"Unova?" Latios asked, considering. "That's quite a long way, isn't it?"
Not quite as far the way we're going, Dexter commented. It's quicker to go near the North Pole.
"Really?" Ash blinked. "Isn't that quite a lot out of the way?"
Not if you look on a globe. Dexter's projector lit up, and he drew a three-dimensional globe in mid-air. This circle is going out a hundred miles at a time from where we are now.
Ash watched as it stepped out, then stopped, and Dexter rotated to show that it had reached Unova coming from 'overhead'.
"Wow, that's pretty cool," he said. "Do people know about this?"
Mostly airline pilots.
"Okay, so we can get going pretty soon," Ash decided. "I just want to check on Mawile first, because I'm going to be going quite a long way."
"Then it's a good thing she's coming down the street," Pikachu said. "Along with… a Tyrunt?"
Ash and Latios turned to look, seeing Mawile holding the hand of a nervy-looking Tyrunt.
"Hi!" she waved. "I met this Tyrunt earlier, and he said he was scared by all the noise. He didn't want to go back to the museum because he says all the Pokemon there are a bit loud..."
Ash crouched down. "Hello, Tyrunt," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't know..." Tyrunt admitted. "Everything is scary. But Mawile likes you, and she's nice."
"I'm afraid I'm about to go somewhere else," Ash told him. "Mawile doesn't have to come with me, but she's probably going to go with my friends if she doesn't come with me."
He lifted his gaze to Mawile. "Which do you think would be better?"
"Well..." Mawile began, putting a hand to her mouth as she thought. "I don't know… I don't want to leave Tyrunt alone, because I think he doesn't trust anyone else yet. But I don't think he wants to be someone's Pokemon yet either."
Tyrunt shook his head.
"That's all right," Ash told Tyrunt. "I know you're probably really confused."
"What about asking Brock to help?" Lucario suggested.
"That sounds like it would work," Ash agreed. "Mawile, can you explain to Tyrunt who Brock is?"
"Okay," Mawile nodded. "Tyrunt, you know how I said about trainers? This is my trainer, and one of our friends is another trainer called Brock. He's sort of supposed to be especially good with Rock types, but he actually has all sorts of Pokemon, and they all like him a lot."
Tyrunt nodded slightly, showing he was following along.
"I think Brock would be able to help me show you what the world is like today," Mawile went on. "None of us would make you be a trainer's Pokemon, we'd just tell you about things and stuff."
She looked up at Ash. "I think it is a good idea," she said seriously. "Do you need to go now?"
"I'm not sure how long Iris is going to be happy waiting," Ash replied. "It's probably best if I leave soon."
"Then I'll tell Brock what's happening," Mawile decided. "You should go."
Ash nodded, giving Mawile a quick pat on the head, then returned Lucario – the flash of light making Tyrunt stare. The sight of Latios Mega-Evolving into Mega Latios made his jaw drop, and then Ash, Pikachu and Mega Latios shot off into the distance at incredible speed.
"Are all trainers like that?" Tyrunt asked, pulling his jaw closed again.
"My trainer's the best," Mawile told him proudly. "But a lot of them are really nice people, so sort of!"
A faint thoom made them both look up for a moment.
"Are you sure this is the best way to get to Unova?" Ash asked, looking down at Dexter's screen.
Yes, Dexter replied, his synthesized voice sounding faintly offended. The best way to travel from one point to another is to spend half the time getting faster and the other half of the time slowing down again. Since Mega Latios can fly without air, it is most efficient to take a path slightly outside the lower atmosphere.
"Doesn't that mean we're going higher, though?" Pikachu asked. "And the route is longer?"
This means we do not have to stay to a speed that would avoid doing damage to the ground, Dexter answered, his indicator marking their position moving steadily across the map – northwards and eastwards, shooting over Veilstone City before continuing to accelerate out over open ocean.
"This is actually kind of fun," Mega Latios reported to them. "It's not often I get a chance to really go at full speed, and last time there was kind of that problem of the meteorite…"
"Has it been that long?" Ash asked, surprised. "Well, I guess you should enjoy it then!"
"Yep!" Mega Latios squeaked, and Ash and Pikachu both felt the acceleration increase a little.
A flickering corona of plasma began to form around them, wispy in the thin air but looking like a tiny aurora, and for several minutes they just watched – looking at the black sky above, the multicoloured light all around, or the ocean going by below.
It was hard to tell how fast they were moving, until the coastline appeared ahead and then passed by underneath at astonishing speed. For a few minutes they flew over a mountainous-looking landscape, then over the sea again, and this time crossing the sea took even less time – about twenty seconds.
"How wide was that?" Ash asked.
Three hundred kilometres, Dexter answered, as icy terrain shot by below them. Turnover is in thirty seconds.
"I don't actually have to turn over, right?" Mega Latios asked. "I can just slow down?"
Slow down as much as you were speeding up by, yes, Dexter confirmed. Ready… and… now!
Ash was ready for the jolt, and it didn't quite knock him out of his seat.
We should be reaching Unova in about seven minutes, Dexter went on. It's probably going to be easier to stop somewhere over Unova and then confirm where the Moor of Icirrus is – if you're a fraction of a degree off at this point you'll end up forty kilometres away.
"I don't think I really realized just how fast we can get before," Mega Latios said. "Does this actually make me a spacecraft? Just doing this?"
You should be picking up air so everyone has enough to breathe, Dexter warned. But yes, by some definitions we are in space.
"There have to be easier ways to get around," Pikachu muttered, then shook his head. "But I don't think many have quite this much style."
"Why do they call this a moor?" Iris asked.
She walked through one of the puddles collecting in the low-lying wetland, water sloshing away from her feet. "I don't think this is what moors are like."
"I don't really know," Keldeo said frankly. "Maybe it's one of those names where the original meaning has shifted?"
He frowned. "A moor is supposed to be upland, right? So this can't be a proper moor."
"This is such a bizarre conversation," Iris mused. "Especially with who I'm having it with..."
"Aha, there you are!" boomed a voice, making Iris look up in surprise.
All three of the other Swords of Justice were cantering towards them, Terrakion in the lead, and the Rock-type grinned as he got closer.
"That restaurant you mentioned was excellent!" Terrakion went on, slowing to a trot and then a walk. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Iris," Keldeo explained.
"Oh, the dragon girl," Terrakion nodded. "Well met, and so on and so forth!"
"Hi?" Iris tried, then shook her head. "Sorry, I really need to get used to this whole situation..."
"What brings you here?" Virizion asked. "Is there a problem?"
"I ran into her in the street," Keldeo explained. "I thought it would be a good idea to explain why I knew her name off the top of my head."
"I can see how that would be an odd thing to happen," Virizion agreed. "Is it likely it'll happen again, Keldeo?"
"No," Keldeo replied firmly. "I already went to Striation Gym for a meal, so now if I run into Cilan it'll just be like I remember him from that."
"That's forward thinking," Cobalion complimented him.
"Hey, uh, guys?" Terrakion said uncertainly, nodding off towards the north. "What's that?"
Keldeo launched himself into the air with a burst of Hydro Pump so he could see what Terrakion meant, then landed again with a whump.
"Well, it was some kind of fast moving object," the Colt Pokemon said, tilting his head a little. "I didn't see more than that."
The glow around the object faded away, and it became nearly invisible.
Nothing else was apparent for several long seconds, as it went from a dot to a vague shape, until Cobalion took a half-step forwards. "Is that a Latias?"
"Oh, right," Keldeo realized. "No, it's either a Mega Latias or a Mega Latios."
"You mean that's Ash?" Iris asked, watching as the moving object got closer and larger. It became clear it was indeed a Mega-Evolved Eon Pokemon, then a dull boom echoed across the moor.
Mega Latios slowed to a smooth halt over one of the drier patches, and Ash slipped off his back.
"Wow," he said, looking back up at Mega Latios. "That was… an experience."
Lucario materialized, and Pikachu came clambering out of his back to sit on his shoulder.
Turning, Ash caught sight of Iris. "Hey," he said, giving her a nod. "How much did you get from Keldeo?"
"Well, he explained a bit more of it," Iris replied. "But… sorry, I'm still getting used to this. Did you just fly from Sinnoh?"
"Yeah," Ash replied. "And… I know you've got a lot of questions, and after I remind you… you're probably going to have a lot more questions. But doing it might answer a few of them."
"Right," Iris agreed, remembering the whole reason they were here. "Um – Keldeo said it would work for my Pokemon as well? Would it work on Excadrill and Fraxure?"
"Fraxure?" Ash repeated. "Well, you had an Excadrill last time, but you had an Axew instead of a Fraxure. And you said he was quite new, so I don't think it's the same one."
"Oh, okay," Iris said, deflating a bit. "Well… that's okay, then?"
"It's quite possible to make good friends with a Pokemon who you didn't know the first time," Lucario told her. "A lot of Ash's Pokemon are new friends this time, such as Houndoom and Mawile."
"All right, then," she nodded. "How do I..."
"Just hold out your hand," Ash told her, waiting until she did, and then shook it.
"What the-" Iris began, blinking, then stared at Ash. "You… but… what?"
She turned her gaze from Ash to Lucario, then Keldeo, then to the Pikachu sitting on Ash's shoulder.
"What did you do now?" she asked plaintively.
"Time travel," Ash answered. "Again. We did say."
"Yeah, but – one minute we were in Decolore – and then – gah!" Iris groaned. "And..."
She stopped.
"Wait a moment. Why don't I remember battling… any..."
"Uh oh," Pikachu said.
"Ash, did you make it so there are Fairy types?" Iris demanded.
"Not intentionally!" Ash replied quickly. "There was this thing with a girl who was using the power of the Unown, and she made a Sylveon appear, and then we accidentally took the Sylveon back to the beginning of the universe, and I guess Arceus was inspired or something?"
Iris took a step back, shaking her head.
"I don't know how you did it," she sighed. "But somehow you managed to make it so there's something else even worse for Dragons to battle than Ice-types. Why?"
"In fairness, it's not like we knew that was going to happen," Lucario volunteered.
"Yeah," Iris sighed. "And at least Excadrill's there to-"
She paused, then sent out both Excadrill and Fraxure.
"Good day," Fraxure told Ash, giving him a nod. "I don't quite understand what you did, but I think my trainer's okay with it. She's like that when she's trying to get used to new things, don't worry."
"That's okay, she's a friend," Ash replied. "I know."
"Yeah, that is going to take some getting used to," Iris said to herself. "But I think I know what's going on – this Fraxure is the one I had at Opelucid. Last time I had to leave him there, and I don't know what changed."
She looked up at Ash again, then shook her head. "This is so bizarre… you're Ash, the goof I went through Unova with, and you're Ash Ketchum the super-trainer..."
As she muttered to herself, Excadrill looked Ash carefully up and down.
"Looks just like the Ash we knew. So you're the trainer my human puts posters of on her walls? I can't say I see why."
Pikachu froze.
"Can… can you repeat that?" he asked, his voice a little strained.
"What, that my human puts posters on her walls?" Excadrill made a dismissive gesture. "I don't know why it's you, we both know you're such a kid. The plush Beasts, now, that I can understand."
Pikachu fell over laughing, dropped off Ash's shoulder to land on his side, and continued squeaking as he laughed himself sick.
"Huh?" Iris asked. "What's going on? Is Pikachu okay?"
Ash crouched down, checking Pikachu wasn't hurt, then straightened. "I think he's just finding something Excadrill said about posters really funny."
"You told him about the posters!?" Iris demanded. "Excadrill, you- you… I don't… but..."
Cobalion glanced at Virizion, who shrugged.
"Humans," Terrakion opined.
Geodude gestured with both hands, making a solid stone wall – largely consisting of fuzed quartzite – come rumbling out of the ground in front of him.
"Okay, that's good," Roark said, checking the quickly-sketched diagram in front of him. "Now, uh… right, there needs to be a second wall eight feet in from that one – that's going to be the main divider for the living areas… and then eight feet in from that one you need a double-thickness wall for the main gym arena."
He frowned. "This is earthquake resistant, right?"
"I'm building in spaces to install earthquake springs," Geodude answered, shrugging. "Can't really make those out of rock. I could fuse the rock as well, but that might fracture."
Roark read off Geodude's answer from Max's Pokedex, then nodded. "Okay, I understand. Thank you."
He shook his head. "This is such an interesting situation… it really helps remind us that Pokemon are more than just for battles."
"Battles are interesting, as far as I'm concerned," Geodude volunteered. "They help me test my abilities against others who are doing the same."
"Still, thank you," Roark repeated. "I should find a Pokemon who can do this, it'd be pretty generally helpful."
"Geodude was working on it for a while," Brock supplied. "He had a lot of trouble with dislocation creep."
Roark thought about that, then nodded. "Yeah, I can see why that would be a problem."
He checked the plans again. "Wait, there needs to be a space for a door there."
Geodude waved, and a door-shaped slab of stone simply dissolved into sand.
"Smooth," the Rock-type gym leader complimented.
"Thank you," Geodude said, then turned to the next wall. He was about to raise the solid block of quartzite called for, but paused and waved his trainer over.
"That looks like Mawile," he noted. "And a friend."
"Hey, Mawile!" Brock waved, getting her attention. The Tyrunt next to her jumped, and tried to hide behind her. "Oh, sorry..."
He sat down, thought for a bit, then sent out Rockruff and Ninetales.
"Can the two of you go over and make sure that Tyrunt is all right?" he asked. "I think the poor thing's got a bit of future shock."
"All right!" Rockruff agreed, tail wagging, and began to bound over – only for Ninetales to put a long fluffy tail in her way.
"Gently," Ninetales advised. "We don't want to scare them."
"Don't worry," Mawile told Tyrunt. "They're my friends! They're nice, and if you feel upset you just need to say so."
"All right," Tyrunt decided, and came out from behind Mawile again – slowly. "I don't know what they are."
"I'm a Ninetales," the kitsune introduced herself. "This is Rockruff, she's quite young."
She swept her tails up. "How are you finding the present?"
"Loud?" Tyrunt tried summarizing. "And… still kind of scary, but there are a lot of nice people here."
"That man with the squinty eyes over there is our trainer," Ninetales added. "He's a Rock type specialist."
"Yep!" Rockruff agreed. "I'm one of his Rock types! Are you thinking of being one too?"
Tyrunt shook his head quickly. "I… don't think so. Not yet… I don't really know what I want yet."
"That's fine, of course," Ninetales reassured him, extending him a tail. "Now, something you should know is that you should never touch a Ninetales' tails without permission."
She smiled. "But you have permission from me, so go ahead."
Tyrunt looked at the twitching tail, then reached out and took it.
"There you go," Ninetales said.
"Thank you," Tyrunt breathed, stroking the tail slightly, then let go.
"Told you they were nice," Mawile giggled.
"Okay, so… hold on," Iris began. "I… can I make sure I understand this?"
"Go ahead," Ash invited.
"So… I don't remember the meteorite thing last time," Iris said. "Was that your fault as well?"
"We don't actually know," Ash answered.
"Mega Stones, I don't remember those," Iris said to herself. "There was that odd Mewtwo we met, though… wait, Mewtwo. I don't think I would have missed hearing about a book by a Legendary Pokemon."
"That's new," Lucario confirmed. "Though I understand Ash did actually meet Mewtwo last time around."
"So you met Mewtwo last time around," Iris repeated. "Okay. You didn't catch him, right? Or Lugia?"
"No, but I did meet Lugia last time," Ash told her. "That was when we saved the world for… I think the second time, but Mewtwo wiped my memory of the first."
Iris shook her head in wonderment. "What about the Legendary Beasts? Because if you were holding out on that-"
"No, I didn't catch them last time either," Ash interrupted.
"I did say," Keldeo chimed in.
"Yeah, but… now I've got two versions of everything," Iris explained herself. "Latias and Latios?"
It was Latios who answered, this time. "He did meet us, in Altomare," the Psychic Dragon began. "And… he did everything he could, but he didn't manage to save me."
At that announcement, Iris swallowed.
"I don't really like to think about it," Latios added.
"Yeah, no kidding," Iris sighed. "That's… yeah, it's a bit hard to get my head around."
She shook her head. "Okay, uh, so… what about the rest of the stuff?"
"A lot of it did still happen, it was just a bit more low-key," Ash explained. "The thing in LaRousse City was pretty close, though."
"Why did you never mention any of this stuff?" Iris demanded.
"Well..." Ash began, then shrugged. "It sounded kind of like… they weren't as important, to be honest. You didn't know about any of that, and that was fine. And it'd seem like boasting, I guess."
"I… guess that is a good point," Iris admitted. "Plus, well… if you told me any of this I'd have thought you were making it up."
"I've not actually rejected that idea yet," Excadrill contributed.
"And- wait," Iris interrupted herself. "The time I was travelling with you last time was the most bizarre months of my life. Was that all you?"
"Our finest Absol consultant assures us that Ash doesn't do it deliberately," Lucario said. "But… yeah, it's totally him."
After several more minutes of discussion, Iris held up a hand.
"Okay, I think I've got it straight now," she said. "Well, as much as I think I can. So… what happens now?"
"Now?" Ash repeated. "Well… I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to run into you for several months. We've got some stuff in Sinnoh to take care of – you know, I mentioned?"
"Oh, yeah, the thing with that guy who destroyed the world," Iris began, then corrected herself. "One of the guys who tried to destroy the world, and the one who actually succeeded."
"You might want to try keeping score," Lucario suggested, holding up a piece of card with several X marks drawn on it. "Two more and I get a free coffee."
"How long have you been carrying that around?" Latios asked.
"Long enough."
"I saw him making it five minutes ago," Pikachu volunteered.
"That's long enough, see?" Lucario replied.
Excadrill shook his head, then got up and returned himself.
"I'm… not sure what's up with him," Iris admitted. "Generally speaking."
Ash blushed slightly. "Now I think about it, I probably could have helped with Excadrill, Emolga and Dragonite a bit..."
"What?" Iris asked. "How come?"
"Well, it's not really obvious this time, but last time – my Charizard was really disobedient for quite a long time," Ash explained. "I should have mentioned that to you back when Excadrill was first a problem, it could have helped. So… sorry?"
Iris looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "Right. Yeah, I… thinking about it, I think this time I'd have listened – but last time I'd just assume your problem was different from mine."
She shook her head, her oversized bushy ponytail swinging back and forth. "I… yeah, there's a lot of reasons for it, but… for last time… sorry."
"Sorry about what?" Ash asked.
Pikachu leaned over to whisper to Latios."I'm not sure if that's Ash being clueless, or asking for the list."
"Well… for calling you a kid," Iris replied. "I know it's not really an excuse, but I didn't know you were an experienced trainer. But… yeah, sorry."
"That's okay," Ash shrugged. "I mean, I was kind of annoyed at the time, but it doesn't really matter."
They sat there for a long moment.
"So… you're probably going back to Sinnoh?" Iris asked.
"Kanto, actually, my friend Max is going to do the Indigo League and I need to be there," Ash replied. "It's a mentorship thing, because he's still too young to be a trainer under the normal rules."
"Oh, right, that," Iris shrugged. "Yeah, I think my going to Opelucid… might..."
She trailed off.
"Wait, hold on. I just realized… how old are you, Ash? When I first met you I thought you were, what, ten?"
"I'm fourteen," Ash replied. "Last time around I met you at age fifteen."
Iris looked him up and down.
"...yeah, you do look kind of different than I remember you, but you look older now than you did then."
"Ash has done a lot of martial arts training this time," Lucario pointed out. "That's probably it."
Iris nodded absently, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, yeah, um… do you want to keep in touch? I don't think I have your phone number."
Keldeo knows, but I will provide it for you as well, Dexter supplied. Do you have a pen?
"Ready to go, Max?" Brock checked. "If you want you can just say the word and Dawn and I will accompany you to Indigo."
"I'll be fine," Max replied. "I'm going to be in good hands… paws?"
"I think paws is probably more politically correct," Suicune supplied helpfully. "I don't mind either way, but..."
"Yeah, it's probably good to get in the habit," Max agreed. "And thanks for giving me a lift."
"You scheduled it in advance, it let me work around my schedule," Suicune told him. "There was an important conversation I had to have with an Articuno up to the north of Sinnoh, I'm technically on my way back."
"Still, thanks," Max told her.
"I'm not sure if we'll be down at Indigo for the first rounds, but good luck regardless," Dawn said. "Just, you know, don't break the stadium too much."
Max nodded, shaking Dawn's hand. "Thanks for your help the last few weeks – and good luck in the Contests."
He shook Brock's hand as well, then got on Suicune as she knelt to let him. She checked he was on snugly, then turned to the south and began to walk-lope-run.
Within seconds she was speeding away, dropping into the gorge of the Ore river and disappearing from view.
"Nice kid," Dawn said.
"Yeah, he's taken to being a trainer pretty well," Brock agreed.
After a few seconds watching, Dawn looked down at Mawile and Tyrunt. "You're staying with us, right?"
Mawile nodded, and Tyrunt glanced at her before nodding much more slowly.
"All right, then," Dawn smiled. "Tell you what – there's a contest in one of the towns we're going through soon. Do you want to help by watching my Pokemon practice their routines?"
"All right, we're here," Suicune told Max, slowing to a halt a short walk from the gates of Indigo Plateau. "I hope the trip was all right."
"It was kind of long, but that's fine," Max replied, taking his earphones out and pausing the music he'd been listening to. "Thanks – and thanks to you too, Kris."
I am pleased to provide all your in-run entertainment needs.
"I wonder where Ash is going to meet us," Max added. "I could just go in, I guess?"
"It's probably better to turn up with him, as he's officially your mentor," Suicune suggested.
"Yeah," Max agreed. "That's a good point."
As he reached for Kris again, however, a voice interrupted him.
"That's an interesting Pokemon you've got there."
Both he and Suicune turned, seeing someone coming along Victory Road towards the Pokemon League building itself – a girl a few years older than Max, with tanned skin and her hair back in a ponytail.
"She's not mine," Max explained.
"Do you know where her trainer got her, then?" the girl asked. "I've seen a lot of Pokemon so far in Kanto, but that one's new to me."
"I'm… actually a Legendary Pokemon," Suicune said, sounding a little baffled. "I assume you're not from the Home Islands?"
The girl stopped, staring for a moment.
"Okay, that's pretty cool," she said. "Uh, anyway – yeah, I'm from Akala Island, but we don't really have a Pokemon League so I came here for my first try!"
"I'm from Hoenn," Max supplied. "My first League got cancelled because of that asteroid thing, so this is my second League but I never placed at the first one."
"Sounds cool," the girl nodded. "Well, you know what I mean."
She held out her hand. "I'm Iwalani, nice to meet you."
"Max," Max introduced himself, shaking it. "So you've got Pokemon from Alola?"
"That's right," Iwalani confirmed, and sent one out with a flash of white light. "This is Vibrava!"
"...sorry," Max winced. "But we have Vibrava in Hoenn too."
"Oh, okay," Iwalani said to herself, returning her Vibrava. "The more you know. What about Dartrix?"
"I don't think I've seen one of those before," Max answered.
In response, Iwalani sent out her Dartrix, who puffed his chest out self-importantly. "There you go, then," she said proudly. "He's my starter Pokemon."
Max? Kris said, making Iwalani look confused. I've let Ash know where you are. He'll be arriving in a minute or so.
"Whoa, whoa, which Ash do you mean?" Iwalani asked, then tilted her head slightly. "And who said that?"
"That's my Porygon, Kris," Max explained. "And it's Ash Ketchum."
"...seriously!?" Iwalani said. "I've definitely heard of him."
"What about his Pokemon?" Suicune asked.
"Well, I heard he had some… legendary… no way," Iwalani whispered.
"Hey, Max! There you are!"
Max looked up, seeing his sister running up ahead of Ash and Misty, and waved to her.
"Okay, what the heck is going on?" Iwalani asked. "Isn't that Misty of the Elite Four?"
Dartrix fluffed his wings, giving his trainer a strange look.
"Alola?" Misty repeated. "You came a pretty long way to battle a Pokemon League."
"Yeah, but the other choices weren't really my style," Iwalani replied, glancing at Misty for a moment. "I mean, there's two girls in the Elite Four here, and… you know. And there aren't really any that are close to Alola."
"I guess, yeah," Misty agreed, thinking about the geography. "What badges did you get?"
"Well, I wanted to really test myself," Iwalani replied, and pulled out a piece of cloth from her pocket with several badges pinned to it. "I got ten!"
"Nine and a half," Misty corrected.
"...what?" the Alolan trainer asked.
"We've actually been having a lot of trouble with that," Misty explained, tapping the Kaz badge. "You got that in Dark City, right?"
Iwalani nodded.
"They do this thing where there's two gyms and they each give out half of the badge," Misty told her. "That one's not valid for the Pokemon League – sorry. Don't worry, you're not the only one who they tricked, their whole gym setup is built around that."
"That's… really odd," Iwalani said, a little hurt. "They don't do things like that on Alola."
"Well, you did get more than eight badges," Misty assured her. "So you're still good."
They reached the door of the building, and Ash pushed it open.
"Okay, Max," May began. "You register, see what your first battle schedule looks like as soon as you get it, and then we can see if we can do any last-minute training."
"Right," Max agreed.
"You've registered already?" Iwalani asked, turning her attention from Misty to May.
"I'm not competing," May corrected. "Nor is Ash – we're spectating. I'm actually a Coordinator."
"Oh, right," the Alolan girl said. "Sorry, I kind of assume everyone does league challenges here..."
"How did your meeting with Iris go?" Suicune asked.
"Yeah, it was good to see her again," Ash replied. "I think she's been affected the most so far by all the stuff that's changed – she had a different Pokemon, she's been learning a lot of stuff that's not quite the same as the first time around, and, uh..."
"It was hilarious," Pikachu volunteered. "She was some kind of minor fangirl of Ash, she had a poster of him, but last time she was just so different..."
"Ash does tend to meet a girl every region he goes to," Misty observed. "I wonder if that means he's going to Alola next?"
"I wasn't planning on going to Alola after Unova," Ash replied. "Anyway, what about Johto?"
"Last time, that might have worked," Pikachu countered. "This time there's Casey."
Misty nodded. "He's got you there."
Ash shook his head, trying not to smile.
"Anyway – oh, yeah, that reminds me," Misty said. "I've decided to host you two in the Elite Four box, because I can do that."
She sighed. "Lance said I couldn't install the pool, though."
"You wanted to install a pool in the Elite Four box?" May checked. "Wouldn't that be… risky, or at least mean you were wearing a swimsuit in front of thousands of people?"
Misty waved her concerns away. "I'm sure we could have worked something out… maybe a Vaporeon could help or something..."
She looked up, seeing a big snarl-up in the queue. "...oh, right. I think we should talk somewhere else, everyone's staring at us."
Suicune cleared her throat, putting a paw up to her muzzle for a moment, then began to speak.
"I am honoured beyond measure to be able to open the latest Indigo League tournament. More than anything else, simply that I am here to do so – and that I could be invited to do so without it sounding absurd – is a testament to the importance of the bond between humans and Pokemon, one which has lost none of its strength in the past few years for becoming more equal."
Her eyes flicked up for a moment to the box Ash was sitting in, then back down again. "Every trainer who has made it this far is a fine one, and their Pokemon make a good team with them. I know this because you are here, and I know as much as anyone can that a good team can be far stronger than their individual members. No matter how strong a single Pokemon, teamwork can make them far stronger."
After a moment's pause, Suicune resumed. "I won't keep you too long," she said. "I'm sure Mr. Goodshow is already going to tell me off for going off script. So I shall simply declare the Indigo League has begun!"
Delia looked over at Professor Oak.
"What just happened?" she asked.
Oak chuckled. "Well, Delia, I think Suicune forgot that her Aura translation method – while a fine way of communicating with humans – does not work when broadcast over the TV or radio."
Delia stared for a moment, then tried not to giggle.
"Good speech," May complimented, as Suicune entered the Elite Four box.
"Thank you," Suicune smiled. "When Mr. Goodshow suggested it, I realized I knew just what I wanted to say. I hope everyone liked it."
"They just don't do normal Indigo Leagues any more," Bruno chuckled. "Hey, isn't that kid your brother? Looks like he's on first."
May looked, then nodded. "Yes, that's him."
"According to the list we have of who goes on when… he's fighting someone called Tony," Bruno supplied. "Should be interesting, Misty told us who he's been learning from… and we did hear about some of his Gym Battles."
"Begin!"
Max threw his first Pokeball, sending Ferris out onto the field with a flash of white light. The Aron landed, tapped the grass a little, then nodded in satisfaction before looking up at his opponent.
"Chatot, go for it!" Tony called. "Heat Wave!"
"Head Smash!" Max countered.
Ferris crouched slightly, then lunged as the heat wave attack was about to reach him. The sudden movement diverted the worst of the heat, though he still vanished into the flame for a second or so, and he skidded as he came out of the fire before moving again – trying to avoid being caught.
"Wait!"
The Steel-type halted, and got doused in flame again. This time it was on target for longer, and left a little burned circle in the grass when it dissipated.
"Hey!" Max called. "I didn't say that – the Chatot did! Time out!"
Ferris turned to look at his trainer, partly to make sure it was Max who had said that.
"Is that allowed?" Max asked the referee.
"I'm… actually not sure," the referee admitted. "Are you willing to keep battling as if it is, even if it turns out to not be once we look up the precedents?"
"I..." Max began, then stopped and thought about it.
"Ferris?" he called. "Ignore everything I say from now on, okay?"
Ferris gave a tiny nod.
"Yes," Max agreed. "I'm fine with that."
"All right," the referee said. "Tony, if your Chatot attempts to influence the flow of the battle by either calling a time out or imitating me, you will be disqualified."
"That's harsh, man," Tony complained. "Whatever. Okay, Chatot, plan B! B for Boomburst!"
Chatot shouted a loud blast of noise at Ferris, which hit his carapace and didn't do much.
Ferris tilted his head, wondering what the point of that was, and lunged up in an Iron Head – which missed, as Chatot flew backwards.
"Keep it up!" Chatot called, in an imitation of Max's voice, and Ferris landed before giving serious consideration whether to 'keep it up' or not.
As he did, however, Chatot launched forth another Boomburst – this time focused just below where Ferris was standing.
The ground under Ferris' feet exploded, knocking the Aron into the air, and Chatot pressed his advantage by using Heat Wave to slam a burst of flame into the flying Ferris.
"I have to admit, that's a really bizarre strategy," Ash said. "And… it'd probably work a lot better against most trainers, I know some Pokemon are so used to fighting according to plans from their trainer they'd just obey without thinking about it."
"And then there are the ones who treat what their trainers say as suggestions," Pikachu added.
"Exactly," Ash nodded. "There's two ways of doing it, but I think Max's Pokemon are closer to the second one."
He winced as Chatot blew Ferris through the air again. "But… he does still need to actually win the battle."
"Ferris!" Max called, then remembered he'd told his Rock-type not to listen to him. "Um… seriously consider using that move we talked about?"
"Wow, kid, this Chatot thing is really disruptive, isn't it?" the referee observed.
Out on the battlefield, Ferris landed after another trip through the air courtesy of Boomburst. He righted himself, a few wisps of smoke coming off his back, then burrowed into the ground with Dig.
"Okay, that's going to be a bit more of a problem," Tony admitted. "Make a search pattern with Boomburst!"
Chatot fired down a spike of sonic energy, blowing a crater into the ground, then shifted a little and fired a second. The third made it clear he was producing a line of evenly spaced holes, hoping to drive Ferris back to the surface.
As he did, however, little patches of rock began to worm their way out of the grass some distance away.
Then they came bursting into the air all at once. Six lumps of large, hard rock, one of them with Ferris clinging gamely onto it, hurtled towards Chatot as the little Aron used Stealth Rock.
"There we go, now I see it," Bruno chuckled. "That's definitely a Ketchum kind of move."
Below them, Tony's Chatot stared for a moment – then tried to duck away, only to take a glancing blow from one of the Stealth Rock attacks.
Calling something they didn't hear from the viewing box, Chatot rolled and used Heat Wave. It ran into another Stealth Rock, exploding but blowing it a little way off course, and then Chatot was right down by the grass as he tried to outrun the flying rocks.
"Head for the wall!" Tony called. "Okay, now – back and use Heat Wave!"
Chatot did a wingover, wings sparking for a moment as he threw a scattering of embers towards Ferris, then amplified them with a spike of pressure from a low-powered Boomburst and hit his target head-on with the Fire-type attack.
Ferris tumbled off his rock, flames flickering around him, and thumped into the ground head first. Being an Aron, this didn't hurt much, but he was clearly on fire – though still in the fight.
He rolled upright, focusing on the Stealth Rocks, then steered them towards Chatot again. The speedy Flying-type dodged, weaved, hit one rock with a focused Boomburst that blew it into gravel and then slipped out of a concentric attack by all the remaining rocks Ferris had available to him by dropping right down to grass level.
"Look out!" Tony yelped.
Chatot discovered what he'd missed when Ferris used Head Smash on him.
The impact sent Chatot flying about a third of the way across the arena, and he bounced twice before coming to a halt a little short of the retaining wall.
"Chatot!" Tony called. "Are you okay?"
The Flying-type offered no response, and after a few seconds the referee raised his hand. "Chatot is unable to battle!"
Tony grumbled, then recalled Chatot.
"Do I have to send out the next Pokemon now?" he asked. "That Aron's on fire! It's not going to be out much longer!"
"You have to, yes," the referee told him. "You're not really making a good impression here."
"Sorry," Tony backpedalled. "I'm just making sure I get a fair treatment."
The referee looked unimpressed, and indicated that Tony should send out his next Pokemon.
"Fine, whatever," Tony grumbled, and did so – resulting in a Pikachu appearing on the field in a flash of light.
"...I really hope this isn't Ash's Pikachu's brother or something," Max said to himself. "Okay, Ferris, come back!"
Ferris looked quite grateful at being ordered to return, possibly on account of being on fire, and Max switched out his Pokeball for another one.
"Go for it, Arc!" he called, sending out his Starter, and checked his Key Stone just in case.
Arc's paws landed on the slightly springy grass, avoiding one of the sections scorched by the Heat Wave attacks thrown around by Chatot. His fur fizzed with electrical energy, and he barked at Pikachu.
The other Electric-type threw a slightly nervous glance at his trainer, then clenched both paws and set himself.
"Agility!" Tony ordered, watching as his Pikachu began to accelerate. "Now… Double Team!"
"Discharge!" Max countered.
Arc pulsed out a wave of electrical energy, and instantly revealed which were the fake Pikachu and which was the real one – all the clones having the energy simply pass through them, but the real one being hit. The attack didn't actually hurt, at least not much, but it did hit.
"Slam!" Tony instructed.
Pikachu jumped, doing a somersault, then slammed down tail-first on Arc's nose. The impact drove Arc to his knees, then he straightened up again with another bark and used Quick Attack.
The Pikachu took a glancing blow, dodged away, then used his Agility to come darting around behind Arc. He got another Slam in by using his boosted speed, then got away before Arc could retaliate.
"Arc, use Charge!" Max called. "Charge up as much as you can!"
"I think I've been spoiled by all this time watching you fight," Lucario told his friend. "I keep watching this battle and wondering when the Pikachu is going to pull out a Force Palm or an Aura Sphere."
"Yeah, I have to remind myself they're not normal moves too," Pikachu agreed. "I think that other Pikachu Jessie and James have doesn't help, either – by now she'd be calling down meteors or something."
"What outfit do you wear to call down meteors?" Lucario asked.
"Either a Tyrantrum, an astronaut, or a really bad astrologer," Blaziken suggested.
"Or an Absol with a blindfold," Pikachu contributed. "I mean, costumes are as much about perception as what that thing is really like."
"Good!" Max called, noticing little sparks of electricity darting off Arc's fur as he turned to try and catch Tony's Pikachu. "That should be enough!"
He pointed. "Now, start using your electricity to boost!"
The energy in Arc's fur concentrated, and then he set off like a rocket. He got so far away from Pikachu in a second that Pikachu's Slam completely missed, and then turned to follow the curving line of the retaining wall and actually ran along it for a moment.
Using that as a base with which to turn around, he landed back on the grass facing in about the direction of his opponent.
"How did he do that?" Tony asked, confused. "I didn't know Manectric were so-"
"Facade!" Max called. "Full speed ahead!"
Arc used Facade. Without being paralyzed, burned, poisoned or any of the other things that might make Facade much more powerful, it was just a standard physical attack – but it was a physical attack delivered by a Pokemon moving so fast that he left deep pawprints in the ground, expending all the energy that would normally have gone into most of a long Pokemon battle… in just a few seconds of sheer speed.
Tony's Pikachu actually managed to use his own Agility to get out of the way, avoiding direct contact, but the force of Arc's speed wash picked him up and whirled him into the air anyway. He let out a startled "Pika!?" before hitting the retaining wall, just after Arc had done the same as he totally failed to stop in time.
After a second or so, Arc extracted himself from the Electric-type-shaped crater in the wall and shook his head. He gave an experimental bark, checking everything was still working right, then sat back on his haunches and started to pant heavily.
Pikachu, for his part, peeled off the wall and landed with a whump.
"...I… think that's decisive," the referee said, watching Pikachu carefully for several seconds, then raised his arm. "Max Maple wins!"
AN:
More Iris this time, along with the start of Max's second/first Pokemon League.
Yes, this is the quickest route. Easy to miss unless you have a globe. And yes, Excadrill was reminded, he's just utterly unimpressed.
As for the Max stuff – that's not a canon SM character, they're one I made for this. So don't spend too long looking.
