This is the first of two chapters today.


Olivine City again," Ash said, as they stepped off the boat. "And it looks like Amphy is back to work in the lighthouse."

The others followed his gaze, and saw the clear light shining out of the lighthouse windows.

"Looks like," Brock agreed. "It's nice to see he's better."

Ash nodded. "Which means that Jasmine should be ready for a gym challenge!"

He started forwards, then stopped. "Hm..."

"What is it, Ash?" Misty asked, worried.

"Oh, I was just wondering who I should use in this gym battle," Ash explained. "I wonder if anyone is waiting for a battle..."


Based on this, they headed to the Pokémon Centre first.


"Right!" Ash said, some time later. "Let's do this!"

He knocked on the door of the Olivine Gym.

After a few seconds, the door opened. "Hello?"

"I'd like to challenge the gym!" Ash announced.

The girl who'd answered the door blinked. "You seem a little bit-"

She was interrupted by Jasmine's voice. "Is that Ash?"

The door opened further. "It is!" Jasmine said, smiling. "I see you're here for your gym challenge!"

"That's right!" Ash agreed. "Sorry for the wait."

"Not at all," Jasmine said with a shrug. "It's whenever you have time – which is now, I suppose. Come in."

"Uh..." Ash hesitated. "You're having the battle inside?"

"That's correct," Jasmine confirmed. "Why? What's the problem?"

"Oh, well..." Ash shrugged. "It's just that – well, I was wondering if you might not want to have it somewhere else. I kind of wreck gyms these days."

Jasmine smiled. "Don't worry, this gym is quite durable. It's actually made out of old rolled armour they never got around to putting on battleships, so the walls are over a foot thick and made of armour steel."

"Really?" Ash blinked. "Huh. Now that's tough."

"Precisely," she said. "Now that your worries are alleviated, perhaps we can go inside...?"


The gym was large, and nearly featureless – some sand on the floor, presumably for grip, but the walls were nearly blank steel.

"Seems kind of boring..." Misty said, looking around.

Jasmine shrugged. "There's living rooms in the back, they're much more pleasant. Right, challenger – select your first Pokémon!"

"Got it!" Ash said, reaching for a Pokéball. "Do we go on a three-count, or-"

"Why not. Three, two, one-"

"Go, Ivysaur!" Ash said, sending him out.

Brock blinked. "Are you sure that was a good choice?"

"Why not?" Ash asked, as Ivysaur formed.

"Well, he's part-Poison type, so-"

Ash shrugged. "Moves matter more."

"Indeed," Jasmine said, as her Aggron materialized on the other side of the battlefield. "This should be interesting. Aggron, Stone Edge!"

The ground trembled, and rocks burst up from it. They formed a large slab, which promptly fell towards Ivysaur.

The Grass-type wasn't there any more, however. He backed hastily away, vines lashing out at the slab to break it up again, and managed to get clear before the rock fell on him.

"Flash Cannon!" Jasmine added.

Aggron roared, energy gathering in its eyes.

"That's probably bad," Ash commented.

"I noticed!" Ivysaur said, using Dig to get underground just before Aggron fired his eye beams.

"Interesting," Jasmine said, as the Flash Cannon died down and revealed the hole in the middle of a small, glassy crater. "I didn't know that Ivysaur could Dig."

"He's been able to for a while," Ash shrugged. "It's actually quite lucky for us that the floor of the gym isn't steel like the rest of it."

"I need the clear earth for moves like Stone Edge," Jasmine agreed. "That and the steel plate was costly enough. Aggron – be ready to hit him when he emerges."


Underground, Ivysaur considered his options.

He could tell where Aggron was easily enough – that much Pokémon meant quite a lot of weight, so it wasn't hard to tell – but damaging him was another matter.

He stretched in the confines of his tunnel, and came to a decision.


"...is your Ivysaur coming back up at some point?" Jasmine asked, looking around. "I mean, I understand the need for tactics, but-"

The gym floor heaved up, and then huge roots came smashing up out of the floor towards the startled Aggron. They wrapped around his arms and tail, holding him still for a moment despite his thrashing.

Ivysaur punched up out of the ground directly underneath Aggron, delivering a powerful Dig attack as his target struggled to get free.

"Aggron!" Jasmine called. "Fire Punch! Use it to break the Frenzy Plant!"

Aggron roared, and his fist burst into flame. He pulled on the roots as they smouldered from the sudden heat, and they began to give way.

"Now, Heavy Slam!"

Ivysaur blinked, then started trying to get back down his tunnel.

Aggron came crashing to the floor in a belly-flop of doom, and mashed Ivysaur into his hole.

"Ivysaur!" Ash called, as Aggron got back off again. "Are you okay?"

A frond waved feebly. Then there was a crunch, as Ivysaur dug himself out of the hole.

He looked up in time to see Aggron coming down for another Heavy Slam, and his vines lashed out and up.

They wrapped around Aggron's shoulder-spikes, and Ivysaur used that leverage to get himself out of trouble – barely. The Heavy Slam came within inches of getting him a second time, and he skidded to a halt halfway across the gym panting heavily.

"You alright?" Ash asked.

"I've been better," Ivysaur admitted. He examined Aggron closely as the big Steel-type came back to his feet. "Not sure if this is going to work..."

He slammed his forelegs into the ground. "Fissure!"

The white line formed from his foreleg, and lanced out towards Aggron. The Iron Armour Pokémon took a forward step, foot landing just behind the leading edge of the Fissure, and then cried out as his foot sunk into the ground.

About two feet, leaving most of him still above the ground.

"Oh, well," Ivysaur sighed. "Ground's just not deep enough here to really – whoa!"

He broke into a run, barely avoiding another Flash Cannon.

Jasmine was doing some mental arithmetic. "Let's see... two hundred and sixty... one hundred and sixty... Aggron!"

Aggron deactivated his eye beams, and turned to her.

"Autotomize – twice! Then Heavy Slam again!"

Nodding, Aggron emitted a series of whirrs and clanks. His stance became more erect, less hunched over, and then he burst forwards with astonishing speed.

Ivysaur was unable to avoid the crashing belly flop of the Heavy Slam this time, nor did he have a convenient hole to dampen the effect. Aggron now weighed less than half what he did the first time, but that still meant over a hundred and fifty kilos of Pokémon landing on top of him.

There was a muffled shout from underneath Aggron, then a grassy explosion blew Aggron back to his feet as Ivysaur detonated a Seed Bomb at point-blank range.

That revealed, however, that the effort had been too much for Ivysaur. He was unconscious.

"Nice work, Ivysaur," Ash said, returning him. He gave Aggron a considering look, taking in how battered the Steel-type seemed. "Okay, Kingler!"

"That's an interesting choice," Jasmine said, as Kingler formed. "He's got type advantage..."

Ash shrugged. "Moves are the important bit – Kingler, you know what to do!"

Kingler clicked an affirmative, raising his pincers. Both of them clashed once, knocking like a pair of castanets, and then zeroed in on Aggron.

"Flash Cannon!" Jasmine ordered.

Kingler's left pincer fired a Bubblebeam straight at Aggron's face. The burly Steel-type was forced to raise his arm, blocking the stream of high-speed bubles from hitting him but also blocking his own aim with his eye-beams.

Then the right pincer opened up. It wasn't as spectacular – just a stream of water, which was losing momentum by the time it reached Aggron – but it quickly started pooling on the floor of the gym.

Janina hit a button on a control panel, and small platforms came grinding out of the walls for the trainers to stand on.

"Very modern," Ash said.

"I try," Jasmine admitted. "Okay, Aggron, that's enough water. Thunderpunch!"

Aggron's fist crackled with electricity, and he brought it down into the water.

Kingler grunted as the electricity grounded through the water into him, staggering a little, but seemed still fairly hale. His pincers rotated, clicking twice, and he switched to Surf on both of them.

As Aggron raised his fist, he took both bursts in the face. That made him stagger, and then – betrayed by his reduced weight – he overbalanced and crashed to the floor.

Kingler capitalized on that, scuttling forwards as Aggron came laboriously back to his feet. As the Steel-type finished standing back up, Kingler brought both pincers down in Crabhammers aimed for the knees.

That made Aggron stagger again. Roaring, he raised both fists and shrouded them in electricity before volleying in a one-two Thunderpunch.

Kingler was knocked off his feet by the second blow, pushed nearly under the water by the force and crackling with electrical bleed.

A grin formed on his crustacean face, and his pincers clacked open with a sound like the action on a gun.

Then they slammed closed.

One of the supercavitating explosions went off underneath Aggron, sending him a few inches into the air and fouling his Thunderpunch.

The other went down, into the hole Ivysaur had left, and blew a large amount of muddy water into the air to rain down over both combatants.

"Mud Sport," Kingler explained, pushing himself back to his feet and swinging his left claw in another Crabhammer.

Because it couldn't hurt to try, Aggron tried to use Thunderpunch again. The mud worked, however, making the attack fizzle before it finished charging.

Aggron switched tactics, and came down in a Heavy Slam.

He didn't make it to the floor. Kingler crossed his pincers, and managed to hold Aggron up off his carapace by main strength. (It helped that Aggron had reduced his weight by more than half.)

"Stone Edge!" Jasmine called.

Aggron nodded, thumping his tail on the floor. Rocks peppered Kingler's underside, but he endured the blows grimly.

His left claw glowed, and he slammed it into Aggron's neck. Getting a grip despite the Steel-type's struggles, he hauled Aggron off the ground and slammed him to the floor head-first.

The Guillotine did the trick. Aggron twitched, then slumped.


"Not bad," Jasmine admitted, returning her Iron Armour Pokémon. Her free hand toyed with her bow for a moment, then she took another Pokéball. "Magnezone!"

With a flash, Magnezone appeared. "Preparing to engage."

"Uh oh..." Kingler said. He stuck his right claw underwater, aiming it at the tunnel, and fired another Crabhammer burst – repeating his Mud Sport from before.

Mud rained down in spatters all over him, tainting the water a greyish colour, and he pulled a hunk of mud from the floor before aiming his claw at Magnezone.

"Magnet rise." Magnezone crackled, and drifted smoothly sideways away from the glob of mud. "Locking On."

Kingler glanced back. "Ash?" he asked. "Any ideas?"

"Hyper Beam!" Ash decided.

"Right." Raising his left pincer, Kingler clicked it. An orange glow built in the centre of the claw, brightening quickly.

Magnezone fired first. "Zap Cannon."

The high-impact Electrical attack shot unerringly for Kingler, then burst in a shower of tiny lightning bolts as the Hyper Beam fired straight through it. It hit Magnezone with an audible screeeeech, sending the Electric-type floating jerkily backwards, and small secondary beams went reflecting off all over the gym – scoring small lines in the armour plating of the walls and making the trainers flinch back slightly.

After several seconds, the Hyper Beam died away.

Magnezone was almost uninjured. Electricity crackled over its magnets, and then it fired a crackling, booming Thunder at Kingler.

Tired from his Hyper Beam, Kingler was unable to dodge. The mud helped, but not enough, and he slumped to the floor.


Jasmine waited several seconds, until the electricity playing over the walls subsided. "Uh... Ash?"

"Yes?" Ash replied.

"Sorry, but – can we drain the water? I don't fancy my entire gym being electrified with every attack Magnezone uses. It was bad enough when Aggron was doing it, but that was just too dangerous."

Ash shrugged. "Sure, we can take a break to do that."


Five minutes later, the gym floor was merely moist.

"Those are powerful fans," Ash said, as the artificial breeze died down.

"I've got them installed so I can do things like pump out poison gas," Jasmine explained. "It's kind of a problem, actually, because a surprising number of people forget Steel-types are immune to poison."

Ash blinked. "Wow."

"Yeah, imagine someone forgetting about type immunity," Pikachu chuckled.

"Fair point..." Ash said, remembering all the times he'd had Pikachu attack a Ground-type. Then he remembered the times it had actually worked, and frowned before shrugging it off. "Okay. Pikachu, you next!"

"Sure!" Pikachu said, jumping forwards and landing with a splat on the moist floor.

Magnezone's main eye rotated smoothly down to eyeball him. "New target acquired."

Its magnets rotated into position, and began to vibrate.

"I'm resistant to Steel-attacks," Pikachu pointed out. He rolled his neck. "So you may as well use Electric-type attacks like Zap Cannon."

"Incorrect." Magnezone's magnets spun faster. "Your ability – Lightningrod. It means electrical attacks are flawed."

"..kinda hoped you'd be fooled by that," Pikachu admitted. "But you don't have many good-"

"Type resistances are irrelevant against Sonicboom." Magnezone's magnets emitted a baleful, high-pitched hum, and then fired two closely-spaced pulses of sound and air pressure.

Pikachu jumped out of the way, getting lightly splashed by wet sand from the resultant crater, and began running around with Agility to avoid being hit.

Magnezone's eye narrowed slightly as it fired off more Sonicbooms, trying to pin Pikachu down, but with only two magnets able to fire at any one time it was hard to properly bracket the fast Electric-type.

"Magnezone!" Jasmine called.

Leaving off the attack for now, Magnezone spun to face her.

"Supersonic!"

"Affirmative," Magnezone buzzed. It rotated again, spinning up all three magnets, and got a Force Palm to the face.

"That's... new," Jasmine blinked, as her Magnezone went skidding backwards in mid-air with a noticeable paw-shaped dent next to its eye. "I was warned about you, but I didn't think it was that bad."

Pikachu went backwards from the recoil, skidded to a halt, and jumped forwards again.

This time, however, Magnezone was ready for him. It trained both magnets on him, emitting a rising whine, and Pikachu had just enough time to notice his mistake before they hit him with twin Sonic Booms.

The first one halted him, cancelling his forward momentum and leaving him falling straight down. The second one sent him rocketing backwards towards the wall, which he hit feet-first to absorb his momentum.

Ash shrugged as Pikachu avoided a nasty impact with the wall. "We originally worked on it to handle a Steelix."

Brock muttered something about hypocrites.

"I see," Jasmine said, with a little concealed smile. "Well, we'll see about that..."

As she spoke, Pikachu was running up the armour-plate wall, which shivered from near misses as Magnezone barraged it with more Sonic Booms – none of which hit, though a few came close.

"Tactic switch," Magnezone announced. "Locking On."

Red beams of light pulsed out of its central eye, bouncing off the steel walls around Pikachu until a few of them hit him.

The magnets raised, and fired off another Sonic Boom – this one aimed unerringly at Pikachu's position.

Pikachu's response to that was... unorthodox. Jumping off the wall, he curled into a forward roll, tail shimmering with Iron Tail, and produced a "buzz-saw" effect from the jagged appendage. When the focused air of the Sonic Boom hit it, it was slapped aside into two smaller pulses which burst on the steel either side of his former position.

Coming out of his roll, Pikachu raised a glowing blue paw as he descended. "Force palm!"

Slamming the close-range attack in, he drove Magnezone halfway to the floor with the force of the blow. A matching dent appeared the other side of Magnezone's eye from the impact, and a stray crackle of electricity arced between the tips of the outer magnets.

Then Magnezone used Metal Burst.

There was a thunderous bang, and Pikachu was sent backwards as fast as he'd come down. He hit the wall with an audible crash, and dropped to the floor.

Ash took his hands off his ears. "What was that?"

"Magnezone can't normally learn it," Jasmine admitted. "It's kind of a Steel-type fusion of Counter and Mirror Coat. I happen to like it."

Pikachu pulled himself up out of the sandy impression he'd left, brushing sand off his fur. "Ow."

He looked up, yelped, and jumped clear of another Sonic Boom which scattered the sand he'd landed in.

Pikachu kept running after that, avoiding two more Sonic Booms and a Signal Beam, before skidding to a halt on the other side of the gym. Magnezone's eye took a while to track around to see him, affording Pikachu precious thinking time.

He took a breath, and held up both forepaws. Each one began to produce a glowing blue sphere.

"Aura Sphere?" Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow. "Interesting. Okay, Magnezone, be ready for this."

Magnezone's magnets came up, humming as they built resonance.

Pikachu grinned, and slammed the blue spheres together.

A cloud of smaller blue Aura Spheres went in every direction. The Sonic Boom detonated on one of them, but the rest were unscathed – and, as Pikachu ran for cover, they meant Magnezone was too busy to focus on targeting.

The twenty or so seeker spheres curved in towards their target, who was forced to use Protect – abandoning all its offensive capacity for pure defensive shielding.

When the cloud of explosions faded, his shield bubble took a moment longer to disappear.

Then Magnezone blinked, looking around. "Target not identified-"

Pikachu slammed into it from above, palm glowing with Force Palm.

Once again, the impact overcame Magnezone's electromagnetic levitation. It went jerking towards the floor with the impact – and, as it began to recover, Pikachu's other palm hit just as hard.

An unmusical crash echoed through the gym as Magnezone hit the ground, fouling its magnets with sand and dirt. The Magnet Rise shut down completely, and Pikachu kicked off from its body to land in the blind spot behind it.

As he charged a Force Palm, Jasmine raised her voice. "Stop!"

Pikachu did so, looking up.

"You win that one," Jasmine said with a smile. "No point carrying on."

She returned Magnezone, and reached for another Pokéball.

"Pikachu, come back here," Ash instructed.

"What?" Pikachu asked, indignant. "I can still-"

"Yeah, but I'd rather have you rested, just in case," Ash explained.

Pikachu considered it, then nodded. "Sure."

"I see," Jasmine said. "Please have your next Pokémon ready before I send mine out."

Ash nodded. "Ready!" he said, taking the Pokéball from his belt.

"Right. Bronzong!"

"Keldeo!" Ash said, then frowned. "Ugh. Psychic type... do your best, Keldeo!"

Keldeo nodded, and set his stance firmly on the sandy floor of the gym.

Bronzong hovered there for a moment, then rotated itself so that the open end faced Keldeo.

Keldeo cantered to the side, so that the open end no longer faced him.

Bronzong paused, then rotated so the open end faced Keldeo again.

Keldeo again moved so he wasn't being targeted-

"Just use an attack!" Jasmine said.

Bronzong's strikers moved outwards a little, then CLANGed back into the bronzed metal of its body. Air shivered in the body cavity, and then a pulse of psychic energy pulsed out towards Keldeo.

The Sword of Justice kicked off, using a quick burst of water from his hooves to gain height and avoid the Psychic. It hammered into the wall below him, and he landed on the far side with a Sacred Sword glowing on his horn.

"Wait a moment," Jasmine said, snapping her fingers. "I know where that Pokémon seems familiar from! He's like Cobalion, isn't he?"

"That's right!" Keldeo replied, with a quick smile. "I grew up with Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion."

She smiled, then her expression firmed. "That means... Bronzong, don't let him close! That's a powerful Fighting attack!"

Bronzong clanged in agreement, and fired another Psychic which Keldeo galloped out of the way of.

Horn still lit, Keldeo turned at bay and tossed his head. The blazing blade separated from it, scything forwards, and the lower half of the attack clipped one of Bronzong's strikers.

The upper portion of the attack hit the armour-plate wall with a grinding, tearing sound, making a visible cut in it.

Jasmine gaped for a moment. "That... but – that's Vickers face-hardened steel armour!"

Ash blinked. "Is that bad?"

"Well, I've never seen it much more than scratched before," Jasmine admitted. "That's half an inch deep!"

Bronzong slammed his strikers into the metal of his body again, making the air in his central bell-cavity resonate more strongly before pulsing out another Psychic.

This one clipped Keldeo's hoof as he dodged, spinning him around slightly with a cry of pain.

Recovering, he cantered halfway around Bronzong and began to prepare another Sacred Sword. As he charged, though, Bronzong tracked around to face him and fired a Psychic, and he had to get out of the way.

Coming to a halt once more, Keldeo loosed his Sacred Sword – which hit a Light Screen, slowed considerably, and did very little damage to Bronzong.

"Ash, this kinda seems like a stalemate," Keldeo said, wincing. "Any ideas?"

Ash frowned. "Give me a minute..."

Keldeo nodded, willing to do that, and jumped over another blast of Psychic energy. The water spraying from his hooves whipped in the intense telekinetic shove, splashing into the wall behind him, but it didn't hit him directly.

Jasmine was thinking hard too. "Bronzong! Trick Room, and Gyro Ball!"

Bronzong bonged in agreement, and then bashed its clappers three times in quick succession.

Unlike the earlier ones, a resonance began to build in the whole room.

"Uh oh..." Ash said, frowning. "Keldeo, do you know Curse?"

"I don't – why?" Keldeo asked, then blinked. "Wait – did he say Trick Room?"

Trick Room activated.

Blue light pulsed out from Bronzong, washing over Keldeo, and he suddenly felt almost like he was moving through syrup – it took no more effort, but much more time.

Bronzong, on the other hand, began moving much faster. Lights sprang into life on the ends of its clappers, and it started to spin at speed.

"Look out, that's Gyro Ball!" Ash called in warning.

Keldeo tried to get out of the way, but the effect of Trick Room slowed his reactions. Bronzong hit him in the flank with one spinning arm, and he hit the wall with a cry – though one more of shock than pain.

He pushed himself back to his feet, raised a hoof through the slowing influence of the Trick Room, and braced himself against the wall with another hoof.

Then he opened up with Hydro Pump, as powerful as he could make it, and aimed at the oncoming Bronzong.

Water went everywhere, sprayed off in a broad arc by the high-speed spin. It also made Bronzong slow a little, and the Gyro Ball flashed and partially-discharged repeatedly under the stream of water.

"Keldeo!" Ash called, his own voice slightly distorted by the speed-altering effect of Trick Room. "Use your Hydro Pump to get around!"

Keldeo blinked, and nodded with a grin. "Got it!"

He lowered his hooves to the floor, and then fired full-power Hydro Pump from all four. That sent him rocketing into the air, and he controlled the sprays as best he could to avoid hitting the wall.

The propulsive force from the sprays wasn't affected by the psychic effect, and he shot off as fast as he could normally manage – though he had more trouble than usual steering, simply because his legs couldn't move as fast to compensate.

Bronzong rotated to try and fire on Keldeo, but the Fighting-type was moving too fast to pin down even with Bronzong's speed boost from Trick Room. Psionic bursts splashed off the walls and ceiling behind Keldeo, and he bobbed and weaved to make the job of aiming harder.

With a flash, he switched to Resolute Form, and formed Secret Sword as he hurtled overhead.

Raising his horn, he swung it in a sluggish circle as he landed. "Work Up!"

The glow of the Secret Sword increased in intensity, and he released it just as Bronzong's spin let it retarget.

The Psychic attack knocked Keldeo backwards into the armour plated wall, forcing the air from his lungs, and he gasped to try and recover.

Bronzong had it much worse. The attack hit like a freight train, sending it skidding into the wall, and those parts of it which weren't slowed by the Light Screen went on to hit the wall – cutting deep gashes into the armour plate of the wall.

The Steel-type seemed to have been left in a bit of a dent, struggling to get out again, and Keldeo had a few precious seconds to recover.

Jasmine shook off her surprise at the heavily damaged armour plate, and frowned. "Bronzong! Sandstorm!"

Bronzong's strikers came out one more time, and clanged back into the main body of the steel bell. The resonance rang in the room, picking up the sand scattered on the floor, and began to bring it up to hang in the air.

Keldeo inhaled, shaking his head as he shook off the stunning effect of the impact, and spun his neck again – much faster this time, as the Trick Room collapsed. "Swords Dance!"

A Sacred Sword formed on his horn, and went knifing forwards as he fired it. That was too much for Bronzong, and it went rigid.

Jasmine returned her Bronze Bell Pokémon, and took another look at the scarring on the inner wall of her gym. "That's not going to buff out..."

She sighed. "Oh, well. They've got some armour plate left over, I think."

Keldeo winced. "Sorry..."

Jasmine turned to him, and sighed. "Don't worry, it's not really a problem, it's just... inconvenient." She chuckled. "The others did warn me, and so did your trainer."

She cleared her throat. "Right. Do you want to switch Keldeo out?"

"Well-" Ash began.

Keldeo interrupted him. "I want to stay out!"

Ash waved his hands. "Sure – if you want to, I mean."

Keldeo nodded in confirmation, and turned back to Jasmine. "I'm ready!"

"Okay, then." Jasmine smiled.


"Rime Crasher!"

The Jumpluff was engulfed by a shower of freezing water, and came out the other side with ice clinging to his puffs. He wobbled, losing height, and Blastoise ignored the Mega Drain it pulsed down at him.

"You don't have the dedication to push through! You're just blowing in the wind!" Blastoise proclaimed, cannons clicking as they retargeted. "Ice Beam!"

Jumpluff went crashing to the floor.

"Not bad," Ramos allowed, returning his Pokémon. "Looks like I'm down to my last."

"I'll take 'em all on!" Blastoise announced. "Bring him on!"

"Hold on," Gary said, shaking his head.

Blastoise spun, giving Gary a look. "What!?"

Gary indicated Furfrou. "She wants a go."

"Indeed I do," she said, with a nod. "I want to try out some of my new moves."

Blastoise stared for a moment longer. "Fine," he said eventually, with bad grace, and stomped off the field.

Furfrou replaced him, facing across the grassy field. "Who am I to fight?" she asked, curiously.

By way of answer, Ramos sent out a Gogoat.

"Hello," Furfrou nodded to him.

"Greetings," the Gogoat replied. "I wish to thank you for your manners. Now – to battle!"

He tapped his hooves on the floor, producing a scent of new-mown summer lawn and making the grass glow softly. The plants hanging off his back glowed as well, bristling up and thickening.

"Interesting," was Furfrou's main comment. She tilted her head slightly, then dove underground with a quick Dig to avoid the storm of Razor Leaves sent her way.

"Underground is a bad idea here," Ramos said. "Gogoat! Earthquake!"

Gogoat reared up, and slammed his hooves into the floor. The ground shook – and Furfrou erupted from the ground in a huge torrent of water.

"Please!" she said, coming down to land with a splat. That threw her off her patter for a moment, and she looked with disdain at the wet grass. She tossed her head, and sighed. "Oh, that's awfully crude..."

Gogoat's horns glowed green, and he charged forwards towards her. His hooves drummed on the floor, turning to a series of splats as she reached the wet section.

As he arrived, Furfrou turned to face him, and took the Horn Leech attack on her shoulder.

She kept her footing quite easily, despite the water.

Gogoat frowned. "Normally this is more effective."

She batted her eyelashes at him. "Could you really hurt such a lady as myself with so brutish an attack?"

Gary chuckled. "Between Fur Coat, Charm and Cotton Guard... not really."

Furfrou tossed her head, her ears flying. "Now we've resolved that," she said as Gogoat stepped back warily, "Let's try the other side of the coin."

She jumped into the air towards Gogoat, evaded his horns with exquisite care, and nipped at his shaggy grass pelt with flame-shrouded teeth.

"Excellent," she pronounced, seeing the effect of the flames. "Just as I hoped."

Gogoat turned back towards her, horns glowing again, and used Giga Drain. She slipped underground just as the attack came in, and Gogoat started looking around for any sign of her.

The ground erupted again, this time beneath him. Furfrou's head emerged just long enough to deliver an Ice Fang, and then she was back underground and gone.

"This could take a while," Gary said, looking for a place to sit down.


Growlie bounded into the campsite, James on his back.

"We got takeout!" James announced, holding up some big carrier bags. "Who wants some?"

A lot of Pokémon wanted some, as did his partner-in-sort-of-crime. They got the groundsheet out, and settled down for a slap-up meal before bed.


Some way off through the foliage, an interested pair of blue eyes watched them.

Moltres frowned, not sure what to make of these humans. They'd certainly saved her, and she felt she owed a debt... but the question was what to actually do about it.

And even though she'd saved them... it didn't feel like the same. She was sure they'd have been able to handle it without her help...

"Ya know, that ain't really very polite," a voice said.

She jumped, her flames flaring up with the shock. "What? Who's there?"

Looking around by the light of her wings, she saw – nothing.

Then a Meowth seemed to fade out of the darkness beneath a branch. "Hey."

Moltres blinked. "But – you weren't there! I looked there!"

"Yeah, that's ninja skills for ya," Meowth shrugged. "Hey, ain't you dat Moltres what blew up Jessiebelle's helicopters?"

"I – well, I blew up some helicopters," she admitted. "I don't know whose they were."

"Why'd ya do dat, then?" Meowth asked, sitting down on a tree root.

"Because they looked like they were going to hurt – someone," she explained.

Meowth considered her for a bit longer, then shrugged. "Whatever. Thanks, I guess – but it is rude ta stare."

With that, he vanished.

Moltres frowned, not sure what to do now.


"Oh?" Jessie said, as Meowth walked back into camp. "Where were you?"

Meowth shrugged. "Just a walk. I got ta stretch my legs sometime, Jessie!"


AN:

Steel-type gym!

It's been a while since Ivysaur and Kingler have fought a gym.

Jasmine's got a very tough, durable gym. It's built out of the armour from what used to be the Japanese naval yards, which is about as "Steel-type" as I think is feasible to do.

Of course, Ash is Ash. So it might be a good thing there's some spare knocking about.

Meanwhile, Gary Oak Is Fighting A Gym, and that Moltres is still interested in the Rockets.