"Is it me, or is that taking longer to wear off than normal?" Misty asked.

Ash shrugged. "Don't know," he said, adjusting his hat. "I can't remember how long it took last time."

"Not this long," Misty assured him.

"It took... well," Pikachu counted on his paws. "Last time the spell was cast in the afternoon, this time it was the morning. And last time you'd turned back by now."

"Huh," Ash frowned. "That could actually be a bit problematic."

He shrugged. "Whatever, we'll give it a bit longer... aha!"

With a flash of light, Suicune formed.

"...right," she said, looking Ash up and down. "I heard about it, but..."

"Yeah, it's a whole different experience seeing it," Misty muttered.

Ash shrugged. "It's better than last time."

"I'm hurt, I really am," Pikachu told him.

"No, I mean at least I'm about the same shape this time," Ash pointed out. "Anyway – Suicune, you know which gym's next?"

"Dragon, yes," she nodded.

As they set off, Ash went on. "Well... I know you've got Ice Beam already, but what about that move Lapras was showing you? Freeze-dry?"

"That one has been a huge problem," Suicune admitted. "It's still not very near completion – in the time I've been working on it, you taught Entei and I Aura Sphere, and that's for starters..."

"Well, show me what you've got at the moment," Ash suggested.

Suicune nodded. She began to build the icy energy, in a way similar to an Ice Beam, but then frowned and altered it a little.

Ash watched closely. "What's that you're doing?"

"I'm trying to get rid of the moisture," Suicune mumbled, in her effort to not disrupt the ball of cold energy building just in front of her muzzle.

Frowning, the trainer-who-was-currently-a-Riolu looked closer again. "Oh, I think I see!"

The attack finally destabilized, producing a whuff of fine powder-snow.

"What is it?" Suicune asked, blinking snow out of her eyes.

Ash brushed the powder from his arms. "Well, it looks like a bit too much of your natural Aura is leaking in. That's fine, normally – it might make Ice attacks more powerful – but it's turning this into... well, something that's not Freeze-Dry."

He shrugged. "And I want to have this ready, because Clair has a powerful Kingdra, and because Freeze-dry is much more powerful than a normal Ice attack against a Kingdra."

"I see," Suicune nodded. "I could most likely beat it anyway, but – yes, that would help. What do you suggest?"

"Well..." Ash frowned. "Start by gathering aura like you would for an Aura Sphere – stripping out your Type from it, I mean. Then try adding the Ice energy to it in the way you've already been trying."

"Good idea." Suicune's eyes half-crossed, as she focused again on the point in front of her muzzle she was using as a focus for the attack.

Brock glanced down at the egg container – currently in his arms, as Ash was a bit short to do it properly. "I wonder about the environment this Pokémon is going to grow up in..."

There was a crash, as Ash slipped on some ice and fell over.

"Not bad!" he called, getting up again. "That was much drier! Now, make it not destabilize!"


Pikachu stretched out his tail, tiny lightning bolts crackling along it. "Ah, this place is lovely."

Snapping her fingers as the idea occurred to her, Misty sent out Chinchou. "What about you? What do you think of this?"

"It's great!" Chinchou enthused, lights flickering. "Really neat – like the air's full of energy!"

Stepping forwards, he dipped a toe in the water. "Ooh, and so is the water! I love it!"

A sound like all the cloth in the universe tearing made them all look up, startled.

Appearing around the edge of a headland, a Zapdos skimmed low over the water. Lightning blazed from Pokémon to lake in a continual, flickering connection, and several of the spectators threw up arms or squinted against the brilliant light.

After at least ten seconds, the Zapdos pulled up. There was a final crackling bang, and it rose well into the air – leaving clouds of steam behind from the repeatedly blasted lakewater.

"What the heck?" Ash asked, having gone for putting his paws over his ears instead.

"Pardon?" Misty replied, wincing. "I can hardly hear you!"

The Zapdos performed a wingover, and plunged back towards the lake at an angle to its previous path. This time, it hit the cloud of steam, and emerged out the other side with an almighty BANG.

Rolling twice, it turned towards the shore and began to slow.

"Okay, now I want to know what that was," Ash said. "Hey, Keldeo? Mind giving me a lift?"

"Sure!" Keldeo grinned. "At least you're smaller now, I'm pretty sure this won't end badly!"

Ash jumped up on Keldeo's back.

Keldeo took a run up, getting up to a good canter with Ash holding onto the back of his mane. As he crossed the shore, he began to skate using Hydro Pump, and set out across the lake.


"We nearly made it without falling over..." Keldeo said, a little less cheerfully, as they splashed ashore.

Ash chuckled. "Don't worry, Keldeo, not your fault – that was clearly an evil Vaporeon disguised as a wave..."

Keldeo sniggered, then they looked along the beach to where the Zapdos was still hunched.

As they looked, though, the Legendary noticed them. It cocked its head, confused.

"Wait a second..." Ash said, looking closer. "That... behind them, is that Todd?"

"I think it is!" Keldeo agreed.

"Hey, Todd!" Ash called. "Nice to see you!"

The Zapdos just looked more confused. So did Todd.

"Who's that?" the lanky youth called. "Do... wait a minute... Ash?"

"Yeah?" Ash said, frowning. "What's so-"

"Why are you a Riolu!?"

Ash glanced down. "...do you know, I'd actually forgotten that?"

Todd shook his head. "I don't even... hey, are the others here?"

"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "We were over on the south shore, then we saw the show. What was going on?"

"I've been trying to get pictures of all three Legendary Birds – after the two Articuno you pointed me at, I mean," he clarified. "Got pictures of a recently-caught Moltres down in the Sevii-"

"Caught?" Keldeo interrupted. "I wonder who caught a Moltres..."

"I didn't know them," Todd shrugged. "Few years older than me, at least. Had a talking Meowth-"

Ash's mouth fell open. "What."

He sighed. "Okay, you're going to have to explain the whole thing to us. Suicune, mind giving Todd a lift?"

At that point, they discovered Todd was still not inured to Ash surprising him.

"Okay, are you like catnip to Legendaries or something?" he asked, completely flabbergasted, as Suicune materialized. "How many do you have?"

Ash started counting.

"No, wait!" Todd interrupted. "Forget I asked!"

As he shook his head, astonished, Ash and his Pokémon noticed Sneasel clambering down his backpack.

Dropping the last foot or so to the floor, she ran lightly over to them – stopping several yards out – and bowed slightly.

"It is an honour, my lady."

"Please," Suicune said, raising a paw. "The formality is tiresome. Are you the photographer's Pokémon?"

Sneasel began to reply, and stopped. She started again. "Technically, no... he never got around to capturing me – too busy travelling and learning how to photograph. Some of mine got into the magazine," she added, with a slight blush.

"...we have got a lot to catch up on," Ash stated. "Okay, let's head over to the others."

"I remember when this place was calm and private," Zapdos mused.

"Really?" Keldeo asked, interested. "When was that?"

"This morning."


"She was stalking the trainer?" Zapdos chuckled. "Okay, now I may well have heard everything. At least she's more sensible than those idiots on Shamouti, though, those three are astonishingly immature."

"Maybe it's being on their islands alone?" Misty suggested.

"That could well be it, I know my siblings have done much to keep me grounded," Suicune mused.

"So, anyway, they said that she'd literally tripped over a Pokéball," Todd finished. "And the next morning she decided to stay with them. Crazy, huh?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded.

Brock chuckled. "You don't get to say that, Ash. You're currently a Riolu."

"Oh, yeah, speaking of-" Todd brought his camera up, and took a quick picture.

"Hey!" Ash said, wincing. "What was that for?"

"Souvenir?" Todd shrugged. "I won't publish it or anything, but... you know."

"Maybe Delia would like to see?" Pikachu suggested, grinning.

"That sounds like a good idea!" Misty grinned. "Todd? Pikachu just suggested-"

"Hey, no fair!" Ash interrupted.

"What?" Misty asked, innocently. "I'm sure your mother'd love to see!"

Ash frowned, thinking. "Uh... yeah, maybe you're right. Might be... okay, good point," he said reluctantly.

I can send her one right now, via Damos, Dexter suggested.

"Sounds good!" Todd agreed. "Do you have a data port?"

No need, I should be able to interface directly.

As Dexter got on that, Ash grimaced. "Huh, that felt weird..."

"Are you okay?" Lucario asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I think-"

There was that same peculiar, fire-and-ice nervous discontinuity as before, and then Ash found himself almost flat on his back.

Almost. There were paws gripping his shoulders, holding him a few inches off the ground.

"I've got you," Lucario informed him, before lifting Ash back up to his feet. "I saw it coming that time."

"Good you did," Ash muttered, looking down at the beach. There were a number of quite large pebbles among the smaller sand. "Ouch, that could have hurt... thanks, Lucario."

Lucario nodded, pleased.

"Looks like that photo just about got taken in time," Brock grinned.

Ash chuckled. "Yeah, guess so..."

"That was peculiar," the Zapdos said, blinking.

Ash gave the Electric Pokémon a shrug. "Sorry."

"No, I didn't have a problem with it per se, I just... it's baffling." Zapdos shook his head. "Ah well. I'll take my leave, I suppose..."

Raising spiked yellow wings, he took flight and circled once before setting out over the lake.

"That was nice," Brock smiled.


"...okay, this is not what I expected as my third challenge this week," Pryce admitted.

Raikou held up a sign. 'Let's get on with it!' it read, in large characters.

Pryce nodded. "Sure. Okay, S... no, never mind them," he amended, discarding his plans to use Seel and Dewgong. "Let's start with Aurorus!"

Aurorus looked Raikou up and down. "I believe I fought your brother recently," she said, raising her sail. It started to glow.

"Oh? How'd he do?" Raikou asked, frowning. "I could see him having a bit of trouble, what with that dashed Rock type and all..."

"He did," she smiled. "I mean, he won, but – Ice Hyper Beam!"

Raikou's paws slipped on the ice as he tried to jump clear, and the Ice-type attack drove him into a wall in a crescendo of ice.

For about a second, that was it. Then the ice trembled, and Raikou exploded out of it with his eyes flashing an eerie gold.

"Trying to take me by surprise, eh?" he asked, chuckling. "Well played!"

His paws dug in, this time, and he avoided an incoming Ice Hyper Voice to skate in an arc around the frosted-over gym.

Twisting to keep him in her arc of fire, Aurorus snapped off a series of Ice attacks, and Raikou dodged them – mostly. The one which hit, he blew to bits with a Thunder before it could hamper him too much, and he skidded behind an icy obstacle.

"You know," he said, conversationally, "My sister always said I had a head like a rock."

Snapping thunder traced a path along the floor, curving out from his concealed position towards Aurorus.

"Iron Head!"

The icy stalagmite smashed apart, as Raikou rammed through it with a shining Iron Head.

It hit Aurorus on the flank with a crack, and she skidded across the floor a few inches before retaliating with a point-blank Ice Hyper Beam.

This time, Raikou took a few more seconds to blow the ice to bits, and grinned.

"Oh, I like this!" he said, chuckling. "Very impressive!"

His tail blazed, and he threw a bolt of lightning at Aurorus to keep her honest. While she was blocking that with a quick Light Screen, he plunged through one of the damaged patches of ice and vanished underground.

Pryce, no fool, withdrew Aurorus and sent out Mamoswine.

"Earthquake!" he called.

The moment before the attack fired, Raikou burst out from underground again. The shaking made his tunnel collapse, and spiderwebbed cracks out across the ice, but he was mostly fine.

"Sneaky!" he chuckled. "Take this! Iron Tail!"


"Oh, right!" Donphan said, nodding. "That makes a lot of sense! So I use that for getting into the air!"

"That's right," Ash confirmed. "I mean, your Rollout is a pretty good start, but I was thinking – your Earthquake would be more powerful if you could get some momentum, and you could manage Magnitude too which is sometimes even more powerful."

"I get it," Donphan agreed. "And it makes sure I can attack Pokémon flying in the air, too... great! How do I use Bounce, then?"

Ash gave Donphan a look over. "I think it might be uncurling for a moment at the right time," he said. "Or – can you use your trunk to push off against the ground as you roll? That sounds like it might work."

Donphan duly gave it a go, diving forwards into a roll and promptly pushing off against the ground. Something went a bit wrong with the aiming, and he ended up in a tree.

Rather than take the difficult step of climbing up to save him, Ash did the sensible thing and returned Donphan before sending him out again.

"Whoops," Donphan muttered. "At least I went up... oh, I saw something over the hill before you recalled me."

"Oh?" Ash said, interested. "Let's go see!"


"Somehow," Ash mused, "I remember this being different."

There were still the two Igglybuff.

There was still the TV camera, and the stage, and the girl – Brittany.

One thing that was new, though, was the electric guitar and the drumset.

"Oh, hi!" Brittany said, noticing them. "Want to listen? I'm helping my friends practice for an audition for Jiggly and the Puffs!"

"Sure!" Misty said. "Only... do you have a Poké flute?"

Brittany blinked.

She turned to the two Igglybuff. "That's what we've been forgetting!"

One of the Fairy-types slapped her face. The other one nodded ruefully.

"That does explain why everyone's been falling asleep all the time..." Brittany said, shaking her head. "Okay, sorry – guess we'll have to sort that out..."

"Not so fast," Brock said. "I think – do any of us have a Pokémon with Uproar?"

"I know it," Crobat volunteered.

"Right. Because that's just a way of making loud sounds so they keep people awake, even through Sing," he went on. "Think you could explain for the Igglybuff?"

"I think so."

"Thanks," Brittany said, all smiles. "That's a great help."

"It's kind of a habit for us," Misty chuckled. "I mean, we kind of put her together with that Poké flute guy herself..."

For about four seconds, the three aspiring musicians tried to work out what she meant. Then they got it, and their eyes went wide.

"You... you put Jigglypuff together with her backup act?" Brittany gaped. "That's amazing!"

As if on a coordinated signal, both Fairy-types pulled out autograph books.


"Ready for this?" Norman asked.

May glanced over at Blaziken, getting a confirmatory nod, then repeated it. "We sure are!"

Blaziken cracked his knuckles.

"Okay, this is going to be pretty much the kind of battle I give mid-level trainers," Norman went on. "I'm going a bit easy on you because you've only got Blaziken, but on the other hand this isn't just about winning – it's about how well you've trained Blaziken, how strong your bond is... and, of course, how impressive you two look."

"Is that why Mom's watching too?" May asked.

"That's right," Caroline smiled. "I'm going to judge your contest skills!"

"Right," May nodded. "Okay, Blaziken... here goes."

Her starter nodded to her, then stepped forwards.

"Let's start this off nice and easy," Norman said. "Vigoroth!"

Blaziken watched Vigoroth bounce back and forth, full of energy, and set his stance.

"Okay, Blaziken, let's do this!" May called. "Sky kick!"

Norman frowned minutely. "I've not heard of that one before..."

Blaziken stepped forwards, feinting towards Vigoroth, and scythed a kick out.

Vigoroth ducked under it, lunging forwards, and Blaziken flinched back from the Fury Swipes attack.

"Wait-" Caroline said, suddenly noticing.

Blaziken hadn't flinched. He'd gone over backwards in a preplanned move, lashing out with his other foot, and taking his weight on backwards-leant arms. The uppercutting kick caught Vigoroth off guard, connecting with his abdomen, and a whoof of air came out as Blaziken launched him skywards.

Springing back upright, Blaziken crouched and followed with a powerful leap.

By the time he reached altitude, Vigoroth had recovered somewhat. Whirling in mid-air, he slashed out at Blaziken again.

"Spiral toss!" May told her Fire-type.

Blaziken blocked with one arm, then the other, and used both blocks to gain a small height advantage over Vigoroth. Once he had, he fired a Flamethrower blast through the V at the top of his crossed arms, and kept it on Vigoroth as he fell.

The spiralling, red-orange stream of flame kept Blaziken from falling as fast as he otherwise might and also forced Vigoroth down faster. When the Normal-type hit the floor, Blaziken still had a little way to go.

All through his trip towards the floor, Blaziken had been coiling up. Now he kept firing, but turned the direction he was firing and straightened out in the same moment.

The result was that he turned a three-quarters-somersault, landing with both legs and one arm down as his Flamethrower finally cut out.

Seen from the side, as Caroline and Norman were, it was an upwards half-circle of flame which rippled and dispersed in the cool gym air.

"...well, that tells me our daughter's cut out for this," Caroline said, after a few seconds of silence. "Was that a version of Seismic Toss, May?"

"Yep!" May replied, proudly. "Blaziken and I worked on coded versions of his normal attacks that recreate other ones, so they're not what people expect – and they're quicker to explain, too!"

"It must be something about Ash," Norman muttered.

"What's that?" Caroline asked, also in a low voice.

"He just... brings out the best," Norman said, and shrugged. "Anyway."

In a louder voice, he addressed May. "Wonderful work! Now, I'm afraid I do have to make you work a bit harder... your choice, May. Fire or Fighting?"

May exchanged a look with Blaziken, who shrugged. "Fire, I guess," she said.

"Right," Norman nodded, returning Vigoroth. "Girafarig, go!"


"That's the main engine controls," James said, indicating a set of four throttles. "They normally need a few minutes to warm up, but there's also pyro charges controlled there in case we need to go from a cold start."

"Right," Jessie said dubiously, already having a little trouble keeping up with the array of switches and buttons James had installed on their transport plane. "Why do we need to know this?"

"Well, we've got a Flying-type now," James pointed out. "One who knows Fly. But she certainly can't carry all of us, so... you should know how to fly this thing."

Jessie blinked, then scowled. "Are you calling me fat?"

"I don't tink dat's what he meant..." Meowth said, shaking his head. "More like, Moltres ain't all dat big, an' she sure can't carry Gyarados!"

"What about this one, then?" Jessie asked, pointing at a control.

James blanched. "Don't-"


"It all sounds very peculiar," Moltres admitted. "Time travel?"

"Pretty much," Victreebell agreed. "I mean, some of the new guys-"

There was a loud floomp! noise, and a braking parachute fired out the back of the transport before slowly settling to the ground.

"I am so glad we don't have to repack that," Weezing said sagely.


"Upper spin!" May instructed.

Blaziken sprang forwards onto his hands, and spun his legs around with flame trailing from them. The arc of fire joined up, broadened, and became a roaring fire spin completely concealing his position.

"Psybeam," Norman ordered. Eyes glowing, Girafarig fired a multicoloured beam of light towards the flaming tornado at about chest height.

It blew through the flames easily, showing no Blaziken in sight.

"Hm," Norman mused, as the Fire Spin unravelled in both directions. Then, as the flames reached about knee height, Blaziken exploded out of a crouch and lunged forward.

Another Psybeam came at him, catching him on the side, and he winced. Turning the momentum into an advantage, he slammed one foot down on the floor to control his spin and lashed out with a Blaze Kick at Girafarig's other side.

The Normal-type's other set of eyes flashed, and a Reflect shield formed. It flared from the impact, but managed to prevent most of the force of the blow from reaching Girafarig.

"Switch to Special attacks!" May called, as Blaziken flipped backwards and braked by sliding along the floor. "Flamethrower!"

Launching a sheet of flame forwards, Blaziken scored a hit on Girafarig before his opponent could turn and attack properly. He then had to dodge out of the way as another Psybeam came flashing out, and barely avoided being hit a second time.

May frowned, trying to look for a good moment to change tactics. The Girafarig was already forming a series of Light Screens, so the Flamethrowers weren't doing as much good any more.

She already knew what she was going to have Blaziken do, so – there!

"Friction jump!" she called.

Norman blinked, not even sure what that could mean. Then he saw Blaziken crouch slightly, fists held in a knife-hand position which rested on the gym floor.

Then Blaziken came rushing forwards. The blue-glowing fists dug a little into the floor, leaving a trail – and glowing brighter.

"Look out!" he called to Girafarig. "Now!"

Girafarig's horns flashed, and another Psybeam flashed out – to hit Blaziken when he couldn't dodge.

Unfortunately, though, Blaziken wasn't planning on delivering the attack in the first place. His arms came up, fists clenching, and blocked the Psybeam with his boosted Sky Uppercut before springing into the air.

"Overheat!"

Caught off guard, Girafarig couldn't erect a fresh Light Screen in time. The Overheat speared down from overhead, browning a circle of the gym floor and heavily damaging Girafarig.

Landing on the far side of his opponent, Blaziken whirled to continue the fight with a Blaze Kick.

"That's enough!" Norman called, and Blaziken's foot halted about three inches short of Girafarig's flank.

"So," the gym leader went on, returning Girafarig. "What do you think, dear?"

"Very good," Caroline said with a smile. "Nice and showy, but not to the point that they became the focus rather than the Pokémon themselves, which is good – the aerial combat thing was a nice touch – and I'm guessing that they were still powerful moves?"

"Oh, very much so," Norman agreed. "May?"

May looked up from where she was inspecting Blaziken's side, where he'd taken the Psybeam earlier. "Yeah?"

A Balance badge came flying at her. She caught it with some surprise, and looked at it. "Dad?"

"Well, you've earned it," he smiled. "Well done, May. I'll be here for you to practice on before you leave, but – well, I'm no longer in doubt about your ability to look after yourself. Congratulations."

May glanced at Blaziken, then hurried across the floor to her parents.

"Thanks," she said, giving Norman a hug. "That means a lot to me."

Releasing him, she grabbed Caroline as well. "Both of you."


"...so, it's kind of like a lower powered version of Solarbeam," Ash went on. "Just that you fire it much earlier, and you fuel it internally rather than with solar energy."

"I see..." Entei nodded. "Well, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually..."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it's one of those things I've not even got close to yet. But being able to hit Water-types no matter what other Type they are would be pretty useful for you."

"Hmmm..." Entei rumbled, and glanced up at the sky. A bit cloudy, but not very overcast... "Perhaps I should practice under rainy skies, loath as I am to admit it. To be sure I am not accidentally using the sun for my power."

"Good idea," Ash agreed. "The other thing might be easier to do – dragonfire. Have you run into it before?"

"A time or two," Entei confirmed.

"Right. Well, the reason I think it'd also be a good one is we're on the way to Blackthorn, and that means-"

"Are you sure this is the way to Blackthorn, Ash?" Misty asked. "This does look familiar, but it doesn't seem like the right way to go..."

We are certainly headed in the direction of Blackthorn, Dexter supplied. However, due to the fact we got very lost last time, this direct route is not where we've been before.

"You sure?" Brock frowned. "It seems..."

"Hey, look!" Ash said, pointing.

Brock and Misty followed his gaze.

"That seems to be... a Charizard? No, two Charizard..." Entei said, blinking. "Either we're very lost, or... well, I'm not sure..."

As he spoke, the two distant forms drifted towards one another. Then they banked around, and began to head towards the friends.

Ash began waving. "Hey!"

"Oh, I get it!" Pikachu realized. "That's Charizard!" He paused. "Wait, no, I mean Charizard, but not just any Chari – oh, you know who I mean. Him."

"It sure is!" Ash confirmed, grinning. "Down here!"

Charizard had clearly already seen him, of course. The burly Fire-type came stooping down on them, flared his wings with a rush of air, and settled down just in front of them.

Charla swooped overhead, losing height a little less dramatically, and began to slow for her own landing.

"Hi, Charizard!" Ash greeted him. "It's been a while..."

"Too long," Charizard agreed, a grin of his own on his muzzle. He indicated Entei with a nod. "He's new."

Entei tilted his head. "Not that new, surely? We met in Greenfield?"

"...I was probably too unconscious," Charizard muttered. "Anyway, come on – you're only a little way from the Dragon Holy Land! I'll show you the best way in!"

"That's what was familiar!" Misty said, snapping her fingers. "Hmm... wonder what they'll think of Gyarados..."

Charla landed next to them. "Why is Entei standing there?" she asked, blinking.

"I caught him," Ash explained simply.

Liza sighed. "I'm starting to see why it was you who ended up time travelling."


The Dragon Holy Land really was an amazing place. Set in a sparsely-inhabited valley, it provided a refuge in the heart of Honshu for the normally much more solitary dragons.

As the place where Pokémon from the Cianwood Dragon Clan rested and recuperated, as well as where they raised their young, it was a place of astonishing variety. Just in the time Ash and his friends were walking in, they saw at least fourteen different Pokémon species – from Swablu in the trees, to a Dratini in the river running by the path, to a timid Goomy half-hidden behind a friendly Flygon.

"Wow..." Brock breathed. "It's amazing to think there's so many rare Pokémon here – look, that's a Gabite!"

The Gabite gave them a curious look, then shrugged.

"Oh, look," Misty added, pointing. "That's a Milotic!"

Unnoticed by Ash, the Gabite did a double take and looked at Ash more closely. "Hey," he said to a nearby Swablu. "Is that me, or is that Ash Ketchum?"

"I think you're right!" the Swablu confirmed.

"Did you just say-" A Vibrava hovered down, and looked between them. "Hey, it is!"

"Who's that?" asked a Grovyle.

"Can I see?"

"How come you're here, though?" Ash asked Charizard, heedless of the rapidly spreading rumors. "I mean... you know, you're a Fire and a Flying type."

"I'm clearly a dragon, what are you talking about?" Charizard replied, posing (to laughter from Charla). After a moment, he shrugged. "Actually, I think they treat Dragon quite broadly – it means at least some Pokémon from the Dragon egg group, too."

"Oh, right..." Ash nodded. "So... I guess that means Sceptile?"

"That's one of them, yeah."

Ash was about to say more, but a bing from his bag distracted him.

The others stopped walking too. "Ash, was that-"

"Yeah!" Ash replied, swinging the bag down and unzipping it. He took out the egg capsule, and confirmed that the egg inside was just starting to glow.

Moving with cautious speed, he unlatched the top of the capsule and took the egg out. The glow brightened as he did, and he sat down with the egg in his lap just before it went completely white.

Several of the nearby dragons craned their necks to watch.

Then, as the light died down, it revealed the hatchling.

"Maw," she said, stretching and yawning. With both her mouth, and her big pair of secondary jaws.

"Aw..." Misty smiled. "How cute."

"Hi," Ash said gently. "It's nice to meet you."

At about that point, the shock of the spectators wore off.

"Ash Ketchum has a Fairy type," a Dragonite said, with forced calm. "Ash Ketchum. Has. A Fairy Type."

"The guy whose Charizard knows Draco Meteor?"

"And it's even immune to Poison?" a Dragalge checked.

"We're all doomed," the Gabite decided.

Mawile yawned again, and blinked up at Ash. "Hi!" she said, smiling. "Nice to meet you too!"

"Now, don't worry," said the Flygon. "This might not be as bad as-"

"Hey, look what I learned!" Mawile added. Her secondary jaw opened, then slammed shut with an audible crash of Ice Fang.

"It knows Ice Fang! Run!"

Ash looked up, somewhat bewildered, at the sound of a mass stampede. He saw every single Dragon-type in the area running for the hills.

"...what just happened?" he asked.

Charizard sighed. "I'll see if I can calm them down..."

"How did you learn Ice Fang, anyway?" Ash asked Mawile, as Charizard took flight and headed north.

"I heard you and Mister Keldeo talking about it," Mawile beamed. "I didn't understand everything, but that bit was easy!"

"...oh, that's right," Misty nodded. "Egg moves don't just mean moves which are inherited, it's also moves which are learned by a Pokémon while still in the egg. Doesn't come up much..."

"I can see you're a clever one," Brock said, crouching down. "Any other moves you worked out?"

"Uh... not really," Mawile said, shaking her head. "Sorry."

Ash chuckled. "It's okay, really!"

He rummaged in his pocket. "Hold on, I'm going to get Dexter to do a quick scan – just to make sure you're healthy."

"Sure!" Mawile agreed. "And – hey, is Mister Keldeo here? Or Miss Suicune?"

"I'm afraid they're not, at the moment," Ash told her. "Maybe I should take you to meet them all, after my next Gym Battle."

"What's a Gym Battle like?" Mawile asked, as Dexter's scanner flashed.

"It's kind of a way of showing how much I and my Pokémon have learned – how good we are at fighting," Ash explained.

"Oh, okay." Mawile nodded. "Do all your Pokémon have to?" she asked, a bit nervously.

"No, just a few," Ash assured her. "I think you're a bit young, at the moment. Even though you seem to have scared off every dragon in the valley..."

Mawile giggled. "Rawr!" The big faux-jaw on the back of her head opened and shut as well, a bit more ominously.

"Oh – that reminds me," Ash said, retrieving the Pokéball from the discarded case lid. "Do you mind if I go ahead and catch you now?"

"Sure!" she nodded. "Do I get ice cream?"

"I'm pretty sure most Pokémon centres do ice cream," Brock supplied.

"Okay."

Ash promptly used the Pokéball – nothing special, just a plain one – to catch her, and then sent her out again as soon as the capture registered.

"That was fun!" the Fairy-type told him.

"Not how I felt about it..." Pikachu muttered.

"Oh, hello!" Mawile added, looking over to Pikachu. "You're Mister Pikachu, aren't you?"

"...last I checked, yes."

"You're funny," Mawile told him firmly.

"Hey..." Misty frowned. "Sorry to interrupt, but I just thought of something. Do Gyarados count as Dragons?"

Liza had been hanging back a bit, not wanting to interrupt the scene. "I think I remember seeing a few in the lake," she supplied. "It's about half a kilometre down that stream. Why?"

Misty adjusted her Mega Ring. "Oh, no real reason..."


AN:

Right, going down the list:

Todd finally runs into Ash again. I actually think this is his Sneasel's first dialogue.

Raikou's nearly done with his gym challenges, just one to go.

Sing works better with anti-sleep effects in play.

May and Blaziken working together, in the first battle in a long while where I've been not writing Pokémon dialogue. Hopefully it was very... uh... Coordinator-y.

For some reason, I see James as the pilot and Jessie the copilot. Functionally that means she has a much more limited range of controls, usually...

And, finally, that egg. Yep, Mawile. Hopefully she's cute!