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 22: Preparing For Battle

For all that the Silver Conference hyped up its connection to Mount Silver, the mountain itself wasn't that close, Max mused as he stood on a tree branch, about fifty feet above ground. Silver Town, where the competition had taken place for close to a century, was similar to Ever Grande in that it was normally a quiet place with few permanent inhabitants that weren't in some way related to the Johto League. Then, every eight months, the small village in the valley grew by at least two thousand people as Trainers, people they travelled with, media, support staff, and whatnot came in.

With about two weeks before the Conference would start, this was clear even from a distance, as there were more than a few trucks unloading here and there, clearly visible through the binoculars that bridged the three quarter mile distance. People bustled about, but it was clear the main rush of Trainers had yet to come.

Then he scanned the surroundings, and found what he was looking for pretty fast. A patch of forest, maybe three or four acres total, blackened and a stark contrast to the rest of the area. They wouldn't encounter it moving straight towards the town, but it was probably on or close to the path that led to the Indigo Plateau, thirty or so miles east.

Max snapped his fingers, and meowstic gently lowered him to the ground; her powers enveloping him tightly, but loosening the closer he got to the ground. "Not too big an area. Looked like it was kind of stopped before it could grow too much."

Danny nodded. "It's too close to Silver Town and there are Trainers moving through," he said, taking the binoculars back. "Let's hope none of them were caught in there."

"We would've heard that on the radio," Max pointed out as they resumed their walk. Both of them were pretty tired, having been woken up in the dead of night from a thunderstorm that had started a fire that had cast a slight orange glow to the night sky. They hadn't been able to check earlier due to camping in a lower-lying area and not wanting to climb a tree while the skies were still roiling with static charge, but now that the fire was a long time past and there were just regular clouds above… Max had suggested to check everything out. "Silver Town looked pretty empty."

"Of course it is," Danny replied, and Max could hear the smile. "No Elite Four because they're at the Indigo Plateau, no Contests around here either because we know Enion advertises as the last Johto town to have one…Probably a ghost town between seasons."

"There's the reserve," Max said, waving his hand vaguely in a south-easterly direction. "But yeah, not worth it to set up shop permanently. Also not a lot of roads around here for trucks and stuff. Think all of them have to come through the Plateau."

"Would be pretty cool living here. Pretty empty bit of Johto,."

Max snorted at Danny's declaration. "You'd hate it. No cinema or barber nearby."

"I can always get a big Flying-type or call dibs on one of gardevoir or xatu's babies. Probably gardevoir's, with Hugo's gardevoir." Danny's sigh was completely put-on. "Too bad yours is male."

"What makes you think a ralts would want you as a Trainer?" Max shot back, gleefully, and the mirth increased when he saw Danny wince exaggeratedly. "You're also pretty lucky he's out like a light after staying up all night."

Danny shrugged. "Maybe. But with you around, I can ask any sort of question and get a more detailed answer than all the university books on Psychic-types, so… I think I'd be able to convince the ralts."

"I'm not that smart."

"And Eggs need time, time that you'll use to pick up stuff. Because that's what you do."

Max had no response to that statement, and there was a definite smugness in Danny's step as they continued on. It did set his mind to think, and as Silver Town became visible in the distance after turning a downhill corner, he voiced it. "How'd you deal with Eggs on your Pokémon?"

"Dunno," Danny admitted after a small pause. "I know what Uncle does, but… There's got to be a better goal for them, even if there's not enough time to hatch them myself."

"What does he do then?"

"Any Eggs he can't identify to any one or two Trai-whooaa," Danny said, nearly falling over a tree root, and Max instinctively grabbed onto the back of Danny's pack to keep him upright. It didn't work, because Danny was like one and a half times his weight, but the two remained on their feet with a little help of meowstic. "Thanks. Need to watch where I'm going before I break an arm."

"Would that stop you from participating?"

"Nah. Be an odd sight though." Danny let out a chuckle, and it infected Max. "Anyway, uncle sends them to a network of breeders and stuff, if they're not too rare. Same if the Trainers don't want them, but he told me that's really rare."

Max digested that. "How often does that happen? And does he have times where both Trainers want it?"

"More than you'd think. Probably about an Egg a week on average, and he told me that he gets about quadruple that in total." A loud honk interrupted him for a bit. "And if both want it he tells them to figure it out before he gives them the Egg. Simplest solution."

That was pretty true.

The Pokémon Center was pretty easy to find as the largest non-stadium building in the area, but for all its size, it, too, was empty when they entered, except for the ever-present Nurse Joy. "Hello there," she greeted the duo jovially, sliding some magazine off to the side as they walked up. "Here for registration?"

"And one night here," Max told her as he produced the pokéballs of all the Pokémon that could do with a rest. "One night in a bed after last night sounds like heaven."

"A warm shower is what I want," Danny said, but Max could tell he agreed. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," Nurse Joy told them, putting the capsules on a tray and sliding it into some sort of machine. Silhouettes of the Pokémon inside popped up on a screen nearby. "The fire kept you up? These are the Pokémon you used to be safe?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. We were a mile or two out, but the thunder was loud last night. Manectric sure liked it, but it wasn't good for sleeping."

"I can imagine. That's a good mix of Pokémon for these situations, by the way," the nurse complimented them as a blissey waddled into the room from out back. "Manectric for the lightning, swampert and gardevoir for making a path, aggron for carrying things, and does the gardevoir know Teleport?" she asked, getting a pair of nods. "Guess that's why you're only staying one night, then." She walked over to another computer. "Can I get Trainer identification and your badges?"

They were prepared for the question – it was the third time – and they were duly handed over. "When does the Conference start? I think there were preliminaries or something a few years back?" Max asked.

"Those are still in August. Not that I think you'll need to take part in them," Nurse Joy replied, tapping away. "Preliminaries are sorted according to how many Leagues you've been in, and, well, this is your third. In two and a half years," she added, impressed. "It's possible, but not very probable."

"How do you decide that anyway? If you know," Danny asked as he took both badge case and Pokédex back. "Just random luck?"

"If we don't need all the first-timers, then yes for them," the redhead confirmed. "If we need to move up, it's based on results in previous Leagues. Not that you're going to have trouble with that," she added with a teasing smile. "I'd expect some reporter to track you down once the list of participants is up."

Danny groaned. "Not them again," he whined. "We already did tons of that in Kalos."

"It's not going to be as bad here," Max said, even if he wasn't certain himself. "We didn't get an award recently." It still wasn't going to stop the reporters from coming, but there might be fewer of them.

"I know most of them," Nurse Joy interjected, "and they'll prefer to ask you if you have time first instead of pestering you. You can probably stop the worst of it if you sit down for an interview with one of them."

That sounded like a good plan to Max. Fewer distractions during the tournament and so on. "I'm okay with that. What about you?"

"Probably?" Danny replied before shuddering. "Sorry. I really want that shower. And maybe some food after."

"Understandable." Nurse Joy looked over to the side, humming in thought. "If you can return on the 27th, I can probably make sure you get the same room now and then. So you could have one wherever you want, basically."

The teenagers looked at each other once, Max uncaring and Danny seemingly not really having an opinion either. "Think we can do that," Max answered. "Any floor?"

"There are rooms with two beds on all floors, yes. They're all on the west side." A hand pointed down their left side. "The top floor rooms are usually the first to go." The nurse took a key, placing it down on the counter and sliding it over. "Use this one for now. If you want a different one, just tell me tomorrow, okay? I've got morning shift all week."

~~§~~§~~

Deerling rushed forward, coat still vaguely glowing green with the residue of the Sap Sipper boost he had gotten from intercepting the Leech Seed that had been meant for swinub, but ferroseed replied by starting to spin, going into a Gyro Ball. "Switch!"

An Energy Ball was duly prepared and launched, but the other target in the form of spritzee wasn't anywhere near the attack. Gardevoir snuffed it out as Danny's Fairy-type fluttered towards deerling, diving slightly to gain speed, and succeeding in landing a Sweet Kiss on the green-coated Pokémon's flank. It wasn't as effective as it would normally be, but it was enough to cause deerling to stop for a moment – a moment long enough for Pin Missiles to crash into him.

"Those two work together well," Max remarked as deerling went to his knees and the other Pokémon backed off, swinub included. "Evil strategy, though. Just grind them down."

"Won't stand up against Pokémon that are better from range, though," Danny countered, and Max heard the whoosh of a Pokémon being returned. It was ferroseed. "Energy Ball is the only thing that you really have and ferroseed can deal with those all day. Shadow Ball isn't good enough yet under stress. Maybe try again later with poliwhirl?"

Max gave a nod before walking up to the struggling Grass-type, a water bottle filled with a Persim-based drink in hand. "Just drink this," he said as he knelt down, putting his left hand on deerling's neck and squeezing to tell the Pokémon it was him.

The confusion in deerling's eyes vanished, and Max let him go as he wanted to see if he could trust all four of his legs again. Pretty normal, as was the thankful cry of "Ling!" to the others.

Deerling respected strength and training a lot, they had learnt, and the small Pokémon – not standing a lot higher than Max's thighs, if that – was always willing to accept it when he had been defeated. That made him a pleasure to train for sure, and the only real thing they were focused on now was balancing power and speed in forming Shadow Ball.

"Nub?" Max's small Ice-type said from the side, drawing everyone's attention. "Swiiiii."

"Don't worry,' Max said as he quickly headed over. "You'll get better matches soon enough. I know you're not great at this range, but we wanted to test Danny's Pokémon. That's why I told you to not use Dig."

The Ice-type's eyes moved a bit, seemingly surprised, and Max wondered for a moment why – the brown Pokémon had been understanding of that earlier.

Then a white glow appeared, bursting through the fur gently, but insistently regardless, and Max stifled a surprised cry of his own before hurriedly moving away. Swinub had been nearly at his feet, and piloswine were a lot bigger and heavier.

As it turned out, big enough to come up to Max's stomach or so, except the nose was still close to the ground. The brown fur was a lot more plentiful now, now actively covering the eyes instead of swinub just keeping its eyes closed all the time. Basically. A quick rub with his hand also revealed the fur itself was thicker, and he made a note to buy a better brush, because the old one would be woefully inadequate. "Well, congratulations piloswine," Max said as he familiarised himself with the way the evolved Pokémon looked. "You up for a test battle?"

The Ice-type reared up a bit in acceptance, and Max quickly took a few steps back just in case. "That's a yes," Danny commented needlessly, drily, as Max noticed the landing didn't trigger some kind of attack like Bulldoze. "I think we should work with piloswine's strengths now. Sceptile?"

Max shook his head. "I wanted him to fight manectric later. Once we're somewhere we can destroy without too much of an issue." They weren't too far from where Max had caught deerling, in a part that wasn't as densely covered with trees. Still too dry around to throw a lot of electricity here and there, though. "You got diggersby on you?"

"Oh, I like that," Danny said, smirk audible. "Yeah, a bit of Hammer Arm practice wouldn't be wrong either. Piloswine might have an advantage with Dig, though."

Bulldoze at full strength was also a good way to destroy things around. "You okay with not using Dig, piloswine?" Max asked, and the returning snort was gruff, but accepting. "On my mark, then."

Once the two teenagers had put at least thirty feet between them and the two Pokémon, and after checking with gardevoir if he was ready to block things headed for them, Max gave the signal, and both of the Pokémon wasted no time in launching an attack from range. A barrage of mud was met with a blast of ice, and while the Ice Beam seemed to be more powerful, it was not enough to blast through the Ground-type move.

Or perhaps piloswine wanted to explode it. The area covered in frost wasn't that much bigger than it had been as a swinub, but then again, the attack had been diminished.

Diggersby rushed forward, looking to get something in with the ears – Hammer Arm was Max's guess – and piloswine started running to meet him. Danny's Pokémon got up to speed faster, giving him a slight advantage, but the Ice-type just grunted, before heaving his face and tusks upwards. The move threw diggersby off-balance just a tiny bit, and an icy snort produced a burst of extreme cold that got in before the Protect had formed.

A vicious slam of the arms forced piloswine back a bit, giving enough room for diggersby to back off, but with another snort, Mist started to form on the field. "Not now," Max ordered, and it stopped immediately. "Want to see what you can do. We stink at smelling stuff."

"Really?" Danny whispered as an Ice Beam was instead used, still exploding as diggersby got out of the way; this time at full strength and covering an area that looked about Max's height in radius. "Did you have to?"

The Swine Pokémon charged forward, looking to bodily tackle diggersby, and the rabbit-like Pokémon was ready, using a Hammer Arm to try and block it. Emphasis on try: both of them came out worse for the wear. The Fighting-type move did a number, but so did the transferred momentum of… However heavy the rampaging piloswine was, and diggersby was knocked back, hitting a tree.

"That's enough for now," Max called, and both of the Pokémon stopped, instead making their way over. Diggersby had definitely felt that last impact, but piloswine just seemed to have had his ego bruised. Or maybe it was the evolution energy still giving him a bit of a rush. "One more thing, okay?" Max asked as the Ice-type walked up. "What's the maximum range on your Ice Beam now?"

The attack came out and gardevoir helpfully moved over to where the attack had started weakening visibly and harshly. "That looks like… I think it's about twice as far?" Danny guessed. "Still better up close, though. Being able to block that Hammer Arm is pretty good."

"Seems like it," Max said, running his hands through the fur with a little difficulty. It really was thicker than it had been, and it was also somewhat damp. "Gonna return him now. I think he might need a trim before the Conference."

"Y'know, overheating Ice-types sounds kinda like a paradox," Danny said after he, too, had returned his Pokémon, which prompted spritzee and deerling to move back up, having fully recovered from everything that had happened earlier. "But I guess that fur isn't perfect insulation."

"Or he doesn't really know how to use it for his bigger body," Max offered, causing Danny to let out a non-committal hum. "He wasn't clumsy though. Definitely seemed to know how to use his weight." Which reminded him of something, and he quickly looked up piloswine in the Pokédex as the others looked on. "Huh. That's a lot lighter than I thought."

"About my weight?" Danny said as he looked at the numbers on the screen. "I thought they were, like, at least fifteen pounds heavier. If not more. Aron was heavier than that."

"I thought it was closer to shelgon," Max admitted. "Just the way they look and mamoswine."

"You going to teach him Ancientpower?"

Max shook his head. "Later. But this close to the Conference, I think he's better off getting familiar with what he can do now instead of trying to add another new move and an evolution. Double evolutions that close together… They tend to have problems."

Charizard was a pretty big example that had been brought up many, many times.

~~§~~§~~

The cave just north of Lilycove was abandoned except for a couple of amphibious Pokémon, and they were more interested in sleeping under the starry sky at this hour. It had taken some doing to ensure his wife wouldn't notice his absence, but a careful dose of Sleep Powder extract in her evening drink and she had asked for an early night that probably would not see her wake up for a few hours. Just like Philip wanted it, after a dead drop had asked for him to be here.

The reason for the dead drop was unknown, but the contact was bound to him in several ways. It had happened before, and it would again. Not for a while though: there'd been a lull after several operations had been dismantled back in May.

Oscar, the once and current drug peddler – yet surprisingly full of morals such as keeping children away from it and not using whatever he peddled himself – slid down a cliff on the far side. Audibly, but by design no doubt. Surprises up close were bad in both their lines of 'work'. "Oscar."

"Right on bleedin' time, aren't ya," the other man said, keeping a respectable fifteen feet difference. From what little Philip could see by the limited light, as moonrise was some time off still, Oscar looked healthy, or healthy enough for one who was stuck sleeping in ramshackle warehouses. "How's Ev?"

"Incredibly lucky," Philip remarked. He felt free to share that, knowing as he did Oscar's habits of seeking to protect children wherever possible. That had given the local police two new inhabitants of its cells a week or so back. Which was probably the topic of the meeting. "Through some connections, luck, and generosity, he's found himself an absol Egg. It hadn't hatched by the last letter, but it will undoubtedly have by now. Otherwise, six badges, going for seven, and a team with a lot of Dark-types."

A raspy chuckle. "Figures. Shorty liked poochyena too much for just being poochyena. Can't blame him. He's the kind who'd love the gritty Dark-type style. Met a few of those over the years."

"Haven't we all," Philip replied, causing Oscar to chuckle once more. "What caused you to call me here?"

"Mossdeep," was not the answer Philip was expecting, and he showed it with a shuffle of sand. "Talked to someone workin' on the ferries. Said there was something strange at the docks that night. Something moving where it shouldn't. And then his starmie went bonkers."

Which would've preoccupied him a bit more, naturally. "Where was this on the docks? Near the truck loading area?"

"No. Private harbour side. Some kind of small boat, but night was dark and all that."

Philip tried to envision the Mossdeep harbour, finding that he didn't have a great idea. It had been a year or so since he'd gone there, despite living fairly close. "Did he say how big the boat was?"

"Just said small boat," Oscar repeated. "Knowin' him, probably one of 'em private ones for four or so."

Philip sighed in return. "I guess it's something. Kyogre only knows how the islands hadn't been hit before."

"Hold the fuckin' phone," Oscar swore suddenly. "You think that boat's got ta do somethin' with the fuckin' attacks all over the place?"

Philip smiled weakly, not that it would show in the darkness. At least Oscar had cottoned on immediately. Then again, the man was not lacking in intelligence, merely in wisdom. "Pokémon don't attack out of nowhere. Not on this scale, not with this precision, not from trained and wild Pokémon alike. Something is stirring the pot, and human intervention is the most logical cause." Though the means through which it happened were as yet a mystery. "Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but when I've heard rumours of some similar things happening elsewhere? It's something." Tenuous, but something. "Of course, this is another secret you must keep."

"Of bleedin' course. Not that anyone would believe me," Oscar replied bitterly. "Guess I get now why you asked 'bout being told anything about attacks."

"I had almost forgotten I had," Philip lied: there was no almost about it. "My expectation was that this was about last week's incident."

A hollow snort. "Shits were high on their own stuff. Makes messing with their brain real easy, know what I mean?"

That did explain the strange circumstances under which they'd been found. Naked, and babbling about weird lights. "Regardless, if you hear more, tell me as soon as feasible. If the islands aren't safe… Nowhere in Hoenn is. Including the Ever Grande Conference." And thankfully, that wasn't until December.

There was a muttered oath, but Oscar took the dismissal, walking off in the opposite direction and leaving Philip alone with his thoughts, of which there were many.

There was something decidedly fishy going on. The episode with his brother in law had confirmed that as his borrowed magneton had found something. The ensuing fight that had broken out after the Electric-type had let out a pulse of electromagnetism to fry it had destroyed whatever it was, but there weren't too many options for things hidden in narrow metal strips. That immediately called the entire story about how certain events had unfolded two summers ago into doubt, and from there, multiple threads could be picked at to hopefully unravel the entire tapestry.

Not for the first time, Philip wished that he hadn't been left in the dark. He knew where to find people to report to; even knew an identity or two more than he technically should, but contacting them was difficult in the extreme.

If only his cousin's and friend's role in the happened had never come to light.

"Shady meetings on the beach, midnight dalliances they are certainly not. What brings a man unknown to this place?"

The low growl of an absol carried just far enough to scare Philip.

~~§~~§~~

Two more days until the Grand Festival, and Serena knew she was nervous. It wasn't constant or anything, but she wasn't falling asleep as fast as before, and the atmosphere around the Indigo Plateau was a lot easier to get caught up in when she normally didn't really care for stuff like that.

Which was why she was now checking out the surrounding area. She wasn't going to wander into the Victory Road area – she would be eaten alive in there – but Danny had told her of a quiet hollow that he, Max, and Ash had ended up using for strategy discussions without any distractions. Why they didn't do that in one of the Pokémon Centers, she hadn't asked, and she would've probably asked if it could be inside because February in Kanto was cold, but the three of them had plenty of ways of warming things up.

To her own surprise, she found it pretty quickly. A couple of large rocks, something that looked like it could be a fire pit, except it clearly hadn't been used in a while, overhanging cliffs on two sides, and a regular one on a third.

Was it her imagination, or was it really as silent as she thought it was?

The silence was broken by the buzzing sound of an insect Pokémon nearby, and a ninjask broke through the trees a moment later, before Serena had even sent braixen out. The black-and-yellow Pokémon crossed the distance in a flash, before circling around once, buzzing… happily?

Hang on, was that Max's ninjask?

"Guess I'm getting company," she said to herself after the Bug-type had zoomed off at full speed, flying high above the treeline, probably heading towards the Plateau due west.

It was something they would do. Danny had probably suggested it, and with Max having two Pokémon that could bring them everywhere in the area… It was incredibly them, and Serena felt a smile overtaking her face, happy warmth surging in her chest.

It was about ten minutes before Danny arrived, his back to her for a moment, but recognisable anyway. "Hey Serena!" he said after turning around, voice sounding so different than the phones they usually used, and a smile overtook his face as well. "Guess you found the place, huh."

They had a good friendly hug – and Serena did notice Danny bending his knees slightly. He was a lot taller than she was, even worse than it had been at Yule. "Just wandered and found it," she admitted as they took a rock each. Braixen and ninjask sat nearby, with xatu being all mystic on a rock, while Danny's houndour seemingly preferred to stay near its – her, she thought? - Trainer. "Max not coming?"

"Max needed a shower after doing some morning exercise. Seriously," Danny said, eyes alight with mirth, "houndour was whining like mad when she smelled him."

Serena remembered that they were doing that, but it did leave the obvious question on the table… "So… How is he getting here?"

"Gardevoir's learning to Teleport to people," was Danny's answer, and one that caused Serena to raise her eyebrows in surprise. "First time testing if he can 'port to me. If it fails, xatu's just going to just go back and get him." The fourteen year old shrugged, raising both his hands to chest level. "Or I could call him. Gardevoir knows where this is, too."

"Let's just wait for—" Serena said, before rocks tumbling down nearby and a sudden yelp interrupted her. She turned to the sound of the noise, and saw a teenager suspended in mid-air, a basket in one hand and looking like it should not be possible to be in that position. "Eh..."

Danny let out a loud guffaw, as Max was casually floated down by psychic powers, looking – after recovering – as if he did that every day. "I guess that's sort of a success?" the older of the two teenagers asked as the younger landed. "Or did you tell gardevoir to keep a bit of distance?"

"Not really," Max said as he put the basket down on the ground. "Think he might have done so by himself. He does that when going to people, remember?" He turned to Serena as the Psychic and Fairy-type appeared down at their level. "Guess you don't see that every day?"

"No, I don't see flying teenagers every day," Serena said, not wanting to resist the sarcasm. It prompted a snort from both the others. "And have you been out of the shower for more than five minutes?"

"No," the boys chorused. "You know me, Serena. I'm not going to wait." He closed the distance, and they hugged, similar to earlier. She could smell whatever shampoo he used on him. "It's good to see you again. Everything okay with you?"

She caught the eyes of the gardevoir to the back, and she inclined her head slightly as a sign of respect. A brief sensation of something incredibly familiar was her part in return. Expectation mixed with satisfaction? Was that even possible? Serena gave herself a mental shake, looking at the two boys and instantly just knowing that they'd noticed what had happened.

Of course they had. They were the two most observant boys she'd ever met. "Y'know. Bit nervous for the Grand Festival, but it's not been that long since we last called," she said as both of them sat down. "All the same, really."

"Been over a month for me," Max replied, shrugging. "And nerves happen to everyone. You got your single move ready?"

She nodded. "Sure. Been practising for it for a month already. On and off," she added, but instantly feeling like that was a bit unneeded. "I actually don't have a lot of Pokémon that are good for that," she admitted. "But we're going to go with mareep using a Discharge sprinkler."

Unsurprisingly, it was Max who got it first, from the look on his face. "Discharge up and then several streams around mareep?" he asked, and she nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty good."

"There's more, though…" Serena added, smirking. "She can move it around a bit, so it's going to circle around her."

"Did you watch Ash's battles?" was not a question she expected. "Because that sounds a lot like a trick he picked up. Pikachu's shield, remember?" Max added for Danny, who nodded a moment later. "It's pretty power intensive, though."

"I'm not practising it any more," Serena told them. "Mareep needs the electricity in her coat for it. But that's okay, right?"

"You're the Coordinator, not us," Danny replied, repeating a favourite comment of them and causing a few chuckles. "But if you've got a plan or two for later rounds… What's the format again?"

"One Pokémon, but no move limits, then Double Battles," Serena said. She'd memorised that a long time ago. "Think I'll use cherrim for the main round. Sunny Day, Solarbeam, Weather Ball… You know the tricks. And I'll have to see for Doubles. I hope I'll get there."

"You better," Max said, but it wasn't threatening despite the words. "I want to see you in a Contest battle."

"I could show you after lunch."

Max shook his head. "Not the same thing. But if you want to battle, then I'm not going to say no."

She had walked right into that one, hadn't she? Ah, good old times. "Well… As long as you don't use manectric… Or sceptile… Or xatu… Or anyone you didn't catch in the last three months… I'm sure I can put up a good fight."

"You know I only caught deerling in that time, right? And that it's Doubles?"

"Exactly. Have to keep it fair somehow."

The laughter lasted for a good long while. Xerneas, she had missed this.

"How far do you think you'll go?" Danny asked once everyone had quieted down. "I know you said you hoped to reach the battle stage, but hope and what you think is doable don't always agree."

"Well..." Serena started, casting her eyes around the clearing as she thought. "I think I've got a leg up with the Showcase experience, but not as much experience with the battles. Even after spending eight months here," she added before any of the boys could say something about that. "So on average, probably there? I think that's fine, though."

Max was clearly thinking about something, and both of the others recognised that. "I think it's going to depend on what kind of Coordinator you're up against in the Round of 16."

"What kind?"

"Serena's strength is that her Pokémon are pretty experienced at showing off, but they're not as good at endurance," Max answered Danny's question. "So if your opponent recognises that the Pokémon can get knocked out, you've got a tougher opponent than someone who tries to out-Coordinate you."

She thought back to the Contests that she hadn't won – all seven. She'd always qualified for the battle rounds, and at least four of the losses had been due to some hard-hitting attack somewhere costing her a lot of points and causing her tired Pokémon to become just a tiny bit more sloppy. "Now I'm really wondering if you didn't watch me secretly… That sounds really true." Doubt filled her. "And I didn't train for that. Stupid."

A rush of comforting warmth filled her, supportive and alien. She looked up, and saw gardevoir outlined in blue, with a small tendril reaching to… The boys? Were those their feelings? "Maybe that's true, but you can't change that now, Serena," Danny said, voice pitched lower and soothing.

"But because you know, you can still work with it. Unless you don't dodge any more."

That certainly wasn't the case, she reflected, looking at braixen for a moment and remembering when her starter had done a somersault with a twist to avoid a charging rapidash coated in a Flame Charge. That move had single-handedly gotten her her third ribbon. "You two are stupidly smart, has anyone mentioned that recently?"

"He's the smart half, I'm the stupid half," Danny joked, and they had another laugh at the blatant lie. "You coming to the Silver Conference after the Grand Festival is over?"

"If you're still in it," Serena shot back. They should be: the Grand Festival started on the first and ended on the fourth. "How far do you think you'll go? Maybe all the way this time, huh?"

Max shrugged. "That's a nice dream, but we're over two years younger than Ash when he was the youngest Champion in the Home Regions in ten years," he told her. "And there's an extra round here. I want top 8, though."

"And as per usual," Danny took over, "I'm fine with a round below that. We don't have Mega Evolution as a secret strategy this time, though, so… People might be prepared for manectric and aggron."

"Let them," Max said, shrugging again. "I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve."

He was probably referring to the gardevoir most of all, and with what had happened in Blackthorn – which she still needed to get the full story about, instead of a summary – Serena couldn't blame Max one bit.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Name: Danny Birch

Age: 14

Region: Hoenn

Trainer Class:Expert/Ace

Style: Unorthodox, Defence

Odds: 25-1

Notes: An atypical Trainer from Petalburg, Birch built a reputation for being infuriating to fight against and watch in the Kalos League that he most recently participated in. Unlike the average boy his age, Birch prefers defence, and is entirely at ease with using time to his advantage. Weather moves were used extensively to aid a variety of Pokémon; a duo of Ghost-types are fond of phasing through attacks, and if the long slogs weren't enough, there are a few hard hitters as well. As with any Trainer his age, depth might become a factor, but underestimate the amount of punishment his Pokémon can take, avoid, or nullify at your own risk.

Pokémon to watch: Froslass, swampert, aggron (Mega)

From: Pokébet's profile of Danny Birch, retrieved prior to the start of the Silver Conference.

Author's Note: And the remainder of the time until the Silver Conference, including Serena, a new piloswine, and two characters we hadn't seen in a while (and one in particular.)