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 24: Business As Usual

Zorua jumped on altaria's back again, doing a flip and sticking the landing to score some points in the process as Serena's dragon soared back into the sky, away from the dugtrio that had been trying to make something happen all match long. Apart from a set of rocks that had forced a crude dodge, its impact on the fight had been minimal, and the score reflected that. She was ahead by a small but noticeable margin, but a minute and twenty seconds remained.

She didn't need to look to her left to know that her friends were cheering for her with all they could.

A circle of pink fired off into the immobile cradily, but neither it nor the ball of purple-black that zorua added to the mix did much to hurt the well-trained Ingrain-using fossil Pokémon, and it didn't break the concentration either.

Something was about to happen, her instinct told her, and Serena listened.

"Disrupt it," she ordered, and altaria stopped for a moment before accelerating into a dive; zorua tensing up, ready to jump and split off so they could bracket the Pokémon with a Perish Song stereo attack. It was a repeat from earlier and would cost some points, but it was effective, and if anything was going to stop her from reaching the semi-finals, it was one big attack.

Which appeared as altaria levelled out over flat ground, needing to do so to give zorua an easier time dismounting, and immediately, the earth rose up at least fifteen feet, and dugtrio and cradily rode it.

It surged forward with the speed of a tidal wave, and despite altaria's best attempt, she could not get out of the soon enough. Zorua had flattened himself against the dragon's back, meaning both of them went down as Serena's flying Pokémon was clipped and swallowed by the avalanche.

There was an Earthquake to follow it up, and an Ancientpower as well, and then the attacks stopped to allow the dust to clear out.

Altaria wasn't knocked out yet, but she wasn't in flying order, and dugtrio vanished underground in a flash even as zorua was ruled out.

Serena chose to end on her terms, returning altaria before dugtrio could do more.

And honestly? That was a combination well-executed. Stupid that they fell into it in hindsight, but there was no use crying over spilt milk like that. She had learned that, and against a lauded opponent like hers, with two top four finishes in the last five years here in Kanto? She could live with that.

What was that saying again? It was the journey that mattered, not the result?

Her opponent – Lauren from Cinnabar – accepted the applause from the audience as she was declared the winner, but then gestured in her direction, bowing and proceeding to clap herself.

They were too far apart to speak, but the intent was clear. She deeply respected Serena's efforts. And that was all the Kalosian teen could ask for from an opponent.

Making it to the audience in time for the last quarter-final to start was hard, even taking into account that the field had to be fixed after the destruction. "Having to walk around makes no sense," she grumbled as she sat down next to Danny. "Could've just climbed over the wall."

"Would've been easier," Danny agreed, looking at her, Max leaning forward and trying to look past the broader teenager. "That was a close fight, and you were outdoing your opponent on points before that avalanche."

"Copycat did a –" Max started, but a roar of the crowd drowned his words out. He glared around, before noticing the arena, spotting the two next participants walking in probably, shrugging, and giving Serena a thumbs up.

She had an idea of what he wanted to say anyway.

Twenty minutes and a quick change of clothes in a toilet later, the three of them were outside in the heat again. There was a long break before the semi-finals, which took place late in the afternoon, meaning there was time for them to have some lunch before the boys would go back to Silver Town. "When are you coming over again?" Danny asked, not having been in on the discussion earlier: he'd been the one in line for the food while Max had waited for Serena to switch into her regular clothes.

"Couple days." She adjusted her grip on the chopsticks that had come with the boxes. The food was delicious, if not sweet enough for what she wanted. "Just want a day of peace and quiet, because xerneas knows I won't have one of those over there." They all laughed at that truth. "How's early on the seventh sound? I know that's a rest day for you, like today."

Danny deferred to Max, who nodded, waiting with his reply on account of food. "Sure," he said after swallowing. "Just call me on the Pokénav and I'll send xatu over." He seemed to think of something. "You okay sharing a room with Evan?"

She blinked, wondering what brought that question on. "I did that on Cinnabar and on the boat there. That was only a month ago." She cocked her head. "Didn't I tell you that?"

"Maybe it was just me?" Danny guessed as Serena tried to remember if she'd actually told Max. He hadn't been in the best of moods, understandably so, and maybe he'd just missed it. "I mean, I'm sure Evan will complain. About waking up before noon."

The two boys chuckled, and Serena smiled as best she could with food in her mouth. "He wasn't that bad in Cinnabar," Serena said innocently, before grinning wickedly. "Not after pulling the curtain on him on the first day."

That caused even more laughter, and if people looked at them funny, let them.

The rest of lunch passed in silence, apart from the potty mouth pre-teen actually calling – as the duo had told her he would. He had apparently won his Gym Battle, something that did cause Max to smile fondly as he answered the call.

"Oh, eh..." Danny said suddenly, just as Max ended the call. "Max? How do you think Evan and Chris are going to get along?"

"Chris?"

"Max's opponent after he lost his first match," Danny said, definitely still not happy with how that had gone down. Serena could imagine it very well. "Newbie. Think Hugo, before..." Tyranitar. "And really into Psychic-type Pokémon. Has more of 'em than Max. Really enthusiastic and outgoing, but I don't think he's going to be a good battler. Not wired like that. He's the hanger-on like Hugo was."

"Should be fine. Besides, Leagues is where you make new friends," Max said. "Ash did it all the time too. And neither of us really knew Jane – and we sorta knew Keith. Emphasis on the sorta. Then Ever Grande and the rest is history."

"Including them being boyfriend and girlfriend for fifteen months now?" Serena asked drily, and after a quick mental check, Danny's nod confirmed it. "It's pretty romantic how they travel together."

"I've told them before that they're quote nauseatingly in love end quote with each other," Max replied equally drily, before shaking his head. "Even their Pokémon are starting to tease them about it."

"Oh?" Serena and Danny chorused.

"Something Keith said last week. He and Jane had a 'kiss'," Max said, adding air quotes with tone and fingers both, "and when they came back to the Eterna Forest, some of their Pokémon were covering their eyes to not have to see it. Even leafeon was in on it." Max caught Serena's look of confusion before she could ask. "Keith found an eevee near Lumiose, and he was the shyest thing you could imagine. So if even he got in on it..."

Serena smiled, both at the mental image and at the happiness the two probably shared up in Sinnoh.

~~§~~§~~

Some things never changed, and Brock was one of them. He did smile when the video switched on, but opening his eyes? Nope. "It's good to see you again, Max," the Gym Leader said, standing behind an empty chair. "Evan's on the toilet, so we've got a bit." He scrutinised Max a bit more closely. "Finally growing a bit?"

"Dunno. Still about the same height as gardevoir, still way shorter than Danny over here."

"Well, he was nearly as tall as I am back in February," Brock said soothingly. "Anyway, your cousin won. With some tricks you had nothing to do with, I'm sure."

"Guilty as charged," Danny said from behind Max, proud of it. "Who'd he end up using?"

Before Brock could answer, Evan popped into view, grinning, even wider when he saw Max and Danny. "My eighth badge!" he said, holding his newly earned badge up to the camera to the point it blocked out the bottom half. "So now I'm all ready to watch you." He cocked his head. "How come you lost?"

"One part being distracted, one part terrible match-up, three parts stupidity," Max said honestly. "I got her back. And I know, Brock," he added quickly. "She was gloating about us not having a home and about easily beating me."

"You're at least growing up in temper," Brock said, and Max detected a hint of warning in it. "Keep an eye on him and call me if he does more of that. I've got a few tricks."

"Will do," Danny said cheerily.

Max didn't even bother turning around to glare. It was understood anyway, and he spent the time setting up the transfer to the other Center. "Is this payback for all those times?"

There was no misunderstanding that by Brock, but the adult didn't let it affect him. Outwardly. Brock always was the most level-headed of them. Outside of romance. "You know as well as I do that teenagers do stupid things, Max. Try to keep the stupid to something you won't regret later." He leant forward, releasing gardevoir and appraising the Pokémon quickly. "You've taken good care of your gardevoir. And he of you, no doubt."

"It's definitely mutual," Danny chimed in. "The two are made for each other."

"I had thought that you wouldn't go for one after..." Brock said, before being interrupted by something. Max would bet a good bit of money it was gardevoir revealing the relation between ralts and himself. "You know, that explains a lot."

"The only one Max'd go for. Except in like ten years when he's a Gym Leader and wants to train up some weaker Pokémon for the early challenges."

"Thinking about becoming a Gym Leader?" The Pewter Gym Leader seemed surprised, before shaking his head. "We'll talk later. Right now, I think you need to get back to Silver Town."

There was a small pause as Brock shook hands with Evan in goodbye, and then gardevoir returned to the Indigo Plateau, Friend Ball and pre-teen in tow. "Cheers Brock. Say hi to your family for me."

That would happen, and the call ended, with Evan dutifully handing over the pokéball a moment later. Gardevoir returned himself as well. "Why wouldn't he take us back to Silver Town?"

One ball was pressed onto the belt, and Max started walking, prompting the other two to follow. "Because people don't know I have one,' he explained, and he didn't need to turn around to know that Evan didn't follow. "All our match results are easy to find on the Silver Conference website. And it lists Pokémon we used before, in Kalos and Hoenn."

"Except they don't reveal some things," Danny chimed in as the automatic door opened for them. A wall of humid heat assaulted them; the contrast with the air conditioned Pokémon Center harsh. "Aron went all the way to aggron in Kalos. Until I revealed that, my profile said I had an aron."

Max remembered something he'd heard offhand, back in December at the Professor's. "They used to have access to all the Pokémon registered to someone, but people complained. So now it's just Pokémon you've used. And with how powerful he is…"

"A secret weapon?" Evan filled the deliberate pause. "Huh. Sure as shit hadn't thought of that."

"And now you know," Max said as he saw what he was looking for. "You want something to eat before we go?" he asked, stopping and pointing at the comparatively short queue. "It's going to be a lot busier in Silver Town."

Predictably, Evan wanted to gorge himself on food first, explaining exactly how he had defeated Brock while waiting and between bites. Only getting sauce over his clothing stopped his wide gesturing, much to the amusement of the two older boys, and that only increased when the pre-teen scowled at them.

~~§~~§~~

His cousin had gone for some training, leaving Evan with someone he barely knew, but who had been hanging around the older teenagers for a bit. He'd caught the name – Chris – where he was from – some place near Olivine, the exact name forgotten already – and that he had eight Pokémon, six of which were Psychic-types in one form or another.

"Max said you and I had a lot in common," Chris said, curls falling in front of his face as he tried to look over the crowd. It didn't work. "You like Psychic-types too?"

Evan laughed at the idea. "Nah," he said, and Chris looked confused. "I have Dark-types. A lot of them."

That got him a smile. "Dark-types are cool too. My sister likes 'em," Chris replied. "Which ones you have?"

"Poochyena, stunky, and pawniard are in the Center," Evan started, not able to keep the pride out of his voice, and the Johtoan teenager nodded in understanding. "Then there's murkrow, houndour, and absol. And a butterfree and tentacool."

"Absol?" Chris said, clearly excited. "Oh man, aren't they really rare and hard to catch? Where'd you get one? And isn't pawniard from Unova?"

Evan sat down on the stone barrier between path and grass nearby, and Chris followed. "An old man in Pewter wanted a jigglypuff for his granddaughter. He couldn't get one, so I went out to catch one. Took me three tries in two days. Bloody Fairy kept Singing me to sleep."

"How'd you catch one then?"

"Taste of its own medicine," Evan replied, standing up a little more straight and smirking. "Spotted one from far away, sent butterfree over for Sleep Powder. Didn't stand a fucking chance. Got back to Pewter, traded for pawniard a week ago, and got a badge today. Not bad, huh. And I'm only twelve-and-seven-months."

"No way. You look my age."

"How old are you, then?" Evan asked, taking a better look at his companion. He looked just like most of his classmates had at the end of last year: round face, smooth skin except for something that looked like he'd scratched open… Not even a hint of voice cracking. Honestly, Evan could believe it if Chris was around his age. Max had looked older at Uncle Norman and Aunt Caroline's anniversary, and Evan had an inch on him now.

Which made the answer a surprise. "Nearly thirteen and a half," Chris admitted, a hand in his hair. "Don't look it, I know. Everyone says that. Danny and Max got fooled by it too. Makes all my aunts want to hug me every time," he added.

Evan wasn't sure if Chris disliked it as much as he implied. Or maybe that was him spending too much time with his bloody cousin who thought about everything twice. "That's what aunts do. And most of them have disgusting perfume." Stunky smelled better than those.

"Lugia, they do. Ugh."

Something came over the announcer system – something about some toddler ending up lost. "Which Pokémon ya got?" Evan asked once he could hear himself again, standing up to find a better spot to sit at.

Right underneath the loudspeakers had been a fucking stupid idea.

"Staryu – that's my starter," Chris replied. "Drowzee, butterfree, girafarig, mime jr, natu, stantler, and spoink. Only caught that last week. Oh, and I guess machoke counts for half."

"Half?" Evan echoed. "How's that work?"

The reply had to wait because they had to weave around a large group of people taking pictures or something. "I caught machop and he evolved, but then my Dad broke his leg badly. Really badly," Chris emphasised. "Went back home, but Mum didn't want me around after a few weeks. She couldn't do everything that Dad did, though, so I left machoke to help out."

The thought of Chris having a machoke alongside all the Psychic-types was strange. But it was a cool thing to do. Family was important, Evan knew. "What's he helping with?"

"A lot of things. Dad did a lot of wood working at home, so machoke helps him with putting things together, carrying the wood… It's not heavy stuff, but Dad can't stay standing for too long." Both of them heard some commotion to their right, and they turned to see a pretty big crowd and a sign stating there was a magician. "Oh, cool! Let's go watch!"

~~§~~§~~

"Leave us," he commanded the staff that remained in his office. As one, they did, the ornate wooden door closing loudly behind them. "What is our status on Genesis?"

The man opposite: of his age, but tending towards bulk and muscles over lean sinew, spread his hands, palms up. "The largest hurdle has been cleared. Heard it straight from the wordsmith himself. Insertion and extraction has been arranged, and ongoing tests will allow us to make sure what the range is for a standard team with disruptor."

That was good news. "You maintain that the target is going to be within the reach of a standard team?"

"Provided the disruptor does its work, yes," was the confident answer. "We are mulling over expanding the team to deal with the protectors."

Of course they would. The former agent for one of Hoenn's intelligence services would be cautious about facing Pokémon such as those they were likely to encounter. And if the reports on the relationship between the targets and its protectors were right, then they were going to be dangerous to go up against. "The marginal cost of taking more is minimal." One hand tapped two fingers on the oaken desk. "But stealth becomes harder to maintain with every addition. Especially as your people will be moving against the flow."

"We can send out agents ahead of time. If done within the next few days, they will move with the flow once the Conference is over."

That idea had merit. "Acceded. Though I would not take more than double you originally proposed."

"Two for each, plus me."

That would do it. Though the personal involvement was peculiar. "Why expose yourself?"

"The amount of firepower we need to take necessitates tactical thinkers. I am one of the best strategical thinkers to complement them."

Put like that, and knowing that the man opposite him would be in control of the extraction Pokémon, it was enough to make him concede the point yet again. "I need not mention that being caught could undo most of what we have gained so far."

"The risk is worth the reward," was the expected answer. It was the man's motto; another legacy of his previous occupation before sliding into politics. "I shall come back before recess to finalise details."

The guest rose as the office's occupant remained seated for a moment longer, causing some hesitation. "Move agents in fast. With Drake soon to pass away, there will be a moment in which the eye of the dragon is not roving across his domain."

A silent nod and Raphael left, leaving only the Prime Minister of Hoenn in his office, and his hand drifted to the secret compartment in his desk; the one few knew about. With them, he could weather any storm.

~~§~~§~~

Wiping sweat from his brow, Danny was glad he'd bought the cloth bands to put around his wrists. The humid heat that had settled on Silver Town was terrible, and with Danny's match being around noon, it was late enough that the sun was out in full force, causing copious amounts of sweat to pour off of nearly everyone. It had been just bearable for Max's match five slots earlier, which was just as well for piloswine. Still, the well-insulated Pokémon had come off decidedly better than any of the opponents, which had been overwhelmed by exploding ice and ninjask playing blink-and-you'll-get-hit.

The poor sudowoodo hadn't got a single hit in all match.

Now, however, anyone sending out a Water-type or an Ice-type was at best handicapping themselves, and at worst hurting their Pokémon in the process. It was one of the reasons Danny was actually okay sending out litwick for this: the conditions perfect for creating heat shimmers that would cause just a bit of extra inaccuracy.

Adding gulpin was a case of checking the opponent's data and spotting that there he preferred more commonly trained types. A bunch of flyers, four Grass-types, and no Ground-types at all. Let alone more exotic things like Psychic or Steel-types. Sean seemed to be a fairly normal Trainer, and there was nothing wrong with that.

The machoke was new, and a small surprise, but not something that scared Danny anything. They learned Foresight, but had to get in close. Generally. Some of them knew Earthquake, and with a fearow on the field as well, that was a threat, but one that could be dealt with.

Litwick was pretty good at ensnaring the minds of others. As he did the moment the battle started.

Machoke was frozen by the enhanced Will-O-Wisp, and in the moments that it took the Fighting-type to lull itself out of the enchantment, a perfectly aimed globe of Sludge splashed upon its face. Some of it probably got in, if the spitting was any indication, but there was something else afoot. "Trick Room."

And the Fearow slid to a sudden halt; the momentum switch hell on its muscles. In the moments that it took to adjust itself to the exertion inversion field, litwick had started to build up a Fire Spin, with gulpin taking careful aim from just outside the field.

Fearow tried to go fast, but Trick Room dropped, leaving the bird a sitting duck for the attacks that were coming its way.

The Yawn connected first, before the Fire Spin came in to roast, and everyone else redirected their attention to machoke.

Who apparently knew Flamethrower. Gulpin felt a lick or two of flame; time the Fighting-type used to rush over the floor, and faint yellow flashes were visible as it did so. Thunderpunch, then. "Roll and distract."

Will-O-Wisp did the distracting, this time going in for a burn to stop the charging Fighting-type from chasing the moving gulpin as he rolled away, to the other end of the field.

Red washed over the arena, a Foresight connecting the cost of litwick pushing out a Confuse Ray in the direction of the fearow. Fire Spin had ended, and the fearow looked sizzled, but awake. Once the Ghost-type energy connected, it vaulted onto the ground, struggling to control unwilling wings.

Litwick's plan of stopping the machoke with a curtain of fire didn't work, though, and the muscular blue Pokémon tore through it, punching litwick hard with a regular fist, no attacks involved.

Danny's Ghost-type flew back at least twenty feet, landing roughly, but then gulpin came in, forcing the machoke to stop lest the surprisingly rapid Poison-type bowl it over.

But with that strike averted, there was a spare available in the form of a fearow that had just managed to shake off confusion and immediately got hit in the clawed feet by the Rollout move. Gulpin got entangled in the legs, ending the attack, but fearow went down with him, and in close quarters like that, the round green Pokémon did what came naturally, as blue-green flickered in the corner of Danny's eye.

One application of Poison Gas later, and the brown-ish Pokémon was hacking its lungs out. A wing did connect with gulpin, but that hit wasn't even bad. The Stomach Pokémon was fully clear of the fearow now, and without further ado, he started moving to the other fight going on.

Litwick was pretty close to being hit, having to Trick Room just to avoid a heavy punch by a foot or so, and after two applications on it, machoke probably was prepared for it, eager to assert its dominance in the one-on-one.

Too bad that Danny never intended on fighting like that. He saw gulpin ready a Sludge shot, and the path to knocking the brawler out became clear. "Split!" he ordered, swiping a wrist across his forehead.

Even as the Thunderpunch connected, tendrils of red flashed, chasing after the flying Ghost-type as he flew across the field. Machoke staggered, muscles suddenly not as willing as they had been before, and a cheap shot Sludge connected in the back of the knees, forcing it to the ground, a grunt visible in the way it exhaled.

Gulpin turned his attention to the fearow – who had finally made it back into the air, bruised, battered, and probably poisoned. It was looking for an attack run on the Poison-type, though, and Danny's Pokémon knew just how to prepare for that.

It didn't work the same as against ninjask: the heavier weight of the fearow making it a lot more resistant to the Yawn, but one Drill Peck was okay to take if it meant that Sean's Pokémon would end up grounded again, and gulpin could take it.

Meanwhile, machoke was returned after a Fire Spin knocked it out in the background.

Not to be outdone, gulpin started another Rollout, but before he could connect with the bird that was doing its best Evan-before-ten-am impression, Danny's opponent returned the Flying-type, forfeiting the match.

"Holy hell," the older teenager – fifteen, but otherwise of similar height and build to Danny – said as they met on the side; the audience giving them a berth to meet up. "So many tricks to stop my Pokémon. Man, that was tough. And they said you like defending."

Danny smiled, accepting the implied compliment. "Defending isn't waiting and taking punches. It's also diverting, countering, and choosing your battles," he said. "Machoke and fearow will take out litwick fast if they connect too much. But when you can take half of your team out for a few moments every time… It adds up. Who's your opponent now?"

"Rematch. Was a tough battle yesterday, but I'm not out yet," Sean said, combative words ruined by the need to wipe sweat out of his eyes. Danny had done that earlier, and dumped half a bottle of water on his head too. "What was that trick at the start? It looked like Will-O-Wisp, but machoke froze?"

"A litwick trick." At least, that's what their checking had found out. Other Pokémon that learned both Confuse Ray and Will-O-Wisp could do it, but half the time it was talked about, it was the litwick line. Surprisingly, though, the forest in Johto didn't show up at all in there as far as they had seen. "There's a bit of Confuse Ray in there and somehow it ends up entrancing the opponent."

"Huh. Gotta check that out," Sean said, before holding out his hand. "Good battle though. Good luck in the next round!"

Danny wished him the same and started to look around for the others. He found only two of them. "Max went off to get lunch?" he asked as Evan and Chris joined him. They immediately started moving in the direction of the food court. "Or ice cream? Could do with that for lunch."

"That sounds great," Chris said, clearly already imagining it. "Anything to cool down. It's stupid warm."

"Shouldn't have worn a dark shirt, doofus," Evan shot back, proving to Danny that he'd accepted the Johtoan as a friend. "You maybe shoulda, Danny."

The wet patches in the armpits were pretty sizeable, and there was water near the collar from the bottle earlier. "We're all trainers here, and I don't have sleeveless stuff." It was the first time he'd had this happen too, but the day was shattering heat records and he was a growing teen. "You'll get this soon enough."

"Growing up sometimes fucking sucks."

"But showers feel better when it's this warm," Chris chimed in, and the two younger Trainers quibbled as the trio searched for and found Max, who had lunch and transportation to a cooler place – the nearby forest, where a lot of the sun was blocked by leaf cover – ready for all of them.

~~§~~§~~

Gary found himself reluctantly impressed with the interior of the Prism Tower. A Gym Arena on one of the lower floors, living quarters, and a relaxation room two floors up from that, and observation platforms open to the public above those. Very efficient use of space, and that still left one floor unaccounted for – the one that they were descending to. "Lemme guess. Workshop?"

"Workshop and bathroom," the teenage Gym Leader corrected as the lift stopped. "Guess it was kinda obvious."

Not everyone got himself in various robotics magazines by the age of fifteen. Gary had done a little reading on Clemont, especially after the request to go here had come in through high-up channels. "And we're not overheard here?"

A grey Pokémon emerged from the clutter, hovering in place. "Been having magnezone sweep for devices every day," Clemont answered, taking the lead to a far corner of the space. "Diantha told me how sensitive this could be." He stopped at something that wouldn't look out of place in a kitchen, except it was too big to be a food processor, coming up to Gary's midriff. "I've had this running for about an hour now. Adjusted the range so that it'll only make Water Pokémon directly below us look around for some awkward noise, but couldn't do it lower than that. Energy conversion lower boundaries, probably." He pressed a switch, and soft whirring that Gary hadn't really noticed stopped. "Let's see."

As the Gym Leader took care to take out the Gem with a pair of tongs, Gary took a wooden box from an inner pocket. Within it a Psychic Gem lay, cracked and inert, faded and fragile-looking. Luckily, it hadn't been used up enough to start disintegrating yet, but it was close.

And what he saw in the blue Water Gem was the early stages of something similar. The pattern of hairline fractures, the slight fog to the normal vibrant deep blue… "That looks similar," he remarked.

"Yeah, very similar," Clemont agreed softly, seemingly understanding fully what this meant. "And I'm willing to bet turning the effect up would lead to my Gem looking like yours. What did that one do again?"

"Probably disable Psychic-type Pokémon for some duration," Gary answered evasively, thinking if he could trust the Gym Leader with a bit more knowledge, but opting against it. "I was warned to not send out any of them within range of the machine."

"You know more than you're saying," Clemont observed sharply as he put the Gem and tongs down, before sitting down on the floor. Gary stayed put for a moment longer, then joined. "A machine like this can't control Pokémon like in Hoenn. You need something to amplify the signal. Which is harder than you think."

"Spare me the details," Gary replied, but then he paused. "Actually… How would you amplify it? Is there some kind of trick to it?"

The light in the other teenager's eyes told him that the Gym Leader didn't often have the chance to talk science. "Think of the signal as just a sound. There's a range to the signal and you can't hear it from far away because it'll be too soft. But at its base level, sound has a couple of properties that you can change," Clemont started explaining. "You can modulate the amplitude and the frequency. Or as people generally know it: AM and FM. Radio signals."

"Radio signals." There was something that nagged at his brain, which Gary filed away for later. Something he had read tangentially. "Wouldn't they be noticed? Because they'd get in the way of radio stations?"

The shake was answer enough. "Radio stations don't use all of the bandwidth. They can sneak in around the sides. Or entirely off the band. That's why it's harder. Can't just slap an antenna onto a machine and it'll become more powerful. Unlike what some people think."

"So it's undetectable?"

"No," Clemont answered. "Just need to create something that picks up on radio waves off the regular beaten path. That's a bit out of my expertise, though."

Gramps probably would know someone more suited for it, and honestly, the amount of relevant information that had come Gary's way in the last two minutes had been immense already; well worth the trip to Kalos in the first place. And probably more important than the conference he was ostensibly here for anyway. "Can't be an expert on everything," he said, shrugging. "If you had a guess which kind of radio signal they would use, what would it be?"

"For what's going on? AM signals have a long range, but are easily disrupted by something like a thunderstorm. Or powerful Electric-types. And the range comes at the cost of signal strength in the first place," Clemont said, shrugging as well. "Can't say for sure, but FM sounds a lot more likely to me."

And if Gary read between the lines, also harder to disrupt. Logical, but annoying nevertheless. He preferred incompetence in enemies. "You got me convinced alright. And thanks for telling me. I know it's..."

"It's far away," Clemont interjected, unease written over his face. "Kalos owes Hoenn a debt. Or four teenagers, maybe. And I count two of them as my friends."

The unsaid was clear as day. The blond seemed pretty introverted, and while Gary knew there wasn't enough common ground for the two of them to become friends in a few meetings, he could see the two teenagers from Petalburg getting on with Clemont like a Gym on fire. "I know they're using the Oak Lab as intermediary stop for letters," he said, deciding to leave it at that. "And thanks for all the information. If you have more of it..."

"I'll tell Diantha," Clemont answered. "Was that all?"

"Just the battle," Gary replied, smirking and being thoroughly unsurprised by the visible shift in emotions of the overall-wearing Gym Leader, who went from nerdy insecure teen to veteran Trainer in nought point three. "Gotta keep my Pokémon in shape somehow."

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Following public disagreement with the government and mediation by politicians and Terry of the Elite Four, Phoebe, Master Ghost-type Trainer, today announced that she would stand down as a member of Hoenn's Elite Four effective immediately. In her brief statement, she cited irreconcilable differences of opinion on how the government has been dealing with the ongoing Pokémon attacks.

Author's Note: And we're back, with some business as usual. Some League stuff, some other stuff, and slowly getting the band all together for a nice party. Also including the obligatory League!Friend, because what is a League without one.