"It still feels weird to have done a Contest and won, but to not get a ribbon from it," Dawn said, as the friends approached Sunyshore on the road from Daybreak Town. "Most of the time, you either have a Ribbon or you have something to work on and improve."

She shrugged, bouncing Pachirisu and Buneary on her shoulders. "Well, we still have things to work on and improve, but in different ways. So that's good."

"Yeah, it was really awkward the first couple of times I took a Badge Challenge," Whitney agreed. "I kept thinking to myself, I was in a gym battle and I won! So where's my badge?"

The Johto Gym Leader giggled. "Speaking of which, Ash, any thoughts on who you're using at Sunyshore?"

"I've not really decided yet," Ash replied. "I've got some Pokémon I haven't used since Hoenn, so maybe I'll use one of the Dragonites, and Gible hasn't had a proper battle yet. Nor has Cresselia, really, though she might not want to."

"Plus, Swellow," Pikachu pointed out. "She's got to be looking forward to this one."

"Plus Swellow, yeah," Ash agreed readily. "Let's go see what Volkner's challenge is like!"

When they actually reached Sunyshore Gym, the Gym Challenge set up was not exactly conventional.

"Press here," Ash read, looking at the machine, then at Pikachu. "Any ideas?"

"It could turn into a giant robot?" Pikachu suggested.

"Yeah, that would be pretty cool," Ash admitted. "It's not a normal Gym Challenge, but it'd still be fun."

He pressed the button, and a Beacon Badge fell out of the slot with a clattering sound.

"...wait, is that it?" Dawn asked.

"Hmph!" Whitney huffed. "That's not an appropriate gym challenge! Where's the judgement of how capable a trainer is? Where's the intellectual difficulty? Why haven't I seen any of the Gym Leader's cute Pokémon yet?"

Ash poked the machine again, and another Beacon Badge came out.

"Wow," Dawn said, faintly. "It's the opposite of the thing I had with Daybreak."

"Aren't you Ash Ketchum?" someone asked.

Ash turned, and saw a bright red afro with a person underneath it.

"Yeah, it is you," the afro's owner said, who turned out to be the Elite Four member Flint. "Nice to see you in Sunyshore."

"Is this for real?" Ash asked, pointing at the machine. "I was really hoping for a good battle… wait, are you the surprise secret gym leader?"

"I have to admit you could probably beat me if you put your mind to it, but no," Flint answered. "Volkner really is the Gym Leader here, and…"

He sighed. "This isn't meant to come across as an insult to him or anything, because he is a good friend, but he's really easily bored and these days I think he's bored with battling Pokémon."

Ash blinked politely.

"Sorry?" he asked. "I don't think I understood that last bit. Did you just say that Volkner was bored with battling Pokémon? How?"

"He's done it enough that it's too rote," Flint replied, with a sigh.

"Then he should have done something with the Gym to make it interesting!" Whitney replied, firmly.

She began to tick off ideas on her fingers. "Idea one! Have trainers swap half of their Pokémon teams over, so he always has new Pokémon to battle with as well as battling against the strong Pokémon he's raised! Idea two! Make the gym into a maze with assistants in it, full of puzzles, so a challenger can match wits against him! Idea three! Make it so you have to battle a giant robot to win the badge!"

Flint gave her an odd look. "Where did that last idea come from?"

"I'm the one who mentioned it first," Ash said. "Some trainers I used to battle a lot did that kind of thing."

"Huh," Whitney mused. "Funny old world…"

"Anyway," Flint added, sighing. "Volkner is often bored, but these days it seems worse than usual. It's just so hard to come up with something to keep his attention… even Electric-types don't always do it."

"Hmm," Dawn said. "Do you know where he lives? Because I bet that some of Ash's Pokémon would be a great way for him to discover how interesting Pokémon can be again!"

Flint knocked. "Don't tell everyone this is where he lives," he requested. "Volkner's a private sort."

"What is it?" Volkner demanded, opening the door. "Flint? What are you doing here? Our practice battle isn't until tomorrow, though I was wondering about cancelling it…"

"You've got a challenger," Flint explained. "And he and his friends have some interesting Pokémon for you."

"I very much doubt that," Volkner replied.

"Come on, Volkner," Flint sighed. "We know each other, right? And I know what interests you. And these Pokémon will interest you."

"Too right they will!" Whitney said, leaning around the doorframe. "We've got a Pikachu who can electrocute Ground Types!"

Pikachu waved, and Whitney handed him back to Ash before doing a flourish. "There's two Pokémon that Pikachu taught to electrocute Ground types, and they're a Raikou and a Zapdos!"

Volkner blinked. "What?"

"We've got a Pachirisu who can use Aura Wheel, a Shinx who can form giant electric aura constructs, and a Swellow who can ignore Electric attacks," Whitney went on. "My friend Dawn is currently a Plusle!"

"Yep!" Dawn agreed. "You get used to it."

"She's the trainer of a spiky-eared Pichu who can control time!" Whitney said, building up to a finale. "And a Cyndaquil who's Electric-type for no reason we can fathom! Also, there's a Zekrom here. Why is there a Zekrom here?"

"Don't mind me, just getting some practice in," Zekrom said.

"Oh, yeah, and my Rapidash can translate what Pokémon say," Whitney concluded. "So, what do you think?"

Volkner blinked several times.

"Am I hallucinating?" he asked.

"Technically you're hallucinating the understandable things Pokémon are saying," Rapidash said, poking his head in from above the doorway because he was telekinetic and it was the only place left. "But it's an induced hallucination, courtesy of me!"

Volkner pinched himself, then rubbed his eyes.

"Okay," he said. "You have my attention."

After Flint had remembered to actually say that the person he'd brought to meet Volkner was Ash Ketchum, and Volkner had agreed to it, they went to Sunyshore Gym to have a proper battle.

"And don't forget!" Ash said. "For a Gym Leader, sure, a lot of battles are similar, but for everyone who challenges you there's only one battle where they can win a Beacon Badge. So it matters to them, too."

Volkner snorted, but did get his Pokéball ready. "Sure," he said, not sounding particularly sure. "So, who are you sending out first?"

He sent out Raichu.

Ash sent out Swellow.

"This should be interesting," Volkner decided. "Raichu, watch out, the Gym Leader said that Swellow can ignore Electric attacks… test it out, though, just in case."

Flint waited until both trainers were visibly ready, then slashed his hand down. "Begin!"

"Thunderbolt!" Volkner ordered immediately.

Swellow didn't even dodge. The Electric attack hit her head-on, and she let out a cry of exhilaration as the Thunderbolt splashed across her feathers and totally failed to get purchase.

"That's a great start, Swellow!" Ash called. "Air Slash!"

Raichu found himself in the unusual position of being hit more powerfully by a Flying attack than he was hitting with an Electric one, and raised his tail to block the attack. That largely worked, letting the force of the attack dissipate, and he glanced at Volkner for advice.

"Focus Blast!" Volkner decided. "And make sure you stay on the move!"

Raichu broke into a loping run, light gathering in his paws, and dodged the second Air Slash before flinging a concentrated blaze of fighting spirit at Swellow.

Swellow promptly turned that into electricity as well, then ignored it.

"...okay, one, you had my attention, now you have my fascination," Volkner said. "Two, that is ridiculously broken."

"Just like the type chart!" Pikachu weighed in.

With Raichu eventually throwing in the towel, which required him to first get a towel to clean up after his attempt at Surf (that had mostly ended up with electricity raining back down all over the arena after Swellow Electrified that as well), Volkner switched to a Luxray and Ash sent out Croconaw.

"Hmm," Volkner frowned. "I think I remember something about this one… Luxray, that Pokémon is your Rival!"

"That's okay!" Croconaw said. "I have a dance for that!"

He cleared his throat, then did a twirl.

Luxray frowned, head tilting in confusion as Croconaw did another twirl and a faint shimmering tutu appeared around his waist, then glanced back at Volkner. "Uh…"

"He's got some kind of way to mess with Types, I think," Volkner mused. "And the Ground type is the best against Electricity. So… use Ice Fang first!"

Accepting that, Luxray attacked, and his Ice Fang bit down on Croconaw's tail.

This turned out to be a bad idea, as Croconaw's twirl meant that suddenly Luxray was being spun around two or three times a second. Then he went wham into the wall, bounced off, and looked dizzy.

"Teeter Dance!" Croconaw explained. "That's a dance for a rival!"

He cracked his knuckles. "What should I do next?"

"I know!" Ash said. "Do a butterfly!"

"Ooh, good choice!" Croconaw decided, and spread his arms out to either side. A pair of shimmering butterfly wings formed, and he began Quiver Dancing.

"The sad thing is I still have more idea what's going on than with the Swellow battle," Volkner said.

Luxray eventually went down to defeat, though it took a while, and Croconaw said that he was sorry but he wasn't going to be able to take part in the rest of the battle.

"I need to recover my mojo," he said. "I'm not really sure what a mojo is, but it's something to do with dancing I think."

"I was going to switch you out anyway, because it's someone else's turn," Ash confided. "But that makes it easier!"

Croconaw gave him a thumb-claw-up, then returned himself, and Volkner looked a little apprehensive as Ash got out his third Pokéball.

"Is this going to be a Legendary?" he asked. "I know who I'm using, but still…"

"I mean, I could use a Legendary," Ash replied. "But I was actually planning on using one of the Pokémon I first caught in Sinnoh, to give them their first Gym battle."

Volkner nodded, and sent out his Electivire. "Go ahead, then."

Gible emerged onto the battlefield, and waved.

"Hi!" he said. "So, what's your special thing?"

"Special thing?" Electivire repeated. "What do you mean?"

"You know, like how Pikachu electrocutes Ground types, or how Grovyle is some kind of ninja," Gible explained. "In my experience most strong Pokémon have one. So what's yours?"

Electivire spread his hands. "I'm just… a strong Pokémon," he replied.

"Oh, okay, that's cool too," Gible said.

"Begin!" Flint called, and Gible took off.

"...oh, it's going to be one of those days," Electivire sighed.

"Sand Tomb!" Ash said.

"Thunderpunch yourself and dodge!" Volkner replied.

Electivire did just that, speeding up drastically, and Gible's Sand Tomb attack missed.

"Okay, Lock On!" Ash ordered. "Then use Sand Tomb again!"

"Lock On?" Flint repeated, frowning. "Can the Gible line learn that move?"

This time, when Gible flew past and used Sand Tomb, the sand spread out in a wave of more than a dozen gritty streams before focusing right back in on Electivire – despite how fast the Electric-type was dodging.

"Ice Punch them!" Volkner suggested, and Electivire whirled around and began punching out at the sand-streams. He got most of them, only one or two slipping through to reach him, and Ash frowned.

"Lock On again!" Ash said. "Stack the attacks, like we mentioned! Sand Tomb and Draco Meteor!"

Gible zoomed away through the air, and used both Sand Tomb and Draco Meteor. They spread out and began homing in, and as they did Gible started firing Dragon Pulse as well.

"So I had an idea," Flint said, sidling over to Dawn. "How committed are you to the Contest lifestyle – is it something you'd want to spend all your time doing, or would you be okay with doing it as a part time thing?"

"Hmm, that's a tricky question," Dawn admitted. "I'd like to be a Coordinator in other regions, to see what they're like. But I don't think I know enough about it to commit to doing it all the time… it depends on if I had a way to get around quickly, because I probably could do all the Contests I needed for a Grand Festival run without it taking up all my time if I could travel around quickly."

She shrugged, and was about to say something more when Electivire managed to grab onto Gible. The Dragon-type thrashed around for a bit, then Ash told him to use Dragon Pulse at full power and the recoil drove Electivire and Gible further apart again until Electivire lost his grip.

"It would mean I probably couldn't travel with Ash and Whitney any more," she added. "But I know that's going to happen eventually, and I'm sure we'd stay friends… maybe I could ask Mew if Pichu or Nickit would be better to learn Teleport. Or perhaps Riolu?"

She thought about it, then turned her attention to the Elite Four member. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just an idea that would solve a few problems if it were possible," Flint said. "Next question. Do you think that you'd spend less time doing your Contest run than Fantina spent away from her gym?"

Dawn frowned.

"Uh… probably?" she said. "Even without having a Pokémon that can teleport, actually."

"Thousand Arrows!" Ash called.

"What does that move-" Electivire began, but didn't get to finish the sentence.

As the explosions died down, and Gible sank to the floor and panted, Zygarde paced out onto the gym floor.

"Good," they told Gible. "Well done."

Gible beamed.

"So, how was that, Volkner?" Flint asked.

"It was… well, a lot of things," Volkner admitted. "It was certainly a lot more interesting than most of my gym battles had been."

He sighed. "But that's the problem. I don't mind having battles which are interesting challenges, and where the Pokémon can do all sorts of cool tricks… but most battles aren't like that. And when someone comes into my gym with just one badge, or none at all, it's just so hard to put in the effort to give them the right sort of challenge."

"That's what I was wondering about," Flint said. "And here's my idea… Dawn, I know you're a Coordinator, not strictly a Pokémon battler. But what do you think of the idea of being Sunyshore's junior gym leader?"

Dawn and Volkner both looked confused.

"What?" Volkner asked.

"A lot of the Electric-types that were being shown off earlier are hers," Flint pointed out. "I'm not saying that Dawn needs to stay here all the time, but if it was something like… first to fifth badge challenges for a week every other week, sixth to eighth badge challenges daily. Or whatever seemed to work out? Then you could avoid feeling bogged down doing challenges that don't engage you, Volkner, and Dawn's used to battles that aim to be spectacular rather than win as fast as possible!"

Flint visibly noticed he was getting too excited, and calmed himself down a bit. "Or, at least, that's the idea I had…"

"I don't think I can agree yet," Dawn said. "Not really. But it could work… I wouldn't mind giving it a go, anyway, after the Grand Festival."

"I never thought of only battling the people who've got several badges already," Volkner admitted. "I really should have… even if this doesn't work out, I think it's given me ideas for what will work out. So thank you, Flint."

Flint spread his hands. "Hey, what are friends for?"

"Helping you teach gods!" Rapidash contributed.

"Or teaching you, if they're the ones who are gods," Gible replied. "Legendaries? Divinities? What word sounds the right combination of impressive, approachable and accurate?"

"And through here is the water park!" Mirage Mew said, floating through the door before opening it from the inside. "I finished it a few weeks ago, but I hadn't put any water in until this morning. Please let me know how it goes and what you think, I had to make a few guesses about what slides should look like."

"I have to admit, I didn't expect a water park on the moon," Mars admitted. "What gave you the idea to make this?"

"I felt like it!" the digital Mew said. "And my friends told me that that's half the point of art, maybe all the point of art, so here it is!"

Cyrus smiled slightly. "When I decided we were going to move to the moon, I was expecting it to be difficult," he said. "Not to involve moving into a fully furnished apartment complex with a water park."

"I'm just glad for the company!" Mew smiled. "It's great to have people around who can give inspiration, after all, and that's the best way to see if what I'm doing is going to be useful as well!"

They flipped upside down. "I wonder if Ash expected this all along?"

Cyrus' smile vanished.

"Did you say Ash?" he asked. "Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes!" Mew confirmed. "My digital composite personality is compiled out of information from Ash Ketchum's Pokédex, mostly, so he is technically a sort of uncle. Do you know him?"

Jupiter began trying vainly not to laugh.

"We went two hundred and fifty thousand miles, and we met Ash Ketchum's nephew," Saturn said, with a shake of his head. "Somehow I should have expected it."

AN:

Dawn was, of course, still a Plusle for that whole conversation.