"Now dis is a nice afternoon," Meowth sighed, picking at his teeth with a claw. "You're one heck of a cook!"

"Thank you," Audino smiled, moving the pan a little lower towards Moltres' blazing tail. "I'm glad you like it."

"What's it called, exactly?" Cubone asked, sniffing her plate. "It smells... interesting..."

"Well, you can see the sausages and mash, but the sauce is honey and mustard with some flour to help it stick," Audino explained. "It's a recipe Blissey taught me, she says it's a nice one to share with friends."

"I can understand that," Cubone admitted, and took a bite.

Her eyes widened beneath the skull, and she coughed. "...wow, that's a bit stronger than I was expecting..."

"Still good, I hope?"

"Yes," Cubone assured her. "But I might need to take smaller bites... can I have some water?"

Meowth threw her a glass. It flipped three times through the air, leaving a glittering trail of water, and Cubone caught it in her free paw.

With a splitterplish, the water all poured right back into the glass again. A lemon slice landed in it, and two ice.

"Show-off," she said tartly.

"Hey, it's one a' da things I do," Meowth shrugged.

"A little more heat, please," Audino asked. "I'd rather get this batch finished before Gyarados eats one of the plates."

Gyarados looked down, somehow managing to look sheepish despite his enormous blue form.

"Of course," Moltres agreed, and her tail flared higher. "I hope you're doing mine with extra spice like I asked..."

"I got some Babiri special," Audino told her, and pulled the green fruit out of a small box by the chopping board with his free hand. Taking a knife, he began to chop it with small, efficient strokes.

"Man, but you're so nice it's kinda bizarre," Meowth said idly. "I mean, it ain't like we don't appreciate it, but... ya know."

"I don't, really," Audino told him. Finishing the Babiri, he flipped the sausages out of the pan and arrayed them on the plate. "There we go."

Gyarados surged forwards, and took the plate in his jaws before heading off to eat.

"That was one of the paper plates, right?" Cubone asked.

"Yes, I learned that lesson after the first time," Audino assured her. "Now, let's see... how many do you want, Moltres?"

"Three?" Moltres asked. "Are there that many left?"

"Easily." Audino laid the next set of sausages out, and they began to sizzle almost immediately – and the sizzling took on a new note as he added the Babiri. "By the way, you're basically immune to catching fire, right?"

"Pretty sure I am," the Fire-type Legendary agreed.

"Good," Audino smiled.

"Wait, wait, back up," Meowth said, sitting up. "Didn't ya just say dat you didn't know why we appreciated ya bein' so nice?"

"I wondered about that," Cubone admitted, swallowing another mouthful of food.

"No, it's not that I was denying," Audino said, shrugging. "I just don't know why my being nice is unusual. You're all quite nice people."

"...pardon?" Meowth asked, tilting his head. "Ya do know dat we're kinda criminals, right?"

"Oh, I did know that," Audino agreed. "Blissey told me about where Jessie went after she dropped out of nursing school, and of course I was assigned to you. But... well, you're still nice people."

The Normal-type poked at the sausages, turning them over. "Jessie's nice. James is nice. And you're all nice too."

"...don't say dat around another team, you'll ruin our rep," Meowth chuckled.

Audino smiled. "Your secret's safe with me."

After a pause, he resumed. "But... well, my point was that – you're good people. That's obvious. And if the law disagrees, that's a mistake by the law. It's not like it's always exactly right all the time."

"But what about the rest of Team Rocket?" Cubone asked, curious. "Surely you must know that some other members of our organization are engaged in some highly dubious activities."

Audino nodded. "Yes, I do. But I think you should judge a group by the best in it, not by the worst."

He gave the sausages a look, and put them back on the heat for a little longer. "Blissey taught me the rule was – first, do no harm. And as far as I can see, we're doing no harm and a lot of good."

Taking the spatula, Audino pushed Moltres' sausages onto a waiting plate, and gave the rest of the Babiri berry a quick dose of heat to flush out the juices before pouring it into the sauce and sprinkling it over. "There we go!"

"Thank you," Moltres said, letting her tail simmer down and turning to have her lunch. "It smells lovely."

Audino did a little bow, smiling.

"I mean," he resumed. "Look at our mission at the moment."

"Breakin' into tombs an' ancient temples ain't my idea of law-abidin'," Meowth said, then frowned. "On da other hand, it's fine when a guy with an archaeology degree does it, ain't it... hmmm, dat's a puzzler..."

"It may be illegal, but does that make it wrong?" Audino asked. "I don't think so. We're breaking into places with powerful artefacts, like the Caves of the Golems, and then... well, we're checking everything's still there, and then sealing the place up again."

"I see," Cubone agreed. "It's because we're making sure that the artefacts are not being misused."

"And there's people out there who would," Audino confirmed. "You already told me about several of them."

"Looked at like dat, we're doin' a public service!" Meowth grinned. "Hey, I feel more virtuous already, how 'bout that..."

There was a startled cough from behind Audino, and a spiralling tongue of flame hiccuped skywards.

"Told you," Audino chuckled.

"What was in that?" Moltres asked, coughing out gouts of smoke with her eyes wide. "That felt like eating a volcanic eruption!"

"Well, that was some specially bred Babiri," Audino said. "Have you heard of the Scoville Scale?"

"I know enough that that's not a good thing," Moltres admitted, and coughed again. "What was it?"

"About seven hundred thousand." Audino washed his hands carefully. "Too much?"

"Yeah..."

"I'll make sure to stick to something a little cooler in future," the Normal-type noted. "Need some healing?"

"...I think I might, actually..."

Audino nodded, and waved his fingers.

There was a flicker of green light around Moltres' body.

"What was that?" Cubone asked. "That didn't look like Heal Pulse..."

"Oh, I gave her my Ability," Audino explained. "It'll wear off once she's healthy."

"Now dat's kinda useful!" Meowth nodded. "Guess you'll-"

Audino's head turned, and he scowled. Picking up the pepper shaker, he threw it into the middle distance.

It connected with Arbok's nose with a thwack.

"Don't add that much salt, you'll ruin it!" he called sternly.

Arbok managed to mumble and hiss at the same time.


"There really aren't that many ways to travel through Hoenn, are there?" Max asked, looking up from the map as they reached the Mauville outskirts. "It's Mauville or Rustboro, really..."

"There's other routes, we just don't take them," Brock told him. "This map only shows really large scale stuff."

"That explains why we kept getting lost in a space the size of a full stop..." May muttered.

"Yeah, probably," Brock agreed. "Where's Ash?"

They looked around.

"I think he might just have run off to challenge the gym..." Max said, slowly.

"...he does know we did this one already, right?" May asked. "Okay, let's go, I guess he'll probably be there already..."


Ash stepped onto the moving platform. "Okay, let's go!"

The platform didn't move.

"Do you think you broke it?"Pikachu asked.

"I hope not, I've not broken anything in a gym yet," Ash said, worried. "I wouldn't want to lose my streak..."

A speaker crackled. "Is that you, Ash?"

"Yeah!" Ash confirmed. "Wattson?"

"The same," Wattson said. "But... well, you've already got your badge here."

"Yeah, but I wanted to see how Electrike was getting on," Ash explained. "Since, you know, we helped her meet you..."

"Ah, of course." Wattson went quiet for a moment, and the platform began to hum. "Okay, you're on your way... by the way, do you have Raikou with you?"

"No, I think he's busy," Ash shrugged. "Sorry."

"Last I heard he was visiting the Orange Islands," Pikachu volunteered. "Swellow had a chat with him last time she went back to Pallet."

"Oh, okay," Ash nodded. "I guess that makes sense... wonder what he's doing?"

"Well, it could be carrying messages like normal, or it could be..." Pikachu trailed off. "Does he like sunbathing?"

Ash chuckled. "I can just see him with a pair of sunglasses under a big beach umbrella..."

Pikachu nodded. "Yeah, and a sign next to him with 'Caution: Relaxing Legendary'."

Ash snorted.

The platform clicked as it reached the far end, and after a short pause the door hissed open.

An empty corridor confronted them.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a Raikou here?" Ash asked, slowly.

"Yeah, it was about here..." Pikachu agreed with a frown.

There was a mechanical roar-noise, and then a Manectric ran around the corridor shrugging a Raikou costume on. "Um... no, I was too late, wasn't I..."

Ash and Pikachu exchanged a glance.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

"Well..." the Manectric shook herself, sending bits of costume flying. "Wattson rebuilt the Raikou-bot so I could stand on its back and send controls, and we were just starting to install the controls inside instead when I evolved... and it sort of broke."

"Ouch," Ash winced. "Did it hurt?"

"Not really, no, but you should see the Raikou-bot," Manectric told him. "Anyway, we're building a mk.2, but it's only finished up to the middle of the torso, so we kind of had to improvise..."

"Wait, I thought that was a joke," Pikachu blinked. "He's actually building you powered armour?"

"Yeah?" Manectric asked, shrugging. "I certainly like the idea, and – well, Wattson always has to be tinkering with something."

She smiled with clear fondness. "He's kind of silly, but I'm glad you helped me to him."

"No problem!" Ash smiled.

The platform clicked and moved off again.

"I guess that's the others?"

"Probably," Manectric agreed.


"...so, this is what it looks like," Wattson explained, pointing. "That's where her feet go, and they use the charge in her fur to help actuate the servos – that way the whole leg moves like she does."

"That's pretty cool," Max agreed. "Is it working?"

"Not really, no," Wattson told him. "Well, in the last test we certainly got it moving! Stopping was more of a problem, though..."

He indicated two Magnemite hovering up near the ceiling. "They had to stop her."

"That's going to look very impressive when you're done," May said. "Are you going to make it seem like you've got a Raikou?"

"Hah! For as long as I can manage!" Wattson told her with a booming laugh. "It should be quite a jape!"

"Maybe you should tell Raikou about it, Ash," Brock suggested. "I mean, I'm pretty sure he'd love to help create that impression."

"He probably would," Ash agreed. "I wonder how that would look..."


While they talked, Arc pawed the ground anxiously. He looked up at Manectric, and frowned before looking down again.

"What is it?" Manectric asked, looking over.

"Uh – well – I was wondering," Arc began, then shook his head and started again. "What I mean is... I've been thinking a bit about evolving."

"Go on," Manectric invited.

The little Electrike sat back on his haunches, and sighed. "Well... I was wondering what it was like, really. I've asked a lot of Pokemon, but... I still feel nervous, and I wasn't able to ask any Electric-types."

"What about that Pikachu?" Manectric asked, a little confused.

"He's... well, his relationship with evolution is kind of strange," Arc said, trying to work out how to summarize it. "He said it hurt a lot when he half-evolved, though."

"...yes, I can see his relationship with evolution must be very strange," Manectric mused. "Anyway – since you've asked, here's what I think."

She took a breath.

"When I evolved – at the moment I evolved – I wasn't trying to evolve, and I wasn't trying not to evolve. It just happened, and I didn't notice it until it was almost over, and when it was done I felt..." Manectric shrugged. "Stronger. Lighter, because of that. Bigger, certainly... and also like I could feel more of everything."

"More?" Arc repeated.

"Well, more electricity," Manectric clarified. "I could feel currents in things I couldn't feel before... and I could also feel the Raikou-bot mk.1 shorting out as I overloaded it, which was a bit embarrassing."

Arc nodded. "Okay, thanks... I guess that does make me feel a bit better about it."

"It's nothing to be afraid of, really," Manectric assured him. "Besides, I think it looks good."

Arc examined her, sniffing and looking up and down, and did a complete circuit of her body.

"...it's a bit blue," he concluded.

"That's all you got from that?"

"Not all... hey, does that tail itch like that?"


"Hey... May?"

May looked up. "What is it, Max?"

"Well..." Max shrugged, and sat down to his sister. "I guess... I just wanted a talk."

"Well, talk," May invited. "What's bothering you?"

"Not much, really," Max said. He glanced across the clearing, smiling at the sight of Arc trying to encourage Cinder to play fetch, and then shook his head. "Well, more like... I kind of wonder if you're bothered by something."

May blinked. "Pardon?"

"I mean..." Max sat back, and waved. "I can see how much Ash enjoys it being able to get to know and train with new Pokemon... and he's kind of focused on gym battles anyway. And Brock's been studying Pokemon anatomy more, I've seen the books... and I know that a lot of what I enjoy about this time is being able to train Pokemon and do gym challenges when I couldn't last time."

He nodded to May. "So... I guess I wondered, because you've... more or less been doing the same stuff. Maybe you've got new routines, but..."

Max trailed off, and shrugged.

May considered that, looking troubled, and then sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I've been doing the Coordinator thing, but that's about all I've been doing... and I've been feeling a bit uncomfortable about it, but you've put it into words."

"So..." Max asked. "What now?"

May frowned. "I'm not sure, really... I mean, I kind of know about this Cyrus thing – we certainly know he's a problem, but I can't bring myself to think that he'll be a big one."

"He did kind of destroy the universe," Max pointed out, and May sighed.

"I know, Max!"

After a moment, she shook her head. "No, sorry, that was... it's because, well, look at Ash."

Max did, turning to see the time-travelling trainer.

"...okay, yeah," he admitted, watching as Keldeo earnestly talked Ash and Absol through another attempt at Sacred Sword. "He's got ridiculously strong Pokemon..."

"That's it exactly," May agreed. "I mean, I know Cyrus is a threat, intellectually, but... Ash has, is friends with, Pokemon who move comets around, and..."

Her hands dropped. "I just can't really see how I can compete. And... I don't really have a sense of progress on that front, either."

Max nodded, looking troubled. "I guess I can see what you mean... uh..."

He sighed. "I don't know. I could suggest you do the Gym Challenge, but both Ash and I are already doing it..."

Arc came trotting over, and Max began to stroke him absently.

"I know what you could do," Max said, after a moment.

May looked up.

"Speak to Drew about it," he explained. "Let him know you'd like to do some pure battling as well as Contests – I'm sure he'd love to help you out."

"I guess he might," May admitted, then frowned. "Wait... what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, he certainly seems to like you," Max teased.

"That's not... but..." May shook her head. "It's not like that!"

Max nodded, somehow conveying that he wasn't convinced in a simple up-down movement.


"The big breakthrough we made was... well, more twofold," Lucario said, sitting cross-legged. "The first one was fairly obvious – you really need to think about Sacred Sword, and what it means to you. It has to come from the heart."

"I guess that's why it's sacred," Ash nodded. "But yeah, thinking about it that was how Keldeo got both moves working – that is how you got Secret Sword working, right?"

"Right," Keldeo agreed. "It was when I realized that I... well, that I didn't have to be a hero to be valued by the people I wanted to impress all along."

Ash smiled. "Right! And Sacred Sword was..."

"...when I realized what it meant to be a hero," Keldeo confirmed. "That what matters isn't being cool or amazing... it's saving people. That's the valuable bit."

"For myself..." Lucario smiled slightly. "It was to work out what was most important to me. Ash... you have done so much for me, and I owe you a debt that can never be repaid. But it is my honour to stand beside you, whenever and wherever I can, and your companionship is more precious to me than anything."

Ash swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Lucario, I... thank you."

"It is only what you deserve." With that, Lucario pressed his paws together. "Now... here is what that realization won me."

The spike on the back of his right paw glowed with the silvery sheen of Metal Claw, then began to change – elongating into a slim metal blade.

It took perhaps four seconds to form, then froze – but still glowed blue with Aura, as Lucario layered his energy on it in alternating, glowing pulses.

After several more seconds, it began to change – then, with a shocking suddenness, elongated out into what was recognizably a sword-blade like Keldeo's own.

"Sacred Sword," Lucario explained, sweeping it through the air for a moment. It hummed and sang, then flickered off as Lucario stopped sustaining it.

"That's... wow," Ash managed. "It felt – and looked... special."

"It should," Sceptile agreed.

"What's yours?" Ash asked. "Your realization, I mean..."

"I'm afraid it's... private," Sceptile said, shaking his head. "Sorry, but... I don't feel comfortable talking about it."

"Right," Ash said, a little disappointed. "I guess it's your choice..."

"So that's the most important thing?" Absol asked, speaking up for the first time. "Coming to terms with... well, with who we are?"

"Not quite," Keldeo hedged, waving a hoof. "It's quite personal, but it just has to be something about you. Something important, but not what defines you – people and Pokemon aren't just defined by one thing."

"Right," Ash agreed. "I know what you mean, I guess... but I'm not sure what that could be. I mean..."

He shrugged helplessly.

"You don't have to just guess," Keldeo said. "Since three of us have done it, we've noticed what's kind of similar – it helps to meditate a bit. You've both been learning how the energy form works, so... try to lose yourself in it, I guess. Try to see what makes it react, and you can home in on something."

"That's how I did it," Sceptile volunteered.

"Right," Absol nodded. She closed her eyes, laying her head on her paws, and took a deep breath.

Aura – what little she'd gotten working so far – swirled around her paws for a moment, then traced up to her horn. It flashed around it in a pale blue glow, then snuffed out almost completely.

"Should it-"

"That's about right," Lucario assured her. "Now, keep that up, but start meditating."

"I'm not even sure where to start," Ash sighed, sitting cross-legged and summoning Aura with practiced ease to his hands. "Sceptile said it kind of has to focus around something that's already the right shape, but I don't have any moves like that..."

He considered, then brightened. "Oh, right – when I did it in Lugia's mind, and in my own, it was the staff that did it – I'll try that."

Unlimbering it, he let his clear blue Aura flow down the staff, coating it in azure light, then started to try what Keldeo had described.

"How do I know if I'm getting it?" he asked.

"It kind of just... suddenly makes sense," Keldeo said.

"Well, when you're doing it this way, it's a bit more gradual," Sceptile amended. "But it is just... it feels right."


Absol breathed evenly, concentrating on her self.

Born at a particularly low risk time, just like any other Absol. Raised by a caring family, trained as a chance-dancer – a skill for which she had a particular talent – and accomplished in journeying alone. Relying on no-one but herself.

And, now, a captured Pokemon, working with a trainer whose avowed aim was to save the world.

Put like that, things had gone rather strange when she'd run to save Jirachi a month or so ago.

So. She was... a proud Absol, and with a trainer who she respected.

Nothing.

Perhaps she was going about this the wrong way... taking a deeper breath, Absol concentrated instead on the precise feeling of her horn as it tingled with energy.

It is about who I am.

Frowning over the response, she tried something else.

It is about how I interact with others.

Nothing again – then, as she wondered what else there was, a slight tingle.

Trying to remain calm, collected and unexcited, Absol followed up on that slight tingle. She wondered whether it was specific to her abilities, and compared that to the question she'd asked earlier.

Still nothing.

Perhaps she should stop-

-and catastrophe rolled over her. A warning and premonition of enormous risk, possible defeat and destruction and the failure of-

Absol flinched, shaking off the feeling of impending doom.

"Are you okay?" Keldeo asked, and she opened her eyes.

"I'm fine," she assured him, shaking her head. "Sorry, just... worried by something. A sensation of doom..."

Keldeo nodded seriously. "Right," he said. "Still there?"

Absol considered the answer to that question.

No, it wasn't... or, it had receded. From a dire risk to a distant chance – still a danger, still the chance of failure, but nothing like it had been.

Absol took a deep breath, and resolved to keep trying on Sacred Sword until she had it mastered.

As she did, the sensation faded further, and she felt a faint satisfaction. At least I know I am on the right path.


"Ash!" Brock called. "Don't forget to get some sleep!"

Ash glanced up, noticing how dark it was. "Oh – sorry, I'll get to bed! Thanks for the reminder, Brock!"

"You're welcome!"

"Were you making any progress, Ash?" Lucario asked.

"I don't... well, I don't think so," Ash said. "Maybe it's just that this isn't a mindscape... I guess the staff can't change shape like that in reality. Was the Aura right, at least?"

"Not really," Lucario said. "Sorry... I'd hoped you were making progress on the thought part of it, at least."

Ash shook his head. "No, nothing."

Lucario put his right paw on Ash's shoulder. "You will work it out, Ash. I believe in you."

"Thanks," Ash smiled, touching the paw.

"What about you, Absol?" Keldeo asked. "Anything?"

"Some," Absol said, shrugging her shoulders and getting to her feet. "I'm not very far along the way yet, though."


The next day, in Verdanturf, May left the stage to cheers.

"That worked pretty well," she said, as Beautifly settled on her arm.

Indeed, Ethan confirmed. Let us hope that it achieves a sufficient score to go through.

May smiled, then looked out over the field to see who was next.

"Oh, hey, it's Drew!" she said, interested. "I wonder who he's going to use – I don't think I've seen him do a doubles run yet..."


"Roselia!" Drew announced, sending out his main Pokemon. "Time to bloom!"

Roselia nodded, doing a twirl, and then jumped into a forward roll.

She came up and twirled again, petals glowing faintly, and swept her arms around in a back-forth pattern outlined in traceries of blue and red. She brought her flowers together, and the glow brightened.

Again, and the glow began to light the room, throwing purple light onto the faces of the watching spectators as she twirled and pirouetted.

Drew watched, then gestured. "Okay, Petal Dance!"

Roselia stepped backwards, the glow intensifying, and a plume of petals spiralled upwards before beginning to collapse back again in a dense cloud.

"Dazzling Gleam!" her trainer called, before the petals really reached the ground, and Roselia unleashed the Fairy-type attack.

The pulse of bright pink light flash-blinded the audience for a fraction of a second, and when it faded Leafeon was leaping gracefully down from the epicentre of a spherical burst of pink-red-blue petals.

As the other Grass-type landed, Roselia swept her arms out and produced a cloud of Stun Spore. Spreading out with impressive speed, the amber powder got as far as the edges of the arena before stopping, and lent a golden tinge to the two Pokemon all but completely ignoring it.

Roselia's petals began to glow again, faster this time, and Leafeon ran a complete circle around her at a lope before skidding around to face her and opening a mouth glowing with greenish-white light.

Their Solarbeams hit at the midpoint of a line between them, sending out a sparkle of light which made the Stun Spore glitter like stars.


"...that's my idea," May muttered.

Beautifly fluttered her wings.

"Yeah, I know, it's not like I was the first to try it..."


"Look out!" May called. "Dodge left!"

Beautifly dodged, and the wham of a pair of precisely aimed Seed Bombs pushed her further left like a pillow of sweet-smelling air.

"What should I-" she began, then winced as a Dazzling Gleam flashed out and caught her in the side. "Ow..."

"Switch!" Drew ordered, and both his Pokemon smoothly changed target. Roselia spun on the tips of her toes, firing a shower of leaves at Ethan's approaching form, and Leafeon ran alongside the Razor Leaf before sweeping her tail across in a Leaf Blade as a passing attack.

Ethan formed a shield out of hard-light to block the Grass-type attacks, then let out a blatt noise as Leafeon fired a blazing ball of green light through his Reflect shield and into his body. Ow.

"Excellent teamwork!" one of the judges noted. "Using a combination attack to decoy out the opponent!"

"Switch!" Drew called almost on the heel of the judge's approval, and both Grass-types switched back to keeping Beautifly busy as she swooped in.

Her Air Cutter came off successfully, slicing through some of the shower of leaves, but the follow-up Dazzling Gleam hit her hard enough to make it something of a wash.

"And May Maple's having trouble keeping things going," the local Joy said. "She's going to have to come up with something to turn this around..."

"Around," May said, then brightened. "Oh, of course!"

She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Ethan, Reflect and Light Screen!"

Establishing, Ethan reported, and the two shields together formed a mirror-bright layer.

"Now, Beautifly – down a bit, left and–!"

"Scatter!" Drew ordered, realizing what she meant-

"–Signal Beam at Ethan!" May finished.

The shimmering blaze of light went well to the right of Roselia and Leafeon, homing in unerringly on May's Porygon. It hit and blazed off in a flash of reflected light... and the main beam bounced squarely onto Leafeon.

Leafeon yelped, producing a cloud of Magical Leaves in reflex, and dodged for cover.

"Keep firing!" May said. "Ethan, turn the shield to reflect it!"

Moving his wall of reflective force in precise increments, Ethan shone the Signal Beam back and forth across Leafeon repeatedly – now making it go ahead so she ran into it, now jerking it back as she slowed.

After several seconds, Roselia reached the Porygon and hit him with a Sludge Bomb, covering the shield in gunk which rendered it non-reflective, and followed up with a Poison Jab – but by the time she did, Leafeon was in trouble.

"Dive down and use U-turn!" May ordered, and Beautifly ended her stream of Bug-type energy in favour of a down-and-up dive that hit Leafeon in the side.

The Eeveelution wobbled, took three steps, and collapsed in a faceplant.

"And May Maple turns it around at the last moment!" one of the commentators said. "What an innovative use of Reflect to... er, reflect!"

May realized she'd been holding her breath, and let it out in an explosive rush.

"Nice work," Drew said, recalling his Grass-types. "I guess I don't have to feel bad about being beaten by you, May."

May smiled. "Thanks!"


"Hey!" Ivysaur called.

Very little notice was taken of him.

"Hey, guys!" he repeated, trying to make himself heard over the din.

The sound of stampeding Tauros, several Pokemon talking loudly, and Houndoom showing off his Flame Burst drowned him out.

"Right, spud this," he muttered, and took a deep breath.

The ground beneath him began to creak and crack, and then an enormous pillar of wood rose out of the ground and carried him several feet into the air.

"Quiet!" Ivysaur bellowed, and this time he got it.

"Right," he went on, after a few seconds. "Who here feels a little bit bored?"

Hands, arms, paws and wings went up. So did whatever Muk had.

"That's about what I thought," he agreed. "But we need to do this in an organized manner. We can't just wreck the place, poor Professor Oak is putting up with a lot."

There was a general – though reluctant – muttering of agreement.

"So, here's what I suggest," Ivysaur went on. "A league cup."

"A what?" Totodile asked, tilting his head.

"Basically, we take turns battling one another, until everyone's had a go. We keep track of who wins and who loses, and the one who won the most battles at the end is the winner."

"How do we work out who goes when?"

"Good question," Ivysaur nodded to Swellow. "I'm going to ask Damos if he'd be willing to generate us a match list."

"Sounds good," Swellow agreed. "I'm impatient already, let's get this done!"


Somewhere mostly outside time and space, Arceus considered things.

The battle was going pretty well, really. It was a shame about Ransei – he'd put quite a lot of work into the design – but at least it reassured him that his sons were working together well.

A space-portal opened in front of him, the sky tearing open with a sound like all the cloth in the universe tearing, and Roar of Time came through the hole.

Arceus blasted the attack away with an instant meteor swarm, dropped three hundred metres, and hit Giratina from below as the Ghost-type materialized behind his former position for a Shadow Force.

You're getting better, he informed them, and sent a meteor back through the portal as it closed.

Below, there was a large explosion.

Ah, that's where you are...

Arceus flexed his will, and teleported. He appeared in a flash of light, and added to the crater field by pounding Palkia and Dialga into the bedrock.

"Ow," Dialga muttered.

I'm just doing this so you get valuable experience, Arceus informed them. It's something you'll need before going out into the world... at least, if the last few years before Cyrus broke everything are a baseline to go by...

"Why does it have to hurt so much?" Palkia asked.

Giratina crashed next to them, and his orb went clattering across the battlefield. He reverted to Altered Forme in a flare of energy, and dragged himself painfully to his feet.

The one question I have is where Sir Aaron is, Arceus admitted. Which, frankly, is a bit suspicious. I'm only God, I should be able to at least tell where he is if I try...

Something flickered on Arceus' senses. He looked outwards, saw what was coming in, and had to nod. Okay, fair enough, this is a good one.

Then he was buried in swords.


"It worked!" Dialga said, floating down to land on the blasted ground with Sir Aaron standing on his back.

Dialga's past self muttered something, and vanished in a flash of chronal energy – taking Palkia with him.

A moment later, Palkia appeared out of a space portal. "Nice one, Dialga, I didn't think it would actually get Dad..."

"I don't think many Pokemon are ready to be hit with the same Sacred Sword four hundred times," Sir Aaron agreed, and caught the white and black blades as they flew back out of the final portal. "I'm trying not to think about the maths of it, though, given they were being attracted to one another's past-time clones and future ones..."

Dialga shrugged. "It worked, so I don't question it."

Nice one, Arceus announced, rising back out of the hole he'd been in. I think that counts as a win for you. What's the score again?

"One hundred and eight to twelve," Sir Aaron supplied. "Incidentally, I don't think we're ever going to catch up..."

You're probably right, Arceus admitted. I'm just too fond of Judgement.

Aaron looked around at what was – he assumed – a small section of the floor of a crater so big the edges were below the horizon. "I've noticed. So, what's the plan now?"

Ah, the plan, Arceus nodded. Well, I've been thinking about this, and suffice to say – I've come up with a new one.

The hero was about to ask what it was, but then reality inverted itself.


Aaron came to groggy consciousness, feeling grass against his cheek and all down his side. Blinking blearily, he saw trees – a forest – from a side view.

He was, it seemed, lying on the grassy forest floor.

Wait... he thought, yawning. I can... am I not wearing any clothes?

The ground trembled, and Sir Aaron sprung to his feet – finding it a little awkward, as his balance seemed off.

Then he noticed the tail.

Then he noticed the fine blue fur on his forearms.

"...why am I a Riolu?" he asked, looking up at clear blue sky overhead.

Honestly, it fit better than any of the other options, Arceus replied.

"Hi," said a deep, rumbling voice.

Aaron spun, overdoing it slightly as he got used to his tail and digitigrade feet, and saw the enormous form of Dialga towering over him.

Palkia peered out from behind Dialga's left side, waving a clawed forearm, and Giratina's head poked over the top of both of them.

"You guys can speak here?" Aaron asked. "I mean, speak normally... speak without the terrible accent... you know what I mean."

"No?" Palkia replied, uncertainly. "We're speaking normally. You're the one who stopped speaking human."

Look, Pokemon speak their own language and it's natural to them, Arceus explained defensively. Since it's a world with no humans, only Pokemon, you logically have to be Pokemon. If you're going to get all hung up on the mechanics of it all...

"No, this is okay," Sir Aaron said, flexing his tail experimentally. "I'm starting to get the hang of this... right, what's the plan here?"

Well, you're a new Rescue Team, Arceus told him – and, by the slightly surprised looks on their faces, the Creation Trio as well. This might be a bit of a spoiler, but your first mission is to rescue a Caterpie.

"Can't we just rip a hole in spacetime and save the Bug-type inside thirty seconds?" Palkia asked.

Sorry, outright snapping Minkowski space in half is disallowed, Arceus informed them. Intangibility's okay, though.

Giratina stuck his tongue out at the others, who grumbled.

"No offence, Arceus," Aaron began, frowning. "But saving a Caterpie doesn't sound like... well, much of a test of our skills."

You haven't seen how much I've overdone the other Pokemon, Arceus noted. Put it this way, you remember how we saw Ash's Pikachu can blast Ground-types?

All four nodded.

He wouldn't stand out here. They can all do that.

"...did we offend you?" Giratina asked, glancing up.

I'm just a concerned father wanting his sons to be able to take anything that threatens them, and snap it in half, Arceus told them virtuously. Now, here comes the quest...

A Butterfree fluttered over to them. "Somebody! Please, help me – my poor baby fell into a cavern! When I went to get him, Pokemon attacked me!"

"We'll sort it out," Sir Aaron told her. "You can count on us. Guys?"

"Yeah!" Palkia agreed.

Dialga nodded, letting out a bass rumble rather than words.

"It'll be fun, anyway," Giratina concurred.

The Butterfree didn't bat an eye at three Legendaries agreeing to help her son. "Wonderful! Thank you so much!"


"Fell down a hole?" Aaron asked, glancing upwards as they walked back along the path Butterfree had come down.

...okay, so it's an entry-level quest...


AN:


So, this is Audino.

Yes, he's male. I wanted to do that because it's not quite what you'd expect offhand.

Then there's some of that Electrike (Manectric) getting on well with Wattson, and a great deal of introspection of various different types.

Then a contest, I guess.

And, finally, two different kinds of high powered training.

Yes, that's PMD. Yes, all four of them are in the team.