章節 68: 27
"That was a pretty nasty thunderstorm last night..." Max said, looking around at the twigs and branches all over the path.
May nodded. "Yeah... and something seems kind of familiar about it."
Max glanced over. "...well, we've been in thunderstorms before."
"No, I mean this one," May said. "It's just..."
She shook her head. "Never mind, I'm sure it'll be obvious when it happens."
I'm pretty sure I know the answer, Ethan said.
"...how?" Brock asked. "I mean, sure, Dexter was along, but you weren't."
I did provide them basic précis of our journeys last time, Dexter told him. He's right, by the way.
They waited.
"You're not going to tell us, are you?" Ash asked.
Of course not, that would ruin the fun.
Ash kicked a branch out of the way with a thwack of boot on wood. "Figures..."
You know, you could just try to remember this stuff yourself, his Pokédex pointed out.
"I remember the big stuff," Ash protested. "Like, you know... Rayquaza."
"Yeah, we don't have perfect memories like you guys do," Max added.
My memory is not perfect, Dexter corrected. It is simply much better than any of yours.
"That's nice..."
"Hey, look!" May pointed.
They looked.
"Oh, that's a Swablu," Ash nodded. "Right, now I remember..."
May crouched down next to the blue Flying-type. "Are you okay? Poor thing..."
Swablu looked up, wincing, then did a double-take. He cringed, and began to sing a piping tune.
"That's nice," Max said, and yawned. "Actually, it's... kind of..."
Blaziken caught him with one hand as he slumped, and then caught his trainer with the other.
Ash and Brock put their fingers in their ears.
"How come you're not falling asleep?" Pikachu asked, covering his own ears as well.
Blaziken held up a Chesto Berry, and popped it into his mouth. "I come prepared."
He lowered both siblings to the floor, and crouched down himself. "Excuse me, Swablu?"
Swablu quailed at the sight of him, but kept Singing as though it was helping him stay relaxed.
"We don't want to hurt you, but could you please not put my trainer to sleep? It's not very polite."
The little blue Normal-type stopped singing, and looked contrite. "Sorry, I'm just... scared..."
"It's okay to be scared," Brock told him. "What happened? Normally Swablu nest in trees, right?"
Swablu indicated the fallen tree. "I was in that one, with my flock. Only... there was a big storm, and it blew over, and... and one of the branches hit me and I couldn't get away and-"
Blaziken held up a clawed hand, slowly, and Swablu stopped gabbling. He took a deep breath, and sighed it out. "Sorry..."
"Don't worry," Blaziken said, kindly. "We'll make sure you're okay."
May stirred. "Ugh... what happened?"
"Sing happened," Blaziken told her. "Swablu, this is May – my trainer. May, I know you already saw Swablu, but he seems to be a little timid – give him some space."
"Okay," May nodded, understanding Blaziken's gentle tones for what they were. "I'll do that."
"Good."
"How did you do that?" Swablu asked, astonished. "She understood you!"
"I know," Blaziken said, full of quiet pride. "It's her, not me – my friend Ash over there has helped train the rest of the humans to understand Pokémon when they speak."
"That's pretty cool..." Swablu said, nodding. "So can all of you – ow!"
He gingerly moved one of his cloudy wings, and sighed. "I think something got broken..."
"Can I have a look?" Brock asked. "I'm a Pokémon doctor."
Flygon materialized with a flash, interested, but hovered a little way off to not get in the way.
"I guess..." Swablu nodded. "Um... don't you have things like Potions?"
"Those are pretty general-purpose," Brock informed him, speaking in soothing tones. "They can handle bruises, cuts, scrapes and stuff, but they're not very good at serious injuries. It's almost always better to let something heal, if you've got the time."
"Okay," Swablu said. "I guess that makes sense."
"Okay, last bit," Brock said. "I'm going to check your other wing, now, just to make sure it's not hurt as well."
"Right," Swablu said, and swallowed. He steeled himself against the potential pain, and Brock moved the wing back and forth, up and down, through the full normal set of motions it should have.
"That seems okay," he said, after a few minutes. "Looks like it's just a bad sprain on the middle joint of your wing."
"So it's not broken?" Swablu asked, looking up hopefully.
"No, but it's still going to be a couple of days to heal," Brock told him. "I'll make a poultice to help it heal faster, and we can get Jirachi to use Wish on it as well."
Swablu blinked. "Get what?"
"Jirachi," Max told him.
Jirachi poked his head out of Max's bag. Sorry, I was kind of asleep... what is it, Max?
Swablu's good wing went limp with shock. "...that's Jirachi."
Hi! Jirachi said, and levitated into the air. Nice to meet you!
He offered his hand, and Swablu thought for a moment then offered his undamaged wing to shake.
"Should we camp here?" Brock asked, looking over. "There's probably a Ranger station nearby..."
"Yeah, sounds good," May agreed."Would that be okay?"
"Um..." Swablu looked at his wing again. "Is it far?"
"I'll carry you, if you want," Blaziken volunteered.
"Thanks," Swablu said, relieved. "I didn't want to go that far on foot..."
Footfalls beat a fast tattoo on the hard-packed earth.
A blur shot through sparse grass, making the blades tremble and then wave as though a high storm was trying to rip them out of the ground.
Primeape sprinted through the air so fast that it felt almost like a wall, producing a visible air-shock around his form as he closed in on his foe.
A slight change in his sprint, and he planted both feet at once and sprang into a low, looping trajectory that was nearly parallel to the ground.
"Outraaaaage!" he shouted, drawing his fist back. "Take this!"
Muk used Thunderbolt, Rain Dance, Shadow Ball, Sludge Wave, Belch, Flamethrower, Rock Tomb and Ice Punch.
"And I'm pretty sure that's a victory for Muk," Ivysaur noted, watching Primeape go flying skywards. "Someone note that one down, please?"
Donphan duly noted it down.
"Okay, who's next..." Ivysaur turned to the third page of the matchlist, and blinked. "Uh... okay..."
"Who is it?" Swellow asked.
Ivysaur turned. "It's..."
He stopped, tilted his head, and blinked. "Shouldn't you be catching Primeape?"
"...oh, yeah, I forgot! Be back in a moment!"
With that, Swellow shot skywards in a whirr of wings.
"Who is it?" Donphan asked, raising his trunk and the pencil gripped in it. "It can't be that bad, surely?"
"Oh, it is," Ivysaur assured him. "It's-"
"Snorlax versus Kingler?" Donphan guessed. "Wait, it's not me against Pidgeot, is it?"
Ivysaur showed him the matchlist.
"...oh," Donphan blinked. "Yeah, that's going to be a fun one..."
Swellow deposited Primeape next to them. "One non-flat Primeape!"
"Thanks," Ivysaur nodded. "Look, can you go find where Lugia is?"
Swellow gaped. "Oh, that's going to be a cool one! Who's he fighting?"
The Grass-type sighed. "Ho-Oh."
If Swellow's beak could get wider, it would have done. "Oh. Wow. That's going to be awesome!"
"It's going to have to be done somewhere we don't mind breaking," Ivysaur pointed out. "Donphan, can you go and ask Damos where we should go for it?"
"On it!" Donphan confirmed, saluting. He planted his pencil in the ground, curled up, and Rolled Out at speed.
Ivysaur watched him go, then picked up the matchlist in one vine and the scorecard in the other. "I think I'm going to have some lunch first."
"How are you feeling?" May asked, lifting a pine-smelling bandage out of the green medicine it had been bathed in. "Bit better today?"
"A bit," Swablu said, then flinched as May carefully undid the previous bandage. "Ow – that still hurts!"
May sighed. "I know. And this is going to sting a bit, as well, but it's needed."
"I understand, I guess," Swablu nodded. "It's still – ow!"
The astringent green liquid stung as it got through his cloudy feathers, and he tensed for a moment before relaxing slowly.
"There we go," May said. "Now, I'm going to tie the splint – ready?"
"Yeah," Swablu agreed.
May put the three short pieces of wood in their positions, holding Swablu's wing slightly bent instead of ramrod straight, and then pulled the cords tight before tying them off to keep the splint in place.
"All done!" she said, and picked the bag off the table. "Now it's time for your other medicine."
"Oh, I like this bit," Swablu admitted.
May took one of the treated rice balls out of the bag, and broke a piece off that was small enough for Swablu to swallow. She put it on her palm and held it out, and the little Flying-type bent down and plucked it delicately off her hand.
"Thank you!" Swablu smiled, swallowing with a happy chirp.
"It's my pleasure," May smiled back. "Ready for the next bit?"
"They're getting on well," Brock said, with a nod. "May's really building up a rapport with him."
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I don't know if you noticed, but she forgot to get Ethan out this morning."
Brock blinked, and looked back at the table.
May's Pokédex was still in her pocket.
"...wow," he said, after a moment. "Does this mean she's getting the hang of it more generally?"
"Don't know," Ash admitted. "We'd have to see how she does with a random wild Pokémon."
Brock nodded. "I guess-"
"Guys!" Max called, interrupting them. "Are you watching the news?"
"No?" Ash called back, surprised. "Why? Is there anything good on?"
"Is there-" Max looked back down at Kris' screen, then up at them, and shook his head. "Well, yeah, but it's what the good thing is!"
"Maybe you should just tell us," Brock suggested.
"Look at this!" Max said, turning the TV on and grabbing the remote. He flicked from channel to channel, looking for the one Kris had found, and then pointed. "There!"
Ash and Brock looked. So did May, turning around from her chair, and Swablu tilted his head to see past the cupboard.
"I'm here on a peninsula about two kilometres east of Pallet Town," the reporter said, speaking clearly into her microphone. "This is where the amazing sights have been taking place for at least half an hour now."
Her cameraman panned left, sweeping out over the sea, to show two colossal shapes moving as silhouettes through low cloud.
Bright rose-red flame erupted, burning off the cloud in a trice, and the huge Storm's End keened with his tail ablaze before stooping down towards his equally massive opponent.
The Great Guardian plunged towards the water half a mile below, fins folding in, and crashed into and through the water surface without slowing.
For a few seconds, the camera showed only a dissipating plume of water and Ho-Oh slowing to hover over it, watching warily.
Then a huge whirlpool of water and wind burst out of the sea, reaching to smash Ho-Oh aside, and only a deft move involving an eruption of omnidirectional flame saved the Fire-type from a soaking.
Capitalizing on the breathing space he'd gained, Lugia broke out of his roll and beat his mighty wings once. His mouth glowed red as he built up the full force of his Aeroblast, and he fired it – almost directly away from Ho-Oh.
Red light traced a curving loop in the air, and slashed back at Ho-Oh – whose reply was somewhat unorthodox.
He vanished into a swirling white sandstorm which seemed to come from the very air itself, and the Aeroblast had to quest around for purchase rather than boring unerringly in – and, it was clear, mostly blazing out the other side rather than striking Ho-Oh's feathers.
The moment the Aeroblast faded, all that white sand compacted back into a ball and fired at Lugia like a cannonball – before the Weather Ball hit a shield and smashed into a thousand pieces.
"Hey, Roxy, look!" Oli said, pointing. "There's loads of Pokémon watching the battle!"
"We can only guess why these Pokémon are fighting with such determination," Roxy said into the microphone. "Or why all these other wild... Poke..."
Her voice trailed off.
"Wait, I recognize some of those Pokémon from the Silver Conference!"
Brock looked at Ash.
Ash shrugged helplessly. "I don't know either."
"What's that?" Pikachu asked, padding out of the bathroom with a to-scale towel around his waist. "I was in the shower, did I miss anything?"
"There we go," May said, dabbing the flannel on Swablu's fine blue feathers one more time. "That should have you clean."
Swablu chirped happily. "Thanks!"
He shifted a little, and winced.
Brock noticed. "Actually, I think that dressing could probably come off by now... it's had about enough time."
"Really?" Swablu asked. "That'd be nice – it's kind of itchy..."
"Want me to handle it?" May asked.
The Normal-type nodded, and May carefully undid the twine holding on the outer edge of the splint.
The three pieces of splint-wood shifted outwards as the string came loose, and then May undid the inner knot as well and they fell off entirely.
"There," May smiled, pushing the splint out of the way. "Better?"
"Yeah," Swablu agreed.
"Want to see if it's healed right?"
The Flying-type nodded, and crouched. As he did, though, an expression of shock flitted across his face and he tensed up.
"What's wrong?" May asked him, hand halfway to comfort him.
"I... I can't do it," he said, voice close to tears. "I can't fly!"
"You can't?" May repeated. "But... does your wing hurt, or..."
"I'll just crash!" Swablu protested, his voice rising. "And I'll get hurt again and it'll be even worse and my wing'll never heal and, and..."
May reached out, and stroked his back with gentle fingers. "There, there," she said, softly. "Don't worry, we'll sort it out."
"But how?" Swablu asked, sniffing. "I can't... but... and my wing..."
He shook his head. "Last time it went all wrong, this time..."
May shared a glance with Brock.
"I don't really know what to do," she admitted. "Any ideas, Brock?"
Brock considered.
"Well, I guess it depends if it's a mental thing or a physical thing," he said. "If it's just that his wing's not strong enough, then we'd need to teach him to fly all over again... but if it's mental, then maybe Ash could help."
"How could he help?" Swablu asked, curious. "Is he Psychic?"
"No, he's not," May told him. "But Ash can use Aura."
"Wow... like Meditite can?" The Flying-type's eyes widened. "That's kind of cool..."
"I'll go get him," Brock suggested. "Can you see if his wing can move like it normally should?"
"Sure," May nodded. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah..." Swablu said, and stretched his wing out.
May took it, and began to carefully and gently flex his wing through the normal range of motion. "Is that okay?"
"Um... no, that's fine, that's... okay so far..."
"Okay, I get it," Ash nodded. "So you think I should try Aura Purge on him."
"It's the kind of thing that that move can help with," Brock confirmed.
"Who should I take with me, then?" Ash asked. "I mean... Swablu's a Flying-type. So I guess his mind might... well... be kind of in mid air."
Pikachu winced. "Yeah, that could be a problem."
Ash thought. "Hmmm... well, I guess I could get Pidgeot and Noctowl... and Swellow..."
He glanced over in the corner, where a crossword was doing itself. "Would you mind helping, Latias?"
The pencil clattered to the table. "Sure!" Latias nodded, appearing several feet from the table.
"Oh, were you practising your telekinesis?" Brock asked. "That's a clever way of doing it."
"Yeah, but I've filled in some of the clues kind of wrong," Latias pouted.
"Do you want Delta along as well?" Max asked. "And – Brock, you've got a couple of flying Pokémon. Should Flygon and Crobat go with Ash?"
"If they want to," Brock agreed. "Good idea – I'll ask."
"I'll ask too," Max nodded. "Hey, Delta?"
"Couldn't you just get Lugia or Ho-Oh along?" Lucario asked.
"I'm pretty sure it would take too long to get them," Ash replied. "It's a good idea, but..."
He shrugged, and Lucario considered that for a bit before nodding. "You're right. Be safe, Ash."
"I'm pretty sure the worst that can happen is being kicked out again," Ash shrugged. "I'll be okay."
"That which does not kill you can still give you a really bad headache," Lucario opined sagely.
"Excuse me, kids?"
Mr. Morita, the Ranger, knocked on the door and opened it. "I've got some more supplies, so if I can just get to the-"
He stopped. Stared.
That kid – Ash – was kneeling in the middle of the floor, with his hands glowing blue and the Swablu standing in front of him.
And, piled into the room close enough they were almost standing on top of one another, there were... a Pidgeot, a Noctowl, a Swellow, a Mantine, a Flygon and a Crobat.
"...what the heck?" he asked.
"Nuz?" his Nuzleaf asked, clambering up onto his shoulder to look.
"We're helping Swablu out!" Ash explained cheerfully.
"...right," Morita said, nodding, and shut the door again.
"Leaf?"
"I'm going to come back in half an hour," Mr. Morita said. "Hopefully by then it'll have gone away..."
There was a moment of discontinuity as Ash's hands touched Swablu's feathers, and then he found himself – in mid-air.
"Whoaaaah!" he called, then landed with an oof on a familiar feathered back. "Thanks, Pidgeot!"
The big Flying-type chirped. "No problem!"
Noctowl took up position on her wingtip. "Seems bally empty up here... well, there's lots of clouds, but dashed all else. What what?"
"Yeah," Ash agreed. He closed his eyes to look around. "The clouds seem a bit more than just... well, clouds... they're kind of blueish on my Aura Sight. Swellow, can you have a look?"
"Sure!" Swellow agreed, zipping off towards the nearest one.
She trimmed her wings, skimming low over the surface and whipping up cloud-matter in a complicated vortex, then dipped in – and bounced off.
"Huh," Pidgeot said, watching. "That's not normal."
Swellow recovered her flight regime and aplomb, then looked around quickly. "Uh... did you see that?"
"We did, I'm afraid," Pidgeot confirmed.
"I wish I hadn't done that in front of you..." Swellow said sadly.
"Ah, here you are!" Crobat called, coming out from behind another cloud. "Nothing so far – I haven't found Swablu, either. This place just seems perfectly pleasant."
There was a peal of thunder.
"I say, what!" Noctowl noted, as rain began to fall. "This all seems something of a pathetic fallacy!"
"A what?" Swellow asked, as all four Flying-types dove for the ground.
"It means the bally weather's listening to us!"
Pidgeot flared her wings and came to a screeching halt, and Ash jumped off.
"I guess this is the storm that scared him!" he called, and focused. A shimmering Protect shield sprang into being, and the slower, less powerful fliers – Crobat and Noctowl – ducked behind it.
"What's the plan?" Swellow asked, head darting back and forth.
"Can you go look for Swablu?" Ash asked her. "It's him we're here to help, he should be somewhere... wait, look for a fallen tree!"
Swellow nodded, and flashed off into the rain.
Pidgeot turned into the storm, and hammered her wings. The blast of wind lifted her a little way off the ground, but the swirling Tailwind she summoned lingered and battered its way into the teeth of the storm.
"That's the best I can do!" she called, landing again and beating her wings more slowly. "This storm is awful!"
"Given how you feel about hurricanes, that says a lot!" Ash called over.
"I know..."
Crobat folded his wings tightly, trying to avoid letting them catch the – still gale-force – winds, and nodded. "That looks like shelter to me."
There was a little dip in the ground where he was indicating, which looked like it was deep enough to afford some protection against the wind.
"Seems to be as good an idea as any, what?" Noctowl agreed. "Let's get over there soonest!"
Ash took the lead, leaning over and running across the wind, and the Flying-types followed behind.
"At least we can hear ourselves think now," Ash sighed, as the wind whipped by overhead. "Good spot, Crobat."
"Thank you," Crobat nodded. "What I'm worried about, though, is what if Swablu's upwind..."
"I'll make it," Pidgeot volunteered. "Whatever's causing this, I'll get you there."
Ash patted her side. "Thanks, Pidgeot."
A blur whipped past, turned around in a sharp, leaned-over angle, and fought its way noticeably slower upwind towards them.
"So that's where you went!" Swellow shouted, landing on Ash's out-stretched arm. "How exactly am I supposed to find you in weather like this if you move?"
"We didn't go far..." Crobat protested.
"Anyway, I found them," Swellow said. "Flygon and Delta found him, he's stuck in a fallen tree. No sign of Latias yet, though..."
"Can you show us?" Ash asked. "Actually, which way is it?"
"Based on the way she came... it's upwind," Pidgeot sighed. "Of course it is..."
Ash frowned. "Actually... I just realized. We don't have a Mega Stone for you, Pidgeot, but I'm pretty sure you were able to Mega Evolve anyway in Cubone's mind."
Pidgeot blinked, then her eyes glittered. "I like the sound of this."
"...it was quite a good hole, I thought..." Crobat muttered.
Long streamers out behind her as straight as an iron bar, Mega Pidgeot charged upwind with wingbeats that slapped the storm aside.
Wind flicked off in sheets, blasted away by her layers of air control before it reached her, and the other three Flying-types came in her wake trying frantically to keep up.
Ash glanced back, lifting himself from her back for a moment, and saw Swellow's wing flip. "Left a bit, Pidgeot!"
"Got it," Mega Pidgeot chirped, and banked to her left into the beating rain.
"Wait – I can see them now!" Ash added, one eye closed to improve his Aura sight. "They're down a bit, left a bit – there, you're headed right for them!"
"Good!" Mega Pidgeot called, angling down. "I think this is getting-"
A flash of lightning lit the clouds from within, and a fraction of a second later a rumbling BANG punished their ears.
"Get on the ground, Pidgeot!" Ash advised, hands over his ears. "Or we're going to be hit next!"
Not needing to be told twice, Mega Pidgeot dipped and skimmed low along the surface of the ground before coming to a slamming halt in a startlingly small space of time.
Ash lost his grip, somersaulted forwards, and used one hand and both feet to brake as he hit the ground.
"Are you okay?" Mega Pidgeot asked, concerned. "I didn't think-"
"I just wasn't holding on hard enough, it's fine," Ash waved off. Another earsplitting peal of thunder and flash of lightning happened almost on top of one another, cutting off the conversation, and they – and Noctowl, Crobat and Swellow – dove for the shelter of a tree.
"Is it safe to shelter under a bally tree?" Noctowl asked. "I seem to remember the bally things go off like Roman candles..."
"It's not the tallest tree around, it'll be fine," Mega Pidgeot told him absently. She shifted, a little awkward on the ground. "Where did you see Swablu, Swellow?"
Flygon's head popped over a fallen tree trunk. "We're over here!" he called. "Poor Swablu's a bit drenched... I think a tree got him."
Crobat frowned. "Another tree?"
"...yes," Flygon agreed, after a moment. "You're right, how strange..."
"Going into minds is kind of like that," Ash said, with the voice of experience. He jumped up onto the trunk, and slid down the other side. "Hi, Delta!"
"Hi!" Delta called, flipping a wingtip. Most of his body was currently cupped protectively over Swablu, keeping him from being utterly drenched by the rain lashing down. "We ended up pretty close together over here!"
"Good thing you did," Ash said, crouching. "How are you, Swablu?"
"Scared," Swablu admitted softly. "The storm's coming back."
"What do you-" Ash began, and then with a huge WHAM one of the nearby trees exploded.
A moment later, something visible only by the way it pushed the rain aside shot past, and then a blaze of green fire shot skywards into the clouds.
"Latias!" Ash called, realizing who it had to be.
The Dragon-type sent another gyre of dragonflame skywards, then decloaked in a flicker of blue and zoomed over to them. "Hi! Sorry, I was kind of a long way off..."
"Any idea what's going on?" Flygon asked. "Is there a Pokémon up there?"
"Well, there is," Latias hedged. "But I'm not really sure what it is... it's kind of sitting in a thundercloud, and..."
Ash blinked. "Wait, that sounds familiar... what colour is it?"
Latias looked at him in confusion. "Have you met this one as well?"
"Probably," Ash nodded.
"Well... blue," she said – then looked up.
Flygon took off, wings a blur, and the enormous thunderbolt that slashed down out of the sky hit him and grounded into nothing.
"I think it's Thundurus!" Ash explained, shouting a bit as his ears rang. "That's a Pokémon I met in Unova – kind of a living thunderstorm!"
"No wonder Swablu's scared," Delta winced. "I'm kind of nervous myself..."
"It's probably best if you stay out of the line of fire," Flygon agreed. "Anyone who goes up to battle should be either immune to electricity or resistant. Who does that leave?"
Latias floated a little higher. "I'm in!"
"Me too!" Swellow said, puffing her chest out.
The other Flying-types gave her looks.
"What?" she asked, defensively. "I'm really resistant to electricity!"
Mega Pidgeot glanced at Noctowl for confirmation, and got a nod in return.
"What about you, Pidgeot?" Ash asked. "I know you can't get close or you'll get zapped, but you don't really need to..."
Mega Pidgeot considered.
"We can't get hurt anyway, right?" she checked.
"Worst that happens is that you just end up knocked silly and in your own mind for a spell," Noctowl told her.
"Right, then I'm coming," Mega Pidgeot decided.
"Great!" Ash said. He nodded to Latias, and tapped his staff again – and, with a familiar orange glow, a second Mega-Evolution took place.
"Ready?" he asked.
The four Pokémon nodded.
Flygon pushed skywards, blinking furiously to keep his ommatidia clear enough to see despite the rain.
"Any idea where he is?" he called, peering around. Then a flash of light strobed through the cloud – accompanied by an almighty BANG – and a Thunder blazed into his side.
Startled, but not harmed – even as the Thunder ran along his wings, forming sparkling stars of witchfire before dissipating – Flygon simply used the Thunder as a cue to change course.
This quickly bore fruit, and further sparkling electrical bolts – smaller than the first – began to show through the squall.
Flygon burst out into clearer air, did a flip to shed water, and fired a Dragon Pulse at Thundurus. "Found him!"
The Electric-type began to dodge as the attack bored in – then, abruptly, he was somewhere else, and the Dragon Pulse burst a Double Team.
"What...?" Flygon asked, confused, then rolled sideways and intercepted a Charge Beam. "How did you do that?"
Thundurus roared, a sound that was like lightning striking a hundred times at once, and lashed out with a punch.
Flygon's flight path dipped and rolled as he dodged, fighting the uncertain winds of the storm cell, and he fired another Dragon Pulse back at the incarnation of Swablu's fears.
This time he saw it for sure. Thundurus was there right up until the attack hit, then he was abruptly somewhere else and the Dragon Pulse hit only a Double Team.
"How's it doing that?" Flygon asked, louder this time. His tail whipped around as he used it as a counterweight, and charged directly this time – enduring a spherical Shockwave without any damage, but hitting nothing but air. "There's no way that's just a Double Team!"
Mega Latias shot past, blazing away with a Psychic attack, and Thundurus turned. His body flashed yellow as he Charged in the blink of an eye, then expended it to launch a blazing bolt of electricity at Mega Latias.
Flygon watched as it hit her shield with an impact that was audible as the thundercrack faded, and splashed off.
"That was less powerful than I was expecting!" Mega Latias admitted, banking around for another attack.
"Must be knowing Pikachu," Flygon noted, and watched closely as Mega Latias used Zen Headbutt.
Her attack run went right up a powerful stream of Thunderbolt, making her shield ripple and flex, and then she hit-
-and didn't hit. The attack just dispersed a Substitute, which appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Flygon whirled, spotting movement out of the corner of his eye, and fired a Dragon Pulse at the Thundurus he'd just seen coming out of approximately nowhere.
That attack, too, failed to hit – bursting a Double Team instead. And, with a BANG, a Thunderbolt slammed down towards the ground – towards where Swellow and the others were.
Flygon charged, interposing himself between the ground and the follow-up, and scowled. "What is going on?"
"It seems like it's able to dodge!" Mega Latias said, worried – then flew a little higher, avoiding a lance-like Zap Cannon which made a sound like ripping cloth. "But I don't know how..."
"Is Noctowl okay?" Swablu asked, looking at the smoking Flying-type.
"Absoballylutely top hole, old chap," Noctowl said distantly, adjusting his wings. "Now, excuse me, I'm about to take a nap."
He hit the floor with a thump.
Swablu glanced at Delta, who shrugged.
"He'll be okay," Ash said, soothingly. "Like he said, you just get knocked back into your own mind for a bit."
"Okay..." Swablu said, looking nervous. "Um... what if it happens to me?"
"It still doesn't hurt," Ash explained.
"Why not?"
"Well... this is your mind. You're kind of... in charge, I guess?" Ash searched for the words.
"Coming through!"
Flygon rolled sideways automatically, then did a double-take. "Swellow? Didn't we say-"
"Can't hear you, too busy being LOUD!" On the last word, Swellow's beak opened and she launched an intense wave of pressure forwards.
The Boomburst piled up raindrops as it moved, taking on the character of a sheet of water fronting a sheet of air, and slapped hard into Thundurus-
-into where Thundurus had been.
A Thunder cracked down from overhead, striking Swellow on the small of the back between her wings, and she wobbled before plunging into an electricity-cloaked dive.
"Swellow!" Latias called. "Are you okay?"
She made ready to dive after the stricken Flying-type, but a further bolt of lightning dissuaded her by forcing her to dodge.
"Any ideas?" she asked, glancing sideways at Flygon.
"I'm not-"
The cloud trembled at the sound of an almighty boom.
"That wasn't a thunderclap," Flygon realized.
Then a beam of red light lanced down from overhead.
"All right!" Ash said, grinning, as Mega Pidgeot hit Thundurus square in the body with Aeroblast.
Whatever trick he'd been using to avoid attacks, it didn't work against Mega Pidgeot. Even though he was resistant to Flying attacks, the blazing Aeroblast still smashed him backwards across the sky and tumbling end-over-end.
Mega Pidgeot kept the attack up for about two seconds, then broke off and swept past the reeling Thundurus.
"Are you winning?" Swablu asked.
"I think..." Ash broke off. "Wait, that doesn't look good..."
As he watched, Thundurus glowed and changed. His body reshaped, losing most of the cloud-body, and cloudstuff instead gathered around hands shifting into claws. A horn formed on his head, a serpentine body appeared as the cloud vanished, and a long, purple tail with six big black beads whipped behind him.
"...and now he's gone to Therian Form," Ash said. "Uh-oh..."
Thundurus roared again, louder this time, and his tail crackled and cracked – sending Thundershocks spearing out in all directions.
Two hit Pidgeot, one on each wing, and she screeched in pain before clawing for height and safety above the clouds.
Flygon flew in to distract him again, firing Dragon Pulses, and was almost surprised when these ones did hit.
"That's almost worse!" he said, sounding offended. "Why can't this make sense?"
Casting around for a new target, Thundurus ignored Flygon and looked around elsewhere. He twitched as another Dragon Pulse hit him, then gathered lightning in his cloud-shrouded hands and hurled it.
Mega Latias screeched with pain as the almighty Electric attack broke through her shield, hitting her only a little off-centre despite her invisibility, and knocked her tumbling through the air.
"Look out!" Flygon called, hurrying forwards to try and help, but unable to keep up with the swift Electric/Flying Legendary.
An Electroweb began to build between his claws, and he made to hurl it.
"Hey, UGLY!"
Swellow Boombursted Thundurus in the face.
Flygon screeched to a halt, baffled, as Thundurus reeled back from the sonic blast. "Shouldn't you be knocked out?"
"I told you!" Swellow replied, still loud. "I'm electricity resistant!"
There were a few scorch marks on her feathers, and her tail was a little shorter than it had been, but Swellow did indeed seem mostly fine.
Thundurus howled, and threw the Electroweb he'd been charging at Swellow instead.
She flew right through it, wincing at the sensation, and Boombursted him again.
"Don't push your luck!" Flygon advised, flying over to hover between her and Thundurus.
"This isn't luck!" Swellow called back, eyes bright with excitement. "This is pure-"
A Discharge made the sky light up like a firework had just gone off.
"-skill," Swellow finished. She panted, then rallied. "Should we-"
A glowing white ball of smoke flew almost lazily through the sky, contacted Thundurus, and exploded.
Flygon, no fool, had made tracks as soon as he saw it coming.
"You're right," Swablu said, nodding in understanding. "I think... I think I understand now."
He took a deep breath. "You're all really nice... helping me like this, even if it's in kind of a strange way. And because of that... I should help too. I can't just sit here while other Pokémon do my fighting for me."
"You don't have to fight," Ash said, deciding to make that clear. "If you'd rather not, then we'll do it for you. That's how friends do things."
Swablu swallowed, touched by the offhand description of him as a friend. "Thanks... but... well, I want to help. I want to face my fear."
"Then you can," Ash said. "Whenever you want."
Swablu nodded, and his expression focused. He shifted, and Delta got off, moving his fin aside to let Swablu out.
"Okay!" the Flying-type said. He bent down slightly, and jumped – cotton-cloaked wings spreading to hold him up.
The clouds rippled, then began to dissolve into thin air.
"What's going on?" Delta asked, looking around.
"I think it's Cloud Nine?" Crobat suggested. "When Psyduck – or Golduck – did it, it looked like this sometimes."
"Now, what do I-" Swablu began.
Thundurus, in Therian Form, crashed to the ground about twenty feet away.
"...oh," he said, frowning. "...um... it looks like it's all been done already..."
Swellow was the first to reach them again. "Woo! Take that, you lousy overgrown sparkplug!"
"What happened?" Ash asked. "I wasn't paying attention..."
"Well, I got zapped, but it wasn't anything important," Swellow shrugged, flipping her wings. "Then I hit it with Boomburst, and I'm pretty sure Mega Latias hit it too, and... well, there was a lot of hitting with attacks."
"It's getting up again!" Crobat warned.
There was a cracking of twigs as Thundurus pulled himself back to his feet, sparks flickering over his skin, and then floated a little way into the air.
Overhead, the three tough fliers – Flygon, and the two Mega-Evolved Pokémon – circled warily.
"Right," Ash said, reaching for his staff. "Okay, I'll-"
Swablu flapped past him.
"Hey!" he called, glaring at Thundurus.
The Legendary raised a claw, coating it with crackling electricity as he slowly Charged.
"You don't scare me!" Swablu said, firmly. "You're not a real Thundurus, you're just my nightmares when I was a hatchling! And I've grown out of nightmares about bedtime stories!"
He took a breath, then began to Sing.
The sweet, lilting notes rang out across the now sun-drenched copse, and Thundurus stopped Charging. His burgeoning Thunderpunch dissipated, and he sank to the floor before lying down and beginning to snore.
Then, as Swablu sang on, the Electric-type dissolved altogether. Motes of blue light rose into the air, growing as they ascended, and then precipitated into fluffy white clouds that hung innocently in the air.
Swablu stopped, and alighted on the floor.
A moment later, everything went white.
"They're up!"
Ash yawned, shaking his head, then sat up. "Huh... I think that Sing might have got us too..."
"What Sing?" Noctowl asked, head twisting around. "I spent the last ten minutes stuck in my own bally mind again!"
"Does that mean it worked?" May asked, then broke into a grin on seeing Swablu flap into the air. "Oh, that's wonderful!"
"Yeah!" Swablu agreed. "They helped – I got to know that it was just a silly fear..."
"It's not really that silly," Ash corrected. "Just... too much."
"It's probably still a good idea to be a bit careful in thunderstorms," Max agreed, as his sister gave Swablu an exuberant hug.
"Well, he has to be careful in thunderstorms," Swellow corrected. "But who took an attack from Thundurus like it was nothing? This Flying-type, that's who!"
"Okay, how did you run into Thundurus?" Pikachu asked.
"Well, it was Swablu's fear of storms," Ash said, matter-of-factly. "And that kind of merged with a nightmare he used to have, I think..."
"You're going to have to tell the whole story," Brock decided.
"And then, Swablu flew up to confront Thundurus himself," Ash said.
"Yeah, it was really impressive!" Delta agreed, nodding firmly.
"I could tell he was scared, but he didn't really care about how scared he was," Crobat informed them. "Which is what being brave really is. And then he used Sing, and that... sort of solved the problem."
"Wow..." May said, softly. "You're a tough one, aren't you?"
She gave Swablu a scratch, just where he liked it, and he peeped in happiness.
"What I don't get, though, is why we couldn't hit Thundurus at first," Latias said, frowning.
Actually, I think I have a hypothesis about that.
They looked down at Ash's belt. "What is it, Dexter?" Ash asked, speaking for all of them.
You mentioned it Charged very quickly, and that it used Double Team and Substitute nearly instantly, Dexter said. I believe this was the ability Prankster, which has exactly this effect.
"Yeah, that would explain it," Max said, already working through the implications. "And then when it changed to Therian Form it changed ability, so it didn't have Prankster any more."
Correct.
There was a knock at the door.
"Kids?" Mr. Morita called. "Are you done with whatever you were doing yet?"
"I guess we'd better send some of you back to the ranch," Ash said, looking at Pidgeot taking up a sizeable chunk of the room. "Or at least into your Pokéballs..."
"Okay, here's where we found you," May said, looking out over the lake. "Can you see your flock?"
Swablu flapped up to sit on her head, drawing a surprised half-flinch then a chuckle, and looked carefully around.
Then he took off, and looked from a bit higher.
"...I can't see anything," he said, a catch in his voice.
May sighed. "I guess it's never going to be easy to find some Pokémon several days later, even if they're looking," she said. "Well... uh, I did have one idea..."
"What's that?"
"Well, you could come with me," May suggested. "I mean – you know, just as a temporary thing, even. You could come back afterwards, and..."
"Come with you?" Swablu repeated. "As in... be one of your Pokémon?"
"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "You could even leave one of our transceivers here, so you can come back home whenever you want – that's what we do for several of our Pokémon!"
"It's where Cinder is," Max added.
"The Mightyena you have?" Swablu asked, tilting his head. "Is that why she's not been around the last day or two?"
"Yeah, she's with her family," Max confirmed.
"I... I'd like that, I think," Swablu said.
"I would too," May smiled.
Swellow skidded to a wing-flaring halt. "Hey, I found a load of Swablu and Altaria who were missing someone. I think that's your flock."
Swablu blinked. "...oh. Uh..."
He frowned.
"Is your offer still open?" he asked May.
"Sure!" May agreed. "Let your family know you're okay, and we can talk about it then."
"Okay, May!" Swablu agreed. He launched himself skywards, the wind from his wings ruffling May's hair, and flew towards the white-cotton shapes just appearing at the other side of the lake.
"Remember what Arceus said," Aaron advised. "He said he was making the Pokémon in this place really tough."
"How bad can it be?" Palkia asked.
"Pretty bad."
"But..." Palkia pointed. "It's a Sunkern."
"Right, which means it's a Grass-type," Aaron noted. "And that means-"
Palkia walked over and poked the Sunkern. "It means it's not nearly powerful enough to hurt me, that's what. Sure, maybe the Charizards or the Luxrays or the Aegislash would be tough enough to hurt one of us, but-"
Sunkern used Absorb.
-AAAARGLE!" Palkia finished, limbs flailing as the Sunkern unleashed a vortex of green energy. Light poured into the seed-like Pokémon in a steady stream, and the effect only ended about twenty seconds later when Palkia accidentally kicked Sunkern into the middle distance.
Then, the Dragon of Space fell over.
"You should have listened," Giratina noted.
"I feel like I've been dragged backwards through a jungle..." Palkia mumbled, dragging himself back to his feet.
Aaron sighed. "Here."
He threw a Berry to Palkia, who swallowed it in a single gulp.
"Where's Dialga, by the way?" Giratina asked.
"I think he went on ahead..."
"Get off. Get off. Stop. I can destroy your very history. Stop it! That itches!"
Dialga scratched, trying to get off the Pidgey pecking incessantly at the base of his neck.
"This is going to be a long day..."
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