"So I had an idea," Clemont said, as they left Santalune – heading back roughly the way they'd come, to Lumiose, as the quickest route to get to Cyllage City. "You know that sticky stuff that Viola used? Well, I thought it might be a good training help if I made a Clemontic Gear that replicates that exact kind of sticky web!"

"A Clemontic what?" Serena asked. "I've never heard of those."

"Oh, it's a term I came up with myself." Clemont explained. "You see, gear is equipment, and I make machines to help me solve all sorts of problems. But because they might end up too big to carry, I remind myself that they have to be gear – something that a person can carry around. And they're Clemontic because I'm Clemont and I've made them."

"Your speciality is pretty cool," Ash told Clemont. "I've travelled with a professional chef before, but not with someone who makes machines to help them train Pokémon!"

"Well, yeah," Clemont said. "It's usually quite good, up until the Gear goes wrong and explodes…"

"They don't always explode!" Bonnie reminded him, helpfully. "Sometimes they catch fire! And that potato peeler works great!"

"It was supposed to water the plants, but I guess that is right," Clemont admitted. "Anyway, I thought that if I made one of those then it'd be a good way for our Pokémon to practice – like your Fennekin, Serena. She can get experience at hitting moving targets without needing it to be an actual Pokémon being the moving target."

"That does sound helpful!" Ash said. "I was just going to use the GS Ball, but there's only one of that and so only one Pokémon can train with it at a time. Two if you design the training right."

"What's one of those?" Fennekin asked.

"Long story," Pikachu replied. "Probably long, anyway, I don't think I timed myself last time I explained it. But the short version is, invulnerable Pokéball."

"Huh," Fennekin said, nose twitching. "That sounds unlikely."

"Tell me about it."

"I was thinking about working with Fletchling on Ember," Ash said. "Getting it to the point he's got a good versatile move, anyway… hey, is it me or is the ground shaking slightly."

"It is not you," Zygarde replied. "Conducting seismic triangulation. The ground shaking is low magnitude, local, and probably caused by a herd of Rhyhorn."

"Uh oh," Clemont said, grabbing for Bonnie. "Let's get out of the way!"

They all dodged to the side, and about ten seconds later a half-dozen Rhyhorn went thundering past – all with riders.

"Oh, that explains it," Serena realized. "This must be a Rhyhorn racing path!"

"That's right," an Officer Jenny said, driving up behind the Rhyhorn. "You kids should have noticed the signs when you joined the route."

"I'm… actually not sure how we ended up on this route?" Clemont volunteered. "We were going cross-country, I think Ash took us that way?"

"I checked Arc's map," Ash said. "It definitely said there was a route going this way… or at least I think it did?"

"My routing information is compiled based on all available data," Arc stated. "Rhyhorns do not carry satellite navigation transponders."

"Rhyhorn racing meetings usually say when their days of operation and routings are on their websites," Serena volunteered.

"Thank you," Arc replied. "Updating information."

As Serena shook her head, saying something about how weird it was to be talking to a polite phone, Bonnie raised her hand. "Can we have a go?"

"Based on the web site, the stable allows beginners to take part in certain races," Arc provided.

"That sounds interesting," Ash said. "We should go!"


At the stable, Serena began by explaining how to approach a Rhyhorn.

"It's about respect," she said. "I've always been a bit nervous around them because they're so big, but…"

"Well, excuse me," one of the males harrumphed. "I'll have you know I'm quite svelte!"

"For a Rhyhorn," another Rhyhorn pointed out. "She's a human, she can't help having a different sense of scale. And durability."

"But it's important for a rider to get an idea of how a Rhyhorn sees things, right?" Ash asked. "So it wouldn't make any sense for a rider to think a Rhyhorn could turn as easily as a human, because Rhyhorn have four legs that are front to back… actually, what running pattern do Rhyhorn use?"

"That is an oddly specific question," the first Rhyhorn admitted. "You can understand us, right?"

Ash nodded. "See, I was thinking about whether your walking pattern and your running pattern are different. With some Pokémon they're the same sort of thing, just faster, but for example if you're used to walking left-left-right-right with how you move your legs then it puts a bit more twist into your jumps at high speed than if you use left-right-left-right as your normal movement pattern. And if you're trying to stay airborne for long jumps, then you want to push off with both back legs."

He frowned. "Though I guess it's different to smaller Pokémon with more lithe strength? I know that running at full speed on all fours is something I had to get used to, it's kind of a series of long jumps-"

"Wait, wait, hold on," Serena requested. "What? Running on all fours?"

"I wondered about that!" Fennekin added. "Because Ash sounded very knowledgeable about the whole thing, but when he said that last bit I wondered if I'd mis-heard."

"Yeah, there's this magic potion I first got in Johto," Ash said. "It turns me into an Absol, and-"

"Magic?" Serena repeated. "Magic is a thing that actually exists? I mean, not as a thing some Pokémon can do with psychic powers, but, actual magic?"

"Ash gets his supply of potion from a witch," Pikachu told her. "Either directly or through Mew, I think Mew usually handles it now because Mew can be all Pokémon and that sorts out the ingredients-"

"Magic is a thing humans can learn to do?" Serena double-checked. "Why did nobody tell me this was a career choice?"

One of the Rhyhorn nudged another. "Do you think they still remember we're here?"

"Probably not," the nudgee replied.


The next day, Ash patted the Rhyhorn he was riding as they waited for the race to start.

"Let's do our best, okay?" he said. "Tell me if I'm doing something wrong… and if you're tired, we can probably swap for a bit."

"I've already been registered as someone else's Pokémon," the Rhyhorn told him. "It's to stop poachers."

"No, I mean, just carrying you," Ash explained. "It's worth a try and it's only fair!"

"...not sure how that would work, but whatever," Rhyhorn said. "Just hold on tight and listen to what I say, I guess."


Meanwhile, Serena was looking at her phone.

"Are you sure about this?" Lily asked. "Because it's sort of a… long term process, learning how to do magic."

"I get that," Serena agreed. "And – well, honestly, I don't know if I'm going to finish learning, it depends on a lot of things. But I'd like to give it a go, and see how it works for me, if that makes sense."

Lily nodded. "Okay, so let's go through the basics," she said. "The first thing you're going to need is a Pokémon familiar. That's like having a companion Pokémon, but it's a little bit closer of a connection than normal, and it helps a lot if they're a Pokémon associated with magic. Magic is a bit like that, it likes things to be symbolic."

"Ooh, can I?" Fennekin asked.

Serena picked up Fennekin, holding her up so the camera showed her. "I've got a Fennekin?" she asked. "Will she work?"

"That's actually a really good start," Lily agreed. "And obviously since you're around Ash you've got access to the ability to translate, which is good too, but… really, one thing you might want is to try and learn how to understand Fennekin without help. At the same time as Fennekin learns how to speak so anyone can understand her."

She looked expectant. "Can you guess why? It's okay if you can't."

"Huh…" Serena said, frowning hard. "So… you said I needed a familiar, which is a Pokémon with a closer connection. And that's not just a one way thing, is it?"

"Well done!" Lily said. "Yes, that's right. My Murkrow and I are close because we both spent time learning to be more like the other. Obviously when you speak to Fennekin she already understands you, so you work on slightly different things, but it's working like that which matters."

The witch winked. "I think that should be enough to be getting on with! But check in every few days to see how well you're doing, okay?"

Serena nodded. "Thanks!"

She ended the call, then looked up at Bonnie's shout. "They're starting, look!"

The green flag waved, and several Rhyhorn set off – Ash's one among them.


At about the same time, in a clearing, a Rhyhorn shook his head.

"No," he said. "This isn't going to work."

Groudon rumbled in disappointment.

"We take human riders," the Rhyhorn representative said. "They're usually about the same weight as one another, and, not to be disrespectful to a Legendary Pokémon, you're enormous."

"Well, we could have everyone who's light enough get on a Rhyhorn, and have a race that way?" a figure in a trenchcoat asked. "And then it'd be completely fair because nobody would be getting any kind of unfair benefit!"

Victini sniggered underneath the trenchcoat.

"Shut up!" Darkrai demanded. "They'll hear you and that'll spoil our dastardly plan!"


"How's that working out?" Ash asked.

"Well, first off, I'm very impressed you managed to teach me a move at all in the middle of the race," Rhyhorn replied. "Especially this one."

"It's a speciality of mine!" Ash answered. "Watch out for the corner coming up!"

Rhyhorn slowed a little, taking the corner without sliding off the course, then went boing into a line of Wynaut and a Wobbuffett. All his momentum was absorbed in one go, then the Wynaut sprang back, and Rhyhorn bounced backwards before coming to a halt.

"Aha!" Jessie laughed. "Got you!"

She struck a pose, sliding down on a rappelling line. "Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!" James agreed, holding onto a vine.

"To give sanity a small reprieve!" Jessie said, waving an Ekans menacingly.

"To defend the honour of every thief!" James announced, Yamask at the ready.

Jessie frowned, then shook her head and returned her focus to Ash. "To denounce whatever it is you're trying!"

"To extend- no seriously, why are you flying?" James demanded.

Ash looked down. "It's what I taught Rhyhorn?"

Jessie's eye twitched. "James!"

"And Jess- wait, what?" James stumbled.

"Team Rocket giving their all, even if we'll fail!"

"Our efforts may be doomed, but at least we have style."

"Meowth!" Meowth said, leaning out of an invisible door in the air. "At least we tried!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash gasped. "What are you doing here!"

"We're-" James began, then stopped and looked a little puzzled. "Actually, hold on, I think we need to check something."

He leaned over towards Jessie, and the two began having an urgent, whispered conversation – one joined a moment later by Meowth.

"Do you know them?" Rhyhorn asked.

"Yeah, we meet up every so often," Ash replied.

"Yep, I tink so," Meowth said, loud enough to be heard. "Okay, dat's settled!"

James turned back to Ash again. "We're… actually here to steal your Pikachu? It's been ages, I had to double-check that that was an option."

"You won't steal Pikachu!" Ash said. "Not just because I'll stop you, but also because he's not actually racing with me!"

"...what?" James asked, baffled. "You mean that shock rat isn't with you? How long has it been since that happened?"

"A while?" Ash guessed vaguely. "But it's because, this is a race, and I don't want Rhyhorn to get weighed down too much. It might have made it harder for him to fly at full speed. So the only Pokémon I brought along are the ones that don't weigh anything."

"Then we'll have to steal those!" Meowth decided. "An' dat flyin' Rhyhorn, too!"

"That's right!" Jessie agreed. "Wynaut! Swarm him!"

"Aten, Frustration!" Ash said, pointing, and a blur of pent-up violence rocketed out of his backpack to exploit the Wynauts' lack of non-Counter responses to Frustration. "Giratiny, Ominous Windsurf, deal with the Poison-types! Then meet me at the finish line!"

He slipped off Rhyhorn's back and grabbed hold of the Pokémon's foot. "Agility!"

"I don't know that-" Rhyhorn began, then his voice dopplered off into the distance as he found out that Ash hadn't meant that as an instruction.

Jessie, James and Meowth watched the vanishing Rhyhorn.

"Well, this has gone better than I expected," James admitted. "We haven't even blasted off!"

"We might even be able to get out of this with dignity," Jessie agreed.

Aten coughed.

All three members of Team Rocket looked down at the little Ghost-type.

"He says, um… Dynamax Fling?" Meowth translated. "What does dat mean?"

"It means we're blasting off again," James guessed.

This turned out to be a good guess.


AN:


As sometimes happens, I got help with the motto for this one.