Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 57: The Revealing Aftermath

Norman took a sip of the terrible police station coffee as he walked through the door, hiding his grimace at the poor taste. It had to be deliberate, he decided, but it wasn't something he was going to say in a room that felt hostile.

Which was new. Norman had worked together with the police on plenty of occasions as a Gym Leader, for all sorts of reasons. He could understand part of the why: it had been less than two hours ago that the First Minister had pretty much declared his son a traitor to the region. Still, sins of the son shouldn't reflect on the father, if he were to adapt the phrase. Not even when said son was not yet an adult.

Of course, that all had gone out the window with Sidney's revelations from a month back.

He was glad he had placed a call to his lawyer before going here, finding her already present before he had arrived. "They're not happy I'm here, Norman," she said by way of greeting, souring his mood further. "Need to speak carefully, or they'll call a full interrogation."

"Is that legal?"

The wobble of her hands was a clear enough sign that it could be, but before Sarah could expound, the door opened once again. Five officers, including the local chief – albeit a temporary replacement after the previous one had suffered a heart attack a month or so back – came in. He and one other were unfamiliar, the rest Norman had met before, albeit briefly for one of them. Three sat down, two took up position in the far corners of the room. "Gym Leader Norman Maple," the chief started, leaning forward, hands folded, covering a small goatee. "Tell me. When did you last hear from your son?"

No time wasted. He shared a look with his lawyer. The police would pick up on it, but that was the point. "Probably…" Norman had to think, because it had been a while. A long while. And that rang several alarm bells all at once. "Mid-June?"

"And what did you talk about?"

"He wrote about Johto and getting several badges. A tournament he'd been in. That's most of it."

"And the rest?"

"Is that relevant?"

"It is when we say it is," the one to the left of the chief said, the other unfamiliar face. He looked the youngest, being the only one without any grey hair visible. His scowl was full of loathing, Norman felt. "Answer the question."

Scribbles on a legal notepad filled the silence as Norman thought about how to share the rest. "He told my wife and I that he missed us, and that he hoped we could see each other again soon. Perfectly normal, no?"

"And did you see him?"

"Only on television and the internet, watching him in Johto's League." He bit down on the instinct to snark about the pictures in their living room.

"Is going without contact for that long normal?"

"No."

One of the familiar officers cleared her throat, though her name eluded Norman until she spoke: Officer Ida's Saffron accent was instantly recognisable from the times they had spoken on the phone. "Is Max likely influenced by people?" she asked.

It was a hard question to answer, both to quantify and to formulate the answer in such a way that it was true and not incriminating. "There are only a few people who could, and I don't think they're likely to desire chaos and death in Hoenn."

"Such as?"

"Some of his teen friends. Professors Birch and Oak. Frontier Brain Ash Ketchum, Gym Leaders Brock and Misty of Kanto, maybe the Grand Champions. Myself and my wife," Norman finished. "And while I'm aware there's an outstanding warrant for Ketchum, I am also aware that he was involved with stopping the rampage of kyogre and groudon."

"Do you have proof of this?"

"I asked Glacia to confirm it for me. She answered in the affirmative." The Gym Leader resisted the urge to sit back and fold his arms as if to dare them to try and ask her. Glacia was on the side of the debate that favoured more restrictions, but in a matter of archive, she would not lie. "In my opinion, nobody has motive to—"

"We will decide motive," the chief cut him off, gruffly, prompting Norman to realise he had gone too far. At the same time, though, he saw thoughtful looks, or thought so. "Is it your opinion then that he joined independently?"

"Respectfully, Chief Kido," Sarah started, communicating with a single look that Max's father should stay silent. "What applied to Ketchum, applies here as well. It is established fact that Max willingly put his life on the line in Kalos, when he had no obligation to. That speaks to his character, does it not?"

"What happened in Lilycove—"

"Are allegations," the lawyer smoothly cut in. "Serious allegations, but allegations still, and ones that contrast extremely with previous actions here in Hoenn. You are, of course, aware that he aided Wattson in recapturing Archie of Team Aqua two years ago?"

"Could the Psychic-types have something to do with this?" Officer Ida asked.

That was Norman's area of expertise, at least relative to anyone else in the room. He still felt woefully ill-prepared when he recalled what he had read. "The claim is that he used his Mega manectric, correct?" he asked, just for confirmation, which was given. "That makes it harder. In instances we've seen Psychic-types control humans, the control dampens reactions and emotions, at least according to the scientific literature, citing victims and eyewitnesses. But everything on Mega Evolution suggests it's a bond of strong emotion that enables it the change."

That prompted more frowns, even as he let out a small sigh at not stumbling once in the explanation. "So either Max joined of his own volition, or there is more afoot," Officer Ida summarised. "In your considered opinion, is he capable of what he is accused of, regardless of the other question?"

There was no doubt that Max was. Even without the knowledge of what had happened on Izabe, Norman knew that. "In what way?"

"Temperament."

Sarah gave him a warning look, but Norman didn't need it. "If sufficiently pressured, yes. As am I, and as is his sister. Or any other Trainer of a sufficient skill level and with sufficiently capable Pokémon." He looked the three seated officers in the eyes, finishing with a barely-hidden glare at the chief. "Perhaps you should wonder what caused him to do so, instead of blindly accusing him."

Five minutes later, Norman was outside again. "As your lawyer, I can't say I commend your course of action," Sarah said drolly as the Gym Leader sent out a herdier. Might as well give her a walk on the way back home. "As someone who's been at odds with the new chief…"

"Something smells off, Sarah." Was off, but he couldn't tell her that. "My son is many things, and no goody two-shoes by any stretch. This is still not something he'd do without reason."

"From what you and my predecessor told me, that holds." The lawyer sighed. "You'd best prepare a statement, the press will have descended on the Gym by now."

Norman spotted something up ahead. "Or they're here already. At least we weren't ambushed straight out of the station."

His lawyer gave no reply, instead taking a left while Norman walked on, herdier by his side, into the small group of assorted press and cameras.

~~§~~§~~

Three teenagers and one gardevoir appeared in a dark cave. Blaziken provided light a moment later, a flaming fist held high, revealing a bundle of torches in a basket hanging on the wall. Max and Jane both took one, with blaziken lighting them up after. "You slept any?" Jane asked.

"Crashed like a pidgey in Gravity," Max admitted. "Think gardevoir was seconds away from psychically waking me up. Were you?"

"Who's to say I didn't?"

"Me," Max said, shrugging. "You're not subtle, as much as you say you practised at Professor Oak's ranch when you probably shouldn't have yet after Rustboro."

"You two are made for each other, you know that?" Keith said from behind Max. "And I've seen you together for maybe a few minutes in person?"

Max blushed as he turned around, but it vanished as he realised he had to tell them. They deserved that much. "We've got history. Not going to tell you about it now. I want answers from my uncle first."

They waited in silence for about ten minutes before a silhouette appeared in the entrance, followed by a shuffling of rocks and Philip walking into view. "Sorry I'm late. Police and gang fight means there's guards everywhere." The forty-something accepted a torch from Jane, planting it down near him, with Max noticing gardevoir driving it into the ground for stability. "I am Philip, Jane, Keith. Max's mother is my sister-in-law. I'm also a member of the Pokémon G-men."

"What?!"

Philip chuckled, the sound bouncing off the walls slightly. "Nothing as dangerous as your friend, Max. I'm no Trainer, and never was much of one. I just made sure the local G-men could communicate safely and sometimes I helped out by sharing some information I got from my job."

He had to think what his uncle's job was, but it came to Max quickly. Mostly. "Okay, sure, yeah. You're IT for the government, right?"

"Good enough. I'll not bore you with details," came the reply, mirth clear as anything. "Most of what I did for the G-men wasn't very important. Most of what we do isn't. But on occasion, something gets caught in my filters that's important. Like a mention of my nephew in an email from an outside source to one of the higher-ranked politicians in the country, in the early morning of June 11."

Max recognised that day. And the higher-ranked… "Paulson?"

"The one. Caught the email early before he could read it, deleted it off the network, then contacted Pallet Town and told Gary Oak what was about to happen to you two. And whoever was with you. I remember there was a third victim."

Memories of Evan upside-down, Danny's muffled yell through the gag were vivid, but Max suppressed them as best he could. "U… Philip… Evan was there. He was the third."

The silence in the cave was deafening, the teenagers barely breathing, Max thought, as they waited for the shaken adult to recover. He did, with a clearing of his throat that was loud and full. "He… he never told us. Was he…"

"I was tied to a tree. Danny had his arm sliced open. Evan was held upside-down, threatened by a sandslash, and got caught in a mild Confuse Ray."

"Is he okay now?" Keith asked, interjecting before Philip could reply. "It's a lot for a twelve year old."

"I… I think so. Danny had a lot of good ideas and got Serena to help out, and we talked a bunch and…" Max's face burned a little as he remembered going off at Evan for a short while. "He's probably okay."

"He… He did well in the Indigo Conference, but… We didn't know." Philip sounded agonised over it. "If only I'd… Never mind. Not important now. Where was I?"

"You contacted Gary Oak."

"After that, it was mostly quiet in my filters, Johto League chatter aside. Then Paulson's Izabe home blows up and my G-man boss is blamed. Know anything about that?"

Max grabbed gardevoir's hand, feeding calm through it even as his Pokémon did the same. "Might have done that. What of it?"

For the second time, there was a deafening silence, though this time, everyone else was shocked instead of just the adult. "Max…" Keith eventually said, carefully. "Was he…"

"He was the one who kidnapped me. Kept me prisoner. Tortured me."

"Danny and Reginald staged a rescue. Danny had also sourced a gardevoirite that we could use if needed, to break through the disruptor field. There was none, we found Max, but then Paulson activated the disruptor and we melded and…"

A wave of destruction passed through the cave at gardevoir's bidding. "All got in a jumble, gardevoir 'n Danny 'n me. Mega and Key Stone close enough, thoughts close enough, desire…" He cleared his throat of the lump that was forming, but even so, nothing more came out. Telling the story was harder today. Why?

The sound of a Pokédex opening was the only audible sound. "Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. This Pokémon will try to protect its Trainer at all costs. It has the psychokinetic power to distort dimensions while doing so."

Max saw Jane move at the other side of the cave's width, probably putting her Pokédex away. The sound had come from her direction.

"How did he escape?" his uncle asked. "The house-"

"Paulson has control of… Of a Psychic-type. They Teleported away."

"It's forced. Saw things like it before with Ash." Max didn't remember if he actually did. It didn't matter. "That's how he tortured me. Stretched me. Nothing more." Anger suffused the cave. "Gardevoir…"

"Why are you here?" Jane asked. "Why aren't you…"

"We came prepared, and still Paulson nearly had the better of us."

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…" Max said, softly. "And there were other complications… Very long story, don't have time now. Sorry Uncle."

"Don't. Some things are making more sense now. More than I care to know. Plausible deniability," Philip said before anyone could ask why. "But… You were kidnapped? When? Where? How?"

"Late August, Tree of Beginning, the control device confers immunity to the debilitating effects of what is being used to agitate the Pokémon."

"They have machines with captured Pokémon to abuse. White lorries hold them, usually. Sometimes something else, like in Rustboro. They've taken to trapping them recently, too."

Keith gasped. "The explosions they reported. One at the stadium, one at the harbour. They said one of them was a lorry with supplies for the stadium."

"That's exactly it. That was one of the things I wanted to tell you, but… Seems like you're ahead of me." Philip sounded proud. "I'll assume you know about what's been going on with the government increasing its hold since you escaped, Max, and tell you what I know. Paulson's being careful not to leave Mauville except for day trips. There's been a lot of talk between him and Wattson lately, both via email and in person, I gather. The police have been ordered to crack down on illegal Pokémon multiple times, though I've been keeping most of them busy here in Lilycove. And now the government made it illegal for some Pokémon to even exist in Hoenn. It's like what happened in Unova, except… From within."

"At least they don't have kyogre on their side," Keith joked. "At least… Max?"

"The items Team Magma and Team Aqua used to try and control groudon and kyogre were destroyed." He was fairly certain of that. "And if they had any of those Legendaries, we'd know anyway. Weather symptoms are hard to miss."

Philip coughed softly. "It is rarely advertised, but there are rumours in the government that the Office of the First Minister comes with possession of Hoenn's golems. Nobody ever confirms it, but…"

"It stands to reason," gardevoir interjected easily. "Even we know the golems had not been seen in decades."

"They're at least beatable," Max muttered, remembering the previous times he had seen them battle. "They're strong, but it's not like Geosenge. Can't recover either."

"That's something…" Jane said, and Max saw, in the limited light, her hand going down to her leg. "You'll teach us how to fight them."

"Talk that later," Philip interjected before Max could ask why. "You need to travel separately. Max is wanted. They'll try to track him if he buys or does anything. I wouldn't even trust healing my Pokémon at a Center: just send the ones that really need help to Pallet Town."

That was something. "You think Nurse Joy would…"

"Most won't. But you only need one to buy the lie." That was true. Annoyingly true. "And you two need an excuse to be here if you don't have one."

"Looking for a Pokémon you can't find in Sinnoh," Jane answered immediately. "Max? Help us out."

"Later. There is one more thing I need of you." A hand went into an inner pocket, before the adult threw something, underhand. Gardevoir caught it, depositing the thing in Max's hand. It was a small package, bound up tight. "That's every last bit of intelligence I have on Lilycove's drug gangs. I need you to get it to Lance and ask for protection for my mole."

"You're asking a lot, Uncle," Max said, but he put the item down in his lap. "Can you even trust him?"

"Did Evan tell you how he got his starter? The real story?"

The comment threw Max for a few seconds. "You mean it's… What's his name again?"

"Oscar. Os. Unovan, late teens. You do not need to know more." Philip sighed. "Sidney found out in summer and has been helping."

A slight psionic squeeze on his hand was followed by an obvious and non-intrusive prod at Max's mind, and he thought of the conversation he'd had with Evan about criminals, back when they'd made up. It was over in a flash, and another heartbeat passed before he felt understanding pulse. "If he is truly seeking to leave…"

"Max?"

The youngest teenager shook his head. "Sorry. Lost in thoughts, Keith." He took a deep breath. "I'll try to tell Lance. Somehow. I… I don't like it, but if you think he's… Okay."

"That's all I can ask," Philip said, standing up and giving Max a look – he thought, it was hard to know in the cave. "Could I?"

Before gardevoir could, Keith cleared his throat. "Why couldn't you send it?"

"One reason," the G-Man started, "is that Max has contacts. Professor Oak, Ash Ketchum… It's far more believable from him than from someone they don't know. The other is that I am stuck in Lilycove and I dare not risk a mole in the delivery service finding out."

That was… Understandable, at least. Gardevoir and adult vanished, leaving the three teens in the cave. "That's… I have more questions now."

Max had to agree with Keith. "We'll figure it out." Funny, that sounded more certain in his head. "Figure out an excuse for you first. You talked to the police yet?"

"Before the speech. Didn't ask why we were here."

"Alright. Any Pokémon?"

"Not for me…" Jane said.

"A Ground-type. A smaller one. Onix isn't easy to use."

Max thought for a second, thinking of nearby places with Ground-types, and after remembering and discounting the Safari Zone, he thought of a lake, and a tunnel complex. Trapinch, rhyhorn, phanpy… Had there been nidoran too?

"Uh… Max?"

"Sorry. There's a place on Izabe that has those Pokémon. Can probably ask them if one wants to join you." A wave of fatigue overtook him, and he yawned. "Sorry."

"We'll go there as soon as we can," Jane said. "You'll find us?"

"Probably easier," Max admitted. "Should be like three days, I think?"

"You'd know better." Gardevoir reappeared, even as blaziken also came out to extinguish the torches. "See you then."

~~§~~§~~

An incoming phone call roused Maxim Birch from his fevered typing, now for putting a personal touch on the statement they'd be putting out as the Littleroot Laboratory. Before, it had been instructions to staff, before that it had been as detailed explanations as he dared to several Pokémon Professors, and before that, it had been a message to Trainers to be seen when they wanted to retrieve a Pokémon in the system. And then there'd been the calls, too, though thankfully, those had died down…

Oh. Five forty. That explained a lot. Except who was calling. He whirled his chair around, nearly knocking over a mug of something. One of the assistants had brought it… Hours ago? "Samuel."

"Maxim. All protocols done? Don't you have help?"

"Arthur had time off requested for this week months ago, big anniversary or something," Birch replied, not wanting to remember exactly what. "And flu season's arrived here. Isabel and Olivia are both out, along with four more junior assistants."

"When it rains, it pours, doesn't it?" the elder Professor stated. Most others would make it sound melancholy, but Oak kept it factual. "How realistic is retaliation?"

A look at a map laid out on a table nearby, coloured pawns dotted across Hoenn. "Near-guaranteed if they have the data I have. They do not have official access, though they might try to do some legislative chicanery."

"And unofficially?"

"I assume knowledge parity of the Trainers in the field. None of particular note in Mauville, though the attack was weakest there. Four more very strong Hoenn-native Trainers in Lilycove. Three helped evacuate the Pokémon Center downtown as the Pokémon there broke free, and the fourth kept the entrance to the main trauma centre approachable," he listed. "Trainer presence was highest here."

"Which is both a blessing and a curse," Oak observed.

"Mostly blessing. Few carry the relevant types these days." Birch waited for the Kanto Professor to cede the point. "Rumour has it that a pikachu and charizard were seen in Slateport. The former in battle, the latter afterwards, alongside a tropius."

"How peculiar a combination of Pokémon. Should I warn the Ambassador?"

"Might be prudent." Birch grabbed the mug, taking a sip and putting it away immediately. Cold and stale tea, yuck. "Regardless, two other powerful Trainers were confirmed present, both of them operating in the same general area as that pikachu was seen."

Oak furrowed his brow. "I sense you are leaving something out. Is it to do with—"

"Yes." Another glance at one particular pawn on the map; metallic grey. "I had some random Trainers – good kids, decent battlers and fast friends – send a golurk. Astrid stressed that they told her it was quote like Rustboro unquote." Birch rose from his chair, knowing the camera would automatically follow him through the room as he walked over to a sink. "It's a short list of people who can say that."

"I see."

The conversation paused for a moment, water refreshing Birch both outside and inside. It was needed after twenty-three hours of work, but most of it was done and he could go for a short nap in a few hours. Rowan would accept all Pokémon newly registered to Trainers with the Birch laboratory and automatically send back those not on the exclusion list. The incoming transfer system was also set to reject any of those Pokémon on top of that, as an extra security measure. Then there had been messages to send out to Pokémon Centers, the Breeder Network, and a dozen others…

"I dearly hope undoing this is going to be easier, Samuel."

"The protocols ought to be easy. But the root of them…"

Wasn't that the bloody truth.

~~§~~§~~

Serena sighed deeply as they finally, finally left the Contest Hall in Nightwind. It wasn't dark yet, probably about an hour off, but it had gone on for more than an hour longer than it should have, and all because of an evolution and someone who probably should've come prepared better. "This is why I bought an Everstone for braixen."

"Yeah, I can see that," May said, sounding tired. She hadn't participated, having been asked to fill in as a judge because the local Nurse Joy had been needed for an emergency with some of the local Pokémon, and everything had gone swimmingly until the finals.

When someone acquired a now-illegal Pokémon through mid-battle evolution. And the opponent had asked for a win by forfeit from the opponent due to using a Pokémon that was illegal in Hoenn.

"I think you handled it right, though," Serena offered. "Nobody wants to win by default. Except that girl."

"I agr… Oh, for fuck's sake."

The reason for May's outburst was visible in the form of a fourteen year old girl on the warpath. The bleached-blonde hair was a dead-giveaway. "You bitch! You lost me a Ribbon!"

"You lost yourself a Ribbon with your persian's fumbling of that Zing Zap move," May replied neutrally, even as her ivysaur was sent out. Serena kept a hand on ducklett's pokéball as well. "You were in the lead before that, but having a Pokémon known for its grace flop over backwards twice after being hit costs points."

"An illegal Pokémon is an illegal Pokémon!"

"And as we told you, that wasn't in the rulebook. We haven't even seen the exact laws yet, just what they said last night on TV."

"I bet you wanted her to lose," a snide voice cut in, and Serena turned around to see a boy her age sneer at May. "Bet you lied yesterday, too. About being attacked."

"Dean?" a third voice chimed in, and Serena saw it belonged to another boy, also her age, not standing too far from everyone. The face was familiar: a participant. Knocked out in the quarter-finals? "Are you serious?"

"So what if I am?"

A moment of silence, then… Ivysaur's vines shot out, restraining and moving the boy as a bunch of swears came out of his mouth. "He's not worth it, Thomas," May said. "And Ava, after Mr. Contesta came up with the new fight, I told him it should be a completely new one. Not one with unchanged scores that had you down after your hitmontop ran into that Leafage-Razor Leaf combination. It's a completely different fight. The rulebook says differently, though."

"Sure it does, liar. You're just making this up. You're just scared they'll come for you after they get your brother."

May went very, very still, and everything around them – when had people started watching? – went silent as Serena had only seen and heard once before. In school, days before she injured her knee, when two girls had a fight and one of them punched way below the belt.

Everyone waited for May's response, and Serena could tell the older girl was struggling, but with what, she couldn't tell. "Max is not me," May eventually said. "And you know what? I'm happy about that. Because what he did, I could never."

"Kill peophmhmmfff!"

"Have you ever seen a Legendary Pokémon fight, Ava?" May asked, pointedly ignoring the girl who'd stopped Dean's outburst as she took a step forward, away from Serena, into the middle of the circle that had formed. "Imagine a Dark-type Pokémon with attacks powerful enough to level this square. Casually. A Pokémon so powerful it took the entire team of a Grand Champion, and a Mega manectric, just to fight to a draw. And any attack that hits you? Lights out, Ava. You die. That's what Max faced. He could have run. I bet Lance would have allowed him. But he didn't."

"He wouldn't," Serena added. "When we were in Coumarine, he convinced the others to Teleport in behind Team Flare and got attacked by a joltik for it. And you know what he told us when we were angry with him?"

"He'd do it again," May finished. "And he did, in Durocor, and Geosenge. But I would run. You would run. Most of us would. And that is okay, because being a bit scared of things that can hurt you is fine. So ask yourself this, Ava, Dean. Why would someone who risks his life for a region he didn't know existed before two and a half years ago come back here and attack a Department Store in the city our uncle lives in?"

There was no answer, and May left without saying another word, the circle parting to allow her.

~~§~~§~~

Danny checked the bandage he had taken off while Ash wound a new layer around his lower back. He couldn't see any moisture in it, though the points where it had touched the deep scrapes did look a tiny bit off. "Looks like it's nearly done leaking," he said as he raised an arm to allow Ash to finish up. "And no sign of blood or something else either."

"Yeah, an infection wouldn't have been good," Ash agreed, accepting a pre-cut bit of tape from pikachu and sticking it on the weave to tie everything together. "Still want to stay here today? We can get some distance in after dark but before bed."

"Probably better to stay," Danny admitted as he stood up, grabbing his shirt from a tree branch as he did so. He felt his muscles complain, both from having sat still for probably most of the past hour and from general aches after the events of three days prior. The slight sleep deprivation he was on didn't help either. "We've got supplies, right? Don't need to aim for a town tonight?"

"After pikachu and sceptile found those berries, we do for a couple of days. First aid kit also still good, and water's easy to find."

It was. Route 110 was water-filled, even if they were on the side closer to mountains, in the thin strip of forest on the western side of it. Ash told them they'd taken the mountain roads years ago, and the first time around, Danny and Max hadn't really been here, only on the northern end. Right now, they were about ten miles from water: easy enough for someone to fly over under cover of night on tropius and refill and boiling water was easy with charizard around.

Moving under cover of night was important.. At night, you could move without being seen, or seen as much. Phoebe and Sidney had impressed that on him. And right now, they needed to stay unseen. The closer they got to Mauville, the more danger they would be in. It had been true before Slateport, but now… Paulson knew he was there. Ash had probably been recognised. Should have been recognised. Charizard and pikachu were iconic

Thinking of those two Pokémon moved him to considering their respective teams. Ash's team was heavy hitter after heavy hitter, with the exception of tropius, but only because the Grass-type hadn't been part of Ash's team for long. Danny could tell that gap was closing by the day, and some of his Pokémon weren't going to be able to keep up and he was not going to be dead weight. He couldn't afford to be. "Going to need to sneak into a Pokémon Center. I want to exchange Pokémon."

"Who you thinking about?"

Danny put the shirt on, noting it was easy and barely caused discomfort. That hadn't been the case that morning. "Ferroseed for… Spritzee or exploud. I don't know. Both work well with our teams, I think. Magneton just feels like it'd not add much on top of pikachu."

Ash closed the first aid kit, pikachu using it as an easier way to climb up to the Electric-type's favoured position a moment later. "Why spritzee? I understand exploud and magneton."

"She'd be able to protect us better, because of Sweet Kiss, Attract, even Sweet Scent. Useful if some Pokémon tries to charge us. And there's Draining Kiss, too." He tentatively started stretching, but stopped when he felt too many muscles strain. Step too far still. "Ferroseed is useful for holding one spot with Ingrain or Gyro Ball, or for Explosion, but… That's not what we need."

"Yeah, I hear ya. If it gets into city fighting, you'll want someone like your spritzee around. Small and agile is useful there."

Neither of them acknowledged pikachu's excessively proud look. Sometimes, the yellow Pokémon was worse than his father in overacting, Danny thought. "I hate saying this but…"

"Froslass?"

Danny wasn't surprised Ash had figured it out. Of course, talking about having to return froslass the night before helped, but even without that… "She's one of my best Pokémon. I want to have her here, but…"

"Can always stasis her."

Danny shook his head carefully. "Still down a Pokémon. That matters. Every Pokémon matters if we might meet the golems, or Paulson's lackeys," he said, palming froslass's pokéball, but not sending her out. She had been on guard duty overnight, alongside sceptile, and would be that night as well. "I can't afford any weakness, especially without my Key Stone."

"It's your choice," Ash said, but Danny wasn't looking at the older teenager's face. "You still have a spare necklace? Max didn't take that, too?"

"I'd have to find it," Danny replied. "Max took the spare, but I bought three. Wasn't much more expensive than two. But absol… Isn't..."

"Mega absol's too strong for the machines, yes," Ash confirmed something Danny had suspected, but hadn't gotten around to asking. Hadn't been relevant. "But sometimes, we might need aggron. Especially against the golems. Having the option is just smart." He handed the Key Stone, now out of the Mega Ring, to Danny. "And he is probably the closest we have to fighting one, so that'll be useful for feraligatr. He's not in the same league as Brandon's golems, and definitely wasn't as a croconaw."

That much Danny remembered. The croconaw Ash had used in Kanto had been a tenacious battler, but he had relied on the mid-stage mix of some bulk and some agility for its physical presence. That didn't work against Pokémon like aggron or the golems. "Did he learn any new moves?"

"Perfected Ice Punch with his left and we were working on Ice Beam."

"Exploud can help with that."

"Deal." Ash turned to the side, to the west and the sun that was starting to set. "We can do two things, I think. Either we try and get to Mauville before Wattson leaves for Ever Grande—"

"Which he does a couple days before, so we only have three days, and they'll know we've got charizard and tropius for transport," Danny interjected. "Or should, anyway. Paulson isn't stupid."

"Or we go somewhere else and wait for him to return. Probably that, huh."

"Mauville's a trap waiting to happen, we know that. Should only risk the trap if we're certain we can at least talk to Wattson." Danny tried to shrug, but the bandage protested, so he stopped. "And we can use the time to think of ways to get out."

Ash turned back, a look Danny didn't immediately recognise on the temporarily red-haired Frontier Brain's face. With a start, he realised that he was looking down ever so slightly, and it wasn't because the ground was uneven. "Is this because…"

"Partially, yes." The teenager ignored the twinge in his back as he moved around, casting his eye around the bit of forest they were in; diggersby and klefki around the edges of their small camp. "I got lucky twice now. Izabe because Max managed to Mega Evolve gardevoir on desperation and rage. Slateport because I had Pokémon who got a Protect off, and the Explosion still sent me flying 40 feet. Can't afford a third time, Ash."

He saw pikachu jump off Ash's shoulder, wanting to jump onto his own, but something gave the rodent pause, and ears drooped. "Chu-chu-hu."

"You're not weak, Danny. Don't need to put yourself down."

"I know I'm not." A very small part of him tried to pipe up. "But we need every last advantage we can get. You think I don't want dusclops here? Drapion? Houndoom? Even litwick can help with how scarily good that Confuse Ray was getting before I left for here. But any Pokémon that can be affected and doesn't have some kind of way of fighting it is a risk, Ash. If we're going up against golems, however poorly trained they could be, I'm not willing to take those risks. We don't need that on top of springing a trap." He'd found himself near Ash, having kept walking, and locked eyes as he keyed a pokéball. "So let's make sure we can fight and come out on top."

A wave of right and calm. Mega aggron stomped agreement.

Author's Note: Is it paranoia when they're really out to get you? Philip and Danny certainly don't think so...