"Excuse me, sir?" May asked.
"Aye, what it be?" the burly old man replied.
"Well, I be-" May blushed. "I mean, I was wondering if I could ask... could we charter your boat for a trip to Dewford?"
Briney stroked his chin. "Well, now, lass, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. The barometer be sinking, the weather be getting poor, and I'm not so sure it's a good time to go out to sea."
Ash raised his hand. "I have Pokémon with Sunny Day."
Briney nodded. "That'll do, cast off be in twenty minutes."
"If you don't mind my asking," Brock said, frowning. "Why do you talk like a pirate?"
"What's that?" Briney asked, confused. "What be wrong about how I be speaking?"
"...never mind."
There was a caw from overhead, and his Wingull swooped low over the group.
"Peeko!" Briney called, a little sharply. "They be customers!"
"Sorry!" Peeko said, chastened, and did a little flip before coming down to rest on his arm. "I was worried."
"Peeko's a little shy, you see," Briney told them. "She be a caring companion, though, and a friend of mine these last three decades. Arr."
"Three decades?" Max blinked. "Wow. She doesn't look old..."
"Well, Pokémon aging be strange," Briney observed. "Not like humans be, where they be following the same course. But aye, she be a faithful old friend."
"You always were a flatterer," Peeko observed.
"This is nice," May sighed, leaning back on one of the old deckchairs Briney had got out. "It's great to be able to spend some time in sun, sea and salt without worrying about Tentacool."
"Tentacool aren't that bad, May," Brock pointed out, from another of the chairs. "I know you had a bad experience, and they're Poison-type Water Pokémon who get everywhere, but they're really kind of okay."
"They're ew and gross," May said with finality. "End of argument."
"If you say so..." Brock chuckled.
He glanced over his shoulder. "What do you think, Stantler?"
"It's pretty amazing!" Stantler smiled, looking out over the blue-green water. "It's cooler here than it was on land – do you think it's all because of the water?"
"I think that's most of it," Brock agreed. "But there might be something to do with the weather as well, remember it would be quite bad if Meganium wasn't helping out."
They looked towards the bow, where Meganium was steadily pulsing out Sunny Day attacks – nothing too tiring, just enough to keep them in clear skies as they moved.
"Is it that much worse out here?" Stantler asked. "It was quite calm back when we went across to Shikoku or to Altomare."
"You're right, it was calm," Brock agreed. "It's because the water there was quite sheltered – there was land in the way, which broke up the power of storms or waves. But here we're exposed to the ocean waves."
Stantler nodded firmly. "Right! That makes sense."
"Glad you think so," Brock smiled.
There was a splash sound, drawing the attention of everyone on the boat.
May blinked slowly. "What?"
"Oh, Lucario likes surfing," Brock explained. "He doesn't get a chance very often, so I guess this is a nice relaxing moment for him."
"Why's Keldeo pulling him along?"
As they watched, Keldeo's water-spraying hooves drove him at a broad swell. The Water-type went up one side and down the other, and Lucario – dragged along behind at the end of a tether – went several feet into the air before splashing hard back down again.
"Fancy a go, lass?" Briney asked.
"What? No, no thanks!" May said hurriedly. "I was more... astonished, than anything."
"Well, the seas be strange, you see a lot when you're out here," Briney said, gazing out. "Not much that be surprising me any more."
"Ash, I was wondering..." Max began.
"What were you wondering, Max?" Ash replied, turning from watching the islands and headlands pass on their left.
"Well, why did you do the gyms in the order you do? I don't just mean in Hoenn, I mean anywhere."
"It's just... the ones I run into, really," Ash shrugged. "A couple of times a gym's been closed, or I lost the first time, and then I came back later and handled it then. But usually it's just convenient... Rustboro's pretty close to where you live, and then Dewford's on the way to Slateport by sea... but it doesn't really matter."
Waving a hand, Ash went on. "Most gym leaders have a team that can fight on at least a late-badge level, so you can really do it any order you like. Some people prefer to pick gyms their starter's strong against early on, to give themselves an easy start... others save those for later so they don't have to face a really, really tough opponent at the end."
"And Ash picks whichever one he ended up at after getting lost again," Pikachu chuckled.
"Hey!" Ash said, grinning.
"Here comes a big one!" Keldeo said, legs held rigid to keep the jets of water going in roughly the right directions.
"I see it," Lucario confirmed, sending a bit more Aura to his paws to keep his water-walk effect going.
Keldeo went up and over, and then the wave began to crest and Lucario went up-
He let go of the rope to avoid being pulled back down too painfully, did a graceful flip, and landed with a splash before going deep.
Lucario were a heavy Pokémon, but it was quite possible for them to swim nevertheless. Ash's Lucario promptly did so, kicking his legs hard in a scissor kick and breaking the surface before hauling himself up onto the water as though it was a solid floor.
"You okay?" Keldeo asked, trotting over. "That looked-"
"It was deliberate," Lucario informed him. "Don't worry, I was fine."
"Great!"
Something shot past.
"What was that?" Keldeo asked, looking worried for a moment.
Another woosh of water, closer this time, and then a Sharpedo fin came out of the water and began circling them.
"Excuse me?" Keldeo asked. "Sorry if we disturbed you!"
There were a series of splashes, and four or five Sharpedo heads came out of the water.
"That's okay, then, sorry about this," one said. "We were asleep, and-"
"It's not okay!" another snapped, fins thrashing. "This is our territory!"
"...it's the sea," Lucario blinked. "I know that some areas are territory nevertheless, but you can't fault people who go overhead, surely?"
"Forgive my son, he's a bit of a hothead-"
"Shut up!" The boistrous Sharpedo launched himself forwards, and Lucario dodged nimbly out of the way.
"Stop!" the older Sharpedo ordered, and was ignored. "Sorry about this..."
"It's okay," Keldeo said readily, as Lucario dodged the next Aqua Jet. "I guess he just needs to cool off a bit."
"Probably," the elder said. "Oh, might I ask – are those humans on the boat yours?"
"My trainer's on board, yeah," Keldeo agreed, watching as Briney's ship approached.
He turned his focus back to Lucario, and blinked. There was a little spark of chilly blue in Lucario's right hand...
Oh, right.
Lucario punched upwards as Sharpedo came in, and the spiral activated.
"...well, that be a new one on me," Briney said faintly, as a miniature windstorm carried the rather startled Sharpedo into the air.
"Cool move, isn't it," Ash said.
He frowned, then looked down at Dexter and scrolled through the files until he found one he was after. "Now, was Sharpedo on Gary's list..."
"Now do you see why you don't do this kind of thing?" the elder asked. "It's just asking for trouble!"
The much-chastened Sharpedo muttered something that was too quiet to hear and probably wasn't meant to be heard anyway.
"Uh – hi?" Ash called, from Briney's boat. "I was wondering – I've got a friend who's doing research into Mega-Evolution, and I wanted to see if any of you guys might want to be caught to be traded to him to help with that."
"What's Mega Evolution?" one of the Sharpedo asked.
"It's that thing I saw on the news!" another said. "You know, that thing I told you about where that Lucario got extra spikes and became a lot more powerful!"
"You watch the news?" the first Sharpedo said, blinking. "How?"
"There's a fisher on one of the small islands near Dewford who watches the TV outside, I go to watch sometimes..."
"Do you mean that Mega Evolution is something Sharpedo can do?" the older Sharpedo said. "You know this?"
"Well, Sharpedo's one of the Pokémon on Gary's list," Ash said. "He said he'd catch something for me in Kalos and we'd trade."
"I'm not sure it's such a good idea," one of the sharks said. "I mean, it sounds interesting, but it'd be a long way from home..."
There was a general series of nods.
"Okay, then," Ash said, a bit disappointed but not wanting to make an issue of it. "Thanks for considering it!"
"What a nice young trainer," the shoal leader said as the boat moved off.
There was a grumble.
"Oh, you're just grumpy because of that sore tooth."
"There we be, shipmates!" Briney said, as they cruised into Dewford roadstead under the setting sun. "That be a fine cruise, it be."
"Yeah, it was!" Ash agreed. "Thanks for putting up with us."
"It be no problem at all," Briney smiled.
"Yeah, it was nice!" Peeko put in, gliding down to rest on his arm. "Especially with the weather help in the morning, it'd have taken an overnight trip without it."
Ash smiled. "Hear that, Meganium?"
"I did," Meganium nodded, and stretched her neck out from where she'd been napping – alongside her fellow Grass-type. "It was quite a workout, but that's a good thing – it helps me get stronger."
"Oh, we've not thought that way for decades at least," Peeko said, waving a wing. "We're old and slow now... Not that I could provide clear weather if I tried, of course – I can make it rain, but that's hardly helpful!"
"Peeko be glad for the company too, she be," Briney said, and stroked his Flying-type under the beak.
"Yeah, I can hear," Ash said.
Briney reached into the wheelhouse and spun the wheel, cutting both throttles. His boat's engine died down from a burble to a sigh, then went quiet entirely, and went coasting in towards the jetty before just bumping up against it.
"Showoff," Peeko chuckled.
"Oh, shipmates?" Briney called, as they walked down the jetty towards land.
Ash and his friends turned, wondering what he was going to say.
"I'm glad you liked my performance," he said with a wink. "I think it adds a little authentic touch."
"...oh, right," May said. "It was all an act?"
"More or less." Briney shrugged. "Wouldn't you talk like that if you had a boat?"
"...I have to admit, I probably would sometimes," Max admitted, and his sister laughed.
Ash passed Pikachu one of his chips, nicely covered in ketchup, and the Electric-type bolted it down.
"It's not really ideal for him to have too many of those," Brock said. "May and I do prepare meals so they give the proper balance of nutrition for Pokémon, you know."
"Yeah, but it's just extra starch," Ash replied. "So he'll burn it off next time we train – and he likes it."
"I do!" Pikachu agreed enthusiastically.
"Ash?" Max asked, looking up from his starter happily chewing his way through the meal Brock had laid out. "I was wondering – you came back to challenge this next gym a second time, right?"
"Yeah," Ash agreed.
"Well – should we do that this time? I know there's a couple of Pokémon we should pick up, I'm just..."
He shrugged. "Well, I'm asking for advice, really."
Ash gave it some thought.
"I think it might be good to wait," he agreed. "If you're happy with the Pokémon you have, even then it's still good to train them up. You might need to rely on Cinder's Play Rough, but even just getting Jolt to pick up Aerial Ace would give you a couple more options, and so would Guy learning more stalling moves – that's a valid way to win..."
Ash followed that up with a shrug. "Or you could catch a Pokémon which has a move or type advantage against the whole gym, too. About the best thing I can say, I guess, is that if you feel uncomfortable challenging a gym you can always spend the time training before you come back – and since we've got that extra time, you should use it."
Max smiled. "Thanks, Ash. That does help."
The wave mounded up towards breaking, and then began to curl over.
"Now!" Ash said, and Swellow launched herself forwards.
Tail flagging right-left-right, she flitted across the twenty yards or so separating her from the wave, then turned and flew along the length of it as it went from peak to breaker to tunnel and then crashed down as it collapsed.
Bursting out from the far end, Swellow did a loop and banked sharply around – the tip of one wing just brushing the water surface – before coming back to land on Ash's arm again.
"Oh, yeah!" she said, as she backwinged to a stop. "Who's only the most awesome Flying-type on the beach?"
Ash smiled. "Still got it, huh?"
"Never lost it!"
"Didn't we get absolutely soaked last time we tried training with waves here?" Pikachu asked.
Swellow shrugged. "Hey, speaking of which, want to come along this time?"
"No chance..."
"Oh, hey! Ash Ketchum, right?"
Ash looked over. "Are you Brawly?"
"That I am, my man," Brawly replied. "I recognized the Pikachu. So, you're challenging my gym?"
He pointed at Ash with a nod. "Man, I can tell you that I'm not going to give you a one-badge challenge, not after what happened with Roxanne!"
"You heard about that, huh?" Ash winced.
"Sure did!" Brawly shook his head, and his Makuhita planted a surfboard in the sand before walking over. "That was wack. So, you planning to use that Swellow?"
"Probably," Ash said. "I'm still not sure, I might use her against Wattson instead."
"Why not both?" Swellow asked.
"It wouldn't be all that fair to everyone else," Ash explained, and she subsided with a mutter. "Actually, I wasn't going to challenge you just yet. I'm going to help my friend Max train first – he plans to challenge you too."
"Cool," Brawly nodded. "Makes sense to me, man – just gives me more time to prepare!"
"Hey, guys?" May asked, pointing. "Is it me or is this that fishing spot the Rockets tricked us into using?"
"Looks like it," Brock agreed.
The nascent Coordinator shrugged. "Maybe we should give it a go this time too?" Nodding towards her brother, she elaborated. "I was thinking – I don't think any of the Pokémon Max befriended last time were Water-type, so he could pick one up."
"Yeah, that does sound like a pretty good idea," Ash agreed. "Max, you're certainly going to need someone able to fight Fire-types by the fourth gym at the very least... so do think about it."
"Sure!" Max agreed. "I guess I should have Jolt ready to fight them, then?"
"Well, yeah," Ash agreed. "Him, Guy or both – remember some Water-types have other types too, like Ground."
Brock smiled.
"Okay!" Max said, then frowned. "...uh, do we have a fishing rod?"
Brock produced one from his bag.
"Where'd you get that from?" Ash asked, blinking.
"Philena got me to do the fishing to examine colour change in imported Magikarp when fed with Pinkan island fruits," Brock explained. "It's collapsible, so I just had it in the bottom of my bag all this time."
"Convenient," May smiled. "Okay, ready?"
"Sure!" Max nodded firmly.
"...I forgot how boring fishing was," Max said, about half an hour later.
"Yeah, it's not exactly exciting," Brock nodded. "It's kind of... relaxing."
May snorted. "Must be why Ash is training instead of watching."
They glanced over at Ash and his Pokémon.
"Good, you're getting there!" Keldeo called. "Now, separate it entirely! Houndoom, more doubles!"
Houndoom barked, using Beat Up, and more half-real copies of his teammates rushed at Sceptile.
The Grass-type set his stance, then spun and brought his elbow around in a scything blow – or what would be one, had it got within ten feet of the shadowy doubles.
His arm-blade flashed a brilliant green, then a weak green shimmer detached and snapped out at the oncoming opponents.
One of them exploded from the impact, but the Leaf Blade faltered with it.
"Great work!" Ash said, as the other doubles stopped and vanished. "You can do it, you just need it to be a bit quicker!"
Sceptile nodded, and returned to his base stance. "More, please."
"...yeah, I can see why he's doing that instead of watching," Max agreed. "That's kind of the boring side of practicing, but it's more exciting than-"
Brock leaned forwards and grabbed the rod as it jerked slightly. "Here goes!"
He flipped the rod up and into the air, pulling the Pokémon on the end up and out of the water.
A Magikarp landed with a wet splat on the grass.
Max contemplated it for a few seconds, as it Splashed futilely. "Do I have to catch it?"
"No, not really," Brock said. "If it's not what you're after, just throw it back."
"Right," Max said, picking up the flopping Magikarp with difficulty by the tail. It thrashed a bit, trying to get out of his hands, and he tossed it back in before he lost his grip.
It landed with a plop in the water and vanished.
"Another go?" May suggested.
"Maybe," Max agreed. "How long is that going to take?"
"Not as long as you'd think!"
May rummaged in her pack, and triumphantly revealed a Pokéblock. "Put this on the hook, we'll see what we get."
"What's wrong with my food?" Brock asked plaintively.
"Nothing, really," May shrugged. "It's just that you forgot to put any on."
"...why didn't you say anything?" Max asked. "That was half an hour of waiting!"
"I thought it was some kind of special fishing that Brock knew how to do," May defended. "He's the expert."
Brock sighed. "Okay, give me the Pokéblock."
May handed it over, and he duly impaled it on the hook.
"What kind of Pokémon do you think we could catch?" Max asked. "I know there's Octillery in here, one nearly Constricted me last time."
"True... I hope there's no Tentacool," May said with a shiver.
Brock pulled the rod back out of the water. "Aha!"
"That's no Magikarp!" Max said excitedly. "Okay, Jolt, Thunder Wave!"
Jolt barked, and fired a crackling burst of electricity at the moving shape – which flipped and dodged away from the attack.
"Wait, is that a Mantyke?" May asked, recognizing it. "Neat!"
"Uh, Thundershock!" Max ordered. "Try and make sure it doesn't get back into the water!"
Jolt fired another blast of electricity, which missed again.
"Aim poolwards of it!" Max amended, and this time Jolt's attack sort of worked. It didn't hit the Mantyke, but it did make it dodge awkwardly and it landed on the grass instead of in the water.
"Okay, use Spark!" Max said quickly, as the Mantyke shook itself and rolled upright. "Boost now!"
There was a zrrrp as Jolt discharged his excess electricity, and managed to close in before the Mantyke could get out of the way. He delivered a close-in electrical attack, then got a faceful of water for his troubles which left him sputtering.
Mantyke flopped a bit, then jumped – getting quite high into the air, and arcing back towards the water.
Taking a gamble, Max grabbed one of his Pokéballs blindly off his belt and threw it.
The 'ball impacted with a thwack, and didn't trigger – but it knock Mantyke off course, and then a rather startled Cinder appeared in midair.
"Fetch the Mantyke!" Max called, trying to make the best of a bad situation, and then there was an almighty splash as Cinder hit the water.
"...that went terribly," May said. "Mind you, that Octillery-"
Cinder burst out of the water again, paddled for a moment, then launched herself half out of the pool and batted the incoming Mantyke back to shore.
"Jolt, get it!" Max called, glancing down and dumping Guy's Pokéball so he was down to just the empty ones, then took one of those empty Pokéballs and readied to throw.
Jolt jumped into the air, snapped home a Thunder Fang, and then Max threw the Pokéball.
This time, it worked. Mantyke was grabbed by the capture beam, pulled in, and the ball closed before bouncing to a halt on the ground.
Water went everywhere as Cinder shook herself dry, making both Brock and May back away hurriedly from the watery sheets.
There was a tiny little 'click'.
"All right, Max!" May called. "Nice one!"
"Weren't you saying it was going terribly?" Brock asked.
"It worked," she shrugged.
"Oh, right!" Mantyke said, once the situation had been explained. "So you're a Pokémon trainer?"
"That's right," Max agreed. "Is that okay with you?"
"It sounds fun!" Mantyke said, looking up. "I've never been outside the pool before, so it's kind of scary – but I'm sure I'll cope!"
He rubbed his side. "Just keep me away from electricity, okay? That really stung!"
"I'm afraid you're weak to Electric attacks," Max said apologetically, checking Kris both for translation and to confirm what he was saying. "Really, really weak."
"It feels it..."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me – I thought of a possible name for you," Max added. "How does Delta sound?"
"Where's that from, Max?" May asked.
"Well, a delta is kind of a triangular shape, and some really big flying aircraft are delta wing," Max explained. "And the shape sounds about right."
"I like it!" Delta agreed chirpily.
"It's where the river meets the sea, too," Brock added. "Good name choice!"
"So, how does Delta affect what's a good idea to battle Brawly?" Max asked. "I mean, I guess as a Flying-type he's a good choice, but..."
"You're right there," Ash agreed. "One thing you should practice is to make sure he can move quickly, because-"
Dexter rang, interrupting them.
Ash glanced at the screen as he retrieved Dexter. "Oh, it's Gary. Afternoon, Gary – well, I guess it's morning, there. Morning?"
"Hi, Ash," Gary replied. "Hey, you caught a good Pokémon to trade yet?"
"No, I've not," Ash replied. "There was a Sharpedo but it didn't want to come along."
"Ah, come on, Ash!" Gary said, sighing. "I've already got the Pokémon you're getting. You're gonna love him."
"Really?" Ash asked, interested. "What is he?"
"Now, now, that'd be telling," Gary teased. "Think of it as an incentive. But I can tell you he's not something boring!"
A pause. "Might be something you've seen before, though. Depends how closely you looked."
"...you got me a Spearow, didn't you?" Ash asked.
"Nope!" Gary replied promptly. "I'll leave you guessing, Furfrou's got a spa appointment. Smell ya later!"
The line went dead.
"...okay," Ash said, blinking. "Well, let's keep going, I guess..."
"Where next, actually?" Brock asked, looking around. "I see a cave, over there, but..."
That's where you need to go, Dexter said. Granite cave – it's the quickest route to the Mudkip breeding grounds, which is where you want to go.
"Thanks," Ash smiled. "Okay, let's go."
He frowned, then sent out Lucario. "I think this place is a bit unstable, Lucario. So... be ready to catch one of the others if the floor goes, okay?"
Lucario nodded calmly.
"Same with you, Steelix," Brock added – though didn't send the Steel-type out, mainly for reasons of size.
Granite cave was dark.
Actually, it was dark. Unlike many other caves, the entrances were small and heavily overhung, and so hardly any light filtered in to make the cave navigable.
More important, though, was the lack of convenient glowing fungus or shafts of light from the surface or other such convenience.
"Crobat?" Brock asked softly. "Can you map out the cave?"
"Sure." Crobat launched himself from Brock's shoulder, and a series of high-pitched clicking noises came echoing through the granite structure.
"Hmmm..." Pikachu mused, and then a faint crackle-sizzle of electricity sounded.
Holding his paws about half an inch apart, Pikachu repeatedly pulsed electricity back and forth between them – producing a faint but serviceable light.
"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash smiled. "That'll make it much easier for the others to avoid tripping."
"Oh, yeah, you have that crazy Aura thing," May nodded. "You can see in the dark too?"
"Still can't see where we're going, though," Max said. "Good thing we've got Crobat too."
The Poison-type came fluttering back. "I've not found a way through yet, but... I found someone in here."
"You did?" Brock asked. "Who?"
"You're going to want to see this."
"What do you think, Aron?" Steven asked, probing with the metal rod in some of the less consolidated mudstone. "Something around here?"
Aron nodded. "Ron!" he said, watching Steven's Key Stone pulse gently.
"Right-"
There was a clink.
"Aha!"
Steven put the rod aside, and retrieved a trowel before getting to work.
Spadeful after spadeful of dirt came up as he dug away, and after a few minutes there was a sizeable hole – and, sparkling at the bottom, a little dot of light.
Wiping his brow under the helmet, Steven dug around the spherical stone and prised it out of the ground. "Here we are!"
Aron nodded excitably.
Undoing his Mega Stickpin, Steven rubbed it for a few seconds, until the pulsing intensified to an audible thrummmm sound.
That done, he touched it against the Mega Stone.
His face fell. "Oh, come on!"
"Ron?"
"Another Steelixite. That's the third one!"
Aron sighed.
"We'll find an Aggronite sooner or later, don't worry," Steven said, going from kneeling to standing. "At least there's another one for Dad's collection."
"Hey!" a voice called.
"Sssh!" Steven replied. "This place can be a bit unstable – hey, wait..."
He pointed. "Brock Slate, right? The one who was Pewter gym leader?"
"That's me," Brock agreed, walking forward a little onto the flatter floor of the cave. The others followed, crowding into the circle lit by Steven's torch.
"Wait, I know you too..." Steven frowned. "You're Norman's kids, I saw you once when he was new to the job..."
"I'm flattered you remembered us," May said.
"And is that Ash Ketchum?"
"That's me!"
"Four out of four," Brock said with a chuckle.
"I heard you were in Hoenn – it's nice to meet you," Steven said, brushing his hand off and offering it for a shake.
"Nice to meet you too," Ash agreed. "What brings you here?"
Steven grimaced. "Well, I was trying to find an Aggronite, but no luck – I'm trying to complete the set, and I'm one short."
"What set's that?" May asked.
"I've got a few Pokémon that can Mega Evolve, and a couple who will be able to," Steven filled in. "Aron here's the last of those, and I was trying to get him an Aggronite for when he's old enough."
"Yeah!" Aron agreed with a steely grin.
Booting up.
Max reached into his pocket and got out Kris. "What is it?"
It's worth a shot. Setting up... loading program... ready.
The holographic screen expanded out from Kris' main body, about a foot in radius.
"Wait, isn't that Dad's program?" Steven asked. "I didn't realize he'd gotten it working..."
"Kris has enough memory and processing power to run it," Max explained. "How close in are you scanning? I see a lot of dots..."
Those are all Mega Stones in your possession. Expanding.
"So you met my father?" Steven asked, as Kris slowly increased the strength and range of her scan.
"Yeah, back in Rustboro," May said. "He's really nice – he and Max had a great chat, and then we helped him with a bit of trouble."
"Oh, so it was you who helped with the break in," Steven realized. "Yeah, he told me about that, but I didn't realize who it was. Thanks!"
Signal located, Kris interrupted. It is approximately thirty metres from here.
Max blinked dubiously at the snowy screen. "You can tell that?"
The signal is faint, but present.
"Lead the way!" Steven requested. "This is great – so much quicker than searching the way I tend to have to!"
"How much further?" Ash asked, glancing back.
"Uh..." Max frowned. "Is there a scale, Kris?"
There is now.
"Oh, thanks... yeah, up there, I think. Just a few more metres..."
Ash's hands glowed a faint blue as he hoisted himself up onto the ledge.
"Aura?" Steven asked, nodding to himself. "Right, I heard about that."
"Yeah," Ash admitted. "It kind of came out a while ago..."
"We're trying to learn," May said. "It's kind of tricky, though – I can occasionally get a vague sense of what Blaziken's saying, but nothing more than that."
There was a flash up on the ledge. "Okay, Houndoom, see if you can dig the mega stone up!"
Houndoom nodded, barking an affirmative, and got to work. Dirt went flying.
"Hey, careful!" Ash called.
"Sorry!"
Dirt stopped flying, and began being shifted aside gently instead.
"That's better."
"I wonder what Mega Stone this'll be," Steven mused. "They tend to be vaguely appropriate to the location – but that means a lot of the ones I find in caves are Steelixite."
"They are?" Brock asked, interested. "You've found a lot of them?"
Steven gave him a speculative look, then nodded. "That's right – I've got one, and I gave the second to Jasmine. I did find a third here just before you turned up... do you have a-"
"Found something!" Ash called down from the ledge. "Pikachu, mind coming up here?"
He reached down and helped his Electric-type up, and there was the sizzle of Pikachu's unorthodox Flash again for a moment.
"Yeah, this is a Mega Stone alright," Ash reported. Houndoom was Returned with a flash, and Ash swung his legs over the drop before jumping down and landing with a thump. "Not sure what it is, though..."
Steven's Aron gave it a sniff, cocking his head. "It's all silver and grey..."
"Well, it's not one I've seen before," Steven allowed, rubbing his pin to charge it up. "Let's see now..."
"What Mega Stones do you have?" May asked.
"Well, I've got a Steelixite like I mentioned," Steven told her. "There's also Scizorite, Metagrossite and Mawilite."
"Mawilite?" Ash repeated. "I've got a Mawile, she's cute. Wonder what she'd look like Mega Evolved..."
"All Steel-types, I see," Brock commented.
"They're my speciality," the Champion confirmed. "Okay, let's see what this is."
He pressed the thrumming pin to the Mega Stone, and broke into a grin. "Great!"
"Is it what you were after?" Max asked, as Kris cancelled her scan mode.
"It is," Steven said. "An Aggronite, just like I came looking for."
"Great!" Aron beamed. "Now I just need to evolve to where I can use it..."
"Glad we could help," Ash smiled.
"And I'm glad you did," Steven agreed. "Actually... wait, Dad and I found homes for most of them. You don't have a Pinsir, do you?"
Ash shook his head.
"Oh well... tell you what. I'll try to think of you first when I find a Mega Stone, to check if one of you can use it."
"That sounds great!" May said. "Really generous of you!"
Steven shrugged. "They're better used, and I know Ash can do it... oh, I was going to ask. Brock – do you have a Key Stone?"
Brock nodded.
"Great!" Rummaging in his pocket, Steven retrieved the uncut pale-blue stone he'd dug up earlier. "Here, have a Steelixite."
"...wow," Brock said, blinking. "That's... thank you so much!"
Steven chuckled. "You're the only other person I know who has a Steelix. Apart from Byron, but he refused when I offered..."
"He did?" Ash asked, honestly startled. "Why?"
Steven shrugged. "He wasn't forthcoming with an explanation."
After a moment, Brock took the stone. "Thank you, sir."
"I'm no sir," Steven waved off. "At least not off duty. Oh, Ash – can we have a word? Nothing important, just..."
"Sure," Ash agreed readily, following Steven into one of the side sections of the cave.
There was a silence for a few seconds.
"So," Max said. "Who knows the way out?"
Don't ask us, it's too far underground for GPS.
"What was it?" Ash asked, once they were around the corner.
"Ash," Steven began, then sighed. "I... I've thought about how to put this, but it doesn't really... okay. You know the whole thing with being one of the Chosen?"
"I do," Ash agreed. "Or, I know I am one, and your Dad said you and your mom were Chosen as well."
"That's right," Steven confirmed. "I just wanted to ask – do you think you'll need help? I mean, I understand the whole thing with how your team is improbably powerful, but you're... what, thirteen?"
Ash shrugged. "I've handled it so far, but... I guess it'd be nice to have some help if something happens with Team Aqua or Team Magma."
Steven nodded. "Right. And... well, I guess that's the main thing."
He shook his head. "I know it's not much – I just wanted to let you know I'd help if you needed it."
"No, that's good to know," Ash smiled. "Thanks for the offer."
A section of hillside shivered, then crumbled away into a pile of loosely consolidated pink-and-white granite gravel.
"That was much harder than it needed to be," Brock sighed, as they emerged into the evening sun. "Thanks, Geodude."
"No problem, man," Geodude said, turning back to the hole and gesturing.
There was a grinding noise, and the wall sealed up again.
"Good to see that tip helped," Steven noted. "It seems to be a very versatile Pokémon you have there."
"Yeah, Geodude's been working on that one for over a year," Brock agreed. "We hadn't worked out the whole dislocation creep lock problem that whole time, though..."
"It's hardly an obvious topic," Steven demurred. "It came up in my degree course in the materials science classes."
"Well, wherever he learned it, it's a real breakthrough!" Geodude steepled his fingers. "This is going to be great!"
"Speaking of which..." Brock glanced around the shallow valley. "This looks pretty empty... let's give it a go."
"I'll be interested to watch," Steven said, checking the time.
"Okay, Steelix," Brock said, taking a deep breath.
He squeezed the Key Stone, and checked for the fifth time that the uncut Mega Stone was perched on Steelix' head.
"Let's do this."
He glanced at Ash, who smiled encouragingly. "Just think about Steelix," he advised. "Great moments you've had together."
Brock nodded, and closed his eyes.
Steelix.
His starter, and a very special Pokémon. He'd got the big Rock-type on his tenth birthday, and they'd worked together alongside rented Pokémon to earn gym leader certification only a couple of years later.
Since then Onix, and Steelix, had been the big guy of his team. Whenever he needed someone strong enough to bull through anything in the way, or someone to keep him safe... there was always Steelix there for him.
Brock realized the key stone felt warm. A good, humming warmth.
He opened his eyes, and looked at Mega Steelix.
"All right, Brock!" May called. "That looked great!"
Mega Steelix shifted slightly, moving and testing his body. "I feel... a bit slower, but a lot tougher."
"See the crystals?" Steven asked, pointing. "They're extremely hard – still not sure quite what, but my current theory is that the pore space has been filled with Mega-Evolution energy. Another side effect of that is that a sandstorm will continually bombard those crystals, which seems to result in making more of that energy directly available for moves that can use it."
"So, like Rock or Steel moves?" Max asked.
"That's right," Steven confirmed. "Basically it's Sand Force."
Brock nodded. "Right. Thanks, that probably saved us a few days of experimentation."
"No problem," Steven replied. He checked the time again, and winced. "Sorry – I'd love to talk longer, but I really need to get going."
"Nice meeting you!" the friends called.
AN:
The trip to Dewford, and much of the pre-gym stuff.
No Sharpedo (though there was a shark tornado) – though there is a new Pokémon for Max. Meet Delta!
(No relation to the raptor. Or the episode.)
I like looking at slightly unusual Pokémon for their type. The other option I was considering for him Water-type wise, as it happens, was a Wailmer/Wailord...
Oh, yeah, and a thing with Steven. He's got a geology qualification.
The reason dislocation creep lock is important is that that's how work-hardening happens. After a few earthbending-type moves, Geodude was getting much less responsiveness from the ground as it hardened.
Now he's got a much reduced version of that problem.
