telekinesis and complex reasoning.
"And it's better than monopoly," he added, rolling his eyes.
Anything was better than monopoly.
"Dad!" Silver called, flaring his wings to land on the beach as his father circled. "How did it go?"
"It went fine," Lugia replied, giving his wings a mighty flap to shake as much salty water off them as possible, then landed in front of his son and nuzzled him. "And I've got a great story to tell, now… did your mother manage to keep the Birds under control?"
"Uh..." Silver frowned, looking up. "Mostly. There was a bit where I think Moltres showed off with a really difficult acrobatic move, and then Zapdos tried to outdo him and crashed into the sea, but apart from that it's been kind of quiet."
"And where is your mom?" Lugia added, looking around. "Is she busy? I felt she was nearby, but not quite where."
"I think so," Silver agreed. "She borrowed a huge blanket and a kettle from Melody, but I don't know what she was doing with it."
Zapdos sniffed.
"I told you, drink more of the soup!" the Lugia chided, adjusting his blanket. "You've got a nasty chill."
She inspected the blanket with a frown. "Well… I suppose I'll just have to come up with a way to replace the blanket. There's just too many holes in it."
Zapdos dipped his beak into the cup of soup, and drank it up with a huff.
"Hm, I think you need at least one more cup," Lugia inhaled, then sprayed Hydro Pump into the air and caught some of it in the kettle. "Just a bit of power, remember?"
The Electric-type legendary grumbled something unprintable, and sent a gentle spark across the prongs of the kettle – which promptly bubbled, hissed, and sent out a jet of steam.
Lugia poured the kettle over another packet of soup. "There we go. Now, remember, no heavy exertion until you've recovered, or you might feel like this for longer."
Zapdos looked like there was a low chance of his following that advice.
"Oh!" Lugia added, tilting her head. "I think my mate is back – remember, drink all that soup before it gets cold!"
"I hate everything," Zapdos mumbled.
"Thanks," Ash said, smiling at Mewtwo. "That's a lot quicker than getting Pidgeot, Latios and Flygon to transport us."
I was taking plenty of Pokémon home, so I felt I may as well put you where you were going to go, Mewtwo replied with a shrug. It's not really very much effort.
"Still, thanks," Ash said.
He looked over at Max, who had the sleeping Jirachi in his arms. "Uh… do you think Jirachi is going to be okay?"
Probably, Mewtwo said, frowning. Yes, I can't see a good reason why not – it's just psionic overstrain. The chunk of comet I used might have been smaller than would have been ideal.
He thought back. I think I've suffered from it. Once. Just after I was born, when I was much weaker-
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Pikachu said, making his paw open and shut like a mouth. "You're all super powerful."
I do not appreciate being mocked, Mewtwo told him frostily.
Pikachu shrugged.
In any case – welcome to Mossdeep, I suppose, Mewtwo went on.
He paused, then shrugged. And don't forget to watch my documentary when it comes out.
The Psychic-type vanished between one breath and the next.
Well, he's unusually promotional, Dexter commented.
"Where next, Ash?" Brock asked. "There's a lot to do on Mossdeep."
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Wasn't there a space centre here?"
"Of course there is!" Max cut in. "Jirachi wanted to see it, and..."
He looked down. "I hope Jirachi's all right."
"Actually, I wonder if they're going to be okay to launch," Brock said, glancing at the sky – where there was a gorgeous colour in the west, even though they were hours from sunset. "It looks like a lot of that ash and dust got into the air."
"I guess the gym's going to have to wait?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," Max said. "I'd kind of like to just go the one time, and – well, Jirachi's not okay. Besides, I'd like to make sure Casper's got a bit more training, I'd kind of like him and Cinder to do this one."
"I'll train against you," May volunteered. "I'd like to see if we can train Spoink up a bit, and get him working well with the others – see who he works best with."
"Well, let's go, then!" Ash decided. "The sooner we do all the space stuff, the sooner we can get training!"
"So, what do you think the odds are that he's going to get into the spinny thing again?" May asked Brock.
Brock shrugged.
"Okay, that's a Key Stone..." Jessie said, writing it down. "And… hey, look at this!"
"What's that?" James asked, peering over her shoulder.
Jessie held up one of the Mega Stones from the armoury drawer. "This is just the ticket!"
Meowth examined it. "An' what's dat?"
"It's a Mega Stone, twit!" Jessie snapped.
"Yeah, I can see dat," Meowth agreed, darting up and taking the stone from her hand before giving it a look-over with a jeweler's loupe. "But what kind is it?"
"It's on the label," Jessie said, tapping it. "Sceptilite!"
The three exchanged a knowing look.
"Yeah, this is what we need," James agreed.
"Wow," Max said, staring at the enormous crawling machine. "So this is what they use to get the shuttle to the launch pad?"
"Didn't you know that already?" May asked him.
"Well, yeah – but it's still huge," Max replied. "I mean – look at it, it's got to be taller than Steelix!"
Brock sent out Steelix.
The siblings watched as Steelix reared up, raising himself vertically so only a few feet of his length were on the ground.
"...okay, so I was wrong," Max admitted, as Steelix lowered himself again. "Still, it's big."
"It has to be," Brock said, tapping his foot on the ground. "It has to spread the weight of the rocket, even on the tarmac, or it'd just sink into the ground."
Jirachi stirred.
"Jirachi!" Max said, shifting him slightly in the hope he would be more comfortable. "Are you okay?"
I'm kind of tired, Jirachi yawned. I didn't realize it'd be that hard to do all that teleporting…
He looked around, blinking. Wait, where are we again?
"It's the space centre at Mossdeep!" Max told him. "Remember, I mentioned it? It's really cool!"
Oh, yeah! Jirachi agreed, brightening. So that's a space rocket? It's pretty big!
"It has to be," Max replied. "It uses lots and lots of thrust to get into space, and then more so it's moving around in an orbit."
He frowned. "I heard they tried using Psychic-types, but it was too hard for them to lift something that far and get it moving that fast for that long… so they have to use rocket fuel."
Pointing for Jirachi, Max went on. "So those big rockets there are just to get it up into the air. The fuel tank – that's orange – are for fuelling the shuttle's own engines, and it uses the whole thing in about eight minutes!"
Jirachi stared. I couldn't drink that much in eight years!
"Yeah, it goes really fast – it feels like a Donphan is sitting on you," Max told him. "I got kinda lost last time we came here, and ended up going up in the shuttle… we had to land it."
Cool! Jirachi giggled. You're an astronaut!
"I don't think I am," Max said, reluctantly. "I think I'm a pilot, though."
"...wait," Brock said. "Where's Ash?"
"And this is the training room," Jin explained, opening the door with a hefty push. "It's where I train – and the other astronauts – to be ready for spaceflight."
"Right," Ash said. "I kind of wondered if it was to train Pokémon in being able to do space things..."
He stopped, looking at Pikachu. "Why are you… floating?"
"I'm surprised you're not," Jin said, pushing on the floor with his suited feet and rising gently into the air. "There's a Metagross who can cancel out gravity in here by attracting people towards the ceiling."
He took a juice carton out of a rack by the side of the door, moving with just his fingertips as propulsion, and stuck the straw into the softened area of foil.
As he did, Ash took his hat off – and promptly began to float gently into the air as well. "Whoa, this is pretty cool!"
"Yeah," Pikachu agreed. He waved his tail, using the broad flat section as a form of propulsion. "I could get used to it."
"I wonder how Lucario would do here," Ash pondered. "Come on out if you want to see what it's like, Lucario!"
As the Steel-type formed, Jin tapped the juice with a finger – producing a series of ripples. "It used to be that we'd have to either go into space or be on a diving aircraft to show this kind of thing off – oh, you've got a Lucario, that's pretty cool!"
"I'm one of his signature Pokémon," Lucario informed the astronaut, floating a few inches into the air. He reached out a palm to the juice, and drew some of it in to form a ball on the end of one finger.
The ball flickered light blue, then turned into a donut-shape.
"Aura," Lucario explained. "I'm spinning it like an Aura Sphere, and in no gravity – it does this."
"Hey, Ash?" Max called. "We were looking for – whoah!"
He stepped across the threshold of the room, entering the null-g field, and suddenly no longer had any way to slow down.
Lucario left the juice floating where it was, briefly touched a paw to the floor to stabilize and gain a hold, then launched himself to intercept Max.
Grabbing the boy's arm, he twisted – neutralizing Max's momentum and imparting it all to himself – then let go and landed on the wall.
"Was that Aura too?" Jin asked, sounding interested. "Maybe we should train a couple of Meditite or Riolu as astronauts, being able to do that would be really useful in space."
"I think it'd be better to do a Medicham," Ash said, as Brock and May turned up. "Riolu and Meditite might evolve, and Lucario's got those spikes..."
"I would not do well in a spaceship," Lucario agreed.
Pikachu exited the null-G field, did a flip and landed neatly on his paws. "...I totally knew that was going to work before I did it."
Brock chuckled.
"Hey, uh… how long can we use this room?" Max asked, rotating a little.
"Probably another hour or two," Jin replied. "If you really want to. But the shuttle launch is fairly soon – I need to get going if I'm going to be in time."
Let's go see that! Jirachi said. This room's not really as interesting as I thought…
"That's because you're floating anyway," May pointed out.
"Okay, let's see if dis thing works," Meowth muttered.
He glanced between Jessie and James. "Which one'a you two is gonna be da human?"
Jessie held out her hand. "I'll do it."
"Good choice," Meowth agreed, tossing her the Key Stone. She caught it, inspected it, then shrugged.
"It doesn't look as impressive as I'd thought," James admitted, looking at it closely.
"I guess da important bit is on the other end," Meowth pondered. "Speakin' of which… ready, Audino?"
The Normal-type nodded, his ear-pieces shaking slightly. One of his hands went to touch his earring for a moment, and he took a deep breath.
"Okay..." Jessie said, looking at the Key Stone. "How do you do this again?"
"Just… think about him?" James asked. "I think that's something to do with it."
"Right," Jessie frowned, and began to think.
Audino had slipped easily into a role as 'team mom' – despite being male – and was always there with a comforting word, meal or even burst of healing power.
He was just a little bit clumsy at times, which had led to the odd accident, but that was just a quirk – not the only thing about him, or even the important thing.
And, of course, there was the lunchboxes. Everyone got them, at least three times a week, and Audino was always alert for what people liked so he could add to them and mix in something new.
Jessie was fortunate enough to look up just as the transformation began.
Audino's earring glowed, then flashed a brilliant white. The light spread out across his whole body, turning orange-golden as it pulsed, and then parts of it brightened enough to hurt the eye.
His ears perked up, flashing and gaining a second layer of frills. His earpieces coiled up the other way, bouncing once and then coming to rest in their new position.
The jacket-like pink coat on his sides expanded, fluffing up to form a distinct layer, and joined at the middle. His feet flashed, becoming ensconced in 'slippers' with fluffy sections to both sides.
And then a brooch formed where his jacket linked up, followed by a pair of spring-like coils just below the central point of the brooch – giving the whole thing the look of a bow.
"Wow," Meowth said, as the light died down and revealed his white-pink colouration. "An' your eyes are pink too..."
"The only thing that was missing was a twirl," Arbok opined. "And perhaps some music."
Meowth snickered.
"Hm," Mega Audino said, looking himself over. "It's definitely less convenient in the kitchen – these ribbons are going to get in the way on the stove."
"How do you feel?" Jessie asked.
"Not sure," Mega Audino replied. He bounced experimentally on the balls of his feet. "I feel a little lighter, but not much…"
Meowth relayed that, then added a bit of his own opinion. "Ya know, I think that he might just be a different Type ta before. It ain't like it'd be a surprise for him ta do dat, Pokémon do change Type when they evolve, an' all.."
"How would you find that out?" Mega Audino asked.
"Well, I guess the one to start with would be all the immunities," Meowth mused.
He gave Mega Audino another look, then shrugged. "But we can skip some of them."
"You don't look Dark type," James agreed.
"This is going to end with me being zapped, isn't it..." Mega Audino sighed.
The sound of the shuttle engines was incredible, a physical thing as much as sound in the conventional sense. It made the ground tremble, a crashing roar that came in on all frequencies at once.
Wow! Ash mouthed, his voice completely swept away by the wall of sound. This is incredible!
I didn't realize anything was louder than that volcano! Latios sent, his telepathy making it through much more easily.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but the roar and flames and a great plume of smoke. Then the shuttle began to rise – looking like it was barely moving from this distance, but once you remembered how tall it was you realized it was already travelling at the kind of speed only a few Pokémon could possibly manage.
A CRACK! sound, the sonic boom as the shuttle hit the sound barrier, was loud enough that it could be heard over the roar for a moment… then it was swept away, and the noise continued pounding in on them as the shuttle rose on a trail of flame.
It began to roll, changing attitude so the shuttle was below the fuel tank, and as it got further away it began to get slowly – gradually – less noisy.
Ethan produced a magnified window which hovered in mid-air, showing a zoomed-in version of the view which made it clearer what was going on.
"This is such a great view!" Max said, as loudly as he could so that the others could just about hear him. "I – wait, look!"
White smoke spurted from the side of the tank, and both boosters separated. They tumbled in the air, slowing as the shuttle ascended away from then, and then parachutes opened and began to carry them down towards the sea off Mossdeep – for cleaning, inspection, and ultimately repair and reuse.
"We never get-"
"-tired of this!" two of the other spectators said, smiling. "It's so-"
"-cool!"
"Liza and Tate, right?" May asked, looking away from the trail of white smoke.
"Tate and Liza/actually," the two Psychic gym leaders told her.
May blinked, confused, and Tate giggled at the expression she pulled.
"It's our joke," Liza explained. "Whichever someone says-"
"-we say it's the opposite!" Tate finished.
"I can see this is going to be an annoying gym battle to watch," May muttered.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," Ash said, snapping his fingers. "Do you guys have any special restrictions?"
"Apart from it being a double battle/not really," the twins replied. "We give extra points for/good teamwork, but it's not/a requirement."
Ash looked contemplative.
"And no/Latios and Latias," they added.
"Awww..."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone