"Well, here we are!" Chili announced, stepping back and looking up at the building. "This is where we'll be making our magic!"

"And by magic, you mean… meals," Cress pointed out.

"Meals are magic,"Chili informed him, waving it off. "Just ask Cilan about that."

"It's not just a meal, any meal," Cilan said, with a flourish. "It's the interplay between meal, trainer and Pokémon – the way that it energizes them into a great battle!"

Chili chuckled. "We know, bro."

For a moment, the three brothers fell silent.

"Still amazes me," Cress said. "We all made it."

"That's right!" Chili agreed. "Not one, not two, but all three of us managed to earn the right to stand as Gym Leaders!"

"You're correct, of course," Cilan smiled. "But at the same time… weren't you just astonished by the buffet of wonderful Pokémon that we were offered at the League? It makes one's mouth water just thinking of it."

"You're not wrong," Chili nodded. "That Darmanitan, whoo! And I'm pretty sure that Heatmor was something really special – did you see how he punched through that Reflect shield?"

"It makes me wonder how we're going to keep up," Cress said.

"We'll work something out," Chili assured him. "You've got Panpour, right? And we can take turns – one of us will run the restaurant, another will sort out the gym rooms, and the third will go off to catch some Pokémon – you know, Gym Pokémon, so whatever we can get that fits with any element we have."

"I do have my eye on some Basculin," Cress admitted.

"That's the spirit!" his enthusiastic brother agreed. "What about you, Cilan?"

Cilan pondered.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "But I think you're right, we should get some gym Pokémon. Even if we try to be a first-gym challenge, sooner or later someone's going to come along with seven badges and we'll just be the garnish on their road to the League."

"And that's awful," Cress stated.

"I know! Garnish improves appearance, and adds a pinch of taste, but it's not the core of the flavour!"


"Okay, uh..."

Iris stared out the window, thinking, then began to write. "The establishment of the Gym system in Unova began after a war three hundred years ago, attempting to regulate the use of Pokémon and to bolster local..."

She paused. "Wait… was it to bolster local autonomy or to reduce it? I can never remember these things!"

The nascent Dragon Tamer leaned back in her chair and groaned. "Why do I have to know this stuff? None of it's relevant to today anyway, it's not like tomorrow Alder's going to go on the TV and announce he's disbanding the League..."

Excadrill clicked his claws together.

"What?" Iris asked, batting her hair out of the way so she could look at him. "What's the problem?"

The Steel-type shrugged, not particularly interested in being talkative.

"Fine, be that way," Iris retorted. "Aargh… okay, I need to write about a thousand words on the history of the gym system…"

She paused, then got out her diary and looked again at the assignment.

"...okay, I think this might work!" she said, perking up. "It doesn't say it has to be about all the gyms. I could just write about the Opelucid City gym, that one's interesting!"

Fraxure sniggered.

Iris waved her hand at him, already discarding the partly-used paper and starting a fresh piece. "Okay, here we go..."


"...hey, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "Is it me or is that the guy who had the Pelipper and kept Pokémon in its beak?"

"I think you're right," Pikachu agreed. "He'd have to be really stupid to try cheating right in front of all these spectators, though."

"He was… Anthony," Ash said, remembering. "And yeah, but his thing did have potential."

"Trainers, send out your Pokémon!" the judge called.

"Well, I guess we'll see," Pikachu said.

"Go!" Ash called, winding up for the throw.

Ash's two Pokéballs flared with light, letting Swellow and Pidgeot burst out into the morning air.

"Oh, yeah!" Swellow said, wings blurring, and flew a corkscrew path around Pidgeot's more sedate glide. "I am so ready for this!"

"I'm sure you are," Pidgeot agreed. "Let's see how it all works out, shall we?"

She slowed down to hover over the grass of the stadium, with Swellow orbiting her, and faced down Anthony's Pokémon.

Surprisingly, there was only one – his Pelipper, flying a slow course towards them.

"So, what do you think?" Swellow asked. "Are you going to use Aeroblast?"

"Not in a crowded stadium," Pidgeot replied. Her wings crackled, air control layers forming from the tips of the feathers, and for a moment there was a white shock like a bird four times her size around her. Then she accelerated, climbing high into the stadium air, and turned to attack.

"Me first," Swellow said cheekily, her own wings propelling her forwards. She inhaled, letting the pressure build up in her beak, then let it out in a Boomburst which blasted out towards Pelipper.

There was a flicker of green light, and the attack hit Pelipper without any appreciable effect.

"He's-" Ash began, then there was a concussive BANG which knocked Swellow sideways in the air.


"-using Protect," Ash finished what he was going to say. "What was that?"

Swellow recovered from her dive, one wing cutting a few blades of grass as she bottomed out, and swept back up into the sky. "Okay, that was uncool. Who did that?"

"Pidgeot, wait!" Ash called, thinking. "Use Hurricane!"

Pidgeot replied by stabilizing her position in mid-air. Pelipper fired a burst of water at her, a Hydro Pump with enough force that the recoil sent him backwards a foot or two, and Pidgeot didn't dodge – she simply swept her enormous wings around, then beat them so hard that the Water attack aimed at her dispersed and turned into rain.

The wall of wind hammered at Pelipper, making him slide further backwards, then passed with the Flying-type still in the air.

"Payback!" Anthony called.

Pelipper sent a blast of Dark-type energy back at Pidgeot, who stood on her tail and flew straight up until she was right at the top of the arena.

"Pidgeot, this time try a Razor Wind!" Ash said.

Reaching her apex, Pidgeot went into a succession of rolls – one, two, three in a row, then slowed by braking with her wings and let the spiralling wind go on without her.

There was a long flash of green light, and the Razor Wind fell apart.

"Okay, he's using Protect!" Ash informed his Pokémon. "That means – attack one after the other!"

Swellow dove in. "Okay, me first!"

A pressure wave built on the tips of her wings, and she launched off a Boomburst and a pair of Air Cutters at the same moment. The pulses of hardened air shot forwards, then there was an explosion and they were all dispersed.

Ash frowned, then closed his eyes – and saw what was going on.

"Change of plan!" he called. "There's a Pineco in his beak!"

Pidgeot and Swellow both realized what he meant in a flash. The larger of the Flying-types broke off her attack, pulling up and around, and Swellow dove so she wouldn't run into the blast radius.

"How come we can't see it?" she asked, hovering for a moment over Ash's head.

"I guess he must be using Protect on his own beak so the explosion only goes outwards?" Ash suggested.

"I have a plan!" Pidgeot called down. "Swellow, up here!"

The swift Pokémon shot back into motion, zooming up to join her ally.


"Okay, what's the idea?" she asked.

"He can't do both Protect shields at once," Pidgeot explained. "And I can put together a drill that can push him into the floor if he shields… so he'll have to use Pineco."

Her wings spread, and she began to circle around the hole in the roof – faster and faster – and roll about her own axis, wings a blur.

"Ready?"

"...oh. Oh, yeah," Swellow said, eyes widening. "This is going to be so cool."

Pidgeot's speed built until a spiral of wind built up, and then she stopped abruptly.

"Now!" she said, drawing her wings back, and Swellow darted up-around-and-down into the eye of the still-coiled windstorm.

With an almighty flap of her wings, Pidgeot drove her whole prepared attack straight down. Five layers of contra-rotating wind drove straight down towards Pelipper, with Swellow riding behind the tip of the third like a surfer in the curl of a wave.

Pelipper did a double-take as the drill came towards him.

"Explosion!" Anthony ordered him. "You can't block that!"

Opening his bill, Pelipper shot Pineco out on a stream of water. A glow built as the Bug-type began to ready his Explosion-

Then things happened very fast. Swellow rolled right and then left, matching speeds with the drilling razor wind layers to slip through them, and snatched up Pineco in her talons. Doing a fast backflip, she hurled the Bagworm Pokémon into the empty middle of the stadium just an instant before he exploded.

Suddenly bereft of his defence, Pelipper was caught up in the Razor Wind and hammered into the floor. The first and second layers both hit him, but Pidgeot dispelled the other three before they could add insult to injury.

"Whoo!" Swellow cheered, circling the smoking Pineco as he fell. "Who's the mon?"

"I assume it's you," Pidgeot chuckled.


"That was a pretty good battle," Ash said, shaking Anthony's hand. "I like the Explosion trick."

"You do?" Anthony asked, a little surprised – then gratified. "I – oh, thank you, that's great to hear."

He looked down. "After we met… I had a long think about what I'd been doing, and… well, I'm glad I can still make it work well."

"Yeah, I think you should keep it up," Ash told him. "Double battles are a great way to use a Pelipper, and there's always Contests too – some of them are doubles."

"That does sound like a good idea," Anthony smiled. "Thanks."


"You know, a Pokémon League like this is sometimes really hard to keep track of," May said, waving to close down Ethan's summary of the battle Casey had just faced. "It was okay just following Ash, but now there's… what, six people? And they're not in the same stadium?"

Brock shrugged. "It's easier than trying to follow Ash from half a world away."

May winced. "Oh, yeah, when he did Vertress. I remember that… it all kind of went wrong, right?"

The gym leader waved a hand. "I'm not sure – I mean, the guy who beat him did have a Riolu which evolved into a Lucario, and we all know how tough they can be, but it is the only time Ash has done worse than he did the previous League."

Except for the Silver Conference after the Orange League, Ethan stated.

"The only people who think that one counts are Ash and the people in it," May said, then sniggered. "Okay, it's not that bad..."

"The Orange Islands are… odd," Brock allowed. "But it's relaxing. And the people there are very friendly."

"Especially Professor Ivy," May teased. "Yeah, I can see that."

She stretched. "Okay, it looks like Morrison's up next. Not sure who his opponent is… apparently it's someone called Ushi."


Morrison put his hands together and gave a quick bow. "I am ready!"

"Sure," Ushi chuckled. "Then I guess I am too. Go!"

"Do your best!" Morrison said, releasing his own Pokémon.

On his side of the arena, his Girafarig landed with a clack of hooves, and then his Growlithe took up a position by her side.

Across the battlefield, Ushi's Machamp spread his arms and set his feet.

"Wait – where's the other Pokémon?" Morrison asked. "You do know it's a double battle, right?"

Ushi nodded. "Look closer."

Machamp whirled an arm around his head, and a red blur shook back and forth.

"…is that a Magikarp?" Morrison said, staring. "Why does your Machamp have a Magikarp by the tail?"

"It's a crying shamu," Ushi replied. "Now, Machamp!"

"Growlithe, dodge right!" Morrison ordered.

Growlithe jumped away, avoiding a wet-slap of an impact as the Magikarp shot straight at him, and Machamp lunged forwards with all four arms ready to punch.

Girafarig skipped backwards, making sure her hooves didn't bump into one another, and a light formed around her horns.

"Psybeam!"

Machamp blocked in a double-X formation, and the Psybeam that hit his crossed forearms made him grunt as it arrested his momentum and pushed him back a step. As he did, Growlithe darted forwards under the body-barrel of his ally, and lunged.

"Fire Fang!" Morrison confirmed, and Growlithe's teeth flashed with fire as he went for Machamp's leg – then got caught by a stunning fish blow in the side.

"What happened?" Morrison asked. "Wait – did Magikarp go back to him?"

"Ah!" Ushi chuckled. "I see you've discovered the Returning Fish technique!"

"Try and catch the fish!" Morrison said. "Girafarig, keep an eye on it if it goes past you!"

The head face of his Psychic-type winked at him, and then Girafarig was hit in the side of the neck hard enough to nearly knock her over.

Growlithe shook his head to clear out the ringing sound, then jumped back and landed on Girafarig's back to help defend her.

"Keep it up!" Morrison asked. "Growlithe, make sure that you avoid being hit by that fish!"

Growlithe barked an affirmative, and fired Embers at Machamp from Girafarig's back. The Fighting-type blocked them with a blur of motion (which included Magikarp being used to knock the balls of flame aside) and then threw his fishy weapon at Morrison's Pokémon again.

Growlithe pounced, catching it out of the air, and shook it with a muffled bark.

"All right!" Morrison cheered. "Good work!"

"Dragon Rage," Ushi ordered.

"What?" Morrison asked, taken aback.

Growlithe's tail went down, and he had just enough time to see a sadistic glitter in Magikarp's eyes before a torrent of energy came blazing out of the Water-type's mouth.

The sheer force propelled Magikarp into the air, then caused it to fly around like a punctured balloon – forcing Growlithe to let go after the second time they hit the ground – and Magikarp turned off the blazing energy in time for Machamp to catch him.


May blinked. "Huh. That's a thing."

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Brock agreed.


"Okay, we need a new plan!" Morrison said, thinking hard. "Growlithe, Flamethrower!"

"Roww!" the Fire-type barked, bracing himself, and let out a blast of flames. This one was stronger than the Embers he'd fired before, and Machamp used three arms to punch pulses of compressed air and knock the cinders aside. The other arm wielded his ally Magikarp, taking on the main force of the flamethrower.

"Now, Girafarig!" he added. "Charge Beam!"

Lightning raced up Girafarig's horns, and she fired a bolt of electricity straight at Machamp. It struck Magikarp, producing a flash of side-scatter, and Machamp took the last dregs of the flamethrower head-on before Growlithe ran out of puff.

"Machamp, Magikarp, fish cannon attack!" Ushi said.

Machamp steadied himself, supporting the dazed Magikarp with two arms, and used the third to twist Magikarp's tail. A river of Dragon Rage poured out, the first flush blocked by Girafarig's quick and low-powered Dazzling Gleam, and then Morrison's Pokémon scattered to avoid being hit.

The Magikarp-derived Dragon Rage kept firing, sweeping around as Machamp fought to keep it under control despite the recoil, then hit Girafarig a second time. She skidded sideways, hooves skittering on the floor, and fell down – then Growlithe jumped at Machamp and was batted away by a fist.

"Girafarig, use your telekinesis!" Morrison said. "Take the Magikarp from his hands!"

Girafarig reached out, horns glowing, and Machamp had to cling on with all four hands to prevent Magikarp being snatched away. With that much force going into the tug-of-war, Growlithe was free to act, and ran in a half-circle to get behind Machamp

"Flare Blitz!" Morrison said.

Growlithe coiled himself, then lunged – the eruption of flames from the impact knocking Machamp forwards, making him lose grip on Magikarp, and then Growlithe got out of the way fast enough that a Psybeam from Girafarig didn't get him too.

"Great work!" Morrison praised. "Now, get that Magikarp!"

"Look again," Ushi said.

Morrison and his Pokémon looked, and saw that Magikarp was glowing a bright white. His form expanded, turning from a small fish into a giant sea serpent, and then the newly-evolved Gyarados roared.

Girafarig hit it with a Charge Beam, and it went backwards into the wall.

After several seconds with no further movement, the judge raised a hand. "Machamp and Gyarados are unable to battle!"


"If that Gyarados had evolved ten seconds earlier, I think Machamp could have used it as a flail," Dawn said. "That would have been pretty effective."

Johanna just gave her daughter a look, then sighed. "Do you always think like this?"

"What?" Dawn asked. "It makes sense, right?"

"An odd kind of sense, yes..."


"Okay, Arc, good luck!" Max said, sending his starter out with a flash of light. "And you too, Delta!"

"Huh," his opponent said. "You're someone who nicknames their Pokémon? Never saw the need."

Shrugging, the burly trainer – several years older than Max – send out his Onix. "Me, I just call him Onix."

"Sir, please send out your other Pokémon," the judge asked, as Delta took off in a rush of tailwind.

"Fine, fine, hold on to your britches," the trainer said. His other Pokéball opened, and a dainty Sylveon landed on the battlefield.

"...huh?" Max asked, a little confused.

"What?" his opponent said defensively. "He's a good Pokémon!"


"Who's this guy?" May asked.

His name is Fisher, Ethan told her. Apparently he is originally from Shikoku.

"He's got pretty good taste in Pokémon," Brock said. "And he's a caring trainer too. Look at the sheen on that Sylveon's coat – it's been very well raised, and that fur's been taken care of daily!"

"I guess that's good," May agreed. "It's important to make sure your Pokémon are in top condition, because it makes them feel happy – so they fight better and they feel better."

She frowned. "Brock? What would someone's team look like if they didn't have good taste in Pokémon?"

Brock paused. "Uh… actually, that is a good question. Maybe… someone using Pokémon that aren't good at fighting in a League?"

"I'm not sure there are any," Lucario said.

"Unown?" Brock suggested. "They work well as alphabets, but as single Pokémon they're not very worthwhile."

"Yeah, they're weak to the crowbar-type," May joked.

"Actually that's technically the steel type," Brock countered. "The Crowbar's the specific Appliance, it's a Steel-type. A stirring rod is Glass-type."

"How long have you spent thinking about that?"

"Longer than I should," Brock admitted. "I think we might be missing the battle."


"Rock Throw!" Fisher instructed. "Get that Manectric!"

Arc bounded backwards, and the rock was knocked off course by a focused Bubblebeam from his overhead teammate.

"Thanks!" he barked, glancing up, then turned to the Sylveon. It used furry tendrils from its bow to try and trip him, but Arc simply hit them with a Thunderbolt and let the electricity arc back up them to the Fairy-type – earning a yelp of surprise.

"Okay, forget the Manectric for now!" Fisher amended. "Onix, Bite! Sylveon, Rock Climb!"

"Rock Climb?" Max repeated. "But what's – Delta! Get higher!"

Delta swerved upwards, fins flapping, as Onix lunged upwards towards him. As the Rock-type rose, Sylveon came thundering up his spine – paws and whips combining to pull him higher and higher – then jumped up to get onto Delta's back.

Delta immediately rolled, trying to fling the Fairy-type off, but took a nasty Moonblast as he did so and wobbled in mid-air.

"Delta, over here!" Max called. "Arc – now!"

Side-slipping, fins beating hard enough to make Sylveon find it difficult to launch further attacks, Delta lost height and dove towards Max. As he did so, Onix returned to a lower coil – ready to lunge – and then Arc flashed an incandescent white and charged straight at the Rock-type.

"Ice Fang!" he roared, blasting himself forwards with an application of stored charge to his leg muscles, and knocked Onix aside before sliding around in a half-circle to come back and help Delta.

"A Mega evolution?" Fisher asked, blinking. "Huh, guess you've got some tricks, kid!"


"I think that's the fourth Mega Evolution we've seen so far this League," Steven noted. "They're definitely getting a little more common – especially for them to show up so early in a tournament rather than being kept back as a trump card."

"Does make you wonder, though," Sidney grinned. "How many guys lost because they chose to keep their Mega Evolution secret, picked a different Pokémon, and got beat?"

Steven shrugged. "I'm sure there's a few."


Sylveon retreated, using his whips to latch onto the tailtip Onix offered him, and landed neatly atop the head of his Rock-type partner.

Arc growled, crouched half-down to make himself able to react quicker, and spared a glance for Max. "What now?"

"Thunder!" Max said.

An earsplitting blast of thunder slashed forwards, leaving an ozone smell in the air behind it, and splashed off a hastily-interposed tail.

"Not good enough, kid," Fisher said. "Electric attacks against a Ground-type?"

He paused. "Though I guess there was that one guy with the Pikachu… anyway! Onix, use Rock Tomb!"

Delta used Surf. A wave of water came from overhead, smacking into Onix as he got ready to attack, and then Sylveon counterattacked with a Moonblast which shot up and burst just below Delta's right wing.

Shaking the water off himself, Onix fired upwards as well – a quickly-aimed Rock Tomb – then swung his tail to knock Arc aside. There was a crackle-BANG of discharging lightning, and Arc kicked off the tail hard enough to drive it into the floor.

Sylveon spun and kicked sand up, momentarily obscuring Arc's vision, then dove off the side of Onix and onto the floor.

"Arc! Delta!" Max called, as Onix tried to hammer the Mega Manectric into the nearby wall. "You need to get out of range – Delta, fly low for a moment!"

"Stop them!" Fisher said urgently.

Dipping his wings, Delta slid down towards the arena floor. "Here!"

Sylveon grabbed at one of Arc's legs. The Electric-type used Discharge, knocking the Fairy-type away with a bang of equalizing electricity, then jumped over Onix' tail – only for the head to come crashing out of the ground in front of him and Tackle him.


"I'm not even sure who's winning," Caroline said. "Do you have any idea, dear?"

"Well, I think it's undecided at the moment," Norman replied.

They watched as Arc jumped over a coil of rocky serpent, ran up the tail, and kicked off with a burst of electrical backlash – rising into the air, and reaching the top of his arc just as Delta came winging up from below.

That was cool, Kirlia judged. What happens now?

"Good question," Norman said. "Let's see..."


"Okay, Arc!" Max said. "Hold on tight! Delta, if you see an attack that's not a Rock-type one then have Arc block it!"

"Right!" the Pokémon agreed, Delta just a bit ahead of Arc, and the Water-type did a dizzying barrel roll in mid-air a moment later. The centrifugal force kept Arc attached to Delta's back as they went upside down, and Arc spat a bolt of lightning which detonated Sylveon's latest Moonblast well short of contact.

"Okay, that's a tricky one," Fisher said, as Delta levelled out again. "Might have to think about that one..."

"Thunderstorm!" Max ordered.

Fisher blinked. "What?"

Delta inhaled, slowing to get a better aim, and fired down a powerful Brine attack. The salty water speared down towards Onix, who raised his tail instinctively to block the worst of it, and the mixture went everywhere.

"Wait – look out, Sylveon!" Fisher said, blanching.

Delta stopped his attack, rolling again, and Arc jumped. His paws delivered a little bit of scattered voltage to Delta's back – making the flying-type twitch in pain – and then the Mega-Evolved Electric-type dumped almost his entire remaining charge in a huge Thunder attack aimed straight down.

It hit Onix on the tail, and didn't harm him – but it also raced onwards, crackling down his sides and onto the soaking, salty floor. Only a relatively small fraction of the attack reached Sylveon, but he yowled with surprise and collapsed as the Thunder blasted right through him.

Arc landed on the wet ground, panting, and shook out his mane. He looked up long enough to see a vengeful tail descending on him, then yelped and dove to the side.

A moment later, Delta landed – unable to stay in the air, he'd instead elected to Waterfall straight down on top of Onix and poleaxe him into the ground.

Mud and water rained down for a few more seconds, then the judge raised a hand. "Max Maple is the winner!"


"There you go," Caroline said, nodding. "I knew Max could do it."

"Well, he is very talented," Norman agreed. "But you didn't sound so sure a few minutes ago."

He's right, you know, Gardevoir said, sitting down in the free armchair. Four plates of cookies followed her through the air, and she plucked one before putting it down on a side table. Oh, I finished making those cookies you suggested. They seem very nice.

"Which ones are these?" Norman asked, taking one of the other plates. He took a bite, and blinked. "Oh, salted caramel? That's lovely!"

Thank you, Gardevoir replied. I had a minor panic earlier when I realized I didn't have a spatula, but fortunately I did have telekinesis so that solved itself.

"Some Pokémon abilities are useful for so much more than fighting," Caroline smiled. "Of course, that's sort of an obvious thing to say."

How come humans have technology, then? Kirlia asked. I mean, if Pokémon can do all the things you'd want to do with technology?

"The same reason why we have technology do things humans can do," Norman suggested. "It's because it saves time – you could fly a thousand passengers to Alola by having five hundred Pidgeot do it, or you could have two aircraft do it. And you could either have a Pokémon cook for you, or you could turn on a stove."

He shrugged. "I think mostly the point is that machines do jobs where machines can, so Pokémon are freed up to have more leisure time and to do the things only Pokémon can. Or which they can do more easily."

Right, Kirlia agreed. That makes sense. And I don't think many Pokémon could watch battles happening dozens of miles away, especially doing it to let others see them too...


"Let's do this!" Kayley called, sending her Pokémon out. "Ariados, Roggenrola, you know the plan!"

Ritchie sent out his own Pokémon, and Zippo and Sparky appeared – both in big flashes of light, then standing with Sparky to the left of and in front of his Fire-type ally.

"Sticky Web!" Kayley ordered.

Her Ariados shot out webs of a sticky material, adhering to the little spike on top of Roggenrola, and then skittered forwards and to the side. With a convulsive heave, the two cooperated to swing Roggenrola around in a half-circle and whipcrack him towards Zippo.

Who used Flamethrower.

The strands of web promptly and energetically caught fire, parting in under a second and sending Roggenrola past out-of-control to smash into the arena wall.

"...oh, uh..." Kayley said, wincing. "I kind of hoped that would work..."

She shook her head. "Uh – okay, Electro – no, Signal Beam!"

Zippo moved smoothly forwards, wing swiping up to block – the Bug-type attack splashing off the scaly surface and doing little damage – and Sparky retreated behind the leathery shield before using his tail to lasso Zippo's wing joint and fling himself into the air.

Ears glowing, the Raichu launched forwards a Thunderbolt, and then spun around in mid-air to send a pulse of psionic energy out and hit Roggenrola.

Both Kayley's Pokémon went sliding backwards, hit the walls, and collapsed.

"Is that it?" Sparky asked, after a few seconds.

"Ritchie Getem wins!" the judge said. "Very easily."

"It was just kind of a bad matchup for her," Ritchie said, shrugging. "I thought that plan was a cool one, though… you just need a backup plan."

"Yeah, I know..." Kayley agreed, sighing, and returned her Pokémon.


"That was short," Brock said, checking the time. "And that was the last match of the day, right?"

"For this one, yeah," May confirmed. "There's still a battle or two going on in the other arenas, though."

"Right," Brock decided, standing up. "That sounds like time to head back to where we're staying."

He recalled Stantler, who'd been on the seat next to him, and then the group moved across sideways and reached the stairs.

"It's a pity we can't fly out," May said. "I mean, it'd be pretty convenient, but the air traffic control would be kind of awful."

I could manage it, Ethan told them.

"Yeah, but would you want to?"

Ethan was silent for a long moment.

Not more than a few times.

"There you go," May pointed out. "Hey, Brock, why did you have Stantler out?"

"Well, Steelix wanted to see how the matches went," Brock explained. "And I thought that if Stantler watched, then he could use his illusions to replay the highlights."

"Neat," May decided.

They came to the bottom of the stairs, and May looked around for a moment to get her bearings. "That way, right?"

"That's right," Brock agreed.

There was a series of meows, as a Shinx came dodging through the crowd to reach them. She patted Brock's leg, and pointed. "That way!"

Brock did a double-take, then followed her pointing paw. "Philena?"

Professor Ivy waved. "Over here, Brock!"

The trainer paused long enough to scoop up Shinx, then pushed through the crowd towards Professor Ivy. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought it'd be a good chance to have a break," Professor Ivy explained. "It's about the right timing for a week off, after all."

"This is your Shinx?" May asked, as the Electric-type jumped from Brock's arms and settled on Philena's shoulder. "She's pretty cute."

Shinx purred, very glad of the praise, as Brock gave Philena a quick hug.

"I'm sorry it's been so long," he said, releasing her. "I've been in Hoenn for a while, and that's a long way to go to the Orange Islands – and it's almost never been a good time. But it's going to be Kanto for the next few months, so..."

He let it trail off, then shrugged. "Well, Flygon can probably manage something."

"That would be nice," Philena smiled. "But I knew that you'd not always be around, Brock – so don't beat yourself up over it."

"That uses energy that could go into stroking," Shinx said sagely. "Speaking of which, I know you know what I'm saying when I ask for them!"

Brock laughed, petting the Electric-type. "She's quite a little tyrant, isn't she?"

Philena nodded. "Oh, yes… she really is."


Blaine cleared his throat. "Ahem! Is everyone quite finished?"

Several of the younger Gym Leaders looked embarrassed, and the noise subsided.

"Thank you," the Fire-type specialist said, putting his hands on the table. "Now, as I was saying… is anyone still having problems running high-badge challenge teams?"

He looked over to his left. "Forrest? I heard you were facing some issues."

"It's okay now," Forrest told him. "I got Dad to help me train up one of those new Omanyte that were found near the Ruins of Alph, and he's been pretty helpful. Apart from that-"

"Oh, you got an Omanyte?" asked Violet. "Those are kind of neat, I guess… Misty's Kabutops is a bit spiky for my taste."

"He's an Omastar now," Forrest replied. "So… actually more spiky."

Violet sighed. "That's kind of a pity."

"We're getting off topic," Blaine said, not for the first time. "So, Forrest, you have the issue in hand?"

"Pretty much," Forrest agreed. "I'm going to see about getting a couple more Fossil types, I think it'd be neat to have a Shieldon or Lileep… but last time I got checked out I passed."

"That's good to hear," Blaine admitted. "So, that's Forrest… what about the Cerulean gym?"

"Yeah, that's been kind of hard to live up to," Lily said. "Ever since Misty became, like, awesome, everyone thinks we're the same kind of trainers, and we're… less of that. Still… you know, it's kind of working out okay."

Blaine nodded. "Right. What about you, Mavis?"

"Doing just fine!" Mavis confirmed. "The gym's all set up, and I've taken a few challengers so far – not many have come to Gardenia town yet, but I'm sure that'll change."

She frowned. "Though… actually, nobody's won my Heart Badge yet. Is that wrong?"

Koga stroked his chin. "It might be," he hedged. "I'll leave Janine in charge and have a look at how you're handling challengers – it might be you're not judging the challenge right. You've been taping them?"

"Of course!" Mavis agreed. "But I'm afraid Juvia might have broken one of the cameras during a match, so not all of that one will be there."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Surge applauded.

"Lieutenant Surge," Giovanni chided. "We're all very impressed with Ms. Mavis, of course – but I would appreciate it if you would show some courtesy."

Surge subsided, throwing a glance at the Viridian Gym Leader. "Killjoy..."

"Giovanni is correct, Surge," Blaine informed him. "Let's see… what about you two?"

Yas glanced at Kaz, then spoke up. "Right. Well… we're still making sure we've got a team ready to challenge the Elite Four for qualification," he said. "That was something we wanted to ask, actually – how does it work when you've got two gym leaders?"

"Is that what's been delaying you?" Surge asked, then shrugged. "Tsk… and to think you've been getting ready for this for years."

"After what happened when we did our first attempt we're not exactly eager to get beaten that badly again!" Kaz protested. "Besides, one of the new Elite Four is a Dark type specialist! How are we going to even stand a chance against her?"

"You don't," Giovanni told them. "You research her fighting style, then use Pokémon borrowed from her to help you beat one of the other Elite Four members – like Misty, or Will."

"Be that as it may," Blaine said, tempted to call the meeting to order. "I understand that the Dark City presumptive gym is going as planned?"

Nods.

"Good. Now...Sabrina, have you had any luck identifying who you want to run your Lavender Town project?"

"Not so far," Sabrina replied. "I'll let you know if I do."

Blaine nodded. "Okay, I understand – thanks for keeping us updated. And I understand Seph and Yolanda couldn't be with us today, so..."

He took a deep breath. "Any Other Business?"

Forrest raised his hand. "I've got something."

"You don't need to raise a hand for attention, Forrest," Blaine assured him. "What is it?"

"Well..." Forrest looked uncertain. "My brother said that Ash Ketchum's coming back to Kanto for the next few months."

There was a long pause.

"Anyone know where I can buy some good gym armour?" Mavis asked.

"Did you hear about what he did to Jasmine's gym? It won't help..."


Melody! Silver sent, wings flaring. It's great to see you!

Indeed it is, his mother agreed, bowing down to the priestess as she climbed up towards the Shamouti shrine. And our thanks for visiting us.

"That's fine," Melody replied, setting down her burden for a moment. "It's no problem, really..."

Slowking tapped her on the shoulder. "I'll get that," he informed her, picking up the box. "It's good of you go bring it this high."

So saying, the Water-type began climbing up the steps himself. Melody smiled, then followed – hurrying ahead to look for a good clear area.

"Is it okay to have that wall cleaned off?" she checked, pointing. "That one's about the right shape."

Of course, Ash's Lugia said with a nod. He shifted, getting so he was almost along the line of the rock face, and fired a powerful Hydro Pump. Focused so the stream of water had the force of a pressure washer, he blasted the debris clean off the cliffside, and when he stopped a few seconds later the result was a clear rock face with only a few minor cracks or gaps.

"Great!" Melody said, and set the projector down on a rock. "Now, I know you wanted to watch Ash's matches, so I thought this would work best. I recorded the League so far onto a couple of disks, so we can skip the bits you're not as interested in."

That sounds excellent, the female Lugia said.

"Yeah, this is going to be great!" Silver agreed.

I'll just go and get our visitor, his father added.

"Visitor?" Melody asked, then held up a hand against the dust as Lugia took off in a rush of wind. "Who's the visitor?"

"Rayquaza's been visiting," Slowking told her, placidly. "He wanted to talk about the thing with the Groudon and Kyogre."

Yeah, that was cool, Silver added. But he said that he can't do the Mega Evolving thing any more, something about how the meteorite was too small.

Melody nodded, understanding most of what they were talking about thanks to her studies. "Well, will he fit?"

"I can simply levitate," Rayquaza said from directly above her.

It was a testament to Melody's steadiness that she didn't jump a foot in the air.

"I must admit, I'm interested to see this," the Dragon-type added, as Melody shook herself and started to turn the projector on. "It will be a useful insight, of the kind Mewtwo seeks out."

The lens lit up, throwing a white image onto the cliffside in the gathering gloom, then Melody hit the remote control and it skipped ahead to the first-round matches.

"There's about a hundred and thirty of these, so let me know if I should fast forward," she said.

Let's just watch for now, one of the Lugia suggested. So we get an idea of what we're looking at.


The sun had long set, and the broad sweep of a cloudless night shone over Shamouti, by the time Melody paused the video.

"Okay, that's enough for one night," she said, yawning. "I'm pretty sure it's past midnight..."

Silver sighed. Aww… okay, I guess that makes sense.

He lay back on the stone of the shrine, and brightened. Wow, the stars look great! It's completely clear!

"That's my doing," Rayquaza informed him. "My Air Lock ensures that the sky is calm and clear."

"It does look pretty good," Melody agreed, as her night vision recovered. "I don't think I've ever seen this many stars in the heavens."

"Look!" Silver said. "There's so many shooting stars!"

Melody watched as they came, sometimes two or three a minute, sometimes more. "And you're right, Silver, that's beautiful – and amazing!"

Silver yawned, wings flopping out beside him, and he shook his head. "Wow… I'm more tired than I thought..."

His mother chuckled, nudging him. "Come on, Silver. It's time for bed."

"Okay," Silver agreed, reluctantly.

He rolled over onto his feet, then stood, and pointed north. "Mom? What's that?"

Both the Lugia looked.

"It's a comet," his mother said. "It looks like quite a big one, as well… from where it is, it must be quite a long way north, which is why we don't usually see it."

"Right," Silver yawned. "Thanks..."

"Melody," Silver's father added. "It's a long way to town, and it's very dark. If you wish, I will offer you a lift."

"I – thanks!" Melody said, honoured.

"It is no problem."

Lugia crouched to let her on, then took off with a single psionically-assisted wingbeat and headed down the slope.


AN:

Bit less commentary for the second round – these two-on-two matches are a rare chance to show tournament teamwork. Instead, we look in on several people and how they're doing.

Also I now have a link on my profile to an AotP Fanart Folder. If there's fanart for this story I missed, let me know and I'll add it.

If the link itself hasn't gone through yet, the folder is a google drive folder with the code 0B3650kv7dVXmUk9BYWhSazJJMlE