"Olivine City," Ash announced unnecessarily, looking around. "It looks different to last time."

"Last time I bet you crossed the entire city in a minute," Misty pointed out. "You were going kind of fast."

Ash nodded. "Well, that was the time before last, technically, but point taken. Last time I was too busy panicking."

Brock smiled. "I guess that makes sense. So, where first?"

Ash gave him a look. "Do you even need to ask?"

The Pewter man held up his hands. "Sorry, sorry. Of course it's the Gym."

Ash frowned. "No? The Lighthouse."

Misty snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right! That Ampharos!"

"At least you remember, Misty," Ash said, smiling at Brock to remove the sting. "Right, let's go!"

As they set off for the lighthouse, they missed a couple of people on the street corner. One of them pointed at the group, and the other blinked, looked closer, and nodded.


Ash knocked on the door.

"Hello?" came the voice from inside. "Is that you, Janina? Remember I said you should-"

"It's not her," Ash interrupted. "I was looking for Jasmine? The Gym Leader?"

"Sorry, I'm not taking challenges at the moment," Jasmine told him. "Come back later, please."

"No, I don't want to challenge – well, not right away," Ash clarified. "I wanted to help with whatever was giving you trouble with doing challenges."

There was a pause. Then the door clicked open.

"Who – oh!" Jasmine seemed a little surprised. "You're Ash Ketchum, right?"

Ash nodded. "That's me. You know me?"

"The others mentioned you," Jasmine explained. "Falkner was impressed, Bugsy sounded a bit scared, all I got from Whitney was a five minute rant about her poor gym and Morty honestly sounded worse than since we did our challenges against the Elite Four."

Seeing Ash's look of confusion, she shrugged. "We did ours at about the same time, so we keep in touch. Agatha took a shine to him... anyway, you said you could help?"

"That's right," Ash confirmed. "Or – I want to help. What's the problem, anyway?"

Jasmine stepped back from the door, letting him into the main room.

"This is my Ampharos, Sparkle," she explained. "He's quite ill."

The Ampharos muttered something – Ash couldn't quite make it out.

"Oh, that's right – sorry," Jasmine winced. "I renamed him when he evolved, but it's still hard to get used to the name. Amphy, that's right."

"Got it," Ash nodded.

Pikachu hopped down off Ash's shoulder, and walked curiously over to Amphy. "I'd ask how you're feeling, but the answer's obvious. So... what's the problem, I guess?"

"Don't know," Amphy said, hissing slightly in pain as he breathed. "Everything hurts."

"Can I have a look?" Brock asked from the door.

Gaining admittance, he examined Amphy for a few minutes.

"I spoke to the doctors here," Jasmine volunteered. "They weren't sure what the illness was, but there's a pharmacy in Cianwood who do something they said would help."

"Can you lift your tongue up, please?" Brock asked, and Amphy complied. "Right... okay, let's see..."

He stood, shrugging. "I'm not sure what he's got, but I know something that would help with the worst of the symptoms. I think there's some in my bag..."

"Thank you," Jasmine said, as Brock rummaged. "It's terrible watching him like this."

"Where's the pharmacy?" Ash asked. "I could go and pick the medicine up, I've got some fast Pokémon."

"You could?" Jasmine smiled. "That would be lovely, thanks – oh, here."

She rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a Mineral Badge.

"It's the one I use for identification," she told him. "Show them that and they'll know I sent you, so they'll send me the bill."

Ash grinned. "Got it! I'll be back..."

He glanced at the clock.

"...how far is Cianwood City?"

"About forty miles away."

"Oh." Ash counted in his head. "Lunch, easily."

Jasmine blinked. "How fast are your Pokémon?"

"He's not exaggerating," Misty told her.


Out in the antechamber, Ash released some of his Pokémon.

"Who do you think I should take?" he asked. "I mean – Pidgeot's the easy answer, but-"

Keldeo grimaced. "I'm still not able to stay stable for more than a minute," he told Ash. "It'd be really cool, but I don't think I can carry you that far."

Suicune, by contrast, looked interested. "I think I could give it a go. I don't think I've ever carried a rider that far, but I know I can."

Ash glanced at Pidgeot for approval, and she shrugged. "I know I can, but if Suicune doesn't then she should try. I can fly alongside just in case, and I know you can swim."

"That's right," Ash confirmed. "Good idea. Okay, we'll do that then."


Ash opened the door of the lighthouse.

"Uh..." he blinked at the small but respectable crowd outside. "Hi?"

"Are you Ash Ketchum?" someone asked.

"Yeah," Ash confirmed.

"Did you come through here earlier this week?" someone else said, jumping into the conversation.

"With Suicune!" another member of the crowd added. "My sister said she saw-"

"That's so cool-"

"How could he-"

Ash tried to think how to react, as the crowd bubbled with excitement and started asking more questions.

"That's torn it," Pikachu muttered, from his shoulder.

"Excuse me!" Ash said loudly.

The hubbub mostly died down.

"Thanks. Now – sorry, but I'm busy, and I've got to help a sick Pokémon."

"You're helping Sparkle?" someone said. "That's so nice!"

"Isn't he called Amphy now?"

"I didn't hear that-"

"Do you have Suicune?"

Ash took a deep breath. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I caught Suicune. Two days ago."

There was a moment of silence.

Then the questions started up again.

"Please!" Ash implored. "Sorry, but I've got things to do. You'll all see her, I guess – but remember, I mainly want to get this done. I didn't expect to have crowds after me."

"You probably should have," Pikachu pointed out. "You healed Suicune in a major city Pokémon centre."

"I know, okay?" Ash replied. "I wasn't thinking."


With some effort, he made his way through the crowd and down to the waterfront.

"Sorry about this," he said to the Fast Ball as he unclipped it. "If you don't want to, just don't come out."

The 'ball promptly flashed and opened.

"I expected it would happen some time," Suicune admitted, as the crowd went absolutely silent. "Really, Ash, I don't mind. From what you've said, you've reached the threshold that most competent criminals don't bother coming after you."

"Thanks, Suicune," Ash said with a smile. "Okay, let's go. You know where Cianwood is?"

"I do," Suicune confirmed. "Climb on – let's give them a show!"

Ash sent out Pidgeot, who circled once and turned to hover into the wind – wings beating with a serene tempo to keep her aloft and stationary. That done, he stepped up to the blue Legendary and swung aboard.

"Okay," he said, and grinned. "Suicune – use Surf!"

"You don't have to ask me twice."

Suicune walked forwards, on the small waves making it through the breakwater, and then settled down to an easy gait.

That done, she began to speed up. At first it was slight, then it built up, until she was flying across the water in a plume of rainbow-coloured spray with Pidgeot matching her pace overhead.

Passing the breakwater, Suicune began to encounter larger waves. This hampered her not a whit, as she began changing the tempo of her loping run to hop between wave crests – each land-crouch-spring producing its own splash of white spray behind her, whipped by the following wind.

Clear of the harbour, she curved around a boat, and then made her course for Cianwood.


Flecks of spray beat in Ash's face, and he held up an arm against the slightly salty water.

"Wow!" he said, chuckling. "How fast are we going?"

"About a hundred and twenty miles an hour, I think," Suicune told him. "Not especially fast."

"Downright arthritic, compared to me!" Pidgeot said from overhead.

"Huh, really?" Ash asked. "It feels much faster."

"It's because we're closer to the water," Pikachu suggested. "I feel more like we're flying really, really low than running fast across the water."

"Yeah, but – I mean, I've gone faster than this on land, I know I have," Ash replied. He shook his head. "Whatever – this is amazing!"

Suicune's reply was to ramp up the speed slightly, and Pidgeot fell momentarily behind before coming back up alongside.

"Oh – Suicune?" Ash asked. "Can you do something about the spray?"

"Sorry, forgot." The spray instantly stopped hitting Ash, and Suicune turned her head slightly to look back at him. "There – that should be diverting it out either side. Is that better?"

"Much, thanks." Ash squinted. "Hey, look, an island ahead!"

"We're about halfway," Pidgeot informed them, and gained height shockingly fast. One moment she was there, the next she soared up and away.

A few seconds as a dot of pale brown, and she came zooming back. "Yes, it's as I remembered. About another ten minutes, at this speed."

Suicune glanced up. "Thanks for the update."

"Pleasure."


Ash arrived in Cianwood City in style.


"Thanks, Suicune," he said, feet crunching on the beach as he got off her back. "Want to do the return trip too?"

Suicune shrugged. "If Pidgeot wants it, let her."

"That'd be nice," Pidgeot admitted, flaring her wings and alighting next to them. "That wasn't really much of a chance to stretch my wings, you're far too slow."

"I can do faster," Suicune replied, smiling.

"Okay, I'm sure you're both fast," Ash chuckled, and called them back. "Right, I'll go and get that potion. Where's the Pharmacy..."


"What's the problem you need cured?" the pharmacist asked, a little tersely. "Come on, I've not got all day..."

"Uh – actually, I'm not quite sure," Ash admitted. "It's the Ampharos who runs the lighthouse in Olivine City – Amphy."

"I thought he was called Sparkle?" the pharmacist said, frowning. "Oh, guess it doesn't matter. Right... yeah, that is a problem, if he's ill."

"Jasmine called it the..." Ash thought. "Secret potion?"

"Oh- oh. Right. That." The man behind the counter glanced up, making sure there was no-one about to come in, and reached under the counter.

He produced a small bag of red pills, placing it on the polished wood. "There," he said. "That's the secret potion."

Ash glanced at Pikachu, who shrugged.

"Uh... how's that a potion?"

"That's the secret," the man told him. "Okay, it's a terrible joke, but that's really the reason I originally called it a potion – people don't realize it's the pills. It's made with the same active ingredient as a Full Restore, just about ten times as strong. Very valuable."

He clapped his hands. "So! The question of payment?"

Ash reached into his pocket, and took out the special Mineral Badge. "Jasmine gave me this to let you know it was her who you should charge it to."

"Right, thanks." The pharmacist took the badge, held it under a scanner, and nodded at the bip noise. "Pleasure doing business with you – and her."

Ash nodded, taking the small bag of pills, and retrieving the Mineral Badge. "Thanks!"


"Oh, thank you so much!" Jasmine said, smiling. She took one of the pills, and held it out to Amphy. "Here you go – sorry about the taste."

Amphy took the pill, and swallowed it down. He looked a bit surprised. "That... wasn't bad, actually..."

Jasmine got the gist. She sniffed. "Huh. Strawberry?"

Brock chuckled. "I suppose it doesn't hurt to make them taste nice."

The Steel-type gym leader put them on the table next to Amphy's bed, and shook Ash's hand. "Thank you again – hold on, I think I've got one of the normal Mineral badges somewhere-"

"No thanks," Ash said, shaking his head. "I want to earn my badges the battling way."

"Oh, okay." Jasmine blinked. "But – I'm not sure how I can thank you, then. I mean, I could give you first priority, but I'm not sure how long it'll be before Amphy is well enough I could feel confident leaving him – so that might mean making you wait a few days or even a week..."

"Really, it's no problem!" Ash assured her. "I was going to battle the Cianwood gym as well, so I can do that one and come back when you're ready."

Jasmine shook her head. "Morty said you were strange, I didn't realize he meant like this... well, thanks again, then. And I'll be sure to make your battle as impressive as possible."

"I look forward to it!" Ash told her.


"Right, what now?" Ash asked. "Should we just head over to battle the Cianwood Gym?"

"Perhaps," Misty said, frowning. "But I heard about something in this town – the Battle Tower. Perhaps we should see what it's like."

"Sounds good to me," Ash agreed.


The Battle Tower turned out to be a lot like an office block.

"You need badges to get in," the guards on the door said, being the main difference from an office block on the outside.

Brock held up a Boulderbadge.

Misty held up a Cascadebadge.

Ash fiddled with the lock on his Badge case. "How many do you need? I've got about eighteen, but only sixteen of them are official and only four are Johto-"

"That'll be fine," they interrupted. "Pass."


"This is a pretty neat place, actually," Brock observed, looking around the lobby. "Hey, look, a coat of arms!"

He squinted. (It was hard to tell.)

"What does Nil Sine Pokémon mean?"

Ash shrugged. "Not sure. Excuse me?"

One of the receptionists looked up. "Yes?"

"How does this work?"

"We're a centre for competitive battling," she explained. "Are you intending to register?"

"Don't know yet," Ash admitted.

"Right. Well, it's possible to have a couple of kinds of battles – basically pickup battles – without registering, but if you want the newsletter and other resources we offer then registering is recommended."

Ash nodded. "Can you set up a pickup battle, then?"

"Certainly." She tapped on the computer. "What tier do you want to be at?"

That was a new one to Ash. "Tier?"

"There's five broad tiers, they're based on usage and on the power of the Pokémon in them. Pokémon in higher tiers than the tier of the battle aren't allowed, mainly to make it all fairer – otherwise anyone who came with a top-tier Pokémon would win." She rummaged around for a bit, and passed over a booklet. "These are the current tiers. We also have rules for preventing what we call Endless Battles, and we ban some of the really obnoxious other properties like the Moody ability."

Ash sniggered at her tone of voice on the last part. "Did Whitney show up here?"

"That stupid Bidoof of hers..." the other receptionist sighed. "Yeah, that's what got the ability banned."

Still chuckling, Ash opened the booklet at the Uber list. His expression changed. "Why are half of these legendary Pokémon?"

"Can never be too careful," the receptionist told him seriously. "After all, if we didn't make it explicit, someone might show up with a team made of Ho-Oh, Mewtwo and Lugia, and that just wouldn't be fair..."

Misty made a strangled sound of laughter.

"Yeah, but-" Ash turned the page, then flipped back again and started counting. "There's only two Pokémon on here who aren't Legendary! What's so bad about Blaziken and Excadrill?"

The receptionist gave him a serious look. "Speed Boost Blaziken with Flare Blitz are no laughing matter."

Ash remembered Harrison's Blaziken from the Silver conference, who'd fought on par with Charizard in the air and ultimately knocked him out. "...okay, fair point."

"So, any thoughts?" she resumed.

Ash flipped through. "What's Little Cup?"

"Only allowed to Pokémon in their first stage who can evolve at least once," she told him. "Used to be freshly hatched, but the logistics of that were impossible."

"Huh. I guess I might do that."

Pikachu perked up. "Does that mean me?"

"No, you were a Pichu," Ash reminded him.

"You can't prove that." Pikachu turned away with a huff.

"I was actually thinking of Houndour, Totodile and Squirtle," Ash resumed.

He then blinked. "Wait – why is Articuno in the Never Used tier? It's a Legendary Pokémon!"

The receptionist blinked. "Actually... I don't know..."


"Okay, guys," Ash said, looking between the three Pokémon. "You know what we're doing here?"

"Yeah!" Squirtle said, nodding enthusiastically. "An awesome fight of awesome!"

Ash chuckled. "Okay, Houndour, your job is to handle any Grass-types, as well as whatever else shows up which Squirtle and Totodile can't beat."

Houndour's tail wagged. "I'll do the best I can."

"Totodile, I'll be sending you in first. Sorry, but..." he shrugged.

"I'll be fine!" Totodile said with a smile. "This'll be great fun!"

"Good to know." Ash reached down and scratched Houndour under the chin, then gave Totodile a quick hug. "Good luck, guys, and let's go!"


"Welcome!" the referee said. "This will be a three-on-three Little Cup match! If a Pokémon evolves, then congratulations but they must be removed from the battle. The banlist applies."

"Not a problem," Ash's opponent said. "Oh, hey, aren't you Ash Ketchum?"

"Yeah, that's me," Ash nodded. "What's your name?"

"I'm Blake," the heavyset man informed him. "Not as famous as you, I guess, but everyone's important in their way. Shall we get this goin'?"

"Sure!" Ash replied.

"On the count of three," the referee said. "One. Two. Three!"

"Totodile!" Ash called.

"Bronzor!"

"Totodile, you know what to do!" Ash called.

"Yep! Whee!" Totodile jumped into the air, boosting with Aqua Jet, and then came down towards Bronzor with his jaws ready for a Bite.

"Stealth Rock!" Blake ordered.

His Bronzor spun, producing a shower of glowing balls of light. As Totodile hit, his powerful jaws snapping home on the bronzed metal of his opponent, the balls hit the ground and solidified into large rocks.

"Great..." Ash winced. "Keep it up, Totodile!"

"Flash cannon!" Blake said.

"Whoa – Totodile, look out!" Ash said.

Totodile glanced back at Ash. "Eh?" he said, voice a bit muffled, then got blasted backwards by the Flash Cannon.

The reptilian Pokémon went flying through the air, shook his head as he fell, and used a burst of water straight down to prevent himself hitting the ground too hard.

"Okay, that hurts!" he said, rubbing his jaw. "Let's try this – Hydro Pump!"

A high-pressure blast of water hit Bronzor, sending it clanging off the far wall.

"That's a powerful move for such a little Pokémon," Blake commented, as Bronzor spun out of the stream and started moving around, avoiding the attack now. "Bronzor – use Hypnosis!"

"Close your eyes, Totodile!" Ash said quickly. "I'll tell you where to aim!"

Totodile nodded, eyes screwed shut, and started blasting randomly.

"Left a bit!" Ash said. "Now – right! Right a bit – straight up!"

Water went everywhere, as Ash tried to steer Totodile's water jets onto Bronzor. For its part, the Steel/Psychic type kept using Hypnosis, trying to either get Totodile with it if his guard fell, or – more likely – simply tire him out.

"This isn't working," Ash said eventually. "Okay, Totodile, stop for now."

The Water-type obediently did so, panting. "Did I get him?"

"Once," Ash replied. "But not really enough... okay. New plan."

He took a Pokéball, and whispered to it. "Sorry about this, Houndour – watch out for the rocks."

Then he returned Totodile and sent out Houndour in the same motion.


Houndour landed on the arena floor, crouched, and managed to dodge the first Stealth Rock. The second caught him a glancing blow, and he winced before leaping off a third and over the fourth. The last one, he hit straight on with a Faint Attack, spalling off some fragments and also knocking him backwards.

"I now hate that move," he said, landing again.

"Oh, nice," Blake commented. "Dark and Fire type, pretty good choice. Come back, Bronzor!"

"Oh no you don't!" Houndour snapped, leaping forwards. "Pursuit!"

The powerful blow didn't knock Bronzor out, but it did produce quite a loud clang. Then it was back in its Pokéball, and Blake sent his second out.

"Oh, hey," Misty said, interested. "Where'd you get the Omanyte?"

"There's a load of them unfrozen recently near the Ruins of Alph," Blake informed her. "Right – Omanyte, Hydro Pump!"

Houndour yelped, and jumped out of the way as the blast of water came in. Some of it hit his leg, battering him off-course, and he landed hard.

Growling, he split off two body-double images.

"Halt!" the referee said. "Double Team is a banned move!"

"This isn't Double Team," Houndour said promptly.

"He says it's not Double Team," Ash supplied.

The referee looked a little confused. "What is it, then?"

"If it's not a banned move, can we get back to the battle?" Ash checked. "Because there's a bit of an element of strategy here..."

The referee frowned. "Fine, but this is your only warning – if double team or minimize are used, then the Pokémon must immediately forfeit."

"Right – as I was saying," Houndour resumed. "Beat Up!"

Omanyte was surprised to say the least when the images turned into shadow-clones of a Keldeo and a Suicune, and proceeded to hit him very hard indeed.

"Huh," Blake said, blinking, as his Omanyte rolled to a stop and slowly got back up again. "That ain't something you normally see... Ancientpower!"

Houndour managed to dodge the rock. "What is it with the rocks?"

The follow-up shower of spikes, though, knocked him out of the fight.


Ash thought quickly. If he sent out Totodile, then Blake would just switch right back to Bronzor – which would put it all back to how they'd started.

There was only one option.

"Squirtle!"

"Oh, yeah!" Squirtle said, erupting into the air. He tucked his limbs into his shell just as the Stealth Rocks came in, then released a huge blast of water which blocked them all and sent them flying away again.

"No mere rock can stop my emergence! I'm the badass Squirtle you've all heard about!" he announced, landing on the floor of the arena with a thump and readying his glasses.

"Two water-types, kid?" Blake said, a bit surprised. "I thought you'd have a Grass-type or something..."

"They all evolved," Ash said with a shrug.

"Huh. Well – Omanyte, use Toxic Spikes!"

"Toxins don't evaporate my raging torrent!" Squirtle called, jumping out of the way. "Take this, shellface! Hydro-"

"Isn't the face the only bit which isn't shell?" Ash interrupted.

Squirtle threw him an annoyed look.

"Hey, I'm just saying!" Ash protested. "Besides, you've got a shell too-"

"I don't have to listen to any more of this!" Squirtle announced.

While they'd been talking, the Omanyte had layered a total of two layers of toxic spikes and three of regular spikes, leaving the area Squirtle was standing as about the only area not covered in spiky traps.

"That's enough setup!" Blake said. "Now, use Hidden Power!"

Omanyte's tentacles waved around, and energy began to glow on their tips.

"The largest Pokémon in the world live in the sea! That's because it's the only place with enough water to contain their awesome! Hydro Cannon!" Squirtle shouted, and fired his Water-type blast.

The Omanyte retaliated with a salvo of Hidden Power orbs, which shotgunned the area Squirtle was standing.

"How does that work?" Blake asked, as the Hydro Cannon connected in a colossal blast of water which splashed his clothes. "I thought little Squirtle couldn't learn that attack!"

Ash winced. "I make it a point never to tell Squirtle something's impossible, he takes it as a challenge."

For his part, Squirtle hadn't had it all his own way. Just before connecting the shower of orbs had crackled with electricity, and he'd been unable to dodge all of them.

Panting, he stepped forwards – away from the crater his recoil had made in the wall – and stared fixedly at the dripping wet ammonite on the other side of the battlefield.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" he panted, pulling a Spike from his right leg.

Omanyte fired another salvo of Hidden Power orbs.

"I refuse to be beaten by something so old and out of date!" Squirtle announced, withdrawing his limbs into his shell. "Gurren Lagann – spin on!"

Water gushed from the holes, shooting him into the air and away from the Electric attack, and then began to make him rotate.

Slowly at first, but rapidly getting faster and faster.

"Who the hell do you think I am?" Squirtle shouted, rotating now with so much speed he was drawing in a small tornado of air. "With every turn, I make my mark! With every enemy, I become stronger! That's why I'm the badass-"

"Just attack already!" Ash snapped.

"Ultimate rapid-spin attack!"

Squirtle didn't actually hit Omanyte very hard.

The huge number of spikes, toxic spikes and rocks which were whipped along with the storm, however, were a different story.

When Squirtle hit the ground, breathing heavily, his opponent was buried in every single trap that had been set up for the whole battle so far.

"...well, guess he's out of it," Blake shrugged. "Oh well. Dwebble!"

Squirtle blinked at the Bug-type. "Seriously?"

"Shell smash!"

Dwebble started to glow – very brightly – and his shell splintered. He then aimed a Rock Blast at Squirtle.

"Gah!" Squirtle jumped out of the way of a high-speed rock, and then a second one hit him. "Ow! Take this – my burning soul in one attack! Scald!"

A jet of high-pressure water shot out, hitting Dwebble. The little hermit crab skidded backwards from the force, then made a gesture with his claws.

The rocks from the earlier Stealth Rock all rose out of the pile, glowed briefly, and avalanched towards Squirtle as Dwebble used Stone Edge.

Squirtle's reply to that was to draw his glasses off his face and use them to block. He actually cut the first rock in half, but the second one caught him before he'd managed to recover his stance and he went down.


Ash winced. "Okay, Totodile, back to you!"

Totodile leapt onto the field. "Hydro Pump!"

The torrent of water slammed into the already-weakened Dwebble. Totodile's aim still wasn't perfect, so the bug managed to avoid some of the blast, but it was staggering when the attack ran its course.

"Don't give him time to recover!" Ash said.

Totodile nodded, jumping forwards and using Aqua Jet to get a better trajectory. "Take this!"

Dwebble fired a rock upwards, starting off another Rock Blast, and Totodile was unable to dodge it. Instead, however, he smashed through it – a blue glow outlining his body as he did.

Perhaps for this reason, he hit Dwebble hard enough to knock him at least an inch into the floor, and out for the count.


"Hey, nice!" Ash said. "Totodile, that was Superpower!"

"Does that make me a superhero?" Totodile asked curiously.

Ash shrugged.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Blake said. "Guess your Water-types are tough, Ash – even the little ones. But I kind of think that Totodile's still going to have problems with Bronzor!"

The Steel/Psychic type emerged back onto the battlefield.

"Hypnosis!" Blake ordered.

Totodile closed his eyes, recognizing what to do in this situation. "Ash?" he asked. "What do I do now?"

As he spoke, Bronzor fired another Flash Cannon at him.

"Jump!" Ash said, and Totodile managed to get out of the way just before he got hit.

Ash racked his brains. How to avoid Totodile being Flash Cannoned to bits...

"Aha!" he said. "There's a rock to your left! Can you pick it up?"

Totodile ran over as soon as he landed, and didn't quite stop before he hit the rock. Shaking his head to clear it, he picked the former Stealth Rock off the ground – the faint glow of Superpower outlining his body.

"Good!" Ash told him. "Now, use it as a shield to keep him from using Hypnosis!"

Totodile nodded, holding the rock up in about the direction he thought the Bronzor was.

"Flash Cannon again!" Blake ordered.

Totodile took a deep breath, adjusting his makeshift shield, and then fired a Hydro Pump just as he heard the Flash Cannon fire.

The rock shield burst into fragments under the force of the Steel-type attack, but then Totodile's jet of high-pressure water tracked across the room and hit Bronzor – dead on.

With a clang, Bronzor bounced off the wall at speed. As it came spinning back towards Totodile, he jumped into the air and chomped down with another Bite.

Bronzor struggled, trying to get out, then went inert.

"Huh," Blake said, withdrawing his Pokémon. "Guess you win, kid – I can see how you did as well as you did!"

Totodile jumped up and down. "I won! Huzzah!"

"You sure did, Totodile," Ash affirmed, scooping him up and embracing him. "That was really clever of you!"

"Thanks!" Totodile said, beaming. "I thought – hey, if I've got the shield then I don't need to close my eyes, and if he's blowing up the shield then he's not using Hypnosis so I can hit him with Hydro Pump!"

"Good thinking, Totodile," Ash smiled.


"That didn't go too badly, I thought," Ash said, as he left. "I mean, they have kind of strange rules, but – yeah, not bad at all."

Dexter rang.

Ash reached into his pocket, and pulled out the earpiece. "Hi, Ash here-"

"Ash!" May shouted, making him jump.

"May?" he said, partly in surprise but also to let his friends know who it was. "What is it?"

"When were you going to let us know you caught Suicune?" May asked. "We saw you on the news! Riding Suicune into Olivine harbour! There was news footage and everything!"

Ash blinked. "...oh, yeah, sorry – slipped my mind. Within minutes of catching her I was trying to prevent someone from changing history using a Celebi, so I was kind of distracted."

"You were?" Max's voice cut in. "What were you – is that why there's suddenly a Fairy type?"

"...yes," Ash said, simplifying considerably. "I'll tell you guys the full story later..."

"You'd better," Max said seriously. "I failed a test because I didn't know the properties of the Fairy-type, so it better be a good reason!"

May cut back in. "How did you catch a Legendary Pokémon, Ash?"

"She challenged me," Ash told her. "So did Entei and Raikou, actually. All the others volunteered to be caught without a fight."

"Others?" May asked, now really confused.

Ash sighed. "This could take a while..."


AN:

Olivine City!

Three things to really note here. First is the Amphy/Sparkle thing. The anime called it Sparkle, the games called it Amphy, I'm going with the middle ground – a Pokémon renamed to Amphy once it evolved.

Seems legit.

Anyway, the quest was kind of half-handled in the anime, they went to Cianwood but didn't have to get the medicine back. Here Ash is using another one of his increasingly large number of options to travel very quickly.

Speaking of which – using Suicune for Surf is a pretty awesome idea. I mean, it runs across the water at a hundred miles an hour or more! However, that leads to the second point.

Ash is... kind of getting noticed.

It's not going to happen everywhere, not to the same degree, but... well, can't remain anonymous forever. Not catching Legendaries and saving the world.

The third thing is what I did to the Battle Tower (which does exist in the anime, but only to the level of cameo). Hopefully I didn't offend any Smogon regulars...