章 90: 65
"How did you do?"
Molly looked up. "Hi, Suicune!"
The shiny Pokémon smiled, nodding to her. "And hello, Molly. It's good to be back."
"How was it?" Molly asked. "You were… talking to Darkrai, right?"
She frowned. "Isn't Darkrai kind of a Legendary to do with the moon?"
"There are lots of Legendaries associated with the moon," Suicune reminded her. "In this case, it was easier than that – just to New Moon Island in Sinnoh – but the negotiations took a long time."
She shook her head. "I remember that our templates warned us that some Pokémon are harder to deal with than others, but Darkrai was… well, he never seems inclined to try talking something out when he can try and explain it with dreams instead."
"Dreams?" Molly repeated. "How did that work?"
"He put me to sleep so he could talk to me," Suicune clarified. "Approximately twenty times."
Molly giggled, then blushed. "Sorry, Suicune..."
"No, no harm done," Suicune waved off. "I do sort of find it funny myself."
Espeon poked her head out of a pile of blankets, shook them off in a single motion, and became Eevee. "Morning..."
"It's afternoon," Molly told her, pointing at the clock. "See?"
"Afternoon, then," Eevee said. She jumped up onto the table, and pawed at a letter. "You haven't opened it yet?"
"I was kind of nervous," Molly explained. "What if I didn't do well?"
"Then we'll help you take them again," Suicune assured her. "Go ahead – there's nothing to be afraid of, Molly."
Padding closer, Suicune nosed up under Molly's hand. "Now, let's see how you did."
Molly nodded, and took the envelope from Eevee with her free hand. She struggled a bit with opening it, until Eevee went to Leafeon and used a quick Leaf Blade to help cut the top off the envelope.
Taking a deep breath, Molly opened the letter.
Both Suicune and Leafeon crowded in close to look.
"...well, there we are," Suicune smiled. "All that worry for nothing."
"Yeah," Molly agreed, then a smile broke out. "I passed!"
"Now we just need to work out when to start our journey," Leafeon said, flashing back to an Eevee. "Suicune, do you think you'll be around to help?"
"Whenever I'm able," the shiny Suicune said. "But remember, you do need to sort out someone to be the mentor."
"That's right," Molly agreed, frowning. "I wonder if Gary would be okay with helping me, he's nice..."
"And, with only a few matches to go, we're moving into the semi finals of the Hoenn Grand Festival!" Mr. Contesta announced. "Which of these aspiring Coordinators will go on to the final?"
The crowd cheered, shouting names and clapping.
"Let's find out! First, we have May Maple – from Petalburg, right here in Hoenn!"
May waved, smiling slightly.
This was a pretty great feeling.
"And, opposite her – Perdita X," Contesta went on. "Uh… I think that's how you pronounce that..."
Perdita waved her hand with a flourish. "It's supposed to be deep and meaningful."
She turned to May. "Anyway, shall we get on with it?"
"I think we at least need to wait until they say we can start," May said, taking out her Pokéball anyway.
"I suppose," Perdita shrugged.
"Begin!" Contesta called.
Perdita sent out her Pokémon first, throwing the 'ball high into the air. It burst in a flash of light, and a Shiftry came spinning out with leaves spread wide.
He made a pass with both arms, air swirling around them, and the Dark-type came to a halt a few inches above the stadium floor as a Razor Wind supported him from below.
A moment later, Munchlax landed in a flash of green light.
"Solarbeam?" Perdita asked. "Hm. Shiftry, Night Slash!"
The Dark-type dismissed his whirlwind, took three steps forwards, and launched into a wound-up balletic Night Slash attack.
Munchlax ducked.
The Night Slash hit him anyway, knocking him backwards into a flip, and the Normal-type stuck the landing looking a bit offended.
"That's funny…" May said, frowning. "Okay, Munchlax – Spicy!"
Munchlax brought his hands together, and a flicker of orange light danced between them. Then he unleashed it, a roaring blaze of Flamethrower which crackled and spiralled.
But it got nowhere near Shiftry, as Munchlax' opponent jumped backwards in a swirl of wind. The Fire-type attack did get caught by the wind, intensifying it and bringing it closer to Shiftry, but the Grass-type had started moving early enough to be safe despite that.
"That's a very good dodge," May frowned. "Suspiciously good."
Wasn't there something about Shiftry…
"Dodge!" she called.
Shiftry's Razor Wind lashed out, carrying leaves with it, and caught Munchlax as he dodged.
He hadn't even bothered aiming for where Munchlax had been – he'd known where the Normal-type was going to dodge.
"Metronome," she said, deciding to test her theory.
Munchlax picked himself up, and began shaking his fingers back and forth.
"She's having him use Metronome?" Brock asked. "Doesn't that mean the outcome of the attack is unpredictable?"
Munchlax finished charging his Metronome, and a flash of purple light went out towards Shiftry. The Dark-type dove to the side, almost getting clear, but it turned out to be a Psychic-type attack and just dissipated without effect.
"Another Metronome!" May instructed.
"I hope she doesn't use it too much," Max frowned. "The judges don't like it if you just do the same thing over and over again."
"Isn't Metronome as far from the same thing over and over again as you can get?" Lucario asked.
"Yeah, I guess it is," Max admitted. "But still – whoa!"
As the second Metronome finished, Munchlax found himself with a blazing azure blade of light coming from his right forearm.
"That's Sacred Sword!" Ash said.
"We know," Lucario pointed out. "We've all seen it."
"Yeah, but… it's still Sacred Sword," Ash muttered. "I was trying to help."
Munchlax looked at the Sacred Sword, not entirely sure what to do, then pointed it at Shiftry. "Sword attack!"
Nothing happened.
"Flamethrower on the sword," May suggested. "Then swipe at that Shiftry!"
Munchlax did so, launching a burst of flame at the glowing blue Sacred Sword, and swiped it at Shiftry. The flames made the Sword – already weakening – disintegrate completely, but the overall result was a semicircular arc of flames that would have been very destructive if Shiftry hadn't easily dodged them.
May glanced at the scoreboard, wincing. "Okay, let's try something else – Metronome and combine it with a Dry – and throw the orb before it goes off!"
This time, when Munchlax produced his Metronome, he didn't bother waiting for it to trigger. Instead, he threw it a few inches into the air, then put his hands together and made a pushing motion.
A beam of sparkling ice came from where his palms connected, striking the Metronome and pushing it at Shiftry, and the Grass-type jumped into the air – wind swirling around him, pushing him higher as he got out of the way of whatever the Metronome orb was going to turn into.
It was a surprise for everyone in the arena when the Metronome turned into Eruption. A great blast of blue-tinged flame went rushing skywards, damped and changed by the Ice-type energy that had surrounded it, and Munchlax adjusted his Ice Beam slightly so it corralled and directed the odd, mixed-element Eruption.
This time, Shiftry didn't manage to ride it out unscathed. The blast disturbed the air and Munchlax's Ice Beam made it worse, making the whirl of air he depended on for his Razor Wind flight impossible to control, and he was unable to stabilize before hitting the ground hard.
"Thought so!" May said, snapping her fingers. "Shiftry's using Mind Reader so he can tell what we're going to do – so the only solution is to improvise! Let's mix a Metronome with a Bitter!"
"Stop him from using Metronome!" Perdita called. "Leaf Storm!"
Shiftry spun twice in place, calling up a great wind, and launched it towards Munchlax. All colours of leaves went along with the wind – green, red, brown and yellow – and it bore down on the Normal-type at speed.
Just as they were about to hit, Munchlax triggered his Metronome. The little globe of light burst into an avalanche of rocks as Munchlax used Rock Slide, and the Normal-type capitalized on it by jumping onboard and riding them into the air.
The other attack he'd been charging at the same time shone in his paws, and he kicked two of the rocks straight at Shiftry before blasting them with his Solarbeam. Bits of rock went everywhere, some hitting Shiftry despite his dodge, and Munchlax landed on the other side of the arena with a thud before turning to face the Grass-type.
"Oh, and an interesting recovery there from Munchlax!" Contesta said, approving. "We'll see if this means they can turn the match around!"
"Not a chance!" Perdita replied. "Shiftry, work up a Hurricane and knock this fatso out of the fight!"
"Was that supposed to be an insult?" Munchlax asked, puzzled.
"Munchlax, Metronome – and Focus Punch!" May instructed.
Shiftry's fans began building up a storm, the Grass-type spinning about his own axis as he built up momentum with his fans. Leaves and grass appeared as the Hurricane built, ready to launch it at Munchlax and take him out of the running entirely.
Munchlax pulled back his fist. A glow built on it, and with his other paw he waved his finger back and forth.
"A good example of May's unpredictable strategy," Joy said. "Let's see what happens!"
"Now!" May ordered.
Munchlax tossed the white globe in the air, pulling his fist back, and punched it just at the moment that it triggered.
A large, well-wrapped present clocked Shiftry on the head, making him stagger backwards and causing his Hurricane to dissipate unused.
"...what?" Perdita asked, completely thrown. "What was that? What kind of move makes a birthday present?"
She looked again. "And where did the Munchlax go?"
Shiftry rubbed his head, and looked at May. He frowned at her, then raised his leaves in a shrug.
"What do you mean? She doesn't know either?" Perdita asked. "Then-"
Munchlax used Metronome.
A great spire of blue flame erupted from the present, incinerating the top in a moment, and little rings of secondary flame came pulsing out around Munchlax and around the column of fire.
Completely unprepared without anyone to Mind Read, Shiftry was launched into the air by the force of the flames. His arms waved, trying to summon a wind to help control his ascent, but the force of the flames Munchlax was unleashing was far too great for Shiftry to manage to affect them.
"Oh, come on!" Perdita said, taking a step back. "That's just ridiculous!"
"That's Blue Flare!" Ash identified. "I remember it from when Reshiram used it in Unova – it's a really powerful Fire-type attack!"
"Yeah, we guessed," Max said, as Shiftry was carried up past them and towards the roof. "It's taller than a house and it's made of flame, it's kind of obvious."
"...I wanted to be helpful," Ash muttered.
"I'm sure it was helpful," Lucario assured him. "I've not seen the attack before – as far as I remember – so I'm grateful."
"Hyper Voice!" May called.
Munchlax picked himself up from the smouldering ruins of the present box as his Blue Flare ran out, steadied himself with arms outstretched, and faced up.
He let loose a deep "LAX!", which caught the tail end of the Blue Flare and compressed it along with the wavefront. A kind of disc of blue flames raced upwards, catching up with the head Shiftry was still stuck on, and the whole thing burst in one final ring of azure fire.
Shiftry hit the ground about three seconds later.
"What a turnaround!" Mr. Contesta said, over the applause. "Munchlax uses some very unusual Metronome results to his advantage!"
"This isn't over!" Perdita said. "Shiftry, Leaf Blade!"
Shiftry pulled himself to his feet, still smouldering, and flapped both arms to extinguish the remaining flames.
"And stop!" Contesta added.
"...what?" Perdita demanded, turning to the judges. "What do you mean?"
"Time's up," Joy pointed out. "We don't want to run overtime again."
May spun to look at the scoreboard. It took a moment to tell, but-
"May Maple is through to the final!" Mr. Contesta summarized. "A very close match, and I'm sure everyone will want to see both the final and the third-fourth place playoff!"
Perdita huffed.
"Thanks for the match," May said, recalling Munchlax. "He's right – it was really close, I think either of us could have won."
"Of course we could, I was in the lead for most of it..." Perdita muttered, then shook her head. "Sorry, I know I should be more gracious… it's just your style was so random!"
"I know," May agreed. "But it kind of was the only way to get past your Shiftry."
Shiftry said something, rubbing his side, and Perdita recalled him.
"You'd better not show me up in the finals," the Coordinator said simply. "I don't want to be beaten by someone who goes down easily."
"How long is it before the next match?" Dawn asked. "Is there a gap before the second semi final?"
"I don't think so," Johanna replied. "The schedule says there's a block for the semi finals, then a block for the finals – we can get something then."
"Sounds good," Dawn agreed. "I'm kind of running out of ice cream..."
"Hi!" Mawile called, waving. "How did it go?"
May looked puzzled.
She asked how it went, Grumpig supplied. I'm curious myself.
"Oh, right," May said, nodding, and not noticing Mawile seeming a bit nonplussed. "Okay, the other Pokémon was a Shiftry who kept using Mind Reader to tell what we were going to do – so it could always dodge, which made Munchlax look kind of bad at aiming."
That sounds difficult, Grumpig winced. How did you solve it?
"Well, luckily it was Munchlax," May said, shrugging. "Munchlax and Skitty are the two most random Pokémon I have, so we just kept using Metronome and hoping to get a good response – and we did get a few."
She winced. "I remember it didn't go well one match I did in Johto, though."
One of the ones from the time that's sort of later?
"Right," May agreed. "He got Explosion. Twice."
Goodra winced.
"Goodra?" Mawile spoke up. "I think I'd like to learn how to do the thing where a Pokémon can speak to any human."
"I think you'd be good at it," Goodra said, smiling. "Are you going to ask Lucario about it?"
"Yeah," Mawile agreed. "I want to make sure I can talk to anyone I want to."
For me that problem's been solved already, Grumpig noted.
"What problem?" May asked.
Mostly… Grumpig added. They're discussing about being able to speak to any human. Have you ever thought about being able to speak to any Pokémon?
"Not… really," May admitted. "I kind of felt like being able to speak to my Pokémon was enough."
Drew's Leafeon skipped backwards, paws glowing with an inner light, and green grass blossomed out with every step.
"Keep after her, Leavanny!" his opponent said, pointing, and his blade-armed Grass-type bore forwards. His feet hit the ground lightly, and increasingly fast Slashes and X-Scissors delivered with balletic precision sliced a path towards Leafeon. Each one left a trail of sparks which hung in the air for a good second, leaving a succession of afterimages as though a dozen Leavanny were following one another through the battle.
"Grass step," Drew instructed, and Leafeon stopped, crouching – then a swirl of leaves bloomed around her, and she vanished.
"What – behind you!" the other Coordinator said, as Leafeon came back out of her Quick Attack. More grass pulsed beneath her paws, some flowers forming as well, and she spun her tail around in a ready motion.
"Second step," Drew added, and the tail paused – then blurred into motion.
As the crowd watched, Leafeon danced forwards, tail glowing white, and blocked Leavanny's next X-Scissor with an Iron Tail which produced a clang that echoed around the arena.
Flicking to one side in another blur of leaves, Leafeon swiped again – this time with an X-Scissor of her own, tail clashing with Leavanny's arm blade.
"And these two look well matched!" Contesta said. "Who will win in this clash of blades?"
A particularly violent clash sent Leafeon backwards, and she did a flip in mid-air before landing on a patch of thick, fresh grass – which got noticeably thicker and fresher as her paws touched it.
She crouched, almost vanishing in the green grass, and then Leavanny swiped it aside to deliver a final blow-
-and got nothing, as Leafeon was gone.
The Grass-type appeared again out of another grassy patch a moment later, blurring around Leavanny in a complete circle with white streaks emanating from her tail. Striking Leavanny no less than five times, Leafeon took almost a quarter of the arena to skid back to a stop – trails of fresh grass following her paws as she came to a halt.
Knocked over by the force of the attack, Leavanny hit the ground face-first before managing to steady himself.
"And that's time!" Joy called. "And that remarkably executed Aerial Ace by Leafeon puts the cap on an excellent performance!"
"Drew's got better," Brock said. "Again."
"I guess the whole thing with the past has been a real wake-up call for him," Max mused. "So… that means it's May and Drew in the finals."
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "It's going to be at least a few minutes before the third-fourth playoff and the finals, right?"
Brock checked the programme. "Yes, you're right."
"In that case – let's go get some ice cream!" Ash decided. "It's getting kind of hot."
"Sure," Brock agreed. "Lucario, do you want some?"
"Of course," Lucario agreed. "I'll keep the seats warm if you want… but for that, I demand sprinkles."
"Fine by me!" Ash agreed, with a laugh. "Chocolate?"
"You offend me. Why would there be anything except chocolate?"
After a moment, Lucario waved his paw. "Don't answer that, I'm sure Pikachu has sent letters asking for ketchup flavour."
Pikachu stuck his tongue out.
"What about you, Latios?" Ash asked, of thin air. "You want one?"
A blue flicker revealed a thumbs-up.
"I'll come with you to pick mine," Latios added softly.
"Let's go, then!"
"Ash, are you sure there's an ice cream stall this way?" Brock asked.
"Well, I think there is," Ash replied. "And Pikachu hasn't corrected me yet."
"Shockingly he is going in the right direction at the moment," Pikachu informed them.
"Good," Max said. "I was starting to wonder if we should go back to our seats and ask Jirachi to wish us some."
Now that's a wish I can get behind! Jirachi giggled.
"There we are," Ash said, pointing. "Told you… wait, is that…"
"What?" Brock asked, following his gaze.
"Dawn!?" Ash asked.
Dawn turned from the stand, hand outstretched to take a cone from a Meowth, and stared.
"Who are you?" she asked. "I don't think we've met..."
Ash was about to reply, and then there was a flash of green light.
Right, that's it! Celebi said, hands on hips. I'm fed up with you missing running into her!
"But-" Max began, too late.
Celebi snapped her fingers, and Ash vanished – and reappeared directly above Dawn.
A sudden wind made Brock's jacket ruffle and nearly knocked Max's glasses off, sent Dawn's hat tumbling, and then Ash stopped about a foot from crashing into his once-and-future friend.
"I've got you," Latios squeaked, materializing in a blue flash.
"What just happened?" Dawn asked. "Wait – aren't you Ash Ketchum? But – how do you know my-"
"Is that a Celebi!?" Johanna interrupted, pointing.
"We'd already seen her!" Brock said, adjusting his jacket. "You didn't need to do that!"
Celebi blinked, as Latios lowered Ash to the ground.
...ooops… she 'pathed, blushing. Um… see you earlier!
Another flash of light, and she disappeared.
"I guess dat's what you call an eventful reunion," Meowth said.
Johanna turned to him. "And you can talk?"
"We already knew that, mom," Dawn said. "He's Jesselina's Meowth – you know, the Contest star?"
"I think we need to do some explaining," Max decided. "Ash, you start."
"Okay, uh..." Ash frowned. "The short version is, I was your friend in the future."
Dawn blinked.
"What's the long version?"
"I can explain everything pretty quickly, actually," Ash said. "It's really complicated, but – I can sort of remind you what happened in the future by shaking your hand."
"None of this makes the slightest bit of sense," Johanna informed them.
Brock spread his hands. "Sorry, Mrs. Berlitz, we're kind of used to it."
"Who's Mrs. Berlitz?" Ash asked.
Pikachu facepawed. "Ash, I know Dawn's surname. How did you miss it?"
"It never came up!" Ash defended himself. "She's just… Dawn."
"Somehow I'm not surprised," Max said, sighing.
There was a crunch, and he glanced towards the stall. "And you can stop with the popcorn, okay? It's not helping."
James stopped with his hand halfway into the box. "Why?" he asked. "It's great seeing this happen to someone else for once."
"Ah, more twerps reunited," Jessie added. "It's sort of-"
"Okay, I'm never going to start understanding this if you don't do that thing you were talking about," Dawn decided. "So-"
"Wait, Dawn!" Johanna said. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Yeah, Mom," Dawn replied. "I'm sure – either he's right, or he's wrong, and if he's wrong he's just shaken my hand so… you know, no biggie."
Ash offered his hand, and Dawn took it.
After a few seconds, she let go, and gave Ash a long look.
"It didn't help," she said. "But at least now I know it's not much more weird than normal."
"I know, right?" Brock asked. "Remember that time we went thousands of years into the past?"
"Yeah, that was scary but kind of cool," Dawn agreed, nodding along. "But – wait, how long ago did you guys come back? I'm almost certain the Latios is new."
"Yeah, kind of," Latios agreed. "Last time I… pretty much died."
Dawn's mouth opened slightly. "You're that Latios?"
She turned to Ash. "Congratulations!"
"Dawn?" Johanna asked, now completely lost.
"He's telling the truth," Dawn replied casually. "I kind of miss Piplup, though – wish he was here-"
"WAIT!" Max, Ash and Brock chorused.
...whoops, Jirachi 'pathed. I think that one went through.
An egg popped out of thin air, and Latios caught it before it hit the ground.
"Okay, this is weirding even me out," Dawn said, staring. "Did you get a Jirachi or something?"
"Hi!" Jirachi said, waving.
"So… uh, how are we going to do this?" Dawn asked, holding what was presumably Piplup's egg. "Can you do that thing you did to me to him as well?"
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Actually, I've done it to loads of Pokémon, including a few eggs – oh, you remember that Riolu we helped up in Sinnoh?"
Dawn frowned, then nodded. "Oh, right – so that's where your Lucario came from. Man, your team's even more bizarre than last time..."
"What was bizarre about last time?" Pikachu asked.
There was a moment of silence.
"Oh, right, we didn't get around to the speaking-to-Pokémon bit yet," Ash realized. "Pikachu asked what was bizarre about my team last time."
"Well… Pikachu's pretty odd," Dawn said. "Most people evolve theirs if they're going to use it for serious combat."
"Been there, done that, didn't like it," Pikachu shrugged.
"Anyway," Dawn went on. "Piplup?"
"Actually, we might want to get an Everstone," Brock suggested. "When Ash does that to a Pokémon, they kind of evolve… all the way they can."
"And Piplup really wanted to not evolve," Dawn realized. "Oh, got it… uh, I don't think I've got one..."
I'll ask Damos if he can send one over, Dexter said.
"Was that your Pokédex?" Dawn asked. "Huh. Rotom?"
"Porygon," Max told her, holding Kris up. "May's got one too."
"Max, right?" Dawn checked. "You're May's little brother… huh, a trainer now? Congratulations!"
"Yeah, it's been fun so far," Max grinned.
"Dawn, is this… you're really an old friend of theirs, aren't you?" Johanna asked. "This is a lot to take in… sorry, I might need a moment."
"Yeah, it don't get any easier," Meowth commiserated.
There was a clatter, and Marowak vaulted the counter. She unfolded a chair, and laid it out for Johanna to use.
"Oh – thank you," the experienced Coordinator said, sitting back with a grateful smile and making sure she didn't drop either ice cream. "Very thoughtful of you."
Marowak nodded to her.
Okay, incoming.
Ash caught the Pokéball as Dexter materialized it. "Thanks – who did you have send it over?"
There was a bright flash, and Totodile appeared.
"Hi!" he said, waving. "Oh – hi! You're Dawn!"
He blinked, and looked back at Ash. "We didn't meet Dawn now, right? I thought that was Sinnoh."
"It was," Ash replied. "Oh – did you have something for us?"
"That's right, I did!" Tototile nodded, reaching up to the back of his neck and undoing a string. "Here's one Everstone, delivered specially!"
"Good work, Totodile," Ash said, taking it. "Here we go, Dawn – now, let's get Piplup sorted out."
"Right," Dawn agreed. "Uh… wait, how do we do this?"
They looked at Piplup's egg for a few seconds.
"I guess… maybe we put the Everstone on the egg?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, that makes… sense..." Dawn trailed off. "Ash, I remember seeing you on TV. With a Keldeo?"
"Yeah, that happened," Brock agreed.
"How many Pokémon do you have now?"
That would take too long, Dexter advised. We don't want to miss the final of the Grand Festival.
"Right," Dawn agreed, and put the Everstone necklace on top of the egg with her free hand. "Go ahead, Ash."
Ash reached out and touched Piplup's egg, and there was a little blue flicker of Aura.
Then the egg glowed, rising in a moment to a sparkling white which bathed them all in light.
"That's brighter than normal," Brock said, wincing.
Then the glow faded, and Piplup was cradled in Dawn's arms.
"Piplup?" Dawn asked, adjusting the Everstone necklace. "Is that-"
Piplup nodded, and hugged Dawn.
"It's great to see you!" Dawn said, then frowned slightly. "Actually, though, it also kind of feels like we last saw one another about twenty minutes ago. Time travel's weird."
"Tell me about it," Piplup agreed, nodding. "You know I could hear that whole conversation?"
"It helped, didn't it?" Ash asked.
"Yes," Piplup admitted. "For example, I heard what you said about talking to Pokémon."
He eyed Latios suspiciously. "That one's not going to hit me with Draco Meteor, is he?"
"Don't worry, I've got quite good aim," Latios assured him.
Any further conversation was cut off as a roar went up from the stands.
"I think that was the third-fourth playoff," Brock said. "We'd better get back to our seats."
"Wait!" Ash said, holding his hand up. "We should get ice cream for Lucario!"
"Good idea," Pikachu agreed. "Piplup, do you want one?"
"Sure!" Piplup nodded quickly.
"Hello, Dawn," Lucario said, standing up to let them past. "You're lucky there's some extra seats next to us."
"How – oh, right, Ash said," Dawn remembered. "You've grown up big!"
"I understand that happens," Lucario shrugged, accepting an ice cream from Ash. "Excellent, you remembered the sprinkles."
"Why can I understand the Lucario?" Johanna asked, sitting down next to her daughter. "He's a Pokémon as well..."
"Oh, Lucario's really good with Aura," Ash explained. "That means he can speak in a way that's kind of… translate-y."
"Translate-y?" Dawn repeated. "Really?"
"Well, actually it's a meaning matrix encoded in the subconscious Aura of the words," Ash clarified. "But that takes longer to say."
Dawn stared.
"Ash had to learn the theory," Brock told her. "We'll go into more detail later."
"Yeah, it looks like May and Drew are about ready," Max said. "I think it's a double battle."
"They have those in Hoenn?" Dawn asked, then shook her head. "Whoo, sorry, I kind of had, uh… double memory?"
"Yeah, we all get that," Max said. "Especially with the Fairy type thing."
Dawn frowned, then paled. "How do I not know what type Togekiss is?"
"Yeah, that's kind of our fault," Ash said, chuckling. "And Molly, too..."
The future Coordinator considered that for a moment, then shook her head with a chuckle. "If anyone was going to break things hard enough so there was a whole new type, it would have to be you, Ash."
"I hope I don't end up a new type," Piplup said. "I'm kind of happy with what I have."
"Begin!" called Mr. Contesta, surprising them.
"Go!" Drew called, throwing both Pokéballs at once. His starter and his newest Pokémon appeared in twin flashes of light, and Flygon did a roll in mid-air before catching Roserade and flipping the Grass-type up onto her back.
May's Pokémon hit the ground a moment later. Blaziken appeared in a burst of stars, already running, and caught Ethan's projector out of the air.
Ethan obliged with a bright flash, and planes and curves of blue and pink light drew themselves out of thin air around Blaziken's wrists and ankles.
"Get ready," May warned, as Flygon's wings hummed and propelled her into the air. "Okay, Fire Spin!"
Blaziken put his hands together, and launched out a spiral of flame which reached into the air. Flygon immediately changed course, dodging right and around the attack, and as she banked Drew's Roserade launched an Extrasensory down at the Fire-type.
Moving with a fluid grace, Blaziken backflipped – Ethan's projections staying in place through the complex move – and blocked with crossed forearms. As he did, the wrist pieces lit up, and a Light Screen appeared which sent the Extrasensory attack bouncing away.
Almost before the Extrasensory had stopped, Blaziken crouched before lashing upwards with a mighty kick. This time the bracer on his right leg flashed, and an Ice Beam went flicking up towards Flygon.
"Below!" Drew called, and Roserade shifted her weight. Her flowers glowed, sending out a storm of leaves, and they curved around to get between Flygon and the Ice Beam coming up towards her.
Frozen leaves went in all directions, and Flygon retaliated with a blast of Dragon Pulse – one which Blaziken avoided entirely, backflipping and sending a Blaze Kick scything out to intercept it.
An orange-and-violet explosion went off where they connected, and then Flygon dove through the smoke to attack Blaziken from behind.
The Fighting-type replied by springing forwards onto his hands, and spinning his legs around in a complete circle. Ethan used Reflect as Blaziken spun, creating a wall of projected blue forcefields, and the Fire Spin which formed around them had only one outlet – towards Flygon's attack path.
Flygon promptly banked left, away from it, and as soon as she did the dome shattered. Flame burst out in a ring, and Blaziken landed back on his feet before throwing a punch which got augmented into a Signal Beam.
"This is some amazing teamwork going on here, folks!" Mr. Contesta said excitedly, as a swarm of leaves swept down on Blaziken and Ethan only to be diverted aside by a precisely aimed Fire Blast.
"Yeah, May's definitely gotten a lot better," Dawn agreed, nodding to herself. "Her opponent is that boy she kept facing, right?"
"That's right," Max confirmed. "Drew actually got reminded as well, but his Pokémon weren't – he's been really applying himself too."
"I can see," Dawn noted, then blinked reflexively as Ethan used a bright Flash. The beams of light formed cones out through the faint smoke hanging in the air, and criss-crossed as Blaziken swept his arms around to try and catch Flygon in both of them at once. "Huh, Porygon are kind of versatile."
"Ethan's a Porygon2," Ash told her. "He evolved when he was reprogramming lots of robots."
"Right," Dawn said, absorbing the information. "Neat. But I guess the problem here is that Drew's Pokémon are more agile."
"Flygon are pretty agile Pokémon," Brock agreed.
"Okay, Blaziken!" May shouted, as the Fire-type shredded a wave of leaves and used Ethan's Light Screens to deflect a blast of mud. "Time to mix it up!"
Blaziken nodded, sweeping his arms back as a cue for Ethan to deactivate his screens, then crouched down for a moment before jumping high into the air.
Barrier field, Ethan announced, and Blaziken's clawed feet came down on something solid – thirty feet above the stadium floor.
It wavered as soon as the weight was put on it, and a moment later it came apart in a shower of brilliant blue sparkles – but that wasn't a problem, as Blaziken had already moved on to the next.
A series of high-speed jumps, some of them off Barriers angled like walls instead of floors, brought him close to Flygon and Roserade.
The Grass-type wasted no time deluging him with Razor Leaves and forming a shield from them as her partner dove out of the way, but Blaziken wasn't interested in attacking at the moment. Instead, a glowing Porygon2 materialized just off his left shoulder – and fired out an Icy Wind, a conical jet of freezing air which formed a visible wave in the air.
Ethan's attack hit the leafy shield, shattering it, and shards of frozen leaf pelted both Drew's Pokémon. Flygon wobbled, then dove harder for the ground – and hit it with a crunch, vanishing underground as Roserade landed just next to the small hole.
Blaziken kept running, Ethan forming lower platforms for him as he descended towards the grass, then pushed off one and forward-flipped into a High Jump Kick.
Then Flygon burst out of the ground again, looking as though she'd been swimming through the ground instead of digging, and Roserade jumped neatly back on to leave Blaziken without a target.
Reacting fast, he swept both arms forwards, and Ethan dematerialized. A dozen thin Barriers appeared in front of Blaziken, each one shattering as it was hit but slowing Blaziken down noticeably, and by the time he reached the ground he'd been slowed enough that he didn't crash and hurt himself.
"Contest-goers, I'm having trouble remembering miss Maple's got two Pokémon out there!" Contesta told the audience. "That coordination is something to behold! But will it be enough to get at a slippery Flygon and Roserade?"
Blaziken paused for long enough that Ethan's force-bracelets reformed themselves around his wrists, then began to run again. This time, he swept his right arm around in a half-circle, and began to slowly rise into the air as Ethan produced a series of slanted platforms which let him spiral upwards through the stadium.
Flygon closed in a little, then was caught by surprise as Blaziken suddenly skidded to a halt. Both his arms formed a gripping motion, and Ethan flashed out of nowhere into his hands – a Hyper Beam lighting up his eyes.
The Dragon-type fired a Dragon Pulse, and Roserade layered as many leaves as she could as a defence – then Ethan fired, a bright orange blast of light which powered past the Dragon Pulse and scattered the leaves. There was an explosion of smoke, then Ethan faded again and Blaziken did a slow flip to land on the arena floor.
Flygon burst out of the smoke, wings whirring, but clearly favouring one side.
"Oh, and that's a strong hit!" Nurse Joy commented. "Let's see what comes out of this battle next!"
"It seems kind of like Drew's on the defensive most of the time," Dawn said, frowning.
"I think Flygon's having problems because a lot of their best moves are Ground type, and Blaziken is in midair half the time," Brock suggested. "Still, I'm pretty sure there's a trick or two to come."
"I could take 'em," Piplup boasted.
"Really?" Pikachu asked. "I mean, are you sure?"
Piplup thought about it. "...okay, I might need a teammate."
Brock chuckled.
Blaziken looked up, gauging the position of his opponent, and made a throwing motion. Ethan interpreted it, calculating several possible meanings before deciding on the one which made the most sense, and a wall of solid light appeared in front of the Fighting-type.
Accelerating, Blaziken did a forwards flip. His feet hit the Barrier as he crouched, and he pushed off to go soaring high into the air.
Flygon roared Dragonflame at him as he rose, an attack which aimed well below Blaziken and then followed a chain of swirling Magical Leaves to come up beneath him, and there was a flicker of light as Ethan blocked them both with a combined Reflect and Light Screen.
A moment later, an explosion went off next to Blaziken's ears, knocking him sideways and nearly making him miss his next foothold.
Roserade fired another half-dozen Seed Bombs at once, bracketing Blaziken in an excellent example of deflection shooting, and he was forced to switch to defence – launching out Embers with a lightning-quick punch to blow two of them up early, then sweep his legs around in a Double Kick which knocked the remainder aside and sent them bursting over the arena. The effort made him shift, and Ethan had to form the Barrier for him to stand on at the last moment.
Flygon dove to come up underneath the Fire-type as he was dealing with that, and her tail slapped an Earth Power into the Barrier wall. Ethan dealt with that simply by dissolving the Barrier, and Blaziken's wide-reaching gestures told Ethan to form Light Screen walls which stopped the follow-up Dragon Pulse from reaching them.
Despite that, there was still a major problem – they were now falling out of the sky again.
"I have a plan," Blaziken announced. "Don't stop us."
Understood, Ethan replied.
Adjusting his fall a little, Blaziken bent his knees slightly – and hit the ground with a thwack.
A little ring of flames pulsed out, accompanied by gasps from the stands.
"Hyper Beam!" Drew called.
Flygon rose into a climb, standing with her spine almost vertical, and her tail curved up a little so Roserade could stand on it. Then both of Roserade's flowers glowed at once.
"Counter," Blaziken said, legs tensing, as blue-orange flames crackled around his legs. "Give me some platforms, as high as you like."
Done.
Roserade fired six beams of varicoloured light from her flowers, just as Blaziken launched himself back into the air twice as fast as they'd come down. Spinning in mid-air, he grabbed onto the first platform with both arms and twisted so he could kick off from it.
Flygon dropped out of her climb, rolling in midair to switch Roserade back to her more normal position, and aimed for one of the platforms to break it. Dragonbreath licked out, smashing the Barrier as Blaziken was about to use it, and Roserade did a dragonback pirouette which sent a Petal Dance out to fill the whole stadium.
Not out yet, Blaziken gestured again. Ethan formed him a circular Barrier track around the outside of the stadium, and May's starter accelerated – running along almost on top of the audience, feet sparking and flashing with flames that got brighter and brighter as his speed grew – before curving inwards, heading back into the arena proper.
"Imperial strike!" Drew called, and Roserade threw out a dense cloud of petals and leaves which hid both his Pokémon from view entirely.
Then Flygon used Draco Meteor.
Blaziken skidded forwards, getting underneath the first of the meteor shower, and went plunging off the edge of the track Ethan had been making. This time, however, Ethan reacted so fast that it looked like the track had been meant to switch, and Blaziken dodged left-right-up-down-backwards in a series of high-speed leaps as his Speed Boost was pushed to the limit.
Little trails of smoke followed him as he moved, and a few moments later the reason why became clear – the whole of Roserade's chaff cloud erupted in flames, burning to sweet-smelling ash in seconds and leaving Flygon and Roserade in clear air.
Twelve more platforms appeared, all over the stadium.
"Flare Blitz!" Blaziken announced, and launched himself forwards.
His first pass took him right past Flygon, the heat and energy he left behind making both Pokémon yelp in surprise. Flygon brought her wings up to help protect her teammate, and then Blaziken was past – and on the first platform, which shattered into a cloud of glowing fragments as he kicked off and blazed past Flygon again.
And again.
Blaziken wove a web of flame around his targets, moving so fast that the first track still shone brightly by the time he made the last, and then dropped towards the ground – where he stopped just short of hitting, as Ethan reversed Gravity to catch him.
Overhead, Flygon and Roserade dropped from inside a flaming orange starburst.
"…I don't know what to say," Contesta admitted. "I'm not even sure I saw all of that, it was moving so fast!"
"So," Dawn said, clapping along with the rest of the crowd as Blaziken gestured – two force platforms appearing to catch his erstwhile opponents. "I guess this means that I need to step up my game."
"Couldn't hurt," Ash shrugged.
"And, ladies and gentlemen," Nurse Joy announced, as the applause began to die down. "After that..."
She paused. "Mr. Sukizo?"
"Remarkable!"
"Thank you!" Joy said. "After that remarkable Contest battle, I'm pleased to say that we now have a Hoenn Grand Festival Top Coordinator! Will everyone please put their hands together for May Maple!"
Norman sat back on the couch.
"Well," he said, eventually. "That was… something special."
"I know," his wife agreed, taking a deep breath and letting it out with a smile. "I'm so proud of our little May – she's a Top Coordinator!"
"And she's deserved it for a while," Norman said. "Right from when she came back, remember?"
"Oh, yes," Caroline nodded. "But I think this has been a good year for her, too. She's blossomed."
She turned to the other two. "What do you think?"
That. Was. So. COOL! Kirlia announced, jumping to her feet and waving her arms. He was walking on the air – and he did that thing with the Counter – and it all looked so great! And that Dragon-type and Grass-type!
Gardevoir chuckled. I must admit, it was very special. I can understand why Pokémon and humans alike enjoy it.
I bet you could do something that cool if you could teleport, Kirlia added, thinking to herself. Wait, what about teleporting around and using lots of Energy Balls?
"It sounds like a good move to incorporate into a routine," Caroline told her. "Perhaps you could work out some more bits to add to it, and you'd have the start of what you'd need to take part in a Contest yourself!"
That does sound kind of fun…. Kirlia mused.
"Oh, I forgot," Caroline added, getting up. "I'll get some of the cake to celebrate – who wants a slice?"
I'd like one! Kirlia sent.
"I think we all do," Norman added. "Especially when it's your orange drizzle cake."
I really need to learn how to do that one, Gardevoir smiled.
"Don't forget, we need to save some for May and Max," Caroline cautioned, cutting the slices. "Or we could just make another one for when we go to the Ever Grande."
"I like that idea better," Norman opined.
Caroline chuckled, then looked up as the phone rang. "Dear, can you-"
Got it, Gardevoir interrupted, levitating the phone so that Norman could take it.
"Thanks," Norman nodded. "Hello – Ash? This is a bit of a surprise..."
He stopped, listening, then nodded. "I think that would be fine."
Lowering the handset for a moment, he looked to his wife. "Do you remember May mentioning Ash's friend Dawn?"
"Yes, I think so," Caroline said, thinking. "The girl from Sinnoh? Dawn… Berlitz?"
"That's her," Norman agreed. "Apparently they ran into her, and Brock suggested that we let Dawn's mother call us up for advice."
That sounds like a relief for her, Gardevoir said.
"Yes, that would be fine," Caroline nodded. "Let them know we don't mind."
"Congratulations, May!"
"Thanks," May said automatically, then blinked and turned. "Wait – aren't you Dawn?"
"That's me!" Dawn agreed, hurrying over ahead of Ash, Max, Brock and her mother. "I've actually been in the audience this whole time – I guess Celebi wanted me to meet Ash again or something?"
She shrugged, as Piplup came running up behind her and panting extravagantly. "Anyway – I think this was your first Top Coordinator run?"
"Yeah," May nodded. "It's been a great run."
"So, uh..." Dawn went on. "Actually, can I check a few things with you? I'm not quite up to speed on how much weird stuff changed this time."
"This-" May repeated, then snapped her fingers. "Right, you were there the other time Ash did something to time, right?"
"Two times, depending on how you count the thing in Crown city," Dawn clarified. "But yeah, Pikachu becoming a major part of a historical legend is kind of different to… this whole thing with a new Type."
"Okay, you'll have to tell me that story," May decided.
"Sure, fine by me," Dawn agreed readily. "Oh, Mom – this is May Maple. We're sort of rivals I think?"
"I'm pleased to meet you again, Mrs. Berlitz," May said, shaking her hand.
"I think I need to start taking notes," Johanna told her daughter. "How many more people will know me without needing to be introduced to me?"
"...hm, that's actually a tough question," Dawn said, turning to Ash. "How many people can you do this with?"
Ash shrugged. "It's sometimes surprised me."
Mawile called out, and everyone looked to see what was happening.
Waving, the Steel-type walked over with both Grumpig (still using her horn-jaws for steadiness) and Goodra.
"These guys are new," Dawn commented. "Wait, I remember seeing the Mawile on TV. The Goodra's, though..."
"Yeah, Gary traded him to me," Ash supplied.
"Grumpig's mine-" May began to add.
"Yeah, I was in the audience," Dawn said. "That was another cool battle, by the way."
"Mawile's glad to meet you," Ash translated for his Fairy-type. "She says she's interested to see what it's like when we travel with you again – and to meet all your Pokémon, too."
"She's pretty cute," the future Coordinator said, bending down. "Are all your new Pokémon this cool?"
Mawile pointed to her right.
"...yeah, I guess there's Goodra, too," Dawn agreed. "I never really saw one up close before."
Goodra waved, and Dawn gave him a nod.
"How many Pokémon did you say you had now?"
Ash paused. "Uh… hold on, carry the three..."
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