Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.


Chapter 9: Precious Stone

It was hard to believe they had been in Kalos for two months now. It hadn't felt like two months, though James was uncertain whether it was slower or faster. Setting up a company from the ground up was challenging, but also surprisingly boring at times. Paperwork was involved, and the false fronts did not make that easier. Nevertheless, Phlis Company was aimed at promoting trade of technological prowess between Kalos and Kanto at first, though the boss – both James and their boss – had plans to expand to Johto in the near future.

After all, what better way to expand one's influence than through money and technology? James had been born into money, and he knew full well its power, and technology was a staple of his particular group in Team Rocket. Admittedly, it had mixed results, but ever since they stopped focusing on that blasted pikachu, things had been looking up for them. It was decidedly healthier, easier on the nerves, and it involved less chewing out by the boss.

And if he were honest, giving him the role of overseer of the new company was a dream come true, and the verbal play that came with possessing copious amounts of money was surprisingly easy to fall back into, as much as he hated the lifestyle itself. He could talk the talk and walk the walk for the glory of Team Rocket. Perhaps it wouldn't be that way for always, but it had been James's background that was especially useful for this endeavour. Team Rocket didn't exactly recruit from high society often.

It was around noon, and while he had been up since dawn, he had seen hide nor hair of the other members. Part of that was because he had locked himself in his makeshift office, also known as the basement of their surprisingly spacious Santalune home, and part of that was because Jessie had been up overseeing a shipment of questionable legality until two or three in the morning. Wherever meowth was, he had no idea of. The cat-like Pokémon kept strange hours in general, and James was not certain meowth ran on a regular human 24 hour day.

He found both of them lounging in the living room. Even after two months, it felt weird to see his long-time partner in anything but Rocket clothing or a disguise. Jessie had found herself some fashionable dresses to wear, and combined with a new hairstyle, and his own dyed hair – now dark green – even the twerps would have had problems recognising them.

The talking meowth was a problem, which was why meowth tended to stay inside balancing the books. He was surprisingly adept at that. James pitched in from time to time, but it was more precautionary than actually needed.

Speaking of the twerps… "Is it that time already?" James wondered, taking his customary seat: a deco club chair with dark blue upholstery. It reminded him of one of his favourite chairs growing up. The TV was showing an overhead shot of the Indigo Plateau at night. "How did the other matches end?"

"Dat Monica girl took fifth, dat's all I saw," meowth replied from his customary curled-up position on a black pouffe. "And dere's the twerps all together," he added as they went to a shot of the VIP box, showing the family and friends of the battlers. Most of them were for their old nemeses; James recalled that the opponent was from Unova, and travel to and from there had been dangerous for months.

"Not all of them," Jessie added from the sofa, sipping daintily – or as daintily as she could – from an espresso shot glass. "The youngest twerp isn't there. Still isn't. You'd think he'd be there."

James smirked. "As luck would have it, I know why he isn't there," he informed his partners, causing both of them to jerk their heads in his direction. "Did either of you hear about the Glittering Cave incident with Team Flare, about a month and a half back?"

Jessie shook her head, but meowth put a nail to his lips. "Hmm… Ain't dat the Fossil place?"

"Exactly." James picked up his tablet from the chair's armrest and tapped a few buttons, reaching his mail programme. "As it turned out, one of the scientists is loyal to Team Rocket, and he sent me this when I asked about the group of Trainers that stopped Flare." He cleared his throat. "Three Trainers, young; two boys and one girl. The boys I had seen before: on television in a press conference, last September while on holiday in Hoenn. They had helped the local Gym Leader capture someone high up from Team Aqua."

"So you went an' looked at dat press conference?"

"You know me too well, meowth," James replied as the arena changed fields. Evidently, it'd be a rocky field first. "Either the twerp has a doppelgänger in Kalos, or he's really here." He did recall something about an eerily similar boy…

"This doesn't change our plans," Jessie stated. "Even if one of them is here, what can they do to stop us?"

James shrugged as he put the tablet in sleep mode. "Little. He's a do-gooder, but he's also thirteen at best. He won't understand until it is too late, and even then, we're officially on the straight and narrow." The TV showed a split-screen shot of both battlers. "I put out feelers in the police, but it'll take some time for information to trickle back."

~~§~~§~~

Ash adjusted his hat, ready to release his first Pokémon at the signal. The Rock field first didn't matter: all of his Pokémon could fight on both fields, but this one was perhaps a little better to lead with. "Donphan, I choose you!"

The Ground-type landed with a loud crash, trumpeting her arrival. On the opposite side of the field, a white and purple Pokémon came out, and Ash recognised it as Karen's mienshao. It wasn't unexpected: Karen had used it to lead three times before, and he knew it was a tough battler with a habit of snatching victory from defeat.

But he also knew its weaknesses. It was best up close, but donphan wasn't going to give it traditional hand to hand combat. Karen also didn't have any information on Ash's Pokémon; he hadn't needed to use her before. She'd been a reserve against Jonathan and Christopher.

His plan was simple. "Rollout," he ordered as the battle started, and whatever mienshao opened with, Ash and donphan didn't care about.

The Aura Sphere hit donphan, but the Armor Pokémon just kept on rolling, barrelling down the field in a straight line as mienshao prepared to dodge out of the way. It was waiting for the last second to do so to give Ash's Pokémon no chance to change course. "Adjust left," Ash ordered, hoping it was going to go there.

It did, and the mienshao flew away, landing on its feet and Detecting the next round of donphan passing by, sending an Aura Sphere at the bottom of her rolling form. This did end up throwing her out of the Rollout, but the landing was simple.

Hidden Power forced mienshao to back away, but then donphan started closing the distance on her terms. She stomped through the arena, loudly, as she picked up speed for a Take Down attack, and just as Ash had hoped, mienshao prepared to counter-attack.

It punched donphan right in the snout, but donphan also sent it flying before jumping into a Rollout. Mienshao couldn't alter its path mid-flight, and Ash's Pokémon rolled back to his side of the field afterwards, accidentally chipping part of a rock before easing out of her spin.

Mienshao put its arms together, light green energy enveloping it for a moment. Then it launched itself at donphan, swerving around a Hidden Power before hitting and causing a small explosion that obscured Ash's vision of the rest of the field. Donphan sounded okay.

And then a short jet of water hit her.

The opponent was now a simipour, completing the trio of Unovan monkeys in Ash's last three matches. A worse match-up, but that just was a challenge. "Close in, straight," Ash ordered.

Zig-zagging wouldn't work: donphan was too sluggish to dodge the water sent his way, and so she ran down the field in a straight line, against a steady stream of water that was not to her liking.

The Earthquake knocked the nimble monkey off its feet, though it rebounded quickly, jumping over a second tremor and using an Aqua Tail to block the Hidden Power sent after that. Donphan tried for a Take Down, but that failed to work, as simipour easily jumped away, using superior speed to its advantage.

That was usually Ash's strategy.

The monkeys weren't known for being sturdy, though, and donphan had a trick up her sleeve. "Hide," he ordered, and Ash's Pokémon hurried over to the largest undamaged rock formation, on the left side of the arena. It hid donphan completely, while also providing her with good cover. Water wouldn't crack it, didn't crack it, and an Ice Beam splashed on it.

The Water attack that followed melted the ice, but didn't do much more. Good to know Scald was in simipour's arsenal, though.

Eventually, the Water-type decided it had to bring the fight to donphan, and that was when the Hyper Beam was released. Simipour was too close, unable to dodge, and it was lifted into the air, being thrown back at least fifty feet, skidding harshly across the ground. Donphan attempted to chase after it, but the post-Hyper Beam lethargy worked against her, as simipour was able to get up, a familiar blue surrounding the monkey.

Who knew they could have Torrent for an Ability?

Donphan was returned, but despite being one Pokémon down, Ash felt okay. Donphan had done her job. He had others to finish the fight.

Pikachu was raring to go beside him, but Ash shook his head. "Not now," he told his starter. He wished he could have explained more, but the microphones picked everything up, and he didn't want to broadcast his plan. "Absol, I choose you!"

With practice came ease, and Mega absol took the field once more, immediately going to work by zipping past the Hydro Pump sent her way. The water was so close absol could probably feel it rushing by, but a dodge was a dodge, and she launched a weak Night Slash at the simipour, interrupting another Water attack.

Ash just stood back and waited, scanning the field for things simipour might use to force absol into a bad spot. Absol knew perfectly that staying back was the best option, so it was up to Ash to identify anything that might come out of the blue.

By the time simipour fell – a surprisingly long time later – absol had avoided all but one of the jets of water sent her way, and that one had been on purpose, Ash thought, in order to deliver the finishing blow with a close-range Night Slash. Staying at range hadn't worked; Night Slashes didn't home, and simipour was adept at avoiding attacks efficiently. In fact, the last Night Slash had been the only full-on hit. Maybe one of the earlier attacks had grazed the Water-type, but it was hard to tell at the distance.

Karen's medicham came out, just as Ash had expected. Another nimble Pokémon, and Ash started to think Karen had selected them specifically to deal with Mega absol. That was fine, but he had more up his sleeve than that.

What was that Kalos saying Max had used? Never interrupt your opponent when they're… Something like that. He snapped his mind back to the battle, seeing the referee's flag go down to signal the resumption of the battle. "Counter."

Medicham launched itself forward, feet barely touching the ground as it closed in. Its left hand lit up with a Thunderpunch, but the real danger would probably come from the other hand.

The attempted Force Palm proved as much.

Duck, left, left, right, duck. Absol avoided all attacks, but couldn't attack medicham back as she moved across the field, taking care to not be driven into a corner.

An opening soon appeared, and absol slipped a quick and weak Night Slash in. It splashed on the medicham's thin torso, hindering it just enough for the Thunderpunch to hit one of the rocks on the field. Absol took advantage by zipping away, moving in a semi-circle that allowed her to send a barrage of Night Slashes at her opponent.

Ash had to admit, the medicham was amazing at dodging all the attacks. Vertical slashes were twisted out of, while it was amazingly fast at dropping to the ground and getting back up for horizontal slashes sent at waist-height. A low slash was jumped over, and the follow-up sent high – absol having anticipated medicham jumping in response – met a clap of medicham's hands that released a Hidden Power. The attacks exploded, temporarily obscuring absol's vision of medicham.

Ash could still see it, and he saw blue enveloping medicham and debris on the ground. A field of small pebbles flew at absol, who took all of them to jump over a fierce Force Palm.

Ash was certain the Force Palm would have hit if absol had tried to minimise her profile.

Absol hadn't jumped high, and she landed on medicham with her rear legs, using them to jump off and sending medicham sprawling. It got up, Detecting out of the way of a Psycho Cut and immediately moving to close the gap. Absol was ready, dodging as a mild breeze started blowing through the arena.

"Pressure," Ash countermanded absol, and with a bark and a quick jump away, absol switched from defender to attacker, opening with two diagonal Night Slashes before launching a Flamethrower to throw medicham off.

The fire licked at an arm, but didn't do more, and absol was summarily pelted by the debris around her as medicham threw all of it up several feet. A Focus Blast follow-up missed, the yellow ball curving nastily but ending up on the ground somewhere, and a Hidden Power met a Psycho Cut that easily neutralised it.

A nagging sensation – he recognised it as worry – wriggled into Ash's mind. Medicham was holding out well, and neither party seemed to be able to hit the other overly much. A prolonged fight wasn't in his advantage, though: absol wasn't used to being Mega for too long.

A sudden onrush of wind told Ash that either absol felt the same way, or that she had planned for it. It was hard to tell. "Go in!" Ash ordered, and absol obliged, unleashing a wide scythe of Dark-type energy simultaneously with the incoming Future Sight.

Only for medicham to glow white and red.

Both attacks landed, but Ash didn't care about that. "Out!" he ordered.

It wasn't enough. Karen's gambit worked, and a wide beam of white energy engulfed absol as medicham unleashed the Bide. Endure had allowed it to take the hit, and it had foregone all attempts at defending to maximise Bide's effectiveness. It was a risky move, but one Ash instantly saw the merits of. Karen had probably felt Mega absol was one of the bigger threats she would face, and so she had prepared accordingly. Medicham hadn't used Bide once in the tournament, and Ash had honestly forgotten it could learn the move.

At least Karen's Pokémon was ruled out. Better yet, absol – miraculously, Ash thought – managed to get up. She looked terrible, and the subtle tug from the Mega Ring was…laboured. Somehow.

Still, as long as she could do some damage on the next Pokémon, he could work with it.

Karen's third Pokémon wasn't the mienshao that Ash had been expecting. Instead, another Unovan Pokémon dropped onto the field. Karen's starter darmanitan was here, and ready to wreck the arena.

It had only done so twice before, but it seemed interested in a third, as it opened with a powerful Earthquake that shook the entire arena. Absol somehow avoided the worst of the tremors, but did have to rebalance herself, which gave darmanitan the time it needed to fly in with a glowing arm.

Absol twisted, jumped, and flipped her way out of trouble, with Hammer Arm just inches, if not less, away from her. She used her opponent as a launch pad, unbalancing it and forcing it to put a hand to the ground, next to the hole that had just been created with the one attack.

Two could play at that game, as absol demonstrated with a vicious Night Slash. It grew to about eight feet long, crashing into the ground and creating a twenty foot furrow ending near where darmanitan had been. The next Night Slash only had a ten foot gouge, and that was because it hit the shields on the side, which flared with sudden intensity.

Darmanitan had reached the middle, repeating the Earthquake into Hammer Arm combination, just on the opposite side of the field this time. It tried to adjust for absol's dodging, but she had navigated the tremors better, allowing her a clean jump away into a Night Slash that dug into darmanitan's side.

That was its weakness. Karen liked to use the pattern – Ash had seen her use it in her previous matches and it was effective even if you knew what was coming – but it couldn't take hits well. It was also weak to flying Pokémon, but Ash was willing to bet anything she'd just swap out in that case.

The problem was that it was fully capable of just straight up dealing so much damage first that you could just suddenly lose two Pokémon to it. A third Earthquake combo proved the point, the Fire Punch correctly anticipating where absol was going to be and sending her skidding uncontrollably over the rough terrain.

She wasn't out yet, but it was getting close. Ash saw absol glow a very light green as she stood up, and struck big as her stolen Stone Edge occurred faster than darmanitan's, breaking its concentration and giving absol the time needed to summon another Future Sight attack for help later.

At least, Ash thought it had given her the time, but apparently, it hadn't. Darmanitan jumped on absol, wrestling it to the ground as the Fire-type set itself aflame in a Flare Blitz, burning absol as she was pinned down underneath a thrashing Pokémon.

The Key Stone connection shattered, sending a violent shudder through Ash. That was a feeling he could do without. "Thanks absol," he said as he returned her. "Take a rest." He studied darmanitan and Karen for a second, thinking, hoping this was the right move. "Squirtle, you're up."

The announcer and the audience went wild with surprise. Ash heard it, and had expected it. He hadn't used squirtle yet, and the amount of not fully evolved Pokémon in the Champion's League in general was small. To bring a completely unevolved Pokémon was… Something else. Especially after a Mega Evolution.

Naturally, Ash had done it before with bulbasaur, and the surprise then had been as big as it was now.

But they were the Pokémon Ash trusted. He could have used croconaw or kingler, and maybe he should have, just for extra strength, but they were too slow, and the darmanitan hit hard. Better to not be hit at all, Ash had reasoned, and so squirtle had made it onto his team for this match.

"Up," Ash ordered as the battle resumed, Karen proving predictable with yet another Earthquake. Squirtle retreated into his shell after jumping up, and the darmanitan gleefully went after him, a Hammer Arm ready to hit the Water-type.

Ash grinned. That was the first mistake he'd seen Karen make. Squirtle started spinning in mid-air, expelling vast amounts of water in a Hydro Pump, soaking a large area of the field, darmanitan included. The stream of water pushing against darmanitan also allowed squirtle to avoid the incoming Blazing Pokémon, instead flying backwards and landing in its shell while Karen's Pokémon landed on its face, close to the first gouge absol had created. A Water Gun hit it in the back, but a quick flash of Flare Blitz removed all moisture from the Fire-type's body.

Darmanitan thundered towards squirtle, not caring about the Water Gun that the squirtle was planting in its face, before grabbing him in one hand, other hand glowing as it prepared to punch squirtle's lights out by sending it through the rock formation behind him.

That was the second mistake.

Squirtle spun into his shell, unleashing a second Hydro Pump in less than half a minute at point blank, and although darmanitan let go, it did little to help Between darmanitan's legs and body, and the rocks behind him, squirtle roughly stayed in place while the water blasted the Fire-type, immobilising him with pain.

For a moment, it fought through the pain, landing an Earthquake that sent squirtle flying uncontrollably for a second before he turned Hydro Pump off, after which the landing was rough, but cushioned by his shell.

The landing also didn't matter, as darmanitan had also been hit by a sudden Future Sight – and Ash hadn't even noticed the wind picking up – that had knocked it out. Along with the help of the water, of course.

He returned squirtle, putting him in stasis as per tournament rules, and walked to the bench behind him, where someone had left a chilled bottle of water and a small fruit snack. After giving part of the snack to pikachu, Ash sat down, waiting for the match to resume.

~~§~~§~~

"Da twerp is doin' okay," meowth mentioned as the TV went to a commercial break. "Dat Mega absol is strong. Glad we never saw dat."

James had to agree. If it hadn't been for that downright sneaky move by the medicham, the absol would have run away with the battle. "You'd think he'd expect the counters," Jessie remarked, sending out wobbuffet to emphasise her point. The oblivious Pokémon uttered a few syllables before being returned unceremoniously. "Or has he forgotten us already?"

"Doubtful," James said as an advertisement for the Holo Caster started. "I think he didn't expect it." He made to say more, but the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

By the time he had walked to the front door and back, after politely telling a pair of Xernean Witnesses that they'd find no converts here, the match was about to resume.

~~§~~§~~

Ash released squirtle again, keeping the capsule at the ready in case it was needed. He expected Karen might lead with something strong against squirtle, and he had counters for that.

It was her ampharos, and Ash signalled he, too, wanted to switch Pokémon. There were limits to what he thought good, and that was one of them.

The fact that sending out torterra would most likely reveal Karen's sixth Pokémon was an added bonus. Information about what your opponent had was useful, Drake had told him over and over again, and Ash saw the merit of it in moments like these.

Her sixth Pokémon was a leafeon. Ash had seen one of those in Sinnoh, courtesy of the fight before his in the Eterna City Gym, and he hadn't recalled much of what they did before looking it up in preparation for the battle.

More importantly, torterra had the best chance of actually winning. Sure, there was charizard, but the moment Ash sent him out, Karen would swap in ampharos. Pikachu and squirtle were at a disadvantage as well – though Karen didn't know squirtle didn't know any Ice-type moves – which left just Ash's second Sinnoh Pokémon. He had evolved rather fast for his kind, but apart from a brief period just after evolving into grotle, he had always been a solid Pokémon in Ash's team.

A flurry of Magical Leaves and a set of Razor Leaves met in the middle, cancelling each other out as an opening salvo. Ash saw leafeon dart away to its left, while torterra stayed put, turning to keep his opponent in view.

Seeing that trying to get into a blind spot wouldn't work, leafeon lit up the leaf on its head, coming in with a Leaf Blade from torterra's side, evading a quick Razor Leaf and striking one of the trees atop torterra before moving away again, circling around and coming in for more of the same. "Now!"

The Earthquake didn't do as much damage to the arena as darmanitan's had done, but it did throw leafeon off as it sprang up, instead leaving it behind torterra instead of above it. Torterra couldn't take advantage because it wasn't a rapidash or something, but leafeon backed off anyway, covering with a short salvo of Magical Leaf that splashed harmlessly on torterra's shell.

Actually… Ash ran through what he had left and what Karen had left while torterra blocked another Magical Leaf and blew up a Giga Drain with Energy Ball. Charizard flew, pikachu wouldn't care, torterra definitely didn't care…. That settled it. "Wreck the arena!"

He had to let a Giga Drain through, but torterra obliged, unleashing three or four Earthquakes, the tremors amplifying each other as the ground tore itself apart, cracks turning into small cliffs or holes. Grass roots dangled where one part of the arena now hung over another, and Ash lost sight of leafeon as shifting rock made it impossible to see through to Karen.

Suddenly, it was a lot more like that time he had let Brock go all-out on creating a mountain-side arena, complete with the danger of rocks sliding down. Any Earthquake could knock it loose, and Ash knew Karen knew that.

After all, he had stolen this strategy off of her darmanitan.

Leafeon showed her head, pelting torterra with a quick few leaves before dodging out of vision again. "Get ready," Ash told torterra, who obliged by swallowing his own Energy Ball, and the tree on his back glowed a soft green as the energy gathered.

More surprised outcries from the announcer and the audience, but Ash was more interested in finding out where the leafeon was hiding. The Verdant Pokémon was clever, not showing itself and being careful in moving to not send any loose rocks tumbling down to reveal its location.

But eventually, it did launch an attack – an Energy Ball that went for torterra's flank. "Left!"

The green aura around torterra's tree explodedas the heavy Pokémon reared up by inches before slamming his weight down.

And the ground pulsed.

Vines as wide as Ash's torso erupted from underneath, going every which way, piercing and shoving rock, destroying anything that had survived the Earthquake upheaval. Twisting and turning, they found their target – Karen's leafeon – and slammed it, and themselves, against the barriers, forcing them to brighten to blinding intensity as the ground was rearranged once again. Ash's vision of Karen was restored, but leafeon fell out of sight, as rocks blocked his view of it and the referee.

A Giga Drain that torterra was too slow to react to proved it was still around, but the Frenzy Plant had done work. It popped around a corner near Ash, and he saw that it was looking very frayed, limping slightly before noticing Ash and darting away, not nearly as agile as it had been. "Left, back," Ash said.

Torterra wasted no time in moving, Rock Climb slicing through the formation and sending a glowing leafeon into the air, the light fading as it flew. Ash recognised it as the light of Synthesis, but between the moonless night sky and torterra ramming it, he guessed it hadn't done much.

Leafeon was able to avoid the Razor Leaf, reminding Ash that it wasn't out yet, and the Giga Drain restored some more energy, also eliciting a grunt from torterra.

It was probably best to end it soon, then; torterra wasn't impervious. "Regular."

The pulsing of the ground wasn't as pronounced, and the vines were a bit thinner, but they still slammed into leafeon at just the right angle to send it flying forty feet back into a small cliff that promptly broke, dropping a couple of medium-sized rocks on top of the leafeon.

Torterra's Razor Leaf tore through those rocks, as leafeon had been returned, and a quick look up confirmed that it had been a forfeit.

By the time mienshao was sent out, torterra had lumbered back over to his position in the centre of Ash's half of what was left of the arena.

The Aura Sphere opener met an Energy Ball, creating a small explosion that the mienshao used as cover to move closer, going right where rocks hindered Ash and torterra's vision. "Stay."

Staying turned out to be wrong, as torterra was much too slow to dodge an incoming High Jump Kick without being on the move already, and mienshao was more than willing to bring the fight to close range, avoiding the Grass-type's snapping jaws and Razor Leaves with agile movements and a bit of help from Detect. "Concentrate. Earthquake."

Focusing meant taking another few punches to the flank, but torterra managed to unleash an Earthquake that forced the mienshao off. Sadly, it was able to land safely from its jump, despite the tremors, and the Energy Ball that followed it was dodged with ease, the Fighting-type not even looking at the attack as it moved out of the way, launching up an Aura Sphere as it did so.

The attack connected as Razor Leaves melted, but that only served to activate Overgrow, and Ash knew just how to make use of that.

Annoyingly, mienshao Detected its way out of being hit by most of the Frenzy Plant vines, but a Razor Leaf barrage cut some of the vines above its head, sending large chunks of plant tumbling down onto Karen's Pokémon, who shielded with its arms, but soon abandoned that for getting out of the network of vines.

It did, with some helpful application of attacks, exiting to the back and causing Ash and torterra to lose sight of it once more.

Ash noticed a flicker in the Overgrow. Frenzy Plant had taken a lot out of his Pokémon, and using three in one match was a lot. It wasn't the most they had ever used in such a short period, but it was the most they had used in such a high stakes environment. It was bound to be tiring, and torterra was close to running out of juice.

Worryingly, mienshao also made no visible move, though Ash saw torterra turn his head and launch some small sets of leaves twice. Both attacks did nothing.

Then, suddenly, Ash saw movement to his right, immediately alerting torterra to the incoming High Jump Kick.

The response was a quickly executed Frenzy Plant that faltered after the attack hit torterra in the flank. However, milliseconds after mienshao had connected with torterra, a vine had shot up from underground, slamming it right in the foot and sending it tumbling through the sky. Mienshao anded on its head, knocking it out cold along with torterra, whose energy was finally spent.

Ampharos versus charizard, squirtle, and pikachu. Good odds for any trainer.

He elected to go with charizard first, if only because the lizard-like Pokémon would be disgruntled if he wasn't used. A loud roar announced his presence, and he took to the sky in defiance of his opponent.

First things first. "Vines," Ash yelled up as the battle got under way once more.

The arena promptly turned into a burning hell for anyone not Fire-type and inside the main area of the vines. Sadly, Karen had released ampharos outside of that, but it did limit the Electric-type's movement by making large areas of the field inaccessible for now.

It very much didn't stop ampharos from summoning Thunder to pelt charizard with. Luckily, it was a clear night and Ash's Pokémon only had to watch for hits from below, but any one of them would hurt. This one missed, thanks to a quick beat of wings and a half-roll from charizard, and a blast of Dragon Rage intercepted the next jolt.

Charizard beat his wings a few more times before suddenly diving straight down, spiralling, launching a Fire Spin at the same time. The tornado enveloped the ampharos, but charizard broke it off as more electricity made its way up. It hit charizard, but the attack hadn't been that powerful.

Ampharos blocked a Dragon Breath with a Dragon Pulse of his own, the gem on its head helping as a conduit for that and a Power Gem that narrowly missed charizard's tail. "Distance," Ash ordered, even as ampharos gathered electricity for another Thunder.

The Thunder splashed against the barriers over Ash's head, while charizard circled above the charred remains of the vines. They had burnt out quicker than Ash had expected, and it allowed ampharos to start clearing out the larger and intact plant remnants with quick Thundershocks.

Charizard saw that, and he had apparently had enough of the Light Pokémon. An Overheat came out, blinding in intensity, and ampharos barely avoided it by rolling right, while Karen was blocked from sight by flame splashing on the shields in front of her.

Charizard's follow-up Flamethrower was a direct hit, stopped only when a feeble Confuse Ray floated towards him. Ash's Fire-type wanted nothing of that, not that Ash could blame him. It had caused a rather embarrassing loss a few days back. He flew back up into the sky high above, and Ash took a good look at the hurt opponent. Smoke was coming off of ampharos in small wisps, though it still looked very capable of fighting.

A Dragon Breath met another Dragon Pulse, ampharos pushing slightly more power into it to let the orb pierce charizard's attack, forcing a pair of wing beats up to make the attack not hit.

Straight into a Zap Cannon.

Charizard fell to the ground, desperately trying to gets his muscles to work properly, but as he hit the ground, a Thunder intercepted him, causing an agonised roar. The arena helped a little in grounding the electricity, but it still hurt the charizard a lot, and it was only sheer lock in firing random Flamethrowers that caused the Thunder to actually stop, ampharos having to take a few steps to its right to not be on the receiving end of that.

Charizard forced himself to his clawed feet, the flame on its tail starting to burn brighter, growing with each passing second. Ash was a little surprised to see Blaze active already, but then again, charizard had been under Thunder for at least five seconds. "Go!"

Foregoing flight, charizard launched Flamethrower after Flamethrower, sometimes as a jet, sometimes as just a ball of fire, forcing ampharos to put all its effort into not being hit. The balls were blown up, while the jets were dodged, which caused charizard to switch to sweeping the field with his fire as he lumbered forward.

Ampharos finally found shelter behind a small cliff that had survived the onslaught of Frenzy Plants earlier. It wasn't big, but it was enough to hide the Electric-type fully, and Flamethrower bent around it, but did not pierce through the rock.

After a few seconds and seeing that the Flamethrower didn't work, charizard stopped breathing fire, inhaling deeply before spitting out a different stream of fire. The Overheat was more concentrated, and Blaze offset that it was the second time it was used. It was more than capable of shattering the rock, as ampharos soon found out.

But not before jumping up and launching a Zap Cannon that impacted on charizard's head.

Charizard fell like a rock, howling in pain, thrashing about, while ampharos let out painful wails of its own on the other end. For a moment, neither Pokémon was in any shape to launch an attack, and Ash waited to see which Pokémon recovered first.

It was Karen's Pokémon, and a Power Gem put an end to charizard's fight.

Pikachu clambered up to Ash's shoulder, fur heavily static. Ash ignored it with five years experience of having felt that. "Your turn, buddy."

Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, landing in some of the ashes of the plants and immediately blasting the remains of a vine near him away. Opposite him, ampharos hadn't moved out of the debris of the rocks charizard had obliterated with the Overheat.

It wasn't much of a fight. Ampharos tried, launching Power Gems and Dragon Pulses – both far more effective than electricity – at pikachu, but Ash's starter was everywhere the attacks weren't, pushing Agility to its limit as he moved in closer, tail already beginning to glow silver with Iron Tail.

The Steel-type attack wasn't enough to knock it out, and a Fire Punch forced pikachu away, but ampharos swayed dangerously, barely keeping itself from falling.

Pikachu started charging the attack before Ash called it. "Volt Tackle!"

A cocoon of golden electricity formed around pikachu, before becoming so bright Ash's Pokémon appeared black and white inside of it. A Thunder only fed the move, and a quick zig right made sure Power Gem didn't interrupt it, any debris from the Rock-type move gouging itself into the ground evaporating as it hit the aura ballooning around Ash's Pokémon.

With a deafening bang, ampharos went flying farther than a Pokémon of its weight should when hit by a thirteen pound Pokémon.

Even though it wasn't a tournament victory, third place was pretty amazing in its own right.

~~§~~§~~

Max sat on a bench overlooking the Shalour Bay. In the distance, to his right, he could see the edge of the island the Tower of Mastery and the local Gym were located on, currently accessible due to the low tide being around half past three, and bells in the background had rung three a while ago. There was a soft breeze from the sea, but the sky was alternating blue and grey, and when the sun peeked through the clouds, it was pretty decent weather for March. Not as warm as it could be in Hoenn, but they weren't there right now.

Vulpix sure enjoyed it, Max thought as he looked to his left, seeing the vulpix half-curled up on the wood. The fox caught his look, and she nuzzled his hand before going to groom herself. Max restrained his urge to pet her; vulpix brooked no interruptions on that activity, as Serena had once found out. Instead, he cast his mind to his friends, back in the Pokémon Center.

Danny was still ill, but getting better. May had probably been right; it did look like the flu according to Nurse Joy, and there was nothing to that except lots of fluids, simple food, and lots of waiting. Nurse Joy had offered them another room for Danny to sleep in, but Serena had taken that after a short discussion. Max didn't blame her for it: Serena was a nightmare if she didn't get enough sleep and she knew it. When Max had said he was fine with staying in the same room, Serena had jumped to claim the room.

It was a bit silly, but Max felt like he should be there for Danny. He didn't know why it was, but something inside him had revolted at the idea of not sleeping in the same room. If it meant he had less sleep because Danny coughed his lungs out once or twice a night, then so be it. Max had been through worse.

A loud cheer from behind him, somewhere to his left, interrupted his thoughts. He turned, seeing a group of elementary school age children, backpacks and all, wave and cheer at a boy walking down the stairs onto the beach, maybe a hundred feet away. There was something on the boy's left shoulder, but Max couldn't see what exactly.

The boy turned right at the bottom of the stairs, nearly skipping across the sand, happy as anything. The Pokémon on his shoulder seemed happy too, and Max felt a pang of regret.

Always ralts. Always.

Vulpix barked, catching the boy's attention, and another bark, sounding almost commanding, made him walk over. He was short, with reddish and curly hair. "Cool, a vulpix!" the boy enthused, his voice high-pitched. "Does that mean you're not from Kalos?"

"I'm from Hoenn," Max answered, watching the ralts jump into the boy's arms without looking. It was caught without a problem. "And vulpix is too."

"Cool!" The boy sat down next to vulpix, and looked at her. "May I?" he asked Max.

"I'm not the one you should ask." When he got a blank look, Max nodded down at vulpix. "Ask her."

The boy's eyes widened, making him look even younger. How old was he anyway? This was basic stuff. "Vulpix? May I touch you?"

The nuzzle answered that, and he carefully started petting her, using his free right hand to move through vulpix's thicker fur. He didn't look used to it, Max thought, but the happy yip from vulpix as the boy's thumb made circles in her neck spoke of success anyway. "Why were they all cheering for you back there?"

"It was my last day of school," the boy replied, not letting up on the petting. Ralts snuggled into his stomach at the same time. "And us Shalour kids always go to the Tower of Mastery before leaving. I'm doing that today, so I can leave first thing tomorrow. With ralts."

He had to ask. "Is ralts your starter?"

The twin smiles answered the question before any words did. "Yeah. Grand-mère gifted it to me, and the first thing I'm going to do is visit her to thank her." Ralts made a noise of happy agreement. "Is vulpix your starter?"

Max shook his head. "Treecko was mine. He's a grovyle now. Vulpix just wanted to be out, so here she is."

"Oh," the boy said, ceasing his petting of vulpix for a moment. A mewling complaint caused him to resume it. "It – she? - is so soft, and her fur's really smooth. You must take good care of her."

"A friend had a vulpix for a time, and he gave me grooming tips," Max replied, remembering the chat with Brock and the two pages of notepad scribblings somewhere in his bags. He'd memorised them by now, but boy were vulpix picky. "And yeah, she. Using the right gender pronoun just feels better."

"How do you find out their gender? I can't tell if ralts is male or female – they both look the same."

"You ask them?" Max said, holding back a laugh when he saw the boy freeze and sudden realisation dawn on his face. "It's that simple. So, ralts, are you a boy?"

The ralts suddenly jumped onto Max's knee, vaulting over vulpix, and shook its – her – head as she landed. Max brought his left hand to steady her. "I guess that means ralts is a she?"

"She is," Max told his companion as a comforting surge of heat swept through his body. "I'm Max, by the way. Great to meet you."

"Hugo," was the one word reply. "Hey, how old are you? You don't sound old, but you really know a lot."

Max turned around, seeing the bell tower in the distance. It wasn't quite four yet, but it was close. "I'm twelve for another eight hours."

Hugo gasped. "Your birthday is tomorrow? So is mine! We're birthday pals!" They shared a grin. "Ralts likes you."

Max looked down, only now really noticing that ralts had sat down on his knee, legs on either side, and that he was rubbing her back gently, like the young ralts back in September. That explained a few things. "Well, ralts like positive emotions, and I like ralts." Both in general and this specific one. "So it's a loop." He gently lifted ralts up on his hands, looking the Feeling Pokémon in the eyes. She looked back at him, calmly, trust radiating from those red eyes he had dreamed of so many times. "If you're good to your ralts, she'll be good for you. Care for her, and don't be afraid to do what's right, and you'll have a friend for a lifetime."

"That's what grand-mère said. Sort of," Hugo told him, and Max felt ralts agree. "Do you have a ralts of your own?"

Max put ralts down on the bench next to vulpix before looking the younger boy straight in the eyes. "I tried to save one from a poacher, but I couldn't." Vulpix barked, and ralts whined softly, causing Max's stomach to contract involuntarily. Hugo also had a sad look on his face, and a glance down told Max ralts was probably feeding some of her emotions to him. "They are some of the best Pokémon out there if you care for them. Will you do that, Hugo?"

"Yes," the boy answered solemnly, but without hesitation. "I promise."

"Then keep that promise. If not for me, for ralts."

As Hugo walked off into the distance, ralts riding on his shoulder once again in a way that reminded Max of Ash and pikachu, the older boy hoped that Hugo would be able to keep his promise, unlike himself.

Of all the things he had done, seen, experienced in the past year, that was his biggest regret by a mile.

Suddenly, vulpix got up, running off over the sand, left, in the opposite direction. "Where are you going?" he yelled as he started running as well, the sand shifting underneath his shoes giving him trouble in keeping up. "I can't go that fast!"

Surprisingly, vulpix slowed down a bit, but only enough so that Max could keep at the same distance, and they ran for a good five minutes. By that time, Max's sides were starting to feel warm: he may have been fit, but running on sand was a nightmare and what felt like half the beach in his shoes didn't help. They'd already reached the Shalour City limits, and the hills that they had come through on the way there were now to Max's left.

Then, suddenly, vulpix jumped up onto the rocks, and Max stopped to climb up the nearly shoulder-high ledge. It took a moment, but he did so without too many problems, and he saw vulpix with her nose to the ground, sniffing something out. "What is it?" Max asked, but his Pokémon ignored him, instead running off – at a slower pace, thank jirachi – upwards.

Max had to climb up two more ledges and even jump a small crack, but then, as he turned a corner he had seen vulpix go around a few seconds before, he saw his Pokémon sit on her haunches in a dead end. The walls around them went up at least twenty feet, and they were sheer with barely any protruding rocks. "Why did you bring me here, vul..."

Max stopped talking because vulpix put her paw on something. Something round, yellow, something obviously not part of the rocks around them.

It was unmistakably a Mega Stone.

Max moved to pick it up. It was chipped slightly in one place, over a red band inside the blue Mega Evolution symbol, but otherwise, it looked in perfect shape. "How did you-" he started to ask, but a flicker right in front of his face interrupted him, forcing his eyes shut. Something moved past – whizzing, light – but by the time Max opened his eyes again, there was no sign of anything.

There was, however, a piece of paper floating gently in the wind, spiralling down on some unseen current. Max grabbed it.

0911 1440

He had no idea what it meant.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Your efforts are expanding Team Rocket adequately. Revenue is outpacing projections by approximately twenty percent on the legal front, and our aftermarket products are proving to be popular. Provided you continue this diligent service, your importance in the organisation will rise in accordance.

Your mention of this 'Team Flare' is worrying. Keep an eye on them, and hinder them should their interests run counter to ours.