"So… I guess you gave him a battle?" May asked.
"Yeah," Max agreed, making sure that everyone else was crowded around Jimmy. "I could remember one of his Pokemon evolved, so I suggested a triple battle because I wasn't sure which one. And..."
He shrugged.
"I guess you are learning from Ash," May quipped.
Max sniggered.
"Okay," he went on. "I guess we're moving on now? Where to?"
"Not sure," May admitted. "And I think we need to wait for Ash."
"So," Ash said, looking Blastoise up and down. "What's he obsessed with?"
Blastoise gave him a cool look. "What do you mean, obsessed?"
"Aren't pretty much all Squirtle, Wartortle and Blastoise really into something?" Ash clarified.
"Are they?" Jimmy said, examining Blastoise closely. "I didn't realize that..."
"I'm not obsessed in the slightest," Blastoise huffed. "I can simply quote verbatim half of Mahou Sensei-"
"And there we go," Lucario said, deadpan. "Knew there had to be something."
"So who's the Furret?" Pikachu asked.
Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Ash and Lucario all gave him surprised looks.
"What?" he asked. "I have been known to watch TV sometimes."
"Should we expect you to start using playing cards in battle?" asked Lucario with a smirk – which quickly vanished as he realized what he'd just revealed.
"I wish I could understand Pokemon," Jimmy sighed. "I bet it'd be really useful."
"It is," Ash agreed. "But it's really kind of hard – it takes a lot of Aura training to get good at it."
Jimmy nodded, then brightened. "Well – I guess we'll work out what to do, together! Hey, Ash – can you thank Max for me? I don't think I said it enough."
"Sure thing," Ash agreed. "Good luck!"
"...but I think the important bit is the kiss," Blastoise said.
"This conversation got weird quickly," Charizard murmured to her teammate.
"You what?" asked Serena, blinking. "They disqualified a Pokemon because it was knocked out by Sleep Powder?"
"Yeah," Brock nodded. "It was really kind of strange at the time – especially because another of his Pokemon was clearly exhausted after he'd been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped!" Serena repeated. "That alone is grounds for a postponement of the match so it's under fair conditions. Did you get the name of the referee?"
"I'm afraid not," Brock demurred. "I mainly wanted to double-check that that really wasn't-"
"Brock?" Max called. "Are you coming?"
"Sorry, I'll have to go," Brock apologized. "Nice talking to you."
"Okay, ready?"
"Yeah," Goodra agreed.
He looked back over his shoulder, making sure that Mawile was safely on. "Are you sure about this?"
"Sure I'm sure!" Mawile confirmed. "Now, let's go!"
Goodra nodded, and turned to face the sand of the beach.
Mawile waved from his back. "Hey, watch this!"
Inhaling, Goodra let crackling purple energy build up in his mouth. He held it for a long second as it built and built, then looked down about ten inches in front of his feet – and fired.
The Dragon Pulse blazed into the sand of the beach, kicking up a big plume of it and leaving a hole several inches deep.
"Wheeeeee!" Mawile shouted, as she and Goodra went upwards and backwards at high speed.
Goodra kept up the blast for about two seconds, then swung his tail around and cut out the blast. Spinning to face towards the sea, he gulped for a moment at how high up they were.
"I bet I do a better dive than you!" Mawile said, clambering up to his shoulder and jumping off with her hands together.
"Oh, no you don't!" Goodra laughed, flexing his antennae to make himself more streamlined and angling himself towards the water.
Mawile hit in the trough between two waves with a loud splash, and then Goodra threw up an enormous waterspout which took at least three seconds to finally all crash back to the water.
A moment later, Mawile's head popped back up out of the water. "That was great!" she announced, paddling vigorously. "Let's do it again!"
She glanced down. "Goodra?"
Goodra blew out a gust of air as he came to the surface. "Phew!"
"Fun, wasn't it?" Mawile asked. "Come on, let's go again!"
She began to paddle back to shore, and Goodra smiled before catching up to her with powerful strokes of his tail.
He picked her up and put her on his back, saving her the hard task of staying out of the water, and then kept going. "Think I can make it through the waves?"
"Sure you can!" Mawile agreed. "I'll tell you when it's shallow enough you can walk!"
"They're enjoying themselves," Latios said, watching the two mismatched Pokemon as they splashed through the surf and got ready for another dive.
"Is that the kind of thing you do with Latias?" Ash asked.
"Not really, no," Latios replied. "Well, we do go swimming, but normally it's just playing in the air or underwater. We don't do that kind of extreme-sports stuff… well, except when Latias tries to interfere with boat races."
Ash chuckled.
"Is it strange, doing everything over again?" Latios asked. "Doesn't it get… boring?"
Ash shrugged. "Not really. I mean, all my Pokemon are either new this time or they can remember last time, so I'm not really doing things with them the same way. And the other stuff..." He shook his head. "It's different enough, so it's fine."
He reached out to stroke the drowsing Pikachu next to him. "And – that's the important bit. My friends are with me."
"I… it's hard for me to imagine what it was like for Latias," Latios said. "But… I'm glad she doesn't have to face that now."
"So am I," Ash agreed. "I only thought I'd lost Pikachu for a few minutes, but they were…"
He let out a long sigh.
"I guess that's part of why I'm travelling like I am," he mused. "I could try to devote all my time to getting ready to defeat Cyrus – and no, Professor Oak still hasn't found any sign of him – but if I did that then I wouldn't be ready anyway, because I wouldn't have my friends."
"No matter what happens – Ash, I'll be there if you need me," Latios promised. "You gave me my life back, and saved my sister – so we're your friends."
"Thanks," Ash said, smiling broadly. "I – yeah, thanks."
Venusaur lifted her vine slightly.
Skitty's paws swept through the area that the vine-tip had just been, flailing frantically, and she fell back to the sandy dune below.
Shaking her head, she mrowled and stared up at the waving tip. "Like, come on! Come down here so I can, like, play!"
Venusaur lowered her vine again, letting it swing teasingly, and Skitty pounced up high enough to grab onto the very tip.
"Like, gotcha!" she purred, as Venusaur lifted her up. "I win!"
"You do indeed," Venusaur agreed, lowering her. "Another go?"
Skitty nodded. "Only, like… this time I have to, like, climb along the vine."
"Go ahead," Venusaur said.
As Skitty clambered up and set foot on Venusaur's vine near the base, the Grass-type looked up and spotted her friend coming down. "Oh – hello, Swablu!"
"Hello!" Swablu replied, making to alight on the ground before swerving to take advantage of Venusaur's other vine. "Thanks for the perch."
"No problem," Venusaur replied. "What brings you over here?"
"Just wanted to see how you're doing," Swablu explained. "And have a bit of a rest, too..."
Venusaur nodded sympathetically. "Let me guess. Training?"
"Training," Swablu agreed. "I'm getting really good at the acrobatic stuff – but I'm still not so good at attacks..."
"Your Singing is good enough to be going on with," Venusaur assured him, looping her vine around to give him a rub on the forehead. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks!" the little Flying-type chirped. "But I still think I should learn – I mean, Blaziken's putting all that effort in..."
"Blaziken's decided that he needs to make May safe by making himself faster than anything that could hurt her," Venusaur observed.
They watched for a moment as Blaziken ran through a complex, flowing kata. His limbs flashed and flared as he kicked and spun, and for a moment a tornado of flame hid him from their sight.
"What about you?" Swablu asked.
"Well..." Venusaur shrugged.
Skitty fell off the other vine with a yowl.
"I've got a few new tricks..." Venusaur went on. "There's a petal-dance trick that Meganium showed me once, and I think I've worked out a new spin on it."
"Is that a joke?" Swablu asked, tilting his head.
"...I'm going to say it was intentional," Venusaur replied.
As Skitty tugged her tail out of the sand, Venusaur lowered a vine to her. "Do you want a lift?"
"Like… no!" Skitty denied. "I'll, like, do it the hard way, yeah?"
"Suit yourself," Venusaur agreed.
"Is the Petal Dance thing all?" Swablu asked. "I mean – you seem like such a powerful Pokemon, and I've not really seen you do anything really… you know. Like Blaziken is with his fire."
Venusaur considered that.
"I think I know why," she decided. "I take a little while to get going – but when I do, I'm pretty tough."
She glanced up at the sky. "Watch."
Closing her eyes, she breathed in and out. "Growth."
As Swablu watched, tingling yellow-green energy flowed down her leaves into her main plant. It quivered, then the petals opened slightly.
Venusaur's entire body expanded a few inches.
"Whoa!" Swablu said. "You got bigger!"
"Yeah, and I can keep doing it," Venusaur agreed. "You don't mess with a Venusaur for long."
She was about to keep demonstrating, but Swablu cut her off. "Uh… Venusaur?"
"Yes?" the Grass-type asked, catching Skitty as the feline slipped off her vine again.
"I think..." Swablu began, taking off and hovering a little higher. "Yeah, I think that's Spoink!"
"Oh, yeah, he did keep showing up..." Venusaur mused. "Well, why don't you go and invite him over?"
"Sure!" Swablu agreed, flapping again, and then dove down towards the Psychic-type. "Hey!"
Spoink jumped. (Higher than usual.) His pearl went flying off, bouncing once on the sand, and then a flaming blur intercepted it before it could hit the water.
"Got it," Blaziken said, holding up the sphere of nacre. "You should be more careful with this."
"...uh, hi, Spoink!" Swablu said, looking sheepish. "Sorry, I guess I surprised you..."
"Oh – hello!" Spoink replied, bouncing steadily. "I didn't think I'd meet you here!"
He took his pearl back from Blaziken with a quick application of Psychic, and placed it on his head. "And thank you, too!"
"Like, I'll go get May," Skitty offered.
"That sounds nice," Spoink agreed. "I'd like to say hello, now I know you're here."
"This is kind of cool," May said, waving her hands and watching as Ethan's form changed. "I didn't know you could do this."
It is a recent discovery on my part as well, Ethan admitted. I am not sure if there are practical applications, but perhaps it would work well for a Contest opening number.
"You mean so you change as I move?" May said, interested. "That could work."
She made a twisting gesture with her hand, and Ethan's form collapsed back down to his normal state.
Disabling gesture control. Ethan's form shivered. Well, that was interesting.
"I guess the next thing to do is to see how well you can battle now," May pondered. "Who would be a good opponent?"
Kris is the closest match in terms of experience and nominal capabilities, Ethan said. But perhaps it would make more sense for me to engage someone stronger, like Lucario.
"If you think it'd help," May said, a little dubiously – glancing over at Ash and Lucario, now having their daily spar. "Wouldn't Guy be a better choice for that?"
With Guy I have no illusions about what would happen. Lucario does not actually hit as hard, he simply uses Aura instead.
"It's you being dug out of a crater," May shrugged.
"Hey, May!" Swablu piped, flying down.
May held out her arm. "What is it?"
"You remember Spoink?" Swablu asked, alighting and giving an affectionate nibble to her proffered finger. "He's turned up here!"
"Great!" May smiled. "I like Spoink. How is he?"
"You can ask him yourself," Swablu said, nodding.
May turned, just as Spoink arrived. He bounced a little off-target, hitting her bag just where it rode on her hip, and his pearl went flying again.
Half the contents of May's bag also went flying, scattering all over the floor, and May winced. "Ah, great…"
"Ow," Spoink said, eyes a little unfocused. "Uh… my pearl!"
He grabbed something about the right shape and colour and levitated it onto his head. "Ah… now I-"
There was a flash of white light, and he vanished.
May stared at the bright pink Love Ball that Spoink had just been sucked into. "Uh… that was unexpected?"
You are going to have to get your mother a new present now, Ethan informed her.
"Not helping!"
Skitty arrived, and pouted. "Like… no fair, Swablu. Flying's, like, cheating."
"I'm so sorry about that," May said, opening the Pokeball and blushing. "I didn't realize-"
"No, it's my fault, I guess," Spoink said, absently taking the Love Ball and bouncing it up and down on his head. "I'm the one who took the ball."
May blinked. "Uh… do you have subtitles all of a sudden?"
That's me, Ethan told her. I'm projecting a 20 percent mask in front of your eyes which includes translations of what he's saying.
"Huh, cool," May decided. "That's new."
It was a reasonable projection that I would be capable of it in my new state.
"Is that that Porygon?" Spoink asked, steadily bouncing. "The one you had back we last met?"
"Yeah, that's right," May agreed. "Wow, this really is a lot easier… yes, it's Ethan. But he's evolved."
Recognizing the cue, Ethan drew himself out of thin air, all mathematical curves and independently floating components.
"That's cool," Spoink said, bouncing a little closer. "So… uh, I guess we're teammates now?"
"What do you mean teammates?" May asked, a little surprised.
"Uh…" Spoink glanced up at the Pokeball bouncing above his head, until May passed him his pearl and he switched to that. "I thought that… you know. Since you caught me..."
"But… I didn't?" May protested. "You kind of caught yourself."
This is more or less how Team Rocket obtained Moltres, Ethan pointed out. And how Misty got her Psyduck, actually.
"I guess you're right – but that's not the point!" May said, shaking her head. "You're not caught, Spoink – you're just, uh..."
"Don't you want a new Pokemon?" Spoink asked. "I mean, if you..."
"It's not about what I want, Spoink," May explained, kneeling down. "It's about how I'd rather have a Pokemon who understands what's going on, and who wants to be my Pokemon."
"But you offered before..." Spoink said, sounding a bit hurt.
Venusaur tapped Spoink on the shoulder.
May jumped. "Whoah! Venusaur, don't sneak up on us like that!"
"I weigh more than a fridge," Venusaur pointed out blandly. "And I didn't sneak."
Spoink rotated in place, and looked at Venusaur. "Hello?"
"I think we'd better give May a few minutes to come to terms with it," Venusaur suggested. "Beautifly and I can explain to you what May means, and you can decide if you still like the idea."
"Okay, I guess," Spoink agreed. "Which way should I go?"
Venusaur pointed with a vine. "Beautifly's over there."
"Yah!"
Pikachu's tail flashed silver-steel, and he swung it in a curving arc.
Corphish's pair of shellsabers moved to catch the attack in a cross parry, and the force of the impact drove him back a step.
Pikachu slid his tail a little, keeping it in Iron Tail, and then used one of the jagged steps in his tail to haul himself towards and over Corphish's back.
As he did so, he disengaged his tail and touched Corphish in the back of his shell. "Got you."
Corphish deactivated his shellsabers with a flicker of red light, then nodded.
"I make that five-three," Pikachu added. "You're having trouble keeping me from making it past your guard."
"Yes," Corphish agreed. "That is what's happening."
There was a sudden snap-hiss and a red blade appeared just in front of Pikachu's nose. "But I'd have been striking for your body if it was a real fight, and you'd have taken at least two more hits."
Pikachu replied by forming a crackling sphere of electricity big enough to comfortably entrap both of them.
"Convincing counterargument," Corphish admitted, and deactivated the attack again.
There was a bang out over the bay, and he turned. "What was that?"
"Either Flygon trying to Dragonbreath Mawile in mid-jump or Mawile managing to Thunderpunch Flygon in mid-flight," Pikachu judged. "Flygon said he'd try to hit her without hitting Goodra..."
Another blast of sound, this time a crashing roar of surf and water, and Goodra rose into the air on a torrent of Dragon Pulse.
"And that's a water takeoff," Pikachu added.
Ash came over, towelling himself off, and flopped down next to Pikachu. "Phew!"
"You seem more tired than usual," his Starter observed.
"Lucario wanted to practice sword kata," Ash explained. "That presentation sword weighs a ton!"
"Going to keep it up?" Lucario asked, walking over but remaining on his feet for the moment.
"I might," Ash said, shrugging. "I guess it couldn't hurt – I mean, several of my Pokemon can use Sacred Sword now, so it'd be good to understand their limitations."
"Of course," Lucario agreed.
His paw shot out, and he caught Marshtomp's punch. "Not good enough!"
"But I was stealthy that time," Marshtomp complained.
"You didn't put enough force into it," Lucario explained. "If you want to specialize on punching and only punching – then make sure you win with the first punch, because otherwise your opponent might come up with a counter tactic."
Marshtomp nodded. "Like getting Stantler and Guy to help?"
As Marshtomp's form began to break down in blue shimmers, Lucario spun around on his heel and delivered a tail swipe to thin air.
"Yes," he added, as the real Marshtomp hit the ground. "Much better."
"Do you still need my help?" Guy asked politely.
Marshtomp muttered something pained.
"I'll take that as a no."
"...so you have to look good, and show inventiveness?" Spoink asked, not sure how to take that. "I could… um… well, I'm really mostly about bouncing."
"That doesn't have to matter," Beautifly assured him. "May's good at helping Pokemon to become good Contest performers. If you like the sound of it, well – that's the most important thing, really. That's the hardest bit to get right."
Spoink thought that over, barely bouncing at all.
"And… what if I wanted to evolve? I don't know quite what Grumpig do, but… it's got to be easier to do a Contest like that."
"You could do," Beautifly agreed. "But it sounds to me like you've got your heart set on this."
The Psychic-type frowned, pearl precariously pogoing from one position to another. "But I don't know! I thought I'd made my mind up, and then… and I arrived here, and I thought… but May seems worried about it… and… I don't know."
Beautifly thought about that.
"I know," she said, flapping her wings and rising near-soundlessly into the air. "Let's try something else… where's some coconuts or something..."
"So, how's it going?" May asked, looking over as Max came to sit down.
"Pretty good," Max grinned. "We built a huge sandcastle that Kris designed, and then Cinder went digging up through the middle of it and made the whole thing collapse – so we had to get Delta to wash all the sand off, and some of the water got on Arc, and he kind of… frizzed up. Again."
"So what did you do after that?" May said. "I mean, you were complaining about all the wet fur smell just a day or two ago, so..."
"Yeah, but since then I found out that Venusaur knows Sweet Scent," Max confided. "So I got her to help."
"I guess that works," May agreed. "And what about training?"
"Well, it was mainly Casper training," Max replied. "He kept trying to get Cinder – because she's the one who's good at sniffing him out – but she got him every time. I think she's still angry about the aniseed thing..."
May was about to go on, but a familiar voice interrupted her. "Is that – oh, hi Beautifly! And hello, Spoink!"
"Hello," Spoink said, sounding a bit nervous. "Er… Beautifly and I wanted to show you something."
"You do?" May asked, adjusting how she was sitting. "That sounds nice. What is it?"
"It'll be better as a surprise," Beautifly told her. "Ready, Spoink?"
"Um… yeah," Spoink nodded, bouncing in place.
He took a deep breath, then got started – bouncing at least two feet into the air, then three.
As he came down from the bounce, he levitated a pair of coconuts over with his psychic power. His pearl bounced on his head, but stayed stable as he began using the coconuts to 'juggle'.
May watched, realizing she was watching an Appeal, and was about to say something when Spoink pulled his trick.
As one coconut came down to be boosted back up, he bounced just a little sideways – and his spring struck the coconut, propelling him higher.
"Cool!" Max said, watching, and Spoink bounced up again – using the other coconut this time.
Two more coconuts joined in, and for a few seconds Spoink was effectively juggling five different objects – six, counting himself.
Then he made a mistake, bounced forwards, and May caught him before he hit the ground.
Coconuts bounced to the ground all around him.
"How long have you been practicing that?" May asked, looking at Spoink to make sure he was all right.
Max passed over the pearl, and May put it back on Spoink's head – then let him down to continue bouncing.
"Uh… about… half an hour?" Spoink said, uncertainly. "But that was a bit better than I was in practice… I usually fell off when I added the second pair of coconuts..."
"That's pretty good!" May told him. "No – that's really good!"
"Does that mean you'll let me be one of your Pokemon?" Spoink asked, nervously.
"Spoink – it wasn't about that," May explained. "It was making sure you knew what you were getting into – and I guess you know, now, so that's great. If you still want to be one of my Pokemon, then of course you can."
Spoink smiled, blushing shyly. "Thank you."
"Woo!"
"Yeah!"
A large group of kids plunged through the waves, all of them riding on Surfing Pokemon – either Huntail or Gorebyss.
"Gorebyss are better than Huntail!" called one of the boys. "You show them, Mariana!"
"That's a stupid name!" someone else replied, balancing on her Huntail. "My Nazca's much faster than your Gorebyss!"
"This looks like fun!" someone called.
"Whoa," said one of the boys some way back in the race. "That's cool."
Both the frontrunners looked over, and stared.
The blue form of a Suicune loped steadily along beside them, paws throwing up surprisingly small splashes as they hit the water, and her trainer waved.
"Hey, which way's Island A?" the trainer asked.
Wordlessly, both racers pointed.
"Thanks!" Ash said. "See? Told you we'd find someone!"
"I couldn't possibly comment," Suicune replied, in a cool voice which the trainers somehow understood.
"Wait, that's Ash Ketchum!" someone shouted. "I didn't realize – that's cool!"
With some larger splashes, an Entei and a Raikou came over. The Entei's broad, furred back carried an older boy, and two slightly younger trainers were riding Raikou.
"Which way is it?" asked the girl riding Raikou.
"That way!" Ash Ketchum told them.
"Wait!" said the Huntail girl. "How come you're here?"
"We kind of got a bit lost," Ash explained. "We were heading for A island, but I think we must have gone the wrong side of C."
"Raiikou, kourrrrrr," the Raikou added.
Blank looks greeted him.
"You should really learn how to do the Aura trick," the Suicune commented.
As the kids watched with bemusement, the Electric-type reached for something on his back.
"Don't!" his rider said. "You'll knock me off!"
"What my brother said," the Suicune went on, "was that it was a good thing that we didn't end up on the wrong side of the sea. Or we'd be sunk."
Some of the kids laughed, but most of the rest just groaned.
"How come everyone has the same Pokemon, anyway?" Ash asked. "They can't be that common."
"Actually, they kind of are," replied the boy, whose Gorebyss was slowing down in what looked like a mutual agreement with the Huntail. "Clamperl are really common around here, and they evolve a lot – but the best evolutions are the ones we have on Island B!"
"As if!" the girl objected.
"Far be it from me to interrupt," suggested Suicune. "But we seem to be about to reach the docks."
Everyone's Gorebyss and Huntail braked in a spray of water, and the three Beasts – Suicune in front, flanked by Entei and Raikou on either side – bunched up before jumping clear out of the water and landing on the quayside.
"So… you don't know why Pokemon in the cave on Island B evolve into Gorebyss and on island C into Huntail?" Max said, nodding.
"Yeah," agreed Keith, one of the smaller kids. "And it kind of sucks, because I want a Huntail and I'll be stuck with a Gorebyss."
"Gorebyss are cool, though," someone said.
"I think I might have an answer," Lucario suggested. "There's at least four humans and four Pokemon here who you would be able to ask about how it works."
"...oh, yeah," a girl agreed. "Ash Ketchum can speak Pokemon, remember?"
"I know, Nancy," Keith replied, in long-suffering tones. "Don't act like we don't know."
"Hey, I didn't mean it!" Nancy complained. "Stop being so thin-skinned!"
"Do you want me to pick you up before school every-"
"That's just-"
As the kids devolved into an argument, their Clamperl exchanged looks and sighed.
"How does it work?" Ash asked, crouching down to them.
"It takes about five or ten minutes in the water," Nancy's Clamperl told him. "They're just way too enthusiastic..."
"Huh," Brock said, blinking. "That was easy."
"I think our real challenge may just be getting them to listen," Suicune observed.
The glows faded, and everyone took a step forwards.
"I guess it worked!" said Gorebyss, looking back at herself.
"Yeah," Huntail agreed.
"All right!" said Nancy, taking the DeepSeaScale from her newly evolved Gorebyss. "So I guess it's just these and about ten minutes, and they evolve?"
"Looks like," Brock agreed. "Remember which is which, though."
"That sounds like a good idea," Keith agreed, taking the DeepSeaTooth. "Thanks – this'll make it much quicker for us to get to school every day!"
"Speaking of school," Nurse Joy cut in, hands on hips. "You were supposed to be in class an hour ago!"
"...we were doing a project?" Keith suggested weakly.
Joy smiled. "Well, I suppose you were. But remember to ask first next time… and I'm going to give you homework about Gorebyss and Huntail, too."
"Aw, miss..."
"Some people are kind of weird," observed Max. "I mean, I know it's good to exercise, but… these guys kind of take it to extremes."
May nodded, throwing a ball to Spoink. He bounced it twice on his head, then sent it back with a flick.
"But… yeah, I guess this also kind of shows how strong Ash has become," she said, switching to another ball. "I know he's a strong trainer, but looking at him now I can compare and see how much he's literally physically strong."
"Do you think Aura counts as cheating?" Max said, frowning.
May began to speak, stopped, then shrugged. "I think that's a pretty good question," she said. "I mean, it is something that not everyone can do… but it's something that he's trained and which is part of him. So… maybe?"
She shook her head. "Maybe the difference is that he's just got loads more of it than normal."
"What I'm kind of confused by is the shape of the island," Brock said.
"Why, what's strange about it?" Max asked.
"Islands don't look like biceps," Brock summarized. "Maybe there was a really egotistical Machamp or something..."
"You're pretty good, kid," said Rocky, the head trainer. "Are you used to bodybuilding?"
"Kind of," Ash replied, lowering the pair of Geodude. "I train a lot with Lucario."
As he put them down, the Geodudes moved off a bit to make some space.
"Well, if you're good at weight training, then you'd better be good at Pokemon training too!" Rocky told him forcefully. "So, how about it? Want a battle?"
Pikachu blinked. "Uh..."
"Sure, I guess," Ash agreed. "I was hoping to do more about fitness training, I don't get a chance to chat to someone who does it themselves very often..."
"Just one battle, come on," Rocky said. "Okay, double battle! My Pokemon have specially trained to be as strong as they can be!"
"Okay, then," Ash agreed. "I guess… Torkoal, Sceptile, you want a battle?"
Sceptile emerged, and took a feet-splayed stance with his tail brushing the floor. "I certainly do."
Torkoal looked a little more nervous, but nodded. "Right!"
"Okay, here we go, then! Walrein, Quagsire, get ready!" Rocky called, sending out both Water-types. "Hey, someone come over and ref this – yeah, thanks."
Brock cleared his throat. "Ready? Begin!"
"Get the Grass-type!" Rocky ordered. "Knock him flat!"
Sceptile's left leg shifted slightly as he braced himself, and he spun around to bring his tail whip-cracking around and slug the attacking Walrein in the side.
Following up before his opponent could gather himself, Sceptile swept his Leaf Blades around in a one-two sequence of blows.
Walrein ducked under the first and took the second in the chest, and went over backwards with a startled exclamation.
Stepping forwards, Sceptile glanced over to see if Torkoal needed any help.
"Stop him from moving!" Rocky ordered. "It can't be that hard, he's a Fire-type!"
Quagsire got a firmer grip on Torkoal, then was nearly jerked off his feet by a blast of steam. Using the blast, Torkoal wrenched himself free and launched several yards into the air – before coming down much harder, all his limbs retracted and his shell leading the way.
From the sound of the clunk, Sceptile decided Torkoal could probably handle himself.
Walrein surged back to his flippers and hit Sceptile in the stomach, driving the lizardlike Grass-type back a few feet.
"Right!" Rocky said, nodding. "Now, just-"
He stopped, staring, as Sceptile wrenched Walrein into the air and lifted him over his head.
After hefting the Ice-type for a moment to be sure of the weight, Sceptile straightened his legs with an explosive shout and pushed Walrein into the air.
Walrein curled into a ball as he rose, peaked and fell, ready to use Ice Ball, and got blasted by a Flamethrower from Torkoal.
As the Water-type uncurled, slightly dizzy, Sceptile delivered a final blow with a Leaf Blade.
Rocky stared. "But… what happened to my plan?"
"I'm pretty sure it was us," Sceptile said, glancing at Torkoal. "What do you think?"
"Sounds about right," Torkoal agreed.
Brock raised his hand. "Uh… Mr – Rocky, was it?"
Rocky nodded, returning his stunned Quagsire. "That's me, all right."
"Well… I was wondering if you knew Ash has three League wins?"
Rocky blinked. "Say what?"
He looked at Ash again. "But… how come? He's way too young to have had time to do that and train to get that fit!"
"Hey, sensei?" someone asked. "Do you even watch TV?"
"What's that got to do with it?" Rocky asked, confused.
"We've basically all heard of Ash Ketchum," the girl explained. "He's kind of famous – he's got Legendary Pokemon, he's won two Leagues-"
"Didn't he just say three?" Rocky interjected.
"Orange totally doesn't count," she said, waving a hand. "Seriously."
"I thought it did..." Ash muttered. "Lucario blew up the arena, doesn't that count?"
"No Elite Four, four gyms, sports challenges, no knockout round," the girl summarized. "Not a proper League."
"Well, at least you won," Max pointed out.
"Yeah, but..." Ash shrugged. "I just kind of feel down about the whole Orange thing."
"She didn't mean to be rude," Brock told him. "Just… unenthusiastic."
"I know, I know..." Ash sighed.
"Hey, pass me one of the big ones," Sableye asked, kicking back.
Fearow just gave him a stare.
"I'll do it," Alakazam sighed.
Waving a spoon, the Psychic-type lifted up an irregular amethyst cluster and passed it across to Sableye. "There's not many more this big."
"I guess we'll just have to go get more, then," Sableye replied with a shrug. He nibbled on the gemstone, leaving a small cavity in the side. "Mmm, lots of lovely chromium impurities."
"I'll take your word for it on the taste," Alakazam decided.
On a lounger next to them, Nidoqueen snored. Her tail thumped into the ground once, and a smile spread across her face.
"Ah, this is the life," Sableye opined, putting the half-eaten rock on a table and laying back with his arms behind his head. "Don't you guys think so?"
Fearow huffed disdainfully.
Sableye pushed himself half-upright with one arm, leaning to look. "Wait, did you – you did!"
"What's that?" Alakazam asked, one spoon poised about to dig into an ice cream cone.
"There's a thing of dried fruit next to him," Sableye explained, pointing. "But he's eaten, what, half of them? He always does it when we're not looking!"
Alakazam chuckled.
"Oh, give it a rest," he added, waving his left spoon at the annoyed Fearow. "We won't think any less of you if you're… you know… not consumed with psychotic rage all the time."
"We'll tell jokes, though," Sableye said.
"Well, yeah, but I was hoping we'd be able to avoid mentioning that one." Alakazam took a bite of the ice cream, and his moustaches bristled happily. "It's got peach in it, I like peach."
"Conferences," Sableye summarized, "are awesome."
There was a tremendous splash from the pool, as someone's Swampert cannonballed into it and sent water washing out in all directions.
A Camerupt snorted its opinion of the interruption, and someone blew a whistle. "Hey!" the lifeguard called, letting the whistle bounce back down on its cord. "No bombing!"
"Remind me again how come we get to come here?" Sableye asked. "Is this just a thing scientists do so they get a week off?"
"It's supposed to be so they can pool experience and abilities, as well as network," Alakazam told him. "Obviously they need to go somewhere where most of them will be foreigners anyway, so it may as well be neutral ground. In practice, it's absolutely so they can get a week off. Which is why they do lovely tropical places like this more often than they do… well… somewhere three feet deep in snow. Or where it just rains all day."
"Yeah, the sun's definitely an improvement," Sableye said, stretching. "Funny thing, really, I used to live in a cave… but this is way better."
"I understand that mixed drinks are rare in caves, as well." Alakazam levitated a dry Martini up to Fearow, who dipped his beak into it. "Yes, it's a dry one, don't worry..."
Nidoqueen fell off her sun lounger with a whack.
"Ow," she mumbled.
"Any idea when Gary's going to be back?" Sableye asked.
Alakazam shrugged. "Based on how long his presentation rehearsals went, he should be back now – but there's Q&A sessions as well, so he might be a while."
On a quiet island a little way off the main route from Lilycove to Mossdeep, a large helicopter came down to a rotors-whirling landing. Sand danced out from the downwash, and three Magma agents jumped out of the cargo hold.
Maxie waited while their Poochyenas and Mightyenas fanned out, quartering the beach. His hand reached down to caress the handle of the suitcase by his side, and he adjusted his glasses.
"All clear, sir," reported one agent.
"Good," Maxie replied, taking up the handle of the case. "Standard formation. Have the helicopter gain height – not much, just make sure it's off the ground."
He stepped out, and his hair whipped as the aircraft regained height.
"Courtney," he added. "No need for the deception. Archie needs to see that we are serious… there's no better way to fool him."
The grunt next to him nodded, and discarded her issue hoodie. Underneath it, Maxie's able lieutenant was revealed, and she spent a moment adjusting her clothes before nodding to herself.
"Yes, sir," she said. "The agreed meeting location is over here."
"Excellent," Maxie pronounced, looking up at the island's central mountain. "This will do just fine. Aqua forget too easily that islands rise from the sea, and are not so easily rendered dormant."
A few hundred metres out to sea, the reddish-brown form of Land's Wrath – Team Magma's amphibious fortress – settled to the sandy bay floor.
"All stop," reported the man at the helm. "We are down and latched."
Good work," Tabitha told him. "Now… we wait, until the strike team is successful."
AN:
Spoink's grab-anything-round deal was going to lead to catastrophe some time. At least it's an okay catastrophe.
There's also a look at some more of May's team, the whole foursome travelling In Style, and a battle which... probably wasn't what the challenger intended.
Oh, also, Gary Oak Is In... Barbados.
And finally some guys doing something I'm sure is unimportant.
