Not far north of Shamouti, there was a lovely little island with a great climate and practically no civilization.

Predictably, when the friends stopped off there, something went wrong.

"We're going to have to sort this out!" Squirtle said, looking frazzled. "Togepi fell down a hole!"

"I think you're getting a bit worked up," Venonat told him. "Pikachu, can't your trainer speak to Pokémon? We'll just ask him to get help."

"Yeah, that'll go well," Squirtle replied, rolling his eyes. "Do you want to be the one who takes the blame when we tell Misty?"

"Ouch," Psyduck summarized.

Marill looked queasy about the idea as well, and Pikachu had to admit that he wasn't a fan either.

"Then… can't we get Silver to help?" Marill tried. "Or, um, maybe get Zorua to borrow Togepi's Pokéball? Or… or… maybe we can get Shaymintwo, he's quick, right? And he'll fit down the hole."

"How exactly will Silver fit down the hole?" Venonat asked.

"…Pokéball," Marill reminded her teammate.

"Oh, right…"

"Let's go get Shaymintwo," Pikachu said.

"Don't forget the bandanas," Psyduck suggested. "A rescue team needs bandanas."

Squirtle gave him a baffled look. "Sometimes you confuse me, Psyduck."

"Pardon?" Psyduck asked. "My head hurts. Do we have someone with Super Mobile?"

"Okay, so… I want to check that I'm following this," Pikachu said. "We're looking for Togepi. Who we've found."

"But now we need to find the sixth Exeggcute," Shaymintwo added. "Which would be easier if we had some way of flying. This place doesn't have any Gracidea."

Marill sighed. "What I'm really having trouble with is the fact that there are some Pokémon here to stop us."

"Yeah, don't you forget it!" a Koffing agreed.

"You're not getting away with it on our watch!" Skuntank added.

"Right!" Zubat finished. "We're going to… um… stop you from rescuing one of our neighbours? Boss, I don't think we thought this through…?"

Pikachu shook his head.

"Psyduck?" he asked. "Hypnosis."

Psyduck fell asleep.

"Is that supposed to scare us?" Skuntank asked, not noticing how every single one of Psyduck's friends – including Pikachu – had just jumped behind the best cover they could find.

"Sleep Talk," Pikachu added.

"What's that supBLARG!" Skuntank concluded, as Psyduck used Dragon Rage.

Two crowded hours later, everyone got a ride back to camp on Dragonair.

"I thought I'd make sure you were okay!" Dragonair said. "It was raining, and I know Togepi doesn't like the rain!"

He drifted through the sky, his coils carefully arranged so that all the Pokémon had good places for holding onto. "Did you all have fun and lose track of time?"

"...yes," Pikachu said. "It is for that reason, and that reason only, that we were out in the storm."

"That was fun!" Silver announced, a few days later. "I got to help with firefighting!"

"Yeah, I don't know why they don't have more flying Pokémon helping with firefighting," Ash agreed.

"Most Water Pokémon can't fly," Misty supplied.

"Yeah, but Starmie can hover," Ash said, counting off. "And you've got Mantine and Pelipper, both of them can fly… and I'm pretty sure a couple of the Dratini at least know it, so Dragonair can learn it."

"Dragonair are really rare, though, Ash," Tracey reminded him. "For anyone without your weird luck."

Silver looked politely puzzled, then noticed that Tracey was sketching him – specifically, he was sketching the young Lugia hovering over a burning building, light reflecting from his wings and raining water down into the inferno.

"What about Gyarados?" Ash suggested. "Because I know everyone thinks Magikarp are common."

Misty blinked. "...Gyarados can't fly."

"Huh, they're definitely Flying type," Ash said, checking his Pokedex, as Silver scootched over to watch Tracey work. "Oh, yeah, and Butterfree can learn Hydro Pump too."

"...they can't," Misty told him. "Normally. Your crazy Mew – if it technically counts as yours, even though you've caught them at least three times – is doing horrible things to all my basic Pokémon knowledge."

Ash shrugged. "Anyway, they could just have some common Flying-type that can carry people and have the Water-type on that, right?"

"Yes?" Misty said. "Maybe? Probably? But most of the time they don't have a Legendary Pokémon to help out."

"...or you could have Fire types going into the burning building," Ash muttered to himself, still thinking.

"Okay, kid," Charizard said, the next morning. "So it seems kind of likely to me that you're going to be in the next gym battle, because you haven't been used in any of them so far."

Right! Silver replied. What are Gym Battles like?

"Based on my experience so far, here in the Orange Islands they're fitness tests or something," Charizard answered. "We've seen accuracy tests, races, target courses… there's only been one actual gym battle so far, so I guess I should say gym challenge."

He shook out his wings. "Anyway! You've been able to fly for far longer than me, but I've still got some tips for you as a newcomer to the sky and someone who's battled with Ash a lot."

Charizard opened his claws. "Number one! It can often help to hit your opponent with the heaviest object available."

Right, Silver said, nodding earnestly. So that's me, right? That's what that Extremespeed move Raikou was talking about is?

"No, no," Charizard replied. "Good thought, but you're thinking way too small. No, the heaviest object available is the planet you're flying over."

Silver's eyes were wide.

Wow, he said. Dad never talked about that kind of thing. He always talked about shielding and evading.

"Which is good too!" Charizard told him. "Because number two is that crashing is a lot more painful if you're not planning for it."

"You are being a terrible influence on him," Zapdos laughed. "Isn't he older than you? How are you managing that?"

"Sheer experience," Charizard answered, smugly. "Speaking of which, this all comes down to what I think is kind of the most important rule."

He thumped back on the ground. "Always have something you can do that your opponent would never expect. That's one Ash taught me, and if there's anything all his Pokémon so far specialize in it's that one."

Charizard's tail flicked at their fellow Flying-type. "Take Zapdos, for example. She's an Electric-type and a Flying-type. So what people expect is for her to stay out of range and bombard them with electric attacks, and they'd think her worst counter is a Ground type with Smack Down."

"And you know what no Ground-type with Smack Down is expecting?" Zapdos asked. "Don't answer straight away, give it some thought."

Silver considered.

...oh! It's that thing you do where you pick someone up and throw them at the ground? the Lugia asked. Or, no, maybe it's the thing Pikachu mentioned where you use Twister and Steel Wing to fling them into the air.

"Both good answers," Zapdos told him. "There's another one Pikachu and I are working on, but you're thinking of the right sort of thing."

She took off. "So! What do you think you would have trouble with?"

Silver considered.

"Pokémon with Dark type attacks, because I can't shield against them," he said. "That's the first thing I can think of."

"Hmmm…" Zapdos cawed, thinking. "I think I've got an idea."

"So Thunderbolt is kind of like Thundershock, but stronger," Ash explained. "Zapdos sometimes does it by combining several Thundershocks at the same time – she fires them out from different feathers and then mixes them together – but Pikachu just does a straight blast of electricity."

"Right!" Zorua yipped. "Which one should I do?"

"I guess whichever one you get to work first, right?" Ash said, glancing at Pikachu for agreement. "Most opponents aren't going to be able to tell the difference."

"That's pretty much correct," Pikachu nodded. "You're not an Electric type, so if you get either one working then that's honestly pretty good."

"Um, Ash?" Tracey said. "Your Charizard and Zapdos are having your Dragonair teach your Lugia how to punch things."

Ash looked up, and saw Silver curling his wing into a fist before punching Charizard in the side.

"Oh, must be to deal with Dark type attacks," he said. "That's pretty smart, guys! I'll be over to help in a bit!"

"...I'm not sure why I expected anything else," Tracey said.

"Thanks, Lapras!" Ash said, as the Water-type grounded on the beach.

"My pleasure!" Lapras replied. "I still kind of wish I could use Agility with passengers though."

"I don't think that'd be a good idea, or Misty would get mad," Ash shrugged.

"You're probably right," Misty agreed. "I didn't hear what he said, but I only get mad at things which are stupid."

"You get mad at me all the time, though," Ash protested.

Misty glanced at him. "Draw the obvious conclusion, Ash."

Pikachu sniggered.

"Traitor," Ash grumbled, then returned Lapras. "Okay, so, this is Kumquat Island… where's the gym going to be this time? Inside a volcano?"

"No, we already did that one," Misty pointed out. "What I want to know is what the challenge is going to be…"

"Maybe it's sneaking up on a wild Pokémon?" Tracey suggested.

"Usually they do involve the Pokémon…"

As the friends kept speculating, walking along the sandy Kumquat Island beach, a woman shouted to them.

"There you are!" she called. "Why didn't you let me know you were coming?"

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Who's this, Tracey?"

"Don't look at me," the Pokémon Watcher said. "I don't know her. You don't know her?"

"Don't ignore me, young man!" the woman chided, approaching them.

"Uh…" Ash said, baffled, since she seemed to be looking at him. "What's going on?"

"What's going on?" she repeated. "Don't you recognize your own mother?"

Raikou emerged from her Safari Ball, sniffed at the woman, and sat down on the beach.

"I'm confused," she announced. "That's not Delia Ketchum."

The woman looked at Raikou. "And who's this?" she asked. "One of your new Pokémon? What region is this Arcanine variant from, I don't recognize it?"

Pikachu's ears twitched, as he tried not to break out in a fit of giggles.

"I think I need to tell Father that we need better PR in the Orange Islands," Raikou decided. "This is the second time that's happened."

"I… think you've mixed me up with someone else?" Ash suggested, tentatively. "Are you Mrs. Getem? Ritchie's got a pretty cool Pokémon team…"

"No?" the woman said. "I've never heard of Ritchie."

"Okay, this is getting out of hand," Misty said. "Now there are three of you, Ash?"

"I want to see this other one's team," Pikachu said. "What do you think… one Celebi at six different points in its own timeline?"

Once that misunderstanding was cleared up – the woman turned out to be called Luana, and photos of her son showed that he really did look a lot like Ash right down to having a Pikachu –Ash was able to ask the important question.

"So, what's the Kumquat Gym challenge?" he asked.

"It's something new and unique," Luana replied. "Something you've probably never dealt with before."

She paused. "Assuming, that is, you're from Kanto where they don't really do them. It's a double battle!"

"Oh, yeah, I've seen those on TV," Ash said. "They're great for teamwork! So that's the challenge?"

"I kind of want to take that one on," Pikachu said. "Me and Zapdos. Should be interesting."

"Right, but you and Zapdos have both done other Orange gym challenges," Ash replied.

Luana blinked. "...wait. Zapdos?"

She whistled. "I have heard of you. Didn't you break Rudy's gym? He's still annoyed."

Ash scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I guess… actually, if it's that much of a problem I could get Mew to see if there's a Heatran who can fix it? Or Groudon, I guess."

"...and now I think Danny might have been telling the truth," Luana added. "Honestly I thought he'd spent too long at the top of that mountain of his and had gone a bit crazy. Anyway, I don't think we'll be holding the battle in my normal gym, it's kind of… in a hotel..."

"Let's go!" Ash said, at the replacement gym site. "Ready, guys?"

He held out two non-Pokéball balls. "Go!"

"Marowak, Alakazam," Luana ordered, and her two Pokémon appeared on the field. Marowak adjusted his Thick Club, and Alakazam held her spoons ready to strike.

Opposite them… Luana blinked, then groaned.

"I think I understand why Rudy was complaining so much," she said, as Silver hovered there with a Dragonair floating alongside him. "All right, the rule is – any Pokémon knocked out loses that trainer the battle!"

"Okay, guys," Ash said. "Dragonair, get on Silver's tail so they can't surround him!"

Dragonair immediately zipped over to wrap himself around Silver's tail, keeping the top half of his body ready to attack, and smiled brightly. "This is a battle hug!"

"Thanks!" Silver replied.

"Alakazam, that Lugia's smaller than usual," Luana decided, as both Psychic Pokémon established shields around themselves. "Use Psychic – I think you can win!"

"Yah!" Alakzam announced, putting her spoons so the bowls intersected, and a visible pulse of pressure washed out from her towards Silver. The Flying-type yelped, doing his best to fight back, and there was a kind of crackle along a line between them.

"Dragonair, Dragon Breath!" Ash called.

A jet of greenish flame lashed out at Alakazam, making the Psychic-type change the direction of her shield to stop Dragonair from hitting her, and then Ash pointed. "Silver, to your left!"

Marowak had been running around the perimeter of the field, and without needing orders the Ground-type had changed his grip on his bone club and thrown it directly at Silver.

Silver retaliated by clenching his wing and punching the club, which went straight back at Marowak and knocked him over. But the distraction mattered, and Alakazam managed to push through Silver's shield before hitting him with a blast of electrical energy.

"Wait, that was Bonemerang," Ash added. "It was a distraction, I get it! Silver, Dragonair, focus on Alakazam – and Silver, use Hydro Pump!"

The young Lugia shot out a torrent of water, which splashed off Alakazam's shield.

"Now, turn at Marowak!" Ash added.

Dragonair uncoiled from Silver's tail and launched himself at Alakazam, keeping the Psi Pokémon busy, and Silver's turn blasted Marowak with a full-force Hydro Pump for at least three seconds before Silver had to stop and pant for a bit.

"Great work!" Ash called. "Back to Alakazam – try and get through that shield! Dragonair, you go after Marowak!"

"This is kind of an interesting battle," Tracey said. "Is this more like what Ash's battling is normally like?"

"Well, he treats his Legendary Pokémon a bit differently from the others," Misty replied. "He usually gives them more explicit orders, in general anyway. But I think this time Silver does genuinely need the advice."

She winced as one of Marowak's throws made it through to Silver, and this time it had been a Fling – punching right through the shield and hitting Silver much harder than he was expecting.

"Silver, Aeroblast on Alakazam!" Ash called.

"Definitely glad we're not in my hotel!" Luana replied.

Alakazam raised her spoons, looking like she was preparing to shield but actually ready to teleport away from the attack, and there was a faint unearthly whine as Silver charged his signature move.

Air streamed towards his muzzle, forming a visible bubble of higher pressure, and then Luana raised her voice. "Rock Slide!"

"Aeroblast Marowak!" Ash countered, and Silver spun around before firing his attack. The blast of focused air slammed into the ground, digging out a crater, and more importantly flinging the surprised Ground-type upwards.

"Wrap!" Ash added, as Alakazam prepared to fire a Hyper Beam, and Alakazam found herself suddenly being held tightly by Dragonair as he wrapped his long body around her arms.

"At least you're not being Aeroblasted!" he pointed out.

"Psychic him into the air!" Ash added. "Now, Double Ice Punch!"

Marowak looked very confused for a moment, until Silver folded both wings up at once and Ice Punched him from two directions at the same time.

Then he was too unconscious to be confused.

"I can let you know what I thought about that," Luana said, later, as she provided Ash with her Badge. "It's my honest opinion."

"Then that sounds good!" Ash decided. "I think I can already guess, though… Silver only joined the team a week or so ago, so he's kind of new to battling. I needed to tell him about problems more rather than assume he'd know. Dragonair's more experienced, but they still needed more training working together instead of each focusing on one Pokémon at a time."

"...well, I was going to add that I thought you abandoned the two Pokémon combination too early, but otherwise that's pretty accurate," Luana admitted. "Most trainers I battle aren't very good at that."

Ash explains a lot of why trainers on TV do what they do! Silver informed her. So he's done that for me a lot! I guess it's partly that.

Luana blinked.

"I have several questions about the history of this Lugia of yours," she said. "But you've definitely earned my badge."

AN:

Pikachu's Rescue Adventure pretty much is the larval form of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon concept, right?