Not far from Fallarbor, a Skitty ran through the trees.
"Hey, come back!" a voice called from behind her, and she shook her head before skidding into a camp full of humans and Pokémon.
"Help!" she called. "I did something and now those humans and Pokémon want to kidnap me! They say it's recruiting but I didn't want to go!"
"That's terrible!" one of the humans said. "Who are they?"
The ones who'd been chasing Skitty came into the clearing a moment later, and stopped.
"Okay, how come you didn't mention dey were in the area?" the Meowth demanded of a Pokénav.
"Reply: You told me to 'shut up' two hours ago," the Pokénav said.
Skitty blinked. "Wait, did you just understand me?" she asked, more focused on that than on her pursuers.
A Vulpix also in the camp looked smug.
"I guess Team Rocket's up to their old tricks," one of the other humans said. "Latias, Zorua, let's get ready for this!"
"He said Zorua!" the blue-haired Rocket noticed. "That must mean it's not actually Zorua."
"Or it could be that the Latias isn't actually Latias," the red-haired one replied. "Or both."
"But what if the Zorua's really Zorua and the Latias is really Latias, but the Pikachu's actually a Ditto and the real Pikachu's already creeping into position to shock us?" the blue-haired one wondered.
"Whichever the answer is, we've got a solution!" the redhead said. "Ekans barrage!"
"An' we got loads'a Koffing, too!" the Meowth announced.
The next few minutes were surprisingly loud, but at the end of it a Forretress who'd been a Pineco at the start of the fight used Explosion eight times in a row and the Rockets went flying.
"There we go," May said. "You're safe now, probably."
Skitty peered out from behind May's bag, then let out a sigh of relief.
"Now that's a matter of opinion," Max sniggered.
"Why were they trying to catch you, anyway?" May added. "You don't have to answer."
"I guess I made the mistake of showing off that I could use Normalize?" Skitty said. "It's a fairly rare talent."
"What's Normalize, again?" Ash asked.
Ibid turned into a tiny Skitty.
"Normalize is one of the Abilities possessed by Skitty," he explained. "It converts moves that are not Normal type to Normal type."
Skitty nodded along with it, then tilted her head slightly. "Huh. Any idea why that didn't keep going?"
"Keep going?" Max repeated. "You mean, that wasn't the whole explanation or something?"
"Well, duh," Skitty said, flicking her tail. "It's a simple application of the principle of transitive magic. Normalize converts moves into Normal type moves when it acts one way, and when you turn off Normalize then the moves remain as they usually are, so ipso facto if you turn Normalize off more you get to the reverse; that is, converting Normal moves into moves that aren't Normal."
She noticed Max was staring at her. "Did I stutter?"
"...oh goodness, this one has barely even met Ash," Max groaned.
"Hey, I'll demonstrate," Skitty said. "Firstly, this is Water Pulse."
She flicked her tail, and a splash of water hit a nearby tree.
"And this is Normalized Water Pulse," she went on, doing the same thing again. This time, what hit the tree was a little hard to define.
"That's not the normal result of that move," Brock said. "Or… it is the Normal result of… you know what I mean."
"But if I pulse Normalize on, off and then reverse it just right," Skitty went on, and used it a third time. This time, what hit the tree was a splat of honey, and it sizzled for a moment before the tree fell over with a crash.
"Bug," the Kitten Pokémon concluded, then spotted something. "Ooh, you're doing dinner? Any chance I can have some?"
Jirachi yawned, blinking several times, then took a deep breath and sighed it out.
Then smiled.
"Oh, good!" he said, then yawned a second time. "I'm awake again!"
Rolling over, he fell off a bedside table.
"Ow," he said, indistinctly.
"Jirachi!" Shroomish gasped. "Are you okay?"
"I think I'm okay," Jirachi answered. "But I'm not sure. How long have I been asleep?"
"About three weeks, I think," Shroomish said. "Um… yeah, I think it's about that."
"Good," Jirachi decided, after some careful and somewhat drowsy thought. "Not a thousand years, then. I wondered."
He rubbed his eyes, then floated into the air. "Which way's downstairs?"
Morning, Jirachi said, floating into the kitchen. It is morning, right?
"I certainly hope so," Norman replied. "How was your sleep?"
As short as I hoped, the Psychic-type told him. I feel kind of sleepy though…
Norman chuckled. "I can see that," he said, as Jirachi bounced off a cupboard door. "Hold on, let me get you some cereal."
Thank you, you are the best friend's dad I've met in over a thousand years, Jirachi declared. Did anything happen while I was asleep?
"Max, May and their friends saved a small kingdom," Norman told him. "And won a lifetime's supply of Pokeblocks… and May caught a Normal type that's going to stay a Normal type. I'm so proud of her for that last one."
Jirachi giggled, then saw the cereal packet. Ooh, chocolate!
"Good luck, sis," Max called, as May stepped out onto the appeal floor.
May smiled up at him, then focused, and sent Azurill out.
"Water Gun!" she called.
Azurill used Water Gun, twirling, and her tail flicked up and down as she spun. Her jet of water took on a shimmer as well, waving up and down in time with her tail, and May began tapping her foot in time – using it to keep Azurill focused, giving her a beat to work with and make sure she was weaving the right sort of pattern.
"Fairy Wind!" May added. "And Iron Tail!"
The shimmer in Azurill's Water Gun became more pronounced, until it was like a trail of sparkling pink-and-blue light, and Azurill's Iron Tail flicked on-off-on-off in time with the up-down-up-down bounce of her tail. Then the Fairy Wind began to break through the Water Gun entirely, becoming a tracery of light like a spinning firework, and at almost the same moment Iron Tail reached the point that the mass of the tail going down and making Azurill recoil up was boosting her upwards more than gravity was pushing her downwards.
Softly, without any suggestion of effort, Azurill rose into the air.
"And six and five and four and three…" May chanted under her breath, judging Azurill's rise, then clapped her hands sharply. Azurill flicked so her tail was somewhere she could reach to kick off, and did a backflip… and May cupped her hands behind her… and the Fairy-type flipped smoothly over her trainer's head to land in her outstretched hands.
"So… how many moves was that at once, do you think?" Contesta asked, looking over at Joy. "I know she ordered three moves, and not all at the same time, but it looked to me like there were all three at once and possibly one more she didn't even mention. Like Bounce?"
"Could be," Joy agreed. "Well, I don't think it'd be right to stop that one going through! It was pretty and skillful at the same time, and that's what an Appeal is meant to be!"
"Medicham!" Grace instructed. "Confusion!"
May pointed. "Do a twirl, Azurill!"
Azurill spun around as ordered, her tail flashing over to Iron Tail for a moment, and swung out of the way. It didn't let her completely avoid the hit, but it got her out of the way of most of the attack, and May frowned for a moment.
"Fairy Wind!" she instructed.
Azurill used Fairy Wind, still spinning, then bounced into the air.
"Confusion!" Grace called, and Medicham held the Fairy Wind in place before launching it right back at Azurill – knocking her back with an oof.
"New idea!" May called. "Azurill, Bounce, and use Water Gun – upwards, aim just this side of the roof!"
Azurill bounced into the air, away from an Ice Punch from Medicham, and used Water Gun just as May had ordered. It rose into the air, shimmering with an inner light from the Fairy Wind Azurill had automatically added into it, then it began to fall, and May waited for a second before speaking just as Azurill was about to land.
"Iron Tail!" she called. "And spin with Fairy Wind!"
Azurill landed on her tail, which glowed, and she Bounced towards Grace's Psychic-type. She used Fairy Wind as she went, spinning around so her tail would hit Medicham, and the other Pokémon used Confusion to deflect the attack and stop Azurill in place.
"Look out!" Grace called, and the flying Water Gun exploded into a shower of Fairy-infused water droplets. Sparks flashed all over Medicham, disrupting the Psychic-type's concentration, and Azurill poinged forwards while her opponent was distracted.
She backflipped off her own tail, using it as a pivot by varying its weight with Iron Tail, and hit Medicham with an audible clonk that also sent her high into the air.
Grace's points hit zero while May's Pokémon was still in the air, but May's eyes were only on her Pokémon – she squinted against the light to make sure she was in the right place, then caught Marill with an oof.
"Great work, Marill!" she said.
Marill blinked up at her, looking confused, then flicked her tail around to look at it.
Poked it a bit.
"Marill?" she asked.
"Talk about a dramatically timed evolution!" May laughed.
Then the announcer said she'd won, and she actually noticed the scoreboard.
"...and I guess it won us a ribbon!" she said. "Great work, Marill!"
"It's weird having a tail smaller than the rest of me," Marill said. "And being Water type! It's a whole new set of weaknesses and resistances to think about."
She gasped. "I need to watch out for Ghosts now!"
"I dare say Ghosts need to watch out for you," Zacian chuckled. "Though if you want practice, I am sure Marshadow might if you asked."
"What do you think, Marshadow?" Ash asked, looking at his own shadow. "Interested in showing Marill what it's like?"
Marshadow nodded.
"I wonder if I could work out what percentage of the Ash effect is from all the legendary Pokémon to train against?" Max pondered. "And what percentage is just the general weird probability?"
"That sounds like the kind of research project that would either make someone a Pokémon Professor or make them go a bit mad," Brock said.
Ash shaded his eyes, then waved. "Hey, Zapdos!"
Zapdos came circling down to land next to them, and cleared her throat.
"So… you know you asked me to see if I could find a good route up Mount Chimney for people who can't fly?" she began. "There's some weirdos in weird outfits fighting over a rock up near the crater… we should probably stop them, if you want my guess."
"Team Rocket?" Ash asked.
"No, not them, two other groups," Zapdos clarified.
Zygarde paused, all four paws on the path, then barked loudly.
"I cannot believe I am saying this," they said. "But someone is trying to make the volcano erupt. I do not have any idea why."
"Then we need to get to the top of the volcano, and fast!" Max said. "Jirachi, I think we need your help!"
"Keep going!" Shelly called. "We need to get to the top and stop Team Magma!"
Her Walrein used Water Gun, hitting a Magma Grunt's Numel, and she looked sideways. "And keep that water bubble coming! We can't use half our Water types unless that's close enough!"
"It's a bit hard, sir!" one of her underlings replied. "They've got a Mightyena which keeps using Dark Pulse, it's disrupting the bubble!"
Shelly looked back at the river of water flowing down the side of Mt. Chimney, then sighed. "Just get that Slowking close enough we can take them on… Carvanha! HydroPump!"
One of the Mightyena barked something.
"Huh?" another Aqua grunt asked. "That's funny, I don't recognize you…"
Mightyena barked again, and a big blue canine Pokémon came out from behind a nearby rock. She flicked her neck, drawing a long sword from where it had been holstered in her mane, and two more shimmering swords appeared hovering by her side.
Then they shot forwards, one hitting the Aqua Mightyena and the other the Magma Mightyena, and the Mightyena who'd been barking loped over to join her.
"...this is getting entirely too complicated," Shelley sighed.
"Ah!" Marill yelped. "Fairy Wind!"
She blasted the Poochyena approaching her, and it went flying with a yip of annoyance. Then a Golbat hissed and swooped down towards her, jaws gaping – until Torchic Blaze Kicked it in the side and Dratini followed up with a Thunderpunch.
"Don't worry, Marill!" Torchic added, landing in front of her with both feet still burning. "We'll deal with the Poison types – can you get that Numel for me?"
"Oh, right – sure!" Marill agreed. "Water Gun!"
"You're doing great, guys!" May said. "Watch out over there, that guy's got a Koffing!"
I'm good at dealing with Poison types! Jirachi announced. I assume. Umm… any advice, Max?
"If you don't have a Psychic move, just tackle him!" Max suggested. "You're immune to poison!"
Can do! Jirachi agreed.
"It's kind of a pity we didn't all land in the same place," Brock admitted. "Crobat, anything useful?"
Crobat flew overhead, clicking, then pointed with a wing, and Brock looked that way. There was a man in a white coat being guarded by one of the Magma grunts and his Pokémon, and Brock nodded.
"Onix, Mudkip!" he called, sending both Pokémon out. "Onix, Rock Polish – Mudkip, accelerated Rock Throw!"
Crobat flew over as well, folding his wings before sending out a barrage of Zubat-shaped Razor Leaf attacks, and the grunt yelped as Zubat pinned his arms to his sides.
"Ash is over there!" Vulpix called, dashing over from where she'd landed, then flicked a tail and used Gust. The Golbat sneaking up on Brock was abruptly sent flying, and Brock waved his thanks before going over to see what was up with the white coated man.
"You can't stop us, boy," Maxie said, quite concisely. "It's already begun. Mount Chimney's volcanic activity will intensify… the lava will pour down, towards the sea, and make new land for Pokémon to live."
Ash blinked a few times.
"...why don't you just ask Groudon directly?" he said.
For some reason that seemed to annoy Maxie.
"You think we haven't been trying?" he said, then shook his head. "Whatever. Camerupt, deal with him."
Maxie's Camerupt rumbled, smoke pouring out of the vents on his back, and Pikachu's cheeks sparked.
"Zapdos!" he called.
Zapdos hit Pikachu with a Thunder, charging him up with a sizzling pop, and Pikachu took advantage tohit the Ground-type with a Thunder That Breaks The Earth.
"Weezing, Crobat," Maxie called, and Maxie's Crobat blew Ash off the walkway into the volcano's crater with a gust of wind. Then Weezing used Smokescreen, covering the whole area in fog, and Pikachu coughed.
"Ash!" he called.
Zapdos flew down, beating her wings to try and clear the haze.
Maxie spent the time running for the nearby helicopter, which was already taking off.
"I'm okay!" Ash called, several seconds later as the air began to clear. Then coughed, as he inhaled a bit of the Smokescreen.
"Ash!" Pikachu said, relieved. "What happened?"
"Rayquaza did great!" Ash replied, stepping back onto the platform. "She can fly, remember?"
"Oh, yeah!" Pikachu brightened. "I bet he didn't expect that! Thanks, Rayquaza!"
Rayquaza's head snaked out of Ash's jacket for long enough to look faintly embarrassed at the praise, then she ducked back inside.
A moment later, the ground shook, and there was an ominous rumble from the volcano as fountains of fire surged up from the lava lake.
"That might be a problem," Ash admitted. "How do you stop an erupting volcano?"
Entei loped up. "I have an idea," he said, then cleared his throat. ".foow"
Everyone blinked, and the fire fountains stopped.
"...how did you even pronounce that?" Ash asked. "Was that the opposite of a bark?"
Entei nodded. "It was a simple enough process," he began.
The ground began to shake again.
"And did explaining that simple process involve barking?" Pikachu asked.
"I'll handle this," Suicune told them. "Extremespeed!"
She blurred out into the middle of the crater, then used Hydro Pump. A massive spherical explosion of water rained down, and Suicune with it, and when the fire fountain came up it was a waterspout instead.
A flash of red light made its way back into the Safari Ball on Ash's waist, then Suicune came out again. "There."
The ground began to shake a third time.
"But I wasn't even barking!" Entei protested.
Skitty went past at a run. "Allow me!" she said, as the crater bubbled and roiled. "Me First!"
This time, the eruption came out as a blast of sparkly pink mist.
"Fairy," Skitty said, proudly. "Easy enough."
The ground started to shake again, then stopped as Marshadow kicked the machine Maxie had been standing next to.
"In hindsight, we should have started with that," Entei admitted.
AN:
If you've got a better explanation for how Team Aqua can battle atop a volcano with Sharpedoes...