Salamence came down to land, skimming low across the hilltop before flaring and coming to rest.

Drake jumped off before his Dragon had stopped moving. "Mr. Ketchum?"

"That's me," Ash confirmed. "Nice to see you again."

Brock nodded his agreement, and May smiled. "It's good to meet you when something ridiculous hasn't happened in the last few hours."

"Well, that thing with Groudon and Kyogre wasn't very long ago," Brock pointed out.

"Actually, now I come to think of it..." Ash frowned. "There isn't something dangerous going on, right?"

"No, lad," Drake replied. "Nothing as bad as you think – it's just that I was checking on Liza and Tate, and they mentioned that your friend Max had faced them recently."

Reaching up, he gave Salamence a scratch under the chin. "And I thought it might be a good idea to look in on you."

"That's nice," Brock said. "What would you like to drink?"

"I doubt you're old enough to buy it," Drake waved off.

"Actually-" Brock began, and then a loud noise interrupted them.

A blaze of white-blue-purple light lit everyone from the north, and then Goodra went hurtling overhead to the sound of Mawile's happy laughter.

Shortly before the big Dragon-type landed, Mawile jumped off his back, and a makeshift parachute opened with a crack of air.

"...well, you don't see that every day," Drake admitted. "I see your Goomy evolved to his final stage."

"Yeah, it's been a good month or two for evolving Dragon-types," Ash agreed, glancing over at Altaria – who blushed slightly, dipping his head. "And Mawile took the idea that Goodra couldn't fly as a challenge."

The Dragon-type specialist nodded, frowning. "I see… well, Ash, your Pokémon are clearly as surprising as you."

"I think Mawile's decided to take after him as deliberately as possible," Brock agreed.

As he spoke, the Steel-type came hurrying up the hill with Goodra. "Did you see that? The parachute thing worked – oh, hello," she interrupted herself, and did a quick curtsey. "What's your name?"

After a moment of silence, she looked puzzled.

"Remember, not everyone can understand Pokémon," Brock said gently, and she made an ah of understanding.

"So, you're the one who came up with a way for Goodra to fly?" Drake asked, bending down. "I'm impressed."

"Pleased to meet you, Impressed," Mawile said, then giggled.

Standing up again, Drake looked around, then counted under his breath. "Two… three… four… how many Dragons do you have?"

"Well, you know Flygon is Brock's Pokémon," Ash said, remembering the conversation from last time. "And you know Goodra as well, and I think Latias and Latios were on the news too..."

Latios waved.

"Does Charizard count?" Ash added.

"...probably," Drake agreed. "Close enough for me, anyway, especially with a Charizardite X. But what about the Altaria?"

"He's mine," May said, stroking his back. "Just evolved this morning."

"He looks quite large, for an Altaria," Drake commented. "Reminds me of the ones the Blackthorn clan keep."

"I do?" Altaria asked.

Drake looked him up and down, then did the same to May. "You could probably ride him, lass, if-"

"Already thought of it," she interrupted.

The Elite Four member chuckled. "Well, most people do, and I can't blame them – there's nothing quite like riding a dragon."

Latias told me that Ash nearly fell off her when he started, Latios said.

Drake blinked, startled. "Who was – was that Latios?"

Recovering a bit, he turned his attention to the floating Legendary. "I knew Latios and Latias were Psychic-type, but I didn't realize they were telepaths that could communicate with humans..."

It took a while for me to learn, Latios explained. Maybe others can do it more easily, but my sister and I kind of had to work our powers out for ourselves. Ash had some great ideas to help with that, too.

Drake nodded. "It's good to see that some of the only known Latias and Latios with a trainer are in such good hands."

Turning back to the trainer in question, he gave him another look. "So! I hope you're not going to just make our League look ridiculous, Mr. Ketchum!"

"Uh… how would I do that?" Ash asked.

"I'm sure you've got several different ways to make them look ridiculous," Pikachu said, making Salamence snort with laughter. "The tricky bit is not doing it."

"Well, unfortunately, everyone knows you use Legendaries," Drake said. "So you can't just not use them… but try not to steal everyone's thunder."

"That's kind of my main ability," Pikachu protested.

Salamence chuckled again.

"I kind of wish Drake got that one," he said. "It must be so cool for your trainer to understand you."


"How much further?"

"Not far," James replied, glancing out the window. "May was in a Contest just this morning, and it's not like they're going to have gone far."

He looked back at the others. "Right?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure they could be on da other side of Hoenn by now," Meowth pointed out. "You know, 'cause of Latias, Latios, Pidgeot, an' da Beasts."

"...oh, yeah," James admitted. "Should we keep going?"

"Of course we should!" Jessie replied. "We can ask if they've done the Gym challenge here yet!"

"And if they have?" Cubone asked, leaning against the rear wall of the cabin and using a sharp spine to clean around her claws.

"Then we work it out as we go along, of course!" Meowth reminded her. "'cause we kinda do that a lot, an' all..."

There was a flash of light, just visible from where they were.

"What was that?" James asked.

Jessie got out the binoculars, and focused them. "It looks a lot like… there's a Salamence fighting a Latios!"

"Okay, da twerps got in trouble again!" Meowth sighed.

"They just keep dragon us back in!" Wobbuffet quipped.

Cubone threw her spine at Wobbuffet, which bounced off. "That was terrible."


"Okay, that's something to work on," Drake said, as Latios went crashing into the ground.

Salamence flew overhead, stopping his barrage of Dragonfire, and let the modified Tailwind he'd been using dissipate as well.

"Yeah, I can see..." Ash agreed, wincing, as Latios shook his head and brushed grass off his flank. "Was that because of the shield bubble?"

"Aye," Drake confirmed. "Since he was relying on the shield, Salamence just blasted him so he couldn't unshield – or even see where he was going – then just blew him into the ground. Used it on that Dragonite Lance has."

The Elite Four member shook his head. "Of course, it didn't work then..."

"You okay, Latios?" Ash called, and got a thumbs-up from the Legendary. "Great!"

"So, how would you handle that one?" Drake added, as Latios gathered himself and floated back into the air.

"Uh..." Ash frowned, thinking about it. "Well, I guess there are a few options. One of them would be to form a Counter Shield inside the bubble and push it outwards, to create enough of a gap – but for that you'd need to – look out!"

Latios rolled to the side, and a Draco Meteor screamed past to hit a pond below. Water went everywhere, and a Lombre made a rude gesture at them as it hit the apex of its arc.

"Good," Drake added, gruffly. "Some people will distract you while their Pokémon follows a preset plan, hoping you won't notice."

"That's kind of sneaky," Ash agreed. "I guess you just have to watch out for people doing things you can't see."

Drake cuffed him on the shoulder, seeming momentarily surprised when it didn't stagger him. "You've got the right idea, lad – and I noticed when Latios went invisible, too."

"I guess it's hard to surprise a Dragon-type specialist with what a Dragon-type can do," May observed. "Unless it's a Dragon which isn't really well known, like Mega Rayquaza."

"...yes, I heard about that," Drake said. "From the message Lance sent, he suggested that you actually rode on-"

He broke off, realizing he was the one being distracted from the fight now, and pointed. "Salamence, there!"

Salamence's big wings flared, pulling him up into a backflip, and he fired a Dragon Pulse at empty air – which suddenly gained a shimmering transparency, as Latios shielded just before being hit.

"You need to be more unpredictable," Drake began.

"No he doesn't!" May said quickly. "If there's anyone who doesn't need to be more unpredictable, it's Ash!"

"...well, I suppose that might be true," Drake allowed. "But if Latios goes for the ideal shot – the blind spot – then he's going to be more predictable than if he tried somewhere else."

Whatever else Drake was about to say was interrupted as a big heavy-lift aircraft came thundering over a nearby hill, all eight hoverjets flaring, and spun around before opening the doors.

A Dustox came flying out of the open doors, flying up into the air to get clear, and a moment later the ramp bounced against the ground for a moment and a dozen Pokémon came rushing out.

"Why are Jessie and James here?" Brock asked, blinking. "I mean..."

Two large bones went flying into the air aimed at Salamence, who dodged them with an adroit flick of his wings, and he counterfired with a Dragon Pulse on his own initiative.

"Wait!" Ash said, realizing, as Wobbuffet knocked the Dragon Pulse back into the air and Moltres burst skywards. "They think that's Hunter J's Salamence!"

"Blaziken!" May called. "Let them know they're-"

Blaziken set off with a whoosh of air, accelerating away from May's side and leaving a faint smell of smoke behind him.

"Hunter J..." Drake muttered, scowling. "We're all better off with her in prison."


"Any sign of the Poison types?" Victreebel asked. "Dustox, can you see anything?"

"No sign!" the Bug-type called back down. "Or her – but I see May and her friends, and they don't seem in danger."

Abra picked up Wobbuffet with a pulse of telekinesis and used him to swat aside a Dragon Rush from Salamence. It worked, just, but sent the Psychic-type shooting off into the middle distance.

Mercifully, his latest pun went unheard.

"Any ideas?" Cubone asked.

Well, one, but it's a bit meta- Abra began to reply, before Blaziken came sprinting into the area.

He spun, using his heels to brake, and span to a halt next to Meowth. "Wrong Salamence," he explained simply.

"...oh," Meowth muttered. "Guys! False alarm!"

James poked his head out of the door. "Really?"

"Whose is the Salamence, then?" Jessie asked. "I mean, they're not very common, and who'd be…"

Her voice slowed.

"Didn't we get sent blasting off by a Salamence once?"

"Well, it ain't like we can check da scrapbook..." Meowth said, shrugging. "But yeah, sometin' about a ship?"

"Wouldn't that be Drake, then?" asked Cubone, flipping a bone in one hand as she watched the circling Salamence.

The others stared at her.

"What? It's in the dossiers… don't any of you read dossiers?"

Growlie raised a paw, and Chimecho dingled happily. "Chimecho!"

"No, no, it ain't just Chimecho!" Meowth sighed. "What is it?"

Chimecho's expression contorted. "Chimecho… uh… I do?"

"That's better," Carnivine complimented him.

"You know, I think we might have gotten distracted..." Jessie suggested. "Did we just accidentally attack a Pokémon belonging to an Elite Four member?"

"Ta be fair, it ain't anything close to da first time,"Meowth said. "Even if ya don't count Misty on dat list..."

"Let's go explain before we get our plane confiscated," James sighed.


"Hm..." Drake said, frowning. "So… you saw a Legendary fighting a Salamence, and decided it had to be Hunter J – one of the most ferocious criminals in recent history, and someone who is currently in maximum security jail?"

"Pretty much," Jessie agreed.

"Can ya blame us?" Meowth added.

"It's not like it's even the third time we've shown up just in time to help out Ash with trouble of this kind," James mused.

Drake nodded. "Completely understandable."

The Rockets nearly fell over.

"Pardon?" Jessie said, frowning. "This never happens."

"Well, not when we ain't just helped take da Elite Four guy in question out from in front of a volcano," Meowth corrected. "An' a couple of other times too."

While they talked, James took something out of his pocket and threw it to land a few feet away. "Whoops," he said. "I think I just dropped something."

"I hope someone else doesn't find it before you do," Jessie agreed. "That would be at terrible accident."

Everyone else just looked at the glittering stone.

"Just take it!" Meowth snapped, kicking it to Ash. "But if anyone asks, we dropped it – got it?"

"That's a Mega stone, right?" May said, looking at it. "What's it for?"

"Sceptile," James said, apparently giving up with even the pretence. "It's a Sceptilite – call it payment for the Audinite."

"Thanks," Ash said, touched. "That's pretty cool of you guys."

"Isn't Mega Sceptile a Dragon-type?" Brock asked. "I remember Clair using one."

"...she never told me that," Drake said, surprised. "Maybe the lass didn't think it was important enough to mention."

"I guess I can try it out now, if you'd like to see," Ash said. "Dexter, can you get Sceptile?"

Placing call now.

"And get Meganium too," Ash added. "I think I might use them together for my gym battle here."


Kingler's enormous pincer reached out, aiming straight for the Nidoqueen.

It closed around her neck, then he shifted his stance slightly and moved her forward three places.

"Not bad," Quilava admitted, looking at the chessboard. "I wasn't expecting that."

Kingler clicked. "You need to keep an eye on the Queen, it can move all over the place."

The Fire-type nodded, ruff flickering up for a moment. "Hmmm… I don't think it's quite as bad as it seems, though. What do you think, Totodile?"

"Huh?"

Totodile looked over to Quilava, then to the board. "Oh, right! Sorry, I kinda got distracted..."

Hurrying over, the crocodilian Water-type leaned down and tilted his head. "Uh… okay, how do the Rapidash ones move again?"

Quilava demonstrated, moving it two places forward and one to the right, then put it back in place.

"Right… uh, I think you should ignore the Nidoqueen one, 'cause it's not going to be able to capture anything without being captured," Totodile said. "You should use this one over here."

"The Mew I've got six spaces across the board, right," Quilava agreed. She checked again, looking at all the pieces Kingler had in that area, and making sure none of them could capture the Mew before it got to the eighth place and could turn into whatever she wanted. "Yeah, I like that idea."

She reached out, pushing the Mew piece to the seventh row.

Kingler promptly moved his Rapidash, so it was threatening one of the same pieces the Nidoqueen was targeting.

"Were you planning on doing that?" Quilava asked.

Kingler nodded, looking smug.

"Well, fair enough.. Totodile, do you want to do the honours?"

Totodile pushed the Mew to the eighth place, then took it off the board and put a Nidoqueen there instead. "There!"

Kingler inspected the board, then looked up.

"Have you ever considered evolving?"

Quilava and Totodile blinked.

"Uh… I sort of have," Totodile said. "But I'd be way too big then. And Croconaw seems kinda slow and clumsy, too, and that's not something I want to be!"

"I can see why you'd think that," Kingler nodded. "I mean, it's a big change – but for me, all that happened was that I got bigger and tougher. I didn't really slow down, so there wasn't much of a downside."

He indicated Quilava with one claw. "What about you?"

"Uh… I don't know," Quilava said. "I don't think my Flame Wheel fighting style would really work as a Typhlosion – they're more brawlers, and I work best hit-and-run."

"I guess that makes sense," Kingler agreed. "You wouldn't want to end up like Torterra."

"I can't wait to meet Torterra again!" Totodile informed them. "He has the best parties!"

"Oh, I remember those," Quilava smiled. "Who gave him the idea of putting fairy lights in his branches?"

Totodile held up his right paw. "Me!"


"You know, you guys are pretty loud," Swellow called, banking to circle over the clash. "You could keep someone awake."

Sceptile jumped backwards, blades blazing with a bright green light. "It's midday, and Noctowl's the other side of the ranch."

He brought one Leaf Blade up to block a swipe from Corphish's glowing red blade, then jumped back and fired a ranged Leaf Blade from the other. The crustacean blasted it apart with a crossed-blade move, and swept his Shellsabers down to both sides.

The Grass-type attack hit the ground, cutting furrows in the grass, and then they lunged again.

"Hey, Sceptile? Sceptile!" Swellow called. "I just remembered what it was I came over for!"

Another quick blade-clash, and Sceptile brought his tail around. It flexed, flipping Corphish into the air, and the Grass-type came bounding forwards to exploit the moment of vulnerability.

Corphish replied with a blast of Bubblebeam, twisting in mid-air, and used his right shellsaber to push off from Sceptile's blade.

"Sceptile!" Swellow shouted, with just a hint of Boomburst.

Sceptile disengaged, and let his leaves shed their glowing coating. "Yes?"

"Ash wanted you," Swellow informed him. "And I guess Meganium – any idea where she is?"

"Why would I know where she is?" Sceptile asked.

"Because you two are friends?" Swellow replied, answering the question with a question. "Fine, never mind then, I'll look for her."

Corphish and Sceptile watched her fly off.

"Were you going to tell Swellow that I'm over here?" Meganium asked.

"Not really, no..."


"Hi, Sceptile!" Ash said, sending him out. "Sorry it's not long since the Groudon and Kyogre thing."

"That's fine," Sceptile shrugged.

He glanced over at Team Rocket. "Afternoon."

"Hi yourself," Meowth replied. "How come you ain't all over James like some Grass types are?"

"Never saw the appeal, myself," Sceptile replied. "What was it you wanted, Ash?"

"Oh, yeah," Ash said, taking the Sceptilite out. "Catch!"

Sceptile caught.

"Is this a Sceptile Mega Stone, then?" he asked, inspecting it. "I have to admit, the colour fits. Are we going to try it out?"

"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "Ready?"

"Certainly."

With a nod, Ash unlimbered his staff.

Sceptile.

Sceptile had had his ups and downs early on, especially as Treecko and Grovyle. He'd been wilful, not willing to go along with an order he didn't agree with, and independent-minded – something which had made him a handful, but also made him a much better fighter.

As time had gone on, though, he'd concluded that Ash was worthy of his trust. That was something Ash treasured – after all, it meant he'd managed to earn something that was not easy to earn.

Once earned, that loyalty was humbling. The tough Grass-type had been the one to finally defeat Tobias' Darkrai, and had fought Regirock and Deoxys for him along with being a real powerhouse throughout Hoenn and Kanto.

And, of course, there was his battles this second time around. His mastery of Sacred Sword, and his performance against Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.

Sceptile was a strong Pokémon, and a worthy one.

"That's pretty cool," Mawile said. "He really is like that one Clair had!"

Ash opened his eyes.

Mawile was right – Mega Sceptile looked a lot like Clair's one had. But there were differences, as well – subtle things, in the way he carried himself and the position of his tail.

"Hey – can you check something?" Ash asked, remembering. "There was a thing Clair's Mega Sceptile did – when it used Leaf Storm, the tailtip fired kind of like a missile. Can you do that?"

"Let's find-" Mega Sceptile began, and then the red tailtip rocketed off and blew half the leaves off a tree.

"Whoa!" May said, taking several steps back. "Are you sure that's safe?"

"...I can see I might need some practice at this," the newly Mega Evolved Pokémon admitted.


"I think that's nearly everything tested," Mega Sceptile said, with some satisfaction. "Thanks for the practice, Lucario."

Lucario dropped his Protect shield, and nodded. "Not a problem. What's left?"

"Oh, this is something we came up with back at the ranch," Meganium told him, and glanced over at Ash. "It's not really a new trick, but it's something that could be useful."

She extended her vines, flexing them, and nodded. "Right, ready. Lucario, can you fire something that looks a lot like a dangerous Bug or Fire attack?"

Lucario's reply was to form an Aura Sphere, then spin it up further and light one of his hands on fire for a Fire Punch.

The crackling flames streamed into the Aura Sphere, slowly charging it with bright orange under the outer blue shell.

"That's impressively realistic," Mega Sceptile said evenly. "Is that actually Fire-type?"

"A bit," Lucario replied, finishing the process – resulting in a two-layered ball, orange contained within fainter blue.

Then he wound up and threw it at Mega Sceptile.

Meganium's vines wrapped around Mega Sceptile's shoulders, and she yanked him back and to one side – well out of the way of the attack, letting it burst harmlessly on the ground.

"There," she said, slackening the vines and uncoiling them. "Phew, you're a bit heavier like this."

"I don't feel heavier," Mega Sceptile said, bouncing on the balls of his feet and waving his tail. "Are you sure?"

"There's not much, but it's there," Meganium replied. "Must be the extra tail length and all those spiky bits… whatever they're for."

"I think they're supposed to be aerodynamic… that makes sense, right?" Mega Sceptile asked.

"I don't think that's how aerodynamics works," Lucario shrugged. "But maybe, I don't know – I mean, you're a dragon now, who knows how they work."

Meganium frowned. "Oh, that's right – that means Fairy type attacks and especially Ice type attacks are something to watch out for. But – do you know any good Dragon type attacks to use your new Type?"

There was a pause.

"...no, actually," Mega Sceptile said, shaking his head. "No, I do not."

"What about Steel moves?" Ash asked. "And you can probably transform back now, Sceptile, so take a rest."

The Grass-type did so, exhaling slowly, and his transformation reversed itself.

Meganium caught the Sceptilite as it dropped out, and passed it to him. "You should probably get a band to keep this on."

"I'll ask May if she's got something," Ash decided. "But I think it might be a good idea for Sceptile to brush up on Iron Tail – that or one of you gets a good Poison move. Since you have to watch out for Fairy types now, it sounds like it's just the sensible thing to do."

"Can't I just knock them out with my new power before they get a chance to use a move?" Sceptile asked. "It's not like there'll be a Pokémon that powerful in this gym battle."

"...you know this is a gym leader battle, right?" Meganium asked. "And that Ash's reputation has preceded him? I wouldn't be surprised if they prepared something specially."

"Fine," Sceptile sighed. "If you say so."

He nodded to Lucario. "Let's-"

Pikachu jumped in front of him, interrupting the Grass-type. "Actually, I'll be teaching you."

Sceptile looked blank. "Why?"

"Because Lucario's a Steel type," Pikachu pointed out. "He didn't need to learn Steel conversion – I did." Demonstrating, Pikachu switched his tail to Iron Tail and swished it back and forth a few times. "So come on, let's get this learned before dinner!"

"Are you sure there's time?" Sceptile asked.

"Yeah, it's already four PM," Ash added, checking Dexter. "So there's only an hour or two – Brock's already setting up his grill, and I'm pretty sure Audino's recruiting Mawile to help him out."

"He'll finish it before dinner," Pikachu said firmly. "If that means delaying his dinner, then that's what we'll do. Come on!"

Sceptile took a step back. "Wait, I never agreed to that."

"So?" Pikachu shrugged. "We're burning daylight, let's do this!"

"You'd better go," Meganium said, smiling. "I'll save you a plate."

"Traitor," Sceptile muttered, following his yellow drill sergeant.


"Here you go!" Mawile said, standing on tiptoe and sliding a box of cooking supplies onto the bench.

She turned around, leaning forwards, and her jaw put three fresh onions on top of the box.

"Thank you," Audino smiled. "And thank you as well, Goodra – just put it over there, please."

"Why do I have to carry more than anyone else?" Goodra asked, hefting an entire portable grill into the cleared space.

"Because you're a big strong dragon!" Mawile replied. "Besides, Mister Abra is helping too!"

Abra yawned, teleporting in five hundred berries and some pastry, and fell asleep.

"Psychic powers are sort of cheating," Goodra grumbled.

Mawile giggled. "Don't be such a sourpuss!" she said, and Goodra smiled back at her.

"So, what are you doing first?" she added, looking up at Audino. "Are you going to Mega Evolve, to become an even better cook?"

"I could," Audino agreed. "Meowth – can you ask Jessie to Mega Evolve me?"

"Got it," Meowth said, dropping out of the trees.

Mawile jumped. "Was he here all that time?"

"I think he was planning on taking one of the pies," Audino said darkly, adjusting his Audinite.

A moment later, it began to glow.

"Wow..." Mawile said, watching as Audino transformed. "You've got a cool transformation sequence!"

She glanced over at Goodra. "Hey, think we can do one of those next time I get a Mawilite?"

"It could be fun," Goodra mused. "What would I be?"

"The fun mascot who tells the heroine about her destiny!" Mawile said, patting him on the leg. "You're perfect!"

"He's a bit big, isn't he?" Mega Audino asked, using the immense power of Mega Evolution to chop potatoes with his knife. "I mean, he's big enough to carry you on his shoulders."

"That's the best kind of mascot!" Mawile explained. "It's a pity there isn't a Goodraite, though… there's not, right? That would be cool!"


"Okay, so this is Fullmoon island," Todd mused, shading his eyes and looking up at the mountain forming the peak. "I'm pretty glad we're coming here now, this would be pretty horrible in winter..."

Sneasel waved a paw.

"Oh, sure, you'd be fine," Todd said, shaking his head.

The mustelid Ice-type nodded, a faint smirk on her muzzle, then looked inland.

She got out the map, and tapped a point with her foreclaw.

"Yeah, that's where the lake is supposed to be," Todd agreed, and glanced up at the position of the sun. "But I don't really want to go up there without our guide – I think Cresselia might take it wrongly otherwise."

Sneasel thought about that, then nodded. She folded the map again, and clambered up Todd's leg to stow it in his bag. Not stopping there, she scaled his back and sat on top of his bag with a chirp.

"See anything?" Todd asked, reaching back to give her a rub and a scratch.

The Dark-type shook her head, leaning into the scratch, then stilled and pushed his hand away.

Planting one foot on his neck, she got a bit more height, then unzipped Todd's bag with a toe and retrieved her camera.

"Can I turn?" Todd asked, standing still to provide her a stable platform. At a 'nease!' of approval, he turned to look out to sea to see.

It took him a few seconds to see it, though Sneasel had no such problems – the camera's whirr sounded three times before he finally saw what was on the way. "Oh, well done! Can you do the standard set?"

Sneasel smiled, adjusting the camera to reduce the zoom and took another photo. She took a moment out of her time to pass Todd his own camera, then returned to taking a sequence covering the whole time from appearance to shore.

Todd did something slightly different, trusting Sneasel to get a good sequence of regular photos. He tuned the zoom so it showed a wider field of view, then deliberately put the incoming Pokémon out of focus.

Sea, sky, spray and Suicune all blurred together as he took the photo, and only a few seconds later the shiny Legendary came splashing through the surf and padded slowly to a halt on the beach.

"Thanks for coming," Todd said, smiling.

Suicune nodded, and spoke.

"...no, I'm afraid I can't understand you," Todd apologized.

The Shiny stopped, then laughed, shaking her head.

"Sne..." Sneasel chirped. "-easel?"

Suicune nodded, and padded past them before glancing back and gesturing with a paw.

"Right," Todd agreed. "Thanks again for this – Molly said you didn't mind, but it's still great of you to come all this way."

Suicune indicated his camera, and Todd chuckled. "Certainly, I'll send some of the best pictures. There's one I got of you coming in, and-"

Sneasel showed him the back of her camera, one of the pictures she'd taken on screen.

"Great work!" Todd praised, taking it and showing Suicune. "She got one of you bursting through that wave right at the end!"

Molly's friend nodded enthusiastically, then indicated the trail again.

"Right," Todd agreed. "We'd better make sure we actually get to Cresselia in time to talk to her."

The sand crunched under their feet, and then Todd raised his voice again. "Do you think she'll be okay with it?"

Suicune shrugged, waving a paw back and forth.

Sneasel glanced at her trainers' face, and Todd chuckled. "That one was obvious."


"...so, what actually did happen in Hoenn?" Karen asked, rummaging through the movie cases. "Lance told us the short version, but… well, you were there."

"It's… kind of hard to summarize," Misty said, then ducked as Togekiss drifted overhead and perched on the hammock they'd set up. "I mean, I was in Team Aqua for months, so there's that..."

"No, not that bit," Karen clarified. "Unless there was something with a Legendary then as well?"

"There was a Moltres," Misty told her. "I wasn't on the Groudon capture team, though, so Moltres was the only Legendary I really ran into…"

Karen gave her a look. "You're desensitized."

"What?" Misty asked. "You battled Legendaries too."

"Yeah, and it was hard to find them!" Karen replied. "But for you, Legendaries are just… a thing that happens."

"Well, Ash did use about three different Legendary Pokémon in his gym battles in Johto," Misty shrugged. "Maybe you're right, maybe I am a bit used to meeting them..."

Karen snorted.

"Okay, a lot," Misty amended. "But you were really asking about the big battle against Groudon and Kyogre, right?"

"Yeah," Karen agreed. "This one?"

Misty nodded. "Yeah, an action movie would be good."

Karen put the disk into her media system, and sat back on one of the bean bags. Absol came padding over and licked her hand – blade carefully averted from the beanbag and Karen's skin – and the Dark-type Elite Four member smiled down at one of her strongest Pokémon. "By the sounds of things you were living an action movie."

"Well, there was a volcanic eruption, so yeah," Misty agreed. "But the important bits are… yes, there was a Mega Evolution thing happening to Groudon and Kyogre – it was called Primal Reversion. Yes, they were so strong that the only Pokémon I saw managing to fight them without being Legendaries or Mega-Evolved were..."

She counted on her hand. "Lance's Salamence, Lance's Dragonite, Ash's Pikachu and Ash's Sceptile… and I think Charizard and Lucario were there too. And all of them are powerful."

"Who was Mega Evolved, then?" Karen asked.

"Well, the one you'd probably be most interested in is Absol," Misty informed her. "Mega Absol – I only saw her for a moment, but she was pretty cool. She was actually flying on the air upcurrents around Primal Groudon."

Absol barked.

"Yeah, we need one of those!" Karen agreed, laughing.

A very loud advert for 'Fossil Safari' interrupted the conversation, and Karen held up the remote for Absol.

Misty watched, interested, as the Dark-type hammered the skip button about eight times in two seconds. "What-"

Absol's gaze went to the screen, and then she nodded in satisfaction.

"Oh, cool," Misty chuckled, as the main film titles started. "I guess going too far is a kind of disaster?"

"A really small one, but it counts," Karen agreed. "Okay, here we go… want some popcorn?"


Lucario jumped backwards, spinning with balletic precision on his right foot, and lashed out with a Flash Cannon.

Garchomp dodged, blades flashing as she turned the movement into a spin, and the Steel-type backflipped away from a Dual Chop attack before skidding to a halt again.

Both were already preparing their next attacks, and a Dragon Pulse roared out from Lucario's palm before being knocked aside by a blaze of energy from the Dragon-type.

Garchomp engulfed her form in glowing violet-yellow energy, powering up a Giga Impact, and there was a knock on the door.

Both Pokémon dropped out of combat stance instantly.

"It's open," Lucario called, bowing to Garchomp. He raised himself onto his toes, palms down, and took a deep breath before letting it flow slowly and steadily out.

"I'm still finding that to be very useful," Cynthia said, shutting the door behind her with a click. "It's so useful that we can talk properly to one another – and, through you, all my other Pokémon."

Garchomp waved. "Did you find anything?"

"Both Garchomp and I would like to know if everything went well," Lucario summarized. "Any problems?"

"Well, a couple of idiots tried to mug me," Cynthia replied, sitting down on one of the benches lining the walls of the salle. "Spiritomb told them off."

"Ouch," Lucario said. "I hope they weren't hurt."

"Not permanently," Cynthia waved off. "He did carry them halfway across the city, but only because that was the main police station."

Garchomp chuckled. "I'm not sure, but I think if I was there I might have tried to cut their trousers down."

Lucario explained, and Cynthia nodded. "Thanks."

She leaned back against the wall. "This is such a great thing to be able to do… I think it's kind of a revolution we're in the middle of watching, this explosion of Pokémon and human cooperation."

"I think you're very right," Lucario agreed. "It's all those things in a short space of time – those films by Cleavon, then the interview with the current Johto Champion..."

"...and the book by Mewtwo on top of that," Cynthia smiled. "That was very informative – it's good to get a perspective like that, and it's got people talking."

She shrugged. "But I think the bit with Ash Ketchum was the most important one, really. Because he can understand Pokémon, and because he can use Aura well enough it helps remind people that Pokémon are… a lot like them, really."

The tough Sinnoh Grand Champion snapped her fingers. "Oh, I was going to mention – Lance told us about what happened down in Hoenn, he was there."

Lucario sat next to her. "Oh?"

Smiling, Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Yes, 'oh', Lucario. You don't need to pretend you're not interested. Anyway, apparently it was Ash Ketchum being there which helped."

"He does seem to get around," Lucario mused. "Well, I suppose he has good taste in Pokémon."

"He does?" Garchomp said, tilting her head. "I didn't know he has a Garchomp."

"He doesn't," Lucario told her.

Cynthia chuckled. "Yeah, I get the idea. Anyway, he told us about all this… and reminded me that the tip-off is that Cyrus is worse."

Lucario glanced at his trainer. "No news of him? I assume you would have told us if there was."

"It's like he's a ghost or something," Cynthia sighed. "Nobody's found more than a few vague hints of where or what he's doing – it took a lot of effort to confirm he existed at all, but I'm pretty sure by now."

She shook her head. "But that's all stuff we've talked about before."

Reaching across, she rubbed Lucario's shoulder. "And – I'm sorry I turned out to be no good at the Aura stuff."

"You spent weeks with us on Iron Island trying to learn," Lucario assured her. "That's enough effort that you don't need to be sorry at all, Cynthia."

"Thanks," the Grand Champion said, smiling.

After a few seconds, she looked towards one wall – south.

"I'm almost afraid what's going to happen if Ash Ketchum comes to Sinnoh," she admitted. "He's met almost every Legendary he's come close to so far, and Sinnoh is supposed to be the land of the Hall of Origin… not to mention that we'll have to come up with a good challenge."

Garchomp huffed.

"Don't worry, I'm confident you can give him a good battle," she added, smiling up at Garchomp.

"Good," the Dragon-type said, satisfied.


"That dinner was amazing," May said, lying back against Altaria's fluff with a sigh. The Humming Pokémon leaned his head down, and she scratched it with her free hand. "We should make Brock and Audino have cooking battles more often..."

"I think we'd explode," Max groaned.

Cinder muttered agreement, tail wagging weakly, and Casper sniggered.

"Hey, Max?" Ash said, helping Brock package up the leftovers. "Do you think you're ready for having your gym battle tomorrow?"

"Uh… not sure," Max admitted. "Guys?"

"...I think we could," Cinder said, glancing at Casper. "I mean, we're a lot better now, I'm just not certain we're enough better."

She shrugged. "What do you think?"

"I think..." Casper did a miniature loop-the-loop. "Yeah, so long as I don't get trodden on too much."

"No promises," Cinder replied, flashing a smirk.

"I think that looks like we're ready," Max summarized. "Well, ready enough."

"Do you want to go first?" Ash asked. "I think I'm okay with either."

"I think… yeah, going first sound okay?" Max checked.

Cinder nodded, then closed her eyes. "Just so long as it's the afternoon… I'm going to be sleeping this off for a while."

"Silly corporeal Pokémon," Casper said, spinning like a top. "I don't get full!"

"Want me to try and kill a berry for you?" the Dark-type asked, not opening her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I've heard of people murdering a milkshake."

There was a crackling BANG from some distance away.

"I wonder if that means Sceptile's worked out Iron Tail," Brock said. "Ninetales, you're okay to warm up their food if it's too cold, right?"

The elegant Fire-type nodded.


AN:


Stuff with Drake – the other Drake with Pseudolegendary Dragons, not the one from the Orange Islands.

Also, the Rockets.

Also, Sceptilite.

Also, chess.

And I guess we look in on some people, too. Including an appearance of what one of my proofreaders termed Adblocksol. (I think everyone wants one.)