"Okay, here goes!" Ash said. "Ready?"
The giant fire-bird gave a caw, once more resting on Ash's arm.
It was all very visually impressive.
"Hm," Harley riposted. "It looks like you're trying to win with nothing but sheer brute force. That's not how you win a Contest at all!"
He shook his head. "Anyway. You'd better not make Cacturne look bad."
"...isn't that kind of the point?" Ash asked, a little confused. He glanced at Ho-Oh, who shrugged.
"It's your species," he said bluntly.
"Yeah, but..." Ash shook his head. "I don't get it..."
"Are both contestants ready?" the local Joy asked.
"Well, I'm certainly ready to show everyone how it's really done," Harley told her. "Right, buddy?"
Cacturne nodded, arms out to the side.
"We sure are!" Ash reiterated.
"Begin!" the Joy said.
Ash crouched a little, then pushed himself upright – raising his arm as he did so, giving Ho-Oh a boost so that the Flying-type Legendary could take off with a great sweep of his wings.
"Cacturne, use a beautiful Poison Sting!" Harley ordered, making a grand gesture.
Cacturne's legs tensed, and he jumped into the air – the holes in his face glowing purple, then volleying out a stream of needles.
"Incinerate them!" Ash called.
Ho-Oh's wings rippled with fire, and he spread them with a bang. The roiling, spiralling wave of heat and flame pulsed across the Poison Stings, destroying them, and then washed over Cacturne.
The Grass-type hit the arena floor, smouldering.
There was a pause, the only sound that of Ho-Oh's wings beating.
"Um..." he began, frowning, and glanced back at Ash. "Was that it?"
"I… guess so?" Ash asked, uncertainly. "Is Cacturne okay?"
"Cacturne!" Harley said, shocked. "No!"
The scoreboard showed Cacturne's points all vanishing at once.
"Is that even allowed?" Ho-Oh said. "It can't be that easy. Can it? I mean… that was just one move, and it was an accident!"
Harley lifted his smouldering Grass-type, then returned him. "That was horrible!" he said, denouncing Ash directly. "You shouldn't be so cruel!"
"Uh… didn't you just try to… poison… Ho-Oh?" Ash asked, lost. "It's a battle, right?"
"What I did was battle. What you did was unfeeling slaughter!" Harley said, turning his back and marching off stage.
Ho-Oh landed gently on the battlefield. "I'm still not sure if we won."
"Did we win?" Ash asked, looking back at the panel of judges.
"Yes," Mr. Contesta agreed. "It's not what we prefer to see, since artistry is important, but you certainly did defeat your opponent well inside the time limit. So you have to advance to the next round."
"Uh… sorry," Ash winced. "I guess we've not done much training on underdoing it."
"There's a problem I never thought I'd see," May said thoughtfully. "I wonder how well they'll do in later rounds..."
"Actually, can they stop him from just flattening the other two opponents?" Brock asked. "I'm not sure how the rules treat things like that."
"There's large point penalties for being repetitive, but they do assume that you get to apply them..." May frowned. "It almost seems like a weakness of the system. All someone with a really strong Pokémon needs to do is to make it through the Appeal rounds and then they've got a straight shot at winning the entire Contest meet."
"I guess that's why they have so many meets," Max suggested. "So one person can't really mess it up that much."
"Maybe we should try some weather stuff?" Ash suggested, sitting in the waiting room.
Ho-Oh shrugged, and plucked a berry from the fruit basket. He gulped it down, pondering, then nodded. "It can't hurt – and I'd feel better about it, really."
"So this is where you are!"
Ash looked around. "Harley?"
"I knew you were after me!" Harley said, pointing his finger at Ash. "How else do you know my name?"
"...the announcer said it," Ash told him.
"Twice," Ho-Oh added.
"I'm sorry, by the way," Ash added. "I didn't realize that Ho-Oh would knock your Cacturne out that easily."
"Oh, I bet you're sorry," Harley said, agreeing in a way that made it very clear he disagreed. "Legendaries aren't allowed!"
"I'm sure they'd have told me if that was an actual rule," Ho-Oh frowned.
"He's got a point," Ash agreed.
Harley looked blank. "You… agree with me?"
"No, with Ho-Oh," Ash informed him.
After looking even more lost for a few seconds, Harley shook his head. "Well! I'll be watching you, Ash Ketchum – don't think I'll forget this."
He stalked off, the effect only slightly ruined by his Cacturne costume.
"What's his problem?" Ho-Oh asked.
"Don't know," Ash shrugged. "Well… I guess he was kind of like this last time, but it was May he went for then. Maybe he's just really unpleasant to everyone."
"If you get the same friends as your first turn of the hourglass, perhaps you're fated to get the same enemies as well," Ho-Oh pondered.
He shrugged his wings. "Speaking of which, are there any more major events to come?"
"Yeah," Ash said with a nod. "One in just a couple of weeks – if things are going on schedule for that, anyway, and they might not be. Team Aqua and Team Magma going after Groudon and Kyogre."
Ho-Oh blinked. "Did… did you tell any of my Beasts? They could have tried to carry warning to-"
"I did," Ash interrupted. "And Lugia – he volunteered to go and find Kyogre to warn her. I think Entei was the one who went to tell Groudon."
"I see," Ho-Oh said, somewhat mollified. "Well… if things do develop despite that warning, please do not hesitate to call upon my power. Thanks to your aid, I can fight quite effectively rain or shine."
"Got it," Ash agreed. "Oh – I guess we're up next."
Ho-Oh snapped up another Berry as a last-minute snack, then hopped onto Ash's arm.
"I'll remember to make it a bit more of a display," he promised. "Fire hidden by a sandstorm?"
"Could be good," Ash agreed.
"Okay, Lampent!" called Ash's finals opponent, Irvin. "Phase!"
Lampent pulsed, flame dimming for a moment, and Ho-Oh's Wing Attack passed right through him.
"Roll and wingover!" Ash told Ho-Oh, concentrating on image, and Ho-Oh ran a coil of flames out along his iridescent plumage before rolling upside down and performing a quick wingover to get himself pointed the right way.
"Hex!" Irvin added.
Lampent's flame burned up again, beads of flickering purple light running along his metallic arms, and a dozen eyes blazed into life on the floor in a four-eight pattern.
They stared up, ghostly purple energy reaching for Ho-Oh, and the phoenix winced before flapping his wings to gain height.
"And Irvin manages to keep on top of things!" Contesta said, nodding. "He's been building up that eye pattern all match!"
The score bar for Ho-Oh dropped a little further, leaving him at about half, and Irvin's Lampent stayed resolutely at full score since Ash hadn't managed to touch him.
"Eyes..." Ash said, frowning. "Wait – I know! Ho-Oh, use Inferno! And store the heat!"
"But he has Flash Fire!" Ho-Oh complained.
Deciding to go ahead with Ash's plan anyway, he entered a glide for a moment before beating his wings faster. There was an audible crack of flames starting inside his plumage, and heat began to haze off Ho-Oh's wings.
He swept both wings back, then directed them forwards and exhaled into the air – which burst into flame, producing a wide cone of flame which pinched back into a spike and reached for Lampent.
"Smokescreen!" Ash amended, just before the attack hit.
Ho-Oh, to his credit, managed to adjust more or less on time. He stopped exhaling, flapped a second time, and the spike destabilized and detonated in a red-cored whoom of thick black smoke.
"Keep it up!" Ash said.
"I don't know the point of this..." Ho-Oh grumbled, wings coming up and then down again. Coils of flame rolled off his wings as he soared just above the thick cloud of smoke, passing into the bank before detonating and half-illuminating the cloud from within.
"Lampent, he's above the smoke!" Irvin called. "Go up! Try and find him!"
"And Ash has neutralized the eye pattern!" Joy said, realizing. "That's an excellent move on his part!"
"Great!" Ash said, waving his arms. "Now – Sandstorm!"
Lampent emerged from the top of the smokescreen, just in time to spot Ho-Oh accelerating. He tried to hit the Fire-type with a Shadow Ball, but Ho-Oh accelerated and it detonated just behind his golden tail.
Flying faster and faster, Ho-Oh turned continually inwards just inside the boundary of the stadium. Rainbow light trailed behind him, and the smoke began to thin – then, as it clumped together, it took on the consistency of fine sand.
Phasing through the storm of projectiles, Lampent was undamaged – but also unable to attack.
"New plan!" Irvin said. "Lampent – get underground! You can use that to pop out and attack!"
Lampent dove towards the ground, ignoring the strong winds Ho-Oh was stirring up, and passed into the ground as though it was water.
For several seconds, nothing happened. Ho-Oh kept up his sandstorm, which slowly began to build up small electrical charges and spark from within – nothing damaging, but producing the occasional flash and snap.
Ash glanced up at the board, and frowned.
Ho-Oh's move was stopping him from losing points, but it wasn't actually reaching Lampent. And while the Ghost-type was taking penalties from being underground and doing nothing, it would be close who was ahead when the timer finally ran out.
"Ho-Oh, heat up the sandstorm!" he decided. "Make it hotter – and use Ominous Wind!"
"That move is far too slow when I use it to do what you want it to," Ho-Oh grumbled.
"Stay down for now!" Irvin called. "Come out when I say!"
Obeying his trainer – and suspecting there might be a plan in the works – Ho-Oh mixed in the Ominous Wind into his sandstorm. The wave of Ghostly energy took several seconds to build up, then produced a thin, smoky film like the edge of a bubble.
It only lasted a moment before being drawn into the sandstorm – becoming hotter by the second.
Ash looked up at the board again. If he was right…
At eight seconds to go, Lampent's points passed Ho-Oh's points.
"Night Shade!" Irvin ordered.
Lampent came phasing out of the floor of the arena, and his flame lit up brightly enough to throw purple shadows across the faces of the watchers.
"Weather Ball!" Ash countered.
Ho-Oh broke his circling movement, wings sweeping across and corralling the whole cyclone into a ball.
"Cancel Night Shade!" Irvin said quickly. "Phase!"
Lampent went translucent again, letting his attack dissipate before it did much damage to Ho-Oh.
Then the Weather Ball fired downwards, a sphere made of just-fused vitreous glass from the entire Sandstorm.
Much to the surprise of most of the audience, it hit Lampent squarely on the apex and shattered with a crash. Shadowy grey smoke wreathed out of the interior, smacking into Lampent, and the Ghost-type wobbled backwards in mid-air.
"Time's up!" Joy said, as the fragments fell to the floor of the arena. "And for that remarkable use of Weather Ball to carry an unexpected Ominous Wind, Ash Ketchum and Ho-Oh have scraped a victory!"
Ho-Oh exhaled, gliding down to land by Ash's side. "That was unexpected."
"If I'd said what the plan was, it wouldn't have worked," Ash replied.
"Nice," Irvin nodded – recalling Lampent as the noise of the crowd swelled. "I guess now I can tell everyone it took a Legendary to beat me at a Contest!"
"You're not staying?" Ash asked.
"No – I have enjoyed myself, Ash, but in truth I do have some duties. I remember what you said about Groudon and Kyogre, and will attempt to ensure that I am available to help them," Ho-Oh told him.
He gave a deep bow, which was returned by both Ash and Lucario.
"Clear skies," Lucario said formally. "Though I suppose you can make them if you need them..."
"Correct," Ho-Oh confirmed. "And fair winds – or waves – to you all."
He spread his wings, took two steps, and launched himself into the air. Climbing until he was above the tallest buildings, he circled Lilycove once and set out to the north.
"I guess I'd better go get Latios," Ash said, as they waved. "I hope he and Latias enjoyed the break together in Altomare."
"I'm sure they did," Pikachu agreed. "Thanks to you, Altomare is safer for them – and they can enjoy their time together all the more."
"Especially since they know how precious it is," Lucario volunteered.
There was silence for a moment.
"I guess we'd better get back to Brock, May and Max," Ash decided. "We should work out how we're going to get across the sea towards Mossdeep."
"That's just like Ash," Max sighed. "Where did he go?"
"Perhaps he is giving Ho-Oh a send off," Blaziken suggested. "In that case, he should be somewhere nearer the edge of town to give them privacy."
"That means… this way," Brock said, looking up from his map and pointing.
As May was the closest, she took the lead – and nearly ran into Harley as the Cacturne trainer came around the corner.
"Oh!" she said, stepping a little awkwardly to the side to avoid actually crashing into him. "Uh… hi?"
"Greetings," Harley replied, looking her up and down before giving the same survey to Max, Brock and Blaziken. "Who might you be?"
"May – May Maple," May introduced herself. "This is my little brother, Max, and this is Brock."
"Interesting," Harley said. "So… what do you do?"
"I'm a gym leader," Brock told him. "Though I've only been back to my gym once or twice in the last couple of years..."
"Of course – you have to allow your creative freedom full expression, you can't be stifled by simply being in the same place," Harley agreed. "I say that's the truest way to be a great gym leader."
"I'm taking the Gym challenge," Max said proudly.
Harley gave him a second look, then shrugged. "Hm. My commiserations on your hormone problem."
"What's that-"
"Max!" May interrupted.
Max subsided, giving Harley a mutinous look which the Coordinator ignored completely.
"And I know you're a Coordinator," May said. "Your performance was pretty good, I thought. The last-shot trick was a good one."
"Yes, I thought so," Harley agreed. "It was a great way for my wonderful Cacturne to show his skills… not that I got one in the battle rounds."
"Yeah..." May winced. "I really hope I don't end up with a battle match like that in my Contest career."
"Oh, you're a Coordinator as well?" Harley asked, sounding interested. "I could give you a few tips!"
May weighed her possible responses, and decided on diplomacy. "I'd be glad to hear them," she said.
Harley nodded. "Indeed – I have to say, I'm a particular fan of making your outfit match your contest performance. I don't think the judges give quite the marks they should for it, but the crowd likes it."
"May, can we-" Max began.
May shook her head slightly. "Okay, that's a good point."
Apparently satisfied, Harley rummaged in an outside pocket of his outfit and brought out a small bag. "Would you like some flapjacks?"
"Sure," May agreed.
Behind Harley, Max rolled his eyes.
Taking one of the proffered oat treats, May nibbled on a corner.
She swallowed, and took another bite before offering it to Blaziken. "This is pretty good, actually – I'm not normally a fan of flapjacks, but these are some of the best I've had in a long time."
Harley's lips turned down in a slight moue of disapproval, but then came to the decision that that was sufficient - especially as Blaziken ate the rest of the flapjack in one go. "Well, I'm glad you like it – I'll keep an eye out for your Contest performances in future."
"Hey, guys!" Ash called.
Harley's expression froze.
"Sorry I took so long," Ash went on. "Oh, hey, is this Harley?"
"You know this person?" Harley asked. "This… this… hack?"
"Hey!" Ash said, stung. "We worked hard on that performance!"
Harley turned his back ostentatiously and strode off.
"...oh, great," May sighed. "And I was doing so well..."
"Apparently knowing Ash is bad enough for him, I guess," Max said, blinking.
May shook her head. "I give up. He clearly doesn't want to like us, so I guess we'll have to live with it."
"How was the flapjack really?" Max asked. "Better than Dad's?"
"Of course not," May replied. "But I have not had them for a long time. That bit was true."
"So… I guess you sent Ho-Oh off, Ash?" Brock asked.
Ash nodded. "Yeah, and I told him about the Aqua and Magma thing."
"So..." Brock glanced at the map. "I guess we need to work out how we're getting across the sea towards Mossdeep."
"Well..." Ash glanced upwards, counting. "We need to either have enough Pokémon to carry all four of us across the sea, or we need to take a boat. I guess Pidgeot might be available, and I need to pick up Latios anyway…"
Max brightened. "Oh, yeah, I had an idea about that – how far is Bomba Island?"
"A few miles by sea," Brock told him. "Not far."
"Then I kind of want to have Delta take me," Max said. "It's a pretty warm day, so..."
"That sounds like fun," May said, before shaking her head. "But I'm not getting within a hundred feet of the water. I know there's Tentacool out there."
"Don't you trust me to keep you safe?" Blaziken asked.
"Normally, yes," May assured him. "Normally I'd feel very safe with you around. But… Tentacool are Water types, and Poison types, and they're just plain ick."
Brock frowned. "Ash? I just realized… we never did sort out the Porta Vista thing, did we?"
Fortunately for you all, I am quite civic minded, Dexter said. I simply submitted an anonymous tip to the police… and to the Elite Four.
"What's Porta Vista?" Max asked.
"Oh, it was this place in Kanto..." Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck. "The first time around, it got destroyed by Tentacool angry the shore was being built on. And we… kinda forgot about that bit of it."
"We need to make sure that doesn't happen again," Brock said, with a sigh. "It's annoying, I know – but if it is your job to save just about everyone in the world individually and in groups, then we need to make sure we don't miss someone out just because we feel iffy about it."
Ash sighed. "Yeah… I know, I know. I just-"
He bit the sentence off. "It'd be kind of nice, sometimes, to go somewhere and not have to save it from whatever."
"What about Cameran?" Max asked. "Whatever happens this time, you shouldn't have the problem with Lucario, and you said that the Tree's Mew already has Sabrina as a friend."
Ash nodded. "Good point, Max. Thanks."
He shook his head. "Okay, time to head over to Bomba island, then! Dexter, is Pidgeot ready?"
She should be ready soon, his Pokédex told him. I've already asked Damos to get hold of her. I'm not so sure on Latios, but he should be almost as quick.
"Okay, here we are," May said, shading her eyes and looking across at Bomba island. "It's a lovely day for a flight."
"Just remember that it's cold up there," Brock pointed out. "We'll be staying pretty low."
"Who would you rather have carry you across, May?" Ash asked, reaching for Latios' Cherish Ball and Pidgeot's regular Pokéball.
May frowned. "Uh… actually, would it be okay if Latios took me across?"
"Ask him," Ash told her, sending the Psychic-type out.
That would be fine, Latios assured her.
May took a step back. "...how did you do that? That didn't sound..."
Bianca and I have been practicing telepathy, Latios explained. It took a lot of work, though.
"That's cool!" Brock smiled. "I guess you've been keeping up with your training while back in Altomare."
"What?" Ash asked, looking puzzled.
Lucario sighed and took the hat off his head. "Latios was using Psychic to talk," he explained.
"Oh, right," Ash realized. "Okay – sorry, I guess..."
Nothing to be sorry for, Latios told him with a smile. "I'll have to remember to speak out loud as well when talking to Dark-types. Or you."
"Thanks," his trainer said. "Oh – I forgot to ask. How are Bianca, Lorenzo and Latias?"
"Latias is full of stories about travelling with you," Latios told him, levitating down and tilting a little. "She told us about how she does crosswords, which was funny, and Bianca said she'd get Latias to try psychic painting."
"You mean… painting psychic things?" May asked. "Or painting with Psychic powers?"
"Painting with psychic powers," Latios clarified. "But the first time she smashed the palette into the canvas, which made quite a mess… oh, and Lorenzo has finished rebuilding the museum."
"Maybe we'll have to go and visit," Brock suggested. "What's there now?"
"Lots more fossils and a model of the DMA," Latios said, looking upwards as he remembered. "And I think there's a diorama with a scene from when you saved my sister."
Ash's cheeks heated. "...what bit did they do?"
"Something about you riding to the rescue on the back of a Legendary, flourishing a sword."
"But..." Ash glanced at his back. "Uh… I don't even have a sword."
"Yes you do," Lucario interjected. "It's in your bag. Remember, Sir Ketchum?"
"...she didn't mention that bit," Latios said, blinking.
"It was during the thing in the Togepi Kingdom," Brock explained. "I'm Sir Brock Slate of That Nice Looking Rock."
Latios nodded. "I guess… yeah, okay."
He clasped his hands together. "Okay, are we going to head over to the island?"
Brock sent out Flygon. "Probably. Are you ready, Flygon?"
"Of course," Flygon agreed, wings flaring half-open for a moment. "I'm looking forward to the time at the seaside too, of course..."
"Not as much as Max is," May said, nodding over to her brother.
They looked, and spotted Max – wearing swimming trunks, and halfway into the surf.
"What's he doing?" Latios asked. "Is he okay?"
There was a flash, and Max sent out Delta.
"He's getting a lift from Delta," Ash explained, as Max grabbed onto the back of the Flying-type. "We don't know if Delta can carry him all the way, so they're going right down next to the sea so it's not far to fall."
He sent out Pidgeot, smiling as she stretched and shook her wings out. "And I guess we're taking the long way, right?"
"Let's see how many times I can lap the island before Delta gets there," Pidgeot suggested.
She picked up Max's discarded bag in her beak, then crouched to let Ash get on. The two Dragon-types picked up their riders as well, and Lucario settled into an easy run towards the sea – and towards the island on the far side.
"Okay," Max said, taking a deep breath as he and Delta rose into the air. "Ready?"
Delta nodded. "Sure am! Here goes!"
He gathered himself, waiting for a swell to come in, then powered forwards with strong flaps of his wing-like fins in the trough between one wave and the next.
Max laughed in excitement as they sped up, rising up the crest of the next wave – then, with an explosion of spray, Delta took off and they were airborne.
At first it was just a jump, but then Delta continued flapping his fin-like wings and their trajectory became flat and then pointed slightly upwards.
As he held on with both hands, Max counted the flaps under his breath. Nineteen-Twenty-Twentyone-Twentytwo…
"This is amazing!" he said, looking down at the water whipping past below. "I didn't realize how fast you were before!"
Delta chuckled, flapping harder, then stopped and began to glide down again. "Should we try a landing?"
"Uh..." Max blinked. "Wait, wait, let me think!"
Delta pulled up again, flapping away. "Okay, okay..."
Max thought about it for a bit, looking up to see where they were. "Uh… okay, I guess it'd be fine to land if you're careful."
"Of course I'm careful!" Delta told him cheerfully. He slowed his flapping fins, dropping a bit lower, and aimed for a likely-looking wave going in the same direction as them. "Ready… steady..."
They hit with a splash, skimmed across the water as Delta shed momentum, then he tilted up and stopped so abruptly that Max went flying over his head.
"Oh no!" the Mantine said, concerned. "Max!"
He plunged beneath the water, and helped Max back to the surface with a quick push.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned, and offered his back for Max to rest on.
"I'm okay," Max said, coughing and wiping water from his eyes. "I guess I wasn't expecting to have to hold on like that… I'll have to use my feet, I guess..."
"Sorry, Max..." Delta said, fins sculling slightly. "I guess I just never notice how much I slow down when I land..."
"Are you okay?" May asked, as Latios descended.
We saw you hit the water, Latios added. Do you need a lift?
"Uh..." Max thought about that. "It's okay, we just wanted to try landing, but… uh, yeah, maybe it is for the best. Sorry, Delta."
"I'm the one who should be sorry, Max," Delta said. "I should have used Surf to brake so we could hit the water more gently. I got too carried away, and you were in danger."
Arc burst out of his Pokéball. "Max! Are you-"
He hit the water with a splash.
"...oops," he muttered, treading water with a splashy doggy-paddle. "I don't think I'm very much help..."
Max returned him, and sniggered. "Now he's going to smell of wet fur for ages..."
A wave came sweeping in towards a broad, sandy beach.
As it mounded up, a blue-black figure became visible on the crest of the wave. It hung there for a moment as the breaker began to curl, then rode down the forwards edge with water splashing out underneath its feet.
The breaker became a tunnel, hiding its passenger from view for a second, and then Lucario shot out of the far end of the tunnel as the whole thing collapsed into a crashing spume of spray.
He turned, using his momentum to catch up to the swash, and rode it all the way to shore before stepping coolly onto the beach.
"The best way to travel," he pronounced.
Pikachu glanced up from his towel. "It's not a great way to travel long distances, though," he pointed out.
Lucario shrugged. "Where'd you get the ice lolly?"
"Glaceon made some," Pikachu told him. "I think there's a few left."
"It really is a nice day," May sighed, lying back on the soft sand of the beach. "Sometimes it's good to just… you know. Unwind."
She licked on her frozen snack. "Especially when you've got something as nice as this to go with it. Thanks, Glaceon."
"You're welcome," Glaceon said, sitting quite firmly in Venusaur's sizeable shadow. "I'm glad that I could help everyone stay cool."
"Well, everyone who wants to," May amended – nodding at Blaziken, who was taking advantage of the long strand of sand to sprint repeatedly back and forth. "I think he's decided to see if he can set himself on fire."
She smiled. "Well, you know. More on fire."
Finishing the last of the frozen juice lolly, she stretched. "Okay, I guess we should get going..."
"I think so too," Brock agreed. "I just need to make sure Crobat knows… he's flying out in the surf."
"Don't forget to return me," Glaceon requested, as the humans got up. "Normally I'm okay with being out in the sun, but this is just uncomfortable."
Smiling, May returned the Ice-type. "There you go."
"Can I have the sticks?" Brock asked. "I'll wash them tonight and we can use them again next time we want to do this."
"I like the sound of that," May agreed. "This could be a regular thing."
A shrug. "That is, if Glaceon doesn't mind being an ice cream maker."
"Actually, we could try doing ice cream," Brock agreed. "I'll look up how to do it..."
"So..." Ash looked around. "This is where people train to be Pokémon Referees?"
"We prefer to call them Battle Judges," replied the professor, a woman by the name of Serena. "But yes."
"It's a tough course," Brock said. "You have to study it if you want to become a Gym Leader, but they don't actually do a practical test – and that's the hard bit."
"Correct," Serena agreed with a nod. "What seems very simple in the textbooks is quite a bit more complicated when Pokémon are moving fast, both trainers are calling orders, and of course the attacks themselves are both loud and visually impressive in a lot of cases."
"Right," Ash nodded. "But can't you just decide based on which Pokémon is knocked out first? Or when someone says their Pokémon can't battle?"
Brock, May and Max all stared at Ash.
"...Ash, do you even remember how many times one of your Pokémon has been so determined it got itself hurt?" Max asked.
"...oh, yeah," Ash agreed, deflating. "Sorry, you're right. I guess… the referee's main job is to make sure Pokémon – and people – don't get hurt?"
"Right," Serena agreed.
"I like that," Ash nodded. "And I guess they also have to spot cheating?"
"Yes, though often that's harder," Serena agreed.
"Remember that guy with the Pelipper?" Max asked.
"Yeah, that wasn't very nice," Ash agreed. He glanced over at Serena, and tried to explain. "There was someone with a Pelipper who kept several other Pokémon in there – in his beak – and used them to make it so it seemed like Pelipper had lots of attacks."
"And this was a Single Battle?" Serena checked. "Yes, that would be disallowed. In free-for-all or Triple, that would be actually quite a good tactic."
"Right," Ash agreed. "I did something in one of my gym battles with a Lapras on top of an ice-skating Snorlax."
Serena nodded. "Indeed. Now – would you like to meet some of the students? I think it'd be nice for us to have some demonstration battles, and the students can practice their calling."
She smiled. "I think we'll leave Mr. Ketchum's battle for after the warm up..."
"Why?" Ash asked. "Is there something about my battles which makes them hard to referee?"
"On the contrary," Serena told him. "They're very easy to referee, except where the Battle Judge actually has to intervene in any way. Things tend to move quite fast."
"Left, Crobat!" Brock ordered. "Come around from behind him!"
Crobat swerved, all four wings thrashing, and-
"Stop!" Serena called, raising her hand.
Crobat tried to stop, failed, and had to flap frantically to avoid crashing into Arc.
"What was the problem there?" Serena added, turning to her students.
"Uh..."
Several blank looks were her main answer.
"Uh – I think I know," said one student. "Is it that he ended up out of bounds?"
"That's right," Serena confirmed. "Well spotted, Jimmy. Yes, this match has an out of bounds condition, and Crobat passed outside the perimeter of the lines."
She turned to another student. "What should a Battle Judge do here?"
The student looked down for a moment, then looked up. "Is this one of the places you give a warning?"
"The first time around, yes," Serena confirmed. "Since he didn't try to exploit it. But more than once is a red card."
She turned to Brock and Max. "Can you continue, please?"
"...where from?" Crobat asked. "Do I go back where I was, or..."
"That's enough!" Ash called. "Latios, come back!"
Mega Latios skidded back in mid-air, transitioning back down to his base state, and caught his Mega Stone. "Right!"
Jimmy watched carefully, making sure that Brock's Geodude didn't interfere with the switch-out.
"Is that a legal move?" Serena asked.
Jimmy looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah – he didn't use the Pokéball to pull Latios out of a place he was about to be defeated."
"Good."
Ash switched Pokéballs. "Your turn, Heracross!"
Heracross landed on the battlefield with a soft thump, and took a stance with his legs apart and his fists down.
Geodude gestured, making a rocky spike emerge from the ground and launching it at Heracross, and the Fighting-type smashed it to pieces with a fast punch before counterattacking with a thrown piece of rock.
As the Rock-type shielded himself with a gesture and a rocky wall, the Heracronite on Heracross' brow began to flare with orange light.
When the rocky shield faded, Geodude was faced with Mega Heracross – who promptly drew his fist back, chambering an almighty punch.
Geodude brought both clenched fists up, rising several inches into the air, and the ground mounded up before producing a single massive fist.
"Remember, don't over-stress a joint," Brock warned.
Geodude waved sharply, and the fist punched forwards – meeting Mega Heracross' Focus Punch coming the other way, and sending fragments of rock spilling out all over the ground as the rocky forearm shattered.
"Halt!" Serena called.
Both Pokémon stopped fighting.
"Why did I do that?" she asked, glancing around at the class.
After several seconds of uncertainty, someone raised a hand. "Uh..."
"Yes?" she asked, nodding to the pupil.
"I think it's because Mr. Ketchum just used two Mega Evolutions in one battle," the girl said.
Jimmy's face fell.
"That's correct," Serena agreed. "I know it's quite a new rule, but it is a valid one and when you're not quite sure you should stop the match just to double check."
She smiled. "But pick a moment when it's not going to give one side or the other an advantage, of course."
"Did Ash decide to do that deliberately?" someone asked.
"Yeah," Ash nodded. "Well – your teacher told me to do something which wouldn't be legal in the rules, but to not make a big fuss about it. So I thought I'd do that."
"And an excellent job you did," Serena told him. "Sometimes when a Pokémon does something they know isn't right you can see it in their expression, but that's not always enough – as it wasn't in this case. Now… I think perhaps we should try someone else. Grace?"
Ash let Mega Heracross relax back to just Heracross, and returned him. "Brock, do you think we should do an airborne battle?"
"Sure," Brock agreed. "I guess Flygon's the best choice, then."
As Flygon and Pidgeot flashed out of their Pokéballs into mid-air, only Max noticed Jimmy walking away in a bit of a daze.
Finding a rock, Jimmy sat down on it and sighed. "I can't believe I missed that..."
All three of his Pokémon came bursting out of their Pokéballs, and gave one another concerned glances. A silent conversation ended with Charmeleon taking his arm and nosing up underneath it, while Wartortle sat with his back to the rock and Ivysaur placed himself next to Jimmy's feet.
"Hi, guys," he said, smiling wanly. "What brings you all out here?"
"Waaar," Wartortle said, in a deep voice. "Tortle-tort."
"I guess I am sad," Jimmy agreed. "But… I mean, look at this!"
He kicked the ground with a sigh. "I'm no good at Pokémon training – my only badge was for cleaning a swimming pool! And now I'm no good at being a Battle Judge either."
Charmeleon nosed his side, and he reached up to scratch the Fire-type under the chin. "And it's not like I'm any good at Coordinating, either..."
A quiet bark caught his attention, and he looked up.
Looking back at him was a Mightyena with its tail wagging, and Max walking up behind it.
"Good work, Cinder," he said, reaching down to give her a quick stroke.
"So," he added, looking up at Jimmy. "What's up?"
"Oh, just… I kind of feel like I'm stupid," Jimmy tried to explain. "I never seem to do anything at all well."
Max frowned. "Really? What do you mean?"
"It's… I bet it's easy for you," Jimmy added. "I mean – you're a prodigy! You're a Pokémon trainer who I can tell is way younger than normal, and Ash Ketchum is helping you! I mean – Ash Ketchum!"
"Believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds," Max muttered. "But… how come you think you're not good at anything?"
He indicated the trio of starters. "Your Pokémon seem to really like you."
"Yeah, I guess, but-" Jimmy shook his head. "I got them in really stupid ways."
Wartortle made eye contact with Max and shook his head, and Charmeleon just snuggled in closer.
"Do they think that?" Max asked.
"I – I got Ivysaur by giving him a rice ball! That's just-" Jimmy began, then cut himself off.
"That's actually fine," Max said. "I mean – sure, capturing Pokémon by battling them is how we're all told we're supposed to do it, but I think befriending a Pokémon is better. It means they like you."
Jimmy sighed.
Max sat down, Cinder clambering into his lap, and looked up. "You know how I got my latest badge?"
Confused, Jimmy shook his head.
"I lost."
The trainee Battle Judge blinked. "...what?"
"I lost, but Winona said that I'd shown I was adaptable," Max clarified. "You don't have to win a gym battle to earn a badge, you don't have to fight a Pokémon to catch them – and… you don't have to win badges at all. You can do whatever you want to, really."
"But if I'm not really good at them..." Jimmy said, looking uncomfortable.
Max frowned, thinking about what to do.
"Cinder?" he said, softly. "Can you ask which of Jimmy's Pokémon is the strongest?"
Cinder barked the question, and listened to the replies. Then she looked up at Max.
"Uh..." she said, looking confused. "It's kind of complicated. See, Ivysaur says Wartortle's stronger than he is. Charmeleon says Ivysaur's stronger than she is. And Wartortle thinks they're both a lot tougher than him."
"Okay," Max said, trying to remember what exactly happened last time. "I think I've got an idea."
"There we go," Serena said, as Pikachu's cheeks sparked off residual electricity and Lucario came out of guard position. "And yes, before you ask, there are rules against humans interfering with battles by fighting themselves, but they're usually for… people with new Pokémon."
"I didn't actually know that for sure," Ash admitted. "I guessed there would be, though."
Serena nodded. "Right. Now, I think that's about everything – the only one left is the difference between Triple and Rotation Battles."
She looked up. "Where's Jimmy, he'd be good for this… Jimmy?"
May frowned. "I think Max disappeared, too. What happened?"
"Pidgeot, can you go look?" Ash asked.
Pidgeot nodded, crouching and getting ready to spring, then stopped. "Uh… no need, I think I found them."
She pointed with a wing, and even those who couldn't understand followed her gesture.
With slightly clumsy wingbeats, a large Charizard came flying down to land in the courtyard.
Jimmy got down off her back with considerable haste, looking a bit green, and Max jumped off a moment later.
"Jimmy?" Serena asked. "Your Charmeleon evolved? Congratulations!"
"Uh – hi, Professor," Jimmy said, looking awkward. "Actually, uh… they all did."
Venusaur and Blastoise came out of their Pokéballs, posing as Charizard reared back and let off a blast of flame.
"Told you you were a good trainer," Max said.
AN:
Further Contest business with Ho-Oh, and Harley being… Harley.
Max exploring his own flight option, which is… alright, except where landing is concerned. Fortunately there's some Latios-based air sea rescue around!
Then there's some fun time on beaches, and a visit to the Battle Judge school. They teach… Battle Judges.
