"Okay, I think that's going to have to go in the notebook," Clemont decided, once the dust settled. "Clemontic Gear results book… here we go."

He flicked through to the section on the Fire Control Gear, then paused. "Hmm. Do you think this counts as a success or a failure?"

"Success or failure?" Serena repeated. "I'm covered in powderized seed dust!"

"So am I," Fennekin said. "So are Bonnie and Dedenne and Clemont and Bunnelby."

She held in a sneeze. "And I don't want to get hayfever from this, because if I do then the hayfever's going to turn into a bad case of a small explosion."

"I said I was sorry," Chespin mumbled, shuffling her paws. "I just wanted to get this new move right, and I got over excited."

"Ah, but was Chespin aiming for everyone?" Clemont asked. "You see, if she was aiming for someone in particular, and she hit, then the Clemontic Gear would be working just fine. But since it plastered the whole area…"

Chespin shook her head, then pointed in all directions.

"You were aiming for everyone?" Clemont double-checked. "I'd like to know why, but we'll have to wait until Ash has finished doing his exercise practice with Zorua."

"I already miss Ninetales," Bonnie said. "But I guess she's got a girlfriend so it'd be rude to make her stay with us all the time!"

"I'm working on the Translation Gear, when I get a chance," Clemont replied. "But, hmm. So if Chespin was aiming for everyone with Worry Seed, and she got everyone, at least that means the Gear was working as it's supposed to. So that's a success!"

"I'll just have to get changed later," Serena decided, with a sigh. "At least Chespin's got a new attack working?"

Then Ash came hurrying over with a Noibat on his arm.

"Hey, guys!" he said. "This Noibat just told me something kind of scary's going on at the local observatory… it's where she lives, and normally it's quiet during the day because, uh, it's the day? But now there's something weird going on there, and she got scared…"

"An observatory?" Bonnie repeated. "Oh, that's one of those places you go to look at the stars, right?"

"And planets," Clemont agreed. "But because the sky's blue during the day, most stars can't be seen. They're not bright enough, so the sky is brighter than they are."

"Wow," Bonnie said. "Hmm… oh! Zygarde, can you see stars even in the day?"

"The answer to that is quite complicated," Zygarde informed her. "I cannot see dim stars during the day, but by activating sufficiently broadly spaced nodes I can see from parts of the planet where it is not day. In the past I have used this to perform Very Long Baseline Observation."

They stretched, and yawned. "I prefer to observe the sun, because it is warm."

Bonnie smiled brightly.

"I didn't understand that, but I bet it was nice to hear!" she said. "Ash, what did Zygarde say?"

On the way to the observatory – a radio observatory, not the sort with a visible light telescope – Ash chatted with Noibat while Clemont worked on his Super Translation Erudition Gear Name Not Final.

"Aha!" he said. "Did Noibat just say… a plate of chips with cheese and gravy?"

"No, she was talking about the way the dishes turn around," Ash replied.

"Hmm," Clemont said, frowning. "Maybe I've got the localization settings wrong…"

As he kept fiddling with it, they reached the observatory front gate itself.

"Is anyone here?" Ash asked, raising his voice.

There was no reply, but Bonnie pointed. "Look – that's the kind of bike Officer Jennies use!"

"Then Officer Jenny must be here already," Serena said. "Let's go and help her out!"

Inside the main observatory building, they found a cloaked figure and a silent Malamar hovering behind her.

"Malamar," Ibid supplied. "The Overturning Pokémon. An endless number of people are said to use Malamar for their nefarious deeds."

"That's them!" the Noibat piped, fluttering off Ash's arm, then Malamar shone a white light at the group.

Noibat went silent and drifted forwards, and the cloaked figure beckoned. "Come here. Your help is needed."

"Yes," Chespin agreed, walking forwards.

"Huh?" Clemont asked. "What's going on? Chespin, what are you doing?"

"Are you okay?" Ash asked.

"This is ridiculous," Malamar said, his words echoed by the cloaked figure. "I told Noibat to bring me people who could be hypnotized. Why are you not hypnotized?"

"You told her to bring you people?" Ash repeated. "Then you must have trapped her into doing something! Come on out, everyone!"

Ash's team emerged in flashes of light, and Malamar's bright light got brighter.

There was still no effect.

"I demand you explain," Malamar seethed.

"I had an accident with Worry Seed," Chespin said, dully. "That showered Serena, Fennekin, Clemont, Bunnelby, Bonnie and Dedenne in Worry Seed fragments."

Serena quietly said something about how accident was the wrong word.

"That does not explain anything," the Dark-and-Psychic-type protested.

"Sure it does!" Ash replied. "See, Worry Seed stops you from falling asleep, like from moves like Hypnosis. And so if you're using Hypnosis, then it didn't work on them because of the Worry Seed."

He waved. "And, uh, let's see… Zygarde isn't affected because their consciousness is really spread out and also they're an expert at resisting mind control at this point. And I know it's confusing, but my little Moltres is actually a shiny Galarian one, so he's Dark-type not Fire-type."

Ash patted the flank of the big Solgaleo next to him. "And this is Zorua, so another Dark-type, while over there is Yveltal who's Dark-type again."

"That has not even explained half of the Pokémon you have with you," Malamar said.

"Sure!" Ash replied, happy to keep explaining. "So, Ibid's a Ditto and he Transformed into you while explaining what you were, so he's Dark type right now. Then Noctowl's got Insomnia, so he can't be hypnotized anyway, like the Worry Seed stuff we were talking about. And Croagunk…"

Ash looked down at Croagunk. "I'm not really sure. I guess he dodged?"

"How. Do you dodge. Hypnosis?" Malamar seethed.

"Once, there was a maiden," Croagunk replied.

"And Arc… oh, yeah, there we are," Ash said, holding up his phone. "Arc is in Dark Mode."

Malamar twitched slightly.

"What about your Pikachu, then?" the Overturning Pokémon demanded. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm actually an Absol right now, so Dark type again and hypnosis doesn't work," Ash said, helpfully. In case Malamar had forgotten or something. "And Pikachu's just really strong willed."

Malamar looked like he might be about to explode, but then part of the roof caved in first. A long strip of it, breaking in with a crash, and a coughing sound came from outside.

"Sorry!" shouted a voice. "I didn't really think that landing through!"

Then a Salamence head came through the opening.

"Finally!" Malamar said, shining his light on Salamence. "Destroy these interlopers!"

"What?" the Salamence replied. "No way! Hey, Ash, nice to see you!"

Bonnie gasped. "Dragonizer! You know Ash too?"

There was a flash as one of Iris' Pokéballs opened, and a Hydreigon came out.

"We consider this one to be quite acceptable," they said.

"Oh, this is just ridiculous," Malamar groaned.

Once the combined forces of Ash's team, most of Clemont's team, Serena's Fennekin, Iris, a Hydreigon made up of Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem, and a Pangoro who'd been bamboozled into work with Malamar (until Ash pointed out that Dark types couldn't be hypnotized) had dealt with the half-dozen Pokémon Malamar had actually gained control of, and after Malamar had managed to escape after destroying what was probably the setup for an evil plan, it turned out that the cloaked woman had actually been Officer Jenny and that Malamar had controlled her.

That sorted out, for a given definition of sorted out, the friends continued on their way.

"You know, I'm not sure if this would have been easier or harder if Lokoko had been here," Pikachu said. "She's very good at hypnosis, but she's not actually flat immune like just about everyone is."

"That's a good point," Ash replied, frowning. "But if her girlfriend was here, it'd have been easier to tell if there was trouble."

"You're literally an Absol right now," Pikachu reminded Ash. "Didn't you pick up that something was wrong?"

"Kind of, but it wasn't much different from normal," Ash answered. "I guess because just about everyone was immune, and I'm not always great at working out the difference between not-a-problem and problem-but-easy."

"True, I can see that being an issue," Pikachu admitted. "So, who's rotating in next?"

"Not sure," Ash replied. "I guess Froakie and Fletchling, they've still got some training to do… maybe I should get Clefairy as well?"

"It's so strange watching you talk to Pikachu like that, now," Clemont told Ash. "After having Lokoko around it really makes me notice when she isn't – the convenience is breathtaking and you only notice when it's not happening any more!"

He considered. "I could work on the translator more… or I could work on that unhypnotizer design I just thought of. That might help more."

The next morning, they came across the Battle Chateau.

"Oh, I've heard about this," Serena said. "It's a battle arena where you gain noble ranks by battling there, so, if you win your debut battle you achieve a rank."

She frowned. "I think the first one is baron or baroness?"

"That sounds interesting," Ash said. "I'm always up for a battle!"

"So am I," Pikachu agreed. "Do you know what's needed to enter?"

"Not really," Serena admitted. "I read about it, but I didn't really focus on it…"

She chuckled. "I, uh, I guess I thought I'd read more if trying to rise in the ranks was what I ended up doing."

"Then let's go and ask!" Ash suggested.

He went up to the entrance, but before he'd actually knocked a monocled man in a suit came out to greet them.

"Ah, sire!" the man said. "I am Duke Turner, and I bid you and your companions welcome to the Battle Chateau!"

"Sire?" Ash repeated. "Huh. Normally only the Ryuunited Kingdom calls me that."

"That would be because we have heard of your achievements, sire," Duke Turner said. "There was a conference on the matter last year, and I am delighted to be able to award you the honorary rank of Dauphin."

"Dauphin?" Clefairy repeated. "Mais c'est pas censé être l'héritier du trône?"

"Well, of course it is," Duke Turner replied. "As I say, there was a conference on the matter, and we decided that we would be restricting Ash Ketchum from competing in the Battle Chateau in the politest way possible. And since the highest position of normal rank is the Grand Duke, why, we needed something that ranked the Grand Duke."

Lokoko tried not to laugh.

"It seems your reputation has proceeded you," she said.

"Aw, that's kind of a pity," Ash said. "I was looking forward to a battle… wait, though, it's just me, right? So one of the other trainers could enter, and gain ranks?"

"Of course, sire," Duke Turner agreed.

"Then let's get that sorted out!" Ash decided.

"This feels wrong, somehow," Duke Turner said, as the debut battle began.

"Si vous le connaissiez, vous sauriez qu'il trouverait une embrouille," Clefairy shrugged.

"Pikapi, Kachu-ka!" Pikachu called, and Ashbsol flicked a Secret Sword attack at his opponent. The Fletchinder he was battling dodged out of the way, and Pikachu considered briefly.

"Pi!" he said, sharply, prompting Ashbsol to jump into the air.

"Oh, that's Razor Wind, I think," Serena said. "I hope Fennekin and I understand one another that well one day."

"So, what we're going to be working with today is making your flames hotter," Ash said.

"Is that something I need to work on now?" Fletchling asked. "I get the idea, sure, but I'm going to evolve at some point and I'll actually be a Fire-type then. So that will make my flames stronger automatically."

"Sure it will!" Ash agreed. "Which is exactly why it's a good idea to make your flames as good as possible now – that way, when you evolve and they get stronger, you'll already be really strong so you'll get really a lot stronger!"

"I can't argue with that," Fletchling said. "All right, then, I'll try to become stronger!"

"And you've got an advantage, too," Ash told him. "See, you're a Flying type, and you're a member of the Talonflame line, and they're really good at using really fast Flying attacks… and that means you can fan your own flames, and you can also use those fast Flying attacks to adjust your own fire and shape it. So to make your flames better we're going to start by teaching you Gust."

He sent out Pidgey.

"Let's show Fletchling what we mean," Ash invited. "Ready?"

Pidgey chirped, beating her wings, and swirled up a Gust.

"Look closely at what I'm doing," she said, sustaining it with steady wingbeats. "I'm feeding in more air, and I'm keeping it steady by feeding in the air so that it compensates for how much energy it's losing. If I want a stronger Gust, or a larger one, I just need to adjust how I push the air in."

Fletchling tilted his head, then rose off the ground in a whirr of wings.

"I think I get it," he said. "So I need to flap my wings like this?"

He tried, and went over backwards.

"Not quite," Pidgey said, letting her Gust die down. "Hmm. Hold on, your wing structure is different to mine… maybe it'll help if I give you more examples? Ash, let's do it!"

"Got it, Pidgey!" Ash confirmed. "Let's Pidgeyvolve!"

"Why are you filming Ash doing training?" Bonnie asked, as Serena adjusted her camera.

"I was going to enter for Pokévision," Serena explained. "And I was going to do something with Fennekin, but then I decided that I could do that any time but filming Ash doing training might get more views."

"Hmm," Bonnie frowned. "Isn't it a bit rude to film someone without asking?"

"I did think about that," Serena said. "And talked about it with Fennekin, but… what I'm going to do is, ask Ash after filming and before putting it on the website. That way Ash and his Pokémon aren't too busy performing, they're getting on with what they're doing, and I can check the permission anyway."

"Oh, I get it!" Bonnie realized. "Do you think it's going to be a good video?"

They watched as Fletchling got a bit too enthusiastic and turned his nascent Gust into a fire tornado, until Pidgeotto turned into Pidgeot and hit the whole training area with an Avalanche Crusher.

"I think it'll be great, but they might ding me for using special effects," Serena sighed.

Fennekin giggled.

AN:

It's a very hot couple of days here.

Also, Serena is basically doing the equivalent of making something like Ryan vs Dorkman by just filming a friend exercising.