"Okay, my turn!" Ash said, getting up. Pikachu rode his shoulder, balancing with his tail as a counterweight, and then jumped off to hurry ahead of Ash to the poolside.
"Hold on a moment, Mr. Ketchum," Wallace requested. "I'm afraid we still need to clean the pool – it'll take a few minutes."
"I can handle that!" Ash replied, taking a Fast Ball.
Brock did a double-take. "Really. Ash? Really?"
Ash glanced back, puzzled, then looked down at the Fast Ball. "What? I mean, I hope she doesn't mind..."
"I would be honoured for Suicune to grace my gym," Juan said, working out what they were talking about.
The Water-type promptly emerged, landing on the water itself with delicately placed paws. "It's an honour all its own to be here," she said, giving him a bow as the whole pool turned sparkling blue-clear. "I've seen many gyms, but this is one of the first Water-type ones I've been in."
Turning, each footfall producing a series of concentric ripples, she smiled at Max. "And my congratulations, Max. I only heard what was going on, but you've clearly done well."
"Thanks," Max said, reaching down to the still-muddy Arc and giving him a stroke. "And thanks on behalf of all of us, too."
Suicune smiled.
"I hope you're not planning on using her in battle," Wallace said, smiling. "It might make the challenge a little easy."
Ash blinked. "Challenge?"
Wallace reached into his outfit, and drew out three Pokéballs. "This challenge – here are Pokéballs containing three of my Pokémon. I will tell you what three Pokémon they are, and then you will take three Pokéballs and do the same – and then we each pick a Pokéball from the other person."
"I think I get it," Max said. "It's so you don't know what you're going to use."
"Correct!" Wallace agreed. "And, obviously, a Fast Ball would cause problems."
"Yeah, but..." Ash frowned. "I was going to use Pikachu, and he never uses his Pokéball – and it's got a lightning-bolt mark on it, too."
"Ah, I see..." Wallace put a hand to his chin. "Well, we'll think of something. Who else are you using?"
Ash took two Pokéballs off his belt. "Glalie and Corphish."
Lucario came padding up behind Ash, and took a third 'ball off Ash's belt. "Here," he said. "Use mine to represent Pikachu's."
"Phew!" Pikachu said, exhaling. "Thanks, Lucario – I was afraid I'd be stuck not having this gym battle after all this time psyching myself up!"
"It sounds like the problem's been sorted out?" Wallace asked, as Max and Juan retired to the stands. "Well, then – let's start. My three Pokémon are Milotic, Greninja, and Magikarp."
"What's a Greninja?" Ash asked. "No, wait… I think Gary mentioned them once..."
"They're Water-types," Wallace said, stating the obvious. "Most often found in Kalos."
"Magikarp!?" Pikachu asked, having finished gaping. "A Magikarp? But – but – you're a former Grand Champion! How – a Magikarp?"
"What's he saying?" Wallace asked, looking down in confusion.
"Pikachu's kind of surprised about the Magikarp," Ash summarized. "Remember, Pikachu – some Magikarp can be stronger than you think. Remember that time we met the B-Button League?"
Pikachu stopped mid-rant, and whirled on Ash. "Didn't you say we'd never mention that?"
"Ah, the B-Button League," Wallace smiled. "I remember them. I like them!"
"Great work, Max," May said, giving her brother a hug. "That was a pretty cool battle – if, uh, a bit wet..."
"Thanks," Max smiled. "And yeah, I think Juan doesn't mind getting the whole gym wet if it would make the point."
May nodded – then released Max and took a step back. "Ew, Arc! Don't get mud all over my clothes!"
Arc dropped back to all fours, looking vaguely sorry. "Uh… whoops, I guess I forgot about all the mud..."
Max sat down next to May's seat, patted his lap, and oofed slightly as Arc jumped up to sit on his lap. "I wonder how Ash's match is going to go."
"Well, he is fighting Wallace," May pointed out. "That means it's probably going to look good as well as be a good battle."
"Good point," Max agreed.
"Pick the first Pokémon," Wallace directed.
Ash pointed to one of Wallace's Pokéballs, and Wallace did the same for Ash.
"This should be an interesting battle," Wallace went on. "So – now!"
"Go!" Ash called.
His Pokéball went flying into the arena, and flashed – revealing Corphish.
The Pokémon for Wallace turned out to be his Milotic, who plunged gracefully into the water before emerging with two-thirds of her length out of the water.
"Okay, Corphish!" Ash said. "Let's go with defensive for now!"
The only sign Corphish gave that he'd heard was a twin snap-hiss as he activated both his Razor Shells.
"Milotic, use Twister!" Wallace ordered.
Milotic vanished back into the water with nary a ripple, and began swimming around below the surface. The water stirred to follow her, then sped up and developed into a whirlpool that turned the surface into a spiral pattern.
"Uh… that's Whirlpool," Ash said, then blinked. "Wait, no, that is Twister!"
The outer edge of the spiral glowed green, rising up into the air all around Corphish, then focused inwards with startling speed.
A glowing green, translucent wall engulfed Corphish, obscuring him from sight for several worrying seconds.
"I'm surprised you're not more worried," Wallace said, looking over at Ash.
"Corphish is fine," Ash replied.
A moment later, there was a vwuuum and the entire Twister fell apart – sliced to pieces at the base, unravelling upwards until there was just a rain of green Dragon-type sparkles all over the arena.
Corphish returned his blades to guard position. "Sorry, not much of a fan of tornadoes."
Milotic emerged from the pool again, this time just her head and tail. "Interesting. I can see I'll have to try something special with you."
She looked over at her trainer, who nodded. "Okay, Milotic, Haze!"
The sleek Water-type vanished underwater again, then burst out some distance from Corphish and did a full-body roll in midair, holding herself absolutely vertical as she did so. The water droplets that went flying in all directions from her high-speed spin scattered in all directions, hanging in the air and taking on a misty quality as they did so.
A final pulse of cool air as Milotic went back underwater gave a white, opaque quality to it, and the space over and around the pool became almost impossible to see through.
"Okay, that could be a problem..." Ash said, and closed his eyes. "Corphish – be ready to react fast!"
Corphish held his shellsabers at the ready, shifting slightly and continuously to make sure he was ready to move as soon as he needed to.
There was a movement in the mist, and one eye tracked it.
"Left!" Ash called, and Corphish moved both red-glowing blades to his side. One was high, blocking the incoming Dragon Tail swipe, the other swept out lower and caught Milotic's tail for a glancing blow before she slipped back underwater.
"Good!" Ash congratulated. "Now – behind!"
The crustacean Water-type rotated his shoulders, crossing both blades just behind his back and running nearly parallel to his tail, and the impact nearly drove them into his shell.
Corphish scuttled to one side, shoulders turning through a complex motion, and freed up one claw to take action as the other kept pressing on Milotic's tail. He slammed a Crabhammer into the gleaming surface, and Milotic thrashed her tail to make him let go.
Switching tack smoothly, Corphish fired a barrage of Bubblebeam. The result propelled his float forwards several inches, but Milotic only took one hit from the wildly inaccurate storm before flashing down into the water.
Turning back to his original facing, Corphish stared fixedly into the white mist.
"She's in front of you!" Ash said. "But she's not attacking..."
"You know, you shouldn't be attacking poor old me," Milotic said, in a cooing tone.
Corphish tilted his head. "Why not?"
"Well..." Milotic went on, voice sweet and charming. "I'm just the kind of Pokémon you should be nice to! Don't you think?"
"No?" Corphish replied.
"Wait… that's Attract," Ash realized. "Or Captivate? Something like that!"
"Oh, I see," Corphish nodded. "Meh."
Both his pincers faced directly back, and he used Bubblebeam to launch his whole float forwards.
As he approached Milotic, he twisted – using one Bubblebeam jet to spin his float, the other to keep moving. Once his ride was going in the right direction, he switched both back to Razor Shell and brought them across in a double-bladed swipe at Milotic.
She flinched back as he appeared out of the mist, then leaned back just far enough to avoid being caught by the blades. Not willing to let it go at that, she also brought her tail up to flip the float entirely.
Corphish went tumbling into the water, and for a moment there was just water everywhere. Then the foam and bubbles cleared, and he saw Milotic coming at him through the water with her maw glowing for an underwater Dragon Pulse.
The Ruffian Pokémon crossed his blades again, deflecting the Dragon Pulse off towards the surface, and swiped unsuccessfully at her as she gracefully evaded the attack.
Landing on the base of the pool, Corphish kicked off – jumping at least a few inches into the water, and then using all six legs to start swimming after Milotic.
At least he could see her now.
"Ah, welcome," Giovanni said, looking up from his desk.
Jessie, James and Meowth filed in.
"You wanted to see us, boss?" James asked.
Giovanni nodded, indicating the seats they usually took. Persian raised his head, regarding all three coolly, and then settled back to rest his head on his delicately-trimmed paws.
His eyes seemed to glitter below half-closed eyelids.
Several seconds went by, only the tick of the clock making any noise.
"Uh… boss?" Jessie tried. "What was it you wanted?"
Giovanni leaned back slightly, and smiled. "Well, it's just a matter of missing records – nothing to worry about."
He examined their relaxation, then went on. "You see, it seems that one of our Mega Stones has gone missing from the armoury."
"You mean da Sceptilite?" Meowth asked, then his eyes widened slightly. "Oh, yeah, that… hehe..."
"I can see you're aware of the problem," Giovanni said, still pleasant. "I was just wondering if you had any insights into what happened."
"We dropped it," James said.
"You dropped it," Giovanni repeated. "I see. I suppose that kind of mistake can happen, with one of the rarest and most valuable objects in the world."
"Yeah," Jessie agreed. "Just one of those things."
"Of course, if I wanted to know more," Giovanni went on, "I admit that I'm a little confused as to why you needed a Sceptilite in the first place."
He let the question hang in the air, then clasped his hands. "Well, that's all I wanted to know, so thank you for your time."
The cell stood so quickly their chairs nearly fell over.
"Oh, and there was something else I wanted to mention," Giovanni added. "According to one of our other operatives, Ash Ketchum's Sceptile was recently practising going Mega."
The crime boss fancied he could hear the simultaneous nervous gulp.
"I just thought you should know, since you interact with him on occasion," Giovanni said. "Well, that's all."
A burst of green flame came spearing out of the water, exploding outwards as soon as it reached the air and scouring the Mist from the air – leaving a shower of tiny sparkles which fell to the water and vanished.
As the sparkles dimmed and faded, Corphish emerged from the middle of the cloud – exoskeleton scorched and blackened, but still looking ready for a fight. He used a blast of Bubblebeam for propulsion, landing neatly back on one of the floats, and crossed his claws into a ready stance.
Milotic emerged from the water some distance away, and brought her tail up to her chin. "Interesting..."
"Pokémon keep saying that to me," Corphish said blandly.
The other Water-type shrugged, a sinuous full-body motion, and her tail flicked back and forth. "I can imagine they do, you're the sort of Pokémon who just doesn't give up."
Ash looked back and forth between them – the underwater battle had changed their relative positions, so Corphish was on his right and almost all the way at the far corner, while Milotic was close on his left side. "Okay, I think we can win this – just be ready!"
"Doesn't want to surrender, despite how he might sometimes want to," Milotic went on, tail flicking rhythmically. "Despite how he might feel his limbs grow leaden with the effort of fighting, and slowly think that maybe he'd do better to give in..."
"Watch out, Corphish," Ash went on. "She's going to try something, don't let her surprise you!"
Corphish nodded, a little slowly.
"It'd be so much easier to just rest," Milotic finished, and Corphish blinked – then faceplanted onto the float, eyes shut.
"Wait!" Ash said suddenly. "Corphish, wake up!"
Milotic lunged, form blurring across the pool, and curled around Corphish in a taut Bind before he could wake up – let alone defend himself.
Claws pinned to his side, pincers carefully arranged so no part of Milotic was in direct line with the potential movement of a Razor Shell, Corphish found himself helpless when he woke up again.
Then Milotic hit him with a Dragon Pulse, her form of the attack firing out from every inch of her scales – meaning that Corphish was right at the centre of an overlapping series of wavefronts.
The graceful Water-type released her Bind in a single supple motion, flinging Corphish high into the air, and launched a final jet of Dragon Pulse at him.
There was an explosion, and when Corphish landed he was clearly out for the count.
"...wow," May said, softly. "Now that's how someone can be a Coordinator and a Grand Champion!"
"I think we may need to add something to the training schedule," Blaziken noted. "I'll just pencil in 'everything'."
Ash recalled Corphish, wincing. "Well, I guess at least that looked like a good battle..."
"Oh, it was," Wallace assured him. "Spectacular – that red beam-sword trick he had was an impressive one, enough that you could build a Contest around it."
"I'm not sure where I'd go from there," Ash admitted, then returned his attention to the Pokéballs. "So I guess this also chooses what the third battle's going to be?"
"That's correct," Wallace confirmed. "Since there'll be only one Pokémon left for each of us. So – make your fateful choice!"
Ash frowned, then pointed to one. "That one next."
Wallace took it, placing the final one in a pocket for now, and then indicated one of Ash's Pokéballs. "And you should send that one out."
"Right," Ash agreed. He drew back his arm, then threw. "Go!"
Pikachu watched intently, ready to jump forwards if the 'ball clicked open empty.
There was a bright white flash, and a Magikarp formed.
"I am here," he said, then hit the water with a splash.
Glalie materialized overhead, his white-and-black shape hovering several feet above the pool, and he tilted down to look. "...so, I get the Magikarp then."
"Okay, Glalie!" Ash called. "Don't forget, this Magikarp's going to be tougher than you think!"
"Sure, sure," Glalie agreed. "I know, there's something fishy about him."
Wallace glanced sideways at Ash's groan. "Something wrong?"
"I don't want to explain," Ash replied. "It's just a really bad pun…"
"Ice Beam!" Glalie said, starting off simple, as a burst of icy-blue light flashed downwards and struck the pool.
It instantly produced a thin layer of clear ice around the point of contact, though it didn't take long for the movement of the water in the pool to start forcing the ice to break up.
A moment later, all the fragments of ice went flying as the Magikarp launched himself into the air.
Glalie was startled despite Ash's warning, and by the time he'd recovered his composure the Water-type was right up to him and delivering a powerful tail slap.
"Get off!" Glalie snapped, Blizzard forming around him. He used precise bursts of cold to form a crystalline shield, blocking the follow-up attack Magikarp made as he came down again, and then shattered it into hundreds of icy darts to rain them down at his foe.
Magikarp splashed back into the water before the darts reached him, and almost all their force was spent by the impact – meaning only one actually struck, and that did almost no damage.
Scarcely had Glalie seen that when Magikarp came flashing back up out of the water again – moving faster, now.
"Shield!" Glalie called out, both horns flashing, and he formed a thicker, spherical shield out of ice.
Magikarp hit it, bounced off, then hit it again – hard enough to make it crack.
"What?" Glalie asked, slightly dumbfounded, as Magikarp bounced off the crack three more times in quick succession before breaking a small hole and entering.
The next few seconds were quite painful for the Ice-type.
"Glalie!" Ash called, wincing at the cling-cling-cling sound of Magikarp pinging around inside Glalie's ice shield – and hitting Glalie about once or twice a second. "Cancel your shield!"
"Leave the field?" Glalie replied, sounding woozy. "What would that – oh, right!"
The ice dissolved into an instant puff of snow, and Magikarp went flying out towards the side of the gym as his ricochet point vanished.
Turning with a pair of quick tail flips, Magikarp hit the wall at the right orientation to bounce himself back towards the water. Glalie formed a pair of ice Flying-types – both Noctowl – but neither managed to intercept before the hyperactive Water-type splashed back into the water and was safe.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked, somewhat concerned with how Glalie's second Noctowl had gone skidding across the floor of the gym before he dismissed it.
"I'm fine, thank you, Ashley," Glalie replied, eyes unfocused, then shook his everything and blinked rapidly. "That fish hits hard..."
"I know!" Ash said, pointing. "Just freeze the whole pool!"
He didn't notice Wallace smirk slightly.
"Got it!" Glalie replied, horns building up a much larger charge.
"Ash, no!" Brock called from the side. "If you freeze the whole pool it'll crack the foundations!"
Wallace lost his smirk.
"Why?" Ash replied. "What would make that happen?"
"It's because ice is bigger than water!" Brock told him. "It's how ice cubes and icebergs float!"
"So… no freezing the whole pool?" Ash asked.
Brock shook his head.
"Okay, uh..." Ash frowned. "Glalie, freeze a lid over the top of the pool – that'll be better than nothing..."
"Still no!" Brock shouted. "Unless you leave a route for water to escape from underneath!"
"Okay, I'm just going to cover it with ice cubes," Glalie decided, firing down a series of short bursts of Ice Beam.
"That's fine!" Brock informed them. "Keep going!"
"Thank you for not destroying my gym," Juan called. "It is much appreciated!"
"I've been trying..." Ash replied.
Magikarp's tail flipped back and forth as he watched the ice slowly cover the pool.
That was interesting.
A lot of things were interesting to Magikarp. He was endlessly fascinated by the variety of the world, and the variety of the Pokémon in it.
This one, for example, was in mid-air, and so he had to Bounce up to a height he could hit it with a tail slap. That was unusual.
Still, it was about time for another attack. Magikarp swam down to the bottom of the pool, turned so he faced directly upwards, and then accelerated.
He was good at accelerating.
Blocks of ice went everywhere as the supercharged Magikarp blasted up into the air.
"Ha!" Glalie called, a wave of icy energy pulsing out from his body. "Take that!"
The Blizzard flashed outwards, turning Magikarp's water plume into drifting snow and slush, and freezing the fish himself at the apex of a thin spike of ice that was all that was left of his watery accompaniment.
"Right," Glalie went on, slightly calmer. His horns flashed, and a Machamp arm formed out of ice – then wound up for a punch.
"Look out!" Ash called. "That Magikarp's shaking!"
Glalie blinked. "What?"
The ice containing Magikarp shattered, and he rocketed out towards Glalie. This time the Ice-type was a little more ready, and Magikarp's charge was blocked by the repurposed Machamp arm.
Glalie edged backwards in the air as his construct turned from clear ice to shattered fragments from the force of the blow, and then sighed as Magikarp dropped back to safety.
"Right, that's it!" he announced, more Ice energy building up. "I'm going to monger you!"
He quickly looked up to see if anyone got it.
"You're going to what?" Pikachu asked. "Monger? Do you mean mangle?"
"No, monger!" Glalie replied. "You know, like… a fish… monger?"
Magikarp slapped him in the chin.
"Cannonball!" Glalie announced, dropping straight down after Magikarp. He hit the pool with a boom, and great sheets of water went everywhere.
"Huh," May said, looking at her now nearly dry clothes, and then at the water running off the level below. "I guess they really do get the splash zone worked out right."
"That's good," Max agreed, wincing as Ninetales shook herself out on the bottom row. "I'd hate to get that wet… again, anyway."
Ninetales sneezed, and said something testy.
"I've got a fur dryer," Brock told her. "And then I think we might need to use the comb… it'll be really poofy..."
"I do not think my gym has been this well washed in months," Juan said, wringing out his neckpiece. "At least it is an expression of the Water type."
Glalie gazed through the water, looking around for the missing Magikarp.
There was a whack on the back of his head, and he spun. "Ow!"
Another thwack, this time on one cheek.
"Okay, Freeze-Dry!" Glalie snapped, producing a spherical pulse of cold which turned a large chunk of the pool around him into very solid ice.
He floated there for a moment, then an idea came to him. Exerting as much effort as he could, he lifted himself out of the water – complete with his icy cargo.
Once he reached the side of the pool, he floated a little distance away – then smashed himself into the ground, breaking the ice around him and leaving it out of the pool.
That done, Glalie headed back over to the pool.
"Glalie, wait!" Ash said. "Look!"
Confused, Glalie turned.
There was Magikarp, caught in the ice – unable to move, with the ice so solid and cold it was completely without the small fractures that would normally have given him play to move.
"I concede on Magikarp's behalf," Wallace said, returning him. "Not bad, Ash Ketchum – could have been better, but then very few are ready for Magikarp."
"Yeah, that was a lot harder than I was expecting," Ash agreed.
Glalie had to concur.
"Ah, Magikarp, his job is to exploit those who do not think a Magikarp can fight well," Juan said sagely. "More of a battle Pokémon than a contest Pokémon."
"I guess if you're a Champion and a Coordinator, you do need both," Ash said. "Uh… do we bother doing the pick-a-Pokéball thing here?"
"No, no point," Juan confirmed.
"Right, at last!" Pikachu said, jumping off Ash's shoulder. "Let's do this!"
Ash returned Glalie, then clipped Lucario's Pokéball back on his belt with the others. "Should I go over there, or..."
"Why not," Juan invited.
"Do you think he knows?" Jessie asked.
"I hope not," James replied, shivering. "He's scary enough when he thinks we haven't done anything wrong!"
"Actually, I'm pretty sure he does," Cubone opined, throwing a bone from one paw to the other. "Don't you think so, Meowth?"
"...ya know, I tink I might have worked it out," Meowth said, putting a claw to his chin and tapping it. "What if he does know, but he wanted ta show dat he knew without havin' to actually point it out?"
"That does make sense," James said slowly. "But that would mean that he actually values having us around."
"...Moltres," Cubone pointed out.
"Oh, yeah..." Meowth mused.
He turned the corner, looking into the hangar, and blinked. "Hey, guys? Trouble!"
"Trouble?" Jessie repeated, then followed Meowth's gaze. "Okay, that's trouble."
"Someone stole the plane!" James said, blinking.
Jessie's expression hardened. "Then we're getting it back! James, get on their trail with Moltres! Meowth, grab one of the robots!"
"Got it!" Meowth agreed, as Moltres materialized in a burst of light. "You want the Aerodactyl?"
"Whatever's fast enough!" Jessie told him.
Behind her, Moltres took off with a storm of wind and a shower of embers. She blew past the half-open hangar doors, turning sideways to negotiate them without having to slow down, and vanished from view.
Cubone judged the distance, then threw a bonemerang. It skipped once off the floor, then hit the door-opening switch before dissolving.
Jessie jumped onto the Aerodactyl-bot as Meowth taxied it past, slipped into the cockpit, and returned Cubone before gunning the throttle and following Moltres and James out into the sky.
"You were right!" Henry said, looking back over his shoulder. "They didn't even question it!"
"I told you, this plane belongs to some of the Boss's favourites," Mason replied. "Those grunts in the hangar were never going to stop it once it was taxiing."
He chuckled, rubbing a device on his wrist. "Besides, it's not like they'd have been able to stop us even if they tried..."
Henry turned them north, on a line to Almia. "You did make that deal we wanted, right?"
"Yeah, we get a free ride, stop worrying," Mason advised. "And make sure we head out to sea, I don't want us to show up on any radars."
In the hold, a female Pikachu finished towelling off her hair. "Okay, so that didn't work so well..." she muttered, checking with a mirror to make sure all the pink had gone. "I've never been so bubbly."
Dropping the towel to be washed, she scooted over to her supplies. "Now, where did I put that bald cap?"
Pikachu rolled his neck, and watched with interest as Wallace sent out his final Pokémon.
"So, Greninja, huh?" he asked, one ear twitching.
"That is correct," Greninja confirmed, bowing.
"Ready?" Wallace asked, then waved his hand. "Begin!"
Greninja burst forwards, hands flashing into a gesture, and Pikachu started by launching out a powerful blast of electricity. "Thunderbolt!"
"Shadow sneak!" Greninja countered, with palms pressed against one another and two fingers in each raised.
Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit Greninja – who promptly vanished in a puff of smoke.
"What?" the Electric-type asked, looking around and feeling outwards with his electrical senses. "I didn't just see that, right? He just vanished?"
Greninja condensed out of smoke behind Pikachu, foot scything in for a blow.
"Behind you!" Ash called urgently, and Pikachu reacted by blasting several thousand volts right through his tail. The attack spread like a cone, arcing out in multiple directions, and hit Greninja in at least three places.
Wallace's Pokémon simply vanished again, even quicker than last time.
"Okay, something's not right here..." Pikachu mused. "Ash, any idea where he is?"
Ash scanned the area, then closed his eyes to look again – and did a double take. "Pikachu, he's under the pool!"
"You mean in the pool, right?" Pikachu checked, blasting it with large quantities of electricity as he spoke.
"No, under it!" Ash stressed. "Under the tiles!"
As he spoke, Greninja moved – so fast Ash lost track of him – then appeared over Pikachu's head, and his long-fingered hands blurred again. "Rock Tomb!"
He inhaled briefly, and spat out a boulder bigger than he was. The rock came just in time that Pikachu's Thunder was mostly spent on smacking it aside, and large rock fragments rained down all around the Electric-type.
Sliding his left rear paw back for leverage, Pikachu flipped his tail underneath one of the rocks. With a burst of blue Aura for extra strength, he flipped the rock right back at Greninja – who made another lightning-fast gesture with both hands and smashed it to pieces with a punch.
"Right!" Pikachu snapped, and his cheeks chirped as he powered up. There was a moment when everything felt greasy, and then a spherical wave of electricity blasted outwards. "Shock Wave!"
Greninja gestured, forming a ball of crackling electricity in his hands for a moment, and then dove directly at the wave – slamming the ball into the ball-like Shock Wave.
The impact dished it in, then Greninja forced himself through into the relatively safe zone.
"Oh, come on!" Pikachu implored. "That usually works!"
Greninja spread his hands in apology, then crouched and blurred forwards. His tongue hooked around, flicking out and lobbing a blob of purple gunk at Pikachu, and he threw a pair of blurring blue shurikens at the same moment to give Pikachu several targets to deal with.
The Electric-type jumped into the air, pushing off hard enough to dodge all three attacks, and fired a thunderbolt out towards Greninja. This one moved much slower, but when Greninja dodged it he found that the attack followed him – yet another one of Pikachu's library of Shock Wave techniques.
"Spikes!" Wallace ordered, speaking up for the first time in the high-speed battle.
Greninja dodged away from the trailing electrical surge, flipping over an Aura Sphere Pikachu added to the mix, and gestured. Dozens of sharp-looking caltraps scattered out from his gesture, landing all over the gym floor, and Greninja dove past them into the battlefield like it was water instead of hard tiling.
"He must know Dig!" Ash realized, as Pikachu's Shock Wave grounded out on the Spikes. "That's how he's hiding underground!"
"Then I'll just Earthquake him out!" Pikachu said, now very annoyed. "Seriously, this is-"
"Wait, Pikachu!" Ash interrupted. "We've kept seven gyms in one piece, don't break this one – instead, uh, there's got to be pipes, so try electrifying those!"
"I guess he has to be a Water type, so that's going to work," Pikachu agreed. "Okay, let's see..."
"Greninja, back out!" Wallace ordered.
Pikachu let out a shout, sending stabbing bolts of electricity to touch every tile he could see and curving some so they hit the inner areas of the half-drained pool. "He's got to come up somewhere!"
Greninja materialized right over his head, and hit Pikachu with a Strength attack that punted him halfway across the room.
"I guess he doesn't," Ash said, frowning. "Wait, something doesn't seem right..."
Crouching as Pikachu got up, Greninja gestured – clasping his hands together, then forming a cross shape with two fingers of each hand extended.
With a flash of smoke, one Greninja became three, and they jumped away to different sides of the gym before lunging in.
One came at Pikachu from the left, and took an Iron Tail to the face – turning out to be a Substitute, which burst under the impact. Another made a frontal attack, and Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt at him before switching to the third – an attack from behind him.
"Pikachu, not-" Ash began.
The Force Palm smashed the third one into smoke.
Eyes widening, Pikachu turned back to the second one – who, body crackling with electricity, volleyed a kick into Pikachu before flickering away in a Quick Attack.
"I think we know who Wallace only uses for really important challenges," Brock said.
Ninetales nodded. "He seems very agile."
"Yes, Greninja is a powerful-" Juan began, and Brock interrupted him.
"Look!"
Greninja, now perched on the ceiling, examined a small yellow object before lobbing it into the stands.
"WHAT!?" Pikachu demanded, cheeks sparking – red cheeks blazing with electrical energy. "That's MINE!"
Greninja shrugged, then did another of those funny gestures and blurred back to the attack with a surging blast of Ice Beam.
"Okay, we're over da clouds," Meowth reported. "Now what?"
"Now you let me drive!" Jessie replied, hitting a switch and changing control of the Aerodactyl-bot to her seat. "And tell me where we need to go!"
"Uh… well, I was mostly followin' Moltres," Meowth admitted. "An' I don't know if she's got any idea."
The silence was broken by a ringing sound.
"Should I get dat?" Meowth asked.
"Of course you should!" Jessie replied.
The Scratch Cat picked up the phone. "Yeah, Meowth here… oh, hi James! You do see da plane? Great!"
"Well, that's a relief," Jessie admitted. "Now, uh… how do we actually do this?"
"Well, if we can do it without breakin' da plane, that'd be good," Meowth said. "Pity is, most of da others are kinda in training – ya know, helpin' with da Mega Evolutions. An' I think Audino said somethin' about a banquet."
Jessie sighed. "Then we'll… improvise," she declared.
"Good ting we're insured," Meowth quipped.
Pikachu spun away from a blurring blue-clear shuriken, cheeks humming as he charged, and flung a Thunderbolt back at Greninja – then hissed with annoyance as the Water-type turned out to be a Substitute.
"Pikachu, stay calm!" Ash called. "Don't let him get to you."
The Electric-type took a deep breath, and nodded. "Right. Sorry, Ash..."
"That's- behind you!" Ash said suddenly.
Pikachu whirled, and fired out a branching-tree version of Shockwave. It split into two attacks, then four, then eight, until hundreds of fine strands of electricity reached out for Greninja as he ran in to deliver a Night Slash.
Reacting with blazing speed, Greninja gestured and fired a Water Shuriken from his right hand. It hit the ground with a splash as Greninja jumped into the air, and just at that moment one of the reaching electrical strands touched the splash.
The whole Shock Wave discharged down that strand instead of into Greninja, making the central area of the gym hum with charge for a moment – then Pikachu managed to bean Greninja with a hastily thrown Aura Sphere.
Greninja was knocked backwards by the first really solid hit he'd taken all battle, flipped backwards, and used his tongue as a counterweight to roll out of the way of a follow-up Thunderbolt.
Wallace spoke up. "Greninja, play a single part!"
As Greninja skidded to a stop, his eyes narrowed.
He examined Pikachu closely, then gestured again and his palm began to spark with electricity.
"...really?" Pikachu asked, puzzled. "Okay, whatever."
"Thunder!" Ash called.
Greninja flashed forwards, directly towards Pikachu as he charged his electrical attack.
"Switch to Shield!" Ash added, quickly enough that Pikachu had time to react. The burst of Thunder went around, not out, and Pikachu whirled it into a solid shield of sparkling electricity just as Greninja threw his Electric attack.
The blast hit Pikachu's intensifying Counter Shield and was absorbed without effort, vanishing into Pikachu's Lightningrod.
What came as a terrific shock to Pikachu, though, was when Greninja promptly charged right through the counter shield. The electricity came flashing into his body, not harming him in the slightest, and he hit Pikachu with a one-two-three combo of Night Slash and Ice Punch which knocked the Electric-type tumbling across the room.
"Wait – Pikachu, don't use any more electric attacks!" Ash said, watching closely. "Use Aura!"
"Why?" Pikachu demanded, spinning on one heel and using his Iron Tail to split a Gunk Shot in half. "He's a Water-type, right?"
"Yeah, but he's absorbing your electricity!" Ash explained. "Force Palm!"
Pikachu did a double-take, then crouched and launched himself at the oncoming Greninja. He winced as a tongue slap got him in the side, then grabbed the appendage and used it as a lever point to get close enough for his Force Palm.
Greninja winced at the body blow, then punched Pikachu in one cheek. Sparks flashed out, flowing into Greninja's body and turning to useful energy, and the Ninja Pokémon used it right away to unleash a wave of water that knocked Pikachu away again.
Spinning on his own axis, Pikachu formed a seething globe of bright blue Aura and flung it back before he even hit the ground. "Aura Sphere!"
Greninja detonated the Sphere with a Water Shuriken, producing a flash which concealed his position for a moment – augmented by a Smokescreen which pulsed out to make observation harder.
"Left!" Ash supplied.
Pikachu spun, ramming two spheres together to form a seeker cloud, and backflipped away from a blast of psychic energy as Greninja fired an Extrasensory at him.
He shot a Thundershock at the floor, experimentally, and it curved to ground into Greninja – who was busily dodging and diving away from the shower of seeker Spheres Pikachu had set on him.
"Great," Pikachu sighed, wincing. "He copied my Lightningrod."
A second Greninja volleyed in a Quick Attack, managing to hit Pikachu just as Pikachu burst him with an Iron Tail, and the original blurred in to capitalize on the moment of disorientation.
"Hey!" Henry called, alerting his partner. "Looks like we've got company."
"Company?" Mason repeated, coming into the cockpit. "Where?"
"That Moltres, that's what," Henry said, indicating the rear camera. "Go get rid of them before they catch up!"
"Right, right," Mason replied, checking the stolen device on his arm. "You'd think you were in charge or something..."
Muttering to himself, he left the cockpit and headed backwards through the plane. His Liepard jumped off a couch to join him, yowling a question, and he shrugged to her. "No, just the big shot pilot guy up there giving orders..."
As they reached the loading bay, Mason clipped himself to a stanchion and reached for the door controls.
"Don't get sucked out now," he said, and Liepard wrapped her tail around a piece of the aircraft frame.
Hitting the controls with his elbow, he turned on the device on his arm and aimed the pointer – grinning as a small disc flashed out.
"Remember, we just need to get on board!" James called into the slipstream. "Don't damage it too badly!"
Moltres let out a cry in return, and James couldn't help but chuckle at how put-upon she sounded.
"Okay, just a bit further," he said, and Moltres flapped harder. The tailplane slid closer, and then the cargo door opened.
"Huh?" James asked, intelligently, and a small disc flew out and began to orbit them. "Isn't that a Capture Styler?"
Moltres chirped, as confused as her trainer, and then her wingbeats began to slow. Her eyes dulled a little, and she dropped quickly backwards and away from the aircraft.
"Moltres!" James called, surprised. "What's wrong?"
Moltres gave him a disinterested look, and shrugged her wings – not at all bothered.
"Just a bit more..." Mason said, keeping the Styler on target.
A bit more apathy and that Moltres would give up her job completely. He'd heard that the Apathy Styler could even get the Pokémon to drop their riders out of the sky – but just making her go away would be enough.
Then his limbs tingled, and he lowered both arms against his will.
"What?" he asked, looking around as his hands continued to disobey him – taking the Apathy Styler off and throwing it into a corner. "Stop!"
I think you'll find that you started it, a cool mental voice said.
He jerked around to see, and blinked at the absurdity of it – a Pikachu, in a wheelchair, wearing a fine suit and with a shiny bald-patch cap on its head.
"...the heck?" Mason asked. "Liepard!"
Liepard yowled, uncurling her tail from the railing and springing forwards.
Pikachu jumped out of her wheelchair, took the handles, and swung it like a club to knock Liepard out of the air and into a mewling heap in a corner.
Then a Carnivine lunged out of a closet, wrapping Mason in vines and stopping him from moving.
"Let me go!" Mason shouted. "Damnit, let me-"
A chirp interrupted him.
James jumped off the back of a familiar-looking Moltres, filling the whole back half of the bay with her spread wings touching the sides.
Her beak pointed at him, and seemed to glitter in the firelight radiating off her wings.
"...oh," Mason said, much more quietly.
Pikachu's paws and tail blurred, a bright blue light blazing on all of them as he used Aura to blunt Greninja's attacks and launch his own.
A tongue-strike came whipping towards him from one side, and he batted it away with his tail – snatching it back before the tongue could snag him, and jumping over it as a second loop of the long appendage reached for him. That brought him closer to a knife-hand blow from Greninja, and he matched it with a Force Palm strike before letting the recoil knock him backwards.
Greninja gestured, producing a Gunk Shot which Pikachu barely avoided, and then lunged right back into the fight with a Rock Smash.
Pikachu flared his electricity, using it extravagantly to Magnet Rise himself into the air and away from Greninja's close-combat attacks. Throwing a pair of Aura Spheres, he smashed the first Water Shuriken that came up at him and the second only caught him a glancing blow.
"Ash, I'd appreciate some help..." Pikachu requested.
"Agility!" Ash said.
"I've already been doing that!"
"Then use Electroball to boost your Double Edge!" Ash suggested.
Pikachu had just enough time to absorb that before Greninja flickered in front of him – then smacked him back to the ground with a bolt of Rock-typed orange energy.
"Ow..."
Rolling away from an Ice Beam which froze a circle of tiles, Pikachu slipped and ran the few feet necessary to drop into the pool – gaining an important moment of protection to ready his next move.
Summoning a ball of electrical energy, he batted it straight up as Greninja came into view. As the Water-type got ready to absorb it, Pikachu jumped – hitting the Electroball just before it hit Greninja, and using the burst of energy to accelerate.
The impact went thwack! around the battlefield, knocking Greninja off course and up into the air.
Pikachu followed him, paws blazing, and hit him with two more Force Palms before a Hydro Pump knocked him bodily backwards and left him shaking himself dry on the side of the pool.
"Finish this!" Wallace instructed. "Giga Impact!"
Pikachu's eyes widened, and he took a hurried stance – both rear paws on the tiles, one paw forwards and glowing with a spark of energy.
Greninja rushed across the gym, violet and orange energy flowing across his body, and there was a frozen moment as he impacted on Pikachu's outthrust paw before the attack detonated and sent dust and haze everywhere.
"That thing's awful!" Moltres said, kicking the Apathy Styler Mason had used on her. "I was actually wondering if there was any point to all this..."
"Well, it's over now," Carnivine reassured her. "I've got him."
As James took Mason's Pokéball and returned his Liepard, though, the plane lurched.
"So, basically," a voice came over the speaker, "I've decided that this is all a bad idea. See you, Mason!"
"Henry!" Mason shouted, struggling against the vines holding him in place as the transport began to enter a dive. "You crazy-"
"What's going on?" James asked, one hand on the wall for stability.
"That mad – he's going to crash us into the sea!" Mason replied. "I'm still stuck here, idiot, I don't have a Braviary!"
"Sucks to be you, I guess," Henry replied, then the connection closed with a click.
Cosplaychu shook her fur out from where the cap had been, and tugged on James' trouser leg. "We've got to get everyone off the plane!"
"Weezing was on board!" James realized. "And – and I think Cacturne's on as well!"
"What about me?" Mason complained.
"I'm almost inclined to leave you on board," Moltres said, shaking her head.
"Okay, we're pretty sure dat ain't normal," Meowth noted.
"I noticed!" Jessie agreed, nudging the Aerodactyl-bot into a dive. "Just make sure you've got the claws working!"
"Claws?" Meowth repeated, turning them on anyway. "Are you plannin' what I think you're plannin'?"
"Depends if you think it's something ridiculous," Jessie muttered. "Okay, here's the plan – when I say, latch on with all the claws!"
"...yeah, it was what I thought," Meowth said. The sets of claws positioned just in front of the wing leading edge flexed as he shifted a joystick, and opened ready to grab on.
The Aerodactyl-bot dove faster, matching speed with the Rocket Plane, then slid closer.
"Now!" Jessie ordered, pushing the yoke down and then backing off almost immediately.
Meowth hit the controls, and the claws snapped into place. Talons on the feet snagged the tailplane, and the wing claws caught the wings. "Got 'em!"
Jessie pulled the yoke back, and the joined pair of aircraft began to level out.
"Ya got it!" Meowth congratulated.
A Braviary appeared outside the cockpit, and someone jumped onto it.
"Cubone, stop him!" Jessie ordered, and her Ground-type flashed out of her Pokéball on the Aerodactyl-bot wing – already preparing a Smack Down.
"...I'm gonna just go an' tell James to get into the cockpit of our plane," Meowth said, snapping his claws together to produce a Substitute. "I don't tink dis is the safest way ta fly back to base..."
"I can't see any movement," Max said, squinting into the cloud. "Did Pikachu win?"
"I can't see any either," May admitted. "Uh… who would know… Blaziken?"
Blaziken shrugged. "I'm not an Aura adept."
"Oh, yeah, Ash should know," Max realized. "How does he look?"
May craned her neck to look.
As she did, though, the cloud began to thin.
Pikachu sat, completely exhausted, on the tiles. His ears were twitching, showing he was still conscious, but apart from that he seemed to be thoroughly out of it.
In front of him, lying flat on his back, was the unconscious form of Greninja.
"...well, I guess that tells us that," Max admitted.
Then the Greninja vanished in a puff of smoke.
Pikachu's eyes widened visibly, but before he could react more than that the real Greninja knocked him out from behind.
"...oh," May said in a small voice.
Ash hurried forwards, feet gripping with Aura on the water-slicked tiles, and picked up his friend. "Pikachu… you did really well."
"Indeed he did," Wallace said, returning the battered Greninja. "I'm sure it was only his inexperience with the abilities of a Greninja which let me win that battle."
"What was that?" Ash asked, cradling Pikachu. "He seemed to be almost… swapping types around whenever he wanted to!"
"That's exactly what he was doing," Wallace told him. "It's called Protean – an ability that Greninja and Keckleon share. That's how he hid underground – he was a Ghost type."
He shrugged. "As for the rest of it – once he'd taken the Light Ball, he used Role Play to copy Pikachu's own Lightningrod by making sure that was the ability Pikachu was using at the time."
"Huh," Ash said, then clenched his fist. "Well, now we know, Pikachu and I will train to beat it!"
"You should," Wallace agreed readily, and threw something.
Ash caught it out of the air with his free hand, trying not to knock Pikachu out of his grip, and examined it.
A Rain Badge winked back at him.
"You certainly earned it," Wallace said, closing his hand around it. "An excellent display of adaptability – I can most assuredly tell you that that was one of the hardest fights I've had in a long time."
Pikachu stirred, and Ash adjusted him. "Pikachu!"
"That was a dirty trick," he said, pouting. "And I thought that Counter had won me the battle, too..."
White-blue claws tapped on Ash's shoulder. "Ash? Pikachu?"
Latios held out his other hand, revealing a glowing yellow orb. "I got the Light Ball for you."
Pikachu held out his paws, and Latios dropped it in – resulting in a fizzing crackle as it returned to his body.
"Thanks," the Electric-type said, his cheeks lightening to their more familiar orange, then rolled his neck and jumped up onto Ash's shoulder on the second try.
"I guess we should get to the Pokémon Centre," Ash decided. "Sorry if we did any damage to your gym..."
"Actually, this is pretty much all my fault," Wallace said freely. "I'll apologize to Juan personally."
"They were nice," Juan declared, some minutes later. "Much more polite than some."
"Yes, though I'm glad that not all our challengers are that good," Wallace said. "After all, not every strong trainer can make it special."
Juan nodded, then his brow creased in a frown. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Wallace asked.
There was a crash from somewhere inside the gym.
"That?" Juan said, pointing.
Juan's gym manager – an amiable Slowking – came walking through the door. He looked around, spotting his trainer, and ambled over.
"Slowking?" Juan asked, puzzled. "What is it?"
"I'm afraid the Wailmer tank collapsed," Slowking explained. "They all evolved… and then that made one of the walls give way. So there are Wailord all over most of the ground floor."
Wallace and Juan exchanged looks.
"...somehow, I can't help but think this is Ash Ketchum's fault..." Wallace sighed. "But I can't prove it..."
AN:
And this is Ash's eighth gym battle in Hoenn. I had fun with hyperkarp.
Also something about Team Rocket I guess. I'm not sure if non-friendship Stylers have been done before, but this one (apathy) was an independent idea of mine as far as I know.
Seems to make sense.
