Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 18: Ability

Mead Town's Gym was located at the outskirts of the small town. Dome-shaped, with panes of glass serving as the dome's roof, Max was reminded of his family's greenhouses, only on a bigger scale. Behind the Gym, several acres of land were sectioned off, and the signs on the fences told Max and Danny that these, too, were Gym land. Most of it was grassland, but there was a more forested area in the back, Max thought.

The weather was okay for the last day of September. Not too warm, but certainly not chilly, and the sun mostly shone, though some clouds did dim the sunlight every once in a while. It was just past two in the afternoon, and as agreed the day before, when Max and Danny had caught LeeAnn right as she closed the Gym for the night, they were about to fight for their eighth badge: the Meadow Badge. LeeAnn hadn't told them anything about what kind of battle she fought, but it was their eighth badge, and Max knew from experience with Ash and his father that Hoenn Gym Leaders loved to break out the special battle rules for that.

Case in point, Juan's mixed Double/Single battle, and his father's habit of setting Triple Battles. Max really hoped it wasn't going to be one of those; he felt he had enough trouble keeping up with two on two in Doubles.

They rang the bell, and the door opened nearly immediately, revealing the Gym Leader. LeeAnn was a short woman in her forties, with reddish, dyed, hair, and a broad smile on her face. "Right on time boys. Come, we're having this one outside. It's a beautiful day."

They followed LeeAnn through the Gym, through all sorts of nice smells and weird plants. Max saw at least ten Grass-type Pokémon, most of them sunbathing in the warmth of the greenhouse and the autumn sun. By comparison, it was a bit cold outside, but still warm enough.

She led them to a recently mowed field. It was perfectly flat, with no rocks in sight. There were several exeggutor around, but Max assumed they were there to protect the trainers from stray attacks. "This is my outdoor arena, boys. Do you like it?" They nodded in response. "Good. Now, I know you, mister Gym Leader's son, are probably wondering what the trick to this battle is. It's a Hoenn tradition, after all."

Max smiled sheepishly. "Guilty."

"Normally," LeeAnn started, "I have trainers like you do a four-on-two: four of your Pokémon try to beat two of my better Pokémon. But there's two of you, and the second one would have an unfair advantage. Sooooo, I came up with a better idea last night. We're going to have a Double Battle, four on four. You each have two Pokémon, and I have four. Last Pokémon standing wins, of course." She smiled at them. "Go. Take five minutes to talk strategy."

The Gym Leader walked away, leaving Max and Danny behind, gobsmacked. "Wow. Just… Wow," was all Max could get out.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "This is cool!" He shot a look across the arena. "Wonder what she has planned."

"Nothing good," Max replied drily, and they shared a short chuckle. "Ninjask for me first?"

"Sounds good," Danny agreed. "Masquerain or skorupi for me. Thinking about skorupi."

"Probably smart. Works a bit at range, so we don't get in each other's way that much."

Danny nodded. "Right. And our second Pokémon?"

Max thought for a few moments. "We'll see," he said at length. "Let's see what she has out."

Danny accepted that, and after some more strategy talk, LeeAnn came back to tell them it was time to start.

Up close, Max saw a small line in the grass, indicating the arena's edge, and judging by where LeeAnn was standing, it was a big arena too – bigger than normal, giving plenty of space to move around in.

Four flashes of light emerged around the middle of the arena, pitting ninjask and skorupi against a sunflora and a cherrim. "Hang on, don't sunflora get..." Danny said, before he was interrupted by a loud whistle from the referee, signalling the start of the battle. "Poison Sting sunflora!"

"Shadow Ball sunflora!" Max added. He knew the move one of them was going to use, but Danny's words had jogged something in his memory. He grabbed his Pokédex, seeing, and feeling, that sunflora had got a Sunny Day off, and seeing that most of the Poison Sting and Shadow Ball had been stopped by a quick Magical Leaf by cherrim. He let the Pokédex scan sunflora, and quickly tapped the abilities button. "It's got Solar Power or Chlorophyll."

"Solar Power? What does – Protect! – that do?"

Two Solar Beams bore down on skorupi, but the Protect held, and Danny's small bug skittered away as quickly as it could, adding some distance.

"Increases power, but saps health," Max summed up as he put the Pokédex away. Sunflora didn't appear to be moving particularly fast. "It's probably that. Fury Swipes sunflora!"

Ninjask dove under another Solar Beam by cherrim, but a flurry of pink petals surrounded the sunflora, and cherrim too, as the Bug-type came close, and Max had no idea what move it was.

Some of the petals scattered when the attack hit, but sunflora definitely wasn't hurt by the Fury Swipes, even after three sideswipes by ninjask, and the petals neatly blocked most of the Poison String skorupi sent at cherrim. "What is that?" Danny asked, dismayed, as skorupi and ninjask scattered to avoid a double Razor Leaf barrage. Some of the leaves impacted on the shielding in front of the boys. "Yikes, that's powerful."

"Ninjask, Shadow Ball," Max said as he scanned the moves he didn't know the effects of on sunflora's move list. He didn't hear any cries of pain, and assumed it hadn't hit. "Flower Shield? Creates a flowery shield around all Grass-type Pokémon in the area."

"Sounds ri- watch out!"

As one, sunflora and cherrim released a double Solar Beam, bracketing skorupi. The Scorpion Pokémon was nailed to the ground, and Danny was forced to order a Protect to let him shield the follow-up attack that cherrim sent. "What? They can learn Weather Ball?" Danny complained. "I missed that in class."

Max brought his hands to his belt, quickly adjusting the position of two of his Pokéballs. "I have an idea. Get the sunflora." Max quickly explained his plan as ninjask avoided and skorupi blocked a barrage of Leech Seeds sent in tandem. Then, both boys ordered another round of attacks. Ninjask flew up high, into the sun, while skorupi skittered closer to the pair opposite him, easily avoiding a Razor Leaf by virtue of ducking under the attack. "Go!"

Ninjask dropped down from up high, accelerating as his pincers started to glow, easily dodging around the bursts of leaves sent up to stop him. He bore down on sunflora, who made no effort to even try to dodge, instead infusing various petals around it with a blue light and sending them in all directions all at once. The Petal Blizzard forced ninjask to abort his attack run in, but skorupi had dug his claws into the ground, avoiding most of the attack. When it was over, he jumped, landing on the sunflora, biting down with purple fangs. It lasted only a moment before the cherrim slammed into it, sending it flying off, but it was long enough.

The sunflora cried out in pain, putting a leaf over the place where skorupi had bit it, and Max high-fived Danny, though his smile didn't last long. "Oh, come on," he said through clenched teeth as he saw both sunflora's leaves and cherrim's petals glow with a white light. "Synthesis too?" A branch of glowing green near sunflora's feet caught his eye. "And Ingrain?"

"Poison's going to win out in the end," Danny reminded Max.

"Yeah, but a cornered Pokémon is dangerous." A bolt of blue light travelled from cherrim to sunflora, and pink petals started swirling around it at breakneck pace. "Get away!"

The hurricane of petals exploded in size, until it took up most of the width of the field. Max couldn't see skorupi, who was somewhere near the edge of the arena, off to the side, but it wasn't the Bug-Poison Pokémon that was the target. It was ninjask.

The hurricane sped towards ninjask at the same time as a tall barrage of Magical Leaf bracketed him on the right, cutting off any path for escape. Max cried for his Pokémon to use Agility, but it was too late, and the hurricane caught him, tossing him about in the petal-infused winds before dropping him to the ground none too gently.

Thankfully, ninjask was able to get up, but that had to have done quite a bit of damage. He certainly didn't look too stable. And still, skorupi was nowhere in sight. "Where's skorupi?"

Another flurry of petals formed, this one in the spiralling Petal Dance pattern Max knew, and cherrim added a Solar Beam to it, aimed straight at ninjask. The bug was fast enough to get out of the way, but the attack hit the shields right in front of the boys, blinding them, and audibly straining the shields, prompting Max to take a few steps to the side. "Now!" he heard Danny yell.

The attack faded naturally, and Max saw a sunflora being launched into the air a few feet, skorupi inches underneath, trying to catch the flowery Pokémon in his jaws again. That didn't occur; cherrim slammed into him again, but the skorupi landed on his feet and launched an immediate barrage of Pin Missiles at sunflora.

The Razor Leaf wasn't aimed to intercept, but to damage skorupi, but it didn't do enough. Sunflora fell to the ground, knocked out from all the damage it took, and skorupi was able to concentrate long enough to Dig out. "When did he learn Dig?" Max asked Danny.

"A week ago. I was hoping to surprise you with it, but then you decided to have clefairy fight skorupi, and it went out the window." He grinned widely, holding out a hand for a high five, which Max gave him. "Worked, didn't it?"

"Yep." Skorupi popped up near them, showing the boys that he hadn't come out unharmed. Still, the sunflora was gone, and in its place was a ludicolo, which immediately sent out another Sunny Day, since clouds were starting to move in again. "Huh. Ludicolo don't have sun-related abilities, I think..."

"Think later, fight now," Danny reminded him. "Skorupi, Poison Sting!"

The stings were blocked by a Razor Leaf, and ludicolo launched its own Seed Bomb at skorupi, forcing the small bug to use Protect. The green dome groaned, but didn't break. It was clear that there wasn't much left in skorupi's reserves, and everyone involved recognised that. LeeAnn ordered cherrim to send another fiery Weather Ball down the field.

Skorupi managed to skitter out of the way, but it wouldn't have hit anyway. As quick as he could, Max returned ninjask, sending out vulpix in the path of the Weather Ball, which splashed harmlessly on the fox's body. The vulpix glowed red for a split second, too. "Alright! Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

Max felt legitimately sorry for the cherrim, which was unable to dodge out of the way of the flame sent its way. The attack was a lot bigger than Max was used to, but both the sun and Flash Fire were aiding vulpix.

Vulpix was immobile for too long, however, and a Water Pulse sped towards her, only for it to impact on skorupi. Vulpix avoided the bug flying backwards, but as with cherrim, skorupi was out, and the referee ruled as such. "Thanks."

"Gotta protect the firepower," Danny replied, grinning unrepentantly at his pun. "Not if her Pokémon is what I think it is."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Tell ya later," Danny replied, taking out one Pokéball from his left. Opposite them, LeeAnn also showed one. "Let's hope I'm right, else this is a really bad idea. Magnemite, show 'em what you can do!"

Max wasn't sure which pick surprised him more. Danny's magnemite, or LeeAnn's parasect. Parasect went up in flames if you aimed a magnifying glass at them right, and magnemite didn't have the best of times against a Grass-type.

He really should've seen the Rain Dance coming. Ludicolo did a little jig, launching a blue globe, and the sun turned to heavy rain in an instant, the downpour immediately starting to soak Max and Danny. Meanwhile, parasect avoided taking damage from a Flamethrower because it used Protect, and magnemite was flying high over the arena, the rain of no hindrance whatsoever. "Got any ideas?"

Max meant it slightly sarcastically, but Danny's reply was genuine. "Yeah," he said. "Disable, paralyse, confuse, whatever, ludicolo, then deal with parasect. Thunder Wave!"

The electricity, unhindered by the water, rained down on ludicolo and parasect, who both tried to avoid the worst of it. They succeeded, but Max was quick to react. "Flamethrower again!"

This jet of flame was far smaller than the previous set, and ludicolo managed to cancel it out with a Water Pulse, spreading steam as a minor smokescreen. The steam dissipated mere seconds later, as an Energy Ball shot through it, aimed at where vulpix had been a few seconds earlier. "Ember," Max ordered.

The Ember wasn't particularly powerful, but combined with another electric attack from above, it should have caused more than a few problems for the duo opposite them.

Except it didn't.

Ludicolo effortlessly blocked the Ember with its body at the same time as it took the Electric attack, shielding the parasect long enough for it to set up a Light Screen. The attack manifested as a dome, shimmering in the rain, reflecting light as ludicolo launched tendrils of bright green at magnemite.

Danny's Pokémon dipped and dove, darting away, avoiding the attack long enough for vulpix to disrupt the Mega Drain with a quick Flamethrower. Moments later, she was forced to move as a brown ball barely missed her. "They want to keep us away."

"They want to outlast us," Danny replied, and Max saw his point. Ludicolo wasn't moving faster, ruling out Swift Swim, and he knew some parasect healed in the rain. This one probably did, too. "We need a clear shot at parasect. Thundershock!"

Magnemite intercepted another ball of sludge with a measured jolt of electricity, disrupting the attack to the point of uselessness. "Easier said than done. Ludicolo is just going to block it." He stuck a few fingers in his mouth, whistling a sharp note, which caused vulpix to run towards them, putting even more distance between her and the two opponents. "Want ninjask back in?"

"Nah. That's just wasting Flash Fire." A Mirror Shot met a Water Pulse, and while magnemite's attack lost, the Water Pulse also fell apart a few yards onward. "Vulpix has Confuse Ray, right?"

"Ludicolo?"

Danny nodded as he directed magnemite to move in closer, and Max told vulpix to do the same. The small Fire-type zigged and zagged across the field, dodging a barrage of smaller, but still potent, Sludge Bombs, and the occasional Water Pulse that came too close for comfort. The ludicolo was very accurate, and it was only getting more accurate over time.

The orders were given simultaneously, and the attacks were done simultaneously. Magnemite let out an unholy screeching noise just barely inside their hearing range, and though Max couldn't see vulpix's eyes, he did see the purple energy that surrounded her, casting an eerie light in the green and grey of the arena.

She took a Sludge Bomb for her attack, but it didn't do much. She took the attack, rolling on her back to immediately get back up again as if nothing had happened. "Now, Flamethrower parasect!"

Parasect had been able to shrug off the Supersonic. Ludicolo might have been able to as well, but the combined effort of Confuse Ray and Supersonic had made it thoroughly confused, and it was in no shape to stop the flame. The Water Pulse it did send out, aimed in magnemite's general direction, fell apart after crossing half the distance, and the Carefree Pokémon itself was seemingly dancing to a tune only it could hear.

Parasect was just fast enough to avoid the Flamethrower, to Max's annoyance. Unfortunately for it, that meant it'd placed itself right in a Mirror Shot, and though the light-blue attack was diminished by the Light Screen, it did cause some damage. The parasect landed straight behind the ludicolo.

Magnemite pushed through a Thunder Wave from above, and both Pokémon were hit dead-on. The ludicolo cried out in pain as Max saw crackles run over its body. "Hex!"

Again, vulpix glowed purple, creating a purple-red eye above herself, from which the attack launched itself at ludicolo. It pierced the Light Screen, though the barrier sapped a fair amount of the energy before finally breaking, and hit the Water/Grass type.

The attack did surprisingly little damage, apparently, as ludicolo struggled – successfully – to adjust its body in vulpix's direction. It opened its mouth.

Max knew which attack was coming, and he was completely unable to stop it. Vulpix wasn't the quickest at dodging after unleashing an attack, and a Rain-boosted Hydro Pump would be enough to knock vulpix out, probably. She wasn't that durable.

Green light flashed, shattered, and broke, but magnemite, not vulpix, took the brunt of the attack, even If the water blasted magnemite into vulpix, sending them both flying back towards the halfway line. "Thanks."

"No problem. We're a team," Danny replied, even as magnemite levitated itself up from the mud. "Need to finish quick. Can't take much more."

As he said that, parasect unleashed green pollen into the air. Max recognised the Aromatherapy, which meant that ludicolo's paralysis was likely gone now. "Flamethrower!"

"Mirror Shot!"

The thin beam sped ahead of the flame, aimed precisely, hitting ludicolo's hands. It had been trying to form another Light Screen, but was denied the opportunity now. Moreover, the attack caused it to move slightly, both from impact and from flinching, which opened up the path for Flamethrower to hit the target they'd wanted to hit all battle long.

Parasect keeled over. It wasn't quite a magnifying glass in the sun, but it was still essentially a one hit knock-out.

Vulpix took a lesson in flying and landing hard as a Water Pulse hit her, and Max didn't even wait for the referee to rule to return her. She was out, and he thanked her for an amazing début battle. "Let's finish this. Ninjask, go for it!"

The Bug-type made his reappearance, looking slightly rejuvenated, and not at all impeded by the rain.

Ludicolo didn't even try to attack the ninjask, instead focusing on magnemite with another draining attack. Green tendrils met a green shield, which held long enough for ninjask to rake a first Fury Cutter across the ludicolo's back.

The Protect collapsed, but magnemite lashed out with its electricity, putting everything it had into shattering the tendrils. It did, though it barely kept itself afloat, and ludicolo reeled back as its attack fell apart, right in time for ninjask to fly by once again with glowing pincers.

A quick Water Pulse was enough to knock magnemite out, but the third Fury Cutter hit at the same time, and LeeAnn's last Pokémon went to its… knees, Max supposed. Red pierced his vision, but all that Max was interested in was the battle going on at the far end. He saw the glowing white of ninjask's pincers, and he saw the ludicolo struggling to move, somehow moving just enough to launch a last attack as it opened its mouth wide, unleashing a small, but potent, wail.

With the ease of a few practice battles against whismur, ninjask zipped to the side, avoiding the Echoed Voice, before coming in again, ramming the ludicolo right in the eyes.

It fell. Ninjask flew away.

A double high-five was exchanged, even before the referee ruled. Another one followed after the referee had ruled, and ninjask flew over afterwards, landing on Max's outstretched left arm. "You were amazing," the trainer told his Pokémon. "You deserve a long rest."

The rain vanished, replaced with blazing sun once more, and Max saw LeeAnn walk over after returning a vileplume. Both boys waited for her, both of them smiling widely. Max felt giddy. Eight badges. They really had eight badges. "I did not expect the vulpix. New catch?"

"Yeah. How'd you guess?"

"Your father, Max, said neither of you had a Fire-type." LeeAnn glared half-heartedly at them. Funny, she looked remarkably dry, unlike Max and Danny. "As you saw, it made short work of parasect." Then, she smiled broadly, hugging each boy in turn. "But fair is fair. You did amazing, with great teamwork and understanding of your limits. And a switch so fast even I barely saw it coming." Max smiled, thankful that a blush failed to appear. "I do have one question for you, Danny. Why magnemite? You have a masquerain, a snorunt, a gulpin. Those are all better against Grass."

"Masquerain don't fly well in rain, snorunt and gulpin are on the ground. Didn't want to be anywhere near that Flash Fire'd vulpix." Max snorted, and Danny smirked. "I gambled, and won."

"It wasn't raining when you sent it out. You guessed I'd use parasect?"

"They're the only other Grass-type I know of with an ability that works in the rain." Danny shrugged, turning it into a stretch.

To Max's surprise, LeeAnn laughed. "Well, that's me outsmarted by a twelve year old." She moved a hand into a pocket, revealing two Meadow Badges a moment later, handing one of the green-with-a-brown-stripe rectangles to each of them. "Congratulations with your eighth badge, boys."

"Thank you," the boys chorused, and Danny was a slight bit quicker on poking Max in the shoulder.

LeeAnn ignored their byplay, but Max saw her smile. "I'm supposed to tell you all about the League and where it is, but you probably know it already." She gave Max a pointed look.

"Starts December first, Ever Grande, sign-ups close on November 30th, five o'clock in the afternoon," Max recited. It was the same as when Ash had taken place, down to the day. "There'll be boats from all over Hoenn going there from November 10th onwards."

"See? What am I even needed for?" LeeAnn exclaimed dramatically, throwing her hands into the air before hugging both boys again. "If you keep going like this, you'll do great there. Now, let's go bring our Pokémon to Nurse Joy." She looked them over. "And maybe take a shower. I sort of forgot to tell exeggutor to shield your box from the rain."

~~§~~§~~

Four faces looked at the two boys from the videophone screen as both Max's Dad and Professor Birch accepted the call, about four hours after they'd returned to the Center. No greetings were exchanged as they waited for the boys to speak. It was sort of funny, Danny thought.

"We did it." As one, they held out their badge cases, identical except Danny's had a sticker on the lid, showing eight badges lined up. Everyone on the other end gave their congratulations. "No thanks to you, Dad, though," Max added. "Telling LeeAnn about our Pokémon? How could you?"

"Well, when a colleague and friend asks for help, you give it if you can," Max's father replied, smiling identically to his son. "I thought it was a good challenge, working together and all, with no Fire-types." Danny saw his uncle smile at that, and he mirrored it. "Maxim?"

"Max got himself a vulpix two days ago."

"She absorbed a Sunny Day Weather Ball," Max added helpfully. "Cherrim noticed."

"And parasect too," Danny added happily. "After we got ludicolo out of the way."

"Danny came up with the plan for that, and he predicted the parasect."

"You could've too," Danny replied, before noticing several very broad smiles on the screen. Even his mother was smiling fondly, and that rarely happened. "Oh, er, sorry."

"Regardless of who did what, Danny, eight badges in six months is an impressive achievement," his mother said. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're so proud we feel like we could burst." Nods followed. "Including your father, naturally. I'm sure you'll hear of him tomorrow."

"Where are you going now?" Danny's uncle asked. "Two months is a long time to train up."

"Lilycove first," Max answered. "Then we take a boat somewhere. We don't know yet. Haven't talked about it beyond that. What did you do, Mum, Dad?"

"You know I barely got my eighth badge in time, Max," Max's mother admonished gently. "I had two weeks to get from Mauville to Ever Grande, and this was nearly twenty-five years ago."

"And I stayed with my parents for a while," the Gym Leader admitted. "But my mother had just broken her leg, so I wanted to be with her." He smiled sheepishly. "And then I nearly missed the last boat to Ever Grande myself."

"Note to self. Take enough time to get to Ever Grande," Danny stated, to faked hurt and amusement from the adults. "And you, Mum? When you got to your Grand Festivals?"

His mother smiled again. "The one in Hoenn doesn't count, but when I did the Sinnoh circuit, I went sight-seeing and hiking around Mt. Coronet." Danny felt his jaw drop, and his eyes widen. "I was young, and without my knee troubles yet. Your grandparents have a wealth of pictures I took back then."

"How come I never saw them?"

"You always wanted to play with arcanine." Danny smiled happily. "I rest my case, my son."

They talked for some more, and it was close to half past eight by the time they ended the call. "You call Ash, I'll call Paul and Alice," Danny told Max as they walked back to their rooms, Danny carrying a tray of cookies.

"Sure."

The plan failed because Paul didn't pick up, but Danny'd just try again tomorrow. The boat to Lilycove didn't leave until three anyway. At the other side of the room, Max was talking animatedly, but the call was a lot shorter than Danny expected. "Guess what? Ash is going to be in Lilycove day after tomorrow! He's there with Drake for the Elite Four Charity Match, and he'd get us tickets."

"Ash against Drake?" Danny wondered, and Max nodded vigorously. "Oh man, that's going to be awesome!"

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Hoenn's yearly Elite Four Charity Match will take place at Lilycove Stadium on October 2nd. This year, departing Elite Four member Drake will face off against the winner of the most recent Sinnoh League: Ash Ketchum, 17, of Pallet Town, Kanto. This year's format will be six one on one contests.

Tickets can be ordered online as well as at official League outlets, and the stadium itself. The match starts at 20:00 Hoenn Standard Time, and will be broadcast on both TV and radio. All proceeds go to this year's charity: the Epilepsy Initiative.

This Charity Match is the thirty-second of its kind. Originally started to aid Pacifidlog Town after a tsunami destroyed over half the town, the event has since expanded to include diverse charities, all selected by the Elite Four member hosting the event. Last year's event raised over fifty million Pokédollars as Hoenn's Sidney challenged then-prospective Kanto-Johto Elite Four member Karen, with all proceeds going to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Pokémon.

Author's Note: And that is eight. The concept for the battle was inspired by Juan's two-battles-in-one-battle idea, only this was based on weather, not the battle format. Too bad about that x5 Fire weakness for parasect, but LeeAnn was committed to the theme and guessed ludicolo could protect it, or knock the vulpix out.

Pokédollars are analogous to the real life Japanese Yen. Fifty million Yen is quite a sum of money, but it's nowhere near fifty million US dollars.