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The Union Badge gleamed from where it had been pinned to Ash's hat. Another copy of the badge hung around Dawn's neck. Said coordinator looked down the hat in her hands, admiring her handy work. "It's ready!" she announced, passing the cap back to Ash.
He took it back, admiring it briefly before smashing it back down onto his head with a grateful grin. "Looks great, Dawn! Thanks for doing that." He stuffed another bite of pancake into his mouth. "It looks…" Another munch. "...Thothally cuhl!"
"No problem!" Looking to Empoleon and Pikachu, who both sat on the table, she suddenly realized the difficult task ahead of her. She had to decide who would be competing in the Wallace Cup! Before, it wasn't a very difficult decision since she had so few pokemon... Now, Dawn had to pick and choose… And they were all pretty good choices!
"Houndoom and Quilava probably wouldn't like all the water, though…" she mumbled aloud, mentally ticking off potential partners.
Ash looked up from his meal to see Dawn brooding while sipping orange juice through a straw. It was a rather funny sight. All the same, he had to ask, "What's up?"
"I'm trying to figure out who to use for the Wallace Cup," she explained. "And, maybe, how many to use…"
Empoleon leaned over, eyeing Dawn intently before chirping a single word: "Empoleon."
She waved him off, smiling. "Well, of course you're going with me! We were together last time, and we'll be together this time, too!"
Assured, the big water type returned to his meal.
Pikachu rested a paw atop his friend's flipper. "Pikaka Pika Pi-kachu! Pikapi Pika Pikachu!" Dawn was close to Empoleon like Ash was close to Pikachu. The two of them would always be with their trainers. Empoleon didn't need to worry about that.
Back with the humans' conversation, Ash vaguely gestured into the air with his fork. "I don't think Mamoswine would like those little platforms much," Ash trailed off. "Having him stand on ice would leave him pretty open for hits and, uh, extra stuff."
"That's true," Dawn agreed. "Well… I think a good limit will be one for an appeal and four for battles. Any more then that, and I think I'd be too overwhelmed! And, since Empoleon's there, I won't use Buneary. Some of their appeal styles overlap." She clapped her hands together. "That just leaves me with Togekiss, Pachirisu, Clefairy, and Absol!"
Chugging back his milk, Ash then raised the empty glass in a salute. "Let's go somewhere to try 'em out then, huh?"
Walking through the crowded, bustling streets of Cinnabar, our heroes noted the various, temporary booths. One boasted beautiful feather jewelry. Natu feathers were made into a necklace. Wingull feathers were made into a delicate set of earrings. Another had rows and rows of berry juice, all distilled from the merchant's very own Shuckle. There was even one that sold goods meant to help take care of baby pokemon! A Bonsly was sleeping soundly in the merchant's sling, proof of the product's quality.
However, the booth that really caught their attention was a rather plain one. A single man sat inside of it, talking to a number of trainers. Some of the younger ones turned away, meekly looking down at their wallets.
"He's selling technical machines?" Dawn half-asked, cocking her head at the sign. "Aren't those usually in stores…?"
Ash put his hands on his hips. "Normally, yeah. I guess this guy knows coordinators are looking for an edge in a contest. A new move could be just the thing." Turning to Dawn, Ash jerked a thumb towards the neatly organized shelves. "What about it? You think a new move might help you?"
Thinking it over, Dawn considered her team. "You know… Now that I think about it, Togekiss might be due for a new move." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure what Princess Salvia had her used for, but sometimes it feels a little limiting." The coordinator paused. "Not that it's Togekiss's fault! If a pokemon isn't doing well –"
"Then, it's the trainer's job to help," Ash finished. "No need to worry, Dawn. I know you weren't bad mouthing Togekiss."
Glad she was understood, Dawn supposed a move might be good for Togekiss to learn. She got out her PokeDex, scrolling through the moves that had been recorded for pokemon of her species to know, plus a few within her egg group might be able to pass on. "I don't know her pedigree… So, it's no good trying to see if she forgot an egg move," Dawn supposed. She turned to Empoleon. "Do you see anything that would be good for Togekiss to know?"
Empoleon bent over. He pointed out a few that seemed to have interesting pictures or descriptions.
Dawn nodded. "Yeah… Ash, what do you think?" She turned the PokeDex around. The screen displayed four of the moves that Dawn had narrowed down from Empoleon's suggestions.
Ash hummed before pointing out one in particular. "That one looks cool!"
The coordinator giggled as she spotted which he had picked. "That's an ironic term to use…"
She looked to the merchant's booth. "That's such a big crowd… I guess we should try to get close."
After about five minutes of waiting and squirming in the crowd, Ash and Dawn found themselves at the front counter.
"Hi!" Dawn greeted. "I wanna buy this move!" She showed the guy her Pokedex screen.
The merchant lifted a brow. "That move isn't on any disc in any region."
"What?!" she squeaked.
"Hey, on that topic, how do you teach a pokemon a move with a technical machine?" Ash inquired.
The seller gestured to Dawn's Pokedex. "You can use them like instructional videos. You pokemon will watch and learn. It's very tedious and takes a while, but that produces the best results. However, if you're desperate, you can just load it onto your PokeDex and it will automatically teach it to a pokemon while it's in a pokeball. This method isn't as reliable or impressive, but if you're desperate, it does the job."
"I see," Ash answered, mulling it over.
"So, are you two going to buy anything?" the merchant pressed.
Dawn shrugged. "I wanted that one move… I don't know what to pick now."
"I'd like to buy something, too. But, I'm not sure what you have." The trainer scratched behind his head.
Huffing, the merchant got out a heavy folder. "Here, look through my inventory. When you're ready, I'll get you checked out. Stand to the side, please. Next customer!"
Scurrying to the side of the booth, Dawn and Ash perused the pages. Before long, they each found a move that they thought they might have use for.
"It's a little costly," Dawn murmured.
Ash nodded. "But, it's not like we're buying a lot…" Turning to the merchant, Ash spoke up. "We're ready!"
Walking over, the man noted the machines that the two wanted. "Ah, I have newer versions of these! The old kind were one use, but you can use these over and over if you'd like. One moment." Taking his inventory book back, the man quickly grabbed two cases before turning.
He quickly named his price for each.
With only a bit of wincing, Ash and Dawn paid up.
"Is this your first purchase?" the man asked before giving them their change.
"Yeah," the two said in unison.
"Well, tell me what color you like. I give complimentary TM cases for first purchases."
Clapping her hands together, Dawn got excited. "What colors do you have?"
"I'll take red," Ash supposed, a bit simpler.
Lugging out the box of cases, the merchant handed Ash the red one. "Take your pick," he offered to Dawn.
Squealing in glee, Dawn dug through until she found a hot pink case. "Perfect!" She quickly put her TM safely inside.
"Well, that's that. Thanks!" Ash said, putting his case and the TM inside of it away in his bag.
"Let's get to training, Dawn."
"Coming!" Dawn chimed.
They finally found a suitable location after a bit of walking. It was under the shadow of the volcano. Dew still clung to the blades of grass as they walked through and it felt cooler here than on the rest of the island.
With a bit of reverence of how secluded this glen felt, Ash and Dawn nodded to each other before releasing the pokemon they intended to work with for the day.
Raising an eager fist to her starter, Dawn smiled at Empoleon. "Let's do our best, huh?" She then turned to the rest of her team. "I've got some ideas for everyone, so please listen!" She clapped her hands together. "Clefairy, I'm going to trust you with the appeal."
The fairy type fluttered into the air, eyes gleaming. "Clefaaaaaairy!"
"Empoleon, Pachirisu, Togekiss, Absol—I'll rely on you for the battles, okay?"
"Empo!" the starter agreed.
"Pa Pa Pa Pachirisu!"
"Toge."
"…"
"But, for this training," Dawn picked up after her team answered her, "Togekiss, I need you to watch my Pokedex for a bit, okay? There's a move I want you to learn."
Taking the offered machine into her feathery appendages, the white, regal pokemon cocked her head. "Toge…?" After a moment, the technical machine that Dawn had already loaded began playing. "Kiss!" Now, Togekiss understood! She should watch and learn.
"Hehe, do your best!" Dawn praised. "Now, Absol, I want you to practice your Razor Wind-Night Slash combination again, okay?"
The dark type nodded.
"Very good. Now, Empoleon, I want you to try a new combination. It's been awhile since you used Drill Peck, but we're going to combine that with Ice Beam!" Dawn explained.
Empoleon tilted his head and put a flipper on his hip. "Empo…" That sounded rather strange, but he would do his best for Dawn.
Kneeling down, Dawn spoke to Pachirisu. "Your move set's a little limited… And, I don't want to end up using you against someone who can get one over on us, so I need to give your Super Fang an edge. We're going to try to combine it with Sweet Kiss, alright?"
"Pachi Pachi!" the squirrel chattered.
Turning to Clefairy, Dawn smiled. "Now, we're going to try Magical Leaf and Moonlight for you! I can't quite trust Metronome… So, we'll be a little limited with the appeal," Dawn said with a laugh.
The pink pokemon seemed a little disappointed, but nodded all the same. "Clefairy!" She would do her best.
Meanwhile, with Ash… Floatzel, Primeape, and Charizard were prime for competition, blood boiling among all three aspiring fighters. Charizard eyed Primeape, remembering his tenacity well. Hopping on his shackled feet, Primeape returned the same glare, feeling just the same about their first meeting.
"Float! Floatzel!" The Sea Weasel barked out, holding a fist up to Charizard. Fangs bared, he insisted on grabbing the large dragon's attention. Story after story had been told on Oak's ranch, while Ash was busy with other pokemon up at … He was more or less known as the strongest among Ash's pokemon, even if some were quicker to admit it than others. That kind of raw strength had Floatzel intrigued. Getting to see how he stacked up against the best of the best was just too tempting an idea.
Eyeing the three, Ash couldn't help but chuckle, resting a hand on his hip. "You really wanna battle Charizard, don't ya, Floatzel… Well, that's only fair. Charizard, Primeape, you guys battled once already, right? Charizard, you can prepare Floatzel for Blaine's fire types! You know he's not gonna take it easy on us."
"Float!" The water type eagerly agreed.
Charizard let out a huff, turning towards his new opponent.
"And, Primeape… Last time, Blaine had a Rhydon, so I know you're ready for that. Besides, with your new Overheat move, you'll be able to spit fire with the best of 'em! So, why don't you train with Rosa a lil' and keep your fighting skills in their prime?"
Snorting at his trainer's pun, Primeape nevertheless agreed. Young and undeveloped as she was, the Riolu proved herself to be quite a fun sparring partner at the Grand Prix. He was up to the task!
"Great! Rosa… I choose you!" Ash lightly tossed a pokeball in the palm of his hand, finally throwing it to release the cub.
"Rio~!" She chirped, quick to greet Ash's other pokemon, as well as Dawn's, with a wave.
"Rosa, how would y'like to do some training with Primeape?" Ash questioned, leaning down to rest his palms on his knees.
~Y-yeah! That sounds fun!~ The Emanation pokemon hopped between her two feet, pumping her fists in the air. Turning to her elder, she grinned. ~Let's go, let's go!~
Giving something of a fond, fatherly look, Ash nodded. "Great. Rosa, you try to keep using Force Palm until you can land a hit on Primeape! Primeape, you keep her from getting any openings. That should give both of you some practice in fighting close-up!" Not that Primeape needed it, but it couldn't hurt to have his reflexes tested.
~You got it!~ Rosa chirped, taking the opportunity to leap at Primeape with an outstretched paw.
The anger-prone pokemon was quick to raise a fist, promptly blocking the attack.
The Riolu pulled back, launching in again to attempt rapid jabs with an open palm, forcing Primeape to put his footwork on display. The latter parried and blocked, stopping each of Rosa's attacks.
"Great. Now, you two, show me what you can do! I wanna see some real power."
Not like he was worried.
Charizard let out a bellowing roar, eager to put his power on display. Particularly after the day before, he was determined to get stronger. Someday, he'd be stronger than that Dragonite… Today, he'd be stronger than Floatzel. A scathing jet of flames jettisoned from his mouth.
Floatzel's eyes widened. Even as the Flamethrower left Charizard's mouth, the heat bristled the water type's fur from several yards away. Ash's pokemon hadn't been kidding around.
"Float!" The water type cried, raising both arms above his head. A glowing, pulsating orb of water charged between Floatzel's paw, radiating with latent power. "...Zel!" He grunted, lobbing the attack in front of him.
Water Pulse collided with the ground below, erupting into a crashing wave that would probably put a Wailord's splash to shame. Ripe with power and vigor, the explosion of water stood right in the way of Flamethrower, taking the full brunt of the heated attack.
Even so, the water expelled evaporated into steam in seconds.
Floatzel gawked, frozen stiff in the moment that his defense was completely distilled. One would think it was pointless, if it weren't for the Flamethrower that could've scalded him otherwise. Scoffing, Floatzel launched off surrounded by a potent Aqua Jet, springing him towards Charizard with ease.
So, this Floatzel wanted to fight head-to-head? That was fine with Charizard. It wasn't as if he'd ever let a type disadvantage scare him before. No, both of his clawed hands were held outward, waiting for impact.
And indeed, it came. A roaring crash between the projectile-turned weasel and Charizard's physical might erupted, the latter digging his talons into the ground below. Floatzel's torrent pushed hard against its target, held only inches away from Charizard's hide by a sustained effort on the fire type's part. The latter grit his teeth, putting a strained effort into holding the latter off.
With a roar, he succeeded. for the second time in a row, Floatzel's water-charged attack dissipated, leaving only a nearby Floazel, still in mid-air, in its wake.
Irritated, but far from giving up, Floatzel sneered. Raising a glowing cyan fist, he struck.
Charizard recoiled, slammed by a chilly fist to the jaw. He could feel ice creeping through his veins before his boiling body temperature chased it away with a hiss. This occurred in little more than the blink of an eye, allowing him to eye a satisfied Floatzel.
He sneered. Swinging an arm around, Charizard struck with all of his terrible, battle-honed fury. Three slashes of glowing, artificially sharpened claws struck the water type with an unforgiving Slash attack.
Tumbling back, Floatzel grounded his feet frantically in an attempt to slow his momentum and regain balance. The cutting, stinging pain was nearly dulled out by the harsh, concussive impact behind Charizard's strike. Were he any less brave, Floatzel would be discouraged.
Instead, he grinned, egging Charizard on with a gesture of his paw.
He was rewarded with a snarl and a vibrant violet stream of energy that rattled its surroundings, charging Buizel with a draconian head heading the attack. Charizard had used Dragon Pulse.
Staring into the multicolored stream, Floatzel was quick to react. Throwing his head forward, he spit out a punishing jet to meet the other projectile head-on. He'd countered with Hydro Pump.
The two attacks collided center-stage, pummeling the clearing with bristling winds and stray bursts of energy and mist. The collective group surrounding Charizard and Floatzel were forced to brace themselves, Ash included. The teen held onto his cap, one eye reflexively shut to keep out the overwhelmingly bright flashes of Dragon Pulse. "Check that out… You guys are really giving it your all, huh?" Beaming with pride, he kept his headgear held secure to keep it from flying off his head.
The debacle was enough to catch the attention of his two fighting types as well, particularly Primeape. To think that was the power he would've been up against… He would've had a hard ti-
"Pri!" He squealed, jolting at a sudden burst of pain in his torso.
He looked down to see a guilty Riolu, who only gave him a cheeky smile, her paw outstretched.
Why, that little… Primeape let out an amused huff, throwing a quick jab. He wouldn't fall for that again.
As much as he wanted to snicker at that sucker punch, Ash didn't want to encourage underhanded tactics. "Keep it up, guys! You're doing great!"
"Ash is doing great, as usual," Dawn noticed, slightly distracted. She was quickly brought back into reality after a stray breeze from Absol's Razor Wind-Night Slash combo whipped past her, stirring her hair. She looked back, spotting Pachirisu's body rippling with electricity as the little squirrel looked for an opening to attack the dark type.
"Sol…" Absol growled.
"Pachi!"
Suddenly, Pachirisu lunged forward, using Super Fang. Dawn watched this intently.
She spoke up just before the hit landed. "Bring in the Sweet Kiss!"
Following through, a flurry of hearts flew from Pachirisu upon biting into Absol's shoulder. While the dark type snarled in pain, she also seemed to momentarily hesitate to return the blow.
Dawn watched intently. Did it work?
Indeed, it did! Absol teetered, looking strangely at Pachirisu on weary legs. After a moment, she fell over, hurting herself.
Pachirisu clapped her little paws in glee. The combination worked!
"We'll call that Sweet Tooth for short, then," Dawn decided. "I should come up with a name for the Razor Wind-Night Slash combination… There's a move called Ominous Wind and that inspired us, so why don't we call this… Haunted Breeze?!"
Even from where she was heaped on the ground, Absol snorted. That sounded like a terrible name.
"… Night Wind, then?" Hearing no opposition, Dawn supposed Absol was fine with it.
Unable to tolerate not being the center of attention, Empoleon ran over just then, tapping Dawn on the shoulder. "Empo!"
Once she turned around, he gestured dramatically to the damage he'd done to the glen across the way. "Empoleon!"
"Whoa!" Dawn yelled, taken back by the sight.
Spiraling out of the targeted rock a bit, a vortex of ice was visible. The rock itself was thoroughly cracked, on the verge of shattering it looked like. The tip of the ice even poked through the back some.
Please with the results, Dawn looked up to Empoleon. "You've been trying very hard, haven't you?" Looking closer, she grew worried. "Your beak! It's all scratched!" Leaning up, Dawn gently touched her starter.
Though he wasn't really hurt, Empoleon wasn't going to miss a chance to bask in Dawn's attention. He sold himself as truly injured, whimpering and whining into her touch. "Empo Empo Empoleon…!"
In the distance, though, Togekiss was still watching the introductory part of her video, not quite ready to practice. She wanted to understand it all before she tried it. Beside her, Clefairy sat, feeling a little disappointed.
Though the pink fairy was trying, the combination Dawn had told her to try just wasn't dazzling! The leaves already glowed on their own so the Moonlight didn't add anything to Magical Leaf. She didn't want to tell Dawn that she didn't like the move to avoid disappointing her trainer, but this wasn't making Clefairy very happy at all.
Back with Ash, the battles still raged on.
"Riooo!" A high-pitched cry rang, both of the pup's paws slamming into Primeape's guarding arms. Twin bursts of aura shone from between the two pokemon, sending Primeape skidding back.
"Prime!" The Pig Monkey huffed, dusting himself off. His arms felt a little numb now, even.
"Looks like you guys are putting in some hard work, too! Getting past Primeape is pretty tough, huh, Rosa?" Ash beamed, crouching down to the pokemon's level, an arm resting atop his knee.
"Rio…" Rosemary's shoulder slumped. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't manage clean hits on Primeape! Aside from that sucker punch earlier, that was… Every move he made, he was just one step ahead of her. It actually stung a little.
"Hey, don't let that get you down!" Ash encouraged, reaching to pet the top of her head. "Remember, Primeape's a top-class fighting champ! He's been at this a lot longer than you've even been around. So he really knows what he's doing. You just have some catching up to do."
Looking to the Pig Monkey, Ash raised a hand to his chin. "...So doing that over and over today is only gonna get you so far. Why don't we try something different and work on your dodging? If I remember right, Detect's kinda limited, so it can't hurt to try to toughen it up, right?"
Putting a paw to her chin, the Riolu nodded. ~O-okay! I'll do my best.~
...Even if being attacked by Primeape was just a little bit terrifying.
The pokemon's shivering didn't go unnoticed. Ash continued to scratch behind her head, offering a sympathetic smile. "Hey, if you don't wanna do it, that's fine. But, I know you're tough enough to handle it! Primeape may be really powerful, but you're getting there, too! You just have to believe in yourself."
~Right… I'll give it my all!~ Confidence instilled, Rosa raised both of her paws.
"Great." Ash stood then, giving the duo some space. "Then let's get started. Primeape, Close Combat!"
Primeape needn't be told twice. He charged the smaller fighting type, fists at the ready.
"And, Rosa, you use Detect! Hold out for as long as you can manage. If you start to slip, just pull back!"
The pup's ruby eyes quickly took on a bright, light blue. Every intent of Primeape's punch was analyzed, and Rosa ducked under the haymaker, avoiding the first. A second fist came towards her sliding form though, prompting her to spring off her front paws out of Primape's reach.
...And she landed squarely atop Primeape's head, resting on all fours with a toothy grin.
This playful show of acrobatics left Primeape fuming, his signature vein popping up on his forehead. He struck at Rosa from atop her perch with both fists.
...Only to strike himself right in the noggin.
A teary Primeape winced, turning to find a grounded Riolu snickering.
"Hey, looks like you're getting the hang of this! Primeape didn't know what hit him," Ash held a hand over his mouth, doing his best to suppress laughter. The Pig Monkey pokemon would be fine, after all. Ash knew he'd back at it in no time.
A quick kick from Primeape proved him right.
Rosa hopped over the strike, anticipating it just as she did the next punch, swinging on the pokemon's fist before attempting to dodge the next punch.
This time, she wasn't so lucky. Rocked by a ruthless punch to the nose, the Riolu tumbled back.
~Ow…~ She whined, rubbing her little beady nose.
"Ouch. Ya slipped up that time… But hey, sometimes that's gonna happen! That just means you have to try harder," Ash enthused, closing both fists together in front of his chest. The more confidence she picked up, the better!
~R-right!~ Rosa stood, raising her guard once more.
At that point, a roaring flame caught Ash's attention, turning his eyes on Charizard.
A wide sweep of the Flame pokemon's tail conjured up an orange trail of fire that circled towards Floatzel. Moving on with all of Charizard's momentum, it quickly surrounded the Sea Weasel in a tornado of heat.
"Float" The water type hissed, fending off the licking flames that closed in on his body.
He needed a way out of this… Well, it was like his trainer said.
The best defense is a good offense!
"Floatzel!" He cried, his body quickly consuming itself with a jet of water. Twisting into a spin, the water type unleashed a furious Aqua Jet Counter Shield.
And with that, the typhoon blasted Fire Spin to bits. Charizard was next to suffer, blasted by a succession of powerful jets of water. Letting out a roar, the Flame pokemon swatted the remainder of the attack away with his tail.
Floatzel soon emerged from the smoke with a grin. Having repelled Charizard's attack, he felt confident enough to keep up his assault, swinging his dual tails in a pair of twists that unleashed a Sonic Boom.
Charizard was quickly confronted with the waves, crushing them with a duet of two brutal Slash attacks.
He put those attacks to rest… But he wasn't expecting the next assault.
"Float!" Floatzel screeched, slamming into the unaware Charizard's chest with a swift Aqua Jet.
Charizard grit his teeth, attempting to dig his talons into the ground and hold the water type back.
Floatzel persisted, though, pushing through to turn the attack into an uppercut. "Float… Zel!"
Charizard was knocked skyward, tumbling before flapping his wings, letting out a scalding, frustrated huff. Glaring daggers at his grounded opponent, he flew to greater and greater heights.
"Uh… Charizard!?" Ash gazed up at the fire type, lifting the brim of his cap to get a look at him.
All of the commotion soon had Dawn's attention too. "I wonder what he's doing up there? Charizard can't learn anything like Brave Bird, or Sky Attack, can they?" She brushed a bang away from her eye, squinting to better observe the pokemon.
"Not as far as I know," Ash shook his head. Suddenly, though, his heart sank, and he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, Charizard! You better not be getting ready to shoot down Flamethrowers from up there! We can't all afford to get toasty like you can!"
He was only answered with a loud, bellowing roar. Charizard then shot down, tucking in his wings to make a quick approach. It was only mere seconds before he was within Floatzel's range, and he was showing no signs of slowing down.
Ash was moments away from panicking. "Charizard!? ... Floatzel, watch out!"
"Float!" Floatzel stood his ground, inflating the large, yellow tube around his body, inhaling just as he took the blow.
Floatzel's eyes nearly lost color, quite literally having the wind knocked out of him.
"Ah! Floatzel!" Ash panicked, sprinting and leaping in the Sea Weasel's path.
Ash, and Floatzel with him, was sent tumbling under the latter's momentum, skidding and turning across the clearing in a thick cloud of dust and dirt.
"Ash! Floatzel!" Dawn cried out in worry, sprinting over to the downed duo.
"Ah…!" Ash hissed, finding himself pinned underneath the water type's weight. But that was the last thing on his mind. "Floatzel… Floatzel, are you okay?" He forced himself to sit up, an arm supporting the water type.
"Float…" The pokemon coughed. That had been a devastating blow if he'd ever felt one. Pushing himself to his feet with shaking paws, he turned to assure his trainer. "Float…!" He raised a paw, insisting that he was fine. He couldn't have his trainer forgetting that he was plenty tough!
"Good to hear," Ash exhaled in relief. He turned to the Flame pokemon then. "Charizard, what's the big idea? I know you like showing off, but you've gotta be more careful."
Charizard averted his gaze, letting out a breath of flames.
"He doesn't look happy," Dawn noted. "Maybe he was trying out some new move, but it didn't work?"
"Maybe… But what kind of move has you flying up high like that?"
"...Hey, I know!" Dawn raised a finger. "Maybe Charizard's trying to use Dragon Rush! Didn't Lance make a big deal of that move the other day? He could be trying to learn it, too!"
"Oh, right! Is that what it's about, Charizard?" Ash looked to his companion.
"Groar!" The large, orange lizard nodded. The power that Dragonite showed off the other day… Even if he was proud of his performance, he couldn't help but feel some degree of shame. If Dragonite could become that strong, then so could he.
"Well, if you wanna learn a powerful new move, you know I'm right behind ya." Ash gave the large pokemon a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "How about you warn us next time, though, huh?"
The pokemon nodded. Though, he couldn't help but respect Floatzel for getting back up.
"Float!" Said pokemon grinned, folding his arms over his chest. He'd be able to handle it next time. Besides, this might make good practice for taking hits from the gym leader that Ash'd hyped up so much.
"Alright, let's give it another try! If you guys work together, Charizard'll pick it up in no time!"
"Roah!"
"Floatzel!"
"You guys keep that up. Rosa? Primeape? How're you guys doing?"
"Pri! Pri!"
~We're doin' good! I'm… I'm hanging in there!~ The Riolu insisted, boasting only a small pattern of scratches and bruises. From the look of things, her pain tolerance had increased quite a bit.
"You sure are!" Ash praised. "Now, let's see… When you guys battled at the P1, didn't Rosa start fighting back against Close Combat? I know you can't use the move yet, but it can't hurt to practice!"
"Primeape!" The Pig Monkey cheered, hoisting up a fist. He was all for making things more competitive.
"Alright. Then Rosa, you go all-out. Primeape, you just try to give her a challenge!"
"Rio!" She cried, throwing a punch at Primeape.
The strike was quickly sidestepped, followed by a punch in return, which the Riolu was forced to duck.
The exchange quickly evolved into a flurry of blows, each fighting type dodging and striking at the other.
"Good job, guys! Keep it up!" Ash grinned, cheering the two on.
"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu waved both of his paws over his head, echoing Ash's support.
Soon enough, Rosa's predictions fell through. A punch landed in her gut, knocking the wind out of the small pokemon.
Leering up at Primeape, she struck back with a kick to the stomach. ~Hiya!~
The pup's tenacity caught Primeape off-guard, knocking a snort from the pokemon's nostrils.
~Eee… Ya!~ Rosa shrieked, following up with a kick to the nose.
"Ape!" The larger, furry fighting type squealed, holding onto his snout. For the first time in quite a while, his temper flared. Brandishing a fist up high, Primeape snorted. His extremity began to take on a bright orange glow.
"...! Primeape! Take it easy!" Ash sputtered, raising both of his hands. "Don't hit back that hard!"
Alas, it was too late. A shining fist was thrown Rosa's way, knocking the Emanation pokemon square in the jaw. Overwhelmed, she was sent flying before skidding across the grass.
"Rosa!" Ash fretted, quickly running to the tiny pokemon's aid.
The pokemon sat flat on her bottom, whimpering from the counter-attack.
"That had to hurt… Are you alright?" Tough as she was, Primeape was far stronger. Naturally, his instincts couldn't help but act up and worry Ash.
~That…. That…~ Rosa stuttered, wiping at her eyes.
Nervous, Ash and Dawn remained silent.
~THAT WAS SO COOL!~ The cub burst with energy, hopping to her feet.
"...Huh?" Ash blinked.
~That wasn't just a punch! It was all shiny, and it went… Wham! And Boom!~ She prattled on, raising both of her paws in enthusiastic glee.
"Well, at least she's alright…" Ash trailed off, turning to Primeape with his pokedex. "What move was that, anyway?"
"Power-Up Punch: A fighting type attack. Striking opponents over and over makes the user's fists harder. Hitting a target raises the Attack stat."
"That's a new one… I don't remember Primeape using that before." Ash scratched his cheek.
"Did you go through all of Primeape's moves?" Dawn pondered, tilting her head.
"Oh! Uh… There were a lot of them, so I kinda forgot some of them," Ash admitted with a nervous laugh.
Which prompted a sigh from Pikachu.
~I-it makes you stronger?~ Rosa piped up, her ruby eyes gleaming. ~I wanna learn it, I wanna learn it!~
Ash couldn't help but beam with pride. "Well, what do you say, Primeape? You wanna pass on what you learned?"
"Pri! Primeape!" The Pig Monkey pumped a fist in the air. Gesturing for the Emanation pokemon to watch, he let out a series of snorts and squeaks before rearing back his fist. Focusing his vigor into the limb, he allowed his fighting spirit to peak before throwing a shining punch forward.
Rosa imitated his pose, pulling a paw back. ~A-alright… Ha!~ With some vigor, she punched forward.
"There. Now, just keep it up, and you'll learn it in no time!" Ash encouraged, turning to Dawn. "I guess your training's coming along too, huh… Woah!"
Ash was forced to hold his hat to his head, confronted with the residual power of a violet-tinged cyclone, courtesy of Absol. Letting out a chuckle, he adjusted the headgear. "I'll take that as a yes…!"
"You bet!" Dawn confirmed, a tightly knit smile and glowing eyes showing her enthusiasm. "Everyone's making progress! At this rate we'll be ready for the Wallace Cup, in no time…!" The coordinator winked.
Looking back to her team, though, her smile began to falter.
"Hey, is something the matter, Dawn?" Ash cocked his head to the side.
"...Oh, there's no need to worry! Let's just finish up training so we can get back to the pokemon center and rest!" Dawn quickly dismissed, waving her hands in front of her, the teen's voice cracking.
"Right…" Ash trailed off, skeptical. But he didn't linger. "You heard her, everyone!"
After a tiring but successful afternoon of training, the entire party returned to the pokemon center. With the sudden influx of trainers, the normal seating style was changed. Take-out boxes were available for those who wanted to eat in the privacy of their rooms, but for everyone else, the seating had been rearranged for maximum capacity, each table surrounded with as many chairs as they could sustain. A projector shone against the center's wall, putting on a showing of The Fast and the Fury Swipes. Quiet munching and chattering underscored screeching tires and special effects from the speakers hanging from the ceiling.
"Man, did you see that! Glameow Girl's leaving that guy in the dust!" Ash jeered, taking a large bite into a steamed bun. "If he keeps it up, she's gonna Slash his sorry-"
A young coordinator shushed the boisterous trainer, throwing him a dirty look.
Finally growing wary of his surroundings, Ash reached for the brim of his cap, only to grab at thin air. Lacking his usual means of escape, the trainer sank into his seat, his face a Tamato Berry red. "Sorry."
For Dawn, however, the movie was the last thing on her mind. Absently shoveling the curry-rice dish of the night into her mouth, she couldn't shake Clefairy's lackluster performance during training. Empoleon had led the group with enthusiasm, but Pachirisu and Absol weren't slacking either. Even Togekiss was showing promise with the technical machine move! But, it didn't even seem like Clefairy was interested in her combination.
"Maybe I should try something different," Dawn trailed off.
Ash, oblivious to Dawn's turmoil, nodded. "Yeah, the curry's a little spicy."
"The what?" Dawn blinked.
Ash looked up from where he was helping Rosa to drink from a glass. "That's what you meant, right? I think I saw some loaded potatoes back at the counter. That'd be a little easier on your stomach, I think!" Ash suggested.
~I want the potato, instead!~ Rosa whined, panting from the spices.
Pikachu, who had kept to the pokechow, merely cut his eyes at the puppy. He'd warned her that people food could get a little dicey.
Empoleon seemed to take this as a challenge as he promptly used his metallic flipper to shovel some of Dawn's curry into his mouth.
"Empoleon!" Dawn scolded. "Ugh!" Frustrated and certain she wouldn't be able to think right here, Dawn looked to Rosa. "You wanna go with me to go get something else?"
~Yup!~ the pup agreed before leaping into Dawn's awaiting arms.
As Dawn walked off, Ash chided Empoleon. "You should really ask before taking other people's food. That was kinda rude."
Meanwhile, Dawn flowed with the crowd back to the serving area… Only to spot a familiar face!
"Ciara!" she called out, giddily walking over. "I didn't expect to see you here!"
"Dawn!" The younger girl greeted. "How are you?"
"Mm…" the coordinator mumbled. "I could be doing better, I guess."
"Really? What's up?"
Lifting Rosa higher into her arms, Dawn explained her situation briefly. "I'm trying to get a pokemon ready for the Wallace Cup, but she doesn't seem crazy about the routine."
"Well, what does she want to do?" Ciara inquired.
"... Huh?"
The lavender haired coordinator gestured vaguely towards Dawn. "You said she didn't like what you suggested, right? So, that must mean she wants to do something else. What is it?"
"... I hadn't even asked. Most of the time, my team lets me lead…"
"That's usually how it works. My Ponyta's like that, though. He has a certain special interest and we always have to incorporate that into his appeals or he gets bored during the contest."
Dawn nodded. "Right. I'll ask her what she's interested in, then."
"I better see that it worked out in the contest!" Ciara teased. Her brave demeanor melted away with a sudden realization. "Oh no… I never called my parents! E-Excuse me, Dawn! I've gotta go…!"
The coordinator waved as her younger peer dashed off. "Hehe, poor Ciara…" Dawn turned to Rosa. "Well, let's get you that potato, huh?"
About this time, Ash was half considering eating Dawn's leftovers since it was clear that she wasn't going to touch it, but Empoleon's short bravado didn't last long enough to help him finish off the spicy dish. Just before the trainer broke down, Dawn returned with Rosa in tow.
"You only got one potato?" he asked, thinking back on the fumbled date. She wasn't trying to seem like a light eater in public again, was she?
"It's for Rosa," Dawn quickly explained. "Say, can you hold down the fort? I'm going to go do some training with Clefairy."
"Sure," Ash agreed. "We can stay here and munch for a while, can't we, gang?"
Empoleon, Pikachu, and Rosa all cheered in response.
Smiling and plucking out a certain pokeball from her bag, Dawn waved goodbye. "I'll see you guys tonight!"
By now, the sun had set. As Dawn made her way back to the little glen she and Ash had been training in earlier, she looked up into the sky. The clouds were covering up the moon, but its light still tried to shine through all the same.
At the edge of the meadow, Dawn stopped. "Clefairy, come on out."
With a click, a pop, and a beam of light, the pink fairy stepped onto the grassy turf beneath the canopy of trees. Looking up, she smiled at Dawn. "Cle!"
Dawn squatted down. "Hey… Today, when we were training, you didn't seem very happy. I got to talking with Ciara - you remember her, right? - and she said I should ask you what you want to do." Dawn held out her hand. "So, what do you want to do, Clefairy?"
Perking up significantly, the young pokemon gasped in joy. Then, she took to the air, fluttering around Dawn. She took the girl's hands, leading her into the clearing.
Then, Clefairy began making long, graceful arcs in the sky. Dawn watched quietly, letting her pokemon show her what made the fairy's heart soar. Soon, though, Dawn noticed the moonlight growing stronger; it wasn't just the clouds moving out of the way. Clefairy was using her own Moonlight attack!
"Beautiful," Dawn whispered.
Clefairy came down again, grabbing Dawn's hands. Catching onto what the small pokemon wanted, the coordinator began twirling with her in the pale light of the moon. Together, the two danced slowly and joyfully.
Soon, little bursts of spiraling, silver energy began raining down around them. They were Moonblast attacks! They were weaker, since Clefairy was distracted by dancing with her trainer, but thanks to the happiness the fairy was feeling right now, she felt like she could fire off so many of them at once!
The two broke apart their dance to watch the many miniature moons that Clefairy had created fall down to the meadow. The sound of them crashing into the grass and rocks was like a dozen bells being chimed all at once.
"I should have known," Dawn finally said after the magic ended. "You love the moon and stars. Of course you want to think of them when you get a chance to show yourself off to people, huh?"
Nodding, Clefairy was very glad Dawn understood her so well.
"We'll work on this to use it in the Wallace Cup, okay?"
"Clefairy!" the pokemon shouted before hugging her trainer.
