Chapter 11

The battle which followed Dawn's seemed to last forever. Ash tapped his foot impatiently as the two trainers each slowly chipped away at their opponent's team. It actually reminded Ash a little of one of the first trainer battles he'd ever had.

It had been against a bug-type trainer named Jimmy who'd had an unusual penchant for dressing up like a Samurai of Old Kanto. Thinking back, Ash still found it amusing that Metapod had managed to defeat Pinsir using only harden.

There was a little bit of sadness in that memory though. How long had it been since he'd last seen Butterfree? Was he even still alive? Ash wasn't sure just how long Butterfree usually lived for when they were out in the wild. Ash glanced down at Pikachu, who was slouching against him with a far-off expression. What would it be like when Pikachu got old?

He shook his head, banishing the bleak thoughts. That was what happened when he was kept waiting with nothing to do. He refocused on the battle in the perhaps vain hope that it might have actually progressed in some meaningful way.

It was not to be. Aggron was still slashing repeatedly at Shuckle to little or no effect. Perhaps Ash could take a nap? It didn't look like Aggron's repeated Metal Claw attacks were about to break through Shuckle's rock-hard defences, and Shuckle may as well have been using Splash for all the damage its own occasional attacks did. The only bright spot in the scene was that Aggron looked like it was getting tired out. It might just keel over from exhaustion if it kept on in the same vein.

"Pika pi," Pikachu sighed. He slouched further down next to Ash and his ears slowly began to droop, along with his eyes.

"Try to stay awake, buddy," Ash said. "Don't want to be sluggish when our battle comes around."

"Pika-chu pi-chu pika!" Pikachu argued. Ash had to admit, he had a point.

"Look, this can't keep going on much longer," Ash pointed out. "We'll get our chance." He looked out at the battle field where it looked like even Shuckle had fallen asleep. Ash slumped. "Maybe."

"Hey, Ash!"

Ash's head jerked up and he located the source of the voice. Micky was waving at him enthusiastically, joined by his little Ralts. The Pokémon was looking much recovered in Micky's arms as it mirrored its trainer' excitement.

"Hey there," said Ash, grateful for the distraction. He hopped to his feet and walked over to the edge of the competitor-only section. As he stood up, Pikachu released an indignant squeak with the sudden disappearance of his pillow, but soon realised why it was Ash had got up.

"How's Ralts doing?" Ash asked as he approached. "You're looking a lot better there, buddy."

"Ral ral!" said Ralts happily. It jumped up and down a little in Micky's arms.

"He's doing a lot better now," said Micky. It was easy to see how happy both trainer and Pokémon were to be reunited. "We both just wanted to thank you for helping."

"Don't worry about it," said Ash, brushing it off. "I'm just happy I could help." He paused. "Say, I don't suppose you remember anything about what happened, do you, Ralts?"

Ralts seemed to wilt right in front of him. "Ra ralts ral alt ralt ralts," said the little Pokémon regretfully.

"Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny already asked us," said Micky sadly, "but Ralts can't really remember anything. He was just waiting for me and suddenly felt sleepy. He doesn't remember anything after that. Not until the alleyway."

It was disappointing news. There was something that didn't seem to sit right though.

"Then how did Ralts escape?" he asked. "I assumed he managed to get away, and Banette was chasing him."

"Ral ra ra ralt-ra ra-l ralts," said Ralts, waving its arms animatedly and pointing at Ash.

"I think Ralts thought it was you that saved him," said Micky. "Whatever happened before you got there, he has no idea."

"That's not good," Ash muttered, more to himself than anyone else. If Ralts hadn't escaped, then how had it gotten to the alleyway? Also, both of the other Pokémon which had been taken had turned up in the woods outside town. How had Ralts managed to get all the way into Town without even remembering?

Then Ash remembered the Kirlia that had been protecting Ralts. Perhaps it had found Ralts and was trying to protect it. He'd seen it on the day he'd gone searching for Banette too. Maybe it lived in that part of town and had taken Ralts there to protect it, then been followed by the Banette.

Maybe it was the Kirlia who had freed Ralts from his captor. That didn't seem so far fetched. It did mean that the only way they were likely to find out who was taking Pokémon, or why, would be by trying to find the Kirlia, which didn't seem to like humans much. Ash was pulled from his musing by Ralts.

"Ral ralts ra-alts ralts ra," it said, looking sad again.

"Ralts really wishes he could be more helpful," said Micky. "So do I. I heard that some other Pokémon had been hurt the same way. Do you have any idea what might have been doing it?"

"Not really," said Ash, shaking his head. Micky looked worried and clutched Ralts closer. "Cynthia's on the case now though," Ash added. "She'll get to the bottom of it. I just know it."

"The Champion?" Micky asked in wonder. "You know her?"

"I guess so," said Ash with a shrug. He was hardly her best friend, but he did know her, even if he didn't know her nearly as well as he'd like. There was something magnetic about her, but then that was hardly news. When Cynthia entered the room, everyone turned to watch. Perhaps it was because she was the Champion.

"That's so awesome," Micky breathed.

"Raaal," his Ralts agreed.

"She's even more awesome in person," said Ash with a grin. "If anyone can get to the bottom of it, it's her."

His words seemed to reassure Micky, and the kid nodded, firm in the belief that there were no problems that couldn't be solved by the Champion of Sinnoh. Any further conversation was cut short when Ash heard his name being called over loudspeaker, and he glanced over at the battlefield.

It seemed that it was the Aggron which had eventually come out on top. It was stomping around the battlefield, roaring into the night. The watching crowd, those who were still awake anyway, didn't seem anywhere near as excited about the victory.

"Hey, it looks like I've got my battle now," said Ash. "Hopefully I'll talk to you both later, yeah?"

Micky smiled. "Okay."

With a final wave, Ash jogged off in the direction of the battle field. When he stepped out onto the field, Pikachu at his side, he took a deep breath. The crowd, so effectively deflated by the previous battle, cheered, perhaps more in hope than expectation, and he let it wash over him.

On the other side of the field he could make out the lanky shape of his opponent, who was waving at the crowd with must gusto. Once both of them had reached their places, the referee stepped up.

"This will be a 3v3 Pokémon battle between Ash of Pallet Town, and Toma of Pastoria City. As Ash lost fewer Pokémon in the last round, Toma, select your first Pokémon."

Even with the whole field separating them, Ash could see Toma's serious gaze zeroing in on him, as if the other trainer was trying to work out what Ash was going to be fielding purely by looking him in the eye. Ash just smiled and nodded.

Toma scowled, and a moment later, the one Pokémon that Ash knew she had was released. Gallade appeared in a shower of golden sparks, and took a ready pose, its gaze every bit as serious as its trainer's.

It was a sensible choice. Leading with a strong Pokémon that she could be fairly sure Ash already knew about. He'd caught some of her other battles, and she had stuck with Gallade for the most part, with the exception of the last round, in which she'd also been forced to use a Croagunk.

"Come on out, Staraptor!" Ash called, casting his Pokéball high into the air where it split open and unleashed the bird type.

Perhaps it was a little simple. No one who regularly used fighting types got very far if they didn't have some way of dealing with flying types, but Ash knew a lot of them. Hopefully he'd be able to work with Staraptor to find a way around them.

The battle began with Toma making the first move. "Gallade, use Double Team," she shouted, sweeping her arm out wide.

Gallade nodded, and began to jump from here to there and on again so quickly that the human eye had no chance of following. It was so rapid that it looked like there were multiple Gallades on the field, and Staraptor's head moved from one to the next, clearly just as confused as Ash was.

"Alright, Staraptor, they want to go for speed? Let's show Gallade how it's done!"

With a cry of "Staaar" Staraptor became a blur of speed. Trailed by twin bright lines from its wingtips

It shot at the nearest of Gallade's doubles, but moments before it made contact, the double disappeared into nothing. A less experienced Pokémon might have been confused, but Staraptor had battled double team before. It tipped one wing and turned in the air with impressive grace for such a large Pokémon, and a moment later it rocketed through the space which had until moments before been occupied by another of Gallade's doubles.

Without so much as slowing, Staraptor went after each and every one of Gallade's doubles until Ash caught one of them disappearing in a slightly different way. Instead of simply vanishing, there was the smallest flash of light which accompanied its departure. At the same moment, another double appeared atop a nearby stone.

"Hit him with a one-two, Staraptor!" Ash shouted. He didn't want to give away the fact that he'd seen Gallade's little sleight of hand.

Staraptor understood what he meant, and soared up high, eagle eyes locked on Gallade's real location. With another call of "Staar" it dove down, lines of white power streaming around it. The Aerial Ace attack hit home with impressive force, but was met by Gallade's crossed arms. For a moment they fought for dominance, before Staraptor was pushed back.

Gallade skidded backwards too, all doubles gone at last, but he was instantly hit by a blast of wind which threw him off balance. Staraptor had flipped in the air, turning the bled-off momentum into a spin which allowed it to whip up a powerful Gust attack far faster than would usually have been possible. Gallade lost his footing, and was thrown backwards into a rock.

It looked like a painful collision, but Gallade shook it off and seemed none the worse for wear.

"Thunderbolt, Gallade!"

Ash's eyes went wide. That certainly answered the question of how Toma intended to combat flying types. Staraptor was caught flat-footed, or would have been had it not been flying. It had enough time to beat its powerful wings just once in an effort to gain the speed necessary to avoid the attack, but it was never going to be enough.

The incandescent bolt struck hard, and Ash knew it had done a lot of damage but Gallade was no electric type. It would take more than that to slow Staraptor down.

Even as the light of the attack was fading, Staraptor flew straight at Gallade, before tucking its wings in. Energy bled off it like blue flames until Staraptor was nothing more than the nexus of a great inferno. For a moment Gallade stood out as a stark silhouette against the blue-white fire, then was engulfed.

The resulting explosive contact shook the ground, and blew a big chunk out of the battlefield, but when the dust settled, Gallade was still standing. Battered and bruised, but still every bit as determined as it had been before. Opposite it, Staraptor had clearly felt the impact too, but it soared high into the sky, beating its wings with slow, powerful motions. It still had a lot in the tank.

Staraptor wouldn't have much opportunity to rest, however, as Toma immediately launched a counter-offensive. "Rock Tomb!"

Broken rock fragments rose up from the battlefield under the control of Gallade's psychic powers and formed a sphere which surrounded Staraptor completely. Attempts to escape were thwarted by the absolute control Gallade was able to exert, and the sphere closed in on Staraptor. Ash knew he needed to think of something.

"Close Combat, Staraptor. Smash through!" Ash shouted.

The command came just in time. Though it was hard to see through the shell of stone which had been formed around Staraptor, Ash could just see his Pokémon had understood. Staraptor flapped its wings and shot straight at the rocks which surrounded it. Beak, claw, and wing smashed the stones aside, but Gallade's iron control ensured they kept on coming back.

"Now, Brave Bird!"

Staraptor shot through the momentary opening, once more wreathing itself in flames of white-hot energy. Gallade's eyes glowed as it commanded the stones to follow, but even he could not quite keep up with the speed of Staraptor's attack.

Once again, Gallade and Staraptor collided, but this time the explosion was only the beginning. This time there was a hail of rock and stone right on Staraptor's heels. Ash couldn't see the result, so bright was the explosion, but he knew it was likely to cause heavy damage to both Pokémon.

He was proven right when the dust settled at last, and revealed Staraptor and Gallade both lying unconscious upon the ground, half-buried in the remnants of Gallade's Rock Tomb attack.

"Both Gallade and Staraptor are unable to battle!" the referee announced to raucous cheers from the watching crowds. "Both trainers, choose your next Pokémon."

"Thanks, Staraptor," said Ash before clipping the Pokéball back onto his belt. He'd done well, but it still left Ash in a bit of a sticky situation. If Toma had mostly fighting types, losing his one flying type early was a definite blow.

On the other hand, Toma looked no more happy about things than Ash did. There was a very real chance that Gallade was her strongest Pokémon.

With that in mind, Ash selected his next Pokémon. He expanded the ball in his hand, and nodded to Toma. Then, together, they threw the balls onto the field.

Buizel appeared in a shower of light, and was confronted by the Croagunk he'd seen in the previous rounds. Sensibly, she was trying to keep as much of her team a secret for future rounds as possible.

From what he'd seen before, Toma's Croagunk was unusually quick, but every bit as fragile as he might expect. Perhaps power was the way to go. "Lets win this one, Buizel. Water Pulse!"

"Sucker Punch!"

Buizel was still preparing his attack, the orb of watery energy forming between his laws when Croagunk darted forward to deliver a swift uppercut. Buizel flew backwards through the air, but managed to twist in the air and land on his feet. Somehow, the blue orb hadn't been disrupted by the attack, and he threw it straight at Croagunk. A torrent of water seeped from the ground along its path forming into a huge and powerful wave.

The wave crashed into Croagunk, sending foam and water everywhere and hiding the Pokémon from view. When the waters receded again, Croagunk was standing exactly where Ash had last seen him, completely unharmed.

Buizel shot Ash a worried look and Ash realised the problem when he looked over Croagunk again. Despite the torrent of water, it still looked bone dry. That was a real problem. Buizel's only non-water-based attack was sonic boom.

"Alright Buizel, no water!" Ash called. He could swap in a third Pokémon, but that would really give Toma the advantage. Buizel still looked unsure. "We can still do this, buddy."

An unhealthy purple glow manifested in Croagunk's hand as it jumped across the space separating the two Pokémon, and Ash immediately recognised the Poison Jab. Buizel recognised it too from all the times he'd seen Brock's Croagunk use it, and leapt nimbly out of the way.

But Croagunk didn't let up. The first attack was followed by a second, then a third, and Buizel was driven slowly back towards one of the stands. He was rapidly running out of space to manoeuvre, and Ash knew he'd have to do something special.

There was really only one answer. "Up and over, Buizel!"

With a powerful jump, Buizel launched himself into the air, but Croagunk wasn't about to let him get away so easily. Using its strong hind legs it sprang up beneath Buizel, another Poison Jab readied.

That was when Buizel brought out his surprise. His twin tails span up to speed, lifting him further from the rising Croagunk, and just out of range. As Croagunk looked on in surprise, beginning to fall back to the earth, Buizel spun over and spun his tails even faster.

The pressure waves produced by the spinning tails, directed expertly at Croagunk, found it completely defenceless. The dark blue Pokémon was cast to the ground with a solid thump. It was quickly back on its feet, however, and glared up at the still airborne Buizel.

Toma grimaced, but didn't hesitate. "Revenge, Croagunk!"

With a shout of "Cro!" Croagunk leapt into the air once more, this time with far more power than before. A malevolent orange aura sprung up around Croagunk, and Buizel tried to dodge, but it wasn't enough.

Croagunk hit Buizel with its whole body, swatting the smaller Pokémon out of the air and flinging him towards the ground again.

"Use Water Pulse to soften the landing, Buizel!" Ash called. He hoped that the upwelling waters created by the Water Pulse orb would break Buizel's fall, but it was not to be. Before Buizel could completely form the watery orb, he hit the ground hard.

A moment later, Croagunk landed lightly on nimble feet. It took Buizel a little longer to push himself upright again, and he was swaying a little as he did so, but Ash immediately saw the satisfied smile on his Pokémon's face.

He barely had time to realise what that might mean when the ground beneath Croagunk exploded. A huge chunk of soil and rock was blasted into the air on a pillar of glowing water. Then, just when it looked like it might hit Croagunk itself, it evaporated into nothing, leaving Croagunk dazed and high in the air.

Buizel spun around, his tails whirring. Another flurry of powerful sound waves shot at Croagunk, and the rocks and other debris were swept along with them. They pelted Croagunk mercilessly as the disoriented Pokémon tried to work out what had happened.

When it fell to the ground, it hit hard, and when the dust settled, Croagunk was left unconscious.

"Alright, Buizel!" said Ash, his words echoed by Pikachu at his side. "That was awesome!"

Buizel looked over his shoulder back at Ash and grinned in obvious satisfaction. It took Ash a few seconds to realise just what Buizel had done. Instead of using the Water Pulse to soften his fall, he used the momentum of the fall to drive the Orb deep into the ground where it had created a powerful underwater river which he'd then controlled to erupt beneath Croagunk. That wasn't even something they'd worked on together, but sacrificing the softer landing just for a chance to hit back at Croagunk without falling afoul of its Dry Skin was a gutsy move. It was exactly the kind of thing he should really have expected from Buizel, really.

"Croagunk is unable to battle," the referee announced, barely audible over the clamour of the crowd.

On the other side of the field, Ash saw Toma smiling sadly and shaking her head as if she couldn't believe what had just happened. Then she selected her next Pokémon, and cast her final Pokéball onto the field.

"Breloom!" the new Pokémon announced, hopping in place like it was eager to get started.

Another type advantage. "Buizel, return," said Ash, much to Buizel's disappointment. It disappeared in a flash of red light, and a moment later Ash went out his third selection.

Monferno appeared on the field in a flash of light and sparks, and grinned upon seeing Breloom on the other side of the field. "Ferno!" he said, punching his hand in preparation.

"Mach Punch, Breloom!"

Breloom didn't hesitate. It launched itself across the field, its leading fist beginning to glow brightly. Ash didn't make any command in return, confident Monferno would know how to meet it.

Just a heartbeat after Breloom began its attack, Monferno mirrored the move. They met, fist to fist in the middle of the field and for a single breath it looked like they were evenly matched. Then the energy of Breloom's fist flickered and died, and Monferno punched right through, throwing Breloom backwards.

Monferno kept up his momentum. Fire erupted from his mouth and he began to spin. His entire body was surrounded by fire, and the speed of his spin made the Flame Wheel look more like a huge orb of flame. Breloom had barely pushed itself upright when the attack hit home, driving Breloom back again.

This time it managed to land on its feet, though the effect of Monferno's burning hot attack was clear to see. It was already bruised and scraped, favouring one side over the other.

"Try Seed Bomb!" Toma called, and Ash could hear a little of her desperation.

If Breloom heard it too, it didn't show any uncertainty. It immediately opened its mouth and sent a fusillade of bright green seeds at Monferno. Monferno danced around a few of them with admirable speed, but there were too many for him to avoid them forever, and eventually a few caught him, exploding on contact.

Despite that, Monferno was mostly unperturbed by the attack. He shook his head to clear the effects of the attack, and threw himself right back on the offensive. Tongues of flame licked around his mouth for a moment, before he released a torrent of fire at Breloom.

Breloom bent its powerful legs to leap clear, but as it did so the injury to its leg made itself known, and it fell to a knee in the face of the attack. The flames washed over it, hiding the Pokémon completely from sight as they did so. When Monferno ended the attack, and the flames winked out leaving behind charred earth and a few glowing stones, Breloom was revealed.

Blackened by thick soot, the Pokémon coughed once, then toppled over backwards to lie still upon the ground. Completely unconscious.

"Breloom is unable to battle. Monferno is the winner," said the referee to cheers from the crowd. "That means this match goes to Ash, who will advance to the next round."

"Alright, Monferno!" said Ash, running out onto the battlefield to meet his Pokémon. Monferno turned and jumped into his arms with a happy cry of celebration. "That was brilliant."

"Mon-fer monferno," said Monferno enthusiastically.

"That was a great battle," said Toma as she walked onto the field to check up on her unconscious Breloom. He came to at her touch, and they shared a melancholy look. "I'd heard that you were pretty good, but that was something else."

"Every great battle has two Pokémon," said Ash, flashing her a thumbs up. "You faced a really tough opponent out there, Breloom, but you gave it your all."

"Thanks, Ash," said Toma as her Breloom nodded next to her. "I hope you go all the way."

Ash scratched the back of his neck and laughed. "You better believe it. No way we're giving up now, right Pikachu?"

"Pi pika pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

A/N: Bit of a delay on this one. Things happened. Such is life.