"Are you holding up okay?" Ash asked, crouching down.
Sliggoo faced towards him, roughly. "Uh... I think so... um, you are there, right?"
"That's right," Ash confirmed. "You can't see, right?"
"No, I can't," Sliggoo nodded. "I can kind of... tell where you are, but not very well."
"Dexter?" Ash asked, taking his Pokédex out. "Anything you can tell us?"
Sliggoo. The Soft Tissue Pokémon. His four horns are acting as a kind of radar, detecting scents and noises.
"Huh, that's pretty neat," the trainer nodded. "But... well, I guess we should do some target practice. I think we've got the time... we have got the time, right?"
You have time to do some training, it's a couple of days until you are scheduled to meet Torkoal.
"That's about what I thought," Ash nodded. "Okay... Absol?"
The new Dark-type materialized, and nodded. "Yes, Ash?"
"I was wondering if you could help us with teaching Sliggoo how to use senses that aren't sight," Ash explained. "You're used to using a sense which is really kind of vague, so my hope is you could help him with that."
"I see," Absol nodded. "Yes, that sounds sensible. How should we start?"
Ash grinned. "Well, I know who'd be up for target practice... Swellow?"
"Heh, of course!" Swellow agreed, flying down. "So, dodging back and forth through a hail of Bubble? Slipping over and under unerringly aimed Water Pulses?"
Ash waved his hand. "...more like, making sure Sliggoo can aim in the right direction."
"Oh, right," Swellow said, correcting herself. "Okay, I'll fly around slowly. Really, really slowly."
She began to do so – still moving quite quickly, but no longer at the rate that she was a blur.
"Can you tell where she is, Sliggoo?" Ash asked.
"Kind of..." Sliggoo frowned. "I think... uh... that way?"
He fired a Bubble.
"Missed me!" Swellow called out.
"That's not the point," Absol noted. "Of course he missed you, the question is by how much."
"...oh, right," the Flying-type agreed, slowing to a hover. "I guess I forgot what we were trying to do. Whoops..."
"Did I get close?" Sliggoo asked.
"You were firing pretty close, for the first time," Ash told him. "Okay, Swellow, hover there for a bit... try again, Sliggoo."
Sliggoo fired another Bubble.
"Okay, that was a bit too low... up a bit."
The second one was closer, and Ash nodded. "That's right!"
He waved at Swellow, who moved a little to the side, and Sliggoo fired again.
The bubble's path was a little to the side of his previous attack as well. Not as much, but the difference was there.
"Good, you spotted her moving, that's great," Ash praised. "You just need to get used to aiming that way." Ash looked over. "Absol, do you have any tips?"
"Well, I'd say that an important thing to remember when using a non-visual sense like this is that you can detect things all around you," Absol told him. "That means you can see behind you, but it also makes it harder to work out where something is if you're used to seeing – something halfway through your field of vision is actually to your side, not to the side and ahead."
"Okay," Sliggoo said, absorbing that information. "Bubble!"
This one got close enough Swellow had to zip to the side.
"Great shot!" Ash told him. "Okay, now try a Water Pulse!"
"So, you know who's next, right?" May asked, leaning against the slope.
"Yeah," Max agreed. "Dad."
"Got a plan?"
"Well, kind of," Max nodded. "Guy's the obvious one, but I think it would make sense to use Cinder and Arc as well."
"Right, because they're quick and agile," May agreed. "Quick enough to say out of Slakoth's way."
"That's pretty much what I was thinking."
They watched as Sliggoo shot bubbles of water at the speeding Swellow.
"Got any plans to use Jirachi?" May asked.
"Not really," Max said, shaking his head. "I mean, it would kind of feel like cheating. I know that he's a Steel type, and it would be appropriate to use him against Dad, but... I'd rather fight him without using a Legendary."
"I heard Ash was going to use a Legendary," May commented.
"Really?" Max blinked. "Who?"
"Well, Keldeo's leaving fairly soon," May reminded him. "I guess it's him."
"Oh, right," Max snapped his fingers. "I keep forgetting he's from Unova."
There was an outbreak of barking as Arc and Cinder chased one another across the grassy field below.
"It's nice they're having fun," Max smiled.
"How close do you think Arc is to evolving?" May asked, suddenly.
"...you know, I'm not sure how I'd tell," Max admitted. "He's been near Ash, does that count?"
"Probably..."
"Hmm, that's pretty good," Ash said. "You can stop for a bit, Sliggoo."
The soft snail stopped promptly, and took a deep breath. "Was I doing any better?"
"You were getting better, yeah, but... well, I want to check something," Ash told him.
He closed his eyes, looking around for a moment, then pointed. "Hey, Swellow, can you check if Stantler's available?"
"Sure! I was getting moss growing on me standing around for that long!"
Wings clapping, Swellow flew off at speed.
A couple of hundred metres overhead, Flygon hovered in the still air.
"Thanks for this," Brock said, patting the Dragon-type with a smile. "I know it must be fairly tiring."
"Not as tiring as you'd think," Flygon said, bobbing his head. "It's good to get some time in the sky, actually."
"You just need to ask," Brock assured him.
He looked out at the bulk of Mt. Chimney rising nearby, and then out at the mountains of central Hoenn. "This is a great view – it's amazing what rising above the trees gets you."
Flygon buzzed happily.
"Hey," Crobat asked, flying up to come alongside. "Fancy a race?"
The Dragon-type glanced back at Brock.
"Go ahead," Brock smiled, leaning lower over his back. "I'll try not to fall off."
"Once around Mt. Chimney, first back to the campsite wins?" Crobat offered.
Flygon nodded, and they set off at speed.
"What was it you were wanting, Ash?" Stantler asked.
"Well, I'm trying to help Sliggoo's aim improve," Ash said. "But – something occurred to me. Can you make an illusion?"
Stantler nodded, and a large Steelix illusion appeared with a flicker of his horns.
"Okay, try to hit the illusion," Ash told Sliggoo.
Sliggoo frowned. "What illusion? I can't tell where it is..."
"That's what I thought," Ash grinned. "You can't see, so the illusions don't work!"
"...was that all you wanted me for?"Stantler asked, letting the illusion vanish.
"Yeah, just wanted to see," Ash said. "If he could see them they'd be good for training, but since he can't..."
Stantler nodded. "Okay. I guess it's something to think about, too... I wonder if I can work out how to do an illusion with smell..."
"Well, the Spinda thing was..."
Ash searched for the words.
"Bizarre would do," May suggested. Spinda are kind of cute at times, but raising them must be a really trying experience..."
"Hey, look!" Brock said, pointing ahead of them. "I think that's the Valley of Steel!"
"Yeah, it looks like it," Ash agreed. He closed his eyes, and squinted. "I... no, can't quite see him."
"Torkoal, right," Max nodded. "What else was there about the Valley of Steel, though..."
A Skarmory swooped down on them.
Pikachu jumped up onto the top of Ash's head, cheeks crackling. "One more flap and you get Thunderbolted-"
There was a whistling sound as Skarmory flared his wings and began to hover. "Wait, you're... yeah, I did hear of you!"
"Pardon?" Ash asked, a bit surprised.
"We heard about this trainer with a Pikachu who – and he – but yeah, that's you, so..." Skarmory trailed off for a moment. "Can I start again?"
"Sure," Ash agreed.
"Well, I was wondering if one of your Pokémon would like a battle? We're kind of all about fights here..."
Ash glanced at the others. "I don't see any problem with that – anyone have a problem with that?"
May shook her head. "Not if Blaziken wants the fight, no."
"You've got a Blaziken?" Skarmory asked. "Neat! Not my kind of battle, but I'm sure someone would love a match!"
Max frowned, looking up from Kris' screen. "What about a Breloom?"
"I'm game for that," Skarmory agreed.
There was a bzzt noise.
"What was that?" Ash asked.
"Oh, we found some Torkoal who wanted to challenge the boss Steelix," Skarmory said, shrugging his wings. "If he can't get past – wait, where are you going?"
Ash ran over the top of the low ridge, and saw Torkoal held in a crackling cage of electricity from two Magnemite.
"Your continued challenge is not advised," one informed the Fire-type.
"Additional combatants approaching," the other noted. "Preparing to-"
"Force Palm, Pikachu!" Ash called.
"Force what?" Magnemite asked, in a much less emotionless tone.
Then Pikachu duly used Force Palm.
The Magnemite he hadn't targeted observed what had happened to its ally, then promptly disengaged its half of the Thunder Wave. "Fine, you can have him."
Muttering, the Steel-type floated off to retrieve his friend – who had gone quite a way.
"Thank you," Torkoal muttered, shaking the sand off his shell. "I wasn't sure what to do..."
"Don't worry," Ash said, crouching down. "I don't like seeing people bullied."
"But... I'm a Pokémon," Torkoal said uncertainly.
"So?" Ash asked. "You're still a person."
Torkoal smiled, and snorted out a cloud of soot which drifted over Ash and Pikachu.
"Oh, yeah..." Ash smiled. "I forgot you do this..."
Torkoal stopped. "Have we met before?"
"Nice going," Pikachu snarked.
"Hey, it's not every day I meet one of my Pokémon," Ash defended himself, promptly digging himself deeper.
"You're going to need to explain this one," Torkoal requested.
"Okay," Ash agreed, sitting down. "Hey, Dexter? Can I have some of the pictures of Torkoal?"
Torkoal looked at the pictures.
"...yeah, that's me," he said. "Well, I guess... either amnesia or time travel?"
"In a strange way, sort of both," Ash said hesitantly. "Okay, here's what happened..."
"Sky Uppercut!" Max called, and Guy crouched before springing into the air.
The Skarmory turned in on himself, evading the first punch but not a lightning-fast Mach Punch follow-up, and squawked in pain before rolling and lashing out with a Peck.
The Flying-type attack hit Guy hard, but the Breloom's ability began to heal him in short order, and he got in a clanging blow with an Iron Tail before skidding to a landing.
"Seed Bomb above him!" Max instructed.
Skarmory put on a burst of speed, avoiding the first one, but the second cracked open just above his right wing.
"And – Dynamic Punch!"
Knocked lower by the blast of the Seed Bomb, Skarmory was unable to avoid the impact of the explosive Dynamic Punch. He spun once through the air, recovered, and pulled up short of crashing.
"Okay, okay, I give," he said, panting. "Not bad!"
"Thanks," Max replied. "I'm glad we could give you a good fight."
"Yeah, that's most of what we do around here," Skarmory chuckled. "If you're crossing the valley – whoo, you're going to get challenged a lot of times!"
"That's actually quite good news, in a way," Brock said. "Steelix has wanted a battle or two."
"There's a lot of Steelix around here," Skarmory said – having gotten quite used to the talking-to-Pokémon thing quite quickly. "What's special about him?"
Brock held up his Key Stone.
"...whoa," Skarmory said, flapping down to land. "You've seriously got a Mega Stone for a Steelix?"
Brock nodded. "Yeah, we got it down in Dewford."
"That is going to be so popular," Skarmory observed.
Lucario bowed.
His opponent crossed pincers, and bowed as well.
The two Steel-types – one Bug-type, one Fighting-type – shifted slightly into their fighting stances, and stood that way for several seconds.
Then they blurred into motion.
Lucario opened his side of the battle with a forearm blow into Scizor's chest, knocking him back. The Bug countered almost immediately with two lightning-fast Bullet Punches, delivered with enough force that Lucario went skidding back in turn.
The next move was also taken by Scizor, who lashed out with a Brick Break and turned it into a Rock Smash as Lucario evaded the original strike, resulting in Scizor's metallic pincer striking home with a belling clang of metal-on-metal.
Lucario whirled, his Iron Tail swiping out towards Scizor, and barely avoided scoring a body blow as Scizor blurred into the air in an acrobatic backflip.
As Scizor charged a Flash Cannon from his safe altitude, Lucario demonstrated that it wasn't a safe altitude at all with an Aura-boosted high jump and a Bullet Punch of his own.
"Like... this is kind of loud?" Skitty opined. "All this clanging, I mean, it's like two ironmongers, like, throwing things at each other. You get what I'm saying?"
"Yeah, it sounds like this pretty much all the time," Skarmory chuckled.
"You, like, couldn't pay me to live here," Skitty said, sticking her tongue out.
"Come on!" Mawile said, tugging on Sliggoo's pseudopod. "You'll love it!"
"I'm not sure," Sliggoo said, swallowing slightly. "I'm still a bit nervous with Fairy-types..."
"But they're like me!" Mawile told him. "You know – Mawileiles!"
"I'm almost certain that's not how you say it..." Sliggoo muttered. He let himself be pulled along a bit further, then sighed. "Well..."
"Please?" Mawile begged. "I've never met another Mawile before!"
"...okay, then," Sliggoo decided. "But I'm still not very good at sensing things..."
"That's okay!" Mawile said firmly. "I'll tell you where to go and where not to go!"
"Thanks," Sliggoo said, sounding a little more confident. "I'll trust you."
They were quiet for a couple of minutes, as they walked on following the directions the Skarmory had given them.
"How much further is it?" Sliggoo asked.
"It's that cave, just-" Mawile began, then blushed. "Oh... sorry, forgot. Um... it's about as far away as... Steelix is long."
"Thank you," Sliggoo said. He frowned. "Hold on a moment, I'm getting a bit dry."
A flicker of light around his horns, and a miniature raincloud appeared.
Mawile held her hand under it as it poured out a very short and very intense rainstorm. "I still think this is really cool!"
Sliggoo smiled.
A minute or so later, after letting the rain soak him to the point he was rehydrated, Sliggoo nodded. "Okay, we can keep going."
"Great!" Mawile said, and took his pseudopod again. "This way!"
Lucario skipped backwards, paws glowing blue. He turned his jump into a skid, extending his rear foot out to brake his slide, and built a glowing blue globe of energy in his palms.
Scizor charged forwards, wings buzzing, and lashed out with a Bullet Punch – and Lucario brought his globe forwards and fired.
The blaze of blue light that resulted cannoned into Scizor right in the thorax, and lasted for about three seconds. Lucario's back-swept foot skidded backwards a few more inches, and when it faded Scizor was collapsing backwards some distance away.
Lucario drew himself back erect, and bowed. "My thanks for the battle."
Scizor shook his head, a bit dazed, then came to his feet as well. "Indeed. A close match, but a fine one."
A nod. Then, the Aura Pokémon held up his hand – which flashed into flame.
"...you know Fire Punch?" Scizor asked, sounding vaguely disappointed. "But why..."
"I wanted to see if I could win without the obvious answer," Lucario explained. "Make no mistake, I'm thankful for the spar, and I mean no insult."
Scizor considered, and nodded. "Then thank you, as well. It was interesting to battle a Pokémon skilled in Aura."
"Nice work, Lucario!" Ash called, hurrying over now the battle was over. "That move was pretty cool – what was it?"
"It's basically Aura Storm," Lucario told him, turning. "Just a fair bit weaker – that's about the limit of the force I can put in before I go rocketing off into the middle distance."
"Given how often you throw me around then it would serve you right..." Pikachu muttered.
"Excuse me?" Mawile called. "Hello?"
She knocked on the side of the cave mouth. "Is someone there?"
There was a pause. Then another Mawile leaned out. "Hello? I've not seen you before." She giggled. "Where are you from?"
"Oh, I've got a trainer!" Mawile explained. "We're just passing through!"
"We?" the other Mawile called. "Oh – girls! We have visitors!"
She turned back to Ash's Mawile. "So... who's your friend?"
Sliggoo tried to look small as two more Mawile – both a little shorter – came hurrying over.
"This is Sliggoo!" Mawile introduced. "He's just evolved recently, so be nice!"
"Recently evolved?" one of the younger Mawile asked. "Well, he must have looked great as his last form!"
"That's-" Ash's Mawile began brightly.
"Yeah," the other younger one said. "Anything would be an improvement on that."
Sliggoo slid backwards slightly, wincing. "Um..."
"Hey!" Ash's Mawile said, hands on hips. "That's not nice! You're not nice!"
"Why should we be nice about a Dragon?" the first one asked. "Dragons can hardly even hurt us!"
"Girls," the mother said soothingly. "He can't really help what he is."
"That's not much better," Mawile pointed out. "It's not something he has to help!"
"Be realistic, dear," the mother told her matter-of-factly. "He's slimy and gross."
Sliggoo drooped.
"Now, that doesn't mean he can't be a nice Pokémon, but-"
"You're all horrible!" Mawile told them crossly. "Sliggoo's fine just the way he is, he was fine before he evolved and he'll be fine whatever he evolves into!"
"But really, come on," the second young Mawile said. "He's just ew."
Ash's Mawile shook her head. "He's not! He's not ew! Stop bullying him!"
"It's not bullying if we're just pointing out the truth," one of the sisters pointed out.
Mawile wasn't even sure which one it was, being too busy trying not to cry. "You're all horrid! Completely horrid!"
"You may be a guest, but no insulting my daughters in my house," the mother said firmly.
That was the last straw.
"Sliggoo?" Mawile said. "I've changed my mind. Let's go!"
The two young Pokémon were nearly silent for most of the trip back.
Mawile hiccuped, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her, and Sliggoo squirmed steadily along with his head bowed.
"...Mawile?" he asked, after some deep thought.
"Yes?" Mawile replied, looking up and taking a deep breath.
"...do you think I'm icky, really?"
"No!" Mawile shouted, with a vehement shake of her head. "You're not! You're great! You're kind of slimy, but I don't mind that – you're my friend, and that's way more important!"
She stopped, and threw her arms around the startled Sliggoo.
"I wish they weren't horrible," she whispered. "I don't think I like other Mawile now..."
Sliggoo sighed, and reached out to her in return. "I don't think all other Mawile are like them," he said, softly. "I think they're just not very nice Pokémon – like that Glaceon you've told me about. She wasn't a very nice Pokémon either."
Mawile nodded, but said nothing for a long minute.
"Sliggoo?" she asked, eventually.
Sliggoo nodded.
"...can you make it rain? I think I'm stuck..."
Sliggoo blinked unseeing eyes, then – unable to help himself – began to laugh.
As he laughed, Mawile began to giggle as well, and then the rain began and the two of them collapsed into fits of hysterical laughter under the drumming rain.
There was a loud, echoing clang as Mega Steelix slammed into one of the family of Aggron.
The tough Rock-type was sent skidding several paces backwards by the force of the blow, but he rallied and roared in defiance – and his mate smashed a heavy two-handed blow into Mega Steelix' back.
Unperturbed, Mega Steelix lashed out in reply with the length of his tail, whip-cracking it into the stomach of the female Aggron, and followed that up with a gout of blazing Dragonbreath into the face of the male – which startled him, and made his feet skid back a pace from the surprise.
"Sandstorm!" Brock called, and a swirling dust-devil of wind began to develop, obscuring the combatants... all except Mega Steelix, whose crystals began to glow brighter and brighter.
He roared, slamming his tail on the ground, and Stone Edge pillars came crashing up from the valley floor towards the female Aggron. She side-stepped, smashing her elbow into one of the pillars with a crack that echoed off the valley walls a second or so later, and as she did so her mate got Mega Steelix's attention with a Headbutt.
"It's a good thing this isn't near anywhere populated!" May shouted over the noise. "It's pretty loud!"
Brock watched the shifting blue glows, and the shine of Aggron steel they illuminated. "Good work, Mega Steelix... okay, use Earthquake!"
A blue crystal slammed into the floor, making the ground shake and tremble. Both Aggron staggered back some distance, and one of them nearly went over backwards before righting itself.
"That looks like those Aggron are getting tired," Ash volunteered.
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "But he's still outnumbered two to one, so I need to be tricky about it..."
One Aggron caught the eye of the other, and gestured. The other nodded, and then both lowered their heads and charged.
The female opened her mouth, inhaled, and fired a Water Pulse. The watery wavefront slapped into Mega Steelix' spine with a splash, sending water sluicing off in all directions, and wrung a grunt of discomfort from the Steel-type.
"Ignore her!" Brock warned.
Mega Steelix didn't question the order. He lunged at the male instead, jaws creaking as he used Crunch, and hit the Aggron in the side.
Another Water Pulse slapped into his side, but he ignored it – instead pushing hard on the male, bringing his tail around for an almighty Iron Tail, and when the CLANNNNG died down the male Aggron was out for the count.
Mega Steelix was struck in the side by a third Water Pulse, but this one he didn't ignore – he reared up to his full height, crystals flaring as he coiled, and struck down like a giant serpent made of steel and stone.
Which he was.
"...that probably counts as a win," Ash said, looking at the somewhat buried female. "I guess you told him to ignore her because she was being the distraction?"
"That's right," Brock confirmed. "I trusted Mega Steelix to handle a few of them, and I didn't know what the male was going to do in the meantime."
The swirling sands dissipated, revealing Mega Steelix triumphant among his defeated foes.
"Thanks for the battle," Brock added, addressing the two Aggron. "It was a good one."
Mega Steelix nodded, though the male at least was too unconscious to appreciate it, and then flashed bright orange and slowly reverted.
"Okay, who's left?" Ash asked their local guide.
"Well, you've fought most of them... and usually won, too, which is a bit embarrassing," Skarmory noted. "The most important remaining one is the Steelix, really..."
Ash looked down at Torkoal. "You want that one?"
"I'm not really sure," Torkoal admitted. "I'd be okay with fighting him if no-one else wants to, but... well, I'm not sure if someone else would..."
There was a whoosh, and Sceptile emerged from his Pokéball. "May I?"
Ash looked around to check no-one else was also asking, and nodded. "Looks like that's fine!"
"But... uh..." Sceptile shrugged. "I'm not sure how strong this Pokémon is, so I might need healing afterwards."
Ash frowned. "Right, I'll get Meganium..."
"Good," Sceptile nodded. "That'll be fine."
Pikachu looked suspicious. "Is there any particular reason why you want her to..."
"Healing. I said." Sceptile lashed his tail, and turned. "Now, where's that Steelix?"
"I'll get him," Skarmory volunteered. He spread his wings, and hammered the air at a run for a moment before getting airborne.
"It must be hard for such a heavy Pokémon to fly, sometimes," Max commented.
"Yeah, I think Pokémon like that or Aerodactyl need to use air manipulation to keep them up," Brock agreed.
"So that's what we forgot with Archen!" Ash said, in the tones of one making a great realization.
The others looked at him.
"...it's a long story," he said. "From Unova."
Request made, Meganium will be available shortly, Dexter noted.
"Great," Ash said. "Okay, let's..."
He paused, and turned.
"Mawile? You're back early..."
Mawile came hurrying up at a fast walk, and hugged Ash's leg. "I don't like other Mawile," she said, with a catch in her voice.
Ash knelt down. "What happened?"
"We met some Mawile," Sliggoo explained, coming up behind her. "They... weren't very nice."
"They were horrible," Mawile told Ash. "And I'm going to try really really hard to not be horrible like them!"
With a flash, Meganium materialized. "Hi, sorry, I was helping Ivysaur... rebuild..."
She stopped.
"Why is Mawile hugging your leg?"
"She had a bit of a bad day, I think," Ash explained.
"Poor thing," Meganium said, reaching down with her vines to give Mawile a quick squeeze.
The little Steel-type smiled wanly. "Thank you..."
"Was that why you wanted me?" Meganium asked, glancing at Ash.
"No, not really." Ash patted Mawile on the head and stood again. "Sceptile wanted you around in case he got hurt in his next fight."
"Okay," Meganium nodded. "I'll be ready."
The Steelix looked down at Sceptile. "You're the one who challenged me?"
Sceptile nodded.
"I accept," the Steel-type said, then darted forwards with a speed that belied his size.
Sceptile leapt aside as the metallic head hit the floor with a wham, and swung his tail for a stinging blow – then got thwacked aside by the much larger and heavier tail Steelix could bring to the fight.
He shook his head mid-air, reoriented himself, and landed with a long skid and rooster-tail of dust and earth.
"That was quite fast," he noted.
Steelix tilted his head, then lunged again. This time, Sceptile raised his green-glowing Leaf Blades, and the Iron Head hit it with an audible spang and drove Sceptile back several inches.
Twisting, Steelix hammered in his head again and accompanied it with a tail sweep at the same time.
"Get back!" Ash called quickly, and Sceptile launched himself backwards to get out of the threat zone.
He nearly made it.
The Iron Tail's penultimate segment blurred in, hitting him in the side, and he rolled once before getting somewhat more slowly to his feet.
Steelix blasted him with a torrent of Dragonbreath, and Sceptile's reply was to sweep his tail around in a scything motion to block the worst of the purplish flame.
He discovered a little late that there'd been an Iron Tail attack winding up as well, and had to hastily duck under the high-speed swish of steel.
Lighting up his arm-blades with Leaf Blade again, he darted forwards as soon as the attack was over, and vaulted over a coil of Steelix' body to drive the Leaf Blade attack in on the third segment down from the head of his foe.
Steelix grunted, then twisted in a violent motion which launched Sceptile off his body and some way into the sky.
"Sceptile!" Meganium called.
The green shape of Sceptile shrank quickly as he headed into the air, and then brighter green flashed down from his arms as he fired a pair of Leaf Blades.
The first glanced off the glacis of his Steel-type opponent, but the second bit home – and the Steelix coiled, then launched himself skywards with fangs flashing fire.
Sceptile noticed, and began to get out of the way, so the two hit a little off centre of what Steelix would prefer. The Fire Fang hit with a burst of flame, and Sceptile was seen for a moment with his leaves smouldering before he pushed off and fired a Leech Seed.
He made a three-point landing, and Steelix crashed to the ground behind him – thrashing and tearing at the crawling roots of the Leech Seed, and shredding them quickly.
"Are you okay?" Meganium asked, worried. "Are you burned?"
"Don't think so," Sceptile replied, brushing at his tail and pinching out a glowing ember. "It didn't hit me very hard."
He turned around as the Leech Seed finally failed completely. "Well, I guess it's time to use this."
"You've got a new move?" Ash asked, interested. "You didn't mention..."
"Just got it working last night."
Sceptile crouched, and took a deep breath. His arm-blades flashed green, and then began to shimmer towards turquoise in waves.
"Wait..." Ash said, closing one eye to look. "Is that... it is!"
The corner of Sceptile's mouth quirked.
As he stood, both arm-blades shone a clear azure blue.
"Sacred Sword!" he announced, and charged.
Steelix lashed out at him with his tail again, but this time Sceptile simply held up his right arm-blade to block. Several hundred pounds of Iron Tail smashed into the crackling blue blade, and Sceptile staggered a step sideways but kept going.
He swiped out with the other blade at Steelix as he closed, and the blue energy of the Sacred Sword knocked Steelix backwards bodily – but, as Sceptile skipped backwards from the impact, the blade lost its' blue glow and reverted to green.
"Look out, Sceptile!" Ash called. "The left one stopped working!"
Sceptile frowned slightly, jumping over a tail sweep, and grabbed one of Steelix's spines to use as an anchor for a moment. He threw himself clear over Steelix' body, and tucked into a roll as he reached the ground on the other side.
Leg sliding out and left Leaf Blade down to grip the ground, he turned around and over into a crouch facing Steelix.
Steelix glared at him for a moment, then smashed forwards with an Iron Head.
Sceptile surged to his feet as the attack came in – and caught Steelix, hands grabbing the sides of his mouth to hold him in place. His feet skidded backwards, digging into the ground as much as possible, and his tail dug in as well.
Flame flashed into place on the sides of Steelix' mouth as he used Fire Fang, and he pushed harder – making Sceptile wobble dangerously backwards, despite the steadying effect of his tail.
Then an Iron Tail smashed him aside.
Sceptile picked himself out of the Sceptile-shaped crater in the rock face, shaking his head to clear it, and stood to face Steelix once more.
A green light began to swirl around his entire body as Overgrow kicked in, and some of it ran down his arm to his left blade – which brightened, then flared blue as he reestablished Sacred Sword.
Steelix watched warily.
"Quick Attack," Sceptile informed him, then blurred forwards like a comet with a tail of green fire.
His legs bunched as he ran, and then he vaulted over Steelix's Iron Head – and rammed both Sacred Swords down into the Steel-type's forehead.
A cascade of blue sparks went up as the blade collided, and he kept running along Steelix's back with blue-cored green trailing behind him.
Dodging left-right-left around the steel spines that stuck up in his path, he reached the other end and leapt off just before the thrashing tail could wrong-foot him.
The friends watched, silent, as Sceptile did two forwards flips in midair and skidded to a halt in a cloud of gravel.
Behind him, Steelix crashed to the floor with a sound like gigantic falling steel ingots.
"Wow..." Meganium said, staring. "That was amazing!"
"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Good one, Sceptile!"
Sceptile smirked slightly, then wobbled and collapsed sideways.
"Oh no!"
Meganium hurried forwards, extending her vines to hold him up, and looked him over. "Are you okay? Did you strain something?"
"I'm fine," Sceptile waved, then wobbled again. "Okay, maybe not... that was a lot more tiring than I was expecting."
"How did you do it?" Ash asked. "I thought Keldeo hadn't managed to teach anyone..."
"It's actually quite simple," Sceptile explained, breathing heavily. "You just need to build the Sacred Sword on top of something – like Keldeo has his horn – and charge it with other energy first."
"...that sounds really hard," Ash admitted.
"It's simple in concept, not in execution," Sceptile confirmed. He sighed. "Thank you, that feels wonderful."
"Do you need another?" Meganium asked, as her Heal Pulse took effect.
"Yes please, that would be great..."
Ivysaur sat in the sun, drowsing just outside the main door to Oak's lab.
It was a lovely afternoon, just right for not doing much – and he'd managed to get Molly to help keep some of the more boisterous Pokémon occupied, as well, so the chances of a major disaster were less than usual.
There was a click as the door opened, and he cracked an eyelid to look.
"You know where everything is," Tracey said, from just inside the door, and then Torkoal came waddling out.
"Oh, hi!" Ivysaur said, shaking himself and coming to his feet. "Long time no see!"
Torkoal looked at him.
"Uh... wait, is that you, Bulbasaur?"
"Used to be," Ivysaur confirmed. "Sorry, I've been an Ivysaur for years, but I guess for you it was just a few hours ago..."
Torkoal nodded. "Yeah. I've already seen Bayleef has evolved into Meganium, and Pikachu's cheeks are... kinda strange... and I think there was a Flygon and a Mawile and... something purple?"
"Do you mean Sliggoo?" Ivysaur asked.
"That's the one, yes," Torkoal confirmed. "He seemed nice."
"He is," Ivysaur nodded. "I've only met him a few times so far, but that's the impression I got."
He gestured. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the Pokémon you've not met – like Pidgeot, she left before you joined last time."
As they set off, Torkoal frowned. "So... how'd you evolve?"
Ivysaur chuckled, a little nervously. "That's the thing... accidentally."
"Does that happen?" Torkoal blinked. "I thought it was a very deliberate choice."
"Not really, no," Ivysaur shook his head. "Choosing not to evolve is, and I'd done that... but then I overdid it in a battle, and there I was."
"Oh."
The Fire-type contemplated that as they walked.
"Did it hurt?" he asked. "I mean... you didn't want to, right? What was your reason?"
"I was kind of afraid of evolving, because I wondered if it would still be me inside," Ivysaur said, uneasily. "But... I guess, over time, I realized by talking to Charizard and Staraptor and all the other Pokémon we know who evolved... it's not that they became different people when they evolved, it's just that they got a new perspective."
"Okay," Torkoal said, absorbing that. "But... well, I know I've never evolved, and never can evolve. But I still think I've matured..."
"You have, you're right," Ivysaur agreed. "That's the other half of it. I've met Pokémon who didn't change at all when they evolved, including a Houndoom who felt better about being playful when he'd evolved... and I've met Pokémon who changed a lot despite not evolving or not being able to evolve."
There was a crash in the middle distance.
Ivysaur sighed. "Speaking of which..."
"What was that?" Torkoal asked.
"Allow me to introduce you to my friend," Ivysaur said, looking upwards. Torkoal followed his gaze, and saw a hurtling orange-white shape approaching them.
A moment later, water blasted out of the shape, splashing over Ivysaur and barely missing Torkoal. The spray concentrated down on a point a little in front of the two quadrupeds, and a Squirtle came down to land in a fountain of water and mud.
"...Squirtle," Ivysaur finished.
"Hey!" Squirtle waved, walking over. "How's my favorite Ivysaur?"
"I was enjoying a quiet afternoon..." Ivysaur muttered. He indicated Torkoal next to him. "This is Torkoal – I mentioned him before? Ash just ran into him again."
"He did?" Squirtle asked, with a grin. "Great! It's been too long without a fellow Chelonian around here!"
He shook the forepaw of the confused Fire-type. "Welcome back to the team! I'm Squirtle – only the most badass Squirtle in a hundred nautical miles in any direction!"
"Does that include up?" Ivysaur asked, idly.
"If there's no Squirtles in space, then sure!" Squirtle agreed. "If there is, then I need to up my game!"
"It's... nice to meet you," Torkoal said. "Didn't you have a fire brigade?"
"They don't need my burning passion to extinguish any fires!" Squirtle waved off. "Speaking of which, what's your thing? How do you battle?"
"Well, I'm a Fire-type," Torkoal told him. "I mostly stand back and hit opponents with Heat Wave or other Fire-type attacks, and if I need to I charge in and use Body Slam."
Squirtle waited.
"...why are you not speaking?" the Fire-type asked.
"That's it? That's all you have?" Squirtle checked.
Torkoal kicked the grass. "...'s not that bad..."
"Well, it's not good enough!" Squirtle announced. "I'm taking you under my wing!"
"You don't have wings," Torkoal pointed out.
A Tauros stampeded past, followed by two more and a high-speed Primeape clutching a wooden sign.
"Come back with that, you bounders!" Raikou roared, pelting past after the four other Pokémon.
"...sorry, guys, I've got to handle this," Ivysaur sighed. "See you later."
He set off at a run.
"...was that a Legendary?" Torkoal asked.
"Man, you are behind the times," Squirtle muttered. "Anyway! It's time for the ultimate chelonian team-up that destroys everything before it!"
Whipping his pointed sunglasses out of his shell, Squirtle used them to punctuate his points. "The team-up of fire and water! Held contained within a shell, the combination expands to twelve hundred times the size with a force that nothing can stop!"
Torkoal blinked.
"What does that mean?"
"Steam!" Squirtle explained. "You're a Pokémon with a fire in your belly! Mix that with water and you get steam, a force that causes motion!"
"I suppose that's true," Torkoal said, slowly. "But I can't use Water moves."
"Of course you can!" Squirtle waved off. "You can pull your legs back into your shell, can't you? That's Withdraw!"
He pulled out a sheet with a list of moves. "And this says that Withdraw is a Water-type move!"
"...wait, is it?" Torkoal looked at the sheet. "Huh, so it is... wait, where'd you get this?"
"It's one of Prima's new guides!" Squirtle told him. "I keep it because it has a list of things people think are impossible for Squirtle to do. Anyway, that's the answer – use that and you'll go three times as fast easily!"
He frowned. "Actually, it might be quicker if we paint you red..."
Torkoal tilted his head, now completely lost.
"I say, what ho!"
Noctowl came fluttering down, wings flared, and alighted in front of the two testudines. "I heard that you were back, young chap. Capital!"
"Hi, Noctowl," Torkoal smiled, relieved. "I'm glad to see something hasn't changed around here..."
AN:
Sliggoo can't see. He can do other things, but the can't-see problem is one that does need to be addressed.
And then we have the Valley of Steel, with all kinds of steel-y things. Torkoal (who isn't steel), various battles, and some of the other kind of Mawile.
Oh, and Sceptile does something or oher.
After that, we have Torkoal meeting a couple of Pokémon.
