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 23: Shock And Awe

It was an opening ceremony like most of the others that Lance had seen. One carefully selected runner – the Ecruteak mayor's son this time around – lighting the fire, all of the Trainers who had made it to the main tournament in the main stadium's arena, no last minute emergencies like the one year he'd not been here in Johto courtesy of something requiring his attention in Blackthorn… It was simultaneously comfortingly familiar and mildly disinteresting, on account of knowing exactly what was going to be said.

Thankfully, the politicians had their own VIP box to go to, leaving just a few people here. Karen, Will, Koga were here, while Bruno had been summoned to aid with a problem in the Victory Road complex. Falkner had come as well, on a lark if the time of arrival had been any indication. With a pidgeot that could travel to Violet in two hours, Lance could hardly see fault in the Gym Leader leaving his Gym alone for a spell. Chances were nobody was going to challenge him regardless in the evening hours. No other Gym Leaders had shown up, though he knew several would make the journey here.

It was a good selection of Trainers on the field, Lance knew. There were several professional battlers among the participants, and then another dozen or with similar skill levels and not calling themselves that. Something like a dozen Mega Evolutions were in the tournament in total, though luckily not more than one on the same person. Made enforcing the rules simple.

It wasn't hard to pick some people out, even from this height. Magnus from Sinnoh always had to be front and centre, and his imposing presence had caused a small gap to appear beside him. The man was fine with that, being introverted in nature and preferring the company of his Pokémon. Bugs, unlike the Fighting people would expect, were his forte. His perennial rival Regina wasn't too far away, though she had announced her retirement after the tournament on account of accepting a Gym Leader position in Unova.

Ivan and his Flying-types had helped Lance out with something a few months back; the straw-haired late teenager trying to blend in but failing on account of being surrounded by a host of excited first timers. Danny and Max stuck together as ever several excited pre-teens over. Cara had taken the region by storm by blasting through the Gyms in two months after arriving from Prudan, causing everyone to take notice. The electric blue hair helped in spotting her, and Lance knew the woman beside her was also a highly skilled Trainer from Prudan, though the name hadn't reached him.

"This seems like a field that should give us a challenge."

"It should," Lance answered Will's statement. "Are you ready to be the initial challenge after this tournament?"

"Making my debut in a match of champions, you mean," Will replied, and Lance conceded that point. The previous top two in Johto hadn't quite managed to reach Will – then in the fourth rotational slot – though one had been close before poisons had proven his downfall. The time before that had been a wash entirely after Agatha had dominated the challengers upon the eve of her retirement.

Mr. Goodshow started to speak up, his speech as passionate as ever. It would be a great loss when the man were to retire, or more likely, pass away. People like him did not stop unless forced to, and Lance hoped dialga would grant the man time to do what he so clearly loved.

A laugh went through the stadium as the new format was explained, or rather, misexplained, by the short grey-haired man. It was fairly complicated, Lance felt, and he knew for a fact that it had caused the planners to despair. Fitting over three hundred matches into two days was a logistical nightmare, and one on a far larger scale than previous round robin experiments. It would test team depth like few other tournaments would, but that was what the Silver Conference did: to innovate and iterate.

It would be interesting to see how the participants were to deal with it.

He didn't stick around after the ceremony was done. As ever, he tried to follow as much as he could of the tournament of his home region, but that meant that other things that came to his attention had to be fit into a much smaller window.

And that time was further diminished by the mildly unwelcome sight of a familiar Dragon-type near the Grand Champion's temporary abode. Less astute observers might have seen the blue dragon and attributed it to be Lance's own, but there were subtle differences that were easy to spot, if you knew what you were looking for. The slight patch of scar tissue on one of the ridges above the salamence's eye, for example: his own had other battle wounds.

This one was Reginald's. And moreover: there was a letter hanging off the short neck, strapped tightly so flight wouldn't dislodge it.

The discretion was appreciated, given the eyes of the world were aimed in this direction, and while some legal statuses weren't that hotly disputed at the moment, Reginald was still wanted as the leader of a subversive organisation.

It wasn't the Gym Leader's elegant script that appeared once he opened the letter, though. It was blocky, unrefined, and yet wholly that of the one who wrote it. And it was, Lance recognised as soon as he had passed the first paragraph, a very fortuitous event.

Information from Hoenn wasn't too hard to come by, but on this topic, from a natural ally in the matter like Sidney? Who had come across a slightly careless, though very enterprising, lower ranked member of the G-men, it seemed…

The question was if he could get away with a visit to Steven not soon after the Silver Conference and not have it be suspicious.

And then the phone rang.

~~§~~§~~

Max hurried towards the field he was due at, through bustling Silver Town and past more than a few trainers. He couldn't use xatu, having never been at this specific field, but he really wished he could after he'd been stuck inside thinking after waking up late.

Last night's news had cost him hours of sleep. Both of them, in fact, but Max more than Danny. And in the wee hours, after Danny had gone to bed and fallen asleep, Max had just sat there, not really looking at anything.

Hearing that someone you looked up to – and Max knew he did – was in palliative care and not expected to last the week was the worst. Had Drake been ill when they had been on his ship? When they had first met? Had his body already started the process of killing him slowly and painfully?

There were many illnesses Pokémon could alleviate or even heal. Certain Grass-types could help with lung infections. Chansey egg extract worked on humans, primarily being used to stabilise people. Audino were impressively good at detecting ailments, and Healing Wish and Heal Pulse were capable of healing people.

But it'd take xerneas or jirachi to heal Drake from the cancer that ravaged his body. And they weren't available.

He now understood what exactly his parents had meant when they said cancer was the worst, back when he'd just returned from travelling with Ash and the rest. And he really wished he hadn't.

Somehow, he managed to get to the field on time, in one piece, and without bumping into anyone else. "Sorry," he said, getting his breathing under control and seeing his opponent – Dany from Unova – and the referee already present. It seemed the previous match had long ended, though there were more than a few people waiting anyway. Danny included, who gave him a raised eyebrow. "Nearly overslept."

"I can't give you more than a minute for a breather," the referee said, checking his watch. "Are you okay starting?"

"I'm fine," Max replied, taking one calming breath and finding it wasn't really needed. He wasn't even that winded. "Good luck."

"Good luck," his fifteen year old opponent replied, holding out a hand for Max to shake. They did so, before taking up position at opposite ends.

Max sent out piloswine and deerling, and immediately winced at the opponents. One Alolan Pokémon he had heard of: a salazzle – Poison and Fire-type, meaning deerling wouldn't be happy at all – and a magcargo, which was almost as bad.

But Max trusted in his Pokémon to get the job done. They could, and he had ways of dealing with the fire that was inevitably going to come his way.

The referee signalled the start, and magcargo immediately started releasing smoke, hiding the two Fire-types from view. Probably not poisonous fumes, but not something that deerling would like.

So piloswine it was. "Middle, then Ice Beam."

His two Pokémon stuck together and at the same time didn't – being close enough that each could help the other in a flash, but far enough apart that one oversized attack wouldn't hit the both of them, and they advanced to the middle of the arena, where piloswine inhaled before releasing an Icy Wind.

It reacted with the smoke, covering the magcargo in cold soot, even if it immediately melted due to the Fire-type's internal heat.

Salazzle, however, was nowhere to be…

The Alolan Pokémon sprung from the ground, unleashing a wave of pink from barely five feet away right into deerling – who started to react, but too slowly. Piloswine couldn't react for fear of including deerling in a retaliation

And the Shadow Ball on deerling's nose fizzled out as the attack started to affect the small green Pokémon.

Piloswine was unaffected, moving forward in an attempt to use a Take Down on the Fire-type, which she let happen, retaliating with a wave of purple that definitely got into the mouth of Max's Ice-type.

Fuck.

"Deerling, Shadow Ball on magcargo!"

Salazzle moved between deerling and magcargo, and once again, the Shadow Ball fizzled as the Attract played with deerling's mind. It cost him, eating a Rock Blast after salazzle jumped up, and Max hoped that it would short-circuit the unnatural attraction.

Piloswine took that moment to unleash an Ice Beam, one that connected with salazzle, locking her feet in place, before he, too, headed for the magcargo, thundering along. A Flamethrower was intercepted by a Shadow Ball, and the explosion covered the Mud Slap that piloswine threw into the magcargo.

It burst into flame, trying to get rid of the sand and mud everywhere, but deerling threw an Energy Ball in as well, which reacted to the fire. Violently.

Then piloswine added an Ice Beam to that, and though fire melted ice, the Swine Pokémon's unique talent at exploding his attacks came in handy, though he paid for it by eating a Dragon Pulse from the salazzle.

Max shook his head, not wanting to think about that.

"Deerling, back, and focus on your surroundings," Max gave the coded command. "Piloswine, interference."

The Ice-type roared with glee, and an Icy Wind stopped another purple attack – this time a Venoshock – in its tracks, and Max saw the surprise in salazzle's expression before it vanished, the Fire-type slithering off with a rain of Embers from magcargo covering the retreat. They spread across piloswine's fur with little to show for it.

Meanwhile, deerling had closed his eyes and was slowly starting to glow. A brown glow, drawing from the sand and earth all around.

Salazzle started on a run, and piloswine moved to intercept, but this time, the magcargo was ready to counter that, and a Flamethrower curtain blocked him from landing a Take Down on the Poison-type, who got right up to the concentrating deerling. "Now!" Max yelled.

It was too early; and he knew it, but deerling did as asked, unleashing the energy straight down even as salazzle landed a Poison Jab. A localised Earthquake shot across Max's half of the field, demolishing it fully and throwing both Pokémon around like they were in a tumble dryer. Piloswine wouldn't be able to move across it, but there was just enough room for him to throw an Ice Beam in.

Max thought it hit both, but considering how everything had gone… That was probably for the best. "Get the magcargo, now!" he ordered, gesturing with his right hand as his left returned the fainted deerling: the Nature Power gone bad, the Ice Beam, and the Poison Jab coming together to completely overwhelm the Grass-type's defences. "Quick!"

There wasn't a lot of time. Toxic – and Max was pretty sure it was that – ramped up the longer it stayed in a system, and though piloswine was tough… Salazzle had a reputation for being incredibly efficient with their poisons.

And Dany knew that, immediately ordering magcargo to start building a wall of rocks to keep piloswine at bay. An Ice Beam was launched, but the defender's advantage kept magcargo safe: it was easier for it to rebuild the wall than it was for piloswine to break through it.

That left only one recourse. "Ram it!"

It nearly worked. Piloswine put everything into the attack, breaking straight through, nearly goring the Fire and Rock-type before throwing it into the shields, which went fluorescent blue for a moment, but then he collapsed.

And magcargo didn't. Batttered, sure. But…

He'd lost.

In the first round.

Max returned his Pokémon. Danny approached, took him by the arm, and they moved.

~~§~~§~~

Xatu didn't drop the two of them in the Pokémon Center room, as Danny had asked, but instead they were somewhere entirely else. A vague rushing sound was removed, turning into the sterilised silence that came with the Mystic Pokémon throwing a barrier up, and Danny took a moment to quickly look around.

It wasn't somewhere he recognised, meaning it had to have been Max's memories of travelling around. That didn't narrow it down too much, but the fact that he could see a waterfall in the middle distance – the sound that was blocked, Danny realised – and knowing a few things about Kanto-Johto geography filled in where they were. Tohjo Falls. Which was at least forty miles south of Silver Town. "You can take us back," Danny asked xatu, getting only a silent stare as a reply, confirming it was so. "Of course. Sorry."

"Tu," the Psychic-type intoned, waving a wing at the waterfall and beyond, way beyond, where a large building was visible. Still miles away, but it was vaguely familiar nevertheless.

Danny resolved to ask xatu what it was when gardevoir was also around, just so translation could be given, but first… "What in the name of groudon and jirachi was that battle?" he demanded of Max, who just shrunk visibly, seemingly still shocked. "I mean, she played the game well and clearly had a good strategy on her mind, but… You lost in the first thirty seconds with that Smokescreen, Dig, Attract, Toxic combination. And if you'd told piloswine to use Earthquake, you would've stopped that."

"Piloswine barely knows how to use it," Max retorted, at least getting some anger into him. Only a bit, but enough to fan. "And I couldn't see it happened because of the smokescreen."

"And I did a version of that same trick against you as early as months ago," Danny replied calmly. "Froslass and diggersby. And you cottoned on. Immediately." He shushed Max with a gesture. A dismissive one. On purpose. "You both underestimated your opponent and you got carried away by the news."

"Hard not to."

"And what would Drake have said?" Danny said, knowing full-well he was hitting Max with the cheapest shot he could imagine, but feeling equally confident it was the right thing to do. There was no time for moping, and if he had to twist a knife for it, so be it. "You're damn lucky not to be out of the tournament, and don't give me that about this being a different tournament and you've got a chance. You should be out."

Finally, Max seemed to get the message, but whatever Danny was expecting after that had happened – and anger was the balance of it – a hollow chuckle was not on the list. "And so May ends up being right after all," Max explained. "You're right, though. I was… What?"

It was a few moments before Danny had himself under control enough to reply. "Look," he started, before coughing and trying to keep his voice without the incredulous tone. That wouldn't help. "I know you. I've never heard you say I was right this fast. It's been anywhere from a week to half a day, back when you had that fight with Evan," he said. "Forgive me if I'm surprised." He threw Max a half-glare. "And you still need to fix this."

"So, what should I do, oh he-who-knows-me," Max said, and though Danny saw and heard the smirk, there was something more to it. Best not to dwell on that. "Tell me."

"Use your brain, at least check what Pokémon they have, and maybe go a bit harder than you'd be comfortable with," Danny answered. "Don't send out sceptile and baltoy into a beginner, but be a bit more ruthless." He shrugged. "And maybe offer to help the kid you're facing later today."

"That match wasn't anywhere near ours."

Danny gave Max a look. "Fifth League against barely thirteen year old. You can do math."

"Point."

~~§~~§~~

Danny left Max and his new hanger-on slash friend on the sidelines as he ran through what he knew of his opponent. Of an age with Danny, from Sinnoh, second League, no real rhyme or reason to Pokémon except a curious lack of Pokémon that could fly. Hover, sure: he had a baltoy and a bronzor for Psychic-types, with the bronzor being used the day before a swell, but nothing that went high into the sky.

Somehow, Danny doubted that Kenneth had gotten a Zephyr Badge in his round through Johto.

He decided to go for houndour and masquerain, helped by the fact that the sun was high in the sky and trying its best to burn them. It would also mask any aerial approaches.

He took a moment to look at Max and Chris – Max's opponent from the loser's round the day before. It hadn't been close, but the two had bonded over Psychic-types, because of course Max had found someone with a drowzee and a butterfree. He'd probably be hanging around for the rest of the tournament, and honestly… That was okay. Danny knew Max liked teaching people about Psychic-types.

Kenneth's Pokémon appeared at the same time as Danny's did, and the fourteen year old made sure to keep his face under control, even as he knew the audience would not. That was a parasect at the opposite end, alongside an ambipom.

It knew Protect, which was enough to shield it from the opportunistic bout of flame that houndour sent along as the other Pokémon started moving for position, but then masquerain unleashed one of the newer tricks to his arsenal: an Air Slash that impacted hard on the parasect. To its credit, it immediately launched a host of Leech Seeds at masquerain, but houndour had been watching, and a flurry of Ember shot them all out of the sky.

The Dark-type got swept off her feet by ambipom, whose… Hands? Tails? Glowed a draconic green; Dual Chop nearly hitting but for a good roll away by houndour. Masquerain then interjected with a fierce gust of wind that also served to throw up a lot of dust and sand, and ambipom slunk off, avoiding a Flamethrower even as Danny noticed a Solarbeam being rapidly charged at the other end.

The Bug and Flying-type flew straight into it, diffusing it while not being too affected himself, except for the kinetic energy behind it, and that allowed houndour to quickly move forward while parasect was blinded by the impact. This time, Flamethrower did hit, and that was enough.

Probably one that was even more vulnerable to fire than normal, then.

This left a two-on-one, and Danny's Pokémon knew what to do in that situation. Ambipom did get in a nasty swipe that nearly cuffed houndour in the jaw: only a last minute turn diverting it to the main body, which was no less painful, but at least a bit more likely to keep her able to use fire, but masquerain was pretty good at using Gust, and this use bought houndour the time to move to range and start using Embers liberally.

From that position, it was over. Kenneth and his ambipom tried. Oh, they tried very hard, revealing a Thunderbolt that caught masquerain by surprise, and a Solarbeam of its own that nearly overpowered the Flamethrower houndour sent in, but in the end, two on one is still two on one, and with parasect not able to leave its mark on the battle except for a well-resisted attack…

"That looked pretty easy!" Chris said as Danny walked over, qualification for the second group phase earned. He had stopped by Kenneth for a moment, discussing the sheer bad luck that had taken place. The teenager from Sinnoh had lamented not picking his quagsire, but he was a good sport about it nevertheless. "What was parasect going to do?"

"Probably use all sorts of powders to disable anything that got in close. Effect Spore can do that," Max opined, and the curly-haired brunette looked a bit confused. "Parasect's mushroom tends to have all sorts of powders on it. If you hit it… Imagine punching a lump of flour."

"It goes everywhere," Danny added drily. "No Dry Skin, you think?"

"I saw some powders being flung off after Air Slash hit."

"But Air Slash is energy," Chris countered. 'That's not punching."

"Most attacks still have kinetic energy behind them," Max explained patiently as they started walking back in the direction of the village centre. "Think about Water Gun. Water doesn't do anything if there's no pressure, and pressure means kinetic energy." He smiled. "Psychic-type moves generally don't use it directly, but indirectly."

"Like Trick Room or even just throwing things around," Danny added, but then his stomach grumbled. "Yeah, I need lunch. Catch you in two hours at field five?" he said, knowing that the other two had already had a full lunch – while he had gone for a large breakfast and a brunch snack, which was coming back to bite him now.

"Sure," Max and Chris chorused.

~~§~~§~~

Like the previous day, the match before Max's was done early; the result pretty cut-and-dry from what Danny had seen. An unfortunate match-up had spelled the end for the girl from Hoenn from the start; sending out a growlithe and a raichu into a rhydon and a swanna. The graceful flying Pokémon was free to do whatever it wanted while the rhydon used its Ability to intercept all of the electrical attacks. Growlithe did a bit more, but there the sturdiness of the Rock typing was a hindering factor.

And Earthquake. Mustn't forget Earthquake, Danny mused as the field was restructured in front of the watching eyes of the small audience, though one that was approaching a couple dozen people regardless. It seemed that people had heard of what was happening here somehow, and that it was a rematch.

Dany was there earlier, Danny saw from the corner of his eye, flanked by two other girls who hadn't been there before. Probably her age, too. "He's not here? Again? Really?" she said after trying to find Max. She did spot him. "You. Where's your friend."

"Probably on his way," Danny replied evenly as some of the other people watching stepped aside. "He'll be here. Still has… Eight minutes?" He checked the time on his Pokénav. "Okay, seven. Still fine." And this time, xatu knew where it was, and the Psychic-type would make sure Max was here in time if he was engrossed in trying to write the letter he wanted to.

"Pah. Chicken's probably scared," said one of the other girls, in a voice that was at odds with how she looked. Probably some kind of throat bug – female voices did not get that gravelly without help. "You can take 'im, Dany."

"I beat him before," Max's opponent said, and Danny noticed that the third girl in the group wasn't really on board with the boasting, if the conflicted look on her face was a sign. "I'll do it again. Maybe then he'll go home and think about what real Trainers are like." Dany screwed her face up, filling Danny with mild unease. "Oh, wait. You two don't have a home right now."

Silence fell as everyone processed that remark, and Danny took a moment to centre himself after the low blow. He made to speak, but another voice cut across. "Home is wherever my friends are," Max said from behind the girls, and they turned around, parting to reveal the shorter teenager. He didn't give them a look, instead fiddling with two of the pokéballs on his belt. "I'm here now. If the referee agrees, we can start."

"You can," the referee – a woman in her forties – said. "Whenever you are ready."

Dany and her troupe started moving to the one furthest away from them, and one of them shoved Danny ever so lightly as she moved past. "Oops," the black-haired one said. "Sorry."

The insincerity oozed off her raspy voice and posture, but Danny paid it no mind. Instead, he glanced over at Max, who'd not moved for some reason, instead looking at Danny from afar. When he saw that his best friend was looking back, all that he did was to tap his wristband twice.

In response, Danny took a few steps towards the halfway line. "Miss?" Danny asked the referee, who turned towards him. "How powerful are the shields?"

"I have another Pokémon," was the reply, and the woman tapped on her own wristband – this one with pokéballs shrunk and stuck to them – to release a kadabra. "Why?"

"I'm pretty sure I know what's coming."

That got him a raised eyebrow, but she nodded, and kadabra ported over to the other side, joining the mr. mime that was keeping attacks in check.

Max raised his hand after the standard rules spiel that had to be mandatory for the referees to say. The shields stayed down, and Dany also didn't send her Pokémon out. "You know, I'd hoped we'd have a good match," Max's voice rang out. "But after what you said… You're not getting one." He threw two capsules high into the air, and they revealed baltoy and manectric. "I'm going to enjoy this. You aren't."

"No way!" said a familiar voice near Danny's shoulder, and he glanced away from the Mega Evolution that he'd seen way too often. Chris had appeared as if by Teleport; the curly-haired teen's eyes wide in awe. "That's… Wow!"

Unfortunately for Dany, she hadn't selected a Ground-type. Instead, two Alolan Pokémon were on the field; the salazzle she had used earlier and a multi-coloured Pokémon that Danny'd seen before, but Chris seemingly hadn't.

Turtonator, the Blast Turtle Pokémon. It gushes fire and poisonous gases from its nostrils. Its dung is an explosive substance that has many uses. It lives in volcanoes around Alola.

Okay, that was new on Danny. Explosive dung? Probably not something you could use in a battle, but… Who knew?

It was part Dragon, but somehow, Danny thought that was not going to be an issue.

Dual Flamethrowers went out first, Max faking a gracious gesture for his opponent to have the initial attack. Baltoy threw up a Rock Tomb that comfortably blocked them both halfway, and while the rock did shatter, it shattered away from Max.

It hid two seconds of manectric starting to run, and that was more than enough. The spiked Pokémon rushed forward, and while salazzle was quick enough to get into the ground to dodge the Discharge… Turtonator was not, and the large Pokémon flailed in pain as its muscles failed from electrical overstimulation.

The Dragon-typing and its resistance to electricity was the only reason the Alolan Pokémon could still move after the barrage, but then rocks pelted it hard, fast, and mercilessly. They were enough to ensure that the turtonator fainted, in what had to be less than half a minute. Including a small stand-off at the start.

Salazzle burst out of the ground, pink Attract splashing on manectric and not doing anything except to make her sneeze exaggeratedly.

Danny glanced over at Max, even as Chris enthused about baltoy blocking a spray of Toxic with just psionic powers, and something felt… Just a bit off.

Then manectric started attacking. Weak attacks by comparison, about the strength of helioptile's average, but fast enough to force the lithe opponent to try and slither out of harm's way one way or another.

It didn't work. It never was going to. The Mega-evolved Pokémon eventually found her target, stopping the Fire-type in her tracks, and then…

Keeping the attack on. Continuously. Manectric increased the power to the point where salazzle couldn't do too much, but it was still far less powerful, far slower to knock out, than most of what she did.

Understanding struck suddenly. Max and manectric were doing the same, within their means, as Dany and salazzle had done yesterday, differing only in that they did not give chances to fight back while waiting for the inevitable to happen.

It was a sharp reminder that Max could be extremely ruthless when he felt like it.

Dany let her Pokémon suffer for ten seconds after that reminder, and then forfeited the match. The shields went down, and Danny clearly saw her about to say something. Judging by the scowl, it wasn't complimentary.

But Max was faster. "Your strategy yesterday was good, and you won fair and square, like I told you," he said, teenage voice ringing out clearly. "But if you thought you could cow me with some words like that? You don't know what you're talking about."

"That's enough, Mister Maple," the referee cut across sharply. "There is no need to be what you profess to react against."

Manectric shifted back as Max inclined his head, and then he started moving towards Danny and Chris. Some of the audience took a step back in either shock or awe, and Danny knew Max noticed, but all it did was to increase the satisfied smirk. "There. Bit more ruthless."

"What was it going to be, originally?"

"Poliwhirl," Max said, shrugging, then grinning at Chris, who clearly wanted to approach manectric. "She's a softie, Chris. She's partial to getting scratches on her flanks, though."

The thirteen-year-old obliged, to happy barks from the canine.

~~§~~§~~

Knowing your child was in a tournament you couldn't watch was nothing new for Norman. It had happened before, would probably happen again if Max kept on doing what he did – and there was no reason for him not to – and accordingly, the Petalburg Gym Leader always closed for the night early during those times, so he could look up how his children were doing.

It was no different for this time, with the exception that there weren't any calls this time. He and Caroline knew that they were lucky in that they had a videophone at home, but also with children who dearly loved their parents and wanted to stay in contact as much as possible. Philip and Louse weren't that lucky, nor were most other parents Norman knew.

It made the absence a bit harder, but as the months had passed, the hole had been patched over. Mostly.

He navigated to the website of the Silver Conference with ease, finding Danny's name with ease – the draw for the second round had already taken place and he had ended up in the third group of that strange system that the Johtoans had concocted this time. Max's name was found a little later, in the second half, and as he clicked through to the results, something immediately stood out.

There were three matches there. Not two.

His son had lost the first match? How on Earth…

The match-up wasn't stellar, for sure, Norman instantly recognised that. Sheer dumb luck, probably, but Max had been around Ash too much to instantly lose faith. But a salazzle… Yes, that would do it.

Poison was ever the weapon of the weaker against the stronger, and the magcargo probably stalled for as long as it could before fainting.

Norman went back, spotting that the rematch had been in Max's favour, but when he checked the individual data, he had to stop himself from spilling tea over his trousers.

Either his son had wanted to take no chances at all, which wasn't impossible, or there was more than met the eye.

Luckily, the internet had many a recourse, and Norman was well aware that there were entire forums dedicated to discussing what happened at tournaments. He studiously avoided discussions regarding Gym Leaders there, but he could take a quick look.

The first website held the jackpot, as someone had apparently been there. It seemed Max's opponent had issued a challenge – rudely, in Norman's biased opinion – and Max had responded harshly by first knocking out a part Dragon-type in two hits and then keeping a continuous stream of electricity on the salazzle; enough to disable, not enough to knock out immediately.

In other times, Norman would've asked why and probably reprimanded Max for being cruel like that. But now? After being away from home so much, forced and unforced?

It was just understandable enough. Just.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Look, I don't know what happened earlier. I can guess, but wasn't there. Driver gloated a bit to Maple's friend about what happened in Hoenn, and Maple heard. Plus, yanno, regular mind games. Dunno why, kid's fought yveltal, but whatever.

All I know is that Maple decided to take off the kid gloves and unleash his ace and that baltoy. Turtonator ate Discharge and rocks and boom, out. Salazzle tried to use Attract but failed. Manectric then caught it and kept electricity on the salazzle for thirty seconds, only disabling and not knocking out. Driver forfeited after that, and Maple told her that she did well yesterday before laying into her gloating.

Author's Note: Ah, Toxic. It's the type of trick that only works once, especially in a 'real life' situation like this, but it only needs to work once. Except here, because double elimination and, well... Overwhelming firepower.

Important note: there will be no updates until February 2019. Mostly on account of me knowing what January is looking like and the time I have to write looks fairly minimal. Plus, I'm in need of plotting out the tail end of the fic, so that also takes up a bit of time. The general idea is known, but the particulars, well... I have loose ends that need to be wrapped up. One or two of which might have been mentioned this very chapter.

See you first weekend of February!