HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! To all my readers: thank you, very very much!


Chapter Twelve

Geosenge Town could be summed up in one word: tiny.

Admittedly there wasn't all that much to make it big or flashy or even tourist-attractive like Cyllage. It was literally a town in a ring of stone.

Oh, and a hole in the ground leading down to what was formerly Team Flare's base of operations, but it was probably considered bad taste to prop up an evil team's lair as a tourist attraction. Not that it was an option in the first place; the rubble from the cave-in had positioned itself in such a way that climbing inside was nearly impossible.

Harry had no doubt someone extremely determined could do it, but that begged the question of what they wanted with a defunct doomsday team's lair in the first place. Maybe in Hoenn they would consider it a possible – was it Secret Base? If it was, well, a giant crater didn't scream secret, but it probably would be a good base. Assuming Team Flare hadn't left any nasty traps inside to kill intruders.

Harry kicked a stone into the crater. It bounced, once, twice, before joining the rubble that blockaded Team Flare's former base.

Apparently, another word would also fit Geosenge Town. Boring.

He spun on his skates, ready to start heading back to the Pokémon Centre. Geosenge would probably be the last place he'd be able to practise his skating for a while, since Miroir Way – and most other grass surfaces – weren't exactly designed for skating. And after Miroir was Shalour, and if he didn't get how to skate now, he was actually going to faceplant on Korrina's floor. No spectacular victory would ever blot out that kind of stain.

Nincada chirped cheerfully before vanishing underground. Since reaching Geosenge – well, the Trainee Pokémon was no more understandable than previously, but he'd been progressing rapidly with Dig, to the extent where Harry could say with reasonable confidence that it was his favourite move. He certainly seemed preoccupied with using it.

Honedge hummed lightly next to him. You seem bored.

"I am bored," Harry replied. "Geosenge Town has literally nothing. The population is eleven people. Eleven, Honedge."

The sad thing was that it was true. Geosenge was small even before Team Flare – a little country town with one of the lowest populations in Kalos. Now its population was one hundred percent old people, and a Pokémon Centre. At this rate Geosenge Town would be reclaimed by the forest in the next ten years.

Whatever Honedge had been about to say in reply was lost when Nincada reappeared, surfacing right below Honedge. As a levitating sword (although Harry still wasn't quite sure how Ground-moves could affect him) Honedge wasn't immediately on top of Nincada, but it was close enough that if he just dropped from the air, Honedge would probably crush Nincada in half.

pretty lots of shiny shiny, Nincada declared. lots of pretty shiny shiny and light. all down down down. follow?

The only word Harry completely understood in that declaration was 'follow', but from the gist of it Nincada had found something shiny and wanted him to take a look. Harry shrugged. "Sure, Nincada. Lead the way."

Nincada made a squeaking sound in reply, promptly disappearing via Dig. Honedge sighed. That one… he confuses me.

"I think Nincada confuses everyone," Harry said dryly. "He certainly drives Houndour around in circles. Literally. But back to Geosenge Town and its tininess – Honedge, there are actually only eleven people permanently living here. If it was bigger, it might be more interesting – but I suppose being the site of a former evil team's lair and having the ultimate weapon buried underneath kind of puts people off. Still, it's so qui- holy Arceus and all the legendaries!"

The reason for that exclamation was because the ground had suddenly given in under him. Honedge screeched in alarm as he fell, swooping after him as the sky began receding like all those cliché Nimbasa films Harry had ever watched.

It was just a shame that none of those films had any advice on what to do when falling into a hole dug by your own Nincada which could possibly lead to a defunct evil team's lair with an ultimate weapon that could destroy the entire region and very few ways to get out.

His fall was broken when he landed in a mound of rubble. After more than a decade, grass had begun to reclaim it; even so, the landing hurt. Harry lay still for a moment before carefully testing his fingers and toes. They moved. So it wasn't a serious or debilitating injury like a broken spine, just him having the wind knocked out of him by, oh, falling Arceus-knew how many metres with no easy way to climb back up.

Well, that got rid of his plans to head back to the Pokémon Centre to start packing for his departure.

Harry pushed himself to his feet, grimacing as rubble dug into his body. "You'd think that after a decade someone would have moved away the rubble," he grumbled to Honedge.

Honedge shrugged. And let someone into a secret lair?

"Well, I'm here now," Harry pointed out. "It's not much of a stretch to think that anybody with a Pokémon that knew Dig could have ended up in the same situation."

I rather think those trainers would be less inclined to consider Geosenge a boring place. On the other hand, you know you have to take back your words about Geosenge. Not so boring after all.

"Very funny, Honedge," Harry said flatly. "Very funny."

Nincada popped up from underneath a pile of rubble. on on on! shiny shiny is on on on. He promptly scurried off into a tunnel Harry hadn't even realised was there. "Well, it can't get much worse," he said, making to follow Nincada.

You jinxed it, was Honedge's response.

~OoOoOoO~

The tunnel was dark.

Harry pulled off his skates before releasing Ralts, who blinked in confusion at her surroundings. No point trying to skate into a Team Flare base, especially not with all the rubble – knowing his chances, he'd trip and break his neck.

Huh? Ralts asked as she took in the tunnel.

Oh, the bug dug us into a hole. Literally, Honedge said. Light us up, will you, mind-reader?

One soft Dazzling Gleam later and Harry realised that it wasn't a tunnel. No tunnel had reinforced metal walls. So – yes, he was, indeed, in Team Flare's base. "I take back what I said about Geosenge being boring," he said aloud.

See? Honedge managed to convey incredible smugness with just one word.

The tunnel led to a long, dark corridor. Every once in a while, Harry watched sparks shoot off from broken lighting. "And this has been here for a decade without exploding?" He took a cautious step forward, just in case his movements caused the rest of the base to collapse – even though it was rather illogical to think that the damaged base could stand for more than a decade and be fine and then promptly collapse the second he stepped foot in it.

on on on! shiny! Nincada reappeared at Harry's feet and immediately scurried off. Ralts sighed. I suppose we follow?

As they walked, Harry spotted computers – all arranged in rows, screens blank from the lack of electricity. Even the best electronics wouldn't have batteries that lasted a decade, not without solar energy or something to back it up, and down here there was a grand total of one light source and that was Ralts. Venturing closer, he spotted a tangled clump of wires, sockets and plugs.

He would have loved to try make the computers work again, except Harry wasn't about to run the risk of those computers having Lysandre's back-up plan for destroying Kalos in them and activating that procedure. If he was going to be famous, it was not going to be from destroying an entire region. He'd leave that to other megalomaniacs.

When they'd reached the end, to a kind of dais that allowed Harry an excellent view of the empty corridor and its rows of computers lit up in the soft pink of Dazzling Gleam, Nincada reappeared. this way! pretty shiny here.

It was a twisting path, not helped by fact that every so often stairs just randomly appeared. Harry nearly tripped on the second set and would have probably broken something if Ralts hadn't seized the back of his shirt with Telekinesis, letting go of Dazzling Gleam as she did so. The brief moment plunged the path into darkness so intense Harry could not see anything.

Thankfully, Ralts lit the path again a few seconds later, and Harry didn't trip on any stairs.

After a bazillion stairs, they were greeted by the sight of automatic sliding doors. Well, what used to be automatic sliding doors. They probably were automatic sliding doors – more than a decade ago. Now, Harry had to shuffle awkwardly through the gap between the two chunks of metal while Ralts and Honedge just Teleported and Shadow Sneaked their way to the other side.

Even with Dazzling Gleam, the chamber (or what Harry was presuming to be a chamber) was pitch black. Harry nearly tripped again, this time over Nincada. Nincada didn't seem to notice (or care about) his near-death at the hands – or maybe feet – of his trainer. so shiny, here! and warm! shiny and warm and pretty!

Harry's jaw dropped. Very slowly, he looked around.

I can't see anything shiny, or pretty, or warm. Honedge summed up Harry's feelings.

Maybe it's up further ahead, Ralts said diplomatically.

A few steps further, and Dazzling Gleam revealed an enormous cage-like contraption. Or rather, a broken cage-like contraption. The way it was built suggested that massive tube-like wires (or maybe wire-like tubes, Harry couldn't be sure) were meant to surround a central platform. Instead, from what little Dazzling Gleam could light up, pieces of the tube things were scattered all over the floor, permanently broken into shards of metal.

It wasn't particularly difficult to deduce that this, then, was the machine designed to power the ultimate weapon. The ultimate weapon itself was shaped like a massive crystal flower – Harry had seen enough photos and pictures of it from old newspapers to know what it looked like. So if this wasn't the weapon, it had to be the device powering it. What else could be in a room so deep in Team Flare's headquarters?

"It's an interesting place, isn't it, Harry Void?" a cool, calm voice said behind him. "Makes you more contemplative. Introspective. There's nowhere quite like it in the world."

Harry very barely managed to keep in his yell of shock. Instead he spun, looking around wildly for the speaker. Who else was down here, in Team Flare's headquarters? And how in the name of Arceus did this guy know his name?

He really, really hoped he hadn't just stumbled into another person's plans of destroying the world/stealing all Pokémon/creating a new world/creating a new universe. If another Team was trying again –

"Oh, no," the voice said. "I have no intention of destroying the world. That's my brother's job. Kind of." Harry blinked as someone stepped into the glow of Dazzling Gleam, on the opposite side of the destroyed machine.

Tall, or at least taller than Harry (although that wasn't much of an achievement, most adults were taller than a ten-year-old), with dark blue-black hair and eyes that even through the pink of Dazzling Gleam were the colour of the daytime sky. Nincada gave a chirp, reappearing from wherever he had Dug to – and promptly began scrambling up the stranger's dark blue, and probably very expensive, suit.

Instead of freaking out or even complaining about the fact that there was a Bug destroying his clothes, the stranger only hummed lightly, gently scooping up the Bug-type and placing it on his shoulder. Next to Harry, Ralts made a softly muffled noise.

"It really is such an interesting place." Mr Suit continued his musings. "Very calm. Very peaceful. And the dark makes it nearly impossible to be watched." He wandered over to Harry's side, eyes fixed on the machine. "There isn't anything quite like the experience. I suppose we all get contemplative when we think about our close brushes with disaster, don't we? Though I suppose what you'd associate with disaster is different from mine." He stopped next to Harry, on the other side of Ralts and Honedge. Nincada gave him a cheerful chirp from Mr Suit's shoulder. "Although considering your upbringing, perhaps not too much… if you wouldn't mind answering, do you consider home-cooked meals as a disaster?"

Harry automatically thought of the way his père would burn everything that wasn't made of Rawst Berries. "I guess?" he ventured uncertainly. "I still don't know who you are, though, or what you're doing here."

"Thinking is what I'm doing here," Mr Suit replied. "As for who I am… I do think your Ralts has the answer. As does your Honedge. And, indeed, Nincada. He's not too far off, you know. Experiences, evolutions. Perhaps you should try offering him a Chesto Berry. Or a move with similar effects."

Harry filed that away for later. It wasn't exactly unknown for Pokémon to evolve through learning new moves (the Swinub line, for instance) or through their locations (Glaceon and Leafeon were two prime examples) but he'd never heard of a Pokémon evolving because of a Berry. Then again – experiences, evolutions. The more experiences a Pokémon gained, the more likely it was to evolve. And it wasn't just battle experience – all experiences, from eating a new Berry, moving locations, sleeping rough – they all counted. He'd just never heard of eating a Berry as a catalyst for evolution. That was usually left to things like evolutionary stones, or being in imminent danger like facing down a rampaging Hydreigon.

"Ralts?" he asked.

Ralts tugged at his shirt with Telekinesis. The stag, Harry, the breath of life.

Mr Suit glanced at Ralts. "Sharp mind, that one. She'll go far. You're welcome," he added, after Ralts murmured a stunned thank you.

Harry's brain began joining the dots. "You understood her."

Mr Suit's lips curved into a smile. "Yes. I see you're joining the dots. In case they form another picture – your father happens to be my sibling, although I don't have a clue where he is now. Nor do I particularly wish to know."

"Xerneas."

He tilted his head. "Correct." He gently lifted Nincada from his shoulder. "I do believe he is yours."

Harry accepted Nincada, placing the Trainee Pokémon on his own shoulder. Nincada gave him a soft chirp of approval. see? soft warm pretty. and metal, shiny, bright.

Xerneas studied the remnants of the machine thoughtfully. "You are stuck here, aren't you? Or at least, you don't know the way out. You just… fell through a hole."

"Like Alice in Wonderland," Harry admitted. "And yeah… I really have no idea how to get out. I'm kind of hoping there's a door somewhere, Team Flare had to have had some kind of emergency exit, right?"

Xerneas raised an eyebrow. "They did. Emphasis on did. It's caved in now."

Harry inwardly cursed. Not good. He didn't really fancy going all the way back and then clambering up the mass of rubble, and Ralts couldn't Teleport anything as heavy as himself yet. Nor could Honedge just Shadow Sneak them out without Harry losing something on the way.

Apparently his thoughts were obvious on his face, because the corner of Xerneas' mouth lifted in a smile. "You can leave with me if you want. Although I can't give you a rough timeframe of when I plan on leaving. When I can think about your father without punching something, I suspect."

Harry sensed a pit with a lot of Skorupi ahead. He took a deep breath. There was something to be said about people who willingly jumped into pits of Skorupi, but at the same time – he was far too curious. "What happened?"

Xerneas' expression shifted, ever so subtly. "Oh, an argument. Nothing major. If it was major, well, you'd have known by now." His gaze flickered over to Honedge. "He hasn't finished Night Slash yet, has he?"

It wasn't the worst change of topic Harry had ever heard, but it came pretty close. He didn't consider pushing it, though. According to their philosophy class in Aquacorde, there weren't many things worse than death, but aggravating a legendary was one of those things, especially when the fact that Giratina was the lord of the dead was taken into consideration.

No, I haven't, Honedge said while the thoughts ran through Harry's head. There is something about it that still eludes me. I can have it sometimes and I have it not sometimes. But I am certain I will get it in due time.

"Night Slash is a difficult move," Xerneas mused. "Several components. The night, of course, is when it is the easiest to achieve and the strongest in its power, but it is no less dangerous in the day. Just more noticeable. There is a reason Liepard are so skilled in it – they are Pokémon more dangerous at night, just like Night Slash itself. Would you mind performing it for me?"

Honedge shrugged, glancing over at him. Harry wasn't sure how he did it, since, well, he didn't exactly have arms, but somehow the sentient sword did an excellent impression. "Go for it, Honedge," Harry said.

Honedge's blade shone in the light of Dazzling Gleam before it quickly darkened, a mass of Dark energy gathering around the metal. He hesitated, uncertain of what to swing at. That problem was solved when a broken piece of machinery levitated smoothly into the air, surrounded by the green of Telekinesis.

In a single fluid movement, Honedge slashed the metal in half, the pieces falling back to the ground as the Dark of Night Slash overwhelmed the Psychic of Telekinesis. Xerneas tipped his head. "Nicely executed. If you could do it again?"

Another piece of machinery levitated itself into the air. Honedge blinked in surprise before readying himself for a Night Slash. This time, however, the Dark energy on his blade fled before he made contact, and the piece of metal clanged loudly as steel met steel.

"Yes, I see the problem," Xerneas said. "It's a small one, but a significant one. The Night Slash you have picked up is the… less desirable version. There happen to be two, you see, although not many people know that. Night Slash is a blade, and with the sharp edge comes a blunt edge that only succeeds in what it is meant to do every once in a while. You've picked up the metaphorical blunt side, which is why sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Even the blunt side of a blade will do damage if you hit the target for long enough."

Harry took several steps back in astonishment as Xerneas simply shifted in front of him. The Life Pokémon was massive, a stag that didn't fill the whole room but filled a good portion of it nonetheless. Harry could feel a rush of energy suffuse him, a light, sweet energy that was most likely the fabled Fairy Aura.

Ralts Teleported back a few steps to join him before staring at Xerneas as well. Of course – she was a Fairy type. Chances were that the Fairy Aura had done something to her – augmented her Fairy moves, or acted like an extreme Heal Pulse. It wasn't as if what Fairy Aura actually did was particularly well-known – not when the only known user was Xerneas, and the legendary didn't exactly appear in front of anybody, let alone researchers, on a regular basis. Still, Harry could offer a good guess at what the Ability did – if it was named Fairy Aura, surely someone somewhere had figured out that it affected Fairies, right?

You see, this is what a Night Slash with the sharp edge is meant to look like, Xerneas continued, and Dark energy gathered around his antlers. He held it there while Honedge scrutinised it carefully, before dissipating it with a toss of his head. And this is what a Night Slash with the blunt side looks like.

The same Dark energy began gathering. Harry couldn't see any difference, and apparently neither could Ralts (then again, Ralts was a Psychic – she probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Bite and Foul Play without using her eyes). But Honedge clearly could see the difference, because he promptly made an ah sound, followed by whacking himself with the tassel.

Now you see, Xerneas agreed, simultaneously dissipating the Night Slash and shifting back. "If you would like to try again? It may take a few tries to permanently change from the blunt side to the sharp, but the sharp will never fail you."

Honedge nodded, floating back as Ralts helpfully levitated another chunk of machinery. Dark energy swirled around him, gathering on the blade before Honedge cleaved downwards. Telekinesis failed nearly instantly, the two pieces of machinery clattering downwards.

"Good job, Honedge!" Harry called as Honedge performed what was as close to a celebratory dance as he could – namely, a highly elaborate Swords Dance. Xerneas' lips curved into a smile. "Excellently done, indeed. I do believe someday you will make a powerful Aegislash."

Thank you, Honedge said. Thank you.

"No, thank you," Xerneas replied. "After that, I feel significantly less inclined to cause painful damage to my brother, which – as you may realise – is a highly positive thing because it means that I can get out of here without having to worry about accidentally punching someone in the face before going to find and use him as Moonblast practice."

There was nothing Harry could quite say to that, so he picked the wiser option and stayed silent. To make up for his lack of words, Nincada chirped. Loudly.

"Now," Xerneas continued, "you were intending to find a way out?"

~OoOoOoO~

Xerneas' – method of transportation – dumped Harry in his room at the Geosenge Pokémon Centre. For that, Harry was thankful. He wasn't sure he'd be able to explain his way out of suddenly appearing in the Geosenge Pokémon Centre, even if it was pretty much empty except for Nurse Joy. And the method was far too flashy to be Teleportation, so he couldn't even explain it that way.

Apparently it was a drop-off; at any rate, Xerneas didn't appear/materialise in his room. Instead there was a whistle and a flash of pale-pink light, and then the room was quiet.

Harry glanced out of the window to check how long he'd been stuck at Team Flare's for. Surprisingly, the sun hadn't moved all that much; the clock revealed that he'd been down there for two hours, give or take. Since he'd woken up early in preparation to leave for Miroir Way – well, it was the afternoon now, but there were still four or so hours left until sunset that he could use to make a decent amount of headway into Miroir if he wished.

Miroir wasn't as long as Menhir, although that was more because of the cave that led to Shalour – if the Reflection Cave didn't exist and Miroir led all the way to Shalour, they'd both be roughly the same length. Still, it would take two and a half days going at full speed, significantly more since Harry wasn't going at full speed.

At least – according to the brochures on his table – Reflection Cave wasn't home to any Zubat. What it did have was a colony of Roggenrola, hardy Rock-types with the ability Sturdy – making attempts to avoid them, or fight them, doubly hard. And Woobat, too – not as bad as Zubat in that they couldn't poison anyone, but still irritating because, well, Confusion and Gust made cave-travelling incredibly annoying, with Gust blowing up dirt and Confusion making the walls go round.

In Reflection Cave, getting lost without an Escape Rope could make life very difficult, and Confusion was designed to get someone lost.

Even before Reflection Cave, there was Miroir Way. Miroir was home to the Nidorina and Nidorino, both rarer than the Zubat but a lot deadlier with their more advanced poisons. He wasn't too worried about the Throh and Sawk populations, who tended to avoid humans not of the Black Belt kind entirely – the same with the Dedenne and Chingling. Stunky were irritants on the route with their noxious gases, and Hariyama could be tough to fight (but good practice for Shalour).

What Harry was most worried about were the Starly and Staravia. Arceus knew they'd both snatch Nincada up for breakfast. Nincada would have to stay in his Poké Ball for the entirety of the journey, since Woobat weren't exactly particular about their food either.

Other than that – well, he should probably pick up some Repel anyway, just in case the Roggenrola became too plentiful and things got troublesome.

With that in mind, Harry packed, went to the Poké Mart for Repel, and set off for Miroir Way.

~OoOoOoO~

It was nearing sunset when the next Trainer called out to him.

"Got any Pokémon that can fly, Trainer?"

Harry glanced around for the person who'd spoken. It took him a while to figure out that the right way to look was up, and the Sky Trainer laughed when he finally figured it out. "Took you a while, didn't it? Care for a Sky Battle with a Sky Trainer?"

"I've only got one flyer!" he shouted back up.

"Then we can do a one-on-one!" she replied. "Emolga, soar with me!"

Electric-Flying. Not a good combination for Fletchling to face, but since he'd basically accepted the challenge – well, regrets. "Fletchling, come on out!"

Fletchling swooped out of her Poké Ball, eyes fixing on the Emolga. Why am I fighting an electric-squirrel?

"I may have volunteered you for a Sky Battle," Harry said dryly as the Sky Trainer grinned. "Alright, Trainer, your Fletchling has the first move!"

"Fletchling, Double Team!" Harry called.

"Emolga, meet it with a Shock Wave!" the Sky Trainer retorted. "Let's shock those copies away!"

The Shock Wave began burning away copies of Fletchling. "Steel Wing into a tree!" Harry shouted.

On the real Fletchling, the Shock Wave discharged (almost harmlessly) into a tree, sending char marks all over the bark. "Alright, Fletchling, Tailwind!"

"Match it, Emolga, Agility! Get in close and use Nuzzle!"

Emolga matched Fletchling as the two swooped and dived, Emolga on Fletchling's tail as it attempted to use Nuzzle. Harry knew the move delivered instant paralysis. In a Sky Battle, with Fletchling's power being her speed – well, that wasn't going to turn out very well at all if it hit. If it hit.

Watching them, Harry realised that Emolga wasn't really flying, not in the way Fletchling was. Instead it was gliding – expertly controlled to almost look like flying, but not quite the same as flying.

"Fletchling, up!" Harry called. "As fast as you can!"

As Harry had expected, the Emolga had a lot more trouble keeping up with Fletchling when she was practically going vertically upwards. Instead of just following, the Emolga had to actually flap its – wings? Glider things? – to follow Fletchling. The Sky Trainer grinned from her perch on the tree.

"Good one! Emolga isn't a particularly good flyer, but he's spectacular at gliding. Well, that's one strategy busted. Emolga, Electro Ball!"

"Dodge them, Fletchling!" Harry called. Fletchling curved in midair, changing her near-vertical climb into a hovering position before swooping under and between a series of Electro Balls.

"Fire another one, Emolga, then Quick Attack into Nuzzle!"

Quick Attacks were notoriously difficult to dodge, but to do one Emolga would have to first reach Fletchling's height. "Fletchling, Tailwind at Emolga! Blow him out of the sky!"

Fletchling whipped up a Tailwind, the high-speed gusts of air directed at Emolga as he struggled to launch a Quick Attack. Quick Attack was by name a fast attack, but to use it – well, the Emolga had to be able to reach Fletchling's level, and quickly, to be able to use it. The problem was that Emolga as a species were more suited to gliding than flying, and the Tailwinds Fletchling was summoning were pretty darn good at stopping the Emolga from flying.

The Sky Trainer blinked as Emolga was forced to the ground, shading her eyes. "We'll do it your way, then. Emolga, Flash!"

Harry recoiled as Emolga released a bright white light from its cheek pouches. Fletchling flinched, relaxing the Tailwind. Immediately, the Emolga shot upwards, flapping as it gained height.

Harry desperately blinked spots out of his eyes. The Emolga was by now nearly level with Fletchling, and there was no way Fletchling would be able to avoid a Nuzzle or Quick Attack. Back to physical attacks it was, then. "Fletchling, Flame Charge!"

"Emolga, Spark!"

Fletchling wreathed herself in flames as Emolga's cheeks began crackling with electricity. The two Pokémon crashed against each other, fire warring with electricity. Harry grinned.

Hook, line, sinker. Now to hope I don't get a Magikarp.

"Fletchling, Steel Wing!"

Spark discharged just as Fletchling slammed a Steel Wing into Emolga, the Flame Charge dissipating. The electricity that raced into Fletchling's body promptly travelled straight into Emolga's, courtesy of Steel Wing and the fact that Fletchling was just slightly higher than Emolga in the air. Emolga shrieked, breaking away from Fletchling's Steel Wing as his own electricity was turned against him.

"Now, Fletchling! Flame Charge!" Fletchling shot forward, wings surrounded by fire as she slammed into Emolga, driving the Sky Squirrel Pokémon into the ground. Upon impact, Emolga passed out.

"Well, you tried, Emolga," the Trainer said ruefully. "Good job." She eyed Harry thoughtfully. "Don't suppose you'd be happy to become a Sky Trainer?"

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm bothered enough to make it all the way to the Academy," Harry replied. "And I don't fancy battling with the Sky Trainer restrictions."

"If you ever change your mind, drop this number a call, then," she said, dropping down a white card. Harry caught it with a raised eyebrow.

Sky Trainer Academy. Call 331 9402 – here, the sky truly is your limit!

He would have made a comment, but by the time he'd glanced up, the Sky Trainer was gone. How she had moved so quickly, Harry had no idea.

"Nicely done, Fletchling," he told her.

Naturally, Fletchling replied.

~OoOoOoO~

Four days later, Harry had made it to Reflection Cave, still alive from the bombardment of Hariyama and Stunky Miroir Way had seen fit to desperately throw at him. The good news was that Ralts got practice with Dazzling Gleam. The bad news was that half of his clothes now stank, and it was going to take a whole lot more than a Sweet Scent to drive away the lingering traces of the Stunky.

According to his Holo Caster, it was now September, too; rooms in Pokémon Centres were about to become exceedingly rare, if not gone already. Shalour's own new Trainer population, at the very least, had probably quit house and moved into a Pokémon Centre for the 'authenticity' of a Pokémon journey. Then there were Coumarine's, if they'd already defeated Ramos (Grass-types were notoriously easy to defeat at the first-badge level given their abundance of weaknesses, but Ramos was notoriously stubborn and that more than balanced out the weaknesses of the Grass-type), and possibly Cyllage's if they'd gotten past Grant and were moving at a faster pace than him – which most Trainers attempting a full circuit in a year would be doing. So it looked like his clothes were going to have eau de Stunky on them for quite a while longer.

Joy.

He grabbed the can of Repel, holding it an arms-length away from himself before spraying. A Swoobat hanging over the entrance glared at him before soaring off. He felt a bit bad about disturbing the Swoobat, but hey – at least it was proof the Repel acted like it should.

The first Trainer he crossed was a Backpacker with a Linoone. Honedge made short work of the Linoone with a combination of Shadow Sneak and Night Slash. The second, a Battle Girl, Fletchling defeated easily, although the Hawlucha did present some problems due to its ability to fly. Still, it was a cave, meaning that there was a ceiling, and Hawlucha, like Emolga, were much better gliders than fliers.

Caves were also places where evolutionary rocks could be found, if one spent enough time looking. There was a reason Steven Stone excavated practically everywhere; all caves, somewhere, held some sort of Pokémon-enhancing rock. As far as Harry knew, digging was free everywhere except Hoenn where some sort of license was needed – but then again, the people of Hoenn would need to be crazy, or insane (or Team Magma) to go randomly digging and risk the chance of inciting Groudon's (historically negative) attention. Thankfully, Kalos wasn't home to a Legendary as land-oriented as Groudon – there was Zygarde, but the Serpent Queen was less land-oriented and more environment-friendly, so digging was unregulated so long as Trainers took necessary precautions like having Pokémon on hand in case of trouble.

Although Harry figured that it was probably a good idea to make it through the Reflecting Cave before starting a hunt for evolutionary stones. There were going to be plenty of Shalour Trainers chasing their first Gym badge, being September and all – and if he couldn't get a room at the Pokémon Centre (the most likely occurrence) then he might as well spend his time searching for stones. With an Escape Rope on hand, obviously.

In the Reflection Cave, Trainers coming from the Shalour end were always able to see Trainers from the Miroir side before the Miroir Trainers could see the Shalour ones, thanks to the reflective walls of the cave. Even knowing that, it was still startling to turn a corner and instantly get challenged, and by the fourth battle the novelty was wearing off.

Then again, any novelty would wear off when the yells of challenges summoned clouds of Woobat and Roggenrola who were all too happy to Headbutt and Gust anything and everything. Ugh.

Nincada did get some good practice against the Chespin first – no, they would be second-badge runners if they were in the Cave, wouldn't they? – second-badge runners sent out. Anyone in the Cave heading for Route 11 would have already gotten past Korrina, it was simply illogical otherwise. Arceus knew Cyllage would have its own beginning Trainers.

The Pokémon of Reflection Cave were less annoying than those of Connecting Cave – if only because there were no Zubat here – but it didn't make them facing their hordes any better. Roggenrola and their Sturdy were pains to defeat, and you couldn't even run from the Wobbuffet. Oh, and Ferroseed occasionally dropped from the ceiling. Harry hadn't been hit yet, but he still couldn't help but wish for a hard hat. If they hit him, those iron-shelled seeds were going to hurt. A lot.

It turned out he should probably have worried more about being hit with TM Flash instead of Ferroseed. A well-aimed copy of the TM bounced off his shoulder, sending him to one side. Someone snorted.

"At least you didn't fall." The Ace Trainer appeared from behind a pillar. "I've been throwing that one for days, and nearly everyone went sprawling." She tilted her head. "So how about a battle, Trainer? My new Helioptile needs a fair bit of training, so it'll even be pretty fair – although the second-badge runners didn't really seem to think so. What are you?"

"Third," Harry grumbled, rubbing his shoulder. "Did you really have to throw that hard?"

"Practice with Poké Balls, and I've been throwing that disc for the past two days. It wasn't going to be soft unless it missed you entirely. Right now I'm a sixth, but like I said – my Helioptile is pretty new, so it'll be like third all over again. And strategy is never worth too much in a battle. One-on-one, how about it? I'll even throw in the Flash if you manage to be a difficult opponent – all the seconds are too easy to predict, it's not even funny. I'll be surprised if any of them win five Badges."

That candid assessment was startling. "Are firsts and seconds really that easy to predict?"

She shrugged. "Once you get a few years' of training, around maybe your fifth, it becomes pretty obvious what they'll do. New trainers, arrogant in their invincibility and youth, plus the three starters of Kalos – well, it'll be a Type match, and those are stupidly easy to manipulate. Yeah, I'd say firsts and seconds are easy to predict once you get a few years' experience on them." The Ace Trainer paused. "Unless they're prodigies, obviously," she added. "So what do you say?"

"I'll take your challenge," Harry declared. "And you can tell me how easy I am to predict."

She blinked. "Thirds are the ones that become more difficult to predict, because they're starting to realise that Types and firepower isn't everything. Ingenuity is even more dangerous in the right hands. But yeah, sure, I'll give you my assessment. Helioptile, come on out!"

"Houndour, let's do this!"

The Helioptile was a cute little thing, with wide blue eyes and black frill-flap things framing its head. Or maybe they were its ears. Harry scanned it into his Pokédex.

Helioptile, the Generator Pokémon. These Pokémon make their home in deserts. The frills on either side of its head have cells that generate electricity when exposed to sunlight. Because they can generate energy by basking in the sun, food is not a requirement.

"If it's best in the sun, why are you training it in a cave?" Harry asked, confused. "I mean, if you're just trying to get it stronger shouldn't you be outside training it?"

The Ace Trainer smiled. "True, but I want Helioptile to do well indoors, outdoors and in all weather conditions. If I just rely on sunlight, chances are someone will catch on and use Rain Dance and he'd be useless in that situation. Arceus, they could just remove the sun and he'd be weaker. Training him in a cave means that I can get the solar dependency out of his system. Nice Houndour, by the way – Menhir?"

"Menhir. Where do you even get Helioptile anyway?"

"Spikes Passage. Had to go all the way down to Ambrette, which was just unbelievably boring. No wonder Ambrette's one of the smallest towns in Kalos. Helioptile, let's start – Electroweb!"

Houndour jumped back with a snarl as electric webbing formed over the ground. "Houndour, see what happens if you try burn them away. Ember!"

The Ember passed harmlessly through the Electroweb. Harry frowned. That could be a problem – if Houndour couldn't reach the Helioptile at all, it would leave only Inferno as his option, and Inferno was not something Harry wanted to try out in an enclosed area.

"Get Houndour moving, Helioptile! Thunder Shock!"

Houndour leaped backwards as Helioptile used the Electroweb to conduct thin bursts of electricity, aiming them at Houndour. Thanks to the Electroweb covering the ground, there was practically nowhere the Thunder Shocks couldn't reach if Helioptile was careful.

That meant the first thing he had to do was obvious: break the Electroweb. But Houndour had no Ground moves (not that Nincada would have fared much better in this situation) and Fire passed pretty harmlessly through the Electroweb. No breaking, then – redirecting?

"Houndour, Thunder Fang on the Electroweb!" Sparks flew between Houndour's teeth and the Electroweb, and Helioptile yelped as the Electroweb – slowly but surely – began moving in Houndour's direction, travelling into his teeth for a powered-up Thunder Fang.

"Break Electroweb with Charge, get that electricity back your way!"

"As Helioptile does that, Houndour, drop Thunder Fang and get in close, give him a Fire Fang!"

Helioptile hissed in pain as Houndour's Fire Fang hit. "Helioptile, hit him with a Thunder Wave!"

Houndour released as electricity shot through him, causing instant paralysis as his muscles began locking. That wasn't even not-good anymore – that was a catastrophe. Houndour relied on their speed, and paralysis had just destroyed that advantage. "While you're still there, Roar into his ears!"

Houndour managed to release an ear-splitting Roar, and Helioptile flinched. Since it was one-on-one, Roar didn't send Helioptile back into his Poké Ball, but it did cause him to stagger backwards in pain.

"Interesting. Flash!" The cave lit up a searing white as Flash was augmented by the reflecting stones of the cave. Houndour howled in pain.

Harry struggled to blink spots out of his eyes as the Flash faded. One more, and he'd probably need glasses until the Pokémon Centre used Heal Pulse on him. Ralts could probably do it, but hers wasn't as focused or powerful as Pokémon trained for healing were. "Houndour, are you all right?"

Houndour gave a low, ferocious growl in response. I intend to be.

"That was stronger than I expected," the Ace Trainer muttered. "Note to self: don't use Flash in the Reflection Cave, you'll burn your eyes out. All right, Helioptile, Charge Beam!"

"Houndour, if you can, meet it with Inferno!" Well, if the Ace Trainer was going to burn their eyes out, Harry could damn well try melting the walls. Key word try; most Infernos, unless they were by evolved Fire-types graced with natural power, wouldn't be hot enough to melt stone.

Yellow-white electricity leaped from Helioptile's frills as Houndour shook off paralysis. The Inferno met the Charge Beam seconds before the Charge Beam would have hit, a great gout of fire colliding with electricity. Neither of the attacks did anything to each other, which meant that Houndour was sent skidding back by the Charge Beam while Helioptile shrieked at the Inferno that had just enveloped it.

When Houndour finally cut off the Inferno, unable to hold it, Helioptile sank to the ground, angry red blisters on his skin. The blisters could be caused from Inferno, but that kind of severity could pretty much only be explained by the effect of Dry Skin. The Ace Trainer winced in sympathy.

"Helioptile, you all right there?" The Generator Pokémon staggered to his feet, sparks flying between his frills before the Burning effect of Inferno kicked in and he stumbled backwards, lashing out with a burst of electricity.

Houndour yelped in pain as the Thunderbolt – how had the Helioptile learned that? Thunderbolt was practically reserved for evolved Electric Pokémon, but it really couldn't be anything else – made contact. The next burst of electricity – a Charge Beam – finished the job, knocking Houndour out even as Helioptile crashed to the ground, Burns all over his body.

Harry immediately rushed over to Houndour, a Revive doing wonders for the Dark Pokémon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Ace Trainer massaging Rawst Berry lotion into the Burns on Helioptile's body. "So, how did I do?" he asked, releasing Ralts in preparation for Heal Pulse – Psychic though the move was, it still worked on practically everything.

"All things considered? Pretty darn good. Didn't expect you to have that Inferno ace, though – Houndour don't usually learn that 'til they're Houndoom, unless you captured the alpha or something." Either she didn't pick up on Harry's silence or chose to ignore it. "You made a few mistakes – you didn't realise that getting in close would allow Helioptile to paralyse your Houndour, for instance – but you were pretty innovative, with that Roar. I reckon if you continue with your current style of battling – using both damaging moves and status moves to your advantage and thinking outside of the prescribed motions – you'll go pretty far, maybe even make it all the way in a Conference, although that would obviously require you to have fully evolved Pokémon for the increased power, because as good as genius is, pure power is still nothing to scoff at. Take the Flash, you definitely deserve it. Best battle I've had in days."

"Thanks," Harry said. "For the battle as well as the TM."

She waved it off. "Like I said, you deserve it. Good luck with Shalour by the way. I'll expect to see you in the Ace Trainer ranks sometime soon, if you're bothered enough to send in the paperwork." Harry snorted – the forms for the Ace Trainer title were nearly legendary. "I'm Monique, by the way."

"Harry," Harry said. "I'll see if I can be bothered enough to send in that paperwork."

She snorted. "Yeah, I doubt it. Have fun in Shalour, though. Might take you a few days before the firsties are finished." Monique grinned. "I think one of my fellow Ace's is in this cave, actually. If you see Emil, tell him I said hi."

"Sure. If I see him," Harry said, recalling Houndour for a rest and scooping up Ralts. Monique laughed and waved before vanishing out of sight as Harry turned a corner.

"Hey, Trainer! I challenge you!"

He barely had time to groan before the next wave of Woobat/Roggenrola began.


Oh, Xerneas. He's one of the funnest characters to write, mostly because I have so many headcanons for him.

To confirm: yes, this universe is set after the anime/manga/games. In fact in this story (assuming all Dexholders started at 10 with the exception of Black and White, since Unova apparently starts at 15) Calem and Serena (X/Y) would be around 21. Black and White about 26, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum around 25 (since Sinnoh starts at 10, their adventure started earlier too). Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire would be about 27, Gold, Silver, Lyra and Kris would be around 29, and Red, Blue and Leaf would be in their early thirties (31 or so, and Blue is freaking out about potentially getting grey hairs and looking like his gramps.) That's why Geosenge, tiny in the games, is even smaller now - most of the population has left thanks to urbanisation.

As for Ash... Ash is a cartoon character in the long-running cartoon series Pokémon: Gotta Catch 'Em All, which started airing six years before Harry started his adventure and is currently replaying on Cartoon Network, in its 18th season. Fans of the show often complain how Ash never ages and Pikachu is repeatedly 'nerfed' XD. In other words... Ash is still a cartoon character who never ages.

Question of the chapter: In your opinion, which cave/mountain was the absolute worst, and why? Was it the Geodude, the need to carry a HM slave/Flash, or something else?

*continues singing Happy Birthday while leaving*
~dreamingthroughstarlight