"Scizor, use Swords Dance!", Goh ordered with a shout.

Scizor brandished its claws and became surrounded by four blue swords that rotated around it, disappearing shortly afterwards, increasing Scizor's attack strength.

"Golem, use Rollout!" "Scizor, fly out of the way!"

In response to their masters' respective orders, Golem curled itself into a ball and launched itself at Scizor, who simply casually flew upward in response.

"Hah! Is that the best you can do? Looks like my pokémon is too fast for your little Golem to handle, there!" Goh taunted.

"Hey, now, don't be so sure! Just watch." Said Brock from across the room.

"Huh?" As the two of them spoke, Golem briefly let its feet out of its curled state and used them to kick off the ground, hitting the Gym's and ricocheting straight into Scizor. The Pincer Pokémon let out a surprised yelp. "Sc-Scizor!"

Goh grunted in frustration. "I really need to stop counting my Torchics before they hatch."

'Maybe it was a bad idea to use a move like Swords Dance before knowing if the opponent would be able to counterattack', he thought to himself. 'But I had to – if my calculations are correct, Scizor will need the strength increase for our ace in the hole to do significant enough damage!'

"Scizor, now use Slash!"

Scizor ran toward his adversary with its claws gleaming a bright white, and struck. But Golem leapt out of the way with ease and landed elsewhere.

"Use Slash again!"

Scizor quickly caught up to Golem and attacked it again, but the same scene repeated itself.

"And again!" The two Pokémon continued this process for some time, until Goh ceased to give the command.

Brock surveyed their battleground with a concerned expression. "Oh, darn. The arena's ground is completely messed up now. That's gonna take me so long so fix…"

"Well, more importantly", Goh added with a cocky look in his eye, "Your Golem can't use Rollout now that my Scizor has created so many fissures! There's too much risk of it tripping! I can't believe you actually let me pull that off!"

"Maybe I just didn't feel that worried because me and Golem have more tricks up our sleeve than just Rollout", Brock replied. "And speaking of which, I'm guessing the same applies to you."

Now Goh was positively grinning. "You bet! And now the time has come to reveal it!"

"Scizor… fly up and use Flash Cannon!"

Scizor gracefully glided to near the ceiling of the gym and pointed its pincer-like claws in Golem's direction.

As the gigantic surge of shining energy erupted from Scizor's claws, Brock barely managed to shout "Golem, use Gyro Ball!" in time.

Ash shielded his eyes as Golem spun around as fast as it could, by some miracle managing to deflect most of the attack in various other directions.

If the gym had been a little damaged before, now it looked positively scorched. Golem panted with exhaustion, and for a moment it seemed like it might faint. "Guh…"

Golem grunted and lifted its fists to the air with triumph and reneved vigor. "Golem!"

"Not even Flash Cannon did it? That's one clever strategy you guys just used!" Goh complimented, impressed in spite of himself. Ash was torn between wanting to yell 'Incredible, Goh!' or 'I TAUGHT HIM THAT STRATEGY!'

Brock took the words out of his mouth. "I can't take all the credit – Ash was the one that was always finding ways to use attack moves as defensive moves. And it's a strategy that's server me well time and time again!"

"My Scizor can still use Flash Cannon again, so I guess our next attacks will settle it!"

"True! So then, how about I show you that 'trick up my sleeve' I mentioned earlier!"

Brock began to strike a series of poses while Golem mimicked him.

Ash watched in surprise. "That's not…"

"A Z-Move?" Goh gasped. "Scizor, use Flash Cannon! Now!"

"Scizor!" Scizor obeyed and the white-hot laser attack once again came out of its pincers at Golem's direction. But Golem was undeterred this time. It continued to gather more energy until it began summoning a gigantic boulder.

Scizor continued firing the Flash Cannon for as long as possible, though Golem was now blocking it with its boulder. Finally, Golem launched the enormous rock at Scizor, who stopped firing his attack and hurriedly attempted to flee. But the rock was so large, he was smashed flat against the wall before he could do it.

As the boulder exploded into little pieces, it was clear who the victor was. "That's called Continental Crush, in case you didn't know!" Brock explained, showing off his new Z-Ring on his wrist, complete with Rockium Z. "Check it out! I bet not even Ash noticed I was wearing this! It was a gift from – from Olivia…" Brock shook his head to ignore the bad thoughts.

"WOO! What an amazing battle!" Ash cheered while running as fast as he could into the middle of the arena. "You both did great! I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah… It's too bad it still wasn't enough… and Brock was clearly going easy on me, too…" Goh mumbled.

"Hey, don't put yourself down like that! I think you have the makings of a great trainer, that is, if that's what you wanted to be. Ash tells me you like catching more than battling. So why don't you catch this:" Brock took something out of his pocket and threw it at Goh. Goh caught it.

It was the Boulder Badge. "W…why…"

"Because like I said, you did very well for a newbie trainer. If we just gave badges only to trainers that were actually able to beat us on the first try, a lot of newbie trainers would never get a single badge at all!" Brock explained. "I also have this. Here."

"A Z-Crystal?" Goh asked, looking at the other thing Brock had given him.

"More specifically, a Groundium Z. I heard you lost hard against Visquez over at Vermillion. Maybe if you use this wisely, it might give you the edge!"

Ash beamed at Goh with eyes sparkling brighter than the Z-Crystal itself. Goh didn't have to be a Psychic-type to guess what Ash wanted to tell him – most likely he was thinking 'take it, take it!'

Goh was unsure of how to respond to the unexpected generosity. "You're, um… very nice, Mr. Brock."

"Any friend of Ash's is a friend of mine!" Brock stated joyfully. "Stop by any time you want, I don't mind battling you again or even just making food for you both! I'm a very good cook, actually, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Thanks, Brock! You've been a world of help to us!" Ash replied, though his stomach grumbled before he could say anything else. "Mmh. And speaking of food, maybe we should take you up on that suggestion, Brock, because all this walking and battles is making me hungry."

"I know a restaurant close to here, my parents and I went to it for my seventh birthday!" Goh offered.

"Ooh! Let's go there, then! I'd love to know what kinds of food you like!" The two boys began walking out of the gym.

"Good luck! I'll just stay here and get started on repairing the… the Gym." Brock paused as he glanced at the state of the Pewter Gym after all the damage Scizor and Golem's attacks had inflicted on it. "…My parents are gonna kill me."

Ash rubbed his belly with a satisfied smile. "Mmm! That was a really nice steak!"

Goh chewed on his steak while staring absent-mindedly at Pikachu and Raichu (who were, of course, eating the same plate of spaguetti just like that scene from The Furfrou and the Houndoom), and Cinderace, who was himself staring lovingly at the way Lucario was eating his salad with a fork. Lucario pretended not to notice.

"Something on your mind?" Ash questioned.

"It's just…" Goh paused while trying to think of the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. "I've really been trying to win these gym battles honestly, but it hasn't been working out… feels like I've only gotten pity badges so far. It doesn't feel right."

"Hey, don't be sad! My first Kanto badges were pity badges, too! It's totally fine!" Ash told him. "And if you keep going the way I did, odds are you'll win the next badge legimitately! Wait… I mean legititamely… fair and square!" Ash said, tripping over his words but still radiating confidence.

"Thanks, dear."

Ash's eyes began watering up. "You called me dear! Finally!"

"Well, don't celebrate too loudly, all right?" Goh replied, turning his head to the side and pouting.

Swallowing the last bit of steak, he addressed Ash again. "I've been thinking. In my previous battles, I've been trying to give myself all the advantages I can have before the match begins. But something unexpected always comes up. Whether it's Quagsire being immune to electric moves, or Golem's Z-Move, I can't prepare for every eventuality. It seems every strategy I might have, they've seen it before, because they're experience trainers and I'm not. So I have to learn how to think on my feet and to expect the unexpected, and I'm not good at either of these things… so… I want you to teach me, Ash!"

"Whaaa… you want me to teach you?" Ash stated with surprise.

"Help me train for my final battle! Teach me how to fight the way you do!" Goh asked with determination.

"Alright! I'm all fired up now!" Ash declared, leaping from his chair. "Let's go back to the laboratory and get started!"

"W-whoa, Ash, wait!" Goh tried to say while Ash dragged him by the arm and raced excitedly towards their shared home.

Pikachu and Raichu finished slurping the last bit of spaguetti as their mouths touched one another in a kiss. Pikachu blushed and rubbed his cheek in embarrassment.

"Lu… Lucario"? Lucario stared in astonishment at the dust the two boys left in their wake, noticing a little too late that they had left them behind by accident.

"Cin, cin…" Cinderace muttered, shaking his head with an expression that seemed to say 'boys will be boys'.

"Now push!" Ash shouted. "Push like your life depends on it!"

Goh huffed with exhaustion. "W-why do I have to to push-ups?"

"Being a strong trainer will inspire your pokémon to become strong, too! I used to do this all the time with Greninja!"

"You had a Greninja?"

"Not important right now! Keep pushing!"

Goh kept doing the push-ups while growing increasingly more exhausted each time. Meanwhile, Cinderace was doing one-armed push-ups with a serene smile like it was some kind of relaxing activity.

"1…2…3…"

"Cin…der…ace…"

"17…18…19…20!" Goh finished the push-ups and dropped to the ground, exhausted. "Ow."

"Okay! Now let's practice the thinking on your feet thing!" Ash declared.

Goh remained motionless on the Cerise Park's grass. "So soft…" he mumbled.

"Uh… Goh? You can't learn how to think on your feet unless you're… on your feet…"

Goh snored loudly in response. If Ash didn't know any better, he'd almost think Goh was doing this out of protest.

"O…okay, then. When you're ready." Ash shrugged sheepishly.

Ash stared at a cartful of scones he'd brought to the park with sorrow. "I'm so sorry I have to do this to you, tiny things with the awesome smell. But it's a necessary sacrifice! I don't want to throw something harder at Goh!"

"This is what you came up with?" Goh asked. "Having me dodge scones?"

"I'm good at thinking on my feet, after all!" Ash replied with a wink.

"More like thinking with your stomach…"

"Cinderace, you're up!" Ash threw the scones in Cinderace's direction and he proceeded to kick them toward Goh.

"Yeow!" Goh yelped, surprised at how painful even scones could be when kicked by Cinderace. "I have to find some way to defend myself!"

Goh ran around the park while Ash and Cinderace continued to pelt him with scones. "Hey, this is actually pretty fun!" Ash commented.

Eventually, Goh approached the pokemon he had been looking for and drew its attention. "Sirfetch'd! I'm sorry, but I must borrow your power!"

"SIRFETCH'D?" The green knight gasped as Goh abruptly lifted him off the ground and positioned its shield in such a way that it blocked the pastry projectiles.

"Excellent, Goh! Keep it up!"

The doors to the park opened and Chloe walked in. "What are you guys doing? I heard some shouting-AH!"

"Whoops! Sorry, Chloe!" Ash apologized, noticing that Sirfetch'd shield deflected one of the galarian delicacies into Chloe's face and smudged her hairdo.

"I knew I shouldn't have bothered to wake up today", Chloe muttered as she slowly walked backwards into the inside of the laboratory and away from the chaos. The boys continued their little play session – er, training.

"And now, since you just recently got a Z-Crystal, I'll train you how to use Z-Moves!"

"Do I have to be shirtless for this?" Goh griped.

"Of course! It helps you channel your determination! Makes you feel strong!" Ash insisted.

"Okay… I guess that must have been why that Brock guy was shirtless, too…"

"Now try mimicking these poses!" Ash did several flashy poses in tandem with Pikachu.

"Alright, I'll try!" Goh continued to attempt the Z-move poses for some time. Eventually, he managed to get the hang of it.

"Nice, Goh! You'll master them in no time!"

Goh breathed deeply and spun around, then leaned down to the ground and placed his arm on the floor – the Groundium-Z poses.

Ash's eyes sparkled. "Amazing!"

"Alright! I'm feeling pretty good about this!" Goh celebrated.

Ash walked silently toward Goh with a smile on his face. "Ash, what is i-" Goh paused as Ash quickly planted a kiss on Goh's lips.

"WHA-"

"Oh, I don't know, you just looked so pretty dancing like that, I just couldn't resist!" Ash remarked. "And, by the way… you don't actually have to be shirtless to do Z-Moves. That was just a little fib I made."

Goh was too flustered and infuriated to reply.

"Well, this is it. The final chapter of my quest for Ultra Balls…"

The two research fellows stood, once again, in front of the Vermillion Gym.

"Things will go differently this time, I can feel it!" Goh extended his hand outward and closed his fist. "I will grasp that future in the palm of my hand!"

"My pom-poms are ready! That is, if you want me to…" Ash suggested.

Goh placed his hand on his chin. "I guess that'll be fine. No cheerleading outfits this time, though, okay?"

"Okay!"

The doors to the gym opened and the boys entered in unison.

"Hi, guys. I'm just about done removing all the wires and trash cans. Still feels like a shame, though…" Visquez spoke without turning her head toward them. "I presume you're here for a rematch?"

"YEAH! And this time, me and my pokémon are way stronger than before! I happen to have won two more badges since last time!"

"I like your spirit, kid!" Visquez said, giving Goh a thumbs up. "Are we gonna do another one-on-one match this time?"

"No, let's do a two v. two! I think I can do it…", Goh replied. "With this guy! Golurk, come out!"

"GOLURK!" Goh's giant Golurk (say that five times fast) bellowed. Visquez sweat-dropped.

She positioned her Rotom-phone in front of Golurk and scanned it. "Golurk, the Automaton Pokémon. Ground/Ghost type. It is completely loyal to its master's orders."

"Well, that puts me in a bit of a pickle, given all my pokémon are electric types and that pokémon will take no damage from them at all", she remarked. "But I'll manage." Visquez pressed a few buttons on the Rotom phone and suddenly, the phone's color darkened as an orange apparition came out of it.

"Rotom, Rotom!" the pokémon formerly occupying Visquez's smartphone chirped while it flew around everywhere.

"A… rotom?" Goh asked, dumbfounded.

"I trained this Rotom in battle techniques myself, just in case!" Visquez stated proudly.

"Wow! She's totally countered your choice, Goh! Golurk may be immune to electric moves, but Rotom is immune to ground, too!"

"It's still weak against Ghost-type moves, but the problem is that Golurk is, as well…" Goh considered. "And it's so small and fast, I wonder if we'll be able to hit it reliably!"

"That's the idea!" Visquez replied.

"Battle… start!" Ash shouted for the third time, though with a somewhat worried tone.

"Rotom, use Astonish!"

Rotom let out a horrendous screeching noise from its mouth that made everyone in the room cover their ears. "Nngh! Maybe that wasn't the best starting move, but it seems to be working?"

"Goluuurk!" Golurk moaned in agony.

"G-Golurk! I know you can do it! Cover your ears, walk in Rotom's direction and smash it!"

"Lurk…Golurk!" Golurk smacked its head a few times to distract itself from the horrible noise and began marching toward its opponent.

"S…see? It's just like the pokédex said! It's completely loyal to its master! When I give it an order, it will execute it – without fail!" Goh boasted.

"WHAT WAS THAT, GOH? I COULDN'T HEAR YOU!" Visquez shouted over her own pokémon's Astonish.

"Go… LUURRRRK!" The giant pokémon cried out as it reached the Rotom and, standing defiantly in front of it, gave it a powerful Shadow Punch.

Rotom spun around like a top as it reeled from the effects of the attack. "Ro-tototototo!"

One would expect Rotom to be down for the count after this, but it shook off the pain and quickly began flying around as quickly as possible again and pestering Golurk.

"I will admit, I didn't expect Golurk to withstand that so easily. Most pokémon I've had to use this on just stop dead in their tracks! But I can still use it to my advantage. Rotom, use Pain Split!" Visquez commanded.

Rotom focused and slowly, the damage it had incurred seemed to heal a bit, while at the same time, Golurk appeared to be suddenly weakened. "Golurk!" It cried in pain, clutching its chest.

"What was that?" Goh questioned.

"I've never seen that move before!"

"It's a bit of a nasty move, I don't like using it much", Visquez began explaining. "But what it does is, it evens out the damage between the two pokémon that are fighting. So now my Rotom is healthier while your Golem is weaker, at least relative to how it was before."

"Well, that just means we're gonna have to pound it into the dirt again! Golurk, use Defense Curl!"

"Rotom, pelt them with Shadow Balls!"

Rotom formed a black ball surrounded by static and dark energy in front of it and launched it at Golurk. Golurk had little reaction to this.

"Alright, looks like Defense Curl helped a bit! Now use Shadow Punch on that Rotom again!"

"It's not gonna be so easy now that Rotom isn't stationary, though!" Visquez told him.

It was true – Rotom was flying in unpredictable directions, launching Shadow Balls all the while. Though the smaller pokémon was easily able to dodge around Golurk's Shadow Punches and counterattack, the latter didn't have as much luck doing the opposite.

"Roto! Roto! Roto!" Rotom repeated in a mocking-sounding tone as it continually attacked Golurk with Shadow Balls.

"Lurk, lurk…"

"Golurk is completely cornered! What do I do?"

"Roto! Roto! Roto!"

Golurk started frustratedly waving its arms around, apparently aiming to swat the Plasma Pokémon as though it were a fly.

Eventually, they caught a lucky break when Rotom dodged below Golurk.

"LURK!" Smashing its fist into the ground to try and hit its opponent, Golurk ended up causing an Earthquake.

"I-It used Earthquake? But Rotom is immune…"

"Ow!" Ash groaned after being hit in the head by a piece of the ceiling. "Goh, your pokémon hurt my head!"

"Rooooto!" Rotom panicked, trying to hurriedly dodge all the debris that were falling because of Golurk's attack, now too distracted to use Shadow Ball.

"…I get it now! This is our chance! Golurk, use Shadow Punch, and make it count this time!"

"Goooo…LUUUUURK!" The Automaton Pokémon bellowed, throwing all its might into its fist and launching a spectral arm into Rotom's direction.

"ROTOOOO!" Rotom barely noticed the attack in time, but wasn't able to move out of its way fast enough. It was struck hard by the ghostly fist, and fell into the ground, its eyes swirling with confusion.

"Rotom is unable to battle! Goh, you did it!" Ash said as he began waving his pom-poms around again. "Go, Goh! Go, Goh!"

"Woo-hoo! Who's the best? We're the best!" Goh cheered, and gave Golurk a high-five. "My Golurk has a heart of gold and a fist of iron!"

"Oy vey…", Visquez mumbled. "Rotom, you did very well. Now rest up and wait for your next chance to shine!" Pressing a button on the phone again, Rotom changed into energy and quickly re-possessed it.

"Pretty cool idea, though, training your phone's Rotom to battle! I bet it'd be pretty handy in emergencies or when someone steals all your pokéballs."

"Yeah, but now the problem is that I only have pure electric types to fight with, so this next part of the battle is probably gonna go poorly for me…" Visquez admittedly sheepishly.

"Oh…"

"I should really just get an Emolga or an Oricorio or something, but I never have any opportunities to travel, so… well, anyway! Electrode, I choose you!"

Goh looked at his Golurk with concern. "Golurk, you took quite a beating back there. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Gol!" It nodded. Goh nodded back.

"Electrode, use Magnet Rise!" The ball-shaped pokémon hovered in the air in response, taking parts of the floor with it.

"I remember this technique, And I also know that Magnet Rise protects it from Ground-type attacks, as well. But it doesn't change the fact that your pokémon's moves can't affect mine!" Goh declared. "Golurk, let's nip her strategy in the bud! Use Flash Cannon!"

"Luuuurk!" A giant laser just like the one Scizor had used in the battle against Brock erupted from Golurk's chest. The floating rocks Electrode had levitated were incinerated in its wake.

But just before the wave of energy reached Electrode, Visquez shouted "Electrode, use Mirror Coat!"

With its body gleaming with a mirror sheen, Electrode took the full force of the attack.

"You were right, Goh. None of my attacks can damage you, but no one said anything about your attacks getting reflected back to you, did they?"

Goh gulped. "This doesn't look good…"

"Electrode!" Visquez' Electrode grunted as it discharged all of the Flash Cannon's power in Golurk's direction. Golurk shielded itself with its hands, but it was no use. Its body was completely enveloped by the beam.

"Golurk, no!"

"Go… Go… Gol…" Golurk winced. It tried to regain its balance, but in the end, it fell to the ground, defeated.

"N-No way! Electrode defeated Golurk?" Ash stated incredulously.

"Hoisted by our own petard… or Flash Cannon. Golurk, come back!"

"So what Pokémon will you use now, Goh?"

"Flygon is part Ground-type, and it's plenty strong! Flygon, I choose you!"

An imposing green pokémon that resembled a bug (despite not being one) appeared in the arena. "Flygon, Fly!"

"We just have to get that Electrode back in the ground so we can use our secret weapon! Use Dragon Claw, Flygon!

Now that it didn't have any floating walls to bounce off of, Electrode had a harder time dodging the attack. Even though its speed was much higher than Flygon's, Flygon had the advantage when it came to quick maneuvering. It managed to dig its claws into its opponent soon enough.

Flygon grabbed Electrode with its hands and appeared to be about to use its Dragon Breath attack on it, until Visquez yelled "Use Rollout!" at it. Then, Electrode spun around like some sort of round buzzsaw and escaped Flygon's grip.

"Gonnn!" Flygon cringed, blowing on its hands that had gotten red-hot due to the friction.

"Don't worry, Flygon! We've just about won already!" Goh declared confidently.

"Remember to not get too cocky, dear!" Goh resisted to impulse to shush Ash for saying this. Meanwhile, Visquez stared at the situation pensively.

'Whatever he's got in store, it apparently means I can't let Electrode touch the ground', Visquez thought to herself. 'But at this rate, Electrode won't have enough energy to keep up Magnet Rise…'

"I suppose I'll have to risk it and hope Electrode can take it", she decided. "Electrode, use Defense Curl!"

Electrode hovered back to the ground and… well, it can't exactly curl up into a ball, so it just made a tough-looking face.

'Defense Curl does increase the damage of Rollout, so it will improve my offense as well as my defense.'

"Okay! Looks like you're ready for our ultimate attack!" Goh said to her.

"Seems like the next turn will decide it, then. If we survive, I'll make sure to use Magnet Rise again and knock your pokémon flat! But if we don't, then you'll have earned yourself a Thunder Badge!"

"Then we'll definitely make this final attack one you can't recover from! Flygon, get ready!"

Goh struck the Z-pose for ground moves, and Flygon slowly became enveloped in a powerful aura.

"What in the world-" Visquez gawked at the sight of this new kind of attack. "What is that? I've never seen this before!"

"It's a Z-Move! They're the strongest moves in Alola!" Goh explained while doing the last bit of the dance (placing his hand on the ground), while Flygon landed and readied itself same. "Flygon, Tectonic Rage!"

Flygon slammed its tiny hand in the ground and a gigantic fissure appeared in the middle of the arena, causing poor Electrode to fall right into it.

Then, Flygon burrowed into the ground with impressive speed and tackled Electrode as hard as possible. The strength of the attack was such that Electrode ended up breaking through the ceiling of the gym and becoming a twinkle in the sky. "Electrooooodee…" It cried out.

"HOLY ARCEUS! I was expecting anything but that!" Visquez shouted with surprise evident in her voice. "Electrode didn't even have the chance to use Aftermath! So that means… you win!"

"Hurray! Three cheers for Goh!" Ash exclaimed. Him, Pikachu and Cinderace did what appeared to be a choreographed dance. "Go, Goh! Go, Golurk! Go, Flygon! Way to Goh, everyone!"

"I heard that pun but will not acknowledge it", Goh told him, blushing uncontrollably. "But hey, I won!"

Visquez walked up to him with a smile and the Thunder Badge in her hand. "Congratulations on your hard-earned victory! You really had me cornered for a lot of that fight."

"Still, for battling two pokémon that were completely immune to your usual moves, you did a pretty good job of making up for it!" Goh praised right back.

"But still, I just don't have that much experience fighting ground types, honestly…"

"Wait, what? But ground-types are the perfect choice to fight against Electric-types! Why don't more trainers use them?"

"I don't know, maybe they think it's unfair or they want to challenge themselves, but either way, you're the first trainer to actually bother with using type immunities against me in a while."

"That's because no one else thinks quite like Goh!" Ash said while sneaking up behind Goh and putting his arm around Goh's head, grinning widely at him. "His mind is out of this world!"

"Ash, please", Goh mumbled, his head now completely covered in a red twinge from embarrassment.

"So now that you finally have all the gym badges you needed, what will you do?"

"You want to know what I'm gonna do? Why, I'm gonna…"

Ash huffed tiredly while he, Cinderace and Lucario dragged several shopping carts filled with Ultra Balls out of the Pokémart. "Fo…forward, men!" Ash said, attempting to reinvigorate their spirits. "Goh needs these Ultra Balls!"

Ash then felt what seemed to be a large finger poking his shoulder. Looking up, he noticed Golurk, Darmanitan, Pinsir and Heracross, who had apparently arrived under orders from Goh.

Golurk mimed a few gestures with its hand to explain why they were there. "Golurk, Golurk, Gol…"

'I bet Ash and those two must be tired from picking up all those Ultra Balls for me! Go there and give them a hand with taking them back here, okay?'

Ash's eyes sparkled. "He's so considerate!" They let the foursome pick up their carts and take them away. Golurk lifted one, Darmanitan lifted another, Pinsir and Heracross took the last.

Ash and the two remaining pokémon fell down to the ground in exhaustion. "I'm really glad those guys came", Ash thought aloud. "That was, what, the nineteenth cartful…?"

He heard some sort of shuffling sound. The four pokémon from before suddenly returned and picked up Ash, Lucario and Cinderace and stuffed them into the carts as well.

"Wha-" Ash could barely react to it before they bolted back to where Goh was, faster than their girth would indicate.

"Darmanitan!" The Blazing Pokémon shouted when arriving at his master's current location, pointing toward itself with its free hand.

"Um… hi, honey!" Ash stated awkwardly while gingerly jumping off his shopping cart.

"Oh, those must be the newest Ultra Balls! Excellent!" They put the carts down and Goh grabbed five Ultra Balls at once.

"How did I live before being able to use these things?" Goh asked with wonder. "Now it feels like no pokémon is off-limits!"

Goh ran around noticing new pokémon and catching every single one of them.

"Seel! Ultra Ball, Go!"

"Hypno! Ultra Ball, Go!"

"Roggenrola! Ultra Ball, Go! And…"

Goh's eyes lit up. A familiar face was before him. "Golem! Ultra Ball, Gooooo!"

Goh launched his Ultra Ball harder than any ball he'd thrown prior, while the Golem could only stare in shock at him. The pokéball hit its head and captured it.

Once again, everyone fell silent as they gathered around the ball. "Will it work this time?" Ash wondered.

The ball wobble once, twice…

But then clicked shut, the Golem having been captured successfully at last.

"I did it… I actually did it! YES!" Goh yelled out. "Gosh, that feels so good! I am INVINCIBLE! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ash put his hand on the side of his head and stared at Goh lovingly. "He's so cute when he's excited."

"I COULD CAPTURE ARCEUS HIMSELF NOW! WHO CAN STOP ME?" Goh screamed at the heavens.

Though he'd grown as a battler considerably during his chest, Goh is still a catcher at heart. And now he has a new weapon in his arsenal – what new pokémon will he be able to catch? Shinies? Legendaries? Mythicals?

I suppose the only way to find out is to keep watching… as the Journey continues!

A.N. Oh lordy, it's finally done! I'm so sorry it took so long!

At least it's exactly two weeks after the last chapter, which is shockingly little time for me, relatively speaking.

There was so much to goh through (sorry) in this chapter, I'll probably be wondering if I did the best job I could for months. But at the same time, it wasn't as hard as I thought when I actually got down to it. I hope I did Brock's and Visquez's battles justice.

Some continuity notes, Goh replaced some of his pokémon's moves for these battles. Scizor's Air Slash was replaced with Flash Cannon, and Flygon's Sandstorm was replaced by Bulldoze, which he used for their Z-Move. How did he do that when TMs apparently don't exist in the anime? I guess he probably paid someone to teach them. (I mean, that last one is probably for the best, don't want that thing to start trapping people in sandstorms again)

I know this chapter has a severe likelihood of becoming non-canon as the series goes on, but I'm still very proud of it, I feel like I'm getting better at scripting battles… but I still tried to add as much fluff as possible, since that's what this series is about!

But the next one (whichever plot it might be) will probably take much longer, since I really want to finish these two non-pokémon fics I'm working on. Hopefully, though, I'll have something ready for June 12th (Brazilian Valentine's Day)!