"So," Winona began. "I knew you were coming. Norman warned me last week."

Max sniggered.

"Great!" Ash replied. "I knew I was coming here, so that's fair!"

Winona had to smile at that, then schooled her expression. "For your gym battle – and I am assuming you're here for one – you will need to use Pokémon capable of flight. Landing or crashing is not an automatic cause for disqualification, but your Pokémon must be able to fly."

She gave Ash a look. "Normally I wouldn't set a challenge like that, because battling from the ground to the sky is a challenge by itself, but… I heard a rumour that you've got a lot of Flying Pokémon. Falkner said something about Lance wanting to recruit you?"

"Yeah, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet," Ash replied. "Anyway, I know just what Pokémon I'm going to be using!"

"Is one of them me?" Rayquaza asked, peering out of Ash's jacket.

"...that's a Rayquaza," Winona breathed. "How?"

"Do you want to be on the team?" Ash checked. "Actually, Winona, how many Pokémon is it?"

"…I've got a team of three ready," Winona told him, after taking a few seconds to refocus. "Though I could increase that to four?"

"I don't think I'm ready yet," Rayquaza said. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," Ash told her, giving her a pat on the head. "It's up to you to decide."

He turned his attention to Winona. "And she started out as a fake Groudon but my Ho-Oh turned her into a real baby Rayquaza! So she's still really young."

Winona shook her head. "For the sake of actually getting to the gym battle, instead of spending the whole day discussing your insane team, I'm going to ignore that."

"...oh, yeah, do you use any weather moves in your team?" Ash added. "Rayquaza does need to know…"

A few minutes later, Winona stood on her trainer stand.

"Send out your first Pokémon!" she instructed.

She followed suit, sending out her Altaria, and on Ash's side of the field a Suicune emerged from a Safari Ball.

"...um…" Winona began, as Altaria trilled something in confusion, then the Gym Leader turned on the PA system. "Mr. Ketchum, I asked for a Pokémon that could fly."

"I know!" Ash called back. "Okay, Suicune!"

Suicune jumped into the air, firing a Water Pulse down at the ground, and it detonated with a wet splat. Landing on the mud puddle and purifying it into sparkling clean water, Suicune crouched for a moment, then began to lope forwards.

And up. Each bounding leap took Suicune's four paws four feet into the air, and they didn't come down again, and Suicune ran around in an ascending spiral which went through two complete turns until she was standing at about the same level as Altaria… in complete disregard for the fact the ground was far beneath her.

"I… did not know Suicune could do that," Winona admitted.

"Yeah, we worked it out fairly recently!" Ash called back.

Winona rubbed her temples.

"Are we going to get started now, or…?" Ash added, in blithe disregard of how incredibly intimidating his previous statement had been.

"Of course, of course," Winona admitted. "Begin! Altaria, Dragon Dance!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash countered. "Aqua Jet!"

Altaria went diving away from the water-bullet that was Suicune, who followed in a blur and smacked into the Dragon-type anyway, and Winona frowned before cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Pull up!" she called. "Gain height – Suicune can't climb as easily!"

"Crouch and jump!" Ash countered. "Go for altitude – keep going until I say stop!"

Mildly staggered, Winona watched as Suicune leaped into the air – instantly negating what she'd thought was a vulnerability in Suicune's flight method – and stopped in mid-air at least thirty feet above where she'd started, only to then gather herself and leap again and again.

It was like watching Suicune climb a series of rock shelves, but they weren't there in the first place.

Then Ash raised his voice. "Stop there and Hydro Pump!"

Suicune practically exploded with water, which rained down all around the arena. There was so much of it it was hard to dodge, and Ash and Winona both got wet as well as Altaria, but it was so spread out that it wasn't much of an attack… more of a rainstorm than anything.

"Now!" Ash added. "Altaria's wet – Aurora Beam!"

"Flamethrower!" Winona called.

Altaria's Flamethrower did as much as possible to blunt the attack, but it still hit home hard, and Winona pointed.

"Aerial Ace!"

"That was really good, Suicune," Ash said, as the Water-type sat on her haunches in front of him… in mid-air, of course. "You're really getting used to that fly trick."

He held up the Safari Ball, got a nod, and recalled her. Then switched to his second Pokémon – Zacian.

Winona had sent out her Skarmory, and she did a double-take.

"Another Pokémon that isn't Flying type?" she asked. "I know Zacian can fly, at least, that one I saw on television…"

Zacian's paws sparkled, and she bowed.

"I wonder if you are sword, or shield, or armour," she mused. "I could see cause to claim all three. Though I must admit I did not know Skarmory got so big under normal circumstances, and if this trend continues I might not even realize the Darkest Day had returned at all…"

"Something wrong, Max?" May asked, looking away from the battle for a bit. "You seem a bit quiet."

"I'm thinking," Max explained. "There's so much stuff that Ash does which doesn't make normal sense, but he can clearly do it… so I'm trying out a few ideas about how he can do it when they don't make normal sense."

"Like what?" May said.

A blur of movement drew her attention, and she watched as Zacian hurled a pair of Sacred Sword attacks at Skarmory – and as Skarmory flared her wings, knocking the swords away with a mighty klannnng as her wings shivered with impact.

The Flying-type went on to counter with a blurring high speed turn and a Steel Wing attack, striking Zacian in the side, and the Heroine of Many Battles countered with a lightning-fast swipe of the sword she kept in her mane – a swipe which crackled with literal lightning, as well, as Thunder Fang conducted up the blade to hit Skarmory before she could get clear.

"Ouch," Max winced. "And, uh – I don't mean things like that lightning sword thing. That was just conducting electricity. I mean things like how Suicune can fly, and so on… I think it's almost like as long as it makes sense to someone, then it works."

He took a Pokéball off May's belt, and sent out Shroomish.

"So Shroomish can have Poison Heal, right?" Max asked. "But does that mean that she could just outright ignore poison attacks? Because if poison heals them… shouldn't that apply to all poison?"

"That makes a lot of sense!" Shroomish replied. "We should try it!"

"Maybe later-" Max began.

"Iron Defence and Body Press!" Winona called.

Skarmory dove down on top of Zacian, and there was a wham which shook the arena.

When Skarmory took off again, Zacian was in a Zacian-sized crater in the ground.

"I am all right!" Zacian announced, flying into the air again. "I am also quite annoyed!"

"Flying Press!" Winona ordered, a few minutes later.

"Moonblast dazzle!" Ash replied.

Zacian lit up with a brilliant flare of pink-white light, and dodged to the side; Skarmory slammed into the ground rather than slamming Zacian into the ground, and the Fairy-type flipped around in mid-air to strike Skarmory with her Thunder-Fang-infused sword.

"Enough!" Winona decided, recalling Skarmory. "Well done – it's an impressive trainer who can work past a type disadvantage. But you'll have a hard time dealing with my third Pokémon."

Zacian loped to the side of the arena, and Winona held up a Nest Ball before sending out a Pidgeot in a flash of white light.

"You would be surprised how many people forget that you catch a Pokémon at the start of training them," Winona added. "I give you fair warning – don't underestimate my Pidgeot."

"I won't!" Ash replied, firmly. "You caught such a rare Pokémon and trained them really well!"

"...no, I caught him as a Pidgey," Winona replied.

"That's what I meant!" Ash confirmed.

Winona blinked a few times, then shook her head. "I don't have time. I don't have time to… anyway! Send out your Pokémon, challenger!"

Ash sent out a Dratini.

Winona sighed.

"Dragonair can fly, but Dratini can't," she said. "Normally. But while I know you must have a way of doing it… I am going to need to see it."

Ash grinned.

"Steel Wing!" he ordered, and a pair of shimmering-silver wings appeared on Dratini's flanks. They began to beat, and his Pokémon rose into the air, and Ash pointed. "There we go!"

"Of course," Winona decided, then adjusted her hat and revealed a Key Stone. "All right. Pidgeot! Here we go!"

Pidgeot lit up with a golden glow, quickly spreading out from a band around his ankle, and Mega Evolved into Mega Pidgeot.

"Don't worry, we can beat him!" Ash told Dratini, as Mega Pidgeot circled the arena – moving fast enough to leave a visible trail behind them.

"Begin!" Winona called. "Twister!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash countered, and Dratini zipped into the air with a blur of movement. "And use Thunderbolt!"

Dratini was well into the air by the time Mega Pidgeot's Twister actually touched down, but then Winona called another command and the Flying-type used Hurricane instead – sending out a slamming blast of wind which hit Dratini head-on and threw Ash's Pokémon to the side.

It also revealed that it hadn't been Dratini at all – it was Zorua – but the Dark-type was re-cloaking himself in another Illusion before he'd fallen more than a hundred feet. He banked around with a whoosh on Swellow's borrowed wings and spat a Thunderbolt at Mega Pidgeot, but Winona's Pokémon used a burst of Twister to dampen the impact and followed that up with another massive, slamming Hurricane that burst Zorua's illusion again.

"Keep pressuring him!" Winona called. "He's losing altitude when he switches – don't let him regain it! Hurricane!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash reminded Zorua.

"I know!" Zorua said, switching to Noctowl for a moment before the Hurricane hit him. He changed into a Talonflame as soon as the windstorm was over, and fired a Thunderbolt back up at Mega Pidgeot, then tried a Night Daze which got only halfway.

"No, I mean get in closer!" Ash called. "Wait – this next one, ride the wind and bank!"

Mega Pidgeot had already used Hurricane, and Zorua's Illusion made him into a Staravia this time. He spread his wings and went oof as the Hurricane hammered into them, nearly but not quite disrupting his illusion, then turned around as soon as the wind was over and powered upwards.

"And – Extremespeed now!" Ash added. "And go Aron!"

This time Zorua changed into an Aron just before the Hurricane hit, and it burst his illusion but for the moment of impact he'd been too dense for it to actually impact him much. Zorua's usual peculiar relationship with weight and size meant that he'd kept up his momentum, and Ash shaded his eyes as his Dark-type repeated the trick – gaining speed with wings, changing into an Aron or Shieldon to reduce the impact of the Hurricane, and continuing to climb.

"Hyper Beam!" Winona ordered.

Pidgeot's Hyper Beam smashed down towards Zorua, who yelped and used Steel Wing. Unlike all his disguises they were the result of an actual move effect, not Illusion, and they didn't simply dissolve the moment they were hit – instead they took the impact and dispersed it, sending little arcs of energy flying in all directions, and when the beam eventually faded away Zorua was still there.

"Extremespeed!" Ash called. "He's recharging!"

Zorua hammered his faux-wings as hard as he could, blurring up towards Mega Pidgeot, then snagged onto Mega Pidgeot's scarf before the Flying-type could dodge away.

"Get off!" Mega Pidgeot politely requested, flicking his head around to bring the trailing scarf into view, and Zorua shimmied his way up to avoid a wing-blasting Hurricane attack.

"Do you have any idea how much of a pain it was to climb up this far?" Zorua replied. "Hey, guess what move I don't know!"

That was enough to make Mega Pidgeot stop his attacks.

"...pardon?" he requested, distinctly confused.

"Gravity!" Zorua replied, rolling himself up in Mega Pidgeot's scarf. "Also Smack Down. But I've got a replacement for it. Ever heard of this neat Pokémon called Cosmoem?"

Since Mega Pidgeot didn't seem to, Zorua decided to demonstrate.

And promptly took the shape of perhaps the heaviest and densest Pokémon in existence.

The impact was visible from a considerable distance.

"I think I need to learn more ways to beat opponents without getting a headache," Zorua mumbled.

Winona walked over to the crater – Ash had got there first – and returned her knocked-out Pidgeot, then shook her head.

"I… don't really know what to say," she admitted. "I'm an expert on Flying-type Pokémon, and I didn't know half of that was even possible… but then again, that's because of how much of it didn't involve Flying types. I'd hoped to get a look at yours."

"Oh, right!" Ash said. "Yeah, I can sort that out… Ibid, can you get hold of all my Flying types?"

"Of course," Ibid agreed, before vanishing in a Teleport.

Five seconds later, Charizard appeared.

Ten seconds after that, Ibid had fetched Silver, Zapdos, Articuno, Noctowl, Ho-Oh, Swellow and Dragonite, and the last one on the list was giving Ash a hello-hug.

"Don't forget Shaymintwo!" Ash told Ibid. "Better get some Gracidea for him too, though."

Winona sighed. "And if you'd turned up yesterday then the Feather Carnival would have been spectacular..."

"Rayquaza?" Lokoko said, one evening, as they rested by the road down from Fortree towards Lilycove. "Allow me to express my heartfelt thanks for your presence. Not just because you are a member of the team, which you are, or because you are a friend – which you certainly are – but because of the simple fact that we haven't experienced a wet and miserable night once that you've been with us."

"Oh – thank you," Rayquaza replied, ducking her head a little. "It's not really something I have to work to do, though…"

"Nevertheless," Lokoko told her. "When I travelled with my trainer before, there are many times when I would have given much for a night merely clear or overcast, instead of one wet and cold. It is who you are, but I am grateful nevertheless."

"Yeah, she's got a point," May agreed. "Plus, it means we can do this training too."

"Of course," Lokoko said, returning her attention to May and Torchic. "Now, you asked me for a longer ranged fire attack with a bit more strength to it… I think there are a few options."

Her tails splayed out, and illusions appeared. "Flame Burst is a shot which detonates, while Fire Blast is similar but has a smaller explosion. Flamethrower is a classic single stream of fire, and Mystical Fire is whatever you wish it to be but is also the hardest to control."

"Don't you use Mystical Fire?" May asked.

"Indeed," Lokoko confirmed.

"Well… if I could get Mystical Fire working, that would be really good," Torchic said. "Maybe I need to work up to that one, though… what do you recommend, Lokoko?"

The Ninetales paced in a circle, thinking. "Hmm… for a Contest, a battle of spectacle… I agree Mystical Fire would be best, if you could control it. A project for later, perhaps. What do you think, Ash?"

"There's Fire Spin, don't forget that one," Ash pointed out. "It's a move which can build off Blaze Kick, and it's about controlling fire to reach out, so it's a starting place to turn into Mystical Fire?"

"True, I hadn't considered that one," Lokoko confessed. "Good thought… well, it depends if Torchic can manage to spin around enough with Blaze Kick?"

"Let's try that out," May decided. "This is going to be the first try, I suppose… Torchic, Blaze Kick and spin!"

Torchic's feet lit up, and he began twirling around faster and faster. Flames licked up around him, spreading wider and picking up speed, and they kept up for several seconds before dissipating.

"Hmm," he said, crossing his arms. "I couldn't work out how to make it go somewhere else."

He inspected his arms. "I did evolve, though. So that's a good omen!"

AN:

Oops no Flying types.

In a way you have to feel sorry for Winona.