"Okay, so next up is..." May looked down at the screen.
"Shouldn't that be my job?" Ash asked.
"See previous comments regarding your sense of direction," May shot back. "Ethan?"
She looked closely. "Silver Town, it looks like. Oh, and there's that daycare on the way."
"The one you got me last time?" Glaceon asked.
"That's the one," May agreed, reaching down to rub Glaceon's ears. "I know daycares are perfectly nice places, but… I'm glad that this time we met earlier."
"Me too."
"Actually, can we take a detour?" Max said. "I think it took us a few days to reach Silver Town, and we're right near Gardenia Town."
May blinked. "...you want to take part in a Contest?"
"Well, kind of – some time there's a chance," Max answered. "But more importantly, there's a gym there!"
"There is?" Ash asked. "I don't remember that."
"Yeah, I heard about this," Brock nodded. "Remember when we last saw Misty? She mentioned when someone challenged her as part of becoming a new Gym Leader – one of the ones she mentioned set up in Gardenia Town. Mavis, I think?"
"That's the one I'm thinking of," Max agreed. "Apparently she uses Fairy types."
"That's right!" Brock smiled. "Misty was very impressed with one of her Water and Fairy type Pokémon."
"Oh, yeah, I think I do remember that..." Ash mused. "She was the one who borrowed Togekiss for her qualification battle?"
"That sounds about right," Pikachu said.
He shook his head. "I'm almost getting used to the type Molly invented. I guess you really can get used to anything."
"Said the Pikachu with Raichu cheeks," Lucario pointed out.
"Point taken."
"Who can use Aura moves," Lucario continued.
"I said point taken," Pikachu said. "You don't need to rub it in."
"And, if memory serves, who has time travelled so many times he time travels in the middle of time travel."
Pikachu's cheeks sparked warningly. "When was the last time you got some first-paw experience of my Raichu cheeks, again?"
"First paw?" Brock asked.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"What?" Max said, intelligently.
"Pikachu said first paw," Brock told him. "Not first hand. But I'm fairly sure it's a human saying, and so it should be first hand."
"Technically, he said Pikachu," May said. "Maybe it's part of the Aura thing."
"A lot of stuff is Aura things," Brock argued. "That doesn't mean we should just stop investigating – it's not as if Lucario can do all those amazing things just because he waves a hand and Aura happens."
"That is literally exactly how it works," Lucario told him blandly. "All that training is just for show. All that Lucario have to do is wave a hand, and Aura happens."
Brock looked sceptical. "Somehow I doubt that."
"No, you believe me perfectly," Lucario countered, waving his paw.
Brock looked unimpressed.
"I think the joke's been stretched too thin," Pikachu opined.
"Yeah, probably," Lucario agreed. "They can't all be winners."
"Mama?" Manaphy asked. "Was that supposed to make sense?"
May shrugged.
A pair of great cream-and-brown wings beat the air, then went steady. Their owner's tail flicked left, and she banked a little to stay on course.
"Sometimes, it's nice to just have a slow glide," Pidgeot said, leaning back a little to look at her trainer.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ash agreed. "I know you could be a lot faster, but by the time you hit full speed we'd have gone thirty times further than we were supposed to."
"I could make it only fifteen if I really tried," Pidgeot told him.
She slid into formation with Flygon, and danced around him in mid-air. "But like I say, it means there's time to enjoy myself in more leisurely ways."
"Show-off!" Flygon told her, not unkindly, as Brock chuckled on his back. "This isn't full speed for any of us, you don't need to brag."
"I suppose not," the Flying-type agreed.
Turning her gaze ahead, she scanned the valley opening out ahead of them – then nodded to herself.
"There it is."
"Where?" Ash asked her.
"There," Pidgeot repeated, pointing her beak at a building off to one side of the small town.
"That's a gym?" Ash blinked. "Are you sure? It looks more like some kind of manor house… built with far too many towers..."
"I think the word you're looking for is castle," Pikachu said.
"That's the one," Ash nodded. "Thanks, Pikachu!"
"I like the white marble," Pikachu admitted. "It's very fairy-tale castle."
Pidgeot dropped a little lower. "Do you want me to drop straight down into the courtyard?"
"That doesn't seem very polite," Ash decided. "Besides, the fact you can do that is kind of boasting too – the others are all Dragons and they don't need as much landing area as Pidgeot are supposed to."
When they came down to land, Pidgeot touching down just ahead of Latias and Altaria with Flygon bringing up the rear, there was already someone waiting for them.
"Hello!" Mavis waved. "Nice to meet… you?"
She gave Ash a wary glance. "Are you going to be challenging my gym?"
"Me?" Ash said. "No, I'm not – I've already done the Kanto Gym Challenge."
"Good," Mavis breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried, I've already had to repair the place a few times."
"Bad challengers?" Brock asked sympathetically.
"Mostly Juvia," Mavis replied. "And Gray… and Laxus… actually it's almost all of my Pokémon."
"I think we found Ash as a Gym Leader," Max stage-whispered.
"Anyway, come on in!" Mavis invited. "My gym is always open – for people to enjoy themselves, as well as for actual battles."
Brock stopped in the doorway.
"Somehow…" he began, staring, "I expected something… a bit more mysterious?"
Mavis laughed. "That usually happens!"
"It's just a great big common room," May said. "I guess there are worse things to have in a gym?"
As she spoke, there was a rustle of movement over in the corner – from where half-a-dozen sofas had been pushed to form a semicircle.
"Hey, look!" called an Altaria, rising out of one of the sofas. "I think there's a new challenger, everyone!"
The Altaria was followed by a Mawile, who took one look, shrugged, and sat back down again.
"Huh, I don't think I've ever seen either of those Pokémon before," Ash frowned, pointing. "What are they?"
"Those are Juvia and Gray," Mavis told him. "Juvia's a Primarina, and-"
"You give all your Pokémon nicknames?" Max said. "That's pretty great – I've tried to come up with nicknames for everyone, but none felt right for Jirachi."
"Is that a bald albino Ninetales!?" Brock asked, completely flabbergasted. "How did that happen?"
His own Ninetales came out of her Pokéball to have a look.
"He's not a bald albino Ninetales," Mavis corrected. "He's an Alolan Ninetales who's used to it being far colder than everyone else is comfortable with."
She sighed. "There's a lot of work to clear up all the fur he sheds."
"Dexter?" Ash asked. "Alolan Ninetales?"
Alolan Ninetales are like normal Ninetales, except that they are Ice- and Fairy-type, Dexter informed him. Did you never watch nature documentaries?
"But..." Ash began, then shook his head. "Never mind."
"This is interesting," Brock's Ninetales said, walking a circle around her Ice-type counterpart. "I heard of Ice-type Ninetales before, but I've never actually met one."
Gray nodded to her, tails held together. "I met a few Fire-type Ninetales," he told her. "It seems kind of silly to me."
"It's just what we're used to, I suppose," the Fire-type agreed.
She looked a bit closer. "Though I have to say, I don't think I'd be comfortable with fur like that. Do all Ice-typed Ninetales do that?"
"No, just him," Juvia told her.
She waved a flipper. "It can get kind of annoying sometimes… he just sheds at the drop of a hat, without noticing!"
"I'm not that bad," Gray said, curling his tails around himself. As he did, a shower of thin white fur trailed behind them.
"I think it is," Ninetales pointed out.
Juvia looked her over carefully.
"Hmmm..." the Primarina mused. "Just don't get too comfortable."
Ninetales looked confused.
"I keep telling you," Gray said, sighing. "Not every female within ten feet of me is automatically attracted to me."
"But you're so wonderful!" Juvia declared. "How could they not?"
For a moment, Brock's Ninetales felt her jaw go a little slack.
"If… it matters," she said, recovering her composure, "I already have a very nice Arcanine friend. We're quite happy together."
Juvia contemplated Ninetales, then brightened. "That's all right then!"
Deciding to push past that, the Fire-type put a paw to her muzzle. "So… how do the two of you tend to fight, anyway?"
"Oh – well, I use my ability," Juvia told her. "I use water. A lot."
"Too much, sometimes," Gray volunteered. "She once flooded the entire arena."
He sighed. "Our trainer had to install a storm drain."
"I won the battle, though," Juvia pointed out. "Aren't you proud of me?"
Gray raised a paw and waved it back and forth. "It wasn't bad, but it could have used more style."
"What about you, then?" Ninetales requested.
"Ice."
She waited.
"...is that it?" she said, after several seconds of pause.
"Mostly."
"Ice and Water are both very versatile Types," Juvia said. "So, really, we're made for one another!"
"Hello!" Mawile said brightly, holding her hand out to shake. "I'm called Mawile, so I don't have a nickname. Do you?"
The other Mawile looked at her, perplexed, then turned to address Lucario. "Is she one of yours?"
"She's a valued teammate of mine, yes," Lucario confirmed.
"That's not very nice," Mawile complained.
"Yeah, that's me. Gajeel, by the way," Gajeel introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you!" Mawile told him, with a smile – though one slightly less enthusiastic than before. "I don't meet many Mawile… and I once met some who were real jerks..."
Gajeel shrugged. "That's their choice."
"Oh, I know!" Mawile added. "I should introduce you to my friends, like Jirachi and Goodra! I've been helping Goodra learn to fly!"
The other Mawile looked at her, then tilted his head. "Pardon? Goodra can't fly."
"My friend can!" Ash's Mawile protested. "I'll show you – I just need to ask my trainer to get Goodra out!"
"This I've got to see," Gajeel muttered.
"Okay," Max said, looking between the Pokémon talking in small groups and Kris's screen. "So that's a Klefki over there, and they specialize in shields and in controlling the battlefield."
"Yeah," Ash agreed, reading quickly through Dexter's notes. "You know how Mawile fight, which is good… but that Ice-type Ninetales over there is going to be a very different opponent than Brock's Ninetales."
"Ash?" Max asked.
Ash looked up.
"Do you think this is a good gym challenge for me?"
Ash thought about that, watching the conversations going on – particularly when May's Altaria got in a conversation with his female counterpart on Mavis' team, apparently by the name of Wendy.
"Well..." he began, then stopped for a moment. "Okay – here's what I'm thinking, Max."
He waved around the room.
"All these Fairy-types, or almost all of them, are Pokémon you're not familiar with. And that means that… well, I guess it's a good test of your adaptability. How good you are at dealing with an unexpected situation. No matter how much reading you do in a hurry you won't know enough about these Pokémon to make the best choice, but that happens a lot in any battle."
"I guess you're right," Max agreed. "I was partly wondering if I should ask if I can use Jirachi."
"I think it's your choice, Max," Ash replied. "You've already competed in a Pokémon League – I'm glad to help, but how much you want to use Jirachi is between you and Jirachi."
Max nodded. "I… yeah, that does make sense."
He stood. "I'll go ask the Gym Leader about what her rules are."
"Well-" Mavis began.
Max jumped.
"How did – wha?" he asked, turning.
"My Pokémon are kind of loud!" Mavis told him, smiling brightly. "I just walked normally. Anyway, the rules are that each trainer has three Pokémon, and they can use up to two of them at once."
"Wouldn't that make it obviously better to use two Pokémon at once, until you had two knocked out?" Max asked, then frowned. "Wait… I can see when you'd want to do something else."
He looked around, counting the Pokémon. "Are these all the Fairy-types you have?"
"Yep!" Mavis agreed. "We're still getting set up – there's at least as many Pokémon again I'd like to get hold of. I'd like a Sylveon, really..."
She shook her head. "Anyway, that's the rules. Take your time making your choice, and you can let me know when you're ready. I'll be behind the bar."
"I'm actually new," the Klefki explained. "This team is kind of crazy sometimes, but it really does feel like home."
Her keys jangled. "I mean… everyone's really friendly. Except Laxus, but that's just what he's like. And I may not be as good at fighting on my own as the others, but when working together we feel like we can overcome any obstacle!"
"That sounds like how I felt when I joined Max's team!" Roland said, nodding. "It's great to be with Pokémon who work together so well."
"When I first joined, Mavis said that – the Fairy type is a mystery. So that's what this gym is, too – an eternal mystery, and an eternal adventure."
There was a sudden rumbling roar from outside.
"I wonder what that was," Roland pondered.
"Is someone outside?" Klefki asked. "Wendy?"
"No, Lucy, I'm here," Wendy waved, looking up from her conversation with May's Altaria. "I don't know either."
After a few seconds, the door slammed open.
Gajeel came in, closely followed by Goodra and Ash's Mawile.
"I have decided I would like a dragon," he announced.
"Okay..." Max said, looking at the plans. "What do you think, guys?"
There was an exchange of glances from his Pokémon.
"I don't know," Guy admitted. "I feel like I should be involved, but I know that would probably hurt quite badly."
"Part of the problem is that some of you are pretty weak to the Fairy type," Max agreed. "So we need to work around that."
He patted Arc, who rumbled happily, then nodded to Corona. "What about you – we can wait another gym to give you your first go."
"That might be a better idea..." Corona said, then shook her head. "But it's probably a good idea to try now anyway. I'll have to do it some time."
"And I'm ready too!" Roland pronounced himself. "I hope I remember how to do some of what I learned from Chimecho and Cinder… but apart from that, I feel really great!"
"Good," Max smiled. "A lot of your skills are going to be important for this."
He pointed to Cinder, then expanded it to the rest of them. "And… I'm pretty sure I can change my mind mid-battle about who to send out, so you might end up going out instead – if the original plan doesn't work."
"I'm sure it'll be an enlightening experience," Cinder said. "For a Dark-type, that mostly means painful."
Max chuckled at the joke, then stood.
"Okay, let's go," he decided, recalling everyone one at a time, then looking around for Mavis.
"I've got a question," Brock began, as they filed up the fourth flight of stairs. "Why is your arena so high in your gym?"
Mavis chuckled. "Well… it's not."
"It's not?" Max said. "But – we must be near the roof by now!"
"You're not wrong," Mavis agreed, jumping ahead and reaching the doors.
With a strong push, she sent them creaking open – revealing a well-lit room with a high, wood-panelled ceiling, arched up to follow the contours of the roof.
"Wait..." Max frowned, taking a step forwards. "That – is that a hole in the floor? It's huge!"
Mavis nodded to him, stepping aside so they could all enter. "That's right – that's the top of the arena!"
She spread her hands. "I used to have a normal one, but it kind of...flooded. A lot. So now the arena's walled off except at the top, and there's some pretty hefty drains halfway up the wall so it doesn't fill completely. It goes all the way down to ground level."
Max nodded to himself. "Okay, I get it…"
He looked down into the battlefield. "So there's some stepping stones up the wall… right, so Pokémon who don't generally swim can stand on them."
Mavis threw him a thumbs-up. "That's right!"
She nodded to the other side of the arena. "That's your spot – sorry it's the one further away, I know it's not very polite."
"I think that's fine," Max shrugged. "Oh – yeah, that reminds me, I forgot to ask. Are Mega Evolutions fine?"
"I'm not planning on using mine, but that should be okay," Mavis told him. "Mega Evolutions kind of fit with the theme of my gym… only one, though."
"That's fine," Max agreed.
Reaching his slot, he leaned on the rail to have a good look into the arena.
"The stepping stones look big enough for you, Arc," he said out loud. "Just make sure you always keep in mind where the nearest one is, so you can jump there in an emergency."
"Ready?" Mavis checked.
Max nodded.
"Go!"
The Gym Leader held up two Pokéballs, and Max countered – with just one.
Down on the floor of the Gardenia Gym arena, two Pokémon appeared side-by-side in a flash of white light.
"Oh, this is going to be wonderful," Juvia said. "We're battling together again!"
"It's not bad at all," Gray agreed.
His paws misted slightly, as he released his normal hold on his Snow Warning ability – producing a swirl of cold, misty air which reached up to the sky and began to produce drifting snow.
As the air cooled, Arc landed opposite them.
"An Electric-type," Juvia stated, tail waving. "Well."
The Manectric barked, and then an orange light flashed over his body as his Manectite flared with energy and transformed him into Mega Manectric.
"You go high, dear," Juvia told Gray, in a sing-song voice. As she did, water began to form out of the air around her – rippling with the resonant notes of her music, already thickening visibly.
Gray wasted no time jumping to the second floor, and as soon as he did Juvia unleashed a burst of water bubbles that flew across the floor to hit Arc.
The Mega Manectric howled, electricity crackling from his fur, and he blasted one of the bubbles hard enough to send fragments of it all over the place.
The second one hit him, then the third, and he jumped a floor higher to avoid the rest of it.
"Good start!" Mavis called down. "Now, Gray – Ice Shard!"
Gray cracked his tails like a whip, and little flickers of icy energy formed around the tips of each one in turn before sending a shower of icy fragments at Arc.
Arc jumped away from that attack, dodging up a floor to the next platform, then had to duck to one side as his Water-type opponent launched a geyserlike spray of water towards him.
Electricity snapped from his mane, and Arc fired a great Thunderbolt down at Juvia – which met a quick shield from her in the form of a Hyper Voice, but broke through to shock her and disrupt her hydrokinesis.
"Aurora Veil!" Mavis told her Ice-type. "Let Juvia get enough water under her!"
"Gray knows Aurora Veil," Max said, speaking quietly but clearly as a swirl of icy energy curled around Gray before coiling off to shield Juvia as well. "That's something to watch out for – it could be useful."
He raised his voice. "Arc, Charge! Then get ready to use it!"
Arc's fur fizzled as the bulky Electric-type built up electrical energy, shaking the remaining droplets of water away to increase the amount he could charge, and he jumped three floors in a one-two-three series of bounds before going back down one to get a better angle.
One of his paws slipped slightly, then caught as his claws dug in.
"Discharge!" Max ordered quickly.
There was a sudden thundering BANG as Arc let loose his stored electricity. The wave of current spread out in all directions, and certainly hit both Gray and Juvia – but more important was the effect on the battlefield, where it blew all the ice that had been building up on the platforms into diamonddust and cleared them.
"Well spotted!" Mavis complimented him. "Some people aren't nearly that quick!"
Arc shook his fur, letting more static electricity build up as the strands rubbed against one another, then extended his claws for grip and jumped to another level.
The cold and the damp were getting to him, making it a little harder for him to keep going as they sapped his strength, but he kept going nevertheless – turning at bay, firing a powerful Thunder, then leaping clear across the open space of the arena to evade a fist-shaped Blizzard that Gray directed at him.
"Stay still!" the icy Ninetales demanded, forming a bow by painting ice in the air with his tails. He drew back on the string, and launched an arrow-shaped Ice Beam which Arc managed to duck.
"Arc!" Max called, getting his attention. "The water's at least twelve feet deep now!"
Arc glanced down to confirm, and winced slightly – as Max had said, the water was two stories deep now and nearly up to the storm drain.
"What now?" he asked.
Gray aimed a pair of Ice Beam arrows at him, trying to capitalize on the moment of distraction, and Arc's teeth flashed with orange-yellow flame as he turned a Fire Fang into a small explosion to block it.
"Electric Arc!" Max commanded.
Juvia blinked, and her watery music faltered for a moment. "But – that's just your name..."
Arc slammed both his forepaws on the ground, electricity flowing outwards and across the thin film of water that had covered the battlefield. Rather than vanishing straight away, it persisted – amplifying itself, spreading out, and within a second or two it coated the entire battlefield.
"Agh!" Juvia yelped, waving her tail as the electricity ran through her water as well. She jumped clear of the water with a sudden burst of motion, and Gray created her an ice platform to recover on.
As she did, Arc leaned forwards slightly. The Electric-type Mega let his own Electric Terrain course through him, saving up energy and then adding it to the charge – then lunged with an ear-punishing BANG of discharging electrical energy.
Arc's Wild Charge hit Juvia right on her side, and carried her off the icy platform and slamming into the wall just above the waterline.
There was a wham, an echoing crack, and the water level began to drop. Arc and Juvia both vanished below the water level, and sparks went everywhere as all of the Mega Manectric's stored electricity from his fur discharged into it.
A few tense seconds went by. Then Arc's head broke the surface, and he hauled himself out onto one of the platforms being revealed by the draining water – towing Juvia by her tail.
"I think she's knocked out," he announced.
"That was pretty slick," Mavis said, recalling her Primarina. "Okay, that's one – and that means I can send out another Pokémon..."
She trailed off.
"That's a lot of water," she mused. "I wonder where it's going..."
Her hand went down to her belt.
"Lucy, go!" she instructed, sending her Klefki out. "Go and make sure that's not flooding the common room, and if it is then send it out the drains instead."
Lucy floated off with a jingling sound.
Water sprayed all up the side of the arena as Arc shook himself off, and Mavis turned her attention back to the Gym Challenge.
"Just to make sure," Max said. "Can I recall Pokémon in this battle?"
"You can, yes," Mavis confirmed. "But obviously you can't use more than three total in the whole battle."
"Right," Max nodded.
"Okay, then," Mavis added. "Gajeel, time for you to help out!"
Ash sent out Mawile.
"Thanks!" Mawile said, leaning forwards to watch how another Mawile fought. "Has Max still only used one Pokémon?"
"So far," Ash replied.
"You know, Ash," May said, looking over the rail herself. "I think maybe you're a bad influence on my brother. I mean, look at him – he's breaking gyms!"
"In my defence," Ash began, "this gym has been broken loads already."
"And that wouldn't be a problem if you were the one to break it, or if Mavis was," May countered. "But Max did. What's next?"
Max was deciding what was next at that very moment.
"It's her Mawile," he said. "So I think that means we're using the first plan."
Taking his Pokéball, he threw it. "Roland – you know what to do!"
The moment Roland appeared, he found a large metallized fist coming the other way.
Squeaking in surprise, he teleported reflexively – jumping behind Arc, and using the moment of safety to steady himself.
Once he was back on an even keel, he took a step away to give Arc some more manoeuvre room before turning to focus on Gray.
"Come on!" Gajeel called. "It's no fun if you just run away from the fight!"
The burly Mawile used Iron Head, pushing right through a Thunderbolt from Arc and slamming into the Mega Manectric's flank – sending him skidding some way across the platform, nearly knocking Roland over.
Got it! The Ralts told his trainer, as the snow began to swirl around him in the same way it was helping to conceal Gray. Now – yah!
He teleported into the air with a flash, appearing almost on a level with Max.
"Go for it!" Max told him. "Synchronoise!"
Lucario plucked a Pokéball out of Ash's hand and returned Mawile.
A pulse of energy flashed outwards from the airborne Ralts, glittering and sparkling with the blue-and-pink energy of the Fairy-type. It passed right through Lucario, Pikachu, Brock's Ninetales, all the humans and Arc – but when it contacted Gajeel and Gray, both Fairy-types were smashed into the ground as if suddenly hit by a giant hammer.
"What the heck!?" Gajeel demanded, rolling over – and using his head jaws to smack Arc in the muzzle, diverting a Fire Fang from hitting him. "What was that?"
"Go after the Ralts!" Mavis ordered. "Ignore Mega Manectric for now – that move's hitting you both because you're Fairy-types like him!"
Arc informed them with a growl that he would not be letting them ignore him, and lunged at Gray – then promptly got frozen in place as Gray vaulted over him, white-glowing tails painting a cage out of ice.
Mawile came out of her Pokéball with a flash. "What just happened?"
She put her hands on her hips. "Did someone recall me?"
"I did," Lucario told her, leaning forwards a little so he could see into the battle area better. "Roland-"
"Well, you should have asked!" she told him firmly, then paused. "What did Roland do?"
"Synchronoise," Ash told her.
As Mawile's face cleared in understanding, Lucario recalled her again just before Roland fired a second pulse of energy.
"That's really making me mad!" Gajeel announced.
He crouched down, clenching both fists, and jumped from the platform he was on to the next one up.
Another jump took him higher, and with the third he launched into a full Iron Head – his jaws fizzing with Steel-typed energy as he prepared to knock Roland out of the battlefield entirely.
The Ralts vanished just before he connected.
"Oh, come on!" Gajeel complained, cancelling his move and looking around – seeing Roland standing about halfway up the wall, on one of the drier platforms. "It'd be so great to be able to fly right now - hey, Gray! Get off your tails and help!"
There was a shriek of splintering ice as Arc battered against the side of his cage, using Fire-Fang enhanced jaws to try and tear one of the bars loose.
"All right, all right," Gray told the Mawile, distracted. "My Aurora Veil wore off, give me the time to refresh it so you don't get hailed."
"Refresh it quick, then!" Gajeel demanded, reaching his apex and starting to fall. "I'm coming down on you, so get ready to launch me!"
"Keep it up, Arc!" Max called encouragingly. "It's starting to break!"
He switched his attention to Roland. "Snatch now – then use Synchronoise again!"
"Snatch?" Mavis repeated. "I didn't know – Gray, watch out!"
Her warning came just a moment too late – Gray's tails wove the intricate pattern of his Aurora Veil, and just as they did Roland teleported in and stole it the moment before it settled.
Visible cold formed around both Arc and Roland, diverting the hail of the ongoing storm so it flowed around Max's Pokémon – setting up currents which went around them, rather than into them, and carrying the snow and ice with them.
"Hey!" Gray yelped, swiping his paw at Roland, and missed as the agile Ralts vanished again.
"Incoming!" Gajeel shouted warning.
Gray's muzzle turned up, and his eyes widened – then all nine tails flicked up together to form a wheel with nine spokes, and a platform of snow and ice materialized from the hail to catch the incoming Steel-type.
Flexing, Gray absorbed the impact of Gajeel's momentum into his nine coiled tails. There was a heartbeat of stillness, with the Mawile at the point of balance and Roland preparing a Synchronoise overhead, and then Gray launched Gajeel with a triumphant yowl.
"Meteor Mash!" Gajeel announced, fist extended ahead of his body. "Take this!"
Max didn't need to give an order this time. It was something they'd discussed ahead of time – and it was the kind of thing Roland had been training to do almost since they'd met one another again.
As Gajeel rose towards him, Roland cancelled his Synchronoise entirely. The energy he'd been putting into it flared out, wasted, and he vanished in a teleport.
A sliver of a second later, he reappeared – just next to Gajeel – and took his off hand before teleporting again.
Disoriented by the sudden change of position, Gajeel took too long to realize what had happened – and his Meteor Mash hit Gray in the flank, with an impact forceful enough that the totally surprised Gray was knocked bodily into the air.
Roland skidded to a halt, bleeding off the surplus momentum he'd picked up from the quick double-teleport, and was about to check on Gray and Gajeel when he saw that he was starting to glow.
"No thanks!" he said quickly. "Not now – let me think about it!"
The glow brightened for a moment, then faded, and Roland breathed a sigh of relief when he saw he was still a Ralts.
Loud mumbling came from underneath Gray – sounding like Gajeel – and then the icy prison Arc had been trapped in finally gave way under his repeated bites.
"I think I'd like a rest now," Arc panted.
"You've earned one," Max said. "Uh – can I let Arc switch out and send someone else in?"
"Sure," Mavis agreed. "I need to recall Gray as well, and you've still got a Pokémon slot for this battle. We can have a quick time out."
"Sorry for being mad," Mawile said, looking down. "I kind of assumed..."
"That's okay," Lucario assured her. "You apologized, so that's the important bit. But you're right, too – I did have to do it too quickly to be polite."
"And you might have to be back in your Pokéball again," Ash added, as Arc let out a sigh of relief before disappearing back in his own Pokéball. "I think Roland might be using Synchronoise again in this battle."
"I guess..." Mawile agreed, sighing. "Dexter, are you recording the battle?"
I've got it all so far, Dexter told her. Don't worry, you can watch it later.
"Thanks!"
"So, just me left," Gajeel said, shaking his head and checking both fists to make sure they were okay. "Well, don't think I'm going down so easily!"
Roland nodded seriously. "I don't expect you to."
A flash of white light beside him heralded the appearance of a female Charmander, who clenched her paws and flicked her tail to one side in readiness.
"Pretty good planning," Mavis said, her voice coming down from overhead. "That would have worked if I'd knocked out your Mega Manectric before you knocked out Gray, too. Is that why you went after Juvia first?"
"Yeah, it is," Max agreed.
"Right," Mavis nodded. "Then – begin!"
Gajeel needed no orders, and lunged forwards – aiming straight for Roland.
Predictably, he vanished before Gajeel arrived. Then he reappeared for a moment, took Corona's hand, and they both vanished again.
"Not this again!" Gajeel scowled. "Can't you just come over here so I can hit you?"
"They're on the fourth platform up, this side!" Mavis told him.
Grumbling, the Mawile broke into a run and jumped up to the first platform on that side – already missing Gray's help.
"A dragon would be really useful right now."
Ready? Roland asked.
Corona nodded, and her tail flame blazed up a little.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked.
I'll be fine, Roland assured her.
Thus assured, Corona used Flare Blitz. The flames that built up over her body weren't nearly as hot as they could be – or even as hot as she could make them – but they were close enough that she could ramp up her output to full in a moment.
Roland grabbed her paw, wincing a little at the heat, and they teleported off their platform.
They appeared in mid-air for a moment, just long enough for Roland to get his bearings, then appeared to one side of Gajeel as he made his third jump.
With a shout and a telekinetic shove, Roland threw Corona at his opponent.
Literally blindsided, Gajeel took the hit on the back – producing a burst of flames from the impact – and lost his trajectory, faceplanting into the ledge rather than landing on it.
"Right, that is IT!" he shouted, hauling himself bodily up onto the platform. "You're going down, salamander!"
"Gajeel, watch out," Mavis called. "Remember, they can come from any direction – back into a corner, so there's fewer attack routes!"
She watched as her Steel-type disregarded that instruction, and sighed. "Sometimes I think my Pokémon take headstrong a bit far..."
Gajeel inhaled, running along the edge of a platform, then spun and brought his jaws up so that both faces were looking upwards – straight at Corona as she fired down an Ember attack.
"Flash cannon!" he shouted, and let loose a blast of energy – like a strong, concentrated gust of wind, except that it was full of flecks of Steel-typed elemental power.
The cone of power reached upwards, and just before it reached Corona there was a double-flash as Roland jumped in and got her out of the way.
Not one to be denied, Gajeel swept his jaws around – spraying most of the battlefield with Flash Cannon, though it was so diffuse it didn't have much power behind it. The attack caught both Corona and Roland a glancing blow as they dove behind cover, and the Ralts yelped.
"Okay, that was good!" Mavis praised. "Keep it up, don't give them time to recover!"
We need to get a good heavy blow on him, Roland said, rubbing his leg with a wince. Do you think you have another Flare Blitz in you?
"Two," Corona replied. "Is that leg going to be a problem?"
Not with what I'm planning to do.
Roland stood, grimacing at the weight on his stinging leg, and took her paw. Okay – the important thing is to keep moving forward. I'll handle direction.
He changed the direction of his telepathy for a moment, addressing his trainer. Let me know when a good time is?
There was a tense silence, during which time they heard Gajeel getting closer. Then-
"Go!" Max said.
Roland and Corona vanished, and appeared in mid-air – high enough that they were on eye level with the spectators.
Flare Blitz! Roland said, and threw Corona straight down towards the middle of the arena.
Corona put one fist forwards and kept the other behind her to aid her streamlining, and concentrated her whole body – from snout to tail – into an arrow-like shape which she cloaked in the flames of her Flare Blitz.
One storey. Two. Three-
As she was about to hit the ground, Roland appeared next to her and reached into her flame. She saw him coming just in time to turn her heat down, and then she was back as high as you could get inside Mavis' gym – and still accelerating downwards, faster this time.
Fall – flicker – Flare Blitz – fall – flicker – Flare. Faster and faster, the force of gravity and the driving power of the Flare Blitz combining to give her a blazing momentum. Within only a few cycles, she was moving too fast to really steer – trusting in her friend and teammate to catch her again and again.
"Gajeel, don't let them hit you!" Mavis warned, watching the flaming trail that traced a vertical bar through the air. "You need to-"
"Break!" Max interrupted her.
Then everything happened very fast.
Roland appeared in mid-air again, and launched Corona downwards.
Then – almost as soon as she'd lost contact with him – he teleported again, this time straight to Gajeel as he prepared to fire another Flash Cannon and interrupt the firetrail.
Twisting his weight, he pulled Gajeel off-balance, and then they both teleported – to about a floor below the spot where Roland had been dropping Corona off, just to one side of her trail as she shot past.
Gajeel swiped at Roland with a quick Bullet Punch, but he was too late – the Ralts had gone, catching Corona one more time and depositing her directly above Gajeel.
Then he relocated to directly below the Mawile, and released his Synchronoise.
Corona's Flare Blitz hit Gajeel from above at just the same time that Roland's Synchronoise shockwave hit him from below. The energy built up, spiked – and exploded.
Three Pokémon fell out of the air, none of them still ready to fight.
"Well… I think that means you win," Mavis said, with some surprise. "Yes – you switched out your Mega Manectric while he could still fight."
"All right!" Max replied – letting out a sigh of relief. "That was a pretty close battle!"
He frowned. "Or, it felt close, anyway..."
"It felt close to me, as well," Mavis assured him. "I'm not sure how my Pokémon feel about it, but – well, well done. Great use of teamwork as well."
She put a finger to her lips. "In fact, maybe I'd have given you the Heart Badge for teamwork even if you hadn't won… but you did, so that doesn't matter!"
There was a jingle-ingle-ingle sound as Lucy came floating back into the room.
"Uhhhh..." she began. "How much did you like the carpet in the main room?"
"At least it's a lot less damage than what happened to most Kanto gyms when Ash went around them," Brock volunteered. "Or Johto gyms especially."
"Yeah, I heard about it," Mavis agreed, as the carpet went splosh. "And it's hard to see this one as just Max's fault, too..."
She shrugged. "It's not as bad as the last three fights, either! I'm improving!"
"She is, actually," Laxus confirmed. "One time I had to power the entire electrical system for a few hours."
"Why is that, actually?" Brock said. "I'd have thought that you'd have the problem with attacks not being powerful enough, rather than too powerful."
"Well, I have a relative who works with Fairy types in Alola," Mavis explained. "She traded me some eggs – that's Juvia and Gray – and I think that she bred them for excessive power. And once I had them, everyone else kind of made it a competition..."
"Hey, Max," May began. "How closely were you watching the battle?"
Max frowned. "Pretty close, I think… I mean, it was my battle. Why?"
"Oh, I was wondering if you spotted the thing with Roland," May explained. "He started to glow, but then he stopped."
"...no, I did miss that," Max admitted. "What kind of glow – was it like an evolution glow?"
"That's what I think it was," May agreed. "I think you should speak to him about it next time you get a chance – maybe as soon as we visit the Pokémon centre."
"That sounds like a good idea," Max nodded. "Okay, I think I'll do that."
They were interrupted by a ringing sound from Dexter.
Ash? Dexter said, lowering his volume so that he didn't interrupt Brock and Mavis' conversation about gym maintenance. Dawn wants to speak to you.
"Right," Ash nodded, flipping him open. "Hi, Dawn, what-"
"Where have you been?" Dawn demanded. "I've been trying to call you for ages!"
As she spoke, a Pachirisu peered into the screen before chittering with interest.
"Another one?" Ash asked. "Wow, talk about coincidence. That is yours, right?"
"That's her," Dawn nodded, reaching up to scratch Pachirisu's chin – earning an approving smile. "But I tried to call you at least four times so far."
That would be my fault, Dexter cut in, appearing on the other half of the screen to Dawn. I generally do not mention when there is no or bad signal.
"Sorry, Dawn," Ash added. "Uh… do you want me to come up to you? I could probably do that easily in the time it's going to take us to get to Silver Town."
"that'd be good," Dawn replied. "Oh, and bring a Pokéball – I didn't get many because I didn't expect half my team to turn up this early..."
AN:
So this is pretty much entirely a gym.
The reference here is pretty clear if you know it. If not, this is basically the cast of Fairy Tail – one of the big anime/manga series – because who else should be in a Fairy gym?
Also, the AotP TVTropes page now has a Recap section, currently WIP.
