This is the second of two chapters today.


Ash considered for a moment, then decided on his next choice. "Okay, Goodra, I choose you! Let's see how much stronger you've got!"

Goodra materialized, and so did Mawile – having decided to watch. "He'll be great!"

"I'll certainly do my best," Goodra agreed. "Um… one question, though. Do I have to start up here?"

"Oh, yeah, good point," Ash winced, remembering. "Yeah, just a moment."

He returned Goodra, confusing both Winona and her Tropius, then sent him out again on the still-wet floor of the arena.

"I assume there was a reason for that," Winona said eventually. "Okay – are you ready?"

Goodra nodded, and Ash did too. "Sure are!"

"Right," Winona said, and waved her Grass-type into the air. "Tropius – strafing run!"

"Strafing run?" Max repeated, leaning over the balcony. "What does that mean?"


Goodra squinted into the sunlight, trying to spot Tropius – then a flash of violet-blue light alerted him to an incoming attack, and he jumped out of the way just before an attack blasted into the ground next to him.

"What was that?" he asked, puzzled, as another one hit the ground a little further from him.

Tropius did a wide, banking turn – well out over the rooftops of Fortree – then turned back towards Goodra, diving slightly and craning his neck to reach a bunch of berries just by his cheek.

Swinging one into his mouth, he held it for a moment and then fired down a spike of sparkling pink energy.

Goodra recognized it as a Fairy-type attack, and dove for the ground – measuring his length in the wet arena floor, but avoiding being hit.

Scrambling back to his feet, he scowled and fired a Dragon Pulse – but the Grass/Flying Type was too high for him to easily hit it. The attack did connect for a moment, but it was a glancing blow and barely injured his target.

Tropius did a flip, chewing another berry, and fired down a splash of ice which hit Goodra on one antenna.

Reaching up and brushing the ice off with a wince, Goodra pointed. "How's that fair? I thought you couldn't have that many berries!"


"He's got a point – what's going on?" Ash asked, watching as Tropius came in for another strafing run. "How come he's using Natural Gift so much?"

"Tropius has Harvest," Winona informed him. "It's an excellent combination – he loves all kinds of berries, so he's got a supply which makes him as versatile as he pleases."

"I guess that's pretty cool," Ash admitted, then frowned. "Goodra – Rain Dance! Let's at least make it a bit harder for him!"

Goodra's antennae glowed, and rain clouds began to gather around the battlefield. There was a crack of thunder, and it began to rain – heavier and heavier until the rain hazing the air made it hard to see Tropius at the end of his run.

Stand by, ready. Set up: Umbrella mode.

A force plane appeared above Ash and Max, sending water sluicing off and making sure they didn't get wetter than they already were.

"Thanks, Dexter," Ash said. "Okay, Goodra – keep alert, and try to hit Tropius as he goes over! He's got to stay low to see you, so use it!"


"Got it!" Goodra called back, then set his stance with feet planted in the thin layer of water.

He looked around for a moment, trying to make sure he could see where Tropius was coming from, then spotted a flicker of movement and turned to face it.

Light built in his mouth as he readied a Dragon Pulse, then he fired it out just as Tropius used a Jaboca Berry for his Natural Gift.

The two powerful Dragon-type attacks hit one another in mid-air and detonated in a burst of yellow-tinged violet flame, and Tropius was forced to pull up to avoid going into the smoke cloud.

"All right, keep it up!" Ash called down.

"And can you make it rain harder?" Mawile added.

"Sure!" Goodra said, to both of them, and his horns glowed brighter. The rain intensified further, until it was a monsoon downpour covering most of Fortree.


"I'm kind of glad there's no Mega Evolutions in this battle," Steven muttered, as he sat next to May and Brock in a shelter formed by Steelix' tail. "It's nearly impossible to see anything!"


"Use a Kee this time!" Winona called to her Tropius, as it swept past her balcony. "Don't let him block the attack again!"

Tropius waggled his wings, showing he'd heard, and then vanished into the pounding rain again.

She had to admit, this was an interesting battle. The weather was… well, appalling… but you couldn't always have clear skies when battling in the sky, so maybe it was a positive thing.


"Goodra! Face away from our stand, okay?" Mawile asked. "And face down a bit – you know, like we trained!"

Goodra's reply drifted up to them through the rain.

"Ash?" Mawile added. "Can you use your… Aura sight thing… to tell when the Tropius is about to attack Goodra?"

"Sure can," Ash agreed. "And – oh, I see. I like it!"

"Great!" Mawile beamed. "Is it a good plan?"

"It's the kind of plan I'd come up with-"

Max dove to the floor.

"Max?" Ash asked, puzzled. "Why did you just do that?"

"Reflex," Max muttered. "What kind of plan is it you're talking about, then?"

"It's to – Goodra, now!" Ash called out, interrupting himself.


Goodra's antennae twitched, and he looked down – then opened fire with an almighty Dragon Pulse.

The back-blast, amplified by the ground, sent him blasting skywards – wobbling a little, but controllable enough that he could head more-or-less straight back and up. His arc carried him above Tropius' Fairy-typed Natural Gift, letting him avoid it entirely.

Tropius had just enough time to realize he had a problem – specifically, that Goodra may not have been Flying-type, but he was still manifestly able to get airborne.

Then – twisting in mid-air as he shut off his Dragon Pulse – Goodra kicked Tropius in the side, sending him staggering through the air before he recovered.

Goodra hit the ground with a long splaaaash, braking in big rooster-tails of water, and frowned as he looked skywards – having the feeling that wasn't going to be the only attack.


"Tropius, are you okay?" Winona called, after the flashes of light from within the rainstorm.

Her Grass-type flew out of the rain a moment later, water dripping from his leafy feathers and moving a lot slower – but he didn't seem like he was about to crash, so he could keep fighting.

"Good – but stay high from now on," she instructed. "Carpet bombing!"

The Tropius soared higher, climbing into the rain, and then bright blue flashes of Ice-typed Natural Gift flashed down.

A moment later, they were followed by the purple-yellow fury of Dragon-typed Natural Gift, and pink Fairy-type attacks completed the set.

Light began to shine through the rain, so Tropius directed more attacks at it, and Goodra shouted in pain from a particularly telling attack.

Then there was a sudden blaze of energy.


Goodra unleashed energy.

The fury of his Bide still had to be aimed – but Tropius was moving a lot slower after being kicked in the side, and Bide's energy spread a bit as it got higher, so the net result was that Tropius was hit by the equivalent of at least three type-advantage attacks at once.


"...I have no idea if that ended the fight," Winona admitted, after several seconds. "Has it?"

"Well, I guess Tropius is still flying," Ash said, frowning. "But he's kind of low..."

There was a splash.

"Wait, no, he crashed," Ash corrected himself.

"I suppose that means that Tropius has been defeated, then," Winona sighed. "Now… can you get it to stop raining this heavily? I can't even see your box, let alone the ground..."


"You did great!" Mawile assured Goodra, giving his leg a hug. "That was so cool – see, you are a flying dragon!"

"I guess I am," Goodra agreed with a tired smile. "And thank you for helping me with that, Mawile."

"Thanks!"


The rain died down, becoming a shower and then a few drops before stopping altogether.

"Thanks, Meganium," Ash said, with a smile. "And good work making sure there were still clouds."

"That's okay," Meganium replied, shaking her head and letting pollen glisten in the light for a moment.

Ash returned her, then checked below his elevated perch to make sure that Mawile and Goodra were done with their conversation.

Recalling them both, he promptly sent out Mawile again and knelt down. "Ready for this?"

"Sure am!" Mawile agreed. "I'm really looking forward to this!"

Ash tied on the borrowed Mawilite, making sure it was tight, then stood again. "Okay, here goes!"

He picked up the staff from where it had been set aside, wiped off some of the water, and held it in both hands.

"Right!" Mawile agreed, as the Mawilite began to shine.


"Okay, here we go," Steven said, leaning forwards a bit. "It'll be interesting to see how she fights – I know my own Mawile prefers to fight a bit defensively even in Mega form, but I suspect this Mawile will be different."

"It's interesting, isn't it?" Brock agreed. "How even though Mega Evolution enhances something about a Pokémon, it doesn't make all Pokémon of that species the same."

"Oh, very much so," Steven confirmed. "Father and I don't often get the chance to compare two of the same Mega-Evolution, especially not side by side..."

"I wonder if I can get a Blazikenite," May said, frowning. "And what my Blaziken will do with it – I don't think he could be much more different from that one Ash's Charizard fought."

"I'll keep an eye out," Steven assured her. "I-"

"What's that?" Brock interrupted, pointing at the Pokémon Winona had just sent out.

May held up Ethan. "Any idea?"

That is a Talonflame, Ethan told her promptly. A Fire and Flying type Pokémon, known for speed and wing power.

"That… might be a good choice against Mawile," Steven frowned. "This could be interesting."


"Okay, Mawile!" Ash said. "Three, two, one-"

"Liftoff!" Mega Mawile announced, and jumped off the tower. Twin blasts of flame speared from her jaws, holding her steady and then sending her rocketing up and into the sky.

"How many Pokémon do you have that can fly when they're not supposed to?" Winona asked, somewhat exasperated. "It's only supposed to be Flying-types and Pokémon with Levitate that can do that..."

"I could have used Flying-types," Ash protested. "But… I thought this was better, because most of them have only just got this working."

"Fine," the Flying-type gym leader said, and waved her arm. "Talonflame – up you go!"

Talonflame's wings thrashed the air, and she ascended into the sky at considerable speed. Little gyres of flame followed her, flicking off her wings, and she began to gain on the jet-packing Mega Mawile.


"This is so much fun!" Mega Mawile said as she blasted up into the air.

She did a roll, weaving a little uncomfortably as she did so, and then levelled out several hundred metres up.

A moment later, Talonflame blew past at speed, slapping her with an Acrobatics as she did so.

"Ow!" Mega Mawile said, more from shock than anything, and rolled onto her back so she could see her opponent.

A side effect of this was that her jets were pointing slightly up, and she hurriedly tried to stabilize herself before she ended up jetting straight towards the ground. This was harder than it sounded, because Talonflame threw in a whiplash-fast blast of wind to complicate her problem, and she levelled out at less than half her previous altitude before climbing fast once more.

Her very lack of practice ended up helping her out, though – Talonflame dove at her, wings folded, but her attempt at an Acrobatics attack was fouled by Mega Mawile's unpredictable trajectory and she had to abort.

Grimacing against the G-force, Mega Mawile thought about what she should do to actually battle like this.

She couldn't use Thunder Fang or Ice Fang on Talonflame, because her jaws were too busy doing the jet-pack thing with Flamethrower. So she'd have to work out something else.

Talonflame came slashing in again, blowing a stream of Embers and then amplifying them with a rush of wind to slap a rolling stream of fire at Mega Mawile's rocketing form.

The attack hit with a rush of sparks and a cloud of smoke, and Mega Mawile emerged from it a couple of seconds later with more smoke streaming from her side.

"Ow, that's hot!" she complained, wincing, and patted at a smouldering ember until it went out. "Uh… wait, I know!"

She glanced down at her hands, then around to spot Talonflame again – and yelped, as she saw the incoming Scorching Pokémon about twenty feet below her with wind cascading off the leading edges of her wings.

The Brave Bird attack hit, knocking her skywards much harder than her own Flamethrowers were propelling her, and the jet-pack effect stuttered before cutting out.


"Is she okay?" Max asked, squinting.

"I don't know – I can't see!" Ash replied. "Dexter, can you show us?"

Dexter duly set up again, and formed lenses out of forcefields and air.

Looking through them, Ash squinted. "I think – yeah, there! She's still Mega Evolved, she must be okay!"

She is not using her Flamethrower jets, Dexter noted. I wonder why?

"Is it me," Pikachu said, looking closer. "Or is she trying to punch herself in the jaws?"

Ash looked for a bit longer, trying to focus on the tumbling Steel-type.

"She seems to be… oh, yeah, she'll be fine," Ash decided.

"You seem pretty confident," Max said, a little anxiously. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah!" Ash said, and Pikachu nodded his agreement. "I know just what she's doing!"


"Okay!" Mega Mawile said, having tested that her new idea was working to her own satisfaction. "Here goes!"

She twisted until she pointed down, managing to face groundwards just as she went past the circling shape of Talonflame, and clenched her fists before reactivating both Flamethrowers.

The start was a bit uneven, knocking her to one side, but then she clenched her teeth and pulled up in a long arc from straight-down to straight-up.

Mega Mawile took a relieved breath, then pushed her flamethrower jets harder – climbing towards Talonflame.

The Fire-type spotted her coming, and soared higher before sweeping her great wings and accelerating away.

"Hey, come back!" Mega Mawile asked. "I'm not that fast!"

Talonflame continued to gain distance, then swept around in a tight turn and accelerated again.

"Acrobatics!" Winona called, her voice faint but audible, and Talonflame dipped down and then banked around to the side – weaving all over the place, then slashing in with shocking suddenness for Mega Mawile.

Who promptly Thunderpunched her in the breast.


The sudden blast of electrical energy flashed out in a fraction of a second, forming a sphere in the sky and then fading away.

Two seconds later, the sound came – a boom which carried some sense of how forceful the impact had been. And, as the echoes faded, Talonflame came tumbling out of the sky with a bright orange flame following her.

"What-" Winona began, then shook her head. "Okay, clearly that was an electric attack. But it was just one attack! How did that manage to..."

She trailed off, and took one of her Pokéballs. Aiming carefully, she Returned Talonflame. "I suppose I should avoid underestimating any of your Pokémon."

"Yeah!" Ash agreed, then reached up and caught Mega Mawile as she cut her flamethrowers and dropped the last dozen feet or so. "How do you feel?"

"Kinda tired and dizzy," Mega Mawile admitted. "But that was clever, right? I thought – hey, I'm Steel-type, and Steel conducts electricity, so I should be able to Thunderpunch if I can Thunder Fang!"

"Makes sense to me," Ash agreed, as she yawned and transitioned back down to Mawile. "Get some sleep, okay?"

"But I wanna watch the rest of the fights," Mawile yawned.


"So," Brock said. "How similar was that to how your Mega Mawile fights?"

"It's hard to believe they're the same Pokémon," Steven said with a wry chuckle.


"That was one of the more… unorthodox… forms of flight," Winona said, as Ash readied his final Pokéball. "But I hope your next Pokémon is a little more conventional."

"Yeah, she doesn't fly that way," Ash confirmed. "It's not quite free flight at all, actually – more gliding..."

"I suppose I'll have to content myself with it," Winona sighed. "Okay. Now, this one's a Mega-Evolving Pokémon, and I had to borrow the stone."

"Oh, cool – a Mega Pidgeot?" Ash asked.

"No – I wasn't aware they could," Winona said, interested.

"Yeah, mine's done it a couple of times," Ash told her, offhand. "It was usually inside someone's mind, though… anyway..."

Winona blinked, then shook her head. "I'll just assume that made sense, and I'll be on the lookout for a Pidgeotite. No, this is one that Steven loaned out to me – he's interested to see what happens."

"He's got a lot of Mega Stones, hasn't he," Max said, frowning. "I wonder if he knows what that one we picked up is..."

"Good point," Ash agreed. "Maybe we should ask – anyway!"

He shifted his staff again, and sent out Absol onto the platform next to them.

"Is that an Absol?" Winona asked. "I've never actually seen one this close before."

Absol waved, smiling a little awkwardly, then adjusted her Mega Stone holder.

"Ready?" Ash asked.

Absol nodded, and took a deep breath.

Max stepped carefully away to the other side of the balcony, just in case.

Then there was a bright flare of silver-orange-gold light from Ash's staff, a matching flash of light from the Absolite, and then with a pulse of rainbow Infinity Energy Mega Absol stood revealed.

"That is… beautiful," Winona breathed. "Are those wings – is Mega Absol a Flying-type?"

"We don't know if she is," Ash said, with a shrug. "It's kind of hard to tell."

"I suppose it must be," Winona admitted, as Mega Absol shook herself and her fur rippled in waves down her body. "Well, I suppose I'd better send mine out – okay, Aerodactyl!"

Aerodactyl flashed into being, let out a high-pitched caw, and then landed on the lip of the box next to Winona's perch.

Ash winced slightly.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"Oh, just… first time I met an Aerodactyl it tried to carry me off..." Ash explained.

"That's not going to have even a hope of happening this time!" Pikachu reminded him, cheeks sparking.

"I don't think it's likely," Ash replied. "I just can't really help remembering."

With a bright flash of orange light, mirroring the one from Absol moments earlier, Aerodactyl Mega Evolved to match her.

The result was… interesting.

If there was one word that should be used to describe Mega Aerodactyl, it was spikes. Studded with rocky spikes on his belly, tail, back, wings and even chin, Mega Aerodactyl was almost at the point of wearing a suit of armour made entirely out of chunks of hard, lustrous rock.

It looked almost as though it had been starting to fossilize, in fact.

"That's pretty… rocky," Max said, trying to summarize the look.

"Yes, it is," Winona agreed. "I'm not sure whether it would make it easier or harder to use him for riding… but that's not what we're doing here, is it?"

"No, we're not!" Ash agreed. "Okay, Mega Absol, let's do this!"

Mega Absol nodded her agreement, horns flashing, and bunched up – furry wings curling a little as her muscles rippled beneath them.

"Begin!" Winona ordered, and Mega Aerodactyl took flight.

As he did, Mega Absol planted her clawed forepaws on the edge of the box, then hurled herself out with a full-footed thrust from all four limbs.

Her wing-like fur flared, and air began to stream around and through it to slow her fall.

"Razor Wind!" she called, her opening attack building on her main horn and then flicking off at Mega Aerodactyl.

The other Mega dodged adroitly to the side, gaining height as he did so, and then pulled around and began to stoop towards her.

Mega Absol threw him off by pulling in her wings, diving faster, and then reached the ground and began to spring. As she did, her horn and tail both began to glow with bright blue light.

"That looks interesting," Winona said, and then the first Sacred Sword attack flashed skywards and Mega Aerodactyl took a glancing blow. "Whoa!"


Shaking his head in irritation, Mega Aerodactyl shed altitude and gained speed. His wings flashed, the black stones adorning them flashing, and he extended his claws to strike at Mega Absol.

The Dark-type turned at bay, letting him approach as a blue-flame Sacred Sword burned on her horn, and then she jumped skywards just as Mega Aerodactyl came in.

She'd left it so late that the Rock-type had no time at all to recover, and his attack went through empty air. As he pulled up again, a Sacred Sword hit him in one wing, and he shouted in pain before rising back to altitude.

"This isn't working!" Winona called. "She's too agile for an attack run – fight on the ground!"

Mega Aerodactyl agreed, but felt he should give it one more go – with something of a twist.

So he pulled up hard, shedding all his speed for height, and then came screaming back down in a high-speed bombing run.

Every single stone on his body glowed with energy, and he used Rock Slide – sending a dense cascade of large, hard rocks raining down on Mega Absol.

The Disaster Pokémon greeted this assault much the same way she had the previous one – waiting as it approached, pacing slowly to get into a better position, then leaping into action with both her horn and tail a flashing blur of blue.

Rocks fell in half, shattered or were roundly slapped aside, and when Mega Aerodactyl pulled out of his bombing run he left Mega Absol standing on a clear ring surrounded on all sides by a field of rubble.

Mega Aerodactyl let out a caw of frustration, and slammed both claws and tail into the ground as he landed.

The ground shook, making the rubble roll in all directions, and Mega Absol perched for a moment on one of the largest boulders before jumping back down and facing her opponent.

Treating it as a challenge, Mega Aerodactyl lunged forwards in a half-flying, half-running charge. His wings flashed forwards, and Mega Absol ducked away from one blow and blocked the other – then made to counterattack, but abandoned it to avoid being hit by his sweeping tail.

Pushing his advantage, Mega Aerodactyl kept the range constant – at close quarters – and stabbed his beak towards her.

Moving with a fluid and slightly unsettling grace, Mega Absol knocked the beak aside and got in a paw swipe before following up with a heavy blow from her horn. That unbalanced her long enough to let him cuff her with a wing, sending her sprawling, but even that didn't seem to surprise her.


Mega Absol's eyes flared red as she let the constantly shifting 'winds' of probability flow through her.

Her foe swiped out with his wing, the spikes glowing, and she felt the risks of engaging/retreating/remaining to select what to her seemed the best choice. Deciding in a moment, she swung her horn to strike on the very tip of the longest of Mega Aerodactyl's forewing rock spikes.

The impact belled harshly, threatening to knock one or other of them off their feet, but both remained standing – and left Mega Absol with the advantage, since the strike prevented the Stone Edge from actually connecting with her.

She held the lock for just long enough that the momentum died away and the chance of a blow striking her in the next few moments ebbed, then stepped back and half-spun to bring her tail into play.

Glowing with a Night Slash, she swept her tail in from one side – the angle that had the least chance of Mega Aerodactyl managing to capitalize on any off-balance that resulted – and scored a telling hit.

Mega Aerodactyl replied by opening his mouth. Feeling the flames before they came, Mega Absol dodged back and upwards with an almighty leap.

As her opponent launched himself into the air to follow, Mega Absol flicked a Leaf Blade at him from her horn – slowing him for a moment – then called up a Razor Wind. Instead of using it to slash, she made it ram into her from behind and boost her forwards and over Mega Aerodactyl's stone-waving rush.

Landing with springy legs, Mega Absol spun and fired another Sacred Sword as the Flying-type pulled around in a wingover to come back and attack her.


"Well, that's… different," Steven said, diplomatically. "My Aerodactyl tends to hang back and drop rocks when he goes Mega. But I suppose you have to adapt tactics to your opponents..."

"Yeah, Absol's good at dodging and blocking," May agreed, wincing at a particularly loud crack of blade on stone. "And Mega Absol's a lot better, I guess."

"Wasn't that what made her go out of control when she first Mega Evolved?" Brock asked.

"What?" Steven said, turning in surprise. "She went out of control?"

"Yeah – it took Ash, Lucario, Blaziken and Mega Heracross to get her calmed down," May said. "Ash said Gary Oak was on the lookout for things to do to prevent it happening again – and for what makes it happen in some Pokémon but not others."

"I… see," Steven winced. "That sounds like quite a dangerous unknown."

"You'd have to ask Ash about it," May said. "He was the only one there – well, Lucario and the other Pokémon were, and Lucario can make himself understood… anyway, you'd need to wait for the battle to be over."

Steven was about to reply, but a crack sound drew his attention.


Mega Absol did a cartwheel through the air.

Twisting with a supple grace, she let the air on her furry wings and the movements of her muscles combine to bring her to a comfortable landing – forepaws first, then hindpaws.

"Ow," she said, blandly, and rubbed her bruised chin. "Nice trick."

"Yes, I quite liked it," Mega Aerodactyl agreed, contemplating the field of spiked stones. "Anyway!"

He lunged forwards again, bringing forwards beak and talons and wings and tail at once to try and deny Mega Absol an escape.

That did work, but Mega Absol's chance-dancing involved more than just avoiding pain. She let the winds of chance flow through her, selecting the path which involved the least chance of serious injury.

This turned out to involve headbutting Mega Aerodactyl in the chin.

His beak clicked together painfully, he recoiled back a step in surprise, and one clawed foot came down on a loose stone – resulting in his going over with a crash onto his back.

Mega Absol pounced forwards, pushing her advantage, and she put her forepaws squarely on the middle of Mega Aerodactyl's wingbones – pinning them to the ground.

"So," she began, ready to ask him to give up, and then Mega Aerodactyl forced the issue with an almighty wingbeat.

The risk came out of a low-chance possibility, catching the Dark-type off guard, and Mega Aerodactyl managed to force her off before taking to the air with a bout of upside-down flapping.

Pulling up in a half-roll, Mega Aerodactyl came upright and faced Mega Absol once more – standing off and snarling, for now, then dodging aside from a glowing Sacred Sword beam.


"Those two are remarkably well matched," Winona said, frowning. "Hmmm… Aerodactyl!"

The Rock-type Mega turned, avoiding another swiping long-range attack, and swooped up to hover in front of his trainer.

"You'll have to use Giga Impact!" Winona told him. "I know it's going to mean a low-altitude run in, but it'll hit hard enough she can't block it!"

Mega Aerodactyl nodded, and then Mega Absol landed on his back with an abrupt snarl.

"What!?" Winona asked, shocked, as the Dark-type used her claws to grip onto some of the rocky projections on Mega Aerodactyl's wings. "How did she get up here?"

"The platform supports!" Ash replied, as Mega Absol slammed a Leaf Blade into her opponent's back and then jumped off just before they hit the ground. "They're close enough she could jump between them – by using her wings to glide!"

Demonstrating that same glide, Mega Absol shed speed by pulling up a little. She used that to turn around, wings flickering, then landed slowly enough she could take up the difference with a slow trot.

"I think that means I win," she said, panting slowly.

Mega Aerodactyl's head reared up again, and his opponent cuffed him in the cheek with a powerful paw-blow.

"...ahem. Now I believe I've won," Mega Absol corrected.


"It's interesting how a Mega-Evolution can change so much about the Pokémon… and at the same time so little," said Steven, as Mega Absol switched back down to Absol. "She fights almost the same – bladework, tail and horn – and yet there's that glide which can make all the difference."

"And then there's the time it makes a huge difference," Brock added. "Like Ash's other two Megas."

"So… what happens now?" May asked, as Ash recalled his Dark-type. "Is that a win for Ash, or does he still have to beat Mega Pinsir?"

"I'm not sure…" Brock frowned. "I actually think it's up to Winona – she didn't say one way or the other."


"Ash Ketchum," Winona said, formally. "Mega Pinsir remains undefeated… but I will not require you to defeat him. You have shown skill enough with my other challenge – flight, handling flight, and overcoming it – that you have earned my badge without finishing the battle."

Ash blinked. "Oh. I'm… actually kind of disappointed… I wanted to see how Goodra would do."

"I don't think the drains could take it," Winona replied, with a sigh. "You've earned the Feather Badge… with a team without even a single feather."

She turned her attention to Max. "Now – I've got a different lineup for you. Do you have your team ready?"

"I sure do!" Max agreed. "Now?"

"Ten minutes?" Winona suggested instead. "I've got a Mega Stone to return to Steven – and a few questions to ask before I forget them..."


AN:

So, that was Ash's Winona battle. Non Flying Flying Pokémon Forever!

(Keldeo'd have fought here if he was around.)

Hopefully I did justice to a battle with five Mega Evolved Pokémon… including two using loaner stones – and all the various ways of flying or not.

Tropius was especially fun.