Capítulo 73: 34
"Right… right," Gary said, making notes with his free hand. "And… sensory overload… and Calm Mind handled it."
He rubbed his forehead. "Okay, Ash. Thanks for letting me know so quickly. Everything okay now?"
There was a pause.
"Good. Right, let me know how she does in a battle. Smell you later."
Gary ended the call.
"Why do you say smell-" Sycamore asked.
"It's an old joke," Gary explained. "Between Ash and me, basically. Okay..."
He glanced down at his Pokédex. "Did you get the pictures?"
I did, Dee confirmed. Her projector flashed, and a half-there image of Mega Absol appeared.
"Wings," Sycamore said. "Interesting. I've never actually seen a Mega Absol before. Do you know if she's Flying-type?"
"I don't know," Gary shrugged. "Sorry."
"It's not a particularly major concern," Gurkinn said, bringing in the tea with his two Lucario. "What is a concern is this berserk state."
He set down the cups with a clink, and took a seat. "It's occasionally turned up in the old legends – the stories about Mega Evolution, back from before it was anything like as systematic as it was even forty years ago."
Gary winced. "Okay..."
"So, what do we do?" Sycamore asked. "I mean – obviously we'll need to write this incident up, and include references to those legends Gurkinn mentioned."
"I know," Gary agreed. "But I wish we had enough data points to say with some kind of certainty what's causing it, or what the remedy should be. Calm Mind worked, according to what Ash said, but so did..."
He paused.
"Actually, that does suggest something. Any Pokémon able to Mega Evolve is going to have a strong bond – I tested with Sableye to confirm that – and that means the Pokémon doesn't want to hurt their trainer. Or anyone, usually."
"So..." Sycamore asked.
"I see what you're getting at," Gurkinn agreed. "You're suggesting that the Pokémon in question is going to be trying to restrain itself."
"Right!" Gary agreed. "I mean, it'd be a really bad idea to rely on that, but..."
He shrugged.
Gurkinn considered. "There's another option, as well," he said. "Lucie?"
The female Lucario checked her armband, then nodded. There was a bright orange flare, which lit the lab from within, and then a Mega Lucario stood to Gurkinn's right.
"Try to stay in Mega form," Gurkinn told her. "As much as you can."
He handed the Key Stone to Lucen. "Carry this away as fast as possible."
Lucen bowed, and set off at a run.
The other two humans watched Lucie, as she went from calm to frowning to clearly straining to hold her Mega state. A few more seconds and her fists clenched, before energy washed over her and she reverted to simply Lucario once more.
"So just getting the Key Stone far enough away would work," Gary said, nodding, as Lucie fell to one knee and panted. "I see."
"Yes," Gurkinn confirmed. "But we should test to see just how far and how long. I'm afraid we may be doing this many more times, Lucie."
Lucie tensed, then pushed herself back to her feet and gave a nod of understanding.
"I'll start writing up the observations," Gary volunteered. "Augustine, can you take the notes on that distance experiment?"
"Of course," Sycamore agreed. "But we may need to do this somewhere large and open, rather than the lab – I have no idea how far Lucen got before he stopped."
"Wait," Gary said, frowning. "Did he stop?"
"...that is a good question," Gurkinn admitted.
"It's certainly a nice afternoon," Delia said, smiling as the scent of pine came to her on the wind. "Don't you think so?"
Mimey nodded. "Mime!"
He adjusted his grip slightly, and passed the needle in-and-out of the open weave canvas on his lap.
"What are you making this time?" Delia asked, putting her tea down. "Can I see?"
The Mr. Mime passed her his pattern with one hand, concentrating on the other. "Miiiime..."
"Oh, that's going to be lovely!" Delia smiled, comparing the pattern picture with how far the Fairy-type had already gotten. "I can see you're already doing the feathers – and that's a gorgeous blue you're using."
There was a tssz sound.
"What was that?" Delia asked.
Mimey lifted his canvas, showing that a needle was embedded in a Reflect layer between the canvas and his leg.
"That's clever," Delia told him. "But don't get careless, dear."
"Mime!" Mimey agreed whole-heartedly, and returned to his needlepoint.
"We're coming up on the coastline!" Todd called.
Sneasel nodded, and used the light metal frame to clamber around to his back. She undid the click strap with a careful press, and shifted to the right before easing the camera out of its pouch.
"And make sure your safety line is tight," Todd added, more softly. "We're pretty high up."
Sneasel double-checked her line, as requested, then gave Todd a thumbs-up. She swapped the memory cards in her camera, putting the half-full one into the appropriate bag, and swung out onto the wing.
Todd banked their microlight, taking them a bit closer to the flock of migrating Taillow and Swellow. One of the Flying-types looked over, confused, then shrugged and kept going.
Bracing herself with her long claws, Sneasel steadied the camera and began taking photos – paying special attention to the formation as it scudded through the thin, icy cloud layer just a few feet below them.
Todd smiled underneath his thick coat.
He'd never be able to take photos in mid-air at this temperature… but an Ice-type found it just right.
Misty Waterflower – Kanto-Johto Elite Four – sat back on her bunk and frowned.
"I wonder if I should get a Vaporeon..." she said, with a contemplative air.
The Gym one was nice, and a tricky battler… but wasn't really her style. But then again, the same species of Pokémon could be very different between two individuals.
It wouldn't be that hard to pick one she liked, either. Just find a nice, fuzzy Eevee, and see if he'd be interested in evolving into a Vaporeon.
The room shifted slightly, and she adjusted with the ease of long practice.
Several of her friends had Eevee-evolved Pokémon, too… she'd never met May's Glaceon, but she'd heard of the Ice-type, and of course there was Molly's Eevee who got to be all of them whenever she felt like it.
"Maybe I could even expense the Water Stone..."
"Yah!" Cobalion shouted, swinging his Sacred Sword.
The powerful blow, delivered with all his considerable strength, staggered his opponent – who roared, and let out a blast of icy wind.
Cobalion let it run off his flanks as though it were rain. "Terrakion! How are things!"
"There's six of them, boss!" Terrakion reported, his stentorian bellow cutting through the snow. "And I can't handle all six – they keep getting further while I'm busy with another one!"
"I can't help, Terrakion," Virizion said regretfully. "The Deerling are too afraid of being hurt if I leave them be."
"What about-" Cobalion began, and then a shimmering blade of golden light scythed across the icy clearing and smashed into the side of the Beartic he was fighting.
Keldeo landed next to the Steel-type, his waterjets steaming in the chill air. "Just try using Sacred Sword Beam," he recommended. "It means you don't have to keep running back and forth!"
Cobalion turned to the next crisis point and began to canter, then gallop, and his fellow Sword of Justice followed at a brisk pace.
"It's not that simple, Keldeo," Cobalion said, tone gentle. "We know about your trick, but we can't do it ourselves."
"That's okay, I'll show you!" Keldeo replied earnestly. "First you need to charge up a Sacred Sword, then you kind of flick your head and sever the connection while also pulsing extra energy into your blade-"
"This is not the time, Keldeo!" Cobalion cut him off, spinning on his forehooves and kicking another of the rampaging Beartic. The impact made it whimper, staggering backwards a few steps, and Cobalion's hooves landed back on the snowy ground with a krang. "We are in the middle of a battle!"
"So?" Keldeo asked, frowning. "That's a great time to learn a new move!"
"What has that Ketchum boy been teaching you?"
Slow, heavy wingbeats pressed down on the afternoon air.
Pidgeot smiled, spotting the familiar landmarks of home. She beat her wings one final time, then relaxed, and let the wind around her form dissipate.
Exterting much less force on her wings than normal, Pidgeot let her flight surfaces flap in the air and shed speed that way.
After a few seconds of that, she got back to work – tensing her muscles once more, bringing her wings into position, and gliding steadily down towards Pallet.
An air pocket caressed her, knocking her path off a little, and she steepened her angle of attack in response. Then she was passing over the first row of houses, and Pidgeot swung her wings up to cup the air and shed it both above and below.
Her feet came forwards, and she landed with a bit of a jolt which meant she took three half-flapping steps to stop entirely.
A moment, poised, with her wings half-spread, and then she furled them and let out a grateful sigh.
"Hey, look who it is!"
Swellow flapped over, wings working overtime, and hovered in front of Pidgeot. "Did you do it? Did you actually-"
"Yes, I did," Pidgeot confirmed, putting down her bag before rolling her aching wings with a wince. "And right now I feel like a long bath..."
"Well, yeah, you deserve it!" Swellow agreed. "I mean, you flew around the world!"
Pidgeot chuckled. "Thank you. Honestly, the last bit was the hardest – maybe I should have gone east instead of west..."
Swellow thought about a world map.
"Whoa. Yeah, that must have been one long final journey! How long did it take?"
"Well, it was at least a few hours – the longest leg was from the coast west of Orre to the great mid-ocean island," Pidgeot explained, Swellow hovering about her head as the larger Flying-type walked over to the pond. "That one took special preparation."
She took a hop and glide into the pool, and sighed. "Oh, that feels great..."
"Did you buzz any jetliners?" Swellow asked. "I totally would have buzzed jetliners if it was me."
"You're welcome to try," Pidgeot suggested.
"No fear!"
After a moment, Pidgeot frowned. "Actually, could you do something? My bag's got some postcards – can you put them indoors before I forget?"
"Sure!" Swellow agreed, taking off in a whoosh of wind.
In the garden courtyard of Rota castle, a man with the rank of majordomo walked on the shaded side of a huge lilac bush.
A sound drew his attention, and he shaded his eyes to look up.
Several metres overhead, paws glowing a light blue, Lucario ran through a flowing warm-down kata.
On the broad, sun-drenched side of the castle wall.
"Ah, Lucario!" the majordomo called, drawing the Fighting-type's attention. "Everything all right?"
"It is, thank you," Lucario replied, not pausing his exercises.
"Nothing you need?"
"No, I am quite content. Please, do not let me keep you from your afternoon."
"Of course," the majordomo agreed. "Sorry for disturbing you."
"Not a problem," Lucario informed him, performing a strike which incorporated a springing leap. The moment he left the wall, gravity began to pay attention to him, and he used a complicated twist to get his palm back in contact with the stonework and execute the somewhat-altered blow.
Eyes wide, the majordomo took several seconds to shake his head and head off to his next task.
Lucario sat cross-legged on the wall, paws on his knees, and looked up at the few clouds dotting the sky.
"This world has an endless fascination," he said, musing. "The modern world is... remarkable. But what is more remarkable is how little things have changed."
Stretching out his arm, he examined the metal spike protruding from it.
"Majin may be Pokémon now, but they are still the same. Humans may have Pokéballs, but they are no different. And that, I think, is a treasure."
He smiled as he remembered Ash - taking time to be just a little miffed that the human Aura adept kept forgetting to come to the Rota tournament - then lay back, more blue aura sticking his back to the stonework.
"Where are you, I wonder... Aaron, my friend," he said. "Wherever you are, do you look up at the sky as do I? Will you sleep, when the sun goes down?"
He smiled. "And do you have friends, as you had Pidgeot and myself?"
There was an almighty CLANG which resonated through the entire area.
"That didn't hurt!" came a protest, some seconds later. "I'm made of steel! You can't-"
BONG.
"Shouldn't we be actually fighting him?" Giratina asked, tilting his head.
"This is fighting him," Palkia replied, clenching his fist.
A ripple spread out from it, and the Skarmory was abruptly hammered into the opposite wall.
"Still okay!" it said, voice still defiant but becoming slightly slurred.
Then it hit the opposite wall.
That's not really in the spirit of a boss battle, Arceus pointed out.
"Yeah, but it hurt Dialga," Palkia replied, glancing over at his wounded brother. "Quite a lot. So this is kind of... payback."
He made an up-and-down gesture, and Skarmory made five Skarmory-shaped craters in the floor in quick succession.
"Don't worry," Aaron said, clinging to the side of Diglett's pillar. "I'll get you to safety."
"You will?" the Diglett asked, sounding relieved. "I was so worried... how are you doing that?"
"Aura," Aaron replied. "So is this."
He whispered something, and a pair of bright blades – black and white – formed in his paws.
"Cooooool," Diglett said softly. "What's that?"
Aaron smirked. "Sacred Sword!"
He brought the two blades together, cutting about three feet off the tip of Diglett's pillar, and then grabbed it and threw the whole rocky cylinder towards the main battlefield with an almighty Fling.
"Whoooah!" Diglett said, voice wavering, and then his rock hit the far side. "Wow!"
Aaron jumped after it, dismissing his Sacred Swords, and looked over at the others. "Need any help?"
"Don't think so," Palkia replied.
"I'm still able to fight!" Skarmory groaned.
Palkia clenched both fists, and Skarmory vanished upwards.
They watched for several seconds.
"...is it coming back?" Dialga asked.
"No," Palkia replied. "Not unless it hitches a lift on Cresselia."
I may need to apply a patch, Arceus mused.
It was almost too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning.
The shop bell jangled, and the half-drowsing night shift worker looked up with a start. "Uh – hello, welcome to Astilbe Pokemart, your one-shop stop for… uh, stop shop for-"
Blinking, the cashier actually focused on his new customer.
It was a gangly looking young man, almost a boy, with green hair and a black cap restraining it from falling down over his face.
But what was more surprising was the Pokémon.
The Pidove was fairly normal, almost expected, though most trainers had their Pokémon resting on their shoulder rather than hovering overhead. And the Fennekin sitting on top of his black cap was a little exotic, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
The huge Zebstrika, on the other hand, was not the sort of thing one found in a shop. And there was nothing one could really say about the Scolipede.
"...nuts, please."
With a start, the cashier realized he'd completely missed the young man's order. "Uh, sorry! Can you repeat that please?"
The Fennekin sniggered to itself, and his trainer reached up to pat it before continuing. "Two Pokeblocks of each colour, seventeen Poffins, a berry mix bag and five bags of nuts, please."
Nodding uncertainly, the cashier got the food and rang it up – taking care to count the Pokeblocks and Poffins, to make sure he didn't get them mixed up.
"That'll be-" he began, and the young man handed over a large bill.
"Keep the change," the green-haired trainer said.
Blinking for a moment, the cashier nodded. "Okay – thank you, sir!"
"I'm not-" his customer began, then shook his head. "Never mind. I'm glad you're grateful."
While he spoke, his hands carefully opened the first bag of nuts and passed it to the Zebstrika. Taking three of the Poffins, next, he gave one each to the Scolipede, the Fennekin and the Pidove.
"Uh… you know that's going to make a mess, right?" the cashier asked.
"Don't worry, they won't," explained the green-haired man. "I asked them not to."
N smiled, enjoying the help he could give to these Pokémon, as Zebstrika started on his second bag.
True to their word, none of the Pokémon had spilled more than a few crumbs, and N had already asked for the dustpan and brush to clear up the resultant mess.
"Hey," his companion said quietly. "N? Look at this."
N glanced up at the foxy Pokémon on his hat. "What should I be looking at?"
"Over here."
The vulpine ran down his arm, pausing at the elbow, then pointed with his foreleg at a rack next to the counter.
"What's this?" he asked, indicating it.
"Oh – that's something the owners put in a while ago," the cashier explained, tearing his eyes from how daintily Zebstrika and Scolipede were eating their meals. "It's some of the recent best-sellers – but they're kind of cheap, they only stock paperback stuff."
"I see," N said. "Was there anything in particular?"
His companion barked an affirmative, then jumped down onto the floor and clambered halfway up the display.
"Hey, look out!" the cashier protested, reaching out a hand to hold it in place. "That could fall on you if you're not careful."
N decided he liked this young man.
Then he took a closer look at the indicated book.
"The… Other Side of the Pokéball?" he asked, one hand reaching up in a nervous gesture to feel his hair. "Who's Mewtwo?"
"You don't know who Mewtwo is?" asked the cashier, surprised. "But he's been in the news a lot – especially when his book came out last year!"
"I'm afraid I don't," N confirmed. "Who is he?"
"He's a Pokémon – he's been in a couple of films, and he wrote that book," his new acquaintance explained, as N's foxy companion clambered back up to his customary perch. "It's all about what it's like to be a Pokémon."
"Hmmm..." N said, considering, and picked up one of the copies.
Turning it to the pictures halfway through, he blinked. "These are very good quality."
"I heard he actually got some Legendaries to pose for him," the cashier said. "I guess it's easy to do that when you know them personally."
N's curiosity was piqued.
He had the nagging feeling that Father would not enjoy him reading this book…
...which was why he turned to the counter once more. "I'd like to buy this."
"Sure!" the cashier agreed, ringing it up. "You've paid more than enough for it already, so no need to give me any more-"
N cut him off, passing over the money anyway. "Please, accept it anyway. For your help tonight."
"We're done," Scolipede reported. "What should we do with the rest?"
"I'll share it out with other Pokémon who need it," N told her. "None will go to waste."
As he left the mart, all four Pokémon with him and a baffled cashier behind him, he cracked open the book.
There wasn't time to read much by the street lights, but he could already see this was going to be an interesting read.
"Just a little more..." Tracey said, pencil stroking over the paper. "And… done!"
Marill bounced down from her perch. "Let me see!"
Tracey turned the paper around so she could see, and she beamed. "Looks great!"
Chuckling, the artist turned the page. "You're just saying that because it's you in it."
"...not just," Marill said, waving one arm. "Anyway, what's next?"
"Next..." Tracey checked his notes. "Okay, Professor Oak asked me to check on the Houndour to make sure they're all fine."
Marill nodded, tail waving as she walked alongside. "I like them. They're great… for Dark types."
Her trainer laughed.
After a few more steps in companionable silence, Tracey looked down at his Pokémon. "Have you met him yet?"
"Azurill's father?"
"Yes, of course that's who I mean," Tracey teased. "I don't even know what species he is, you're making it into a great big mystery when it really doesn't have to be..."
"I like my privacy!" Marill replied with a giggle. "He'll turn up."
"I hope you're right," Tracey said, shrugging. "But – well, it's your mysterious foreign boyfriend."
A bark from ahead made them look up.
"Hi, Marill!" called one of the Houndour, tail wagging. "Great to see you!"
"And you – and your brother!" Marill replied, as the twin youngsters began playing roly-poly games with her and with one another. "Bet I'll win this time!"
"That's it, sis!" the boy yapped. "We'll work together!"
Tracey started sketching again.
"Not far until we reach Mauville, Sparky," Ritchie said, shading his eyes to check the angle of the sun. "I guess we'll probably be able to sleep in a Pokémon Centre tonight."
"Which is good," Sparky agreed. "Especially after you had Zippo land at the wrong town."
"It looked like Mauville from overhead, okay?" Ritchie asked.
"What, that place?" the Raichu replied, with a snigger. "There were only thirty-nine people in the entire town! Well, village, more like… I'd even say it was a thorp."
"You really need to stop reading the thesaurus," Ritchie shot back. "Anyway, not far to go – we should make it in an hour of walking."
"And it wouldn't be an hour of walking if you hadn't annoyed Zippo..." Sparky pointed out, then flicked his tail. "Anyway – let's keep going, I guess."
"That's what I've been saying..."
Ritchie started down the hill, then stopped. "Did you feel that?"
"Yep," Sparky agreed, all business now. He rose higher on the shoulder of his trainer, and looked around. "Something – there!"
A blue shape came blurring in from the hilltop, covering the hundred or so yards they'd already walked in one huge leap, and stopped with preternatural grace right in front of him.
"This is a surprise," said the blue-furred Suicune. "I thought you'd gone past this already."
"Pardon?" Ritchie asked. He glanced at Sparky, who shrugged.
"And Pikachu's evolved… and you've changed your-" Suicune blinked, and blushed. "My apologies. I seem to have mistaken you for my trainer..."
"But we're kind of-"
"Remember, you look nearly identical," Sparky hinted. "Apart from clothes, hair, Pokémon and companions."
Suicune sighed, which turned into a jaw-cracking yawn. "It's been a long day… I was in Sinnoh this morning. Since then I've been checking on every Golem runic site to make sure the seals are intact."
She shrugged. "Anyway – sorry for taking your time."
Crouching, the Aurora Pokémon sprang off, and headed west at a ground-devouring lope that blurred into near-invisibility.
Ritchie watched her go.
"I remember when we didn't meet Legendaries," he said to Sparky.
"It makes it easier to fill out the ultra-hard section on that spotters' guide," his Raichu pointed out. "That's helpful."
Philena sat down at her chair, and sighed.
"Ah, that was harder than it needed to be..."
She could hear her assistants still clearing up the remnants of the mess. Fortunately it was down to mops, now, but that much mud would take a long time to clear off.
"Well, at least we now know for certain that that's the frequency," the professor said.
Maybe it did mean that it was absolutely sure and certain that Diglett communicated by infrasound, but it was still unpleasant when three hundred of them mobbed the lab.
After a moment, she heard a purr, and looked up just in time to see a blue-yellow kitten jumping into her lap.
"Oof!" she gasped, then looked down at the guilty party. "You are a minx of a Shinx, do you know that?"
The comment rolled off Shinx' back as unimportant, and she gazed up at her trainer with another loud, insistent purr.
Philena tried to ignore it, but surrendered to the inevitable after only a few seconds. "A minx," she repeated, rubbing her Electric-type behind the ear.
Shinx purred louder, legs stretching and splaying as she accepted the tribute.
The Oak Labs door clicked.
"I'm home!"
With a faint hum, the main screen activated. Welcome home, Professor. Shall we play a game?
"I should never have told you about that film," Samuel Oak said, putting his flying scarf on the peg. "Nothing too bad happened while I was gone, I hope?"
Damos drew himself on the main screen. Not especially. It's actually slightly calmer than usual. How did the conference go?
"Oh, it went fine," the Professor said, sitting down with a smile. "The keynote went well… I only wish I'd remembered to tell Ash and his friends in time, it would have been wonderful to have Entei or Suicune along."
That is a pity, Damos agreed, with a nod of his virtual beak. I assume you still used the footage and photos, though?
"Indeed," Professor Oak confirmed. "There were one or two old stick-in-the-muds who thought that the footage was, at best, staged – and at worst, counterfeited – but they were very much in the minority."
Staged? Damos repeated, mild incredulity in his vocoder-generated voice. How, exactly, do they think you persuaded three Legendary Pokémon to pretend to socialize?
"Oh, don't ask me," Oak sighed. He took a box out of his pocket. "Actually, you can see for yourself – this is the data disc with the conference minutes."
Opening it with a clack of plastic, he slotted the disc into one of the computers all around the lab – which one didn't matter, they were all Damos anyway.
The drive immediately spun up to full speed, as Damos parsed the information.
How was the flight? Damos asked, making small talk as they waited for him to finish.
"Oh, not bad," Oak shrugged. "There was a tailwind on the way back, so Dragonite didn't have to fly quite so hard."
He could carry you a lot faster than you're comfortable travelling, Professor, Damos rejoined. I am fairly sure that under tailwind conditions he can put in more effort, because the effective airspeed is less for the same groundspeed.
"...fine, fine," Oak said, shaking his head with a smile. "You're right, of course."
Ah, there is the keynote, Damos added. I see you went a little off script.
"I extemporize, you know that," the Professor explained. "Nothing too bad, I hope?"
No, you handled the questions very well. I especially liked the bit where you analyzed Silver Conference footage in response to one of those stick-in-the-muds. An Entei barely restraining a laughing fit is quite good evidence.
"I thought so," Oak replied, with a smile.
"Hello?"
Dragonite looked up, then waved – using his other clawed arm to unlatch the harness on his back. "Hello yourself, Charizard!"
A middle-aged Fire-type came swooping down, wings flaring, and landed in a windstorm just outside the lab itself.
"It's a long time since I've seen you around," Dragonite added, shucking off the harness. "What brings you here?"
"Actually, I've been back a couple of times," Charizard told him. "All in the last few months… but… well, I guess I keep missing you."
The Fire-type blushed slightly. "Or – I deliberately missed you. I waited until you weren't there to talk to Sammy, and… that was wrong of me."
"It's your choice," Dragonite said, and sighed. "I just wish you'd talked to me, though. We were friends."
"That's why I didn't want to-" Charizard began, then slammed his foot on the floor. "No, that's an excuse. I… didn't want to discuss Arcanine with you. And I was afraid it would come up… but now I've decided that I should."
Dragonite winced. "I wondered if that was why you left when you did."
"I couldn't face it," Charizard sighed. "We all knew him, Dragonite. And… well, it brought home to me that Charizard live a long time, and that I was probably going to..."
Another sigh.
Dragonite blinked, then punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow!" Charizard replied, voice too shocked to be a roar, and made ready to retaliate.
"You're an idiot, Charizard," Dragonite said. "Did you forget that Dragonite live for hundreds of years? I'm going to outlive you by more of my lifespan than you outlive Arcanine."
Charizard stopped, touched his shoulder, and gulped.
"...sorry," he said, after a moment. "And – I guess I was a bit of a coward about it, too..."
"There's no shame in not wanting to see your friends grow old and die," Dragonite said, then snickered. "But there might be a bit in assuming it'll happen thirty years too early."
The Fire-type looked down.
"Growlithe was already quite middle-aged when we met him," Dragonite reminded gently. "Older than Samuel."
He waved. "So – come on, I've missed you. How are things in that valley in which you spend so much time?"
Noctowl snored.
It was, after all, still light.
"Hi?" called the trainer. "Hello?"
No answer.
"I know how this works, Wattson!" he called. "It's my second time – I trained up, like you suggested!"
Shrugging, he stepped off the moving rail.
"Whatever," the trainer said, shaking his head. "Okay, I know what's next… can we skip the stupid mecha-Raikou thing and get to the gym challenge?"
A door swung open in front of him, and he walked through. About four seconds later, though, a blur appeared and let out a roar which made the ground shake.
"Oh, come on!" the trainer said, not impressed, as the Raikou's roar ended. "You showed me last time! That's just a Manectric in a suit!"
Something tapped him on the shoulder.
"BOO!" Raikou roared, and the trainer shrieked and ran for his life.
As his footsteps faded, Raikou sat on his haunches and chuckled. "That was absolutely hilarious!"
A door hissed open in the side of the corridor, and Wattson emerged – also chuckling. Some slightly more high pitched laughter came from the first Raikou, which opened up to reveal Manectric in it.
"Best prank ever!" she said, shaking her head.
"Dear me..." Wattson chuckled, then broke into bellied laughter. "The look on his face!"
"And did you hear the sound he made?" Raikou asked. "I'm going to treasure that!"
"Um… sir?" Wattson's assistant asked. "How are you going to get the challenger back for his gym battle?"
Wattson shrugged. "He'll turn up."
"I'll go look for him," Manectric volunteered, and jumped out of her robot Raikou suit to pad off deeper into the gym. "I'd ask Raikou to go, but that would just make him run faster..."
"I'll be honest," Quilava said, watching. "I didn't expect you to be a fan of this kind of thing."
"Why not?" Primeape asked, looking up. "Does it not fit with my style?"
Quilava looked again at what the Fighting-type was doing.
There were several pots, some simple deepened dishes and others more ornate.
There was a small bowl of pure white sand.
Primeape was just putting down a fine jug of clear water, having poured some of it into one of the pots.
And, finally, there were the flowers.
"Not especially, no," the Fire-type confirmed. "In my mind, you're a lot of things, but ikebana is about third from last on the list of hobbies you'd have."
"What are the other two?" Kingler asked, delicately placing a bamboo shoot into his pot and adding a drip of water. "Does that have the right harmony, Primeape?"
Primeape looked over at it. "Yes, that seems harmonious – but perhaps a white lily to go on top? You could weave it in with the base."
"To answer your question," Quilava said, a little dryly. "Model ships and calligraphy."
"It's simple," Primeape informed her, trimming a leaf slightly and arranging two lavender shoots in a spiral. "This way, I can concentrate all my anger into the times I need it. Which is to say, almost the entire rest of the week."
Quilava considered that, then shrugged.
"I guess if it works for you…"
"Why are we over here, Dad?" Silver asked, looking around. "I mean - why do we have to do this all the way up at the shrine?"
"Silver, we flew," his father pointed out. "It's not hard."
"Yeah, I guess," the young Lugia agreed.
"I know you want to spend time playing with your friend," said the elder Pokémon, touching his wing. "But this is important. Don't worry, it won't take long."
Silver accepted that.
"So... what is it?" he asked.
Lugia smiled. "Melody - if you would?"
"Hi, Melody!" Silver waved, watching as the human girl - dressed in her white ceremonial robe - came out from the central room of the shrine.
"Hello, Silver," Melody replied. "Do you know why your father brought you here today?"
Silver hesitated, then shook his head.
"You've heard all the legends," Melody said then. "But this is to show you what they really mean - deep down."
She brought the ocarina to her lips.
Silver gasped as the sweet, pure notes sounded out, seeming to fill the sky and sea and surround him in music. "It's... wow, I didn't know it felt like this!"
Glowing energy began to build on the feathers of both Lugia.
"The song restores our strength," Silver's father said. "It is sometimes called the Song of the Great Guardian, because it both helps us do our jobs and makes us stronger."
"I feel like I could listen to it forever," the young Lugia admitted. "Was it like this when Melody did it a year and a half ago?"
"It was," the Guardian of Shamouti confirmed. "But then I was tired and injured - so it was even better."
They fell silent, then, just listening to the beautiful notes that lifted their spirits and sang through their souls.
Mewtwo frowned. I am not sure I understand what you mean.
"They're all the rage these days!" replied Cleavon. "You must have seen them on the TV - mustn't you?"
Mr. Schpielbunk, I am largely busy handling other matters. I do not, for the most part, have time to watch television.
"You're missing out," the film director said. He shook his head. "Anyway! In just the last few months, I've seen shows about Pokémonopolis, the way that Electric-types were crucial in the development of solid state electronics - which was a bit heavy - at least three shows about space travel, and someone's told me there's a documentary being commissioned about the formation of the world!"
Mewtwo frowned. So... you plan to interview Arceus, or...
"No, no, not that, the way it was done!" Cleavon clarified. "How the crust and lithosphere fit together, and so on."
The crust is part of the lithosphere.
"I don't know about that, I've not seen the documentary yet," Cleavon shrugged. "Anyway - I've got a friend who produces that kind of series, and I think we could turn your book into one!"
The immensely powerful Psychic-type pushed off from the ground a little, hanging there and contemplating the idea.
How do these documentaries work, then?
"Knew you'd like the idea!" Cleavon said, with considerable enthusiasm. "Anyway, the basic idea is - you go all over the world with a camera crew shooting footage, then narrate over the top of it with the basic details of what you're trying to get across. So... with you, you might show someone with a new Growlithe to illustrate a captive-bred Pokémon."
It does, I admit, have a certain appeal to it... Mewtwo mused. I must ask, though. Why not you?
"Oh, I'm going to be far too busy!" the eccentric director replied. "After that mess in Altomare some months ago, I had the most fantastic idea for a film!"
He glanced around, and leaned closer. "You know that machinery which can revive fossils? Well, what about an entire amusement park filled with them?"
Mewtwo blinked.
"Imagine it! Being able to see a Tyrantrum, or seeing an Aurorus lumber past! On the big screen!" Cleavon emphasized. "And of course there'd have to be Legendaries as well!"
Mr. Schpielbunk, Mewtwo said, slowly. Please promise me you will not be actually reviving any Legendary Pokémon for the purposes of your film.
"Oh, no, none of that," Cleavon agreed readily. "I'll just use CGI. We have our own in-house Porygon now, you know - he's very good at it."
I suppose I will have to be content with that. Very well - good luck, Cleavon. I hope this film goes as well as you wish it to.
"So do I!" Cleavon nodded. "Will you be doing that documentary, then?"
I will give it careful and thorough consideration, Mewtwo promised. But I must be getting home, for now.
He looked around. Mew? Mew... where did you go?
After a long moment, the Legendary sighed. I apologize if a pink fuzzball turns up in an hour or two. Mew is a little bit... scatterbrained.
With that, he flexed his mental muscle and vanished.
"Okay, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Ivysaur asked.
"Well, I wanted to point out something you may not have realized," Squirtle replied. "It's about Mega Evolution!"
Ivysaur blinked. "I... know about Mega Evolution. Actually, I helped you work out how to Mega Evolve."
"Right!" Squirtle agreed. "And I'm here to tell you that the feeling of Mega Evolving is indescribable! It's a burning, thrumming crystallization of friendship, formed in burnished gold liquefied to run through your veins, the flame of true companionship reforging body and soul alike until nothing remains but pure awesome!"
His glasses glinted as he posed. "To Mega Evolve is to be possessed of the ultimate bond between one Pokémon and one trainer! It's unmatchable, something that has to be experienced to be believed!"
"So... indescribable, huh?" Ivysaur asked.
"Exactly right!" Squirtle confirmed.
"Because you did a lot of describing right there..."
The Water-type gave him a look.
"Just saying." Ivysaur rolled his neck. "Anyway, what is it? Did you need my help testing out another Squirtilite?"
"No, already made one," Squirtle replied, producing it from his shell. It shimmered as the light hit it, revealing that this time he had at least used a drill to make the hole.
"Should you be exposing that thing to sunlight?" Ivysaur asked, backing away a bit.
"Sunlight doesn't matter in the slightest for something that can survive my burning spirit!" Squirtle replied, though he did put it back in his shell quite hurriedly. "Anyway - when I Mega-Evolved, it was purest awesome - so if you mega evolve it should be at least... you know, pretty damn cool."
"Thanks," Ivysaur muttered.
There was a pause, then both sniggered.
"Great delivery," Squirtle admitted. He cleared his throat. "Anyway! My purpose - my goal - my whole reason to explain this was so you realized that you could Mega Evolve as well!"
Ivysaur winced. "Have you made an Ivysaurite? If you have I might need to start sleeping underground-"
"No, no!" Squirtle replied. "Not that! I just mean that, if there's Charizardite and Blastoisite, there should clearly be Venusaurite!"
The Grass-type frowned, then nodded. "Ah, right, I get it."
He kicked the ground. "I don't know. I guess I like being the size I am now."
Squirtle clacked his claws. "Right, right. I guess I can't argue with that. Fine, but just realize that you could do it if you wanted."
Ivysaur gave his friend an askance look. "You just want me to have a big flower you can sit in and shout attack names, don't you?"
The Water-type coughed. "That's not the only thing..."
"Look out, Finnbarr!" called the trainer. "Left!"
His Floatzel barked agreement, and dove to his left – barely avoiding the charging Rhyhorn.
"A little slow," Giovanni commented. "Rhyhorn, use Earthquake."
"Jump!" the trainer shouted, and Finnbarr was in the air for the first half of the Earthquake. He touched down while the ground was still shaking, though, and staggered a bit.
"Are you okay?" called the challenger, Gale. "Just hold in there a bit longer!"
"Take the northeast path," Giovanni told his Rock-type, which dove below the level of the broken terrain and moved around at speed – out of sight of either Finnbarr or his trainer.
"Northeast?" Gale blinked, as his Floatzel craned his neck. "Which way's northeast? The corridors confused me..."
"That's the point," Giovanni replied. "Rhyhorn – fissure!"
"Finnbarr!" Gale yelled, and then the ground heaved and split in half along a glowing white trail.
Finnbarr vanished into it with a yelp, and didn't come out again.
"Your Pokémon is knocked out," Giovanni informed Gale, after a few seconds. "You are down to your last."
"Damn it," Gale said, returning his doughty Water-type. "Cinnabar wasn't nearly as hard as this..."
"This battle, and this gym, are designed to force you to think – especially as your eighth badge," Giovanni replied, with a small smile. "Simple brute force will avail you nothing here."
Gale scowled. "Well, at least my third Pokémon's not going to have trouble with that Fissure! Bladestorm!"
Bladestorm materialized, the gym's lighting glinting on his steely feathers, and let out a caw.
Giovanni frowned, just slightly. "Rock Slide."
"Steel Wing, Bladestorm!" Gale called.
The Skarmory dove, wings shining with a blue inner light, and cut right through the barrage of rocks. Then he slashed along Rhyhorn's flank, making the Rock-type flinch and step aside.
"Return," Giovanni said, holding up a Pokéball, and Rhyhorn dematerialized into it. "Persian, handle him."
Persian jumped forwards, a supple motion, and seemed to flow forwards over the broken ground – jumping from ridge to apex to narrow ledge.
"Another Steel Wing, Bladestorm!" Gale ordered, and his Skarmory let out a battle cry. It pulled up, flipping around into a turn, and dove.
"Thunderbolt," Giovanni said simply.
Persian's forehead-gem glowed, and he salvoed out three crackling bolts of electricity in quick succession. The first connected, dancing over Skarmory's feathers in a nimbus of witchfire, and the second went high.
The third, however, struck the side of one of the rocky protrusions – one just above Bladestorm's flight path.
Still glowing, Persian's gem followed up with a Power Gem attack which struck the recovering Skarmory and knocked him off balance a little. Then Persian jumped clear of his perch, letting Bladestorm hit nothing but air, and landed on the valley floor for a moment before returning to his perch.
Bladestorm flipped up-over-down in a wingover, and dove with a screech – this time using his metallic talons.
Persian waited, licking his paws, then jumped at Bladestorm – boosting his speed with Agility – and rammed home a Rock Smash into Bladestorm's back, but not without taking a few swipes in return.
Twisting as he fell, Persian fired another pair of sparkling Thunderbolts past his opponent, and Bladestorm had just enough time to realize why before half the rocky spire fell on him.
"You will not be getting a badge from me today," Giovanni said, as Gale stared at the pile of rocks. "Return when your skills are better."
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Butterfree called, flapping up a bit to look over the whole group.
"I am!" called one of the others.
"So am I!"
"I'm not sure..." said the third young Butterfree, looking a bit embarrassed.
"That's okay," Ash's Butterfree assured him. "You can just stay here if you feel you need to, and we can try again next migration."
The Bug-type looked nervous, then swallowed. "I'll come," he said.
"And the girls are ready as well," his mate added. "All right, dear, you lead the way!"
"Right!" Butterfree confirmed. "Now – don't hesitate to let us know if you feel we're going too fast."
More nods.
"Follow me, then!" he said, turning, and began to fly northwards – towards Sinnoh.
The air swirled minutely as his six fully-evolved children and their mother took off, one at a time, and flew out over the sea after him.
"Wow," said one of the Butterfree, some time later. "You can see Sinnoh from here."
"That's right, not much further," their father confirmed. "Just keep it up – wait a minute..."
He flew a bit lower looking down towards the water, then spun around to face them. "Change of plan, everyone!" he said. "Unless any of you is exhausted, we're going to go down and meet someone!"
His mate looked at the young Butterfree who'd spoken up before.
That Pokémon frowned, then nodded. "I… guess I'm okay."
"Then follow me!" he said, diving and letting the wind tug at his antenna.
The dive took less time than it seemed, and before long they were down at water level.
"Hey!" the father called, raising his voice. "What brings you this far north?"
"Is that Butterfree I hear?" came the reply. "I could ask you the same thing!"
"It's good to see you, Lapras," Butterfree smiled. "Everyone – this is Lapras, one of my team mates, and his pod. Lapras, this is my mate, and these are our six eldest children."
"Delighted to meet you," the Water-type said, sculling to maintain position. "I'll just introduce you to my sister – she'll love to meet you."
He indicated a slightly smaller Lapras, who had a pouch slung across her back with a well-carved rock sticking out a little. "Sis – this is the Butterfree I've told you about."
"It's lovely to meet you!" the other Lapras said, waving her flipper. "And your kids are so cute!"
"Dad has the coolest friends," one of the female Butterfree said firmly.
Slowing from a run to a walk, Entei loped the last few hundred metres to the Burned Tower and sprang over the stub of a wall in a single mighty bound.
He landed with feline grace on the only bit of the second floor sound enough to bear the impact, and then from there dropped lower into the building.
"Entei," Ho-Oh said, raising his head as the other Fire-type arrived. "I'm glad to see you back. How was Sinnoh?"
"Cold, as usual," Entei replied. "Especially up in the far north, near Snowpoint. I was up to my haunches in snow..."
Ho-Oh nodded, considering.
"It is strange," he said. "This old building is far emptier now than it ever was before… but at the same time, it feels full of life."
Entei cocked his head.
"Or perhaps," the Flying-type Legendary went on, "it's because the Pokémon who used to fill it now have other places to go – and it's their fulfilment which I am picturing."
"Lord Ho-Oh, what are you trying to say?" Entei asked.
"Well, firstly – I am glad that you're happy," Ho-Oh began. "You and your siblings, I mean. You certainly get used in battle more than I have been..."
"You're not still upset about that, are you?"
"I'll be upset about it if I want to be," Ho-Oh said. "In any case. It is not just that, but that you are gaining a valuable new perspective on the world."
Entei considered that, and was silent for several seconds.
"Lord," he said, with a frown. "I have spoken to Mewtwo, and he explained the lesson that Ash once taught him. Do you know what it was?"
"I have spoken to that young Legend as well," Ho-Oh agreed. "He told me it was his great realization that it is what one does with the gift of life that determines who one is."
"A lesson we have had reason to apply recently," Entei confirmed, looking over at where the Shiny Beasts slept when they stayed in the Burned Tower.
Ho-Oh followed his gaze, and nodded. "But I suspect you had some reason to bring it up."
"Your mention of my siblings – it reminded me of something I have been thinking on," Entei agreed. "It is this simple question – if Suicune and Raikou are my sister and brother, then what are you?"
Ho-Oh blinked, surprised.
"I admit that it is a question about the circumstances of my birth, not what I have done since," Entei went on. "But… I would like to know."
"It is a difficult question," Ho-Oh admitted. "The terms normally used in matters of birth are mother and father, but as with Mewtwo and his fellow cloned Pokémon they are not terms easy to use."
He gave it a long, silent minute of thought, and then shook his great rainbow wings.
"You, and Suicune and Raikou, are the Beasts of Ecruteak," he said. "And that makes me your lord. I am also your creator… but I think that if the term father can be used for me, then I am honoured to claim it as well – and treasure it."
Entei sat back. "I suppose that makes sense. And I am glad you feel honoured."
Neither spoke for a few seconds.
"So," Entei went on, seriously. "About my allowance..."
Ho-Oh snorted in surprised and undignified laughter, and let out a jet of flame. "What!?"
Entei tried to hold his expression, but lost it and began to chuckle.
"Up and over!" Casey called.
Her Pidgeot heard, and his yellow-and-black tail flared out to catch the wind. Using it as an air-driven lever, he pulled up and into a tight flip.
"Don't follow!" James said. "Bank right – get him as he comes out of it!"
The PokeRinger crowd oohed and aahed as the two big birds threw themselves around the sky – Pidgeot far faster, but Moltres using her Fire type to produce big explosions of flame which physically pushed her around her turns.
Using that advantage now, she side-slipped and used her long beak to snatch at Pidgeot's prize. They fought over it for a moment, then Moltres twisted her whole body and ripped it out of Pidgeot's beak before folding in her wings and diving.
She released it as close to the goal as she dared, and pulled up – intentionally fouling Pidgeot's approach vector, so he had to pull away.
To her surprise, though, he managed to work with it – yanking himself into a stall and then using a powerful beat of his wings to slip past.
Pidgeot's claws failed to grab the wing, but the wind of his passage knocked it off course – it bounced once just short of the goal, then spun off to land on the floor of the arena.
Moltres was already aiming to pick it up again, ready to get it into the goal this time, and Pidgeot yanked himself around again to compete.
"Wait, Pidgeot!" Casey said suddenly. "Shortstop!"
"What's one a' dem when it's at home?" Meowth asked, as Pidgeot broke off his attack run and drifted sideways.
"Well, it's a while since I played baseball," James said loftily. "I don't-"
"It means he's going to try to get Moltres as she reaches the goal, morons," Jessie sighed.
"Ooooh, right," James and Meowth said, both at about the same time.
Then they looked at one another.
"Moltres, Fire Blast that ring into the goal!" James ordered.
The Fire-type heard her trainer, and nodded once as she approached the goalposts.
Then she inhaled, and fired an almighty roaring wave of flame which blew past the shocked Pidgeot and passed squarely between the goal posts.
Three small metal balls clattered to the ground.
"Uh..." the announcer said, uncertainty in his voice. "I think that may have destroyed the ring they were supposed to score with. Do we do another round?"
As the sun dipped towards late afternoon over Altomare, Pokémon flew this way and that as they returned home for the night.
The dome of the now-fully-repaired museum shone as light caught it, and the tiled roofs sparkled.
A Pidgeot drifted high above the city, seeming to find every thermal there was to be found, and his rider drew away – using watercolour paints and pencil marks to capture the sight of her home from the air.
"This was a great idea," she said, marking the central canal with pencil strokes before beginning to colour it a rich aquamarine.
I think so too, replied her mount – concentrating mostly on his illusion. It should not have taken us this long to realize we could disguise as other Pokémon – especially Flying ones.
"I guess that's just how it is sometimes," Bianca agreed. "It takes someone who's coming at a problem for the first time to spot the easy answer – you know, because they don't automatically think of something like how they already do it."
Latios squeaked agreement.
"Watch out for that," Bianca added, not unkindly. "Pidgeot don't squeak."
Wincing, the disguised Dragon-type shut up and rose slightly into the air.
"I'm glad you managed to learn to talk to me," the artist added. "It really is a great feeling… being able to actually talk to one another, I mean."
Tell me about it, Latios agreed. Of course, some part of me wonders if I'd have had the time if my sister was here.
"Latias is…" Bianca began, automatically defending her friend – then stopped. "Well, eager, I think. But she's getting a lot better."
Latios chuckled.
"Can you head a bit towards the west?" Bianca asked. "I'd like to get the light… thanks."
As they flew, Latios' illusion flapping 'his' wings to give the appearance that he wasn't levitating with sheer psionic strength, Bianca put her pencil in the holder for a moment and just took in Altomare from above.
It was a beautiful sight. The canals of the city stood out much more nicely than a road net would, and there were so many plants and fountains and plazas that it didn't look at all crowded.
And, more than anything, it was home.
We're here, Latios sent, and Bianca patted him on the side of the neck.
"Thanks, Latios."
Getting out her paints, she began to work on one of the tiled roofs – then paused, pencil slowing on the paper.
"Latios?"
Yes? Latios asked, and she felt him moving his head to see her more clearly.
"What do you think of Joy?"
There was no need to clarify which Joy, not between them.
Well… I think she's done well by her Latias, Latios replied. She's kept the secret of the garden, and I think she's glad that her Latias has a place to go to meet Eons who aren't just her brother.
"I have to admit, I kind of like that too," Bianca said. "It's good you've got a friend of your own… well, kind, I guess."
They were silent for a few minutes, as Bianca painted in the terracotta tiling.
Then she put her paintbrush back, and smiled.
"And what do you think of how her Latias looks?"
"I think she – what!? Latios squeaked, and his friend laughed.
"Sorry!" she said, between giggles. "But… you have to admit, it was the obvious-"
I nearly lost my illusion! Latios complained. Don't surprise me like that!
Growlie sat just outside a Pokémon centre to the south of Mt. Pyre, watching the crowd go by.
His tail flicked back and forth with steady, metronomic precision, and he smiled slightly at the feeling of the sun on his coat.
Then he smelt a familiar smell, and his tail began to wag much faster. Pushing himself to his feet, he had just enough time to shake out his coat and get it looking properly fluffy before the source of that scent came around the corner.
"Hello, stranger," he said, with a bow.
"And stranger still," Ninetales replied, smiling back. "It's been too long, love."
"I know," Growlie admitted. "Sorry about that… I know it was my turn to choose the place, but..."
"Problems with work?" she asked.
"Problems, as you say, with work," Growlie agreed. "But we should start heading towards the restaurant."
"Lead the way, then," she requested, and fell into step half a pace behind him.
"So, how are things?" Growlie asked, looking over at her.
"Not great," Ninetales sighed. "Only an hour or so before I left there was a terrible incident with Absol – her Mega Evolution went wrong."
Growlie blinked. "That sounds bad. Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine – I didn't get involved," Ninetales said, with a shrug. "It all happened a bit fast."
"Too fast for you?" Growlie asked, blinking. "I hadn't thought that was possible."
Ninetales flirted her tails, chuckling. "Oh, you! Sadly, though, I didn't have the chance to assist."
She shook her head. "But what about you? How is it with the most interesting Rocket cell in the world?"
"...actually that's pretty accurate," Growlie admitted. "I don't know if you met Audino – he was assigned to our team after..."
"After what?" Ninetales asked, when he stopped.
"It doesn't matter," Growlie said. His eyes dropped involuntarily to one side, and Ninetales followed them – then frowned.
"Stop a moment," she requested, and her boyfriend did so. They were well into the park, now, so it wasn't quite so inconvenient as it would have been on a street.
Still frowning, she sniffed closer – then blinked, and took a step back.
"This fur's shorter – and it's ragged," she concluded. "What happened?"
"I-"
"Growlie," she said, a stern hint to her voice. "Please tell me – I deserve to know."
The Arcanine looked back, frowning as much as she was – then looked down and sighed.
"It's what I didn't tell you about that fight with Jessiebelle," he said, reluctantly. "She shot me – it didn't draw blood, but it was still-"
"Are you okay?" Ninetales asked, concern replacing her annoyance. "If you needed a healer – how bad was it?"
"It didn't draw blood," Growlie repeated. "It was a bit frightening, but… afterwards. At the time the main thing I was thinking was relief that she hadn't managed to shoot James."
Ninetales blinked as she assimilated that. "You saved your trainer from being shot?"
She gave him a lick on the muzzle. "Okay, I suppose I'll have to forgive you for being a hero – but don't do it again!"
Growlie whimpered, in a way so over the top that Ninetales had to laugh.
After a moment, she shook her head. "Okay, I think we both need that meal now. Where was it again?"
"Just over here," Growlie said, as they resumed their walk. "They do deep-crust pizza – really, ridiculously deep crust."
"Okay, how deep?" Ninetales asked, taking the bait.
"They do a pizza with sausages hidden in the crust."
Ninetales noticed her mouth was watering slightly, and shut it with a snap that made her Arcanine friend snort with laughter.
"I guess we'll be ordering that, then," he said.
"...yes," Ninetales confirmed.
"There's one thing I don't understand about this," Lance said, sitting on the thin metal bunk.
His Vibrava – the Pokémon he was officially using as his main Pokémon at the moment – looked up, then shrugged and buzzed her wings.
"I understand the plan to get Groudon," Lance told her – and, incidentally, the four much more powerful Pokémon hidden inside a concealed pocket of his outfit. "And the bit with how the plan from there is to use his land-raising, sun-intensifying ability to make better use of the continental shelf."
That was a phrasing he'd come up with some time ago. He didn't agree with the plan, but he did understand it.
The room shifted slightly.
"What I don't understand is why Team Magma has a submarine..."
The sun blazed brightly over the Charicific Valley, seeming to have the intensity of midsummer midday and more.
Ash's Charizard sat back on his haunches, a grin on his muzzle, and watched the airshow.
Just overhead, the source of the sun – a sleek, powerful Mega Charizard Y – shot past, banking hard, and then tilted back so she was perpendicular to the ground and ascended like a rocket.
Every stroke of her wings brought her at least a hundred feet higher, and she climbed until she was a tiny speck – then let out a great roaring blaze of flame which swept around the sky like the second hand of a clock, forming a smoky circle around her position.
"You're one lucky Pokémon," said one of the other Charizard, and Ash's Pokémon nodded – not taking his eyes from Mega Charla as she began to dive.
If she'd ascended fast, she descended like a blazing comet, and corkscrewed around her base course before unfurling her wings and turning them to slow her fall.
The crack of both wings undergoing tension was faintly audible even from the ground.
Then she opened her mouth, rolling onto her back so she was facing the sky, and launched out a bright blue blaze of gas and energy.
"You may want to close your eyes," Ash's Charizard advised.
"What-" began one of the others, and then the Blast Burn detonated.
Brilliant white light flashed out in all directions, making at least one of the watching Fire-types yelp as they got temporarily flash-blinded, and the shockwave hit like a Slam which made them all stagger back a step.
While they were still recovering, Ash's Charizard jumped into the air.
"That was awesome!" he roared, as Mega Charla came gliding back down. "You've got it!"
"I'm glad I met your exacting standards," his girlfriend replied, with a chuckle.
"So… you think I should do what?" Tyranitar asked, leaning carefully over to look at Totodile.
"Dancing, of course!" Totodile replied. "I would teach you to shoot water, but I'm not sure you can do that – so dancing it is!"
The huge Rock/Dark type considered that.
"So… what? Ballet?"
"If that's what you want to do, sure!" Totodile agreed. "But what really matters isn't what you dance but that you dance! See… you've done really great, but you still have to move kinda slowly."
Tyranitar straightened, using his tail as careful balance, and nodded. "You're right, I do."
"Right!" Totodile agreed. "So… my idea was, what you gotta do is learn to be kinda bouncy!"
He demonstrated, hopping from foot to foot with a springy ease. "'cause of how I'm moving, I'm never locking my leg in one position – instead, I'm letting it bend to store up energy, and then I can just straighten it again to move back the other way!"
Tyranitar's head moved back and forth slightly to follow the bouncy Water-type. "I'm afraid I don't see how that will help."
Totodile stopped bouncing from foot to foot, and put one finger near his mouth as he thought. "Um… I'm pretty sure it works like this… oh! Hold on a minute!"
Tyranitar watched as Totodile hurried off to the lab.
"You'd never know he was the older one..." he mused.
A couple of minutes later, Totodile hurried right back – carrying a large book.
"See?" he asked, opening it and pointing. "That's how a pneumatic suspension works! You compress the air, and then it springs back!"
Tyranitar squinted, to make sure he read the whole explanation.
"I see," he said eventually. "Well, if you think dancing is the way to teach it… what should we start with?"
Totodile looked up at the much larger Rock-type.
"...I think we need to start with one of the solo dances," he said, waving his arms. "I'm too small to help you with a waltz."
"Okay, only a few to do!" Molly said, glancing up. "How are you getting on, Eevee?"
Her Eevee jumped up on Suicune's back. "I'm a few behind..." she said, shaking her head. "These gloves are a little bit clumsy!"
"They look cute, though," Molly replied. "And really fashionable!"
Eevee posed, drawing chuckles from both the other Shiny beasts as they watched.
The gloves – yellow and orange, slightly puffy, with holes for her claws – were only part of Eevee's costume. She was also wearing similar gloves on her hindpaws, and a coat around her midsection – which had a pair of little wings standing up just in front of the arch of her back.
To complete the look, there was a tail sleeve which enclosed her real tail, and a pair of antenna.
"You certainly look like a Dragonite," Entei said, shaking his ruff.
Molly tied another bow. "Nearly done! I'll come around and help, Eevee," she volunteered. "Then we can get the mirror and Suicune can look at herself!"
The shiny Suicune's eyes went up to the big pointy wimple tied on her forehead, and she smiled. "I can see a bit of it already."
"Yeah, but you need to see all of it," Molly said seriously. "To get the full effect of the… en-sem-ble."
"Much like mine," agreed the shiny Entei, reaching up with a paw and adjusting his wig.
Put together with the ruff, he was the picture of a gentleman. Even if the fashion was a few centuries out of date, of course.
"You're good at doing those," noted the shiny Raikou – as yet not dressed up.
"I did them for Ash's Entei back at the Silver Conference," Molly said proudly. "He squirmed more than you, Suicune!"
All four Pokémon chuckled.
"I suspect that Ash's Entei would rather have been the one with Ash's hat, in that battle," Raikou mused. "It probably would have been destroyed by the fire, though."
"Okay, done!" Molly said, and hurried around to Suicune's other side to help her Eevee. "Can you pass me another ribbon?"
Eevee passed one over.
"I could just turn into Espeon and do it," she said, with a sigh.
"That might break the costume," Molly said seriously. "Sorry!"
She used a free hand to ruffle Eevee's fur, and the Evolution Pokémon purred happily.
"It's nice to have a quiet afternoon," Sceptile said, leaning back against a small log.
There was a faint thudding from across the lake.
"Yes, a quiet afternoon."
"By the standards around here, anyway," Meganium agreed.
She sat next to Sceptile, who smiled and shifted aside a little for her.
"What is it this time?" he asked. "And should we watch out for one of those huge pillars of water you've told me about?"
Meganium shrugged. "Actually, I think it's not Squirtle this time. I spotted Snorlax asleep across the entrance to the Tauros barn."
"That would explain the banging," Sceptile agreed. "And the shouting. And the occasional loud snore."
He stretched out an arm, letting as much of it as possible catch the sun. "This really is a marvellous day."
"It is," Meganium nodded.
She closed her eyes, and extended her flower a little – letting out a happy sigh as it caught the sun.
"Do you think you'll be in the next Gym Battle?" she asked, eyes still closed.
"I don't think I will, no," Sceptile replied. "It's the Flying gym, and I'm not very strong against Flying types – I'm still trying to get Ice Blade working nicely, it's not a very easy move for me to use."
"Right," Meganium nodded.
After a few minutes of companionable silence, she spoke up again. "You know there's another tournament scheduled soon?"
"Oh?" Sceptile said, adjusting his twig. "When's that?"
"Ivysaur told me he's going to be checking tomorrow who still wants to participate, and then he'll get Damos to generate the set list."
"Thanks for the warning," Sceptile told her, eyes still half-lidded. "I think I'll take that challenge up. What about you?"
"I'll be happy cheering you on from the sidelines," Meganium replied.
There was a wham, and the ground trembled slightly.
"I wonder what that was?" Sceptile said, in moderately curious tones.
"I suspect that the Tauros just added a new door to their barn," Meganium replied.
She yawned. "Dear me… I think I may be a little low on sleep..."
"Well, I don't think we're needed for anything," Sceptile replied. "Go ahead and get some rest."
Reinitializing Cyber-Port, announced Porygon One.
"Any sign of them?" Dr. Akihabara asked.
Searching… IFF tag detected. Identity is Porygon Four. Link established.
"Engage de-digitization procedure!" the Doctor said, and hit a key on his keyboard.
Affirmative. Engaging in ten seconds.
A countdown showing seconds and thousandths of seconds appeared in a window on the screen, spinning down through the last ten seconds, then pulsed and vanished.
With a bright flash of light, the Digitizer mk. V engaged, bathing the whole room in light.
When it faded, all four operatives were back in the real world, along with their Pokémon.
Dr. Akihabara took a step back, and blinked. "Why are you all covered with green slime?"
"Where's the showers, doc?" Akiyama demanded, as Tachikawa tried not to touch any part of her outfit or skin to any other part.
"Well, they're down the hallway, third on the right. What happened?"
First Katou, then Akiyama, then Tachikawa plodded past him, dripping on the carpet, and their bedraggled Pokémon followed.
"Mr. Akihabara?" Noguchi asked, as his Braviary headed for the showers as well. "Tell Yasuda corporation that they need to empty their trash can once in a while."
With that, he followed the rest of the CyberMon operatives.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder