"Oh, huh, I think I battled that guy, once," Dragapult said, watching Ash's semi-final opponent take the field. "At Clubsplosion or something… his name's Dino, I think. I remember it because it sounds like a Dragon type!"

"You battled him?" Marshal repeated.

"Yeah?" Dragapult asked. "Why?"

Marshal looked at her for a moment, then shook his head. "Whatever."

"Oh, and look," Axew said, pointing. "That's a Dragon type, its a Druddigon!"

"So it is," Cilan agreed. "And Ash is sending out his Gigalith! Well, I suppose it's the first time he's used Gigalith this Conference."

"But he did use Boldore," Axew frowned. "And isn't she the same as Gigalith?"

"Yes, but also no," Cilan said. "It's like the difference between using wheat and using pasta!"

"All right, time to try this out!" Gigalith said. "Ready, Ash?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Let's go!"

He held up his wrist, his Mega Ring flared, and so did Gigalith's Mega Stone.

An orange and incandescent white glow flowed over her for several seconds, and when it faded she looked almost exactly the same except for the fact she was now made entirely out of a colourless gemstone – with only faint orange tints on what would normally have been her energy crystals.

"I like it," she decided, and began stomping forwards. "Power Gem!"

A flash of light built up inside her, reflecting around her facets, then shot out towards Druddigon. It condensed into a brilliant-cut diamond on the way, which beaned Druddigon on the forehead with a whang and knocked him back a pace.

"Stone Edge!" Ash said. "Use a strong stone and a weak one!"

"Got it!" his Pokémon replied, forming a wall as Druddigon charged. The Dragon-type smashed through the upper layer of the wall with ease using Iron Head, but tripped over the intact lower half, and Ash pointed.

"Great! Now use Sand Tomb!"

"Druddigon, Dig!" Dino ordered.

"I have a question," N began. "What exactly is the name of that Pokémon now?"

"What, you mean Mega Gigalith?" Clay asked, then frowned. "Hmm, I take your meaning."

"Because Mega and Giga are both international standard unit prefixes," N went on. "And, according to the normal rules of how you handle this sort of thing, you'd expect Mega of Giga to turn into Peta. So does that mean she's now Petalith, and if so, what would a Teralith be?"

"Teralith sounds better, actually," Clay said. "Because it's like terra, for earth, and lith for rock. But you're right, it's not the right order of magnitude."

"Well, the normal naming convention would be that you'd call the rock by the name of the Pokémon followed by ite,and the mega-evolved Pokémon Mega- and then the Pokémon," Lenora said. "Which means, by analogy, that this would be a Mega Gigalith thanks to a Gigalithite."

"Is nobody going to say anything about the fact Ash just used an entirely new Mega Stone?" Cheren asked.

"That is not abnormal at this point," Zygarde said. "During Ash's battle against Lance after the Silver Conference, he lent Lance a Dragoniteite which allowed Lance's Dragonite to evolve into Mega Dragonite. I do not recall if that loan was temporary or permanent."

"Dragoniteite," Clay sighed. "This is where we start thinking someone made the wrong decision around the naming conventions, right?"

"I worked out what a Teralith is!" Dwebble announced. "It's a Mega Gigalith that uses Minimize!"

Some time later in the Full Battle, Ash recalled Turtwig.

"You did great," he said, then looked at the referee. "Who picks first?"

"I think you pick at the same time, in this situation," the referee replied. "I've got to be honest, though, I didn't know a Turtwig could use Destiny Bond… or turn blue."

Ash shrugged, then took one of his Pokéballs off his belt.

"Are you sure?" Pikachu asked.

"I think it's a chance for her to get a turn," Ash replied. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Pikachu shrugged. "Just surprising you're using two Grass types in a row."

"I guess," Ash said, then the referee told them to send their Pokémon out and Bayleef emerged onto the arena floor.

Opposite her, Dino sent out a Galvantula.

"Rain Dance!" he called.

"Sunny Day!" Bayleef countered.

"Keep using Rain Dance!" Dino ordered. "I know what that Bayleef can do and I don't want to battle her in sunlight!"

"Arc, what are the rules for what counts as leaving the arena?" Ash asked, looking up at the rainclouds which roiled and seethed as Bayleef and Galvantula fought over them.

"The rules specify that leaving the arena's north-south and east-west boundaries counts as a ring out," Arc related.

"In that case… Bayleef, throw yourself into the air!" Ash called. "Maximum hug power, get above the clouds!"

"Solar self grapple!" Bayleef called, her vines whipping around her waist. "Orbital launch!"

There was a shoom as she exited the arena upwards.

"Was there a point to that?" the referee asked. "Because if she's not above ground and within the building for more than a minute, we're going to have to call it a time out. Same rules that stop a digging Pokémon from just hiding underground to force a draw."

"Got it," Ash replied. "Okay, uh… I think Bayleef took about a second to leave the arena…"

"I could give you the answer," Arc said.

"I know, but I'm not sure how much help counts as cheating," Ash said. "And this is… yeah, I think she should be back in less than a minute."

"Sticky Web, Galvantula," Dino decided. "Waterproof it, but if she's coming back down then let's make sure she's in a tricky sticky situation."

"Got it, boss," Galvantula agreed.

"At what point does it go from jumping to flying?" Archeops pondered. "And is flying different from levitating?"

"I'm not sure you can really draw a fine distinction," Dragonite replied. "Because otherwise what I did would count as either flying or levitating depending on how fast my wings are going, and that seems a bit silly."

"True," Archeops admitted. "And I don't think anyone would say that what Latias did wasn't flying. What about you, Emolga? Is what you do flying?"

"Sometimes," Emolga mused. "I think you could ask Skyla and Elesa, though?"

Bayleef landed with a whoom, a brilliant solar glow flowing around her, and everyone's attention turned back to the battle.

"Solar Storm!" the Grass-type announced, and her corona of sunlight lensed into an intense beam which hit Galvantula with a wham.

"Thunder Wave!" Dino called. "On yourself! Deflect that attack with a magnetic field!"

The spike of energy trembled, then Galvantula's Thunder Wave did what it was supposed to and the energy deflected away from his carapace.

Opposite him, however, Bayleef had evolved into Meganium.

"Main Sequence!" the newly-evolved Herb Pokémon said, and lit up all over again – this time with orange-opalescent Infinity Energy.

"What?" Cheren asked. "Oh, come on, really?"

The energy exploded away, and Ash's Grass-type was now shrouded in a continual swirl of petals and sparkling light. It looked like she and she alone was lit by direct sunlight, in fact, and she shot a flaming Weather Ball at Galvantula which forced the Bug-type to scuttle away.

"That's a violation!" N said. "Foul! Using two entirely new Mega Evolutions in the same battle means that Ash has to give his opponent a million Poké!"

Reshiram gave his trainer an odd look. "What rule is that?"

N raised a hoof, blinked, then looked faintly disturbed. "I… actually don't know," he admitted. "And not in the usual way where I can't remember the exact number… I'm not sure where that rule even comes from."

"I'm more interested in the fact that Bayleef entered the battle carrying a Meganiumite just in case she got the chance to evolve… into…" Lenora said, then sighed deeply. "Mega Meganium. Of course Ash did something ridiculous to names again."

With Dino good-naturedly conceding – and saying that he had no idea how Ash's team did half the things they did but it clearly worked – Ash's final opponent was Virgil.

"It's been a hard battle to get here, but I'm interested to see what happens," Virgil said. "And picking who to use has been a tricky challenge!"

"Yeah, I guess it would be," Ash agreed, thinking about it. "You've got eight Pokémon, plus any that aren't in the Eevee line, and you can only use six of them… I guess that's part of the challenge, right?"

Virgil nodded. "That's what I think too," he said. "Do you have any tips?"

Ash frowned, thinking.

"I guess… the most important thing is to enjoy the battle?" he said. "Whether that's enjoying how well you do, or enjoying the challenge… I know it might sound easy to say, but that really is what matters. Having fun is way more important than anything else, and while it's okay to be proud of winning…"

Ash shrugged. "I think you can be proud of what you've already done, I think."

"Right," Virgil agreed. "That's… a good way to think about it, thanks."

He picked up one of his Pokéballs. "Ready?"

Ash nodded, taking one of his own off his belt.

"Let's go, Eevee!" Virgil called, sending out his Eevee with a flash.

Ash threw the Pokéball he'd picked up, which bounced off the floor without activating. At the same moment, Arc followed it and materialized in the arena.

"…how long has he had that?" Lucy asked. "Is is me, or is that an Arceus? Because that looks like an Arceus."

"Well, knowing Ash, it could be a Zorua," Brock replied. "Or Zacian, Ditto, Mew, Noctowl, Latias, Latios, Ninetales, Dragonite or Pikachu, or something I didn't think of. But he does have an Arceus, yes… they're his cell phone."

"I used to think I understood humans," Lucy's Seviper grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry, you can understand humans without understanding Ash," Vulpix said, flicking a tail. "I think he's an honorary natural disaster at this point anyway."

"Natural disaster?" Brock repeated. "Are you sure he'd be a natural disaster?"

"If you're telling me Ash is artificial, there might be someone to complain to," Vulpix replied. "But if anyone's going to take the blame it's Mew, and she's about the same age as the universe so if you're blaming her you're blaming her for everything anyway and the whole concept of natural falls down."

"Get your plate collection ready, Arc!" Ash called, as Virgil's Eevee finished eating a curried rice ball and the Gigantamix boosted the Normal-type to colossal size.

"Actually, I'd quite like to try something else for now, if that's okay?" Arc replied.

"Sure!" Ash agreed.

"Foresight," the lowercase alpha Pokémon declared, and recalled xemself with a flash.

Ash's Leavanny came out of her Pokéball instead, and looked up at the enormous Eevee before tapping her chin with her blade. "Hmm, this could be an interesting one."

Then a bolt of lightning struck her from a clear sky, and she lit up with brilliant golden light.

"Use String Shot to make anchors on the roof!" Ash said. "Then use them to stay manoeuvrable!"

"Right!" Leavanny agreed, and yanked herself into the air before flinging a Sacred Sword attack at Eevee.

The giant Pokémon retaliated with a Tail Whip, which was much more dangerous than normal because of the sheer size of the tail being wagged.

"What even is that?" Burgh asked. "I don't mean the giant Eevee, that's obviously Gigantamax even if I have no idea how it's achieved. I mean the glowing golden thing."

"I am fairly sure that it is the equivalent of what happens when a Noble Pokémon is enraged, only without the rage," Zygarde stated.

Cilan looked pensive, then sniffed the air.

"Ah!" he said, authoritatively. "I have it! Can you smell that in the air?"

The assembled Gym Leaders and Elite Four members responded with variations on the theme of shrug.

"She's entered Sage Mode!" Cilan explained.

"I'm not entirely sure why, but I want to hit you now," Shauntal admitted.

"Have a rest, now, Phanpy," Ash said, later, recalling his Ground type. "Now, who to… right, I promised. Aten, you go!"

Aten materialized, in the black-furred disguise of a conventional Zorua, and began laughing.

"At last!" he said, looking at the Leafeon enclosed in a garden of artificial pollens and powders. "I've got a chance to finally fulfil the dream I chased my whole life!"

Pikachu coughed, raising a paw. "Which whole life?"

Aten growled. "Cease," he instructed. "Either speaking, or just in general."

"It's a fair question, but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to," Ash told Aten diplomatically. "Is fulfilling your dream something that will help you in battle, or is it just that you don't like Leafeon much?"

"I have no particular quarrel with Leafeon," Aten said, his tone back down to simmer. "But achieving my aforementioned dream will certainly help me in battle."

"And do you want help from Cresselia?" Ash went on. "She's still developing her oneiromancy skills, last I heard, but she can probably help you with-"

"No," Aten declared. "While your solicitousness is, rrf… appreciated… I am merely attempting to savour a triumph, not-"

"Excuse me, Mr. Ketchum," the referee said. "But is there going to be a problem with resuming the battle?"

"Aten wants to say something before the battle begins," Ash explained. "It's not strictly necessary but it's important to him, so I want to give him a chance."

He nodded to the Pokémon. "Do you want to keep going?"

"Of course," Aten stated. "As I was saying, I want to savour a justly-achieved triumph. I have developed my Illusion skills, and learned a move from Noctowl, so that I can finally do what was my lifelong royal goal!"

He took three steps forwards, then jumped into the air and shapeshifted.

"Behold!" he called. "I have finally become the Storm's End, the Rainbow Manifest, the Guardian of the Skies! I am Ho-Oh!"

Ash coughed.

"Um…" he began. "I think what you've done is great, but – did you get this from Zorua?"

"Of course!" Aten replied, whirling. "Who else could teach me how to use Illusion better? Except you sometimes, but not most of the time."

"Well, I think you might have got your lines crossed a bit," Ash explained, rummaging in his pocket. "Here."

He held up a mirror, and Aten looked in it.

"...I've turned into a Giratina?" he said.

"No, sorry," Ash replied, turning the mirror back to himself. "Sorry, Giratina, I want to use this as a mirror at the moment."

Giratina rumbled an apology, and Ash turned the mirror again.

Aten stared for several seconds.

"Why am I a Lugia?" he inquired, in a deceptively calm voice.

"Well, that's what I'm wondering!" Ash admitted. "Maybe it's because you're normally a whiter version of a Zorua? Or because you're Hisuian? But I think we'd need to ask Mew about this later."

"All right, that's long enough," the referee decided. "Begin!"

"I'm not sure what's going to work best here, but start with Magical Leaf!" Virgil ordered.

Aten whirled again, his white wings hammering the air, and used Mystical Fire. The Magical Leaves exploded into flame with a multicoloured whoosh a bit like a fireworks display, full of sparkles and flame trails, and the disguised Zorua grumbled something about how this was a lot prettier than he'd been hoping for.

"Now, that's a surprising move," Drayden said.

"Compared to what?" Marlon asked. "Earlier in this battle Ash sent out a shiny version of the creator."

"Good point," Drayden allowed. "But I mean sending out a Dragonite against a Glaceon."

"Oh, hang on, I think I know what's going on," Flapple said, hovering a little closer. "That's not just any Dragonite, that's Dragonite."

"Is there a difference?" Roxie asked. "I can't tell, I'm not sure if it's the translation or something else but I just can't tell the difference between what you said there the first and second times."

"Well, most of the Dragonite know a few punch moves," Flapple said. "But that one…"

On the battlefield, Virgil called on his Glaceon to use Blizzard, and a rush of Ice mixed with a strong wind went blasting towards Dragonite.

The Dragon-type adjusted her stance slightly, then used Ice Punch, and the Blizzard careened off to bounce against the floor and fly out through the open top of the arena roof.

"...can do that," Flapple finished. "She says that if you know Ice Punch, you can punch ice with it, because that's how words work."

"Hail, Glaceon!" Virgil instructed. "Make the Hail as strong as you can, and use Quick Attack to close in – but don't let that Dragonite catch you out!"

"Ahh, I see," Brycen said. "This Virgil boy's part of a rescue team, isn't he? So I suppose his Glaceon would be his expert in working in stormy conditions."

"Well, Ash," Virgil said, once the battle was finally over. "That was… really good."

He chuckled. "And, uh… I guess what I wanted to say was that I really want to be as much like you as possible, as I mature as a trainer? It sounds funny to say it like that, but you seem to be able to be both a skilled trainer and just plain nice."

"Aten complains about that sometimes," Ash replied. "And thanks! It's great to know."

"And good luck in that second tournament thing they're doing," Pikachu said, glancing at Ash to relay it. "And, you know, just generally…"

"Just so we're clear," Drayden began, as the eight-trainer elimination round began to choose the other person who'd get to challenge the League. "Iris, you do realize that you can just ask to spectate from here, right?"

Jangmo-o froze, then blinked. "Pardon?"

"I do actually know what your team is," the Icirrus Gym Leader explained. "And, for future reference, if you want to impersonate a Dragon-type it helps to choose just one Dragon type and stick to it."

"That's what I was missing," Iris admitted.

"Wait, what?" Cheren asked. "Isn't Iris a trainer? How can a trainer be a Pokémon?"

"I can think of a few ways," N said. "One of them being the intervention of literal magic, another being that Pokémon League rule 56 allows Zorua and Zoroark to be trainers-"

"I think that's actually rule 65," Caitlin interrupted. "Rule 56 is that rule 55 is null and void."

"-right – and then there's other ways, but Iris is using both of the first two," N concluded.

"Hold on, what's rule 55?" Archeops checked. "I can't be the only one who's curious."

"It put an age limit on competing Pokémon," Caitlin supplied. "Which lasted until the first trainer to show up with a Fossil Pokémon, which was the next day."

"Ghosts would have been an acceptable counterexample as well," Shauntal said.

"You realize we've got trouble, right?" Marshal said. "Now we've got to face Ash and whichever one of those trainers who Ash beat is the strongest, unless that kid Virgil beat in the semi-finals is stronger."

AN:

SI prefixes can be a mega killer. Sorry, they can be a giga.