This is the first of two chapters today.
"HA!"
Ash jumped. "What-"
A large man strode up to him in the middle of the street.
"You look familiar!" the man boomed. "You must be Ash Ketchum!"
He winked. "I heard you were coming! I'm looking forward to a battle!"
"That's nice," Ash said, grinning. "You're the head of the Cianwood gym, right?"
"That's me! I'm Chuck," Chuck said, smiling back. "Come, follow me! The gym's right this way!"
"So," Chuck said, as they filed into the building. "I know you've got a Lucario and a Primeape, but – how many Fighting types do you have?"
Ash frowned. "Three-"
There was a flash, and a Pokéball at his waist burst open.
"Four," Keldeo said firmly. "He has four Fighting-types."
Chuck blinked. "That's... wait, I recognize... a Keldeo, right?"
"You're one of the first people to recognize him, actually," Ash said. "Yes, this is Keldeo."
"One of the Swords of Justice!" Chuck chuckled. "Didn't expect to see them outside Unova!"
He shrugged. "So. Four Fighting-types... hm... tell you what, challenger. I'll use five Fighting-types, and you should use all four of yours and one other of your choice."
"Uh-" Ash glanced down at Keldeo.
The Colt Pokémon shook his head at Ash. "I told you, Ash. I follow you, for now – and that includes fighting for badges. I'd like to help you earn at least one, as... well, payment I guess."
"Oh?" Chuck blinked. "Am I missing something?"
"I didn't really catch Keldeo, not properly," Ash explained. "I helped him out, and he decided to follow me – but it... I don't know, using a Legendary Pokémon seems kind of-"
Chuck interrupted him. "Dear me, Ash! I've met people who have Legendaries before – not often, but I have. And they all share one property – they earned them. It doesn't matter how, whether due to trust or by catching them, or both! But feel free to use whatever Pokémon you have in whatever battle they want to be in!"
He shrugged. "I met someone who travelled with a Moltres, once. Now that was a blast of a battle!"
Ash nodded, absorbing that. "Okay, I guess – if you don't mind, I mean-"
"I'd love to see what you can do, Ash!" Chuck assured him. "Now, let's get started!"
Despite Chuck's bombastic announcement, of course, it wasn't that easy. Ash had to contact Professor Oak to send over Primeape, and he had to also reach the other Pokémon he wanted to participate – who was entirely willing to.
They also had to wait for Pidgeot to go and fetch Molly, who overheard the discussions about the gym fight and wanted to watch Ash at battle.
So, about twenty minutes later, the battle began.
"This match will be five separate one on one matches!" Chuck told the assembled dojo. "Challenger, send out your first Pokémon!"
Ash nodded. "Right – Lucario, you go first!"
"Hitmonlee!" Chuck replied, releasing the tough Fighting-type. "Now, show him your mastery of Taekwondo!"
Lucario sized up his opponent, slowly building Aura on his palms ready to use as needed.
His opponent stretched, extending his legs a couple of times to make sure they were limber, and then returned to a careful sizing-up.
For several seconds, they stared at each other, making no move.
Then, as if on a hidden signal, both burst into action.
Hitmonlee crouched, and sprang off the floor with his powerful legs – going over Lucario's first gambit, an Aura Sphere.
Lucario blinked at the sheer height of the jump – then raised his arms in a frantic block as Hitmonlee came screaming down at enormous speed in a High Jump Kick.
There was a crash of foot on steel as Lucario's crossed forearms intercepted the incoming kick, and he went skidding backwards a few inches.
"Ow," he said, pleasantly, and grabbed Hitmonlee's leg before using it as leverage to throw the other Fighting-type into the wall.
Spinning in mid-air, Hitmonlee arrived at the wall feet-first. He crouched with the impact, legs coiling up like springs, and then launched himself off the wall again to deliver a scything horizontal kick.
Halfway through the kick, his foot caught fire.
Lucario ducked under this one, catching a blow to the side from the other – non-blazing – leg, and stumbled sideways slightly as Hitmonlee skated to a stop on his supple feet.
Then Hitmonlee came in again, this time delivering another Jump Kick, and Lucario darted out of the way.
Hitmonlee hit the ground with an earth-shaking crash, cracking the gym floor.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Ash asked, as Hitmonlee emerged from the dust cloud with a Rolling Kick.
Chuck shrugged. "It happens a lot! I'm the brawliest, rowdiest Gym Leader in all of Johto!"
There was another clang as Lucario blocked this latest attack, and then counterfired with a Flash Cannon.
Lucario capitalized on his advantage as Hitmonlee opened the range. He formed a pair of Aura Spheres, rammed them together, and sent them out as a cloud of seeker spheres.
Hitmonlee's retaliation was... impressive. He planted one foot and pivoted on it, kicking out at sphere after sphere and destroying them all before they could hit.
"Very quick of you," Lucario complimented. "You clearly train hard."
"Thank you," Hitmonlee said, courteously. Then he kicked off in another skywards leap.
Lucario watched him rise, and blinked – that trajectory would take him to the roof-
Quick as a flash, Hitmonlee spun so his feet hit the ceiling first. He crouched – upside down – and sprang off in a high-speed kick which produced a blast of air ahead of it.
In response to this, Lucario formed a pair of Metal Claws from the spikes on his wrists. Crossing them ahead of him, he took the brunt of the impact on the claws – which cracked under the impact, sending him skidding backwards a few inches on the sanded floor.
"Ow," he said, pushing Hitmonlee back. "Any ideas, Ash?"
In reply, he got a kind of... tickling sensation at the back of his mind.
Recognizing it, he jumped back away from Hitmonlee's next Blaze Kick – letting the range stay open, giving him the chance to concentrate on what Ash was trying to tell him.
Their aura link was a very real thing, but also very hard to use for anything constructive. It took too much of Ash's concentration – as Lucario jumped away from another attack, he saw his trainer had his eyes closed, focusing entirely on the link – and they couldn't send much more than a sentence through even after this much practice.
Lucario got the message this time, though. Protect.
Just that one word. It was enough.
Forming another Aura Sphere, Lucario – rather than firing it – kept it in his palm, spinning faster and faster.
As Hitmonlee came in, he fired the Sphere at the ground, producing a blast of packed earth chunks which checked the advance of the Kicking Pokémon and gave Lucario time to get to the other side of the room.
Hands glowing, he gathered together another Flash Cannon.
Hitmonlee's response to that was to run forwards and launch into another powerful High Jump Kick.
As soon as he was committed, Lucario abandoned charging his Flash Cannon – never really intended to be used – and raised a Protect screen in Hitmonlee's way.
With a loud bang, Hitmonlee hit the shield. All the force had nowhere to go but into him.
He bounced off, landed hard, and rolled twice before coming to his feet – just in time for an Aura-infused kick from Lucario, pressing his advantage.
Hitmonlee took a couple more blows before he was able to stabilize the situation with a hurried Blaze Kick, and Lucario retreated to the other side of the room – clearly inviting another High Jump Kick.
"Something's not right..." Ash said, as Hitmonlee kicked off for another High Jump Kick – clearly taking the opening.
He blinked. "Lucario! Look-"
As Hitmonlee came down, Lucario raised another Protect shield.
Much to his surprise, though, Hitmonlee drew back his kicking leg just before it landed.
His other leg, foot infused with a blue glow, slammed into the shield – cracking it under the impact of a shield-breaker Aura blow, delivered through the heel, and then the first leg slammed back out through the hole as the Protect failed.
The Fighting-attack slammed into Lucario's shoulder, drawing a grunt of pain, and then Hitmonlee sprang back into the air just far enough to fire in a Blaze Kick.
Lucario's hand snapped up, catching it.
Hitmonlee's eyes had just enough time to widen before the Counter hit.
"Impressive!" Chuck announced, as his Hitmonlee rolled to a stop, before coming to his feet. "But that won't work again."
He laughed. "This is wonderful! Hitmonlee – isn't this just the best!"
Hitmonlee nodded briefly, then turned back to his foe.
"Hitmonlee!" Chuck called. "All in one blow! A Master Blow!"
"He can do those?" Ash asked.
Hitmonlee burst forwards in a sudden explosion of speed.
Lucario saw the devastating kick as it came in, in just enough time to react.
"Endu-" he called, and then got hit by an attack so powerful it launched him and Hitmonlee into the wall, making the building shake.
Ash closed his eyes, trying to see through the cloud of dust.
That revealed that both Lucario and Hitmonlee were still standing – though, in Lucario's case, it could barely be dignified with the name.
Hitmonlee was shaky as well, but in much better shape.
Then Lucario grinned.
"Copycat," he said, spinning on his right leg, and his left slammed out.
The effort of the blow was too much for him, coming on top of such a devastating earlier attack, and he passed out.
He did, however, get the satisfaction of launching Hitmonlee into the opposite wall and knocking him out as well. So there was that.
"That was cool!" Molly said, as Ash recalled Lucario and Chuck did the same with Hitmonlee. "Gym battles are amazing!"
She then looked a bit worried. "Is Lucario okay?"
"He'll be fine," Ash assured her. "Okay, who next?"
Chuck shrugged. "We send them out at the same time! That's the fairest way!"
Ash nodded his agreement. "Okay, your turn Primeape!"
"Hitmontop!" Chuck called at the same moment.
Primeape landed on the hard-packed earth of the gym floor, and bounced from foot to foot as he readied himself for battle.
His opponent, a Hitmontop, bowed – then kept going, and landed on his head-spike. Kicking off, he began to spin easily and confidently on his head.
Primeape cracked his knuckles.
There were several ways to approach this...
Taking a breath, he leaped forwards with his fist glowing with Aura for a Mach Punch.
Hitmontop saw it coming, and spun up faster – knocking Primeape's fist aside with one kick, then his arm with the second, and his tail delivered a third blow which sent Primeape bouncing away again.
Primeape skidded to a halt, frowning. As he did, Hitmontop flipped back upright and regarded him coolly.
The two began to slowly circle, pacing around as they each tried to get a feel for the other.
Then Hitmontop pushed off, suddenly hurtling forwards.
Primeape retaliated by punching out directly at the incoming Hitmontop, catching him a glancing blow as he went past – then Hitmontop landed on the floor head first and started spinning again.
This time, his feet snapped into fire as he spun, and he volleyed in a Blaze Kick which only barely missed Primeape.
"Good!" Chuck called, as Hitmontop's blazing feet produced a solid ring of fire and Primeape backed away a little. "Now, keep spinning – and move! Follow him!"
Hitmontop's spin accelerated, and began to carve a furrow in the floor of the gym as he headed towards Primeape with feet whirling and blazing.
"Uh..." Ash said, blinking. "Chuck? Is it me or are you-"
"Hitmontop!" Chuck interrupted. "Keep spinning – and Focus your Energy! Spin faster, hit harder!"
"With every spin, I become stronger!" Hitmontop agreed, form becoming a blur as his rotations got quicker and quicker.
Ash felt a suspicion forming. "Is he into that anime? The drill one?"
Chuck nodded. "Yes! Have you seen it?"
"No, but one of my Pokémon has." Ash shrugged. "I'm a bit busy to watch anime, really..."
Chuck considered that. "Fair enough! Hitmontop – use Gyro Ball!"
Primeape watched as Hitmontop spun faster, and looked for an opening.
This, he had to admit as two glowing orbs formed in Hitmontop's arms, was a tricky one.
Scowling, he lunged forwards, lashing out with a punch aimed in the opposite direction to Hitmontop's spin, and got knocked backwards by a blow at a devastating combined speed.
Undaunted, he bounced up and leapt in again. This time, he lashed out with a low, sweeping kick – trying to get entirely below the spinning Pokémon's guard.
This didn't work much better. The energy of the Gyro Ball hit him four times before sending him bouncing away again.
Primeape slammed his fist into the ground as he approached it, using it as a point to break on and come to a skidding halt with a rooster-tail of earth out in the direction he'd been travelling as he shed momentum.
One lip curled up as he stood, and slapped his left fist into his right.
Aura flashed around his legs, and then he began to run – with a hollow boom as he kicked off.
"Ow!" Molly said, putting her hands over her ears. "That was much louder than when Pidgeot did it!"
Her Eevee shifted to Espeon, and projected a psychic bubble which deadened the sound. "Is that better?"
"Much!" Molly smiled. "Thank you, Espeon!"
The green feline preened, then returned her attention to the battle she was watching.
Primeape ran, leaning far over into the continual turn he was making as he followed Hitmontop's spin – in the same direction.
The floor of the gym began to crack with the strain he was putting it through, but for once he wasn't facing the prospect of punching something moving at high speed with relation to him – instead, the Hitmontop was, from his perspective, going slower and slower.
Capitalizing on it, Primeape reached in and grabbed Hitmontop's tail – then jammed his feet into the floor, braking as hard as he could.
The sudden change in momentum sent both Pokémon flying, whipcracked in different directions hard enough for Primeape to lose his grip.
Hitmontop bounced off the wall, leaving a dent, and landed on one leg and one arm. Sweeping his leg around and then up into the air, he flipped back onto his head and returned to a spin.
He noticed that the Primeape had hit the wall much harder than he had – good.
He then noticed that Primeape was glowing red.
That was probably less good.
Primeape clapped one fist into another, Anger Point at full power.
He drew back his fist, which glowed an eerie purple as the boost from the Ability met his Aura, and slammed it into the floor of the gym.
The whole floor heaved. The walls shook, plaster drifting down from the corners of the ceiling, and only the area around the spectators stayed more or less level – thanks largely to a quick bubble of shielding psychic energy from Espeon.
Cracks raced across the floor.
Hitmontop came out of his spin, barely managing to do so in time as the floor became dangerously unstable to do that kind of spinning trick on, and landed on a canted slab of earth on sure feet.
He looked up just in time to see Primeape's incoming fist.
"Ouch," Ash said, wincing, as Primeape delivered punch after punch to the recumbent form of Hitmontop. Occasionally the other Fighting-type got in a return blow on Primeape – Ash noticed at least one Triple Kick, one Blaze Kick and a nasty Close Combat – but if anything they were just making him even angrier.
"Is that Thrash?" Brock asked, wincing as well, as Primeape gradually dug a floor with his succession of punches.
"I think so, yeah," Ash agreed. "Guess he's got a lot of frustration to work out."
"...grah! So much- and the thing with the-"
Ash nodded. "Yep, definitely too much rage."
Eventually, the floor stopped shaking.
Primeape jumped back up out of the crater.
"I'm all right now," he said, surprisingly calmly. "By the way, I think he's knocked out."
"You think?" Misty said incredulously. "What, you're not sure?"
Primeape shrugged.
Hitmontop was, indeed, unconscious.
"Well, that was impressive," Chuck said. "And loud. Right, number three!"
Ash nodded, plucking a simple Pokéball from his belt. "Okay... here goes. Keldeo!"
"Hitmonchan!"
Keldeo landed on the somewhat-unstable floor of the gym, adjusted his footing for a moment, and looked up at his opponent.
Hitmonchan bowed to him, and he repaid the gesture.
After a few seconds, Keldeo opened the battle. He raised his forehoof, and fired a blast of water – using his rear hoof as well to balance it.
Hitmonchan drew back a fist and punched the incoming jet. His gloved fist scattered the jet in all directions – and froze it, as well, producing a kind of disc-shape made out of ice.
The Ice Punch then continued on, pushing the sudden ice formation forwards at a startling speed, and Keldeo lashed out with a kick to shatter it before it hit him.
Frowning, the Colt Pokémon decided to try something else. Gathering energy, he charged a Focus Blast.
That drew a reaction. Hitmonchan launched himself forwards, feet drumming on the ground, and curved around to the left to avoid Keldeo's attack.
Unfortunately for him, Keldeo could aim quite nicely. His Focus Blast fired, clipping the fast-moving Fighting-type and knocking him off course for a moment.
Hitmonchan braked using one glove, glanced up for a moment, and launched himself forwards again.
Keldeo warded off the incoming Bullet Punch with his horn, activating Sacred Sword, then kicked out at Hitmonchan again as he stalled.
Hitmonchan jumped back a bit, and used his gloves in a guard position to block a Water Pulse.
"Is it me, or are they kind of feeling each other out?" Misty asked. "I know Keldeo's more decisive than that."
"They are, I think," Ash agreed. "I – whoah!"
Keldeo skidded across the floor, flank smarting from the Comet Punch Hitmonchan had hit him with.
"Ow," he said, as he stopped moving. "Okay, let's see you deal with this!"
Keldeo used Hydro Pump, launching himself into the air. After rising to near the roof, he lowered the power of the jets, and used them to hover in (somewhat-wobbly) place instead of continuing to ascend.
Once there, he charged another Focus Blast, and fired it down at Hitmonchan.
Hitmonchan's reply was to blow it to bits with a lightning-fast Fire Punch. Cracking his knuckles, he examined Keldeo's position, and then the slowly-thickening film of water on the gym floor.
Taking two steps forwards, he crouched and sprang upwards in a high-speed uppercut.
Keldeo recognized the incoming Sky Uppercut, and lifted his two forelegs to spray the incoming Hitmonchan with the force of the Hydro Pump. Instinctively, he increased the force coming from those two hooves, which promptly destabilized him and sent him skidding backwards.
That actually worked out to his advantage, as Hitmonchan could no longer hit him with the Sky Uppercut, but the Punching Pokémon simply switched to a Vacuum Wave – lashing out with a punch so fast that it produced a visible wave of air.
Keldeo blocked that one, too, but then hit the rear wall of the gym with an audible crunch.
The wall cracked more than he did, and he landed heavily on the floor at the edge of the arena.
Hitmonchan landed, spun, and grinned. Raising a fist, he drove it into the water around them.
Just as he did, the fist crackled with electricity.
Ash winced. "Keldeo! Are you alright?"
"Fine, Ash," Keldeo replied, with a little strain in his voice as he said it. "I can-"
Hitmonchan delivered another Thunderpunch the same way as the first. This one didn't hurt Keldeo as much, since he was now standing on the surface of the water, but it clearly had an effect.
"Okay, that's it!" Keldeo said, and concentrated. With a flash of light, he switched to Resolute Form.
"I have to admit," Chuck said, as Keldeo activated Secret Sword, "I didn't know Keldeo could do that."
Ash shrugged. "I kind of helped him learn it..."
Keldeo tilted his hooves, using the water jets to accelerate across the gym, and bore down on Hitmonchan.
A Thunderpunch came in, and he jinked to the side, then brought down his glowing Secret Sword on Hitmonchan's shoulder – getting in a glancing blow.
Hitmonchan replied by volleying in a Dynamic Punch, producing a small explosion and sending both Pokémon flying apart again.
As he skated to a halt, Keldeo charged a Focus Blast, and scowled as Hitmonchan blew it to bits with a Meteor Mash.
Frowning, he wondered how to get a faster-charging attack together.
A Water Pulse was tentatively essayed, and Hitmonchan smashed that one to bits too before retaliating with another Vacuum Wave.
"Keldeo!" Ash called. "Try an Aura Sphere!"
Keldeo glanced over, and nodded.
Pulling in the aura, he concentrated it much like he did for a focus blast. This time, however, he began to spin it for stability.
Seeing him charging the attack, Hitmonchan darted forwards, bringing his arm back for another Thunderpunch.
Distracted, Keldeo tried to ward him off with his Secret Sword, and got a little mixed up.
None of the spectators – or participants – could have predicted the result. Rather than firing the Aura Sphere, Keldeo fired his Secret Sword, slicing a curved path in the gym floor and completely surprising the Hitmonchan.
He went hurtling backwards, bounced off the wall, and managed to avoid falling over.
"What the heck was that?!" Ash said, gaping. "That was amazing!"
"I think it was Secret Sword," Keldeo said, just as surprised as the rest of them. "It's never done that before, though!"
"Can you do it again?" Ash asked.
"I think so – hold on!"
Keldeo relit his horn, building another Secret Sword, and then tossed his head experimentally. The yellow blade of energy separated from his horn, but fizzled out before it got very far.
Abandoning that for now, Keldeo instead focused on the very much undefeated Hitmonchan – running back towards him, intent on continuing the fight.
Keldeo backed quickly, letting the next Thunderpunch miss and making Hitmonchan overextend, then kicked out at him with both forelegs. One connected, but Hitmonchan evaded the other and launched a powerful Hammer Arm back at Keldeo.
Stumbling a little and coming back to all fours, Keldeo formed his Sacred Sword this time, and swung it down as Hitmonchan attacked again.
This time, it worked. The blade separated from his horn, blasting forwards, and finally knocked Hitmonchan unconscious.
"That was pretty cool!" Ash said, as Keldeo trotted back over – tired but triumphant. "I think we're going to need to work on that some more – it's a great ranged attack for you!"
"Agreed," Keldeo said, smiling. "I can't wait to show the other Swords of Justice!"
Chuck grinned. "You know, kid, I've got to win both the next two to come out a draw here."
Ash nodded. "Yeah, I've been keeping track – but I don't mind continuing all the way! I think everyone's had fun so far..."
"I certainly have!" Chuck laughed. "Right! Time for the next battle! Poliwrath!"
"Heracross, your turn!" Ash called, sending the doughty Bug out.
In the Cyllage Gym, Grant looked up as a hand came over the lip of the rock wall.
Another followed, and then a boy of about twelve-thirteen struggled the rest of the way over the lip of the wall.
"You have a terrible pre-gym challenge," the boy wheezed.
Next to him, the ground crumbled, and a very stylish Furfrou Pokéd her head out.
She barked something, managing to sound mildly disdainful.
"You what?" The boy blinked, then groaned. "Oh, of course there's an elevator..."
Another bark.
"No, I promised Blastoise he'd go first." The boy looked up at Grant. "I'm Gary Oak, by the way."
"Oh, right." Grant nodded. "I think Gurkinn mentioned you – said you found a couple of Mega Stones. Congratulations."
"You know – great, that simplifies things a lot." Gary glanced around, confirming that there were no spectators. "Okay. I challenge you!"
Grant smiled. "Somehow I guessed. Okay, first you'll have to face my Aurorus!"
Gary sent out his own Pokémon. "Blastoise!"
Blastoise landed on the floor with a slam, and cracked his knuckles.
Aurorus was unimpressed.
Gary took a breath, focusing. "Okay, here we go. First time doing this. Blastoise, you ready?"
Blastoise glanced back at him, nodding enthusiastically. "Hells yeah!"
He reached inside his shell, and withdrew a pair of orange shades with five points to them – two of the points being the bits that actually went over the eyes, one more up and two more down. They looked a lot like Squirtle's glasses, but pointier.
There was a recent addition, though. A small marble-like piece of rock, set just over the place where the glasses would rest on a nose.
"We are the eternal friends!" Blastoise said, turning back to the Fossil as the marble began to shine in harmony with Gary's ring. "Even when we reach the highest state of evolution, there's still further to go – because nothing can stop us progressing forwards!"
Grant gaped. "That's a – you've got a Pokémon with a compatible Mega Stone!"
As he said that, Gary smirked. "You bet I do."
Orange light erupted, illuminating the entire gym for a second.
When it faded, Blastoise was... different.
He wasn't any taller – in fact, his hunched over posture made him slightly shorter.
He wasn't much heavier, either, nor was there much in the way of special highlights on his body, or mystic energy crackling around him.
He did, however, have a gigantic howitzer cannon mounted to his back, and his other cannons had shifted to his forearms.
The Water-type took a breath, held it, and sighed it out.
"Hell. Yeah."
Aurorus looked less confident.
"All right!" Blastoise went on, pointing one of his smaller six-inch hand cannons at Aurorus. "You're a lucky Pokémon, you know! You're the first one to face the new Super Galaxy Triple Blaster!"
"I don't feel lucky," Aurorus admitted.
"Aurorus!" Grant called. "Use Hyper Beam!"
Aurorus raised his sail, gathering energy for the attack. As it built, it grew colder as his ability took effect.
"Aura Sphere!" Blastoise announced. "One!"
His left arm cannon fired a bolt of sparkling aura which shot across the intervening space and slammed into Aurorus' side.
"Two!" Blastoise went on, using his right arm cannon to fire at Aurorus' feet. That destabilized him, sending his Ice-typed Hyper Beam blasting across the walls of the gym and icing them up.
"Three!" Hunching over, Blastoise fired an absolutely gigantic blast from his back cannon.
His back cannon, which was actually larger in calibre than the main guns of some battleships.
The resultant blast sent Aurorus flying across the gym, and Grant withdrew him before he hit the wall.
"...well, that was impressive," he said. "Tyrantrum!"
Tyrantrum roared, and charged forwards.
Mega Blastoise grinned, setting his stance. His arms came out, and he fired two blasts of Flash Cannon from them as Tyrantrum got closer.
The big Despot Pokémon towered over Blastoise, and was only knocked back slightly by the impacts. He roared again, jaws opening wide and then slamming shut on Blastoise.
Light flashed inside his mouth, and with a startled expression he spat Blastoise out again.
Blastoise skidded backwards on the floor, a bit wet and with scrapes on his shell but otherwise as hale as ever. "That's right, you big lunk! If I'm eaten, it only means that I'm closer to your tiny little brain! If I'm crushed underfoot, then I simply can't miss! Get it through your thick skull that I'm Blastoise, and I don't give up for anything!"
Tyrantrum roared, this time sheathing his teeth in lightning for a Thunder Fang.
Blastoise ran forwards, getting directly underneath Tyrantrum's chest. His big back cannon clicked, and then fired a colossal Waterspout which propelled Tyrantrum upwards.
The startled dinosaur nearly hit the roof before the water ran out.
Blastoise pointed all three cannons skywards. "The spiral turns, progressing time ever forwards! That means that you, who was frozen in rock for millions of years, are just way out of date! Triple Spiral Dragon Pulse!"
His left cannon flashed orange, firing a Dragon Pulse skywards. His right cannon flashed blue, doing the same.
They wound together into a single orb, glowing over the main gun as Tyrantrum began to fall back down towards it.
Then the middle gun fired a titanic pulse of green energy. It hit the orb, which erupted forwards into a colossal draconic shape. Spreading huge jaws, it chomped them together around Tyrantrum.
There was a very loud boom.
"I guess I'll have to watch out for Mega Evolutions in the future," Grant said, shaking his head. "That was pretty impressive."
Blastoise looked smug as he shifted back down from Mega.
"Thanks," Gary told him. "It was kind of new to us, too, but I suppose I should have expected Blastoise would handle it just fine."
"Here's your Cliff Badge," Grant added, handing it over. "And feel free to use the elevator to get back down..."
Okay, guys!" Casey said, grinning. "Ready for this?"
Her Pokémon nodded, all eager and ready to go.
"Right." Casey looked between them. "Okay... Bayleef, you're on bat for now – work those vines! It'll help when you get Power Whip, too!"
Bayleef nodded firmly, picking up the bat with her vines and taking a couple of practice swings.
"Raticate – you're backstop!" Casey continued. "I'm pitching, and Pichu, Beedrill and Pidgeotto, you're on fielder duty!"
Beedrill saluted with his left stinger.
"Remember, fielding is all about speed!" the young trainer lectured. "Speed, and catching! You need to get in front of the ball and stop it – and because we're using a special ball, you can use your attacks to slow it down!"
Pichu, Pidgeotto and Beedrill discussed things amongst themselves, eventually deciding to have Pichu out on right field with the Flying-type far out on the centre left (for high balls) and Beedrill closer in.
"Right!" Casey said, once the Pokémon were all in place. "Everyone – let's play baseball!"
Winding up, she threw her first pitch – a tricky changeball, which looked faster than it was.
That didn't fool Bayleef, though, and the ball went soaring out towards right field with a crack.
From the nearby bushes, cool red eyes watched as Casey trained her Pokémon.
They noted how she was, indeed, focusing each Pokémon on a skill they would need in battle.
Pichu was being given the chance to practice his electric attacks on the ball, thus letting him strengthen his primary means of attack at this point.
Bayleef's position at-bat was convenient for her as it meant she was garnering experience with her vines – specifically, in defence, which was not always properly considered. She was also learning to instinctively judge direction in terms of where she was hitting the ball, a useful asset if not precisely vital.
On those occasions when Bayleef missed the ball, it got past to hit Raticate – who thus had to be ready to endure the hit, even though in the majority of cases it never reached her. That meant she was getting practice in remaining on the defensive at the critical moment – and in reacting quickly to counterattack on short notice.
As for Beedrill and Pidgeotto, both of them were getting practice in catching moving targets – again, on short notice – and returning with them quickly. More than speed, it was training their acceleration and acrobatic ability.
Even the trainer herself was benefiting in a real, concrete way – she would be able to throw Pokéballs faster and more accurately.
Yes, all very impressive. And that it was couched in the form of a game was a bonus – it meant that the team learned camaraderie, simply from the act of training, and were having a lot of fun.
The watcher approved.
There was another crack, and the ball went flying straight back at Casey. She caught it, with a speed that seemed to be at least a little surprising to her, and blinked. "Whoa! Okay, Bayleef, that might not be such a good idea... good thing I've spent so long fielding..."
Bayleef winced.
"Don't worry," Casey added, more gently. "It's not your fault, I know. Do you remember what you did wrong?"
The Grass-type frowned, then nodded. "Baaaay..."
"There you go!" Casey told her, with a grin. "You know what not to do again! And I know not to surprise you with a curve ball like that!"
AN:
A lot of this chapter is Fighting Fighting fighting Fighting with Fighting. So is the next...
The Hitmonlee has Reckless, which is why he keeps using crash attacks.
Hitmontop - Hitmon Toppa Gurren Lagann, of course. (They're hard to write battles for, actually.)
And Keldeo just learned Blade Beam. (No, he's not getting Meteorain. That's for Dragons.) Also known as, say, Excaliblast...
In all seriousness, a ranged form of Sacred Sword is helpful to writing him.
Meanwhile, with people who aren't Ash Ketchum, Gary's just used his new Mega Stone (it's a transformation sequence, of course Blastoise loves it) and Casey's playing Baseball, because she does.
The Pichu's new, by the way.
