There was a bit of a tricky thing on the way back to Olivine where Zapdos and Pikachu combined their efforts to prevent something getting electrocuted – in this case, an aircraft – but after it had landed safely Ash went straight back to Olivine Gym.

"I'm ready for a battle!" he announced.

"And, fortunately, so am I," Jasmine told him. "Well, technically I'm just about to close down the Gym for the night, but you've helped me so much already that I'll readily stay open a bit later."

"Thanks," Ash smiled. "Oh, is Sparkle okay?"

"He's just fine," Jasmine assured him. "That rest and medication was just what he needed. He's all back to normal now, though I won't be using him in battle because… well…"

She waved her hand vaguely towards the lighthouse. "He's sort of busy. Anyway, it will be a battle with two Pokémon on a side. Do you have yours already chosen?"

Ash had had his one-Pokémon, two-Pokémon and three-Pokémon teams chosen for this battle for at least a week, so he gave a thumbs-up. "Yeah!"

"Well, I suppose this means I'm out of the rotation again until the League," Pikachu mused, as they followed Jasmine through the gym to the arena.

"Yeah, probably," Ash admitted. "Still, you had that battle with Ritchie, right?"

"True, but then I couldn't feel so sorry for myself," Pikachu answered.

"Are you ready?" Jasmine asked, taking her spot.

Ash nodded. "I'm ready!"

"Then send out your first Pokémon," Jasmine invited, holding up a Pokéball.

Responding with a Dive Ball, Ash sent out Silver. Jasmine sent out a Magnezone, and Ash took a moment to get a proper look at the Electric-type.

"Watch out for electricity, Silver," he called. "Like we practised."

"Oh, you've got a nicknamed Pokémon as well?" Jasmine asked, interested. Magnezone rotated to look at their trainer, then apparently decided the battle hadn't actually started yet.

"I guess it counts as a nickname, but he's always been that since I met him," Ash replied. "I was, uh… seven, I think, he came out of my wardrobe."

Jasmine blinked.

"...I can see how he'd fit, but…" she began, then shook her head. "Anyway. Begin! Discharge!"

Magnezone's magnets spun with a whirr, and a blast of lightning spread out through the whole of the room. Silver yelped as he was hit, his thick feathers taking some of the impact, then focused properly and used Safeguard to drive the energy away from him.

"Good work!" Ash called. "A quick burst of Hydro Pump!"

"Fire up the stream!" Jasmine called.

Silver had been training with Pikachu specifically for several sessions, now, and he knew what the right thing to do was when using Water attacks against an Electric type. His Hydro Pump was powerful but short, lasting less than a second, and hit Magnezone with a crash which drove the Steel-type halfway to the floor.

Magnezone's Discharge, meanwhile, went up the stream but got only about halfway to Silver before simply running out of water. From there it had to go through the air, and it hit the Safeguard which robbed it of most of its strength.

"Great!" Ash grinned.

"Then use… Signal Beam," Jasmine decided.

"Block it with Hydro Pump!" Ash called. "Short again!"

Silver sent out a surge of water, sticking to short bursts instead of a long blast, and while some of Magnezone's Signal Beam got through it didn't do as much damage as it would have done otherwise.

"Right!" Ash said, nodding. "Silver, don't use a long burst Hydro Pump or she'll be able to have Magnezone shock you through your shield!"

He pointed. "Over there – and get ready to use Aeroblast!"

"Magnezone…" Jasmine said, letting the words trail off as Silver opened his mouth and began to gather energy, then pointed. "Mirror Coat!"

"Mach Punch!" Ash replied, very quickly.

Silver exhaled the incomplete Aeroblast with a huff, sending out a burst of air pressure which bounced off the walls and returned as a bang, folded a wing, and punched Magnezone as hard as he could in the Mirror Coat.

The impact drove Magnezone into the floor.

"Discharge!" Jasmine said.

Silver hit Magnezone with another Mach Punch, this time with his other wing, and Magnezone crackled for a moment before trying to use Discharge. The attack fizzled half-fired, grounding out onto the wet floor of the gym, and Silver flew back up to safety.

"Zap Cannon!" Jasmine said, and Magnezone fired up a blast of electricity. Silver evaded it, sending back a pulse of psychic force, and Magnezone's lights all shut down.

"Very impressive," the Gym Leader said, recalling her Pokémon. "I was worried you might be leaning on Silver's power, but you're obviously using creativity as well – just as I'd heard."

"Yeah, but I did kind of screw up," Ash admitted. "I was planning on using Fire Punch, but the Hydro Pump made it so that wouldn't work. There's this idea I'm trying to make work, but… not quite there yet."

Jasmine nodded, considering.

"I will now be sending out my second Pokémon," she said.

"Then I'll pull Silver back, I think," Ash decided.

The second Pokémon Jasmine sent out was her Steelix, who coiled half his length on the ground and rose up with the other half to regard Ash's second choice.

"All right, Snorlax, ready?" Ash asked.

Snorlax yawned, and gave Ash a vague approximation of a thumbs-up.

"Interesting choice," Jasmine said. "Watch out, Steelix, that Snorlax might know Fire Punch or a Fighting move… Iron Tail!"

"Agility!" Ash called.

Snorlax reached Steelix so quickly that the Steel-type had only just begun swinging his Iron Tail. The Normal-type grabbed the tail, adjusted his grip slightly, and whipcracked Steelix over his head to slam into the ground with an impact that shook the building.

"I'm sorry but what?" Jasmine asked. "A juvenile Lugia is one thing, but-"

"Wow," Pikachu said, then winced as Snorlax swung Steelix over his head into the floor again. "I guess the Orange League really does have bad viewership."

"Throw him in the air!" Ash called. "Then use Seismic Toss!"

"I am very, very glad my gym is heavily built," Jasmine decided, once the battle was over. "Well, you'd earned the Mineral Badge before, but you definitely get it now."

She shook her head, looking at the floor. "Why are your non Legendary Pokémon more destructive than the Legendary ones? Your Mew had battles in here for four days and didn't do half as much damage as that Snorlax did in two minutes."

"I guess because they all want to show that I'm not just relying on Legendary Pokémon…?" Ash mused. "That could be some of it, anyway."

"Thanks for having us up here in the audience!" Eevee said. "Is it okay that you've got more than two seats?"

"It's not that big a problem," Ash replied. "The hall seating isn't full, at least, but it's pretty close."

He shrugged. "I guess that's about right, right? If the seats are full you don't know if there should have been way more seats. But if they're almost full you know it's about right."

"Personally, I want to watch the Contest," Vulpix pointed out.

"Contest!" Togepi agreed. "And Brock!"

She waved her hands, and Misty glanced down to make sure they weren't glowing.

"All right, sweetie," she said. "Let's wait until Brock comes out, okay?"

"Geodude!" Brock said, with a flourish. "Use Sandstorm!"

Geodude threw up a gesture with his hand, then copied Brock's flourish, and sand swirled off the end of his fingers.

It grew as he moved his fingers, acting for a moment like he was finger-painting sand in the sky, then he clenched both fists above himself and 'pulled' out to the side – and a whole river of sand flowed out of nowhere, almost enough to bury him if it had been piled in one place.

Geodude didn't get buried, though.

He swirled both hands in opposite directions, and the sand picked up rather than piling on the floor. It formed a pair of counter-rotating disks in front of him, spinning up faster and faster as he kept the Sandstorm dense rather than letting it spread out, and he put his palms on the disks – then began swiping them back and forth.

Distorted record-scratches came off, and Geodude thumped his body on the floor to produce a beat. That went on for a count of four, until he picked both disks up and threw them into the air on curving paths.

Winding up, he used Rock Throw, and both Sandstorm disks shattered in a single throw. They exploded outwards like fireworks of sand, forming a fine mist that rained down all over the stage, and Brock nonchalantly unfolded an umbrella to ward it off.

Kris pointed. "Croconaw, Water Pulse! Give it a good shot!"

Her Croconaw snapped her fingers, and a bubble of water appeared over her arm. She drew her arm back and threw it, and the water-type attack rippled and spread out – forming from a water bubble into a kind of spear shape – until it thumped into Geodude's ongoing sandstorm, slapping into a section which was suddenly much thicker than the rest.

"If you want to be that way about it – Razor Wind!" Kris said. "Blow that sand away from him first!"

For that one, Croconaw clapped her hands together, and when they came apart again there was a little swirling sphere of air. Croconaw threw it, and the attack coiled around her twice picking up speed before suddenly lashing out at Geodude and his sandstorm.

The sand plumed back away from Geodude, and Croconaw threw another Water Pulse – one which Geodude dodged away from, vaulting into the air and reaching up with both arms. Some of the sand he'd already created formed into solid, floating handholds, and Geodude clambered up a virtual ladder until he was ten feet in the air.

"Now, Geodude!" Brock called. "Do the Slide!"

Geodude clapped his hands together, and the sandstorm sand that had been blown away all focused around him again. Some of it coalesced into a solid sheet in front of him, and he thumped down on it – and the sheet tilted, letting him start to slide.

He threw up one fist, and the sand began to form a loop – hardening into a slide, which he rode towards Croconaw, then loosening up again and flowing over his fist.

"Croconaw, look out!" Kris called. "He's getting something big ready!"

"Rock out!" Brock replied, and Geodude sped up enormously as he used Rock Polish. The sandslide he was using flicked up slightly, then dissolved, and all the sand flowed over his fist… and his fist lit up with all the static that had built up in the sandstorm.

Geodude's Thunderpunch was accompanied by a corona of sand, dishing out like visible pressure waves, and sent Croconaw skidding backwards across half the arena.

"We're not out yet, Croconaw!" Kris called, looking at the score. "Muddy Water!"

"Congratulations, Geodude," Bulbasaur said, that evening. "At least now it's not just the girls picking up Ribbons."

"Word," Geodude agreed. "Seriously though, man, thanks for your help. It's a team effort, right?"

"Now that, I can get behind," Bulbasaur agreed.

A little way away, Misty was talking to her newest Water-type.

"Okay, Corsola, so… obviously, you already have some pretty unlikely options," she said. "And that's great – it means you can do things no trainer will expect. But what I'd like to work on now is the tricks that I know for any Water type, which is just as helpful."

"So-laaa…" Corsola said, looking determined.

"So the first thing is about how Water works, as a type," Misty told Corsola. "One of the things that makes it different from Electricity, or Fire, or most other Types – it's that so many Water attacks summon water. There's more of it after using the attack than before. And that's good for a long battle because there are other moves – like Whirlpool – which can whip up that water, or use it, to make themselves stronger."

Misty ticked that off. "And the second thing is that water's heavy – heavier than a lot of trainers expect. A Hydro Pump attack can really knock the target around, and even a Bubblebeam has a lot of impact."

She sent out Staryu and Horsea. "Okay, you two, let's show Corsola what that means! Water Gun only!"

Staryu struck a pose. "Hiyah!"

Horsea didn't do that, but she did slide slowly to the left, then used Water Gun.

Staryu slid backwards from the impact, then did a backflip and began spinning along the ground as if they were doing a series of cartwheels. Water Guns came from their legs five times in every rotation, and Horsea was knocked bodily backwards by the barrage of Water Gun hits before floating to the right out of the way.

"That's pretty good, Staryu, but I did say Water Gun only," Misty chided. "I'm pretty sure that counts as Rapid Spin!"

Staryu drooped slightly. "Yah…"

"That's okay," Misty told the Water-type. "It did show the point… anyway, while it doesn't apply for some Water-types there's another thing I want to point out, because it does apply to Poliwhirl. He's got Water Absorb, so throwing big Water attacks around is going to help him."

Corsola nodded slightly, and Misty clapped her hands. "Anyway! I think the first one to work on is going to be Bubblebeam, because that's great for hitting fast moving targets – it's not a single powerful attack but a whole stream of bubbles, and you can turn it easily to aim. Horsea, you show her first?"

Something went wham over at the other end of the camp, and Misty shook her head. "Just… don't fire over there, I think?"

Horsea sniggered, bouncing in the air, then blew a single bubble that floated in the air. Then two, then four, and then began blowing them faster and with more speed.

"Each bubble doesn't have to be perfect," Misty told Corsola. "The important thing is they come out fast – as many as possible, moving as fast as possible…"

"Right, so that's good," Ash said, nodding. "That Meteor Beam attack is really hard-hitting, Clefairy – it's great that Articuno and Heracross can block it! If they can block that, they're a lot closer to being able to block anything!"

Heracross clenched his fist. "It's hard to line up and punch something moving so fast, but it's a great challenge!"

"The thing is, though," Ash added, thinking. "To block it you're kind of having to divert from how you'd otherwise attack – it's got enough impact to get through Articuno's shield, when it's aimed right, so she has to cut it with her wing. And obviously Heracross punching it means he can't punch his actual target…"

He glanced at Pikachu. "I swear there's something here which could help, but… uh… what about trying to block further away? That might help?"

"Et si un adversaire pouvait faire ça?" Clefairy inquired, lying on her back and flying with little flaps of her wings.

"You're right, there has to be a bit of a trick you can do too, Clefairy," Ash agreed. "So, um… what about using your Gravity to change the point of aim slightly? That way a target has less time to react… want to give it a go first, Heracross?"

Heracross thumped his fists together. "Sure!"

Pikachu beckoned Articuno over to another part of the clearing, where they started fencing back and forth as Pikachu tried to turn his Thunderbolt into a Shock Wave, and Ash focused more fully on Clefairy and Heracross.

"For now we'll be doing how much Clefairy can bend the target, okay?" Ash said. "So, aim for Heracross' fist twice in a row, Clefairy!"

Heracross stuck out a fist, and smashed two successive Meteor Beams with a Brick Break.

"Now, twist your aim, Clefairy," Ash ordered. "Heracross, don't move your fist, but try and block anyway!"

Heracross' fist promptly went crash, instantly coated in ice, and the Meteor Beam hit the outer fringes of the ice with a thack.

"Cool!" Ash declared. "Uh, literally. But yeah, that's a good defence, but it looks like Clefairy can change her aim by at least… what, six or eight inches? That makes it a lot harder to defend."

He frowned. "It'd be kind of helpful to get advice from Zacian's brother, but I don't want to bother him over this kind of thing, we should work it out ourselves… anyway, Clefairy, try bending it the other way now?"

To get to their next gym, the friends had a choice of route, but the quickest way was to just retrace their steps north and then through Ecruteak.

While there, they met the Kimono Sisters, five trainers who had each started with an Eevee.

"So… you've now got a Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon and Umbreon," Ash said. "And you've got an Eevee…"

"Ash?" Misty asked. "Don't ask why there's not more of them. They're sisters, and having more sisters just to fit the theme doesn't really work."

Ash shrugged. "I was mostly wondering if it meant that Sakura and her Eevee knew what they wanted to aim for."

"Yeah, I really want to evolve into an Espeon," Sakura's Eevee said.

There was a bright flash as he promptly did so.

"...that was convenient," the new Espeon added, blinking a few times. "Gosh."

"I'm going to assume that one was Ash's fault," Misty said, as Sakura embraced her newly-evolved Pokémon. "Most things are around him."

Ash chuckled. "I'm just glad you're blaming me for good things as well…"

The friends stuck around for a bit longer, partly so that Marshadow (via Ash) could have a talk with the people responsible for maintaining the Tin Tower, then set off east.

A few hours after they left, when night was just falling, Ho-Oh landed on the top floor of the Tin Tower.

"If I've got this right, he should be arriving fairly soon," the Guardian of the Skies mused. "That's assuming he takes the same number of days to get back here from Olivine, anyway…"

"Whoa!" Ash said, raising his arm, as Gary went past on a skateboard pulled by his Arcanine. "What's going on?"

Gary whistled sharply, and Arcanine slowed before slewing around in a turn. Gary's skateboard spun around in a half-circle much wider than Arcanine's turn, and Gary let go of the tow rope before sliding to a halt not far from his rival.

"It's the Extreme Pokémon race," Gary declared.

"I can see that," Brock agreed.

"Oh, no," Misty said. "It's a race, and that means…"

Ash chuckled. "Of course it means I'm giving it a go! The only question is which Pokémon to use!"

He frowned. "Uh, I guess using Snorlax wouldn't work."

"No, it wouldn't," Gary told him. "Your Pokémon need to be fast for the race."

"It's not that," Ash corrected. "I just think the board wheels would catch fire or melt or whichever it is they'd do… actually, what are the rules?"

The rules helped, but they didn't really make Ash's choice for him.

He didn't want to have one of the Legendary Beasts take part (today it was Raikou) because they were so much faster than anything else that it was sort of unfair… especially when it was because the Pokémon was naturally fast, rather than because of his training.

Snorlax was out for a slightly different reason, because he'd just set fire to the wheels. Plus he wasn't a particularly competitive Pokémon, and didn't mind fighting occasionally but it hadn't been that long since Olivine Gym.

Flying Pokémon weren't exactly banned, but they had to stay on the ground or very close, and that narrowed things down further… and then Zygarde lifted a paw.

"Question," it said. "Is it mandatory for the Pokémon used to be one of your Pokémon?"

Ash checked the rules again.

"Uh… it doesn't actually say so," he replied. "I think it's sort of assumed."

"Then I request to take part," Zygarde said. "I am not your Pokémon and cannot take part in Gym Battles for this reason, but it would be interesting."

"I guess that works," Ash said. "And… hold on, if it doesn't require… hey, Brock, Misty – either of you could take part as well!"

"Additional question," Zygarde posed, head tilting. "Is it required that the competitor is human?"

"I'm not sure which of us thought this was a good idea, but whoever it is I disagree with them!" Bayleef called, the next day.

Heracross skidded around a bend, legs pumping, and hauled Bayleef's vines (and by extension Bayleef, and by further extension her skateboard) in a sliding turn around the same bend. She leaned as best she could, just about avoiding a crash off the course, then laced her vines tighter because having them slip seemed like a bad idea.

Then she saw where they were going.

"Wait, Heracross, there's a tree in the way!" she added. "And that's the edge of a cliff!"

Heracross punched the tree.

The entire tree came out of the ground by its roots, which meant the punch technically qualified as Cut, Wood Hammer or both, and Heracross jumped out into the air before running along the tree for three steps and pushing off.

"It'll be fine!" Heracross called back, as Bayleef tried to hold onto the board without letting go with either vine. "Just use Sunsteel Strike when you're about to hit the ground – I'll kick off and use my wings, and you can use me as an anchor point!"

"Right!" Bayleef agreed. "Here goes, then!"

"I wonder how Heracross and Bayleef are doing!" Ash called, holding on to Zygarde's leash as the dragon-dog's paws thumped the ground.

"Observations indicate they will be fine," Zygarde replied. "Attention – we are approaching the half way stopping point. Please hold on to your board."

"Right!" Ash agreed, crouching down and using his free hand to cling on to the board.

Zygarde skidded around in a wide turn, doing the opposite of what Gary and Arcanine had done the previous day, and Ash spun around gently before coming to a virtual stop right at the ranch landmark.

"That's impressive!" Mr. Shellby told him. "You must have a great relationship with your Pokémon."

"Zygarde isn't mine," Ash replied. "They're just tagging along for a while. But thanks!"

Mr. Shellby looked slightly confused, then picked up the rulebook. "Um… hold on a second, please… no, nothing in here about that. Sorry, I hadn't expected it."

"By the way, when a Heracross and a Bayleef turn up, remember to remind them they can swap sides at the halfway mark," Ash said, taking the dummy egg. "Uh oh, Gary's about to get here – Zygarde, let's try and beat them back!"

Zygarde offered their leash, and Ash made sure the dummy egg was secure in his free hand before getting right back on the board again. "Ready!"

Arcanine had clearly been saving his strength for the sprint back, and Ash crouched lower to try and help give Zygarde the advantage.

As he went past a side turning, though, he noticed something strange… an enormous pile of Legendary Pokémon, with a pair of Darkrai legs sticking out from the bottom of the pile.

"Huh," he said, then shook his head. "Zygarde, turn left and take the jump here!"

In the end it was a photo finish, with Ash and Gary exactly level at the finish line but Gary just about winning because Arcanine was slightly longer.

He and Ash both got eggs from the daycare as prizes, which was nice, and Bayleef and Heracross got a special award for an all-Pokémon team – partly because checking the time statistics had revealed that Bayleef had actually beaten Gary's Arcanine and set the day's record in the return run, something which Mr. Shellby hadn't believed was possible.

"That's great, Bayleef!" Ash told her. "And you too, Heracross, it sounds like you made a great team!"

"We renovated the course," Heracross told him. "It needed more shortcuts."

"Yeah, I mostly just let Zygarde navigate," Ash admitted.

He looked down at the light blue egg he'd won. "I wonder what this Pokémon is going to be..."

AN:

As it turns out, Dastardly Darkrai can say "Drat".

And Victini can snicker.