"And here's my gym," Morty said, letting them inside. "It's a little hard to have a Ghost themed gym, but I've done my best."

He sighed. "The problem is, if you have a building that's old and dilapidated and spiritually important… like, oh, the Burned Tower… it means that that building is also a protected heritage building and you're not allowed to have Pokémon battles in it. Even though it's very Ghost."

"So what does make this gym Ghost themed, then?" Ash said, interested.

Morty demonstrated, which meant he hit a switch and the lighting went smoky and purple.

"This will be a match with three Pokémon on each side," Morty added. "In addition, in your case the rules are as follows – the challenger may not use a Pokémon with a type advantage against the Ghost type. This means they cannot use any Dark or Ghost type Pokémon."

Ash raised his hand.

"Does that mean just their types or their moves?" he said. "Because if it's the latter I might need some time to catch more Pokémon, and also someone to distract Mew so he doesn't manage to get at their moveset until the battle's over."

"...Mew?" Eusine asked, discovering to his surprise that he could still be shocked by Ash.

"No, it's just the Pokémon themselves," Morty told Ash. "And since a lot of people ask, the Normal type is fine."

"Okay, so, no natural Ghost and Dark types…" Ash began. "Hold on a minute."

He took his backpack off, and rummaged around in it. "Misty, can you hold Mew?"

Misty found Ash dropping the Psychic-type into her arms next to Togepi, who giggled and embraced Mew.

"And, Brock, can you hold…" Ash went on, looked at two Pokéballs, then opened one of them to reveal a Dratini. "…I'm pretty sure this one's Zorua… can anyone think of any more ways for Zorua to sneak into the fight?"

Pikachu sent a spark at the Dratini, which exploded in a cloud of smoke to reveal it was actually Zorua. "Aww…"

Then Pikachu shocked Zorua again, just to be thorough.

"I didn't do anything that time!" Zorua protested.

"You were thinking it, though," Pikachu replied.

"You can't know that, I'm Dark type," Zorua insisted, huffing and sitting down on his haunches. "You can't read my mind."

Several minutes later, after checking at least three times to make sure Zorua was still where he'd been put and then just assigning Zygarde to make sure that didn't change, Ash had his team ready.

"Okay, here we go!" he said. "Chikorita!"

"Gengar!" Morty called. "Mean Look!"

"Thanks…" Chikorita groaned. "Sunny Day!"

A ball of light flashed up into the gym, glowing with a warm yellow-orange light and completely undoing Morty's mood lighting.

"Into the ground," Morty instructed.

"Keep an eye out, Chikorita," Ash said, as Gengar sank into the floor. "He can't hide down there forever… in fact, Vine Whip on the ceiling! Get off the floor!"

Chikorita's vines reached up, and she tugged herself to about halfway between the floor and the roof.

"Keep moving!" Ash added. "Make sure you're not staying still, and be ready to react!"

"Toxic," Morty instructed.

Gengar phased back into visibility, a glob of sizzling poison already in his hand, and threw it at Chikorita.

"Sunsteel Strike!" Ash ordered.

Chikorita loosed her grip on the vines, and flared with light as she used Sunsteel Strike. The Steel-type move protected her from Gengar's Toxic, and she splashed right through it – the little that actually stuck to her sizzling as it burned off.

What Chikorita hadn't expected, though – and nor had anyone else – was that she actually hit Gengar, knocking the Ghost-type floating backwards in the air with a shower of sparks pouring down from the impact point.

"I'm pretty sure that physical moves aren't supposed to do that," Morty said, blinking, as Gengar dove underground. "And I'm the Ghost-type specialist here. Eusine, any ideas?"

"That's a move I've read about," Eusine supplied. "It's only supposed to be possible for Solgaleo!"

"Neat," Ash decided. "Okay, Chikorita, Vine Whip again! And start using Solarbeam to try and spot Gengar!"

"Gengar, Curse!" Morty ordered. "I can't believe I'm having Gengar do this to a Chikorita…"

Gengar phased back into visibility as a Solarbeam flashed across him, but his eyes flashed and a purple aura surrounded Chikorita. She winced as it crackled over her, then landed on the gym floor with a squeak and rolled upright.

"Your dark powers don't stop the sunrise!" she declared, breaking into a run, and her leaf lit up before the glow spread to the rest of her body. Her vines whipped out, aiming not for Gengar but for the best vineholds she could find behind Gengar, and she reeled herself in. "Sunsteel strike!"

This time the impact was much bigger.

Chikorita yelped, both from the shock of the impact and from the Curse sizzling over her, then bounced twice and landed with a sigh.

"I think I'd like a nap now," she requested.

"I'm withdrawing Chikorita," Ash said. "I know that counts as a loss – can you get Gengar to release the Mean Look?"

Morty looked around, then gestured, and a Gastly whispered in his ear.

"I… actually don't think I need to," he said. "She knocked out Gengar first…"

He shook his head. "What is it with you, Ash? Why are your non-Legendary Pokémon somehow even more ridiculous than the Legendaries?"

Mew took a bow.

Since he was still upside down in Misty's arms, this was quite hard to notice.

Ash sent out Noctowl next, who went up against Morty's Haunter, and Eusine blinked.

"I should be less impressed with your shiny Pokémon, given that you've also got Suicune," he said. "But… well, the human mind is a strange thing."

Noctowl flew in a wide circle, and Ash frowned. "Double Team!" he called. "And open and close your eyes randomly!"

"Swoosh," Noctowl replied, wings blurring into an overlapping superposition of owls which gradually drifted away from one another.

"Foresight!" Ash added. "Lock that Haunter down!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Morty sighed. "After what just happened it's good to be dealing with an opponent that deals with Ghost types in the normal Normal way."

He pointed. "Confuse Ray!"

Noctowl's Double Teams scattered in all directions around the beam blast, an overlapping confusion of wings which left the Confuse Ray without an obvious target, and Morty considered. "Dark Pulse!"

"Freezing Glare!" Ash ordered.

Morty blinked. "What?"

Noctowl's eyes flashed, and Haunter froze in place in mid-air.

"I don't even know what that move is, but… it doesn't have any connection to the Flying type or the Normal type," the Gym Leader complained.

"Oh, right, sorry," Ash said. "Uh… I guess Aeroblast then."

"I'm not sure why he's upset," Noctowl said, landing on Ash's shoulder. "He was complaining that this place didn't look run down enough, wasn't he?"

A bit more of the floor fell in.

"Fortunately, I have a basement," Morty told them. "...actually, you can see the basement, it's down there. But I think we're going to relocate the battle to the basement."

"It's because I want to make sure Noctowl can play the roles of the other Flying types on my team," Ash was explaining, as they reached the bare earth of the basement floor – all the debris from what had been the ground floor moved neatly to the side by helpful Haunters. "And the other Pokémon who can fly but who aren't Flying type, too. That freezing move was Articuno's!"

"That makes a great deal of sense, and is probably going to catch a lot of other people out," Morty told him. "Which… is sort of a relief, for me, really. It's good to know you're not alone in that sort of thing."

He took out a third Pokéball. "I think my final Pokémon might give you a bit more trouble, though."

"All right, Noctowl," Ash said, recalling him. "Let's see how this goes!"

He waited for Morty to take up his position, then pointed. "Suicune!"

"What, seriously?" Pikachu asked. "I haven't had a gym battle since Viridian."

"She hasn't had a gym battle since Cinnabar," Ash pointed out. "I'm trying to be fair."

"...good point," Pikachu admitted, as Suicune padded forwards.

"I'm going to get to see Suicune battling," Eusine said, softly.

Brock nodded. "It's quite a sight. Last time she battled she broke a volcano."

"Palossand!" Morty ordered, and what came out of the Pokéball looked like nothing so much as a giant sandcastle.

"Huh…" Ash said, flipping his Pokedex open. "I don't think I've heard of that one…"

Palossand, the Pokedex beeped. This Pokémon lives on beaches, but it hates water.

"Really?" Morty asked. "I mean… huh."

He shook his head. "Giga Drain!"

"Extremespeed!" Ash ordered in reply, and Suicune broke into a loping sprint around the gym basement. "Now, Aqua Jet!"

Suicune turned and blurred forwards, hammering into Palossand with a wet thump that sent sand flying everywhere, and winced as a Giga Drain hit her but shook it off after a moment's concentration.

"Huh…" Ash frowned, looking closely. "Suicune, stay on the move – and use Water Pulse to keep the pressure on!"

"Shadow Ball," Morty commanded.

Suicune's Water Pulse attacks kept smacking into Palossand, each one sending sand flying everywhere, but the enemy Pokémon didn't seem to be bothered by repeatedly taking hits.

"...wait, Suicune, stop using Water attacks!" Ash said. "Aurora Beam!"

"Stop sandbagging!" Morty called.

Palossand's outer turrets rose up, now heavy with water and with plenty of sand drawn up from the floor, and swiped at Suicune. Neither hit, but the missed blows made the ground tremble slightly.

"It's called Water Compaction," Morty told them, as Palossand began firing Energy Balls from its turrets and keep towards Suicune. "Not all Palossand can do it, but this is one of them."

"Make sure you don't get hit!" Ash called. "And – use Aurora Beam to freeze the water! Stop it from getting at any more of the water on the ground!"

Suicune's rainbow Aurora Beam flashed across the ground, turning it to ice, and she slid across the resulting surface.

"Break it up with Rock Smash!" Ash added. Suicune promptly broke the ice, two blows from her paws splintering it into a jumble of hundreds of smaller sheets, and the Water-type remained sure-footed despite the slippery surface – displaying a preternatural grace as she hopped from point to point.

Palossand's Energy Balls were always aimed to try and hit Suicune, but they never turned out to be where she actually was.

"Aurora Beam again!" Ash called. "Hold Palossand in place – then use Extrasensory and break it up!"

"I'd ask if it would be okay to split a Pokémon into hundreds of smaller pieces, but it is a Ghost," Suicune observed.

"Plus, you used to do it too," Ash said. "And James' Muk."

"This is true."

Suicune jumped over the latest Energy Ball, landed with a crack of breaking ice, and played her attack across Palossand's body. The Ground-type shuddered slightly, and Suicune focused for a moment before firing out a bolt of Extrasensory.

For several seconds, Palossand held itself together. Then a breaking point was reached, and Palossand exploded.

Sand got everywhere.

"I should have expected it from your Pokémon, but you're certainly adept at dealing with difficult situations, Ash," Morty told him "I like to try and create situations where my opponent is having to deal with Pokémon abilities you wouldn't normally run into… but you turned that around on me a bit."

"It was a good fight, I think!" Ash said, with a grin. "Thanks!"

As Ash took the Fog Badge, Eusine approached with a strange expression.

"Sorry, what did you mean when you said Suicune used to do it?" he asked. "Is… it… something she can still do?"

He held up his hands. "Don't feel you have to explain anything that's a secret, but… this is the first time I've ever had a chance to ask first hand questions."

Ash glanced down at Suicune, who nodded.

"Well… Suicune used to be a Vaporeon," he said. "That's what she was before she died in the Burned Tower and got reincarnated. I don't think she can still use Acid Armour, though."

"You know, I could fix that," Mew suggested, as Eusine took frantic notes. "Just say the word! The word is anything except for 'don't' or synonyms thereof."

Pikachu blinked. "You know the word thereof?"

Mew teleported over to Pikachu, and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"I don't know if you're aware of this," the Psychic-type said. "But I'm kinda old!"

"Query," Zygarde enunciated. "What is a 'Contest'?"

"Oh, uh… the idea is, it's kind of like Pokémon battling where the focus is much more on spectacle," Pikachu said, glancing over at the canine Pokémon.

They were sitting on Misty's lap, for lack of a better vantage point, and Togepi was sitting on Zygarde's head, and there was just about enough space for Misty to see over Togepi's head.

"Yeah, Pikachu's pretty much summed it up," Ash agreed. "So this first bit is the Appeal, where all the Pokémon try to show off with their moves, and then there's the Battle phase which is like a Pokémon battle but where you need to make it look good – you get points for looking good, pretty much."

He pointed. "Oh, it looks like Brock is going first."

"He didn't say who he was using," Misty noted. "But Onix would have the most trouble fitting…"

Brock walked to the middle of the arena, bowed, then sent out Eevee.

The Normal-type landed with a floomph, her ears and tail waving in the breeze, then picked up the Everstone pendant around her neck and held it in both paws.

"I don't yet know what I should be," she began. "There's so many choices, but none of them seem right for me."

Shrugging off the Everstone, she threw it into the air, and Brock caught it. A fizz of firelight built up around her paws, and she began to run around in a circle – a Double Team illusion forming and weaving back and forth with her, then distorting into a Flareon.

"I could be a fluffy Flareon," she sang, then jumped, and the flames vanished from around her paws to be replaced by bubbles of water as her Double Team shape changed as well. "Or a Vaporeon who swims in the sea! Then there's Jolteon, a fine Pokémon, but is that what I really want to be?"

"Huh," Ash frowned. "I… think I might be the only human in the Contest hall who's getting the full effect of this."

"There's more to it?" Misty asked, as Eevee's song continued – as she sang about how being happy would make her an Espeon, but would being an Espeon make her happy?

"I didn't know that Water move existed, and this is me talking."

"And then there's the ones I've never heard of before," Eevee said, floating in mid-air as nine Double Team duplicates danced a circle around her. "I could be a dragon, or learn how to soar! There's so many choices, and only one me… so I think I'll wait before I choose what to be."

Brock looped her Everstone back around her neck as she slowly dropped down to land, all her Double Team copies jumping back in and giving her form a radiant glow, and Eevee waited a moment before bowing.

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!" Chris ordered, and his Raichu ran forwards with long loping bounds.

Halfway to Eevee, he put his paw down, and twisted sharply. His forwards momentum turned into a spin, and his long tail whipped out around him – then fired a dozen tiny Thundershocks all at once which slashed out into a ring.

In the time that took to set up, though, Eevee sprang up onto her hind legs and held her Everstone in both forepaws. There was a flash as she used Double Team, and for just a moment it was as if there was a Jolteon standing in front of her-

-and the Thunderbolt hit, but barely made her take a step back.

"...what even just happened?" Chris asked, as Eevee fluffed her fur out and used Swift – sending a shower of stars rising into the air before bombarding Raichu. "Was that a Substitute, or what?"

Eevee didn't seem particularly inclined to explain. Instead, she tossed her neck, and her Everstone glittered orange as it swung in a circle – then Eevee burst into flame and charged at Raichu.

"Look out!" Chris winced, and Raichu sprang backwards – barely avoiding the impact of the attack. "Okay, let's try something else!"

"Look at you," Bulbasaur said, that evening, using his vine to tweak Eevee's cheek. "That makes two Ribbons on the team!"

"Aww… stop it," Eevee protested, tail flicking happily from side to side. "I was having fun, really."

"I think that means the guys among us need to step up our game," Geodude declared. "Word."

Bulbasaur blinked at him.

"...sometimes you confuse me, Geodude."

A day or so out of Ecruteak, the friends were quite surprised when a Dragonite came swooping down to meet them.

"Oh, uh… hold on, I think I recognize you," Ash said, as the Dragonite hovered in front of them. "You're that one who delivered the message asking me to come to New Island, right?"

"That's right," Dragonite confirmed. "Though this time it's not quite as important. Professor Oak asked me to deliver something to you… apparently he wanted you to have it after you left Ecruteak City."

He floated up in the air a little. "You're coming as if you'd left Ecruteak City, but I feel I need to check that that's actually what's happened."

"Yeah, we did just come from Ecruteak," Ash confirmed. "That's why we're walking away from it."

"I guess Professor Oak's been telling stories about you," Misty said. "Or, uh, now I come to think of it, about us because we never notice either…"

Floating back down to ground level, the Dragonite took a parcel out of his bag. "There's a letter with it. Professor Oak asked me to pass on that it's very important you keep it with you."

"Huh," Ash said, now very curious, and undid the wrapping.

Inside there was a letter, just as Dragonite said, and a bracelet along with a crystal pendant.

"This is a Z ring, isn't it?" Ash asked, holding it out for Pikachu to inspect. "And that's a Z crystal, uh…"

He opened the letter.

Ash,

Please take care of these for me, and deliver them to a young man called Sammy. I know you'll be able to do what's necessary.

- Professor Oak.

"...well, I guess Professor Oak is a Professor, so he must know what he's doing," Ash pronounced. "Anyone have any idea how you tell what kind of Z crystal a Z crystal is?"

The puzzle remained unsolved for the next few weeks, despite the best pondering that Ash, his friends, and their entire teams could muster between them. It was pink, but there were a lot of pink Pokémon, and having Mew cycle through every Pokémon in existence while Ash tried every dance move in existence seemed like an excellent way to either waste days of potential training time or break something that Ash was supposed to be delivering to someone else.

Then they ran into Todd Snap.

"This feels like cheating," Todd said.

Ash frowned. "Huh? I haven't even done anything yet."

"You're here," Todd replied. "That's already cheating, especially when I'm out to get a picture of a Legendary Pokémon."

Ooh! Mew asked. Can I help?

"I think it only counts if the picture is of the actual Pokémon," Brock said, as Todd tried to decide whether to laugh or shake his head. "I guess if Todd wants a picture of Mew that would work, but otherwise he could just use a Zorua."

"I've got one of those too," Ash suggested. "Though I guess that was true last time we met."

Todd settled for doing both. "Actually, I'm out to get a picture of an Articuno."

One of Ash's Pokéballs burst open.

"...I was actually after the other kind of Articuno," Todd said, once Ash's Articuno had finished posing. "But I'm not complaining about a chance to photograph your whole team again, Ash – there are some amazing action shots you can manage!"

"Is there a chance you can get a photo of Cyndaquil when he's doing a Flame Wheel?" Shaymintwo requested. "There's something about his style that isn't quite clicking… it's untapped potential. I just need to work out the trick."

"How would a photo help with that?" Ash asked.

"I could point at it while gesturing."

Todd went on his way after just three days, with a full camera, and even with plenty of pictures of the Ice-type Articuno he'd actually set out to photograph.

He looked back, waving goodbye, then set out south for Olivine City.

"I kind of wonder what it would have been like if I'd actually stayed travelling with Ash," he mused. "I'd have got a lot more photos, but by now I'd probably be kind of… weird."

It was only an idle thought, though. And one he hadn't wanted to say within earshot of Ash's backpack Mew, for fear of being proven correct.

AN:

Anime Palossand does not necessarily fit the game description.

As for Eevee… that musical number just sort of happened.