"Okay, ready?" Ash asked.

Sceptile blinked owlishly, then yawned and pushed himself up from the ground. "Pikachu hates sleep."

"I actually quite like it," the Electric Mouse demurred, clambering up Ash's clothes to rest on his shoulder. "I just think that it needs to be earned."

"How late did you finish training?" Ash asked, glancing at his starter.

"Uh… sometime around midnight, I think," Pikachu said. He glanced over at Ninetales, who was still asleep – until Brock shook her to wake her up as they prepared to break camp. "He did get his food, though – and he got Iron Tail working, too."

"I guess that's good news," Ash agreed. "Sceptile? Do you want to wait a bit longer before it's time for your turn?"

"I'd like to," Sceptile said, letting out a big yawn and shaking his head. "Can I get some breakfast first?"

"I'll handle that," Meganium volunteered. "How does a croissant sound? I know where Brock keeps them."

Sceptile nodded, yawning again.

"We'll be along later," the Grass-type told her trainer.

"Sure," Ash agreed. "Uh – I'll get Latios to come and get you when we're ready, is that okay?"

"That sounds ideal," Meganium confirmed.

"I guess that means I'm going first, then?" Max asked.

"Yeah, looks like," Ash agreed. "Ready?"

Max thought about it, reaching down to give Cinder a stroke. He glanced at Casper, who nodded firmly, then back to Ash. "Yeah, I think we are."

"That's the spirit!" the older trainer said. "Okay, uh..."

Dexter let out an electronic sigh. Take the first path to your right, and go one mile. Then turn left…


Max reached up to knock on the door of the gym, and it opened.

"Hello!" the twins chorused. "It's good to see/you again, Max!"

"Hi," Max said, confused for a moment. "How did you do that?"

"Natu told us/you were coming," they explained.

"Natu saw the future, right," Max agreed.

"Actually..." Liza began, chuckling.

"..he was looking out the window," Tate finished.

The friends looked, and a little green Flying-type waved a wing at them through the gym window.

"That's somehow a lot less complicated," Max said. "I'm not sure if I should feel let down..."

"Don't be," Tate said, standing back with his sister to let them in. "After all-"

"-it's time for your gym battle!" Liza concluded.

"Yeah," Max agreed. "I guess so – I hope it goes better than last time."

"I'm sure it will," May assured him. "You, Cinder and Casper have put in a lot of work."

"Thanks," Max smiled.

May kept talking. "Of course, it'd be pretty hard for it to be worse..."

"...okay, now I'd like to retract that thanks..."


"Right, here we go!" Max said. "Cinder, Casper – you know what to do!"

"But which one of us is in charge?" Casper asked.

"You are," Max decided. "I'll shout if I see anything, but you've got a better perspective than Cinder does. Just pay attention to her."

"I hope this works," the Mightyena muttered.

Liza and Tate exchanged a glance, then sent out their Solrock and Lunatone.

"Ready?" the girl asked.

"Begin!" her twin said.

"Okay – Cinder, same plan as we did with Swablu!" Casper called, spinning up a Shadow Ball. He fired it, aiming for Solrock, and winced as the Rock-type easily floated away from the attack. "Uh… low for now!"

Lunatone charged up a Moonblast, pink energy flickering across its form, and fired it at the racing Cinder. She glanced up, jinked to one side, and kicked off the wall to change direction – letting the attack hit the ground to her left and fizzle.

"Great work!" Max called.

Solrock's eight points began to glow a faint green, and thin Solarbeams came lancing out from them. They hit in front of Cinder as she loped across the arena, forming a close-knit fence, and she slowed slightly to take it in.

A grin spread across her muzzle, and she sped up again – heading for the widest gap, one just a little wider than it would take to let her squeeze through.

"Left!" Casper called urgently.

Cinder was startled, but complied – dodging to one side. She winced as two of the eight small Solarbeams connected, but any complaint she had died in her throat as a Moonblast hit right in the gap she'd been aiming for.

"Sneaky..." the Dark-type admitted, as Solrock ended its fence of light. "That was planned!"

"It sure was," Casper nodded. "Okay, Lunatone's low – go for it!"

Crouching, Cinder bunched up her muscles underneath her and kicked off. She rose quickly into the air, aiming for the Rock-type, but it rose too fast and her jaws clashed on empty air.

Solrock spun in with a Rapid Spin to hit her before she reached the ground again, and then Casper's Shadow Ball hit Cinder on the tail-tip – making her sting, but also driving the Psychic-type off before it could reach her.

Twisting herself so she could land on her forepaws instead of her shoulder, Cinder growled. "What was that for?"

"It stopped Solrock from getting you," Casper replied. "Keep moving!"

Muttering something, the Dark-type swung back into motion.

"Rock overhead!" Casper added, and Cinder glanced up for just long enough to fix its position before using an Iron Tail to slam the rock back up at the Lunatone which had fired it.

There was a crackle as the rock burst on a psychic shield, and Cinder allowed herself a grin.

This was going to be such a surprise for them… she could even see why Casper enjoyed playing pranks.

Kind of.

She'd still Bite him if he did anything like the peanut butter again, though.


"So, how are we going to do this?" Meganium asked, passing a second buttered pastry to her fellow Grass-type. "You know, the teamwork thing… do we just make it up as we go along?"

"Mostly," Sceptile agreed, checking the new Sceptilite holder about halfway up his tail – where he could just about reach it if he twisted his tail around. "I mean, we've got a set of tricks, but we don't even know what we're going to be fighting so building a complete strategy is going to be difficult."

He thought, then spread one clawed hand. "Well, I've got my X-Scissor and my Night Slash, which will help..."

Meganium smiled as Sceptile polished off the croissant. "And my role?"

"Mostly keeping them busy," he said, swallowing, and shrugged. "I know you can handle yourself, so I'll be free to concentrate on one of them."

"Just don't get yourself in too deep," she warned. "I can heal you, but not from too far away – and I think you'd be disqualified if you were knocked out, so I can't heal you from that."

Picking up the plate and butter knife, Meganium packed them away. "Feel better?"

"Yes," Sceptile agreed firmly. "Now, let's go get ready for our battle… hold on, I'll check which way it is."

Meganium squinted against the rush of wind as Sceptile jumped to a nearby tree, then clambered up it in a few quick seconds. "Show-off..."


"Try the left!" Max called, and Cinder swerved – then jinked right again, spotting the incoming attack from Lunatone.

Solrock tried to capitalize on the dodge with a Fire attack, sending droplets of flame raining down all over one half of the arena, and Cinder sped up to dodge between the droplets of the Fire Spin before they could link up and form a wall blocking her way.

Rolling through the final line of flame, she patted out one of the patches smouldering on her fur and bared her teeth at the nearest Psychic-type.

"Why don't you just come down here and fight properly?" she asked, before jumping aside from a Moonblast.

Glancing up at Casper, she jerked her head across towards Lunatone. "Well? Shadow Ball him already!"

A cloud of shadow built on Casper's horn, then went unfired as he dove away from a Psychic from Solrock.

Cinder saw her chance, and pounced.

Her muscles bunched, and she kicked off with an almighty shout – aiming straight for Lunatone, still low down to try another Moonblast.

The Rock-type rose quickly, avoiding her attack, and she reached the apex some way short of her target.

Then Casper skidded into place, and winced. "This is going to suck!"

"About time!" Cinder barked, and her forepaws came down on the back of his head.

As everyone watched, Cinder brought her hindpaws up to meet her forepaws. They bunched, and she pushed off from the Ghost-type at full force – jumping in mid-air, and aiming directly for the surprised Solrock instead of Lunatone.

The recoil from her kick sent Casper into the ground, and he sank in before popping up again, eyes spinning. "That was unpleasant..."

While he was doing that, though, Cinder grabbed on to Solrock with both paws. She used Bite to get a better grip, holding on as the Rock-type tried to throw her off, and rammed an Iron Tail into its side.

"Great work!" Max called, then blinked. "Uh – look out!"

"Yah!" Casper called, firing a Shadow Ball at Lunatone, and the floating moon-rock aborted his attack to dodge before turning to fire back at the Shuppet.

"Wait..." Max frowned, watching intently. "He couldn't see that, and nor could Solrock. So how did he know where to dodge?"

"Who mrrf," Cinder mumbled, Biting again. She twisted, getting a better grip, then reared back – using all four paws to cling on – and used Crunch.

That finally seemed to overcome the ability Solrock had to resist damage, and it went inert before dropping like a Rock.

"Ow," Tate complained.

Cinder waited until the last moment before jumping free, pushing down to make certain that the Solrock would hit the ground, and landed with a skid and a grin. "One down, now let's get that other one!"

"Maybe we should have gone for the one that can use Moonblast first?" Casper suggested.

"Good point," Cinder agreed. "Run!"

She jumped away as a Fairy-type attack hit the ground where she'd been standing, and glanced back at Casper. "Okay, what now? You're the expert!"

"...yeah, give me a moment," Casper said, frowning.

"Casper – use Shadow Ball just above Lunatone!" Max ordered. "And make it a big one!"

"Got it!" Casper called out, charging the attack on the tip of his horn.

Lunatone rounded on him, and Casper used the simple expedient of dropping back into the floor – away from anywhere he could be attacked.

"You're not allowed to do that forever/you know," the twins said.

"That's the first thing you've said all battle," May observed, then blinked. "Wait – are you giving Solrock and Lunatone orders telepathically?"

"Well spotted," Liza nodded. "Of course-"

"-I can't really give Solrock orders, now," Tate concluded.

Casper phased through the wall of the gym, took a moment to orient himself, and fired a Shadow Ball at Lunatone – who dodged, warned by his trainer.

"I know!" Max said. "Casper, back in the wall – and Cinder, come around to near me!"

Both complied, and Casper winked at his trainer before vanishing into the wall.

Lunatone began to build up another Moonblast on his horn, lowering himself just slightly – but staying above jump range.

Then Casper appeared out of the wall – above Liza and Tate, somewhere they couldn't see and somewhere Lunatone wasn't looking.

"Jump!" Max called.

Cinder kicked off from the ground, jaws opening and ready to Bite.

Lunatone took a moment longer to line up its Moonblast, ready to hit Cinder before she reached it, and then a Shadow Ball cracked across the gym from Casper. It hit the Rock-type in the back, knocking it to one side, and the Moonblast splashed off the floor.

Cinder lashed out with a forepaw as she hit the apex of her jump, managing to snag Lunatone on the lower arc of its curve and set it spinning. She landed back on the floor with a grunt, then bunched herself to jump again.

"Okay, we give!" the twins called, in unison.

"You did well, Max," Liza added. "Your teamwork-"

"-and both your Pokemon, are better," Tate said. "It's pretty clear by now that-"

"-you're going to win, but it'd take too long to finish-"

"-the battle."

"Do you guys have to do that?" May asked, head going back and forth. "I'm getting confused..."

Liza returned Lunatone, and shrugged. "It's how we are," the twins said in unison.

Tate took a Badge, and put it on his palm. He concentrated, and it floated slowly across the room.

"Cool..." Max said, watching it. "How long did it take to learn how to do that?"

"A while," Tate admitted. "But it helps-"

"-when I help!" Liza finished. She snapped her fingers, and Max caught the Mind badge before it hit the floor.

"Hey, I guess it worked," Casper said, floating back down. "We make a good team!"

"I suppose we do," Cinder agreed.

"Does this mean we can do some team building exercises?"

"Don't push it."

Brock chuckled.

"I guess it's my turn now?" Ash asked. "Uh… it might be a while until my Pokemon get here, is that okay?"


"Do you have… any threes?" Liza asked.

May handed over some cards, grumbling.

"Any… fives?" Tate went on.

"Okay, this feels like you're cheating," May said, giving up more cards. "Wait. You are, aren't you?"

"There's no rule against/telepathy," the twins said cheekily.

"...fine, you win," the Coordinator muttered. "I wasn't trying anyway..."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Liza called.

The handle squeaked, and Latios came floating in. Sorry about the delay, he sent, throwing two Pokeballs over to Ash. They'd left the camp, so it took a while to find them.

"Thanks, Latios," Ash smiled. "Okay – I'm ready!"

"Right!" Tate said, putting his cards down. A telekinetic Kadabra moved the table back out of the middle of the room, and he took his place next to Liza for the battle. "This will have-"

"-the same rules as Max's battle!" Liza took over.

"So… two Pokemon, first to run out," Ash summarized.

"Right!" the twins said, now in unison. "But we'll use much stronger Pokemon to beat you, Ash!"

Each twin took a Pokeball from their belt, and expanded it out. "Ready? Go!"

Ash threw both of his Pokeballs in quick succession, sending Sceptile and Meganium flashing into existence on the battlefield.

As the Grass-types formed, Liza and Tate sent out their own Pokemon – a matched pair, one Gardevoir and one Gallade, and both wearing medallions around their necks.

"Wait..." Max said, blinking. "Is that a Mega Stone?"

"Which one?" May asked.

"Both of them!"

"That's right!" Liza agreed with a wink. "Gardevoir-"

"-and Gallade-"

"-both have Mega Stones!" they finished, producing a Key Stone with a flourish.

"Huh," Ash said, unlimbering his staff. "Sorry, Meganium, I guess you're the only one who isn't going to be a Mega."

"Despite the name," Pikachu added.

The female Grass-type sighed, shaking her head as Sceptile, Gardevoir and Gallade were all engulfed in light.

The transformation finished for Mega Gardevoir first, and she did a twirl. Everything but her hair and horns had gone white, and her gown had grown longer and more expansive.

More minor but still noticeable changes included her hair, which was more tightly curled, and her face-spikes, which were longer. But perhaps the most unusual bit was her chest-horn – which had split in half, producing a faintly visible aura of power.

When Gallade finished Mega-evolving a moment later, there were some faint similarities visible – chiefly in a cape which had grown to cover most of his back, fluttering in the slightest wind. That combined with the red protrusions on his arms and the crest on his head to form the appearance of a knight, and he stood slightly in front of his fellow Mega.

"Uh… this isn't going to break my streak of keeping gyms intact, right?" Ash asked. "Because I'm up to six, now, and I was hoping to manage all of Hoenn."

Liza and Tate exchanged a look.

"...we'll go and use the outside battlefield," Tate said.


A few minutes later, the spectators (human and Pokemon) were sat neatly on benches around the stadium rectangle and the combatants were ready to start.

"Right!" Tate said. "Three, two-"

"-one, go!" Liza finished.

"Petal Blizzard!" Meganium called, conjuring an instant storm of pink cherry-blossom and sending it cascading forwards.

Mega Gallade jumped backwards, doing an elegant backflip, and landed behind Mega Gardevoir – who spread her hands, producing a shield of hardened air which shimmered like opals.

Mega Sceptile lunged forwards as soon as he saw the shield, blades flashing out and taking on a night-black glow. "Night Slash!"

The Psychic-type added a flicker of blue and pink sparkles to her shield, which slowed down the pair of Dark-type blades, and by the time they'd carved through her shield she had teleported out of the line of attack – leaving Mega Gallade to fight Mega Sceptile instead.

Petals whipped past them, only mildly inconveniencing Mega Sceptile but making Mega Gallade divert some of his focus, and both blade-users began a two-handed fencing clash.

The Night Slash struck a Psycho Cut, making it disintegrate and revealing Mega Gallade's bladelike arm – scoring a shallow hit – but the next blow instead belled as Mega Gallade switched to something more like a Brick Break, overwhelming the Night Slash and sending Mega Sceptile skidding backwards.

Using one foot as a pivot, Mega Sceptile spun around – firing a Leaf Storm to his side as he went, throwing off an attempted Psychic by Mega Gardevoir and making her switch to defence – then turned the spin into momentum to fire off a pair of Leaf Blades at the startled Fighting-type.

Meganium stopped using Petal Blizzard, watched the battle for a moment, and fired a Seed Bomb. She could tell that her teammate was concentrating mainly on the Mega Gallade, so the best way she could help would be to keep Mega Gardevoir busy and stop her from interfering.


I could use some help here, Mega Gallade sent, eyes glowing a faint green as he used Detect. He switched the psychic energy on one arm to a shield, which let him push the Grass-type away, but that lasted only a second or so before it was hit with another Night Slash worked into the whirlwind of attacks coming his way.

I can't concentrate long enough to hit him with a Psychic! his sister replied, annoyance colouring her mental tone. You try shielding against a Leaf Storm like this!

No need to be snippy! Mega Gallade sent back. Perhaps if you-

New plan, his trainer told him, transmitting a concentrated stream of thought through their mental link. Mega Gardevoir, teleport into the air – the height should give you setup time. Mega Gallade, let Mega Sceptile think he's pushing you back!

Right, Mega Gallade agreed.

Now! Liza told him, handling the coordination side of things.

There was a flicker of movement over Mega Gardevoir's side of the link, and Mega Gallade lessened his grip on the ground enough that Mega Sceptile managed to push him back two steps – then knock him away hard enough that he skidded to a halt twenty feet away.

Just a bit more… he heard/felt Mega Gardevoir say, and a flicker overhead indicated she was charging an attack. Wait – whoaah-

Mega Gallade relaxed a little of his focus on his battle, enough to see what his trainer was seeing – then blanched.

He tensed, ready to dive to the side, but then Mega Gardevoir smacked into him at high speed.

Meganium released her vines, snatching them back out of the way, and Mega Sceptile launched a tail-missile Leaf Storm at him.

Then a Solarbeam arrived too.


"Did that work?" Brock asked. "It looked pretty good..."

"No, they're still up," Ash replied, and a moment later a swirl of psychic energy sent the dust flashing outwards – revealing both the Embrace Pokemon and the Blade Pokemon, now safely inside a thick dome of psionic energy. "But that was a great trick, you two!"

"Thanks," Meganium replied.

There was a tense moment, then Mega Gallade stepped forwards – blocking the way to his counterpart, who began charging an attack.


Mega Gardevoir's palms tingled as she pulled her attack together.

I'm going to fire a Psybeam into your next battle, she sent to her brother. I'll only be able to give you a little warning, so don't be surprised.

Do you have to? Mega Gallade asked, then grunted as he formed both psy-blades and blocked a Leaf Blade with an X-shaped blade cross.

Adjusting his weight, he shifted to one side – sending the Leaf Blade to his left, wrenching Mega Sceptile so his follow-up went just wide.

Mega Gardevoir projected out a psionic shield with some of her spare concentration, knocking away a Petal Dance from Meganium. Ready to fire!

Just give me a moment! Mega Gallade sent back.

Meganium's getting something ready, Liza supplied. Try to fire – now!

Mega Gardevoir fired her Psybeam forwards in a torrent of psionic energy. Her gown swirled, and Mega Gallade winced as the blast whipped at his cape and splashed off his quick Light Screen.

Mega Sceptile brought one Night Slash up, alleviating the impact of the attack, and then a pair of vines snagged his shoulders and yanked him out of the way before too much of the Psybeam got past his quick defence.

That Meganium is getting annoying, Mega Gallade sent, muscles clenching. Port us, sis – let's get at her first.

Mega Gardevoir considered that, and agreed with the strategy. She concentrated, preparing for a battle teleportation, and stepped forwards to bring Mega Gallade into the radius of effect.

There was a blur of pseudomotion as they jumped across forty feet of space in the blink of an eye, and then Mega Gallade was lashing out with both his blades of force towards the unsuspecting Meganium.

Look out! Tate sent urgently. Vine Whip!

Huh? Mega Gardevoir deepened her shield, drawing more strongly on her well of psychic power, then realized what Tate meant.

Mega Sceptile had still been in motion when they'd teleported, and she'd dropped her brother in right next to where Mega Sceptile was about to end up.

There was a wham as Mega Sceptile hit Mega Gallade hard enough to drive him to his knees, doing a forwards roll which brought his thick tail down like a hammer and decisively protecting his teammate.

Forget finding the best moment for this! Mega Gallade sent, and Mega Gardevoir could feel his frustration as Tate and Liza relayed the news that Meganium was getting clear again.

He rotated his waist, using one arm as a shield to hold off Mega Sceptile, and his other one snapped out and flashed into flame.

The modified Fire Punch roared as he swung it around, trailing orange-red trickles of incandescence and smacking square into Mega Sceptile.

Where it did much less damage than it should have done.

What? Mega Gallade asked, taken aback. Sis, did you see-

No, what-

The Fire Punch! Mega Gallade explained. It seemed to hurt less than the Psycho Cut did!

There was a transcendent moment as all four participants – Tate, Liza, Mega Gallade and Mega Gardevoir – thought along the exact same lines. There was some faint cross-bleed from where Mega Gallade and Mega Sceptile were fencing back and forth, but everything else was gestalt.

Mega Evolution. Resistance or Ability?

Assume Resistance. Type substitution unlikely.

He doesn't look like a Fire-type, but could be… but Rock and Water are right out.

Dragon?

That would/seems likely.

What if it was an ability? Heatproof or Thick Fat.

Try Moonblast.

The fusion fell apart, and Mega Gardevoir took a sweeping step back to prepare a Moonblast.

Pink and blue light swirled together, forming a ball of sparkles in her hands, and she fired-

"Iron Tail!" Ash called out, and Mega Sceptile spun on one heel to smack the Fairy-type attack to pieces with a steely tailtip.

The motion also drove Mega Gallade backwards, but the siblings felt a shared triumph.

Okay, sis, show him what you can really do, Mega Gallade sent, moving back and keeping an eye on both enemy Grass-types. I'll keep you out of trouble.

Got it, Mega Gardevoir took a deep breath, energy fizzing and coiling in her lungs, and then shouted it out past Mega Gallade's shoulder in an expanding planar wave of pink energy.

Meganium sent her vines lashing out and snagged Mega Sceptile out of the line of fire, meaning that he only took a glancing blow down his side – but thesize of the explosion that happened proved that the team guess about his typing was right.

Know any Ice moves? Mega Gardevoir asked, as Meganium healed up their opponent.

Not really, Mega Gallade replied. Never bothered to learn. You?

Icy Wind, that's about it.

Right! Tate sent. You know what to do.

Yeah – aim for Meganium's left, neither of them are looking that way, Liza informed them.

Another flicker, and both vanished in a teleport.


Mega Sceptile swung his tail to one side, firing the Leaf Storm on his tailtip, and managed to catch Mega Gallade before he completed his Psycho Cut.

A blast of petals swept down on Mega Gardevoir, who then blew them away with a blast of Icy Wind which hit both Grass-types – making Mega Sceptile grimace as his tail iced up, and frosting up the right side of Meganium's petal.

"This isn't very… yah!" Mega Sceptile shouted, Sacred Sword blazing as he smashed it into a flaming Gallade-blade aimed for his teammate.

"Got any ideas?" Meganium asked, risking a moment of healing by breathing Aromatherapy over Mega Sceptile's frozen tail. "We're not doing enough damage, and they keep teleporting!"

Her vine snagged Mega Gardevoir as she spoke, but it took the Fairy-type only a second to blink out of the middle of the vine -leaving it loose on the floor before she quickly pulled it in again.

"I have something," Mega Sceptile replied, letting his blades both blaze up. "Let's just see if it works… Petal Dance now, as thick as you can!"

Meganium obeyed without hesitation, forming a swirling cloud of pink petals which hid them both completely from view.

"They'll know roughly where we are..." she warned, her petal glowing faintly as she sustained the storm of petals. "And I can't keep this up long."

Mega Sceptile nodded, adjusting his twig, then sent a Leaf Blade swiping out into the storm.

Turning to face Meganium, he fired the second blade in the opposite direction entirely – whipping out over her back, barely missing grazing her.

"Hey!" Meganium complained.

Mega Sceptile smirked, then spun around again and spat out his green-glowing twig.

He heard Mega Gallade shout in surprise as the twig punched through his weakened Light Screen. It exploded into a maze of reaching roots as the Leech Seed went off, and Sceptile charged out of the petal storm right after it.

Blades glowing, he got ready to use Night Slash on the Psychic-type before Mega Gallade could fight his way free of the roots… then switched targets a third time, and brought his Iron Tail slamming down on Mega Gardevoir as she teleported in to save her brother.

She panicked, scrambling for the best reaction as Mega Sceptile turned to attack her, and used a Pixilated Hyper Voice which knocked the half-Dragon type flying into the air.

He shook his head, clearing it, then fired a Leaf Storm down from his tail which finally got through her shields – not quite enough to knock her out, at least until Meganium sent her entire petal blizzard at her as well.

Mega Sceptile landed hard, wincing, and rolled to his feet without a lot of the snap he'd had earlier in the battle. "That took entirely too-," he began, and then got hit by a double Focus Punch.


"Sceptile!" Meganium called, her shower of petals dropping to the floor as she lost focus. "Are you alright?"

Her fellow Grass-type pushed himself back to his feet with his muscles straining, tail back as far as it could go as a counterweight, and shook his head to try and clear the lingering effects of the Focus Punches.

"Had enough?" Mega Gallade asked. "No?"

He swept a Psycho Cut through the air, then switched arms and fired a Psychic at Mega Sceptile – enough to finally knock him out, sending him crashing to the floor.

Meganium watched Mega Sceptile as he lost the strength to keep his Mega-Evolution running, and transitioned back down to plain old Sceptile with a bright flash of light.

Remembering to check, she glanced back over at Mega Gardevoir, and breathed a sigh of relief on seeing the Gardevoirite resting on the battlefield. That Pokemon, at least, wouldn't be a problem.

That just left her with Mega Gallade.

"Well?" the Psychic-type asked. "Ready to surrender? The tough one from your team's been knocked out."

"He is not the tough one!" Meganium replied, stamping a foot on the packed earth. "He's faster than I am, more graceful, and probably – no, definitely – hits harder than I do. But I'm every bit as tough as him, and don't you dare suggest otherwise!"

"Really?" Tate asked.

Meganium stamped a foot on the ground again.

It trembled.

Mega Gallade looked down, frowning. "What was that?"

Then the ground exploded upwards in a torrent of woody vines, which reached for Mega Gallade from all sides at once and coiled and twisted like snakes.

The Psychic-type blurred into motion, both blades lighting up and flashing with flame, and he swiped out in all directions to keep away the branches which got closest to him.

He quickly lost ground, though, as Meganium drove her Frenzy Plant harder and faster, and after about ten frantic seconds two trunks trapped his Psycho Cut and forced it to splinter.

He dismissed it and tried to reform it, but there was nowhere for it to go that wasn't into wood too thick for him to cut into.

There were several seconds of near-silence, broken only by the creaking of the wood – and the cracking of the ground as roots expanded and broke up the surface.

Then Mega Gallade burst out in an explosion of flashing blades and flames, sparks trailing from his arm-blades. "Haiyah!"

The Frenzy Plant fell on him.


Mega Gallade? Tate asked, concentrating. You okay?

Mental silence answered him.

I think he's been knocked out, Liza sent him.

Yeah, probably, Tate sighed. Pity, we nearly beat him – not bad, right sis?

Not bad at all. Should we split up saying congratulations?

Sure, Tate replied. "Congratu-"

"-lations!" Liza finished. She held out a Pokeball and returned Gardevoir, and Tate did the same with Gallade.

"Uh..." Tate went on. "Could you-" extinguish the big burning lump of plant?

"-get rid of the burning Frenzy Plant?" his sister extemporized. "It's kind of-" a mess

"-a mess." See? I follow directions.

Give it a rest, Liza sent, with a mental sigh.


"Great work, Meganium!" Ash said, holding up his hand. Meganium caught his meaning, extending a tired vine to match his high-five, then relaxed.

"And – uh, who should handle the fire..." Ash went on, frowning. "Goodra, go!"

Goodra materialized. He took in the situation, then concentrated, and a miniature rainstorm formed to drench the burning Frenzy Plant in water.

"We're going to need to rebuild our outside arena now," Tate commented.

Liza nodded. "But at least it wasn't-"

"-the inside arena," Lucario finished.

Seeing their confused glances, he shrugged. "What? The next line was kind of obvious."

"Actually, we were going to say the entire gym," the twins chorused.

"I'm so glad Latias and Latios don't do this all the time," Brock said. "It'd be very confusing."

"Fire's out," Goodra reported.

"Thanks," Ash said. "Good work."

Goodra smiled, then Returned himself.

"So, uh… what now?" Max asked, as Ash took the second badge. "We're heading to… is it Pacifidlog or Sootopolis first?"

"Actually, I was hoping we'd go to Izabe Island first," May said. "There's a Contest there."

"...didn't you just do a Contest?" her brother asked.

"So?" May shrugged. "I need to give Spoink his debut – oh, that reminds me, we can all try flying there!"

"That's a good point, May," Brock agreed.

"You've got a Flying-type?" Liza asked. "What is it?"

"We usually just teleport," Tate confided.

"Oh, he's an Altaria," May explained. "My Swablu evolved just recently."

The twins exchanged a glance.

"For a non-Psychic type, Altaria are pretty cool," they agreed.


As the friends left the gym, Max hung back for a moment.

"Uh – thanks, you two," he said, nodding to Liza and Tate. "I'm glad you gave me some good tips."

"Our pleasure!" Tate assured him.

"And – I was wondering," he went on. "I'm thinking of getting a Ralts – a boy Ralts, that is, and I'm not sure what to evolve him into when I get the chance. What do you guys think?"

"It depends," Liza frowned. "Of course, my Kirlia didn't have much choice of what to evolve into."

"But my Kirlia did," Tate finished. "We talked about it a lot, and he decided he preferred fighting up close to far away. He never learned Moonblast, for example."

"It depends on the Ralts," Liza summarized. "Hey, why not bring him over to see us when you get the chance?"

"Good idea!" Max agreed.

"Max?" May called. "We're going!"

"Be right there!" Max called back. "So – I guess I'll drop by and visit when I get the chance."

"We'll look forward to it," Tate assured him.


AN:


Mostly about gym battles, and teamwork too.

The mental gestalt for the twins and their Pokemon is a fun idea, I think – ultimate teamwork! Plus it uses the twin-telepathy thing.