"Okay, here we go!" Ash declared, as the first semi-final began – with Gary on the other side of the field. "You'd better have some new tricks since last time, because I know I do!"

"I wouldn't want to have it any other way!" Gary called back. "Go! Blastoise!"

"Charizard!" Ash replied, sending out his big Fire-type, then focused on his Mega Ring. "Ready?"

"You bet!" Charizard called, his Charizardite X Mega-Evolving him and shifting him to a Fire/Dragon type, and across the field Gary's Blastoise became Mega Blastoise as well.

"Begin!" the referee called, and ducked for cover.

"Hydro Cannon!" Gary ordered immediately.

Mega Blastoise opened fire, shooting a water pellet at Mega Charizard, and Ash's Pokémon replied with a Drill Run – whirling into a spiralling motion, wings forward as shields, and hit the Hydro Cannon halfway across the arena. It exploded violently, sending an enormous amount of abruptly no-longer-pressurized water flying in all directions, but Mega Charizard just whirled right through it before opening his wings with a snap and diving down to Thunderpunch Mega Blastoise.

Completely undaunted by being punched in the side, Mega Blastoise pointed both arm cannons straight down and used Blizzard with one and Terrain Pulse with the other.

An explosion of ice and frost flashed out, catching Mega Charizard for a moment, and the Fire-type used Flare Blitz – blasting his way out of the ice, just in time to take a direct Dragon Pulse hit from Mega Blastoise.

The backscatter from the move dug out a crater all around Mega Blastoise, but the main effect on Mega Charizard seemed mostly to be that it launched him high into the sky.

"Keep it up with Dragon Pulse!" Gary said. "Burst mode!"

Now Mega Blastoise was firing Dragon Pulses from three cannon at once, each one rising into the sky before exploding overhead in a starburst of purple-and-yellow energy, and Mega Charizard flew through the cloud of bursts before plunging straight back down at the water-splattered floor.

He began to spin again, using Drill Run, but when he hit the inch-thick puddle he was aiming for he just vanished – completely.

Mega Blastoise stopped firing in confusion, and then a fist came out of the puddle next to Mega Blastoise and Thunderpunched him in the side.

"That's a little trick called Dive!" Mega Charizard announced, whirling back out of the puddle before bathing Mega Blastoise in Flamethrower.

"Aura Sphere!" Gary ordered. "Then use Rock Tomb!"

Mega Charizard caught the first rock and threw it back down, forcing Mega Blastoise to focus on destroying the rock, then used Dragonbreath to cover his approach before switching to Outrage.

Not to be outdone, Mega Blastoise started using Avalanche.

"That's quick adaptation, I have to admit," Clair said. "Picking up Thunderpunch, I mean. That's a move he could have done with in my gym battle with him."

"Is that the one which destroyed the building?" Lance checked. "Just thought I'd make sure..."

Despite how it seemed during the battle, Mega Charizard and Mega Blastoise did eventually resolve their clash, and both Ash and Gary moved on.

After a particularly confusing display by Noctowl – who managed the difficult feat of appearing to be Zorua pretending to be Zapdos before finally being identified – Gary sent out Nidoking, who finished the Flying-type off, and Ash recalled him before switching to another Pokéball.

"Go!" he called, and Unown materialized.

Gary blinked. "Okay, what's up with this one? Is that a Ditto?"

He frowned. "Watch out, Nidoking… I don't know what's up here but it could be strange."

"Like we discussed!" Ash said.

Unown bobbed up and down, and switched from G to E. Then, a couple of seconds later, to O.

Gary shaded his eyes. "Is that Unown changing form? I didn't know they could do that…"

Unown went from M, to A, to N, and Gary's eyes went wide.

"Stop that Unown!" he called. "Megahorn!"

Nidoking broke into a charge, and Unown floated upwards – slowly at first, then more rapidly as they went C. Then Y.

A flare of pink-and-gold-and-blue energy blossomed around Unown, instantly multiplying the Symbol Pokemon's speed. It changed to a ! and zipped around in a spiral, avoiding Nidoking's Megahorn attack before floating down a little.

"E!" Ash called out. "Then M!"

"I'm sorry, but what," Bruno said.

It wasn't precisely a question and it wasn't precisely a statement.

"He's turned a Pokémon League battle into a spelling bee, is what he's done," Morty sighed, as Unown used Ember to lob a few flames at Nidoking before switching to S-U-R-F and blasting out a wave of water at the Ground-type.

Unown wasn't having it all their own way, as Nidoking began throwing globs of Toxic at Unown, and there seemed to be issues with the power of each individual attack. But it was a little difficult to say the least to deal with a Pokémon which seemed to be able to use any attack it could spell, especially when those moves included Dig, Hex and Scald and before long Nidoking was on fire.

"Great work, Raikou!" Ash called, some minutes later. "Get some rest."

The Electric-type went back into her Safari Ball, quite glad for it after having dealt with Bloom Doom and gone on to defeat her opponent anyway, and Ash switched to a different Pokéball.

"Shaymintwo!" he called, throwing the Pokéball.

"Raichu!" Gary countered, and his Raichu appeared on the battlefield.

"Oh, huh, that's an Alolan one," Pikachu said, watching as the Raichu jumped up onto her own tail and floated there.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Shaymintwo, watch out, she might have different moves to normal!"

"You're one to talk!" Gary hollered, which drew a massive gust of laughter from the stands.

"Tch," Shaymintwo said, tossing his head slightly, then began using Flame Charge. Raichu burst into motion as well, and threw out a Psychic attack which hit the ground just behind the cloned Pokémon.

"Electric Terrain!" Gary ordered, and Raichu jumped off her tail-board and did a spin in the air before landing back down on it with a crackle and a fizz. The impact drove the tail right down to contact with the floor, and a pulse of electrical energy rolled out from the impact point to cover the entire floor… and Raichu abruptly sped up, moving at astonishing speed in irregular circles around the arena and leaving even Shaymintwo in the dust.

"You're copying me, faker!" Shaymin grumbled, then skidded sideways and used Bullet Seed. Some of the shots hit Raichu, some of them missed, and by the time Shaymintwo had fired ten shots the board-riding Pokémon had come around for another lap and hit him with a Psychic.

Shaymintwo teleported into the air and used Power Gem, flinging down a green gemstone, but he wasn't able to quite aim it right and the shot missed Raichu. It thumped into the ground instead, and Shaymintwo was already Flame Charging when he arrived at ground level – speeding up, but still not managing to keep up with Raichu.

"If you're copying me, then I'll have to copy you," he declared. "Magnet Rise!"

"That Shaymin is certainly moving fast," Agatha said. "Now, why's he in such a hurry?"

"I'm more concerned with how well he's steering," Lorelei frowned. "Is that intentional dodging?"

"This controls terribly," Shaymintwo grumbled, trying to make his electromagnetic charges balance but not able to quite connect them for the proper control, then slipped and wiped out on the ground. He rolled forwards through three complete somersaults, used Flame Charge, and got back to racing around in circles before flinging another Power Gem.

"Shaymintwo, look out!" Ash called. "He's doing a Z move!"

The Grass-type flicked himself into a skew turn to look, and saw Gary posing. So was Raichu, and even as he looked there was a flare of Z-power.

"Stoked Sparksurfer!" Raichu called out, and blitzed Shaymintwo.

In more than one sense of the word.

"Are you okay, Shaymintwo?" Ash called.

"Heh," Shaymintwo replied, rising back to his paws.

Lightning crackled over his body and made his grass stand on end, and he stared Raichu down.

"The truth is, I wouldn't be doing this alone," the Grass-type said. "That was a strong attack. It's because of Pikachu that I can still stand to face you. But what you need to do right now… is prepare to witness my true Power Gem!"

The scattered Power Gems that Shaymintwo had thrown earlier in the battle all lit up, shining in a rainbow of different colours, and Shaymintwo teleported into the air. All seven gems flew up with him, flying in a ring around him and supporting him, and he smirked.

Then the gems hammered into Raichu at such speed that even her Surge Surfer didn't let her dodge.

"...was that a move, per se?" Morty asked. "I don't actually recognize it, but that doesn't really answer the question these days…"

After that, there was a rest of a couple of hours. Gary battled again, easily winning the third-fourth playoff, and finally Ash went up against someone called Jon Dickson.

"So… how are you at fighting games?" Pikachu asked Latios. "Because according to your sister she's better than you are."

"Of course she'd say that, she's my sister," Latios replied. "That's what sisters do."

He shook his head. "I've never had another one, but frankly I don't feel the need for additional corroboration for that one. It just seems inherently obvious from my experiences."

"Just saying," Pikachu said, twitching an ear as the referee introduced both finalists.

"Well, if you're like that…" Latios began, shaking his head.

"Guys," Ash said. "And I think I'm sending Latios out first anyway, so I'm kind of going to interrupt you."

He held up the Moon Ball, and Latios nodded before recalling back into it. Then Ash held the ball out, and sent Latios out into the arena with a flash.

Opposite him, Jon sent out an Octillery.

"Focus Energy!" the trainer called, and Octillery began moving all eight tentacles in a complex pattern which let him move forwards, back, left and right without turning his focus away from Latios. "Now, Signal Beam!"

Latios dodged to the side automatically, and the first blast of the attack missed. Octillery swept it across, though, hitting Latios on the side, and the Eon Pokémon winced before speeding up with Agility.

"Ice Beam!" Jon ordered.

"Make sure he can't hit you!" Ash called. "Minimize!"

Latios glowed, and shrank down. Where before he'd been larger than a human, now he was about the size of a hand, and while that had inevitable consequences for the impact of his individual attacks it also made him much harder to hit.

"Now, Dragon Energy!" Ash added.

"Isn't that Regidrago's thing?" Lance asked.

"I think we've established by this point that the normal rules don't entirely apply to Ash and the people he knows," Vulpix chuckled.

"I know, but it's good to know the specifics," Lance argued, as Octillery began using Lock On in between his attacks – slowing him down considerably, and still not managing to hit every time because Latios was able to move between an attack being fired and when it reached him.

The Champion looked to his side. "...is Whitney okay?"

"Pocket sized Latios…" Whitney mumbled to herself, a little indistinctly. "It's a dragon you can have in your pocket! It's the best!"

"Switch to Swift!" Jon called, down on the field. "We'll live with the lower power – just keep up those hits!"

"An Electivire, huh?" Ash asked, looking at Jon's third Pokémon, then raised his voice. "Zapdos – it's going to be only made stronger by any Electric attacks! Stick to other moves!"

"All right!" Zapdos cawed.

"Electivire, use Rock Slide!" Jon ordered.

"Steel Wing!" Ash countered.

Zapdos raised both wings, which lit up in the shimmering silver light of a pair of Steel Wing attacks, and swiped out at the incoming rocks to smash them to pieces. She didn't quite get all of them, but she was close, and Ash pointed. "Now – dive down! Twister!"

The Flying-type plunged down, closing in with the faint glitter of her wingtips the only thing visible outside her tornado of Dragon-typed energy. As she got closer, Electivire barraged her with Swift, then Jon raised his voice.

"Ice Punch!"

Electivire smashed an Ice Punch into Zapdos, cutting through her Twister – not without difficulty, but managing it – and knocked Zapdos out of her spin, sending her sliding across the floor using her steel-shimmering wings as sleds.

Springing upright again as she slowed, Zapdos called electricity to her feathers, and Ash interrupted her urgently.

"No electricity!"

"Right, right," Zapdos remembered, dispelling the lightning with a flick of her wings.

"Psywave!" Jon ordered. "Then use Thunder!"

Zapdos blocked the first attack with her wings and whirled into a Twister to protect her from the second part.

"Get in close!" Ash ordered. "Needle Arm!"

In the Elite Four box, everyone looked at Morty.

"What's the point?" he asked. "You all know already. Besides, needly arms… that one actually makes comparative sense."

About ten minutes later, Ash called back his latest Pokémon.

"Okay, so, just so I've got that absolutely clear," Pryce requested. "That started as the Pikachu, then turned into the Latias, except that after that it was revealed to be the Ninetales."

"Lokoko," Vulpix supplied.

"Yes, her," Pryce agreed. "But then Lokoko turned out to be an illusion as well and it was really Noctowl, only it was actually a Gengar."

"Which is a Pokémon Ash doesn't have," Misty supplied.

Pryce nodded. "Which is why it then turned out to be a Ditto, which he also doesn't have, only it was Zacian all along, which turned out to be Zorua, except it was really a Stantler, but that turned out to be a double bluff and it was actually Lokoko all along, which was actually Zorua."

"Who may or may not have been Mew," Brock finished.

"Well, that Rapidash managed to beat him," Chuck said. "Or her. Or them. Or something. Mostly with fire though."

He leaned forwards. "Oh, this should be interesting! Ash is sending out his Pikachu!"

"I sort of feel sorry for that Rapidash," Whitney sighed.

Then she looked closer. "...why hasn't it been electrocuted yet?"

"High Horsepower, Rapidash!" Jon called.

Pikachu darted forwards, sliding under the first attack, and slammed an Iron Tail into Rapidash's leg. The Fire-type snorted, stamping on the ground and using Heat Wave to blast everything in the area – trying to catch Pikachu – then Stomped down at the Electric-type, and Pikachu blocked with an Iron Tail.

"Brick Break!" he announced, slamming his paw into the Fire-type, then did a flip and used Sky Uppercut.

He didn't have quite the same leverage to launch Rapidash into the sky, but he did manage to hammer the Fire-type hard enough that it left the ground. Whirling, Pikachu used four more Brick Breaks in quick succession, each one hitting one of Rapidash's descending hooves, and followed it up by charging up his tail – for the first Electric attack so far in the fight – and hitting Rapidash on the chin hard enough to send his opponent crashing to the ground.

"Trap him with Fire Spin!" Jon called. "Then use High Horsepower!"

Fire Spin flashed up all around Pikachu as Rapidash rolled to his feet, and Pikachu contemplated it for a moment before using a burst of electricity strong enough to blow the Fire Spin to pieces. Rapidash's hoof was still incoming, though, and he rolled back out of the way before using Brick Break again and knocking Rapidash backwards.

Wait a minute, Latias frowned. Is he zoning?

What's that? Latios asked, as his sister watched the fight through his eyes.

I thought you actually tried to win those games, Latias replied. He's exploiting how a Pokémon like Rapidash isn't used to fighting a Pokémon that gets underfoot.

Well, yes, but why is that zoning? Latios asked.

...look, just read an article or something, Latias replied. And if I got the terminology wrong, it's still your fault because bleah.

"I'm… not sure how to take what just happened," Bruno admitted, as Pikachu finished the battle against Jon's last Pokémon – a Rhydon, who'd been a Rhyhorn at the start of the battle but who had still gone down to Pikachu's insistent use of Brick Break. "Because somehow the fact that that Pikachu didn't rely on high powered electric attacks to win is freaking me out."

"He did punch them at least ten feet in the air in both cases," Chuck pointed out. "Does that help?"

"Honestly, not really," Bruno replied, then got up as the crowd began to cheer. "Come on, boss. He's won the Silver Conference, and that means now we need to get ready to fight him. No pressure, Lorelei."

That evening, in the Tin Tower, Ho-Oh saw a shape of yellow and black approaching.

He took a deep breath, stretching out his wings, and exhaled. "I very much hope this is correct, but… at last."

As the Zapdos flew closer, however, Ho-Oh began to frown.

There was no sign of Ash Ketchum on her back… and there was a large bag in her beak.

"Evening," Zapdos said, somewhat indistinctly, then flew in through the largest window. "Ash heard you like takeout, so he sent me."

"...would you be able to explain?" Ho-Oh requested.

"Well, this is ramen," Zapdos replied, pulling down the sides of the bag. "And this is some rice omlettes, those are nice. And there's pork buns, here… and some empty dango sticks you can use to make little sculptures with."

"What I mean," Ho-Oh said, a little frostily, "is why Ash has sent you with takeout."

He twitched his wings. "Admittedly very nice smelling takeout. Instead of coming himself to challenge me."

"...honestly, I don't think any of us realized that he was meant to come to the Tin Tower to challenge you," Zapdos admitted. "I'm going back over what I remember, and… no, I don't think so."

"But I told Marshadow," Ho-Oh protested. "I said to use the alternative."

"Well, Marshadow keeps dropping hints that we should go to Hoenn next," Zapdos mused, considering. "Not often, but it comes up every few nights or so."

Now it was Ho-Oh's turn to go back over what he remembered.

"...admittedly, I may have assumed Marshadow knew that the other destination was the Tin Tower and the emergency destination was Mount Pyre," the Storm's End mumbled. "I have been a silly bird."

He took a deep breath. "Okay. Where is Ash now?"

"Well, still at Silver Town, probably," Zapdos replied. "Turns out they don't have a big crowd for Elite Four challenges, because they like to edit together what goes in any TV broadcasts, but Gym Leaders and stuff can watch. Ash is doing them tomorrow."

"Ah," Ho-Oh said, considering.

Then nodded, regally, and with considerably more aplomb. "Good. I believe I now have a plan. Step one… no, step two, go to the peak of Mount Silver and watch Ash's Elite Four challenge."

"I'm guessing step one involves ramen?" Zapdos asked.

"Step one involves ramen," Ho-Oh confirmed.

AN:

Yes, Pikachu beat Harrison's Blaziken.