"Mr. Oak, look over there!" Molly said, pointing. "There's loads of Tropius!"

"You're right," Gary agreed, raising his binoculars and focusing them in. "Can you see how the younger ones are walking in the middle of the group?"

"Yeah," Molly nodded, looking through her own binoculars and absently kicking her legs up behind her. "Is that so the young ones can be kept safe?"

"That's right," Gary confirmed.

They watched as the Grass-type Pokémon lumbered onwards, avoiding a jumble of fallen logs and heading for higher ground.

"It looks like they're picking a place to stop," Gary told her. "It's getting on for evening, and they tend to prefer to sleep on solid ground – but they do try to make sure there's an area of fairly deep water nearby, like that one just to their right."

"Is that deep water?" Molly asked, looking away from her lenses to Gary. "It doesn't look very deep."

"It doesn't have any plants coming out above the water's surface," Gary told her. "Apart from that Lombre, anyway, and it's having to swim instead of walking on the riverbed. That means it's deep water."

"Why do they want deep water?" Leafeon asked.

"Leafeon's got a good question," Molly relayed, as Gary took a breath. "Why do they want deep water?"

"There's two reasons," Gary informed them. "One is that deeper water is more likely to be clean water, because there could be a current and because there's more of a chance for mud to settle out if there isn't. And the second reason is that it's a good landing place."

"Oh, yeah," Molly remembered. "They're Flying-types too, aren't they..."

She frowned. "So how come they're walking around?"

"Not all Flying-types prefer to fly," Gary supplied. "The ones we're normally used to, like Pidgeot or Fearow, are really built to fly – but Tropius are built for the ground, and most of them use their ability to fly either for long distance travel when there's no other way… or for a quick escape, if another Pokémon tries to attack them. But those young ones are too small to be very good at flying yet."

He shifted a little, making sure the groundsheet was level, and braced his elbows so he could go back to the binoculars. "I wonder if we're going to see them teaching the young Tropius to fly tomorrow morning…"

"That would be nice," Molly smiled. "Is that science that's been done by someone else?"

"A few scientists have done fieldwork on Tropius before," Gary demurred. "But there's always more to learn."

"Maybe I should go over and ask?" Vaporeon suggested, flipping her tail. "It's not far."

"That might not be a very good idea," Gary said, one hand going to his earpiece as Dee translated for him. "Remember, they're taking care of their children – you'd be coming in when they're settling down for the evening, and it might be impolite."

"Oh… I didn't think of that," Vaporeon admitted. She shook herself out, flowing back into an Eevee, and rubbed herself against Molly's side.

"Where are we going to settle down for the evening?" Molly asked.

"We're already here, actually," Gary answered, patting a hand on the groundsheet. "We just need to set up the tent – and it's a good thing it's not raining."

Molly rolled over onto her back, picking up Eevee as she did, and looked up at the sky.

"It looks like it might rain soon."

"Everything okay?"

Gary blinked. "Was that a Suicune?"

"Yep!" Molly agreed, sitting up. "Hi, momma!"

The shiny Suicune chuckled. "And hello to you, Molly. How are things going?"

"They're fine," Molly answered, as Eevee switched to Espeon and hopped off her. "We were just… observing… some Tropius before getting ready for bed."

"You're checking up on her?" Gary asked, rising to a crouch and turning. "We only left Pallet Town a few days ago."

"I know," Suicune admitted, sitting back on her haunches. "But I was missing Molly, so I thought I'd come up and see how she was doing."

"Thanks!" Molly smiled. "How are Mom and Dad and brother and papa?"

Suicune's tails flicked happily at the reminder of how Molly considered her, Raikou and Entei family, then she answered. "Well, your human parents are doing their research again – they do miss you, but I think they're fine. And Raikou's just as silly as normal."

Molly smiled, stroking Espeon.

"There doesn't seem to be any major crisis going on right this minute," Suicune went on. "So I decided there wouldn't be any harm in dashing up and seeing how your fieldwork was going."

"We got quite wet yesterday," Molly told her. "Flareon dried us out, though."

Gary smiled, then a frown crossed his features and he raised the binoculars.

"...huh."

Lowering them again, he turned to address Suicune. "Did you let your mate know you were coming up here?"

"No," Suicune answered, puzzled now. "Why?"

Gary pointed, and they watched as a shiny Entei came bounding over the dry patches of the swamp in a series of powerful leaps.

Unlike Suicune, he didn't quite manage it without getting splashed with mud, and he came to a stop next to her with a huff of dissatisfaction.

"And what are you doing here, dear?" Suicune asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Entei countered easily, wiping one of his paws on the ground. "Well, I'm going to need a wash at some point in the future."

"I'm not surprised," Suicune replied.

"Hi papa!" Molly waved, earning a smile from both Legendaries. "Don't worry, my sleeping bag is big enough for Flareon and me to sleep in it – we're not cold!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Entei chuckled. "And I imagine you've been finding out all sorts of things?"

"We spent three hours studying Wooper and Quagsire yesterday!" Vaporeon informed them.

"And what did you learn?"

"Mostly that they've got good aim," Gary said, rubbing his forehead ruefully. "They were okay with Molly or Vaporeon looking in on them, but for some reason a few of them didn't take well to me."

"I'm sure it was a mistake," Molly stated. "They didn't mean to hurt you."

"Funny way of showing it," the researcher muttered.

He shook his head, smiling anyway, then did a double-take.

"Did neither of you discuss your plans with anyone?"

"Pardon?" Entei asked.

Gary pointed.

As he did, the shiny Raikou off in the distance tried to pretend that his passing nearby was nothing but a coincidence. Unfortunately, his attempt to be nonchalant at two hundred miles per hour resulted in a skid, a spin, and a splashdown in a muddy pond which left several Bidoof running off in panic.

"I'll go and give Raikou a bath," Vaporeon decided, as the Electric-type in question emerged from his pool. "I think he needs it."


"Honestly, I think the most important thing when battling one of Sabrina's Psychic-types is to make sure you have a way around the inevitable teleports," Pikachu said, tail tapping the ground for emphasis. "Those can be very, very annoying."

"It's a good thing we've been practicing with Roland, then," Cinder chuckled.

"And how can I practice that kind of thing?" Roland asked.

"You don't need to," Cinder countered. "Nor does Guy."

Guy raised his claws to his chin, splaying them a little. "If I punched a Psychic-type, could they still teleport?"

"Yes," Roland answered. "I do it loads, remember?"

"Yes, you're right," Guy agreed. "Fair enough."

Cinder sat on her haunches. "To be honest, it seems kind of likely that it'll be me and Casper again."

"Casper and I," Jirachi corrected.

"No, not you, me."

"I think I've seen this joke before," Guy observed.

He looked up. "By the way, Pikachu, I think you're needed."

Pikachu's ear flicked, and he turned to look.

"Hi," Buneary said.

She looked for a moment like she was going to leave it at that, then Meganium's vine nudged her.

"Right," she went on, and stalled again. She reached down to her fluff, hesitated, then let go and clenched both paws.

"I had a talk with Meganium," Buneary began again. "And… I think it was something I should have done a long time ago… actually talked about this."

Her cheeks heated a little. "I know I've been… kind of… silly about this. And… and I've really approached it in kind of a silly way."

Guy nudged Cinder. "Hey," he said quietly. "You were reminded, right? Any context for this?"

Cinder shrugged. "I didn't go with Max last time and I think that's the wrong region anyway."

"So… I guess I should just tell you," Buneary went on, then swallowed. "I… like you. A lot. I think. I don't know if..."

Pikachu gave a deliberate nod.

"I already knew that bit," he told her.

"Right," Buneary said. "But… it wasn't – I mean, I don't think it's..."

She hid her face behind her ears.

"Buneary?" Meganium advised. "Remember what we talked about."

"It's kind of hard with this many Pokémon looking at me," Buneary squeaked.

Pikachu's ears stood on end.

"Are you guys all still here?" he asked, turning on most of Max's team.

"You hadn't finished the sentence," Casper pointed out.

"I think we should go," Guy added. "Come on."

As they filed off, Buneary let out a sigh of relief. "That… well, that helps a bit."

She then thought about what to say next, and clenched her paws again to try and help with her confidence.

"I don't know if this is a crush," she said, trying to get it all out before her nerve went again. "It sounds a bit like what Meganium said they're like. But… I don't know."

Pikachu contemplated that.

"I think I understand that," he said, eventually. "And I get the idea."

He sighed. "I've seen Ash completely missing this kind of thing far too often to just brush it off as unimportant. But something like this..."

They stood in silence for several seconds.

"Tell you what," he decided. "I'll think about it. And I'll try to make sure I have some kind of answer by the time we're travelling together in Sinnoh."

Buneary sagged with relief.

"That sounds okay," she said, and swallowed. "I don't know if… if I'll be really worried about the answer when it's nearly time, but right now I'm just glad there'll be one."

She turned to Meganium. "And don't try to tell me that that was easy – it really wasn't!"

"For me?" Meganium asked. "I had this talk the first time I met Ash after he learned to speak Pokémon."

Buneary blinked. "Wait. Ash speaks Pokémon?"

"You must be really highly strung right now," the Grass-type said. "That or we forgot to mention it. Anyway, we talked about it, and Ash explained things – that he didn't return my feelings."

She shrugged with both vines. "Of course, by now I'm kind of grateful for it. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get together with Sceptile."

Buneary's jaw dropped. "How much did I miss?"

"She was a Bayleef the last time you could have met her," Pikachu pointed out.

"Hey!" Buneary protested.

She twitched, then held up a paw. "Um… Meganium?"

"What is it?" Meganium asked.

"I… don't think I would have felt confident enough for that before. So… thank you."

"I think it's because you know your answer is coming in a while," Meganium prognosticated. "So you don't feel like you're constantly afraid of making a mistake and ruining it immediately."

Roland appeared next to Pikachu. "Are you done?" he asked. "Only, Arc wants some advice on how to beat Psychic shields."

"I think I'll be over in a minute," Pikachu told him.

As the young Fairy-type vanished again, he turned to Buneary.

"I think we should have said all this a long time ago," he told her. "And it's not just your fault. I should have tried to sort things out too, but it just felt too awkward."

He waved a paw. "It still feels awkward… but hopefully we're getting somewhere."

Buneary nodded, a small and jerky movement.

"Okay," she said softly.

"You should probably get back to Dawn," Meganium suggested. "By the way, how did she convince you to let her catch you?"

"Actually, it was Piplup," Buneary answered. "He kind of… told me about three or four things from when I was younger, things I hadn't actually told anyone and certainly not a random Piplup."

Her ear twitched. "But now I remember telling him, so… it was kind of obvious."

"I see," Meganium nodded. "It's as good a method as any."

She nodded. "Now, we'd better get going. And I think Pikachu has a Jirachi to electrocute."

"...should I understand that?"

"Only if you were paying attention to who Pikachu was talking to."


"Okay, here we go," Max said, reaching down to pat Cinder. "Time to win my first Kanto badge!"

"Isn't that what you said before going into the Viridian Gym?" Cinder asked.

"This time it's going to work," Max replied.

He turned to Ash. "Oh, yeah, I just remembered – I know some gyms have special things about them. Does the Saffron gym?"

"Well..." Brock began, a bit awkwardly. "Last time we were here, it kind of did… it involved Sabrina being kind of odd, though, and we're pretty sure she stopped doing that."

"So we've no idea," Ash completed.

"I'll keep you safe," Cinder declared, smirking. "Well, sort of. I'll be there to watch whatever happens."

Max giggled.

"Miracle Eye is a move that exists," Lucario pointed out diffidently.

Cinder's smirk faded.

Deciding the banter was over for now, Max pushed on the door.

It swung open easily, revealing a lobby lined with paintings. A plush carpet – red fringed with purple – led off into the gym itself, trailing up three marble steps before turning a corner.

"Huh," Brock noted, tilting his head a little to look past Max. "That's a lot more impressive than it was last time. Right, Ash?"

"Yeah, it is," Ash agreed. "Maybe Sabrina took up interior decorating?"

That was meeee! Mew announced, her psychic voice making all four of them jump – especially May, as the pink Legendary turned out to have been hovering just behind her head.

"Hi, Mew," Ash said, shaking his head. "That was kind of surprising."

I'm kind of surprising! Mew announced. Oh, you're not wearing that silly hat! Yay!

"Hiya!" Manaphy said, waving. "It's nice to meet another Legendary!"

Mew spun around on his axis like a top, and flipped upside down to regard Manaphy with big blue eyes. Aren't you supposed to be underwater?

"Mama can't breathe underwater – not yet, anyway," Manaphy explained. "So I'm up here with her!"

Mew's paw went to her chin. I like that!

Then his eyes widened in surprise. Oh, wait – I forgot! I shouldn't be talking to you yet!

There was a flash of light, and the Psychic-type vanished.

"...well, I guess that means Mew's in," Max decided.

"You could have mentioned what was going on," Cinder noted. "As it is I missed half the conversation."

Playing back pertinent snippets, Kris announced.

Cinder listened, not saying anything, as they walked through the lobby and along the carpet to the first set of stairs.

"Thanks," she said eventually. "I don't know what I would have done without that insight."

I will assume that was sincere.


"This is a really long route," May observed, as they climbed another three-stair flight and kept following the carpet. "I mean – seriously, how far is it until we reach the arena?"

"I know what you mean," Max agreed. "Ash, any ideas?"

"No, they really remodelled," Ash told him. "It wasn't anything like this..."

They turned a corner, and Lucario frowned.

"I swear I've seen this picture before," he said, pointing at one of the oil pieces on the walls – showing Meloetta dancing before a crowd. "I wonder if Sabrina ran out of different paintings and had to get some more than once."

"I guess she might have," Brock agreed. "Some of them are really good, but others aren't quite the same quality..."

As he spoke, Max frowned.

"I wonder..."

He looked along the walls, then shrugged. "Okay, let's keep going."

"What is it, Max?" Ash asked.

"Oh, I just had an idea," Max explained. "I'll tell you if I'm right."

"And if you're wrong?" May asked.

"Then I'll never mention it again," Max replied.

"Got it," Pikachu said. "So if you don't say anything, you were wrong."

Brock chuckled, though there was no reaction from Max.

"Banter works better on people who understand it," Pikachu said, shaking his head. "I really need to get some more lessons on this from you, Lucario."

"What's in it for me?" Lucario asked.

"Stimulating conversation and petty bribes."

Max crouched down. "Hey, Cinder?" he asked. "I just realized you're probably the best person to check this with – who's the person who came up this corridor last?"

Cinder blinked at him, puzzled, then put her muzzle to the carpet and sniffed.

Her ears perked up.

"Us," she said.


"So this is what I think is going on," Max said. "This carpet is leading us around in a circle."

"But we keep going up stairs," May objected. "How does that fit?"

"Teleporters," Max answered. "They're really, really expensive, but I know Sabrina could teleport things short distances herself – or maybe she's having an Alakazam or something do it instead. Anyway, we're being teleported down a floor every time we get to a certain place."

Cinder came loping back. "I found a place your scents get a lot weaker," she told him.

"Right," Max agreed. "So Cinder's found where the loop restarts – so if we get somewhere that's like that, that's when we're teleported right back to a matching bit of corridor. It's really impressive, actually – if I'm right."

"But then where's the arena?" Ash asked.

"...wait," May said, thinking. "I just realized something. We were never actually told the carpet was the route out of the lobby. We just assumed."

"Misdirection!" Brock realized, snapping his fingers. "So we should never have taken this corridor at all!"

"Yeah," Max agreed. "I think we need to go back to the lobby and start over."

"You mean all those stairs were for nothing?" May sighed. "Okay, let's go."


Sabrina looked up as the door opened.

"Ah, Max Maple," she said, with a smile. "I've been expecting you."

Overhead, half-a-dozen Pokéballs circled slowly in a ring. Every few seconds two of them swapped places, and then all six fell towards her and attached neatly to her belt.

"Did you like the corridor?" the Psychic gym leader added. "I thought it was a nice test of lateral thinking."

"It was pretty good, yeah," Ash agreed. "Better than being turned into a doll or something."

"I don't do that any more," Sabrina assured him, a little defensive. "Not unless people ask for it."

"I didn't know anyone would," May admitted.

"There's some model railway people in Saffron, they're very enthusiastic," Sabrina told her. "I trust you found the real door easily enough once you realized?"

"Actually, it took us another few minutes," Ash said. "That was a really small nameplate."

"It was supposed to look like a janitor's cupboard," Sabrina chuckled.

Mew appeared in a pink flash. Oh! Oh oh oh! Is it my turn now?

"Not just yet, Mew," Sabrina told him.

She gave Max a look. "Just so you know, Max, I am aware you are Jirachi's trainer and as such Mew has agreed to join in. I will be using two Pokémon and Mew, and you will be able to battle Mew with one Pokémon… and you will win if you either defeat my two Pokémon, or if you defeat Mew."

Mew turned into a Groudon.

"And Mew is not allowed to shapeshift," Sabrina added.

Mew turned back into a Mew. Awwwww…

"Do you understand?"

"That makes sense, yeah," Max agreed.

"Then choose your Pokémon," Sabrina directed.


There was a flash as Casper emerged onto the battlefield.

"Okay, let's do this!" he said, looking back – then blinked. "Wait. How come Cinder's not out on the battlefield?"

"This is a singles battle," Max explained.

"Oh," Casper said, sounding a bit crestfallen. "Okay then… I was kind of hoping she'd be doing a lot of the biting."

"I take it you've faced Tate and Liza in the past, then," Sabrina said calmly. Her own Kadabra appeared with a flash, and raised his spoon.

One paw held the base. The other touched the bowl of the spoon, then gestured along the line of the haft – and a glowing blade of energy formed, fizzing blue and white.

Casper blinked. "What."

"Psycho Cut, I think," Max said. "Don't worry, it can't hurt you that badly."

"I'd rather not be hit at all!"

"Begin," Sabrina said.

Kadabra flickered, and appeared on Casper's left. His Psycho Cut slashed down, and the Ghost-type dodged wildly. "Whoaaaah!"

"Casper, don't let him keep you off balance!" Max cautioned. "Keep moving fast and dodging so he can't work out where you're going to go – and use Shadow Ball!"

"How do I aim?" Casper demanded, head down and accelerating in the direction of his horn – then barrel rolling out of the way as Kadabra sent the spoonblade spinning after him under telekinetic control. "Yipe!"

"Don't bother aiming if you can't see him!" Max replied. "If you don't know where you're shooting, neither does he!"

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Casper muttered.

The blade scored a glancing blow on his side, and he winced – dodging away from the follow-up attack, then diving down and into the floorboards.

"Remember, he can't stay down there too long," Sabrina warned Max. "I'll give you a warning before it happens, but I can disqualify him if he's trying to avoid battle instead of using tactics."

"Got it," Max agreed. "Okay, Casper, you heard her?"

There was no reply for a moment. Then a Shadow Ball came flicking up through the floorboards, whistling past Kadabra's ear and making him turn to face the direction it had come from.

A light glowed from his palm as he readied an attack, and when Casper poked his head up it was met with a Confusion attack coming the other way – one which produced a sudden burst of smoke.

Kadabra waved his paw, and the smoke dispersed – revealing a crude dummy made out of an old sock, with a face drawn on it.

"Substitute," Sabrina stated simply.

She pointed. "There."

Kadabra turned, and fired another bolt of psychic energy – one which caught Casper, making him become visible and spin backwards in the air.

"Casper, you need to make sure he can't get a direct shot at you," Max said, thinking hard.

"Wow, I never would have guessed," the Ghost-type said, shaking his head – then dodged a ballistic spoon. "Stop that!"

Is it my turn yet? Mew asked, scratching her ear with one long foot. I'm bored.

"Mew, try to concentrate," Sabrina requested, chuckling. "Kadabra's having a battle."

As she said that, Kadabra scored a direct hit with his spoon – and, for the second time, Casper poofed into a crudely made duplicate. This one looked similar, though it was made with a Pikachu sock instead.

"Hey, that's one of mine!" Ash complained.

Everyone looked at him.

"...I wondered where it had gone," he added, more quietly.

"I wonder where that ghost has gone," Kadabra said, squinting and putting one paw on his forehead. Raising the other, he reached out with his psychic senses to find the mind of the Ghost-type.

"Mew," he said, after a moment. "Please calm down. You are overloading my senses."

Mew pouted. Can't make me.

Suddenly, a hole opened up in space behind Kadabra. It lasted only a moment, but was there long enough for a ballistic Shuppet to pop out and ram into Kadabra horn-first.

"What was that?" Max asked. "I don't remember that one in training."

"It just came to me," Casper explained, going cross-eyed for a moment, then ducking as Kadabra's Psycho Cut swept through the air just above him. "It kind of made sense..."

"Good work," Max praised. "Can you do it again?"

"Think so," Casper replied.

He ducked and weaved, then his horn lit up and pulsed – and a tear in space appeared, which he flew into.

"Behind you," Sabrina ordered, and Kadabra turned – tail lashing, spoon at the ready, in case Casper materialized there.

Then a Shadow Ball came flying down from the ceiling and hit him on the brow.

"Tricked you!" Casper taunted.

A brightly glowing spoonblade started trying to hit him very hard on the head.


Very well, Mewtwo said, with a nod. Leave the brief and I'll see when we can fit it into our schedule.

The representative from Ariadosspace nodded, and put a file down on the table.

Mewtwo picked it up with his psychic powers, perusing the pages. Hm… he mused, tilting his head. It might be a good idea for Mew or Mew to get some experience, but then again neither of them have the attention span for a full launch. Perhaps they're better suited for short range teleports.


"I think I've worked out what move that was," May said, looking up from Ethan's screen. "That was Phantom Force."

"The portal thing?" Max checked. "That's pretty cool – Casper, use Phantom Force again!"

Casper dove into the floor, and Kadabra recalled his spoon before it hit the floorboards. Raising it instead, Kadabra set it moving on a blurred defensive pattern – rotating and spinning in three dimensions, forming a circle of Psycho Cut all around him so Casper could not attack from a direction Kadabra was not defending.

A portal appeared, and a dark grey shape came flying out of it at speed. It hit Kadabra's shield, bulled through it, and crashed into the psionic fox hard enough that they both went flying across the room.

"Casper?" Max asked, then did a double take.

"Ow," Casper muttered, rubbing his head. "I guess now I know how long I can stay in-"

He paused. "Since when do I have hands?"

"You evolved!" Max said, with a smile. "That's great! Now you just need to sort out Kadabra!"

Casper promptly exploded, producing a dense cloud of smoke.

"...za?" Max asked, completely thrown off. "What just happened?"

"Future Sight," Sabrina answered, as Kadabra floated his spoon back into his hand. "Unfortunately, your Banette there stayed still long enough for Kadabra to hit him with Future Sight – and, given how many Substitutes he used earlier in the battle, he probably lacked the energy to endure it."

The smoke dissipated, revealing Casper floating upside down just off the floor.

"Great work anyway," Max said, managing a smile, and recalled Casper. "I guess it's all up to Jirachi now?"

"Not if your other Pokémon can beat both my third Pokémon and Kadabra," Sabrina explained. "That would also be a victory. But yes, it's Jirachi and Mew next."


"Okay, so… how do you think this one's going to go?" May asked, looking up at Brock. "I don't really know how Mew fights."

"Given what Mew are like, and especially this Mew..." Brock paused. "It could be just about anything."

"Jirachi!" Max said. "Remember the patterns we practiced!"

"Sure thing!" Jirachi replied, turning to give Max a grin.

"Mew," Sabrina countered, drawing the syllable out.

Yep? Mew asked.

"My gym was only recently remodelled. Don't break it."

Mew tilted his head. Sure?

"I'm sure."

Okay! The Psychic-type agreed, and cracked her tail. A flickering pink bubble appeared, encasing him in a protective Barrier, and Mew regarded Jirachi calmly.

Then she scratched her chin with the tip of her tail, ruining whatever decorum she had.

"Begin," Sabrina instructed.

Jirachi moved to one side, dodging as Mew cannonballed towards him – relying on his pink shield as a bludgeon, one which missed by a few inches thanks to Jirachi's quick dodge.

A line of explosions rippled through the air, a second or so after Mew had passed through and a few feet below her.

"Jirachi, remember – this is a three-D battle!" Max called urgently. "Don't use the flat patterns, use the other ones!"

"Whoops," Jirachi admitted, and his tags jangled.

"Mew, teleport at random," Sabrina advised, as a wall of Future Sights advanced across from left to right. "Try not to get in a situation where he can predict where you're going."

But how can I be unpredictable? Mew asked. What's your advice?

"Just keep doing what you're doing?" Brock suggested.

Oooh… Mew said, then giggled.

She teleported out of the way just before an explosion hit.

"Look out, he's hiding," Max said, squinting. "I wonder where he's gone..."

Explosions of psychic might filled the air for a few more seconds, then slowed and stopped as Jirachi looked for Mew as well.

"Can Mew go invisible?" Ash asked. "I didn't think they could..."

"Nor do I," Sabrina said, raising one hand to her forehead. She frowned, her eyes flashing with a faint blue light, then she sighed.

"Come on, Mew."

Mew materialized in mid-air, carrying an armful of lollipops.

...did I do something wrong? He asked, dropping some of them so they scattered across the battlefield. Brock said something about doing what I was doing, and I was thinking I should get a snack.

"He's not even in this battle," Sabrina pointed out reasonably. "Come on, you can have a sweet after the battle."

Mew nodded, and then a globe of explosions surrounded her completely.

"Good one!" Max cheered, as lollipops went everywhere. "Well spotted, Jirachi!"

The pink bubble reappeared, pushing aside what was left of the explosion residue.

That was mean! Mew announced, hands on hips, and charged. His bubble of Barrier rammed into Jirachi, sending him spinning away across the room and bouncing off the wall with a clang sound.

"Jirachi, are you okay?" Max checked, then sighed with relief at the tag-jingling nod. "Okay, we need to try something trickier to deal with Mew… try a big boom spiral!"

Sabrina chuckled.

"I don't think that one's in Lorelei's guides," she explained.

As she spoke, Jirachi's head moved back and forth a little, and his brow creased in a frown as he looked very closely at the air of the battlefield.

Then he charged forwards, forming a weak bubble shield of his own.

I love this game! Mew announced, shield reforming, and dove towards Jirachi.

Then a sequence of powerful psychic blasts went off, tracing a double helix around Jirachi's trajectory and just ahead of the Steel-typed Legendary. Mew wasn't quite on-the-ball enough to spot the sudden change, and flew headfirst into two of the Future Sight blasts before teleporting out of the way and avoiding the rest.

"Clever," Sabrina allowed. "I take it you had Jirachi work out his flight path ahead of time?"

"Yeah, he kind of has to," Max agreed.

Shaking her head, Mew hovered there for a moment, then zoomed up towards the roof. Okay, mister, I'm gonna-

"Please don't hit Jirachi with the roof," Sabrina interrupted.

I wasn't gonna, Mew countered, blushing. Much.

"Mr. Maple has been doing much better than his mentor at not destroying gyms so far, by all accounts," Sabrina pointed out. "I would prefer that that streak continue."

...I don't get it, Mew said.

She teleported to one side, avoiding a Future Sight which blew up the area she'd been floating, then spread his paws and gathered pink energy into them.

Psychic! Mew announced, and a tangible hammer of cherry-blossom-coloured force hit Jirachi from directly above.

The Steel-type had time to yelp before hitting the floor with a thud.

"Jirachi!" Max gasped.

"I'm okay!" Jirachi said, shaking his head hard. "But I can see two Mews."

Max looked up to check, then back down. "Okay, you're probably seeing double. Just… aim for the middle of them?"

Jirachi nodded firmly. "One of them went away," he announced, and his tags glowed.

"Throw Jirachi into the air," Sabrina instructed.

"What?!" Max yelped.

Jirachi had barely enough time to react as Mew appeared next to him, then her tail scooped him up and launched him into the air.

A moment later, the Future Sight he'd called for detonated – all around him.

That was- Mew began, and then the ground underneath him blew up as well.


"I'm starting to think that Jirachi needs a better attack," May mused. "Future Sight is all well and good, but it's looking like it's quite hard to fight when that's your only attacking move."

"I've still got a trick or two left," Max assured her, as Jirachi pushed away the smoke with a quick burst of low-power telekinesis. "Jirachi – Hockey goal!"

Jirachi's tags glowed.

Hockey? Mew repeated, tail curling up to scratch her head. What does that mean?

Jirachi used Gravity, and Mew yelped as her levitation abruptly stopped keeping her in one place. The sudden alteration of the direction of gravity yanked Mew sideways, making the Psychic-type hit the wall with a squeak.

Then that area of the wall erupted in another Future Sight.

"That's better," May allowed.

"Yes, that's quite a creative use of Future Sight," Sabrina agreed. "But there's something about Mew that you might not know."

As the woozy-looking Psychic-type peeled himself off the wall, Sabrina cleared her throat. "Mew?"

Mew looked vaguely in her direction. I'm fine, thank you, Susan, she said, then teleported to the floor to snag a lollipop. Ooh, a cherry one!

Behind her the wall was lit by the blast of a Future Sight attack.

"Missed," Jirachi sighed.

"Mew," Sabrina stressed. "Use Overheat!"

Mew took a lick of the lollipop in his paw, then burped.

A sudden wave of flame hit Jirachi like a comet, sending him backwards to bounce off the wall right near the top.

Max ran over to catch him, and winced at the sight of the slightly scorched Steel-type. "Jirachi?"

"I think I'd like a lollipop now," Jirachi said, eyes unfocused.

"I think he's been defeated," Brock judged.

"Yeah," Max agreed, with a sigh. "And I guess I did forget that Mew can learn a huge number of moves."

"It's sometimes hard to remember," Sabrina consoled him. "But yes, I think your sister was right – Jirachi really needs more than that one strategy. Not every Pokémon is a nail, even if your Pokémon is the best hammer there is."


I'll get it, Gardevoir 'pathed, picking up the phone.

"Mom?" Kirlia said, hesitantly. "I don't think you've thought this through..."

"Hello, I'm afraid that Mrs. Maple is hanging up the washing at the moment," Gardevoir said.

"Um… is this the Maple household?" asked a voice on the other end of the phone. "Or do I have a wrong number?"

"No, wait!" Gardevoir called. "This is the right number – oh, bother – Kirlia, can you get Mrs. Maple please?"

Her daughter ran off, and Gardevoir blushed deeply.

"I'm very sorry about this..."


Johanna looked from the phone to her Glameow. "Somehow this feels less odd than it should..."

Glameow just waved a paw at her.


"So you are sure of the situation," Sabrina began, as Mew offered Jirachi a selection of lollipops, "You will now need to defeat both Kadabra and my other Pokémon in order to win the Marsh Badge."

Max nodded, but raised his hand. "Um… why do you have the Marsh Badge? Marshes don't sound very… Psychic."

"Clerical error," Sabrina informed him. "Koga and I filed our paperwork at about the same time, and I didn't notice."

"Oh, yeah, his is the Soul Badge," Brock mused.

"They do make more sense swapped around," Pikachu agreed.

Sabrina shrugged. "We're used to it now."

"Well..." Max expanded out a Pokéball. "I guess the best choice is going to be you, Cinder."

Sabrina took two Pokéballs of her own from her belt, then threw one into the arena and the other to the side. With a double-flash, an Espeon materialized just one side of the centre line and an Umbreon appeared at her heel.

"They're twins," she explained, at Max's look of confusion. "Espeon evolved just at sunset, and that made Umbreon very happy for him… so he evolved about twenty seconds later."

Cinder came leaping out of her own Pokéball and landed softly right up at her end of the arena.

"So I'm battling the Espeon, right?" she checked.

"That's right," Max agreed. "Now, the floor's hard so you can't dig, but – you'll manage."

"That's right, I will," Cinder agreed.

She took a deep sniff of the air, taking in the scents, and smirked a little.

"Begin!" Sabrina called.

The moment the word was said, Cinder's claws scraped on the floor as she lunged forwards. She took three great leaping bounds, jinked to one side as Espeon's forehead-gem glowed, and her tail caught a glancing blow from a Signal Beam the Psychic-type cat fired at her.

Pads skidding a little on the floor, the Mightyena shoulder-charged straight into Espeon – knocking him to his side, then swiping down with a heavy blow from her forepaw. Her claws didn't score a full hit as Espeon telekinetically shifted himself out of the way, but that barely dissuaded her – she Snarled, sending a burst of purple energy straight into the feline.

Espeon reverted to his training, establishing a Light Screen, and Cinder hit it with a thump.

"Not going to work!" she said, eyes red and glowing, and rammed her muzzle into the surface – making it stretch and distort, then closing her fangs enough to get a grip on the psychic energy of the Light Screen itself.

Stepping back, she ripped with all her strength, and the Light Screen tore in three places.

"Left!" Max called urgently.

Trusting him, Cinder dove to one side – taking a blow on the haunch from the Signal Beam that Espeon had managed to charge, but not enough of one to stop her – then scrambled back to her feet and went straight for Espeon's leg.

Umbreon took a step forwards, ears going down in dismay as Cinder ruthlessly pressed a close assault. "This is… this is pretty nasty..."

"Aren't you a Dark type yourself?" Lucario asked.

"Not this kind of Dark type!"

There was a yowl, and Espeon fired a point-blank Signal Beam at Cinder's chest.

The blast threw her upwards, making her turn a half-cartwheel in the air, and she twisted to land on her feet before darting out of the way of a follow-up attack.

"Miracle Eye, Espeon!" Sabrina instructed.

Shaking his head, Espeon focused. His ears went out to the side a little, his eyes glowed, and he focused on Cinder directly – then a little pulse of energy went out.

"Good!" Sabrina nodded. "Now, Psychic – pick her up!"

"Snarl!" Max ordered.

Cinder Snarled again, the pulse of energy lashing out and hitting Espeon – making him wince, but not interrupting his grip as he lifted the Dark-type into the air.

Cinder didn't struggle. Instead, she sniffed the air – then her eyes glowed red again.

The whole room seemed to get a little darker as Max's Mightyena growled – a deep, bass rumble.

"You're scared, aren't you?" she asked, teeth dripping with something that seemed to be tinted red. "I terrify you. I can smell it."

"Shut up," Espeon replied, gem lighting up as he prepared another Signal Beam.

"Feint Attack!" Max called.

Espeon saw something moving to his right, and spun – seeing Cinder pelting at him, teeth bared.

His Bug-type energy burst lashed out… and Cinder evaporated like smoke.

"Look out!" Umbreon called. "You dropped her!"

The real Cinder body-slammed into Espeon from the flank, hitting him hard enough to knock him halfway across the room and sending crackles of partly-absorbed energy across his coat – energy which made his muscles protest harshly as he moved, rendering him half-paralyzed.

The crackling lights crawled up Espeon's tail, reaching the forked tip, then snapped across to Cinder – who just got faster, hitting Espeon again before he could reply and snagging his forepaw in her jaws.

Flicking her whole body backwards, she hurled Espeon over her back and sent him crashing to the ground.


"...wow," May said, mouth hanging open. "That was… vicious?"

Cinder howled, her coat glowing with new strength.

"Espeon!" Umbreon called, running over and nuzzling his brother – then doing a double take.

"But… you're… barely scratched? I swear I saw her bite you!"

"Amazing how much work fear can do for you," Cinder chuckled.

She turned to face Sabrina, tail lashing. "Now… I think there was another Pokémon for me to fight."


Norman nodded, unseen by the woman on the other end of the phone. "Yes, it has been quite a trial," he agreed. "But I think the important bit is – they're still my children, and they're enjoying themselves – and they have Pokémon and human friends they trust and respect, more than I could have done anything more than hope for."

He sat back on the sofa. "So if it has been odd for us – and it has," he clarified, "I don't think I can begrudge it."

"I think that does help," Johanna replied. "Thank you. Sorry for calling you up like this – it's just been a bit overwhelming."

"I understand," Norman said, waving it off. "And so does my lovely wife. Feel free to call any time."


"Watch out, Cinder," Max warned, as Kadabra appeared back on the battlefield. "I don't know how much you heard about the battle in your Pokéball, but he can use Psycho Cut as a blade from his spoon."

"Got it," Cinder agreed, turning and padding in a slow half-circle around the Psychic-type. "Looks like dessert has brought a spoon for me..."

"There's no need for that," Kadabra stated, palm flat and facing upwards. His spoon hovered out of his grip, then flashed and extruded the blade of his Psycho Cut. "I'm well aware you didn't actually harm Espeon."

The Dark-type just smirked at him.

"Begin," Sabrina instructed. "Miracle Eye."

Kadabra made a pass with both paws, and his eyes flashed.

"Psychic," he said, slamming one paw forwards in a gesture of rejection and sending a wave of mental force at his opponent – already sending in his spoon-blade as a follow up.

Unfortunately for him, Cinder wasn't there any more. The Mightyena's claws made a tooth-jangling scrape sound on the floor, and she pelted to one side before skidding around in a turn – one made possible by her quick feet – and snapped the spoon out of the air with her powerful jaws.

Kadabra took a step back, not quite sure of what he was seeing, and Cinder shot him a smirk – then, quite deliberately, bit the spoon in half.

"Kadabra, don't let her get to you!" Sabrina reminded her psychic fox.

She bit my spoon in half! Kadabra complained, turning to Sabrina and waving his arms to emphasize the point. How do I just shrug that off?

Cinder's jaws closed gently on the thick fluff of his tail, about halfway between the tip and the base.

Kadabra had just enough time to whimper before the Dark-type used Crunch.


"Gaaah!"

Kadabra ran past, throwing half-aimed bursts of psychic energy backwards at the Mightyena chewing on his tail, and underneath the sound of that there was the faint grrrrrowl coming from Cinder's throat.

"Somehow, I feel like Kadabra has lost control of this fight," May said.

On her shoulder, Manaphy started giggling. "That looks funny!"

Kadabra ran past the other way, trying to put together a Focus Blast despite the distraction and not having much luck.

"As a gym leader, what would you call this?" Max asked, glancing over at Brock.

"...hm," Brock said. "Somehow it reminds me of the time I realized I'd left the sprinkler system turned on..."

"Isn't your gym basically made of solid rock?" May said, blinking. "Why do you need a sprinkler system?"

"Because building codes don't make sense," Brock informed her.

There was a thud as Kadabra ran into the wall.

Cinder waited a few seconds to make sure that he was actually out cold, then unclamped her jaws and spat out some fur. "Pfeh..."

"Well done," Sabrina said, looking her KO-ed Kadabra up and down. "I think there's definitely a few holes in his training… but that doesn't matter. You've won the Marsh Badge."

"Great!" Max grinned. "Well done, Cinder!"

Cinder came padding back over, the energy draining from her fur now the fight was over, and sat down with a huff in front of her trainer.

"Good work," he said again, reaching down to scratch her, then recalled her into her Pokéball and took the Marsh Badge.

Juggling Pokéball, badge and bag, he got out his Badge Case and put the golden double-circle into it – his first Kanto badge.

"Just seven more to go," May observed.

Max glanced over at Ash, who nodded encouragingly. "Well done, Max – that was a pretty close one, but you did win it in the end."

"Anyone can learn from defeat, it is a wise mon who can learn from victory," Lucario intoned.

"You got that out of a fortune cookie," Pikachu accused.


"Uh, Max?" May asked. "I wanted to ask – what did you actually do there, when battling Espeon? Why did you ask for her to use Snarl again?"

"Oh, right," Max said. "I wondered if that was clear… basically, I saw the first Snarl, so I had Cinder use Snarl again to see if the power had gone down. Because it hadn't, we knew that Espeon didn't have Magic Bounce."

"So you… wait," May said slowly. "I get why you'd want to know that, because then Cinder used Scary Face… but why would the power have gone down if Espeon did have Magic Bounce?"

"Because of the Snarl," Max replied, then paused.

"...Ash?" he asked, in a small voice. "Did I just make a big mistake?"

"I don't think you can call it a big mistake," Ash shrugged. "I mean, Cinder did win anyway and Espeon didn't have Magic Bounce. But yeah, that could have cost you the match if it had been different."

He shrugged. "You do know that Cinder has Moxie now, though… and Casper's evolved, so that's good too."

"You're right," Max agreed, looking a bit happier.

"I do have one question, though," Ash went on. "Why didn't Jirachi just use Dazzling Gleam?"

Max facepalmed.

"I feel like I made way too many mistakes," he groaned. "Is that normal?"

"Depends if you notice them," Lucario suggested. "I don't think many Pokémon or trainers ever do a perfect battle… what matters is that the mistakes don't cost you the match."

"What mistakes do you make?" Manaphy asked.

"That's different," Lucario said loftily. "I'm perfect."

He held out his armband. "See?"

"I don't think that's how it works," May riposted.

"I beg to differ."


AN:


So, stuff including looking in on Molly Hale and sorting out the Buneary issue.

And then a Sabrina battle.

Mew here is a little bit influenced by Warp-Aci.