"Ah, I love this part of the trip," Ash said, breathing in the sea air.

"The bits where we're by a beach?" Misty asked.

"No, not that-"

"The bits where we've just saved the world?" Brock suggested.

"Well, kind of, but I mean..." Ash shook his head. "Where it's not long to go until the League. I mean, I love arriving in a new region, and going out to battle a gym, and meeting new friends... about the only bit I don't like is after the League, when everything seems to be leading towards leaving friends behind."

Misty frowned. "Well-"

"No, no, don't worry!" Ash hastened to say. "I know my friends are still there, and I'll make sure to stay in touch. It's just... one of those things."

He shrugged. "Sorry. Okay, where now... back to New Bark, right?"

"I think so," Brock agreed. "We're a bit ahead of schedule, though."

Ash nodded. "Well, I guess we should sort one thing out..."

He took an unusual red Pokéball from his belt, and opened it.

"How was that?" he asked, looking Latias over carefully. She'd been in the 'ball since they left Altomare – it had taken Ash a while to find a good one to use, but one of the marts had been doing a special on gorgeously-coloured Cherish Balls and he'd bought two.

Latios' one was blue – he hadn't been able to resist how closely the colours matched their feathers.

Latias shook her head, a little dizzy. "Is it like that every time?"

"Yes," Pikachu said firmly.

"Don't listen to Pikachu," Ash advised the Dragon-type. "He just really dislikes Pokéballs generally. Everyone else says it's fine once you're used to it."

"Not convinced..." Pikachu muttered.

"Right. I'll take your word for it," Latias decided.

She looked around, brightening. "Apart from that – this is lovely! Very different to Altomare – even the sea breeze, I've never felt this much breeze in the grotto!"

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," Brock mused. "The buildings would be in the way."

Latias nodded, then floated a little way into the air. She bent her wings back, then shot off – looping, whirling, spiralling in the sky. Exulting in being able to fly free – and openly.

Ash and his friends watched, shading their eyes occasionally when Latias flew in front of the sun.

After several minutes, reluctantly, Latias floated back down to the humans. "I suppose we have to do the boring bit now," she said, sighing.

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Boring is not the word..." Pikachu told her.

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"I try to..." Ash paused. "Actually, maybe you could see how I do it with the others first. I do need to work out training for Raikou and Mawile. It's been a bit hectic the last couple of days."

"Looking for me," Latias nodded, deflating a bit.

"It's not your fault!" Ash hastened to reassure her. "Really, it's not – you staying undercover was the most sensible thing to do."

The Eon Pokémon absorbed that, but didn't look convinced.

Ash sent out Raikou first. "Okay, Raikou – you already heard from Suicune and Entei what I said to them. If you've got some reason to leave urgently, leave and let me know later."

He looked up at the hovering Latias. "That goes for you, too, Latias. If you need to head back to Altomare, the only reason I'd stop you is if I knew it was dangerous to go – and if it was, only so I could come with you to help."

"Thank you, Ash," she said, nodding.

"Oh, don't worry!" Raikou chuckled. "I'll be sure to do what I can to keep everything above board. Now, can we get onto the training schedule?"

He emitted a crackling rumble-purr. "I've already been waiting long enough..."

Ash shook his head. "Alright, I get it... okay. The obvious one's Volt Crash, you've been after that one for months. But!" he added, seeing Raikou's expression. "Not just that. There's other things I'd like to see you learn too – the counter shield, for one, you've got a good element for it."

Raikou nodded, considering that. "Go on..."

"How are your coverage moves?" Ash went on. "Do you have something for dragons?"

"Now you mention it... hm, Ice fang?" Raikou mused. "Questions, questions..."

"And the other one is Shock Wave. Pikachu knows... what? Twenty? Thirty?"

"Thirty-four," Pikachu supplied.

"-different kinds of Shock Wave," Ash picked the explanation back up. "None of them are perfect, but they mean he's got a lot of different options to get past a Pokémon's ability to dodge."

Raikou frowned. "Hm. I see."

"But I guess Volt Crash should be first. Pikachu, do you mind starting that?" Ash requested, and got a nod. "Good."

He glanced up at Latias. "Any thoughts so far?"

"I... think so," Latias said slowly. "You're trying to work on the areas the Pokémon's weak?"

"Not just that," Ash told her. "I'm also trying to use their strengths. You notice half of what I gave him was Electric-type?"

She nodded.

"That's because of how powerful Raikou's electricity is. It's usually going to be a good option for him, so long as he's got other ones for enemies strong against it."

Latias took that in, thinking.


I already told you, I don't want to learn to swim.

"Though an explanation was kind of obviously absent..." Misty muttered, then shrugged. "Okay, whatever. Let's look at the other stuff first. What Golduck are known for."

She frowned, tapping her foot. "Well, firstly, Golduck are often mistaken for Kappa."

"What's a Kappa?" Togekiss asked.

"...actually, I don't know," Misty admitted. "Any ideas?"

Golduck shrugged. Is it Unovan?

"I don't think so," his trainer frowned. "Hmmm... no, I can't think of what it might be..."

She shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, that's not the only thing. You're also a more powerful telepath and telekinetic – as if you hadn't noticed."

Yes, it is a bit obvious. Golduck shrugged. It's a lot like my headache boost, but it's not painful and always on. Very peculiar.

"It'll be interesting getting used to you not having to use the headache," Misty admitted.

It'll be much more pleasant on this end, I assure you... anything else?"

"Yes," Misty said, sounding positively gleeful. "The most widely reported thing about Golduck is that it's one of the fastest swimmers of all Pokémon."

Really? Golduck blinked. What about... you know. Sharpedo. Or Buizel.

"Nope, it's you," she repeated. "Golduck, you seriously do need to learn to swim sometime – having a Water-type who can't is just getting ridiculous."

I beg to differ! Golduck pointed over at Ash, now talking with Mawile. I've never seen Suicune go swimming.

"That doesn't mean she can't, it just means running on the water is easier for her," Misty sighed. "Okay, we'll leave that for now... the other thing is that that forehead gem of yours is quite a good focus."

I think I've heard of what you mean.

"Yeah, I've seen Golduck using moves like Hyper Beam, Signal Beam, Focus Blast or even electrical attacks from it – as well as it being a good amplifier for psychic powers." Tapping her foot, Misty clicked her fingers. "And that means you're good for handling Grass-types, especially ones who have a good counter to Ice Beam."

Huh. Golduck looked interested. That is interesting. So I could be the-

Starmie picked him up with Psychic. Startled, he was slow to react, and the Psychic-type dropped him unceremoniously in the water.

What the heck!? Golduck snapped, flailing. What was that for?

"Sorry!" Misty said, not sounding very sorry. "But you're in about two feet of water, you know, you could just stand up."

...I knew that, Golduck muttered unconvincingly. He stood up, shaking the water off, and shuddered. Ghastly stuff. Why do people swim, again?

"It's fun, as you'd know if you gave it more than about three seconds before panicking," Misty informed him. "Fun, relaxing, a good way to get fit, and... okay, you know what?"

What? Golduck asked, worried.

"I'm going to ask Dexter if your species can breathe underwater. After I get the result, either I'm going to see about getting you a rebreather or just get Corsola to open your Pokéball at the bottom of a suitable lake..."

A scuba tank would help... the Water-type admitted. But I'm just... okay. He took a deep breath.

I'll give it a go, Misty. I might be no good, but I'll at least try.

Misty smiled, sighing. "Thanks, Golduck."

I can't promise I'll be able to do it without floats, though...


"Okay, Mawile," Ash said, sitting on the crisp grass to put himself more on Mawile's level. "I was wondering – do you want to take part in battles?"

Mawile frowned, one hand going to her chin as she thought. "Would it be hard?" she asked.

"Well, it really depends," Ash told her. "Some opponents are a lot tougher than others, you see – if we're facing a really tough opponent, even Pikachu finds it hard."

The Steel-type considered that, then nodded. "Okay, I see."

She pursed her lips, moving one foot in a small circle. "I think – yes," she decided, seriously. "I'd like to do something fun, and if everyone else thinks it's fun then I should do it!"

"Makes sense to me," Ash said with a grin. "Okay, you already know Ice Fang and Iron Head... oh, I'll just explain a bit about battling," he decided. "First off, most Pokémon use mainly moves in battle – like your Ice Fang, that's a move."

"Right."Mawile nodded, still serious, then giggled and chomped her horn-jaws together with a faint crash of ice. "That always feels funny!"

Her trainer smiled too. "Right. Moves have Types, and so do Pokémon – so Ice Fang is Ice type, and you're Steel and Fairy type."

"Does that mean it's wrong for me to use it?" Mawile asked, concerned.

"No, it's fine!" Ash assured her. "It's just that it won't be quite as powerful as if an Ice-type Pokémon used it, they have better control and power when using Ice."

The young Pokémon absorbed that. "Does that mean I'm better at... uh... Steel and Fairy attacks?"

"That's right!" Ash nodded. "You're catching on fast."

Mawile beamed.

"One of the important things in a fight is to make sure you're in the right place – that matters more for Pokémon like you, who have close-ranged attacks a lot. You have to make sure you can attack your opponent and avoid being hit yourself."

"Can I ask a question?" Latias asked.

"Sure," Ash nodded.

"Uh – am I more one of those or one of the other kind?"

"I fought a Latios once, up in Sinnoh – I've no idea where the trainer got him," Ash began. "He was good at both... I've got some ideas. But for Pokémon who use ranged attacks, they have to try to avoid being somewhere their opponent can hit."

"So they kind of have to dodge?" Mawile asked, nodding seriously. "I see!"

"That's it exactly!" Ash told her, smiling. "So – we can probably leave working on moves for a bit. First I'd like you to get a bit of practice at moving – it'll get you fit, as well."

He reached to his belt. "Totodile?"

"Yes?" Totodile asked, jumping from foot to foot. "Oh, I know what's coming! It's going to be a game!"

"That's right," Ash nodded. "Okay, Mawile – I think you've met Totodile?"

"Yep!" Mawile nodded. "I've met mister Totodile! He's funny!"

"I'm funny?" Totodile beamed. "That's nice of you!"

Latias couldn't restrain a happy giggle.

Ash glanced up at her, then back to the two smaller Pokémon. "Okay, Totodile, here's what I want you to do. You and Mawile are going to be playing tag – but you're allowed to keep her away with your water blasts. Go easy on her at first and don't use too much water. Got that?"

"I got that!" Totodile assured him.

"I'm it!" Mawile announced. "When do we go?"

"Three, two, one... now!" Ash counted down, and the two Pokémon jumped into action.

Water went everywhere.


"Okay, so – first, can you sustain a single layer of electricity across your whole body?" Pikachu asked.

Raikou shrugged, rolling his body back and forth. "That's easy!"

Putting action to words, electricity snapped between his fangs before spreading in a great crackling curtain across the whole of his body – from mask to mane to jagged tail.

"What now?" he demanded, prancing back and forth. "It can't be much effort, you-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Pikachu warned. "Anyway. Can you collapse that layer down to a single ring?"

Raikou blinked. "You what?"

Pikachu demonstrated, forming a crackling layer of electricity before drawing it together into a single ring. "It's important because of the resultant magnetic fields – they're much stronger, and that in turn amplifies what we're going to do next with it."

"...right." Raikou frowned, concentrating, and the curtain of electricity surrounding him quivered – then it shot off and blew a divot out of the grass.

"Whoops!" he said, wincing. "This is a lot more bothersome than I was expecting..."

"Good luck, you're going to need three of those at once," Pikachu advised him. "This wasn't exactly easy."

"Three of-" Raikou's question choked off into spluttering. "HOW many?"

"Three," Pikachu repeated.

"Can't I do it with two?"

"Impossible, sorry," Pikachu assured him, not sounding very sorry. "The whole idea is that independently rotating and crossing the three rings ties the magnetic eddies up in knots, and if there's only two then when the rings cross there's two routes for the blast to discharge straight off – the third ring's needed to make sure it doesn't fire until it's ready."

Raikou stared.

"Ash and I sat down with Dexter, a copy of Maxwell's equations, and a nice colourful visualization package," Pikachu added. "Ash is surprisingly good at understanding things explained to him with colourful visualizations."

"...right," Raikou muttered. "That's me told, all right..."

He sat back, and started to try to create an electric ring again.

Pikachu? Dexter asked. Do you have a moment?

"Sure, I think Raikou's occupied for now. What is it?"

I was going back over my records. You electrocuted that Excadrill several times in Altomare.

"So?" Pikachu asked. "That happens occasionally, right?"

Very occasionally. From you, and you alone.

Pikachu blinked. "...I wasn't... but... how?"

I see you take my point. Dexter's form briefly shattered, before reforming itself from vectors. It's not something about the Electric type, at least as far as I can tell... Trace.

Dexter's highlights changed, becoming yellow-tinted. Hm, no, that's not it... that's Lightningrod.

"You think it might be an Ability?" Pikachu asked, as behind him Raikou started cursing overly delicate techniques. "I've never... wait, there is that one that Pokémon like Miltank have, isn't there? Scrappy?"

Exactly, Dexter agreed, highlights going back to the initial colour. Trace.

This time the highlighting was slightly different, a bit more orange and less yellow. I think this is Static.

"Should I get someone to test it?"

No, I'm pretty sure... hm. Ash does have Donphan, though – can you get him? I think we might need to look into this more.

Pikachu nodded, and headed over to his trainer. Halfway there, he got hit by a wet slap of water from Totodile, who apologized hastily before jumping out of the way of a giggling Mawile.


"Right," Ash said, frowning. "I'm afraid there is quite a lot to work on, for you."

Latias nodded slowly. "I guess there would be – I've never really had formal training."

"Formal training's boring," Ash shrugged. "Training as a whole, though... okay, let's start with what you already know."

"I've used... well, I have... a couple of Psychic attacks. I know Dragon Pulse, too, but I'm not very good at it, and I can do Safeguard."

Ash waited a moment, then grinned. "That's not all you know – you can go invisible and disguise yourself, as well as fly. Those are just as useful."

"Oh, right." Latias blushed. "Sorry, I'm not used to thinking of those as... okay."

"It's fine, this is the kind of stuff everyone has to learn," Ash assured her. "Okay, so you know how to tackle, how to..."

He frowned for a moment.

"First, there's attacks with your two Types. I think it would help if you learned Psychic, if you don't already have it-"

"I don't," Latias informed him.

"Right." Ash nodded. "That's a good one... so is Dragonbreath, that can be quite good for a counter shield because you could use your Psychic to shape it as a shield."

Seeing her bafflement, he elaborated. "Counter shield is a trick I worked out in Sinnoh, last time. It's not easy, but it basically uses an attack for a combined defence and offence – forming a shield of the attack, so that it can be used to counterattack."

"Oh, I get it," Latias squeaked. "That sounds neat."

"Thanks," Ash chuckled. "Okay, the other thing I was thinking of, move-wise, was things like Light Screen – the Latios I fought up in Sinnoh did that."

Latias nodded. "Right. That would be helpful – Safeguard isn't always enough, I – yeah."

Ash shrugged. "It certainly worked on me... without that, Pikachu would probably have knocked him out earlier, though I've no idea what the rest of Tobias' team must have looked like. With a Latios and a Darkrai..." he shook his head.

Latias giggled, glancing over at Raikou trying to do something Electric-type and failing. "You're one to talk..."

"Good point," Ash admitted. "I'm going to try not to use Legendaries much in the Silver Conference, though."

Another nod. "What else was there?"

"Staying on moves for now... you need to be able to handle Dark, Fairy, Bug, Ice, Ghost and Dragon types. Your Dragon Pulse is good against Dragons, but you need something for the rest..."

Ash thought for a bit. "Okay, there's a few moves I think would work to help you out. There's Shadow Ball, I know that one and I think I can teach you... Pidgeot and Quilava are just two of the Pokémon I have who know Aerial Ace, you're a natural for it with how fast and manoeuvrable you are-"

"Thanks!" Latias said, beaming, and prompted a chuckle.

"It's only the truth," Ash assured her. "Right, on top of those there's also Steel Wing – that's good for handling Ice-types and Fairy-types – and I think you could learn Aura Sphere as well, which is a good move to use while invisible because it can be made to home in."

Latias looked a bit lost. "That's a lot of moves to learn..."

"I'm keeping track, don't worry."

Ash was about to continue when a slightly wet Pikachu came over. "Ash?"

"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash asked, glancing down at the bedraggled Electric-type. "Did you get in the way of Totodile and Mawile practicing?"

"Gotcha!" Mawile announced, managing to touch Totodile's tail. "Now you're it! Come and get me!"

Totodile frowned, then used Aqua Jet to shoot after Mawile. She jumped to the side, giggling, and he hit the ground with a splash of mud.

"Yes, I did," Pikachu reported. "But that's not the important bit. The important bit is-"

The next words were drowned out by a loud shout of triumph. "HA!" Raikou announced. "Done it! Now-"

There was a BANG.

"Don't make the second ring on top of the first, especially not going the other way!" Pikachu snapped, exasperated, as Raikou blinked wide eyes and felt to make sure he still had a mane. "Honestly..."

He turned back to Ash. "Can we borrow Donphan?"

"I don't have a problem with it," Ash shrugged. "Donphan?"

Donphan emerged. "Hi, Pikachu – no, I don't have a problem either. What's it for?"

"We want to test how I keep electrocuting Ground-types," Pikachu told him.

"...can I change my mind, please?"

Once Donphan was assured they'd only be trying out low-powered electrical attacks and the two had headed back over to Raikou and Dexter, Ash resumed. "Right. I mentioned invisibility – that's a huge advantage, since your opponent has to know you're there to hit you at all. You'll have to stay out of the way, stay invisible, and keep them guessing... but there's another thing you could do, too. I saw a Pokémon do this in... uh... I think Sinnoh first."

"What's that, then?" Latias asked.

"There's these Pokémon called Zorua and Zoroark. They disguise themselves as humans, like you do, but they also disguise themselves as other Pokémon. It makes them able to pretend to be that Pokémon, at least until they make a mistake." Ash shrugged. "I think maybe if you could learn a few attacks that, say, Lucario or Pikachu know, then you'd be able to pretend to be them for a bit – and that might be really helpful."

Latias blinked. "That sounds pretty useful, yeah, but it sounds like a lot of work... and my disguise has a bit of a problem, because I can't speak."

"That's the other thing I was thinking of," Ash told her. "Other Psychic-types I've met – some of them – can use telepathy, which could fool people into thinking you're another kind of Pokémon."

Nod. "That's clever! And it would mean I can speak to Bianca, too – great idea!"

Ash pushed himself up. "Okay, let's start with-"

"Ash," Latias interrupted. "There was... something I wanted to speak to you about. I talked about it with Meganium, but..."

Ash looked worried. "What is it?"

The Dragon swallowed, taking the plunge. "I... think I might... possibly... have a sort of... crush on you," she managed, blushing gradually as she spoke until she was the same red colour as her Cherish Ball.

The boy blinked. "...does that mean it was you who gave me that sketch, last time?"

"Yes," Latias confirmed. "I kind of wish I'd done it again – oh, blast!"

She shook her head, trying to hold back tears. "It sounds so..."

"Latias."

Latias looked up at Ash, swallowing again.

"I don't know what to... right," Ash began. "I know why Meganium was probably a good choice to talk to you about it. She... never mind."

He took a deep breath. "I don't think that I'm old enough to know what to think about this. I'm... It's flattering, of course, but I don't..."

Ash gave a helpless shrug.

Latias nodded. "I see. And... yeah, I guess that's about..."

She trailed off.

"Thanks," she added, after a moment. "For helping me in general, I mean – and for handling that well."

Ash smiled, a little uncertainly. "Okay, I guess."

He snapped his fingers. "Right – let's see... oh, perhaps we can start with stealth and illusions. Noctowl, do you have the time to work on that with Latias?"

Noctowl shimmered into existence on Ash's shoulder. "Should have known you'd notice me."

"You do weigh a bit," Ash told him, as Latias blinked in surprise.

"Ash – how are you doing that? He weighs forty kilos!"

Ash shrugged, and Noctowl used the momentum to take off with a clap of his wings. "I think it's Aura or something."


Okay, so I think I've got it this time. Dexter's form shimmered and changed, unfolding into a four-petalled flower with his glowing projector in the centre. Please hold still.

"I don't like this experiment," Donphan said.

Charge Beam.

The bolt of electricity hit Donphan, and skirled off – then, as Dexter sustained it, Donphan frowned.

"That's actually starting to hurt."

Dexter ended the blast, reforming back to normal. Interesting. The voltage seemed to be part of it, but not all of it...

"Sorry?" Pikachu asked.

Charge Beam ups the voltage and current going through it as it goes on. The attack didn't work at first, but it started to affect Donphan later on.

Dexter hummed, then spoke up again.

Okay, I think I have a theory.

Graphs and plots appeared, including one marking voltage and resistance.

Firstly – the how. No insulator is perfect, just as no conductor is perfect. You're able to cause electrical breakdown, meaning that what's normally an insulator becomes able to take current – and, so, you're able to shock Ground-types.

Pikachu nodded, frowning. "Right. So that's how it's happening – but that doesn't explain everything else."

Yes, the why is the trickier question. I've checked my records, and it shows that the first time you did this you'd been overcharged by a power station.

"He was what!?" Raikou asked, blinking.

"Back to work!" Pikachu told him. "Your mane has stopped smouldering, you should be doing the next attempt!"

Muttering about rodent slavedrivers, Raikou got back to trying to produce more than one electrical ring at once.

As I said, Dexter resumed. Overcharged by a power station. That meant your voltage output was higher than normal, and you were able to reach the breakdown voltage of Geodude.

"But a lot of Pokémon have Lightningrod, and a lot of them are just more powerful than I was at the time," Pikachu said uncertainly.

That's just it. It's not Lightningrod that was the key – it's this other ability. It would seem Pikachu have three possible abilities, not two.

Dexter shattered briefly and reformed himself again. Pokémon without this ability – which lowers breakdown voltage to something attainable – will almost never get this effect, no matter how powerful they may be.

As if to punctuate that, Raikou's latest attempt exploded. This time the grass caught fire, and he stamped it out hurriedly before it spread.

"But – so that means that you'd need to be a Pikachu – or otherwise have this ability – and be really powerful, or this would never even come up."

Correct, Dexter confirmed. This must be how abilities are discovered – something just doesn't make sense.

He paused. I'm thinking we should call it Zappy.

"Call it what?" Pikachu repeated, blinking.

Zappy. Like Scrappy, but with a Z.

"That name's stupid," Pikachu stated bluntly.


A few hours later, everyone reconvened.

"How'd it go, Misty?" Ash asked.

"Oh, alright," Misty said with a shrug. "Golduck's not exactly taken to water like, uh... a Ducklett, but he's certainly better with psychic powers."

"Neat," Ash said with a nod.

"And he's actually quite good at lifting huge amounts of water into the air. I'm thinking that we could work out a way to have Kingdra or Seaking fight in a big water bubble..." Misty raised her hands. "Worth a try..."

"Sounds cool!" Brock said, sitting down. "Main thing we were doing was trying to teach Steelix how to use Aqua Tail. It could be quite useful."

"I'll say," Ash agreed. "How about you two?"

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Well, there's been less explosions now..."

"This is much harder than I was expecting," Raikou informed them all. "Still, it's going to be worth it, by thunder!"

"I caught Totodile lots!" Mawile said, tired but happy. "He caught me lots too, though..."

"Yeah, I saw – looked like you were really starting to get the hang of it, though," Ash nodded. "And Latias – I saw how you were doing. You're definitely getting faster at vanishing, and at moving without making quite so much sound – which helps. Have you decided on a move to practice first?"

"Well, Noctowl was starting to show me Aerial Ace," Latias said, frowning. "I think we should just keep working on that, though I'll practice Dragon Pulse and Psybeam as well since I've already got those working."

"Okay, that sounds like it worked fairly well." Ash frowned. "Oh – I was going to try to make sure everyone got at least one go at the Silver Conference. Mawile, do you want to give it a to?"

"That sounds fun!" Mawile agreed with a nod. "If I'm able to, then I'll give it a go!"

"Atta girl," Ash smiled. "Now-"

Ring ring, Dexter interrupted.

"Who's calling?" Ash asked, as he picked the 'dex up and flipped his main body open.

"Ah, Ash!" Professor Elm said, appearing on the screen. "Good, I was hoping you were available. There's a Marine Pokémon Research Centre not far down the coast from Altomare – between there and New Bark Town. I understand you're near there right now, could you go and pick something up for me?"

"Sure," Ash replied quickly. "Where is it?"

"I'll send the location to your Pokédex," Elm told him. "Sorry, I'm a bit busy, I can't spare time to chat – thanks for doing this for me!"

For a moment before the call cut out, there was a voice in the background shouting.

"What was that?" Latias asked, a little startled.

The other voice said, and I quote, 'no, Typhlosion, that's flammable!'

Ash, Brock, Misty and the Pokémon exchanged glances, and decided there was probably an explanation.

"Ash, remember, that's where Larvitar's egg came from," Misty said. "That means his mother still got poached."

"Poachers?" Raikou asked, shaking his mane out. "Well, I think we all know the appropriate response to that!"

"Actually, the appropriate response depends on if Larvitar's one of the Pokémon I can remind," Ash said. "If he is, then we can sort this all out pretty quickly – and early – but otherwise it's going to mean giving him therapy first. I mean, I can do it, but we have to wait until he hatches."

The two Legendaries nodded, understanding.

"Well, let's get going!" Misty said, after a moment. "Dexter, how far is it?"

A few hours' walk.

"Let's go, then!" Ash decided, jumping to his feet.


AN:


One of those chapters which shows how there's training going on – just that usually it's relatively behind the scenes.

Pikachu's thing is a thing which I think - hope - makes vague sense.

And, incidentally, I came up with the Volt Crash visual effects years before I came up with what they meant. It's pleasing that there's an explanation that works as much as there is.