"Hey, Brock?" Max said, looking up from the map. "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

"Pretty sure," Brock answered. "Why?"

"Well..." Max pointed. "I'm pretty sure that that's Lavender Town up ahead. And I know the Battle Dome is near Lavender Town, but I think it's to the west."

"You're right there," Brock said. "I took us around so we could visit Lavender Town first – I've got some shopping to pick up, and I'd rather not miss Ash's challenge."

He shrugged. "Besides, given how busy it got last time, it might be hours before the crowd clears."

"Yeah, that's right," May realized. "This was the guy with that huge fanbase."

"And this time he's challenging someone who won two Leagues," Max pointed out.

Ash looked mulish. "Orange counts!"

"Not everyone thinks it does," Brock said delicately. "Anyway – is that okay, Ash?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Ash agreed. "I do need to decide who to use, anyway – and I don't really know what the rules are going to be this time."

"Perhaps I could give it a go?" Lucario suggested.

"...hm..." Ash frowned. "I think it's Double Battles – or it could be, it was last time."

"I don't see the problem. I have two paws."

"You have four paws," Pikachu said.

"Exactly," Lucario replied, waving one arm and then the other. "I have two forepaws."

"...I've never really understood how it is puns work in Pokémon language," Max said.

"Very well, thank you," Lucario informed him.

"That's not really an answer," Brock pointed out.

"Excuse me?"

The friends all looked up.

A man by the side of the road looked up at them, then back down at a sheet of paper. "Are you Brock Slate?"

"That's me," Brock agreed.

"Right," the man said. "Hold on a moment, please."

He unlocked the doors of a nearby car, and reached in to get a small parcel from it.

"Delivery for you," he said, handing the parcel to Brock. "Can you sign for it, please?"

"Sure," Brock agreed, juggling the package and the man's clipboard. "Do you have a pen?"

"That's… actually very impressive," May observed. "How did you know that was him?"

"I checked him against the photo," the deliveryman replied, indicating a photograph of Brock on the delivery form. "And I knew where to look because our company has a network of Xatu."

He chuckled. "You wait, next year some of our deliveries are going to be by teleport – that's what I heard."

"That would be kind of bizarre," May said. "And we travel with Ash Ketchum, so we know bizarre."

Ash raised a hand, about to protest, then lowered his hand again and nodded.

"Right," Brock said, handing the clipboard back, and opened the parcel.

"A Pokéball?" Max said, peering in.

"And a note," May added.

Brock unfolded the note. "It's from Philena," he told them, as the deliveryman's car drove off. "And… huh, that's nice of her."

"What's nice?" May asked. "I can't read her handwriting."

Brock gave her a sidelong glance. "Why not?"

"It's terrible," Max deadpanned. "Your girlfriend's a doctor, right?"

"Professor," Brock corrected.

"That probably explains it."

Brock chuckled, shaking his head, then went back to the note.

"What she's saying," he explained, "is that she and Shinx were out for a walk yesterday, and they met a Rockruff."

"Rockruff," Ash repeated, frowning. "Rockruff… I think I heard of them once..."

"They're Rock-types," Brock told him. "I mean, that's obvious from the name. But she says that Shinx talked the Rockruff around into letting himself get caught, because she explained that I have a lot more sneaky Pokémon than actual Rock types."

"That's kind of neat," Max said. "It'll make you actually a Rock type trainer again."

"It's not long until we find Sudowoodo," Brock muttered. "Anyway. Apparently it was that and the fact I'm a good cook."

Pikachu nodded. "That is definitely true."

"Well, come on," May invited. "Let's see!"

Brock duly sent Rockruff out.

The canine Pokémon landed in front of them, and sniffed deeply. Looking around at the humans around it, it wagged its tail.

"That's cute," May giggled. "Such a fluffy tail!"

Brock crouched down, and held out his hand – palm up.

Rockruff approached, sniffing, and then licked his palm. "Hello!"

"Hello yourself," Brock smiled.

Rockruff blinked, head tilting. "The lady, she said you were able to speak to Pokémon – but now I am seeing it, hearing it myself... it is strange."

Ash frowned. "That's… kind of an odd accent."

The Rock-type turned quickly to look at Ash. "What is being wrong with it?"

"Nothing!" Ash replied, raising his hands. "Sorry about that..."

Lucario bowed, eyes closed. "It is good to have a new Pokémon along for the ride..."

He paused, opening one eye for a moment, then closed it again with a little flash of blue visible on his iris for a moment.

Then he grimaced, one hand going to his muzzle.

"Lucario?" Max said. "What's wrong?"

The fighting-type let out a snort of laughter.

"Sorry," he said, sounding amazed. "I don't… it's just, oh dear..."

Shaking his head, he turned his attention to Rockruff. "You should probably tell him."

"What should I be doing the telling of?" Rockruff asked, a little defensively.

"You know," Lucario said.

His arms crossed. "It's very funny, but you'll have to explain at some point."

Rockruff looked around, suddenly seeming less confident. "You are telling the truth?"

"Yes," Lucario confirmed.

"Am I having to do the explaining?" Rockruff asked his new trainer. "Can it not be being a secret that I am not having to tell?"

"I think I'm missing half of a very confusing conversation," Max told everyone.

"I can hear it all and I'm no wiser," Brock said.

There was a flash as Ninetales emerged from her Pokéball. "Good morning, Brock..."

She stretched, then noticed the sun in the sky. "Oh, no… I overslept, didn't I?"

"What time do you call this?" Brock asked, distracted from the Rockruff problem.

"Too late, clearly," Ninetales sighed. "And who's this?"

"That's Rockruff," Brock told her, as the canine Pokémon looked a little nervously up at her. "He's a Rock-type that decided to let Philena catch him so that he could join our team."

"Well, it's nice to have you," Ninetales told him.

"Um..." Rockruff began. "This is being a very awkward situation..."

He took a deep breath. "There are two parts being. First is that girl, not boy, am I."

Ninetales looked completely confused now.

"Second is that… am not exactly being Rock-type."

There was a blue flash, and Rockruff vanished.

In her place was a nervous-looking Zorua.


Brock stared. "...what?"

"I'm sorry," Zorua said, looking down for a moment. "It all seemed pretty funny at the time… but now I realize-"

"Wait, how come you make more sense now?" Ash asked. "You were doing something weird before."

"Oh, right," the Dark-type said. "It… kind of takes a while to get good at speaking as other Pokémon."

"Hold on," May said, shaking her head. "Are you telling me that Brock's girlfriend got him a Pokémon specifically because it was a Rock-type and not a sneaky Pokémon, and it turns out he's a Zorua?"

"She," Ash corrected. "And… yeah, actually."

They all looked up as Brock started to chuckle.

He tried to hold it in, but the chuckles grew into laughter and he shook his head helplessly.

"Is he okay?" Zorua asked, pointing a paw. "I don't know."

"He doesn't seem upset," Ninetales replied. "So… maybe."

"Mama?" Manaphy asked, making Zorua jump and fluff her tail out as she noticed the Legendary Pokémon on May's shoulder. "If Zorua has to speak like a Pokémon when she pretends to be one, does that mean she speaks human too?"

"I suppose it must do," May said. "Ash? You met a Zorua in Sinnoh once, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Ash confirmed. "And yeah, Zorua pretended to be human once or twice and it'd be kind of obvious if everything they said was 'Zorua!'..."

Zorua cleared her throat, conscious of her new trainer still trying to contain his giggles. "I… not good yet."

Manaphy gasped. "That means I can help teach you!"

"I'd rather stick to just talking normally for now," the vulpine Dark-type said, reaching up with a paw to rub her throat.

Brock finally got a hold of himself, and bent down to Zorua.

"Don't worry," he said, giving her a smile. "I was hoping to get a Rock type, but if I'd known you were a Zorua from the start I'd have felt perfectly fine with it."

"You would?" Zorua asked. "That's… that's good to know. Thank you."

She frowned for a moment, and switched back to the Rockruff form. "Would it help if I was like this?"

"That is so bizarre," May said, blinking. "I know that she's really a Zorua, but seeing a Rockruff say Zorua – it kind of seems like I'm dreaming."

"Blaziken," Lucario announced. "Blaze-i-blaziken."

"I think I'm getting a headache," Max winced.

"Sorry, I'll stop."

Brock picked up the Dark-type. "It doesn't matter, as far as I'm concerned," he told her. "I have to admit, it'd be really sneaky if you pretended to be a Rockruff in public enough that people thought that's what you were… but that's your choice."

Zorua nodded, then her belly grumbled loudly.

"Uh..." she began, looking deeply embarrassed. "Is it time for lunch yet?"

Brock frowned, thinking. "Well, it's a bit early, but I've got some burgers and gorgonzola in Ash's bag, so we could do some blue-cheese cheeseburgers. Pokémon Centres tend to have a kitchen for their customers to use, so we can do it there… and I've got some sweet potato I could cut into wedges and fry with seasoning and paprika..."

The newly arrived Pokémon noticed she was drooling, and shut her mouth with a snap. "...that sounds nice, yes."


"Sure this is okay?" Brock checked.

It will be fine, Ethan told him, his Pokédex standing propped against the nearby microwave. My projector is very heat resistant and armoured with inert materials, and my processor can extrapolate your full expression based on the side view.

"Right," Brock nodded, putting on his big Chef's hat. "Let's get going, then."

Pouring out a little oil into each of two frying pans, he began heating them up as he cut the sweet potatoes.

Connecting, Ethan added.

Still keeping an eye on both frying pans, Brock shifted the projector to where he'd be able to see what Ethan showed.

A moment later, Philena appeared.

"Brock!" she said, with a smile. "Hi – did you get my little surprise?"

"I did, Phili, that's right," Brock agreed.

He took his attention off Philena for a moment to sprinkle some seasoning into one of the frying pans, then dropped the burgers in with a sizzle. "That's what I called about, actually."

"Oh – is there a problem?" Professor Ivy asked, concerned.

"No, not a problem," Brock stressed.

He finished cutting the chips, and tipped them into the other pan with a generous handful of paprika before moving them around to make sure the whole of the chips got coated. "It's more of a surprise than anything."

He took a deep breath. "That wasn't a Rockruff."

Philena blinked. "Did he evolve already?"

In the background, Philena's Shinx yowled something.

Translation: Told you, the Porygon2 reported to them both.

"What does that-" Philena began, then blinked. "Hold on. If my little minx knew when… but..."

She let out a little involuntary snort. "Oh, no, Brock! Sorry!"

"Yes, that's right," Brock agreed, checking on the burgers. "Turns out that you found me a Zorua."

"Oh, dear..." Philena sighed, still unable to repress the odd giggle. "Well… you have to admit it's appropriate?"

"It is, in an odd way..." Brock nodded. "But she's quite embarrassed about it herself, and we've talked about it. I don't mind."

He looked up at the screen, knowing Ethan would show him doing the same despite the odd placement of the cameras. "But I would like to have a Rockruff anyway..."

"I'll keep an eye out," Philena promised.


As they talked, a pseudo-Rockruff came padding into the kitchen – drawn by the smells wafting from Brock's frying pans.

She licked her muzzle, wondering how long it would be before lunch, then flicked her ears to hear what they were talking about.

A few seconds of listening, and she sighed in relief – Brock wasn't complaining, which was a good sign. But she was still curious to see just how the cooking was going.

The disguised Zorua spotted a chair that was half-drawn-back, and jumped up onto it before gathering herself to jump onto the table.

"Need a lift?"

Zorua jumped straight up in the air, completely surprised, and stumbled backwards off the chair she was on with a crash.

"Are you okay?" Brock asked, looking around with concern as her disguise collapsed in a blue flash, and she nodded.

"I'm fine," the Dark-type said, reactivating her disguise. "Just startled."

Sniffing again, Zorua looked past the smell of frying this time.

"Are you… there?" she asked, pointing a paw.

With a shimmer of light, a Latias appeared out of thin air.

"That's me!" the hovering dragon-type agreed. "And I'll ask again – do you need a lift?"

"Sure," Zorua nodded, deciding that ridiculous things were just going to be a 'thing' now in her life.

Then she found herself being lifted onto a human's shoulder, where she was carried high enough to see the display screen with Philena's face on it as well as all of Brock's cooking work – he was just flipping over the burgers.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking across at the human who'd picked her up.

"I'm still a Latias, silly," the human said. "You're just standing on my wing – this is an illusion."

Zorua nodded to herself. "Okay."

That seemed to be about all there was to say.


"You know..." Ash said, as they walked up to the Battle Dome. "I'm sure there should be something in the way, here..."

"I know what you mean," May agreed. "It feels too easy."

Lucario shrugged.

"I guess it's not a problem," Ash said, knocking on the door.

There was a long pause, then the door opened – revealing a purple-haired man in a marvellously ornate dressing gown.

"Who might this be?" he asked, then focused on Ash.

After a moment of silence, he wailed. "No! No, this is awful!"

"What's awful?" Ash asked, baffled.

"I didn't know you were in town!" said the man, who Ash now recognized to be Tucker – though he wasn't wearing his normal spectacular jumpsuit. "I'm not ready! I've not got my outfit on – and the crowd – and there hasn't even been a press conference!"

The door closed again, and Ash stared for a moment.

"That's what it was," he said. "The press conference!"


A few minutes later, the door opened again – this time revealing Tucker in his lustrous outfit as though he'd been wearing it all along.

"Come in, and welcome to the Battle Dome!" he said, with a grand flourish. "I had a session of contemplation while I was redressing my state of dress, and I have decided that it would be simpler to have the press conference after the battle – and to record it from all angles, so that it can be shown to a far larger crowd!"

"Is that… necessary?" Ash asked.

"Ash, you're a League Champion," Brock pointed out. "You've had dozens of battles on TV, and you saved the world from a giant meteorite. You kind of need to get used to the idea of being interviewed."

"I think I understand why Riley went and lived on an island," Ash said quietly. "Okay, I guess that'll be all right."

"Magnificent!" Tucker declared. "Now – for you, for Ash Ketchum, saviour of the Earth, there is only one kind of battle I can countenance! We will have a true test of skill, a Triple Battle!"

He paused. "Perhaps it is because you are one of the few who has actually challenged the Frontier so far. But no matter! Pick your team – you may use any of your Pokémon, including those you do not have on hand!"

Max raised his hand. "Uh… question?"

When Tucker nodded to him, Max went on. "I have to ask… what if you didn't have that rule? Couldn't someone use any of their Pokémon anyway?"

"Well… I suppose they could, in practice," Tucker admitted. "But I would not be happy about it."

"Right..."

Any further conversation was cut off as they walked out into the arena room.

"Choose your Pokémon, Ash Ketchum!" Tucker told him, and jumped to a nearby rail. Taking a handle attached to a zipwire, he shot off towards his box.

"...that happened," May said.

"Tucker appears to be quite flamboyant," Lucario said.


"Okay, you all ready for this?" Ash checked, one last time. "I don't want any of you to feel forced."

"We're not forced at all!" Mawile said firmly. "We're going to be a great team – all three of us, together!"

Goodra nodded, clenching his fist, and after a moment Tyranitar gave a firm nod as well.

"Good," Ash smiled, and returned them.

He cupped his hands around his mouth. "I'm ready!"

"There's a speaker system in the box!" Tucker replied. "It makes it much easier to get good recordings of what the trainers are saying."

"Oh – right, sorry," Ash winced. "I hope that wasn't too loud – uh – anyway!"

He held up all three Pokéballs. "Go!"

Opposite him, Tucker did the same.


Mawile landed on the floor of the arena, arms out for stability, and looked around for her friends.

A moment later, Goodra used his Dragon Pulse to slow his fall, and Tyranitar just hit the ground hard enough to make the tough boards bang with the impact.

The first Pokémon to land opposite them was a wiry Arcanine, then a Swampert who slammed his fists together to show off.

And, circling overhead, was a Salamence who didn't land at all.

"Three!" Tucker's voice echoed out of the speakers. "Two! One! Begin!"

Without orders, Arcanine lunged forwards. She barked, then launched a Flamethrower at Mawile.

Goodra's tail swept her up, snatching her out of the way, and the Flamethrower hissed through the space between Tyranitar and Goodra before vanishing as Arcanine dodged back.

A moment later, Tyranitar's Stone Edge flashed through the space Arcanine had been occupying.

"Swampert, move forwards!" Tucker called. "Hydro Pump!"

"He meant Salamence then!" Ash told his Pokémon hurriedly.

On hearing that, Goodra shot a glance up at the Dragon-type flying overhead – then moved closer to his fellow semidinosaur.

"I'll stop him!" Mawile called, running up Goodra's back and jumping across to Tyranitar.

Her jaws glowed bright blue, and when Salamence used Hydro Pump a moment later there was Mawile's Ice Fang in the way to block it.

Some of the cold water hit Goodra, who flinched, but kept his focus enough to hit Arcanine with a Dragon Pulse and keep her from getting around behind them.

A moment later, Swampert swung a punch at Goodra.

There was a wham as Tyranitar body-checked Goodra out of the way and took his place. "Sorry!" he said quickly, then grabbed Swampert's Ice Punch in his foreclaws and grunted as more Ice-type energy hit him.

Mawile jumped back across from Tyranitar to Goodra, and ran for something Goodra couldn't see – then, just a second later, a blast of Dragonbreath came roaring down from the Salamence overhead and Mawile blocked it from hitting her Dragon-type friend.

"Thanks!" Goodra said, as the blaze of purple dragonfire ended.

"That's okay!" Mawile replied, then ducked as Arcanine tried to hit her with a Flamethrower. "But I think we need to start doing things to them!"

"So do I," Goodra agreed. "Tyranitar, keep Swampert busy!"

Tyranitar's reply was a roar as he took a step forwards, now with both forepaws shoving back against Swampert, and the Water-type matched him strength for strength – then tried to twist him so that Tyranitar fell over.

The Dark-type shook his head, letting go with one hand and punching Swampert.

Then he did it again and again, very quickly.

"Behind you, Goodra!" Ash warned.

Goodra spun, and got a faceful of Arcanine as the Fire-type made an attempt to snatch Mawile off his back.

"That's not very nice!" Mawile summarized, jumping up onto Goodra's head, and her Strength used Arcanine's paw as a gripping point and threw the Fire-type at the opposite wall.

A flamethrower roared down from overhead, and Mawile got caught in the fringes of it.

"Tyranitar, I'm going to have to make it rain!" Goodra called.

"Go ahead!" Tyranitar replied, hitting Swampert with his knee and knocking the Water-type's Scald off target. "Keep Mawile safe!"


Ash's gaze flicked between the arena and Tucker, trying to keep on top of everything.

Mawile, Goodra and Tyranitar were working pretty well together, and that meant his job was to try and see something coming that they looked about to miss…

The grey mist in the air? No, that was Goodra's rain dance – they were ready for it.

Arcanine rolled back to her feet and came around for another pass, focusing on-

Ash winced sympathetically as Tyranitar tailswiped her into a wall, though the Fire-type recovered from the impact without too much trouble.

Then the rain began to fall, clouds forming just above Ash's head before releasing their watery payloads. Most of the stadium was hit, though there was a rim a few feet wide around the edge where no water was falling.

"Fire Blast!" Tucker declared.

Ash spotted something about where the Dome Ace was looking. "Turn left, Goodra!"

Alerted by his warning, Goodra spun away from the direction Arcanine was coming in – and there was an explosion as Salamence fired off a Fire Blast, the eruption of flame blowing Arcanine halfway across the dome and letting her land in the dry patch against the opposite wall.

While he hadn't been facing in quite the right direction, Goodra was close, and was able to stop Arcanine's own Fire Blast from hitting Mawile by sweeping her out of the way with his tail.

"Most impressive!" Tucker complimented him. "It's a rare trainer who thinks to look at the other trainer for clues!"

He made a grand gesture. "Swampert, use Superpower!"


"Oh, no!" Mawile gasped.

She grabbed Goodra's paw. "Quick, stand on Tyranitar's tail!"

Confused but unwilling to gainsay her, Goodra duly stepped on the tail of his Rock-type ally.

Mawile's reasoning became clear a moment later, as Swampert shifted his weight and heaved to try and lift Tyranitar bodily into the air – something which was harder than he expected, as Goodra lent the whole of his own weight to that of Tyranitar.

While Swampert was adjusting his grip, Mawile ran as fast as she could. She ducked a Flamethrower attack from the Arcanine still prowling around the edge of the arena, and did a half-spin before sinking her Ice Fang into Swampert's leg.

The half-Ground-type flinched, releasing Tyranitar to swipe at Mawile, and she dodged before grabbing his arm and pulling with all her might.

"I learned about levers yesterday!" she announced.

Tyranitar swept his tail around to give Swampert a whack, trying to help Mawile pull Swampert over, and discovered much to his surprise that there was a Goodra stuck to the tail in question.

"Whoaaah!" Goodra yelped, then hit Swampert hard enough to knock him the rest of the way over – so they both crashed to the floor the far side of Mawile, before rolling to get back up again.

Mawile panted, then spotted Salamence coming in to attack the still-prone Goodra and used a burst of Flamethrower to boost her forwards.


"This battle is going to need a lot of editing," May said, looking down through the thick grey cloud of Goodra's Rain Dance. "It doesn't really make good TV..."

"I think there's cameras below the rain," Brock suggested.

"It's actually quite an intense battle," Lucario told them, eyes closed. "Pity you can't see it."


"Goodra!" Mawile called. "I've got an idea – can you lower the cloud a bit?"

She jumped up onto his back, then ran up to his neck so she could talk more quietly into his ear. "And get ready to use Tail Whip to send me upwards – you can tell where things are when it rains on them, right?"

Goodra nodded. "Wait… what are you thinking of?"

"I'm going after Salamence," she told him.

Nodding a bit dubiously, Goodra altered his Rain Dance. His antennae glowed, and the thick greyish-black cloud dropped lower – low enough that it dropped below the trainer platforms.

"I can still see you guys!" Ash called down. "I don't think Tucker can, though!"

"Good!" Tyranitar muttered.

He ducked aside from an Aqua Tail by Swampert, then kicked his opponent in the side before punching him in the nose.

"Salamence, go after the Tyranitar!" Tucker called. "Hydro Pump – you as well, Swampert! And use Solarbeam, Arcanine!"

Goodra felt for Arcanine in his rain-boosted senses, didn't find her, and realized she was skulking around the section of the battlefield where no rain was taking place.

"Now!" Mawile said, and jumped from her spot on Goodra's head to land on his back. The slightly gooey layer of slime on his back, coupled with all the water, made his spine into a slide, and she gained speed rapidly as she headed towards his tailtip.

Salamence dropped below the cloud layer to aim, and suddenly appeared on Goodra's rain radar.

"Yah!" Goodra shouted, flicking his tail hard as Mawile reached the end of it. The whip-crack effect added still more to her speed, and the Fairy-type shot towards Salamence so fast that by the time he noticed her she was halfway there.

Wings slamming up, Salamence aborted his attack run to slow down – trying to shift the vectors, so that Mawile would pass harmlessly by him.

Unfortunately for the Dragon-type, however, Mawile just used Flamethrower. With only one jet she had neither the power nor control she could manage in Mega-Evolved form, but it gave her an unexpected midair swerve and she managed to grab onto Salamence by the wing.

"Get off!" Salamence roared, slowing further and dropping into a hover – beating his wings with great speed, trying to whiplash Mawile off in the same way Goodra had whiplashed her into the air.

"I don't think I'd like to, thank you," Mawile replied, shaking up and down and going cross-eyed for a moment.

Her jaws hissed in the rain as they cooled down from her Flamethrower, until she decided they were ready – then they snaked around, charged up her Egg move, and slammed home an Ice Fang.

Salamence yelped, and doused his wing reflexively with Dragonbreath – without much effect on anything except making it hurt more – before hitting the ground with a crash as he lost too much height.

Mawile let go for just long enough to reach his tail, then used Play Rough.


Tucker blinked in surprise as his Salamence described an arc through the air, bounced off the top of the dome, and slammed down on some empty seating.

"Maybe it's not such a bad thing this is a battle without spectators," he admitted, as Salamence groaned and rolled onto his side for a nap. "It's not as if they could see much..."


Arcanine's muzzle went up as she looked at where Salamence had gone, then she waved to catch Swampert's eye.

"No Salamence," she warned him.

Swampert nodded.

The Fire-type darted to one side, avoiding a Dragon Pulse which scorched the wall behind her in a star-shape, and inhaled massively before unleashing a barrage of orange-white flames aimed at the Mawile.


"Look out!" Goodra said, moving as fast as he could, and Mawile ran towards him. Her jaws flashed icy-blue for a moment, providing her a buffer against the heat directed at her, then they fizzled out and she got behind Goodra's body to be safe.

With his skin slick with the rain coming down from his overhead storm cloud, Goodra was able to handle the flames – not that it wasn't uncomfortable, but the tough Dragon-type was far more able to cope than his friend.

Unfortunately, Arcanine's attack didn't burn out after a few seconds.

Instead, still unleashing that continuous, roaring, cresting Heat Wave, the Arcanine began to lope around the outer edge of the arena. Her movement shifted the angle of attack, curling around Goodra's flank, and he shifted to make sure he could keep covering Mawile.

"Goodra, are you okay?" Mawile asked. "If she keeps attacking you, use Bide!"

"Right!" Goodra agreed, clenching his fists. A white light spread over his form, and began to develop a shimmering layer of energy as Arcanine's Heat Wave blazed on and on.

Mawile put her hands on her hips. "That's not a very nice way of attacking… or a very good one."

Her eyes widened. "That must mean-"

"Look out!" Ash called. "Swampert!"

At that point, Swampert moved – fast.

He shoved Tyranitar to one side – ignoring the punch Tyranitar hit him with in return, despite how it made him stagger – and ran through the rain and the outer edges of Arcanine's Heat Wave.

Mawile snapped her jaws at him, but he was ready for her this time – the big Water-type simply jumped right over her, then chambered a mighty punch and hit Goodra with an Ice Punch on the side that wasn't currently being hit by Heat Wave.

Goodra staggered, and before he could recover Arcanine darted in and pounced him with an Extremespeed.

Swampert finished the job with an Ice Punch uppercut, and the Dragon-type collapsed to the floor.


"You… hurt him!" Mawile said, sniffling. "A lot! That's not nice at all!"

Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she began to sob.

Swampert blinked, surprised by things suddenly not going as he was expecting.

"But… it's a battle?" he protested, and nudged Goodra with his foot. "See? Your friend's just knocked out. I didn't hit him that hard… did I?"

Arcanine shrugged her shoulders.

Mawile rubbed her eyes with her fists. "Meanies!"

At this point, Swampert heard a low, throbbing hum.

The arena seemed to have become a lot more blue than it was before.

Arcanine looked behind the Water-type, let out a yelp and ran for cover.

As the blue glow brightened, Swampert had just enough time to see Tyranitar – his spines crackling with blue lightning all the way from his tail to his head. Then the Dark-type opened his mouth, and what emerged was blue-coloured pain.


"You might want to withdraw Swampert now," Ash said, as the blue light dimmed – they'd seen it coming out of the gap between the cloud bank and the lip of the stadium wall, colouring the stands a bright blue with reflected azure light. "Tyranitar just hit him with a Hyper Beam."

"This fighting without being able to see what I'm fighting," Tucker sighed. "It's very tiresome."

He waved a hand at the cloudbank, recalling Swampert as he did so. "How much tactical knowledge can I gain from this? I am reduced to sound!"

"I'm surprised there aren't any cameras down there," Ash told him.

"Normally we don't deal with Raindancer teams," Tucker replied. "I can see it's something I need to rectify."

He made a grand gesture. "But don't think that Arcanine is out of the running!"


"Are you okay?" Tyranitar checked, glancing down at his much-smaller big sister.

"I'm fine," Mawile answered, wiping away her tears. "I'm upset, but not that upset."

Tyranitar nodded.

"Watch out!" he added, shifting his tail so that it blocked a Flamethrower attack from Arcanine. "Okay, we need to work out how to get at her."

He slapped his tail on the floor and fired off an Earth Power, but Arcanine dodged easily – then skidded around in a half-circle and shot off a salvo of smaller fireballs in an Ember.

Mawile looked at Tyranitar's tail. "I know!"

"I think she's going to be expecting a tail throw," Tyranitar said.

"Well, now she is," Mawile huffed. "Now you said it."

"You did it already," Tyranitar pointed out.

He raised a paw. "Is it me, or is the rain stopping?"


"At last!" Tucker said, as the rain petered out and the clouds started to fade. "Okay, Arcanine, get ready to move fast – circle around and-"

He stopped, jaw dropping, as the clouds were replaced by an instant sandstorm.

"It's not fair," he sighed. "Just not fair."


Entei paused, looking interested.

"What is it?" his sister asked.

"Oh, nothing..." the Fire-type said, shaking his head and going back to their run. "I was just struck with a sudden feeling of empathy..."


"It's kind of hard to see now," Mawile complained.

"I thought it was a good idea to help keep you safe," Tyranitar explained. "It's not as good as rain, but it should make her fire attacks a bit less effective."

His tail whipped round with a faint hiss, and intercepted a Flamethrower. "Now we just need to wait for her to come to us. Keep your eyes peeled, Mawile."

"Got it!" Mawile agreed.

Ash spoke up. "To your left!"

Tyranitar slammed out an Earth Power, and the sound of suddenly-accelerating paws showed that he'd gotten close – but close wasn't really enough.

"Can you turn the sandstorm down a bit please?" Mawile asked.

"All right," Tyranitar agreed. "You're right, it's making it a bit difficult to aim."

"Look out!" Ash said suddenly.

Arcanine appeared out of the sand, racing around in a half-circle at extreme speed. She vaulted over Tyranitar's tail, using one of the spikes as a lever to wrench her around to a new facing, and used her tail as a way to control her skid.

Unfortunately for Mawile, that meant she was now on the same side of Tyranitar as Arcanine was.

A Fire Blast hit her at point-blank range, sending her two feet into the air before she crashed back down on her side.


"I bet this is a really exciting battle," Max said.

"How can you tell?" his sister asked.

Max pointed at Ash. "He looks shocked."

"Oh, yeah..." May nodded.


Tyranitar looked down at Mawile, then up at Arcanine.

"Ash?" he said. "Mawile got knocked out – can you return her?"

A red beam of light hit Mawile, calling her back.

"You know," he went on, turning towards Arcanine. "That was not really a very good idea."

"Oh, not this again," Arcanine sighed. "This isn't going to be like when the Goodra was knocked out, is it?"

"You misunderstand," Tyranitar declared. "I do love Mawile – she decided she was my sister, and she's been a good one – but we both know that if you go into a battle you run the risk of being knocked out."

His foot rose. "The thing is… she doesn't like earthquakes."

With that, the Rock-type slammed his foot down on the ground – making it shake violently as the Earthquake pulsed out, so Arcanine stumbled before regaining her footing.

Crouching down, she jumped just as Tyranitar hit the floor with his other foot. Dust and sand jumped into the air, joining the swirling cloud already there, but this time the Fire-type avoided the worst of the impact.

A moment later, Tyranitar's tail hit the ground as well – this time, catching Arcanine off guard and hitting her.

Then he fired a Stone Edge, which Arcanine did dodge away from but which just emphasized her realization that she probably had made a mistake.


"What the-"

Tucker grabbed the rail as the next earthquake came, shaking the building more and more with each one.

"What's going on down there?" he asked. "This is distinctly not-"

A particularly large earthquake pulsed out, and there was a loud crrrrack sound.

The Dome Ace looked up at his Dome, hoping that that wasn't something structural – then there was a louder crunch, this time drawing his attention back to the arena.

One of the big granite slabs of the retaining wall broke free, crashing down into the central battlefield in a shower of chunks and individual crystals.

Then another one did as well.

Then, like some kind of sideways dominoes, the whole wall crumbled inwards one piece at a time.


As the sand and dust settled, Ash coughed and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Tyranitar, did you have to jump up and down like that?"

Tyranitar considered, raising a clawed forepaw to his muzzle.

"I didn't have to," he said, after giving it some thought. "But I was quite proud of being able to."

"I guess that's a good point," Ash agreed with a nod.

He looked at Arcanine. "Did she get hit by any of the wall?"

"No, just my tail."

"That's okay, then," Ash decided.

The Fire-type in question glowed red as Tucker recalled her.

"...I am not sure what to say," the Frontier Brain admitted. "That was one of those battles which both excites me – makes me proud to be a trainer! - and frustrates me, because I have no idea what happened and I think I would have liked to!"

He threw his hands up. "I suppose I will have to give you my Symbol now! But know this, Ash Ketchum – I will demand a rematch, one preferably where I can actually see and film the battle!"

He paused. "Also, thank you for showing that I need to reinforce the retaining wall."


Thousands of miles away, in a small town in Kalos, Serena sat down with a wince.

This whole training-to-ride-Rhyhorn thing wasn't going any easier. Sure, Mom said she'd been doing it since she was younger than Serena's age now – by years – but that didn't exactly make it so that riding up and down on a moving Rock Type was any less painful.

The girl sighed, and again thought about asking if she could be a normal trainer.

Again, though, she shook her head.

That would just mean another argument. By now, everything had been said, and it just… wasn't a good idea.

"Serena, dear?"

Serena looked around. "Mom? What is it?"

"There's a letter for you," said her mother, Grace.

The stairs creaked as Grace came up. "I'm not sure who it's from, but it was on the mat."

Serena stood up, taking the letter, and frowned at the stamp on it. "What's PsiTech Industries?"

"You're asking the wrong person there," Grace chuckled.

She patted Serena on the head. "Go ahead and read it, dear. I know you probably want to read it in private."


Unfolding the letter, Serena blinked.

Then began to smile.

Hi,

I'm sorry if this is a bit of an odd thing to ask for, especially coming out of the blue like this, but I'm a trainer called Dawn from Sinnoh.

I recently got my first few Pokémon, but it's still a few months before I'll be able to go on my journey – so someone suggested I should get a pen pal.

One of my mom's friends also knows your mom, I guess? But that's not really important. What's important is – well, I said it already.

I'm sorry, I'm not really putting this right. This is about the fifth time I've tried to write this letter, so I guess I should get to the point.

My email address is at the bottom of the letter. If you'd like someone to talk to, then send me an email there – I'm mostly online during the day in Sinnoh, and I know you're in Kalos so I'll try to be online in the evening as well.

Hope to hear from you,

Dawn.

A photo fell out, and Serena looked at it – seeing a young girl, at least two years younger than her, with a Pachirisu and a Buneary posing for the camera.

There was a Piplup, too, but he looked a bit less eager.

Still smiling, Serena turned to her computer.

"What was that address..." she said, looking at the letter again.

Hi Dawn!

I like the idea. This is my address – any time is fine, I'll just read any messages when I get up in the morning.

Your Pokémon look pretty cute. I'm kind of jealous! What kind of trainer are you – I know there's battle trainers, Coordinators, and other kinds as well.

Oh – how did you send the letter? Mom and I are both kind of confused. What's PsiTech?

Looking it over, Serena nodded to herself – and sent it.

Somehow, she felt a lot better now.


"Hmmm..."

Scott looked up and down the beach, then out at the three closest other islands – Fire, Ice and Lightning Island, he thought.

"I could swear someone said Ash Ketchum was here..."


AN:


Sorry about the Brockruff thing.

Also – the Battle Dome, and something else involving two girls.