"So, I just want to check," Ash said. "There aren't any long term problems from what was happening there, right?"

"There should not be," Zygarde replied, hopping from one rock to another along the path. "The magma level in Mount Chimney is lower than it would otherwise be, but my observations indicate that no major consequences will result. Any effects will be transient and minor."

On Route 113, Max – the other Max, not Max Maple – stared around at the landscape.

"...everything's glittery," he said. "What."

"What would have happened if we hadn't stopped it, though?" Pikachu said. "That would have been bad, I'm guessing."

"Volcanic eruptions are usually bad for an ecosystem," Zygarde confirmed. "In the short term at least. In the longer term then they can have beneficial effects, but in this case no such benefit could have resulted; Mount Chimney is at a level of ashfall generation which produces near optimum fertilizer for minor harmful impact."

"That's good, then," Ash decided, then stopped. "I wonder if there's a Heatran back there managing it?"

"No, you can't go back and check," Pikachu said, accurately guessing Ash's reason for stopping. "There's a gym battle to get to, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, the Lavaridge Gym," Ash mused. "Fire type… I think I know who I'm going to use for that one!"

The Gym Leader in Lavaridge Town, as Max confidently explained, was Mr. Moore. A Fire-type expert and a veteran battler, he'd been a member of the Elite Four in the past before stepping down to run the Lavaridge Gym.

Which was why it was a bit surprising when a young woman opened the door.

"Hi!" she said, then snapped her fingers. "Uh, I mean, tremble, challenger! You're in the presence of the red-hot Lavaridge Gym Leader, Flannery!"

"...how long have you been a gym leader?" Brock asked.

Flannery slumped slightly. "Is it that obvious?"

"I know what it's like to take over a gym, believe you me," Brock chuckled. "So does Ash."

"Thank goodness," Flannery said. "Gramps left three days ago. I said I was ready, but… now he's gone, I'm not really so sure."

Ash frowned.

"I think what matters is offering a good challenge, right?" he said. "Everything else is kind of secondary to that. It doesn't matter how you present yourself so long as you offer a good challenge and you're not a bully!"

Flannery nodded, thinking about that. "That makes sense," she said. "Wait, you took over a gym?"

"Just for a bit," Ash confirmed. "It was while Jasmine was taking her Ampharos for medical treatment. It was interesting!"

He frowned. "So, uh, can we have that battle now?"

"Of course!" Flannery agreed. "I've got to make sure I give a good challenge, right… actually, I'd kind of appreciate some idea of how well I'm doing. I don't really think I can go up to League Champion level, but… anyway, it's going to be three Pokémon on a side! And I've got a flying Pokémon, too, so one of those can be an airborne battle!"

"Got it!" Ash agreed. "Let's go!"

The first Pokémon Ash sent out was Croconaw, who bowed with a flourish before rising back to his normal stance.

Flannery sent out a Magcargo, and clapped her hands. "Okay, Mag, let's show him what we can do!"

"You nicknamed your Pokémon?" Max asked. "I thought about doing that but… I couldn't think of any good names."

Mightyena wagged his tail. "The way you say Mightyena is different for me, that's enough for me."

"Thanks," Max said, giving the Dark-type a scratch on the chin. "It's good to know that."

"Begin!" Brock called, deciding to referee.

"Sunny Day, Mag!" Flannery ordered immediately.

"Wait, wait, time out," Ash asked. "Hey, Rayquaza? Mind turning Air Lock off?"

Rayquaza nodded, and Ash waited a moment. "Okay, it should work now."

"Thanks!" Flannery said, giving him a thumbs-up. "Where was I… right, Sunny Day!"

This time, it was easy to tell that it had worked. The sun blazed brighter overhead, and Brock slashed his arm down. "Begin properly!"

"Mag, Solarbeam!" Flannery ordered.

"Petal Dance, Croconaw!" Ash countered.

Croconaw flicked his paws, and a pair of fans made entirely of long, splayed flower petals in a riot of different colours waved around as he began a whirling dance. Flower petals appeared around him as well, completely hiding him for several seconds, and the Solarbeam splashed off them without properly gaining purchase.

"Huh," Flannery said. "Heat Wave, Mag!"

The blast of flame burned away Croconaw's petal shield, and he span away to avoid the impact of the attack itself.

"Rock Slide!" Flannery said.

"Swords Dance!" Ash replied.

Croconaw bowed, then did a twirl at blistering speed, and there was a shwing sound as he Swords Danced. Mag's rocky projectiles were cut in half as they came in, and when Croconaw slowed to a halt he had a pair of blades out – one in each paw.

"That's neat!" Flannery observed. "I didn't know Swords Dance could do that!"

"Usually it can't," Max supplied.

"Yawn!" Flannery ordered, then. "And Reflect!"

Croconaw threw both swords at Mag, one hitting the Reflect – which made both the Reflect screen and the sword itself shatter – and the other hitting Mag.

The blow hit Mag hard enough to send him sliding back across the arena, leaving a trail of melted ground, and Ash pointed. "Hydro Pump!"

Croconaw managed a single burst of water before falling asleep, which hit Mag and knocked him over.

"Solarbeam!" Flannery called.

Nothing happened.

"Huh, guess he's out too," Flannery decided. "Do I mean out too? How does sleep work again?"

"I guess it's up to the referee and the trainer of the sleeping Pokémon?" Ash said, thinking about it. "Some Pokémon can keep battling when they're asleep, and obviously a Pokémon might wake up, but letting a sleeping Pokémon get badly beaten up in case they might wake up isn't very nice. So… yeah, it depends? But Croconaw couldn't take a Solarbeam for long, not without being able to dance his way out of trouble…"

After getting advice from Brock on the matter – essentially that a sleeping Pokémon could be considered out if it was not able to battle in that state and the opposing Pokémon was capable of knocking it out in good time, simply to avoid unnecessary attacks – Ash called back Croconaw, and switched to his second Pokémon.

Flannery did as well, sending out a Houndour, and Ash's Treecko inspected his opponent.

"Hmm," he said, then dodged out of the way as Houndour used Flamethrower. "Bullet Seed!"

"Heat Wave!" Flannery countered. "Burn them up!"

The seeds burst into flame, and Houndour's attack went on to hit Treecko as well, but the Grass-type vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared several feet away.

"Keep up those Fire attacks!" Flannery said.

"Stay back and wait for an opening," Ash replied. "And… actually, uh… Treecko, this would be a good time to get that move we were talking about working!"

"I was getting the elemental conversion about right," Treecko replied, backflipping away from a Flamethrower. He threw another brace of Bullet Seeds, but Houndour incinerated them and then evolved to Houndoom.

"...sorry," Ash added, as now there was a Houndoom throwing Fire attacks around – one of them an Inferno which Treecko only just managed to Substitute-dodge in time, followed by a Fire Spin that lashed out in all directions."Anyway, if you've got the elemental conversion, you need to shape it!"

"The whole point is that it's an attack that always hits the target," Pikachu contributed. "You need to make sure there's only one place the charge can go and that's towards your opponent!"

"Right!" Ash agreed. "But don't forget to compress it, too, that's how you do damage!"

Treecko threw out one arm to the side, which fizzed with electricity as he tried to combine all the bits of advice he'd heard and make it into a move.

"Flamethrower, before he does whatever it is he's doing!" Flannery said. "Hey, your Treecko is male, right? I'm sort of assuming."

"Yeah, he's male," Ash confirmed.

The Flamethrower engulfed Treecko, then faded to reveal a crude stick figure decoy. The actual Treecko threw a salvo of Bullet Seeds at Houndoom, then threw a second salvo off to the side – not to hit anything, but to boost himself sideways with recoil and avoid Houndoom's Flame Burst.

The Grass-type landed and rolled, sliding across the arena. "Not bad."

"Focus it really tight!" Ash called. "Otherwise it's just going to be a static shock – right, Pikachu?"

"Yeah, it needs to be focused!" Pikachu agreed. "And you want to direct it, too!"

Treecko got three Bullet Seeds ready, this time, then used Substitute. The decoy vanished, and the real Treecko appeared – running in at a sprint with electricity crackling around his left arm.

"Yah!" the Grass-type shouted, slamming home what probably counted as a Thunder Punch, and Houndoom went oof.

"Lava Plume!" Flannery called.

Treecko hit Houndoom with a second Thunder Punch, this time from above, and the Dark-type whimpered as paralysis crackled over him.

"Keep fighting close in!" Ash called.

Treecko used Close Combat, which was apparently as much of a surprise for him as for Ash, because he promptly tripped over his own tail. Houndoom was in worse shape, though, and Flannery held up a hand.

"Okay, I think Houndoom's done," she said, walking out to the Dark-type and rummaging in her pocket. "Thanks for evolving him, by the way – I sort of assume that was you, because you apologized for it."

"I'm just guessing myself," Ash said. "Good work, though, Treecko."

"It's a lot harder when they don't use moves I can mimic," Treecko said ruefully.

Flannery sprayed Houndoom with a Paralysis Heal, then almost fell over as Houndoom jumped up at her. "Easy!" she said, laughing. "Wait until I'm sitting down, you're bigger now!"

Flannery's third Pokémon was a Talonflame, a big Flying-type who soared up into the air and hovered there with wings beating and embers flickering out of his feathers.

Ash responded by sending out his first unambiguous Flying-type, which happened to be Zapdos.

"Begin!" Brock called.

"Acrobatics!" Flannery said, and Talonflame blurred forward with a crack of flame and displaced air. He came around in a slashing, curving dive and hit Zapdos on the wing, then zoomed away to avoid retaliation.

"Thunderbolt!" Zapdos replied, blasting electricity out, and Talonflame took a glancing blow to his own wing which fizzed down towards his tail.

"Flamethrower!" Flannery retorted. "And Hurricane!"

The Hurricane came in a flash just after Flannery's Pokémon had used Flamethrower, accelerating and amplifying the surge of heat, and Zapdos flared her wings to fend it off – ending up with a few scorched feathers, but nothing serious.

"Thunder!" Ash called.

"Roost!" Flannery replied.

Lightning fizzed and crackled around Zapdos' wings, but by the time she actually fired the attack Talonflame was already on the ground with his wings furled. The attack hit, but not as hard as it could have, and Talonflame cawed defiance before taking off again.

"Aerial Ace, use it to dodge!" Flannery said.

"Thundershock curtain!" Ash retaliated, and this time instead of a single blast of electricity Zapdos pulled together hundreds of smaller individual charges. They lashed out in a wave, forming a curtain which was too tight to allow Talonflame through without taking at least two hits, and after contemplating the approaching shocks Talonflame elected to dive through with Aerial Ace and blast Zapdos with Flamethrower.

"How is he so fast?" Ash wondered.

Ibid transformed into a miniature Talonflame. "Talonflame's ability is Gale Wings, which means the Pokémon can move at extremely high speed with Flying moves in particular."

"Oh, I get it," Ash realized. "And – oh, so he's Roosting really quick too!"

"Roost!" Flannery called again, and Talonflame zipped down to the ground for another healing rest.

"Zapdos, I've got a new plan!" Ash called. "Rain Dance!"

Zapdos flew higher, then spread her wings with a shout, and thunderclouds began to roll in.

"Watch out, that's going to mean another Thunder," Flannery said. "Stay on the ground!"

"Thunder!" Ash called. "But on yourself!"

"Okay, you're the boss!" Zapdos said, lightning chirping off her wings. She blasted herself with her own electric attack, and Ash watched carefully – shading his eyes against the rain with one hand and soothing Rayquaza with the other.

"Now, blast the clouds!" Ash called. "Get them really charged up!"

The air began to feel a bit greasy as Zapdos blasted lightning into the air. Sheet lightning rumbled and cracked between different cloud layers… then Ash pointed.

"Weather Ball now!" he said.

"Take off – no, wait-" Flannery called, suddenly unsure, and Zapdos used Weather Ball.

Ash had provoked a lightning storm, and so what came down was a ball of electrically charged water. Talonflame was in trouble whether he tried to dodge or not, and when the Weather Ball detonated it showered the Fire-type with water while also unleashing the caged thunderbolts inside.

"Okay, I think the battle's over now," Ash said, and Rayquaza released the hold on her Ability – clearing away the rain clouds and making it into a fluffy-clouded afternoon instead. "That was a great match! Talonflame's a really strong Pokémon!"

"Yeah, I guess so!" Flannery agreed. "Thanks, that's given me a lot to think about… and made me feel a lot more comfortable, too! You've earned the Heat Badge!"

Not far away, Mr. Moore lowered his binoculars.

"What the hell did I just watch?" he asked.

"Valley of Steel, huh?" Geodude asked, looking around. "Sure are a lot of Steel type Pokémon, but dang, their manners are not up to the standards I would expect."

"What manners do you expect?" Eevee asked, brightly. "Hmm… I wonder if there's a Steel type Eeveelution? If there is then I could be the first!"

She jumped up and down in excitement, her Everstone jingling. "I could be the first Magneteon!"

"I think that name might have some issues with copyright, little lady," Geodude chuckled. "But you dream, girl."

Brock smiled at them, then looked at the map.

"We're more than halfway through the Valley," he said. "Not much longer until we're on the main Verdanturf road."

"This isn't the main Verdanturf road?" Max asked.

"No, it's a short cut," Brock explained. "They don't usually put main roads through such dense concentrations of strong wild Pokémon, because most travellers won't have the kind of strong Pokémon we have… especially Ash."

Max absorbed that, then nodded. "That makes sense."

"Oi!" Articuno shouted, dodging aside from a Flash Cannon. "You've got something to say, come and say it to me!"

"Why don't you come down here and say that again?" a Probopass demanded.

Articuno rolled her eyes, then dove down and hovered right in front of the Steel-type.

"Okay, three questions," she said. "One, what is your problem? We're just passing through."

"You're trespassing," the Probopass declared. "You're not Steel types, and this is sacred ground for Steel types."

Articuno blinked. "Okay, I've got a new second question replacing my old second question. How do you expect anyone to know that?"

"...everyone around here knows it!" Probopass insisted. "Steelix made sure of it! So it must be obvious!"

Articuno tutted. "Third question: Freezing Glare. That's not a question but I asked it anyway."

She flew a bit higher. "Hey, Ash, apparently there's a Steelix around here who's kind of a bully?"

"You have no idea how much I'm tempted to ask my brother to come and help sort this out," Zacian said, eyeing the Skarmory who'd been bullying a Torkoal – and the Steelix who'd been encouraging him.

"Too weak to battle us without your brother's help?" Steelix asked.

Zacian shook her head. "Not at all. I just think he might want to actually see what some Pokémon can end up being like… for true nobility of purpose comes not from defeating the weak, but championing the weak against the strong."

She shrugged. "Of course, I'm not going to fight you at all… not unless my trainer actually wants it."

"I had a better idea!" Ash replied. "Why are you going after this Torkoal, anyway?"

"Because that's how we show we're strong!" Steelix said. "We beat strong opponents!"

"Opponents who don't even want to fight you?" Ash asked. "Instead of each other? Because that… sounds easier to sort out, to me."

Ash's Aggron popped out of her Pokéball.

"Hey, Torkoal?" she asked. "Mind a chat for a bit?"

"Okay, so…" Ash muttered under his breath, then nodded. "Right! So if Torkoal wins, you have to stop attacking him, and if he loses, you let him leave. So there's one battle, and then you stop harassing him… and either way, you stop just randomly attacking anyone else who comes through. Right?"

"Right," Steelix agreed. "You are a surprisingly capable negotiator."

"I guess I just like people to agree!" Ash shrugged. "Anyway – Torkoal!"

Torkoal nodded firmly. "I'm ready!"

The Steelix raised itself up, and Ash waved a hand. "Hold on… and… block!"

Torkoal lifted himself up onto his hind legs just as Steelix began to move. The Steel-type used Stone Edge, slamming down on Torkoal with a wham, but Torkoal was braced to handle it – driven a little way into the ground, but not knocked out in one blow.

"Counter with Counter!" Ash said.

Steelix had the time to look vaguely aggrieved as Torkoal flexed, throwing the Steel-type into the air.

"There, see?" Aggron asked, as Steelix went crash. "You've… presumably learned a lesson about… something? I kind of lost track of where we were going with that."

"Verdanturf," Brock supplied.

AN:

Sometimes when solving problems you sort of lose track of what the problem was.