After we ate up, we put away the folding table and chairs, along with all the cooking equipment I temporarily half-inched. I couldn't stop thinking about that Mawile, though. It wanted to fight us, then all of a sudden it runs away...? Surely it wanted to do something about something else... but what?

"Your guess is as good as mine," Ash says. "The only way we'll find out is to find that Mawile."

"Yeah, you're right," I agree. "Hey, guys! Let's go!"

"Go where?" Lynn asks.

"Oh yeah, I haven't told you yet. We found a Mawile, but we think something's wrong with it. We're thinking of tracking it down. Wanna come with?"

"So that's what you ran off for..." Gloria whispers to herself.

"Sure thing!" Robert says. "Why don't we all go?"

"I'm on board with that," Victor concurs.

"Then let's get going!" I cheer. We decided to leave the camp up; as we were going to come back eventually. I took the guys to where we initially found Mawile. Although... something made us stay out of sight. There was a battle going on! It was between a trainer and... the same Mawile from before?

"That's a Lairon!" Ash exclaims.

"That's my cue," Rotom steps in. "Lairon. The iron armor Pokemon. A Steel- and Rock-type. It digs up iron ore for food, and smashes its steely body up against others in battles over territory."

As we watched the battle, Mawile runs at Lairon trying to land an attack, but despite its target's bulk, it's able to dodge with ease. Lairon then counterattacks with Metal Claw, which Mawile dodges by jumping. But... wait a minute, then that means...!

"Use Mud-Slap," The trainer mutters.

Lairon fires balls of mud at Mawile, and all it can do is flail uselessly in the air, unable to protect itself in any way. It takes a super-effective hit to the face, and it falls to the floor, fainted. But despite that, it forces itself to get up. Although the trainer looks like he's made up his mind about something...

"Lairon, return." He recalls his Lairon back into its Poke Ball, then turns to Mawile. "Well, that's that. Mawile, you and I are through. You promised."

Mawile looks horrified. The trainer pulls another Poke Ball from his pocket.

"A Poke Ball?" Allison asks.

"So Mawile was one of that guy's Pokemon?" I think out loud.

Before Mawile can stop him, the trainer drops the Poke Ball to the ground, and crushes it with his foot. All of us gasp at this sight. He really was releasing his own Pokemon just from losing a spar?!

"Ngh...! That's not right!" Lynn says, frustrated.

"What's done is done," The trainer says. "Now get lost. And don't let me ever see you again." And with that, he turns on his toes and abruptly leaves, leaving Mawile in shock. It stares at the remains of its shattered Poke Ball without a word. I could see tears drop from its cheeks...

"That's it," Ash finally says. "I'm gonna do something about this."

"Yeah," I agree. "We can't just leave Mawile like that."

Ash and I step out of our cover, with the others following behind. Mawile eventually notices us, and is initially surprised to see us. But it looks away, just like it did last time. Ash isn't fazed.

"Hey. I know you're upset and all, but... why'd your trainer destroy your Poke Ball?"

"Maw... Mawile-maw-mawile," Mawile explained. "Maw-mawile, mawile..."

"Huh? What's it saying?" I ask.

"I don't even know," Wesley says. "I can't understand it."

"I do, though," Rotom says. "It's saying its trainer promised he would let it stay around if Mawile beat his Lairon. But if Mawile lost, he'd release Mawile."

"Maw... Mawile. Mawile-maw...!"

"It's saying it's weak, and that's why it lost."

"Then... you want to get stronger, right?" Mawile slowly nodded. "Then we can help you out. And once you're strong enough, we can help you beat him!" Mawile looks a little reluctant.

"Isn't that why you challenged Ash and I?" I asked. "So that you could beat your trainer, right?" Mawile is surprised to hear that. It looks at me, then back at Ash. Finally, it smiles and looking us at the eye, accepted our offer. According to Rotom's translation, Mawile wanted to fight Pikachu and I again, which we agreed to.

Mawile runs at me and uses Sucker Punch. It was so fast I couldn't counterattack...! And not to mention it was super effective... But I hang in there. I cast Frizzle on it to exploit its weakness. But Mawile dodges by jumping. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, which hits its helpless target, and falls to the floor again.

"Don't do the same thing over and over!" Ash says. "If you do that, your moves will become more predictable!"

Since my magic was starting to run out, I decided to conserve it. I dashed at Mawile and thrust my sword right at it. But to my surprise, Mawile doesn't dodge by jumping— instead, it dodges to the side! Before I have a chance to land another attack, Mawile uses Bite for another super-effective hit.

"Yeah! That's more like it! Now, Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu turns its tail into iron and swings it at Mawile, but Mawile dodges backward. Mawile quickly follows up by using Astonish on Pikachu, who flinches. Mawile takes this chance to use Bite again, this time on Pikachu.

"Alright! You're getting the hang of it, Mawile!"

Mawile looks very pleased with itself. It suddenly approaches Ash. Did Mawile want something from him?

"What's up, Mawile?"

Mawile flashes something tied around its neck. It's... actually, I don't even know what that is. It's very unfamiliar to me... But Allison, Robert, and Lynn are surprised to see what it is. Even Rotom is fascinated.

"That's a Mawilite!" Rotom bleeps.

"What's a Mawilite?" Ash and I ask in unison.

"It's one of the few Mega Stones, and it can let Mawile Mega Evolve!"

"For real?!" I exclaim. "That's awesome! Surely it'll give us the upper hand in battles!"

Mawile pointed at Ash's Ultigauntlet. According to Rotom's translation, it said it wanted to Mega Evolve when it would rematch its former trainer. But it was thankful for the advice Ash gave it, and was confident it could win now.

"Where's your trainer now?"

Mawile pointed in a particular direction, and thought he wasn't too far off.

"I see. Alright, guys! Let's find that trainer!"


The one in which Mawile's trainer releases it for losing a spar... But Ash and friends help it get back on its feet! And Mawile reveals it can Mega Evolve!

Just a heads up, before the Floji arc begins, I'll take a break. I've been working on this fanfic for a long time, and I feel like I've earned a small hiatus.