After the straightforward Pewter, Vermillion and Celadon gyms, and the way that Misty's Contest challenge had been kind of an ad-hoc addition to Cerulean specifically for Ash, the friends were kind of surprised by the much more elaborate situation at Fuchsia gym.
"So… it's a gym, we think, but it's also kind of a mansion?" Ash asked. "And there's a maze which you have to get through…"
"A maze with plenty of Voltorb," Pikachu pointed out. "Or, at least, some Voltorb. And we've got no reason to think those are the only ones. Plus the invisible walls, the traps and stuff…"
"Right," Ash agreed, then shrugged his bag off. "Okay, uh… I think I've got an idea about how to deal with this."
"What's that, Ash?" Misty asked.
"Hold on," Ash requested, rummaging. "It's in here… somewhere… there we go. This'll help!"
Misty, Brock and Pikachu all leaned closer to see it.
"That's a mirror," Brock said. "It looks really old, actually… older than this mansion."
"I got it a few years ago," Ash replied, tilting the mirror. "Hey, uh… are you available?"
"Who are you talking to?" a girl asked.
Ash frowned. "Actually, I don't know their name…"
"Something just moved in the mirror!" Pikachu said. "I can see something in the mirror which isn't a reflection, what is that?"
A hole appeared in space, unzipping reality at the other end of the room they were in to reveal the Reverse World.
"Hello," said the Pokémon on the other side, leaning in to get a good look. "Are you in trouble?"
"Mostly we just don't know where to go," Ash said. "We're looking for the Gym Leader here, if he's here anyway. I hope that's not any trouble?"
"...that's… Giratina…" the girl mumbled. "You just summoned Giratina."
"Oh, right, is that your name?" Ash asked. "Sorry I didn't understand you well enough last time we met, Giratina."
"It's not a problem," Giratina said. "Excuse me a moment."
He swam away from the portal, leaving it open, and everyone finally turned to look at the girl.
"Are you a ninja?" Misty asked.
Brock spread his arms "She's certainly snuck into my heart!"
Bulbasaur emerged from his Pokéball, rolled his eyes, and tied Brock up with Vine Whips.
"Sorry about that," Misty added. "He… kind of does that."
Koga looked up, then stepped back in surprise as a hole opened in reality in the middle of his gym challenge room.
An enormous gold-grey-and-black Pokémon loomed up through the hole, and then a young trainer jumped off its back.
"You're Gym Leader Koga, right?" the boy asked. "I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm here to challenge you!"
His Pikachu said something, and he nodded. "Right! Unless you're not the Gym Leader, because then I guess I'm here to ask where Koga is."
"I'm Koga, yes," Koga admitted. "How did you do that?"
"Well, I thought that if this was a ninja maze, then it'd be useful to use a ninja method of getting through it," Ash replied. "So basically, uh, skipping the actual difficult bits?"
Three other trainers followed Ash, one of them Aya and the other two Koga's fellow Gym Leaders, and then Ash turned to wave.
"Thanks for the lift!" he said.
The hole in space sealed up.
"What rules does your challenge have?" Ash went on.
Koga decided to find the whole situation amusing.
"I have only two rules," he said. "First, challengers must reach me. Second… don't underestimate a Pokémon. I will be using one Pokémon for this challenge, and you must pick just one yourself."
"Then it's easy!" Ash said. "Charmander!"
"So… how did you meet him?" Aya asked Misty. "Did you know he could do that?"
"Well… the answer's kind of strange," Misty replied. "Because, no, I didn't…"
"...but at the same time, it's just kind of a logical progression," Brock agreed.
Koga's newly-evolved Venomoth used Stun Spore, and Ash pointed. "Ember!"
Charmander used Ember immediately, throwing out a barrage of flame, and the Stun Spore detonated in a soft whouf before it could reach Charmander. The flames hit Venomoth as well, sending it fluttering back, and Koga stroked his chin.
"Psychic," he ordered.
"Flamethrower!" Ash instructed. "-and dodge left!"
The flamethrower blast reached out towards Venomoth, but the Psychic attack caught it and stopped it from getting through. That meant that the Psychic attack was occupied doing that, though, and Charmander's jump to the side let him get out of the way of the attack as it rushed past.
"Now, Drill Run!" Ash added. "Through the wall!"
Charmander threw himself at the wall, twisting into a spin, and went through it with a crunch.
"Interesting," Koga said. "Watch out, Venomoth. He could come through anywhere."
There was a long, tense pause.
"…" Ash began, opening his mouth to say something, then paused. "Now!"
"Dodge!" Koga ordered.
Venomoth dodged left – and Charmander came right back through the hole he'd originally made.
"Left!" Ash reported. Charmander twisted left, already using Flamethrower, and the jet caught Venomoth squarely.
The Bug-type was completely engulfed in flame, and when it faded away Venomoth fell to the floor with a thud.
"Excellent work," Koga judged. "Your Pokémon know when to use their own initiative and when to rely on you, and you've shown that with a Charmander rather than… well… Giratina."
"Oh, Giratina isn't one of my Pokémon," Ash said earnestly. "I just asked them for help."
"Nevertheless," Koga said. "You have won the Soulbadge."
Ash took it, and posed. "All right! That's five gym badges down!"
A ninja dropped down from the ceiling. "In addition, Master Ketchum, please take this."
He handed Ash a canister – one which contained a black-and-red Pokémon egg.
"Huh?" Ash asked, taking the egg. "How come?"
"It is a long story," the ninja replied, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"...huh," Ash said. "I wonder what Pokémon this is?"
Five minutes later, after Ash and his friends had left, Koga stood over the ninja from before.
"You are not one of my ninja," he said. "Explain yourself."
The ninja rubbed the back of his head. "Uh… well, I guess I should…"
He made a symbol with his hands, and with a poof of smoke turned into a Zoroark.
A female Zoroark.
"The egg's mine," she said. "I wanted it to go to him; forgive me from using your gym for such a purpose."
"It was kind of rude," Aya said.
Koga simply regarded her for several more seconds, then nodded.
"I would not have refused you, if you had just asked," he said. "But do not do this again."
"All right," the Zoroark said. "And thank you."
Two miles outside Fuchsia Gym, Zoroark sat down on a log with a relieved huff, and there was a puff of smoke as she changed into a Zorua.
"That was kind of awkward," he said. "I really hope I can head back now?"
Celebi floated out from inside the log. "Yep!" she said. "All sorted!"
"I've never pretended to be my own mother before," Zorua muttered. "It was weird."
That night in camp, Ash frowned at a map.
"Uh… okay, I think we probably didn't do those in quite the right order," he said. "I… those ones are kind of out of the way… what do you think, Brock? Should we do Saffron next?"
"Saffron gym," Brock mused. "I… actually don't think I've ever seen a challenger who had that badge."
He frowned, then shook his head. "No, can't remember for sure. And you're right, the path we've ended up taking is a bit weird, but it's not as bad as it could have been."
"And Saffron?" Ash asked.
"As good a choice as any," Brock said. "It's your Pokémon journey first and foremost, Ash. We're just along for the ride… and making sure you don't get too lost."
"And trying to pick up girls," Pikachu suggested.
Ash sniggered.
Brock gave him a look, but it was a bit less effective than it could have been because he was clearly smiling.
"There is one thing I wanted to talk to you about, though," he said, after seeing if Ash was going to start squirming (and ending up disappointed). "It's that egg you got at Fuchsia Gym."
"Oh, right," Ash remembered. "Should I get it?"
"We won't need it for this," Brock told him. "But as a more general rule, you're going to need to think about where that egg is most of the time. That's because of one of the things about eggs that isn't always taught in schools."
He shrugged. "You might know this already with how many Pokémon you can talk to, but one of the things a Pokémon breeder needs to know is that Pokémon actually start learning before they've even hatched. That can mean they inherit Pokémon moves, and it means they pick up what's going on around their egg – so it's better for them to be able to see it."
"Oh, right!" Ash brightened. "So it's kind of like we start making friends even before they hatch? And other stuff like that."
Brock nodded. "You're getting the idea of it. Since Pokémon breeding is about raising a Pokémon right from the start, that matters most of all there, but it's good to think about it when you get a chance."
He frowned. "Oh, the other thing you need to know is that not all Pokémon are ready to fight straight after they've hatched – especially not complicated battles. Sometimes they can, but it's always better to decide that based on how they actually do in easier training battles first."
"So… the most important bit is that they're like a newly caught Pokémon, but you don't even have a battle or past history with them to know they're strong," Ash summarized. "And making sure they know their new teammates before they even hatch will help?"
Brock gave him a thumbs-up. "Exactly!"
The next day, at lunch, Misty was frowning at one of her Pokeballs.
"I think I've got an idea what I want to train Goldeen in next," she said. "So, so far, Goldeen's been really helped out when Squirtle or Starmie makes a pool for her, but it kind of means that they have to act like set-up for Goldeen."
She glanced at Ash, to make sure he was listening, then snapped her fingers. "And what I think you should do, Ash, is suggest some ways Goldeen wouldn't need the others to do set up! See if you come up with the same answers as me."
"Uh… right," Ash said, reaching for his Pokédex and starting to search through for information about Pokémon moves. "So… I guess one option is to have her learn Flail, which wouldn't stop her flopping about but would mean she'd do a lot of damage?"
Misty pursed her lips, thinking. "I hadn't considered that one, but that's a pretty good suggestion, Ash."
"Or maybe an Ice-type move to freeze the ground," Ash went on. "I don't know how Goldeen deal with low temperatures… oh, hold on, what about Waterfall? That's got impact and water with it, right?"
"That's the one I was thinking of," Misty told him.
Ash grinned, pleased, then his bag made an odd noise.
"Was that the egg-" Pikachu began, then saw that the egg case was next to Ash for the duration of lunch.
Then a young Lugia came out of the bag.
"Oh, hi Silver!" Ash said, as his friend blinked a bit. "How are you doing?"
Ash? Silver asked, sounding a bit worried, then turned around. Oh, there you are. I was wondering if Hoopa had sent me to the wrong place!
He brushed his wings against one another to get off some of the grass. I guess this means we can't play any more of that game we were halfway through?
"Afraid not, sorry," Ash answered. "What about helping me train my Pokémon and meet my friends, though? I bet you'll like them – I was just talking to Misty about how a Goldeen can fight on land."
What about doing that thing that Dad does? Silver said. When he fights Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres he sometimes comes up out of the sea in a whirlpool.
"Whirlpool, that is a good suggestion," Misty agreed, then blinked. "...Brock? I just felt a weird vertigo because I'm starting to just accept this stuff."
"Actually, one of the Pokémon I've got is a Zapdos," Ash said, nodding to where the Flying-type in question had paused halfway through a stack of pancakes. "I guess she isn't the same Zapdos you mean, though."
No, the Zapdos isn't a girl, Silver said. What would helping with training be like?
"You're a Psychic-type, right?" Ash asked. "Then maybe helping them find out what it's like defending against Psychic attacks?"
"Well, I think we learned a few things from that," Pikachu decided.
He pointed. "Chiefly, that Mankey is surprisingly good at dodging Psychic attacks."
"It's one of my weaknesses," Mankey explained. "I need to be able to avoid them in order to more efficiently punch."
"It is going to be so weird if you're the best choice for the Saffron gym," Zapdos said.
She tilted her head. "Actually, speaking of which… Ash?"
"Huh?" Ash asked.
"You know that discussion we had about trying to work out how Pikachu managed to electrocute Geodude? Think we can start on that some time?"
She took off, flaring her wings. "I think it'd make me a great choice for dealing with a Ground type Pokémon gym!"
Ash nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, but… uh, actually, there are a couple of problems with it. They're not bad or anything, but… well, firstly we need some kind of volunteer, and second that can't be the only thing we work on. Because it could not work."
He tapped his chin for a moment. "So… something else I think we should work on is making sure you can fly if there's Gravity going on. You know, if you're a lot heavier. And Pikachu, you and Charmander should practice Drill Run and dodging Drill Run…"
Ash frowned, then gestured with his hands in opposite directions. "You know. Not in that order."
"Okay, here we go," Ash said, once everything had been sorted out and negotiated. "Thanks for helping with this, Geodude."
"Sure, man," Geodude agreed. "Just, you know. Stop means stop and all that jazz, Sitrus berries won't be enough for this crazy."
He steepled his fingers and pushed them out, with a krak sound.
"Right, uh… first test," Ash began, making some notes. "Pikachu just shocking Geodude."
Pikachu sent a bolt of lightning at Geodude, which engulfed him for four seconds.
When it faded, he gave a thumbs up.
"Second test, Zapdos doing it by herself," Ash said.
As the experiment continued, Eevee came bounding over. "Hey, Geodude! Mankey taught me Ice Beam, want to see?"
"Maybe later, little lady," Geodude suggested. "We're doing research here."
"Ooh," Eevee replied, ears wiggling as she inspected the situation. "That's like what Bill did, but he did it in a different way."
"Right," Ash said. "Pikachu's cheeks are glowing a bit, so… here we go! Thunderbolt!"
Geodude winced, then was engulfed in a blast of electricity.
When it faded, he coughed out a puff of smoke and fell to the ground "Ow."
"Right!" Ash cheered. "So it's charging up – let's try it the other way around, next!"
Eevee's head tilted back the other way. "Why did you let yourself get electrocuted? Aren't you a Ground type?"
"I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't always work," Geodude wheezed. "The things I do for a bro and a classy dame…"
AN:
The continuing nonsense of Ash, and the people dragged along in his wake.
Still, at least they're having a good time. Presumably.
Don't ask Geodude just now.