"...so, what do you think?" May asked.

Skitty tilted her head. "Well, like, I guess it's cool and stuff, but I'm kind of okay with being a Skitty right now."

May nodded. "Okay – let me know if you change your mind."

"Totally."

Max put the Moon Stone back in his bag.

"So, are you looking forward to a contest?" May asked.

Skitty nodded eagerly. "Absolutely!"

"I was thinking... well, if it's a two-Pokémon one then there's a routine we were practising with Beautifly. Remember?" May asked.

"I sure do!" Skitty agreed, eyes glinting slightly. "That was so much fun."

"Right, we'll do some more work on that tonight," May decided. "To make sure you're in practice."

"Psheah, I can do this easily," Skitty said, licking her paw.

They were interrupted by Brock's Crobat, who came flapping back down to the group. "Uh..."

"What is it?" Brock asked.

"Well... there's a guy in a Zangoose costume."

"Oh, Nicolai again!" Max said. "Hey, sis, can I battle him again? I kind of want to show what I've learned..."

"I don't see a problem," May agreed.

Ash sighed.

"You get enough battles," Brock pointed out.

"I guess so..."

"Wait," Skitty said, pointing at Max. "Isn't he, like, too young to be a trainer?"

"Special exemption," Ash said. "I'm technically his tutor."

"...so, like... he doesn't have as much time to pet me?" Skitty huffed. "Seriously uncool."

May tickled her under the chin, and reduced her to a purring fuzzball in seconds.

"No fair," she managed, then went back to purring.


The larger Zangoose reached up and pulled its head off.

"Hey, guys," said the contents, Nicolai. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"We could say the same to you," Brock replied. "How's things?"

"Not bad," Nicolai said, reaching down and giving his Zangoose a caress. "I caught this guy a couple of days ago, he's fitting in pretty well already."

"Just keep him away from Seviper," Brock chuckled.

"We're not all that bad," Zangoose muttered. "My father's father is supposed to have been a Seviper."

"Pardon?" Pikachu asked, blinking.

"Dad was a Linoone, it's a long story..."

"Wait," Ash said, and got out Dexter. Paging through, he found the page he wanted... and blinked.

"I did wonder... apparently Zangoose and Seviper are directly compatible."

Zangoose gaped. "What?"

"Can we have a fight now?" Nicolai asked. "I've barely followed any of this."

"Sure!" Max agreed readily.


"Okay, so, one Pokémon a side," Brock said. "Basic rules... go!"

"Zangoose!" Nicolai called, now back in his costume.

"Guy!" Max replied, and released the Grass-type.

"Okay, Zangoose!" Nicolai said. "Swords Dance!"

"Don't give him time!" Max instructed, and Guy surged forwards.

Taking four quick steps, he threw himself into a foot-first flying kick aimed for Zangoose' lower body.

Zangoose moved quickly, stepping back to throw off the attack, and then jumped as Guy planted one foot and turned it into a whirling low kick.

"Just missed!" Nicolai said, relieved. "Okay, Aerial Ace!"

"Block!" Max called quickly, as Zangoose darted in to attack.

Guy's arms came up into a blocking stance as he bounded back to his feet, then his right arm swept across in a block that struck Zangoose on the elbow just as he launched his attack.

His left arm punched up through the gap, and Zangoose was knocked away.

Guy didn't follow up, panting and rubbing his lower arm instead.

The Flying-type attack – though blocked – had hit hard, that much was clear. But the damage was healing fairly quickly.

"Don't let him attack again!" Max called. "Mach Punch – hit him first!"

Guy nodded, and sprinted forwards with his fist ready.

Zangoose tried to dodge away, and was partly successful – the Fighting-type attack only caught him a glancing blow.

Recovering, he paced warily for a moment – cirling, looking for an opening.

"Aerial Ace again!"

"Seed Bomb!" Max ordered.

Guy fired an explosive seed at the incoming Normal-type, who aborted his attack and swiped at the seed instead. There was a bang and a cloud of sesame-smelling smoke, which obscured the battlefield a little.

"Crush Claw!" Nicolai said, and there was the sound of claws – then the sound of fist.

Both Pokémon came bursting out of the smoke, Guy once more looking worse off but healing rapidly, and Zangoose sporting a few fresh bruises that hadn't been there before the clash.

"Okay, Guy!" Max shouted. "Dynamic Punch!"

They saw Zangoose' eyes widen, and he tried to get out of the way of the attack.

Guy lunged forward, fists glowing, and then slammed home a punch.

It exploded.


"Great work!" Max said, as Guy walked back over – a little unsteadily.

"You too, Zangoose," Nicolai added, returning the Normal-type. "You had a disadvantage, but you coped well."

He nodded, mostly to himself, then turned to Max. "Good work," he said formally. "I apologize for what I said last time we met."

"That's okay," Max grinned. "I was pretty new..."


"You've got a lot of Pokémon," the Joy said, handing back the Pokéballs. "Collectors?"

"Ash and I are both doing the Gym challenge," Max explained, releasing Cinder in a flash of light. "So we do a lot of training – and my sister's a Coordinator!"

"I see," the Joy smiled, then did a double take. "Wait... is that Ash Ketchum?"

Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, that's me."

"Well, that explains it," the Joy said. "I did wonder what some of those Pokémon even were..."

"Goomy's from Kalos and Keldeo's from Unova," Ash explained. "Actually – sorry, Latias, forgot to check earlier. You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Latias assured him happily. "I wasn't doing combat training, so I just needed a rest."

The Joy nodded. "Well – everything okay?"

She looked back as the Chansey brought the last set of Pokéballs over – and a yellow mouse, who jumped from her arms to the desk to the counter to Ash's shoulder in a series of flowing leaps.

"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash smiled. "Miss me?"

"Of course," Pikachu replied, taking his customary place and adjusting Ash's hat slightly.

"Me too," Ash replied.

"Well, I heard you could speak to Pokémon," the Joy admitted. She passed over the remaining Pokéballs, and Ash clipped them to his belt. "It's just strange to watch..."

There was another flash of light as Skitty emerged. "Can I, like, have a ride on a shoulder too?"

May glanced down at Ethan's screen. "Fine, I guess..."

"No, like... not yours." Skitty indicated Max. "I want to ride on his shoulder, you know?"

"Are you jealous?" Cinder asked, a smirk curling her lip.

"Totally not!" Skitty replied vehemently.

"Then I guess... well, it should be okay," Max said, reaching down to pick her up.

Skitty stuck her tongue out at Cinder – then gaped as the Dark-type smirked, and padded over to May.

May saw what she was going for, and bent down to give the Dark-type a scratch.

"Hey, that's totally uncool!" Skitty meowed. "It's, like, making it into a contest!"

"And you weren't already?" Cinder replied, tail wagging lazily.

"Not, like, like that..." Gathering herself, Skitty leapt off Max's shoulder and onto May's.

Cinder padded back over to her own trainer.

Skitty jumped back again.

May stifled a giggle as Cinder came right back over to her.

I feel like there should be music accompanying this, Dexter commented.

"Hey!" someone said. "Get out of the way, you're blocking the counter!"

"Sorry!" Brock said, speaking for all of them.

"Like, this totally isn't settled," Skitty informed Cinder.

That done, they moved off to one side.

"This is why you shouldn't have young trainers," the person said, shaking their head. "They've got no manners..."

"You're one to talk!" Max replied, stung.

"Isn't that..." May asked quietly.

"Think so," Brock agreed. "He does look basically the same as Max."

"I'm old enough to be a proper trainer," the older boy said, looking pointedly down at Max. "You're, what... six?"

"Seven!" Max replied. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Ten!" the other boy said.

"...really?" Max asked. "I'm not that much shorter..."

"Excuse me?" the Joy asked. "Don't you have a Pokémon to check?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure the counter was clear," the boy replied.

Joy looked at the mostly-empty room, and the lack of a queue. "Okay, if you say so..."

The boy turned back to the argument. "How come you've got Pokémon this young, anyway?"

"Max passed the tests early," Brock said. "He got very good marks, and Ash is basically acting as his tutor."

"Max?" the boy asked. "But that's me!"

"I'm pretty sure I'm called Max," Max said.

"So am I," Max protested.

Cinder sniffed. "You smell different, can't we just use that?"

"Most humans can't smell that well," Pikachu pointed out.

"Okay, look!" Max said. "Do you have a Pokémon?"

"No!" Max said, a little sharply.

"Then I'll help you catch one!" Max said.

Max was taken aback. "You... really?"

Max shrugged. "I won't promise you'll get the first Pokémon we find, I might want to keep it..."

"I guess," Max agreed.

"I'm glad you two are wearing different coloured outfits," May said. "Or this might be really confusing."


The float of Brock's fishing rod bobbed on the water surface.

"So, how long does this take?" Max asked.

"Well, last time it took hours," Max admitted. "Brock, you did put something on the lure, right?"

Brock nodded.

"Good," May smiled. "Who are you going to use to help catch the Pokémon, Max?"

"Well, either Delta or Arc, depends what Type it is," Max said. "I guess if it's a Ground type I might even use Guy."

"Who are those Pokémon?" the other Max asked, making a clear effort to reach out.

"This is Arc," Max said, and the Electric-type emerged in a flash. He yapped happily, and Max gave him a stroke. "He's my Starter."

"Huh, really?" Max asked, interested. "I thought most people who started early got the fancy starters."

"Arc's fine for me," Max replied. "My sister got a Torchic, though – he evolved really fast."

May giggled. "That's an understatement..."

Another scratch, and Max returned Arc before switching Pokéballs. "And this is-"

"Hey, Ash!" Brock called, interrupting them.

"What?" Ash asked, hands up in a cross-block.

"Stop training on the lake, you're going to scare the Pokémon!"

Ash sighed, and walked back onto the shore. Lucario followed him, leaving tiny ripples where his paws kissed the surface.

"...did he just stand on a lake?" Max asked.

"Yep!" Max agreed. "We're kind of getting used to it by now."


"Excuse me?" Mawile asked politely.

Skitty opened an eye. "Like, what is it?"

"Well... I wanted to ask a question," Mawile explained. "Why do you talk like that?"

"Like, like what?" Skitty asked, and yawned.

"Like that!" Mawile said.

"Yawning?" Skitty flirted her tail. "I'm, like, tired..."

"No, like that!" Mawile insisted. "With all the likes!"

"...I don't, like, get what you're saying..."

Mawile frowned, and walked off.

Skitty's tail flirted again, and she rolled over onto her back and yawned again.

"Excuse me?"

"Guh!" Skitty rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"Why do you use... the..." Mawile's voice took on the tones of someone concentrating. "Quo-ta-tive like?"

Skitty rolled back over on her front, and saw Mawile was reading off Dexter's screen. "Like, what does that mean?"

"Like that?" Mawile said, in the tones of a question.

"Like, like like, or like?"

"Like like," Mawile replied.

Dexter emitted an electronic sigh.

"But... it's just, like, talking?"

This is going to take forever.


"How come you're travelling with Ash Ketchum, anyway?" the older Max asked.

"It's kind of a long story," May said. "Basically, we first met when my Dad was officiating a League challenge he was in."

"That's kind of neat," Max admitted. "Which one? Kanto or Johto?"

"Orange Islands," May told him.

"...I've never heard of that one. They have a League?"

The younger Max chuckled. "Yeah, but not many people seem to have heard of it... it's a pity, the battle was really cool!"

"That's pretty lucky of you, then," the older one said. "I-"

The rod was abruptly jerked out of the holder. There was a splash, and something began struggling.

"What happened?" May asked, standing up.

"It looks like something got caught in the string!" Brock frowned. He grabbed a Pokéball from his belt. "Marshtomp, can you go and look?"

Marshtomp emerged, and began swimming out into the water.

"And watch out for the line!" Brock added.

"What could have got caught in the string?" the older Max asked.

"Well, it couldn't have been a swimming Pokémon," May began, then interrupted herself. "Or I guess it depends what you mean by swimming – look!"

As they watched, Marshtomp lifted a Surskit out of the water and began untangling it.

"Oh, that's cool!" the older Max said, standing. "I like those!"

His doppelganger picked up a Pokéball, ready to throw, then put it down again. "Actually, he looks kind of stressed... maybe we should make sure he's okay first."

"Good idea," Brock agreed. He waded out into the water and started to help Marshtomp untangle the Surskit. "It's okay, calm down... sorry about that..."


"So... you want to know why I, like, say like?"

"Yes!" Mawile nodded.

"It's when I, like, like something?" Skitty tilted her head. "Or when, you know, something's kind of similar to another thing? Like, a Glameow is kind of like a Skitty?"

"No, not like that," Mawile shook her head. "The other way!"

"Then I, like, totally don't get what you mean..."

Can I go now? Dexter asked.


"Well, he seems to like me," older-Max said, some time after the Surskit was properly untangled. "Don't you?"

Surskit looked up, smiled, and chirped something.

"You can probably guess that that was a yes," Brock said.

"Do you think he'd like to come with me?"

Surskit nodded again.

May passed a Pokéball over. "Here you go – you'll need one of these."

"Thanks," the local Max said, and held it out for Surskit to tap.

There was a flash, and the Pokémon was caught.

"I... I've got a Pokémon," he said, slowly. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem!" the younger Max replied. "We Maxes have to stick together!"

"Since when was that a rule?" May asked.

"Since I came up with it," Max told her.


"...ooooh, I get what you mean," Skitty said. "Like, no, it's just talking. You know what I mean?"

Mawile shook her head earnestly.

"...like, never mind," Skitty said. "I'm going to have my-"

"We're leaving, guys!" Ash called.

"Guh."

"Sorry!" Mawile said, shuffling her feet. "I really wanted to know..."


"Was that the same one he had last time?" May asked.

"I think so..." Max agreed, as they walked down the road. "Maybe it's just... fate, or something."

"Or Celebi," Brock nodded.

Sorry, did I miss something?

Ash turned to his right, and saw Celebi floating along next to him. Her eyes widened, and she vanished with a pop and a flash of blue light.

"...well, at least she's busy," Max said.


"Okay," Butch said, noting something on a pad of paper. "That's the third time at least we've seen that Tyranitar, so I guess we have to add it to the list too."

Cassidy nodded. "Right... we're sure it's his?"

"It's talked a lot with that Ivysaur," Butch pointed out. "And he did have a Larvitar – it's quick for one to evolve to Tyranitar, maybe he captured a relative."

Cassidy nodded.

"Why are we just taking notes?" one of the Rocket agents asked. "We could just steal the Pokémon that are there right now!"

Butch and Cassidy exchanged a glance, then gave him a long look.

"That wouldn't work," Cassidy said, summing it up.

"Why not?" the agent asked. "We've got Mega Stones – five of them! You've got a Mega Aggron, and you have a Mega Charizard!"

"And that is one of the hardest targets in the country," Butch explained.

"Why, Branch?" another agent asked, fiddling with his Key Stone. "What's so tough that a Mega Charizard, Aggron, Abomasnow, Venusaur and Slowbro couldn't handle it?"

"It's Butch!" Butch snapped.

"Sssh!" Cassidy said. "Keep it down!"

Butch subsided reluctantly.

"Anyway," Cassidy went on. "Professor Oak is a former League champion. He's still got his Dragonite, which has been seen more often recently."

"His grandson is also a League Champion – a current one – who leaves a lot of Pokémon here for long stretches of time," Butch went on.

"And then there's Ash Ketchum."

"You can't scare us with scary stories about Ash Ketchum!" Ariana said, joining her two teammates in standing up to Butch. "I heard you ran like a Butch, B-"

"Don't finish it!" Butch warned.

"We don't have to tell you scary stories," Cassidy pointed out. "Just look at the paddock. Actually look at it."

The three younger agents crowded forward to see.

"That's one of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon," Butch said. "It's a Heracross who beat up Tyson's Mega Tyranitar."

"While it was Mega too," Petrel said mulishly.

"Would you take your chances?" Cassidy asked. "And that's another one of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon."

They looked at it.

"I saw that on on the news," Proton admitted. "What is it?"

"A Legendary from Unova," Butch told him. "And the Squirtle he's talking to is the one who does things we're pretty sure should be physically impossible."

"And that's someone who lives around here," Cassidy took up the 'lesson'.

The three lower-ranked agents stared.

"Are those Legendary Pokémon she's got playing roly-poly with her?" Ariana asked slowly.

"Yes," Butch agreed, as Molly romped around laughing with Entei.

"And that's not even getting into-"

Slowly, with majestic wingbeats, the Storm's End flew into the paddock.

"What... the... hell?" Petrel breathed, as Ho-Oh folded his wings and strutted over to talk with a Houndoom.

"That's also one of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon," Cassidy said.

They watched the conversation for a few more minutes, the younger agents thankfully shocked into silence – then there was a stir of movement.

A Houndour came running up to the Houndoom as they watched, and began barking – made faint by the distance.

Ho-Oh and Houndoom listened. Then both Fire-types turned to look at where the Rockets were hidden.

"Okay, time to get out of here!" Butch said, very quickly. "Who's got the Natu?"


"Okay, girls?" May asked. "Ready?"

Beautifly nodded.

"Like, yeah," Skitty agreed. "I guess we're, like, not doing the Assist thing?"

"Depending on who counts as a teammate you could end up using Aeroblast," May pointed out. "So... well, maybe we'll leave that for later, it could look quite good... anyway, yeah, we're doing the other one."

"This is, like, so much easier," Skitty declared. "Totally."

"Yeah, Ethan's a big help," May agreed.

You are welcome.

"Good luck, May!" Max said, nodding to her. "We'll be watching!"

"We sure will!" Ash agreed. "Let's see something cool!"


Somewhat surprisingly, May was called almost immediately – it seemed that she'd been selected to appeal first, or second at the latest.

As she walked out onto the arena floor, she smiled – and released the first of her two Pokémon.

Skitty appeared in a flash of sparkles, and flourished her tail before meowing cutely.

She chased her tail in a circle, then looked up as May released Beautifly – who materialized in a cloud of smoke, which was then swept out of the way by the churning of her wings.

Skitty crouched, tail waving from side to side... then her tail stopped, and she jumped up at Beautifly with paw outstretched.

Beautifly gained height, dodging the swipe, and did a lazy roll.

Pouting, Skitty frowned – then perked up, and jumped again.

Beautifly was a little higher than last time, so that didn't work the second time either – but this time, Skitty didn't quite land back on the floor of the arena.

There was a flash of blue, and she landed on a small piece of ice – produced by a quick and tightly focused Blizzard.

Claws gaining purchase, she jumped again, and Beautifly dove out of the way this time.


As the routine continued, Skitty's ice platforms got more and more elaborate. From a series of individual pillars, it began to take on a continuous character – connecting the platforms up, then spreading out into broader shapes, until within a minute she was skating around on a three-dimensional racetrack she was forming as she slid along it.

Beautifly ducked, dodged, wove and climbed, leading her on a merry chase, and finally seemed cornered as Skitty bounded after her towards the icy wall of an earlier part of the structure.

In reply, Beautifly's compound eyes flashed a brilliant blue. The whole wall of the ice sculpture exploded in a shower of icy dust, and the blast eddied out an instant diamond-dust to fill the whole arena.

As the dust-like snow faded, people began to see what was inside the cloud – and began to applaud.

In the pile of snow, Skitty and Beautifly were just finishing a small Snow-Munchlax.


The Emboar bellowed, hooves skirling with flame, and did a forwards flip before slamming down on Skitty.

Yelping, the Normal-type dodged out of the way – but didn't quite make it. The tip of her tail got caught under the Heat Crash, and a moment later Beautifly hit the Emboar with a Psychic-attack.

"May's team has good teamwork, but a bit slow," the local Joy remarked critically. "And Marcus is doing great double-team work!"

As she said it, the other Pokémon – a Fearow – turned in a stately wingover before flaring her wings and extending her claws.

"Jump!" Marcus called, and Emboar leaped skywards to grab onto Fearow's legs again.

"What do we do?" Beautifly asked, looking over at May.

May frowned. "I don't – wait! Beautifly, try to slow them down!"

She pointed at Skitty. "Pikachu's your teammate, now use Assist!

Skitty blinked. "Like... it doesn't work like that..."

"Just do it!" May said.

Beautifly launched a Gust at their opponents, and Skitty frowned.

Then her eyes widened.

"Like, whoooaaaah!"

Electricity crackled around her paws and tail, arcing from point to point, and began to form a globe.


"I didn't know you could do that..." Ash said, blinking.

"Is that Volt Crash?" Brock asked, glancing at Pikachu.

The Electric-type promptly shook his head. "No, wrong structure. It's-"


Skitty used Zap Cannon.

The blast of electricity crashed up and out, striking the Fearow on the wing, and brought both of Marcus' Pokémon down in a staggering crash onto the stage.

"An interesting move!" one of the commentators said. "But can she build on it?"

"Beautifly, down to the ground!" May called quickly. "Skitty – up on her back!"

Skitty began to run, wincing as the electricity still frizzing up her tail began to discharge, and jumped up onto Beautifly's back between the wings.

The two rose back into the air, a little clumsily, and May pointed. "Up a bit higher – there!"

"Ember, quick!" Marcus called, and a shower of Embers began to flash skywards from his Emboar as the Fearow shook her head and recovered.

As they burst, they produced little red-cored snaps of smoke, and Beautifly wove between them to avoid being hit.

"Blizzard!" May said. "Beautifly, boost it with Psychic – and make it go around Emboar!"

Skitty inhaled, and let loose a blast of icy wind that formed a potent Blizzard.

Beautifly's eyes glowed as she shaped the icy wave, speeding it and curling it, and it split into three streams of ice.

Her aim wasn't perfect. One of the streams was intercepted by Emboar's arm, hissing as it expended itself, but the other two hit nicely – frosting up Fearow's wings and preventing her from taking off again.

Then the whistle went.

"Time's up!" the organizer said. "And – well, well... I'm not sure what we do in this situation. How do we handle an exact draw?"


"It's okay, May," Max suggested. "It's not that bad."

May looked mulish.

"You should have gone with rock," Brock told her.

"Okay, like, that was totally unfair," Skitty said. "Hey, Pikachu? I'm going to need you to, like, teach me moves and stuff."

"You are?" Pikachu asked. "Like what?"

"How to do Thunderbolt!" Skitty replied. "Duh! And I, like, need a Water move too..."

"Where are we headed now?" Max asked.

Ash frowned. "I... well, I guess there was something about Mt. Chimney?"

"It's on the way to Lavaridge," Brock agreed. "I think we're pretty close – we could get there fairly soon. Today, if we flew."

Nope.

"Dexter?" Ash asked.

It's time to deliberately get lost again.

"How many times have we heard that..." May sighed. "Okay, where to?"

Firey path, for now.

"Okay!" Brock said, checking the map. "That's... this way!"

He pointed.

There was a pause, then Dexter let out an electronic sigh. Yes, you're right.

"Great!"


"Hey, Ash!"

Ash looked around. "Who said – wait, is that Thatcher?"

"That's me!" Thatcher confirmed, waving. "I'm surprised I overtook you – I'd have thought you'd be long past here by now!"

"...no, not really," Max said, shaking his head. "It takes us weeks to go a short distance, it really does."

"So, what have you been doing?" Brock asked.

"I've been helping to teach my Plusle and Minun how to cheer!" Thatcher told him. "You know, Helping Hand!"

"So... do they both use Helping Hand?" May asked.

"Yep!"

"At the same time?"

Thatcher paused. "Er... well, I guess one of them would have to have another move... so Plusle does know Thunderbolt..."

"Really?"

May looked up to see Skitty on her shoulder. "Wait, when did you get-"

"Like, can you get one of them to teach me? I'd totally love to know how to Thunderbolt!"

"She wants to learn how to use Thunderbolt," Ash supplied. "Hasn't Pikachu been able to help?"

"No," Skitty replied, rolling her eyes. "He's totally not a good teacher, he – like, he just expects me to get it. And, like, nuh-uh!"

"...I'm not that bad," Pikachu muttered.

"That sounds like something we could help with," Thatcher agreed. "At least, I think Plusle could give her a bit of training..."

He sent out both Electric-types, to get their opinions.

"...teach a cat?" Plusle asked, a little nervously.

"I'll make sure nothing goes wrong," Pikachu assured his fellow Electric-type.

"Like, I wouldn't do it anyway," Skitty said, flirting her tail. "I'm sure you're totally bad for my diet."


"Tabitha," Maxie said, looking up and adjusting his glasses.

"Sir," Tabitha replied.

"A matter of great urgency has come up," he said, standing up behind his desk. "Have you heard of the power of a Meteorite?"

"I remember the research we took from Stone's corporation mentioned it," Tabitha agreed. "It was something about Infinity Energy?"

"That's correct," Maxie agreed. "Now, we managed to intercept information from the space tracking facility on Mossdeep, and they picked up an incoming meteoroid. It was small enough to make it into the atmosphere, and seems to have made it down more or less intact – so I intend to test our assumptions about the ability of meteorites to do what we think they can."

"I see, sir!" Tabitha nodded. "So – am I to retrieve the meteorite?"

"Not just that, Tabitha," Maxie said. "Your job is to take a package of machinery we built to harness Infinity Energy, find the Meteorite – on Mt. Chimney – and use that machine."

"What will it do, sir?" Tabitha asked.

Maxie adjusted his glasses. "It is designed to empower our Lord Groudon – and, in this specific case, that means to cause Mt. Chimney to erupt."

"I see!" Tabitha agreed, eyes shining. "When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow, just before dawn," Maxie told his Admin. "Gather a team – take two of the big transport helicopters."

"I won't let you down!" Tabitha assured him.


"Worst... Training... Ever!" Skitty panted. "Like, how did this happen?"

"You're the one who hit them!" Pikachu retorted, as they ran from the horde of angry Slugma. "Swellow!"

The Flying-type shot over. "Yeah, what is – whoa."

Swellow reversed direction, and began flying alongside the four fleeing Pokémon. "What happened here?"

"Like, these Slugma started chasing us!" Skitty said. "I totally don't know why!"

"She got frustrated and used Blizzard, it hit one," Pikachu corrected.

"Hey! That's totally not true!" Skitty protested.

"This has gone really, really badly," Minun panted. "I'm getting tired..."

Swellow swooped down. "I'll carry you two back!" she suggested. "Plusle, Minun – grab on! I'll carry you back down to your trainer!"

Plusle and Minun exchanged a glance, then both nodded.

"Jump!"

Both the Cheering Pokémon jumped up and grabbed onto Swellow's feet.

Then, as she rose back into the air and away, a determined red shape appeared on the path.

"Hello," Corphish said, crossing his pincers. They both flashed, and Razor Shell ignited with a snap-hisssss. "I challenge you all to a battle."

The Slugma piled up, muttered to one another, decided they were going to attack anyway, and surged forwards again.

They quickly changed their minds.


"...like, I want to learn that attack now," Skitty said.

"I'm not sure you can," Pikachu replied. "You don't have any shell."

"Like, I can use any attack if it's with Assist, why can't I do that?" Skitty demanded.

Pikachu shrugged, then considered that further. "Actually, we should do some experiments. Can you do, say, a move like Sacred Fire or Secret Sword?"

"Are you guys okay?" Ash asked, running into view. "I – oh, you are. Okay."

Corphish waved from on top of a pile of Slugma.

"Like... how are you not getting burned by that?" Skitty asked.

"I never was much good at thermodynamics."


"Yarr," Archie said. "Matt, your job be to take a cuttin' out expedition an' head up to the top o' Mount Chimney."

"Aye, sir!" Matt nodded, saluting. "An' what be my crew?"

"That be up to ye to decide," Archie assured him. "A good cap'n picks his own crew! Take ten picked lads an' lasses along, and make sure ta capture that Meteorite that landed up there!"

"What be the purpose, cap'n?" Matt asked.

"Ar, well, it be to use the Infinity Energy from the meteorite, an' to test how it can be used to catalyze the powers of Lady Kyogre," Archie said. "An' in that vein, it'll be a machine you take which'll test it – aye, it'll make it rain strong enough to put out Mt. Chimney, so it will!"

"Aye aye, sir!"


Several hundred miles away from Hoenn, Giovanni stirred his coffee, and took a sip.

Putting it back down, he lifted the newspaper.

"Hm," he observed. "The front page is interesting... a meteorite landed in Hoenn."

Persian yawned.

"Well, mostly that it looks like we kept that little matter on Cinnabar out of the news..."


AN:


Moving swiftly along.

Developing Skitty a bit further... she's a cat.

Hence, she's catty.

We also have a doppelganger like Ritchie, except that in this case he's called Max. And he looks like the other Max.

If you're confused, that's intentional.

Then there's a contest routine with Skitty and Beautifly, and a sad loss for May on tie-break. (She picked paper.)

Oh, and the whole Meteorite thing is coming up.