"...basically, those pirates are probably going to keep coming after Manaphy," May explained. "So I was thinking we should work out something to do to keep him safe."
"Are you sure that last group were pirates?" Max asked. "I thought they were more like… mercenaries or something."
"Yeah, so are the other ones," May dismissed. "I don't think any of them… are..."
She slowed to a stop. "Something doesn't seem right here."
The others looked around at the leaves, which rustled faintly in the breeze.
Then there was a thump next to them, as a woman wearing lightweight body armour and a purple outfit landed by the side of the path.
"Class dismissed," she said.
About twenty people and Pokémon in black outfits appeared all of a sudden, some of them lowering sheets of camouflage cloth and others pulling aside screens of leaves, and headed off in all directions.
"Ninjas?" Ash said. "Aren't they supposed to be the enemies of pirates?"
"That's just hearsay," the woman told them. "Welcome to the Pokémon Ninja School. I'm afraid you walked through the intermediate camoflage class."
"They were pretty good at it," Brock said. "May noticed something was wrong, but none of us knew what it was."
"Yes, though in advanced camouflage we'd hope you would have kept going," the woman chuckled. "I'm Angela."
"If this is camouflage class, how come you're wearing purple?" Max asked.
"It makes it easier for people to spot me," she explained. "In training, ninja often prepare in situations that make their tasks harder – that way they're ready for the real thing."
She nodded to a black-garbed Furret standing in the branches. "The black's the school uniform. We have ties, as well."
"Somehow the idea of a ninja school uniform's kind of odd..." Max mused. "Actually – come to think of it, May, weren't you talking about how we could keep Manaphy safe? Wouldn't this help?"
"I'm not sure how it would," May admitted.
"What's this about a Manaphy?" Angela said, interested.
In response, May held up the Cherish Ball. "The problem is that there keep being pirates – or mercenaries – after him, so we're trying to work out a good way to keep him safe. We've got a lot of Pokémon, so we've saved him so far, but..."
"Hm..." Angela drew a kunai from her outfit and began flicking it casually into the air – catching it by the point. "That's an interesting idea."
She noticed their confusion, then tracked it to the knife. "Oh, sorry – I sometimes forget about that."
"That's a kunai, right?" Ash checked. "I heard those are like trowels or something?"
"Yes, they're sharpened trowels in design. The idea is that the weapons of a ninja look like common tools, their clothes are just those of civilians – they hide among the population."
She pointed the edge of her kunai at May. "But I think what might be more important for you is learning how to tell when others are looking at you."
"That'd help," May admitted. "A lot."
"Actually, Brock, maybe you should learn it too!" Ash suggested. "It might help you relate to some of the members of your team!"
"Brock?" Angela repeated. "Brock… Rock type gym leader?"
"That's me," Brock confirmed. "Though, admittedly, I'm not doing so hot on the Rock Type thing at the moment – I actually have more Pokémon who could learn from the illusion thing. I literally accidentally got a Zorua..."
"Ah, Zorua," Angela nodded. "They're a very ninja Pokémon. I would indeed recommend ninja training – it would help both you and Zorua."
I didn't know ninja was an adjective.
Geodude emerged from his Pokéball. "I wouldn't say no to hearing about your Ninjustu, either – I could really use a few ideas on how to use doton techniques."
Angela tilted her head.
"He asked if he could learn doton ninjutsu," Brock clarified.
"Doton?" Angela repeated. "Earth style… no, you're thinking of an anime."
Geodude folded his arms. "Man, ninja aren't all they're cracked up to be."
"I still think you could learn something from them, Geodude," Brock said. "Remember, a lot of what ninja do is using the terrain – and you can change the terrain."
"He can?" the kunoichi asked. "How?"
In reply, Geodude made a gesture.
There was a grinding sound, and a wall of close-packed sandstone rose up out of the ground to a height of about three feet.
"...fair enough," Angela agreed. "Okay, that's pretty impressive… so, from what you've said it sounds like you're all interested?"
Ash looked at the others, then nodded for all of them.
"Something important to remember is that ninja thrive on mobility," Angela informed them.
By this point all four of the friends – and those of their Pokémon who were interested – were dressed in exercise outfits.
"If there are three words that define a ninja, they are – precision, speed, stealth," she said, counting them off on her fingers. "Stealth to avoid being noticed. Speed to move quickly to exploit stealth. And precision, so the attack you make matters. Now, climb this tree."
Ash walked up the trunk.
Angela did a double-take. "Um… okay – I hadn't expected that, but it's pretty impressive. How are you doing that?"
"Aura," Ash replied. "It's how I do a lot of cool stuff… like being able to see through objects."
"I see!" Angela nodded. "So you're an Aura adept. I should have realized… right. Let's see about advanced classes for you. Hanzo, handle the others."
Another ninja instructor appeared out of nowhere, and began to teach May, Brock and Max.
"Now, let's see how much else you know," Angela said. "Give me five seconds, then we'll see how quickly you can find me and get to me."
She clasped her fingers together, and vanished in a flash of smoke.
"Oh, sure," Geodude muttered. "Everything else is a TV show, but things like that are just fine..."
Ash chuckled, then looked up into the branches – no sign of Angela.
He closed his eyes to check further, scanning through the trees with his Aura Sight, and saw a few little moving sparks – Flying types, Bug types, and a few other Pokémon. But Angela was nowhere to be seen.
"You did stay in the trees, right?" Ash checked, looking from side to side – seeing more sparks of Aura, including a whole cluster of bright ones below, but only the one ninja – Hanzo – below him.
She didn't seem to be anywhere...
Then Angela tapped him on the shoulder.
"Whoah!" Ash yelped, losing his grip, and fell to the floor. As he dropped he twisted around, ready to break his fall, and made a solid landing with Aura glowing on his hand to help arrest the drop.
Then there was a flash of blue light and a Sudowoodo appeared underneath him, flinging him back into the air.
"Huh," Geodude said, as Ash caught a tree branch overhead. "I guess that answers one question."
"What happened there?" Angela asked, looking askance at Ash.
"I guess I must have been startled," Ash replied. "My Aura kind of makes Pokémon evolve faster… sometimes a lot faster."
He leaned down. "Hey, Brock, I guess at least now you have another Rock type?"
Brock nodded, a grin lighting his face as Sudowoodo – looking mildly confused – nevertheless agreed with this idea.
"Isn't that the Rock type which looks most like it's not a Rock type?" May asked.
"Shush," Brock waved off.
"Mr. Ketchum," Angela said, getting Ash's attention again. "I wanted to let you know what it was I did just then – you may not have encountered it before."
She waved a hand. "It's actually a ninjutsu – and yes, those exist. The idea is that it suppresses the signature of the user, rendering their spirit energy little different from that of the world around them, and it's said to work on Aura users – though I've never had a chance to try it out on an Aura adept before now, it's mostly used because..."
She trailed off. "Well, never mind, that's getting too technical."
"Can you show me again?" Ash asked. "And I want to know the reason, too."
"Very well," Angela agreed.
She put her hands together, and – nothing seemed to change, at first, until Ash checked with eyes closed and didn't see her.
"It is how we tell that someone is watching us," Angela explained. "The spirit becomes excited, and it is the art of concealment which prevents that."
"Right..." Ash said, already thinking. "And that doesn't make you physically invisible, right?"
"No, though other arts can provide for that," the kunoichi told him. "It's all quite advanced techniques we're talking about, though, and I understand that someone under invisibility inevitably leaves a symbol of – well, what you would call Aura, though we call it something else."
Ash looked momentarily confused, then shrugged it off. "Okay, thanks – that's good to know. I don't think I've run into any ninja who were willing to explain this before."
He paused, shifting slightly, then grabbed the tongue of a Kecleon. "Please don't do that..."
The disguised Pokémon changed colour to become visible again.
"I wondered if you'd spot him," Angela said, clapping him on the shoulder and making the branch rustle. "You're all right, kid."
"I'm nearly fourteen," Ash protested. "Doesn't that not make me a kid any more?"
Angela gave him a look that said, eloquently, that it did not qualify him to lose the "kid" status.
"Okay, so… just want to make sure I understand this," Sudowoodo began, later that night. "So… we're in the past."
Brock nodded, flipping a pancake and catching it expertly.
"You've got more Pokémon, May's got more Pokémon, Max has got Pokémon at all, and Ash has loads more Pokémon and is some kind of magic knight."
"You'd understand a lot more if you were at Rota, man," Geodude opined. "You weren't there, dude."
Sudowoodo waved a branch irritably. "Okay. I get all of that. And I guess the idea of you being able to understand us isn't that farfetch'd. Not after Manaphy."
He paused. "Oh, and it's kind of cool to meet some of you guys who I only ever heard about."
Ninetales flicked a tail, looking pleased.
"But there's two things I really want to make sure about," the Rock-type went on. "Firstly, what's all this about illusions?"
"Yeah, that… kind of happened," Brock agreed, sliding the next pancake onto the stack and pouring some more batter. "Firstly, someone noticed that I only had one actual Rock type, which was Geodude, and since the Pokémon I've got by now include… you know, Ninetales, and Stantler, and even Zorua now..."
He shrugged.
"Right, gotcha," Sudowoodo mused. "And the other thing is… girlfriend?"
Crobat hopped up onto his rocky limb, bent down, and filled Sudowoodo in with a whisper.
While that was happening, Brock fixed Ninetales with a glare. "Not yet."
Ninetales looked up, having crept most of the way to the plate of pancakes. "Yes?" she asked.
"No," Brock repeated. "I can tell it's you."
With a sigh, Zorua released her disguise.
"How could you tell?" she asked.
"Because apparently I'm getting quite good at picking out illusions by behaviour," Brock said. "At this point the whole illusion gym thing is looking inevitable."
He shrugged. "Besides, Ninetales doesn't like cherry sauce. I'm doing the second batch with a topping she'll like."
Max crouched slightly, feeling the branch rock under him.
He waited until it stilled, then pushed upwards with a huff of effort – managing to grab onto the next branch up, and then haul himself into the tree.
"Impressive," said one of the other ninja, a student who'd been spotting for him. "You're improving rapidly."
"Thanks," Max muttered, as the other ninja – wearing the black school uniform – jumped near-effortlessly up onto the branch. "I might be fit, but this is a whole different thing..."
"Then perhaps you should take a rest," the student suggested. "Pokémon battle?"
Max thought about it, then looked down at the ground below. "Uh… doesn't that mean we should head down?"
The ninja jumped to an adjacent branch. "I don't think so," she said. "In fact, I think that if one of our Pokémon drops to within a few feet of the ground it should count as a loss!"
Max looked down again, then looked at the branch. "I guess… well, that's quite a challenge."
"You're right," the kunoichi agreed, sounding smug. "I thought so too. Well, let's begin!"
She paused, counting under her breath. "Right – three one on one battles, best two of three wins."
Max nodded, already deciding not to use Guy or Arc – who would probably just break the branches – and going through his remaining choices.
"...oh, yeah, that reminds me," he added. "Is it okay if I use my friend Jirachi? I know he's a Legendary, but he's one of the only Pokémon I have who can float..."
The kunoichi sighed. "Really?"
She tilted her head, and Max looked to see where she was looking – and saw something vanish out of the corner of his eye.
"Fine," the student decided. "But only for one battle!"
"Hey, look," May said, pointing. "Ash? It looks like Max is having a battle."
Ash looked up to see, and nodded. "Oh, yeah… should be interesting."
May thought for a moment, then sent out Altaria. "Can you make sure you catch anyone who falls out of the tree?"
"Of course," Altaria agreed readily.
He began to orbit, changed his mind due to the density of the trees, and settled for sitting down underneath Max with his wings poised for a quick takeoff.
"Okay, Jirachi," Max said. "Remember, don't go too far below the level we're on."
Jirachi did the closest thing he could manage to a salute, then swivelled in midair to watch as the ninja sent her own Pokémon out – producing an Ariados, which immediately latched itself to one of the nearby branches.
"Right..." Max mused, then pointed. "Okay, Future Sight!"
Ariados sprang into the air, and a strand of sticky thread shot from its abdomen – forming a web attached to one of the nearby branches, and pulling it out of the way of both Jirachi's first attack and his follow-up.
"Make sure they're not too powerful," Max warned, as the bursts of light faded. "I don't want us to break the trees."
Got it! Jirachi confirmed, aiming more carefully this time.
A burst of a dozen small Future Sight appeared around Ariados, missing it but cutting the String Shot rope, and the Bug-type dropped about two feet before using some Sticky Web to halt itself and swing around in a circle.
"Toxic Thread!" the ninja announced.
Ariados duly fired a burst of purple-glowing thread at Jirachi, which he batted away with a burst of psychic energy.
Max? Jirachi asked. Doesn't she know-
"Concentrate!" Max admonished.
Jirachi yelped, ducking away from a barrage of Pin Missiles, and formed a shield that they hammered into – which deflected them, but kept Jirachi in one place until they faded.
"Good, keep it up!" the ninja said. "Now, webswing in and use Poison Fang!"
"Keep shielding and use Future Sight!" Max countered.
Jirachi's hands glowed as he kept the stream of Pin Missiles at bay, and his eyes lit up yellow – then Ariados reached him, slamming into his shield and breaking through with a combination of mass and two purple-coated fangs.
They hit home on Jirachi's belly, either side of his third eye – and nothing happened.
Then Jirachi's Future Sight arrived, bursts of psychic light surrounding him and knocking Ariados away.
"What just-" the ninja began, as Ariados used String Shot to steady itself before getting out of the way of further attacks. "Wait. That's… Steel type?"
She shook her head. "It's hard to remember Legendary types… Ariados, hit him with Sticky Web!"
"Dodge, Jirachi!" Max called, taking an involuntary step forwards – then feeling the branch shake, and stepping back again before he got too unstable.
Jirachi dodged, bounced off a tree trunk, and shook his head to clear the momentary dizziness. As he did, however, a large quantity of sticky webbing landed all over him.
Ew ew ew! Jirachi complained mentally. I can't see!
"Stay where you are!" Max told him. "You're upside down! Now, use Future Sight to cut the web!"
"Don't let him!" his opponent called. "Keep him moving!"
Ariados landed on a treetrunk, gripping instantly with all its legs, and fired out a String Shot to grab onto Jirachi and haul him away – just before a Future Sight burst around where he'd been.
"Now, sling him towards the ground!" she added, and Ariados scuttled down a few feet before hauling on the String Shot again.
"Mffff!" Jirachi mumbled.
He felt the tug, and pushed himself in the opposite direction – straining the String Shot attached to him, then snapping it and floating up into the air.
"Great work!" Max called. "Now – okay, move forwards a bit!"
Jirachi moved in a vaguely down-left direction, nearly going out of sight behind one of the leafier branches of the canopy.
"Stop!" Max said. "Head to your left and then down – and stop… now!"
He double-checked that Jirachi's position was the other side of one of the treetrunks from Ariados – who was scuttling fast to correct that – then nodded. "Okay, Future Sight on yourself!"
There was a moment's pause, then Jirachi's ball of webbing exploded.
The Psychic-type that emerged looked quite cross, and pointed at Ariados. "Okay, I'm going to-"
He ducked a thick glob of Sticky Web, then had an idea and begun firing off a continuous spherical burst of Future Sight around himself.
"Great idea, Jirachi!" Max complimented, over the sound of the blasts. "Can you see?"
...not really, no… Jirachi answered him privately.
Max looked at the stalemate for a moment, thinking hard.
"Ariados, String Shot!" the ninja said. "Set up some traps for later in the battle!"
"Isn't that kind of cheating?" Max asked.
"You're the one who's bringing the Legendary!" she countered, as Ariados set up a series of sticky lines to restrict the movement of any future combatants. "Besides. Ninja."
Max frowned.
"Okay, I think I know," he said. "Jirachi, use Zen Headbutt!"
Jirachi's protective Future Sight blasts lasted a little longer, then faded out. He began to glow with light, and spun in midair to target Ariados.
As he did, Max held a Pokéball up to his mouth before moving it behind his back.
"Yah!" Jirachi called, diving down towards Ariados at full speed – and passed right through a Double Team, ending up in a huge glob of Sticky Web all over again.
"Now, pull him down!" the ninja said quickly.
The real Ariados attached a String Shot to the newly made cocoon and hauled. The force of the pull made Jirachi head almost directly towards the spider – then, with a sudden stuttering f-f-foom and the sound of breaking branches, a whole line of Future Sight exploded all along the path Jirachi was taking.
A blizzard of leaves rained down, and so did Ariados – String Shot snapped, no longer able to drag Jirachi towards the floor, the Bug-type ended up hitting it himself.
"...what just happened?" the ninja asked.
"When your Ariados pulled on Jirachi with the String Shot," Max began, sounding quite pleased with himself, "that meant that it had to be along the line it was pulling, or nearly. So I had Jirachi do that."
"But I didn't hear you say anything," protested his opponent.
"I whispered," Max answered her – then moved aside, revealing the Kirlia balanced carefully on the branch behind him. "And Roland is psychic."
The ninja girl sighed. "I guess that is kind of a ninja thing to do…"
"Maaax?" Jirachi asked, trying to shake some web off his arm. "Can I go have a bath now?"
"Not bad," Brock said, shading his eyes, as the Ariados vanished in a flash of red light. "That was a pretty tactical battle."
Sudowoodo nodded slowly.
"This is good," he said, chewing through a rolled-up pancake.
"Of course it's good!" Zorua agreed. "It's Brock's cooking!"
She licked her lips. "Soooo good..."
"Careful you don't end up in a food coma," Ninetales said lightly.
"You've sent out your Kirlia, so that's what you're using next," the ninja said. "Venomoth!"
Roland stepped forwards, past Max, and took a poised stance.
"Good luck," Max told him. "Remember what we talked about."
"Of course!" Roland agreed.
Venomoth darted in, weaving around the few remaining sticky strands, and opened the battle with a Signal Beam.
Roland immediately flickered out of view, appearing instead next to Venomoth, and hit it with a close-range Confusion before teleporting away again.
"Great!" the kunoichi sighed. "A teleporter… right! Silver Wind!"
Venomoth twirled around, wings flapping, and created a storm of wind laced with glittering scales. Gathering it under his wings, he then launched it out in all directions.
Roland jumped back in for an attack, appeared in the middle of the Silver Wind, and yelped before making an emergency jump out again.
"Careful, Roland!" Max called. "Try to stay at a distance!"
Roland nodded, arms out a little to keep balanced, then teleported over Venomoth's head – high enough to avoid being hit by the Silver Wind.
"Overhead," Max's opponent said.
Venomoth flipped over and flared his wings, sending a blast of scales directly upwards, and when Roland fired his Psychic attack it had to fight through the Silver Wind – which significantly weakened it.
Undaunted, Roland just switched position to directly below Venomoth instead. He got off a quick one-handed Confusion, then jumped out again and appeared on a branch some distance away.
"Good, just keep that up," Max said, as Venomoth flew higher into the air – getting more fighting room for himself. "Try and surprise him."
Okay! Roland agreed. Where should I come from?
"I'm not going to tell you, he'll know then!" Max pointed out.
Oh, yeah… the Kirlia admitted, wincing, then flash-stepped to a point above and behind Venomoth.
The Poison-type whirled, hearing the faint crack of teleportation, and darted acrobatically away from attack range before shooting a Bug Buzz back at Roland.
Dodging away, Roland formed a quick psychic shield to block the edge of the attack and then teleported to a different position all over again. This time he got a glancing hit in, and took a blow in return from a wing before getting clear.
Venomoth's wings swirled the dust still in the air, and he built up a second Silver Wind – this one less powerful, but much wider so it formed a glittering ball several yards across.
"Flash," the ninja said.
The Bug-type complied, and suddenly his ball of Silver Wind became a shimmering glitterball – one too bright to see through easily, making it difficult just to tell where the Venomoth was.
"It'd kind of help if I had Ash's Aura Sight thing," Max muttered to himself. "Okay, Roland, I guess you're going to have to rely on guesswork..."
I agree! Roland replied, appearing next to Max. I tried to do the telepathy thing to find where he is, but it's not really very clear...
He looked up, and ducked out of the way of a burst of Signal Beam before flashing away and disappearing.
For a long moment, the Kirlia didn't appear – making Venomoth's glitterball circle warily, not sure where his foe might be.
"That's… kind of tacky," May said weakly. "I know it's a bit like some of the displays I've done, but..."
"Yours are a lot less ridiculous," Altaria assured her.
He looked up, trilling away faintly, then tilted his head.
"I think I see Roland," he said quietly.
"Don't give it away," Ash reminded him.
"I know, just watching..."
As they continued to watch, Roland suddenly vanished – only to appear directly above Venomoth's ball of dusty moth-scales, and fire down a pair of Confusion in close succession.
The first one made the Silver Wind ripple, but it revealed only that Roland had missed – his guess was wrong – and the second only caught the edge of Venomoth's wing.
"What would you do in this situation?" May asked Ash.
"Well… honestly, I'd probably have taught Roland Fire Punch," Ash replied. "That cloud has to be-"
"-you're right," May interrupted. "Yes, it would explode, like those flour clouds I used."
"Roland!" Max said, his voice drifting down through the trees. "You're going to need to get close enough to see Venomoth and hit him that way!"
Ash winced.
"Bad idea?" May asked quietly.
"It's kind of doing what I'm sure she wants him to do," Ash replied, as Roland jumped from branch to branch – flickering in and out of visibility as he built up momentum.
"Now!"
Roland jumped into the cloud of Silver Wind, and caught a glimpse of purple-grey wings through the opalescent surrounds.
Punching out with both fists, he fired a Confusion attack at the Bug-type, and was rewarded by the sight of Venomoth flinching and a surrusation of pain.
Then he dropped out of the cloud, and teleported away again before he hit anything – landing next to Max in a crouch for a moment, before launching himself forwards again.
This time, he appeared upside down – and in front of Venomoth, so he took a direct hit with a Gust that threw him against a tree branch along with most of the powdery Silver Wind scales.
"Don't let up!" Max called. "He's vulnerable!"
"Get your Silver Wind back up!" the ninja countered.
Wincing, Roland put one hand behind him to push off the branch. Flipping over, he teleported again – appearing behind Venomoth, firing a Confusion, then switching position when the Poison-type swung to attack his new position.
"Great!" Max agreed, seeing Roland managing to stay behind his opponent. "Keep it up!"
Roland threw him a glance – then missed his teleport, landing clumsily on a branch, and sat down woozily.
"Roland!"
The Kirlia flicked out of the way of the attack that tried to make his problem worse, but wobbled on this landing as well. He stumbled, one hand going to his forehead to try to concentrate.
Max looked at his Psychic-type, then at the kunoichi. "What was that?"
"A good ninja should always look underneath their first assumptions – and then look underneath that underneath," the kunoichi replied, as her Venomoth rose to orbit well out of range of any last-minute attacks. "All those scales were a perfect disguise for Poisonpowder!"
Sorry, Max, Roland 'pathed, sounding kind of sick. I forgot that I'm a Fairy type now… I didn't know poison was this bad for us…
"I'm withdrawing Roland," Max decided, and rummaged in his bag for an Antidote. "Where is… here you go."
Roland took the spray bottle and looked at it. "Um… what do I do with it?"
"Spray on," Max told him. "The injury if you got hit by a stinger, but I guess with this just… anywhere on the skin?"
The Psychic-type did so.
"Go and see Brock," Max added. "He'll know what to do."
Unclipping Roland's Pokéball from his belt, he passed it over.
"I think I'll do that..." Roland agreed. He was about to teleport when a cottony wing tapped him on the back, and Altaria gently lifted him onto his back to carry to the oldest trainer of the group.
Max kept watching for a bit longer, then turned back to his opponent.
"One each, right?" he checked. "So whoever wins this battle?"
"That's right!" the kunoichi confirmed.
"Right..."
Max thought about his final choice. He needed someone who wasn't going to be easily beaten by being knocked to the floor of the forest – which meant he couldn't use Cinder, or Arc or Guy for that matter.
And Delta wasn't really manoeuvrable enough either.
That left him a choice of three – and while Kris was perhaps the best choice, Max realized that the answer was obvious.
"Ready?" the student ninja checked, readying her own Pokéball.
Max nodded.
"Casper, go!" he called.
"There we go," Brock said, checking Roland's skin. "I think that's washed off all the remaining Poisonpowder. How do you feel?"
"Better," the Kirlia said, sighing in relief. "I think I might need some training to deal with things like that."
"Or you could evolve," Ninetales suggested. "Stone evolutions are quick and convenient."
Roland considered that, towelling himself off, then accepted a pancake from Brock.
"I'll think about it," he said.
There was a little yip sound next to him, as Zorua rolled over on her back and sighed happily.
"How many of those did you have?" Brock asked.
"How many is enough?" Zorua retorted. "That plus a bit..."
"Watch out," Ninetales chuckled. "Or you'll only be able to disguise yourself as a Munchlax."
Max's Banette appeared a sliver of a second before the Weezing his opponent deployed.
Both trainers stared at one another.
"I… wasn't expecting that," Max admitted. "Uh – Casper, I guess don't get close enough to be caught in a gas cloud?"
"Got it!" Casper agreed, phasing slightly out of the rest of the world.
Weezing belched out a thick cloud of gas, then sat there for a moment.
"Dark Pulse!" Max's opponent called.
Casper retreated downwards through a nearby branch, making the Dark Pulse hit the bark and blow a small divot out of it.
"That's going to make things kind of difficult..." Weezing's trainer said, thinking. "Okay – keep up that poison cloud for now, and use Shadow Ball. Aim through the tree."
"What kind of Weezing is that?" Max asked. "Those aren't the kind of moves I'd normally associate with a Poison type."
"Kunoichi," the girl replied. "Now!"
The Shadow Ball phased through the tree, and burst somewhere underneath it – making Casper yelp.
"Casper, keep moving," Max said, taking a step back so he was able to support himself by holding onto the main tree trunk. "And keep an ear out, I've got a plan."
"I've got a plan too!" Casper retorted, and there was a faint smoky flicker in the corner of Max's eye.
"Casper, wait," Max said, then sighed. "Okay, I guess we're doing this now..."
He counted to three, then looked at Weezing just as Casper appeared from his Phantom Force.
The Ghost-type hit his opponent foot-first, knocking him out of the gas cloud, then swiped with a Shadow Claw at close range. As he did, however, Weezing retaliated with a burst of Dark Pulse which hit Casper in the face.
"Ow!" the Banette yelped, clutching at his nose. Then he had to hold his breath as the poison cloud reestablished itself, and fled with Shadow Balls flying after him.
"Over here," Max said, waving.
Instead of obeying, the Ghost-type dove towards the ground. He levelled out about ten feet above the forest floor and dove into the treetrunk.
Max waited, guessing what was going on, then spoke quietly. "Casper, we're going to need to attack Weezing some other way – be sneaky."
The wood behind him creaked slightly.
"Sneaky how?" the Ghost-type asked. "What are you thinking?"
"We need to prank her," Max said, clenching his fist.
Casper was silent for a moment.
"Okay, I like this plan," he said. "Just hold on a moment."
"Has your Pokémon left the battlefield?" the girl asked. "If he has, I'll have to disqualify you."
"No, just trying to come up with a new approach," Max replied.
There was a faint rustle overhead.
"Wait – up there!" Max's opponent said, pointing. "Shadow Ball!"
"Block with your own!" Max said as fast as he could.
Weezing's Shadow Ball flew up into the canopy, then burst with a crack of wood and a shout from Casper. Max winced, but the second Shadow Ball was met by one of Casper's own much quicker and exploded in midair.
More rustling sounded, and the two Pokémon traded Shadow Balls back and forth in a whiplash-quick contest of Ghostly attacks… then it slowed, as Weezing lost track of Casper again.
Something touched Max's foot.
"Don't look," his Ghost-type said, from inside the tree trunk. "I rigged up a vine to the branch above you – when I pull it it'll swing down, give Weezing a thwack and pin her in place, so I can hit her with a good attack. Just tell me when she's under it."
"Got it," Max whispered.
Casper retreated, and a moment later he phased out of the tree trunk some way above Max's head.
"Dark Pulse!" Max's opponent ordered quickly.
The Banette dodged behind the tree trunk as the Dark-type attack whipped past, then leaned out again for long enough to throw a Shadow Ball.
Undaunted, Weezing tried again – and once more Casper ducked behind the tree, avoiding being hit.
"Okay, new plan!" the ninja said. "Fire on the right hand side of the tree, then move around so you can fire on the left hand side as well!"
Weezing fired her first attack in the sequence, then floated forwards as she fired the second – alternating her attacks, aiming to catch Casper out as he dodged back and forth.
"Now!" Max called.
There was a sudden crack of badly damaged wood, and an entire tree branch landed directly on top of Weezing before pushing her downwards at speed in a trail of purple gas.
For a moment, both trainers could only stare.
"I… guess that works too?" Casper said hesitantly, then coughed. "Uh, I mean, I totally meant it to work like that!"
Suddenly, a taller ninja was just there behind Max's opponent. "Your challenger has defeated you," he said. "Weezing hit the forest floor."
"Aw, come on," the kunoichi sighed, then nodded. "Okay. Uh – congratulations, challenger, for defeating a scion of the ninja arts."
Both of them vanished in grey-white puffs of smoke, and so did Weezing.
"Those were some nice ninja," Ash said, looking back as they left the forest. "Very polite."
"I think they were just interested in someone who can do things like a ninja-leap without being an actual ninja," Brock replied, feet thumping lightly on the grassy trail. "Ever thought of becoming one?"
"Not really," Ash shrugged off. "It's kind of… not my thing, I guess."
"But a lot of your Pokémon use a very fast and fluid combat style," Pikachu said. "Even when that's not their thing."
He indicated Absol. "She was being a pretty good ninja."
"I think danger sensing is cheating," she said mildly. "All I had to do was to concentrate on how much of a catastrophe it would be if I didn't find them, or if they found me..."
Brock chuckled. "I guess for a chance-dancer, everything looks like a disaster."
"It's how we do our job," Absol agreed. "The disaster is a mystical force of great power. It binds us together, and it influences all of us."
She thwapped Ash lightly with the flat of her tail. "I am, of course, referring to my trainer."
"I'm not a disaster," Ash objected.
"No, you're more like a catastrophe," Max said quickly. "An apocalypse?"
He glanced over to see if May liked the joke, then frowned. "May?"
Absol paused mid-stride, then closed her eyes and turned her head.
"I can't… feel anything going wrong," she said, claws clicking on the occasional stone. "I… wait a moment."
She raised a paw, pointing. "That way. Slight chance of May tripping and hurting her ankle."
May appeared out of the underbrush with a rustle of leaves.
"What happened, May?" Ash asked.
As Glaceon appeared next to her, May waved. "Sorry, guys… had a time travel incident…"
"What, another one?" Brock asked. "...is this the one Celebi was thanking us for?"
"No, I don't think so – I never saw her," May answered. "It was an amulet that made me time travel – this happened last time as well. It's kind of complicated..."
"Wasn't this about when I hatched?" Glaceon asked. "I wondered why Wartortle said I should do it."
"Yeah, it was her last time," May agreed. "She looked pretty enthusiastic about it, actually..."
"Do what?" Ash said, puzzled.
"We made it snow," May replied. "That way it stopped someone from leaving town, and things went loads better – there's a city up ahead, that's… kind of what we did."
"Huh," Max said, absorbing that. "I guess that kind of thing just happens sometimes."
"It does seem like there's been a lot of it recently, though," Brock added. "Except, you know, it makes the very word recent into a mockery of itself."
"Yeah," May nodded. "So, where are we stopping for the night?"
The other trainer checked the map. "I was thinking we could make it to Fuchsia..."
"Dawn?" Johanna called upstairs. "I'm going to do sushi rolls – is that okay?"
"That's fine, mom!" Dawn called back. "Sounds great!"
Johanna smiled, getting out the bamboo mat, then frowned at the amount of nori left in the packet.
"Sorry, dear, I'm going to pop out to the shop to get some more seaweed," Johanna added. "I might be a few minutes later than normal!"
"Do you want me to come down and help?" Dawn checked.
"Not for now," her mother replied. "I might ask you to help with the rice in a bit, though!"
Taking her coat from the back of her chair, she took two steps towards the door and tripped over something fuzzy.
Her outflung hands stopped her from hitting the ground too hard, but she let out a grunt of pain – then looked back to see what she'd tripped over.
What she saw made her sigh deeply.
"Dear?" she called up, rising to her feet. "I'm going out to the shops, now – can you sort out the Swinub in the kitchen?"
"Swinub?" Dawn repeated, and came clattering down the stairs – her Pachirisu, Buneary and Piplup behind her.
Swinub turned to look at the sound, perplexed, then turned back again as the door closed.
He looked quite puzzled.
"I wonder why she eats so much," Absol mused. "I mean, I know Brock's food is amazing, but there's going to be more of it – she's going to end up fat if she keeps it up."
"I think I know," Houndoom replied.
He nodded at their fellow Dark-type – now sitting on the countertop next to the hob, watching Brock as he fried with avid fascination. "I think it's because she was originally a wild Pokémon – to her, food is precious and you have to get it wherever you can."
"You do?" Absol repeated. "I never really had that problem – it was never exactly hard to find food, at least..."
Houndoom shrugged his shoulders. "I think that's because you're an Absol," he replied. "Starving is another kind of-"
"-right, of course," Absol realized. "Yes, I can see how that would mean my experience was not typical."
"Take it from me," the Fire-type said. "Back when we were fully wild, instead of – well, instead of living with Professor Oak – the food supply was always something to be worried about. Especially when one of us got hurt, as the others had to get more food than normal to feed them."
Absol winced.
Then they both looked up as Max made a huh of confusion.
"Any idea what this is?" the trainer asked, holding up a sealed envelope from his bag. "I think there's something in it..."
"Does it say anything on it?" Ash asked.
Max shrugged, shifting so he could try to open it – then frowning.
"Ash, can I borrow your sword?" he asked. "The flap's glued down too smoothly..."
"Let me," Lucario suggested, and took the envelope before using Metal Claw to delicately slice the top open. "There."
"Thanks," Max said. "Okay, there's a letter in here..."
As he pulled it out, something metal clattered to the table as well.
"That's a Soul Badge!" Max realized, doing a double-take. "Why was there a Soul Badge in my bag?"
"Check the letter," May advised.
Max did so, unfolding it.
"It's… from Koga," he said. "Or it says it is. Huh… apparently I beat the Fuchsia gym challenge?"
He looked up to May. "Was that something to do with your time travel? I don't remember it..."
"...hold on," Ash said, realizing. "I think I know what was going on. When I battled Koga, he mentioned he had a daughter – Janine, I think? And Koga said back at the Silver Conference that she was going to be training to take over the gym."
"You mean I beat a gym without even realizing I was battling one?" Max asked.
"Looks like," Ash agreed.
Dexter beeped.
You have One New Message in the Dawn Found Another Pokémon folder, he informed Ash.
"...there's a folder?" May asked.
There is now. I create them for common categories.
AN:
So I guess there was a battle. And ninja stuff.
